Chapter 2: Explanations at the Spearhead

The Spearhead was a workplace of much noise and movement and not a moment went by where things were calm and quiet. To Carl it was a stark contrast from Earth... Or at the very least, the small part of Earth where Carl had lived. Indeed, the bustling city of New York was, in comparison, dull. So many people fit in here that Carl wouldn't be surprised if they could have brought along the entire population of Earth. Sadly, Hermes insisted they all had to stay behind. Hermes had shown surprisingly little emotion over leaving everyone behind in a war where they would probably all die. Instead, he just pushed Carl forward through the ship, which just got more and more amazing, the further he got. Walkways ran everywhere, computer panels covered the walls and people seemed too busy to notice if anything unusual happened. Ah yes, the people. The ship itself was quite spectacular, but the people were something else entirely. Carl had never seen so many different species in one place, every single one stranger than the other. Some had enough limbs to make up several human beings, while others had none at all. Everyone seemed to be bent in a different shape, and not everyone had the most clear heads. Some people were all head while others had to share theirs between themselves. Carl couldn't help staring. As they passed through the ship they got the occasional greeting nod as well as Carl being eyed suspiciously.

“Do they know I'm a hu...”

Carl was cut off before he could finish his sentence.

“Don't say that word!” Hermes hissed, giving Carl a terrified look, as if Carl had almost revealed some secret plan to take over the universe. “No, they don't know. For your own safety, you're a Thermian when you're not... home.” Hermes went on his way without explaining further. This wasn't the first time he had acted like Carl was expected to know everything.

“Wait a minute! What's a...”

“I'll explain when we're in the privacy of your guest room.” Hermes didn't say another word and they both proceeded through the long and remarkable corridors of the ship.

Meanwhile on the planet Earth, three shapeless shadows moved slowly through the hallway of a rather simply designed apartment building. Had anyone passed by, they would have seen nothing but the empty and rather dark hallway. But they were there, the three shadows, observing their surroundings, sweeping the floor for clues. One of them bent down and rubbed what could best be described as a finger across the floor in front of his feet. As if he had discovered something remarkable he held the finger up in the air, and proceeded to talk in a language that sounded more like unintelligible hisses and whispers, but still loud enough for anyone to hear. This is roughly what he said;

“Aha! There are markings in the dust! Someone has walked here!”

This may not seem like particularly interesting clues if not for the fact that Carl and Hermes were the only ones who had left the building that morning, before a whole squad of government officials had ordered a lockdown and posted guards everywhere. No one was allowed to leave the buildings as well as enter them. For safety reasons, everyone was wearing 'Traces-be-gone' outfits that made sure they couldn't leave any traces behind that could be mistaken for clues by the shadows. The shadows had made it very clear that there wasn't a clue that they wouldn't pick up. Indeed, twenty minutes after entering the apartment building they knew exactly who had escaped, and from which apartment. Now remained only the matter of figuring out where to the escapee had gone.

“There are other tracks here!” one of the shadows said, in the same whispering language. “They don't belong to a human. But... They left with one.” The remainder of the day was spent trying to figure out why the tracks stopped almost at random in front of a building. Although the shadows were great at figuring out what the tracks meant, if there were none, they weren't the brightest. Not until their commander, a tall and fierce creature with only one eye appeared late in the evening did they stop trying to come up with ridiculous theories.

“Why are you still here!?” he demanded to know. “Can't you fools see the human escaped? They're probably far gone by now.”

Carl hadn't had it much easier that day. He had met the captain, who didn't seem entirely convinced that Carl was in fact a Thermian, and it didn't help that he didn't know what exactly a Thermian was. Hermes had then proceeded to call him Ca without explaining once why. Carl had decided just to keep quiet, as he would probably ruin everything if he spoke. Just as Carl had started to feel tired they had both arrived to the guest room. A small room containing little more than a bed and a table, both attached to the floor. Carl had barely gotten into the room before Hermes slammed the door behind them.

“Well then...” he said, looking strangely pleased with himself. “This has gone surprisingly smoothly, wouldn't you say?”

Carl raised an eyebrow, as if to say that Hermes must be completely nuts.

“I think it's time I explained myself. Explained everything. This whole thing is a lot more complicated than it seems. The war against Earth has been all over the news, and there isn't a soul who doesn't know about it.” Hermes sighed, for the first time he almost looked a bit sad. “The truth is, the government of the universe fears what the future of Earth might bring. They want to ensure that there won't be a future for Earth. But... As long as a single human lives, they can't. They probably know you've escaped by now, but space is big and it's unlikely they will find you for a very long time. You do have to be wary though, there's already a reward posted for finding you... I overheard some people talking about it.” Hermes moved over to the only window in the room. Outside, the vast and empty space moved past them, slowly and peacefully.

“That's... that's why you're a Thermian from now on. I assume you want to know everything about Thermians...” Hermes turned to look at Carl. “They look exactly like you do. Short brown hair, equally brown eyes, relatively tall and slender. If one was on Earth, he'd be easily mistaken for a human. Your clothes could be better though. We'll have to do something about it when we get to my apartment.” Hermes turned back to the window, and became very quiet. He seemed to brood on something. Everything Carl had just heard seemed strange to him. It seemed ridiculous that anyone would be afraid of what Earth might become.

“Oh, and about the name...” Hermes said finally, as if he had been about to forget. Carl suspected he had just given him time to melt everything. “Since Thermians have really, really short names, consisting of no more than two letters, your name is Ca from now on...” Hermes turned around and looked straight at Carl. His eyes seemed almost grim now.

“I can't stress how important it is that you never reveal who you are, even if it might be tempting. If... If you are found, Earth doesn't stand a chance.” without another word, Hermes left and for the first time since the morning, Carl was alone.