49 S.S. Atlas

High-orbit Space Station: Atlas.

"Attention on deck!" As one of the soldiers spoke, everyone stood up and saluted. A man in his forties walked in, he was wearing an admirals uniform.

"At ease." As the man spoke, everyone got back to work. Monitoring scanners, different systems and many more things that have to work on a space station.

"Admiral Kong." A man in white clothes walked up to Admiral Kong and greeted him.

"Professor Johnson, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Admiral Kong. I have to be honest I'm really glad that the council sent you here." There was relief in Johnson's voice. Looking at his body it was clear he had no sleep for a long time, on his white clothes there was a coffee stain, this was probably how he was still standing now.

"The council sent me here because you said that there is an invasion. I don't know how much truth is in it, but it is enough for the council to make a move. So if you can, explain how can there be an invasion on our home planet, if there are no enemy ships anywhere close to Gaia."

"Well I can't say that there is an invasion now, but it's a possibility."

"A possibility you say…"

"Yes, three days ago we detect a powerful space distortion in the middle of the seventh ocean. It was focused on an uninhabited island, far from any of the Water Cities. The distortion was short but very powerful, there is still space fluctuations around the island. Because of that, we are not able to asses the situations on the island."

"The space distortion was very similar to the theoretical results that would an instantaneous travel cause."

"Instantaneous travel? Like teleportation?" Admiral Kong rubbed the back of his neck, he started to feel anxious.

"More like a gate. A gate that connects to points in space and allows you to pass the distance between them with a step, no matter how far they actually are."

"You are saying that someone has opened a gate to Gaia?" His face became serious. If someone can open a gate to Gaia, it means that they can attack anytime, they won't be able to assess forces that can attack with, and if they start losing, they can go back through the gate and open it somewhere else, and attack.

"They did, but it was closed soon after. Rather than closed, it exploded. This is why there are space fluctuations."

"Can we get any visuals?"

"We tried using both high and low orbit satellites but we weren't able to get a clear image, we will have to wait until the space around the island stabilizes."

"How long will it take?"

"We can't be sure, from a week to a month."

When Admiral Kong received his orders, he was expecting a panicked scientist that saw a spot on a monitor. But this is real. If there is someone that can make this sort of gate to their home planet, an invasion is the least he will have to worry about. A few warheads sent through a gate, and they can destroy the planet.

"I will go back to Artemis, we will go to a Low-orbit above the island. Keep a constant connection, and whenever something changes, immediately notify me! When the space fluctuations stop make a full scan, infrared images, life detection, everything you can get."

"Yes, Admiral!"

Taking a transport ship back to the UNF W.S. Artemis, Admiral Kong clutched his hands tightly. Back on deck he quickly started to shout orders. Establishing a connection with SS Atlas, moving to a Low-orbit above the island, ordering the whole crew to remain battle ready.

The crew was slowly getting tenser, and more days passed. And finally, on the twenty-sixth day Profesor Johnson sounded the alarm, the space fluctuations were gone.

"Everyone be ready!"

"Admiral Kong, we are sending the images now."

The files came in as Professor Johnson finished speaking, The island was small, you could walk from one end to the other in less than two hours. Close to the center of the island, a patch of rubble and small camp not to far away could be seen!

"Show me the infrared images." It looked like there is someone there, based on the camp size the number was low. This relaxed Admiral Kong a bit and made him even tenser. There was someone there! Someone went through a gate and is now on Gaia!

"It looks like there are two heat signatures. Wait! What is happening?! Is it a fire? Get me a live feed now!" Professor Johnson suddenly started shouting. His voice hoarse and low, clinching the table he was holding he waited for the live feed.

"What is happening Professor Kong?"

"It looks like one of the heat signatures started to burn! And the other one started to move towards it!"

"What about life signatures?"

"We are still detecting two…"

What is going on?! It looks like there are only two people on the island, but it can be a trap. In almost a month it's possible to hide underground and prepare shields to trick infrared, and life detection is possible even with our technology. He needs to play this safe.

"Capitan Novak, get Lieutenant Garey and his team to take the space-atmosphere ship and go down to the island! They can expect two enemies. Capture or kill!"

"Yes, sir!"

Two minutes later Lieutenant Garey and his team boarded the ship. With everyone strapped in, the clamps released the ship, and they started to descend to the planet's surface.

"Listen up, we have confirmed the presence of two targets, possibly hostile. The mission is to capture or kill if they don't surrender we open fire. If they surrender we will land and take them on board, there is a possibility of a trap so you must be ready for battle."

"Yes, sir!"

As the Lieutenant finished talking the ship started shaking. They have entered the planet's atmosphere and are now rapidly descending. Three minutes later the engines began to slow down their descent, and soon they were flying towards the island.

"Isn't that word that they're sending only us after all of that?" One of the soldiers said.

"Not really, they want to minimize the casualties if something goes wrong," said Lieutenant Garey. His voice was grim, but on his face was a small smile. He knew what he was signing up for, and now it was the time to serve his planet.

The ship fell in silence, they all knew that it is possible, and they had to kill the fear in them and move forward.

"2 minutes to contact."

"Give me visuals." Lieutenant Garey took a tablet from his chest pocket and looked at the live feed of the island from the front camera of the ship.

"Zoom in on the target." The screen changed, and two people showed on the screen. A woman and a man.

But there was something wrong with the image. It looked as if the man was looking at them, but his eyes were pitch black as if made out of the void.