Companionship - beyond flesh

arrivals

The hatch of the Companionship drew open, and Ven Verde was hit by a wave a warm, humid air. The cat shot out from between her feet and disappeared behind the ship. It had the same need to get out of the small ship shared by all. While the idea of freedom was still a distant hope, at least, the open atmosphere was a welcome change.

After the impromptu meeting with Ven, the orr construct Emma had mysteriously vanished leaving Ven to carry out instructions to move Peter Grimes, Riggs, Denver, C-Buck and the cat into the Companionship courier class starship. The Merry Crabbe twin courier ship had then detached, and the prisoners had continued their confinement, unaware that the ship had been traveling to the Orr Refinery outpost and had, at some point, silently docked. While the augers Denver and Riggs would be able to identify the duration to the minute, no one had been motivated ask and, as far as Ven knew, they could have been docked for weeks.

In her eighty years of service as an Ophiuchi officer, Captain Ven Verde had seen a lot -- photonic god storms off the Heel of Aquarius -- leviathans colliding at the battle for the Nubian Wastes -- but nothing could have prepared her for the view beyond the hatch.

An angry orange, red and yellow furnace raged beyond a liquid-blue haze of some powerful-beyond-measure force field. Infrared light from the sky mixed with the radiation from the field to provide a twilight sense to the scene before her. A golden path cut through a dense forest of trees towards the centre of the domed enclosure where she could make out the silhouette of a giant tree. Above the tree, a yellow globe of light shone bright. There was a chemical smell in the air, the likes of which she had not known before.

Two rows of Agency courier class ships identical to the ship they were currently on ran to the left of Companionship. Directly above the brick shaped ship, Ven could see that they were directly under a large levitating platform.

She thought about her ship, the Parsifal and her crew members who had been secretly transported by Emma and also of the two who had been healed of their critical injuries. She wished that, of all the strange things to see, she would see her assault craft also docked at this strange place. Without thinking further she stepped out into onto the tarmac to get a better view of the whole area and, there towering up behind Companionship, lay the sleek, shining white hull and massive weapons arrays of her beloved ship.

"Is that it?" C-Buck was blocking the hatch of Companionship and pointing to a figure standing behind his captain Ven Verde. A figure that had not been there a second before. "It just rose up out of the ground!"

Ven turned with a start but had regained composure even before her dreads had settled, she replied her words measured and accented by her rasti accent, "Yes, this is the Emma, our captor. I would say that it is safe for you and the others to come out. We would all be dead already if that is what she wanted."

C-Buck hesitated, "Ahh, well if it's okay with you I might--"

He was pushed out of the hatchway by the lean, horned figure of a determined Riggs, who ducked through the hatchway and strode forward directly to the figure of the Orr Emma, who appeared in her Amazonian form, a shimmering bronze powerful warrior.

Riggs was tall but still stood two heads shorter than the impressive figure of Emma, who towered over the elite auger and Ophiuchi Captain. But both Ven and Riggs stood their ground. "So, now that you have us stuck in your web, spider, what do you want from us?"

"So, the Administrator returns." Emma spoke in a firm, yet honeyed tone, "Tell me auger Riggs, where is your spear? You might need it before the end of this day."

The reflection of the moving sky gave her horns the appearance of a moving surface. Riggs replied, "Forget about spears. Tell me how we can leave this place safely and be on our way."

"Here it is!" Emma said with feigned surprise, ignoring the words of Riggs, as she raised her hand just in time to catch the oversized spear that had seemingly flown from out of nowhere, its razor-sharp tip less than an inch from the auger's throat. Emma pushed it forward an inch and drew blood. Riggs remained still as stone as Emma began her reprimand, "Do not worry, I am grateful. It is you that I have to thank for all of this." With her free hand she quested proudly to the dome above and around, "If it were not for you almost destroying the outpost's containment shield, I would not have thought to open things up a little."

Emma withdrew the spear leaving a small trickle of red run down the auger's neck and into the deep grey of her uniform collar. She then handed the long weapon to Riggs, who accepted it with a defiant snarl. Riggs held her tongue, but the fierce anger in the auger's eyes intensified as she had nowhere to direct it.

Emma's sweet tone switched to venom, "Be glad little boy-girl that I still respect my agreement with my Max and do not teach you a new lesson in pain."

While the orr construct was with Riggs, Ven motioned for Denver and the others to join them. The first mate and elite auger Denver and her chief medical officer Evenjevy stood up beside her in clear support with their Captain. The Ophiuchi wore their body-hugging white uniforms. C-Buck, technically a Skyean Spy, still wore the uniform, but with the arms cut off at the shoulders and a distinct v-line cut into the front to revealing a well-groomed fleece of chest hair over tight pectorals. C-Buck had said that the reason for the fashion alteration was to remove the Virgo insignia from the centre front of the top and right shoulder, but everyone knew that was just an excuse; the real reason being so that he could get his perfectly formed muscles out. An especially nervous Peter Grimes followed in his grey two piece Agency pilot uniform; it was also tight fitting, but for the wrong reasons. Grimes was cringing so much that he looked like a penguin, bringing truth to C-Buck's earlier jaunts.

From the corner of her eye, Ven noticed Kayne and the other crew from the Parsifal moving tentatively closer as a group. She motioned for them to stop and go back.

"You can bring your full crew forward Captain," invited Emma, again calm, "I haven't seen so many humans in one place for years."

As the group assembled another person approach from the direction of the courier ships. "It's The Smoker," Grimes whispered fearfully to no one in particular, "the captain of the Humidor."

As the woman approached they could see her uniform, the same cut as the one worn by Grimes, was so filthy that it had taken on a tinge of green and dappled with brown and black splotches. She held a stick of smoking herbage in a yellow stained hand and walked with a stiff-legged limp. When at a reasonable shouting distance she took a deep puff from the cigar and wiped matted brown hair away from disturbed eyes, then spat in a drawling, sharp-edged accent while exhaling thick white smoke, "What's the big fucken idea?! Don't yuz know I've been fucken floaten in space inside that fucken box for almost--"

A shaft of white, crackling light shot out from the hand of Emma and struck the newcomer hard in the chest knocking the woman off her feet and several meters backwards. Within seconds, the courier had been consumed by a pure platinum fire and reduced to a smoking pile of ash. The warm breeze lifted the lightest bits into the air.

The stunned group looked as one to the orr monster who simply said, "Surplus to requirements." and ordered, "Follow me."