Birthplace

"Welcome, ladies, gentlemen, and all others present, to Nor'mordul -- the only place in the known universe where you can watch the birth of our lords, the majestic Leviathans!" Good, the tour guide had just started; I could be in and out within ten minutes if I was careful. I grabbed my cloak, then dashed down the fancifully carpeted hallway to the escape pods. As I turned the corner, out of nowhere came one of the guards: "Hold it, miss, where do you think you're going?" This may be a luxury cruise, but they still managed to spend a decent bit on security for the sake of "our lords", the Leviathans. "Oh, sorry sir, I realized I left my recording pad back here during the tour of the ship yesterday. Could I go grab it?" He seemed suspicious, but within a couple of seconds he replied, "Just be quick about it." As soon as I reached the pods, I entered the first one in the row. They were meant to run on autopilot, but, with a few commands, any of them could be overriden for manual operation. I sat myself in the main seat, quickly calibrated the engine, then hit the launch switch. By now, the guard had been alerted that someone had entered a pod unauthorized, so I needed to get to full speed or be tractored back where I came from, arrested, and sent away for who knows how long. The thrusters blazed behind me, colorful gases passing the front window of the pod, every moment getting closer to my goal. There! I could see it! I grabbed the spacesuit from the storage box, activated it, and stared at the red eject button. I hadn't really questioned the sanity of what I was doing until right now. I mean, I created a false identity, boarded a luxury cruiseliner, stole an escape pod, and was about to jump into a nebula all to capture a plasmatic blob of highly condensed matter? Then again, nobody had ever tried to take a Leviathan egg. Nobody had dared question their reign. Until me. I slammed my fist onto the eject button and flew out into space.