"Warmaster Scathach?" Shock registered on the human's face, but his voice was calm. "Does this mean the hunt is on?" The last time they'd met, the Warmaster had promised to hunt the human. He'd seemed excited by the idea.

The Vrrl chuckled. "Your scalp will make a fine addition to my hissis, but today is not the day I take it. No, I wish merely to speak with you."

Mims grunted. "Well, here I am. Say your piece."

"Not over the comms," said the Vrrl. "This is... a private matter. We will need to speak muzzle to muzzle, as the humans say."

"I don't see that happening," said the human.

"It will," said the Warmaster. "Or I will slaughter your mechanic and his people. I will take their meat, destroy their ships, and reduce this station to molten debris. Then I will come for you. We will speak one way or the other, human. The only question is how you want that conversation to come about."

The Captain's eyes narrowed. "Threatening me is not a good idea, Scathach."

"I am not making threats," growled the Vrrl. "I am saying what will be. Make a choice Scargiver. Will you come of your own accord, or will I be forced to hunt you?"

Mims looked over at Yvian, considering. She stared back, trying to keep her breathing even. The last time they'd fought the Vrrl had been a bloodbath. The only reason they'd survived was that Warmaster Scathach had decided he didn't have the time to pursue them further. To meet the Warmaster face to face would be Fucking Dangerous. Suicidal, maybe.

On the other hand, Migo needed them. While the Captain found the mechanic annoying, she didn't think he wanted him to die. Not to mention the four hundred other people living in the shipyard. Yvian couldn't let them get eaten if she could help it. They had to go. Yvian gave the Captain a nod. Grim faced, he returned it.

"Are Migo and his people unharmed?"

"We're ok!" squealed the mechanic. Yvian realized the Warmaster was probably holding him by the wrist to speak into his console.

"Silence, softpaw," snarled the Warmaster. Migo shut up. The Vrrl continued. "We are here for information, Scargiver. Not food. Give it to us, and we'll leave these... morsels untouched."

"Alright," said the Captain. "We're in the middle of something right now, but I'll head over as soon as I can."

"You have seventy one minutes and twenty seconds," rumbled Scathach. Yvian assumed he'd given the Vrrl equivalent of an hour, but her translator converted it to to a time table she could understand. "To arrive in this sector. After that, we will..." a low growl thrummed through the comms. "Grow hungry."

The transmission ended. The Captain cursed.

"Do you think..." Yvian swallowed. "Does he really just want to talk?"

"I don't know," said the human. "Sounds like he does, but I've never heard of the Vrrl behaving that way. We're food to them. Would you have a conversation with a grib?" He cursed again. "If this happened a month later I'd have an entire fleet I could throw at him, but right now all we've got is this ship. If it comes down to a fight, I don't think we can take them."

"That's..." Yvian paused. "I don't think I've ever heard you say that before."

"I'm skilled." Mims told her. "I'm the best. I'm not fucking magic."

"So what's the plan?"

"Don't know, yet." Mims checked his wrist console. "But first things first. We've got civilians to deal with. Come on." The Captain opened the door and walked back into the med bay.

The Tegarn family were still huddled together, everyone touching everyone else. They looked up when the Captain walked in, and shied backward once again at the sight of the human. Yvian had been working with Mims long enough that she'd almost forgotten how terrified of his species the rest of the verse was. Centuries of propaganda, she supposed. It's not like they looked particularly threatening. A human just looked like a pixen with round ears and different colored skin. His hair did look odd, lacking the metallic sheen her people possessed, but that was true of most species.

"Bad news," Mims told the flergs. "We've got to deal with a Vrrl attack."

Kolva gasped at the news. If humans were the most feared species in the Confed, the Vrrl were a close second. The Captain continued, "We're going to have to leave the Niroco behind, but we'll set our captured pirate ships to guard it. As for you, I'm afraid we can't have civilians running around during a combat situation, so we're gonna stick you in cryo for now."

"I don't want to go in a cryo pod," said Velga. "Can't we just stay here or something?"

The Captain shook his head. "Not good enough. You're strangers, you're civilians, and I don't trust you not to cause problems. We're going up against the Vrrl. Even a minor a distraction will get us all killed."

"That's gribshit!" said Velga. "You just want to stuff us in pods so you can sell us off." He clenched a fist. "I won't let you take us!"

"Don't be an idiot," the Captain growled. "If we were going to do that, we wouldn't have woken you up in the first place."

"Sure you would," countered the flerg. "You get off on it. You think we don't know how humans operate?"

"I don't have time for this." Mims checked the time on his wrist console. "You're going into cryo. You can go on your own or I can drag you there, but you're going either way."

"No!" the ten year old dashed forward. He grabbed the Captain's gun. He fumbled for a moment trying to get it out of its holster. Yvian was sure Mims could have stopped him, but he just gave the kid an annoyed look as he stole the Captain's blaster.

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"Kelto!" Velga and Kolva rushed forward. Yvian was sure the Captain wouldn't hurt the kid, but if the parents jumped in someone was going to die. She activated her voidarmor's strength enhancement and shoved them back. She tried to be gentle, but they skidded several feet.

"Kelto, no!" Kolva yelled at the boy.

"You're not going to take us!" Kelto yelled at the Captain. He backed up, leveling the blaster at the human's face.

"Kelto, stop!" Velga yelled. He started forward again, but a look from Yvian stopped him. "Put the gun down!"

The boy ignored his parents. "You're not going to take us," he repeated.

The Captain crossed his arms. "That's a bold move, kid. You planning to kill me and take my stuff?"

"Let us go!" yelled Kelto.

"You're not prisoners."

"You said you were gonna stuff us in cryo!"

"Yeah," said the human. "And if you want to stay on this ship that's where you're going to go."

"I won't let you." The boy glared at him.

"We don't have a choice." The Captain glowered back. "We can't leave you here."

"Can, too!" Kelto argued. "Give us our ship back."

"We didn't take your ship, kid." Mims uncrossed his arms and put his hands on his hips. "But the thing's busted all to hell. We leave you there and you'll be stranded."

"We can fix it," the boy insisted. "Give it back!"

The Captain flicked his gaze from Kelto to Velga to Kolva. The adults held more fear in their scowls than the boy, but they seemed to agree with his assessment. His annoyed grimace shifted to grim acceptance. "Fine."

Kelto blinked. "What?" The blaster in his hand wavered.

"We'll put you back on your ship." Mims activated his wrist console. "Lissa, it's Mims. What's the status on the Niroco?"

"Shield generator's fragged," Lissa's voice drifted out from the comms. "I can't fix it. Engine's are out, but the drones'll get them online in another fourteen hours. The reactor's damaged, too, but I've got it stabilized, for now."

"Is life support up and running?"

"No." Lissa let out a grunt of effort. Yvian realized she was working while she talked. "I've got it shut down while I'm working on the reactor."

"Can you get it going again?"

"Uh..." Lissa considered. "I guess? I'll have to stop the repairs, though."

"How quick can you do it?"

"I dunno." A brief pause while Lissa checked something. "About twenty minutes, I guess?"

"Do it," said the Captain. "And pull the drones. Our guests want to go back to their ship."

"What? Why?"

"We've got another job," Mims told her. He narrowed his eyes at Kelto, who was still pointing a gun at him. "We've got to leave the sector."

"So?" Lissa sounded annoyed. "Put them in cryo. We can't leave them here, Mark. You know what'll happen."

"We're not going in cryo!" the boy yelled. "I'll shoot you!"

"That's stupid," Lissa yelled back. "You're stupid. Tell them to stop being stupid, Captain."

"Just set up life support and pull the drones," Mims ordered. "And make it fast. We're on a time crunch. Mims out."

The boy's arm was starting to waver with the gun. He brought his other hand up to steady it. The Captain watched him for a moment, then said. "There, see? You can go back to your ship in twenty minutes." He held out his hand. "Now give me my gun back."

Kelto shook his head.

"Kelto," Kolva spoke up. "Give the gun back to the human."

"No! I don't trust him!"

"Kid," the Captain let out an annoyed breath. "I saved your life. I saved your parents. And I have been very patient with you. This is my ship. You are a guest. I've killed people for a lot less than the shit you're pulling right now." His eyes narrowed, and his voice turned cold. "I'm willing to let it slide, but only once, and only if you return my weapon right now. You got that?"

Kelto glared right back "I don't trust you."

"I'm out of patience, kid." Mims dropped his hand back down to his side. "I'm going to count to five. Then I'm going to shoot you. One."

Kelto shifted, centering the blaster to point more carefully at the human's face.

"Two."

"Don't try it! I'll shoot you."

"Three."

"Four." The boy pulled the trigger.

"Really, kid?" The gun hadn't fired. Yvian knew it wouldn't. All their weapons were ident-locked. Only Yvian, Mims, or Lissa could use them. The Captain reached and pulled another blaster from the back of his belt. "Five." He leveled it at the boy. "You were warned."

Kelto's family screamed as yellow light flared from the Captain's gun. It struck the small flerg, knocking him back. The boy's stolen gun fell from limp fingers.

"Kelto!" Velga charged the human. Yvian didn't stop him this time. She shifted to the side to stay out of the human's line of fire. A second bolt from the Captain's gun put him down.

"Velga!" Shock and grief stormed through Kolva's eyes. She shifted, and Mims swiveled the blaster to point at her. She stopped the motion she was about to make. She sobbed. "You monster."

"It's a stunshot," Mims told her. "They'll be fine."

Kolva stared at him. The Captain lowered the gun. "I hope you're more reasonable than those two. Having to carry you all to your ship would be a pain in the ass."

Kolva stared a moment longer, then rushed to Velga's side. Once she confirmed he was still breathing, she started crying again.

Yvian let the woman cry. She picked up the fallen pistol and handed it to Mims. "Are we really going to leave them on the Niroco?"

"I'd rather not," Mims admitted. "But it's not our choice to make."

"They'll be helpless," said Yvian. "Who knows who'll come after them once we're gone."

"I know." Mims scratched his head. "We'll leave our captured fighters, but autopilot's mediocre in a fight. They won't be much of a deterrent."

Yvian shook her head. She turned to look at the weeping flerg. Kolva huddled over her husband, the unconscious Kelto in her arms. Little Fildy had her face stuffed into her mother's midriff, her own wails echoing off the walls of the med bay. These people were desperate, paranoid, and traumatized. She didn't know if she could have convinced them before Mims had to shoot the kid, but she'd never talk them into using the cryopods now.

Maybe they should force the issue. Two more stunshot bolts and they could dump the family in pods and be done with it. Sure, the Tegarn's would be livid when they woke up, but they'd be alive. Her hand drifted to the stunshot at the back of her belt.

The Captain noticed the movement and gave a slight shake of his head. Yvian grimaced. Stunning the family would be easier, but it would also be assault and probably kidnapping. The Tegarn's could sick the Militia on them. Mims probably had the money and connections to avoid a conviction, but the last thing they wanted was more attention from the law.

Yvian tried to think. There had to be some other way they could... "Wait." She had an idea. "What about the other pirate ship? The..." Yvian frowned. "What's the name?"

"The Meat Missile," supplied the Captain.

Crunch-damned pirates and their Crunch-damned stupid names. "Yeah," Yvian continued. "The Meat Missile. It's still docked with the Niroco, right?"

The human frowned. "We're not giving them a ship."

"Not giving," Yvian protested. "We'll just... leave it docked. If trouble comes they can use it to run." Shrapnel's had some of the best acceleration in the fighter class of ships. The Meat Missile would be able to outrun almost anything that came after the Tegarns. "We can get it back from them, later."

Mims frowned harder, considering.

"If someone goes after the Niroco, we'll lose the fighters, anyway," Yvian pressed. "This way we could keep at least one. The Tegarn's would be doing us a favor, really."

Mims eyed her a moment longer, then sighed. "Fine. I'll program the other fighters to act as escorts if the Meat Missile takes off." He looked at the remaining flerg. They were crying more softly now, but Yvian guessed they would be at it for another minute or two. "But they better comm us if they use it, and it better be a real emergency. Make sure they understand. These dunks have used up the last of my good will." He glared at the flerg a second longer, then walked out of the med bay. As the door closed, she heard him mutter. "God-damned civilians."