Hey you all!
Ah, finally I wrote this chapter, I thought I was ready with it a million times but then had to write a line here and a whole new paragraph there... Writing is a never-ending process. And at some point, you just have to let it go and let it be and just upload it for all the world to see... Maybe it flies, maybe it falls down on the ground and dies, but at least you tried your best. Well, I still hope you guys enjoy the chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! Last time we were visiting the Camp for the first time... and now, we're back in the humans' basecamp!
Well, without much further ado... I hope you guys like it and please write a review after you're done reading, it means a much to me to know that there are still people out there :)
Peace,
SpaceFlora
The Story of Rebellion and Hope
15.
Charley let out a sigh while sitting on the folding chair. She had her arms crossed while tapping her fingers a little restlessly. Her glance went around the facilities. The place was a mess. It looked like a dump. Stuff fallen off the shelves and scattered all over, crates broken and flooding their insides on the floor. The folders, maps, sample boxes, meal pouches, chords, tools, and the very expensive technical equipment lying here and there. It wasn't that bright anymore either as only half of the lamps worked after the weird earthquake that had taken place that still had remained a mystery to the humans. Charley blinked at this thought. Well, it hadn't been an earthquake but a marsquake to be exact. She carefully stretched her neck from left to right while thinking. She remembered the bullets shot outside…Two shots in the midst of the chaos that had taken place inside the tent and just a little while ago they heard a third shot from outside. What the hell was happening out there? Has someone died? Or something? Were there more aliens waiting outside? But the only thing she could hear at the moment was the wind picking up and shaking the tent fabric.
Her look slowly traveled to each and every crew member that was now either sitting on the floor, on the folding chairs they've found from the piles of debris, or standing and leaning on the still-standing bigger shelve units. Everyone quiet. Quiet except for the small sniffing sound that could be heard from where Sophia was still sitting on the very same spot she previously had slumped onto. The red-headed physicist wasn't crying anymore but the tears had left a shiny trail on her cheeks and the nose was still running and she wiped it every once in a while with a handkerchief. Poor thing.
Charley turned her green eyes to Noah who was standing the furthest away from her, his posture tired but still alert, his eyes glued to this tall "boss alien" that was currently going through some papers he had found, every once and a while folding a piece of paper into his red camo vest's pocket and the rest of the papers he threw back on the floor, in a rather nonchalant way. Charley furrowed her brow. This was so absurd that it had passed the idea of a weird and out-of-this-world experience. But here they all were, relatively calm now that the dust had settled...Humans truly were masters in adaptation. But maybe they all had needed this time to sit and just breathe, after what had been a very action-packed day full of Earth-shattering new information. Yeah, no wonder she felt a headache creeping in. They had worked long days even before the dramatic turn of events and now as the late afternoon was slowly turning to an evening, they'd been awake close to twenty hours. Meaning: sleep would be a great thing right now. But sleep was something they presumably won't be getting any time soon.
Yet it was all very intriguing to her. Hell, she had never been this scared in her life but yet, the enthusiasm was bubbling inside of her. Here it stood: an over six-foot-tall alien. A Martian. In their basecamp. To think all the things they could learn from these creatures… And she was sure these aliens had to be more advanced civilization than the folks back on Earth, they had to be in order to live on this dead planet. She had seen the two motorcycles up on that dune when they first had bumped into these aliens… They really were driving motorcycles. Like, how insanely cool was that?! So cool, in fact, that she hardly could sit still as she felt her fingers itching to get to play with Martian screws and bolts, and oh man, the technology they must have here... Yes, they all acted differently in dangerous situations and her mind had shifted from scared to death to deadly curious. People. Never knew what was good for them. But she would have been more delighted and enthusiastic to dig into the alien technology if it were only those motorcycles they'd found, but as there were now actual living extraterrestrials in the picture, she stayed put and silent. Yes, she was deadly curious but she really didn't want to die...
The auburn-haired mechanic cleared her throat as she thought that this was maybe not the time to think about alien technology but maybe she should be thinking about how the crew could save their lives, to come out of this predicament in one piece and preferably alive... Because it seemed that they were held as some kind of captives in their own basecamp. Charley's eyes darted on the tall tan-furred male whose guns were currently safely in the leg holsters. As she moved her eyes on the female, however, she noticed that the ginger-furred alien was sitting on the kitchen table, in a rather lazy way, chewing some sort of gum and holding the gun she had snatched from Zack in the midst of the chaos. The female had her own guns tucked in the leg holsters as well but seemingly preferred to hold the space crew's gun, like it was some kind of pillage. Charley saw the female was not pointing the gun towards the humans as the male had told her there was no need...but she still held the gun in her hand while observing the crew, ready to pull the trigger anyway if circumstances needed it. As Charley was staring at the ginger-furred female she suddenly met her eyes, big blue round eyes that had so intense look Charley quickly turned her look away. Stop staring at them, for Christ's sake! Don't give them any reason to open fire… But it was kind of hard not to stare at the most important discovery in human history. So hard.
Charley felt her body ache and her brain so overloaded it threatened to die out, shut down like their computers. She gave one of the monitors a look that they'd used to send video messages back to their HQ on Earth. Surely they've come to notice by now that they didn't receive any data, any messages through… What were they thinking? Maybe they were blaming the bad signals...Maybe they thought they were having technical difficulties. Well, whatever the guys back on Earth were thinking, weren't going to help them. Even if they would know they were in trouble, they wouldn't be able to get to Mars in another nine months, and that was optimistic since the shuttle to do so was still in the making and wasn't even ready to launch and wouldn't be in any months soon… And even if the Space Institute knew everything these nine astronauts knew now… Would they still be coming after them to try to help them, to rescue them? In all honesty, if the humans learned that there was life on Mars but that life was hostile, and apparently owned an Army… Maybe in that case the people would just close their eyes and wish that they had never even landed on Moon. What could they do anyway? If facing an alien breed that carried guns...Who would in their right minds send more astronauts to the hostile planet to get nine puny scientists back home…Charley thought the answer was simple. They were alone. The only human beings stranded on the fourth planet from the Sun. They were also the only human beings who now held the answer to the most important question ever: Are we the only living entity in this great Universe? Her father had always said to her when she was small, that she would achieve great things... But this was surely above all expectations even her dad had had on his mind...
There was also a chance that if the fellow humans never heard from this space crew ever again… They might think some technical error had occurred that eventually had killed them all. And they would still want to come here, and maybe they'd get captured too. As for now, they had no way to warn them about what was waiting for the ever-curious human mind that wanted to explore the Universe. Charley thought about their families and when they'd be given the bad news... She felt sorrowful. Their families would never know what had happened to them.
The chair squeaked a little under Charley as she swayed solemnly and that made the big tan male's ears twitch and turn slightly to her way but then bounce back to their place as there had not been any alarming sounds while looking at potentially interesting papers and stuff. Charley gave Eve a look who was staring at these big creatures her mouth slightly agape. The blonde biologist had thought to examine the vegetable growth inside their little laboratories, to figure out how in the future they could grow food on Mars… and now this biologist had a living breathing six-foot tall furry aliens right under her nose from which she only needed a small hair example to throw under her microscope and catapult her into the history books as the greatest discoverers in the science of all time. Charley observed her and wondered what could she be thinking right now...?
Eve gaped at the aliens. Big mice. Big fucking mice. Why on Earth did they resemble mice? Of all the other Earth animals they could resemble… Well, they couldn't be mice per se… Because this was an entirely different planet, the biology must be somehow different here, the evolution couldn't have taken the exact same turns here as it had back home. At least Eve prayed there weren't any gigantic chimpanzees around lurking over the dunes...But from what did these mouse-looking beings evolve? Smaller mice? Okay, to even use the word mouse right now was absurd, these guys were Martians. Mice were rodents living on Earth, they couldn't have anything to do with each other, thus these were not mice… They only resembled these little critters that left little mouse turds inside the kitchen cabinets and chewed holes in the flour bags… But why evolve to resemble a rodent? Eve had to admit that to find out the life on Mars resembled a rodent and not, let's say gooey blob, was actually the most difficult to understand. The gooey blob, that she would have accepted more willingly to be the alien life form populating Mars. Heck, even dolphins would have made more sense. Although there was no water... There was no water and next to zero oxygen on Mars. How on God's name were these creatures alive? What the fuck did they eat on this dead planet? What were they even breathing? Carbon dioxide? That's mad...and impossible.
But the, let's say, mousey looks weren't the most dizzying thing here. The upright posture, walking on two legs, the opposable thumbs, the expressive faces… Rodents or not, these aliens were actually looking so much like humans it was nauseating. They just happened to have a lot more fur, big ears and fur all over their bodies, long tails… and let's not forget the two weird red appendages stuck to their skulls. Of course, they had to have antennae, like for real? That was a hit to her stomach, it was such a corny sci-fi joke it nearly made Eve cry. But at the same time, she felt the incredible urge to touch that red thing. She had never seen anything even closely similar in her life. What would it feel like? Leather? Scales? And the big male had stated that those had something to do with communication? Could they use them to nonverbally communicate with each other? Or maybe they used echolocation like the bats? Ugh, please, stop with the comparisons to the Earth. This is not Earth. This most definitely is not Earth. Also, she had heard them already talk so it wasn't echolocation they used to communicate with each other, it was a real spoken language that had sounded like those meditative nature CDs played backward, weirdly enough.
Eve's eyes danced on the tan-furred male's body, on the muscular arms and legs, the tall tale that slowly moved on the floor next to the alien's combat boots. The male suddenly dropped something off the shelf he was currently investigating and the tail quickly grabbed the falling item and lifted it back to the male, just helping the guy out, who put it back on the shelf. The biologist's eyes got wide open. Prehensile tail! They had prehensile tails just like many New World monkeys in the Atelidae family, or an opossum...Oh, how all this just made her want to vomit.
What the hell was happening on this planet? Who were these aliens and were there other kinds of creatures on this planet? Eve gave the female alien a look who only chewed her gum, her mouth slightly open while observing the humans, keeping guard. The blonde scientist noticed she had been staring at the female's breasts which were tucked inside the tight camo tank top and she quickly turned her look back on the male. They're so human-like… It's like they're humans wearing mouse costumes...Could this just be one gigantic prank…? Was SpaceX fucking with them right now?
Eve slowly studied the male from head to toes again. She observed the male's facial features, and although the eyes stayed as a mystery because of the dark shades...Eve had to admit, this one was not a bad looking for an alien... and that's as far as she let her thoughts run as she quickly cleared her throat and looked around afraid her crewmates could suddenly hear her freely running thoughts. But of course, no one could read her mind and she mentally kicked herself. Not bad looking for an alien? Fucking hell, girl! That is a fucking alien, you perv! But although already a little disgusted with herself and her wildly traveling mind, she couldn't help but look at the male alien again, study every move he made, the visible movement of the back muscles under the vest, the way he shifted his weight to the other leg,...She let her look slowly move to his abdomen which again was covered by a tank top but she could see the shapes around his presumable naval area... Geez whiz he's ripped...Her look finally stopped on the male's crotch area, which was hidden from the views under the camo pants. Wonder if their reproductive organs look anything like the humans' have…The biologist innocently thought but was instantly startled by her own thoughts again. God, what the hell is your problem? Maybe stop thinking about alien penises and try to focus on...anything else! Eve shook her head and decided it was best she closed her eyes, for apparently, they weren't doing her any good right now. This shit really messed up one's head... Maybe she had hit her head in that weird quake... Maybe Jeremiah should give it a look, just in case... Eve peeked to her right where doctor Jeremiah was sitting, on the floor.
Eve tried to capture the man's attention, but quietly as she didn't really know if they were allowed to speak or not. She took a pen from the floor, that was just there with all the other shit and threw the pen towards the doctor who was just looking straight at the aliens, not seeing her. Eve found another pen and threw that but miraculously missed again even if Jeremiah wasn't even that far. Not discouraged by her previous misses, she looked around and found a Thermo mug and was to throw that but decided not to since her aim apparently was not good and she didn't want to hit the man on his head and accidentally kill him. No, Jeremiah was to her mind a very important person to keep alive. She felt a pang of martyrism go through her as she thought that in this life-threatening situation, and if it came to that, she would jump to get the bullet for Jeremiah, they needed a doctor more than a biologist. Or a geologist, Eve changed her look on Lucas who sat on the floor, his head wrapped with a bandage, still looking a little out there but then again, to her mind, he always looked like that...
The blonde biologist let out a tired sigh and absent-mindedly threw the Thermo mug a little further away from her but as it happens it actually hit Jeremiah on his leg and he let out a cry of pain that startled everyone and Eve pressed her palms before her mouth and gave the doctor an apologetical look.
"Sorry, sorry,..."
"Hey, blondie!" The ginger-furred alien let out a husky order and it stole everyone's attention.
"Stop throwing shit!" She told Eve, sounding a little annoyed as apparently, Eve's poorly aimed shots had not gone unnoticed by the female.
Jeremiah cleared his throat, rubbing his now sore thigh while guarding these creatures. If these aliens didn't kill them now they surely must have gotten some kind of an infectious disease or virus from them, the doctor thought. Jeremiah shook his head a little. They should've worn protective laboratory gear, all that shit they show the government wearing in movies when meeting the aliens. His mind built up images in his head, recalling the movie E.T., that scene when the government got a whiff of the extraterrestrial being living in that nice little suburban house. The governmental agents had sealed the whole house and worn hazmat suits with SCBAs... And what had they, the well-educated scientists and trained astronauts worn when meeting aliens and bringing the said aliens inside their tent? T-shirts and jogging pants. Jeremiah shook his head again. Who knows what kind of viruses these carried, or poisonous flees for that matter… The doctor thought while looking at the big tan-furred alien.
But were they supposed to just sit here and wait for the aliens to shoot them? Why would they keep them alive? For what purpose? And if there was a purpose Jeremiah was sure it wouldn't be a nice one… He measured the tall tan alien from head to toes. It was nearly a head taller than Jeremiah, and even if the doctor thought himself quite fit his physique did not compete with this alien life form that seemed to be in an extreme fit condition, with next to zero body fat and all muscle. The male alien was standing his back turned to the humans while going through the papers, his posture seemingly relaxed and only demonstrating just how confident the alien was in this situation even if Jeremiah could tell that the humans' existence on this harsh planet was an inconvenience for the aliens. But the creature's somewhat relaxed attitude towards the humans only made the doctor think that this was not the first time these big alien rodents were meeting an alien life form. And for some reason, that thought was not really a soothing one.
Jeremiah was measuring the male alien again with his eyes. Could he take it down? True, the aliens had all the guns… but the humans had the numbers...And anyway, what did they actually have to lose at this point? He at least would not go down without a fight. And he would do anything to not let his kids grow up without a father. Jeremiah cleared his throat and the doctor was practically vibrating with all the freshly built-up adrenaline. He would try or die trying…But this wasn't a solo gig, they were in this together. So he whispered to Zack sitting next to him in the folding chair.
"We have a plan?"
"We could maybe try and take them down before the white one comes back..." Zack whispered back without taking his eyes off the two creatures in the tent. Even if their eyes were steadily watching the aliens, they didn't really notice how the two Martians suddenly pricked their ears when they whispered but Jeremiah and Zack were not sitting too close to the said aliens and thought that it was safe to try and think about a plan.
"I was thinking the same thing. We have to do something before there comes even more of them... The fewer the better..." Jeremiah nodded keeping his voice down.
Zack gave their Captain a look who was standing and leaning against the shelving unit, watching the aliens so calmly he could've been mistaken for queueing in DMV. Like feeling someone watching him, Noah turned to give Zack a glance back and their eyes met and it was as if Noah could read his mind. He showed him a few almost hidden hand signals. The same signals Zack and Noah had used in the Army, in war, while fighting in another country, also filled with sand, remarkably...Far away from home.
So Zack understood these few quite unnoticeable hand signals. Noah was also thinking to take control of their tent again. Without guns. There were nine of them, the chances weren't great but there was a small chance anyway. After that, who knows what'll happen but maybe anything would be better than this feeling of insecurity about what'll happen next and what'll wait for them outside. But if they wanted their chances to stay relatively plausible or even barely on plus, they should act now before the young white alien came back in again… Zack gave their Captain a hand signal back, they were ready...He and Jeremiah. Sophia who was sitting on the floor between Zack and Noah noticed the hand signals from the corner of her eye and she turned her head to see what Zack was doing, and while seeing him signaling Noah she turned her head to the Captain, raising her eyebrow before glancing back to Zack.
"What are you doing?" She whispered but Zack only showed her to shush which only made Sophia more confident that she already knew what these three men were up to.
"No...No, don't try to do anything that'll get you killed!" Her voice was hushed yet alarmed. Zack only showed her to be quiet but when checking on the aliens, they didn't seem to hear or be too interested in them.
"Don't worry." Zack silently mouthed the words at the red-haired physicist who only widened her dark eyes while mouthing the words back.
"Don't worry?" She shook her head in great disbelief. Of course, someone always had to play the hero...Unfortunately, heroes usually got killed and Sophia was sure she didn't want to bury herself or her crewmates on this damn rotating red rock. Not if that could be avoided. What was also unfortunate was the fact that the early death was not optional but inevitable and it only seemed that Destiny had already dealt lousy hand to the humans.
Zack cleared his throat as silently as he could and gave a look around, no one was paying attention to them. He saw the tan-furred alien give the female a small hand signal and said something briefly in their own language that sounded like nonsense to him. And Zack watched as the female alien only plopped her boots on the tent floor while jumping off the table, taking a walk towards the tent door. Maybe she was going outside too…? Most definitely they could attack the tan-furred male if he was alone. And when getting hold of their guns again...They would have a chance. Well, chance, in this case, might not maybe mean shit, but they had to try and survive as long as possible. Maybe they would get saved somehow… Hey, miracles did happen sometimes, right?
Zack turned his look back to Noah and showed him quickly that they should attack now, sooner than later was definitely the best option here. Noah nodded back and shifted a little in his place, his almost serene look turned to more anxious and ready...
Noah observed the tall tan male who still had his back turned to them while lifting things off the floor and dropping them back when it failed to keep his interest, looking clueless about their plan. The Captain gave a quick look at the tent door and it seemed that the female had indeed left the tent temporarily. Noah turned his head to Zack and Jeremiah and nodded. Now!
But the second the three men sprang into action, the tent door got opened again and their adrenaline-filled bodies got slapped in the face as the three of them all froze in their places, their freshly gained confidence melting into a puddle as their eyes got bigger and wider while regarding the giant that had entered the tent, barely fitting through the tent door and suddenly making the tent feel a lot smaller. The sheer size of this Martian Giant made the three men take a hasty step back, even if there were obstacles behind them, and Zack tripped and fell on his behind still not losing his gawking stare at this impressive creature, this grey-furred Goliath whose red antennae actually brushed the tent ceiling. This entrance had not gone unnoticed by the rest of the humans either as all the others had awakened from their little time out-zones and now they had dropped their jaws as well while staring at this big male Martian who started his slow but determined walk towards the space crew and the humans inhaled together loudly like they all were to hold their breath, the sound echoing in the tent.
This comical noise made finally the tan-furred male stop what he was doing and first gave the humans a little weird look before turning to the latest addition to the tent.
"Hey, bro. Meet the gang..."
The grey giant gave Throttle a quick look back before his red eyes were back on the humans, observing them.
"Harley told me there was a problem?" The giant's deep voice boomed but he didn't change his look from the Earthlings, the eyes quickly going through each member of the crew before stopping on the three men he had seen in action, ready to attack his bro from behind like good cowards. He narrowed his eyes a little and it worked as a threat as the three men took a step back again, Zack moving backward while still sitting on the floor.
The tan-furred male who just happened to lose the title of "the tall male" in humans' minds nodded, not concerned looking but turning to the humans as well.
"Well...it seems that we were about to have a mutiny in here..."
The humans all gave Throttle a little questioning look, half of them not really knowing what the alien was talking about but still shaking their heads vigorously, ensuring they had not been having any such thoughts occupying their heads.
Throttle stopped his traveling look on Noah who only swallowed but tried his hardest not to seem too afraid of this look that burnt through those dark lenses.
"Just for your information… Nothing stays a secret with these..." The tan male squeezed the leaf of his big ear and the shiny earring that was dangling from it chinked a little.
Noah shared a quick look with Zack and Jeremiah who now all realized that the aliens had heard them whisper all along…
"I know, it's annoying." Throttle only mused though not looking too amused. He then turned to the grey Goliath who met his gaze with a small shrug, like not really knowing what was it that the tan male wanted him to do.
"Just thought to remind them to play nice..." Throttle let out a small chuckle while seeing the effect Modo had on the humans by only standing there, his brawny arms crossed over his wide chest, not trying to be scary but his confident posture seemed to do the trick anyway.
"We will. Play nice." Noah stated but Throttle didn't pay attention to him anymore.
Modo studied the crew of humans one by one as he was taking in the first impressions, every little bit of information that could turn out handy in the future. Soldier's mind worked like that, you had to evaluate the situation as you might only have little time to do that before the shit hits the fan so to speak. His garnet-red eyes first scanned the humans from head to toes in search of possible guns underneath their clothes as he wasn't really aware of what had already been taken care of inside the tent while he had been outside keeping guard and even if he was quite sure the humans didn't carry weapons at this moment anymore, it was still this learned thing he did first while meeting strangers. While studying the humans who were all trying to avoid eye contact with him, his own eyes lingered a moment on the two women, the blonde one and the auburn-haired one before his ears captured something and his look traveled to the two beanpole longhairs but when searching the source of this weird faint clattering noise he squinted his eyes to spot a red-haired figure, a woman judging by her scent, hiding behind the two long dudes, and the clattering sound must have been her teeth hitting together while she was quivering in fear, trying to make herself as unnoticeable as possible. Modo visibly relaxed his muscles and made an audible exhale before turning his head to Throttle again.
"Guess the crisis was averted...These ain't looking like they're planning on whacking us no time soon..." His baritone voice rambled as he scratched his neck, and as Noah had his ever-attentive eyes on the giant, the Captain saw how the big burly alien took a small step back himself like not wanting to ominously loom over the humans and scare them. While doing so, the grey giant gave a small glance in Sophia's direction who was still hiding behind Isaac and Dylan, very adamant not to even look at the grey-furred alien.
"We were not planning to..." Noah wanted to step in again and maybe clear something here but Throttle cut him off simply by lifting his index finger.
"And for future records: don't ever lie to me."
Noah kept his mouth shut. Okay, fair enough. They had been planning to do something but what, Noah wasn't too sure about it anymore. He turned his eyes back on the massive creature that was eyeing them while the tan-furred continued his search of nothing particular around the tent. Noah studied the big-framed mouse. Even if there was a little suspicion and alertness written on the giant's face, he mainly seemed...curious.
Harley came inside the tent and scratched her head underneath her ginger hair, giving the crowd inside a nonchalant look.
"Oh. We're all still alive here." She didn't sound that she had been worrying much about it though. She looked around the messy tent and while landing her eyes on something she was searching for, she made a beeline to this bigger item that looked like a toolbox.
Noah followed her with his look before his eyes darted back on the giant and he met his garnet-red eyes like the alien had been staring at him the whole time, observing his eyes' movements. Noah swallowed but the grey one surprised him with his question.
"Ya guys eaten?"
Noah darted his eyes on his crewmembers who all tried really hard not to look at this tall creature who changed his look to Throttle who in his turn gave Modo a little questioning frown, his brow rising behind the shades. The grey Martian waited for an answer he apparently didn't get around here and his facial features suddenly curled up into a lopsided smile.
"C'mon, now, bro, ya keepin' the guests hungry?"
"Ya call them guests now?" Throttle asked, not sounding that surprised though.
Modo's face gathered a warmer expression while regarding the humans who all had now raised their eyes to gawk at him again but quickly averting their gazes, like the giant's look could make them turn to stone…Not really feeling the warmth of his smile while they were focusing more on his other physical attributes.
"My Mommah always says there are no enemies around the dinner table." The grey Goliath declared.
"Well, not trying to contradict the Holy Words but I'm not sure that applies on every occasion...Also not sure these guys are ready to bond over some rancid saber squid meet..." Throttle muttered referring to the saber squid Jerky they always packed for their trips. Modo snorted while letting his eyes wander on the humans again, who all turned their eyes away again, like in a choreographed play.
"What's rancid? There's a whole Squiddie corpse waiting outside. Ya can't get fresher than that!"
"We're on a mission, not on MasterChef Mars..." Throttle sounded a little bored or even a bit annoyed, which didn't startle Modo who didn't seem to be too on board with Throttle's view still as he turned his eyes on the red-headed woman again, who he could only see a glimpse of shaking behind the tall dude's back. Throttle studied Modo a second before opening his mouth again but this time he spoke in Martian dialect, leaving the humans clueless about what they were talking about.
"They landed here, they're not guests, they're intruders. We don't throw a feast for intruders."
Modo observed silently the quivering figure behind the crew, pondering. He then changed to their own language, too, pointing the words at Throttle but keeping his look on the humans.
"So, you want to have starving women on your hands?"
Throttle followed Modo's gaze and saw the red-headed woman, or what could be seen of her and he let out a sigh while throwing Modo a look back, already understanding what made the Big Fella' exaggerate his words. Kids and females were the only things that made Modo on Throttle's opinion a little irrational at times.
"They look starving to you?" Throttle's guttural voice disputed.
"Hey, Ah'm not the judge of that. All Ah know is that no one deserves to feel hunger." Modo's low yet resonant voice answered.
The Captain of the space crew was listening to these two having a little heated conversation, although not understanding what they were saying. To him, it seemed that their bond was a bit different than with the other two aliens, these seemed to be comfortable enough to maybe question each other. Noah thought this meant that the two had known each other longer and as he was studying both of these tall males, he could see that they both had more scars and bruises than the other two aliens, and their clothes looked more ragged like these two had seen more...whatever drama was happening on this planet. Noah darted his eyes on the guns the grey tall one had on his leg holsters. Even when stepping inside the tent thinking there had been trouble, the grey alien had not taken out his weapons, which Noah was very grateful for, even if he thought the reason was, judging how the big male carried himself, that the giant knew he could take care of trouble without the guns. But still, while regarding the giant...There was something in his eyes that told the Captain he wasn't going to beat them into pulp anytime soon. There was actually kindness shining through his red eyes, even behind the little reserved looks the alien threw at them once and a while. This one did not have the same kind of poker face as the "boss male"...This one was way easier to read.
Harley, who had rummaged the toolbox and gathered everything she needed on her, had heard their little conversation and she now was standing behind them while turning her look to whoever was having his turn to speak, looking a little annoyed by the males.
"Hey, either feed them or kill them!" She let out, feeling a little anxious, ready to hit the road as soon as she can...She did not need any male drama to prolong their mission here.
"Those are our options?" Modo looked a little confused and Throttle sighed heavily and waved his hand, leaving himself out of this debate while going back to look at things and papers. He actually couldn't care less whether the humans ate or not.
Modo looked around him but everything looked a little sad around the tent: destroyed, broken, or just buried underneath the junk that littered the floor. He startled the humans by changing into a language they knew again while reframing his previous question.
"You're hungry?"
He was met with silence again before they all heard a voice somewhere.
"Yeah, I could eat..."
Everyone turned their attention on Lucas who looked back at his crewmembers who were all looking back at him in disbelief like they had all agreed on not talking to the aliens.
"What? I'm hungry! When was the last time we ate?!" Lucas went on defense.
"You're always hungry! Don't think I don't know who is the one who's been snacking away already half of our Mars bars..." Eve hissed back but suddenly remembered the situation and cleared her throat while giving a quick glance at the aliens who looked a little clueless about what the heck were Mars bars.
"A little inside joke..." The blonde woman muttered not willing to open the concept about chocolate bars for the aliens present but still giving Lucas a look under her brows who just shrugged his shoulders back not knowing what was the big deal here.
The big grey-furred male made a low snicker after listening to the two and he suddenly made his way to the tent door, out of sight for a second and the ones left inside the tent could soon hear shouting outside.
"Vin! Make a fire!"
"Fuck yeah! We burn the tent?!" Vinnie's boisterous sound had ear-splitting vocals even through the tent fabric.
"Not the tent! Build a campfire!"
"For what?!"
"We eat!"
"What? We camp here now?! Yo, I'm not building shit!"
"Hey, it's your fault we're in this mess in the first place! The least ya could do is to help us gettin' some grub!"
"What? It ain't my fault!"
"Without your lil' adventure we could be visitin' our families right now!"
"Yeah, well you're welcome!"
"That was not a compliment! Ah want to visit home!"
"Oh yeah, I forgot that some of us are mama's boys who want to AAAUTSCH..! Hey, that hurt, man!"
"Ouch! That's my knee!"
"Yeah, well that's what ya get when you're messin' with the baddest mam... Auch! Hey, faul play, you overgrown oaf!"
"Ya should've eaten more porridge when ya were growin' up so ya would have grown past the garden gnomes!"
"Well, to me it looks like ya ate the whole fucking village! And FYI this body is normal! And I'm still growing! Whereas that...that ain't normal!"
Harley and Throttle shared looks and Throttle threw her a "see-what-I-have-to-tolerate-on-a-daily-basis"-look and the ginger-furred female flung the screwdriver she had found and let out a deep sigh.
"I'm on it..."
"Thanks..." Throttle voiced.
After Harley disappeared outside, Throttle stood there in front of the space crew, looking straight at them while they began to hear more voices outside.
"Hey! Cut it out you two!"
"Oh, hey, babe...! Autsch! Hey, we didn't agree on weapons, man...!"
"Get up! Both of you! Sandbox playtime is over!"
"Hey, why ya shoutin' at me! Ah didn't start this!"
"Oh, don't go raisin' your voice on me, soldier! Go inside! And you...!"
"He-heyyy, rough manners, babe... Wanna make it dirty, too? Autsch! Man, a simple no would do..."
"Oh, right, you guys wouldn't know what "no" means even if it would be spelled on a piece of paper and shoved down your damn throats! Build that campfire!"
Everyone had been listening silently and also a little confused about the conflict happening outside but the humans got startled as the tent door got opened in a way that could only mean the big male entering the tent was in a bad mood and the humans all swallowed in unison.
The grey male dusted his fur while making red-hued dust clouds around him, shaking his head and shooting a glare at Throttle.
"Do the Fighters have a complaint committee where we can write a letter on that brat...?"
"I don't think Stoker would be too pleased to hear you've been snitching on his beloved mechanic..." Throttle joked, knowing full well his bro wasn't referring to Harley. Modo quit dusting his fur and gave Throttle a look that meant that he wasn't in the mood for lame jokes and especially ones that were threatening to cross the line of appropriate behavior in his mind. Throttle chuckled and patted the big male on his shoulder.
"You'll calm down when you get some food in you...You both will. There are no enemies around the dinner table, remember?" Throttle used his know-it-all tone and Modo frowned when hearing his bro using his own Mommah's words against him.
Throttle then turned to the humans and he continued with his hoarse voice.
"But what do we do with you?"
Noah gave him a look under his brow but only met his own reflection from those dark lenses.
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And...that was it :)
Hope you guys liked it :)
I'm already writing the next one since the story is slowly picking up pace...and yeah,
there are questions needing some answers like you dear readers have already pointed out like...will the humans be able to breathe on Mars and other very "easy questions to answer" I have to deal with as a writer XD My computer's search history is looking very weird thanks to this story XD
But, yeah...
Please leave a comment, I am very grateful of every review :)
Until next time!