Okay, okay! Get up off your knees already!

j/k



Chapter Fourteen -Omega



Commander Flairang had to get a look at the slaves. That was the only reason the lizard gave the guards, and they knew better than to question the cold officer. Now he stood in the corridor, giving the reports a once-over. He glanced up, fixing his softly glowing eyes on the first guard he saw.

"Trooper!" The unfortunate Shellion trotted obediently over to his superior.

"Yes, SIR!" Flairang's tail lashed. His hard gaze remained on the trooper, making him sweat.

"Where are these slaves being kept?" The slow turtle thought for a minute. Flairang scowled.

"Er, I think just off of the main cargo bay, SIR!" Flairang's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"And? What are you not telling me?" The guard shuffled his feet nervously and gulped.

"Uh, there's about forty of 'em, Lord Kroys isn't happy, and. . . they're being starved." The unfortunate's voice trailed off. Flairang's temper blazed up.

"Starved?"

"Yessir."

"What for?"

"Er, er, I dunno." A noncommital answer if he'd ever heard one.

"Do you not realize that Lord Kroys needs his slaves STRONG, not half dead from starvation? Who put you on this shift anyway?" The dimwitted Shellion pointed down the hall to a lavishly appointed office. Flairang sniffed condencedingly.

"When you are done this shift you are to go down to the barracks and tell Lt. Sirov that I sent you. You, I think, would do well in the soldier department."

"Yes, SIR!" Flairang turned and stalked down the hall.

As he passed the branching corridor that led to the emergency airlock, he thought he caught a flash of red.



Phoebe awoke to the rasping gasps of Zanzibar. He lay unconscious on the floor, his chest heaving as he fought for breath. One glance at his wound told her that it was serious and was bleeding again; in fact, his fur was a matted crimson. She moved over to him and began trying to staunch the blood flow.



Alpha stretched her neck, trying to glimpse that familiar black figure that she thought she had seen. When she was truly sure it was gone, she wearily turned to go down the corridor, when she saw another flash of black. Hopefully she followed it, wondering if this was the way to the control room. They passed a hall that seemed to be a dead end, then turned down one that wasn't. The flash of black disappeared then, and Alpha was alone.

Yet she had reached her goal. In the room ahead, scanners hummed, lights flashed and buttons begged to be pushed. She slipped in and tried to remember the way back.



"Assassin to Silken Swift, do you read, repeat, do you read," Shinyso said. Copper shook her head.

"Face it, Shinyso, Alpha's gone. We have three minutes before we have to leave." Shinyso glowered at her. She returned the look.

"Can you bring up the scan of the Conquerer?" Shinyso brightened.

"Done." The screen brightened as a diagram of the Star Destroyer's cargo/waste dump area flickered on. Copper traced a course.

"There. We have to thread our way through there. I'm not placing it on autopilot; as perfect a pilot that may be it's not prepared for stray junk. Kaz!" The bird poked his head around the corner.

"Yeah?"

"Any news from SAM?" The bird shook his head and Kovu looked annoyed. Grath smothered a laugh, unsuccessfully. Kaz looked unhappy.

"Plenty from Medivo though," he sighed, and Copper was on the alert.

"One of Kroys' destroyers is heading over there, the Hypernaught- no, that's his personal shuttle. It's the Terror." Copper winced and Claw (if he can, he has no pupils) rolled his eyes. Shinyso sighed.

"So Kroys is finally hooking Medi-"

"Warning! Warning! Approaching large vessel! Collision immediate! Warning! War-" Claw reached down and flipped a switch. The warning fell silent. He looked furious. Shinyso looked relieved.

The tunnel loomed ahead. Copper leaned forward and grasped the controls as they left the star-filled vastness of space.



Phoebe looked up as the door hissed open. A huge black lizard stood there. She was so worried that she didn't have time to be afraid.

"Don't be afraid. I'm not what I seem, squirrel," the lizard said as he stepped in and shut the door. Phoebe gazed up, perplexed. The lizard seemed to shed his skin, and what now stood before her was a tall black rabbit with gold armbands and black hair. He had a long scar across his face, and Phoebe didn't want to ask. Instead, she asked,

"Who are you? Can you help him?" The black rabbit nodded to the last.

"I can. You are. . .?" She blushed.

"Phoebe."

"Ah. I, to Kroys and his troops, am known as Commander Flairang, but to my friends I am known as Omega."



Okay, I got you in, Omega! I can't write more now, my hour's up.