The Alliance - 16. The Scout

“You’re sure this is the best way?” Aaron asked.

“Better than any other plan we have,” Itumak shrugged.

They had been stuck on the space station for three days now, everyone growing more and more frustrated by the lack of action. To pass the time, Aaron and Itumak had begun holding war meetings, trying to figure out different strategies to take their home back from the Empire. Their latest idea was a slow war of attrition.

Mateio opened the door into a store with a shrug.

“Itumak has a good point,” the Faro said, eying the various moving posters on the walls of the store. “I don’t have the credits we need. And this will help your world- our world- learn to defend itself.”

“Slaves are not allowed inside,” the owner of the store scowled at Lian.

Itumak turned to the Daknar.

“Wait for us just outside the door. If anyone asks, we’re inside.”

Lian bowed before walking back out of the store.

Mateio approached the Xanar.

“Do you have a range we can use? I’m trying to find a good weapon for self defence,” he said.

The Xanar pointed toward a door to their right.

“What are your limits?” they asked roughly.

“Simple projectile ammo, concealable, preferably armour piercing.”

The Xanar slapped a hand against a pad on the wall, a small pistol materializing on the counter behind them. They picked it up and set it in a box that they pushed through the wall beside the door.

“Enjoy.”

Mateio grabbed Aaron’s hand, pulling the elf through the door as Itumak brought up the rear. He found the box waiting for them, pulling the gun out.

“So, who wants to try it first?” the Faro asked.

“I don’t want to touch it,” Aaron replied.

“You’re such a baby. It’s not going to hurt you,” Itumak snorting, taking the weapon from Mateio.

The neko examined the gun, familiarizing himself with it quickly.

“Seems rather primitive for an alien weapon.”

“That’s good, isn’t it? We want something easy to learn. Besides, I think you might be surprised by it,” Mateio added, pointing at a pair of transparent chambers under the barrel of the weapon.

“What are those supposed to be?”

“Pressure chambers. The idea is similar to the bin in the kitchen on my ship. Put anything in them, close the chamber, and it will be converted to a solid block, ready to be chipped at for ammo. It’s Faro in design.”

“So why does it need two?”

“Redundancy. If one breaks in combat, you still have the other.”

“So it doesn’t use gunpowder?”

Mateio shook his head.

“Too rare. It uses pressure to push narrow rods out.”

Itumak snorted.

“What’s so funny?” Mateio asked.

“Rod. He gets so immature about that word,” Aaron sighed as Itumak burst into giggling laughter.

Mateio frowned.

“I… I don’t get it…”

“On Astara, it can mean… well, a dick,” Aaron explained.

“Oh…”

Aaron smacked the back of Itumak’s head.

“Knock it off. You’re twenty six years old, now act like it.”

“Yes Dad…”

“Wanna say that again orphan?”

“Hey, you were an orphan too.”

Mateio watched the two uncertainly, Itumak setting the gun down before lunging at Aaron.

The two fell to the ground, wrestling until Itumak was sitting on Aaron’s chest.

“Give up. Give up,” the neko demanded.

“Ugh, fine,” Aaron panted.

Itumak rolled off the elf, grinning at him.

“You’re so immature…”

“Yeah, well I can see that smirk. Just laugh already.”

Aaron let out a snort.

“There we go…”

Laughing, Aaron embraced Itumak.

“Gods, we haven’t done that in forever,” he sighed.

“It felt good though. You need to let out your inner child sometimes. Be immature.”

Itumak stooped over, picking the gun up again.

“And sometimes you have to shoot people in the face,” he shrugged. “So Mateio, how do I work this thing?”

A spike flew from the weapon in Itumak’s hands, the neko’s arms being pulled forward with the force. He was learning to set his body differently than he did with guns from Astara, and Mateio was pleased to see the change. He himself had little actual training with firearms. There was a reason he had gone into the Exploration fleet.

Another thump sounded, a spike impaling itself in a target.

“This is kind of fun,” Itumak said. “It doesn’t have the bang that firearms normally have, and you don’t need tracers to see your shots.”

Mateio’s bracelet vibrated suddenly, and the Faro frowned. It only did that when someone was trying to get ahold of him, and he didn’t know many people on this station. Certainly none who were in the fleets.

Holding his arm up, Mateio pressed his finger over a pulsating green spot. A holographic tiger appeared over his arm, staring at him with steely grey eyes.

“Captain Mateio, I request that you bring the king of Astara back to my office. There is a situation,” General Athena said sharply.

“Yes General,” Mateio replied, before the hologram cut off.

Aaron and Itumak stared at the Faro in concern.

“It could be anything,” Mateio said quietly. “We won’t know until she tells us.”

Itumak unloaded the gun, setting it back in the box. Mateio pushed it back through the wall and the three left the range.

Lian was sitting cross legged outside the store when they emerged, staring at a wall. He stood up silently, rejoining the three.

“No one bothered you, did they?” Itumak asked.

The Daknar shook his head, following the group as Mateio led them through the station once more.

It took nearly thirty minutes for them to walk to the Commandant’s office, Mateio taking them through back alleys to speed the trip up. The entire station was like a small city, an alien city. Even the Faro had to stop occasionally to check his map.

But finally they reached the door to the office, Mateio knocking on it.

“Enter.”

General Athena stood up as they entered the room. She waited for Itumak to close the door, clasping her hands behind her.

“A scout returned from Astara this morning. There are no Imperial ships to be found in the system,” the Egaro said.

“I can assure you there were ships General-”

Athena held up a furry hand.

“I know. Apparently they left because the planet is host to a population of Faro.”

Mateio frowned, looking at Aaron.

“There aren’t any Faro on Astara…” Aaron said.

“No, but apparently there are creatures known as foxes. They have an appearance similar to Faro. I guess it was enough to scare the Empire away. This means that Astara can officially petition to join the Alliance.”

“My gods…” Itumak sighed. “Lian, no offense, but your people don’t seem very smart.”

The Daknar shrugged.

“Normally I would need to discuss joining with my advisors. However, given the recent invasion of my planet, I would like to petition the Alliance for protection,” Aaron said.

“Of course. The petition will need to go before the Xanar, Egaro, and Urqui governments for discussion. I will personally send a fleet to orbit your planet, but no one will land until they have permission. Captain Mateio, you will take King Aaron back to his people. You may leave the station at any time.”

“Thank you General.”

Mateio saluted the Egaro and ushered the group out of the office.

“Well…” he said. “This will be one to tell the kits. Assuming we have any.”

“We should get back to the ship,” Aaron said quietly.

“But what about the scientists working on the wolf disease?”

Aaron frowned.

“What do you think Itumak?” he asked.

The neko shrugged.

“We might be able to figure out how to stop the disease on our own now. The planet needs its king right now,” Itumak said.

Aaron nodded.

“Let’s go back to Astara. Perhaps once things have settled as much as they are going to, we can look into this further.”

Itumak followed Mateio into the cockpit as the Faro prepared for takeoff.

“Do you mind if I watch?”

“Not at all. Are you interested in learning to fly?” Mateio asked.

“The thought had crossed my mind. I feel like I’m not as well suited to security as people think I am,” Itumak shrugged. “But travelling around the galaxy, finding new planets to explore, it sounds like so much fun.”

“Actually, it can be rather dull much of the time. Imagine being stuck in here for weeks at a time.”

Mateio turned his chair slightly.

“Do you want to help me fly out of here?”

Itumak’s eyes widened.

“I have never flown anything before-”

“Oh, I’m not giving you the controls,” Mateio chuckled. “But there are a few things you can help with. The radio for one thing.”

The neko knelt beside the Faro, his hand pressing the button Mateio pointed out.

“Asla Dock Control, this is Co… This is Captain Mateio requesting permission to leave the station.”

“That demotion hit a little hard…” Itumak observed.

“Yeah, but it isn’t the first time. I’ve never been a strictly by the books officer,” Mateio shrugged.

“Captain Mateio, cut the chatter please. You may take off in five minutes,” a voice said over the radio.

Itumak flinched at the reprimand, pulling his finger away from the radio controls. Mateio chuckled, starting the ship engines.

“So, first we check our supplies. Oxygen is usually fine; that gets recycled easily enough. Same with food, but water needs to be changed out occasionally. All of this depends on the age of the ship you are flying too. This hunk of metal is about five years old, but the fleets still use ships from a few centuries ago, just refurbished. Usually those go to the new guys. If you can manage one of those, you can fly just about anything.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Oh no, not really. It teaches you to take care of your ship. And it cuts down on the cost of training corporals.”

The radio crackled, a voice saying, “Captain Mateio, you are clear to take off. Safe travels.”

“And we’re off,” Mateio smiled, pushing a lever up.

The ship lurched into the air, the Faro motioning toward another button.

“Landing gear please.”

Itumak pressed the button, hearing the quiet rumble of the gears folding into place.

“I want to top off my fuel before we jump,” Mateio added, gently easing the ship forward.

They glided toward the hole in the side of the station, Itumak watching the sides warily. Floating through the exit, Mateio sped up the ship, pointing to another switch.

“If you don’t want to be floating wolf style, I suggest you turn on the gravity.”

Itumak hit the switch, feeling the tug of his wolf. That was the last thing he wanted, to have his wolf dick hanging out by Mateio’s head.

“Now what? We fly to the sun?”

“Yes. Usually people don’t want to take the time to refuel by a hot star when there is a station to refuel at, so the path should be clear.”

Itumak looked out the glass, searching for the star.

“How do we find it?”

“Oh, that’s easy.”

Mateio turned again, a hologram appearing over a keyboard with strange symbols on it. Squinting, Itumak could see a small diagram of the ship, a large orb just behind it.

“That’s the station we just left,” Mateio said. “If you look just over there, you can see a smaller orb. We’ll have to pass around the Rings of Asla, but that’s not too hard. In about two hours, we’ll hit the star and refuel.”

“Two hours? Isn’t that a bit long?”

“For some. I prefer to fly slower though. Don’t want to actually hit the star, right?” Mateio chuckled.

“Oh… Yeah, that would be bad.”

“So, why the sudden interest in flight?”

Itumak shrugged.

“I’m just trying to keep my options open. I’m not sure about taking Aaron up on his offer.”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“Nothing in particular. I just… I never really wanted to be a guard in the palace. I only accepted the job because Aaron was my friend. But now I have to think about Lian. Would it be right for the captain of the guard to have an alien lover?”

“And a slave?” Mateio added.

Itumak scowled.

“His slavery isn’t really my fault. I tried to take that collar off of him and he won’t let me. He isn’t my slave, no matter how much he says otherwise.”

Mateio held up his hands in surrender.

“Peace. I was only pointing out what it looks like from the outside. My people still keep slaves themselves, and I’m not judging you for it. But Aaron told me your planet abolished slavery years ago.”

Someone knocked on the cockpit door and Mateio stood up. He opened the door, revealing a worried looking Aaron.

“Is everything okay?” the elf asked.

“Everything’s fine. Itumak was asking my advice on a situation.”

“Yeah, you can calm your wolf down Aaron. Mateio is totally not my type.”

Aaron shook his head.

“I know that. I just thought… never mind.”

Itumak squeezed past Aaron, leaving the two to themselves. He had a reptile he wanted to find.