Once upon a future, there were 4 planets; Reiflem, Relcore, Scria, and Atquati. There also was a 5th planet, called Udalvi. But it was so far away, no one had ever been able to reach it. Until now...

"Omni!" Jessica called into the house.

     A long, burnt orange shape with blue feathers slithered up beside her. Liyure. A flash of purple and gold streaked to her side. Omni sat obediently as Jessica pulled burrs and mats out of her snowy white fur. "Why can't you learn to stay out of the woods?" Jessica sighed.

"Sorry," Omni apologized meekly.

     Liyure watched with mild interest. He had never understood why young creatu were so reckless. Fur was so beautiful and luxurious. It had to be treated with care. 

     "Time to go, guys. Imagine; the beautiful world of Udalvi, and we're the first ones to see it!" Jessica said in a dreamy voice as they descended down the hill to the rocket that would take them to a never-before seen world.

     About an hour later, they were strapped into the OUTER ship, after filling out 571 pages of paperwork, not including the shots and tests to make sure they were fit and healthy. Jessica groaned as the rocket fired up. "Why can't they just make a 'sign here' page and be over with it?" 

     It would have taken four hours to fill out, but luckily Omni and Liyure were there to help. The rocket was shuddering now; they would be going up soon. Soon, their rocket blasted off, the OUTER scientists that were observing outside eating their dust. 50,000 yards into the air, and  their trip was cut short by the sputtering of the engines, but then the engines started purring like a contented kitten with a full belly again. That was weird, thought Jessica. But this is also a test drive, so I'm sure the udalvians will fix it. Still...

A murky planet came into view through the porthole, although it took a few minutes for them to wake up completely. It was dotted with bright cities and a couple of craters, and LOTS of whirling storms, fiercely sweeping the area. "We're here!" Jessica observed, clearly impressed, glancing warily at the bright masses of destruction. They arrived with a thud, whoosh, and Omni trying to not throw up. She was busy getting her bearings, because she was prone to air sickness. Even looking out the rocket window would result in an airplane bag and a change of fur. Liyure was extremely cautious getting out, something that was not like him. "You okay, Liyure? Jessica asked worriedly. 

     "I'll be fine in a few minutes, " he replied. "We are on a new planet, you know."

     "Okay, good," Jessica replied, not at all believing his beginner excuse.

     All of the sudden, a shiny, metal head poked out of a nearby bush, it's orange eyes wide and questioning. "RSTU001! You scared us!" Jessica scolded warmly. 

     "My pleasure. May I take you to the OUTER home base, madam?" it asked in a robotic voice.

     "Yes please, we would like that," was Jessica's reply, glancing meaningfully at Omni and Liyure. 

     Omni immediately trotted to her side, a little wobbly, I must say, but Liyure took a few cautious sniffs before exiting carefully. He cast a wary glance around as they began to follow their undead guide. As they were following RSTU001, Jessica decided that something was not right with Liyure. 

     They walked down the street, feeling uneasy because people and their creatu kept staring at them. Jessica kept searching for creatu eggs out of habit, but found none. RSTU001 remarked, "There are no creatu eggs on Udalvi, as they would not survive the storms. We rely on you humans to supply already hatched creatu for us."

     "Sorry," Jessica blushed, abandoning the search.

     The Udalvi OUTER station was huge, giant, large, and big. It was at least 500 feet tall, not including the random wires and antennas sticking out here and there. One was even blowing into space, it was that long. "Wow," Jessica breathed, " is everything on Udalvi this big?" 

     Their guide replied with a soft humming sound, presumably laughter. "Yes, but this is our prized possession," unit 1 replied with a sense of pride and admiration in his, or her- it hadn't identified itself yet- voice. "And, for your information, I am a calico female otachie, named Freckles because of my black, brown, white, and yellow spots." RSTU001 replied casually, even though the question was not asked out loud. 

     The inside of the station was even bigger than outside. People like Kir bustled about, colored masks bouncing as they hurried to who-knows-where, paying no attention to the newcomers. A short udalvian, looking a bit lost, caught sight of them and hurried over. "Greetings, I am Gir, and I see you have met Freckles. The OUTER lab is right this way."

     Despite the serene feeling, Liyure kept his stubby claws unsheathed. He smelled trouble. 

     They were approaching a big glass door. Even though it was made of glass, it wasn't transparent. A very round udalvian, with a perfect therapist build, waddled over and greeted them warmly. He sat them in a comfortable armchair and began asking questions about the ride and how they liked Udalvi. "Very much, sir. But while we were coming here, the engines sort of sputtered, and then they were fine. Do you have any idea why that is?" Jessica asked politely.

     He replied with a sad smile. "I am afraid that the source of your problems can be traced back to a Jaaku with a troubled past, judging by his behavior. He got lose into our systems a couple of weeks ago, damaging our computers and data files. We have had to resort to things that he can't get at, like paper. He has been sabotaging for quite a while now."

     All of the sudden, alarms sounded, a red light flashed, and people started to panic. Their "therapist" stood up and tried to calm Jessica and Omni. The door stood open, and Liyure was nowhere to be seen. "Liyure! Liyure!! LIYURE!!!!" Jessica screamed in panic.

     What they didn't know was that Liyure had caught a scent. The scent of trouble. 

     "He's here somewhere. Ah! In this room." Liyure muttered to himself. He opened the door and peeked in. A purplish shape blocked a large computer screen. "Hello?" Liyure asked kindly, being careful to keep his voice sincere.

     The Jaaku turned to this sudden intruder, yellow eyes burning with hatred for all that moved. "What do you want?" he hissed fiercely.

     The cause of the rocket's near failure took a step forward, but Liyure stood his ground, prepared to defend himself however he could. All of the sudden, a voice whispered into the troubled jaaku's mind, "Why are you doing this?" the last word trailing of into millions of brain cells trying to figure out where the voice was coming from.

     "Mother!" He cried, recognizing the voice that had be torn away from him when he was only five days old.

     "Why??? WHY!!!?"

     "I was abused as a little Jaaku, with little food and no human contact. My owner beat me for no reason! I'm sorry!!!" The Jaaku burst into tears.

     "There there," Liyure soothed. "I'm sure you can make it up to the udalvians."

     "It's nice to be back!" Jessica sang, "And now other people can come here too!" 

     Elbowing her way through a crowd, she headed for a tall building she knew well.

     The Jaaku had helped the udalvians repair the damage, offering helpful tips all the time. Apparently, he had been highly trained in astrophysics, being they were the only books he could get ahold of. Now, people from every planet could visit, because of the public rockets stationed on every planet that went up to Udalvi. 

"Udalvi was indeed a happier place after the troubled Jaaku changed his ways. Now come on, we wouldn't want to be late for our OUTER appointment, now would we?" The End