Sigh, FF decided to be difficult with the formatting. 0.0.0 denotes a change in either scene or perspective. My apologizes to those who read this earlier.
Don't own SGA or Wraith, but the original characters are mine.
Warning: There will be slash and fem slash if I so decide. If that squicks, then what why the hell are u reading fan fiction?
0.0.0
Safely in hyperspace, the Cruiser coasted easily along. Everyone was eager to start making their new home more comfortable, get all the supplies squared away. However, there was another matter to attend first. Technically it was something to be done when a wraith came of age, but their current condition warranted a special occasion.
All occupants of the New Hive were gathered around the old throne. Zeela was last to enter. She ascended the steps and sat gracefully down. Elevated above the rest she was acting as if she had always belonged in the seat of power. She met the eyes of each individual in the room. The look on their faces was as if she was searing their souls.
Kneel, she commanded, not bothering to make a sound. The knees of every male in the room hit the floor.
Dray remained standing. The others glanced at her, then snapped their attention back to the figure on the throne. They knew their new Queen would deal with the Keeper later. Zeela held Dray's eyes for a moment, silently promising pain to come.
Looking back at the males, she snarled, "Swear your loyalty to me, your Queen!"
In a single voice, made of many different timbres, the males answered, "We will live for you, and we will die for you, our Queen." To further their show of respect, they all looked at the floor, bowing their heads.
Tempting as it was to send Litrell a thought, Dray resisted. He could explain himself later. The male surely had his reasons to pretend to follow their new Queen. She was a fool if she thought his loyalty belonged to her. In fact, they were all fools, thinking Zeela was in charge.
Satisfied with the males' genuine fealty, Zeela commanded, Leave us. Not daring to look at the Keeper, the males left quickly. The bulkhead door sculped shut behind the last. They all hoped their new Queen went easy on Dray, they needed her. They needed both of them.
Litrell kept the knowledge of who would win the coming battle to himself. Let them worry a little.
0.0.0
Snarling, Zeela descended from her perch. She came to a stop in front of the unruly Keeper. "Swear your allegiance to me!"
No.
Angry beyond words, the Queen sent a mental attack that would have flattened any of the males. Dray deflected it and returned an attack of her own. The Queen actually staggered back. Mental shields went up and the next volley bounced uselessly around.
"This will get us nowhere." Dray looked at the furious Queen.
"Then give me what I want, what the males need to hear!" Zeela snarled back.
"No, I belong to myself, no one else." The Keeper held her ground.
Zeela started to pace around Dray, as Queens often did. "Then promise to follow my orders."
"When they suit me." Dray saw the hand raise, and thought to herself, 'Yes, hit me so I can slit your throat and be done with this.'
Thinking better of it, the Queen's hand dropped to her side. Angry beyond all measure, she circled Dray again. Coming to a stop in front of the Keeper, they glared at each other.
The last thing Dray expected was to have the Queen's lips slam against her own. Reacting on instinct, Dray grabbed Zeela by the back of her neck. Tenderly, Dray slid her tongue along the other set of lips.
Mind failing to react, Zeela's lips parted. Dray's tongue slid past the wicked sharp teeth. Finding the Queen's tongue, she began to caress it with her own. Coming back to her senses, Zeela panicked and brought her teeth down on the intruder.
Dray pulled her tongue back into her own mouth and let the wound heal. She did not, however, remove her hand from the Queen. Truly frightened now, Zeela struggled and pulled free.
Tongue now healed, Dray licked the little trickle of left over blood from her lips. Looking Zeela right in the eye, she said, "Finish what you start." With that she turned and left.
0.0.0
No, never again would she be under any one else. The Queen could pretend, but she would not follow her. Throughly pissed off at the odd encounter, Dray stormed through the Cruiser. She slammed her mental shield down twice and tried to ignore the past.
0.0.0
She had lost. Her first cycle ruling her new Hive, and she had already been proven the weaker female. But for some unknown reason, Dray did not want to be Queen. Despite being stronger, she did not take the position that was by rights hers. Throughly flustered, Zeela went in search of her mate and her new nest.
0.0.0
Leaning against the wall, Litrell contemplated all of what he had just witnessed through the minds of the two females. Zeela had acted out of desperation, it was a tactic used on unruly males. Dray's mind was still closed to him. Perhaps her reaction had been to throw the Queen off. Turn the little game in her favor by surprising Zeela. The Keeper was still an enigma, and he still intended to find out what she had hidden in her mind. Taking a cocoon off of Zeela's ship, Litrell went in search of his own mate. They could christen their nest before arranging the meager supplies.
0.0.0
The instant all eyes had left the two littles, they had vanished. Once it was noticed they were missing, the olders laughed and went back to their tasks. There was no way off the Cruiser, and they were in no danger.
"You go first, make sure it's safe." Ina gave Joot an unceremonious shove. Splash! The water parted for the small body. Throughly irritated at his friend, Joot threw water in her direction. Ina didn't dodge in time.
"You got my cloths wet!" The little girl wailed.
"You got mine wet first!" Joot argued back.
"But you had to make sure the water was safe!"
"I could have taken my leathers off first!"
"Well since you are in there and wet, how is the water?"
Joot didn't answer, just to spite her. Ina stood on the edge of the bathing pool, arms crossed, glaring at her wet friend. Treading water below her, Joot thought she looked cute pouting like that.
"You can come in, the water's nice." Joot said innocently. Ina was trying to take off her dress when two hands grabbed her. With a splash she joined her friend in the water.
Incredibly angry, Ina let out a shrilling cry. Joot winced, the noise shaking him to his little soul.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Despite his pleas, Ina didn't stop the noise. Not thinking about it, he got out of the liquid and dragged Ina out after himself. She stopped, and didn't look at him or say anything.
Joot moved around so he was facing his friend, "I'm sorry, but you did the same thing to me. And I didn't like it either."
The only noise in the room for several moments was the faint gurgle of the water pump.
Glaring at Joot, Ina said, "Now we're wet! Our cloths too!" She tried to get up. It was a slow process due to the heavy, saturated material hindering her movement. Joot tried to help her, but he couldn't move any better and had to refocus of stand himself up first.
"I have an idea, why don't we take the wet garments off?" Ina asked her friend.
"Garments, what's a garments?" Joot looked puzzled, he had never heard that word before.
"It means clothing, human brain!" Ina scowled.
Still looking puzzled, Joot asked, "Where did you learn that big word?"
"From one of the adults," Ina answered, "I think."
Both decided removing their wet outfits was the best plan. They could hang the soaked material up somewhere to dry and they would be allowed to move freely. Ina giggled as she looked at her naked friend. They had seen each other naked before, against the will of the adults, so it wasn't anything new. She still though his body looked funny. It didn't look exactly like hers, he had a funny thing sticking out. She was perfect, he should look like her! Joot squirmed a little under the scrutiny.
Happily, Ina grabbed Joot's hand and drug him away from the pool. The two went back to running around the ship, seeing all there was to see. Avoiding the adults as much as possible, of course.
0.0.0
After moving what seemed like half the Cruiser around for the other Wraith, Cedly went to his new nest. He was pleased that the new Wraith had accepted him. Sometimes if the Hive didn't like the new comer, he would be thrown out the air lock. Cedly knew Andray wouldn't have let them go that far, but they might have left him on some planet, possibly without a Portal.
Ignoring the complaints from his tired body, Cedly let his mind wander. He was now on the same ship as Andray. Unfortunately the Keeper that held the Wraith's interest was also on the same ship. He was going to have to catch the other males attentions some how, get his mind off the female.
Cedly's feeding slit had yet to open, signaling his youth. He was still young enough to have no clue how to get Andray to notice him. How did the adults do it? Right, they sought each other out in the Hive mind. There one could weight the worth of a potential mate. That wouldn't work, Cedly wasn't old enough to be in a true Hive mind. Litrell was waiting for more of the new Hive to come of age before he completely linked everyone.
Wooing Andray through the network was out. Andray would probably dismiss him due to his youth anyway. Cedly decided he had to be subtle for a while, until his first hunt. But back to the problem of what to do. Of coarse! He could help Andray out with the cycle to cycle matters, make them go faster so the other male would have more leisure time. And hopefully let Cedly grace some of that time!
Excited with the brilliance of his new plan, Cedly ran from his nest in search of his soul's desire.
0.0.0
"I call this work station!" Fenzy yelled happily, settling his curvy figure down into the seat.
"Wait, you can't call anything!" Keetal set the bags down on the work platform. "I had to carry more than you, I get first pick."
Leaning around in his seat, Fenzey said, "You are the one who wanted all of that stuff, so it was only fair you had to carry it."
"You...This is stuff you will use too! Now get off your lazy no-tail and help me get things arranged." Glaring, Keetal started to unpack one of the bags.
Getting up, Fenzey went over to help his research partner. "Alright, the bigger question is what do we study first?"
Moving away to set something on a shelf, Keetal answered, "Something that will please the Queen, and convince her we are worth keeping."
"Litrell wouldn't let her do anything to us," Fenzey snorted. ". . . would he?"
"He's not in charge, Zeela is, you human brain. Honestly, how short is your memory?"
"Right, Zeela's the Queen, but doesn't Litrell run things, especially with the help of Dray?" Fenzey returned to the table to gather more items and put them away.
Looking at his partner like he was some back birth, Keetal said slowly, "The Queen is in charge of the Hive. Everyone follows her orders."
Looking over his shoulder again, Fenzey answered, "Well, alright. But what should we do first?"
Falling for the change in subject, Keetal responded, "I would like to get that experiment we had going on the other Hive started again. What is this now, the third time, thanks to you?"
0.0.0
Dray's bag of personal belongings landed in her new nest with a muffled thump. She saw no point in collecting unnecessary items. All she had was some spare clothing, a hairbrush, her preferred type of cleansing fluid, tattooing fluid, and one hair decoration shoved to the very bottom of the bag. The rest of her life was attached to her person, loads of small ship maintenance paraphernalia.
Without looking, Dray addressed her shadow, "Your room is at the very end of this corridor. Understand?"
"Yes, but why am I not staying in the servants quarters?" Vlanear asked quietly.
"If I need you for something, I want you there as fast as possible. The human servant area is too far away." Dray still didn't bother to look at her assistant.
Even though she wasn't looking, Vlanear bowed his head and answered, "Of coarse, Keeper." It had been several cycle sections and the Keeper had yet to hit him. Vlanear dared to hope that without the stress of Wraith the Keeper didn't like around, she might stop assaulting him. He knew she took her frustrations out on him, he was the only one she could. He would gladly take the punishment if it helped his Mistress, but he still didn't like being hit.
0.0.0
Needless to say, Andray was very surprised to have two wet, naked littles clinging to his legs. Both were grinning at him. He smiled back, he couldn't help it. A faint purr escaped his throat and the children hugged his legs harder.
"Why are you without your coverings? And where are they?" Andray scooped them up into his arms.
"By the bath, we fell in." Joot lied smoothly for his friend.
Andray caught the faint mental flitter that bespoke a lie. Older Wraith knew how to conceal it, but the two in his arms were still learning. He decided to point that out to them, "When you lie, hide the part of you mind the lie came from. Force the other Wraith to believe it's the truth." As he spoke, Andray brought them into his mind and showed them what to do.
Startled at being caught, Joot tried to squirm away from Andray. The older Wraith laughed and carried the two off to the bathing pool.
Both Joot and Ina were a little surprised, none of the olders had shown them something like that before. Up to this point it had always been trial and error of figuring tricks like that out. They decided they really liked Andray.
0.0.0
After disposing of her almost non existent personal belongings, Dray's long legs carried her down the corridor. Her feet did not stir the fog that hung around the bottom of each level in Wraith ships. Noticing this she changed her course for the life support systems. The fog wasn't decoration, it was a byproduct created by the Wraith's favored atmospheric conditions. Wraith were of coarse capable of breathing almost anything and surviving, but the ships were designed for an optimal gas mixture.
Following obediently at her heels, Vlanear noticed the lack of fog as well. Mostly because his eyes were always glued to the floor. "Keeper, the fog is gone."
Dray didn't bother to acknowledge the stupid comment and kept up the brutal pace across the ship. Any sound from the ship was drowned out by the human's stupid panting. Why were they so weak?
Her ponderings on human anatomy were disrupted with a though from Litrell, Dray, lovely, is your human with you?
The Keeper didn't bother to form a word and mentally snarled a confirmation.
I have a new task for him, with your consent. Dray didn't answer, so the Telepath continued, I would like him to prepare food for those whose feeding slits are closed.
And who else would we have doing this? Dray's thought was full of condescending sarcasm. Litrell briefly wondered what had put the Keeper into a less than favorable mood. Perhaps she was still put off from her encounter with their Queen earlier.
Continuing her fast pace, and not looking at the human, Dray asked, "Vlanear, you know how to make human and wraith food, correct?"
"Yes, Keeper." Vlanear gasped.
"Excellent, go prepare something edible for the children. Now." Delighted to drop the intense pace, Vlanear bowed and went off to his new duty. The Keeper hadn't been specific, but Vlanear suspected he would be preparing all the meals now. Which was just as well, this meant no one would try to poison him.
Dray paused in her stride as the bulk head scluped open. Inside the room were several consoles with fog display screens. Glancing around and absorbing the displayed data everything seemed in order. Dray sighed and went up to the main panel. This was going to be tricky if the system hadn't caught the problem yet. She was less than excited about wasting half a cycle going meticulously through every function of every consol in the room.
0.0.0
Gradlt knew his Queen usually didn't like cuddling after mating, and christening their new nest was no exception. After they had caught their breath again, she had left to wash. When she returned she dressed and began to pace. Tired, the Combat Specialist had just lain there the whole time. Had he been thinking clearly, he would have left before Zeela returned. The Queen was ranting now, and he had no choice but to be polite and listen.
"There has to be absolute order on a Hive! Otherwise things fall apart." Zeela snarled to the walls, not really aware her mate was still trapped in the nest. "If the males don't know which female to follow at all times there could and will be problems! I can't have this on my ship!" She continued to pace, muttering things the male didn't bother to understand.
He was brought quickly back when she whirled and faced him, demanding, "Can I throw her out the air lock?"
"No, my Queen. The Hive needs her. She is the only one capable of keeping this ship between the stars." Gradlt answered. Sitting up he threw his dreads behind his shoulder.
"No?" Zeela went back to pacing
"No my beautiful Queen. We must solve this problem another way." Why had he just said that? Now he was completely obligated to help his Queen deal with the unruly Keeper.
Talking to the walls again, Zeela said, "We must find another way."
0.0.0
Vlanear was a little bit pleased with himself. The meal he'd prepared was being inhaled by the two Wraith children. The little boy had even muttered thanks. Guarding the two littles was the oldest male on the ship. It took a sharp eye to tell he wasn't a full adult, something only a Wraith or Wraith Worshiper would catch. He was fairly broad as Wraith went. Vlanear assumed it was all muscle hidden under the black leather. If memory suited, this was the male trying to court his Mistress. In Vlanear's eyes, he was a fine choice.
0.0.0
Body telling him it was time to eat or suffer the consequences, Cedly went in the direction of the kitchen. He was very pleased to see Andray sitting with the two younglings, watching them eat. As Cedly entered he managed to catch the other Wraith's eye and the two nodded politely at each other. Cedly's heart physically skipped a beat.
Sitting down across from Andray, Cedly tried not to inhale his food like the children. He waited until his food was consumed before he dared to start a conversation. It was not considered polite in Wraith society to talk while eating, be it with teeth or hand slit. Wanting to impress Andray, Cedly followed this custom. However, before he could say a word, Dray's stupid human approached.
"Masters." The human bowed politely.
"What?" Andray growled out in his deep voice.
Not meeting the Wraith's eyes, Vlanear continued, "Sir, the supplies are low and there is no meat. To keep the correct nutrients in the food, more must be procured."
"Very well," Andray answered, waving his slitless hand in dismissal.
0.0.0
Bowing before the throne, Gradlt address its occupant, "My Queen, we are running low on edibles for the mouth eaters. I humbly request we stop at a safe planet to resupply."
Not truly caring, Zeela answered, "Request granted, inform Mardal to take the Hive down on a suitable planet."
Lady Fate was kind to the new Hive that cycle. There was a nearby planet, with a Portal, that was safe enough to set the cruiser down upon.
0.0.0
Cedly came skittering around the corner into the air lock. Andray was still there, excellent. "Sir, would you like my assistance with the hunt?"
Turning to look at the youth, Andray questioned, "Have you ever hunted before?"
"No sir," Cedly answered honestly and respectfully.
With a smile full of sharp teeth, Andray said, "Well, it's time you learned."
Just to clarify, and make sure he knew what he might be getting himself into, Cedly asked, "We are after species other than humans, correct?"
"Correct, however if we run into stray humans, the cocoons could do with occupants."
Their conversation was interrupted with a thud as the ship set down. The airlock opened with a faint hiss. Both Wraith joyfully took in the new smell on the wind of the planet. Now eager to fulfill primal instincts, the two ran away through the long, waving grass. Off in the distance was a lush forest, and their destination.
0.0.0
"Dray, would you escort me to another planet?" Fenzey poked his face around the bulk head. His long white hair falling and fanning out to obey the planet's gravitational pull.
"Why?" Dray didn't look up from what she was doing.
"Because I want a plant specimen." Hesitantly, Fenzey slid the rest of his body into the room.
"Did you ask everyone else?" The Keeper questioned, still not looking at him.
"Yes" Fenzey took another step into the room. He vaguely noticed it was full of consoles and fog display screens. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen the floor fog in a while.
"And they said no?" Dray forcibly taped a few sequences out on one of the consoles. A light in the upper corner changed from yellow to green. The Keeper snorted and tried again.
"Correct, Keeper" Curiosity getting the better of him, Fenzey went to look over her shoulder.
"Because ...?" Dray trailed the last syllable out.
"Because the Queen said no." He couldn't lie to her, but he hated saying those words, they meant he wouldn't get that plant.
Dray finally looked up from her work. "Lets go."
Forgetting to breath, Fenzey shot out of the room. Dray followed at a more sedated pace, long legs quickly catching up with the excited young male.
Smiling inwardly at his fortune, Fenzey didn't pause to ponder why the Keeper had consented. He was going to get that plant! Really, he had no idea what the plant was, but he wanted it just the same.
Dray found the mind she wanted, Litrell, Fenzey and I are going to another planet. We'll be back sometime.
As you wish, lovely. This is for the pursuit of science, I assume?
Excitedly, Fenzey answered, Plant specimen! You promised, Litrell!
0.0.0
Exotic smells of a thousand different things filled the lungs of the hunters. Every running step brought more and different scents. Each Wraith could sense the other's excitement, doubling their own. Hunt and aggression pharamones scattered in their wake, marking their passing. The long grass whipped by their legs. They were running for the joy of the movement and the hunt.
Their steps startled small animals, which flew or skittered away from the predators. Something larger moved, and both Wraith instantly focused on it. One went to the left, the other right. The large rodent didn't stand a chance. Neither Wraith was really sure which one had broken the prey's neck.
Exertion catching up, they stood looking at each other, panting. Looking back a the ship in the distance, Andray realized how far they had just run.
Gasping, Cedly asked, "Now what do we do with it?" He nudged the rodent with his boot.
"We hang it up, slit the throat and wait for the blood to drain." Andray picked up the dead animal, and continued in the direction of the forest.
Snatching the rodent from Andray, Cedly said, "Let me carry it for you."
0.0.0
Dray let Fenzey push the symbols. Idly, she took note of the order and stored the information away. Stepping through the Portal first, she intentionally didn't think about exactly what was happening to her body. If she thought about the science behind the Portal long enough, she wouldn't be able to go through. Fenzey happily skipped along after her, specimen box in hand.
Setting foot half a galaxy away, Dray marveled that this planet looked like all the rest. Sure there were variations in the vegetation, minerals and topography, but prey supporting plants all looked mostly the same.
Fenzey caught up with that thought from wherever his mind had been. Filling the silence he asked, "I wonder if humans ever get tired of looking at green? Plants are most always green and humans tend to be planet bound with the plants."
Dray didn't dignify that with a response. Far to often the male's mouth moved before his brain did. He was young, there was still time for him to learn. In the meantime, Dray could and would ignore him.
"What exactly are we looking for?" Dray asked her companion.
"Um, well," Fenzey fell a step behind the Keeper and didn't answer.
Dray whirled and snarled.
Frightened, Fenzey begun to babble, "I don't really know. This is one of the forbidden planets and the data bank didn't really say what was here. All we, Keetal and I, guessed was that there had to be something here of interest, otherwise the others wouldn't have labeled this planet as Forbidden. And -"
Dray cut off the babbling male with a snarl. "Fine, but next time you don't know what you are looking for, and next time I take you to a Forbidden planet, tell me. I left Vlenear going through the life support system. He is not going to find anything, and I am now obligated to waste my time with you, looking for something interesting!"
Fenzey coward and half hid behind a bush. It was no real protection, but it made him feel better. Snarling again, Dray continued along the path they had been following. Hesitantly, Fenzey went after her. He had kind of forgotten about most Wraith's lack of desire to discover things new and out of the normal routine. Keetal was not with him, Dray was. He started to knock that fact into his brain. Snappy, short tempered female- not curious, open minded scientist.
0.0.0
Purring filled Mardal's hearing. Arms slipped around his shoulders as a chest pressed into his back. The purring vibrated through his bones, and went straight to his neither regions, along with his blood flow. A clawed hand slid under his shirt. The feeding slit bit down and he was instantly connected with the other Wraith.
You really are a competent pilot, Litrell's purr carried through the mental link.
I have told you as much. Mardal was torn between leaning into the hand or into the body behind him.
Litrell solved his problem and increased the pressure of his hand, drawing his mate closer. Did you want to join the others on a hunt?
Not anymore, I don't. The pilot's legs were going slack from the energy cycling. Litrell was at once giving all he had, and taking all Mardal had. Ultimately it was a bit of a waste of energy, but neither really cared at the moment.
Those with mates have already celebrated their new nests. I think it is time we did the same.
Mardal didn't really comprehend the words. As the body behind him started to move, he followed. Their positions were awkward, but determined lovers will always make it back to their nest, or close enough.
0.0.0
Dray was beginning to get a little concerned. The planet so far held nothing of any interest. Even the plants were the usual, nothing exciting for the scientist. Out of sheer boredom, the Keeper took out the smaller of her data pads. Waiting for the device to turn on, she knew it wouldn't register anything.
Fenzey stopped to look at a tree. Dray half noted that there was something else growing on the tree. The display lit up and Dray looked at it. She cycled through the various screens and functions while Fenzey continued to look at the tree.
Nothing, for either of them.
"Let's start to circle back." Dray powered down the data pad.
"Alright. Why isn't there anything more interesting here?" Fenzey's voice was full of frustration.
Taking the lead, Dray followed the little valley back around towards the Portal. They paused occasionally for the scientist to look at something, and determine it was of no real interest. Dray's mind started to wander back to the life support system on the ship. If neither she nor the human found anything in the coding, it meant searching the entire ship physically for the problem.
Pausing, Dray noticed Fenzey was a ways back, looking at something on the ground. He looked up and waved excitedly. While Dray's long legs carried her back to the male, he opened up the specimen container. When she looked at the plant, Dray wasn't sure how she could have missed those spiny leaves.
"Careful with that," Dray said.
"Then it's what I think it is, isn't it?" Cautiously, Fenzey prodded the plant with a stick.
"And what do you think the plant is?" Dray didn't bother to hid her smile at the stick maneuver. She hoped he wasn't that clueless and was just being cautious.
"Maladime?" The scientist gave the plant another poke.
"Correct, and it is only deadly when ingested, human brain." Dray snatched his stick away.
With the utmost care Fenzey got the plant out of the soil and into the container. "It really doesn't look dangerous, does it?" He asked, holding it at eye level for a good look.
Dray snorted, "Would you like me to shove some in your feeding slit?" Fenzey shook his head and the two began walking again.
Mouth moving before his brain did, Fenzey started talking, "I don't see why the planet would be Forbidden if there is a small abundance of Maladime on it. Really, it's just one plant. And the likelihood humans would find it and discover it's uses are cosmically insignificant. I-- Dray!"
When Dray set her foot down, the ground gave out. She tried to use the other foot to spring to safety, but everything around her was falling. She was falling. Landing on something hard, she tried not to process the noise and feeling in her legs as they collapsed underneath her.
Bones were broken.
Her mind wandered towards the blackness of the tunnel surrounding her. Cloudily, she wondered why her keen vision only saw dark. The pain caught up and ... and.. it hurt, her legs hurt. Not right, something wasn't right. Oh, falling, there had been falling ... falling ... dark.
0.0.0
Snapping back to conscienceness, Dray sat up. Memory instantly back, she looked at her legs. Her white leather leggings were ruined, but the skin was unmarred. So much for her pants. She was briefly thankful she had actually bothered to bring spare clothing onto the new Hive.
"I set the bones while you were unconscience." Fenzey said quietly, hoping the female didn't suddenly become violent. All that happened was her attention snapped to him. "I think it's mostly healed now, but we should wait for a little longer. We're going to have to find you prey soon, I bet that took a lot of energy."
Experimentally, Dray moved her legs a little. The pain was bearable, her body's way of saying she wasn't fully healed. She would be stuck here a little longer, where ever here was. Looking around, she noticed the long vine Fenzey had used to get down safely. The cave was long and narrow, the spotlight coming from the ceiling making it hard to see.
Dray gently drug herself out of the beam of light and waited a mili-cycle for her eyes to adjust. It was more like a corridor on a ship than a cave. The walls looked a little like Wraith design. On closer inspection, they were Wraith design. Reaching out a hand, Dray touched it. The flesh was dried and crumbly. Whatever this place was, it was old and hadn't seen a power source of any sort in a very, very long time.
"This is an old Wraith facility, isn't it?" Fenzey's asked.
Gently, Dray moved her legs. No pain. Standing up she said, "Shall we find out?" Not waiting for an answer, she began walking down the corridor. The place had no power, consequently her ship maintenance equipment would be of no real use. At least until they found some sort of consol.
Fenzey realized they were headed in the direction of the near by hill. It made sense, depending on how long the place had been here, it would have been grown over. In fact, it may have been built in the hill to begin with. Exciting, this was definitely exciting! However, it didn't explain why the planet was labeled Forbidden.
0.0.0
The two Wraith strolled along. Or rather Dray strolled and Fenzey was torn between a fast and awkward walk-jog or a too fast run. Seriously, how did she keep that pace without running? Her legs weren't that much longer.
Every now and then Fenzey would run his hand along the dried out wall. It was a pity to see the once vibrant, and full of life flesh fall to dust under his claws This place had been abandoned for a very long time. Probably even before the war with the first Lantians. Truth be told, he was happy he hadn't seen that war. The worst thing he had seen in his short life was a skirmish between two Cruisers over a feeding planet. It was sad the amount of Wraith who didn't make it back.
Really, all Wraith problems boiled down to humans. Either fighting over or fighting with them. They should just get rid of the humans and find other things to occupy their time with. Like furthering knowledge, that was always a worthy cause. And Wraith could eat a wide variety of plants and animals when young. Why couldn't that be continued into adult hood? They had the internal organs for it. Solid food and no trouble causing humans, that had to be the way to go.
In fact, there had to be a way to switch which digestive system was being used. Maybe he could figure out how before he had to feed. Hmm, that was and idea, maybe if he--
Under his hand, the flesh was suddenly, well, flesh like. He looked up and noticed Dray was aware of the fact. He could sense a bit of excitement from the female. Somehow her long legs were propelling her faster down the hall, but she still wasn't running. Giving up, Fenzey settled back into a comfortable walk and watched the Keeper disappear around a bend.
0.0.0
Dray had noticed the walls becoming more alive the further they went. It was like the facility had decided that the outer areas were expendable, focusing energy on the internal compound.
The human brained scientist behind her had been thinking the whole time. And he hadn't bothered to shield his thoughts. Dray knew he was strange, but she really didn't want to have found out how strange. Litrell had better have a very, very good reason to keep him.
Irritated with the mental babbling, Dray increased her pace and vanished around the corner. She doubled her mental shield until the male was just a constant buzz. Being on an alien planet, she dared not cut him out completely. If something were to happen to one of them, they had a better chance of survival with the link.
As the walls had come back to life, there were also more and more corridors. Dray had been choosing at random. Thus far she was unable to guess at the structure's purpose. Then she chose the correct branch of the hallway.
Standing at the edge, Dray looked out into the gigantic chamber with awe. She had never seen anything so impressive in her whole life. The detail on her dark vision was limited, but if provided enough information about what was before her. In the center of the chamber was a skeletal like structure. Spaced along the walls were massive tanks that reached to the ceiling. Fate was smiling, because those tanks were full. The liquid glowed faintly. No wonders the complex had sacrificed the outer tunnels and let them turn to dust. That liquid was as important as life itself, if not more so. Dray gasped as all the implications fell home.
This was a ship building facility.
A main skeleton of a Cruiser ready to go. The bio tanks that supplied the growing material were still operational and mostly full.
All Dray had to do was find some way to power the facility, and she could finish building the Cruiser. But she could do it her way. A faster hyperdrive, more powerful generators, better and faster weapons, maybe even a shield if she was allowed enough time to figure one out. And to the Lantian sun with the drones her Hive flew, she could replace them with copies of her craft.
Some sort of power source was all that stood between Dray and her dream. As it happened, she knew of a Hive that had such an item.
0.0.0
Fenzey was startled when Dray came flying back into view. Her face was completely neutral, which was a little odd, she tended to snarl. "Did you find anything?"
"No, the tunnel collapsed up a head, we have to go back the way we came." Dray lied smoothly, her shield bulked out to overkill.
"Oh, alright." Fenzey said and followed after the female, back the way they had come. "At least we got the plant," he held up the specimen container and gave it a gentle shake. "Maybe we could come back at some point and find another way in. I really want to know what this place was. It feel sacred somehow, you know?" Fenzey noticed Dray opening, closing and twitching her feeding hand.
0.0.0
All those on the ship with closed feeding slits were gathered around the eating table again. Cedly contentedly refueled his body with meat he had killed himself. He was sure it wasn't as satisfying as feeding on a human, but it was close. Andray had even joined them. Cedly's heart and stomach had nearly left his body when the older male took a slice of meet from his plate.
"That was a good hunt today. Your first human doesn't stand an insect's chance in ocean water." Andray gave Cedly's shoulder a pat and departed. The only thing that kept Cedly sitting up was the sheer shock of the praise. He wolfed the rest of his meal and ran on tired muscles back to his nest. There he preceded to do a lot of digesting, both physically and mentally.
0.0.0
It occurred to Litrell how long Dray and Fenzey had been gone. He hadn't been aware of the passage of time for a while. He and his mate had eventually made it back to their new, and now broken in, nest. In fact, enough time had passed for Andray to completely resupply the ship's meat storage.
Perhaps the two missing Wraith had actually found something of interest. It was more likely that Fenzey had managed to get even Dray, with her disturbingly finely honed sense of direction, lost. That was the most likely of the two options. Fenzey was incredibly intelligent, even for a Wraith, but he was a distractable human brain at times. Actually, most of the time.
Not once did it pass through Litrell's mind that the two may have run into a problem. Let alone a problem Dray couldn't solve. Either with intellect or violence.
0.0.0
They found the vine still hanging from the hole in the ceiling. Dray had kept up a brutal pace and poor Fenzey's legs were getting tired. Naturally, Dray went up the vine first. Fenzey went up second, a little relieved it had held the heavier female's weight. Noticing the position of the sun, Fenzey did a double take. It had just broken over the horizon, meaning they had been exploring the strange complex for over a day. However long a day and night cycle was on this planet. Dray continued her fast pace back down the valley. Frustrated, it was all the scientist could do to keep her in sight.
A howling cry shattered the calm morning air. Both Wraith froze.
Fenzey was the first to move, he ran. As he came level with the still frozen Keeper, her hand shot out and clamped down on his arm. He was physically jerked to a stop. Opening his mouth to speak, Dray silenced him. Another howl came through the forest. Fenzey was really sure it was closer than the first.
'Don't run,' Dray mouthed at him and began a quick walk. Her hand was still fastened to Fenzey's arm, and he was drug along behind her until his brain refocused and his feet started moving. Panicked, he sought out Dray's mind and found only her usual barrier. He knew what that sound was. She knew what that sound was. They should be pelting for the Portal. They were going to be something else's meal, they were going to die.
The howls surrounded them, still a distance off, but getting closer. They were being circled in, the trick was to move the circle in the direction of the Portal before it closed completely. Dray carefully didn't think about whether or not they would make it. She kept her hand firmly planted on the hysteric male. At least he was being quiet.
She caught a thought from his mind. In any other circumstance she would have laughed. Climb a tree? That might work with some predators, but not these. They would climb the tree right after you, and faster than you.
The portal, be calm, we will make it. Dray reassured her charge, it was quite possibly a lie, but whatever worked worked. He did calm a little, a fraction of a hair.
Truth be told, Wraith were not the absolute top of the Pegasus Galaxy food chain. The things chasing them had been craftily bred by a group of humans. The humans had been wiped out, but the creatures had remained, despite the Wraith's best efforts. Part of Dray's mind wondered why it had taken the creatures so long to find them.
The trees stopped and the Wraith could see the Portal in the distance. Dray was less than happy about the lack of cover. If only the trees had continued. The howls were still closing, which caused Dray to move, dragging a frozen Fenzey along.
If I say run, do so. Dial the Portal to a Wraith homeworld. Do not hesitate or look back. Understand? Along with the command, Dray gave the male a set of Portal symbols.
As they moved through the open field, Dray increased their pace as much as she dared. The creatures were playing their usual game, and keeping a perfect circle around their prey. There was a very, very, very good reason the planet was Forbidden. Dray realized that if it didn't have the ship building facility, the older Wraith would have destroyed the planet.
Their pace quickened a little more. Dray didn't dare take them any faster. If the creatures decided they were running, like scared prey, they would drop the circle tactic and attack. There was no way either Wraith would be able to out run them.
The Portal was over the next little rise. Dray could see the grass moving here and there, not from the wind. Seven had given away their position and numbers. There had to be more, there always were more. Numbers, that was the major issue with these creatures. Seriously, why hadn't the olders blasted the planet?
At that moment, there was nothing more Dray wanted then to run. All her senses were screaming run. Fenzey would have been except for her hand. Run. Running was going to get them killed. They were over the rise and had a clear view of the Portal
Dray's sharp eyes caught a flash of blue. It was between them and the Portal. Keep moving, keep it backing up yet coming closer. The circle was shrinking faster. Desperate, Dray cast an illusion off to the side. The creatures ignored it. Almost at the symbol pad.
Keep WALKING. I am going to enter the sequence. Walk, Walk. Calm. Don't watch them. Walk.
Fenzey, almost to terrified to be moving, kept walking when Dray let go of his arm. He stood to the side of the Portal as the event horizon exploded outward. He couldn't take it, he bolted through the Portal. On the other side he started mentally screaming. The Hive got the message loud and clear. On exhausted, shaky legs Fenzey fled for the Cruiser.
Fenzey wasn't the only thing that bolted.
Every single one of the creatures slammed home into Dray's level of material existence. All around her was a space of blue. Instead of stars, it was full of sharp teeth.
Dray leapt over the first one inbetween her and the active Portal. Sailing through the air, she drew her special stunner. Hitting the ground, she rolled and came up sprinting. Her freshly healed legs vaguely complained about the abuse.
She went to hurdle over the next, but they anticipated that. Dray noticed after her body had left the ground. The creature was coming up at her. Dray fired and the thing screeched in pain. It's thick blue hide bubbled around the weapons-fire burn. Falling away, it was replaced by another.
Mind working on pure instinct, Dray started to leap again. The creature in front of her fell for it. Dray rolled under its' belly as it soared, confused, through the air. Her feet found the ground again and she rocketed toward the Portal. Dodging left, she shot one.
Then she was through the Portal. There was an instant of pain as her body was disassembled and reassembled. Feet barely touched ground on the other side, before she was back in the air. Rolling, she came up with her weapon pointed at the Portal.
Four came through. One was shot down. The other three vanished from her reality before she could shoot. Blessidly, the portal shut down.
The nerves in her feeding arm screamed in pain. Teeth materialized in her flesh, followed by a body. Closing her other hand, she hit the creature in the eye. It didn't let go.
More teeth materialized in her left leg. She brought her right leg to slam into the owner of the teeth. It didn't let go, either. Bones snapped and Dray felt the use go in both limbs.
There was a third, where was it? If she was one of them, her next target would be the throat. Finish the prey's death.
Dray saw the flash of blue coming for her. It left the ground. It was headed for her chest and throat. Paws extended, with it's momentum it would shatter her rib cage. Dray watched in fascination as the creature materialized. It was roughly the size of a medium human. All blue with a very long tail. Lupin mouth full of sharp teeth. No real ears. Death. The other's held her ready for the third. She was his kill.
White light and the creature landed on solid ground. The prey had vanished. Prey didn't vanish, they vanished. It hadn't been a new illusion, teeth were still covered in thick, black blood.
0.0.0
Andray didn't know if he had gotten there in time. Dray hadn't been moving. Blood, there was blood everywhere. He really hoped the beam hadn't gotten one of those creatures along with his beloved.
0.0.0
Once the darts were retrieved, the Cruiser broke atmosphere. The planet was no longer safe. Three had gotten through, and a good chance a member from both sexes. There would be a new pack.
Gradlt had piloted the dart that beamed up Fenzey. When they re-materialized him, the male had brought new levels to terror. Litrell had been forced to shut the male's mind down before the panic spread through the small Hive.
Everyone gasped when Dray was materialized. Her left leg was mangled and her feeding hand was attached by a thread of tendon. Without thinking, Zeela, placed her feeding slit on the other female and bit. She forced her energy into the other, giving herself. After giving as much as she dared, the Queen stepped back. Some of the bleeding had stopped.
Litrell did the same as the Queen. As he did so, he notice the female's mind was unguarded. All he got was a jumble of darkness, light, pain and a lock of red hair. Exhausted, he moved his hand away.
After landing the dart, Andray came running up. Right as Litrell stood, Andray replaced his hand and bit. When he finished, the leg looked much better, and tissue was starting to connect to the hand. It still wasn't enough.
Zeela shoved Gradlt forward. Grudgingly, he lowered his hand and bit. Instantly he could feel the extent of her injuries. Genuinely concerned, he poured all he could give into the Keeper. He lifted his hand away and was replaced by Keetal. The scientist gave enough that he collapsed. But Dray had needed it. The bleeding completely stopped and skin was forming around the new muscle.
Exhausted, Andray picked the Keeper up an took her to her nest.
0.0.0
She was being carried. That was strange, she was being eaten. Now she was being carried. Two arms, no paws and teeth. Well teeth, but not in a lupin mouth.
Dray came back momentarily. She smiled at Andray, realizing what the others must have done.
She had to get her Great Great Great Grandmother's Lantian power crystal. Dray knew the paranoid old woman still had a fully charged one. There was a fully functional ship building facility waiting for Dray, all it needed was power. She was going to get it and a ship.
Wraith eating creatures be damned.
That skeleton would be the base of her ship. To the Lantian sun with their current Cruiser.
0.0.0
Andray deposited the unconscience Keeper in her nest and left for his own.
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Feed back and critique and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated. The point, at the moment, for me is to be writing, I am not worrying about getting the chapters perfect. The goal is for me to practice and get better. Hope you enjoyed, when home work allows, I will write more!