The Alliance - 6. Death and Despair

The woman covered her body, staring at Aaron and Itumak.

“Where… what…?”

“You’re in an alien spaceship. You tried to kill the captain, I bit you, he healed you. And you can’t go home because our planet just got invaded by aliens who want to enslave or kill us,” Aaron intoned drily.

The ship was heating up and he felt a bead of sweat running down his chest. He wiped it off distractedly, placing his hand back on Itumak, who lay on his side, whimpering quietly.

“Hang in there. Mateio will be back soon,” Aaron whispered.

“No… I’m not being abducted by an alien.” The assassin looked around, searching for a weapon. She grabbed a small pen from a table, brandishing it at the elf and the wolf.

Itumak growled weakly, standing up.

“It’s a pen. Relax Itumak,” Aaron said, gently pushing the wolf down.

The heat faded, and Aaron grew cold fast. Soon, the three of them were shivering where they stood. Hearing Mateio, Aaron stepped away from the door, allowing the Faro to enter.

“We’re safe for now. Reinard will tell me if anyone is following us,” the fox said. “Help me get him into the pod.”

Aaron lifted Itumak, wincing at the pained groan that left the wolf’s mouth.

“This will heal him?” he asked.

“More than that. It will remove any diseases he might have and fix any health risks.”

“Remove diseases? All diseases?” Aaron asked sharply.

“Yeah,” Mateio said, his smile faltering slightly. “Is there a problem with that?”

Itumak groaned, trying to crawl out of the pod.

“It’s a disease that makes us werewolves,” Aaron said, holding Itumak back. “Is there another way?”

Mateio frowned, scanning the room. He walked toward the woman, ignoring the pen in her hand.

“Stay back!” she snarled.

Raising an eyebrow, the Faro chuckled.

“You know that’s for sealing wounds, right? You won’t have much luck killing anyone with that.”

“You can’t keep me here!”

She dodged around Mateio, sprinting out of the room.

“Shit…” the Faro groaned. “You two stay here. I’ll try to calm her down.”

“Trust me, you do not want to open that door,” Mateio warned as the assassin felt around the ship’s entrance.

“You won’t have me, you monster!” the woman snapped.

Her hand was dangerously close to the ship’s airlock override. Mateio had to stop her.

“If you open that door you are going to die!”

“You aren’t real. You’re just a midget in a fox suit.”

Mateio lunged at the woman as her hand pressed the override.

“Reinard! Close the airlock!” he yelled as the ship’s door opened.

A glass door shut between Mateio and the assassin, the woman flying through the ship’s door into the void of space. Her shocked expression stuck with him even after he shut his eyes against the image.

“Cycle the airlock,” he said wearily.

The ship’s door closed, the glass door protecting the rest of the ship from the emptiness outside sliding open a few seconds later.

That was two people he had watched die, both on the same day. There was a reason he had chosen not to enter the Military Fleet.

He was way out of his league here. Why had he landed on Astara?

Turning back toward the med lab, the Faro saw Aaron peeking out of the room. Letting out a sigh, he returned inside.

“I guess we won’t have to worry about getting stabbed in our sleep,” he said quietly.

“She just… Why did she open the door?”

Mateio shrugged.

“I don’t think she felt safe here.”

“Well no wonder! She just got sucked out of the ship!”

“She tried to kill me! Did you expect me to throw my life away for her?!”

Mateio sighed, crossing the room. He began digging through the medical supplies. The Faro was no doctor, but everything in the room was self-explanatory and he would have no problem figuring out what it was for.

“I tried. I don’t know why she opened that door. It’s over. Can we just leave it at that and focus on the problems that still face us?” he said.

Picking up another pen, he walked over to Itumak.

“This is going to hurt,” he warned, placing the pen on the wolf’s uninjured shoulder.

Pressing down on the tip, he winced as Itumak yelped. Fortunately, his task was completed quickly. Pulling the pen away, he stuck it into a slot under a screen. In a few hours, it would read through Itumak’s DNA, decoding and simplifying it as much as it could. What he didn’t understand, Reinard would explain.

“I’ll need to take a sample from you later Lord Aaron,” he said as writing appeared on the screen.

“You can stop calling me lord,” Aaron said. “I’m lord of nothing now.”

Mateio frowned, but let the comment slide.

“Itumak, how long can you stay in that form? I’m assuming switching back to your neko form will not get rid of the wound.”

“Depending on the moon… there’s no way to tell,” Aaron sighed, placing a hand on the wolf. “If he shifts back while his shoulder is burned, the injury could kill him.”

“How do the phases of the moon affect werewolves?”

“It’s easier to hold off the moon when it’s new, and when it’s full we are forced to shift unless we drink a potion containing small amounts of wolf’s bane.”

“The change is gravitational,” Mateio suggested. “As long as we are on the ship with the gravity on, you should have no need to change forms, unless you desire it. It sounds like the weaker the gravity, the more likely you are to change forms. That’s why you are pushed to change during the full moon. As the sun and moon affect the tides, they also affect whatever the disease is inside you. But it’s a subtle balance between the two.”

Aaron shrugged. He had never really studied his disease, content to watch the calendar and take his potion when needed.

“As long as Itumak won’t shift before you can heal him. You can heal him, right?”

“I can. It will just take an extra few hours,” Mateio said confidently.

“Is there any way I can speed up the process?”

The Faro shook his head.

“A lot of what I’m doing will be rearranging patterns on the computer. You can’t read Common; there isn’t really any way for you to help. Can you give me a little space?”

Aaron glanced between Itumak and Mateio. The wolf didn’t look too good, his head falling flat inside the pod. The elf would ask him if he was okay, but that was clearly a stupid question. Sighing, he nodded and left the room.

Aaron stood in the cabin at the stern of the ship, staring out the window. Darkness covered the wall, the speed of the ship negating any light the stars gave out. The thought that they were in space was more than a little unnerving. He had seen that door open, watched the assassin get sucked out of the ship. All that was between him and the same fate was a wall of indeterminate strength.

The former king of Astara felt so helpless. He hadn’t helped his planet in its moment of need. He had run like a child, fleeing to save his own life. The man he had thought of as his father was dead, eradicated by the invaders, and his daughter was trapped on the planet, her only protection an unknown elf of dubious means. Itumak, the neko he considered a brother regardless of their past, was injured and Aaron was leaving him to the mercy of a little known alien. No matter what his wolf said about Mateio, leaving the neko in the Faro’s care just didn’t sit well with Aaron.

Would this Alliance of Mateio’s even wish to help his planet? Mateio had said the planet was unimportant in galactic politics. If he could convince the Alliance to save his planet, it would start a war that would surely spread through multiple star systems. Could he balance the fate of his world on the lives of hundreds, thousands of others?

The door hissed open, Mateio walking into the cabin silently.

“Itumak, how is he?” Aaron demanded.

“He is in the pod. I took out all malignant diseases within his DNA. The pod will keep his wolf intact. Now I need to repeat the same process with you. But later. There is something I need you to do first.”

Mateio pulled a folded piece of red fabric out of his dresser, wrapping it around the lower half of his torso. When he was covered, he motioned to Aaron.

“Pick out a colour you like. They probably won’t fit like they’re supposed to, but you’ll be decent until we can get you some other clothes.”

Aaron picked up the first fabric he saw, a light blue wrapping. Setting it around his waist, the elf noted the fabric barely reached midway to his knees. He felt awkward in the clothing, but as Mateio said, at least he was decent.

“How long will Itumak be in the pod?” he asked.

“Not long. The burn was mostly superficial, but it was painful. After a few hours, he should be ready to go.”

Aaron felt a small weight vanish from his shoulders. Itumak was safe. He was going to survive.

Suddenly the pressure of the day broke him.

“At least I saved one person,” Aaron laughed helplessly. “How did Mother ever think I’d make a good ruler?”

Mateio frowned at the elf.

“Stay here for a moment,” he said, leaving the cabin.

He was back soon, a cup in his hand.

“Here, drink this,” he said gently, pressing the cup into Aaron’s hand. “It will put you to sleep until we reach Grathur.”

“I can’t sleep,” Aaron protested weakly. “I need to figure out how to save my planet.”

“You can’t do that in the middle of a mental breakdown. Drink. Everything will be okay.”

Placing the cup against his lips, Aaron sipped the warm liquid. Sweet nectar poured down his throat, the taste like that of a candy he had once eaten with Itumak in the orphanage.

Drinking more deeply, Aaron felt the drug in the drink go to work almost instantly. He yawned, handing the cup back to Mateio.

“Thanks for your help,” he said quietly, sitting on the bed.

“I would do everything in my power to help you,” Mateio replied. “Sleep well.”

Aaron watched the fox walk around the corner, hearing the hiss of the cabin door as it opened and closed. Another yawn captured his mouth, and the elf lay back on the bed. His eyes closed and Aaron fell into a dreamless slumber.