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Der-ra-jin, the mistakes of destiny.

Same door, same damn key, same damn click. As Terry turned his key to the side he pushed the creaking door open with a lackluster shove of his elbow to walk into his same familiar apartment. More paint flecked off the door as he brushed past it. As his keys slid onto the coffee table, he cringed slightly to the sound of several beer cans clattering and falling off the side. He had managed to tip one over, and in the ensuing inevitable chaos, several others had tottered over to join them.

He groaned softy and brushed his hands over his face and up over his disheveled blond hair, then plopped down into his couch. There wasn't much going right today and this was just another prod at his humanity he was sure. His head leaned back, and he stared at the ceiling recalling the day's events. Like most bad days, it all started at the very beginning.

He had stubbed his toe that morning while getting out of bed, taken a frigid shower, and left the house without breakfast. Trying to get to work had been a chore; driving behind some old blue hair who had seemed to insist that the speed limit was actually five to ten miles under what was posted. Arriving late seemed to top off the morning, especially with an important project waiting for him to complete at work. Unfortunately for Terry, the worst was only ahead of him that morning, and it had waited like a striking serpent for the perfect moment.

Terry shook his head again. Staring at the ceiling in his room didn't seem to erase the sound that was rattling around inside his head. That sound was the cold metallic thud as the prototype ported manifold had crashed to the ground.

How could he have been so stupid? A simple mistake had let it slip from its sling as he had taken it off the table of his CNC. He could only stand transfixed with horror as the sense of doom crept over him like a cold chill. After that, he had gotten every one's attention. Soon afterward his boss, Fred, was right on top of him with questions and his pail face flapping uncontrollably as he scorned Terry for his mistake.

That had been nothing compared to what he had gotten behind closed doors. At that point Terry refused to think of it any more. The lump in his throat and the pounding in his head just seemed to crush what little humanity he felt he had left. For the most part that chill still stuck with him, just like the lump in his throat.

As he stood, Terry made the quiet resolve that would be the most pivotal decision of his life. He walked to the hall closet and kicked the overflowing trash can to the side while some of the debris cascaded down onto the floor. He grumbled slightly and pulled open the sliding door with a jerk and began pulling out the equipment he had packed for just such a contingency. In short order, he had his backpack, cooler, cooking gear and sleeping bag sitting by the door. He needed to get away, out of this cluttered apartment, away from the fume and smoke of the city and into the one place where he could think for a bit.

After about three trips, Terry had the gear loaded into the back of his beat-up white truck. He threw a few bungee cords over it and made sure nothing would slip while he was driving out of town. He walked back around to the driver's side door and paused for a minute with his hand on the door handle while he mentally accounted for his gear, making sure he had everything he needed. He sighed heavily in relief. The food was packed and iced, all the gear he needed was accounted for and secured. Pulling the door open with a bit of urgency, Terry slipped into the front seat and jammed the keys into the ignition. The engine lurched and turned over, giving a sickly roar, whirring and whining in protest of the coming journey. Terry backed up and pulled out of the parking lot, his tires squealing slightly as he gunned the motor and quickly matched the pace of the thronging masses on their exodus out of the city. With another deep breath, Terry finally felt himself begin to loosen up.

The trip out of town didn't take very long, not at the pace Terry was driving. Soon he was beating his fingers onto the steering wheel of his truck, letting the cool mountain air fill his lungs as it whipped his hair back against his scalp. A small smile crept along his lips as he read the sign, 'Saguaro national park.' Now the short hop to his favorite out of the way camping spot wasn't far. He stretched his neck to either side to clear any cramps that had crept into his neck and shoulders over the hour and a half drive out here.

Terry turned onto the short dirt road that circled by the mountainous ridge he liked to camp upon. He took a branching path that nearly doubled back on the trail, hidden by two trees that barely left room for his truck to slip through. Soon he was making his way up to the top of the gentle sloping ridge and around to the back. The air was much cooler here, now the cactus had given way to pine trees and a gentle breeze blew through the cab of his truck.

Unpacking his stuff was quickly done from the back of his truck and Terry began setting up camp. It was already dusk, and the light was fading fast. He would have to set up in the dark, but truly he didn't mind, this was always something he enjoyed immensely and it helped him get his mind off the trouble he knew it was better not to dwell on. He left the lights of his truck on while he ventured a short distance from his cleared area and began picking up small sticks and twigs to start a fire. Soon he had a few larger logs crackling and spitting embers at him, welcoming him into the warm light as the night cooled around him.

Desser stood over Caalep's shoulder, letting that low rumble of disappointment become more audible by the moment.

"Is it done yet Caalep? You've been at this for an entire 2.5 decans! You runt, can't you be any quicker?" Her long tail lashed through the air, hanging at times like a snake ready to strike at something. Scowling, Desser crossed her arms and let her claws rap out an impatient beat along the armor plating covering the upper portions of her limbs.

Caalep simply kept working, ignoring her constant cajoling through years of experience. He entered the last few parameters into the guidance system of the N'jer Talec't, their ship. "Dear, if you would like to spend the time trying to calculate a light path through the Abyss, please be my guest. You know this takes time. It's not a simple light jump, as you seem to forget." His pudgy arms swung in a wide ark, as if it should've been painfully obvious. "If we get caught going through one single event horizon..." the board interrupted Caalep mid-sentence, beeping its warning that the computer didn't agree with the plotted path through the minefield of black holes. That was of course where Caalep intended to send the N'jer Talec't, right through the middle of the Abyss, a section of space dominated by many black holes in close proximity. The predicted path was spiraling down right into the center of one of them, almost mocking Desser and Caalep both.

He gave an audible squeak of frustration and pulled up the algorithm that was primarily responsible for hashing out such a complicated light path. The beam of light had to be launched from the perfect position and trajectory, from there it would wind its way through the black holes, using their very gravity wells to bend its path just right till it exited safely out the far side. It was much shorter to go through them than around the some 2,000 light-year expanse at the Abyss' outer edges. His small pudgy hands begin to fly over the screen, claws clicking, injecting countless changes into the algorithm. The screen updated and slowly the line that had previously been spiraling into one of the gravity wells slowly began to bend its way back out and finally shoot off into another direction. If he could manage it, Caalep was going to send their grand ship right through the lot of them and into a system that, as of yet, had been uncharted.

Desser only rumbled more prominently but kept her mouth shut. If anyone could figure out this problem, it was Caalep. Though she didn't much like the delay, she knew damn well it couldn't be rushed. Caalep was simply too good at what he did. She smirked inwardly. For such a diminutive creature, Caalep was one of the most driven of Jarac't and possibly the most brilliant creature in this part of the galaxy. Not that she would tell him that, his ego was big enough all ready even if his stature wasn't.

She finally relented and sat back in the captain's chair and stared at the main screen. Amidst the small screen off to the side showing their proposed get away, the larger portion of the screen now showed 4 red triangles with blinking circles around them. The Messi'er weren't too happy with her right at the moment, and that small force was coming to do one of two things: either blow her bulkheads out or capture her and return for the bounty on her head. Being the most notorious of pirates in this system didn't help ease her apprehension. Without Naruke by her side...

She sighed softly, her head hanging as if defeated, and drew her thick black tail up into her lap and took it in hand, stroking over the very tip in a methodic manor.

Desser considered her options, quietly running them through her head. A force of four was easy enough to handle considering the armaments her beautiful ship had, though it would be a tricky game at best. Considering that the Messi'er where not known for their minimalist ways. Those four ships would be comprised of at least two battle cruisers and two fighter wings. That could get very messy indeed. Desser fidgeted in her seat, and the stroking of her hand over the thick velvet fur of her tail increased its pace.

Most of her body was covered in armor. From her neck right down to her ankles, the armor plates and flexible undergarment obscured most of her form. Over her chest they seemed to be purposefully restraining something, though it was nearly flat save for the armor plates that gave her chest any definition. Right up under her chin the armor extended upward, only her face hands and tail were exposed. She was a Tresckar'n in every way.

Along the sides of her slightly square head, her round ears twitched as she looked at the nearby displays. Other than the impending attack, the ship was in fine condition. She reached up to stroke one hand along her left ear, feeling the thicker fur there bush up between her fingers. The only long fur on her body was the tufts of fur that extended in two rows from just behind each ear and extended down into her neckline. There they were obscured by the tight armored collar. Under her right eye two scars parted the fur with permanent furrows.

She thought about the events directly leading up to this moment. Having decimated one of their main Der-ra-jin labs and downloaded their entire database, the Messi'er were not likely to forget her any time soon. They were even shorter fused than Desser was, and there was no negotiating with them once they passed the point of no return. The blinking circles where a clear indication that this particular point had been crossed long ago.

"Any time Caalep, We really don't have time for you to play your computer games," Desser barked out, her hand balling into a fist.

"You know, you really are impatient dear, you could learn a thing or two from me." Caalep trotted over to the far side of the console as Desser watched him. She couldn't help but muse about how he waddled, his short four foot stature hardly allowed him to see over the console onto the bigger screen, but he managed none the less. He gave a shudder and a sigh, rattling the tan little scales that loosely covered his body. At four heads high, he was two heads shorter than Desser. Still the Archturian was typical for his species. His head was rather thin and pointed, two beady dark eyes that took in the world to be analyzed and dissected for their own intellectual advancement. He had two tiny ears that were pointed and and tubular, swiveling here and there as he looked about.

Truthfully they likely did more for the sector's advancement than any other race. He hunched over slightly, being stocky for his short stature. He didn't have much of a defined body, but more of a trunk and had a slightly doomed back covered in tan diamond scales. The scales covered most of his body, though his front and the insides of his arms and thighs were covered with the thick leathery skin of the same hue of his scales. He had a stubby short tail that tapered from his wide back down to a stubby little point. Most of that tail was also covered in scales and only the very tip would drag on the ground. It seemed he sometimes used it as a kickstand to keep himself up on those stubby thighs of his.

He pressed one of the lit sequencers and the navi-comp began running the newly entered equations. The line in the left hand corner of the screen began to run a route through the field of black holes, slowly winding through them one by one. Each time the line bent just a little as it approached one, then was drawn off by another gravity-well in another direction. The path soon began to look like a trelian tentacle monster winding its way through the underbrush to capture some hapless creature. At one point the line even circumvented one black hole completely before splitting off in a new direction and finally out of the Abyss completely. The screens boarder lit up a bright green and a pleasant buzzing sounded, indicating the path was viable and triple verified.

Desser sighed greatly and slunk down into her chair. Caalep just hopped up and down once before squeaking his own repressed relief. This was about the only way they would be able to get away from the fighter wings that where now only moments away. The screen sounded another alarm as two of the triangles split away from the others and advanced on their position, looking to close the snare. In a matter of moments the screen switched to external sensors and the sight of two well-armed fighter wings advanced into the foreground. The comms-unit suddenly crackled.

"Pirate ship, this is Commander Ka'jar of the Messi'er fleet Swift Wing. You are hereby ordered to stand down and surrender at once; otherwise we are authorized to use deadly force against you. You have 8 nin to respond or we will open fire," the Authoritative voice of the Messier commander was brash almost barked out, edged with excitement under the restraint of years of training.

Desser took a deep breath and her claws rattled on her chitinous armor. "Caalep..." she growled softly. She didn't much like the way the armor felt on her fur, but you couldn't beat the price. Stolen perfectly free; care of Desser N'rat, infamous pirate of the Tressiar system.

"I'm already ahead of you dear." Caalep's hand was already pressing the button. The forward screen's view suddenly began to spin and the two fighters twisted out of view. The ship dove and spun in a defensive maneuver and circled back towards the edge of the abyss. The computer registered several shots going off just a few yoalin off the ship's hull; not that they could hope to touch the quick and agile ship. As soon as it approached the launch point, the quantum grapple charged and the initial light beam was fired into the Abyss. As soon as full power had charged, the ship glowed like a ghostly phantom and dispersed, sifting like sand through an hourglass into the beam of light it had fired. The two fighter wings launched a volley of shots at the ship, but none of them landed as the ship slipped into the stream too quickly to catch.

Desser shook her head to shake off that strange buzz that was always left over from any light jump. She quickly scanned the screen to find their location and to make sure the ships were gone. Nothing. They were well on the other side of the Abyss and all scanners showed the area clear of any ships. Even if the Messi'er where willing to follow them, it would be a risky pursuit at best. It had been a risky bet with Caalep at the helm, any one else would have made it suicidal. Desser sighed heavily, slinking down in her chair just slightly and dropped her tail. "You have a ways of making me sweat."

"I know."

"Why do you do it then?"

"Cause your cute when you're stressed."

"Runt," she said with only the slightest of humor. She straitened her light armor out as she sat up, trying to think of the next move.

"There's a galaxy a few hundred light years away from here, Desser." Caalep broke her train of thought, punching up the display on the main screen. A ghostly swirl filled the screen and the display selected several features to point out. The comms-unit beeped, and then crackled with some static filled voice that echoed hollowly.

Desser's ears perked and she trilled curiously. "A communications feed of some sort?"

Caalep nodded, "Seems like an old-fashioned electromagnetic wave, with frequency and amplitude modulation. It's all over the EM bandwidth. That means they're at least a semi-technological race."

"Are they compatible with Der-ra-jin?" She leaned forward, giving Caalep a hopeful look.

Caalep shook his muzzle, "Impossible to tell without getting closer, the only things I can give you are preliminary scans from this distance."

Desser growled slightly, licking her lips, "Well? Get us closer!"

Caalep chuckled softly, and soon the ship was filled with the familiar buzz as the ship slipped into light stream again.

A few sausages and a beer comprised his meal for that night, suspended over the fires edge with a spare bit of wood. The fire pit was glowing warmly, and Terry rolled out his sleeping bag a short distance away. He knew that if the Rangers found him they would gladly give him a stern warning of the dangers of leaving it lit, but he much preferred being warm. Besides, it seemed there was a wild-fire warning all year round lately. Despite that, the spot Terry had picked was well off the beaten path amongst a grove of swaying pine trees behind a mountain that overlooked a grand view of the valley below him. Soon sleep washed over him, and all the days many worries melted into a pool of black and Terry slumbered peacefully.

The hours passed quietly until, through the haze of molted dreams, Terry awoke with a start. He could've sworn that he felt the ground shudder and it woke him out of a deep sleep. The fire had burned low and now only a dim red glow was left to keep him warm in the biting cold of the night-time air. Rubbing his eyes, He soon realized there were other issues at stake. His bladder was competing for space in his belly, making him feel quiet full and in urgent need of release. Reluctantly, Terry zipped down the side of the sleeping back and got up, winching as his warm feet now had cool rocks to walk across till he slipped on his shoes. He shivered lightly, the cool air nipping at his frame as he flicked on the flashlight, illuminating the path down the backside of the mountain. Terry yawned widely as he made his way into the uncertain night.

Desser keyed the main lift, feeling it shudder softly as it began to lower. "You're sure they don't know where here?"

Caalep dismissed the question with a wave of his paw. "Please, from what I've seen, not only can they not see us, they're still using combustion engines for their main mode of personal transport. We could outrun them in our sleep." Holding up a small screen in his other paw, Caalep oriented on something and pointed them off in the direction of the hump of the hillside they landed on. "It seems to be just off to the other side of this hill. Its alone and the ship says there is nothing coming up in the weapons scans."

The platform rocked slightly as it touched the ground and Desser took several long strides and stepped off the end. "Well, you said it seemed compatible right? Let's get it and bring it to the ship, I don't want to make enemies in this section of the galaxy too."

They both began walking up the pathway, Desser in front and Caalep giving general directions from behind. As they crossed the top of the hill and headed down the back side, Caalep squeaked, "It's on the move, heading down the other side."

"It's seen us?"

"No, it's not alarmed it seems. It's still moving pretty slowly. It's down just a few meters from here."

Desser nodded and picked up the pace a bit, longer strides down the path they had chosen. They quickly crossed the distance between them and their quarry. She slowed as she made scent of the creature on the wind, and then stopped a short distance away behind some trees. A twig snapped under foot and the creature suddenly looked around itself, waving its light around in the dark. Desser could smell some pungent odor coming from the creature and the sound of water splashing on the rocks.

She reached down and slid her hand along her displacer pistol, then shot a glance at Caalep as he grabbed her hand. "It doesn't even have sharp teeth dear," Caalep whispered from behind her.

"Then this should be easy." Desser stepped from behind the trees and made her way right up behind the creature, it never even realized she was there till it turned around. Desser's eyes narrowed slightly as the creature managed to shine the light right in her face. She growled at him and took a step forward, reaching out to grab the creature. Panic flashed across the alien's pale face and it took a startled step back, at that point it lost its footing fell back. The creature began flailing its arms as Desser managed to snag a hold of its clothing in her left hand. She held him up while it flailed for a moment longer; it blanched looking up at her. Desser growled at the creature, it was gawky and uncoordinated, she doubted seriously at this point that the thing could ever possibly fit their needs.

The creature began beating on her arm, trying to loose itself in its panic. Its shrill voice filled the night air, panic stricken and bellowing. Desser's ears pinned themselves back, but she resisted the urge to cringe; that voice was unnerving. Her free arm reared back and she swung forward in an ark, the boney part of her elbow crashing into the side of its head. The creatures head rocked to the side violently and it gave a distressed grunt, and then hung limply in Desser's grip, dazed by the blow.

Desser n'rat growled lowly again, "Are you damn sure that this species is compatible with the Der-ra-jin? Already I don't like it. It whines and has an annoying smell!" She snapped, holding the strange creature up by its meager coverings. Thankfully it had gone silent after she let her elbow knock some sense into its tiny head.

"We will never know till I get it onto the table," Caalep squeaked back, his voice echoing his frustration. Desser knew he didn't like the way she was putting her delicate charms to the poor creature. "You could be a bit gentler. I don't think this particular species is all that robust."

Desser reached down and grabbed the creature's arm, then pulled him up body and all to sling him over her shoulder. He was incredibly light, even for this medium gravity. As they began walking back up the path, she hissed softly between her teeth "You're telling me. Never mind that I snuck right up to it and it never even spotted me till I was right in its ugly little face. Personally I think this is a complete waste of our time. Even if this creature was a possible Der-ra-jin, it's not like it will be a very good one. It is soft and weak, and its senses are obviously poor."

Caalep grumbled to himself, something about silly females, then quipped, "You know that all that can be changed, this is simply the starting product. This is a species no other Jarac't has ever had the opportunity to explore or experiment with. Besides, you know as well as I do that without one, we can't return to the system and hope to keep in hiding long enough to gather another specimen. The Messi'er are probably waiting right at the place that we left through the Abyss. We can fight them off, but were better off with a trained and hardened Der-ra-jin. And that only you can provide us with." Caalep waddled behind Desser and made a few hops to clear a small ridge of boulders as they made their way over the top of the small mountain and then down the other side.

Desser's stride was languid and long, with each stroke of her toned legs, each one taking her closer to their ship. The weather in this place was much too warm for her, which would explain why this creature was mostly naked save for a few scraps of what seemed to be clothing over its rather stanch and thin frame. She grumbled again but refrained from commenting further, she knew that there wasn't much to do except get this creature into the ship and onto Caalep's table for the initial scan, then they would know all that they needed to know about the possibilities this particular creature held. Hopping off a rather large boulder in their path, she waited for a second, turning back to watch Caalep waddle to the edge, then hop off the lip and land with a grunt/squeak. She chuckled a bit, He was always so comical when the gravity was lower than what he was used to. He tended to hop everywhere, bounding around and waddling from side to side, nearly toppling over with each stride.

Desser and Caalep finally made their way back to the ship with the creature in tow. She dropped the alien specimen onto the decking of the platform unceremoniously and reached around to her side to initiate the remote lift control. The lift lurched and started its accent into the belly of the ship. Desser looked down at the creature; it had woken up and was groaning pitifully, still looking a bit dazed. She kicked it swiftly in the side, almost disgusted by its appearance as the lights from the lift illuminated every grotesque feature of its furless pallid skin.

The creature began gasping, trying to curl up but wincing in pain. It had gotten quiet after that, struggling to breathe even as it looked around. Desser fallowed its gaze as it looked over her, then over Caalep and finally looking out into the night as the lift silently made its way into the ship. The metallic hull was haloed in the image of the ground around them, reflected in its mirror-like surface. The creature groaned and coughed again; Desser was pretty sure she had broken something with that last kick to its side, now it was cradling it protectively.

Desser chuckled as she watched the tiny creature in obvious pain following her kick. "Well Caalep, I can say one thing, At least it seems to learn quickly."

Caalep only sighed softly, and then spoke with a bit of sarcasm riddled through his voice. "Yes, well your subtle and ingenious way of training these poor creatures is always guaranteed to get results." He sighed ruefully, "You do realize that I have to repair all the damage that you do? Really! Do try to restrain yourself dear, we can't afford to stay on the surface looking for another one. Their bright star is going to be coming up on the horizon in just a few decans."

Desser's lips curled back in a smile "Oh, but Caalep, you're so good at patching things up, I wouldn't want you to get bored. Besides, it's still moving. I don't think I hurt it too terribly." Looking down at the creature as the seal around the platform hissed and clicked, completing air lock. The hanger door to the front clicked, and then pulled forward slightly before slipping into the wall of the circular loading platform. She then looked down at the pitiful weakling and held out an arm pointing towards the exit. "Get up, walk that way!" Her tone was as gruff as ever. She wanted to see how well this creature was able to listen, or even understand her commands.

The creature groaned, wincing as it took a breath. Desser waited impatiently, her tail twitching as it slowly and methodically got its feet under it and slowly stood up. It was favoring that side heavily as it looked around, looking confused and scared. She kept pointing at the exit into the ship and eventually it seemed to get the idea. It walked, or rather hobbled towards the doorway. Desser snickered softly as the pail thing drew in a sharp breath and gasped in obvious pain, her morbid sense of humor getting the best of her. The creature turned to look back at her, eyes scanning her in the cool light coming off the strips to either side of the ceiling.

Desser felt uneasy at that, despite being in control at the moment. She didn't much like being ogled in any way, not that it would see much of her body covered in her modified armor. She crossed her arms and kept walking; making sure the creature was always encouraged to stay two steps ahead of her and Caalep.

Caalep's scales rustled and rattled as he walked behind them, seeming lost in his own thoughts as they continued down into the main corridor that went through the center of the ship. To either side of them, various doorways presented their possibilities, storage, crew quarters, etc. The creature was looking around, perhaps intrigued with curiosity, or simply looking for a way out. There wasn't any place the creature could go on the forward side of the ship, not without doubling back right between Desser and Caalep, and it seemed very unwilling to do that at the moment.

It glanced back at Desser for a moment, increasing her discomfort. She followed its eyes and her embarrassment flared suddenly, it was staring directly at her chest. She snarled at the creature, then roughly cuffed it across the cheek and gave it a good shove forward. It stumbled, nearly toppled, but managed to keep its footing. Though now its breathing was quite labored. Desser's lips where now curled back from her teeth, grumbling lowly.

They again walked down the main corridor of the ship. Continued on, this would take them strait to the cockpit, but that wasn't where they needed to go. Desser's eyes narrowed slightly. That little thing was staring at my breasts! Of all the! She could hardly contain her anger, even after some thousands of light-years away from the Tressiar system, the men were still ogling misfits. At least at this point she was absolutely sure of its gender; a female would have hardly needed to stare that long at her chest. Desser balled up her fists. 'If that little furless, no that's too good a term, if that little WORM turns around again, I'm taking its ugly head right off!'

Caalep watched Desser carefully. Desser glanced back to see that concerned look in his eye and frowned even further. He was always complaining about the way she treated prisoners, der-ra-jin, friends etc. Not that it had ever kept her from having her fun. On more than one occasion, the poor Jarac't had been forced to clean gore from the walls. Being vegan, he didn't much care for the sight or smell of rich fluids that came from any creature. Caalep's concerned looks became more so as he glanced at the creature, it was favoring the injured side heavily at this point. As they came across the door to the lab and Caalep motioned over to Desser.

Desser reached out and snatched the male's clothing, stopping his walk and even holding him up slightly by it. Its sickly looking pink flesh made shivers run though her fur and she couldn't help but feel nauseated slightly by its smell. "I'll be so glad when you finally have this thing in a stasis field, it stinks!"

Caalep shrugged a bit as he padded to the door and punched in the entrance code, "It won't be long now. When I get started, I can make him smell like a Selinian moon nectar orchid if you like." His tone was more than a little tart with Desser, probably because he wasn't happy with her treatment of the creature thus far. She simply sighed distastefully at Caalep.

Desser waited impatiently at the door, her thick tail swishing back and fourth behind her. She gave a disgruntled snort as Caalep waddled to the door panel and punched in the code. The door slid open with its customary swish and Desser strode inside, the creature in tow. The alien was gasping and taking sharp breaths, in obvious distress as Desser dragged him into the room. Caalep followed behind them, shaking his head from side to side slowly.

The creature had little choice but to walk as Desser pulled it along, barely letting its feet tip toe across the matted metallic floor. The creature seemed like some twisted marionette, still cradling one arm close to its chest. Desser kept an eye on it, watching as it began to take in its surroundings. She could sense a subtle change in its demeanor, she wasn't sure what to expect so she prepared for anything. Her grip tightened, keeping the creature restrained should it become excited.

Desser looked about, the sterile environment greeting her with familiar sights and sounds, even that same god awful disinfectant field that left the air smelling like an ion storm. The creature was taking all this in, its head jerking from one side to the other till eventually its eyes where resting on the main table in the center of the room with the rectangular console just in front of it. Desser's fur stood up slightly, something about the creature's demeanor had changed and she guessed it wasn't good. Either it didn't like what it saw, or it had finally decided it'd had enough.

Desser's arm got jarred by a sudden lurch, the creature somehow managing to pull itself forward with a sudden scream. It actual managed to catch Desser off guard and she nearly lost her grip in the process. It turned and grabbed its shirt, tugging for all its pitiful worth and cried bloody murder, filling the room with more of its shrill bellows. It looked Desser directly in the eye, she could feel its panic and its fear in that gaze. Maybe even a little bit of her could sympathize with that, but now was not the time. She gave the creature a tug of her own, drawing it close to her as her other had snapped out and curled around its throat.

She constricted it's throat, cutting off its air. Its screaming turned slowly into a rasping wheeze, now hardly able to breath and its pale face became strained, turning purple slowly from lack of oxygen. Desser was about to release it when it suddenly found the courage to begin beating on her arm again. Her lips curled back farther and she simply lifted it right off the ground, finding what little patience she had left swept away by its unnerving nature. This seemed to quiet the creature greatly, now unable to give any great leverage to its attempted freedom. It slowly dropped its limbs and hung like a rag doll in Desser's grip.

As tears dropped from its eyes Desser couldn't help but feel a small pit in her stomach sink in a bit more. It seemed to resign itself to whatever fate she and Caalep had planned. Something about this situation rang too true for her, and that pit was growing deeper.

Angry at herself for this bit of weakness, Desser growled and steeled herself, lifting the creature slightly higher into the air. A smile crept sadistically across her face and Caalep squeaked softly and shook his head. "Desser N'rat, put that poor thing onto the table before you break its neck. I can only repair damage. If you kill it outright there is nothing I can do to put his essence back into his body. Honestly, you still seem to think that violence solves everything." He shook his head and waddled over to the panel next to the main surgery table, and initiated a few of the sequences. The table began to hum slightly as the internal mechanisms warmed up, ready for action.

Desser's low growl grew louder, "It gets the job done doesn't it? I am considered the best in the business, if you have forgotten." She shook the pitiful creature one last time, though far less than she would have liked and took a long stride towards the table. The creature hung limply still, tears streaking its pale face, looking at her like a helpless child who was certain death was a companion not far off. She hoped secretly she hadn't gone too far. She needed a new Der-ra-jin despite her general dislike of them. 'A necessary evil,' she reminded herself. She quickly got it onto the table, using her grip to lay it lengthwise along it. She loosened her grip slightly, and was rewarded with a series of coughs and hacking breaths. "Shouldn't we be taking off? This can be done just as well out in the void than it can planet side." She said, turning to look at her stout little companion.

Caalep nodded. "It is, let's just get it secured on the table first, and then I'll run the auto-pilot. I programmed a destination before we landed; it's on the far side of their moon. I wanted to get this done as soon as possible. Being that this specimen is being taken against its will, it will limit the trauma to do it quickly." He said and punched up the stasis field.

The table lit up with a light green haze just over its surface, bending the light slightly at its edges. Desser released her grip as the field kept the creature now pinned tightly against its surface. She frowned slightly and then turned, walking quickly towards the door, "Do something about that horrible skin," she huffed over her shoulder, "Cover it with something. It's damned ugly!" She paused at the door to look back, watching as Caalep began pulling up scans of the creatures body. She shuddered softly, scowling before she turned and walked back through the door into the corridor.

Caalep's eyes widened, not even seeing Desser exit the room. Above the table, where the creature was now restrained, a full-body display sprung up and illuminated the air. Readouts lit up all over ghostly display, listing various details of the alien's body. Caalep punched up the principle genetic coder and pulled up the creature's DNA on the control panel's display. The display began pointing out several particular sequences, color coding them and then lighting up the corresponding features on the holographic body hanging above the table. Now it was time for the proof, to see what changes could be safely made without damaging the creature beyond all salvageable use.

The ships floor resonated, signaling the engines gathering their energy for take-off as Caalep pressed the autopilot quietly. His attention was quickly drawn back to the display however. He stared intently at the projection and triggered the splicing and recombination algorithm, testing the alien DNA for its possibilities. Of to the side console's display, a number began to build, ten, twenty, thirty-five, forty. It kept climbing slowly, as more of the DNA was read, logged, cross checked with known recombinations, then checked for errors. Each part of the phantom body's organs and various appendages where tagged with boxes off to the side and a list of possible changes, listed in order of degree of change and the error probability.

Caalep's hands began to fly over the control panel, his elongated muzzle jerking between the hologram and the computer. He smiled, and then let out an almost frantic squeak. The counter off to the side finally rang its warning, indicating that it had reached the end of its calculation.

It stopped at 85. 85% change possible with little or no negative perturbations, no conflicts that would make altering the creature a problem at all. In fact, this was the highest percentage Caalep had ever witnessed or had even heard about. He was almost weeping with joy as he wrung his hands together, plotting and scheming already. He could do what his wildest imagination could come up with, and even some it couldn't. Most of the lists beside the phantom where indexed, meaning several pages existed behind the initial readouts.

"Good lords of Talaan; of all the possible species to offer themselves for Der-ra-jin, a species , even one captured against its will, on the other side of the Abyss is the greatest Der-ra-jin ever possible. Dare I say that this stinks of irony?" He chuckled loudly in a high pitched voice and reached out to pat the creature along its arm. "You will be the most powerful I have created, do not worry. I'll make you into a masterpiece, a living, walking, breathing work of art. There will be nothing you cannot do, no thing you won't be able to accomplish for us." The creature simply stared straight ahead, looking at his own ghostly figure hanging above him. The hologram was as motionless as he was. Caalep pulled his hand away and almost with a deliberate slowness pressed the flashing command button, sealing the creature's fate.

The computer sounded an alarm, then in a metallic voice, 'Initiating phase 1.' From several slotted openings under the creature, unseen flexible metallic tubes stretched out to make contact with its flesh through his clothing. Caalep watched carefully as the creature let out a startled yelp, then an out right scream of pain. As soon as the tubes made contact with the flesh, they would spear into it. The tubules now pulsed and writhed, worming throughout the creature's flesh. The tubes where coursing through its body at every juncture, its head, neck, back, arms and legs. As it'd begin to scream, Caalep took mercy upon him and reached over, signaling the dump of neurotoxins into the creature's body, deadening the nerves temporarily.

The ghostly display above the table showed a black cloud slowly spreading though the creature's flesh. The tet'trare where rapidly dispersing though the body and taking up positions all through-out its body, ready to render the changes needed to complete the transformation. Each molecule sized robot made its way into each cell wall and pierced it with the long multi-axis arms. The alien's body temperature began to rise, owning to the necessary operating temperature the tiny robots needed to run efficiently and quickly.

The creature started to sweat, then shivered as its temperature rose too quickly to handle. Soon its body temperature was well over 106 degrees internally and his eyes rolled back into its head as convulsions racked his body violently despite the restraining field. The display rolled out another alarm and Caalep ran a few commands almost un-phased. "Low thermal tolerance I see, that can be taken care of easily enough, just equip the cell walls with thermal bonding sites, that should allow them to cool off and also speed up the Tet'trare significantly." He almost hummed a song while doing this, happily lost in his art. The hologram displayed the change, the tiny bots affecting each cell wall with a covering that would now dump heat into the spaces between them. This would keep the cells from being damaged and leave more energy available for the tet'trare to operate. The displayed temperature continued to rise, however the creature settled and its breathing leveled out quickly.

Now it was time for the final process. In order for the majority of changes to take place, there would have to be raw materials handy for the Tet'trare to do their work, and also a way to purge the body of the rejected or useless leftovers and by-products. Caalep's claws slid across the screen, causing the table to rotate slightly and then slowly stand up on end, so that the creature was now standing upright bound to the table. Another set of commands where initiated, causing the green field to fluctuate slightly and then extend out away from the creatures body and creating a glowing cocoon around him. Through the same slots in the back, a thickened brackish milky mixture began to pour around the creature, held in by the field and quickly filling in around him. His arms and legs where still restrained by the animated tubules that where piercing his flesh and all he could do was watch with panicked eyes as the thick fluid began to fill up, slowly taking him under the surface.

Caalep pulled up the many possible changes he could initiate and began dragging them over with a slide of his finger into the initiation protocols, listing several hundred before he was done. Everything was to be changed: its flesh, color, even personality. The creature would be a new creation; Caalep hoped a vastly improved creation beyond what he had ever been able to do with other Der-ra-jin. With a long and almost rueful sigh, Caalep imitated the program and the display beeped back at him. Almost mirroring Caalep's sigh, the creature finally gave up its breath into the brackish liquid, looking even more fearful as strange new things began to happen inside its body.

The surface of the creature's body began bubble like an air stone in a fish tank, little air bubbles beginning to escape into the thick fluid before making their way upwards. Patches of clothing began to drift away from his body as they were slowly dissolved for their raw materials as well. Under the beings pale flesh, tiny lights flashed, little explosions of energy that separated and joined DNA in new sequences. The lights danced across its flesh like the roll of lightning across a pink sky. Soon the flesh began to slough off the creature's body, flaking like pastry and hanging suspended in the thick fluid as it sank slowly through it and dissolved. This was just the initial steps of the change, it was best to let the new sequences work their changes slowly. Now there was only to wait and see how the changes would take. As other alterations took place, the creatures eyes fluttered and then slowly drew closed. The creature's eyes rolled back and forth under its eyelids; dark dreams assailing it in the silent serenity of the cocoon.

Caalep finally backed off from the console; it would let him know if anything went wrong. For now, sleep was also calling him and he turned back to see his little sleeping nook in the far wall giving its siren call. He left the creature to its metamorphosis and slowly wandered back towards the nook while stretching. As he sat himself down on the edge, he looked over the creature one last time, "Well, I'll see you in a few cycles Der-ra-jin, I hope your new life suits you well. You are possibly my greatest conquest as a Jarac't and it pleases me to no end." With that, he rolled back into the nook. The hard surface sunk in, molding itself to his body as he took up a position slightly curled up. Sleep took him quickly, a smile on his face and dreams of greatness drifting through his head.