Chapter Six
"And I'm leaving on a jet plane
I don't know when I'll be back again
Oh, babe, I hate to go
But I'm leaving on a jet plane."
-Chantal Kreviazuk, "Leaving On A Jet Plane."
A sharp tug on Zim's antennae snapped him out of his half-doze. "Is my story boring you, Invader?" Jendai teased, his eyes light with mirth for once. "Or is it something else?"
Zim managed a weak grin. "Sorry," he muttered.
"No, no, it's okay," the mechanic gave him a genuine, however upside down smile. "It's getting late. I shouldn't be babbling on like this." He rolled over onto his stomach, staring at the wall. "I think you get the gist of what happened after I left Irk, so if you're feeling tired, I could narrow it all down for you."
"I appreciate your concern." Zim suppressed a yawn. "But, I'll be just fine."
The empty gin bottle Jendai was still fiddling with waved in his face. "That yawn begs to differ," the grin faded. "Well, if you insist, here I go again..."
~ ~ ~
Rainbows danced by the clear, front hatch of the blue voot runner as it blasted free of Irk's atmosphere. The escort of Soldier voot cruisers veered off, heading back to the planet's surface. "The Tallest wishes you luck, Student Kaalae," one of the Elites whom had escorted him away from his cell radioed.
"Which one?" Jendai mumbled, barely glancing at the little monitor. His fingers flew over the panels, guiding his ship through the pockets of particularly stubborn atmosphere.
Silence descended in the cockpit. "Ah, Red, sir," the Elite reported. He must have noticed the slight droop of Jendai's antennae, for he continued. "You have my sympathy for the fact that the other has not said a thing since your parting."
"Yeah, that's just what I need, sympathy from a Soldier drone." He growled at the readings. No non-Irken owned planet was in the near vicinity. He'd have to practically drain the ship's fuel cells before he got to someplace he could live on. "Hey, Elite?" he stole a glance at the image of the other Irken. "Which way is the Empire most likely to expand?"
"Head towards that galaxy." An image appeared on the inside of the hatch, showing him a star chart of a bright band of stars. "Very few of those planets are habitable, so it is unlikely the Empire will be over there." The diagram enlarged to show a single system. "The third planet from this star is the only hospitable one in this sector and is inhabited by a sapient race of bipedal inferiors." Red eyes turned hard. "It is not worth the Empire's time."
"Thanks," Jendai answered, downloading the information into the voot's navigational systems and setting a course. He ended the video/transmission link and opened up a non-video transmission. "Kam, it's me. You better have this line open."
There was a hiss of static, followed by silence, then more static. Finally, a scratchy voice answered. "Jen... wher... re... ou?" Kaml's voice crackled, breaking in more places than the other mechanic cared to hear. He thanked Daske's memory that he'd listened to garbled transmissions too many times. Right now, those irritating situations seemed a blessing in disguise. "...can bar... ear yo..."
"Same here, Kam," Jendai called. "Listen, I'm off-planet now. Gonna take me six months to get where I'm going. I just wanted to tell you to throw a little party six-months from now. Drink a lot for me."
Broken mirth came from the dying transmission. "...ure thin... ndai. Lid... isses you... ready... Won't... top... crying. Min's ok... so far... Regert... rowing a... fit. Tal...st sa... you... Invader for... skills... why... ou're leav... Stude... on't... believ... Ho... ou... live throu... the... rip."
A fragile smile wove across the tired planes of an Irken face. "Thanks." He sighed gustily. "Can't talk long, Kaml. I'll get blasted to bits. But, mother of Irk, you should see it up here..."
"...eautiful, eh?"
"More than you can imagine." Jendai's antennae twitched briefly as he studied his surroundings. "Would you tell Lidge something for me?" he asked suddenly, unsure of what prompted him to do so.
"Sur..." A pause. "...ant me... to writ... down?"
"Whatever you want," he replied flippantly. "Just tell her that... I'm sorry that this had to happen before I got to see her get out of your place."
"...tha... all?" Kaml asked him after a moment, letting Jendai know he was indeed writing this down.
He thought for a moment, trying to choose his next words carefully. What he said here could determine a lot. Was he certain of what he'd thought? "Tell her that I knew what she was going to sa-" A hiss of static and the angry voice of one of his escorts cut him off. "You have been banished, Student," another Soldier snapped. "I suggest you leave Irken space before we're forced to blast you to steaming bits of Student waste."
The mechanic sneered at the Soldier before checking his radarscope. The four voot cruisers were in a V-formation behind him, blocking a retreat back to Irk. One of them flashed, indicating that it was the one from which the transmission had come. "Right behind me, you stupid Soldier ..." he murmured. With a flick of the controls, he gunned his engines to full power, their exhaust jets blasting nasty scars into the voot cruiser behind his runner. The blast of power sent Jendai's ship sailing away from what had been his home. He heard the Soldier's exclamation of shock over the transmission line, heard it and laughed. The maniacal sound echoed throughout the voot runner cockpit, doubling in volume as Jendai zipped away. His alarms blared once as the Soldiers gave chase, then gave up. This only made him laugh harder. He cackled away, feeling suddenly free of all the problems that had plagued him on Irk. He laughed until he felt weak.
He laughed until he cried.
The weakness overtook him suddenly. Antennae drooping from the effort, Jendai typed the coordinates of his new home into his autopilot. That accomplished, he lay back in his chair, his eyelids suddenly feeling far too heavy. Jendai's whole body relaxed as he fell asleep, trying to dream of anything but Leeri's horror-stricken face as she was executed right before his eyes.
His eyes fluttered open. The bright band of stars was far closer than it had been. He glanced at the travel time. Five months? "Mother of Irk," he murmured. More than likely, someone had rigged the oxygen generators to pump something extra into the air. He stretched, trying to get the kinks out of his bones. One hand lazily brushed across the tools. Jendai cocked his head, then picked them up, preparing his back pod for the procedure. All other thoughts drifted away from his mind as the familiar feel of tools in his gloved hands filled the space. The chip was in a tricky place, right under the hook attachment that had once allowed him to hang upside down in West Jihi. The hook would have to be removed before the stupid chip could be.
Hours and eventually days slipped away as Jendai tinkered with his back pod. There were a hundred little repairs to be made after the beatings he'd suffered. When he finished, there was less than two weeks remaining in his trip. He leaned back in his chair, deciding food sounded pretty good right now. It had been far too long since he'd eaten anything. Thus, in an hour, he'd finished off half of his rations. Sleepiness settled in again. Jendai set his jaw. He couldn't fall asleep now, mother of Irk, he might crash into some blasted moon! With a glance at the fuel readouts, the mechanic sped up the craft slightly. The exact reason for this decision escaped him; maybe he just wanted to escape. Maybe he just wanted to get away from Irk as fast as he possibly could.
The blare of the alarm came too late.
A small asteroid clipped one of the storage compartments on the port side of Jendai's voot runner. There were suddenly hundreds of the chunks of rock floating about the small craft, threatening to hammer it to bits. Fighting panic, Jendai tried to maneuver around them. Metallic clunks were heard as fragments pounded the voot from all sides. He tried slowing his ship, but nothing helped. He could only drive and pray that nothing was damaged too terribly. Larger asteroids were flung at him. These he could swerve around, allowing himself to be hit by the smaller ones lurking on the other sides. One particularly bad collision threw him against the hatch, jarring his skull. When things had settled down, he touched the point of impact and was stunned to feel blood slowly dripping down his face. Jendai snarled, keeping one hand pressed to the injury and cursing his forgetting to bring the medical unit with him.
He didn't know how long he was trapped in the field of asteroids. Time was dead as far as he was concerned. All that mattered was getting out of this mess with his life somewhat intact. No dark thoughts clouded his mind yet. He just wanted to see the ground of a planet again. Red lights went off, alarms blaring. He was leaking fuel. He wondered fleetingly, if life could get any worse. His skull throbbed in time with the alarms. Maybe if he could increase the voot's speed, he could get close enough to the planet so the gravity could pull him in... Yes. That was what he'd do. Grimly, he revved the engines, sending him blasting through the last few yards of the asteroid belt.
A planet passed by. His head swiveled to look at it. It was larger than Irk, slightly, and red. In his mind, it was instantly categorized as "Soldier." Soldier soon became a distant ball behind him, glowing faintly in the light from a distant sun. Irk, he had to get this off his mind. He was six months away from Soldiers, from being beaten, from hierarchies, from Kaml, Lidge, Min... and Kas. Far away from everything he'd known. Everyone he'd ever cared for was either dead or too far to ever see again. He swallowed heavily, steering his little craft onwards. When was he going to get there? All he wanted was to sink into oblivion. Maybe... just maybe, he could end this wearisome subsistence. The thought of suicide terrified him less than it would have seven months ago. Now it just seemed a way out of a long line of tribulations.
He refused to let the tears fall as the voot runner sped towards its destination.
His destination slowly grew before his eyes. He blinked several times. "Mother of Irk," he muttered. The planet was roughly the same size as Irk, but the coloration was all wrong. There were too many patches of strange white things floating around. They vaguely resembled the black clouds that sometimes swirled across his home planet, bringing deadly rain. Patches of brown were the only thing that looked right; they must be land masses, he decided. What he decided was this planet's version of Irken water was a blue color, lacking the metallic sheen and silver color he'd always known. Jendai suddenly felt very alone. The voot flew closer, its driver studying his new home. A few satellites were orbiting the planet. Curious, Jendai flew in close to one. This technology was ancient! Irkens hadn't seen the likes of this since practically the beginning of the Empire! He followed it on its slow, inching pace. Maybe it was for scanning weather patterns, or maybe even watching the populace of the planet? His eyes narrowed.
The lights flashed on the warning panel. Jendai cursed. The fuel leakage had gotten worse, leaving him with almost none. "Not enough, not enough," he chanted, fingers dancing over the controls. "C'mon babe, gimme something to work with here..." His voot's responses were sluggish, almost tired. The engines gave a low whine, sputtering. "No no no no no! Please, just let me get to the surface alive..." The engines' only response was to die. He had one moment to curse before the voot spiraled out of control, spinning down towards the planet.
Don'tpanicdon'tpanic... he thought, panicking. He worked the controls, gloves singing over the sensitive panels. The voot made several jerking motions, lessening its steep dive. Yes! Keep that up! He repeated the motions, trying to get the voot runner to glide in gently. Maybe if he locked in some coordinates and hammered away some more... Jendai set the coordinates on the nearest land mass. His long fingered hands worked their magic over and over, fighting with all their strength to stay on course. Atmosphere slammed against the hull, turning it a fiery red. He set his jaw, fighting through the rough stuff. In a flash, land rushed up to meet him. Going too fast! his brain screamed. "Activating emergency protocols," the voot's computer said blandly. "Please brace for impact."
The ground loomed up. Jendai braced himself, watching the safety take over. The voot's speed lessened dramatically, yet impact still sent him flying out of the front hatch, shattering the substance and wounding him further. He rolled, painfully, over the hard surface, not wanting to move. Everything hurt. He was sure one of his antennae was crushed; it was hard to hear on that side. His bones felt broken again, making sick crunching sounds if he moved. There were more cuts, and even a few gashes, leaking blood onto the ground. Get up, his mind ordered. You don't know where you are. You're not dead, you need your gear, you need to figure out what you're going to do. Moaning, he pushed himself to his knees, examining his hands. They were ripped and torn. Next, he looked around at his surroundings-and cursed. He was in a residential area, on some kind of flat, paved road. Earth houses surrounded him, some with lights turned on. Jendai's pulse raced. What if one of the natives had seen him? He stood, eyes darting around the dark area. There was no sound, other than the flicker of flames from his voot runner's mangled fuel stores. Cautiously, he stood, limping. One hand reached inside the cockpit, pulling out the amazingly undamaged box. He stood there for a moment, teetering on unsteady legs, staring at the wreckage. How could he ever hope to repair it? He felt the blood running down his face, but was unable to locate the source. A sudden sound caused him to freeze. It was a click, almost like the sound of a safety coming off... Jendai slowly turned his head, eyes widening and pulse racing. One of the natives stood behind him, a crude weapon raised, its sight trained on him.
The mechanic barely had time to cry out before the shot rang through the air, sending him reeling to the hard ground, and blackness engulfed him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, you bastard?" she whispered from her hiding place. She'd heard the crash-who couldn't?-from her living room and come to investigate. The woman hadn't been fully prepared for the extremity of the situation. Her mind automatically categorized the ruined craft as Irken. Although, what an Irken craft was doing on this planet was beyond her. Others had come here before, albeit they had been Soldiers lost on their way to other planets run by their vast Empire. They had been completely stunned that one who looked so human knew of Irkens and actually sided with them. That was one advantage of being who she was. Before she was able to emerge from her hedge to aid its wounded driver, the annoying human, Frank she believed he was called, had arrived on the scene, a shotgun in his hands. Always trying to destroy what she worked so hard for... She had to get to the Irken! He could possibly be bleeding to death out there, not to mention dead from the shot. Her amber eyes flicked over to him, willing something fortunate to happen.
His phone rang. She held her breath, hoping this was what she was waiting for. He yelled angrily into the receiver, kicked the limp body on the pavement, then stalked back to his house. She scored a silent victory for herself, dashing out into the street. Her heart tore at the sad sight. The poor thing was hideously tall, probably towering over her if it-he ever stood. There was a gash on his head, several on his legs, most likely a few broken ribs and other bones, bruises and minor cuts covering the other exposed areas of his olive-green skin. She turned him over, gently. On his back were a standard back pod and a gaping hole from the point of entry. Irken blood, an odd pink-silver color, stained the pavement in various pools. How to get him in the house before Frank got back was her new problem. Maybe...
She pulled a piece of the wreckage from where it lay, dragging it over to the Irken. Very gently, the woman moved him from the ground to the metal. He moaned quietly as the movement jarred his injuries. "Shh," she whispered, running her delicate fingers over his forehead. A soft green light issued from their tips. The Irken sighed, falling deeper into unconsciousness. "It'll all be fine soon, big guy..." As quickly as she dared, the woman dragged the metal away from the crash site to hide behind her hedge. Frank wouldn't come beyond the tall wall of plant life. He wasn't the only one with a gun. Confident her Irken patient was safe, she then attempted to haul the ship back up her driveway. When this failed, she left it where it was, returning to take the Irken inside where he would be safe. Hopefully, Frank would be just as unable to move the ship as she was. There was a forklift around someplace she could use once the Irken was settled. Nobody else on this street would wake up for a long while; tomorrow was Saturday.
The Irken's antennae gave a feeble twitch at the sound of her footsteps in the grass. Another low moan. "Oh gods," she murmured. "Shh. Please, shh! I'm going as fast as I can, damn it." Amazingly, the Irken stayed silent. She proceeded to drag him inside, praying Frank wouldn't hear the sound of metal against her gravel path.
Once safely in her home, she got him into one of the assorted medical rooms where he could lie in a bed while she worked. First things first, she decided, striping off his shirt. It tore around the pod, making it look more ragged than it already was. She winced in horror at the sight of the thick and ragged scars on his back. What were those from? The gunshot wound was her first priority. She was unsure whether it had grazed his spine or not. Carefully, her fingers prodded the injury. The Irken almost screamed, despite his unconsciousness. She drew her fingers back, shocked. "Damn..." she swore. It was worse than grazing his spine. The bullet had actually been lodged in a vertebra. There was no way she could remove it without harming the poor alien further. She would just have to leave it in, hoping it wouldn't get worse, and heal the Irken nonetheless. The window was open, letting the cool moonlight wash in. It wasn't candles, but to her, light was light. "Hatany," she said, letting her fingers brush the pendant at her throat. It blazed yellow, filling her body as she reached out to gather the moonlight, pulling it into herself as well. Her eyes glowed brilliantly.
"Sejus," she ordered swiftly, feeling her energy fill. The light blazed blue now. A healing blue. This had always been the most difficult part. One hand lay on his shoulder blades, the other hovered over the back of his head. The body came first, she reminded herself, then she could see who exactly this stranger was. She inhaled deeply. Her vision changed to one of crystalline outlines. A fragile, flickering strand was all that emerged from her hand on the Irken's shoulders. He was close to going. All her power was pushed into that strand, fighting desperately to keep it from snapping. Harder and harder she fought, feeling her strength draining. It refused to heal, as if the Irken was refusing to accept that he had to live. She strained, willing him to survive. Finally, the strand relented, grudgingly accepting her healing. She backed out of the healing trance, giving her senses a moment to recover. That was the most difficult thing she'd ever had to do! She knew now that never again would she be able to complete such a feat. Her power was taxed beyond repair. Being away from Jaimeyt didn't help much either.
Now the woman checked him over. No new scars. That was a good sign. She rolled him over, listening carefully for the crunch of broken bones. Nothing. She grinned. He would be fine, aside from whatever emotional scarring he'd had before he'd come. It was time for something simpler. Her hand fell to his cool forehead. More light was gathered, less this time, as memories were easier to decode than bodies. "Scantah," she snapped, free hand brushing the medallion.
Instantly her mind was flooded with horrific visions. Soldiers attacking her, beating her, insulting her. They were all taller than she; they were all beating her, breaking bones. A feeling of innocence lost. The vision shifted. Students this time. Orange eyes, magenta eyes, red eyes, maroon eyes, gray eyes... and purple eyes. A flash of him locking fingertips with her, their blood mingling to forever link them. The purple-eyed one suddenly altered his shape, becoming tall. Becoming an Almighty Tallest and turning his back to her. Another Student came into view. A female with purple/red eyes. She was her love. Then, she betrayed her, causing her to turn into the very thing she hated. More Soldiers appeared, beating her once more. Then, they killed the female Student. The maroon-eyed Student looked up at her, smiled, then lay down and died. Anger, horrible, consuming rage at the purple-eyed Tallest. She punched him, watching him fall to the stone floor of a prison. Pain. The orange-eye patted her shoulder, the magenta-eye cried into her chest. The gray-eye knelt before her as she preformed a sacred ceremony. "Do you enjoy hurting your friends?" the purple-eye snapped. "Didn't you hear me, Mechanic? I'm your Tallest, stupid Student. Therefore I order you to get off of this planet and out of my sight!" His insults stung worse than the Soldiers' blows. Betrayal again. Banishment. And always in the background, Soldiers loomed, ready to strike her, to beat her into oblivion...
The woman pulled herself out of his mind, shaken once again. "You poor thing," she murmured, running her finger down the length of his straight antennae. He shivered, moaning again. This time, she could distinguish actual words. "Leeri..." he groaned, his voice scratchy with what pain he had left. "Leeri!" he whimpered, his voice stronger now, colored with urgency. She rather liked it. It had a sweet tenor sound to it. "Where are you...?" One striking blue eye slid open, frightened. The other soon followed it, looking dizzily through her. They soon focused. He blinked in fear, whimpering. "Who are you? Where am I? Where's Leeri!?"
"Hush," the woman ordered. "Panicking will not make you any better." Her fingers tapped his forehead again, sending him back to sleep. "Gods, I wish I knew who did this too you," she whispered, tracing the outlines of the scars on his powerfully built chest. Irkens were all so scrawny. It was a shame to see power go to waste on such a thin body. And so many appalling scars... "Bastards. Picking on a Student. What did you ever do to them?" She stood, pulling the blankets over his frame. It was time she got his ship into the garage where it would be safe.
Where was he? Better yet, where was his shirt? Jendai blinked painfully against the sunlight falling over him. He was in bed, and for a moment, his tired mind conceived the notion that he was back on Irk. Almost immediately, he realized something was wrong. Not with the room. It looked almost perfectly normal. He pushed himself up on his elbows-despite the fact that the movement increased his dizziness-and tried to stand. He swallowed, shaking.
His legs wouldn't move.
In fact, he couldn't even feel them. The fact sent a cold chill through his spine. What was wrong with him? He sat up, poking the limbs nervously. Nothing. His touch didn't even register. How could this have happened? Helplessly, he flopped back down on the bed, trying not to whimper. Stranded on a strange planet, dead legs, in a strange house with Irk knew who... Could his life possibly get any worse? A hundred questions flooded his mind. First thing: Shirt. Where was it? Second thing: Who brought him here? No shirt in sight-his box! Panicked, Jendai looked all around him. If he'd lost it... He tried to stand, only to remember his dead legs. Frustration overwhelmed his panic. He sat up again and slammed his fist into the wall beneath the window. When it refused to break, he punched it again, crying out with the sudden pain. It only made him angrier. His fists flew, hitting the wall with satisfying thuds that reverberated throughout the room with a fervor only matched by his fury. "Stupid... Soldiers!" he shouted between blows. "Stupid... Kas! Stupid... Irk! Stupid... KAS!! I... never... want to... see... you again! I wish you were dead! This... is... all... YOUR FAULT!" His hands finally ached too much to continue. Jendai slumped down once more, feeling weak. "I want to die," the mechanic whispered. "I want to die! Anything is better than this... I want to die..."
Jendai was so wrapped up in his emotions that he didn't notice the figure slip silently into the room. She watched him for a moment, frightened. Her shoulders slumped in defeat as he started crying, the soft, utterly brokenhearted sound echoing in her ears.
"And I'm leaving on a jet plane
I don't know when I'll be back again
Oh, babe, I hate to go
But I'm leaving on a jet plane."
-Chantal Kreviazuk, "Leaving On A Jet Plane."
A sharp tug on Zim's antennae snapped him out of his half-doze. "Is my story boring you, Invader?" Jendai teased, his eyes light with mirth for once. "Or is it something else?"
Zim managed a weak grin. "Sorry," he muttered.
"No, no, it's okay," the mechanic gave him a genuine, however upside down smile. "It's getting late. I shouldn't be babbling on like this." He rolled over onto his stomach, staring at the wall. "I think you get the gist of what happened after I left Irk, so if you're feeling tired, I could narrow it all down for you."
"I appreciate your concern." Zim suppressed a yawn. "But, I'll be just fine."
The empty gin bottle Jendai was still fiddling with waved in his face. "That yawn begs to differ," the grin faded. "Well, if you insist, here I go again..."
~ ~ ~
Rainbows danced by the clear, front hatch of the blue voot runner as it blasted free of Irk's atmosphere. The escort of Soldier voot cruisers veered off, heading back to the planet's surface. "The Tallest wishes you luck, Student Kaalae," one of the Elites whom had escorted him away from his cell radioed.
"Which one?" Jendai mumbled, barely glancing at the little monitor. His fingers flew over the panels, guiding his ship through the pockets of particularly stubborn atmosphere.
Silence descended in the cockpit. "Ah, Red, sir," the Elite reported. He must have noticed the slight droop of Jendai's antennae, for he continued. "You have my sympathy for the fact that the other has not said a thing since your parting."
"Yeah, that's just what I need, sympathy from a Soldier drone." He growled at the readings. No non-Irken owned planet was in the near vicinity. He'd have to practically drain the ship's fuel cells before he got to someplace he could live on. "Hey, Elite?" he stole a glance at the image of the other Irken. "Which way is the Empire most likely to expand?"
"Head towards that galaxy." An image appeared on the inside of the hatch, showing him a star chart of a bright band of stars. "Very few of those planets are habitable, so it is unlikely the Empire will be over there." The diagram enlarged to show a single system. "The third planet from this star is the only hospitable one in this sector and is inhabited by a sapient race of bipedal inferiors." Red eyes turned hard. "It is not worth the Empire's time."
"Thanks," Jendai answered, downloading the information into the voot's navigational systems and setting a course. He ended the video/transmission link and opened up a non-video transmission. "Kam, it's me. You better have this line open."
There was a hiss of static, followed by silence, then more static. Finally, a scratchy voice answered. "Jen... wher... re... ou?" Kaml's voice crackled, breaking in more places than the other mechanic cared to hear. He thanked Daske's memory that he'd listened to garbled transmissions too many times. Right now, those irritating situations seemed a blessing in disguise. "...can bar... ear yo..."
"Same here, Kam," Jendai called. "Listen, I'm off-planet now. Gonna take me six months to get where I'm going. I just wanted to tell you to throw a little party six-months from now. Drink a lot for me."
Broken mirth came from the dying transmission. "...ure thin... ndai. Lid... isses you... ready... Won't... top... crying. Min's ok... so far... Regert... rowing a... fit. Tal...st sa... you... Invader for... skills... why... ou're leav... Stude... on't... believ... Ho... ou... live throu... the... rip."
A fragile smile wove across the tired planes of an Irken face. "Thanks." He sighed gustily. "Can't talk long, Kaml. I'll get blasted to bits. But, mother of Irk, you should see it up here..."
"...eautiful, eh?"
"More than you can imagine." Jendai's antennae twitched briefly as he studied his surroundings. "Would you tell Lidge something for me?" he asked suddenly, unsure of what prompted him to do so.
"Sur..." A pause. "...ant me... to writ... down?"
"Whatever you want," he replied flippantly. "Just tell her that... I'm sorry that this had to happen before I got to see her get out of your place."
"...tha... all?" Kaml asked him after a moment, letting Jendai know he was indeed writing this down.
He thought for a moment, trying to choose his next words carefully. What he said here could determine a lot. Was he certain of what he'd thought? "Tell her that I knew what she was going to sa-" A hiss of static and the angry voice of one of his escorts cut him off. "You have been banished, Student," another Soldier snapped. "I suggest you leave Irken space before we're forced to blast you to steaming bits of Student waste."
The mechanic sneered at the Soldier before checking his radarscope. The four voot cruisers were in a V-formation behind him, blocking a retreat back to Irk. One of them flashed, indicating that it was the one from which the transmission had come. "Right behind me, you stupid Soldier ..." he murmured. With a flick of the controls, he gunned his engines to full power, their exhaust jets blasting nasty scars into the voot cruiser behind his runner. The blast of power sent Jendai's ship sailing away from what had been his home. He heard the Soldier's exclamation of shock over the transmission line, heard it and laughed. The maniacal sound echoed throughout the voot runner cockpit, doubling in volume as Jendai zipped away. His alarms blared once as the Soldiers gave chase, then gave up. This only made him laugh harder. He cackled away, feeling suddenly free of all the problems that had plagued him on Irk. He laughed until he felt weak.
He laughed until he cried.
The weakness overtook him suddenly. Antennae drooping from the effort, Jendai typed the coordinates of his new home into his autopilot. That accomplished, he lay back in his chair, his eyelids suddenly feeling far too heavy. Jendai's whole body relaxed as he fell asleep, trying to dream of anything but Leeri's horror-stricken face as she was executed right before his eyes.
His eyes fluttered open. The bright band of stars was far closer than it had been. He glanced at the travel time. Five months? "Mother of Irk," he murmured. More than likely, someone had rigged the oxygen generators to pump something extra into the air. He stretched, trying to get the kinks out of his bones. One hand lazily brushed across the tools. Jendai cocked his head, then picked them up, preparing his back pod for the procedure. All other thoughts drifted away from his mind as the familiar feel of tools in his gloved hands filled the space. The chip was in a tricky place, right under the hook attachment that had once allowed him to hang upside down in West Jihi. The hook would have to be removed before the stupid chip could be.
Hours and eventually days slipped away as Jendai tinkered with his back pod. There were a hundred little repairs to be made after the beatings he'd suffered. When he finished, there was less than two weeks remaining in his trip. He leaned back in his chair, deciding food sounded pretty good right now. It had been far too long since he'd eaten anything. Thus, in an hour, he'd finished off half of his rations. Sleepiness settled in again. Jendai set his jaw. He couldn't fall asleep now, mother of Irk, he might crash into some blasted moon! With a glance at the fuel readouts, the mechanic sped up the craft slightly. The exact reason for this decision escaped him; maybe he just wanted to escape. Maybe he just wanted to get away from Irk as fast as he possibly could.
The blare of the alarm came too late.
A small asteroid clipped one of the storage compartments on the port side of Jendai's voot runner. There were suddenly hundreds of the chunks of rock floating about the small craft, threatening to hammer it to bits. Fighting panic, Jendai tried to maneuver around them. Metallic clunks were heard as fragments pounded the voot from all sides. He tried slowing his ship, but nothing helped. He could only drive and pray that nothing was damaged too terribly. Larger asteroids were flung at him. These he could swerve around, allowing himself to be hit by the smaller ones lurking on the other sides. One particularly bad collision threw him against the hatch, jarring his skull. When things had settled down, he touched the point of impact and was stunned to feel blood slowly dripping down his face. Jendai snarled, keeping one hand pressed to the injury and cursing his forgetting to bring the medical unit with him.
He didn't know how long he was trapped in the field of asteroids. Time was dead as far as he was concerned. All that mattered was getting out of this mess with his life somewhat intact. No dark thoughts clouded his mind yet. He just wanted to see the ground of a planet again. Red lights went off, alarms blaring. He was leaking fuel. He wondered fleetingly, if life could get any worse. His skull throbbed in time with the alarms. Maybe if he could increase the voot's speed, he could get close enough to the planet so the gravity could pull him in... Yes. That was what he'd do. Grimly, he revved the engines, sending him blasting through the last few yards of the asteroid belt.
A planet passed by. His head swiveled to look at it. It was larger than Irk, slightly, and red. In his mind, it was instantly categorized as "Soldier." Soldier soon became a distant ball behind him, glowing faintly in the light from a distant sun. Irk, he had to get this off his mind. He was six months away from Soldiers, from being beaten, from hierarchies, from Kaml, Lidge, Min... and Kas. Far away from everything he'd known. Everyone he'd ever cared for was either dead or too far to ever see again. He swallowed heavily, steering his little craft onwards. When was he going to get there? All he wanted was to sink into oblivion. Maybe... just maybe, he could end this wearisome subsistence. The thought of suicide terrified him less than it would have seven months ago. Now it just seemed a way out of a long line of tribulations.
He refused to let the tears fall as the voot runner sped towards its destination.
His destination slowly grew before his eyes. He blinked several times. "Mother of Irk," he muttered. The planet was roughly the same size as Irk, but the coloration was all wrong. There were too many patches of strange white things floating around. They vaguely resembled the black clouds that sometimes swirled across his home planet, bringing deadly rain. Patches of brown were the only thing that looked right; they must be land masses, he decided. What he decided was this planet's version of Irken water was a blue color, lacking the metallic sheen and silver color he'd always known. Jendai suddenly felt very alone. The voot flew closer, its driver studying his new home. A few satellites were orbiting the planet. Curious, Jendai flew in close to one. This technology was ancient! Irkens hadn't seen the likes of this since practically the beginning of the Empire! He followed it on its slow, inching pace. Maybe it was for scanning weather patterns, or maybe even watching the populace of the planet? His eyes narrowed.
The lights flashed on the warning panel. Jendai cursed. The fuel leakage had gotten worse, leaving him with almost none. "Not enough, not enough," he chanted, fingers dancing over the controls. "C'mon babe, gimme something to work with here..." His voot's responses were sluggish, almost tired. The engines gave a low whine, sputtering. "No no no no no! Please, just let me get to the surface alive..." The engines' only response was to die. He had one moment to curse before the voot spiraled out of control, spinning down towards the planet.
Don'tpanicdon'tpanic... he thought, panicking. He worked the controls, gloves singing over the sensitive panels. The voot made several jerking motions, lessening its steep dive. Yes! Keep that up! He repeated the motions, trying to get the voot runner to glide in gently. Maybe if he locked in some coordinates and hammered away some more... Jendai set the coordinates on the nearest land mass. His long fingered hands worked their magic over and over, fighting with all their strength to stay on course. Atmosphere slammed against the hull, turning it a fiery red. He set his jaw, fighting through the rough stuff. In a flash, land rushed up to meet him. Going too fast! his brain screamed. "Activating emergency protocols," the voot's computer said blandly. "Please brace for impact."
The ground loomed up. Jendai braced himself, watching the safety take over. The voot's speed lessened dramatically, yet impact still sent him flying out of the front hatch, shattering the substance and wounding him further. He rolled, painfully, over the hard surface, not wanting to move. Everything hurt. He was sure one of his antennae was crushed; it was hard to hear on that side. His bones felt broken again, making sick crunching sounds if he moved. There were more cuts, and even a few gashes, leaking blood onto the ground. Get up, his mind ordered. You don't know where you are. You're not dead, you need your gear, you need to figure out what you're going to do. Moaning, he pushed himself to his knees, examining his hands. They were ripped and torn. Next, he looked around at his surroundings-and cursed. He was in a residential area, on some kind of flat, paved road. Earth houses surrounded him, some with lights turned on. Jendai's pulse raced. What if one of the natives had seen him? He stood, eyes darting around the dark area. There was no sound, other than the flicker of flames from his voot runner's mangled fuel stores. Cautiously, he stood, limping. One hand reached inside the cockpit, pulling out the amazingly undamaged box. He stood there for a moment, teetering on unsteady legs, staring at the wreckage. How could he ever hope to repair it? He felt the blood running down his face, but was unable to locate the source. A sudden sound caused him to freeze. It was a click, almost like the sound of a safety coming off... Jendai slowly turned his head, eyes widening and pulse racing. One of the natives stood behind him, a crude weapon raised, its sight trained on him.
The mechanic barely had time to cry out before the shot rang through the air, sending him reeling to the hard ground, and blackness engulfed him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, you bastard?" she whispered from her hiding place. She'd heard the crash-who couldn't?-from her living room and come to investigate. The woman hadn't been fully prepared for the extremity of the situation. Her mind automatically categorized the ruined craft as Irken. Although, what an Irken craft was doing on this planet was beyond her. Others had come here before, albeit they had been Soldiers lost on their way to other planets run by their vast Empire. They had been completely stunned that one who looked so human knew of Irkens and actually sided with them. That was one advantage of being who she was. Before she was able to emerge from her hedge to aid its wounded driver, the annoying human, Frank she believed he was called, had arrived on the scene, a shotgun in his hands. Always trying to destroy what she worked so hard for... She had to get to the Irken! He could possibly be bleeding to death out there, not to mention dead from the shot. Her amber eyes flicked over to him, willing something fortunate to happen.
His phone rang. She held her breath, hoping this was what she was waiting for. He yelled angrily into the receiver, kicked the limp body on the pavement, then stalked back to his house. She scored a silent victory for herself, dashing out into the street. Her heart tore at the sad sight. The poor thing was hideously tall, probably towering over her if it-he ever stood. There was a gash on his head, several on his legs, most likely a few broken ribs and other bones, bruises and minor cuts covering the other exposed areas of his olive-green skin. She turned him over, gently. On his back were a standard back pod and a gaping hole from the point of entry. Irken blood, an odd pink-silver color, stained the pavement in various pools. How to get him in the house before Frank got back was her new problem. Maybe...
She pulled a piece of the wreckage from where it lay, dragging it over to the Irken. Very gently, the woman moved him from the ground to the metal. He moaned quietly as the movement jarred his injuries. "Shh," she whispered, running her delicate fingers over his forehead. A soft green light issued from their tips. The Irken sighed, falling deeper into unconsciousness. "It'll all be fine soon, big guy..." As quickly as she dared, the woman dragged the metal away from the crash site to hide behind her hedge. Frank wouldn't come beyond the tall wall of plant life. He wasn't the only one with a gun. Confident her Irken patient was safe, she then attempted to haul the ship back up her driveway. When this failed, she left it where it was, returning to take the Irken inside where he would be safe. Hopefully, Frank would be just as unable to move the ship as she was. There was a forklift around someplace she could use once the Irken was settled. Nobody else on this street would wake up for a long while; tomorrow was Saturday.
The Irken's antennae gave a feeble twitch at the sound of her footsteps in the grass. Another low moan. "Oh gods," she murmured. "Shh. Please, shh! I'm going as fast as I can, damn it." Amazingly, the Irken stayed silent. She proceeded to drag him inside, praying Frank wouldn't hear the sound of metal against her gravel path.
Once safely in her home, she got him into one of the assorted medical rooms where he could lie in a bed while she worked. First things first, she decided, striping off his shirt. It tore around the pod, making it look more ragged than it already was. She winced in horror at the sight of the thick and ragged scars on his back. What were those from? The gunshot wound was her first priority. She was unsure whether it had grazed his spine or not. Carefully, her fingers prodded the injury. The Irken almost screamed, despite his unconsciousness. She drew her fingers back, shocked. "Damn..." she swore. It was worse than grazing his spine. The bullet had actually been lodged in a vertebra. There was no way she could remove it without harming the poor alien further. She would just have to leave it in, hoping it wouldn't get worse, and heal the Irken nonetheless. The window was open, letting the cool moonlight wash in. It wasn't candles, but to her, light was light. "Hatany," she said, letting her fingers brush the pendant at her throat. It blazed yellow, filling her body as she reached out to gather the moonlight, pulling it into herself as well. Her eyes glowed brilliantly.
"Sejus," she ordered swiftly, feeling her energy fill. The light blazed blue now. A healing blue. This had always been the most difficult part. One hand lay on his shoulder blades, the other hovered over the back of his head. The body came first, she reminded herself, then she could see who exactly this stranger was. She inhaled deeply. Her vision changed to one of crystalline outlines. A fragile, flickering strand was all that emerged from her hand on the Irken's shoulders. He was close to going. All her power was pushed into that strand, fighting desperately to keep it from snapping. Harder and harder she fought, feeling her strength draining. It refused to heal, as if the Irken was refusing to accept that he had to live. She strained, willing him to survive. Finally, the strand relented, grudgingly accepting her healing. She backed out of the healing trance, giving her senses a moment to recover. That was the most difficult thing she'd ever had to do! She knew now that never again would she be able to complete such a feat. Her power was taxed beyond repair. Being away from Jaimeyt didn't help much either.
Now the woman checked him over. No new scars. That was a good sign. She rolled him over, listening carefully for the crunch of broken bones. Nothing. She grinned. He would be fine, aside from whatever emotional scarring he'd had before he'd come. It was time for something simpler. Her hand fell to his cool forehead. More light was gathered, less this time, as memories were easier to decode than bodies. "Scantah," she snapped, free hand brushing the medallion.
Instantly her mind was flooded with horrific visions. Soldiers attacking her, beating her, insulting her. They were all taller than she; they were all beating her, breaking bones. A feeling of innocence lost. The vision shifted. Students this time. Orange eyes, magenta eyes, red eyes, maroon eyes, gray eyes... and purple eyes. A flash of him locking fingertips with her, their blood mingling to forever link them. The purple-eyed one suddenly altered his shape, becoming tall. Becoming an Almighty Tallest and turning his back to her. Another Student came into view. A female with purple/red eyes. She was her love. Then, she betrayed her, causing her to turn into the very thing she hated. More Soldiers appeared, beating her once more. Then, they killed the female Student. The maroon-eyed Student looked up at her, smiled, then lay down and died. Anger, horrible, consuming rage at the purple-eyed Tallest. She punched him, watching him fall to the stone floor of a prison. Pain. The orange-eye patted her shoulder, the magenta-eye cried into her chest. The gray-eye knelt before her as she preformed a sacred ceremony. "Do you enjoy hurting your friends?" the purple-eye snapped. "Didn't you hear me, Mechanic? I'm your Tallest, stupid Student. Therefore I order you to get off of this planet and out of my sight!" His insults stung worse than the Soldiers' blows. Betrayal again. Banishment. And always in the background, Soldiers loomed, ready to strike her, to beat her into oblivion...
The woman pulled herself out of his mind, shaken once again. "You poor thing," she murmured, running her finger down the length of his straight antennae. He shivered, moaning again. This time, she could distinguish actual words. "Leeri..." he groaned, his voice scratchy with what pain he had left. "Leeri!" he whimpered, his voice stronger now, colored with urgency. She rather liked it. It had a sweet tenor sound to it. "Where are you...?" One striking blue eye slid open, frightened. The other soon followed it, looking dizzily through her. They soon focused. He blinked in fear, whimpering. "Who are you? Where am I? Where's Leeri!?"
"Hush," the woman ordered. "Panicking will not make you any better." Her fingers tapped his forehead again, sending him back to sleep. "Gods, I wish I knew who did this too you," she whispered, tracing the outlines of the scars on his powerfully built chest. Irkens were all so scrawny. It was a shame to see power go to waste on such a thin body. And so many appalling scars... "Bastards. Picking on a Student. What did you ever do to them?" She stood, pulling the blankets over his frame. It was time she got his ship into the garage where it would be safe.
Where was he? Better yet, where was his shirt? Jendai blinked painfully against the sunlight falling over him. He was in bed, and for a moment, his tired mind conceived the notion that he was back on Irk. Almost immediately, he realized something was wrong. Not with the room. It looked almost perfectly normal. He pushed himself up on his elbows-despite the fact that the movement increased his dizziness-and tried to stand. He swallowed, shaking.
His legs wouldn't move.
In fact, he couldn't even feel them. The fact sent a cold chill through his spine. What was wrong with him? He sat up, poking the limbs nervously. Nothing. His touch didn't even register. How could this have happened? Helplessly, he flopped back down on the bed, trying not to whimper. Stranded on a strange planet, dead legs, in a strange house with Irk knew who... Could his life possibly get any worse? A hundred questions flooded his mind. First thing: Shirt. Where was it? Second thing: Who brought him here? No shirt in sight-his box! Panicked, Jendai looked all around him. If he'd lost it... He tried to stand, only to remember his dead legs. Frustration overwhelmed his panic. He sat up again and slammed his fist into the wall beneath the window. When it refused to break, he punched it again, crying out with the sudden pain. It only made him angrier. His fists flew, hitting the wall with satisfying thuds that reverberated throughout the room with a fervor only matched by his fury. "Stupid... Soldiers!" he shouted between blows. "Stupid... Kas! Stupid... Irk! Stupid... KAS!! I... never... want to... see... you again! I wish you were dead! This... is... all... YOUR FAULT!" His hands finally ached too much to continue. Jendai slumped down once more, feeling weak. "I want to die," the mechanic whispered. "I want to die! Anything is better than this... I want to die..."
Jendai was so wrapped up in his emotions that he didn't notice the figure slip silently into the room. She watched him for a moment, frightened. Her shoulders slumped in defeat as he started crying, the soft, utterly brokenhearted sound echoing in her ears.