The demi-humans. The exiled Circuli. The Zero G-Spot workers.
Things may take time to settle, build, and develop, but I could see it becoming a booming place.
I glanced at the unused island. At the moment, no plans came to me about what I should do with it. Perhaps an expansion of the main island in the future or maybe a place for my children to build something. I chuckled. That would be many years from now. I needed to focus on the here and now.
A wave of dizziness hit me, knocking me from the sky. I fell fast, reaching toward the sun as it got farther and fartheraway. Closing my eyes to brace myself for impact, I waited. When none came, I opened them.
Gone was my familiar tropical paradise.
Instead, I was strapped down to an experiment table with bright operation lights blinding me.
“Brother!” a tenor voice screamed.
“Who are you?” I asked, confused. “What is this?”
The table shook, and a cluster of shimmering clear wires wiggled into view, moving toward my head. I tried jerking away but could only thrust my head back and forth.
“Who are you?” he demanded.
The clear wires halted above my shoulder, each strand acting independently from the others.
“This is my dreamscape. You don’t have permission to be here,” I shouted.
“You are the one doing the invading,” he growled. “Did the Vhalxt send you?”
I tried to locate his voice, but it seemed to have no source. The light was preventing me from making out where I was and who was here with me. Only the dancing fibers let me know I wasn’t alone.
“Vhalxt, who?” I asked, confused.
“The Vhalxt,” he replied in annoyance. “I know all the Verya in this galaxy, and they are all under my command.”
“I am not a Vhalxt or Verya.”
“You lie,” he barked.
“Why would I lie?”
“Because they all do to get their way!” he yelled. “Give me back my brother!”
“I have no one!” I screamed. “I don’t know what you are talking about!”
“If you won’t give me my brother back, I will force you to.”
Suddenly, the wires fell away, out of sight.
A wave of dizziness washed over me. My head throbbed asmy vision blurred. Figures faded into view, blocking the bright lights above.
“You were correct. She trusted the bond you share to protect her,” A robotic voice from my past chuckled.
“It was easy to persuade her to listen to us,” Odelm chuckled. “Between Xylo and I, we were able to easily misdirect her thoughts and feelings.”
I shook my head in disbelief. This was all a dream—a nightmare. They couldn’t be here. This couldn’t be real.
“And now we know she can fully adapt to any species. We can introduce her to all of our prisoners,” Xylo beamed. “It would be easy to capture more now that the CEG believes all of their threats are gone.”
“Then we will harvest all of her eggs and inseminate them with Yaarkin DNA, altering them to fulfill our original goal with the creation of a new generation,” the Yaarkin explained. “Her offspring will conquer the universe, making the Yaarkins the new dominant species.”
“Will they be enough to defeat the Vhalxt?” V’dim asked.
