“The best kind of plan is a simple one,” the short, furry being said as it strolled into the next room, “We let them capture Rust Goddess with that gravity beam. At the last moment, we hit the accelerator, ramming it into the emitter.”

“And we fly away in my ship,” Eli said, a big smile on his face and a vicious look in his eyes.

“Exactly. A nice little surprise for those bastards. The only catch is that we have to get the ship working first.”

Gami rubbed her left temple with two fingers, the equivalent of shaking her head, “I knew it. Okay, what do we need to do?”

The being scratched a fuzzy ear, “I was circling the field, looking for the source of the distress call when they ambushed me. The whole debris field suddenly shifted. I believe that that warship is still at least a little bit functional. I think it moved toward me, and the field moved with it.”

“So, the whole thing was a setup from the beginning,” Gami declared, “They probably gathered up all of this junk to use as a screen.”

“That’s what I think. A lot of it is probably from their other victims. They hit me from every direction. I managed to take a few out with the turrets. Never did get a good look at ‘em. I lit them up bad enough that they fled. I was able to slip away and hide. One of the fuel pumps got taken out. Luckly, the flame arresters worked, otherwise, the whole ship would have gone up. I need a replacement. I just don’t think a single engine will get the ship up to speed fast enough for my plan to work.”

“You haven’t been able to find anything in one of the wrecks?” Eli asked.

“Nope, not for lack of trying. I’ve found a few bits. It only has to work for a while, nothing permanent. I think that I might have something. Come on, I’ll show you. Name’s Tarl, by the way.”

Tarl turned and started walking into another room. Gami introduced herself and cautiously followed him. Eli did the same, automatically keeping an eye on their flanks and rear while his companion focused on the being in the mechanic’s outfit.

As they passed a doorway, he thought that he saw someone in the room, another short being. It was difficult to see due to the low lighting. Eli discreetly stopped and took another glance into the room, but he saw no signs of life.

“Do you think that the autopilot will be able to get the job done?” Gami asked.

“I’ve got something better.”

Tarl led them into a room that was located near the outer hull. He gestured toward a porthole, “There’s a relatively intact ship that isn’t too far away. It’s just a matter of getting to it without attracting their attention. I think that the best approach would be to ease over to it with extremely short thruster bursts.”

Gami kept away from the window, no doubt fearing that it was a distraction, “They’ll be in the area looking for us. It’ll be risky. We need to make sure that we’re ready first.”

They kept their eyes on him as he went around a corner and out of sight.

“How long have you been here?” Eli asked, his hand rested near his sidearm.

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“About two-weeks,” he called out from the adjoining room, “To be honest, it’s been pretty nerve-racking.”

Gami chanced a quick peak out of the porthole, “And what happened to the rest of the crew?”

He came back into the room, only he was now wearing a completely different set of overalls. These were blue and looked a bit newer. He was also carrying a different sidearm and shield.

“It’s just me” Tarl said, “I had two helpers, but a labor dispute caused them to leave.”

“Right. Start getting everything that you want to take gathered up. Me and Eli are going to go prep our ship.”

“Works for me. Let’s hurry. If they’re in the area they might find us before we even get a chance to act.”

The two of them left the room, started making their way back to Cavalier. As they walked, they took cautious looks at their surroundings. Their eyes sought any clues as to what was really happening.

“What do you think?” Eli asked in a low tone.

“Not sure. He seems legit, but that’s what we thought with that monk. I don’t recognize his species. It happened so fast, but I think that his head was similar to the flying thing from before. He’s definitely not the only one on board. I know that he couldn’t have gotten changed that fast and there was no reason for it.”

“I think I saw someone else, but I can’t be sure. Do you think that they could be clones?”

“That’s an interesting idea. He’s our best chance of getting out of this mess, so we’ll just have to keep our eyes open and go along with it.”

They jogged down the spine. Eli lowered the boarding ramp. He and Gami entered the nearest cargo bays, searching for anything of value. They returned to the ship with a few odds and ends and were shocked to find that several beings that looked identical to Tarl were bringing things in. One was driving a forklift up the ramp. Two of the flying things that they had seen before swooped in, bundles clutched in their talons.

The two bounty hunters gave each other a concerned look. They entered the ship and deposited their findings.

Eli spoke in a hushed tone, “Sneak off and go invisible. Keep an eye on them. I’ll keep moving stuff over.”

She gave him her equivalent of a thumps up, which was tapping the right side of her temple with two fingers. Then she headed deeper into the ship.

Eli started exploring the darkened bays. He piled anything that looked useful onto a pallet, which the furry creature on the forklift moved onto his ship. When he was alone, he keyed his com, asked Gami if she had seen anything suspicious. They had rehearsed a series of quick codes that she could use to signal him without giving herself away. She sent him the beep that signified a negative.

When he visited his ship’s cargo hold again, he saw something strange. It was kind of like a table, only a dull shade of grey, a bit taller, and much thicker. At first, he thought that the thing was a piece of furniture, carved so as to appear stylized and natural. Then he switched his assessment of the object between a piece of equipment and some sort of otherworldly modern art.

The first thing that he noticed, the thing that had drawn his eye to begin with, was something like a bulb, which sat on the top, in the exact center. Inside of this bulb a tube or hose glowed hot pink. It swayed around, appearing to be suspended in a clear liquid.

Its legs were curved. Recesses were carved into the object. Eli wondered if something was meant to be plugged into them, maybe batteries or gear that needed to be charged. Several cables were attached to the sides, though they had nothing like a plug on them and weren’t connected to anything.

Eli saw the fuzzy beings bring equipment, tools, weapons, pieces of luggage, and food into his ship. He noticed a number of statuettes, things that were like idols. After a frantic half an hour, they vacated the bay. One of them walked over to him. This one wore red overalls.

The being had an identical voice to the other, “Alright, that’s everything that can be salvaged. I think that we need to start moving toward that ship. I’ve moved my butar around the ship to keep watch. You have spacesuits, right?”

“Yes. But there’s something that I have to ask you first: why did Tarl lie?”

“What do you mean?”

“Tarl told us that he was the only one aboard,” Gami declared as she stepped out from behind a stack of foodstuffs, “I see a lot more than one here.”

“What, you’ve never met a Mandruuka before?” he said defensively, then his attitude softened a bit, “Ah, I guess we haven’t expanded that far out. The war kinda hampered that.”

“How far are you away from home?” Eli asked.

Tarl turned around and started heading to a nearby porthole, “A long way. I’m Tarl, we are all Tarl. Come on, let’s get started.”