As he made the Captain's case, Carter was staring down his...crew, for lack of a better term. "Listen, I'm not big on allowing some random people on our ship either, but according to the Captain of their vessel, this guy might not last until rescue gets here. You can quickly treat him while we're cannibalizing that pirate vessel, and then we'll put them back in their pod and be on our way. In return, they're offering us all the munitions on the ship they have a claim on. It's not a bad deal."

The vixen seemed to have already made up her mind. No surprises there. "Absolutely not! We don't owe these people a thing! They're already lucky you're letting them keep what you are!"

The girl adjusted her glasses. "I don't see any particular benefit to us in this either. What few munitions are left on that ship aren't likely in any condition to be of use to us unless we take them apart and put them back together again, costing us almost as much time and energy as just going out and finding more elsewhere. We've got more than enough resources from that nearly whole vessel at our disposal for the time being. It is an unnecessary risk with little payoff."

So, this time, it came down to the pirate. All three turned to him as he considered the options. "Well, I don't know about owing anyone anything or how well we'll get paid, but from the sounds of things, this lad got injured fighting against overwhelming numbers in an all-hope-is-lost kinda situation and managed to get not only himself but his companions out alive! That kind of heave-ho attitude deserves to be rewarded! Sides, the only one who'll really be at risk is our Captain. It's not like they can do anything to the ship if we don't let them!"

Carter was starting to suspect the supposed pirate was more of a softy than he let on but wasn't about to say anything to that effect. Instead, he just shook his head. "Even split, so I guess I get to use my tiebreaker authority to make the call again. Contact Captain Dimitri and let him know we'll be taking the injured man on board just long enough to stabilize him, but no one can take any weapons off the pod with them. If we see so much as a knife, we'll space the lot of them."

-

As Alen sat up, he noticed he was having trouble focusing. Vanessa was speaking with someone on their console. It might have been the Captain, but he wasn't sure. "Are you sure we can trust them? This is taking a considerable risk..."

The response didn't sound as confident as he usually did. "Honestly, no, I'm not, and from what I remember of this ship, it doesn't exactly have the best of reputations. However, they could have easily waltzed in here, killed us, ignored us, and/or taken everything they wanted. Instead, they took the time to say hi and even bothered with negotiations. Also, judging by what we just saw, they aren't any more friendly toward pirates than we are, so that's a mark in their favor. If the boy was in better condition, I'd say he could just ride it out, but you mentioned he's not doing very well, so this is his only option. Besides, it's not like the government would let us keep many of the munitions on board that ship. He's got no choice, and it's not really costing us anything, might as well."

Vanessa didn't seem particularly appeased, but she didn't argue other than to mutter low enough that the Captain probably couldn't hear her. "It might cost a couple of us something..."

At this point, Alen was reasonably sure they were talking about him. However, the world wouldn't stop spinning long enough for him to consider his own thoughts on the subject. Instead, he just closed his eyes and hoped things would work out for the best.

-

Carter watched from overhead as the pod docked in the ship's bay. It seemed so small compared to the cavernous room, but he knew appearances could be deceptive. For instance, he wasn't exactly prepared to put up much of a fight himself, as his handgun was still mostly empty, but he wasn't about to let them know that.

The Captain had warned him there were not one, but two aliens aboard the pod and that they were pretty intimidating to look at. Carter had to admit that it made him curious. Everyone knew about the Vitexrā by now; they'd made quite the galactic splash a couple hundred years ago, but he'd never heard anything about a second species being discovered and wondered where the hell this other guy had come from or even what he looked like.

The girl was beside him as usual. "We've begun cannibalizing the pirate ship. The process will take several hours, though we're prioritizing more important components first in case we're interrupted."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Carter nodded. "Sounds good."

As he watched their guests disembark the ship, Carter couldn't help but frown. The big alien he's been warned about looked like he could easily cause more than his fair share of trouble. Nodding in their direction, he asked the girl, "Any weapons you can scan on them? And how about the kid? Is he really injured?"

The girl shook her head. "No weapons, although those two are pretty much weapons in and of themselves. Even if you had a full magazine, I'm not sure I'd put any money on you in a fight. Luckily, now that we have a captain, you won't be alone. We have some ancillaries ready to escort our guests to and from the med bay. As for the injured party, he seems legitimately in trouble, and the wounds are from before we showed up."

With a sigh, Carter turned away from the observation screen. "Alright. Sounds like we might as well get down there and say hi."

-

Carter conceptually knew how large the alien he was greeting was, but when he first opened the door, he had to fight the urge to take a defensive step back. Standing in front of him was some sort of anthropomorphic, nearly eight-foot-tall cat lizard, which gave off a vaguely Viking aura as it grinned down at the much smaller human.

When it spoke, Carter noticed the alien had a thick accent, thick enough to make him somewhat hard to understand, even though he seemed to be speaking Basic. "You must be the Captain! Good to meet ya!" Then, he turned to the other alien, the Vitexrā, who would have been just as intimidating despite her smaller size if Carter hadn't already had some idea what to expect. "See? I told ya they wouldn't bother inviting us on just to space us!"

The alien gave Carter a grin he suspected was meant to be more friendly than intimidating, but it failed on that account. Still, with the two large robotic frames at Carter's back, he knew that if push came to shove, he stood a reasonable chance of getting out of this alive. "Yeah, well, I'm not in the habit of spacing people who just need some help. I'm Captain Carter, by the way, and so long as you don't make any trouble, you won't get any from us. With that said, welcome aboard the Sybil."

Carter wasn't exactly a medical expert, but he'd been around the injured enough to see that the human the two aliens were escorting was in rough shape. Blood loss and shock, at the very least, probably caused by some sort of traumatic injury. Hopefully, the out-of-date medical facility on this ship would be up to the task, though Carter guessed the odds were more fifty-fifty.

The large alien's grin somehow grew broader and more toothy. "Call me Erik. This is Vanessa and Alen. Any help you can offer would be welcome!"

Carter refrained from commenting on how weird it was to hear the alien use such a standard human name, and instead simply nodded. "Alright, then follow me."

With that, Carter turned and led the way to the med bay, with the two robotic frames walking between him and their guests. He was reasonably sure he remembered the way from here, and if not, Sybil could say something. He had to fight the urge to turn and get another look at the two aliens, though.

As he finally approached the door he'd been looking for, Carter triggered the lights and pointed to the table. "Alright, put him there, and Sybil will see if she can't fix him up. I have to warn you, though, our facility isn't the most up-to-date, and given his condition, I'd say his odds are pretty even at this point."

As the large cat/lizard put the human down, the Vitexrā looked around as if searching for something before she spoke up, surprising Carter with her unexpected English accent. "Are there no medical personnel around?"

Carter was so surprised by the accent that he hesitated answering just long enough for the vixen to pop into existence and answer for him. "As if I need some wasteful organic assistance to do my job. And not to contradict my Captain, but I'd say this boy has a more than seventy-three percent survival chance. Now, if you will all please leave the room and let me do my job, I'll see if I can't save this human despite your best efforts!"

Carter sort of wanted to say something about her bedside manner but decided to keep his mouth shut as it served no purpose at this point. Besides, as the various metallic articulated arms around the table came to life, he decided he didn't want to see what the vixen considered medical assistance and decided to do as she'd commanded and leave the room.

However, the Vitexrā, Vanessa, he reminded himself, spoke up. "I am able to not release biologically active micro lifeforms when I so desire. May I remain to observe your treatment of the boy?"

As the vixen seemed to consider for a moment, Carter prepared himself for the usual belittlement, but surprisingly, she nodded. "Very well, but please observe from the corner. It would be best if you did not get in my way."

Vanessa nodded. "That is agreeable."

Carter looked back and forth between them, then decided it wasn't worth getting involved. Instead, he led the way out the door, and Erik followed. "Well, if you like, I can show you our mess hall while we wait, though I have to warn you, the food options are somewhat limited... Can you even eat human food?"

Erik grinned, making Carter wonder if the alien had another expression, and nodded. "Yup, for the most part! Don't worry. I can smell if you've got anything troublesome in there, but for the most part, if you can eat it, I can eat it. Don't waste your time on anything sweet, though; I apparently can't taste sweet!"

Carter raised an eyebrow, wondering if he'd heard that right or if it was just the accent. Then, after a moment's hesitation, he responded. "Well, how do you feel about mint flavors?"