The day after a battle…what a depressing day. And the smell… Oh God the smell. The smell of burning flesh, Terran and Zerg Blood… It wasn't the kind of smell that you could get used to. I just thank God I'm not a marine. When a marine runs into a battle, head-to-head with the Zerg, his changes of living are exactly 48.3%. 48.3%! That means that there is a better fucking chance that he'll die then live! I can't imagine being a marine, and running into a battle with that statistic on my mind. So what do I do you are probably wondering… I'm a Ghost. Basically, I stay up and away from the battle with the Siege Tanks, and snipe the over-grown bugs.

I wish I were home right now… With all my friends and family. I could get a girlfriend. Maybe we could all have a big barbeque… and-

"Kin! Wake up!"

"Huh, what!? Oh… I wasn't sleeping… well sorta."

"Whatever. Just… get some lunch or something… Get prepared, because we are expecting company tonight… Zerg Company."

I had Insomnia… Basically my life was a consistent daydream. I just couldn't sleep thinking about all the lives lost, ripped up and shredded apart. With so many horrible images on my mind I just couldn't fall asleep. You need to feel relaxed and safe to go to sleep… You mustn't think about too much either… I would never have a good-night's-sleep until I was back home. I planned on retiring from the military as soon as this war was over.

"Kin! Wake up!"

"I'm sorry Sergeant Harrow, I just-"

"Yeah, you just what?"

I never responded. I knew I could have made an argument there, but I wouldn't. Sergeant Harrow always does this. He asks a question which he figures you don't have an answer for, and stares at you with a threatening look. A look that says, "You better God-Damn well not answer that question." In two seconds from now, he will start ranting and bitching about his opinion on the subject. The whole performance will last a good half-an-hour and will probably end with something like, "I pay my taxes," which of course has nothing to do with me daydreaming. He had stared at me for quite a while… I knew he would start his little rant in about 3 seconds. 1… 2… 3.

"You know I'm awfully sick and tired of you continuously-"

"Shut up, sir."

He stared at me like a madman. He would be mad at me just for interrupting him, let alone telling him to shut up. He opened his mouth, but words never came out. This had never happened before, nor had he expected it to ever happen. He was speechless… He didn't have a damn clue what to say.

For a second he looked at me as though he feared me, then walked out of the room. I began to laugh my ass off. I had beaten the boss. He never ever bothered me again about something so stupid.

* * *

I decided to go and have some lunch. When I entered the cafeteria, everyone was eyeballing me. Apparently, I don't know how… But word got out that I had stood up to the Sergeant. I got about 300 pats on the back. Everyone asked me to come and sit beside them, but as always, I just sat down by my best military buddy… Dale. Everything about the rest of that day went by normal. That is until later that night.

When our company arrived.

* * *

The sun had just set on this planet. Whatever planet this was. I didn't even pay attention anymore. Everyone was ready with their machine guns and bazookas. The tanks were in siege-mode and some others and I… ready to snipe down any Zerg that appeared over the horizon.

Sergeant Harrow walked over to me.

"Oh shit…"

"I'm not mad at you Kin. I guess that I kind of freaked out over nothing."

"Thank you sir. I'm sorry as well."

"Well anyways, I'm not here to apologize. Just telling you not to be too quick on the trigger. Apparently the Zergs want to talk… not fight. Seems very odd, so we are taking a lot of precautions." Then Sergeant Harrow walked away to tell the other Ghosts the same thing.

"ZERG!!! I SEE ZERG!!!"

They crawled closer and closer, but still seemed peaceful. They slowed down as they neared us. Finally the leader was face to face with Sergeant Harrow. I could tell that he was one of the smarter Zergs. 99.9% of Zergs had about the intelligence of a dog. But the other 0.1% were extremely intelligent and ruled over the dumber ones. These Zerg were easily ten times smarter than any Terran or Protoss alive. Then the wise one spoke.

"I propose… an alliance," he said with his slithering speech.

Chapter Two

Sergeant Harrow stepped up to the Zerg, putting them face-to-face. This showed a lot of bravery. I was sweating profusely and my finger was shaking back and forth on the trigger. I pulled it away, afraid that I might flinch and shoot a bullet right between the eyes of the Zerg leader.

"What do you mean… an alliance," Sergeant Harrow had an obvious look of disbelief on his face, and I could tell that the Zerg leader noticed, "Why do you want an alliance with Terran?"

After closer inspection, I noticed a lot of human qualities about this Zerg. Then I remembered the fall of Kerrigan only seven years ago. She was a very smart Zerg. She was also half-Terran. The Zerg had infested her, and it looked like this Zerg leader had also been infested.

"Well you see, this is probably not going to be a permanent alliance. A planet in the Alpha Zentra sector called Arnada is under heavy attack by the Protoss."

Sergeant Harrow still didn't look convinced, nor did I blame him.
"How does this affect us?"

"Well, you see," the Terran-Zerg explained, "that planet has both Terran and Zerg inhabitants, and they are the ones being attacked. Currently, they are working together to fend off the Protoss, but there are just too many."

Sergeant Harrow almost started to laugh, "Terran and Zerg working together! Ha! That's a good one! The only thing that they know how to do is kill each other!"

"Well… we're not killing each other, now are we?"

Sergeant Harrow was speechless for a couple seconds, but managed to think up something.
"Since when did Zerg have compasion? Even if it is other Zerg, you over-grown bugs don't give a shit about each other!"

The Zerg leader didn't seem to be insulted by the sergeant's comments.
"We may not be compassionate, Sergeant Harrow, but we do follow orders."

"How did you know my name!?"

"I'm telepathic," he… or should I say it, responded.

As soon as I heard the word telepathic, a chill was sent down my spine. The only thing more dangerous than a Zerg, was a smart one. The only thing more dangerous than a smart Zerg was a smart Zerg with telepathy.

"I understand that Zerg don't have the best reputation with the Terran-"

"Nor any race!" the sergeant interrupted him.

"Yes. I am aware… All that I'm asking is that you let us in your ship so we can better explain the situation to you."

Sergeant Harrow decided to compromise.
"I'll let you in my ship… and only you!"

"Fair enough."

It was then that I noticed a look of shock on Sergeant Harrow's face. It was a hidden one, but I was keen enough to notice it. He had just realized that the Zerg leader was an infected Terran. I don't know how I knew that, but I just did.

"What's your name," the sergeant provoked him.

"Zerg don't have names."

"Don't bullshit me. I know that you can read my mind. What's your name…? You're not coming into this ship until you tell me your name!"

"I don't go by that name anymore," for the first time, the Zerg leader seemed a little pissed.

"Well… we have to call you something. So what is it?"

"…" The Zerg was resistant,"… Razavar"

"That's more like it Razavar," the sergeant seemed to be happy that he made the Zerg upset, "now follow me."

* * *

I wasn't sure about this alliance let a lone letting the Zerg into our ship, but it's not like anyone gave a shit about my opinion.

For the first time in a week, I actually got some real sleep… although not quite the way I wanted to. I felt something slam the back of my head, and then everything went black.

* * *

I woke up in one of the ship's jail cells. The back of my head stung like hell, and when I reached my hand back to inspect, I lurched it back from shock. Even though I had only touched the back of my head for a split second… my fingertips were covered with my own blood.

I looked to my right, and saw only one person… Sergeant Harrow. He looked even more panicked than I did. He stuttered over his words, and had trouble speaking them.

"The Zerg t-took over the ship…. Everyone is… everyone is dead."

Chapter Three

I waited a few minutes to wake up, but this wasn't a dream. Finally I worked up the courage to speak.
"W-what happened…?"

"Razavar, the Zerg leader, let all of his Zerg troops in the ship… I had some guards take him on a tour around the ship. He said that he wanted to examine our technology…. He killed them, and many other guards. Next, he opened up the ship's entrance, and let in all of his slimy comrades…. They killed everyone… except us."

"Why did he let us survive?" I quarreled.

"I think they wanted to get some information from us or something. I recall Razavar explaining it to me, but I was barely conscious at the time…" Sergeant Harrow almost looked guilty for some reason. Maybe he had felt responsible for letting the Zerg invade. After all, it was him who let Razavar in. I wasn't upset with him though; many other Sergeants would have made the same decision.

"We have to get out of here," the idea just popped into my mind as I said it.

"Easier said than done, Kin. How the hell are we supposed to get out of here?"

"Hmmm… well the cell bars are lasers…. We would have to damage the control panel for the lasers," I pointed to the control panel, which was on the wall facing our cell.

"How are we going to do that?" the sergeant seemed to be getting into my plan now.

"Got anything I can chuck at it?"

"Cigarettes."

I looked at him as if to say "give me a break". Then I noticed a Hydralisk (a medium sized acid-spitting Zerg) walk into the jail area.
"I've got a plan," I remarked, "it's a long shot… but it's our only shot."

I waited until the Zerg passed by our cell, then reached out to grab him. There wasn't much room between the laser-bars of the cell, but enough to reach my arm through. I caught onto his shoulder, then pulled him back towards me. Of course the Zerg would never reach me, because of the laser-bars. These lasers were powerful, and I made sure to let go of the Hydralisk just before he hit the bars (other wise I would have been shocked as well). There was a large zapping sound as the Zerg made contact. The overgrown bug started to make a loud screeching noise, as he was smoking, burning and bleeding. By the time he was finished burning, he was almost completely black. I carefully reached through the bars, and tore off his right arm (which was more or less a giant claw). I pulled it back through the bars and showed it to Sergeant Harrow.
"This'll do."

"Barbecued Zerg," he actually smiled, and so did I.

"Hungry?" we started to laugh.

I took a minute to aim, then threw the arm towards the control panel. I didn't expect to hit it on my first shot… but I had back up limbs. I fluked out. The sharp edge of the claw pierced the control panel. I had thrown it hard, and the control panel was very damaged. The lights on the control panel started to blink; then went out. A few seconds later, the laser-bars started flickering, then went out as well. I smiled, and looked over to Sergeant Harrow.
"Let's go."

We walked out of the jail cell, then immediately jumped behind a crate. We peeked around the side of the crate to see if anyone was coming.
"All clear."

"Hey Kin… where are we going?"

"There should be some Wraiths on the second floor."

"I bet they'll be heavily guarded though."

"That's why we're going to the armory first."

The armory wasn't too far from here, and there weren't too many guarding Zergs on the way there. Whenever we spotted a Zerg, there was always a crate or something nearby which we could hide behind. The Zerg were too stupid to ever suspect anything.

We busted into the armory, and found that it was swarming with about eight Hydralisks and twenty Zerglings (A baby Zerg about the size of a large dog). They noticed us immediately. Without even thinking, I grabbed a bazooka, and fired it into the middle of the Zerg crowd. We could really feel the fire's heat, as the missile burst. The screams of the Zerg were faint compare to the boom of the explosion. When everything settled, we looked around the room in shock. There was more red on the walls than their original metallic gray.
"I think the red really adds a lot of personality to this room," Sergeant Harrow commented.

I looked over at him with a grin on my face. We took as much weaponry as we could carry, then headed out the door. Whenever we would see a Zerg, we would no longer cower and hide. Instead, we would blast them to hell. We blasted our way to the second floor… then blasted our way to the ship bay (where the Wraiths would be kept).

As expected, there were a lot of Zergs guarding the area, but they were still no match for our bazookas and machine guns. Once they were dealt with, we hopped into one of the Wraiths. Sergeant Harrow would fly the ship since he had his Pilot's Degree. Within a few seconds, he had the ship zooming out of the ship bay and into the never-ending space (apparently, the Zerg figured out how to fly the ship).

That ship had been my home for the last four years… and I didn't miss it one bit.

Chapter Four

I watched our previous home turn into nothing more than a dot. We were moving fast since we didn't want them to find us, but I doubt they had cared that much. I had never flown in a Wraith before, and I was surprised by its comfort. The seats were even leather. I had also assumed that the ride in such a small vessel would be rather rough, but that was not the case. I could barely even tell we were moving.

The escape from the ship was very intense, and at sometimes… almost fun. But still… I was very relieved that it was all over with. Sergeant Harrow and I weren't talking much, probably because we had too much on our minds. Perhaps sitting in this little ship, staring at the stars was boring… but I really needed boring. I started to wonder how much longer we would be flying. I was rather hungry, and very thirsty… not to mention I really had to take a piss.

"Turns out there actually is a planet named Arnada, and it's nearby. The terrain is similar to that of Earth's, and the air is good ol' natural oxygen. I think there is Terran life form there as well," it was like Sergeant Harrow had read my mind.

"Arnada… isn't that the place that Razavar said we would go?"

"Yup."

"Hmmm… I was thinking he had just made it up."

"But what if we had decided to check for a planet named Arnada… we would have known he was lying, and obviously wouldn't have let them in the ship. I have no doubt in my mind that Razavar is very smart…. He's just such a fucking asshole!"

"That's Zerg for ya," I replied.

"Yeah."

"How long before we reach Arnada?"

"It should be about a half an hour."

Two hours later, we arrived at out destination.

"Sit tight, Kin… we're about to fly through the planet's atmosphere… it can be a rough ride…"

Sure enough, it was. I dug my hands in the seat's arms, and held my body down. My teeth were clenched; my eyes were closed. The shaking was very harsh. No matter how hard I tried to sit still, I kept on banging backing back and forth on the walls. My head even whacked the roof a couple of times. Finally the ship stopped shaking, but the next feeling wasn't so nice either.

My ass was no longer touching the seat, and the seatbelt was the only thing keeping me from sticking to the roof. I didn't need to be told what was going on, but I still asked.
"Sergeant… what's going on…?"

"Don't worry… everything will be ok… but I need you to do one thing for me."

"Yeah… what's that?"

"Do you see that big red button to your left?"

"Uh huh," I said with uncertainty.

"Press it," he ordered

"What does it do?"

"It's the ejection button."

I sat motionless for a couple of seconds… but only for a couple of seconds. After what had just happened to us, this seemed like nothing. I pounded the button hard, and the window of the ship detached. Five seconds after that, our seats were sent hurtling upwards. My heart skipped a beat, and I couldn't breath for about ten seconds. I closed my eyes for the whole process, which seem to last forever, but was really only about thirty seconds. The parachutes came out automatically, and our decent really slowed down. Finally I was at peace again… even if I was a few hundred thousand feet up in the sky.

* * *

I looked behind me and saw Sergeant Harrow only about thirty feet away. I was relieved that he made it as well.

"You ok!?" he yelled over to me.

"I guess so! Are you!?"

"I'm fine! Sorry about that, that usually doesn't happen!"

"It's ok!" I responded, even though it was far from ok, "at least we're alive!"

"Yeah! This'll make on hell of a story to tell to our future children, eh?!" he grinned.

"Sure will!" I smiled back at him.

It took about an hour before we touched ground, but I didn't mind. The view up there was like nothing I had ever seen before. When we touched ground we realized how hot it was.

"Man it's hot out here!" I commented.

"Kin… you don't have to yell anymore… and yes it is hot out here."

"Haven't had summer for four years now… it's almost kind of nice."

"As long as we can find some water."

The terrain was mostly sandy, with the occasional patch of grass. There were few trees in the area, and most of them looked pretty dead. Up ahead of us, about two hundred feet, he spotted a small lake. We looked at each other with excitement, then ran our asses off towards it.

The lake was crystal clear, and drinking that water was as good as sex. Some of the trees had fruit on them as well, which we took pleasure in eating. Once we were refreshed, we agreed that we couldn't stay here too long. We set out in one random direction, in search for civilization.

* * *

After not too much walking, we ran into our crashed Wraith. Pieces were scattered for hundreds of yards in every direction. There was a deep crater where it had landed, and the huge chunk of Wraith found in there was still burning. We looked at each other, wide-eyed.

"I'm sure glad we ejected," I commented.

"Yeah…. Why do you think Razavar chose us to live?" that comment had kind of come out of nowhere.

"I'm not sure," I responded, paying more attention to the remains of the Wraith than to him.

Sergeant Harrow stepped up close to me.
"Have you ever read minds, Kin? Perhaps it wasn't intentional… maybe you were just looking at someone, and you knew what they were thinking."

That was quite an awkward thing to ask, and it made me wonder where Sergeant Harrow was going with it. But the more that I thought about the question… I realized that he had a point. There had been lots of times where I had felt like I had read someone's mind. These occurrences had become more often as of late. I looked at him with a "what do you mean" kind of look.

"I'll take that as a yes," he continued, "Why do you think we let you become a ghost, Kin…? You never had lifetime training like the rest of the ghosts. It was your telepathy, Kin. We've always known about it, and apparently… so have the Zerg. That's why they let you live."

"Well what about you, Sergeant Harrow? Why did they let you-…" My telepathy was kicking in, and I knew the answer to that question before I even finished asking it. The answer gave me goose bumps, and sent a chill down my spine…. Sergeant Harrow was working for the Zerg, and was here to capture me and bring me back to Razavar.

"You son of a bitch!" I spat in his face, and then he quickly clasped a pair of handcuffs on me. He got a tight grip around my neck so I couldn't run away.

"Do you know how many people have telepathy, Kin? Roughly one in every billion people! Telepathy is very handy, and the Zerg can make great use of it. They're going to infest you, and then you'll be just like Razavar!"

"You fucker!"

"Call me what you will, I don't care. When the Zerg find someone with telepathy, they make sure to snatch him or her, and infest them. Don't look at this as a bad thing Kin, it's a good thing. You'll become a great Zerg leader! Look at Razavar, he's an infested Terran with telepathy. Maybe… just maybe you'll be really famous! Take the ever so famous Kerrigan for example! She was an infested Terran, also with telepathy. You see what I mean! This is great thing! I think somebody just needs to be a little more optimistic."

"Why didn't you capture me earlier, or stop me from escaping the jail!" I was struggling from his grip, but he was stronger than me.

"Simple… it would have been too dangerous. You're too important to have die. We had hoped you would never escape from jail, but Razavar always has a backup plan. I was his backup plan. I couldn't capture you in the ship, what with all those weapons, and I sure couldn't capture you in the Wraith! I mean come on, Zerg may be dumb, but they could still catch a couple of Terrans running around a ship like idiots. They were ordered not to kill you. It was all part of a plan… a plan to capture you. A plan created four years ago, when your buddy Dale talked you into joining the military. Yes, believe it or not, Dale was in on this too."

"Well then what the hell are you going to do with me!"

"It's only about four miles to where our old ship landed. They've been here for quite a while. You don't really think a little Wraith could outrun our ship do you!?"

"I swear to God I'm going to kill you!"

"Yeah, yeah… whatever! Let's get moving!"

I had to do something! I couldn't let him take me to Razavar! I wouldn't be infested and turned into a disgusting Zerg!

I kicked my right leg back, and made direct contact with his crotch. He let out a holler, and loosened his grip around my neck. I took advantage of this, and squirmed out of his arms. I turned around, and saw him holding his crotch and moaning. Before he had time to regain his strength, I whacked him in the face with my wrists. I had to swing my arms to together because of the handcuffs. But the handcuffs did make the impact much more painful, and cause Sergeant Harrow to stumble to the side. He tripped over his own feet, and fell down. But he wasn't so lucky, as he fell directly into the crater that our Wraith had caused. I heard a quick scream, then nothing. I walked over to the crater and peered over the edge. A piece of the Wraith was sticking through his stomach, and if that wasn't enough, he was also set a flame.

I couldn't handle looking at him for too long, so I turned away and began walking. I made sure not to walk in the direction that we were originally going though, since it most likely led to Razavar and his Zergs. I started to cry, and the sky turned gray and began to rain.

* * *

I wasn't sure whether or not I was still crying. The rain was heavy and coming down in sheets. It completely drenched me, and I couldn't decipher between my tears… and the rain. Either way, I was damn upset.

It was hard to accept the fact that your life was nothing more than lies. Everyone I knew, everything I did…

Lies! Lies! LIES!!!

I was walking at a snail's pace now. I still had not come across any civilization. Eventually my legs grew too weak to go on, and I collapsed. I fought to get back up, but it was useless. I would have to give in. My body needed the rest, and there was no fighting it. I shut my eyes and fell asleep in seconds.

Chapter Five

I wasn't sure exactly how long I had been asleep, but I'd bet it had been quite a while. When I woke up I wasn't lying in the middle of nowhere like I had expected. Instead, It looked like I was in a hospital. But this hospital was rather odd…. At first I couldn't put my finger on it, then I realized that it was the technology. This civilization wasn't very advanced. Earth's civilization was obviously thousands of years older of Arnada's.

"Oh… you're awake…. How are you feeling?" said an unfamiliar female voice.

"Huh…what…? Where the hell am I?"

"Nyre hospital," she walked over to me.

I wiped my eyes so I could get a better look at her. When I did, I was speechless. God she was beautiful…. I hadn't had a lot of female exposure while at war, but I still knew beauty when I saw it. She had a beautiful posture, long silky hair and eyes that almost put me into a trance.

"W-why am I here?" the sudden shock of her beauty made me choke over my own words.

"Some traveling merchants found you lying out in the middle of nowhere. They figured they would bring you here."

"Traveling merchants… damn! This is a new civilization!"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh… nevermind."

She was smiling at me. I decided to read her mind. Now that I had accepted the fact that I had the power of telepathy, I could use it whenever I wished. What I read pleased me very much so. She thought that I was attractive. It excited me so much blabbed my thoughts out loud.

"She likes me!" I yelled out like a complete idiot.

"Who likes you?"

"Oh fu-rah. Farah likes me."

"Who's Farah?"

"Oh… no one… don't worry I don't like her."

"Why would I worry?"

"You wouldn't… it's just a figure of speech."

"Ok…. I think you may need more rest."

"No… I'm fine."

She gave me an unbelieving look. I didn't need to be telepathic to know what she was thinking.

"I swear to God," I was persistent, "there is nothing wrong with me!"

She started to giggle.
"Don't worry, I believe you."

Those words relieved me, and I couldn't help but smile.

"You're free to leave when ever you wish," she left the room. Five minutes later, I left as well.

* * *

I stepped out of the hospital into what seemed to look like a fantasy village. It somewhat resembled what Earth was like in the 10th century. The roads were rough and made of cobblestone. The houses were either made of brick or wood and had hay roofs. The clothing was very outdated as well, and people rode on horseback or carriage. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. It was too bad that I didn't have a camera.

I felt dirty, and I was. I hadn't showered in about two days, and after everything that had just happened, I was covered in blood, tears, sweat, dirt, you name it. The only problem was that I didn't know where I could bathe.

"Excuse me," I decided to ask someone, "do you know where I might be able to clean myself?"

"Aye, there's a lake not too far down that path," she pointed east.

"A lake!"

The woman I was talking to gave me a strange look.

"A lake is fine," I continued, "thank you."

I had only been awake in this village for about an hour, and I think I had made a bad reputation for myself. Something like "the guy who's not quite right in the head". I hoped that I could change people's opinions about me, for I didn't know how long I was going to stay in this village.

I decided to go to the lake to bathe…. At least it's better than not bathing at all. In order to reach the lake, I had to cut through a small section in the forest. The forest wasn't very dense and I really enjoyed the walk. I hadn't been around a lot in nature in my life, and each visit to a forest or whatever was like a treat. The more I thought about it, I realized that living here for a while may not be so bad. It's not like I'm going to miss anyone. Everyone that was in my life was just an actor.

* * *

I quickly glanced at the lake, then began to take my clothes off. Once I was completely bare, I looked up at the lake… and at a familiar female.

"So we meet again," exclaimed the vivacious nurse from the hospital.

I couldn't speak…. I just stood there in shock… bare-naked. It took me a few seconds to get myself together and shield myself.

"I d-d-didn't realize that anyone was here," my body was tingling all over.

She laughed.
"You're really putting on quite the impression for me."

"Why, did you like it?"

"What!?" she was outraged.

"I'm sorry! Oh God I'm sorry! It just slipped!"

"I believe you."

"I'm really glad that you like believing me."

"Well… don't be shy," she gestured her hand towards herself, "come on in."

I gulped, sucked it in, and then walked towards the lake.

The water was pleasingly warm.

"This is nice," I said.

She smiled at me. She always smiled at me. I loved it when she smiled at me!

"So where are you from stranger?" she asked.

"Well, normally I would tell you… but I don't want you to think that I'm psycho."

"Well, you're already borderline between sane and insane in my book," she laughed, "just kidding."

We both laughed. We talked for an hour, then got out of the lake, dried off, got dressed, and talked some more. We were from such different worlds, and it seemed like we could talk forever. We finally headed back to the village when the sun went down.

* * *

"You know…" she looked over to me, "I don't even know your name."

"Oh yeah," I replied, "I forgot about that. Heh. I'm Kin."

"I'm Lily…. Have you got a place to stay for the night?"

"No," I became excited.

"Well… I'll have to ask my father, but I think you could probably stay with my family and I."

"You still live with your parents!?"

"It's customary to live with your parents until marriage."

"I see," I nodded.

"Why… do you not want to stay with us?" she looked disappointed.

"No… no! I would love to stay with you… and your family."

She smiled again.
"Good."

* * *

Lily's mother was a great cook. She had cooked up an entire feast! There was chicken, stuffing, bread, wine and various tropical fruits. It was all very delicious and very fresh too. Lily's mother also seemed to be a very nice person.

It was Lily's dad that I was worried about. During dinner, he would keep on giving me these untrusting looks. I assumed that he didn't trust me around his daughter.

"This is great food Mrs.…. I'm sorry, Lily never game me your last name."

"Thank you dear…. It's Rider."

"Well this is delicious food Mrs. Rider."

She smiled at me, and then I knew where Lily had inherited her beautiful smile.

When we were done dinner, Lily's father pulled me aside to the living room.

"Listen up boy," he was stern, "I don't have a problem with you staying here, as long as you follow my one simple rule."

"Yeah…. What rule?" I replied.

"You don't lay a hand on my daughter," he was very serious about this.

I nodded, then he walked away.

* * *

I slept in the guestroom obviously. Well… I didn't actually "sleep" in the guestroom, as I had too much on my mind. I couldn't be sure, but I'd say it was about midnight when Lily entered my room.

"You awake?" she whispered.

"Yeah…. What are you doing here? If your father finds you here he'll kill me."

"Oh don't worry about that stubborn old geezer."

"Ok… well what do you want?" I asked.

"I'm not tired… are you?"

"No," I replied.

"So, I was wondering if you wanted to just… talk."

"I would love to, but your father will probably hear us."

"We have a barn outside," she responded, "we can go there to talk."

"…Ok."

* * *

I never got tired of talking to Lily, and it wasn't just because she was hot. We lived so differently yet had so many things in common.

"Do you think, " Lily hesitated, "do you think if you ever got a hold of one of your spaceships, or if someone rescues you…. Do you think that I could come with you?"

"I don't know, Lily," I responded, "I would love you to come… but what about your family?"

"Well we could fly back here anytime and visit them."

"Well I suppose… but what would your father say!"

"I don't give a shit about what my father says anymore! If I follow my life by my father's rules, I'll never accomplish anything that I want to!" I could tell that she was very sincere about this, "…Kiss me, Kin."

"Excuse me," I didn't know what else to say.

"Kiss me," she persisted.

"…"

I never said another word. I just did what she asked, and kissed her. It was the greatest kiss of my life and I couldn't ever let it end… so I kissed her again. Then again. A few minutes later we made love.

Chapter Six

The giant spaceship landed right in the middle of the tiny village. It tore down buildings, and killed dozens of people just landing.

All of the sudden, a huge ramp came down from the ship. Then the vile Zerg charged down it at top speed, claws waving wildly in the air. They tore down buildings and ripped people to shreds. They left no building standing and no Terran alive…

* * *

I woke up in a cold sweat. The whole tragedy was only a dream. Thank God. But it wasn't just a dream… it was a very possible future… and I had to stop it from happening…

Somehow… I had to kill the Zerg and their leader… Razavar.

Chapter Seven

Thoughts of my horrible dream quickly washed away as I rolled over to look at the ever so beautiful Lily. She woke up a couple minutes after me.

"Have fun last night?" she asked.

"You know it!"

"Honey, we can't let my father find us," she kissed me, "so we got to get back inside."

"I thought you didn't care what your father thought anymore."

"Kin, don't turn me into a hypocrite. I don't feel like dealing with my father right now. Let's milk the cows. That way, if my father asks what we were doing out so early, I just say that I was showing you how to milk a cow."

"Yeah… well I sure milked my cow last night!"

She hit me, than began to laugh and so did I.

"Does everybody from your planet have such a sick sense of humor?"

"Only the witty ones," I replied.

* * *

Lily's lie worked beautifully. Her stubborn father never suspected a thing.

"So, I suppose you've never milked a cow before," Lily's father seemed surprisingly comfortable.

"Nope."

"Did you enjoy it?"

"Yeah… it was very nice."

"But probably not as nice as having sex with my daughter… is it?"

My heart started racing, and I gulped. I looked over at Lily, who was wide-eyed.