Thank you to PCJanto and Badly-knitted for the wonderful reviews. And thanks for reading.

Chapter 13 Space battles and… puberty?

Excitement swept through the bunker as the satellite images showed a young girl wandering forlornly among the smouldering ruins of a small town in the Rajshahi Division. Speculation ran rampant as one theory after the other was proposed as to how she could have escaped The Event, as the mass-disappearance of the Bangladesh people was now dubbed.

When news hit the investigation room and the images were displayed on the screen, Jack and Ianto looked at each other. There was only one plausible explanation.

"She's not human." Ianto said loud enough to silence the muttering bystanders. The reactions were varied. Some people were frowning disapprovingly; others outright angrily, as if they blamed Ianto for the girl's unearthly parentage and that he would even suggest such at thing was a personal affront to them. He had seen the looks before, when some types of people were confronted with the fact of the existence of alien life. Quite a few people had their preconceived notions challenged the last few days. He personally couldn't care about them. He was engaged to a man who was born on another world and with genes no longer purely Human and together they had fathered a son with an alien woman and constantly had various members of her family visiting. They dealt with aliens on a daily basis back in Cardiff, so the blessed ignorance of the existence of aliens was one he had long since waved goodbye to.

"The proper question is: Why is she alone there?" Ianto continued, instantly thinking of Orion and whether he might be all alone somewhere.

"You mean there might be others?" a young man asked, looking like he thought the child was a frontrunner of a large scale invasion.

"Well, if she is alien then so are her parents. But where are they? The message clearly said he would take the humans." The young man looked thoughtful.

"Maybe," he said so low that Ianto had to strain to hear him. "Maybe they abandoned her." Ianto thought that an odd thing to say. It seemed as if the man was speaking from personal experience or some such. But before he could comment on it, Jack came over to them. He kissed him on the cheek in greeting - making the two women in the group turn to mush and the young man turn red – and said:

"I just got of the phone with the Valiant. Rea and Xarion have arrived in orbit. They're going to try contacting the unidentified ship. Rea will be down here afterwards." Ianto nodded his understanding. They had told Major Lancaster about Orion and his Saluvian relatives, but the information had been kept under wraps so far. That would however prove more difficult with the arrival of the delegation from Hallow IV. Rea had orders from home to make a proper demarche, though she had promised Jack to keep it low key if possible.

xxXxx

A few hours later Rea still hadn't shown up and Jack was getting worried. It had sounded as if she had been on her way after what should've just been a formality. What in the world could have delayed them?

He found out soon enough, as his phone bleeped with an incoming text.

Will arrive shortly. Have much to tell. Rea

He hurried to grab Ianto away from the group he was with and headed for the empty room they had set aside for the delegation. They had to wait only for a few minutes before the room suddenly had twice as many people in it. Rea was looking stately as ever and wearing a smile. Xarion beside her was also smiling.

"Jack, Ianto," Rea exclaimed when she saw them. Her face lit up in an even bigger smile. "We got him. We got Lartorc." Ianto gasped and Jack couldn't quite believe his ears.

"What?" one of them gasped out, though Jack couldn't be sure if it was Ianto or him self who had said it. Xarion beamed at them.

"The ship in orbit, the unidentified one! It was Lartorc's. We blew it up." He almost shouted in youthful exuberance. He was normally such a dignified and restrained person, but Jack liked this emotional young man better. It made him seem more… human; although that wasn't the best word to describe someone of alien birth. A person, would probably be better, he mused. Humans would soon have to expand on their vocabulary to better describe the multi species space age interactions.

Rea put her hand on Xarion's arm and said:

"That's why we are so late. We contacted the ship; its response was to fire at us. The first hit did a fair amount of damage, but it really was just a warning shot. We put up our shields and called for assistance from the Queelor'at Musini – one of our frigates patrolling this solar system." She noticed Jack's angry expression. She hadn't informed them it was a warship. He had been under the impression it was just a harmless science vessel.

"Don't give me that look, Jack," she scolded. "You would have done the same thing. In case you've forgotten there is – was – a madman on the loose and searching for my grandson. Did you really think we would leave the Earth unpatrolled and unprotected?" He sighed. She was right. He would have done the same and the governments of the Earth would have jumped at the chance to flex their muscles without actually causing a diplomatic incident.

It was Ianto who broke the suddenly tense silence in the room.

"What happened next?" Rea smiled, though it was a little strained until she focussed on him.

"Queelor'at Musini engaged the hostile ship in combat. It was fierce." She shook her head in awe. "The hostile ship was smaller, but heavily armed. There was some sort of strange energy signature being emitted from it, that we've never encountered before. The battle lasted for about 30 minutes, which is a small eternity when it comes to space battles. They are usually over with quickly. In the end our side managed to get one more blow in than the other did and that decided it. Our ship blew apart one half of the hostile ship. The remainder was loosing power and had small explosions going off. The Queelor'at Musini was able to tap into the computers before they were fried and download some of the data." She paused theatrically, gazing from one to the other. "When we analyzed the data it showed that not only is there conclusive evidence of it being Lartorc's ship, but also that he is – was – behind the disappearance of your people." Jack and Ianto shared a look, a glimmer of hope appearing in their eyes.

"The strange energy signature we had detected. It's some kind of transmat similar technology, but capable of transporting enormous amounts of people. We don't know where he got it from, but it is certainly not our technology." She looked thoughtful.

"My guess is it was developed as a means of mass evacuation." Xarion piped in.

"Well what ever it was, it's gone now. It was in the destroyed section of the ship."

"Gone?" Ianto gulped. "But what about our people?" Jack put his arm around his shoulders in sympathy.

"With the device gone, we have no way of returning them. We do know that they are alive. Lartorc moved them somewhere. We just don't know where. At least not yet. We are still analyzing the data. It is possible we may be able to recreate the device or obtain another one, if we have enough information about it." She looked at them sympathetically. Jack frowned.

"What about the rest of the ship?" She looked at him a few moments before answering.

"Being salvaged as we speak. The ship is of an unknown origin with unusual technology and there might be more information to be learned from the debris.

"And what about Orion?" Ianto said. The younger man was desperate for some news of their son. Rea was the one best hope they had of finding the boy. With a single genuine smile Rea changed from Rea, the diplomat to Rea, the family member.

"Actually I may have some news on that front as well." She beamed at them, as both Ianto and Jack reacted. They both stood a little taller and leaned in, as if closer proximity to the woman would make the news even better. "I was able to feel his presence for a short moment after the ceremonies on Hallow IV were done. It was really just a brief encounter, like a bleep on a radar screen. But it was enough for me to get a general sense of his whereabouts and his state of mind. He is in what we call the Dula Sector, somewhere in the Razor Nebula… basically the other side of the galaxy, though I don't know the exact location. I sure would like to know how he pulled that off. It's supposed to be impossible."

"Is he all right?" Ianto asked, as Jack asked:

"Can you take us there?"

Rea smiled sadly at the both of them.

"We can leave as soon as the official part of this demarche is over and as soon as our ship is repaired." She hesitated, and then looked straight at Ianto. "I don't want to worry you, but at the time of the contact with him, he was very scared and in pain. But," she hurriedly continued, as both Ianto and Jack went pale. "He is alive and I promise you we will find him." she gripped his upper arm and squeezed reassuringly.

xxXxx

The massive frigate Queelor'at Musini limped through space as it orbited Saturn, taking care to remain on the side hidden from view from the Earth. Repairs were underway to ensure the ship would be able to Jump home to the space repair yard orbiting the seventh planet in the Hallow system. A smaller salvage ship was collecting the remains of the hostile ship, using a tractor beam to bring the smaller pieces aboard to be stowed in the cargo hold. A small leisure craft floated unnoticed among the larger wreckage. Then it suddenly powered up and Jumped away.

xxXxx

Warwyn winced as it stretched its aching back. The lightening sky was the earliest sign of the approaching dawn. Animals were starting to stir. Somewhere in the Ravine a creature started making the morning calls of that species. The sound of it echoed through the Ravine, making it impossible to ignore. Warwyn yawned. It had been unable to sleep in such a strange environment and with such untold dangers lurking in the dark. It could feel the tiredness in its bones, as it looked to the large dragon form lying on the ground next to it.

Orion was still unconscious. He seemed to be comfortable, so Warwyn just made sure the blankets were still tucked around its mate and then it headed to the small pile of kindling it had gathered and saw to relighting the campfire. With that task done it felt the need to urinate and stepped to the furthest corner of the ledge and swiftly undressed enough for it to gain access to the penis that had morphed into being moments earlier. It was almost done peeing over the edge when it occurred to Warwyn what it was doing and exactly what kind of body part it was holding.

'Does this mean I'm a Nocbi know? The word was of Mucur'ii origin, denoting a person who had chosen to prefer being male, like Lartorc; as opposed to an Achibi, the female variant. Warwyn frowned at the thought. It just didn't seem right. Nor did the thought of being female. It had often wondered if it might not be the much rarer kinds, the hermaphroditical Nochibi or the permanently gender neutral Oobi. But… I haven't gone through the Change. I shouldn't be having any preferences yet. There was a huge gasping sound as a sudden forbidden thought occurred to Warwyn. What if I have a gender preference that Orion doesn't like? What if he decides he doesn't want me anymore? I'd be all alone. It looked over at the inert form of its mate.

'No! Orion wouldn't do that. We have a bond. He won't break it. And he won't be happy with me standing here crying when there are things to do. I can cry when it's over; Orion said so. With that thought it made the disturbing body part disappear, as if it had never been there, and put its coverall back in order.

"Right, breakfast." It said to Orion. "And then I'll see if I can bring some water up here and some more shrubbery for the fire. We also need some furniture and maybe some baskets. Maybe we can weave some. Do you know how to weave? ... No, neither do I."

The morning seemed to fly past. By late afternoon there was a large pile of shrubbery and kindling for the fire stowed just inside the entrance to the cave. A round boulder inside the cave had been transformed into a table. The top of the boulder had been sheared off using the laser cutter and a stack of three metal plates had been affixed on top. Another metal plate had been hammered with a stone to form a rough bowl shape and was currently placed at the other side of the entrance, supported by appropriately placed stones to keep it from falling over. It was full of water brought up from the river. Another smaller plate had also been pounded into a bowl shape, to be used as pot on the fire.

Warwyn was busy emptying the tent-turned-sack of its contents of soft grasses and small slender reeds. It had the idea to use the grasses as bedding, seeing how uncomfortable the bare rock had been the night before. The reeds - and maybe some of the grasses too - would be the evenings experiment. It had decided to use the darkening light to try its hand at weaving.

That was when Orion began to move slightly and mutter unintelligibly. Warwyn was at his side instantly. Orion was running a slight fever and Warwyn feared the injury had become infected in spite all their efforts to keep the wound clean. It sighed. There was little it could do to help when Orion was in his dragon form. Dragons didn't sweat, so Orion was gasping like a dog and had his tongue hanging out of his mouth. His dragon scales would block out any attempt at cooling him down, like with a wet blanket, but it would also keep him warm in the cold night. It sighed again.

Then it remembered there was a small booklet in the first aid kit describing how to treat injuries. 'Maybe there's something in it about fever treatments.' It found the booklet and a small section on fever treatment on furry being. It said to put alcohol on the bare skin. Warwyn frowned as it looked at Orion. He didn't really have any bare skin; it was all covered in scales. The palms of his paws were covered in some tiny little scales, but Warwyn supposed it would have to do. It pulled out the small flask of ethanol and small piece of gauze. It had to use half the bottle just to cover the palms of the dragon's paws a single time. 'I sure hope this works, because it sure smells awful.'

Since there was no immediate reaction either way, Warwyn decided to continue with its project. It brought the materials over to Orion's side and set about discovering how to weave a mat. By the time the sun set it had produced a miserable specimen, but the basic concept had been grasped. It would suffice for one night at least. Warwyn put it over the grass bedding next to Orion and wrapped the blanket around it self. Within moments it had fallen asleep, too tired to worry about the strangeness of being on a planet or what might lurk there. Orion slept on, mumbling occasionally in his sleep.

I'm sorry. I would have loved to write the whole space battle in great detail. I just couldn't do it justice. So instead you have to settle with the eyewitness report. Hope it was okay?

And what is up with Warwyn? Puberty? He he, one reviewer has referred to Warwyn as female, another as a male. I take it as a compliment, that I seem to be able to make it convincingly gender neutral. Though that is about to change. Or not ;-)