Part 8

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As they followed the Andrallean, Rick continued to converse with him while the native used more hand gestures so the scientist could understand him better as they spoke.

"So you-you've got the right tools for my ship back here, compadre? I kinda need to get it working pronto," Rick spoke somewhat loudly, emphasizing some of the words as if the alien was deaf.

The Andrallean gave Rick an unreadable glance before lazily waving a hand back at him.

"Yah yah," was all he responded with. At least he seemed to show some degree of understanding English, so that had to be a good sign.

"Oh and hey, maybe lose the attitude. That'll probably be the biggest help you can offer. Other than, you know, actually fixing my ship that YOU brought down." Rick took another long sip out of his flask.

The Andrallean appeared irritated as it pressed on, probably trying to tune the old man out.

"-Burp- Bu-but don't sweat it, buddy. Get my ship flying again and I'll see it as-as water under the bridge. You get me?"

Trailing after Rick, Morty looked over at Bailey, who kept her eyes on the ground and appeared downtrodden. Frowning, Morty got closer to her and gently nudged her with his elbow.

"You okay?"

She looked up at him apologetically.

"I'm sorry for causing you guys trouble, Morty," she spoke softly. "I was just curious about what you and your grandpa do, and I just wanted to see something cool, but... I didn't mean to upset anyone, or have me being here add to someone's problems. And I apologize if you get punished over this."

Morty frowned deeply at this.

"Bailey, no, it isn't your fault. O-of course you were curious, who wouldn't be if they saw some giant swirling portal just appear right in front of them for the first time? It's my fault for bringing you to the house and getting you roped into all this. I-I figured it wasn't such a good idea, and yet, I did it anyway."

Bailey opened her mouth to protest but Morty cut her off, not giving her the chance to take further blame.

"It's okay, though, you know? Rick's got- he-he's gonna get his ship fixed and get us back to Earth soon, so don't worry. And I'm sorry for the way Rick's acted toward you. That-that's kind of how he is, but you learn to just brush it off, really."

"Yeah," Bailey responded quickly with a sigh. "Well, it will be nice to get back home soon. I'm sure my grandma will be worried before long, and I think I've had my fill of space adventures."

Morty looked back at her worriedly.

"Bailey? This... won't stop you from wanting to hang out with me anymore, right?"

"What? Of course not," she looked at him with a surprised look. "Morty, I really like hanging out with you. I like you whether or not you're showing me some crazy sci-fi doodads. You're fun to be around. So yes, I will still be hanging out with you. Just as long as we stay down on Earth, please."

She gave him a wink and a reassuring smile, and he returned one of his own, feeling relieved. He was pleased to hear he won't be losing her after all, despite having been a part of putting his friend through all this.

"Alright, you two, this guy's got a bunker up ahead that has all his tools," Rick turned to inform them, lowering his voice as he continued. "No doubt dated tools, but they'll hopefully still have some use for us. With any luck, we should be up and going in no time."

Morty and Bailey exchanged hopeful looks, getting closer to Rick and the planet's native as they rounded the corner of a hillside. There was a light at the end of this tunnel for them. They soon came upon a small, black house as well as what looked like some sort of worn down shed not far off from it. The property was in front of a dense jungle that contained massive trees, all having a strange blue hue to them.

Getting closer to the house, Morty found himself salivating as he smelled something incredible being cooked. He definitely began to regret the fact that he hadn't eaten pretty much all day.

A slender looking Andrallean came out the front door and looked at the group in surprise as they approached. It looked at the alien leading the three humans and spoke their native language quietly, it's voice sounding more feminine. The two Andralleans conversed with each other briefly. The male gestured to the three beings following him as he spoke and the female gasped in astonishment before he continued, jerking his thumb toward the nearby shed.

The female scoffed and rolled her eyes. She replied to him in a harsh tone and then turned to walk back inside. As the door opened, three small Andralleans quickly peeked their heads out and gazed curiously at the humans before being shooed back inside by the female.

"Aww, look, they've got kids," Bailey spoke quietly with glee as though she were being shown the world's most adorable puppies. "They're so cute."

Rick rolled his eyes. The male Andrallean, however, smiled at Bailey before pressing on, leading them all over to the rundown shed.

The alien entered a code for the door to his garage, and then they were in. Inside, the garage was surprisingly big, and it was very neat and tidy. The Andrallean left the two teens and Rick near the front of the entrance as he walked toward the back and opened up a small drawer. He took out a device that resembled a gun and pointed it at himself as he walked back toward his guests.

"Well then, this should help very much nicely," the Andrallean now spoke in poor English as he approached them.

"Yay, you've got a translator," Rick stated condescendingly. "Now you've just got to work on your English, pal. Don't think we have enough time to teach you much at the moment, though."

The alien narrowed his eyes slightly at the older man.

"First, my name is Chamri. Not pal, not com-pa-dre, whatever that means, and not 'buddy'. It is just Chamri. Cham-ri."

"Ookaay," Morty answered, weirded out and just wanting the alien to stop repeating his name.

"Uh, yeah," Rick chimed in. "We get it, Chamri. That's what we'll call you. It was Chamri, right? Just want to make sure there, Chamri."

"Yes. Correct."

"Rick..." Morty shot an annoyed sideways glance to his grandpa.

"Le-let's just get this over with, Cham. I really shouldn't be on this planet and the sooner I get out of here, the better. You don't want to know the history there."

"Yes," Chamri answered in a more calm manner as he gathered up some tools in a small box. "I took you down, now I must help you get back up." He picked up the box and led the way out of the shed.

As they walked out of the shed, Bailey's attention was caught by the younger aliens waving goodbye to their mother before wandering toward the dense forest behind their house. Bailey wondered where they were off to and, for a moment, found herself wanting to follow them to see for herself.

"Bailey? You coming?"

Bailey turned her head and caught Morty's curious gaze before nodding and walking over to him as they continued to follow Rick and Chamri. She looked back to see the young ones disappear into the woods in a hurry.

As they walked, Rick also took note of aliens of various ages heading off into a particular direction and raised an eyebrow.

"So, Chamri? What-what's going on around here? Everyone's coming out of the woodwork like there's an ice cream truck summoning them nearby."

Chamri peered at the other natives running around with disinterest and then shrugged.

"Unsure. Some kind of ritual I have never cared to go to. Not important. Not -how do you say it-, up in my valley."

Rick shook his head at Chamri's choice of words but chose not to correct him. He continued to let Chamri lead the way towards his ship.

"Ritual?" Morty inquired. "W-what kind of ritual?"

"Maybe it's the kind of ritual where they sacrifice their best, fattened up children to whatever gods they serve, Morty," Rick put out there. "Point is, best not to ask. And need I remind you, I can't be on this planet for very long, so we've got to split."

"Yeah, you keep saying that. But what did you do that was so bad?"

"I angered their leader. Won't get into much detail but I can't stay long enough for him to know I came back here."

Morty sighed and turned toward Bailey... but, to his shock, she was gone.

"Wha?!" Morty spun around, scanning the area for his friend but seeing no sign of her.

Oh no!

"Come, come, ship close by," Chamri announced.

"Bu... wait! Bailey's gone!" Morty cried out, feeling panic starting to take over.

"Huh?" Rick quickly turned, followed by Chamri.

"She-she was just here. Where could she have gone?"

"Well, guess who just went and became Andralle's newest occupant," Rick stated blatantly, taking a sip from his flask.

"We're going after her, Rick!"

"Morty, ob-obviously she doesn't want to come back with us very much. Face it, she-she up and ditched you to probably go party it up with this planet's equivalent of frat boys at this ritual of theirs."

Morty frowned at this and stood his ground, not having any of Rick's bullshit.

"No. She wouldn't do that." Bailey would not have just left him, surely. She was just talking about how much she still wanted to hang out with Morty, despite enduring all that she had that day.

"She already has, genius. She used you once she knew you had access to cool gadgets, and then she left you high and dry when she found her opportunity. Just leave her, Morty. She only distracted you from more important matters anyway. You're better off without her, trust me."

Morty's hands clenched into fists at his sides.

"Rick, right now, nothing is a more important matter than getting Bailey! I'm. Not. Leaving. here without her!"

Rick glared down at his grandson for a moment longer before he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Okay, okay. Fine, Morty, fine. W-we'll go get her AFTER we get to the ship. It'll be easier to lock in on her coordinates that way. She couldn't have gotten very far."

"Fine," Morty relented, trying to stay calm but still fuming over everything Rick had just said about Bailey.

"Ship just ahead," Chamri said, looking perplexed by the bickering of his two companions, even if he couldn't understand everything that was said. "Where is third ship occupant?"

"She'll be joining us shortly," Rick said curtly, walking ahead to catch up to Chamri as the group pressed on.

Morty looked back toward the woods where many of the Andralleans had been heading. Whatever ritual these beings had going on, Bailey was definitely going over to check it out. Of course she would. Who knew if it was dangerous for her to be going there, but Morty felt he couldn't just wait until they'd gotten back to the ship to find her. He needed to get to her immediately should things go south.

His attention was brought to a small wagon that was passing them by, toward the direction of the woods. It had food and other supplies on it. The teen raised an eyebrown as an idea struck him.

"S-so, you sure your tools there will be enough for my ship, bud- er, I mean, Chamri?" Rick asked as he appeared to be getting more and more antsy.

"Yes, yes. Tools here are superior to most on my planet. I spent much time working on my-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Superior tools means quicker time getting me up into the air, right?"

"That is right. You really seem to be in big hurry to get out of here. Don't know what you did, but was not good."

Rick frowned, an annoyed look on his face as he stared at the back of Chamri's head.

"That's what I've been saying."

Chamri did not respond to that, but instead chose to give a firm nod of acknowledgement.

'Man, this guy sure is slow at catching onto things,' Rick thought, frustrated.

"Well, Morty? Soon we'll finally be getting off of this hunk of-" The older man turned and then frowned, surprised when he saw Morty was no longer following behind him. He looked around but could not locate the teen. He then groaned loudly in annoyance as he looked to the woods.

"We are down yet another ship occupant," Chamri stated flatly as he, too, turned around.

"Yeah... guess I should've seen that coming," Rick said in defeat.

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