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Captain Heoni Rels strode into the main hanger bay with a disciplined gait that betrayed her past military service, though it had an ease that said those years were long behind her. Still, it leant a lethal undertone to the white-tail deer's otherwise harmless and aging appearance. She, Marrin, and Fenthik had served in the same unit during the last war against the empire nearly a century ago, and her two compatriots turned crew stood at rapt attention upon seeing her while the younger Fynor and Gahn all but gave her a casual acknowledgement. At one point in time she would've berated the two of them for it, but the Teshar was a civilian freighter, and she, the bear, and the older wolf were no longer soldiers. She nodded at her crewmen and looked at the human seated on the floor below them, his hands bound though all he did was stare forlornly at the land vehicle, a truck as the man had described it according to her reports.

<<So this is our stowaway,>> she said matter of factly to Marrin, who replied <<Yes Captain,>> despite it not having been a question.

She looked at the man, studying him and noticing that while he certainly did appear human, there was a roughness to him that she'd not seen on others. His clothing was well worn, loose fitting, and rumpled, nothing like the seamless perfection of utility and form that most humans wore. He also had an unpleasant odour that made a deeply buried instinct of her's demand she run from him, though she kept it in check, instead noting that at least it was yet another diffence compared to the typical lack of odour humans had.He finally looked up at her with the blank look of one broken, sighed, and returned his attention to the truck as if somehow it was the only thing he cared about. She caught the barest whisper as if he was talking to himself, "Wolves, bears, cats, and now deer, all this delusion needs now is Dr. Moreau." She noticed that his accent was different from any she'd heard before.

"Who is this Dr. Moreau?" she asked him, though he acted as if he hadn't heard her. "Is he another human that has boarded my ship?" He continued to ignore her.

Marrin grabbed him and roughly turned him to face her, "Captain Rels asked you a question, human, answer her."

"I thought you were the Captain," the human replied flatly to Marrin before addressing her, "Dr. Moreau is a character from a book about experimentat- Oh why does it matter?" His tone suddenly changing to a defiant sadness, "You're all just going to kill me, or eat me, or whatever, I don't care. I should've died to that semi, so get on with it." He returned to ignoring them, awaiting the inevitability he thought was coming.

"Why would we eat you? Do we look malnourished enough to consider such a barbaric thing?" she replied, the fur on the back of her neck rising. There was something very odd about this human, more than just his appearance and smell, he lacked their unwavering arrogance and superiority. She had witnessed dozens of humans fall in battle, ships blown away, garrisons overrun and they all died still believing they had the upperhand against the Rukot, yet this one had resigned himself to a death that he claimed should've already come.

The human laughed in a way that unsettled the five Rukot, "You all look like animals I'd find in a forest, yet you speak, fly through space on a ship, walk on two feet, and have hands that only vaguely resemble paws, how am I supposed to know? You shouldn't exist yet here you are, and I should be dead yet here I am. Maybe this is some kind of hallucination I'm having as I'm dying, crushed in that truck on the front of a semi." He pointed at the vehicle.

Marrin growled at the words, and said to the Captain, <<See, he thinks of us as dumb beasts, like all other humans do, is that not proof of his lies?>>

Captain Rels looked up at her first officer, <<He sounds more confused than anything, and acts like no human you or I have ever met. I do not think he has seen a Rukot before.>>

Fynor chimed in, <<If he's from the time he claims, and Earth, it would've been before the first Rukot were uplifted. I think he is referring to the animals that were our ancestors.>>

<<Captain, why not give him what he asks, the only good human is a dead one, this one would make it easy,>> added Fenthik, grinning, <<I'll even eat him if that's what he wants.>>

She gave the bear an unimpressed look before looking to Gahn, <<What do you think, Gahn?>>

The young wolf shrugged, <<Everything about him seems different from what I know of humans, but aside from the attack when I was a child, all I know is what the records and father have taught me.>>

<<He does seem very odd for a human,>> she looked back down at him.

"I can tell when people are talking about me, yanno, I might not understand a word of what you all just said but I know it was about me." He looked back at her, "I take it you've decided to kill me, can I ask that you return my body to Earth?"

"We are not going to kill you, at least not yet. Your name is Roger, correct? Why do you want to go to Earth?"

"It's home, I just want to go home," he sighed and then gave her a forced smile and raised his bound hands to her. "And yes, my name is Roger, Roger Keene, nice to meet you Captain Rels."

She stared at him for a moment and thought <<What a very strange human indeed,>> before recognizing his gesture of greeting and taking his hand in hers and then releasing it. She responded, "We cannot take you to Earth, instead we will take you to the Council of Conglomeration and let them decide what to do with you. In the meantime would you be willing to answer my quartermaster and his assistant's questions about your, truck, is it?"

"Do I have a choice?" he asked, almost rhetorically since it felt like it was more an order than a request.

"You can return to your cell for the duration of your stay on my ship."

"Can I have some real food at least? Please don't take this the wrong way, but those cubes seem less like food than mcnuggets."

She wondered what these "mcnuggets" were and couldn't help but smile at the mention of the ubiquitous ration cubes that no sane inhabitant of the galaxy found agreeable, "Marrin will look into it." The old wolf's eyes narrowed for a moment as if he was about to object, but she fixed him with a stare that made his ears lower and he nodded.

Roger spoke up, the life seeming to have returned a little to his eyes, "Captain, may I make one other request?"

"What is it?"

He held up his hands once more, "I don't think I'm much of a threat to any of you, and it would be easier for me to explain things to your crewmen if my hands were unbound."

Marrin growled again, <<Captain, don't trust him, this is probably a ploy.>>

<<Marrin, he lacks claws and teeth and Fynor and Gahn will make sure he does not get access to his weapons,>> She looked at the latter two, who nodded and moved to place the firearms into a storage crate, locking it. When they finished she looked Roger in the eyes, removed his bindings, "Any attempt to attack my crew will result in your immediate return to your cell, possibly not whole but certainly alive enough to answer the council's questions. Do you understand?"

The human stared right back at her, "Yes ma'am."

====================================

Gahn mentally kicked himself as he felt the cold metal pressed against his chin, if he lived through this his father would be livid over his trusting Roger, who was now holding a much smaller version of the weapons they'd found in the back of the truck there. The thing had been hidden under the seat and overlooked when he and Fynor had studied the scans of the vehicle. He should've noticed something was up when after eating Roger had been particularily insistent about showing him how to operate the truck properly, claiming that Gahn's trial and error methodology would result in him breaking "parts as rare as unicorns" whatever unicorns were. It had all been a ploy to gain access to the weapon, and now the human was armed and after firing a single shot past the young wolf's head Gahn knew his claws could do nothing to stop Roger from firing one of the projectiles into his head.

It had started out earnest enough, the human had immediately gone over to the truck and practically fawned over it, even talking to the thing as if it was a female. After he'd confirmed that Fynor and Gahn had not molested what he claimed was "his baby" he looked at the two Rukot and inquired as to what questions they had for him. They'd spent an hour going over lists of materials, what various numbers and indicators meant, the human had even happily bragged to them that he'd found it "online for cheap" and fully restored it himself, rebuilding and repairing it from a "very sorry state."

Marrin had a crewman from the galley deliver some food to the hanger around that time and the three had stopped to eat, with the questions turning to Roger asking them all about the Rukot. He expressed surprise when they'd informed him than they were the descendents of uplifted animals, at first claiming such a thing was impossible given that humanity had only barely just begun scratching the surface of genetic engineering, let alone space travel.

As they spoke it became clear to Gahn that Roger was either speaking the truth, or fully believed what he was saying when he said he was from Earth and that the year was 2023. Anguish had threatened to extinguish the light that had returned to the human's eyes when they'd informed him the year was 6503, and he said he refused to believe that, because it would mean everyone he knew or cared about had died long ago. The discussion then turned to Earth, and he regaled them with stories that ranged from the simple pleasures of spending a night out under the sky, to rescuing kittens who's mother had been "hit by a car," apparently something similar to his truck but not used for cargo, to the horrors of wars fought over resources like the fluids used in truck or in how to correctly worship the same god.

Fynor had excused himself at that point, claiming he had duties to attend to and assured Gahn that he could handle the human on his own. That's when Roger had first suggested teaching the young wolf "how to drive" as he called operating the truck. They'd spent the next hour clearing part of the hanger and when the human was satisfied they had enough room he'd opened the door and told Gahn to "take the wheel." The human then went over the proper starting procedure, which varied only a little from what Gahn had figured out on his own, except that there was something called a "parking brake" and that the vehicle would "stall out" if it was engaged or if they tried moving from a stop in any gear other than first or reverse. He'd explained that the leftmost pedal was called a clutch which was used by the left foot to disengage the engine from the wheels for starting and changing gears. They'd moved onto the two pedals on the right, with the rightmost being the "gas pedal," though this vehicle ran on diesel fuel and not gasoline it was just called that, and that with the right foot it controlled how fast the vehicle moved in a given gear. To the left of this pedal was the remaining one, the brake pedal which was responsible for slowing down, it also used by the right foot, it could also cause the truck to stall out if used too heavily and that the right and left pedals needed to be used in tandem for smooth operation.

Gahn had found the hasty lesson almost mind boggling, and stared at the wheel while contemplating just how complicated this so-called primitive machine really was. Roger had reassured him that he could do it, and the only way to learn how was to try, just that he should "go slow and try to avoid burning out my clutch, I don't think finding a spare would be easy around here." He also suggested they put on the restraints, which were something Gahn was familiar with, and just about the only thing that had remained from the era the truck came from. Roger flashed him a toothy grin and said "well wolfy, in the words of Bender Bending Rodriguez, let's go already."

It didn't go well, try as he might, Gahn had trouble getting the hang of getting the vehicle to move without lurching forward and stalling, though Roger insisted that it was normal for a novice. After several more attempts, the last of which was mildly successful with him managing to drive forward about 10 meters before stalling again the wolf threw his paws up in frustration. Roger had remained patient until he'd calmed and then suggested showing Gahn how to do it, suggesting they switch seats almost a little too enthusiastically, as if

the human had intended for it to happen. He told Gahn to get out and walk around the other side while he slid over behind the wheel, but the wolf hadn't gotten the chance to, the moment Roger slid over, he'd reached under the seat and pulled something out from under it that looked like a small plasma pistol. The human exited the truck, and fired it by the wolf's head, the sound making his ears ring and disorienting him. Within moments the man had grabbed him and pressed the weapon hard under his chin, leading to the current situation.

"W-w-why?" Gahn asked, his eyes wide in disbelief.

"I'm sorry Gahn, I don't want to hurt you, any of you. Please believe me when I say I just want to go home. Take me to the bridge," came Roger's mournful response. "Don't force me to shoot you, I've shot many wolves but I've just met at least one I'd rather let live."

"My father was right, we shouldn't have trusted you!"

"He's a smart one, hopefully smart enough to realize that I fully intend to not become a prisoner again. Now lead." He pushed Gahn forward, keeping the handgun in place and holding the wolf's left arm tightly.

The threat in the human's voice was clear, and Gahn decided it was best to do what Roger wanted.

They exited the hanger and Gahn lead him down several halls that Roger found were thankfully empty. Eventually they came to some kind of elevator as far as he could tell and entered it.

"Where does this go?" He asked the wolf, who didn't answer.

Roger sighed, "Look, Ghan, the sooner we get to the bridge, the sooner you never have to see me again and you can go back to hating humans without any being around."

"The bridge is where this lift goes." Came the brief reponse from his hostage.

"Good, now Gahn, this is going to hurt, and I'm sorry for that, but as an apology you can keep the truck." Roger pulled the gun from under the wolf's chin and brought the butt of it down hard between his ears. Gahn yelped and crumpled to the floor of the lift.

Roger leaned down and checked him to make sure he was still breathing and pulled him against one of the walls of the lift. The last thing he wanted was to actually kill one of these Rukot, especially one that he wouldn't have minded as a friend, he doubted the success of his hastily formed plan enough as it was.

The lift stopped and he hid against the opposite wall from the one Gahn was propped up against before the doors opened. His heart started racing and he took several deep breaths while overhearing more of the alien speech that the Rukot used when not addressing him. One bellowed what he was certain was a curse of some sort and he heard the sound of footpads running towards the lift. Within moments Marrin appeared, going directly to his son and not immediately noticing Roger, who shoved the older wolf hard, dodging past and pressed as many buttons on the control panel as he could before darting out of the lift as the door closed.

He looked around the room he was in, which contained a large window looking out into space, several control panels, and a rather irate-looking Captain Rels.

"Roger, what is the meaning of this?" She demanded of him, walking towards a console.

Roger levelled the handgun at her, "Captain, stop right where you are, please don't make me shoot you."

"You think you are the first human who's threatened me?"

"No, but have you met one that had nothing to lose? I want to go back home, to Earth, and if I can't, I'll do whatever it takes to ensure I'm not imprisoned." He fired at the console she was near before turning around and shooting the control panel for the lift.

The shots were loud and echoed in the room making both of their ears ring, though the Captain was more stunned than he was, having gotten used to the sound from the times he'd forgotten hearing protection. He rushed over and grabbed her, pressing the muzzle of the gun up under her chin much like he had with Gahn. "I have five shots left, and would very much like to stand on solid ground again with all five, now take me home.

Captain Rels struggled for a moment until Roger pressed the muzzle harder under her chin, "Take me home," he repeated, and she thought about kicking him, but worried that he'd fire his weapon wildly, and given how it'd destroyed the comms console she wasn't sure she wanted to chance getting shot.

"Imprisonment is the least of your concerns now, you broke our agreement, and not only that, you have attacked me and destroyed parts of my ship, I should have you ejected into space."

"I'm supposed to be dead, threatening me with death means little."

"Why do you want to go to Earth so badly? It's a blasted wasteland."

"I don't believe you, I was there a few days ago and there's no way you can convince me that I'm somehow in the future. Clearly you've kidnapped me."

The deer sighed, it was obvious that Roger was not in a state to be reasoned with, he was ignorant of the the reality of his situation and at wits end. Damn him for getting the upper hand on her, if only she were a few decades younger, if only she hadn't trusted his ignorance to keep him compliant, if only she could show him just how foolish his plan was. Then again, she could, Sol was only about 300 lightyears away.

Marrin's voice came over her communicator, <<Captain! Are you okay? I knew we shouldn't have trusted the human.>>

"What was that?" Roger asked.

"It's Marrin, reminding me that trusting you was a mistake," she replied.

He laughed, "Trusting me was fine, telling me I couldn't go home, no, that was not."

"If I show you Earth, will you give this up and surrender?"

"I just want to go home, Captain."

"You won't like what you see if Earth truly is your home."

"We'll leave that for me to decide." He relaxed his grip a small amount, "Now, I'm going to release you, as a sign of trust that you are going to do as you said. Keep in mind that if you try any funny business that you are by far not the first deer that I've trained a gun on."

"I will show you Earth, but only if you promise to surrender."

"If Earth it truly gone, I'll put this gun in your hand and make no attempt to stop you from pulling the trigger." He released her and move back, the handgun still trained on her while he sat down in front of one of the consoles. "Take me home, oh Captain of this ship amongst the stars."

Captain Rels moved to a different console and sat at it, setting the nav computer to a course for the third planet of Sol. "I need to tell my crew where we are going. Sol is in empire territory and they must be prepared."

"Do whatever you must. How long will it take?"

"About three hours." She reached down to her communicator and pressed a button, <<Marrin, inform the crew, we are going to Sol.>>

<<Captain! He's forcing us into a trap! Don't do this,>> came the wolf's pleading reply.

<<I have little choice, he has a weapon pointed right at me and he shot both the long range comms console and the lift control panel.>>

<<We can get the lift working again as soon as Gahn wakes up, stall for time.>>

<<I have already made up my mind, he says he has nothing to lose and I believe him. We are going to Sol, prepare the crew.>>

<<Yes, Captain.>> Came the solemn reply.

She looked at Roger, who kept the weapon pointing at her. "If you betray me again, human, your death will not be as fast as you have wished for."

He shrugged, "It is not my intent to harm you, or betray you, once again, I just want to go home."

"As you wish." She pressed a button on the console, the field of stars in front of the window moved as the ship aligned itself in the direction of Sol. She pressed another button and the field distorted as a gravity wave formed around the ship, propelling it through space.