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19 June 2083

“All rise before the honorable Judge Elric Pride,” the bailiff called out.

The room lined with decorated officers all rose for the Judge as he entered. Once an Admiral, he now oversaw the major trials for the military and their branches. Everyone sat down. Judge Elric looked over the eight on trial.

“Here’s how this is going to work,” the ram leaned over his podium to look at all of them, “We’re going to examine each one of you without the others in the room. All of those present in this room will not discuss or talk about the events we are going to go over. I know you boys had a rough time up there in space, but we’re here to talk about the events leading up to your return home. Understood?”

The room remained silent and he continued, “Everyone may be seated except for the crew of the Nova. Everyone but Lieutenant Cook may be dismissed to the hallway to await their turn.”

“Good luck,” Diego patted him on the shoulder.

“Thank you, Papa Grande,” Hyperion went up to the podium.

The bailiff held out the book of laws and Hyperion put his hand on it, raising his right hand, “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?”

“Yes, sir,” Hyperion said.

“Lieutenant Cook, can you recount what happened on the fifth of February of this year and the events that led up to?” Judge Pride asked.

“Of course, sir,” Hyperion nodded, “It all began when we became infected.”

“Infected with what exactly?” the judge asked.

Hyperion looked over to the sideline and saw Allen give him a reassuring nod, “During our time studying Europa, we encountered an alien species that infected one of our crew with something called the H.Bac.”

There was hushed whispering.

Elric banged his gavel, “I’ll have order during the trial. No interruptions.”

“Everyone in here has been briefed on the Bigigas,” said Elric, “But right now, we need to know more about the incident. We can discuss the new life later. Right now, let Lieutenant Cook speak.”

An hour went by before Hyperion was released, then one after the other, the crew was brought in for questioning. Ken and Diego soon found themselves to be the only two left. The two responsible for the mission that had gone awry.

“You ok, Boomstick?” Diego asked.

“I’m good,” Ken sighed, “A lot of emotions right now.”

“There’s nothing we could have done,” said Diego, “What happened is something we couldn’t have prevented. This is just a formality to figure things out.”

“I know,” the wolf lowered his head, “I just wish everyone made it home.”

After sometime Harvey came out from the courtroom, “Ken, you’re up.”

Ken pulled himself up from his seat and went into the courtroom. He flattened his ears as he could feel all eyes on him. He stepped up to the podium and went through the motions.

“Kenneth McInnis,” the judge began, the ram pushed his glasses up, “You were responsible for assembling the team of scientists, correct?”

“That is correct,” said Ken.

“We would like for you to explain to us the reasons for your selections. Start with Marc Lander.”

Ken sighed, “Marc Lander was my best friend in Scotland. I couldn’t think of anyone better to have along for the trip.”

“Do you think this would have clouded your judgment?” the judge asked.

“I don’t see what you’re getting at,” said Ken.

“Marc Lander has a history of disorderly conduct, such as bar brawls and the like,” said the judge, “Didn’t you think this would have been a problem?”

“It’s not like he could go to the local pub to grab a pint,” Ken felt his blood boil, “We were in deep space. The only time Marc took things seriously was when he was on the job. You’ve seen his credentials. He was a star scientist on Mars. Never a problem!”

“Calm down, Mister McInnis,” the judge stared pointedly at him, “I just needed a yes or no. We’re not accusing him of any misconduct. Now, we’re to ask you a few more questions about your crew, then we’re going to go over what happened. Ok?”

Ken nodded. The wolf felt like he was being interviewed and criticized with each question and answer. He kept it honest. Finally, the judge got to the point where he wanted to know what happened at the end.

“Now, I want you to walk me through the events that led up to the incident on the fifth of February. Start from the beginning, and bring me up to that point.”

5 February 2083

“We need to clean up your mess when we get back,” said Diego to Magnus and Ken, “Then hit the showers. After that, we’ll go over the video feed from Ken’s helmet.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Ken said from his seat, his legs shaking.

Hyperion pulled them into the dock. They got their gear unloaded and got to cleaning the mess that Magnus and Ken made. Rasul made them fresh coffee so they could settle in after their shower. Once they were all cleaned up they joined up in the galley with everyone else.

“Come on, share with us!” Kuga gleefully said. He had downloaded all the data from Ken’s helmet, “You get to do the honors of hitting play!”

Ken slung his towel over his shoulders, “Alright then, let's go through this.”

The eleven of them sat there and watched Ken take his descent into the ice. Harvey, Kuga, and Ken kept track of all the data on the video. Marc kept pausing the video to draw out the diagrams the Bigigas had carved into their rocks. He referred to them as underwater cavemen.

“I think they’re more sophisticated than that,” said Ken.

“Eh, jes a wee bit,” Marc chuckled.

They continued to study everything that Ken had witnessed. The ship crew kept stopping and rewinding, and watching over it again. Marc got squeamish from how their reproduction worked. Kuga teased him.

“Oh, come on,” Kuga laughed, “It’s no different than amphibians and fish back on Earth.”

“Naw mate,” Marc covered his eyes, “This righ’ ‘ere takes et on a whole new level o’ weird. Like, it’s coatin’ sure, but gess it’s natural fer em. But et looks discussin’.”

“This is why you’re a rock scientist,” Harvey remarked.

Rasul and Diego retreated after a while to their room. Hyperion and Errol put on more coffee. They couldn’t keep up with all the science terms they were throwing around. But they kept entertained by asking questions and learning. Hugo and Bruno went into the back to check on the ship's diagnostics. The four scientists spent hours pouring over their information so they could send it back to Earth.

“Shame our bio went nuts,” said Harvey, “His help would have been appreciated.”

“We’ll worry about it later,” said Ken, “Besides, between the four of us, we’ve been fairly well.”

“Yeh,” Marc leaned back in his chair, “C’nt wait fer em to be locked up. Pure psycho. ‘Ad me fooled.”

“Had us all fooled,” said Ken, “Next trip out, we need to make sure everyone passes their evals through multiple parties. Not just one doctor that can fake his way through.”

“A psychotic break can happen at any time,” said Kuga, “Anything can trigger someone to go crazy. Take most of those freaks on Mars.”

“Lets not think about him,” said Harvey, “We need to go compile our data in the lab. Then we can hopefully get our shots made, and then go home. We got what we came for, and I for one miss beaches with sand, not ice.”

“There’s more we can do,” said Ken, “We can continue trying to communicate.”

“We’re almost at the point of no return,” said Kuga, “Anything we need to do, we need to do it fast.”

Harvey stood up and stretched, “I think we have enough to bring to the lab.” Harvey twitched his ears, “Who’s opening the airlock?”

Everyone at the table turned to look down the hallway. Magnus jumped to his feet and ran down the hall. He came to a halt and put his hands up. Julio lifted himself up out of the airlock. He appeared to have a makeshift device attached around his body.

“Back up,” Julio shot at Magnus.

“Let's talk about this,” said Magnus.

Diego came out and ran towards them.

“Diego, no!” Magnus held his hand up to stop him.

“Julio, what…” Diego stopped where he was.

“Ah, you're both smart,” Julio sneered, “You know what I’ve attached to me.”

“What do you want, Julio?” Diego asked.

“I think we should go home,” said Julio, “And that’s just what we’re going to do. We’re going to change the game plan a little though. Nova is my hostage. You’re going to drop me off at Mars, and I’m going to go to the Russian side. They have no laws against what I’ve done.”

The four at the table started to come down the hallway.

“Get back,” Diego ordered them, “Rasul, get them to the front of the ship.”

The wolverine had been peeking out from his room. He motioned for them to come with him. Everyone went but Marc refused. Bruno and Hugo came up from below. Both of them were suited up to do maintenance. Julio turned toward them.

“Get the ship ready,” Julio ordered them, “We’re departing.”

“Captain…” Bruno started.

“I said now!” Julio shouted at him, “Hugo, you stay.”

Hugo looked concerned.

“Don’t do anything stupid,” Julio told him, “All I gotta do is squeeze and we go up in flames.”

“Magnus, go help the kids get ready for takeoff,” Diego ordered him.

“I’m not leaving captain,” Magnus stood his ground.

“It wasn’t an order,” said Diego, “You’re my friend, and I want you to leave. You too Marc.”

“I ein’t goin’ no’ere,” Marc shot back, “Ye got no ord’rs on me.”

“Always stubborn,” Julio smirked as he approached them.

“Go,” Diego told Magnus.

“That’s it big boy, get along,” Julio taunted, “Just a useless piece of crap anyway.”

Magnus seethed, and he whispered to Marc on his way by, “Airlock, blast proof.”

“What’s that?” the hyena craned his neck.

“Ich sagte, fick dish selber,” Magnus shot back.

“Cute,” Julio laughed, “Real mature! And now here I am. With the biggest douche,” he pointed at Marc, “The biggest asshole,” he pointed at Diego, “And the biggest loser.” He pointed at Hugo.

“You know you can’t get away with this,” said Diego.

“It’s a calculated risk I’m willing to take,” said Julio, “I decided I didn’t want to die. I want to continue my research and outdo the rest of you.”

“You’ve fully lost it,” said Diego.

“Maybe I have,” said Julio as he started to walk around the airlock, “Or maybe you're all the crazy ones. I was doing everything by the book up until your guys brought back a sample that I just couldn’t wait to try. It’s like a drug. Imagine how much I can make selling this to men on the blackmarket. I can be richer than my wildest dreams.”

“Yer sick,” Marc shot at him.

“I’m sick?” Julio laughed, “Oh, maybe I am. But think about it! We are carrying the cure for impotence. A raging erection that pops up every few hours, how is that not every man's dream?”

“We’ve already made our medical advances to get around that,” said Diego, “Right now, you’re just borderline encouraging a kink that could rage out of control.”

“I mean, I did experiment with that for a few days,” said Julio, “Until it became so unbearable to stand up that I had no choice but to get off. I doubt it would end up being too bad of a habit.”

Julio stopped to stare out of the airlock. He continued monologuing. Marc nodded toward Hugo. The tiger looked over at him. Marc tried his best to let Hugo know to run. Marc tapped Diego on the shoulder and jerked his head back down the hallway. Diego started to back up.

“Hey!” Julio turned toward Diego, “Did I say you could leave?”

“I need to captain the ship,” said Diego.

“Rasul knows the procedure,” said Julio, “You get to hang out with me until we get to our destination.”

Hugo took a step towards him. The hyena whipped around and raised his hand. With a bounding leap Marc tackled Julio into the airlock. Diego slammed the lock button, but it didn’t activate.

“Hugo, hit the crank!” Diego shouted.

Hugo scrambled up to the edge of the airlock. Down below, Marc was pounding into Julio with both of his fists. The hyena was howling in laughter as he struggled to reach for his triggers which he dropped. Marc was so lost in beating the shit out of him he’d forgotten about them. As Hugo grabbed the crank, Julio’s oxygen bomb went off.

The blast shot up out of the airlock and shot through the otherside of the ship. Initially the blast sent Diego reeling backwards. The vacuum of space then took over. The bat grabbed onto what he could as the sirens on the ship blared and the redlights flashed. Diego cried out as he pulled himself forward. His claws dug into the flooring as his feet hit the ground and he pushed himself into safety. The engines blew as he hit the bulkhead's emergency door lock. Pressure returned to him as he watched the back of the ship ignite.

“Diego!” Rasul came running down the ship.

“I’m ok,” Diego ran by him and into the bridge, “Hyperion, we lost Marc and Julio. Get a tracker on Hugo and Bruno. We lost the back of the ship.”

“Marc is gone?” Ken dropped to his knees.

“He saved us,” said Diego, “At what cost, I don’t know, but he took Julio down.”

“We could have just done as he asked!” Ken shouted at Diego.

Magnus grabbed Ken and held him tight, “That’s not how a psychotic break works babe, he would have just become more unstable and impatient.”

Ken started to sob into Magnus’s shoulder.Hyperion called out on communications to try and find Bruno and Hugo. Bruno was below deck still. He’d managed to lock the hatches. Hugo, however, had been blown off into space.

“Hugo, can you slow your trajectory?” Hyperion cried out.

Hugo could be heard breathing heavily, “I can’t, I’m spinning out of control. I’ve tried hitting the brakes but I can’t pull out of the spin.”

“Would we be able to get to him?” Diego squeezed him on his shoulder.

Hyperion teared up, “He’s headed into deep space. It’ll be worse than trying to find a needle in a haystack. Sir, we need to comfort Hugo before he goes,” Hyperion held up the mic.

“Hugo,” Diego bit into his lip.

“Yeah, captain?” Hugo said.

“You know we can’t save you, right?”

“I know, Diego,” Hugo tried his best to fight back his tears, “Tell them I was a good engineer.”

Magnus took the mic, “Nein! You are a great engineer. And I’ll never forget you.”

“Big clumsy oaf and his stupid decorations,” Hugo laughed.

“Ja,” Magnus nodded, “I will miss you.”

“Where’s Bruno?” Hugo sniffled.

“Trying not to cry,” Bruno said.

“Are you ok?” Hugo asked.

“I’ll be fine,” Bruno sobbed, “I’m still below deck. I managed to clear the blast. But we’re going to lose you.”

“You should seal off any holes,” Hugo remarked, “We can’t let any oxygen escape. It’s bad enough we took out the engines.”

“You could take a day off,” Bruno whined, “And not think about work.”

“I wasn’t with you all for work,” said Hugo, “I was with you for friendship.” Hugo was able to talk with all of them before he decided it was time, “Guys, I’m gonna go. Don’t want to hold you up, you have your own emergency.”

“Hugo, I’m sorry this happened,” said Diego.

“It’s not your fault,” said Hugo, “We knew the risks coming out here. This is Hugo Cortes, signing off.”

“Good bye friend,” Diego turned off communications.

The room was silent for a little while. The ship creaked around them. Ken had cried himself out. The wolf took a deep breath and left the bridge. Magnus went after him. Hyperion stood up and tugged Diego on his wing.

He turned around and knelt down for the fennec, “What’s up, Hyperion?”

“Sir, we’ve been blasted towards Europa,” said Hyperion, “Without engines, we can’t get back into orbit.”

“Can we use the thrusters on the Spider?” Diego asked.

“We can try,” said Hyperion, “But there’s no guarantee. We can try and use the shuttle too.”

“I need Magnus,” Diego went after the raccoon.

The raccoon was sitting on Ken’s bed with him. The wolf was shaking, but he was maintaining his composure better than when he thought they lost Kuga. Diego explained the situation to Magnus. The raccoon took a moment to think about it.

“I don’t think so, captain,” said Magnus, “The thrusters wouldn’t put out enough force to move this ship. They’re too small scale to try and get us back on track.”

“What if we push the ship out away from the moon, and then use them to move us back into orbit,” Magnus asked.

“If we don’t do it right, we could send ourselves off into deep space,” said Magnus, “Or we can get caught up in Jupiter's gravity.”

“What do you suggest?” Diego asked.

“Send communication back to Earth if we can,” said Magnus, “And we do our best to survive until help arrives.”

“I’ll coordinate with Rasul,” said Diego, “Get ready for a bumpy landing.”

Rasul sat down with Diego to coordinate their plan. Magnus and Bruno started to get supplies put together to patch up the ship after landing. They’d have to work fast when they land. Magnus piled up the supplies inside the Spider. They were going to detach the Spider and fly it down with the crew onboard. Magnus wanted to weld more panels over the oxygen tanks to reinforce them before impact. They also had to stop the gravity wheel and remove it from the ship.

“Turning off gravity,” Hyperion announced to the ship, “Brace for low G.”

Magnus and Bruno worked quickly. They had a lot of bolts to remove from the wheel. Rasul had pinpointed their best place to crash land. It was a small area that saw few quakes, and the ice didn’t shift around much. There were also no geysers that would burst from below. Hyperion ran the scenario with Errol.

“Captain, I don’t think on our current course, we can hit that area,” said Errol, “We can try and move ourselves into position, but there’s no guarantee.”

“We’ll just have to get close enough,” said Diego, “And hope for the best.”

“Captain,” Magnus called in from outside, “Is the crew ready to load up?”

“I’ll round them up Magnus,” said Diego, “I’m going to stay onboard and bring the ship down on my own.”

“Sir?” Hyperion was confused, “No, no you’re not. You’re a good leader, and the team needs you. Me and Errol are going to take the ship down.”

“Absolutely not,” Diego knelt down next to him, “You and Errol are going to get on the Spider. A captain always goes down with his ship.”

“Our suits can take the high impact better because of our size,” Hyperion punched him in the chest, “And, we actually fit in the pilot's seats which are reinforced with impact cages, of which you don’t fit. This will also require two of us to steer and navigate in the right direction.”

Diego sighed, he then pulled Hyperion into a tight hug, “Please, please, make it through this.”

“We’re tough cookies, Papa Grande,” Hyperion held onto him, “Now get going.”

Hyperion and Errol got suited up. The rest of the crew suited up at the Spider. The fennec did a last systems check. The weasel took care of finalizing their final flight path. They were going to try and aim for a slope. Worse case, they ram the ship into the mountainside. Other worse case, they overshoot and have a rougher landing. Best case, they land in one piece.

Magnus and Bruno were done reinforcing the key points on the ship. They had released the shuttle so the bottom of the ship would be completely smooth, and used the airlock from there to get back into the ship. The both of them joined the rest of the crew in the Spider. Rasul detached the Spider from the ship once they were onboard.

“Hyperion, you’re about to hit the atmosphere,” Rasul called out.

“Yessir,” Hyperion responded.

Hyperion flipped a few switches. The window panels on the ship all slid closed. Errol expanded the wings. Those were their only hope to help slow their descent. The ship groaned as they started to accelerate. Hyperion could feel the weight pull them down.

“We’re entering at a twenty three degree angle,” said Errol, “Bearing down on latitude eight eight, longitude one two five.”

“Pulling on the e-brake,” said Hyperion as he pulled a lever.

The ship rattled as their descent went faster. Errol held out his hand. Hyperion grabbed hold of it. They were left to fate as the ship zoomed toward the icy fields below. Hyperion and Errol both closed their eyes as they saw their mountain target looming in closer.

“I love you,” said Hyperion.

“I love you too,” Errol smiled.

The ship hit the ground. It slid down the mountain and the ship rammed into a chunk of ice. The ship started spinning out of control. Then another which sent the ship rolling and bouncing down the rest of the mountain. Errol and Hyperion cried out as they tumbled down the mountainside. It came to an abrupt stop as it crashed into a large icewall. The ship's lights flickered on and off as it had come to rest at a slight angle against the wall.

Hyperion was coughing from the impact and unbuckled himself, “Thunder, you ok?”

No response.

“No, no, no,” Hyperion threw his helmet off and ran over to Errol to take off his, “Wake up, wake up. Don’t do this to me.”

“Mmm…do what?” Errol asked as he came to.

“Don’t scare me like that,” Hyperion pushed into a kiss with him.

“Hyperion? Errol? Come in!” Diego’s voice rang out in the ship.

“We’re fine, Papa Grande,” Hyperion called back, “Just a little banged up.”

“We’re coming in for repairs,” said Rasul, “You two good to get up and help check for leaks from the inside?”

Errol went to get up and groaned, “Nnf, I think I banged up a few ribs.”

“Stay here and relax,” said Hyperion, “I can handle this.”

The crew set to work. Magnus and Bruno welded while the rest of them held up the plates. They were turning the ship into an even more fortified fortress than it already was. They fully welded the door that once led to the engine room and the hatches below deck. After inspection of the windows, Hyperion opened up the one side so they would have a view.

Errol had managed to take his gear off and get into bed while the fennec worked.Once Hyperion put a layer of protective gel over the window, he went to put some ice on Errol's ribs. The rest of the crew docked back onto the ship with the Spider. The Spider was now their only way on and off the ship. Magnus and Bruno slid themselves down into the lower deck to make sure all systems were operational.

“Alright, the outside of the ship is secure,” Diego walked everyone to the galley, “We need to go through and clean up anything that got tossed around. Good news, we have plenty of food and oxygen, bad news, we’re stuck on Europa until help comes. We need to try and make sure the solar panels are kept clear every day. We may have to deice them daily.”

“It’s going to get cold,” said Rasul, “Since we’re not out in the sun anymore, and with us snuggled up against the ice, we should centralize our heat. We need to set up camp in the galley and block off the rear of the ship and the bridge.”

“We’re going to have to be careful about our water usage,” said Diego, “Magnus and Bruno are going to see if they can work on a solution to keep the water running, and we probably lost a few tanks during the explosion. Magnus is going to see how much we have left and how many scrubbers we have left. We may have to rough it.”

Kuga raised his hand, “What about our research? Are we going to continue it until rescue comes?”

“Right now, that’s entirely up to Ken,” said Diego, “My job was to fly you here and home, and ensure your safety. I failed both objectives, which means I’m no longer in charge of the mission.”

Ken clenched his fists, “You didn’t fail.”

“That’s not how homebase is going to see it,” said Diego, “I endangered the mission by not taking enough precautions.”

“No…” Ken's eyes welled up.

“I lost three crew members.”

“No.”

“And I let my ego get in the way of my decisions.”

Ken slammed a fist into Diego’s gut, “NO!”

Diego didn’t even flinch and he pulled Ken into a tight hug, “It’s ok. Worse they’ll do is pull my rank and take me off duty.”

“I’m sorry,” Ken held onto him tightly.

“It happens,” said Diego, “Come on, we need to set up.”

19 June 2083

“So, you set up in the galley and awaited rescue?” Judge Pride asked.

“That is correct, sir,” said Diego.

“Captain,” the judge was consulting the files in front of him, “Did your team continue to conduct research after your crash landing?”

“We assessed the risks, but without clear cut navigation from overhead and not being able to monitor seismic activity, we determined it was too risky to leave our immediate area,” said Diego, “We continued to study the ice in our location, took what samples we could from underground.. We unfortunately were no longer in contact with the Bigagas. Our location was too far north and we couldn’t risk sending the crew out blindly.”

“A wise decision,” Judge Pride shuffled through a few of the documents, “Captain, each of you has reported to us quite the story. Only a few things were out of place. All stories checked out, except for one thing.”

“Sir?” Diego was confused.

“What happened after your rescue?” the judge asked.

“We got our vaccinations, and we flew home,” said Diego.

“Is that all?” Judge Pride looked down at him, “Remember, you’re under oath.”

“Your honor, I must admit, I’m not sure what more I could tell you,” said Diego.

“Hmm,” the judge stacked his documents and straightened them out, “Very well, captain. I have made my decision then. Effective immediately, you will no longer be known as captain.”

Diego nodded, “Yessir.”

“I would like to ask the room to stand and salute Rear Admiral Lopez,” said the judge, Diego dropped his jaw, “For a fine mission well done, and facing the unknown in dangerous environments. For saving your team to the best of your ability. You have proven an outstanding astronaut and will be further briefed on your next mission.”

The room stood up and saluted Diego.

“Sir?” Diego started, “I...what?”

“Diego Lopez, go take a vacation,” the judge banged his gavel and stood up, “Dismissed.”

Allen came running over to Diego and shook his hand, “Well done, rear admiral!”

“Perky, what just happened?” Diego was confused.

“The investors were impressed with your work,” Allen was still holding his hands, “Also, they’ve very interested in having your team go back up for an even greater mission.”

“Greater?” Diego laughed, “I don’t know if I even want to go back up.”

“That’s why he just ordered you to take a vacation,” Allen grinned, “Take time off, clear your head.”

“What’s the next mission?” Diego asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” Allen patted him on the shoulder, “I’ll be going with you next time.”

“Perky,” Diego started.

“I have to go, Papa Grande,” Allen gave him a hug and ran off to join the rest of the officers leaving the room.

Diego walked out of the courtroom and found Rasul waiting for him, “Hey! How’d it go?”

“I got promoted,” Diego laughed, “What the hell just happened?”

“I think we all got promoted,” said Rasul, “I guess our results and studies were a success far greater than we thought. And, we also made first contact.”

“We’ve been sitting for months preparing for them to just give them the same story over and over,” Diego sighed, “And then they just tell us to get ready for the next mission.”

“I know,” Rasul held out his hand, “Come on.”

Diego took his hand and they walked down the hallway, “We’re heading down to the lab?”

“Doctor Tanzai has made a breakthrough with the eggs,” said Rasul, “He says they’d be able to exist in the antarctic. We can also create a habitat for them with their algae in a secure location.”

“Would they adapt to the dietary changes easily enough?” Diego asked, “He was concerned about the differences in the fish, and the salinity levels he wasn’t too sure about.”

“Well, he figured out that the salinity levels would change because of their genetic makeup,” said Rasul, “They can adapt based on their environment from the amount of semen they’re coated in.”

“The Bigigas are so weird,” Diego laughed.

They got into a secure elevator. They were heading down to the lowest level of the ISA. The bell dinged when they were at least sixty feet below ground. They walked down a stark white hallway and turned into a set of double doors. A large tank of water consumed the room. Millions of gallons of water that had been acclimated to contain the Bigigas.

“Boys!” Doctor Tanzai greeted the both of them happily, “Thank you for coming down. I heard your trial went well.”

“Not much of a trial when they give you a promotion afterwards,” said Diego.

“I pulled a few strings, and made sure your coverup was solid so we could continue studying,” the rat grinned.

“Hey cunts!” Marc came over and hugged the both of them, “Thanks fer coverin’ fer me. It’s kinda fun liv’n under the radar.”

“Heard you guys made progress on adaptability,” said Diego.

“We did,” Doctor Tanzai walked them up the stairs to get to the overview of the pool, “We found a link between the DNA of Doctor Thorn and the Bigigas. Since he held himself so long without relieving himself, his body becoming the surrogate figure to carry egg sacs has become just what we needed to alter genetic makeups to adapt the Bigigas to living on Earth with little issue.”

“Hugo’s bin runnin’ trials through adjustments on the climate pools,” said Marc, “E’s the one thet figured out we kin adapt dem for Antarctic livin’ wit’ little issue.”

“That’s good to hear,” Diego nodded, “I’m surprised they believed our story up there.”

“They know you’re hiding something,” said Doctor Tanzai, “But with my hands and others in power within our organization helping you coverup, they can’t do anything about it. Marc and Hugo’s willingness to help out with the research will be a great boon for our research. Their first hand experience and the brains between them will help us get a leg up.”

“Hehe, I’m jest ‘appy to finally have sometin to do thets worthwhile,” said Marc, “Come check our boy.”

They got to the top of the observation deck. Down below in the middle of the pool was Julio. He was no longer what he used to be. His genitals had grown five thousand times their normal size and he was nonstop leaking semen. The Bigigas in the water were using his semen and their own to tend to the enormous sacs hanging off of his back. They’d determined the Bigigas only hatch at full maturity and Julio was going to give birth to the first hybrids.

The hyena had let himself go so far gone that he only cared about sex and pleasure. The genetic grasp of the H.Bac had completely rewritten his impulsive behaviors. Everyone agreed he was far better like this than the psychopath he had presented himself as. The rest of the crew had been treated by Doctor Tanzai. The only effect after the vaccine took hold was everyone was a bit more hung now.

Diego noticed Ken watching down below and he flew down to him, “Hey, Boomstick!”

Ken smiled, “Hey, Papa Grande.”

Diego put an arm around him, “I know this isn’t what you wanted, but what do you think?”

“It’s just unfortunate we couldn’t save him,” said Ken, “His stubbornness got the best of him and he just became cumbrained.”

“We tried to get him to cooperate and he fought us at every turn,” said Diego.

Ken leaned against him, “I’m surprised Marc offered to stay here and help with the research. I guess I didn’t realize he felt that lost within his career.”

“Well, with ocean levels rising, probably a good move to go marine instead of terrain,” Diego chuckled.

“He’ll always be my dumb rock guy,” Ken sighed.

“You wanna go get some beers with me and the guys?” Diego asked.

“Yeah,” Ken nodded, “I think I like the sound of that.”