When Zoree came to her senses, the first thing she noticed was a low, deep sound that came from all around her. With a low thrumming sound, it gently hummed behind her eyelids. This sound reminded her of something pleasant, even calming. Then suddenly, she remembered the bright light and the ear-splitting screams. Quickly, she opened her eyes.

Scanning her new surroundings, all around her were many people sitting on long, narrow metal benches, in an oval shaped metal walled room with one single door. To her surprise, she or the others weren't restrained. She was about to get up, when the door opened and a tall man walked in. He was definitely a man, she thought observing him closely. When he got closer, with horror, she realized part of his body, such as his neck and arms were made out of some kind of metal, just like a robot, Zoree thought with astonishment.

Walking past her, his piercing dark eyes looked straight ahead, completely ignoring the humans, who were now whispering to each other and some were even silently crying into their hands. Walking to the other end of the room, the cyborg pressed something on the smooth wall, instantly opening a small section on the wall with a bright green light.

Entering a code into the glowing keypad, within seconds, the whole section of the wall opened up, exposing an identical room full of people and another cyborg. This one was a female with a metal neck and shaved head. Part of her head was also covered with metal, making her look menacing and dangerous. The two exchanged a few words, which Zoree couldn't hear. Then the female cyborg turned around and walked toward the other end of that room opening up the wall, exposing another room full of people.

Zoree was awestruck. How many people did these aliens take? She thought, her mind in great turmoil. These alien-robot people had to be the same kind that were burned inside the fallen spaceship, Zoree thought, as she kept staring at the tall cyborg.

Next to Zoree, the older women’s silent sobbing became louder and more hysterical. Trying to calm her down, Zoree gently touched her arm. From her hand, the woman’s frightened eyes looked into hers and started to scream louder. Quickly letting her arm go, Zoree noticed the tall cyborg looked their way and headed toward them.

The woman’s hysterical crying made Zoree upset and scared at the same time. As soon as the cyborg reached them, without a word, he quickly grabbed ahold of the old woman’s arm and pulled her shaking body off the seat. Realizing her dire situation, suddenly, she grabbed ahold of Zoree’s arm. As the cyborg walked away with her; Zoree was pulled along as well.

Trying to make the woman let go of her, in panic, Zoree bit down on the woman’s arm, making her cry out in anguish. Quickly, her hand released Zoree causing her to stumble back and fell to the ground.

Hearing the commotion, the cyborg turned around and looked at Zoree sprawled on the ground. His dark eyes locked onto the medallion that was lying on top of her dark green shirt now. A flicker of recognition crossed his eyes. Letting the shaking women go, he reached down and effortlessly pulled Zoree up. Pushing her in front of him, with racing heart, Zoree left the room through the single door.

They stepped into a dimly lit narrow metal walled corridor; where on either side in every few yards were single closed doors. Zoree wondered, if more people were behind those doors as well.

Glancing back behind her, the cyborgs dark eyes met hers. Quickly turning forward, she looked straight ahead. The corridor made a sharp right turn leading to a double-doored elevator. Entering, they headed up. After a few seconds, the elevator stopped and the doors opened into a much wider and brighter corridor, with a smooth polished floor that matched the high, bright ceiling adored with recessed lights.

Zoree had never seen anything like this before. She was in complete shock. Everything looked clean and beautiful, she thought with great amazement. A door to their left opened, and two cyborgs walked out. Looking at them, she noticed, both of their necks were also made of metal. How interesting, she thought with awe. The two cyborgs respectfully nodded their heads and walked off toward the opposite direction. Composing herself, she spoke up.

“Where are you taking me?”

Ignoring her question, he kept walking behind her. At the end of the corridor was a large, dark double door and that is where they headed. The closer they got to the door the louder her heart was beating. She was terrified and didn't want to find out what laid behind those dark doors.

Suddenly, all kinds of disturbing thoughts rushed into her already dazed head. Maybe, he is taking me to a torture chamber, or maybe, he’s going to send me into space. Or the worse would be, behind those doors is the kitchen and they’re going to cook me up for dinner.

To her relief, there was no torture chamber or kitchen, but a large rounded room with a breathtaking view of space. Abruptly, she stopped at the entrance, and then she felt his hand pushed against her back, making her step forward into the room.

Zoree quickly scanned the room. Placed in front of a long and utterly strange looking control panel were several leather bound pilot seats. She counted five cyborgs, male and female within the room. The two female cyborgs curiously looked at her. One of them looked similar to the one she had encountered earlier, the other one didn't have a metal neck, or a shaved head, but she had some metal facial enhancements done in a very peculiar way.

From her ears, on either side of her narrow face, two long metal strips ran down all the way into her neckline, disappearing beneath her top. Sizing Zoree up with her glowing, mesmerizing deep blue eyes, instantly, Zoree felt at unease. Quickly, she looked away from her intense stare.

There was a man sitting in one of the leather seats in front of the control panel. His back was to them, but he turned around when the tall cyborg spoke up.

“Captain.” He said in English with a deep, strong voice. “There is something here you need to see.”

This was the first time Zoree heard him or any of them speak, and she was awestruck to hear that they spoke her language.

The man, who was called Captain, stood up and approached them.

His dark, spiky short hair reminded Zoree of Nathan for a second, but there is where the similarity ended. This man was taller and well built. The lower half of his handsome face, on both cheeks was covered with a smooth dark metal plate that continuously extended into his metal neck.

Standing in front of Zoree, his dark brown eyes were searching hers. Then, his eyes traveled down to the medallion that was nested between her breasts. For a few seconds, he just stared at it. With his gloved hand, he reached out and lifted the medallion off her chest, lightly brushing against her breasts.

Turning it in his hand, his face suddenly became stern. From the medallion, he looked into her wide eyes, and asked in a deep voice.

“Where did you get this?”

Zoree was too terrified to say anything. When she didn't replied, a shadow of impatience showed on his face.

Then, she heard the cyborg behind her.

“You were asked. Answered the question, woman.”

Staring at the Captain, for a second she thought, she’ll stay quiet. But then, sudden anger and frustration took over her and without thinking it through; she spoke up in a loud, angry voice.

“I found it within the burned ship that my father shot down a long time ago.”

Instantly, a mixture of surprise and curiosity enveloped his face. Lowering his head to hers, and with a penetrating stare, he asked.

“Your father?”

Staring back at him, she replied as calmly as she could.

“Yes, my father.”

Suddenly, his eyes roamed over her face and body. With a quick move, he tore the necklace from her neck, and then he straightened up.

A short, sharp breath left her slightly parted lips by his sudden, harsh action.

Holding the necklace in his gloved hand, he said to the cyborg.

“It’s time to prepare everyone for the trip.”

“Yes Sir.“ The cyborg replied, and grabbed Zoree by the arm.

Gazing at the medallion that she had worn for a long time, Zoree felt hurt. To take it from her like this was truly hurtful. As the cyborg pulled her with him toward the door, with a swift move, she slid her arm out of his hand and rushed back to get her treasured necklace. Another man, who stood between her and the Captain, stopped Zoree very quickly.

Firmly holding her by the arms, his artificial bright blue eyes locked into hers. In a low voice, he said.

“It’s not worth it, just let it go.”

His grip felt strong and unpleasant. Reluctantly, she nodded her head, and then he let her go, and then he motioned to the tall cyborg to escort her out.

As soon as she was out of the room, he turned to the Captain and said.

“Is this what I think it is?”

Still holding his father’s medallion, the Captain spoke up.

“Indeed it is.” He said in a solemn voice. “And now after all these years, I finally found out what happened to my father and his crew.”

“Rogan, that was a long time ago.“ The man with the bright blue eyes replied.

“Yes Daren, it was. But that day still haunts me when my father left. I still remember the argument between us, and I wish I could take back those words I said to him that day.” Then with a sigh, he added. “Even though, many years have passed, it still bothers me the way we said goodbye to each other.”

Gazing at the medallion, a mixture of happy and painful memories engulfed his mind. To his friend, he said.

“Looks like I wasn't the only one who felt attached to this piece of metal.”

“She’s not bad to look at.” Daren replied, while a mischievous smile enveloped his dark, handsome face.

Pulling up one of his dark eyebrows, Rogan looked at his friend and said.

“Don’t forget my friend, you have someone who is patiently waiting for you at home.”

“I’m not talking about me.” Daren replied with a sly smile.

“Oh.” Rogan said with slight surprise. Then shaking his head, he added. “No way my friend.”

“Whatever you say.” Daren replied with a grin. And then he added. “I think we collected enough for this mission. I believe it would make a lot of people happy at home.”

“Then I guess we are ready to go home.” Rogan replied placing the medallion in the inner pocket of his leather jacket.

Back in the same room, Zoree with the other humans were rounded up. In a single line, flanked by several cyborgs, they were ushered into a larger room, where placed side-by-side were hundreds of sleeping pods.

One by one, each human was laid flat inside one of these pods. When it was Zoree’s turn, with a fearful expression, she climbed into her pod. Lying flat on her back, suddenly, she felt a sharp pinch on her left thigh, as the clear plastic lid slowly closed on top of her, temporarily sealing her off from the rest of the room. Instantly, she felt sleepy. As hard as she tried to fight it and stay awake, she just wasn't able to do that. Within seconds, she was in cryosleep just like the other three hundred and twenty people that were aboard this ship heading toward their new and final destination called, Kaliv.

Later that day, Rogan entered the cryochamber, and headed straight toward Zoree’s pod. Stopping at her pod, he looked down on her sleeping form. She looks peaceful, he thought, as his eyes roamed over her. Placing one of his hands on the hard plastic shell, a sudden strange feeling came over him. This woman here in front of me is the daughter of the man who killed my father, he thought. As much as he tried to feel anger or loathing for her, somehow, he just couldn't. Looking at her more closely, he started to see how unique and attractive this young woman truly was.

Her pretty round face was framed by shoulder length dark brown straight hair with self cut bangs that were sticking to her pale forehead. She had a straight, small nose, and her enticing full lips had a pleasantly nice pink shade to them, making him want to reach inside the pod and touch them. He didn't understand why he even came here to see her today. Still, for some unexplained reason, he did and here he was, and couldn't keep his eyes off of her.

When he returned to the ship’s control room and as he sat down, Daren turned his way, and with a curious expression, he asked.

“Did you return the necklace?”

Realizing his friend was making fun of him, Rogan swiftly replied.

“She wouldn't take it back.”

Leaning back on his comfortable chair, Daren replied with a mischievous grin.

“Oh, that’s too bad. Maybe when she’s actually awake, you could try again.”

Ignoring his friend’s remark, Rogan pressed a code sequence into the glowing keypad in front of him, and then he set the coordinates for the autopilot. Picking up speed, the large ship left the solar system behind to travel to planet Kaliv, located in another galaxy, millions of light years away from Earth.

While humans required cryosleep when traveling long distances, his kind, the Toraan race, didn't need to be put to sleep. They were able to place their bodies and minds in a certain state that allowed them comfortably accommodate a long travel through space. This humanoid race was able to slow down certain body functions, such as lowering heartbeats, and metabolism or even blocking pain if needed.

As the ship cut through within the vastness of space toward their destination, simultaneously all cyborgs closed their eyes, and slowed down their heartbeats to a minimal level.

Closing his eyes, Rogan’s breathing became lighter and almost undetectable, as his heart started to slow down. Before the comforting darkness took over his mind, the last image that appeared in front of him was Zoree’s peaceful sleeping face, and then everything went black.