The Pilots and the Passengers
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: You guessed it. I don't own Castle. Rating: K Time: An AU future, and see below.
Authors note: This is a sequel to The Pilot, and The Pilots.
Author's note: Some sci fi fans may note some things that I have borrowed from other fandoms.
Skinny resumed his explanation. "And so it was decided that it be much easier to set up a small Kzin-Imperial unit to look for this machine. And what did we find along with the Quinncinx? An old Commonwealth scout ship that's vastly superior to anything the Empire now has, and an old friend of mine, Moecious, plus an excellent crew, and two humans knowledgeable of the Quinncunx's needs. A perfect ship and crew for our needs."
"If you don't mind my asking, "Simone said, "how did you acquire the name, Skinny? You're hardly skinny."
Moecious laughed. "I gave him that name. He had crash landed on a planet that had no animal life on it, just a few simple lichens. That's all he had to eat. When I found him, he was nothing but skin and bones."
Skinny shook his head. "We Kzin are omnivorous, but we do prefer meat. A steady diet of tasteless lichens was almost enough to make me end it all."
"There is one thing you'll appreciate, Lieutenant Castle." Zek said. "You'll be receiving a temporary promotion to commander for the duration of the mission. Since you're an Imperial Navy officer and Commander Skinny is a commander in the Kzin Navy, although their navy is a part of the Imperial Navy, you'll be in command."
Moecious spoke next. "I'm afraid I'll have to return to the Sky Cave, Captain Zek. It is a very important post for the ICIO. I need to make arrangements."
"He certainly does. I insist on it." Martha added.
"Of course. "Zek said, grumpily. "Fortunately, it's only a bit out of the way."
"And we'll need the Quinncunx back." Jane said. "I hope the poor dear hasn't missed me."
"He, she, or it is outside."
"What's this Sky Cave, Moe?" Skinny asked.
"Do you know the Red Lion Nebula?"
Skinny nodded. "Awful place. Nothing there but solar systems being born, black holes, neutron stars and things that'll slam into your ship. Good place to get killed."
"It's also the home of the Sky Cave, a rock in the middle that's been the home of criminals, secret societies, terrorists, and other anti-social types for five or six millennia. I own a bar there. People love to talk to a friendly bartender, you know."
"Your ship is ready, Commander Castle. It's fully stocked with supplies and you may leave at any time."
When they left Zek's office, the Quinncunx was waiting for them. As soon as it saw Jane, it waddled towards her and she picked it up.
"Have they been treating you well? Are you okay, Sweetie?" Jane cooed.
"Sweet symbols select several sentences." The Quinncunx said, nuzzling Jane with its beak.
"I'm sure that they do." Castle muttered, not a bit happy with the mission, although he decided it was better than sitting around being bored.
With Moecious' knowledge of the Red Lion Nebula, they made better time to the Sky Cave than they had on their original trip. And, as they weren't carrying cargo, there was room for the extra people aboard the scout, although they did find that Skinny snored.
When they arrived at the Sky Cave, Moecious spoke to security and they were allowed to land. In minutes, they were back in his bar, the Happy Spacer.
"Mr. Moecious." Cried Marie, who had been running the bar in his absence. She looked a lot like a huge grasshopper, and Castle noticed she'd replaced the white apron she'd worn as a waitress for something resembling a conservative suit. "So good to see you. Your three cousins got in three days ago. I let them know you're home. They should be here….Here they are."
Three giant wolflike aliens emerged from Moecious' office. They were dressed more or less identically in black suit, a black shirt, a white tie and a fedora pulled down over their faces.
Moecious introduced his new friends, then his cousins.
"My cousins will be looking after the place in my absence. This is my cousin Buggsy."
Buggsy shook hands all around. Castle's hand was engulfed in a massive, but gentle furry paw as Buggsy said, "Please ta meetcha, I'm sure."
"This is Muggsy."
"Me pleasure, to be sure." He said as he shook hands.
"And this is my cousin, Puggsy."
"I yam charmed." He said, shaking hands.
"I'm starving." Moecious said, checking his watch. "It's lunchtime. Shall we eat?"
The other Vorlags and Skinny quickly agreed, although Castle tried to say that it had been breakfast time as of their ship's time not two hours ago, and Moecious had eaten a huge breakfast. He was ignored.
Marie brought out plates of sandwiches and beers for everyone, and the humans shrugged and dug in as well.
Suddenly the door opened and three beings walked in. They were so tall that their heads touched the ceiling. They were dressed in long robes that fell to the floor with cowls that covered most of their heads. What they could see of their faces seemed to indicate they were insectoids of some sort. Castle could see what appeared to be tentacles peeking out of their sleeves.
Moecious shot to his feet, as did the other Vorlags and Skinny.
"I'm sorry, gentlebeings, but we don't any sustenance suitable for your kind here." Moecious said.
The three aliens took a step forward and as they did, the Vorlags and Skinny took a step back.
"I believe that Don Anselmo, by the market square could provide you with….what you need." Moecious sounded nervous.
Castle grabbed Kate by the hand and pulled her away. The other women followed.
Suddenly, one of the beings laughed. A human laugh.
"Oh, Moecious, my good friend. If you could only see your face."
"Freelady Gina?" Moe said, walking forward.
"Of course. Now can you and your friends get us out of these getups?"
The Vorlags helped Gina take off her disguise. With her was the young girl they had last seen serving tea at Gina's place and another woman.
"Ah, my sources were correct. Captain Castle and his ship have come back to Sky Cave. Captain, you will remember that when we last met, I said I might want you to take young Lindane here and her mother, Andine, to the Empire. The time is now. And money is no object."
"The Slaughterer is dead, is he not?" Asked Moecious. "Why would they wish to leave now?"
"Wha An. He wants both women, and he's preparing to move on the current Lord of the Sky Cave to take his place. I know how that pervert treats women and I will never let Andine and her daughter fall into his hands. The current Lord of the Sky Cave has fought off many takeover attempts, but I fear that he is now old, and Wha An has many supporters."
"We already have a customer…" Castle began.
"But we'll be happy to take Lindane and her mother away from this Wha An." Kate finished for him.
"But of course, the jeune fille and her mama must come with us." Simone added.
Jane smiled. "But of course, n'est pas?"
"Wonderful!" Moecious said loudly. "But it will be expensive. I'll be negotiating for Captain Castle as he is unfamiliar with the ways of the Sky Cave."
"But Jane and I will help our friend Moecious as well as there are many things he does not know about the Captain's fine ship and our mission."
The three women and Moecious moved to the bar to negotiate. Castle had the feeling that in the negotiations, Moecious would be outnumbered three to one.
Andine and Lindane walked over to where Rick and Kate were sitting. Lindane curtsied.
"Thank you for agreeing to take me and Mother to the Empire, Captain Castle. Auntie Gina has been very generous in getting me tutors, but I really am looking forward to going to a real school with others of my age."
"We won't be able to go to the Empire from here, as we do have another customer, and I am worried…."
""…that we'll have trouble fitting you both in." Kate finished. "We aren't a large ship and with two very large beings aboard, you and your mother may have to double up with Freeladies Renoir and Avril. But well manage, won't we, lover?"
Castle just nodded.
"Thank you so very much for taking Mother and I, Captain. Am I correct that you're married to Freelady Beckett?"
Castle again nodded.
"You are so lucky to have such a wonderful husband, Freelady Beckett. So generous."
"You have no idea." Kate said.
The negotiations being over, Andine and Lindane went to say goodbye to Gina. Skinny leaned over to the two humans.
"Just what is this about, Captain Castle?"
Kate answered. "Freelady Gina runs a house of prostitution here. Andine is one of her…employees, and Lindane is Andine's daughter. Lindane is apparently very intelligent and wants to go to a school in the Empire. There was a horrible man called the Slaughterer who wanted both women, and we agreed to take Andine and Lindane to the Empire when the time was right. Apparently, the time is now right."
Castle was going to say that they hadn't exactly agreed to take the two anywhere, but decided not to contradict his wife.
"Will this interfere with our mission?" The Kzin asked.
"I shouldn't think so," Kate said, trying to sound as convincing as she could.
Rick thought that there were many ways this could interfere with their mission, but he decided that if he was questioned by Captain Zek later, he'd just say he was outvoted by the ICIO agents. He hoped that would work.
It was crowded in the ship, but they managed to fit everything and everyone inside.
As soon as she saw the Quinncunx, Lindane smiled and hugged the odd pink creature. "You are so cute!" She said.
"Cute said a root, Ugglagh." It replied.
"What did it say?" Skinny demanded.
"Something about cute said a root." Moecious said.
"But the last word?"
"Ugglagh?" Moecious said uncertainly. "Isn't that a Kzin word?"
Skinny nodded. "It means young girl. Specifically, a young aristocratic girl. Odd that it'd use that word. Has it spoken Kzin or any other non-human word before?"
They thought, but no one could recall hearing anything but human languages, and almost always Anglic, the common language of the Empire.
"We're ready to go, Skinny. Can you show us the map to where we're going?" Rick asked.
"Not exactly."
"Not exactly? That's not very useful for navigation purposes, Skinny. Care to try again?"
"Allow me to explain."
"That would help." Castle mumbled.
"When the Old Ones came to the Quiqui over a hundred thousand years ago, they told the Quiqui of their travels and gave them their navigation data. However, the data was based on a system used by the Old Ones. The base point of their system was probably their home solar system. The Quiqui, not having FTL drives, made an attempt to translate the Old Ones' system into one that made sense to the Quiqui. They made several different navigational systems, all slightly different. When the Patriarchy invaded the Quiqui home world, we tried to translate their navigational system into ours. However, as we also didn't have FTL drives, it wasn't that important to us as we could hardly invade planets hundreds of light years away. I fear that Kzin are not big fans of knowledge for its own sake. Over the years, the original Old Ones documents and those of the Quiqui have been lost. Having received FTL ships courtesy of the humans, we tried to track the path of the Old Ones back to the planet with the wonderful machine on it. We found that over tens of thousands of years, many errors had crept in to all of the calculations. Stars simply weren't where the star charts said they should be. And, the further you go, the more errors creep in and the map gets less and less accurate."
"So we have no idea where to go to find this planet?" Castle said, angrily. "Why didn't you just tell us that in the first place? It would have saved a lot of trouble."
"Actually, we do. We have their complete, that is, more or less complete trip logs. They were recently found in our archives, misfiled for centuries. We just backtrack going from one planet they visited to the next. We have tracked them back six solar systems, but our ships are neither as fast or as long ranged as your human ships, let alone this one. "
Castle sighed. "Okay, where do I go?"
Skinny held up a gold colored data pad. "Just input this into your navigation computer."
"Follow the yellow brick road."
That got Castle an odd look from Skinny.
TBC