Chapter Two – On Board Station SV-F5G
Danny entered the small room alit with flickering lights of many colours and stared at the man lying in the centre of it all, wires connecting his body to his surroundings. If they hadn't been there then one might have been forgiven for assuming that the man was simply sleeping but Danny knew better than that. Flack never slept, he didn't need to.
"Flack?" he called.
The man never moved an inch.
"Flack?" Danny said again, only louder.
He sighed as Flack still didn't move, clearly lost within the depths of the Kincanzza's systems. Danny walked forward the one step it took to reach Flack and carefully reached out and gripped hold of his left hand. He gently squeezed it three times and then waited patiently for Flack to come back to him. He knew this would work; he'd done it many times before. Flack's left arm was one of the only parts of him still organic and Flack would sense the squeeze somewhere deep inside his mind like a beam of light shining through all the electrical currents and circuits going through him.
After two subcycles Flack's left arm twitched and then his eyes slowly flickered open. It took a moment for them to focus and then they gradually drifted towards Danny's face and settled there. That wonky grin appeared on Flack's face.
"Danno," he murmured.
"Hey, Flack," Danny replied. "Time to get up."
Flack slowly sat up, cracking his back and opening and closing both his hands. Danny watched him all the time, staring at his torso in a sort of morbid fascination. Danny had seen it many time before, had even opened Flack up to repair him on the odd occasion, he probably knew more about Flack than the man did himself. Yet he still intrigued him. To think he was a living, human man but that he didn't function like one. That he was full of wires and circuitry that Danny found fascinating and yet a person.
"What you staring at?"
Danny tore his eyes away guiltily and looked up to see Flack staring intensely at him. Danny coughed awkwardly.
"Nothing. You ready?"
"In a moment," Flack replied, pulling the last wire out of himself and then putting on his t-shirt before following Danny out of the room.
They crossed the deserted bridge, ship still set on autopilot and padded down the corridor to the conference room. The Kincanzza was really quite a small ship but powerful with excellent weaponry. Jo and Danny were jointly incharge of the weaponry and defence systems, Jo knowing all sorts of things about them and Danny being able to install them. The upper deck of the Kincanzza held the bridge and the ship's core, otherwise known as Flack's room, at the front. A corridor led off behind it with the conference room, Captain's office and quarters, the first armoury and security rooms. The middle deck held the living quarters which were shared by all, the ship wasn't large enough for each crew member to have their own room. A line of sleeping pods in one room, lockers and showers in another, the mess and Sid's kitchen in another and finally Hawkes' medical centre. There was also a second armoury though this was much smaller than the first on the upper level. The lower deck consisted of the core reactor, engineering rooms, storerooms and two cells. It also held two shuttlepod decks that housed their two shuttles which in turn had room for four people maximum in each. The crew didn't have much type of a uniform though most favoured black as it was easier to camouflage in that way when visiting planets and stations for supplies. Sid tended to wear beige which matched his skin colour and Lindsay often wore blue or purple for the same reason.
"Flack, good, you're here," Mac stated as the two men entered the conference room. Everyone else was already sat round the table, waiting expectantly. "How is she?"
"Kincanzza is fine. I updated some of the systems and she needed a reboot in the atmosphere processing down on third but otherwise...fine" Flack replied.
Mac nodded and then turned to the crew. "We'll be arriving at Station SV-F5G within the next cycle. We need to dock for food supplies and ammunition. Any volunteers?"
Mac was usually a fair Captain and mostly let anyone who wanted to go to the stations and planets do so.
"I'll go," Danny said immediately. "I need to get some spare parts and instruments."
"Fine," Mac nodded.
"I'll go too, perhaps they might sell some delightful quantxiphilia and I can whip up a stew," Sid nodded eagerly."
"Good," Mac agreed.
"I may as well go," Lindsay said quietly. "I can take some samples of dialects and can help with the purchasing."
Mac smiled as though pleased. "Excellent. Flack, go with them."
Flack nodded obediently but didn't say anything. That was the one condition of them going off ship; he always had to go too. Being mostly machine it meant he was far stronger and more powerful than any of the others and would always have to go for security reasons.
"Anything else, Mac?" Jo asked.
"No, you four get ready; you leave within the next cycle and will have two there. I want you back before the third sun of Ktutac gets halfway."
Everyone nodded and then left to prepare for their trip out to the station. It wasn't long before Flack, Danny, Sid and Lindsay were all sat in one of the shuttlepods on their way to the station. Flack was driving as pilot while Sid hummed merrily to himself and Danny and Lindsay talked quietly together.
"So why did you really want to come?" Danny asked her, a smile appearing on his lips.
"To record dialects, I told you that," she replied, her skin changing from blue to more of a purple shade.
"Why does your skin do that?" he asked, glancing down at her arms.
"It shows different emotions," Lindsay replied. "We've had this conversation before."
"I know," Danny shrugged. "It's just interesting."
"Why? Because humans are one of the most boring species out there?" she giggled.
"Shhshh," Danny whispered. "Don't let Flack hear you say that."
"Why?" she asked.
"Because he's a human and he's one of the most interesting people I've ever met."
Lindsay rolled her eyes. "You just want to study him."
She glanced over to Flack who hadn't moved, eyes glued to the screen in front of him. Lindsay had a deep sympathy for Flack, like him she was a one off; the last member of her entire race. She knew that for definite now. Before she had been able to feel the others still with her, still alive somewhere out there in Space. Now she just felt emptiness when she tried to call them or communicate with them through her mind. She was the last one left, a unique species and with that she could sympathise with Flack.
"We're here," growled Flack as he docked their pod to the side of the station and then stepped up out of the cockpit.
"Oh goodie," Sid sung happily as he danced out of the ship, arms carelessly waving around him and almost knocking into other people.
"Come on," Lindsay sighed as she hurried after him to calm him.
Danny and Flack exchanged looks and then followed behind at a slower pace. SV-F5G was a humanoid station that was part of the Empire and Colonies. However the market was full of strange stalls, queer alien races and odd collections of just about everything. It was busy and crowded and Flack sighed irritably. He hated crowds.
"I'll be waiting in this bar," he muttered as he diverted off course to a place called the Green Gurghig.
Danny rolled his eyes and then hurried to catch up with Lindsay and Sid who had stopped at a stall selling a luminous blue coloured soup and what looked like green bread that oozed frothy violet pus when squeezed. Danny knew Flack didn't require liquids for survival but alcohol still had the same effect on his mind as any other human and Flack always enjoyed the few times when he could let loose and have a few if he wasn't needed to fly the ship.
"What are we looking at?" Danny asked as he caught up with the other two.
"You don't want to know," Lindsay replied and took his hand, dragging him away from the stall. "I think it's best we don't know what Sid puts in our food."
Danny grimaced and then nodded his head and the two of them laughed.
"Okay then, where off to next?" he asked.
"Didn't you need to buy some items?" she asked him.
"Yeah, come on," he smiled as they carried on through the market.
Danny found he kept on smiling at Lindsay; she really was beautiful despite her oddly coloured eyes and skin. She also had six fingers and toes that he sometimes found a little disconcerting. Still, he had met plenty of aliens in his time and Louie had even been engaged to an alien...Louie. Danny swallowed as he thought of his long dead brother. He'd loved Louie so much; his brother had raised him after their parents had passed away. But it was his own bloody fault, he'd made the mistake that had cost Louie his life. Louie had got him out of there; gone back to pull him away from the unstable reactor core and in doing so had given his life. Danny stopped walking and gasped a little as emotion overwhelmed him.
"Are you okay?" Lindsay asked worriedly.
He snapped his eyes open and looked down at her. Her skin was blue again.
"I'm fine, thanks," he murmured and started walking again. He'd never forgive himself for killing Louie. But at least he had Flack now. And Flack was his brother.
Lindsay tilted her head and watched him go before following. She knew he was lying. Danny Messer was such an enigma.
Meanwhile Flack sat hunched over on a bar stool drinking his way through a bottle of a bright orange drink that he had no idea what it was, but it did the job and he could feel his head getting fuzzy. Mac would probably tell him off when they got back but what did he expect, just once Flack wished he didn't have to accompany everyone on these little trips out to the stations. He hated being in amongst strangers, convinced they were staring, that they knew, despite his normal outward appearance.
"Hey there, buy you a drink?"
Flack turned and stared at the pudgy alien that was looking at him. It was tall, well built but quite fat and only had one eye. Flack couldn't tell if it was male or female and that wasn't attractive.
"Err, no thanks. I got plenty here" Flack replied and turned back to his drink.
"Oh come now, I'm sure you could use some company," the alien murmured as it slid onto the stool next to him and leant over him.
"Buddy, I said no," Flack snarled as he looked right into the alien's eye.
His attention was suddenly distracted by something touching his leg and he looked down in time to see a green tentacle wrapping around his leg and sliding its way up it towards...
"Get the hell off me!" Flack yelled as he stood and with one hard punch knocked the alien flat off its stool.
"How dare you!" the alien growled back and took a swipe at Flack, knocking him backward into a table which crashed to the floor.
Rage pounded through Flack's body as he recovered and lurched back at the alien. In the commotion he was vaguely aware of the bartender calling for security before he landed another hit to the alien's chest. The alien stumbled back and then pounced on Flack again, knocking them both to the floor where they rolled around amid fists, tentacles and punches. Finally two security guards arrived and broke them up.
"He started it," coughed the alien.
"Horston, we've had trouble from you before," growled one of the guards. This is your last warning we don't wanna see you on board this station again."
"But it wasn't me..."
"Yeah right," Flack interrupted sarcastically. "I outta sue for molestation..."
"Shut it!" the guard holding him back yelled. "Nova, take Horston back to the deport platform. I'll take this one down to the holding cells."
"What?" Flack asked angrily as he pulled himself free of the guards grasp.
"Calm down there," the guard growled. "Unless you like to feel pain?" he added, whipping out what looked like some sort of shocker.
"Bring it on," Flack grinned, unaware that a group of guards had just arrived behind him.
Flack might have been much stronger than the average man, even a very strong man, but he couldn't take down eight men alone and the first guard easily manage to make contact with his skin and send a jolt of electricity through him using the shocker. Flack felt his circuitry frazzle as the electricity made contact with the electronics within him and the robotic parts suddenly went sluggish on him. All at once he found it difficult to breathe; he could barely stand and collapsed down to the ground.
"Take him to a cell," the guard growled as he stood and smirked down at Flack. "We don't want trouble makers around when the Commander in Chief passes through in a few subcycles."
"What?" Flack gasped as he was hauled up by three guards. "The Commander in Chief?!"
"Yeah that's right," sneered the guard. "You thought this place was a backstation you could start trouble on...well think again!"
"No...you have to let me go..." Flack shouted desperately as he was dragged off.
"DAAAANNNNNOOOO!"
Danny was too far away to hear the cries of his broken friend. He was in the middle of watching Sid make another transaction with a tall thin alien with seven legs that also doubled up as hands. He and Lindsay had been round the whole market and he had purchased the tools and parts he needed while she had taken a few samples of dialects that had interested her. Then they had met up with Sid again and were on their last transaction before returning to the shuttlepod.
"Ka kalaki koko kon kulaow," Sid clicked his tongue at the alien tradesman.
Danny rolled his eyes and turned to look at Lindsay. He'd never been good at languages and was quite envious of those who were. Flack was lucky in that the machine part of his brain could now translate most languages and Lindsay was able to do so with even more ease. She was watching the trade in interest, his skin flushing a slightly pinker version of purple.
"Kolo ku konaki ka ka," the alien moaned back his tongue flicking out and Danny noticed it was split into seven.
He shivered and made a grimace before sighing with boredom and wishing Flack was with them. Suddenly he noticed that the security seemed to be stepping up in the market place and he frowned.
"Hey guys, I think we should be heading off," Danny murmured to his team mates.
"I might have to agree with you there," Sid replied as he turned and saw what Danny was looking at.
"What's going on?" Lindsay asked the two men.
"Kon kuwa ki kalatecitti ke kuwandika," the alien informed them.
"Huh?" Danny asked, being the only one who hadn't understood.
"The Commander in Chief is passing through any moment," Lindsay translated for him.
"What?" Danny almost yelled. "Hell, where's Flack?"
"You said he went for a drink..." Sid stared after Danny as he ran off before he had even finished his sentence.
"We better follow," Lindsay said to him and they too ran off after Danny.
Danny arrived at the Green Gurghig and ran inside, eyes searching out his tall dark-haired friend. He frowned when he didn't see him.
"Excuse me, have you seen a guy who looks a bit like me?" Danny asked the barman. "Except taller and with darker hair. Quite muscular?"
"Yeah I see him," the slimy red alien replied. He looked a bit like a giant ant. "I call security on him. He start fight."
Danny frowned, knowing that although Flack wasn't adverse to fights, neither would he start one.
"Okay, so where did he go then?" he asked.
"Security take him away. Holding cell probably. I don't know. Not my business," the alien replied. "You gonna buy something?"
"No, no thanks," Danny said as he backed away and turned to look at Lindsay and Sid.
"Danny, what's going on?" Lindsay asked, her skin now blue.
"Flack's been taken to the holding cells, we need to get him out of here before the Commander in Chief arrives," Danny replied.
"But why?" Sid asked, feeling most confused.
"I'll explain later, come on," Danny said as he rushed out of the bar and to the main security desk which was situated near the docking station.
"I'm worried," Lindsay said to Sid as they followed him.
"Try not to be, my dear. Nothing good ever came from worrying" Sid said soothingly.
"Excuse me," Danny gasped as he reached the security desk. "My friend was taking to the cells for brawling, I was just wondering if I could get him released so we can be on our way."
"No prisoners released until the Commander in Chief has been through," the security guard replied curtly.
"What?" Danny asked. "But we just want to leave."
"No prisoners released until the Commander in Chief has been through," the guard repeated.
"But we need to leave... it was only a little bar fight, surely you can..." Danny tried.
The guard turned one of its many heads to look at Danny.
"We haven't the time before the Commander in Chief's ship docks. And we can't have anyone liable to start a fight around for when he does get here. Come back in three cycles," he said irritably.
"But we don't have that time," Danny said in dismay as Lindsay and Sid hurriedly pulled him away from the guard's desk before he too got himself arrested.
"Danny, tell us what is going on," Lindsay urged.
Danny stared worriedly at his two friends, unable to think what he could do. It wasn't even his secret to tell.
"It's Flack. He's had a few run-ins with the Commander in Chief. He mustn't know that he's here," Danny finally sighed, telling a half truth.
"Well why should the Commander in Chief go down to the cells?" Sid asked. "This is probably just a pitstop and then he'll be on his way and no harm done. We'll just be back a bit later than expected."
"I do hope your right," Danny sighed as a loud signal suddenly sounded out around the market, signalling the arrival of the Commander in Chief.
"Oh he's here," squealed two female aliens excitedly.
"I've never felt so proud," a male human was saying.
"Why's he here, Mummy?" a child asked her mother.
"He's come to collect a prisoner down in the holding cells," her father explained.
Danny's face blanched as he turned round to stare in horror at the others, their looks reflecting his own.
