Dustin had easily convinced Walter to get everyone into the ship. He used the nanobots to fix the gaping hole Granny had made in her rage. Then he turned into a slime long enough to eat all of the body remains, cleaning up the blood splatters too.
Granny was sitting in one of the chairs, typing commands in, and waiting for responses.
He left her there, to help Walter get the others into the back. This ship was barely more than a shuttle, so there was limited room for everyone. Trey and Sherry took up the only two beds. Walter gave Trey a tranquilizer so he would calm down and sleep, and Sherry was pretty sure she had some broken ribs that made it hard to breath. They left them in their suits, so if anything happened, they would be safe, then strapped them into the beds so they wouldn't fall out of them if the ride got bumpy.
"This ship isn't designed to warp jump," said Granny when he returned with Walter.
Walter sat heavily in his chair and rubbed his face. He had taken his helmet off while he was wrestling Trey into the ship.
"I don't think I'm capable of flying this ship," he said, glancing briefly at them.
Dustin moved up to the pilot's chair and sat down. It only took him a moment to figure out how to get it off the ground.
"We'll need a better ship then this if we're planning on jumping anywhere," said Granny.
"How long would it take us to just fly there?" asked Dustin.
"Hundred of years," said Walter, confused.
"Right. So, we need to get a better ship." Dustin turned it and started flying in the direction that Granny had said they might find a base of some kind.
"Didn't I just say that? I thought I just said that," complained Granny from her seat behind him.
"Hey, don't be a back-seat driver," Dustin said over his shoulder.
"If I was driving, we would be there by now," she responded.
"What is she, your mom?" asked Walter, confused.
"She's Granny," said Dustin.
"I'm Granny," she said.
They all paused and there was a moment of silence.
"So, Walter, how are you a clone?"
Walter sighed.
"What station do you call home?" asked Granny.
"Station Cessation."
"What?" shouted Dustin, and Granny at the same time.
"What?" asked Walter in confused panic at their reactions.
"How the hell do you call death station home?" demanded Dustin.
"Nice friends you've got here," muttered Granny.
"They're not my friends," said Dustin.
"Death station?" asked Walter, obviously not understanding what they were talking about.
"Fuck! Don't tell me you don't know!" Dustin shook his head in disbelief.
"I'm seriously going to have a panic attack if you don't tell me what you're talking about," said Walter annoyed.
"Station Cessation was formed in order to give old humans a place to peacefully end their lives, only the old weren't the only ones who were sent there. Families, orphans, whoever could be convinced, would be sent there, in order to allow them a peaceful end. Damn, why didn't I think to ask before." Dustin was furious with himself. These people were nothing more than death reapers. No wonder they were trying to go out and 'rescue' everyone.
"I…I think I know what you're talking about," stammered Walter. "But, I learned it a little differently. Whatever the station was designed to do in the beginning, it is only a home now. We try to give people a place to live that isn't harsh, like most of the planets they were sent to, are."
"But what freedom do those people have? Surely there's not enough jobs for them, so what do they do?" asked Granny.
"They get meals at their designated times. There are plenty of things for them to do. We have gardens for them to enjoy, physical activities to enjoy, studies and libraries for them to learn and read."
"But what is their goal? Do they get assigned jobs so they feel like they contribute to the society you have there?"
Walter was quiet. "No, there's not really enough jobs for everyone."
"So, what happens, is they get unhappy, even though there is plenty for them to do, and they end up killing themselves," said Dustin softly. He remembered hearing about it. The station was dubbed death station because it was a horrible place to live. Also, no one was ever allowed to leave.
"We do have a large problem with depression and death…" Walter's voice trailed off. He obviously had never thought about that.
"We're getting close to this base, care to respond to their summons?" asked Dustin.
"Oh! I will!" cackled Granny, picking up the headphones and typing a few keys.
"We're a damaged ship, requesting landing space and a new ship." She sounded very professional, and Dustin fought the urge to whip his head around to make sure she was still Granny.
"I'm sorry, I don't have access to that code, the captain is dead. That person is too. I could put you in touch with the person in charge, but he's currently flying this bird. Thank you."
Taking the headphones off, she typed a few things.
"You'll need to land next to hanger three. And judging from the sizes of those doors, I would say the ship we're looking for is inside hanger two."
Dustin wasn't sure how she had convinced them, but they had a team on the ground waving them over to an open spot on the tarmac. The base before them was huge, having been carved into the sides of the cliffs. The hangar doors were all different sizes, with hanger two being the largest. The question remained as to how they would get everyone moved from this ship, to the other one without getting any of their people killed.
"There's no way they will just let a Gooblen walk calmly over to one of their ships, without throwing a fit," said Walter.
"Don't ever underestimate Granny," said Dustin, standing up from his seat as the ship went through its cool down.
Granny grinned wide, baring all her sharp teeth at Walter. "I'll be just fine. Meet you there!"
Walter and Dustin watched her hop over the seat and scurry down the hall. Shortly after, there was a knock on the outside door.
The question he ponders is a good one, but my question is how does Granny do that? Never would anyone just allow that flimsy excuse to fly...
When Walter turned to look at him, he almost fell down. Dustin had the nanobots cover him like he was wearing a suit just like Walter's.
"We found this ship, and flew it here, hoping for help."
Walter just nodded in agreement. Dustin wondered if he was hurt worse than he was letting on.
The men outside were very professional, swarming the small ship and verifying that there were only the four of them. They were taken into the hanger proper, and allowed to rest in a debriefing room. Stretchers were used for Trey and Sherry, since they couldn't walk. Dustin spied a very nice ship in hanger three as they were hurried along to the debriefing room. Granny was lurking in the shadows as they passed, and he made sure not to look at her.
"Who are you?" asked a woman, entering the room after only a few moments.
"We're refugees trying to get back home, and were attacked by some aliens. We barely managed to crash land here after our warp failed," explained Dustin
"If your warp failed, it's a miracle you ever survived to make it here."
"We think micro meteors were to blame, ma'am." Walter's tired voice was very convincing.
The woman's eyes lingered on Dustin, and he suddenly realized they knew he was a Uz'En. He saw in her eyes intense interest in him, and nothing for the others. She was going to kill them, and try to take him prisoner.
"Which alien group attacked you?" she asked, moving back towards the door.
"The Josagn," answered Dustin, watching for any tells from her at that name.
She froze with her hand half raised.
"Josagn?" she asked, turning back to him.
"Yes, ma'am. They seemed very interested in catching us, though I'm not sure why."
"You have no idea?" she asked, looking him pointedly in the eyes.
"It could be because I killed all of the ones living around the death planet, and blew up a couple of their stations, but I would just be guessing."
Walter was staring at him in shock, but the look on the woman's face was worth it.
"Or it could have been the A'Dfukl. I killed a ship full of them too. The Gaklut were just mad because we jumped into their space by accident."
The woman was obviously uncertain and scared. She couldn't seem to move. Her mouth fought to open, and a high-pitched squeak squeezed out of her frozen lips.
"What's going on?" asked Walter.
"It's time for us to go," said Dustin, motioning for him to replace his helmet, which Walter quickly obliged.
"They were going to kill all of you," he said, sending nanobots to pick up the stretchers with Trey and Sherry.
Facing the wall into the hangar, he held up a hand. Nanobots streamed to it, eating through the concrete and metal, quickly forming a hole. The large beautiful ship he had spied before was surrounded by men trying to get inside of it. Behind them, alarms started to sound as the air breech was detected. The woman's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she slumped to the ground unconscious, as the nanobots Dustin had sent to paralyze her rushed back to him.
Leading the floating stretchers with Walter bringing up the rear, Dustin walked calmly towards the ship. Nanobots swarmed around him, forming a visible cloud that protected them from any stray shots that came at them.
The men around the ship, quickly spied them, and ran towards them, shooting wildly. Nanobots intercepted each shot, almost frantic to keep them safe. When one got close enough, Dustin shot out a tentacle, and lifted him high into the air, for all to see. The others stopped running towards them, and started to flee instead.
Throwing the man to the side, he calmly had the nanobots stream back up his arm, as if his tentacle was returning to that of an arm. Walter was close enough to see what was really happening, but to everyone else, it looked like he had grown a tentacle super-fast and then returned back to the form of a man.
When they reached the ship, Granny opened the door, letting them in.
"I had no idea you were capable of so much," Walter murmured in amazement as he stumbled onto the ship last.
"You learn a thing or two when everyone wants to kill you."
Dustin turned to smirk at him, but ended up catching him as he slumped to the ground.
"Follow me, I'll show you to the medical area," said Granny, turning at the door. She had only just arrived in time to see Walter faint.
Having the nanobots carry the stretchers behind him, he followed her to a very nice medical facility. It had six beds and special machines designed to do complex procedures. It didn't take long for them to have everyone one a bed, being evaluated.
"I told you humans are weak," complained Granny when they got the results.
Dustin just sighed. All three of them had massive amounts of poison in their systems. That, coupled with the damage from the crash, meant that none of them had much time left on their hands.
"Bet you've been poisoned too," she said, nodding at him.
"I can metabolize it," he said, thoughtfully. They had to get off this planet, before the people in the base blew them up, but he was wondering if there were any Uz'En captured here. They had shown a lot of interest in him, and the woman had known every alien race he mentioned.
"Steer the ship away from the base, and have the machines start purging their systems of the poison. These machines are pretty high tech, they might be able to save them. I'm going to go see what I can find out on their database before we leave."
"Alright," sighed Granny, moving to the console next to Walter's bed first. "Just be careful. You haven't seen everything that's out there yet, and…"
Dustin didn't wait to hear what else she had to say, he had already left the room and was heading back towards the airlock door. The people he had been traveling with hadn't shown him any hostility, but the ones in the base had. They were hiding something, and he was going to find out what.
I wonder if they know more about his people here?
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