FSE

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Chapter Four

Chrono walked down the hill in the direction of the basin of dirt where he'd found the alien ship parked and cloaked mere hours earlier. His white-toed metallic feet stepped around loose stones as he moved down the steep escarpment towards the flat sand ahead of him. Reaching up with a dark brown hand, he shielded his eyes from the bright sun just over the horizon to the east. Glancing around, he looked for chunks of the invisible ship that might now be visible, perhaps from having taken damage during its escape from the hanger below. Indeed, as he moved forward all he saw was flat open space.

Chrono dwelled on the feeling of that creeping energy that he had felt after he had... died. Unless he was already asleep, he didn't normally have dreams when he woke up on Monday mornings. All in all, Mondays always felt like they started from a dream anyway. He always said "Oh, Crap" and he always took a moment or so to realize where he was. Then again, that had changed in recent days as he felt as if he was waking up seconds earlier than he had in all the days long passed.

The ship escaped. He knew that, but he didn't know how he knew it and a frown twisted his muzzle as his mind tried to wrap around the idea. He just knew, but the knowledge made no sense. It reminded him of earlier experiences with this week where he had been certain he was doing something he had already done even though there was no way he could have ever done it before that point. What ever the case might be, his "soul" felt the cloaked ship leave the hanger down below and head back to the surface after the alien creature had its fight with Witty and presumably won. She had to have won, or time would not have reset again. Time would only reset that early if Witty died. Chrono bit his lip, of course, they could have killed each other, he considered as his brow furrowed deeper.

"AR, Sonar, Black," Chrono commented after he flipped down his microphone. He checked the holster over his chest that held his P90 submachine gun. This female--assuming she actually is female and Witty wasn't just screwing with me--hadn't been the most friendly of adventurers. He sighed and shook his head, his tail flicking back and forth as he recalled how they had met. Maybe in a different situation... more calm... I can figure out a way to communicate with her. Perhaps if I'm lucky--which I am not--I can get her assistance in ending this torture.

A pulse effect traveled over most of the objects within one hundred meters of him as his augmented reality activated and painted black lines over the surface of Nevada. The sonar effect only appeared to be working from Chrono's one fully functional eye which was fairly normal in recent days. The black lines were evenly spaced out and revealed everything that he could already see... plus one thing he couldn't.

Straight ahead of him was the upper portion of the vehicle that his commander had called a stealth plane. It's main body and wings looked to be intact, but it appeared to be stuck partway into the dirt. The back end was raised up at an angle, situated almost entirely above the surface of the Earth with the rear cargo bay ramp open and sloped horizontally through the air. He tilted his head, How did that happen? The dirt seemed solid out in front of him, but clearly the ship's upper portion was hidden there above the surface. Did half of it appear inside the Earth?

Chrono began to jog in the direction of the ship. He tried to imagine the ship's nose down as it moved upwards out of the hanger just like a helicopter might to increase speed. Then '_bam' _time shifts... and it 'crashes' into Monday morning, he glowered as he thought about rock and stone just appearing around him as time shifted and how that was one experience he was glad to do without. That had to have sucked.

The ground around the ship seemed to indicate that it had been in motion when it collided with the unshattered Earth in its ascent as a small mound of stone was pushed up in a barely noticeable pattern around the edges of where the craft met the ground. Without the sonar activated, its likely that Chrono would have merely overlooked it for a time. Conservation of momentum would mean that the inside of the ship must have taken most of collision then... I think.

His light brown tail moved back and forth behind him, the dark tip of it making very little distance side to side as his curiosity was peaked. Approaching the back end of the otherwise unseen ship, Chrono reached up and pulled himself onto the exit ramp that was still invisible from the angle he was currently positioned. He could feel the tickling energy once again as it seemed to float just barely over the exterior of the ship like some kind of invisible membrane. Getting one shoulder over the top of it, he looked forward into the vessel and could see inside the ship just as he had moments before his death.

Closing his eyes, he tried not to think about that particular experience. Everytime it happens... it just... reminds me how trapped I am in this place. Tears began to well up in his eyes as he felt a chill traveling along his back, like Death's hand pushing him forward, telling him it wasn't his time. It's never my time, he whimpered briefly and shook his head. Taking a long breath, Chrono tried to empty his mind of those unpleasant thoughts as he dangle out above the Earth a few seconds longer.

Pulling himself up onto the soft metal walkway, he stared down and into the back of the ship. He took note of the crates and barrels that he had seen earlier which had gotten loose from their restraints and were free to lay on their sides. A cargo net blew softly in the wind, dangling from the roof just ahead of him as he inched forward on his elbows and got to his feet.

The plane-like vehicle was perhaps just a little longer than an average town-house. It was almost assuredly two stories tall, though the ceiling that lead into the cargo bay was higher than the roof commonly would be in normal home in America. The wings extended out a short distance, one set was positioned high near the back of the ship and another lower, closer to the front and buried halfway below the surface of the Earth. Inside the cargo area seemed to be lined with dark green panels along the walls and floor with gold trim leading up to the door ahead which lead forward into the ship.

Glancing out towards the sky behind him, Chrono stepped forward lightly with his metal feet making muffled clanks against the metallic floor. The digital gray camouflage that wrapped around his elevated heels blew lightly in the dry morning wind as it passed over him. Keeping his head low, his ears moved forward as he tried to listen for the approach of the lizard person he'd seen just hours earlier. Man, I hope she's not dead. I think Witty hurt her... but... I think I'm more worried about her impact with the surface... or its impact with her_... or... whatever._

Chrono paused for a moment as his leg passed through a wall of unseen energy just in front of him. Taking a breath, he closed his eyes and imagined the white blinding light of lab down below swimming over his toes as if stepping into a pool of water. Whether it be killing Witty, Friday afternoon, or that time just recently when he was walking through the suspicious, locked door... this feeling of invisible energy was something he was beginning to wrap his head around. Time, he thought, taking a breath. This ship is covered in time_._

Swallowing hard, he continued walking forward into the ship, his hands touching the edges of some of the crates still stacked against one wall as he moved towards the door. Looking over all the supplies, there really was no indication of what they might hold. Hopefully not explosives or something, he smirked at how much that would complicate things if they were already shaken up from the crash. Reaching out to his side, his hand hovered just over the keypad beside the door. It looked like all the other ones he had seen down inside the base, including the ones that simply had open buttons on them like this one did.

Unlatching his P90 from his chest, Chrono took it into one hand as he laid flat against the doorway with the keypad just beside him. His heart quickened its beat with the prospect of the unknown just beyond the door. Composing himself, he poked the green button on the keypad with the end of the silencer on his gun. The door 'whooshed' open quickly. Blinking at its speed, he titled his head in carefully towards the doorway with his P90 pushed forward into the space ahead of him, ready to fire upon the lizard, some body guards, robots, auto-turrets, or any other thing that might be ready to do him harm.

Time, he thought to himself as he moved carefully into the adjacent hallway, the lights dim as if perhaps on a nighttime cycle or power-saver mode. I can feel time? Is that the power Witty meant? I've been doing this so long its rubbing off on me? His sonar still pinged black lines across his vision, evenly spaced, as he took a few steps into the hallway. "AR, Short, Cyan," Chrono spoke in a whispered tone into his still active microphone at the side of his head. In the next ping, the lines were closer together and tinted a light blue to contrast against the darkness as he moved.

Chrono's ears pricked up and faced forward as he was sure he heard movement somewhere ahead, perhaps even above him. The hallway before him had what looked like metal pipes running along the sides of it. There was a set of doorways on both the left and right a few steps in front of him and then another set again before the end of the hall. At the end of the hunter green corridor there were a set of stairs that he could make out by way the little red lights at the edges of the floor. Its like some kind of old movie theater walkway, he considered, watching as his sonar pinged cyan lines up and over the steps up ahead of him.

Sliding up against the side of the open doorway on the right, he looked to the closed door across from it and frowned a bit as he considered all the ways he could be caught by surprise in this unknown place. His heart began to race again, and he realized the scent of metal he'd confused for part of the ship wasn't as such. It's blood, he realized as he did a quick peek into the open doorway on his right to see if it was occupied.

The room itself looked to be set up like some kind of locker room due in no small part to there being actual lockers along opposite wall. Chrono cocked his head to the side at the very notion that everything seemed to be so 'normal' with respect to this alien race. The room was bordered with actual lockers, something that appeared to be a shower head was up on the wall at one end of the room with grated floor paneling on the floor beneath it. Water drainage? And against the side wall near to what looked to be a sink was a mirror situated up over a black digital panel. If this same race also made the complex... then why does everything look like it was all made for cadens? Shouldn't it look more... alien?

Frowning a bit, Chrono was just about to exit the room when his foot stepped in something soft. Looking down, he saw what appeared to be a pile of clothing that was colored a deep red with a pair of matching metal-toed boots laying to their side. Blinking, he knelt down and picked up the apparel with his free hand, watching the doorway as he did so. Lowering his gun for a moment, he held up the uniform with both hands, looking it over. Sure enough, it looked like the lizard woman's outfit, though it had rips and tears throughout. A quick sniff and Sandstalker confirmed the origin of the scent of blood that he'd picked up a moment earlier.

Great, he thought as he glanced around the room. She could be dying somewhere in here. Chrono furrowed his brow as he cautiously stepped back towards the doorway, glancing left and right before stepping across the hall and putting a hand towards the other door. He didn't see a keypad or any other way to open it and he frowned to himself as he moved up the hallway towards the other two doors. Much like the last one, neither of them had handles or any apparent way to slide them open.

Sighing a bit, he continued onwards towards the stairs. Though, she could also be an enemy, so... it might not be a bad thing that she's hurt, he realized as he placed one foot down onto the first step and aimed his gun forwards, looking ahead towards what appeared to be a cockpit. The way the ship was currently sloped, moving up the stairwell was almost like moving forward instead.

And obviously the whole ship is here, Chrono considered_. So why couldn't I see it like it was a whole outside instead of solid land? I mean, if it is just cloaked, it should have looked like a spaceship-shaped pit in the Earth, yeah?_ He shook his head as he made it to the top of the stairs and looked around. Then again, it's not like I know how a cloaking device should work in a real-world context, he smirked.

The room at the top of the stairs was surely a control center. Ahead of Chrono were three main seats in front of what looked to be readouts and touch panels lining the inside front wall. Long vertical columns of glass, or what looked like glass, let him see a subterranean view of the earth dead ahead. There didn't look to be much internal damage to the front of the ship itself, including the big windows. Little iPad-looking devices littered the floor in one corner along with what looked like cups and plates. There was a scent of aged food permeating the room from that corner.

Looking over his bandaged left shoulder, Chrono saw what appeared to be more stairs leading up to the next floor. Lowering himself into a crouch, he moved towards those stairs and listened. Sure enough, he heard mumbling from the floor above. It sounded like the drasomian he'd met earlier, but she was talking softly. Since he didn't hear anyone else responding, he decided it was possible she was talking to herself like he had been doing recently. Or maybe she's speaking over an headset and I just can't hear who she's talking to, he mulled over as another possibility.

Maybe she's alone out here too, Chrono reconsidered as he slowly made his way up the stairs. The movement up the steps was made all the more steep from the angle of the ship as he climbed up and over the top of them and onto the next floor. Gun at the ready, he prepared himself in case the door in front of him slid open. It didn't. It just sat there as another metal wall, shut firmly in its frame. Glancing to the control panel at its side, he listened carefully to the sounds the reptile humaniod was making, becoming convinced she was no where near the door. His heart thumped in his chest, OK. I guess go for surprise... and then stumble around blindly until I can figure something out.

Taking a single breath, Chrono poked the little green button on the panel next to the doorway with his right hand and it opened with a 'whoosh'. The room it revealed took up the entire span of the upper floor which--granted--wasn't actually a whole lot of space. The wall to his left had what appeared to be a dresser built into it with a large mirror behind a countertop that had several small drawers and doors up underneath it. It was framed with what looked like a golden window shade tied up with little green ribbons. A few of the drawers were open and he could make out what appeared to be additional clothing.

Glancing quickly to his right, he could make out what appeared to be framed images of other reptilian-looking people attached to the wall over a two seater table that was bolted to the floor. Atop the surface of it sat some metal containers with covers pulled off the top of them. Rations? Situated just to the side of the table was a doorway into another room that Chrono suspected might be a bathroom what with the rest of the floor layout matching what might be the design of a rich family's master bedroom.

In the middle of the room was what he assumed must have been a bed. Draped over it seemed to be a sheet made out of red stone. It appeared as solid, but looked folded onto itself several times like a quilt might have been. The bed itself was sloped in the center. The middle of the back half of the bed sloped downward away from the main surface and outwards a ways back into the wall. On the closer side, the center reached forward a short distance, upward... perhaps a place to rest one's head. As for the remaining surface area to either side of those center pieces, the rest of the bed sloped downward away from the center like an inverted bowl, and he had to wonder how someone was supposed to stop themselves from falling out of bed every night.

At the side of the bed closest to the dresser sat the drasomian woman. Chrono frowned a bit as he took in her appearance now that she was completely naked, clad almost exclusively in grayish purple scales. His reflex was to avert his eyes from her chest were she to turn, but his training warned him not to take his eye off of her. She had no breasts, which was still strange to think of, but then again so was the entire premise of an alien visitor. Her thick tail was laid out behind her and draped over the far side of the bed as she sat slumped, facing a little end table against the wall furthest from Chrono.

Keeping his place at the door for the moment, he took in her slender form. Her shoulders were big even out of her suit, while her upper arms were thin around until they bulked up at her lower arms, matching the size of her large hands. Four fingers... and a thumb, Chrono considered, thinking that the similarities between his race and hers should have ended much earlier.

Her waist was the same distance around as the rest of her upper body, but her thighs were huge. Strong, Chrono considered, looking over her lower legs which maintained the same thickness over their length and ended in a similar four toes with raised dew-claw like his own. Chrono thought about his replacement legs for a moment as he suddenly realized he missed having toes that actually moved independently rather than being a solid form like the front of a boot. Looks like those nails on her toes and fingers are more like thick and powerful talons... best to keep my distance for now.

One thing he could tell by seeing her out of her suit now that he couldn't before was the truth about the two nubs that jutted a few inches up out of her shoulders. Instead of appearing to be thrusters or something on her armour, they appeared as scarred flesh that may have even had bone and damaged muscles inside of them. Perhaps she had other limbs there, he considered, taking in the appearance of scarred epidermal not unlike damage that hid under the fur on his own body.

He had no idea why she hadn't already noticed him, but she seemed to be holding something in her hands as she spoke softly to herself. Unsure of what else to do, Chrono cleared his throat. He got no response. "Hey," he said aloud, tilting his head to try and see what she was holding. Fuck, I hope its not a knife... or a laser pistol or... something else that causes pain from that range, he thought, recalling a family his pack had dealt with in the Middle East. "Hel-low!" he called out to her again.

Grabbing whatever it was, and pulling it up to her chest, the drasomian's eyes went wide as she turned her head to look over at him with what was unmistakably a startled 'yip'. She stared up the barrel of Chrono's P90 as he took in more of her shape. He suddenly realized that there was a shimmer effect over parts of her body and could now make out what might have been strips of metal the same color as her scales sticking to her form. Might be bandages, he considered, looking her over, his eyes dropping down to the space between her legs that was distinctly female. Quickly, his eyes shot back up to her face as she seemed to frown deeper. Great, he frowned a bit, now I'm an inter-galactic pervert.

"I take it you have bad hearing," Chrono said to her, keeping his volume louder than he would when he normally spoke. It was then that he saw she held against her chest appeared to be a frame not unlike the ones that were on the wall to his right. She said something to him, and looked in the direction of the presumed bathroom. "What?" he asked, glancing towards the doorway. Slowly she began to crawl over the top of the bed and in the direction of the bathroom. "You going for cloths or something?" he asked. "No. Stay," he motioned at her with the silencer from his P90. "I'll get them," he told her, still speaking loudly.

Moving towards the bathroom with his back towards that doorway, he watched her now on the closer side of the bed, making sure she stopped her movement as he went. Stepping into the doorway backwards he had just enough time to wish that no one was hiding in there ready to strike at him from behind as he moved. Luckily, no one did, and as he stood where he could make sure to keep an eye on her, he spoke softly to himself, "Siri, delayed snapshot. Five seconds."

"Five seconds and counting," the computer voice replied into his ear. It beeped down from five, and at one second Chrono turned his head to look at the space to his right, inside the room. A click sounded and in the next instant, he looked back towards the woman as she had stood up and was obviously about to head for the door. "No!" he growled at her loudly as he stepped back into the room and fired a warning shot at the main doorway in front of her. The shot ricochet off the frame, the far end of the opposite of the wall, and then thumped into the bed.

"Siri, 3D photo of last image. Display left of center," he said, a little angry as he watched the drasomian woman lift her hands pitifully up to her sides as she backed up slowly back towards the bed. "You, and me," he said loudly as he pointed at her with his left hand, and then thumbed at himself. "We need to work together," he said as he continued to speak loudly. Her only reply to him was a hiss as she pulled some of the rough covers from her bed over her waist and frowned at him, obviously covering her genitals. "Oh, Gaia. Not you and me like that," he frowned.

Inside of Chrono's line of sight just to the left of the woman in front of him appeared the image he'd just snapped of the bathroom. Sure enough, he could make out a large, machete-looking blade sitting on the counter of what must have been a sink. However, also to its side were grayish blue wraps and strips that looked not unlike the ones that currently covered over portions of her body.

Taking a few steps back into the bathroom doorway again, Chrono removed his right hand from his gun and put it out to his side, feeling for the countertop there. Grabbing the weapon by the handle, he stepped back out where she could see him. He showed her the blade and she just huffed. "Yeah, I caught you," he spoke loudly still. "But that's OK. I might have done the same thing," he said as he slid the blade into his waistband at his left side, putting both his hands back onto his gun.

She looked into his eyes and asked a simple question. Again, Chrono didn't know what she had said, but he felt he knew the tone. It was as if she were asking, "What now?"

"Good question," he sighed, glancing around. "OK, let's try this," he said as he reached down into the collar of his uniform with his left hand and pulled his iPhone from out of his chest plate behind his gray fatigues. Tapping the screen to scroll through his different applications, he kept an eye on her as he moved back over towards the main doorway to the room. Finding what he was looking for, he held up the phone so the display would face her. It had a single black dot on a white space.

She looked at it, then him, the end of her tail flicking a bit. For a caden that might mean agitation, but for her race, who knew? Tapping the screen twice, he turned it to face her. "Two," he said as it displayed two dots. "Three," he added as he tapped the screen again and increased the number to three dots. Tapping twice more, he increased it to five and showed it to her. Two more taps and it was seven. Four more times and it was at eleven.

She waved at him and he watched her. Bringing her hands up she held them palms towards him, all her fingers and both her thumbs out. She closed her hands and then reopened just one to display three fingers. She said something, which Chrono hoped meant "Thirteen". She shook her hands and then showed all ten digits across them again. Closing them, she reopened both hands. One displayed four fingers and a thumb, and the other displayed three fingers. Chrono frowned a bit, and then she lowered one finger down to display only two. She made a comment about her mistake, then said the correct number aloud which he took to mean "Seventeen".

"Good. Good," he said. "Prime Numbers... that's a starting place," he added, but he had no idea how to get from where they were now to something more meaningful. Turning his phone around to face him, he tapped the screen with his thumb to change it back to one dot. He showed it to her again. With his P90 strapped over his shoulder, he let it drop so that it dangled at his side. He then pointed to her with his now empty hand. Once again he pointed at the dot and then towards himself. Tapping the screen, he made the total dots increase to two. "You," he pointed at her, "and me," he said, pointing at himself. "Together," he said as he held his iPhone in one hand and cupped the other hand over that one.

Her shoulders lifted up as she took a deep breath. Extending a hand, she motioned at the gun hanging at his side. Exhaling, Chrono took a moment to mull over that apparent question. "Leap of faith, huh?" he asked, hoping he understood what she meant. Pulling the strap of his P90 over his shoulder and kneeling down slowly, he placed it flatly on the frame of the door. Removing her blade from his side, he tossed it down the stairs back behind him. "Better?" he asked with a smile towards her. She huffed and motioned towards the little Five-Seven at his side. "Ah... yeah," he thought about it and bit his lip. Unlatching the gun from the holster on his right, he slid the Herstal pistol up in one smooth motion and tossed it out the doorway so that it landed down the stairs behind him.

This is either going really well or about to get me seriously maimed, he sighed, his heart beating fast as she began to crawl slowly to the other side of her bed. Draping the blanket over her form, she stepped to beside the dresser and spoke at the mirror. As Chrono moved closer to the bed, he watched as the mirror stopped being completely reflective and altered its appearance into a solid black surface. As color began to appear over it, his head tilted to the side as he took in what appeared to be a large computer screen in the wall.

"Hey, it's like the one from the school room in the complex," he said to himself at normal volume, noting how she didn't turn back to look at him. The screen filled out with the alien language he'd seen before, and she brought open a flat white screen. Speaking to the screen she made dots appear as prime numbers all the way up to twenty-nine. When those first ten prime numbers were displayed, she looked over her shoulder at him.

Taking a few steps forward, he watched as she reached forward with an index finger and marked on the screen, talking to him as she made designs under each dot. I don't get it, Chrono's head tilted as he watched her make designs. What is she--, and then he realized he'd seen those first few icons before. The number pads in the base. I was right! She's showing me her real numbers. Chrono's heart raced as he stepped over beside her before she was finished, throwing caution to the wind as he noted how she moved away from him and over to the wall. Touching the screen, he drew the Cattanese numbers with his finger right below hers as said his own numbers aloud just as she had.

Looking to her, she smiled at him. Your smile could be a bad thing, but lets assume its not, he thought as he smiled back at her. She spoke aloud at the screen, and the screen spoke back. "Whoa," Chrono said, looking up and taking a step back. She put up her hands as if the say "It's OK!" Blinking, he looked between her and the screen. "You have a Siri too, huh?" he smirked, watching her. "Go on," he said, motioning to the screen.

On the screen appeared a line of nine colored squares that resided over the top of a thick line that itself seemed to share much of the same colors as the squares above it. The line was a gradient of colors that bled together from one side to the other. He looked to her, then back to the screen. "OK, It's a light spectrum," he guessed, glancing to her. "So?"

She said something else and two rectangles with white outlines appeared in the upper left and right corners of the screen. She pointed at space just to the side of of the violet square which looked white to him and spoke what sounded like a single word. The icon in the top left of the screen seemed to have a line dance within it as it picked up her voice and showed it visually on screen.

Chrono bit his lip as he looked to her, his tail flicking a bit. "If that's ultraviolet, I can't see it," he told her as he watched the right box at the top of the screen flicker as he spoke. She frowned at him as she brought up her right hand and lifted just one finger. She said one word, just like she had a second ago, and pointed at the first box again.

Chrono frowned and pointed at the second color, "Violet." She pointed at the second color then and said just one word. Chrono blinked, and pointed at the next, "Indigo." She once again pointed at indigo and spoke a single word. This went on down the line until they got to red. Just to the side of red, Chrono could make out an additional color beyond the end. "Infrared," he noted as his race could pick up trace amounts of heat in their vision... a small portion of the infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The reptilian woman glanced between him and the screen and mumbled something, "See? I can't see the first one, and you can't see that one," he grinned, pointing over at each of the end squares.

As much as the past few days events were surprising to Chrono, he was still taken aback when the grayish purple drasomian woman's lips moved one way, but instead spoke in his language. "Yes," she said, though it sounded somewhat digitized. "I see that one," she said, motioning to the first box with her hand.

"Whoa," he commented, his ears going back as he raised a hand up to his chest in surprise. "You can speak Cattanese? Since when?"

She blinked, saying something in her own language as she looked to the screen. There was a reply from the computer, and she looked back towards him. "No," she said.

"No what?"

"No. Can not speak... cat," she spoke simply, her lips still not matching up with the words coming out of her mouth and the voice sounding a little off to him.

"Wait..." he said as he turned his head to look at the computer. Blinking, he looked back towards her while motioning to the screen with his hands, "Translator?"

She looked between him and the screen. Stepping back over to it, she began speaking softly to the display. Just as Chrono was about to ask again, he heard his own voice. "Wait... that's a language?" he heard himself ask. "That's a language you're speaking? When in the inferno did you lean to speak alien?" He blinked, tilting his head at the screen. "Your father wasn't by chance a 'drasomian' was he? Yeah, I could, but I'm not. I'm asking." Bitting his lip ahead, he glanced toward her as he heard the machine continue. "Stop," it said in his voice, "He's a lot stronger than you thin-- Fuck you."

"That last part wasn't directed at you," he said, looking over at her, "even though you did kill me... and that did suck," he noted.

He had to think on what had just happened for a moment. When he'd seen her poking at a little computer on her shoulder while she, him, and Witty were all together in the hanger below... she must have been recording their voices for the computer on the ship to analyze later. Of course, he didn't know that for sure, but it seemed a reasonable assumption now that they had begun to communicate so quickly.

"Stronger than," she said, motioning at herself. Reaching for her shoulder, she pulled at a strip of glossy paper that lay over her skin. As it lifted off of her scales, she dangled it out in front of her and he could see what looked to be blood lining one side of the strip as it slowly shifted from clear to a milky blue.

He waved off her reveal as he'd already gather that himself. "I know," he said, motioning at his own shoulder where lightly blood stained. white emergency bandages were applied over his steel fiber-laced wound. "Medical wraps," he nodded.

"Medical wraps," she said. Nodding, she gave a smiled and repeated, "Yes. Medical wraps." Pointing at him, she asked, "What?"

"Caden?" he wondered, blinking. That particular question could have meant anything. Maybe she was asking his name, maybe she was wondering what color he was... who knew? Still, to try and narrow it down he motioned to her and said, "Drasomian."

She nodded and when she said drasomian in reply, it was without a computer translating it and instead came out her lips as her own voice. "Caden," she tried to say, but it sounded a little like "Kay-Tin". She motioned at Chrono again and asked, "Who?"

"Chrono-choh-hotay-keylah," he said, prepared for her to get his name wrong like everyone else did.

"Chronochhotakela," she repeated without even a stuttered syllable.

"Son of an ewe," Chrono laughed. "It took my pack weeks to get that right." He gave her a big grin. "Figures it takes an alien to say my name right on the first try."

She motioned at herself, her tail flicking to the side. "Drasomian," she repeated.

"Drasomian, sorry," he said as he bowed his head a bit, not meaning to insult her.

"Understand now?" the computer voice translated for her as she spoke, her lips no longer lining up with what she said.

"Yes," he nodded. "Do you understand me?"

"Some. Takes time. Clear after more data," it translated for her.

"How is it replacing your voice?"

She blinked. "What?"

Chrono put a finger to his chin, not sure how to ask the question in a way that made sense under their currently limited vocabulary. "Say drasomian," he told her.

"Drasomian," she said, and it was in her own voice.

"Say hello?" he asked.

Frowning a bit, again spoke, but instead of her own voice the computer was translating for her in a similar voice when it said, "Hello?"

"There. When you said 'Drasomian' and 'Hello'... one was you, and one was the computer."

She blinked, looking at him with eyes somewhat wide. "Not same? Hear different?"

"It's pretty obvious," he admitted. "The words don't even sync up with your lips," though he kind of wondered why she didn't already know that aspect. Perhaps she just thinks her technology was so good she wouldn't have to worry about it looking strange, he considered, like some kind of self-dubbing anime that matches lips on the fly.

"Good hearing," she commented. Motioning to the side of her own head where their were pits instead of ears, she said, "Hearing bad. More bad hearing than normal drasomian."

"More bad is worse," he offered.

"My hearing is worse than normal drasomian?" she asked more to make sure she'd used a correct phrase than to ask his assessment on her hearing. He had been wondering how she'd not been able to make out all the noise he'd been making since they first met.

Politely he nodded and replied, "Yes." He motioned towards her, "Who are you?"

"Nameless," she sighed a bit, glancing down to her side. The expression that crossed her face was noticeably pensive and he regretted asking the question almost immediately. He didn't know what nerve he had just hit, but upsetting her was a step in the wrong direction. He swallowed in that moment as she looked away towards the wall with the pictures on it. Sighing softly, she turned to face him. "Dress?" she asked.

"You want me to get you a dress?" he asked, glancing over his shoulder towards the bathroom door along that same wall.

She frowned. "No. Want dress," she replied, motioning at her chest through the blanket that she still held against her.

"Oh, right," Chrono smiled, rubbing the back of his head. "No weapons," he said, looking over to the main door to the room, then back to her.

She nodded a bit, appearing to think on his comment as her head shifted its angle a bit to the left. "No weapons."

Giving her a short bow, he smiled and backed up towards the main hall. Turning towards the doorway, it was the first time he'd let his eyes off her in any real way since he walked in on her. Waiting to see if she'd attack him from behind, Chrono lingered at the door for just a moment. He could hear her walking towards the bathroom behind him, passing close by as her heavy feet made her presence well known. When she closed the bathroom door behind her, he stepped out into the hallway. Picking up his P90, he closed the bedroom door as he moved down the stairs towards the front of the ship.

Chrono hadn't known what to think of his encounter. Had it gone well? He thought it did, though he had been wrong about many, many things before. As he had reentered the room, he put his Five-Seven back into its holster and his P90 back over his chest. Picking up the alien's machete, he placed it on the banister that lined the edge of the staircase leading down into the main room. Glancing around the room, he could hear what sounded like a shower being turned on and he decided to take up a chair in front of the big windows at the lowered front of the ship.

After a few moments, he began swiveling back and forth in the chair, a habit he'd picked up from his packmate Ian during all the time he'd spent with him. Of course, he considered, Ian never remembers most of that time. He faced the stairs there in front of him as his mind wandered to that topic. Someday if--when this ends... I'm going to have to dwell on real relationships. Eventually, it drifted back to the conversation that had just occurred upstairs. He felt good about it, but his mind just wouldn't let him be happy. Too many times had he chosen to be hopeful and had those dreams shredded into nothing. Maybe this alien will be a way for me to practice interactions with another living person... because if she can remember things from week to week, then I can get my first real social interaction in... decades.

Upstairs, the water kept running and Chrono's mind raced from one subject to another. He kept trying to wrap his head around everything he'd experienced in the most recent days. Real aliens, he considered. Universal translators, cloaked spaceships... So much guessing based on stuff down in that tomb of a complex is finally beginning to make sense... finally getting answers as missing bits of the puzzle fall together... Breathing in deeply, Chrono exhaled slowly as he allowed a smile to reach his muzzle, his tail waving a little within the hole at the back of the chair. Someone else who isn't affected by time... Please let this be the beginning of the end.

Frowning a bit, he decided to take his mind off the situation as best he could. Reaching back down into the collar of his gray square covered fatigues, he pulled his iPhone back out and opened the App Store. Searching for a game that he had enjoyed in the past, he downloaded the old, small application onto his phone. It didn't matter that he always had to start over again from the beginning whenever he downloaded it, only that it was something to do to take his mind off his problems. And anyway, Infinity Blade was fun.

After fiddling with the game for about six minutes, he heard the door upstairs open. Looking up from his phone, he saw the drasomian all decked out in very a very stunning green gown with golden trim. It reached over her hips and partway to the floor. It was wrapped once across her front and held in place by some unseen means. Not buttons or straps... perhaps Hylian velcro, he smirked.

At her feet were tied what looked to be sandals that were royal green at the sides and wrapped around the back underneath her high heels, ending just before the large black talon coming out the back of her foot. Strapped over the front of her foot and continuing up the length of her lower leg almost to her groin were golden laces that made intricate patterns with the holes which resembled little nine-pointed stars.

The dress itself went from her neck down over her thick and wide upper legs. Over her shoulders were pads which had golden frills on them. The gown also lacked sleeves of any kind over her arms, though she did wear gloves with a similar design to her shoes. They were wrapped over the outer sides of her lower arms with a opening facing the inner side. Cross-hatched over the space atop her bluish gray skin were golden laces which held the gloves tight. A golden loop went around spike of her elbow preventing her gloves from sliding down her arm over time.

Standing up quickly, Chrono tried to slide his phone back into its holder within his chest armour and missed, dropping his phone. Glancing down, he couldn't see where it had landed and assumed it had bounced under a nearby console after 'thwacking' onto the hard floor. Not quite ready to take his eyes completely off the alien, he turned his head up to look at her as she stepped down to the bottom of the stairs.

Blinking, he considered how she appeared. Her outfit was very formal, not at all like the suit she'd been wearing when he first met her. The gown looked as if it were something she might wear to a ball as opposed to something she'd wear to war. It was only then that Chrono realized that she might even be attractive at least among her own species. Is she... Is she coming on to me? As it was, her slinking side to side as she moved seemed provocative at best, but really didn't do much for him on any sexual level.

As she stepped closer to him, she held up her hands very slowly towards him, cupping them open so that he could see what was within them. "For you," she said as she smiled and revealed a small silver-colored device in her hands. It looked a little bit like a cross between a wrist watch and one of those little digital monster toys from Japan. Blinking, he looked between it and her, unsure what it was. "It helps," she nodded.

Chrono's head tilted sideways, unsure what to make of the electronic components he could see. "Is this like... a hand-held version of the translator?" he asked her, slowly taking it up into his hand, holding it by the strap between two fingers and looking at it.

She smiled a toothy grin which may or may not have been friendly. "It is not a weapon," she said plainly. Chrono looked up at her and considered for an instant what she had just said. He hadn't asked her if it was a weapon. He had asked her up in her room not to have any weapons when she came downstairs and it was then that had realized that she could interpret the request in a way to bring something to do him harm that wasn't technically a weapon.

Looking from his hand back up, he saw that she was gone... and Chrono was standing in an empty room. She had vanished into nothing. No sound, no smell, no change of surroundings had heralded her disappearing into thin air.

Suddenly he realized that he couldn't move. His eyes were stuck facing forward and his body had paused, frozen completely in place. He had a reflex to bit his lip, but his mouth wouldn't move. Unable to blink, had no question that she had never trusted him, biding her time until she could do something about him.

The lights of the front room dimmed quickly into darkness and he suddenly realized that the device was sparking energy over his hand and up his arm. As the room lights reached a night cycle, they quickly lit back up to full and normal light before repeating the cycle again, over and over.

Abruptly a smear of blood appeared on a wall just to the side of his range of vision and he could have sworn he saw a caden body laying there just before it vanished. A moment later, the blood faded to a stain.

One of the railings on the staircase appeared broken without any indication of what had done the damage. The lights of the ship stopped fluctuating and began to maintain a certain level of dimness overall as if they might be dimmed to consere energy.

The device Chrono held pulsed a cool energy over his fur and through his bones like liquid fire and he once more felt the white and blue energy at the edges of his mind. That feeling of time itself coursed over and through him and he realized at once that he wasn't stopped in time, frozen in place. No.

Somehow... she's slowed me.

Chapter Four

Out of Time