That is not a Star

A week has passed and Mauzarella, visibly bored, is in her room sitting on her bed talking to Chief Maustash on her wrist computer and trying to hide her real emotions.

Chief: How are you feeling? It's been days since you showed up here and I'm starting to get worried.

Mauzarella: Don't worry chief, I'll be ready for action soon.

Chief: I hope so. Maple and Neve are not responding and I need someone to go to their last known location.

Blup peeks out from under the bed and Mauzarella motions for her to hide.

Mauzarella: Yes, they're useless if I'm not around

Chief: That's not what I said!

Mauzarella: Yeah, yeah, I'll call you later, Ciao!

Chief: WAIT!

Mauzarella hangs up and lies down on the bed.

Mauzarella: AAAAAAAAAAGH! This wait is killing me! How difficult can it be to find an unknown planet of an unknown species!

Blup comes out from under the bed and goes up to Mauzarella's stomach.

Blup: Blup?

Mauzarella: No precious, I'm not angry with you, I could never be angry with the most adorable hoggly woggly thing in the universe. Who is the cutest thing?... You are!

Voice: Mauzarella?

Mauzarella: You are!

Voice: MAUZARELLA!

Mauzarella suddenly sits straight and hides Blup behind her back.

Mauzarella: Who?, What? WHERE?

Hazel: It's me.

Hazel's face unfolds in front of Mauzarella in a blue hologram.

Mauzarella: Ah, it's just you...

Hazel: Yeah!... You told me to use direct comms as soon as I found something.

Mauzarella: Did you find something?

Hazel: Well, yeah? I thought that was implied...

Mauzarella: WHAT DID YOU FIND?

Hazel: No big deal, some scientific papers by a certain Doctor Gerbo Von Braun mentioning Blup-like creatures. The Doctor dedicated his life to the search and study of unknown creatures.

Mauzarella: Dedicated, as in, he's not around anymore?

Hazel: He disappeared a few months ago on a trip to the unexplored regions of the outer ring of the galaxy.

Mauzarella: Finally! Some action!

Hazel: Did you hear me? No one knows where the Doctor is!

Mauzarella: Yeah, Whatever! Get the last known coordinates of Doctor BBbbb...

Hazel: Braun.

Mauzarella: That one, bring your tracking equipment and catch up with me at the launch bay!

Hazel: You're asking me for too much and our antennas are not getting closer...

Mauzarella: Well... We'll have a lot of time while... we search for Dr. (wink) Buraaun

Hazel: Ah, Eh! OK!, although I'm still a little worried that...

Mauzarella: OK! Bye!

Mauzarella swipes the hologram and picks up Blup

Mauzarella: Did you hear that Blup! We have a clue, this will be very quick.

Blup: Bluuup!

Mauzarella puts Blup into a small backpack and hurries out the door filled with excitement..

Some time later, Mauzarella's ship, which looks a lot like a computer mouse with little wings and a big engine, is floating in the void at the outer edge of the Beta Arm, quadrant z89 of the galaxy. In this lonely place, there are only a few widely separated stars, some space rocks, space dust and the center of the galaxy is barely visible in the distance.

Mauzarella: We've been here for hoooours, where is Dr Doe?

Hazel: You brought us here with just some coordinates, what did you expect?

Mauzarella: Can't you just press the search button for Dr Gramps?

Hazel: Von Braun, and no, it's not that simple, these calculations take time.

Computer: The measurement of the space-time fiber indicates that there is a gravitational anomaly that is pulling the ship at a constant speed of 4 micro sectors per minute at 1.0.8.

Mauzarella: WHAT?

Hazel: Big thing, not on the map, slowly pulling us in that direction.

Mauzarella: That star?

Hazel: That... is not a star!

Hazel, out of pure impulse, takes control of the ship and directs it to the shiny object that is seen nearby, causing Mauzarella to lose her balance and fall to the ground.

Mauzarella: HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU'RE GOING TO KILL US! AT LEAST TURN THE GRAVITY LOCK ON!

Mauzarella tries to retake control of the ship but Hazel is fully determined to get them near the object.

Mauzarella: LET GO OF MY SHIP!

Hazel: JUST... A LITTLE... FURTHER!

Mauzarella manages to remove Hazel from the controls and stops the ship in its tracks.

Mauzarella: ARE YOU CRAZY!?

Hazel points to the object that is now very close.

Hazel: Look!

Mauzarella: What is that? it shines like a star but we are not burning out.

Hazel: It seems to me that it is a planet with some kind of self luminescence and apparently it is not attached to any star system... a Wandering Planet.

Mauzarella: Is that possible?

Hazel: You're in front of it.

Computer: Life signs located.

Mauzarella: Well, we're already here so why not take a look.

The ship crosses a sea of ​​clouds that cover the planet and function as a source of light and heat. After a couple of minutes of pure white the landscape changes drastically as they reach a hospitable atmosphere.

The ship lands on the surface of the planet which is made of reddish dirt with cactus-like plants and small bushes, there are some rivers and lakes, no mountains and the terrain is mostly flat with some medium and large rocks here and there. The three crew members get out of the ship and start taking readings of the environment.

Hazel: This place is extraordinary! The temperature, the atmosphere... It's like a bioactive terrarium.

Mauzarella: It's a perfect place for a species that doesn't want to be found.

Hazel: Life readings come from that direction, it would be best to be careful and not rush.

Blup jumps from Mauzarella's arms and runs in the indicated direction.

Mauzarella: Wait, Blup!

Hazel: Or, we could carelessly run off into the unknown and probably die.

Blup stops at the edge of a small stream followed by Mauzarella and Hazel

A group of creatures of various colors and sizes, all similar to Blup, are quietly resting and playing in a valley with many plants that have red and thorny fruits at the other side of the river.

Mauzarella: There are... Hundreds of Blups!

Hazel: Wonderful...

Suddenly, a small bell rings in the distance and all the creatures disappear into holes in the ground and structures made of piled stones in seconds.

Mauzarella: Wait! Where are you going?

Hazel: Where is that sound coming from?

Blup crosses the stream and tries to follow the others.

Mauzarella: Quick! Follow her!

Blup reaches the spot where all the other blups were and starts looking into each hole but fails to make contact with any of the creatures, Mauzarella and Hazel try to do the same having the same result.

Mauzarella: Where did they go?

While Mauzarella and Hazel are distracted, a figure runs out of one of the rock constructions, grabs Blup and disappears behind other rocks.

Mauzarella: BLUUP!!

Mauzarella runs behind the rocks but there is nothing there.

Mauzarella: BLUUUP WHERE ARE YOU?

No answer.

Mauzarella closes her eyes and her antennas start to move a little, then they get stiff, she opens her eyes and immediately goes near to a medium sized hole where she sticks her hands in and manages to get Blup out.

Blup: BLUP!!

Just as Blup has its whole body out, a pair of hands come out of the hole and grab Blup to try to put him back in.

Mauzarella: OH, NO YOU DON'T!

Mauzarella grabs those hands and pulls with all her strength until she manages to get the whole body of whoever was inside out, both falling noisily and rolling on the floor.

The Ranger stands up immediately and turns to see who it was she had taken out of the hole.

An unkempt-looking spotted gerbil with long shaggy hair sits up, panics and then tries to hide again by digging in the dirt.

Mauzarella catches and subduces him but the gerbil fights and swipes non stop.

Dr Braun: LET GO OF ME! I WILL NEVER ALLOW YOU TO HARM THE OCKUTIES!

Hazel: Doctor Von Braun?

Dr. Braun stops for a bit, turns to Hazel and then continues kicking.

Hazel: You are Doctor Gerbo Von Braun, right? We have come looking for you, we need your help with this creature...

Dr Braun: I WILL NEVER HELP YOU, TELL CATNIP, I WILL PROTECT THESE CREATURES AT ALL COSTS

Mauzarella: Chill out, Doc! We are members of R.O.E.S. we DO NOT work for CatNip

Dr Braun: Really?

Mauzarella lets go of Dr Braun who gets up and examines them carefully,

Dr Braun: Well those are definitely the R.O.E.S. vestments, although he still seems suspicious to me...

Doctor Braun points to Hazel right on her chest where his mom had hand-knitted the R.O.E.S. emblem

Mauzarella: Don't worry, he's harmless.

Dr Braun: In that case, I'm glad that you're here, I've been stranded for months on this planet while also defending the Ockuties from Catnip's henchmen.

The doctor takes out a whistle that is tied together with a small bell and he blows. Suddenly, all the Ockuties come out of the caves and hiding places to return to their relaxation and games.

Dr Braun: Come this way, I'll explain everything...