Even though audio translators were convenient to the linguistically ungifted, it was so much better to have a fluent translator, and Fox felt Krystal excelled at this as she did at most things.
He watched her speak the common Brokkr language that was mostly spoken on Kew with the spaceport police chief. A tall fellow he was being an ostrich; his long neck of his easily made him three feet taller than the vulpine couple. He wore a light brown officer's uniform and beret, adorned with a slew of medals, and a pair of angular black shades over his eyes―though rather strange he would be wearing them at night.
A squad of armed subordinates in uniforms were behind him as they supervised the exchange, admittedly making Fox a little edgy. While knowing little about Kew itself, he read enough to know that it was a much more totalitarian world with massive crackdowns on crimes and inflicted merciless penalties for them―when they could afford the resources to do so that is. Fox watched his wife speak to the authoritative constable in his tongue; she did not look tense as they spoke, and neither did the chief.
Eventually, their dialogue appeared to have finished with the two exchanging a polite bow as was customary in Kewtian culture. The chief turned to his men behind him―one of them caught picking his nose―before they all stood straight to attention. He barked a series of orders at them, pointing his feathered hand at our captives in cryo pods that were sitting silently a few feet away from us on levitating dollies. They saluted and promptly began to run behind them in preparation to move them. The mutual smile Krystal and the chief gave each other reassured Fox that all worked out well.
Equally relieved, Krystal turned around and gave Fox an affirming look. "He says he appreciates a pair of Cornarians coming out here to clean up their mess."
Fox chuckled. "Well, I don't think he's wrong in a sense."
The pair watched the chief's men pushing their frozen loads across the tarmac and towards the loading ramp to the Great Fox II, looking at the frozen faces of Rankous and his three other associates. Even when frozen and secured inside a cryo pod, Fox still felt uneasy looking at him. Given his notoriously slippery reputation, a small part of Fox feared that he could maybe break out at any time, but the stasis settings were set to max. There was no way that he could, and the comfort of Krystal's hands sliding around his shoulder reminded him of that.
"All in a day's work, right?" she considered, making Fox smile as his pesky worries melted away―unlike their frozen bounties.
"Don't know how I would've done it without you," he said, meeting each other with a brief but loving kiss. "Guess I better watch them hook 'em up," Fox said, returning to the task at hand like he so often did on missions. "How's the kid? Did she get herself comfortable on board?"
"I left ROB to tend to her while I came out to help you," Krystal answered, looking back up at their lovely carrier with a weary look in her eyes. "I do hope she's all right now. I cannot imagine what Rankous was doing with her."
"It seems pretty obvious, does it?" Fox said, rounded enough to know that there was absolutely nothing good or wholesome in the unexplained dynamic Rankous had with this mysterious young girl―especially when they found her being shipped as property. Krystal knew better as well and shuddered as she struggled to imagine the horrors that Faith had been enduring.
"Her suffering has ended now," Krystal declared in finalisation. "I'm convinced now that there was a greater purpose to taking this bounty."
"Same," Fox agreed as they both began to walk up the ramp behind the men transporting their captives. "Wonder how the trip back will go now that we've got a hitchhiker? Hope she can handle the long few weeks."
"She wanted her lift in the Cloud Runner to last for an eternity," Krystal said, relaying what she heard when sensing Faith's thoughts on the way here. "Security and peace of mind is what she truly wants at the moment. I believe the voyage will provide plenty of that for her."
"Of course, it will," Fox agreed, thinking how the dynamic of things would turn out now that the roster had jumped from a voyage of two to three. While Faith's inclusion had certainly not been in the plan, that hardly mattered to Fox in the end. He would ensure that the girl would have an easy ride back home to where she belonged. She deserved all the peace in the universe after getting caught up with these slobs.
Faith almost felt like a brand-new collie.
While she would have preferred a hot shower, she had to content herself with the permeators: capsules that circulate aerogel around the body, synthetically removing all grime caked even in the densest of furs. Water was too precious in space to be used for bathing and other hygienics. Faith had used a few of these before on cruises around Lylat earlier in her life, and never liked the 'hospital' after-smell it gave her, nor did she like the rawness on her skin. While she may have looked like she stepped out of a fur salon, she wasn't sure there was any way she would feel clean ever again.
Hardly able to look at her pitiful naked self in the dressing mirror in the permeation room, she decided to slip on some of the few hand-me-downs that ROB had offered her. Fay Spaniel must have been a bubbly lass because there were so many vibrant clothes here; many of which had cutesy flowery illustrations and upbeat phrases. Faith felt disingenuous if she were to wear clothes that projected a happy wearer, so she picked a pair of loose-fitting jeans, a black sports bra, a dark blue t-shirt and a black sports jacket with some iron band logo on it. Perhaps this was a peek into Fay's fiery side if she had one.
While not in line with Faith's taste in fashion, the clothes were clean and comfortable. There was no right to complain about all the gifts that had been bestowed upon her, especially when it finally came time when ROB returned with her requested refreshments. Never in her life did Faith think she would shed so many tears over eating a simple delicacy like a grilled cheese sandwich.
No sooner did she finish her heavenly treats, Krystal and Fox McCloud returned aboard the Great Fox II. ROB had led Faith to a viewing window overlooking the ship's second hangar bay, where she bore witness to the unreal sight of Rankous along with his other friends preserved in stasis pods. The sight alone made her speechless; to see her captor, the evillest thing Faith had ever known and feared frozen in a pod was just something so unthinkable to her. Nothing stopped him. Ever.
Instead of being overjoyed seeing him imprisoned, Faith honestly still felt petrified at the sight of him―even if he was in stasis. He and his acquaintances were being carted down the hangar by some of the spaceport police with her two fox saviours following behind them. All of Faith's fears seemed to instantly melt away at the first sight of that mysterious blue vixen, and the red fox strolling right next to her quickly came to Faith's notice as well. That creamy mohawk atop his head was a distinctive look that she had seen numerous times in news segments.
"That really is Fox McCloud…" she deduced, finding it incredibly surreal to see him forty feet below her.
"Indeed, he is, Madam," ROB confirmed, observing the scene below next to her. "His many deeds and exploits are well known across many worlds."
"No kidding," Faith replied, somewhat sarcastically―in a joking manner of course. Faith began to take note of how closely Fox and Krystal stood from each other; nearly shoulder to shoulder. The signs were rather clear to Faith, but she asked her new robot friend just in case. "How close are Krystal and him, ROB?"
"Quite close, Madam," ROB answered. "They are a wedded couple. And a rather frolicsome one at that."
That should have been something trivial to Faith, but she ended up dwelling a bit on it. She should have realised right away when seeing the ring on Krystal's finger, but a small part of her hoped it was merely a nice accessory, not unlike that dazzling gold diadem she wore on her forehead. "Oh. I should've guessed," Faith relented, oddly intent on moving past the subject altogether. Her attention did not remain off of Rankous though, even after being moved out of view. It was this that actually made her worries creep up again.
"Where are they taking the hippo?" Faith asked, her short whiskers twitching uneasily.
"To the brig," ROB answered reliably. "They are to be stored down there for the entirety of the voyage until they can be taken away into Cornerian custody by the time we arrive at our destination."
"But…it's Rankous…" Faith objected, gripping the elbows of her jacket sleeve anxiously. "No one can contain him. He always gets his way…"
"Rest assured, Madam, we are well equipped to ensure his containment," ROB eased in his synthetic way. "We have researched this bounty's records extensively and have equally extensive measures installed to accommodate such a captive. Do you wish to see them to have peace of mind?"
In all honesty, Faith began to wonder if she was making a mistake just being on the same ship with that monster. Frozen or not, he would always still be a danger to her. He made that painfully clear to her many times, and knew exactly what awaited her should she undermine him. There was no greater disrespect she could do to him than cruise with his captors while he was frozen below deck.
Desperate for any confirmation that Rankous was finally down for the count this time, Faith nodded passively. "Okay."
Now that the crooks were hooked up and the port authorities had left their ship, Fox and Krystal were now left alone in the brig with only those in the stasis pods keeping them company.
Now their pods were synced up to the ship's mainframe, giving Fox access to all of their current stats and could monitor and adjust them remotely should he need to on his holo-tablet. All of their vitals checked out good for being in a non-lethal frozen suspended animation, just the way Fox liked his bounties. This should have been a time for a lot of back-patting and many good victories smooches for wrangling in their biggest hustle yet, but this was not like most bounties.
Even in stasis, the big guy made Fox uneasy. That same, frightening looming aura of his persisted in his unmoving state, almost like that glassy eye was still watching him and his wife looking back at him in contemplative silence just beyond the frosty green-tinted glass. "I feel you, Fox, but he is no longer a threat. He is very much unconscious," Krystal confirmed, crossing her arm with his comfortingly.
The big guy's stats and Krystal's telepathy confirmed the same thing: suspended brainwaves. Even with his reliable confidences, Fox had always stayed true to his father's advice to trust his instincts. He would not let the possibility, as concretely finite as it was, of something going wrong with the stasis systems go, and Krystal understood this. She was not one to take chances either.
"Even so," Fox said, speaking for both of their concerns as he looked down at his tablet, "it never hurts to have a backup plan."
He considered booting up his backup plan at that very moment when ROB suddenly briefed him on the headset he was still wearing. "Sir, I am at the door with Madam Faith. She wishes to see where it is your bounties are being stored."
Krystal could overhear the message and turned back to look up the stairway out of the wide-open room. "Oh, I thought I sensed her near," she muttered, mostly to herself.
"She does?" Fox paused, tapping a claw on the sides of his tablet for a moment. "All right. Sure, bring her in."
The reinforced square door sitting atop the staircase began to open up, followed by an identical one just behind it before finally leading to the last one, revealing ROB and their new border collie friend standing just behind it. Krystal made the room brighter with her beautiful smile. "Hello, Faith," she greeted.
Her smile was infectious because Faith couldn't help but make a shy grin back. "Hi…" she raised her hand a little nervously. Fox watched the young lady attempt to make it down the steps but quickly retreated when she saw the hippo in the jar. The flash of fear across her eyes was as clear as fog light over a misty sea.
"I-I can't… I…can't…" she wavered in equal parts distress and shame.
Fox and Krystal shared a mutual saddened look, both of their ears lowering to a degree. Fox knew better; there was no point in making her be in the presence of this frozen villain when she didn't want to―even if it was an opportunity to gloat in his sorry frozen face. Faith wished nothing more to do with Rankous any longer and just wanted to go home. No point in keeping her waiting.
Fox followed Krystal up the grated steps that led out of the brig. Once out in the hall, Krystal was on her way to catch up with their guest and their robot friend while Fox remained in the brig's entryway to activate his contingencies and watch them come to life. Scrolling through a few security protocols on his tablet, his finger landed on a certain circular symbol made of eight individual fragments before and tapped his finger on it.
On either side of him, panels in the walls opened up to reveal long-barrelled turrets extending out from their covers with white-plated central targeting modules fixed to their centres. They both had one large red eye that fixed themselves on the prisoners below, and two red laser sights came to life, showing the turrets to be aptly aimed at the prisoners.
"Sentry mode activated…"
"Targets acquired…" they both spoke in soft, innocent-sounding voices.
Fox smirked with satisfaction. These semi-sentient turrets were a nifty design imported by a quipping AI that Krystal encountered in a past excursion. They were lethal and held back nothing, and were just a little creepy, but quite obedient. Making them the perfect guards.
"Hang tight, big boy," Fox muttered to himself as he looked down at Rankous one last time before stepping backwards out into the hallway, though did not leave until heard and saw each door close in front of him.
"Goodbye…" the sentries softly said to their master just before the doors closed.