The Return to Earth After 3 months of intense crew training, Captain Burton felt it was finally time to leave Unzervalt. You weren't so sure, weren't entirely comfortable with your new role as a starship officer. Burton listened as you expressed your doubts, then put an arm around your shoulders and reassured you. You'd make a fine pilot. She'd trust a ship to you any time. Besides, all the plans were set. The two of you would lead the return to Earth, and once there send back a rescue ship for the colonists left behind. If necessary, Burton vowed, you would fight your way through the forces of the Ur-Quan Hierarchy. You, above all, will remember that trip, for during the journey you went through a rite of passage. You left Unzervalt a boy and soon found yourself forced to be a man -- to lead bravely and boldy and wisely. Think back. Do you recall the exhilaration of blasting off from the tiny planet where you wer born -- and the sheer terror later? Three days out, and you approached the perimter of that cursed Oort Cloud, you found the Tobermoon -- derelict and tumbling through space. The deep burns along her hull were mute evidence that she'd seen combat. And lost. The discovery was, of course, a great shock to Captain Burton. Unconsciously she chewed her bottom lip, and for the first time her handsome face showed the awful strain of the past twenty years. She'd been engaged to Captain Chi. Through two decades she'd clung to the hope she'd see him again, kept alive the dream they'd shared of marriage and children and a life together. Now the dream was shattered. She knew he was gone, even though there was no body to mourn over. Strangely, there were no bodies at all on board. And most of the important ship systems were intact. Do you remember how Burton wondered, tears brimming in her blue eyes, if Officer Chi and the other crew members had been taken prisoner? How her words conjured up a picture in you mind of the Earthlings being tortured -- their ordeal provoking mirth in the soul-less Ur-Quan. With a few days work, the engineers brought the Tobermoon back to life. What came next changed your life forever. With Captain Burton the only one aboard qualified to pilot the Earth Cruiser, you were put in command of the Precursor starship. Admit it. Standing on the bridge -- those eqaulets the grieving but bravely smiling Captain Burton pinned on gleaming from your shoulders -- you felt proud, sure of yourself. Hey, truth be told, at that moment you thought you were invincible. Your confidence didn't last long, did it? With the Tobermoon leading the way, you and Burton pushed your ships out into HyperSpace -- the parallel dimension where distances are fantastically compressed and interstellar travel feasable. Blazing white flashed surrounded your vessels and everything took on a crimson hue. Something up there wasn't right. Rembember? Your body felt like it was in a vise and your head was spinning. You fought for control, forcing yourself to focus on the soft voice of Captain Burton radioing a command fomr the Tobermoon: "Set course for Earth." A day later -- you think it was a day, but now, looking back, you can't be sure -- a sinister shadow began following you through HyperSpace. It moved fast, real fast. Within a couple of hours it had approached close enough to interact with your ship's hyperdrive field, pulling you both back into TrueSpace. At close range, the enemy ship looked lik a pair of spinning red globes surrounded by a crackling energy field. Some kind of glowing rod or energy beam connected the red globes. The alien craft built up speed rapidly as it zeroed in on the starship you commanded. Burton saw the attack coming and signalled you to warp out of the area immediately. A moment later you watched on your command console monitor as the Tobermoon flashed away on a trajectory to intercept the alien ship. As you pushed up into HyperSpace, you saw a crackling bolt of energy lance out from the alien vessel and strike the Tobermoon. Burton's craft wobbled violently, then veered off on an erratic course in the general direction of Unzervalt. The alien craft was apparently satisfied with disabling the Tobermoon, for the strange ship made a 180 degree turn and rocketed at warp speed toward deep space. Once your starship reached HyperSpace, you radioed the Tobermoon, only to learn that Captain Burton had been killed by the alien's unexpected attack. You felt sick to your stomach. Then you wanted to punch the bulkhead. You'd been half in love with Burton, you knew that now. Life stunk! Captain Burton's death left you in full command of the mission to find Earth. You navigated the Precursor starship back on your original course, you mind swirling with all that had happened. A terrible doubt overtook you, gnawing at the edges of what had always been your strong self-confidence. Could you pull this off? You, a son of Unzervalt, born in a cave, raised on Ortog milk and Libixx meat. You a man who'd never set foot in a university, never had formal space flight training beyond the crash course from Burton? You'd taught yourself everything, learning from reading computer programs and watching how engineers and scientists did things. The question ate at you now; had you been both a good teacher and a good student? Good enough at both to prepare you for the awesome task that lay ahead? Time would tell. And time did tell. Five days after the alien attack you arrived at a stellar vortex leading out of HyperSpace. Your scanner showed the vortex spiralling down to a brilliant yellow star. You knew at once that this was the great star that had given life to your ancestors, the star your Earthling progenitors call the Sun! You warped down out of HyperSpace and took a navigational fix. You were just beyond the orbit of the ninth planet of the yellow star. Earth was the third planet out from the Sun. With all thrusters on, you can reach the blue planet in two days. A horrible though flits across your mind. had the Ur-Quan broken through the Alliance defense lines and attacked your ancestral home? Was there devastation? Had the cities been obliterated by nuclear weapons and the survivors left irradiated mutants, genetic freaks roaming the ashen landscape like primal apes? You'll know in 48 hours. -Part 1--Part 2--Part 3--Part 4--Part 5--Part 6-