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Chapter 25

The long trip through the long corridor inside of the Unutulmusian pyramid was a grueling one for Miktes. Fatigue from the battle him and Barnabus had just survived starting to catch up with him with every step he took. Struggling the way he was with Barnabus leaning heavily on him he took not to each of the injuries he had acquired during his brief but intense fight with the monsters that had tried to kill him. Several of his ribs were bruised or broken, the pain from them making it very hard to breath and his face now bore a black eye and a nick on his chin on that would no doubt leave a scar. Then there was his olive colored skin which was covered in the foul blood of his attackers. All in all it was a battle to be proud off. Or... at least that would be how the warrior would have felt except for one thing. Barnabus.

Glancing over to the man next to him Miktes gave a worried growl at seeing the state the human was in. while his own injuries cause him great pride the cuts, bruises, and most of all, the bleeding and nasty wound at his mate's side caused the Verdomian to worry for his survival. They had to get out of this damned temple and get those "survival" packs his mate had made them carry around with them. Barnabus had said that they contained medical supplies or something like that. Miktes was glad that Barnabus had allowed him to leave Ekkar back in the statue room to rot. Dragging that son of a bitch would have made their escape all the more harder and taken more time then he thought the Jack had left.

After several more minutes of intense struggling and more worried looks on Miktes' part the two finally made their way out of the old musky building they had been inside of for hours and stepped back out into the sunny courtyard surrounding it. Seeing their pack only a short distance away Miktes breathed a sigh of relief and began to lead the two of them over to it. He'd patch Barnabus up and then they'd wait for their friends to come and find them.

This plan didn't pan out however because just as the Verdomian was about to make it to his discarded pack a great cry arose from the other side of the courtyard. It's source, the rest of the Warg battalion.

"Fucking hell!" Miktes cursed as he took a step back away from the approaching men. In all the fuss that had happened back in the laboratory he had completely forgotten that only six out of the Warg soldiers had followed their master into the temple.

Eyes darting from one figure to another Miktes quickly took in the numbers in front of him, trying to figure out if he should fight them or now. Luckily half of the numbers he remembered being present during their capture were missing now. The Wargs having taken care of Ekkar's share of thugs. The "Pretty boys" as Barnabus had named them all having been killed or disgustingly butchered like animals during their adventure.

Approaching the growling alien a Warg with a gold stripe across the front of his armor pointed an accusing finger at him. "Where is lord Ragno!" He demanded to know. "What have you done to him?"

"You master's dead." Miktes growled back darkly. "And if any of you try and attack us I'll kill you too." He knew that there was no way he could handle these creatures in the state he was in but the warrior hoped that the shock of losing their leader would make them back off.

Unfortunately this bluff didn't work. "Liar!" "Our master wouldn't fall to you." "We don't believe that for a second!" The soldiers all began shouting over each other.

Raising their weapons the group of purple alien's all readied themselves to fire upon their prisoners and then go look for their master. But just as the platoon leader shouted out the command to fire an even louder noise drowned out his order and made everyone look up surprised wonder.

Looking upwards himself Miktes found himself marveling as ten or so large flying houses descended down upon them from the reddish Unutulmusian sky. All of the strange vessels were similar to the one him and Barnabus had taken to the planet but much bigger and sporting some strange symbol on their sides that Miktes had never seen before. Twelve small multicolored circles connected to a larger white one in the center by yellow lines.

Whatever this emblem meant it seemed to get the attention of the Wargs surrounding the Verdomian. All of the large men lowering their weapons to stare up with varying degrees of fear, shock, and worry. Miktes, perplexed by this behavior was about to ask Barnabus what was going on but found himself cringing as a loud voice rang out above them with such volume that he thought his head was going to explode with every syllable.

"Attention to all the Wargs currently on the ground!" It blared. "Put down your weapons and calmly lay face down on the ground! You are all in violation of the Twenty-nine-seventy-seven Warg-I.U.G. peace treaty and are now currently under arrest! Failure to comply with what he have told you will result in imminently hostile action on our part!"

The elite Wargs all looked at one another as if debating whether or no they should listen to this command or fight back. However in the end they decided not to push their luck and dutifully did as they had been told, dropping their laser rifles and getting down onto their knees with grumbles about I.U.G. smugness and their own displeasure at being taken prisoner.

"Geeze that was a close one." Barnabus mumbled in Miktes' arms. "Almost thought we were about to get ourselves bumped off Mickey."

"These are the guys the others went to get?" Miktes asked dubiously. When Barnabus nodded to his question Miktes felt all tension he had been feeling since they had won their battle leave his body. These people would help Barnabus get better. They would take care of all the Wargs and save them from anything else trying to kill them.

Growing silent Miktes curiously watched as the flying houses above them continued to float down from the sky and come to a stop a few feet above the ground, kicking up dust as their doors slid open. Suddenly several shouts rang out from inside these strange structures and with a great surge several armored men and women, human and alien all jumped out of them and onto the ground with a run.

Not wasting any time these armored people subdued the Warg soldiers laying on their bellies with harsh commands and weapons pointed at their backs, taking the monsters prisoner with little to no fuss from the Wargs themselves. It was only when a voice broke through the ruckus around him, its owner shouting in his direction the Miktes stopped paying attention to the show and turn towards whoever it was yelling.

"Hey you!" A youngish sounding voice commanded. "Get you damn hands off of that man!"

Instantly becoming upset at being talked to in such a way, Miktes squinted at the man approaching him with a growl. He didn't know who this puke thought he was but no one yelled at the Hestry heir like that. Whoever it was, was a strange creature maybe a human but Miktes wasn't entirely sure if that was the case. The man, like his brethren, was wearing some sort of strange helmet that obscured his face and his body while muscular was shorter than any of the other humans the Verdomian had seen before in the past.

Responding to what he had been ordered to do Miktes stubbornly refused the command and turned his nose up at the man while tightening his grip slightly on Barnabus' body. No one was going to take his human away from him. "Back the fuck off shortly!"

Whoever was in the suit didn't seem pleased by the rude response and let out a frustrated growl himself. "Look, I don't know what the hell you just said big and ugly but I said: Let. Him. Go!" He repeated. Reaching up with both of his hands the man took of the helmet which was covering his face and revealed himself to be a young dark skinned human with short black hair that was cut close to his scalp. "Do it or I swear I'll make you sorry!"

"Lieutenant commander Anderson! You need to put your helmet back on sir." One of the I.U.G. soldiers shouted from across the courtyard. "You know we're supposed to keep them on when we're in combat."

"Keep it quiet over there Pennyton!" The man snapped back. "We aren't in combat right now! This is just an apprehension."

The other man didn't seemed moved by the command and kept pressing. "It doesn't matter Issy I-I mean sir, it's the rules!"

'Anderson and Issy?' Miktes wondered as he watched the short man get into a small argument with his companion. "Hey, isn't Anderson what that Ekkar thing kept calling... "

As he had begun asking his question Miktes had slowly shifted his attention away from the short human and back to the one leaning against his side. When his eyes fell upon Barnabus however all thoughts of questions fled from the Verdomian's mind fast. The older man wasn't awake anymore. In fact he had gone completely limp in his grip and was barely breathing.

Growing panicked Miktes carefully laid Barnabus down on the ground and pressed his ear against his mate's chest. Thankfully he could still hear a heartbeat deep within the Jack's doughy chest. But it was weak and shallow meaning that he was dying. Jumping to his feet Miktes quickly began padding his way over to the short human still arguing with his friend.

"Hey stupid, shut the hell up and help me over here." He hollered. "My mate over here is dying and we don't have time for this crap!"

Stopping his disagreement with his subordinate the armored man, or apparently Issy as he was called, peered over to the large man walking towards him with his hands waving and loud gruff voice shouting something at him menacingly.

"He's attacking!" Issy called out. Reacting to the perceived threat he fired off a single blast from his weapon. The shot striking Miktes dead set in the center of his chest and making the proud Verdomian warrior let out an unmanly yelp as energy coursed through his body and he dropped like a ton of bricks onto the mossy cobblestone ground.

Panting as his "attacker" was laid flat on his back; Issy rushed over to Barnabus and kneeled down next to the injured man. After a quick visual inspection of the wound at his side Issy hissed in worry and started issuing orders to the other soldiers around him.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen move your asses and round up every last Warg here! We got to get ourselves back in the air ten minutes ago!" The Commander ordered sternly. "Jackson you help me with this one here and Farlio I want you to get Verohn on the com! Tell him we got someone injured here who needs to be looked at as soon as we dock back at the Resande."

"Yes Sir Lieutenant commander Anderson sir!" Every soldier in the courtyard shouted in unison.

Orders being carried out around him Issy gave Barnabus a worried frown as the bearded man mumbled in his sleep. Oddly he kept saying the name Mickey over and over as he tossed and turned. 'He must be delirious from blood loss.' The Lieutenant commander thought. 'Well don't worry old man we got ya now and we'll find your Mickey.'

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

[Barnabus: You know sometimes passing out can be kinda fun. Though I'm not saying that you should seek out trying to get yourself knocked out folks. But in the event it does happen you, maybe you should just lay back on the ground and let whatever happens fly. Like what I'm doing right now. Here I am dreaming that I'm flying through space in a late model rocket ship with my all-time childhood hero Captain Cosmos by my side. Hum... forgot how handsome the old man was since the last time I watched. Ugh, stop ogling the space ace Comet it's unseemly. Anyway like I was saying sometimes getting knocked out can be fun. But this time... even though I should be having a complete blast I'm not really enjoying saving the president of earth from the mole men of planet Z as I should be. For some reason I keep feeling like there's something missing. Some niggling doubt that keeps buzzing around in the back of my noggin that's distracting me as I punch out these grumbling green hued goblin henchmen. Wait... grumbling? Green? Mickey, that's what missing I bet! I know the big hardboiled thug would just love being in this sort of brawl, the two of us fighting back to back like we did on Loma Prim or in that lab. I-I got to go and get him so he can join the party!]

Groaning as the dull ache of his injuries made itself known as he awoke, Barnabus slowly opened his eyes and almost instantly had to close them again as a bright artificial light blinded his senses. "Jalapeño it feels like I've been hit by a transport." He groaned as he squirmed on what felt like a table under him. He hadn't felt this bad since that night he had taken that Ulturian beefcake home. Eight feet tall and a package that a whale could choke on but more than willing to bed a human for one night.

A gasp coming from the waking Jack's left alerted couchant man that he was not alone. That along with the sounds of heavy footsteps and a slightly British accented voice saying. "Oh it seem you have gone and woken up haven't you?"

"Huh?" Wondering who had just spoken to him, Barnabus tried his hardest to get his dammed eyes to focus but unfortunately before they could he found his face gripped between a pair of thick furry fingers and an even fuzzier face coming into view above him.

Without asking the person manhandling him then took some sort of tool and flashed a small pinprick of light into Barnabus eyes irritating the confused man even more before the hand left his chin to pry open his mouth next as if examining him.

It wasn't until these grabby paws tried to go even lower, lifting up his shirt, that Barnabus decided enough was enough and raised his own hand to shove the face away from him so that he could get up. To his surprise when he did however he found his palm meeting something vaguely familiar. A bear-like face with a short muzzle. "Moah?" Barnabus asked thinking it was his mechanic invading his personal space. Something which he often did. "Is that you big guy?"

Strangely Moah seemed to be embarrassed by the soft touch being applied to his muzzle and backed away slowly, head guiltily looking away. "I-I-I assure you sir that I am not Mr. Zash." The same British sounding voice from before said bashfully. "But I believe I can forgive the mistake since you are recovering from quite a bit of blood loss."

Eyes becoming as wide a saucers when he realized that Girunjh had just spoken to him in perfect unbroken and easily translated sentences Barnabus gave a start and sat up so quick that it left his head spinning. Eyes finally focusing properly the jack was greatly surprised to see that the man who had been touching him was not in fact his good friend Moah but an entirely different Girunjh with slightly darker fur who wore a white lab coat over causal wear and a pair of oddly shaped wire rimmed glasses atop his long nose.

"Ok... so your aren't Moah then." Barnabus drawled, sill puzzled. "Sorry about thinking you were someone else. I just didn't expect to see another Girunjh. Um, who are you by the way?

The question seemed to take the unfamiliar Girunjh by surprise, the large man hopping to his feet so fast he knocked over his stool he had been sitting on, the metal piece of furniture clanging loudly as he shakily stuck his giant paw out in greeting. "Oh! Where are my manners?" He said nervously. "I-I am Lieutenant Verohn Nulido. Acting chief medical officer on the I.U.G starship Resande. It is a pleasure to meet you sir. I've heard a lot about you."

"Resande?" Barnabus repeated unsurely while taking the hand. For some reason that name sounded vaguely familiar. Almost as if he had heard it recently somewhere before.

"Yes Resande." Verohn Confirmed with a nod. "I believe it is old earth Swedish for voyager or traveler."

"Humm... you don't say." Barnabus said distractedly while looking around. Struggling to move the middle aged man swung his legs over the side of the medical examining table he apparently had been sleeping on and rubbed at his side. The wound which had been throbbing since it had been inflicted was now only an angry red bruise.

"Hey you're a Girunjh right?" Barnabus asked looking back up to the doctor. When Verohn nodded the Jack cocked his head to the side. "How come I can understand you so well then? The translators never seem to get what my Girunjh crewmate Moah says."

Verohn chuckled at the question. "Ah, well you see most of my kind only learn skills such a languages that will aid them in their one true calling. As a doctor I need to be able to communicate with my patients so I took great lengths in learning how to speak all I.U.G. languages."

"That makes sense I guess." Barnabus said scratching his chin. He supposed you wouldn't really need to learn other languages if all you did was spend your time fiddling around in a workshop alone. The reminder of his mechanic caused Barnabus to start to panic though. Apparently he was safe now but his crew could still be in danger. Trapped on Ekkar's or Ragno's ship and being held hostage at that very moment.

"Verohn you got to take me to whoever is in charge of this ship!" Barnabus said trying to hop off of the table. "I need to get them to help rescue my friends before--"

"Calm down Mr. Comet." Verohn interrupted before the man under his care could run off. Putting a clawed hand on Barnabus' chest. "Your friends are perfectly safe and sound. In fact I believe they are waiting to come in here and see you."

Leaving Barnabus, the doctor slowly walked his way over to a closed doorway at the far side of the room and pressed his hand against it. With a swoosh the barrier parted and a timed question filtered in from beyond. "Is he awake yet?" Rana's voice came.

"Yes and he looks good." Verohn confirmed. "He has just asked to see you so if you all would like to come in and see him then please enter my sick bay. But I must insist that you remain quiet because-- HEY!"

Before the doctor could finish his instructions he suddenly found himself being flung to the side as Rana, Alfred, and Moah all rushed into the room with cries of relief and shouts of happiness. A smiling crossing his bearded lips Barnabus watched happily as his crew ran up to the med table he was laying on. All of them trying their best to talk over the others as they celebrated their reunion.

It was what Alfred was saying that the Jack captain was able to make out first. The young blond giving an exaggerated cry and placing his hand on the older man's leg as if trying to make sure he was really there. "Oh Captain, I'm so happy that you're alright!" He said. "We were all so worried about you!"

"Yaggho ji jol jedi nottal faa!" Moah agreed, placing his own hand on his old friend's shoulder. "Hattao tasuo nar gyedit tagg tasuo kaput Barnabus!"

"What's that big guy?" Barnabus asked cheekily. He had hadn't realized how much he missed hearing the big man's gruff untranslatable voice until he heard it again.

"He said that they thought you were dead." Verohn said dusting himself off and coming over to the group. "A very morbid thought unfitting of a Girunjh if you ask me."

"That's sort of how Moah is." Rana's voice came next. Standing next to Moah the Jack pilot gave his large belly a quick pat. "He can recite obituaries and with a creepy smile."

Ignoring the affronted huff coming from their Girunjh crewmate Rana pushed him and Alfred out of the way gently and stepped up to Barnabus. Then not caring how sappy she would appear for what she was about to do, the dark haired women wrapped her arms around Barnabus shoulders in a tight hug that was instantly returned.

"Rana." Barnabus said breathlessly against her hair. "I'm so... so glad that all three of you guys are alright. I thought Ekkar and his Warg buddy had found you."

"You gave all of us quite the scare too Comet." Rana said pull out of their embrace. Glaring at her captain the younger woman frowned at him haughtily. "What was the big idea with getting yourself shot and almost dying!"

Sheepishly Barnabus rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah I sort of got caught on the wrong end of a Warg blaster." He explained. "But hey, at least you got the military here in time to save my worthless keister!" Stopping suddenly Barnabus thought about something hard for a moment then voiced it. "Wait... how did you guys get them to come to Unutulmus so fast? The closest military station or I.U.G. world is three or four days away from it."

Her glower developing into a smirk Rana nodded over her should. "You can thank a certain someone for that." She said. "Isn't that right... Shortstuff?"

A groan sounded from behind Verohn and to Barnabus' surprise someone who he had not expected to see stepped out from behind the large man. Standing a few feet away dressed in his military uniform was his younger brother Issy. The dark skinned young man smiling at him shyly as he stood as attention out of habit.

"ISSY!" Barnabus exclaimed loudly with a laugh. Sliding off of the med table the middle aged man bounded over to the younger man much to Verohn's irritation and placed both his hands on his shoulders, trying to get a good look at him. "Jalapeno Squirt." Barnabus said eyes twinkling. " What. The. Heck are you doing all the way out here in deep space."

"The Resande is my ship old timer." Issy said giving a cocky smirk. The same smirk that Barnabus himself often sported. "Well it's at least the one I'm living on right now with my unit. And the reason why we're all the way out here is because we were actually on our way to Unutulmus ourselves to pick up the Wargs you took care of."

That was news to Barnabus who gave a surprised hum. "You were?"

"Yeah." Rana confirmed from behind the brothers. "Turns out Issy's unit found out about the ancient weapon and the Warg's plot all by themselves when they were attacked by Ragno's ship on their way back from a mission."

"Bastards really did a number on us too." Issy added. "Tried to kill all of my men and for some reason took a vial of Verohn's and..." The young man had to catch himself real quick before he said too much. "They were after Verohn's blood."

Showing what his friend meant Verohn held up one of his arms and showed off a bright white bandage that was wrapped around his forearm. "It was quite the ghastly affair." He said with a shudder. "But luckily your brother saved me before anything worst could happen."

[Barnabus: So that's where Mr. Purple got the Girunjh blood from. I don't know whether to be happy or just as mad that he attacked Verohn instead of Moah to get that darn sample. Whichever I should feel at least it was all for nothing on his end. Me and Mickey made sure of that when... ... ... wait! Where is the big green lughead!]

"MICKEY!" Barnabus suddenly shouted causing everyone in the room to startle from his loud outburst. Glancing around the room Barnabus tried to see if the Verdomian was anywhere to be seen. Maybe he was on one of the other medical bed getting himself patched up too. But unfortunately the warrior was nowhere to be found. "What happed to the big green guy that was with me on the planet?" He asked.

The response came when Issy chuckled awkwardly and gave a scratch to an imaginary itch on his neck. "Oh yeah him." He began. "Well... you see something sort of happened to him when we came to rescue you Barn."

Barnabus could only imagine the trouble his rowdy Verdomian could get into when being ordered around by well-trained serious military types. "What happened exactly?"

"I um... I sort of shot him." Issy confessed embarrassingly.

Hearing that Miktes had been shot Barnabus could feel all the blood in his face drain away and his breath grow short as he began to hyperventilate. "YOU KILLED HIM!" He shouted, his mouth hanging open in shock.

"Whoa, whoa who said I killed anybody!" Issy quickly said while waving his hands in front of himself trying to calm his older brother. "I only hit him with a low powered stun blast nothing lethal. And I only did it because he was shouting at me and I couldn't understand what he was saying. I thought he was one of Ragno's men."

"It's partly my fault too captain." Alfred provided in an attempt to deflect some of the blame to him. "I forgot to give the I.U.G. soldiers the Verdomian language patch for their translators."

"Jalapeño guys you nearly gave me a heart attack." Barnabus huffed, his hand on his still beating chest. "What happened to him after you knocked him out Is?"

"Sorry but my CO ordered us to put him in the bring with the Wargs we captured. Said it was because he was an illegal." Issy said giving an apologetic look. "But don't worry after Rana and the others told me who he was I was at least able to convince him to put the green guy in his own cell as far away from anyone else as possible."

"I suppose that's ok then. Although knowing Miktes he isn't going to be a happy camper when he wakes up." Deciding something quickly Barnabus gave Issy a quick pat on the back and began heading towards the sickbay doors. "If any of you need me I'm going to be down in the brig keeping Mickey company." He called out behind him. There was no way in heck he was just going to let his "friend" sit in a cold lonely cell all by himself.

Only problem with that plan was that the heavyset man quickly found his escape obstructed when Issy stepped out in front of him. "You can't just go down there Barn." His little brother said regretfully. "That part of the ship is off limits unless you're a high ranking official or essential personnel."

Barnabus gave a frustrated huff at the fact that some stupid rule was keeping him from reuniting with his grouchy green friend. Why did the military always had to come up with such stupid and inane rules? It was one of the reasons he had left the service a long time ago himself. "But Issy he's just some primitive from a backwater world! He's probably going nuts being locked up in a cell right now." He tried to explain. "Just let me sneak down there so I can make sure he's ok at least. Please."

Issy almost gave into the request from the tone his older brother was using. A strange sadness he hadn't heard in him for years. But as much as he wanted to at that moment he had to remain strong. Barnabus was already in enough trouble he couldn't let him get into any more. "Look... Barnabus I'm sorry but I can't just can't let you--"

"--Garzz je johjin." Moah interrupted hotly, fur bristling with indignation. He wanted to see the Verdomian too. "Miktes je pin tenplu!"

"Your right Moah." Alfred said glaring lightly at Issy. "Mister Miktes and all of us have been through a lot together and we should be able to go see him if we want to!"

"I hate to agree with these three dummies but I want to see how Miktes is doing myself." Rana chipped in. "No offense Is but I would just feel better is all."

Suddenly outnumbered Issy turned from one member of the Wild Comet crew to the next. Not really sure how he was going to handle all four of them if they decided to disobey his CO's orders and mutiny. Thankfully for the increasingly nervous young man someone came to his rescue before he had to disappoint all of them and withstand more of their begging.

"I could go and check on him for you all if you like." Verohn suggested.

When everyone in the room turned to him puzzled the Girunjh doctor felt himself blush under his fur and he quickly found something more interesting to look at on the ceiling and hesitantly tried to explain his idea. "Since I am the ships acting medical officer I technically count as essential personnel. I will say that I need to give your friend a mandatory check-up and while doing so could tell him of your safety Mr. Comet."

"You'd do that for me?" Barnabus said honestly surprised. He had just met this large man and was confused as to why he would be offering to bend the rules for him.

Verohn nodded and went to stand next to Issy. "Of course." He said putting his hand gingerly on the shorter man's shoulder. "Since your are my dear friend Isidore's older brother it is only natural that I wish to assist you. Plus by doing so I would undoubtedly make Isidore happy and that is something I enjoy doing quite often."

Barnabus raised an eyebrow at the way the Girunjh doctor was touching his kid brother but decided to ignore it for now. He was doing something nice for him after all. "Um... ok then thanks." He said instead. "It's not what I really want but at least he'll know what's going on. When are you going to be able to do it?"

"Right now if you would prefer." Lifting his paw off of "Isidore" Verohn waddled his way over to a desk and after a brief search picked up what looked to be a medical P.A.D.. "Um... Alfred was it?" He said turning to the other doctor. "I will need you to add the patch that translates the alien's language if I'm going to be able to speak with him."

"Oh sure thing Mr. Nulido just let me get the program." Not wasting any time Alfred ambled his way toward the sickbay door himself. "I think it's either in in the quarters that scary man with the scare assigned to me or to Moah. Moah would you come along with us and check."

"Mankas Alfred." Moah replied. Turning back to Barnabus the large furry alien gave him a toothy smile and thumbs up before he bounded out of the room past Alfred and Verohn.

"I'll see you later Isidore." Verohn said to Issy as he and Alfred began following after the overzealous mechanic. "Oh and by the way Dr. Porter I hope you would not mind if we discussed that article you did on Dirarion gestation a few years ago on the way. I was very interested about your take on the fertilization ritual they perform."

"Not a problem at all Dr. Nulido." Alfred friendly said. "But only if you'd assist me with this experiment I've been doing concerning alien chemical reactions in the human body and their removal."

Barnabus shook his head as the two doctors fell into a deep conversation on their way out of the room. No matter how much time he spent around the nervous blond he would never understand how he could spend hours and hours talking about such boring things. Then again maybe it was just something those intellectual types liked talking about.

Speaking of those types. Smirking over to Issy, Barnabus noticed that the younger man was still staring at the doorway the pair had disappeared through. An almost distant dreamy look on his face. "So... you let that guy call you Isidore, huh?" He asked in a teasing tone. "I thought you hated being called that. Actually if I think back on it you always say the next guy who uses your full name is going to get his teeth knocked out."

The teasing instantly provoked a reaction from Issy. The lieutenant commander's face taking on a slightly red complexion as he frowned at his annoying brother. "V-Verohn's a special case is all." He said lamely. "I-I-I mean he's a Girunjh you know and he has this weird quirk about having to speak precisely and call people by their proper names. Hell he won't even use contractions. Treats them like their naughty words."

"Sure he is, sure." Barnabus snickered. Ever since he was a teenager Barnabus had enjoyed giving the other man some grief. If only because that was what a big brother was supposed to do. "Who-boy guess you never really got over sleeping with a teddy bear did you squirt." He continued. "Though I got to say when I gave you that one when you were little I didn't think for a second it would lead to that sort of fetish."

"I'm warning you Barn you keep doing this and I'm going to slug you." Issy growled with a smile.

Barnabus failed to pay any stock in the threat at all and continued to mock the other man as he leaned against a med table. "You know Moah took his pants off in front of all of us once." He locked eyes with Rana for a moment who shivered dramatically at the memory. "From what I remember Girunjh really pack one big shlong in their striders. How can you even sit?"

"Me and Verohn are just friends." Issy snapped. Unfortunately this adamant denial about the nature of his friendship with the doctor only seemed to amuse Barnabus more. Rana too if her growing smirk was anything to go by. Seeing that he was being betrayed by his brother and his close friend Issy decided that he needed to deflect the focus of this little conversation and fast. Luckily there was a prefect husky target standing right in front of him.

"If we're going to go and talk about this sort of stuff how about we bring up tall, green, and grumpy down in the brig." Issy brought up vindictively. "I thought you said you weren't a cubby chaser. Didn't like having all that cushion for the pushing."

Finally now it was Barnabus' turn to go red in the face. The Jack sputtering a little at being reminded about his refusal to admit that he found larger men more attractive. But Miktes wasn't a chubby man he was pleasantly plump. "Well... what can I say I've just matured to the point that I'm able to look past body type." He said defending his pride. "I've become quite the adult in the last few days."

Ignoring Rana's snort at what Barnabus just said Issy shrugged back at him. "Matured... ... accidentally got yourself married. Whichever right?" When Barnabus gaped at him the shorter man chuckled. "Yeah Rana told me all about that too. One of the reasons I fought so hard to have him put in a private cell." Issy revealed. "Hard to believe I got a brand new brother-in-law and that he's a big green ogre. Makes me wonder how Dad's going to take it."

"Miktes is not an ogre, he's and orc if anything else." Barnabus pointed out playfully. "And we are not telling dad about this! Old man would give me and you by the by heck for the whole canoodling in bed with aliens."

"Ok, then deal." Giving a smart assed smile for finally getting the better of his older brother Issy stuck his hand out and offered it to shake. "I'll keep quiet about your guy and you stop teasing me about being friends with Verohn."

Barnabus took note that Issy didn't refute his second mention of being in bed with Verohn but took the offered hand. "Deal." He agreed. His fun now over and his injuries starting to ache from laughing the bearded man lifted himself onto the med-table behind him and carefully laid down. "I think I'm going to get myself a little shut eyes guys." He announced with a yawn. "Sort of just remembered that I'm recovering from a severe injury."

"Sure thing Barnabus." Rana said back softly. "Just take as much time as you need. You deserve some rest after saving the entire universe like some big space hero and all."

Barnabus gave his second a meaningful look. Trying his best to convey how much he appreciated what she had just said to him. But Issy had to interrupt the calmness of the room by bringing up something that wasn't pleasant.

"Um, before you go and go back to sleep Barnabus I think you should know that you and your crew have scheduled for a debriefing two days from now." Issy said. "The captain of this ship along with two admirals who are flying to our location to talk to you about everything that's happened."

Barnabus sighed at being told that he'd be spending an afternoon under the stern and judgmental eyes of a pair of stuffy men but relented anyway. It certainly wasn't going to be enjoyable but maybe he could use the meeting to help him with something. "Ok squirt I got ya." He said closing his eyes. "Just make sure that they understand that a man my age needs his rest."

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

"Jalapeño my sides hurts." Barnabus complained for the tenth time that day. "Please tell me why we're walking all the way to this conference room instead of them coming to us."

Walking in front of her captain Rana gave a long suffering sigh. "We're walking because they're the big important military types and we're nothing but a bunch of dregs." She reminded him. "Besides with all the complaining you've been doing about being stuck in bed I'd think a walk would be a nice change."

"Not this much of a walk." Barnabus pouted.

"You know I think your starting to sound an awfully lot like that green pain in the butt of yours." The younger woman huffed. "God knows your annoying me as much as he does right now."

Barnabus continued to pout as they continued to walk down the corridor choosing to remain silent about what his second in command had just said. Not only because it irritated him but because of the reminder of the warrior who was still confined in the Resande's brig. Verohn had been true to his word and went to check on the Verdomian. But upon his return the Girunjh doctor had informed everyone that Miktes hadn't listened to a word he said. The green alien fussing and fuming at him until the men stationed down there forced Verohn to leave.

Barnabus hadn't been happy to hear that Miktes was still in the dark about his condition but there wasn't really anything he could do about. Not with him and the rest of the crew confined to quarters until their meeting. It had made the last forty-eight hours especially boring and stressful. The pseudo-imprisonment leaving Barnabus with little to do besides dread the meeting with the admirals and what his fate was going to be afterwards.

In fact as he stumbled down the well-lit and beige carpeted hallway within the Resande, Alfred helping him to walk, all the Jack captain could think about was how he'd rather be in a bar having a drink then being yelled at by a bunch of all to important stuffed shirts. "It almost feels like we're being marched into the principal's office or something." He remarked out loud.

Alfred gave a nervous giggly laugh at the comparison, hi nervousness obviously getting the better of him. "I know what you mean Captain." He shuddered. "The one time I was called into the dean's office back in medical school I was terrified. Luckily he only wanted to congratulate me for being the valedictorian but..."

Looking around to his three crewmates Alfred blushed when he realized that they were all staring at him. "...Oh yes I suppose that this is far from being congratulated. In fact we might even end up in jail after this."

"You think?" Rana said with a roll of her eyes. "Though... if I really think hard about it maybe we're going to get off the hook. I mean if they were going to arrest us they'd have done it by now, wouldn't they?"

"Garzz'o folp!" Moah agreed brightly.

"That or they're just waiting for the generals to give them the word to throw us in the big house." Barnabus said grimly. No matter how they were being treated now, confinement withstanding, there still wasn't any guarantee that they were going to be allowed to go free.

They all already knew they weren't above putting Jacks who broke the law in the same prison wing with the Wargs they had captured. Ekkar was actually sitting in a cell right now the still horribly bruised, complaining about his treatment and waiting for his indictment before a military tribunal.

Rounding a bend in the hallway the crew of the Comet found Issy standing in front of a door with the I.U.G emblem plastered on it speaking with a man wearing an ensign's uniform. Smiling when he saw them the young man quickly said goodbye to the ensign and approached the quartette.

"Hello everyone." Issy said greeting the group. "I hope you all slept well."

"Yaggho defo sadu." Moah chimed in before anyone else could answer. "Zumil jol for sadu getyu utton mi quin do mi Juuyolfuuno."

Alfred opened his mouth to instantly translate what the mechanic had just said like he always did but was surprisingly beaten to the punch when Issy laughed. "If that's the case then maybe you should complain to that cheapskate captain of yours over there." He said chuckling. "I'm sure if you pestered Barnabus enough he'd replace that chair with a nice comfy bed."

"Yudar" Moah smirked. "Yudar."

Amused for a moment at Alfred dumbfound expression Barnabus then peered over to his younger brother and posed a quick question. "So you know Girunjh do ya? Wonder who taught you that."

"Shut it." Issy huffed.

"Ok, Ok I can take a hint after the tenth time." Barnabus laughed. "What the heck are you doing here by the way Squirt? I thought you said only the four of us were going to be at this meeting."

"True but I can at least wish you good luck before you get your ass chewed out." Issy joked. Then turning serious he hesitantly added. "Really you don't have to worry about anything Barn. The military is just when it comes to people who done great things like you did."

"We'll just have to see won't we?" Barnabus sighed. Although he hadn't spent that much time in the I.U.G. military the bearded man knew there was something fishy going on behind the scenes here and there. Especially with people like Clayworth funneling money into it.

With the sound of the door they were all standing in front of interrupting his grim thought Barnabus turned his head towards the entryway just as a man stepped out of the room beyond and into the hall with them. He was a scary looking gentleman. Tall and lean with a muscular build and short cut salt and pepper hair atop his head with matching mustache. But the most prominent thing about him was a large scar that traveled over his dead left eye and down to his upper lip.

"Good morning Commander Stemson." Issy said with a salute. "I hope you had a good meeting with the Admirals about what happened to out unit."

Commander Stemson glared over at Barnabus and his crew for a second before he answered the younger man's question in a stern no nonsense tone. "You know we aren't allowed to talk about what happened in front of civilian Anderson."

"Sorry sir I forgot." Issy said face tinting. "Barnabus, everyone this here is my CO Commander Stemson. He's saved my ass on one then more occasion. Commander Stemson, this is my older brother Barnabus Comet and his crew."

A frown on his face Stemson shifted his attention away from his underling and back to Barnabus, his steely gray eyes focused entirely on him. "It's a pleasure to meet you Comet." He said insincerely. "Now onto business care to inform me why you are late to this debriefing? The appointment was at thirteen-hundred hours sharp and it is now..." He looked down at his Watch. "... thirteen-hundred and a half."

Barnabus instantly straightened up at being addressed so seriously. All of the training he had gone through during his youth coming back to him in a flash as he stood there getting dressed down. "Sorry we were late Commander Stemson sir." He said robotically. Then realizing what he was doing the Jack forced himself to break out of the ingrained habit he had fallen into. "I mean sorry we're late old man but I had a little bit of trouble getting all the way here with my sore side and all."

The Commander raised a single eyebrow at the explanation but seemed to accept it. "I suppose that's to be expected." Stepping to the side he motioned to the open door. "Now that you're here please enter the room behind me for your debriefing. Captain Lowland, Admiral McFarland, and Admiral Zazz are eager to speak to you about all the unpleasant business that had been going on."

"Of course they are." Barnabus sighed. Readying himself for what was to come the middle aged man glance from left to right to his crew and then began walking forward. "Come on everyone let's go meet these hoity-toity Admirals and get our backsides handed to us."

Stepping past his brother and his commanding officer Barnabus led the way as him and his friend made their way into a Spartan and surpassingly cramped conference room with a large table taking up the majority of the space. Looking to the other side of this large piece of furniture the Jack captain also took notice to the other occupants of the room. Three elderly military officers decked out in full military regalia adorned with numerous medals and bric-a-brac pinned to their chests that graced them with deep frowns as they approached the table.

Standing up this trio quickly gave the Jacks in their presence quick nods, the middle member, a man with bright white hair and a sneer which seemed to be a permanent feature on his face, motioned to the chairs in front of Barnabus and his group. "Hello everyone." He said with fake cheeriness. "I'm Admiral McFarland and these are my two associates. To my right is Admiral Zazz..." He pointed over to the man on his left, a silver colored Ulfurry with a patch of black on his snout the resembled a goatee.

"A pleasure." Zazz said growling lightly.

"...and to my left is Captain Lowland." Admiral McFarland continued as he pointed over to the female member of the tribunal. A youngish looking woman with glasses and her graying hair pulled back into a bunt.

The woman nodded to the group in front of them with shrewd eyes. "Good morning everyone."

Introductions given out McFarland took his seat, his companions joining him shortly after. "Alright now if you'd all be so kind will you and your crew please take your seats?" He said brokering no argument. "We have a lot to discuss and little time in which to do so."

"Yeah I suppose we do pops." Barnabus said. Walking over to the large table the trinity were sitting at the bearded man pulled out one of the chairs and ungracefully plopped his ample bottom down in it. "So what exactly did you gentlemen and lady want to talk to me about?"

Briefly raising his eyebrow at the gall Barnabus had at questioning them Admiral Zazz gave a cough and began speaking in a harsh unforgiving tone. "The reason why we have called you here Mr. Comet is that we need to discuss what it is you exactly saw down on that dirtball we found you on." He said tensely. "We've tried interrogating the Wargs along with that Fidraon Anguis but all we get from them is either utter silence or some mythical story about an ancient weapon."

"Well first thing first I can tell you fellas that there isn't any sort of weapon down there." Barnabus told them point blank. "Not to say that the big sucker wouldn't be able to destroy a few planets in the wrong hands."

Leaning forward in her seat Captain Lowland steepled her hands and rested her chin upon them. "Then what exactly did you find down there." She asked.

"It was a terraformer." Barnabus answered honestly. There wasn't any reason to dig himself in deeper by lying to these officials. Not if he was going to save them all from being taken care of during some sort of military cover up. "And from what the hologram working the thing said it was a big terraformer too. Said it could change entire planets with only a few commands."

The two admirals and captain acted as if they were surprised by this revelation and began chatting amongst themselves animatedly before they turned back and Admiral Zazz posed another question. "This terraformer you found, is it still operational?"

"I'm thankful to say that it's busted folks." Barnabus quickly said. Last thing he wanted was for anyone to get their hands on something as dangerous as the Ceromundi was. Even if this was the I.U.G. military he was talking too they still couldn't be trusted with that much power. No one could in fact. "The power source that charged it up got blasted during the fight me and my friend had with all those Wargs."

"Speaking of which, where exactly is this Ragno person who concocted this scheme." Admiral McFarland brought up. "We had a team investigate the pyramid we found you in front and while we found Anguis unconscious in a room with a bunch of statues we failed to locate hide or tentacle of the general."

Straightening himself in his chair Barnabus gave the three officers a smug look. "Last I remember seeing of the big purple creep he was getting crushed under a big computer." He said. "I don't think he survived it."

"That's for the best I suppose." Captain Lowland sighed. "I don't think we would have gotten anything out of him even if we did interrogate him. Warg generals tend to be very strong willed."

"If you're looking for someone who might give up the good I think you should look into arresting Laird Clayworth." Rana said interrupting the conversation. "He was working with the Wargs that's much for sure."

"Young lady I assure you that we looked into the claim you gave when you were brought onto my ship but they were unfounded." Captain Lowland sniffed. "There is no proof that he is responsible for anything that has gone on here in any way."

"Wait, wait, wait. What happened to that P.A.D. that my crew had with him?" Barnabus asked getting a sinking feeling. "You gave it to them right?"

"Yaggho" Moah nodded.

"We handed it to them as soon as we boarded." Alfred added.

"Well there you go then." Barnabus said looking at the three across the table. "There had to be dozens of conversations on there between Ekkar and that fossil on that baby. More than enough to prove us right."

"Our computer department went through the entirety of that P.A.D. and while we found numerous crimes we weren't able to find anything connecting Mr. Clayworth to this incident." Admiral McFarland informed the Wild Comet crew.

Rana, Moah, and Alfred all opened their mouth to argue against these findings but were silenced when Barnabus calmly lifted his hand. "Admiral McFarland do you mind if I ask you something?"

"If you must Mr. Comet." McFarland nodded. "But please remember who you are talking with."

Squinting, Barnabus took a closer look at the various medals on the older man's chest. Not surprising he recognized one of the various trinkets as being something called the Clayworth award for excellence, the large C on it giving away it's true nature. The medal was handed out to the biggest of backers to the Clayworth family. High ranking military officers and the rich and elite who wished to show off their connection to such a high wheeling and famous family.

"Never mind sir." Barnabus said after several moments. "I forgot what I was about to ask."

[Barnabus: I know I'm being a coward for not pressing Clayworth's connection to the Wargs right now. But I have to look at the bigger picture. Me, my crew, and Miktes they're what's important right now. Not getting revenge on some old bone bag who's going to forget about us since he's got bigger fish to fry. Besides I don't think the Wargs are going to be happy that he helped Ragno with his plot. In fact I wouldn't be surprised to hear him having disappeared sometime soon.]

Regaining Barnabus' attention with another cough Admiral Zazz picked up a stack of papers in front of him and shuffled through them. "Ok now that we have the incident that happened on Unutulmus figured out I'd like it if we moved onto the Verdomian we found with you. How exactly did that primitive come to be with you so far away from his home world?"

"You mean Miktes." Barnabus sharply corrected. "And as for why he was with me it's because we sort of abducted him from his planet."

"A planet that's forbidden." Captain Lowland brought up. "I hope you all know that it's highly against the law that you landed on that world. Much less kidnapped one of its inhabitants."

Barnabus nodded. "Yeah we know all that gentlemen and ma'am but we really didn't have a choice in the matter. He snuck aboard the Wild Comet, my ship when we were taking off and we were unable to take him home because me and him have somehow become chemically joined together. If we did both him and me would have died."

Taking a deep breath the heavyset man glared at the table top. "But I guess all that don't matter does it? We broke the law and we have to pay for it. And if that's the case then I'm more than willing to take the blame for all of it."

"Barnabus!' Rana snapped as she punched him in the arm. "What did I tell you about trying to sacrifice yourself! This is just like that stupid thing you tried to do back on Ekkar's ship."

Rubbing the forming sore on his bicep Barnabus scowled at his younger friend. "I know that Rana but it's the truth this time." He said. "I got the mission from Professor Tworows. I talked you all into taking it and going to Verdomo. And I kept insisting that we finish it getting us into this whole mess."

"I don't care Comet! We're a crew and we all take responsibility for what happened." The pilot reminded her friend unmoving.

"She's right captain!" Alfred added. "There's no way I'd be able to live with myself."

Moah gave a quick nod and punched his palm. "I. With. Barnabus. Too!" He said.

Barnabus gave a sigh at his crew and started to argue about their annoying but heartwarming loyalty. However before he could scold them Captain Lowland interrupted them. "Please all of you calm down. We aren't actually planning to arrest you for breaking the law on this matter."

"Y-You aren't!" Barnabus said in complete shock.

"No Mr. Comet we are not. Though it is well within our power and right to do so." Captain Lowland reminded. "You may have gone against the laws we have about interfering with primitive cultures but though your hubris you've uncovered a much greater conspiracy then your trivial crime. Those of the Wargs attempt to overthrow the I.U.G.."

"Yes something which we were not even considering." Admiral Zazz continued. "While we are not happy with you we are willing to overlook your crime as long as you promise never to speak of it to anyone. We are even willing to offer you monetary compensation and a rise in the Jack of all trades ranking system in return for your silence."

Rana gasped at what had just been said to them. "Wait... are you saying that you want to--

"Buy us off." Barnabus finished with a laugh. The I.U.G. was actually going to pay them to go along with one of their cover-ups. It would be completely insulting if it wasn't a good offer. After everything they had gone through they could buy a new ship, get better weapons, and even get better jobs. Of course it also meant lying to everyone they knew

"What do you guys think we should do?" Barnabus said looking to his crew for help. "I'm not going to make any more decisions about what happens in our lives unless we talk about it together. Should we take their offer or tell them to stuff it."

"I think we should take it Barnabus." Rana said carefully. "It's not the best option." She looked over to the three military officers suspiciously. This was all just too good to be true. "And I really don't trust those people, but what other choice do we have?"

"I agree with Miss Najjar." Alfred responded. "I hate having to lie. But the military knows what's best for everyone, don't they."

'Not always doc.' Barnabus thought grimly. Looking over to the final member of his crew the Jack asked him what he thought. "Well Moah, what do you say."

After scratching the top of his furry head Moah began a very long and boisterous speech that had his friends grinning at him and the three military officials at the table shaking their head in confusion. But finally after all the loud words, chuckling, and hand gestures the Girunjh finished speaking with a grin and the words. "Moah will go along with it."

"Ok then." Peering back over to the two admirals and captain who had been watching their exchange disinterestedly Barnabus folded his arms over his chest and leveled them with a hard glare. "We agree to your terms." He announced. "After everything I've put my crew through they really deserve everything you just offered us." Smile crossing their faces the three sitting across from the Wild Comet crew began to stand, but before they could fully stand Barnabus quickly added one more thing. "Wait a second if I'm going to completely agree with all this there's one more thing I want out of it from you. And trust me I it's going to be a doozy."

"Excuse me Comet!" Admiral McFarland blustered, his face becoming red. "You are in no position to ask for anything more. We're being quite generous in allowing you to--"

"--What exactly was it that you want from us now Mr. Comet." Zazz interrupted before his colleague could have a heart attack. "And be quick about it. Before I change my mind about listening."

"Like I said it's a doozy." Barnabus turned to Rana, Alfred, and Moah. "And I'm sorry to say this guys: but this just concerns me and my life so I really am I need this to be just between me and these folks right here for now."

"Are you sure?" Rana said with a touch of concern. She didn't want him trying to take the blame again behind their back. But thankfully one look from the older man told her that he wasn't going to do that. In fact she had a pretty good idea what it was he was going to ask for. "Alright then Moah, Alfred let's let our captain and these people have their private talk."

Barnabus felt relief go out his body as he watched three of the most important people in his life leave the room, each giving him a goodbye and a small smile as they disappeared through the door. Once it was shut behind the trio he then turned back to the other three people in the room. His smile fading as he got down to business. He didn't know if they would agree to what he was about to ask for but he had to try. He just wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't.