A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this one up, but with Finals coming up
this week it's been kinda hectic. Also, I sort of ran out of creative
juices up until Sinday, so I've finally gotten this next installment done
for you guys. I hope you all like it! – Invader Sam ^_~
Chapter 15 – Incubation Time: 4 Months
"APU! You're back!...What is all that?" Zia asked as her loyal bodyguard returned to Dib's bedroom that evening. She was alone in the room.
APU set the incubator tube on the ground and let the three broken probe droids fall to the floor roughly. "Things are not looking good on the home front, Mistress," he reported, "I found these circling around like hungry Vrellts. I'm sure there will be more of them."
Zia picked up one of the droids and examined it. "These models are a lot cheaper that the ZS-567 Shyra had last time. She can probably order these in bulk on Verundi…this isn't good," she said, putting the droid down, "What's our next move?"
"For once, Mistress," APU sighed, "I don't know."
At that moment, Zim and GIR entered the room. Zim cradled the egg in his arms. "We heard APU come in," he said, "Let's get the egg where it belongs."
Zia plugged the incubator into an electrical outlet on the wall, and the glass tube lit up inside. She pushed a button on the rim and the glass tube slid open. Zim set the egg in the tube, and once it had closed, it filled with a translucent purple liquid. The egg floated in the tube silently.
GIR's eyes followed the egg as it bobbed up and down in the incubator. After a moment, he got dizzy and fell down.
Zim shook his head. "GIR never ceases to astound me."
The door opened again, and they all turned, except GIR, whose eyes were still spinning with dizziness. It was Dib, carrying a pizza box. "Hey," he said, "Gaz said I could bring this up to you – WOW!! What IS that thing??" he cried, pointing to the glass tube set in the center of the room.
"What does it look like?" Zim said indignantly, "This is the incubator we needed to properly care for the egg."
"PIZZA!!!" GIR yelled, jumping to his feet and taking the box from Dib.
Dib didn't object, but he looked really weary. The aliens' antics were tiring even when he only saw them during Skool. But keeping them hidden in his house was beginning to get to him.
Zia seemed to notice, and she tapped Zim gently. He looked over at her, and she glanced over at the probe droids. Zim got the idea and reluctantly picked up the droid closest to him. He approached Dib and shoved the droid into his arms. "A bit of payment for your services," Zim said quickly, "Take it and do what you want with it."
Dib looked down at the large spherical droid. "Wow…" he breathed, "Wow!! I can't believe this! This is incredible! My own probe droid!" He ran off happily, "I'm gonna have Dad fix it."
Zim scowled as the door shut behind Dib. "I can't believe you made me do that," he said.
"Hey, we owe him that much, don't we?" Zia said, "I mean, he could have reported us a long time ago…but he didn't."
Zim sighed, "You're right…again. I guess that's why I love you so much."
She smiled and squeezed his hand.
GIR held out a piece of pizza to APU, who just looked at it, revolted.
* * *
Back on the moon, Shyra Jasten waited impatiently for her probes to return. When they were three hours late, she put a breath-mask on and stepped out of the ship. She activated her jetpack and took off looking for them, thinking they might have gotten lost on the dark side of the moon. She found nothing.
Irritated, she returned to the Wraith Shadow. Once inside, she ripped off the breath-mask and called, "ZS! Come here!"
The droid floated towards her obediently. She stroked him fondly. "You won't let me down, will you?" she cooed. ZS beeped. "That's a good boy. Now go on. Find your inferiors." ZS floated out of the ship, heading back towards Earth once again.
Shyra watched him go, and then pulled off her helmet, revealing dazzling green eyes. She brushed her black hair out of her face and sighed. This job was taking too long – her employers were getting impatient. If she didn't catch her bounty soon – they'd probably hire someone else! Her reputation would be shot – and she couldn't afford that.
She slammed a palm down on the back of the pilot's chair angrily. The Irkens were supposed to be self-conscious and cocky. How was it that they could stay hidden from her? And why did they not return to their base? Where else would they be taking refuge?
She sat down and began typing away at her console. The monitor showed her a thermal scan of the city where her bounty was living. Irkens had a drastic differentiation in body temperature from the primitive humanoids that inhabited the planet. Yet the scans were picking up nothing unusual.
If only she had known that the Membrane household emitted so much chemical interference that it could not even be projected in the scan, she would have been furious. And already her temper was boiling inside of her.
She shut off the scanner and slumped low in her chair, ultimately fed up with the whole thing. Then she decided – she wasn't going to rely on technology much longer. A primitive planet called for primitive methods. She would take the search into her own hands…and then it would only be a short time before she was home free, and counting her reward.
She couldn't wait.
* * *
That night, in Dib's room, the gang was seated around the incubation tube with all the lights out. The tube's iridescent light flickered across their faces, making the whole scene resemble a very weird camp-out.
"So…" Gaz said, "How long will it take for it to hatch now, anyway?"
"The incubation process takes a total of four months," APU said, the textbooks in his head coming in handy once again, "As time goes on, the egg shell will actually deteriorate from being submerged in the Kronisian jelly, and the fetuses will attach themselves to the actual tube, which will provide them with all the vital nutrients until they are ready to be activated."
"Activated?" Dib asked, bewildered. In his hands he held a notepad where he was jotting down everything APU was saying.
APU opened his mouth to explain, but Zim cut him off. "I don't think it's a good idea to be giving the Dib-thing all this information," he said, "You never know what he'll do with it once we're out of here, and I for one don't want to put the hatchlings in danger."
"Relax," Zia said, "So what if he knows? There's no way he could prove any of it."
"Yeah!" Dib said, "Wait…"
"Still – I don't like it," Zim said sternly, "So you -," he pointed at APU, "-silence your textbooks."
APU folded his arms, "Yes, Zim."
"Why won't you address me properly?" Zim asked, irritated.
"Because I don't see you as my Master," APU snapped.
Zim was about to shoot back with a cruel remark, but then Dib's eyes widened with recognition. "WHOA! Wait a minute!" he cried, "Did you say FOUR MONTHS?? There's no way we can keep you here that long – I mean Dad's getting suspicious as it is."
"You have a point," Gaz said, "It figures, the ONE time we want him to leave us alone, he takes a random interest in what we're doing."
Zia and Zim made eye contact. They both new they couldn't stay there any longer. "We have to go back," Zia said, "We can't hide forever."
Zim nodded. "All right, fine. We'll return to the base. Once we're inside, we can modify the defenses to fit the new droids' profiles. But getting in there will be a bit more difficult…hmmm…." He tapped a finger to his chin, deep in thought.
* * *
So the next morning, our intrepid band left the safe refuge of the membrane household and made the three block trek back to the base. Zim lead the way boldly, with Zia following closely behind him. Both Irkens were in their disguises. GIR and APU brought up the rear, carrying the incubator (which was cleverly cloaked as a large bologna roll. Neither robot was disguised fully, but they wore aprons and visors that read "Dee-lishus Weenie".
As they turned the corner into the cul-de-sac, they spotted the base, only half-finished with its repairs, being circled by half a dozen probe droids. Zim put a hand out and the group halted.
"How are we gonna get past them?" Zia whispered urgently.
Zim glanced back at the bots, "GIR?" he said, "You remember what to do – don't you?"
"Yes!!" GIR said, really meaning it. He handed the 'bologna' over to APU, who shifted under its weight. Then he marched off towards the base.
"Are you…sure this will work?" APU asked incredulously.
"Will what work?" Zia asked.
"GIR is going to create a diversion," Zim explained, "And while the droids are distracted, we'll sneak inside. Your body guard will take care of the droids once the egg is safe inside the base."
Zia nodded, and the followed GIR at a distance, stopping outside the fence, while he marched into the yard.
"Yoo-Hoo!!" he called, waving at the droids. They turned at the sound. Then GIR pulled a top-hat and cane seemingly out of nowhere and began dancing and singing the Doom Song. Confused, the droids came closer to him.
"Now!" Zim whispered. They darted behind the droids silently, or sort of silently. Zim actually tripped over his own feet half-way across the yard, but Zia picked him up and they kept going, making it into the house without being noticed.
GIR kept up his dance until he saw APU emerge from the house. Then he took a quick bow and ran off. The droids turned around again, and didn't even have time to register what was happening before they were blasted to pieces!
The droids fell to the grass and the gnomes moved in on them as APU marched triumphantly back inside.
* * *
Down in the lab, Zia finished installing the incubator to the main computer. "There," she said as she finished, wiping a bit of grease off her gloves with a rag, "Now the base can not only keep the tube running, it can monitor the fetuses development."
"Excellent!" Zim said, "Now, I've split our power between defenses and repair. We can take some time now to develop a cloaking devise for the base. If we plan on staying here, we'll have to make it seem as if we're no longer here…"
Zia rolled her eyes, wondering what plan Zim could be concocting.
* * *
"You have got to be kidding…" Zia said in disbelief.
Zim was standing in front of her, wrapped in an electric blanket, with a hot-water-bottle strapped to his head. "It's genius!" he said, "This way, she won't pick us up on her thermal scanner!"
Zia stared at him, eyes narrow like an anime characters. "Uh…huh…" she said, "You really are a dumb-ass aren't you?"
GIR popped up behind Zim. He also had a hot-water-bottle strapped to his head. "My head's melting!" he announced.
Zia turned to APU who had seen the whole thing and was shaking his head in defeated disgust. "Do you have any better ideas?" she asked him.
"I'll work on it," he said, and walked off.
"What's wrong with my idea?" Zim demanded.
Zia sighed, "Oh, I dunno," then she grinned, "Maybe it just covers too much of your gorgeous self."
"…'Gorgeous'…?" Zim echoed, in an instant, he tossed off the blanket and bottle, and put his hands on his hips, grinning at her.
"Much better," she said, taking his arm, "Now let's go see what APU can come up with." With that, the floor opened up and all three of them were lowered down to the lab.
Chapter 15 – Incubation Time: 4 Months
"APU! You're back!...What is all that?" Zia asked as her loyal bodyguard returned to Dib's bedroom that evening. She was alone in the room.
APU set the incubator tube on the ground and let the three broken probe droids fall to the floor roughly. "Things are not looking good on the home front, Mistress," he reported, "I found these circling around like hungry Vrellts. I'm sure there will be more of them."
Zia picked up one of the droids and examined it. "These models are a lot cheaper that the ZS-567 Shyra had last time. She can probably order these in bulk on Verundi…this isn't good," she said, putting the droid down, "What's our next move?"
"For once, Mistress," APU sighed, "I don't know."
At that moment, Zim and GIR entered the room. Zim cradled the egg in his arms. "We heard APU come in," he said, "Let's get the egg where it belongs."
Zia plugged the incubator into an electrical outlet on the wall, and the glass tube lit up inside. She pushed a button on the rim and the glass tube slid open. Zim set the egg in the tube, and once it had closed, it filled with a translucent purple liquid. The egg floated in the tube silently.
GIR's eyes followed the egg as it bobbed up and down in the incubator. After a moment, he got dizzy and fell down.
Zim shook his head. "GIR never ceases to astound me."
The door opened again, and they all turned, except GIR, whose eyes were still spinning with dizziness. It was Dib, carrying a pizza box. "Hey," he said, "Gaz said I could bring this up to you – WOW!! What IS that thing??" he cried, pointing to the glass tube set in the center of the room.
"What does it look like?" Zim said indignantly, "This is the incubator we needed to properly care for the egg."
"PIZZA!!!" GIR yelled, jumping to his feet and taking the box from Dib.
Dib didn't object, but he looked really weary. The aliens' antics were tiring even when he only saw them during Skool. But keeping them hidden in his house was beginning to get to him.
Zia seemed to notice, and she tapped Zim gently. He looked over at her, and she glanced over at the probe droids. Zim got the idea and reluctantly picked up the droid closest to him. He approached Dib and shoved the droid into his arms. "A bit of payment for your services," Zim said quickly, "Take it and do what you want with it."
Dib looked down at the large spherical droid. "Wow…" he breathed, "Wow!! I can't believe this! This is incredible! My own probe droid!" He ran off happily, "I'm gonna have Dad fix it."
Zim scowled as the door shut behind Dib. "I can't believe you made me do that," he said.
"Hey, we owe him that much, don't we?" Zia said, "I mean, he could have reported us a long time ago…but he didn't."
Zim sighed, "You're right…again. I guess that's why I love you so much."
She smiled and squeezed his hand.
GIR held out a piece of pizza to APU, who just looked at it, revolted.
* * *
Back on the moon, Shyra Jasten waited impatiently for her probes to return. When they were three hours late, she put a breath-mask on and stepped out of the ship. She activated her jetpack and took off looking for them, thinking they might have gotten lost on the dark side of the moon. She found nothing.
Irritated, she returned to the Wraith Shadow. Once inside, she ripped off the breath-mask and called, "ZS! Come here!"
The droid floated towards her obediently. She stroked him fondly. "You won't let me down, will you?" she cooed. ZS beeped. "That's a good boy. Now go on. Find your inferiors." ZS floated out of the ship, heading back towards Earth once again.
Shyra watched him go, and then pulled off her helmet, revealing dazzling green eyes. She brushed her black hair out of her face and sighed. This job was taking too long – her employers were getting impatient. If she didn't catch her bounty soon – they'd probably hire someone else! Her reputation would be shot – and she couldn't afford that.
She slammed a palm down on the back of the pilot's chair angrily. The Irkens were supposed to be self-conscious and cocky. How was it that they could stay hidden from her? And why did they not return to their base? Where else would they be taking refuge?
She sat down and began typing away at her console. The monitor showed her a thermal scan of the city where her bounty was living. Irkens had a drastic differentiation in body temperature from the primitive humanoids that inhabited the planet. Yet the scans were picking up nothing unusual.
If only she had known that the Membrane household emitted so much chemical interference that it could not even be projected in the scan, she would have been furious. And already her temper was boiling inside of her.
She shut off the scanner and slumped low in her chair, ultimately fed up with the whole thing. Then she decided – she wasn't going to rely on technology much longer. A primitive planet called for primitive methods. She would take the search into her own hands…and then it would only be a short time before she was home free, and counting her reward.
She couldn't wait.
* * *
That night, in Dib's room, the gang was seated around the incubation tube with all the lights out. The tube's iridescent light flickered across their faces, making the whole scene resemble a very weird camp-out.
"So…" Gaz said, "How long will it take for it to hatch now, anyway?"
"The incubation process takes a total of four months," APU said, the textbooks in his head coming in handy once again, "As time goes on, the egg shell will actually deteriorate from being submerged in the Kronisian jelly, and the fetuses will attach themselves to the actual tube, which will provide them with all the vital nutrients until they are ready to be activated."
"Activated?" Dib asked, bewildered. In his hands he held a notepad where he was jotting down everything APU was saying.
APU opened his mouth to explain, but Zim cut him off. "I don't think it's a good idea to be giving the Dib-thing all this information," he said, "You never know what he'll do with it once we're out of here, and I for one don't want to put the hatchlings in danger."
"Relax," Zia said, "So what if he knows? There's no way he could prove any of it."
"Yeah!" Dib said, "Wait…"
"Still – I don't like it," Zim said sternly, "So you -," he pointed at APU, "-silence your textbooks."
APU folded his arms, "Yes, Zim."
"Why won't you address me properly?" Zim asked, irritated.
"Because I don't see you as my Master," APU snapped.
Zim was about to shoot back with a cruel remark, but then Dib's eyes widened with recognition. "WHOA! Wait a minute!" he cried, "Did you say FOUR MONTHS?? There's no way we can keep you here that long – I mean Dad's getting suspicious as it is."
"You have a point," Gaz said, "It figures, the ONE time we want him to leave us alone, he takes a random interest in what we're doing."
Zia and Zim made eye contact. They both new they couldn't stay there any longer. "We have to go back," Zia said, "We can't hide forever."
Zim nodded. "All right, fine. We'll return to the base. Once we're inside, we can modify the defenses to fit the new droids' profiles. But getting in there will be a bit more difficult…hmmm…." He tapped a finger to his chin, deep in thought.
* * *
So the next morning, our intrepid band left the safe refuge of the membrane household and made the three block trek back to the base. Zim lead the way boldly, with Zia following closely behind him. Both Irkens were in their disguises. GIR and APU brought up the rear, carrying the incubator (which was cleverly cloaked as a large bologna roll. Neither robot was disguised fully, but they wore aprons and visors that read "Dee-lishus Weenie".
As they turned the corner into the cul-de-sac, they spotted the base, only half-finished with its repairs, being circled by half a dozen probe droids. Zim put a hand out and the group halted.
"How are we gonna get past them?" Zia whispered urgently.
Zim glanced back at the bots, "GIR?" he said, "You remember what to do – don't you?"
"Yes!!" GIR said, really meaning it. He handed the 'bologna' over to APU, who shifted under its weight. Then he marched off towards the base.
"Are you…sure this will work?" APU asked incredulously.
"Will what work?" Zia asked.
"GIR is going to create a diversion," Zim explained, "And while the droids are distracted, we'll sneak inside. Your body guard will take care of the droids once the egg is safe inside the base."
Zia nodded, and the followed GIR at a distance, stopping outside the fence, while he marched into the yard.
"Yoo-Hoo!!" he called, waving at the droids. They turned at the sound. Then GIR pulled a top-hat and cane seemingly out of nowhere and began dancing and singing the Doom Song. Confused, the droids came closer to him.
"Now!" Zim whispered. They darted behind the droids silently, or sort of silently. Zim actually tripped over his own feet half-way across the yard, but Zia picked him up and they kept going, making it into the house without being noticed.
GIR kept up his dance until he saw APU emerge from the house. Then he took a quick bow and ran off. The droids turned around again, and didn't even have time to register what was happening before they were blasted to pieces!
The droids fell to the grass and the gnomes moved in on them as APU marched triumphantly back inside.
* * *
Down in the lab, Zia finished installing the incubator to the main computer. "There," she said as she finished, wiping a bit of grease off her gloves with a rag, "Now the base can not only keep the tube running, it can monitor the fetuses development."
"Excellent!" Zim said, "Now, I've split our power between defenses and repair. We can take some time now to develop a cloaking devise for the base. If we plan on staying here, we'll have to make it seem as if we're no longer here…"
Zia rolled her eyes, wondering what plan Zim could be concocting.
* * *
"You have got to be kidding…" Zia said in disbelief.
Zim was standing in front of her, wrapped in an electric blanket, with a hot-water-bottle strapped to his head. "It's genius!" he said, "This way, she won't pick us up on her thermal scanner!"
Zia stared at him, eyes narrow like an anime characters. "Uh…huh…" she said, "You really are a dumb-ass aren't you?"
GIR popped up behind Zim. He also had a hot-water-bottle strapped to his head. "My head's melting!" he announced.
Zia turned to APU who had seen the whole thing and was shaking his head in defeated disgust. "Do you have any better ideas?" she asked him.
"I'll work on it," he said, and walked off.
"What's wrong with my idea?" Zim demanded.
Zia sighed, "Oh, I dunno," then she grinned, "Maybe it just covers too much of your gorgeous self."
"…'Gorgeous'…?" Zim echoed, in an instant, he tossed off the blanket and bottle, and put his hands on his hips, grinning at her.
"Much better," she said, taking his arm, "Now let's go see what APU can come up with." With that, the floor opened up and all three of them were lowered down to the lab.
