The Alliance - 7. The Scientists

Having others on his ship wasn’t much different than being on his own, Mateio reflected tiredly. They were speeding through space, no more than five hours from Port Grathur. Aaron was still asleep, and the Faro felt guilty at how relieved he was. He didn’t know how to handle the elf now. How does one deal with someone who has lost their entire family in the span of five minutes?

The Faro sat in the med bay, staring at the screen that listed all the different attributes within Aaron’s DNA. He had collected the sample while the elf slept. Now he worked to extract the werewolf from the DNA so he could ensure the pod would ignore the disease. It was simple in theory, but in practice, it seemed much harder.

Mateio rubbed the chip in his bracelet as he studied the computer. He would stay awake with the chip’s effect on his body, but he still felt the exhaustion of a narrow escape coupled with nearly ten hours of physiological study

A quiet chime startled the fox, Reinard’s voice appearing in the aftermath.

“Med pod is finished healing.”

Mateio turned around, looking at the pod behind him. The werewolf still slumbered inside, his shoulder completely healed. He would remain asleep until Mateio opened the pod.

Should he do it now? The neko’s presence was unexpected. But then so were many things that had happened in the past few days. Itumak could be a great help to him. If he could help keep Aaron calm and level headed, Mateio would be thankful for his company.

That decided him. He hurried to his cabin, silently switching out chips. Returning to the med bay, the fox pressed the button to open the pod, watching the glass rise. Itumak’s eyes opened, the wolf rolling gingerly in the pod.

“I can’t help you out,” Mateio apologised to the wolf.

Glancing over the side of the pod, Itumak tensed. He jumped out, the pod shaking slightly. Landing with a few steps, Itumak shook, his white coat rippling. His body crunched as his form shifted and suddenly there was a neko standing naked in front of Mateio.

“Where’s Aaron?” he asked immediately.

“Asleep. I thought it was for the best. He’s been through a lot.”

“I’m still a wolf,” Itumak noted.

“I figured it was what you wanted,” Mateio shrugged. “Aaron insisted on it.”

The neko nodded.

“Thank you,” he smiled.

“You had some problems that were taken care of. A torn ligament in your right knee that didn’t heal properly, some calcium deposits on your upper back.”

“I do feel a lot better,” Itumak acknowledged, stretching.

“Good. Aaron should be awake soon. We’ll be at Grathur Port in around six hours.”

Mateio removed a strand from Aaron’s DNA that hinted at a terminal disease later in life. Itumak looked on in interest, not understanding any of the symbols on the screen.

“Are you a biologist?” he asked.

Mateio chuckled.

“Hardly. The computer’s doing all the real work. I’m an engineer, of sorts. It’s a useful skill to have out in the black.”

“Do you know anything about the aliens who invaded my planet?”

“Not much. They were from the Empire, Daknar, a reptilian species. I guarantee they are not the masterminds behind the invasion.”

The Faro put the finishing touches on the pod code he would use for Aaron. The werewolf would be healed of anything malignant in his system while keeping his werewolf form. It was the least Mateio could do for Aaron, though it was by far not the only thing the Faro wished to do for the elf.

As though summoned by the fox’s thoughts, Aaron entered the room, stopping at the sight of Itumak standing on his own. The elf suddenly rushed the neko, throwing his arms around Itumak.

“You’re okay…” he breathed.

“I’m okay,” Itumak smiled slightly at the elf’s back.

Mateio smiled slightly, squeezing past the two to give them their space. He would explain things to his passengers when they were done.

Itumak stared out a window as the ship flew into the space station. He’d thought the ship he was on was big, but it was dwarfed by Grathur Port. Aaron stood beside him, the two silently contemplating their new place in the universe. The neko was excited, yet nervous. They were going to see aliens. Hopefully, most of them would be neutral toward the two, but Mateio had already warned them that they were not in Alliance space yet. Something about the Alliance releasing this system in exchange for keeping Mateio’s home. Apparently, Elias had been to the Faro’s homeworld and had uncovered a plot involving the Empire. Itumak didn’t remember much about the neko who vanished four hundred years ago, but it seemed he had made some pretty big splashes in the universe.

“I don’t know why we are stopping here,” Aaron said quietly. “No one here will help us.”

Itumak placed an arm around his friend.

“I don’t think Mateio would stop if it wasn’t important,” he said gently.

A blue glow surrounded the ship momentarily before passing. It mush have been some way to keep out the vacuum of space through Itumak had no idea how. The station curved around them, buildings below them and hanging above them. It was unsettling, and Itumak tried to put it out of his mind.

The ship descended quickly and the two felt a bump as they landed. Itumak took a deep breath. Soon he and Aaron would be separated for a time. Mateio had already explained the process. They’d be taken each by two aliens, interviewed, and healed using the DNA Mateio had modified. Afterwards, if they wished, they would be brought back to Mateio’s ship. If not… the Faro didn’t seem to know. They couldn’t really go back to their planet.

Mateio approached the two in the cabin, a pair of chips in his hand. He handed one to both Aaron and Itumak.

“These chips have your language in them. Give them to the Scholars who take you so they can talk with you and understand you,” he said. “Are you two ready?”

Itumak nodded, though Aaron seemed less than pleased with the situation.

“Okay, let’s go.”

They followed Mateio down a set of metal stairs, turning into the vehicle room. Mateio opened the door to the spaceship, the ramp whining as it extended to the ground.

Stepping out of the ship, Itumak took a deep breath. Four beings stood in front of him, and he scanned them warily, looking for anything that might threaten either him or Aaron. Each wore a white necklace, save for the fox on the far right, who wore a blue necklace instead. Seeing nothing threatening, Itumak descended the ramp, stepping to the side to give Aaron room to join him.

Mateio stopped in front of the aliens, speaking to them in a garbled tongue not at all similar to the one he had been speaking in. His bracelet translated for Itumak.

“Greetings. I am Commander Mateio. I’m turning over my friends to you for processing. I have done some work on them already.”

The Faro handed a six-armed alien the pens with Itumak and Aaron’s DNA in them. Itumak had a bad feeling. Processing? What exactly was being down with them?

“Left pen is the neko, Itumak; right pen is the elf, Aaron.”

Itumak could feel the stare of the quadruped fox on him, and he looked back, meeting the fox’s gaze evenly. The fox approached him, the necklace dangling over his chest. He spoke the same language Mateio was speaking, a short utterance. An insectoid looking alien followed the fox closely, pointing silently to Itumak’s hand, where the neko still held the chip Mateio had given him.

Cautiously, Itumak held out his hand, offering the chip. The insect took it gently, kneeling to place it in the middle of the fox’s necklace.

“Greetings young neko,” the fox said. “I am Seeker Fontar. I have had the pleasure of meeting your kind once before, though he was rather quiet.”

“Elias?” Itumak questioned.

“Yes, I believe that was his name.”

“That’s impossible. You’d have to be over four hundred years old,” Itumak denied.

“Four hundred twelve,” Fontar smiled slightly.

“How are you still alive?”

The fox motioned with his head.

“Why don’t we walk while we talk?”

The neko hesitated, looking at Aaron, who was talking with the six-armed alien.

“I promise we will bring you back to your friend when you are done.”

Nodding slowly, Itumak followed the fox.

“You are travelling with someone from the same planet as I,” Fontar started. “I’m not a Faro. My species doesn’t exist any more. It was wiped out four hundred years ago, not long after my birth. I was rescued by a scientist and brought here. It was a bit of a journey, but I’m happy here.”

“All your people are gone? How?”

“I do not know the full story. Commander Mateio could tell it better than I can. But our planet was attacked by the Dalmar, another species inhabiting our system. They viewed us as abominations merely because we could speak.”

The trio walked through a door, descending through a narrow hall. Entering a room, Itumak frowned as he caught a whiff of something. Something musky, nearly hidden by the stench of refuse that emanated from a door to the right.

“What is that smell?” he asked.

“The slave pits. Filthy places. I assure you, you want nothing to do with them.”

Itumak held his frown as he followed the two scientists out of the room. He found himself in another room very similar to Mateio’s med bay, a series of pods waiting against the sides of the room.

“I need to ask you a few questions about your planet so Scholar Isan can record the information,” Fontar said. “Then we will examine you before you can rest in one of these containers. When you wake up, you will feel a lot better.”

Itumak nodded his acceptance.

“Good. Now, I have the records from Elias’ processing here. It mentions your planet contains four species, nekos, elves, humans, and werewolves. Is that correct?”

“Yes, but they aren't really four species. Werewolves can be elven, human, or neko,” Itumak provided.

“Interesting. What makes a werewolf a werewolf?”

“It is a disease transmitted sexually by males. The first recorded case of the disease was a man named Quarian nearly four hundred years ago.”

Fontar smiled.

“You seem to know a lot about these werewolves. Do you have personal experience with them?”

Itumak nodded.

“I’m one,” he said.

“Really? You can change your shape into that of a wolf? Can you show us?”

Itumak nodded, removing the purple fabric wrapped around his waist. Taking a deep breath, the neko released his inner wolf, his body crunching as he shifted forms.

Shaking the change off, the wolf inhaled, his ears perking at that musky scent again.

“Ours…”

Itumak shook his head again, fighting the call of his wolf. The message was unsettling. Theirs? Whose? And who? Or what?

“Fascinating,” Fontar murmured, approaching the wolf. Even on all fours, Itumak still dwarfed the fox. “I would like to examine you in this form and in your neko form, if that is acceptable.”

Itumak nodded, trying to figure out what his wolf was talking about. That scent wasn’t coming from either of the two in front of him.

He felt the hands of the other alien on him, stroking him, checking his mouth, feeling his ears. He had never been studied in this form before. Maybe it was something that should happen for werewolves. He’d have to talk to Aaron about it when he got back to the ship. And he had to find the source of that smell.

Aaron sat up in the pod, grasping the back of his neck. He was sore and it felt like there was a small knot under his fingers.

“The swelling will be gone soon,” a voice said.

The alien who had examined Aaron, a Xanar, stepped toward him, offering a hand to help the elf out of the med pod. They wasn’t using the translator, yet Aaron could understand them just fine.

“You have the Common trading language in there, remember?” the Xanar smiled slightly.

“Yeah,” Aaron said quietly. “Where’s the… Where’s Scholar Calar?”

“They’ll be along in a minute.”

As if on cue, the second Xanar entered the room, smiling at Aaron.

“I’m glad to see you awake,” they said, approaching the elf. “We have a few more questions for you and then we will take you back to Commander Mateio, if you wish to return to him. Keep in mind that Commander Mateio will never hear your answers to these questions.”

Aaron nodded silently.

“First of all, did Commander Mateio take you from your planet against your will?”

Aaron frowned.

“That’s a rather complicated question. I didn’t want to leave, but circumstances forced me to.”

“So yes?”

“I guess so.”

“When Commander Mateio took you off your planet, did you want to go back?”

“Yes.”

That at least had a simple answer. He did want to go back, even if it meant his death. If he could just save Adara…

“Did Commander Mateio ask you to wait some time before deciding to return to the planet?”

“No, that never came up. We were a little busy breaking through an Imperial blockade.”

The Xanar frowned, twin expressions of concern on their faces.

“Well that changes a few things,” Scholar Calar said. “You wish to return home then?”

Aaron hesitated. He wanted to return to Adara, but on the other hand, he wanted to stay with Mateio.

“I think it doesn’t matter what I want at the moment. I’m unlikely to get it.”

“Do you want to remain with Commander Mateio, in his care?”

“Yes. I do not want to leave him,” he said.

“Then you will remain with the Faro. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about your home.”

“So am I,” Aaron sighed.

“Let’s go back to Commander Mateio. I’ll explain the translator in your neck a bit more while we walk.”

Mateio lowered the ramp as Reinard warned him of the approach of four beings. Aaron and Itumak were walking stiffly between two Xanar, neither looking entirely comfortable this close to the alien beings.

“Your companions are all clear,” one of the Xanar smiled, his flat teeth shining in the lighting around them.

The other Xanar handed back the pens they had borrowed.

“We’ll leave you to your business,” he said, saluting.

Itumak and Aaron hurried up the ramp, and Mateio turned to follow them.

“Thank you,” he said to the Xanar, before closing the ship.

Turning back to the Astarans, the Faro slipped his translator chip into his bracelet.

“I’m going to speak my language for a few days around you two so your translators can pick it up. You don’t have to worry about running out of space for languages; your translators can remember them all.”

“Uh, I have a favour to ask,” Itumak said suddenly. “I need to go to the slave pits.”

Mateio and Aaron both frowned at the neko.

“Itumak, you do realize slavery has been illegal for nearly two hundred years,” Aaron said sharply.

“I know,” Itumak sighed. “But I don’t know what I’m looking for.”

He met Aaron’s eyes.

“Please,” the neko begged quietly. “You know how important this might be.”

Aaron sighed, looking at Mateio.

“I’m leaving it to you,” he said. “You know more about this place than we do. Is it safe to go there?”

Mateio let out his own sigh, leaning against the wall of the ship.

“Well, we need to get you two some clothes that fit anyway. The pits wouldn’t be too far out of the way back. But then we need to get back to Alliance space.”

He reopened the ship, motioning for the two to head outside. Locking the door behind him, Mateio led his companions through the same hall they had been through with the scientists. Turning right in the first room, he noticed both werewolves wrinkling their noses. Then the smell from the slave pits hit him, and he copied their motion.

Hurrying past the pens, they made their way into a large shopping area, Mateio leading the trio into a clothing store.

“Hello,” a dog said brightly, sitting in a chair. “Do you need any help?”

“Yes please. I need to get my friends measured and buy a few clothes for them.”

The dog smiled, standing up. Mateio could see the shock in Aaron’s eyes at the sight of a four-armed dog walking upright, but Itumak didn’t seem to notice. The neko looked out through the door, sniffing quietly. His actions seemed strange to Mateio, but Aaron seemed to understand what he was doing.

The dog approached the trio with a smile.

“Who’s first?” he asked.

Aaron shrugged, stepping forward. He was directed into a chalk circle and told to relax. A circular beam of light surrounded the elf, who gasped in surprise.

“There we go. Now, what are you looking for?”

“Something warm?” Aaron shrugged in the circle.

“Like this?”

A shirt appeared over the elf’s torso, black with long sleeves.

“I guess.”

“That should keep you warm enough, but you’ll probably want some pants too,” Mateio suggested.

Pants appeared on Aaron’s legs, weighty and comfortable. He felt the smooth fabric with his hands, nodding his approval.

“We’ll take five sets of this outfit in whatever colours Aaron wants. Itumak, can you come over here to get measured please?”

Aaron watched the werewolf with a frown. Whatever Itumak thought was waiting for him, he certainly had a hard time ignoring. The elf hoped they’d find it soon.

Itumak felt the call of his wolf the entire time he was being measured by the strange light. He was distracted, trying to fight the wolf, watch for potential threats, and listen to the dog measuring his body. It was not working at all.

Fabric appeared on his body, over the short skirt Mateio had given the neko to wear. It clung tightly to his skin, distracting him even more, yet he still managed to nod when the Faro asked him if the shirt and pants felt alright to him.

Even then, it took nearly thirty minutes for the clothing to be created from wherever the fabric was made. All Itumak knew was the dog returned from a room with a large pile of clothing in his hands. As he handed the clothes to Mateio, Itumak snapped.

He couldn’t fight the wolf any more. Turning toward a wall, the neko removed Mateio’s skirt, his body clenching as he shifted.

“Itumak!” Aaron yelped, scooping up the skirt off the ground.

The wolf shook his head violently, trying to clear it. He could smell that scent again, separated from the smell of the slaves, and he knew he could follow it. He just needed Mateio to follow him.

“I’m sorry,” Mateio said to the dog, sliding a card through a block the alien held out.

“Don’t be. That was the highlight of my day,” the dog chuckled.

Gathering their clothes, Mateio finally started walking toward the slave pens, Itumak walking in front of him with his nose to the ground.

“What the fuck are you tracking Itumak?” Aaron demanded next to Mateio.

Itumak huffed as his wolf growled.

“Ours…”

Yes. Ours. He recognised it now. Who could say why his mate was an alien on a space station? All Itumak knew, as he wandered through increasingly filthy alleys, was that he needed to find his mate now. There would be no second chances.

Weaving through a group of aliens, Itumak stopped in front of a cage, his nose nearly touching the bars. Looking up, the wolf let out a deep growl.

Standing at the back corner of the cage, staring at the wolf in wonder, was a Daknar.