Book 1 – The Undaunted Skyless

The room was small and cramped, with a low ceiling and dim fluorescent lighting. It was cluttered with piles of papers, data tablets, and a screen like Hologram, Wize Oatwood and Akira Bennell sat across from each other at a battered table.

Wize was the junior investigator of the two, a young man with sharp features and a quick mind. Akira was the superior, an older man with graying hair and piercing eyes. He had a reputation for being tough but fair, and Wize respected him deeply. Wize had just become a special investigator and this was his first case, it had taken him nearly a decade but he finally had the whole picture and the pieces were starting to come together.

"Your finally have something?" asked Akira.

"Yes sir, it has taken longer than expected but I think I can tell you what really happened to His Majesty." Wize said as he lowered down his face in contemplation. And proceeded to take out a vape and started smoking.

"That bad huh?" Akira who had an understanding of young wize's personality asked. Wize was an occasional smoker, in all his years as his superior he had only seen wize smoking in stressful situations or ones that required a lot of brain power from him. He tinkered with the hologram in front of him. "Where does this all start?"

"You'd never believe it but my first clue wasn't even a clue. I was called in to investigate rumors for the Murder of a Prominent Aviator that had visited a small backwater planet. In the Aeries Sector." Said Wize staring directly at Akira with Determination. "In order for you to understand everything we have to start here."

"Okay." Responded Akira as he leaned into his chair. As wize began.

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Windhelm Orphanage was a two-story house on the outskirts of town Summerfield, surrounded by sprawling fields and forests. Despite its rundown appearance, with peeling paint and a sagging roof, it was a warm and welcoming place, filled with the laughter and energy of the 15 children who lived there.

Inside, the house was cramped but cozy, with narrow hallways and small, crowded rooms. The children shared bunk beds in the bedrooms, and there was a communal kitchen, dining area, and living room. The furnishings were basic but functional, and there are a few pieces of futuristic technology, such as holographic displays and robotic assistants, that the children used to mess around with.

This orphanage was run by a kind-hearted couple, Mrs. Ivana and Mr. Boris, who really dedicated their lives to caring for the orphaned and abandoned children. Mrs. Ivana was a former social worker, and Mr. Boris an accomplished doctor who retired from active practice. Despite their old age, the couple worked hard to provide for the children, but the orphanage was struggling financially, and they often had to rely on donations and charity to make ends meet.

Like any orphanage there were some children that were way too old, one of those children was Greyham, Greyham Karmen. He was a paraplegic, and in this world most of such people were useless to the people who only wanted money and children were more of a convenience, if anything the fact that most of the people that were hobos in this city were disabled was telling. Still, the windhelm couple loved Grey like he was their own child. Every day after breakfast Greyham and helping around the house he would go up to the balcony and simply stare at the sky all day. The birds chipping and flying about, the leaves falling as the tree's swayed along to the cadence of the wind. While others watched TV. He simple watched nature and most of the time, the sky. However every day at 5pm as the sunset he would watch TV. For the next Hour all the children in the house would stop playing and run into the house to watch one program - Slipstream.

Aviators were individuals capable of flight, they were among the more important combat forces. As planets struggled to meet the standards for a fully armed massive space fleet to defend themselves from any invaders. They turned to Evolved beings and turned them into a fighting force. Aviators were in particular, the Air force. An important asset for any planet worth its weight.

It was unknown where it started from. Aviator competitions became the thing, this was a good development for the government because celebrity Aviators would bring many into the army just hoping to fly with their favorite celebrity or to also get rich and famous. With the private sector also involved any skilled aviator could now also reap great benefits provided they could stand above the rest. It seemed as though it was all glory but death. There were countless aviators who were said to be still in active duty but couldn't come home. It was unknown if they were actually alive.

"Put the Show on Jenny Quick" The Children watched the show with shinning eyes. As the show began, the squeaky wheel of Graham's wheelchair could be heard as he approached from the side of the kitchen. He would be 23 this year and this wheelchair had been with him for a very long time. He was of average height with light blue hair and hazel eyes. He hair color was unusual in these parts of the galaxy since most people had hair of varying darker shades, same with their eyes. He approached the Television and parked next to the couch where Mr. Boris was sitting and reading his newspaper.

"Is Rockhart competing today?" Asked Grey as his eyes gave a small glace to Boris before sticking to the TV.

"nah, Vector3 is competing to day" replied Mr. Boris and he flipped the newspaper to the next page.

"I see"

"This show is the only thing you show interest in these days." Said Mr. Boris.

"I can't help it, Flying is my dream and the sky is my home."

"I know" replied Mr. Boris, He knew what Grey dreamed of. It was the dream for every young person in this day and age, almost as though other job options were wiped from existence and only this was left. Silence descended between the two with the children shouting in amazement and joy as an Aviator did something cool on TV. But Grey didn't shout or respond, He had gotten into the TV and was imagining himself flying.

This was the only constant in Grey's life. He could not explain why he had such a strong desire to the sky. He felt as though he was a bird with clipped wings and every day he sat in the balcony this is all he dreamed about. He never know who is parents were, He was found crying while in the hands of a dead maid by Mr. Boris, all he had was a necklace with his name on it and a strange symbol. He knew it meant something but could never find what it meant and no one seemed to do so too.

Hence the windhelm couple were the closest thing to his parents and the orphanage children were the closest thing to siblings that he had. Still all the favorite brothers and sisters had gone off into the world and only visited on his birthday. He both loved and hated that day. That would be tomorrow.

Once the show was over and the children were bubbling over what had happened, Mr. Boris escorted Greyham to the balcony again where he watched the sunset. A little later Greyham looked around to see if there was anyone, when he understood that he was alone. He took a deep breath and started to float of his wheelchair, soaking in the feeling of floating. Where he not hiding this as a secret he would have started flying around the whole house.

What Greyham was doing significant because only Evolved could do this, and he wasn't an artificial Evolved. One day he wish to fly and the next thing he was flying, he was a natural and that put him on a higher status that any regular Evolved or in that case aviator. If only he didn't have a handicap he would have long since joined the likes of Slipstream.

The problem was that what he thought was a secret was infact by known by the windhelm couple, simply because Grey wasn't as good at hiding it in the past as he did now.

The next day was Greyham's birthday and one of his oldest friends, Banely was the first to show up. Banely was one of the un-adopted boys of the orphanage that had gone out to find work and ended up being an operator at an Aviator company - slipstream. He was doing well and was one of the donors for the orphanage.

The children shouted for joy and crowded him as he entered the house

"Heeey Kiddos" he grinned as he brought out some candy. He had never looked better in the eyes of these kids. The boys especially looked at him with eyes that seemed as though they had made an oath to walk with this man to the gates of hell should he ask. It was this reason why Banely would know the happenings of Greyham because after the candy, the kids would spill everything that happened in the house while he was away. This was how Bane had also discovered from one of the kids that was now adopted.

"Mama Ivana I'm happy to see you in good health." Mama Ivana was so happy to see him and began to smother him all over.

"Ohh my good son" after smothering him, she began nagging him about how he was letting himself go. And Banely used his escape card at that point.

"Where is Grey, Ma? Up as usual?" bane asked.

"Yes he is always up there dear, I don't know what to with him" She answered while saying.

"You know he goes up there more than we would like" replied Mr. Boris who had shown up with one of the kids in tow. The young boy in question had fallen down while playing and scrapped his knee. He was sniffling while holding Mr. Boris's hand.

"I'll go check on him then." Said Banely as he headed up into the second floor and proceeded to the balcony Greyham was in.

"Greyson" Said Bane in Greeting.

"I hate when you say that Bane." Greyham responded as he turned his head to look towards Bane who was now moving to stand in front of him.

Bane was a relatively tall guy with brown hair and dark eyes. He wore a red golf shirt that fit his body well, along with blue jeans and sneakers. One distinctive feature about Bane was that his face looked as though he was smiling even if he wasn't. When bane was young he put on a fake smile in the orphanage in order to never show discomfort or any overt emotional reactions but simply a smile. He hid his emotions behind a smile which he had now learned to use skillfully.

"Ha-ha I see that you still enjoy hanging out at this special place of yours." Said Bane.

"Yeah, it's beautiful isn't it?"

"Huh?"

"The sky I mean..."

"Hmm" sighed Bane "it seems the same as usual to me." Bane responded as he looked towards the sky trying to find something different about it.

"I see, what it is like working for Slipstream these days." Asked Greyham.

"Slipstream is like any other company, it has its ups, downs and office politics but since I'm on the field I feel that its better, that's because Aviators are a sight to behold." Bane spoke longingly. Not towards Aviators themselves but the idea of Aviators was the dream for both Bane & Greyham since they were boys although both of them had different ideas for what it meant.

It was at this moment that someone else walked in. A long haired girl wearing all black. This was Jackie but everyone called her Blackie. This was because she always wore all black all the time. She was the big sister of the orphanage and had become a policeman and was working onto becoming a detective.

"Grey, Happy Birthday!" She welcomed him with a hug.

"Almost forgot – Happy Birthday Grey." Bane followed up awkwardly, he wanted to find the right way to say it but was still going around it. Bane was a mess when it came to things like this.

"Thanks guys, Jackie... I mean Blackie it's good to see you again. Last time I saw you was at Mama Ivana's birthday." Said Grey as he smiled at her.

"Ha-ha I know it's been a while, I want to visit more but work keeps me busy." Rightfully so, although Summerfield sounded nice one would be fooled into thinking that Summerfield city was a good place but that was far from the truth.

"Grey let's go down everyone is waiting for you." As Joan said this she found that she had sneakily glanced at Bane who was currently doing the same. Grey caught that and thought it wasn't much.

"Sure, lets go." Replied Grey as he fixed his posture on the chair. Joan and Bane began to head downstairs with Grey.

Grey could hear a lot of bustling, with unintelligible sounds of the children, people and more. He felt warm inside knowing that everyone was busying themselves to help make this day special for him. But beyond that, birthdays always made his younger brother and sisters happy and so he thought that was a nice thing.

As soon as they approached the living room, he saw 2 more of his older siblings and Mama Ivana, Mr. Boris all helping out with the food at the kitchen. Setting up the plates and cups for drinks. To the far end of the kitchen was a simple large squared chocolate cake, same one he had every year. It was his favorite.

When the kids started seeing Grey they came up to him and started blasting him with questions. That very day in the morning the kids had told him "Happy Birthday" until his ears fell of, they had turned it into a game. Still Grey couldn't help but smile.

"Guys can I help with anything?" asked Grey. Joan and Bane moved into the kitchen to help.

"No dear today is your special day, just relax and have a good time." Responded Mama Ivana.

"Not even a little?" He felt awkward for not doing anything while everyone was busy. All things considered it wasn't like he couldn't do anything.

"Its okay man, stay there for a bit we are almost done anyways" said Bane.

"Alright." Sighed Grey as he moved himself to the bookshelf at the other end of the sitting room to pick up his favorite Magazine, an Aviator Weekly Magazine.

About 20 minutes later everything was set up on a wide dinner table that the orphanage often used. One cake in the middle, food, drinks all around and finally family. It was his birthday and he was feeling special. After a birthday song, everyone began to eat. Mama Ivana began to cut the cake and share it with the kids that were bubbling over it.

The time for giving presents came, the kids gave Grey various items, and one gave him a drawing with cavemen like squiggles with Grey and the other kids around, another gave him a half-eaten candy which had everyone chuckling including Grey. It was wholesome the kids were done.

The adults all looked at each other and Bane started "Grey we have something to tell you."

"Yes." Grey looked at them skeptically.

Bane continued "We have been looking for a longtime, and we finally found a sponsor for you. One that will pay for the surgery of your legs." He gazed at Grey as he spoke. "The best procedure money can buy. I know that this way you can definitely walk again."

One could not call Grey a stoic, but he was someone who reacted to everyday life in a basic manner and rarely showed any overt reactions. But at this point he kept on opening and closing his mouth like a fish. He was stunned.

"I can definitely walk again he said…" Grey could feel himself being emotional. Deep down he didn't want to hope but he could not help but do it.

Greyham recalled the days in his life where he might've cried. They were too far back to remember, as a man crying was the last thing he wanted to do. But today on his 24th birthday he cried for the first time in a long time. A silent muffled cry within, and on the outside to silent tears accompanied by silence.