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The penultimate chapter.

Jason handed him some coins. The clerk tossed them in the register and smiled. “Don’t get lost out there.”
“Thanks.”
Jason hurried out. The man wasn’t smiling anymore.

---

Leph stood in the Frontier’s main hall as people ran around to different parts of the ship, carrying crates or bits of machinery. Zach was the only person to pass Leph who was not rushing. He was carrying a cage. Leph frowned at him. “Zach… I thought you were going to… how did you put it?”
“Batten down the hatches?”
“Yeah.”
Zach laughed. “It’s a nautical thing… oh, never mind. I’m just putting Wordy somewhere safe.”
Leph leaned over and peeked inside. Wordsworth was sitting in the corner, fluffed up in a defensive position. “He doesn’t look happy…”
Zach pulled him away. “He hates being in his cage… I’m gonna leave him in the drive chamber. He shouldn’t feel a thing until we’re being pulled apart by explosions!”
With that cheery note, Zach sauntered off to the engine room. Leph sighed and entered one of the cargo bays. Lenny and Rico were staring at the ceiling as a massive container was being carried across the room by the cargo crane. It stopped, and a voice yelled from somewhere above Leph. He turned to see Serleah waving from the crane controls, high on a catwalk. “Hi, Leph! We’re just getting the gunship out!”
He nodded. “Good!” then, turning to Rico and Lenny, “Make sure it doesn’t scrape the cargo doors. We had trouble getting that one in.”
Rico saluted, sending Lenny into a laughing fit. “Aye aye, captain!”
Leph was about to correct him, but for once, being called captain felt good. He nodded, turned, waved to Serleah, and left the cargo bay. Lenny didn’t stop laughing, and Rico eventually looked to him with concern. “Hey… what’s gotten into you?”
Leph ducked his head into the kitchen, where Yalogalil and Dez were gathering whatever weapons were on-board. There was no shortage. After raiding a couple of the mislabeled crates in the cargo bays, Yalogalil had chosen some easy-to-use pistols and high-powered assault rifles. Leph didn’t know what to make of most of it, and neither did Dez, but Yalogalil looked impressed. He was polishing a rather massive plasma launcher as Leph appeared. “Leph, greetings!”
He entered and gestured at the deadly spread. “So… we’re gonna need all this?”
“Of course. For what Nai says, there will be opposition.”
Leph picked up the least intimidating gun there. “I’ll use this one… I’m not good at shooting, but I’ve used this gun before.”
Yalogalil laughed. “It is a wonder you are alive! That is a pea-shooter.”
“I know.”
He tucked it away. “Make sure everyone on the strike team is armed and knows how to use their weapon. And if Teliko comes in here looking for one, don’t give it to her.”
Dez laughed. “Oh, I don’t think she would.”
Leph just gave him a stern look and left. “Carry on.”
Making his way to the cockpit, Leph noticed Vaà standing in the hall. Leph got his attention. “Hello, Vaà. Waiting for something?”
Vaà seemed confused. “No. I am helping Zach set up a communication link to the fleet.”
Leph glanced up the stairs. “Oh… I see.”
“I cannot fit through the doorway.”
Leph laughed, hoping Vaà hadn’t figured out what that meant yet. “I’m sorry, but the engineers who designed this bucket didn’t take Sytis into account.”
“What is a bucket?”
“It’s a Human expression… never mind. Any success?”
“Some.”
Leph nodded, pursing his lips. “Hmm. I’ll get an update from Zach.”
Leena was running a full system check from the pilot’s seat as Zach lay, half his body hidden in the wall, furiously hammering at something. “Zach!”
“OW! My thumb!”
Leena chuckled, something she had clearly been doing on an off since Zach started working. Leph helped Zach out of the wall. “What I wouldn’t give for Feldoh’s help right about now.”
“So you got Wordsworth safely tucked away?”
“Yep. Then I came back here to keep banging on this damn comms array. Adapting the Frontier’s frequency to freely broadcast to the gunships was hard enough, but doing the same for a dozen alien ships? Impossible.”
“Impossible? You rarely break out that word.”
Zach shrugged, sucking on his thumb. “Vaà barely understands me when I try and ask him about the frequencies his ship uses. I think they use a variant-oscillating-”
“Spare me the technobabble. Bottom line, our technology isn’t compatible?”
“I’ll figure something out, don’t worry.”
Leph nodded. “I know you will. Get back to it, then!”
Annoyed, Zach wedged himself back into the wall and grumbled. Leena was studying something on her screens as Leph planted a kiss on her head. “How’s everything here?”
Leena tapped the screen with her claw. “Well… There was some damage to our thrusters that I didn’t see… but otherwise we’ll be able to fly just fine.”
“Good. Any word from Leo?”
“Oh, yeah, they just got off the ground a few minutes ago. They’ll be here within the hour.”
“Great! And, uh… Teliko?”
“You should talk to her. She was adamant.”
He sighed. “Alright, I’ll try.”
Before he could leave, Leena spun her chair. “One last thing.”
“Hm?”
She gestured to the engineering station. “I had Zach take the drive offline completely. Given the differences in the laws of physics, I didn’t want it running at all. Who knows what kind of things might happen if we had a little power surge to the drive?”
Leph nodded. “Good thinking. Call me if there’s any news on the communications problem.”
Leena saluted, grinning. “Aye aye, captain!”
With a smile too wide for the situation, Leph went to find Teliko. There was another bang from the wall. “God… Raa! I hate these damn compartments! Let’s just give the Sytis our S-Coms!”
Leena chuckled a bit, then hummed. “Now, hang on… that might not be a bad idea…”

Teliko gave Czyak a tour of the ship, completely ignoring the tense commotion around them. “And this is where I like to write. If there’s no one around, of course.”
She pulled a chair which she had hidden in an empty fire extinguisher compartment, unfolded it, and plopped down. There was a tiny porthole there, with a good view of the destroyed planet. “In hyperspace, the colours are so pretty from this window… Its inspiring.”
“Inspiring? Ah… I understand.”
Teliko laughed. “Oh, I can hear that! You never were much of a creative, were you?”
“Er… no.”
“I don’t mean to embarrass you...”
“It is true. In my education I once took up the art of vistas. My attempts to paint them were… described by my instructor as ‘completely incompetent.’”
As she put away the chair, Teliko shared in Czyak’s shame. Somehow, it seemed to get at her insecurities too. “I was never much of a visual artist either.”
She grabbed Czyak’s claw and pulled him down the main hall. They nearly collided with Nai, who was deep in thought and pouring over a tiny data pad. “Excuse me!” he said, dodging by them without a glance in their direction.
They arrived at Teliko’s bedroom. She opened the door, walked inside with a pose and declared: “This is my home!”
Czyak bent over and peered inside. “It is… small.”
Teliko turned and started digging through a closet. “It’s big enough for me. Well, aren’t you gonna- oh, right…”
Czyak extended an arm into the room, but his shoulder didn’t even begin to fit. “This is… concerning. I do not understand how you could live in such a small space.”
A creeping sense of panic began to crawl up Teliko’s spine. She stepped away from the closet and rubbed her arm. “You’re not… Claustrophobic, are you?”
“I… I believe all of my kind are like you say.”
“Let’s go to one of the cargo bays, there’ll be a lot more-”
Czyak stepped aside suddenly. “Excuse me… Ah, there you are.”
Leph entered, his arms held behind him. Teliko had seen this pose enough to know what it meant. “Czyak… could you…?”
He stepped away without answering. Teliko sat at her desk and, to avoid meeting her father’s eyes, studied the cover of her copy of ‘In the Shadow of the Valley’, which she had yet to put away. “I can’t let you join the strike team, Teliko.”
“You can’t stop me, I’m practically an adult.”
“I’m still your dad. There’s no telling what kind of… soldiers or… intruder countermeasures we’ll face. You could be killed.”
She laughed slightly. “I’ve been killed twice. But my powers-”
“We don’t know anything about your powers! And you didn’t die, you just… were badly injured.”
“I have Czyak to protect me. We make a really good team, dad! I can hear his emotions and he mine, and together we could really make a difference!”
She was standing now. Leph could almost feel the resolve coming off her fur. “Is that why you want to go? You want to feel-”
Teliko cut him off. “No! No, it’s not anything that simple, I just… I feel so much energy inside me. Ever since we left the planet. I don’t know what it is, but I want to fight. Yes, to help get us out of this place… but I feel like if I stay behind, I’ll regret it.”
If you asked Leph who Teliko took after more, he’d tell you she took after Leena the most. However, there were bursts of rebellious energy or adventurous streaks that would emerge when Leph was arguing with her, and each time it would seem as if he was looking in a mirror. He took her shoulder. “You want to be a member of the strike team?”
“Yes.”
“You’d be under my command, not as a father, but as a captain. That comes with an understanding that you’ll obey my orders. Understand?”
Excitement rose in her chest. “Yes! Of course, I know that!”
“So, as your father and your commanding officer, I have decided that you don’t have the combat experience to be on the strike team.”
Whatever had built up in Teliko’s chest immediately turned to vitriol. She pushed him. “You bastard!”
“Teliko! Watch your language! Also… where did you learn that?!”
She stormed into her bathroom and slammed the door. “You are!”
“I’m sorry for… ugh. Listen to me. You don’t understand what position I’m in.”
“I do! You’re going into that ship, right!?”
“I’ve been doing this for twenty years, Teliko.”
There was no response from the bathroom. Leph sighed. “I’m sorry, Teliko.”
He left. In the hall, Cyan and Czyak were having a hushed conversation. “Um… Mr. Czyak?”
Czyak turned. “Yes?”
“So… you can hear Teliko right now?”
“Yes.”
Leph got the feeling Czyak was being short with him. He wondered if the big scaly monster was feeling the same childish rage Teliko was. “Is she doing alright?”
“She is… not happy with you. It is remarkable. There is no… anger… in her.”
He spread his wings. “Otherwise I might become violent.”
“Hm…”
He didn’t speak further, instead walking away. Czyak called after him. “She will obey you. And…”
Leph stopped as Czyak searched for words. “I agree with you.”
“Thanks.”
As soon as Leph was around a corner, Teliko threw open the door. “You two!”
Cyan raised an eyebrow. “Czyak… are you sure she’s not angry?”
“I am…”
Teliko looked furious. “I’m sorry, Czyak. I, uh… I don’t know how to explain it, but I’m not speaking the truth to you.”
Czyak was utterly bewildered. “This… is not possible.”
“Call it an Atriean innovation. Besides, you’re not going ape-shit, are you?”
“I suppose not.”
Cyan laughed. “What’s gotten you so… badass?”
“I’m going into that ship. I don’t know if it’s these new powers or… hearing all those soldiers speak to one another about tactics and fighting… but I feel like I have to go in there and get us out. I just do!”
Czyak tried to hear these things in Teliko, but she had tucked some of her feelings away. When he tried to touch them, he began to feel the blind rage come back, and stopped. Cyan laughed. “Yeah! …But isn’t Leph kinda right? You’ll get killed.”
“I most certainly will not.”
Cyan was about to speak further when she turned, shut the door, and yelled through it. “Now both of you gimme some time alone! I gotta think!”
The two knew better than to try anything further, so they walked off together to explore one of the cargo bays. Cyan was particularly distracted by this new Teliko. It reminded him of Serleah in a way, and suddenly he was blushing.

Tucked away in one of the cargo bays, Nai was busying himself running simulations and checking his calculations to a point where even his meticulous mind began to feel he was being redundant. No matter how he ran the numbers, the portal would be opened, all matter in a certain radius would be pulled in, and everything would be fine. Every time he put down the data pad, however, he began thinking of more little possibilities of things going wrong, and he picked the pad up again. Before he knew it, someone was shaking his arm. “Nai?”
He dropped the pad and for a brief moment believed he was being attacked by concierges. It was only Serleah and Dez. For some reason, they seemed out of breath. “It’s nearly midnight and… Leph has some bunks in here he said we could use.”
Nai jumped to his feet. “I’m terribly sorry! I was… caught up. In my work. You understand.”
Dez chuckled as Nai scooped up his things. “I’ll just… wow, where did the time go?”
Serleah shrugged. “Well… it went. Everyone else is asleep.”
She faked a yawn which completely fooled Nai, who also yawned. “I feel… very tired. I’ll go lie down. Er, have a nice night!”
He stumbled out of the cargo bay. Serleah began laughing hysterically as Dez gave her a push. “You said no one was in here!”
“I didn’t know! Haha!”
Dez crossed his arms. “Well I don’t know if I’m in the mood now.”
“Nonsense. Let’s find those beds.”

Serleah was only partially correct. Everyone had retreated to wherever they could sleep, but everyone was awake. Rico had been given an inflatable mattress, and, after lugging it around to different parts of the ship, finally decided on a nice quiet corner of the engine room. As he lugged the oddly heavy bed down the stairs, he smelled something. Dropping the mattress on the floor, he rounded the main engine block to see Lenny there, sitting on his own inflatable bed, smoking a pipe. “Lenny, you told me you quit.”
Lenny turned slowly. “Uh… I did! Hi, Rico.”
“Hi.”
Rico pulled the bed near Lenny’s and lay back on it. Lenny faced him. “Don’t think I’m gonna keep smoking after we’re through all this. This isn’t even my pipe, it’s Yalogalil’s.”
Rico chuckled. “Hey, I’m not judging. Hell, it could be your last smoke…”
He trailed off as Lenny lowered the pipe. He turned his head as Rico sat up. “That came out bad. Hey…”
Lenny set the pipe aside and sniffed, covering his eyes. “Oh, shit… don’t cry on me now, man!”
Lenny shook his head. It was obvious that he was crying. “I-I’m not crying!”
With a sigh, Rico sat next to Lenny and patted his back. “I got you into this. I’ll be damned if I don’t get you out of it again.”
Lenny shook his head. “No… I don’t blame you for getting me into this.”
“I mean… I kinda did.”
Lenny gave a short chuckle and wiped his eyes. “Yeah, you did.”
Rico remembered that once you finish patting someone on the back, you’re supposed to remove your hand. This he did now. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
“Actually… I’m glad I came with you. This beats construction work. I’m just… scared.”
“I know how you feel. I guess the call for adventure was too strong for us, eh?”
“Yup.”
Rico put his feet up on his bed. “Lemme try that. It could be my last smoke too.”
Lenny took another drag and blew a large smoke ring. “I dunno, Rico. This stuff is pretty strong, even for an Atriean.”
“Give.”
Lenny shrugged. “Alright. But I get to say ‘I told you so.’”
“Deal.”
Lenny passed him the pipe and Rico pressed it between his lips. He leaned over as Lenny sprinkled a little powder into it. Rico began to drag, but as soon as the smoke hit his lungs, he started coughing. He spilled the pipe and smoke billowed everywhere. “I told you so.”
“Shut up… Hack!”
Lenny took the pipe again (wiping it off as an afterthought) and resumed smoking. “I don’t know where Yalogalil got this Bajiseed but… it’s really good.”
“Speak for yourself…”
Rico gave a few more coughs as Lenny grinned in self-satisfaction. “Say Lenny…”
“Hm?”
“Since we’re all about to either be killed or enter the history books, I wanna tell you something.”
“W-what is it?”
Rico folded his hands together. “Well, it’s about what you said to me back when we were looking for Feldoh. Y’know, when you grabbed my suit.”
Lenny nodded, then coughed abruptly. “W-w-what do you mean?! Er… that was Z-Zach!”
“No, it wasn’t. It was me. You didn’t give me a chance to say anything, buddy!”
“I…”
Lenny’s paw was shaking so much, he was spilling Bajiseed on the mattress. Rico grabbed his arms to stabilize him. “Lenny! I can’t believe you never told me anything! I’m the gayest guy I know, I could have helped you with it!”
“I don’t need help! I’m content to be alone.”
“Lenny… that’s not true. I know you’re an introvert and all, but I know how you get when you’re lonely.”
He didn’t respond. Rico dropped his tone. It held a warmth Lenny didn’t know was possible. “Because I know you, Lenny. I thought I did. It irks me that you wouldn’t tell me something so big.”
Lenny held out his paws. “You gotta understand… We might… both be gay, but we come from completely different cultures. Your people are so open about it. You’ve got tons of resources you can turn to. You’ve got a huge, supportive community. On Atriea, there’s nothing. I just have to be content with being me, alone.”
Rico grabbed Lenny, forcing him to meet his eyes. “Christ, man! You’re not alone! You have me! And I don’t plan on leaving you.”
Lenny blinked, and tears materialized in his eyes. “D-don’t say that…”
“Hey. I’m serious. Remember when we were talking about going back to Earth? Let’s do it.”
“You… mean it?”
“Yeah. I’ll finally be able to take you to my favorite bar… it’s in Neo Montreal, I think you’ll like it there. Very cold.”
“O-oh. Never heard of it.”
Lenny smiled as Rico launched into a description of his favorite places on Earth. Lenny watched Rico’s face shift from one form of ecstatic to another, and soon Lenny was swept away by his mood. Soon they were both laughing and talking about the new shop they would open together, minus the drug dealing, of course. They talked for hours, and eventually, Lenny began yawning too frequently to be ignored. “And after that you come across the cafe. Place is built like a maze, but they serve some of the best Atriean coffee blends on Earth… What time is it?”
“Oh, I dunno.”
Lenny looked up at him expectantly. Rico sighed. “We gotta sleep, dude.”
“Uh… But what about food?”
“Hm?”
“Is there Atriean food in Toronto?”
“Lenny, we need to sleep.”
Lenny grabbed Rico’s arm before he could stand. “Wait a second! If we’re going to die tomorrow, I want you to know something first!”
His voice was hitting a new high Rico didn’t know was possible. “Uh, well, you can tell me after.”
Lenny wouldn’t let go. Rico knew what he was going to say, and despite all the thought he had given it, Rico still didn’t know how to respond. “Please?”
Rico nodded and brushed Lenny’s paw away. “Alright.”
“Okay. Er… So, after we met up again after prison… Lemme start again…”
He ran his paw through his head-fur and cleared his throat.”
“Er…I just really wanna thank you for letting me back into your life, because at that point I didn’t have a friend in the sector. And you put up with my cooking.”
Lenny held up a paw before Rico could protest. “I don’t know what I would have done without you. And I guess, er, I know you and Zach, y’know, I just want you to know… I have… feelings… for… you. Er…”
Lenny felt like a poor excuse for a fully grown adult. Here he was, trying to express himself, and he was still acting like a teenager. He was so preoccupied with this that he didn’t even notice Rico wasn’t reacting at all. Even after Lenny finally summoned the courage to look up, Rico still hadn’t moved. “Rico?”
“First of all, I talked to Zach. He rejected me.”
“He did?! I’m sorry.”
Rico shook his head. “I was wrong to try and rekindle what we had.”
“Do you love him?”
Rico was once again silent. Again, Lenny cursed himself, and he was about to apologize when Rico nodded. “I did. Not anymore, but… I did.”
“Okay.”
Suddenly, Rico chuckled, looking up at the ceiling. “Shit, do you wanna hear a funny story?”
“Er… alright.”
Rico began the tale, speaking with his hands. “Alright, so there I was, like twenty years ago, on a little Solar Federation moon colony. I was looking for trouble, cuz I had just come to possess like, a kilo of- well, you know. The station there was crowded, and rotten all the way through. I was supposed to meet with a guy who needed what I had, when there out of the corner of my eye I see this little ferret guy, looked about as mangy as a stray dog. He was getting looks, but he didn’t seem to care.”
“Rico, I know this story. That was me.”
“I know, I know! But you don’t know the last part. I saw you shoplifting and I knew you’d be interested in working together. But… I really went up to you because I thought you were the cutest thing, y’know?”
“Cute? You’re joking.”
“Jeez, don’t say that with such a straight face!”
Lenny crossed his arms and said, matter-of-factly: “By Atriean standards, I am not cute.”
“I know… but you were a Solar Federation citizen, bound to the same standards of cuteness held by Humans! And I had this huge crush on you for it. Until about a month into our business when I came to respect you instead. Ever since then my feelings have remained the same.”
He paused for a moment, then added: “Plus I knew you could never feel the same.”
“I-I… didn’t even see it.”
Rico shrugged. “Anyway, my point is… right now I’m kinda messed up. I don’t know my own feelings now, but…”
He reached up and tweaked Lenny’s ear. “You’re still cute.”
That time, Rico’s remark had the desired effect. Lenny was red-faced in record time. “Ah. I see, er… Well, I guess we’ll figure it out. After we get out of this place.”
Rico nodded. “Mhm. Hmm…”
Lenny eyed him suspiciously. “What?”
“I wanted to… I was gonna kiss you, but… I don’t know how.”
“Ah! W-well it would be a bad idea. Y’know, because of my saliva.”
“Your… Saliva?”
“Yeah! You know, it’s… kinda acidic.”
“Enough to burn me?”
“Enough to cause skin irritation.”
“I didn’t know that…”
“You didn’t?! You’ve lived on Atriea for most of your life! I had to be careful where I spat back when I smoked… Once I hit someone’s bare foot on a beach and was almost charged with assault.”
“No kidding?”
“No kidding!”
They both fell silent. Both were grinning. Eventually, Lenny yawned again. “I guess it’s-”
Rico gave him a little peck on the side of the muzzle and returned to his mattress. “Goodnight.”