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Truth or Dare

Chapter 15: Dark Thoughts Embraced

"Well shit," Deamos stated with a dumbstruck look on his face as the barrel of the heavy laser began to warm up inches from his face, "if anyone has any ideas now would be the time."

"Ahsk ef et keen clahrefy," Commander Ross replied. She had remained still since the heavy laser had come out. Shock was still on her face, an expression that Deamos rarely saw but since arriving in the Old Kingdom he was seeing it more.

"Clarify response request," Deamos tried.

<RESPONSE NOT RECOGNIZED . . . LETHAL FORCE AUTHORIZED IN TEN SECONDS . . . 10> Several more large wall mounted laser cannons deployed from the wall painting both Commander Ross and Commander Delinach with targeting lasers.

"Fuck me," Deamos stated, his right eye twitching.

<9>

"Anyone?"

<8>

<Think half blood, don't just stand there> Commander Delinach snarled.

<7>

"And do what? Sing it a fucking song?!"

<6>

"Tink oft somting," stated Commander Ross in a nervous tone.

<5>

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"

<4>

<Not helping> Commander Delinach growled angrily

<3>

"Tink oft somting dahmet!"

<2>

"Nich de fiem . . ." Deamos growled under his breath while giving Commander Ross an evil look."

<VOICE PRINT RECOGNIZED . . . SECURITY RESPONSE TERMINATED . . . WELCOME DEMTHOIOUSEN FALCHION>

"Da fuck?" All three said in unison.

_ _ _

Katlin sat huddled in the corner of her holding cell with her knees to her chest and her chin resting on top. The holding cell was Spartan in appearance, the bed was a metal slab bolted to the wall, there was a toilet and sink both made of the same flat dull metal, two florescent lights where recessed into the ceiling; one worked while the other flickered nonstop. When she had been brought to the cell she had been told to remain quiet and food and clothes would be brought to her. Food had been brought to her, surprisingly actual food and not some slop reserved for prisoners. Clothes had come later; a dirty shirt that was too big for her and a pair of pants that had several large tares in them and what she suspected was a blood stain down the left side. Katlin was thankful for the clothes being that the dress she had been wearing was to thin for her liking and had caused more than one pirate to say something crude as she had been led to the holding cells.

There was the sound of a lock disengaging and the slot at the bottom of the door slid open. A tray of food was pushed in along with a ratty, dog eared book. As soon as the book cleared the slot it closed with a final sounding click. Getting up slowly, Katlin stretched out her back and legs before walking the short distance to the food tray and book. What was on the tray smelled very bland, being that it had a scoop of what looked like potatoes, a scoop of what appeared to be mixed vegetables and a piece of what she hoped was meat. There were no utensils with her meals just two bread rolls, apparently they did not want her to have the opportunity to fashion some weapon. The tray itself was made up of some sturdy cardboard which meant she could do nothing with it as well. To top it all off a small paper cup holding water sat in the one unoccupied space on the tray. Letting out a sigh Katlin walked over to her bed and sat down and just stared at the unappetizing meal before her. She did not feel like eating considering the situation she was in but her stomach disagreed with her when it gurgled loudly. Taking a bread roll she sat the tray to one side and began to nibble on the roll.

'How long have I been down here?' Katlin thought to herself, nibbling on the roll and discovering that the thing was as bland as her food looked. 'They have to be looking for me right? I know Deamos should be, I mean he got shot and all . . . but what if he didn't make it . . . I saw what that one round did to the guard wearing armor. But he is a tough son of a bitch . . . he survived something that left him fairly messed up part of his arm, leg and tail gone. Wings gone. And all those scars,' Katlin's mind wandered back to when they had come out of cryo and Deamos had greeted them completely in the nude, Katlin felt her face flush at the memory. 'No bad Katlin! We do not find him attractive even if he is built like a Class 6 Matdock Tank. But if they were coming after me they would have done so by now right?' Nibbling on the bread roll some more Katlin looked over at the book that had been pushed in to her cell.

Curiosity getting the better of her Katlin stood back up and walked over to the book. She saw that it had been placed so that the cover was on the deck. Squatting down Katlin noticed that the book was in fact a book book and she could now smell the paper which was a huge rarity. Looking at it closely she tried to make sense words on the back and could not recognize any of the characters used. Reaching down she picked the book up off the deck and held it so she could see the spine and again she saw more of the strange characters written on the side. Turning the book again she got to see the worn cover, what she presumed to be the title was written in more of the strange characters. Below the title was a simple line drawing of what looked like a river and a raft with a two individuals moving it. With a raised eyebrow Katlin opened the cover to the first page; she was shocked when she saw that half page was written in Galactic Standard, a more formal version of Common, and the other half used the strange characters.

On the front page it read:

>>>>>>WARNING CLASSIFIED INFORMATION<<<<<<

Translated by the Ministry of Intelligence from English to the common dialect used by the alien races encountered past the Armstrong Nebula. Authorized for release by the United Earth Military Command under Article 359 Section A, Paragraph 4, of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Required reading for all Linguistics Officers.

Last updated on July 2815.

Material is still copyright protected and not to be disseminated without authorization.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer By Mark Twain.

Katlin looked up from the first page and scrunched her brow up in thought. She understood every word that was written but had no idea what it meant. What was English? What was the Ministry of Intelligence? What the heck was the Armstrong Nebula? Who was Mark Twain?

"What the heck am I supposed to do with this?" Katlin whispered to herself. Scanning down the page to the other characters she saw that they were arranged in a similar manner as the top half. It clicked almost as fast as how dumb she felt. The bottom characters had to be the same message as the top half and in the 'English' that was referenced. 'This is something the Humans use for training to understand Galactic Standard,' Katlin realized. Her analytical mind quickly understood how incredibly simple and effective it was to get one to be able to understand any intercepted communications. Have your forces learn the written Common by reading literature that she assumed was well known. The brain would be able to quickly associate Common and English thus allowing to learn without the dull repetition of a class room environment.

Standing Katlin walked back over to her bed and sat down. She was still staring at the first page her eyes going from the Common translation to the English variation. She was trying to figure out how the English characters correlated with the Common characters. With curiosity getting the better of her she turned the next page and saw that the page was set up so the left half of the page was written in Common and the right side was written in English. A solid black line ran down the middle of the page to help with separation of the two halves. Nibbling on the roll some more Katlin began to read.

---

Deamos stepped through the security door with caution. The room was dark, cooler than the adjacent room and had a stale smell to it. Taking several more steps into the room he could not see anything past the light cast into the room. Commander Ross followed shortly after Deamos with a flashlight in hand; she moved the light slowly around the room and saw shelves, crates storage lockers, weapons lockers and something covered by what looked to be a tarp. Everything in the room had a layer of filth on it and looked like no one had been in the room for a very long time. Loud grunting from behind made both Deamos and Commander Ross look back to the door. Commander Delinach had shrunk back to a normal size and was still having trouble getting through the door. Looking forward again Deamos continued forward slowly.

"Sonar?" Deamos stated quietly under his breath, there was a bright flash of light and pain and Deamos let out a pained goan as his hands went to his eyes.

"What es et?" Commander Ross asked, as she stepped up next to Deamos, sweeping the room with her flashlight.

"Damned implant," Deamos snapped angrily, "fucking thing sent an electric shock through . . . well fuck me running," Deamos had lowered his hands and was now seeing the room differently. In his left field of vision he could make out objects some distance before it faded to black. Deamos could see the pulse going out from him and it seemed to happen every few seconds and was very distracting. But with every pulse objects became more distinct and easily identifiable. His right field of vision remained the same, not being able to see through the darkness. After a few more moments his vision changed again and took on the more traditional 'night vision' of greens and black but items that were behind things where outlined in red, blue and yellow.

"Somting nhot riheet," Commander Ross stated stopping next to Deamos, "feehls wrhong."

"I'm not seeing anything," said Deamos looking slowly around the room, "ok . . .I think I am picking up something running along the floor, might be power lines. Can't make heads or tails of this things identifier system. Red I think is pretty clear but blue and yellow I can't figure out and I am seeing lines of yellow run along the floor and up some of the walls."

"Trahce et," ordered Commander Ross, "ef et es powah leens, den weh migheet geht sohme lighets ohn en here."

<Make sure you don't arm some security system in the process> Commander Delinach warned harshly.

"If I see anything marked countermeasure I will make sure I don't touch it," Deamos retorted venomously.

Tracking the yellow lines Deamos followed them until they ran into a wall and up it continuing on until disappearing into a high ceiling that had to be at least forty feet up. "Dead end on this side," Deamos reported, "I think this is some sort of warehouse."

<What makes you jump to that conclusion?> Commander Delinach asked in a dry tone.

"High ceiling . . . very high ceiling," Demos replied as he traced the yellow lines in the opposite direction. Following the lines Deamos encountered an unmarked junction box on the opposite wall. Deamos saw that the box had a standard lock hanging off of its side. Reaching up Deamos grabbed the lock and gave a sharp tug causing the heavier gauge metal to rip through the eyelets of the lock. Once it was out of the way the front of the junction box swung open revealing several rows of switches. "Found something," Deamos announced.

<If it is not some blasted light source I don't care> Commander Delinach growled angrily.

"Well this is either a breaker box or switches to some security systems and we are all about to die horribly." Not waiting for any response Deamos began flipping the switches. With each switch there was a definitive 'chunk' sound and it rolled over. When Deamos reached the last one he stepped back from the junction box and turned around looking about the still dark room.

<Well that accomplished nothing half blood>

"There could be more," stated Deamos looking about the room, scratching the bridge of his nose in an idle manner.

"Dehr!" Commander Ross nearly shouted, pointing to the ceiling.

Looking to where the female tiger was pointing Deamos and Commander Delinach could just make out a faint glow emanating from the ceiling that had not been there previously. A few seconds later two more spots lit up flanking the first. More glowing spots began appearing on the ceiling and began forming a simple grid pattern. It became apparent that the glow was coming from ceiling mounted drop down lighting as more came on and their brightness began driving back the darkness of the room. As the room lit up to where one could see, the three occupants found themselves at a loss for words at what they saw.

In front of them were the long table structures that Deamos had seen. Past that, l the light brought into view crates that looked distinctly military in origin and there were many rows of these crates. There was no organization to the way the crates had been stacked beyond being in straight rows. Further back more could be seen but it was indistinct and blocked by larger crates. How far back the room went was anyone's guess, but if the over head lighting was any indication it went back at least a quarter of a mile.

"Eh . . . eye tink sohme bohdy es been . . .," Commander Ross began walking forward and to the first row of crates and placing a hand on it, "noht ass honest ahs dey shood beh."

<Don't look at me Shoufahng> Commander Delinach stated angrily, he too was now walking amongst the crates a large frown on his face <I do not recognize the markings on any of these>

"Definitely military," Deamos stated, running his hand over a lock on one of the crates, "but whose?"

"Shou fea bout neich," Commander Ross hissed angrily, drawing both Deamos and Commander Delinach's attention.

"That's new," stated Deamos with a raised eye ridge.

"Eye rehconeez dis mahrk," Commander Ross hissed, her tail was thrashing behind her as she pointed with disdain at a crate.

Walking over Deamos looked over Commander Ross to see what was that she was pointing at. On the crate that Had Commander Ross so agitated was a rough image depicting the side portrait of a dragons head with swept back horns. It was done in a deep red color nearly the same consistency of dried blood.

"I don't recognize that mark," Deamos stated in a curious tone, "mind telling me what's up?"

"Setgah Fei Singetes," Commander Ross sneered, stepping back from the crate, "Deh kilt meh fahmily."

<The Old Kingdom has never attacked the Spacer fleet> Commander Delinach bristled in an ugly tone <I do not take kindly to you saying such things>

"Dis es nich de Old Kingdom," Commander Ross spat spinning on Commander Delinach, her ears were splayed back and she was bearing her fangs, "Chu wahnt plahy semanteeks? Deh kilt meh fahily ahnd buurnd meh pahnet chu de grohund!"

"You speak half truths and in shades of grey Shoufahng," Commander Delinach stated in a dangerous tone, his eye's narrowing, "I suggest you hold your tongue."

"Take a fucking breath you two," Deamos ordered stepping between Commander Delinach and Commander Ross despite the two looking like they were going to fight, "Commander Ross you said something earlier in a language I have never heard. Mind filling us in on why you have your tail in a knot?"

<She speaks in her native tongue half blood> Commander Delinach answered without looking at him as he brushed Deamos aside <If Shoufahng wishes to dishonor the Old Kingdom more, I would be happy to show her the error of her wisdom>

"She-narech feh mec Cheldta!" Commander Ross snarled, brandishing her claws.

"I think I understood that one," Deamos quipped.

<I will not apologize for something The Old Kingdom was not part of> Commander Delinach stated in a icy tone, while unfurling his wings slightly <if you wish to attack me Shoufahng then do so or empty threats are harmless threats>

As much as Deamos wanted to he knew that to get between his Commander and what she wanted was always a bad thing. Taking several steps back Deamos put some distance between the two, he was not sure if the two would really go at it or if this was just a pissing contest between the two Alpha type personalities. The moment the two lunged Deamos felt the pulse, subtle though it was he felt it pass over his skin like a light breeze. Staring at the two he saw that they were frozen where they stood.

"I will not tolerate this!" the elder dragons voice rang out from the entrance if the room, "none has stepped foot in here since the founding of the Old Kingdom! You children wish to fight in a tomb! Over what? Tell me? What will fighting over the dead solve? Nothing!" The elder dragon had now walked into the room and was being followed closely by two of her guards in their gold armor, "You wish to fight we have more than enough enemies to quench your thirst for blood. I do not need supposed allies fighting amongst themselves over something that had happened over a millennia ago."

"Why are they ready to kill each other?" Deamos asked warily, eyeing the elder dragon and the two that were now frozen in place.

The elder dragon visibly slumped and looked very strained, she looked at Deamos with sad eyes, "you do not know your history because of how you were raised, for that I am sorry," the elder dragon took a deep breath, "history recalls the great wars that ravaged the known galaxy. Our race at one point held dominion over most of the galaxy. We controlled through strength and fear over the lesser races. We had no single ruling figure head but we were made up of seven different clans all with a head chief. Because of this, sectors of the galaxy either prospered or fell into ruin under the rule of their chief. 3000 years before the last Great War there was only three clans that remained: Felchon, Getst and Sytock. Felchon being the largest and strongest of the three absorbed Getst mainly due to that if Getst had refused they would have been destroyed. Clan Felchon had technical marvels that are and still are advanced even by current standards. Sytock broke away and formed what is now the Imperium and they too had technology that was advanced, their history is well known and I will not go in to it. After this break the Felchon chief pulled back behind the great barrier and formed what we call the Old Kingdom. It is not clear why they did pull back, it is not recorded and that period has been lost to time. Not all though followed the pull back, there are written reports of a splinter group within Clan Falchon."

"History lessons are nice an all," Deamos interrupted, "but could you speed it up?"

An agitated look passed over the elder dragons face, "does your heritage bore you Deamos? Do you not care about what you came from?"

"I came from a bitch of a mother and a bastard of a father," Deamos replied crossing his arms, "I have about as much emotional interest invested in the Old Kingdom as I do the crap on the bottom of my boot."

"You have heard of The Legion?" The elder dragon asked.

"Deep space marauders, ghost, bogeymen of the stars," Deamos answered dryly, "ask any free colony and they have about a dozen different stories of how some relatives friends, aunts, uncle was attacked by The Legion because he forgot to lock the door."

"The Legion was a real unit of the Falchon clan," the elder dragon continued, "they splintered from the clan and went on a campaign of terror that has not been seen in three millennia. From all accounts gathered from survivors they struck without discrimination and razed and attempted to kill everything they came across. Shoufahng's home planet was one of the last to fall to The Legion before they were finally captured and put down. So both she and Commander Delinach are right, just opposite sides of the coin."

"That why these two have such a nice relationship?" Deamos asked in a flat tone, "or the fact that the Old Kingdom refused to help those affected by their rabid attack animal afterwards."

"I will not apologize for the actions of a group that had affiliations with the previous ruling body," the elder dragon stated firmly.

"And that is why she is pissed," replied Deamos, "but other than that what is all this?" Deamos asked waving his hand.

"What is left of The Legion," the elder dragon replied, "weapons, armor, vehicles . . . your legacy."

"My what?" Demos asked in confusion, "I didn't quite hear that last part."

"Your father, your real father, left this all to you," The elder dragon replied with a wave of hand indicating the room, "or to himself I should say."

"Come again?"

* * *

The clang of the lock disengaging on the cell door made Katlin jump with a start, bringing her up from the book she was studying. When the door opened, Gunmar was standing there with another large wolf standing near him holding a riffle.

"Boss wants to see you," Gunmar grumbled, the bear's deep voice reverberating in the small room, "bring the book too."

"Why?" Katlin asked in an icy tone, "I don't w-w-want to see him."

"It wasn't a request," Gunmar replied in a hard tone, "the boss said you could come willingly or I could strip you down naked and make you walk in front of me with or without the catch pole."

Swallowing down a retort, Katlin did not relish the idea of speaking with the Human any more then she relished the idea of being paraded down the ship naked. "Fine, I will walk," Katlin stated, standing up from her bed before walking towards the cell's door, "lead the way."

"No, you're going to be in front of me," Gunmar instructed, motioning for Katlin to step out, "don't want you to try slipping off behind my back." He placed a large paw the back of Katlin's neck giving it a firm squeeze and sending an unspoken warning to her.

The walk to where the Captain was seemed to not take a long period of time but Katlin got the distinct impression that Gunmar was taking the long route to either confuse her or disorient her to where she was exactly in the large ship. They had gone up and down several ladder wells and down several different passages with some leading to large open bays or through cramped sleeping quarters. When they finally stopped she was surprised at where they were. She had expected that the destination had been either his personal cabin or even the bridge, but instead they stopped at the end of a long corridor with ominous red lettering in what she now recognized as English. She was able to decipher two words out of four that was stenciled in red next to the door and all it said was 'DANGER HIGH' what the rest meant she could not figure out. There was also a funny black and yellow symbol under it that looked like three black triangles spaced equally inside a yellow circle and all pointed inboard. Before Katlin could ask the hatch opened with a discernible hiss and standing there was the Captain holding a lit cigar between his teeth.

"Gunmar good," the Captain stated with a smile, "I'll take it from here, just post yourself out here for now. If she comes out before I do break her arms and legs and give her to the crew."

"Will do boss," Gunmar replied, releasing his grip on Katlin's neck.

"Redtail follow me if you would," the Captain instructed walking away from the hatch motioning Katlin to follow.

With trepidation Katlin stepped through the hatch. As soon as she was clear Gunmar closed the heavy door behind her.

"Now you are probably wondering why you are here," the Captain began saying as he walked, "aside from me capturing you of course."

"Of c-c-course," Katlin managed to say in a snide tone.

"You're here because one fucking crazy lizard wants to get his nuts off in some fox bitch," the Captain stated crudely, "that's what I understand, considering he wants you all untouched," the Captain said the last part accompanied by both of his hands in the air making quotes. "I think there is more to it than that. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed but I know when I have something valuable, and you reek payoff. The leader of the Imperium-"

"Leader?" Katlin interrupted suddenly and with alarm.

The Captain looked over his should back at Katlin but did not stop walking, "you didn't know? Lord Crazy now controls the Imperium, had himself a little bloodless Coup D'état. He's wearing the big boy pants now. He's also paying a fuck ton to find you and a fuck tone more to bring you in. But after my last chat with him I think I might be better to reconsider my options."

"W-w-w-what do you m-m-mean?" Katlin asker nervously.

"I know some folks back at the UEMC," the Captain began, stopping abruptly and spinning on Katlin and bringing his face inches from hers. "I think they would be willing to pardon my past actions if I brought them a talking fox that was military analyst and could translate the lizard's communications to English. Would make the folks back on Earth mighty happy."

"But they already have common," Katlin stated backing up a step, "why would they b-b-b-be interested in me?"

"Don't be daft, I know you are an animal but please," the Captain stated in an annoyed tone, "your 'common' is just a base dialect that everyone seems to have a grasp of out here, took me five years to figure it out, ten to speak it clearly enough to insult someone effectively. I know there are other languages and I know you know more than three of them, I received a complete dossier on your ass, so don't try to play stupid again."

"Why haven't you done so yet?" Katlin asked in a venomous tone, "I know you have had plenty of time to make a jump."

"That's a different dilemma," replied the Captain, "our good lizard friends-"

"They are called Drahkin," Katlin interjected, "stop calling such a derogatory term."

"Dragon?" the Captain asked with a raised eyebrow, "well that makes more fucking sense then what the UEMC labeled them as. But then again I don't think they ever saw what your big friend did back there. But who give a fuck, our Dragon friends have some subspace distortion thingy and it's fucking with my jump drive."

"A pity," said Katlin in an icy tone, "probably board us in the next few days. You ever read about how a Drahkin ship raid pans out?"

"Nope and don't care," the Captain replied with a smile, "I told them if I thought someone so much as on my ship you were going out a space lock. I have about as much emotional and personal investment in you as I did the shit I took this morning, let us be clear on that. You may be valuable, but I have no problem destroying something if it means keeping the other guys from having it."

"So w-w-w-hy are we t-talking?" Katlin asked in a sour tone.

"Well crazy said he would mind fuck me until I bleed out my ears if I didn't deliver."

"Sounds about right."

"But I am willing to take a gamble on something. I don't think he can do what he is promising if I go back through the Aldrian Rift. Something with the radiation, reason why Humans can't read minds except for a narrow few and they suck at it compared to everyone this side."

"So why haven't you done so?"

"Were you not listening just ten seconds ago, I swear you are all the same. The big scary _Dragons_have a big fucking scary ship with big fucking guns, which has some sciencey do-dad preventing my jump drive from working. We all caught up now?"

"How you managed to survive as long as you have is an enigma to me," Katlin stated in an amazed tone, dripping with sarcasm.

"Ever hear of a blink drive?" the Captain asked in a suddenly serious tone, "or maybe wormhole generator, sub space anomaly generator?"

"I have read of theories," Katlin replied, "but none has ever been successfully operated."

"Well normally I would agree with you," said the Captain as he began walking again, "but your kind has no idea what my kind can do. We have better shield technology then the Imperium, we have better targeting computer than the Imperium. The Imperium has numbers and better engines for their fighters and ships. Plus they have been in space longer than Humans so they understand space battles slightly better. We use solid ammunition while the Imperium and just about everyone on this side use some form of energy weapon so I can't really say who has the better guns. SO to figure a way to get past the large fleet, guns and fighters, our scientist developed a blink drive which was stolen by yours truly, not before I destroyed the data."

"Interesting story," Katlin said with sarcasm.

"Thank you, it gets better every time I tell it," the Captain replied, "as I am sure you are aware, standard FTL travel you need to make sure nothing is between you and your destination or have a way of pushing small objects out of the way before you get there. Most use some form of bubble to create a safe spot while traveling FTL. Very dangerous, the bubble could collapse and resulting in a ship basically going supper nova, and was used until the advent of jump drives or star drives, pending which side of the rift you're on. Safer but the idea of going in to sub space via artificial wormholes did not sit well with Humans, your kind seems have figured out how to create more stable transit lanes while in sub space. The problem that still occurs with Jump Drives is that large gravitational bodies can pull your exit point ten thousand kilometers from the originally plotted point if your computer is crap or not updated regularly. This means if you make a blind jump, you might end up inside a star or worse next to one. Now trying to find safer lanes for travel means the area needs to be scouted, plotted and requires either FTL travel or pondering along on impossibly long journeys with standard drives and not seeing home again, which is why the Imperium and the UEMC have yet to jump into each other territories, they don't know what is there to fuck up their jumps. Both sides have been successful at not letting the other side get through or get back if they did get through, so they are stuck glaring at each other and pointing their guns at each other. "

"For someone that acts like an idiot," Katlin began, causing the Captain to look back at her, "you seem like an educated person. So why this lifestyle?"

"Fair enough question," the Captain replied, "I fucking hate desk jobs and I hated the UEMC leaders, so I gave the big middle finger to all of them and stole this ship. Plus the fact some ass of an admiral kept taking credit for what I was doing and I got sick of it."

"You chose to be an outlaw out of spite?"

"No I chose because I hate rules and I want to live my way. I hated some ass not on the ground telling me how I needed to act and where to be. I hated society saying it was wrong to kick a guy in the balls during a fight. I chose this life because I want an exciting but short life and so far it's working grand."

"You're a complicated individual," Katlin stated in a neutral tone, "you don't like rules yet you are in charge of a ship and crew."

"Ah yes the hypocrisy of piracy. No rules except do what you're told and I am in charge. Of course the flip side is I could get a knife in my back at any time and no one would bat an eye."

"I can only hope."

The Captain let out a bark of a laugh, "yes I could be killed but I guarantee you would not be as safe under no one other then under me. But back to the blink drive, what do you know of it?"

"The theory is that it folds subspace so that you can go from one point to another point instantaneously."

"Close enough," the Captain stated, "the theory was that if you had an exact location you could jump there near instantaneously as long as the anchor point was a fixed point and the extraction point had been marked and mapped previously. That means the blink drive only works if the ships computer has physically been there or as I say the thing works bassakwards. Not sure why that is exactly. Shot the one scientist in the head before he explained more, it was getting boring."

"You can only jump to a known location?" Katlin asked in a skeptical tone, "what an incredible waste of recourses for a mode of transportation."

"Is that so?" asked the Captain before stopping, "imagine a hand full of recon ships slip through enemy lines they get locations of military instillations. They Blink back to their point of origin, now they have a exact coordinates for everyone else to blink back to without having to map stars, gravity distortions or anything else just a clean jump and wham! You have a Flotilla in your back yard that should not be there. Tipping point in military power, wars won and lost due to one ship. And guess who has been all over the Imperium, Empire and UEMC space?"

Cold realization settled over Katlin as the full weight of what the Human was saying went home.

"That's right," the Captain began, turning to look at Katlin a snake of a smile on his face, "I'm partial to humans so I am going to offer the information to them first. I don't get what I want or they start shooting I just hop back over and offer it to the Imperium and the Empire and sit back and watch as the world burns around me."

"So you plan to offer me first to g-g-g-get their attention?" Katlin began edging her voice, "if they go for it, y-y-you plan to offer your Blink drive information for more concessions. How do you think they will react when they find out I can't read your language let alone translate it?"

"And here I thought you were slow," replied the Captain, "but you hit it square on the head, good girl."

"You're making less sense then usual?" Katlin asked in a nervous tone.

"By the time the intelligence fucktards get a hold of you I will have what I want," the Captain explained, "it does not matter what happens to you because you already know enough to make then believe you know English. With that they will believe you to be incredibly uncooperative and thus kill you and split you open and see what makes you tick."

"I a-a-a-am to die then?" Katlin asked in a near shriek.

"Of course if by some chance you can read and understand English," began the Captain, "they would keep you alive. You would not be happy but you would be breathing."

"You offer hope in the same manner an executioner offers hope to the condemned."

"Oh come on now," the Captain said in a cheery tone, "do you really think I would leave that to chance? If you can't deliver I would be dead before you would. Good lord did you live in a fish tank your whole life and never experience life? Why the fuck would I offer you up being able to read and understand English and translate it to your Common if you would not be able to? I gave you that book so that you would learn; your life depends on that."

"You are a sick bastard," Katlin growled through gritted teeth, "there is no way I can learn your language and understand it in under a year."

"Well I hope you learn quick darling."

"There is something else to all this," Katlin stated bitterly, "you work for Sykon so you know how dangerous he is, so for you to run there is something else."

The Captain paused before answering, "saw something out in deep space, just outside the known space. Don't know what it was but it had an 'I will kill you' vibe emanating off of it and when I get that feeling I book. Don't know what it was or who it was but seen more than one of them and I think it's time to get rich and find a hole and go to ground."

"Again if you have this device why have you not used it to get away," Asked Katlin swallowing down a knot of nervousness, "as you pointed out you have been all over the Imperium and the Empire."

"That is correct," the Captain said sly smile, "but you see the blink drive has this little quirk to it which is why I haven't used it."

"That being what?"

"So glad you asked," the Captain replied, his hand shooting out and grabbing her throat in a vice like grip, "it needs a living brain to act as the conduit." Katlin struggled against the Captains grip her eyes now wide in terror. The Captain seemed to ignore here struggling and maintained an impossibly strong grip on her throat. "You see for all the tech advancements we have made, a living brain is the best computer there is. The problem is you can't throw any brain into the equation, it has to be a strong one and a well focused one. Found out the hard way that you plug some random brain in the blink drive don't work so good in fact it fucks with the little nerve ending and doohickeys in the brain." The Captain had now pulled Katlin to him and off the ground so she was face to face with him. "Tends to make one a bit unstable, bring forth the primal side, the animalistic side of the brain. Makes you easy to anger and a bit homicidal."

"You . . .used," Katlin gasped out her hands clawing and gouging the humans hand.

The Captain only laughed while blowing a cloud of smoke in Katlin's face, "Came out the thing a changed man! You could say I might be more than human because of the experience. Didn't know that it would completely fuck up an untrained mind; make you see things in a different perspective. You on the other hand have all kinds of training, analyzing and cataloging crap your brain is conditioned to figure things out the fastest way possible. So I think you will do just fine."

Katlin lost her breath when she felt her back slammed against a cold hard surface. Finding some purchase to push against with her feet Katlin tried to launch herself against the human, but as soon as she managed to push herself away from the surface she was slammed down violently and the world went dark.

It may have been minuets it could have been hours but Katlin came back to the world with the strong smell of ammonia invading her nostrils. Snorting, coughing and gagging Katlin tried to turn her head away from the smell but found her head being secured in place. With panic seizing her brain she tried to get up and away but found that she had been secured in place by several heavy restraints on her arms, legs, chest and stomach. Katlin even found that her tail had been secured and offered no help with her attempts to move.

"Well good to see you are awake," the Captain said in an ominous voice. The Human was standing out of Katlin's view. "Had to make sure you didn't try to run off on me after I got you hooked up to the computer. Now when I went through this I made a blind leap of faith and had no clue what was going to happen. Fortunate for you the computer knows where it is going this time so it should not be that traumatic. On the flip side, you brain is not wired for any type of human speak, so I do not know what that will do but all that is needed is the neural paths in your brain so don't worry about it too much. I would also suggest you try to relax, makes it a bit easier to handle. Oh, almost forgot," the Captain came from Katlin's right side into view and held his hand up so that his thumb and index finger where about three inches apart, "a needle about this big is going to stab into the base of your skull and release a crap ton of nanites into your system, going to take care of the whole not understanding English thing . . . . I think. Should be fun huh? Going to get mind fucked by robots and all you can do is take it." Laughing the Captain walked away leaving Katlin alone and very afraid.

Closing the heavy door behind him the Captain looked over at Gunmar, "Lock the ship down and prepare this thing for the jump," the Captain doubled over suddenly and his body was wracked by a bought of coughing, his hand went to his mouth as he coughed and it came away glistening with blood. "You saw nothing," ordered the Captain in a harsh tone as he stood up straight, "I am heading to the bridge, don't fuck this up Gunmar."

"Not a problem sir, I know what needs to be done for this," Gunmar replied in a cool tone.

"Good," the Captain stated with a smile on his face, "no mistakes or we are all fucked on this one." Humming some unknown song the Captain turned on his heel and walked down the corridor with his hands behind his back.

Gunmar relaxed visibly once the Captain was out of sight. Even though he stood a good three feet taller than the human and hade over three hundred pounds on him, the man still scared him even when he was having one of his sane moments. The large bear began moving through the ship passing instructions to the crew he ran into about what needed to be done. As he walked he could not help but feel sorry for Katlin, on one end she had a complete psychopath that wanted Katlin for whatever reason. On the other end she had a complete nut job that had more personalities and demons running through his head that no one knew if he was going to kill them or pat you on the head. Now he was passing orders to the crew from the Captain for a jump none had ever experienced. He had asked once what to expect and ended up with a gun in his mouth and the Captain screaming at him about blenders and something called a cuisinart.

"Should have taken my dad up on his offer," Gunmar grumbled to himself. Walking on to the bridge he saw the Captain already sitting in his chair, "Orders passed Captain."

"Good," the Captain replied, sitting up in his chair and slapping his hands together before rubbing them, "let's get this ball on the road. Navigation! You know that panel I said to never fucking touch, well open it up and push that green doohickey that's in there."

"Yes sir," a nervous looking rabbit replied before turning to the said panel.

"Com!" The Captain barked, making an even more nervous looking bat jump, "switch frequency to 173.69, use the UHF frequency band set to three gigahertz. Keep it open and don't let the ships systems try to change it."

"But no one uses that," the bat stated in a nervous tone as his hands went over the controls, "what should I be listening for."

"Just leave it open on that frequency," the Captain snapped, "Navigation you done yet?"

"Yes sir," the rabbit replied, "another panel opened up it has a key pad that I don't recognize."

"Good," the Captain stood up and walked over to where the navigation officer was sitting. Looking down he saw a simple numeric keypad. He pushed a sequence of number after shooting the rabbit a withering look making him look away. After he was done another panel folded down in front of him with only a screen on it that displayed a list of words and numbers that made no sense to anyone else looking at it. After selecting a string of words and numbers the Captain folded the panel back into place.

"Gents buckle up and strap in tight," the Captain said casually walking over and sitting down in his chair, "switch the ship to battle stations and make sure all sections check in. If your balls have not dropped yet get ready to grab them as they are about to drop."

"How long until we jump sir?" a female leopard asked, her tail twitching nervously.

"Hear that humming?" the Captain asked while pointing up with one hand and making the bridge silent save for a low pitched thrum that could be heard, "when you can no longer hear that better clench your butt cheeks and hold on for a crazy ride."

_ _ _

Katlin let out a startled shriek when she felt what was behind her switch on. How she had been strapped down she had no way to jump in surprise, all she could feel and hear was an engine starting up and it had a sound she could not describe. Breathing hard she tried to fight against the restraints that where holding her in place but they held fast. She held out the slim hope that she would be rescued before anything happened. That thought was dashed when she felt something lock into place behind her and a heavy antiseptic smell waffled through the air. She intended to scream when she felt the needle plunge into the back of her neck but everything went white when it did.

When her vision did clear Katlin found herself back I the large white hall she had been in before. Walking quietly as she could she knew that the large feral dragon roamed this realm of her consciousness or its consciousness, she was not entirely sure which was it.

Better hurry little one, the dragon's voice echoed through her mind causing Katlin to stumble, find me before you become lost.

"What?" Katlin asked in both surprise and anger, "what do you mean lost and what do you mean find you? You know exactly where I am."

The human's machine will consume you if you do not find me. You mind will not understand what it asks.

"I have seen what your help does!" Katlin snarled angrily.

The choice is yours little one. I cannot help you if it gets you

"Nothing else is here but you! I am in no mood for riddles."

He comes, best to run now

Despite herself Katlin turned to look behind her and felt her blood go cold. The white hall was slowly being deconstructed and seemed to be disintegrating before her eyes. She could see a figure approaching her and as it walked everything around it seemed to dissolve into zeros and ones before fading from sight. The figure seemed to look in her direction and tilt its head to one side before walking towards her. Letting out a stifled scream Katlin turned and ran for all she was worth.

As she ran she could hear a disturbing humming that filled her ears and seemed to make the very air shimmer about her. She began to notice that the ground was becoming harder to run on and she felt like she was moving slower almost like a dream. Looking behind her she saw the figure approaching closer. Now she could make out that it was a human that was pale, with ivory hair and skin. It wore clothes that were impossibly white. The one thing that stood out was the lidless eyes that were an oily black. Pushing herself more Katlin tried to put more distance between and the figure.

The Human machines are in your blood and will work against you. You must find me before he gets you or all is lost.

"You can find me you have done so before," Katlin nearly screamed, "if it's so important then come find me."

I am sorry I cannot this time.

_ _ _

On the bridge of the March Hare everyone was sitting down in their chairs, strapped in and holding onto what they could. The ship was vibrating as if someone had decided to take a million jackhammers to the hull and have them all go at once. The Captain sat staring straight ahead at the main display, he had his teeth clenched down on a cigar and had a white knuckle grip on his own chair.

Then just for a moment everything froze. One could still look about with their eyes but they would find that they were frozen in place. Then it happened, the bottom dropped out from the world and they were plunged into darkness.

_ _ _

Running hard Katlin could feel her feet sinking deeper into the ground with each step and her ears where picking up on a loud sound that was similar to that of a larger turbine spinning up. Chancing a glance behind her Katlin saw the figure was only a few dozen feet behind her and would be on her in a matter of seconds.

Breathing hard panic began to set in as she searched ahead of her and seeing nothing but more of the empty hall. Behind her the sound of the hall being deconstructed was growing in sound and growing closer. Already out of the corner of her eye she was starting to see the white pillars beginning breaking down. Above the noise Katlin thought she heard the sound of flapping wings but it was difficult to tell over the noise. Looking behind her she saw that the figure had closed the distance to only few arm lengths behind her.

Do you trust me little one?

"Help me!" Katlin pleaded, her voice cracking with fear the figure reached out to her.

A blast of air caused Katlin to stop and cower slightly as it hit her. The moment she looked up she saw a gapping maw come down on her, engulfing her shoulder and upper body but leaving her head out of its mouth. Teeth sank in to her flesh and she screamed as the pain set in, she felt herself being lifted from the ground.

Focus on the pain little one as it will focus your mind and guide you.

Katlin managed to open her eyes and saw ebony scales and despite the pain she moved her head and found that she was looking up at the eye of the feral black dragon. It did not hold any sympathy for her but should could see wisdom beyond her years behind its eyes and Katlin focused on that right before the world seemed to drop and she was engulfed in nothingness.

_ _ _

Had the Captain explained what happens when the Blink Drive makes a jump the crew of the March Hare would have been less inclined to participate. Gunmar had gone about the ship instructing the crew to secure all gear and lock out non essential systems. He had instructed the crew that when the battle stations alert was sounded all crew was to get in a seat, strap in and stay put until further instructed. What was not passed was that at the moment of the jump you were technically in two places at the same time. This paradox could cause small issues with organic material when it emerged from the jump: cells not realigning correctly, bodies to close together fusing, neurological issues, sudden death, organic material coming out in reverse on the other end of the jump. In Short while the Blink Drive was exceptionally fast way to travel the risk made it somewhat impractical for any prolonged use as with each successive jump damage done to organic marital was cumulative.

The other drawback to it was visual aspect of it; to any watching all they would see was the ship shimmer slightly then suddenly sink into empty space and no longer be there. Inside the ship one would see the world twist in the same manner liquid spins as it drains from a container. It would also seem as if one was being torn asunder while remaining intact at the same time. In short it was an unpleasant experience.

Just as quickly as it happened it was over and the Captain found himself letting out a breath he had not realized he was holding. Releasing the buckles that held him to his chair the Captain stood and surveyed the bridge. As he though the crew had not yet recovered from the jump, the first one was always the worst. Frowning he saw that it looked like his navigation officer was dead or out of commission, the rabbit was bleeding from his ears and nose and was staring glassy eyed straight up. Looking to see if his Com officer was doing any better he saw the bat was shaking and blinking his eyes erratically.

"Hell of a ride huh boys?" The Captain asked loudly causing the bridge crew to jump, minus the navigation officer, "we picking up anything yet?"

"Gah . . . deh . . . beli . . .," the bat sputtered nonsense and did not seem to be getting better.

"Really?" The Captain asked in an annoyed tone, "Is your mind that addled right now you can't do a simple communications sweep?" Walking over to where the bat was sitting the Captain looked over the controls before pressing several buttons causing static to be heard through the bridge. Sneering the Captain adjusted the frequency until the static faded. Looking up at the main view screen he scanned the screen until he saw something familiar. His hands went over the controls adjusting the communications array until it pointing at what he saw. Instantly he heard what he had been hoping for.

" . . . Control; unidentified craft we have you on scope bearing 2369. Respond. This is Titian Control, unidentified craft we have you on scope bearing 2369. Respond. This is Titian Control; unidentified craft if you do not responded to this hail we will treat your approach as hostile. . . . This is Titian Control; unidentified craft change coursed to 2679 and reduce speed by one third if you do not comply we will engage . . .this is Titian Control unidentified craft you have fifteen seconds to comply with the instruction given, reduce speed by one third and change course to 2679."

"Titian Control this is the UEMC Colorado, identifier 2653-ZX669," the Captain smiled as he sent the transmission knowing that this would cause a mad scramble.

"This is Titian Control, resend you last."

"UEMC Colorado, 2-6-5-3-Zulu-Xray-6-6-9. This is Captain Tmerack, don't make me repeat myself." With his grin growing wider the Captain knew that saying his name over an open frequency would send up all kinds of alarms and red flags.

"UEMC Colorado, This is Titian Control you are to come to a full stop. You are to wait to be escorted in by the UEMC Tokyo and UEMC Vancouver. Failure to comply with these instructions will result in immediate termination."

"Copy Titian Control and fuck you very much," cutting communications the Captain went back to his chair. Relaxing into it he happened to look down and frowned slightly, bending over he picked up his cigar and relit it. Taking a long pull he stared at the main view screen and manipulated the screen from his chair and enhanced the screen brining a brownish dot up and magnifying it. Blowing smoke from his nose he gave a mock salute to the screen. The rings of Saturn were now clearly visible as well as a formidable looking station in orbit. "Hello kiddies, daddy's home."