Opet and the Tales of Heroes

She let go of his hand as she walked up to horizontal sliding doors. Automatically, it opened up as Raavi had a chance to see another spectacular scene.

As he stepped inside, Raavi could see Oniya walk in first. The bridge was nothing like he expected to see. A part of him believed that he would see a room filled with consoles and displays everywhere, but this place just struck him as odd. It was shaped almost like a sizeable opal-like room. The myriad of rainbow colors that pulsated the passageways did not follow into the bridge. It almost appeared as some sort of waiting room or lounge. A large circular corridor had a series of glass-like walls that lined the edge of the center. Comfortable white couches lined the area. Raavi noticed an area with signs in English but would flash to Chinese that pointed to various locations in the bridge. He could recount that there was a top floor and the main bottom floor. He knew that the site of the bridge was above the massive storage shuttle hangar.

The place was extremely comfortable to look at. If anything, it even appeared to look like something that would be found on a cruise liner. The circular passageway on the top floor overlooked what was in the center, and it appeared to be a sizeable three-dimensional projector. Raavi himself could recognize the image as it displayed the New Olympian star system. He could see an almost perfect rendition of the planet of New Olympia. Thirteen large white objects were portrayed in its orbit as it showed a small white and red pinging that indicated the UHN Opet location.

"Wow......," he told her. "This is really something. Where do you control the ship?"

"By command," Oniya replied. "It is really more computer-controlled.....if you would call it that."

"What do you mean by....." were Raavi's only words as he was interrupted.

"Captain," another female voice came from ahead and below the overhead passageway.

"Nebina," Oniya addressed her. "How is everything?"

There was a shuffling down the stairs as Raavi could see a woman walk up to meet them. She was a little bit taller in appearance but somewhat bulky of her looks. She also had an Egyptian appearance on her face. Her hair, though, made her look more pronounced though. It was long and black, but it almost seemed to look like it was poofy. It stood out from her blue and red jumpsuit uniform and really seemed to outline her appearance. Her voice was a little bit deeper than Oniya's.

"I am well......ah, is this our new guest?" Nebina called out.

"Yes," Oniya replied. "This is Raavi. Raavi, this is Nebina. Nebina, this is Raavi. I guess you can say that Nebina is the second in command of this ship. Her responsibilities are to oversee the bridge and ship. Typically she, Gant, and I all take turns at the bridge for our shifts."

Raavi reached out her hand as the two shook hands. There was a slight grin on her face, but it quickly faded as they stopped and looked at each other.

"Nice to meet you, Nebina," he addressed her.

"Same to you, Raavi," she replied back. She turned her head to look at Oniya. "Captain....., did you come here to show him the bridge?"

"Yes, don't worry, Nebina," Oniya replied. "I will be out of here soon enough."

"It seems pretty cozy in this place," Raavi remarked. "I don't see any desks of any kind."

"There is one down by the bottom deck of the bridge. It isn't up here."

Raavi left the two as he had more of a look at the location. The room was filled with massive windows that he could see outside in the emptiness of space. Ahead of the bridge was an enormous view screen that would seem to put a movie theater to shame. He could see the white dreadnoughts that hovered in orbit ahead of the Opet from the forward view screen. When he reached the glass wall of the overhead balcony, he looked down to the bottom deck. There were no consoles to operate the ship. All he could see were more white couches. He saw the white and brown desk with an office chair, but it was located away from the left-most couch. The lack of controls seemed to alarm Raavi. Even with using the computer to control the ship, so many liberties were taken. The lack of a crew, allowing a ship computer to automate things more than most ships ever did, and the lack of control for the Opet just didn't make sense to him. It was one more thing to add to the coffin. Why was the UHN Opet so strange? Why did it have abilities that other ships didn't? Why the events that happened in the passageway? It was too much. He bit his tongue, but he had to get to the point with Oniya.

"Anything to report?" Oniya asked Nebina.

"No. Gant is complaining again about his watch," Nebina said. "It is the same old thing as usual. The Opet is still stuck here as it always is."

"I know," Oniya commented as she put her hand on Nebina's shoulder. "To feel trapped doesn't help. If you ever want to take a break from bridge duties, just let me know."

"Nah, it isn't that......," she sighed. "I can see why you got him," she gestured to Raavi.

He turned around and looked at the two. He could see the smile on Nebina's face, but it quickly faded again.

"I like him," Oniya said. "You should consider UWAN dating. I wouldn't mind seeing some more faces around this ship anyway. I know your mother wouldn't mind."

"Oh, you know my mother," Nebina said with a shrug. "The more, the merrier."

"I know that Gant wants to spend more time with Iwa. Ugh....I want to spend more time off too."

"As I said, he isn't going to. We all have to take turns. I just hate the fact that this is repetitive nonstop with these watches."

"We will look into getting some more personnel to take these watches instead of just us three. I would choose the twins, but they are just too young to do it."

"Wha?......" Raavi quietly reacted. His mind was wondering if she was referring to those two kids he saw earlier. They did appear to be young but just now, what she said also tacked onto the things that didn't make sense for him. Why would the New Olympians implore child labor into the commands? Wouldn't this violate some sort of law or code? Once again could only give a questioning look at the two.

"I will contact Fleet Admiral Fumi Yuki," Oniya said. "I will let her know about everything. Maybe they can assign some more people on this ship."

"Don't expect it. You know the New Olympian policy on this fleet alone. They just don't want to push it to be anything bigger than it should. She would care, but the council would put their thumb down on it."

"I know......you would think moving to this planet would encourage better changes....instead, we are simply doing the same things as we did so long ago."

"It is shit, pardon my language, Raavi," Nebina gestured to both of them.

Raavi could realize a little bit that much like anything, there was politics that was going on. New Olympia seemed no different than the rest of the colonies. It probably made sense as impressive as the New Olympian fleet was, he still had never seen them up close. The sheer size of the warships would hum all over the media outlets, but they just never left. They remained hovering over a seemingly dead planet. It was an enigma.

"Do you guys ever leave orbit?" Raavi asked.

"Our ships?" Nebina implied. "No. This fleet goes nowhere. The Opet is one of three transports that are part of the UHN. We go on little errands here and there, but nothing to that...."

"Nebina, I can explain all of this to him," Oniya interrupted her. "I know that he is full of questions right now. I want to make sure that I explain all of this to him and more. He just came aboard over thirty minutes ago."

"Of course."

"In that case, I will leave you be. I will be back to take the watch in five hours."

Nebina shrugged. "You got it. Take care, Captain."

Oniya nodded as she gave the nod to Raavi.

"Nice getting a chance to meet you, Nebina," Raavi said.

"Same to you, Raavi," she replied in kind.

With that, both Raavi and Oniya proceeded out of the bridge. They exited from the same door that they came from. Both of them reached the passageway as she stopped and looked at him. The emptiness of the vast aisle was marked with nothing but questions for Raavi. He had a skeptical look that he gave to her.

"What is going on?" he asked her. "Nothing on this ship seems to make sense."

"My love, you care to come to my quarters?" Oniya asked him.

Those words seemed to make his heart skip. Was she asking what he thought she was asking? It felt a little too soon, even if they had been talking about such things earlier on the UWAN dating site. Regardless, he could tell a little bit in her facial expression that she didn't have the look of sexual desire or demand of it. Perhaps this was to start answering questions. Maybe for him, it was best to just go with the flow. He knew that he was in her territory. She had been doing this for some time. Even if it was a crew of eight, the demands of commanding a ship were still demanding regardless. For him, it was best just to let her lead the way.

"Sure," he replied. He struggled to hold back a little bit of excitement but he could see that she saw his expression a little bit. She simply smiled a little bit in response.

"Alright," she replied as they both began to walk. "My quarters aren't that far."

"Where does most of the crew sleep?"

"All over the place. Most of the quarters are in deck three. Mine and Qing's are at the first deck."

"You know, the watch that you guys have doesn't seem to be that bad. The bridge seems to be rather luxurious."

"How would you know?" she asked.

"I was on one of the cruise liners that came to Aphadus. Oshun and Cebravis love sending their ships to come and land on the vast lakes of the planet. They usually make their short trips before they head back home."

"Ah. Well, in the case with us, yes, the bridge is a comfortable place to be at. None of us can disagree with that, but that isn't the point. For eight hours every day, we are essentially stuck in that place. We have to be available to respond in case something happens."

"I guess being Captain you can't get away from it."

"Not when you have a crew of eight. It could set a bad precedence if I didn't take up the responsibilities. I am used to it, and so is everyone else for that matter."

"Seems dull and dreary."

She nodded as they both reached a door on their right. "It can be. Here are my quarters. I always prefer to be close to the bridge. It makes it feel like an extension of my room."

They both looked at another sliding door in the passageway. It was not too far from the bridge, as she had mentioned. The location was near the railgun turret room that he hadn't seen yet, and it was somewhat near sickbay. It was an ideal location, and Raavi could see why she had chosen it for herself.

The door opened up to reveal the interior layout of something that almost made Raavi's jaw drop in surprise. She was first to walk in, but as he stepped inside, he noted its extravagance. The door closed behind him as he could feel the silk carpet-like floor. Much like the layout of sickbay, this place was fit for a king. It was incredibly spacious with pristine white couches for furniture. The first place he was standing in was the living room. It actually had two doors: where he came from and another one on the other side that would lead to the passageway on the port side of the Opet.

It was like walking into a luxury class hotel room. The living room alone had a massive projector system by the couches. There was even a bed-like cushion in the center that could hold five people. There were two white wooden looking tables by the sofas that connected to the bed. The walls had the same pulsating colors that seem to radiate around the passageways, but it was less noticeable. Behind the living room was the visible kitchen. It had all the appliances, including a massive refrigerator, stove, sinks. It allowed the person to see straight into the living room with ease. Additional rooms were wrapped behind the kitchen, but Raavi could not tell what it led to.

"Incredible......" Raavi remarked. "Absolute beauty of a room. This is your personal quarters?"

"Yes," Oniya replied.

"I mean.....I....," he paused to chuckle a little bit. "I remember us talking online. I never thought to see this in reality. It is beyond what I imagined. You have a room fit for a goddess. My entire family would be a speck of dust in this place. Do the other crew have such spacious decorum as this place?"

"Hmmm.....more or less.....depends on what it is that they prefer."

"The cost to make such a place would be insane. Are you sure that you are commanding a transport or a luxury liner?"

Oniya didn't answer the question as she walked forward found the nearest couch. She hopped up onto it, and it was here that Raavi could notice that the sofas were much more significant than they appeared. It seemed like it was fit for a person that was much taller than she was. There was so much space just in the living room alone that he felt that he could do a marathon in the place.

"It is impossible....." he remarked. "This feat of engineering......Even I that works away from these sort of things can tell that what you guys have achieved was near impossible. I feel gravity. I feel like being pulled down. I see people that are there and gone in a second. I see things that exist, and yet it doesn't."

Oniya seemed to look down for a little bit. She kept a relatively neutral look on her face as she put her hands to her knees.

"I guess I am here for something else, aren't I?" he asked her.

"What is it that you see, Raavi?" she asked him most politely.

"What do you mean?"

"This ship. What you see before you......What do you think it all means?"

"I.....I don't understand. My beloved.....If I were religious, I would have thought that I was stepping into heaven."

"You haven't even seen New Olympia yet."

He looked to his side almost as if he gestured towards the direction of where the planet should be before he looked back to her.

"I am not talking about the outside," she continued. "I am talking about the real New Olympia. I am talking about the inside. What you see is....just an illusion of what it truly is."

"No offense but New Olympia is just a lump of rock. It is a lifeless surface....yet I also hear that tourism is great. People go and see it....and many never return either."

"Perhaps they see something that they find so beautiful that they can't turn away from it. Much like you.....you see me, and you want to be with me."

"I do," Raavi nodded.

"Are you sure that you want to be a family man?"

Raavi nodded his head. "Of course. The sooner, the better. You already know this. I want to be a father."

She smiled again, but her face showed some sorrow to it. The smile quickly faded away before she seemed to bite her lip.

"Raavi......what do you believe?" Oniya asked him.

"What do you mean?"

"Your religious beliefs."

"I already told you that too. I told you that I was a man of science just like most of the people out there." His words were polite and considerate in how he told her.

She nodded her head. "What I am going to tell you is something that has me scared. I think it is better that you know this now instead of much later. These sort of things are inevitable."

"What do you mean?"

"I imagine that all of us New Olympians have to eventually tell the truth to the people they date and meet up. It is a carefully guarded secret."

"You are not actually a man or something, right?"

"No.....no," Oniya said as she seemed to chuckle a little bit. "No, but I have been withholding you the truth."

"You are with somebody else, aren't you? A jealous husband, I need to worry about that....."

"No...no, no," Oniya waved her hands at him. "Far from that. Never. I would never do that. But I have been holding back, though. It is important that you know."

Raavi remained quiet as he let her explain it. He folded up his arms as he listened to her explain everything to him. He honestly didn't know what to expect.

"Raavi....my dearest love," she explained. "We have to do this with every UWAN dater out there that comes to us. Even the tourists have to face this as well. Our secrets are important. It is something that can never leave this place. It can't be revealed to the United World's Alliance or the United Human Navy. The truth may confuse people. It could alter peoples' beliefs for the better or worst. It is not our job for our technology and ideas to fall into the wrong hands."

He looked around as he tapped his foot to the ground. "I understand the idea of some technology getting out there. Something like gravity and the ability to generate it would be amazing, though. Why hold back on letting that get out?"

"Because there are other means that....human technology can progress to create it. Right now, humanity cannot generate gravity by normal means unless you use centripetal force to induce it. Our technology is.....we don't want the others to even know about it."

"This technology.....it is incredible," Raavi commented. "Even on the cruise liners, they have to go to planets to use its gravity for the passengers. Otherwise, they have to use some means to generate it."

"It is more than that," she commented. "It is because our technology and ideas are not what it seems. All of us are not what we seem."

"I still don't understand."

"Raavi, what if I told you we live in a galaxy that the deities exist?"

"I would tell you that you were crazy."

She nodded her head. "What if we live in a galaxy knowing that the folklore and fairy tales were real?"

"Umm....." he gave a questioning look to her. "No....it can't be. It just can't."

"A part of me is afraid to reveal the truth. I feel that once I do, I will lose you."

He walked up to her and took a knee by her side. "You won't lose me, Oniya."

"You promise me. You promise me that you won't leave me?"

Raavi knew that something was eating away at her. It was a truth hidden well, even if the hints were all around him. Her questions only seem to add up to the fact. She was something else. He had to take a deep breath.

"I promise you. Don't let this be something that will hurt our relationship. Tell me the truth, and the truth shall set you free...."

She gave a grin as she went and held her hands up to the air. She closed her eyes as a light began to emit from her body. It took Raavi by surprise as he naturally began to recoil back a little bit by the light itself. He closed his eyes as he stood up and backed away from her. He put his hand up to help shield his eyes.

Suddenly, the light faded as quickly as it came. It caused Raavi to drop his hand as he opened up his eyes. What he saw next made his eyes widen.

Sitting on the chair in the same pose as she was before was that of an anthropomorphic hippo. Oniya was no longer human but an animal-like creature. She was much larger, being about eight to nine feet in height. She wore the same clothes as before, but the uniform was more significant to match the larger frame. She had smooth gray skin that covered her body. Her face was the most prominent of her features as she had a large nose of a hippopotamus. She had the same hair features as Oniya, but the headband stretched out more than it originally was. She had a large green reptilian-like tail that protruded from her back and rear end. Perhaps it was a crocodile-like tail, but it wrapped around her and flowed down from the couch. She had digitigrade legs, and her boots were no longer present. Her feet were similar to that of a hippo. Raavi couldn't make up what his mind was looking at. He had only seen such creatures at museums as most of the life on Earth was long-extinct, but this was a hybrid. It was like several creatures were put into one.