Year E3029

Ocea

Dylan crouched and peeked, his face inches from the hole. The grin on his face moved to a toothy smile. I squatted beside him, my cheek beside his, while we examined the dark room. He wiggled the doorknob and huffed with annoyance.

"Locked?" I asked, listening to Stopper's giggles behind me.

"Yep," Dylan replied, trying to put his arm into the hole, but pulled away. "Ouch." Blood spotting on his arm from the edgy wood cutting him.

I leaned closer to the hole, watching the crafts blink red together. The humming of the machines that had been asleep for years whistled through the space. A greenhouse to the side of the door had plants growing out of the windows and taking over the crafters close by.

"I guess they never destroyed the human ships," Dylan said. "Do you think the first ship is there?"

"Only one way to find out." Thomas stood behind, pointing a metal bar at the doorknob. "Let's get in there."

Thomas swung the metal bar at the doorknob and knocked it to the ground with a clang. The ball bounced toward Stopper as he watched it gradually roll by him. He crouched on the chilly floor, placing his cheek on the cement with a giggle as it stopped before his eyes.

"Wow, this is beautiful," he said, picking it up with just the tips of his fingers. "The color is rich and—" He licked the doorknob. "Dandy."

Becca let out a wail of tears, crying into Wyatt's chest. "Dandy, like a daddy I might have." Her cries muffled.

Dylan rolled his eyes while Stop put the doorknob into my face. I swatted it away, watching it fly across the room. Stopper ran after it, and Thomas grunted while ripping the door off the wall. He tossed the door down with a smile and gestured into the secret area.

"Wyatt, stay here with the golden retriever and crying cat," Dylan said before he stepped past the open door.

I laughed at Stopper running up to Wyatt and handing him the doorknob. "Throw it," he said with a rapid nob.

Wyatt tossed it into the darkness. "Yeah, I'll watch over them. Check all the pods. Don't leave any out."

I brought my hand to my forehead and saluted him. "Got it."

Spinning, I saw Thomas following Dylan to the first pod. I stepped into the darkness, feeling the wooden stairs shake. I jumped a couple of steps and jogged toward Thomas. The pods all blinked at once with a red light.

"What do you think they were growing?" Thomas pointed at the greenhouse.

A vine shook small gal mites off the enormous leaves. The greenhouse had one wall missing while the pine tree grew out of the top, touching the ceiling, bending to fit in the room. A few sunhovers hovered from an open pod and landed in the tangled plants.

"Looks like they were testing earth plants and insects with safforias," I said, batting his back. "You take the ships here, Dylan in the middle, and I'll take the ones in the back."

"Yes," Dylan replied, ripping a yellow caution tape from a pod. "I think we should inspect all of them."

"My thoughts exactly." I jogged backward, watching Thomas walk toward his first ship.

I picked a row and jogged toward the darkness in the back. The shadows moved from the insects while spiders crawled away from me as I disturbed their peace. A huss had me slowing while a sunhover lit up red with anger at me. The insect kept to the ground and backed into a craft. Smaller hovers hid under it, showing me the babies.

"Don't worry, mama," I whispered, placing my palms up and crouching at her level.

With a blink, I lit my blue fire, watching the flame tint the insect and her baby's azure. She buzzed loudly, shaking her red glow to a purple before matching my tiny ball of fire. The miniature hovers chirped and flew from under her to my face. They vibrated a cobalt, not mimicking my color correctly.

They danced in my hair before flying high, zig-zagging between the pillars of the ceiling. The other sunhovers darted toward them while the mama chirped before nibbling at the nits on the concrete floor.

The yellow nits marched in unison, carrying leaves toward a pod, a line swaying with the cracking in the ground. My line of sight watched them, following the illuminated line to the broken steps. A book with notes written inside helped the nits into the craft.

I smiled at the mama sunhover before she changed to a yellow and fluttered away from me toward her baby's. Her vast wings whistled a vibration in the vacant space above the pods. Standing, I smiled with my light brightening my face.

"Do you see that?" Thomas asked behind me.

I spun around. "Yeah," I replied. "The mama must have had them recently. Cute little babies."

"No." Thomas shook his head, pointing behind me.

I turned and watched the nits illuminate their way into an open pod. Confused, I glanced at Thomas with my brows arched. He gripped my hand, moving my ball of fire next to the door. My flame danced shadows on the numbers, brightening my heart.

"The first ship," Thomas whispered, not letting my hand go.

I smiled at Thomas, happy he didn't listen to my command to check the other pods, and followed me. His big brown eyes tinted cobalt while a curl dangled near his brows.

"Are you ready?" he asked, not looking away.

"Yes," I replied, looking at the dark hole of a door. "Let's hope we find everything we have been looking for."

Everything led us to the first ship, pod three-zero-five, and if this had been a dead end, we might not have had any leverage over the MOS. Chief Niven had assigned us a mission to investigate Thomas and his memories. As we followed the leads, our next step was to remove the chips and dismantle the Men of Suits. Stepping a foot into this craft could be the beginning of a thrilling adventure or the start of a disastrous outcome. We could be stuck fighting the MOS for years to come.

"Ocea, I know your mind is running a million miles per beetle bicycle," Thomas said while I froze before the door. "Time to step into the craft and find the key to the end."

"The key to the end?" I asked, peeking at him.

"Yes, the clue to their end and our beginning." He smirked, gesturing for me to go first.

"Okay." I held my fire higher, stepping into the darkness and changing everything to blue.

The craft had papers scattered on the floor, with the nits eating at the seat cushions. A sunhover flew by my face, darting out the door. Thomas swatted at spiderwebs near his face.

"Watch for black relicts," I said before noticing a human-made torch.

I grabbed the torch and hovered my fire at the more extensive end. The material lit quickly with my flame and brightened the craft. A movement from the back of the ship caused Thomas to grab my hip and bring me closer.

A ticker scratched on the metal surface before the shadow jumped from one end to the other. I swung the torch from side to side and encouraged the insect to peek out and follow the light. The enormous eyes widened while the triangle head tilted with amazement.

"Another mantis," Thomas said with relief.

"Yes, but no." I held my hand out, and the mantis slowly stretched his front legs.

Thomas moved beside me, and the bug pulled his leg back. I stepped away from Thomas, humming with a tiny whistle. The mantis crawled slowly to my arm, showing off its vast wing span with a unique pattern. The veins with the wings glowed a green while the transparent material barely tinted a teal.

"Not just a mantis from Safforia." Thomas calmly reached for the mystery bug, but the insect hissed at him and tucked closer to my torso.

I maneuvered the bug and saw the round rear end. "Maybe a hybrid between something on Earth and Safforia."

"Like you?" Thomas asked in amazement. "Maybe this had proof that someone like you could exist."

"Maybe," I replied and guided the insect onto the table.

The hybrid bug waddled over notebooks, flipping the pages with its sticky legs on accident. Its wings vibrated before shitting over the parchment. A sour smell filled the area as Thomas held his hand over his nose.

"Oh, that is disgusting," Thomas said and gagged into his palm.

The insect chirped loudly, letting another green slim pile out of its rear. It lit up brighter, purring, before flying to the back of the ship away from us. A spoiled chemical scent floated around while I raised my shirt and tucked my nose.

Thomas shook his head. "I can't do this," he said, rushing to the door and leaping out of the first ship.

I giggled, but my eyes watered, and my blue flame increased in size from the putrid gas within the small space. The vast, slim pile dripped off the table onto the ground. Watching the shit steam, I lifted the notebooks with paintings and tucked a few under my armpit.

Walking toward the ship's exit, I noticed another drawing book and snagged it from the shelf with other books. Not being able to be in the biohazard-filled craft, we could research one notebook at a time outside the pod.

I leaped out of the door while Thomas crouched, inhaling deep breaths, trying not to puke. He peeked at me with a smirk while I giggled and handed him a clean notebook.

"Let's go through this for now," I said, sitting on the ground with my blue flame flickering for light.

"Not sure how we will go back in there," he replied, pointing at the pod and settling beside me. "I can still smell it from here."

"We will send Stopper in there next," I laughed, flipping over the drawn images in a book.

A photo of an old lady fell out and drifted onto my lap. I gripped the image and tilted it toward Thomas. She had a bird in her hand, not ready to smile at the camera.

"Do you think she lived in the pod and drew all this?" I asked, flipping my page to an oil painting of the open space with the Nus.

"Yes," Thomas replied, showing two more photos of the older lady in his book. "Ruth," he said, reading from the back. "I wonder who they are?"

One image had a young lady and a man with her. All three had a tablet in their hands, smiling at a man with his back turned to the camera.

"Not sure." I turned the image over and zero to identify them.

I handed the photo to Thomas and glanced at the notebook on his lap, the image of the rust grass field with a rock in the center. The art style had a sketchy look, unlike the smooth watercolor of the others. Thomas gripped the page, about to turn it, but I placed my hand on it.

"Wait," I said, pointing at the handwriting. "Do you recognize that?"

Thomas tilted his head. "Your dad's handwriting," he replied with a shocked expression.

I snagged the book from Thomas and ripped the page from it while standing. "Jump into the night sky," I read the clue to him. "This has got to be it. We must get back to Safforia and the rust grass field."

Thomas stood from the ground, gripping my wrist and pulling me into the darkness. "What do you think the clue means? How many fields are there?"

I shook my head. "I'm not sure, but maybe going to the right field at night would answer that."

I carefully folded my dad's picture, tucking it into my pocket, where I could feel his presence beside me. With each clue, we inched closer to our goal of bringing the Men of Suits to justice and returning Safforia to its rightful citizens. I couldn't help but smile at Thomas before racing between the pods back to the others.

"Oh, Dylan!" I yelled in excitement, with my hand cupping my mouth, echoing my voice in the vast room. "You won't believe this!"

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