#jebannuck

[thewildwaffle]

Inktober drawings- Abduction scenes

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

[thewildwaffle]

Abduction - Chapter 31

I had scheduled this to be posted this morning but had accidentally set the wrong day, so I hope no one thought I was just pulling an April Fools Day joke and not posting it at all. I was thinking of posting a joke chapter (maybe a few paragraphs long) but I thought of it too late and my brain just doesn’t want to work anymore right now. Maybe later though.

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***

Jebannuck nudged his food with the blunt end of his utensil. He hadn’t eaten since he’d first woken up, and it was now late in the cycle. He just couldn’t find any interest in the sauteed parteem stems right now.

His humans were leaving today.

“Are you just going to push those around your plate forever, or are you actually going to ingest them?” Simmo pestered him from across the table. Since being released from the medical ward, Simmo had been granted restricted clearance aboard the Rock Base. It was actually quite restricted and only granted after a few threats (mostly from the humans, but some from Jeb about reporting the illegality of their attempt to remove her from Demfar’s care without authorization earlier.) One requirement to Simmo’s freedom was that she was to always be accompanied, and if she wasn’t with Mike or Wenona, she was usually with him.

Jebannuck looked up from his uneaten meal at her. Her compound eyes stared back coolly. He sighed. He really should eat, but his stomach felt too tangled up to hold anything. He grunted and pushed the plate across the table to her. Her antenna flicked as she looked the food over. After a moment, she speared one of the stems with her claws and slid it into her mouth.

“These are better when they’re not cooked,” she managed to say between bites. “Makes them mushy.”

Jebannuck nodded half-heartedly as he rested his chin on his hand. He wasn’t sure why he felt like this. He should be happy. Mike and Wenona were going home, back to their normal lives before they were abducted. Back to Earth where they could get help and get their lives back together.

He suspected he felt this way because… well because…

He exhaled and leaned back in his seat. Simmo, who was still munching away quietly, eyed him curiously.

“What’s with the long face?”

Jeb looked up. He raised one eyebrow. “Long face?” He brushed his chin with to make sure nothing was wrong he hadn’t noticed. “Does my face look different than it usually does?”

Simmo’s eyes suddenly shone bright, smug that she knew something he didn’t. “It’s a human expression. Mike told me a few so I would better understand conversations on Earth. It means, ``Why do you look so sad?””

Jeb’s hand dropped back down to his lap as he frowned.

“I’m… not sad.”

Simmo growled.

“Why would I be sad?” Jebannuck countered. “Today is a happy day. Mike and Wenona are finally going home, it’s what they’ve been trying to do for partecs now. I’m glad for them.”

Simmo studied him for a moment. “You’re going to miss them.”

Jebannuck opened his mouth automatically to respond, but he didn’t know what he wanted to say. Before he could make up his mind though, he was interrupted by a loud voice from the other side of the cafeteria.

“Well if it isn’t Jebannuck Sefra! I hear you’re back from the dead!”

Jeb looked to the source of the voice. A large, hairy, red biet was strolling in followed by two squifra. He recognized them.

“Biet Tungs Arku, is that really you?”

“In the fur!” Tungs laughed and as she approached the table. She gave Simmo a side glance before sitting down. The squifra joined as well, side fins up cheerily, but giving the Montauk plenty of space.

“We would have come to visit you earlier,” Tungs continued, “but we’ve been busy with finalizing the repairs on our ship.” “You’re still on the ESS Butel?”

“Still am. So is Burrek here,” she motioned to the shorter squifra with a mostly green-colored skin patterns.

“Good to see you Burrek,” Jebannuck nodded respectively. Burrek had served under him while stationed on the ESS Butel as the Chief of Security. They didn’t get along amazingly well, but kept things cordial enough to do their respective jobs. He had been promoted once Jebannuck had transferred to the Gladius.

“I’d like to say it’s been quiet since you left, but, well, we’ve added another human to the crew, so you know it’s probably good you got out when you did.”

“What do you mean?”

Tung and Burrek shared a look with each other. “Well, it’s no secret you weren’t a huge fan of Humans Derrek and Carl, and then you go and get marooned on a Death World and then held hostage by the Burnti with two of them. Just you and them, up close and personal.”

Simmo made a loud set of clicking noises with her mandibles. Tung gave her a quick glance and ammended, “and a Montauk.”

“I heard they’re going back to Earth today,” Burrek added. “That must be a bit of relief for you. Well, at least for a while. I’m sure humans will be officially integrated into your crew soon. Most ships in the fleet have a few.”

“Poor Jebannuck,” Tung laughed, “Try as you can, you just can’t seem to escape them huh? Oh, Burrek, do you remember the time Human Derrek pulled that prank on ol’ Jebannuck?” She bowed over with laughter, her voice seemed to shake the air around them. “It was so funny, and Jebannuck was so mad! Oh!” She took a few deep breaths to steady herself. “Oh. It must have been hard for you. After I mean. You thought you’d gotten away from humans and then had to go through all… that ordeal. That must have been hard.”

She waited for an answer, but none came.

“Jebannuck?”

Still nothing.

“Hey Jeb,” Simmo pushed aside the rest of the plate of parteem stems and stood up, “it’s almost time for that meeting. We’re going to be late.”

Jeb looked up, confused but relieved. “Biet Tungs, Squifra Burrek,” he nodded politely to the other squifra he hadn’t been introduced to, “I must accompany our friend here. It’s been… a pleasure to run into you. Safe travels and infinite horizons to you all if I don’t see you before we leave.” And he stood up and followed Simmo out of the cafeteria. 

They walked down the hall for a while in silence before Jeb turned to Simmo. “I wasn’t aware we had a meeting.” “We don’t. I could tell you were getting upset.”

He stopped. She stopped.

“Upset?”

She blinked her compound eyes silently at him.

“What do you mean. Why would I be upset?”

Simmo flicked her antenna, annoyed.

They stood there, staring at each other in the almost empty hall. A few couriers hustled past them, trying to get their packages delivered quickly as well as put some distance between themselves and the Montauk. Jeb’s frown finally broke and he sighed deeply.

“Back there...I was reminded… when she talked about… I used to be so… but…” He groaned at himself inwardly. There were very few moments in his life where he ever struggled to find words. Two of them now were when he was talking to or about Mike and Wenona.

Simmo just stared at him. “They changed you.” She sighed and nodded. “Yeah, I get that. Seems to be what humans are good at.”

A smile played on the edge of Jeb’s mouth. “They’ve changed you a lot too.” Simmo sneered and tossed her head. 

Jeb couldn’t help but let the smile completely spread across his face. “Come on, they should be getting done soon. We should go help make sure they’re ready to go.” He started down the hallway, looking back slightly to make sure she was following. “You’re really set and determined to go with them?”

Simmo scoffed. “Verses what? Staying here stuck being babysat by you the rest of my life? No thanks.”

Jeb didn’t want to get into it with her that she did have other options. She knew that. She’d made up her mind already and no force was going to stop her, and he wished her the best. He smiled to himself. Friends with a Montauk. Simmo. He really did wish her the best on the human home planet.

“Earth it is then.”

***   *   ***

It had been two years. That’s what they're called here. Two sets of 365 local planetary rotations to orbit the local star.

Whoo-hoo.

Simmo smiled smugly to herself. She was getting pretty good at human phrases. Whoo-hoo was a very fun one, albeit too energetic for her tastes to use unironically. It was much more fun to use it with sarcasm. And oh, did she enjoy sarcasm. It’s not solely a human thing, but they did have it down to an art.

With a final tug, she finished ratcheting a bolt into place. There. That should do it. This stupid bucket of bolts should be ready to fly now. It had better be, she’d spent a good chunk of this past month working on the dumb shuttle. It was an older model, but her new employers, Near Star, hadn’t phased it out, much to her chagrin. She would fix one thing only to find two more problems with it.

She wiped a bit of oil and grit off on a rag as she stepped back. Her thorax ached, but she felt satisfied with the job. She’d just need to test it to make sure everything was good to go. The next part of her job was less satisfying. Paperwork.

She threw the rag onto a desk and walked around the shuttle, stretching and admiring her work.

A thought struck her. Life was crazy. It was a thought she had a lot, but it felt really poignant today. Life is so fluid, it could just change shape and alter course as if on some whim. She was proof of that. Life had been rough to her, then full of adventure. It gave her a family, then treacherously stole them away. It left her desperate, injured, captured, then decided to gift her peace and quiet, with new friends and family, a quiet life with simple tasks to do and a home on a death world of all places.

She had had a good year living with Mike and Wenona. She had learned a lot. She met world leaders, ate the sweetest foods she’d ever had before in her life, nearly baked to death in the desert, and swam in an ocean. Well, she didn’t really swim. She waded in it a bit to appease Mike before getting the heck out of the water. She had read up on what lives in there. Flargin’ monsters of the deep, that’s what. It was also huge, and way too salty. It terrified her on a primal level, though she’d never admit it.

Her phone rang and pulled her from her mental meanderings. She went to fetch it from her cubby. It was a primitive thing, even by human standards. Their newer phones that were more “smart” mostly used screen interfaces that did not cooperate well with her exoskeletal, sharp hands. This one folded in half and had soft buttons for her to push.

“Hello?”

“Ahoy Simster!”

There were only two beings in this plane of reality that would ever be permitted to live after calling her that, and only one ever did it regularly.

“What do you want Mike?”

“Well, I was just wondering for no real reason, but have you heard anything from the Galactic Confederation lately?”

“I hear what’s in the news. That’s it.”

“They… haven’t contacted you or anything?”

“No.”

“Nothing at all? No incoming messages, or phone calls, or… did we ever help you set up an email?”

“Mike, I’m at work, you want to maybe get to your point?”

“Well I just think it’s weird you haven’t heard anything yet is all!”

“Mike.”

“Well, I guess it only has been an hour. Well, almost an hour.  I’m just so excited! I’m not going to spoil it though, but if you don’t hear from them by the end of the day, I just might. I’m going to be back in Arizona in about two days.”

“Two days?” Simmo caught that part with a frown and held the phone a little closer to her tympanal to make sure she was hearing alright. “I thought your training went on for another two weeks. What do you mean ‘two days?’”

There was a rustle and Mike’s voice on the other side went a little garbled, like he was covering the speaker while yelling something to someone. When he got back on the phone, Simmo could almost hear the stupid grin on his face. “Listen Simmo, I’ve got to go, but yeah, I’m coming back day after tomorrow. They’ve got something new and it’s big. Like, big big!” “Well it sounds awful already,” she grumbled.

“Hey, let me know if they get in touch with you or not. I’m not doing it without you, or, you know without you being able to chose to or not. I mean, no hard feelings if you don’t want to.”

“Mike, you’re making less and less sense the more you talk.”

“Yeah, I know, sorry-love-ya-got-to-go-BYE!”

And with a beep from the little speaker, he was gone.

She folded the phone and put it away with a hiss. What, by all that is bright and shining, was that all about? Shaking her head, she started back toward the shuttle with it’s keys to give it a test run when her comm device went off. It was set up similarly to the ones used by the Galactic Confederation (who had probably traded the technology with Earth a few years ago). It was supposed to be set in the local network within Near Star, but it did also have access to the planet-wide internet. She pulled up a holographic screen and read through her messages.

The newest one was from an external source. It was from the United-Earth Space Embassy’s Galactic Confederation Relation’s office. Her hand hovered over it for a while. What could be so big? 

It was a fight inside her mind. On one part, she was nervous and weary. The Galactic Confederation did not hide their disdain for the Montauk race as a whole. What could they possibly want from her? She had found a place to call her own here on Earth, and had somehow started to think of it as home. Life was quiet, but after everything she’d been through, quiet was good. It was more than good. Earth had welcomed her as a hero who had helped save two of their own. All her needs were met, she had want for nothing.

And that, the other side of her mind countered, was part of her problem. Life was good yes, but it was quite sedentary. Her whole life, ever since her second molt, had been on the move. It was a matter of survival then, but it became a part of her. For every shuttle she repaired, she imagined herself boarding it and taking off through the stars.

The problem was she had nowhere to go. No one to go with. Mike and Wenona were her hive now, and they were on Earth.

This was home.

But at the same time, she felt so restless.

She dropped the hologram and paced next to the shuttle. Her mind kept going back and forth like a match of that one weird human sport Wenona’s little sister kept trying to get her to play.

“What am I doing?” she muttered to herself. “I don’t even know what they want. Mike said something about me making a choice,” she pulled the hologram back up. “I should probably find out what decision it is that needs to be made before I go driving myself crazy like this.”

With just a small pause, she opened the message and browsed over all the flowery pomp and circumstance of the first paragraph. Frewan, these people could never just get to the point, could they?

Then she found it- what had gotten Mike so excited. She read it and re-read it to make sure she was understanding it correctly.

This was big.

***

Next Chapter

[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 27

Would you look at that? Got it posted on time! Thanks for the motivation everyone! especially @cyberstrikebeast​ - you don’t need to hunt me down, we good! :D I’m not sure if I’ll get another chapter out before the new year, I will for sure be writing in it since I’m taking time off work, but we’ll see how it goes!

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“For the sake of sanity, ”Simmo hissed, “would you hurry it up!”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Mike whispered back, “am I taking too long? Would you like to do this instead?”

Simmo sighed and clicked her mandibles faintly.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Mike grumbled under his breath as he turned back to the task at hand.

The task was, to be honest, one that 7-year-old Mike would have absolutely loved. They needed to find where Jeb was being held. To do that, they needed a computer that could grant them access to confidential information. To get to a computer that had the right authorization, they needed to break into an information control room. The ship was currently in what Mike referred to as “night mode,” so the control room would be empty. However, that didn’t mean it was easy to get to. Hence the high security in the corridor.

And what a fun security system it was too! Obviously, it must seem impossibly daunting to most- otherwise, the Burnti would never have installed it, but to Mike, it was straight out of his childhood games where he’d imagine he was a secret agent and had to infiltrate the bad guys’ lair. There were lasers to avoid and everything. He could see them, dimly, but they were definitely there. When they’d arrived, he’d had to stop Simmo from walking right into them. She stayed behind as he carefully wove under, over, and around the beams of light, quietly humming the Mission Impossible theme song, much to Simmo’s annoyance.

Currently, he was standing in front of the gate that blocked the hall. He’d climbed up to where it looked like there was a locking mechanism. No luck there. He was stumped for a moment until he noticed the small colored pins inset along the wall. He picked at them, poked at them, twisted, pulled. It was clear they were mechanized. If he tried hard enough, they probably could be moved by hand.

“Do you know if there’s some sort of pattern or whatever for these pins? Like, do I need to match up the blues, or…” He trailed off. He forgot she wouldn’t be much help with this. Simmo, and apparently all Montauk are colorblind. Seeing in color was something only a handful of species could do, or at least, only a handful of species in the Galactic Confederation. Maybe more could see color in the Burnti Empire. That might explain why there’s some sort of color-coding something on this stupid gate.

It took a bit, but eventually, he was able to figure out how the pins were supposed to move when the locks were engaged or disengaged. Moving the first pin out was hard - they were so small! Thankfully, due to the fact that he hadn’t had access to any clippers or files, his nails had grown long enough to pick out the pins so he could work them along their grooves and out of the way. Once he moved a few, it became easier to move the rest.

He grabbed one of the horizontal bars and pulled. It budged, but just barely. He tried again. It rose maybe two inches. Dang, this was heavier than it looked. It didn’t help either that he didn’t have much room to lift - there were two lasers he had to avoid right behind him. Mike turned around and leaned against the gate, trying to figure out the best move.

“Don’t look at me,” Simmo grumbled. “Even if there weren’t all these light sensors, I wouldn’t be much help lifting that thing. Why do you think I brought you along?”

Mike turned back to the gate. “And here I thought it was for my winning personality,” he sighed. He widened his stance and carefully squatted down to the level of the bar he needed. He’d taken a weight-lifting class once in school. He’d been pretty good at it then, and he did his best to keep good form- not that he had much choice. One wrong move and he’d set off the sensors. He grabbed the bar, locked his elbows and lifted with his legs.

Oh boy. If they got out of this, he was going to hit the gym, get back in shape!

The gate lifted enough that he could shuffle his knee under it and give his arms a break. He lifted again and repeated with his shoulders. He carefully stepped over a beam of light on the other side to try to give himself a better stance as he lowered the gate back down. The angle was a bit awkward and it slipped halfway down and slammed loudly against the floor.

Both Mike and Simmo winced involuntarily. Simmo glanced down the hall they had come before turning back to glare at Mike.

He sighed and pretended to brush it off by continuing the rest of the way over the lasers. He was glad Simmo couldn’t see his hands or legs shake, or hear how fast his heart was beating. 

He was able to maneuver the rest of the way without incident. A little stumbling, and a lot of shaking, sure, but he made it.

He let himself take a bit of a breather at the other end, shaking his legs so they’d stop feeling like jelly. “Wow,” he muttered to himself. “Always wanted to do that. Always thought it’d be more fun. Life and death situations seem to suck the fun out of everything.”

He entered the code on the panel like Simmo showed him. The laser light show sensors turned off. Mike’s mind was starting to wander as he thought of what the differences there must be between his and Simmo’s - and whoever designed these things, eyes. Why could he see the beams that were supposed to be invisible? Was it with the cones or rods in the eyes? Was it because of how the brain processed the light? He didn’t get very far in thinking though. A loud clang nearly made him jump out of his skin. The gate was raising. That was the loudest gate he’d ever heard. Why did everything always so loud when you were trying to be quiet? After getting over his initial scare, he cringed as it continued its way up loudly. He really hoped no one else was nearby. They would get caught all because of a stupid gate that desperately needed some WD40. Or whatever the Burnti used.

Simmo quickly made her way over and entered the command to restart the security protocols. Mike wasn’t keen on the idea of having the dang gate move around again, but Simmo assured him it was necessary to maintain their cover while they were in the control room. Thankfully, the mechanism that moved the gate was a lot quieter going down than it was going up.

The control room itself was not exactly what Mike had been expecting. As soon as they opened the door, he anticipated seeing a few cramped desks or tables covered with computers and monitors, star maps, electrical displays, the works. Instead, it was a rather spacious room with large decorative tapestries with several inlets and nooks along the walls. In the middle of the room was an impressively large, round computer console. A few steps away was a set of shelves storing everything from datapads, books, what looked like scrolls, and cylinder can things of various sizes and colors.

“So,” Mike drew out the word as he walked in and looked around and up. This place had a vaulted ceiling? On a spaceship? Classy. “Is this like some sort of library, or…?”

“A what?” Simmo marched immediately towards the computer console. She opened up the holographic display and began entering information.

“You know, a library,” Mike circled the room, checking out the inlets and tapestries. “A place where people keep lots of books and movies and old magazines or whatever. You can read there, or study, or research things?”

Simmo didn’t answer. She was now moving through the readouts on the display and scrolling through what didn’t seem important. Mike ran a hand over one of the tapestries. It swayed with his touch. Behind it, there was a small nook tucked away. Nice. He grabbed the tapestry again to steady it. It was huge - it hung all the way from the ceiling to the floor, and it was beautiful. He wasn’t sure the shapes on it meant anything, they were a little abstract and there were symbols he couldn’t read, but it was beautiful nonetheless. He stared at it a while longer, admiring the handiwork and skill that had gone into its creation before walked back to where Simmo was still looking up where Jeb was being held.

“Any luck?”

“He was put in the brig two levels up from us and in the rear of the ship.”

“Okay. Great! That was fast,” Mike nodded and headed toward the door. “Let’s go get him, let’s… Simmo?”

Simmo didn’t move from her spot. Her antenna flicked slightly, but she kept searching the hologram.

“Uh, Simmo, we’re on a bit of a time crunch here, let’s get a move on.”

“And how do you plan on getting out of here without a ship?”

Mike stopped. “I thought we’re taking yours.” He paused for a moment, waiting for a response. Simmo just continued swiping and searching the computer. “Do you… not know where yours is?”

“It’s been missing for about a partec now. It was supposed to be moved to bay 9 after it was done with some repairs, but it never showed up. Rozar told me to not worry about it, that the repairs were probably just taking longer than expected. Thing is, he never checked into it further. Every time I try to do so myself, I never have clearance.”

Mike’s stomach dropped. That didn’t sound good. They had to find the Junk Lego, it had to be somewhere.

He stepped over to Simmo to help her look. He couldn’t really read many of the symbols on the display but moving felt like something he could do. He needed something to do, needed some way to help. Before he could get far, however, he heard the loud gate outside the corridor being raised again.

“Simmo, someone’s coming! We know where they’re keeping Jeb, let’s get out of here! We’ll figure out where your ship is later.”

But Simmo didn’t move from her spot. Files and reports continued coming up and she kept sifting through each one at incredible speed. Mike stepped closer to her, sizing up how best to grab her and pull her along in a way that wouldn’t end up with him getting cut up by her sharp hands. Suddenly, the screen froze. Mike glanced at the topmost file on display. He still couldn’t read it, and for several tense moments, Simmo couldn’t stop reading it.

“Simmo,” Mike ground out. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears and all this standing around business was beginning to feel torturous. They had to hide!

“My ship,” Simmo whispered without taking her eyes off the display. “It’s gone.”

The loud clanging noises of the gate stopped. Shoot. Mike looked back at Simmo. She must have heard it, even with the control room door being closed. She was still fixated on the screen.

“Simmo!” Mike hissed through his teeth. The voices were right outside the door now, muffled and talking quietly, but getting closer.

Mike slapped at the screen’s controls, shutting it down and all but tackled Simmo and dragged her behind the tapestry. Just in time too - the tapestry was still moving and swaying a bit when the door slid open. Thankfully, the new arrivals were too deep in their conversation to notice. Mike didn’t dare look around to see who it was, but he could swear he recognized the voice of one of the speakers.

“This is not what my people were told,” a silvery voice entered the room. “We’ve waited long enough. The Burnti aren’t the only ones with whom we can make deals.”

“We’ll have the truminium soon now that the Galactic Confederation out of our way.”

Mike shrunk back farther. He knew that second voice. Commander Rozar had one of those very distinct voices.

“That’s been partecs now. You’ve sure been taking your time since,” the silvery voice countered. “Having too much time with your galactic streamings about your little prizes, perhaps?”

Mike tentatively inched to the edge to get a look, being careful to not be seen. Sure enough, there was that grand, feathered sloth jerk himself, talking to an alien Mike had never seen before. She looked very catlike. Larger than a booka, but larger and with a much longer torso with thick spotted gray fur and long antenna-like whiskers all over her body. She was standing on her hind legs, or maybe standing was too generous a term. It was more like she was balancing on her back legs. It’s long, thick tail helped to keep her balanced.

Mike ducked back behind the tapestry. ”What ith that?” he lisped to try to avoid being overheard.

Simmo leaned over to peer around the corner. “Priso. They’re not with the Burnti. They’re from some coalition near the Green Mallak nebula.” “Ok. That doesthn’t help. I have no idea what any of that ith.” 

Simmo made some sort of gesture that Mike had to assume was Montauk sign language for ‘shut up.’ 

Rozar and the priso hadn’t yet noticed they weren’t alone. The priso had said something which caused Rozar to flatten the feathers at the back of his head cooly. “If you’re going to be keeping up with your delightful attitude, you can always spend another cycle or two in a cell.”

The priso shot him an icy glare. “Your diplomacy leaves much to be desired.”

“And what, do tell, are you going to do about it? Complain about me to your superiors? I’m sure they’d applaud the lengths I’ve gone to not outright strangle you.” The priso’s fur ruffled. “Is that a threat?”

“No,” Rozar said calmly, “a statement. Though I’m sure many of your superiors wouldn’t mind if it were. I’m surprised you don’t hear more of them.”

The priso’s ears went flat against her skull, the same with its whisker-like antenna. She bared her teeth and let out a low growl.

“Oh do calm down, Sitran my dear,” Rozar sighed. “That’s what got you in trouble before.” He turned to the computer console and pulled up the display. Mike tensed. He hoped that whatever Simmo had been looking at before wasn’t still there, or if it was, it wouldn’t tip Rozar off that something was wrong. Thankfully, the display had reset itself when they closed it down in their rush.

“Ah, here we are,” Rozar looks closely at the display before turning toward a set of shelves. Picking up a datapad, he activated the display and handed it to the angry priso. “Perhaps this will help allay some ill will. This datapad should include the pertinent communications we’ve had with Earth. Or at least with the governments that have been expressing an interest.”

Sitran took it and began scrolling through with a paw. Her ears came forward and the offended expression on her face melted away into a mix of curiosity and wonder. “These are just the ones that...” she continued to scroll. “How many governments does Earth have?!”

Rozar stepped back toward the main computer console chuckling lightly. “My understanding is that humans just wandered around their planet. When they got too far from each other, they started doing their own things, made their own cultures, formed new languages, and even their widespread appearances changed in some cases to adapt to new environments. In short, there are enough for everyone to share.”

Mike felt a mix of confusion, alarm, and anger. He wished he could just step out there and wipe that smug look right off Rozar’s face. Like he knew anything important about humans! What was that jerk planning?

Rozar,still very much unaware of Mike and Simmo’s presence, was very much enjoying showing off his human-related knowledge.

“There’s a file with everything you need near the top. Several files actually. I’d recommend reviewing the health and safety files thoroughly. There are things you wouldn’t think would pose a health hazard. You wouldn’t want to get something in your paw broken during a customary human hand greeting.”

Simmo leaned into Mike’s ear, “Please tell me that’s not a real thing.”

Mike turned back to her and thought for a moment. “Uh, handshake? I think he’s talking about handshake-th. That’th tho dumb. They don’t hurt”

Simmo didn’t look comforted in the slightest. 

The priso was still looking through the files, fascinated. Her wide eyes were darting across the screen. “I thought most of this was just rumor. Humans sure don’t mess around, do they?”

“Oh no. They certainly do,” Rozar corrected. “That’s part of the problem with working with them. But I imagine that if the Galactic Confederation has been successful at integrating them, then it’s obviously manageable. The rewards vastly outweigh the risks, as you can see in the next file.”

Simmo leaned into Mike’s ear again. “I want a copy of that datapad.”

Mike pushed her face away from his and peeked back out.

“You’ll want to read through the behavioral files as well,” Rozar had now moved over near Sitran and was pointing out the folder in question. “We’ve tried to log as much information as extensively as we can, but it’s very much an ongoing endeavor. Our own humans have been exceptionally-”

The door slid open again. Mike jumped back a bit out of habit to avoid detection. He didn’t really need to, the new arrivals, a pair of yellow guards immediately rushed in and saluted Rozar.

“Commander,” the shorter of the pair rushed, she sounded like she was out of breath, “We have apprehended a ship, sir.”

“The escaped prisoners?”

“No sir, a Galactic Confederation ship.” That got Rozar’s full attention. 

Rozar ignored a quirked look from Sitran. “Come again? A Galactic Confederation ship?”

“Yes sir, we were in pursuit of the escaped prisoners and they came out of nowhere sir. By the time we had them, the prisoners had gone to hyperspeed.” “A diversion perhaps?” Sitran mused.

“Quite possible. Two of the three missing prisoners were Confederation officers, I believe.” Rozar’s tail swayed dramatically from side to side, red and purple feathers brushed lightly on the floor. “They helped them get away and let themselves be captured. We’ll know for sure after we’ve interrogated them. And then we’ll make an example of them for the rest of the meddlesome Confederation fools.”

The guards suddenly looked rather sheepish. “Ah, yes, about that,” the second, taller guard started. Rozar snapped his head towards him, which only disconcerted the guard more. “Their ship is still in docking bay 4, but they themselves… aren’t.”

Rozar stared at the pair of them silently for what seemed like forever. Mike leaned out a bit more from behind the tapestry.

“They aren’t… what?” Rozar nearly spat.

The guards shifted uncomfortably. “They… aren’t on their ship anymore. Ah, a few moments after the air seal locks disengaged, three of them rushed the doors and were able to break through the ranks. They, ah, well they are now loose aboard the Arum Bloom, sir.”

Silence.

“They... broke the ranks?”

“Ah, yes… sir. The guards were not prepared for them to leave their ship like that, or leave willingly at all. Several have had to be taken to the infirmary. Two granims have serious concussions and are in critical condi-.”

“How many?”

“Uh, sir?”

“How many Galactic Confederation soldiers are now running amok on my ship?”

The first guard paused nervously. The second piped up, “From the reports we’ve received, there are three, sir.”

Rozar stepped away from the computer console and began pacing slowly, sharp claws clacking against his jaw. Mike slipped a bit back behind his hiding spot as Rozar walked by. The Burnti Fleet Commander had his eyes closed, sure, but he still felt dangerous. Mike could feel the anger and tension building up. He was pretty sure everyone in the room could. Even Simmo, who had barely moved from her hiding spot at all, scooted almost imperceptibly closer to Mike’s side.

“Three.” Rozar sighed deeply. “Three soldiers were able to ‘break your ranks,’ injure several guards, and avoid capture?” Rozar stopped in front of the guards, his feathers puffed out a bit as he arched his neck to look down at the guards. “Please illuminate to me how, by all that is bright and shining, three soldiers were able to, thus far, elude you all.”

Mike did not envy the guards’ position. He knew it was silly, they were Burnti- his captors- but part of him even felt a little bad for them.

One of them, the second one, managed to gather a bit more courage and straighten up. “Two of them were human sir.” 

Mike gasped. Simmo glowered at him.

No one must have heard, thankfully, because the guard continued, “We had scanned their ship as we brought them aboard, but something was interfering with the scan. Before we could completely set up for boarding protocols, two humans and a booka attacked and got away.”

“Well, Commander,” Sitran drawled out dramatically, “It seems you certainly are busy. I can make sure my superiors take this,” he closed the display of the datapad, “as a gift of good faith for the truminium trade, shall I?”

Rozar made a sound that was a mix between a grunt and a growl.

Sitran walked toward the door. The two guards hesitated, unsure if they should try to stop her or not.

“I’ll just see myself out then,” Sitran stepped around them and toward the door, calling back smugly, “Don’t worry, I remember where my ship is, unless of course it’s been moved or stolen in all the commotion lately.”

Mike ducked back to hiding as Rozar stormed by. He was definitely growling now. After a moment, he heard the blips and hums of the computer console as he pulled up the report readouts the guards had brought him. More reports were sent in as the search for the intruders went on.

Simmo quietly thunked her head against the wall. “They are never going to leave. We need to get out of here,” she hissed under her breath.

“There are humans,” Mike whispered back. “They’ve probably come to rescue us!”

“Two humans. Two humans came. Oh, and a booka. Great.” Simmo started to roll her eyes but stopped herself once she realized what she was doing. “Against everyone else aboard the Arum Bloom? They’re idiots for coming at all.”

Mike sighed and leaned to spy on what the other occupants in the room were doing, but before he could, Simmo grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back.

“Now look here you little monster,” her face was right in Mike’s again, “don’t you go getting any stupid ideas. We’re getting out of here as soon as we can. I agreed to take you, Wenona, and for some reason, Jebannuck, but I draw the line there. We are not risking our plans to save more humans on a doomed mission.”

Mike smiled. “Aw, Simmo, you said our plan. Like we’re a team,” he teased. Simmo hissed quietly and pushed him back. It’d been a soft push, sure, but as Mike stepped back from it, he tripped over his other foot and stumbled back, landing on his butt past the tapestry.

He froze. He felt like he could feel every. Single. Heartbeat.

Frewan.

He turned his head to the middle of the room. Maybe Rozar hadn’t seen. Maybe he’d had his back turned and didn’t notice.

Yeah, no such luck.

Rozar stared back at him, surprise coloring his wide golden eyes.

After a few tense heartbeats, the two guards finally snapped out of their shock and pulled their blasters, leveling them right at Mike. 

Before any of them could react further, the control room door opened again. A huge hairy mass raced towards Mike. Booming barks felt like they were shaking the entire room.

“No one shoot!” a familiar voice commanded. “Put your weapons down!”

Mike had his hands full of massive, hairy, very excited dog. By the time he was able to sit back up and wipe the slobber off his face, Wenona had disarmed the guards and was handing their weapons to Jebannuck. She kept her blaster pointed directly at Rozar, but carefully, her eyes wandered to where Mike was trying to settle down Carson.

“Oh, Mike,” her voice bounced cheerily, “I’m glad you’re still alive. Because I’m about ready to kill you.” She dropped the smile. “Where have you been?!”

“Uh,” Mike stood back up, “with Simmo.” He motioned for her to step out from behind the tapestry. She was hesitant, but as soon as Mike had acknowledged her, Carson started sniffing. Then growling. Mike stroked the dog’s head. “It’s ok boy, she’s a friend.” Which earned a simultaneous scoff from Simmo and a quiet “Well…” from Jebannuck.

Simmo cautiously took a step out from behind the tapestry. Carson sniffed eagerly at her while Mike held his collar.

“What is that thing?!”

“That’s Carson,” Mike scratched the dog’s ears. “He’s our unofficial pet until we can get him home to his real owners back on Earth.”

Simmo’s antenna were flat against her head and her mandibles clicked quietly, but she didn’t stop the canine and instead stood stiffly, waiting for it to be over. When Carson was done, he huffed loudly and stood resolutely between Simmo and Mike.

“Simmo,” Rozar’s voice broke the tense silence, “I assume I’m to hold you responsible for at least most of this mess.”

“Quite likely.”

Rozar looked like he was trying to kill Simmo just by glaring at her. He looked like he might say more, but Jebannuck spoke first. “Simmo, are you the one who opened the cells?”

Simmo tilted her head stiffly. “Yeah, whatever. You’re welcome.”

Jebannuck stared at her. “You opened the entire cell block. There were more than just prisoners in there. You almost got me killed.”

“If I’d known it was your cell block, believe me, I would have found another distraction.”

Mike waved them both down. “Okay, fine, it’s fine. I mean, now we don’t need to break Jebannuck out.” Simmo made a long grunting noise and looked away. Mike looked at her, but shook his head and chose to ignore whatever she meant by that. They were together now, and they had to act quickly. “Simmo, you said something earlier about your ship?”

Simmo looked to Rozar who gave the smallest hint of a grin.

“It’s gone.” Simmo clenched her sharp claws. Mike, Jeb, and Wenona glanced at each other. Simmo only had eyes for Rozar Silence. Finally, Wenona, still aiming a blaster at his chest, took a warning step closer.

Rozar sighed. “The parts were useful. Plus,” he sneered, “we didn’t want you getting any bright ideas. Apparently, I was right to be concerned.”

“So we steal another ship. We get out of here,” Wenona said matter-of-factly.

Jebannuck shook his head. “That may be impossible. They’ll have increased guard duty since the last prisoners did that.” “We can take them, we have the blasters.”

“We don’t need to.” Mike jumped in. “There’s a ship, a Galactic Confederation ship.” He nodded at Rozar. “I overheard them earlier.”

“Yeah,” Simmo scoffed, “with its crew now wandering somewhere on the ship.”

Rozar chuckled. Wenona readjusted her aim on him that had been slipping during the conversation. “So what will you do now? Will you steal their ship and save yourselves, or will you get yourselves captured by trying to find them?”

“Shut up, Rozar, no one asked you.” Wenona gave him her iconic glare.

“Shoot him,” Simmo growled. “We don’t need him overhearing our plans so he can stop us once we leave.”

“And give the Burnti a reason to go to war against the Galactic Confederation?” Jebannuck countered. “He’s not just some guard, he’s a fleet commander, and we wouldn’t be doing it in self-defense!”

Wenona sighed and looked back at Jeb. “We can’t just leave him either.”

Rozar used the momentary distraction and dove behind the computer console. Wenona shot a blast which barely missed him as he went, brushing over the feather tips of his tail. Carson barked wildly, pulling Mike who was still holding his collar with him a few steps before Mike could regain footing.

The entire control room erupted with noise and no small amount of panic. The guards, even without weapons, rushed them in order to protect their commander. Wenona swore and tried to move to get another shot at Rozar, but her limp slowed her down. Jeb was able to shoot one of the guards, but the other crashed into Wenona and both of them fell to the floor.

Carson was still barking wildly but was now trying to pull Mike along to defend Wenona. He let go of the dog’s collar and yelled to Jeb to throw him one of the spare blasters. The guard that had attacked Wenona screamed as Carson bit its arm.

A loud tonal beep blared from speakers that must have been installed in the walls or ceiling. Rozar’s voice echoed in the room, outside in the hall, and Mike assumed, everywhere in the ship, “This is Fleet Commander Rozar. Humans have escaped. Armed and dangerous. Kill on sight.”

Mike felt like a bucket of ice water had just been dumped on him. We need to go. We need to go! WE NEED TO GO! He wasn’t sure if he had yelled any of that as he rushed forward and pulled Carson off the alien guard who quickly scrambled away holding its arm tightly to try to stop the purple blood from where they’d been bitten.

Simmo picked up one of the dropped blasters and tried a few more shots towards the computer console at Rozar as Jeb helped Wenona to her feet. She stumbled and gasped in pain.

“For my ship!” Simmo roared as she blasted away at the console. “For my crew!” She rushed the side to get a better angle. Mike couldn’t see if she got him or not as he struggled to pull Carson towards the door. He wished he had some sort of leash to help guide the dog away from the now-cowering guard and toward the door. 

“Carson, come!” The dog grudgingly let Mike pull him along.

Jebannuck was trying to pick up Wenona who was almost bent over with pain.

“What’s wrong?” Mike yelled. “What happened?”

“No time, hold this,” Jeb handed him an extra blaster so he could lift Wenona over his shoulder, using his now free hand to hold her in place as he ran to the door. “Simmo,” he shouted back, “We’re leaving! NOW!”

The montauk was already at his side. She frowned as they headed for the door, “What’s wrong with her?”

Jebannuck didn’t answer immediately. He led the way down the corridor and paused at the next turn. “Did either of you happen to overhear where the Confederation ship is being held?”

Mike thought back for a moment, trying to remember. “Docking bay 4,” He turned to Simmo. “Do you know where that is?”

Simmo paused then nodded and took the lead down the corridor.

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[thewildwaffle]

Abduction - Chapter 25

It’s a very fast-paced chapter. A lot happens and I did my best to make sure it ties in well with the timing of events from the previous chapters. Thanks to everyone for reading along, I’m hoping to wrap this story up fairly soon. Please feel free to leave feedback!

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This wasn’t Jebannuck’s first time aboard a hostile alien ship. Far from it. This was, however, the first time he’d ever been in a situation like this.

He didn’t know why the door to his cell suddenly opened, and at first, he was very cautious. Was someone coming in? Was this an intimidation tactic? Some sort of power play?

But nothing happened.

There were strange sounds coming from beyond the open door. Slowly, he crept toward it, waiting for something to happen. But still, nothing happened. The door was just… open.

Well, he shouldn’t be one to ask a gifted nerg where it came from. He peeked around the corner of his door. To his right, he could see the main door to the hall he had come through when he was first brought here. The guard that was supposed to be stationed at the exit was sprawled out on the floor. Just above him, perched on a bar on the wall was a creature Jebannuck had only read stories about.

Small, winged, four legs, long neck, and long shimmery blue and pink plumage. It must have been what knocked out the guard. A greable death bird. Just a small peck or scratch from it is enough to render even a large adult Biet unconscious for hours. More so if the spores from its feathers enter the wound. Direct or prolonged contact can be fatal.

He backed up slowly, watching the bird who stared back calmly with unblinking eyes. His foot bumped into something small and furry. He jumped. A small black and white four-legged creature was sniffing at his feet. He didn’t recognize it, but he remembered on Gamnut, Mike had described a creature from Earth that seemed very similar to this one and he did not want to be sprayed with any foul-smelling fluids.

The creature, other than the initial sniff, seemed to be completely bored by Jebannuck and wandered off to explore the rest of the cell hall with its residents. There seemed to be plenty- and not just various animals, but also a few other prisoners were starting to investigate why the doors were open. Including Jebannuck, there appeared to be six in total.

“Do you know what’s going on?” A sturdy, orange, bi-pedal alien asked aloud. A few of the other prisoners chimed that they didn’t. A few let out alarmed squawks or shrill chirps as they noticed the various creatures who were now also starting to come out to explore their open doors.

A buggish-looking alien - a Mahben Jeb realized, motioned to him, “You’re a Sefra? You, you’re from the Galactic Confederation?”

“Yes, Jebannuck Sefra, chief security officer for the ESS Gladius. And you?”

“Mahben Glaykur. I was part of the engineering crew for the… well for the former ESS Sicatna. Our ship was destroyed, but a few of my crewmates and I survived in a sealed-off section of the ship in the attack, but,” he looked around at the other prisoners, “I don’t see them here.”

Jebannuck took another look around at the other four prisoners. They weren’t from races in the Galactic Confederation. One wasn’t even one he recognized as a member of the Burnti Empire. They seemed to understand what was being said though if their large tufted ears that seemed to be twitching and following their conversations were anything to go by.

The orange alien- a kalot- who had spoken before stepped towards them. “They’re likely being held in another sector. I would worry more about yourself now though. Our first priority should be getting out of here.” Jebannuck studied the kalot. They were a race of sturdy, warm-blooded bipeds whose small planet was one of the original members of the Burnti Solar Alliance which later grew to become the Burnti Empire. What was he doing in the brig?

The kalot must have noticed Jebannuck’s attention. He gave him a quizzical look.

Jebannuck pointed behind himself. “The control panel to open the door should be over there.” “What?” Chirruped the Mahben, “You mean right under the… is that a flargin’ greable?” “Hmmm…” The kalot turned his attention from Jebannuck to the bird in question. “I’m fairly certain it is, but that appears to be our only way out.”

“Be careful,” Jebannuck warned, “Keep your distance from the… uh, specimens. I don’t know what all of them are, but they all appear to be exotic and/or dangerous.”

As if to emphasize his point, a new creature lumbered out of its cell to enter the short corridor. Jebannuck froze. He didn’t need any explanations or zoological descriptions to know that this creature was dangerous. It screamed dangerous. It was massive. Tall muscular legs ended in sharp-looking hooves. There were what looked like small trees growing from the top of its long head. It stared at them all as if sizing them up. 

The rest of the group turned to look back at what Jebannuck was staring at. There was a collective gasp. Glaykur looked like he was going to pass out.

Jebannuck glanced between the hulking brown beast and the door, or more specifically, the greable above the door. Instinctively, he reached for his blaster. It was, of course, not there. Mentally cursing the Burnti for the millionth time, Jebannuck steadied himself and tensed his muscles as he squared up to the large creature in the back.

“I need everyone to, very carefully, step into the closest open cell,” Jeb kept his voice as low and calm as possible. The other prisoners looked nervously between them before following his orders very slowly. 

The shaggy beast watched them all until it was only Jebannuck left in its sights. Its hairy brown ears flicked angrily and it threw its head back, its massive antlers connecting with the ceiling, leaving a hole in the otherwise pristine architecture. 

Jebannuck lowered his stance, steadying himself in the center of the corridor. “This had better work,” He muttered to himself. The beast bellowed at him. It sounded like a mix between a roar and a saw motor revving. His legs nearly melted like sarrot jelly, but he held his bearings as he filled his lungs to their maximum capacity and yelled back at the huge creature.

The massive antlers were lowered to Jeb’s eye level and the whole, colossal mass started moving toward him at a speed he didn’t think was possible.

There was a moment, just a brief moment when Jebannuck’s mind seemed to pause time. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe. He could only stare forward in terror as his mind thought calmly and quietly, “This is the last thing I’ll see before I die.”

And the moment passed. At the last possible moment, Jebannuck could move again and he dove sideways back into the cell closest to him. The creature barrelled by, stuck in its momentum towards the door. There was a loud hollow smack, followed by cracks and creaks. Metal bent and twisted and gave away and was lost in the sound of the creature’s loud and angry bellows.

With a groan, Jebannuck rolled over and crawled to the edge of the cell. Peeking out, he looked toward the door. Or what was left of it. Metal bars bent beyond recognition. The material in between the bars was completely gone.

Frewan. That door was shot. On one hand, that was great news, but on the other hand, they had lost any hope for stealth. If only he’d been able to get to the control panel! He got to his feet and started for the door. Still, he thought, the door was open, and any nearby guards would be rather preoccupied with that raging behemoth!

He turned to look at the other prisoners behind him. He motioned for them to follow. They might not all be from the Galactic Confederation, but the fact they were here in this place meant they were no friends of the Burnti. Four followed. Which left one.

The alien whose race he didn’t recognize still stood in the corridor. Its long tail curled and flicked back and forth as it just stared at them.

“Come on,” Jebannuck gestured again. Maybe he had assumed wrong that they understood them. Had the Burnti not fitted them with an updated translator?

He stretched a hand out, taking a step back toward them. They just stared. The other prisoners were already picking their way carefully through the debris that had been the door. Thankfully, the greable seemed to have already left, so that was one less thing to worry about right now.

“Jebannuck Sefra,” Glaykur whispered loudly from the exit, “come on. They’re not coming. I don’t know if they even understand you.”

Jebannuck glanced back at him. The guard was passed out. The door was broken. The prisoners were escaping. What’s not to understand?

Still, the mysterious prisoner didn’t move.

Rolling his eyes - a very human gesture, he realized as soon as he did it- he turned back to the door. He wasn’t going to risk getting caught because of this weirdo. As soon as he was out, he noticed that the others had already taken off in different directions. Mahben Glaykur and the orange bipedal alien- the ex-Burnti officer, had waited. shifting nervously on his feet as Jebannuck caught up. He could hear the familiar bellow of the creature that had nearly killed him coming from the corridor in front of him.

Jebannuck bent to pick up a few scraps of the material that had once been the door. It was heavy but quite pliable. It could come in handy. He threw it over his shoulder and did his best to fasten it to itself so it would stay there.

“This way,” Glaykur started down the right corridor.

Jebannuck straightened up, watching Glaykur go and looking to the Kalot at his side for confirmation.

“That’s the best way to go. There should be a docking hangar not too far from here. It’s not a big one, mostly just for service craft and small ships, but it’s the best option we’ve got.” They both started running after Glaykur before he could get completely out of sight.

“That was incredibly brave, what you did back there. I thought that thing was going to kill all of us.”

Jebannuck nodded, too focused on keeping up with the scuttling Mahben ahead of them and watching out for security to form a coherent response.

“My name’s Tarbi. Kalot Tarbi Kurrenmi. I’ve been in there for megacycles, bit harsh I think, considering my only real crime was-”

Jebannuck clapped a hand over Tarbi’s mouth. His rough skin hurt a bit, but it got him to stop talking. Just ahead of them, he could hear guards coming around the corner, yelling orders and coming in at a run. Glaykur paused as well, looking back at them fearfully. Jebannuck tensed. There was nowhere to hide here, especially not for all three of them.

They didn’t have much time to think of another option as a group of four guards turned the corner and all but ran right into them. Relying on instinct and training, Jebannuck pushed Tarbi and Glaykur behind him and grabbed the nearest guard. They weren’t big - a small stocky guard with skin the texture of reddish stone- and in a fluid motion, Jebannuck spun them off the floor and threw them into the other two guards. They went down hard.

“Wow! How did you-”

Jebannuck ignored Tarbi as he narrowly dodged a blaster shot from the remaining guard. He leaped towards them, grabbing the blaster. Realizing what he was trying to do, the guard took a step back, twisting and trying to wrench the blaster back.

As they struggled over the weapon, the other guards were getting up to their feet. Before they could regain their bearings, Glaykur was on them, swinging at and biting anything he could reach.

With a bit of hesitation, Tarbi ran and jumped onto one of the guards, knocking them over a second time. He then bounced off the fallen guard’s chest and into the side of the one Jebannuck was fighting. They let go of the blaster as they fell and Jebannuck shot them and the remaining conscious guards- knocking them out cold.

“Take any weapons you can find. Quickly.” Jebannuck stepped over the fallen guards, checking around the corner as Glaykur and Tarbi rounded up an additional three blasters and a taser.

They continued on in relative silence, each armed and jumpy as a salkree in a bish factory. Thankfully, the docking hangar wasn’t too far.

“The ships are right through here.” Tarbi stepped into the alcove and started entering a series of commands into the door’s panel. “We can get one, or even one for each of us, though I assume you two are going to the same place? Wherever the Confederation retreated back to? I’ll come too. Anything beats being here, especially after everything today. There’s no way I’m getting reinstated now.” He started angrily murmuring something to himself for a moment. “Although,” the door opened with a low beep, “if we do happen to come within range of the Slarsy System, I wouldn’t mind being dropped off-”

“You two go on,” Jebannuck interrupted. “Get out of here. I have companions who are still trapped somewhere aboard this ship.”

Glaykur froze. His antennae twitched as he blinked slowly, his translucent eyelids were pulled tight in a worried expression. “I… do too. I… I should stay and find them as well. Right? We can’t-”

“You two do realize that’s not going to do you or them any good, right?” Tarbi cut in. “Best case scenario, you’re just going to get yourselves captured again and be right back where you started. That’s if you’re not killed. Trust me, you’re not going to be doing anyone any good by staying.”

Glaykur frowned at the floor, shaking his head. “I… I suppose you’re right. We can… we can go back to the Confederation Fleet and… and we can let them know. We can get help.” He looked back up, “They’ll be able to sort this all out, right?”

“Right, so let’s go.” Tarbi stepped out of the alcove and made a break for the docking bay.

Glaykur followed hesitantly, looking back to Jeb who still hadn’t moved. “Jebannuck Sefra, are you coming?”

Jeb looked at the ships just beyond the door. Already Tarbi seemed to have picked one out and was entering commands on a console that started the ship’s untethering procedures. They could do this. They could make it out of here, especially with a former Burnti officer helping. 

“I can’t. Not without Mike and Wenona.” “Did you not hear us before? We can’t help them now. The best we can do is get out and get help. They’ll understand.”

“No. They wouldn’t leave me behind. I can’t leave them.” “You really believe that?”

“With every sinew of my soul. What’s more, I can’t leave them in the hands of the Burnti. Rozar has plans for the humans and I don’t trust them to be good for the rest of us.”

“They’re humans?” Jeb nodded.

Glaykur seemed to be lost in thought for a moment before nodding. “And it’s safe to assume that they’ve pack bonded with you?”

Jeb smiled.

Glaykur made a sound that was a mix between a chuckle and a sigh. “Well then, klern beyond shine for you. Or maybe for the Burnti. They’ll need all the help they can get if humans are involved.”

A loud bang made both of them jump. It was the ship’s exterior control panels. Tarbi seemed to be having a hard time with the controls and was losing patience.

Glaykur turned back to Jebannuck. “Go then. Get out of here, find your humans. Be safe.” “You as well. Stay out of view as best you can until you take off.”

They parted. Jebannuck was just a few steps around the corner when he heard guards approaching from behind. He ran, searching for another alcove or place to hide. He hoped Glaykur and Tarbi had enough sense to not be seen.

There were doors on either side of the hall. He tried the ones nearest. All locked. Between the alarm that was still blasting and the sound of approaching footsteps, Jebannuck could feel his anxiety levels rising. 

What to do? Where to go? He tried one more door. It opened. He hurriedly ran in and slammed the command panel to shut behind him. It was dark, but not so dark that he couldn’t see. Several machines filled the room. He didn’t know what they were for, but he was glad of the lights and bright panels that cast a soft light throughout the entire room. The soft hum of motors was calming, but Jebannuck knew that if this room was unlocked, it would be one that the guards would check. He’d have to hide. There had to be somewhere that wouldn’t be an obvious hiding spot.

His eyes caught sight of the ventilation intake on the wall. It wasn’t very tall, but it was wide enough and low to the ground. If he could get that panel covering off, it would be the perfect spot. He searched for something, any tool he could use to loosen the panel anything he could use to pry it from the wall. He pulled open drawers, searched cabinets. Nothing. Nothing that would work, anyway.

The door beeped. Jebannuck’s breath hitched. No time to find something, he had to hide now. He ducked into a narrow space between two pieces of machinery. The opening was facing away from the door, but if the guards cared to thoroughly look through the room, there was no way he wouldn’t be found.

The door slid open. Jeb could hear three sets of footsteps enter.

“Do you really think any of them would have made it this far?” “I don’t know,” Another voice answered. “Probably not? Hey, get the lights, would you?” The room lit up outside Jeb’s hiding hole. He blinked as his eyes adjusted. “Honestly, as long as we look busy right? Checking random rooms beats staring at boiler-room readouts all cycle.”

The footsteps seemed to split up and walk around the room. Jebannuck tried crouching down in his hiding spot as much as he could. It was only a matter of micro-moortiks before they found him.

“I wish they’d given us a better sector to search though,” the first voice whined. “This is boring. I thought we were going to see some action.”

A third voice spoke up, “Calm down, Chark’s right. I mean, sure we’re on the outskirts of the search parameters, but it is a nice break to routine.”

One of the pairs of footsteps was coming around the corner. Soon they’d be passing right in front of Jebannuck’s hiding spot. This was it. Try as he might, he couldn’t crouch down anymore or make himself look any smaller. He gripped the blaster he had stolen from the guard earlier. He could take out the one coming close to him, but would he be able to get to the others before they got him? He really had backed himself into a corner this time.

He was glad he had no room to jump when an alarm suddenly went off.

BRAAAAAAA! BRAAAAAAA! BRAAAAAAA! 

“What in gadring- What’s going on?”

“Hold on, let me-” the voice paused and heard muffled orders being given over a communicator. Jebannuck wished he could see what was going on. He wanted to peek around the corner, but he was not going to blow this lucky break by being spotted now.

“Right, they found them. They’re trying to steal a ship. The docking bay’s not too far from here! Let’s go!”

The footsteps ran to the door.

“This is way better than watching the boiler-room readouts!” And the door slid shut.

It took a few heartbeats, but finally, Jeb let out a sigh of relief. He all but fell out of his hiding spot and laid on his back next to the machine that had kept him safe from the guards. The alarm continued droning on, and honestly, he could think of no sound that was more beautiful right now.

He wasn’t sure how long he stayed there, it was quite a while, and by the time he got back up to his feet, the alarm stopped. He paused. Did that mean the others had been caught? He had no idea about the three that split off as soon as they were out of the prison corridor, but he hoped Glaykur and Tarbi made it off the ship. It was a long-shot for them to try. They might have had better chances if he had gone with them. He inhaled sharply at that thought.

No. No, he shouldn’t feel guilty. If he’d been there, their chances at success would have still been slim. With Tarbi, it was at least possible. Besides, Jebannuck knew if he left without Mike and Wenona, he’d never get over the disgrace of letting them down. 

Who knows, maybe they did make it.

He decided to give it a few minutes before he left the room, let any chaos from before settle down. He was much more likely to sneak around the ship once the guards were back into a routine he could observe and predict. In the meantime, he searched the room for any sort of map or readout that could be useful. 

It was only after it had been quiet in the hall for several moortiks that he finally opened the door. He followed in the direction the last patrol went, trusting that they would follow a route and not double back towards him. As he went, he kept a careful eye out for possible hiding spots. Thankfully, he only needed to use the improvised hiding spots once. If the guards had been paying closer attention, they would have seen him clinging on the back-side of a beam as they walked by, but they were caught up in a conversation of a show they had seen recently on the galactic stream.

He followed them, from a large distance of course, for a while before he finally broke off. If he had been following the map he had seen before as well as he thought he had, there should be a stairwell just ahead. There was also an elevator lift nearby, but he didn’t trust that no one else would be using it. As he suspected, the stairs were deserted.

From what he could tell, most of the holding cells were clustered back where he and the others had broken out earlier. There was also a main brig several levels down. He suspected that the humans wouldn’t be there. There were some large holding cells two levels up that seemed likely candidates.

He reached the door to the correct level. Ignoring the control panel, he inched the door open manually, sliding it just enough to try to tell if any guards were nearby. He couldn’t see any movement and didn’t hear any either. Careful not to jam his fingers, he released the door which slid shut before he hit the control panel for it to open all the way.

As he crept through the halls, listening for guards or patrols, Jebannuck’s mind couldn’t help but wonder. The last time he had been on an enemy ship, he had been leading a boarding party. He’d had his own weapons out and at the ready. He’d been in charge of the situation. He’d had no idea who was on that ship and how they would change him. 

The fact that he was armed now did help a bit, but it wasn’t his own blaster. In fact, it was kind of awkward to handle. The grip was made for someone with much smaller hands than his. And much more-fingered hands than his - the settings were tiny and intricate! It was a struggle to keep the thing level with just three large fingers.

As he neared the spot where he was pretty sure Mike and Wenona were being kept, he slowed his pace. They’d probably be well-guarded and locked in whatever cell they were in. He had one tiny blaster.

The cell should be just around the corner now. He had to come up with a plan.

A low growl interrupted his thoughts. He froze. What. The. Frewan. Was. That? He waited. If it was a guard, they didn’t come around the corner. Quite a few species in the Burnti Empire could growl, but none of them sounded that terrifying when they did so. None that he knew of, anyway.

There was a quiet rustle and the sound of soft steps. Jebannuck tensed. This was not normal guard behavior. Something was definitely off here.

Well, at least it matched the rest of the day he was having.

He made sure his blaster was ready. Whatever was around the corner, it wasn’t going to stop him from saving his friends. He took a deep breath and jumped out around the corner, blaster aimed straight at…

“Wenona?”

The human had a blaster pointed at him. Her face softened from a hard grimace to shocked realization. Then immediately to alarm as the huge growling beast at her side lunged forward.

“No no! Down, down, down! Carson! DOWN! Come here! Heel!”

If Jebannuck’s finger hadn’t slipped on the stupid blaster trigger, he would have stunned the monster as soon as it started toward him. He’d had quite enough of huge alien creatures trying to kill him today. Instead, he lowered his weapon slightly as he watched, shocked, that Wenona could so easily call it off. It barked at him, she reached out to grab a collar around its neck and stroked its head.

“Good boy. Good boy, Carson,” Wenona holstered her blaster in a decorative sash the Burnti had given her to wear. She scratched behind the creature’s floppy ears, which stopped it from barking, but not from growling at and glaring down Jebannuck.

“Oh my gosh, Jeb, you about gave me a heart attack. What are- how the heck are you here?”

The beast at her side - Carson?- started barking again. 

“Carson, down!” She looked between “Carson” and him for a second as she continued to stroke the beast’s head. “Jeb, hold on just a second, I think I’ve got an idea. Carson. Sit.” It took a few repeats of the command, but amazingly, the creature obeyed. “Stay.” Wenona took a step toward Jebannuck. “Stay.” Another two steps. A few more steps. She was right by his side in no time.

“This is Jeb.” She pointed toward Jebannuck. “Jeb. He’s our friend, he’s good. We like Jeb.”

To accentuate this, she put a hand on his shoulder. “Friend. Good. Good Jeb.”Wenona paused and turned to look at Jebannuck. She seemed to be thinking about something intently for a few seconds before pulling Jebannuck into a tight hug. He wasn’t sure what to do, so he just waited patiently. This must be a human thing. Should he do it back? Would that be awkward? He decided to give it a try, slowly embracing her back. That seemed to be the right thing to do. She released her hold and returned to her previous spot, albeit kneeling now.

“Wenona, what by all that is bright and shining is going on?”

“Jeb, meet Carson. He was abducted from Earth too. He’s a dog. He was someone’s pet, but we’ve kind of been taking care of him since we found him in Drin’s lab.” Jebannuck hadn’t heard anything so ridiculous in several megacycles. The look on his face must have said so.

“It’s okay, he’s friendly, he just needs to get to know you first,” Wenona crouched down and motioned for Jebannuck to do the same. Hesitantly, he dropped down as well.

“Hold your hand out like this so he can sniff you.” “Wenona, this seems unnecessary and unsafe.” “Just do it, he’s got to sniff you to get to know you.” Wenona whistled a sliding note to the ‘dog’. “Come Carson.”

To a mixture of Jebannuck’s surprise and panic, Carson came right at the pair of them. The only thing that kept him in place was Wenona who rested her arm over his shoulder.

“It’s okay, just… let him sniff you. He sees that I trust you, just let him sniff you.”

And sniff he did. And drool.

He growled a few times, but Wenona put a stop to it each time. She tried to get Jebannuck to pet the thing on the head, but after a few attempts were halted with growling, she thought it safer to just pet him herself while he continued to sniff. Much to Jebannuck’s relief.

Finally, Wenona decided it was good enough and stood up. Carson followed her, always staying between Jebannuck and Wenona. 

Jebannuck wiped the excess drool off his arm and also rose. “Wenona, we need to go. Get Mike and we-” He stopped. He finally took in the rest of the scene in the corridor. The unconscious guard on the floor. The guard who was pacing inside the locked holding-cell with two more downed guards on the floor. Wenona looked very disheveled and seemed to be limping. And also-

“Where’s Mike?”

Wenona shrugged.

“Please tell me this is some joke.” “No. I’m convinced that wandering off is Mike’s superpower. Not even a supposed locked holding-cell doors can keep him in.” She turned to lean against the glass wall and grimaced. Carson was next to her in an instant, whining and nosing at her side.

Jebannuck frowned and stepped forward. “Wenona, what happened?” He had to push aside Carson to get closer and got growled at again for his efforts.

Wenona clenched a fist and hit the window. The thud caused the trapped guard inside to look up. Wenona’s face scrunched in pain and smoothed out as she took several deep breaths.

“I… I’m fine. It’s that idiot in there’s fault. Shot me in the side. Settings were on stun, but… dang.”

“You were shot?!”

“Yeah, I’m fine, I think I just tweaked a muscle or something, set it off again. I’m fine.”

“You were shot? And they haven’t taken you to the medics or anything? They should have checked you over before you even woke up! How long have you been in this condition? Those sick-”

“Jeb!” Wenona interrupted. “There hasn’t been any time. It happened just a bit ago when I got out.”

Jeb just stared at her. “What?”

“It was back when the alarms were going off.” Wenona still didn’t look completely steady, but she was able to straighten up again.

Jebannuck felt dumbfounded. She had… she had been shot. Stun settings or no, she should still be down and out. He held out his hands to help her get steady on her feet again. She ignored the gesture and continued to try to take a few steps unaided. Her eyes met with his. He had seen that look in those eyes before. The first time they’d met. Well, he thought, it wasn’t the same look, just similar. On the Montauk ship, there’d been fear, anger, and confusion. But there’d also been a hard-set determination. Looking in her eyes now, he realized that they had the look of a species that would out-fight and outlast anything, or pass through gadring and beyond trying.

He was once again glad to be considered a friend by one of such a race.

Still, Wenona was only able to make it a few steps before she stumbled and clutched at her side. Jeb grabbed her arm to catch her.

“Wenona, you helped me up the mountain on Gamnut 4, let me help you now.”

She took a few more deep breaths before she nodded. Carefully, he helped her wrap her arm around his shoulder so he could help her support her injured side. He was taller, so it wasn’t the most comfortable position to have to lean down, but he knew she wouldn’t want him carrying her like a youngling unless it was absolutely necessary.

Hopefully, they’d be okay like this for a while.

They were just almost to the corner when Wenona looked back and whistled again. Humans made such a weird variety of noises. “Come on Carson, let’s go find Mike.”

Jebannuck looked back as well to see the terrifying carnivore... dog... pet thing, whatever, follow. Great. Well, he thought, maybe if they ran into any more guards, they wouldn’t need to fight them. The guards would probably just turn and run.

Humans and their monster pets.

Carson bounded in front of them and started sniffing at the ground. He paced a bit back and forth until he lifted his head up and barked loudly and repeatedly. His tail smacked Jebannuck in the legs hard. It didn’t hurt, exactly, but it was surprising how much force it had behind each wag.

Wenona smiled. “I think he’s found Mike’s scent.”

****

And you guys thought I was joking about the moose comment

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[thewildwaffle]

Draw the squad - at the movies

[thewildwaffle]

Abduction - Chapter 19

This may be the longest chapter I’ve written so far. The next shouldn’t take long to get out either, I’ve already got a good start on it. I’ve been reading this out loud to several of my friends, and I’ve definitely noticed things change in my writing, or in my characters, or I’ve noticed plot points I started to set up and then never followed up on. I’ve said it before, this is the first draft. As always, if you have any feedback, comments, or any notes to leave, please feel free - I live for that stuff! And added bonus, it helps motivate me to write more!

Stay lovely, friends!

Also, the reason Mike decided to learn morse code is the same reason I learned it. The story Mike learned in school about the POW who used Morse Code to send a message is true and you can learn more about Jeremiah Denton here

***

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The Burnti medics hadn’t been gentle about fixing Jebannuck up. His wounds were cleaned and dressed, yes, and everything seemed to be on the mend, but the process of getting to that point had been rough. And slow. He’d made plenty of trips to infirmaries before (and probably would make more in the future if he lived through this whole ordeal). Honestly, he was surprised at the level of care he had received at all.

He didn't fight them when he was put in this cell. There would have been no sense in that really. Plus, he wouldn't have had the strength or energy to fight back even if it had been logical to do so. Whatever Commander Rozar or anyone else in charge around here had planned, he’d just have to be sure he was ready.

He hoped the humans were okay. It seemed to him that they would be. They were civilians. That's what he kept telling himself. They are civilians, he'd correct himself. They were and still are.

What troubled him really was Commander Rozar’s interest in them. He didn’t like it. Not one bit. Mike and Wenona, as well-intentioned as they were did not do themselves any favors by defending him. He had been in no danger, or at least, no immediate danger. They just worried about him. They’d jumped in to “save” him- their “friend.” Was that a normal human thing to do? Sure, he’d saved others before, crew members, teammates, civilians, employers, and the like. There’d been a reason to do so. Orders. Duty. Responsibility. He had no doubt he would do whatever it took to save another Sefra like himself, but the humans? It still puzzled him how they had seemed to adopt him into their pack bonding tendencies. It was something he never, never thought he’d be a part of.

If he was completely honest with himself, his heart felt a little warm at the idea. He chuckled to himself inwardly. Funny how close proximity and a few life-threatening experiences could bring him so close to aliens he had been trying to avoid before.

Jeb leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes. Maybe that was why he’d been so well taken care of, all things considered. Whatever Rozar was planning, he needed the humans cooperation. It’d be easier to get on their good side if he was kept alive- as a show of faith at best. Or as ransom at worst.

What was the Burnti Empire planning? They wanted an alliance with Earth and were willing to destroy the planet’s relationship with the Galactic Confederation to do so. But then what? Jebannuck knew more about humans than most on his crew, they were resourceful, durable, and for the most part, glent-tic crazy. He shuddered to think about what all the Burnti Empire could accomplish with the Earthlings as allies.

He shifted. His back slid across the smooth metallic wall behind him. The pain was gone. From what he could tell, there was hardly any scarring after the medics had done their job. He could sit comfortably in his cell, or get up and move around freely. Or as freely as one could in a glorified prison cell.

It was a relief that the Burnti Empire seemed to follow a high code of treatment for their prisoners. that's great and all, but he was still a prisoner. So were Mike and Wenona. Simmo? He wasn’t really sure of her current standing. She'd be fine though. She'd find a way to sway their current predicament to her advantage. That was the way Montauk always seemed to work. Whatever her plans were, Jebannuck was sure he could rule her out of any strategies he'd have to make to get out of here. Thank goodness.

The guard somewhere outside his cell was relieved of duty. Like clockwork.

But the new guard wasn’t alone. A familiar blue scaly alien entered and stood in front of his door. Jeb recognized it as the one in the back of the throne room when they’d met Commander Rozar.

At first, it didn’t say anything, just tapped and scrolled through a datapad it held in its short stubby fingers. Jebannuck watched it silently, growing more annoyed with its presence with each passing moortik.

“If you’re here to intimidate me to give up any information, you might as well go back now and tell your superiors you failed.”

His visitor didn’t respond at first. When she did, she didn’t even look up at him.

“I think not. Besides, the information I’m after is hardly Galactic Confederation classifieds.” She made one last swipe on the datapad and looked up at him like she was calling for the next person in line at the galactic vehicle registration department. “Name?”

Jebannuck frowned. What the frewan were they playing at?

He must have been taking too long because his interrogator, a Blue Donkun if he wasn’t mistaken, tilted her head back and sighed loudly, “Name. Your name, please. I haven’t got all day.”

Whatever she was playing at, he wasn’t going to make it easy. “Tokkannib Sefra.” That was actually the name of his grandfather. He wouldn’t mind his grandson using it though, he’d died shortly after Jeb had entered basic training.

The Donkun’s face didn’t move, but it seemed to emanate a sense of tired frustration. “No. It’s Jebannuck Sefra, correct?”

Jeb leaned his head back against the wall behind him and growled. “Tell me something, is it common Burnti practice to ask questions you already know the answer to?” He lightly rubbed at his jawline, “Seems like a pretty inefficient work ethic.”

The Donkun’s short, wide snout twitched. “My orders. Your name. Jebannuck Sefra. Correct or no?”

Jeb dropped his hand back down into his lap and studied the Donkun. She was short, as most of her species are, barely reaching half of Jeb’s height. Her neck, arms, legs, everything about her was stout and somewhat blockish. Even the set of horns (if one could call them that) on her head and running down to her stubby tail were more like little white nubs than anything.

“Yes. Correct. That’s my name.”

The interrogation continued like that for several moortiks. His name. His age. His assigned ship. His assigned position aboard said ship. How he had sustained his injuries. How he and the humans had escaped Gamnut 4, and on. All of it was information they should have already known or would have been hardly inconvenienced to look up themselves. But she kept asking them, ardently typing down every answer he gave before moving on to the next question.

Finally, she asked something that once again made Jeb pause before answering.

“What was the designation code of the escape pod you used?”

Why, by all that is bright, would they need or want that information?

“I don’t see how that would be pertinent.”

The Donkun took a deep inhale and lowered the datapad slightly. “Look, this is the last thing I need. What was the designation code?”

Jeb thought about it. What was the designation code? He’d had to enter it to get it to launch it from the Gladius, and again a few times later at the console to activate different sustainability protocols. It was also painted on the hull as a way for rescuers to identify it.

“GLA-8…” he paused and tried to remember. “GLA-8-C2… Uh, C2-137, no wait, 147. I think it ended with 147.”

“GLA-8-C2-147,” the Donkun murmured slowly as she entered the information. All the while, Jeb’s mind was firing, trying to figure out why the Burnti Empire would want that information. Why would they want or need any of this information, really? Then it hit him. If rescuers could use the designation code to find a launched pod, then the Burnti could too. But why? Why would they want it? It was basically only good for spare parts at this point. Unless...

“If you think you can get anything on the Galactic Confederation from the pod’s console, you’re going to waste your time. It’s an emergency escape pod. You won’t find any information of interest to you from it.”

Again the Donkun barely looked up from her datapad as she finished up her notes. “Eh. Maybe not. We’ll see though. If there is, it will just be an added bonus for us. If not, well, no big deal. We’ll still have it in our possession as evidence.” Jebannuck frowned. “Evidence of what?” She turned around and began walking back towards the exit. “Evidence of what?!” Jebannuck climbed up to his feet, staggering a bit with his still-sore muscles.

She paused and looked back at him over her shoulder, her bored expression now tinged with annoyance. “Evidence of our rescue of the humans.”

“Your rescue? That's not what happened, that's not the truth! You abducted us!”

She hummed. “It's Commander Rozar’s truth,” she turned back and walked out the door, leaving Jeb alone with the guard once again. “So it's the only one that matters.”

***

It was bight. Like, stupid bright. Why did these lights have to be so up in his face?

Mike squinted to try to make out shapes in the shadows beyond the glowing panels surrounding him.

He'd been on film sets similar to this before, backstage sometimes when his parents had been interviewed or were guests on talk shows. He'd even been called on stage once when his parents announced that their son would be piloting a mission around Jupiter. They were going for the “family business” spin. It was a publicity stunt, really. Were there more qualified pilots in the company? You betcha. But were any of them the only son of the founders and owners of NearStar Explorations?  No, they weren't.

Maybe as it turned out, lucky them?

No. He had to stay positive. This plan was going to work. This… this had to work.

Oh, who was he kidding? With Rozar in charge of all of this, it was probably going to suck.

So, the plan. Yeah. He took in a deep breath and ran over things again in his mind.

Morse code. He’d had a few teachers and professor go over it briefly in various classes. It was simple enough. He’d even spent time trying to memorize it a time or two - the reason being that if he knew Morse code, he might be able to use it and see if there were secret messages being sent around in everyday life. Like flickering lights, or in the weird clicking noise the elevator at the academy made sometimes, etc.

As it turned out, there weren’t. Or at least, not as far as he could tell.

There was a story though, one that a teacher had shared about the uses of Morse code. It had really stuck with him through the years. During the Vietnam War, there’d been a pilot who had been shot down and captured, tortured, and later forced to appear in a press conference on tv by his captors. He said what they wanted him to say - that the POWs were being taken care of, that everything was fine, all of that. But while he was there - while he spoke, he blinked out “TORTURE” over and over in morse code.

And so he’d been practicing. He couldn’t remember all the letters he needed, but he remembered the pattern, and between him and Wenona, they figured something out. He’d also been blinking a lot lately to make what he was about to do not seem so conspicuous. It was especially easy to do when you were being blinded by stage lighting.

If he squinted or shaded his eyes, he could make out the hustle going on beyond the shadows. Strange, scaly blue aliens were bustling around, checking monitors and running cables. One with hunched shoulders and wispy hairs running down its spine ran up and clipped a small microphone inside the collar of his shirt. It was easily hidden by a colorful sash. It seemed to be part of the fashion or uniform on the ship. He wondered briefly of what the different lengths and colors meant. The ones he and Wenona had been given were a solid light blue color. It was the same color as the blue he remembered seeing on the hulls of many Burnti ships when he was still aboard the Gladius.

Red lights started glowing where he was pretty sure he’d seen cameras. Were they recording? Was this live? Or were they just going to record it and edit it? Was he going to throw up? Oh man, he hadn’t had stage fright in years, but there were definitely butterflies flappin’ around down there now! How many people were going to see this? How many planets? And not just that - what if he messed up? What if he had to talk and blink code at the same time and he lost track of how many blinks he’d done in the middle of a word? He and Wenona had practiced before after they found out about this whole ordeal, but that was back in their holding room. This was happening for real now.

“Are you ready there, gorgeous?”

Mike jerked his head jerked to his left. He’d been so focused on not freaking out that he hadn’t noticed the new alien show up. The first thing he noted was the skin. At first, it looked rough or coarse, but upon further inspection, Mike realized it was just an illusion of the swirling patterns of color and shadows that seemed to be constantly changing. Its head was vaguely shaped like a lizard’s, though the snout was very short and blunt. It was honestly kind of hard to see what the rest of it looked like. It was wearing a lot of fine sashes and fabrics. Like, a lot of them. It was small though, the colorful crest on top of its head made it probably as tall as Mike’s chest. If that.

Another smaller alien was setting up a mic amidst the sashes, while another hovered about on a double set of gossamer wings, applying a fine translucent powder to the colorful face.

“You look like you're a lost deer head in the light.” She gave a musical laugh. Or at least he thought it was a “her”. He had a hard time telling with some species. Especially for ones he hadn’t encountered before. He’d learned a while back to not guess out loud. It got awkward sometimes. But for this particular alien, he couldn’t help but think she was a she. She sounded like a she. Wow, that was a lot of colors! It was kind of distracting.

“Did I say that right?” Mike forgot to not stare. He blinked a few times to try to make him blinking out code later seem more normal. What was it that she had said? What was she trying to say right?

“Uhm, yeah I think so,” he muttered as he tried to collect his thoughts again. “Wait, what?”

“It’s an Earth phrase, I believe.” She gave him a smile that made her small, slitted eyes nearly close completely. “It seems like an odd thing to say, but I’m sure it must make sense back on Earth?”

Mike smiled back, only remembering at the last minute to not show his teeth in his smile. He didn’t need to freak anyone out or scaring them. “Uh, yeah, deer in a headlight, sure am I guess.” That was what she had said, right? Oh, he needed to calm down! Seriously, where was this stage fright coming from? Deep breaths, deep breaths.

“Oh is that how it goes?” She gave another laugh. The colors across her face changed again. It was… mesmerizing. He nodded absentmindedly.

The smaller aliens finished their tasks and retreated back to the shadows beyond the stage lights, the winged one giving one last brush to the topmost sash before it flitted away.

“Now, before we start, your name is pronounced Mike, correct? I’d hate to get that wrong on live stream.”

He nodded, “Yeah. Mike.” He blinked a few more times for good measure.

“We’re going live in 7… 6… 5….”

Mike took a few more deep breaths and tried to focus on the patterns he needed to get his message out.

“Greetings all from the Arum Bloom, Second Command Cruiser of the Glorious Burnti Empire. For all our loyal returning viewers, you of course already know me, but for those of you who may be new or guests to our stream, my name is Urma Kalabretti Esh.” Music began playing from somewhere. It sounded happy and upbeat, but whatever instruments that were used to play it sounded tinny and hollow. There wasn’t a live audience present, but someone was doing a great job of playing recordings of various species cheering.

After pausing long enough for the music to die down, Urma Kalabretti Esh continued, “Thank you, thank you! Of course, it is always my delight to share with our lovely viewers the news, stories, and enlightenment of the Burnti Empire!”

She turned her head toward what should have been where the middle camera was set up. Mike realized they must have gone for a wide shot. He was on camera now. Okay. First letter. First letter? Oh, shoot! Uh… P!

Short blink. Long blink. Long blink. Short.

“Today we have a special guest with us to share some very exciting news. Prepare yourself, viewers, we’re in for a treat and a tale! May I introduce Human Mike Rockwell all the way from Earth!” The music started up again. It sounded a lot like the first time, but the melody was slightly different.

R. Short blink. Long. Short.

I. Short. Short.

S. Short. Short. Short.

“Now Human Mike, you’ve been with us here on the Arum Bloom for nearly three solar rotation sets, correct?”

O. Long. Long. Long.

“Yes.”

Oh, shoot, what was N? He sometimes got mixed up with N and A.

Long. Short. Pause. E. Short. Pause. R. Short. Long. Short.

“And you and your companion, another human, were found and picked up by our gracious Commander Rozar shortly after the fall of the Confederation Blockade?”

Was he being too obvious with the blinking? Someone was going to figure out what he was doing and stop him, right? Would they stop him on live stream, or would they wait until a break? Was there a break? Did aliens do commercial breaks? What would they do if they caught him? Oh shoot, he should start blinking again. Wait, what was the question she asked?

“Uh… yeah.” He hoped that would be a good answer to whatever the question was.

Short, long, long, short. Short, long, short. Short, short.

“Now, we all know your people have an alliance with the Galactic Confederation,” she paused as a series of “audience” voices moaned, hissed, and otherwise sounded very unhappy at the mention of the GC.

Short, short, short. Long, long, long.

“But tell me, Mike, were you yourself ever aligned with or signed up with a Confederation crew?”

Short. Long, short. Short. Short, long, short.

“No.” Short, long, long, short. “I was a pilot for my parent’s company.”

He focused on blinking out the word on repeat. All the while, Urma Kalabretti Esh continued the interview. For a good little while, she mostly fed Mike questions that he only needed ten words or less to answer. Together, they painted a picture of events that Rozar or whoever had made up- how he and Wenona had been abducted by a Galactic Confederation ship, had been forced to serve on board and to fight until they’d escaped in a pod during the battle at the blockade.

“Now, Mike, is it true that you and Wenona were stranded for a time on the planet Gamnut 4?” The “audience” gasped.

Mike continued to blink.

“Yes, everyone was distracted. We got away and we landed in an escape pod.”

“Gamnut 4,” the alien host gave a worried look, the swirling colors on her scaly face muted slightly. “From what I understand, it’s registered as a category 1 death world. That must have been terrifying for you two all alone!”

Long, short. Short. Short, long, short.

They hadn’t been alone, he wanted to say. But that wasn’t what had been scripted. “Uh, kind of. It wasn’t too bad. Actually, it was a lot like home.”

“Ah yes, how interesting! Your home, Earth, is registered as a category 3 death world, am I correct?”

Short, long, long, short.

“Um, yeah I guess. It’s just home, so I’ve never really thought about it as a death world.” And he hadn’t. At least, not before he left Earth. He’d heard so much about other homeworlds while aboard the Gladius. Most of them sounded like dream vacations spots.

“Truly remarkable! I suppose Gamnut 4 seemed like a breeze after growing up with all Earth could throw at you.” The colorful patterns brightened again. Mike tried to not let himself get too distracted. Thankfully, he felt that at this point, he had fallen into a bit of a rhythm with the code. Hopefully, the message was getting through.

“Now Mike, I know after you were rescued from the planet, Commander Rozar explained the situation with Earth’s alliance with the Galactic Confederation.” “He did.” Short, short, short. Long, long, long.

“Isn’t it terrible?! First, they block the Burnti Empire, getting a monopoly for Earth interactions, and then they turn on their supposed new allies by abducting you and who knows how many else?!”

The “audience” erupted into a cacophony of gasps, snorts, shouts of outrage, and whatever other noises they had on file to play.

Short, long, short. Short, short. Short, short, short. Long, long, long. Long, short. Short. Short, long, short.

“Tell me, Mike, if circumstances had been different if the Galactic Confederation hadn’t forced our people apart, do you think a Burnti/Earth alliance would have been better than what your people are currently suffering through?”

Oh, she was laying it on thick now. He knew she would. That’s how it was planned to go. He said what she wanted to hear. Or rather, what Commander Rozar wanted to be said.

Short, long, long, short. Short, long, short.

He agreed. He commended. He praised the Burnti Empire for saving him. He recommended them to his leaders back on Earth. Inwardly, he grimaced. He cited off all the things that had been scripted for him to say. All the while, the words felt dirty in his mouth.

Stick with the plan. If he didn’t, who knows what they’d do to Jeb.

Short, short. Short, short, short. Long, long, long.

Someone would catch on, right?

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[thewildwaffle]

Draw the squad. This isn't really a scene, I just thought it showed their personalities pretty well.

Am I good at digital drawing? Not particularly. Do I have fun doing it? You betcha! Am I getting better? I'd like to think so, yeah!

[thewildwaffle]

Abduction - Chapter 18

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After the humans had been removed from the room, and Jebannuck had basically been hauled away, Simmo stood alone with her guards in the throne room. She stood there, unsure of what to do next. Commander Rozar hardly gave her a passing glance as he swept back to the throne. Her mandibles twitched involuntarily in annoyance. Normally, she'd be perfectly fine with being overlooked, especially when it came to any upper-ups and authority figures. Now, however? Under these circumstances? It felt like a slap in the face. What? Was she supposed to stand here forever on this stupid ship, waiting to be excused? Maybe she could just… slip away while the Commander still had his back turned.

“Now tell me, montauk,” Commander Rozar’s voice cut through the silence and echoed around the now, almost-empty room, “under what circumstances is it even remotely logical that I find you out here, floating along after our triumph against the Galactic Confederation, traveling with a Confederation officer and two humans?” He growled, or maybe it was a chuckle? It was hard to tell. “I must say, it's quite the entourage. Not quite a typical crew for your kind, now is it?"

He had reached the throne and sat down, sweeping his robe and long feathered tail dramatically. His golden eyes seemed to burn into her black ones. She averted her eyes to the ground in between them. He leaned forward in his throne, as if the movement would catch her attention and have her look up again.

"Now, now, no need to be shy. I don't care about the legalities or trade disputes with whatever it is that you have been up to. Those are all done with now that we've finally got control of this section of space. Whatever misdeeds you've done in the past as far as the Galactic confederation is concerned, the Burnti have little to no interest in. I myself have even employed many montauk. Not only am I well aware of many of your kind's... tendencies, I welcome them. In fact, it's because of your people's... lax stance on confederation laws that I have been able to..."

"I was doing nothing illegal." Her heart froze. She just interrupted a Burnti Fleet Commander. Not just any commander. Commander Rozar was a very well-known, well-feared leader. Her arms were frozen to her sides and her mandibles clicked involuntarily. Oh she wished she could have just snuck away earlier. She probably wouldn't have made it, but just the idea of being 'not here' was a very nice thought right about now.

"I wasn't doing anything against any law, Burnti or Confederation," she continued. Commander Rozar leaned back slightly, head tilted ever so slightly to the side, the smallest ghost of a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. He would, apparently, allow her interruption, so she continued. "I was marooned on the planet Gamnut 4 after I lost my crew. I'd been there for several hundred partecs. I'd been salvaging what was left of my own crashed ship and repairing it with what I could find from the wreckage that managed to make it to the planet's surface. That's how I found the sefra and the humans. We worked together and were able to get into orbit, where your ships then found us."

"You worked together?" The smile that had been teasing at Rozar's face spread itself in plain view. "You, a montauk? Working willingly with them? Now that is a sight I'm sad I missed out on."

The muscles in the back of Simmo's neck tensed. She bit her tongue. she really, really did not like Commander Rozar, but she held back what she really wanted to say. She took a slow breath and opted for a safer response, "With all due respect, sir, you have a Galactic Confederation prisoner now at your disposal, you have your humans, may I now humbly request my leave from your glorious presence and return to my own ship? There are matters I wish to attend to." Matters, she thought, concerning those grug-heads who started the whole chain of events that led me to end up here in the first place.

Commander Rozar considered her for a moment. Large, blunt claws smoothed over the regal orange and yellow feathers of his forearm. "Not quite yet, montauk. You seem to think your part in all this is over. I'm not convinced it is. Do you have any idea why I have been so intent on studying humankind? Why I have been hiring so many bounty hunters to sneak earth materials across the blockade? Why I have offered such outrageously large rewards to anyone who could bring me a human?"

Simmo looked up slightly, still not meeting Rozar's eyes. As much as she'd like to say that she didn't care, she had known about the bounties that had gone out. They were odd and risky, but the best paying gigs always were. She and her crew had never gone after such prizes themselves, but it was well known that sneaking quality earth goods or information across the blockade was a good way to get stupid rich. If you survived or weren't arrested, that is.

Rozar took her silence as confirmation to continue. "As I stated earlier, humanity's alliance with the Galactic Confederation was one made in ignorance and haste. I plan to rectify it. I plan to bring the confederation to their very knees. And now, the blockade has fallen. Now, I have two humans in my possession. Thanks to you, little montauk, I have just been handed the very thing I need to bring down my enemies."

"Your excellency, I am glad to have been a help to your cause.” She bowed her head low.  “However, now that, as you've said, you have the humans, I'm not sure what more I can do here. Surely I could be of more use to you from my ship, perhaps retrieving more information or supplies from Earth?" Or getting as far away from this part of the galaxy as quickly as I flarging can, she thought.

Commander Rozar closed his eyes and chuckled. "I have plenty on such tasks already.” He  gestured for an attendant to approach. A small, blue scaled alien rushed over and handed Rozar a datapad.

“As far as the humans are concerned, you find yourself in a very interesting situation, and it is a situation I plan on making use of fully.”

“My liege?”

Rozar didn’t respond immediately, but instead scrolled through something on the datapad. He paused and scanned the screen intently for a moment. “We need an alliance with Earth. Failing that, we need to get them to end their current alliance with the Galactic Confederation.” He tapped the screen a few times before handing the datapad back to the blue alien, who bowed low and exited the room.

Simmo watched them disappear out the door. Earth, Earth, Earth. This whole mess over an alliance with a single planet? What the frewan had happened while she was marooned?

“Do you mean to tell me,” annoyed, Simmo forgot to watch her tone, “this is all about how if you can’t have an alliance with the humans, no one can?” She felt her gut drop the instant the words started leaving her mouth, but at half-way through the sentence, she went ahead and finished what she was going to say. Hopefully, this whole conversation would be over before her rash tongue could get her in trouble.

Commander Rozar only smiled. Vaguely, she remembered human Mike smiling with his teeth bared like that. It was much more threatening coming from the Burnti Fleet Commander.

“I suppose that’s exactly what I’m telling you. And you would be wise to help me make sure that’s exactly what happens and that my humans are ready to do their part.”

***

“Karpen, what are you staring at?”

“It’s those humans. That one’s making those weird noises again and the other one keeps glaring at me,” Karpen tensed. He’d been pacing at their post since they’d brought the humans to holding room.

“So what?”

“So, what if they’re planning something? They were dangerous enough before Drin’s lab, but now he let them keep that, that beast?! Who knows what they’ll be capable of now?”

“Karpen, just stop. What are they going to do? They and their little pet are locked up, we’re armed, they’re surrounded. They’re humans, not camshuri.”

The rest of the guards laughed.

“Aww, Karpen,” teased one, “don’t tell me you still believe in the camshuri?”

“What?” Karpen reared his long neck in indignation, “No! Of course not! I’m not a fledgling! I just think - Argh! There,” Karpen spun around to look at the entrance to the human’s room, “they’re at it again!” He could see them through the reinforced clear panel that made up the main wall.

The human male was making a series of high-pitched whistles and claps. Or at least, he was whenever he wasn’t shouting commands to the hairy earth beast or singing some strangely soothing song. Drin had been fascinated by the fact that this creature, obviously a carnivore, acted so friendly towards the humans. He allowed it to stay with them so he could study their interactions. So far, it was mostly the male that interacted with it. The human female, meanwhile, was sitting on top of the pile of bedding they’d been given. (Apparently humans prefer to sleep on top of and buried under as much soft fuzzy material as they can get.) She was staring at them back through the glassy door. Or scowling, more like. It seemed to be the only expression she had lately.

“They’re up to something,” Karpen growled. “She’s been glaring at us ever since she got settled in there. She’s challenging us.”

“How can she be glaring at you? It’s a two-way mirror. She can’t even see us.”

***

It was quickly obvious that the idiots on guard duty thought she couldn’t see them. But she could. She’d recognized it as a two-way mirror as soon as she walked in the room. The Burnti Empire seemed to be anything but subtle so far. After touching the mirror and seeing no gap between her finger and its reflection, she knew. What’s more, it was a really lousy two-way mirror. Sure, she couldn’t make out every fine detail, but she could see the guards as they shuffled around.

While Wenona watched the guards, Mike had been testing Carson on every trick he could think of. So far, he’d confirmed that he could sit, stay, shake paws, and roll over. Kind of. He wasn’t quite so good at that last one, but Mike seemed intent on perfecting it and teaching him more.

Anyway, it was obvious that Carson wasn’t some stray a bounty hunter had just happened to pick up. He was someone’s pet. He was stolen - just like them.

She’d had enough. It was clear that if she was ever going to get back home, she’d have to be the one to make it happen. Without taking her eyes off the guards on the other side of the glass, she tried mentally piecing together some sort of map of the ship. Or at least, what they’d seen so far. She tried to review the halls and corridors. She felt pretty confident she could find her way back to where Simmo’s ship was. Or at least where it had been. They might have moved it by now though. But they’d been in a docking bay. What if the Junk Lego wasn’t there? Maybe they could nab another ship?

They could take the guards when they tried moving them around the ship. It was clear they knew a bit about humans, but as Drin had said, they’d never encountered them before. Being underestimated had worked in their favor before on the Montauk ship. The Burnti Empire had no idea who they were messing with.

They could take the guards. But the real problem was, could they an escape before they were found out? This was a much larger, much more staffed ship than the Montauk’s had been. They could have died before. They nearly did. And this time, she seriously doubted there’d be another ‘Gladius’ to come along and pull them out of whatever mess they ended up in.

It might work. But it might get them killed. But the alternative was sticking around to see whatever the Burnti Empire had planned for them. If it was anything like the Montauk they had hired, she didn’t want to be around long enough to find out.

It was a lot to think about. She brought it up to Mike. He wasn’t too keen on the idea.

“And what? Leave Jeb behind?”

Wenona looked away, frowning. She had thought about that. No matter what scenarios she ran in her head, she couldn’t figure out what to do. What could they do? They didn’t even know where he was.

“That's… that's low Wen. He's out best friend! How can you even think like that? Is getting out of here that much more important to you?”

“That’s not what I…” she scoffed. She didn’t mean… She wouldn't... couldn’t leave Jeb… right? She shook her head, she wasn’t sure she wanted to answer that even to herself right now. But you know what? At least she was trying to come up with a plan. What was he doing? Playing with the dog.

“Isn't it to you?” Her voice suddenly sounded like it could cut through glass. “Is it? Even a little? Or have you been having too much fun playing space adventure to remember that we're not supposed to be here? We’re supposed to be on Earth. We’re supposed to be with our families! That’s what we’ve been trying to get back to since we were taken. Or at least, I thought we were. That’s what I’ve been doing. I miss my family Mike!” She wiped away a rogue tear that had the audacity to start rolling down her cheek. She turned around from Mike and punched a lump in the cushions she sat on. “They need me, and yet everytime I think I'm closer to getting back to them…” she slapped a small nearby cushion and sent it flying across the room. She rolled over to face the wall. She didn't want to look at Mike, or the guards she knew were watching. Most of all, she didn't want anyone to see the tears she could no longer stop from falling.

The silence was deafening. Wenona nearly jumped as the cushion she had sent flying was placed on her hip. Annoyed, she jumped a bit and looked around, expecting to see Mike, but instead, saw Carson panting happily. The pillow was slightly wet and had a string of drool still connected to his mouth. He licked his mouth to clear it up and rested his massive head on her side, next to the pillow.

Wenona sighed. She reached out to pet his head. His massive tail wagged slowly but happily. “Good boy.”

Carson huffed in reply and nuzzled the pillow closer - pushing it off her hip and into her arms. She sniffled and gave half a smile. As soon as she raised the pillow up, Carson lifted his head and stared intently at it before Wenona threw it across the room. With a scrabble of dull claws on the floor, Carson was off.

Wenona and Mike watched as the pillow was returned to a spot between them. They both took turns throwing the cushion for Carson for several minutes. In silence. Not looking at each other. Just picking up the pillow and tossing it across the room.

“Wen,” Mike stopped to scratch Carson's ears before throwing the cushion again, “You said you had a sister, right? Younger sister?” She nodded but still didn’t look at him. “I don’t think I ever asked, but, how close were you two? In age, or, whatever.”

Wenona’s nose prickled as she felt more tears starting to come. This wasn’t quite the take she’d been expecting this conversation to take.

“She’s almost five years younger than me, but we were pretty close. Especially growing up.” She paused, taking a deep breath to steady her voice. “We… we did everything together.” She wanted to stop at that, but the words seemed to start coming of their own accord, “She was more athletic than I was growing up, but we’d play on the same baseball and soccer teams as kids, then I’d go to her games when she was in high school. I’d help her with her homework when I’d come home from college. Especially with essays. She had a hard time with spelling.” She couldn’t stop the tears anymore, so she gave up trying. “We used to turn the radio up really loud when I’d drive her to the store. She’d always get the lyrics wrong, and it used to annoy me so much,” she choked out a laugh and rested her head down in the cushions.

“I don’t remember what the last thing was that I said to her. Or to my mom or dad.”

Carson brought back the pillow, but this time when Mike threw it, he merely meandered off and laid down along the wall, panting like he was tired. Outside, the guards’ muffled voices could be heard as they switched shifts. Mike sat down on the other side of the pile of cushions and blankets.

“I always wished I had siblings. I was an only child growing up, and we moved a lot. And I mean, a lot, so I always thought it’d be nice to have someone who I wouldn’t have to start over with every time.” He paused and they sat in mostly silence again. Eventually, Mike got up and grabbed a couple of water orbs the room had been stocked with. He tapped Wenona on the shoulder and handed one to her.

“I’ve always hated being alone. Or, well, I guess not alone. I mean everyone needs to be alone sometimes, but not being alone… I guess it would actually be… lonely. I hate being lonely.” He sat back down in his spot.

“I always thought that if I had a big family, I wouldn’t ever be lonely. I never got any siblings though, but…” He sighed and bobbed his head for a while. “You know, Wen, we’ve been through some real messes lately, and we’re still alive. We’re gonna get out of this. It’s just… different this time. We need to play it right. Weren’t you telling me before to think before I act?” Wenona lifted her head a bit to look at him. “Yeah, I know!” He chuckled. “Look at you, teachin’ me stuff!”

Wenona smiled. She wiped her face as she sat back up.

Mike continued, “I might not have had a big family on Earth, but I feel like it’s gotten bigger since I was abducted.”

Wenona’s dark eyes met Mike’s steely gray ones for a moment. She nodded before looking back down at the water orb Mike had given her. She drank most of its contents and then threw the nearly-empty orb at the window where the guards were standing. It splattered gooey and wet across the glass. Several jumped back startled, and a few reached a hand to holstered weapons as they tried to figure out if they had a ‘situation’ on their claws.

Both Mike and Wenona gave a small chuckle before Wenona leaned forward to whisper quietly, “So what’s step one?”

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[thewildwaffle]

Abduction - Chapter 16

Not even being sick this week could stop me from getting this written - though I must say it did slow me down... Bleh! Hopefully a bit more sleep and cough drops and I’ll be good to go!

Reading this to some of my friends really helped. Not only did they give me some good ideas, but also I noticed a lot of things about my story as I went through it. There are a lot of things I thought I’d made clear, but didn’t, or thoughts I was going somewhere with, but have kind of abandoned. This is definitely a first-draft process for me- but posting it as I go has REALLY been helpful. Not only do I feel more accountable to keep writing, but the feedback I get is really worth its weight in gold. I know I’m not a perfect writer and I know this is a first draft, so I am open to constructive criticism or recommendations, so feel free to let me know what you think - you’ve no idea how much it does for me!

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****

“It's going to take time. Time and parts. Both of which are a bit tight lately, all things considered.”

That's not good. Not what you want to hear from a mechanic.

“How much time are we talking about?” Captain Salora's gaze wandered from the mechanic to the rest of the Rock Base docking Bay. Unlike the last time they'd visited, it was full - very full, and very busy. All the bays were. There had been very few ships that had made it out of the battle without intense damage.

“We're doing what we can with what we have on hand,” the mechanic, a tired-looking tibet replied. Its long red fur was matted and covered in oil. “We’re waiting on a shipment now, parts, supplies, assistance. As soon as they arrive,” they gestured with a long, hairy red arm to the vast, very full docking bay, “we’ll be able to get all this sorted out.”

Captain Salora glared at the scene. What a mess. With a sigh, she turned back to the tibet. “And how long until help arrives?”

The mechanic picked at a small matte on their arm with their wrench. “Who’s to say? I expect that it will be coming in at different times. Some of it is coming from Karcheer, some from Earth- and not all their ships are warp-capable yet. The earliest shipments should be here within a solar rotation or two.”

“Very well. Is there anything my crew and I can do to help until then?”

“Honestly,” the tibet stretched his arms behind him before straightening back up, “The best thing to do now is just to sit tight and let us work. Once the shipments get here, there’ll be more to help with.”

“I see. Thank you,” Salora turned to leave. “If you’ll excuse me then.” She headed toward the hangar’s exit. The claws on her feet clacked dully against the stone and metal floor. Her crew. Or at least what was left of her crew. They’d lost nine during the attack, including the humans. She’d lost nine.

As she walked through corridors, she spotted a familiar shape slumped in a corner. Internally, Salora braced herself back up. Nine of her crew were gone, if that was her fault or not was not important now. She still had to be the captain for those she still had. They needed her as much as she needed them.

“Thurrin,” the small booka lifted her head, her fur brightened a bit, “What are you doing out here? Where is everyone else?”

“Everyone… oh,” Thurrin pawed the sleep from her eyes, “They’re still up on level twelve. When I slipped out, it looked like almost everyone was just about asleep. I just… I needed some time alone to think, so I came down here.” Her fur darkened again. Salora tried to hide her frown, it was a rare sight to see Thurrin’s fur so dull, and it was not a sight she liked to see.

“Do you...” the small booka sounded like she was trying to not let her voice break, “Do you think they made it? Is it possible they could have made it? The humans and Jebannuck? Is there any possibility that they’re still alive?” Salora had wondered the same question, though not as much or as deeply as Thurrin obviously had. Part of her felt a little guilty for that, though it was safe to say she had a lot of other issues vying for attention since the attack. Jebannuck Sefra was one of her most trusted and reliable officers, his absence these past solar cycles had certainly left a hole. She had tried not to think much about its permanence. The humans, though she hadn’t had much opportunity to bond with them, had seemed endearing in their own ways. They certainly did not deserve their supposed fate.

“I’m sorry Thurrin,” she paused. She didn’t want to have to be the one to say this, but it had to be done. It was in the best interest of the rest of the crew if Thurrin finished the grieving cycle sooner rather than later. But still. “I… I suppose it might have been a possibility, but not a probability. We lost a lot of good Confederation soldiers. The blast to the ship could have killed them, and if not, the vacuum could have taken them.”

Thurrin kept her eyes down, absently watching her back paws. It was silent for quite a while. Thankfully, no one came down this section of corridor, it was just silent.

“Captain,” Thurrin muttered hesitantly, “Is it bad if… am I a terrible person if I…” small flickers lifted off from the tips of her ears. Her fur really looked like a dying fire now, about to go out. She gasped a quick breath and began sobbing, “It’s the possibility that’s killing me. The not knowing. I just… I just wish I knew if they were gone, I just wish I could be sure so I could- so I could mourn them properly, but instead - instead I’m stuck somewhere between hope and grief and it’s - it’s tearing me apart!” Captain Salora pulled her head back. This was not what she’d been expecting. Thurrin was usually so collected, so bright and cheery. She’d never seen her lieutenant like this.

“Am I a terrible person if part of me just wishes I knew they were dead? I hope they’re not - oh frewan I hope they’re not! But... I know - I know they must be.” Her tail lashed angrily, “But, but what kind of person wishes they knew their friends were… were…” She buried her face into her arms. Her whole body seemed to try to squeeze in on itself. Her tail, usually a long, bright puff of faux flames, wrapped tight and small around her.

Salora was unsure of what to say. What wouldn’t make things worse?

As an Akeno, Salora was not usually one for physical expression, but as a captain over several various species, she’d learned the importance touch has among many of her crew.

She rested a claw on Thurrin’s shoulder. For her own people, such contact would be outrageously intimate and inappropriate, but for bookas, well, it was probably nowhere near enough. It was a start though. Thurrin seemed to notice it. Her fur flickered slightly at the touch.

“Thurrin, they were your friends. What you’re feeling now is… well it’s painful, but it doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. You are not a bad person for wanting closure, for wanting to mourn for them.” Thurrin raised her head up to look her captain in the eyes. For a moment, she looked like she might say something. Instead, she leaned into Salora’s crouched form, trying to bury her fur into the captain’s side.

Salora froze. This was… new. And a bit uncomfortable. Quite uncomfortable actually. What was she supposed to do now? This was a lot of touching. Thurrin’s fur was warm, which felt nice, but still, she tried to not let her discomfort show. Thurrin must have sensed it anyway. She pulled back quickly, a mortified look on her face. Her fur blazed up in flashes of bright oranges and yellows.

“Oh, Captain, sorry I’m - I’m so sorry, I… oh that was so unprofessional! I was so - I’m such a mess! I’m sorry!” In a mad scramble, Thurrin was up on her hind legs, fidgeting with her front paws. She looked at the ground as she slowly shuffled backward, still murmuring apologies.

“Thurrin,” the murmuring and shuffling stopped, “It’s alright. You’ve nothing to apologize for, you’re alright.” Salora stood back up, her legs thankful to be fully-extended once again. She rested one hand on Thurrin’s shoulder, the touch helped calm down the embarrassed flickers in the booka’s fur. “Come on, let’s get back up to level twelve. I think we both need a rest.”

They walked in silence most of the way. Thankfully, the corridors remained deserted for the most part. When they reached level twelve, Salora stopped in front of the door where the majority of the crew had been assigned communal quarters.

“Thurrin, I’m sorry for what you’re going through. I wish I could tell you for sure what happened to them. I wish I could give you hope, or at least help you find closure. I’m afraid all I can offer is a listening ear if you need one, and whatever comfort I can give. Please don’t feel like you have to go through this alone.”

Thurrin nodded, her eyes flickered for a moment to meet Salora’s before dropping back down to her paws.

“I was told we will have a few solar cycles before more supplies come in. Until then, I suppose we have a few days reprieve. Try to get some rest.” She turned started towards the door to the quarters she had been assigned, but paused and looked back at the smaller crewmember. “If you need anything Thurrin, feel free to ask me. Anytime you need.”

“Thank you Captain.”

What a ship! Wenona could not get enough of just how… how elegant it all looked. The way the doors seemed to open like they were gliding on ice, the way the lights blended seamlessly into the ceiling and walls, heck, even the occasional service panel seemed to hang on the walls like a piece of fine art. This was a nice ship! And she wasn’t just saying that just because she’d started to get used to Simmo’s scrappy ‘Junk Lego.’

It was aggravating how nice this ship felt as she took in the sights while they were led through the maze of corridors. Partly because she wanted to stop and admire, mostly because she couldn’t due to the fact that she was handcuffed and being led by armed guards.

Just before they’d been escorted from Simmo’s ship, Jebannuck had told them to remain calm. No matter what, remain calm. She and Mike were not individually allied with the Galactic Confederation. At the very least, their status as civilians should insure certain levels of care.

That's what he'd said. As Wenona and the others were marched through corridor after gorgeous corridor, she felt like staying calm might actually be feasible. Except for the fact that the only reason they were aboard this masterpiece of engineering was because they’d basically been brought here by gunpoint.

Oh yeah. No that really takes the “fun” and “calm” out of things.

To be honest though, this was probably the best “prisoner” treatment she’d received so far. Not that that was hard to do. The guards, who looked like large featherless birds, ushered them along with calm, emotionless expressions on their narrow yellow faces. Their eyes, which to Wenona looked a little too large for their heads, mostly stayed locked straight ahead, though Wenona noticed a few would occasionally shoot a glance at her or Mike.

Fantastic, we’re celebrities all over again. Better that than test subjects. She turned her head just enough to be able to look back at Simmo in the corner of her eye. The guards on her side caught the motion and nudged her forward. She would have growled at them, had it not been for the fact that they were carrying blasters. Best not risk it. Not yet. Instead, she gave them the meanest glare she could muster and kept walking. It didn’t take much longer to arrive at their destination.

Well it wasn’t the bridge, or at least it didn’t look anything like any bridge she’d been in lately (and she’d been on a surprising amount of bridges in the space of really not that many months). Instead, it looked more like a throne room? Do aliens have throne rooms? They must, there was a giant chair. On top of that sat a very important-looking alien.

Unlike the guards, this alien was covered in regal-looking orange and red feathers. They were dressed in a long elegant-looking sash that draped down to the floor. A few large feathers on the end of its tail and near the back of its head were tipped with purple. It’s body shape vaguely resembled a sloth with a long sweeping tail, though the shape of its body was where the similarities ended. It was not cute. It was not slow. It had a slight predatory look to it. Definitely not a sloth.

The guards stopped about three quarters of the way into the room and dipped their heads.

“Sir, the crew of the trespassing ship, as you ordered.” Four of the guards bowed and tipped their heads up before retreating back to the door they’d all just come through. What the heck was that? Some sort of salute? Weird. She turned her head back to look at the alien that apparently had been the one to summon them all here.

It leaned forward in its throne. Its massive eyes were a piercing yellow that matched the gold of its crown. Wenona stared those eyes down, refusing to look down or away. If this creep wanted to intimidate her, it was going to have to do better than a staring contest!

Then it started to laugh.

Or at least it sounded like it could be laughter. It reared its head back and it was making hacking and clicking noises, so either it was laughing it having a coughing fit.

“Humans! By all things bright and shining, you were the last beings I was expecting to find out here.”

Wenona looked over to Mike, who looked like he had the same confused expression she had.

“My, my,” the feathered alien continued. It’s voice was deeper than she expected. It echoed  around the throne room and felt… warm. “I knew your people were space-faring, but this is quite a distance from your home world. Earth, isn’t it?”

It took a few moments before Wenona realized the alien was actually waiting for an answer. “Uh, yes. Earth,” she nodded.

“Excellent,” the alien stood, never breaking its stare as it took a few steps toward them. Wenona shuffled uneasily at its approach. It didn’t seem to be noticed. “My name is Fleet Commander Rozar.” He slowly continued walking closer, seemingly enthralled by his new guests as he was able to get a better look at their disheveled appearance and still-not-quite-healed wounds. “You look like you’ve quite a story or two to tell.”

Wenona continued to stare silently at him. She felt she should say something, but no words came to mind. Not that she really had any desire to say anything anyway.

Mike finally broke the uncomfortable silence. “Well, I guess that’s one way of putting it. We’ve definitely had a long couple of months, or partecs, or whatever it is that you guys use to tell time.” Rozar’s stare shifted slightly to Mike. “It’s been a lot of time, is... what I’m saying. Since we were home.”

The Fleet Commander nodded slowly before turning sharply to a guard waiting behind him. The guard, a gray-ish hulking figure with skin the texture of tree bark, stood at attention as Commander Rozar began gesturing to him in some sort of sign language. The gray figure gave the same weird salute as the other guards and marched out of the room.

Wenona and Mike shared a worried look before glaning back at Jeb. The sefra showed no emotion on his streaked gray face, but nodded to Wenona as the Commander turned back to them, mouthing the words, ‘say it.’

“Commander Rozar,” the gold eyes locked on to her again. Stick with the plan, stick with the plan. Wenona took a deep breath before continuing, “My name is Wenona Peters, this is Mike Rockwell. Whatever you and the Galactic Confederation have between you, we are not a part of it. We’re civilians in all this.”

The corners of Commander Rozar’s mouth twitched upwards as he focused on the four of them, ending up on Jebannuck. “Smart, sefra, very clever. Am I supposed to fall for that? I do hope you aren’t underestimating the Empire. We are not as ignorant of your affairs as the Confederation would like to believe. You’ve blocked us for decapartecs - from trade with the Synx System, from the calciar and trubinian mines, from expansion to the Outer Coun Sector,” Rozar’s tone remained dangerously calm and even, but Wenona noticed his feathers on his neck were starting to ruffle a bit. “You kept us blocked us from Earth, made sure you were the only option of allies for the humans to make after what you saw what they did to the Kahsk fleet.”

Wenona caught Mike’s head jerk to look back at Jebanuck. The Kahsks. That had been what had started all this mess. Their invasion, their failed invasion had been years ago. Their technology, reverse engineered and altered by NASA, Near Star, Boeing, and many private companies were what had finally sent humanity into the stars. What did the Burnti Empire know about the Kahsks? And more importantly, what did it have to do with her and Mike now?

Commander Rozar saw the confused looks of the humans and paused his rant to turn back to them. “Oh yes, we know about Earth’s alliance with the Galactic Confederation, as misguided and uninformed a decision as it was,” he jeered back at Jebannuck, who looked like his tough, expressionless facade was starting to crack. Wenona wasn’t sure if the trembling she saw was from anger or from his wounds that were not completely healed. “Perhaps,” Rozar continued, “we can still do something about that.”

With a quick nod from Commander Rozar, several of the yellow guards that had escorted them before rushed up and surrounded Jebannuck. He gave a grunt as the guards began moving him toward a door on the side of the room.

“Jeb!” Mike yelled. He started towards him but was stopped by the guard next to him.

“Bring him back!” Wenona dodged her own guard and slapped away the reach of another. She grabbed one of the guards pulling Jeb away and threw them to the floor. Her own guards caught up and pulled her back. She kicked the legs out from under one and elbowed the other in the face. It screeched in pain and was about to retaliate when Mike appeared seemingly out of nowhere and punched it in the gut.

Another guard grabbed Mike’s bad arm and twisted it behind his back, pushing him to the ground. He yelled in pain, but the guard did not let up as he pinned him down. Two more guards tackled Wenona. Using her own move from before, they kicked her legs out from under her and held her arms tightly at an awkward angle against her back. Blasters were now out and hummed quietly as they charged up.

In all this, Commander Rozar didn’t move. He hardly seemed fazed.

“Fascinating,” he drawed out each syllable. The three guards they had downed groaned and struggled to get back kup. “For being just ‘civilians in all this,’ you both seem to be eager to protect a Confederation officer.” In the corner of her eye, Wenona noticed Simmo, still standing where they’d all been brought in. There were no guards around her. Perfect! She could get them out of this! She could- but she didn’t move. She just stood there, staring at the spectacle, still as a statue.

“Simmo!” The montauk focused on her, but still made no move to help. Any more words she had died on her lips. She… no. Her stomach fell. What was she thinking? Why should Simmo help? Their alliance was one of forced circumstances, and the circumstances had changed.

“Apparently I still have much to read up on about on how humans form bonds,” Commander Rozar chuckled to himself. “How very interesting.” His feathered tail swept side to side smugly behind him. “I must warn against such behavior in the future. You’ll quickly find out escaping here won’t be so easy as overtaking a small Montauk smuggler’s ship.” Wenona’s breath caught as she stared at the Burnti Fleet Commander. Her mind didn’t seem to completely grasp what she’d just heard. Did he just-? How did he know? What?!

“Don’t fret, Human Wenona Peters, Human Mike Rockwell. As it currently stands, you and your little friends are my guests.” With a nod, the guards hauled them both back up to their feet, though they didn’t let go of their holds on their arms. “As guests, I expect a certain level of civility and decorum. Further… outbreaks… in behavior would not be recommended.”

Next Chapter

[thewildwaffle]

Abduction - Chapter 14

Well, technically, it’s still Friday as I post this, so I’m still good to my word! This was a fun one to write, I really feel like I’ve been able to work through the “creative quicksand” I’ve been trudging through lately! So that’s good. 

As always, I really welcome the feedback you’re willing to give. I have this story roughly planned out, but for the most part, chapter by chapter, I write as I go. My story is by no means perfect, and I really appreciate the input, tips, encouragements, and thoughts everyone has shared so far. Thank you all!

Chapter 1     Previous Chapter      Next Chapter

***

Mike swore he was going to go stir crazy. It’d been nearly a week. Well, nearly seven days since they landed on the planet. Days were longer here than on earth. According to Wenona, it was about 31 and a half hours of daylight and the same amount for the night. It was, quite literally, the longest week in his life.

In that time, Jebannuck had updated the language software in Simmo’s translator chip, so now she could understand the humans. “Because, you know, that’s exactly what I would consider a top priority,” thought Mike bitterly. In fact, once Jebannuck had finished with Simmo’s translator chip, it took about another day to find out if it worked or not, and only then because Mike had been muttering something just within Simmo’s hearing range. She hadn’t liked what she heard.

Other than that, he and Wenona kept their distance from her. If anyone needed to have any interactions with the Montauk, it was usually done through Jebannuck. She remained tied up and unable to move far, but Jeb had been able to allow her some freedom of movement - limited though they were, tied and leashed so she couldn’t wander off, or wander too close. The thing of it was, and it was a thought that neither he nor Wenona really liked to admit. They needed her to get out of here as much as she was going to need them.

The valley their pod had landed in was starting to seem oppressive - like some natural prison that walled them in on every side. They had to get out of here. Had to get off this planet, had to rejoin the Gladius crew. The surrounding mountains loomed high above, turning into rocky crags near their tops, scratching the sky. Jebannuck said Simmo had a base camp somewhere on a ledge just under where the treeline really started to thin. It was a steep and daunting climb. The entire mood around their little camp was... well it wasn't great. Mike thought it felt similar to the feeling you get when you're done with vacation and now you have to drive 19 hours to go home. Only this time, the vacation sucked and your car broke down so now you had to walk instead.

If it was up to him, he'd just as soon get started asap and get it over with, get back to the Gladius. But it wasn't up to him. It was up to Jebannuck. They needed time to heal and recuperate first of all, and they also needed to make sure they had everything they needed when they started the climb.

“So you’re telling me that we’re leaving it all?” Wenona sounded incredulous talking to Jeb while pointedly trying to ignore Simmo, even though she was technically part of the conversation.

“Well I’m sure not carrying all that mess,” hissed the Montauk. Wenona barely spared her a glance. She kept her eyes pointedly on Jeb.

Jeb looked as tired as Mike felt.

“It’s going to be hard enough getting out of here and up to where Simmo set up camp without trying to haul the entire pod with us.”

“Jeb. I’m not saying we need to take the whole thing with us. It just… it just seems like a waste to leave it all here,” she turned to look at what had been their makeshift home for the past few days. “I mean, it got us here, right? What’s stopping us from using it to get out of here?”

“Parts. Parts is what’s stopping us,” Simmo sneered while doing whatever version of “rolling her eyes” than Montauk can do. Wenona frowned and Jebannuck stepped in again.

“The escape pod is just as its name implies - for escapes. They’re built to take a hit while they get passengers to a safe place to wait or call for help. Their thrusters are nowhere near powerful enough to get back into orbit. We need to help Simmo figure out what parts we need for her ship and then we can part ways once we’ve returned to the Gladius. Wenona, you have experience in engineering, yes?”

“Uh, well yes, but it’s not like it’s the same as…”

“Whatever you can do is fine.” He paused and looked between Wenona and Simmo, who were sizing each other up very dubiously.  “Neither of you has to like it, but we just need to not kill each other long enough that we can get out of here in one piece.” They were both now staring at him very dubiously. He gave a noise that was a mix between a sigh and a growl. “Figure out what parts we need from the pod and don’t kill each other. That’s an order.”

He turned around, pretending not to hear Wenona’s deep sigh or Simmo’s mumblings that she didn’t take orders from Confederation officers, and carefully limped back to where he’d made his bed by the now-smoldering remains of the campfire.

Mike hesitated a while before coming any closer. He’d been out gathering wood for the fire, a task that took a lot longer than it should because he could only really use one arm. His right arm was covered with several still-tender cuts, and was maybe broken? It hurt and was swollen, but it must have been a small break. There was nothing really much to do about it. It was small enough that it should heal alright on its own, as long as he didn’t use it too much. Other than that, he was fine, really. At least, all things considered. As he’d been told by Demfar and Gerben, and as he’d now seen firsthand when comparing himself and Wenona to Jeb and Simmo, humans heal quickly. Most bruises were already fading, cuts were scabbed over, muscles were still sore, but all in all, they’d be okay.

Still wish he’d been able to carry back more wood though.

He dropped what he’d been able to carry onto the small pile next to Jeb, who hardly looked up at Mike’s arrival.

“Jeb, you doin’ alright there, bud?” Nothing. He didn’t even correct him and insist Mike use his full name.

Not knowing what else to do, Mike sat down in front of the fire pit too, sitting close enough to be able to talk comfortably, but far enough away to give Jeb space if he didn’t feel like talking. There was only silence. Well, almost silence. Wenona and Simmo were discussing logistics of weight ratios and thruster intakes and whatever else engineers talk about. It sounded mostly civil too. Mostly.

Mike grabbed a long thin stick and started poking the ashes, stirring up hot coals and sending wisps of smoke up into the breeze. Mike watched the smoke disappear, smiling. Maybe this wasn’t all so bad. He was sure there could be a lot to be happy about.

He did like camping. His family used to go out in the mountains and camp a lot when he was younger. That stopped years ago, after the invasion, and after his parents started reverse engineering the alien tech, and especially after all his summers were spent moving from one home to another.

Was all this weird? Yeah. Did it kind of suck? Well, obviously. If he was completely honest with himself, was there a part of him that liked all this? Mmmm… yeah. Yeah, how many humans had been on another planet? Well, people have been on Mars and Europa, but how many had been on another living planet? Went camping on another living planet? If he were to venture a guess - not many. Granted, this wasn’t camping, it was more like… well, it was being marooned. Being marooned with and having to work with a psycho alien who tried to kill you earlier.

Mike poked the fire again. Yeah, it wasn’t great, but everyone was fine, for the most part. They had a plan, and they were going to do something no one had ever done before. It was exciting, even if there was a long hike between them and doing it.

“I haven’t thanked you,” Mike nearly jumped at Jebannuck’s voice. He’d been so quiet, Mike had almost forgotten he was there.

“Thank me? For what?”

Jeb lifted his head out of his hands to look at Mike. “For saving my life. You and Wenona both. She also told me about how you got me into a harness after I got blasted into the pod.”

Mike shrugged, “Well, yeah, I mean, you could have been hurt if I didn’t. Well, you were hurt, you could have been... I just didn’t want you to get hurt more.”

“And yet, you yourself could have been seriously injured. Not only then, but you could also have died fighting to protect me.” Jebannuck paused and watched another wisp of smoke dance away from the coals Mike was still poking through. “My question for you is, why?”

Mike looked up at him, puzzled. “Why?”

“Yes, why. Why do it? I am not human, I am not under your stewardship, you owe me no loyalties, you are not duty-bound to me as a crew member or through any other way. You’re not supposed to be here, you were… you were stolen from your home, and yet you… you… you risk your life…I… I just don’t...”

Mike had never seen Jebannuck like this. He had never seen him struggle to find words. He looked so tired.

“Jeb,” Mike scooted to the sefra’s side and paused. What should he do? Is this the kind of situation that calls for a hug? Uh… maybe, but he wasn’t feeling it, so no. Put an arm around his shoulder? Mmm... no to that too. He felt like he had to do something though - so he patted Jeb’s shoulder. It felt awkward, but there was no going back now.

“I did it because you’re my friend. You’re one of the best friends I’ve ever had. Watching out for each other, that’s what friends do... even if it means fighting a whole galaxy of Montauk.”

Now it was Jebannuck’s turn to look puzzled. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again. For a few moments, he looked from Mike to where Wenona was still making plans with Simmo, and back to Mike, then stared silently at the warm coals nestled in the fire pit.

“Thank you.”

***

How, by all that is bright and shining, do these… these humans have the ability to talk even when out of breath? Simmo’s own lungs were straining to their limit just to pull in the oxygen needed as she carefully and gingerly hauled herself and her heavy pack from tree to tree up the sharp incline. And yet, the human male, Mike or whatever, would. Not. Shut. Up.

“I told Wenona that the long green ones were fine to eat as long as they had yellow specks on them. No yellow specks - gross. Made my mouth feel weird too. ‘Don’t eat them if they don’t have yellow specks,’ I said. She told me I shouldn’t even be eating them. But you know what, if a plant is going to go through all the trouble of making fruit things, you’d think it’d be so it can be eaten and spread seeds, right? I mean, that’s how it is on Earth. That’s where we’re from, you know, but you probably already knew that.”

Simmo grunted, not really to show that she was listening. It was supposed to come across as a sign that she wanted to be left alone. The translation must have been lost in her labored breathing though, as Mike took it to mean she wanted him to continue.

“I miss Earth. I mean, I love space, always wanted to be an exploration pilot. That’s what I was doing when I was abducted. It’s just, my mission was just a scouting fly-by around a gas-giant in our solar system. I was supposed to be back home after a few weeks. And then… well, I didn’t get to say goodbye or anything, I was just gone. That’s how I met Wenona, and then later Jeb after his crew saved us from… uh… from the… Montauk that abducted us,” Mike looked over at her with a weird expression on his face. Simmo tried to ignore him and instead focused on her legs, trying to determine which spots would give her the best footing as she tried climbing over a particularly steep patch of trail. Mike had already climbed up a bit ahead and had stopped to catch his breath and rest on the top of a flat boulder. Seeing her struggle, he crouched down and extended his good arm to her.

Simmo glared at it. It was soft but had thick, strong fingers with lines and grooves etched into the palm. What was he doing? Was this some sort of trick? -How dare he! What was he playing at? She swiped his hand away and reached for a rock that seemed sturdy and pulled herself up without his “help.”

Mike let his hand drop. “Whatever,” he muttered as he straightened back up and took a few steps away. Simmo hauled herself up on the rocks, gasping. She lay on her stomach, feeling slightly crushed under the weight of the pack that was now rising and falling in sync with her breath. Everything hurt. She didn’t move for what seemed like ages, or at least until the human started moving around again. Seriously, what is he up to now? She craned her neck around to see the alien figure climbing up to a high vantage point, staring intently back down the way they had come.

“I think I see them. Man, they are waaaay down there! Do you think they’re doing alright?”

Simmo didn’t respond, but instead rested her head back down on the stone and focused on her breath, which was starting to normalize a bit now. ‘Did she think they were doing alright?’ she thought. If it wasn’t for the fact that they were carrying up very important, very vital parts and equipment, she wouldn’t care in the slightest how they were doing. The second human, Wenona or whatever, was likely doing just as annoyingly ‘alright’ as her counterpart but had stayed with Jebannuck’s slower pace as he struggled up the incline. It took them almost another half hour to finally reach where she and Simmo were waiting, not that she minded - the break was very welcome. Mike went down to help Jebannuck up the last little way and to climb up the rocks.  He nearly collapsed as soon as he could find a remotely comfortable sitting place on the boulders. Wenona carefully removed the heavy makeshift pack that had parts from the pod and set it down before she also found a place to rest.

They had started up shortly after the sun had risen that morning. It was now already a quarter of the way across the sky. Roughly 8 hours of climbing, granted, that did include the small breaks they all had had to take throughout the day. This was by far the longest they’d had. They broke out a few rations they’d brought with them from the pod, and drank from the water canteens. The humans had their own. Apparently, human saliva, as Jebannuck had explained to her, could be dangerously full of harmful pathogens, among other things, and was not something you wanted contact with if you could avoid it.

After a while, it was decided that they needed to press on. Wenona would stay with Jebannuck until he could start the climb again. In the meantime, Simmo and Mike would start climbing and once at the camp, would start working on her ship’s repairs until they caught up. Simmo was not a huge fan of the arrangement. It wasn’t that she wanted to be paired with Wenona, far from it, the human female seemed to dislike her most out of all the group, but she was the most likely to be helpful actually making the needed repairs. When she voiced this, Wenona argued that Mike could help just fine with the basic repairs until she got there, but that she wasn’t going to make it up at all if she didn’t get a little more time to rest now.

Ugh. Fine. So she was stuck with the chatty one until then. Great.

That was… wait. Where was he? Simmo glanced around and finally spotted him on top of the rocks again, half in a tree, watching something very intently.

“What the frewan are you doing now?” she called out. He peeked back at her for a moment, but then returned his gaze to the something on the branch he was holding on to.

“You guys should come check this bug out! It’s super cool!”

“Mike, leave it alone, ” Jebannuck shifted his position to get a better look at what Mike had found. “What did I tell you about getting too close to unknown things on this planet?”

Mike turned back to the rest of the group without climbing down yet, “To not to.”

“Because…” prompted Jebannuck.

“Because lots of things on this planet are deadly and want to kill me,” Mike summarized most of the lectures Jebannuck had been giving him for the past few days into one sentence. Still, he didn’t climb down away from the branch.

“Mike, it’s time to go, you need to get up and start working on the ship,” Wenona stood up and took a few steps towards Mike before stopping and leaning against a boulder.

With a sigh and one last look at the bug in question, Mike climbed down and clambered back to the group. “It was a really cool bug though. It looked like a mix between a praying mantis, a scorpion, and a hairy caterpillar.”

“Friend of yours,” Wenona raised an eyebrow at Simmo, who wasn’t sure, but felt that the expression was one of derision.

Yes, Simmo thought, perhaps it was a good idea to have Wenona stay behind with Jebannuck.

Mike picked up his pack again and swung it onto his back, shifting his shoulders to get the straps into a comfortable position. “Okay, ready when you are.”

Simmo grunted and turned to once again start their ascent.

It didn’t take long for the strain in her still-tired muscles to return. She was soon out of breath again, but the trees were starting to thin. That was a good sign, they were getting close. However, with fewer trees, it became increasingly harder to get easy handholds as they climbed. The run-off water ravines that they’d been using as trails before were now becoming much more shallow, acting almost like thin trails in some places.

One moment, Simmo was holding onto a small branch for leverage, the next moment, the branch snapped and she felt herself losing her footing and falling backward. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, or maybe it was just her mind that was being too slow to process everything as it happened. The unstable ground beneath her feet gave way. This was it. After everything she’d been through, this was how she was going to die. Not by the hands of a double-dealing smuggler, not by combat, not by blaster fire, not from crash landing. Not even in hand-to-hand combat with deadly aliens. No. By falling. Falling and cracking her head open, or some other gruesome end that ended her life before she even had a chance to avenge her lost crew.

And then the next moment, she wasn’t falling.

Mike!

The human had caught one of her legs. In a movement that felt disturbingly similar to when he had thrown her across the clearing during their first encounter, Mike began to swing her back up onto the trail. Just before she was completely stable, Mike let out an ear-splitting yelp of pain. His injured arm! He’d used it to grab her and he lost his grip just as Simmo hit the trail, throwing off his own precarious balance.

Just as he was about to tumble down face-first, Simmo grabbed his pack. She desperately reached for something to steady them both. An exposed root! She held onto it for dear life, as she slowly pulled Mike towards her. Once they were both back on the trail, they hunched over, clinging to whatever they could anchor themselves to, gasping for air in ragged breaths.

It took a good long while before either of them was even willing to look up, let alone stand up. They had to eventually, though. As much as they both hated to continue, they hated the idea of staying on this wretched trail even more.

As they steadied themselves on their feet once again, Simmo paused to look behind at Mike. “How’s your arm?”

Mike looked at her for a few seconds before nodding, “It’s not great, but I’ll be fine.”

Simmo didn’t feel convinced, but there was no way in gadring that she was going to start caring and press the issue! She turned her attention back to the path in front of her again but hesitated another moment before glancing back at Mike again. “Thank you for catching me.”

One corner of Mike’s mouth twitch upwards slightly, “Same back at’cha.”

They started moving again, even more slowly and carefully than before. It was quiet for the most part other than the sound of their breathing and their tired footsteps over the rocks and occasional vegetation.

It was Mike who finally broke the silence. Of course it was Mike who broke the silence. “Sorry about trying to kill you when we first met.”

Simmo didn’t respond outwardly. Inwardly, she was thinking a lot of sarcastic retorts, mostly along the lines of, “Yeah, I’m sure you are.”

“Though, to be fair, you did attack me first,” Mike continued.

She smiled. But seeing as Mike couldn’t see that, she merely gave a low grunt in response as they trudged along on their way.

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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 11

It’s been, what? Three weeks? Wow! I think so. I was going to make this chapter longer, but honestly, if I tried to fit everything in that I planned, it’d be a while before this got posted and three weeks seems to be more than long enough (Wowza!)

I have actually made a good map outline thingy of what’s going to happen in the next bit of this story, so hopefully that means that actually writing it will be faster for a little while (fingers crossed!)

As always, thanks for reading! Thanks for commenting! Thanks for encouraging me to keep going! I do a little happy dance when I see that people are actually getting excited about this story! Thanks everyone!

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***

Grow up! I should grow up?! Who does she think she is? Mike stormed through the branches, shoving them out of his way and letting them snap behind him. Impulsive? Why? Because I’m willing to act when needed? If that’s impulsive, then what’s the problem?

There wasn’t really a path to walk on, so the going was slow. Worried about getting lost, he paused just out of sight of the clearing. Close enough to get back easily, far enough to not be seen from it. He kicked at a few branches on the ground, muttering and cursing.

Part of him knew he was being childish. Knew he was acting in just the way that Wenona had called him out on. There was another part, though- a bigger and louder part at the moment, that was too mad to care. Grow up.

He’d heard that before. Made him mad then too.

“Impulsive… Aaaargh!” He swung a hard punch at the trunk of the nearest tree. It splintered. He pulled his hand away, a fist-sized imprint with cracks now adorned up and down the trunk. “Huh. Not as tough as earth trees, are ya? Probably would have broken my hand if I’d punched a pine or a maple or a…”

He stopped. It was like a bucket of ice water had just been dumped on his head. Behind the tree, just a few feet away, stood a very familiar shape.

“Montauk,” he whispered.

Neither Mike nor the Montauk moved. Neither dared breath. It seemed that an eternity  passed in those moments. Mike was sure his heart was going to beat out of his chest. He felt his legs were going to give out under him and started to reach out to steady himself against the dented tree. The moment he began shifting his weight, the alien sprang at him. Time seemed to move in slow motion and Mike saw the flash of the blade almost too late.

Continuing with his initial momentum, he dropped to the ground on one knee. The montauk’s knife just knicked him in the arm. He spun on the spot sweeping his other leg at the alien’s six insect-like legs and pushed it forward. It toppled over and was almost buried by the huge pack on its back. Mike hope it was squished under its seemingly very heavy weight.

Unfortunately not. The montauk spun around on the ground, lashing out with the knife as it did so. Mike jumped over the attack and landed on the alien’s back, or rather, on it’s pack. He could both hear and feel unknown objects shift and/or crack upon his landing.

“NO! GET OFF!”

It immediately flipped over on it’s side, throwing Mike off and into a small bush with broad purple leaves. He scrambled to his feet, bracing himself for another attack. It didn’t come.

Instead, the Montauk was crouched over it’s pack, rummaging through the contents.

It was distracted. But it was still armed, and Mike’s arms was bleeding. Oh, it was bleeding more than he thought it should - it must have been more than a knick.

Then he saw it - the knife. Or, well, one might roughly call it was a knife. It was a weird knife thing. It looked like it was made from broken bits of plating, melted and burned together then sharpened along the thinner side. It was just lying there, between them on the ground.

Without another thought, Mike lunged for the weapon. The montauk must have caught the motion in the corner of it eye. It jerked its head toward him, realized what he was doing, and let out a terrifying screech. Mike dove, grabbed the knife, and rolled out of the way as the montauk swiped at him. Two of its sharp forearms got stuck in the ground for a moment. Just a moment, but long enough for Mike to get a good swing at it.

The blade cut into the exoskeleton, leaving an oozing purple gash across the dark, shiny limb. The montauk screeched and clicked angrily, backing up a few steps, just out of reach, grasping at the wound. Blood for blood, then. It knew Mike wasn’t to be messed with now. He fiddled with the knife, trying to find a more comfortable way to hold it. It was clear that it was not made for hands like his.

“No! Give it back! You’ve no idea how long it took me to make that!” it screamed.

Mike held out the knife threateningly, “I don’t really care, but if you want this knife, you’ll have to take it from my cold, dead hands.”

The montauk lowered its body so that it could walk on its four lower limbs while still using its upper arms to protectively hold its large, dingy pack. “I’ve no idea what you’re saying, strange creature, but if you understand me, know this - I will get my blade back. Even if I have to take it from your cold, lifeless grasp.”

***

He felt the pain long before he could really tell where the pain was coming from. At first, it was just a general ache. Then a throb. Oh frewan, he thought, why? What happened?

“Jebannuck? Are you okay? Can you hear me? Say something, or uh, moan again if you can hear me.”

He tried opening his eyes. It seemed he could only manage a squint. That only made the pain in his head stronger.

“Wenona? What hap… where are we?”

“Uh, the planet? I don’t remember it’s name. You put us on the escape pod and before you shut the doors, the ship was hit and you got knocked in here with us.” Wenona stepped closer and crouched down next to him. Jebannuck felt a cool cloth being pressed on his forehead. He winced. It was very tender.

“Sorry,” Wenona continued. “I’m definitely no medic. I’ve been looking through the first aid supplies for something to help with my hand, but the stuff that I recognize all seems like it’s pretty much just the basic kit stuff. Better than nothing though. You’ve been out a long time. How are you feeling?”

Jebannuck reached for the cloth Wenona was pressing onto what seemed to be a large chent-egg of a bump on his head.

I’m lucky to still be alive after a hit like that, he thought.

“Help me up. Slowly, please.” He leaned onto one arm and reached for Wenona with the other. She carefully helped him sit up and slide over to where he could lean against the wall. When he was situated, Wenona took a step back from helping him and reached again for the first aid kit. Jebannuck finally caught sight of her hand. It looked ghastly.

“What in the name of all that is bright and serene happened to your hand?”

Wenona froze mid-reach and pulled her hand back, holding it with her other hand as she examined it. “It’s… well… I’m not really sure. It’s kind of a long story but I think I’m allergic to something I hit.”

“Allergic to… you hit...” Jebannuck paused, looked around the pod and back to Wenona. “Where’s Mike?”

Wenona let out a noise that was somewhere between a sigh and a growl, “That’s part of the long story. He wandered off, like a freakin’ idiot.”

He just stared at her. Part of him felt that this news wasn’t the least bit surprising. The other part of him felt… frustrated wasn’t a strong enough word. Infuriated? Worried? Exasperated? Exasperated. That was probably close enough. We’ve been here how long and he’s already gone and done the very thing I told him not to do.

His growing frown must have started using some injured muscles because his head started throbbing more painfully. Were all humans like this?

“No, I’m not. I told him he was an idiot and that we should at least wait until you woke up before we did anything else, but as you can see, that went so well.”

Jebannuck didn’t realize he had muttered his last thought out loud. Thankfully, Wenona didn’t seem to be offended. Either that or she was too busy rummaging through the first aid kit to take offense. He leaned forward as far forward as he dared and reached out his his hand for hers. “Let me see your injuries.”

Wenona looked up from her rummaging and back down at her swollen hand before holding it out. Jebannuck gingerly examined her hand, turning it over and noticed a few small specks of spores that were still clinging in the cracks of her palm. The skin was red in splotches and puffy. It looked very painful. Jebannuck winced, partly because of the hand, but also because leaning forward for that long was starting to send an ache down his back. He let go of her hand and rested against the wall again.

“There should be a few jugs of water in a container under the harness you were strapped in. Rinse your hand off outside as well as you can, but be careful with the water. It’s what we’ve got until we can find and filter more.” Wenona got up, retrieved a jug, and stepped out the door to clean up.

“While you’re out there,” Jebannuck started. Wenona paused and looked back, “Yell for Mike. He needs to get back here. We need him back here.”

Wenona’s eyebrows furrowed. Was that a look of anger? Irritation? What happened while he was out? It looked like she was going to say no. Instead, she continued out the door with a quiet, “Alright.”

Jebannuck sat for a moment alone, a bit confused at Wenona’s reaction. She and Mike had nearly been inseparable since they’d been rescued. He would have to find out what happend between them. The last thing they needed right now was for those two to be fighting with each other on top of everything else.

He carefully scooted the first aid kit closer and pulled out a few packages for inflamation and a few basic poison neutralizers, just in case. He knew of the plant, or the type of plants that grow on this planet. Some can be deadly. Even touching them could cause serious harm or loss of limb - or more. Wenona’s injury, while it certainly looked nasty, didn’t seem to be bothering her nearly as much as it should be. Or at least, it didn’t seem to be yet.

Mike was still out there in all that though.

Blast it, where was he? Surely he had the sense enough to not wander too far?

He closed his eyes and rested his head in a crevice of the harness. Mike reminded him a lot of the humans that had been enlisted onto the last ship he had served on. They’d only been on the crew for about half a standard solar orbit before Jebannuck was transferred, but they had struck him as being perpetually curious, loud, and at times, foolhardy. Being part of the crew, however, meant that they had tasks to attend to, protocols to keep up, and instructions to follow. That being said, however, they always seemed to be expert in finding loopholes in rules and orders that would keep them out of trouble when they (to quote them) “bent the rules a bit.”

As far as the datasheet showed, they were a major gain to the crew in matters of productivity and efficiency. As far as actually working or being around them, Jebannuck did his best to ignore them and their boisterous ways.

They were annoying.

He might have started dozing, lost in his thoughts. He wasn’t sure. Well, actually, he must have been because he jolted awake with a start. He’d heard something. He looked around. Wenona was still gone. Was it her voice he’d heard?

Yes. And he heard it again. Outside the pod. She was yelling something. Screaming something. Was she saying actual words? His mind felt alert and foggy at the same time. It was… disorienting to say the least. Like his brain was trying to process as much as possible all at once without making sense of anything as it did so.

It took a few attempts, but eventually he made it to his feet, holding onto a few loose straps to steady himself and get his bearings. Wenona was yelling again. So was someone else, someone with a thin and wheezy voice.

It took a few heartbeats, but then everything cleared up as fast as a flash. It was a fight! Something or someone was out there with Wenona. She could be killed! He limped to the door as fast as he could. His muscles felt slow to respond, but he made it. Taking a deep breath before sliding the pod door open, he pulled out his blaster, which was still holstered on a strap near his waist.

***

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[thewildwaffle]

Abduction - Chapter 9

 If you’ve been reading along, or if you have a comment of some kind, please leave feedback! and thanks to everyone who has been - it’s really helped me stay motivated. This is the longest I’ve actually stayed with a story like this, which is seriously amazing! Thanks everyone!

First Chapter   Previous Chapter   Next Chapter

***

Loud! Oh my heck it’s so loud!

It sounded like the most annoying fire alarm ever created - and he had heard a lot of annoying fire alarms in his life. He’d even started a few.

The equipment on the walls rattled with each ship quake. “Ooooohhhhhh, we are going to die,” Mike droned.

“Those big laser beams are still getting through the shields!” Wenona had been sitting by the window in her usual spot when the Gladius arrived on this hellish mess. She’d stayed frozen to the spot since. The ship shook violently again, knocking Mike to the floor.

Oh freak, this can’t be how I go out, not after everything else I’ve been through.

“Human Mike, Human Wenona! Are you alright?” Demfar scrambled into the room, his four tentacle-like legs were spread wide to help absorb much of the ship’s tremors and shudders. “It’s the Burnti Blockade - it’s an all-out war now and we’ve shown up right in the middle of it!”

“Really, Demfar?” Mike grimaced as he was nearly knocked over by another particularly strong blast to the ship’s hull, “Really? We hadn’t noticed.”

“Human Mike, how could you not have noticed? We are very much under attack as we speak! This is not normal!”

Demfar looked up worriedly at the light panels as they started flickering. “Oh, I do hope the med bay’s generators hold up. I fear we might have a few new patients in here once this is done.”

“We’re returning fire!” Wenona yelled from the window. She was standing now, pressing her face closer to the glassy surface to get a better view. Mike could see around her as yellow bursts erupted from canons that must have been beyond their view, which shot out in rapid succession towards the looming enemy ships.

“About time,” Mike murmerred. He felt so helpless.This wasn’t something he could just punch or fight his way out of. What could he do? Nothing. Just sit by and watch while his life was on the line. We’re going to die.

“Mike! Wenona!” Mike jumped as a familiar deep voice shouted right behind him. Jebannuck ran into the room, hardly stopping as he grabbed Mike’s arms while still in motion and quickly crossed the room and reached for Wenona’s hand. “Humans, with me, NOW.”

“What? Where?” Wenona pulled her hand away but stood and took a step towards Jebannuck.

“I’ll explain on the way,” he extended his arm hurriedly as a gesture for her to follow. As he turned, he nodded to Demfar, “Orders from the captain, you’re relieved from their care.”

Demfar looked like he was about to respond, but at that moment, the main lights went completely out. After a few seconds, there was a low hum and blue emergency lights started glowing from inset panels along the walls.

“Frewan,” Jebannuck cursed and pulled the humans with him through the door. Neither one of them protested as they ran to keep up.

Mike could feel his heart beating faster and faster. His eyelids felt like they were frozen open at the widest they could go. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion, but his senses felt so alert that it was hard to process everything. There was one thing he knew though. He felt certain of it. They were all going to die.

He’d felt fear before. This wasn’t that. He’d felt panic and primal rage before, when he and Wenona escaped their confines on the Montauk ship. This wasn’t those either. This was dread, as he had never experienced it before. Heavy. Final. Absolute. Everything around him felt distant and detached, like it was happening to someone else and he was just watching, doomed to whatever outcome they all ended up with.

Jebannuck was talking as they ran. He tried listening, but the words felt meaningless in his ears. There was an escape pod. Somethings about an escape pod. They’d be back later? Jeb was talking so fast, it was hard to keep up. It was all Mike could do to keep up with Jeb’s near sprint of a pace. They turned corners and rushed past corridors. They reached a wide section of the hall with door and window ports all along one wall. Mike had seen this place before, had passed it before. He’d seen crew members watching stars pass at warp speed during their lounging breaks. None of that now.

Jebannuck headed immediately to one of the small control panels next to a door panel and began punching in commands.

“Both of you, over here, now.”

Mike felt his legs moving forward, but his eyes wandered towards the window ports just off to the side. There were a lot of lights and beams flashing in various colors. A lot of ships. One ship with a red hull looked like it was heading straight at them.

A loud “woosh”-ing noise brought Mike’s attention back to the interior of the Gladius. The door next to Jeb had opened. Inside was a small room.

Oh, duh, Mike thought, Escape pod. We’re getting out of here.

The pod had four belt harnesses inside, two on each side. In the middle was a small navigation console, like the ones on the bridge, but much, much smaller. There were also what appeared to be, storage bays overhead and under the harness seats.

“Get in. Quickly. Don’t mess with the controls, I’ve set it up for you. Gamnut 4 is a habitable planet, but by no means the safest. You’ll be in one of the planet’s more temperate zones. We’ll be back to pick you up the moment it’s safe here. Don’t wander off from the pod,” He inhaled and pointed directly at Mike, “Don’t. Do. Anything. Stupid.”

Mike didn’t feel like he had the capacity to fire back with a snappy comeback. He didn’t have the time either. Jeb ushered them both into the pod and made sure they strapped in. As soon as they were secured, he bounded back out the door and entered a few more commands to the control panel.

“Human Mike, Human Wenona, please be sure that you-”

Jebannuck was interrupted. Loudly.

Whatever he was going to say was swallowed up in the loudest explosion Mike had ever heard. Glass, metal, and debris were flying everywhere. The concussive wave knocked Jebannuck, headfirst, inside the pod, throwing him onto the floor where he rolled and smacked hard into the base of the navigation console. A few broken beams flew in behind him, and hit the floor. Then they began sliding back out. In fact, a lot of dust and debris were starting to slide back. If Mike’s ears hadn’t just been bombarded by the explosion, he would have heard a loud sucking sound.

Before he could put together what the heck just happened, the doors to the pod slammed shut and sealed. Mike felt the pod blast off from the ship. He could see the Gladius out the small porthole window on the door. There was a jagged hole near where they had just shot away. It was getting harder and harder to see it as the ship grew smaller and smaller.

The pod must have been really speeding along.

Mike looked at the navigation console. He felt his hands twitch. He wanted nothing more than to reach over and take control. Too bad he was strapped in. It also didn’t help that the controls were all in standardized Juntag code. He hoped that whatever Jebannuck had entered earlier would get them where they were going, and get them there in one piece.

Jeb. Oh frewan, Jeb. He still hadn’t gotten back up. The pod jostled on its course and it looked like Jebannuck was maybe starting to stir and shake his head, but once their trajectory was stabilized, it was clear that the only movement actually from Jeb were the dark gray bruises spreading across his skin. His chest rose and fell slowly, but shallowly.

Mike scrambled and fumbled with the clips and straps that held him fastened to the harness.

“Mike, no! What are you doing?” Wenona’s voice was low and sounded more like a raspy whisper. “Stay buckled up, what if we crash?”

Mike had finally gotten a few straps loose and was nearly able to wriggle free of the remaining bindings. “If we crash, then Jeb’s gonna die. We’d all die, probably. I’ll hurry.”

Once out of the harness, Mike crouched down by Jebannuck’s side. The pod jostled again, making Mike nearly lose his balance on top of Jeb. Instead, he caught himself before completely falling over, but not before he smacked his head on the navigation console’s base. He saw white stars flash in his eyes and he muttered a few choice Earth swears. “Are you okay?” Wenona began unclipping her buckles and straps before Mike, through clenched teeth, grunted and waved for her to stop. She stopped, bit her lip, and refastened the few buckles she had managed to get loose. “Whatever you’re doing, do it quick and strap back in. We’re still in a war zone, remember.”

Mike pressed his hands hard against his forehead where he’d hit, took a deep breath and set back to work. He reached under Jebannuck’s arms and tried picking him up.

Nope. Too big. Not going to work. Dumb idea.

Mike did get Jeb up into a sitting position though, and that allowed him to grab the unconscious alien around the torso and drag him under the empty harness seat next to his own. He braced himself against his harness when the pod bucked and trembled again. Taking another deep breath, Mike tried again to lift Jebannuck off the ground and into the seat. He got him halfway and tried reaching for the loose straps against the wall. Using his shoulder, his elbow, and a few times, his head, Mike was able to prop Jebannuck up long enough to strap, clip, and buckle the comatose sefra into the harness seat. More or less.

“Mike, the controls are beeping. I can’t see what it’s about from here.”

Before he could get to the console, the pod lurched hard to the side. The lights from the ceiling panel went out. Mike flew off his feet into the wall above the last spare harness, but before he hit, something… changed.

The impact was soft. Well, it still kind of hurt, but not nearly as much as it should have. Mike’s first cognitive thoughts were that maybe the wall was made out of a spongy material. Or maybe he died and was now a ghost. That would maybe explain why he was floating.

Oh wait. This is space. Stuff floats in space usually.

“What hit us, or we hit, or whatever, it must have knocked out the artificial gravity,” Mike pushed off from the wall. He glided across the pod then he launched himself into a slow motion backflip. The lights flickered back on slowly.

“I freakin’ hate space. We’re gonna die out here. Not even on the ship. Just, out here by ourselves,” Wenona was fighting a panic in her voice. It was subtle, but Mike heard it.

He caught himself on the top of his harness and pushed himself back down to the floor.

“We’ll be okay.” He wasn’t sure about that, but what else could you say? Yeah, you’re right, we’re all going to die?

“We’ve got to be almost there by now.” He strapped himself back in, and looked at the navigation display. He couldn’t make heads or tails of what the writing was about, but one of the graphs seemed to be mapping out their trajectory. “Got to be getting close,” he mumbled, mostly to himself.

They were getting close. It didn’t take long before the feeling of gravity returned - natural gravity - from the planet. The pod shook again, though much less violently than before, as it entered the atmosphere.

What’s this planet’s name again? Gambit? Gamner? It had a number with it too. Don’t remember what that was.

He took a deep breath as he glanced out the port window again, hoping to get a look at the planet. The window was facing the wrong way and showed only the stars as they slowly faded into a teal sky.

He hoped he wouldn’t be calling this planet “home” for too long.

[thewildwaffle]

Abduction - Chapter 10

I know these chapters aren’t as long as I’d like them to be, but I do try to get them out in some decent time frame! Thank you to everyone who has left feedback or comments in previous chapters! The next few chapters are going to be a lot of fun! - Fun for me to write, not so much fun for my characters... oops.

Chapter 1      Previous Chapter      Next Chapter

***

“It started out as a normal day. Hot. A little muggy, which was nice. Found another oogin creeper crawling around outside my sleeping bunk. Mean little things, but hey, made for a quick morning meal. Flargin’ thing nearly stung me before I got it down. Another day in paradise, I guess.

“But anyway, as I was saying, day seven hundred forty-one started out quite unremarkably regular. Then I saw the lights in the sky. I’d noticed them some time ago, as stated in previous entries, but they never really moved much, they were just… there. Until early this morning. Their movements were strange though, hard to make out. I knew it had to be something very high up in the atmosphere to look that distorted. Then stuff started falling, and I realized whatever was moving up there was from far beyond the planet’s atmosphere. From what I was able to salvage from the first three crash sites, it looks like the Galactic Confederation’s not having a very good time.”

The remainder of the recording was filled up with a mix of chuckling and clicking, which was replaced near the end with heavy, labored breathing. The bug-like alien scuttled down the steep incline, slipping the recording device into a pack on its back which had been growing heavier and heavier with each visit to a crash site.

Most of the debris burned or broke up in the atmosphere, completely disintegrating long before it reached the surface. A few things, bits of fighter clippers, chunks of engine frames, etc. but without a doubt, the prized find so far had been the ion core, still in its casing mind you! It was worse for wear, sure, but with a little bit of touch up and care… well. Who knows?

Maybe I’ll finally be able to get off this blast-drub rock.

In any case, the ion core had earned a very special spot in the pack - safe and secure as its new owner scurried quickly down the steep ravine towards the newest site.

Large foliage hung over the path, attempting to block the way, but it was quickly cut down by thin but sharp insect-like forearms. This new site was going to be good - it didn’t look like it had broken apart like the others - whatever had crashed could still be in good condition indeed!

The trail, if one could call it a trail- more of a route that run-off water takes after rain, became very steep and rocky. Scuttling legs were soon struggling to find purchase and were slipping and sliding. It became less of a hike down the slope and more of a fall-while-you-reach-from-tree-to-tree-to-break-said-fall down the slope. This was going to be a miserable hike back up to camp later.

It had better be worth it.

***

It seemed normal out here. Hot. A little muggy, which was awful. But it was breathable. Oh! It was breathable. Thank goodness.

“Okay, you were right about the atmosphere, but I’m still ticked and you’re still an idiot.” Wenona had been very hesitant about leaving the pod. This was an alien world, afterall! Who knows what kind of hell was waiting out there. They knew very little about it other than what they could see out the port window and what they could make heads or tails of from the pod’s readouts. Jeb had said it was habitable, and it sure looked that way - there was a lot of vegetation out there. The thing was, this was an alien planet, not Earth. Who’s to say these plants weren’t pumping out cyanide or some weird gas instead of oxygen?

Mike had gone off on how it had to be oxygen - because of how the sky looked, because of a reading on the console (a reading which was still in an alien language, which she had pointed out), and a bunch of other reasons. He had made some good points, but this was their lives on the line here, and his argument had a lot of assumptions sprinkled through it.

What’s more, Jebannuck still hadn’t woken up. They’d unfastened him after landing and laid him on the floor so he’d be more comfortable. Wenona had found some basic first aid supplies in one of the storage bays above the harnesses and had been able to clean and bandage him up. He was bleeding from his head injury - dark, gray/purpley blood was already starting to dry on his face. It didn’t look as bad once she cleaned him up. Head injuries were like that. She was mostly worried about any concussion when he hit, and also his shoulder, which looked like it’d been cut open in the explosion. The wound stretched around the top of his left arm, over his shoulder and around and down his back. They cleaned it up the best they could and tried to position him in a way that he would be comfortable.

Wenona insisted that they wait until Jeb was feeling better before they went out. Or at least wait until he woke up.

Yeah, that worked out well.

Thankfully, the captain had indeed sent them to a habitable planet. Or at least, the atmosphere didn’t immediately kill them. Still, that didn’t make Mike’s smug grin any less annoying.

“See, I told you.” somehow Mikes stupid smile got even bigger as he spun in the small clearing they had landed in. “Totally safe. They wouldn’t have sent us down here if the planet was dangerous.” “You mean more dangerous than the freakin’ war zone they sent us out of? Kind of hard to top that, Mike.”

Mike’s grin morphed into a frown as Wenona’s tone seemed to finally reach him. He folded his arms across his chest and furrowed his eyebrows, “Yeah? And who knows how long that’s going to last up there? We don’t know how long we’ll be here - we would have had to have left the pod eventually. We need to figure out where we are and what resources are nearby.”

That was a good point. Which was even more infuriating.

“Eventually. We would have had to have left the pod eventually. That doesn’t mean ‘Hey Mike, how about five minutes after we land, you jump out and put us all in danger from who knows what could be lurking around on a lousy alien planet!’”

Mike spread his arms to gesture at the clearing around them, “Maybe not, but look around. We’re fine, aren’t we?” “You didn’t know that before! You just act, you always just act without thinking! Whatever impulse flashes into your mind, you just go!”

“If I remember, me doing just that is one of the reasons we’re still alive - you’ve never had an issue with that before!”

“This is different - we weren’t fighting for our lives,” Wenona’s voice rang through the clearing, echoing back slightly. “There’s a time and a place, and you need to grow up and figure that out!”

Mike uncrossed his arms and took a step back. “Grow up? I should grow up?” He looked like he’d been slapped in the face. After a moment, he opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it again, tightly. Instead, he turned around and began walking toward the other end of the clearing.

“Where are you going?” Wenona yelled after him.

“Like I said,” he hollered back gruffly, “we need to find out what resources are nearby.”

He disappeared amongst the bright greens, yellows and purples of the trees. Wenona watched him go, still fuming. She stomped a few steps back to the pod door. There was a rounded object on the ground nearby, it looked like it must be made of a chunk of rotting wood. It was a weird shape to just find lying around, but it looked like it make for a good thing to kick. She really needed to kick something.

She took a lunge at it, wound up her leg, and… it exploded into a puff of spores. Poof! Her foot continued through where it had been, the momentum from her kick causing her to lose her balance and she fell in the now-settling cloud of spores and dust. She lay there for a moment before she covering her face with her hands to help muffle a scream.

Once getting that out of her system, she slammed her fists on the ground on either side of her. Her right hand landed in a growing pile of the spores. A sharp pain shot through her hand and up her arm. With a swear, she rolled over and scrambled to her feet. After pulling down her sleeve, she was able to cover up her hand as she squeezed - the pressure seemed to help alleviate the pain a little bit. Stupid alien tree ball!

“I freakin’ hate space, I hate this planet, I hate this forest, I wanna go home,” she muttered to herself over and over like an angry mantra as she walked back towards the pod. She hoped there was something in the first aid kits that would help.

***

“Well. Alright then. This is odd.” The object that had fallen from the sky had indeed been whole and intact. That what had been hoped for, and that’s where the expectations ended.

Upon arrival, it was apparent that this particular find could go two ways. One, the pod was empty, it had maybe been deployed accidentally in the madness, or perhaps had been blown loose under heavy fire. Two, the pod had someone aboard, or multiple someones, and were, no doubt, scanning the area. If it was option two, her current hiding spot would be discovered in a matter of time. Stay or go?

It was a risk, but after the long hike down she wasn’t about to give up and leave so easily.

“Wait it out. Wait it out”,” she whispered under her breath, fidgeting with a short makeshift blade that had been pulled out of the pack upon arrival.

To her extreme surprise, the pod opened after a short while and a strange, bipedal alien walked out. It appeared to be wearing a Galactic Confederation uniform. Another one followed it soon after. This one was slightly smaller and the fur on top of its head was longer and darker. They appeared to be of the same species, but it was a species that she was unfamiliar with. They were… oddly cute? They had no tails, no wings, and yet there they stood, there they walked around on only two straight legs. Their mouths? Well, what she thought they were their mouths were long and wide across the front of their heads. One, the second alien, opened its “mouth.” Large white teeth could be seen as it started making a variety of humming and chirping sounds. It was speaking to the other alien.

Whatever language they were speaking to each other in was apparently not included in her translator chip’s software. However, she didn’t need to know what they were saying to know the tone of the conversation.

From looks alone, she hadn’t expected that such creatures could get so loud. Or look so angry while being so loud. Between their soft looking skin and roundish faces, their anger almost seemed amusing, like an angry pet glahrkut. They didn’t appear to have any natural weapons or defenses, but all the same, there was something about them that made her feel glad to be hidden away in the trees. Something… she couldn’t quite put her antenna on why.

Ponderings were cut short as the first alien turned and started stomping towards her. She glanced up at the trees around her. Krag, too tall, and while carrying the loaded pack, there was no way she’d make it up there without being seen. If she made it at all.

“I’ll be fine,” she thought, “if I don’t move, it can’t see me with all the surrounding foliage. Unless it walks right into me. In which case,” she slowly pulled out the makeshift blade from the pack again, “this thing’s gonna learn real quick to not cross a montauk.”

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[thewildwaffle]

Abduction - Chapter 8

Sorry for the delay on this chapter. I will work to get my schedule for posting this a little more consistent and such. As always, feel free to give feedback on the story, the characters, writing tips, etc. Whatever comes to mind, I appreciate all of it. Special thanks to all of you who have pointed out things in previous chapters, I’ve considered all of them and made changes because of many of them. Thank you! That’s why I’m posting this, after all!

Anyway, thanks for reading along with me!

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***

“I think I’m going to name it Doug.”

“What? Name what?”

“That little robot that keeps circling the pillar over there.”

Jebannuck turned toward Mike with his signature look of exasperation. “Mike. That is a cleaning droid. It has a serial designation, it doesn’t need a name.”

“Yeah, I know. But look at it, Doug just seems to fit it so well. Does the Gladius have any little robots like him?”

Wenona, who had been halfway listening up to this point, jumped in, “Yeah, there are a few. We’ve passed them in the halls a few times.”

“There are approximately seventy-two cleaning droids in operational condition aboard the Gladius. Exactly zero of them need to be named.” Jebannuck looked directly at Mike and added, “Or tampered with in any way.”

“When have I ever tampered with anything?” Mike gave his best mock-surprised face

Wenona held up a hand and began counting on fingers, “The hot tub, the night light, the food dispenser in the back corner of the cafeteria, and every locked door you come across all come to mind.”

“Technically it was you who turned the bath pod into a hot tub, not me. And besides, I’m curious by nature. I get crazy being  pent up too long. Speaking of which, where is this welcoming committee that were supposed to be here?”

“Yes, Captain, this whole situation seems very odd,” Jebannuck placed a hand on the hilt of his blaster. “Perhaps I should take a few of my team and check things out?”

A booming crash echoed across the bay. Four alien figures appeared  from behind a now half-fallen column of strange looking rods and tools. The alien in front of the line scowled at the mess and carefully high-stepped it’s four insect-like legs over the rolling bits and scuttled over quickly to the waiting crew.

Without taking a step, Wenona shifted her weight so that Jebannuck was a little more in between her and this new alien.

“My apologies for the delay, Captain Akeno Salora. As you may have noticed, we have been... rendered severely understaffed as of late.” The buggish alien’s face continued to sneer. Or maybe that was just how its face always was. Either way, it seemed altogether unpleasant to Wenona.

Captain Salora took a sweeping look around the bay, empty except for the Gladius. “Yes, so you are. I assume all remaining ships have been moved to a bay closer to the stations the remaining crew are operating?”

“Quite right.”

“So then why have us come to bay 15 if it’s such a distance from everything else?” Jebannuck cut in, frowning.

The new alien turned its large compound eyes to Jebannuck. It was like looking into a praying mantis’ eyes, but with less little… bits. “The other bays may be closer, but this one is the best suited for the renovations you’ll be requiring for the…” the bug-faced alien look at Mike and then around at the group, “I thought there were two humans. Oh there’s the other one.”

At this point, Wenona had moved completely behind Jebannuck, who lifted his right arm as he turned around to look down at at her.

“It’s alright Human Wenona,” Jebannuck whispered quietly as he motioned for her to step forward towards Mike and the captain.

“These are the humans we rescued, Human Mike and Human Wenona,” Captain Salora gestured to each of them as she said their names. “And this is Mahben Blehrs, one of the lead resource operators of Outpost 4MG6. I’m afraid I’m unfamiliar with your companions, Blehrs. It’s obviously been a while since I was last here.”

Wenona was relieved to see that none of the other aliens with Blehrs had any insectoid parts. Two of them had very long necks like giraffes and were covered with colorful freckles. The third was short and lumpy and gave the look almost like a fish out of water.

“New transfers. They’ll help to escort the Montauk prisoners to our holding cells and then we’ll get started on renovating your ship so that it’s up to the new, human friendly, Galactic Confederation code.”

“It’s safe for me to assume, then, that we will be the ones to deliver the humans back to their home planet?” Captain Salora inquired.

Home!

Wenona felt a surge of joy at the thought. She never thought she’d miss it so much. The desert. The cactus. The smell of sagebrush after the rains. It was all so close now. She pinched the bridge of her nose to try to stop herself from crying.

“It’s quite likely. Circumstances allowing, you will be the ones taking the humans to earth,” Blehrs pulled up a holographic screen from a band on his wrist - much like the ones the Gladius crew had, and started scrolling through a report of some sort. “Yes, that should work out fine.”

“What do you mean, ‘likely’? What circumstances?” Jebannuck stiffened, his broad shoulders went back and the lighter gray streak down his face darkened slightly under his eyes.

Blehrs deactivated the screen. The natural sneer he wore on his face was added to by the haughty expression of his voice, “There’s been a rising situation while you’ve been out. It’s the reason no one’s here. They’re off dealing with the standoff. We were given orders from higher up to wait to tell you about it until you got here. The interference would have garbled the message or left out important instructions. Those in command thought it better to delay your assistance and make sure everything was done right rather than risking you getting only part of a message and bungle the whole operation by mistake. The situation has become very, very sensitive these past few solar cycles.”

Captain Salora grabbed Jebannuck’s shoulders and gently, but firmly, pulled him back as she stepped closer to Blehrs. “Out with it then. What situation? What is this standoff?”

As Wenona listened, all the joy for home she’d felt started slipping away. She tried holding on to hope, but the more she heard come out of Blehr’s mouth, the harder it became. The standoff. The Galactic Confederation had been barricading a large trade route of someone in some other part of the galaxy because some other aliens were threatening to do some bad stuff and everyone’s mad and blah blah blah. She stopped listening after a while. She couldn’t listen any more. How could she? She felt like everything was falling apart.

“No,” she whispered. “No, no, no, no, no, NO!” Her voice grew in volume with each no until she shouted the last one. Everyone froze and looked at her. She hadn’t meant to yell, but she couldn’t have stopped it even if she’d wanted to. Her shoulders were shaking. Her nails cut into the palm of her hands as she clenched them tightly. Hot tears, partly from embarrassment and partly from rage streamed down her cheeks before she could stop them.

The sneer on Blehr’s face warped itself into a look of shock and worry, “What’s wrong with it? Your human appears to be leaking.”

Wenona turned around as she felt her face growing hotter and walked quickly back to the ship before anyone could say anything else.

Home.

It’d felt so close.

What was going to happen now?

***

The Montauk were no longer on board. So that was a good thing. The ship felt a lot cleaner and lighter knowing those scum were gone. They’d be put through the full extent the Confederation’s judicial power.

Good, Jebannuck thought. He hoped they ended up somewhere deep and dark and left to rot.

He slammed his blaster back into its holster. He’d been cleaning it a lot since they’d left Outpost 4MG6. He didn’t like this whole flargin’ situation. The blockade wasn’t the issue. He’d played his part in them before. The Burnti Empire has had a long history with The Confederation, most of it pretty tense. As of late, the main issue had been over a long-disputed sector of space. Several solar systems in the sector were rich in rare elements, many of which were vital components in calciar cannons.

Why they had to bring the humans, though…

He understood. Partly. The Outpost would have been the ideal safe location for them to wait out until all this nonsense blew over and someone could take them home. Yes, the… outburst from Human Wenona was a bit… unsettling. Jebannuck knew it was largely due to her frustration with the whole situation. He understood how that felt. To a point. But he also suspected that since the bad news came from Blehrs, a Mahben, whose race did share many visual similarities with Montauk, the news was only worsened.

Yes, he thought, it might have been physically safer to leave them there for a short amount of time, but on top of everything else, the Rock Base was severely understaffed. There wouldn’t be anyone available to watch the humans and keep them calm or out of mischief.

And with Human Mike, Jebannuck grimaced, keeping out of mischief was nearly a full-time job in and of itself.

The ESS Gladius, however, had been deemed a suitable place for the humans to remain under the circumstances. The fact that they had seemed to have made some bonds with crew members was a large factor to that decision. It might just be enough to help keep them both stable during this high-pressure affair. Plus, the ship’s part to play in the blockade was merely for a show of numbers on the part of the Confederation. This whole ordeal had been going on this long, if fighting was going to break out, it would have done so by now.

VOOOOOOOOOOOOM. The engines shifting down.

Jebannuck straightened up and started to the door to attend to his post when he was thrown against the wall. A deafening boom registered in his ears as it rattled the entire ship. The lights shut off and flickered back on as the power generators struggled to compensate from the disturbance. A wave of alarms blared from the speakers outside in the corridor and echoed down the rest of the ship.

“What in all light was that?!” Jebannuck picked himself up off the floor. His whole left side throbbed where he’d made impact with the wall. “Ghem-et, Karbrir, call off! Where are you? Are you alright?”

“As alright as we can be Jebannuck,” Karbrir muttered as he pushed over a shelving unit that had toppled on top of where he and Ghem-et had been sitting. “What the frewan is going on?”

He was immediately answered by another ship quake and several distant booms that could be heard through the blaring sirens.

Jebannuck practically slammed the communicator setting on his wrist device, “Captain? What’s going on? Are we under attack?”

Captain Salora’s voice came back, not through the communicator, but through the ship’s speakers, “All hands to battle stations. We are under attack. This is not a drill. I repeat, all hands to battle stations.” Jebannuck felt like his lungs were frozen solid until the captain’s voice came back again, this time through his personal communicator, “Jebannuck, it’s the barricade. It’s broken out into an all out war. I need you to get the humans and put them on an escape pod. They’ll be safer on the surface of Gamnut 4. We’ll pick them up once this has settled.”

“Acknowledged, Captain.” Another large boom nearly toppled Jebannuck over. The lights flickered again, this time taking a bit longer to adjust back to normal. Without another thought, he pushed himself out the door and ran down the corridor faster than he’d ever gone before. As he went past a long exterior window port, he noticed that the ships shields were up and were stopping several smaller laser blasts, but a few well-placed calciar cannon shots broke through the shield’s weak spots and made impact with the ship.

BOOOOM!

This time Jebannuck was able to anticipate the blast and steadied himself as the ship shook. The engines shuddered and growled as the ship was moved out of range of the enemy’s heavy fire. He could hear pandemonium breaking out across the ship as he continued to run. Gunners were scrambling to their positions to return fire, officers were clamoring for orders, engineers were shouting out readings, etc. Part of him wanted nothing more than to enter each room he passed and take charge in all the chaos, but he continued on. He had a direct order from the Captain and he would make sure it was carried out first.