Page 2 of Saving the Sautiitions

The woman behind the counter smiles at him before typing away on the computer. “Vahru, it’s been a long time. How are you doing with your research?” She glances up at him from under her lashes as she waits for his response.

“I’m coming along just fine. We’d like to launch today, if at all possible. We don’t want to delay in case we miss the blooming of a particular flower.”

“I see. Let me see what I can do for you.” She continues to type away, her eyes bouncing around the screen. I glance up at Vahru, his gaze wandering around the facility.

“Is Garvon here?” He looks at Avalah, one eyebrow raised in curiosity.

“I believe so. He’d be back in his cave.” She looks up at him, waiting to see if he’ll explain himself.

He simply tugs my hand, turning away from the counter and walking away. “Thanks, Avalah, but I’m going to see if Garvon can help me. He owes me a favor, anyway.”

Vahru pulls me along, the others following closely as we hurry through the enormous building. There’s an entire wall of windows, a showcase room of ships and vehicles for single person or family use. He turns down a hallway that only grows darker as we go along. The floor slants, taking us deeper into the building, and I cling to his arm, unsure of where we’re going.

“Don’t worry, Garvon will have just the ship we need, and he’ll hand it over too. He owes me big time for taking a job off his hands a year ago.”

He turns a corner, pushing through a massive plastic curtain into an even bigger cavern. One wall is covered in screens, schematics, poster boards, and everything else an inventor might need. Another wall has a workbench with an insane amount of tools piled on and under it. We slowly walk across the large space, a massive ship taking up much of the middle of the room.

“Garvon? It’s Vahru.” His voice rings out and echoes in the vast chamber. I feel like I’m in that underground bunker from Transformers, and I fully expect to round a corner and find Megatron. My head snaps in each direction as I look around for someone, anyone, to come out and greet us.

There’s a long pause of silence before Melodia jumps, her tentacle wrapping around my other arm. I look at her, following her gaze to see a gargantuan man come walking out of a dark hallway to our right. I tug on Vahru’s hand, and he turns.

“Ah, Garvon, old friend. How are you?”

The giant laughs loudly, and I almost fear the room will shake and shower us in debris. I thought Vahru was big. This man is another two feet taller than him, at least, and has shoulders wider than a truck. His skin is so dark it’s almost a grayish-black color, the swirls brightly colored in contrast, making him comparable to a zebra. Bright eyes that are almost the same shade as his swirling pattern nearly glow in the dim light of the room. His black hair is long, like most others, but is sprinkled with white streaks that match his skin and eyes, making him the most unique Nyan man I’ve met so far.

“Vahru! It’s been too long. To what do I owe the pleasure?” He reaches out, grasping Vahru’s forearm in a sort of handshake, clapping him on the other arm. They both chuckle, and Vahru explains as Garvon’s eyes take in the rest of us.

“We need a ship, a big one that only you can provide. I’m calling in my favor. I’m sorry to spring this on you, but it’s important.”

Garvon’s eyes widen as he takes in Tonya and Melodia, his eyes trailing up her tentacle, up my arm, and to my face. My skin prickles in awareness, like he’s seeing more than he should as he looks at me, and uncharacteristically, I grow nervous. My cheeks heat, and I look away, staring at Vahru.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me before you start asking for favors?” Garvon’s tone is flat, but not rude. He’s clearly curious, and I can’t say I blame him. I would be too if my old friend showed up at my work with a bunch of strange aliens and started asking for favors with no decent explanation. I don’t blame him for finding this entire ordeal a bit sketchy.

“My apologies. This is my mate, Kari. She’s a human space captain, and this is her Lieutenant Jeff. Willa is from my village and is Jeff’s mate. Tonya and Melodia are Sautiitions; aliens that brought Kari and Jeff here to help them. That’s why we need the ship, Gar, to save the rest of the Sautiition’s. They’re dying because of Kurgash.”

“And why is this your mission? They can’t help themselves?” He stares at Vahru, his tone still flat and calm, but I get the sense he isn’t eager to help us. He either knows what’s going on with the Sautiition’s and isn’t interested in sticking his neck out, or he has no clue and doesn’t want to risk his ship for something that may very well destroy it.

I hate being questioned like this for trying to do what’s right. Nothing pisses me off more than someone who’s skeptical of helping desperate people. Unable to contain my rage, I step into his space as I tip my head back, staring up at him. “It became my mission when Tonya and Melodia asked for my help. It became my mission when The Guardians made me the next chief of the village and told me I have a destiny to save people like them across the universe. And when I take on a mission, Garvon, I don’t back down. I made a promise to these people and will do what I can to save what’s left of their dying civilization, whether or not you help me. So what’s it going to be?”

I stare him down, and his gaze almost burns, as if it’s peeling back the layers of my soul to see if I’m lying, but I don’t back down. I stand my ground and wait for a response.

“The Guardians, huh? You have a strong will, I’ll give you that. I’ll help you, let you take the ship, but you bring it back in one piece. I see a single scratch on it, your hide is mine, missy. Understood?”

Tonya scuttles up and sings at him, her tone angry and fierce as her eyes squint, her tentacle pointing at him. Garvon cocks an eyebrow, watching with amusement as Vahru tries to hide a laugh.

“She said you insult her. She’s the best pilot on Sautiious 5, and your insinuation that she would ever pilot a craft so carelessly as to damage it is rude.” I can’t keep the smirk off my face as I stare at Garvon. I cross my arms and cock my hip out as I hear Vahru snicker to my side.

“I thought you were the captain?” He narrows his eyes at me, and I grin even wider.

“That’s right, Captain, not pilot. That’s her job. I just make sure the mission goes according to plan. She’s the one who gets us in and out safely.” I give him a smug look as he looks down at her with skepticism.

“Fine. Let me get the keys, but my threat still stands! She’ll be responsible for making it up to me if my ship is damaged!” he hollers over his shoulder as he disappears down the dark hall to retrieve the keys.

I can’t stop myself from laughing as Tonya mutters under her breath, angry with the brute.

It doesn’t take him long to come back with the keys, offering us plenty of provisions for the journey ahead. He helps us stock up the ship, making sure it has plenty of fuel and everything else we’ll need before getting it to the launch pad. He waves goodbye as we load up. I watch him from the small window by my seat as he disappears in a plume of smoke from the engines as the ship heads into the skies.

I’ll keep my promises to Tonya, and to Garvon. I’ll get her people out safely, and I’ll get his ship back in one piece. Now to just figure out exactly how I’m going to do it.

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