Author's rant at the end. Figured you guys get tired of my before rant.

Words- Regular speech

Words- Thoughts

Words- Chapters and changes

(Words)- Bez speech

Chapter 7—The Challenge for Command—

Narrator....

"You didn't have to come you know," Wren said to Curtis as he shifted uncomfortably as he sat beside Wren on the small Voot Cruiser.

"No, I want to actually see what Rachel was talking about. I was curious and this is easier," he said as he shifted again.

"You are definitely not small shuttle worthy," Lak said with a laugh.

He glared at her as the ship continued on it's course.

The asteroid field was quite dense but Wren was right about it being able to throw off radar quite well. Bez's sensors couldn't penetrate the mass but the smaller vessel could, if only for short distances. So the Cruiser was the way to go at the moment. And ti was only the original pilot who made it to the station to begin with. Lak, Wren, Curtis, and another crewman who worked quite well with the weapons that Bez had supplied.

Zim was not happy with the situation of Wren going without him, but common sense made him stay since Rachel was by herself and the almost mutiny conditions were still there because of the idiot who didn't like the cramped spaces. Zim had nodded reluctantly then had drawn her into a hug, making her promise to come back to him in one piece. She of course made him promise not to kill anyone until she got back. "Not even a little."

Wren came back to the now as she heard that the small Cruiser had entered the center of the field. Before them was a space station of moderate proportions. It had seen better days, but was definitely older than it let on. There were only a few docked ships that Wren wasn't even sure would work. Several of the areas seemed down too. One or two sections had collapsed completely. This place was not going to last much longer it seemed. And that was the hopeful out case.

"Ok, just going to say what everyone is probably thinking," Lak said raising a brow. "This place is a crap hole. I've seen some bad places before, but this is one of the worse I've ever seen."

"Nice and smooth," Curt snorted. "Let's let Wren handle the talking from here on out."

"I dunno," Wren frowned, "this place is a crap hole."

"Ha!" Lak exclaimed pointing at Curtis.

Curtis glared at her. "That sort of talk is not going to get us a treaty!" he growled.

"Not sure if it's worth this crap hole then," Wren muttered. "Not even splattering a little paint on it would help much. Trying to grind off the grime would probably shatter it."

"Thank you! See, at least I'm not the only one thinking it!" Lak exclaimed throwing her hands into the air.

The pilot at the helm snickered and the crewman who was sitting beside Lak covered a laugh with a cough.

"How anyone signed any sort of treaty with you is beyond me," Curtis stated scowling at Wren.

"I ask myself that exact same question everyday," Wren said grinning at him.

The shiver of the ship alerted them that the ship was docking. With a final 'woosh' of air, the locks were sealed and the docking complete.

Wren stood ad adjusted her Captain's Coat. She looked to the others, "Let's do this."

Back on Bez....

"Stop pacing Zim or I'm going to break your legs," Rachel growled looking up at him over a report.

"I can't help it. She hasn't been out of my sight for this long," Zim snapped back as he shot a look towards her. "I don't know how you're so calm about all of this."

"Wren and Curtis can take care of themselves. Lak is alike you in the aspect of kicking ass and KIA is quite the tough little SIR. I've seen him and Lak practice. The other crewman would protect Wren with his life. He's that grateful to her for saving his life on that planet. They will be ok."

"But.... what if... something could happen..."

"No buts or what ifs," Rachel sternly said. "There's something Wren and I used to say together. Staying never solves or accomplishes anything, you have to move forward to conquer what's in your way. She has to do this because she can't stay on the ship all the time. She has to do something because she just can't let others do it for her. Now sit down."

Zim gave a snort and sat down with a grumble beside Rachel. He stole a glance at her. "I thought you hated reports," he muttered, watching her.

"Yeah, I do. But I found a way to get through all the crap to get to the point."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, skim through it once then skim through it again and spot the key words that are important. In the end you get the jist of it all."

"Doesn't sound proficient."

"Well, not everyone is as mighty as an Irken Invader. I'm not even sure how Wren can wade through these crap reports."

Zim shrugged and went back to what Rachel had dubbed as his moping state. She couldn't believe just how much he actually missed Wren and she'd only been gone a kake, two at the most. Inside, she wondered if Curtis was missing her as much as she was missing him as well.

Back on the Armada....

"She what?" Red asked Tonu.

"She wants to build a space station to post some irken crew members so that your plan of shipping our soldiers doesn't over whelm them," Tonu stated for what seemed like the umpteenth time.

"Wren is a clever little she devil," Red frowned, looking thoughtful.

"Don't have to tell me that twice," Tonu muttered.

"So she's seen the vid and came up with a viable idea in..."

"In only a matter of minutes."

"She's good."

"Really good," Purple agreed.

"So, shall we send a few hundred workers to help with the space station?" Red asked.

Purple looked to his brother. "A few hundred? More."

Red nodded grimly. "Captain Tonu. I want you to get five Personnel Carriers ready with three hundred crew each."

"Sir, that's fifteen hundred crew."

"I know Tonu. I also want five Maintenance Shuttles with full crew. War time Maintenance shuttles."

Tonu blanched, "Another fifteen hundred."

"Five Supplies Carriers fully manned, five Medical War ships, five War Cruisers, and about five Refugee ships. How many is that Purple?"

"Thirty four thousand crew altogether."

"That's a lot of crew sirs."

"That's not even a tenth of a tenth of the full Irken empire," Red muttered. "Another ten planets were taken while you were gone and another was taken last night. We're just being prepared."

Purple nodded solemnly.

"Go Captain Tonu. You will be leading this mission. You have two days to get everything you need ready. The sooner you leave the better."

Tonu saluted in the customary Irken salute then headed out the door quickly.

"This whole thing isn't good red, is it?" Purple asked worrying his bottom lip.

"No, no it isn't Purple," Red answered turning to look out the window in their room. A grim look on his face.

Wren's P.O.V....

I stepped off the ship after Oweten. He was wary of the area and to be truthful, so was I. The place smelled old and quite dead. No new air seemed to be flowing through this place and you could tell by the way it seemed to coat your air way.

There was an excited squeal. "You're here! Grandfather! They're here!"

"I could tell Chure. I still remember what an air lock sounds like even though we haven't had too many visitors in years."

I rose a brow and unconsciously wrapped my tail around my waist and flattened my ears. This couldn't be so bad if children were involved. But I had learned early that children enjoyed and were quite fascinated with how flowing my tail was.

The two voices gained faces as I stared in shock at the aliens that we're quite aliens.

Curtis' P.O.V....

I blinked once, twice, three times and I still didn't believe what I was seeing before me. The aliens that stood before us were the exact same species as Wren seemed to be. Tail, ears, feet, the whole nine yards. The child had stripes of just blue and black almost like Wren. The elderly alien had grey and dusky blue.

I looked over to Wren to see her more shocked than I'd ever seen her.

"Drop your tail Wren," I murmured to her.

She shook her head as her breathing escalated.

"Wren, drop your tail and raise your ears."

She shook her head once again and unfortunately her breathing only got faster.

"Lak, catch her arm," I growled.

"What? Why? By the Tallests!" she yelped as she caught Wren as she began to collapse, her eyes rolling into her head.

"Oh great! We killed the Captain of another ship," the boy exclaimed. "They're going to kill us!"

"We're not going to attack anyone," I calmly stated as I checked Wren's pulse. "She's only fainted. She was startled to see you and began to hyperventilate and only fainted. She'll hate herself for overreacting like that when she wakes up. She'll be ok though. No problem but she'll be ok."

"She doesn't look it, but she's heavy," Lak grumbled carefully lowering her to the floor.

"I'll tell her you said that," I grinned at Lak and she scowled back.

"Are you sure she'll be fine?" the elder asked, worry etched on his face.

The piolet of our ship nodded as he checked her over more throughly, having more medical experience. "She'll be just fine like Curtis said. A slight headache and a bruised ego, but fine other wise."

"Do you know what about us startled her?"

I lifted one of Wren's ears from where it was against her skull and carefully unwrapped the tip of her tail from her waist. Oweten shifted her pants leg only slightly to reveal a paw.

Chure gaped. "She's one of us Grandfather!"

"She can't be," he murmured to himself. "The last ship that had any of our people out there was Bez. And none of them came back. She can't be one of us."

"Bez?" my head shot up to look at him.

"Yes, Bez, a living ship we found and began to raise. He was about the size of the cruiser you came on when he hatched. There was a crew of six on board when they left."

I sat down heavily on the floor. "This isn't going to be good," I muttered.

"What's not going to be good?" KIA asked trying to fan Wren to see if that would wake her as Lak did the same.

"I have the sudden feeling that our ship is not going to wait till we come back."

"Why?" Lak questioned, drawing it out slowly, unsure if she wanted to know the answer. "It's the same ship as the one they talked about and Wren only fainted."

"Yeah Wren only fainted, but there is this panicked feeling at the back of my skull that's just getting more amplified."

Oweten winced, "You too? Mine started as soon as the Captain started to hyperventilate."

I looked up at the two aliens that greeted us at the airlock. "One of you may want to give a warning that we have another, very large, very unhappy ship coming in."

Chure's eyes widened and he only glanced at his grandfather once before darting back down the hall quickly.

"What's wrong?" the elder asked.

"Bez is coming home, but he won't be happy about it," I replied.

Zim's P.O.V....

A tremor shook the ship and I leaped to my feet. "What the hell?" I growled and listened as what could only be Bez's roar echoed through the room with another tremor.

"Bez, what's wrong?"

(WREN!) he roared loud enough pain lanced through my skull.

I ran to the chutes and made it to the bridge in record time. "Reports! Now!" I barked over the confusion.

I barely noticed Rachel panting as she came to stand beside me. She grabbed my arm, keeping herself from falling over from another shudder of the ship.

"Sir, we've lost control of Bez. He's taken complete control. Helm is unresponsive," Oaavii cried as she stood to try to get the helm to work.

"Do we know what caused this?" Rachel asked.

"I asked Bez and all I received was a roar and a headache of 'Wren'," I growled worried.

"Sirs, Bez is taking us directly into the asteroid field!"

"Do we have any craft out?"

"No, all docked and accounted for except the one the Captain took."

"Good. Send a ship wide warning to everyone that this is going to be rough."

"Yes sir!"

"What do you think happened?" Rachel shouted over the din of everything that was happening and Bez's roars.

"I don't know, but I knew I should have been there," I growled lowly, mimicking Bez at this point.

"Can't change it now," Rachel winced as the ship shook again.

"By the Warrior Goddess," Eava, another Sharshan crewman swore. "Sirs... Bez is charging several of his cannons!"

"What?!" Rachel and I snapped turning to look at her.

"Several of Bez's smaller cannons are charging and he's taking aim at the asteroids. He's locked the systems. I can't shut them down."

"Well, shit," Rachel swore.

"Bez, don't even. We have no clue where that space station is. You can't go blasting away blindly," I thought to him.

(I know what I'm doing,) Bez growled back to me, (I'm getting to her no matter what.)

"I swear, if I didn't know any better, I would think he was in love with her as well," Rachel muttered knocking into me.

"I believe that Wren is all the family Bez has. They're closer psychically than any of us is with Bez. Wren soothed the hurt child after Bez was betrayed, she helped him trust his crew again. Wren is basically the older sister or mother in terms, to Bez. No wonder he wants to protect her," I said righting her into standing. "I personally hope that he doesn't blow her up trying to get to her though."

Wren's P.O.V....

My head felt fuzzy as I started to wake. I felt like there was something trying to get my attention.

"Wren, you need to get up. We need you right now."

The voice sounded urgent but it sounded so far away.

"Wren, Bez is going to rip this station apart to get to you, you need to get up!"

I frowned. "Bez? Why are you here?" I thought hazily.

(You were in trouble,) he stated plainly with a whine that hit my heart.

"I'll be in more trouble if you damage this station," I mumbled through my link to him. "You need to calm down, you're making my head fuzzier."

There was an almost snuffling feeling in my head. (Are you sure you're ok?)

I felt myself smile slightly and mentally pushed the snuffling feeling away and opened my mind to him completely. "See. I'm fine. I just had a panic attack."

(You seem to be ok,) he snuffled a little more. (They do look a lot like you, don't they,) he asked out of the blue.

"Yes they do. I just didn't expect to step off the ship to see what I see in a mirror looking right back at me. I'm sorry I caused you so much distress Bez," I ran a mental hand across the mental snout poking around my head.

(Me? Zim's cursing at me to let him off to come get you. And Rachel's cursing me for almost killing them.) Bez gave a mental snort.

"Tell him, I said calm the hell down or I'll kick his ass when I get to him," I muttered, bringing a hand up to my forehead. "I'm not a damsel in distress. I fainted because of something stupid. My ego's bruised and I just need to nurse it back. I'll let him cuddle me and scold me all he wants when I'm done here."

(He's not going to be happy about that you know.)

"Oh, I know. Now give control back to the nice pilots and crewmen Bez. Give my message to Zim and tell Rachel if she hurts you, I'm launching her our an air lock," I gave a mental caress to Bez and felt him hum in my mind pleased and amused. "Now, behave Bez. I'll be back on board soon. Ok?"

(Ok.)

I gave a sigh as I rubbed my forehead as I felt Bez's anger and fear disappear. I cracked open an eye to see Curtis leaning over me along with Lak. "Say anything," I growled weakly, "and more than my ego will be bruised on this trip. I'll explain when I get more of my barrings back."

"Wasn't going to say a thing," Lak grinned. "Boy'oh here may have a smart ass comment though." She pointed to Curtis before holding a hand out to me as an offer for a help up.

I took her hand a pulled myself up to a sitting position. "Get it over with Curtis."

"I never knew you had him so well trained Wren. Was he as worried or did he feel lonely?"

I punched him in the arm pretty hard. "He was just worried. So don't start."

Curtis rubbed his arm. "Damn, that hurt," he pouted.

"It better have," I muttered and held my other hand out to him. They pulled me into a sitting position.

"I hope nothing is wrong," someone spoke off to my left.

I turned, blinking a little, still not used to seeing people so much like me. "Yes, actually. I just was overwhelmed by the fact I'm not quite alone as I once thought. And that the mutation that may have happened when I was first abducted, may not be a mutation at all."

"You thought you had a mutation?" someone asked.

"Long story," I groaned. "Let's just say I received an injection when I was abducted and woke up wit how I look now. I thought that it was a mutation at the time."

"Maybe we should move more of this conversation to somewhere private," a tall standing man said coming forward from the crowd. "It seems that your personal life shouldn't be broadcast to everyone on the station."

"I would like to take this somewhere else. I wouldn't mind talking to everyone later. I just want a little time though," I said getting a little twitchy.

"Well, since your ship is here, would you like to return to your ship?"

"I do not want to sound too eager, but please! You are welcome to come aboard at will too. Though it's quite crowded at the moment because of a small problem."

"I believe our people would be happy to come on board regardless of the conditions your ship is in."

I smiled at the group that surrounded us. "Then welcome on board when you come. You have my permission to eat in the officer's dining hall if you wish. Now if you'll excuse me," I bowed to them then turned on my heel to return to our ship.

Narrator....

The doors opened to the shuttle back on Bez. Wren sighed as her feet touched the floor of Bez's shuttle bay. Her ears swiveled to take in all the sounds of the bay that were common and comforting to her. The sounds of pounding footsteps rang across the room, catching her attention and her ears flicked to take in more.

"Wren!"

Her head snapped around to see Zim running to her. Tears welled up in her eyes and she launched herself at him. He hugged her close, running his hand through her hair as she buried her face into his neck.

"Are you ok?" he murmured to her.

She shook her head as he put her back on her feet. She buried her face into his chest, feeling the rhythm of his heart, letting it sooth her.

"What happened?" Rachel asked coming up to Curtis as he stepped off the ship.

"She's not the only on," Curtis said looking to Zim and Wren.

"What?" frowned Rachel.

Curtis shook his head. "The space station is full of people of the same visual make up as her physically."

"You're joking."

"Nope," Lak said coming off the shuttle with KIA in her arms. "Wren wants to dock Bez with the station too. Invited them on board also because of her fainting."

"Well crap," Rachel muttered. "She fainted?"

"That's why the beast was trying to rip open the universe just to get to her," Lak added. "And while you guys are talking. I'm going to go hide in my room away from this whole mess until it all gets straightened out."

"This is just lovely," Rachel muttered.

"Go tell the bridge about docking," Curtis said to Rachel. "That is, unless you want me to and you meet the people coming on board."

"I'll take the one with people, "Rachel sighed. "I've had enough excitement on bridge today. I also want to see this for myself."

Curtis leaned down and gave Rachel a kiss. "You won't be surprised about them. Trust me."

"Love you Curtis," she murmured against his lips.

"I love you too Rachy, my little fox," he smiled into the kiss.

Zim buried his face into Wren's hair as he held her. He only shifted when he felt her ears flick against his cheeks. He lifted his head minutely and blew into one of her ears, watching it twitch.

"Stop that," Wren whined into his chest. Shifting her head she looked up at him with one eye while flattening her ears.

He smiled at her. "But it's so much fun."

"Told you before, you don't know fun."

"And I proved you wrong, remember."

"Of course I do," she flushed slightly. "Can we go to the room now?"

"Yes, we can love. Come on."

The two of them started walking toward the lifts. They were almost there until Krig, the Irken who had been causing so much trouble, confronted them.

"I demand a fight for command of this ship!"

Wren paused mid step. Ears flattened hair and fur fluffing out three times the normal size. "Bloody fucking hell! Fine! You get your fight!" she growled, eyes flashing. "Tomorrow, either in a cargo bay or some place just as large to hold everyone. We'll see if the space station has someplace because I'm getting fucking tired of you pushing and pushing and fucking pushing me to the brink of snapping!"

Krig actually paled slightly, startled to see the Captain so frazzled. He shook his head before regaining his composure. "Fine! Things will change when I'm in charge!"

"You'll never taste that," Wren growled dangerously low and gutturally. "Now, get out of my face or I'll remove you right here and now. I have a nice long bath calling me."

She marched out of the ship bay to the lifts without waiting for Zim. He looked over and down to Krig with a cool, even gaze. The look was returned by the other Irken.

"I hope you know what you got yourself into because I'm glad I'm not you," Zim calmly stated as he began to inspect the fingers of his glove. "You'll probably be lucky if you walk out of the fight on your own. Not that I'm saying you will now. You caught her at a bad time and now you're going to pay for it. Painfully."

Without waiting for a come back Zim walked out on Krig.

Krig fumed. He would beat this so called "Captain" and put her in her place. Irkens were the supreme beings of this universe and he was not going to take orders from the likes of her.

Wren's room....

Zim entered their room only to find a trail of clothes leading to the bathroom. He picked up each article as he went further into the room after locking the door behind him. He threw the clothes in the hamper before pausing to see if he heard the water running in the bathroom. After hearing it he was, he frowned sure Wren said she was going to take a bath. Knocking and hearing her 'come in,' he was startled when she wasn't.

Wren was sitting in the tub, her hair up in a messy bun and blue bubbles resting against her collar bone. She turned the water off with her foot, giving Zim a nice look of her long leg. He watched as she sighed and reclined a little further into the tub.

"You weren't kidding about the bath were you?" Zim asked leaning against the door frame.

"I never joke about a bath," she muttered sinking further into the tub until the bubbles reached just under her chin. "Especially when Bez creates a soak that's good for working out all the kinks gathered through the day and soothing bruised egos."

Zim just hummed lowly not commenting as he watched her.

"You could always join me you know," Wren smiling coyly.

He rose a brow at that.

"What?" she pouted.

"You and me in a tub of water?"

"Not water."

"Not water."

"Yes, not water."

"Hmmm, very tempting. Very, very tempting," he said walking to the edge of the tub. He bent down and kissed her forehead. "But I may have to take that offer some other time."

"Awww..." Wren playfully pouted.

"Don't pout. I'll come back and give you all the cuddles you want when you're dried off and dressed. Right now, I need to make sure Krig doesn't do anything stupid."

She scowled at Krig's name. "Set up the damned time and place so I can take care of him already."

"I get the feeling he may not give in that easy."

"Then if it really comes down to it, I'll kill him. I don't want to, but I will. Crewmen like him get others killed. I will not have my crew killed because of some asshole extremest," Wren snorted causing a few bubbles to float up and away from her.

Startled just a little, they watched them float away and slowly pop. Wren blew at more of the bubbles and giggled as several floated up into the air. Zim chuckled and kissed her forehead again.

"Just keep relaxing in your tub Grashe. I'll get everything settled. Enjoy your bubbles."

"I trust you to get it all settled," she hummed happily at the kiss.

He stood and left, intent on settling things with Krig.

Rachel's P.O.V....

"Well damn, Wren isn't the only one like her," I thought as I watched a group of twelve come on board after Bez docked with the space station.

Their colors ranged through the color spectrum. Many were not in the best of shape and I made a mental note to offer our medical facilities if they wanted them. I also noticed very few children too. There was a feeling at the back of my mind that these were the last of a great people.

They were talking amongst themselves in the same language that Wren had used with the Warirken Captain. My eyes grew wide at a sudden realization and I rushed to find Curtis.

He was sitting on the bridge listening to Krig complain about the people from the station being on board Bez.

"And blah, blah, blah, I disapprove, blah, blah, blah. When/if I was Captain, blah, blah, blah," I said with a roll of my eyes. Krig turned to look at me with a very deadly scowl. "Krig, you're not even supposed to be on the bridge."

He turned and shoved a finger into my face. "You'll be the first to go after that stupid Captain of yours and Zim."

I snapped at his finger with my teeth and he jerked his hand back. "Wren could kick your ass. Even if you took her by surprise," I growled.

"I highly doubt that."

"Just get off this bridge," Curtis hissed to Krig. "You've voiced your opinion and you've just been repeating yourself for the past five minutes. I have better things to do than listen to you repeat yourself for several minutes. I have better things to do than listen to you repeat yourself."

Krig sneered but didn't say anything as he walked away.

"He is going to make me kill him," Curtis groaned running a hand down his face.

"I'll kill him for you," Vahn said over his shoulder from the helm.

"I'll do it!" another added from somewhere on the bridge.

"We can push him out an air lock!"

"Bez tried to convince Wren to let him do that," I sighed dramatically. "She wanted to handle him personally, so no can do."

"Well damn," someone grumbled. "If she won't let Bez do it, there's no chance we could do it."

I had to smile at that comment. At least most of the crew we willing to try and make Wren's life easier.

"Curt, they even speak the same language that Wren used with the Warirken Captain," I said, my train of thought switching as fast as GIR's attention span.

"I hope they don't get any crazy ideas that Wren should go back with them and stay," Curtis muttered mulling over what I said.

"I'm more worried that they'd want her to take one of their people as a mate, husband, whatever," I whispered to him.

"That would not go over well."

"No it wouldn't."

"I hope this all works out. Because we have who knows how many Irkens coming in for a space station."

"We'll, we're screwed."

"Don't say that. The mess has only started."

"Of course it's only just started," Zim muttered as he walked onto the bridge. "Wren also wants to fight that ass as soon as possible."

"You're kidding," I groaned.

"Not at all. She wants order back on this ship as soon as possible."

"But now? With who-knows-how-many Irkens coming in at any time?"

Zim shrugged. "Would have happened later but he pushed his luck in the ship bay."

"Fucking idiot," I sighed. "Everyone will want to see this fight, in person not just on monitors. How are we doing to do that? Bez has no open space large enough to fit everyone now."

"We could always ask if the space station has an area big enough for this," Curtis suggested.

"Wren thought the same thing. Just need to find someone and explain things to them to get it set up," Zim offered.

"Who gets to go ask?" Curtis asked.

"Rock, paper, scissors?"

Zim gave me a confused look.

I laughed and explained the details to him. He muttered something about crazy humans and their ways but participated any way. Oddly enough, me being human and having rock, paper, sciccored most of my life, I lost.

On the Station....

"So," I thought looking around the halls of the station. "It's a council that takes care of these things. Nice to know for future reference."

I looked back to my guides who looked a little nervous about taking me to the council chamber. Shrugging to myself I began to look around again. The hall itself was quite a large space. I couldn't imagine what it would have looked like full of people and brand new.

"How long has this station been here?" I asked startling my guides. Their tails poofed up comically. "Sorry! Sorry, didn't mean to startle you!" I laughed.

"That's ok," one laughed glancing over his shoulder at me. "To answer your question, it's been here even before my grand parents were born. My grandfather before he passed said it was here before his grandparents as well. I can't tell you more than that though."

"That's," I paused to mentally tick off the numbers on my fingers. "That's five generations worth of the station being here. How long does your species live?"

The other winced slightly. "A hundred years now."

"Now?"

"Our life spans were double that, even tripe that several generations ago. It's steadily declined each generation till my grandparents where it's leveled out to a hundred years."

"You're the last of your kind aren't you?" I asked frowning.

The posture of those two said even more than words did. "We thought so until your Captain came along. There has to be more of us out there!"

Bu the end of that exclamation they were both looking at me and I sadly shook my head. "Unless her family is still alive out there, Wren is the only person I know who has the characteristics of your species. For the longest time, we thought Wren was the only one with characteristics like her's."

I watched as their faces fell and it broke my heart. I had no clue how hard this would be on them seeing that there were only a two thousand and a half of their people left. And they had been a long living race that had only diminished over the years.

"More and more still borns are born all the time and only a few make it to their teens," one of the guides said quietly and quite sadly. "We are dying out and it's a slow painful death."

"We'll find some way to help you," I smiled at them. "We've done well so far and if I'm right, I need to discuss this with a few people. We could help keep your face from going extinct."

"How?"

"As I said, I need to talk to a few people first to see if I'm right. After that we'll bring it to the council. I promise that we'll do everything in our power to help you. Wren would promise if she were here but I'm doing it in her place."

They only nodded as we came to some very large double doors. Waving a hand over a sensor that I hadn't noticed at first and the doors opened with the sound of grinding metal. I winced at the sharp sound.

"Who enters the council chamber?"

"Monent, son of Aphreal and Owan, we've come to seek an answer to a question the Co-first officer has from the ship Bez."

"Let her speak," a very elderly female of their species said. Her fur and hair almost silver in the light but her eyes held a spark of like that hadn't extinguished in all her years. Laugh lines around her mouth and eyes made me like her even more.

I bowed to them, thinking it could only help my cause. It was never harmful to bow to those above my status and my years, and it seemed to help so far. "Elders, I have come to ask a question on behalf of my Captain. It pertains to a member of our crew challenging our Captain for control of our ship."

"Does this usually happen often?" another elder asked, slightly bored.

"No, it doesn't. This crew member is new and he refuses to give in to try the new ways set by the Captain and adopted by the other crew members. She's strict but fair and knows more about the ship than him. The ship has wanted to deal with the crew member in his own way but the Captain actually refuses to allow him to... take care of the problem," I explained. "He challenged her too, the crew member that is, to a battle for leadership and we're not able to have a proper battle because we do not have enough space."

"And this concerns us how?"

"We were wandering if you would happen to have the space for such a function. Of course, seeing as it is your space station, you would be able to watching also," I said.

"Why would we want to see something so barbaric?" a male elder asked.

"Oh, quit being a sour puss," the first elder who spoke cackled. "Is your Captain sprightly and fierce?"

I grinned. "She puts a wild cat to shame sometimes and a Cheshire cat in all sorts of knots."

"She should be allowed!" she cackled again. "Males of our species have always fought for dominance so it would be nice for a change to see a female whoop a male's arse for once!"

My two guides gaped at the elder in astonishment while another female Elder rolled her eyes and the two male Elders scoffed at the notion.

"you don't believe she can beat that crew member of her's, do you Elder Tormithy?" the silver Elder asked.

"No I do not Felicity," Tormithy grumbled scowling at her.

"I bet you she can win and without killing him," Falicity said.

The other just snorted as he crossed his arms before his chest.

"Are you afraid she'll win?" the other female Elder asked.

"No, I'm not. It should be beneath us to gamble or allow this fight to happen."

"Oh come off it, Tormity," the other male scoffed. "I'll take the bet Falicity. My best cloak says she'll kill him to win."

"Pshh," the other female said. "My best tea set that she'll win without Killing him Carevft."

I stood there as they fought, blinking at them the whole time. I took it as a sign they most likely had a place and would allow the fight to go on. It was all so strange though that these Elders were wagering on the outcome. I should take offense that one of them thought Wren would lost though, but a two to one chance she's win without killing Krig was good. At least I hoped it did because statistics were never my strongest point and I don't thin that it would ever be.

"Fine Marabelle," Tormithy snapped. "She's going to be defeated. That girl has no chance against a male and he'll most likely kill her. I bet my torrac on it."

The other three's eyes got wide. "You must be kidding!" Marabelle gasped. "That torrac has been in your family for generations!"

"That's how sure I am she'll lose."

"But you haven't even seen her!"

"I've heard she has our species' traits. She's just copying them for some sick satisfaction in taunting us. I can not respect anyone that does that."

My form snapped to attention at that quip and I almost snarled. "Captain Wren's form is a mystery to me and the crew. For as long as I have known her, she was human. And when we were abducted that's when it shifted. It caused her so much distress and heart break that she panicked when she saw she wasn't the only one of the same species. She would never taunt a dying race like that."

"And what makes you believe we, the Delalines, are a dying race?" Tormithy snapped, bristling.

All eyes turned to me and I stood as tall as my five foot and one inch would allow me. "More and more of your children are still born, your age has decreased, your people just look unhealthy. There is not enough genetic material to sustain your race. You. Are. Dying. Out."

Felicity looked at me and she smiled. "You are wise for one who seems so young. The fight shall be here, on the station, in the council/even hall, if you hadn't already figured that out. Afterwards though, you and your Captain shall meet us, here, in the Elder's chamber to discuss many things. Now, scat. We have a lot ot do in only a few hours."

I only nodded, knowing that I had been dismissed. With a frown, I followed my guides out of the room and started to worry about how, exactly this fight was going to do down.

And there is another long chapter that I didn't realize was so long. I'm sorry that I didn't get this out sooner guys. Finals, life, and everything in general was getting to me and I just needed a small break from typing. Recuperation has done me well and I hope to get more chapters out sooner. Not guaranteeing that of course because classes start soon as well. But seeing as I'll probably only have 3, which I'm not happy about, I'll have more time to work on this and my regular job! Woot! Monies!

Invader Lak, may I say that I do have your wonderful little SIR finished. It took so long because I did not like the first drawing of him and decided to change it. Sooo, if you want. I can totally send his new design to you!