[ Data Decryption: 12.78% complete ] blinked steadily on the screens in the command center, the apparently empty command center, much to Delviks confusion. Thomas had been here when he had left to stretch his legs and check in with one of the scout groups a short while ago, barely a half an hour by the time display on the wall, “where have you gone off to now” he asked to the empty room.

Letting the door close behind him as he backed out of the command center, Delvik looked both left and right, hoping to perhaps catch sight of his friend returning, but was met with nothing, just empty hallway in either direction. Rubbing his muzzle in thought, he spun and began making his way to the cafeteria. It had been an exciting morning, so perhaps Thomas had missed his day break meal and was now sating his hunger, he thought.

Delvik hopped down from the table he had been standing on near the entrance of the cafeteria after noticing the glare of one of the elder females who had claimed the large room as her domain. Even being a savior of their people wouldn’t be enough to spare him a whacking from the great wooden spoon that she wielded, should he be fool enough to incur her wrath. With a last look around, Delvik walked towards the elder as she narrowed her eyes dangerously at him, “Honored Elder, I apologize for the disruption and rude behavior, but I am looking for Friend Thomas, have you seen him?”, he asked formally in an attempt to mollify her, pointedly not looking at the large spoon resting casually on her shoulder.

The matron paused and tilted her head to the side in thought, steadily tapping the spoon gently against her shoulder before answering, “I have not, Honored scout, but if i do see him, I will tell him that you are seeking him” she said, and then continuing with a kindly smile, “and if I find you again placing your feet upon my clean tables, Ill tan your hide and use it as a cleaning cloth”

Delvik retreated hastily through the door and back into the safety of the hallway, his apologies echoing after him as he disappeared around the corner of the hallway.

Slumping against the wall to catch his breath, he chuckled at the thought that he would rather face down another hunting party of Arvo than one displeased female elder.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he resumed wandering through the bunker, stopping to ask others if they had seen Thomas anywhere, with most replying that they thought he would be with Delvik. He was starting to think that Thomas had left the bunker after finding no sign of him in the recreation room, bunk room, school house or restrooms, but he couldn't imagine why he would leave while the drives were processing. They were important, they held the secrets of the past, or so Thomas believed, so why would he leave them alone and unmonitored.

So deep in his thoughts, Delvik nearly missed the ambush.

The attacks came from three sides. From the left and slightly ahead, a closet door opened. From the right and slightly behind, a ventilation cover flew across the hallway as if blown open, and from above, shadowed figures dropped a weighted net.

Delvik turned his step into a lunge, taking him close enough to the door to grab it and slam it shut. Muffled shouts, yelps and a loud clattering of items falling over could be heard from the closet as he spun around to face back towards the other attackers.

The net landed with a flat thump where he had been standing

Small figures in dark clothing rushed out of the ventilation duct, a billowing cloud of dust partially masking their movements as three more leapt from the pipes that lined the ceiling.

Delvik ducked under two that flew by holding a rope stretched between them, and caught a third as they tried to tackle him. He spun and tossed the one he caught at the two with the rope that had landed behind him, causing them to foul each other's movements. As he continued his spin to face the dust cloud, he caught movement in his peripheral vision and lept backwards, aborting the spin and placing his back to the wall.

Another net flew through the space where he had been and caught the assailants that had leapt down from the ceiling.

With a smile he pushed off the wall, took two rapid steps and slid into the dust cloud

Muffled yelps could be heard within the cloud by the ones tangled up in the netting, and quickly three more figures came sliding out of the cloud.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

As the door handle to the closet began to turn, Delvik ran over and in one smooth motion, pulled the door open as he stepped past it, causing the two figures behind the door to tumble out, along with a clattering of broom and mop handles.

Leaning back against the wall, Delvik slapped at his clothing to clear the dust off as the attacking force either groaned in pain or fought to untangle themselves from their own netting. He smiled as accusations of unfairness, cheating and acting out of order were thrown around by the assailants.

As the attacking force sorted themselves out, Delvik clapped his hands to get their attention. Eight sets of small eyes turn to look at him, “I give it a six out of ten, you get bonus points for attacking while I was distracted, but your coordination leaves much to be desired.” he said.

Again, accusations flew, each group blaming the others for their failure to capture the scout.

One of the figures asked, “How did you know?”

Delvik pointed at the dust covered floor, “Thomas’s robots do a good job of keeping the floors shiny and the vents clean, this hallway is too dirty. I was distracted with my own thoughts, but.” as he drew the last word out, “not enough that I didn’t notice the difference. It was a good attempt children, but as you failed, your punishment is to clean this all up.”

He smiled as they resumed their bickering, but began picking up the cleaning supplies that had fallen out of the closet and taking care of the mess that they had made. He idly wondered where the children were learning such things, perhaps those video games they seemed so enamored with. He would bring it up with Thomas to get his opinion, which reminded him.

Turning back to the children, he caught them attempting to sneak into the ventilation, and coughed loudly to get their attention. The children froze and slowly turned to face the scout, who pointed up at one of the cameras that monitored the hallway, “you will clean or the matrons will hear of your actions, which have been recorded,” he said with a smile that matched the cafeteria elders, “and also, have you seen Thomas anywhere?”

Under protest, the children resumed cleaning, for real this time, but sadly they had not seen the human anywhere.

With a deep sigh, Delvik began making his way to the bunkers entrance and the bar, perhaps his friend went there. Thomas had been talking about wanting to get back into experimenting with the grill and what he called locally sourced meat and produce.

The bar and grill was busy when he arrived, one of the hunting parties had a run of good luck and had brought back four large blade horns. There were even a few Arvo, including one of the big ones that other human had said was her bodyguard, sitting in a corner with a large tray of meats.

It was odd seeing them here, even knowing that Thomas had said that they’re allowed as long as they are being peaceful. Apparently a group led by this body guard had built a camp at the outer perimeter of the base where a large pond was located. They mostly kept to themselves, but the scouts would always spot one or two lurking within sight of the bar and grill. Thomas was supposed to be meeting with their leader again soon to discuss trade between the two groups, possibly setting up something he called a bazaar. Regardless, while they had kept their word at being peaceful, he still did not trust them, not yet.

Putting thoughts of politics and the Arvo out of his mind, Delvik searched the bar and grill, but still turned up nothing. Frowning, he sat at an empty table near the door and racked his brain trying to think of where Thomas had gone. It had gone from curiosity, to concern, to worry, now that he had still not found him, as thought of what could possibly have happened began flashing through his mind.

Those thoughts were interrupted as a large figure sat across from him, making the bench creak from the weight. He looked up and his dark eyes met red reptilian eyes.

“You are Delvik, yes” the creature growled out in what Thomas called english.

“I am,” he replied, “and you are Saav of the Arvo, if I remember correctly, you came here before with that other human”

The Arvo nodded slowly, “yes, that is I” it said slowly, as if it had to concentrate to say each word.

Delvik looked around, and of course nearly every eye was on them. While the Arvo were allowed in, there hadn't been much mingling as Thomas would say.

“You are hunting…searching for some things?” Saav stated, “you have look of hunter not finding prey.”

Delvik nodded his head slowly, and Saav bared his teeth in what Delvik assumed was a smile

“Per..haps I help?”, Saav growled out, and patted its chest with a scaled hand “Arvo good hunter seeker finder of things”.

Disbelief flooded Delviks mind, oh he knew they were great hunters, there was a reason his peoples scouts and hunting parties stayed well away from known Arvo lands. His every instinct was saying to decline any help offered by this creature, but his friend had told him to try to get along with them, had sat him and the matrons and the other elders down to explain his reasoning. It had all made sense at the time, but he always thought it would be someone else that would take that first step.

Biting his tongue to stop himself from declining the offer, Delvik closed his eyes and exhaled deeply through his nose, and when he opened his eyes he spoke, “I…. I would be grateful for your help”