"Chris, Tanya. Is he telling the truth?" Katrina asked the twins. She had a deep scowl on her face.

  "From what I can tell, he believes what he is saying," Chris replied, still watching John with an unreadable expression.

  "Yeah, I sense no deception from him. He truly believes that he came from another universe." Tanya said. She looked like she was about to cry for some reason.

  John stepped to the side of the room and picked up his bag. He brought it in here to show them what little proof he had. "It isn't much, but here are a few items I have brought with me from other worlds I have visited." He said, pulling out a spell tome, the chocote bars, some coins, and the bullets for the old revolver. He handed them to Katrina, who passed them around to the others. "It isn't much, but let me tell you my story so far."

  John started his story, expining everything from the beginning, from saving those two kids and arriving at DEN. He brought up the zombie apocalypse in High School of the Dead, then how he became a healer in The Great Cleric. He then expined how he was killed in Starcraft by strange aliens called Zerg. He mentioned his time as a school principal in High School DxD, and the devils, angels, and fallen that were there.

  He then talked about his time here, and meeting Tim, a being overseeing this universe.

  He didn't hide anything, but listening to his own story, even he knew he sounded insane. He was beginning to regret letting them know the truth, but he wanted to save his friends from the coming invasion.

  Damn it, there was probably a better way to do this.

  "Anyways, that is what I know. I know it all sounds insane, but it is the truth." He said, looking at each of them in turn.

  "John, can you give us a few minutes to talk in private?" Katrina said after a few minutes. "In fact, can you bring us back to the station, please? I need to contact some people about preparing to evacuate the station."

  "Of course. Feel free to use whatever room you want." John said, hoping he had convinced them that he was speaking the truth.

  The women filed out of the cockpit, leaving him and Niki alone. He gestured for her to follow them, then sat back down in his chair. He set course back for the station and hoped that he didn't just ruin everything he had started in this world.

  All else fails, I can leave the station and start exploring this gaxy on my own. I just need to make sure they are safely away from this station before the bugs attack.

  Katrina led them down to the galley, her thoughts all in a jumble. She wasn't sure if John was crazy or telling the truth. "Chris, I need more details. Is he insane, or is he actually some divinely blessed being?"

  "He believes every word he said. Everything I have been able to uncover about him so far points to him not existing in this world before he arrived in Parrax." Chris stated. "I am not sold that it is the truth, though. Someone could have brainwashed him into believing those things."

  "Really, Chris? Even I know a complete memory impntation is nearly impossible." Tanya said, defending John. "Besides, that doesn't expin this ship! Didn't you say that you didn't recognize any of the manufacturer brands on the equipment here?"

  "This ship is indeed an enigma, but if we believe that, we would have to believe that gods exist. Religion was abolished eons ago to end all those holy wars and other porizing bullshit our ancestors went through. I cannot accept that gods are suddenly real, no matter what John believes." Chris said. "Still, I would like to study the technology on board. I might be able to make advances on our own technology by studying this vessel."

  "Ash? What do you think?" Katrina asked the Elf princess. She had been silent the entire time.

  "I... ah... I have no idea..." She said, then sighed. "I want to believe him, but he kind of imprinted on me a few days ago, so I cannot trust my judgment right now."

  "Seriously? Why didn't you go to an Auto-Doc to cure that then?"

  "I can't. He told me I wasn't allowed to heal my bruises from when he spanked me." She said, squirming under the other women's gaze. "I am still a little sore, so I can't do it."

  "What? He spanked you enough to cause bruising? Why would he do that? And why did you let him?"

  "Ahh... I-I umm-" She started but waffled a bit. Niki spoke up then.

  "She tried to convince me that the only way John wouldn't abandon me was if I had sex with him. He wasn't happy about that, so they had a private conversation. I didn't know he spanked her for it, though." Niki said.

  "Seriously, Ash? What were you thinking?" Katrina said, giving her a disapproving look.

  "It wasn't quite like that! Anyway, I don't know what to do. I just want to go and talk to him, or to run far away. I don't know!" she replied.

  "Damn it. Niki, I know you're his IDS and shouldn't go against him, but did you notice anything odd with his behavior since you came here?"

  "Not really. He has treated me really well since he saved me. He has given me clothing, a pce to sleep, and training. He even feeds me breakfast in bed in the mornings... which is really embarrassing. I have no idea if what he is saying is true, but I am willing to trust him." Niki said.

  Katrina listened to the others, but still wasn't sold on trusting John. In fact, she might need to take him into custody to get his brain checked. He might not be safe to be on his own if he believed gods were real and sent him to Parrax as part of a game show. Or, if his mind was sound and he was telling the truth, she would need to consider changing her own worldview.

  If the Gods are real, do they expect us to pray to them and construct churches for them again? Stop it, you are getting ahead of yourself. First things first, let's get off this ship and make preparations for evacuations. If it is true that the Javarians are about to invade, that will be proof enough that he isn't completely crazy. I still want his head checked, though.

  "What do you think, Katrina? You heard our thoughts, what about yours?" Chris asked her.

  "What do I think? I think we need more information. As far-fetched as his story is, there is enough 'proof' to lend him some credibility, or at least cast doubt on this being a hoax. One thing is for sure: if the Javarians are going to attack within the next five days, we need to be ready." She said, looking over the group. "I would say you need to keep your distance from him until we are sure of his mental state, but so far, he has done nothing but be helpful and respectful to us. Just be careful."

  Karrax Mining Site C

  Greg thumbed his thruster controls, adjusting the trajectory of his corvette towards the next waypoint on his patrol. He was one of the mercenaries overseeing the security at this mining site. Hager was with him as well, flying as his wingman on their patrol. The big merc was in a simir boat to him, betting money he didn't have and trying to make up the impending losses by running guard duty at this high-risk operation.

  The asteroid belts in this system contained some of the highest concentrations of Ithicum in known space, the fuel used in starship hyperdrives. The miners were having a field day gathering the minerals, with the fuel being easily accessible compared to normally scavenging trace amounts of the fuel from nebue.

  There were two main issues with mining in this system, though. The local wildlife flocked to these asteroids, so several space creatures made this system home, and they were rather aggressive in protecting it. The other reason was the system's proximity to Javarian space. It was literally on the border, and the bugs were seen here fairly frequently.

  H - [Hey, I am heading to those asteroids at 290, 015. I am getting some strange readings on my sensors. It might be another nest.]

  Greg just grunted, not really wanting to talk to Hager right now. He was beginning to realize that Hager was the cause of his repse in his gambling addiction.

  No, it is your own damn fault; he just enabled you, and you followed along like a moron. Tanya is going to murder me when I return to Parrax, and I don't bme her. I just hope this is enough money to keep Timur from collecting on my debt for another month.

  H - [Are you still angry at me, Greg? C'mon, you know it was a fluke that happened. Betting on your sister-in-w was a sure thing.]

  G - [Shut it! If it wasn't fer the fact that yer in the same boat as me with Morgan, I would almost think ya set me up for this fall.]

  H - [Hah! Yeah, she is pissed. We broke up again when I came out here, but I am sure she will come crawling back once I return. She always does.]

  G - [Yer a sick fucker, ya know that?]

  H - [Hah, yep. Well, you need to be a little sick in the head to want to be a male merc in this day and age. I could be sitting at home, kicking my feet up and drinking wine while watching the kiddos. Instead, I am out in deep space, hunting Void Leeches and watching for Javarians. I mean, doesn't that sound like the dream?]

  Greg just grunted again. He would never have that option, unless he surrendered his position as heir to Chris or Tanya. Even then, it would be more likely that one of his uncles would take over the cn instead. Despite their losses, Dwarves still maintained a mostly patriarchal society. Some elements wanted to see one of the twins take over from their father instead of him, but neither had any interest in doing that. Chris was too smart, and Tanya was... Tanya. Neither was suited for the job.

  Not that I am either. God damn it, can I just follow Sieven back to his world and live with him? He kept me grounded.

  He wasn't gay, but Bi, so his father didn't disown him for having retionships with a man. He did almost disown him for having a retionship with a dark elf, but allowed it since there weren't going to be any mixed children from that retionship. He suspected that might change when he found out he literally gambled away everything he and his sisters owned on Parrax.

  A warning arm came from his radar, startling him from his thoughts.

  God damn it, I need to focus on my job, not dwell on my mistakes.

  He examined the readout on the screen. It was showing several vessels just at the edge of sensor range. They popped in and out of existence almost like a sensor ghost. Normally, the computer would filter out something like this, but something must have had a positive hit. Suddenly, as they came, the ghost disappeared, leaving his scope clear again.

  He wasn't just going to assume it was a glitch, though; they were in a dangerous area of space, and the lives of all the miners back at the camp were in his hands. They had asked the mercs to err on the side of caution while in this system.

  G - [Base, this is Mercenary 1337. My sensors are detecting something at the edge of their range. A lot of somethings. I am heading to these coordinates to investigate. If you don't hear from me in ten minutes, I suggest you begin evacuation preparations."

  B - [Roger that 1337. In the meantime, we will pull in some of the non-essential personnel. Hey, Greg, be careful, eh?]

  G - [Will do. 1337 Out.]

  Greg turned his ship towards a rge asteroid near where the sensor ghosts were. He tossed Hager a quick message telling him where he was going, then activated his light drive. If these were Javarian's, he didn't want to just drop on top of them; he didn't have a death wish.

  He just hoped it was just a sensor ghost. Otherwise, he was going to have a long day.