Here's the new chapter! I really enjoyed writing this and I had the revelation that I'm 41 parts/chapters into this thing and WOWIE that's a lot. I'm over 75,000 words and 236 pages into this according to Microsoft Word! I hit a milestone!

Part 41: Retrieval

Dib set a hand on Zim's shoulder. He shook it and Zim snapped his attention away from the scientists prodding at his ship with what was essentially a glorified pole. Dib smiled weakly at him.

"We can still get it back. It's not operational, so they can't fly it. It's alien tech, so they can't fix it." Dib explained. "They're unlikely to risk moving it just yet, because all of them coming up the mountain would have been a little suspicious already. They're either moving it by morning or they're moving it in parts later."

Zim only stared at him. Both knew Dib was right; Zim didn't have to respond. But, Dib would have felt better knowing Zim was focusing on that instead of the rage of his ship being confiscated.

"Zim?"

"…Zim could blow them up-"

"NO."

"They took my ship!"

"You're the one who crashed the ship!" Dib snapped back. "Besides, you let GIR have access to it. It was bound to wind up crashed anyway."

"…No one LETS Gir have access, they simply try in vain to stop him." Zim said, his face completely straight. Dib stared at him, unimpressed and exasperated. "Zim left important blueprints on that ship's interface; and will not allow any human other than Dib-andGazifshethreatensme-to touch it!"

"And I love that," Dib said, setting his hand on Zim's shoulder. He paused before shaking Zim like the alien had lost his mind. He whispered frantically. "BUT THIS IS THE GOVERNMENT AND THE GOVERNMENT DOESN'T LIKE BEING BLOWN UP!"

Zim had to regain his balance once Dib had stopped shaking him—only after Dib realized Zim couldn't rightfully answer when he was being shaken so violently. Zim shoved him off, grasping Dib's jacket to keep him from falling. He was growling more than speaking when he answered.

"AND I HAVE A SHIP TO RETRIEVE."

Dib grabbed at Zim's wrist, pulling himself up into a better sitting position. He bobbed his hand slowly. A, to his surprise, universal sign of 'calm down'. That's his idea of it, given Zim's antennae started to go back to a normal angle. He was getting… somewhere.

"I know. I know that. I'm just saying, let's think this through. Doesn't it have a self-defense function?"

"Of course, it does. It's Irken technology." Zim says. He looks over at the ship, an antennae twitching. "Most functions are down; but the back up defense should be operational…"

"Okay, that's good!" Dib says excitedly. "We can work with that! What does it do?"

"Depends on the type of attack," Zim says. He looked back and his antenna flattened. "Like that moron."

Dib looked over. One of the scientists was approaching the ship, with what looked like some sort of cattle prod. He looked back at his colleagues and they exchanged a sequence of hand gestures. Dib recognized them from his father's own labs. A prep and go conversation. The scientist approached the ship and poked one of the broken engines. Nothing but a spark off the metal. He raised the prod again, poking the main pod's glass door. The prod sparked violently. A massive wave of energy shot out of the ship. All the surrounding machinery and computers sparked and blew their fuses. A couple burst.

Dib turned to Zim, seeing a creeping smile forming on the Irken's face. Dib pinched his brow.

"What was that?" he asked.

"An EMP blast. Their equipment is completely fried." Zim said joyfully.

"You're too happy about that. But; it does buy us some time." Dib says. He shook Zim's shoulder, pointing to the ground. "Let's go to the truck."

Zim lowered them down to half he height of the tree. He pulled Dib up, hooking his arms under Dib's, and navigated the trees to bring them over the ground towards the truck. He dropped Dib into the back, lowering himself at the passenger side while Dib hopped out. Zim opened the truck door and his PAK produced the touch screen device. Dib sat in the driver's side.

"What are you doing?"

"Remote access. I'm activating its defense mode," Zim says. Dib clicked his tongue and Zim glanced up at him. "You want them to get Irken technology?"

"Well, no-"

"Precisely."

"Is it going to kill anyone?" Dib asks. Zim shrugs. "That's not very comfort-"

An explosion from the direction of the ship rocked the truck a little. Dib grabbed at the door and the dashboard to steady himself. Zim righted the truck, not bothering to take his eyes off the screen. He climbed into the seat and smacked the dashboard.

"Might want to start driving back to the base, now. They might run this way." He says. Dib didn't question it, yet, and started a U-turn. He could hear other explosions in the distance as they drove away. He looked in the rearview mirror, catching sight of what looked like lasers cresting over the trees in wide arcs. He sighed.

"Zim, what is that?"

"The defense system," Zim says. He put the touch screen back into his PAK. "Unfortunately, I can't delete any of the files remotely. But, I have a plan."

"Oh, do you? You weren't just going to kill them all and we'd steal it over their corpses?" Dib asked, his voice full of sarcasm and a dark tone.

"Well… yes. Zim thought of that. But, it would have upset you." Zim says. Dib was silent. He started to smile. Zim eyed him. "WHAT?"

"You're adorable sometimes." Dib says. Zim whacks him on the arm. "OW!"

"I am not!" Zim says. Dib started to laugh.

"YES, you are!"

"Liar!"

"Truther!"

Zim was throwing pieces of machinery around his base, grumbling to himself as he did. Dib was taking the time to tour the piles of scrap for something interesting. He had his own projects he was working on, after all. He was fairly certain Zim wouldn't care about scrap parts; but, Dib was piling them on a table off to the side for future permission just to be safe. He couldn't tell what was potentially for a weapon and what wasn't, after all.

Zim kicked the door to the room he'd been in open, the legs of his PAK carrying several bits of scrap in a bag for each limb. They extended, setting the bags on the table next to Dib. Dib shrunk away a little from the legs until they'd retracted. Zim kicked piles of things away and went into the next room. Dib tapped his foot until finally he couldn't resist.

"Zim, what are you DOING?"

"Finding parts to build a dummy ship." Zim calls out. A leg put another bag onto the table. This one Dib recognized, the shell coverings for the Cruiser's engines. If he'd just waited a few more seconds to ask…

"You're building a… did you say dummy ship? Like a Trojan Horse?"

"Similar. But; this won't have anything inside it." Zim says. He came to the table, throwing the last of the pieces onto it. He pulled it, stretching the table into segments for a larger workspace. He jumped up onto the table, inspecting the pieces and picking up bits to start. Dib lounged on the side, taking up one of the two chairs.

"What's your plan to swap them out?"

"Remember when Gaz and I had our battle in your guts?" Zim asked.

"…Don't remind me, but yes."

"The device used to shrink that ship- I still have it. So, the plan was to use it on this dummy ship, shortening the time to regrow, and swapping them out. A simple smoke grenade or two would allow ample time to grab my ship and make the switch."

"How? You're going to have to haul it back to the truck somehow."

"Shrinking it, as well, of course." Zim says. He set the part aside, having already assembled a false engine. He started work on the dashboard. Dib looked over all the parts.

"Why do you already have so many spare parts?"

"Gir crashes the ship often." Zim grumbles.

"Speaking of."

"A rave. Unsurprisingly." Zim says. He starts on the second engine. "Zim made many spare parts available because of that robot. Usually, piloting the ship back is still possible. Gir crashes it; but he doesn't enter into combat with it."

"Completely wrecked the piloting controls with that hit you took?" Dib surmises. Zim nodded.

"Therefore… shrinking the ship and rushing back to the truck is the best option." Zim says. He started connecting pieces and Dib was surprised to find it was really starting to look like the ship. Zim had constructed most of it within the minutes they'd started talking.

"Can you build this fast normally?" Dib asks incredulously. Zim barks a laugh at him.

"I'm skipping a lot of vital functions of the ship—this is just a shell. It's taking no time at all." Zim explains. He sets the glass into place and pauses. "Hmm…"

"What?"

"Replicating damage… it can't be done so easily."

"Well, this is just a shell. Put a bomb in it with its own timer. Sync it up with the regrowth and they'll probably buy that it blew up." Dib says. Zim turned to him, proud.

"Where was this ingenuity all your life?" Zim asks teasingly. Dib stretched himself over the table to hit his leg. Zim just scooted further away. To his surprise Dib vaulted onto the table the grabbed him in a headlock. "GAH!"

"I always had it, you jerk!"

"I know, I know!" Zim shouted. Dib let him go, patting him on the PAK.

"Still got it."

Zim shoved him off, connecting more parts. Dib was content to just sit and watch the process. It took Zim another half an hour to complete the dummy ship. He raced off to another part of his base, leaving Dib to examine it. It was almost an exact replica. Barring the fact it was just a show floor piece, effectively, and that it was missing the Irken insignia. Zim came back, pulling Dib off the table, and set up the shrinking device. He put another device in the dummy ship, setting a time to it. Dib grabbed the truck's keys out of his jacket, swinging them in a circle as the ship shrunk before his eyes. As it shrank, he turned to Dib.

"Get ready, we'll have to leave as soon as it's done."

Dib nodded. He was already at the elevator and holding the door open by the time Zim was starting toward him. The ride up the elevator and in the truck was… tense, for him. Zim was carrying a literal, armed bomb with him. The fact Zim was unperturbed by that fact was both comforting and unsettling. He parked in roughly the same spot as before and followed Zim through the trees. They stopped in a similar spot as before. Dib looked over Zim's shoulder.

The entire space had been taped off. The scientists and agents alike looked more apprehensive about going anywhere near the ship. Dib smirked. Zim pulled out the grenades, taking the pins off them and tossing them high into the air. They fell in different places in the clearing, and the panic started. Guns were drawn, the scientists were surrounded by guards, and the ship was left in the open. Dib felt Zim shift and he looked to find him gone.

Dib looked back out into the clearing. He could see a small figure dashing into the fog. A flash of light as Zim shrunk the ship. Some of the agents ran into the fog. Dib gripped the moss on the forest floor. One agent flew past him into the trees. Dib shrank closer to the dirt, scowling. He had been going easy on him. Before he could really process it, there was a second flash of light. Another agent sent screaming through the air and into the tree line. And now, Zim was sprinting towards him through the fog. He grabbed Dib by his jacket and hoisted him in the air, traversing the trees with the PAK's limbs.

"Did you get it?" Dib called.

"Of course!"

Zim dropped him on the truck's hood. Dib heard the sound of the metal bending to his weight and he winced. He could probably buff that out. Maybe. He dropped to the ground and scrambled inside. Zim was already in the passenger seat. Dib turned the key, U-turning—and almost hitting a tree—and racing down the road. His heart was racing. It was exhilarating—but, not the kind of exhilarating that he wanted to ever experience again. Flying was one thing. Risking getting shot by agents trained to double-tap was another thing entirely.

They had been driving for about two minutes when the explosion happened. Dib looked in the rearview to see a giant fireball shooting up through the sky. His mouth was left gaping open and he turned to Zim. Not to his surprise, the Irken was smiling smugly and wide.

"Did you just kill them all?" Dib asked. Zim waved the question off.

"Don't be ridiculous. The trajectory is mostly upward. The dummy-ship, however, is surely almost entirely destroyed. They won't be getting much of anything." Zim says, leaning back in his seat.

"And… where is your ship?" Dib asks. Zim pointed to his PAK.

"In this. It is it in a bag, to keep loose debris from re-growing inside the PAK." Zim says.

Dib nodded. He didn't want to think about the disaster that would have been had Zim not thought of that. Then again, he shouldn't be surprised Zim would think of that, he had effectively just shoved the ship into his life support system.

The ride to Zim's base was mostly silent. Once Dib had parked he cut the engine and popped open his door. He stood on the floor of the cab, peering over the top to assess the damage. It wasn't bad. A minor dent. He could hammer it out. Maybe. Dib slumped back into the seat, shuffling out of Zim's side. Zim had already retrieved the bag with his Cruiser.

"Is it salvageable?" he asked.

"I can hammer it out," Dib said unconvincingly.

"My fault, I should have dropped you further to the right." Zim says. Dib shrugs.

"Abed's done worse. He won't even notice it, he isn't tall enough." Dib says with a chuckle. He followed Zim up to the launch attic. Zim set the Cruiser into the center of the pad and sat back to wait. "How much longer do you have to wait for it to come back to size?"

"About…" Zim looked over to a clock. Dib couldn't read it—it was in Irken—but he did check his phone. Almost 5 am. "Four hours?"

"Oh, that's a while. I'm going to sleep, if that's the case." Dib said. He sighed, setting himself up against the wall. "Thank God there's no school tomorrow."

"You'd've gone," Zim said. Dib smirked. He couldn't deny it.