Justin led Tera back to the ship and they walked into the back where they greeted Jennifer with the horrific sight.

"What the hell did they do to him?" she wanted to know.

"He somehow resisted them longer than the others. I just want to get out of here. Tera, back there with him then you take the controls! We're heading for the base!" Justin explained.

Jennifer started up the engines as Tera hurried over to the bed, where they transferred him over and laid him on his side. Tera quickly hurried over to the main controls, allowing Jennifer to head back and assist. Justin quickly assessed the external damage before grasping a pair of tiny clamps from the nearby shelf.

"Hold onto him, he's going to squirm," the cat said.

As soon as Jennifer had a grip, Justin gently grasped the damaged penis and carefully took hold of the wire with the tool. The lieutenant began to groan as the bloody wire slowly came out of his body. As soon it was out, the cat placed it on a tray. He proceeded to do the same with the other two. As soon as he finished with the wires, Jennifer began to prepare an IV while Justin prepared other tools.

"Tera, contact the others and quickly explain the situation. Don't go into too much detail, allow us to do that later. We just need to stabilize him before getting anyone's hope up," Justin called over to her.

"All right, Justin," she called back.

As the two began to clean his wounds and wipe off the waste matter and blood, Tera began to rub her head, feeling a bit dizzy. She regained her wits and began to press a few buttons.

00000

Jo felt like it had been years since her best friend had gone off to rescue Lieutenant Hunter. Garth, Mack and Doctor Slate all sat around the Big Guy with her, waiting for any sort of contact.

"Do you think anything happened to them?" Garth finally asked.

"Don't say that! They have to come back! We can't lose them!" Jo protested.

Doctor Slate was feeling same thing as Jo. She thought about everything that she had been through since accidentally discovering the Big Guy's darkest secret of Lieutenant Hunter and she discovered a side of herself she never thought possible. After what happened recently in the fight against Hapar, she found that her feelings towards the pilot weren't quite the same as before.

"Listen, what's that?" questioned Mack.

The group perked up in interest and they heard a soft beeping noise coming from the nearby console. Garth ran up to it and pressed a few buttons to reveal Tera's face on the monitor. Jo ran up to the screen, a relieved look on her face.

"Tera, are you all right? Where's Lieutenant Hunter?" she demanded.

"I'm fine but I can't say the same about the lieutenant. He's alive but severely injured. Justin and Jennifer have opted to take care of him instead of going to a hospital. They've taken care of these types of injuries before and they know what to expect. Besides, if he lives, people would start asking the wrong questions and I know no one would want that," Tera explained. "Justin and Jennifer will be in contact later on to explain further, but we just wanted to give you the heads up."

The reptile's face disappeared but no one present failed to notice the one word Tera had said.

''If ' he lives?' Slate thought.

Her heart dropped into her stomach at the thought that Lieutenant Hunter would truly die. The thought shook her to the core as she didn't know what the future would bring as a direct result of his death.

00000

As Tera landed the ship in a small clearing not far from their cave, she rubbed her eyes. Jennifer had noticed this reaction and stepped up to her.

"Tera, what's wrong?" she asked.

The reptile glanced away, uncertain how to tell her. In all the excitement, both she and Justin had forgotten to tell her and they hesitated one more moment.

"Jennifer, she used her palack," Justin finally said.

The colour drained from the female cat's face once she heard that one word. She angrily looked down at the silent figure and turned her face so they were now eye-to-eye.

"You didn't?" she wanted to know.

"I-I did Jennifer. I-If I didn't, h-he would have died. I-I couldn't let that happen," Tera stammered.

Tears began to well up in the cat's eyes at the thought. It took her a moment to regain her focus to the task at hand.

"Come on, let's get him inside," she finally said.

Tera climbed out of the chair and followed Jennifer to where Dwayne was laying. They carefully placed him onto a stretcher, while minding the tubes that were now entering his body and they carefully carried him into the cave. Once inside the entrance, Tera lifted a small section of rock and pressed the button, allowing a door to open within the rock that sat in the middle.

00000

The first thing Lieutenant Dwayne Hunter noticed was a tickling sensation.

He cracked his eyes opened a bit to find the world before him fuzzy. He found himself in an immense amount of pain as he tried to speak but couldn't. He heard muffled voices in the background and wondered what was happening. As his mind cleared, he realized that he was laying on his side and began to realize as to where the tickling sensation was located.

Right at the tip of his penis.

He tried to jump up but a calming hand rested on his shoulder. His vision cleared to find Jennifer kneeling in front of him and Justin seated directly next to his groin.

"Calm down Lieutenant, you're alive. Don't try to talk, you've got a tube down your throat. We've been taking care of you for the last several days and Justin's in the process of cleaning the equipment and your wounds so they don't get infected. Do you remember what happened?" Jennifer quietly explained.

It took Dwayne a moment but he slowly nodded his head and he looked around at the room. It almost looked like a hospital room complete with medical equipment and various medications, yet it had an alien feel to it. Dwayne grew anxious as he became more aware of his current situation as in addition to the tubing down his throat, others had been inserted into his private areas.

"We know you don't want them there Lieutenant but right now, they have to be until you're healed enough. Otherwise, they will be more susceptible to infection or may not heal properly. We know what they've put you through is a humiliating experience and you probably don't want even us poking around your most private areas but I'm afraid we've got to in order to keep them clean," Jennifer comforted him.

Even though he couldn't say anything yet, he still preferred them over his two interrogators. Dwayne glanced down at his arm to find an IV sticking out of his elbow. He followed it to find a bag hanging on a nearby hook, with fluids slowly dripping from it. As he watched Justin continue the work on his injured genitals, he still felt self-conscious with someone still seeing him in such a vulnerable condition. She could sense that he was a bit uncomfortable with the situation and gave a smile.

"You remind me of Czarina soon after we found her. She was unbelievably mortified when we first witnessed her nude," Jennifer said.

Justin tenderly wrapped up the genitals with bandages and then placed a blanket over the lower half of his body. Jennifer gave him a warm smile and walked away, leaving the two men alone.

"If you'll excuse me Lieutenant, I have to contact your co-workers. They have been eager to hear updates on your condition," Justin told him.

The cat stepped around the bed and faced a console that was aimed away from the stricken human. Justin waited a moment before someone answered on the other side. Dwayne closed his eyes yet still eavesdropped on the conversation. He was hoping that the cat could tell him something about what happened after he lost consciousness.

"Justin, it's so good to hear from you again. How is he?" Dwayne heard Jo's voice.

"I'm glad to be calling with good news this time. Lieutenant Hunter has finally awoken and thus out of danger but he still has a long way to go. The injuries he suffered are still serious and if not continually monitored, could result in permanent damage," Justin told them.

"That's good to hear. When can we see him?" Jo inquired.

"Not until he's completely healed. His injuries were pretty severe and I know he wouldn't want any of you to see him in such a weak state," Justin replied.

"Fair enough but what about Czarina? You haven't told any of us anything about her and we haven't heard from her in days. Is she all right? Tell me right now!" demanded the mechanic.

Justin hesitated for a moment, knowing the information he had about the blonde's friend could change a lot of things. He glanced over to the lieutenant, giving him an expressive look before returning to the screen.

"Jo, I wanted to do this in person but…" Justin said. "…even though she didn't show it, Czarina suffered serious injury in the attack on the Liaperians. She didn't make it."

TBC…