“We’re not just going to kill you, idiot!” barked Felicity as Felix nodded in agreement.

The oversized Shrell seemed to shrink down for a moment before it bubbled up with an abundance of farting noises. Despite its stature compared to the power armoured humans it emitted a sense of menace that not even John, scarred and mutilated as he now was, could match.

“We’re here to save your ship,” said Sam. “Pretty sure that’s covered now. So all we need to do is wait for the Kipr-whatever to get back and you’ll be back in control.”

“Savages. Nothing makes sense to you, does it? Even the obvious things! End me or I’ll end you!” burbled the squid creature. Despite the level gap the Carnival felt fairly confident against this being. Lower level Shrell were terrible fighters from what they’d seen and after a few moments of armoured helms turning to each other in the sterile bronze room the confidence increased.

“Mate. you guys are, no offence, utter pansies!” exclaimed Raoul after the silence stretched too long. John resisted the urge to slap a hand against his face and simply gritted his teeth.

“Without us the ship dies. You were ordered to sterilise the vessel. Our resistance was ignored.” John had heard a wide range of emotion from the Shrell they’d passed the time with over the last few months but bitterness had not been part of their emotional gamut. The tone of the Captain’s voice was as far beyond bitterness as “murderous rage” is compared to “mildly miffed”. This was a being on the edge.

“Your resistance might not have been known. We got, like, an hour to prepare before we were deployed. Once the system recognises the ship is back under control it’ll update. Fecking zealots!” said Reg. He glanced at the twins but they were ignoring him, all their attention was focussed on the alien in the room.

“You have served a long time,” Felicity said.

“Long time. Your duty is not yet done.” Felix’s voice was firm.

“Service? Duty? You’re savages!” snarled the Shrell.

“We’re arguing not to waste the Alliance's resources,” Felicity barked back.

“Resources. You are not replaceable, this vessel is not replaceable. We were sent to save you. Perhaps a little faith is in order?” Felix finished.

The Shrell’s eyes narrowed for a moment before it noisily deflated. It collapsed down until it was barely larger than one of the regular crew.

“What do you fight for, savages?” it asked in a low voice.

“Our world,” Evie called out defiantly.

“A world? I can see the sense. You have such limited experience. This is my world,” a tentacle waved around at the surrounding walls and screens. “What would you give for your world, little savage?”

Evie in her armour towered over the collapsed alien but she took a moment to prepare her answer. The tone of the Shrell commanded respect.

“Anything,” she replied.

“Anything. Your life? Don’t bother to answer. I can see more than you would understand. You are bound to the war in ways that are beyond my species, woman. You have taken control of the vessel.” A tentacle flicked out causing the humans to flinch and parts of the wall flickered into blazing colours for a moment.

“We’ve got the worst of it under control,” said a Bob-bot.

“I can see. What will you do with the rebels?” asked the Captain as its eyes shifted from the illusory screens back to the team.

“Hand them over to the system,” said Vic.

The bubbling farting noises this comment caused lasted for almost a minute. The team shifted uncomfortably as they glanced back and forth.

“Just kill them to take the Essence. It would be the… Just do it.”

“They’re not giving us any Essence,” grumbled Evie. Us killing these guys is basically pointless. What was this stupid fucking mission? How are you guys so useless you couldn’t put the rebels down?”

“Kiddo. Neck. Wind it in.” John’s voice was cold. It had been a long time since Evie heard her father sound that way and she bit her tongue long enough for someone else to step in and redirect the conversation.

“We won’t kill these people,” said Bob.

“I will not force you to,” the Captain replied. “I can only recommend it.”

“Why?” demanded Raoul as he flexed his shoulders and his helmet flicked over the rest of the room.

“Savages. What were your orders?”

“Anything moving is to be considered hostile,” said Evie quietly. A tentacle flicked in her direction and bounced off a forcefield she threw up.

“That was the wording?” the Captain asked quietly, ignoring the battered limb tip that was retracted back into the nest below its main body.

“Literally what I said,” Evie enunciated slowly.

“Then there can be nothing left alive on this ship for you to complete your mission.” The Captain turned slowly and undulated over to a wall that retracted to reveal a starfield on the other side. “To think it has come to this after so many cycles.” None of the Carnival moved for a minute while the Captain stared blankly through the window.

“You know what you have to do. Kill everything that was aboard when you arrived,” the Captain sighed.

“Some of the survivors are our own species!” said Felix.

“Species! The Alliance of Light must be better than this!” snapped Felicity in support.

“Go, children. Do what you must.” After it spoke the Shrell spun round and as it did so its eyes opened wide, its jaw dropped open. “You aren’t without options. Put my crew in your pocket dimension. Save their lives at least.” It rumbled, a shiver running from the floor up to the top of its head. “Please, help my children,” it ground out in a guttural voice.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

Teamchat:

NumberOne DorisDayFan: We might have another option.

Traveller: We can’t stick them all in the stash so another option would be good, Bob.

Titan: Feed them to Zeeg?

BestDoggo: I don’t eat humans. Or aliens. As a rule.

OWA: We can’t support them in the stash for long. What do the aliens even eat? We know the Shrell like booze but the other species? Is it nutritious for them? No fucking clue chaps.

Sunstrike: Plenty of calories in alcohol. Is it a temporary option perhaps?

NumberOne DorisDayFan: There is another possibility. John, you can open a portal back to Wayfaire from anywhere in the universe, right? That’s what the modification said!

Traveller: That’s what it says. I can’t promise it will work though.

NumberOne DorisDayFan: It’s worth a shot. We’ll keep Captain Depression occupied for a moment, you go check.

John didn’t say anything, he simply blipped himself back to the hold they had arrived in. Nearly a hundred aliens were collared and sitting on the ground, eating and drinking whatever the spiderbots brought out for them. At least they weren’t lactose intolerant or had a peanut allergy. That would help with any supply issues if they had to stash this lot in Doris’ storage space.

The aliens were all down beat. Heads hung low. Or the nodules that passed for heads. Having spent time around Pete John didn’t have any real sense of anthropocentrism. Snake-spider hybrid things were the norm for Pete and Shelly, the lack of a human physical baseline didn’t phase him intellectually. If he was being honest he felt at some level that intelligent creatures should look like humans, or at the least dogs.

Drones were passing among them while a handful of B-3000s handed out rations. John glanced away from the four armed dudes as they apparently kept their mouths in their chest and it looked horrific as the damn things opened their mouths to eat.

John reached out and tested the waters with his ability. He could feel the incipient connection, a bridge between here and there. With a mental flex he made the link. Beneath his armour he grinned and walked forward only to bounce off the event horizon of the portal.

“Fuck. Bob?” he asked. A crone rushed through the portal and came back a moment later.

“I’m fine. Well, this ‘me’ is.”

“Is that a real you? Or is it remote controlled?” John grumped. He’d wanted to go see Ryn. The situation on the rest of the planet was also high on his list of interests but mostly he wanted to spend some time with Vic and his daughter back home.

“It’s just a drone. I guess I’m kind of here and there at the same time,” said the nearest drone.

“Oi! What the fuck is that?” demanded a voice in English. One of the humans who’d been taken had risen to their feet and was pointing at the portal.

“When did you leave Earth?” John replied.

“You’re him, aren’t you?” asked the woman next to him. Her dark skin shone as the lights around the hold gleamed as the lights scattered around the hold caught on the sharp angles of her cheeks.

“John Borrows,” John ground out.

“Traveller.” John cringed as his nickname was almost whispered. “Let us go back?” asked the man who had called out at first.

“How long?” he reiterated.

“Seven years. There’s only five of us left. Let us go home.”

“Can you go through the portal?” John wondered aloud. Rather than any kind of discussion the black woman moved. Despite the collar she vanished into the portal before John could think to react. A moment later she backed through again, arms raised as several slightly out of date Bob-bots came through with weapons trained on her.

As soon as they came through one of them turned and bolted back to the other side of the portal.

“We’re good. I can come and go and the humans are ok as well,” said the drone. The new drones lowered their weapons and made reassuring hand movements in the direction of the other human team.

After a brief period of awkward discussion they persuaded one of the aliens to go through the portal. John felt a little guilty as the motivation they employed was more along the line of “do this or else”, communicated by non verbal gestures. As the alien returned, limbs raised carefully, John sighed. The surrender gesture appeared to be universal, which was good to know, and the creatures on the ship before the Carnival were deployed all seemed to be able to go back to Earth.

“So all these outcasts can come and go through a portal but we can’t. Has anyone from Earth tried to come through?” he asked Bob quietly.

“Yep and it’s a nope, mate. But this is an interesting opportunity,” the drone replied.

“We can have a reserve force, if we can get them on side. What about Claire, Flash’s sister, not the healer. She can talk to anyone, right?”

“She’s on her way to Wayfaire. I say we dump this lot on Mars or the Moon and keep them in reserve until we know what they can do. They seem pretty weak overall.”

“Low levels.” John sighed and his armour settled into a crouch. Doris pivoted and moved forward slightly, causing all the captured beings to shiver and back away. She stepped carefully forward until she was standing with the portal between her ankles then held still, once again becoming a giant armoured statue.

"Excuse me?” asked one of the women on the human team they’d rescued.

John craned his neck up to look at her. Tall and slender with long dark hair tied up behind her head. Her skin was almost ebony and the artificial lights in the hold reflected harshly on her damp cheeks. She had stopped weeping but her voice was weak and reedy.

He stood up, towering over her, and reached up slowly with one hand to remove his helmet. As the bulky piece of armour came up over his head she blanched.

“Are you even human?” she asked.

Ah. The ruby eyes and the scars and the freaky runes Magic had carved into his face. Perhaps he should have kept the mask on?

“I am. I’m John. When did you leave Earth?”

“About a year ago,” she stammered back. “You’re… him. The baron of the Topping?”

John grimaced and went silent for a moment. “I was, sometimes. The Topping is gone though. A year of your time?” She nodded shakily. “So probably a lot longer than that back on Earth. Time dilation,” he finished in response to her confused look.

“Can we go back to Earth through that?” she waved a hand at the portal. She clearly knew it was possible, she was asking for permission.

“You’re valuable. We’ll keep you somewhere safe while we assess what happens to you long term. We won’t hurt you or any of these creatures as long as none of you attack our people back home. A lot has changed while you’ve been away.”

“The Accords are still keeping everyone down?” she asked.

“No. Some people came back from one of these jaunts. So powerful they turned everything on its head. The Sigs are still some of the strongest but they are small fry compared to the Monarchs,” he answered.

“Where will you keep us?” her friend called out from where she huddled on the floor. And when are you going to take this fucking collar off?”

“Once you’re back and we’ve checked you over, the collars will come off,” Bob chimed in from a nearby drone. They had been having a rapid conversation in the background as they made plans. They didn’t want to kill these rebels so they only really had one option.

“Be careful when you level. You got some Essence from this so far? And you need to kill the big bad Shrell on the bridge?” John shrugged.

“Not really much so far. Most of them were below level thirty and we were trying to take prisoners rather than just kill everything.”

“Don’t get creative with your orders. You don’t want to be an outcast,” the black woman muttered. “You think us going back to Earth will count as completing the mission?”

“Hopefully,” John replied. “We needed to sterilise the ship. If you ain’t here then it’s sterile.”

“We’ll go. Hope it works out for you, Signatory,” the tone in her voice at the end suggested she was not a fan. She moved over and gathered her friends then marched them back to Earth.

“You got drones ready to receive the aliens?” John asked Bob. The drone nodded and they began shepherding the rest of the prisoners through the portal.

“I want to strip a load of tech out of this beauty as well.” The B-300 gestured around the walls. Bring the rest of them back. We can figure out what to do with the Captain later.”

John stood in silence for a moment then replaced his helmet, watching as the captured aliens were forced through the portal back to Earth. A portal that the team couldn’t use themselves.