The Neko's Tail - 5. Port Grathur

Elias stared wide-eyed through the metal glass of the cockpit, a space station filling the space before the ship. The port was enormous, a spinning orb easily twice the size of Astara.

They drifted toward the glowing hole in the side of the station, Artemis expertly manoeuvring them into position. A voice suddenly filled the cockpit, and Elias bit back a yelp. He couldn’t understand the words, but Artemis replied quickly, and the tiger’s translator spoke for Elias’ benefit.

“Grathur Port, this is Captain Artemis of the IEFL requesting docking.”

More garbled words sounded through some kind of device beside Artemis and he replied.

“Extra lifeform is a neko from an unknown world, rescued and cared for. He is here of his volition, and can be questioned once the necessary steps are taken.”

There was a pause, then the voice spoke one more time.

“Affirmative Grathur Port. Clearance to land on pad 24. Thank you and have a good day.”

Turning to Elias, the tiger grinned.

“I always try to be polite. You never know when someone might decide to crash you,” he said.

Elias shuddered at the idea and Artemis chuckled.

“Relax, they would not actually do that.”

The ship slowed, floating toward the station’s opening as the tiger turned to Elias.

“Listen, there is going to be a few things happening when we land. You are going to be taken for a day or two.”

Elias shook his head quickly.

“Do not worry, it is nothing bad,” Artemis reassured him just as quickly. “They are going to make sure you do not get sick from anywhere we go and put a… in you that will tell you everything anyone says. They will question you and you need to be honest with them. You should be brought back to me after you are done and I can show you around the port.”

He frowned at the neko, at the purple shirt the man had been wearing for almost three weeks.

“The first step will be to get you some clothes that fit,” he said.

Elias looked down at his body, taking in the slim fragile frame. The shirt barely covered him, and for the first time in years, Elias felt shame at his near nudity.

“Can I put on my pants?” he asked quietly.

Artemis focused intently on the station for a moment, steering them through the hole.

“I… threw them out the... It is standard procedure to get rid of anything that might have an unknown disease on it. …can not protect against everything. But I did save the necklace. I know it is important to you. If the ... say it is safe you will have it back.”

Elias shivered as they passed through the glowing entrance to the station. Poking at a small hole in the shirt, he sighed. At least his mother’s necklace was safe, even if he didn’t have it.

“You should sit,” Artemis said, before turning the ship.

Elias stumbled, falling to the side. He grabbed the arm of the nearest chair and dragged himself into it, his eyes betraying his fear.

“Stations have a device that exerts some minor… towards the walls. It helps secure ships to their…” Artemis explained. “Normally the ship has its own… to compensate for the lack of it in space, but I turn it off before we enter a… It keeps things from getting messy.”

There was a loud thump and Artemis flipped a switch. With a groaning sigh, the ship fell silent, and the tiger stood up, towering over the neko.

“Come on,” he smiled. “Let us introduce you to the universe.”

Artemis glanced outside before he lowered the ramp off the ship. There were three people standing at the end of the landing pad, and the tiger let out a sigh of relief. Aside from the Xanar standing to the side, the welcoming party for Elias didn’t seem too outlandish.

He lowered the ramp and stepped out of the ship, waiting for Elias to catch up to him at the bottom. The neko seemed to draw into himself more at the sight of the aliens. Artemis gently took his hand and walked him up to the two scientists.

“I am Captain Artemis. Are you the people sent to examine the neko under my care?”

“We are. I assume you have collected data on the specimen’s speech?” the four legged fox-shaped alien on the left questioned.

“Of course,” Artemis replied. “He has not had much interaction with anyone outside his species, though he was in the presence of wolf shifters when I met him.”

“I promise we will take every precaution with him,” the grey humanoid on the right said.

The tiger turned to the neko, who was staring with a mixture of fear and interest at the large six armed Xanar waiting on the side of the platform.

“Elias, I need you to go with these two. They are going to look you over and make sure you are healthy,” Artemis said.

The neko nodded, not taking his eyes off the alien.

“When they bring you back to me we’ll get you some clothes that will actually fit,” Artemis promised.

He regretted his words an instant later as Elias deflated inward, trying to hide his body.

“You will be okay kitten,” Artemis whispered, hugging the neko impulsively.

Elias stiffened under his touch and the tiger withdrew hurriedly. He motioned toward the two aliens, hesitatingly removing the translator chip from his bracelet.

“We will need access to your logs to catalogue the language,” the fox said imperiously.

Artemis nodded. He had nothing to hide there. Handing the chip to the humanoid, Artemis reached out one last time, ruffling Elias’ hair lightly, before the terrified neko was rushed away by the aliens.

Turning to the Xanar, Artemis cleared his throat.

“I will need to take on fuel and I need an extra bed added to the cabin. Water stores need to be replenished. Food supplies should be sufficient for one more trip.”

“She’s a groaner,” the Xanar noted.

“Yeah, but she’s been good to me,” Artemis smiled, patting a leg of the ship.

“Are you taking the alien back out with you?”

“Yes. That is the reason for the extra bed.”

“I’ve had cat a few times. That’s a good catch.”

Artemis growled quietly, his tail flicking in warning.

“Just fill my supplies,” he snapped, storming off the landing pad.

Elias craned his neck, trying to keep Artemis in his sight as he was led away from the ship. He might not completely trust the tiger, but Artemis was the only person Elias knew on the station, and the neko was loath to be parted from him.

The grey person on his right slipped something into a necklace around their neck and spoke, the necklace translating their words a moment later.

“Greetings young neko. I am Scholar G’tara. Do you have a name I can call you?”

“Elias…” the neko squeaked as they walked through another hissing door, Artemis gone from sight.

“It is a pleasure to meet you Elias. I know you must be feeling a little worried. That is to be expected, but know that I and my colleague, Scholar Fantar, are only here to help you. There are some things I need you to tell me. First, what kind of planet did you come from?”

The neko stared at the alien blankly. Undaunted, the being tried again.

“Captain Artemis mentioned you were in the presence of wolf shifters. Can you tell us anything about them? Were they tied to the cycles of the moon?”

Quarian had said something about the moon and everyone knew werewolves drew their power from the moon. Hesitantly, Elias nodded.

Pleased, the alien continued.

“Were there other kinds of people on your planet?”

The neko nodded again.

“Did all these people walk on two legs?”

Another nod.

“Can you tell us their names?”

Elias hesitated.

“We want to know in case someone else comes from your planet,” the alien said at the baulking neko.

“There were humans and elves. And the werewolves,” Elias said quietly.

“Werewolves,” the alien nodded. “Did one of them bite you?”

Elias winced as the memory was drawn out of him, of teeth sinking into his flesh. He nodded, barely choking back a cry.

“It is okay, I am sure Captain Artemis dealt with the... before you contracted the disease.”

They walked through another set of doors and Elias blinked at the sudden brightness of the room he found himself in.

Strange containers sat along either side of the room, at least a dozen in total. They looked similar to the one in Artemis’ ship, but they were larger, brighter.

The grey alien pointed the neko to a container near the end of the hall, and Elias walked toward it, passing several containers with beings sleeping in them.

“We need you to remove your shirt now,” the alien said.

Elias shook his head, hands clamping shut on his clothing. Danuva had told him he’d never be forced to have sex again, and Artemis hadn’t forced sex on him either. Had the tiger just been saving him for these two?

“Please Elias. We are just trying to help you. We’re like… Do you have them on your planet?”

The neko looked around wildly, looking for a way out of the room, but he was in a strange place. There was nowhere to go where they would not find him.

Shuddering, Elias removed his shirt, leaving himself bare to the world. The aliens began speaking to each other, but the translator seemed to be missing most of the words, leaving the neko naked, confused, and scared.

“Elias, I am going to examine you now. This should not take very long, and it will be painless. Then we can get you into the… and you can go to sleep for a while. When you wake up, you will be all better and we will take you back to Captain Artemis.”

Shivering, Elias closed his eyes. They would do what they wanted with him, but he would not watch them fuck him.

Gentle hands touched his ears, the alien and translator speaking to the fox. The hands tugged at his hair, before moving down to the neko’s face. Elias had to fight the urge to bite the alien as the hands neared his mouth.

The grey alien moved away and said, “Can you open your mouth please?”

Elias did as he was commanded and a hand prodded at his teeth. Slowly the neko fell back into his upbringing, standing stiff and straight, keeping his hands from obscuring his body for his buyers could see all of him.

“He seems to revert back to a slave’s handling,” the translator spoke, and Elias’ ears drooped. “Subject is self-conscious, shows normal behaviour expected of a... being.”

The hand was withdrawn from his mouth, but Elias left it open, having not been told to close his mouth.

“You can close your mouth,” the alien said a moment later when it was clear Elias wouldn’t on his own.

They continued their tour of the neko’s body, seemingly oblivious to Elias’ discomfort. Those hands probed everywhere, poking into crevices Elias didn’t even know he had. When the alien’s fingers grasped his rod, the neko broke down.

Elias crumpled to his knees, sobbing. Scooting backwards desperately, he curled into a ball, staring at his tormentors. He would be beaten, he knew, but at that point, he didn’t care.

The aliens seemed to be arguing, but Elias only heard part of the grey alien’s words. He didn’t pay attention to them, his mind shutting down. They wouldn’t get him. They would not get him.