Neirdith watched expectantly as the seconds ticked down on the console in front of her, they had made it to New Dundas in one piece. Well, they had as long as nothing went wrong in the next 47 seconds.
She and Seth were sitting on the bridge with captain Filch waiting for the ship to transition from warp. Looking over her shoulder she could see the figure of Skorr looking at them with interest from the hall as the door to the bridge was too small for them to fit their bulk onto the bridge.
As she looked at them she once again wondered what had happened to them, she had woken up in the infirmary with Seth at her side and Skorr guarding the door like some sort of ancient sentinel. To her amusement Seth seemed to be having a great dream, smiling hugely and murmuring to themselves, she couldn't help herself, she leaned over to him and whispered in his ear to wake up. To her delight he jolted awake and seemed a little put out that she had interrupted his dream. She tried asking what their dream was about, but he had just blushed and said something about it not being important. She didn't believe that for a second personally though, with how red his face was she was sure he had been having a dream about a woman, she wondered a little jealously who had so grabbed his fancy that they would appear in his dreams.
With a mental shrug she had changed the topic and inquired what she was doing in the infirmary to which Seth had seemed shocked that she didn't remember. She had then sat up and rubbed her head trying to pull up the thoughts but couldn't seem to put it together.
When Seth refused to elaborate saying that it was better that she didn't remember she had tried asking Skorr who was similarly unaware of the cause. They told her that the last thing they remembered was her teaching them how to swear in common then waking up on their hands and knees. After realizing that she was injured they had rushed her to the infirmary and waited till she awoke with hopes that she would know what happened. She couldn't understand why Seth would not tell her and pestered him till he broke shouting that he wasn't going to tell because it might happen again, he didn't elaborate what it was though.
Letting it go she had walked down to where she had apparently lost consciousness and was shocked to see the great dents from Skorr’s fall. The imprint of their hand and grasper clearly visible in the overstressed hull plates.
Suddenly a twisting lurch broke through her dark thoughts as the ship dropped out of warp and she looked at the viewscreen at the glorious site of New Dundas. A small moon orbiting a large terrestrial world with primordial pre-life conditions, it was a drab grey thing. Misshapen from past asteroid impacts, it was nevertheless safer than the planet's surface which still frothed and bubbled under intense volcanic activity. The planet, which was affectionately nicknamed Tartarus by many of the locals, its official designation was a string of letters and numbers that meant little to her.
Tartarus was the site of one of the Union’s many terraforming projects. The research station was the main base for tug ships and bombardment platforms that were slowly but surely transforming the planet from a barren volcanic hell into what would assuredly be verdant green garden world in just a few short centuries. Perfect for the growing of crops due to its proximity to an energetic young yellow star.
While she could appreciate the scale of such an undertaking, the actual terraforming process was much more mundane than it seemed. Every now and then a tug would drag a comet or icy asteroid to the planet and drop it into its gravity well to fall to the surface, adding water and essential amino acids, a necessity for most common forms of life.
The only sapients on the research station capable of visiting the hot, poisonous surface without protective gear were jeseo. Their living crystal bodies were more than tough enough to withstand the conditions and their lack of respiration meant that the toxic vapors did little to hamper them, bar obscuring their somewhat delicate vision.
Neirdith was rather excited, she had never seen a jeseo before and would love to meet one of the dignified beings. Their bodies varied in color from deep yellows and reds through vibrant blues and royal purples, sometimes even varying across their own bodies. She had seen a video on the hyperweb as a child of a beautiful rainbow hued jeseo, it had been an incredible specimen and seemed to shine shimmering lights onto all around it.
The jeseo were an autotrophic race, relying on sunlight to power their bodies. On a station or ship with little exposure to the sun they could subsist on pure electrical energy for a very long time, though they considered the ‘taste’ to be somewhat bland. How they could taste electricity had always fascinated her and she was determined to ask one about it the first chance she got.
As they got closer to New Dundas they were hailed by a patrol vessel. Captain Filch, who was still wearing the chest wrappings, accepted the call and the face of a somewhat concerned gre’vahn man appeared on the screen.
After just a moment of terse silence they spoke in a smooth voice “To the crew of the IS Arctic Heart, I bid welcome, but I am curious as to why you have an unlisted vessel docked to yours, are you in need of assistance?”
Captain Filch replied stoically “I thank you for the welcome and yes we are in need of assistance, just a few days from harbor we were interdicted by a group of pirates and only just managed to fight them off, I myself was injured in the attack but we did manage to beat them. Not only that but we were able to take their leader prisoner, they are currently in a spare room awaiting more permanent sentencing.”
With a look of quickly suppressed surprise the large security man said “I am surprised to hear that but very happy. Yes we will assist in escorting this esteemed individual off of your ship, did you by chance get the name of this criminal?” They asked, excitement showing on their wide feline features.
“Yes in fact we did, they called themselves Medrigil.” The captain started but was cut off by a surprised noise from the centaur.
“You have captured Medrigil? How, no it's not important, you are cleared for landing bay one, we will escort you down immediately. Please make your way there with all due haste.” The accompanying vessel cut communication somewhat abruptly and moved into a supporting position on their starboard side.
“Well this is certainly unexpected, usually they make us wait for an hour or two before giving us clearance to land.” Seth mused out loud.
Neirdith shrugged and smiled “It seems like the good captain Medrigil has a bit of a reputation around here, and folks are all too happy to take them off our hands, I wonder if there is a reward posted for his capture.”
“One can only hope.” chuckled Seth.
As they banked down towards the designated landing site she couldn't help but feel a shiver of delight at the large armoured domes that made up the above ground portion of the research colony. They were vast domes of shimmering plasteel that seemed to stretch on forever the closer one got. She knew that they were heavily armored but part of her couldn't shake the feeling that they looked almost delicate as well, as though the slightest impact would cause them to collapse in on themselves.
As the Arctic Heart entered one of the large electromagnetically shielded hangar bays, there was a noticeable shift in gravity. She quickly undid her harness and stood, followed immediately by Seth. Captain Filch however, remained seated. Looking at them with a small amount of confusion she was about to speak when they beat her to it.
“This is it. I have been thinking this over while I was healing and have come to a final decision.” Turning in his seat he fixed her and Seth with a look and continued “I am getting too old for this life, I plan to give this ship and its business to my oldest nephew Trask. I never did have time to make a family of my own, I was always working too hard. I will make sure that your last payment is processed and will add in a bonus from this last shipment to help keep you going.” he said with a measure of bitterness that surprised her. Gone was the usually stoic and self-assured captain of a small cargo freighter, replaced with a hunched and regretful old atraxses. One who had seen entirely too much pain and loss in their long life.
Feeling a measure of respect for the old atraxses she stepped closer and rested a slim hand on one shaggy shoulder. “Captain?” He looked at her with eyes full of remembered pain and regret. “I think that you were a great captain, everything you did to help me and Seth, rescuing Skorr. I think it's incredible. You are a great uncle and your family should be proud to have someone so knowledgeable like you. I just wanted to say, thanks for everything.”
The former captain Filch, now just Filch nodded appreciatively and smiled as Seth said “Yeah man, you are great, you're like the grandfather I never had. If there is ever anything I can do for you please don't hesitate to contact me. I will do everything in my power to make it so.” Tears welled up in the old creature's eyes as they opened and closed their mouth several times without making noise, finally they just nodded and turned to look forwards again.
“C’mon Neirdith, let's leave him alone for now. We should go meet the security team and show them to Medrigil.” Seth told her, as they began walking towards the cargo bay Skorr fell in behind them without a word. Their grasp of galactic common was now sturdy enough to understand the gist of their conversation without having to ask for further context.
As the trio walked into the cargo bay Neirdith turned to Skorr and warned “Skorr, we are used to you now, but I think you had better wait here so the security team doesn't get too alarmed, ok big guy?”
“As you command.” Skorr simply replied, standing still and staring straight ahead.
With a slight shake of her head and an exasperated sound she and Seth continued towards the main cargo doors. Skorr had been much more protective of her since she had woken up in the infirmary. When she had asked them why Skorr had simply said that they were worried that she might fall again without anyone there to help her. While she found this display of affection rather endearing it was also slightly annoying to have them dote on her in such a manner, she felt like a child again with an ever watchful adult constantly looking over her shoulder.
Neirdith and Seth quickly walked to the end of the cargo bay before Seth pressed the main control panel causing the large cargo doors to slowly grind open. As the massive door settled onto the duracrete of the landing pad she saw four figures in dark riot gear begin to march towards them. Looking to Seth and giving a slight head jerk in their direction they started down the ramp together to meet them on the ground.
The two groups neared each other and the security team slowed cautiously, the lead figure motioned the others to halt. As the others stopped a single figure started to scuttle their way towards them.
The approaching officer was a vinarfelien. The vinarfel were huge, roughly six meters long in total length. They were armored in thick chitinous plates and had a vast multitude of skittering legs and ten arms. She had heard them described as six meter centipedes by some humans before.
Getting a closer look at this mighty specimen she noted the rank insignia on their armored riot gear. They bore the rank of commander, this meant that this was in all likelihood the commander of the entire security force on New Dundas. Her first reaction was one of shock quickly followed by confusion as to what the commander would be doing here. She decided to ask if she got the chance.
"Sssuprissed to ssee a vinarfel are you?" The commander hissed with amusement. Seeing the look of embarrassment on Neirdith's face they continued "Don't worry, I can assssure you that I am not a rebel sssympathizer. My name is Briyn Kelton, I lead the meager forcesss on thiss rock."
"Well howdy there commander." Seth jumped in with an outstretched hand palm up.
Slapping their three uppermost right manipulator arms on his offed hand they asked in mild surprise "I am not the firsst vinarfel you have met, no?"
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"Nah, my old man and my uncle were both security officers back home. My uncle Todd was friends with several vinarfel and would go out drinking after hours with them all the time. I remember the first time I met one of his friends, I nearly died of fright and they laughed so hard that they nearly burst a segment. So yeah, I have no problem with your people myself." Seth finished while smiling at the huge armoured security officer.
"I am glad to hear it, maybe when I have sssome off time you could and I could ssshare ssstoriesss over a few drinkssss." They said hopefully. "I am the only vinarfel ssstationed here and many other residentss are rather cold towardsss me."
With a small noncommittal gesture Seth replied "Hey no promises, but I would love to share some stories with you, the shit I could tell you. Yeah, you would get a kick out of it." He said with an amused chuckle.
Focusing on Neirdith again, Briyn's compound eyes glinted as he spoke "Well, enough plessentriess, ssshall we continue to pick up your unwanted guessst?"
"Um yeah, about that." Started Neirdith worriedly "We should warn you that one of our crewmates, Skorr, is a bit different. They are friendly, don't worry, but I just don't want to shock you. I'll point them out when we get on board." Seeing that Briyn was unfazed she motioned for him to walk alongside her and Seth.
Briyn waved the other three security officers forwards with their upper right arm and settled in beside her with their strange skittering, slightly winding gait. The clicking of their armored legs on the ramp was slightly unsettling to her but she ignored it and continued into the ship proper.
As they rounded a stack of crates she saw Skorr standing by the cargo entrance right where they had left them. She quickly turned to Briyn and pointed to Skorr saying "That's Skorr, don't worry, they are much friendlier than they look."
Looking around confused, Briyn stated "Where isss thisss Ssskorr, I sssee no one."
"That's Skorr,'' she repeated, pointing towards the juggernaut.
If Briyn had had soft eyeballs instead of hard compound eyes they undoubtedly would have popped from their sockets as Skorr lifted their massive arm in greeting before taking a single step to the side. Making a strange hissing sound Briyn reared back on their hindmost set of legs briefly standing almost four meters tall before crashing back down in a heap on the floor with an audible whoof of displaced air from their many breathing spiracles.
Rushing to help them up, Neirdith exclaimed "Woah, are you okay, I'm sorry. I'm sure they didn't mean to scare you. They are different like I warned." Helping Briyn get their many feet back under them she steadied them as they swayed slightly regaining their breath.
Seth gave a chuckle and while shaking his head murmured quietly “Did you just scream?” Neirdith only just heard him and was sure that the security officer hadn't. She decided not to comment on it.
After a moment to recollect themselves they said with awe "What iss that, it’ss, it’ssss..." They trailed off into an unintelligible series of wavering hisses as they lost their train of thought. He seemed to gather himself before continuing "Now we sssimply mussst get together for a drink, I need know everything about thisss Ssskorr." Briyn said as he scuttled closer to Skorr, Neirdith waved to Skorr as she and Seth approached behind Briyn.
Skorr looked a little unsure of the long armoured creature in front of them but extended a massive hand in greeting. Gripping the huge metal fingers in all ten of his graspers Briyn looked absolutely mystified and spoke "Hello Sskorr. You can call me Briyn."
Briyn’s faceplates spread in their species semblance of a smile as Skorr replied "Greetings humble one. Are you here to bring the evil one to justice?"
"The evil one?" Briyn asked somewhat confused but turned when they heard Seth answer.
"Oh yeah, that's what they call Medrigil. They really don't like him." Motioning for the other security forces to follow Seth, Briyn made no attempt to move or release Skorr's hand.
As Seth and the other three officers left towards the unfortunate pirate’s room, Briyn finally released Skorr's hand and stepped back looking up into their bright eyes. Talking quietly to himself Neirdith heard him say "Absssolutly marvelousss. That sssuch a being could exssissst." Louder he asked Skorr "If I may inquire Sskorr, are there othersss of your kind?"
Skorr's eyes looked out to some infinitely distant point and dimmed slightly for a moment before the titan answered "I do not know. My memory starts with darkness and misery. I believe that I may be alone."
When Skorr remained silent Briyn switched his attention back to Neirdith and said “Ssso how did you meet ssuch a being?”
Neirdith shrugged casually and answered “It was an accident really. We came across a derelict slaaveth ship and Skorr was embedded in some wreckage in their cargo bay. We decided that the scrap looked interesting and salvaged it only to find that it wasn’t just the useless scrap we thought it was.”
Seeing the disbelieving look on the vinarfel’s chitinous face she pointed at Skorr and said “Thats what happened, one minute I thought I was salvaging a pile of metal, albeit a rather interestingly shaped one, and the next thing I knew there was a sapient being stood in front of me. Skorr was in some sort of hibernation when I first saw them, but the act of cutting them out of that wreckage woke them back up.”
“That’sss…. Incredible.” Briyn was swaying slightly side to side in deep concentration, trying to make sense of all the new information he had just received.
After a slightly uncomfortable silence Briyn asked her “Sssso, Thiss Ssskorr iss friendsss with you? Please, I mussst know how that occurred.”
She jumped a little in surprise as Skorr spoke in answer to the man’s question, in their rumbling voice they explained “I was adrift for a long time, longer than mortal minds can comprehend. I believe I may have become incensed with myself. I don't remember anything much before I was ensnared in the metal that Neirdith freed me from. I do however remember feeling joy as I was freed from that prison. This joy focused on its perpetrator as Neirdith became the first soul I can directly remember interacting with. Neirdith was afraid of me but mastered her fear and reached out to me. At that moment I knew that Neirdith was precious beyond words and vowed to protect her from harm. Shortly later I was able to gain the trust of Neirdith’s friends by destroying a pirate band, with whom you seemed to have been aware of at least peripherally and whom of which the evil one named Medrigil was their leader.” With that absolutely herculean story out Skorr seemed to slightly relax, as if a great weight had been lifted from their armored shoulders.
“Again I must ssay, ssimply incredible. Mighty Ssskorr, I am sssure we will be working together again in the future. Your talentsss are sssimply to valuable to wasste.” With another incredulous look towards the hulking cyborg, Briyn bid farewell to her and Skorr as the other officers and Seth had returned with a slightly disheveled looking Medrigil in tow.
Medrigil’s head was low, his hunched shoulders tense. He hissed hatefully as he neared “This isn't the last time we will meet dancer.”
But before she could reply she heard Skorr take a step forwards and growl “You are only alive because she deems it necessary. I would relish the opportunity to make good on my earlier promise.”
As the words sunk in, Medrigil looked fearful again but was dragged away before anything else could come of it. Looking after the miserable pirate as he was dragged away Seth wondered aloud “I wonder what they are going to do with them.”
Seth yelled in surprise as Briyn answered from just behind him “He will ssstand trial for hisss crimess. Exssecution isss unlikely, thesse sscientissts have no sstomoch for capital punisshment. With any luck, his cell will depressurisse and they will perisssh. It’sss lesss than they desserve for the innocentss they have sslautered.” With a look at the three of them he continued “You know, there wass a bounty on Medrigil, I don't remember the total but you sshould sswing by the precinct to pick it up. I might have a ssuprise waiting for your efforts asss well.” He said with an antennae wave that was the vinarfelien equivalent of a wink. Without another word he rushed off at an incredible speed that only a being with such a multitude of legs could achieve, quickly catching up to the retreating forms of Medrigil and his escort.
Neirdith looked at Seth and they said the same thing at the same time “Bounty?”
Both laughing at the occurrence Seth blurted the age old saying “Jinx! You owe me a soda!”
Neirdith sighed in exasperation “And where the Hel am I supposed to get a soda on a Razah’vool run station?”
Smiling widely Seth replied “I'll settle for a rum and soda, without the soda.”
Shaking her head but still smiling, Neirdith said “Okay, but I'm only buying you one, I know how much of that poison you can drink.”
“Poison? You mean the sweet ambrosia of life right? Cause I'm pretty sure that's what you meant to say.” Seth joked.
“Yes of course that's what I meant. Maybe I can interest you in some crecini ale?” she asked with a smirk.
“Uhgh” Seth shuddered. “That swill is even worse than what we humans drink. It's not even strong enough to get us drunk either so what's the point?”
“It works just fine for me.” She replied hotly. She swished her head making her hair flail and started down the ramp, her tail flicking in minor annoyance.
Seth yelled “Wait for me.” and ran to walk by her side, the heavy thuds sounding from behind them spoke of Skorr giving chase as well.
Turning slightly but still moving, Neirdith called to Skorr “Skorr, you should probably stay here till we get back. We are just going to the security office and you won't be able to follow us inside anyways. We will be back soon, I promise.” Skorr halted at the foot of the ramp and stood impassively like a metal statue.
Shaking her head, Neirdith and Seth continued out of the landing bay area. Walking through the quiet passages adjacent to the landing area she was surprised with the lack of activity but decided not to remark on it.
As they reached the small security building a short walk from the ship, Seth jumped ahead of her and opened the door bowing slightly and motioning for her to enter saying “Ladies first.”
Smiling sweetly she walked past him to the other door and mimicking his posture and gesture she said to him as he entered “Gentlemen first.” Chuckling quietly, Seth walked past her and she followed.
They walked up towards the desk and Neirdith was excited to see it manned by a slightly smaller than average Jeseo of smokey black crystal, the nameplate on their desk simply read Gloom. She took a moment to examine them, their body was faceted like a crystal as that was what they essentially were. A large biocrystalline entity that used molten sulfur to hydraulically actuate their four legs and many manipulator tendrils.
Noticing their approach the translator on its forward left leg spoke “Boredom-- Greetings to you, what is the business you are looking to attend here --Hopeful”
Slightly put off by its bland synthesized voice intermixed with random seeming words she stated “We were here to check on the bounty listing for a Medrigil? We were the ones who brought them in.”
Straightening slightly the jeseo’s solid crystal eyes made a slight rolling motion as if they were trying to take in more of the surrounding area before the dark figure got them under control. The voice emanated from their translator again “Surprise-- You were the ones that brought Medrigil the Merciless to justice? --Hate-- Then I am in your debt as is this whole facility. They were responsible for the death of one of my closest friends… that monster then sold their corpse on the black market as computer components so they could not even be given proper rites. --Sadness--despair--” The translator shut off more slowly this time allowing its emotional state to be clearly broadcast to her and Seth. She shifted uncomfortably as the figure spoke up again “Lonely-- Enough about me, you came here for the bounty correct, well as it stands Medrigil had a bounty of 200,000 credits dead…”
Seth stiffened in surprise as Neirdith let out a strangled sound from deep in her throat, not seeming to notice their surprise the smokey colored jeseo continued “and I believe it was 500,000 credits alive, you did bring them alive so it looks as though you are owed a quarter million each. --Jealous”
Looking at some distant point with the words echoing in her mind it took a second for everything that Gloom had said to sink in “Wait, did you say a quarter million each, what about Captain Filch, he was part of the crew as well.”
“Surprise-- They did not tell you? I suppose they could not have in time, your former captain called ahead of time and told the boss that they didn't want to know how much the bounty was but to give it all to the two of you. --Humor-- Quite a kind gesture if I Don't say so myself, they said that they were done with this life and needed no incentive to retire. That isn't all the good news though. I have been authorized by Commander Briyn to tell you about the pirate ship The Bloody Doom. --Determined-- The ship is being auctioned off for the starting bid of 200,000 credits, an absolute deal that no one else has yet capitalized on, if you are quick I do believe you may just be able to pick it up for yourself. Good luck, captain. --Mirth” they finished, the mechanical tone of their translator buzzing off into static for a moment before it was switched off.
Neirdith looked at the jeseo in shock as it went back to happily tapping away at its computer with its chest tendrils. Switching her attention to Seth she gave him a single nod before they both turned and sprinted for the door. Behind them Gloom raised a single tendril and waved in farewell as the doors slammed behind them.