"Look Gunner isn't it beautiful?" her old croaky voice said.

Gunner looked out the window at the huge round ball looking thing. It was mostly blue and white, with little specks of green sticking out here and there. Little white, twinkling dots surrounded it was well as a smaller ball shaped thing that seemed to evolve around it. Gran was right. It WAS beautiful.

"What is it, Gran?" Gunner asked as little Ryker held his index finger in his surprisingly strong grip then turned his attention to the window too, staring at the beautiful site.

Gunner smiled at the curious little guy.

Gran stared out at it for a while longer before she turned to Gunner.

"They call it earth my boy." she asked, smiling, exposing the wrinkles on her beautiful face; her white eyes shining with life.

"Is that where we are going?" Gunner asked hope in his voice.

Little Ryker suddenly grinning and let out a cute little babyish sound, jumping up and down in sudden happiness. Gunner smiled at his little brother who simultaneously looked up at him, grinning showing off his toothless mouth.

Gunner scrunched up with nose and stuck out his tongue and the kid started laughing hysterically as if Gunner's weird expression was the funniest thing he's ever seen. His laugh was so contagious that even Gunner found himself chuckling.

Gran watched the two with so much love shining in her beautiful eyes. She bounced Ryker on her leg slightly her fingers twitching as the temptation to pinch his little chubby cheeks intensified.

"Well, are we Gran?" Gunner asked; ever the one to seek answers that weren't clear to him

"No, Gunner. We will stick out too much."

"What do you mean, aren't they like us?"

"They are, dear, but," she paused, "their eyes are different from ours. Our kind has white, purple, violet, red and golden while theirs are blue, brown, black, green and grey and they aren't as strong and psychic as we are and most of them aren't born with white hair."

"I don't see how that's a problem," Gunner said frowning, "—we won't hurt them we are just looking for refuge."

"They won't see it that way,"

Suddenly, the craft shook vigorously and red lights flickered everywhere. Ryker begun crying as Gran tried her best to calm him down. Gunner looked out their window in time to see it.

A long metal weapon with a streamlined tip was approaching their ship. Panic struck him and he looked at Gran's scared look, the life in her eyes now replaced by dread. Ryker's cries intensified, he squeezed Gunner's hand and he knew he had to do something.

Hesitantly, he eased his finger from Ryker, who snapped his saddened gaze at him, tears still streaming from his face. Gunner smiled and made the same funny face he did earlier and surprisingly his little brother chuckled, forgetting he was seconds from crying.

Gunner then looked at Gran. She shot him a smile and was about to say something when there was another bang then the ship shook once again.

"Hold the baby, Gunner. I'll go see what's going on." Gran said.

Gunner shook his head, "No Gran, what if it's not safe out."

"Don't worry about me, I'll be back." She said then stood with Ryker in her arms and handed him to Gunner.

"They might need me out there." she murmured to herself.

Gunner held his brother and watched helplessly as she tapped the code to open the door. It slides to the side after letting out a whiff and she stepped out to the hallway.

Once Gunner saw the red flickering light and Zetrians running around with worry written on their faces, it didn't take long for him to realise that they were under attack. Gran spun around, her gaze on his own sunken one.

"Keep your brother safe, Gunner. No matter what." She said then mouthed 'I love you' before she tapped on a button on the right side of the door to which commanded the door to slide shut completely.

It was at that moment that Gunner knew she wasn't coming back. It wasn't going to be okay. He looked out the window and went pale. More of the streamlined metal thingy were approaching the ship, his breath hitched when he saw one of them coming directly towards them.

He looked at Ryker and gulped. His eyes then roamed around the room. What was he meant to do? He bit his lip, a habit he does when he's frustrated.

His eyes then suddenly caught something, just beside where Gran had been sitting. He approached it and pushed the seat away with one arm while the other held Ryker.

EMERGENCY AIR SUPPLY

Hurriedly and with trembling hands, he pulled the safe open nearly screaming in relief when he saw there was a child sized oxygen mask with a child sized air tank to hook on the kid's back as well as another kit for Gunner.

He frowned.

Had Gran seen a vision of this happening? Gunner wondered, doubting this being out of sheer luck. He looked at the window once again and his eyes widened. The metal thing was literally inches from the window. He held Ryker tightly in front of him and jumped out of its way, his shoulder hitting the hard ground of the ship hard.

There was a rush of wind where the weapon punctured before it exploded. Gunner turned his back to it protecting Ryker as his back caught the fire from the explosion. He screamed out in excruciating pain as the flame burned through his clothes and seethed on his back.

Gunner's breathe quickened. The wind suddenly pushed the flame away to a different direction; the bed on the other side of the room. His eyes widened and he forced himself to work fast because the air was rushing out. He put the oxygen mask on Ryker first then hooked the air tank onto his back.

Ryker fought against the mask determinedly but Gunner managed to do put it in place, his breathing becoming difficult .He set his brother on his lap as his shaky fingers fumbled to hook the air tank behind him.

He gritted his teeth, his vision blurry, biting his lip; he instead took of his jacket and hooked the air tank onto it before he put the jacket back on. He took in a deep breath and let it out, his chest calming down.

He looked at the door and forced himself up towards it. He tapped the code and waited his back stinging painfully. He bounced Ryker in his arms in an attempt to calm him down. The door remained shut as the screen suddenly flashed on and a dialogue box appeared. It was on lockdown.

Just then, there was a series of other loud bangs as the other weapons hit the ship. Gunner gritted his teeth, the fire was slow going off, fortunately, but the ship was moving fast towards the planet. Ryker held Gunner's finger once again as he continued to cry.

They reached earth's atmosphere, the speed more than before as the edges of the ship caught fire, diving lower and lower into a huge blue liquid, landing in a big splash.

Gunner held Ryker tighter, frozen as the ship sunk lower and lower into the mass, the room already filled with the blue liquid.

Ryker's yank on his hair made him blink and approached the weakened window, fighting through the liquid. He kicked the window apart with Ryker still in his arms then floated out and up the surface. Luckily, the strange liquid didn't penetrate into their helmets.

He held Ryker above the blue clear mystery and looked around. A strange bowl-shaped object floated towards them with what looked like a Zetrian stirring it with a pole of strange unfamiliar material.

Gunner frowned as the figure got closer. That's when he saw it and his eyes widened. The figure had brown hair and blue eyes; almost as blue as the liquid below him. Ryker suddenly stopped crying and eyed the thing, as curious and mesmerised as Gunner was.

The bowl-shaped object stopped in front of them and the figure stretched his hand towards them. Gunner frowned at it, then followed it up the arm, shoulders, neck, then face, stopping at the blue coloured eyes.

He waited for any warning signs to spring within him but there was none. So, he first handed Ryker to the living being because his safety was his first priority.

He took him and placed Ryker on the bowl thingy then stretched his arm towards Gunner who took it and got in the strange object with the being's help.

Ryker crawled towards him and settled on his lap. The being faced them and moved the pole backwards with both of his arms on each pole outside the object.

"Let's get you two out of here before they find you." the being said.

Was it a he or a she?

The eyes confused him, for he was in a different planet. Maybe male Zetrians resemble the female version of this species and the being in front of him was actually a she?

Were they really that different? Was he as well as Ryker going to have to wear feminine clothing? Why couldn't he understand them?

He turned behind him, a habit because every time he had a question, he would always ask Gran. That woman knows everything.

His heart suddenly sunk and he went pale.

Gran!

He thought and pulled Ryker off his lap. Biting his lip, Gunner leaned to the side and forced himself out of the bowl thing and into the blue liquid.

Was this water? He wondered, but pushed that thought away and kicked his legs towards the rapidly sinking ship, ignoring the muffled somewhat worried screams of the being that helped him out.

Gunner had always been a good swimmer in Zetriana, the best actually. He could hold his breathe for quite a long time. Besides that he still had his air tank hooked on his back.

Approaching the ship, he looked for an opening into the ship. Seeing another broken window, he approached it and brought his foot back before kicked it with all his strength. He kicked it again the second time and third before it broke as well as the side of the wall.

Gunner then swum into the ship and through the already opened door that lead to the hallway. He bit his lip at the site in front of him. Zetrians were floating about barely even moving.

Some had massive cuts here and there that were healing because of the water. It wouldn't help though, if they're already dead.

Grimacing, Gunner swum on looking for his Grandmother he had to know her state. Alive or dead, he couldn't live with himself if he didn't find his answer.

What if he left and she'd been alive then? He made his way further up the ship and into the control room where he was sure she'd have gone. Gran was always obsessed with the ship controls. Whenever Gunner had been looking for her, his first and last stop had been the room.

ENTRY DENIED

SYSTEM ON LOCKDOWN

The door was closed. His heart thumped as he tapped the code for the door on the screen beside it and waited. The screen flashed and words appeared in blue with a fingerprint scanner appearing just below it.

He gritted his teeth in annoyance and as if to add salt to the injury, his air was running out as his suit begun beeping annoyingly. He was running out of time and options so he banged on the door as hard as he could, yelling for his Gran.

He needed to know, he needed to help her. He banged on it as tears begun welling up in his eye, running down his cheeks before floating off with the water's current.

She had to be there. She had to be alive; she wasn't allowed to leave him and Ryker on their own and in a different world. He was NOT going to lose her too.

Gunner banged on it once again, his air tank completely out of oxygen. His breathing hardened and the fact that he was crying only made it worse ,so he pulled himself together and dismantled the tank, letting it sink to the bottom, he held his breathe, the burn on his back already healed by the water.

He looked around. There had to be a way in. He looked back at the finger print scanner. It was in that moment that he got an idea, knowing that his own fingerprint wouldn't work; he needed an elder's thumbprint or even a simple guard; anyone that wasn't a kid.

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Gran And Baby Ryker