The first long-awaited drops of rain fell on the parched, hardened soil of Ares. For the inhabitants of the planet, the sound of rain had always been a herald of celebration. For a millennium, water had symbolized life itself to the Aresians—hope and joy flowing into every home. As they held out their hands to catch the rain, people couldn’t hold back their smiles or tears of happiness. This miracle occurred on Ares roughly once a year, and in every family, it was tradition to exchange gifts and host festivities on this day.
“Kyara, my sunshine, my sweet girl, look what jumped out of the huge puddle by our gate just for you!” Rosalyn said through tears of joy, handing her daughter a small, shiny round box.
The three-year-old girl, delicate and almost translucent, ran to her mother, bouncing on her thin little legs, her blonde curls bobbing with every hop.
“Mommy, is this really for me? Really?” Her enormous eyes sparkled with delight. “Candy! Yay, the cloud left candy for me!”
“And that’s not all, my little sweet tooth,” her older brother Alex chimed in with a mysterious grin, kneeling beside her and pulling out a handmade model of a spaceship from behind his back. “Here, Kyara, this is for you too. What do you say?”
“Thank you! Now I won’t touch your collection, and you won’t be mad at me,” the little girl recited carefully, flashing a smile before promptly forgetting the candy. Sitting on the floor, she began intently turning the toy over in her hands.
“What are you trying to figure out there, huh?” her father asked, ruffling her curly head with a smile as he glanced at his wife.
Now they could afford to smile. Not just because of the blessed rain that had descended upon their weary planet, but because their youngest daughter, Kyara, was finally on the mend. Just a few weeks ago, the doctors had offered no hope for her recovery.
“How am I supposed to fit in here, Daddy? I want to fly!” Kyara looked up at her father with wide, curious eyes.
“And where exactly are you planning to fly off to?” her mother asked, scooping her up into her arms.
“Far, far away—to the stars!” the little girl declared with confidence.
***
One of the guards dug his ruthless, claw-like fingers into Sky’s shoulder, but the boy felt no pain. At that moment, the ten-year-old felt nothing. Nothing but a searing hatred that burned through his soul. The young Skvoranian stared into the faces of his enemies, memorizing the killers of his family. The dying scream of his mother still echoed in his ears as her body lay at the feet of the traitor. He would never erase the events of this cursed day from his memory. Never!
“Say goodbye, Bren, to your precious little heir, and be glad you’re getting an easy death—unlike the one we’ve prepared for your brat!” the leader of the rebels hissed with glee, jabbing his weapon against the temple of Skvoran’s former ruler.
Bren struggled to lift his bloodied face, casting one last look at his frozen son. Without a word, he bid farewell with a long, fading gaze. His soul perished from despair before his body did. This was the cruelest punishment the rebels could devise—dying with the knowledge that his only son’s life, left to the mercy of beasts, would end in unimaginable torment.
Sky flinched at the sound of the gunshot, clenching his teeth and fists tightly, but he didn’t look away. He watched as his father fell, as a pool of blood spread beneath him, reflecting the silhouettes of the murderers.
“What are you staring at, pup? Your turn’s next, and don’t think we’ll go easy on you!”
“I’ll come back, and I’ll kill you,” Sky whispered, boldly raising his eyes, his triple-pupiled gaze pulsing with rage.
“You’ll have to come back first!” the armed Skvoranian sneered, topping Sky’s list of targets. “Take the brat to Black Death! Let everyone know our word is iron! Anyone who dares oppose our regime will meet the same fate!”
Sky didn’t struggle, didn’t whimper, didn’t beg. Left on a planet teeming with death, he watched the departing cruiser until it was nothing but a speck in the sky. Then, turning to face the gaping black mouths of the caves, the Skvoranian boy muttered stubbornly:
“I’ll survive! I have to survive, no matter the cost! And I’m not afraid of what lurks here!” At that moment, his thirst for revenge matched his will to live. These twin desires fueled the boy with strength and an unshakable certainty that his time had not yet come.
***
Kyara could barely keep up with her brother, afraid of getting lost among the soldiers bustling about. Alex strode proudly in his crisp new cadet uniform, saluting officers with extra zeal.
“Are you sure Dad will be happy to see me here?” the girl asked timidly, tugging at her brother’s sleeve.
“If you behave and don’t wander off even for a second, then yes, Dad will be glad to see you. You wanted to visit a secret military base, didn’t you? But remember, it’s dangerous here. If you pull any stunts, I’ll be the one in trouble, not you!”
They found their father, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Snow, in one of the base’s hangars.
“Daddy!” Kyara shouted at the top of her lungs, rushing toward him.
“Kyara?!” Robert, stunned, caught his daughter in his arms and shot a reproachful look at his son. “Alex, you should know this is no place for little girls!”
“She hasn’t seen you in three weeks, Dad. She asks about you every day. We just couldn’t take the endless questions anymore. Let her see for herself what you’re doing and how serious it all is,” Alex tried to justify himself, knowing full well his father likely suspected Kyara wasn’t the only reason for their visit.
But suddenly, the routine of the military base was shattered by a sharp alarm—a sound that had become all too frequent lately. The ensuing chaos forced the lieutenant colonel to return to his duties immediately. A damaged cruiser made an emergency landing on the runway, and Alex, sternly forbidding his sister from moving an inch, couldn’t resist the urge to check out the smoking ship, rushing off with the medical team.
Standing still while armed squads of soldiers, faces grim and focused, rushed past was incredibly boring. So Kyara decided to find something more interesting to do than what Alex had planned for her. Sneaking down to the underground storage bays via a cargo lift, captivated by the darkness and mystery, she crept along the corridor until a faint glow caught her attention. A steel cage was encased in a dual-colored laser grid. Inside, lying motionless on the floor, was a creature unlike anything the girl had ever seen. It resembled a human, yet it didn’t. It wore clothes, had arms and legs, but its skin was gray and scaly, and it had no hair on its head. Its nose was sunken into its face, leaving only two visible nostrils, and while it lacked eyebrows, it had bright orange eyelashes. Kyara thought it might just be sleeping, as she could clearly see its chest rising and falling. Driven by childish curiosity, she approached the control panel and randomly pressed a few buttons that caught her eye. To her surprise, the laser grid vanished, and the creature sprang to its feet, gripping the steel bars. Startled, Kyara stumbled back a few steps but didn’t flee the room. Once the initial fear passed, realizing the creature couldn’t escape the cage, she stepped closer again, raising her pale eyebrows in wonder as she studied the stranger’s eyes.
“Who are you? Why are you locked in a cage?” she asked in her small, thin voice. The prisoner didn’t reply, though it stared at her intently. “Don’t you know our language, or do you not have a tongue?”
“Why would I need to know your language? Yashvars communicate differently,” Kyara heard a raspy, foreign voice in her mind.
“You’re a telepath!” she exclaimed, her face lighting up with childlike wonder. “That’s so cool! I wish I could do that! My name’s Kyara. What’s yours?”
“Kirk. How old are you, Kyara?”
“Almost seven. So why are you here? Are you being punished?”
“They fear and hate me because we’re different, and because Yashvars don’t bow to the Great Empire.”
Kyara frowned, not fully grasping what Kirk meant or why so many soldiers would fear just one being.
“Your eyes are like a lizard’s. Can I touch you?”
Crouching down, the Yashvar nodded. Reaching through the bars, Kyara touched his cheek.
“Warm and soft,” she whispered with a smile. “Where’s your hair?”
“I don’t like brushing it. Now, can I touch your curls?” Kirk extended his hand and firmly placed it on Kyara’s head, staring into her eyes without blinking. A wave of nausea hit her, her head spinning and buzzing, and she indignantly pushed his hand away.
“I don’t like that!” she said, pouting. After a moment’s thought, she asked, “What will they do to you now?”
“They’ll kill me. They’ll burn my body, and the wind will scatter my ashes. That’s what your people do to mine.”
“Kyara!!!” A thunderous shout echoed down the corridor, accompanied by the pounding of a dozen boots—her father, terrified out of his mind.
Within seconds, Robert was clutching his daughter tightly, glaring at the Yashvar with hatred as Kirk suddenly spoke aloud:
“Lieutenant Colonel!” Kirk barked with a heavy accent. “Before my death, fate has unexpectedly granted me this stroke of luck! You’ll take my life, but I’ve taken your beloved daughter. She no longer belongs to the Empire—she is now Yashvar property, and one day, my kind will find her! This is a test of your loyalty. The Empire or your daughter? Choose the Empire, and you’ll lose your soul. Choose your daughter…” He trailed off, flashing a defiant smirk.
“Alex, take Kyara home immediately! Tell your mother everything and have her take her to the research center. I’ll be there as soon as I can!” Robert shot his son a withering look that left Alex shrinking for days.
“Kyara, sweetheart, how are you feeling?” Rosalyn asked, tucking a stray curl behind her daughter’s ear. Beside her, Robert sat grimly, staring at the floor.
“Mom, you’ve asked me that a hundred times already!” Kyara shook her head. “I’m fine. He didn’t do anything to me. We just talked. Kirk can read minds—it’s like something out of a superhero cartoon! Dad, why do you have to kill him?”
“Because he’s an enemy of the Empire, and any enemy must be destroyed. The Empire is our home, our protection, our unity. If someone tries to tear down your home, they must be stopped!” the lieutenant colonel said gravely, nodding to his wife.
“Are they absolutely sure they’ve checked everything?” he whispered in the corridor, watching his daughter through the glass. “Can they give us a hundred percent guarantee?”
“The professor who examined her brain found no interference, no abnormalities in her development. Our daughter is fine, Robert. In the end, that Yashvar probably just wanted to poison our lives with worry. Today, we’ll all go home together and try to put this incident behind us. Kyara is in no danger.”
“I just couldn’t bear it if there’s even a chance of losing her again. We’ve been through too much. I won’t let her slip away from me again!”
***
Sky was freezing to the bone. Hugging himself, he could no longer suppress the cursed shivering, nor could he forget the gnawing hunger tormenting him. Cold rain and howling wind made him shudder and cower, but the teenager stubbornly trudged on. Sky followed the scent like a stray dog, drawn to wherever food might be. He’d stowed away in the cargo hold of a trading cruiser to reach this planet, and its name meant nothing to him now. All he wanted was to put even a crumb in his mouth.
He collapsed, exhausted, at the doorstep of a diner, the tangy aroma of sourdough bread wafting out.
“Get lost, tramp!” The burly owner kicked him hard. “Scram before I set my dogs on you!”
“I can work for it… just a little food,” Sky mumbled weakly, his lips blue from the cold.
“Eat garbage!” came the scornful reply as the door slammed shut with a bang.
A man cloaked in a long coat slowed his pace and stopped near the starving teen. “Hey, kid, wanna earn some coin?”
Lifting his head, Sky nodded eagerly, instantly recognizing the stranger as a pirate.
“How old are you, stray? Ever held a weapon?”
“Fourteen. Point me to someone I need to strangle with my bare hands, and if you feed me for it, I’ll kill,” Sky spat out fiercely.
“Good enough,” the pirate nodded with satisfaction. “Follow me, and soon you might stuff your belly full.”
***
Curled up in a dusty attic corner, surrounded by forgotten relics and old hardcover books with yellowed pages that called to her, Kyara immersed herself in reading, carefully turning each fragile page.
“Destiny. Does it exist, this chain of predetermined events?
If it does, along what meridians do the fates of all living beings intertwine? At what points do they connect? Do they ever end?
Then one might imagine that destiny is a canvas, and every living creature a thread woven into the eternal fabric.
Take it a step further, and picture your destiny as the starry sky above, with twinkling stars as fateful intersections—bright flashes in your life that map out your path.”
Kyara paused her reading, lost in deep thought. Then, tiptoeing downstairs and slipping outside unnoticed, she ran barefoot across the damp grass.
“Kyara! Kyara, answer me right now!” Heidi had been shouting for ten minutes, growing frustrated with her sister.
“I’m up here, come on up!” Kyara called out as Heidi passed beneath the tree where she perched.
“Have you lost your mind? Why’d you climb so high, and at night no less? If Mom finds out, she’ll ship us back to Ares!” Heidi grumbled, though she began climbing the branches anyway. “Kyara, you’re fifteen, and you still act like a kid! Someone always has to watch you to make sure you don’t pull something crazy!”
“Oh, come on, look at this view! The stars on Mendos are so much brighter, but I still miss home. The star map is right there in front of us… Tell me, Heidi, do you believe in destiny?”
“What a mess you’ve got in that head of yours, Kyara Snow,” Heidi shook her head, gripping a thick branch above her with both hands. “What destiny? Everyone builds their own life. If you fall and break something, that’s on you for climbing up here. Stay on the ground, and you’d be fine.”
“You’re such a bore!” Kyara huffed, shaking her hair as she climbed even higher to the treetop. “What about love? Do you believe in that?”
“I’m starting to believe you’re nuts. What’s gotten into you? Reading those sappy romance books again?”
“Heidi, don’t you ever just want to dream? What if, somewhere out there among the stars, on the other side of the galaxy, he’s there? Laughing with his head thrown back, frowning at a tiny speck on the horizon, or biting his lip in thought as he races somewhere on a hyperspeed skiff, completely unaware of me? What if our paths cross one day, and we meet? What if I make a wrong turn in life and miss him? How do you know you’re building your life the right way? Don’t these questions ever bother you?”
“No, what bothers me is you, Kyara. My little sister’s gone off the deep end. Good thing I decided to go to medical academy. It’s great that you’re thinking about the future, but you need to focus on the here and now. Speaking of which, have you picked a field yet? That’s what matters most right now, not some silly notion of love!” Heidi scoffed dismissively.
Kyara sighed in disappointment:
“No, I haven’t decided yet. I can’t figure out where I belong. I’m not drawn to medicine, research, engineering, or social programs. I mean, I’m curious about everything, but I still feel like none of it is my true calling.”
“Why not astrophysics? You love staring at the stars, don’t you?”
“I don’t know,” Kyara shrugged. “Not sure I can handle all the dry theories, though I’m good at coming up with hypotheses. But right now… I want to learn how to kiss!” She burst into laughter at the horrified look on her sister’s face. “And, you know, I think I do believe in destiny!”
***
Covered in sweat, Sky collapsed onto a damp, tobacco-stained bed beside the young woman he’d just been with, satisfying the urges of his strong, youthful body. He’d picked her up at some bar a few hours earlier, but now he couldn’t even recall her name. The fleeting pleasure hadn’t been worth the money he’d paid. Within minutes, the Skvoranian felt a familiar irritation creeping back, emotions that had come to dominate his life lately.
Stumbling out of bed, still reeling from the alcohol, he staggered outside and slumped against the wall, sliding down to sit on the ground. Lighting a cigarette, Sky lifted his striking Skvoranian eyes to the starry sky. For a brief moment, as he exhaled a cloud of narcotic smoke, he drifted into thought.
“There you are!” A familiar silhouette emerged from the darkness. “We’ve gotta get outta here fast. Radars picked up a Skvoranian cruiser closing in on the planet. They’re looking for you, Rover!”
“Life… is crap,” Sky, now more often called Rover, muttered cryptically. “Let’s head to the Cage. I’m in just the right mood for it.”
“Last time, you were laid out like a blue corpse for two weeks. Just so you know, I’m not footing the bill for your funeral. I’m already in deep enough with you!”
“Then get lost! Go on, Yen, why can’t you just leave me here?! I don’t mind! Abandon me, finally! I’ll take down a couple dozen of those scum before I croak! Take my ship and get out!” Sky snapped, struggling to stand on unsteady legs.
“You’re drunk again. If you’re itching for blood, the Empire’s formed a new coalition and started another war. Skvoranians are recruiting volunteers, throwing branded rebels like cannon fodder to the front lines. You could make a name for yourself there if you’re so eager to die.”
“I’m not fighting my enemies on the side of my other enemies. I hate Skvoranians and Imperials equally!” Sky sneered. “I despise those dogs! But war’s good… the more they blast each other, the better. I’ll drink to their downfall, spit on their laws, and raid their colonies. Where’s Yar? Where’s your brother, Yen?”
“Rover, you know we’re not leaving you here. If we have to, we’ll drag you onto the ship by force. Pull yourself together, you’re a Khal! At twenty-two, you drink way too much, kid. Back on the ship, you’ve got loyal friends. We owe each other our lives. Now’s not the time to drown yourself in drugs. My father still remembers yours—he says you’ve inherited his honor. You’re the son of the great Khal Bren Mort! So take the hits with your head held high, like all the highborn of your House. We need you. You know this galaxy, all its shortcuts and traps. We’ll make our mark, but later.”