Chapter Six

"I'm the Captain of this fine vessel, feel free to call me Dru." The Captain stepped away from the doorway, towards the bed, towards him. "First things first, I'd like all of the information you have about Professor Zeth'an." As the being passed him, the door closed. "And your name too spiky."

As the machine leant against the desk at the foot of the bed, he contemplated lying to the machine; his instincts convinced him not to. "My name is Yotov, I'm the Ko'dyns' head enforcer in this district." He wondered if the giant had even heard of the Ko'dyn, if that were the case it would help his chances at survival significantly. "The Professor made a contract with the superintendent to translate at a meeting for this warp-lanes' commanders, if he tries to leave before it's finished he dies." He felt the muscles beneath his plates tense, he'd never been this nervous before; not even at his last promotion ceremony.

The machines' metallic features twisted into what could only be a face of deep thought. He wondered if the creature was from a system bordering the Dark Zone; and if the being itself was artificial or biological.

"Well Yotov, I simply need Zeth'an to teach a translation device the languages used in this part of the galaxy." His plates began shaking, what was this thing on about? What did it mean by 'this part of the galaxy'? The more he thought about the implications, the less he wanted to be stuck in a room with the thing beside him. He decided to stop thinking about the beings' cryptic reply, before his stress stirred The Darkness.

"You're not taking him off station?" He blurted out towards Dru. If Professor Zeth'an wasn't leaving the station, a deal could be made; all he had to do was convince his superiors to negotiate, although he doubted that those stubborn herbivores would think about anything logically.

"I was planning to circle a nearby nebula whilst he works on it, but staying here isn't a problem. I think I'll be able to come to some sort of arrangement with your superiors." The killing machine was willing to negotiate! His plates slumped in relief, at least the Captain was reasonable.

"I'll try convincing the superintendent to bargain, if the leaf muncher will listen." He stated with all the courage he could muster. He was still twitchy, but at least his plates had stopped shaking. "Once I've been released, and have seen the Professor that is, Captain."

A Strange Offer: Part Eight

The Captains' face twisted into another warped grin, startling Yotov. Every time he saw the two gleaming rows of metallic teeth he wanted to run, as fast as he could, away from the peculiar predator. He couldn't conceive why anything would need teeth that large, even with no obvious claws or horns to speak of.

The Captain turned his head towards the door, bouncing off the desk. He gestured to Yotov, a simple flick of the beings' digits: he assumed the Captain wanted him to follow. He dragged his legs over the beds' edge, sliding off as he did. He spread his legs just before he hit the ground, he nearly lost his balance; he hated the after effects of stun rounds. By the time he was able to walk the Captain had stepped through the door, and turned to look at him again.

"Come on spiky, I want to get this over and done with today." The Captain almost sounded amused. Yotov reached the door as the Captain stepped out into a corridor, he was surprised at how fast such a large creature could move.

It was only as he walked towards the corridor that he realised we was wearing a strange white garb, instead of his uniform. "Captain, where is the uniform I was wearing?" If he didn't have that uniform, he had no proof of his rank within the Ko'dyn.

"It's nearby, hurry up and I'll show you." With that they both set off, through the spacious corridors.

After a brief walk, The Captain gestured towards a simple, solitary door. He then leant against the wall opposite, without any further prompts Yotov stepped through the door. What he saw shocked him, on the walls the largest collection of weapons he'd ever seen. Both the guard and Ko'dyn armouries paled in comparison to the vast arsenal before him.

On a table in the centre was his uniform, neatly folded and obviously cleaner than it'd been earlier. He approached it, trying to distract himself from a wide array of bladed instruments displayed on one wall, once he reached the table there was a clang to his left. He turned to look at the source of the noise and saw another bipedal figure, sprinting towards him waving its' arms around and yelling franticly. As he was staring wide eyed at the creature, he noticed a glowing lump of metal behind it spewing a torrent of fire in his direction!

The creature was wearing a black and red uniform and, unlike The Captain, wasn't made of metal. Instead it seemed to have a soft, whitish membrane and a patch of short dark fur on its' head. It was advancing towards him at an astonishing pace, faster than any sapient being he'd seen in his life. It seemed to be reaching out to him, and he was terrified; it may not have been an armoured killing machine, but it was still a giant, yelling in a foreign language and bearing down on him like a natural disaster.