Arth
Halufus Ruluul

The night sky on Arth was clear and dark. Astronomers were fond of pointing out that the Staff Constellation could be seen in the Earth sky as well. The astronomers didn't know that it had originally been called Orion's Belt. One of the earliest Human civilizations had immortalized the Staff Constellation in Lower Egypt. The pyramids at Giza are an Earthly reflection of the Staff, the Nile a reflection of the Milky Way behind it.

On this particular Arthenean night, the Staff shone with uncommon brightness. Boz Grabow stood with some Arth Elowan on a small ridge overlooking Halufus Ruluul, an expansive grassland on the Arthenean Savannah. The Arth Elowan were committing to a breathtaking leap of faith. A brief note from Halura was all it had taken. The group was watching specifically designed vehicles uproot and transfer implanted Elowan. In the pale starlight, the loaders went carefully about their business, carrying their precious payloads. With nothing but waving grass for comparison, it was difficult to gauge the size of the ship. Its landing gears dug almost a meter into the rich, moist soil. Near the extended ramp, a loader got stuck in a rut. The driver fiddled for a moment and then broke free. He drove up the ramp and into the ship.

The Dead Zone
Unnamed System DZ241,157
Aboard ISS Belfast Windfall

"Come about to one-seven-six....mark eight-two," ordered Commander Biggs Hilsfar. ISS Belfast Windfall had just cleared the asteroid belt and things were in a frantic rush on the bridge. Grx'bzzgah spoke up to inform Biggs that the heading wasn't on the trajectory for the Eshbullr Colony. "I know, I know, not yet. We've got to get the word out first!" He was punching some numbers into his keypad. Biggs hated numbers. "Get me the coordinates for the best booster relay range." He jumped into his seat and hit the comm box, "Ux you down there? Good. Get back to the engine well and rip out the efficiency cyclers. No drag on the engines, understand? What? I don't know, just replace it with a length of pipe. What? I don't know--do them one at a time! You're the engineer!" He hit the comm box again and pointed to Mack. "Lieutenant, I want you to round up everyone who's not busy and start dumping the deadweight. If it's not Shyneum, jettison it! I want those cargo pods empty." Biggs took a breath.

Deep Space, The Dead Zone
Thrynn Frigate Kryssthoggr

Captain Hthssbr was pleased. Captain SshT'k was proceeding far too cautiously. He was trying to secret past the Humans that were milling about the Pythagoras Cluster. Every three hours he cut the engines and then drifted in a loop to ensure Kryssthoggr was not being followed. The young Thrynn officers could scarcely conceal their contempt for the apparent weakness of their leader. Hthssbr was playing on their inexperience. Though she hated him and coveted his command, Hthssbr knew that SshT'k understood what it was to bleed. Still, she intended to carry out her mutiny. It was a time-honored means of promotion. She'd need officers who understood the mission, though. So she was briefing them in one of the berthing bays.

"Look at the ssstarmap," she pointed to the region of space centered on Arth. "It hasss been a mere twenty yearss since the Humansss redisscovered their sspacefaring capacssity. In that time, they have extended and consssolidated their reach from Arth through the Noah 9 Colony at Heaven and on to the Ssstaff Consstellation." All the young ensigns and junior lieutenants were aware of what that meant. The rich mines of the Staff and New Scotland. The Vell Bralis Nova Orbital City was evidence enough of the region's wealth. "Thisss line iss hardly threatening to usss, but it doess have implicationsss of concssern. The Humanss are currently extending their communicationsss linesss to Pythagorass and Old Earth." Hthssbr traced a finger along an arc that ran from Arth to Earth. "Indeed, it iss nearly certain that they have ssset their eyes upon the Axe. The buoyss with which they relay their messsages alsso contain early warning proximity scannerss. Once the line isss complete, it will effectively bar usss from making unannounced forayss into the upssspin side of that line." One of the more promising young ensigns asked the obvious question.

"Why doess that matter for the Thrynn?" asked Ss'frss.

"Becaussse we have learned that the Elowan intend to cassst their craven seed across the cosmoss, to the bosom of the Humans."

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Next: "Mutineers"

Those sneaky marigolds! And you thought the Thrynn were devious and cunning. Well, actually, they are--cunning enough to launch a mutiny on the Thrynn Frigate Kryssthoggr. Just see what happens when you mix Thrynn, cramped quarters and an armory full of bayonet-dressed reverb rifles. Stick around at the Nebula Lounge.

"Hilsfar & Company: Because Clearly, Mazurkiewicz Has Gone Relativistic"