Andrew found himself standing in formation on a large field, sweat rolling down his back, wishing there was even a single cloud in the sky or for the slightest breeze to break the oppressive heat. His dress uniform, which he felt had to be a copyright infringement from some terrible 70s sci-fi show, was not making the situation any better. The polyester, or whatever it was, itched everywhere it clung to him and as it was pretty much soaked through with sweat that was everywhere. With only a few weeks before the mission, he had hoped the launch event would have been optional for himself and the other alternate crew members.
Instead, the entire crew had assembled and were awaiting the re-launch of the newly retrofitted Sled back into space. If not for the fact that he and the other alternates were in the back of the formation, his attempts to quelch his laughter might have been more noticed by the rest of the crew. When he finally lost the battle not to laugh, his muffled giggles drew annoyed looks from those nearby.
"Do you mind?" came the annoyed whisper of Charles Oxley. Ziggy bracketed the back of the man in red as he spoke. A message, also bracketed in red appeared just out of Andrew’s vision closest to Charles before Andrew dismissed it.
[Charles Oxley, Primary Computer and Kata Implant Specialist, Sledovatel. (Would you like to know more?)]
Charles wasn't a big man, yet his eyes looked huge as they glared up at Andrew through his coke bottle glasses and his unruly mop of sandy curls. He was the man who had been selected for the primary computer and implant specialist slot on the Sled, though it seemed Charles never got the memo he had won. Because of this, Charles seemed to take every opportunity he could to remind Andrew that he was the backup for Charles and not the other way around. Andrew was pretty sure that today's reminder of such, came in the form of Charles standing directly in front of him in the formation. Even though the two of them didn’t get along well and Charles could have stood anywhere he chose in the front two rows with the other primary members of the crew, instead he chose to be there.
"Sorry man, it's the nose art. A bunch of kids overpacked on a snow sled, it's genius."
Still not turning around to address Andrew, Charles snapped, "What it is, is vandalism and it has been removed, so be a professional and keep it together!"
"I know I shouldn’t be laughing but the ‘cleaning’”, Andrew making air quotes even though Charles wasn’t looking,” only makes it funnier as the person assigned to clean it, made the clean spots clearly depict the same artwork. I mean even the shading is still intact, even you have to see some humor in that, right?"
"No, I do not Lather,” Charles spun on his feet to glare at Andrew, his eyes narrowing to slits, almost cartoonishly magnified by his glasses, as he hissed at Andrew, “did you forget that my father worked on that ship? or that she was our first faster-than-light ship? Or that she far exceeded our wildest hopes and dreams? Whoever did this spit all over her legacy!".
Yeah, your wildest hopes and dreams, sure? Your parents weren't even together back then. Andrew though but kept his thoughts to himself.
He must have made a face though as Charles added indignantly, "They demeaned the work of my amazing father! Who spent years of his life helping make the sled…ovatel," Charles winced at his slip up before continuing, "a reality. Not to mention the insult to the great Isa Sledovatel herself. Of Whom I suspect even one in your position, would think of with some modicum of reverence. So, no I really don't find any humor in it. At all!"
Charles flushed a bit as he realized he said the last part a bit louder than he had intended and that the glares once reserved for Andrew were now on him as well.
Yeah, the work of your amazing father. Amazing errand boy, and a mascot more like it. Andrew thought but responded more congenially.
"Look man before you say it, it wasn't me. I get we wouldn't be here without Isa or this ship. Like you said I do have a good bit of respect for not just Isa, but also for the history behind this grand ole rust bucket." Andrew said, finishing with a smile.
Thomas didn't respond, instead with an over-the-top eyeroll, turned his back to Andrew and put himself back at attention. Trying his best to look professional through his anger.
"Don't worry about him, Lather. He's just angry because he knows there is no way he'd be the primary if the admiral wasn’t hell-bent on you being the alternate. Even if that we all know if Professor Katawan were still alive he wouldn’t have put up with this travesty either. " Came a loud whisper from his right. Gavin, one of Andrew's high school friends and fellow alternate crewmember, was there smiling at him.
[Gavin Waylyn, alternate pilot, Sledovatel. (Would you like to know more?)]
Gavin's comment earned him a scathing glare from Thomas, but before he could retort he was cut off by the deep voice of Vladimir Nesterov, in his thick Russian accent.
"Will all of you please quiet down? Here comes the captain."
[Vladimir Nesterov, Primary Co-pilot, Sledovatel. (Would you like to know more?)]
Nesterov’s speech looked like the dubbing was slightly off. A clear sign of his kata implant translating for the large man.
"Did you hear that Lather, BDL just told us to quiet down?"
This earned a raised eyebrow from Andrew, "BDL?"
"Brunette Dolph Lundgren," Gaven said with a wan smile.
Andrew chortled again having lost the battle to try to stay silent thanks to Gavin’s little quip.
"Who is Dolph Lundgren?" Vladimir asked.
"You know the Russian boxer from those ancient Rocky movies?" answered a smiling Gavin.
"Well, the character's name was Drago, and no offense Nest, but you do bear quite the resemblance to Drago. You know, if he had brown hair, " Andrew added with a smile, before he noticed how many of the crew were now openly gaping and/or glaring in their direction.
"Hey Gavin, we should probably, umm get back to attention."
A cheshire grin grew on his friend’s face, "Sure, but one last thing. The dubbing delay when BDL talks bugs me. I get it’s from the implant translation, but is there anything you can do to minimize it?"
Andrew returned the smile before he turned back to face the podium and actively tried to avoid eye contact with any of the angry crewmembers and hoping to avoid anymore trouble his friend might still have had a mind to have made. As he did, he noticed the captain was indeed making his way across the manicured field. Andrew quickly tried to appear as if he had never been out of attention in the first place and straightened his uniform. If the captain noticed the outburst, he didn’t betray it as he walked by at a well-measured pace towards the podium, his senior officers in a tight formation behind him.
Resting on the field directly behind the podium was the Sledovatel, the smallest and oldest ship in the fleet. Years ago, it had been renamed in honor of Isa Sledovatel. This was on account of her being the single greatest explorer in Yutan history, it being their first FTL scout vehicle, and the fact that she captained it for over a decade, before her passing.
While she was revered by most on Yuta, the crew had quickly tired of saying her full last name and now just referred to it as the Sled for short. While it might have been slightly disrespectful, Andrew thought it was a fitting name, as it was not by any standard a beautiful ship. She was mostly aerodynamic and yet was still a bit angular, a bit blocky, and the three giant thrusters on her aft were almost comical. In the ship's current state, it reminded him of a house that was midway through renovations. Much of the old design was still there, but with a few parts that seemed to have been awkwardly bolted on and were clearly new. She was sleeker than the boxy monstrosity of the Hring for sure, but she was far from the beauty of the Orin, regardless of what sycophants like Thomas might say.
Captain Rostron stepped up to the podium and took a moment to order his notes. Andrew always thought the captain looked like a perfect mixture of a great father, a world-class adventurer, and a historic ship captain. As if some mad scientist had created him in a lab instead of being born that way. While he hadn’t known the captain before this mission, the rumors of the captain’s past all agreed that he was each of those things even before he took on this mission. Most rumors agreed that the 19 had begged the captain out of retiring to take this command. Whatever the truth was, the captain exuded quiet confidence and had an air about him that made you feel like you could trust him to save you from whatever trouble awaits.
Once the Captain had his notes in order, he looked directly at Gavin and cleared his throat. Bringing the entire crew, Gavin included, to full attention.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the crew," his voice with its calm British accent, sounding more like it should be launching a war fleet and not a single small scientific vessel.
"Today marks a momentous occasion, both solemn and splendid. Today, we set forth on the maiden voyage of the newly retrofitted Sledovatel. A voyage which calls to mind the mission of of our ship's inspiration, Isa Sledovatel, and the journey she and her crew took. As you well know, she was a pioneer who dedicated herself not only to the discovery of this Eden we now call home.” He gestured around to the beautiful scenery behind him, “ She and her crew did so with unwavering commitment. As we shall do, she ventured forth into an unknown star system and unknown dangers. In doing so, she and her crew ensured that the prime directive of our great nation could take root. Take root it did, and we are here today to help it to blossom. And let us not forget that directive: to safeguard humanity from being brought to its knees by the capricious whims of cosmic events by spreading our race across the universe.
The intrepid crews of the Hringhorni and Orinasa bravely took up Isa's mantle of exploration and, like her, staked everything on the cause of our prime directive. But as fate would have it, these two vessels have gone silent, and our mission has taken a different turn. No longer are we explorers in the traditional sense, we are now rescuers first and explorers second.
Our duty is clear: we must journey to the very place where two alien galaxies are colliding and where not one but two of our ships have gone missing. We must do so with godspeed so we might have a chance to find our crews safe and sound as the Orinasa has little less than two years before her food stores run short. With the new modifications to the Sledovatel’s jump drive we have a chance to do exactly that, but we cannot delay as we have a lot of space to cover to do so.
I won't sugarcoat it; this mission carries risk. As I stated this is the nexus of a galactic collision, where the forces at play remain beyond our comprehension and could vary greatly from what we consider normal. Fortunately, it is also where we are most likely to unravel the fate of our wayward ships. So yes, there is risk and yes there will be great challenges, but there are also the real rewards of finding our missing brothers and sisters. What I beg each of you to consider is this: between those two ships, more than ten million souls are unaccounted for. So, our mission couldn’t be more important and couldn’t be more worth the risk.
Failure is out of the question, for our government has already declared that should we too go missing, it will send no more ships to that sector. So, there will be no rescue should we fail. To be clear, they are correct to do so, our prime directive is too important, and human lives too precious to continue investing in this galactic dead end. As we cannot falter, we shall not, and instead we shall find our wayward brothers and sisters and bring them back home. “
The captain paused, while he had been reciting the speech from memory the next part felt as if it were not part of his original speech.
“Before I continue, I would like to take some time to address concerns that have been raised about our ship's state and age. Let me be clear: she may be old, but she is nimble, capable, and, crucially, time-tested. We've equipped her with the finest folding engine humanity has ever conceived, allowing us to jump back in a mere forty-five minutes. As you can see, she's no rusted relic, and I have every confidence she will not be our mission’s Achilles' heel. Instead, I suspect that in the coming weeks, we shall see that, with the latest updates, she’s one, if not the, most nimble and capable ships in our fleet. “
That said the captain continued his original speech.
“As I have stated, we anticipate unforeseeable challenges and therefore this crew must confront the unknown with an unwavering resolve to bring our brethren back to Yuta’s warm embrace. This means anyone going on the mission must have complete faith in not only this ship but also each other. As this ship is the best in our fleet and each one of you represents the best of the best, this should not be a difficult choice. I implore you; if you have reservations, leave now and contribute to Yuta's growth. The 19 rely on your talents to drive our prime directive. Whether that’s out in space or helping to build infrastructure here. Walking out now is far nobler than joining us only to falter when we need you most and we have no alternate for your skillset. If you doubt your mettle or your resolve for such a mission, there is no shame in stepping away now, only honor."
With this, the captain paused and gestured to the gates of the field. After a moment when not a single person twitched, he continued.
"Cheers to all you brave souls! Let us face adversity standing united, unwavering, and resolute. Let us forge ahead and bring our lost brethren back to the embrace of civilization. Our mission is clear. Our purpose and our destiny, if we only dare to seize it, is amongst the stars. Together, we shall succeed, for God and the spirit of Isa Sledovatel guide our way. Onward into the unknown!"
A cheer went up from all in attendance and the primary crew boarded the ship. Andrew along with the other alternates continued to cheer reaching a crescendo when the Sled gracefully lifted off the field and into space.
"That was quite a speech for just kicking off in-space practice. How much you wanna bet that before the mission is fully ready to fold, at least one of those primaries backs out?" Gavin said with a grin.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
"Guess we'll see what a few weeks of practice will bring about. Though I’ll take that bet. How about $100 that Thomas will be the first to break?"
*********
Andrew awoke crammed into his bunk on the Sled. As usual, his feet were hanging out one end and his head was touching the wall on the other. Like gnats on a Florida summer's day, dozens of notices floated just outside his main vision. As he dismissed them, his attention was drawn to the Van Gogh like painting that was his damage display. While his left shoulder was the same warning yellow as before, the yellow on his head had been replaced by a disturbing red color. His right shoulder also showed that same red color now. Interestingly his left big toe did as well. Each of those highlighted areas now also sported word clouds containing words like "fracture", "contusion", and "laceration". As if confirming the silhouette’s report he hurt in all the corresponding places.
Ziggy, I think I understand what Alex Murphy felt like at the beginning of one of those super cheesy old movies Gavin always made me watch.
[That is illogical, Mr. Lather, you have no severed limbs, nor have you received any gunshots wounds.]
Andrew chuckled at Ziggy's response only to be rewarded with a wash of pain that seemed to have a special way to bounce around his skull.
Ziggy, please reduce the humor in your responses.
[Affirmative. Will attempt to make truthful answers less humorous.]
Trying not to chuckle at his clueless AI, he ignored the response and looked at the lone picture hanging in his bunk. While most of the crew had pictures lining the walls of their bunks, he only had this one. It was of Linnie in a stylish one-piece standing on a tropical beach, her rare smile outshining even the azure tropical waters behind her. As he looked, he absent-mindedly reached for the small trinket hidden under his uniform that hung from a chain around his neck. It was a small part of a folding engine. That for the life of him he could never seem to remember the name of. Even though Linnie must have told him 100 times what it was. His eyes became blurry with tears because he knew how important it was to her and how little he had really paid attention, always daydreaming about their futures and never living in the present. He knew it was the first, and according to Linnie most important, part she had modified to help miniaturize the folding engine and make it more efficient. Yet, he couldn’t be bothered to remember its name. The part was her honeymoon gift, given to him right before that picture was taken. It was her original part, the one she made by hand….well the one she directed the robots to make anyhow. Most of its workings were too small to be made by human hands as the whole part was just short of 4cm in length. He was pulled from his daydream by that same perplexing message from Ziggy and the lights dimming to almost non-existence.
[Unexpected Error: Battery malfunction. Charge extremely low]
Suspecting they were still under attack, Andrew quickly braced for impact.
[Battery function restored. Charge 100%. This is the 33rd recorded malfunction. Please see implant specialist immediately]
Wait, did that say 33rd? Ziggy, how long was I out for?
[Yes, and 3hrs 5mins and 46secs, Mr. Lather]
Thanks, Ziggy. Also, you know I’m the implant specialist so you can cut it out with all of that see implant junk.
[Understood, Mr. Lather]
After a tense moment, Andrew relaxed as it seemed that the ship had somehow avoided being hit this time even though he had not felt even the slightest momentum changes.
Wait, that had to be a dream right? I mean giant energy beam space whale can’t be real and why would I have even been on the bridge? But if it was a dream why is there a systemic power issue?
Ziggy, please tell me that the giant space whale wasn't real and that instead I got injured by my own stupidity and there is some odd electrical issue which is also somehow impacting implants.
[Unknown whalelike entity does exist and has fired on our ship. Would you like to see the recording of it? You were injured by being unrestrained while the ship performed a jump and struck an external force. Additionally, when the ship was struck by the hostile entity’s eye beams. No recent electrical malfunctions have been reported by the Sledovatel systems or crew.]
Ziggy, how is that possible?
[The most likely scenario is that the power issues are not from an electrical…]
Ziggy, stop. I mean that whale thing, how is it real?
[The most likely scenario is that it is a lifeform without an Earth or Yutan origin. I am unable to postulate its evolution as data on the entity is limited. I am also unable to postulate on how its eye-based energy weapons and space flight evolved. As neither has been observed in any other known lifeforms.]
Andrew sighed before thinking, Thank you. Why was I on the bridge?
[Unknown Mr. Lather, I am unable to access the data from that time.]
Wait, why can’t you?
[I cannot give you that information at this time.]
Ok Ziggy, then any ideas on how the space alien thing's eye beams are impacting our power and are they potentially impacting your data storage systems as well?
[The ship's computer, crew and I have no theories at present. After running diagnostics, I am confident my data storage has not been impacted by recent events.]
Ziggy, the power issue makes no logical sense. I mean you’re powered by the heat of my blood. Best I can tell I’m not dead, so short of it having killed me, I have a hard time understanding how an energy weapon outside of the ship could impact your energy levels. Much less you and the ship simultaneously.
[Affirmative, all Ais on this ship have been working on this issue. To date, no logical connection between the entity’s eye-based energy weapons and kata implant power levels has been identified. As implants share no energy storage with any ship systems, it seems illogical that the two would be impacted simultaneously. Yet all the ship's power and my power issues correlate perfectly. They also correlate perfectly with the known alien entity attacks. While we do communicate with each other via electromagnetic impulses, we share no other link. Furthermore, my and other people’s implant batteries are restored faster than could be explained by normal thermal generation from your or other hosts’ blood, which is yet another mystery.]
"Well, we won't find answers lying in my bunk. At least I hope not," Andrew said outloud, as he rolled out of his small bunk and got unsteadily to his feet. It struck him, as he exited the door to his small room, how this room only existed because some engineer had probably been desperately trying to find a place where they could squeeze in three bunks and the unused space between the folding engine and a maintenance storage room was the answer.
Andrew entered the hallway and his eyes snapped shut as his arm reflexively shot up to protect his eyes from the bright lights of the hallway. He swore each time he tried to look, it felt like each individual photon was stabbing its own glass shard directly into his skull. Andrew wearily waited, hunkered against the wall until he found that his eyes had adjusted enough that opening them was no longer rewarded with more pain. This small victory achieved, he started to slowly shuffle his way along the wall toward the medical bay, his body protesting with each step. His progress shown on the mini-map which was on the other side of his vision from his damage display.
Along the way, Andrew found the lower torso of a svelte man sticking out of a maintenance hatch. The man's coveralls were covered in so much grease that Andrew wasn't sure if there was grease on his coveralls or coveralls on his grease. The man worked with a frantic efficiency that indicated he believed the world may end if he didn’t complete his task quickly. Ziggy bracketed his friend's lower body.
[Chogan Catawnee, Maintenance Officer, Sledovatel. (Would you like to know more?)]
At that moment, the lights dimmed yet again.
[Unexpected Error: Battery malfunction. Charge extremely low]
Andrew braced for impact. After a moment he relaxed realizing that yet again the impact had not come.
[Battery function restored. Charge 100%. This is the 34th recorded malfunction. Please maintenance your implant as soon as possible]
Andrew ignored the message as Chogan began to wiggle out of the maintenance space saying, "One down, 6 more to go…, “ before cutting himself off from the surprise of seeing someone staring down at him.
"Chogan what's going on? Ziggy, my Kata implant, keeps giving me a low battery warning every time the lights dim and I can't imagine how those two events could be remotely related."
Chogan’s face was overwhelmed with one of the warmest smiles Andrew had ever known, "Oh Mr. Lather you're alive!"
“Why are you surprised by that?”
"You took multiple hits to that thing you claim to think with, sir. So, yes, we weren't sure if you would make it, especially with medical being overwhelmed with people injured from our unplanned jump and you being placed in your bunk to make space. Hmmm, I guess it was more the abrupt stop at the end rather than the jump that caused injury. As for what is happening. The enemy out there has knocked out our propulsion and has since been sending wide beams our way that disrupt our electronics every time it does so, but otherwise does not seem to damage the crew or ship any further. It is unclear the point of the beams. If they are designed to impact our systems or some other unknown purpose. Either way, it is complicating matters for Medical. Mister Lather you offend me, of course I remember that Ziggy is the name for your Kata implant. Anyhow, I'm trying to reroute all the power I can to the jump drive so we might be able to get home before we end up yet another lost ship, sir. "
"Wait, that Whale thing out there is actually real and destroyed our other ships?" Andrew interjected.
Chogan answered as he tucked in a few wires that were unceremoniously sticking out, "Mr. Lather, unfortunately, we still don't fully know what happened to our ships, but that whale thing is real, and we were definitely attacked by it. As there is a debris field found that matched parts from the Orinasa, it is only logical to guess that this entity is likely related to the Orinasa’s disappearance. However, the debris cloud wasn't large enough to fully account for the ship, much less both it and the Hring. Honestly, we just don’t know, and I doubt we’ll be here long enough to find out. What is funny, is its just as those Manus bastards predicted, it appears we have made first contact and its hostile. I suspect their betting squares likely didn't cover space whales though.” Chogan’s eyes shot wide with realization, “Sorry Mr. Lather I don’t have time to catch you up on everything. I must do the needful to get our jump capacitors charged as fast as possible. Please sir, will you kindly help me with this panel?". Pointing to a maintenance access panel he had removed.
"Of course, but why does it say Perseverance on the inside?"
"Oh Mr. Lather, I thought you knew that was her original name."
"Was it now? I knew it wasn’t originally the Sledovatel, but I thought it was called the Enterprise. I guess even old New York was once New Amsterdam."
"Yes, it was renamed to the Enterprise before it launched, but it’s original name was Perseverance, and you can find evidence of that all over the ship. Is that true about New York though?"
Andrew just smiled and started to hum a tune as he knelt down so he could help Chogan lift the panel into place. As he started to lift the panel, his left shoulder exploded with depths of pain Andrew hadn't know existed causing him to drop the panel.
"Sorry Cho, I won't be able to apparently."
Chogan retorted with a warm smile "I know you're a desk guy Mr. Lather, but you're also supposed to be my maintenance helper too. I swear can't even lift a three-kilo panel. Maybe do some pushups occasionally man."
Andrew smiled and pointed without lifting his arm too far, "Umm maybe you haven't noticed but I kinda got hit by the ship. Twice!"
Chogan chuckled, "Oh poor ship, I hope you didn't damage her. Can you please be careful? I already have too much to do, especially with you being unable to do the work of a small child and all."
Andrew started to respond when an image that almost looked like a hologram, yet more substantial and detailed, appeared in front of him. A duplicate image was in front of Chogan standing over the man. The two men quickly got to their feet, Chogan much faster and with less moaning involved. Whatever it was it seemed to be making the lights and their katas flicker like they were at a rave. The image had the appearance of, and Andrew couldn't believe he was thinking this, an elven villainess. Tall and lanky yet also harshly beautiful, with cheekbones so sharp they might be able to cut glass. Shockingly her skin looked to be made of white marble with gold veins running through it and her pupils looked as if they were wrought from pure gold. The uniform she wore, while elegant and regal, was not in the slightest flattering. It wasn't that it didn't fit her well, quite the opposite, it was just clearly not designed with any consideration given toward accentuating her form. The only clear indication that she was a woman were the curves of her face.
Andrew blinked a few times before he looked at Chogan "Ummm Chogan am I seeing things or is there a tall marble elven woman staring at us?"
Chogan distractedly replied while waving his hand through the image "Oh no Mr. Lather, as much as I would love to tell you that you are seeing things. Sadly, this is not true."
Andrew tentatively reached a hand forward to touch it and just as Andrew's hand contacted the image, a melodious and calm voice started to speak, Andrew recoiled quickly as if he had touched a hot coal.
"I am Ioma Lachs captain of the Chennon frigate Beautiful Winds. You have entered Chennon territory in a vessel type that is unknown to us and without authorization. Our scans have revealed that you are attempting to smuggle humans through restricted space. By the power of the Unesisa Rada and with the grace of the Geald Biaobela, we have disabled your ship, and you are ordered to stand down as we board. Any hostile actions will be dealt with harshly."
The voice clearly inside his head as he heard no echoes of it in the hallway. Ziggy also wasn't displaying a language it was translating, and yet Ioma still appeared badly dubbed. The hologram disappeared and the lights stopped flickering. Leaving him to ponder if he had actually woken up or if this was really some bad dream. Andrew turned to Chogan when the lights dimmed again.
[Unexpected Error: Battery malfunction. Charge extremely low]
When they came back on there were three elven-looking people, two men, and one woman who seemed to have magically appeared only a few feet from him. The one who had called herself Captain Ioma was not among this group. They also appeared to be elves made of white marble with gold veins and pupils. Each wore a uniform like the one worn by the woman who had appeared in the hologram. Their uniforms were less adorned than their captains and while largely the same each uniform had a few slight differences from the others.
[Battery function restored. Charge 100%. This is the 35th recorded malfunction. Please maintenance your implant as soon as possible. Malfunction frequency increasing.]
Andrew and Chogan were frozen in place as their minds reeled from the sudden and unexplainable appearance of aliens on their ship. One of the men stepped forward and said, "Stay where you are and don't move. Any resistance will be met with extreme retribution." This time Ziggy was clearly translating the words as messages indicating the languages he was speaking kept appearing in his vision. Though based on those messages it seemed the Elf was multilingual in many earth languages but could not settle on one for some reason.
[Translating from Esperanto]
[Translating from Farsi]
[Translating from French]
[Translating from Esperanto]
How does an alien know so many Earth languages, much less a made-up one?
Before he could ask the question, the same male elf approached " Hands up. "
[Translating from Xhosa]
Andrew, dazed and panicked, quickly tried to comply with the order. As he hurriedly raised his hands, his right hand smacked Chogan's left hand. The impact of Andrews's hand forced the wire cutters out of Chogan's hand and caused them to careen toward the female elf. Andrew winced as his shoulder blossomed once again in pain. The power and Ziggy dimmed to almost non-existence as the female elf lifted her hand and a bolt of electricity arced from it to Chogan’s chest.
[Unexpected Error: Battery malfunction. Charge extremely low]
Chogan seized up and fell over, a charred hole through his uniform.
[Battery function restored. Charge 100%. This is the 36th recorded malfunction. Please maintenance your implant as soon as possible. Malfunction frequency still increasing.]
Before Andrew could react to the violences, the lights and his kata flickered once more as the tallest of the elven boarding party waved a hand. Andrew's arms were yanked back in some unseen way and bound together. His feet also slammed together and bound. Unable to move or balance he toppled, unceremoniously, to the ground. The pain from his injuries reaching a new crescendo he had once never believed could exist. Yet, as he tried to scream in pain, he found that his mouth had become fully covered in some bluish crystal and no sound escaped.
Andrew laid there in a panic, helpless and unable to move. Forced by circumstance, to look at Chogan's glazed-over eyes. To Andrew’s continued horror they were unmoving, staring at nothing, as the smell of cooked flesh permeated the room. When the smell hit him, he frantically did his best to see what bound him and how he might remove it. After some yogaesque moves, he saw shackles made of the same bluish crystal binding his hands and feet. His foot and hand shackles were linked with a cord that appeared to be made of ominous pulsing greenish energy.
The tall elf turned to look down at the sadistically smiling woman.
"Estred! That was a bit extreme don’t you think? " he said in an exhausted "you didn't again" kind of tone.
"We did say ANY resistance, Gallen", she quickly hissed back with an annoyed smile. Then added, "How was I to know they were so weak?"
Gallen ignored her comment and turned to the other elf, "Sir should I also restrain this one?" pointing to Chogan's body. The shorter male elf responded, "I think Estred has disabled it quite effectively, if a bit overzealously. Get these two to the ship and then rejoin us."
With this, Gallen waved his hand again, and everything on the ship, including his kata, dimmed. Andrew felt a queasy feeling as he and Chogan floated into the air to about waist height. Without hurry or worry, Gallen walked up to their floating bodies before he touched each with only a fingertip. Making a face that Andrew would have guessed he would have reserved for taking out a disgusting bit of trash.
Then everything went white.
