Halfbreed Ch. 05

Slap. Slap. Slap. Slap. arose the wet sound in the distance as Mike and Aly came to a bend in the road. The rough, tumultuous cries of mating arose, and both Mike and Aly glanced at one another. Mike looked ahead on the road, and was taken aback by what he saw.

Two Orc guards, completely naked, were going at one another with the intensity of two Catians in heat up against a nearby longhouse. They had all the subtlety of a foghorn, blaring out their joy even as passers-by glanced in their direction when the female let out a particularly ecstatic roar.

Mike glanced over at Aly. Her cheeks were red, and she pointedly turned her head in a different direction when he looked at her. Realizing that they had nowhere else to go, Mike gently took her hand in his and tugged her onwards past the two lovers. Thankfully, the Orcs had their backs turned to them, so it was an easy thing to creep past.

They were nearly to the other side of them when Mike deigned to look behind him. As if feeling prying eyes were upon him, the male Orc glanced over. Mike froze, their eyes locking just as the Orc took a particularly deep thrust against his companion. He seemed to regard Mike and Aly for a moment. The Orc grinned at them and then returned to the task at hand.

Mike, thoroughly perturbed, hurried onwards till they were out of sight, moving once more along the edge of the thoroughfare as he tried to steady his heartbeat. "Why did he ignore us?" Mike blurted out. Allynna said nothing.

The Starport was now within sight, less than a block away, sitting perched upon the waterline. It towered over the rest of the base and treeline like a looming fungal growth. A long stairwell could be seen leading up to the underside of the structure and into the maintenance area beneath the launch pad. He pointed at it. "Lets go. Now." They took off at a run, skirting the edge of the thoroughfare as they made their way onwards.

A hundred feet from the stairwell, the duo came upon a pair of Orcish soldiers with their backs turned to them. There were rifles in their hands, and they moved in a slow, circuitous patrol down the same road that the escapees were headed. Mike and Aly crept along behind them, keeping their heads down and a safe distance between them.

One Orc turned, glancing over his shoulder in the exact direction that the two were crouched down. He seemed to almost peer beyond the low wall that they'd hunkered down behind, his eyes catching directly with Mike's.

Mike froze. They had nowhere to go. Left with no option, Mike made a hand gesture, prepared to fight to the last if the Orcs came at them. Far from sounding the alarm, the guard smiled in what looked like bemusement, turning back to his patrol as if the aliens in their midst were as common as the sunrise.

Mike let out a low sigh, his brain working through the details in his head even as he picked himself up off the ground. Allynna gave him a flabbergasted look. Mike shrugged.

"I think they know we're here, Aly." He said, noticing for the first time green heads poking out of windows. He glanced behind him, spotting several civilian Orcs carrying on with their day. Aly, ever the stubborn Elf, stayed low, even as Mike began a slow, pedantic walk up the thoroughfare.

As time passed he could feel eyes on the back of his head. There were Orcs in the alleyways, leaning against the entrances and watching them as they passed. A few called out in their guttural language, but Mike's translator seemed to have trouble picking up their words from a distance. Their tone of voices, however, were unmistakable: they were cracking jokes.

Mike stuck his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket, affecting a careless posture even as the Elf next to him continued to play at the charade.

A gaggle of children ran up to them, reaching out to poke Mike's leg before running away giggling in all directions. A few tried the same game with Aly, but the Elf jerked back as if they were contagious. At last, she could no longer keep up the facade, letting out a sigh of disgust as she stood to her feet and walked at Mike's side.

"They knew all along." She said.

"Yep." Mike replied, "No idea how, but they seem to know where we are at any given moment. Might explain why I got my ass kicked by that Orc Scout who shouldn't have noticed me."

"Do you think it has something to do with their empathic abilities?" Allynna asked, sidling just a little closer to Mike when an Orc poked his head out from an overhanging window and let out a whoop.

Mike shrugged. "Don't know. Don't particularly care. At this point I just want to get the hell out of here."

"I believe they desire the same for us." Allynna responded. "They're funneling us right to the Starport."

Together, Mike and Aly ascended the steps leading up to the launch pad. Glancing backward, Mike could see several Guards climbing the stairs behind them, their long rifles slung over their shoulders and wry smiles upon their faces.

"It'd be more tolerable if they weren't so damned smug about it." Mike grumbled, "What the hell are they up to?" The smuggler formed gestures with his hand, the liquid metal rolling off his skin as it changed shape.

"I do not like this, Captain." Allynna said next to him. Her body language was firm, controlled and tense. She was moments away from a bad decision.

Mike nudged her with his elbow. "Easy, Aly. If they wanted to do something to us, they'd have done it already."

Her face was an empty mask. "You don't know that, Michael. None of this makes any sense."

He let out a bemused laugh. "I love that you're only noticing this now." The Elf did not dignify him with a response.

They climbed the last few steps to reach the top of the launch pad. Mike lifted his hand to cover his eyes as the sudden gust of wind from the back of a starship's engines blinded him.

They were facing the rear of a Plutus class light freighter, an ovular-bodied beast of Human design with two long hyperdrive engines sticking out on either side of the ship like a pair of missiles. The loading ramp at the back of the gold and white ship was extended, leading up into the cavernous body like an alluring invitation to freedom. The engines were running; the ship was prepped for takeoff.

Standing at the bottom of the ramp, her arms crossed beneath her chest stood Lashvara, the Orcish interrogator from the night before. There was a sly smirk on her face, and when she caught eyes with Mike she began to tap her toe against the ground.

The Orc was clothed in an unusual getup: a full-length custom blue bodysuit done in the style of the Elves, with a dark green flight jacket over her shoulders. Around her neck on a leather thong was hung that same blue mushroom from the day before. As they approached, she brought it up to her face, as if she was praying to it.

"I see you took your time getting here." She remarked. "Tennick swore you'd be out of that room before sunrise."

"We were busy." Mike said.

"You were fucking." The amazon corrected him, baring her teeth into a smile. "When I mentioned your lust for your first mate, I didn't mean you should immediately act upon it."

"What can I say? I'm a man of action, Lass." Mike replied, flashing a winning grin at her. He did his absolute best to avoid looking at the Elf standing stiffer than a statue next to him.

The Orc narrowed her eyes. "It's Lashvara." She replied, "And given the circumstances, we don't have the time to waste bantering about your genitals."

"I'll have you know mine gets the job done." Mike said, grinning.

Lashvara guffawed, "That I do not doubt. But your tales of sexual conquest can wait. You are both coming with me."

"I would sooner spacewalk without a suit." Aly piped up, her voice colorless and calm.

Lashvara quirked an eyebrow, "Are you still mad at me, Elf?"

"You say that as if you are even worthy of my ire, Native." Allynna replied in a cold tone.

"A pair of smart mouths! A couple, even." The Orc's grin widened when both Human and Elf squirmed in place. She reveled for a moment in their awkward silence.

"So... this is our apology ship?" Mike said. "I'll admit: it's a step down from the Halfbreed, but I suppose beggars can't be choosers."

"Hardly." The Orc said. "This is my Starship. You two are coming with me to Ukavar."

"I thought you said it was called Charity." Mike replied, grinning.

Lashvara tilted her head skyward and let loose a belly laugh. "You're a fool, but an entertaining one, at least! Let's hope that your first mate has a firmer grasp on reality than you do."

"She doesn't, but don't let that stop you from bringing her along." Mike said.

"What are the terms of our freedom?" Allynna asked.

Lashvara snorted. "Who said anything about freedom? You have not yet paid your debt to the Toaven. I said you are coming with me to Ukavar. We are going to have a chat with your employer, the Dwarf."

"And... what do we get out of this?" Mike asked, casting a subtle gaze over in Aly's direction. She gave the faintest nod of affirmation. She moved to flick her ringknife into her hand. Mike folded his arms behind his back as if he were stretching, readying to make a small gesture.

Lashvara's smile was a wicked curve. "There are two weapons platforms on either side of the Starport that will shoot this ship down the second you try to steal it from me. Murdering me will not rescue you from your predicament."

Mike clucked his tongue and returned his hands to his sides. "So, we mutiny once we've breached the atmosphere. Got it."

Lashvara descended the ramp and approached Mike and Aly with a slow gait, unconcerned by the threat of their proximity. "You are not our enemies, I am convinced of that now. But you are our only lead, and we cannot allow you to leave until you have helped us learn the truth about our missing Shield Generator."

"Then ask Fignet Opalbraid." Mike said, eying the Orc as she walked up and put a reassuring hand upon his shoulder. "I have no idea know what's going on here, any more than you seem to."

"You have leads. Contacts. Resources available to you that my fellow Orcs do not." Mike felt a strange pressure against his left hand. Click went a small, metallic band around his wrist. He jerked his hand back. He hadn't even seen the Orc attach it to him. "And we need all the help we can get."

"What the fuck is this?" Mike said, reaching down to rip the thing off his wrist. It wouldn't budge, no matter how hard he pulled.

Lashvara grinned. "A leash."

When she turned to put a similar band around Allynna's wrist, the Elf leapt back. Her ringknife flipped into her hand as she adopted an immediate combat stance. Her eyes were aflame as she glared at the Orc.

"You will not touch me with that." Allynna said in a low tone. "But you will take it off of him."

Lashvara shrugged. "You are in no position to negotiate, Elf. If you'd prefer, I can make a call to the Gwaith Tracking Authority and tell them of your extracurricular activities."

Mike had never seen Aly's face go so white before. Her cheeks paled, her body language drooping as she stood, helpless on the tarmac.

"A licensed Mool'Gwaith, caught stealing a Native people's Shield Generator? Not to mention your efforts to illegally smuggle the item off planet? No doubt to sell to Pirates or the like." Lashvara's knowing smile further deflated Allynna. "I wonder: what your chances of citizenship would be, should they catch wind of such a scandal? To say nothing of the shame brought upon your family and House?"

Allynna tucked her ringknife into her arm. Her face was expressionless, empty and cold. She extended her arm outward, holding it in place as Lashvara calmly clicked the leash into place.

"Better." Lashvara grunted. "You're starting to understand the situation. This leash will prevent both of you from straying too far from my side. Should you go beyond fifty feet in any direction away from me, you'll wish you'd stayed nestled up against my teats."

"I'm kind of wishing that right now." Mike said, flashing her a grin. The smile subsided when Allynna's eyes drifted over to him. Lashvara laughed.

"You make wind with the man, and now the next morning you think to own him?" The Orc said, staring straight at Allynna. "I never thought I'd live to feel an Elf's jealousy."

"That's not jealousy you're feeling, Lass." Mike interjected, "It's the tender satisfaction that comes after a passionate evening spent in my arms."

"-Your stumbling arrogance won't save you from your own embarrassment, smuggler." Lass retorted hotly. "Get in the ship. I will do my best to explain to you the situation on the flight over."

"Dont skip the gory details." Mike chimed in as she took him by the back of the neck and shoved him up the loading ramp. He turned back for a moment to see Allynna walking softly along behind them. "Heruen knows I could use a good fairy tale right about now."