Stars...billions upon billions of layered sparkles in the sky, engulfing, surrounding me; each shining with its own specific glamour and beauty...small moons, encircling large planets with swirling vortexes of gaseous clouds, appearing loyal, but are perhaps enslaved to their paths by the one who pulls them...comets and meteors, with their trains of color that trail behind them, like brides walking down their isle to marriage...

This place enchants the mind with its astounding glory as it calls me to reach further into its unending depths...in the distance of the darkness sprinkled with lights; a voice calls out to me...

"...search far and wide, conquerors of the dark dimension, and find what you would never imagine..."

Awoken again by the strange, pleading voice, I arose from my bed in a dark room, only dimly lit by the glow of control panels and computer screens in standby mode. I remained sitting up for a moment before I stretched stiffly and tossed the sheet away from my body, revealing my bare skin to the cool air of the room. I slipped my legs off the side of the bed and sat staring blankly into the small space, dark violet hair veiling half of my face, in disarray from the act of sleep. Stretching my arms upward again, I moved my hands back down to my face to rub my eyes. Sweeping my hair from my face, I glance at myself in the mirror at the head of my cot, and it becomes painfully apparent to me once again, like every day I look in the mirror, that my left eye is...different. The pupil of my eye forms a starburst image in my iris, which is an unnatural yellow orange color. Funny, I thought, I still can't see out it. Heh, not like I've ever been able to...

Fumbling my hand around the nearby bed stand, I grasped my small black eye patch and placed it over my left eye, gently adjusting it until it fit comfortably and snuggly against my skin. Standing, I walked, still somewhat asleep, over to my storage system to retrieve my suit and accessories. After slipping into my clothes and strapping my gun onto my thigh, I glanced back at my bed in thought. I had had that dream for a year now, and heard that voice now over and over, and yet...

I still didn't know what it meant or who was talking to me...

Ah well, nothing to get over disappointment like some hard work, I figured. The automatic door swished open as I approached, giving me access the elevator. The elevator has three levels; cockpit, engine and mechanics, and living quarters. Not bad for a space ship, eh? Stepping inside the elevator, I heard a familiar voice.

"Good morning captain. Did you rest well?" spoke a young boy's voice from a speaker in the wall. This voice is the vocal system for the AI implanted in my ship. I created him, and he works with me and under me to maintain the ship, and navigate. This is ALAN, which stands for Artificial Logic Assistant and Navigator. I created Alan even before my ship was built. He used to exist in my computer system in my repair shop, and would be my personal assistant who would take care of ordering parts, accounting, and other tasks for the business. When I decided to go into space, I wanted to take him with me, but his original computer system was too big to load into the ship. So I made him apart of the ship.

"Yes, Alan, I did..." My mind went straight back to that voice that was grinding in my brain.

"May I suggest, Captain," Alan's voice brought me back to the current moment ", that you go outside? Some fresh air may awaken you, and the mechanic is finished with the refueling and cleaning maintenance. I think you should check with him to assure all is ready." To anyone else, Alan may sound a tad polite and witty for someone whose voice presents them as a twelve year old. But once you've heard it for a while, you just get used to it. It's always fun to watch the mechanics' faces when they hear him for the first time, though. Men with egos that think they know everything about space mechanics and equipment tend not to like being told what to do by a child's voice. But after a while Alan tends to get along with the engineers pretty well. Well, most of the time. There have been a couple that regret getting on Alan's bad side…

"Thank you Alan," I said, trying to cover the exhaustion in my voice, "I think I will. Lock the ship down after my exit, will you?"

"Yes, Captain..." Alan confirmed as I set the elevator to the mechanics floor, which also served as the exit to the spacecraft. Entering the engine room, I passed the twin engine compartments on the sides of the ship, known better as the BCGs, or bio-compound generators. I created them as an environmentally sound fuel system which utilizes water along with basic organic compounds. When the compound used (let's just say we use oil) is combusted, it leaves behind both CO2 and H2O. Within the generators there is a strong magnetic field that causes the leftover compounds to split, releasing oxygen and hydrogen, both combustible gases, as a form of energy. And, the split atoms are recyclable, so it provides a source of energy once you run out of fuel. The only downside is that a fuel is needed to start the system working; after that, it's self-sufficient. But any organic material will work.

And people think that mechanics aren't smart...actually, I went to a university to study astrophysics before I broke away from my parents. I couldn't live my life watching others enjoy what I had made for them. I wanted to enjoy it too.

Passing the rest of the technology, I see my munitions have been restocked, as the iron slug rifles on either side of the ship have been cleaned and rearmed, along with the ball turrent beneath and the plasma shot cannon on the top of the craft. One would say I like to be well-armed. And I'm not even counting the extra rockets stored in the belly of the ship on either side of the ball turrent. Yeah, no one fucks with me in space. Of course, Alan usually controls all these, but still...

It's nice to know you can fuck someone up if they cut you off in space...

The exit ramp unlocks and hydraulics side it down to allow access out of the ship. Stretching, I walk down the ramp and out into the natural light.