FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 15

The crowds were thick that day on the Loma Prime's largest beach. The teeming horde of scantily clad vacationers completely obvious to the problems of the greater universe around them as they strolled up and down the expensive shop and restaurant lined boardwalk, frolicked in the never ending surf of the bright blue seas, and laughed and talked amongst themselves. For them, it was just another day in paradise. A simple vacation of good food, fun, and the occasional romantic encounter. However a short distance away from this tropical display of decadence and triviality the mood was entirely different. For a very nervous looking Barnabus and his crew their time on this beautiful world wouldn't be filled with any of these lighthearted pursuits. Instead their stay would be strictly business. They were there to find Rachel Bonnibel Verdomian research expert, find out what she knew about their failed mission and their artifact, and then hightail it back into space before anyone knew the wiser. Or at least that's what Barnabus had to remind himself again and again while he walked down the cargo bay ramp of the Wild comet and out into the sunny Loma Prime afternoon.

[Barnabus: Loma Prime, the hottest vacation spot in all of I.U.G. space. Or at least that's what the tourist brochures say about it. To me this sunny beach littered planet has bitter sweet memories to it. It was here where me and Ekkar spent several of our shared vacations together. Man... I remember having so much fun back then at the damned Fidraon's secluded condo and private beach. Him wearing that tight fitting bathing suite he loved to wear all the time, me in just my... well let's just say that I usually came back to work with an allover tan and several claw prints on my ass. Of course these "good" times all ended that day I realized what kind of man that scaly bastard was and I haven't been back here since. Not going to lie though, it was nice having downtime in a tropical paradise like this all those years ago. But since then I've learned what's really important in life. My ship, my pride, and more importantly my crew. And you know what? I don't regret a single decision I've made since then.]

After taking a deep breath of the crisp salty seaside air Barnabus glanced over to Rana and Moah who were surveying the area around the old abandoned dock where they had landed on the lookout for security forces. He knew they wouldn't find anyone, after all the area they were parked the Wild Comet was nice and deserted. The only things close by besides the inland jungle which sat in the middle of most of the islands on Loma Prim were a few stray dogs and a broken down old fisherman's shack which had seen better days. "So, is the coast clear?" Barnabus said trying to lighten the mood if only a little.

Rana gave him an annoyed glare for his small joke but eventually the harsh look mantled into a small smile. "Real cute choice of words there Comet." She said walking over to him. "But yeah, it looks like no one noticed the ship coming down."

"Basha nolah." Moah said as he dramatically made a sigh and wiped imaginary sweat off of his forehead.

"You can say that again big guy." He said humoring the other man. Shaking his head the bearded human briefly wondered if their mechanic acted the way he did out of his own quirky personality or out of some form of amusement at the way they stared up at him goggled eyed. Either way they couldn't dwell on it the idea for now they had a retired researcher to find.

However for them to start their search they still needed the fourth member of their away party and Miktes for all his stubbornness hadn't moved an inch yet, still standing at the top of the ships ramp as he glowered down at him for taking Rana's side moments ago.

Walking over to the ramp Barnabus placed his hands on his hips and matched their unruly stowaway's expression. "You planning on getting your big green butt down here anytime soon young man?" He said in a mocking motherly voice.

Miktes bristled at the tone that the other man had used. It actually reminded him of how his mother, Velloy spoke to him when she saw him doing something naughty. "I thought I already commanded you to stop treating me like some sort of youngling!" He shouted down the ramp. "And no, I ain't moving! I told you I weren't moving unless your female servant apologizes for striking me!"

"Oh for god's sake!" Barnabus, having had enough of the childish alien's antics stormed his way up towards him and carefully by firmly grabbed him around the gauntlet on his forearm. No need to start that dammed fever lust stuff again. "You are acting like the biggest baby!" He huffed, pulling Miktes down the ramp with all his strength. "It was just a little cuff to the back of that thick skull of yours not some death strike!"

"Let go of me submissive, I didn't give you permission to touch me again!" Miktes growled as he was forcibly dragged down the steep incline and onto the dock. "I swear if you were not my mate I would go and knock your hairy head off of... your... dammed..."

Halfway through his rant Miktes had slowly begun peering around the dock. At first there was nothing special that caught his interest, he had seen a jungle before and the dilapidated old building wasn't anything special to look at. His opinion quickly changed though when his red hued eyes took in the sight of the crystal clear waters which seemed to stretch out forever over the horizon.

Pulling hand free suddenly, Barnabus nearly falling over the edge of the dock when he did, Miktes inhaled deeply. The smells of the beach and saltwater making his nose itch as he let the entirety of where they were sink into his mind. It was stunning! The way the water sparkled in the sunlight, the way the sand glistened with moister, and the colors of the trees and plants.

It was like nothing Miktes had ever seen before. Slowly making his way over to the very edge of the raised wooden platform they were standing on Miktes peered down at his own reflection. "By the strangers." He said in awe without even realizing that he was talking aloud. "...I didn't think there could be so much water in one place."

Scratching his head in confusion, Barnabus righted himself and went over to the other man. Looking over the edge of the dock he tried briefly to see what the Verdomian was going on about. There wasn't really anything out of the usual around them. Glancing over to Miktes the Jack found him speechless for the first time since he had met him, the orc's mouth hanging open as his eyes darted back and forth. Chuckling at the funny expression Barnabus nudged him gently in the belly with his clothed elbow. "Better be careful and shut your mouth before you end up swallowing a fly there kid."

Miktes instantly snapped his mouth when the older man made his joke and quickly turned his head to Barnabus eyes wide at the thought of swallowing a bug. When he did however, he imminently noticed the twinkle of mischief in his human's eyes and realized that he was being made fun of. "Very funny." The alien huffed. "But, I can't help being all surprised and junk 'bout this." Miktes added, turning back to the water. "What is this place called?"

"Loma prime." Barnabus said flatly. He knew he had told the other man nearly a dozen times where they had been heading.

"I didn't mean the name of this world idiot." Miktes said in the face of his mate's apparent dimness. "I meant what's all that water over there called. You know the river's name." Bending down the Verdomian tried to dip his four fingered hand into the cool liquid and almost toppled over the edge of the dock. Luckily for the curious man, Moah rushed over before he fell and grabbed his green shoulder. The big man muttering a few words which most likely meant "You have to be careful Miktes." To the other man.

Watching this small interaction, Barnabus furrowed his brows in confusion once again. "This isn't a river Mickey, it's an ocean." He explained as if it should be obvious. "You know the sea, the briny deep, Davy Jones' locker, the big wet thing." Seeing the raised eyebrow ridge Miktes gave him back in response for his list of synonyms Barnabus tuned back to Rana for help. "He acts like he's never seen one before."

"He hasn't Barnabus." She said walking up to the three men. "Verdomo only had a bunch of small rivers running across it, remember? This is his first time seeing any other kind of water formation."

Barnabus made and "oh" sound with his mouth and shifted his vision back onto Miktes as he continued to sightsee. He should have remembered that. His memory really was getting bad as he descended deeper into middle age. "I guess it would be amazing to a primitive guy like you to see an ocean for the first time wouldn't it Miktes." The bearded man chuckled.

Jumping back onto his feet Miktes spun around and frowned at the light insult. "Watch who you're calling a primitive, ya dam submissive." He growled sourly. Then with a thoughtful look the alien turned back around and quickly added. "So... this is called an Oh-san then?"

"Ocean." Barnabus corrected. "And yeah this is an ocean. I guess now that you got us all staring at it, it is kinda pretty isn't it." Watching the gentle waves of the water in front of them Barnabus felt a slight ache in his heart for days gone by. It hadn't been that long ago when he had stood on this same planet watching in awe at the tide came in. He just wished that those memories were a little bit better.

Realizing that they were wasting time just standing there sightseeing Barnabus turned away from the group and began walking down the pier towards land. "Come on everybody, we should hurry to this Bonnibel woman's place before someone reports our ship for parking here and we get a ticket."

"I think getting a ticket would be the least of our troubles if we got caught Barnabus." Rana called out to him with a small laugh. Shaking her head when Barnabus waved her off the Middle-Eastern woman hurried to catch up, motioning for Moah to follow after her

"Yaggho Rana!" Moah said with his usual chipper attitude. Lumbering to his feet the giant man patted Miktes on the shoulder and then bounded after the two human's, talking rapidly as they he walked beside them and onto solid land.

Tearing his eyes away from the ocean, Miktes watched for a moment as his submissive and their servants padded away from him before he went to join the trio. Falling into step behind them, Miktes stared at the back of Barnabus head, a tight ball forming in his stomach that he was loath to acknowledge. He had taken notice at the hitch in the human's voice when he had spoken about the beauty of this new world they had found themselves on. Again it had made the Verdomian dominate feel weird to see his shorter submissive upset. And what was worst was that he didn't know why it was there in the first place.

He did have to admit though, if only to himself, that a small part of his Verdomian mind actually wanted to know what had caused his mate's mood to dip. But then there was still that suborn part of his thoughts. The part which was mired in the things Miktes had believed his entire life which told him that he should just mind his own business and let Barnabus sort it out for himself. It was the submissive man's problem not his after all not his after all.

But as many times as Miktes kept telling himself that last part it just wouldn't stick like it did a few weeks ago. It actually felt wrong to pretend to be unconcerned about the way his mate felt. 'Must be the mating messing with my mind again.' The warrior told himself as the four of them turned off onto a large road. 'No other mated dominate feels this way after all. At least... I think they don't.'

Walking ahead of the indecisive alien, Barnabus was obvious to the inner turmoil his small lapse in emotional control had caused in the younger man. Instead all that he could think about was their upcoming search for Rachel Bonnibel. Putting his hand into his pocket the worried man fingered the Verdomian artifact safely hidden in his baggy shorts. He truly hoped that they would find what they were looking for on this sunny planet. Cause if it turned out that this researcher couldn't help them then they were doomed. They could run for a while sure. But eventually they would be found out and thrown into a dark cell somewhere or worst. There were plenty of rumors of how the I.U.G. dealt with citizens they considered too much trouble.

Grim thoughts swirling around his trouble mind, Barnabus didn't realize how long they had been walking until the sounds of corny Calypso music drifted into his ears alongside. Looking up from the dirt road in front of them Barnabus was pleasantly surprised to see that they had arrived at edge of the expansive boardwalk which ran alongside the beach for what looked like miles and miles ahead.

Despite the unpleasant memories he had of Loma prime Barnabus still found a part of himself instantly loving the frantic and boisterous nature of the beachfront attraction all over again as they walked into it. The scents of the food wafting through the air, the music and laughter, and most of all... the sight of the shirtless men walking about. Barnabus had always been a man who enjoyed the eye candy one could see around a beach. However as he eyed an particularly muscular looking alien with devil-like horns and tail wearing a obscenely tight fitting pair of briefs he found himself not getting as excited as he once would at such an impressive sight. In fact there wasn't as so much as a twitch in his loose fitting shorts which was kind of panicking to the forty plus year old man.

Before the older man could dwell too long on his thoughts of sudden impedance, he found himself being rudely pushed to the side as Miktes made his way to the front of their little group. Gasping in shock, the green alien blinked several times looking from left to right as he was fully met by the sight of the crowd of half-dressed beachgoers. "How can someone walk around wearing just that!?" He asked with a scrunch of his large nose.

Rana let out a small bark of laughter and placed her hands on her hips. "Really?" She asked with a raised eyebrow at the green skinned man's scandalized question. "You come from a place where men and women walk around in just loincloths and a few tight fitting bathing suits are where you draw the line on indecency."

"That's different." Miktes defended. "It's only us dominates who are allowed to walk around in loincloths! But here your people go-" Looking around quickly, Miktes found something to prove his point and motioned over to a large group of men and women in revealing bathing suits playing volleyball. "-Here you people go and let your submissives run around practically naked! A truly dignified Sub would cover themselves up so that only the dominate taking them to bed would see what they have."

"Oh boy." Barnabus couldn't help buy chortle at the way the Verdomian was acting. After all the walking around naked and talking about sex in front of them. A few people in bathing suits were actually making the proud Verdomian warrior flustered like a virgin on his weeding night. "I guess the phrase "Dominate chauvinist pig" doesn't exist on Verdomo yet dose it?"

"What's a chauvinist pig?" Miktes asked glaring at his three companions. He had a feeling that the words were some sort of insult but for some reason the thing in his ear didn't translate them for him.

"Ghossi tenboy hotta, Oink oink!" Moah helped with a spot on impression of the barnyard animal in question.

Miktes only grew frustrated by the explanation he had received and growled at his now amused looking mate. "I just asked you a simple question and all you people do is blabber away at me and make fun.

"Forget about it Mick." Barnabus said back slyly. "It's nothing you have to worry about." Grinning Barnabus began to walking down the boardwalk again as he talked over his shoulder. "But... you know all this talk about swimming wear got me thinking back to my twenties."

"This isn't going to be pleasant is it?" Rana deadpanned. Usually when her captain said something like that it meant a painfully awkward story which would either embarrass those who listened to it or made their stomach do back flips as they tried to hold in their lunch.

"Heya, I was about to regale you with tales of my youthful exploits." Barnabus said with a sniff. When Rana and Moah rolled their eyes and motioned for him to speak the bearded man grinned and continued. "Glad you came to your senses. Anyway when I was twenty I used to come down here to the beach all the time. And I wasn't wearing much more than these people are right now."

There was a chuckle from the Barnabus as he saw the wide eyed faces he got from what he had just said. "Actually I wore a lot less, used to strut around in this pair of little tight fitting speedos. I used to get so many people patting my pert behind back in those days when I wore that. Got lucky a few times because of it too."

"Geeze Comet thanks for the visual now tattooed permanently into my mind." Rana said slapping her forehead. "I guess I'll just have to file yet another thing under the heading of "things I never wanted to know about Captain Comet"." When Moah chuckled at her exclamation the dark haired woman elbowed the man lightly in his round gut. "You were thinking the same thing Zash, don't lie."

"Getzoo!" Moah mumbled guiltily.

"You... walked around wearing nothing more but a strap of cloth?" Miktes asked incredulously. Just the mental image of his heavyset mate parading around wearing so little was causing that unwanted mating lust to rear its ugly head. If this were true that he had worn such a thing then why did his submissive always complain Miktes insisted on wearing his ceremonial clothing instead of disguising himself.

Turning around and walking backward Barnabus held his hands out in a questioning gesture. "What... that's what everyone my age was wearing back then and I looked dam good in it too. It was this pitch black little number with amber colored stars and a barely there backside." When a pair of groans came from behind Miktes, Barnabus choose to completely ignore them. "I would have blown your simple little mind Mickey if you saw me walking up to you in-oomph."

With the way he wasn't watching where he was going, Barnabus had failed to notice that someone had been standing in path until he found himself clumsily bumping into a solid mass of muscle and gray colored fur. "Hey watch it!" A growling voice shouted from behind the human in anger. Snorting, whoever Barnabus had collided with roughly pushed him forward and right into Miktes' surprised arms.

For a few moments Miktes and Barnabus looked into each other eyes, red eyes staring back at amber ones, both men surprised by their sudden contact. The short spell quickly vanished however then Miktes gave an angry growl and pushed Barnabus to the side, the heavyset man getting caught before he fell to boardwalk by Rana and Moah, then walked over to the bastard who had dared attacked his human!

"Hey jackass!" Miktes shouted at the gray furry creature standing with its back to them. "Who the fuck do you think you are pushing him around."

Turing around, the man who had shoved Barnabus glowered over to whoever had shouted at him. He was a hairy mammal-like alien with dull gray fur and a short muzzle which had flat beaver-like teeth hanging down from the top lip. Barnabus gave a groan when recognized what sort of creature he had just ran into. The man in front of them was from a species who called themselves the Ulfurry. A race of beings with a pack mentality that were known for having tempers comparable to that of angry wolf and a tendency for starting fights at the drop of a hat over the silliest thing.

Frowning, the Ulfurry snubbed his nose at the angry green skinned man who had accosted him. "Watch who you're calling a jackass, bub." He said referring to what Miktes had just said. "Your friend should watched where his smelly monkey ass was going and as for you, you should know better than to shout at someone who'd be more than happy to kick your ass!"

Miktes growled at the disrespect the other man was showing towards him. He was of the Hestry clan and would not be talked down to by some hairy animal in such a way. "You have ten seconds before I slam my fist into your stupid face and chip them big goofy teeth of yers." He warned. "That unless you say sorry for daring to touch my human."

"Your human?!" Barnabus squawked, his face heating up at the implication. Did Miktes really just call him his human? He wasn't the alien's by any stretch of the word.

For several tense moments Miktes and the large gray alien stared each other down. Then just as it looked like a fight was about to start the bully relaxed his stance and chuckled. "You know you got guts friend." He said smiling.

Waving over his shoulder the man summoned a few others of his kind male and female, all of them equally as pleased as he seemed to be. "The name's Fan-gor, you want to come along with us tonight green guy?" He asked with a leer. "I'm sure you would make a more the adequate bedmate."

"Y-You want to rut with me!?" Miktes asked his eyes growing wide. Couldn't these simpletons scent that he was mated? To ask one who was already bonded with another person to bed was considered the greatest insult you could give. It meant that they paid no heed to his rights as Barnabus' dominate and was trying to claim him.

Seeing that Miktes was about to start a fight with the gang of Ulfurry men and women in front of them Barnabus quickly righted himself and went to stop the incoming street brawl. "Never mind these jokers Miktes." He said stepping between their stowaway and the group. "Let's just all walk away and forget they even asked us."

"What if I don't want to just walk away and forget?" Miktes asked purely to get a rise out of the older man. "I'm really in the mood to crack some skulls for once instead of running away like you always seem to do."

"I don't always run away!" Barnabus said haughtily. "I just have enough common sense in my head to know when I'm licked." Turing to the group of men he sneered at the lightly then glanced back over to Miktes. "Trust me they're not worth it anyway. Plus if you did fight them they might you know..." He motioned up at Verdomian's head. "Find out the reason you're wearing that hat."

Miktes frowned at the mention at the bothersome hat but eventually nodded in agreement. The gang of creatures blocking their path wasn't worth it. "Fine... let's go them."

Turning away from the furry aliens Miktes went to walk around them but instantly came to a screeching stop when Fan-gor snickered. "Awe, don't be so pissy about us asking out your boyfriend human." The Ulfurry said. When Barnabus made a face at his choice of words the wolf-like man laughed. Glancing around to his gang, Fan-gor waited for each of them to nod back in return. "You can come along too if you want." He said stepping up to Barnabus. "I haven't done a human before so it might be fun."

With a huff of frustration at his mate being propositioned like that, Miktes reached back and roughly grabbed Barnabus by his unsightly shirt. Pulling the human away from the creatures and with him as he stomped further down the boardwalk. "We're leaving!" He said gruffly as he began to drag his mate away. "And I don't want to hear any shit about you not liking me ordering you around."

"O-Ok" Barnabus managed to get out suddenly stunned. For once he wasn't going to argue about the younger man's aggressive personality. He agreed that they had to get out of there. Looking over his shoulder the Jack watched as Rana and Moah snubbed their noses up at the pack of Ulfurry and chase after them.

"Awe come on we were getting along so nicely!" Fan-gor called out as both men walked away from them.

Once they were far enough away from the lecherous men and women for his liking, Miktes came to a stop but did not release his mate's shirt. "What the hell is wrong with those things?" He fumed. "Can't they tell that we ain't interested in the likes of them?" Barely realizing what he was doing the Verdomian quickly checked the human over to make sure nothing was out of place. If one of those things had touched what was his he was going to go out for blood. Once Miktes was sure that there were no claw marks on his mate's person did he calm down a little.

Recovering from his little daze cause by Miktes' gruff command, Barnabus shook the fog from his head and pushed the other man off of him. "That's the way Ulfurry are Mickey." He explained. "They have a habit of having these big orgies and like to invite people who impress them."

"How come you're such and expert about Ulfurry, Captain?" Rana asked as she and Moah caught up with the duo. When Barnabus blushed a little at her question she instantly got her answer. "How many?"

Barnabus quickly shoved his hands in his pocket, kicking at the ground with his feet as he avoided eye contact with his friends. "About ten of them one new year's eve and I was drunk so I'm not fully to blame for accepting their offer."

Stifling her laughter Rana remembered that certain New Year's Day morning when Barnabus had returned to the ship with torn up clothing and a cheesy smile on his face. "I should have known."

Miktes however didn't find the thought of creatures like the ones who had just bothered them touching his submissive. Even if it was long in the past. Just the image of Barnabus in the clutches of some of these Ulfurry brought up the same feelings of unwanted jealously that Miktes had felt when he had learned of his mate's previous involvement with that Ekkar person.

Seeing the grumpy look on the Verdomian's face Barnabus snapped his fingers in front of the taller man's nose catching his attention. "Stop acting like that." He sighed. "I know you wanted to deck them but now's not the time. We would only get in trouble with beach security and one high speed chase a month is enough for me."

Miktes pouted at the hairy man next to him, slightly relieved that the human believed that his anger at the Ulfurry was solely because he couldn't fight with them. Miktes didn't think he could adequately explain why he had truly been upset at what they had said. Mostly because he didn't fully understand why it had upset him in the first place.

About to argue with his mate about fighting with the Ulfurry in hopes to get his mind of off his unwanted feelings, Miktes opened his mouth about to argue. But before he could say a word the Verdomian was beat to the punch by Moah of all people who tapped the bearded man on his shoulder, trying desperately to gain his attention. "Barnabus?" He asked excitedly.

Looking up at his mechanic the human gave his a smile. He recognized that tone coming from the large man. Moah only used it when he either wanted to conduct a dangerous experiment or when he wanted something that would cost them money. "What is it big guy?"

Moah patted his half covered stomach and pointed over to a nearby hotdog stand. "Jipnat nolah futo cesso Hotdog, Barnabus? Noto giff."

"I'm sort of hungry too actually" Rana added getting the gist of what the Girunjh was saying. Reaching into her pocket the Jack pilot took out her P.A.D. and handed it to Moah. "How about you and..." She looked over to Miktes who stuck his tongue out at her. "...Miktes go over and get us something to snack on before we really start looking for the woman we came here to meet."

Rising an eyebrow at the sneaky way his second in command was trying to get the two of them alone Barnabus nodded to her suggestion. "Yeah why don't you go, I'll have extra mustard on mine ok?" Moah gave a happy sounding word and placed his arm around Miktes' shoulder before the green alien could argue about being told what to do, taking them both over to the tiny food stand much to the shorter man's annoyance.

Now without pointed brown or green ears listening Barnabus turned to Rana with a questioning look. "Ok, so what did you want to talk to me about?" He asked. "I handled the Ulfurry in just the right way. I didn't insult them, I didn't start a fight, hell I didn't even flirt with any of them."

"Yeah about that... why didn't you hit on that guy?" Rana asked with a tilt of her head. "The Barnabus Comet I know would have jumped at the chance to bat eyes at half naked men like a gigolo."

With a snort Barnabus looked away his face tinting a little. He wasn't that bad was he? Sure he liked talking dirty sometimes but he wasn't some filthy disport. "I just didn't feel like chatting with them, for your information. It... it just didn't feel right." He admitted. "Plus I didn't like the way they were talking to Mickey. He's just some dumb primitive from a backwater planet and they were trying to get into his loincloth."

'He didn't look too intimidated to me.' Rana thought smugly. Outwardly she shook her head and laughed at her best friend. "You and Miktes really are starting to get close aren't you?" She asked.

"No I'm just concerned about someone finding out what he is, is all." Barnabus insisted. Shifted his eyes away from his annoying friend and over to Moah and Miktes, the Jack captain watched for a few moments as the pair of aliens argued over what to put on one of the hotdogs. Moah somehow winning because Miktes couldn't make an argument against someone who spoke a different language.

Again Barnabus felt himself smiling at the way the Verdomian was interacting with the larger man. The angry frown on his face and the redness in his cheeks from not being listened too. When he realized what he was doing however, the bearded man quickly looked away and back to Rana who was staring at him with amusement in her eyes. "I am getting attached to him aren't I?" He said with stark realization.

Rana nodded sagely to his question. "That's the way it looks."

"Dam it..." Barnabus sighed at his own failure to keep the promise he had made to himself. "I guess being down here in this nice place made me drop my guard a little didn't it? It's obvious that I have to learn to try harder and keep my distance from that big growling lug."

"You've been trying to stay away from him?" Rana asked incredulously. "Cause from what I saw the other night when Miktes came out of your room naked and covered in who knows what. It looked like you're doing the exact opposite of staying away."

"T-That was just a onetime thing!" Barnabus huffed, his face turning beat red. He should have known that his trusty second would have figured that he had been in the room with the other man. "Trust me though; I'm never going to let that happen again. I just can't risk getting more involved then I already am with that kid."

"How more involved can you get Comet? You're already basically married to him by his people's laws." Rana reminded her captain. When Barnabus visibly deflated to what she had said the dark haired woman gave a sigh and stepped up to her best friend, placing her hands on his shoulder making him look at her. '

"Barnabus I'll say this again would it really be that bad?" She asked honestly. "I agree Miktes isn't exactly the easiest of people to get along with, but your are stuck with him now. Maybe if we explained that the I.U.G military that you're biologically bonded to each other they'll cut us a break and let him stay."

"You think they're just going to let us go after we traveled to a forbidden planet and everything?" Barnabus snapped lightly. "If they found out about this mating bonding or whatever it's called we'd just end up as experiments."

"What if we named drop a few of our relatives." Rana suggested. Both of their families were well known by the military for their services. When Barnabus remained silent in response to her words the Middle-Eastern woman sighed and decided to drop it. "Ok... we can talk about it later. Besides, I think our lunch has just arrived." letting Barnabus go Rana pointed over to Moah and Miktes who were coming back over to where they were standing, arms filled with nearly a dozen or so hotdogs with all the toppings.

[Barnabus: Watching as Moah and my... ugh, husband walked up to us. I mulled over what Rana had just said to me. She could be right you know. Maybe the I.U.G. would allow us to "keep" Miktes if I truly wanted to pursue that option. It wasn't like my original last name; Anderson didn't have its pull in the military thanks to my half-brother and my dad. ... ... ... No, I shouldn't even think about doing something that stupid. I'm a single man through and through and having a ball and chain around would only lead to trouble. I know that from experience. I've said it before and most likely I'll say it again, Miktes has to go when we clear our names and that's final.]

***************

Meanwhile high above the boardwalk, a shadowy figure sat on the top of a roof hiding in a stairwell, a small device in his hands. Turning the knob on the side Barnabus' voice suddenly came over the speaker. "Moah! I didn't tell you to buyout half the cart!" The bearded man said over the line.

"Doosha Barnabus, doosha." Moah's voice followed sounding truly sorry.

Having heard enough the person listening to the Wild Comet crew clicked the device off and stoop up, his features becoming illuminated by the bright sunny day. He was a young human male, his body thin and attractive and his short cropped hair blind and spiky. Grinning smugly to himself he walked across the tar and tile strewed roof and looked over the edge down at Barnabus and his group.

"Gotcha." He said smugly to himself. Pulling out his P.A.D. the man quickly dialed a number and waited as the he was connected to the other party he wanted to talk with. When the telltale click of someone answering reached his ears he spoke into the device. "Galvin to crew, Galvin to crew. I'm reporting in sir concerning the mission. I found the targets."

There were a few moments of static then a happy sounding laugh. "Good work Galvin!" A voice came over the P.A.D. "Were you able to discover the location of the artifact in their possession?"

"I didn't see it on them." Galvin frowned. "But I'm sure I'll be able to find out if I keep listening. Did anyone else report the location of their ship? Maybe the relic is on their vessel."

"Negative." The other man said. "The other members of delta squad report that the Wild Comet hasn't showed up at any of the spaceports planet side or on either of Loma Prime's two moons. The captain's pitching a fit about it too. It seems he's very interested in the bounty placed on these fugitive's heads."

"Tell the captain that I'll be sure to do my job and not to take my eyes off of our targets." The blond gave a small laugh that almost sounded like a giggle. "He might even reward me like he did the last time I made him happy."

The person on the other end of Galvin's call joined in on the laughter. "You know the captain Galvin; He'd reward you for bringing him his coffee in the morning."

***************

It took Barnabus and his companions nearly four hours of steady walking through the busy boardwalk boarding the beach to get to where they had been heading too. But, finally after all the sweat, aching feet, and having to stop at every food stand to gather a very insistent Miktes who wanted more food. The three Jacks and their Verdomian stowaway found themselves standing in front of a high metal fence. Walking up to the tall barrier and looking between the metal bars Barnabus tried to get an idea of where they were going. On the other side of the fence was what appeared to be a very well off seaside community filled with high-class bungalows, fancy cars, and well-manicured lawns. "I guess being a researcher paid really good." Barnabus said to his companions over his shoulder.

"Yeah looks like it." Rana agreed. Surveying the street they were on the dark haired woman was disappointed to see that there was no way inside of the community except for a pair of open front gates which had a security guard box in-between them. "Hey, how are we going to get in there to see that researcher lady by the way?"

Barnabus pushed himself off of the gate and turned to the others. "I... sorta was hoping that you'd have an idea on how to do it."

"Barnabus!" Rana groaned. Why did her captain insist on playing everything by ear? It always leads to tough situations.

"Why don't we just sneak in through here?" Miktes' voice suggested from the pairs right. Looking first at each other than to where the alien had spoken from the two humans were both surprised to see the Verdomian's head poking out from a large bush which was planted against the fence. "There's a hole over here." The warrior continued like it was plainly obvious.

"Yaggho!" Moah's voice came seconds later. Grinning, the Girunjh popped his head out of the same bush and nodded for his crewmates to come over.

"I could just hug you Moah!" Barnabus laughed. He hadn't even though about looking for a hole in the fence. "Of course I'd be afraid of getting hair and oil all over my nice Hawaiian shirt though."

"Yeah it'd be a shame to ruin such a piece of high fashion." Rana said sarcastically.

Walking over to the two aliens the Jack captain and his second in command pushed their way into the underbrush, both of the failing to notice the small growl which came from their green skinned companion as the pushed past him. 'Why didn't he say he could hug me?' Mikes wondered to himself sourly. 'Not that I'd want him to or anything, but still.'

Stepping out of the other side of the bush, a few twigs and leaves stuck in their hair. The four travelers found themselves standing on one of the many sidewalks which worked their way through the expensive neighborhood. Starting down the street Barnabus began to feel himself becoming more and more uncomfortable. The whole area looked like the old retirement village he had been forced to go to when he was a kid to visit his grandparents. Not a single blade of grass was out of place on the bright sunny street. Surly someone would notice him and his motley group as they made their way deeper and deeper into the maze of homes and elderly people.

It seemed that he was the only one concerned about this however. The three walking behind him were obvious to his thoughts. Rana busy watching Moah out of the corner of her eye as the large man hummed and smiled to himself the closer they got to their destination while Miktes... well the redhead was too busy taking out one of the wrappers from the food they had gotten earlier and was licking the remaining remnants of his ketchup from it.

It was strange, Miktes had always seemed to find the food they gave him delicious but the alien had gone absolutely hog wild over the hotdogs they had gotten and had insisted on have several more as they made their way through the board walk.

Barnabus had agreed to his demand and continued to buy more because he didn't want to fall into another argument with the surly man. But he was beginning to wish that he hadn't been forced by their damned mating to bring him. Between the six hotdogs and the twenty hamburgers back on Aquarii station it was really emptying their meager bank account feeding their tusked pet.

Coming around a corner Barnabus looked up at the street sign and recognized the name as the one listed in the article he had gotten from Moah. Taking out the piece of paper again Barnabus quickly doubled checked the information written on it. "Well here it is guys the street we're looking for." He announced seeing that this was the place. "We're looking for "4556 Anicilla Avenue" so keep an eye out for the address. Me and Moah will go right while Rana, you take Miktes and search the left side of the street."

Rana didn't look too happy about being stuck with their stowaway but nodded anyway and muttered a quick, "fine.", to the order while Moah gave a thumbs up. Unfortunately for the bearded man his order didn't go over as well with the last member of their party. Miktes cocking his head to the side and giving him a sour look of confusion.

"What's an address?" The warrior asked suspiciously when he heard yet another word the magic thing in his ear failed to translate.

Barnabus rolled his eyes at the younger man's question not wanting to deal with it or him right then. "I wasn't talking to Miktes." He said flatly, making only the barest of eye contact. "I was speaking to Rana and Moah. All you have to do is keep your mouth shut and go with our lovely pilot here."

Miktes huffed at being told to associate with the vile woman that had struck him and went to bark his usual argument at his uppity mate. But before he could he found that Barnabus had spun on his heels and was already crossing the street without another word.

Confused and angry at Barnabus' actions, Miktes turned to Rana hoping that the female human could give him and answer as to why his mate was acting so strangely again. "What the hell's up his ass?" Miktes demanded to know gruffly.

Rana gave her captain a worried look as he and their mechanic stared at a mailbox checking the numbers on it. Then she turned to Miktes who looked slightly upset, although he was doing his best to hide it. Rana had a very good idea that the reason why Barnabus acting so cold to their stowaway again was because she pointed out how he was acting nicer to him. Why couldn't the older man just admit that something was starting to happen the more he interacted with the Verdomian? Like she said Miktes was hard to deal with sometimes, but he wasn't without his uses. The Verdomian had gotten them into the retirement village after all.

Answering Miktes the Middle-Eastern woman gave a tired sigh. "He's just stressed out." She lied. Giving the green skinned alien a look Rana passed by and began her search for the address they were looking for, leaving an even more confused and angry Miktes to grumpily stomp his way behind her.

{Miktes: Ugh... here we go again with acting like I don't exist. Just when I was starting to get used to having my dumb mate talking all normal again. Well... if that's how the little ass wants to be then I'll go back to not listening to a single thing he tells me to do. That'll teach the bastard to ignore his dominate! Going to get him so pissed off at me that his cheeks turn that nice red color I like and his face makes the funny expression. Wait, what the hell did I just say? Did I just say that I liked something that he did that wasn't sexual? Am I actually starting to like seeing that hairy idiot get all flustered cause of me? Shit... I think I am! What the hell is wrong with me? Guess I really need to get my mind together.}

The sounds of someone shouting in front of him drew Miktes out of his inner argument and back to reality "Hey Barnabus, over here!" Rana's voice called out. "I think I found the house we're looking for!"

Peering over to where the woman was standing the Verdomian watched sullenly as his mate and his large hairy pet went over to the dark haired woman. Both men giving happy sounding cheers as they all stared down at something in front of them.

Wanting to see what was so special about this discovery; Miktes went over to the trio and pushed his way past them. When all he found was a short pole with a black box that bore a series of strange squiggles he gave an angry snort. "This is why we trekked all the way out to this place?" Miktes asked with an indignant huff. "To come and look at some stupid box!"

Barnabus gave a snort of his own at the alien's apparent dimness. "We didn't come out here to look at that Mickey." He began tiredly. "We came out here to see the woman in the house behind the "box"." When Miktes gave the human a smug grin for snapping at him, Barnabus mentally slapped himself for slipping once again. He just couldn't understand why he kept doing that whenever he spoke with the frustrating man.

Brushing unwanted questions away however, Barnabus motioned for his crew to follow him and briskly started up the well maintained cobblestone walkway. Relived that their goal was almost within reach he bounded up the tree steps of the homely looking front porch and raised his hand to knock on the closed door. Before he could though, the heavyset human found himself being grabbed by the shoulder and spun away from the door like a ballerina by Moah who chortled to himself happily as he took the human's place in front of the door.

"Moah!" Barnabus huffed as he tried his best to stop the world from spinning around him. "What's the big deal about doing that to me!?"

Moah gave the bearded man a small pout and muttered a quick apology which didn't seem too sincere. "Doosha Barnabus." He said, eared lowered. "Rachel benzo Noply hotu go Moah raghi gento."

"Isn't that the same thing he said back on the ship?" Miktes asked from his spot behind the trio. "You know the "Noply hoto" part?" When Barnabus and Rana gave the younger man a surprised look he huffed and scowled at them. "What... I listen sometimes."

"See yet another good thing about him." Rana said giving Barnabus a wry smile.

"We're not discussing this." Barnabus shifted his attention away from his best friend and annoying stowaway and back to Moah. Watching him for a few moments he finally understood why the bearman had just shoved him the way he did and the realization actually made him chuckle. 'Who would have known?'

Quickly checking himself over, Moah adjusted his ratty old wife beater and haphazardly trimmed shorts then took a deep gulp and raised his massive paw, giving the pink painted door in front of him three quick raps. Almost imminently there were sounds from inside the residence which were followed by the matronly voice of an elderly woman who announced. "I'll be right there in a minute!" In a slightly German accented voice.

Hearing the woman on the other side of the barrier seemed to excited Moah because the large man began bouncing on his heels a huge smile crossing his face as he waited for whoever had spoken to greet them. Behind the Girunjh both Miktes and Rana gave perplexed expressions as they witnessed the way he was acting. In unison they both turned to Barnabus, but all they got in answer was the middle-aged man placing his finger against his lips in a silent shushing motion.

It was then that the front door of the house suddenly cracked open and pulled back, the woman who had been pictured in the article clipping stepped out into view. For a moment there was complete silence then all at once there was a squeal of delight as the woman who had just answered the door lunged forward and wrapped her arms around Moah's thick hairy neck. The big man wrapping his arms around the woman and lifting her as he gave his own shout of joy and spun them around. "Ach, mein gott, mein little teddy bear!" The woman said happily. "It has been much, much too long since we have been seeing each other!"

"TEDDY BEAR!?" Barnabus and Rana said at once, both of them almost breaking out into a fit of laughter as they saw them mortified look on Moah's furry face.

Giving a hiss of embarrassment, Moah placed the woman carefully back on the ground. "Bansha Rachel tobah notty gukoo!" He said very bashfully.

"Oh hush Moah" The woman said shaking her head and laughing fondly. "You used to love it so much when I called you that." Grinning, the plump woman playfully struck the large alien on his large stomach. "Especially when you were wagging that..."

"Stop!" Moah quickly said eyes wide. "Rachel tobba notu yoklo."

"Ok, ok I'll stop." Done teasing the man in front of her the elderly woman turned to the rest of her guests. "I'm sorry about my little outburst just now." She apologized. "I was just excited about seeing mein little Teddy-" a pleading look from Moah stopped her mid-sentence, the woman correct herself before she said too much. "I was excited seeing Moah here and I forgot myself."

"It's alright it was quite enlightening actually." Barnabus responded, the Jack captain trying his best to hold in the bubbling giggling that he could feel ready to bust out. "Isn't that right Mr. Teddy Bear?" He added giving Moah an obscene eyebrow waggle.

His mocking tone earned the human a rare sour look from his mechanic, and an elbow from Rana. The woman standing in front of them seemed to find Barnabus' little joke amusing however, laughing quietly at it and holding her hand out for him to take. "I almost forgot to introduce myself: I am Misses Rachel Bonnibel and it's a pleasure to meet you." She said in an extremely mannerly voice. "And I assume you three young people would be friends of my dear Moah here, am I correct?"

Barnabus nodded. "Well first let me say that it's a pleasure to meet you Miss Bonnibel." He said taking her offered hand gently in his large palm. "And yeah Moah's our friend. Has been for the last... oh, ten years right?"

"Yaggho." Moah nodded, his usual goofy mood returning. Leaning down so that Rachel could hear him better the Girunjh motioned to both of his human friends. "Genzoh tenplu Barnabus Comet no genzoh tenplu Rana Najjar, Futto jento noally zentar goata!"

"Really?" Miss Bonnibel said with a thoughtful expression. "It's seems that my Moah here thinks very highly of you all?"

"You can understand him?" Miktes asked from behind the group.

Giving a small "oh" at the new voice the elderly woman looked past Barnabus and Rana to Miktes who was standing on the bottom step of her porch. For several moments the gray haired woman looked over her forth guest her eyes lighting up with recognition as she took in his olive colored skin, and square tusked mouth.

"Well, yes I can understand what Mien Moah says perfectly." She finally said answering the green man's question. "I learned his language a very long time ago when I was conducting research on Girunjh home world."

"So that's how you know her." Rana said looking up at Moah. "I was curious about that."

Rachel gave a fond sounding sigh as she remembered the past. "Oh, my yes! Moah and I met on my very first day on the planet." She explained. "His father was chosen as a guide for my group of researchers and of course Moah being a teenager fresh out of his schooling at the time jumped at the chance of joining us in our grand adventure. We got to talking and became fast... friends within a short time." Stepping to the side Miss Bonnibel quickly ushered the four inside of her mothball smelling house. "How about we talk about it further in the comfort of my living room. I'm sure you young people would enjoy a spot of tea and I'd really like to have a seat."

"Of course ma'am." Barnabus said. Together the five entered the small house. Rachel pointing them over to the living room while her and Moah, after exchanging a quick look between them, went off into the kitchen. Shaking his head at his mechanics apparent relationship with the doting older woman Barnabus hesitantly sat down on the expensive looking antique furniture which was packed into the small and floral accented sitting room they had been shown.

Rana took a seat in the chair next to him and let out a small giggle as laughter drifted into the room from the direction their friend had gone off in. "Well that was a surprise." She said referencing Moah and Miss Bonnibel. "I didn't think Moah ever got any action."

"Apparently he does." Barnabus leaned back in his chair and looked around the room, his eyes finding a portrait of a middle-aged Rachel Bonnibel and teenaged Moah on the fireplace mantle. He could see exactly what the hairy man had seen in the woman at the time. Rachel apparently was quite the looker in her younger days and the young Moah being a teenager must have jumped at the chance to get with such a stunning lady older woman. Barnabus had a similar experience when he was younger too. His cherry getting taken by a very handsome drill sergeant who had taken pity on his awkward eighteen year old self.

The sound of glass cracking broke the reclining man out of his thoughts of past lovers and back to the present. Looking over to where the sound had come from he wasn't surprised in the least to see that it had come from Miktes. Being his curious self the Verdomian had taken it upon himself to touch and pick up the various knickknacks which lined the walls and tables and had broken it. Similarly to what he had done on the ship to their poor food dispenser. "What are you doing?" The middle-aged man asked the other.

"I was just looking." Miktes huffed back. "How was I supposed to know it would break stupid?"

Barnabus glared at the younger man and pointed at the last empty chair in the room. "Sit down before you break anything else kid." He ordered.

"Make me." Miktes huffed.

Barnabus continued to give the bratty alien a hard look but before he could react to the argumentative alien. He had to remind himself to remain calm in the face of such a response. He wasn't going to fall into the younger man's trap again and start arguing with him. He was going to remain indifferent; he was going to keep his distance.

As Barnabus repeated his "How to deal with Miktes" mantra in his mind their host reappeared from a side entryway with a tray carrying Moah behind her. "I'm sorry that took so long." The older woman apologized. "We had a hard time finding the right blend for mixed company."

Barnabus waited for Moah to place the tray of teacups onto the coffee table before he responded. "It's alright Ma'am we were just sitting here enjoying your delightful sitting room." He said taking one of the cup and sipping from it.

"It smells weird in here." Miktes interrupted with as much grace as a Gintian Bull in a china shop.

Hearing the other man's rudeness Barnabus comically sputtered on his tea and glared over to the Verdomian. "What the heck is wrong with you?" He asked, frowning. "Get over here and say you're sorry right now!"

"I repeat human: Make me." Miktes said flatly. When Barnabus gave a huff and gritted his teeth Miktes smiled. He was really getting good at pissing off his stubborn mate.

"My, my I had forgotten how temperamental young Verdomians could be." Miss Bonnibel remarked as the two men got into a scowling contest.

Three gasps filled the room as Barnabus, Rana, and Moah all realized that the older woman had easily seen through Miktes' disguise and identified his species. "H-How did you know he was a Verdomian!" Rana asked with a worried look.

Miss Bonnibel laughed gently at the shock she had caused. "Please, I might be an old woman who wears glasses, but I assure you my eyesight isn't so bad that I wouldn't be able to recognize a member of the species I studied for over a decade."

Putting down her cup the retired researcher stood up and went over to Miktes, leaning down and looking up so that she could see under the rim of his trucker hat and into his eyes. "From the red coloration in his eyes and his facial features, I'm guess that this one is a member of the Hestry clan or related to it in some way. And... oh my, he's recently become mated hasn't he! I'm guessing two or three weeks!" Stepping back the woman gave Miktes a curious look. "Would you mind taking your hat off for me young man?"

Miktes, who was a little bit shocked that this woman was able to tell exactly what family he was from, nodded slowly and slipped off the detestable hat which covered his mohawked head. "L-Like this ma'am?" He asked oddly compliant.

Looking up at her guest's exposed head Rachel let out another squeal of joy. "You the chieftain's son aren't you!" moving quickly Miss Bonnibel went over to a nearby cabinet and opened it. After a moment of rummaging through the large piece of furniture she produced a large manila envelope and pulled out a large print photograph which she gazed over fondly. "Yes, yes here you are!" She continued speaking to Miktes. "That cute little redheaded "schatz" who drove his mother crazy by always run around without his loincloth on!" The sixty year old woman giggled. "Such a cute little green bottom."

Both Barnabus and Rana shared an amused gaze between the two of them and then sprang from the seats to get a look at the picture. Peering over their host's shoulders they took delight in the high res photo of a two-year old Miktes making a mad dash away from a red headed Verdomian woman who seemed to be shouting at him. Barnabus guessed that explained why Miktes was in the habit of walking around in the nude all the time. Apparently he had been doing it since he was little.

Face tinting when he saw the peculiar image of himself when he was a youngling Miktes went to make a grab for it. But before he could Barnabus pulled it out of the embarrassing old woman's hands and smirked at him. "How the hell did you get this drawing?"

"You mean picture young man." Rachel corrected. "And I took it when I was on your planet many years ago."

"But I don't remember ever seeing any human before I met that idiot." Miktes motioned over to Barnabus. The bearded man giving him an annoyed look at being called a name. Sure he wasn't the most observant man in his village but he would have remembered a group of humans traipsing around.

"That's because they were hidden Miktes." Rana informed the taller man. "Remember that thing Barnabus pressed up against your skin when we were heading into the colony?"

Miktes rubbed the spot where the icy cold piece of metal had touched his skin. "Yeah I remember that dammed thing."

"Well if you wear one of those it will make you invisible." Rana continued to explain. "That's how me and Barnabus were able to sneak past all the guards in your sacred temple and get into that room with the glowing water."

"You were able to get into the sacred temple's inner sanctum!" Miss Bonnibel asked excitement evident in her voice. When Rana say yes the plump woman stepped over to the younger woman and looked up at her with an awestricken look. "Please tell me how you were able to do it!" She pleaded. "We were never able to penetrate that far into the structure."

"We... sort of just walked into it Miss Bonnibel." Barnabus explained for his second. "We tricked the guards into leaving their post and we just strolled right into the room." with the subject of their penetration of the Verdomian sacred temple Barnabus was reminded of the reason why they had come all the way to Loma Prime in the first place. "Actually ma'am that's something we wanted to ask you." Barnabus began, taking out the artifact they had stolen from his pocket. "We ended up stealing this little thing here and we were hoping to find out everything you know about it."

Moving quicker than anyone in the room would believe possible for a woman her age Rachel Bonnibel snatched the Verdomian relic out of Barnabus' surprised hands. Holding it up to her face the elderly woman's eyes grew wide as she took in every miniscule detail. "Is... is this what I think it is?" She asked in the Jack captain. "Is this the Verdomian's-"

"-Sacred artifact!" Miktes finished. Letting out a loud growl the now infuriated young man once again tried to snatch something out of the short rubenesque woman's palms. He had been secretly looking around his mate's room for days trying to find it and now here was. Thankfully for Miss Bonnibel though the alien's clumsy attempt was instantly stopped by one of her other guests.

Somehow sensing what Miktes was about to do, Barnabus quickly grabbed the younger man's outstretched arm like he had done during their fight the day they had met. Then before the Verdomian could react to being tricked he the human spun them around, released him, and grabbed him by the tail in one fluid motion. "Now that was just stupid of you." Barnabus said in a bored manner. "You could have broken even more stuff."

After yanking on Miktes' tail until the heavyset warrior was standing the bearded man placed both his palms against the alien's bare green chest and gave him a steady push until Miktes tripped over his own feet and fell backwards into one of the chairs.

Huffing like a child being denied his treat Miktes glared up at his mate and struggle din his grasp. "Get off of me submissive!" He commanded. "That artifact is rightly mine and I want it back!"

Barnabus leaned down and stuck his finger in the orc's tusked face. "Sit down and zip it!" He said sternly, yet calmly. "If you want it so badly I'll give you the dammed thing later after we're done with it understand."

Miktes seemed taken aback by the Barnabus command and mutely nodded to the order as if transfixed. Barnabus too seemed to be surprised by what he had just done both with how he had commanded the younger man and how he had predicted his attempt to grab the Verdomian artifact. It was as if he had somehow read the primitive alien's mind in that single moment.

After the pair had calmed down Miss Bonnibel gave a small cough gaining the attention of everyone in the room again. "Excuse me gentlemen..." She began gently.

Giving a sigh, Barnabus turned back around to their host. Hoping that Miktes rudeness hadn't offended her too much. "I'm sorry about my friend over there." He said, giving the researcher an apologetic look before he dipped his head. "Miktes can be..." Several words flew though Barnabus' mind as he spoke. Miktes could be annoying, a pain, a jerk, a jackass. But in the end the bearded man settled for. "...A little hard to deal with sometimes."

"As I know from watching his poor mother and father having to deal with him years ago." Bonnibel smiled. "But that's not what I just tried to get your attention. Did I just hear correctly when he called you his submissive?"

"Unfortunately yeah, that's what he thinks I am because of use getting..." Oh how Barnabus hated what he was about to say. "...Accidentally mated at his temple."

Raising her hands Rachel grabbed the bearded man by the chin suddenly. Eyes focusing on his features, she tilted his head downwards so that she could look into his eyes. Just as she had seen in Miktes' eyes earlier, Barnabus' amber eyes flickered with a blue glow for a brief moment. The light barely detectable to all but the most trained eyes.

"Truly outstanding." Miss Bonnibel remarked as she released Barnabus. "In all our time on Verdomo we never even considered that the sacred water would be able to affect another species. Let alone bind them to a Verdomian partner."

"Well you can imagine how surprised I was when it happened." Barnabus chuckled wryly. Growing quiet for a few seconds the Jack thought over that turbulent day back on Verdomo. He really wished he could have taken his actions from that day back. Now because of him his crew were fugitives and whoever Miktes was supposed to get bonded to was alone. Not that being mated to the red head was such a great thing mind you. Hopefully though they would find the key to getting out of their current predicament. "So... Miss Bonnibel what can you tell us about that little statue I gave you." He said nodding down to the relic in her hands. "We'd truly appreciate it if you could."

The elderly woman patted the younger man on the arm and showed him a small smile. "Of course I will dear. I'd be happy to help the friends of mien little teddy bear."

"Rachel!" Moah huffed good-naturedly. "Genzo toppa!"

"I couldn't help it Liebling you are just so fuzzy and cute that it slips out sometimes." The older woman explained casually. Heading back over to her cabinet the retired researcher removed several more envelopes and then spread them out on her coffee table for everyone to see. "I'm sure you know already that that little statue is very important to Miktes' people correct?" She started, beckoning the group over to her. "It's the central part of their religion and of their bonding ceremonies. I'm sure with it here and not in their temple the Verdomians are in a tight spot. Mostly likely scared for their future." looking over to Barnabus she gave him a disappointed expression.

Barnabus deflated under the older woman's gaze. He hadn't ever considered that the Verdomians would need the strange carving. If it were true that he had caused so much grief then that meant he would have to right it somehow after everything was said and done. "I really should have looked into the mission Professor Tworows gave to us." He admitted more to himself then to everyone else in the room.

Rachel made a thoughtful hum hearing who had hired the group of young people in her house. "I should have known it was Morri who sent you on such an illegal mission." She sighed. "That man had a tendency for sticking his blue nose in business which could end up badly. It was him who got our funding cut when he kept insisting that we try more desperate means to enter the inner sanctum within the Verdomo holy temple."

'That explains why he was willing to shill out that assload of credit for the mission.' Barnabus thought grimly. Speaking out loud he next asked. "Were you and Tworows close?"

"Not in the same way I am with Moah if that's what you're asking." Rachel quipped. "But yes we were friends. I was truly saddened when another friend of ours called and told me of his death a few days ago."

"You know about that?" Rana said growing worried.

Miss Bonnibel nodded. "Yes he said a group of Jacks were responsible." She said looking over the group. "But I don't believe it. Especially when I heard who were suspected in the crime."

"Thanks ma'am." Barnabus nodded realizing what she was saying. He was glad that they had someone supporting them even if it was passively. "Why was Professor Tworows interested in getting his hands on that rock in the first place?" Barnabus wondered. "No offense but It just sort of looks like some old piece of junk."

"That's what most of the research team thought as well Mr. Comet." Rachel explained. "We just assumed that it was some ancient relic that the Verdomians had taken to worshiping over time. But Morri believed that it held a most impressive secret."

Flipping through a few pages on the table, Rachel then pulled out a series of photos. Each of them displaying a statue similar to the one Barnabus and Rana had found during their infiltration of the Verdomian temple. Only instead of a laughing Verdomian child these one depicted various other species. One was a Girunjh cub, another was a Fidraon hatchling, yet another was a Warg clutchling, and finally the last one was of a human child.

"As you can see here there are actually very similar relics found on many different worlds." Miss Bonnibel continued in her lecture. "What's even stranger is that at each of these locations there's a story to accompany the relic. A story which talks about supernatural beings. The Girunjh call them the travelers, humans call them angles but it's always the same thing these creatures come down from the sky and give the statues to the inhabitants for safe keeping."

"And this is why he sent us on that wild goose chase?" Rana asked looking down at the mass of photos and handmade notes. "Some crazy legends and myths." It was slightly interesting, but it didn't seem like something one would risk imprisonment over learning about. "What was he hoping to find out by getting this statue?"

"I supposed Morri was hoping to get more information." Rachel shrugged. "After all the Verdomian one is the only one available since the thefts of the other ones."

"Thefts?" Barnabus said his eyes lighting up. "What's this about thefts?"

Rachel tapped her chin and gave the bearded Jack a troubled look. "You haven't heard of them?" When Barnabus shook his head no she elaborated. "Well... the museums which housed the other relics have all been robbed in the last five years or so. Someone broke in and stole them in the dead of night. But the truly strange thing was that nothing else was missing. And some of the places robbed had much more valuable treasures inside of them. Even the military police are stumped as to why someone would commit such a crime."

"I can guess." Barnabus said. "I bet our old friend Laird Clayworth is responsible for the robberies. Sounds like something that dastardly old fossil would do."

Giving her captain an exasperated sigh for sounding like a cheesy old movie hero Rana placed her hands on her hips and friend over at him. "What makes you say that Comet?" She asked. "It could have easily been some petty criminals who have a creepy statue fetish."

"Well... there is another part to the ancient legends attached to each of these relics." Rachel provided. "The rest of the tales talk about some sort of powerful weapon which the relics are the keys to. It's supposed to be so powerful that if it were to fall into the wrong hands it would spell disaster for all of creation."

"Sort of reminds me of the old legend my father told me about once." Miktes spoke up for the first time since Barnabus had shouted at him.

"What legend." Barnabus asked.

Miktes growled at his mate but answered his question anyway. "My father used to go on and on about this old story about how the strangers handed the sacred relic over to us for safe keeping and told us never to look for the other ones. They said that whoever owned all the statues would have the power to turn their enemies to dust." Miktes looked down at his lap his brows knitting as he tried to think of anything else. "Never believed the stupid story cause our statue was the only one. At least that's what I thought."

For once Barnabus was glad that Miktes had interrupted them. "See Rana there's your reason." He said smugly in the face of his second in command's doubt. "Laird wants to help his scary Warg buddy get his clawed hands on some sort of ancient weapon."

Rana rubbed her forehead feeling a headache coming on. "Ok, let's say that is true. We still don't have any proof that's what's going on. We need something like a video of them talking about their plan or... or-"

"-Would a letter directly from the desk of Morri Tworows help any dear?" Misses Bonnibel asked suddenly. When the three jacks in the room gave her three stunned looks she chuckled. "Well you see Morri was looking for support to get an official team too returned to Verdomo. So he sent out a few letters to collogues of ours trying to convince us to join his cause."

Leaving the room and quickly returning the little old woman showed the group an envelope. "This is it." She announced matter-of-factly. "In this letter Morri explains everything that he discovered in his research on the relics, including his suspicions about who the culprit."

Carefully Rana took the letter from the older woman and opened it. Reading the words she smiled to herself at what she saw. Professor Tworows talked about bit of evidence he had found leading to Laird's connections to the museum heists, how the CEO had threatened him for the location a few times and more importantly he talked about how he had hired Barnabus retrieve the artifact! With this they could at the very least open a dialog with the military. "T-This is just what we needed!" Rana cheered. "We can clear ourselves now!"

"Let me see that." Barnabus said taking the letter. Letting his eyes roam over the words he soon joined in on his second-in-command's excitement. Thought what had caused him to become excited wasn't the words Tworows had written about Laird or hiring them. No what caught his attention was how the old blue man had written about another artifact on an abandoned world in deep space. "Your right Rana this is wonderful!" He said looking up to the other Jack. "We can go to this planet, get the last artifact, and then give it to the military as proof."

"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" Rana quickly said as she waved her hand around frantically. "Why the heck do we need to go and get another artifact? What's wrong with the one we have!?"

Barnabus went over to Miktes and placed his arm on the younger man's shoulder. "Miss Bonnibel said that the one we have is important to the Verdomians right?" Barnabus began slowly, Rana nodding in response. "Well... since that's the case we just can't just go and give it to the military."

The Jack captain walked over to his crew and gave them serious looks. "I know them, they'll just take it and lock it up somewhere and we'll never see it again." Barnabus frowned for a moment before he continued. "But, if we gave them the second one they'd be none the wiser and we could arranger to return the Verdomian one to its rightful owners so they can keep getting hitched."

{Miktes: Did I hear what I think I just heard? It can't be true! He's actually going to give me what I want for once and hand over the relic? Leaning forward I looked up to my annoying mate trying to see if he was serious about what he was saying or not. From what he's barked and snapped at me about out mating I thought he didn't care 'bout said Verdomian tradition at all, let alone our welfare. But when I looked into those strange yellowish eyes I somehow realized that he was being truthful. Almost like a feeling in the back of my skull. Guess I misjudged the hairy bastard when it came to this. Not that I'm going to outright tell him I was wrong mind you. I have my dominate pride.}

Getting to his feet Miktes walked up to his mate and put his arms over his chest. "You really want to help my people submissive?" He asked.

Barnabus gazed over to the younger man with confusion in his eyes. "Of course I want to help. I'm not a monster Mick." Seeing the odd look he was getting from his unwanted husband, Barnabus quickly amended what he had just said realizing that he was sounding a little too sappy. "Plus, you know? It'll be good to get the other artifact." He reasoned. "That way we can make sure no one gets this super powerful weapon thingy. And I'm sure Laird has more than a few friends in the military who would be more than happy to turn over both artifacts for some extra creds if they got them."

"It's a dangerous idea Barnabus." Rana warned, giving the man a frustrated look. Even if they did go and get this other artifact, there was still no guaranty that either Laird or the Wargs wouldn't come after them or the Verdomians in the future. "I still say we should just go to the authorities. But... you're the captain so I'll go with whatever you decided."

"Mankas Barnabus." Moah agreed. The large alien would do anything his captain asked him to do. Even if it was dangerous and/or crazy. "Moah... will come... too."

Barnabus grinned at the support shown to him by his two friends. He knew he could count on them. "We're going to the planet the professor talked about in his letter guys." He restated with confidence. "It should be easy. And I know we'll all love the chance to actually have an adventure for once. You, know like in my old movies."

[Barnabus: I knew I could keep his crew safe without a doubt. They're the best at what they do after all and together we can get out of any mess. And besides... I know the Wargs aren't going to risk treading into I.U.G. space. They aren't stupid enough to start a fight after we kicked their asses. So really all we have to worry about is a decrepit old man and some police and I'm sure we can take them if they give us trouble.]

***************

"Is my ship ready for takeoff Bekno?" An armorless Ragno asked from his seat on a comfy looking cushion. "I grow tired of waiting while you do your job." Leaning back the sinister creature held up a glass which was imminently filled by a nude female Warg. One of many who were lounging around on the pile of soft materials surrounding Ragno.

A smaller Warg in simple armor walked up to the general, his head unlike Ragno's lacking the impressive mass of tendrils that adorned the other man's scalp. "It is ready lord Ragno." He said with a bow. "As are the elites you ordered to come along with you. All armed and ready for combat."

"Good." Standing up Ragno made a loud clicking sound which caused the room to suddenly come alive. Smaller Wargs coming from every door, each carrying a piece of armor in their talons. Raising his hands Ragno stood there as the men and women dressed him in his battle gear. "Inform the men that I'll be at the ship in twenty minutes."

Hearing a series of gasps from behind him, Ragno looked over his shoulder at the women who had served him moments ago. There was a slight blush on all of their scaly faces as they watched him don his armor. A common response for female Wargs when they saw a general in the impressive black metal gear that was standard issues. It marked virility and power. Two things which every single member of their species treasured above all else.

"Make it thirty instead Bekno." Ragno said changing his mind suddenly. "I was scheduled for a breeding tonight and I've just decided not to miss the appointment after all."

Bekno chuckled as he followed the other man's eye to the clutch of females. "As you wish sire." After giving his commander a quick bow the lesser Warg soldier turned and left. Letting his master get to his work.

Making a clicking sound Ragno quickly dismissed the servants who had been dressing him and turned back to the females he was now alone with. As he descended upon them, fanged smile glinting in the dim light Ragno couldn't help but think over how good things were going to be for him once he got his talons on the artifact he had lost once already.

In a matter of days he would have unparalleled power, willing females to carry his brood, endless fortunes to ensure his well-off life, and all the food he could eat in the form of the many exotic races dwelling in I.U.G. space. And all he had to do to claim these things was kill a simple crew of lowly space bums. 'I hope those fools have made peace with their makers!' He thought evilly to himself as he began ravishing one of the smaller females in the room. 'Because once I finish with them there won't even be bones left.'