22. The Plan

TWENTY-TWO

THE PLAN

Naomi

"Sorry the Jurou Biljana fare isn't that great." Faktil gently squeezed Naomi's knee as he sat beside her on the storeroom floor. "I'd have replicated something from my people but that would look suspicious."

Naomi diverted her attention from the pair of Dremin busily at work, to her platter. It was loaded with some type of cooked meat and wilted roughage that she'd been picking at. The fact this food was replicated in something similar to a 3D printer was just amazing.

"It's okay, handsome. I am not that hungry." She smiled in appreciation at him.

"Your metabolism is still rebounding from being in stasis." He held out his hand and she passed him the platter.

"It's so wild to think I was in some sort of coma, asleep for a year." She shook her head in disbelief.

Faktil made a funny sound as he frowned. Clearly, he had something to add, but was avoiding it.

"Just say it." She nudged him with her elbow .

"Assuming you were part of the same Miran Sona colony ship that my friends Ava and Elena were on, you've been gone for roughly three Earth years."

Her stomach sank at the news.

No. Don't freak out. Naomi forced aside the sick feeling.

Her ‘ohana had already come to terms that she was lost at sea. The only difference was that they'd had longer to deal with it, and she wasn't really lost at sea.

"Are you all right?" Faktil gave her knee another squeeze.

"I am." She kissed his arm and patted his tail that had reflexively coiled around her waist.

"I will find a way to take you home if that's what you want, Blossom."

The sudden fear and insecurity in Faktil's eyes broke her heart. Just because the circumstances of how they met were different, nothing about their relationship had changed.

Except, that's not exactly true.

It suddenly occurred to her that because they'd married in the simulation, it might not count among his people. She didn't even need to look at the spot on her shoulder or her breast to know his mating marks weren't there. Now she was anxious, too.

What if here in the real world I don't react to his mating hormone? Her heart sped up, a knot forming in her stomach. It would mean we aren't married.

"No." She shook her head. Truthfully, she did want to see her family, but not if it meant being parted from Faktil.

Faktil's shoulders eased and the light returned to his eyes. He was obviously just as worried as she was.

We love each other. It will all be fine. She forced aside the worry and focused on a different concern.

"So, all the people will be protected in those pods. They won't freeze or suffocate in space?" She frowned as she looked at the stasis capsules containing her fellow abductees.

The plan involved the pods going into space. And though she wouldn't be with her fellow humans, all she could imagine was herself asleep, obliviously drifting amidst the stars, the way they would be.

"The stasis pods are a contained environment. They are like small versions of this ship," Faktil assured her.

"Okay."

Unsure of the claim, she studied the thin clear lid of the capsule she'd been asleep in. Bandit's tentacles with their tiny feathery cilia moved a mile a minute, creating a gaping crack in the domed cover. The Dremin looked like they were knitting, or in Bandit's case unknitting the pod. It seemed to take him very little effort to dismantle the lid. Her dubious gaze swiveled back to Faktil.

"I know it doesn't appear that way," Faktil chuckled.

She grinned at him. His laugh was still as deep and seductive as it had been. It was also infectious.

"I don't understand how Bandit and Traveler are able to do all this," she giggled, reminded of Bandit's goofy plan. She focused on Traveler diligently working. "How can Traveler make something out of nothing?"

"The Dremin are able to skim elements from your stasis capsule, the ship hull, and even the air to build with." He pointed.

She nodded, noting the way parts of the capsule and the floor around it looked cratered like they'd been nibbled on.

"They're building on a molecular level," she commented in awe.

"Aye. They can build worlds in our minds and link us together, so building a horde of bio-droids doesn't seem nearly so complicated." Faktil made a funny face, conveying that even he was in awe of all this.

"I guess if you put it that way," she snorted incredulously.

"I'm just glad they are on our side."

"Agreed." She grinned at Bandit, grateful the little Dremin sought out a friend and chose her. It broke her heart imagining Bandit all alone on this ship, abused until he was like a zombie performing a simple function. "I can see why it's good the reptiles don't know they're sentient or all that they can do." She shivered, imagining how the Dremin's skills could be abused.

"How is it coming?" an overgrown iguana on two legs asked as it emerged through the hatch in the floor.

Naomi stiffened and flattened her back against the wall. It was one of the Jurou Biljana and it was hideous. The beast had a long, green, scaly snout full of sharp teeth, a spiny head, and menacing beady yellow eyes. Add its curved, sharp claws, and thick tail that whipped back and forth, and she could see why they were feared throughout the universe. The thing just looked evil.

"Easy, Blossom, it's only Thorac." Faktil wrapped an arm around her. "Hey! Drop the disguise!"

Even knowing it was the bone-armored warrior in disguise didn't help. Thank god Faktil and his allies were working to prevent these scaly freaks from invading Earth.

"Oh. My apologies." Thorac pressed his wrist, and the scaly fa?ade melted away. "It looks like things are progressing."

"We are nearly done building the units," Traveler reported, its tentacles still moving at a dizzying pace.

"I'm still not sure how I feel about this plan." Thorac surveyed the partially dismantled stasis pod.

"It will work. We know how dirty the reptiles are. I'm certain Bandit is right and they are often plagued with infestations," Faktil reassured him.

"Very well. It's not as if we had any better ideas. Here, I brought the combat shell for Naomi." Thorac tossed a briefcase toward Faktil. "It's already programmed to mimic a Jurou Biljana."

"Good." Faktil caught the case.

"Mahalo." She smiled at Thorac in appreciation.

"It's no problem. We carry a spare on our cruisers in case ours malfunctions or situations like this," the bone-armored man assured her.

"Does this happen often?" she asked with a nervous laugh.

"Well…" Thorac began, but then his gaze shifted to the right, his eyes widened subtly and he paused, then looked back at her. "Ah, no, just standard protocol." He shook his head.

Naomi turned to find Faktil glaring at his friend.

"Ha," she barked. "Seriously, guys, don't sugar coat this for me."

"Things will be fine." Faktil's gaze softened as he spoke to her. "This is not just a disguise, it's body armor." He opened the case, revealing oblong tan disks.

"Aye, and the combat shell can even withstand stints in the vacuum of space," Thorac added.

"But how does its occupant fare?" she murmured, then realized that was said out loud, and did her best to smile at them.

"Are you going to be all right with this?" Faktil asked, worry reflected on his face. "You stick to my side when this charade starts."

Naomi pulled in a deep breath. "I just need to let out all of my snarky doom and gloom now. This stuff is so new and I'm trying to quickly process things. I get that there are risks, but I do trust you. And disguising body armor is actually pretty damn impressive." She squeezed Faktil's forearm and mustered a better smile than before.

"Goddess, I love you." Faktil smiled, showing off his dimples. He hooked the back of her neck and reeled her in for a quick peck on the lips.

Naomi's smile turned into a grin, which made kissing him back difficult, but she managed it. The unrestrained way he said he loved her made warmth course throughout her whole body, dispelling her fear. Plus, Faktil was stinking adorable.

"Is that normal?" Bandit asked.

"I told you, flesh beings are preoccupied with their reproductive parts," Traveler replied.

"Okay, okay!" Naomi snorted as she pulled away from Faktil. "Don't you two have work to do?"

Faktil and Thorac chuckled.

"I thought we had freedom," Bandit commented to Traveler.

"We do, however, we agreed on a mutually beneficial arrangement, and our labor was part of that. Though, note that we may voice our opinions, revel in each other's merits, and jovially antagonize each other. I enjoy it greatly," Traveler explained.

Naomi covered her mouth as she laughed at the unusual exchange. The Dremin were definitely a different species.

Faktil grinned then turned his attention away from the Dremin. "Let's get this combat shell on you." He took her hand and helped her to her feet.

"Do I need to strip?" She looked down at her swimsuit. She wasn't sure where her other clothes went. The Grays probably took them when they put her in the pod.

An impish light entered Faktil's eyes as his gaze slowly traveled down her body. She giggled at the pervert and swatted his bare chest.

"No," he chuckled.

She watched as he placed the disks on the back of her wrists. The oblong flat pieces adhered to her skin, almost like they were sticky. One went on the back of her neck and both of her shins, too.

"Now, I'm going to engage the shell. We're going to let you get acclimated to it." Faktil lifted her wrist and pressed one of the little buttons.

"Oh," Naomi declared when the pale green scales spread out across her skin from where the disks were placed. They looked so real, yet felt like nothing was there. If she had to describe the sensation, it was similar to dipping into a pool, when the water-line moved along her skin. Naomi's eyes widened when the sensation reached her face, sliding over her cheeks. Suddenly it wasn't so neat anymore.

"Just breathe easy, Blossom," Faktil encouraged.

There were going to be a lot of things she'd need to take in stride in this new reality, but this was daunting.

In through my nose. Out through my mouth. She forced her breathing to calm as she white-knuckle-gripped her thighs.

The combat shell slid over her eyes and she blinked, but besides a pink hue, she didn't notice a difference. When it moved over her nose and mouth, aside from tickling a little, there was no choking sensation whatsoever. Naomi sighed in relief, her shoulders relaxing.

"That's not bad at all." Her eyes widened at how different her voice was. It now contained a hiss, and she wasn't sure she'd spoken English. "Amazing." Naomi looked down the nose of her elongated scaly snout as she examined her clawed green hands. Her grin broadened as she glanced at her back. She even had a tail. "Like it?" She swished her butt for Faktil, making the tail flick back and forth.

Faktil barked out a laugh then leaned in. "Scales aren't my thing, but later we'll program the combat shell to mimic the Cadi," he whispered suggestively in her ear with that sexy growl of his.

Her cheeks heated and she bit her bottom lip.

"Ew, that expression is horrible on a reptile. Whatever you are doing, stop it!" Thorac declared, blanching.

"Hey, that's my female!" Faktil glared at Thorac.

Faktil then looked back at her and grimaced, though he quickly suppressed it. Naomi imagined a lizard with a giant overbite, and burst out laughing. The pair joined her. Once they were done laughing the alien men panned her, giving the suit an honest appraisal.

"We need to alter her height," Thorac suggested. "They'll think she's a youth."

"Agreed. The shell starts out by closely matching your dimensions," Faktil explained as he took her wrist and adjusted something on the fancy suit.

Instantly her perspective changed, and rather than having to look up at Faktil, they were almost eye to eye.

"Oh, hey there, big boy." She smiled, liking this new height. It was far easier on her neck.

Faktil chuckled. "Having a Jurou Biljana flirt with me is a little disturbing."

"Ah, so you can say it, but not me?!" Thorac huffed.

She grinned at the pair.

"This new height may take getting used to, so walk slower at first," Faktil advised and she nodded.

"The preparations are done." Bandit stopped at her feet. "I-I do not enjoy this guise," the Dremin admitted then began climbing up her leg .

"Sorry." Naomi couldn't blame Bandit after what he'd been subjected to among the reptiles.

"Bandit, once this plan starts, you're going to need to follow Traveler through the ship conduits to the hangar," Faktil reminded Bandit.

"I recall the plan I conceived of," Bandit sarcastically countered. "I am giving No-me physical affection and temporary parting words."

She chuckled at them and placed a kiss on Bandit's orange globe. "And it's a very creative plan. Be safe. Love you and I'll see you on the other side."

"Be safe as well, No-me. I have much affection for you." Bandit's tentacles tickled her face like when he was a bird and would nuzzle her head while sitting on her shoulder. "I also don't dislike you, Bad Pig, correction, Faktil, so don't get damaged." Bandit scurried back down her body.

Her eyes widened, surprised Bandit showed affection for Faktil. It was progress.

"I feel the same, fuzzy butt," Faktil chuckled.

"Let's get moving." Thorac led the way down the hatch, rather than out the primary bay doors.

Faktil was right. With her new height, it took her several steps to get accustomed to the feel of walking in the high-tech suit. She got a little hung up on the ladder leading down into the maintenance tunnel. Thankfully the body armor improved her grip on the rungs, so she was able to compensate without much notice.

Impressive. She nodded, leaping down to the grate floor below.

"Be safe," she whispered again, then watched as Bandit and Traveler disappeared behind a pair of pipes, worming their way into the walls of the ship. It was odd to watch as they seemed to turn into liquid and melt into a narrow crack .

Naomi, Faktil and Thorac continued down the tunnel and around the bend, before Thorac paused at a door.

"Bandit, we're at the door to the main corridor, cut the surveillance feed," Faktil said, just above a whisper, then engaged his reptile disguise.

This is it. There's no going back. She'd never infiltrated anything, unless sneaking into a book signing her hotel hosted to see her favorite author counted. She was about to nervously nibble her lip but stopped. Don't do that! The weird expression alone could betray us to the real reptiles.

"The surveillance has been momentarily disabled," Bandit replied, sounding loud, like he was right next to them.

She worriedly looked at Faktil. "That was loud."

"The Dremin are speaking directly to our language implants. The reptiles can't hear them."

"The Grays gave me a language implant?!" Her eyes widened, surprised by the news.

"They must have." Faktil nodded. "It's why you understand us. On the island, I thought I picked up your language since I've been around several humans. That was clearly wrong. Yet another one of those incongruities that should've clued me in that something was off." He shook his head incredulously.

Thorac looked back at them, and even in disguise she could see he was giving them the stink eye.

"Sorry," she whispered. Now wasn't the time for curious questions.

Faktil nodded they were ready.

"Opening the door," Thorac whispered, pressed a sensor by the door and it slid open. He looked both ways. "Clear."

They emerged into a corridor that was better lit, but certainly did not smell better. She'd ignored the stagnant smell in the storage bay and maintenance tunnel, but this stench was downright fetid. Somehow it fit with the creepy reptiles, though.

They headed toward a pair of doors nearby and made it before spotting any of the reptiles. The door on the left slid open and she thought it was a closet until they crowded in and it became apparent it was an elevator.

"Leaving the lift," Thorac whispered as they exited the elevator at the floor above.

Instantly they spotted four Jurou Biljana coming down the hall. The real reptiles were even uglier than the disguises portrayed, with scars, broken spines, and flaking scales. Naomi stuck close to Faktil's back. As they neared the group of the reptiles, it occurred to her that she looked weird cowering behind Faktil. She stood up straighter and attempted to mimic the way the lizard men walked.

"Reengaging the surveillance," Bandit announced, again sounding absurdly loud.

Startled, Naomi jumped slightly, which was not the image she was trying to project.

When they reached the reptiles, the four scaly assholes refused to move over so they could pass. The challenge was apparent in their beady yellow eyes.

They're bullies! For some crazy reason she thought they'd be decent to their own kind, but they weren't. Dicks!

Faktil stepped forward. Even though he was taller than the reptiles and armored, it still made her nervous.

Shit!

"Move!" Faktil snarled, thrusting his chest forward, posturing like the scaly assholes.

"Who will make us, the short jumpy one?" the one with a stubby tail countered and the other three laughed.

Dammit. They saw that.

In school, and even in business, she'd dealt with her fair share of bullies. She always managed to hold her own. Naomi stepped around Faktil and eyed each of the reptiles.

"It's not height that counts." She then glanced back at her tail, hoping the Jurou Biljana had a preoccupation with their tails, like Faktil's culture.

Faktil, Thorac, and even the reptile's companions burst out laughing, meanwhile the Jurou Biljana with the stubby tail glared at her. If looks could kill, she would've dropped dead. Hopefully she wouldn't be here long enough for the reptile to act out his revenge.

Still chuckling, Faktil and Thorac pushed past the group, and she followed. When they made it around the corner without another incident, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"You did good." Faktil grinned at her, though it was creepy since he was in the scaly disguise.

"Are you sure? Do I have a knife in my back?" she joked, relieved a fight didn't actually break out.

"No," Thorac snorted. "We're almost there."

They slowed when they were a few yards from the primary entrance to the storage bay with the stasis pods. As much as she didn't want to see more Jurou Biljana, for this part of the plan it was important to have witnesses. When the action started it needed to appear as if they were all surprised, innocent bystanders.

"This is where I gesture wildly so we appear to be delayed by an argument." Thorac jabbed his hand toward them then up in the air, pantomiming for the cameras.

"I am able to pretend to be upset, too." Faktil made aggressive gestures of his own.

Naomi chuckled, the goofy comments easing her jitters.

"This game of charades is fun." She playfully punched Faktil's arm .

After several moments of this nonsense, hissing voices from an intersecting corridor captured their attention.

"Well, I'm going to sever his tail if I ever see the scab again," Thorac continued, his random threats more believable.

They picked up the pace so they would reach the storage bay at the same time as the pair of reptiles coming around the corner.

"I'd bet on that fight. It's too bad we have to make the next delivery," Faktil added, still playing his part.

"Five, four, three…" Thorac counted down under his breath for the Dremin.

Naomi's gaze was riveted to the storage bay doors.

Two. One.

The doors burst open and a sea of crabs came spilling out of the storage room, just like the ones that mercilessly harassed Faktil on the island. She stifled a laugh at the startled and disturbed expression on the two reptiles' faces as they danced to avoid the wave of crustaceans. The attack of the man-eating parasitic crabs had begun.

"Good job, Bandit," she snickered under her breath then started acting horrified.

Faktil quo Laus

"What in the abscessed asshole are these creatures!" The Jurou Biljana leapt back, while his companion with a nasty scar across his face kicked the crabs swarming at their feet.

Faktil suppressed a boisterous laugh that nearly burst out. It was nice seeing Bandit torment someone else for a change. There was pressure on his feet and calves from several of the bio-droids attempting to attack him, but thanks to the combat shell none of the sharp pinches registered. He shook them off and kicked back the small swarm. The way they splat against the wall was satisfying, also very realistic. In fact, they were the best bio-droids he'd ever seen, looking exactly like actual creatures. After the dream world the Dremin created for him, making these automatons was relatively simple, yet he was still impressed with their craftsmanship.

"I saw these parasites once," Thorac declared, his high-pitched hiss perfectly mimicking an anxious reptile. "They're like the Ubi and lay their eggs in people."

That was a lie, but the reptiles didn't know it.

"You don't mean the ones that burst out?!" Faktil gripped his stomach and mimicked his guts exploding outward, amping up the horrific situation.

The reptiles' eyes widened, their tails going ramrod straight. They instantly pulled their disrupters and began firing at the bio-droids. Faktil and Thorac joined in.

"This isn't my job!" The scarred Jurou Biljana started backing up. He was practically dancing with the way he frantically kicked at the crabs while wildly firing his disrupter.

Thank the goddess we're wearing combat shells ! Faktil cringed, certain one of the reptiles would accidentally blow the other's head off at any moment.

"Agreed." The other scaly bastard started to retreat, too.

"Well, it's not mine!" Naomi tossed up her hands.

Faktil grinned. Naomi was trying not to say much, since she was unfamiliar with the Jurou Biljana, but she was doing great, honestly, better than great. She'd swiftly picked up that the reptiles were all bluster, and stood up to the tailless bastard, maintaining their cover like a pro. This was a harrowing situation and she was being so damn brave, especially after just waking up from the simulation. He was so proud of his stunning mate. He wished he could simply pick her up, run to his cruiser, and get her out of here. Sadly, he had a job to do, and an obligation to the humans in stasis.

"Halt!" Faktil snarled. They couldn't let the reptiles run off. This plan worked best if crewmen from this ship were a part of it. "We're on the feed, you imbeciles." He gestured to the node in the ceiling.

"So!" Thorac countered. "I'm just here to dump a delivery."

"They'll know who to blame when the whole ship is infested, maggot for brains!" Faktil shot back.

Everyone looked up at the surveillance node, or almost everyone. Thorac's eyes widened at him. Faktil nearly broke character and laughed, knowing his friend was amused by the insult. It was the best he could come up with. Faktil shrugged. The reptiles believed it and that's all that mattered.

"I'm not getting tossed out an airlock because you cowards can't handle cleanup!" Faktil snapped. It helped that his Jurou Biljana rank appeared to be higher than the crew they'd encountered.

The real reptiles snarled, but halted their retreat.

"So, what are we supposed to do?" one of them demanded.

"Keep firing until we get them all ." Faktil continued shooting the crabs, though he missed several to prolong this charade.

While firing on the pretend pests, Thorac entered the storage bay for phase two.

"I found where they came from!" Thorac shouted.

Faktil suppressed a grin as the reptiles nervously entered the bay, all while stomping and firing on the swarm of pretend parasites.

"They-they burst out of the stasis capsule," Thorac ominously stammered .

Everyone joined Thorac around the pod that originally belonged to Naomi. It had been altered so it looked like a horde of crabs ate their way out.

"The parasites totally consumed the slave," Faktil whispered in mock horror.

"Can these things eat metal?" the scarred reptile asked while staring at one of the crabs still gnawing on the damaged pod.

Nice touch, Dremin.

"What does it look like, moron?!" the other Jurou Biljana snapped at his fellow crewman.

Faktil caught Naomi smiling for a moment before she resumed her stunned expression. He liked seeing that she was amused rather than afraid.

"I bet all these slaves are infested," Thorac hissed.

"If those parasites can eat the ship, they need to get these infected slaves off this cruiser," Faktil insisted, shooting the crabs with more urgency. He also made sure his tail whipped wildly, just like an agitated reptile.

"He said he's here doing a drop-off," one Jurou Biljana said, pointing at Thorac.

"That's right. You have a cruiser. You can get these capsules off this ship," the scarred reptile added.

"You do!" Naomi pointed at Thorac.

"We should hail the quartermaster," one of them said, worriedly glancing around at all the pods.

The Jurou Biljana weren't known for their intelligence, but the higher their rank the more brains they tended to possess. So, the last thing they needed was an officer showing up.

"Who knows when the rest of these capsules will burst, but you go ahead and waste time hailing someone, and I'll start actually doing something," Faktil snarled. "Someone help me turn on the mag-lev." He pretended to hunt for the switch to turn on the stasis pod's levitator.

From the corner of his eye, he watched as the Jurou Biljana considered their options for a moment then jumped in to help.

Thank you! He sighed in relief.

"We're on our way to the hangar," he murmured under his breath to the Dremin who were monitoring their progress.

Naomi

Naomi tried to not fidget as they moved through the giant ship with the stasis pods. Each of them were pulling a train of five hovering, futuristic coffins connected by some sort of electromagnet. That part was really very easy and took no effort at all. The hard part was not looking at her people with sadness and horror. She was playing a part and needed to stay in character or this whole farce would fall apart. Except, her gaze kept drifting to the young woman asleep in the capsule next to her.

She's just a girl. She can't be more than twenty. Her whole future has been ripped from her. Naomi's eyes burned as tears threatened.

She was trying to be positive. Their plan was working. That was great. Yay! Except inwardly she was freaking out more and more with each step.

Don't be so pessimistic. Keep walking. Keep walking, she coached herself.

"I thought we killed all these vermin," the scarred reptile groused when a crab appeared seemingly from nowhere.

"Obviously not. Stop jawing and kill it," the other snapped .

Faktil huffed and shot the crab while the actual reptiles bickered.

"Why are they following us?" one of the scaly fuckers asked.

Because we need some physical proof of why we're moving the capsules if an important reptile shows up, Naomi sarcastically, but silently replied, annoyed by the slaving bastards.

"I bet they sense a queen in one of these pods," Thorac bullshitted.

The scarred reptile eyed one of the humans suspiciously, obviously looking for a queen crab ready to burst free of the poor victim. It was, of course, all nonsense.

The farther they went, the more reptiles they passed, some who had nothing better to do than follow, which added to her growing anxiety. Thankfully the scaly crewmen they'd conned into helping were the ones to share what was going on, giving credence to this whole insane escapade. Most of the newcomers fled when they learned they could be infected by the crabs trailing behind them. She would have laughed if she wasn't so anxious. With each scaly bastard that approached, she was certain they'd be stopped and discovered. Yet all the Jurou Biljana seemed to accept they were following orders.

Thank you! She sighed when she spotted a spaceship through an open set of doors up ahead. That had to be the hangar.

Naomi gaped when they entered the room the size of a football field. For some reason she didn't expect the hangar to be so large. Six ships of various sizes were parked in the sprawling garage. They didn't look nearly as futuristic as she expected, unless a dystopian garbage dump was what she'd been imagining, which it wasn't. None of the ships were the same, and many of their parts didn't even seem to match themselves, having uncoordinated faded paint.

We're going to be riding in one of those. She cringed.

"We need a tractor net," Faktil informed the reptile stationed at the entrance.

"What do you think you are doing with the human chattel?" the hangar master demanded.

This is where everything falls apart. Naomi tensed up. I'm going to be sick.

"I've got another delivery to make. You can keep these infested slaves for all I care." Thorac started marching toward a small, boxy ship.

"We passed the storage bay with the chattel. It burst open and parasites started spilling out. They ate one of the slaves, including the stasis capsule, so get the tractor net so we can get them off this ship before it's completely infested!" the scarred reptile shouted at the hangar master.

"There's one." Naomi pointed out as a crab dropped off one of the hovering pods.

"See!" the other reptile barked.

The hangar master's eyes widened as he gaped at the crab.

"Come on, let's go. This is no longer our problem," Faktil said to them, tossing his hands up.

"No! Get these things out of my hangar!" the hangar master insisted.

"Fine!" Faktil snapped in aggravation, though she knew he was pleased the reverse psychology worked.

"The tractor nets are over there." The hangar master pointed.

They moved the stasis pods to the small, boxy cruiser that belonged to Thorac, and Faktil turned to the Jurou Biljana who helped them .

"Go. We'll get these hooked up." Faktil roughly waved the reptiles off.

"Good. We're going to get our tails chewed for being late to our post," the scarred one groused.

"They can watch the feed," Faktil grunted, pretending he actually cared about the reptile's plight.

Naomi relaxed slightly when the pair of reptiles took off.

"Come." Faktil led her to another clunky ship that looked like it shouldn't be able to fly. He tapped on the cell phone strapped to his wrist and the door opened. "Go in, please."

Although she planned to help get the stasis pods situated, since those were her people, she didn't argue. Naomi nodded to Faktil, went up the short ramp and into the cruiser. It startled her when the door instantly closed behind her.

He's not taking any chances I'll somehow get stuck here. She smiled at how sweet he was.

Naomi peered out the small window in the door. Faktil and Thorac fitted a piece of equipment to the other ship and positioned the stasis pods in evenly spaced rows. When they flicked on the tractor net there was a faint glow that encompassed all the pods. It had a subtle grid pattern just like a net.

"Oh!" Naomi screamed when something brushed against her leg. Her gaze swung down in fright. "Oh, thank you," she sighed, seeing the Dremin crawling up her leg.

"Sorry I startled you," Bandit said.

"It's okay." She patted his orange sphere, then picked him up and placed him on her shoulder. "I'm just anxious."

"I sympathize. I am ready to be off this vessel," Bandit agreed.

"You could say that again." She shivered.

"I am ready to be off this vessel," Bandit repeated.

Naomi would have laughed but she was too on edge. She turned back to the window and watched as Thorac got into his cruiser. Faktil was heading her way when he abruptly stopped and spun back around.

"No, no, no, no," she chanted, spotting a reptile swiftly approaching Faktil, looking very angry, its tail thrashing.

The Jurou Biljana's arm gestures grew even wilder as Thorac's ship lifted off the floor, all the stasis pods rising with it. The reptile then pulled his gun and pointed it at the stasis pods then at her husband. Faktil wore the same body armor she did, but still she panicked. She'd felt when the crabs and Bandit climbed her leg. What would a blast at point-blank range do?

"Fuck! What do we do?" She anxiously looked at Bandit.

"I don't know. We exhausted the supply of bio-droids we assembled," Bandit relayed.

"What about the feed? Can you show the reptile the video of what just happened?"

"Yes!" Bandit's tentacles wiggled.

Barely a second later the angry reptile was looking at the tablet strapped to his arm. The scaly asshole then looked at the stasis pods, then back at his tablet. Finally, he lowered his weapon.

"Thank you!" Naomi sighed, her shoulders easing.

Her relief doubled as Thorac's ship took off with the stasis pods in tow, and Faktil was mounting the cruiser ramp. She stood back when the cruiser door opened and Faktil entered.

"Oh, thank god!" She flung her arms around him the instant the doors were closed.