The trip to the Argo from Aschir Alpha was far shorter than the one in. Given both Wsr and Yonnex-Quniwel were in rough shape, Nippy went ahead and called the Captain to ask for the ship to meet them. Unfortunately, with their pilot out of commission, they were stuck with Zer-Dasht’s rather poor skills. In general Nemarians tended to be the best pilots out of all the species, but Dasht made it clear that that didn’t necessarily mean all Nemarians were good pilots.

Lus’s stomach was upset most of the day and half they traveled, but at least it didn’t feel quite as cramped since two of their team members were stuck in bed, mostly unconscious. Still, it was a relief to see the gray hull of the Argo from the front window when they dropped out of their final burst of hyperspeed.

“Can you get us into the bay alright?” Nippy asked Dasht.

The Nemarian’s orange scales flushed an even more vivid color in a mixture of embarrassment and anger. “Of course. It’s not that hard to land.”

Lus offered a feeble smile when Nippy glanced back at him, the Kremel’s face speaking of some of the same discomfort from Dasht’s uneven piloting. Lusac held his breath as the bay doors opened and Zer-Dasht guided them inside, holding the shuttle steadier than anytime before. The landing was less graceful, and the entire vehicle plopped onto the floor of the hangar, roughly forcing everyone against their seatbelts.

“There. Easy,” Zer-Dasht said as he started to turn the engines off.

“Get the doors open first,” Nippy growled in reminder.

Dasht’s fins rippled in displeasure, either with Nippy for pointing out an obvious error or himself for forgetting the basics of piloting a spacecraft, but he didn’t say anything as he released the pressure lever, opening the back of the shuttle up for their exit.

Doctor Tremt-Fusi, the Kremel nurse, and the orderly golem all waited in the bay. The doctor didn’t even wait for Nippy’s word before rushing up to where her two patients lay.

“Suns, what happened to Yonnex-Quniwel’s eye?” she asked, her hand trembling above the wad of bandages wound around his face.

“An all-in cutter,” Lusac hesitantly supplied. He’d sort of hoped Nippy had explained everything already, but it seemed that some details of the story hadn’t made the rounds yet. He was not looking forward to the rumors once people found out what he did to the ship’s assistant pilot.

“A cutter? Was it on?” Fusi queried in horror.

“Um, yeah,” he admitted. The memory of shoving the tool into his friend replayed in his mind, drawing out unpleasant feelings.

“Come on, Lus. Let the doctor handle this. We have a debrief with Captain Tave.” Nippy gently touched his shoulder and motioned him towards the shuttle’s exit.

Zer-Dasht was already waiting out there, his face still sour. Nippy and Lus joined him, and the three then set off through the ship to the briefing room on the uppermost deck. The people they passed greeted them as normal, signaling that the story of the latest mission hadn’t gotten out at all to the crew, which was surprising to Lusac. Normally mission tales circulated as soon as they were made. Was Captain Tave intentionally keeping this one hidden?

Lusac’s question would soon be answered as they arrived at the briefing room where the Captain stood at the window.

“Sit down,” he ordered in a cold tone as soon as the doors slid shut behind them.

Once all three were in their seats, he turned to face them. Lus quickly looked away from him, the anger harbored in his face chilling him to his core. Nippy quietly set the wrapped artifact on the table to be centered before the Captain.

“I know you gave me a brief report when you called in, Nippy, but why don’t we have Arten give us the full story, hm?” Captain Tave took his spot at the head of the table, and his tone was anything but inviting.

Dasht looked at him and barely mouthed “good luck.”

Lusac shifted in his seat to sit up a little taller as his hands found a place on the table in front of him.

“Well, uh, what do you already know, sir?” It felt like he was back at basic training with the Corporates, getting grilled by his sergeant who was just itching for an excuse to punish him.

Captain Tave stared at him. “That doesn’t matter. I said I wanted the full story. Act as if I know nothing.”

Taking a deep breath, Lus began his report. He tried to be as open and honest about things as he could, even including the [Quest] from his system, but the Captain’s glare never lessened, making it difficult for him to remain calm and coherent.

He came to the part where he found Wsr in the room, injured and unable to continue on her own, and he did his best to explain the process of finding out the truth of what was happening, using the completion of his [Quest] as a proof. Captain didn’t stop him at that part, however, and offered no questions or thoughts about the Shaquine. It wasn’t until he recounted the fight with Quniwel that Captain Tave interrupted.

“And this is where I’m struggling to understand. Yonnex-Quniwel was attacking Wsr, strangling her, you said. And in order to save her, you tried to kill Yonnex-Quniwel,” Captain summarized.

“I wasn’t trying to kill him,” Lus said quickly. “I acted on instinct. I had the cutter in my hand, and there weren’t a lot of options of where to attack him without also hurting Wsr.”

“What did you think a cutter through the eye was going to do, Arten? You have a brain, and I fully believe you know how to use it or else you wouldn’t have made it this far in life. Yonnex-Quniwel could be crippled for life depending on the damage to his brain, and he’ll never see properly again.” The Captain’s voice remained even, which unsettled Lus even further.

Was Captain Tave going to go kick him out of the Runners? Where would that leave him? And what about Leviathan? Lusac’s mind raced to try and parse how angry the Captain actually was.

“That’s it? That’s all you have?” Captain Tave accused him.

Lus tightened his hands into fists. This man had no right to pass judgment on him when he hadn’t even been there.

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

“I did what I had to do to protect myself and Wsr. Quniwel was fully insane and no longer responding to us. I had to do something to keep him from inflicting more harm. I regret that it will have such a long lasting effect, but if I hadn’t done that, Wsr and I might both be dead, and probably Quniwel too. The Shaquine are capable of causing a person to kill themselves as well as others.” Lus wasn’t ashamed of what he’d done. It sucked, sure, but no one else had been in that situation, and they couldn’t judge him for what he’d done, especially with the effects of the Shaquine.

Captain Tave turned to Dasht. “What do you think, Zer-Dasht? Were these ‘Shaquine’ really having that strong of an effect? Was Yonnex-Quniwel as insane as he claims?”

The Nemarian made a face. “Truthfully, sir. I can’t say. I did notice some of the effects as Lusac already mentioned, but I never saw Quniwel after we all parted ways. I personally didn’t feel any kind of violence tendencies like what Lus explained, but there was something strange going on in that mine.”

“Nippy?”

“I also didn’t see Quniwel until Lus and I went back for him, but the effects were a lot stronger then. I’m inclined to believe Lusac. If he says that this was the only way to stop Yonnex-Quniwel, I believe him, Captain.”

Lus allowed himself to sigh in silent relief. At least his teammates hadn’t thrown him out the airlock. He especially appreciated Nippy’s vote of confidence in his story.

Captain Tave’s blue eyes turned back to Lus, as hard as ever. “And you stand by your actions, Arten?”

“I do, Captain.”

“Very well. Finish your report. I understand that you went after the artifact alone. A rather risky move, but I see that it paid off.” He gestured to the bundle on the table.

Lusac nodded and continued his story, only briefly touching on getting Wsr out and going back for Quniwel. At the point he separated from Nippy, he dipped into more detail, though it was uncomfortable to admit just how much control the Shaquine had gained over him while he was in the temple.

“Completely blind? But you said they could only have minor effects like flashes in the corner of your vision,” Captain Tave interrupted once again.

“That was in small numbers. Over fifty Shaquine congregated in the temple at the same time as me, so they were able to do a lot more. And to be honest, I was getting pretty scared after everything so that worked to their benefit,” Lus explained. “Nippy has the notebook. It’s in that old Nemarian dialect, but I’m sure once we get it translated it’ll have more information about the Shaquine.”

“I don’t see why that notebook is of any importance,” the Captain stated flatly.

“It’s the only shred of solid proof of the Shaquine’s existence. It documents a ton about these creatures that we’ve never seen before. Isn’t that important for science?”

“It’s a big galaxy, Lus. What’s the point in documenting creatures on an uninhabited planet? Dasht pointed out.

“Name one other type of creature that’s even remotely similar to the Shaquine. This is a huge discovery,” he continued to argue.

Nippy stepped in before the debate could escalate. “I’m sure we can see about turning the notebook over once we’ve completed our current job, but right now it’s best no one knows where we’ve been in order to protect the sanctity of the assignment and the identity of the client.”

“Right,” Lus muttered as he deflated a little. He’d been so excited about being part of such an important discovery.

“Eager for a little renown, Arten?” the Captain mused, his eyes finally breaking into a glimmer of amusement. “That probably won’t go over well for a Corporate deserter.”

Lusac frowned. He wasn’t asking for his name in the history books, just maybe a scientific article or two. Something to leave his mark on the Cinder Rock Galaxy.

“Your story,” Nippy politely reminded him that he hadn’t finished the entire adventure.

There were no more interruptions as he ran through his almost suicide, getting the artifact, and finding his way out. As he spoke of sprinting back out the tunnel while surrounded by Shaquine who were unable to affect him, he wondered one last time why it’d been such an easy escape. Captain Tave had nothing more to say to him once he finished and instead grabbed the bundled artifact. Unwrapping it, he presented their fourth to last piece of whatever object they were putting together for the client. The Captain then dismissed Dasht and Lus to go get their post-mission medical exam so he could discuss the mission details more with Nippy.

Lusac was more than happy to get away from the scrutinizing stare of Captain Tave, and even Zer-Dasht seemed more at ease once the briefing room was behind them.

“Do you think they’ll kick me off the crew for what I did to Quniwel?” Lus asked as they walked.

Dasht shook his head. “Nah. Without you, we’d have never gotten that artifact. Captain was angry with the situation, not you. You did what you had to in a tight situation. It does suck that it was his eye though. He might never pilot again.”

“I hope that’s not the case,” Lus murmured as they started down the ladders. Dasht attempted to cheer him up by talking about sports, but Lusac’s mind was wrapped with worries for his future and his friend. What else would Yonnex-Quniwel do if he could no longer pilot? He didn’t have that many other skills to offer the Argo. Pilots tended to be very focused on that one skill and nothing else given the difficulty of navigating the Astral Highway and the time required to learn to do it correctly.

Medical remained abuzz as they entered. Clzllv, the nurse, was busy at the bed with Wsr while the medical golem was assisting Fusi as she worked on Quniwel. The doctor looked up as they entered.

“Post-mission exams?” she confirmed.

They both nodded.

“The golem can run the tests, and then I’ll check them when I’m done with these two. Unless either of you have any concerns?”

“Nope,” Lus said.

“No,” Dasht agreed. “Just need the exam out of the way so we can get back to our regular shifts.”

Fusi issued her commands to the golem who lumbered over to Lusac and Dasht. It was composed of light oak wood which was starting to show its age, its body just one long rounded rectangle and the legs, arms, and head almost as shapeless. When Lus was a child, he used to find golems scary, but now he’d been around them long enough to see them as just another tool.

It took Dasht’s vitals and then Lus’s. The golem then ran the medical scanner over Dasht before doing the same to Lus. Once it completed the tests, it walked away and returned to its task of helping the doctor.

“Efficient,” Zer-Dasht smiled.

“No kidding. Fastest exam I’ve gotten,” Lus replied. “I’m going to go shower before dinner. I’ll see you later, Dasht.”

The Nemarian bid him farewell as they parted ways, and Lusac finally found the comfort of his quarters and his faithful cyclops cat waiting there for him.

“Hey Avil,” he greeted his pet as he bent down to scoop up the ball of black fur. “Man, it was a tough week. I see Becky took good care of you.” Lus poked the roll of fat spilling out of his arms.

The cat purred as he nuzzled his face against Lus’s chest, and the weight of everything that happened on the mission and during the debrief melted away for a time. The two settled on the worn couch, and Lus forgot all plans of showering as he held his cat and turned on an old gladiatus match. It was incredible how much stress his pet managed to relieve.

The door rang, and Lus stood to answer it, keeping Avil close.

“Must be Becky coming to say hi,” he told the cat. When he answered the summons, it wasn’t Becky waiting.

Cewi-Bano stood before him, her face lighting up in a smile as the door slid open.

“Lusac. Hi. I heard about what happened, and I was coming by to see if you wanted to talk about–” She froze, her indigo fins twitching suddenly as she caught sight of the animal resting in his arms. “What in Suns’ names is that?”

As she spoke, the familiar ding of the system notification sounded for his ears only and a box of text popped up in the corner of his vision.

[New Quest Unlocked!]

[Certified Pet Owner]

[Description: get Avil officially registered]

[Time limit: 3 days]

[Reward: 100 XP]

[Reward: Skill]

[Punishment: lose access to Avil permanently]

“Crap,” Lus muttered under his breath before Cewi could even finish her sentence.