Space Bunnies!

Chapter 5: Cuddles' Invasion

Bodi swiped through his PDA and focused on the Omeocoon section of the news articles. First, someone named 'Tommy' made it into the Dynamic Patrol, the first of their people to do it! How cool! He would be sworn in and made an official officer in about three days, give or take, and only six months after Omeocoon had already taken its place in the all-mighty Patrol as a member itself. After years of peace talks, it was finally all coming together—finally, and that meant that Tommy was an icon; he was famous now!

Although...Bodi had gone most of his life without a definitive understanding of what exactly the Patrol did(outside of hero stuff.) He was sort of familiar with them. Yes. Who wasn't? But he hardly knew them, because he and Kai typically skimmed closer to ranges outside their radius, so they never really interacted with Patrol authority. Bodi read that the Patrol had several major subdivisions that recruits could choose from if they were accepted into the academy: expeditionary, defense, and an even cooler division called 'First Line Of Defense,' which was basically the keyword for a superhero, Tommy's division. Bodi spun around in his chair excitedly as his imagination worked. He could imagine himself as a hero, but he could also imagine being on a starship and exploring space with a crew. He continued reading. 

Bodi often had an overactive imagination, but he knew he wasn't imagining it when he heard something drop on the floor and echo throughout the ship's central corridor. His ear involuntarily twitched about half a second after that initial 'pen drop.' "Hello?" Bodi looked up from his screen; as his eyes adjusted to the change in brightness, he realized just how dark it was in here—he'd been sitting in the cockpit for so long that his inactivity caused the ship to go into dormant mode, with only her primary displays and switch panels glowing and some of the fans whirring. It created quite an unsettling scene. Bodi gulped as he stood up to investigate. "Kai..?" He called out.

 No answer. 

Bodi tip-toed toward the door and peeked out into the corridor head first; he scanned it and saw nothing. The lighting was reduced to minimal levels here, too. He could only see about six feet ahead of him before the rest of the hallway was remanded to pitch-black darkness, like something out of a movie. Kai was the culprit of this phenomenon; the intention was to save what little power they had when underway. Bodi understood the goal when they were in open space. But it didn't make much sense when connected to a docking station with unlimited power for the ships it was servicing. Bodi continued into the hallway. "Kai? You better not be messing with me!" He called down the empty passageway. He continued walking and heard another bang as he passed by an open door on the ship's starboard side. Bodi squeaked and then ducked into cover next to the open door. His eyes were wide as he started to shake with fear, but then he pulled himself together and—slowly peered around the corner; the shadow of his intruder could be seen, one of the only places on the ship with viewports, and the light from the planet's surface barely lit the room and part of the corridor with an amber glow. Eerie. Bodi heard the shuffling of someone going through the cupboards. He watched in horror as they searched through things that were certainly not theirs. Thief! Bodi sprang into action immediately. "Hey! Get out of there!" He shouted, shaking a clenched fist fiercely at the intruder. 

They were still hunched over and deeply rummaging through the compartment when they were startled by Bodi's sudden appearance and shouting; they bumped their head on the cupboard pretty hard. The intruder grunted in agony.

 Bodi winced with regret as he heard the person's skull clash with the hard surface of the metal countertop he was ransacking. "Whoops, sorry..." Bodi called out, unexpectedly sympathetic. Bodi now took this opportunity to raise the lights to maximum intensity. And he was astounded by what he saw. Panthorians were remarkably similar to Vikings: barbaric, fiercely independent, and unafraid of danger. An Omeocoon like Bodi was considered a plaything for them. But above all else, they were—for some reason—allies of the Omeocoon. After the Lizard occupation ended, they were the first people there to offer their hand in support, wanting little to nothing in exchange—but sanctuary for the last ship full of Panthorian refugees. They were friends. What he didn't understand was why one was on his ship.