The Cold Wind (Ch 26 - 29)
#3 of The Cold Wind 1
Chapter Twenty-Six
It took another few hours to get the last generator installed and connected into the shuttle's controls. Once completed the four of them stood around the cockpit control console, looking at each other uncertainly. Hunts-In-Grass, standing beside Two-Talon, snapped his jaw shut softly.
"When you are ready," he rumbled nervously while his tail wrapped itself around his leg.
Tainui just snorted and rolled his eyes at Andrej. "What's the worst that could happen? It doesn't work. No biggie."
Hunts-In-Grass swung his head around and fixed him with an admonishing look. "Singularity generators could implode, hrrr. However, death instantaneous. Little pain one benefit, this one supposes."
This shut Tainui up smartly.
Tracing his talons swiftly across the control panel, Two-Talon began the generator initialization sequence, then he stepped back with his ears swivelling around, listening carefully. For several long, drawn-out minutes there was no sound apart from the faint, ever-present sound of the life-support system while it hummed softly away. Then came the unmistakable ascending whine of the generators spinning up to operational velocity. As the noise wound up into inaudibility, he turned back to the controls and studied the readouts, then turned around to look at the rest of them with his face cracking into a crocodilian smile.
"Nominal. Results within generator tolerances. Minor fluctuations, however within acceptable limits. Congratulations, crew," he rumbled happily, grabbing all three of them and pulling them into a group hug, "we have succeeded without engineer's assistance!"
Both Andrej and Tainui found themselves being squished between the two aliens and struggled to breathe as the twin mountains of muscle and scale pressed in on them. Although it also had the positive benefit of pushing them both together in a rather intimate manner. When Two-Talon finally relented and released them, they separated and blushed, trying to hide their arousal with a desperate casualness which thankfully neither Vanguard appeared to notice.
While stepping back Andrej noticed they weren't the only ones who seemed to be having that sort of reaction; the ever-present bulge in Hunts' skinsuit was much larger and longer than he had seen it before. He nudged Tainui and nodded at the young warrior, indicating with his eyes where to look.
Tainui sniggered, causing both Vanguard to look at him curiously. "Someone got a bit carried away," he pointed to the evidence.
Hunts-In-Grass gave him the Vanguard equivalent of a shrug. "No secret how this one feels toward medic," he stated simply.
Having had the wind knocked out of his sails, Tainui's pouted and sulked, making Andrej laugh. "Good tactic, man. Must remember that for next time," he nudged the bemused alien with his elbow.
"Enough, spawnlings!" Two-Talon rumbled, secretly amused.
Although he was still a little uncomfortable with the blatantly obvious displays of attraction the warrior was showing toward him, he couldn't help but share in their enthusiasm. No doubt one or more Vanguard engineers could have installed and configured three frigate-class singularity generators in a fraction of the time they had, but he was still proud of what they had achieved.
"Vessel sufficiently restocked. We depart, hrrr?" he queried, looking proudly from one to the other of his crew.
With no negative responses he turned back to the controls and disengaged the shuttle from the depot's support systems. Firing the conventional thrusters in alternating patterns to prevent a spin from building up, he eased the shuttle toward the depot's massive airlock. Once cycled and clear, he nudged the power setting up a few notches and set them on a course that would take them further out of the Outpost planetary system.
Shutting down the thrusters once they had built up a respectable velocity, he turned to the two humans and hunkered down onto his haunches in front of them. The slight feeling of nervousness that had been hanging around in the background for several days now came back with a vengence. He struggled to keep any sign of it from his voice, quietly thankful the translation disk removed all trace of emotion.
"Time arrived for decision, little ones." Two-Talon looked from one to the other and back again. Finally he reached out all four of his arms and firmly gripped them both on each shoulder, talons carefully folded back out of the way. "Will you accompany this one, hrrr? Or you desire returning to human home-world?"
Andrej reached up and pressed his own hands down firmly on Two-Talon's, his arms crossed across the front of his chest. He cast a brief glance at Tainui before meeting the Vanguard's unreadable four-eyed gaze.
"I've talked this over with Tai and we've reached a decision. But we need to know what you want first. Do you_want_ us to stay? I mean, you've now got someone to keep you company. Someone who seems to quite like you -"
Tainui failed to discretely choke back a derisive snort.
"Someone who likes you," he continued after giving Tainui a shove before returning his hands back on top of the medic's. "But it's your call. If you don't want us around anymore, we'll understand."
Hunts-In-Grass swung his head around, startled at what he had just heard. Tainui was staring at him intently, watching his reaction. Had he just been rumbled...? He blinked and quickly looked away, staring out through the viewport, unable to meet the human's accusing gaze.
Two-Talon had difficulty answering, but understood how important it was that this was their decision, given the stressful situations they had already been through at the hands of his species. "This one's opinion irrelevant. Critical this your decision. This one abides your decision. What say you, hrrr?"
When Tainui reached out for his hand Andrej knew what to say. "After talking it over, well... We've come half-way across the fucking Galaxy with you, Two-Talon! What makes you think we'd want to turn back now after what we've seen and done?"
Tainui nodded in agreement with what his lover had said. "You're stuck with us, bro."
Two-Talon snapped his jaw shut, looking almost faint with relief if they understood his body language correctly. "Very well. Thank you both, sincerely. Real New Home voyage approximately three years near-FTL velocity. Will require hibernation. You both prepare now, hrrr?"
The humans stood up and left the room, heading off to the hibernation chamber to prepare for the three-year nap. Hunts-In-Grass watched them go, then swung his head around to look at him. "I was hoping they might take your offer to return them to their home-world," he rumbled, pouting.
Two-Talon stopped what he was doing and studied the warrior curiously. "Why, hrrr? You are not jealous of them are you?"
"They are scrawny, ugly little aliens. Why would I be jealous, hrrr?" Hissing in embarrassment, Hunts-In-Grass stormed from the cockpit, following the humans toward the hibernation chamber.
Two-Talon watched him depart, nonplussed. He was beginning to wonder why Hunts-In-Grass had latched onto him so quickly and so completely. What sort of life had the young warrior had up until now? The temptation to give in to his desires and chase him down was very strong and this latest revelation certainly didn't help.
If he was to pursue some sort of relationship with him, would he only end up causing more damage for the warrior? For himself?Conflicted, he swiveled around and entered the coordinates the warrior had given him for New Home into the control console. Hunts-In-Grass was young, attractive and obviously very interested. But he still hesitated. It was bad enough that Hunts-In-Grass resembled a younger Tusker...
Having finished the course change program, Two-Talon stood and stared blankly at the control console without really seeing it. Although his emotions were still running raw, a realization dawned on him. Hunts-In-Grass was definitely interested in pursuing something and, while Tusker would always hold a special place in his soul, his old bond-mate was not coming back. Ever. As much as it hurt sometimes, life went on.
Andrej was lying on his hibernation couch, watching a naked Tainui who had just finished stowing his backpack when they were both startled by a loud roar originating from the direction of the cockpit. Hunts-In-Grass, who had entered the room just moments before with a rather murderous expression on his craggy features also looked startled by the sudden and unexpected noise.
Two-Talon came thundering through the open hatch and leapt at Hunts-In-Grass with a primal scream, sending both of them crashing into the corner of the room in a hissing tangle of arms, legs and tails. Quickly pinning the younger Vanguard to the decking on his back, Two-Talon growled loudly and forced both the warrior's legs apart with his own. Using one of his talons he slit open the skinsuits they were both wearing before biting at the warrior's shoulders and neck. He roughly ground his erect and hard member against the warrior's sheath, eliciting a high-pitched, excited whine from him.
Tainui gave the thrashing aliens a wide berth as he edged around the room to Andrej's hibernation couch, carefully avoiding the gobs of slippery ooze and small splashes of the sticky, black blood being flung energetically around the room.
"Why are they fighting? Shouldn't we stop them?" Andrej whispered with wide-eyed alarm while Tainui plopped himself down on the couch beside him.
"Dude, I don't think they're fighting," Tainui whispered back. "Then what are they... Oh... Oh!" "This is very, very hot!" Tainui mumbled hoarsely, spooning up against Andrej's back while they lay on the couch together, not taking their eyes off the two Vanguard wrestling on the deck. Wide-eyed, Hunts-In-Grass struggled underneath the larger Vanguard and panted, his own member becoming erect out of its sheath from the friction and excitement when the medic nibbled at all the right spots on the underside of his jaw and neck. "What made you... HRRR!...change your mind? What about the humans, hrrr?" he managed to squeak out between pants. Two-Talon sunk his teeth into the tender flesh of Hunts-In-Grass's neck, drawing blood. The young warrior hissed loudly when the medic pressed down on him, tail twining around his own. Releasing the warrior's neck, Two-Talon raised his head and stared at Hunts-In-Grass with a twisted sneer on his reptilian features, saliva drooling down his chin and dripping onto the warrior's snout. "You wish to me desist from this, hrrr?" "No! Oh by the Ancestors blessings no, do not desist!" Hunts-In-Grass twisted his head back, horns scraping the deck, neck exposed and aching for more of the exquisite torture. "Then no more questions!" Two-Talon sank his teeth gently into the exposed neck again and moved his lower body until the head of his throbbing, drooling member located Hunts-In-Grass's now exposed and quivering ass. Growling softly he paused, their intertwined tails wrestling each other, before sinking his entire length deep inside the young warrior underneath him in one quick movement. Half strangled, Hunts-In-Grass let out a loud guttural hiss of combined pleasure and pain, arching his back, his own member exploding in several massive spurts as it lay crushed between their two writhing bodies. Brutally thrusting, Two-Talon never once let up his grip on the warrior's neck, although he released his arms so he could better support himself. This enabled Hunts-In-Grass to wrap all four of his own arms around Two-Talon, his talons raking shallow bloody scratches down the entire length of his back while the medic pounded into him. Growling loudly himself, despite the pressure on his throat, he lost himself in the pleasure/pain, his cock exploding messily between their taut bodies yet again from the over-stimulation, hot streams of his juices dripping down his stomach to mix with the streaks of blood running down his neck and shoulders. He felt Two-Talons genital-pouch pulse and could tell the medic was about to blow his load, so he clenched his ass hard on the cock thrusting mercilessly inside him. As the invading member unloaded inside his spasming ass, he thought he heard the medic rumble past the teeth clamped around his neck... «thrust!» "Life!" «thrust!» "Goes!" «thrust» "On!" Exhausted, Two-Talon opened his now aching jaws to release Hunts-In-Grass' neck and raised himself into a sitting position. His slimy and dripping member slipped out of the younger Vanguard's puffy and abused hole with an obscene slurping noise. Hot, sticky fluids oozed out of the tenderized opening, almost as if missing him already. After a couple of minutes to catch his breath he staggered to his feet, pulling Hunts-In-Grass upright with him, drawing the youth into a tight embrace. Gently he ran his tongue over the puncture marks on the warrior's throat, sealing the wounds with post-coital saliva. "They should not take long to heal. I apologize for treating you so roughly." When Hunts-In-Grass didn't respond immediately, Two-Talon broke the embrace and looked the younger Vanguard with concern. "You are alright, hrrr?" Shaking his head in disbelief, Hunts-In-Grass had a large dreamy smile on his face. "Praise the Ancestors - that was a legendary rutting. You are an animal. I am going to be, battered, bruised and limping for days!" Relieved Two-Talon huffed with amusement and turned to address the two humans who had been sitting on one of hibernation couches, observing the performance. He figured he probably owed them a bit of an explanation... To his surprise he saw that the Andrej human was bent over the couch with an expression of what he took to be lust on his face, grunting as he was vigorously taken from behind by his bond-mate. Hunts-In-Grass also swung his head around to watch them rutting with much interest. A few moments later Tainui screwed up his face and cried out softly while blowing his load deep inside Andrej's ass, before collapsing on top of the younger man. Glancing up he noticed eight unblinking black eyes boring into his own . "Nothing to see here folks, move along," he giggled and rolled off Andrej's back and onto the couch panting. For his part Andrej blushed furiously and pushed himself up off the couch, leaving a sticky wet patch behind on the couch where he'd been lying. Grabbing what little tattered dignity they had left, the boys dashed out the hatch, laughing as they made for the shuttle's cleaning room to clean up. Hunts-In-Grass limped over to the stained couch and rubbed a talon in the Andrej human's sticky ejaculate then brought it to his snout and sniffed at it. Sticking out his tongue he then licked the talon clean, looking at Two-Talon and giving him the Vanguard equivalent of a shrug.
"Hrrr, I probably will not have the opportunity to consume their flesh. So, this is as close as I can get to experiencing what they taste like."
"You are a mystery to me, my young friend. Strong and sexy, but still a mystery. Join the humans and get yourself cleaned up. However, no more, hrrr, taste-testing the aliens. You do not know where they have been!" Huffing with laughter the young Vanguard followed the humans to the cleaning room. Two-Talon grabbed some rags from a locker and set about cleaning up the mess on the floor. Pausing by the couch he also tentatively tasted the human's sexual emission, swinging his head around self-consciously while he did so. Snapping his jaw shut he continued with the cleanup. Picking up the warrior youth's bad habits already, he thought to himself with wry amusement; the warrior was right, it really didn't taste too unpleasant...
* * *
When Hunts-In-Grass entered the cleaning room shortly after the two humans, Andrej and Tainui were horsing around in the cleaning pool but cut their conversation short while regarding him warily. To his surprise, it was the Tainui human that broke the silence first, stifling a giggle. "Sorry for laughing, bro. But I have trouble taking an alien seriously when its just had an epic anal-probing of its own and now has space-lizard spooge dripping down its leg!" at which both humans burst into raucous laughter.
He blinked in confusion as the translation disk made hard work of the conversation, although it did manage to decipher most of what the human had said. When he noticed some of Two-Talon's juices running down the inside of his thigh, he realized the human was right. It was kind of funny.
Although still a little wary of them, the humans did seem to be quite harmless and they had a sense of humor too, something the Vanguard sometimes lacked. They made some room in the pool and gestured for him to join them. Grunting his thanks, he gingerly lowered himself into the water, closing his eyes and basking in the warmth with a sigh.
It was a minute or so later when he felt something touching one of his arms. Opening his eyes he saw that the Andrej human was lightly running his fingers across the scales on the bicep of his left rear arm. When the human realized his eyes were open and staring at him, he jerked his hand back and muttered a quiet apology.
A little surprised, he closed his eyes again and rumbled softly, "Hrrr, continue if you desire, explore. Just careful this one's injuries, healing not completed." He began to huff with amusement, opening one of his eyes just a fraction. "Careful new injury, this one desires slow healing that injury!"
Emboldened by his response, both of the humans ran their hands over various sections of his body, taking care near the patches of artificial skin that still covered the battle wounds from the recent Original Home invasion. Occasionally he flexed his muscles or moved an arm, leg or his tail while they examined his body.
When he felt one of them get close to his sheath he flexed his member so that it protruded out a small way. Opening his eyes again and smiling indulgently, he gazed down at the two humans as they leaned in to get a closer look.
"You not study Vanguard closely before, hrrr?"
Tainui stood and looked up at him, reaching up his hand and running it across the scales on his well-muscled chest. "Nah. This is the first chance we've had to have a good, close squiz at one of you space-lizards. Your scales are quite hard in places, soft in others. How well can you feel through those?"
"Not well. Some locations more sensitive. Hands sensitive, torso not so much. Certain locations extremely sensitive," he flexed his cock again and both the humans laughed.
"So, how old are you, anyway? You're a bit smaller than Two-Talon so I'm guessing you're younger than he is?"
After considering the question for a few moments, he huffed and shook his head. "Unsure. New Home time measure different from Original Home. Ask medic. Medic more mature than this one, although difference slight."
Andrej finished examining his genital-pouch and gently massaged around his still tender ass, washing away the evidence of Two-Talon's earlier enjoyment. He sighed his thanks as the gentle massaging and warm water soothed some of the admittedly pleasant ache away.
"Now this one questions you. You avoid this one's earlier questions! Mating between human same sex normal, hrrr? You unable reproduce, how humans make spawnlings?"
"When a mummy and daddy love each other very much -" Tainui began to say but was quickly shoved into silence by Andrej. "Spousal abuse! You're enjoying that way too much, bro," Tainui complained, quickly squeezing the words in before Andrej could answer the Vanguard and playfully pouting at him.
Andrej leaned against the side of the pool, regarding the warrior with interest. "Humans have two sexes, males and females. When a human male and female mate then a few months later the female usually gives birth to one or more live baby humans." It appeared that Hunts-In-Grass understood most of what he said, so he continued. "Most human matings are between males and females. Not so many between two males or two females. It is normal I guess, just not exactly common. Does that answer your question?"
"Indeed. Similar Vanguard." "Speaking of similar, what's the story with you and Two-Talon? Are all Vanguard gay or something? All of the ones we've met so far have been doing each other without a woman in sight. Do you space-lizards even have females at all?" Andrej asked him, his curiosity overriding his politeness. "This one unfamiliar with term: 'gay'." Hunts-In-Grass rumbled comfortably, sinking slightly deeper into the water. Andrej was not to be denied. "Same-sex pairings and matings," he gently splashed the warrior who just ignored the water streaming down his muzzle. "Hrrr, 'gay'. Intriguing although unconventional word usage. However, negative. Male-male, female-female bondings less common than male-female bondings for Vanguard, much like humans. This one's previous bonding with female actually." Tainui snorted loudly. "You've got to be shitting me! You just got seriously boned by another guy and you bloody enjoyed it! There's no way you're straight." Hunts-In-Grass regarded him with amusement. "This one likes medic. Medic required rutting, this one willing. Sex of participants irrelevant. This one considers medic interesting. Medic male, female, no difference for this one. More important..." he struggled to think of a suitable word. "Hrrr, more important who Vanguard being... Hrrr, apologies, difficult concept to relate." "More important who they are and not what they are?" Swinging his head around slowly, he snapped his jaw shut lazily at Andrej. "Indeed. Well observed, human." Tainui waded through the pool until he was directly in front of him. "Okay, since you're being all talkative and friendly at the mo', there's something I wanna know. What was all that shit you were saying to me and my bro a day or so ago?" He ignored Andrej's warning look "This one unsure your reference, hrrr?" He closed his eyes again. "Your not-so-subtle attempts at scaring us off." Tainui wasn't impressed by the warrior's feigned nonchalance and noticed the slight start he gave when he began this line of questioning, the slight narrowing of the four black eyes that were now open and boring into his own. "We've had some fairly rough experiences and been through hell just recently and I figure you knew this. So, why were you trying so hard to get rid of us, eh? I don't think it was because you were genuinely concerned for our fucking wellbeing." "Tai -" Andrej began, raising an arm toward him. "No! I want a straight answer. He owes us," he folded his arms and puffed out his chest slightly as if daring the Vanguard to avoid his question. Hunts-In-Grass sat up straight in the pool, however he deliberately kept all four of his hands below the surface out of direct sight, the talons on them splayed out offensively and his tail sluicing through the water in agitation. "Hrrr, tread carefully little-one." Tainui laughed incredulously, slowly uncrossing his arms. "Are you threatening me?" Forcing himself to relax, the warrior realized he was over-reacting to what was little more than just an impertinent question; Two-Talon would never forgive him if he slaughtered them like animals. Folding his talons back he regarded the human warily. Now that the humans were committed to joining Two-Talon and himself on New Home, perhaps it was time for the truth... "Very well. You, bond mate are...complications. Better outcome for this one and medic for you, bond mate return your home-world. You understand, hrrr?" Andrej quickly spoke up before Tainui said something he would regret. "Complications? Actually, yes. I think we do -" "Jealous," the Maori interrupted with a triumphant smile on his face. Only another Vanguard would have recognized the signs of acute embarrassment that Hunts-In-Grass was displaying at that moment. Interfering little irritants that they were, the humans were right. And it was galling. He sank further down into the water. The Andrej human moved closer to him and clung to one of his rear arms. "Hunts, you've got no reason to be jealous of us. I mean, it's not as if either of us want to steal him away from you, or, uh, do stuff with him, if that's what you're worried about." "Enough. End this line conversation," he rumbled uncomfortably. They sat for several minutes in silence before Andrej piped up brightly. "I know! We've talked sex and politics. How about some good, old-fashioned religion, yeah?"
Hunts-In-Grass cocked his head and appeared to be listening to the translation disk hanging from his ear whispering to him in his native language. "This one fails to understand word you use."
"Politics?"
"Incorrect. Word following that."
"You mean religion?" The Vanguard snapped his jaw shut in affirmation. Andrej blinked in surprise. "How about 'god'?"
"Not understood."
"Really? Huh, so you Vanguard don't worship deities or churches or anything?"
"Hrrr, more terminology this one fails to understand."
"Well, religion is a belief in a higher power. An all powerful, perfect being, that created the universe and everything in it. Trying to teach people to live well and be good to each other."
The warrior was silent for a couple of minutes, digesting the explanation before he responded. "Vanguard respect, honor Revered Ancestors. Some Vanguard believe Ancestors assist, guide with teachings. This similar 'religion', 'god', 'churches', hrrr?"
Andrej considered this for a few moments. "Yeah, close enough, I guess."
"Ancestors not higher power however. Revered Ancestors are dead Vanguard. They teach wisdom, we learn from wisdom. Perhaps this one desires become Revered Ancestor for future. This one desires teach wisdom for Vanguard following." When Tainui laughed, Hunts-In-Grass whipped his head around and hissed at him. "This one serious. Why you laugh, hrrr?"
Tainui shook his head, a wry smile on his face. "Man, if we had something like that ancestor stuff on Earth then the world would have been a much better place." The smile then slipped from his face. "Mate, a lot of bad people have used religion as an excuse to do some pretty fucked up things on our planet. Not the fault of religion itself, just people being people, y'know?"
Andrej nodded in agreement. "Anyway, it's just as bad a topic as politics and we've already experienced enough dodgy Vanguard politics to last a lifetime! So, changing the subject, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"
Two-Talon, meanwhile, had finished cleaning up the worst of the mess in the hibernation chamber and also decided to hit up the cleaning pool to get himself tidied up before going into cryo-sleep. On hearing the topic of conversation he stopped short of the open hatch and listened quietly without the others being aware of his presence..
Hunts-In-Grass closed his eyes and relaxed again in the warm water, slumping back into a sitting position with his tail poking out between his legs, sinuously waving in the water currents.
"I'll take that as a yes, then. How did you get that big scar on your face? Were you in some major battle or something?" Andrej asked, reaching over and tracing his fingers lightly over the damaged scales and down over the broken tusk. He stopped when the young warrior flinched and turned his head away.
Making a deep rumbling noise, Hunts-In-Grass opened his eyes, fixing his unblinking gaze on the inquisitive human. "Do humans understand concept 'rape', hrrr?"
Andrej nodded slowly, the warrior's question already speaking volumes even before he had even gone into any further explanation. "Man, you don't have to..." his voice died away when the young warrior stared him into silence.
"When this one younger, Elder warrior in training unit wanted take this one. He not accept this one's refusal well." He stopped and enjoyed the warmth of the water flowing over his shoulders for a few moments before continuing, eyes half closed as he watched the light sparkle on the water in front of him. "Elder warrior angry when this one refuse. He severely injured this one and took this one anyway. Hurt this one for extended period of time." He drew himself to his feet with a growl and clambered from the cleaning pool, shaking himself dry, reminiscent of some sort of overgrown, scaly dog.
"Oh man, that's horrible. I'm so sorry, didn't mean to -"
The Vanguard cut Andrej off with a curt gesture and turned to leave. "No longer issue, event history now. This one, how you humans say...hrrr, 'damaged goods'." Stepping through the hatch, he lumbered head-long into Two-Talon who was still standing in the corridor. He stumbled back a step or two in surprise. "How long have you been... Hrrr, long enough, judging by the expression on your face."
"Why did you fail to relate these events of your past to me earlier, hrrr?"
The young warrior flexed his arms in agitation and avoided looking at him. "It was not relevant. Besides, you have had enough emotional turmoil recently without my history adding to your concerns."
"May the Revered Ancestors guide me! Not relevant?!" Two-Talon fell to his knees in horror and held out his arms towards Hunts-In-Grass imploringly. "And after what I just did to you a few minutes ago...!"
"Desist from that line of thinking! You know I wanted you as well, I would think I made that abundantly obvious. Please, Two-Talon, stand up!" He grabbed all four of the medic's arms and struggled to pull the larger Vanguard to his feet.
"Hrrr -"
"It is bad enough that I am disfigured on the outside," Hunts-In-Grass interrupted, self-consciously rubbing at the scar on his snout. "I believed that if you knew I was disfigured on the inside as well, that you...you would not want me," he finished, his voice uncertain.
Completely hearts-broken, Two-Talon couldn't stop the tears from welling up and streaming down his craggy face as pulled the forlorn young warrior, who reminded him so much of Tusker, into his arms. Any thoughts of maintaining a friendly, but emotionally-detached, relationship were blown away at that point. He was caught - hook, line and sinker. Releasing him, he took a step back, wiped away the black streaks of his tears and tried to compose himself a little.
"This is not good for either of us. You have only recently come to know me and I have only recently lost... Anyway, I am unsure where we are to go from here."
"Those I considered friends are all dead, terminated by the enemy during the battle defending Outpost. The remainder of my clan is a significant distance from this location. You rescued me and have been nothing but gentle and kind to me ever since. You are so Ancestor-cursed attractive in many different ways that it hurts to look at you and yet you still want me! Despite my...flaws." Reaching out an arm to the medic, he stared up into the taller Vanguard's eyes. "Hrrr, all I request is for you to allow me to accompany you. I understand I will never be able to fill the gap Tusker left in your soul. However it might be possible in the future that you may develop feelings for me, also."
"I am beginning to wonder if I have not already," Two-Talon sighed, clasping the warrior's outstretched arm. "That aside, you appear to be completely certain that you desire to accompany myself and the two humans. Hrrr, I have grown quite...attached to them in the short time I have known them. Like it or not I consider them members of my clan now."
Hunts-In-Grass' lower jaw hung open in a somewhat crocodilian smile. "Those humans have an old spawnling's tale I was reading a few days ago. You are my...what is the expression...hrrr! You are my pack-leader in shining armor come to recover me from the monster."
"Pack-leader... Tired and beaten-up medic in a battered old shuttle, you mean. Very well. Let us take things slow and observe what develops over time. You are not concealing any other secrets you should inform me about, hrrr?"
"Nothing worse than what you have already discovered, correct."
"Excellent. I have experienced enough emotional turmoil recently to last me several lifetimes as have you from what I can gather. We should prepare for hibernation. We can discuss the future once we reach the real New Home."
It wasn't long before there was an extremely low-pitched rumbling noise echoing through the dark empty rooms and corridors as the near-FTL drive powered up on its pre-programmed sequence. The four passengers slumbered, oblivious in their sealed hibernation couches while the shuttle gradually picked up speed. It surfed along the singularity-generator created distortion of space-time toward another of the many small points of light shining diamond-sharp in the blackness.
It was followed only hours later by several massive vessels surfing along their own space-time distortions through the same section of empty space, heading in the same direction.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Several minutes after regaining consciousness, Two-Talon released the cover of his hibernation couch and swung his head around. Hunts-In-Grass was still out cold and the two humans were nowhere to be seen; they seemed to recover from the forced sleep process much more swiftly than the Vanguard were able to, probably due to their more active metabolisms. Stiffly, he stood up from the couch and hunted around for a new skinsuit. He located one and slipped it on, the slick material hugging his body like a second skin. Grabbing a water canister from a dispenser beside the couches, he drank heavily while he lumbered toward the cockpit where the two humans stared through the viewport as though transfixed. "What's happened to the stars?" Andrej briefly turned his head and asked him when he approached the control console and studied the readouts. The view was considerably different from what they were used to. Instead of a vast array of stars, nebulae and dust-clouds stretching literally to infinity, all they could see was a ring of deep blue stars that expanded around the edges as the shuttle moved forward, turning to a deep red as they swept by out of view. "Shuttle travels extremely swiftly. Light not work correctly high velocity. Return normal when generators disengage. We approach New Home imminently." Right on cue the deep, almost subliminal rumbling of the near-FTL drive shut down and the stars outside returned slowly to their normal state while the space-time distortion the shuttle had been coasting on dissipated. Now centered in the viewport was a massive and faintly reddish-colored star that bathed the cockpit in an erie glow. "We must've been traveling pretty damned fast." Andrej studied with interest the new starry vista outside the shuttle. "This one not engineer, so unable explain theory sufficiently. Generators adjust gravity, twist space creating ripple. This propels this vessel. Method designed small vessels travel short distances nearby planetary systems. Large vessels utilize alternative travel method. Create tear here, tunnel other space. Tunnel other space for return. That method utilized for long distance." He straightened up from the controls and looked with satisfaction at the two of them. "Destination imminent! Warrior's presence required. He communicates with New Home, this disables defenses, hrrr." "Speak of the devil," Tainui nodded to the young warrior when he entered the cockpit area and glanced blearily out at the star-scape. Hunts-In-Grass had managed to locate a replacement skinsuit for the one shredded by Two-Talon during their lustful engagement earlier, although it was a bit large and hung loosely off his more compact frame. After a day and a half of sub-light travel, a sizable brown and white planet grew in the viewport ahead of them. On closer approach they were able to see small, yellow patches of light scattered across the planet's dark-side, likely indicating cities this time instead of active volcanoes like those on Outpost. Although not the same healthy looking blue, green and brown of Earth there was clear evidence of large bodies of water and relatively normal looking weather patterns. Abruptly the proximity alarm began to chime and a heads-up display flashed up onto the viewport, highlighting several small specks spread out in space ahead of them. The navigation array magnified the specks, showing them to be several massive battleships and a flotilla of smaller attack frigates in orbit around the planet. Hunts-In-Grass rumbled with relief. "Hrrr... New Home defense fleet. This one should inform about attack on Outpost." Two-Talon indicated the communications console and moved out of the way. "Hunts-In-Grass of the Brittlerock clan and warrior of Sirius-Defender. I report. We were attacked at Outpost -" he was interrupted by the weapons-lock notification system flashing up a warning. Recognizing the dreaded holographic symbol, Two-Talon grabbed the warrior's shoulders tightly with all four of his arms, his talons unconsciously digging in slightly making the warrior grimace. "We are not the enemy! Instruct them not to attack us!" Gripping the control console with strained hands, Hunts-In-Grass yelled down the selected command channel, "Stand your weapons down, we are unarmed! I repeat, we are unarmed!"
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Andrej and Tainui watched with dawning horror when the New Home defense fleet began firing volleys of missiles and powerful looking beams of energy toward them. Carelessly shoving Hunts-In-Grass away, Two-Talon grabbed the helm controls and forced the cargo shuttle into a series of wild evasive maneuvers, the violence of which overcame the artificial gravity and threw the rest of them around the cabin. It didn't take long for them to find themselves surrounded by the battle-fleet as Two-Talon threw the shuttle from side to side, avoiding missiles and smaller attack ships. After several nerve-wracking seconds they were through the main battle-group and in clear space heading at a rapid clip toward the planet. "What the fuck is going on?!" Tainui yelled at the bewildered looking warrior. "Why are they firing at us? I thought they were supposed to be friendly!" "Ancestors forgive me..." Two-Talon hissed quietly in dawning horror when a sensor readout caught his attention. He grabbed the young warrior and pointed at the display. "They must have followed us here! Your fleet is not firing at us, but what is located behind us!" After Two-Talon spun the shuttle around on its axis, they watched aghast as the New Home defense fleet engaged with the Original Home battle-fleet. Titanic explosions began to flower in eerie silence in the vacuum. The larger battle-cruisers moved ponderously at sub-light speeds, bringing their larger weapons to bear on each other while the smaller fast-attack frigates dueled it out in a space becoming rapidly crowded with debris and jettisoned weapon counter-measure devices. There was a loud crash and the shuttle rocked violently when something exploded against the now wildly flickering shields. An Original Home fast-attack frigate that they hadn't seen was bearing down on them with daunting rapidity while simultaneously launching several more missiles that were on an intercept path. Throwing the shuttle into a tight spin that temporarily overcame the artificial gravity again, Two-Talon aimed them toward the planet and pushed the sub-light engines to full power. "Take the humans and relocate to the hibernation chamber. It is the most well-protected section of the shuttle! Go quickly!" he roared, his talons moving with blinding speed across the controls. Hunts-In-Grass did as instructed and was halfway to the hibernation chamber with the two obviously frightened humans when the next missile hit, knocking them to their knees. Lights flickered and dimmed when several power conduits were severed by collapsing supports and bulkheads. With a sickening lurch in the pits of their stomachs, the artificial gravity failed, heralded by a distant screech coming from the rear cargo bay where the singularity generators were anchored. Snatching both of the humans with his two rear arms, Hunts-In-Grass pushed off a bulkhead toward the hibernation chamber and had just made it through the hatchway when a third missile impacted the shuttle. Slammed against the buckled floor grating, the last thing Hunts-In-Grass heard over the roar of destruction as he lost consciousness was Two-Talon's defiant roar...
* * *
Mortally wounded, the badly damaged shuttle tumbled out of control toward the surface of New Home, trailing twisted scraps of metal, plastic and blasted ceramic shielding in its wake. Internal atmosphere explosively vented from the crippled life-support systems, adding its own glittering fragments to the trail of debris being shed. With a growl of satisfaction the fast-attack frigate's pack-leader ordered them to return to the battle, not wishing to waste any more ammunition on a mere shuttle. The traitors and their miserable little wrecked vessel were clearly doomed. As the atmosphere around the shuttle gradually thickened, a thin plume of plasma began to form around the front of the battered vessel, filling the smokey interior with the noise of thermally over-stressed hull plating. Two-Talon growled while pushing a bent chunk of ceiling tile off his chest and lay panting while he quickly surveyed the scene of destruction around him. Internal atmospheric pressure was rapidly dropping, main power was offline and most of the control console was little more than a sparking ruin, spewing more smoke into the thinning air. A rising shriek forced his attention to the cracked main viewport. The blackness of space was being replaced by a white glow that was becoming brighter by the second. Although the artificial gravity was offline, things were starting to settle in a downward direction as the gravity well of New Home asserted itself. Wincing in pain, he pulled himself to his feet using the remains of the wrecked control console for support. To his relief it appeared that backup power was still working fitfully; one or two auxiliary consoles still appeared to be responding. A few of the vessel's maneuvering thrusters appeared to be operational as was, now uselessly, the weapons-lock alarm. The shuttle was shaking quite badly at this point as the atmosphere outside thickened and tore at the wrecked vehicle. Deafening «bangs» and unpleasant, drawn out, metallic groans were becoming more frequent when various external sections were torn off or destroyed by the friction-plasma being generated by their runaway descent; the shuttle was not designed for this kind of chaotic and uncontrolled atmospheric re-entry. Fervently hoping that Hunts-In-Grass had managed to get himself and the humans to safety, Two-Talon set about attempting to save the remains of his vessel. With no sub-light engines he couldn't hope to slow their descent, so he could only hope that the damaged superstructure of the shuttle would survive the worst ravages of re-entry. He pondered using the remaining maneuvering thrusters. Larger than those built into passenger shuttles and smaller vessels, the powerful thrusters were designed to overcome a significant amount of inertia when the shuttle was fully loaded. It was the only thing he could think of that would stop them impacting the surface of New Home at several hundred kilometers per second. A deafening shriek of rending metal from the engineering section at the rear forced him to clutch at his ears. He stumbled when the shuttle lurched violently as something massive tore itself free. 'Shedding some weight, that might help,' Two-Talon thought to himself ruefully. The ear-splitting howl of the thickening atmosphere outside the shuttle was quickly rising in pitch and, despite the violent shaking, he could feel the vehicle slowing slightly from the thickening atmosphere pushing harder against them. Activating the maneuvering thrusters and pushing them to full reverse, he desperately wanted to convert some of their vertical speed into horizontal movement so they wouldn't just crater when they impacted the surface. Several more cracks appeared in the toughened material of the viewport when the wounded shuttle's structure bent under the stress from the thrusters pushing against their descent. "Just hold together for another couple of minutes", Two-Talon begged, clinging desperately to the console for support while the already violent shaking became worse. With a loud metallic «clang!» the outer airlock hatch was ripped from its mountings and was whipped away in the maelstrom. The sudden pressure differential caused the internal hatch to groan loudly in protest. He watched, eyes wide, as cracks quickly spread across the small viewport built into the hatch itself. If it blew out, then the rest of the hatch would lose its integrity and likely blow out as well. He was knocked off his feet when the shuttle lurched again. While he lay dazed on the decking, he thought he heard a voice, but couldn't make it out over the shattering roar. After a few seconds he managed to pull himself to his knees and struggled to make out what the voice, which appeared to be originating from the wreckage of the control console, was saying. "...nent. Landing scenario failure, collision imminent. Landing scenario failure, collision imminent..." Another automated warning system, uselessly communicating to him something he already knew...Collision imminent? While the shuttle rocked violently around him he looked past the cracks in the viewport and saw a large snow-covered mountain range directly below, rapidly approaching at a speed that made him quake in terror. 'At least I do not have to be concerned about the airlock hatch failing.' The somewhat ironic thought failed to blunt his terror, however. His scream was cut short when white snow and black rock became his entire universe and then suddenly exploded around him.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
It was a chilling wind that Hunts-In-Grass first noticed when awareness began to slowly dawn on him and then, after the intense pounding in his head settled down to a more tolerable level, the relative silence. Wiping a trickle of blood that was steadily dripping into one of his eyes from a cut on his brow, he took stock of his situation. Ruddy colored sunlight poured in through a large gap where a bulkhead used to be, exposing a rather stark snow and rock covered landscape littered with twisted bits of unrecognizable wreckage, some still smoldering from their catastrophic re-entry. What remained of the hibernation chamber was a complete mess. Wiring, support beams, bulkhead panels and other assorted wreckage lay scattered everywhere. Two of the hibernation couches were smashed almost beyond recognition by a bent support beam that had speared through the decking. Of the humans, he could see only one, slumped unmoving and covered with bits of debris in the opposite corner. The other diminutive alien was nowhere in sight. Cursing loudly, he pushed a large section of decking material from his legs and struggled to stand, wincing in pain when he realized one of his rear arms was badly broken and useless. He felt a sharp twinge of loss when he realized that he could no longer feel his tail. Spinning around, he almost cried with relief when he saw it draped across the remains of the hibernation couch he had come to rest against. It was likely broken or fractured as well. Other than a few incidental small lacerations and bruises, he felt mostly in one piece, which surprised him somewhat given what they had just survived. Picking his way carefully over buckled and missing decking, he approached the human. Gingerly removing bits of debris from the still form he checked the alien over. Bright red patches of what he presumed was blood seeped from several shallow cuts on its skin. However, it was still breathing, which was a promising sign. He shook the human gently but got no response. After making certain the human was in no further danger, he stepped stiffly down onto the snow covered ground through the hole left by the missing section of bulkhead and surveyed the landscape. The shuttle had broken up into several large sections when it had plowed a huge, smoking furrow down the side of a mountain before coming to rest on a small plateau set above an extremely steep drop-off. The nose-section was lying half buried in a mound of piled up snow and soil. Smoke from a small fire inside was being whipped about by the bitterly cold wind blowing across the crash site. Half stumbling he picked his way across the wreckage to the nose-section and pulled aside some of the ripped inner-hull insulation, attempting to locate any sign of Two-Talon's body in the mangled wreckage where the cockpit used to be. "Over... Here -" interrupted by a coughing fit when he attempted to prop himself up on his elbows, Two-Talon blearily hunted around for the source of the movement he'd heard. The warrior's ears twitched while he frantically hunted around for the medic, until he located him lying on his back in the snow a short distance from the demolished nose-section. A large, partially buried rock had ripped the other side of the nose-section completely open before it came to rest, throwing Two-Talon's unconscious body completely clear of the wreck and onto the softer snow, likely saving his life. One of the medic's legs was bent at an unusual angle and both arms on his right side were obviously broken. The horn on the right side of his head had also been snapped off three-quarters of the way down its length and he was still weakly coughing up blood from several shattered bony rib-plates that had been driven into his torso. The young warrior dropped to his knees beside him. "Thank the Ancestors, you are still alive!" "«cough» mostly, I believe. You are...are uninjured, hrrr?" "Correct, nothing too badly damaged, many hearts-felt thanks to you. That was impressive piloting there - are you certain you are only a medic, hrrr?" Smiling weakly, Two-Talon gave up on his attempt to sit up and concentrated on desperately trying to stave off the encroaching darkness. Struggling to stay conscious for a few more moments, he reached out and grabbed one of Hunts-In-Grass' arms. "What of the humans?" "I was only able to locate one with any success. He does not respond to my queries. However, he is breathing and appears to have sustained minimal serious injuries. There is no sign of the other." "Try...and locate...the other one. Do what you...can for them," the medic managed to force out before unconsciousness claimed him and he released the warrior's arm. Groaning painfully while he struggled to his feet again, Hunts-In-Grass returned to the nose-section and ripped off as much of the tattered inner-hull insulation as he could gather and fashioned a crude blanket for the unconscious medic. When he checked the human again, there was no obvious change in his condition; he was still unresponsive. Satisfied that he'd done what he could for him for the moment he continued to search for the missing diminutive alien. It wasn't until he climbed in behind the remains of the engineering section that he located the other one. Awkwardly leaping over the still-smoldering wreckage, he knelt down beside him in the snow. The human was lying on his back in the snow, breathing in shallow pants. Most of his body was crushed beneath the twisted remains of one of the large thruster gimbal assemblies which was still radiating a reasonable amount of heat. When he approached, the human opened his eyes and blinked at him with a weak smile. "Are we... there yet?" Gently snapping his jaw shut in affirmation, Hunts-In-Grass studied the wreckage that trapped the human. The largest piece of wreckage was in turn trapped under the largest section of what was left of the main superstructure. There was no way he would be able to move it more than a millimeter or two. In desperation he stood and searched around for something he could use for a lever but halted when the human weakly called out to him. "Forget it...Hunts. I'm not...going anywhere...in a hurry." The human whimpered softly in pain when he reached out his only free arm toward the warrior. "Is he...okay?" Hunts-In-Grass knelt down again, heedless of his own injuries and held the human's hand in two of his own, squeezing gently in an attempt to reassure him. "Hrrr, your bond-mate not badly injured, will survive. Medic badly injured, however alive also. Rescue arrival imminent. Not long now, little-one." The human coughed weakly, a spreading bright red carpet was beginning to stain the snow beneath his body. "Okay...sure. Just tell him...I...love him," he managed to grate out through teeth gritted together in obvious agony. He squeezed Hunts-In-Grass' hand and stared at him with an intense gaze. "Please, Hunts?" Helplessly, the Vanguard snapped his jaw shut again. Closing his eyes, the human managed a small, grateful smile. The shaken warrior continued to hold his hand for several minutes until the human's breathing became more ragged and labored. The human managed to force his eyes open and stared at him desperation. "I...I'm scared...Please!...I can't...can't feel you...?" The hand was limp between his own and Hunts-In-Grass risked squeezing it a little tighter and began to purr loudly, despite the additional pain it caused him. "Hrrr, this one here, little one. This one holding you..." But the human's life had passed and his eyes now stared blindly at the scudding gray clouds above them. Hunts-In-Grass remained motionless for several minutes before he gently laid the limp arm down on the snow. He reached over, delicately using the fingers on his forward hand to close the human's eyes. With a tremulous sigh, he lurched numbly back to his feet. He hardly even remembered stumbling his way, half blind from the blood from the shallow cuts on his head mixing freely with the blood of his tears, back to the demolished hibernation chamber. He collected the remaining human and carefully carried him over to where Two-Talon was lying under his makeshift blanket, tenderly covering them both together. Death was not a new experience for him; he had experienced more than his fair share recently when the entire Outpost defense force was annihilated. Some of them were those he had considered friends. While he mourned their loss, the death of this human had him severely rattled for reasons he couldn't quite fathom. Hunts-In-Grass belatedly realized that Two-Talon had been right; the peculiar little aliens had managed to affect him more than he realized.
* * *
A few minutes later a small scout ship flew over the crash site, circling around a couple of times before it came in to land. The two New Home warriors who got out were both heavily armed and kept their weapons aimed at him while they assisted him to get the survivors onboard. While they were flying back to the military base, Two-Talon recovered consciousness and after several moments looking around frantically and not recognizing his surroundings, he looked up to see Hunts-In-Grass looking at him with concern. The warrior was gently cradling his head in his arms and smiled down at him. "We are home. You are going to recover safely." "Hrrr... It has been a long time coming," Two-Talon sighed. Staring around a bit more leisurely this time, he could see one of the humans wrapped up in a survival blanket being cradled by a strangely uniformed warrior. He turned back to Hunts-In-Grass. "Where is the other...?" Hunts-In-Grass's forced smile faded and he swung his head away, avoiding the medic's gaze. Two-Talon's breath caught in his throat and he choked back an anguished howl. How many more were going to die because of him?