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Captain Young studied the freighter in his ship's port hanger bay. It wasn't particularily large but it looked to be in good condition despite the small battle that had resulted in its capture.

His right hand reached up to unconsciously touch his nose, repaired but still tender. He silently cursed Roger Keene for causing him such pain and smiled, knowing that the Earth man could not cause any trouble as long as he remained in the the holding cell. The guards had reported back that they had thrown him in one with two wolves and two cats, and that at least one of the wolves looked ready to rip the man's throat out. He figured that after a week Roger would come around and demand to be let out, acknowledging the errors of his primitive ways.

The captain returned his attention to the ship and the engineering crew beneath it. He looked directly at a man in an engineering uniform directing the others and waved them over.

"Sir?" The man asked as he came to attention in front of Captain Young.

"What has engineering concluded about this vessel?" he asked.

"It has taken light damage to the gravity wave generator and weapons systems. There's some hull plates missing but otherwise it is spaceworthy, sir." the engineer replied. "It is an old Lakdwalla-class frieghter, probably captured during the last war."

"And the cargo?"

"Mostly mining equipment, along with basic foodstuffs. There is however, a strange and primitive land vehicle in the main hanger, sir."

"Any weapons other than those taken from the crew?"

"A handful of old plasma rifles from the armoury, nothing else sir. It looks like they were making a supply run to a mining colony"

"Explosive charges?"

The engineer shook his head, "Scans showed no energy signatures matching RC explosive devices, or Imperial ones either, sir."

Captain Young nodded, smiling, "Good, assign some animals to begin unloading the ship, I want a full accounting of its contents by the end of tomorrow. Have your crews begin repairs and prepare it for sale once we reach Haskel."

"Yes sir!" the engineer walked away quickly.

He took one last look at the freighter before he walked out of the hanger, smiling smugly to himself. Oh yes, she was a nice haul indeed, the sale of the ship, her crew and cargo would be a nice bonus to his upcoming retirement.

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

<<Quick, put it away!>> Gyth whispered to Gahn as the sound of a door opening at the end of the hall echoed through the cellblock. Her tail stood out straight as she tried to peer down it and see who was coming.

Gahn lowered the hammer of the weapon like Roger had shown him and slipped it back under the pile of rags in the corner. The human had fallen asleep several hours before, after showing Gahn the basics of the gun. In the end the pain the man was in had demanded he rest, and in his sleep he twitched occasionally, as if he still felt the pain despite being unconscious.

Gahn thought about the gun. Roger had explained that the design was over a century old and that his particular weapon had served in a planet-scale war some 60 years before he'd been born, and had "killed lots of jerries," whatever those were, he hadn't explained. Regardless, he claimed that it had helped save the lives of millions, and served every one of its owners admirably over the years. It was a completely mechanical and simple thing, operated almost entirely by little levers and springs. There were numbers and English words stamped on the side of a part called the slide along with an image of an ancestral horse. The ammunition for it was contained within a box called a magazine that slid into the grip and he was well aware that it contained only five "cartridges" as the man had called them. It seemed like it would be useless against their captors, but Roger had insisted that those five cartridges could guarantee their freedom, citing how he had gotten them into this whole mess with just three.

He looked up as he heard the tell-tale clack of claws against the floor of the hallway. <<Who's coming?>> he asked Gyth.

<<I don't know, it's a Rukot but they aren't from the Teshar.>>

<<What?>> He joined her at the front of their cell, looking down the hall.

The Rukot they saw was a dog, a black lab, and it was pushing a cart laden with ration cubes. Several of the crew called out to the dog, who ignored them as if he didn't hear or understand their words and it approached each cell, placing several cubes on a tray it slid through a slot under the door.

"Good boy, Rex," called out a human voice from the doorway.

"Work is good," the dog, Rex, replied happily as he continued along each cell, a completely blank look on his face.

Gyth and Gahn exchanged a look of horror, their faces asked each other the silent question of what had been done to the poor Rukot.

The human voice called out again, "Report to Master Crabs when you are done, he will have more work for you."

"Okay!" the Rex replied as the sound of the door closing echoed through the cellblock, leaving him alone in the hall.

<<What have those bastards done do you?>> cried a crewmember from one of the cells nearest him.

Rex looked behind himself, at the door, ensuring it was closed and he was no longer being watched. Then he turned his gaze to the the Rukot that had called out, responding in poorly-spoken Rukot, <<They stole my identity and memories and have enslaved me for nearly 40 years.>>

A murmur of surprise rippled through the cellblock at the dog's words, it was not the response they expected.

"Forgive me for not using the language of our kind, it took me years to learn that one phrase," Rex shrugged sheepishly. "Which of you is the captain of the ship in the hanger?" he asked.

"I am," Captain Rels said from the front of her cell, looking curiously at Rex. "Rex, was it, sounds like a name humans would give. My name is Heoni Rels, I am Captain of the Teshar. What is your real name?"

Rex walked over to the cell and slid a tray with cubes under the door. "I don't know it, my name and memories were taken from me when I was remapped, and the humans intend to do the same to all of you."

<<Monsters! Not only do they enslave us, they take away everything!>> Someone cried from down the hall.

The deer fixed Rex with a sad look, "Why would you tell us this?"

The dog stared right back at her, his smile startled the deer, "Because from what I understand, it took nearly 30 years for me to be able to think on my own again, a fate I hope to spare you from."

"How?" Fenthik spoke for the first time in days. The bear groaned in pain as he sat up to face Rex. "You are a young pup, and look soft from years of servitude."

The dog walked back to the cart and grabbed another couple trays which he loaded with cubes, "Sorry, I don't have much time and must finish my work or the humans will realize something is up. In answer to your question, bear, I don't know, I was hoping you free ones could tell me how we could help."

"We? There's more of you?" Captain Rels asked.

"Well, there's 120 Rukot on this ship, not including any of you." Rex replied as he slid another tray into a cell, working his way down the cellblock as the crew in each simply stared at him.

"And they are all like you?" The deer felt that there might yet be hope for their escape.

"Well, no, most are still in what we call 'the fog,' the state of mind where we can't think too much or form memories. They can't help you though, it's not because they choose not to, they just simply can't."

"How many are like you?"

Rex stopped in front of the cell which contained Gahn, he didn't look inside though as he slid a tray under the door with a practiced ease while he kept his attention on Captain Rels. "As far we we know, six, including me." He stood up and looked into Gahn's cell, smiling at each of the four Rukot it contained until he laid his eyes on Roger, causing him to step back.

"A human here!?" terror filled the black lab. He'd been talking to the free ones in front of a human! He'd be remapped!

"That one is a," Captain Rels paused for a moment as if she found the next word hard to say, "friend. You have nothing to fear, he is in here for assaulting Captain Young while arguing for our freedom."

"And for getting us into this situation!" added one of the crew.

"He is?" Rex stepped back towards the cell, studying the unconscious man and noticing his injuries. He had to tear himself away from the sight and slid another tray under the door of another cell, "He looks like he's been through an asteroid field."

"He is not like the others, the man in that cell is from Earth several thousand years in the past, and disgrees with the path his race has gone down."

"An Earth human... the others will want to know about this." Rex slid the last of his trays into a cell and stood up. "All done!" he said, continuing, "I cannot stay much longer and you still haven't told me how you want us to help."

Captain Rels thought for a moment, studying the strange black lab, "Are any weapons left on my ship?"

"No, the engineering team has completed a full scan of your ship and removed anything with an energy signature that could be used as a weapon. My mate, Pinky, has been assigned to help unload the cargo and she overheard the techs discussing it."

"Captain! What about Roger's weapons? They could still be in the container Fynor and I put them in and they don't use energy packs!" Gahn exclaimed.

Roger had awoken to Gahn's excited words and said, "The guns that aren't inside the large wood crate won't be much help, though all of the ammunition in one of the smaller two crates is what we really need."

"Why not?" Gahn looked at the man.

"Explosives," Roger stated simply, "We can disable this ship and make our escape without risking all of your lives, assuming we can get out of the cells. You have our key, Gahn. I can show you how to make the doors."

"Gahn, tell Rex which container and the unlock code," Captain Rels ordered. They might yet be able to get out of this.

"Oh, one other thing, I forgot that it's not with the rifles in the crate. Rex, there's something that looks like a large blue box, we're going to need it and some of the small boxes that say 12ga Buckshot on them." Roger said, smiling through his pain, "I have a score to settle and my boomstick would be perfect for the task."

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

Pinky sat alone on one of the beds in the darkened barracks, her body aching from the day's work. She and seven other Rukot had spent most of the day unloading cargo containers and equipment from the captured ship and she was exhausted. She would go to sleep right now if it wasn't for the meeting that would be happening soon.

"Hello my love," came a voice from behind her as paws gently slipped around the rabbit's frame in an embrace. A muzzle gently nuzzled one of her long ears. "I spoke to the free ones and have exciting news for the gathering."

She sighed and pressed back against Rex as the feel of his hot breath on her ear sent soothing tingles down her spine. "Were you careful?" She asked.

"Would I ever risk losing you?" he responded. "I bet you're sore after unloading containers all day." He leaned away and pulled his paws from her before returning them to her shoulders, giving them a gentle rub.

Her mouth twitched as she sat there for a few minutes with her eyes closed as she enjoyed his ministrations. "The others will be here soon," she said, and silently wished the two of them had more time alone.

The sound of a door opening drew their attention away from one another and Rex stood up. Their presence here wouldn't cause alarm but their intimacy would confuse the other Rukot, possibly exposing them. The dark shape of a mouse appeared near the middle of the room, joined soon by three others. Rex moved to join them while Pinky stood up and waited a few moments before doing the same.

"I have news from the free ones," Rex told the group, "They have weapons the masters don't know about!"

"What? How can that be?" Pinky asked as the others shifted in surprise.

"There's a human with them in the cells, they say he's a friend and from Earth, his weapons are in one of the containers and don't use energy packs."

"Fool!" barked one of them, the third voice from the night before, "Earth is destroyed, he must be a plant, probably the one who betrayed the free ones."

"The free ones say he is from Earth in the past, and he doesn't look like a normal human," Rex defended.

"What do you mean?" the voice of the fifth asked.

"His eyebrows are thicker, the lower half of his face is covered in short fur, and his skin is rough. He's also covered in bruises, the free ones say it was due to him assaulting Master Young and demanding their release."

"I have seen this man," added in the mouse. "Riley and Baker were beating him in the hallway leading to the holding cells. They called him 'animal lover' while he begged them to stop."

A murmur went through the small group as they took in the implications, a human, on their side? It was almost unthinkable.

After a moment Rex continued, "They want the human's weapons brought to them, but only certain ones."

"Where are they? How do we know we can get them." Pinky asked.

"Because Pinky, you probably unloaded them today, they're in one of the cargo containers."

She rememebered a crate that had been particularily heavy and located away from the others, near the strange land vehicle in the captured ship's main hanger. Could it be that she had done just that?

"The crate is marked in Rukot as number 452, and the unlock code is 7230."

She had definitely unloaded the crate then, and knew exactly where it was, in the group to be cut open in the morning. "We can't get them," she said sadly.

"Why not?"

"They will be discovered in the morning when the engineering team begins its accounting of the cargo."

"We must secure them tonight then," the mouse stated.

"How? We'll be discovered the moment we step into the hanger," the voice of the third.

"Aren't you on serving duty tonight, Huxley?" came the voice of the fifth.

"I am, so what?" he responded.

"Nevermind, you wouldn't do it anyways."

"What do you want me to do, Stoney? I can't poison them, I'd be found out in an instant!"

"No, but you aren't just serving the port hanger, are you?"

"I'm not, I have the whole deck tonight."

"So play the dumb animal and start a fire."

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

Huxley cursed under his breath as he walked down the hall between the ship's two large hangers, and was glad it was devoid of human crew at this hour or they would see the anger emblazoned across his face and in his laid-back ears.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," the white and orange-spotted cat thought to himself and couldn't believe he'd been talked into doing this. Damn that fox, Stoney, it was his plan, why didn't he do it?

He came to the door to the starboard hanger bay and stood there for a few moments to regain his composure. He still had to play the part of mindless slave, even if he wasn't mindless anymore. The so-called "youngest" of the group of six Rukot that had awoke from the dream-like fog, he was the most cautious, not wanting to lose what he had only gained a year before. Yet here he was, about to risk it all, just so the others could attempt to steal some weapons from a crate in the port hanger when the night guards were otherwise distracted.

The plan was simple enough, he would go in and take the guards' food orders like normal, and if he saw an opening, he would "carelessly knock over some fuel canisters" as Stoney had called risking his life and mind. The fuel was highly unstable and would ignite as soon as it was exposed to the ship's atomosphere. He would have to be quick, damn quick, to avoid getting burned, though Stoney had even suggested that he get burned, just a little, to make the humans think it was an honest mistake by a dumb animal. There was no way he was going to do that, damn that fox, and damn the others for supporting this plan.

He set a blank look on his face, and forced his ears to stand back up, took a few breaths and opened the door.

The hanger was huge, nearly two kilometres in length and half as wide, he knew it was guarded by only 6 men, and he looked around slowly for them. He spotted three talking to one another and walked over to them, noting that the fuel canisters were in a large pile about halfway down the hanger.

"Hello Huxley, are you being a good kitty tonight?" One of the guards said condescendingly to him as he approached.

"Yes sir!" he replied happily, "Work is good." He stopped near them.

"Serving duty tonight?" the guard asked.

"Serving the Emperor is good," he responded and fought the urge to roll his eyes.

The guard nodded, satisfied, "Just bring us some ration packs tonight, Huxley, for all six of us."

"Okay!" He turned to leave, walking in the direction of the exit, picking a path that brought him close to the fuel canisters.

"Hey Huxley!" The guard called out.

The cat stopped and turned around, certain he had been found out. "Yes?" he said with his voice the perfection of serenity.

"The guys and I are playing cards tonight, would you like to join us?" The question was clearly bait and the cat's rage threatened to boil over, but he remained calm.

"I do not understand. I must get back to my duties."

"Good kitty," said one of the other guards before the three turned away, laughing at their joke.

Making sure that no one was watching, he walked over to the fuel canisters and gave them a hard shove. One at the top of the pile wobbled but wouldn't fall. He tried again.

"What the hell are you doing, you stupid cat? Those are fuel canisters! Get away from them!" called out the voice of the guard who'd done most of the speaking. His ears turned to the sound of their boots hitting the hanger floor as they ran over.

It was over, he'd been found out, they would probably drag him immediately to the remapping room and wipe the precious year's worth of memories from him, making him a mindless drone again. He raged, damn that fox, damn the plan, damn all of it!

He refused to give up what little he had in this world, and gripped the top of the canister he'd shoved.

"Stop!" the guard cried, they were close now.

He turned his head to face them, "You know what? Fuck all of you, every last one."

They raised their weapons but didn't fire. Surprise at his words lit their faces, and he waited for them to get closer. Like hell if he'd let the bastards live through this too.

"Fuck this rotten galaxy, fuck the empire." They were almost on top of him.

"FUCK THE EMPEROR, I DIE FREE!" he yanked on the canister with all of his hate and pain and it came free, clattering to the floor.

It happened in slow motion. Huxley looked up at the top of the stack as it began to crumble towards the floor. He watched as each canister tumbled through the air. His rage evapourated as a calmness filled him. He forgave the other five for talking him into this. He knew that it was the only way they would not get found.

The first canister hit the ground and burst, its contents splashed onto the guards and erupted into flames. Their screams sounded almost musical to the cat as he stood there and watched more of the canisters crash down around him.