FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The gravity wave around the ENS Retribution dissipated, bringing the ship to a halt somewhere in the interstellar medium far from any solar system. The ship was only about a third of the way to Haskel, the Capital world of the empire.

Inside, a klaxon alarm went off in between the calm phrases of a female voice that echoed through the entire ship. "Fire Detected in Starboard Hanger." It repeated over and over.

In the holding cells on deck 7, the crew of the Teshar stared at each other in shock. Fire! They were caught up in the collective worry of all starship crews. Fire could doom all of them, it didn't care about their politics and squabbles, it consumed all, humans and Rukot alike.

On a ship the size of the invasion carrier, simply depressurizing the hanger would cause more harm than good, the force behind that volume of air would blow out doors halfway along the ship, crippling it and possibly kill most onboard. A fire in the hanger bay would need to be contained before it breached the ship's hull. Humans in guard and engineering uniforms rushed into the starboard hanger and gawked at the sheer size of the blaze, it looked as if every fuel canister had gone up and it would take hours to contain.

In the now dark port hanger bay were five Rukot, the only people aboard the ship that were worried about something else entirely. They stayed alert as each made their way over to the pile of cargo containers underneath the Teshar. They knew that at least half of the Retribution's crew were battling the blaze in the other hanger, but they kept their guard up, ready to hide at a moment's notice. The only thing illuminating the bay were several red lights placed high on the walls. The place was so cavernous the sounds of the klaxon and voice echoed dully and were not very loud.

"This one!" came the whisper from one.

"Are you sure?" was the questioning response.

"I placed it here myself, now open it."

One entered a code on the keypad, their eyes reflecting the dim red glow of its numbers. A soft hiss emitted from the container as the seal opened. They all looked up and around, the sound felt like it echoed through the entire hanger, louder than the klaxons and voice. The top hinged open to a soft yellow glow that came from the inner walls.

"Which ones?" Pinky asked Rex as the light illuminated their faces.

"The blue box, the large wooden one, one of the smaller wooden ones, and some of the smaller boxes," he replied, having forgotten exactly which of the smaller boxes, there were several. "Leave the bags, he said they wouldn't be of any use."

The faces of a red fox and a mouse joined theirs as they reached into the container.

"Damn, it's heavy. Give me a hand, Stoney," Rex said to the fox.

They both grabbed one of the large crate's crude handles and lifted. It came out of the box and they set it to the ground with a soft thump.

"Quiet! Do you want them to hear us?" hissed the hushed voice of the last, a cat-shaped form in the dim glow from the container. He had not looked into the crate but kept lookout.

"We need to open it, the weapons are inside," Rex whispered.

"There's no time, we'll have to take the whole thing with us," Stoney replied.

Pinky reached in and pulled out the blue box and said, "This one isn't that heavy."

The mouse grunted as he pulled one of the smaller wooden crates out. "This one is. It feels like it's full of lead!" He had no idea of how close to the truth he was.

"Can you manage it, Jack?" Pinky asked him.

"I think so, it must weigh at least 20 kilos though."

"Hurry up! Who knows when they'll be done putting out the fire," hissed the cat.

"Where's Huxley?" Rex asked. "I thought he was going to join us,"

"Probably off fuming somewhere," Stoney mused, though he was worried about the white and orange cat. He hoped Huxley hadn't taken him seriously about getting burned.

"Which of the small boxes?" Pinky asked.

"I don't remember, just grab what you can. They'll have to make do."

She picked out several and placed them in a bag she produced from her pocket. "Close the lid, let's go."

Rex pressed the lid down and hit the lock button. The container hissed again as it resealed.

He and Stoney lifted the large crate and the group made its way to the exit of the hanger, the cat in the lead.

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

<<TURN OFF THAT INFERNAL NOISE!>> cried out one of the Teshar's crew. The klaxons and voice kept repeating, as they had been for over an hour. The sound wasn't particularily loud, but enough so that many of the Rukot in the cells thought they were going to go mad if it continued for much longer. Most had their paws over their ears.

Roger stared at the ceiling and couldn't help but think that the entire universe must know about the fire by now. He wondered aloud, "Why don't they just vent the hanger to put it out?"

Gahn looked over at him, "Do you not remember how large the hanger is? Rapid decompression would tear apart the ship."

"That almost sounds better than this," Nak added. The wolf doctor had been roused from sleep by the alarm, and looked on edge.

The sound of the door opening was nearly lost in the racket, but they all looked to the hall when they heard it.

"The dog returns, and there are four others with him!" Someone yelled.

Rex and a fox carrying a large crate with cyrillic letters on it appeared in front of their cell. They sat their load down on the floor heavily with a dull thud. The echo of the sound through the cellblock was an almost welcome respite from the alarm. A mouse appeared next with a much smaller crate which he sat on top of the large one. Last to appear were a rabbit, carrying a bag and a long, thin, blue box and an all-black cat who carried nothing.

The cat spoke first, addressing those he was with, "We must hurry, it took far too long to get down here."

"You could've helped!" Rex said, "This thing was damn heavy."

Roger shifted so that he could look through the window of their cell, gritting his teeth from the pain. He spoke next, "You brought the whole crate? It's contents weigh less than it does!"

Rex shot the fox an angered look, "I told you we should've opened it!"

The fox shrugged, "How was I supposed to know that? We thought we were short on time."

Roger noticed the rabbit staring at him, "What's the matter? Do I look worse than I feel?"

The rabbit's nose twitched and it opened its mouth to speak, a female voice coming out, "Rex said you looked strange for a human, but you barely look like one of them."

"Strange? I assure you that under the bruises I look completely normal. It's the humans on this ship that look, and act, strange."

She smiled, and felt that she liked this unusual human the other Rukot called friend. "What do you want us to do with this?" she asked, indicating the items they'd brought.

"Well, for starters, you could open the big crate and give us the rifles inside it."

She looked at Rex, who nooded and removed the items from on top of it and then popped the crude latches on the side. He opened the crate which emitted a musty smell and revealed five dirty-looking weapons. "They look like no rifle I've seen before," the black lab commented. He looked at them with wonder, the basic shape looked normal, and their similarity to the plasma rifles the humans used began and ended there.

Gahn responded this time, "They look like no rifle anyone has seen in thousands of years."

"I only just traded for them a few days ago," Roger said. Then his voice took on an odd accent that forcefully emphasized long vowel sounds, "Five SKS rifles, from Soviet Russia, comrades." His voice returned to normal, "Haven't been fired more than a few test shots when they were produced and put in storage decad- well, millenia ago."

"What do you want us to do with them?" Rex asked. How were ancient weapons, and so few, going to help? He had so many questions but didn't ask them.

"Pass one through the slot under the door to us, and then three under the door to Captain Rels, Marrin, and Fenthik." Roger then called out, "Who is the best shot in here?"

"Ginge served in the last war, he's in the cell here with us," said someone nearby.

"Give it to him. Also there are some belt-like objects in the crate, one goes with each rifle."

"What about the bottles and pouches?" Asked the rabbit.

"Give them to me," Roger sighed, the ammo pouches and oil bottles were of little historic value in his time, but now they were probably the last examples of their make, it pained him that he'd have to destroy them.

The crate was soon emptied as Rex, the rabbit, and the fox distributed its contents.

"What about the rest?"

"Open the smaller one. Give four packets out of it to Ginge, four each to Captain Rels, Marrin, and Fenthik, the rest of its contents, give to us, along with the blue box and the bag I assume contains my buckshot."

"About that," Rex said with his ears drooping, "I forgot which boxes you wanted so Pinky grabbed several."

Roger sighed again, he guessed it couldn't be helped. "We'll make do," he said and hoped at at least one had shotshells.

As the Rukot passed out the remaining items, the alarms cut off.

<<Finally,>> Nak muttered from his corner.

"We need to get going," said the cat impatiently.

"What do we do about the crates?" Rex asked him.

"The storage locker, they look like they might fit," he replied, "Nobody ever goes into them."

The fox and the mouse quickly carried the crates to the wall opposite the door and slid open a panel on it. They placed the two inside and then closed the panel.

"Do you have everything you need? I won't be able to check back on you for a day or so," Rex said.

"Some kind of mild-degreaser and thin oil, the rifles were dipped in thick grease and it needs to be removed for them to function properly."

"You've done us a service we can never repay," Captain Rels finally spoke from her cell.

"Well," the rabbit said, "You could take us with you."

"Done."

"All of us."

"All 120? My ship is not a passenger liner." Her ship was only meant accomodate around 150 people, including her crew which she intentionally kept light at under 90. Over 200 would make things very cramped, especially with over half in need of special care.

"If you want more of our help, you have to free everyone," the rabbit insisted.

"Forget about the others, Pinky," the cat said. "They won't understand what is happening and may resist coming."

"I don't care!" She said emphatically. "We can't leave them."

"I will not leave my sister in this hell," the mouse stated flatly, fixing the cat with a hard stare that dared him to argue.

<<We can't leave our brothers and sisters here to rot, Captain. You heard what's been done do them. We must free them!>> Called out a voice from the end of the hall.

<<Would you be willing to risk your life to rescue them? They don't even know who or what they are,>> Captain Rels called back.

<<I would,>> the voice replied.

<<I would,>> called out another, and another. The cellblock quickly filled with voices, all saying the same.

"What's going on?" Roger asked Gahn after the four Rukot in the cell had each said the same thing he heard the others call out in their language.

The wolf looked at him, "The Captain has asked if we would be willing to risk our lives to rescue all enslaved Rukot on this ship. We are unanimous in our decision to do so."

The man stirred and added his voice to the calls, "Captain Rels, no one deserves to be a slave. I am not a member of your crew, or people, but I would gladly lay down my own life in the name of freedom. After all, I am American."

Captain Rels looked at the rabbit, "All of my crew will do what we can to rescue the others." She hoped she had not just doomed her crew.

Pinky smiled, "Thank you." She turned to her fellow conspirators, "Let's go."

The five moved to the door and slipped out one at a time.

Roger looked at the four Rukot he shared a cell with, each stared at him. "We have work to do," he said to them as he sat up for the first time in days with a pained look.

"You need to continue lying down," Gyth said, a concerned look on the lioness' face.

"This will be far easier with me sitting."

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

The hole in the wall and floor of the hanger bay was massive. It extended some fourteen metres from the wall and then another ten up it. It was deep and revealed charred and melted cabling, twisted support beams, and the inside face of the outer hull plating. Everything in and around the hole that hadn't been consumed was scortched, indicative of just how hot the fuel fire had been.

Captain Young stared into the abyss that was the hole. "Tell me again, what were you doing?" he asked of the three guards that stood nearby.

"Patrolling the far end of the hanger, sir," answered one.

"And the others?"

"Cooper, Pierce, and Tyler were about 150 metres away from the containers the last time we saw them, sir," replied another. The three men shifted uncomfortably, the other three guards could not be found and were assumed to have died in the blaze, bodies reduced to nothing.

The captain clenched a fist, seething at the damaged caused to his ship. The damn fire had nearly burned through the hull! Thank the Emperor it had not, or they could all be dead. It would be weeks before repairs were finished and they could resume their journey to Haskel. There was no way they could trust the plating to withstand the forces of FTL travel.

He turned to look at the three men, "Was anyone else in the hanger?"

"A slave, sir. A cat named Huxley who was on serving duty tonight. I saw him talking to Pierce, probably taking the night's food order," the first responded.

"Where is this animal?"

"I don't know, sir. The galley crew say they never saw him."

He nodded and forced his hand to relax. That idiot Corporal Pierce was known to be sadistic towards the slaves, he'd probably pushed the animal into the canisters over some perceived slight and caused this whole mess. The damned fool had paid for it with his life though and Captain Young only regretted that he wasn't there to watch it. He was sure it would be confirmed once he reviewed the surveillance vidfiles. "This Huxley is likely dead as well, confirm it," he waved his hand, dismissing the guards.

The three saluted smartly and said in unison, "Our lives for the Emperor!" before walking away.

Captain Young looked back into the hole and cursed as he took in the damage again. Pierce had nearly killed all of them.

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

"Good, now comes the tricky part, point the muzzle in a safe direction, pull back on the knob and release it. Let it close unaided. If all goes well the rifle shouldn't fire and you should end up with a loaded weapon. Just be careful, there's a chance it'll fire when you do it if you didn't clean the firing pin channel well enough." Roger pulled back on the bolt of the rifle in his hands and released it. It slammed close with a heavy click.

Four more clicks echoed through the cellblock.

He smiled, "Well Captain Rels, it would seem that we are now armed."

"These are complicated weapons, Roger, I'm amazed at the technical sophistication of your time," the deer replied. Reloading a plasma rifle was a simple matter of just changing out the energy pack and the trigger was the only moving part.

"The Ruskies knew how to make a solid firearm, they built these things by the millions in preparation for a large scale war. Too bad we don't have what replaced them, but they will still do the job."

"It sounds like old Earth was constantly at war."

Roger shrugged, "Most of these rifles ended up in crates like the one ours were in and never saw war."

"What happened?"

"They were replaced with a much more efficient design. These only fire one round with each pull of the trigger, their replacement could fire an entire magazine of much higher capacity with each pull of the trigger. Careful aim conserves ammo and takes time, but filling the air with lead kills people faster. Still, even those came out after the last world war that I know about. Most of the wars from closer to my time were much smaller conflicts."

"Violence seems to be a part of what humans are."

"Humanity's history on Earth is written in blood. Many of us from my time hoped that it wouldn't stay that way, and for the most part we were starting to overcome our darker urges. Large-scale conflicts had become something to be avoided and as a result tolerance of different ideals and ways of life was becoming the norm. We wanted to be better, to rise above hate and greed and prove to ourselves that humanity was inherently good, not evil. Looks like we couldn't help ourselves though," he indicated their current accomodations.

"Based only on the one I know, the humans from your time were a better people than their descendents," Captain Rels said thoughfully.

"Personally, I don't think we were, maybe we were starting to become better but we'd only just taken the first steps down the path of good. My parents' generation was the first to embrace positive change, their parents lived in fear of nuclear holocaust, and their parents lived in a time of genocide and world wars. That only covers about 100 years of our history."

"What? How long do humans from your time live?" She asked, his time scale sounded wrong.

"About 80 years or so, I'm 35 which I guess makes me technically middle-aged. Why do you ask?"

Captain Rels stared at the man. Roger was younger than Gahn, who at 48 was the youngest member of her crew. Most humans lived around 400 standard years and many did not leave their home colonies until they were at least 100, let alone have children before twice that age. The Emperor was the oldest person in the galaxy at over 2300 years, since before the foundation of the Milkyway Galactic Empire, and it was said he retained the youthful appearance of a human around 100. Rukot lifespans were a little shorter than the typical human one. The oldest of them not making it much past 300. At 174, she herself was "middle-aged," yet she had already lived for over twice as long as this man would.

She decided in that moment that she could not turn him over to the Council of Conglomeration if they escaped. There was no way to return him to his own time so she would allow him to join her crew and spend the rest of his days on the Teshar if he so chose. She felt a maternal need to protect him, this strange human from the past who could never go home and had barely any future. He had lived so few years and had so few left that she felt it would be cruel to force him to spend what little time he had being studied and questioned.

<<Someone comes!>> A voice near the door of the hallway hissed, and Captain Rels hoped with the distraction that Roger would forget his question. It would be better to answer it once they'd made their escape.

"Pull the lever on the trigger guard up to engage the safety," Roger said as the rifles disappeared from view. Gahn took the one from his hands and hid it behind the bench the wolf sat on. Roger laid back down on his own bench.

The door opened to reveal Rex and an armed human guard.

"Be a good boy, Rex," the guard said.

"Work is good!" the black lab responded happily.

"Good dog, you may go to the servants' barracks when you are finished." The guard disappeared and the door closed.

"Serving the Emperor is bad," Rex said to the closed door with a smile.

The dog set about his usual task of passing out ration cubes to the imprisoned crew and chatted with various ones until he reached Captain Rels' cell.

"Hello Rex," the Captain said in a friendly tone.

"Hello Heoni Rels," he replied, tail wagging.

"Have you found your friend, the cat who was not with you and the others a few nights ago?"

Rex's ears and tail drooped as sadness took over his normally happy demeanour, "The masters confirmed yesterday that Huxley died in the fire. We weren't really friends but I wish we had been. I hope he finds the peace he wanted in the next life. Stoney blames himself for it and refuses to meet with the rest of us."

Condolences echoed throughout the cellblock, a few of the feline Rukot keened a mournful cry for their lost brother.

Captain Rels bowed her head, "If we get out of here alive, he will be remembered as a hero. His sacrifice has given us the time we need to plot our escape."

The black lab shook off his depression and gave Captain Rels a serious look, "How goes the plan?"

"We are ready to act as soon as we are finished making the explosives."

"About that, Captain," Roger said from his bench.

"What is it, Roger?" she asked.

"I fear that I overlooked something important. The powder and primers from the disassembled ammunition might not be enough to cause serious damage, and we don't have a way to set them off. I should've asked them to bring both crates."

Rex spoke up, "The port hanger is being used as a staging area for repairs, there's no way we can get it to you."

"A shame, perhaps you can get us something else then."

"What do you need?" asked the dog, looking over at the man for a moment before continuing his work.

"Something that can make them more powerful, and timers."

"I don't understand."

"Clocks, preferably ones with some kind of alarm function."

"How will clocks make them more powerful?" Rex asked, confused.

"They won't, but we can at least set them to go off at a planned time rather than use them like crude grenades."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Rex, can you get energy packs?" Captain Rels asked.

"I can, right now most of the crew is busy with repairs and it could be awhile before something like that is missed. Why?"

Captain Rels turned away from Rex without answering, he'd find out soon enough. "Roger, normally energy packs are safe and quite durable. Would your powder charges be able to breach the casings?"

"Probably, I'd need to examine one to be sure though," Roger replied. "Why?"

"Under the right circumstances, they can and will explode quite violently," the deer said as if it was common knowledge.

"How violently?"

"A cargo container full of them once destroyed an Imperial Navy flagship, which is twice the size of this carrier," she said in a nostalgic tone. Marrin and Fenthik both looked at her with wide eyes. They remembered that particular stunt, it had happened during the last days of the war when they served together on a small Rukot cruiser. The insane plan had worked though, and was one of the reasons Captain Rels was considered a war hero.

<<It nearly blew us up with it!>> Marrin reminded her.

Roger sat up and winced in pain before smiling at the deer, "That would work nicely. If we were in the same cell, Captain, I would kiss you!"

Rex finally chimed in again, "All done, I need to go. How many energy packs do you need?"

"Five, we don't need to destroy the ship."