The Thief and the Commander : 17
Jan. 19th, 2001 12:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
manicdakChapter 17: Back on the Time Ship
"I can't believe you talked me into this," Yaretzi hissed at her brother in Bironese as she looked over the group of three I-GAS members that stood before her.
"I can't believe you let your boss kidnap Feliu for a bounty," Berilo replied in an Intergalactic Standard so that they would all understand what he was saying.
She clucked disapprovingly at her brother, and he shrugged.
"So, where is he?" Robin said.
"Hell if I know," she said. "I'm just the port-keeper who, for the record, if anybody asks, definitely didn't let you on this ship."
"We'll find him," Rasa said. She held up the portable tracking computer that had pinpointed Feliu's exact location on the ship.
"Thank you, Ma'am," Robin said as he turned back to Yaretzi. "You've been an invaluable help."
"Feliu is a friend," she murmured in reply. "I don't want to see him hurt. Especially not by his father."
Something clicked in his brain as she spoke. It reminded him of the odd accent that Feliu spoke with.
"You taught him how to speak Utopian didn't you?" he said.
She nodded and shrugged. "He wanted to learn about his heritage. What can I say?"
"If you're..." He turned to Berilo who was glowing an increasingly brighter green as he stared at Rasa.
"Hey, you're that guy!" Robin pointed accusingly at him.
Berilo grinned facetiously at him.
"Now's not the time to get all territorial, big guy!" He fluidly scampered up to Robin and slapped him on the shoulder with a laugh. Robin just glared angrily at him.
"Check this out!" Berilo said, his voice brimming with enthusiasm. He took a deep breath, and they watched the green of his colour swirling around beneath his skin until it was a dull bluish grey to match the interior of the ship.
"How did you do that?" Rasa gasped at him.
"Like that?" He winked at her. "I can do whatever colour you want. Except that gross white colour." He tossed his head at Robin and laughed.
"Not the time," Robin grumbled and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, dragging him away from Rasa.
They made their way towards the door, Rasa leading the way with one eye on her computer and one on the corridor with her hand on her laser. Beatriu covered her, and Berilo followed close behind them. Ehren stood near the doorway looking ill. Robin approached him and lay a hand on his shoulder. Ehren momentarily considered shrugging away his concern. They were there for the man he had been dumped for after all.
He missed the contact though, and he felt like he needed the concern. It seemed to him as if there was a weight pressing down on him. The unease was heavy in the air. He glanced around Robin and caught Yaretzi's eye. She looked as nervous as he felt, and she nodded brief acknowledgment at him before turning away from them and pretending to be busy at her console.
"Hey," Robin said softly. He reached up with his free hand and touched Ehren's cheek. "You can be mad at me later."
Ehren leaned into the touch against his better judgment. He'd missed the way Robin's cool hands felt on him. It had only been a few days since they had been together, but it seemed like a lifetime.
"This isn't right," Ehren said.
"You're right," Robin said. "Let's complete the mission then..."
"No." Ehren shook his head. "Not us. We've been effed up since the start. There's no need to discuss that any further. I just have a really bad feeling about this mission."
"It's fine," Robin said. "We have the element of surprise. I mean, unless you're going to insist on standing here the whole time. Then I'm sure they'll figure it out before we get anything accomplished."
"Stop joking!" Ehren pleaded. He looked up at Robin with fear aparent in his eyes. "This is serious, okay?"
"Look," Robin said. "It'll be fine. You haven't done this long enough. It's just nerves you're feeling. This is an in and out mission. Let's just do it. All right?"
Ehren frowned at him and sighed.
"Okay," he said. "Let's do it. I'm ready."
****
The ship was suspiciously quiet as they traversed the hallways directly to where Feliu was being held captive in the room he used to call his own. He was surprised and thankful that Robin had arrived there before the Naturian had come to claim his prize.
He'd come barging into the room with his laser weapon held aloft, looking every inch the hero that he was attempting to be.
"You came to rescue me!" Feliu said from his vantage point where he had been waiting on his bed reading an old schoolbook.
He jumped up and threw his arms around Robin and kissed him.
The only thing that drew them apart was the sound of Ehren clearing his throat behind them.
Feliu glanced at the source of the sound to spy the Earthian glaring resentfully at them then he looked back at Robin whose expression of guilt was strong enough to power a small city. Feliu chuckled nervously and didn't say anything. He only shrugged sheepishly.
The bubble of tension was finally burst by Berilo pushing his way into the room and latching on to Feliu after pushing Robin to the side.
"Where's mine?" He let the rhetorical question hang in the air for a moment before planting his own kiss on Feliu, who found himself laughing as Berilo jumped away and made a sweeping gesture towards him while asking the rest of the group who was next.
"Let's just get the fuck out of here," Ehren said. "I don't like this. Where the fuck is the crew?"
"On a mission," Feliu said. "My father thought it would be best not to... Well, not to have me murdered in front of them. The Naturian will be here soon though. The kid is right. We should definitely get out of here."
"I'm not a kid," Ehren muttered. His words went unheard as they exited the room and headed back towards Yaretzi.
The way back was not quite as easy as the way forward had been. The Naturian was standing in the hall near the entryway to the portroom looking bored yet somehow annoyed at the same time as he leaned against the wall inspecting his fingernails.
"Well, this rescue officially sucks," Feliu said as they skidded to a stop.
"Now five people know my face," The Naturian said. "I have to say, I wasn't planning on killing that many people today."
He wasted no time with words as he pulled a familiar shaped weapon from his belt. It wasn't an electronic weapon like the ones they carried, but a mechanical pistol, the likes of which were usually only found on old world planets like the Nature.
"Bye, bye," was the only warning that crossed his lips as his finger squeezed the trigger.
Ehren gave no thought to his actions, nor did he hesitate as the others had when the Naturian had pulled his gun. Instead, he jumped straight into action pushing Feliu out of the way and stepping into the path of the bullet himself. He crumpled to the ground as the projectile entered his torso, and he vaguely heard the sound of laser fire above him then the sound of Robin's voice telling him to hold on.
"What do we do!" Rasa yelled out.
Berilo contemplated the situation for a moment before he got down on his knees and instructed Robin to keep putting pressure on the wound.
"We need to get him to the hospital," Robin said.
"Wait..." Berilo held up a finger and frowned in concentration.
"What are you doing?" Robin growled. He pulled a TTD from his pocket but was too distressed to push the buttons properly, and it tumbled to the ground. He cursed at it and moved to grab it again, but Berlio slapped his hand away.
"Pressure!" Berilo yelled at him. Robin took up his post again, ripping the sleeves from his uniform and pressing them against the wound with his hands. Ehren was groaning incoherently, but still conscious.
"He's still losing blood," Rasa said. "We have to..."
"Stop the bleeding," Berilo muttered. "I really hate to do this but here it goes."
He closed his eyes in concentration and only a few seconds passed before he began to glisten in dull light of the ship. Then he began to rub beneath his arms and shoulder blades and around his gills. His hands came away from his damp skin looking very wet.
"Let's get this on him then we can maybe make it to the hospital without him bleeding to death." He glanced up at Rasa, Beatriu and Feliu.
"What are you waiting for? Grab some."
"What is it?" Rasa reached out timidly.
"Mucous," he said. "It's going to slow the bleeding down and actually start the healing process."
"How..."
"I'm a Biron," he snapped impatiently at her. "If you cut off my arm does it not grow back?"
"Uh..."
"I'll give you a hint. It does grow back," he said. "Now help us!"
They fell to their knees then and helped Berilo make a poultice. By the time they'd finished, only moments later, Robin had calmed down enough to enter the proper coordinates to the Naturian space port into his TTD.
They were gone; Feliu with them, leaving Berlio to face Rasa's wondrous stare. Beatriu seemed uninterested and had wandered down the hallway to check on the Naturian that Robin had shot and to report back to HQ.
"So..." Rasa said. "Your, uh, mucous has healing powers?"
He frowned at her. "Yeah. Let's not get too excited. Our people would prefer to avoid genocide if at all possible."
"What do you mean?" she said.
"Honestly, Rasa," he said. "I can grow a fully functioning new arm in a month. That kind of healing is certainly sought after. You think if there weren't laws that people wouldn't be out there trying to harvest us for their own purposes? They still do it anyway. Our people have been poached in the name of science before, and it isn't right. We Birons always have to be discreet. I couldn't just sit here and watch him bleed though."
"Do you think he'll be okay?" she said.
"I don't know," Berilo said. "I hope so, though. He's a good kid.
Previous || Next
"I can't believe you talked me into this," Yaretzi hissed at her brother in Bironese as she looked over the group of three I-GAS members that stood before her.
"I can't believe you let your boss kidnap Feliu for a bounty," Berilo replied in an Intergalactic Standard so that they would all understand what he was saying.
She clucked disapprovingly at her brother, and he shrugged.
"So, where is he?" Robin said.
"Hell if I know," she said. "I'm just the port-keeper who, for the record, if anybody asks, definitely didn't let you on this ship."
"We'll find him," Rasa said. She held up the portable tracking computer that had pinpointed Feliu's exact location on the ship.
"Thank you, Ma'am," Robin said as he turned back to Yaretzi. "You've been an invaluable help."
"Feliu is a friend," she murmured in reply. "I don't want to see him hurt. Especially not by his father."
Something clicked in his brain as she spoke. It reminded him of the odd accent that Feliu spoke with.
"You taught him how to speak Utopian didn't you?" he said.
She nodded and shrugged. "He wanted to learn about his heritage. What can I say?"
"If you're..." He turned to Berilo who was glowing an increasingly brighter green as he stared at Rasa.
"Hey, you're that guy!" Robin pointed accusingly at him.
Berilo grinned facetiously at him.
"Now's not the time to get all territorial, big guy!" He fluidly scampered up to Robin and slapped him on the shoulder with a laugh. Robin just glared angrily at him.
"Check this out!" Berilo said, his voice brimming with enthusiasm. He took a deep breath, and they watched the green of his colour swirling around beneath his skin until it was a dull bluish grey to match the interior of the ship.
"How did you do that?" Rasa gasped at him.
"Like that?" He winked at her. "I can do whatever colour you want. Except that gross white colour." He tossed his head at Robin and laughed.
"Not the time," Robin grumbled and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, dragging him away from Rasa.
They made their way towards the door, Rasa leading the way with one eye on her computer and one on the corridor with her hand on her laser. Beatriu covered her, and Berilo followed close behind them. Ehren stood near the doorway looking ill. Robin approached him and lay a hand on his shoulder. Ehren momentarily considered shrugging away his concern. They were there for the man he had been dumped for after all.
He missed the contact though, and he felt like he needed the concern. It seemed to him as if there was a weight pressing down on him. The unease was heavy in the air. He glanced around Robin and caught Yaretzi's eye. She looked as nervous as he felt, and she nodded brief acknowledgment at him before turning away from them and pretending to be busy at her console.
"Hey," Robin said softly. He reached up with his free hand and touched Ehren's cheek. "You can be mad at me later."
Ehren leaned into the touch against his better judgment. He'd missed the way Robin's cool hands felt on him. It had only been a few days since they had been together, but it seemed like a lifetime.
"This isn't right," Ehren said.
"You're right," Robin said. "Let's complete the mission then..."
"No." Ehren shook his head. "Not us. We've been effed up since the start. There's no need to discuss that any further. I just have a really bad feeling about this mission."
"It's fine," Robin said. "We have the element of surprise. I mean, unless you're going to insist on standing here the whole time. Then I'm sure they'll figure it out before we get anything accomplished."
"Stop joking!" Ehren pleaded. He looked up at Robin with fear aparent in his eyes. "This is serious, okay?"
"Look," Robin said. "It'll be fine. You haven't done this long enough. It's just nerves you're feeling. This is an in and out mission. Let's just do it. All right?"
Ehren frowned at him and sighed.
"Okay," he said. "Let's do it. I'm ready."
****
The ship was suspiciously quiet as they traversed the hallways directly to where Feliu was being held captive in the room he used to call his own. He was surprised and thankful that Robin had arrived there before the Naturian had come to claim his prize.
He'd come barging into the room with his laser weapon held aloft, looking every inch the hero that he was attempting to be.
"You came to rescue me!" Feliu said from his vantage point where he had been waiting on his bed reading an old schoolbook.
He jumped up and threw his arms around Robin and kissed him.
The only thing that drew them apart was the sound of Ehren clearing his throat behind them.
Feliu glanced at the source of the sound to spy the Earthian glaring resentfully at them then he looked back at Robin whose expression of guilt was strong enough to power a small city. Feliu chuckled nervously and didn't say anything. He only shrugged sheepishly.
The bubble of tension was finally burst by Berilo pushing his way into the room and latching on to Feliu after pushing Robin to the side.
"Where's mine?" He let the rhetorical question hang in the air for a moment before planting his own kiss on Feliu, who found himself laughing as Berilo jumped away and made a sweeping gesture towards him while asking the rest of the group who was next.
"Let's just get the fuck out of here," Ehren said. "I don't like this. Where the fuck is the crew?"
"On a mission," Feliu said. "My father thought it would be best not to... Well, not to have me murdered in front of them. The Naturian will be here soon though. The kid is right. We should definitely get out of here."
"I'm not a kid," Ehren muttered. His words went unheard as they exited the room and headed back towards Yaretzi.
The way back was not quite as easy as the way forward had been. The Naturian was standing in the hall near the entryway to the portroom looking bored yet somehow annoyed at the same time as he leaned against the wall inspecting his fingernails.
"Well, this rescue officially sucks," Feliu said as they skidded to a stop.
"Now five people know my face," The Naturian said. "I have to say, I wasn't planning on killing that many people today."
He wasted no time with words as he pulled a familiar shaped weapon from his belt. It wasn't an electronic weapon like the ones they carried, but a mechanical pistol, the likes of which were usually only found on old world planets like the Nature.
"Bye, bye," was the only warning that crossed his lips as his finger squeezed the trigger.
Ehren gave no thought to his actions, nor did he hesitate as the others had when the Naturian had pulled his gun. Instead, he jumped straight into action pushing Feliu out of the way and stepping into the path of the bullet himself. He crumpled to the ground as the projectile entered his torso, and he vaguely heard the sound of laser fire above him then the sound of Robin's voice telling him to hold on.
"What do we do!" Rasa yelled out.
Berilo contemplated the situation for a moment before he got down on his knees and instructed Robin to keep putting pressure on the wound.
"We need to get him to the hospital," Robin said.
"Wait..." Berilo held up a finger and frowned in concentration.
"What are you doing?" Robin growled. He pulled a TTD from his pocket but was too distressed to push the buttons properly, and it tumbled to the ground. He cursed at it and moved to grab it again, but Berlio slapped his hand away.
"Pressure!" Berilo yelled at him. Robin took up his post again, ripping the sleeves from his uniform and pressing them against the wound with his hands. Ehren was groaning incoherently, but still conscious.
"He's still losing blood," Rasa said. "We have to..."
"Stop the bleeding," Berilo muttered. "I really hate to do this but here it goes."
He closed his eyes in concentration and only a few seconds passed before he began to glisten in dull light of the ship. Then he began to rub beneath his arms and shoulder blades and around his gills. His hands came away from his damp skin looking very wet.
"Let's get this on him then we can maybe make it to the hospital without him bleeding to death." He glanced up at Rasa, Beatriu and Feliu.
"What are you waiting for? Grab some."
"What is it?" Rasa reached out timidly.
"Mucous," he said. "It's going to slow the bleeding down and actually start the healing process."
"How..."
"I'm a Biron," he snapped impatiently at her. "If you cut off my arm does it not grow back?"
"Uh..."
"I'll give you a hint. It does grow back," he said. "Now help us!"
They fell to their knees then and helped Berilo make a poultice. By the time they'd finished, only moments later, Robin had calmed down enough to enter the proper coordinates to the Naturian space port into his TTD.
They were gone; Feliu with them, leaving Berlio to face Rasa's wondrous stare. Beatriu seemed uninterested and had wandered down the hallway to check on the Naturian that Robin had shot and to report back to HQ.
"So..." Rasa said. "Your, uh, mucous has healing powers?"
He frowned at her. "Yeah. Let's not get too excited. Our people would prefer to avoid genocide if at all possible."
"What do you mean?" she said.
"Honestly, Rasa," he said. "I can grow a fully functioning new arm in a month. That kind of healing is certainly sought after. You think if there weren't laws that people wouldn't be out there trying to harvest us for their own purposes? They still do it anyway. Our people have been poached in the name of science before, and it isn't right. We Birons always have to be discreet. I couldn't just sit here and watch him bleed though."
"Do you think he'll be okay?" she said.
"I don't know," Berilo said. "I hope so, though. He's a good kid.
Previous || Next
