When the Worms Attack
The sirens were going off.
Laes' eyes blinked open. Everything looked blurry. He blinked again and slowly propped himself up which was a good thing since he was still under his cot and he would have banged his head on the metal-frame if he sat up too quickly.
Everything was red... no it was flashing red... what was going on?
A burst of static came from the speakers. It was loud enough for him to hear it over the sirens. He looked at his computer which had never looked so far away before.
He didn't want to risk leaving the safety of his cot.
At least under here he could pretend he felt safe a little bit.
...But the piece of the hologram device was still sticking out of the machine.
How had the guards not noticed that and questioned him by now...? There's no way they would ever shlerk their duties like that... then... the only thing that could have caused them to overlook that was...
They were dealing with a more urgent problem.
The sirens were a good indication of this.
After hesitating for a little while more, he sucked in a breath and forced himself to move.
He hurried over to the computer and reached for the device.
"Laes..."
Bann's voice broke through the static, surprising him enough to recoil away and nearly fall backwards.
"It's bad... worms... attacking..."
"The guards will take care of it..." Laes spoke, sounding hopeful although he was beginning to have his doubts. "They have shields and stuff they can put up at least..."
"Armada... coming..."
The electrical force field suddenly parted, and one of the guards strode in.
Laes didn't recognize him right away since everything was flashing red.
Then he realized it was Masher. He hadn't seen that guard in a long time... like five months?
The guard had probably been temporarily reassigned somewhere.
This wasn't the time to ask him about it.
"On your feet!" the guard shouted over the wailing siren.
Laes immediately jumped to his feet.
There was an urgency in the guard's voice. What were they planning to do?
He hoped him and his fellow Vortians weren't going to be used as cannon fodder, but his brain wouldn't let go of the idea now that he thought about it.
He was forced to leave the hologram piece behind when he was hustled out of his cell. The guard would have seen him grab it if he tried, and worms or no worms he was sure that would've resulted in a beating.
Besides, Bann could probably do more through the Irken's prison network than he could trapped inside a tiny device.
The hallway was filled with Vortian prisoners. There were four Irken guards in total; all of them brandishing zappy sticks.
Laes didn't recognize two of them... were they new?
His mind started to wander as they were hurried down the hall. The electric barrier that made up most cells dissipated around them. Laes wanted to ask what was going on, but none of the Irkens seemed to be in a question answering mood at the moment... they were never in the mood to answer questions.
Someone grabbed his hand, and he glanced at who was beside him. It was Veena. She was holding his hand.
Cripes! He nearly jerked his hand out of her grasp, but there were too many other Vortians surrounding him and he didn't want to accidentally smack someone in the face.
At least she appeared to be ok. She had a few bruises on her face, but it looked like she hadn't been maimed at all.
"What's going on?" she asked over the sirens and the guards yelling at them to move faster.
"I dunno," Laes quickly answered.
He was sure he was blushing despite the current situation.
"This isn't normal, is it?"
Veena hadn't been in the Irken prison system for very long had she...? He couldn't remember.
"This um... isn't normal... yes," he replied.
He was starting to mumble.
She probably didn't hear him.
They were ushered down a large square opening in the floor. There were several sets of stairs. At some point all of the guards that had been pushing them along fell back. The hatch closed and they were left in darkness.
The sound of the siren could barely be heard.
Everyone was standing shoulder to shoulder, breathing heavily.
Veena's grip on his hand tightened.
Hopefully this wasn't going to be some kind of mass slaughter... why did his brain have to think that? Maybe they were going to be suffocated to death... oh Ganre... was it getting harder to breath in here or was it just him?
Then the tremors started. It felt like an earthquake; the ground was shaking.
People gasped and cried in surprise. Laes wished there was enough room so he could curl up on the floor in a fetal position, but he also didn't want to be suffocated and accidentally crushed to death if people started panicking or falling over.
Instead he drew closer to Veena. At least she was familiar. Sort of. They hadn't really talked much, and now that he thought about it he really didn't know that much about her.
"So um... your family?" Laes questioned.
Talking would probably make being trapped in a dark shaking room less frightening, or at least that was the theory.
"I didn't talk to them even before the invasion," Veena commented. She sounded annoyed. "Can we drop the subject?"
"Yeah, sorry..." he apologized.
She was still holding his hand. It didn't feel like she was going to let go any time soon. And now his face was getting hot again. At least no one would notice since it was pitch black in here.
The other Vortians were starting to whisper among themselves. At least one guy was hyperventilating. Everyone was scared. No one was quite sure what was going on... was this really a worm attack? Did anyone else besides him even know about the worms?
"Vort is under attack..." Darden stated after overhearing the broadcast.
He was composed enough; there was nothing in his body language suggesting he was feeling anything other than calm right now.
This was how he wanted it.
"Do you know the current location of the Armada?" he asked.
"Our range isn't very good," Shloonktapooxis admitted. "So uh... we have no idea."
Of course they didn't know.
Darden rubbed his temples and let out a sigh. He lowered his hand and looked at the floating cone creature. This was the Resisty's current captain... he was starting to wonder why his Tallest had taken this group seriously.
It seemed the Tallest had split the armada into three groups, and one of those groups may have been split into two. It was hard to tell since he hadn't been able to access any information about their formations since crash landing on that jungle planet.
Hopefully one of the main fleets would be doubling back towards Vort. If not, then it would only be a matter of time before Vort was taken offline.
The planet's shields were not as strong as Irk's which had used a combination of Vortian, Irken, and Jacker technology to strengthen their barriers.
Vort could probably hold out against a worm attack for a few days. Hopefully the worms would grow tired and leave before the shield broke.
"How are you feeling about it?" the captain questioned, hovering a bit closer.
This creature had been giving him the benefit of the doubt since he arrived. He wasn't sure if it was just naive or if it had an alternative motive, but either way he'd found himself approaching this alien whenever he had a question to ask.
Darden made a low humming sound as his antennae flattened. "Annoyed," he responded dismissively.
"Why are you annoyed?"
Darden's eyes narrowed at the captain. "Because, I'm stuck here, and Laes is likely getting himself killed as we speak..." he smirked and chuckled quietly to himself. "I wish I knew why I was given such a ridiculous assignment..."
"You said the Tallest asked you to protect him right?" Shloonktapooxis questioned, tilting a bit. Perhaps the alien thing was trying to show its curiosity through movement, but it was difficult to tell.
"That's correct..." Darden responded, crossing his arms as he leaned back against the wall. "I don't know the reason for this... as far as I can tell there is nothing exceptional about Laes."
In fact, Laes had proven himself to be even more cowardly and useless than even he was expecting. He figured the Vortian would have at least had some kind of knowledge the Tallest needed, but no.
Irkens didn't even protect each other most of the time, so it was strange they would order him to protect a non-Irken who was really nothing more than a slave.
Why would his Tallest force him to do this? Was being banished from the Empire not punishment enough?
"It does seem pretty weird," Shloonktapooxis commented, and the captain reeled back when Darden shoved himself away from the wall.
"They have their reasons. I won't question it," Darden decided.
He looked around the large room filled with different kinds of mix-matched technology. They had a working broadcast signal... they even had a very limited but functional force-field system.
"Did your resistance build this?"
"Oh yeah," Shloonktapooxis answered with no hesitation. "But the boss was the one who planned and organized everything."
He paused for a moment, looking thoughtful.
"Actually, the boss built most of the technology himself... we mostly just carved out the room. Well um... those with arms did. But without him the Resisty wouldn't have survived very long... I mean he was the only one who knew how to do things..."
Darden frowned, and his antennae flicked back.
"You call him your boss even though he isn't leading you anymore."
"Yes.. um... well... he started the resistance. He built it, made it what it is... was."
Shloonktapooxis' expression fell.
"Since Drent and I were put in charge not a lot has gone right... I think Drent got a bit desperate when the Meekrob closed off their planet. He wanted the boss back even if he was just building technology because no one else really could do it... without the boss we were just moving from place to place, and we couldn't even do that without the cloaking devices he built."
Darden flicked an antennae forward.
"And you weren't desperate to get him back?"
Shloonktapooxis's smiled, but it seemed sad somehow. "I already said my goodbyes... I don't know if that was the right thing but... the boss told us to let him go... so I did that..."
"Aren't you worried I will give my leaders this information?" Darden questioned.
He was curious why this alien was offering him so much information on Lard Nar.
"Sort of... I mean it's a thought I've had, yeah," Shloonktapooxis admitted, dropping his gaze to the floor. He bit his lip. "But you saved us back there so... well... I'm hoping maybe you're not a bad guy."
"It seems Lard Nar was more important than my leaders realized..." Darden spoke, rubbing his chin as he stood up straighter.
If the Tallest had known, they would have executed Lard Nar right after questioning him.
"Then it's good the Resisty was able to rescue him."
He nearly choked when he realized what he just said.
His programming must have become defective since his banishment... these were never thoughts he would have had before.
"Do you really mean what you said?" Shloonktapooxis asked, and Darden was sure he could here a slight influx in the captain's tone. Was the alien expressing hopefulness?
Darden sighed and folded his arms.
"Yes I mean it," he replied while shifting his stance.
"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it.. however, I am only loyal to the Empire, so entrusting me with your information is not very smart."
"I guess so," Shloonktapooxis agreed.
"You realize after hearing about the worm situation and my assignment being what it is, I will have to leave."
"Yes, of course," he nodded. "You can have your ship back. We uh, we can just use one for now until we come up with something else."
Darden blinked. He was confused by this creature's apparent kindness. There had to be something the captain wanted in return, or maybe this was some kind of trick. It didn't matter though. He would do everything in his power to complete his assignment... even if the assignment was never truly complete.
So much for the prison being safe. He really would have to stay with Laes until the Vortian died of old age or something.
He rubbed his temples.
This was not how he wanted to spend the remainder of his life.
"Thanks," he said. Then he turned and started walking towards the landing dock.
The members of the Resisty watched him depart. There were a few in the room and a few in the hallway. None of them appeared to be hanging around the landing area. He was able to enter this location and board the spittle runner with no resistance at all.
"I thought you would leave when you heard about Vort," Lard Nar commented evenly.
The Vortian was sitting in the driver's seat with a hard to read expression on his face.
Was Lard Nar going to try and stop him...?
Darden looked the Vortian up and down... the former captain was short and weak, but he was also clever and resourceful. He was impressed that this Vortian was able to build an annoying organization from the ground up almost single-highhandedly.
"Laes is in danger," Darden stated.
He squeezed his hands into fists.
"I don't have a choice."
"You chose not to die didn't you?"
That was true... he could have self-destructed when Laes joined with the Resisty, or gotten himself killed after landing on Foodcourtia, or once Laes returned to Vort.
He didn't need to keep protecting the Vortian.
"The only choice I have is how I'm going to die," Darden responded with a scowl. "Now get out of the driver's seat." He waved the Vortian away, but Lard Nar didn't budge.
"I'll drive," Lard Nar insisted, and he turned to start the ship's engines.
"Your involvement isn't necessary," Darden stated, and he reached to grab the Vortian and haul him away from the controls.
Lard Nar flinched as soon as his hand touched his arm. The Vortian was putting up a brave front. In reality the Resisty's former captain was frightened.
Darden removed his hand and scowled again.
"Why are you doing this?" he asked. "I'm sure you recognize how much your fellow rebels appreciate you and want you here."
"I do..." Lard Nar spoke in a low voice. "They risked everything to rescue me, and I'm grateful for that... but I can't be their leader. I know that's what they want, what they expect, but I can't do it anymore."
"How is coming with me going to help exactly?" Darden asked, and he placed a hand on his hip as he stood impatiently waiting for the Vortian to commit to his decision. "Will you be ok with your fellow resistance members possibly following us into hostile territory?"
He added more grimly: "By the time we get there the planet will either be destroyed or surrounded by Irken military vessels."
"The crew won't follow us since they only have one ship," Lard Nar reasoned. "And..." he sighed and ran a hand down his face. "You wouldn't understand this... but my home planet... my people... it's all in danger. Even if I can't do anything, how can I ignore it?"
Darden didn't understand exactly what Lard Nar described, but when he recalled watching one of his Tallest getting attacked, and when he saw his fellow soldiers driving towards their doom... fulfilling their purpose without him... he gave in and sat down in the passenger's seat.
"Fine. You can drive then."
After sitting in silence for the past few hours, Darden decided to switch the channel to the Irken's main broadcasting signal.
Vort had not fallen yet... but it was going to take them roughly three days to travel there. They needed to keep updated on the situation to see if it would even be worth the risk to approach or not.
He was fine with the peace and quiet. There wouldn't be much of that when they arrived at Vort.
Lard Nar didn't seem interested in asking questions which was a nice change of pace.
"When we get there I don't want you to take any unnecessary chances," Darden remarked, and Lard Nar glanced at him briefly before returning his eyes to the monitors.
"I won't," Lard Nar assured him.
Before he could wonder if his question was out of place or not he asked, "why did you assist me on that jungle planet?"
He could feel his face getting hot when he remembered how his stupid slip up ended with him being trapped under a fallen tree. Never had he shown such carelessness before and he hoped he never would again.
"Because I knew you would be useful," Lard Nar replied without hesitation. "Besides, if you ended up being crushed to death Laes would've been upset."
"I killed his... friend or companion or whatever, and nearly killed him, so I doubt he would be as upset as you're thinking." Even so, it was nice to be seen as useful.
There was a long pause. Lard Nar's grip on the controls tightened. "You also saved my life... you rescued me from being eaten by one of those worms... even though your people have done horrible things to mine, and to the Resisty, I couldn't forget you did that."
"The only reason I rescued you was because Laes was threatening to go out and look for you himself," Darden replied honestly.
He wouldn't have bothered to rescue Lard Nar if Laes had kept his mouth shut.
"What was your reason for rescuing us now?" Lard Nar asked in a quiet uncertain voice.
That was a good question.
The Resisty was the enemy of the Empire... but he was no longer a part of the Empire.
Laes wasn't here. The Vortian wouldn't be in danger if these people died.
The only reason he could think of was that these people had given him a ride away from the jungle planet. It would have eventually become a frozen wasteland, and he would have been forced to kill himself which is what he should have done anyway.
Even though he had been given orders to blow himself up, he was starting to realize he really didn't want to follow them. This was probably why he allowed Laes to remove the explosive device from his arm.
Now he had an excuse not to kill himself. If he was going to die, he'd rather go down fighting the worms.
"I rescued you and the others because the Resisty did not leave me stranded on that dying planet," he responded after carefully thinking it over. "We are now 'even'. I won't help them anymore."
Lard Nar glanced at him. His grip tightened on the controls again before he relaxed. "I wanted to leave you there..." he admitted.
"You didn't," Darden concluded.
"We were afraid you would overpower us... we didn't want to risk it..." Lard Nar continued. "That and Laes..."
"Is there any reason why you're so concerned about Laes?" Darden interrupted him.
Despite his short comings, Laes was an adult Vortian who was capable of handling sadness and loss. There was no need to shield him from these things.
Lard Nar answered without any hesitation."Because it's my fault he got involved in this."
"How was it your fault?" Darden questioned, and his antennae fell back.
He couldn't remember a time he'd been more talkative than this. When he'd been in training he didn't think it was necessary to speak unless a superior demanded an answer from him. Then when he became a soldier he only ever waited to receive instructions.
Idle chit-chat wasn't something he enjoyed.
But now was different. He was actually curious about what Lard Nar was thinking.
"Explain it to me."
"I really don't want to talk about this right now," Lard Nar responded dismissively.
"Fine. Then we can sit in silence until we reach Vort," Darden decided.
Either way was fine with him. He liked quiet.
The silence only lasted a few hours.
Darden was resting his elbow on the arm rest and leaning against his hand as he stared out of the space-shield feeling content.
"I... I accidentally told the Empire Laes was involved with the Resisty..." Lard Nar mumbled, and Darden's antennae perked up.
The former captain was continuing the conversation now? Darden glanced at the Vortian who was gripping the controls tightly. Lard Nar looked very tense, and his eyes remained staring ahead.
"He wasn't... of course he wasn't... I just knew I couldn't tell the Irkens about any of my crew... and I didn't know if Laes was alive or dead or that the Irkens would even know his name but... I just blurted it out..." he sucked in a breath. "So it's my fault..."
"I'm sure the guards found out he had no involvement with the rebels fairly quickly," Darden responded, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned back in his chair.
"Yes... but they kept us together because they knew I'd spoken to him in the past..." his voice was becoming more quiet. "They were hoping I would give him information about the Resisty... at least that's what I assumed."
"It's strange they didn't just kill you," Darden told him in his usual blunt fashion. He added a little more lightly, "We are not known for being very patient."
"They might have... but then... Laes asked them not to... and they didn't..."
"And how was that your fault?"
Lard Nar bit his lip. He had a conflicted look on his face.
Darden reached out to place a hand on the Vortian's shoulder, but he quickly withdrew it when he realized what he was doing.
He frowned. What was he doing? Offering support? Why would he even think of doing that?
"Maybe this isn't my place to say... but I don't think it's right for you to take on the full blame and responsibility for something Laes chose to do for himself," he said.
"But he didn't know what he was getting into... I did... and I didn't even try to warn him."
Darden nearly rolled his eyes, but he stopped himself. "Could this be because you were tortured to the point of insanity? Because if so I think you have a better excuse than most."
"Excuse or not..."
"You are not giving yourself enough credit," Darden interrupted. "You withheld information from the Empire despite being tortured. That is more than most Irkens can say... there is a reason why all of us have self-destruct buttons. Holding your tongue under physical and mental pain is not an easy task. "
"You don't have a self-destruct button anymore..."
Darden's antennae flattened and he straightened up in his chair. "I didn't need that reminder."
Lard Nar glanced at him. His eyes quickly returned to the space-shield.
"You also can't return to the Empire can you?"
Darden felt a bit put-off by that question. It was obvious he couldn't return to his people, but he figured Lard Nar was only asking to help ease his own worries.
With a sigh Darden responded, "I've been tasked with a vague and nearly impossible mission, and I'm supposed to kill myself after it's "complete," so no, I'm never supposed to return to the Empire."
"I don't understand why they would do that..." Lard Nar admitted. "From what I've seen you're strong, confident, and willing to follow whatever orders they give you... I thought that was what the Empire wanted from its soldiers."
"I killed a fellow soldier," Darden responded dismissively.
"You did it in self-defense."
"That doesn't matter," Darden insisted.
He was kind of glad Lard Nar recognized him as more than just an outcast... but it really wasn't any of the Vortian's business. The Tallest made their decision for the good of the Empire. Nothing else mattered. His life didn't matter.
"I had the ability, and the responsibility, to detain him and bring him in for judgment, but instead I killed him. That is a heavy crime. Soldiers are never supposed to kill each other, not without the permission of either the Control Brains or the Tallest. Since I disobeyed that part of my programming, the Empire considers me defective."
"I don't think you're defective Darden," Lard Nar spoke; his voice becoming more quiet. "I think you killed a defective and saved your people a whole lot of problems. Your leaders should have been grateful."
"Your opinion about my situation doesn't matter," Darden began.
His tone softened slightly as he continued.
"But I do appreciate you saying that..." He paused for a moment, giving some thought to what he was about to say. "I can see why the Resisty respects you and wants to follow your ideals. You escaped from the prison, started a resistance, and you even got the rebel group to grow despite the difficulties you must have faced. If I wasn't Irken... no... even as an Irken I can easily say I respect you."
Lard Nar's his eyes lowered to the controls.
"Should you be saying that about one of your enemies?"
"You are not currently my enemy," Darden corrected him. "And even if I was a part of the Empire, and even if the Empire still wanted you dead, it's not wrong for an Irken soldier to recognize a good adversary."
They sat in silence afterwards. Darden was beginning to wonder if he should have said everything he just did... but it was the truth. He did respect Lard Nar.
It was a few hours later when he noticed the Vortian seemed to be struggling to stay conscious.
Lard Nar's eyes kept closing, and his head would bob which would snap him awake.
Non-Irkens needed sleep. They didn't have a PAK to keep them conscious.
Darden tapped him on the shoulder, silently noting how Lard Nar flinched with this contact.
"You're tired. We're swapping," Darden insisted.
He was prepared to pull Lard Nar out of the driver's seat if he had to, but instead the Vortian was compliant.
Darden sat down in the driver's seat and grabbed the controls.
Then he turned to the passenger's seat and found Lard Nar already slouched over fast asleep.
He didn't think Lard Nar would mind if he made a quick stop along the way. Both of them hadn't thought to bring anything to drink, and while Irkens could go for quite a while without, he knew Vortians didn't have the same kind of endurance.
Author's Notes: Well, so much for the prison being safe.