"He fucking hung up on me." Dib stared at the communicator in disbelief as sirens blared overhead and the emergency lighting of the Nova illuminated the halls in a deep red.
"Are you really surprised?" Tak smirked, despite the severity of her situation. "I told you contacting them was a waste of time. If you need something done right, you don't ask Zim. It's like an unspoken Irken law."
"Well, I don't see you helping." The ship trembled again and Dib struggled to remain upright.
"Calling you useless is helping morale." Tak countered. Dib shot her a look before hurrying to the front of the bridge. Outside he could see Irken cruisers, hundreds of them, all seemingly swarming around the Nova and Solar. Blasts of energy were raining down on their shields like a hellish hailstorm.
"How are you holding up, Lor?" The Captain was focused on other things, ignoring the fight taking place between one if her first officers and her head scientist.
"Not super great," came the crackling reply. "But managing." Captain Rose frowned, checking something on her screen.
"You sure about that?"
"I mean..." Lor's voice sounded a bit strained, "I've been stabbed- but only slightly."
"How the fuck do you get 'slightly' stabbed!?" Carrius had almost grabbed the communicator from his Captain. "Lor are you okay!?"
"It is only a slight stabbing, so I'm fine. Really."
"We're beaming you back in, your vital signs have spiked and no one only gets 'slightly stabbed' come on Lor, you're a fucking medic." Captain Rose looked stressed as she rubbed her forehead, deeply focused on the task at hand. "Carrius, transport your brother back here, get him to medical."
"On it, Captain!" Carrius instantly began operating the control panel in the center of the bridge. Captain Rose changed the channel of her communicator. "Sizz-Lorr, can you read?"
"Loud and clear Captain," Dib could just make out the Fry Lord's voice over the sound of the Nova's emergency sirens.
"How are things for your crew?"
"We've taken damage but that new coding worked better than expected. Dav is now a weirdly good pilot and Nel is an excellent shot. Which is strange given as how neither of them were able to hold off crowds in the Foodening before all of this." At least it sounded like the Irkens had things somewhat under control. Dib really didn't feel like dying today. Mysterious Mysteries was going to be rebooted and he had plans with Lor to tear it apart for any inconsistencies from the original.
"Dib get Lor from transport, make sure he gets to medical." Captain Rose didn't even look at him. She was occupied trying to keep the Nova from falling apart. "I have no idea how much a 'slight' stab is, but we will need to make sure that he doesn't get himself killed. He isn't exactly combat trained and we can't risk our situation getting worse."
"This can get worse?" Tak's antennae perked up. She looked out of the bridge window and back to Captain Rose. "Huh, I suppose it can. I mean, Zim could have actually answered the call for help and been here himself. That would have been pretty bad."
"Didn't Zim almost kill you when I was like twelve?" Dib was on his way out, but he figured he would chime in.
"I refuse to die as a result of Zim. If he is in any way involved in anything, I won't die. I am not giving him the satisfaction of out-living me or resulting in my death. It's a matter of dignity."
"If you insist." Dib would have been more amused by Tak's stubbornness had the circumstances been better.
"Oh, Cadet Membrane!" The Captain called to him as he had one foot out of the door. "Before you head out, get your family to report to the Bridge. Your father has been messaging me since the alarms started going off about some weapons upgrades. I want to see him up here. Now!"
"Yes Captain." Dib hurried to the transporter. Lor should have already arrived, but as Dib walked in, he didn't see anyone standing on the platform. His gaze was directed downward as he saw movement. Lor was on the ground, huddled into a ball. Beside him, the black medical bag was open, back lit by soft, blue lighting as Lor's hand was fumbling for supplies that Dib didn't recognize. (He really should pay more attention to the Syndicate medical technology as it seemed to far outclass that of Earth.) Dib rushed over to help him up.
"Ow ow ow!" Lor protested as Dib placed his hands on his shoulder to roll him up. Dib jumped back as Lor struggled to move, he saw what looked to be a large hunk of metal sticking out of where a heart would have been on a human.
"How is this a little bit stabbed!?" Dib was initially planning to help Lor up, but was now avidly trying to lay him back down in case he exacerbated his condition. "This is a lot stabbed! I dare say completely fucking stabbed!"
"It's fine." Lor grunted a bit, struggling to sit up despite Dib's efforts to the contrary.
"It's in your heart!"
"It's lateral to my heart. Not human, remember?" He took Dib's hand and placed it in the center of his chest. The fabric of Lor's uniform was warm and sticky. "Heart is here." Dib quickly pulled his hand back, there was a red stain where he had touched the fabric.
"And is that just a little bit of bleeding?"
"It's an average amount of bleeding given the depth and location of the injury. And to be fair, it wasn't bleeding out in the cold of space. It only just started."
"You need to get this treated, like now."
"Can you take this out for me?" Lor winced placing both of his hands on what Dib was starting to realize, was ship shrapnel. "I have something in my medical kit to stop the bleeding, but you need to take it out first." Dib hesitantly started to tug at the jagged metal. He could see the pulsating glow of the green power source that fueled the Irken ships, but made Lor very sick, as it seemed to be partially embedded in the offending metal.
"Hold still." Dib could feel Lor tense every time he moved to take the debris out from Lor's chest.
"It hurts " Lor protested meekly.
"Well yeah, it's gonna hurt. You have metal sticking out of your chest. Even if it missed your heart, it is still going to be unpleasant to remove."
"Okay. Okay. Sorry just my first time being slightly stabbed." Lor let out a pained breath. "I'm fine."
"Try to think about something else." Dib tightened his grip on the metal.
"What? Like waffles?"
"I mean, if you like waffles that much."
"I like most Earth food. It's very flavorful and- ow ow ow!"
"You're tensing again." Dib had gotten it very close to completely out at this point, but every time Lor tensed up it became more difficult to pull out.
"I'm not trying to," Lor's voice was getting weaker.
"This is getting pretty complicated to pull this thing out. I think we need to beam in Paul off of the Solar or something."
"Actually, it's pronounced: Pa-AHHHHHH" in the middle of Lor's correction, Dib yanked the offending metal from Lor's chest. Lor fumbled in his medical kit for something that looked like a bandage but when he applied it to his skin, appeared more like a mesh. Sure, enough the bleeding subsided and he collapsed onto his back breathing heavily. "Pawl." He finished his thought, weakly, voice trembling. "It's Pawl, not Paul."
"I know." Dib dragged the metal as far from Lor as he could, it was actually a lot heavier than he initially thought.
"I need to actually get to the medical bay," Lor rolled over onto his side struggling to stand. Dib hurried back to him. He knelt down, carefully wrapping an arm around him, helping him into a sitting position, hesitant to do too much.
"You're moving around an awful lot for someone who was just impaled."
"It wasn't that bad."
"It kind of was though."
"I mean," Lor put his head on Dib's shoulder, "Irkens are kind of tough to fight. Especially when they decide to detonate their engine in my face."
"That's how you got hurt?"
"Yeah. It happened so fast... four of them detonated simultaneously. It... it really hurt."
"You'll be okay..." Dib very carefully started to help Lor to his feet. "I know the ship doctor. He's pretty good. He just doesn't understand the severity of stab wounds, apparently."
"To be fair, I didn't want the Captain to worry. She's got a lot to deal with right now."
"Yeah." Dib had Lor's arm draped around his shoulders. He leaned in for a moment, their lips met. "But we can handle this."
"Attention Syndicate Rangers:" the Synthetic voice of LEO filled the room, "shield integrity has reached five percent, rapidly approaching zero. Prepare to be boarded."
"Okay, then again..." Dib half carried Lor out into the hallway. He still needed to locate his family on the ship. Things were going from bad to worse, and Zim had proved unhelpful.
"Four percent."
The ship jolted again and Dib struggled to keep Lor from falling, worsening the injury.
"Three percent."
"Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. I need to find my family. They have no idea what they're up against."
"Two percent."
"I mean they have some idea. Your sister has been to all the debriefing meetings. I'm not sure if she listened, but she may have picked up some stuff through osmosis." Lor replied optimistically.
"One percent."
"Are you joking, or do you actually think humans absorb information through osmosis?" Dib gave him an incredulous look.
"Little bit of both?"
"Weren't you in medical classes on Earth, like to be a human doctor?" The ship gave a rough shudder and Dib nearly lost his balance. He stumbled backward into a wall, making sure he took the brunt of the fall rather than Lor.
"Shield Integrity Failed. Prepare for immanent boarding."
"Well … fuck us I guess." Dib tightened his grip around Lor, helping him limp through the darkened halls, the red alarm lights casting large shadows across the metal walls. "That's probably not good."
"Yeah, probably not." Lor held tightly to him as Dib kept the fastest pace he could without exacerbating Lor's injury.
"My family is down here somewhere; we have to find them before the Irkens do." Dib would never admit he was worried, but his heart was racing. His dad and his sister were finally taking part in his life, finally open with him about everything, he wasn't going to lose them. Even his stepmother was growing on him. He was finally starting to really enjoy feeling like a family. He liked going home with Lor for Christmas and playing stupid games, or hearing his dad rant about Santa. He actually loved having a birthday party where his mom and dad baked a cake and Gaz played video games against an AI on his couch. He wasn't going to let things end here.
"Hold on." Lor looked a little pale and Dib was forced to slow down. "Do you hear that?"
"No, I don't hear any..." he trailed off. It was faint, at first, however, there was a clicking noise, like raindrops on tile. A singular, dripping sound, but suddenly it grew louder, the frequency increased from a steady, rhythmic tap, to what sounded like a downpour. The walls of the ship shook a bit as Dib saw the unmistakable metallic shine of a PAK leg stabbing through the wall. "Oh sh-!" He reeled back and quickened his pace. Being a clone, he had some enhanced strength, so he quickly scooped Lor up into his arms as walking with him was only slowing them both down, and carried him through the hall, trying his best to avoid the growing holes from the PAK legs trying to rip through the solid metal. Dib hit the button on his Syndicate uniform and a helmet materialized over his head. He wasn't sure if the ship was going to hold out much longer. The elevator pads had stopped working, but Dib needed to get to his family. He jumped into the tube, still holding Lor, stretching his body out to catch himself, and slowly crawling to the lower level.
"Impressive." Lor was clinging to him as Dib braced himself to weasel out of the tube into the lower deck. The exit doors were closed, so Dib had to force his way out through repeated force. As his back slammed into the clear doors, he could see a pair of red eyes above him, gazing down with a vacant expression.
"I have some skills from chasing Zim throughout my childhood." He managed to escape onto the floor, landing on his back. Fortunately, blunt force trauma still seemed to be the ticket to opening doors, even on the Nova. "And being a Clone helps." He could hear chaos in the distance. Behind him an Irken plowed into the tube doors, as they closed back. Ahead, it sounded like his dad was shouting. Dib managed to jump back onto his feet, still carrying Lor as he followed the sound. He skidded to a halt at the entrance to the lab.
"Hello son!" His father waved from the inside of some large mechanized suit that he was piloting. "Good of you to join us!" The suit blasted a laser from its chest, knocking incoming Irkens on their back.
"You. You have a mech suit!?" Dib wasn't sure what he expected.
"Of course! Never leave home without it!"
"Why do you have a mech suit!?" He would have face palmed had he not been carrying Lor.
"Well," his dad spoke as if everything should have been obvious, "because I gave the BFG to your sister."
"What's a B-?" Before Dib could finish the thought, he was interrupted by Gaz.
"GET DOWN!" Dib obediently dropped to the ground as Gaz jumped up on a desk, also wearing a helmet, and holding a rather large gun that was bigger than her torso (and Gaz was not short, as with Dib himself, his sister was over six feet tall). He could see green energy (it appeared to be plasma based from where he was lying, but it was hard to tell) powering up as a shot released. It sailed over Dib colliding with Irkens that had been behind them. The Irkens seized up for a moment before flying backwards in all directions, PAKs sparking in an attempt to rapidly repair what must have been some serious damage. "BFG." Gaz placed the gun down so the hilt was on the ground; it was passed her waist in height. "Big. Fucking. Gun. Carrius and Tenn helped with the details. Doesn't kill an Irken, but sure knocks them off their asses."
"Okay so they're not dead." Dib looked back over his shoulder.
"Out of the fight, but Tenn promised they'll recover." Gaz replied with a shrug. "It sucks that their side gets to try to kill us but we have to do non-lethal damage."
"Sometimes non-lethal methods allows you to be more creative!" His father chimed in as the mech suit he was wearing replaced the turret guns on the arms with electric blades.
"That gun is fucking awesome though." Dib had to admit, his sister did well.
"Thanks. Ammo can be a bitch, but it gets the job done."
"Where's mom? Is she okay?" Dib looked around the room for his stepmother. He turned as he heard laughing behind him. One of the Irkens Gaz had missed with the blast was trying to get away from Moira who had some sort of device on her hands that seemed to be draining the Irken of energy. She stepped over the alien as it collapsed.
"Never felt more alive!" The Irish woman grinned toothily from behind the clear face panel of her own Syndicate helmet. "Fighting aliens as a family, and you call me mom? All in one day? Amazing!"
"What the hell did you do to that Irken!?" Dib's suspicions about his stepmother might have just been confirmed.
"Don't worry about it, Junior." Moira dodged the question, running her other hand through her short, red hair. "Now, what seems to be wrong with Lor?"
"Hi Dib's family." Lor gave a weak wave. "I got slightly stabbed in space."
"That's better than being completely stabbed! That's for sure!" Dib's father nodded thoughtfully.
"Don't humor him dad. He was impaled all the way through."
"You should get that looked at by a doctor." Gaz was actively working to gather strange, electric looking rings that seemed to be ammo for her gun.
"Well, I am the doctor, and I'm looking at it. So, I'm fine." Lor assured them.
"I'm a doctor!" Moira chimed in.
"Like a medical doctor? Aren't you a geneticist?" Dib was a little hesitant to take medical advice from a woman with multiple, visible cybernetic enhancements.
"That's a type of medical doctor. And I used to practice general medicine." She took a closer look at Lor. "You tell me how to use some of your fancy space-equipment and we'll get you all patched up, how does that sound?"
"We need to get to medical, and that is two floors up." Lor was still looking pale, the constant assault from the Irkens probably wasn't helping his condition. Dib found worry was settling into the pit of his stomach.
"We can get there! It isn't that far and I didn't make an armored mech-suit for just sitting in a lab and punching aliens!" His father tapped the two swords together and they sizzled with electricity.
"Yeah, I'm still not sure why you made it, I'll be honest." Dib had to admit that it looked cool, sleek metal armor slightly larger than his father. His dad seemed to be operating everything from a headset, from what Dib could see of the interior.
"Not for just sitting and punching!" His dad repeated. "A suit like this deserves to punch on the go! Wouldn't you agree, my love?"
"Definitely." The fire in his stepmother eyes was a little intimidating. "Let's get to that medical lab!"
"I can cover us." Gaz lifted the massive gun, which whirled as she readied it.
"Aww~" Moira clapped her hands together excitedly. "Family trip!"
"You are going to go through all that trouble, for me?" Lor looked up weakly. Dib nodded.
"Well yeah, of course, we love you."
"I mean you're the first boy Junior has ever brought home. Letting you die is bad parenting." Moira replied as she hopped over collapsed Irkens in the doorway and headed into the hall.
"That's what those parenting books Gazline's teacher gave to us said." His dad added. "At least, I'm pretty sure that was in there. I only skimmed them."
"I didn't read them at all." Moira admitted with a shrug. "But I did read part of the back cover and there was something in there about bonding activities. And this seems like one of those."
"Kicking alien ass is the best bonding activity we have ever had." Gaz used the light on the gun to illuminate the torn halls of the Nova.
"I still like Parent Weekend at the university!" His dad commented over the heavy footsteps of the suit on the metal floors.
"Dad, you know you're not supposed to bring your inventions to those, right?" Dib held Lor closer as they headed back toward the narrow tube for the elevating platforms. "Like, the dean tells you that every year. The football stadium is still unusable after last time."
"Wait... that was your dad?" Lor asked weakly, despite his best efforts to patch himself up, it seemed the medic was getting worse. "I thought it was a hurricane."
"It was a hurricane..." Dib sighed, "caused by my dad. Look it's a long story. It's the reason dad and Moira aren't supposed to go on campus anymore. Not that they listen."
"We're far too important and rich to be banished from anywhere- including your campus. When the school gets mad, we just donate a lot of money to the Science department." His father mused. "But the story about the Parents' Day hurricane is a great one. You see-"
"Dad." They didn't have time to reflect on something that had happened last year.
"Well, the moral of that story is that no one dies on my watch!" His dad pumped his fist dramatically up in the air, causing the mech suit to shove its sword deep in the ceiling.
"Unless we cause that death." Moira added helpfully.
"That's right. Unless we cause it." His dad seconded. "But we won't let you die, Clark-or Lor- or whatever name I am supposed to call you. You are important to my son AND you helped us shoot down Santa. That makes you part of our family."
"You know that wasn't Santa, right?" Dib reminded him. "It was Tak's ship."
"Ah yes, but we still bonded over Scrabble!" His dad didn't seem too upset by the correction. "That makes you an honorary Membrane! You will give your life to science!"
"I mean... I am a doctor..." Lor looked confused, and it probably wasn't just from the blood loss, as it seemed whatever had been used to patch him up was starting to fail, as Dib could see the stain on his uniform growing. Dib's family was a little weird, even by the standards of the aliens, but as his father pried the lift tube open with the hands of the robot and Gaz fired her BFG at the Irken trying to leap at them from the tube, Dib realized he couldn't love them any more than he did at this moment.
"Hold on tightly! This is going to be a tight squeeze for the suit." The mad professor waited until Gaz, Moira, and Dib were together, before using the robotic arm of the suit to lift them through the tube to the next floor.
"Dad what about you? How are you getting up?" Dib called. They still had one floor to go as the arm of the robot wasn't quite long enough to lift them up the two floors needed to reach the medical area. "The suit is too fat to fit."
"Ah yes, not a problem." He saw movement from within the suit before the whole thing shuddered and broke apart. His dad popped out, the Syndicate Issue space helmet in place over his head. The pieces of the suit reformed into a compact briefcase that he picked up before looking back up at his family. "Take my new suit for me, darling!" He tossed the briefcase straight up the tube where Moira leaned in and caught it. "This looks like a job for robot arms!" His dad's cybernetic arms expanded enough to allow him to grip either side of the tube and climb his way up. "Now we can just repeat this to get to the next floor."
"You holding up all right?" Dib looked down at Lor who was starting to drift in and out of consciousness.
"You guys are really cool," Lor mumbled, head falling into Dib's chest as he struggled to stay awake. "Going through all of this for me..."
"Of course we are; you're going to be okay... we just need to get up one more floor. With your lift tube broken, travel is a bit harder."
"Yeah, I guess..." he was quiet for a moment, ice blue eyes fluttering closed before mumbling, "I probably would have just taken the stairs."
"Wait," Dib nearly dropped him, "what!? Lor wake up. Lor! Where are the fucking stairs!"
"Who needs stairs when you have robot arms!?" His father scoffed.
"Incoming!" Gaz knelt down, mounting the BFG on her shoulder before firing at another wave of Irkens that were clambering down the hall.
"The stairs Lor, come on hun. Where are they?" Dib put a hand to the side of Lor's face, his skin felt clammy to the touch. Lor blinked wearily.
"End of the hall, behind the door on the left." Lor's voice trailed off for a moment, he managed to get one eye open, "there's a... sign..."
"Wait! My son's alien boyfriend! Before you pass out again," his dad hurried over as Moira went to handle the Irkens that had evaded Gaz's gun. "Can the mech suit fit in the stairwell?"
"Maybe..." Lor's eyes drifted closed again.
"To the STAIRS!" His dad pointed down the hallway. "Darling take point! Gazline, watch our back! I am getting suited back up!"
"Here you are~" Moira almost seemed to appear back in the group as she handed off the briefcase back to her husband, the clear faceplates of their helmets clinked together as she attempted to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Follow me, Junior! Deigo, love, keep us safe~" She took the lead as Dib's father got back in his invention.
"I've got us covered!" Gaz called from behind as they managed to run through the hall, Moira and Dib's father were taking down Irkens left and right as they popped out of holes in the solid metal. Gaz only fired one more time as they made it to the door. Dib frowned as he saw a drawing of steps with some Tangean writing over it.
Son of a bitch, there was a sign.
Dib forced the door open. In the red emergency lighting, he could see spider like silhouettes above him. There was the sound of the clicking if PAK legs on metal again. "Fuck the stairs are swarming with them." Gaz pushed Dib aside, as her gun began to power up. The hall was illuminated green for a moment and several of the Irkens were down.
"Let's go." She stepped back to let her father and stepmother take the lead. The professor forcing the suit through the door with some effort.
"It DOES fit in the stairwell! Excellent!" The suit rematerialized its two swords and began helping to clear the way. It wasn't a long walk, maybe twenty actual steps, but I felt like forever under fire from the Irkens. They reached the medical bay, Moira opening the door to Lor's office only to be greeted with a rush of Irkens.
"Stand back," Moira positioned herself in the center of the doorway. "I'm a little out of practice." The technology connected to her hands began to power up. Dib could hear the whir of working mechanical bits as his stepmother braced herself, hands forward, together so that the mechanical devices on her palms were facing outward. "Géill do mo thoil!" It was always a little strange to hear her speaking in her native language, but even stranger still, was the energy blast that erupted from her hands, sweeping over the Irkens in the room seemingly draining them of their energy. The blast dissipated and his stepmother stood tall, surveying the weakened Irkens on the ground, chuckling to herself as her mismatched eyes scanned the area, "Bíodh sin agat." Dib must have been staring, slack-jawed at what unfolded because he felt the heavy metal hand of the mech suit on his shoulder.
"It's official, you're a super villain." Dib followed Moira into the medical office as his father took to shoving the collapsed Irkens in the stairwell.
"I'm..." Moira seemed to be searching for the right words. "... retired. That's all you need to know."
"That doesn't answer any of the questions I now have about you." Dib hurried past her to get Lor on one of the medical tables. Lor seemed to regain consciousness for a moment, looking up at Dib.
"Everyone gather close," Lor mumbled as he lifted his arm weakly, the Membranes gathered around the bed and Lor touched the wall hitting a button Dib had no idea existed, and leaving a red handprint on the wall. "Activate... quarantine protocol..." the lights in the medical bay went from a faint red to a bright orange as suddenly walls rose from the ground, trapping everyone in a small, isolated room. The walls were completely transparent, but solid. "That... should hold them..." Dib saw movement outside the walls as Irkens were once again filing out of the stairwell. Not being able to kill them was definitely causing some problems, long term. Hopefully the walls Lor had lowered could hold.
"Now tell me how this all works and I can treat you," Moira turned to Lor. Dib pulled out his communicator to see a series of missed hails from the Captain. He looked to see Lor was in good hands before stepping away.
"Captain?"
"Cadet Membrane! Good of you to finally get in touch. I was beginning to think you were dead." She sounded a bit upset, but he couldn't blame her.
"We're in the medical bay; Lor's hurt, pretty badly from the looks of it. My family and I are holed up in here."
"You're in Medical? Stay there." The line went dead. Dib turned back to see Moira tending to Lor, his dad had shed the mech suit again and he and Gaz were both examining her gun.
"Not a lot of ammo left, we can't keep incapacitating them forever." Gaz frowned.
"We can probably escape. The ship had escape pods, at least, I think that's what those were..." his dad looked thoughtful. "Your friend Zim really needs to hurry and stop these evil brains, or whatever they were."
"Control Brains, they're like computers, or... I guess... AIs." Dib sat down on the floor. As he finally caught his breath, he realized how tired he was feeling. His body ached all over, his mind felt overwhelmed. He was worried about his family, his boyfriend, his best friend... there was a lot piling up on him all at once. At least... it seemed his family was pretty good at handling themselves.
Dib closed his eyes for a moment. He wasn't sure much time had passed but the next thing he knew he saw the Captain walking through the solid wall, dragging Carrius and Tak behind her. It took Dib a moment to remember that she could walk through solid objects, as she did it so infrequently.
"The ship is barely running and we're getting completely overrun. I lost touch with the Solar an hour ago, so I can only assume they are in a similar situation." Captain Rose sat down on one of the little floating stools in the room. Dib looked around, outside the glass. He could see red eyes staring blankly at them. The forms of Irkens, cast in shadow from the ship's crimson lighting, could be seen scurrying back and forth. He looked to see Lor was more awake, bandaged up, showing Moira how to use various tools around them. Carrius ran to his brother's side.
"Are you okay!?"
"Tired, but I'll be fine." He assured him quickly. He saw Dib sitting back up, "you're awake! Hey thanks for carrying me all that way."
"Yeah, it's no big deal, how are you feeling?" Dib winced as he got up, also going to Lor's side.
"Way better, thanks to your mom. She's a crazy good doctor."
"I had no idea you did general medicine, mom." Dib was a bit surprised that Moira was so capable given that just because she could clone a person, didn't mean she knew how to heal an alien.
"I used to do general, back in the day. Not so much anymore since I lost my medical license." She shrugged.
"You what?" Dib blinked at her.
"Don't worry about it, Junior." She looked back to Lor, "you absolutely must share some of this equipment with me. I have so many ideas~" Dib felt the way she said that sounded just a tad ominous, but Lor didn't seem to notice.
"Of course, it's the least I can do after you helped save my life."
"I'd say: Heroes never die, but that seems premature and rather droll, don't you think?" She mused.
"Don't celebrate just yet." The Captain frowned. "These walls can hold us, but we can't just stay in here forever."
"There has to be something we can do." Carrius paced back and forth a bit. "Those asshole Irkens tried to kill my brother- no offenses Tak. I mean, you've never tried to kill Lor, intentionally."
"First of all: that's first officer Tak to you, secondly: Lor and I discussed what happened at the lunch table when I first arrived and it was not a murder attempt. I don't attempt at killing, I succeed."
"What about Zim?" Dib asked, but Tak promptly ignored him and continued.
"And finally, and most importantly: those things out there aren't Irkens, they're Control Brains, thank you very much." I mean it's not like I'm happy to see my own people acting like mindless puppets out there!"
"We can't just sit here and wait for them to overwhelm us." Captain Rose was deep in thought. "And there is no telling how long it will be until the landing party makes any noticeable leeway with the Control Brains on Irk." She looked to Moira and Lor, "how is your condition? You think you can be moved?"
"I'm not recovered or anything, but I can move around a bit." Lor assured her. "Just might need help walking."
"Our best bet is to see if we can get in touch with Sizz-Lorr, see if he can help us get off of this ship. All outside communications are down, so it might prove difficult."
"Let me try," Tak was quiet for a moment. She seemed to almost be meditating. "I can reach him through our PAKs." There was a long pause before her antennae perked up. "He can come get us! We just need to get to the docking area."
"Easier said than done..." Dib looked at the multitude of crimson eyes, reflecting the light of the medical bay, vacant and unblinking. There were so many Irkens that their shadows seemed to be squirming from the movement. "Gaz how much ammo is left in your gun?"
"Not much." She frowned.
"Hold onto it." Captain Rose shook her head. "I have a better plan: I can take two people at once with my ghosting ability. We can't be hit. All I need to do is get you to the docking bay and we'll be good to go."
"Only two at once?" His dad tilted his head to the side.
"I need to be touching them." The Captain replied. "I can take you, Carrius, and Tak in one go. You guys can hold off attackers while I go back for the other Dr. Membrane and your daughter. Then I'll get my Medic and Cadet in the last go."
"I think you can get everyone at once! You need to think creatively!" His father looked thoughtful. "So long as we touch you, you can make us intangible? That's incredible! What if..." he paused thoughtfully, "you were in a vehicle? Could you turn everyone and the car intangible at once?"
"Theoretically yes, if I were touching everyone and the car simultaneously." The Captain raised an eyebrow.
"Excellent!" His dad clapped his hands together with delight.
"Dad where are you going to get-" Dib didn't even get the words out before realization hit him. Perhaps it was the fact that he was a Clone, or maybe it was simply that he was spending waaaay too much time around his family on this mission, but somehow, he was able to follow his father's crazy train of thought. "Oh. My. God. The Mech turns into a car, doesn't it?"
"Of course, it does!" The briefcase fell apart, this time reforming into a rather compact vehicle that barely fit in the exam room in which they were hiding. "Now everyone get inside, quickly!"
"How?" Carrius opened the door to look at the tiny interior.
"Easy!" Professor Membrane put a gloved hand on the Romulan's shoulder. "You just have to be a little squished."
A little squished was, perhaps, the understatement of the century along the lines of such gems as: Dib is a little bit Paranoid; Zim is a little hard of hearing; Lor was slightly stabbed; and the Control Brains are just slightly untrustworthy. There was absolutely no room for comfort. Dib was crushed up against the back of the car, somehow managing to breath despite being sure that there was no room in the car for his chest to actually expand for breath.
"Is everyone touching the Captain?" His dad asked from somewhere to Dib's left.
"I am touching a lot of people- I'm not sure who." The Captain's reply was muffled. "This is worse than that time in Skoodge's ship."
"Well, I'm fine." Tak piped up. "You should try have collapsible ribcages; it makes fitting in tight spaces way simpler."
"I think that is something we could figure out how to do if anyone's interested." Moira offered a little too eagerly.
"Did you have to bring your gun, Gaz?" Dib winced feeling at least part of that metal monstrosity buried in his spleen.
"Yes." Carrius answered for her. "Have you seen it!? It's fucking awesome."
"Don't be a bitch, Dib, the safety is on." Gaz added, sounding irritated. She paused for a moment before mumbling, "...I think..."
"Who is driving this?" The Captain interrupted before Dib could say anything more on the gun.
"I am!" His father assured her. "I have my robot arms on the steering wheel! I just had to detach them from my body first so we could all fit. But worry not! I can still control the movement with my thoughts."
"Okay," the Captain seemed unconvinced, "but can you see?"
"Can anyone?" His dad laughed. "Lor, let us out!"
"O...okay..." Lor's voice confirmed he was somewhere in the mess. There was a bit if squirming before the barriers began to lower.
"Now give me directions to the docking bay! I assume it isn't on this level." His dad sounded a little too excited.
"No. But I can help us get through the stairs." The Captain assured him. All at once Irkens were swarming the car. The engine revved and the car took off. The Irkens were going straight through the car as if it were nothing more than a hologram. Dib could see them as they would pass through his body. The sensation was strange, like a sudden, unshakable chill. He could hear the Captain shouting instructions as they sped through the damaged halls of the Nova, Irkens hot on their trail. The trip to the docking bay had never felt so long. Dib felt his stomach drop as the car suddenly fell through three levels of the floor.
"Sorry!" Captain Rose's voice sounded strained. "I haven't done anything like this before."
"You're doing great Captain!" Carrius assured her. "We needed to get to the lower levels anyway."
"Right." She sounded tired. "Just... hurry it up. This is incredibly straining." Something hit the roof of the car with a thud. "I've got this." The Irken fell through the vehicle as the Captain regained her control. They continued onward toward the docking bay. As they grew closer, the amount of Irkens was increasing. Dib saw the doors to the docking area had been sliced open by the sharp legs of the PAKs. In the distance he could see Sizz-Lorr's ship, fending off the Irkens trying to break through its metal hull. He has not actually landed, still hovering away from the Nova to avoid being boarded. "Keep going!" The Captain instructed through gritted teeth. His dad sped up, Sizz-Lorr's ship was growing in size as they drew closer. His dad wasn't slowing down and the Captain wasn't giving the order to stop him. Dib took in a sharp breath as the car gained momentum before flying off of the Nova toward Sizz-Lorr's vessel. There was a moment where Dib could see the stars all around them- or at least in his small window of vision- before the car phased through the wall and into Sizz-Lorr's ship, there was a jolt as the car skidding, hitting the opposing wall. The Captain was flung through the others and out of the car, hitting the floor rather roughly. Dib caught his breath as the car gave a shudder itself and fell apart. Everyone fell to the floor of the ship. Sizz-Lorr hurried over to them.
"What in Mothra's name was that!?" He looked completely at a loss.
"My dad's invention. Don't ask." Dib was sore, but otherwise seemed unharmed. "You okay Lor?" He looked to the Medic who was wincing, propping himself up against the wall. He nodded.
"I'm fine, but someone needs to check on Captain Rose."
"I'm okay," the Captain's voice came from behind them. Dib saw her struggling to get up. It looked like she had injured her shoulder. "Is everyone all right? Sound off: First Officer Carrius!"
"Fine here! Got the breath knocked out of me in the crash, but otherwise I am good."
"First Officer Tak!"
"I'm Irken, of course I'm fine."
"Doctor Lor!"
"I think I'll be okay once I rest."
"Cadet Membrane!"
"A little stiff from the crash but I'm fine."
"Gaz Membrane!"
"Fine." Figured his sister would keep it short and sweet. "The BFG is fine too."
"Doctor Membrane!"
"Just lovely, actually." His stepmom barely looked phased. Not a hair out of place as she stood in the wreckage.
"Professor Membrane!"
"I lost my arms." His dad was sitting up, goggles slightly askew on his face. He wiggled his torso to demonstrate the lack of appendages.
"No darling they're over here. A little damaged but we can fix them." Moira assured him as she found what remained of both arms and brought them over.
"Are we going to discuss how you flew a car into my ship?" Sizz-Lorr looked somewhat calmer now, but still at quite a loss at the scene before him.
"Are we going to discuss why your ship smells like Earth french-fries?" Carrius countered. "It smells awesome in here. I wanna stay on this ship."
"Earth fries were popular with Irkens. I thought Shloogorgh's could start making them." Sizz-Lorr cleared his throat. "But that doesn't explain the vehicle."
"Sizz-Lorr, dude, we could have several hours of uninterrupted free time and I would not fully be able to explain to you, in any satisfactory manner, what just happened." Dib replied honestly. "But we're alive. And that's what matters." He leaned into the wall beside Lor, placing his hand over the medic's.
"This is all so stupid. The Irkens on that ship are acting all crazy! It's so... so wrong!" Tak's antennae lay flat against her head as she grumbled to herself.
"We are holding out better than expected," Sizz-Lorr added, "but overall, not that well. Unless something is done, we will probably lose this fight."
"Seriously?" Tak got to her feet. "Then we should do something!" She quickly whirled around to face the Captain. "And I don't mean paperwork! We need to figure out a plan! Waiting on Zim clearly isn't working and it was stupid to even try to hold out for him to help us! If you want something done, do it yourself!"
"Ok, then what's the plan?" Dib raised an eyebrow at her skeptically. He squinted realizing his glasses had cracked in the crash. It was a bit if a relief, the way his vision had been distorted, he just figured he had a concussion.
"Ugh, shut up." Tak spat back. "Look, if I knew which Control Brain was behind this: I would take my ship over and give him a piece of my mind!"
"Isn't the one on the Massive controlling everything?" Dib wasn't quite sure how the Control Brains worked, but from his conversations with CB he was aware that IX, the Control Brain on the Massive, was a colossal dick. "That was the one that attacked us last time."
"Yes and no. I mean, he's probably giving orders, I guess." Tak made a face. "I've never met the Control Brain on the Massive because I've never been on the Massive. But it's unlikely that he's the one actively giving orders to the Irkens out here since he is on Irk right now."
"They have a range?" Dib seemed incredulous.
"Yes and no. They can go pretty far but the farther you are from them, the weaker the signal from the Collective, and thus the more difficult things become. The Control Brain with the best range is the Military Brain, but she is also on Irk, I think."
"There is the one that controls Irken outposts, that one is off-world." Sizz-Lorr spoke up. Dib hadn't realized he was even listening. "It's on one of the moons."
"Wat is this that I am only now hearing about?" Tak looked up.
"The Outpost Control Brain, he is the one I report to, and other Irken business owners that operate off of Irk."
"Can you take us there?" Tak's PAK legs extended as she hurried over to Sizz-Lorr.
"Calm down First Officer!" Captain Rose called to her. She was back on her feet as well, though she was holding her arm in an awkward way. She had definitely been injured in the fight. "We go to this Control Brain, and then what? We don't have CB."
"Well... we can think of something else!" Tak looked back to the Captain, then to the Membranes. "We don't need Zim! These humans are just as psychotic! Right?"
"I'm offended." Dib replied flatly.
"Hi Offended, I'm dad." His father chuckled to himself. "But no, she's right, we are a little unstable thanks to the glory of radiation!"
"What?" Dib looked over to his dad. "You... you are kidding... aren't you?" His father laughed.
"Whatever makes you feel better son." He moved his torso but remembered his arms were still detached. "Imagine I am patting you comfortingly on your shoulder."
"Yeah... okay..." Dib didn't know what to believe when it came to his father's random comments. He closed his eyes, he felt Lor squeeze his hand. Things had been chaotic, but... Zim would come through. Zim was a wild, unpredictable force of nature, but he was also determined. Still... maybe his best friend needed a bit of a hand. "We... might have something that will work instead of CB."
"Oh!? Brilliant!" Tak pumped her fist in the air.
"Do we?" The Captain gave him a look. She took a deep breath; he could see pain in her expression. "If I give the okay for you to do this crazy mission, you promise me that no one gets hurt?"
"I think it'll be quick. In and out." Dib nodded. "I mean I can't guarantee anything, I'm not psychic. I thought I was for a year in middle school but it turns out that was just Zim fucking with me."
"That was pretty funny." Gaz mused.
"Very well. Cadet, if this works, I will get you one hell of a promotion in the Syndicate." She nodded to Dib. "What's the plan?"
"Sizz-Lorr," he looked to the Fry Lord. "Can you bring us to the Control Brain?"
"It might be a bit difficult with the ships constantly firing at us, but it's not impossible. I've gotten a ship out of the parking lot of Foodcourtia during the Foodening once. Not off the planet, due to the gravitational pull, but out of a parking lot. So," the chef Irken shrugged, "that's something of a testament to my piloting skill."
"That's actually incredible." The Captain looked genuinely impressed.
"Oh yeah. No. He's good." Tak nodded.
"Okay, Tak, your ship is still here, right? I know she can't fly because of dad, but we still have her on Sizz-Lorr's ship, right?" Dib continued.
"Sorry about shooting it!" His dad called. "In my defense, I thought you were Santa!" Tak simply glared at the scientist.
"She is here, yes, her AI has been helping teach Sizz-Lorr's ship military basics." Tak nodded. Dib was deep in thought, doing his best to come up with a plan with his limited resources. It seemed like they had just enough.
"Okay, Sizz-Lorr, get us as close to the Control Brain as you can. Then Tak, Gaz, Carrius," He listed the non-injured members of the Nova, "You need to help me get Tak's ship to the Control brain. I can take it from there."
"Junior-" His mom spoke up.
"You need to stay and take care of everyone who's hurt. Until we get Paul from the Solar, you're our only fully-capable doctor." Dib cut her off.
"Pawl." Carrius and Lor spoke together.
"I see, Junior, I do." Moira nodded. "But you be careful. I don't want to have to bring you back from the dead yet. The technology still isn't where I want it to be." She came over, and to Dib's surprise, she hugged him tightly. He hugged her back. She might have been slightly evil, but she was his mom. She was a Membrane. Dib was even more surprised when Moira was allowed to hug Gaz. Gaz had never been particularly affectionate.
"You heard him, take us in Sizz-Lorr." Captain Rose ordered. Sizz-Lorr nodded and went back to the head of the ship. His crew (the chefs and cashiers) taking their positions as Navigators, and Weapons Specialists. It was all a little strange to watch. Dib had to ready himself for the mission. Reaching the Control Brain would be the easier part.
"How many charges do you have left?" He finally got to his feet, walking to his sister.
"Three. But that'll be enough. I don't fucking miss."
"I know you don't." They had come a long way from Gaz's begrudging tag-alongs on Dib's missions hunting Zim. This was a real war, and his sister seemed to actually be giving it her all. When Moira had first arrived, the Membranes had gradually begun spending more time together. However, these past few months on the nova, making weapons and preparing for battle, was the most like a real family Dib had ever felt. Having Lor, the Captain, his parents, his sister- he had always felt out of place at school, or with other people. Even in college, Dib had always considered himself an outlier. Now? Now he was leading a group that he genuinely cared about. People were really, truly listening to him. He could see the pride on his father's face. He could hear the trust in his stepmother's voice; feel the confidence radiating off of Gaz.
He couldn't let them down.
Like with Zim, failure wasn't an option.
"Approaching the target!" Sizz-Lorr called from the front. Dib took a deep breath. He heard a grunt of pain and turned to see Lor was standing. Dib rushed over trying to force him to sit back down. Lor didn't put up much of a fight.
"I know it goes without saying..." he winced, "but please come back safely. Carrius will be fine, I know my brother. This isn't his first fight, but it's yours."
"I'll be okay. And I'll be sure Carrius is too. And Tak. Probably." Dib forced a laugh. Lor chuckled, but Dib noticed that he just sounded tired and pained. Dib put a hand to Lor's cheek. "Hey, don't worry about me, okay?"
"I can't help it." He leaned in, bumping his head against the helmet Dib was still wearing. "Ow. That... didn't go as planned." Dib actually laughed, maybe it was the stress of the situation, but that had struck him as genuinely funny. He lowered the helmet of his suit for a moment, just long enough to meet Lor's lips. (They were on Sizz-Lorr's ship so really there was no longer a need for it, and he had only kept it on because it was so light, he had completely forgotten he was wearing it).
"Better?" Dib grinned a bit.
"Yeah." Lor's head rested against him.
"Landing in Five!" Sizz-Lorr broke up the moment.
"Go." Lor pulled away. "Be a hero."
"Four!"
"Get your gun Gaz," Dib hurried to the bottom of Sizz-Lorr's ship, catching up with Tak. Carrius seemed to have stayed back to say goodbye to his brother.
"Three!"
"Can the ship still walk?" Dib asked quickly.
"She can. Just no flight." Tak assured him. "But she doesn't need it for this. She's a tough girl, made her myself."
"Two!"
"Sorry! I'm here!" Carrius slid in. "Just had to assure everyone I'd look out for all of us. And get my backup guns. Tenn taught me about having at least three backups."
"We'll have to ride on top of the ship." Dib informed them. "Tak will pilot from the inside. I'm counting on you two to cover me when we go in."
"ONE!"
"Easy." Carrius nodded. Dib could hear the soft whir of the BFG charging up as his sister gave a nod. "We've got your back Cadet."
"If I let you die, mom and dad'll be pissed." Gaz smirked.
"Same though." Dib grinned back at her.
"GO!" The command had come from the Captain, rather than Sizz-Lor. Dib jumped on the back of the ship, Gaz and Carrius on either side. Tak took the front seat as the bottom of the Sizz-Lorr's ship opened up and Tak's ship leapt to a pale, dusty ground. The gravity was lighter than he was expecting, and Dib had to hold on rather tightly to avoid flying off. He could see the building in question, tall, dark, looming. Around it were Irkens, covering the path in like some sort of swarm. There was a BOOM from Gaz as she fired one of the remaining rounds of the BFG to clear the path toward the door. The ship barreled through, Carrius firing at the Irkens still trying to come down from above.
"Hold on tight!" Tak's voice sounded rather gleeful as the ship barreled through the door, the spike legs knocking the unconscious bodies of the Irkens that Gaz had incapacitated with the BFG, aside. She charged the door, the ship breaking through it. The halls were lined with more Irkens. BOOM! Another shot from the BFG assured them a path to the door. Tak pushed through them, toward the larger door at the end of the hall. This one far more sturdy in appearance. The ship struck it to no avail. Tak reared back. Trying again. Nothing.
"I got this." Carrius grabbed part of Tak's ship as leverage, using the force of his body to swing himself around, and with full force, kick the control panel beside the door. It sparked angrily for a moment; Dib could hear the sizzle of electricity over the fire from the Irkens that the BFG had not hit. For a moment, nothing happened, however, the door soon beeped and a green light flickered at the top and the door slid cheerfully open.
"Did you just kick the door open?" Gaz looked either impressed, or annoyed, it was truly hard to tell with her.
"Blunt force trauma." Carrius spoke as-a-matter-of-factly, "works every time. Plus, I like to make an entrance."
"There it is." Dib saw the Control Brain, a hulking behemoth of black metal and bulbous red eyes. This time, upon seeing it, he felt nothing but determination. (Perhaps having Q around constantly had caused the Parasite to lose a bit of its terror.)
"You are not welcome here."
"Yeah, well," Dib wanted very much to deliver a cool line here, like one of the characters in his sci-fi movies. Instead, all that came out was: "Fuck you."
"We'll cover you," Carrius hopped off the ship, Gaz in suit. "Do what you need."
"And no pressure, but I have one charge left." Gaz took the BFG, kneeling down in the doorway. The chamber, surprisingly, was devoid of Irkens. Perhaps the Brain had not anticipated them making it quite this far.
"Your fight is useless. Victory is already ours. IX has brought us greatness. He assures perfection for the Irken Empire."
"IX kinda sucks." Dib really wasn't doing great with the one-liners today.
"IX doesn't understand what it means to be Irken!" Tak shot back. She looked to Dib as she hopped out of the ship. "You had a plan?"
"I do." He nodded. "Hook your ship into the Control Brain."
"What!?" Tak hissed. "That's a terrible idea! He'll eat her! Her personality programming isn't that strong!"
"I know. Trust me." Dib waved her off. "Just get her ready for a new personality download. And hurry." Tak looked skeptical but nodded.
"Your ship cannot overpower me. You are acting out of desperation. Desperation is an emotion. This is the reason that Irkens are incapable of true expansion. Emotions lead to incompetence and foolish choices."
"So, then you have no reason to stop her from doing it."
"Negative. However, I will still be eliminating you all. Though, it will be for reasons not associated with your current actions."
"I'll remember that." Dib could see Tak was working quickly. Behind him he heard the BOOM of the BFG. That was it. Gaz was out of ammo. He saw Carrius toss her one of his backup guns so they could continue to hold the front lines.
"At this rate, I will be deleting you with your own ship." Tak's ship began to glow the same, toxic red as the eyes of the Control Brain. For a moment, Dib felt a wave of doubt- but he shook it off. This was going to work. It had to. Tak had followed every instruction and he saw the touch-pad of the ship that he had used once before to initiate a personality transfer. He took a deep breath.
And placed his hand on the screen.
"What are you doing?"
The ship shook, wires erupting out of it, a helmet exploding forth and connecting into his skull. He had forgotten how much it hurt.
"Cease!"
"You like conspiracy theories, computer?" Dib managed to talk through the waves of electricity running through him. "Then you are going to love me!" All his thoughts, feelings, every bad day- every weird idea he had was pouring into this unfeeling computer.
"Stop- I do not understand. Why are people on your planet oblivious to invasion?"
It was working.
"Why do they not listen?"
It hurt but it was working.
"Wh-wh-what are pigeons? And why are they so untrustworthy?!"
"I know right?" Dib had to admit, he had never trusted those bulgy-eyed fuckers.
"You never s-s-see a baby pigeon. Th-th-th-they are working f-f-for the government. B-bigfoot. Garage! Belt-sander! I-I-I-"
There was a massive surge of power and the Control Brain's lights began flickering wildly.
"Cannot- do not- no. This is illogical. The world is illogical. N-n-n-neg-negative." The flickering got faster, more intense. Dib was starting to feel sick. He could hear his sister and Carrius struggling to hold the Irkens at bay. "Cannot. Do not. Robots. Teacher... is... moth... man..."
There was a loud shattering sound as the lights on the brain cracked and the Control Brain fizzled out; Dib hit the button to stop the transfer before collapsing over the control panel of the ship in a heap. He was very sore (and a little offended) but it was over.
"They all stopped..." He heard Gaz behind him. Dib struggled to sit back up, Gaz and Carrius both helped lift him. Behind him he could see Irkens, all of them, lying on the ground. A few were moving, starting to sit up, blinking with that same disoriented look from the other brainwashed Irkens they had rescued in the past.
"I think my ship will be fine too," Tak shoved her way under Dib to get to the control panel, nearly knocking him down. Dib caught his breath, his vision slowly returning to normal (well, normal-ish as his glasses were still cracked).
"Good work." His sister gave him a very light pat on the back. "Who knew your crazy theories would be good for something?"
"Yeah no one would have thought your shitty personality would save the day." Tak mused, as she worked to fix her ship. Dib glared at her, his glasses sliding down his sweaty nose and clinking against the clear faceplate of the helmet.
"Screw you, Tak."
"What, you did a good job. I'm not denying that." She looked genuinely surprised that Dib was annoyed by her comment.
"And I happen to like his personality." He heard Lor's voice. The Medic was all the way back at the end of the hall, limping slowly forward. His family, the Captain, and Sizz-Lorr were all hurrying toward him. Lor hugged him, though he was still supported by Gaz and Carrius who didn't seem to trust the wounded medic to hold up the much taller Membrane Clone. Lor leaned in to kiss him, but again hit the faceplate of the Syndicate helmet. "Damn it. Did it again."
"Yeah, I think I need to keep it on this time. I'm not sure I can breathe in here." Dib finally straightened up on his own, waving off Gaz and Carrius only to be swept up in a hug by his stepmother. She used her other arm to pull Gaz in as well.
"Amazing! Absolutely incredible!"
"Thanks." Dib muttered; a tad embarrassed from the attention. He felt his father plop his body into the group hug, still lacking the arms to actually join in. "It was kind of a long shot, but hey. It worked. That's what matters."
"I have no arms but I too am in the hug!" His father assured him. "I'm so proud of you, Diego, Gazline. You were both incredible today."
"Brilliant, Cadet. The High Council will hear about this." The Captain gave him a salute. "The attacks on the ships have stopped."
"Yay." Dib sounded less enthusiastic than he intended. But he was exhausted. "Have we heard from the Solar? Are they alright?"
"Injured, but they will live." Captain Rose assured him.
"Great." He let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. "Then I guess all that's left is for Zim to pull through on his part." He felt a buzzing in his pocket, his communicator was getting signal again. He saw Vero's name at the top. Dib picked up. "Hello?"
"Hey," Vero's voice was as calm as ever, "Dad said to call you back, something about a toast situation? Are you guys okay?"
"Oh..." Dib looked around him at all the proud, smiling faces of his family and friends. "Yeah, we're fine. I think we handled it."
"Okay. Cool." There was a slight pause. "Do you have any of that toast left though?"
"No."
"Oh. Well damn. Okay. Glad it worked out." And the line went dead. Dib realized he probably should have asked for a progress report or something from the landing party, but Vero had already ended the call.
Ah well
Quite frankly, at the moment, Dib was too tired to care.