FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Part two of the series. Managed to at least hit the minimum word count this time, at 5,600. Hopefully the story would still be enjoyable to follow even if the first one was not read.

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Stellar Wayfarer: Two

Captain Merrolth Vhyrad's star log: Coalition date 173.5.25. It's been more than two weeks since our encounter with the Linbadellian ship, and the Aurora is back underway again. Unfortunately, it won't be traveling for very long if I don't secure some more credits soon. I'm not sure if having to consult my crew for money making ideas is a good one or a bad one. Hopefully nobody thinks any less of me calling a meeting for it.

"Captain, are you even listening to what I'm saying?" The voice of Commander Cassa interrupts my thinking, causing me to momentary shake my head as I find myself back in the mess hall. "We need to find some kind of work this ship and crew can handle. I highly recommend we avoid any kind of combat oriented jobs for the time being."

Engineer Nimir raises his left cybernetic mouse arm agreeing with her. "I'll second that. This old girl ain't got much in her for fight'n right now."

"What do you propose we do then?" Catio the avian scientist replies, trying to balance silverware on hir beak. "I know the birds back at the academy would pay big for interesting scientific discoveries. We could go out and look for something new."

"Catio, the Aurora does not currently have the reserves to maintain an extended expedition." Cassa responds. "No, we need to find something local and something safe. Ensign Sevin, check the Coal-net for any nearby mining survey work, or smaller freight transport listings. Either of those should be a start for us if the Coalition doesn't have anything directly."

The young brown fox moans and slowly brings up his holo-computer to probe the network. "So how much do those jobs usually pay?" I ask, poking at the food on my plate uninterestedly while he searches. "I would like to do something more exciting than look at rocks all day."

"Hey! What's wrong with rocks?" The blue and green Avittan retorts, making the silverware lose its balance and fall to the table as sie reacts too sharply to my comment. "Catio will have you know that some of Catio's best work has been done on rocks and minerals. They always have new things to tell Catio whenever Catio sees them."

Nimir lets out a low laugh and the bird gives him a playful shove before crossing hir arms and upturning hir head. The commander sighs at the display before speaking. "I estimate that after a few easy jobs, there should be enough to try something more rewarding. Assuming the ship doesn't take more damage or anything."

"Okay, I think I may have found something we can do." Sevin says, still scrolling though the listings. "The only transport work involves us putting up a collateral insurance payment, which we can't afford. But I'm reading here that Astrogeology Corp is buying up scans of fringe systems less than a week from here."

"How much are they offering?" I ask, pushing the food to one side of my mouth to speak.

"Uhh... It's 4,000 per asteroid belt, 10,000 per moon, and 15,000 for any heavy ice fields we find." The fox replies. "Bonuses paid out if the region is exceptionally dense or rich in the good stuff."

"We don't have the equipment to do a full lunar probe on board." Cassa says, giving me a look of scorn. Probably for talking with food in my mouth. "Finding heavy water fields is all random luck too. I believe that the Fornecis system is a few days away. It's got at least two belts if I remember correctly."

I start running the numbers on my hands for a couple of seconds, then give my answer. "The 8,000 from that is only a quarter of what it cost to fix the Aurora up. And these scans can take days to finish."

"And what's the problem with that?" The engineer asks with a chuckle. "Got nothing else to do around here? Why don't you go and get a checkup from the doc. That rabbit's never too busy to help her patients."

I quickly shake my head at that offer. "I think I'll have to pass on that one. Doctor Ria's been our family doctor since I was a kit. Something about seeing her for that makes it a little weird."

Nimir laughs as he continues to tease me. "Don't like older Resalvans, Merr? You don't know what you're missing. They all get better with age and experience. How about you Sevin? You get to know Ria yet?"

The ensign looks up and over at the partially cybernetic mouse before saying anything. "No, not yet. I haven't had a reason to go into sick bay."

"You should schedule some regular visits in that case." He replies, still grinning wide. "She'd love to get to know you I bet. Unless you have something against rabbits too."

"No, I don't." Sevin answers, sounding as if he was trying to defend himself against some kind of accusation. "I'm sure she's a professional if she's been a doctor for that long."

The engineer continues to laugh as if he was the only one in on some secret joke. "Oh Ria's a real professional alright. At both her fields of work."

"I suppose I'll have to go see your doctor too then, if she's as good as you're saying." Cassa says, apparently also not in on this big secret. "Although I'm sure the medical staff back at headquarters is better still."

Nimir pounds his fist on the table lightly a few times as he laughs. "But I bet none of them give you the same level of bedside attention Ria does though!"

"In any event." I interrupt, wanting to get past this humor at everyone else's expense, "we should probably start heading for Fornecis to get these scans over with. We'll have plenty of time later for all this while sitting around looking at rocks."

Wiping a tear from his only still organic eye, Nimir gets up and gives me a soft thump on my back with his hand before thanking us all for the good time and heads out. The Avittan soon follows his lead, and leaves too. I'm left sitting with my face buried in my paw while the other two remaining table guests start to clean themselves up.

"I'll get in contact with Astrogeology once I get back to the bridge." Cassa says, making me lift my head back up. "Hopefully they still need data from Fornecis. Look on the bright side captain, at least this job isn't going put the ship and crew at risk."

Watching Sevin try to slink away and leave his mess on the table, I reply. "I suppose so. Once this work is done though, I want to do something a little more exciting. Maybe check out some uncharted systems or something."

"We should wait and see what the finances look like before embarking off to someplace new like that." She responds, grabbing the little fox's white mantle and momentarily gagging him. "Locating new strategic resources is just as important to the Coalition as filling in a star map. There's more to be done out here than chasing after glory and adventure."

Sevin coughs a few times, then turns to glare at the white and black mouse. She stares right back at him and points at the dishes on the table. "Maybe so, but we shouldn't just keep to our own backyard when there could be a newer greener patch of grass over the hill." I say, as the boy stacks plates and glasses to carry back to the kitchen.

Cassa sighs and closes her eyes as she talks. "I honestly don't know how you foxes ever managed to make it out to space being this reckless and irresponsible."

"And you Maedeallans would've never left your home system if we hadn't found you." I reply as the ensign walks everyone's plates back to chef's counter. "We make a great couple don't we? The commander rolls her eyes at my remark and leaves the mess hall too. Another couple of weeks just sitting around ahead of me now. There has got to be something to occupy my time out here. Maybe I'll check with quartermaster Gilnei later. He's usually got some interesting stuff.

The Fornecis system is a rather small one. One hot little terrestrial rock with no atmosphere, one with an Ammoniated atmosphere, two gas giants, and those two asteroid belts all orbiting a tiny (relatively speaking) red sun. We get the inner belt done in about four and a half days. Four and a half painfully slow days that I spend most of unconscious or pacing up and down the halls. The outer belt, being a little larger, will take longer. I can't even get away from these rocks in my sleep. They've been haunting my dreams for the last couple of nights now.

I don't even know what day it is when the commander wakes me up while in my chair. "Captain Merroth Vhyrad!" She shouts while standing right behind me, sending me for quite the trip up and over my console.

"I'm up! I'm up!" I respond, sprawled out on the floor in front of my command console. I think I may have caught my tail on the edge of the panel and lost a little fur too. "What's so important that you had to do this to me?"

Cassa crosses her arms and shifts her weight to one leg before answering. "Had you been paying more attention, I'd have informed you that our scans have found something rather unusual in the asteroid belt."

"Unusual? In what way?" I ask, climbing to my feet again and looking at my poor tail. "Is it something good or bad? Are we under attack or anything?"

Sevin lets out a long yawn, and answers for the mouse. "It's some kind of derelict transport ship. Looks like it's been out there for a while too. No distress signal, and a few sections of the ship are open to space."

"Any life signs?" I reply sitting back down to check the display. "Or any clues as to what happened?"

"Sensors don't report any activity onboard." The commander responds. "There is atmosphere on most decks, but it's likely a little stagnant. I don't believe that the vessel was attacked by any outside force. Whatever happened most likely originated from inside."

My eyes brighten at the prospect sitting right in front of us now. "Looks like we got ourselves a little mystery to solve. This is what I'm talking about." I say with a grin. "Maybe our little survey isn't going to be a total bore after all."

"Captain, I don't recommend doing what you're about to do." Cassa replies with a sigh. "We don't know what happened to that transport and it could be dangerous. That ship should be reported to the Coalition and left for them to handle."

"And pass up the opportunity I've been waiting weeks for? Not a chance." I retort. "Have Bhyrt and a couple of his men meet me in the shuttle. You have the bridge commander." I overhear a few seconds of her speaking to Sevin about my reckless behavior before the door closes behind me. It doesn't even phase me though. My mind is set on one thing. Getting away from these damned rocks.

Making a quick detour to my room and then the armory, I grab up my Gaussian sidearm and a standard nano-edge sword. I think the love of old projectile based weapons comes from my father, who never gave energy based ones a real chance. His mind was set in their usage and would rather find new and better ways of tweaking what he had than just throw it out and get something new. This handgun doesn't have a warp drive integrated, but at hand to hand ranges it's fast enough. I will admit however, the ammunition capacity is a little low compared to modern plasma weapons. They use quite a sizable micro-fusion capacitor to give them hundreds of shots, while my magazine has to combine a capacitor and solid state rounds leaving it at under the 50 mark.

Bhyrt our chief security officer, a rather well toned black and brown Resalvan and two other security crew, a mouse and another rabbit, are already waiting for me in the shuttle when I get in. I take the helm of the ship and run though the standard pre-launch checklist while Bhyrt talks. "So you really want to head over there, bro?" He asks. "The commander made it sound like this place was some kinda bad mojo. Personally though, I'm with you on this one. There hasn't been a whole lot going on in quite a while, and we've all been itching for some action."

"I hear that." The gray mouse adds with a grin. "Glad I my name pulled out of that hat, so to speak. Hope that rust bucket's got an interesting story to bring back."

"That's what we're going to find out." I reply, wiggling my fingers over the control console waiting for the inspection to be completed. I won't lie, this whole thing has me a little anxious. My tail hasn't stopped moving involuntarily for the last 15 minutes.

The semi-automated check finishes, and the shuttle is launched from the bay on its track. I lay in the course to the closest docking port near to the derelict's bridge, and we take off leaving the Aurora to probe the rest of the belt.

Since we have to navigate a somewhat dangerous stretch of space to get there, it takes nearly an hour to cover the distance avoiding asteroids. The shuttle locks onto the port, and confirms an airtight seal. I send an update to Cassa and Sevin before we open the hatch and climb down. The only light present onboard is from the ship's emergency backup system, and our equipment.

As soon as I bring my head down into the ship my nose is overwhelmed with a very pungent and rather foul odor of rot and decomposition. Looking around, I notice that I'm not alone in being gagged by this. "Damn, that's just a horrible smell." The mouse exclaims, trying to wipe his nose on the back of his paw. "This is like one of the humid jungles back on Maedalla, something 's been dead in here for weeks too."

"I do rather hope that this stench doesn't soak into my fur." The smaller brown and white rabbit responds. "Let us try and get out of here with some haste. Which way is the bridge?"

I shine my light down the hall to the left of the port we came in from. "That way, past two bulkheads." I answer, trying to get a look at whatever might have happened in this dimly lit corridor. "The sensors didn't show any life forms on board, but at the range the Aurora was you never know. Be ready for anything. It's going to be hard to detect anything in here with this odor overpowering you."

Getting out my gun, we start making our way down the hall. It's about 60 meters to the first bulkhead door, and then another 100 to the bridge. This vessel is a little on the small side for a transport freighter. The "ship" section is just a single deck on the top, with rooms on both sides of the main hall running the length of it from the bridge at the front to the engine core at the rear. Below us would be the cargo area. Each storage partition can separate itself from the ship and be replaced with another. Quite a good system of standardization the Coalition did with these fright containers, all the smaller sized ones are 100 cubic meters, and the larger ones are 1000 m3, I think. They get loaded and unloaded at stations, and ships can drop off a full one of say, raw ore, and pick up another already full of processed metal.

By small, I mean that this cargo ship only carries three containers. We started at roughly the middle of the ship. Along the way I kept hoping to find some kind of clue as to what happened here, but other than some damage to the hallway from weapons fire, nothing really stood out well enough to be noticed. Due to the lack of power, getting into most of these rooms would be a pain. Manually overriding the hydraulics takes some muscle to do.

"Wonderful." Bhyrt says as we get to the door to the bridge. "It's not only shut, but locked. We'd have to blast our way in." Kicking the metal door with a solid *thud*, the rabbit winces and aims his weapon at the center line where the left and right halves come together. We all take a couple steps back and he fires, temporarily filling the hallway with a bright green glow as the superheated plasma burns a small hole in the door. He takes a couple more shots to make a large enough hole for us to climb though.

The additional smell of burning metal doesn't help the pre-existing stench floating in the halls. Nor does having to wait around for the hole to cool down enough to not burn us if we touch the sides on the way in. A preliminary look inside shows something new we hadn't seen yet. People, or more likely, bodies.

Once we finally get in there, the brown rabbit is the first to speak. "It would appear that these individuals had died primarily as a result of malnutrition and dehydration. If I had to make a hypothesis, I would say that something happened onboard the freighter and these few remaining Firnulfians and Maedallans hid away here, only to succumb to attrition."

"What a terrible way to go." Bhyrt adds, as we start combing though the room and what's left of the crewmen. "Ugh! And it looks like they may have resorted to cannibalism at some point too. These two look butchered. "

That prospect nearly makes me lose my lunch. "Okay, let's just figure out what happened here quickly and get out. This place is making me sick. I would rather have not known those details."

"Me too." The mouse responds, keeping watch near the door. "Check if there are any logs or anything you can download off the ship. You know, seeing death around you isn't nearly as gruesome when it's more... normal. This scene is downright awful. Poor bastards."

Fortunately the captain's primary control console has its own backup power, just for situations like this. I connect in and begin searching for any logs or recordings that might explain what had went down here. The whole system is a mess. Both externally on the panel, and internally due to sloppy maintenance. We all spend the better part of 10 or 20 minutes poking around before anything comes up.

"Here, I think I may have found something." I say. "It's audio only, but the file names and dates suggest they were recorded after whatever it was that happened went on. Let me just bring them up... And there. They should start playing."

"First officer's supplementary log, date... Ah hell. What's it matter anymore. We're all fucked. It's all that damned new mouse's fault. If he had did his job properly none of this would've happened. Another two weeks and we'd have made the delivery and be all that much richer. I hope those things tore him up painfully. Reynard knows we'd have him strung from one end of the ship to the other for failing to check that this cargo was properly secured."

The audio pauses a moment, and after I smack the side of the console it starts back up. Why is it that the solution to fixing all this modern technology always so primitive? "Now the five of us who made it up here before those nara-simha's got out are going to die a slow death. Nobody else knows we're out here. With the main power down, we'll run out of emergency rations in a few days. None of us are going to risk going back out there again. Fucking things would shred us to pieces in a second."

The recording ends, and the reactions around the room vary, but all say the same thing. We should be getting out of here, fast. I download any other info that seems relevant to the situation that isn't heavily encoded, and we climb back though the door.

"So what the hell is a nara-simha?" The Maedallan asks once on the other side.

We all look around at each other, and clearly nobody knows. "I don't know, and I don't care to find out this way." I answer. "Let's just run back to the shuttle and get out of here. I think I've had enough adventure for today."

"Indeed. This scene is something out of an old low budget horror holo-vid." The rabbit responds. And just like one, the sound of a loud animal roars out from down the hallway. "Oh dear. It would appear to be beginning now."

"Oh great, you just had to say it." Bhyrt replies. "Quick, duck into the doorways and hide."

Several minutes pass as we all try to get a look at whatever made that noise. It's just too dimly lit to see the 70 meters down the rest of the hallway. Unfortunately it does sound as if there are at least three of those things down there somewhere.

With a grimace on my face, I bring up the big question. "What are we going to do now? Should we try getting around them below deck?"

"Well, I don't intend to try and fight them." The gray mouse answers, twitching his whiskers and ears. "You heard that recording. They'll tear us up, whatever they are."

"Then I guess we try our luck down below. There should be a cross over about 30 or 40 meters down. Here, help me with this conduit cover." I reply.

There may not have been anything dangerous in this tight ladder way, but that provided no sense of relief. The cargo containers may be great pieces of industrial and commercial transit, but the narrow access corridors are horribly tight. Crawling though damn near 70 meters horizontally, in the dark, makes for such a great time. And maybe Sevin has a point about the whole cape thing. I think I caught myself on it at least a half dozen times.

Finally hitting the end of this compact metallic hell after a grueling half hour, Bhyrt knocks out the grate and peeks his head into the hall. "Okay, I don't hear or see any of those things. All we have to do is get though these two bulkhead doors and then spend a little more time on our asses.

We all climb out of the shaft taking a defensive position while Bhyrt blasts another hole in the door. Seconds after the first blast however, a string of howls erupt from down the hall, a symphony to our combined terror.

"Hurry up and finish!" The mouse yells out with frenzied panic.

"Unless you feel like getting some third degree burns, we have to wait for the metal to cool!"

Not taking that for an answer, he lines himself up with the hole to try and just jump though. Three meters is all the running distance the short mouse morph gives himself and bolts. He leaps and stretches out at the last moment, diving though the hole in the door like an acrobat.

"Ow! I think I skinned my knee there!" The voice calls out from behind the door.

"Are you alright?" Bhyrt responds, trying to peer in for a look.

"Yeah, didn't burn myself, but we Maedallans don't have any fur on our legs like the rest of you to pad ourselves."

The noises from down the hall begin to get louder, and it leaves the rest of us little choice but to follow suit. I jump though next, followed by Bhyrt. The other Resalvan lines himself up, and begins sprinting towards us. He makes the jump but didn't quite tuck his tail down enough, and manages to scrape it along the top of the hole.

There is no time to worry about him however, when one of those things crashes into the door. The creature quickly pulls back after feeling the pain of the metal scorching it's shoulder and arm, but we manage to get a partial look at our assailants. They're some kind of large felines with heads and faces that look almost like... Terrans?

"Get the next door!" I call out, helping drag the rabbit further in. "Are you okay? It looks like you're bleeding."

"It would appear so." He answers, trying to hide the pain in his face. "I believe the injury is more of a laceration, and less of a burn. Tear off part of my shirt and tie it around my tail. It would not be preferable to have it bleed out here."

Pulling off one of his uniform sleeves off with a quick jerk, I wrap it tightly around his tail and knot it. Bhyrt blasts a hole in the second door while we watch and wait for those beasts behind us. I don't think they'll get though while the metal is still hot, but once it cools I believe it's large enough for them to squeeze though.

We don't have the luxury of time to all jump though the door again. Bhyrt and the mouse both blast away at the second one while the rabbit and I point our guns towards the first. The blinding green light from behind me illuminates the hallway in brief flashes, giving the us the opportunity to see them for what they are. Each short glimpse though the glowing hole is like a view into the mouth of hell.

Once our exit is finally large enough to be able to crouch down and get though, Bhyrt wastes no time ripping the grate from the wall. He and the mouse take the lead inside, and I follow up at the end. "I really hope those man-cats can't fit into here." I call out, pawing my way forward in near pitch blackness.

"Less talking, more crawling." Bhyrt answers. It isn't long however, until we begin to hear sounds on the other side of the wall separating us from them. "Damnit. Here they come. This wall better hold them off long enough for us to get up again."

The sounds out there, separated by 10 or 20 centimeters of ship, are a mix of clawing, pounding, and howling. All of them reminding us to keep moving. But worst of all, they keep following us as we move. Those things know where we are. How I wish I could stand just up and run.

"The ladder is just ahead!" The mouse yells back. I can see it with my flashlight. All that's left now is a short climb, then we're home free!"

"Indeed, providing there are no monsters between the ladder and our shuttle up there." The injured rabbit responds. "There are no more detours available to us after this. Combat may have to happen."

The mouse moans, and begins his assent. Just on the other side of the grate, I can hear those things trying to work their way in as I wait for everyone else to get up. A loud noise of twisting metal is the prelude to the sight of a large paw trying to swipe at whatever it can inside, sending me for a jump which knocks my head into the rabbit above me. He was nearly as shocked as I was, letting out a squeak of shock at the unexpected

"Sorry! Those things managed to get though the grate." I respond apologetically. "Just keep going, and don't fall into the blender down there."

"I'm climbing as fast as I can! I don't know why they can't build these rungs any wider. It's hard as hell to get a footing on them with paw feet."

Several minutes of bickering later, we reach the top. The mouse carefully checks outside the grate before opening it. Gun in one hand, light in the other, he climbs out and looks around. Bhyrt quickly joins him, and soon we're all out.

"The shuttle is this way! Quick!" Bhyrt exclaims. "Open the hatch!"

"Shit! I hear some coming down the hall!" The Maedallan replies, bringing his light and weapon out to face them.

The three of us begin to fire blindly towards our attackers while the rabbit opens the hatch door. Bright green plasma trails fill the hallway, as several cries of pain echo out though the ship. This however, only entices more of them out of hiding.

With the final obstacle open at last, we begin our ascent towards salvation. Bhyrt and I are the last two to climb, but as he begins to get pulled up by the first two already on board, more horrible animalistic howls cry out from both sides of us.

I start climbing up, firing down both hallways with whatever I have left in a panicked frenzy. The call couldn't be any closer when my left arm is grabbed and I am lifted up the rest of the way just as one of those beasts lunges for me. I lift up my legs as quickly as possible, and shoot the cat hybrid several times.

Bhyrt closes the hatch, and I run over to the controls. "Undock us! Hurry!" I shout at the machine, fingers dancing on the buttons. "No, skip the check! There isn't time for that now! No, I don't care that the freighter's hatch door is open! Just go!"

The shuttle takes off from the docking port, getting blown away slightly by the escaping atmosphere from the open hatch of the ship. Outside several dead, or will be dead shortly beasts are sucked into the vacuum of space. A grizzly reminder of one of the big dangers of space travel.

"Let me see your tail." Bhyrt says, reaching for the bloody cloth tied around the rabbit's short tail. "This doesn't look so bad, but you'll want to go see Ria as soon as we get back. Make sure it doesn't get infected or anything."

"Ah, yes, doctor Ria. She might be a little surprised to see me again so soon. I was just in there last week. But I'm sure she will make it all better." He responds lightheartedly, making me shutter at the thought.

"First things first for me though, I've got to get this stench off my fur. It smells like a meat plant or something." The mouse adds, sniffing his arm.

I look over at everyone else, then back to the controls. "We should probably contact the Aurora, to make sure they're still nearby. And update our status."

Once docked back home, Sevin and Gilnei greet us in the cargo bay. Bhyrt and his men head off, leaving me with the boy and quartermaster. "So, did you guys find anyth... Oh that is a terrible smell!" Sevin exclaims, covering his nose as I approach. "I thought you were supposed to be investigating that ship, not rolling around in it!"

"Be glad that the odor was all we brought back. You wouldn't want the cause coming back here." I reply, watching him reel back as I reach out wards his shoulder. "I'll clean up after giving the report to Cassa. She may want to let the Coalition know this thing is out here."

Sevin avoids taking the same elevator ride with me, and I make it up to the bridge alone. "Welcome back captain, were you able to..." The commander begins to speak, but stops short, probably because of the smell. "Ugh, able to figure out what happened over there?"

"Yeah, we did. I downloaded some files too. Go ahead and take a look though them." I respond, tossing my communicator on her station. "Not a pretty sight over there. I won't say that you were right, but there was some danger involved. I'll be a little more careful in the future."

She rolls her eyes at my comment, and begins to load up the logs I grabbed. "I'll give you a status update on these later, after you've had a chance to clean yourself up. I'm sure ensign Sevin let you know all about your current... unpleasantness."

Smiling, I affirm her attempt to let me know what I already do. "The Coalition is going to need to send a ship out here to do something about that thing. It's out of our hands at this point. But quite the little pick me up from staring at rocks all week."

"I'm sure it was. Now please captain, go take a shower. I'm sorry, but that stench is just horrible. It's making me nauseous."

"Alright, I get the message. I'm going." Outside the bridge, I notice Sevin waiting for me to go into my own room before returning. I really hope this doesn't stain into my clothes. This breastplate was a gift from my grandparents. I'd hate to have to see it damaged trying to clean the smell of death out of it. Hopefully our next job won't be quite so... stinky.

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Same thing here as before. Let me know what you think. I'm very interested in hearing your opinions on what was good and what could use some improvement.