Galactic Love

First Contact... Far Away From Home

"It's escaped again!"

The terrified scream came from around the corner of the dark corridor that N'ordek'qesh'lon found himself walking through.

He was in the underbelly of an illegal alien zoo, having gained all necessary documents to search and seize as needed. He'd thought his presence would be the most alarming thing the zookeepers were facing. He was wrong.

With amusement, he watched the master zookeeper's face turn pale. With a resigned look, the blobby, spindly-legged Arnaric male sighed, "Can't say I'm going to miss this one. The shippers, they lied to me somethin' horrible. There's no way this one ain't sentient, and we'll be glad to be rid of her."

N'ordek felt his eyebrows rise, and glanced briefly at his Seeker, M'tolven. M'tolven gave an almost imperceptible nod. He'd also picked up on the fact that the sentient being was female. It was a matter of Rarakian honor that females of any sentient race be protected. No matter what, she was not to be harmed.

"I see that look," the Arnaric growled. "We'll see if you still feel that way after she's tried to attack you. I've never seen such a bloodthirsty being."

And that coming from an Arnaric, the people that trap prey in webbing and slowly digest them with venom.

"We'll take her out of your web--ah I mean, hair," N'ordek said with a shrug. "It is our job after all."

"And for once, my friend, I was honestly glad to see your ship," the Arnaric sighed. "It's been a month, let me tell you."

"We are not friends," N'ordek growled.

The Arnaric shrugged two of its spindly legs, causing its gelatinous middle to wobble, "Work colleagues then. We buy them, show them, and then you take them. It allows us to have new creatures every few months, keeping our patrons happy to come back to explore what new oddities we've acquired. This one, though..."

The continued nature of their "work" relationship was due to the laws governing Arnaric "collections", laws that did not allow any authority to demand an Arnaric stop "collecting" whatever it decided to horde. Collecting was part of their culture, an instinct of their species. It was, however, also illegal to hold sentient beings against their will. When the two laws clashed, a Rarakian Protector was sent in to free the sentient beings--by force if necessary. This particular Arnaric, however, had never given N'ordek any need to apply force. In fact, as the male had just stated, he seemed to see it as an expected part of his business, used to rotate his stock. Unfortunately, that had not been the case when other Rarakian Protectors were sent into this zoo. After the death of three other Protectors, the Guides had decided to bow to the Arnaric's twisted idea that N'ordek was the only 'good' Rarakian, the only one that didn't try to 'ruin' him. Ever since, anytime there was a report of sentient creatures in this zoo, N'ordek was the one assigned to free them.

"I'm actually the one that reported it this time," the Arnaric continued as they got closer to the source of the screams and commotion. "Thought it was taking you too long to come back, and I really, really, want this pest gone."

N'ordek nearly missed a step. He had reported himself?

After the Arnaric turned around, M'tolven made a silent sign suggesting the alien was insane. N'ordek gave a stiff nod. He'd thought as much for years.

They finally rounded the corner, and what lay before them made all three males pause in their tracks.

"Qulahhh," the Arnaric cursed tiredly, two legs rubbing his head as if trying to relieve tension. "See what I mean about this one?"

There was shattered glass all over the hallway. N'ordek quickly surmised it had been broken from the inside of one of the viewing containers using a food tray. Black Arnaric legs and webs were mixed in with the splatter of green blood, making the hallway look like a warzone.