A/N: Thanks for all the reviews, PMs, favorites and follows for this story. And thank you for being patient waiting for this chapter.

Note that I have made one minor change to the last chapter which is reflected here too. The pilot helping Chuck has been renamed. My beta pointed out that his name was too close to the villain's, so now, instead of being Durlik, he's now Durban.

Very fast beta work by MarkeyDeSad over the weekend, enabling me to get this out today. Thanks, my friend.

Last chapter, S'ra had been kidnapped and Chuck was flying to rescue her. Let's join him…

Exo
Chapter 8: Rescue Mission

Chuck had been fretting the whole way across the new terrain. If he had been more aware, he would have seen the large lakes that they passed and the many boats upon them. Most of these were fishermen, but some were pleasure seekers.

The flier he and Durban were in was one of the fastest, but Gralik had such a lead that Chuck suspected there was no chance of catching him before he reached his own city.

Chuck's head was in a spin. How could this have happened, just when he'd found someone he wanted to be with, to have her taken from him was heartbreaking, but that was only part of it. He was so worried about her. Was she hurt? Had her captor forced himself…? No, he couldn't even think that!

All he knew was that the mild, almost timid, Chuck from Earth was becoming a distant memory. The Chuck on this planet was about to either rescue his love, or he would become an avenging force.

The miles were racing past but, as yet, they had not seen the other craft. Chuck wasn't sure what he would do if they did catch up with Gralik. He knew he wanted to save S'ra, but had no idea how he would achieve that.

He knew he was stronger than the average person from Retith, so maybe he could subdue the other man in some way. This wasn't what he would ever have considered back on Earth, but then, he hadn't ever had a reason to before.

As he was thinking this, Durban cried out, "Look!"

Chuck looked up at him and then where Durban was pointing. There was something in the distance, above the ground. "Do you have anything to see it larger?" Chuck didn't know the word for 'magnify.'

Durban reached down and grabbed something, then handed it to Chuck. It was basically akin to a pair of binoculars. "What is this called?" Durban told him.

Chuck put the binoculars up to his eyes, but they were out of focus, so he had to get Durban to show him how to use them, which was similar to ones on Earth, just by pressing the buttons on the top, rather than twisting anything.

Once he knew how to adjust them, he soon found that he was looking at another flier, larger than the one they were in.

The size of the craft made Chuck decide what to do. If he had been back on Earth, he would never have considered such an action. He may have tried to help his sister, but then with Devon he wouldn't have to do anything on his own, and Devon would do the more athletic things.

"Durban, can you get above them? And would they even hear us if you did?"

Durban grinned. "It depends how far away we were, but this flier is very quiet."

"So, I want to jump down onto their craft," Chuck explained.

Durban looked shocked. "For me to be close enough for a jump. They would hear and see us."

"I was thinking about twenty feet," Chuck explained. "Could you swoop down to that?"

"Yes, but you'd be injured after a jump like that. You'd achieve nothing."

Chuck grinned. "Trust me."

Durban shook his head, but didn't argue. He started their rise. In half an hour they were skimming along about one hundred feet higher than the other flier, and getting much closer.

Durban advised Chuck on what to expect from a fighting man on Retith. "If he's armed it is most likely a pistol. He wouldn't be able to use that in a close fight, so will probably not use that on you. Another weapon popular is the blade. These are more usable in close range, Other than that, it is simply fists."

"I don't like guns," Chuck stated emphatically. "But I am good with a blade and hand-to-hand." He was thinking of jiu-jitsu.

Durban leaned down, opened which seemed to be a weapon store and pulled out a blade in a sheath. He handed this to Chuck, along with a belt.

Soon, Chuck was ready and they were close enough to start the maneuver Chuck had suggested. He nodded to Durban, who pushed the flier into the dive that would start it.

As they got closer, Chuck could see the deck of the other flier. His heart beat faster when he saw S'ra bound near the back. There was a man at the front obviously in charge of flying the craft. Two guards longed near the front too.

Gralik was bending down near the bound woman. He was gesticulating at her. She spat at him. That registered with Chuck. Obviously a common display of disgust between the two planets. What Chuck then saw made his blood boil. Gralik backhanded her and then started to storm off to the front of the flier.

Durban was starting to level off. He was actually about fifteen feet from the other flier now. Even if that wasn't the case, Chuck would have jumped then.

He flew through the air. He had completely forgotten the blade strapped to his side.

Chuck didn't see S'ra notice the movement above. She was the only one looking up. She was shocked to see her love jumping from the flier above.

Gralik had just tuned to shout at S'ra, when Chuck's feet hit his shoulders, thrusting him backwards onto the deck.

The Chuck of the past that would never hurt another man was completely gone. He wanted to grab Gralik and punch him in the face, but he forced that down. He had to be mindful of the guards. He whipped out the blade and pushed it against Gralik's neck, thinking that would stop him from rising. He needn't have worried about that. Gralik's shoulders were in no state for him to push up with his arms, but not only that he had hit his head on the deck and was clearly unconscious.

Chuck looked up at the guards who had both risen. Both were holding pistols aimed at Chuck.

"If you want him to live, you'll put down the pistols," S'ra called from behind Chuck. It was what he was about to say, but she'd beaten him to it. The men did that and kicked them in Chuck's direction.

Chuck needed to untie S'ra, but didn't want either guard to do it as that would end up with her being threatened again, so he bent down, still with the blade threatening Gralik, and pulled the unconscious man towards S'ra.

S'ra realized what he was doing and managed to get up into a crouch.

As he pulled alongside her, she held her arms out and he was glad he was good with blades as he swiftly cut the rope that was holding her wrists together.

He twisted back to press the blade against the neck again. The guards hadn't moved, guessing he would do this and there was no time to overpower him or reach their pistols.

S'ra reached to Gralik's body and took a pistol from his side, aiming it at the guards.

Chuck quickly cut the rope binding her ankles together.

S'ra's wrists and ankles were hurting, but she slowly walked to the thrown pistols and threw them over the side of the flier.

She said to Chuck, "I assume there's room for me in the flier you came in."

He grinned. "Yes."

She nodded and quietly said, "Brace yourself."

He just had time to do that, when she fired a shot into the flier just to the right of the pilot. The flier lost all power and shuddered. The guards dropped to the deck. The pilot looked around, shocked.

In less than a minute, Durban, who had been flying to one side watching, flew closer.

"You jump first, Chuck. I'll keep this trained on them. Then you can catch me." She grinned at him.

That is exactly what happened. It felt like no time before they were flying off, leaving the stranded flier.

S'ra held Chuck off for a moment, so she could give instructions to Durban. "Continue to Sanklin."

Chuck frowned. "Why?"

"We'll tell Gralik's father where to find him," she said as she turned to Chuck and threw her arms around his neck, pulling him in for a kiss.

When the pair pulled apart, Chuck was desperate to know if she was unharmed, but S'ra needed to tell him why they were going ahead. "Chuck, we are both full of questions, but first let's talk about what is going to happen." She held his hand and pulled Chuck toward Durban so that he could hear too.

"I am not doing this for Gralik's sake, but maybe his men. His father should know where his son is and send people to rescue them." She grinned. "After all, they are just four men and don't have you protecting them like I did."

Chuck laughed.

S'ra continued, "Gralik was threatening me and wanted me to agree to marry before we reached the city. I think he knows his father will not approve, so we tell Praid what his son attempted."

"What did he threaten?" Chuck asked, but thought he knew.

She held his gaze. She knew he would take this badly. "He has some drug that forces a woman to ovulate." Durban gasped and she had to explain the word to Chuck. "He'd already forced me to take this. He was going to rape me." She had to explain that word too. "Apparently the drug does more than just the forced ovulation. It almost guarantees conception." Yet another word she had to explain.

Chuck was stunned. "You… you…" He couldn't speak.

S'ra said what Chuck was struggling to get out. "I'd be carrying his child by the time we saw his father."

Chuck was horrified. The thought of that happening to her, unwillingly, was shocking.

She placed her palm against his cheek. "He didn't do that, Chuck." Then she smiled. "And don't worry, the drug will wear off in a day."

Chuck knew what she was saying. He raised an eyebrow. "Are you telling me we have to wait a day before…?"

S'ra blushed slightly and nodded.

"What if we wanted to test compatibility?" he asked with a grin.

S'ra could tell he was teasing her, so decided to play the same game. She called to Durban, "Please look the other way." Then she turned back to Chuck, opening her arms to him. "Good idea, Chuck."

He flushed and stammered, "You want my baby now?"

She was laughing internally, but continued the act. She pouted. "You don't want children with me?" She quivered her bottom lip.

He bent down and picked her up. "I do, but want to enjoy our time together, just the two of us, first." He kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck as she returned the kiss.

When they both needed to breathe, she rested her forehead against his. "I do too, Chuck." She sighed. "I've never even considered having children before I met the man I fell in love with." She pulled back to look in his eyes. "Now, it doesn't scare me as much."

He nodded.

Twenty minutes later, they could see the city approaching.

Chuck had told S'ra what the governor had said about his peer.

"We should go straight to Praid and tell him about his son's whereabouts," she said.

"The governor's residence is a little way from the airfield," Durban said.

"I think we'll get a military escort when we tell them we have news of his son," S'ra stated.

And that was exactly what happened. S'ra had put on the clothes that Chuck had brought for her. "I'm glad I am not going to see the governor in my nightwear!" S'ra chuckled.

As they landed, airfield staff approached and she asked to talk to their commander. She talked to that man and a car soon approached with two guards to whisk them to the governor.

Praid himself greeted them and ushered them to come in and talk.

"Chaldir told me what had happened," he said. They could both tell he was holding in his anger. "I am so sorry." He looked at Chuck. "He also told me about you, Chuck." His look spoke volumes about that. Both realized that he knew about Chuck's origins. "I am pleased that the two of you are reunited, but tell me how that happened and about my son's fate."

"Before we tell you all that, Praid, you need to send people to rescue him and his men," S'ra told the older man.

Praid sat back, surprise written all across his face. "He's not dead?"

"He was unconscious when Chuck rescued me," S'ra said and looked at her boyfriend. "And their flier was disabled."

Chuck was surprised when S'ra gave some coordinates to Praid. S'ra noticed his confusion. "Durban had noted them down," she told him.

"I didn't know you had the concept here," he admitted.

Praid had left them to organize a rescue mission. The couple embraced again, still reveling in their closeness again.

When Praid returned, he brought his wife, R'lna. S'ra knew both of them, but R'lna better as she had spent time talking to her when her father had spent time with the two governors.

R'lna rushed to her and clasped her hands. "S'ra, are you alright?"

S'ra smiled at the woman. "I am."

"That son of mine, needs to be punished for this!" R'lna's eyes were flashing in anger.

S'ra felt the same, but said nothing. She then realized she hadn't introduced Chuck and did so. "This is my wonderful boyfriend, Chuck, who saved me again."

Chuck blushed but couldn't deny it.

R'lna raised her eyebrows. "Boyfriend?"

S'ra laughed. "Yes! Me with a boyfriend! Hard to imagine."

R'lna looked Chuck. "Would you mind standing, Chuck?" He frowned but did so. R'lna looked him up and down. "As I thought, so tall!"

Chuck blushed again. S'ra pulled him back down. "Praid hasn't told you about him?"

R'lna shook her head. "What should I know?"

Praid had sat by his wife and listened as well, as S'ra said, "Chuck's not from Retith."

R'lna gasped. "Chaldir told me that much," Praid mentioned. He turned to Chuck. "Where are you from?"

"A planet a long way away called Earth," Chuck replied.

"How did you get here?" the governor asked.

Chuck was surprised that another person just accepted his word. He explained what he knew. S'ra added the facts that he wasn't sharing, that he was stronger than the typical man and how he had repeatedly saved her life.

Praid had listened but obviously wanted to talk about something else. Chuck looked at him. "What is it you want to know?" he asked.

He man acknowledged Chuck's observance. Then, he asked, "What did Gralik actually do?"

Chuck looked to S'ra, who said, "You tell them what you found out."

Chuck nodded. "S'ra and I were asleep in bed at her parents' house. We don't know for sure if it was him on his own or with help, but I woke with something being held over my mouth. It was a cloth soaked in chendia."

He looked at S'ra. "Same for me," she stated.

"When I woke, S'ra was gone, she'd been taken. I could only think of one person who knew we were at her parents' home. Gralik.

"Her father and I went to see Chaldir." He looked at Praid. " He said he had contacted you and that Gralik was on his way home, which he hadn't been earlier in the day when he said he would be back for his bride-to-be." Chuck noticed S'ra tense as he said that. He looked at her as if to say that this was her topic.

S'ra looked at them. "He tricked my father into thinking that we should wed to 'avoid strife between our two city states.' It was not true, of course."

"Ridiculous!" the older man declared.

"Why would your father be fooled like that?" R'lna asked, looking incredulous.

S'ra blushed. "I don't really know, but my parents worry that I am not wed at my age."

R'lna smiled. "Ahh, that old belief. Children by the time you are thirty?" S'ra nodded. "So, your father was keen to wed you off!" S'ra nodded again.

R'lna sat back. "Did Gralik see you two together?"

"Yes, he did. He wasn't happy!" S'ra said.

"He never liked it when someone else got what he wanted," Praid muttered. He looked at Chuck. "So, you caught up with him?"

"Yes. My excellent flier, Durban, flew above Gralik's craft and I jumped down," Chuck told them.

"He makes it sound easy. We were flying at full speed," S'ra stated.

The other two looked both surprised and very impressed.

"Well, it was a lucky jump," Chuck said. "I managed to knock Gralik down."

S'ra growled beside him. "He knocked him flat to the deck and Gralik didn't move after that. He must have hit his head. He was alive, though." She looked at her hero. "Chuck held a blade to his neck to stop Gralik's men from shooting."

"How many?" Praid asked.

"Two with guns and the pilot," she replied.

"And what about you, S'ra?" R'lna asked. "How were you treated?"

"I woke up bound hand and foot, still in my nightwear." She looked at Chuck. "Gralik made me drink some drug that forces a woman to ovulate."

Chuck ground his teeth hearing this again.

R'lna gasped. "Flaxik! Our scientists only recently created that!"

"He was going to force himself on her and present her to you as the woman bearing his child!" Chuck growled. He didn't want to use the word for rape as that somehow made it worse.

Praid jumped up and started pacing, then stopped and faced his wife. "I know he's our son, but this can't go unpunished!" She nodded. "Imprisonment or exile?" She nodded, after breathing a sigh of relief.

They both turned to S'ra. "Would that be sufficient? If he had followed through, then death would have been justified."

S'ra knew she would have to explain the words imprisonment and exile to Chuck, but felt imprisonment the best option.

Chuck was shocked. "Death?"

He looked at S'ra, who nodded, but turned back to the governor. "Exile could mean I am not safe from him."

Praid nodded.

After a few moments of silence. R'lna spoke. "Please accept our apologies for our son's actions. Will you stay and eat with us? We would love to know more about Chuck's home world." She looked at her husband who brightened slightly and nodded.

Chuck had spent the lunch describing life in Los Angeles. He did point out that he hadn't traveled much and knew that a lot of the world was very different to where he lived. The other couple were fascinated and S'ra was too. She and Chuck had not had the chance to talk like this. That seemed odd when they had spent so much time together, but the topic had never come up. She started to feel like she should have asked. 'Do I seem uninterested in where he came from?' she questioned herself.

Chuck was just describing the trip to see the telescope when there was a disturbance outside the room they were in.

Praid was rising to investigate, when the doors opened, a man came in, walked to the governor and spoke quietly to him.

Praid did fully stand then. He looked at the younger couple. "Gralik has been brought here. Do you want to join us?"

S'ra shivered and shook her head. Chuck had been looking at her to check her reaction. He turned to the governor. "We would rather not see him again."

Praid nodded and walked out. R'lna apologized to them and followed him.

Chuck looked at his girlfriend. She looked very pale. He clasped her hand and moved closer. They were sitting on a bench, so he easily closed the distance between them and placed his arm around her. She snuggled into him. "Thank you, Chuck. I need this. I am sorry to seem so weak."

He kissed her forehead and said, "I think anyone would react this way, S'ra."

After thirty minutes, Chuck was wondering if their hosts were likely to return at all. He pulled away from S'ra slightly. "I'm going to see what is happening," he told her.

She didn't want to part from him and she was curious too, so they walked to the door together.

The corridor was empty, but they heard raised voices coming from the room they had first met the governor.

The door was not shut, so as they approached, they could hear clearer.

Gralik was shouting."-trust their word over mine?"

"The evidence is with them," Praid replied.

"So, you sentence your own son to imprisonment!" Gralik growled.

"You have brought shame to our family!" Praid said, raising his voice.

"Unlike your favorite!" Gralik snapped back.

Praid noticed the young couple in the doorway. He nodded to them before turning back to his second son. "Your jealousy of Tald is also beneath you, but that is nothing compared to what you have done now.". He pointed at S'ra. "And what you had planned to do to this poor woman!"

Gralik was being held by two guards, but was able to turn to look toward Chuck and S'ra. When he saw Chuck his expression became even angrier. He shook off the hands of the guard on his left. Very swiftly, he grabbed the pistol from the holster at the man's waist and, before anyone could react, he shot at Chuck.

Chuck was too slow to react and the bullet hit him on the right side of his chest.

S'ra screamed as she felt Chuck let go of her hand and he fell to the ground. She knew the bullet would pierce his heart and kill him. "Noooo!" she wailed as she dropped down next to her love.

A/N: We weren't expecting that, were we? Will Chuck's heart be pierced by the bullet? Will he die? Tune in to the next chapter to find out! You could also tell me what you think in a review.

Glossary (pronunciation in brackets)

People:

B'rack (Bur-Rack)– S'ra's previous boyfriend (we never meet him)

(Charl-Dere) – governor of the city state Grillain

Thrace (Thrase) – military commander of the city state Grillain

Durban – (Dur-Ban) Air Sargent helping Chuck

Flack (Flack) – one of the generals under Commander Thrace

Frakku (Frack-Ku) – purple-skinned savages

Garron (Gar-Ron) – S'ra's father

Gralik (Grar-Lick) – second son of Praid

Pal'na (Paal-Nar) – wife of Chaldir

Prald (Pray-Id) – governor of the city state Sanklin

R'lna (Rul-Nah) – wife of Praid

S'mia (Sur-Mere) – S'ra's mother

S'ra (Sur-Rah) – first person Chuck Bartowski meets on the new planet

Tald (TarlD) – first son of Praid

.

Plants and animals:

Clarek (Clar-Rek) – plant that produces leaves that people use to clean themselves

Conith (Con-Eeth) – leaves of this plant produce fast-acting, healing liquids

Deak (Dee-Ack) – small plants that manage to grow in the crevasses of rocks in the mountain ranges

Gritch (Grit-Ch)– flesh of this plant used to clean teeth and breath

Ixtag (Eecs-Tag) – black-colored predator that live in forests

Landic )Land-Ick) – deer-like herbivore

Pake (PayK) – plant, the flesh contains pain-killing properties and is used for that purpose

Vetia (Vet-Ia) – leaves of this plant very flexible and used by Chuck to cover himself. Sap burns people from the planet but didn't affect him

Xaxic (Zacks-Ick) – foul smelling leaves of this plant used to ward off predators

Xynth (Zinth)– flying predator

Zryth (Zreeth) – stone-colored cat-like predator. Related to the ixtag

.

Places:

Garverd –(Gar-Vert) mountain range

Grillain (Grill-Ain) – city state S'ra comes from

Niteth (Nee-Teth) – largest of three moons that circle the planet

Pallain (Pall-Lain) – neighboring city state

Retith (Ret-Teeth) – the planet Chuck was now on

Sanklin (Sank-Lin) – city state governed by Praid

.

Other:

Bract (Br-Act) – nutritious bars carried to eat when access to other food hard to achieve

Chendia (Chen-Dere) – powerful anesthetic, like chloroform

Flaxik (Flack-sic) – new drug created to induce ovulation