Mendor, the Second Moon

Alone man carrying a three-foot case crept through a maze of solar panels on the rooftop of an apartment building two blocks from the Education Center. When he reached the retaining wall facing the Center, he opened the case and carefully removed a force-laser rifle.

He checked the plasma batteries to make sure they were fully charged. Without making himself too visible, he peered over the wall, his gaze directed at the front Center doors in the distance, where the children would exit. His target wasn't a group of kids. Only one kid. Biron Coomra.

The death of one kid and he'd be seven silver bars richer. He felt no remorse. It was a job. The Cedo and his bizarre abilities had caused an unwelcomed ripple among certain powers that be.

The assassin leaned into the corner. He placed the rifle on the wall and comfortably positioned himself. A wind gust blew the man's dark brown hair as he peered through the digital zoom scope at the Center doors. He had a clear shot.

The blue-collared man slumped back to safety. He rested against the wall, waiting patiently for the day's learning cycle to end. Periodically, he checked the chronometer on his wrist to verify the time.

Right on time. The Education Center Transport drove to the front of the building, where it would wait to take the students home. He aimed his assassin's weapon at the main entrance.

He pressed the com-link behind his right ear. "Yancy speaking. Project Retribution is a go. I'm in position."

"Excellent," came a reply. "You'll only get one shot. Maybe two. After that, run like hell. Use the invisabelt, if needed."

The assassin chuckled. "You worry too much. I only need one shot."

"One shot was all Klister took. The brat lived through it."

"Klister aimed for his chest. I'm planning a head shot. See if the little Cedo can survive that!"

Griness, the Fourth Moon

Inside an office on the fourth moon of Griness, part of the underground crystal mining complex, Maddox Felds leaned back in his chair. A light flashed on a datalink box on his desk, indicating that his com-link was active. He inhaled deeply and sighed. He waited.

"Biron Coomra is more resourceful than you think. Don't take any chances. Take his whole head off—whatever it takes. For what I'm paying, I want that brat dead. Once and for all."

Mendor

On the roof, the lone gunman switched to autozoom on the rifle scope. He wanted to scan all the doors along the front of the Center. A partial squeeze of the trigger activated the zoom feature for a tighter shot once the target was located.

"It's your silver. Just make sure it's waiting for me when I'm done. Yancy out."

Yancy shifted his position one last time and waited.

Rylaxon

Life on the planet ebbed and flowed in its natural rhythm. On the surface nothing appeared out of sync. But undercurrents of malcontent had somehow seeped into the atmosphere. No one could put a finger on any particular reason for the growing restlessness. But it was there, wavering and invisible for now.

A long time ago across the gulf of space, on the edge of the Ursa Major cluster, lived an offshoot of mankind. It was the Year of Our Father Enoch circa 2036. Rylaxon and its six moons entered the first segment of their Hypora Timpero orbit when the planet began its orbital trek closer to the sun.

Nearly a year and a half had passed since Rylaxons had been saved from a diabolical scheme to overthrow the government. Takeover efforts by the rich, powerful would-be dictator Maddox Felds were successfully thwarted.

For his crimes, Maddox was exiled to Griness under threat of death if he left. The Rylaxon military ordered a blockade around Griness. Once orbital monitoring satellites were actively in place, the blockade was withdrawn. The show of unified force was not much of a deterrent. Maddox would stop at nothing, absolutely nothing, to rule the system.

The Governing Body, the system-wide seat of power, controlled Rylaxon and five of its six moons. Authorities had seized the crystal mines that had fallen under Maddox's control, preventing him from implementing a stranglehold on nucleotide crystals, which fueled their civilization. Only Griness, the fourth moon, remained under Maddox's power. He owned and controlled it.

* * *

Maddox Felds wasn't the only threat against Rylaxons. A group of purists known as Zealots were obsessed with ethnic cleansing of Cedos, a segment of society whose only crime was their physical differences, genetically unsound, according to the purists' dogma. The Zealots viewed themselves as divinely-appointed controllers with a duty to save society from genetic pollution by mutants like Cedos. To cement their stance, over time, they had gained considerable power and influence.

Political posturing launched the Zealots' second rise to power—The Resurrection. Almost 20 years of patience, planning, and manipulation. They were now poised to topple the Governing Body and the entire Rylaxon system. The mission was crystal clear: genetic purity at any cost.

Mendor

On the second moon, on the central west side of Wynabrite City stood the four-story Education Center. Children as young as five attended individual social training classes after four years of in-home learning on holoprojectors.

Secluded in a four by four foot booth, each student received special customized computer lessons. The computer projected three-dimensional holograms to instruct each child, using images directly related to the subject matter, thereby increasing memory retention.

On the second floor inside learning station Tetra-Four, nine-year-old Biron Coomra studied. The cognitive abilities of this young boy were far more advanced than other children his age. His natural physical strength was ten times greater. And his body was occupied by millions of silver-encrusted micro-brains or Adaptoids, which kept him alive.

The Adaptoids had replaced Biron's blood cells, which had been destroyed in an explosion inside his home lab. The foiled assassination attempt caused his blood to turn acidic. The liquefaction gas that nearly killed him had rendered him blind, deaf, and almost mute. The Adaptoids used themselves to restore both sight and hearing, and gifted him with a new voice.

The miracle that saved his life also branded him a Cedo. His altered genetic structure caused him to grow fangs and other specific traits of the lushkin, which bit him before the explosion. His young life was wracked with catastrophic events. It might have been too much for him to handle psychologically, if not for his mastery of Magik and the disciplines it taught. Although only nine, Biron had achieved the high acclaim of being a thirteenth level witch.

The day's learning cycle drew to a close as Biron wrapped up an in-depth course on subatomic particle theory.

"Very good, Biron," the computer voice droned. "Tomorrow we will explore the history of the vamaddo process, used to turn lifeless planetoids into vibrant lifesupporting biospheres."

A slight smile appeared on Biron's face. His bright green eyes lit up with interest. "That's the process that was used to transform Sigro, Mendor, and Vernix."

"Yes. It was also used on Griness and Crixto."

Sigro, Mendor,...