---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Finishing his four flight stair climb, Michael walked down the long hall, looking at all the golden statues and obviously expensive art as he walked towards the gilded door frame, a frown growing on his face as he stopped and studied the art and gems embedded into it. "What a waste. All this money could have been put to better use." He said, angrily kicking down the door. Vattitha jumped slightly as the door shattered off its hinges and skipped along the floor, crashing through the wall and into the street. " He may also be very angry. I don't know why." She added, giving Gonikel a slight shrug. Following quietly behind the angry Michael, Srettia stepped into the office. Art and statues were displayed gracefully around the room in a show of power and wealth, which seemed to not sit well with Michael. Though why, she did not know. "I am here, Gonikel. Now tell me how to Repel the Stydun." Michael growled out. His voice was heavy, and his stance aggressive as he made his way into the middle of the room. Gonikel shakily reached for his water, taking a sip and a long breath in an attempt to calm his nerves before this giant of a male. "A... Yes.." He began, taking another sip of water. " Have a Seat, Captain Michael. Please. No reason we can't be civil during this deal." Michael crossed his arms and stood his ground, giving the man a scowl from behind his helmet. "Keep your word to Vattitha and tell us how to repel Stydun." He repeated. "Ahh, yes. I see you are a man of action, much like myself." Gonikel replied, holding his armrests tightly and planting his feet on the ground. "But tell me. Is what Vattitha says true? Soon my money will be worthless? And if so... What would distinguish me from the common rabble?" Michael sighed in anger but decided to answer the annoying merchant, though it was more than he deserved. "If your people accept our aid, money will only be useful for luxury items. As food, clothing, and housing will be provided for them. Her words do bear some truth." Gonikel eyed the alien. Yes, it was big, but the one behind it. Perhaps he could make use of this situation... "And who are you? A female perhaps?" He began, ignoring the obviously angry alien. A new plan was in order. Srettia scowled at Gonikel from behind her helmet, annoyed at his change of topic and wanting to be done with this male... "I am Ambassador Srettia Esthin Graeme of Aaster. And yes, I am female." "I see... A shame about your chest... And am I To assume Michael is your husband then? Would you perhaps be willing to sell me your services for the night? I think I would quite enjoy bedding an alien." Michael walked up to the male in anger. His fists balled, and jaw clenched. "Apologise to my wife, or you won't live to regret it." He spat, standing directly in front of the male, while Srettia palmed her pistol, ready to kill this male if he continued. "Is that so? Then I apologize to both of you for my inquiry. I will also be returning this to you, Vattitha." Gonkiel began, slipping her folders back to her and taking back his union coin. "I refuse your request." Vattitha's eyes went wide, never had she heard of a union master swearing while offering their coin to refuse and go back on their offer... Though once she thought about it. It may be that no one believed the spurned. "You will lose all your trust in doing such a thing." "I need not trust. Only results. If these Terrans will do as you say and bring new technology to all, I will lose my business regardless. I may as well delay the process and gather my resources while I can if the result will be the same whether I help you or not. Now begone. I will entertain you no longer." He replied, turning his back to the group of three. Michael picked up Gonikels desk and tossed it out of the room and onto the street in a furious rage, stepping directly in front of the now balled up and defensive male. "My world had people like you at one time. Only worried about themselves." He began, reaching through the hardened quills of Gonikel and picking the male up. "Once we invented fabricators, they did their damnedest to suppress them, even going so far as to kill the inventor. Do you know what happened?" Michael asked as he dragged Gonikel towards the hole in the wall, blood spilling from his fingers. "It was a bloody time, you know... It took a few years as well, but we got good at it." Srettia watched in excitement as Michael thrust the male through the hole and held him by his mane, carrying Gonikel just tight enough to prevent him from falling. As he pulled Gonikel to within an inch of his face, Michael deactivated his helmet, making sure to get his point across while still holding him over the edge. "You will not stop progress. We will find another, someone who will be willing to aid us so we can save your people. And when my kind arrive. Because we will, you will be left behind with the rest of your greedy type." He finished, Throwing the male across the room and into the wall. "Let's go. I refuse to deal with his type. My ancestors would weep." Vattitha picked up her files and hurriedly followed Michael and Srettia out of the destroyed room, holding back the sorrow of failing her task as the trio began walking down the stairs. " I'm sorry. Would it be too much if I make a final request?" She asked, turning down another flight of stairs. "Could I see my city from high above once again? I would like to see it as such one last time before you leave us." Michael drew in a deep breath to calm himself, taking a moment as he silently continued down the stairs and into the hall, stepping up to the guards charging towards him as they made their way to stop him. " Out of my way!" He bellowed, causing the group of guards to pause at his presence, allowing him to walk by undeterred. Srettia walked close to Vattitha, making sure the female was safe as they exited the building, following the seething Michael towards the shuttle, which seemed to have gathered a large crowd. "Why is he so angry?" Vattitha asked, looking up to Srettia for the answer. "I don't know. He got that way when he overheard your conversation with Gonikel. It seems that male awoken something within him, though honestly... I quite like this approach." Srettia answered, following Michael into the shuttle as he scared people away. Vattitha nodded and walked over to her 'crash couch' buckling herself in and sighing in defeat. "Thank you for the chance, Captain Michael, and I'm sorry it didn't work out. I would like to be taken back to my house if it isn't a bother, please. I need to prepare for my clients tomorrow... If any would dare come." Michael started the shuttle and turned back to look at Vattitha with a confused face. "You don't want to come with us?" "I.. I didn't get the secret from Gonikel... I did not keep my end of the bargain." She replied, looking back at Michael. "Fuckem. And it's my fault it all went to shit anyway. That guy... On my planet, there was a time people like him had their hands in everything... Well, my ancestors ended up killing them all anyhow, which solved a lot of problems. I need to remember not to do that here. Not yet, at least." Michael chuckled. "Starting tomorrow, you're part of my crew; you're too good for this city." Vattitha's eyes went wide as she fought back her excitement. "Truly? Ohh, I can't wait! When do I start?" "Tomorrow morning. The first few weeks will be hard. To make this work, I had to assign you as a combat medic. This means you'll be training with Ensign Ankiah and Lieutenant-Commander Caithen in the morning on fitness, combat, and how to use medical armour. In the afternoon, you'll be learning with Dr. Baker. In the evening, You'll be teaching Dr. Baker." Michael finished, lifting into the air and flying directly towards his sunken ship. "As a combat Medic, you'll be assigned to a group of soldiers and responsible for keeping them alive. Though in your case. You'll mostly be doing SAR activity and disaster relief for now." Vattitha frown. She didn't mind any of what was said. She had gained access to new medical knowledge and tools. She had a room on a starship and could talk with Jack when she pleased. But... "What would I be able to teach a Terran doctor?" "Tell me. What's a common problem within the Voktlix population?" Michael asked, activating the shuttle shields and diving into the water. "Easy. Phisrd mites. They crawl through your mane and burrow under your skin. Once attached, they begin to suck your blood. This also prevents a Voktlix from hardening the fur around the infected area as it intercepts the blood in the surrounding tissue." Vattitha rambled off, looking down at her hands while she did. Michael smiled as he flew through the hangar barrier and parked the shuttle, activating the locking clamps. "And how do you deal with them then?" Vattitha unlatched her harness and stood, stretching herself as the shuttle door opened. "Cut the fur and skin around the area along with the mite. If you don't, they just burrow deeper and can cause internal damage." Michael shuddered as he imagined one crawling onto his neck and burrowing under his skin. "Yeah... See. That's why you need to teach us how to heal your people. We most likely would have tried ripping it off or something... Also, tell me where these things appear...You know.. So that I know to be in my armour when I get to the area." Vattitha shrugged, stepping off the shuttle and onto her new home, looking around in amazement once more at her surroundings. "Any bush, really. We have a pesticide, but we don't produce enough for the whole city. You mostly run into them in the poorer sections or near drinking water." Michael sighed once again, seemingly losing all his energy again. "Of course, why wouldn't the poor have that problem as well." Suddenly stopping, Michael turned to Vattitha and smiled once again. " So one thing before you begin your training tomorrow. As a Combat medic, you need a few implants. One attached to your brain, This one is a general-purpose one almost every Terran has. It lets you communicate in real-time, send and receive messages, access the info-net, all sorts of stuff. The second will be one that produces nanites. Tiny machines that will link to your medical armour. They will keep you strong and healthy. Caithen can tell you more about that. And the third one is a medical implant that will let you integrate with the stuff in your new medical office. Dr. Baker will teach you how to use it. You'll get all three of them today when I Introduce you to the good doctor." Vattitha could barely hold in her excitement as she followed Michael into a lift, though one thing did interest her out of all the things she heard. "Whats the Info-net?" "Ahh... Kinda like it sounds." Michael replied, keying in the floor medical was on. "All Terran knowledge is on it, along with all sorts of other stuff like personal holosites, video sites and stuff like that. But it's mostly dogs and cats." "I don't know what a dog or a cat is, but having your entire knowledge readily available is astonishing! The average Terran must know more than my entire species!" Vattitha replied as she exited the lift, turning to watch Michael and Srettia share a laugh between each other. "Something wrong?" "Nah. But we have people that are just as dumb as you'd expect from a space-faring species. Smart enough to fix a warp engine but dumb enough to cook an egg on a plasma foil." Michael replied, keeping his camp days to himself. "Or fix a communication array with a light pilot suit not rated for long term space use." Srettia added, happily bumping into Michael as they walked towards the doctor's office. "Well, it worked out, didn't it?" Michael replied, entering the office and ushering in Vattitha. "The doctor will see you, Ensign Vattitha." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------