Page 24 of Einar

EINAR

Ifmy brothersdo not stay out of my blasted med bay,Iam going to knock some sense into their thick heads.Ihave told them countless times thatIhave everything arranged in a specific manner for a reason asIobserve the chaos that my once pristine domain has become.Cabinetdoors are open, shelves that are labeled with specific medications have had all the jars mixed up.

Thereis even a phallic shaped drawing on the clear case of the med-podInotice with a grimace.BikarandFalonare the most likely culprits, and possiblyRuarc.Slavicis the oldest and rarely pulls pranks this juvenile andMurgul…well, he has his own issues to deal with and keeps to himself more often than not.

Thefact that ours is a family operated ship, is a vastly overrated concept from time to time because no one vexes you quite like family.Youare not allowed to kill them…well, not unless there is a justifiable reason.Justbecause my kind is considered the scoundrels of space, does not mean we have no standards for killing.

Wedo…it is just not quite the same as the rest of the galaxy.

Rubbinga rough hand against the ridges lining one of the two horns emerging from my forehead,Ibegin the aggravating chore of reorganizing my shelvesagain.Thankfully, having a lot of practice doing this particular chore means that it will not be a long, drawn-out process.Ihave almost completed this unnecessary task when the sound of my brother’s voice coming from all around me startles me enough thatIalmost drop the vialsIam holding in my hands.

Ireally hate it whenBikardoes that, and he knows it.Whichis why he tries his best to startle me via the comms every opportunity he can.Hisvoice echoes all around me since he is in control of all the messaging on the ship.Hehas made sure that his voice comes from every direction, instead of just overhead.

“Awakenone and all, we have a new target on the radar andSlavicwants all of you on the bridge.So, get your lazy backsides up here with haste.”

Isneer at the shelving in front of me, my lips pulled tight across the pair of sharp tusks that stick up past the seam of my mouth.

Imust not kill him, our life-giver would be disappointed in me.

Allfive of my brothers are present on the bridge and are staring at the holographic screenBikarhas projected in front of the control panel.Thankfully, the ship we acquired when we first left our home world was capable of holding our massive bodies easily, or our opulent way of life would make tempers even shorter, especially on long trips without any stops to disembark the ship.TheZenithhas plenty of space for all six of us to mingle and not bump into one another, and even a few places to hide when we need our space.OurLifeGiverconstantly preached the importance of family, but there are times we all need some quiet time alone, lest we maim one another permanently.

Bikarsits in his comms chair toSlavic’sright, his fingers flying over the controls on the console.Falonis standing to his left, his massive legs spread as the ship moves aggressively to and fro asBikarflies us through the vast void around us.Murgulis leaning against the wall across the room with his arms crossed, looking bored, andRuarc, as usual, is slightly behindSlavicand to his right.Mysecond oldest brother takes his responsibilities asSlavic’ssecond in command seriously, maybe even more seriously thanSlavic’sdedication to being our captain…and oldest sibling.

Slavicglances over at me, his slate-gray eyes narrowed in irritation, and nods.

“Niceof you to finally join us,Einar.”

Thecaustic tone of this small, censuring statement instantly rubs me the wrong way.Pointingtoward the two most idiotic of our brothers,Ibark back at him.

“Iwould not have been lateSlavic, had someone,Iam not mentioning any names here, butIam assuming the culprits wereBikarandFalon, not completely demolished my med-bay.IfIhad not been wasting my time reorganizing things again,Iwould have been here when you first commed.Forfuture reference, in an emergency situationSlavic, we cannot afford for me to not know where my things are, and you know this.Theyshould know this!Youneed to keep them out of my med-bay,Slavic, orIswearIam going to start retaliating”

Mybooming words must contain all the menaceIfeel because the smirks onBikar'sandFalon’sfaces slowly fade.Slavicsighs heavily, while simultaneously smackingBikarupside his head and then reaching over and punchingFalon, knocking him sideways.Hisrage is palpable and almost makes the room shake with his fervor.

“Youfracking idiots,Iam not your caregiver.STAY-OUT-OF-THE-MEDBAY!Iwill not discuss this with you two again.Einaris correct.Ifsomething happens to one of you stupid males, he needs to be able to find his things so that you do not die.Howwould any of you explain your death to ourLife-giver in the afterlife?Doyou really want to tell her the reasonEinarcould not save you was because you hid all of his shet again?!Wipethose damn smirks off your faces beforeIdo it for you!”

Isneer asSlavic’swords end on a roar, and my two most meddlesome brothers look property chastised.Hepauses for a moment before continuing in a more controlled tone.

“Nowas to whyIneeded you all here,Bikar, tell them what you found.”

Weall watch as he adjusts a few dials before turning to face us. “Youall know the drill.Ialways have theZenith’sinstruments looking for our next haul.Shenotified me early this rising when a small ship came within our sensors with a full cargo hold.Unfortunately, it is a small to medium-sizedVelgriddixship.Icannot seem to get an exact head count on the nasty frackin bugs because of their exoskeleton, so we are going in blind.Now, because of the ship’s size, there should only be a handful of them onboard.However,Iam picking up some odd readings in several other parts of the ship.Itis possible they may have slaves on board, and you know what that means.”

“Morecredits for us!”

Mydeep voice booms alongside my brothers until a low growl from across the room causesBikarto pause.Weall look over atMurgul’sscarred visage, checking to see if he is going to be able to retain his sanity.Mybrother was captured by the insectoid species many, many rotations ago, and the things they did to him … no being could fully heal from.

NotthatIdidn’t try;Ispent rotation after rotation caring for my brother.Ihad worked myself to the point of exhaustion trying to repair what that filth had done toMurgul.Muchto my dismay, whileImanaged to heal much of his body, his mind was fractured, and we all knew it.Includinghim.Whenhe sees us all staring at him, he snarls out,

“Iam fine.Iwill not lose it.”

Hiselectric blue eyes glare at all of us in warning and his words are harsh, almost as if he must force them from his throat.Whichis probably true, because his vocal cords had been almost irreparable.Theonly reasonIwas able to repair them enough for him to speak at all is due to the specialized medic trainingIwas forced to take from the timeIwas a youngling untilIbecame a young adult.

Ialways assumed his cords were damaged from the torture he suffered as well as his pain filled screams.Icannot imagine the amount of agony and torture it took to make aRukuhkbreak.Younglingor not, we are a tough, brutish species…even before the genetic meddling we were all subjected to.Shootinga glance over atSlavic,Imeet his eyes in understanding.Heis the only one of our brothers that knows the true scope of what was done toMurgul.

Assuredthat our youngest brother was not about to lose his small grasp on sanity and destroy the bridge, we all refocus back onSlavic.

“Brothers, what say you?Dowe go give them a traditionalRukuhk, uninvited guest greeting?”

Thegrin that grows on his face is nothing short of evil, his eyes lit with vengeance.Noneof us will ever forgive that cursed species for what they did to our youngest brother.

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