Journey To A New World

Pernel Aguirre swam away from Omandy, the city of krulkoxes. He rode Vestula, the oldest of the guarding krakens, out of the deep cave system. His crimson skin and split-tail shimmered as they swept through the ocean. A patch of his scales had never regrown after an injury gained from training young kraken. 

Pernel and Vestula patrolled the coral reefs that provided the food for the citizens of Omandy. None had any sign of contamination. Vestula scraped a few barnacles off her purplish tentacles on the rougher bits of coral. Pernel had never been busier with both patrols and training young kraken. The patrols gave him a moment of peace he couldn’t get in Omandy.

Two-legged aliens with curled horns, black talons, and thick hoofs had invaded Creya. They were building bases on land within sight of the ocean. The krulkox leaders didn’t believe the aliens knew they existed. With the scanners scouring the ocean, Pernel doubted the leaders were right.

A scanner hummed as it passed by Pernel and Vestula. Pernel pulled Vestula’s reigns, keeping them out of its scanning range. They followed it as it headed towards Omandy.

Metal arms dived into the ocean, ripping up chunks of coral. Vestula roared. She swam out of Pernel’s control, throwing him onto the coral reef below them. Vestula crushed the arms with her tentacles. The arms lifted out of the sea, taking Vestula with them. Pernel hurried over to where she’d disappeared. The arms suspended her over a wall of metal.

Vestula’s fate was in the hands of the aliens. Pernel wouldn’t allow them to kill her. Anything he did might bring trouble to Omandy, but the time for change may have arrived.

Vestula’s roar vibrated through the ocean, knocking Pernel into the metal wall. His body reacted. It couldn’t have been metal. His skin changed to match it, while his body tried to morph into a blob shape. The metal-like substance was alive. The horned aliens hadn’t been the only ones to arrive on the planet. At least it would be a better disguise than coral until Pernel touched one of the horned aliens.

He climbed over the metal wall onto the makeshift dock. Vestula still clung to the crushed arms. The horned aliens poked her with polearms, trying to dislodge her from her position. One alien hovered behind the rest, staring at Vestula. Pernel brushed past them. The horned alien shivered. Pernel changed into their DNA, but with crimson talons instead of the black the aliens had. He grabbed a polearm, hoping Vestula noticed his talons, and the aliens didn’t. As soon as he jabbed her with the polearm, Vestula released the mechanic arms. She fell into the ocean. Two sets of black talons grabbed Pernel.

“We didn’t want the kraken,” a deep gravel-like voice said.

A polearm connected with Pernel’s head, knocking him into darkness.

He woke in a daze. A stream of red glowed from the roof, covering Pernel and suspending him in the centre of the room. He was still in the shape of the horned aliens. Pernel couldn’t tell how long he’d been out of water. His nails were still full crimson, so it couldn’t have been too long.

The room stopped spinning. Nothing else was in it. The red glow vanished. Pernel fell to the floor. Slight vibrations rattled through the floor. A hatch provided the only entrance. Pernel peered through the transparent portion. None of the aliens were standing guard. 

The hatch opened without resistance. Pernel didn’t understand why they weren’t guarding him. He climbed through the hatch into an empty corridor. Storage lockers lined the walls, with labels for materials, food, and water. Pernel wandered the corridors wondering where all the horned aliens were, and why they let him roam free.

A room opened off the corridor. He peered in. A few horned aliens lounged on seats facing an enormous window. Creya moved further and further away. Omandy deep under the ocean. They weren’t guarding Pernel, because there was no chance of escape. He sunk to the floor and stared at his homeworld.

One of the horned aliens passed him, laughing. Pernel wouldn’t let them win. Whatever they wanted him for would not happen. He had to escape, any way possible. An emergency plan would be somewhere onboard the ship. Once Pernel had it, he could follow it to escape.

He passed a small portion of wall with a map built into it. Pernel stopped. He didn’t need the emergency plan. The map had escape pods marked on it. They lined the outer rim of the ship.

Pernel opened the first escape pod he found. He walked around the containment tube inspecting everything. The only other component he believed he’d need to use was the autopilot control. Instruction manuals hung from the roof. Pernel walked around the tube, inspecting everything. He grabbed the instruction manuals.

The containment tube worked with either water or gel, suspending the occupant in a sleep-like state until the autopilot switched off. The horned aliens had prepared themselves for containing more than myself. Three empty containers surrounded the escape pod, though tubes attached to each of them. Pernel followed the tubes, finding two storage tanks. One had gel filling it while the other was empty. The horned aliens had expected him to escape.

The autopilot would seek the nearest planet, matching its parameters. All Pernel had to do was to set it to find a water-based planet.

He headed back to the room where he’d awoken. All the lockers marked water were empty. Pernel searched the ship, checking every locker he came across. None contained water. The crimson in his nails was fading.

A room on an upper deck, near the centre of the ship, held a tank containing coral. Pipes led from it into the walls. Pernel slipped into the tank and allowed his body to retake its natural form. Once he’d returned to his proper crimson instead of the faded version, he swapped his natural form for that of a fish common on the eating tables of Omandy.

Pernel swam through the pipes until he entered the main water storage tank. The arrow on the valves connecting the tank to the escape pods pointed to the closed position. A hatch gave him access to the room outside the tank. He changed back to the horned alien form. Pernel opened the hatch and climbed out. Water tripped off him onto the floor, triggering an alarm.

“Warning, water containment field broken, alien departure imminent.”

He ran across to the valves and turned them to the open position. The water started draining out of the tank. Horned aliens stormed into the room. Pernel dived into the tank. The horned aliens dived in after him, trying to hit him with their electrified prodders. Pernel transformed to the fish again. The horned aliens tried to catch him, but missed. Pernel swam into a tube through which the water was disappearing. The horned aliens tried to block it with an electrified prodder, but the water Pernel swam in was already flowing out of their reach.

The water flowed into a storage tank for an escape pod. Pernel only had one way out, to break the tank. Another escape pod would be ready for his use since the horned aliens had blocked no other pipes, but the one he swam in. He returned to the horned alien form, bursting the tank.

Pernel hurried out of the escape pod. Horned aliens traversed either end of the corridor. They all peered towards him, electric prodders and polearms in hand. Pernel hurried to the escape pod opposite the one with the burst tank. He locked the door behind him. The storage tank contained more water than the one he’d burst. Several thuds came from beyond the door. If Pernel didn’t hurry the horned aliens would be in the escape pod with him. He set the parameters for the autopilot.

“Water-based planet.”

Pernel followed the instruction manual for the containment tube, setting it up to keep him alive. Once everything was ready, he settled into the tube. His head and feet almost hit either end of the tube.

“Escape in thirty seconds.”

He hit the button to seal the containment tube. The cover slid over him, locking him in an eerie red glow. The water from the storage tank started filling the tube. 

“Ten… nine… eight…”

The water filled the tube. Pernel transformed back to his natural state as a sleepiness drifted through him.

The tube woke him as the water drained from it. Pernel transformed into a horned alien, saving as much of the oxygen in his body as possible. The pod crashed into a planet with a splash and creaking. The creaking increased.

“Warning, crush depth reached.”

Pernel grinned. The pod was underwater. He shook the grin from his face. It might have been pressure from a planet with a unique atmosphere.

An explosion ripped through the escape pod, dislodging the containment tube. Pernel went to hit the release button. His finger shook. He only had one way of finding out what happened. on the cover of the containment tube. As it slid down, water cascaded into the tube. Pernel returned to his natural form, allowing the brine of the ocean to seep through him. The tube hit the seabed. Pernel swam out. The surface of the ocean wasn’t in sight. Strange bulbous red and green plants surrounded him. He swam up enough to peer around the tube. The bulbous plants were in lines too neat to be natural. Someone had planted them in a particular pattern. Pernel swam further up, giving himself a full view of the farm. The pattern matched those the farmers at the edge of Omandy made with their crops.

Pernel was near a krulkox inhabited area. He swam around the farm, looking for clues where the inhabited area was. Markers of white and blue stones, similar to those of Omandy, formed a line towards the farmer’s home. Pernel only had to follow it.

He started swimming to the west, but the crops only grew further apart. The line of stones ended at the outer border of the crops. He turned back, following the trail east. 

The trail led to a domed city. Pernel entered through an unguarded gate. The outer edge of the city was under construction. The dome must have been new. It didn’t explain the lack of guards. Pernel continued through the city until he reached another domed area. Kraken guarded the gates. They roared as Pernel neared them, sensing they weren’t familiar with him.

Krulkox guards came towards him, their golden spears aimed at his head.

“Aliens took me from my homeland, but I escaped,” Pernel said.

“Which aliens?” a guard asked.

Pernel transformed into the horned alien. The guards lowered their spears.

“Follow us,” a guard said.

Pernel returned to his natural krulkox form. The kraken moved aside, allowing the guards to swim past back through the gates. Pernel followed.

They led him through the city to the palace. There weren’t as many krulkoxes as Pernel was used to, Omandy had far more citizens. The guards entered the palace, leading Pernel to the throne room.

Seated on the throne was a queen draped in golden seaweed.

“Another one,” a guard said.

The queen smiled at Pernel. “Welcome to our new world.”