We sat in specially designed Abreya seats, padded leather things resistant to the pilots' shedding, with steering controls on the armrests, and tail operated control yokes set up behind each chair. You controlled the ship's front end with one track ball, the motion of the ship with the other. Monitors covered the walls, and we had ones attached to each seat as well.
Nabal and Zero took the two captain spots. The secondary seats were `child locked', but Pillow and I really didn't need to meddle with the steering anyway. We had a couch and a table, and other seats to the rear of the room, but Norenio, Tanelle and their larva preferred to hover there and make themselves a nuisance.
Matt strapped himself into the couch, looking miserable as he stared at the monitors.
Knocknaser had not made it onboard, and neither had Matt's egg. We tried to send an all frequency signal to the nennop, but no one responded. Matt prayed.
Since my clothing was in tatters, and Pillow had said something about it, I stepped into the master bedroom to change.
As much as Pillow liked me in Weghesh, I needed something more protective against those things, so I opted for a Grunk leather jumpsuit with a matching jacket. I really wanted something like Kevlar, but missionaries don't spend money on things like that when there are so many poor individuals to feed. My wardrobe was expensive, but not that expensive.
When I returned, we were still a fair distance out from the station, so I thought I'd discuss a certain matter with my wife. "So...we now have a nennop."
She grinned. "And I thought you were so secure in your feelings and didn't really need relationship help, not that I'm complaining."
Thonwa burst out laughing. "Oh, it is so good to have something funny amidst all this sorrow!"
I gave Pillow a sheepish grin. "She volunteered for the job. She didn't even ask for payment."
"But it would be nice," Thonwa blurted.
My wife looked at me, I looked at her, then she started giggling herself. "I think she's perfect." Glancing at the bug, she said, "You're no competition for my husband, even if we knew the first thing about your reproductive system." Then she looked embarrassed. "No offense. I only meant..."
Thonwa raised a dismissive claw. "You don't sexually excite me, either. That's why I volunteered."
Pillow smiled and hugged her. "Again, welcome to the family."
We performed the rite of Kedoonk, which is sort of like an informal wedding for nennop additions.
Norenio rolled her eyes. "This is all unnecessary, you know. If you simply surrendered your free will, you would have no need of such contrivances as nennops, period."
I sighed. "We're still thinking about it."
Somehow, the Grunkiahu had squeezed itself into the cockpit, and was now staring at the monitors, sniffing objects, and licking me and my companions on the head. "What is happening, Food Girl? We go no place."
"We're still moving, Kuqloz," Pillow said. "We have to arrange things with other Abreyas before we can get out."
"Ship is tiny," said Kuqloz. "Kuqloz is scared small places."
"I know," Pillow groaned, petting her on the neck. "Just a little while longer."
"No sign of my ship?" Matt asked.
Nabal examined the computer readout, then shook his head.
"Our egg!" Matt whimpered.
My wife got out of her seat and put an arm around him. "I'm sure that if there's any part of her still remaining in that body, she won't let anything bad happen to it. She must know how important it is to the both of you."
Matt sighed. "That's really the problem, isn't it? How much of her is left in there. And then there's Knocknaser. I still don't know what happened to him. What if she made Knocky and the egg crash into those mountains?"
I frowned.
"If the Zogmardu is as conservative as the Aqsarki," Norenio said. "Your worries are ungrounded. Abreyas must be allowed to grow and develop and thrive to provide food and hosting material to our bodies. I believe she is merely attempting to throw you off of her trail."
"I hope you're right," Matt muttered.
"You worry needlessly. Accept the Aqsarki and you will not experience worry ever again."
Acting like she didn't say anything, Matt stared sadly at the monitors. "It's just kind of saddening. I mean, now my...baby's going to grow up in a single parent home."
Norenio smiled. Matt clearly hadn't been speaking to her, but she responded anyway. "Your child will be welcomed by the Aqsarki." She gestured to Tanelle. "And even have other children to play with."
"More importantly," Pillow said. "You're surrounded by loving friends."
"What of your rite of Remvuaf?" said Nabal. "I heard Quana mentioning how she had assigned Dista Tonber for the duty."
Matt swallowed. "I...It's too soon to be thinking about that."
"She loves you," my wife said. "Quana arranged the Remvuaf out of her friendship to Dista. Quana knew you were a committed husband. This was an arrangement primarily for the children. She wanted someone you would not lust after, but would provide you with happiness in the event of her death."
Pillow and Quana were very close friends. Quana told her everything.
"Quana isn't dead," Matt said. "As long as she lives, she is my wife, and Dista will have no marital privileges from me."
Nabal raised an eyebrow. "Do you say this for our benefit, or are you trying to convince yourself?"
Matt frowned. "I guess a little of both."
The image of a male with blue furry ears and a tiger striped light brown face appeared on the screens. "Quidsy Ganorom 082300, identify yourself."
Nabal provided his credentials, and we got instructed to fly into a docking orb at the far end of the station.
As the object came into view, I asked Matt, "Where is John?"
John is the name of Matt's firstborn. Funny kid. Only has fur on parts of his body, and we can't tell what his age is in relation to other Abreya kids. He looks about ten right now, but he's actually...I don't know...fifteen? 11.5? Any time we try to test him on it, he's a total smartass, and his test scores, of course, never measure up to the others, so we don't even know how to educate him. I've always said he's going to keep acting like a normal Abreya until he dies at the age of 98.
"He should be with Ayeni and his new playmate Jidparc. I thought they'd be safe here. Now I'm not so sure."
"So how are we going to track Quana down?" I asked Nabal.
"Anyone who uses the parking structures is logged. Even if the princess has deceived the records officials and done something to the computers, we should be able to get a time record of a recent docking, and security footage."
Norenio looked like she knew something, but did not verbalize.
A fleshy mouth-like gate on the station opened, its swollen lips stretching a mucus-like membrane in front of us, to limit the amount of expelled oxygen as we entered. The moment the tail of our vehicle passed through the lips, and a break appeared in the membrane, the lips closed, sealing us in a large spherical chamber lined with parking compartments. Every surface was covered in thousands of little anemone things, a popular design element on planet Pathilon. Nothing unusual or unsettling. At least, not yet.
Nabal eased into the compartment the brown stranger had assigned, lowering the boarding ramp.
The spheres of the parking station rotated in such a way as to create gravity with centrifugal force. Kuqloz took one look at the spinning door at the end of the room and retreated back into the ship.
"She's going to poop all over the place," Nabal complained.
"What do you do with your poop?" Kuqloz challenged.
"We have a receptacle, but you're too big to fit on it."
"You're obviously an intelligent creature," Pillow said in a soothing voice. "Perhaps we can set up something for you to go to the bathroom in so we can keep a nice clean spaceship?"
"Kuqloz will try, if Food Girl has something Kuqloz can koke on."
And so we brought out a large drainage pan used for the removal of vehicular fluids, spreading a tarp underneath for good measure.
"There," Pillow said. "If you need to go, go here."
Kuqloz immediately urinated into the pan, making the room smell like rotten bagels and ammonia.
"Gross," I muttered.
"It's not any different than Pistol," Pillow said.
She referred to my parents' dog. We kept her in the garage, and I got the duty of cleaning up her messes when she didn't go outside. "That doesn't make this any less disgusting."
"Disgust is another fault with free will," Norenio commented.
"We need to leave," Nabal said.
"Stay!" Kuqloz cried. "No go!"
Pillow rolled her minus sign shaped pupils. "I'll set up a camera to watch you."
"Kuqloz doesn't know what camera is."
Pillow took a device out of storage, one, when activated, displayed an image of the room. She showed it to Kuqloz. "See, Kuqloz? I'm taking this with me, so whenever you burp or pee or do anything in the ship, I'll see you."
"Can I see you?" Kuqloz asked.
Pillow rubbed the bird's head. "I'm sorry. I can't do that. We don't want Quana or any of those things seeing us."
Matt put his hands on his hips. "They're already going to see us. There are security cameras."
"Maybe so, but we don't want to broadcast our position."
The Grunk made a noise of puzzlement.
Looking into Kuqloz's one good eye, Pillow said, "If you can see us, they can see us."
My wife set up another device, a simple one button communication system an Abreya baby or small human child could use, clamping it on a counter.
"Now Kuqloz," she told the bird. "If you need anything, I want you to press this button."
The button was big and red. Hard to miss.
"Kuqloz don't have fingers."
"Use your beak, Kuqloz."
"This would not be a problem if Kuqloz remained with the group mind, and you joined us," Norenio said.
Abreya devices don't have the annoying feedback problems human devices do, so Pillow was able to demonstrate for our feathered friend.
"Perhaps I should keep this poor beast company," Thonwa said. "Lord knows what trouble she might get into by herself."
My wife and I glanced at each other, silently asking each other if she could be trusted with the vehicle.
"Good idea," Pillow said. "We'll let you know if we need you for anything...relational counseling, if nothing else."
The bug creature chuckled a little. "All right. And I'll let you know if this big thing causes any trouble."
"Relationships are so messy," Norenio said, but we ignored her.
Once the arrangements for our Grunkiahu had been established, we departed the ship in search of Knocknaser, Quana and her egg.
The station seemed...oddly quiet. Ours was the only vehicle in that particular port, but I thought there'd at least be music or the echoes of chatter, more than just the subdued hiss of the air systems.
The station somehow maintained its gravity by the rotation of its exterior shell, allowing Abreyas inside to traverse the hallways without having to wait for doors to align with your location...though we rightfully should have, considering the architecture. The exterior shell turned around the interior one, and that did the trick.
Our instruction had been to find the elevator at the end of the floor of offices and descend to the donut level. We'd been assigned docking location 2, the commercial-public sector, until we got the clearance to move our ship to military/government.
This particular level was cylindrical in shape, surfaced with Qimcirb, a material that looked like a gray and white Jackson Pollock painting, one that shifted and moved in ways resembling a lava lamp.
When I first saw the material on other trips, I told Pillow it reminded me of the liners they used to put on children's books, you know, the swirly pattern stuff in the inside cover they make with oil paint and pig urine. she didn't get it, but that's exactly what it looked like.
The stuff was a Pajmonta derivative. I've heard a few stories about it. A lot of ghost stories. Abreyas see shadows of dead males and females. Some claim to see the spirits of the deceased go into the Qimcirb, to torment hapless travelers. The bad reputation made me wonder why this place still used it.
"I'm surprised Quana didn't dock here," Matt murmured. "She always loved the idea of being a commoner."
"She's not herself."
The docking area contained a row of restaurants, the more expensive kind, though with Abreya food you can't really tell what's gourmet until you live on the planet for a few years.
The hallway was empty, the restaurants darkened.
Zero searched the area. "You'd think there'd be more Abreyas up here. It's not even the Lyuntaaz holiday."
"We're not at the bottom dock," I pointed out. "They gave us the upper class entrance."
"Still, we can't be that light on trading."
Something black and sticky dripped down on my neck, burning me.
I looked up and saw a female cocooned to the ceiling, apparently someone from the kitchen staff.
"How did he get up there?" Matt asked.
"I think these creatures are more powerful than we give them credit for," Nabal said. "We are on the way to the security station anyway."
"I'm afraid there won't be any security left when we get there."
I looked up ahead and cringed.
The front part of the elevator was a ragged hole, its front and the surrounding walls caked with black slime. As we approached, I could see a gaping black space where its floor used to be.
"Uh, guys...about that...how are we going to get down?"
Before anyone could answer, a big black body launched itself from the hole, knocking me to the floor.
I could tell my wife wanted to help me, but she was frightened and unarmed. She watched with frightful worriment as the giant bug pinned me to the carpet, dripping its steaming saliva into the Xaghubo fibers near my neck.
"Quana is expecting you," the creature hissed. "You will join the Zogmardu or die."
"David!" Nabal shouted, drawing a Zumizbo, one of the weaker brands of blasters one can carry on Pathilon. It was the only defensive weapon I had onboard my ship, and I had given it to him for safekeeping. Fearful, his pet muadwomp made itself small on the side of his neck.
Nabal pointed the weapon at the creature. "Let my friend go."
"Shoot me," it hissed. "And my acid blood melts his flesh."
"A sacrifice I'm willing to make to save his life."
Norenio stepped forward, eyes glowing with such a brilliance that I thought someone had replaced them with a high powered flashlight. "He has volunteered to join the Aqsarki. Leave him be, or you will face a swift end. Quana is not the only one in control of Vehachwro bodies."
Norenio and the rest of the Aqsarki-possessed stared the creature down.
A tense, drawn out silence followed. We mortals not under the influence of Aqsarki held our breath.
Norenio opened her mouth, and a pounding, vibrating throb surged through the air, a sonar blast comparable to the sonic military weapons I've heard about. Weapons that produce splitting headaches and nausea.
The attacking beast let out a frustrated growl, retreating back into the hole it sprang from.
Zero took one glance at the acid melted portal and muttered, "Let's take the ladder."
It was a space station. We didn't have stairs. Zero drew his weapon, pulled the release latch on the emergency exit.
Since my wife's safety came first, I climbed through the opening before her.
Okay, so maybe I beat her to the opening. Before she could put herself at risk for me.
We traveled down a ladder in a long metal tube that reminded me of a chute in a McDonald's playland.
A few yards down, it opened up, and we found ourselves presented with a second safety door, and a view of the top of the elevator.
Abreya elevators don't have cables or counterweights. They ascend and descend on a set of strong motorized devices. That's why they more frequently get stuck in the middle of floors than drop into the basement or decapitate someone hapless enough to have their head sticking out the cracked doors. They simply aren't that powerful, and the elevators aren't nearly that heavy.
They do, however, have a similar type of `floor lock,' in case of malfunction, a set of latches that hook onto the walls of the shaft, keeping the thing from going anywhere if there's a problem. The latches on this particular car were engaged, two of those monsters pacing around on its roof like caged tigers.
The sound of the emergency hatch made was loud. Too loud. The creatures below started at the noise.
"Couldn't you do that a little more quietly!" I hissed to Zero.
"I didn't-"
He raised his Zumisbo, aiming it at the shadowy figure emerging from the slowly opening hatch. "Stay where you are!"
Nabal also drew a weapon, a small Jamapabu ray gun that drew electrical power from body calories (I jokingly refer to them as SlimFast Guns). I doubted he would want to use it except in an emergency, since he would be starving afterwards. Still, it proved to be an effective threat.
The figure shakily raised its hands in surrender.
Male and fat, his face an odd tint of gray that human flesh could not produce, his fur pelt brown, patterned like a gazelle.
"Cavun Corporate!" Matt exclaimed.
I stared. "You know this guy?"
"We went to Quaceb school together."
"There's no time to talk!" Cavun blurted. "They're after me!"
When he saw Norenio's white things climbing the ladder, he retreated in horror. "Look out! They're above you!"
A second later, a thing like a fleshy pink spider dropped over Cavun's face, wrapping its long whip-like tail around his neck. His eyes bulged as he struggled to pull it off.
The creature tightened like a boa constrictor, and he collapsed on the floor.
A pair of big shadowy bug monster Gubkoya came down, looming over the body.
"Cavun no!" Matt shouted.
"Quiet you fool!" Zero scolded. "You'll alert the others!"
Zero peered through the hole, then retreated suddenly, firing several shots. "It's not safe here! Let's keep going!"
"He needs help!" Pillow protested.
Zero sighed. "Did you see those creatures with him? Only Ponai can help him now."
A low gurgling sound below us told me that our position had been compromised.
I stepped on a ledge, gesturing for Pillow to go ahead of me. "After you. Hurry."
Her goat eyes widened in alarm. "David, it's dangerous."
"I'll be fine," I lied. "I'll be your distraction."
"I admit that you're distracting, but I thought we mutually agreed that neither one of us is the weaker or inferior partner."
"I disagree!" Zero snapped. "Your husband is a clumsy enmojsa that needs protecting. Get down the damn ladder, both of you, before you get us all killed!"
As we rushed down the ladder into another metal tube, the creatures scaled the tunnel walls (an easy feat in microgravity) their claws raking against the pipe. Zero fired shots upwards in attempts to repel them, cursing and yelling for Norenio and Tanelle to get out of the way when she and her companions blocked his field of vision.
Nabal aimed his Jamapabu, but did not fire. When you're powering a weapon with your body's energy, you have to be careful.
Norenio barked something in a gurgling tongue, and our pursuers retreated. "See? Nothing to worry about, and no need for bloodshed."
We climbed downwards, pulling open another security hatch.
This one had no one hiding behind it. Zero gave the area a thorough look and found it clean. "Juz. We should be able to find maintenance exits in the floor we can use to get to the main level."
We entered the offices of the Todurya, some of the most influential and fiscally powerful offworld business leaders.
Same fancy yet simultaneously creepy wall decoration. The doors looked like mouths. Nothing unusual.
Nabal tried the doors to see if they could be opened, perhaps hoping to find a way further down through one of the rooms. His pet scurried out the bottom of his robe, doing its own searching.
"I don't see how you could keep from giggling with Hanna scurrying through your clothes like that," Matt said.
"It is a skill I have mastered during ridiculous business deals."
Zero stomped sections of the carpet, listening for hollow sounds, then, when he couldn't find any access to a lower level there, he used a laser cutter to break into one of the offices.
"What are you doing?" I hissed.
In a low tone, he answered, "The majority of the Todurya do not operate far from home out of choice. Many of them have criminal records. Out here, many kinds of lawlessness."
"Weapons," I guessed.
"Exactly."
"You know breaking and entering is a sin."
"If I save the owners' lives, it will not be. Besides, much if it already consists of ill gotten gains."
"Are you certain we should be doing this?" Pillow asked with unease.
"This is war, Mrs. Pulsa. What we find in these rooms may save lives."
By the way, he actually used the Abreya word Nuk, which basically means Mrs., but I'm translating this into English, so hey, whatever.
"It's Barnes," she reminded him. "Pillow Barnes."
Zero looked annoyed. "I do not have time for your silly human naming conventions. I have enough to think about without having to remind myself that your male is not named David Pulsa."
It was a bad habit of Quaceb church members to refer to me thus, especially behind my back, since that's what the officials put on my alien marriage license, and what they put on the wedding gifts and such I received.
"You've got a point," I said in a high falsetto.
Zero just rolled his eyes.
The moment he pushed the door open, a female figure threw him to the floor.
She had healthy, attractive proportions, cheetah patterned fur, and a gray skinned face (a Relujiqan), her body clad in a traditional Waebasa, an Abreya police uniform that resembled a hornet's body. The waist, of course, had a realistic fit, or no one would be able to wear them.
I always found those uniforms cute, despite, or maybe because of their androgynous qualities. Bright yellow top that emphasized the breasts, hornet's abdomen shaped bottom that bulged somewhat, which, to me, did not suggest maleness as much as inviting tentacles, and a middle piece made of a glistening black and yellow material (gotta love the wet look).
Pillow had a costume that looks just like that. We used it for roleplay, which is legally okay if nobody sees us using it in public. Government and costume dealer's rule.
"Dista?" Matt gasped.
I did a double take.
This was our costume dealer.
Dista Tonber. The former head of the Falcameer palace guard, chief of Libax in Asuchwa Bencap (it's a city in the country of Mecavor on Pathilon).
Full disclosure: My wife's costume is real, straight from the manufacturer. Out of the Libax chieftain's closet. But Abreya females...they talk about everything.
Noticing how those uniforms turned my head, the palace guard had a little chat with Knocknaser, and soon came to the decision that Ms. Tonber could reasonably part with an old `plus sized' uniform in her closet. Note: Whether it was a manufacturing mistake or an issue of the palace guard losing weight, I don't know, and I was afraid to ask, but it fits my wife's generous proportions quite nice and snug.
Anyways, Dista was our surprise attacker.
The room she was in contained a desk (a surface raised on supports thin as coat hangers but could support a full grown man), a Futon-like thing that looked like it had been woven from spinach leaves, large locked cabinets, and stacks of storage containers. The place seemed legitimate enough.
Once Dista recognized us, she apologized profusely (hard for a Relujiqan from her region to do in a way that sounds convincing - her dialect is most recognized for its lack of inflection) then hugged each of us (well, she tried to French Matt, but he pushed her away) before recoiling in fear at Norenio and her monstrous entourage.
I explained the situation as well as I could understand, in a way that didn't offend the Aqsarki, you know, that Norenio would protect us because we were "Still trying to decide if we want to join the collective." It did not ease her worries much, except with the assurance that the "Gubkoya bodies" would not harm us, as they had not so far.
Dista remained wary, eyes constantly watching the larva for sudden movements.
Hanna rejoined us, crawling back up Nabal's robe.
"Tanelle!" Dista exclaimed when she noticed the child, but she responded stiffly to the hugging.
"She used to enjoy a good hug," Matt muttered.
Norenio replied, "It's a sacrifice that must be made."
Nabal gave Dista a royal bow. "Always a pleasure, bainep."
A tinge of purple appeared on the officer's gray cheeks. "How is Shali?"
Shali is Nabal's girlfriend. He intends to someday make her into his queen, but right now they're just dating.
For a long time, Shali had eluded him, fleeing to the Takofuea, the Quaceb monastery, but in recent months, he had tracked her down. We're waiting for her to either become a Christian, understand that Nabal is a changed male (due to that priest king, of course), one that truly loves her, commoner or not, and values the same faith she does, or both, but it's a slow process. I can tell Nabal envied Matt, who is on his second egg.
Nabal had brought Shali to the station, which is a good sign romantically, but really bad otherwise. "She is mez. Or, she was before we departed for Wuxrinus. You have not seen her in the last few hours?"
Dista shook her head. "There was an attack during my patrol. My associates died, and I was forced to flee. I came up here to find weapons with which to protect Bixok Tama and the rest of the royal family."
Over the years, a friendship had developed between Dista and my wife, one perhaps stronger than the one with Quana due to the strains the servant had put on the royal couple's relationship.
For this reason, Pillow and Dista jabbered with each other for almost a whole minute before Zero interrupted them. "Apologies, but everyone on this station is in danger, and time is of the essence. Have you found any weapons in here?"
Dista sighed, shook her head. "I have been searching for the very same thing. This office does not contain what we need."
When Dista caught me ogling her, I gave her a sheepish grin, prompting my wife to elbow me.
"I was only thinking about how good you looked in one of those," I blurted.
"You are male," Pillow said. "It is good we have our own nennop now. We will need to have a talk."
Dista glanced at Matt, eyes widening. "Where is Geigy Quana?"
She had delayed in asking about it because it probably wasn't the first thing on her mind when she saw "Prince Mot." Despite her repenting her repeated harassment and spending a year on earth away from him, Dista did not cling to Matt's roommate as originally planned, nor did she find any men that could sustain her interest. The separation only seemed to deepen her longing for Matt.
On the surface, she feigned disinterest, but if you watched her reaction to the royal couple, and Matt's avoidance of her, you could read this into the situation quite clearly.
I, Matt and Knocky had a little powwow about this once, and even attempted an intervention with a specially designated nennop, but the palace guard fled from them and joined a non-government related security agency to get away from them. It worked for awhile.
"I can't believe Quana assigned you as her Remvuaf," I said. "Not after..."
Dista shrugged. "Mot has strong willpower, which preserves his mogza bed, but I can tell by his body language that he secretly desires me, as I him."
Matt swallowed, not saying anything.
"That doesn't explain why Quana would think it would be a good idea."
"We have been friends for a long time. She wants us both to be happy in the event of a tragedy."
"A tragedy has already fallen," Zero said gruffly. "Try not to get too excited."
Dista's eyes darted back and forth, her face turning a lighter shade of gray. "Quana is not just Mot's mugnar. She is my best friend! What happened?"
When Zero described Quana's strange act of self sacrifice, the Relujiqan turned an even lighter color.
"That's terrible!" she cried, still a bit monotone sounding. A tear rolled down her cheek. "You must understand, I did not truly wish for her to die." More tears fell. "How unfortunate. If only I had been there to protect her."
"You think you could have prevented it when I couldn't?" Zero accused.
"Guep," Dista sniffed. "I was her best friend."
In my opinion, Dista would have only pushed Quana further off the edge, but I kept my opinion to myself.
Pillow finds earth comedy shows fascinating. For this reason, she set up her communicator with a variety of theme songs. My ringtone is The Love Boat.
The Grunkiahu's monitor had been assigned the theme to Green Acres. Looking worried, Pillow wasted no time activating the device.
Our giant ladybug nennop's face appeared on the monitor. "How is my Ikzutwa?"
An Ikzutwa is a nennop term for a family unit or couple.
"We're good," Pillow answered. "We're all alive, and we found Dista, a friend of ours. Of course, we're not out of the forest yet."
"Woods," I corrected, but Pillow ignored me.
"Yourself?"
"Not so good. Your large feathered friend just broke out of the ship."
I hadn't noticed it until that moment, but the background behind Thonwa's head was not that of my ship. She was out in the station somewhere. "She ran out in search of food. Just soiled a section of flooring. I'm looking for cleaning supplies."
"Don't bother," I said. "Those killer monsters are everywhere. You need to stay out of danger. Round up the Grunk, go back into the ship and pull away from the dock until we call you."
"And what if the bird is too big and stubborn and I can't do that?"
"Then try to find a telephone pole to hide the Grunk behind."
She made a confused noise, obviously not getting the joke. "Never mind. Just hide."
"So no weapons in this place at all?" I asked our friend in the sexy outfit. "Nothing even close to a weapon? Nothing illegal?"
Dista shrugged. "I did find some contraband, but it's only hallucinogens. Also, there's this..."
It was a male Eskekza, clad in a pink weghesh, bound and gagged with his arms and legs behind him. His tail twitched and wiggled like he intended to free himself with it.
He had a blue face and an aqua colored pelt. Matt and I have made jokes about the Eskekza, comparing them to Smurfs.
"Demoize?" Matt asked in surprise.
I gawked at him. "You know this guy too?"
Matt nodded. "That's Demoize."
"Like the city in Iowa?"
"No, that would be Des Moines. This is Demoize. He was the tour guide at that school."
"The one that blew up the palace?"
"Yeah."
"What should we do with him?" Dista asked. "His tail keeps getting into things it's not supposed to."
Matt swallowed. "Take him along. We can't let those things kill him."
"He'd be getting what he deserves," Zero growled.
"We don't know for a fact that he was involved in that cult."
Zero sighed through his nose.
"Where did you find the narcotics?" Zero asked Dista.
"This is no time to get high," I joked. "Seriously, what do you need it for?"
"Never mind that. Just hurry."
Dista opened a shipping container, discarding layers of broken communicators and computer parts. Below these, in special squishy organic packaging (jellyfish glop like our beds were made of) we found vials of multicolored fluid, and, in other cases filled with similar camouflage, odd looking creatures in refrigeration with hookah like attachments growing out of them, Zimwi, which activates the pleasure centers of the brain through nerves in the ear canal, Orwasris, which stimulates the nerves and brain via the rectum, a variety of oral substances and a host of drugs one could introduce into the bloodstream with a patch.
As a standard security feature, most rooms on the station contained a fire extinguishing Morkbiga. They looked like spiders with bagpipe balloons for their abdomens. The legs clamp around your wrist as you squeeze a trigger beneath the spider body.
Our seasoned military expert used tools he'd found in one of the containers to dismantle this device, rearranging its components so that it sprayed clouds of whatever narcotics we put in it.
"MacGyver," I said in a dramatic stage whisper.
Zero shot a test spray of his invention into an exhaust vent, where CO2 and stuff gets filtered a hundred times, so the tingling sensation between my legs was probably my imagination.
"So you think this will work?" I said. "Getting these monsters high?"
"The entertainment value of seeing one of those insects having a Zimwi orgasm is well worth the risk," he said with a half grin. "And more importantly, it could be a useful distraction."
"As long as we don't breathe it in."
"I found a box of masks," Dista said. "I believe they were to be used for manufacturing purposes."
I clapped my hands together. "It appears we have a plan."
"Provided they don't have a bad trip and kill us all," Pillow said.
"Do you have a better idea, oh love of my life?" I asked.
"Yok, but let's not be liberal with its use until we determine its effect on those creatures."
"I couldn't agree with you more." Zero hefted the device onto his shoulder. "How many masks do we have?"
Not counting Demoize, there were masks for everyone.
Well, except Hanna, of course. That would just be silly.
A Qixip bag is a type of rucksack that has leg straps instead of shoulder straps. The inverted design, the belt and the tail piece keeps it from sliding off your butt. Zero filled one of these with illegal substances and pulled it on, stuffed the pockets of his weghesh with more, passed around filter masks.
Matt knelt by the tour guide, removing his gag.
"That is unwise," Dista muttered.
"I trust him," Matt said. "Not everyone at that school was a cult member."
"No, just most of them."
To make a long story short, Matt attended a school Qomebbe, to see if Quaceb scriptures truly pointed toward Jesus as the kipom, the messiah of their religion.
A religious cult existed on the campus, but the rest of the school was okay enough to give Matt some solid Quaceb grounding, and important translations of key text in the holy Gaxea...before the palace got attacked.
Matt shook his head, examining the stranger's restraints. "Key, please?"
Dista unlocked the wrist fasteners. "I'm sorry about this, bilo. If we manage to live through this, we'll all try to make it up to you."
"The damages to your office," Zero corrected. "We will not support your drug operations."
"This isn't mine," Demoize said, rubbing his freed wrists. "It belongs to Jafamu."
"Sure."
Matt frowned. "Wait. That name sounds...familiar. Does he have...a place at the Olwokopu?"
The Olwokopu is the biggest shopping center in Bencap. Matt told me he once chased Quana's cousin Gom through it, into a den of sin hidden beneath a store that sold religious materials, of all things.
"And how do you know of him, O Holy Prophet of Ponai?"
Matt sighed. "He's a friend of Gom's. I've been trying to get him to go to our vanseb, and teach him a new way of life."
"Good luck with that!" Demoize groaned. He eyed the larva with unease. "Are you absolutely certain that it is safe to have those creatures accompanying us?"
"No," I said. "But they're safer than the other things running around."
His eyes widened in alarm. "You mean there's more?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
Norenio smiled, which was creepy, due to Tanelle and the others mirroring her.
Demoize's skin paled.
He glanced at Tanelle. "What's wrong with her?"
"Nothing is wrong," Norenio said. "The Aqsarki has control of her. Would you like to join us?"
"N-no. That is all right."
The larva growled, threatening to attack.
I mouthed the words `Do it.'
"On second thought, I could be persuaded to..."
Before he could finish, I blurted, "He will think about it, just like we are doing, even now."
Norenio nodded, accepting my answer.
"Is it true that you have no mask for me?" Demoize asked.
Dista shrugged. "You're welcome to check the boxes."
"I'd hold my breath when this weapon is discharged," Zero said. "If you stay at the rear, you should be safe from its effects."
"Wait," Pillow said. "Zero, let me see your klecut."
Our warrior handed over the laser device, and she cut a long scarf-like swath out of the couch, handing the material to our new associate. It reminded me of the outer skin of a sushi roll. "Modjuvat is very good at filtering out impurities. Hold it to your face when you need to breathe."
Demoize nodded. "Umuacik. I will accept both it and your offer to repay our company for the damages."
He stood up, gave Nabal a respectful nod. "Nerteg." The term equates roughly to "Your highness."
He squinted at Hanna. "What's that you've got on your shoulder?"
Nabal brought the creature close to him, but it seemed Demoize was frightened of it. "Take that foul thing away from me, you babogatten woxna!"
Then, realizing his social blunder, he stammered, "My apologies for the disrespectful outburst, nerteg. I am deathly afraid of them. Please do not bring it any closer, I beg you."
Nabal put Hanna back on his shoulder.
Pillow called our volunteer nennop on the communicator, but she did not pick up. Instead, we only got text saying, "Don't call-not safe!"
My wife put the device away.
"So the prince plays with filthy muadwomps from the gutter?" Demoize blurted.
Looking indignant, Nabal said, "Hanna may have come from a foul origin, but she is now the cleanest muadwomp in all of Qotmexin, immunized from all disease, perfect dental hygiene. Like all Christians, she has been raised from the gutter of her previous corrupt life and made into a new innocent creature." Hanna meowed, as if in agreement. "Do you know where we may acquire actual weaponry?"
"I believe I know the place."
"You know about weapons," Zero said. "But you claim ignorance about these drugs. You contradict yourself."
"I only hear rumors," said Demoize. "It is not always the same thing as fact."
"Fine. Let's investigate this...rumor."
We donned our masks, following our tour guide to a place two doors down from the end of the hallway. Zero sliced the lock open with his laser.
"You've picked up a very expensive hobby," Demoize observed.
Zero pulled the door open. "It's for a good cause."
Another office, this one with a more lounge-like feel to it, populated by couches made of a blue material that had the texture of human or animal skin, not leather, but actual uncured flesh, slick and goosepimply. The walls were gray, decorated in abstract paintings that swirled and moved like vaporous gases in their two dimensional environments. Cabinets and drawers lined the walls.
Now, Norenio, Tanelle and the larva followed at the rear of our group, so when the rest of my companions strolled into the room to look around, they still stood in the hallway.
Zero got a very suspicious look on his face when he saw Demoize step across the threshold, completing the group of the unconverted.
Raising one staying hand, he made `back up' gestures with his tail.
"What is it, Zero?" Pillow asked. "What's wrong?"
His one good eye narrowed. "We may be in great danger. Call it a hunch. A feeling. We may not be alone on this floor!"
"I do not sense any Gubkoya," Norenio said. "I can detect their movements and smell them from a distance."
"Good," Zero said, not missing a beat. "I need you and your...associates to stay out here, and alert us to any changes. If you notice something amiss, any of those creatures coming, you give us a shout!"
Norenio nodded. "I cannot wait for the hour when you decide to join the Aqsarki. Your shrewd military mind will be a great asset to-"
Zero blasted her in the face with a cloud of narcotic particles.
Nabal had to restrain his pet from nervously gnawing on his robe. Dista readied her blaster, probably the best one in our arsenal at the moment, prepared to fire if things went south.
It was one of the weirdest sights I'd ever seen. A hive mind body possessing alien in the grips of a zimwii orgasm.
At first, Norenio fought to retain her composure, letting out involuntary ferret grunts and the kind of weak barking sounds you hear dogs making when they're asleep (the Abreya term for it is okeboxre), but then a loud chicken cluck escaped her lips, a sound ordinarily reserved for a female in the throes of deep passionate lovemaking, with Tanelle echoing her, the larvae stiffening and emitting their own gurgling mewling sounds.
Norenio staggered backwards, placed a hand between her legs, then self consciously moved it away from her body, as if embarrassed to be seen touching herself. She collapsed, writhing on the floor like some invisible male were having his way with her.
Tanelle and the larvae did the same exact thing. Disturbing.
Zero had seen enough. He pulled the mouth of the door shut quickly, looking around for something to brace it with.
"I already looked," Nabal said. "This place is too tidy."
My wife pulled open a panel on the side of the door. "I have an idea."
I stared. "I hope it's a good one!"
"Cousin Fatub is always locking these things. Even when Noquisi and Sanhay cut off the mechanism, he found a way to do it. They had to use klecuts to saw the door open, and it took part of the wall with it." Pillow yanked down a wire, pulled down a lever, and the `mouth' got a severe underbite, jamming tightly in the frame.
She yanked another wire, and a silvery liquid oozed down the door, drying and caking, filling in the cracks like solder.
"Well," Matt said. "Now that's out of the way...where are these weapons supposed to be?"
I watched nervously as Zero broke into the cabinets. I thought for sure Demoize would have something to say about the vandalism, but he was eagerly pressing his ear to the door, enjoying the animal sounds Norenio and the others were making.
"You probably shouldn't do that," Pillow said. "The fluid."
Demoize waved her away, but a second later the gray solder stuff hit his ear and he shrieked.
"Nice one, Demoize," Matt muttered.
"Hazard of the job," he said, gingerly touching the wounded area.
"You get paid to listen at doors."
"In a matter of speaking."
"So you're a rumor mill. How well does that pay?"
"Better than leading poor students around a Quaceb school...I was rather disappointed to discover that your chemical castration was only temporary. It's bad enough to have you brainwashing Abreyas into believing that Jesus nonsense without you conquering us with your foreign chromosomes."
Quana's cousin Gom had once slipped a nennop drug into Matt's drinks. My friend was lucky not to suffer any permanent damage.
"What else do you know?" He looked uneasy.
"Enough to know that your children are of two species, abominations in the sight of Ponai."
"I don't exactly make that a secret."
"Whatever you say, wusu dinka. Tell me, what did your wife say when you told her about Alanksala? Oh, that's right. You didn't."
Alanksala was a girl at the school that flirted with him. They didn't do anything, but it's a touchy subject.
Matt paled. "You're a creep."
"Thank you."
"If my wife...is still alive, and we somehow get that creature out of her, you, me and her are going to have a talk."
Demoize gawked at him. "What creature?"
"You mean you didn't know? What kind of spy are you?"
"The kind that doesn't get killed by monsters."
Dista let out a startled shout as a figure climbed out of one of the cabinets, pointing a blaster at her head.