#thurrin

[thewildwaffle]

Inktober drawings- Abduction scenes

I didn't color all of them... yet. I might get around to it later

[roninreverie]

Jacen and Clank

Another short SWR fanifc based on my fanart and the idea that Jacen has an ID-10 Seeker Droid companion when he’s older. This is the story of how the two might have met.

Hera and Jacen were visiting Lothal to check in during Sabine’s absence. They weren’t really sure where she went, but they knew she was with Ahsoka and that both women were equally capable of taking care of themselves and eachother. They were going to find Ezra, and wherever that took them, it had finally cost them communication with the Ghost.

They came to Lothal a lot, mostly on short visits or on “Kanan’s Force Day” as Jacen called it. Every year, on the day that his father had become “one with the force” as his mother would tell him, Hera and Jacen visited Lothal and said their respects to the grand mural that Sabine had painted in one of the transmit towers on the outskirts of town. Jacen wasn’t really sure what to say to the painting of his father, so instead he would just tell him a little about what had been going on in his life and leave it at that. It was his mother who seemed to like talking to the picture the most.

Today was not that day, but instead, it was close to Jacen’s birthday, and before they lost contact, Sabine had mentioned to them that she had a present waiting for Jacen back at the Lothal tower. She couldn’t give it to him herself this year, but had prepared it before she’d left and told Jacen to go and find it when it got close to his next birthday. Therefore, his mother flew them over on her downtime from the New Republic Army.

After landing, and saying hello to the mural, Jacen found the present wrapped on top of a small table in the corner, the paper decorated with colorful images that were easily recognized as part of Sabine’s artwork.

“I found it!” Jacen exclaimed, grabbing the package as he ran back to show his mother.

“Well,” Hera said with a smile. “What did you get? Go ahead and open it.”

“It’s not my birthday yet…” Jacen said, his look questioning her as though her invitation was a somehow a trap.

“It’s okay to open it a little early,” she laughed. “Let her rip!”

He smiled, his eyes gleaming as he happily tore off the decorative paper and saw his gift.

He gasped in awe as he let the wrapping fall to the floor. In his hands was a small, saucer shaped shoulder plate with a Lothwolf design painted on it. The design was the same one as she had detailed into his vest a few years back and he was ecstatic about it.

“Wow! My own shoulder plate! Look Mom! Look!”

“That’s very nice!” Hera grinned. “Be sure to thank Sabine the next time you see her.”

“I will!” he said, still smiling. “Can I put it on?”

“Sure luv, come here.” Hera helped him put on the armor and Jacen strutted around proudly, an eight year old picture of pride. Hera patted him on the back and continued. “Now, Sabine hasn’t bent it into shape yet because she didn’t know how much you’d grown since the last time we saw her. I’m sure we can fit it to you later.”

“It’s so cool!” he said. “Can I go to town and show it to Arwynn and Parsee? Please!?”

Hera hummed in thought. Sure Lothal was a lot safer now, but Jacen was still only eight.

“Not alone,” she said. “I’ll drop you off closer and you can meet up with them while I check in with some old friends, deal?.”

“Okay.”

“Only for a short while, Jacen,” she warned. “We have to get back to base soon, you got that? No arguments this time!”

He nodded, barely hearing her because his attention was too focused on his shoulder. Hera rolled her eyes, and directed him back to the ship, his gaze never leaving the armor, not even when he stopped to show it to Chopper.

When in town, Hera allowed Jacen to sprint away to where his Lothal friends lived and played nearby.

“Jacen!” they each greeted. 

One was a short boy with dark skin and light hair, the other a green skinned Rodian. Both had grown taller than Jacen, but that was to be expected due to them both being a little older. He knew he’d catch up eventually, but that wasn’t important today.

“Check it out!” He showed off the plate.

“That’s pretty wizard!” one cheered.

“Wow! Real armor!” The other knocked on the piece to hear it defensively clank in return. “Did you feel that?”

“Nope!” Jacen replied with a swift shake of his head and a smug grin.

After a few minutes of admiring the present, the three young boys started talking about their time apart and everything that had been happening since Jacen’s last visit. Jacen had plenty of neat stories to tell thanks to all the travelling and fighting he did with his mom and Chopper on the Ghost. 

He was halfway through a daring tale of a thwarted spice cartel in the Outer Rim, when a sad whirring noise in the distance made them pause.

“What’s that sound?” Jacen asked.

“Probably the Thurrin brothers,” said Arwynn. “Their dad is a junker.”

“They’re always getting spare droids and old ship parts,” continued Parsee.

“You mean, they sneak them!” Arwynn growled. “Usually to torture or to torture us with.”

“It sounds like they got another new toy to mess with.”

Jacen was already up and walking towards the sound before the other two knew what was happening.

“Come on!” He motioned at them with his hands.

“Wait! Where are you going?”

“Don’t go Jacen!” Parsee hollered. “The Thurrin’s are all mean as Tuskens!”

“They’ll beat you up!” Arwynn hollored.

Jacen ignored their warnings with a wave of his hand and ventured towards the noise anyway. Timidly, the boys decided to follow a safe distance behind him, but by then Jacen was already a good block and a half ahead of them.

When Jacen found them, he saw the three older boys, all taller than any kid he knew, so that meant they were probably already 13 years old or more. Each kid was dirty and covered in black grease, their skin tough and yellow, and each of their hair was worn long and as dark as the oil marks on their clothes.

They were throwing a disk between them, catching it and tossing it again as they tumbled over one another and climbed over obstacles in the street. Most people cleared out of their way, a lot with looks of disdain or distrust, so Jacen thought they must be troublemakers like his friends had tried to tell him.

Jacen looked for the noise between the three of them and finally realized that it was coming from the black disk they tossed back and forth. He saw it clearly when one of the brothers held it for a long while while pointing for his brothers to run out further ahead. He tossed it again, and Jacen heard the unmistakable sound of its binary screaming through the air.

“An old seeker droid!” Jacen breathed to himself.

The thing was dented, the eye barely glowing, and all of its appendages were missing, but it was still struggling to remain active as its circuits spun around in a dizzy whirlwind.

“Hey!” Jacen called, rushing forward to face them.

The brothers stopped laughing and looked with upturned nose and sinister smiles down at Jacen. He didn’t even come up to the shoulders of the smallest Thurrin brother, and it was apparent that none of the boys saw Jacen even remotely close to a threat.

“What are you supposed to be?” one said.

“What’s up with your hair?” another said.

“Get lost big ears!” the last finally motioned, a thumb jabbed in the opposite direction.

Jacen frowned, but avoided the urge to touch his ears. His brows lowered again, and firmly, he pointed a finger at what was left of the Seeker droid and stomped his foot in the dirt.

“Stop messing with that droid! Can’t you see he doesn’t like it?”

They burst into laughter.

Meanwhile, Jacen’s friends had caught up and were parked, peeking around the corner where they were less likely to be seen by the older kids. They were too afraid to take even an inch closer, and Jacen knew he couldn’t ask them for any help. He was on his own.

The boys shooed Jacen away, mocking his words as they threw the seeker droid again, its sad binary voice begging for them to stop.

Jacen stepped closer and shouted, louder now. 

“Hey!”

Looking to one another, the medium sized boy stepped out and shoved Jacen hard, making him fall backwards into the dirt.

He sniffed once, but got back up and dusted himself off.

“What are you gonna do, huh? Tough guy?” He shoved him down again.

Jacen waited on the ground until the boy laughed and turned his back, then he kicked him hard in the back of the knee before jumping off the ground and using the boy’s back to launch himself at the smallest brother who held the droid.

“What in the hell?” the oldest said.

“Get this crazy kid off of me!”

“Get off, you little half-breed!” the tall brother yelled, grabbing at Jacen’s clothes until giving up his attempts at grappling and prepared his foot for a harsh shove in Jacen’s side.

Jacen braced himself for the kick and slid a little ways after being struck. Still, he was able to get up onto his feet before the boys surrounded him and had him cornered against the fence.

“You see this?” The medium one said. “This here is an Imperial droid!”

“Yeah, wise guy!” The small one yelled. “It’s a bad robot! It’s not like it doesn’t deserve it! Someone threw it out and now it’s ours!”

“And now it’s not so much a droid but a flying saucer!” The oldest waved the droid around, its beeping still dizzy and weak.

“That doesn’t matter!” Jacen yelled back. “That doesn’t make it right! Droids have feelings too!”

“If they’re programmed for it?” The small one scoffed, spitting into the dirt by Jacen’s feet.

“Get outta here, kid!” The oldest shooed. “Before we make dents in you like this thing.”

They walked off, and Jacen took only one step forward before stopping. What could he do? He was smaller and weaker than these older kids, and they had him severely outnumbered. His side still hurt from where the biggest Thurrin had kicked him, but he didn’t feel a single hit directed at his shoulder thanks to Sabine’s gift. 

He touched it and froze.

“W-wait!” He called, his voice shaky as he took three large steps towards them.

They rolled their eyes, but turned only to see Jacen taking the shoulder piece off his arm. He held it out to them and swallowed, his brows curved and eyes wet, though no tears came out as he blinked the droplets away and his voice grew firm and demanding once more.

“Here!” He held it out. “Trade me! That old droid for this! It’s brand new, I promise!”

They gave one another a look, and the small brother stepped closer and looked it over.

“It’s plastoid!” He exclaimed. “Must be made out of some old Stormtrooper stuff.”

“Is it cool?” The middle one asked.

“Kinda?” The small one replied.

“You can throw this instead of the droid. See?” Jacen tossed the shoulder piece all the way over the the tallest boy who caught it in his free hand, almost struck off guard. 

Jacen knew it would be easy for the boys to just take both items and walk away, but he really wanted that droid and hoped that they wouldn’t be so mean as to keep both. He wanted that seeker droid so badly that he felt as though his desires would make the other boys want to give it to him. He wondered if that was how the Jedi mind tricks were supposed to work. He sure wished he knew how to do that right about now.

“Well?” Jacen crossed his arms. “You want to trade with me, or not?”

The oldest chuckled, but threw the junker droid into Jacen’s hands. “Sure kid!” he chortled. “Crummy thing is gonna die any minute anyway? Have fun with it.”

Jacen turned the droid towards him so the flickering red eye could look into Jacen’s own.

“Thanks!” 

He smiled at them, though he didn’t really feel all that grateful. Still, they didn’t take both things away, so Jacen was at least relieved that his bargaining had gone the way he wanted.

The older kids only laughed and walked away, admiring their new flying disk as they continued their game and disappeared around the corner.

“Sorry about them,” Jacen said to the droid. “Don’t worry, I’ll fix you up, good as new!”

“Wow Jacen!” Parsee rushed over and shook Jacen like his friend was in shock and needed help coming back to reality.

“They didn’t beat you up!” Arwynn gasped. “How did you do that, Jacen!?”

“Did you see him!? The way he kicked Fier down and then jumped out at Ribel!”

“Then you took a direct kick from Levin!”

“Are you okay?” Parsee asked.

“Yeah,” Jacen said, ignoring their storm of comments for the most part as he rubbed the dust off of the old droid’s holo-projector.

“What’s so special about that pile of junk anyway, Jacen?”  

“It doesn’t even have all it’s parts?” Arwynn added. “Why’d you give away your birthday present for that old thing?”

“Because he asked,” Jacen replied simply.

“Your mom is gonna kill you!”

“I know…” Jacen only bowed his head.

“Miss Wren is probably gonna kill you too.”

Jacen sunk deeper, his forehead touching the droid now.

“I know…” He said again.

The boys both placed sympathetic hands on his shoulders and patted.

“It was nice knowing you Jace…”

On his way back to the Ghost, he saw his mother waiting for him as she waved from the platform.

He frowned and tensed his shoulders, but meekly waved back, the droid held firm in his arm. He took what was perhaps his last steps as a free man towards the ship and prepared a story to tell his mother about the loss of his birthday present from Sabine. Nothing came to mind, so he just kept on walking and got ready for her to yell.

“What’s wrong luv?” Hera asked. “Wait… why are you so dirty? Did you get into another fight?!” She dusted him off and stopped when her gloved hands fell on his shoulders. 

He looked to the sky and started saying his goodbyes in his head. He found solace in the thought that maybe Sabine would paint him on their mural after Hera got done killing him?

“Where’s your shoulder piece? Jacen, look at me!” She tilted his chin at her and her eyes were two fiery pits of pure green anger. “Did someone steal from you? Do you know who it was? Did you see them?” She repeatedly touched his face, checking him over for scrapes as she continued threatening whoever had done this to her baby. “When I catch the lowly gutkur, they’re going to wish they—”

“Mom!” Jacen finally stopped her when her voice started sounding more like Aya Cham’s accent, something he knew was done only undercover or when she was extremely angry. Her lekku were pointed at her back, so Jacen could tell it was the latter.

“What happened baby?” She asked, calmer now as he lekku relaxed and her voice returned to it’s more gentle tone.

“I—” he tried to say something, but ended up just telling her the truth. “I traded it.”

“Jacen Caleb Syndulla!” Hera scoffed. “Sabine made that armor especially for you! Why would you do such a thing? I thought you liked it?”

“I did,” Jacen sniffed once, but wiped away his tears before he could cry. “But these guys were picking on this droid!” He cried anyway. “And I traded them my shoulder plate so I could fix it!”

Hera looked down at the black saucer in her son’s hands, noticing it for the first time.

“Jacen, that’s an Imperial Seeker droid!” Hera exclaimed, more shocked than angry. “Those are dangerous!”

“I thought I could fix it…” He sniffed. “It was asking for help.”

Hera sighed and shook her head until her own hand caught her face. This boy was her child alright.

“Okay…” she said. “Alright, alright… Get it inside and we’ll see what we can do for it.”

“Really!?” Jacen perked up.

“Yeah,” she sighed. “Go ask Chopper if we have any spare parts in the back that are compatible to this model.”

“WUH!? BUH! BER! BUH! WAH!” Chopper grumbled, his binary cursing hastily upon seeing the broken junk heap.

“We’re going to fix him Chopper!” Jacen said. “Like Mom did with you.”

“Just be glad it wasn’t a Lothcat, Chop…” Hera sighed. “Come on, let’s help Jacen fix the old clanker up.”

“Hear that, Clank?” Jacen said to the eye port. “Mom is going to help me make you better!”

Chopper buzzed.

“And so is Chopper!” Jacen corrected. “He’s really nice, I think you’ll like him.”

“Jacen,” Hera eased. “Try not to get too attached until we know how much damage the little guy has. We might not have a lot of spare parts onboard to fix him.”

“I know we will!” Jacen said. “I can get more parts back at the base too, right Mom?”

“I—suppose?” Hera finally shrugged.

“Don’t worry Clank! You’re safe now!” Jacen smiled. 

The droid almost sounded like it was sighing with relief, before shutting down so Jacen could work on it.

“I’m gonna take good care of you, I promise!”

And it was a promise that Jacen knew he was going to keep no matter what.

[rrjetat-online]

ROMEO KARA/Qëniet mtmë shpifura të ketij kombi, mender gjykatës apo prokurore, punojnë dhe japin vendime vetëm në emër të pushtetit Shqiptaret duhet te protestojne parreshtur perpara gjykatave dhe prokurorive, aty ku minjte e neveritshem sherbetore te te gjitha pushteteve dhe krimeve thurrin padrejtesite ne emer te drejtesise.

[rtklive]

"Arbëri ishte margaritar të shtunën, pasi mesfushori anësor e tronditi Djonin. Çdo vrapim i tij i shpejtë me topin i bëri të djersitën fort kundërshtarët. I fortë në këmbë, i fuqishëm dhe preciz, ai shënoi nga një top i kthyer në zonë në minutën e nëntë", shtoi gazeta franceze për kosovarin

[thewildwaffle]

Abduction - Chapter 29

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***

Wenona was frustrated by her position. The sensible part of her knew she was in no condition to help. There was a louder part of her though, that screamed that she had been in worse condition before and fought off a room of montauk! The memory of it flashed in her vision and she could feel her heart racing. She should help! She should be fighting! She squirmed in Jeb’s arms to be let go.

He only readjusted his hold.

“Wenona, I know what you’re thinking, and no.” Jeb held on tight as he spun quickly to avoid a blast. In a fluid movement, he charged the guard, getting close enough to grab the blaster from their grip and kick their legs out from under them.

Jeb managed to toss the blaster to Vern, who provided cover as Jeb ducked behind a cabinet

“I need to help!”

“You need to breathe,” Jeb countered forcefully. He set her back down on her feet but held her by the shoulders. “You’re hyperventilating. I believe you’re having a ‘panic attack.’”

Still holding her, Jeb leaned back from behind the cabinet to look at the shuttle.

Wenona glowered, but she forced herself to take a deep breath. It came as more of a gasp. Oh wow. How long had she been like this? She hadn’t noticed. She tried to take deep, slow breaths, but the best she could do was just the deep part. Her head started swimming and the corners of her vision started getting dark. She barely noticed as Jeb helped lower her to the ground, but she knew that at some point she was sitting on her legs, hands on the ground as she gasped for breath. Her body seemed to be frozen, unresponsive, focused solely on getting what seemed to be too little air. Her mind continued on separately.

‘Why can’t I get it together?’ she thought to herself exasperatedly. ‘We’re in the middle of a battle for our lives and I’m freaking out. I need to get up. I need to wrap this up so I can get up.’

It felt like forever, but her rapid breaths slowly became less desperate. She slowly recognized the soothing feeling of someone rubbing her back.

Jeb. He crouched next to her protectively, quietly.

She tried to get up again, but he stopped her.

“Wenona, you’re in no shape to fight right now.” “I can do this,” her voice sounded wavering and cracked, even to her.

“I know you can, I was there when we found you on the Montauk ship. You’re incredibly strong, and stubborn enough to survive this, but as your friend, I’m telling you to trust me. I won’t see you hurt like that again.”

Wenona looked up at Jeb’s face, half pleading.

Jeb leaned in close to her. “Do you trust me?”

Tears were forming in the corners of Wenona’s eyes and she clenched her jaws as she struggled to speak. Eventually, she nodded.

Jeb stepped out from behind the cabinet. He hated to leave Wenona in such a vulnerable state,  but she was at least physically in a safe spot. Well, as safe as she could be. She’d be safer on the shuttle, so that was his next task. The taser shield was deactivated, but the hatch hadn’t opened yet.

Simmo was the closest to him, slashing at the air as guards dodged her sharp claws, trying to step back far enough to get a good shot in.  Humans Vern and Kylee and the dog Carson were just a few paces farther, punching, kicking and in Carson’s case, biting away at their assailants. At one point, Vern picked up a tool from a workbench and hurled it at the guards. It was surprisingly well-aimed and had even more surprising force as it hit a guard in the head with a crack. The guard stumbled and fell backward to the ground. Jebannuck had seen Mike and Wenona throw things before and knew they had good aim, but he had never realized they were capable of weaponizing that ability.

As some guards were falling at the hands of his friends, they were being replaced with more guards rushing in from the hall. Jeb ran at and blocked a small group of them as they approached Simmo’s location. He grappled with a spiky yellow guard and was able to throw it off balance and into its companion, though not without a few cuts to his arms. A third guard had stayed back and was aiming a blaster directly at him.

He stepped back, but not enough to completely avoid the shot from the blaster. Pain bloomed from the side of his torso and seemed to erupt like lightning to every part of his body. He felt himself fall forward, crumple to his knees. By the stars. Was this how he went out? After everything he’d been through and done? His solar cycles of service and combat? If so, he was fine with it, he realized. Death in the defense of those that need help - or in this case, his friends- was as noble a way to go as any.

But then… he was still on his knees. He wasn’t dead. He hurt like a screaming flincher, but he was alive. ‘They’re not using deadly force,’ he realized.

He looked up and around. It was like he was seeing the fight with new eyes. There were still guards everywhere, but those that were actively fighting were doing so mostly in defense, or with hesitation in their movements. He could see it in their stances. Most were not on the offensive. They were supposed to fight, they were under orders to kill, but Jebannuck could tell that there were several of the guards still standing that weren’t giving the fight their all. And then-

“STAND DOWN!”

Jeb’s revelation was interrupted by a deep bellowing voice. He turned his head to the source. A tall, light brown-furred Tiamin with curling horns protruding from his head and long floppy ears resting on his shoulders stormed into the room. Jeb’s memory vaguely registered that the newcomer was dressed in scientist sashes and getup.

The remaining guards that were not fighting hand-to-hand or knocked-out stood at attention. Even those that were fighting and had heard, scrambled away from their opponents, pulling their companions along with them.

Jeb could see a confused and limping pair of humans to his left, a gasping Montauk nearly hunched over behind him, and beyond them, Thurrin was straining to hold up a very injured-looking Mike.

The sudden silence in the docking bay ensured that every step Jebannuck took was heard as he struggled to his feet and ran towards Mike. Images of the first time they’d met flashed in his mind. Well, maybe not met. Mike had been on the verge of death then. He wasn’t in quite that bad a state now, but that really wasn’t saying much. He looked like he was just barely holding on to consciousness now and was bleeding, but he couldn’t tell where from yet. Multiple places.

He grabbed Mike as soon as he got in arms’ length, relieving Thurrin and helped him sit down carefully.

Jeb had been so preoccupied with Mike that it took him a moment to notice the figure crouched next to him. It was the Tiamin. Jeb shifted slightly to put himself more in the way between the Burnti scientist and Mike.

“Is he okay?”

Jeb was surprised at the amount of worry he heard in the Tiamin’s voice, but he turned and snapped at him. “Does he look okay to you?”

The scientist frowned and lowered his gaze a bit. “I came as soon as I heard Rozar’s announcement. This…” he sighed, “This was not supposed to happen. This is all wrong.”

Mike groaned and shook his head in a daze. “Drin? What-?” He hissed as he tried to bend his leg under him.

Jeb grabbed his knee and gently pushed it back down and straightened the leg. “Mike, I need you to keep still for now.” “Where do you hurt the most?” Drin asked as he carefully started taking stock of the wounded leg.

“Leg. Back. Everywhere.” Mike gasped but managed a momentary weak smile at Jeb after a few breaths.

Thurrin cut in with a shaking voice, “Jeb, where’s Wenona?”

Jeb glanced warily at Drin, not really wanting him to know where she was hidden. “She’s back there. She’s okay.” That last part certainly wasn’t true, but she wasn’t bleeding, so that was something.

“The intruders…” Drin looked from the ship to Thurrin. “Please tell me you have a medic aboard that ship?”

Thurrin looked nervously between Drin and Jeb as if trying to decide how much to say. She eventually looked at Mike and nodded. “We… we do, yes.” She activated her communicator, “Demfar, we’ve got injured. Where are you at with the doors?”

Behind them, the doors of the ship clicked and hissed as if in response. Jeb could hear Demfar’s voice in Thurrin’s communicator. “I think I’ve just about got them open. What’s the situation out there?”

“We have a cease-fire, but we’re all hurt. Mike’s in really bad condition. He needs you. Now.”

“Understood. Hold on."

Drin stood back up to his full impressive height. He sighed sadly and turned back to the guards who had started shifting their weight nervously. "As soon as their ship is open, help the injured board and let them go."

One guard wearing a different-styled sash gave a half-step forward. "Sir?" He looked to where the other humans were standing and back. "Sir, Commander Rozar-"

"Yes, I heard," Drin interrupted. Behind him, the shuttle's doors finally opened with a hiss. Demfar rushed down the ramp carrying a first aid kit and supplies.

Drin watched the medic rush to Mike’s side. He had a strange combination of emotions on his face. "Let them off this ship. They’re not safe here anymore. I know no one here really wants to see the humans killed. I will take full responsibility and deal with Rozar later.”

Jebannuck saw relief flood over many of the guards’ faces and a realization washed over him. They weren’t villains. They were defending themselves and their stations. They were doing their jobs, just as Jebannuck or those under his command would. They genuinely did not want to harm them- or at least not harm the humans. Or at least, not permanently.

That still didn’t mean their help was overly welcome. Vern and Kylee turned down assistance from a green scaly guard and instead helped each other hobble up the ramp to the shuttle. Jeb stood up and with some difficulty, made his way over to where he’d left Wenona. She’d cautiously poked her head around to see what was going on, but, to Jeb’s surprise, had followed his orders and otherwise stayed put. ‘Well,’ he thought to himself, ‘this is Wenona we’re talking about, not Mike.’

He got to her before any Burnti guards did. Thank the bright stars for that. Even though they were going against their Commander’s orders, Jeb didn’t want them getting near her - not only for her mental health but also because he doubted they’d get close without her finding a way to seriously maim them somehow.

“Jeb, what’s going on? What’s Drin doing here?”

Jeb carefully picked her up, minding her injuries as best as he could. She seemed to have calmed down a little? Maybe that was just hopeful thinking on his part. At least her breathing patterns weren’t quite so alarming anymore. “He’s letting us go.”

“Letting us- wha-? what’s he really up to? That jerk’s got to have an angle.”

Jeb paused and looked over to where Drin was hovering over Demfar as the medic bandaged up Mike. “I don’t know. Honestly at this point, whatever he’s doing, we can use it to get away. That’s what matters right now.”

Two guards shuffled nervously over to Jeb, not sure how to help but looking anxiously at the human in his arms. Jeb ignored them and walked towards the shuttle.

“Wenona!” Thurrin bounded over, “Are you okay? Jeb is she okay? Wait for me!”

Jeb slowed down as she approached. Thurrin rose up on her hind legs to try to better look up at Wenona but stumbled and fell back to all four legs. Jeb noticed she was definitely favoring her right hind leg.

To Jeb’s annoyance, Drin had followed the Booka over. Not wanting him to bother Wenona, Jeb started towards the ramp again.

“Wait, Wenona,” Drin grabbed Jeb on the shoulders to stop him. If Jeb hadn’t been carrying Wenona, he would wrench the Tiamin’s arm and throw him to the floor on instinct. He resisted though, and Drin was able to step closer.

“Wenona, I… I’m… sorry about this. About your injuries, and…” his voice dropped hesitantly. Wenona’s face was emotionless as she stared at him. “Our goal was to, in the end, form an alliance with Earth. I fear we may have ruined our chances in our incivility and brash actions.”

“You think?” Wenona shifted her weight slightly and Jeb winced as he felt a sharp pain in his arm. “You okay?”

Moving most of Wenona’s weight to his left arm, Jeb freed his right hand to brush at the scarves and cloaks Wenona was wearing. A small blade fell to the floor with a tinkling clatter. Thurrin stepped forward and picked it up to examine it. It looked like a small precision knife that would belong in a medical ward or lab.

“Oh,” Wenona sighed, “I wondered where that dumb thing went. Of course it shows up now.”

Drin leaned down to examine the blade in the Booka’s paws. He frowned and looked back up to Wenona. “You- that’s from my- what in gadring were you planning on doing with that?”

Wenona narrowed her eyes.“I don’t know. People make plenty dangerous things out of less dangerous supplies though, so I thought it might come in handy.” Wenona reached for the small blade. Thurrin passed it to her carefully. “I thought I lost this when I broke out.” She examined it briefly before raising an eyebrow at Drin. “I’m keeping this, by the way.”

Drin opened his mouth and shut it slowly, blinking confusedly for a moment before nodding. “I- uh, alright.”

“Wait,” everyone looked down to Thurrin, sitting between Jeb and Drin. “The Burnti’s plan was to make an alliance with Earth, but as soon as we get out and everyone knows what you did… Rozar was trying to bury the truth. Why are you helping us?”

Drin looked behind him to where Demfar was preparing Mike on a stretcher, to Wenona having to be carried by Jeb, and down to his hands.

“Truth rarely stays buried, especially when there are multiple mouths to leak it. Few on this ship know all the real circumstances of the humans’ presence here. In order to truly keep the secret, Rozar would only have to frame a few and have them executed.” Thurrin gasped. “That’s terrible!”

“That’s Rozar.” Drin’s expression darkened, though he kept his gaze on his hands.

“Oh, that’s what this is about,” Wenona winced in pain as she tried turning to face him better. “You’re saving your own skin.”

Drin looked up from his hands to stare blankly at Wenona. Jeb tensed. He wanted to just get Wenona onto the shuttle and get out of here. Did it matter what Drin’s reasoning was?

“Is he though?” Thurrin interjected. She looked up at Drin with confusion. “I mean, Rozar’s going to be furious with you once he knows it was you who let us go.”

“That’s true,” he admitted, “but now the whole ship knows something’s up, and I’ve alerted Burnti High Command to his actions.”

“So you reported him?” Wenona squirmed in Jeb’s grip as if she wanted to be let down, but Jeb merely frowned at her and shook his head. He wasn’t going to let her down just so she could try to pick a fight in her state - not when they were so close to getting out of here.

Realizing she wasn’t going to be let down, Wenona resigned herself to chewing Drin out from Jeb’s arms. “ And let me guess, in your report, you’re also the victim? Poor little Drin being forced to order bounties on Earth life and experiment on them? Oh and I’m sure that your stunt now, calling the guards off of Rozar’s orders will only help your story.”

For half a moment, there was a spark of anger in Drin’s eyes. Or maybe just indignation? In any case, Jeb stepped back and turned slightly to move his shoulder in between the human and the Tiamin. Instantly, the look faded from Drin and he sighed as he buried his face in his hand. He shook his head and dropped his hand, eyes lowered apologetically again. “I hope someday we can repair what we’ve done.”

Wenona glared at him. “Well, you do that then. And if you ever think you've done enough, think again. But you can fix all this,” she gestured vaguely at the docking bay and beyond, “I’m going home and I hope I never see you again.”

Jeb strode up the shuttle’s ramp. Enough was enough. It was time to go.

“I freaking told you he had an angle,” Wenona’s whisper wasn’t exactly quiet, but Jebannuck didn’t think she meant it to be.

.

It was crowded in the shuttle. After one of the guards helped Demfar load Mike in on a stretcher, it was even more crowded. There was a time when Wenona would have found being in such close quarters extremely uncomfortable and stressful, but honestly, she was too busy being relieved. After Jeb helped her get strapped in, she was able to rest her head back and breathe.

“Uh, Demfar,” Thurrin, who was sitting at the controls in front called out worriedly. Immediately Wenona tensed up, but she couldn’t find it in her to lift her head back up to see what was wrong. “Demfar, Wenona’s eyes are leaking, get over here, hurry!”

“Thurrin, I’m busy. She’s fine. Humans do that sometimes. It’s different than when Bookas do that.”

Wenona felt herself blush, but again, didn’t move. She hated crying, especially in front of people, but at this point, she really didn’t care. She hadn’t even noticed she was crying until Thurrin pointed it out. Though if the amount of sniffles she heard coming from around the small shuttle was anything to go by, she wasn’t the only one.

“Thurrin, I need you to focus,” Jeb’s voice was slightly reprimanding, though it sounded more tired than anything. “Demfar, is everyone safely strapped in?” There was a pause and an affirmation. “Good. You’re going to need to put things on hold for a moment until we warp. Find somewhere to strap in until then.”

“Uhhh… where?”

The engines of the shuttle hummed to life.

“Oh, I- I don’t know. I guess just hold on tight.”

Wenona cracked her eyes open just enough to be able to see what was going on up front. The airlock doors ahead of the shuttle were opening slowly. This was it. They were really leaving. Wenona smiled weakly. Drin might have been a jerk, but he’s a self-serving jerk whose spite aligned with helping them.

If she’d had any extra energy, she would have told Jeb to fly straight to Earth. Don’t even bother stopping at the Rock Base, or some other headquarters or meeting place. Just. Straight. To. Earth. To hell with any regulations or protocols! Anyone who disagreed with her could fight her!

But she didn’t have the energy, and she knew Jeb would never do that. Or at least, not without a very good reason, a very persuasive argument, and some very sad puppy dog eyes on her part. All of which might as well have been asking her to run a marathon right now.

Instead, she kept her head rested back and wandered in and out of consciousness. At one point, Kylee, who was sharing the seat with her, fell asleep and her head had fallen onto Wenona’s shoulder. There was some part of her that must have been awake enough to realize that she didn’t really know this person and she was in her personal space. It was largely ignored because she also had a part of her that knew there was no personal space left in this over-crowded shuttle, that Kylee had risked everything to come help her, and that overall, she was just too tired to really care. She ended up resting her head on Kylee’s.

Sometime later, Wenona overheard Demfar talking to Jeb. It sounded like Demfar was asking how they got out of there. They were speaking quietly, but she vaguely caught on to bits here and there.

“...Snuck in and found a map and took an educated guess where they were keeping Mike and Wenona…”

“And that’s when you heard Rozar’s announcement?” “Well, we were still in the room, so yes.” “And - not that I’m condoning violence as a medic, but you didn’t kill him?” “No. What’s done was done, and that would have made for potentially catastrophic repercussions later on with…”

“Wait, wait, did the black and white animal have a long, bushy tail? With two white stripes down its back?” “No, no tail. Its hair was short and it’s back was completely white. I think everyone else nearly lost it when it ate the greable.” “Greable? They had a greable deathbird aboard? And you were close to it? Let me look you over. You weren’t exposed to it, were you? ...Wait. What? It ATE the greable?”

“... said it before but I’ll say it again, once we’re all done with this, I must insist on a visit to Earth. Can you imagine the medical breakthroughs we could make by studying...”

“...we can get this all cleared up, I hope you do get a chance to visit Earth…”

Earth, Wenona caught on to that in her sleepy state and smiled. Earth. She was going home.

***

Next Chapter

[thewildwaffle]

Abduction - Chapter 26

We’re getting close to the end here people! It’s officially been 2 years since I started writing this and I am so close I can almost taste it! It’s officially been 2 years since I first sat down to write this story. I never would have been able to do this without all the feedback and encouragement I’ve received from posting it. Thank you for the critiques, the ideas, the advice, and the reactions. It’s kept me going!

Also, thanks for being patient while I get this written and edited.

Chapter 1           Previous Chapter             Next Chapter

*** 

Thurrin wanted to pay more attention to the conversation going on in the shuttle, but she had to stay focused. Human Vern was piloting, but she had been put in charge of navigation through the warp. No small task seeing as the Burnti Command fleet had been on the move. They had exited warp and were now following slowly, very far behind the Arum Bloom. Hopefully, Mike and Wenona were still aboard. Or at least, Thurrin thought, why wouldn’t they be?

“Oh my gosh, is that it? It’s freakin’ huge!” Kylee leaned forward, marveling at the screen. It was big. Even from this far away. There was no atmosphere or obstacle of any kind to block their view of the ship. If they continued at their current pace, it would take a few solar cycles to reach the Arum Bloom, even if it was at a stand-still. Thankfully, the distance coupled with their ship’s small size would keep them “under the radar” as the humans said.

Human Vern turned and pushed Kylee back out of his space to her chair. “How can you say that’s huge after having been on the Rock Base?”

“Okay, that’s on a completely different level. That’s like comparing a mouse to a bear. The bear is huge, but I can still look at a mouse and say, ‘wow, that’s a big mouse.’”

For the first time in what felt like forever, Thurrin felt she could take her eyes off her controls long enough to look back at Kylee. “I assume those are Earth creatures?”

“Yeah, they are. Bears are the largest land predators back home. Mice are small rodents that…” She paused. A slow smile spread across her face. “Well hey, I actually think you’d be really interested in mice, Thurrin.”

Thurrin glanced again at her instruments to make sure nothing had changed. “To be honest, I’d be really interested in anything about Earth. I think I’d like to visit someday.”

“Well hey, we get out of this alive, you’re more than welcome to come to crash it at my place if you’d like.”

“If we survive… yeah.” Thurrin’s tail drooped. The humans seemed pretty nonplussed at the idea of maybe dying. She herself knew it was a possible outcome. And on top of that, even if they did survive… “I might have to visit. Might not be welcome back on Bernor after… after we get done with this.”

“Hey, guys,” Human Vern interrupted, “we can make plans later, we’ve got movement.”

“They haven’t found us out, have they? I thought Booka Vern’s signal dampener was supposed to keep us hidden!”

Thurrin checked the readout of Booka Vern’s device. “It is! It is, it’s working, or it should be. I can’t exactly go outside and check!”

“What kind of weapons does this thing have?” Kylee stood up, ready for action.

Vern checked. “Uh, I think just a few small balinton blasters.”

“That’s it?!”

“This is a shuttle, not a battlecruiser!”

“Wait, hold on,” Demfar spoke up for the first time in a while, “I don’t think they’re coming after us, look!”

All eyes locked onto the small vessel in question. Sure enough, it was headed in their direction, but it didn’t seem to be coming straight at them. No one spoke, almost as if their silence would help keep them from being detected. It was some sort of small transporter. Or perhaps a mechanic’s hopper? What was it doing out here alone?

“We should hail it,” Vern whispered, already entering the commands to the computer to hail it.

“We should wha- are you completely out of your mind?!” Kylee whispered back.

Thurrin stared at the screen in front of her. Vern was searching for a compatible frequency that would an audio message without giving away their location. She looked out towards the oncoming ship. They were really booking it out of there. What were they doing all the way out here, so far away from their ship?

“They’re obviously not coming for us.” Vern selected a frequency and was preparing the ship’s communication commands. “I want to know what they’re doing out here.”

“Have you ever heard of the phrase ‘curiosity killed the cat?’” Kylee hissed quietly.

Thurrin’s ears perked. She knew what a cat was. Mike had told her about them and Wenona had drawn a few pictures of them. She had to say, they did look a lot like Booka. She didn’t understand why Kylee was bringing them up now though. “Why would you kill a cat?”

“It’s just a figure of speech,” Kylee sighed, “Meaning being curious is going to risk us all getting found out and ruining the entire mission, Vern!”

She tried grabbing at Vern’s hands to stop him, but he pushed her arms away with one hand and continued entering the commands with the other.

“Look at it. Something’s up. We need to know what’s going on before we go in,” Vern’s hands were big, but the final command needed input from the console from two separate keys at once. Thurrin looked between the console, the ship headed towards them, and  Vern. He was right. That ship had no business being this far from the main fleet. Something was going on, and it was best if they knew as much as they could before continuing with the mission.

Vern was struggling to reach the final key while still holding down the other. Before Kylee could stop her, Thurrin reached over and hit it. The communication programs were set and the frequency went out.

“You two are going to get us all killed,” Kylee huffed.

“We’ll be fine,” Vern sighed. “We’re still shielded. If they mean us any ill, we just stay hidden and continue on our way. Maybe even with a bit of insight as to what to expect here on out.”

Kylee grunted and sat back down, arms folded tightly across her chest. “Maybe next time we could vote on it before you go making stupid decisions.”

“Maybe next time.”

For a while, no one spoke. No one even moved. The ship got closer After what felt like a small eternity, a voice hesitantly peeped from the speakers.

“Uh, hello?” a wheezy voice broke the silence.

“What are you doing?” Hissed another voice quietly. It sounded like the speaker was standing away from the microphone. “We are running for our lives and you answer the weird signal?

“It’s not a Burnti signal,” the first voice said back. “You’re not Burnti, are you?” A pause. “Hello? Is anyone there?”

Vern looked around at the group before answering, “Hello, yes we’re here. You probably can’t see us, we’re cloaked, but we’re from the Galacti-”

“Hello? Hey, sorry,” the first voice interrupted, “I can’t hear you very well, could you speak up?”

Looking down at the console, Thurrin found a tuning dial. She carefully moved it a notch and leaned into the mic. “Yes, sorry, we can hear you just fine. We’re honing the signal, it should be better now, but there may still be interference between our operating systems. Uh… can you hear me now?”

There was a bit of inarticulate grumbling noises from the speaker for a moment. “Yes, we can hear you. Did you say ‘we’? Who are you? What are you doing here?”

“We- well, we are from the Galactic Confederation.” Which was true, even if this little trip of theirs wasn’t sanctioned by the Galactic Confederation.

“By all things bright and shining! This is Mahben Glaykur of the ESS Sicatna. My companion and I were prisoners on the Burnti ship, Arum Bloom. There was a breakout or a glitch or something in the cell doors where we were being held in and we escaped and stole this hopper.”

Everyone on both ships let out a deep sigh which turned into relieved laughter. 

“We can’t tell you how happy we are to hear you!” Mahben Glaykur continued, “Where are you? Are you the scouting party? Are there more ships coming?”

Thurrin looked over to Human Vern who stared back, his mouth straightened to form a straight line.

Thurrin paused. Her stomach tied itself in knots. The Burnti had prisoners besides the humans. How did she tell them that they weren’t here for them? How did you tell someone they’d been left behind? “There aren’t any other ships coming. It’s just us. For now. A, uh, covert mission of sorts.”

Behind her, Kylee made a short exhaling sound. “A very covert mission,” she mumbled under her breath.

There was a long silence from the other ship. They were almost close enough to see the markings on the side of the vessel. It was a small cargo ship, probably one that would carry specialized equipment and electronics. She wasn’t sure if it would have a warp drive aboard or not.

Once the silence was starting to become unbearable, Thurrin activated the comm device again. “Mahben Glaykur, how many escaped with you?” There was no response. “How many from the Galactic Confederation are still aboard the Arum Bloom?” She tried again.

The speakers clicked as if the other ship had activated their comms, but it took another quarter of a moortik before they heard the Mahben finally respond. “Unknown. I’m sorry, I… I know there are others. I don’t know if they made it out. It’s… it’s just the two of us here. There was a third, but he stayed behind to find his companions, the two humans.”

Thurrin’s tail twitched. Someone else was trying to save Mike and Wenona? Her brain tried to process what she’d heard.

“Mahben Glaykur, do you know who that was? Who was it that stayed?” Thurrin felt Demfar rest a tentacle on her shoulder. She looked up at his large eyes. As a medic, he was all too well aware of those who had been lost during the Battle of the Blockade. They both turned to look eagerly at the speaker for the answer.

“He was a sefra. Jebannuck Sefra. We tried to tell him it was a suicide mission, but he said he was pack-bonded with the humans. I’m sorry, we had to leave him, there wasn’t time. I wish we could have helped him, or found others to bring with us, but we barely made just ourselves.”

Thurrin wasn’t really listening anymore. She felt her fur ripple across her body. It felt both freezing cold and blazing hot at the same time. Her mind was about in the same state. She suddenly felt exhausted and hyperactive all at once. She wanted to cry and laugh. And she did. A bit of steam actually rose from the tears that fell into her fur.

Jebannuck was alive!

Demfar sighed deeply, which turned into a chuckle and grew to a full laugh. Squifra aren’t very loud creatures in pretty much anything they do, laughter being no exception, but the broken exhales and low clacking noises were the most Thurrin thought she’d ever heard one laugh before.

It would take a while to calm down - for either of them. And they still had a mission to do. Thurrin rose to her hind feet, having to balance herself for a moment before jumping down to let Kylee take her spot. They could figure out the specifics of their next step - getting aboard the Arum Bloom.

Where Jebannuck was. Where Mike was. Where Wenona was. All safe. All still alive!

Well, she paused, her giddy high dropped like a claw to the gut, she hoped they were all still alive. The humans might be safe for now, but he certainly wasn’t. Jebannuck should have just come with these two escapees. He should have. But she understood the reason why he didn’t. It was the same reason she was here now.

She took a moment to try to calm herself. She was here, and here was a dangerous situation. Jebannuck’s presence changed things, for good or bad - well that was easy, it was good. Oh, it was so good! It was more a matter of would this make things harder or easier?

 Humans Vern and Kylee were trying to get as much information from Mahben Glaykur as they could. It turned out that the other escapee aboard the ship was a relegated Burnti officer who had insights that would help them immensely. Their little hopper of a ship didn’t have a warp drive, but it did have some hyperspeed capabilities. They could probably make it out of the system alright. They could make it to secured Confederation space within half a partec if they were careful and didn’t get caught first.

It was helping with that last part that pulled Thurrin back into full-on mission-mode. The escapees had made it pretty far from the Burnti command ship, but there would be other ships scrambled to intercept them if there hadn’t been already. Stopping to talk with Thurrin and crew certainly put a damper on the lead they had going. Their hyperdrive was still coming online. They wouldn’t be able to get to hyperspeed before the Burnti arrived. 

Not unless some other small, mysterious ship just happened to disengage their signal dampener, and seemingly pop into existence to provide a distraction long enough for them to get away.

Thurrin’s tail twitched back and forth nervously. Their ship only had the balinton blasters. Not enough to fight off multiple enemy ships for long. But they wouldn’t be doing that. One, that would be death. Two, Human Vern and Kylee planned on getting captured. If they surrendered after what looked like a sufficient-enough struggle, they would be delivered right to the Arum Bloom.

Thurrin didn’t really like the plan. It was crazy. It was dangerous. All of this was. But it was the humans’ plan, and from the stories she’d heard and Thurrin’s own experience, those usually seemed to be the ones that got the best results. Thurrin looked around at her group. Demfar and the humans. She could think of no better group to help her get her friends back.

Next

[thewildwaffle]

Draw the squad - at the movies

[thewildwaffle]

Abduction - Chapter 22

I need to write at the library more often. It’s a good place. I just- can I say that public libraries are just so dang great!

As always, any feedback is always very appreciated. You have no idea how appreciated! Thanks for all the support so far!

Chapter 1     Previous Chapter       Next Chapter

***

“They said what?!” Demanded Kylee. Thurrin suspected that she wasn’t really looking for an answer as she paced up and down the stall in the repair bay. Nevertheless, Ricardo reviewed the gist of the meetings that he and Thurrin had just been through anyway.

Most of it sounded like a bunch of diplomatic nonsense. It was an amazement and a wonder to Thurrin that humans got anything done with all the “red tape” as Ricardo put it- that their leaders had to go through. It didn’t help either that Earth apparently has hundreds of governments. Granted, the Galactic Confederation usually dealt directly with the United-Earth Space Embassy, or USE (humans love their acronyms), but when the news reached Earth that two of their own had been abducted, the entire planet went into an uproar.

“They said,” Ricardo continued, “that until they know more about the situation, no one is to do anything. They don’t want a galactic incident to happen because they didn’t have the full story.” The explanation didn’t help Kylee’s mood. “So they’re just going to sit on their fat butts and not do anything then?!” Thurrin flinched at the outburst. She had never seen a human get so angry. She flickered with yellow and she felt a few sparks fly off her fur. She had seen Mike and Wenona bare their teeth before, but that was with them smiling. This… the furious expression Kylee had now was something completely different and it scared her.

“It’s not just the Embassy, it’s all of Earth,” Ricardo went on, trying to keep his voice level and calm. Thurrin wondered if he was doing it so Kylee would mirror his behavior. If so, it wasn’t working. “Everyone’s worried about the alliance with the Galactic Confederation, some want to keep it, others agree with what Mike said, that it was made too quickly and with too little information about our options. Oh, and those extremists are back at it again with the isolationism rallies. And then, different governments have a lot of business deals within the alliance or others want ties outside of it and see this as a chance to break from the GC,” Ricardo sighed and started massaging his forehead. “Honestly, it’s a hot political mess right now.”

Kylee kicked at a crate that peeked out from under the workbench. It was empty and her kick sent it rolling under the tables and into another crew’s repair station. It was stopped by a Spotted Helzu. They held it out to try to return it, but no one took it, so they sat it down and continued listening to the conversation. There seemed to be quite a crowd listening in actually, Thurrin noticed. It made sense. This was pretty big news. 

The Galactic Confederation’s alliance with Earth was only a few standard solar cycles old, but it had led to a lot of changes - a lot of good changes and improvements throughout the Confederation. Between trade with Earth for various goods and supplies as well as having been granted mining permissions in their solar system’s meteor belt, there’d been a huge economic boom. Humans had also become an integral part of Galactic Confederation crews, science and engineering teams, and had been integral components to various rescue and relief efforts in emergency situations. To lose them now would be like losing an arm when they had just started getting used to that arm.

The conversation went on. "So basically, what you're saying is that those two are going to be left to the Burnti?"

Ricardo tilted his head from side to side. "I… I'd like to think no, but…"

Thurrin looked between the two of them sadly. The group around them was silent, with a few murmurs on the edges. Her ears picked up bits of hushed questions -  they seemed to wonder if humans would really leave their own behind.

Kylee must have picked up on the questions too and she wasn't having it. "If they won't do their job, then we will." She grabbed her tools off the workbench and a knapsack of sorts from underneath. She unzippered the bag and started shoving in whatever could be useful.

“Um, what?” Ricardo slowly got to his feet. The murmurs and whispers of the surrounding groups intensified.

“You heard me.” She swung the bag onto her back and started walking towards the exit. “We’re going to rescue them.”

Thurrin’s fur flickered with apprehension, but also a bit of excitement. Was she serious? Could they do that? Could they actually do that? Oh, if they tried, they could- and probably would get in so much trouble! But if it was possible, it was worth it, right? Of course, it was!

“I’m coming too!” Her voice seemed higher than normal in her excitement. Tiny flames were rising off her fur everywhere now. She hadn’t felt this pumped since she’d first found out she’d been accepted to the Gladius crew.

Both humans and many of the surrounding group looked at her. Before anyone could object, she fluffed her fur into the most distinguished shape she could manage on the spot. “Mike and Wenona are my best friends. I’m coming too and nothing you say or do is going to stop me.”

No one spoke. They just looked at the two standing humans, waiting for their response. Kylee nodded.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Thurrim.” “Thurrin,” Ricardo corrected.

“That’s what I said, isn’t it?” She tilted her head as she turned around and started for the exit to the bay. “Let’s go. We’re gonna need help if we’re gonna pull this off.”

It took some gathering. And some figuring. And some sneaking. A lot of sneaking. What they were going to do was likely going to end up getting them all dishonorably discharged- at best. That was if this whole ordeal didn’t get them all killed or captured.

Kylee and Ricardo had reached out for help from the rest of the humans from the Maywing, and a few others they trusted to keep shut about what they were going to do. They’d gathered supplies, found transport, and were supposedly now, working on making sure they could get said shuttle and supplies off of the Rock Base and warp jump away in the right direction before anyone could stop them.

Them. The humans and herself.

Thurrin’s fur flickered and sparked without stop. What was she thinking? This was a bad idea, this was a bad idea! This was against orders from way, WAY above her. She could die, she could get captured, she could start a galactic incident. She could die! This could end in so many terrible ways. She fretted and paced just outside the small shuttle they were going to be… taking.

Oh by all things bright and shining! What was she doing? All the work to get where she was now, her time in the academy, late nights studying and reviewing protocols, her acceptance into the Confederation Fleet, the work she’d put into her position - was she really going to risk it all? It was madness! What was she thinking?!

But the idea of not acting felt so wrong. Mike and Wenona deserved more than to be abandoned by the Galactic Confederation. She understood their reasoning, or at least, part of her did. This whole situation was like walking on fine Karchreer glass. But another part, the louder part of her was indignant and honestly outraged that the Confederation would leave two humans - two beings who are part of the race they had just made quite possibly one of the most important alliances of the century with - in the clutches of their enemies. And what’s more, Earth seemed to be okay with it, or at least the pushback against the decision wasn’t strong enough to overthrow it. Humans were supposed to be such great pack-bonders. She’d heard so many stories of humans never leaving others behind. She was so confused. Why would that suddenly change at their governmental level? They were still humans. How could this happen?

“Hey Thurrin,” Human Vern came around the corner and nearly startled the fur off of her, “I just heard from the rest of the team. We’re about ready to go. We, uh, we need to get going before someone notices. Kylee and Ricardo drew straws, Ricardo’s staying behind to help cover as long as he can. So it’s just going to be the three of us.”

Thurrin nodded and smiled. At least humans at an individual level were what humans were supposed to be. Whatever hell they were all about to get themselves into, she felt a little better knowing she was doing it with them and for the right reasons.

Looking to make sure no one was looking, she followed Human Vern around to the shuttle's entrance. There was a camera that hung high on the wall a few docking stalls down, but they wouldn't be front and center on the security screens. It was one of the reasons this particular shuttle had been chosen. Besides, by the time anyone noticed what they were up to from there, everyone else would have figured it out when they started an unscheduled launch. Even then, the others were going to help by stalling any resistance for as long as was needed to get away. Again Thurrin's fur flickered as she fought to keep her nerve.

The coast seemed clear. Human Vern had already snuck aboard to start take-off sequences. By the time Thurrin and Kylee snuck aboard - they were trying to stagger their entrances to help avoid detection - they should be ready to take off immediately. Thurrin took a deep breath and started up the ramp.

“Hey! Guys, wait up!” 

Oh frewan. They were caught. That’s it. That’s it! It’s all over. They hadn’t even gotten the engines started and they’ve already failed.

But when Thurrin turned around, it wasn’t a security officer coming towards them, but Booka Vern, running at them on all fours.

“Vern, keep it down!” Kylee hissed. 

Vern’s ears dropped back apologetically as he approached a little slower, rising up to his hind legs. “Sorry, I hope I didn’t just blow your cover.”

“No, it’s fine,” Kylee waved her hand dismissively. “As far as anyone cares, we’re over here making repairs or whatever. The trick is, you gotta look like you’re where you should be, doing what you should be doing. You fake that confidently enough, no one’s going to question it.”

Thurrin came back down the ramp. Her heart was still trying to slow down to a normal rate. She probably should just get on the shuttle. She really should, she kept telling herself. But what if they failed and this was the last time she’d ever see another Booka. Or what if they succeeded and this was the last time another Booka would see her without her having been dishonorably discharged from the Galactic Confederation Fleet? What if this was the last time she’d be on equal standing with someone in her society? The last fleeting moment to spend time with someone that she kind of… well, it didn’t matter, did it? She wasn’t going to have a chance with him after she fell into disgrace after all this. Or died.

“We’re about ready to go save those humans from the Gladius crew, right?” Vern pulled off the small pack strapped around his shoulders. “I’ve got a few things that will definitely come in handy!”

“Vern,” Kylee started, but the large Booka had already opened his pack to show the two of them what he’d brought.

“I figured they’re probably expecting us to do something, so I’ve got some signal dampeners for the shuttle, a few mobile ones for scrambling our comm lines, and a few that I fitted with a tiny emp generator. It’s one of my old designs I pulled out and finished just for the occasion. It works by sending out a tiny burst-”

“Vern, I’m sorry,” Kylee interrupted, “I’m really sorry, but you can’t come. We discussed this with the rest of the group.”

Thurrin felt her stomach drop at the look Vern gave them.

Kylee sighed. She rubbed her eyes and looked around again to make sure they were still not attracting any attention. “The more people we take with us, the less likely we’ll A- get out of here, and B- get in and out of Burnti space safely and C- less people getting in trouble for having ignored the GC and USE’s decision. Plus we need the extra room on the way back for Mike and Wenona. The shuttle’s not very big.”

“But Human Vern’s going!” Booka Vern protested in a strained whisper.

“Human Vern has experience as a pilot. I’m going as the tech person.” “You’re a mechanic. I’m the tech person!” Vern slipped the signal dampeners back into his bag.

“Vern, I know what I’m doing. Besides, can you fight off the soldiers and guards - if it came to a physical fight?” “I…” Vern paused. Thurrin sighed inwardly. She’d kind of hoped Vern could come too. But Kylee had a point. It was crucial to keep their crew as small as possible and make sure everyone coming could each take on several jobs. Generalization of multiple skills was more important than specialization of one skill for this particular mission. And fighting was likely going to be one of the very important skills needed. Humans were very good at what they call “wearing multiple hats.” Kylee was also going to be much more helpful in a fight than the now very dejected Booka.

Vern looked up and over to Thurrin. A few flickers rose from his fur. “And what about you?”

“Thurrin’s from the Gladius crew,” Kylee explained, “she’s friends with Mike and Wenona.”

“I’m a navigation and docking specialist on the Gladius bridge,” Thurrin sheepishly explained. No, wait. She shook her head slightly. What was she doing? She shouldn’t feel bad about going just because Vern has to stay behind. That was part of the plan! These were her humans they were rescuing! She tried to stand a little straighter as she readjusted the pack she was carrying. No matter how cute or sad or upset Vern looked, she wasn’t going anywhere! Or well, she was going somewhere. She was going to Burnti-controlled space.

“Listen Vern,” Kylee put her hand on his shoulder, “we all really want you to come, and we wish you could, but the smaller the crew on this mission, the more likely chance we have of succeeding, the less we have getting in serious trouble, and the safer we can return back to Rock Base.”

Vern’s fur had been growing more and more dark. It was almost red. After a tense moment of silence, it started lightening up into a rich orange. He picked up his pack and made sure all the pockets were closed and handed it over to Kylee. “Here then. You’ll still be needing these, after all. There’s more than just the signal dampeners in there too. A few standard-issue tools. And some non-standard issue ones that I modified. Top pocket on the left has a hand-held AV splicer, good for hacking into security feeds and whatnot. Uhh… Make sure I get that back in one piece though, I kind of… uh, borrowed it from Taygie.”

Kylee smiled and bent down to kiss Vern between his ears. “Will do, Vern.” She looped the bag over her right shoulder and nodded to Thurrin to head back up the ramp. “Ricardo and the others are going to buy us time, think you could lend them a paw?”

“Ah, consider yourselves gone.” Vern turned and started back the way he had come before he paused and looked back. “Good luck.”

The shuttle made a low humming sound. It was time to go. Thurrin scampered up the ramp. Kylee followed behind, trying to walk slowly to be inconspicuous. Human Vern was at the control, scanning all the readouts as they came up. He turned to look at Thurrin briefly as she came up behind him. “Good, you’re here. I’m going to be starting up the engines as soon as we close the door. Can you handle the atmospheric differentiator and anything that comes up on that panel over there?”

Thurrin nodded and jumped up into the seat next to Human Vern.

“Ready to go!” Kylee sat down in one of the seats behind them and strapped herself in.

Thurrin flashed a smile at her before going back to work. The shuttle was much, much smaller than the Gladius, so the atmospheric alterations were minimal. It would be more of a pressing issue when they reached the Arun Bloom where her friends were being held. She wasn’t quite so nervous anymore, she noted to herself. Here at the controls, she was in her element, at work. This was happening, this was really happening! They were really going to do this!

“And just where do you miscreants think you’re going?”

Thurrin’s whole body froze. Except for her stomach. That felt like it had fallen through the floor. She wasn’t the only one. Neither of the humans moved. After what felt like partecs, Vern turned around to see who had found them out. Thurrin followed suit.

“Demfar?”

“Thurrin.” The medic nodded to the shocked Booka, and then again to the two humans. “Oh, it’s a pleasure to meet you. More humans! I do love meeting new humans. You know, since we’ve been here, I’ve really been able to advance my own studies on-”

“Demfar, what are you doing here?” Thurrin interrupted. Her poor heart was really getting some cardio today. She fluffed her fur up to try to look more soft and innocent. She hoped that that, combined with Demfar’s love of humans, would be enough to get Demfar to let them go and maybe not snitch on them.

“Oh, yes, sorry. I’m here on orders.” Thurrin tilted her head, waiting for more explanation. 

“You’re going to rescue Humans Mike and Wenona, correct? That is your plan?” was all the further explanation Demfar gave.

Thurrin, Vern and Kylee exchanged glances. “How do you know?” Kylee questioned.

“Whose orders?” Thurrin asked almost in unison with Kylee’s inquiry.

Demfar looked between the two of them, “Um, well to answer both of you, Captain Salora.” He shifted his weight. Thurrin finally noticed that Demfar was carrying several large bags in his tentacles. Each one had medical symbols on the front of them. He turned to look directly at Thurrin.

“The Captain told me you’d probably try something foolish like this. She said that, and I quote her words here not mine, ‘if those foolhardy glug-heads are going to do what I think they’re going to do, they’re going to need a medic.’” He shifted his weight as he settled the bags on the ground next to him. “So here I am. Where shall I put this stuff? I assume we’re leaving now. The quicker the better, really.”

“Demfar,” Kylee got his attention, “I’m sorry, we- I just went through this with Booka Vern from my crew, but we don’t have room. We need the extra space for bringing back Mike and Wenona. Besides, this is going to be dangerous. You could get hurt.”

“Precisely why I’m here. You all could get hurt. You all could get seriously hurt, and if that happens, you’re going to be needing me and my supplies here. Unless of course, any of you have any medical training? No Thurrin, put your paw down. Helping to bandage cuts doesn’t count. No? Either of you two?” Both Human Vern and Kylee looked down and shook their heads. “Exactly. So I suggest we all become quick friends now because we are going to be quite cozy on our way back. Speaking of which, I do believe we really should get going.”

The three of them looked at each other again. Demfar was right. They would likely need a medic. The shuttle came stocked with a first aid kit, and that’s about as far as medical care had been planned. The fact that Captain Salora had sent him - well, actually the fact that Captain Salora knew about what they were up to and was not only allowing it, but actively helping them was a huge comfort to Thurrin’s warring conscious.

Thurrin pointed at the bins along the wall behind her chair, “You can stow your bags in there if they’ll fit.”

As Demfar loaded up the supplies, Vern turned back to the controls and started entering the final commands. The ramp retracted. The doors shut and sealed. Thurring checked the atmosphere in the shuttle’s cabin and systems - all seemed normal. Vern pulled on the steering levers and the shuttle rose off it’s docking mount. The first set of gates to the airlock were already opening up for them. Ricardo and the rest of the team seemed to be on top of things.

“Well,” he sighed before he pushed the levers forward, moving the shuttle quickly toward the exit, “No going back now. Mike and Wenona, here we come!”

Next Chapter

[thewildwaffle]

Abduction - Chapter 20

I’m on a roll! I don’t think I’ve posted a chapter a week since I started working full-time! Hopefully, the creative juices keep flowing! As always, comments, questions, critique, input, and feedback of any kind is very much welcomed!

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There were a lot of humans.

Well, a lot of humans meaning there were more than two. That was more than she’d ever seen in one place! Thurrin knew under normal circumstances, she’d be ecstatic to see and meet them. But they reminded her so much of Mike and Wenona that it made her heart ache a little.

Still, bookas aren’t anything if not curious.

She’d flit around different work areas where human crew members were stationed, listening in and watching as they’d help repair navigation systems of ships, fetch equipment, or lift and carry heavy replacement parts as they were installed. They were amazing! She’d heard humans were strong, but she’d never seen anything like this before. Not only that, but they seemed to be tireless. Other mechanic teams around them had to constantly trade off tasks to rest and recuperate. Not the humans though. They’d finish one task and simply move on to the next, and the next, and the next. In a matter of seemingly no time, the small cruiser one particular group had been repairing that used to look like scrap heap material became pristine!

“Wow,” she muttered under her breath as she padded closer. There were three humans and a robot that must have been from the planet Klox if the shape of it was anything to go by. It had a similar build to its human companions but had stockier legs, a short tail, and four long, spindly arms. As she got closer, one of the humans turned and noticed her sneaking up on them.

“Hey Vern, finally show up now that the work’s done, huh? Typica… oh,” the human finally got a better look at her. “Oh, you’re not Vern.” The other three in the group turned around to get a look at who their friend was talking to.

Not the least bit shy, Thurrin jumped up on a nearby step stool and leaned back on her haunches. “Uh, no. My name’s Thurrin. I’m sorry to bother you, I was just admiring your work.” That earned her three wide, toothy grins in the style that humans do, and one pair of shuttered optics from the Kloxan. “I’ve never seen so many humans in one place before, well, actually, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many humans… ever!”

“Well, it’s our pleasure to meet you Thurrin. This is is Kylee, over there’s Ricardo, and that handsome bot over there is Clout.”

The first human, the female he had pointed to, Kylee was tall and had yellowish hair with streaks of purple in it that was pulled back tight in what Thurrin thought was called a ‘ponytail.’ Ricardo was quite a bit shorter with dark eyes and skin that reminded Thurrin of Wenona. They each nodded and gave a little wave as their names were said. Clout placed his two left hands on his chassis and gave a subtle bow, as was the formal greeting custom of kloxans. Or at least, she supposed it was.

“And I am Vern, a pleasure to meet you.” Vern gave a deep, exaggerated bow. He had, by far, the darkest skin of all the humans that Thurrin now knew. How exciting, she thought. I wonder how many colors humans come in? But what an interesting name-

“Vern?” She cocked her head to the side.

“His name’s actually Vernon,” clarified Clout, “but he hates it. So we only call him that when he’s being annoying.”

“Which is often,” smirked Kylee. That earned her a shove from Vern. Thurrin watched, amused, but still puzzled.

“Yeah, no. It’s Vern, thank you. Or Human Vern. We have a booka on the crew named Vern. Apparently, it’s a pretty common name for booka?” Thurrin nodded. It was. She grew up with three Verns back home when she was just a kit. “ Yeah, well, it can get confusing, so sometimes we have to do the formal greeting thing with the species in the name, ya know, Human Vern, Booka Vern.”

Ricardo shrugged his shoulders, “Doesn’t help that you two are almost always together.”

“Yeah,” Human Vern nodded and picked up a nearby rag to wipe his hands that were still coated in the oils and fluids from the ship’s engine. “So I thought you were him. He wandered off over half an hour ago and hasn’t been back since, the little stink bomb.”

With his hand now mostly clean, Human Vern reached it out to Thurrin and held it tilted to the side, palm up. Mike did that when they first met. It must be some sort of greeting thing all humans did. She patted his outstretched hand and looked over the rest of the group.

“Are all of you on the same crew? Which ship did you arrive on?”

Kylee turned and pointed across the docking bay towards a large light gray and orange ship that was currently having several large crates unloaded and hauled to various work stations.

“That one over there. The Maywing. She was on her maiden voyage when Captain Fenz got the transmission that we needed to load up with as many tools, spare parts, and rations as we could carry and come here.”

“What about you? Thurrin, right?” Vern turned back to her. She nodded. “Which ship is yours?”

The conversation settled into comparisons of their ships, what their individual duties were, how long they’d each been part of the Galactic Confederation fleet, how they got along with the rest of their crew, etc. Thurrin smiled to herself as she listened to the humans interact and joke as they recounted their stories. The kloxan was a little more reserved, but she could tell they all enjoyed each other’s companionship.

It was, in a way, bittersweet. She was really starting to like these humans. She wondered if Mike and Wenona would like them too. Probably. Vern and Kylee reminded her a lot of Mike. Wenona was actually a little more like Clout, reserved and watchful, but she’d probably be happy to see other humans.

The sound of clattering metal and scurrying paws drew the group’s attention. Another booka was sprinting on all fours towards them, knocking over whatever happened to be in his way as he skidded around corners.

He was big, Thurrin noticed. At least, big for a booka, who were on the shorter side of average height in the Galactic lineup. She remembered Wenona once said that she and the other booka aboard the Gladius were about the size of a bobcat, which was a creature back on Earth. She didn’t really know if that was a good comparison or not at the time. She did look it up later and agreed they were pretty close. Though the poor creatures had no long, gorgeous tail! How sad!

The yellow flames of the approaching booka’s long fur were currently yellow-orange. It looked soft. He must groom it very well, Thurrin thought.

“Vern!” Human Vern yelled out, “Where the heck have you been?”

Booka Vern slid to a stop and rose to stand on his back legs, panting as he tried to catch his breath. “Sorry for… being gone so long… I passed by… I passed and… I saw…”

“Okay, Vern,” Kylee interrupted, “just breathe. Catch your breath first, then talk.”

While Vern gasped in air, Thurrin took the opportunity to look him over. Not only was he big in size, but he was also looking a little big around the middle. Probably the reason he was so out of breath now. His ears were large and wide set. The tips of fur on top of his head had curly flames flickering up. The tufts of fur around his neck were so thick, it almost looked like a mane. Some bookas did grow out their fur like that. Thurrin wasn't too big a fan of the look but on him… well, she had to admit he seemed to make it work. It was a little old-fashioned, but...

Oh, who was she kidding? He made it look super classy. Vern was flarging handsome!

“You doing alright there, buddy?” Ricardo leaned down slightly to get a better look at his crewmate.

“I… I passed by the rec room on level… level three and they had a bunch of monitors going. There were tons of people there, so I wanted to see what was going on. They’re all displaying the same thing, I think it’s an open stream. Everyone and I mean everyone is watching it. Not just here. Everywhere!”

“Vern,” Clout vented air through his systems in a sigh, “do you mean to tell us you sloughed work so you could watch some show someone probably hacked into the broadcast for?”

“Oooh, was it the Olympics?” Kylee’s eyes lit up. “Are we finally getting the signal for them? I’ve been waiting forever for them to be approved to run in the Galactic AV Stream!”

“No, no, it’s not that - it’s the Burnti Empire! They’ve hacked into the stream, every channel. They’re sending a message to the entire galaxy!”

***

This wasn’t good.

This could be a serious blow to the Galactic Confederation.

Thurrin sat back on the cushion she’d been sitting on. The original stream had come through a solar cycle ago. She’d watched the entire interview seven times now. She… she wasn’t quite sure what to think.

On one paw, she was happy to see that Mike was okay. He was alive! Oh she wanted to jump around and shout, “He’s alive! He’s alive!” She wasn’t on the screen, but if Mike was alive and well, maybe Wenona was too? Or what if Mike was the only one on the screen because he was the only survivor! No, hopes were too high now to think that - if Mike made it, then so did Wenona! Thurrin refused to believe anything else.

Oh, they were alive!

Then her brain started coming up with questions.

Were they alright? What were they doing with the Burnti? Had the Burnti hurt them? Did Mike and Wenona fight back? Where were they right now? How was she going to get them back?

Then she had started really listening to the interview.

Her heart felt like it had been ripped from her chest and squeezed tightly. What was he saying? He blamed the Galactic Confederation for his and Wenona’s abduction. That… no. What? That’s not what had… Had the events before her crew rescued them frazzled their memories somehow? Maybe he wasn’t remembering things, right?

No. That was a stupid idea.

Maybe Mike had been brainwashed by the Burnti. That would make a little more sense. But was that even possible to do? It was very unlikely, but did anything else make sense? What else could get Mike- her Mike- her friend Mike to say what she was now hearing come across on the stream?

She wasn’t the only one having a hard time understanding what was going on. All around the room, conversations broke out, some less hushed than others. Some less civil than others. One such group included the humans she had just been talking happily with from before.

“Do you mean to tell me he’s sending a secret message while also being interviewed?” One of the Rock Base crew- a long-necked speckled daydam- ranted, “I know you humans are supposed to be these great multi-taskers, but that’s outlandish even for you. He’s just blinking because he can’t see. He’s under a lot of lights, I’m sure. There are very few species that can see properly under those conditions.

“Humans can!” Retorted Kylee. “We do it all the time. He’s not just blinking because it’s too bright, he’s blinking a code!”

This had been going on for a while until their “conversation” had erupted into an all-out shouting match. One by one, other groups around them quieted down to watch and listen in. They soon had the attention of everyone in the room.

“What’s all this? What’s going on?” Captain Salora stepped into the conversation. The yelling daydam dipped his head respectfully at her arrival.

“Captain Salora Akeno, we were discussing the recording from the Burnti Empire. You’ve seen it, I presume?”

“Of course I have,” she waved her claws, a bit irritated. “Everyone has. You were doing a bit more than merely ‘discussing’ it. Care to share your conversation?”

“Hey,” hummed one of the daydam’s alien’s companions, “Wasn’t that human one that you had on your ship? What is all this? Do you have any idea what he could ruin? This could lead to all-out war! I can’t believe you and your crew-”

He was cut short by a dangerous glare from Captain Salora. His companion elbowed him to stand down.

“Apologies, Captain Salora Akeno,” the first daydam muttered. Its short fur was standing on edge in several places, making it look very ruffled and disheveled. “These humans claim that your human… Mike… is sending some sort of code during the interview. It’s preposterous! The reasons they’re giving are unfounded and farfetched.”

“No, it’s true, just look at him!” Kylee interrupted and pointed at the closest display screen where a close up of Mike was answering questions about the great times he had been having aboard the Arum Bloom. Captain Salora had to admit, he did seem to be blinking a lot. It was very strange.

“I’m telling you, that’s normal for many species under bright lights. You’re just trying to find an excuse for this betrayal because he’s also human! We all know how humans pack bond with each other.”

“Are you freakin’ kidding me?” Kylee was shouting again. “Does it physically hurt you to be that stupid?” Ricardo and Human Vern each put a hand on her shoulders, but she brushed them off and stepped up so that she was nearly face to neck with the Rock Base Crewmember. “I don’t know this guy from Adam! But if he’s doing what I think he’s doing, he’s more a hero than you could ever hope to be in your entire life!”

“And what, exactly,” interrupted Salora before the two broke out into an all-out brawl, “do you think he’s doing? You said he’s using some sort of code?”

“Morse code, Ma’am,” interjected Ricardo. “It’s a type of binary code from Earth. We think the patterns he’s blinking are in Morse code.”

The long-necked alien snorted. “Again, all while also holding a conversation with the urma interviewing him?”

“It’s called multi-tasking,” Kylee growled, “We’re great at it. For instance, while we’ve been talking, I’ve been tolerating your special brand of idiocy, watching this Mike possibly risk his life on the screen, and calculating how many vats of fermented gent entrails I’ll need to fill up your personal quarters once we’re done here!”

Thurrin watched as Captain Salora sighed deeply and rubbed her temples with the blunt of her claws. As an akeno, the captain was very patient. It was a very famous quality many of akenos had, but even she had a limit.

Thurrin padded closer to the group. “The Morse code he’s blinking,” she began. All eyes looked down to her, “do you… does anyone know what he’s saying?”

Everyone turned back to the display. It was at a wide shot now, but it soon went back to switching between close-ups of Urma Kalabretti Esh and Mike, who continued blinking strangely. Could it really be code? If so, what message could he be so intent on sending to the entire galaxy?

“Hmmm… Vern took a closer look. “I’m not sure. I don’t really know Morse code. Ricardo?”

Ricardo’s dark brown eyes studied Mike closely. “Not really, but… there! That was an S. And, oh, that’s an O! Uh…” he kept watching but shook his head. “Those are really the only letters I know. Everyone knows SOS in Morse code.”

“Captain Salora,” the second long-necked alien complained, “Don’t tell me you believe any of this nonsense!”

She ignored him and instead turned her focus back on the three humans. “Which ship are you from? Who is your captain?”

“Captain Fenz, Ma’am, of the ESS Maywing,” said Ricardo.

Captain Salora nodded thoughtfully. “I know Captain Fenz. I believe he’d be alright if I borrowed you for a bit Human…” she paused.

“Ricardo.”

“Human Ricardo,” she repeated. She turned to the other two. “If you would, let Captain Fenz know I am taking Ricardo from his duties for a few moortiks.” Kylee and Vern nodded. “Right. You’re excused then. Human Ricardo, if you would follow me please.”

As she and Ricardo started for the door, Captain Salora nodded at Thurrin. “Thurrin, you might as well come too. I know you will anyway.”

Thurrin’s fur blushed a slight shade of red. She bounded after her captain and new human friend on all fours, trying to keep up with their brisk pace.

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[thewildwaffle]

Abduction - Chapter 13

Between this and Inktober, I must say that this will be a busy month for me! I’ve got so many ideas and so little time to do them all! Thanks to everyone who has been reading along - especially those who keep encouraging me to keep writing and posting! You’re the best and I really appreciate the boost you give me!

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To be perfectly honest, he felt a bit out of sorts and had no real clue as to what to do next. It didn’t happen often, but it was not a feeling he enjoyed. Not in the slightest.

What a day!

What a day indeed. He thought he was a goner when the Montauk - Simmo, it had said its name was - was about to deliver a deadly blow after knocking him down. He’d be dead now if it wasn’t for… well, if it wasn’t for both of the humans. Mike had tackled Simmo before she could strike. Jebannuck still couldn’t fully wrap his mind around how that had even been possible. Mike had been down, struggling with his own serious injuries one minute, then flying to the rescue the next. Wenona as well - both were seriously wounded. If they’d been anything but human, one might say they’d been mortally wounded.

And yet, they fought through it all. Nothing, no contusion, no cut, no amount of blood loss seemed to stop them. They’d been downed, seemingly beaten, and yet they still fought on with a fervor that Jebbanuck had heard of only in stories.

They were terrifying.

Granted, he had already seen what they could do before, or at least, he’d seen the aftermath of their wrath. The Montauk ship had been full of evidence of what happens when humans are scared and fighting for their lives. It was an image that had remained in the back of his mind since. Sure, it had faded a bit over time aboard the Gladius as he got to know Human Mike and Human Wenona, but after today? Well, those images had returned to the forefront of his memory and were enhanced now with firsthand experience.

The light of a campfire flickered across the clearing. The Montauk, Simmo was asleep on the ground to his left, spread out on it’s back as much as it could with all its bandages and restraints. It was barely breathing, it hadn’t fully woken up since the fight, though it did slightly stir a bit just before the humans shut themselves up in the pod for the night. They both refused to sleep anywhere near the Montauk. It was nothing short of a miracle that they hadn’t killed it yet. They nearly had. It had taken nearly everything he had earlier to call them off, or rather, pull them off.

Simmo stirred again. She had been on the verge of waking off and on for some time. Even though she was securely tied down, Jebannuck still felt himself go tense. There was a part of him that almost questioned if he shouldn’t have stopped the humans. He felt bad about that part.

A little.

He had no love for the montauk, sure. He knew their kind well, had fought their kind often. Had lost… had lost to their kind. Justice had been served, yes. But justice didn’t completely repair damages done.

He had made the right choice though. He wasn’t sure if the humans would have actually killed the montauk, but it was still his duty to make sure they didn’t.

“Ehhhhrrrrrr…” the montauk turned her head, her eyes flickering slightly. “Ohhh… my head. What did…” She shook her head and scrunched her eyes tightly before opening them. She started to lift an arm to reach her face but was stopped by the restraints. “What the…” her eyes widened and darted around, trying to adjust to the firelight, resting on Jebannuck. Alarm turned to recognition, which turned to a mixture of panic and anger. Snarling, she tried jumping to her feet but managed to only squirm violently.

“Oh calm down, will you? There are people trying to sleep.” Jebannuck’s own tone surprised him. Teasing? He must have spent too much time around Mike, that must be it, yes. He tried again in his more typical, serious tone. “Calm down, you’re not going anywhere, but no one’s going to hurt you now.”

“Is that so, sefra? Because to me, it seems a little late for that,” she all but snarled at him, but Jebannuck noticed her eyes flicker around the camp, searching. “Where are your little attack pets? I’m not sure they’d share your little sentiment of leaving me in one piece…”

“The humans,” Jeabannuck cut her off, “are no pets. They are members of the galactic confederation and my crewmates.” His sudden vehemence regarding his human charges surprised him. Crewmates? Since when? Oh, what did it matter right now?! “All things considered, you’re lucky to still be alive. I’ve seen them take down an entire ship of your kind. They can be terrifying when they’re hurt or afraid.”

Simmo continued to stare Jebannuck down, her eyes darkened and became harder for him to read. “My kind. Ha. I have no kind. My kind, my people, have been gone 741, no wait, how long have I been out? 742 local days.” Simmo’s stare was becoming more and more intense, but Jebannuck refused to be the first to break eye contact. She leaned forward as much as she could against her restraints. “You and your little monsters are certainly not the first to try off me. And to be honest, since I’m not dead, I’d appreciate it if you’d release me. I’ve got things to do. People to kill, and none of you are currently at the top of my list.”

Jebannuck’s raised a brow ridge. “Release you? Oh right away, because you certainly know how to instill a sense of trust, don’t you?”

She sneered at him, baring her small but sharp teeth hidden behind her mandibles, but said nothing more. The fire crackled. A log fell over and shot a cascade of sparks dancing into the air. Jebannuck watched them rise, his eyes catching on the stars beyond.

How was the Gladius fairing? His crew? He was supposed to be there with them. Fight with them. Protect them. And yet here he was stuck on a planet that was barely hospitable, with a prisoner who was not at all hospitable, and two humans who seemed to attract and be attracted to danger in everything they did. All of them injured, none of them on friendly speaking terms with each other at the moment. He shouldn’t be here. This whole situation was ridiculous. His place was on the Gladius! And yet, if he hadn’t been here…

“See what you’re looking for up there, sefra? See your ship? or at least, pieces of it up there, do you?”

Jebannuck glowered at her but said nothing. Instead, he dropped another log onto the fire.

What a day.

***

Thurrin had never seen the medical bay like this before. I mean, sure, it’d been busy at times. After exploratory assignments or during mass check-ups. It’d been really full when the humans had first been brought aboard. But now, it was a different kind of busy. A scary kind of busy.

Gerben and Demfar had their hands full. Or tentacles full in Demfar’s case. They raced to and from patient, wrapping bandages, administering photon treatments, tying slings, etc. Gerben walked with a slight limp. He’d taken quite a hit to his leg while being thrown across the room during the fights. His skin was very dark where it could be seen through gaps in his feathers.

A few in the crew who were fairly well off helped where and when they could. Thurrin was on duty now, relieving another crew member who looked like they’d been there a cycle or two too long. Everyone looked like that though. Rest seemed to be a rare commodity when you were busy running from a battle you just got your tail kicked in.

It’s not supposed to be like this. She’d been thinking that over and over. This was all just so… wrong.

They were explorers, not fighters. Sure, the Gladius was equipped with shields, blasters, etc. but those were supposed to be used for safely maneuvering asteroid fields, or pushing through nebula storms, or at most, self-defense. Not all out battle. Especially not all-out battle against an enemy they weren’t expecting, who were also armed with calciar cannons!

“Ow! Thurrin, not so tight!”

“Oops, sorry Karbrir,” she muttered sheepishly. She started unwinding the bandage she’d been wrapping around Karbrir’s massive shaggy arm and began re-wrapping it, looser this time.

Yeah, they hadn’t been expecting to be suddenly thrown into a fight like that. They’d nearly been torn to pieces. They’d been told to retreat. And yet, as bad as all those things were, they weren’t the worst of it.

Captain Salora had ordered that the humans be sent to the surface of Gamnut 4. It was the nearest planet that could sustain life, though, in all technicality, it was a planet that had been labeled as “off-limits.” Mostly due to the fact that it was right in the middle of what was the Burnti Blockade, but also partly due to the fact that it was considered by most species to be a “death world.” It was category 3, so honestly it wasn’t that bad, but still, not a place you’d want to vacation, for sure.

Thurrin missed Mike and Wenona. She wasn’t the only one either. She realized now what an impact they’d made on the morale of the crew. She wished the captain hadn’t sent them off. Yeah, it made sense. This wasn’t their battle. Technically speaking, they weren’t part of the crew, they were civilians. Practically speaking, however, their absence left a hole.

Not the only hole though.

Thurrin felt the temperature of her fur drop and darken to a dull red. Sometime during the battle, after he’d gotten the humans off the ship, Jebannuck went missing. Then they discovered just how much damage the hall he’d been in had taken. He was gone.

There’d was no way they’d be able to find the body now, returning to the blockade space now would be less than wise. The thought should have made her furious, her friend’s body floating amidst the debris, alone, broken. She felt a little guilty for not being angry about it. Instead, she just felt numb and sick.

She finished Karbrir’s bandage. He grunted thanks and shuffled out and into the hall. She glanced over the rest of the medical bay. She wasn’t sure what to do next. She’d applied salve to and wrapped three arms, four legs, and a few small cuts. Everything serious was left to the actual medics, but it looked like most of the “easy” medical treatments she could do were done. She leaped down from the high stool she’d been working on and found Demfar stitching up a head wound two bays down.

“Demfar, is there anything else I can help with?” Oh, she wished her voice didn’t sound so tired. Or sad. Or both.

Demfar hardly looked up from his work, his tentacles didn’t miss a beat as he pulled and tied the edges of the worst part of the wound closed. “You’re fine, Thurrin. I think our other volunteers already left. Gerben and I need to be the ones to handle what’s left.” He finished the stitches and applied a light orange gel over the entire area surrounding the injury. “Thank you for being willing to help so we could focus on those in critical condition.”

Thurrin put up her best smile she could muster, it immediately felt like it was slipping off her face like a wet pexa fish, “Glad to help.” She turned and walked on all fours to the exit. She knew she was hungry, but she felt like the cafeteria was the last place she wanted to be right now. That was where she’d met… and that was where she’d talk to and laugh at… and they weren’t there. Her nose stung as her eyes watered.

Sleep, she thought. Sleep sounds good. I’m tired of being awake right now.

[thewildwaffle]

Abduction Chapter 7

It’s a big one. After I made it through some writer’s block, this chapter was a lot of fun to write - and the next chapter will be too!

If you haven’t read Abduction before, be sure to go back and read chapters 1-6 first, otherwise, you’re going to be all, “Whaaaa? What is all this? Who are these people?” and that’s never much fun.

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Space sucks. Why does it take so long to get anywhere? Even with alien technology that can travel at near light-speed or warp spacial fabric, or whatever it does, it was too slow. Too. Freakin’. Slow.

Captain Salora had been kind about this whole ordeal. So there was that, at least. As far as aliens went, she was alright.

Wenona glared out the window. Two more days. That’s pretty much what the captain had said during their last visit. Two days stuck somewhere you never had any desire to be. Two days stuck surrounded by aliens who stare and gawk at you because they’ve never seen a human before. Two days with not much to do but look out the thick, layered pane at the white streaks of the stars they were passing.

The two days had kind of dragged on.

“Wenona? Oh hey, there ya are,” Mike burst into the room, nearly slamming his shoulder into the side of the doorway. “Found ya.”

“Couldn’t have been hard. I haven’t moved.”

“Demfar said we’re docking in five minutes!” Wenona scooted aside as Mike came up to get a good look outside. “Can you see the station yet? Demfar said it was huge!”

“We’re still going pretty fast. I don’t think we’ll be there in five minutes. I don’t think they even know what ‘minutes’ are.”

“Minutes, moortiks, same difference.”

“Actually, it’s a difference of about-”

“Human Mike, Human Wenona, we’re going to be approaching the Confederation outpost soon. Captain Salora has invited you both to the bridge so you can observe the docking process,” Gerben shuffled into the doorway, but didn’t enter the room. He was carrying several large jars, half-filled with a dark orange, goopy liquid.

“Jeb’s gonna come pick us up, then?”

“Jeb?” Gerben tried shifting weight on his feet, but almost lost balance and dropped a jar. Regaining composure, and his grip on the jars, he gave a thoughtful look at Mike. “Oh, you mean Jebannuck. No, he will not be coming today. He’s attending to his security duties for the docking process. Ghem-et should be here soon.”

And he was. The escorts were always very punctual. Ghem-et was friendly enough, but sometimes hard to get much of a rise or reaction out of. Mike didn’t like that very much. Especially when there was Gerben or Jebannuck that had such great, albeit different reactions to his antics. For example, Gerben nearly blew a gasket the other day after he found Mike trying to, quote, “boil himself alive” in a bathing tub. He had asked Wenona to help bypass the temperature limiter on it when the other day when he got bored.

Or when Gerben had walked in and found the humans sleeping, sprawled out half on the floor, half on whatever furniture happened to be nearby. Worried something must have happened to them, he’d tried resuscitating them, Wenona first.

In hindsight, Wenona realized that he had probably just learned a bit of CPR for humans in the garbled fragments of info the ship had received, but it was clear Gerben was far from having the technique mastered.

His attempt, however, did succeed in waking up Wenona. Just not very well. She had panicked. Gerben ended across the room, tripping over and falling on Mike, effectively waking him up as well. Though, Mike was much less… violent about it. Needless to say, Gerben had been much more cautious since, and left sleeping humans where they lie.

Jebannuck, on the other hand, usually only dealt with the humans’ antics while escorting them around the ship. Antics usually coming from Mike. In fact, almost completely coming from Mike. Unlike Gerben, Jebannuck reacted with a more “I’m-very-much-DONE-with-this,” look on his face. Mike thought it was hilarious. He loved it. He loved all of this. He was basically living the dream aboard the Gladius.

But her? Not so much.

She felt very tense every time she had to leave the medic bay. She knew they were friendly, but she still kept a close eye on every crewmate they happened to pass in the halls. She walked close to the walls, brushing her fingers over it’s panels and smooth surfaces as they went by.

Ghem-et led them quickly and quietly to the ship’s bridge. Upon arrival, Wenona frowned at how full it was. When they’d come in the past, there were only a few of the crew here and there at their posts at a time. Not now though. Everyone was here as the ship prepared to dock with the outpost.

“Captain,” Ghem-et called out loudly, “Humans on the bridge.”

Captain Salora craned her long neck up to look across the room. She really looked like some sort of dinosaur when she did that. She started walking toward them before she turned and muttered one last to the helmsman, a large four-armed alien with greenish fur, who nodded and began pulling up on the levers in front of her.

“Thank you Ghem-et. You may return to your regular post. We’re coming up on outpost 4MG6 now.”

“Right away, Captain,” and he hurried off to the lower decks.

“Human Mike, Human Wenona, you can join me at the controls. I think you’ll enjoy seeing this.”

Captain Salora slid a scaly, clawed hand over the main panel on her station. A holographic screen, much like the ones used in the medic bay, lit up in front of them. “Here we are. Keep your eyes on the exterior ports”

Both Wenona and Mike looked up towards the front of the bridge. Windows like the ones Wenona had been looking through earlier, only much larger, showed bright streaks of lights from the stars and celestial bodies they were passing at insane speeds.

While they watched intently, Captain Salora entered a few commands into the display and opened a ship-wide intercom announcement, “All crew prepare to exit warp in five, four, three, two, one.”

The helmsman shoved the levers down into their lowest settings. The streaks outside the window slowed down, flickered, then flashed. Wenona covered her eyes for a moment. When she looked back, she saw space as it normally was, stars looking like stationary pinpricks of light, a few large asteroids floating nearby, etc. Were they in the right spot?

It took her a moment to realize what was right in front of them.

The asteroid. Except it wasn’t an asteroid. It was huge. It was massive! It was mind-boggling to think something this big could be man-made. Or, not man-made, but whoever made it. How? What the heck? HOW?!

“Wha- I? Wow,” was all she could get out.

“Confederation outpost 4MG6,” Captain Salora announced proudly, “Most just refer to it as ‘Rock Base.’ Not the most fancy place in the territory, nor the most high-tech, but certainly one of the oldest and most impressive.” She turned to look at Wenona and Mike’s expressions, grinning slightly at their awe-struck expressions before returning her gaze to her display. “We’ve been given clearance. Baun, take us in to bay 15, Thurrin prepare atmospheric compression seals.”

“Yes Captain,” both voices called out in unison. Wenona turned and look behind to Thurrin’s station. The cat-like alien was turning dials and checking readouts across the board. She caught Wenona watching, her fur changed to a cheerful orange as she flashed a toothy grin - a human greeting Mike had taught her.

“Wenona, Wenona, look! Are you seeing this?” Mike tapped on her shoulder, gaping at the view outside the ship. Parts of the outpost looked like they’d been carved right out of the asteroid itself, outfitted with shining windows, metal ports, vents, antennas, dishes, and graftings, and other materials that Wenona didn’t recognize. Each section of the outpost looked like it had been made, built, or carved at different intervals of time. Perhaps even by different alien cultures. It was a hodgepodge of designs and shapes, and yet, they still somehow all seemed to fit. It was…it was... was there a word to describe something like this other than beautiful? Beautiful didn’t quite seem to fully grasp the description.

Wenona and Mike watched quietly, in awe, as the ship slowly approached the lower part of the asteroid outpost. The rays from the nearby star danced across the glassy surfaces, creating myriads of various colored lights reflected into and all around the bridge. As the ship turned in towards the docking bays, Wenona caught a glimpse of the massive propulsion engines. They looked like they were at least four times bigger than the Gladius itself, and appeared to be dimly lit, probably on minimal thrust to maintain a steady position in orbit.

“Outpost 4MG6 has been passed from one race to another for millenia,” Captain Salora watched as their view of the outside of the asteroid base gave way to the view of the docking bay entrance. “It’s seen empires rise and fall and been put to countless uses. The oldest sections even outdate the star we’re currently orbiting.”

“How long are we going to be here? I can’t wait to explore!” Mike’s smile stretched almost impossibly large across his face and he seemed unable to stand still any longer, shifting his weight from side to side.

“Someone here will be able to get us home, right?” Wenona turned and asked Captain Salora quietly.

“Yes. Someone here who’s available. If not, they’ll outfit us with the latest updates for human necessities, which honestly we probably should get anyway, and we’ll take you back to Earth ourselves.”

“That may just be what ends up happening, Captain,” a deep voice called out from the front of the bridge. One of the science officers had stood out of his chair to get a better look at the docking bay.

The empty docking bay.

“What’s going on?” “Did something happen to everyone?” “By all things bright and shining!” “I’ve never seen it so empty!” “Where is everyone?” Several voices, some loud and some hushed, rippled across the bridge.

Captain Salora looked silently at the empty bay, her mouth pulled tight in a small frown. “Everyone, calm down. We were given clearance to dock upon our arrival. That means someone is here. We would have been alerted if the Rock Base had been evacuated or under attack. Baun, land this ship.” She reached for a button near the edge of her station, “Jebannuck Sefra, are you and your team ready for receiving?”

Jebannuck’s voice came over the intercom, “We are ready and waiting Captain. Is there any problem?”

Salora inhaled a slow and quiet breath.

“Captain?”

“My apologies, Jebannuck. There is no problem. Carry on, we are landing now.”

Wenona looked around the bridge. Every face in the room was wildly different, in shape, in color, in size, but there was was one commonality: anxiety. She turned back to the front windows. No ships. In a place this big? No wonder the crew was worried.

Where was everyone?

“We are docked, Captain.”

“Thank you Baun. Thurrin, what’s the status on our atmospheric exchange?”

“Equalized, Captain. Shall I unlock the seals?”

“Unlock. Open the doors. Mike, Wenona, if you’ll accompany me, the outpost’s receiving team should be with us soon.” As she turned towards the exit, Wenona had to step aside to avoid being hit by the Captain’s tail.

Before following, Wenona caught eyes with Mike. She’d seen that look on his face before. Right before they broke out of their cell on the Montauk ship. His eyes looked steely, his jaw was clenched, he looked ready for a fight. The expression didn’t last long though - it was quickly interrupted with a overly-cheesy grin and two thumbs up. She cracked her own small smile, and shaking her head, followed after Captain Salora.

[thewildwaffle]

Abduction - Chapter 6

Yes, you read right. Chapter 6. In that this is the 6th part of this story. In that there are 5 chapters before this one. If this is the first you’ve seen of my “Humans are weird/space orcs” story, click below and read the previous chapters. It’ll make more sense that way, I promise!

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“I swear, I was just popping my knuckles. I’m fine. Can you stop touching me?”

Mike almost laughed, but he caught himself and hid his smile. It was funny, but not funny enough to risk Wenona getting mad at him. Gerben had nearly lost it after he heard the series of popping noises coming from her when she got up after a routine health check.

“Are you certain nothing’s broken?” Gerben still had Wenona’s hands in his long fingers, inspecting them for signs of injury. “Perhaps the pain hasn’t registered with you yet?”

“I’m fine. I am, I swear, just give me back my hand.” Gerben gave the hands one last look over before releasing them enough for Wenona to yank them back.

“Don’t worry, Gerben, it happens all the time, totally harmless,” Mike jumped in before either Wenona or the medic could say anything else. “People do it all the time. Well, uh, human people do it all the time, see?” He popped his knuckles as a demonstration. “It’s just tiny pockets of gas escaping the joints and stuff. It’s healthy.”

The look on Gerben’s feathered face looked less than convinced.

“I can pop my back too if you want to see.” “Please. Don’t.”

Of the two medics, Mike had quickly decided that he prefered Demfar. That guy was one inquisitive and easy-to-impress space-squid. Though he did like Gerben too. It was a different kind of like. Gerben was fun to get a rise or reaction out of every time some new “human thing” was discovered. Popping joints was just the latest on a long, long list that made Gerben’s face scrunch up in funny shapes.

“A-herm.”

All eyes turned toward the sound.

“Jebannuck! You’re early.” Mike thought he heard the slightest hint of relief in Gerben’s voice.

“Jeb! What is up my dude!”

“Are the humans ready?” He ignored Mike’s greeting while he stepped into the room and folded his arms across his chest. Mike hadn’t known him long, a few days, maybe a week. Had it been a week? It’s hard to keep track of time with everything that had been going on. Go figure. But in the time he’d known Jebannuck - however long it’d been -  he could tell he was a bit of a stickler for proper procedures.

“We’re going to be getting something to eat first, right? Before we meet with Salora?” Wenona chimed in.

“That’s Captain Salora. And yes. We’ll be stopping in the cafeteria  before I escort you to the bridge.”

“Sweet. What are we waiting for, let’s go!” Mike stretched his arms over his head. A few pops from his shoulders made Gerben wince. “Oops! Sorry bud, see ya later!”

They’d been to the cafeteria a few times now. Twice a “day” cycle, or whatever. It was always fun. Not the first time, though. It was a little freaky, actually. Their escort, who was usually Jebannuck, tried to time visits when it wasn’t very busy. There was always someone though.

He felt a lot more convinced that no one here meant any harm as soon as he found out that none of the aliens on the ship even slightly resembled a Montauk. With that established, it became something of an adventure to meet as many members of the crew as he could.

Pretty much everyone acted SUPER nice and curious about their new human passengers, and, well, they acted the same way most humans would if the roles were reversed. Mike, thoroughly enjoying himself, tried to meet and remember as many new (sometimes strange-sounding) named aliens as he could get within earshot of. Wenona, on the other hand, had been less excited by the attention. Jebannuck, and sometimes Ghem-et if he was there, did his best to divert crewmates from crowding the humans. Mike noticed that Wenona usually stayed pretty close to Jebannuck’s side whenever there were too many aliens around.

It wasn’t often though. Captain Salora, the medics, and their escorts had all proved very adept at making sure the humans were given plenty of space. But Mike could tell there were a few on the crew that were chomping at the bit to get in a little closer with their new passengers.

In fact, here came that orange furball now.

“Greetings Human Wenona, Human Michael! How fortunate that our paths cross!”

Jebannuck raised his brows. “I thought you were in the hospital wing, Thurrin. Feeling much better already, are we?”

“What? Oh. Yeah, I am, actually. Must have just been in need of a good stroll. Cleared my head right up!”

“Is that why we always saw you sneaking around outside the medic bay? It’s great to finally officially meet you, I’m Mike.” He held out his hand.

Thurrin tilted her head at the human’s gesture, before reaching out and patting Mike’s fingers a few times. “Good to meet you Mike, I’m Thurrin from the planet Bernor.”

“Thurrin, I thought I’d made myself clear that you, and the rest of the crew, were to not crowd the humans.”

“Aww, come on man,” Mike interjected, “We’re on a ship full of creatures from other planets and yet we’re lonely,” Mike bent backwards as they walked to add drama, earning a surprised and somewhat worried look from Jebannuck’s, and a giggle from Thurrin. “Or at least I am. We never really get to meet or interact, ya know? I don’t mean that you’re not great to hang out with, Jeb, but I’d really like to get to know more, uh, people”

“My name is Jebannuck, not Jeb.”

Thurrin led them to a nearby bench and table and quickly laid claim to her favorite cushion, “Humans are social creatures, they need to pack bond. Eepereep told me so.”

“And what about you, since when were booka so social?” “We can be social when we want to. And on top of that, we’re inherently curious by nature.” “Curious? Or just nosy?”

Thurrin gave a pouting look at Jebannuck, the fur on the back of her neck flickered a dark shade of red.

Wenona gave a small chuckle, “What a grumpy kitty,” and reached out to scratch Thurrin’s ears. Everyone froze. Wenona pulled her hand back. “Oh, I… I’m sorry. Oh my gosh, I wasn’t thinking. I, I grew up with a cat and… I’m sorry, okay? Can everyone stop freakin’ looking at me? Are we going to eat, or what?”

“Um, yeah. What’s for lunch this time, Jeb?”

“Human Michael, my name is Jebannuck, not Jeb.”

“No promises, Jeb...annuck. But I you’ll have to call me Mike, not Michael.”

Jebannuck sighed, “Very well, Human Mike. Your meal will be a banchip mash and a side of raw ruproot.”

“Again? That’s all we’ve had since we’ve been aboard.”

“Improvement from the last ship we were on,” muttered Wenona.

“Our information on humans is still quite limited. Once we dock at the outpost, we can upload the entirety of the Confederation’s data files on your race. That will include a list of foods we have available that are compatible with your digestive system. Until then, we’ll just have to stick with what we know won’t make you sick, or worse.”

“Aw, I knew you cared about us, Jeb.”

Jebannuck closed his eyes and sighed before he got up to walk to the food dispenser window. “You can do this, Jebannuck. Quick meal, visit with the captain, and then back to the medical bay. You can do this.”

[thewildwaffle]

Abduction - Chapter 3

This is going pretty well, I think. Thanks again for all the support! It’s really helping me stay motivated to keep writing!

This is a continuation from Chapter 1 and Chapter 2

Chapter 4

It was really bright. Like, stupid bright. Who has lights this bright? Ow.

Mike had to squint long before he could even think about opening his eyes. His nose really itched too, it felt like it was stuffed up. He reached up to scratch, but his hand was stopped by something that felt almost like a soft plastic dome. Maybe it was rubber? What the heck is this? He felt around, there were a lot of wires and tubes. Was he in the hospital?

“Ohhh…” his voice caught on his dry throat. “My… everything hurts. What the heck did I do this time?”

He moved his hand up to his eyes, shielding them from the light to try to get a look at the room he was in.

There were instruments attached to the walls, standing on wheeled carts, or hanging from the ceiling. Some were connected to hoses and nozzles. There were wires, screens, cupboards and drawers against several walls. The platform he was resting on had most of the wires and tube connected to or around it. There were diagrams posted on the walls, but not in a language Mike recognized. There was a beeping sound, like a heart-rate monitor, but the tone was higher and sounded like it was coming from some sort of musical instrument.

It certainly looked like a hospital. Just not like one he’d ever been in before. There was something… alien about it.

Oh.

Alien.

Mike gave a start as the events from the past few months rushed back. His scout ship, sent to do a quick orbit of Saturn to pick up an observation drone. The mysterious ship. Bright light. Then darkness. Cages. Food that could hardly be considered edible. Aliens that kind of looked like some ugly, hairy bug. Different needles, blades, vials, injections. He’d felt treated more like an animal than a human being. No, not even treated like an animal. More like a science experiment. Or a punching bag.

The machine in the background started beeping faster.

Oh no, he thought, Oh no, no, no, no. Where am I? What happened?

Clawed black hand reached to undo the lock. Exoskeleton clinked against the bars. They’d become relaxed around their prisoners. Thought they’d broken them. Complacent. Still dangerous. Just waiting for the right moment. That moment.

Them.

Two.

Where was Wenona?

The beeping was getting faster. A new sound started, a lower, longer sound.

They had snatched the guard’s weapon, knocked him unconscious. Locked him in one of the cells they’d been held in. They snuck their ways through the halls, taking out guards or officers when needed until the alarm sounded. They’d been found out. Even though they’d both been weakened by their time aboard the alien ship, there wasn’t a creature aboard that could stop them. Cuts. Burns. Scratches. Barricades. Blasters. They fought through them all to get to and take the control bridge. Wenona had been trying to figure out their position when another alien ship appeared on the screens.

Pain. Blood. The adrenaline was wearing off. It was getting harder to see, harder to stand up straight. Wenona helped him to hide. Tried to stop the bleeding.

Mike tried propping himself up to see if he could find Wenona. They’d both been captured around the same time. They’d been each other’s sole companionship during their time as prisoners. She’d saved his life. He needed to make sure she was still nearby, still okay.

The heart-monitor beeps got faster. The lower, longer sounding beeps got louder.

Mike pushed against the strange plastic-y cover. It moved easily enough, swinging away on hinges of some sort. He tried turning around to get a better look of the rest of the room. Owwww… ahhhh. It felt like every muscle in his body was made out of frozen rubber. He had been covered by a thin, soft blanket from the neck down. As he sat up, it slid down. He wasn’t wearing anything. The torn, bloody rags were gone. Probably a good sign, right? Whoever’s ship this is, at least cares enough to clean me up, and…  He felt his side with his hand, Those are new scars. Completely healed scars.

How long have I been out?

Movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. It was definitely alien.

If Mike had been standing, the alien would probably have been as tall as his chest. Looking at it quickly, one might mistake it for some strange, dry octopus, but the legs under the main part of the body was long and sturdy, ending in four stockier tentacle-feet. It’s skin was varying shades of brown ranging from the color of a dark chocolate candy bar to a lighter brown of a cardboard box with spots and streaks of purples and blues that must have formed some sort of camouflage pattern back on whatever planet it must have originated from.

“Krouschee fen glub you een denoo ing? You are abrehmf kroot. Dooka you understand kama I’mehs seraying?”

“What?”

“Dook. You. Underswand. Kat. I’mehs. Seraying?”

Mike looked puzzled at the alien. It didn’t seem dangerous. The features on its face looked… curious? Maybe even concerned?

“Umm… I understand you? Mostly.” Which was already saying a lot more than the previous aliens he had encountered. Good step. Good step.

“Kold on a momentehk. We’ve equipped you koob ap translator. It eereha take a momentehk to adjust, so I goos I will just keep talking until everyshringreh is sounding the way it should to you. Let’s see, I’m trying to thinkek of things to say, things to skray. My name is Demfar, I am the head medic. Todayshk I ate three kerber patties for my meal. Uh, I’ve been assigned to the ESS Gladius for nearly six of my world’s solar cycles. That’s about, oh.... I want to say about seven and a half deca-partecs?” He paused, he looked like he was running out of things to say. “Is this working yet, or not? Sometimes it takes only a few words to sync, but I’ve heard instances where it took half a day before it started getting everything translated properly. Can you understand me?”

“Uh, yeah, it’s working. I, uh, I understand you.”

A smile spread across Demfar’s face. Was it a smile? It at least it looked like it should be a smile. His large eyes creased slightly and the fins on the side of his face moved almost comically far upwards. Mike smiled back.

The fins on Demfar’s face dropped and his eyes widened. “Oh, my, I apologize. I didn’t mean to upset you. I meant no offense.”

“What? No, I was... I was smiling, it means I’m happy. I thought you were smiling, so I smiled back.” Demfar tilted his head to the side slightly. He lifted one of his tentacled arms and a small holographic display appeared and seem to hover over a small watch-looking device on his… um, wrist? Or wherever his “wrist” would be in comparison to Mike’s own arm. He seemed to be reading something. “Ah, yes. A smile. Your species often display your happiness by baring your teeth like that, I see.” He smiled again, though the fins on the side of his head did not reach quite as high. It was still enough to make Mike smile a little bit, though he made sure he didn’t show his teeth this time.

Demfar looked at Mike and then to the display again. “I do apologize. We learned as much as we could about humans from our ship’s internal database, but seeing as we did not have any humans aboard, it was quite limited. We’ve managed to send for more information, but it’s been slow. We’re still a ways out from the nearest Federation outpost, and communication is often disrupted by cosmic interference during warp.” The display disappeared and Demfar stepped toward Mike and lifted the blanket that was still partially covering Mike’s torso.

“Incredible,” Demfar murmured quietly.

“What?” Mike’s muscles tensed and he felt himself leaning ever so slightly away from Demfar. Breathe, he thought, it’s okay, he seems nice. He’s a doctor. I’m his patient. It’s okay. I’ll be okay. He’s a doctor… an alien doctor.

Demfar paused and gave Mike the same concerned look he had when he first came in.

“I understand you’ve been through quite an ordeal, but I can assure you, I mean you no harm human… uh, human…” the fins on the side of his face tilted back closer to the side of his head. “Oh my, do excuse my lack of manners. I have told you my name, but have not asked for yours.”

“Captain Michael Rockwell,” he responded automatically. “Uh, but my friends just, most people just call me Mike.”

“Mike, yes. Very good. Well, human-Mike, as I was saying, I mean you no harm. No one on this ship does. We are on an exploratory and diplomatic mission for the Galactic Federation to the outer sectors. Those that abducted and harmed you and your companion have been taken into custody and will be punished for their crimes. Now, about your injuries, we’ve done our best to-”

“Hold on, hold on, my companion? You mean Wenona? Where is she? How is she? Is she okay?”

“Wen-no-na? Is that her name? Yes, she’s fine, or at least as fine as one can be in such circumstances. Most of her wounds, much like yours, have healed remarkably fast. She’s been awake off and on for about half the day-cycle, but she has so far refused to speak to anyone. She took a good swing at me earlier when I tried to check her wounds after she first woke up.”

“Oh. Sorry about that.” So she was awake. Good. Maybe if he could convince Demfar he was well enough, he could go see her. He scooted over and dropped his legs over the side of the platform he’d been resting on.

“Whoa now, hold on! Where do you think you’re going? I still need to check you out and make sure you’re alright!” “I’m fine. I need to make sure Wenona is okay. She’s probably freaked out right now, she needs me. She needs to know I’m alright.” He stood up, the muscles in his legs and lower back protesting the movement. The blanket that had been on him slipped and fell. Mike tried quickly to grab it before it reached the ground, and in doing so nearly lost his balance.

Oh boy, dizzy.

He righted himself again and wrapped the blanket around his midsection. Demfar looked more than a little dubious. “I’m fine, just a bit sore. I need to see Wenona. And I need some clothes.”

[thewildwaffle]

First full week of inktober. I've been taking prompts when and from whatever list or inspiration source I please.

Ink, white gel pen, and alcohol markers

[thewildwaffle]

Abduction - Chapter 32

I went back and changed 31 ever so slightly so that this all takes place 2 years after arriving back on Earth instead of just one year.  That is all. I’m not going to go back to compare numbers, but I’m pretty sure this is the biggest chapter I’ve written. Good way to end, I hope.

First chapter      Previous Chapter      Notes

***

It had been two years. Not two standard solar-cycles, not partecs. Two years. Just two honest-to-goodness, call it simply, on earth, years.

Well, actually, a little over two years. Two years and a few rotations. Days. Wenona sighed. Simmo was still to this day using Galactic time phrases for the most part. It sometimes rubbed off.

At first, coming back to Earth had been crazy. There were so many tests and debriefings that were done as soon as they were back in Earth’s orbit. Once they made it planetside, they had to go through even more of the same while they waited out a quarantine period.

As soon as they were in an even remotely public area, there’d been people in her face everywhere she looked, much to her annoyance. Everyone had questions. Everyone wanted to know everything. She and Mike were quite suddenly the biggest celebrities on the planet.

Cameras everywhere, photos, videos, phone calls asking for her to do an interview or appear on some show. What happened? How had she been abducted? What was it like out there? How had they ended up with the Burnti? Basically everything they had gone through with the debriefings, but a hundred times more annoying.

People kept asking her if she was going to write a book about her experiences. Would she sell the rights to the story to Hollywood? It was constant. She kept thinking things would die down after a while. And sure, yeah it changed a little bit over time, but she felt like it was still too much. It was too much. She did her best to avoid getting too frustrated or get physical with anyone when they were constantly in her face. Fight or flight instincts kept kicking in. Or if it got really bad, she would just freeze up or feel like she was shutting down. She needed her space! She hadn’t asked to have all this attention! Simmo and Mike helped, but even then it was overwhelming.

It was like being on the Arum Bloom all over again. Her therapist said her reactions to all the publicity was understandable. She’d given her a lot of techniques that had been able to help her stay calm and helped her recognize when her anxiety was getting to be too much and what to do. She was working on separating her life now from her time in space. It turned out that trying to convince her mind to get back out of survival mode was going to be a process. The past few months and sessions had been helping a lot. It wasn’t perfect, but as time went on, she felt like she was at least on the road to getting better.

Still, there were times she wondered if she was better off back in space where the paparazzi couldn’t flock her so much. At the same time, she’d mentally argue with herself that it couldn’t be that drastic. No need to leave Earth again, thank you very much. 

She picked up the cups that had been set aside and forgotten in the living room of her small apartment. Her dad and sister had just left a while ago. She smiled. Ever since being home, she saw her family a lot. Obviously. She remembered stepping through the decontamination gate at the USE space port terminal and getting smothered by a hug from her mom, then her dad. Then being nearly tackled by Koko. When she wasn’t in meetings or debriefings, or whatever other reason USE or various governments or media could pull her into, she was with her family.

She’d just moved into this place almost five months ago. 

She carried the cups to the kitchen and left them in the sink. She loved being with her family, she had stayed at both her mom and dad’s house intermittently after coming home. It was nice, but it also felt nice to be back in her own place again. It was normalizing. Peaceful.

Also, it was close to work.

It wasn’t her old job. That had been filled soon after she went missing. She was fine with that. At first, she wondered about switching career fields altogether. She still had her engineering degree, and there were a lot of opportunities open to her with that. So much so that it was a bit overwhelming. What did she want to do now? With all the new space agencies opening across the world, there were plenty of good jobs to be had.

She had at first insisted finding a job that had nothing to do with space exploration. She’d always thought to herself that as soon as she got back to Earth, she would never even look at the stars again. She took her time looking for a job of course. Readjusting to Earth life again came first, but after a while, she knew she was getting restless just being home all the time. She had to have something to do. The endless days of rest were starting to get to her anxiety. 

She started looking for jobs. As much as she would look at jobs that had nothing to do with space, she just couldn’t get herself to feel excited about any of them. There were, however, a lot of jobs that might be somewhat space-related, but they wouldn’t require her to ever need to leave the planet. And they had the best pay. By a lot. 

Also, as far as never even looking at the stars again, well, that didn’t last very long at all. They were very nice to look at, and after everything she’d been through, they felt like they were a part of her now.

She eventually took Mike up on his offer and had been able to get a job at Near Star Explorations as an electrical technician for air traffic control. There were a lot of shuttles coming and going for the company and they had opened a new air base in Arizona. They even had provided housing on base, she just had to move in. 

Well, her and Simmo. She was technically her roommate, but the apartment was set up in a way that she was more like her neighbor. It was much easier to convince the powers that be on Earth to accept Simmo’s presence than it was the Galactic Confederation. Helping her and Mike get home was a big part of that. It turns out, there were actually quite a few aliens living on Earth now, fascinated by human culture as they were. The only real stipulation Near Star had was that she have either Mike or Wenona help her transition to Earth life. Right now, Mike was off for training somewhere north for some sort of piloting thing or whatnot. Wherever it was, it was cold and Simmo did not do cold. So Wenona it was.

Honestly, it was fine. Wenona finished the dishes and leaned into the counter, taking stock of her apartment. Work kept them both busy, and when they were home at the same time, Wenona didn’t mind having Simmo around. She’d teach her about Earth’s cultures, animals, plants, weather, etc. Anything and everything. They’d managed to have a relatively peaceful day at the zoo a few weeks ago. That had been an experience. Mike had still been here, and the three of them had nearly been mobbed by other zoo-goers. They tried to be as inconspicuous as possible, but when you’re a house-hold name the world over, it’s hard to not be noticed. Especially when you’ve got a Montauk with you. Mike loved the attention, but ever since he’d gone off for training, Wenona and Simmo had been enjoying being able to have more quiet days off.

The quiet was nice. Wenona smiled to herself. She could honestly say that she was happy. Her nightmares were becoming a little less frequent. So that was nice too.

Her phone in her back pocket rang. She’d left the sound on high and it made her jump a little bit. She’d been issued comm devices from Near Star that were similar in design to the ones she’d gotten used to with the Galactic Confederation, but she’d gotten a phone for outside calls or messaging. She looked at the screen. It was Simmo. She was supposed to be at work. It was weird that she wasn’t using the comm device though. Then again, she had been acting strangely the past day or so. No explanation, and Wenona didn’t pry. Whatever was going on with Simmo was her own thing. She swiped to answer. “Hello?” “You need to come over here.”

“Uh, hello to you too Simmo. Why? What’s going on?”

“Just get over here. You’ll see.”

Simmo hung up just as a few voices started talking loudly in the background, but she hung up before Wenona could make out what was being said. She lowered her phone and frowned at it. What the heck?

Wenona sighed and put the phone back in her pocket and went to go find her shoes. Best go see what’s got Simmo acting all.... Well… acting like Simmo.

The hangar wasn’t far. From the outside, everything looked normal. Nothing was on fire. There weren’t any large ships hovering around or attacking the place. Still, Simmo had sounded pretty urgent, so she hurried to the office doors.

As soon as she opened the door, she was immediately met with a flurry of orange fiery fur.

“Wenona! You’re here! Oh, by the stars I’ve missed you!” Thurrin jumped up at her and Wenona had enough reflexes to catch her before she fell back down.

“Thurrin? What?” She instinctively flinched as a bit of flame harmlessly flickered up from the Booka’s fur. “What are you doing here?” The question was directed to Thurrin originally, but by the time she finished asking the question, she looked up to see more familiar faces.

Jebanncuk and Captain Salora, as well as Mike and a man Wenona first thought was Mike’s father but after a second look, she realized it was one of his father’s secretaries, and some other official-looking person she didn’t recognize stood in the room.

“Thurrin,” Mike compained, “You were supposed to wait so we could all surprise her together.”

“Sorry,” Thurrin purred in a tone that almost definitely meant she was anything but.

“Uh, again, what’s going on here?” Wenona felt her face start to heat up. She had never liked surprises, especially when she felt like she was the only one being surprised.

Captain Salora and the official-looking goon looked at her a bit taken aback. “Wenona,” Salora started, “Did you not read the…” she paused to think, “the electronic message that was sent?”

Wenona stared at her blankly.

“The email,” Mike amended. “The one from the United-Earth Space Embassy? It came in about two days ago?”

Wenona’s blank stare became more confused as she felt one eyebrow quirk. As if on some cue, everyone turned to look at the still-unknown official-looking man in the back. The man cleared his throat and pulled out a datapad. “Your notice was sent in an email to,” and started spelling out her address, “W-i-n-o-n-” “No.” Wenona interrupted. “It’s W-e-n. Weh-nona Peters.”

The official frowned and looked between her and the datapad in his hands. “Are you sure?”

“Uh, I think I would know how to spell my own name, yeah.”

The frown deepened.

Simmo sighed exasperatedly. “You mean to tell me the USE got her name spelled wrong and sent the invite to the wrong email? How do you get it wrong? I thought everyone knew who she is and what she’s done. How hard is it to get her name right?” The official tapped on the screen to edit the information and mumbled quietly, “Not my fault. The “i” spelling is much more common…”

“Wenona is no common person,” Simmo snapped.

Wenona looked over at Simmo. “Do you know about what all this is abou-” “I’m going to go ahead and stop you right there to say that in my defense, I thought you were sent an email just like Mike had been.”

Wenona shifted her weight so she could adjust Thurrin who was still sitting comfortably in her arms. “And you didn’t think to bring it up or talk to me about it? I mean, seriously, I have no idea what’s going on here!”

“I just assumed that since you didn’t bring it up, you didn’t want to talk about it because you were going to say no.”

“Say no to what?!”

The official sighed and looked up from the datapad. “I’ve just sent to you again, at the correct email this time, I hope.”

Sure enough, the phone in her pocket chimed. She set Thurrin on the counter and pulled it out. Everyone watched as she opened the attachment and began reading.

Winona Peters, (ugh)

It is with immense pleasure we write to you to extend an invitation to a new position within the United-Earth Space Embassy in relation to Galactic Confederation Affairs. We are hoping that you will accept a position in a new pilot program we are excited to establish. That position being a Public Affairs Liaison between the United-Earth Space Embassy and the Galactic Confederation.

You would be serving aboard a Galactic Confederation ship, not as crew, but as an employee of the USE. With this new position, the USE hopes to renew bonds and friendship with the Galactic Confederation, as well as bolster confidence in our alliance around the globe.

We greatly hope that you will be open to such a role, as you are already familiar with the workings of crews aboard a Galactic Confederation ship. We also recognize that your position as an esteemed public figure would provide considerable aid in reinforcing the overall social backing of this very important alliance.

The roles and responsibilities of this position are still considered quite fluid, as this is still in the pilot-program stage, would include but are not limited to: Provide official USE presence aboard select Galactic Confederation ships and missions, Report back to USE with mission debriefings, human integration reports, and provide non-cofidential material (video/audio recordings, journal entries, photos, etc.) to be shared with the public. Further details and expectations will be discussed upon acceptance of this position.

Furthermore, we would like to additionally-

Wenona paused reading and looked up at the group around her. “Liaison? What? How does that even work?”

Jebannuck nodded to get Wenona’s attention as he explained, “It’s a new initiative the Galactic Confederation is trying out. They’ll continue to hire humans through the USE, but are rolling this out as a new trial program.” “And they want Mike and I to be the face of it? This is basically a PR stunt then.”

The USE official hummed and teetered his hand back and forth. “Yes and no. It’s true that you two are the perfect candidates for this, given your… history. But this program has been one long in the running as a way to further strengthen the alliance between Earth and the Galactic Confederation.”

Wenona turned her attention to Mike.

“And you. I’m sure you’re going to jump all over this?” Before he could respond, she went on, “Of course you are. But what about your training? You were going to be an exploration pilot? What’s going on with that?”

“I still am. They said I could stay enrolled in the program and I can actually use some of this as experience time, and some of my training equipment will be coming with me.” Mike had a way of talking when he got excited. The air vibrated around him and you felt it in your very bones. It made you want to jump up and go, as if standing still too long in one spot was going to burn you. He talked that way now. “It might take me a little longer to get the full license, but I still can do it. And even if I couldn’t, being the first person to start up this program is something I or anyone can only do once! Just think of all the adventures that are out there. We’d be setting the stage for a whole new way of intragalactic relations. This is history!”

Wenona smiled slightly. With Mike, there were always missions to go on, noble causes to take up, and he was always bound to see things through! His energy was infectious- he was right! What they were doing was going to be historic!

Mentally, Wenona stepped back. Wait. She was on Earth now. That’s all she had wanted the entire time she’d been in space. She had a good job - the kind of job she’d worked through college to get. She wasn’t like Mike, she couldn’t just bounce around from one hot idea to the next on a whim, chasing adventure like a child would chase butterflies. 

Well, a voice in her head piped up, it’s not like I’d be gone forever. I have the connections now, I could get the job back when I returned.

Slightly appalled, she slammed that idea back down. Where the frewan did that even come from? And, well, it wasn’t just the job either. Her family had just gotten her back. She’d just gotten her family back. She’d done the whole space thing. Unwillingly, she might add. Why would she want to go back?!

How was it possible that she was so conflicted?

She looked to Simmo. The decision must have been easier for her. Wenona could tell that although she had needed the rest and the change of pace that life on Earth had given her, Simmo had been getting restless. Little by little, it had been slow growing, but it was there, like a slow-building electrical charge.

The thing was, did Wenona feel the same? She sighed and tried to clear her mind. Yes. No. Maybe? Maybe just a little bit?

The realization struck her. Did she miss space? Well, there were certainly parts she definitely didn’t miss, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that yeah, a part of her wanted to go back. There was a part of her that was thrilled to be among the stars and that part wanted to return.

“You said I have how long to decide?” “We’ll be here about a…” Jebannuck paused to think, “a week, local time. You can think it over and let us know for sure by this next… Toos-day.” He gave a quick look to Mike, who gave him a small thumbs up.

Wenona nodded, her mind felt like it was going into hyperdrive. Saying no should have been an easy answer. Why wasn’t this an easy answer? She’d have to talk to her family about this. And her therapist. Maybe she could get an emergency meeting with her scheduled before Tuesday.

“In the meantime,” Thurrin, who was still on the countertop, tapped Wenona with her long bushy tail- a very affectionate gesture among Bookas, “We’ve got a bit of spare time now. Can you show us around? Can you introduce me to a bobcat? Are they friendly? Though you said before they weren’t sentient, right? What’s the craziest food to eat on Earth? Where does your food come from? Can you take us on a hunt- AH!”

Mike came from behind and swept Thurrin up and started for the door. “Well, let’s go. We can show everyone around the base here first, and then go from there!”

Thurrin resettled herself to ride on Mike’s shoulders and he led everyone outside. Wenona followed and held the door as she waited for everyone to pass. Jebannuck was the last one out and he paused with Wenona while she let the door shut.

“I’ve been trying to learn some Earth idioms, but correct me if I’m wrong if I were to ask to trade a small coin for your thoughts?” Wenona smiled. “Penny for my thoughts?”

“That’s the one. I was close.”

“Yeah, you were. Good job.” They started walking behind the group as Mike and his father’s secretary began the tour around the Space Port.

“So…” Jebannuck prompted.

Wenona sighed. She tried to put her thoughts together in a cohesive way that would translate to words. “I’m not sure. I don’t really know what to think.”

Jebannuck nodded silently and held the door for her as the tour led them inside the main building.

“Honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t flat out tell them no as soon as they asked.”

Wenona took a deep steadying breath and swung her arms as she walked. “Yeah, I think I am too. It’s… it all kind of… I feel like…” she shook her head, “I don’t know why this doesn’t feel like it’s just an easy answer for me. It would have been before, I think.”

“Well whatever you decide, know that we’ll be behind you 100%. Don’t feel like you have to choose one way or the other just to please anyone. Do what you want to do. Whatever you need to do.” “It’s a big decision.”

“It is.” They paused as Mike’s dad’s secretary stopped the tour, pointing out the symbolisms and history behind a large mural. They kept a few paces behind the main group. After a few moments of not really listening to the lecture, Jebannuck put a hand on Wenona’s shoulder, turned and crouched down a bit to look her in her eyes. “But keep in mind, it’s also not a galaxy-ending decision. There’s no right or wrong choice here. And besides,” he gave a soft half-smile, “should you decide to stay here, it’s not like there won’t be multitudes of opportunities to go later. And if you go, it’s not like you’ll be gone from Earth forever.”

Wenona smiled. “I don’t know, the last time it took me nearly forever to get back.”

Jebannuck’s smile grew. “Well maybe next time don’t get pulled into an intergalactic power struggle and then used as a political pawn by a power-hungry Burnti commander.”

Wenona chuckled as quietly as she could so as to not disturb the tour. “Who taught you sarcasm?” She teased.

“A bad habit I picked up from some humans, no doubt.”

Wenona laughed and tried to listen to the tour. Or at least act like she was. She’d worked here for five months now, she’d been given this tour after she’d been hired. Her mind was still reeling as she tried to wrap her mind around the life-changing decision she’d have to make in less than a week.

The tour guide wrapped up the tale of the mural and the group was led further into the building. Jeb took a few steps to follow before Wenona grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. He stumbled slightly in surprise, but after a moment, he wrapped his arms around her in return.

“Thanks Jeb,” she mumbled into his uniform.

Jeb rested his chin on the top of her head. “Of course,” he replied. “What are friends for?”

Wenona smiled. Whatever she decided. That sounded amazing. 

She took a deep breath and let go of the tension she’d been holding in her face and neck. It was her decision and hers alone. That felt, well, that felt more freeing than anything she’d ever felt in a long time.

***

“Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Gladius. It’s eight partec mission, to boldly go where-”

“Mike, what are you doing?” Mike turned around from the view port to see Jebannuck walk into the office. His office, Mike’s. Very official.

“Nothing, just getting a little bored. How long did you say we were going to be in warp?”

“About ninety moortiks less than the last time you asked.”

“You’ve got to be pulling my leg, only ninety moortiks?”

Jebannuck frowned with his mouth slightly open for a moment. “I’m going to assume that’s some weird Earth idiom you haven’t taught me yet, and yes, you’ve already asked me how long we’re going to be in warp. Three times this cycle, actually.” “Hmm,” Mike nodded, “and the cycle is still young. Well,” he sighed and lifted his arms dramatically as he spun back around to the window, “what’s on the agenda for now? What have ya’ got for me, Jeb?”

“Well, for now, not much. While we’re in warp, communications are down, and we’re early enough in the voyage that I’m sure you don’t have much in the way of reports or paperwork. However,” Jeb’s face broke out into a grin as Mike turned around with a curious, hopeful expression, “I do believe there’s been a special meal option available for lunch in your honor, macaroni and cheese, I believe?”

“The kind with the swirly noodles?”

Jeb paused. “Honestly, I don’t know.” Mike shrugged and turned back around to follow Jeb out of the office. He smiled as he walked through the doorway and cast a quick look behind him at his office. He had an office, oh man.

Mike followed Jebannuck down the familiar halls. 

It was still the first full day being back and he felt like he was buzzing with excitement to be back. And, he smiled, not just back, but back with a purpose, a position. He belonged in this place, he knew this place, and he knew the crew around him. Well, he thought as a small group consisting of a biet, two squifra, and a new human recruit he had only briefly been introduced to earlier passed by, there were a few new faces to the crew. They were heading in the opposite direction than he and Jeb were. As they approached, Mike recognized one of the squifra, Ghem-et, who was part of Jeb’s security team. The fins on the side of the squifra’s face lifted when he caught eyes with Mike.

“Human Mike, it’s good to see you! Jebannuck Sefra, sir,” Ghem-et nodded then paused for a moment to scrutinize Mike’s face a little closer. “If I may ask,” He lifted his fins at an angle as he tilted his head slightly, “Mike, your face is different than when I last saw you.” Ghem-et looked back at the human in his group and then back to Mike. “I didn’t know humans could change the color of their skin so drastically like that.”

If Mike blushed, it wouldn’t have shown much. His face, or at least his cheeks, forehead and nose were already a shade of red. Thankfully, it wasn’t as bright a red as it had been. In the week before they left Earth, Mike had been insistent on showing everyone around to some of his favorite spots on Earth. After leaving Arizona, they went to a few places of Wenona’s choice, then Mike’s. Then of course, Demfar had some requests. The last day, they stopped in Florida. It was one of the places Mike had lived during his childhood. He wanted to visit Cape Canaveral. He remembered a field trip there when he was very young, and that trip, coupled with the invasion of the Kahsks a few months later, were what made him want to be an astronaut in the first place. 

They had also spent a day at the beach. Hence the sunburn.

Mike tenderly touched his nose and chuckled at Ghem-et, “No, we don’t, well, not on purpose anyway. I just got a sunburn the other day and it hasn’t completely gone away. It usually fades into a tan, but it was my first time in a while getting a lot of sun exposure and I didn’t put on any sunscreen.”

“Sunscreen?” Ghem-et and the others in the group looked confusedly between Mike and the other human in their group - Braxton or Baxter or something like that? “What is that? Why would you require a screen from your planet’s sun? I thought it was healthy for you?”

Both Mike and the new human shrugged and Mike explained how too much sun could cause damage to skin cells and DNA, which then would cause them to self-destruct, and that the red color is from the body trying to heal itself.

Ghem-et and the others look mildly horrified.

“And here I thought they were over-exaggerating when they were explaining Earth safety precautions” the new squifra recruit mumbled.

“Is what he said accurate, Human Baxter?” The biet in the group asked her companion. Mike grinned - he was right about the name!- and locked eyes with Baxter who nodded.

“Yeah, though you put a bit of sunscreen lotion on and you’re fine for a few hours.”

“How did humans even come to exist on a world where even the sun can kill you?” Baxter’s companions questioned. It was clear that none of them had taken the opportunity to go planetside when they had the chance. A few on the crew had. The fact that Earth was technically classified as a category 4 death-world had, perhaps, made many weary to do much sightseeing on their own. 

The group continued to pepper poor Baxter with questions about Earth. Mike smiled and followed Jeb as they continued on their way. Mike remembered when he and Wenona had had somewhat similar treatment before. There were plenty of new faces on the ship who hadn’t been here before and were very curious about humans.

Mike sighed at the memories of his and Wenona’s first time getting used to life on the Gladius. He frowned. This was his first time being on an alien ship without Wenona, and he suddenly felt like the air in his lungs was fizzy and heavier than normal. He understood her decision when she announced it and he knew it would be the best for her to stay on Earth right now, but he still really- really had wanted her to come. This was only the first day, but it felt weird without her here. He absent-mindedly brushed his hand against the wall as he walked.

He’d made his decision to come so quickly. As much as he loved being home and getting back into somewhat normal life again, he realized that he had wanted to be a pilot and travel in space in the first place for a reason: his normal life was kind of empty. He’d been overjoyed to see his parents again, and having their full attention the first little while being home had been wonderful. But they were busy running Near Star Explorations, especially now with the whole galactic political scene the way it was, their attentions were systematically pulled away from him again. He knew they loved him. He knew they were proud of him. He just… he just wished he saw them more. He had no other close family, and growing up moving all the time hadn’t been very conducive to making lasting friendships. Sure, he had people he’d consider friendly on Earth, he was on good terms with them and would go to events they’d invite him to, (He’d gotten quite a few invites this past year what with being so famous and all now) but none he’d really consider close friends. Not friends like the ones he’d found after having been abducted.

A sudden voice from behind made him jump.

“What’s up with you?”

Mike and Jebannuck looked back to see Simmo following behind closely. She must have snuck up while he was lost in thought. She took a few steps to stand next to Mike and Jeb turned around to greet her. She grunted an acknowledgement at him, but kept her eyes on Mike. 

Jeb followed her gaze. “Are you alright, Mike? You look troubled.”

Mike could practically feel their eyes scouring over him and tried his best to brush it off. “Nothing, I’m fine. Just hungry. Are we going to the cafeteria or what?”

“He misses Wenona,” Simmo stated matter-of-factly then continued walking, prompting Mike and Jeb to follow.

Mike stuttered a bit at her before finally being able to get out a coherent comeback, “Well yeah, don’t you?”

Simmo gave him a sneer, but Mike knew it wasn’t nearly as sincere as most of the ones he’d seen on her face. She turned her head away before she could answer. “Why would I miss her. She’s where she wants to be and she’s happy.”

“Yeah,” Mike agreed quietly.

“And besides,” She continued, “It’s not like I won’t see her again in a few partecs anyway. I’ve long ago given up on ever being able to get rid of you humans, no matter what I do.”

Jeb made a sound that was halfway between a scoff and a chuckle. Simmo growled at him. 

The hallway ended and opened up to the communal cafeteria. Those on the current meal shift were either waiting for their food, or eating comfortably at various tables. Almost immediately after entering, a voice yelled out from across the room. Mike’s eyes found the source sitting on her favorite pillow at her favorite table near the middle of the cafeteria. Thurrin had saved them seats and was waving wildly at them, fur practically glowing as she did so.

Mike waved back and nodded as he, Jeb and Simmo got into lines to order their food before joining her. Mike was happy to see that the macaroni and cheese that was available did, in fact, have his favorite swirly noodles.

“So,” Thurrin started as soon as he sat down, “How’s your first cycle as USE Liaison going?”

“Uh, well,” Mike started as he unwrapped the fork-like utensil from his napkin, “It’s just the first official day, so I haven’t done a whole lot yet. But it’s going good so far.”

Jeb looked over at his plate as he sat down. “Did they have the noodles you wanted?”

Mike nodded and he happily took a bite. “Ya know, they’re a little overcooked, but I don’t even care. The cheese is good though. Top notch.”

Thurrin cleaned her whiskers after a few bites of her own food. “Oh yeah, I looked up cheese, like Wenona told me to after I asked about it. Humans eat the weirdest things.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Simmo mumbled, not even looking up from her own meal.

Thurrin happily shared about the take-off and how it had gone earlier, even though Mike and Simmo had both been there. Or at least, they had been there for the first part, they’d left to attend to other duties after they had stabilized in warp. Mike was mostly listening, but he was mostly focused on eating and enjoying the scene of the cafeteria around him. He must have let his mind wander off because the next thing he knew, Thurrin was swatting at the table in front of him to get his attention.

“Hey, Mike,” Thurrin’s ears twitched forward inquisitively, “I just said, your face is still all red. I thought you said it would go away. Are you sure you’re okay?”

Jeb hummed, “I told you to put on sunscreen.”

“No you didn’t,” Mike countered. “Wenona did.”

“Several times, in fact,” Simmo supplied. Mike pushed her arm lightly. “Not helping,” he mouthed at her.

“As I recall,” Jeb continued, “I had seconded her suggestion. Solar protection was something that was emphasized to everyone who went planetside during our time on Earth.”

“Well what about you? You didn’t put any sunscreen on.” Mike pointed out.

“I stayed under the umbrella. And kept my smock on.”

“I’m glad I have fur,” Thurrin cut in. “Keeps me safe and I look great.” As if to emphasize her point, she fluffed her fur, looking very proud and smug. Little faux flames danced off the largest tufts and the tip of her tail. Mike smiled, she looked extra fluffy that way. He wondered how long it had taken her to get all the sand out of her fur from their day at the beach, but instead of asking, he noticed a metallic flash around Thurrin’s neck.

“Is that the necklace Wenona gave you?” Mike gestured toward the piece of jewelry. Wenona had given each of them something meaningful for each them before they left. Mike was wearing a carved wooden pin on his new uniform right now. The grains in the wood looked like nebulous clouds that swirled around the small flecks of engraved metal that looked like stars.

Thurrin put a paw up to the necklace’s pendant and pulled it up farther out of her fur. It was a small copper-colored wire ball with a round piece of turquoise inside. Upon looking at it, Thurrin sighed and smiled sadly at it. Her fur darkened ever so slightly.

“I miss her already. What if we end up having some great adventure and she’s not there for it? Or what if something happens and we need her?”

“Well,” Mike leaned back in his seat, having finished his bowl of mac and cheese, “if that happens, we’ll just have to ask ourselves, “What would Wenona do?” and then go from there.

That got a laugh out of Thurrin and a smile from everyone else at the table.

A few more members of the crew came and went, some staying to eat their meal, others just stopping in to congratulate Mike on his new position. Many even extended their welcomes to Simmo, and those who didn’t at least gave her a respectful nod before they shuffled off to their posts or whatever activities they had planned.

Mike smiled and closed his eyes as he listened to the conversations going on at the table around him. 

Yeah, he’d been quick in his decision to come back, but like Wenona, he’d given it a fair amount of thought. Coming back to the Gladius was where he wanted to be and where he would be happiest. And even though Wenona wasn’t here this time, he was glad he’d been able to learn from her and fight with her, and most importantly, call her his friend. He was glad they were both where they needed to be right now. And after this mission was done in eight partecs, they’d catch up again and see how much the other had grown in the meantime.

Until then? Right now? He just felt warm. He felt like he was home. And in many ways, he was. The Gladius had become his home as much as Earth was. There were so many adventures and memories to be made in front of him. It was all he could ever want!

The opportunities before him were as endless as the expanse of stars they were off to explore, and he for one, would be enjoying every moment of it.

 * * * * *

Author’s Notes

[thewildwaffle]

Abduction - Chapter 28

Thanks for the patience for this chapter. The next one won’t be as long to post (seeing as it’s already well-underway because it was going to be part of this chapter before it turned into a huge monster of a chapter) Thank you to everyone reading and especially those that have given feedback or encouragement! This story is almost done and it would have never gotten this far without you!

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How does life with humans get so crazy?

That was a question that was on repeat in Thurrin’s head as she ran.

One partec you’re living your life, working your dream job, minding your own business (meaning, of course for Thurrin, sticking her nose into everyone else’s business), and then the next partec, you’re running for your life on a hostile alien ship while looking for more aliens you thought had died.

Can life get crazier?

“I bet it could,” Vern panted next to her as they rounded yet another corner. “You just got to roll with it though. Adaptation is the key to survival.”

Thurrin didn’t realize she’d said anything out loud and her fur heated slightly. “Adaptation, huh? Humanity’s superpower?”

A patrol of guards appeared in front of them. Barely slowing her pace, Kylee held out one arm as he ran into the guards, clotheslining them (as Thurrin would later learn that move was called), grabbed the third guard with her other arm as she turned, picking up the unbalanced and surprised guard before tossing them into the other guards on the floor.

Vern grinned at Thurrin. “Yeah well, that’s what they say.” He looked down at the tracker device in his hands that Booka Vern had given them. “Nice moves. By the way Kylee, I think your arm’s bleeding.”

“Is it?” Kylee checked herself over. It didn’t take long to see what Vern had pointed out. There was a rip in the fabric over her upper arm. Thurrin gasped inwardly at the mess. Blood had already started drying on the frayed ends of the fabric and on her skin. How had she not noticed such a wound?!

“Must have happened back in the docking bay.” She looked around the corners of the hall’s intersection for more approaching guards. “Ooh. I can feel it now that I know it’s there. Dang, I think I got a few more around my shoulder.”

“Are you going to be okay?” Thurrin’s whiskers twitched anxiously. Kylee had led the charge from the ship. She felt bad that she had also taken the brunt of the damage.

Vern helped inspect the wounds. He pulled out a bandage from the small first aid kit they’d brought along and wrapped it tightly over the worst of the cuts. “I’m surprised you just noticed them now. Guess you have adrenaline to thank for that, but it might suck later.” Finishing up, he stepped back and over the fallen guards. Looking down at them, he smiled, “You’ve got some moves though.  Where’d you learn how to fight like that?”

 “I grew up with three older brothers.” She nodded to the tracker. “See anything yet?”

Vern looked down and studied the screen for a moment. “We’re definitely getting closer, but no hard data on screen yet. I think we’re at least on the right level now though.” He started toward the intersection and gave one last look at the fallen guards. “Your brothers teach you to fight dirty?”

Thurrin and Kylee followed behind him. “What? Oh no, sorry, neither. I have brothers, but they were picked on big-time while we were growing up. So I beat up their bullies.” 

Vern chuckled. Only a few steps down the corridor, the machine in his hands started beeping. All three of them crowded around the device to see. Two dots sat in the middle of the screen. Two humans - Kylee and Vern. On the very edge of the screen were two more dots.

“Well,” Vern hustled down the hall, “Unless the Burnti have more humans aboard, I think we just found Mike and Wenona.” 

And Jeb too, hopefully, Thurrin thought. She would have said it aloud, but it was all she could do now to keep up with Kylee and Vern. She ran on all fours behind them. She had nearly outrun them before, but now was struggling to keep up. Humans weren’t especially fast, but what they lacked in speed, they made up for in endurance.

She kept up as best as she could, the corners were especially tricky- the humans didn’t have to slow down to take the turns, they just kind of leaned in as they went. Their balance was pretty impressive for only having two legs and no tail. Thurrin, trying to keep up with them had to bank the turns since these halls had no grippy pads on the floors. Sure, the shiny floors look nice, but they’re too slippery!

They passed a few aliens in the halls, not guards, who quacked, chirruped, or squealed in surprise as they rushed by.

“How close are we to them?” Kylee yelled.

“Not far,” Vern called back. “They’re in some room at the end of a hall. It’s just a little bit-!”

A loud tone interrupted and nearly made all three of them stumble. A voice that sent shivers down Thurrin’s back followed, “This is Fleet Commander Rozar. Humans have escaped. Armed and dangerous. Kill on sight.”

All three of them stopped and gaped at the nearest speaker. Thurrin's fur darkened to a cold pale red.

"What do we do now?" Vern whispered.

Kylee was the first to recover. She shook her head and took a deep breath. "This changes nothing. We knew this would be dangerous." She nodded to the tracker in Vern's hands. "How close are we?"

Vern looked down and studied the screen. "Close. Just a few corridors down."

As they started on their way again, a strange noise started echoing from ahead of them. It was short, fast, and seemed to shake the air around them. The two humans looked at each other.

“Is that…?” Kylee held her breath to listen.

Vern looked back to Thurrin then forward, listening as well. “I… I don’t know.” He picked up the pace. “We got to hurry, come on!”

Thurrin kept her ears pointed straight ahead as they ran, trying to figure out what the sound was coming from. Whatever it was, it seemed to have spooked the humans. Spooked humans are a good cause for concern. Was it maybe some horrible creature the Burnti had released to kill Mike and Wenona? As they got closer, it was definitely starting to sound like an animal of the dangerous sort. 

Thurrin’s muscles burned, but she tore ahead with a new burst of speed. Her friends were in danger! She’d claw the frewan out of whatever it was that trying to harm them! She could hear hurried steps coming from around the next corner. She led Kylee and Vern around the turn and-

THUD!

The impact was like hitting a padded brick wall. The animal noise that had been worrying her so much morphed into a surprised, high-pitch yelp. Thurrin lost her footing and tumbled paws over head a few tail-lengths before coming to a stop. She swore she could see little fireballs dancing around her vision.

“What the-?”

“What just happened?”

The loud animal bark noise was back.

“...THURRIN?”

That last voice was deep and familiar. She blinked a few times to clear her head. She looked up and nearly cried. “Jebannuck!” She tried to smile as she panted. She managed to get her paws underneath her body as one of his old lines to her came to mind, “well, where are you sneaking off to?”

Thurrin had hoped to get some sort of laugh out of Jeb, but at that moment, her vision was filled with a large, dark, sniffing nose.

“Ack!” She batted at the offending muzzle in surprise and leapt to her feet. Unfortunately, the nose followed her.

“Carson, down, come on.” The nose was pulled back and Thurrin could see it belonged to a brown, four-legged monster. It was huge! Pulling the creature away though was Mike. MIKE! Already, her fur was slowly starting to lay flat again.

“A dog?” Vern stepped next to Mike and stroked the creature on the head. Thurrin recognized the action, as Wenona had done that to her absent-mindedly when they first met. She knew it felt nice.

“Where the heck did you get a dog?” Vern continued as he scratched the creature’s long floppy ears. Thurrin tried her best to keep her own ears from going back. She wasn’t jealous. Or so she told herself.

“Long story. Burnti were trying to study Earth-life and dog-napped him. And us, indirectly I guess.” Mike held out his hand to Vern who grabbed his hand and shook it.

‘So that’s what human greetings are supposed to be like,’ Thurrin thought to herself.

Her attention turned back to the dog. Whatever it was, it was apparently on good terms with the humans. That was enough for her, right? She shuffled forward and reached out with a paw to pat the creature’s muzzle gently. The dog sniffed at her paw and gave it a lick. Her ears flickered and she felt her fur heat up just a bit. This thing wasn’t a sentient creature, was it? Well, even if it was, how would it know how forward of a gesture that was in Booka culture?

Mike smiled. “You got my Morse-code message then?”

Kylee smiled and let out a short burst of air from her nose, “Yeah, eventually. It took a while to get someone who could decipher what you were doing. You couldn’t have gone with a simple SOS?”

Wenona chuckled quietly. Mike frowned, “Hey, you didn’t think of that either you know.”

“No, you’re fine Mike,” Vern made a waving motion with a hand toward Kylee and Wenona. “It was good information and we got a bit more of an idea of what we were coming into to get you.” He turned back down the hall they had come from. “I’m sure you heard the announcement just a bit ago?”

“We were in the same room when it was made,” a new voice said gruffly. Thurrin looked and was surprised to see a Montauk of all creatures. Her fur poofed up and darkened a bit again. What, by all that is bright and shining was a Montauk doing here? With her humans?! It was then that she noticed Wenona. Something must have happened, she had to be hurt. There was no other way she’d let anyone carry her like that for any other reason.

“Wenona,” Thurrin bound to her and Jeb, “Are you alright?” She left ‘what did that monster do to you’ unsaid, but she shot a dirty look to the Montauk.

“I’m fine,” Wenona forced a smile for her friend. It was at that moment that Jebannuck had to readjust his hold and jostled her a bit. She winced.

“Sorry,” Jeb frowned.

The Montauk pushed past to follow where Vern was inching backwards down the hall. “None of us are going to be fine if we stay around here much longer.”

Thurrin scowled as she passed. When she turned to follow, she got a face full of “dog” who had come up to sniff curiously at her again. Instinctively, her fur flared in surprise, wisps of faux flames leaping from her tail. Both she and the dog jumped back from each other and studied each other for a moment. It was only a moment though. As much as she hated to admit it, the Montauk was right, they couldn’t stick around. It was “kill on sight” for the humans, and she was sure that extended to the rest of them as well.

“Can you get us back to your ship,” Mike asked as he pulled the dog back to his side and started down the hall. Jebbanuck followed immediately behind. Thurrin took the rear, making sure no one snuck up from behind on the group as they went.

“Vern’s got a tracker,” Kylee answered, “It’s set to human DNA, that’s how we found you.”

“So there are more humans on your ship?”

“No,” Kylee handed a spare blaster to Mike as they jogged down the hall, “we weren’t sure what state we’d find you in or what state we’d be in after trying to get you out, so Demfar came prepared. He’s got a bag of O- blood on board just in case. It’s enough for the tracker to pick up on.”

“Why would you need a bag of blood?” The Montauk looked back at them, confused and a bit perturbed.

“Emergency transfusion,” Kylee was starting to pant now. They hadn’t had much time to catch their breath before starting to run for their lives again. “Knock on wood that no one gets hurt badly enough to need it.”

The Montauk clicked her mandibles as she ran. Even from the back, Thurrin could hear her mutter, “Blood transfusions? How does that-? I don’t- Humans are so flarging weird.”

It wasn’t long before they ran into others in the corridors. The first few weren’t guards, just a few gangly bipeds carrying large bags. They threw themselves out of the way as the group barreled past, shock, and fear plastered on their faces as they did their best to become one with the walls. After they passed, Thurrin looked back to see them stumble and turn around to start running down the hall in the opposite direction.

The first set of guards they came across actually met up with them at a “T” intersection. They nearly ran into the middle of the fugitive pack. Unfortunately for the guards, that’s where the dog was. Before they could fire off an accurate shot at anyone, Mike had let go of the collar around its neck and it tore at them with a ferocious growl. In almost no time, they were on the ground, out cold from either the attack itself or just from fear, Thurrin wasn’t sure. She felt stunned as they ran.

Humans could be terrifying. At first glance, you wouldn’t think so. At first glance, they’re actually sort of cute by most species’ standards. Then you get to know them and what they’re capable of. Some of it doesn’t seem real, but then you see them in action and it becomes very real. And then you learn more about their home and where they come from and it starts making sense. They can take something as scary as a huge dog and not only be unafraid of it, but bond with it, protect it, be protected by it. Humans were strong, but humans with bonds and alliances were even stronger.

“By blue stars!” a voice from ahead pulled her out of her thoughts. She looked up, it was the Montauk. The corridor had widened out along this stretch, which was a good sign that they were on the right track back to the ship. The Montauk - Simmo or something wasn’t it?- was staring at a messy scene on the other side of the corridor. Thurrin noticed the feathers first. They were everywhere, and there was something about them that seemed familiar…

“Don’t touch the feathers,” Jebbanuck pushed through the paused group, urging them forward. “It’s a greable death bird. It was in the same cell block that I was in earlier. And so was that… thing.”

Thurrin followed tentatively, careful to avoid contact with the dangerous strewn feathers. Then she saw the “thing” Jeb was referring to. It was black and white and covered with yellowish blood that belonged to the death bird that was almost two times bigger than it. Its black tail was poofed and raised high behind it, while in the front, its teeth in its triangular mouth were biting and snapping at the greable. Thurrin was VERY thankful for the wide hall here, but even then, the two creatures were moving and thrashing about so much, she was worried about someone getting caught up in it before they could pass by.

A few more corridors connected along the hall, but their openings were right along where the two deadly creatures were. Thurrin heard before she saw, Burnti guards running down one hall towards them, opening fire as they came up. Mike grabbed Simmo and pulled her behind him. He reached out for Thurrin, but as he did, one of the shots glanced him in the back and sent him crumpling to the floor.

“Mike!” Both Thurrin and Simmo screamed. Thurrin felt her heart and fur freeze. She had known, hadn’t she?- that this would be dangerous? That they might not make it out alive? But knowing before didn’t stop how she felt now. She felt she had no control over her body as she bounded towards Mike. It hadn’t been a direct hit. He had to be okay, he just had to be!

The blaster shots stopped, but Thurrin barely noticed. She checked for breathing and rested a paw on Mike’s neck. Like with many species, it was a vulnerable spot and she could feel a pulse. Praise the Star Weaver! She could feel a pulse!

She jumped a bit when Simmo squatted down next to her. Her shoulders felt tense, but she watched warily as the Montauk checked him over. She did her best to stay calm until Simmo started smacking him with the broad side of her claws!

“Hey!” Thurrin protested claws retracted to defend her friend.

“Wake up Mike, come on, wake up,” Simmo glanced up at Thurrin with a strange expression. Was that worry on her face? Concern? Thurrin wasn’t really sure. She’d never seen a Montauk with an expression like that before.

A groan from Mike made them both look down at him. Against all odds, he was already waking up! Did he realize how close he came to being dead?!

“Can you pick him up?” Thurrin asked. “We need to get out of here.” She looked to where the guards had been shooting. They’d retreated and it soon became clear what had happened. It had taken them a moment to notice the greable death bird and the strange black and white creature, but once they did, they had backed back into the corridor around the corner, peeking out to try to make a better assessment of the situation.

“I can help,” Kylee was at their side and together they were able to get Mike vertical again. He was starting to come around, at least enough to take a bit of his own weight. Kylee had his arm draped around her shoulder and had Simmo get his other side.

Thurrin looked dubiously at Kylee’s wounded arm. “Are you sure you can do this? You’re hurt too.”

Kylee didn’t respond, but Thurrin noticed her wincing and clenching her jaw tightly.

“He saved my life again,” Simmo was starting to breathe heavily as they began hurrying toward the exit. Thurrin let them pass as she took the rear of the group. “Again?” she wondered at Simmo's words. What had happened since Mike and Wenona had been gone. Apparently a lot.

She took one last look behind her as they left the room to make sure they weren’t being followed. She saw more guards enter the other side of the hall, only to be stopped in their tracks when they finally noticed the fighting creatures blocking their way. 

Most guards backed away quickly, panic coloring every part of their faces as they recognized the greable, and that it was fighting something that could actually hold its own against it. The large greable was screeching in pain, a rare sound that is known to rupture sensitive ears of at least two different species in the Galactic Confederation. Its opponent was making a fur-chilling screaming noise as it hacked and bit and sliced its way through the greable.

 It was winning. It was… it was killing a death bird!

“What in gadring is that thing?!” Thurrin yelled as she caught up with the rest of the group.

The humans, Mike included, almost in unison answered, “Honey badger.”

Vern led the way back through a hall off to the left. Still a bit shocked, Thurrin, Jeb, and Simmo paused a moment, gaping at the bloody battle now behind them. Wenona, still in Jeb’s arms tapped him on the chest, snapping him out of it. “Let’s go,” he followed the humans who were now sprinting down what they had dubbed “the home stretch” earlier. “That thing should slow down any guards coming our way from behind.”

“I take it you and Wenona weren’t the only ones abducted from Earth, huh?” Vern looked back at the group as everyone caught up.

Mike nodded. “We’re the only humans though. Rozar wanted to use us to destabilize Earth’s alliance with the GC.” “Well, he managed that at least,” Kylee muttered angrily.

“Wait, what?” Mike blinked in surprise. Or pain? Thurrin wasn’t sure.

“Shh…” Vern stopped and turned back to everyone. Thurrin tilted her ears forward. The docking bay they’d left the ship in was just around the corner and she could hear the noises of the guards that were blocking them from their getaway.

“What do you mean he succeeded?” Mike whispered angrily. Both Vern and Simmo shot him a look to keep it down.

“That’s why he wants us dead,” Wenona whispered. “He wants an alliance with Earth, but if the truth gets out about what he did to get it…”

Kylee nodded, “We need to make sure that that truth gets out. Getting you two out of here will be proof. The United-Earth Space Embassy is still allied with the GC, but we can make sure no rogue governments will sympathize with the Burnti after what they’ve done, after what Rozar just ordered.”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” Simmo cut in, “But we still have a docking bay full of guards between us and the ship.

"Right," Jeb frowned at the corner that was currently hiding them from the said bay of guards. "Wenona, will you be alright if I put you down for a moment." She nodded and he carefully set her down. Thurrin noticed she leaned heavily against the wall.

Jeb strode to the corner to assess the docking bay. "I'm assuming the ship they've surrounded is the one we're needing to board?"

Kylee nodded. "That's the one. Demfar is still aboard. As soon as we're clear he'll deactivate Vern's taser Shields and unlock the ship for us."

"Taser Shields?" Jeb turned back to Vern, looking a bit impressed. "That was experimental technology. It's been released? You know how to install and operate it?"

"Not me," Human Vern shook his head. "Booka Vern. He's from our crew. He led the development team that built it and he gave us his prototype before we left. And this tracker," he lifted the machine in his hands slightly. "As well as the signal dampener on the ship and the security scrambler we planted on a console on the bay when we left.”

Jeb’s brow quirked and he looked like he might ask more, but froze as the shouts and footsteps of approaching guards started coming from behind the group.

“Frewan,” Jeb muttered. “They found a detour.” He stepped toward Wenona to pick her up again when the first of the guards rounded the corner.

It was fast - a white, short-furred quadruped with massive shoulders. It seemed to have the same problem as Thurrin had had earlier with taking corners and had banked the corner to make it at full-speed. It must not have been expecting to catch up with them so quickly though. Thurrin caught a split tick of surprise on its face before it barreled straight into Simmo and Carson. The dog let out a surprised and angry yelp as they tumbled. There was a loud THUNK as bodies hit the wall. The white alien was up on its feet almost instantly. It looked quickly around at the group and growled. Carson responded with an even more terrifying growl. The guard looked down at the dog baring his fangs, and before they could do anything else about it, Vern lunged and punched them square in their jaw. They went down like a sack of pebbles.

Vern swore and dropped the tracker. His now-free hand clutched the one he had just punched with. “That was such a bad idea. I think something’s broken.”

Thurrin’s ears flickered at more sounds coming from the hall. “We got more incoming!” She leaped over to human Vern and picked up the tracker. It looked like it was in bad shape from being dropped, but hopefully, it would still do its job to alert Demfar that they were here so he could let them in. She turned and ran to the docking bay. Everyone was quick to follow.

The guards likely hadn’t been waiting for them to return. They’d been more concerned with getting their work area back in order and getting into the captured ship.

Thurrin rushed through the legs of the first few guards. By the time their surprise settled and they registered her presence, the rest of her group were on them. Jeb was first. He twisted his shoulder down and into the guards without hurting Wenona in his arms. He barreled through and knocked several guards to the ground. Those left still standing had to deal with Carson and the others as they charged in.

Thurrin, without slowing a moment, took cover under a loaded workbench. No one noticed her in all the commotion. She smacked the device in her paws. It didn’t respond. Frewan. Booka Vern was going to irate that this thing was broken. Thurrin looked up and leaned forward to look at their ship. What was much more important right now though, was the fact that the tracker couldn’t open the doors for them. Demfar would have to do that manually. She reactivated her comm device and waited for the sound of the connection click.

“Demfar, can you hear me? We need you to drop the taser shields and open the doors to the shuttle NOW!”

“Thurrin?” Demfar’s voice sounded quiet and confused. “I thought we were still in radio silence. Are you and the others okay?”

“Yes, but not for long. The tracker’s down and we can’t open the doors on our end, we need you to do it manually!”

“I’ve got it, taser shields are down. The security on the doors will take just a moment.”

If he said anything else, Thurrin didn’t hear it. At that moment, the entire workbench she was under crashed to its side, toppling it and everything on it to the floor and onto Thurrin. A rocky-skinned guard lay on its back on top of the mess. 

Thurrin worked her way out of the rubble to see Kylee fight off another guard with her good arm. She threw punches and dodged hits and blasts, covering for Simmo and Mike who were limping quickly behind her. Mike didn’t look great, but Thurrin watched amazed as he pushed through or ignored the pain to swing and push aside any guards that slipped past Kylee and Simmo. In fact, he was attacking with such a ferocity that Simmo had to let go of him and step back.

That couldn’t be good. How did he get that much energy? He was hurt! What was he thinking? He shouldn't be standing let alone fighting!

Then it hit her. He wasn’t thinking. Or maybe, he was, but he was thinking about the last time he’d been injured and fighting for his life on an alien ship. He’s panicking. He’s dangerous, she noted as he wrestled with a bulky gray guard, but in this state, he’s just as much a danger to himself.

Thurrin winced as she took off her pack. She could feel sore muscles and contusions forming already, but she shoved the useless tracker into the bag and returned it to her back. With all her paws now free, she leaped into the fray to defend her friend.

She wasn’t sure where everyone else was in all this mess, but she knew Mike needed her help now. He couldn’t do this alone.

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