Chapter 26
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"So, other than having your mind get fucked, how are you doing? Find a safe place for your people yet? Knock up Olivia yet?" Granny grinned wide, showing those sharp teeth again.
Dustin knew now that this was just her way of grinning, and that the fact she showed her teeth, meant nothing. Shaking his head he chuckled.
"You always could see right through me. How did you get yourself stuck in a place like this?" He glanced around the room, knowing she would want her questions answered, but hoping to come up with an answer she would accept. It was so nice finally having his head on straight.
"Eh, I ran across some space worms that wanted my ship for dinner. I was able to make it here in a pinch, but the humans who were here, weren't too happy about it. Those worms made a mess of their solar arrays before they could chase them off. They had to abandon ship. Pity I was too hurt to really take advantage of it."
"Wait, you voluntarily put yourself in that tank?"
She scowled. "It was supposed to be temporary, but there was a glitch. Good thing you came along when you did. I may have had to start eating my way out of the tank, and metal gives me horrible gas."
Dustin wanted to think she was joking, but he wasn't sure. She had always been able to get them out of some nasty spots in the past, one time even eating through concrete.
"Why did you take me and Olivia under your wing? Why care for us, like you did?"
She stared up at the ceiling for a moment, and Dustin knew she was taking the question seriously. Every time she had done this before, she had been trying to decide how much information to share.
"Let's just say, I had a vested interest in the two of you."
His eyes narrowed in suspicion. It was too soon for him to accept her so easily. Just because his head was suddenly filled with memories that made sense, didn't mean that he immediately trusted them. From the time he landed on that damn killer planet, he had been lied to, tricked, and messed with. Though part of him wanted to believe these memories. They actually made sense.
"I take it, that's not good enough, all right, hmm. Those damn Josagn really know how to mess things up good." She looked at the ceiling again, then finally shook her head and sighed. "This is ridiculous. I should have told you from the beginning, and maybe some of this would never have happened."
Looking him in the face, she smiled sadly, which looked damn odd on her face.
"Dustin, your race was nothing out of the ordinary. You lived on a beautiful world, where things were perfect for you. I found your kind and thought I could make a quick buck off your sorry pathetic asses, and sold your kind to a group of slavers known as the Toroth. They ran an intergalactic slave trade market. I was looking to get quite a haul from your people.
"However, when the slavers arrived to start loading your people up, they discovered their abilities to morph. That is an incredibly powerful ability, never before seen in a sentient race. I was looking to get an amount of money, never before paid out by the Toroth, and they didn't like that. They sent mercs out to kill me.
"I don't take kindly to those who backstab me, so I did what I thought was right, and started freeing your people. I taught them to hide among other races and killed the hunters who were after them.
"When I found you, though, you were different. At first, I thought you were just another one of the orphaned brats, like everyone else, though of course, I knew you were Uz'En, but still an orphaned brat. However, none of your kind had ever shown any interest in learning about tech. None had ever built anything. You already had a working model of that doodad on your arm.
"And Olivia, she was an animal! Never before had I seen a Uz'En fight like she did. I knew that the two of you were special. I'd encountered thousands of your kind, scattered now, all over the galaxy, and you two stood out. I decided right then and there, before I ever knew you were a prince, that I had to save the two of you. You two were going to take this race, and lift it higher than any other race that traveled the stars. Except mine, of course."
"And our world?"
"Gone. They burned every tree, poisoned every water hole, and blew up every mountain, hunting for you guys. You were worth too much money to just ignore."
Dustin looked down at the floor. His original goal of getting himself and Olivia to a safe place where they could settle down and have a family had exploded way out of proportion. No where had he signed up to save an entire race, and yet, as he thought about that, something in him was fiercely demanding that he immediately get started doing this. Another part of him was wanting proof that this wasn't another gimmick. There had been so many screw-ups that his trust in everything was frayed around the edges.
"Do you know a safe place where…my people could call home?" he asked then looked up at her. She was ugly. Wrinkles upon wrinkles covered her entire body. Her thick green skin hung in ways that he couldn't tell she was a girl, even after his memories told him she was. Huge ratty ears on either side of her head, constantly swiveled, as if listening to noises he couldn't hear. Hell, maybe she could hear things he couldn't hear.
"Maybe. I've been out of the loop for almost 200 years. That's a long time for a lot to happen. Are you still interested in doing this, or do you still want more proof?"
"Hell, after all of the crazy shit I've experienced just in the last month, proof would be fantastic. Just because you know the right way to slap my marbles back into place and give me a whole new set of memories, doesn't make me want to jump up and start running all over the galaxy on some princely quest to save a race, I didn't even know I had a month ago."
She nodded her head. "I figured as much. Let's go check out these human's your traveling with, and see what's going on."
His eyes widened. "How did you know I was traveling with humans?"
"Dear, you stink of them. You might want to bathe more often, too."
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"So, other than having your mind get fucked, how are you doing? Find a safe place for your people yet? Knock up Olivia yet?" Granny grinned wide, showing those sharp teeth again.
Dustin knew now that this was just her way of grinning, and that the fact she showed her teeth, meant nothing. Shaking his head he chuckled.
"You always could see right through me. How did you get yourself stuck in a place like this?" He glanced around the room, knowing she would want her questions answered, but hoping to come up with an answer she would accept. It was so nice finally having his head on straight.
"Eh, I ran across some space worms that wanted my ship for dinner. I was able to make it here in a pinch, but the humans who were here, weren't too happy about it. Those worms made a mess of their solar arrays before they could chase them off. They had to abandon ship. Pity I was too hurt to really take advantage of it."
"Wait, you voluntarily put yourself in that tank?"
She scowled. "It was supposed to be temporary, but there was a glitch. Good thing you came along when you did. I may have had to start eating my way out of the tank, and metal gives me horrible gas."
Dustin wanted to think she was joking, but he wasn't sure. She had always been able to get them out of some nasty spots in the past, one time even eating through concrete.
"Why did you take me and Olivia under your wing? Why care for us, like you did?"
She stared up at the ceiling for a moment, and Dustin knew she was taking the question seriously. Every time she had done this before, she had been trying to decide how much information to share.
"Let's just say, I had a vested interest in the two of you."
His eyes narrowed in suspicion. It was too soon for him to accept her so easily. Just because his head was suddenly filled with memories that made sense, didn't mean that he immediately trusted them. From the time he landed on that damn killer planet, he had been lied to, tricked, and messed with. Though part of him wanted to believe these memories. They actually made sense.
"I take it, that's not good enough, all right, hmm. Those damn Josagn really know how to mess things up good." She looked at the ceiling again, then finally shook her head and sighed. "This is ridiculous. I should have told you from the beginning, and maybe some of this would never have happened."
Looking him in the face, she smiled sadly, which looked damn odd on her face.
"Dustin, your race was nothing out of the ordinary. You lived on a beautiful world, where things were perfect for you. I found your kind and thought I could make a quick buck off your sorry pathetic asses, and sold your kind to a group of slavers known as the Toroth. They ran an intergalactic slave trade market. I was looking to get quite a haul from your people.
"However, when the slavers arrived to start loading your people up, they discovered their abilities to morph. That is an incredibly powerful ability, never before seen in a sentient race. I was looking to get an amount of money, never before paid out by the Toroth, and they didn't like that. They sent mercs out to kill me.
"I don't take kindly to those who backstab me, so I did what I thought was right, and started freeing your people. I taught them to hide among other races and killed the hunters who were after them.
"When I found you, though, you were different. At first, I thought you were just another one of the orphaned brats, like everyone else, though of course, I knew you were Uz'En, but still an orphaned brat. However, none of your kind had ever shown any interest in learning about tech. None had ever built anything. You already had a working model of that doodad on your arm.
"And Olivia, she was an animal! Never before had I seen a Uz'En fight like she did. I knew that the two of you were special. I'd encountered thousands of your kind, scattered now, all over the galaxy, and you two stood out. I decided right then and there, before I ever knew you were a prince, that I had to save the two of you. You two were going to take this race, and lift it higher than any other race that traveled the stars. Except mine, of course."
"And our world?"
"Gone. They burned every tree, poisoned every water hole, and blew up every mountain, hunting for you guys. You were worth too much money to just ignore."
Dustin looked down at the floor. His original goal of getting himself and Olivia to a safe place where they could settle down and have a family had exploded way out of proportion. No where had he signed up to save an entire race, and yet, as he thought about that, something in him was fiercely demanding that he immediately get started doing this. Another part of him was wanting proof that this wasn't another gimmick. There had been so many screw-ups that his trust in everything was frayed around the edges.
"Do you know a safe place where…my people could call home?" he asked then looked up at her. She was ugly. Wrinkles upon wrinkles covered her entire body. Her thick green skin hung in ways that he couldn't tell she was a girl, even after his memories told him she was. Huge ratty ears on either side of her head, constantly swiveled, as if listening to noises he couldn't hear. Hell, maybe she could hear things he couldn't hear.
"Maybe. I've been out of the loop for almost 200 years. That's a long time for a lot to happen. Are you still interested in doing this, or do you still want more proof?"
"Hell, after all of the crazy shit I've experienced just in the last month, proof would be fantastic. Just because you know the right way to slap my marbles back into place and give me a whole new set of memories, doesn't make me want to jump up and start running all over the galaxy on some princely quest to save a race, I didn't even know I had a month ago."
She nodded her head. "I figured as much. Let's go check out these human's your traveling with, and see what's going on."
His eyes widened. "How did you know I was traveling with humans?"
"Dear, you stink of them. You might want to bathe more often, too."
"So, other than having your mind get fucked, how are you doing? Find a safe place for your people yet? Knock up Olivia yet?" Granny grinned wide, showing those sharp teeth again.Dustin knew now that this was just her way of grinning, and that the fact she showed her teeth, meant nothing. Shaking his head he chuckled."You always could see right through me. How did you get yourself stuck in a place like this?" He glanced around the room, knowing she would want her questions answered, but hoping to come up with an answer she would accept. It was so nice finally having his head on straight."Eh, I ran across some space worms that wanted my ship for dinner. I was able to make it here in a pinch, but the humans who were here, weren't too happy about it. Those worms made a mess of their solar arrays before they could chase them off. They had to abandon ship. Pity I was too hurt to really take advantage of it.""Wait, you voluntarily put yourself in that tank?"She scowled. "It was supposed to be temporary, but there was a glitch. Good thing you came along when you did. I may have had to start eating my way out of the tank, and metal gives me horrible gas."Dustin wanted to think she was joking, but he wasn't sure. She had always been able to get them out of some nasty spots in the past, one time even eating through concrete."Why did you take me and Olivia under your wing? Why care for us, like you did?"She stared up at the ceiling for a moment, and Dustin knew she was taking the question seriously. Every time she had done this before, she had been trying to decide how much information to share."Let's just say, I had a vested interest in the two of you."His eyes narrowed in suspicion. It was too soon for him to accept her so easily. Just because his head was suddenly filled with memories that made sense, didn't mean that he immediately trusted them. From the time he landed on that damn killer planet, he had been lied to, tricked, and messed with. Though part of him wanted to believe these memories. They actually made sense."I take it, that's not good enough, all right, hmm. Those damn Josagn really know how to mess things up good." She looked at the ceiling again, then finally shook her head and sighed. "This is ridiculous. I should have told you from the beginning, and maybe some of this would never have happened."Looking him in the face, she smiled sadly, which looked damn odd on her face."Dustin, your race was nothing out of the ordinary. You lived on a beautiful world, where things were perfect for you. I found your kind and thought I could make a quick buck off your sorry pathetic asses, and sold your kind to a group of slavers known as the Toroth. They ran an intergalactic slave trade market. I was looking to get quite a haul from your people."However, when the slavers arrived to start loading your people up, they discovered their abilities to morph. That is an incredibly powerful ability, never before seen in a sentient race. I was looking to get an amount of money, never before paid out by the Toroth, and they didn't like that. They sent mercs out to kill me."I don't take kindly to those who backstab me, so I did what I thought was right, and started freeing your people. I taught them to hide among other races and killed the hunters who were after them."When I found you, though, you were different. At first, I thought you were just another one of the orphaned brats, like everyone else, though of course, I knew you were Uz'En, but still an orphaned brat. However, none of your kind had ever shown any interest in learning about tech. None had ever built anything. You already had a working model of that doodad on your arm."And Olivia, she was an animal! Never before had I seen a Uz'En fight like she did. I knew that the two of you were special. I'd encountered thousands of your kind, scattered now, all over the galaxy, and you two stood out. I decided right then and there, before I ever knew you were a prince, that I had to save the two of you. You two were going to take this race, and lift it higher than any other race that traveled the stars. Except mine, of course.""And our world?""Gone. They burned every tree, poisoned every water hole, and blew up every mountain, hunting for you guys. You were worth too much money to just ignore."Dustin looked down at the floor. His original goal of getting himself and Olivia to a safe place where they could settle down and have a family had exploded way out of proportion. No where had he signed up to save an entire race, and yet, as he thought about that, something in him was fiercely demanding that he immediately get started doing this. Another part of him was wanting proof that this wasn't another gimmick. There had been so many screw-ups that his trust in everything was frayed around the edges."Do you know a safe place wheremy people could call home?" he asked then looked up at her. She was ugly. Wrinkles upon wrinkles covered her entire body. Her thick green skin hung in ways that he couldn't tell she was a girl, even after his memories told him she was. Huge ratty ears on either side of her head, constantly swiveled, as if listening to noises he couldn't hear. Hell, maybe she could hear things he couldn't hear."Maybe. I've been out of the loop for almost 200 years. That's a long time for a lot to happen. Are you still interested in doing this, or do you still want more proof?""Hell, after all of the crazy shit I've experienced just in the last month, proof would be fantastic. Just because you know the right way to slap my marbles back into place and give me a whole new set of memories, doesn't make me want to jump up and start running all over the galaxy on some princely quest to save a race, I didn't even know I had a month ago."She nodded her head. "I figured as much. Let's go check out these human's your traveling with, and see what's going on."His eyes widened. "How did you know I was traveling with humans?""Dear, you stink of them. You might want to bathe more often, too."
