Lotee escorted Greyla to the work deck. Their old pod looked small and primitive next to the more sophisticated craft parked there for maintenance. There were several different transports and small cruisers suitable for mining operations or local excursions to a moon or planet. The Helium-3 stored on their pod had already been unloaded and put to good use. Now the pod had been delivered for salvage. Nothing would be wasted. The heat shielding and insulation were being stripped away first.

"How are things going with Etaine?" Greyla asked.

Lotee hesitated before answering. "I don't think it would be proper to share details of our relationship."

"Oh, god no! That's not what I'm asking," Greyla said. "I meant; is she stable now? I haven't seen her in couple of days. Is she more of girl than a snake?"

"Yes. She's quite good at being a girl lately," Lotee said.

Greyla smiled at that. "So, no more green scales, dripping blood or such nonsense?

"None. She's reformed," Lotee replied. "Though I still can't understand how she reverted after we scrubbed her. It should not have been possible."

"I don't understand what made her that way in the first place," Greyla mused. "I never had much experience with reptiles. Well, not until I met our good admiral. Etaine was generated from my persona. I just don't see where she gets that."

"You were a biologist on Beldora," Lotee said. "Perhaps it was from some old files, long forgotten. Why do ask?"

"I keep sensing her in snake form. I wondered if she was backsliding," Greyla said. "It's hard to sort out with all the various species on board the Moz Lidule, I can't be sure where these snake vibes are coming from."

"There is only a skeleton crew on duty at this time. Only those members of the crew critical to operations have been activated to save power," Lotee said. "As for visiting species, I have only seen the garwolven and tasmaroo, no snakes at all."

"I should put it out of my mind and concentrate on the demon," Greyla said. "I have no problem identifying his vibe and he's still coming on strong."

***

Hal stood with Lieutenant Cratus and Colonel Munaci on the bridge. Cratus set the warp coordinates for the refueling station at Riscella Base while Hal watched and learned.

"You have some good ideas, Hal. I look forward to working with you," Cratus said.

"Thanks Lieutenant. I was hoping you could help me develop the remote system for the pods."

"We have the remote capability at present, but we have never teleported remotely to my knowledge."

Munaci looked up from his station. "Incoming enemy vessel at thirty arc z-ten Lieutenant. Shields activated. Prepare to engage."

"That's more like it!" Hal rushed to the monitor to have a look. He could see a ship off their starboard side, roughly a quarter the size of the Moz Lidule. It had a strange configuration to the hull with angular features. Hal supposed it was to conceal the ship and deflect radar. Apparently, it worked, as the enemy ship was almost upon them before it was discovered. "I wondered if things would ever get interesting around here."

"You seem to enjoy this a little too much," Munaci remarked. "Are all of you Beldorians so blood thirsty?"

"No. But we wouldn't put a vegetarian in charge of defense, Colonel." Hal quipped.

"Insolent whelp!" Munaci said followed by a low growl in throat. "I'll report your attitude to the admiral. He may well reinstate your sentence."

"Now who's blood thirsty?"

"Colonel, shall we engage or warp?" Cratus asked.

"Engage, Lieutenant. Admirals' orders," Munaci said.

A blast from the enemy hit the hull. The shield absorbed most of the impact, but the shock wave rocked the ship.

"Firing now half power," Cratus reported.

The ship's huge laser canon hit its target but glanced over the hull of the BakoNaat ship.

"Again Lieutenant. The pirates seem to have upgraded their defenses. Full power this time."

The laser blast ripped a hole in the enemy armor.

"Again!" Munaci ordered.

The third blast got through and fragments of the ship fell away.

"We're getting a petition to cease fire,” Cratus said.

Munaci slammed his fist against the console. "Why would the fools attack a sector battleship?”

“They suspected you were low on power, just as I did," Hal said. "Maybe because you ran away so often? They planned to make you run until you were totally depleted and defenseless."

"He's right, Colonel. It was rather obvious." Cratus said. "Now they're offering a truce."

"They must surrender. No terms," Munaci said. "I'll show them what vegetarians are capable of."

"What sort of vegetarian are you exactly?" Hal asked looking at the wiry red hairs protruding from the sleeves and neck opening of the colonel's uniform.

"I am an aranga, the greatest of all hominid species Our soldiers are legendary. It was my kind who conquered the Tor Galaxy in the first place," Munaci bragged. "This won't be the first time we've put the BakoNaat in their place. They're nothing but a slithering mass of reptiles."

"I wouldn't let the admiral hear any disparaging comments about his kind," Hal said.

"He is aware of my opinion of the BakoNaat and agrees completely. You insult the admiral by implying they are in his league," Munaci replied. "The BakoNaat will suffer for daring to attack our ship."

"Don't bother showing off on my account, Colonel. Have a little mercy," Hal said.

"Lieutenant, take my aranga squad with some garwolvens. Board and secure the vessel," Munaci ordered. "We'll pick you up after we've refueled."

* * *

A gaping hole was visible in the pirate ship’s hull, Debris drifted out and scattered into space. Hal watched with Munaci as an armed transport from the Moz Lidule docked with the BakoNaat ship.

“We’re boarding now, Colonel,” Lieutenant Cratus reported back. “The team is rounding up the survivors and sealing the bulkheads to stabilize the pressure. We’ll soon have control of the situation.”

"Copy that. Have the empath scan them and report directly to me," Munaci barked into his communicator. He typed some commands into his console. "I have issued the order and given her clearance to leave the ship's grid.

"Very good, sir," Cratus responded.

"Wait. Which empath are you sending over?" Hal asked.

"Greyla is busy salvaging the aluminum on your old pod this afternoon,” Munaci said. " Etaine is available."

"That's a really bad idea, Colonel," Hal said.

"If I want your opinion, I'll ask for it."

"You don't understand. She really isn't stable," Hal said. "You should send Greyla."

"Too late. Someone is picking Etaine up now," Munaci said. "What trivial point are you attempting to make?"

"It could cause her to backslide."

"We'll simply have to scrub her again. It's a minor problem," Munaci said. "Etaine has to earn her keep the same as anyone else around here. You should put your mind to the task ahead. Build an army of pods to carry the energy traps. Stay off the bridge and out of my hair, Beldorian."

"I was hoping the lieutenant could give me a hand or at least orient me to your mech lab," Hal said.

"He won’t be free until he has the pirates under control. I haven't any spare crew members."

"I just don't want to make a mess of things in the lab."

"I'll send Lotee to assist you," Munaci said. "I hope you don't need toilet training as well, I've better things to do."

Munaci activated the warning bell. "Initiating. Prepare to warp."

* * *

The Moz Lidule came out of warp drive exactly in position. Munaci had set his physical signature back to aranga when coming out of warp.

Hal recoiled on seeing Munaci in his true form again. The colonel's long hairy arm stretched past Hal to access a far corner of the control console. Docking would normally require two crewman but with such a wide arm span, Munaci could input docking orders with his left hand while guiding the ship to port with his right.

Hal could see the barren surface of the large moon looming ahead of them. There were stations available for several starships. Two smaller ships were there and already in the process of refueling. Munaci brought the Moz Lidule around in perfect alignment, docked smoothly and sent a request to refuel.

"I can see you've done this a time or two," Hal said.

"I've done this so many times, I could do it in my sleep. How old do you think I am?"

"Not sure. A couple hundred of whatever time unit you choose?" Hal guessed.

"Triple that. I doubt you can even comprehend it."

"Why are you so touchy?"

"I never cared for humans," Munaci said.

"Okay. Any particular reason?"

"Thanks to Lord Anakron, humans are spread all about the galaxy. He made a career of seeding planets with your kind," Munaci said. "Humans only represent a fraction of the species among us, yet we have adopted the human form as our default interface for all formal assembly.”

Munaci sneered as he continued. ”We must not offend your aesthetic sense with our monstrous appearance. There you have it. No matter from what planet or sector you may originate, you humans always think you're better than any other species. "

"No, not better. We think we're prettier," Hal said. "Actually, we are prettier."

"You are examples of arrested evolutionary development. I see nothing pretty in your lack of specialization."

"I'd wager you don't have mirrors where you come from. And if you don't like yourself, nobody else will. Try loving yourself, Munaci."

"I don't need your advice on anything," Munaci said between his teeth.

"Well, it wasn't advice really, more of a thinly veiled insult."

Munaci pulled the lever to initiate the fueling process and turned to Hal, his incisors bared.

"If the admiral hadn't adopted all of you for his darling pets, I would leave you here on this moon base."

"I don't think I'm a darling where the Admiral's concerned. He has other uses for me."

"Don't be so sure." Munaci spit out his words. "He's always been fascinated by your kind. He has a voracious appetite for you hairless humans."

"Well, that makes for a good night's sleep," Hal said.

"I wouldn't sleep too soundly if I were you."

The station rolled out a long tube which attached to their hull.

"How long does this take?" Hal asked.

"Only a short while. It will seem an eternity considering the company."

A starship at another station had finished loading and flashed a series of bright warning signals. A few moments later the entire hull glowed red as it warped out of the moon base to a far off destination. The disturbance could be felt through their vessel as the gravity waves pulsed through the Moz Lidule.

"That's amazing."

"Don't you have some work to do?"

"I do, but it's against regulations to warp without a backup on the bridge."

"Where did you get that information?"

"While I was snooping around, I mean exploring, earlier I overheard someone mention they needed a second officer on the bridge before they warped."

"You're not an officer."

"No, but after watching, I could do it."

"Alright genius. I'll let you set the coordinates when we are ready to leave," Munaci said sneering at Hal.

"Really?"

"No, of course not! I don’t have time to see how lost you can get."

“You could give me the specs on those energy traps while we wait," Hal said.

"I'll pull them up for you now. See if you can occupy your mind and stay out of my way."

"One more question."

Munaci sighed and began to assemble the data. "What now?"

"Where is everyone?" Hal asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I saw hundreds of magiton bodies in the vaults, but only a few on board. Where are they?"

"Use your tiny forebrain and take a guess."

"Hibernating until you have the energy to bring them online?"

"Correct. See how easy that was. Any other questions?"

"Who or what are the holograms? Like Lotee. Where does he come from?"

Munaci looked at Hal and stroked the fur on his nose. "Think Hal. Think."

Hal took a moment to consider it. He recalled the star chart associated with the small marbles they had found in the vaults. "Pet cemetery?"

Munaci laughed. "You may have more potential than I thought." He transferred the energy trap information to a portable data block and gave it to Hal.

"Your future is your hands."