Lost

The Sobrekt

Spittle Runner. Deep Space.

If there was something Lena would trust with her life, it was her instinct.

It was thanks to it that she had come so far. Some had wondered if she was insane for following mere instinctive thoughts instead of the PAK's logical reasoning, only to watch in astonishment as her 'hunch' turned out to be true.

It was thanks to the feeling in her squeedly-spooch that she made her way to the hangar in time to see Ilk sneaking into one of the Spittle Runners. She barely managed to sneak inside as she took off; wow, for a smeet Ilk surely had a good hang of spacecraft driving.

Lena's panic started when Ilk drove away from the safety of the Armada and into space. What was she thinking? If they were spotted by an enemy vessel they wouldn't hesitate to either bring them down or capture them.

Which is why she decided to step forward with crossed arms and a serious expression. "Ilk, what do you think you're doing?"

Ilk jumped in surprise, momentarily making the ship tremble in the process, and turned to her. "L-Lena? What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same thing, Ilk," Lena responded in a serious tone.

"Well, I was just... I'm only..."

"You stole a Spittle Runner and now endanger yourself by flying away from the Armada."

Seeing she had been caught, Ilk sighed. "I just... I just needed to get away from it all, okay?" she leaned against the pilot's seat. "From dad and his secrets, from Larb trying to stick to me all the time, from having to train to be an Invader when I don't want to be one...!"

Lena's frown softened, but it didn't disappear. "Ilk, I understand how you feel, but what does this achieve?" she gestured to their surroundings in the ship.

"Probably a whole week worth of grounding..."

Well, at least she did understand that actions had consequences. "You do realize I have an obligation to report this to the Tallest, don't you?"

Oh, right, the famous rules. "That's okay. I wouldn't like dad and uncle Pur to throw you out of the airlock when you're very nice." Ilk stepped off the pilot's seat to allow Lena to sit in it. She dialed some of the buttons, and a few seconds later the bridge of the Massive appeared on the monitor.

"What on Irk...?" Red looked surprised; clearly, he hadn't been expecting this. "Doctor Lena? Ilk?! What is the meaning of this, why are you two on a Spittle Runner?!"

"My Tallest, I'm sorry to inform you I caught Ilk here stealing one," Lena explained, going straight to the point.

She felt partly bad for Ilk when Tallest Red glared at her; it wasn't like those glares he gave to drones or 'inferior' Irkens, it was more like the typical glare a father gave to his misbehaving child. "You and I are going to have a long talk, young lady."

"I know." Ilk said, her antenna dropping.

"Now you've really done it, Ilk." Purple commented.

"You too."

"Why me?!"

Red crossed his arms and asked matter-of-factly. "Who taught her how to fly that thing?"

Purple merely took a sip from his soda.

With his point made clear, Red's attention shifted to Lena again. "Come back to the Massive immediately."