Lilo & Stitch's Star Trek
Chapter 58: Sucker's Luck
At first he didn't notice it.
426 was merely concentrating on catching up to the footsteps. Although, all things considered, he probably wouldn't be able until the what-ever-they-were stopped moving, he still wanted to at least be nearby when they did, so as to improve the chances of running into them.
But as he wove his way through the passages, occasionally backtracking when he reached dead ends or passages that took him away from the sound, a thought began to form in the back of his mind. A nagging feeling, as if something wasn't right.
And as he passed through the fifth empty corridor in a row, it struck him.
There were none of the cyborg thingies anywhere.
This was odd. Before the place had been swarming with them.
Perhaps they were all sucked out?
On a ship this size? asked the voice in his head. There's gotta be, what, hundreds of thousands of them!
Well, maybe they were all elsewhere fixing stuff.
Perhaps.
He pricked his ears, listening for any sound at all.
Nothing. They'd obviously stopped.
Or they've moved out of hearing range, countered the voice in his head. 426 ignored it.
He ran through along the corridors, in his mind imagining a pictorial aid – a compass arrow swinging in the direction the thunking and clunking of boots had come from – all the while attempting to ignore the stich in his chest, as well as a sharp pain in his upper left leg.
C'mon old legs, don't give up on me now!
As he rounded a corner, something struck him; he stopped running so he could gather his thoughts, and to listen without the sound of his own running getting in the way.
It was definite. The footsteps had started clunking again. And now they were getting louder.
He stood there for a few minutes, just listening to the sounds echoing down the corridors. They were coming towards him, he was sure of it.
You've stayed here too long, said the voice in his head. What if they take a different turn? What if they're only in a parallel corridor? What if the cyborg thingies were tracking you and you've given them the opportunity to catch up?
426 ignored her. He was much too busy listening – there was something else in the background, something familiar, but something that was so soft he couldn't quite identify it.
And as he listened, he began to hear the voices of people – unfamiliar voices, but people all the same. And they were shouting to each other.
"Rotate field modulations Echo-Two-Bravo!"
"I'm not sure we can hold them off any longer!"
"Captain, they've adapted!"
"Alright, I'd say it's time for a quick and orderly retreat!"
"Hear hear!"
Oh crud.
He turned around and started to run as fast as he could.
Which, as it turned out, wasn't very fast at all – he was struggling to even maintain a slow jog, and still then stumbled over his feet every few metres. And the pain in his leg was getting worse.
He was tired. He was sure it was the most tired he'd ever felt – it was as if his body was all out fighting the flu or something, and it was all he could do to convince himself that no, this wouldn't be a good time for a nap, and though his body would probably punish him later, he certainly wouldn't regret it.
He was sure the voices were running from the cyborg thingies. It was the only possibility, wasn't it? And that sound he'd heard – it was the sound of those pistons, those stupid stupid leg-pistons of those stupid stupid zombie aliens.
He tried to push himself to run faster. If there was one thing he didn't like the idea of, it was finding out what the cyborg thingies did when they caught someone.
But it wasn't long until he started finding himself hundreds of metres ahead of where he expected, between blinks of an eye; he was so tired, though, that he didn't think to question it. There was only one thought.
Get away.
Must get away.
Away from them.
Was he going the right way? He no longer cared, as long as he was getting away.
They'd destroy him.
Have to run.
Have to get-
SLAM.
He lifted his face from the cold metal ground. The surroundings were unfamiliar, and wasn't he just on his feet?
Must get away.
He tried pushing himself up, but he could feel his muscles strain even lifting him slightly above the ground. And then there was the bursts of pain throbbing through his left arm, magnified greatly by the pressure his weight was putting on them.
But he had to get up…
Finally, they gave way, and 426 fell back on his chest.
Tired. He'd been running for so long. Perhaps a really quick nap wouldn't hurt?
No, don't, you've got to run! said the voice in his head.
He couldn't keep running forever. Not like this, at least – they were relentless and unforgiving, and he was neither of those things. And surely he could nap before they caught up? After all, all he needed was a few minutes sleep, and then he'd be fresh enough to continue running – but right now he couldn't do it.
Get up! shouted the voice, sounding even more desperate than before. They'll catch you and then they'll consume you! You can't give up on me!
But his eyelids felt like someone was piling lead upon them, and his mind felt as if fluffy clouds were pouring into it through his ear. There was only one thing he could think of as he closed his eyes: sleep.
The next thing he knew, he was flying through the air.
"Gah!" he screamed, completely losing it. And then he started dropping.
It was then he realised that there was someone next to him that he'd been carried by – that was, until a few moments ago when she'd let go from surprise.
"Oh my- sorry!" she stammered as she recaught him with the tips of her fingers. "It's just you were kind of really out of it, and you looked rather injured, and I didn't expect-"
The experiment wearily shook his hand from side to side. He still felt really drowsy – too drowsy to care, in fact.
The person (a dark-skinned human woman with bushy hair) reaffirmed her grip on 426's torso so he wouldn't fall any further.
"We f-found you after w-we were running… and we d-didn't want t-to leave you to…"
She trailed off, staring straight ahead for a few seconds, and then resumed running.
Urrrrg.
It was hard to think straight. Why were they running? It was keeping him awake, all this running – as they jolted up and down so did he, and that was annoying.
"So, little guy, how're you doing?" came a voice from somewhere else. 426 didn't respond.
The voice tried again. "I suppose you're one of Jumba's experiments, eh?"
At the mention of the word Jumba, something in his brain clicked. The cogs in his brain started grinding again, and for the first time since he'd found himself on the floor, he was thinking clearly.
The Swedish cyborg zombies were after them.
These people knew Jumba.
That means they were on his side.
Unless they were enemies, that is. What if they sold him out to the cyborgs?
But then why were they running away from them?
"How do you know Jumba?"
"Er, we m-met a w-while back," said the woman holding him.
"Yes, he and a pink character was going to rescue one of your friends, I believe," continued the other voice.
So, 419 was with them. And they were looking for Little Girl! They had to be.
"Are we going to them?"
The bushy-haired woman glanced to her side.
"Hang on," said the other person. "Jameston to bridge – have you had any contact with our friends in the other ship?"
"Yes, actually," said a male voice, heavily overlaid with static – 426 guessed it was coming from some kind of communication device. "The one-eyed yellow one beamed to the cube a while back so he could lead his friends to the rendezvous point once they'd found the girl."
"Ah, thanks, just what I wanted to hear," replied Jameston.
"Glad to be of assistance. Grey out."
The woman who was holding him beamed.
"Excellent result, I'd say," said Jameston. "So, when we get back, we can patch you and any of your friends up who need it, and you can attend to your affairs and be on your way – I mean, I'd dare say you'd want to return to your own t- uh, your own home system as soon as possible."
So if everything went right, there could still be a happy ending.
No. There couldn't be any 'ifs'. Everything was going to turn out right.
"Teresa, you holding him tight? Alright then, everyone, we have not a moment to lose! Let's get off this ship and reunite this fellow with his family!"
Family. They'd always teased Jumba about it, but now that the woman named Jameston had said it out loud, it didn't seem so silly. He, 419 and Jumba - they were family. It's why they were here, fighting off creatures 426 had perhaps only seen in nightmares past. It's why they cared enough to follow each other onto this deity-forsaken place.
Because in a family, no-one gets left behind.