Page 41 of Relyn
“Let’s get back to the ship,” Grom said, suddenly moving in front of them, trying to turn them in the other direction.
“Grom, how many times-” Wendy began.
Grom produced a laser pistol from somewhere inside his body. He kept it low and against his body, trying to hide it. “They’re looking at you.”
Nora stopped and craned her head around. Sure enough there were three burly orange aliens that suddenly were very interested in a rack of dishware at the opening of a shop. That didn’t mean that they were being followed, but Nora could understand why he was suspicious.
“I think, Wendy, that Grom might be right. Let’s go back to the ship and maybe uh, come back with reinforcements.”
The three of them began to walk, as casually as possible back toward the ship, at least at first, because after a minute, it became clear that they were indeed being followed. They sped up and so did the aliens.
“Count of three,” Nora said quietly.
“Yup,” said Wendy.
Unfortunately the aliens didn’t seem to want to wait that long. They broke out in a run.
“Three!”
Nora and Wendy took off, and bless him, Grom actually turned and pointed his gun at the three aliens charging them. He got one shot off before one of the aliens back handed him so hard he splattered against the wall between two shops.
Wendy was fast, but not fast enough. One alien scooped her up and she turned into a furious ball of nails and shrieks. Nothing she did seemed to penetrate the thick pelt of the alien. Itlooked like someone had crossed a bear with a Shitzu, or perhaps Gritty had mated with some yellow aliens that somehow lacked his charm, and that was saying something.
Nora pulled up to watch Wendy being pulled along a side corridor, and that was her mistake. She didn’t see the alien that had come up behind them from the opposite direction. Great furry arms wrapped around her and Nora found herself being carried in the same direction as Wendy. That was okay with her. There was no way Nora was going to abandon Wendy to being abducted by aliens. Hopefully Grom was okay, despite his splattered state and he would be able to tell Relyn and Bright what had happened. These aliens didn’t know the fury that they had unleashed.
Grom’s pistol must have been set on stun, because the one that he’d hit stood up and shook it off, following them down the hallway. Wendy was still screaming up a fit, but Nora held back. On a station like this, it was clear that everyone minded their own business and no one but Relyn or Bright would come to their rescue.
A few minutes later they were carried into an apartment, thankfully, not a ship, and settled into a room that seemed filled with ugly yellow bear Gritties.
“What the actual fuck?” Wendy shouted as she smoothed her clothes down. Nora put herself between Wendy and the aliens. It wouldn’t do to rile anyone up any more, and since they hadn’t tied them up or even searched them for weapons, perhaps this was another occasion to talk their way out instead of trying to fend off six hairy mascots. They all looked identical, and it was impossible to tell who was the leader, as they just sat and stared expressionless.
“What my friend would like to communicate is that we are wondering why you decided to carry us here against our will,” Nora said calmly. In her pocket she began to unzip her lockpickcase. Some of her picks would do well to puncture an eye or jam into some soft bit to escape, though making it through a crowd of those things seemed like a slim chance.
“What’s the code?” One of them finally spoke. It was one in the back, and she couldn’t actually see which one in order to address him, her or frankly, it.
“Code?” she said with actual confusion. Were they trying to break into the ship? Surely there were easier ways to do that than abduct two people in broad daylight, although this being a space station, that expression was pretty meaningless.
“Yes. The code. It’s alphanumeric.”
So not the ship’s code. It was simply a number sequence.
“Have you tried PASSWORD?”
“Give us the code!” it shouted louder. The five around it echoed the shout in an eerie chorus.
“Give us the code!” They said in unison.
“What code?” Nora asked.
“The code!”
“That is not helpful. I have no idea what code you are asking for, the code or otherwise,” Nora said.
“The code, the code, the code!” they shouted.
“I don’t know what the hell you are talking about. And shouting is not going to get you anywhere. Please communicate in a respectful manner or my friend and I will be forced to take alternative action,” Nora said, hoping they would buy her bullshit threat of some ambiguous retaliation.
They paused and stared at each other. Nora was beginning to think they all had some telepathic link that they were communicating amongst themselves with. Finally one of them said, “The credit code.”
