Soron stared out his window at the complete black of tunnelspace, wondering where they were headed this time. This trip seemed longer than most, and was one of the most boring.
   With a sigh, he turned from the window, lay on his bed and stared at the ceiling. His little cabin had plain steel walls and floor. A washroom was tucked in the corner and the only furniture was the bed, a desk, and a chair. It was far better than the broom closet he had inhabited before reaching his sixteenth year and being promoted.
   He was still only sixteen, but he had advanced very far into the ranks in a matter of months. As one of only two humans on the Blood Terror, that was a major achievement.
   Looking out the window, he sighed again. The thing about tunnelspace was that it never looked like you were moving, but staying still in a dark place. Soron supposed he would get used to it eventually. As pirates, much of their time would be spent running into the tunnel.
   The intercom box by the door bleeped, making him jump. Getting up, he answered it. "The captain wants to see you." stated the gravelly voice, then disconnected.
   Soron straightened up and took a deep breath. So the trip wasn't going to be so boring.
   As he walked through the passageways, the ship jumped out of tunnelspace. When he reached the door to the captain's quarters, the guard told him to wait. Curious, Soron looked out the large viewport at a dusty planet with patches of green here and there, none of them very big. Land masses that might have been continents rose above small, rusty-looking oceans. Peering at the dark side of the planet, he was shocked to discover that a crater about a fourth of the planets size was leaking rocks along it's orbit, making a tiny asteroid belt and leaving a fraction of the core exposed. What could have hit a planet so hard it was breaking apart?
   The guard opened the door and gestured inside. Taking a deep breath, he went in.
   The captain was possibly the most repulsing being in the universe. Gray, moldy skin covered an over-muscled humanoid with long, stringy black hair so matted it couldn't be shaved. Three eyes the color of rotten eggs glared at every thing as though it would be his next meal. He had no nose or lips, but a slit mouth with serrated predators teeth. He was clad in a dull colored tunic that the crew rumored to be made of the skins of those who failed him. Everybody just referred to him as the Captain, given that he had forbidden his name to be spoken when he took over. He had also, for unknown reasons, decided to adopt Soron into the crew of the Blood Terror. Many suspected that he had just been something to keep the low-ranking other human busy. How surprised they must have been.
   Soron stood with his hands clasped in front of him, waiting for the Captain to speak. The wait wasn't long.
   "What do you think of the planet below, Soron?", the Captain asked. He spoke in a deep voice Soron suspected bordered ultrasonic.
   "I wonder about the large crater on the dark side, how it appears to be falling apart. The oceans are heavily polluted, which means either a civilization or large natural disaster. It seems to be dying."
   The Captain chuckled lightly, not a pleasant sound. "Your analysis is close to perfect. Indeed, their is, or maybe I should say was, a large civilization. The planet was not expected to die for another million years, but something hit it and made the planet unlivable. Some managed to get away, but most were killed in the fires that followed. Their are still survivors down below, but very few, and they won't last long." He smiled.  "I believe you humans called it Earth."
   Soron looked up sharply. The old human man had told him stories of Earth when he was young. He had always wondered what had happened to it. The adults never told him. From the fables, Soron had come to envision a beautiful blue globe with white poles and small green continents, lights shining from cities at night. Nothing like this world, with no ice and hardly any water, no trees or lights. Just barren wasteland.
   "Some of the valuables left behind might be worth something." the Captain continued. "I want you to lead a party down in shuttle 4 and report on what you find."
   Soron felt a bubble of excitement rising in his chest. He actually got to lead a mission! Careful to keep his elation from showing, he nodded and left the room.

   As the shuttle entered Earth's atmosphere, the woman sat back in the cockpit of her fighter. The boy's aura was just as strong as the other, perhaps stronger. And she could sense another on the planet below with a slightly weaker one, nearly smothered by the two auras. She keyed in a command in her fighter's comp, and followed the boy down to a devastated Earth.