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Taking the Problems Home

Meanwhile, on the other side of the dimensional wall, Dairyu and friends managed to reach Milsteir city, a town that grew into a big trading hub after border regulation was relaxed following the end of armed conflicts. Both Richard and Andreas had a say in it, and they were glad about it. It wasn’t, however, about a problem in that border city, but in fact, it was in the abandoned military base, once the base for the Border Guards who maintained order in Milsteir in its town days.

Upon landing on one of the helipads, both Richard and Andreas were surprised by the state of the base.

“Ancestors…, it’s hard to see this place in its sorry state,” said Richard. “This place is practically a home away from home.”

“And one where history was made. It’s a shame, but that’s how things are,” said Andreas. “We all go back to dust someday.”

“You’re alive and well.”

“Not for long. Still, I cherish this second chance of mine. Now, however, we need to make haste.”

“Agreed,” said Dairyu. “What can you tell about the gate?”

“The gate is small, but it’s enough to fit a draconian,” said Richard. “The only problem with is that the whole thing’s rusted, and the original creators made an oath not to use it to disturb the balance of dimensions, or we might rip a bigger, unrecoverable hole. What we’re doing right now…is the same as opening a recovering wound.”

“Which does not change things,” said Dairyu. “We need to risk it. Let’s hope it won’t lead to something worse. Raithorakh, are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“Yes, but I need preparations, and some repairs. It may take time, but that’s where your crew members are important.”

“Right.” Dairyu returned to the common area of the ship, where Capisa, Dajar, and Calventis had been reading on a blueprint of the dimensional gate. They were discussing the energy output when Dairyu walked towards them.

“Can you replicate it?” asked the Orient.

“We can, but then, we need a bigger output to open it big enough for the Wind of Change to go through,” said Dajar. “In fact, I don’t think we can.”

“Because the gate’s designed for humanoid beings,” concluded Dairyu. “I know that. We have to ditch the Wind of Change.”

Everyone was surprised by it, but Dairyu smiled.

“Or so I would say. But, I’ll give you something to work on. I want you to make this ship a gate-ship.”

Everyone was confused.

“Gate…ship?”

“He means modifying the ship so it can get across,” said Rose, coming out from her workstation. “We’ll use the ship to force-open a tear out in space and we go through it.”

“And the only way to do so is to install the whole thing on the ship,” concluded Calventis. “That’s a marvelous idea!”

“That’s the reason why he told us to do things,” said Dajar.

“Exactly,” said Raithorakh as he walked in the room. “This ship is designed with different technology in mind, and it has been successfully retrofitted from a decade old design, which made use of two vastly different technology designs, which, technically, would not work, but worked perfectly. Also, there’s a log signed by one Renziletis Mankoreta the Third, which has the same surname with Calventis here. Unless Mankoreta is a common name in your planet, I’d say he’s a relative.”

“He’s my father,” said Calventis. “And yes, I know most of how things work on this ship, which is why I am assigned as her engineer. Do you have a suggestion?”

“I’ll help you with some of the details, but right now, it’s your job to use that blueprint and modify it so you can fit the plane with a dimensional gate generator. I’m sure you can do it.”

“Of course, I am,” bragged Calventis. “The Scyllas are the best engineers of the Federation.”

“Oh, don’t take that cake for yourself! Aqura are also the best!”

“Good workplace rivalry. That can help you worked out,” said Dairyu with a smile. “Now…parts.”

“I think the drakes left some spare parts in their workshop…provided it’s still there.”

Dairyu, Richard, and Raithorakh then walked towards an abandoned building that looked ordinary on the outside, except for a shutter gate beside it. Richard took a nearby crowbar and pried open the gate. He pulled out a flashlight and shone inside. The whole place was damp as it was overgrown, and years of abandonment made the place both dusty and covered in plants.

Raithorakh walked to an electric box outside and, using his electric-based magic, gave the building temporary power. It was enough to turn on the light on the ceiling, and they quickly found what they were looking for, except it wasn’t exactly in the best of conditions.

Many of the boxes containing parts from different project had almost been claimed by nature, and its content had rusted from the dampness of the room. The box was also moldy and parts of it had chipped away.

Richard took out a rusted nut and sighed.

“Unless we clean all the rusts, we won’t get it done,” said Richard. “And let’s be clear. I hate cleaning rust.”

“Why does something as advanced as a dimensional gate do not use anti-rust material?”

“We might, but we thought it’s best to use something readily available. Also, just so you know, we didn’t have composite materials back then, and plastic’s considered too brittle for this situation. I mean, we were treading in unknown territories, so it’s better to play safe.”

“We?”

“One of my scales is the one that opened the right path,” said Richard. “I’d suggest blood offering, but the science drakes did not want to make it into a blood ritual and simply said a small biological component infused with something from the other world was enough.”

“So, that means, we need someone who did not change into a draconian, like me and Seiryu, who are draconians in our own world,” said Dairyu. “I guess that’s easy enough.”

“Just remind them to put the biometric scanner inside pressurized room. We never tried something like this in space before.”

And so, the technicians and engineers in the crew did their best using rusted materials cleaned by applying a futuristic anti-rust system Capisa made from components in the ship and what he could find in the workshop. It did not matter much since the ship was also in a bad shape after orbiting the planet for 30 or so years, but unlike the spare parts, the ship was made out of a ‘self-cleaning’ composite courtesy of Let, who replaced the old one (made from Terran metal) with that technology. A little scrub with the right tools would make it brand new again, except the tools would not be invented 250 years from the Draconian world’s years, and the closest they could get it was in St. Vincent, which was used for the bigger ship.

As the crew became busy with the whole ship upgrade, Dairyu, who was supervising, was pulled aside by Rose. He asked Capisa to take over while she took him to an abandoned building, where she closed the door behind them. Dairyu, feeling that Rose had something important to say, did not ask her actions, but simply ask something straight to the point.

“You have a problem only I can answer,” he said.

“Because you are the only other Terran alive on the ship,” said Rose. “It’s about something that might be related…or not, depending on what you want to believe. Dairyu, do you believe in the supernatural?”

“With Seiryu there, I don’t think I have any reason to stubbornly deny it.”

“No, I’m not talking about this ghost phenomenon. What I mean is the realm of magic, something from a past. It may be proven scientifically now, given that many of those visions could be attributed to the tears, but I am not talking as a scientist. I am talking as a werewolf.”

“Why?”

“I was given a warning…by a white wolf,” said Rose. “From the Zeta Station exploding, and many things about ‘sacrifice’ and ‘price’. I don’t understand what it is, but I was given an assurance by my dear old brother that it means something important, and it is related to everyone involved in the family of wolves.”

“So, what you’re saying is that…you’re contacted by a spirit from beyond.”

“Not just a spirit, Dairyu, a goddess. She’s a goddess who rules the Hunting Grounds, a place where deceased werewolves will go.”

“And that’s your problem? Look, Rose. Clairvoyant or not, the ghosts are real, and they are Solids. I have no reason to disbelieve you. But then, werewolves are a mystical race of people, so there must be a reason why the white wolf only appears in front of you.”

Just as Dairyu said so, Rose saw the room became brighter, and the white wolf, the same one that she had been talking about, showed in front of her, glimmering as if the light of the moon was reflected on her fur.

“B-but how? I’m not even…”

“You may not be in your world, or even a wolf for that matter. But, a wolf is a wolf, and you are still one.”

“No. How are you even here?”

“This universe is bleeding, just like yours,” she said. “Everything is falling apart, and the Hunting Grounds is slowly disappearing.”

Alarmed, Rose paced towards the wolf and said, “It’s disappearing?! Then, how’s…”

“Things are looking grim there, and here. You must find a way to close everything up. The end time is near, one that will end all existence.”

“All existence! Will you tell me more? Please. We need to know more!”

“Forgive me, young wolf. My power is fading away…tell him everything you know, and tell him…”

Before the wolf could finish her sentence, she faded away, leaving more questions than answer. Dairyu, who could hear what Rose was talking about, said, “What do you mean, ‘All Existence’? What’s disappearing?”

Rose then told Dairyu what she knew. The draconian’s expression was grim.

“Is she referring to the end of this universe…and the creation of a new one?”

“A Big Bang? Oh no…if that is the case…then this universe is already dying, and those tears are…”

“No, don’t get into conclusions yet. This situation is not exclusive to our universe. If the universe really has an end, then it is inevitable. But, I have a feeling something’s tampering with the balance of it, and that causes our current problem.”

“Isn’t that what we’re trying to find?”

“We were trying to find the first crack, not the cause of it. Now that you’ve given me something to think about…our plight might just be a higher being’s whim.”

Rose hesitated for a moment, and she went silent, but then, she sighed and said, “Everything I experienced…everything I had witnessed…goes beyond everything I’ve learned. I am a scientist researching alien lifeform, a werewolf lost in time, contacted by a spiritual entity… and here I am, in a parallel world entirely populated by draconians, with me being a mammalian dragon man…”

“You can pour everything out. I know everything’s overwhelming for you…”

She then looked up towards Dairyu and smiled, before patting his shoulder.

“At least I’m not a bore,” said Rose. “I still value adventure, within reason. Don’t worry about me, Dairyu. If not, I won’t even be here, standing and talking to you. I’d stay in the St. Vincent, in believable territory.”

“Good thing Amhyr got you by his side,” said Dairyu with a chuckle. “Still, I’m curious.”

“About what?”

“About Amhyr. What becomes of him? We never established contact with him ever since we escaped Terra.”

“If your old friend did not teleport us across the ocean and set off immediately, we might know. Still, he knows what he’s doing. By this point, he might’ve evacuated to Luna.”

“Luna? I hope there’s a reason for that. The base is not exactly the safest place. But, if you believe him, then I’ll try. That draconian can ruin everyone’s life without pulling a trigger.”

“Indeed, he is. Thank you, Dairyu.”

“Don’t worry, Rose. Things will return to the way it should be. We will succeed, or die trying.”

She smiled, knowing that Dairyu, who had lived for many years alone, would know a way to survive.

They waited for the fit to be finished, along with the repair of some critical components that had been taken by age. Capisa managed to not find any problems of the ship’s navigational systems (travelling within a planet was considered a small routine that did not use too much system) and predicted that the ship could reach the fifth planet from the World’s sun without any problems.

The ship’s warp drive, however, fell into disrepair. As the most delicate part of the ship, it needed constant supervision by an engineer, and 30 years of neglect took a toll to its delicate system. Fortunately, the whole thing did not suffer a meltdown despite its age, courtesy to Aquran containment technology. This mean they could not travel far until they returned to their home reality and use the St. Vincent to fix it.

By their judgement, the ship was still space-worthy, but they doubted its integrity once they reached the tear and cross it, as they had never seen it done, and the ship’s data was all over the place. It was a risk they must take. This wasn’t the only time the faced this kind of problem, however, and they knew that a combination of luck, skill, and grit was important for their survival.

At night, the ship finally finished its upgrade, and everyone, including Richard and Raithorakh, walked into the ship, which had been repaired with whatever they could find, giving it a grimy, but used, look. Everyone then walked towards the center, where the command interface was.

“Alright, everyone, let’s review our plans. The ship will go to the dimensional tear in space and, using a bio-sample, we will find the point where we were, and cross the portal back home. Any idea of what we’re going to expect?”

“The ship’s warp drive is repurposed to power the generator,” said Dajar. “Using the zero matter within, we can give it sufficient power to open long enough for us to get through, and big enough for the ship and everyone in it. Our only problem is the tear itself.”

“We closed the tear on the World because of concerns of it causing imbalance between realities,” said Richard. “We had been able to open the tear big enough for dragons the size of this ship, but that was before this situation. We cannot be certain whether our actions will cause the whole thing to get worse, or not.”

“That’s why I’ll be supervising the whole process,” said Raithorakh. “I know how these things work, and I’m the best bet of getting you all home in the right place, as my cybernetic part can generate the right frequency for the target reality. Me and Richard will go back home with one of your escape pods.”

“Alright….” Dairyu looked towards everyone around. “Now, I want you guys to know this. The moment we open the portal will be the time whether we will be safe or not. Do not leave your posts and stay alert. I am also talking to you two, Richard, Raithorakh. I hope you know how to fight.”

Richard pulled out his sword, and Raithorakh presented his weapon-arm.

“Good. Now…before we go, I want you guys to know. It has been a pleasure to be here. Even if we don’t survive, I am glad that this crew exists, and I’m glad…everyone can see this until the end.”

“We won’t die, Dairyu, not yet,” said Seiryu with great optimism. “We will go through, and we will not lose everyone.”

“Well said. Now, get back to your posts. Prepare for departure, and let’s go home.”

Everyone nodded and smiled, before returning to their designated workspace.

Capisa and Seiryu started the flying procedure, while the others strapped into their seats, with two reserved for Richard and Raithorakh. Dairyu nodded to the two and pulled off one of his soft scales and put it on the biometric scanner. It apparently found a match.

Before long, they managed to leave the World’s atmosphere and out into space. There was nothing different than the darkness of space, except how silent it was. It was not surprising, considering that no sound travelled space, but that was not the case. Due to the World being a pre-space world, there was no interplanetary travel that filled it, and thus it felt empty, with no traffic, except a space station small enough to fill some crew in it.

They then tried to pinpoint the tear in space, hoping that the tear that stranded the Wind of Change was still there. They did not find one, but Capisa and Seiryu could find it with a special sensor.

“It’s right in front of us,” said Capisa. “Whenever you’re ready.”

Dairyu nodded to Raithorakh, whose cybernetic arm had started the interface. He was straining a bit, but it was not significant. After taking a deep breath, his arm changed form, and as it interacted with the gate, it formed intricate patterns of cables that helped the thing started.

A tear, as if torn apart from the fabric of space of time itself, opened in front of the ship, showing a similar-looking, but not quite similar, starscape. There was only one way to find out of that space was the right space, and they needed to go into it, and see if they returned to their right place and time.

“Capisa, Seiryu…forward thrust,” said Dairyu, gulping. “And hope.”

Both pilots grimly nodded. They made adjustments to the thrust controls, then manually increased thrust speed. The ship started to fly into the space beyond the portal, and they became relieved when events started to happen.

The first thing that happened was Capisa, who slowly morphed from his aquatic draconian self into the shark-like appearance of an Aquros, along with his dependence of water-derived oxygen that he quickly supplied with the nano-tech he had handy. The ship slowly moved forward as everyone in the ship returned to their original body and form, except those who had no change whatsoever to their form.

They quickly spotted the St. Vincent, and contacted them to pick the ship up. The bigger ship quickly reached their position, which was some kilos away from their portal position. But then, something was amiss.

“Where are the other ships?” asked Dairyu, noticing the discrepancy. “Did they…”

“St. Vincent, where is the Culax and the Sha’kren?” asked Capisa. “Where are the Aquran and the Saurian fleet?”

“We were separated,” said Pritchard’s voice. “Five hours after your last contact, a tear opened right in front of us, and we are transported somewhere in space. Check your charts. We are no longer in Z-Sector.”

Seiryu gave the computer input. It responded.

“The ship is currently orbiting sector N52, approximately 50 light-years away from sector Z0,” said the computer.

“Can you contact them with sub-space…oh, wait.”

“Exactly,” said Pritchard. “Their ships are primitive, so we are the one who will need to go back to their position, except…”

“Except?”

“Something happened to our warp drive. It’s offline now, but we lost all zero matter reserves when we got through the portal, and…”

“Wait, Pritchard.”

Raithorakh suddenly felt ill. He grunted and fell down to his knee while Richard tried to support him. Slowly, however, he felt himself becoming weak, as he could not support Raithorakh’s weight. Right at this moment, the ship went through the portal, but it closed.

“What the hell?” said Richard as Raithorakh became heavier and somehow gaining mass.

Sensing something wrong, Dairyu turned to his communication grid and said, “Pritchard, we need your ship hangar, now! Clean up the biggest pad you had and open the bay doors! Capisa, get our ass there, now!”

“What’s wrong? If he’s sick we…”

“No, not that! I think this universe is fucking us over! Come on, or we’ll lose the ship!”

Capisa immediately applied full thrust to the ship and immediately flew to St. Vincent, with its side bay door opening to accept the Wind of Change. They did not bother on proper landing procedure and everyone on the hanger declared an emergency landing. After they went in and the atmospheric shield was up, Dairyu released an emergency hatch and he helped Richard and Raithorakh, now very heavy, out of the ship. The others noticed the dent his new weight in the ship.

“What the hell is wrong with us, Dairyu?!” said Richard. “Is this universe really safe for…us?”

As witnesses looked the impossible, yet astonishing, change in front of them, Richard was bewildered as he saw his body becoming smaller, his arms not covered with scales, and his clothes became baggy. He looked at a similarly surprised and Dairyu, who looked at his transformation.

Everyone was also surprised by Raithorakh, who finally fell after apparently exhausted. He slowly became bigger and bigger, then his anatomy slowly became feral, and his draconic features became enhanced. Surprisingly, his cybernetic arms also went bigger after apparently ingesting the nearby metallic foundation of a repair bot, which crumbled underneath. He kept getting bigger and bigger until he was the size of a nearby transport shuttle, after which he stopped growing.

Richard looked towards a shiny reflective surface. With an astonished look, he saw what he never thought would saw for years: his face. His real, human face, complete with short, dirty blonde hair that covered his head, along with all the features of a human with an average build.

Raithorakh’s body had now become as big as a transport shuttle and almost half of the Wind of Change, with feral anatomy and claws sharp enough to rend iron. His head was full, with all the draconic features enhanced into something akin of a beast. His cybernetic prosthetics and body parts remained, but had now became identical to the limbs he now possessed. The fact that everyone was very surprised by his transformation was because of him turning into a dragon. A fully grown, golden-scaled, dragon, with parts of his body covered in cybernetics clearly formed from nano-technology instead of the more mechanical one he had when he was a draconian.

With everything unfolding in front of them, no one dared to speak a word. It was all too much to bear. Everyone except Dairyu.

“Ancestors before me,” he said, astonished. “They are…the dragon and the rider.”