Hud: Pardos
Hud was dozing off in the embracing seat of his ship's cockpit.
He had been enjoying wasting his time while holding the Human custody. It allowed him to eat and sleep all day long. Although libations were unfortunately out of the question; his ship was dry. He would need to return to civilization if he wanted booze.
The Human Natilliea look alike had kept to herself essentially the whole time. Hud made sure she was fed, but other than that he avoided her. He noticed she seemed to enjoy talking to herself in her room. Kind of weird, but Hud wasn't one to judge a being based on their level of insanity. Everyone out there was crazy in one way or another.
His eyes lazily drifted shut. He had just finished a large meal and it was now time for another nice... long nap.
Suddenly a buzzer sounded on his dashboard.
Hud's eyes slowly opened. It sounded like a message notification.
He leaned forward to the large dash and examined the screen, reading the short message displayed from an unknown source.
His stomach flipped inside of him.
RHAA BUSINESS: VITALLY IMPORTANT, POSTPONE MISSION. MEET AT COORDINATES G689477-890200 GALAXY 79365, SEROAH, WITHIN 150 HOURS OR YOU WILL FACE DISCIPLINARY ACTION.
Hud sank back into his seat.
He had no clue what this was about, but possibilities and worries raced though his mind.
It was Rhaa business. He had no choice; he had to go. He had to go now.
Hud leaned forward again to the screen, clearing it of the unsettling message. He would need to return the Human. It would be too dangerous taking her to the Rhaa.
He quickly wrote up a message to the CSC ship and sent it.
What could the meeting mean? It was impossible for him to feel settled about it. Though he worked for the Rhaa, they scared him. As ironic as it sounded, the less interaction he had with the species, the better.
It wasn't long before he received a reply message.
Meet at these coordinates. Tyler Jacobs had better be unharmed.
The large Pardos punched the coordinates into his control board and stood up out of his seat to stretch. Now he would have to confront her.
Hud walked slowly over to where her room was at, making sure he made plenty of noise so that she could hear him coming. Once he reached the door he knocked.
After a quick moment the door opened, Natilliea standing on the other side.
"Yes? What is it?" Said the Human.
"Umm... I..." Hud stammered.
He pushed the thoughts of Natilliea out of his head. It was not her.
Then he swallowed hard. "I have to take you back to your ship."
The woman's face scrunched up slightly in confusion. "It's not time yet, why would you take me back early?"
"I have some... business. I need to take care of... I can't stay here any longer."
The Human frowned, still visibly confused.
"I contacted your Captain. We will exchange you back shortly."
"Are you taking the Circuit?" She asked quickly.
"Yes." Hud said softly.
The girl looked concerned but said nothing. Hud studied her. This would likely be the last time he would ever see her again. Should he ask her about Natilliea?
"...Is that all, Hudaryous?"
There was a moment of time that passed without any interruption. Hud studied the Human carefully.
It had been only a year since they had taken Natilliea away from him. He easily recalled the beautiful curvature of her face, her body, the way she talked, giggled, argued, made love...
The woman he studied now was not Natilliea. Most Humans look alike. This Human just looked more like his Human than Hud was accustomed to.
He nodded his head and walked away from her as she closed the door perplexed.
*************************************
The CSC ship arrived at Hud's freighter soon afterward.
Once the bay connected the two ships together, the Human ran to the group of four aliens that were waiting anxiously on the other side, hugging the large Quibeek first and then the others.
The Ferionus captain looked her up and down. "Are you okay, Jacobs? Did he do anything to you or hurt you?"
The female Human shook her head. "No, Bryalnus. Everything is fine."
The captain visibly relaxed.
Then he turned to Hud as the Pardos approached them. "Why did you ask to meet back early?"
Hud frowned. Everyone was so nosey. Although he supposed it was a fair question. "I need to leave this orbit. I have something I need to do. Can't keep her any longer."
The crystal frowned as he studied him. "Fine. We have gleaned what we needed to from the Circuit. He is yours."
The crystal turned back towards the large purple Kelpar and nodded at him. "Bring the Short Circuit, Malba."
The Kelpar nodded and turned away from the group.
"Bryalnus, I'm going to go clean up; it's been a long couple of days." Said the female Human.
"That's fine, Jacobs." Said the captain staunchly. The girl turned with the Kelpar and walked away.
Hud watched her as she left. His mind was still tricking him, telling him that he was losing Natilliea again.
It's not Natilliea stupid; it's not her. He said to himself bitterly as she disappeared from sight.
The rest of the group awkwardly stood in silence as they waited for the Kelpar to return with the Circuit.
Pushing thoughts of the girl out of his head, Hud couldn't help but smile at the situation. The group obviously didn't trust him still, but he didn't blame them for that. Not trusting him was the wise thing to do.
The large Kelpar soon returned with the Circuit. He had it heavily heaved upon his shoulder. Carefully, he brought it to the gate of the bay and slowly lowered the thing onto the ground in front of Hud. It was still encased in the Rhaa tech suit.
Hud Smiled. "Nice doing business."
The crystal frowned. "We have reason to believe that this being is linked to a serious genocide. Killing him will hinder not only the progress of our organization, the CSC, but also the PPF."
"Well." Smiled Hud. "I'm just the executioner. I hope you got what you needed from him."
The captain glared at him for a moment and then sighed. "Good day, Pardos."
Hud picked up the bulky encased Circuit and rested him on his shoulder. "Goodbye, Captain."
Hud turned and walked through the bay back into his own ship.
The bay doors closed and the connection was split. Soon the CSC ship was drifting away from Hud and his ship, and eventually they were out of sight of each other.
The team was happy to be with the Human girl again, and Hud was happy to be without her.