FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Author's note: Salutations everyone. Here is the promised chapter of 'Galaxy' after some delay. Thank you for your patience. This chapter really pushed my limits on imagination cause I'm no good at discribing complicated stuff (you'll see what I mean in the chapter). Nevertheless, I'm happy with the result.

Also! Just a part of usefull information: the planet has 25 earth hours. I tried making up a brand new system of time but it was very hard to get it right, it was difficult to to use and even harder to make the reader understand it so I stuck with our system, 3600 second or 60 minutes in an hour. Further questions or remarks are welcome below. If you like the series be sure to fav/vote and feel free to leave a comment. Feedback is apreciated. Enjoy the chapter!

Languages: "English" "Unige" *thoughts*

Disclaimer: Characters belong to me unless mentioned otherwise.

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When David woke up again he couldn't help but notice that instead of being in a hospital bed he was sitting in a chair in a gray room at a table with an empty chair across from him. Past the chair was a giant mirror where he saw his reflective image staring back at him.

*Ugh... where the hell am I this time?* He thought as he rubbed his forehead in a reflex. He suddenly realized he is not restrained in any way.

*Well this is new. I wondered why they didn't restrain me this time.*

Taking another look around the room David realized that the room he currently found himself in reminded him of an interrogation room. He also discovered a small circular device, not bigger than a quarter, stuck to his left wrist.

*Well this will be interesting.*

David heard a door opening behind him but decided against turning around. His visitor, and most likely interrogator, seated across from him with under her arm a few documents which she placed in the table in front of herself. She looked a lot like a German Sheppard back from Earth, with black and brown fur with glasses on her muzzle. David knew she was a female because of the obvious curves on her chest through her black suit.

"Greetings, I suggest we get pleasantries out of the way. My name is Thannis Thorn and I will be leading this conversation. What is your name?"

If David would not be seated he would have surely fell down in surprise. He understood what she said perfectly as if she was talking English!

"What in the, how do you speak my language?"

"While you were unconscious we attached you to a device that 'teaches' you to talk and understand our language. So to be exact mister, you are talking MY language. So can I have your name or do you prefer 'mister alien'?"

"David, my name is David miss Thorn."

"Interesting name, now let's get down to why I am here."

"I'm guessing because I crashed on your planet with a burning ship?"

A faint smirk appeared on Thannis' face. "Correct David, we have a lot of questions for you which are best answered for both our sakes."

"And if I refuse to answer them?"

"Lack of cooperation will not help towards surviving here very long David. I'm here to make sure you are no threat to us in any way. Also do not consider using violence to escape, the device on your wrist will inject a strong sedative the second my colleague behind the glass wall thinks you're trying anything funny."

"I was wondering why I wasn't in restrains like usual."

Thannis decided to ignore the remark and started the interrogations.

"I presume you were working on the crashed ship, what was your rank and function?"

"I'm the captain and that means I was the commanding officer on MY ship."

Thannis looked up from behind her glasses after writing something down and placed her glasses on the table. "So you were the commanding officer? Very convenient you survived then."

David shot her a glare. "Are you implying something miss Thorn?"

"No, I just meant that you will know everything that happened with your ship which in turn helps us. So why did you direct your ship towards us Captain David?"

David realized he couldn't tell them what they were doing in the Nebula system. Not answering the question would not help him in the long run. He decided cooperating will be the best strategy for the time being.

"My ship's hyper drive failed during a jump. We couldn't steer away fast enough to avoid a crash."

"I'm sure that's not the whole story David, our long distance satellites show your ship was severely damaged when you appeared on our radar. This damage cannot be explained purely by malfunctioning engines."

As to emphasizes her point she pushed an image of 'The Juniper' after they left hyperspace. David now saw how bad the damage was to his ship and realized they couldn't have gone far anyway.

"Indeed, we were engaged in a battle before this. We tried to get away using our hyper engines but they were too badly damaged."

If Thannis wasn't paying attention now, she certainly was after hearing 'engaged in battle'.

"Battle you say? With whom?"

*Well, better be honest here.*

"Our kind is at war with a race whom's skin is composed of shell like armor. We were ambushed and outgunned. We were lucky to have survived at all."

Thannis's steel face rippled a little with the slightest indication of a frown. She stood up and turned towards the glass wall watching David through his reflection.

"This is troubling information Captain David, not only are you saying your kind is aggressive. You also brought danger to our planet, if your enemies follow you here then you're an excuse to attack us."

David shot up from his chair clearly upset about this remark. "THEY attacked US! We didn't want to engage them in war! We're merely defending ourselves against them."

Responding to his outburst, Thannis turned around and raised her voice. "Never the less, you led them right to us! Now sit BACK DOWN!"

David shot another glare at her and sat back down and resumed in a calmer tone. "They can't track us here anyway. I made sure of that. So don't worry, your little planet is 'safe'."

"You."

"Excuse me?"

"Tracked you, you are the sole survivor of that crash David. All of your crew died before we got to them."

David suspected as much but having it confirmed makes his stomach drop. His defensive demeanor dropped instantly over the realization that the people who were depending on him al perished. His change in behavior by this didn't go unnoticed by Thannis.

"Anyway, can you guarantee they cannot follow you to us?"

"If they can then they would already have been here and destroyed you."

"I highly doubt they would simply attack us right-"

"The Custacians don't negotiate or reason, they simply destroy and conquer. The second they would notice your civilization they'd shoot you all from orbit."

"How can you be sure of that?"

"Because it's what they do, they did it when we met them by accident and tried to communicate with them and they did it when they found one of our outer colonies. They drop in, kill everything and then continue."

"Wait, colonies? You mean your kind has successfully populated other planets?"

"Yes, we have the technology. Last time I checked we had 5 colonized planets and 9 space colonies. We lost 2 planets and 5 colonies since we encountered the Custacians."

"Interesting, so the bottom-line here is that they are no danger to us unless we are discovered which is unlikely because they would have already done so?"

"Also I made sure of it."

"Well I'm glad to see you are so sure of it."

*If they find me here I'll eat my shoe...*

"Which reminds me miss Thannis, what have you done with the remains of my ship?"

The question caught Thannis of guard and this did not go unnoticed by David.

"What makes you think we have the remains?"

"Miss Thannis please, I'm not an idiot. An alien ship carrying unseen or even advanced technology and you want me to believe you didn't even try to salvage it?"

"We do not have your ship Captain and even if we did what interest is it to you?"

"It's interest is that it's MY ship and the ship itself and whatever cargo we have left belong to the Human Alliance and is not yours to have or keep without the proper authorization."

"And what if we do have the ship?" Asked Thannis in a challenging tone.

*I must complete my mission... No matter what...*

"Then I highly recommend you do nothing with it and return it." David said in a slightly more aggressive tone.

"Oh really? And why should we not tear it apart completely and use it's technology for ourselves?" Thannis said while bending over the table looking David directly in the eye with a challenging smirk on her face.

*She's trying to get under your skin David, don't let her.*

"Well good luck with that miss Thannis, we installed something to prevent our technology from falling into the wrong hands."

"Prevent that how?" Thannis now asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You need a code to access every control panel and piece of technology. Without that my ship is just a giant piece of useless metal."

"I guess you can't just give us this code?"

"Captain's Code chapter 5, section C: In case the Captain of any kind of vessel is captured with or without the salvation of their vessel. They are not to give the access codes to the vessels' technology unless given permission from higher-up or current standing alliances."

This made Thannis sink into thoughts as she stood up and turned to look at the mirror until she spoke again.

"I'll be honest with you David, seeing as how you are honest so far. We are not capable of interplanetary transport. We can get to the next planet and that's it. Anything beyond that is impossible for us to reach and was even thought to be impossible."

"Untill we arrived."

"Exactly. Yes we're salvaging as much as we can from your ship as we speak but there is not much left."

"And when you have salvaged everything you'd like to have my codes don't you?"

"Yes and no. I have a better idea which will work out better for both of us Captain."

"Really? And what would that be then?"

"How about you help us understand and develop your advanced engines for ourselves and in return we will help you go back to your people."

"Interesting offer, you only want our engine technology?"

"Well we would like your weapons technology as well but I'm sure you wouldn't agree to that."

David couldn't help but smile at the correct assumption. "Quite right miss Thannis, weapons and shield technology are not something I'm going to share to anyone."

"Understandable."

"And I guess 'your help' will be giving me a ship to get back to my people."

"Indeed."

David bowed his head slightly looking to the table and moved his finger over his shin as he considers the offer made by Thannis when a tap is heard from the glass wall.

"Excuse me for a moment" Thannis said before exiting the room leaving David to his thoughts.

"What in the name of the ancestors do you think you're doing!" Yelled Minister Tarbo at Thannis. Both of them were standing in the room behind the glass wall from the interrogation room. For these kind of conversations the room was made soundproof, for obvious reasons).

"I am taking advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity Minister." Replied Thannis calmly.

"You are giving him access to his not only his ship but also our technology! Are you right in your mind!"

"With all due respect Minister. You do not fully grasp the situation here. A ship with superior technology then ours, crash landed on our planet and the key to understanding and using that technology for ourselves is sitting on the other side of that wall." Thannis said pointing at David through the glass wall.

"And his ship is nothing of your concern, what we salvaged so far is so damaged I doubt it's even possible to fix it." Thannis continued

"So you just give him access to our technology?! He could steal those and-"

"And what Minister Tarbo ? Use our technology instead of their superior one? Doubtful"

Minister Tarbo took a deep breath and straightened his back "I am still the Minister of Planatary Defence!"

"And that might work on the grunts standing outside Minister but not on me. My orders come from higher then you and I intend to follow them."

Minister Tarbo opened his mouth again to speak but was interrupted again by Thannis.

"Now if you'll excuse me Minister Tarbo , I have a deal to make." And she simply left the room leaving the minister boiling in his own stew.

Meanwhile David was still thinking over the deal Thannis proposed to him.

*If I accept they'll get me a ship so I can reach Space Station 'Odin'. However I'll have to surrender our engine technology...*

*But then again, if I don't they can't even give me a ship to get back anyway. And I must get back to deliver the package. But how on Earth will I find out if they got it or if it's still on the bottom of that sea we crashed in. I can't let them know how important that cargo is at the time.*

*They'll probably keep me under surveillance 24/7 and make sure I don't try to do something funny. Well better than being locked up somewhere and cut open I guess. I might regret this later but for now, I need their help as much as they need mine.*

Suddenly David realized something.

*But what when they don't need me anymore... Once they know how to remake their engines they don't need me anymore. They could just kill me afterwards and not risk me coming back with an armada. Not that we would but still... I'm going to have to make some insurance to keep me alive later on*

At this moment Thannis returns into the room and sits down across from David.

"So David, did you consider my offer?"

"Can you go over it again in full to be sure we're clear on the details?"

"Sure, you use your knowledge and the salvaged parts of your ship to help us upgrade our engines. In return we'll grant you a ship equipped with these upgrades so you can get back to your people. During this you will be watched at all times, security measures, you will be given accommodations for you to live in until our deal ends."

"Does that mean someone will be with me at all times?"

"Yes and no, most of the time it will be a surveillance system but that will be watched at all times."

David gave a thoughtful 'Hm' and made up his mind. "Very well miss Thannis, you have a deal."

Thannis gave a small smile. "Excellent. I'll remove your sedation chip and get you on your way." Thannis walked over to David and pulled out some sort of electronic card out of her pocket and swept it across the chip. The chip beeped three times and then fell to the ground.

David rubbed the red spot on his skin where the chip was attached. "So what happens now Miss Thannis?" As if on cue 2 impressive looking male, lion antros in uniforms enter the room.

"We will take you to the facility where you will be working. Of course for security reasons we have to blindfold you until we reach our destination."

"Very well. Let's get this over with." David said standing up slowly.

One of the security guards walked up to David and blindfolded him. Then he was lead through various hallways and corridors until he was instructed to watch out for his head as they entered a vehicle. After a while the vehicle came to a stop and David could hear some chatter going on outside. The vehicle moved again but slower now and soon afterwards came to a full stop again. The doors of the vehicle opened and David was lead outside. He continued again on a walk through corridors and doors until they stopped him and removed his blindfold.

"Welcome to your working area Captain." Thannis proclaimed standing in front of David.

As David's eyes adjusted to the light he noticed he was standing in a large hangar looking area and recognizes some parts of his ship laying on the ground. All heavily damaged. As he looks around further he can see several smaller, windowed rooms around the hangar with computers and expensive looking equipment. He could also see other anthros working in those rooms. The hangar was dark grey all over, no windows to the outside and there seemed to be only one way out. Back through the door they came. Another glance around the hangar revealed several camera's hanging around the hangar overlooking everything.

"Of course, you won't be working alone. Mister Merin?"

The silence was deafening, apart from the soft humming of machines as a response stayed out.

"MISTER MERLIN!"

Suddenly a loud crash was heard as a figure emerged from one of the rooms. The figure was a male mouse anthro with white fur and glasses on his snout. He was wearing a labcoat and a pair of light grey pants. As he ran to the group David noticed his pink tail swishing behind him.

"Apologies madam." The mouse said as he reached the group in the middle of the hangar. "I was preoccupied with a test and lost track of time."

"That's alright mister Merin. Now that you are here let me introduce you to our guest. Merlin, meet Captain David."

The mouse turned towards David and if it wasn't for the fact his fur was white he would probably have turned a little pale.

"Captain David, meet Mart Merin. Lead scientist and engineer of this facility and from now on your working partner."

"Pleasure to meet you Merin." David extended his hand to the mouse due to old habits. Merin being unfamiliar with the gesture flinched a little and the 2 security guards seemed close to jumping him. David realized they didn't know the Human custom to shake hands. Realizing his error he tried correcting it.

"It's ok, it's custom in my culture when meeting new people to shake hands or I guess in your case paws..." David said still holding his hand out. Merin stared at the hand and slowly extended his paw. Once their hands were locked David shaked the hands up and down only once and released Merin's hand whom retracked it slowly and inspected it. Thannis broke the impending awkward silence.

"Good. Mister Merin, please show our guest around. I have other matters to attend to in the meantime. Goodbye."

Thannis left the hangar through the door followed by the two security guards. David now stood in the middle of the huge hangar with Merin. Both unsure how to start the conversation until Merin broke the silence.

"Well then Captain David, I suggest we-"

"You can call me just David, Captain is my military rank."

"Uhm, very well then David. You can still call me Merin. Let's start the tour I guess. Well as you can see this hangar is used for the storage of the salvaged parts of uhm... your... ship."

David could feel the awkwardness coming off Merin before he continued.

"Right. Let's not dwell on that. Follow me please."

Merin walked back towards the room from which he emerged, upon entering the room David saw it was pretty big with equipment set up everywhere and one of the corner of the room was a pile of metal equipment which probably explained the crash heard earlier.

"This is my lab, here I perform all sorts of experiments to improve whatever I'm testing."

Merin quickly turned around and walked past David leaving the lab. David followed swiftly as they entered a larger room with several anthros eating a variety of foods.

"As you can see, this is the dining room. Over there you can grab a meal you like. I have no idea what your species eats so we'll figure something out."

Merin didn't seem to want to waste time as he worked his way through the room to a door on the opposite side. David noticed a lot of stares as he made his way to the door.

"I can't help but notice everyone's staring at me ..."

"Well I would like to see how you react when an unknown species crash lands on your planet and will be working amongst you."

"Good point."

The remainder of the tour brought David past all the different labs and meeting rooms in the hangar. David soon realized this place was a lot bigger then it seemed at first. The next door brought them into a large hangar just like the first one only in this one there were ships stationed that he never saw before.

"And these are the ships we currently use for space travel."

"I thought you didn't have the technology to travel to space?"

"Oh we do, just not very far and we'd like to change that."

They walked up to the first model stationed in front of them. It looked like a fighter class, a long slender main body ending in a barrel from which can be shot. Directly behind the pilot are a pair of small wings curving slightly downwards and one barrel on each wing. On the top of the ship at was a fin to improve steering. On the rear was the engine. It was as big as the entire hull of the ship with a large circle on the outside and a smaller one on the inside with side thrusters next to the engine. The ship looked liked a 'T' where someone drew the horizontal line a little too low.

"This is the LF212 fighter model. Equipped with a heavy laser cannon on the front and a total of 2 laser guns on the wings. Designed to fight smaller ships."

*Heavy lasers cannons and guns? On a fighter? How the hell do they deal with the power problem?*

"The next one is the ABU500 bomber model. Equipped with a heavy laser cannon on the front and enough room in the hold for 50 bombs. Designed for both orbital and ground bombardment."

David looked at the bomber it was twice the size of the fighter model. Because of that it also looked bulkier. The design was again a long but bulky main body like a large, square tube with smooth edges, slightly getting bigger towards the pilot in height. Besides the pilot were a pair of wings curving backwards until they were facing the rear of the ship. Unlike the fighter the engines were located at the back of the ship and the end of the wings providing additional thrust and maneuverability. The shape reminded David of a 'Y'.

*Ground bombing? Do they have conflicts across the planet like we in the past? Interesting...*

"And lastly, our BR7 model. It's a scaled model because an actual BR7 won't fit in here. The BR7 is designed to fight the previous two types of ships I've shown you. Armed with multiple heavy laser cannons and 20 heavy laser guns. The armor is three times as thick as any ship we have build and is very fast as well. It burns up energy though..."

*So basically a cruiser model like 'Juniper' only that these guys apparently have not figured out either a proper energy source or are not getting the best from it.*

"So, uhm, David. What do you think so far?"

"Well Merin, I have a few ideas on where your problem is but I'll have to get a better look at the ships. Do I have permission to take a close look at the ships?"

"Uhm... I'm not sure. I'll be able to tell you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Won't we be working on the matter today?"

"If you prefer working at night and alone then yes. But I think your species aren't that nocturnal."

"I didn't realize it was near night. So what happens now then?"

"Well I've been instructed to show you your living quarters after the tour so I guess we'll go do that."

Merin walked towards another door David didn't notice until now. As he and Merin passed through the door David recognized the first hanger where the debris of his ship is scattered around.

"Oh! That reminds me." Merin suddenly proclaimed while walking towards the door David saw Thannis exit. "Hold out your arm please and roll up your sleeve."

"Ok..." David did as instructed and eyed Merin curiously. Before David had the opportunity to ask why he should do this, Merin pulled out a tube like device and planted it firmly on David's lower right arm near the wrist. David yelped as he felt a sharp sting on the spot where the device was held. When Merin pulled away the device a round metal device was located there.

"It's a locator. They figured you didn't want any surveillance equipment in your living quarters but still wanted to keep track of you. Apologies for not warning you in advance."

*Just as I suspected, I'm practicly in a nice jail."

"It's ok, it just hurts a lot."

"It'll fade in time. Now let's continue please."

Merin continued his walk to the door, David followed eyeing the small circular device attached to his arm.

*I don't like being a prisoner but I guess I can't complain. Living quarters and a working area AND a means to getting to 'Odin'.*

After another series of corridors and passing through doors until they reached a door at the end of a corridor where they stopped.

"Behind this door is your living quarter. It has a sleeping area, a cleaning area and a variety of foods that should be safe to eat for you."

"Should be safe?"

"Well we aren't 100% sure of what your digestive system can and can't break down so we're playing it safe for now. Tomorrow morning I will come and get you at 08:00, you're expected to be ready at that time. Enter by pressing that button there. Peaceful sleepings."

And with that said Merin left David standing at the front door of apparently his new, temporary home.

*Well, let's see how it is.*

David pressed the button and the doors slid open. He entered his home and was standing in what he presumes was the living room. It had a few doors leading to other rooms, the room itself was completely white. In one end of the room was a table with chairs and the other what he guessed was the kitchen but he recognized none of the cooking equipment he could spot from there. In one corner of the living room was a faint blue screen that was surrounded by blue couches and cushions. He could only presume this was their version of a tv. Around the room where several drawers and closets, or at least he assumed those were closets.

The room itself was standard since for a small house and certainly bigger than any cell. Other then the white walls and floor it was ok. He wanted to explore the other rooms when he spotted one of the cushions in the room looked like they were used and a sound coming from one of the rooms caught his attention.

*I'm not alone here.*

Immediately his training kicked in, he crouched down and moved quietly to the room where the sound originated from. He slowly made his way to the door making as little sound as he could.

*If I open this door whoever is in there might jump me. I need to beat him to the punch.*

David slowly rose and stood as close to the door as he could without standing in front of it. He slightly bend his knees and stood on the front of his feet so he could make a quick jump inside and surprise whoever was in there. He pushed the button to open the door feeling the adrenaline pump through his veins. The door slid open ominously and David waited a second to see if the ambusher inside would make a move. Nothing happened for a second so David took his chance. He jumped inside the room with a battle cry to startle his assailant.

When David entered the room he was surprised at many things. First of all was the room a bathroom and did the moisture in the air caught his senses. Second was the fact the assailant wasn't hiding but standing right in front and letting out a loud yelp. Last but not least was the fact that the 'assailant' was actually Kayla whom he recognizes from the hospital standing in nothing but a towel around her body. As soon as David realized his mistake it was too late. Kayla loud out a loud yelp and the surprise 'attack' from David was so successful she fainted on the spot.

"Oh sugar honey ice tea..."