Leaders Of Life

Chapter 1

I sat in front of the large screen and watched the peaceful scenery. The Milky Way was good for the moment.

Milky Way. Such a silly name for a galaxy, but this is the first one named by its inhabitants. Well, not by all of them, but they seemed keen on keeping the name as it was given by humans. I have to admit that the creatures living there were a whole lot funnier than the ones in B17, the second closest galaxy to Thaberia.

 Thaberia, my planet, was the center of the Universe. All the expansion began from the very middle of the void, and so Thaberia was born. Our land began to be populated since the beginning, the first life forms being thaberians, or at least that's what I was thought. The forces of nature couldn't leave their biggest creation without leaders, leaders of life. Ever since, our kind was assigned the task to keep peace in the Universe, to survey life. That was the reason why we were created, and we took our job very seriously.

I gazed once more upon the screen and it changed the displayed image. If there is one thing we got from other species that would be the television. It was revolutionary, even for us, and we somehow influenced its invention. All life forms were bright, you just needed to find what they were best at.

When I didn't look out for the galaxy that was assigned to me, I had a normal life. Well, as normal as the life of a demigod, as humans called it, could get. I would meet with the other ones of my kind, play Hantmax and Spedsim, two very popular sport games,  watch other galaxies as if they were the protagonists in a movie, or even have parties with different themes. Us, thaberians, were a nation that embraced changes and traditions of the many cultures, but we were mostly influenced by the mankind, since they were the second in population numbers. We outnumbered them by millions, but they still were the the majority in this Universe after us.

I decided spending my time inside was what I needed, so I positioned myself better between the red cushions and closed my eyes, thinking about the following day and how Amnea, my best friend, would question my absence from the Game Night.

As I slowed down my system I began falling between the two worlds, unconscious of what caused the intense sound that almost awakened me. I was tempted to check it, but it was too late- my body drew me in a trance,and I fell asleep.

*****

I managed to escape the world of dreams after what seemed like two hours. My body was sore from the uncomfortable position , but that was the last thing I cared about. The next moment I was up on my feet in front of the Detector and began searching flaws in the defense system.

My eyes roamed around the curved screen, analyzing each and every star. At the first sight there was no signs of attacking, so I accessed the planetary information. I had to make sure that the Milky Way was safe and interstellar war-free. That was my job ever since I reached the age of 23: keep peace. Until now there were no major flaws I couldn't handle myself, but this time the Detector didn't show anything.

I pursed my lips and began the manual trouble shooting. Aabony, the first planet in alphabetical order form the Milky Way,  didn't report anythying, neither did Aabra. My eyes squinted when Alhponsa's image took it's place on the screen. The purple planet looked more crowded than usual, and it wasn't even the Alphonian Reproducing Season.

The stats on the right side of the screen didn't seem changed since the last time I had checked them. I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to see a bigger, more detailed live frame, yet when I did so it all froze. I clenched my teeth and collided my fist with the wall on my right.

I needed to check Alphonsa, so I went to the best place possible.

Tek bR21, my friend in Taberia's Security System. He was the only one that could ensure me Alphonsa didn't plan on attacking us.

To be fair I didn't care if they even tried to attack us- Thaberia had an impenetrable shield which both offered us protection and invisibility. I was concerned about the whole galaxy Alphonsa belonged to. If the third military force of the closest galaxy to us was declaring war we couldn't stay hidden and let them fight for centuries. We eventually had to step in and keep peace. That's why we were created- keeping peace. As long as there was no major war in the Universe we could live our lives happily.

I didn't realize that I had been standing outside Tek's house. As I snapped out of my post-apocalyptic idea of the Universe I knocked on his door. A few seconds after, Tek invited me in and kindly asked me to take a seat.

I did as he wished, waiting for him to bring the Smash he had prepared previous to my arrival. I was eager to find new inside information, at the same time as chills passed through me only when I was thinking about the possible war.

"I believe I'm not allowed to show you this," he placed the two glasses on the table as his own Detector slowly descended from the ceiling, "but if you believe something is definitely wrong, I trust you."

Alphonsa popped on the screen in an instant. From what I knew we should have been able to zoom in and turn the hologram around as we pleased, but all we managed to do was get a better picture of the two moons, Androgya and Bathla.

"This is impossible," Tek looked shocked at the screen and shook his head, probably denying what he knew was already happening.

"Do you think they are planning on taking us down?" I inquired, taking a sip on the pale blue drink.

"Alphonians wouldn't do this- they are a reserved nation- but if you look in closely you can see ships landing on Alphonsa, and there are not in little numbers."

I stood up and walked closer to the Detector, leaning in and squinting my eyes. Hundreds of dots were all over the surface of the purple planet and around it, all of them with a light blue tint.

"What is this?" I looked over my shoulder at Tek who was massaging his temples.

"I would like to know, too."