{"sf1_id":557714,"sf2_id":"qmy7oav1","title":"A balance of Scales part 2","author":"Cheetahs","words":2169,"posted_at":"2013-06-30T18:03:00.000Z","tags":["Anthro","Anthropomorphic","Betrayal","Character Development","Clean","Crocodile","Leopard","No-Yiff","Raptor","Sci-Fi","Ship","Space","crew","plot"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/557714-a-balance-of-scales-part-2","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/qmy7oav1","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/8c/69/8c694c8b-32b9-4864-8ea7-55d8626bb9d5","description":"The second part of my short story.","content":"\"Wha-but-how-\"\n\n\"Put on the captain suit. Snow, stay here and help build the negotiation plan.\"\n\n\"There's nothing interpersonal in that,\" the cat jumped from the couch, stretched and bared her fangs in a drawn-out yawn.\n\n\"It will get to that too. But only if we do this right,\" the captain said.\n\nPando left the deck as a ragged human and returned a captain. Once the crew aws done critiquing the redundancy of his vestments, the captain explained the mission.\n\nScales knew its main points. Pando would act as the captain of a poacher crew that sought to sell the most recent exotic catch. The humans, blinded by their conservation fervor and tricked by the flamboyant suit would offer them a quarter of the regular price for a raptor, some supplies and fuel, just to see them off. Only the promise of future catch allowed the crew to slip away, and that relied strongly on Pando's skill in persuasion.\n\nIt was the details that unnerved Scales. Her stomach lurched when Brother hacked into their security to reveal hopelessness, or when he explained the bio tests the captain would go through. Humans wanted genuine creatures, not engineered ones.\n\nAnd she knew not what the captain was now.\n\nBy the time the meeting ended, everyone was spent.\n\n\"I'll be in my bunk,\" Brother said.\n\n\"Same,\" Snow purred from behind. The squelch of her pads lessened with each step she took as she left towards the main corridor.\n\nScales turned to the captain, \"Why risk it? Why not find an outlaw planet with supplies or hideouts we can hit?\"\n\n\"There's none in sight, and our fuel runs low,\" he replied. \"Besides, we've done this before. 12-B is a small Earth Sliver. It was no real command.\"\n\n\"They'll have you,\" Scales cut in. \"And Pando is an engineer, not a captain. He can't be the captain you were. You saw how awkward your suit fits him.\"\n\nShe looked him in the eyes, \"Clothes do not make a captain.\"\n\n\"Humanity does.\" He dipped his head, eyes closed to shut the slivers of emotion within. Scales wrapped her arms around his snout. Scales rubbed against scales as she pulled him to her chest. _Fool,_ she thought. _Thrice damned fool._\n\n\"You are a raptor,\" she said while her fingers nipped at the soft scales under his chin. \"A beast Pando, our captain, captured on a savage outer planet.\" When his reptilian eyes opened, no trace of emotion lingered within the thin black slits. \"That's better.\"\n\n\"Took a cage in a dark room and a lot of practice,\" he said.\n\nScales pushed him away. \"There will be more than that. Various tests, DNA samples, or perhaps they will just seize us all. Why put yourself through this? Why risk it so much?\" She sighed and increased her tone. \"Why let the beast be the dominant side?\"\n\n\"That is what I am, and what my crew needs me to be.\"\n\nIt was true. Not one of Brother's japes. He really gave in. But when?\n\nScales began to pace around, her tail rocking from side one side to the other. The captain's gaze followed her, yet he did not even flinch. He stood still as lake water.\n\nRealization struck scales. She turned towards him like a raging storm. \"You planned this! Our last mission kept us floating, but you know how brother is. Never pleased, always looking for that one mission.\" She heaved to regain her breath. \"He wouldn't have taken us to the middle of nowhere without the prospect of coin to push him.\"\n\nA simple yes was the captain's answer.\n\n\"And you didn't come to me for solace and support. You wanted the crew to know that we're up to something, to know that I am involved too. They wouldn't have followed the mad plan of a beast.\"\n\n\"Your words carry more power,\" he said. \"And you are the strategist.\"\n\nBlood roiled within Scales. Her muscles flared with the desire to lunge at the creature in front of her and...\n\nDo what?\n\nShe sighed; a long, drawn-out exhale filled with dark thoughts. A sea of question churned within her mind, but only one stood out.\n\n\"Do you still love me?\"\n\nHis eyes held the answer no longer, for they sparkled with the cold, glossy eyes of a raptor.\n\n\"Are beasts capable of love?\"\n\nHe strode towards the main corridor just as Scales' words left her lips.\n\n\"I don't know,\" she whispered to herself. \"I do not know.\"\n\nThe question never ceased haunting Scales. It haunted her while she prepared the captain for the upcoming tests. It haunted her during the crew meetings. Even when the moment she feared was at hand, when their ship would be permitted access by the Earth Sliver to enter the merchant's bay, she still thought about that question.\n\nThey assembled on the cargo bay, as planned. Pando the fake captain wore the suit and had a stoic pose. She stood on theright as the Second, while brother took the rear. Snow stood to the far left. She still groomed herself. Petty words were exchanged in the wake of the boarding, but Scales paid no attention to them. The answer to the question. That mattered. Nothing else.\n\nThe groan of the trapdoor snapped her from her musings. Light poured through the enlarging space...along with a small army of men. The crew played its part. They stood idle while the rows of humans invaded the cargo bay to form a circle around the crew. One beckoned to another, and soon enough a spear of a man moved forward.\n\n\"You ze captin?\" He took a customary step forward and removed his hat.\n\n\"We're here to trade. The details of our cargo have been sent the day before,\" Pando said.\n\n\"Yes, ze junk.\" He pointed at each crew member with a gloved hand. \"And ze cretures?\"\n\n\"My crew. We come from--\"\n\n\"Nobody cares where you outlaws come from,\" he interrupted.\n\n\"This is no smuggler's ship. We have papers and can attest--\"\n\n\"Ze leopard. Why so...diformzd?\"\n\n\"The space does not treat everyone the same,\" Pando pressed on. \"We want to live, no matter the cost.\"\n\n\"So you claim, yet you have no fur nor scales.\" He steadied his admiral's hat on that tiny head of his when it dropped past his eyebrows. \"I'mv not intereszed in freaks and papers. The...velorcipor...velociptora... \" He struggled to say that particular word. \"Ze raptor,\" the admiral finally managed.\n\n\"Is in the preservation bay, with a taming collar around its neck.\"\n\n\"Gud.\" The admiral whispered something to himself--an order to his minions, most likely.\n\n\"My assistand vil sil ze dil.\" He clasped his hands above his bottom, took two steps forward, then turned around. \"May I trouble ze leopard to come with me?\"\n\nSnow and Pando shared a glance. Pando nodded, and Snow walked to the admiral.\n\n\"I admire felinez,\" he pet her, then scratched her under the chin until Snow's purr brought a smile on the admiral's bony face. \"Great survival instinct, fluffy fur, and soft, soft feet.\" He tested one of her paws between his fingers. \"I like zis one,\" he said, then took his leave between a group of minions.\n\nHowever, a significant part of his human entourage remained. Scales tapped her foot, eager to pace and shed some worries along the way. They followed the protocol, but nothing good came from playing the human's game.\n\nThe assistant and her team strode forward before Scales lost her temper. She was a well shaped blonde, her body somewhere between spindly and plump. A brown raptor strolled behind, its red taming collar suggesting its forced submission to a higher will.\n\n\"Apologies for this,\" the human said to Pando. She moved the test kit from one hand to the other. The suitcase was almost as big as her back and it swung heavily. \"Technology is a boon, but traditional methods still work the best for seed testing.\"\n\nPando and Scales shared a glance_. Don't go for it_, Scales wanted to say. They prepared for the standard tests, the ones where a needle solved it all. A wild raptor, trapped in a room with the captain...\n\n\"We'll work with what we have,\" he said, smiling stupidly.\n\n\"Wonderful. Lead the way then.\"\n\nPando tipped his hat and did as he was bid. Scales walked behind them, trapped between the raptor and several armored troopers. Metal sang under the touch of her tail, earning her less flattering whispers from the meatbags that trapped her. She couldn't help it. It was that, or rip open the fool Pando who doomed them all.\n\nWhen the Preservation bay presented itself before them, Scales felt dizzy with apprehension. The assistant propped over her testing suitcase against the wall. \"Is the male caged?\"\n\n\"We didn't deem it necessary at first...\"\n\nShe tilted her head and smiled. \"A weary captain makes for a good captain. Very well. We let the female in, deactivate these collars, and let nature continue what we start.\"\n\n\"When do we know it's over?\" Blood rushed to Pando's cheeks when the blond giggled.\n\n\"Oh, you will know. Raptors never mate quietly, and males are often eager to release their seed. Open the door.\"\n\nHe hit the green button. The door parted to reveal Scales' lost and confused love. The taming collar was foreign to him, so he paced around and whined. His unfocused eyes did not even seem to notice her.\n\n\"In with you,\" the assistant said. The female strolled forward, head raised and teeth bared. \"Close the door, quickly.\"\n\nThe last glimpse of the captain, hissing and backing away while he stared at her, revealed the answer to Scales.\n\n\"The male is still too young. Not apt for breeding. They will\"--she rushed to the door switch, her heart a drum in her chest. Just when she reached for it, a jolt raced from her back and numbed her whole body. They surrounded her before she fell. Pain wracked her twitching limbs, and things started to move around her.\n\n\"Wait...just worried, leave her...\" Pando. It was Pando. \"Who shot her?\"\n\n\"Freak,\" a deep, fearsome voice.\n\n\"Beast. Vile. Down,\" another one joined.\n\n\"Abomination.\" They kept joining in.\n\nWhen words stopped, screeches and roars followed. They came from Scales' left, from the room with the captain. The captain. Her lost love. She fought against pain, against her nature, against everything, but her contracted throat allowed too little air inside. Scales heaved, and heaved, and heaved, until she regained a measure of control over her body.\n\nThe roars stopped.\n\n\"They're finished. Activate the collar.\"\n\nScales lay on her side, paralyzed, helpless, and surrounded by a dozen humans with a dozen guns. Those things would fry her brain if she twitched a single finger. _There is a time for heroes, and a time for cowards_, the captains had once said, when he still wore his suit. For his sake, and for that of the crew, Scales had to act the later.\n\nThe door opened. Only one raptor stepped out. Brown in scales and color. The female.\n\nThe assistant probed the area between its legs, where her tail began.\n\n\"Is this--\" Pando made a wry face. \"Is this necessary?\"\n\n\"Reproduction is one of nature's most precious gifts.\" She smiled, and flicked her wrist. Juices splat against her arm, the floor, and the device she readied.\n\n\"Take her away,\" the assistant said to one man. She knelt before her kid, removed her gloves, and began working her series of tests.\n\nScales's stomach lurched. The test would fail. Brother was nowhere to be seen. Pando wasn't ready for the backup plan. She had to let him know. Lure them into the cargo bay, close it, then starve them to death while they flew to safety.\n\nWhen her lips parted to give voice, only a whimper came. The blond's voice muffled it.\" Apt for reproduction.\"\n\nShe rose and smiled. \"We'll pay what we agreed on. Will you sell the leopard too?\"\n\n\"I--no,\" Pando shook his head and smiled humbly. \"Crew member. We do need fuel and supplies though.\"\n\n\"A pity. Her genes are resilient enough to withstand a full transformation. Maybe even mate. But that concludes our affairs.\"\n\n\"Men!\"\n\nEvery gun fell on Scales. Pando began to stutter uncontrollably and move around like a headless chicken until a man knocked him down with a terse blow to his head.\n\nThe blond chuckled,\" we'll take him and the leopard. Engineers are always welcome when they don't wear captain suits, and the admiral has a soft spot for cats. Let this crocodile-human-whatever live. She has a thing or two to settle with her turncloak brother.\n\n\"Understood,\" they all replied.\n\nThe blond picked her suitcase and turned to face scales, \"Oh, and kill the victor too. I loathe happy endings.\"\n\n\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*\\*  \nAnd that's how this mission concludes. If you enjoyed the story, please consider leaving a comment. If not, do the same. I'm open to any type of feedback and comments, so feel free to write aaaanything you wish.\n\n  \n  \n\n","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/557436-a-balance-of-scales-part-1.json"}