Agozi's eyes followed Kaz as he neared, forcing the alien to wait by the ship. She wasted no time asking questions once he was within earshot.

“So what’s up?”

“We’ve made a mistake,” Kaz said, his tone shifting between coldness and irritation.

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Agozi replied teasingly. “So what went wrong this time?”

“It’s not a representative of its kind,” Kaz replied. “I haven’t inquired the details yet, but it’s clear that he’s not what we thought him to be.”

“How do you know it’s a ‘he’?” Agozi asked, her curiosity genuine.

Kaz simply glanced at the brutish alien across the hangar as if to emphasize his point. Its primordial nature was jarring compared to the other sentient beings.

“Oh…fair point,” Agozi said, her question now seeming a bit silly in hindsight.

“The matter of its gender is hardly our most pressing current concern,” Kaz said. “If it isn’t here on a diplomatic mission, we need to know what its agenda is.”

A subtle accusation in the tone rubbed Agozi the wrong way.

“What agenda?” she asked, her voice laced with subtle offense at the implication. “For all we know it just got lost. No reason to be so conspiratorial.”

“The ship is cloaked,” Kaz said. “There’s no plausible way it could’ve just floated over here by accident without prior knowledge of our location.”

“Cloaks don’t necessarily prevent electronic detection.”

“Even if so, my original point was that it couldn’t have found us by chance,” Kaz said. “Regardless of its motives, it come here deliberately.”

They shared a brief glance at it before their eyes met again.

“Why don’t we just go ask it?” Agozi said after a moment's pause.

Kaz signaled agreement with a Mevik hand gesture, and they approached the Terran alien.

The Terran’s eyes immediately focused on Agozi as they drew closer.

Her unease grew under the Terran's gaze. The significant size difference between them intensified the feeling, yet the unsettling nature of his stare stood out on its own.

“An acquaintance of yours?” The Terran asked Kaz, its eyes fixed on her.

“Lieutenant Agozi serves as my second in command and is also my lifetime confidant,” Kaz replied with a formal tone, pausing with her a few feet from it.

Briefly, the Terran scanned Agozi, appearing to inspect her. Agozi felt uneasy during the momentary scrutiny.

“I’m Hugo Andreas of Terra,” it introduced itself politely. “Pleasure to meet you.”

Agozi couldn't quite shake the sense that something was amiss with their new visitor, even though they had only just met. Still, basic courtesy extended to all sentient beings, weird vibes or not, and it was part of her job anyway.

“Nice to meet—” Mid-response, the true scale of their height and build difference dawned on her, forcing her to tilt her head for proper eye contact. Her whiskers twitched. “…you…too.”

The Terran seemed to sense her discomfort.

“My apologies,” it said, its tone polite but direct. “I'm not causing any unease, surely?”

“Absolutely not,” she replied almost instinctively.

Agozi might've stretched the truth a little bit. It was certainly a new experience to be so wildly outsized by another person, especially as a Mevik. Now she was kind of curious if this was a normal thing for Zelana, interacting with Kaz and herself.

“Explain your presence,” Kaz said, his curt tone revealing his lack of patience for pleasantries. “Given our ship's cloaked state, locating us implies a deliberate search.”

“Searching for you wasn’t on my agenda,” the Terran replied. “I was minding my own when your tractor beam ensnared my ship.”

“This only transpired following your approach,” Kaz said. “It's customary to assume incoming craft intend to board. If that's a misinterpretation, I need you to explain yourself.”

“What brought you out here, anyway?” Agozi asked before the Terran could answer Kaz’s question.

The Terran's lips moved as if searching for a reply.

“Merely fulfilling my duties when you pulled me in,” it replied eventually.

“Specify the nature of this duty.” Kaz asked.

The Terran hesitated.

“Gamma harvesting,” he replied eventually. “My ship’s equipped to identify specific signatures, like heat and radiation. It seems to have erroneously identified your ship as something to collect.”

Kaz eyed the Terran's small shuttle with skepticism.

“Seems like a small size for a harvester.”

The Terran hesitated again, though briefly this time.

“’Small’ is relative.”

Kaz and Agozi exchanged a quick, uncertain glance.

Painful groans echoed from the shuttle's cargo compartment suddenly, drawing everyone's immediate attention.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The compartment door opened, revealing another Terran who stumbled out, hands clutching its head and groaning in pain.

“Damn…that hurt pretty bad!” It let go of its bruised forehead and looked around. “Hey! This ain’t the warehouse…da feck?”

*****

Ross quickly realized he wasn't at the warehouse anymore; the place was swarming with strange, furry, humanoid creatures.

“Uh, is this like a secret military base, or something?”

None of the furry creatures responded to his question, nor did the lone human present. They simply stared in silence.

“Maybe a secret research facility? Hidden by the government, or some shit?” Still without a response, he focused on the only other human there. “Eh, mind telling me da fek is going on here brah?! Da fek is this shite?”

The other human gave him a look of intense disgust, as if he'd done something deeply offensive. No one spoke; everyone simply stared at him like he was a freak.

Ross grew irritated by the complete lack of reaction.

“Yea…I’m really not so sure if I like this whole silent treatment you guys are giving me right now!” His irritation intensified. “Is it really that hard to just tell me where da fek I am? It’s not like I’m asking for a lot, you guys.”

One of the black-furred, humanoid feline creatures approached him, appearing taller than the others yet shorter than the two humans.

“Ah ha! Finally! Someone who isn’t completely socially retarded!” Ross exclaimed, gesticulating wildly with his hands. “So, who would you be, my fine good—” He examined the furry black humanoid from bottom to top as it halted in front of him. “Whatever the hell you are.”

The furry humanoid reached into its yellow utility belt, pulled out a gadget, and slowly reached toward him.

“We can communicate through this device,” the furry humanoid said. “Place it inside your mouth.”

Ross's eyes widened in shock.

“Woah! You abominations can speak English!” Ross exclaimed loudly, almost shouting. The furry humanoid flinched slightly, much to Ross's amusement. “Hah! Startled you there, did I?” He examined the creatures scattered throughout the hangar, quickly realizing they posed no threat. In fact, he dwarfed them all. A note of mockery crept into his voice. “You guys don’t really strike me as being the most intimidating bunch to be honest,” he said, letting out a brief, childish laugh. “Not that I’m complaining,” he added, followed by more immature chuckles.

“The translator device,” the furry humanoid reiterated with a touch more assertiveness. “For us to proceed, insertion is necessary. Please, proceed with it now.”

Ross frowned, his face twisting in disgust.

“Sorry bro, but I don’t have a habit of just letting strangers insert things into my body,” he said. “I’d have to be really high for that to happen, and I’m totally sober right now.”

Silence hung awkwardly again until Ross realized his mistake.

“Okay! Okay! No problemo!” he said, raising his right hand in a reassuring gesture, then snatched the device from the creature. He inserted it into his mouth; it worked quickly, embedding itself in his teeth and cheeks. Ross jumped slightly in surprise. “Woah! The heck?”

“There’s no need to worry,” the furry humanoid said. “This is to be expected. Communication between us should now be clear.”

“Is that a fact?” Ross said passive-aggressively. “So, mind telling me just what the hell this place is?”

“You are on board Galactic Union vessel GEG Minboa of the Galactic Union Exploration Guild. It is our mission to chart unexplor—”

“Aliens, huh?” Ross interrupted. “Well, that’s a relief.” His tone shifted to amusement. “I thought you guys might be like fucked up government gene-splicing experiments, or some insane crap like that.” He released a garbled, relieved laugh. “Thank God this isn’t the case and that I’ve only been abducted by faggot aliens. I thought shit was about to get real for a moment there.”

The dark furry humanoid blinked, and its whiskers quivered for a moment.

“Gene-splicing experiments? Faggot aliens?” it said, sounding confused. “I’m afraid I can’t grasp your point.”

“Well, of course you dumb motherfuckers can’t,” Ross scoffed, gesturing dismissively. “I mean, you’re just a bunch of stupid immigrants, after all. You understand no nothin. Trust me, I would know…I had to work with a ton of them after I migrated to Terra Central.” He let out another juvenile mocking laugh.

The other human rushed towards the black-furred humanoid.

“I apologize for my friend's unawareness,” the other human said. “He took a hit to the head during docking which has left him less than lucid, as is evident. I'd prefer a private moment with him in the shuttle, if that's acceptable.”

“You have an injured crewmember?” the dark furry humanoid asked, its posture and voice now looking alarmed. “If you had informed us sooner, we could have offered immediate assistance.”

“We've got medics on standby at the medical bay,” a second furred humanoid, this one shorter and brandishing yellow fur, explained sympathetically. “We'll have his injuries looked at there.”

Confused and irritated, Ross frowned, clueless about what was happening.

“Hey! What’s that guy even on about? I don’t even kno—” The other human shot him a harsh look, making him pause mid-sentence and then turned back to the furry humanoid.

“Not just yet.”

“Uh, I’m kinda with catbro here,” Ross said, rubbing his sore head. “My head is kinda kill—”

“I said not just yet,” the other human borderline barked at him, before directing his attention back to the humanoid cat creature. “A fleeting exchange, nothing more. Afterwards, he's all yours.”

The black-tarred furry humanoid hesitated, its snout moving about somewhat.

“Provided the injury is not urgent, the timeframe for treatment is not a pressing concern.”

“Precisely!” the other human said, turning quickly toward Andreas. He leaned close, whispering without meeting Andreas's eyes. “To the shuttle, immediately.”

Despite Ross's hesitation and uncertainty about the man's motives, the malevolent tone made disobedience seem unwise.

“Uh, okay I guess.” Ross followed him inside the shuttle’s cargo compartment, where they then closed the compartment door behind them.

*****

Once they were out of sight, Andreas lunged at the unknown idiot, grabbing his chest and slamming him against a nearby wall and then pressed his face close enough for him to feel his breath.

“Just who the hell are you and what are you doing here?!” he barked, infuriated.

The idiot glanced up until his gaze met Andreas's.

“Uh…how you’re feeling today?” he asked anxiously. “Ugh, never mind,” he blurted after seeing the fury in Andreas's eyes. “I’ll just assume you’re not having a delightful day at all. But if it makes you feel any better, neither am—”

Fury drove Andreas to punch him in the stomach. The man crumpled to the floor, groaning in pain, and Andreas knelt beside him.

“Unknown and uninvited, yet here you are…” The human grimaced. “Let's set the record straight, shall we?” the human said with a grimace as he stood. “I lead here. Your actions will align with my commands, without exception.”

Still reeling from the blow, the fool stared up at Andreas in confusion. “…what? Why? I don’t understan—”

Andreas kicked him viciously in the stomach and the idiot groaned in pain again.

“Without exception.”

“Okay! Okay! No questions asked brah. Got it.”

“Your comprehension is appreciated.” The human smiled. “By the way, I'm Andreas. Hugo Andreas.”

“Nice to meet you brah…” the idiot groaned, still in pain.

Andreas's smile returned, followed by another kick to the man's stomach.

“What was that for?” the idiot whimpered.

“The absence of etiquette,” Andreas replied calmly. “’Brah’ is not a term you'll use with me, or at all. Understood?”

“Sure, sure. Just don’t kick me again bra—”

Andreas glared at him, eyes narrowing.

“Andreas…sir.”

Andreas quickly integrated the fool. The man claimed to be a warehouse worker named Ross, who had hit his head while clumsily moving cargo into the van. Andreas usually questioned such stories, but the man's obvious lack of intelligence made the tale believable. Andreas instructed Ross to remain subservient and play along with his cover story.

“Listen intently now to what I'm about to tell you…” Andreas said, his quiet, sinister tone drawing a look of anxiety from his listener. “In case questions emerge regarding who we are, state we're industrial workers on a gamma harvesting ship.” His tone became even more aggressively firm. “Do you follow?”

Ross faltered, stunned by the hostility and implied threats.

“I guess. Sort of. Not really. Yea okay whatever bra…I mean Andreas.”