Chapter Three

Iron Maiden's hangar bay

Akifa groaned softly, looking up at the tall head medical physician, wrapped in a silver, metallic uniform of her home-world as the willowy alien offered a hand. She resembled a human but with a touch too tall of a neck and no hair with two wide eyes of molten gold, but often narrowed in concentration and methodical thought, turning them to the Icer who stared back. His legs held inverted knees, letting him stand at her height with ease while his talons clicked on the tile floor in anxiety.

"I haven't seen one of you in the flesh, only in the memory archives of my elders' libraries. May I have the honor of examining you personally? I promise not to record if you do not wish me to, but I would be very honored to help you adjust to the life of the ship here. Protocol demands every newcomer on the ship to be decontaminated and made sure they aren't too injured to be able to adjust here. Would you like to be examined here or in the infirmary where it's quieter?" she asked, the Icer widening his eyes as he inclined his head, seeming glassy eyed at the offer.

(I would like to be examined elsewhere... I need time to adjust.) His voice seemed quieter, almost choked up in Akifa's mind as the pilot frowned, watching the Icer walk away with the doctor.

"Poor guy..." he whispered, rubbing his arms before being sprayed from all directions by the med techs, causing him to growl and groan.

"I fucking hate this shit..." He cursed loudly, switching from Universal to his Settic tongue as the medics swept him over with wands that pulsed for new radiation, swabbing his ears, mouth, and nose while using a laser to strip off the nanites into a jar to be cleaned.

"Are we done?!" he snarled, scaring the new techs as the older ones waved him off, more than used to his snarls as they joked about the "big, angry cat" of the mercenary squadrons. Akifa huffed, tugging on his coat over his chest before stomping off to the infirmary wing, ignoring the chuckles from the med techs. He glanced around, finding the door to the head tech's office as he knocked gently, the door hissing open.

Inside was a dimly lit room with a bath bubbling away where the Icer sat in, making a strange, low purring noise as the doctor sat behind her desk, typing on a holographic keyboard, using an orb to switch through the reports.

"He likes you... you should be happy. Anyone else in his condition that he wouldn't know, he would've attacked out of anxiety. He's extremely malnourished, scarred, and recovering from a long, cryo-sleep. These scientists, as they love to boast, practically destroyed him in the process, so he essentially kept his thoughts to himself, turning almost inside out with his sanity. You're the first person he's talked to since before the glacier melting... that was nearly 500 years ago, Dbakarem. I would suggest having him follow and staying with you, he won't want to be near anyone else in his state right now. I do have him scheduled for more therapy sessions with me, since my species can also do telepathy, but not as widely advanced as he can," she explained, pulling up pictures she had taken of scarring over the Icer's body, depictions of thin, sallow skin, atrophied muscles, and even chunks of scale missing from the wing stubs and tail. His claws were curved too long, his teeth broken into pieces, and his ribs revealed too much against the pale skin.

"Damn... he's in worse shape than I thought," he whispered, looking through the pictures with a grimace. She nodded solemnly, shunting away the pictures into a file as she printed out a file, showing a diet plan.

"This is what I heavily recommend here and now, for at least the first month. Get him back onto a similar diet he would've grown with: primarily crustacean or high protein fish. Try some swordfish, tuna, shark would be best but I know they're hard to get. He definitely needs shellfish, and I mean the whole shellfish, the shells and organs inside will give him the minerals and vitamins he needs to recover. For a little extra at least a week, I've prescribed some multivitamins he can take every morning. After that week, we will begin some stronger exercises: cardio, muscle building, getting him back to swimming condition with the pool we have in the sub-level. Technically a coolant tank, but it'll be big enough to let him stretch and start swimming around at higher speeds," she explained, pulling out a bottle of multivitamins with Akifa's name in the sponsor name for pickup.

"Does he have a name? I didn't get one," she added, looking up at him as Akifa tapped his lower lip.

"Ah... gods, let me think. Eiwren... something, gods I don't remember. He only said it once," he groaned, the doctor shrugging as she wrote it out.

"Wren, easy enough to write out for basic documents and papers he'll need. For now, I told the captain her "patient" will need time to recover, I don't care what she says, he needs to recover after that many injections and that long of sleep in cryo. Oracle doesn't know how to properly wake someone from that long and deep of hibernation, so he'll need to rest. For now, he's resting in the pool. It should help his skin rejuvenate and take away some of the harsher scars on his body. I say come back before you turn in for the night. I've already ordered him the first dinner, and you need to head to the captain's office to debrief," she noted, waving at Akifa who chuckled, getting up to tuck away the file in his coat. He glanced over, seeing the Icer underwater and curled tight with a slow trail of bubbles leaving his nose. Akifa waved before heading out into the hall. His comm pager on his belt pinged softly, telling him to enter the captain's office as he headed into the elevator.

Pressing his hand to the scanner, it glowed green before sending him up to the captain's office towards the top of the shop. He hated being in the office, always feeling insignificant and a little child in front of the woman's sanctimonious glare from behind her gold desk. Who has a gold desk?! How much do you need to put into our heads and eyes that you are the boss, you seriously need to get a reality check. Most of us would murder you easily if it didn't cost us a home and a lot of free goodies, he grumbled silently, going into the office as the doors slid open.

His eyes always hurt, the office pristine and white, not silver, or off white, just plain, bright ass white that burned into your retinas and cones. Her gold office sat in front of him towards the end of the long room. There were only various treasures of antique Earth scattered around, all from original places of religions on the old planet before it was destroyed, and copies upon copies of various religious texts from several different systems. Akifa was secretly proud his homeworld was mainly oral and taught through rituals from parents to child, never written down and recorded for others to grab and take as they wished. He stepped over to stand in front of the gold desk, seeing no paperwork or ornaments, the chair behind the desk empty with no sign of a person there.

"The hell...?" he grumbled low, glancing around as Oracle and Cam came in behind him, standing next to him as an intercom popped on around the room in hidden speakers.

"Did you retrieve what I asked for?" Oracle jumped lightly as Cam sighed softly, clearing his throat.

"We did... it's currently with the medical wing's head doctor. She's chosen Akifa for his guardian for now until he fully recovers, captain," he recited, glancing to Akifa who flushed under the dark tan skin, his gold runes flashing a faint red tinge as he tried to take a deep breath.

"I'm the first person he's spoken to, albeit telepathically in over 500 years, captain. He'll take a while to adjust and get used to this many people, Captain," he muttered, knowing the captain could hear him clearly somehow. There was a silence before the voice coolly responded.

"Once he is fully recovered and is able to talk using his vocals, he is to come under my control. I will teach him personally and help him become a member of the crew. Thank you for retrieving him, dismissed!" The speakers went dead as Oracle exhaled hard, nearly folding in half.

"Geez Louise, I thought she'd never stop... I'm worried she'll do something; you notice anytime someone comes in from a new alien species or race, she keeps them to herself and we almost never see them again?" she mentioned, glancing to Cam and Akifa who nodded, heading back to the elevator.

"I only got away because I'm a little shit to authority figures. Cam was just too scared shitless of her," Akifa laughed as Cam nudged him hard with his elbow, flushing bright under his red beard.

"OK, this is my floor, guys. Have a good night!" Oracle chirped happily, smiling brightly as she headed out into the hall, singing loudly at the top of her lungs to some random song only she knew. Cam punched the next floor lower down as Akifa sighed, leaning against the door.

"I have to head down to check on the Iscerian, but honestly, I just wanna crash, I'm exhausted," he admitted, rubbing his eyes as Camulus chuckled.

"Well, that was your last mission for two weeks. Get some rest, just remember to take the new pet lizard with you to make sure no one disturbs your room. I have a feeling you two will get along with being introverts," he chuckled, getting off at the next stop with a wave to Akifa. He yawned softly, punching the I button for the infirmary wing as the elevator doors slid shut one more time, sending him lower inside the ship. His eyes felt heavy, his body starting to catch up with the fatigue as his brain simply fried, making him drowsier, and nearly irritable before the doors finally slid open.

"Finally..." he growled, getting out as he headed down the hall, knocking on the door once again as it slid open. He gasped softly at the sight of a massive polished clean platter of what was a seafood special from their chow hall, supposed to feed up to 10 pilots, but the Icer sat happily, cleaning his teeth carefully in a mirror with its claws that were now trimmed and sawed down. Akifa went inside, finding a note pinned to the desk: Wren is fed, his teeth are extracted to allow new, sharp teeth to grow and replace. Claws have been sawed down to a manageable size, and his tail is covered with a cream to help the scales recover, do NOT remove the bandages. Please take him to your quarters for rest. –Doctor's orders Akifa chuckled, crumpling the note up before tossing it as he turned to Wren, kneeling in front of him.

"Ready for some sleep? I'm exhausted," he added, smiling brightly as the Icer turned to face him, sporting a bright, sharp smile with fresh set of serrated teeth.

(Yes please, I was falling asleep in the pool and she had to shake me awake when the food came. I didn't know there were so many different kinds!)

"Oh yeah, our cafeteria is a little special. It's not technically the real thing, but they have DNA from species that were used for food, and they use a printer of a kind to help bring it back for food. Totally safe, and tastes the absolute same. Should be easier to help you recover with the seafood they can recreate. There's nothing I can do about the multivitamins, they will help, but for now, let's head to my place," Akifa added, leading the way out the office as Wren followed on all fours. He led them to the elevator as he went inside one last time, pushing the floor number for his room when he felt Wren crawl in slowly, curling around him to make sure they could both fit.

(Sorry... I forget how tiny and cramped everything is in this ship.) Akifa chuckled softly, petting Wren's head as he hummed.

"Don't worry about it, you'll get used to it sadly, but maybe I can look into upgrading the room so you have more room to stretch. I can't imagine how big your wings have to be once they grow back in to support your height and weight," he mentioned, glancing down at Wren who sighed softly.

(I'll be happy when they grow back, I miss being able to fly and explore everything with the wind rushing along my spine, going through all my hair.)

"How long did your hair grow?"

(My culture believed in keeping our hair long until we mated, giving the braid then to our mate as a belt or... a gift to express our wanting to commit to a lifetime relationship. We mated in couples and shared our life essence to keep the partners prolonged, essentially forever.) Wren sighed softly, flicking his tail in thought, Akifa widening his eyes down at Wren.

"Shit... you're practically a god!" he stammered, whistling low as Wren chuckled low, shaking his head.

(Don't worry about it, I doubt I'll be mating to anyone anytime soon.) Wren hummed, perking his finlike ears as the doors slid open. Akifa led him out, showing him to his bedroom as he opened it slowly, letting Wren in first as the Icer slowly turned around the room. He chirped softly, crawling over as he checked the bunk bed, mewling as he tugged the mattress off, laying it on the floor.

"Why'd you do that?"

(It'll be comfier for me to curl up than on the bunk bed.) Wren pulled the mattress over the floor as Akifa tossed his mattress down on the ground, pushing it side by side. They carefully refitted the blankets and sheets before Akifa pulled out a ton of pillows from inside his hidden closet, Wren tilting his head.

(Why so many pillows? Did you grow up with these more than some minor furniture?) Wren asked, tilting his head as Akifa laughed happily.

"Sort of, we had furniture, wasn't all that comfy, so the pillows helped make it better. Hell, I'd just lounge in the pile of pillows and chill, kind of like some comfy harem room. I never cared, I'm not trying to impress anyone," he added, fluffing up the cushions and pillows as Wren helped moved them onto the redone bed.

"Think you can sleep on that while I light some incense? I need to do my evening prayers." Akifa lit some sconces around the room as Wren took a slow deep breath, purring low.

(It smells wonderful... go ahead. I'm more than ready to pass out.) The Icer yawned loudly, curling up on his bed before wrapping in the mess of blankets and pillows. Akifa chuckled, going into a smaller separate room with an altar covered with a pair of old dog tags, pictures of his mother and little sister, and a statue of Set, his planet's deity, and his personal deities made of Ma'at (have to balance between the good and evil every day he did this job), Anubis (might as well pray and be kind to the god that'll take his heart and weigh it), and Sekhmet (didn't hurt to have the goddess of war and magic on his side too). He stripped until he was in black form fitting briefs, kneeling on the golden fur rug before curling into a prostrate position with his arms out and his legs tucked in. His head slowly cleared as he started whispering rapidly in his natural tongue, reciting the prayers to his deities to thank for his health and for watching over him. He sat up slowly, taking a slow breath, and leaned his head back, inhaling the scent of wild spice, solar lotuses, and honey wax.

"So... newest problem up to date: we now have a creature called an Icer, something we had never seen before. My crew got the mission from the captain, obtained the alien, and he's become my... well, pet project. If there is any advice you have on caring for hundreds of years older alien that's been isolated for nearly half a century, please let me know. Just... help me keep a clear head, and definitely having the patience to care for this creature," he added, reciting a quick prayer to each of his deities before blowing the flames out, humming as he went into the room to find Wren curled up tight with his tail wrapped around him. Akifa chuckled, going over as he slid into the blankets on the other side, laying down carefully not to wake the alien who slept soundly, emitting a low, humming sound with his breathing.

(I like the incense smell... are they from your home-world?)

"Yeah... most of it homemade candles or incense I pick up at home in the local bazaar, made from honey and some spices in the fuse. The scent is solar lotuses, only blooming in the sunlight and filled with rare nectar you can drink to help cure about anything. The flowers are massive, we used to plant them on the roof to help provide better shade, and the elders knew ways to have the flowers give out energy for simple batteries and electronics so they were solar-powered. They're honestly my favorite scent," Akifa admitted, whispering softly as he reached over to gently scratch and pet at the Icer's finlike ears, lulling him into a louder, deeper purr. Kinda reminds me of a large cat. They even like the same kind of affection, he mused, chuckling softly.

(Mmm... I did notice you don't like strong smells, a lot of your laundry and colognes aren't very powerful. You like very faint, but all natural smells), Wren wondered, tilting his head as the wide, mismatched eyes watched Akifa's expression as he smiled.

"I... had a breathing disease for many years on my home-world. Strong smells make me sneeze and cough really bad, but hell, just breathing is difficult. My mom always said I had to take it easy on my nose and lungs, so I never got into smoking or inhaling drugs, simply because it would've killed me. It's just habit at this point." He sat up, leaning his head on one palm that was propped up by an arm as Wren laid on the pillow pile, blinking slowly.

(Tell me more about your world. I don't think I know it) Wren confessed, getting a faint trace of pink on his cheeks as Akifa smiled, petting the soft white hair.

"It's okay, Wren. We're not all that open to sharing to other worlds. My world is on the outer reaches of the Ra Solaris system, most of the more "civilized" worlds reside closer inside the system. Mine was considered "too chaotic for real civilians", he muttered, rolling his eyes at the memory of finding out his village was "barbaric, outdated, and consisted of nothing but thieves and rapists" to the other worlds.

(Your tattoos?)

"Well, they discovered long ago, that the first settlers in the Ra Solaris system didn't have a good way to tell if someone was sick or not. So, they say the leader of the group carved tattoos into everyone's body and poured the tears of the sun to bless them with prosperous health and youth, giving it the gold look. It acts as an indicator if I'm sick, or unwell, but it ultimately shows I'm still in good relations with my home-world's system. If I were to ever sever myself from the Ra Solaris ruling government, my tattoos would turn black, basically scarring me for the rest of my life to tell everyone I was an "exile" to the ruling government," he replied, showing the basic, symmetrical design on his arm and hand to Wren. The Icer tilted his head, carefully taking the hand as he glanced over it, narrowing his eyes at the gold tattoo. He leaned close, sniffing at the gold with a curious tilt of his head.

(Mmm... well I don't know about "tears of the sun", but it does remind me of a special ink humans used to use to color their pale, pink skin. It's a special metallic ink that was very hard to get, but it might be reacting specially with your bodies to make it shift and change to reflect your health.) Wren flicked his tail, yawning widely as Akifa arched his eyebrow at the serrated teeth gleaming in the dim light.

"Damn, that's just a bunch of sharp teeth... So you primarily eat seafood? Anything else? Any allergies I gotta be worried about?" he asked, watching the Icer trying to work it out, wrinkling his nose lightly.

(I don't think so... On my world, we hunted mainly abyssal level crustaceans, growing to huge lengths and thick muscles for all the meat. The shells gave us more vitamins and minerals, letting us prosper, but I don't think I'm really allergic to anything. The head doctor did mention I should try to extend my taste buds, try to acquire more easily reachable food this far out in space, then all the seafood I ate at the first meal.) Wren picked at his tail, still flushing lightly as Akifa giggled softly, gently patting his white hair.

"Don't worry about it, we'll find you some good food. My planet was wrong in actually eating meat, most of the system's worlds were vegetarian," he admitted, smirking as he laid back on his back. Stretching caused his back to click uncomfortably but enough for him to relax back and slowly drift to sleep as he vaguely heard Wren's last thought: (You should get a full massage; that sounds terribly uncomfortable).