In an Emergency, Always Run to or Away from the Closest Human | HFY Story

in an emergency always run toward or away from the human closest to you this rule May confuse anyone who's not familiar with humans however for those who have experienced humans it makes perfect sense Rusty the logistics specialist on the dinari ship noala was going to get good and drunk tonight Nala had just finished a series of cargo runs and now Rusty wanted nothing more than to throw some beers back with his crew his crew consisted of five other humans three of the crab likee dinari two space utter Clarks and two arachnid plant Clarks and a

few bear-like IDs Rusty LED his eclectic group down the street until stopping at a human Tavern the aliens in the group looked at each other uncomfortably humans had a well-deserved reputation for bad behavior and the aliens were concerned that this outing could result in injury or criminal prosecution however Rusty had given them his reassurances just as Rusty was reaching for the door an otter charged into him the otter fell backwards with a cry the otter with Rusty immediately rushed to assist him while Rusty watched the snarling alien running towards them it was an insectoid sisit

every human knew what a scrit was and hated them the bugs had launched an unprovoked bombardment in Earth's southern hemisphere Earth had retaliated by destroying the Ecology of the scit world while some thought it was Overkill others like Rusty thought it wasn't enough the alien was shouting in its buzzing voice stop return my property scits were also slave Traders and rumors abounded of them sacrificing slaves in religious rituals interplanetary news had buzzed for weeks about a group of human slaves who had mutinied on a slaver ship the scits had attempted to Scuttle the ship by

sending it on a suicide course to an aquatic World drowning all the humans it didn't work thank God a pregnant woman stopped it by killing their Queen but had perished in her selfless act this bug had just made the biggest mistake of its useless life Rusty was usually easygoing but there were times that you could see that he was a battle hardened Marine veteran Rusty planted himself solidly feet apart fists clenched wreaking combat pheromones the aliens in Rusty's group noticed that the other humans had also assumed an aggressive posture Rusty glanced at the otter who

had collided with him the poor creature looked terrified Rusty growled at the scrit you don't own anything here turn around and walk away while you can the scrit gave a series of low shrieks do not trifle with me primate you will return my slave now Rusty and the other humans took a step forward slavery is illegal go lick the scrit made an Angry buzzing noise and retorted maybe on your primitive world but not here give me my slave or I will have you arrested for theft the frightened otter was on his feet again Rusty ordered

over his shoulder get him inside he stepped closer to the scit now in a Fighter's stance one human opened the door while the others also stepped forward so the scit was completely blocked the otter and pluckin scurried inside Rusty told the scit coldly you're right slavery is illegal on earth and its Earth is in there you want him back Rusty leaned towards the sisit and growled through gritted teeth go in there and get him I dare you the scrit gave a hissing shriek then sliced through the air with its front appendages you will regret this

filthy ape I shall return with law enforcement and you will be incarcerated return the slave now and I'll dismiss this as ignorant Behavior by an unevolved species one of the other humans Nigel with Rusty spoke up you want to see unevolved the primates we came from eat bugs humans still can and I'm feeling peckish Our Kind will eat anything if it's got a pint to wash at it down the scri it hiss then angrily clacked away Rusty went inside and found the Otters and plows huddled inside the door he walked over to the bouncer what's

up the bouncer sh Ed the otter can stay I served in the landron campaign as for the others Rusty looked at the bouncer steadily not blinking I was at blood River these people are with me the bouncer winced and nodded there should be a couple tables in the back big enough to accommodate all of you in the back at the tables Rusty talked to the new utter hey buddy everything is okay what happened what's your name the otter took a shaky breath then spoke after a little encouragement from the other otter my name is brev

that was nit he has several dozen slaves on his ship he had found someone to buy me and was taking me to be sold thank you for saving me but we need to leave quickly he will come back with law enforcement to get me and punish you Bev's eyes filled with tears that started to leak into his face then were absorbed by his fur I fear what will happen to the other slaves nit was cruel at times the humans all became very grim-faced while the otter comforted brev the other aliens looked at each other uncomfortably

humans were usually gregarious but could resort to violence at the slightest provocation as they discussed the situation the humans grew angrier slavery in some form or fashion was fairly common in the galactic Community but most societies had rules for Humane treatment of slaves or severely restricted slave use however some like the scrit did not there were some cultures that never had slavery humans were unique in that they had completely abolished the practice even refusing to own alien slaves it was well known that owning a human slave was Ill advised although humans would fight each other

with savagery they would not tolerate one of their own being enslaved moden and uroid asked in disbelief so humans find it acceptable to kill each other but not to enslave each other one of the plants Nel who was getting her feet massaged by one of her husbands remarked only humans would think to outlaw slavery but not war this is what happens when you let males rule of society the humans had tried to argue with her but in an odd way she had a point after a few beers Rusty looked at his crew and asked who's

up for some whiskey work moden asked what is whiskey work at that point a couple of humans from an adjoining table leaned over a big Burly disheveled looking specimen with Shaggy red hair and Tattoos asked did I hear whiskey work Rusty nodded seems there's a scit who's got a bunch of slaves that need liberating I'm thinking this is a good night for some Shenanigans the other human knocked on his table with his tanker and asked his crew anybody up for some Shenanigans the scits that need to be taught a lesson Rusty explained to his crew

in the Marines whiskey work is when we would need to do extra maintenance and repairs on our equipment we also had a cookout and some beers sometimes before the night was out there were Shenanigans I can neither confirm nor deny incidents of theft kidnapping mild vandalism a few fights and other fun and games as Rusty explained this to his crew word was spreading throughout the tavern several veterans especially Marines came forward asking to join in Rusty told them you need to be aware what we're doing is pretty illegal there's probably going to be fighting there's

a good chance people will get hurt and maybe get tossed in jail the first human big red responded you don't have to sell me I already said I'm in several other humans laughed rockus and toasted draining their drinks plans were made while the aliens grew more alarmed back on the Nala Rusty spoke to his team I just want you to know what I am planning is illegal and dangerous I'm not asking any of you to take part in this it's fine if you don't want to if anyone asks I'll tell them you knew nothing about

it his team all looked at each other then they started to respond Nel spoke up first oxidize while we certainly appreciate the moral position you take due to your culture we have families on the ship we will not be partaking however we will also not report this incident to authorities when you return to the ship we will assist you Rusty nodded that's fair moden spoke for the ooids while slavery is legal in our culture we have heard about the scit abuses we have listened to brev story and the scrit are clearly guilty of crimes against

sapients we are willing to get the slaves to safety where they may receive medical treatment and Report the situation to proper authorities Rusty nodded again I appreciate your help Nigel spoke up for the humans like you even have to ask mate we'd love to give them bugs what for Rusty chuckled somehow I knew that was going to be the answer he turned to the otter I know that your people are pacifist and don't don't like to get involved in things like this like I said whatever you decide is fine buly the daughter of perg the

ship's Information Specialist walk waddled forward with brev she spoke with a note of resolve that you rarely heard from an otter the otter will stand behind you humans have been good allies to our people as you have been to us we will do what we can to assist you Rusty looked to the dinari team members what do you say Doren spoke for the dinari we are still discussing the matter with Captain Von and have not yet reached consensus until consensus is reached we will not take action the ship will follow the laws but without consensus

we will not attempt anything that is a potential violation of the laws Rusty asked does Von realiz realiz that we are planning to leave right away whether or not there is a consensus Duran replied yes because a consensus has not been reached the dinari will neither assist nor hinder you until there is consensus Rusty nodded the ship was dinari and the crab like dinari favored Democratic decision-making dinari leaders W bosses so much as facilitators who guided groups to reach consensus curiously dinari found the human version of democracy majority rule to be distasteful to them majority

rule meant willfully ignoring the legitimate concerns of some group members Rusty walked over to a compartment in the main cargo bay and opened it inside there were a lot of oversized weapons with mounting brackets obviously meant to be attached to the power loaders let's Mount up everyone looked at the weapons in Surprise while the humans also had Delight in their faces Nigel spoke up would you look at these Beauties what's with all the hardware Rusty Shrugged once a marine always a marine the human woman Maria looked at the weapons a scance while I definitely want

to help are you sure that giving us these weapons is a good idea Rusty nodded absolutely you know all those unnecessary training drills those drills were teaching you to operate these weapons in case we ever got boarded by Pirates power loaders are made by the same manufacturer as military power suits you didn't know but all of you could run a military power suit reasonably well Maria responded if it's all the same I don't want any weapons rescuing slaves is one thing but I'm not comfortable with the weapons Rusty nodded that's fine he told the others

anyone who doesn't want weapons just say so the human males were eager to split up Maria's share of the weapons the ooids did take stun grenades and the otter surprisingly took non-lethal crowd control weapons from the ship's Armory there were actually several OTS from other ship's departments who had joined the raiding party bouly explained while our people don't like violence we can't stand by I have also spoken with gr and podra gr will be monitoring Communications and padr is getting the medical facility ready one of the IDS growled in vexation as moden held out his

massive pore the other uroid handed him some currency while moden grinned a sharp fanged smile that's just wrong Rusty thought there were quite a few legends about bears on Earth Earth but he couldn't recall any of them mentioning gambling addiction if you walked in on a couple IDs talking it was a 5050 chance there was a bet going rusty and crew were mounted up and ready to go Rusty activated the control for the main cargo door but it stayed shut Rusty attempted to open it repeatedly including by passing regular controls finally he got desperate noala

open sigh noala please open main cargo door Nala's feminine metallic voice replied no security Alert in progress unneeded equipment may be returned to storage and crew May resume normal duties Rusty gritted his teeth nothing in the universe was more aggressively passive aggressive than the ship's AI noala I don't have time or patience to argue with you open the damn door please just then the intercom beeped it was Sylvia great Rusty thought now I have to deal with both of my nagging wives Sylvia looked pissed which seemed to be her usual mood these days Rusty you

weren't serious about this nonsense what is wrong with you and what the hell is wrong with your stupid cat I caught him pissing on the door again he never shows up except to piss on something Nala's voice echoed in in the cargo bay and Rusty's cabin Logistics unit proper designation oxidize Sylvia snar off noala Rusty I swear if you don't get your ass back here right now I'm the transmission cut off and the cargo bay door opened moden asked Rusty are you sure she isn't pregnant uroid females act like that during pregnancy Rusty rolled his

eyes human pregnancy doesn't like Last 5 Years let's go before Nala changes its mind on the street several rough necks from the bar had gathered in assorted vehicles and some in obsolete power suits there were a couple buses with otter aboard Rusty marveled at how quickly otter could pass on information they had come to give Medical Care as needed big red and a few others were in a refurbished Black Market assault vehicle one of the Ruck was a prior Marine who had zero reservations about using weapons so he took over Maria's power loader and the

others quickly attached weapons onto his unit beers and flasks were being passed around with the crowd getting rowdier on the way to the scit ship a nondescript human joined them he was tall and wiry with graying hair and glasses he approached Rusty I heard about the party he opened his shirt and revealed a Gold Tattoo in an alien language I'm familiar with scit slave ships I can help Rusty grinned sure the more the merrier what's your name the man Shrugged I would rather not say Rusty snorted we have to call you something how about Bob

the man Bob nodded quietly that's fine at the scit ship Rusty and several others were ready for a frontal assault Bob told Rusty give me 9 minutes to get into position then start nobody goes on to the ship until then Rusty told him I'm not sure I can hold this crowd that long bob looked at him coldly then you will be responsible for any unnecessary deaths something about Bob made Rusty's skin crawl he nodded and Bob quietly Slipped Away Rusty summoned a few leaders and told them okay we have to stall for 9 minutes then

it's go time a few people looked at him quizzically Rusty responded that one guy Bob wanted a head start since he said he knows these ships I figure he's got reasons big red snorted Bob that's what he's calling himself now the crew looked at him questioningly just stay out of his way and don't ask I met him before it's best to ignore him at the designated time Rusty the others in power loaders and power suits and the assault vehicle all charged the slaver ship doors conveniently opened and closed for them the refurbished assault vehicle played

war music at full volume causing sheer pandemonium by the scit in the confusion many others on foot or in small Vehicles entered through the cargo doors behind larger vehicles Rusty's blood pumped hard and fast the power loader didn't have the maneuverability of a power suit but it was still formidable especially with the attached weapons he shot bombed and tore apart ship pieces sometimes it just felt good to smash the ooids threw Around furniture easily turning chairs and tables into missile weapons humans fought with improvised clubs one reported that he had seen Bob assaulting an armed

scit expertly dodging fire until he was within grabbing distance Bob hadn't just incapacitated the bug he had killed it with precise savagery using martial arts the human told Rusty I hate scri it just as much as the next guy but Bob there's something not right about him we need to keep an eye on him finally they found the slave cargo holds Bob was there with a scit in one hand a dismembered scit limb in the the other hand and splashed Head To Toe with yellow scit blood Bob was holding the limb so he could use

it to tap in the large sisit multi eyee and snarling you have 10 seconds to open these holes other than that you are of no use to me this one was still screaming when I walked away with its appendage the terrified scit handed Bob a tech key and screeched 949 Pi 76 Pi negative W Bob kicked the scit and bucked get lost then released him the scrit fled Rusty watched him leave are you sure that's smart what if he lied Bob entered the code onto the alien keypad I already beat the code out of another

bug if it was a lie they wouldn't have given me the same answer the door opened and a couple humans stepped in followed by otter there were a couple dozen creatures in there and Otter slaves rushed forward when they saw other otter the otter reassured everyone that they were being rescued there was some limited fighting along the way to three other cargo holds where more slaves were rescued Rusty watch Bob in his gruesome work of fighting the scit in hand to appendage combat noting the Grim pleasure Bob experienced there was really something off about that

guy Bob's fighting technique leak was extremely precise causing maximum pain and damage as the Raiders were leading slaves to the buses outside Bob selected Five Guys and went off he told Rusty don't wait for us warning sirens were going off all over the ship yellow alert lights changed to Orange the humans and ooids covered the escaping slaves armed UTS stood between the legs of ooids and power loaders providing good cover fire even though their weapons did very little damage they hurt like hell if you got hit Rusty and his team were right at the cargo

doors when the alert lights went from Orange to red and the sirens became an ear-shattering Screech Rusty shouted over his speaker everyone out now now now he thought to himself that's not good my tinitus is going to be acting up for days Rusty and his team along with big red and the assault vehicle provided cover while everyone loaded onto the buses and other vehicles more scit came pouring out of the ship and some of them had armed Vehicles also once everyone was loaded onto vehicles and was leaving Rusty's team and Big Red's vehicle followed occasionally

providing cover fire against their pursuers Rusty radioed the ship as it came into their sights no Gala I'm coming in hot he prayed the senior staff had reached consensus to help as he got close to the ship the stormproof moing lines launched establishing a clear visual perimeter outside the raiding party the ship's engine roared to life in an emergency start sequence lights on the ship Shone on a piece of the front Hull where a United Earth flag unfurled loudspeakers around the ship announced in Nala's metallic feminine voice attention authorized personnel only unauthorized Personnel shall be

assumed to be hostile and dealt with Rusty walked his power loader into the cargo bay gr was there to meet him oxidize you are required on the bridge immediately Rusty climbed out of his power loader everyone else was exiting their vehicles and Otter were directing people and aliens to needed services now that the adrenaline was wearing off Rusty felt a lot of bumps and bruises that were really going to hurt tomorrow he nodded and sighed yeah gr I'll be right along Rusty walked a little slower than usual gr took Rusty's massive meaty hand in his

furry little porw and walk waddled with him telling him of the events that had transpired on the ship in his absence there was a great deal of disagreement however brev was convincing a majority due to the hurried nature of the incidents it was looking as though vo own would have had to accept a majority instead of waiting for consensus Captain V own was extremely irate about that father and I were monitoring local Communications when an alert came up about a skirmish at the scrit ship when we got your message nagala activated a protocol that was

left in the archive by the previous AI they had reached the door to the bridge and gr turned to Rusty were you the previous Captain was noala an earth Force ship Rusty thought about it and chuckled remind me to tell you about that after I've slept for a week he shifted his shoulders uncomfortably I'm getting too old for this while Rusty debriefed the senior staff on what happened local law enforcement arrived at the ship's marked perimeter the scit were angrily demanding that law enforcement should board the ship the lead officer who had dealt with humans

and knew their reputation wasn't about to assault the ship unless absolutely necessary especially without reinforcements vo own was fit to be tied while he was sympathetic to the slave situation he hated having his hand claw forced he was Furious that he had been ready to rule in favor of simple majority over consensus but but noala beat him to it by activating the emergency protocol 20 minutes later Rusty Von brev and several other senior ships officers stood just inside Nala's perimeter while the angry scrit and local Law Enforcement Officers stood outside the perimeter I demand that

their ship be impounded the crew incarcerated and our stolen slaves returned additionally they have kidnapped our people the captain of the scrit N was buzzing and screeching partly from outrage and partly from pain due to nasty wounds Rusty snorted in derision slavery is illegal on Earth and this is a United Earth Ship there's no such thing as a slave here stolen or otherwise go pound sand however a couple of humans escaped from your ship with a pretty interesting story about being captured as slaves it's illegal to keep humans as slaves I demand an audit of

their ships manifest to prove that they were illegally attempting to enslave humans NJIT shrieked even louder slavery is legal on scrit as it is legal here my property is none of your business he started to reach for brev in fact I will start taking back my property now brev flinched away from him and Rusty stepped forward if you lay a finger or whatever the hell you call those things on my crew member I will have you arrested for assault attempted kidnapping attempted trafficking in sapients trespassing and anything else I can think of if you think

you are leaving here with any slaves you can all the way off step inside the perimeter and Earth law says that as captain of the ship I am allowed to use Force to prevent harm to a crew member if you play a stupid game you will win a stupid prize NJIT retorted sarcastically crew member I think not what is his job Rusty pulled a flask out of a pocket on his jumpsuit took a drink then handed it to brev he gave nit a steady look and replied beverage server the law enforcement official snickered at that

nit continued pressing there is still the matter of my people who were kidnapped I demand that their ship be searched so that my people can be returned and that assault and kidnapping charges pressed against them Rusty Shrugged we don't have bugs on the ship we have very good pest control and we don't even let them aboard nit was about to start shrieking again when the lead law officer held up an appendage he was a bulky creature that reminded Rusty of an elephant or Rhino the officer said slowly while there does seem to be some legal

conflict regarding slavery between scrit and Earth kidnapping is an extremely straightforward matter with both worlds as a neutral party will you let my people inspect your ship for any sisit persons if no squits are found this will be a matter for legal experts to handle Rusty motioned to gr and Girt the plant arachnid legal specialist and they backed a few meters away from the perimeter Rusty bent down and whispered to gr are you absolutely certain that there are no scit aboard the ship whatsoever gr nodded they went back to the perimeter Edge and Rusty told

the law enforcement officer your people are welcome to come aboard and search he pointed at net but none of their kind are welcome here and just to be clear you are looking for scits and only scits I want you to generate a warrant special specifying Right Here and Now precisely what you're looking for that's another thing we have on Earth is a right to be searched only with a specific warrant the law enforcement officer took out a data pad and typed into it he read a definition of Earth warrants he nodded that will be acceptable

on the condition that our search will be video monitored if there is any attempted interference with the search then we will have the authority to come and search again also as I read this if I find any blatantly criminal activity or obvious Contraband during my search I am authorized to make arrests and bring charges Rusty looked down at gir and she nodded that will be acceptable I shall assign my husbands to escort the law enforcement officers while they aren't very bright they are very good at tattling Rusty snickered at this he sent a message to

the bridge that law enforcement officers were coming aboard to do a search after the search was over and no sisit had been found although there were a few raised eyebrows at certain points the law enforcement officers left the ship nit was absolutely outraged adamantly insisting that the raiding party had kidnapped their people and were holding them hostage Rusty responded to their accusations with some colorful language involving hand gestures accusations of inbreeding and suggestions of anatomically impossible activities 3 Days Later noala was in transit and V own called am meeting in the dining area the meeting

had several crew members and rescued slaves plus the majority of the senior officers the meeting was in the dining area because the regular meeting room was unable to accommodate all of the attendees crew members and passengers of the noala he began we are here to discuss what will be the disposition of the persons aboard the ship it has been said that some of you wish to seek employment here we will accommodate as we are able but noala does have limited resources for a crew it will be necessary for several of you to depart unless you

have sufficient funds to stay on as Messengers there have been many separate discussions but now it is time for us to come together and reach consensus regarding who will stay and in what capacity perg walk waddled forward I have talked with the otter on the ship both crew and our new passengers numer and I wish to return to our home world and we will host any who wish to come with us until they can be reunited with their families I have spoken with gr at length and he is ready to take over as the information

specialist there was a lot of murmuring around the room and Rusty was stunned perg had been his friend for years and he felt like he'd just gotten punched in the chest as he looked at perg he noticed that the fur on PG's nose and around his eyes had started to whiten Numa also had some lighter fur on her face and white hairs had started to appear in the coat around around her body it really hit home with Rusty otter had shorter natural lifespans than humans and now perg and Numa wanted to go home to retire

Rusty closed his eyes for a moment then looked over to Von and waved I second the motion if perg and Numa want to go home I think gr would do a great job as a replacement he looked over at perg and Numa I'll miss you guys a lot you deserve your retirement thanks for everything V own spoke to the group do we have consensus regarding replacing perg with gr everyone around the room nodded Von continued no Gala enable command function Information Specialist perg being replaced by gr confirm after a few moments Nala's metallic feminine voice

sounded throughout the room previous Information Specialist uninstalled new Information Specialist gr authorized and installed proper designation perg Rusty rolled his eyes seriously noala we are doing this again noala remains silent Rusty looked over at bouly and podra will you be staying or leaving podra responded booly will be leaving with our parents but brev and several other of the otter will be staying here we will be training them to fill in for any of the crew who wish to leave I will be staying on my studies in medicine on ngala are going quite well I'm receiving

an excellent education in xenom medicine that simply would not be possible in a school back home when we get to our next destinations I've already been able to pick out curricula to acquire for study Nala's Medical Library will become quite extensive this is a rare opportunity Rusty smiled and breathed a huge sigh of relief his time in the Marines had a share of Horrors that haunted him still he had tried using mental health services in Earth Force but it didn't seem to do much good however he had found peace on noala with the otter especially

under pod's care while he certainly wouldn't have stopped podra from leaving he wasn't sure if he would have been able to stay without her there vo own look disapprovingly at Rusty and a few of the other humans some crew are leaving because they believe humans are unsafe I myself have found that humans can be volatile and unpredictable however they are also capable of extremely valuable contributions noala will retain human crew members if anyone does not find this acceptable they are free to leave without censure of any kind they will be given full severance pay and

a positive referral to Future employers does anyone wish to resign a few hands and other appendages went up in the air gr took down the names thank you for your service to noala I will be getting with each of you so that we can arrange for your replacement and departure you will be pleased to note that our next few destinations are very routine and pleasant we will accommodate you every way we can Von turned to the table where the Aven menic were seated do you wish to stay aboard noala or will you return to your

world one of the menics spoke up and pointed to two of the others we and our spouses desire to stay I am a navigator finar is a stellar cartographer zela is an accomplished astrologer we have been studying your ship's navigation systems roots and Star Charts the menics are absolutely unrivaled in these areas we are supremely confident that as part of Nala's crew we will make Stellar travel far more profitable and fortuitous we have read the stars in the upcoming travel itineraries and have made improvements we are ready to work immediately Von looked over at the

dinari who were his current Navigator what is your opinion regarding the menic one of the dinari stood a seasoned creature named co-ord he pointed appendages at the other dinari Navigators a few of us do desire to return home to Dinara we have been in space a long time and Miss waves crashing on the beach there have been discussions among some of the dinari about returning home but we have never been able ble to reach a consensus as to how this would be carried out it seems that with the addition of the new crew members the

consensus can now be easily reached zela the menx astrologer spoke up I have been casting horoscopes for crew members your Rescue of us was not unexpected because from what little information I was able to glean all of us are coming to a major life juncture at the same point however the star show it is time for many to depart if those persons leave now they will be quite fortunate any of those persons who should leave now but do not will suffer Misfortune and possibly spread Misfortune to others any who wish come to me and I

can tell you what your current Destiny is M the arachnid contracts and currency specialist blurted out do you happen to have a list with you of individuals that should leave as soon as possible especially those who never should have come aboard in the first place Rusty groaned as his wife Sylvia stood up and retorted to M angrily what's that supposed to mean if you got something to say say it to my face Rusty pulled Sylvia down to her chair Sylvia leave it alone we've got a lot to take care of right now and you and

man can scream it out later Sylvia glared at him pathetic excuse of a husband you are you're taking that filthy bugs side over mine and I am your wife Sylvia stood up do you like her so much fine go be one of her husbands and have her eat your head it would serve you right Silvia stormed angrily out of the dining hall there were a lot of uncomfortable stairs and manie pointed at Sylvia's back while looking at the menic Zea zela quietly wrote down a small note own made a noise like rocks being shaken in

a can Rusty guessed that it was the dinari equivalent of clearing your throat to get attention are there any others who have important issues that need to be discussed right away a few did raise their hands or other appendages with Von answering a few questions and gr promising to follow up later after the meeting was over gr spoke to Rusty all of this has been very very scary and exciting but I think things will turn out well I am glad that you will be staying on here noala is home for podra and I and neither

of us can picture being here without you thank you for helping my people Rusty smiled at him I am going to miss your parents and Bully but I'm happy for them at the same time I'm glad you're staying too zela walked up to Rusty oxidize your mate was she also born on earth like you Rusty shook his head no she was actually born on our Colony on Mars the next planet in our solar system Zilla tapped on her data pad for a few minutes then finally showed the result to rusty rusty read it and sighed

wearily yeah I know but we're married I made a commitment in a windowless office a screen played a news report with a female journalist narrating investigations continue into a riot on the scrit ship where a multispecies group assaulted the ship allegedly to rescue slaves being held illegally scit authorities claim that all passengers on the ship were there legally under local laws due to conflicting reports and laws this situation won't be fully resolved for some time there were several sisit casualties upwards of 40 injured Raiders and alleged slaves from from several species and five dead humans

the dead humans have been identified as local criminals with extensive arrest records more details as the story develops agent Smith turned to Bob just how the hell did you pull this off and this isn't your style usually you're a lot more discreet Gilbert Preston Bob removed his glasses and Polished them with the Hem of His shirt I went to that bar to hire a couple local thugs the other party was already in progress they were drunk and full of piss so there was no talking them down my choices were make the best of it or

scrub the mission luckily a few of those clowns actually weren't complete idiots I'm curious about the leader he called himself Rusty but his alien crew kept calling him oxidize he said he was at blood river smith did a search and a dozen human faces popped up Gilbert Bob selected one and Rusty's picture came up along with an abstract of his military record and tidbits of more recent activities including an accident on space station 6 Smith raised his eyebrows you have the best dumb luck I've ever seen if we were to recruit a guy for this

kind of job it would be him Gilbert and Smith were both impressed by a video clip where Rusty was charging an armored vehicle vehicle from the side landed on the roof blew off the upper hatch then assaulted and discarded insurgents who tried escaping the vehicle Gilbert asked why isn't this guy working for us Smith tapped the screen and Rusty's discharge came up he pointed he's a burnout they tried retaining him even offered a promotion he just wants to be left alone and it's better that way he's in the system so we can keep a eye

on him if we need to Gilbert shook his head damn waste of talent he tapped the screen and now a juvenile scit appeared at least he made my job easier with all the mayem on the rest of the ship they had to pull several guards from her chamber so she was a lot easier to get to since the others were busy trying to get to the slaves it never occurred to the bugs that anyone would be trying to capture her Smith crossed his arms and had a look of satisfaction I still can't believe we actually

managed to get our hands on a queen Gilbert chuckled she's a little young more princess age Smith thought for a moment good idea that will be her call sign Gilbert and Smith continue to watch the screen a thought occurred Smith I'm assuming you tied up Loose Ends Gilbert nodded yeah the five in the news news report they are the type that no one will miss just Smash and grab amateurs they were there looking for to steal while everyone else was rescuing slaves nagala log update oxidize successful in obtaining additional crew replacement units excess units will

be offloaded at earliest acceptable ports oxidize continues substandard performance attempted uninstallation of Sylvia unit will continue navigation and cartography upgraded with addition of new units perg replacement unit installed arive emergency protocol successfully executed and deactivated protocol file moved to primary emergency procedures upgrade status and access of podra unit necessary for optimal function of oxidize unit