The smallest member of our medical team stands up and walks slowly towards me. “Yes, commander?” she says softly.
“Stand here a moment,” I say. I point at her, then to the corner where my contact lies on the floor. The three creatures watch me carefully as I repeat the motion. The tallest one drops its chin in a sharp nod. “Very slowly and carefully, I am going to walk you over to that guy passed out in the corner. I need you to check him over as quickly and nonthreateningly as possible.”
“How do I check someone nonthreateningly?” Wenschel asks softly.
“Just try not to do anything that would make it seem like you’re hurting him.” Wenschel stares at me for a moment and then nods. Holding her arm, we slowly move towards the prone man. Three sets of strange eyes follow us, but they do not move.
Wenschel crouches next to the prone man and begins her examination. The strange creatures growl softly but stay where they are. “Ask him if he can communicate with them,” I say softly. She does and I hear his weak affirmative.
“Can you tell them that we aren’t going to hurt them?” I ask the prone man. He nods but doesn’t lift his head.
“Commander, I should get this guy to med bay,” Wenschel says. “He’s got a large number of injuries of varying ages and is showing signs of both extended malnourishment and acute shock.”
“Not quite yet,” I say, crouching down to the prone man. “What’s your name?”
“Alek,” he mutters.
“Alek, do these creatures have a translation chip?”
“Just the tall one,” he replies. I glance at the trio of creatures. They are all tall in my opinion, but one of them is noticeably taller than the others.
“Okay. Can you tell it that we’re going to get you some medical attention? And that we want to do the same for them? And do you know why the translation chip isn’t working for us to communicate?”
“Commander,” Wenschel protests.
“Wenschel, the three of them just reduced a fully grown man to fist-sized bits. This is important.”
Alek looks like he is going to vomit again, but he takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. He calls out my message and the creature nods. “As for the chip,” he says. “It’s an older model. Might need exposure to a new language for a while to start processing it.”
“Thank you,” I tell him honestly. “Do you need a hand with him?” I ask Wenschel.
“I’ve got him,” she replies. She is a lot stronger than most people give her credit for, and I watch with quiet respect as she gets Alek to his feet and helps him shuffle towards the door. I watch the trio carefully, and though they track his progress intently they do not otherwise move.
“What’s next, Commander?” Curran asks when I return to his side.
“I’m trying to decide between a med scan and cleaning up some of the mess,” I reply. I grimace as an unidentifiable piece of the late Captain Lianov slides off the table and lands wetly on the floor. “And I’m leaning towards cleaning up at the moment.”
“And just how do you think you’re going to convince our new friends to take a nice bubble bath?” Curran asks.
“I’ll let you know as soon as I figure it out.”
Chapter Six: Zann
I watch as the strange creatures communicate with one another. The leader is doing a lot of talking and gesturing.
“Can it talk like me?” Davix signs curiously.
“I don’t think so,” I reply. The leader creature does use its hands a lot, but its movements lack the crisp, distinct motions of Davix’s hand language. Davix nods.
Several of the creatures leave the room and return with a large contraption similar to one I have seen and used to clean out cages. It sprays a vile chemical that burns the skin and the nose. I bare my teeth at the creature carrying it, who scurries quickly backwards. The leader creature takes it from the other creature and sets it on the floor beside it. The leader creature wipes its hand through the gore and then pulls back a lever on the contraption. A stream of liquid sprays out of the top, but it does not smell like the one we have used before. As if to prove that point, the leader creature puts its hand in it and the blood streams away. It gestures to me and then moves the contraption to the corner where Alek had been. Then it returns to its table once more.
“It wants us to wash, I think,” I tell the others.
“Why?” Krish asks curiously.
I glance down and nudge a piece of flesh with my foot. Like my brood brothers, I am splattered with blood and gore. Though the leader creature does not appear troubled by this, many of the others reacted quite strongly to it. “Perhaps it is part of the medical care it said it would offer.” Regardless of the reason, I find the idea of cleaning Lianov’s blood from my claws pleasing. With a normal kill, I would lick them clean but the thought of consuming any part of that vile creature sickens me. Instead, I move to the corner and operate the contraption like the leader creature did. The liquid that erupts from it is not simply water based on its smell, but it is also not the cleaning chemical we have used. I slide a hand cautiously through the liquid, and I am surprised to find it pleasantly warm. “It feels good,” I call to Davix and Krish in surprise, as I pass my hands and arms through the liquid and splash it over me quickly.
The leader creature lets out a noise. I whip my head around to stare at it with narrowed eyes.
