Super SciFi Smackdown

5.3 Reunion

Xacks made a beeline for the coordinates Nutmeg gave him, figuring there was no point in trying to lose their pursuers. The illusion of, the ghost of a chance they stood, was all but evaporated into the atmosphere now and for the first time in a long time Xacks felt the natural rush of fear. It was a primal instinct he had left behind a long time ago and to have it back now was as good as getting high. Still the thought of some slime doing him over in less than a nano second, pissed him off righteously.

He had heard of the ability to time cloak before, but like most things it was theoretical. The thought that someone had actually perfected a working version was unbelievable. The power to drive such a device was unfathomable and with the absence of a small galaxy to rob of power, his guess would be drawing it from another dimension. That was long since proven to be possible, his own jump drive stealing a small power boost from a parallel system with every use. Whoever was tracking them was far in advance of anything they could ever hope to buy on the market. The only consolation was that whoever it was, hadn't killed them yet, it was a disturbing and exciting thought.

"There is something I have to tell you." Dana entered the cockpit behind them making Xacks turn and Nutmeg bristle again.

"How is ClickClack?" Xacks cut her short.

"She's doing well. Under all that shell it seems she's rather skinny." Dana updated him.

"I did pick a looker." He clicked in jest at her expense.

"She's been telling me to pass on the message that the ....thing gave me." Dana fumbled still shaken.

"What message? And what thing?" Nutmeg straitened up at the mention of a message.

"I mean the creature who grabbed me said to tell the rat that Coelurosauria is coming."

The effect was instant, Nutmeg froze in terror. Her unblinking gaze stared at Dana as a violent look passed across her face. Xacks could hear her heart beating from his seat as it pounded her mammalian blood. With a free hand he grabbed her shoulder causing her to retract and hiss defensively.

"What is it?" Xack asked forcefully. "Don't fucking flip on us now, what the fuck are we dealing with?"

"It's for me." Nutmeg slumped into the chair, letting out a held breath.

"The message?" He asked as he released her.

"The thing." Dana cut in on her behalf. "It was for you wasn't it? And this thing is after you?"

"Rat is a poor translation." She stated at Dana, making Xacks a little nervous, even he could see that rat was a racial slur. "The Coelurosauria is a mortal enemy of my kind. We co evolved with them but it wasn't like we ever made peace or got along. I mean we were their main food source."

"So whats so scary about them?" Xacks asked with an honest curiosity.

"That's just it, they're not that scary." Nutmeg said it but it was obvious she didn't feel it. "It's us. Our people, we have a genetic fear of them. Somewhere in evolution we developed a phobia of them that never went away."

"How do they know your mortal fear?" Dana asked.

"I don't know but the thought of one of those things wrapping its feathery arms around me, uggh it makes me want to bury myself."

"What are they? Some kind of bird?" It was Dana's turn to be curious but her word for bird was lost in translation and Xacks spent several minutes describing the earth creature on her behalf.

"They don't sound like the same thing." Nutmeg concluded. "Coelurosauria are long with four legs and a pointed snout. They climb so they can glide from tree to tree and sometimes they drop on you."

"They sound a bit strange to me." Xacks spoke with a smile. "Are they made of meat?"

"It's not funny!" Dana scalded, obviously concerned for the mammal.

"It's ok." Nutmeg flashed him a dirty look. "Yes they are made of flesh. They aren't ghosts if that's what you're hinting at. It's an irrational fear and the worst part is when I was a pup, my friend told me they sneak in and snatch you while you sleep. Then they tickle you with their feathers until you tense up and then they tear your skin off."

"Sounds delicious." Xacks laughed a little too hard and the mammalian lashed out at him. "Don't worry, if anyone's going to skin you it will be me remember."

"Don't mind him." Dana comforted with a smile. "He is a big softy, trust me I've felt it."

"I hate to interrupt the smut talk but we are coming up on some heavy artillery." Xacks changed his tone, it was hardly the time to be flirting anyway.

"It's okay." Nutmeg reassured him as they approaches the large gun turrets.

"They won't see us as a threat, I've hacked them"

"I hope your right." Dana spoke what he was already thinking.

"Zero is here. It was the safest place I could send him." She answered with sentiment. "We should be able to track him now."

It took them several minutes of circling before they narrowed it down and got visual conformation. He stood alone by the large pond just shy of a junkyard that spanned for kilometers. Xacks put her down gently as close as he dare, still wary of the danger of an instantaneous hijacking. With the ship on standby mode and his new remote handy, Xacks made his way to watch the reunion.

He never liked the artificial intelligence but he was still curious to see what kind of upgrades the synthetic had gotten into, instead he was met with a strange sight. Nutmeg greeted the droid with an almost fondness for him and he responded like a child. His body was devoid of expression, but the gentle way in which he reached to her and let her lead him inside, hit a chord with the Thoracian. Zero seemed not to be himself, if he had a self at all, rather he seemed frail, like an aged earthling. Dana must have felt it too as she moved to his own side and touched him tenderly, in a human kind of way, something about this event evoked a lot of emotion that Xacks didn't understand. Once inside, with the door sealed shut, Nutmeg led the retarded bot to a connection and plugged him in to an industrial plug. Less than one second later, everything changed.