Author's notes: The title of this chapter also reflects my editing speed.
Slow Progress
Once he could move his legs without feeling an intense amount of pain, he decided it was time to start trying to walk.
He pushed himself to the edge of his mattress and carefully lowered himself onto the floor.
At first his legs trembled and they didn't want to hold him up. He clung to the cot to keep himself from collapsing.
For some reason breathing was still difficult. He was already struggling for air and he hadn't even moved that much.
"Are you stuck or something?" Filik asked.
The Irken wasn't much of a wanderer. It seemed the navigator preferred to stay close by to read his magazines and ridicule whoever was nearby. He didn't help anyone. He was just sort of around.
The other Vortians ignored him for the most part. It was easier to do that than trying to make conversation with the guy.
"No... I'm..."
Talking and breathing wasn't easy, and moving wasn't making it easier. He stopped talking so he could take his time catching his breath.
"Well considering your lungs were shredded a bit I guess it's not that surprising," Filik admitted, sounding mostly disinterested. "If you could not vomit up blood while you're doing that, it would be swell. Thanks."
Oh Vort... why would Filik even say that...?
Laes squeezed his eye shut as he slowly pushed himself away from the cot. He could stand. He was standing. Just don't think about blood or vomit... or shredded lungs...
He didn't remember anything after that... but when he opened his eyes he was lying on his cot again with both of his parents hovering over him.
Apparently he'd fallen on his face, and this was why his face was hurting.
Darden, who'd been nearby, apparently came and scooped him off the floor.
After depositing him back on the mattress the former soldier left him in the care of his mother and father.
Darden wasn't around right now... it was kind of amazing how quickly all of the former Vortian prisoners accepted the Irken's presence.
The ex-soldier seemed to have calmed down a lot after they parted ways.
At least Laes hadn't overheard anyone complaining about being punched or kicked or anything like that, although Darden wasn't afraid project his voice when he thought someone was slacking off.
"That Irken fellow said he's going to be helping with the energy transmitters, so he won't be around for a little bit," his father told him.
Laes' attention returned to his father. How had the older Vortian survived inside the Irken's mind-machine for so long...?
His father's prison garb was a bit wrinkled, and he'd sometimes stretch his hands behind his back because of stiffness in his back and shoulders, but there was no real indication he'd been forced into a coma.
Maybe this was just another virtual simulation... why else would his father be standing here? Tears gathered in his eyes and he covered his face with his hands. There was no way this could be real.
"Is something wrong son?" his father's voice rose in concern. "Are you in pain? Do you need some pills?"
"Here Laes, I brought you something to eat," his mother offered.
She'd been bringing him that mushy gray tasteless mystery food the Irkens insisted on feeding them. Everything had to be rationed since there was only enough food for the next week or so...
"It's not grey-matter this time either," his father spoke in a humorous tone.
Laes swallowed a whimper. He shouldn't be crying... he didn't want them to worry...
"It's alright," his mother told him softly, and he felt her hand on his. "Your father and I aren't going anywhere. We'll stay with you until you're feeling better."
She was stroking his forehead now.
Normally he'd be embarrassed having his parents fretting over him so much, but right now he found it comforting. He was glad they were both here and that neither of them appeared to have been tortured too badly...
For some reason his father made the time he spent in the desert simulation sound like a vacation.
How could a scorching hot wasteland with killer sand-worms be considered a vacation? They enjoyed telling him that story though. Freedo had already repeated it at least a dozen times since he hadn't done very much else lately.
His mother started harvesting the spiky plant-life for food and water on the second day.
Neither of them had died in the 3 days they were in there although his father joked he probably would have gotten a virtual infection in his leg if they weren't extracted when they were.
He claimed he'd been so distracted chiseling out a cave with some make-shift tools he crafted, he forgot to treat it properly.
That's the way Freedo was though... sometimes he got so distracted he forgot to eat or sleep. It was a good thing he bonded with someone who was more vigilant and made sure he didn't keel over from dehydration or exhaustion.
There was someone else who was probably going to do that; someone who'd been avoiding him.
He was sure Lard Nar was likely blaming himself for his injuries even though it was obvious his own stupidity nearly got him killed by Irk's leader. It didn't seem to matter how many times he reminded himself about how dangerous and unpredictable Irkens were, when it really mattered he either forgot or ignored this life saving information.
No... that wasn't it. He felt bad for the Irkens, and a part of him really wanted to make their relationship with his people better.
After some coaxing from his mother he relented and ate some kind of packaged sweet bread she'd found in the dead guards' food supply. It was hard to believe that Buckram, Grumps, Angry-Shiela, Slappy, the second warden whose nickname he was forgetting, and all of the other Irken guards were either eaten or exploded into bits.
When he imagined them exploding into bits he couldn't eat anymore, so he decided to sleep for the rest of the day.
Maybe walking would be easier tomorrow... he doubted it, but he couldn't help hoping.
He really didn't want to be confined to this cot for much longer... he was starting to think about his sister, Juelee, and his niece again... sometimes he wondered how his parents were able to cope so well with their daughter and granddaughter's death since he'd never seen them cry about it.
–
"You really should talk to him."
Lard Nar froze for a moment when he heard the annoyed sounding voice behind him... he glanced over his shoulder and noted Darden standing close by with his arms crossed.
The Irken was watching him... the Irken was usually watching him.
He found this a bit unnerving. Perhaps Darden had changed his mind about helping them after all... maybe the former soldier was waiting for him to drop his guard before attacking him.
He exhaled, and after a few moments of holding whatever breath he had left, he breathed in.
"I don't want to bother him right now..." Lard Nar responded as he returned his attention to his work.
There were other Vortians working around him, but he hadn't made much of an effort to speak to them other than to ask what they were working on so he wouldn't repeat their work.
"He wouldn't see it that way."
Lard Nar glowered at the wires he was trying to rework.
"And when did you become an expert on how Laes thinks?" he snapped in anger. "You don't really care if he lives or dies do you?"
He didn't wait for the Irken's response before continuing, "if you did you would be over there making sure he doesn't collapse again."
Daren waited for a little while before responding in a very blunt manner, "his parents are there so the amount of assistance I can offer him is minimal, but I am not actively avoiding him either."
"The only thing I can do right now is help the other engineers finish building this thing..." Lard Nar insisted more strongly than the meant to. He added a little more quietly; "we don't know when the worms will return."
The former soldier shrugged. He appeared willing to let the topic drop, so it did.
..
A few days later they had the power generator that had been powering the prison back in full working order.
…
The next day most of the lighting in the cafeteria had been fixed and rewired to the power source so they wouldn't have trouble working at night anymore.
Then later that night, Veena and the group she was working with were able to get the computer system back online while a few people on the designs team worked on rebuilding some of the lesser destroyed this the communication networks were also brought back online.