Chapter VI

      "You sure you want to do this?" Steve asked.

      It was six-thirty in the morning, and Sarah, Eric, Steve, Maria and Phil were gathered in Eric's room. Sarah and Eric explained things as best they could, but their minds were still having trouble wrapping themselves around the reality.

      "Yeah," Eric said.

      "Understand, we have a bit of an obligation to that place," Sarah said patiently. "And, well... we gotta do something."

      Phil walked over and put his hand on Sarah's shoulder. "I have faith in you."

      Sarah smiled. Eric dug out a two long objects draped in cloth, one longer than the other, and pulled out his sunglasses. Sarah took out hers and without another word, left the room and put them on.

      And it was not until this moment that it suddenly dawned on the adults in the room that they might not see either of them again.

      Returning to the scene of the battered land, Sarah half hoped that what they saw was a dream, even though they brought back tangible proof that it wasn't. Nothing had changed, except that most of the buildings had burned to the ground and there were no more signs of life.

      "We'd best get moving, then," Eric said, unravelling one of the long bundles of cloth and handing the other to Sarah.

      "Moving where?" Sarah asked.

      "DP City. Where else?" Eric scoffed. "I figure that's the best place to find answers," He had gotten finished unraveling his cloth bundle, to reveal a sword in it's scabbard and Eric J. McCloud engraved on the hilt and, as Eric looked at the blade, Murasma on the blade. He shouldered the sword. "It's been too long since I've held this..." Eric muttered. Sarah unraveled her bundle to reveal the bow she had brought along on her trip, the Beamstriker.

      They hiked on without a word between the two. After almost a half an hour, Eric stopped suddenly. "I thought we had to keep moving?" Sarah said, turning around.

      "More bittersweet memories," Eric said. "I remember this spot. We first met Fox here... remember?"

      Sarah looked around. In her memory, the road was one worn by frequent travel, a boulder on the side of the road and a grove of lush, evergreen trees a half-mile east of the road. In the reality, the road was dirtied, the trees scorched and the rock graffitied with slogans of a civilization brought to near extinction. One, "THE END IS EXTREMELY FUCKING NIGH" stood out like a beacon fire in the center.

      Shortly thereafter, the tips of the buildings at DP city could be seen at the horizon. When they got to the city, however, it didn't seem that bad. Sure, there was the occasional broken shop window or sign of recent violence, but nothing like the ruin that befell the other city.

      "I'm confused…" Eric said, scratching his head. "The planet looks like it got hit with a celestial hammer after being set ablaze with a blowtorch, but how come this place doesn't look so bad?"

      "Um, Eric?" Sarah asked, pointing in the direction of the store ("Baron Barry's Bazaar of the Bizarre"). A notice was in the window:

THIS NOTICE IS APPROVED BY THE CORNERIAN INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

Until further notice, any and all humans are to be brought in for questioning. Bounty of 1,000 x will be issued to anyone who brings in these beings.

Examples of humans:

      Here, it had pictures and names of Eric, Sarah, both of which showed pictures at least three years old and Eric with bruises, a man called Jack Chaykin, and an artists rendition of someone with a bright yellow Mohawk and gangly limbs, Instead of a name, a note was posted:

This one is Wanted for crimes against Lylat and for association with the organization that has set itself against Lylat. Bounty is 150,000x, DEAD OR ALIVE.

If anyone has any information regarding any whereabouts, contact any of the following organizations.

      Here, it listed the access numbers for the Cornerian Intelligence Agency, the Galactic Police Patrol, the Grey Huskies and the Venomian Galactic Law Enforcement.

      "I think I see what you're getting at. We should go in fur cognito so as not to get picked up by the fuzz, no pun intended?" Eric asked.

      Sarah rolled her eyes and looked closely at the notice again. "That's what I was originally getting at… but two things stand out. One: Where the hell is Fox's number? Weren't they famous, the galaxies last line of defense against invasion? The other one is: What is a Venom access number doing searching for criminals?"

      "Uh, three things. Where the hell did they get our pictures?" Eric mused.

      "Well, they got my picture when they gave me the Captain award, which I just remembered I left the badge at home. And you… probably when they took a medical record, as evidenced by the bruises and the puffy face in your picture."

      "Where the hell did you get these powers of observation, anyway?" Eric asked in awe."

      "I watch a lot of Case Closed. We should go fur and try to get some answ-"

      "Hold on." Sarah was interrupted by a voice to her left. An ape wearing a tan trench coat and a stern stare glared at the human pair, then glanced at the poster on the wall, then back at the human pair. His right hand was suspiciously behind his back and he kept eyeballing Eric's sword and Sarah's bow. "I think you'd better come with me."

      "Listen, I don't have any time to play games with-" Eric started, trademark distrust of others creeping into his voice.

      "Okay… what do you want?" Sarah said before Eric could continue with anything else possibly damaging to an already-failing reputation. "We just got into town today…"

      The ape's eyes darted toward the poster again. "Your weapons."

      Eric looked at the handle of the sword as Sarah removed the bow from her shoulder. "Mur-… My sword? Uh…"

      The ape pulled his hand out from behind his back and pointed a blaster right between Eric's eyes. "I asked you nicely the first time, human. Throw down the sword."

      "Excuse me, but isn't this going a little far?" Sarah asked, stepping back a little bit.

      "In this day and age, you can't go too far. Human, give me the weapon."

      His attention focused on Eric, Sarah tried reaching down for Beamstriker. The ape looked up slightly and roundhouse kicked Sarah in the stomach, knocking the air out of her.

      Eric gaped. "You bastard!" His hand went to the handle of the sword, but before he could react, a sudden, numbing pain emenated from his forehead. He lost all consciousness and fell to the ground.

      It seemed to take Eric forever to fall. Sarah lay, mouth gaping open, at Eric's body after the ape shot him in the head with the blaster. All Sarah could hear was the electric zapping noise playing in her head repeatedly. Gathering her bearings, she scrambled to her feet and was halted by the ape speaking.

      "Give me a reason to do it, and I swear I will."

      Sarah's eyes glanced back at Eric, slumped on the ground. "He'll live. Humans robbed me of my home and family, and I'm left with nothing. If I had my way, he wouldn't wake up again, but to me right now, one thousand credits is a lot of money."

      "What do you want?" Sarah asked, wondering how Eric could survive a blaster bolt to the brain.

      "For you and your friend here to come with me to Corneria. I have a bounty to collect. And if you refuse to come, then neither of you are going to see tomorrow."

      Sarah took another look at Eric, slumped on the ground. Standing up and hanging her head, she kicked Beamstriker towards the ape.

      "I knew you'd understand."

      The ape had Sarah hoist Eric up and brought them to a small, privately-owned hangar a block and a half away from the conflict. A small, personal-transport ship was docked in one of the hangars. A winter wolf waited by the ship as the ape unceremoniously shoved Eric and Sarah into the transport.

      "So who are these, Dom?"

      "I found them by Barry's. They were found outside the Bazaar with these." He held up Murasma and Beamstriker.

      "Armed, huh? What'd you going to do with them?"

      "Take them to Pepper and collect our bounty. Then stick around; the General pays well."

      They sat Sarah down as she took stock of her surroundings. The ship was small; she just saw a large door with "Control Room," a room marked "Armory," and four doors. The small room she was in had the standard small-airlock, two small sofas, a coffee table and a TV, with the table welded to the floor. The ape, Dom, handcuffed Eric and Sarah to the table and went into the Control Room. The wolf came in shortly afterwards.

      "So, what's going on?"

      The wolf introduced himself. "I'm Gregory, but the others call me Greg. The ape is Dominic, and he's a big grouch but is handy in a fight. Two others who aren't in this room are Aaron, a boar pilot and tactition who I've been buds with from the start, and Dave, a chameleon with a smattering in black ops.

      "So what do you want with me?" Sarah asked.

      "Well… you could say we're bounty hunters. We were kind of on the scene for a while, getting small jobs every now and then, but then your kind showed up…

      "Ever since me and my friend Eric showed up, it seems that there's been a stigma toward our race…"

      "It kind of is like that. Lylat is being invaded, and it isn't by Venom this time. We've seen your kind, and it's always for bad."

      "Not all humans are the same, Greg…" Sarah said softly.

      "I'd like to believe you. But I can't. We'll see what Pepper says."

      And he returned to one of the rooms in the back without another word.

Up in the cockpit…

      While Aaron was starting the engine, Dom looked out the opaque airshield. "Do you think the humans are going to be up to something?" Dom asked.

      Aaron looked his way from flipping various switches. "Personally, I don't think so, but we still need to get them to Corneria before we can pass judgement."

      "It was peculiar…" Dom mused. "These humans pictures were actually on one of those posters. The ones asking everyone to bring humans in?"

      "Yeah…" Aaron responded. The ship started to fly upwards.

      "It means that either they were in prison, unlikely, given that the pictures weren't standard-issue prison pictures, they look too young for standard prison, and their garb… or…"

      They were getting higher into the atmosphere now. Far below, they could see a large explosion occurring in the Cloudpeak Mountains a ways away. Aaron squinted at it as Dom finished his sentence.

      "…or they were here before…"

      In his cabin, Greg smiled.

It took nearly seven hours, but the ship finally slowed down and stopped. None of the crewmembers gave the humans a second look or even any conversation, although Greg and Aaron stopped by the table twice to give them meals. It was strange… The ones she had seen had graying hair, as if they were getting on in years. Not too late to be starting a bounty-hunting career, she supposed.

Eric was still unconscious, but as the ship slowed down slightly, indicating handcuffs, he started to stir a little.

"Well, we're here. You two ready to go?" Greg came in with a singsong stride and a cheerful voice as if he was about to head into the best amusement park in town. Pulling out a small key, he unlocked the handcuffs and hoisted Eric up.

"Aren't you going to use some kind of restraining device or something?" Sarah asked suspiciously, noticing the non-violence utilized by Greg and Dave.

"Not unless you do something. Then I'll sic Dom and Dave on you." Greg said with a slight grin. Sarah shuddered.

Dave opened the door of the ship and the sight of what Sarah would later learn to be Kivan, a small urban city near Corneria's equator, laid itself before Sarah's eyes. Corneria seemed largely untouched by whatever calamity befell Dinosaur Planet. The sky was still blue and the clouds weren't as abundant, and things weren't on fire. It certainly wasn't pristine, and there were a few windows broken here and there, or the sign of a small struggle, but nothing like the ransacking of Dinosaur Planet.

      Sarah looked around a bit. "Greg, know that I take this as a good thing, but how come this place hasn't been hit as hard as Dinosaur Planet? If these guys are such a threat, wouldn't Corneria be a prime target?"

      Greg looked at her. "Well, I can tell you that this is a minor case of damage here, and that Dinosaur Planet, among Aquas, and Titania, have been the ones most closely attacked among Lylat. As for why, I wouldn't be allowed to tell you if I knew."

      Sarah walked in quiet thinking as the others walked with her to a somewhat small building which could pass itself off as the town hall. No, escorted is a better word, Sarah thought. None of them have let me more than eight feet away from them, and Dom hasn't let me out of his sight the entire trip.

      A bulldog met them at the front steps. "Here to collect on the bounty?" He asked.

      "Yes. I think Pepper might also want to ask this one some questions." Greg said. Something about the way his eyes sparkled…

      "And the male?" The bulldog asked.

      "I don't know what else to do with him, he'll be out for at least another hour," Dom said sulkily.

"Eh, put him in a cell, I guess, but make him comfy." Greg said.

      "Make him comfy?" Dom said angrily. "Are you insane?"

      "Stay calm, Dom," Aaron said meekly.

      "A cell?!" Sarah shrieked. "Why?!?"

      "Don't worry, Sarah," Greg said, eyes closed and slightly smiling. The others developed outward gazes. "If your story checks out, both you and him will be alright."

      With that they dragged Eric off and escorted Sarah inside.

      Vixy was preoccupied. "How did he know your name?"

      Eric woke up with a splitting headache. He experienced migraine headaches before, but this one felt like having a migraine headache at the exact moment a hangover would kick in.

      In a short while, the dull throbbing eased from apocalyptic to merely torturous, and Eric could actually see what was in his cell. It seemed pretty roomy, and the only thing that seemed out of place was that a semi-quality padded chair seemed to be added in what was otherwise a dirty and poorly maintained room.

      Eric checked his possessions. He had nothing but the clothes on his back, so an escape would have to be improvised. He checked the trashcan for anything of value but was merely rewarded with soiled hands.

      He went to wash his hands when he heard a voice: "Another human? Where'd you come from?"

      "What the-?!" James said, startled. Eric turned his head toward the voice. A man, human, was three cells down and had taken notice of Eric. He stood roughly six feet, maybe slightly smaller with bright red hair. He seemed fair-complexioned, but further detail was not possible at the distance between their cells. "Uh… not necessarily… who the hell are you?"

      With an irked expression, the man responded. "I'm Chaykin. Jack Chaykin."