FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

A day and a half before their arrival at Drakon, Rick was surprised to see a data transmission pop up on the communication board. He locked onto the signal and the familiar picture of the station foreman filled his console screen. “This is Drakon, calling NXC747726, Rick, is that you?” Rick keyed on the video, a small window opening up to show his camera overlaid onto the larger image of the station foreman. “This is Rick Hunter, is there a problem Drakon?” The man on the other end of the line seemed to relax, smiling as he continued speaking. “You two had us worried, we were about to call off the search. What happened? We have had all available ships looking for you two for the last three weeks ever since your last transmission and that fire trail that spread from one horizon to the other.”

Rick blinked in surprise. “Fire trail? I’ll admit we lost some of the thermal coating on the hull but I wasn’t aware of any fire trail. Perhaps you could elaborate on what has happened and I’ll fill in the gaps from this end.” The station foreman, Rick suddenly recalled his name as Bryce Whittman, nodded. “We got your request and confirmation of a low altitude jump, then seconds later a trail of flame almost a mile wide cascaded from one horizon to the other and out into space in the direction of the star. We scrambled all available craft for a rescue mission but were unable to find any trace of your ship or reach you on communications. After a week of searching along your trajectory we decided to focus on the nearby moons in case you had crashed and required assistance, the rescue ships are only just now returning to port. I also see you have a request for replacement parts to be available upon arrival, is your ship in need of repairs?” Rick shook his head in amazement. “We arrived at our destination in one piece, though we did lose much of the coating on the lower hull. We thought it had been due to friction with the atmosphere, we had no idea that there had been such an incident. We were able to make the delivery then make a conventional run to Earth for repairs. After that we made a stop at the Ganymede station before returning here.”

Bryce nodded, looking over a report that had been passed to him by someone off screen. “Most of what you are requesting is available in storage, we will have this list compiled by the time you arrive. I assume from your report that medical teams will not be needed standing by upon your arrival? I haven’t seen Spark yet; I hope she is alright.” Rick growled and bounced his fist off the arm of his chair so hard it shook the screen and the camera. “That is another issue, Spark was kidnapped on Ganymede and has been taken to Castor Prime, 5th moon. I’m headed there next to trade my old ship for her safe return. We are on a timer here, if we don’t meet the kidnapper's timeline, they have threatened the safety of Spark.” Bryce stifled a gasp, glancing over his shoulder then shaking his head. “Anything we can do to help?” Rick shook his head. “The 5th moon of Castor Prime is a black-market pirate base, the planet itself is a gas giant and the only approach to the moon is along the ecliptic so any other ships would only tip off the kidnappers. Further, many of the crew quarters on board are unfurnished so we only have two extra rooms that have any sort of accommodations. I was able to pick up two allies on Ganymede so we will be fine. All we need are those supplies and assistance getting the other ship loaded into one of the cargo bays.”

Again, Bryce nodded and let out a long sigh. “We will load up the ship and get it moved in preparation for loading on your arrival. I will personally make sure everything you requested is loaded into your ship’s hangar for fast transit so you can make your deadline.” He turned then, starting to bark orders as the screen went black. Rick sighed and glanced over at Klixxt who had been listening from the tactical station a few feet away, off camera. “We can’t let them get involved too, there are already too many at risk thanks to me.” Klixxt just chuffed and turned back to their console, starting up another of the tactical programs that Spark had set up in the ship’s learning database. Klixxt marveled again at the genius that Spark had shown in not only programming these scenarios but in the versatility she had designed into the system, allowing the ship to do things that he hadn’t ever thought possible. The ship was unarmed, but with the modifications that had been made to not only the shields but the maneuvering system as well this large unwieldy ship moved like one half the size and weight and had the defenses of a Federation Dreadnaught.

Rick left the control room to Klixxt and headed off down the hall to the trio of rooms the doctor was setting up in. The main infirmary had been furnished with the items that the good doctor had seen fit to liberate from his old office, the once bare shelves now packed with medical supplies in their protective magnetic casings. The private room looked untouched, a few bags had been piled in one corner, presumable filled with the doctor’s personal belongings but he had spent most of his time setting up the two other rooms, the bed didn’t even look used. The third room contained the second of the bio beds the doctor had liberated. This room looked much more spartan, only the bio bed, two cabinets, and a table taken from one of the other unfinished private quarters were installed, the doctor busy connecting the bed up to the power conduits running through the floor panels. He looked up as Rick entered and shook his head. “I’m doing the best I can here, but we will still need to get more supplies and equipment if you want this facility to be good for anything other than triage and emergency medicine.”

Glancing about the room again, Rick nodded to the doctor’s comments. “That is something we will be fixing once we get to Drakon, I already have a list of supplies they are gathering that should at least fill the major gaps in our medical needs, for the time being. You have done an amazing job so far, sorry to put all this work on you so soon after you joined us. I never expected we might need your expertise so soon here, Art.” The doctor glanced over and frowned. “I’m hoping it won’t come to anything that I will need my expertise on. This is supposed to be a straight forward exchange, but from what you tell me of this Axle person I’m worried you may need more help than I can provide on my own before this is settled.”

The ship landed on the large transport platform just before nightfall two days later, the surrounding area buzzing with activity as people moved to load crates, barrels, and Rick’s old ship onto the transport. It looked like the whole station had turned out to help, along with a number of Twills who were busy carrying boxes and barrels, much more than Rick had ever requested, into the cargo holds. He exited the ship and almost ran into the station foreman. “Bryce, what is going on? This is way more than what I ordered and I already told you that we aren’t taking on passengers for this mission, it is too dangerous.”

Bryce pointed a thumb over his shoulder. “Tell that to them. Apparently, they had a tap on the comm line and when they heard what had happened, they geared up and headed on over. I’m not stupid enough to try and stop them, are you?” Rick looked where Bryce was pointing to where a group of 12 heavily armored and armed Twills were loading the last of the items from a large grav sled into the third cargo bay. Rick let out a slow whistle then turned back to Bryce. “That’s an entire Twill hunting squad, if I’m not mistaken, where did they come from?” Bryce grinned at Rick’s astonishment. “Believe it or not, each one of them is a farmer. They all left their fields to go rescue your engineer so bring them back in one piece, you hear? We still need them once the fight is over.”

Rick furrowed his brow as he watched the Twills unload another sled into the ship. Bryce stepped up beside him and watched as well. “You really didn’t notice, did you? Just how much of a celebrity your engineer was around here. When she wasn’t working on your ship, she was at the port helping out with everything from directing the loading and unloading to helping the Twills reach those hard-to-get places on their backs that itch like crazy. She was a mascot to the facility after the first week, a staple by the second. I think she did more work around here than any three technicians put together and even took the time to try and learn the Twill’s complex language structure. Sure, she can only mimic parts of the speech but it was enough that she didn’t need a talk box to communicate her thoughts to them and that seemed to intrigue them to no end. I’m sure their leader spent more time here when she was planet side just to converse with her. I know for a fact that before she came, it took everything we had just to get him down to sign papers but once she starting showing up, he made a point to stop by and kept up his paperwork for the first time in years.”

One of the Twills, the captain from the looks of the uniform approached and barked out a greeting. Rick hopped off the ramp and barked back, an action that both seemed to surprise and delight the commander who began speaking so fast that Rick’s talk box hooked into his ear piece had trouble keeping up. “Greetings friend human, we are ready to assist in the recovery of the honored helpful small one.” Rick blinked, an honorific but also the term for child, that was something the talk box hadn’t been programmed to translate. Perhaps Spark had been tinkering with it before she left? “My unit has brought with them the provisions that were removed when the ship first landed, do not worry to our comfort, we are quite familiar with the ship that brought us here so many years ago.” Another surprise, this hunting party had been the one that came onboard what was now their ship? That would be useful indeed.

“You honor us with your presence, War Leader. See to your troops, we disembark in 4 hours. First meal will be at 1800 hours ship time. I invite you to join me for the meal in my quarters.” The Twill nodded agreeably, its stance that of one at ease with the situation. “You speak well Human, Travelled with Twills before, have you? Your knowledge of our customs and traditions honors both yourself and your ship. I accept your offering and will see you again onboard.” With that they left to return to their tasks, Rick heading to check the stores of meat, Twills were carnivorous by nature so nothing else would suffice as a food source. Bryce kept step with Rick, also running an inventory of what was being loaded as he talked. “Sounded like you knew just what to say, been down this block before I take it? Before you ask, we know about the dietary requirements of the Twills, as do they and I can assure you that there is plenty loaded up to complete your voyage twice over. That is, if you don’t throw a party then you might be in trouble with how much the Twill eat at such functions, something about restoring their vitality from the hunt or something like that.”

Rick nodded, checking off the last of the crates before moving to check the magnetic locks on every crate that had been loaded. “You could have sent a warning that we would be getting into this mess, how long have you known and kept me in the dark?” Bryce grinned back jovially. “Just since early this afternoon when they all arrived from out of nowhere. Serves you right though, letting us worry here while you went galivanting off across the galaxy. Payback is a bitch, but we are square. I won’t pull any more surprises as long as you don’t repeat the events of your last liftoff.” Rick shook on that then returned to his preflight checks, the sounds around him distracting his mind from the main worry he had. Would Spark be there when they arrived or was this all a wild goose chase perpetrated by Axle for the sole purpose of revenge? Sure, he would have Spark there somewhere, probably locked up on his ship to provide proof of life and well-being but once they actually went to make the trade, what was going to happen then?

Pushing those thoughts back Rick continued diving into the work, there would be plenty of time on the trip over for worry, right now he had a job to do and lives to protect. One of the Twills had already stationed themselves in the galley and was busy bustling about filling the cold storage with product and repairing the damage to the cooking units, something Rick had yet to get to with the million other things that had to be done onboard. Sounds of light construction, furniture being magnetically bolted to the bulkhead and the sounds of large heavy bodies traversing the hallways brought back a wave of nostalgia for Rick of previous trips into space. Perhaps this wasn’t going to be all bad, he would have to talk to Klixxt before they arrived and see what their opinion was of having a full hunting party of Twills onboard.