Fantasy Vs Reality | The Tear

18: Time To Recruit! Part 4

Coal grimaced slightly, Dun tapped a paw, and Orion hung his headphones around his neck. Orion spoke first after we entered the planetarium. "We should look around if we want to get back to the ship in time. It's been an hour and a half and we need to be back in two."

Was there a pang of agitation in Orion's voice? I have heard him be downright loud but this? I didn't know Orion was capable of feeling agitation. I furled my brow and shrugged. "Fine, let's hurry up then and start looking for Sylvia."

Orion nodded curtly and we all walked further along. Coal on my right, Orion on my left, and Dun walking beside Coal on the far side. The place was huge. A lot bigger on the inside it seemed than the outside. Why would a spaceport have all this extra stuff?

As we walked into the central room, I looked up and my jaw dropped. There were so many stories to the planetarium that even my cat-like vision couldn't see that far up. It just faded off into a weird, hazy yellow. I guess atmosphere did need to exist in order for us to survive without suits but... ah well. A huge skeletal snake-like creature was posed swirling up the center of the room, towering so high up that it went out of sight.

"Wow..." I said, my mind had went completely blank from staring at the huge and ancient-looking monster before me.

I heard Coal chuckle beside me. "This is just the entrance Storm, wait until you see the ancient spacecraft room..."

Ignoring him, I approached the plaque that was underneath the massive creature. The others gathered around me, looking at me expectantly. I realized the words were in... Penwisk was it? And they wanted to hear what it said. So I read it out loud.

"The Spatium Colubrum or 'Space Serpent' in an ancient language known as Latin, was known as the Doom Bringer of early space exploration. They roamed the universe, actively seeking out intelligent life forms to destroy those of which were not 'allowed' outside their own world. They have since disappeared more than ten thousand years ago, during the fall of The First Empire.

"During the fall of The First Empire, the Space Serpents began disappearing at an alarming rate, leaving behind strange dark matter, scattering throughout the universe. No one knows what this dark matter is, and it has yet to be sampled and examined and little is known of the dark matter and the serpents' origins."

Everyone was silent for a while, and I hadn't realized others had gathered to listen. There were other cat folk, bears, rabbits, and the occasional bird. They all applauded when I finished and I felt my face go hot. Why were they applauding? I was just reading something...

Orion turned and shooed them away after sensing my discomfort. As some walked away they shot comments at me like "I don't think I've met another Neonian that can read Penwisk as fluently as you!" and "I've always wondered what that said! Thanks!"

"Who was The First Empire?" I asked as everyone went back to their own thing around the room.

Dun opened his mouth to explain but Orion inturrupted him. "The First Empire's origins are still a mystery. No one knows where their home planet was or is. And after their disappearance, we can only assume they fell and went extinct. For all we know, there might be a few stragglers left in the galaxy, but we have yet to confirm that."

"But do we know what species The First Empire was?" I added.

Orion, Dun, and Coal remained silent. All of them shook their heads simultaneously and I nodded. "Right well... have you err, ever heard of... uhh, hum-"

I was interrupted as Coal began talking. "We are wasting time, we should start looking for Sylvia. I'll bet she'll be on the ancient space crafts floor."