Livings ships were never dead in space, but there it was floating just beyond the border of their territory. Just beyond it was their enemy, the Koa’nesk. The bioship must have ventured too far away from the Nation of Spheres and got caught by the psychic net stretched out along the web. Dendus couldn’t believe that the pilot could have made that mistake, he seemed like such an experienced creature. Once he gave the order, Dendus’s own ship tethered the bioship and his crew started to secure it.

Dendus was just getting done with making his report to his creators’ comm buoys, hoping it will get there before he arrived, and then he decided to pay the newcomers a visit. With the problem of quantum entanglement still an issue, the technology that the Nation’s founders created seemed like both a godsend and a hinderance. The comm-buoys could only take so much info so fast, but at least it was faster than they could travel. At least, that’s what Dendus hoped.

Upon inspection of the ship, whose name was discovered to be Seylor, they found very little food or power. The crew looked through each compartment, noting the traces of gas in the creature’s sacs—those used for propulsion. It wasn’t like a bioship to be so low on gas, not unless they had been stranded for an extended period of time. “Captian, look at this!” A crewwoman Ogela, indicated by her clear epidermis and cranial silica, motioned Dendus over to where she was working. She pointed down to a stretch of fibers lining the inside of the hull—the ship’s circulatory system. “These fibers contain [name] like blood for organic species, when we tested it and found out it had marked concentrations of [space chemical].”

“[Thing] is mostly used by the Koa’nesk in torture, is it not?” Dendus asked, standing erect with his hands folded behind his back.

“Yes, and the ship is regulating an internal temperature too low for normal function,” she added, looking at her notes, “And a lower count of antibodies and working nanobots.”

“The skin  on the hull is also very dehydrated and dry, not counting the injuries possibly gained by fighting,” Dendus looked around, where scattered teams of his crewmates were still examining the entirety of the bioship, “Could this be signs of malnutrition?”

“You nearly read my mind!” the crewwoman winked at him, which gained a frown, “S-sorry. I know, I know, mentions of telepathy frighten citizens, but there are no citizens on board!”

“There are now…” Dendus, still frowning and adjusting his uniform, mentioned, “there was an Auan on the ship with the pilot.”

The crewwoman froze, lifting herself from her workstation.“An Auan? As a passenger?”

“Yes. She is in intensive care at the moment,” Dendus turned away, watching the crews, “I would like you to stop by and check on her when you are finished with the ship. The pilot as well.”

“Me?!” A sudden ping of a utensil made it clear that the woman had been taken by surprise.

“You are the one most qualified in bioships and the Pilobi?”

“Yes, but the Auan?”

Dendus half-turned, issuing her a slight smile. “I have confidence that you will have the skills to aid her in recovery before we reach the Hub World.”

“I—yessir!” The ogela woman stayed behind as Dendus left her in the chamber and headed back to his own ship’s center.

The Auan girl had been found in one of the ship’s safety areas, those fitted with special seats for passenger protection in turbulence. She had multiple injuries, including a head wound that appeared to have put her in a coma. The doctors rushed her to the patrol ship, trying to stabilize her, but she had not waken up. As much as Dendus cared about the citizen, he was more concerned with the Pilobi pilot that was bonded to the bioship. The captain immediately ordered the pilot to be taken to a secure area in the patrol ship, in order to be looked at by specialists and to ascertain if he was compromised by the Koa’nesk.  

Even before Dendus opened the door to the cell, he could hear the storm within. “You touch me again with those and I swear I’ll tear your tongue out!” the pilot cried, “You have no right to keep me here! I must get back to my ship!”

“You’re ship is unconscious,” Dendus mentioned, standing at attention in front of the doctors and pilot. The pilot barely stopped trashing, and continued to have his back to the captain. The doctors rushed around him, trying to take blood and tests. When one would find a soft spot in a joint under chitin, he would jerk and send them flying. The plates of his carapace were sectioned down his entire back and ended in a wide flat fin-tail, which he used to swat nurses away form him. His four pairs of legs and two pairs of arms were tucked so far under him that he was only a shoe length from the ground. With his weight and size, however, none of the doctors had any luck in trying to flip him or restrain him.

“Then get me back to him! He needs my help to reawaken!” The pilot shouted this time, still refusing to look the captain in the eye.

“How will you help him, when your connection to him is broken?” Dendus smirked.

The pilot stopped starkly, surprising a few doctors that were hanging off of his arms as he reared. His flat head whipped around and his longest feelers pointed straight at Dendus. “How did you know that?” he growled, flashing his silver compound eyes.

He took a moment, turning on his heels and pacing a line in front of the pilot. “I know that your species uses special feelers on the back of the head that physically connect to the ship.”

“Of course, everyone knows that,” the pilot lifted one feeler in annoyance, still glaring.

“But not everyone knows what they look like scarred,” Dendus mentioned, “your carapace itself is blackened, possibly from an electrical explosion, but the feelers itself are extruding a few more [measurement] than they normally do. When that happens it means they are thickened with scar tissue, making it hard to draw them in.”

The pilot stared for a few moments, then lowered his head, and loosened his muscles, “I should have realized that you’d know that. Nihiak servants are very good with information and detail, but I didn’t think they worked in the military. Mechanoid lifeforms are very good in a battle are they not? Can’t feel a thing, yes?”

Stopping, Dendus pivoted to look at the pilot. For a moment his thoughts went back to his creation, when others of his make and model all were slated for cargo ships, dock working, or labor commissions, but being special, he was hand-picked to serve a life in the military. It was never his choice, but he had his duty. “I do my duty,” he said aloud, as if to convince himself as well as to provide a rebuttle.

“And you stick to that duty even if it means killing others?” the pilot wasn’t buying any of it. “You just do what you’re told, don’t you?”

“Oh? And what about you?” Dendus growled, facing the pilot full front, “I looked you up once I had the name of your ship! You were once a special operative for the Nation, but you took your ship and dumped your crew on a third-world planet where they died! Well, at least I look someone in the eye if I’m going to kill them, instead of letting them die a slow death!"

Sighing, Dendus stopped and took control of his emotions. His internal power source was hot, working overtime, and he could feel the release of additive to his system that prepared him for battle. He must contain himself! This wasn’t the time to get out of control. “No, I certainly feel, just not enough to think of only myself,” Dendus replied more calmly, settling back with his hands folded behind him again. “And I will bring you back to the Nation of Spheres, Aratohu Whetu.”

Whetu was pointed to a medical bay and let loose. No guards followed him in this time, and no drugs were used. He was just left alone to wander the halls while they locked any rooms with sensitive contents. Not that he cared. Seylor was off-limits so the only destination was to his passenger, Eteri.
Slithering into the med-bay caused many stares. Ogela doctors and nurses were cataloging patients or tools, and in the back others were tending one patient in particular. The figure was dark black with fur, like any mammalian species. A woman with a military uniform was standing over her, talking to her. Specific details were fuzzy, so Whetu approached. With a start the woman rose, making it easy for Whetu to see that her outer skin was pale spotted with bright blue bioluminescence. They twinkled, creating a blinking pattern that did not distract Whetu too badly, due to his poor eye sight.
The woman stumbled away from the med berth and stood bone stiff by the foot. Whetu quirked an eye ridge, moving slowly in case the woman balked at one step of his.
She jumped up and stood erect, placing two hands to her forehead. “Sir, your passenger is not responsive!” She was completely still after that.
Whetu turned away from her leaning down to Eteri. The Ogelan woman continued to stare in a military stance, away from Whetu. With is antennae he could tell she was so tense that she was shaking. “You don’t have to salute me, you know,” he told her, continuing to examine his passenger.
The girl in the bed was as still as death. Her lips, which lacked fur, were dry and gray instead of black. The short hair on her face seemed dirty still, holding debris from the attack they endured. Her hair was tousled which Whetu guessed the doctors didn’t bother to take care of. At least hey hadn’t shaved it—Whetu knew Eteri would be furious if they had for any reason.
When the soldier relaxed, she watched Whetu with great curiosity. She didn’t say a word, but Whetu could tell from her fidgeting that she was thinking of something, even without looking. However he continued to watch Eteri, and pulled up a bench so he could stay with her.
Eteri’s eyes started to move, flicking back and forth as if in a dream. Her head turned, then her brow furrowed. Whetu leaned forward, placing a fore claw on her hand. There was no response, and Eteri remained still.
“I don’t think she’s going to get up any time soon…” [name] said. “I’d come back later.”
“No, I’m going to stay here,” Whetu put in a demand.
[Name] jumped, tugging on one of his arms. “N-no! You can’t! Needs of a pilot are very delicate an—“
“I’m staying!” Whetu floored her with a shout. She stared up at him, and even with his poor eyesight, he could make a convincing glare. He noticed her twitch, then slowly lift herself to her feet. When she finished dusting herself off, she nodded and left in such a huff, Whetu figured she’d return with her captain.

Having finished the preliminary examination of Seylor’s systems, the Nation patrol ship began her journey to the Hub World. Whetu looked out one of the vid screens in the med bay that was tuned to a camera poised at Seylor behind them. The ship’s long arms laid limply to his sides, dragging along as the rest of his body drifted with the tether. He was a dark ship, and even darker with the solar sails offline.
Whetu sighed, looking down at the med berth where Eteri still remained motionless. She had barely moved apart from nervous twitches since the last time the ogela soldier was there. Various wires and machinery hooked the girl to scanners. Every now and then Whetu would stare at them, gleaning through the Ogela text to see if anything changed. Even untranslated, he could tell they still said the same thing—no change.   

They became a normal sight in the medbay. Whetu was constantly on guard when someone would come in, and even more so when they would come to check on Eteri. His form may not have been all that impressive but he made a good show of it. Once the doctors went on their way he would return back to his place. Then he would doze off, curled around her feet or belly.

Coughing suddenly woke Whetu from his dreaming. A jolt under him made him bounce, and he swiftly lifted his head. “Eteri!” he called. The girl squinted, tilting her head. With another cough, she croaked something. “What?”
“You’re on my stomach…” she squeaked in his language.