Worlds Collide

Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space or so they say. But what use is a scream when you're unconscious within seconds from lack of oxygen? The human mind is programmed to bypass that logic, to think that if you ever found yourself in a situation where your life was in danger, a scream would save you. But nothing could be further from the truth and a scream would cause your demise rather than your salvation.

The same could be said for the situation I find myself in now, skulking around a lab on a spaceship, orbiting an unnamed planet all the while nightmares roamed the halls in an attempt to find me. Yeah! A scream would be a bad idea right now, but as I said the brain is programmed to bypass that logic. So, when I say I let out the loudest, girliest scream as I fell over a tipped stool and landed on my ass. You should understand just how stupid I felt.

Around the same time this feeling of utter stupidity set in, something cold grabbed my arm in an icy grip. I made the mistake of looking at my captor and became frozen by the gaze set upon me. This thing had the appearance of a man I once knew, a man I once called family. Everything about him was familiar, his face and body even his scent was the same, all except, its eyes! They were black... no that's too simple to describe them, they were pure darkness, an endless void. It stood up from its crouched position, dragging me with it, announcing its position to the other creatures in its vicinity, people I knew and called friends. It was at this moment I realized just how screwed I was and how screwed humanity would be if He got his way, and these things made their way to the other planets.

But I guess I'm getting ahead of myself, and you have no idea what I'm going on about, so to enlighten you I shall take you back to the beginning where a level one lab tech is currently getting chewed out by her over-bearing, over-protective, incredibly annoying boss who just so happens to be her mother.

"I mean of all the reckless, irresponsible, idiotic, childish, and unprofessional things you've done this takes the cake! What the hell were you thinking Freya?" Mother yelled angrily. I just stared at her expectantly pushing my luck, as I reminisced over the stunt that got me into this vat of hot water.

"Frey, I don't think this is a good idea, I mean I'm still on thin ice after the pink mice incident! I mean we don't even know if it'll start." argued my best friend Tanya as I sat down in the decommissioned jeep.

"Of course it'll start, you're the best mechanic on the base!" I replied

"No! Dad is the best mechanic!" she reminded, giving me her 'don't be stupid!' eyebrow raise.

"Well, technically he's not on base at the moment so ipso facto you are the best mechanic on base." I counted in my sassiest tone. She gave her well-crafted 'whatever' look, just as I turned the key and started the engine.

"Ha, what did I tell ya? Piece of cake!" I announced as I gestured for her to get in.

"Well come on then let's go before the guards come back, that itching powder is only going to last so long! Oh, come on this is probably going to be the last fun thing we're gonna get to do for the next decade!" I said trying to coax her into listening to her inner devil ergo me!

"Oh, please even though you play up your hatred of this mission to your parents, you forget I know you and I also know you're looking forward to it!" She stated in her know-it-all tone. I mean she's not wrong, it's a trip of a lifetime, to explore the unknown quadrant of space, the planets not yet found by the coalition.

This fact does not help me win any arguments with my parents, particularly ones that revolve around jumping to yet another planet after only being on this one for six months. Our families are known as planet hoppers, once an initial sweep of a planet has been completed for atmosphere and potential threats and has been deemed 'safe to occupy', my parents go in. We stay to survey the land, the oceans (if there are any!), and the stars, but this time we'd be the first to ever occupy this region of space, it's so new that the most information the coalition has of this area is a bunch of long-range scans that leaves a lot to the imagination.

Don't get me wrong I love the thrill of a new planet but we're only seventeen and there's already so much expected of us, it can be a bit much, so Tanya and I (mostly me) like to perform little acts of rebellion to remind them of this fact.

"I don't see the point you're trying to make! Come on you know you want to!" I stated in a childish yet adult tone that only I can pull off, adding some puppy dog eyes to complete the manipulation.

"Ugh, Fine let's go but just be careful ok I'm not sure if I found the problem that caused the engine to break down in the first place," she warned as I took off out of the underground parking, just as the guards rounded the corner.

"Well, there goes the anonymity of this little joyride! My dad's gonna kill me!" Tanya said as she placed her head in her hand and a piece of short, choppy, brunette hair fell in front of her face.

"Wanna turn back?" I offered,

"Nah, may as well finish up the ride!" she replied lifting her head as a smirk that would make the devil proud graced her lips.

"That's my girl!" I shouted with a cheer, but that joy was short-lived as we turned back to the road ahead only to find a guards jeep pulling up in front of us, I tried the brakes but they weren't working so I yelled 'hold on!' as I made a sharp turn into the nearest bush, straight through till we crashed into a fence a few feet away, luckily we weren't going too fast otherwise this could've been very bad.

"Ouch pain, oh that hurts! Hey, are you ok?" I asked Tanya as I turned to get a better look at her as I heard her moan, this movement caused a sharp pain to run down my neck.

"Yep, all good, aches, pains and scratches nothing new! What about you?" she replied as she stretched out her arms and I rubbed my neck, trying to rid myself of the knot that formed at the base of it. Before I could reply a dark shadow encased us and by the look on Tanya's face, there was no chance of running away and blaming the scratches on a fall in the woods. I turned slowly with an innocent smile placed on my lips.

"Tony! How's the wife? Still pregnant?" I asked in a desperate attempt to shift the conversation before it started, alas it did not work. Tony and his wife are like a second family to both Tanya and me, he served with both our dads in the military before they all got transferred to the coalition’s science and technology division. Essentially, he's a non-blood-related uncle who is built like a truck, dark-haired and tanned. He was currently in his guard uniform so in his words ‘he's not our favourite uncle, he's the second in command and in very serious mode.’

"Freya! Yes, she is in fact and after I tell her this story, I'm pretty sure she's gonna regret not making me wear a condom!" He replied grossing us out. We've rebelled so much that it's nothing surprising, so his 'very serious mode' doesn't last long.

"Eww, dude TMI!" Tanya and I whined at the same time. He just rolled his eyes as he grabbed my arm, helping me out of the vehicle after making sure we could move everything. Another guard by the name of Hunter helped Tanya, he's younger, one of the newer recruits from the military doesn't say much but Tanya has a massive crush on the dark-haired Adonis, and I believe he has one on her too.

"Are you ok?" he questioned focussed solely on Tanya, she blushed as she replied with an 'I'm fine.' me being me had to break up this vomit-inducing love scene with a; "I'm fine too!" causing both of them to break their stare with dark blush coating both their faces which made the devilish smirk already on my lips widen.

They led us to the infirmary to get a once over and to wait for our parents. We were waiting for about half an hour for them to arrive and trust me when I say you could feel the air change when they did. Due to our parents' experience and expertise, they were given full autonomy over this facility and the upcoming mission, they say jump everyone on this base says, 'How high?' They're equivalent to royalty but with more power. They are the Joneses and the Rikers. Nobody pulling their strings, not even the Money-bag politicians who run the coalition.

Mom has ten degrees, three PhDs, and six bachelors across multiple specialties, speaks over seven languages, and is a master in Judo and Tai Kwon Do, Dad is the most highly decorated soldier in history followed closely by Tony and then Tanya's father Jackson. He has won multiple competitions in hand-to-hand combat and weapons handling and has a couple of engineering degrees as well. Tanya's Father is the most sort after mechanic in the known universe, if it has an engine he can fix it, he was also the designer of the newest spacecraft to be used in the upcoming mission, and her mother Hilary happens to be the best doctor as well, she's what's known as an all-rounder in the medical field mastering multiple specialties.

So yeah, being their children means there's a lot to live up to but Tanya and I hold our own, with both our parents teaching us about their respective fields, both of us graduating high school at ten and University at sixteen with multiple degrees each in different fields, we're also masters in multiple martial arts and weapons trained. So, when we do something like this we always end up with the 'I can't understand why you're wasting your potential!' speech. Just as that thought made its way into my head and into Tanya's too if I'm not mistaken, the parentals walk in with that stone-cold air around them, which brings us back to this moment.

"Oh, sorry I was waiting to see if you could fit any more adjectives into your rant before I answered," I replied which caused the vein that only appears on my mother's flawless forehead when she's pissed, to pulse.

"Freya! You're not a child anymore and this has got to be one of the most important missions we'll ever undertake. When will you stop acting like a child and start living up to your potential." and there it is! God, it's like clockwork.

"I don't know maybe the 100-year-long nap will help that along!" I sassed further pushing my luck and earning an elbow to the gut from Tanya. Yeah, I know I'm acting like a brat, but the devil child automatically makes herself known when Mother dearest appears.

"Ouch!" I reacted by evil-eyeing her. Just as mum was about to blow a gasket dad decided to jump in he's usually the buffer between mum and me, 'we're too much alike, it's why we always bicker.' he always likes to say. "Ok let's cool down, the important thing is that they're both ok and no real damage was done."

"Exactly, by the way, how did you manage to get that jeep working again?" questioned Jackson earning a wack from Hilary who just finished cleaning us up, causing both Tanya and I to crack up and gain a small smile from Tony and Hunter.

"Jacks this is not the time!"

"Sorry, dear! You're right of course! Tanya, Freya this behaviour has got to stop there is still much to do before take-off, and these shenanigans are not helping!" He chastised, trying to make his voice sound disapproving and serious but it's not something he's known for or good at, so it just ended up making us all crack up laughing, including mum.

"Are they ok to leave?" questioned mum once the laughter died down.

"Yeah, they're ok, just try to keep the cuts clean and no heavy lifting their muscles will still be strained from the crash, but no permanent damage. Thank God!" answered Hilary as she hugged us both which we returned.

"But you both realize that you're grounded till we reach the new settlement, right?" she proceeded to say.

"But that's like a hundred-year-long grounding, that's hardly fair I mean I even fixed the jeep that dad couldn't fix," argued Tanya causing Tony to pipe up from his corner in the back of the office.

"Oh yeah, by the way, how did you crash again?" he snarked knowing full well we had no brakes, in an attempt to save my friend some face I counted; "That was due to my poor driving, that bush didn't stand a chance!"

"I would almost believe that if you hadn't aced the tactical driving course!" countered Jackson.

"Bad day!" I offered, causing both him and Tony to crack a smile.

"Ok that's enough, it's been a long day and the next month is probably going to feel like a year, so come on let's get home!" interjected my mother shooing us out of the office. Just as we're leaving the two guards from the underground parking lot walk out of a couple of exam rooms next door, faces and arms covered in red welts and a scowl on their faces which turned into a serious, no-nonsense look as they saw my father and stood up straight giving him, Tony and Jackson a salute.

"At ease men what happened to you?" Dad asked after returning their salute. Well, this is going to be interesting!

"Someone put itching powder in our uniforms, sir!" Lieutenant Conners answered focusing his scowl on me, to which I returned a guilty smile and mouthed an apology causing both guards to shake their heads with a small smile on their lips. I looked up at dad only to find him glaring down at me.

"Ok I'm sorry but I had to get them away from their post somehow." I reasoned knowing full well nothing would save me at this point.

"Itching powder though? You couldn't think of a different distraction other than that, I mean I feel like spiders are crawling all over my skin," whined Conners scratching his shoulders with a desperate look on his face.

"Sorry, we left our post sir it became unbearable!" Lieutenant Granger stated still scratching a little.

"No, you're fine, I know who’s at fault here!" Dad replied still glaring at me.

"You know you'll be washing the bases uniforms for the next month, right?" Mum questioned piping up after being suspiciously quiet this whole time.

"Kinda figured!" I replied in a defeated tone. We said our goodbyes and made our way home. I couldn't sleep so I snuck out and lay on top of the roof to gaze up at the stars, the moon is closer to the planet than others that I've been on, it's so bright almost like the sun is out but different colouring. I know you can only take my word for it but trust when I say there's nothing that even comes close to the sheer amazement of living among the stars.

You know when someone says that 'the time will fly by!' to soften the blow of punishment, well they are lying through their teeth. This last month has been the longest punishment I have endured, and I have had a lot. As Tanya and I finish washing the last uniforms, the door to the washroom opens.

"Having fun?" questioned Hunter with a smirk lacing his pretty mouth which seemed to mesmerize Tanya. This lead me to shove her knee with my toe, she sent a glare my way to which I only chuckled and shook my head at.

"Can we help you? or are you just here to add to our annoyance?" I questioned as I pulled the uniform shirt out of the water wringing it out as I did. I gave it a quick flick in Hunter's direction which caused him to do a little hop back into the guy behind him, who I only just noticed.

"Hey! Watch it!" he laughed before shaking his head at me and turning his head to the hot guy behind him who joined him in wearing the guard uniform. Huh, guess he's a recruit.

"Who’s the brat?" the newly found pain in the ass questioned Hunter who grimaced knowing what was coming.

"Who’s the newest arrogant ass?" I asked Hunter while hanging the shirt on the line out in the sun, paying no attention to the new guy.

"Who you calling an ass?" he angered

"Who you calling a brat?" I counted with a smirk, which is when Tanya piped up.

"Ok, that's enough! Frey stop riling up the new blood, we've almost finished this punishment we don't need another one because you got into another prank war." she reasoned, I guess she's right.

"Trust me mate you don't want a prank war with this one she's ruthless. We've had ten guards transfer out of our unit because of her!” Hunter warned, just as another unfamiliar face popped up from behind them.

"There you two are! What are you doing Malachai? we've still got pre-launch checks, come on no hanging around the delinquents!" The older hot guy ordered giving us the stink eye before turning on his heel and walking off like he was Scar from the lion king after he shoved Mufasa off the cliff.

"Whose 'Mr. Superiority' and why do I feel like I've personally offended him?" I questioned feeling slightly offended only to get a mood change very quickly.

"My father!" Malachai answered with a scowl, leaving without another word. Which still didn't give me any answers, so I sent a questioning look to Hunter.

"That's Colonel Axel Marks! He will oversee the ship for the mission. His son Malachai or Mal as he prefers to be called is the newest addition to your father's unit. They are both impressive, you should've seen Mal on the field course he almost beat both of your scores, but don't worry your legend is still intact. " He explained, with a look of awe still on his face.

"Sounds like someone has a crush!" I surmised cheekily, brushing a piece of long, black hair out of my face with the back of my hand to keep the water out of it, the attempt failed of course.

"Oh, shut it, Frey! by the way, your dad is looking for you!"

"Which dad?" Tanya and I asked at the same time.

"Both! something about you two being overdue for your endurance tests, for the mission!" Hunter reminded us, which caused us both to let out a loud groan of frustration.

"But it's not for another week yet?" reasoned Tanya which apparently was inaccurate.

"Ah guys it's in two days, that's why the ship’s crew are here. They're running final checks before we leave." Hunter informed us, causing both our mouths to hang open in shock.

"Well shit that can't be right! Although it would explain why mother has been quieter than usual." I replied grabbing a hold of Tanya's arm signalling that we should go. With a silent nod of agreement, she gave a quick smile to Hunter and followed me out as we raced to the training yard. Well, this is going to be a fun couple of days.

As I crawl through the mud for what feels like the thousandth time, I realise fun is relative and really depends on the company you keep. Take Malachai; while he looks like an uptight stick in the mud, doing these courses against him is actually quite fun. Well for me anyway he seems a little frustrated.

"Ha suck it Kai!" I shouted with a jump as I make it through the last leg of the course, Tanya comes over and high fives me before handing me a water bottle.

"How the hell are you so quick? I mean you're scientists but the way you guys run that course it's like you're trained soldiers." Kai questioned while placing his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath.

"Ah dude you know who they are right?" Hunter asked while handing him some water and a towel.

"Ah the delinquents?" he continued to question as I made a face to Tanya, boy really needs to find a new nickname for us.

"Freya Jones and Tanya Riker, their parents run this facility and are in charge of the mission. Their fathers trained them like soldiers and were educated like scientists since they were old enough to walk. They also hold majority of the records on the base, so try not to feel too bad, you beat everyone else out for second." Tanya and I couldn't control our laughter at that last line, it was savage.

"Alright pack it up we're leaving in approximately 12 hours. So, girls get washed up and then go find your mothers, they'll need your help with final checks and boys you've got to come with me and check in with unit chief, there are a few things he needs to go over before take-off." Tony ordered after appearing out of nowhere practically giving us all a heart attack. Tanya and I grabbed our stuff, waved a quick goodbye, and made our way to hell; I mean to help our mothers.

"So, Mal's kind of cute!" Tanya stated with a cheeky tone.

"Who?" I questioned genuinely confused for a second.

"Malachai the guy you've been subtly flirting with for the past two days." She informed with an eye roll.

"Oh Kai...” I mumble as I realised who she was talking about.

“Yes! Kai and see you even have your own nickname for him, further proof.” she stated in her favourite ‘I’m right and your wrong!’ tone.

“I have not been flirting, he's just fun to mess with. So uptight, the guy has to loosen up a bit." I replied, which is true I mean yeah the guy could give a supernova a run for its money with how hot he is but he's a little too house broken to appeal to me, follows the rules too much. Doesn't mean he wouldn't make a cool friend or at least an interesting opponent.

"Besides I'm too much of a bad influence for a rule follower like him, so at best we'll probably be friends, at worst I've got myself a new target. Ha" I laughed to which Tanya joined in on as we made our way to the showers.

God, I wish I could’ve stay in that shower forever, it certainly was better than the hell I'm currently going through.

"Honey come on we've got to pick up the pace. There may only a few more boxes to go but take off is in an hour so there’s not much time and where is your father he was supposed to be helping after finishing up with the unit." hustled mother as she put down a couple of boxes and ran out of the room before I had a chance to answer. Rolling my eyes, I walked out and off the ship to find the final few boxes. As I was stacking them onto the cart, dad ran in red faced and puffing like he just ran a marathon.

"Oh, Freya good where's your mother? " He questioned

"Off looking for you! Something about you being late to help!" I informed him with a smirk, knowing full well that he was in deep shit.

"Damn it! Colonel Marks had a few more questions about the ship and the unit before launch. I swear the man doesn't have an off switch, it's like he was built not born." admired dad as he took a minute to catch his breath.

"Yeah, his son is a lot like that too very rule oriented." I stated stacking the last box on the cart. As I walk over to grab my sketchbook, I catch a glance of myself in the mirror; my long black hair is pulled back into a messy bun, a few beads of sweat are littered across my forehead from the effort, the arms of my red and black uniform are pushed up just passed my elbow. I'm average in the looks department, nothing that really stands out about me except my eyes, bright purple. Dad used to call me his little galaxy because of them, said the way they sparkled with wonder made him think he was looking through a galaxy of stars.

The purple eyes gazing back at me focussed in on the black gemstone necklace that sat snug against my neck, it matches Tanya's exactly it was a gift from Tony on our 5th birthday which we share.

As I reach up to touch the icy cold stone, I recall what he once told us about them. He said the stones are obsidian and were formed from volcanic lava and hardened so quickly it forms no crystalline structure. It has no boundaries or limitations and works rapidly with great power. He told us that it was a great representation of us, that we see no limits and always push against those that would hold us back and that even if time may fracture us, it would ultimately make us sharper than any blade.

I smiled at the forgotten memory and went to follow dad to the ship, giving a final, silent goodbye to the place I called home for the past six months and made my way up the ramp of the ship, keeping an eye out for Tanya only to run into the fun police oh I mean Colonel Marks.

"Hello, Colonel Marks, sorry didn't see you there." I apologized realising I almost ran him over.

"No harm done Jones just be more vigilant from now on, this may seem like just another planet hop for you and your friend as you have experienced quite a few based on your record, but this is actually a very dangerous mission, and we have very little understanding on what we might find." He commanded in what seemed like a rather soft tone which is incredibly unusual coming from him.

"Yes sir! I know sir! Won't happen again sir!" I answered giving a little bit of sass to my answer causing him to roll his eyes.

"Good lord this is going to be a long ass mission." he stated as he walked away. The whole exchange made my head hurt and left me in a state of shock, I mean the man swore.

"Hey, you ok?" Tanya asked pulling back to reality, looking slightly concerned when I didn't answer her straight away. I shook my head and told her I was fine, and we made our way to our bunks. A broadcast came over the speaker system a moment later telling us to make our way to the mess for a final briefing before launch.

We made our way through the crowd until we found Hunter and Kai up the front facing our parents who were standing up on the podium with Colonel Marks.

"Ok ladies and gentlemen, we'll be heading off shortly so please remember your training as well as the safety procedures and this will hopefully be a pleasant journey. We will start putting people into hyper-sleep once we get clear of the moon. Now I shall hand over to the head of this expedition Julie Jones. Julie all yours," he said as he gestured for mom to move into his spot.

"Thank you, Axel! Don't worry I will keep this short as I'm sure we're all eager to get this show on the road. But I will say this; Be Proud and in awe of what we are about to undertake, all of you are now a part of history as the first crew to ever venture into this previously unknown quadrant of space. But we also must remember to be vigilant and to have reverence for the unknown as anything could be waiting for us. On that note Colonel, shall we?" she finished with a smile and brought about a wave of applause and hollering.

Tanya, Hunter, Kai, and I followed our parents to the bridge where the crew had already taken their stations. As the rest of us took our seats, the colonel took his place in the commander’s chair.

"Everything green lieutenant?" he questioned to which a young woman stationed at the front of the ship replied with a 'yes sir'.

"Ok there's no getting out of this! Take us out!" he commanded.

"Sir! Yes sir!" agreed the lieutenant in a loud tone, almost making me deaf, but was quickly forgotten as we made our ascent.

My last thought as we cleared the moon and made our way into open space was; 'Let us hope that our curiosity won’t be the end of us, it certainly didn’t do that cat any good.'