A Fresh Start

Richard still wasn't used to it. When he closed his eyes the only thing that reminded him of home was the smells. Food, earth, air fresheners, and that strange homey smell tied to every family were nonexistent on the ship. The ship smelled like nothing. It resembled the vacuum of space outside of its hull. Everything was clean, metal or plastic. The smell of cooked meals were quickly sucked out of the air and replaced by pure clean air. It was the one odd thing that you got to miss out in space. You can dress up your ship and display a hologram over the windows and it will look and feel like home, but you could never get it to smell like home. 

As Richard thought on it, blankly staring at the flashing colors of the television, he began to wonder if Earth was even home anymore. He was used to being carried or riding a shuttle when ever he had to move from one area to the next. The thought of having everything he needed within walking distance was sort of a strange luxury. Of course on their new ship the human quarters are all inclusive, but not out in the rest of the worlds. He and Kikata shared a similar problem with their detachment from their birth homes. She didn't care much for traveling to Teralist anymore, it almost seemed more common for her family to come visit her out on some other planet. It was not like money or time was an issue for them. 

A voice broke his pondering, "Hey." Called the voice of his brother David. 

Richard blinked and turned towards him, forcing a smile, "Hey, what's up?" 

"Nothin' much. Headin' back to the city in a few hours. You watching this?" He asked nodding towards the television. 

"Oh…no not really." Richard said, "Me and Kikata head out tomorrow."

"Yeah I heard. Back to the exciting life?"

Richard laughed, "If you find conferences and teaching a bunch of kids then sure."

David laughed along side him, "Well I guess not. They got you teaching now?"

"Not normally." Richard said, "They have us set to give some tips and lessons to the new recruits of the Hybrid Units."

David laughed again, "Never thought little Richy here would be an expert on anything. Well good for you."

Richard nodded, watching as his brother brought up the holographic television controls, swaying his hand from right to left before selecting a channel. 

"What's this?" Richard asked leaning back into his chair. 

"New sport they're trying to break in. It's a hit at the bar when the big matches are on." David explained as the screen displayed what looked like the skeleton of a city block. Large structures stood with bare window holes and empty streets. "It's another one of those hybrid games, you know they try to come up with one every year."

"Yeah." Richard responded as he stared intently at the screen. 

"So basically it's capture the flag. But you know, with humans, Neko, Marlek and the like. But only the scale four species can grab the flags." Scale, as David referred to, is a size reference formula designed to help species move throughout hybrid cities. The scale goes from one to four. Scale one are the largest, from about one hundred and fifty feet to over two hundred. Each scale represents a smaller species until finally Scale Four, which is where humans fall. 

"I see." Richard said rubbing his chin as the players, apparently, took the field. The screen flashed to several groups of players. Two groups of large Marlek, Neko, and then two groups of humans and one even had a Noras male. The larger creatures wore jump suits with what looked like tiny flags hanging from them, the small creatures wore armor that nearly resembled Richards own armor. 

"Yeah. See but it gets interesting. The smaller races got this really high tech body armor. You could drop a damn building on it and it wont snap. This makes it the first Hybrid contact sport."

"So let me guess. The scale four dudes try to grab the flags while everyone else tries to stop them?" 

"In a nutshell yeah. The flag grabbers tend to be on the Scale Four and some Scale Threes. It all depends on the arenas." David continued to explain over the announcers voice on the television. "There are two teams, each with their own base. There are six flag runners, then six on defense. They really made it so you could make the teams what ever you want, with whoever you want. The game is coed as well."

"Really pushing the hybrid thing huh?" Richard responded with a grunt. 

"Yeah tell me about it. The best part is how you can eliminate players. Basically you can take out the flag runners in anyway you can think of. The only thing is if one of the big fella's happens to swallow one of them the big one has to go out at least until the small player is back outside in the dead zone."

"Dead zone?"

"That's one of the ways to eliminate them. You can either hold them off physically, or take them to the dead zone. There's a catch though. For each player you remove to the dead zone you have to wait a full minute before returning to the game. That's a lot of time for a flag to go missing." 

Richard scratched his head as he tried to piece together the game, "So people get eaten…can you only eliminate the flag runners?"

"Oh no." David continued, "See the defenders all have three flags on them. One on the leg, one on the back, and one on the back of the head. You take out the foot they have to remain flat footed for thirty seconds. You take out the back and they have to go out of play for two minutes. You remove the head and they are out for the match."

"Sounds intense." 

"Oh it is. Each stadium comes with it's own special rules and obstacles. Reduced gravity in some, jet packs in others. I heard there is even one that is full of water and the flag runners have to run from boat to boat." 

"Yeah we'll see how long this sport remains on the air." Richard laughed.

"I think it's a keeper. You'll be seeing it in schools soon enough." David said reclining into his own chair with his hands behind his head.

"You're the expert." Richard said as he got to his feet. "I'm going to go check on Kikata." 

David nodded, "Oh she's having a blast outside with the kids. They finally warmed up to her it seems."

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Kikata suppressed a wave of giggles as a tiny rope laid across her stomach. "I…can't break free!" She said between her teeth. 

"We did it!" A young boy shouted, no older than eight. A cheer erupted from the group of six young children. For the past half hour the children had lost themselves in an epic story battling the giant alien. 

"Please powerful earthlings, let me go!" Kikata urged playfully, wiggling beneath the tiny rope as if it actually had the power to restrain her. 

"Never!" Another boy shouted. 

Kikata felt a light tugging at her hair, she turned to see a tiny girl smiling widely up at her. Kikata smiled back, her heart nearly melting under the adorableness of the little girl. 

"Kikata. I'm on your side now!" She said quietly. 

"Oh good!" Kikata said smiling.

"I'll pull the rope off then we can beat those boys." She said, her smile widening even further as her devious plot unfolded. 

"Yes! Good thinking." Kikata said as she watched the girl run to the rope, taking it in her tiny hands and running the other way.

"Hey! Where did the rope go!?" One of the boys shouted in horror. 

Kikata sat up, reaching her arms into the air with her liberation, "Finally I'm free!" She said before giving her best impression of an evil laugh. 

"Mary you traitor!" Another boy shouted as Kikata lifted the girl and placed her on her shoulder. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Richard watched from the top floor deck as Kikata surrounded the screaming children with her hands, the little girl laughing triumphantly as the neighborhood boys were defeated. 

"Isn't that cute?" Richards mothers voice said softly from behind him. Richard nodded in agreement. "It's amazing someone with so much size and power can be so gentle." She continued, her hands falling on the railing next to Richard. 

"She is an incredible woman." Richard relied quietly. 

"So. Are you a couple doomed to be forever engaged?" She asked after a long pause, glancing over to her son quickly before returning to gaze to the spectacle on the lawn across the street. 

Richard shrugged, "Well I suppose we could fill out the paper work to be married. You know…tax breaks and such." 

"That's not what I meant." His mother continued.

"Well we just can't seem to decide on what ceremony would be fair. You know. I mean do we do a traditional Neko joining? Or a typical western Earth wedding?"

"Well. I can tell you that a certain pair of mothers would certainly like to see their children get hitched. And not in some government building." 

"You've been talking to her parents?" Richard asked with an arched brow. 

"Of course! Your mother knows how to work the internet you know. You two go so quiet when you're out there in space it takes all of us just to keep tabs on you."

Richard laughed, "Yeah I've been trying to get better at that." 

"Just you know…think about it. For us?" She said sort of pleadingly. 

"We've talked about it believe me. I'm sure we can think of something." Richard said, his eyes shifted upwards as Kikata stood, waving goodbye to her new young friends. He lifted his harm slightly and waved up to her, grinning as a smile creased her lips. 

"I'm exhausted!" Kikata said as she knelt down by Richard and his mother. "Those kids can go on forever it seems." 

"You didn't eat any of them now did you Kikata?" Richard asked with a sharp grin.

"Against the orders of the little girl, no. I did not devour any earthlings today." She said with a sigh.

"Today huh?" Richard said with a grunt.

"Oh you never know. I might get a little hungry during our walk back tomorrow!" She said, a mischievous smile crossing her lips.

"Wouldn't be the first time." Richard replied.

Richards mother laughed, "Oh I just love the stories!" She said, "Next time you put him in there he should bring a camera along so everyone can see!" 

Richard and Kikata shared a glance, knowing that usually when ever Richard ended up inside of Kikata's mouth it was during less than family friendly moments. But they just smiled and laughed along with her. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

The Next Day 

"I think I'm really going to miss Earth." Kikata said as she looked around her. She felt the patch of warmth on her shoulder shift slightly. They were making their way back to D.C, the city skyline coming into view in the distance. 

"Well we'll be back in a month." Richard replied quietly. 

"Yes well only for a few days. I am so excited to have your brother with us though!" 

"Yeah we'll see how that goes." Richard said with a laugh. 

"Do you think he can handle it all?" Kikata asked curiously. 

"Well. I'm sure when it comes to his job he will be fine. I'm more worried about you know…everything else. He's never been off earth and he's a little shy even around here. I mean you're the first Neko he's ever seen in person." 

Kikata scrunched her lips as she thought it over, carefully laying her feet down one after the other, a few cars had started following them but Kikata did her best to ignore them. "Well you did okay."

Richard laughed, "Well before you i had met a few rather large aliens. He's a virgin." 

"Is he?!" Kikata asked with a gasp. 

"No…Kikata…I mean like a virgin to this whole space travel, meeting giant creatures, that sort of stuff." Richard said with a laugh. "I'm not too informed of his sex life though, maybe he is." 

"Well I would doubt it. I mean a boy as handsome as himself." 

"Eyeing up my brother are we?" Richard said nudging Kikata in the neck, "Maybe I shouldn't bring him along after all." 

Kikata giggled, "Thin, cute…" Kikata hummed, "How could a girl resist?" 

"Well as long as he keeps his mouth shut." Richard said with a laugh. 

Kikata rolled her eyes, "Yeah I doubt he is that awkward." She smiled slightly, "Just imagine if Prila gets her hands on him huh?" 

"Oh we might never see him again." Richard said glancing up to her, noticing a blank stare spreading across her face. "Hey. Kikata." 

Kikata blinked, "Huh?"

"She's alright." He said, nodding towards her intently. 

Kikata bit her lip but nodded, "Yeah." She whispered. 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Kikata held her breath with almost every step, smiling and waving nervously at the people who had gathered along side the Scale One roadway built into the heart of D.C. As they progressed further into the city the sounds and sights became even more cluttered. The sky was full of spacecraft coming in and out of the city. They passed by a group of three Marlek but otherwise they seemed to be completely surrounded by the tiny human crowd that seemed dangerously close to the larger road. 

The city itself had become a hodgepodge of architecture, almost like a hybrid city. The older buildings stood out with their stone and brick sidings, while the newer buildings rose elegantly from the earth with their advanced materials that made them so strong in their small size that even a strong Neko or Marlek could not break in the roof. Every building seemed to take a theme from a far away world. Tall, smooth white structures filled one side street like a miniaturized Teralist, and then another street seemed to resemble the shrubbery covered structures from the Trugon Marlek home moon. 

Finally a tall archway beckoned Richard and Kikata into the port. Kikata slid her personal computer from a tight pocket on her hip and thumbed through the display as they made their way to their ship. 

"There's my girl!" Kikata said with a wide grin, her eyes falling upon the spectacle of shining silver metal. The ships design was very different from that of the Nova Guard ship. It was massive by comparison, though for its size it was crafted to be very flat almost like a manta ray from Earths oceans. But, unlike any other ship in the dock, it was equipped with a circular device by its engines that sat like a ring around the rear thrusters. The cockpit was set forward on the ship, designed so that it could be used by multiple scaled beings. On the sides jutted out two short wings, however during flight these wings would extend to impressive lengths. 

As Kikata engaged the ship through her computer the silver coating soon turned a shimmering and bright red. The ship had a state of the art coating that was previously only used in personal armor and small land vehicles. This coating would allow the ship to change any color or pattern the pilot decided. 

"God isn't that red so lovely?" Kikata said with a bright smile, watching as a small ramp lowered from the belly of the ship. It was one of several entrances, this one specifically took them closest to the cockpit. 

"I like the flat black." Richard said with a shrug. 

Kikata rolled her eyes as she made her way up the ramp. "Oh I'm Richard and I want all of my equipment to be dark and mysterious! Ohhh!" She said holding her left hand up in the air, she held her right arm still since Richard still sat atop her shoulder. 

Richard sighed deeply, "I should have never taught you how to mock people sarcastically in English." 

"But it's fun!" Kikata said with a giggle.