Lost
Chapter 17- Confrontation
"Hey, little guy, come over here!"
"Can I pet it?"
"He's cute!"
The hatchling merely looked around at the other, smaller green creatures that looked similar to big one.
"All of you back off!" Purple snapped. "You're scaring Donut!"
Echo muttered from her corner. "What a dumb name."
Purple glared at her. "Hey, that's my line!" He snapped.
Much like he imagined, there was a ruckus when the kryvtors saw the empty incubator and the indokuro hatchling. They tried to take him, but the hatchling would squirm and wiggle out of their grasp, sometimes biting their hands in the process, and scurry back to Purple's side to hide under his robes. Then they realized there was nothing to do: he had imprinted on Purple, much like Dib said.
The Irkens were thrilled to have an indokuro on their side, even if it was an infant and only let Tallest Purple touch it. Larb got a nasty bite when he tried to grab its tail, then Foxtrot pointed out no Sobr creature liked its tail touched.
"So when can we teach him to do cool stuff?" Stink inquired. "Like open doors, use escape pods and all that?"
"Explaining it to you would require more patience than we can muster," Echo muttered bitterly.
"Please ignore Echo, she was hoping to hatch the egg herself to become an Indokani*."
"Indokani?" Tenn raised an antenna.
"Whoever works with an indokuro is called an indokani. It's a branch of our military-Ouch!" Masouri yelped in pain when Foxtrot's tail came into contact with his snout, only to realize he was about to reveal information about the Sobrekt ranks. "Anyway, it means 'indokuro tamer'." They wouldn't get mad if he said the meaning of the word, would they?
"So that makes me an indokani?"
Echo scoffed. "As if. You were just lucky to have had the hatchling imprint on you. Otherwise, you must take an exam, and no Irken would ever be accepted in it."
Skoodge held up another doughnut just over Donut's maw, which he snatched and ate ravenously. The little one didn't really respond to it's given name, though. "Why doesn't it answer to its name?" He casually asked Masouri.
"They're picky with names. Be expected to try at least twenty before it answers to one."
"Aren't we supposed to sex it first? How do we see if it's a boy or a girl?"
"You can't. The only way to see is either through DNA samples or…" Foxtrot's crest bristled. "Well, I'm not sure you want to hear the other one."
Purple had an idea as to what that entailed, though. "You're right, I don't."
Dib quickly raised his hand. "I do!"
Out of the blue, a dozen Hothian soldiers entered the Ibris's lounge. The hatchling scurried away from Purple's lap and slid underneath the couch. Electrical webbing nets were thrown and spears were pointed at the prisoners.
"You three are coming with us." One said in her native tongue, pointing at Purple, Echo, and Dib. They didn't understand what she had said but had a clear idea as to what she wanted.
"The hell we will, Alien-scum!" Dib snapped. He quickly regretted it when a nearby Hothian dug the tip of his electrified spear into his side; he fell to the ground, almost convulsing from the jolts running through his body. The same was done to Purple and Echo.
Their respective parties cried out, but they were quickly subdued with the energized netting. Iraa entered the ship at that moment with a dark expression. "I'm very disappointed in you, people." He sighed, shaking his head. "Just when I thought we were understanding one another."
"What are you talking about?!"
"You really thought we were fools?" The same soldier from before searched through the couch and took out the stolen vortpad. "That doesn't belong to you, kids. Don't you know it's wrong to steal?"
Masouri snarled. "Says the man who wants to steal MY ship!"
"See, that's the problem here. I was willing to let you tag along once we got off this place, but after this, I'm afraid you cannot be trusted." Iraa's expression turned darker, if it was even possible, as he held a gun to the stunned Tallest's head, prompting another soldier to do the same with Echo. "Here's the deal: you fix the ship as soon as possible, and I will not blow their heads up." He narrowed his eyes when Larb and Stink snickered in disbelief. "You don't believe me?"
He aimed at Purple's leg and fired a burning plasma shot at it: the painful scream was muffled by the rag forcibly kept over his mouth to silence him. The Invaders reacted, but the electric webbing kept them on the ground, yelling in pain and horrified shock. Iraa waved a hand; the three prisoners were dragged away.
"Are you ready to cooperate?"
Masouri had no idea what was infuriating him more; the fact that Echo was taken away, or the insufferable smile in Iraa's face. "Fine." He hissed through grit teeth.
"Good. Now get to work!" The netting was removed and the remaining captives were pushed out of the lounge and towards the engine room.
Nobody noticed a little speck of black scurrying out of the Ibris.
After his talk with Captain Red found himself walking out of the cave in search of Blue. He wasn't going to apologize, of course. An Almighty Tallest never apologized to anyone (Lena and Ilk would be the only exceptions, but those were exceptional cases), he just wanted to be on the same page until they escaped from here. Besides, part of him had to give him some due gratefulness, he did save him, Ilk and Lena back at the lake.
He didn't have to go far. He found Blue sitting on top of a big stone just outside, with Fury curled up around it. The latter lifted his head and growled at him. "Fury," Blue warned.
"You're not going to send him upon me?" Red asked coldly.
"And stoop to your level?" Blue chuckled, only to rub his sore cheek. "No, thank you."
Red was surprised his hits actually hurt him. He dislocated his hand when trying to punch Captain, after all. Guess Kryvtors have thinner skin. "We need to talk."
"About Ilk, I guess?" Blue inquired. He noticed how the Irken clenched his fists.
The nerve of this kryvtor! "...Yes. About Ilk." He took a deep breath, managing to calm himself down.
"Irken, I have no bad intentions with her. She's a very nice person, and I-"
"Please don't say that you love her. Just… don't. You've barely known her for what? Three, four days. You seriously cannot expect me to believe you're interested in her just because she beat you at some fight-"
"It's not just about being beaten in 'some fight', Irken." Blue frowned. "True, we Sobrekt choose our mates through fighting to pass the strongest genes to the next generation, but it's not only about that. In the end, the winning party has the last word in the matter, because he or she is the stronger one. So even though I am interested in Ilk romantically, it is her decision to accept me or not."
"She doesn't have the maturity to make such a decision," Red said firmly. "She's not even a year old.*"
"I know and respect that. I'm willing to wait two irken years if necessary until she's old enough; heck, I'd wait ten irken years for an answer from her." Blue wasn't exaggerating. Sobrekt were very patient, especially when it came to finding their mate. "Even if she ends up rejecting me she'll still have a special place in my heart because she was the first to overcome me. The first to keep up with me evenly in a fair fight, the first to bring me down and prove she could be my equal."
"You do know that even if that were to happen, you'd still have to get through me to have her, don't you?" Red asked, crossing his arms with a deep frown.
"The last thing I'd do is take her away from you, Irken. You and I might have our differences, but she's still your daughter, and you're her father. That bond is stronger than anything else. It can tangle into knots, tense up or whatever you think of, but it will never break." Blue glared at Red with slit pupils. "Even if I had every single reason to hate you, I'd never even think of cutting you off from your child."
Red felt a shiver down his spine when he felt Blue's slit pupils focus on him. "What do you mean 'every reason to hate me'? Other than my little… outburst a few minutes ago, I have done nothing to you. Or is this because of the moondrop flower?"
"Of course you wouldn't remember it. The day an Almighty Tallest actually remembers any of the people they've tortured and killed, the universe will blow up on itself." Blue sighed, averting his gaze. "I guess you know this, but two kryvtor assassins were sent to the Massive four years ago. One would kill both you and your co-Tallest, the other would secure Ilk and take her to Sobr."
Oh, those guys. Yeah, usually he had his PAK delete all memories of the alien scum he tortured, but not those two. The younger one met its end at his hands; not to brag, but Red had not lost his edge in combat. It didn't take him long to dispatch of that lizard when it targeted him, but it did help that there were lots of Elites on the bridge at that time. The other one wasn't so lucky; he was kept alive and tortured, his brain scanned to extract as much information about the Sobrekt's military, defenses among other things. It was thanks to it that they had managed to keep toe-to-toe with the Sobrekt in the war. Once he was of no more use he was disposed of.
But he'd never forget how they looked like. Since both turned out to be father and son, they had a similar appearance: golden eyes, bluish gray scales, blue stripes running… Wait a minute. Now that he recalled that event and had Blue in front of him, Red noticed he had a great resemblance to those assassins. Red gaped as he tied the knots. "You-"
"Those were my father and my grandfather," Blue confirmed, closing his eyes shut as if to contain tears. Fury rubbed his head against his shoulder with a comforting purr. "I and my clutch mates had only hatched when they left*. It was the first and only time I saw them; they never returned, and we both know why."
Red's gaze went downwards for a few seconds as he processed what he just learned. "Okay, that's… Weird." He looked up at Blue again. "I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm not. Had I not done what I did to them, neither Ilk or I would be here today. I did what I had to do to protect her."
Blue opened his eyes. "I know. But even if you actually asked for forgiveness, which I know will never happen, I wouldn't give it. Not now."
"Blueguana!" GIR cried at that moment, rushing out of the cave mouth. "Tally! Ilkie is awake!"
Both Red and Blue reacted. "How is she?! Is she alright?!" They unintentionally asked in unison. They exchanged an annoyed look. Red resumed. "Is Ilk alright?!"
"The big hole in her body is gone, like a magic trick! I'm going to look for mushrooms for her!"
"Can we see her?" Blue asked hopefully.
"Oh, that!" GIR became thoughtful. "The nice, half-naked lady said only one at a time should go, she's still hurting."
"I'll go!" Another phrase in unison.
"I am her father and I have priority!"
"You're the last person she'll want to see after you smacked her!"
"I'm not letting you go near her while she's almost naked!"
"One of you just go into the fucking cave already!"
Upon hearing Captain's angry shout Blue jumped and clung to Fury's neck, moment Red took advantage of to rush inside.
When she came back to her senses, Ilk felt sore all over the torso. She found it wrapped in a silkily black bandage, which she recognized as being part of Lena's skirt. At least what was left of it. She found herself partly submerged in comfortably warm water, and realized she was in a thermal water cave.
"Ilk-smeet, you're okay!" A pair of arms wrapped around her neck, sending painful cramps all over her.
"Zim, that hurts!" She cried
"Zim, how about you go fetch something to eat?"
"Anything for Ilk-smeet, doc! Zim shall bring you a tasty treat!" With that Zim was off in an exciting sprint.
"Lena…?"
"Try not to move much, you're still recovering."
"Recovering?" Ilk looked down at her bandaged abdomen. "What happened…?" Lena told her about the injury she had somehow sustained, proved by the bloody stick tossed aside, and how they used a Sobrekt healing method to stimulate her self-regeneration at its fullest. Then she remembered the mendigo, Santa suit fighting it off and then self-destructing itself to kill it; everything after that was a blur. All she could remember was dad holding her, saying she was going to be okay…
"Guess the explosion must have destroyed the trees nearby and one of the biggest splinters ended up flying into your abdomen," Lena concluded as she helped the smeet climb out of the pool and into one of the big, furry blankets to keep her warm while her clothing dried up after a thorough washing to remove the blood.
"Where's everyone else?"
"Well, the Sobrekt and your father are out there waiting for news from you. GIR went to tell them you're awake and Zim… Well, you just saw it." Ilk stiffened at the mention of dad. Lena noticed. "It's… probable Tallest Red will want to talk to you." She had referred to him formally. Ilk guessed she wasn't the only one whose feelings dad had hurt.
"Well, I don't want to talk to him." Ilk muttered bitterly.
"Yes, you do, Ilk," Lena said gently. "At the very least hear what he has to say before judging him."
Both their antenna twitched as hurried footsteps echoed from the tunnel, and seconds later a tall Irken clad in crimson emerged. "Ilk!" Red sighed in deep relief, but it was short lived when Ilk turned away with a 'humph' to glance into the other pools. He was so happy he had forgotten she was mad at him.
"Well, I'll leave you two alone to solve your issues." Lena got on her feet and left without another word. Red couldn't help but feel hurt when she didn't spare him a glance; he'd worry about her later, though. Ilk was his priority right now.
A great part of him wanted to hold her close, but judging by how she shifted to turn her back on him and covered her head with the blanket as he came to sit down next to her he guessed she wouldn't take it kindly. For a long time, neither of them spoke, the only sound in the cave being the running water in the pools and the echo of the water drops falling from the ceiling. It wasn't that they didn't want to say anything, they simply didn't know what to say to break the ice.
Red had never had this problem before; he was naturally outspoken and persuasive despite his lack of vocabulary, which is why he usually was the one who directly dealt with crowds and diplomatic meetings while Purple was more interested in blowing up stuff, executions and snacking around, whatever didn't have to do with large groups of people. Of all the times for his silver tongue to fail him!
Seeing he wouldn't start the 'pending conversation', Ilk took the first word. "...Is Lena mad at you for something?"
"You could say so," Red replied, grateful she had spoken first and not gone straight to the point. "Let's say… Well, I told her something really… Stupid."
"What? Did you also call her a disappointment because she wouldn't do things your way?"
The reminder of what he said stung. "Ilk, I didn't... I didn't mean anything of that, I was just…"
"Angry that someone wasn't doing what you wanted for once."
"No, it's not-!" Red took a deep breath before he could say anything he could later regret for a second time... "It's not just about that. True, I don't like when people outright disobey me, but… your case is different."
"That's what I can't understand, dad!" Ilk finally snapped, finally turning to glare at him. "What's the big deal? You continue to say you want me to be an Invader and yet you try to put me inside a crystal case! I defeated my first enemies yesterday and you got mad when I thought you'd be happy I had learned how to fight!"
Red went silent for a moment, averting his gaze in shame. "I know."
"Why, dad?" Ilk demanded firmly. "It's the one question that keeps running through my head, again and again, and doesn't have an answer. I simply don't understand you no matter how hard I try. Why?"
"I was afraid to lose you!" Red finally snapped back. He closed his eyes shut and took another deep breath to calm himself down. "Ilk, you're my only child. Ever since you came into my life you became the most important thing to me, even more than snacks or my position as Tallest. I wanted to always keep you close and protect you, especially after…" He abruptly stopped.
"After what?" Ilk insisted. She wasn't going to let him slip out of this.
This was it. He couldn't avoid this anymore. She would never understand his motives if she didn't know the full story. Red inhaled deeply and proceeded to tell her what transpired four years ago when the indokuro infiltrated the Massive and tore a leg off her. As he spoke he noted ilk's expression shifting from angry to shocked. She glanced down at one of her legs as if expecting it to be gone.
Ilk couldn't believe it. This meant she had seen an indokuro before, and it had almost killed her. No wonder she had been so afraid of Fury at first, or why she felt like she had seen him before. This meant all those nightmares of the monster that haunted her as a smeet… it was a memory, repressed by her subconscious and unknowingly aided by dad to protect her psyche from the traumatic experience. Ilk ran a hand on her leg, the limb she had supposedly lost and regrown.
Then dad had known about her… ability.
"I made you think it was only a nightmare, both the Indokuro and the assassin attacks," Red continued after a long moment of silence. "You wanted to know why I confined you to the Massive, why I overprotected you, that's why," Another deep breath. "Ilk… when the indokuro tore your leg right in front of me while you were in my arms, I felt... helpless. I was afraid to death that you'd suffer the same fate as Miyuki did…" Bringing her into the conversation would have torn his squeedly-spooch if emotional wounds could bleed. "When Miyuki died, I wanted to die with her. I almost did. How do you think I would have felt if something happened to you?"
Red took the following silence from Ilk as a sign to continue. "I didn't want to be in such a situation again, in which I lost someone I loved because I wasn't able to protect them. I was desperate to avoid that… to the point of exaggeration."
"It still doesn't explain your obsession with me being an Invader despite all of that you just described," Ilk said, calmly this time, but hurt. "If you were so afraid of losing me, why did you want me in that job? It is the perhaps the most dangerous position in the Empire. I would have been on a hostile planet with thousands of enemies."
"That's a bit more… personal." Red said awkwardly. He wiped some sweat off his brow. "You already know this, but in my youth I was-"
"The best Invader of your generation, I know, I've heard it countless times," Ilk finished for him. "Let me guess, you simply wanted me to follow in your footsteps?"
"Well… Yes and no." How was he supposed to explain it? Damn, it sounded easier in his head. "I would have liked my smeet to be an Invader because I was one, that's right, but I realized there's more to that. If you had been the best Invader, then the Empire would have praised me too for being your teacher, and everyone would have said how much alike you were to me." Red sighed, ashamed. "It pains me to admit it, but… I think… the actual reason is… In a way, I would have been reliving my own glory days, back in the praise and admiration of those who follow me."
Ilk's expression was unreadable. Seconds later she spoke again. "Dad, you are the Tallest. You receive praise and admiration almost every day. Heck, all the Irkens in the Massive are close to kissing the ground you hover above of and many often fight for being thrown out of the airlock by you if only to have a bit of your attention."
"There's something more, Ilk," Red inhaled. "A few days ago, after you... Stormed out of the Control Brains' chamber, you left them a not-very-good impression," the very memory caused him to shift uncomfortably. "They called you a defective. They said that if you didn't 'correct your behavior you'd have to be… put down."
Those two words sent shivers down Ilk's spine as she stared at her father, agape. "Wh-? B-But… You're kidding, right? They c-can't…!"
"They can and they will if you give them a reason to do so, Ilk. I already told you before, not even I can do anything about their rulings," Red gave his daughter a serious look. "Do you see now why I kept insisting? There were selfish reasons, that's right, but I was trying to save your life as well."
Ilk sighed and lay her head on the furry blanket, staring up at the ceiling. "There's no way out of it, then..."
"I'm sorry, Ilk…" Red apologized, rubbing the back of his head. "I should have listened to you, but… Don't take me wrong, sweetheart. I love you and I will always be proud of you, regardless of what job you wish to have. I wish I could have seen it sooner, but it's just like you said, it went through one antenna and left through the other." Red gave a humorless chuckle. "As for treating you as a smeet… I think I know where I went wrong. I had trouble accepting you were growing up, and a part of me didn't want you to because I knew eventually you wouldn't need me anymore, so I tried to keep you depending on me, but… now I understand that I won't be able to… protect you forever, that's why you need to experience things by yourself. That way you will be able to face the universe all on your own, and when you do, I want you to know you can still count on me even if you don't want to see me again after what I did."
Ilk took her time to ponder on his words. She sighed a few minutes later. "I don't want you out of my life, dad," Red looked at her, his eyes widening a bit. "I just want you to let me take my own decisions and stop lying to me. I'm not two earth years old, you don't need to hide things from me or try to mellow them out anymore. Besides, you're not the only one to blame," Ilk averted her gaze in shame. "I should have told you how I felt instead of simply keeping things to myself."
"I won't have any of that, Ilk. It was my obligation to listen to you, but I didn't. It took me all of this and a lecture from a fucking Sobrekt to realize how selfish I was even if part of my reasons were good."
"Wait, lecture from...?"
"Captain. He awoke from his hibernation while you were recovering."
Ilk couldn't help it. She laughed. "You mean Captain… lectured you?"
"Just don't tell Purple or he will never let me forget it." Both let out another laugh. "Hey, about Blue…"
"Dad, he's just a friend, I'm-"
"I know, sweetheart. I don't like the idea of an overgrown lizard courting you, but if you eventually choose to accept his affections… It's your life, sweetie," Red gave her a small smile. "I promise you, Ilk, you can always count on me no matter what happens."
He was caught off guard when Ilk leaped forward and hugged him. Red returned the embrace fondly. His fingers found themselves stroking the cheek he had struck a while ago. A wave of regret came over him. He'd never forgive himself for it, but he was happy Ilk had.
He had the feeling Lena's forgiveness wouldn't come as easily, however.
"Ilk-smeet! Zim has made you some meat!"
Ilk found herself a bit overwhelmed when dad helped her back to the mouth of the cave. First came Fury to lick her face, then GIR offered her some wild mushrooms and Zim brought her roasted sharktopus meat he personally prepared. She was impressed he had apparently overcome his phobia of meat, or perhaps he finally figured out meat from outside Earth didn't hurt him.
Captain, back in his clothing, sighed in relief. "Are you feeling dizzy?".
"A bit…"
"That's normal, your body is getting used to your regenerated tissues, it should wear off in a few hours. Until then, you should take a break and drink lots of water," He pointed at an Earthen-pot. "We melted some snow for you, in fact."
"Thanks, Captain. How about you, everything okay?"
Captain looked away, bristling his spines. Sobrekt had no feather crests like their Kryvtor cousins, instead, the equivalent was the long sharp spikes in their heads, which would also go up when they felt embarrassment. "Other than the… awkward situation between your father and I a while ago, I'm fine." He wasn't talking about him being naked in front of the Irken, of course. He meant their little 'therapy session'.
"Awkward situation?" Ilk looked up to her father curiously, especially when his cheeks turned pink.
Red gulped. "It's something you're not supposed to learn in at least another Irk year." Mental note, erase that image from his PAK. While averting his gaze, he noticed a member of their party was missing. "Where's Lena?"
"Outside," Blue said.
"Hey, Irken, what did you tell her? She has been upset since I woke up." Captain asked curiously.
Flirk. "I'm going to check on her."
Captain and Blue saw through the sugar-coating, though the former didn't know exactly what was going on between them. Blue would tell him, and by extension Ilk, about it while Red walked outside. It was oddly calm despite the events from a few hours ago. It would have been a beautiful night if they could see a starry sky and a full moon or two.
Lena was leaning against a tree with a vacant expression. Just like Captain said, she looked upset. Red cleared his throat to call her attention. Lena didn't move. Her antenna twitched when she heard him, but she didn't turn to look at him. "Lena?" No reply. "Can we talk?"
After a few more seconds of awkward silence, Lena sighed. "Do you need anything, My Tallest?"
She referred to him formally again. Usually, that title filled him with pride, but when it came from her in that tone it hurt him. "Lena, I… About what happened…"
"You were very clear, My Tallest. I was starting to take too many liberties and poking my antenna where I wasn't wanted. It won't happen again."
"Lena, please, I… I didn't mean-"
"I'm glad you're here, though. I wanted to let you know that once we get back I'm asking the Control Brains to reassign me to Irk or wherever they decide I'm needed." Lena interrupted.
His squeedly-spooch sunk at the news. She couldn't be serious! Working aboard the Massive was one of the greatest honors in the Irken Empire and she was willing to throw it away just because of an outburst on his part? "Lena, you can't do that!"
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Why not? I figured you'd be happy."
"How could you think that?!"
"You made it very clear you don't want me around, My Tallest."
"I didn't mean any of it! I was angry and-!" Red tried to find the right thing to say, but he found himself at loss. "Okay, look, I-I admit it was wrong of me to take it out on you when you were just worried about me! But please, don't go…!" he took a step closer to Lena, but she stepped back, flattening her antenna. "Lena, if you leave the Massive there will be no turning back. Please, don't take that decision just because you're angry at me-"
"Angry?" Lena chuckled humorlessly and turned away, in part to hide her glossy eyes from view "If I were angry at you, we wouldn't be having this conversation, My Tallest. I've merely come to realize that perhaps it's best to put some distance between us. After what happened, you can't just expect things to go back to how they were before. We'd just embitter and be at each other's throats all the time, and that's not healthy for either of us." This time Lena turned completely around. "And frankly, I wouldn't be like to be thrown out of the airlock."
"Wha-? Lena, I would never throw you out of the airlock!"
Lena slowly turned her head around, frowning and narrowing her eyes. "Why not? I'm just a medical drone, aren't I? You can just find another one to replace me."
Remembering the stupid thing he had said stung. In desperation, Red stepped forward, turned Lena around and grabbed her by the arms. "I don't want just any other doctor, Lena! I want the doctor who has been with me through this entire mess! I want the doctor who saved both my life and Ilk's not once, but twice! I want you!"
A pin could have fallen and made a long echo. Cyan and red locked gazes, the former wide in utter shock, the latter pleading. For a brief moment Red hoped she'd relent, but Lena's features changed into an angry grimace and she released herself from his grip. "What are you playing at?!" she growled. "First you make me think you actually like me, then you show your true opinion of me and now you act as if you cared?"
"I do care about you, Lena! I didn't mean any of those horrible things, I just-! Try to put yourself in my shoes-!"
"Did you put yourself in mine? Do you have any idea of how I felt when you treated me with undue harshness after what I did for you?"
"I'm trying to tell you how sorry I am-!"
"That's the issue here, My Tallest. You can't just break a heart and expect that a simple apology will fix the scattered pieces," Lena wiped some loose tears that ran down her cheeks. "In time you'll see this will be best in the long run." She started walking over towards the mouth of the cave, but a hand on her forearm stopped her again.
"Lena, please…" His voice was pleading again. It made Lena's own squeedly-spooch squirm. It was almost enough to crack the wall.
No. She wouldn't fall for it again. Lena pulled her arm out of the grip, but this time offered no words as she rushed back into the cave without turning back. She didn't want him to see her cry.
"You should write a book, you know. 'How to hurt a woman's feelings in three minutes or less'."
"Captain."
Lena had come back a few minutes after Red went to 'check on her', but judging by how she ran past the fire and further into the cavern he guessed it didn't go well. Red coming to sit down by the fire with a sad, guilt-ridden expression confirmed it. Ilk wanted to go after her, but Blue convinced her to leave her be for now. Meanwhile, Captain proceeded to tease Red despite Ilk's protests.
"Surely she'll get over it, My Tallest," Zim tried to sound assuring. "Here, have some meat!"
"It's not that simple, mastaah!" GIR said. "When girls get hurt, they take a looong time in forgiving! You could try giving her some flowers!" That said he held out a bouquet of bacon tied in stems.
"GIR, you're not helping!"
"Unfortunately he's right, hitorken Zim," Captain added with a shrug. "Women are like armored stekogs: if they get hurt, they curl up into a tight ball and won't come out no matter how much you try to sweet-talk them into it."
Red momentarily wondered if he should ask what a stekog was, but in the end, decided not to. Probably another Hybrekt. "So I should just give it up?"
"Of course not, Irken! That would just prove her right that you don't actually care!"
"You just said-!"
"You really don't know anything about women, do you?" Captain shook his head. "You can't sweet-talk a stekog into lowering its guard, you must show it you are no threat. For that, you have to sit down next to it for days, until it realizes you're not going to hurt it and uncurls out of its own accord."
"What do stekog-things have to do with anything?!"
"You're missing the point; be perseverant. What the doc wants is that you show her that you, in fact, care enough to try and make things up even if she doesn't want you around for the next two weeks. Actions speak louder than words, just look at Blue."
"Captain…!" Blue's crest bristled; especially when Red frowned at him and Ilk hid her head in the fur blanket. Thank the ancestors the vortpad rung at that moment. "They're calling us, perhaps the ship is ready!" He pressed the button. "Masouri-?"
Instead of him or any of the others, however, the screen showed Purple, Dib and Echo tied up in thick ropes with two Hothian soldiers standing next to them, pointing their guns at their heads.
"Greetings, friends," Iraa walked into view, spreading out in an almost welcoming manner. The rest gathered around Blue upon hearing his voice. "I'm glad you are all safe."
"You bastard, let them go!"
"I demand you release Tallest Purple at once!"
"Echo, are you okay?!"
"Am I painted on the wall or something?" Dib blurted out with an undignified humph.
"If you wish to know about the ship that brought you here, I will let you know that it's almost fixed. Sadly, since your friends here misbehaved quite a bit, we had to take a little… incentive so the job would be finished by tomorrow. When we do so, we'll be out of this gods-forsaken planet once and for all."
"Where is everybody else?!" Ilk asked.
"They are safe, as long as they cooperate from now on. As for you, gentlemen, you've been a thorn in my side for a bit too long."
"If you're talking about the guys you sent after us, you had it coming," Captain snarled. "Planning on sending more? Go on ahead, send out all your troops, we'll be glad to cut off more heads!" Red winced. Again with the beheading stuff!
"Actually, I'd like to save us more unnecessary bloodshed. I have a… proposition in mind for you."
Zim crossed his arms. "Proposition?"
"Come to the base tomorrow at dawn and we can come to an agreement. We don't have to fight over the ship when we could join forces to escape. It's what you want, isn't that right?"
"Red, Ilk, don't! It's a- HMMMF!" Purple was silenced with a thick cloth gag for a second time that day.
"Purple!" Red snatched the vortpad from Blue. "If you put a hand on him, I swear-!"
"No harm will come to them if you do as I ask, gentlemen. We shall be expecting you tomorrow at the accorded time. Fail to comply, and the consequences could be… disastrous." The transmission ended.
"Son of a-!" Captain didn't get to finish the sentence, instead of letting the broken pieces of the rock that once stood in front of him talk for him.
"He will pay for daring to silence one of the Almighty Tallest! Zim shall rain down doom upon his white head!"
"Don't you think he really wants to solve things peacefully?"
"Ilk-smeet, don't let that fool trick you! He wants us all together in one place so he can dispose of us and then steal the ship!"
"Just try to look at it from his perspective. Most of his species perished, they aren't far from suffering the same fate, and they have a chance to escape and start over from somewhere."
"I agree with hitorken-Zim, if they wanted to solve this 'peacefully' they wouldn't have attacked and made us captives. They would have just asked for help." Blue crossed his arms.
"Would we have actually done it had they asked?" Ilk countered. "We had low resources ourselves. Would we have been willing to share it with a group of complete strangers just because they have a sob story or would we have put our own survival beforehand?" Nobody could argue with that. Neither Irkens nor Sobrekt would waste precious rations out of generosity. Self-preservation came before anything in these situations.
"I don't think he'd kill us all off. The Hothians won't have any idea of how to fly the Ibris, they will need someone to do so."
GIR has said nothing for the first part of the argument. Then his eyes turned red again. "Sires, if you'd allow me, I have come up with a strategy…"
*Both a word in the Sobrekt vocabulary and rank in their military. Lit. meaning 'indokuro tamer', the term is used to refer to individuals who train an indokuro.
*Ilk's age in human years nine years old, which means she hasn't even reached the first Irken year of life, age on which she will be sent to the Academy. This means she's technically a child in Irken standards.
*Blue is four Sobr years old, but Sobrekt reach the teen/adult stages very quickly. The baby stage lasts 6 months, the childhood two years, and the teenage stage lasts one year. Blue is biologically and mentally older than Ilk, not to mention one Sobr year equals more years than an Irk year, and that's something. I still gotta figure that out, though.
Next Chapter: A final confrontation with the Hothians is at hand as both parties reunite.