She woke to the sound of the video phone. Blearily she looked around, letting the auto response machine get it, hands touching first the remote control for the neuron tv, then some papers she had on her end table, before finally landing on the right source of the obtrusive noise. Her fingers reached over and gently pressed down, causing the commotion to stop.

"Oooohhhhh..." she groaned, looking at the clock. 6am it read.

"Got to get up...flight time." she thought, finally pulling herself from the bed and causing a vid book she had disregarded the night before to drop on the floor.

Her bare feet met the carpet and after walking to her closet, she slithered into her flight suit. Being a navigator was something Ma'la loved, but the early hours that that were required were frankly a pain in the ass.

Mala Na'atat was just an ordinary navigator. On an ordinary space cruiser. That is until her 23rd birthday. On that day, Mala, a half breed of the T'iullum race, received her symbiant. The elders had been reluctant about giving her the symbiant. Her half human status made Mala an anomaly, an aberration to the planet's naturalistic core. But Mala had proven herself a highly skilled navigator despite the lack of her c'orrum ore.

So on her 23 birthday, The Elders had come down, in their long pleated plush purple robes. They had placed the symbiant on her stomach, where it grew into the familiar marked lines of a spider web across her tanned skin. Mala was proud of herself. She knew that her hard work on the space ship Arcon would pay off eventually. The prejudice for half breeds like herself were high, and she found it much easier to deal with her people's narrow minded view points up in in the densest areas of space than stationed here, down on the ground.

The Arcon, her old ship, had left Arconia recently. She'd been chafing her hands together ever since. Waiting,...then waiting some more. It was almost more than she could stand. So when they finally called her in and told her that she was indeed going to receive her symbiant, she was utterly thrilled. A symbiant garnered one respect, and it would make Mala's navigational skills increase 10 fold.

She wondered about her father sometimes. It was he who had taught her navigational skills despite her lack of a symbiant. When he had died five years before while fending off a space pirate attack, she had been utterly crushed. Her father had believed in her, and so very few people ever did that. But now, she thought, briefly touching her symbiant's web like body, now she would get respect. The elders had deemed her worthy. She wasn't about to fight with their expansive knowledge.

"I can't believe that it's actually happened to me," Mala thought as she prepared for the long rest. When a T'illium received his or her symbiant, they required you to rest for a few days. Bed rest was required so that the symbiant or c'orrum ore could become acclimated to the new host body. It went against Mala's basic personality to rest while so high on cloud nine, but her body made the decision for her. Soon enough she was completely a part of the "little death." Her new symbiant grew while she slept into a more web like appearance. Not just physical, it soon merged into her soul, becoming a part of it. Becoming the c'orrum ore, the source of Mala's life, including the symbiant part of her.

She woke early, a mere two days after the required bed rest had put her down and tucked her in in the first place. Slowly she yawned and stretched, feeling whole for the first time in her life. "Whole.." she thought, and then reniged the thought. No it was more than feeling whole..it was more like feeling a new sense of completeness. Almost like a part of yourself had been missing from birth and here it was."Symbiant?" she said, testing the waters with a timid question. "I AM DIAMALA," replied her symbiant.

Testing the c'orrum ore was tiring, Mala thought after another two hours of getting to know her symbiant. But what she'd found! Thrugh Diamala, Mala would be able to talk to anything organic. She could speak to the stars in the sky or to something as mundane as the kitchen table.

 She was eager to be on board a star cruiser again -- eager to test out her new navigational abilities. She waited impatiently for orders, biting her fingernails anf brushing aside her back-length long brown hair.

It was within her quarters that she finally got the news. She was to be placed on the star cruser Lazarus. The minute she heard the ensign say the name of the ship her heart raced. She knew the ship. It was one of the fastest crusers out there in space today. And it's purpose was exploration. Perfect. She hummed a little to herself as she began to pack. Diamala was quiet. She seemed to be in a sort of stasis Ma'la noticed. But maybe that was because Ma'la hadn't asked to use any of the c'orrum ore's skills yet.

She sat in silence as the transport took her to the Space Concillium. Her hands held a newspaper for the day, August 7, 2346. The headlines stood out. "Space Pirates Raid Arconian Transport."

Ma'la grimaced. "Those skanky bastards," she muttered. Space pirates were a known threat to Arconian pilots and their crews. They interrupted trade shipments and stole the supplies that Arcon was shipping to other planets for credits or supplies. They were dangerous and they were ruthless. A good crew member had to be trained to deal with them, and had to be able to get away from them.

"I heard you're about to have a new roommate." Ensign Dragken started in.

"Talk to the wing." Knoleen snapped, bringing her wings up and around her head. To one of her own people, this would have been a very rude gesture indeed.

Dragken, human and used to this because of how annoying he could be, was oblivious. He leaped on the empty mess table next to theirs and peered down at her face above her encircled wings. "She's supposed to be this hotshot navigator. But she's just half a T'iullum! You know the old saying."

"If I say I do will you go annoy someone else?"

"'The only good halfbreed is cigliquor. Every other kind is half as much as you need."

Knoleen snorted. She gave up and rescinded her wings. "So you smoke cigliquor. Why am I not astonished?"

The only other occupant of the room, sublieutenant Riley, laughed out loud. "Leave her alone, Dragken! So she's getting a hotshot wet behind the ears parasite carrying halfbreed. It still beats her last three roomates."

Knoleen shuddered. "Remember the feedback stream addict?"

"Remember her? I was the one who had to install the security locks on the engine bay. Deity only knows how badly she altered her DNA before she was finally sent to a treatment plant."

Ensign Bounce darted into the room. "Ooooo, I remember heeeeeer!" She was a member of the 961 race. Their native tongue was not only unpronounceable, it was unimaginable. So they were given nicknames individually and their race had been assigned a number. They were renowned throughout the Explored Systems for their extreme nosiness. They could always be counted on to spy and eavesdrop continuously. In the 67 year history of their interactions with other races, no one had ever convinced them this behavior was rude or wrong on any level. They were fundamentally unable to understand the concept of privacy beyond the fact that other races were uptight about it and thus secrecy and sneakery were required to get the dirt on everyone.

That Bounce had been eavesdropping outside the door was a given. That she would not insinuate herself into this conversation was even more a given.

Knoleen rose quickly and dumped her almost untouched lunch into a recycling tube. "I guess I better go back to my quarters and make it presentable for my new roommate. Well hours, all." She fled quickly.

"Five credits says she bends the First Officer's ear to move the halfbreed out within the first five days." Dragken challenged.

"You're ON," Riley replied agreeably. "I don't give the new roomie 24 hours!"

"Welcome Ma'la Na'atat. This is Lazarus, and I am Captain Gorgun."

"It's good to be here captain. I've heard a lot about your ship."

"So then you know our purpose?"

"From what I've been told, we are to explore other universes via black holes and establish trade routes with the civilazations we find there."

"Very good Navigator Na'atat. Very good. It seems you have been doing your homework."

"I always research an assignment before I accept it sir."

The captain led Ma'la through the ship up to the command center. There in front of them was a circular table with a flat panel monitor embedded in the plastic. A swivel chair stool in front of the desk.

"This will be your station Ma'la." said the Captain Gorgun. "Simply press a button and . . ." here he paused and pressed an oblong shape on the desk. Immediately a three dimensional map appeared out of thin air. "This map, is of all known space. As we explore, your responsibility in addition to navigating us safely, will be to add to this so as to create an updated chart."

Ma'la could feel Diamala shifting. She put a hand on her stomach and lightly touched the web there.

Soon Diamala . . . soon. Ma'la thought.

I will talk to the black holes to determine which are safest once we take off. Diamala responded.

Ma'la nodded. Diamala was eager to begin her job. And so was she.

Ma'la felt her body melt away. The sensation came upon her with the suddenness of a bucket of water being thrown on her. One second her body was there ... and then it wasn't. She could feel her toes squeezing the form foam inside her soft boots and then they were gone. She could feel the webseat clutching her back and legs and then both the seat and her legs were gone.

Although she had spent her life reading descriptions and accounts, as well as been officially briefed, Ma'la felt a second of panic as everything but her conscious vanished.

Relax, Diamala whispered gently from somewhere. Unlike her booming voice when Ma'la could feel her body, this voice was soft, almost conspiratorial. Don't focus on what you can't feel. Focus on what you can feel.

What could she feel? With a pleasant shock, Ma'la discovered that she could feel things, just different things. It was as if the ship was now her body. She could feel the propulsion rings at the back of the ship. They were like legs. She could feel the matter scoop at the nose of the ship as it collected stray gas and solid particles for raw materials from which anything needed could be converted. She could actually feel the matter being collected in the scoop ... it almost felt like breathing. The armament wings bristling from the hull felt like dozens of tiny arms.

She was the ship! And she was swimming in space. She didn't have any control, though she could take control in an emergency, but just sensing everything, FEELING everything, was an incredible experience.

Most incredible was the stars singing to her. All of them were singing. She focused her attention on one of them and listened for a while to its unique harmony.

Ma'la realized that with practice she would always know exactly where they were because each star had a unique song. And surrounding stars were of similar harmony while systems further away departed radically in some cases. Just as a blind man can focus in on one familiar voice in a crowded room and head unerringly towards it, Ma'la would be able to use Diamala's memory of "star voices" to place the ship anywhere in the Explored Area as well as focusing on one particular star and guiding the Lazarus towards it without mistake.

This was so much more efficient than triangulating space buoys or (horrors!) trying to use star charts and correct for their current position it was like the difference between relying on a sun dial or a digital watch to make a crucial appointment on time.

In no time she was being signaled that her shift was over. This had just been an acclimation session, so she had not done any actual work, but the time had still passed in what seemed like seconds.

Simultaneously elated by the experience and heartbroken had having to disconnect from the navigation interface, Ma'la withdrew. Her body felt so small and leaden now. She knew from her research that this feeling would pass and that with time leaving the interface would not feel so crushing, but right now she horrible.

****

"Did you blanket the sensors in this room?"

"Yes."

"Good. So who is riding the new navigator? It is truly who I heard?"

"It is Diamala. I just got official confirmation. Percy in communications owes me a couple favors."

"I see."

The silence lasted a minute at least.

"Why did you want to know so badly? And why did I have to keep my inquiry a secret."

More silence.

"You have something against this symbiant, don't you?"

"I have my reasons. I've waited ten years to get my revenge, and now Diamala walks right into my hands. Go with my earnest thanks, my good friend. And forget we ever had this conversation."

"That's not going to help me with Percy when something happens to Diamala!"

"I'll send you a Vmail with a 4 digit number sometime in the next week. The number will mean the hour and minute of the day you receive it. When that time arrives, make it a point to be with Percy. That will give you an ironclad alibi in his eyes. Just make sure you check mail every time you go back to your quarters and this should work."

"I don't know if I can be a second hand party to this ..."

"That ... thing ... deserves this! Take my word for it!"

"What about the host?"

"She shoulda stayed home. It's a cold universe out here." With that, the speaker left the storage compartment.

The other person turned off the sensor blanket and left with heavy steps.

****

After the medic checked her over and reported she had withstood the Interface with no sideeffects, Ma'la was dismissed. She left the bridge with a final longing look at her station and found her assigned room with some effort. She discovered with irritation that the door had not yet been keyed to her retinal scan. With an exhausted sigh, she touched the summons button.

"Coming!" A voice sounding equally weary replied. A moment later the door was open and the new navigator was face to face with a two meter tall Kritlo. Furry bipeds with four arms and two leathery wings, one on each highest shoulder, this race was generally friendly and had a knack for fixing mechanical objects and systems. They also had a well documented characteristic that had taken other races decades of proof to finally believe. Certain Kritlo were, for lack of a more precise phrase, "bad luck." No matter what their circumstances, no matter their intelligence or willpower or position ... certain members of the race were surrounded by trouble no matter how many times they moved around and no matter what preventions they attempted.

A lot of people still didn't believe this was possible and dismissed it. But the grim reality was that this Kritlo, Knoleen, had gone through 23 roommates in two years, never keeping one longer than 5 months and including the fact that everyone had refused to move in here after the last roommate fell into the laundry mixer 3 months ago. Captain Gorgun was one who steadfastly refused to believe in the "Kritlo bad luck myth" and had ordered each Ensign refusing to transfer to this berth to be locked in the brig until there was no bunkspace left there. After an hour long tongue lashing of the entire crew over the PA system, Gorgun gave up trying to force someone to join Knoleen and released the prisoners. He finished his tirade, however, with dire threats to anyone who told new transfers about this "series of coincidences."

'We're going to stamp this hysteria out! When someone who is not psyched out comes in here and spends a year without incident in that room you'll all see that sentient beings, not prehistoric delirium, rule this universe!'

Captain Gorgun had reiterated his threats an hour before Ma'la arrived on the ship. Anyone who breathed a word to her about any of this was going to spend the next year scraping the hull (while the ship was underway!) with a tooth freshener.

So Ma'la hadn't been on the ship ten minutes before she'd heard everything. The baggage rodent had been bursting with the news, her assigned guide had described Ensign Kersh getting stuck when a door slammed shut as she tried to walk through it, the first such accident in the 200 year history of selfaware doors. The quartermaster told her about Ensign Mill running some routine tests in her lab and, lost in thought and not paying attention, picking up the test tube of mind varnish she'd been working with instead of her cup of Java Juice. "They found her wandering around the lab singing moon camp songs! Last I heard she's recovered her first ten years of memory!"

"They told." Knoleen observed in a snippy tone.

"I'm afraid they have."

"This isn't going to work. I'm going to request you get transferred to another room. The last thing I need right now is someone tiptoeing around me."

Ma'la gently caressed her stomach. "I'm not like the others. I'm not afraid. I was just a little lost in thought when you opened the door. May I come in?"

"Oh. Sure." Knoleen's wings had been coming up, now they retreated reluctantly. "Your things were delivered. You have the bed against the wall."

The door closed behind her. Ma'la tried to put aside the thought that it closed with a final sounding thud. NOTHING IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO YOU, Diamala comforted. YOU CAN'T HAVE A SILLY ACCIDENT WITH ME AROUND.

That made her feel a little better. But only a little.

The ship was larger than Ma'la expected. It contained officers quarters, a mess hall, a kitchen, an entertainment center, a gym, a viewing room where one could look at the stars through pressure proof glass. Tired after all her exploring, Ma'la decided to sit down in the mess hall and grab a bite to eat with a cold beverage.

As she sat down in the nearest booth, the table lit up displaying what was on the menu for today. Ma'la perused the list and was just about to pick when a voice interrupted her from behind.

"They say the Kitchty steak is excellent," said the voice.

Ma'la turned around, only to be face to face with a Gorcun. Covered in white fur from head to toe, with only one eye, the Gorcun cut an imposing figure to those faint of heart. But despite their ferocious appearance, the hearts of the Gorcun people were gentle.

Without asking permission, the Gorcun sat down next to Ma'la. "Two sweetend Arugulas please," he said into the microphone embedded in the table. His one eye winked at Ma'la. "You'll love it, I promise."

Ma'la shrugged in response.

The Gorcun nodded his head forward towards her. It was the customary way of his people to introduce themselves. "I'm Tochi," he said with a smile, "And you might be?"

Ma'la smiled back at the friendly face. "I'm Ma'la," she said simply.

Tochi's mouth made a slight "o."

"The new navigator?" he asked respectfully.

"That's me," Ma'la said with a grin.

"And is it true that you have a c'orrum ore?" asked Tochi, blinking in nervous anticipation.

Ma'la nodded and stood up. She lifted up her shirt to expose her stomach. There showing were the lines of the spider-like web across her skin.

"Who is she?" asked Tochi.

"Her name is Diamala," replied Ma'la. "She has been a symbiant of my people for over a thousand years. I was priviliged that the elders chose to give her to me for the duration of my life span."

"IT WAS MY PRIVILIGE TOO MA'LA," said Diamala in a voice only Ma'la could hear.

"Wow," breathed Tochi, "that's heavy stuff." He blinked. "For give me for saying this, but you don't look like a typical Arconion. I mean, you have five fingers . . . don't most Arconions have four?"

Ma'la looked at the floor as she spoke softly. "I'm a half-breed. My father was human, my mother Arconion."

"And they gave you a c'orrum ore?" said Tochi. "You must be amazing in the air."

"Well," said Ma'la, we'll soon find out."

"Hey," said Tochi. "Let me introduce you to the rest of the command crew. I'm first Lieutenant myself." He motioned to a small group of aliens and humanoids sitting together at a table across from them. Some of them were staring over in their direction.

"Sure," said Ma'la. "Takeoff isn't for another half an hour. I have 15 minutes to kill."

"So do we all," grinned Tochi.

They made their way over to the officer's table. Tochi was nice, Ma'la reflected. As they approached one of the aliens stood up and held up its hand palm up. It was a pale white color, with huge deep set black eyes and no hair. It wore a purple flightsuit.

Ma'la recognized the species. It was a Nanic. Notoriously silent, the Nanic observed everything and had a photographic memory. They made great spies.

Ma'la lifted her hand to briefly touched the offered palm.

"Welcome," said the Nanic.

Tochi quickly took over the introductions. Besides the Nanic, who Ma'la was to learn was name Shelk and who was part of the flight crew, there were two humans: Hayley Anderson, cultural research officer, and Jared Martin, second in command. Ensign Bounce was there, happily bopping up and down in anticipation of the introduction of the new arrival. Ma'la looked around the mess hall. She sensed Diamala's anticipation -- and it matched her own.

Softly she repeated the name of the ship "Lazarus," as she made her way to her station.

Reaching the chair, she sank into the comfortable cusion, and closed her eyes.

"I HAVE SELECTED OUR POINT OF ORIGIN," said the clear voice in her skull. Unconsciously, Ma'la nodded even though she knew Diamala could not see her.

She began to breathe deeply. Slower and slower until she felt herself shrinking into a single prickpoint of light and then she began to expand, her essence gradually covering the whole ship. Her breathing became in time with the ships motor as she unconciously guided Lazarus through takeoff. There was a soft shudder, and the ship had achieved lift-off.

Ma'la could feel the air hitting her, colder and colder it grew though it did not especially bother her. Once again she heard the pure beauty of the star's songs, each on a different frequency. She became aware of Diamala guiding her in one particular direction. As though through a fog, she heard Captain Gorgun barking orders to the rest of the crew.

She became aware slowly of a low bass thrumming sound. It was different than the rest of the universes' language -- deeper, and more mysterious. Ma'la noticied as she continued to guide the ship that it was growing louder and the ship was trembling slightly.

The throbbing became more violent, the dark song louder and more intense as an unimaginable pull of gravity began to take hold of the ship, taking it to the center of the unearthly music. Ma'la saw colors of all shapes and sizes despite her closed eyelids as the ship entered a large silver wormhole. The pressure was on all sides of her now and she skillfully navigated through it to keep both ship and passengers safe. With a final faltering note the tunnel that the ship had just passed through collapsed on itself, and the ship found itself in unexplored space.

"The looped signal is coming from a satellite ring around the fourth planet in the system just ahead of us, Captain." Nanic reported, peering so closely into his monitor that a human duplicating this maneuver would have a massive headache in seconds.

"Take us in." Captain Gorgun ordered.

Ma'la acknowledged by causing a red light on his console to light up. Talking while she was merged was very difficult so this signal system compensated nicely. She "reached towards" the solar system and suddenly the ship had changed heading and was hurtling towards it.

"Slow to one third cruising speed and head for the fourth planet."

Ma'la complied. They passed frighteningly close (for her, anyway. None of the others, seeing only with their eyes if they looked at a monitor, looked concerned) to a gas giant twice the size of Jupiter. Then they were passing through the asteroid ring most systems seemed to have between the gassy planets and the rocky planets.

"Slow to braking speed and drop us into a high orbit." The Captain commanded.

Ma'la signaled compliance and did as he said. She parked them a thousand yards above the highest orbiting satellite, noting as she did just how much junk was circling this globe. Little of it appeared to be still working. No one had been doing maintenance in a long while.

Ma'la could distantly hear the others reporting. They sounded as if their voices were coming from three rooms away.

"No energy readings, Captain."

"No artificial lights coming the from the dark side, Captain."

"Massive cities dot the landscape, Captain, but no sign of movement on the roads, in the air, or on the surface of the rivers, lakes, and oceans."

"Very well," Gorgun said lightly, "Ma'la, find a flat field away from any trees or running water that is near one of the largest cities. When you've discovered a good spot, route the coordinates to Carrier Control. Then disengage and join us in the Briefing Room. Bounce! You have the bridge!"

It took her a while to find the perfect spot but the wait was worth it because it was indeed perfect ... a clear flat field only a mile from the outskirts of the biggest city on the continent below them. She sent the location to Carrier Control and then reluctantly disengaged from the ship. Touching the navigation panel warmly one last time, she forced herself to start walking away and off the bridge.

This was worse than the first time. The feeling of incompleteness, emptiness, was almost crushing.

Diamala emotionally stroked her and the feeling subsided. Ma'la thanked her and got a hold of herself before entering the Briefing Room.

She had taken so long finding a landing spot that meeting was breaking up even as she entered the room. Oh well, no chance to volunteer to be one of the planet teams now.

Tochi stopped in front of her. "Want to be a member of the first team down?" He asked her. It was hard to tell since he was alien, but he seemed to be amused.

"That would be ace!" Ma'la gushed, feeling a lot better. She had hoped they would let her be one of the last teams at best.

The Gorcun led her to get a field kit and survival uniform and then took her to the Carrier Room. Ma'la had heard of Carrier travel but had never actually experienced it herself. It was supposed to be no more exciting than stepping from one room to the next, but it was one thing to know something intellectually and quite another to be emotionally cavalier about stepping several miles down onto a planet.

A Carrier Pod had probably already been launched from the ship and sent to the landing spot she had selected. It would set down in the middle of the clearing, as far away from trees and anything else sticking more than a foot off the ground as possible. Then a miniwormhole, no different from the black hole they had passed through except in power, would be opened between this Carrier Room and the Carrier Pod below. Anyone and anything could move instantaneously from ship to planet and back again for as long as the wormhole was active. No dematerialization occurred, nor was there any sense of travel. It felt and looked no different than walking from one room to the next. That was because it actually WAS walking from one room to the next.

"Think of it this way," her Spatial Physics instructor had explained once while holding a sheet of paper up, "one end of this paper is the Carrier Pod and the other is the Carrier room. They are presently 9 inches apart from each other. If we were the size of a flit bug that would take us all day to walk from one end to the other." He bent the paper so that the two opposite ends were now touching each other. "Now even a flit bug can step from one end of the paper to the other with just one step. That, in essence, is what the Carrier Wormhole does. It bends space to bring two points together."

The only limitation, he had gone on to explain, was that you needed a contained unit at the location you wanted to travel to as well as your current location. Which is where the mobile Carrier Pod came into play. Ma'la, whose scientific interests lay in other fields, had never bothered to ask why a Carrier Pod needed to be in a wide open space to work properly.

Besides her and Tochi, Hayley Anderson and two Patrol Officers were coming along on the first team.

"We don't expect any trouble," Tochi said as he introduced the security men as Wallace (human) and Gromit (Felding, a massive biped insect race with exoskeleton thick enough to resist laser blasts), "but you never know what surprises might spring up."

"The Pod reports that the air is breathable to all races aboard ship and the radiation levels are within norms." Captain Gorcun told them. "Have a good trip. Report every ten minutes." He patted Ma'la's arm comfortingly as he passed her.

The technician, the only other being in the room, nodded to Tochi, so he walked to the door at the other end of the room, entered a code, and opened it. Beyond they could see another nondescript room. Nondescript except for the windows in the far wall showing a view of the abandoned planet below from the perspective of the planet's surface.

Wallace walked through first. There was no evidence of what specific point he crossed from the ship to the planet's surface. If Ma'la had not known better, she would have dismissed the windows as monitors showing digital images.

Hayley and Gromit went through next, and then it was her turn. Ma'la kept her gaze straight ahead and her walk steady as she walked through. There was no sensation, no sense of travel. The only difference was the slight increase in gravity and that took several steps and Diamala's heightened awareness to notice.

Tochi walked across after her, spared her a smile, and then indicated for the technician on the ship to close their door. He closed the Carrier Pod door and turned to face them.

"Well," he said pleasantly, "here we are! Let's go find out what happened, shall we?"

It was weird to feel the grass beneath her feet. Ma'la walked slowly behind Tochi as the four officers perused the area.

"Great spot Ma'la!" said Hayley enthusiastically. "Now all we need are some life readings."

"We'll set up camp, then do more exploring," said Tochi.

"I can't wait!" exclaimed Hayley.

Ma'la felt Diamala shifting within her, and thought out a query.

What disturbs you Diamala?

THERE ARE LIFE FORMS HERE BUT...

But?

THEY ARE NOT THE KIND THAT ARE GOING TO BE EASILY IDENTIFIED.

Ma'la suddenly realized that she had closed her eyes. She opened them and looked at her fellow officers.

"There is life here," she stated simply.

Tochi looked at her quizzically. "How do you know that?"

"Diamala knows. I do not question her," replied Ma'la.

"Well, nevertheless I'm running a life readings scan. Once we know what to look for we can explore the city and then bed down for the night."

Tochi placed a small metal object on the ground and flipped a few switches. The console lit up a bright yellow color, then a red color.

"Mmmph," muttered Tochi. "Let me try that again."

He flipped the switches again and once again the bright red color went on.

"What is it?" asked Ma'la.

Tochi perused the group. "The only life readings I'm getting are from our group. According to my readings this place is deader than a doornail."

Ma'la shook her head. "That's not possible. Diamala knows."

One of the other ensigns twitched his nose. "Not to be rude or anything Navigator, but I trust my sensors over some kinda parasite."

"Then you are stupider than you appear," shot back Ma'la coolly.

"Ok kids, now settle down," interrupted Tochi. "Ma'la what did Diamala say?"

"She said that there were life forms here but they weren't going to be easily found."

"Why don't we just check out the city?" suggested Hayley. "It ought to give us some clues at least."

 The city architecture made Ma'la's head hurt. Everything was wrong. Diagonal slashes, two feet wide and 6-8 feet long appeared to be windows but there was no consistency in how they appeared on the walls of the structures. Some started a foot from the ground and the very next one might start ten feet higher. And why were they diagonal anyway? What creature would want a window like that?

The walls were not a consistent color either. One building was a mishmash of mint tea and burnt orange with splotches of black randomly inserted.

Not even the walls were consistent. Bumps and grooves dotted them without rhyme or reason. The walls arced, twisted, turned, and changed heights without any regard for what was happening a foot either direction along the wall.

If each building contradicted itself, they repudiated each other even worse. No color splatter on one building was remotely like any other, none of them were the same basic size, and no roof height was close to any other.

It was like the entire city had been designed by a two year old Gundi high on NOVK while hanging upside down as he drew the plans.

"Is it just my race or is this the most annoying looking architecture you've ever seen?" Hayley wanted to know.

Ma'la was rubbing her temples. "It's not just you. Looking at this makes my hair hurt."

"Really??" Hayley asked curiously. "I was under the impression human hair was dead tissue incapable of sensation. Or is it because you're only half human-."

"It was a joke, sorry." She interrupted.

It had been so long since they had been visited. So long since they had felt the young life energy of physical beings.

A* couldn't resist, it had to sample one of them. It reached out and slurped a little taste. The energy was silky, exciting. A* blossomed like star about to supernova. (Oh ... that was very good.)

Tochi stumbled and fell to his knees. He cried out and grabbed his head with both hands.

Ma'la was at his side in an instant. "What's wrong?"

YOU'RE IN DANGER FROM ONE OF THE LIFE FORMS.

"I - I dunno. I just felt really weak and dizzy." Tochi gasped.

(How dare you!) K* snapped. (That is NOT appropriate behavior!)

(But it is soooo delicious.) A* beamed. (You really should try it. I have to tell the others so that we might feast.)

K* flashed a dark blue for an instant, such a rare expression of disgust that A* stopped. (Before you do that, you should look at yourself.) K* suggested.

A* looked down at itself. Where before it had been a golden light, there was now a dark brown stain across its middle. (So this is the price ... turning ugly?)

(Hurting others for pleasure is always an ugly act.) K* reminded.

"Captain, did you authorize another transit?" The security ensign asked suddenly.

Gorgun's eyes flashed. "No."

"Someone just used the Carrier Pod. I wouldn't have noticed because for some reason the alarm didn't go off but I was running a routine diagnostic and the computer showed the power drain, so I followed up-."

"Never mind the self aggrandizing, bring the pod cameras online!"

The main viewer lit up, showing a tall figure in a dark blue robe leaving the Carrier Pod.

It was clutching a laser harpoon.

"Oh for Jaylup's sake! Get a security unit down there right away! And order everyone to report in so we know who is missing!"

(I'm sorry.) A* moaned.

(Just don't let it happen again.) K* sighed. (What is this? Someone approaches, and their mind is very dark.)

K* stepped closer to the first group, "sniffing" each one of them. It finally stopped over the woman with two souls and "sniffed" again, very deeply. (Yes, this is the one who is the intended victim of the new being.)

At the cliff overlooking the city, the blue robed figure squatted down. A quick look through omnioculars told him the landing party was several "blocks" (the city streets were not divided into blocks because all the streets went one direction. He wondered idly for a second what happened if you started down the wrong street. Did you have to go through the entire city before turning around? Then he returned his attention to the task at hand) into the city but still well within range. Even better, they had stopped. And Ma'la was kneeling beside Tochi, who seemed to be injured.

Excellent. It would be a very simple shot.

(Are we going to let this atrocity occur?)

(This is not the time for YOU to speak of atrocity after what you did.)

The assassin lay flat brought his laser harpoon to bear on the landing party. They shot into clear focus as he peered through the sight scope.

A* 's light flashed irritation. (Nevertheless...)

K* sighed again. (No, we can't let it happen. Let's touch the mind...)

"Can you walk?" Ma'la asked gently.

"I can try, but give me another minute." Tochi replied in a sickly wheezing voice.

SOMETHING ISN'T RIGHT. THERE ARE BEINGS AROUND US, BUT SOMETHING ELSE IS GOING ON...

Ma'la glanced around her, but she couldn't see anything but more of the insane architecture.

(No! I'll take care of it!) A* darted up above the city and towards where the new being was setting up.

(A*! Wait! There is a better way!) It raced to follow its friend.

His target was in the middle of his sights. He didn't have to aim for where the symbiote resided either, one shot and both host and symbiote would be atomized.

A* hovered over the being, building its resolve. Then it swooped down and drank in as much as it could swallow in one gulp.

(No A*! You can't!)

The assassin screamed seized his head. The laser harpoon fell from his grasp and down the hundred foot drop to the road leading into the city ruins.

The landing party, attracted by the scream and then the minor explosion as the weapon impacted harshly with the stone metal road, looked up in time to see the assassin thrashing and futilely warding off an invisible assailant.

A* 's stain was darkening and spreading. It drank in again, and the assasin's soul shriveled up, then finally disappeared inside A*.

(I can't believe you did it.) K* cried mournfully.

The assassin pitched forward lifelessly. His blue robed body upended off the cliff and rolled four times, head over heels, until it impacted the ground several feet to the left of the still burning road.

A* was turning pitch black now. (My, that was much sweeter than I've imagined all these years.)

(This will end in expulsion.) K* stated with pained finality.

A* giggled. (Then I might as well drink my fill!) A* soared back into the air and then dived towards the city again.

"What the devil is going on?" Tochi snapped as he worked himself to a standing position.

"I'm getting a report from a security team that was dispatched down here. They say someone sneaked down here with a laser harpoon." The communications ensign reported, holding a webbed finger to her headset.

"No dung?" Hayley replied sarcastically. "Thank them for the advance warning."

"I agree, Diamala," Ma'la thought. "Something has everyone on edge and irritable. Something is messing with us, and I don't like it any more than you do."

K* 's light dimmed with grief. (I didn't mean you'd be expelled, A*) It muttered softly. (I meant I would, for ending your misery.)

Still dim with melancholy, K* followed its lifetime friend.

Ma'la blinked slowly.

YOU ARE BEING PROTECTED sang the voice inside her skull.

"Protected?" she thought quickly.

THAT BEING WITH THE GUN MEANT YOU HARM.

"But what about Tochi?"

I'M NOT SURE. ALL I KNOW IS THAT SOMEONE IS KEEPING YOU SAFE.

***

K* sighed softly. (I'm sorry A*) He lifted up his hand and a soft glow emanated from his fingertips.

A* turned around and stared at his friend. His brown stained body began to shrivel and darken.

(You can't mean this!) A* said in a panic.

K* wiped a tear from his eyes. His purple form turned a light violet. (I'm afraid I have to do this A*. You violated the principles of being. And I would rather be expelled than have you do that again.)

(NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!)

I SENSE ENERGY, said Diamala's soft voice.

"Where?" said Ma'la.

ALL AROUND US. IT'S LIKE A GLOWING FORCE FIELD.

****

Hayley looked at Ma'la. The half breed seemed to be deep in concentration. Tochi shook himself.

"I feel better now," he said slowly.

"What was it?" asked Hayley.

"It was like....I was being drained or something. But then it was like something put a block over me."

"I don't get it," said Hayley. "No life forms, yet you were attacked? And what about Mr. Crispy over there with the laser gun?"

Ma'la looked at Hayley and spoke out loud. "We are definately not alone."

The sky seemed to shimmer in front of Ma'la's eyes.