Rebirth (part 1)

  A lone ship hurtled through the darkness of space leaving a trail of glistening particles from its main drives. Two figures walked the shadowed hall that ran the length of the small vessel. “What will we do when we reach the star system?” one asked the other.

  “I know a controller that may, with some prodding, allow us safe passage to dock at a private terminal far from the eyes of the Conglomerate,” replied the other cheerfully. Gazing out a nearby view port at the haze of stars he continued, “We should go check on our passenger before locking in the flight path.”

  “Lead the way brother. I still get the shivers when I think about our cargo,” he shuddered as he spoke, a wry grin plastered on his face. He slowed to let his comrade pass before resuming his faster pace.

  The lead figure leered back, “I always knew you had a streak of something yellow but to have it come to light because of this?” He barked a short laugh and shook his head.

  As they walked, footsteps echoing off the metal hull, their hands never stopped moving over the displays that hovered just ahead of them at waist level. The ship had no central hub or command center and the control of it was executed wherever they went. Charts, warnings and status updates flickered in the air and the pilot’s fingers seemed to move automatically as they kept the ship on course and out of danger of the approaching asteroid field.

  They called them asteroids, but the debris that floated between the ship and the planet they were headed to was a cemetery. Bits of ships littered an area the size of several suns and though years had passed, streaks of color still leaked from the larger hulls, breathable gases freezing in the cold of space.

  The figure with the streak of yellow muttered, “If only I had been here for the battle. That would have been something to watch and share in the glory of the power of the Conglomerate.” 

  His companion stopped and turned slowly, his voice hissing in anger, “Do not speak of what you do not know. You have been lied to if you wish to have been a part of what happened here.” He leaned against the ship’s hull, “No, you are fortunate to have been spared that experience. The power of the Conglomerate against the defenseless sheep of the Federated Colony’s.”  He looked at his companion, “I was witness to our power and might, and it broke my soul.”

They resumed walking and continued to deep brooding silence until they reached the aft section of the ship. The simple metal door was opened with a flick of a hand and they stepped into a blue lit chamber. Circular, the room was not large with cages and towering cylinders crowding the space. The pilots made their way towards the far side and stopped in front of a cylinder lying on its side.

  After pressing several buttons on his hovering display, the lead pilot wiped condensation from the containers view port and beckoned for the other to come closer. “It isn't every day you get to see one of them alive.”

  His companion bent close and a hiss of surprise and revulsion escaped him, “Are you sure it is a male? The only other the Order of the Subversives has found is female, correct?”

  The other answered, “Yes that is true. Years after the near annihilation of their kind, our Order will be able to breed the ones that once created us.” He turned to the other with a wicked grin, their metal faces reflecting in the view port glass, “Won’t the Conglomerate be surprised when, under their very noses, the human race rises again.”