NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: This thread will document the lifespan of the current Ghargon of Ghargonia, Gorbgan IV, in some of the most influential periods of his life. It may explain a few things about him, like why he is so interested in humans despite their historical experiences with them.

IC:

0micronis Island, Earth, Sol – 1972

Gorbgan was an unusual eggling. Larger than most Ghargonians his age, he had a vicious streak matched only by an adult Gerash warrior. His tendency to snap at – and sometimes seriously injure – other egglings for no real reason was particularly unusual. His parents encouraged it, proud to have such aggressive offspring, but his mentors were more impressed by his substantial intelligence. He had a knack of working out complicated problems; whether it be trying to find his way to an impossible location, maths, Ghargonian language teasers or anything that required thought. He was very creative, especially in the sciences and war tactics areas.

He particularly enjoyed the art of hocket – the ancient stick-fighting martial art, thought to date back almost 2,700,000 years to some of the ancient Ghargonians. A long, thick pole with a rounded ‘club’ on one end and a curved ‘hitter/grabber’ at the end. Already, at just eleven solar cycles old, Gorbgan had weaselled out almost 10 weakling egglings, killing them in honourable combat.

He frequently engaged in the art, enjoying the strategy, the physical exertion, the constant surge of adrenaline coursing through his body as he faced almost certain-death with each opponent. Dodging, circling, and twirling his hocket elegantly before swiping for the kill.

His current opponent, for instance, was three cycles older than he, but a full head shorter. His style was flawless, but he lacked drive, ambition, experience… the burning desire to be victorious over any odds. He fought because it was expected of him, not because he needed to. He lacked the heart, and such lack of will could cause death on the battlefield.

Gorbgan dodged quickly as his opponent swung the lower half of his hocket – the spiked half – at him. Pushing his hocket over his shoulders, Gorbgan deflected his opponent, opening him up. He jabbed the lower end of the stick into his opponent’s gut, drawing green blood. The young Ghargonian took a few steps back, gasping.
Angrily, he brought his hocket over his shoulder and drove it down, using the thing like a baseball bat in an attempt to club Gorbgan over the head.

An amateur mistake, no doubt.

Gorbgan raised his own hocket, catching his opponent’s weapon in the hook end. This left him entirely vulnerable, and Gorbgan wasn’t about to surrender such an opportunity. Mercy was just as weak as hesitation, and he would display both if he spared this weakling’s life. He thrust the lower end forward, making pleasing sounds as thudded into the young Ghargonian’s chest so hard bones cracked.
His opponent dropped his weapon, instead clutching Gorbgan’s as he cried out in pain. Gorbgan finished him. He pushed the stick to the side, turning the wounded child’s back to him, and then he jumped into the air. He slammed one of his clawed feet into the back of his opponent’s head, and he toppled forwards. A satisfying ‘thud’ came as the Ghargonian hit the floor.

Gorbgan roared in success, waving an arm around. He bent over, and pulled his hocket out, lifting the corpse from the ground as he struggled to remove the claw at the end. Twirling it to try and shake off some of the green blood, Gorbgan walked out of the training room to find something to clean his weapon with.

“Excellent form, eggling, excellent form,” his mentor said. Gorbgan turned to see his huge teacher. Mentor Graf had once been a combat trainer for the Empire’s military, and he made good use of that experience here.

“Thank you Mentor,” Gorbgan said. His voice had a certain snarl to it, but it wouldn’t become truly menacing until he reached adulthood. “His heart wasn’t in it. If he survives, I hope he learns from this and gains strength.”

“You are truly one of the greatest warriors to have passed through my school in many cycles, eggling,” Graf nodded, rubbing his snout. “At this rate, you may become Ghargon.”

“I could never be Ghargon,” Gorbgan shook his small head. “That destiny is for our great Emperor.”

“Notions of grandeur lead you off the path of strength, eggling,” Graf chuckled. “I should not have said anything. Go on home.”

“Yes Mentor,” Gorbgan nodded. He patted his chest, mimicking a military salute, and left the training centre.

Gorbgan always found Earth to be an unusual place. It was too cold, and the green really depressed him after a while. He saw holopictures of Ghargonia Prime, and found himself wishing he could go back.

Gorbgan lived in one of the outer-most towns of 0micronis, an isolated island in the largest ocean of this world. A hundred million or so Ghargonians lived here, the result of two millennia of breeding. The combat school was one of the closest buildings to the Great Barrier of the entire colony, and Gorbgan often threw stones and branches at the energy field on the way home. Today was no different. He found a good, long branch – or rather, log – and threw it where the Great Barrier was. It was unmistakable; grass on either side of a deep, muddy rut. Grass couldn’t grow under a dangerous energy field. It prevented people from walking into it, anyway.
The log bounced off the field, and it sparkled yellow. Gorbgan smiled, his small, curved teeth glistening in the sunshine, and he started looking for something else to throw at it.
He found a rock. It was small, but it would still work. He pulled his arm back and let her rip, sending the rock flying towards the barrier. Only, it passed straight through.

Odd, he thought. He’d heard of gaps in the field – it had been running for 2,000 years none-stop, after all. But he’d never seen one before. He took another rock and threw it, to make sure. That too passed through.

He probably shouldn’t have. In fact, the voice in his head that the elders told him was his conscience kept telling him not to. But he walked towards the hole, and poked his arm out.
His little clawed fingers expected to be burned by the field, but they passed right over the mud rut where the field was supposed to be. He waved his arm around, surprised to find nothing. It was a large hole.

Large enough to step though?

Fortune favoured the courageous, an old Ghargonian saying.

The little eggling tentatively put his leg through the gap, stepping where no Ghargonian had stepped for 2,000 years. His confidence bolstered by the fact he wasn’t lying unconscious 20 yards away after being shocked by the field, he continued. He stepped right through and turned around.

Yep, he was through alright. He looked back out. The beach was supposed to be one of Earth’s most interesting landscapes, but he had only seen satellite holopictures of them. None of this island’s beaches were within the confines of the energy barrier, so no-one could get to them unless there was a military need to do so.

It couldn’t hurt, he thought. He shrugged his small shoulders, and started running into the thick forest that blocked his way. If he was going to do this, he wanted to be quick.

OOC: Warning: Profanities possible from here on out.

IC:

Ten minutes of running later, he burst from the forest into the bright sunshine, slipping over in fine, white-gold sand. He growled, rolling in the stuff until he stood to his feet, and started running down the beach.

In the distance, he could see something. Some kind of water-based craft; not very large, but it was streamlined with a glass screen. Some peculiar creatures stood not far from it, on the beach.

He cautiously approached them, not yet knowing the histories of their people. He was never one to shy away from a challenge.

“Who are you?” he called in Ghargonian. A series of guttural growls and snorts to an ignorant listener. The figures, three of them, looked up from what they were doing and pointed at the five-foot humanoid reptile, talking in a peculiar language. They had strange smooth skin, some kind of hair on their heads, and their small, frail bodies were covered in white cloth. They had circles on their heads which seemed to keep the sun off their freakish flat faces.



“Hey, John, what the hell is that?” Parker asked, not taking his eyes of the lizard.

“What’s what, I don’t… holy…” John looked around and saw the creature as he heard a bizarre series of growls come from behind him.

“Is it one of those komodo dragons we keep hearing about?” Parker asked, shielding his eyes from the sun. The lizard was still approaching them, slowly and cautiously. Those teeth certainly didn’t look friendly to Parker.

“I don’t think so,” John said quietly. “It’s upright, and doesn’t have a tail and… and I think it’s wearing clothes…” He pointed at a short white ‘skirt’, held around the creature’s waist by a thick brown strap.

“Jeeze, that could be worth a fortune…” Parker said. “Circus would… screw that, national television! People pay to see freaky shit, man, I’m telling you… and that… is freaky shit!”

“I’ll get the net…” John nodded, almost tripping over as he excitedly backed towards the boat.

“Hey, just leave it alone, guys, it’s not doing any harm,” James called after John. “Just… let’s get out of here before it gets scared and does… something.”

“Screw that, I want cash,” Parker said. “What the hell’s the matter with you? This could be our ticket! The gold ticket to riches, man! Get with it, for fuck’s sake.”

“Well, OK,” James nodded, pointing at the creature’s head. Parker started backing off as it got closer. “How are you going to put that in a small speedboat without it biting through the net?”

“I… hey, John, there’s rope back there, right?” Parker called.

John’s head popped up from inside the boat, followed by his arm. He clutched a bundle of worn rope in one hand. “Just about,” he called.

John fell head-first off the boat, dragging a weighted net behind him and clutching the rope.

“How are we going to do this, then?” he asked.

“You put your arm in its mouth and we’ll tie it shut,” Parker nodded. John looked at him blankly for a few moments.

“Fuck off Parker, why don’t you put your head in there?” he shouted.

“OK OK, listen, I’ll distract it, you get behind it and clamp its mouth shut with your arms, like with a croc,” Parker suggested. “Then you hold it, I’ll tie it, then throw the net over it. Yeah?”

“OK,” John nodded. “Hey James, get on the radio, get someone to help us with this thing when we get back.”

“Right,” James sighed.

Parker stomped forward in the sand. The creature crouched down, its claws held out, hissing. Parker stomped slowly, making his way around. Sure enough, the nervous creature turned to follow him. With the creature’s back turned, John leapt forward. He was surprised that his bodyweight didn’t knock the creature to the ground. Instead, it reared up, trying to shake him off. He put all his efforts into holding its jaws shut, even when it started clawing at his arms.

“AGGH… hurry up will you?!” John shouted at Parker, who stood fumbling with the rope. “And save some for its arms and legs!”

“Roger roger,” Parker nodded, dodging claws as he tied the creatures’ jaws shut tight. John slid off the creature, taking its arms behind its back and putting all his strength into holding them. It was smaller than him, but about as strong, if not stronger, so it wasn’t an easy task. He beckoned Parker to hurry up as he wrapped the rope around its wrists. He cut off the excess with a knife and used the rest to get the creature’s legs. When he was done, he shoved the creature to the floor and stood back, admiring his work as the creature writhed around in the sand.

“Nice job,” John nodded, dusting himself off and standing beside Parker.

“Nice to see you guys having fun,” James called. “I just spoke with the coastguard, they’ll have someone from a local zoo on hand to look it over when we get back.”

“Good,” John said, smacking his hands together. “Time to leave I think!”

“I hear that,” Parker nodded. “Help me get this thing in the boat, will you?”

“Sure, sure,” John said, beckoning him to hurry. “Let’s just pick up the pace a bit, yeah?”

OOC: I don’t need the permission of Mattikistan, as it’s one of my own. :D. Quicker than getting someone’s permission, and better than using a RL nation in that area. Mattikistan is in the Pacific, after all. Ah the irony. They’ve had aliens in their country and don’t even (officially) know it… heck, they live right next to an island of them.

IC:

He had no idea how these small creatures had done it. Two of them tricked him and bound him, and now he was helpless. He deserved to die for being captured so easily, but he still had time to redeem himself via escape.

Not much time, though. He was in a small vehicle that floated on the water. The bobbing and spray, and the strained sound of their primitive internal combustion engine led him to believe they were moving. He was face-down in the boat, so he couldn’t see anything, but he could feel it. They were definitely moving. If they got too far from the island, he wouldn’t be able to get back. He didn’t know his way around the whole of 0micronis, let alone the entire planet. He’d have to escape while they were still near the island, or he’d just be recaptured again.

The barbarity of these creatures led him to believe these were the dominant mammals of this world, the savages from the stories of their ancestors’ arrival here. Two thousand years ago, the primitive mammals butchered an entire exploration party for no reason. It seemed they hadn’t changed very much. Although, he was still alive, so that was some comfort. Not much, but some.

The boat was slowing, it seemed. It had been a long trip when he thought about it. From his twisted position he could make out primitive metal structures poking over the sides of the boat.

A crane towered above them. Soon, the concrete of the dock could be seen. Other boats, some large ships, and a strange smell. Kind of like fish. One of the humans stood upright on its skinny legs, grabbing the sides of the docks and trying to stop the boat. Once he managed to accomplish that task with his weak arms, he threw a rope over a metal hook. Gorbgan could see that the rope was tied around a loop at the front of the boat; it would stop them drifting.



“We’re here!” Parker shouted, clambering out of the boat. “You two stay here with ‘that’; I’m going to look for our zoo person.”

“Hurry up,” John called after him as he jogged towards some red warehouses.

Parker hated this country. ‘Mattikistan’ was a stupid name. Who named a country after a guy called ‘Matt’? Mattikistanians, he guessed. He spotted a black sedan and stopped, squinting. He was short-sighted, and it was sunny, so he couldn’t see very clearly. A woman leaned up against the bonnet patiently, looking at the floor. Bright blonde hair, tied back in a tail. A black skirt, black jacket buttoned securely around a white blouse.

“Please be for me,” Parker muttered to himself, and walked over to her.

“Can I help you?” the woman asked, looking up as he approached.

“You from the zoo?” Parker asked casually.

“That’s right,” she nodded, holding out her hand to greet him. “You must be one of the ‘explorers’ my associate spoke to. Professor Kate Hicks, from the Helgoland Zoological Institute. Where’s the specimen?”

“I… uh… hi,” he said. She’d pulled her hand away just as he’d raised his. “It’s over this wa… hey, we’ll get some kind of reward for this, won’t we?”

“Depending on the value of the specimen,” she nodded. “You may get financial compensation as a show of our gratitude for retrieving an interesting specimen, yes.”

“Good, good,” he nodded enthusiastically, gesturing sea-ward. “This way.”

She followed him across the dock and looked down at the small boat. John and James looked up and held their hands up in a wave.

“Hi,” John called, patting the lizard roughly. “It’s a beaut’, huh?”

“It’s certainly… intriguing,” she nodded after looking it over. “Will you… give me a hand?”

“Oh, sure,” Parker nodded. He took her hand as she lowered herself down and crouched down over the creature curiously.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” she muttered as she looked at it closely.

“Me neither,” John said distantly, staring at her rear.

“I’m James, by the way,” James said. “He up there is Parker; the drooling one is John.”

“Right, right,” Hicks said, disinterested. “Where did you find this, again?”

“That unnamed island not far from here,” John said, snapping himself out of the trance he’d apparently put himself into. “Just wandering around on the beach it was. There might be more, I didn’t see.”

“It’s amazing,” she continued. “It’s even wearing clothes of some sort… did you put these on it as a joke or something?”

“No, no,” John said, holding his hands up as though trying to prove he didn’t have a weapon. “Sold as-is, no alterations. Walks on two legs too. Like a human dinosaur.” He grinned and shoved the unenthusiastic James. “Come on man, we’re in the money!”

“Quite certainly,” Hicks said, standing up and putting her foot against the dock wall as she took Parker’s hand again and pulled herself up. “This is a very unique specimen. Very valuable. I just have to make a phone call to arrange for appropriate transportation.”



Hicks stepped away from Parker, who crouched down and started uttering something unintelligible to his cohorts. She pulled out a sleek clamshell mobile phone from her jacket and flipped it open, pressing a quick dial button. She held the phone up to her head and waited for someone to answer.

“The sun shines brightly in Kreekland in the winter,” a deep voice said casually.

“Not as brightly as the snow reflects it,” Hicks said. There was a pause.

“Go ahead Agent Hicks,” the voice said finally. “This is a secure line.”

“I can confirm your suspicions, sir,” Hicks said quietly. “It’s a definite non-terrestrial. Humanoid reptile, wearing clothing. Definitely not terrestrial.”

“Can you secure it?” the voice asked. She looked over her shoulder and pulled one corner of her red lips up in a mischievous grin.

“The creature’s captors shouldn’t be too challenging to remove from the equation, sir,” Hicks said, amused.

“Have they told anyone else yet?”

“Hang on, I’ll find out,” Hicks said. She placed the phone against her chest and walked back over to Parker. “Excuse me, who else knows about this specimen?”

“Huh?” Parker span around. “James, who you tell?”

“No-one,” James called back. “Oh, except for the coastguard.”

“Thank you,” she nodded solemnly. She stepped away again and held the phone up. “The dullards have told no-one except for the other agent.”

“Excellent,” the voice said. “Bring all of them in along with the NT, and keep it hidden, for God’s sakes. If it makes noise, stun it.”

“Understood,” Hicks said, nodding for no particular reason. She dialled another number as soon as that connection was cut, and held the phone back up again. “I need a standard hazardous materials transportation unit to pick up a biological sample, alive. Helgoland Southern Docks. Immediately.” She clapped the phone shut again and slipped it back into her jacket pocket. She straightened her collar and walked back over to the boat.

“When the transportation arrives, I’ll have to ask you three to come with me,” she said, smiling.

“Why?” John asked, furrowing his brow. “Can’t you just give us a cheque and have done with it?”

“I’m afraid it’s more complicated than that,” she smiled apologetically. “We need you to fill in a few forms, sign some papers that confirm you’re releasing the specimen to our custody, acknowledge some customs papers… paperwork, basically, but it’s necessary I’m afraid. It shouldn’t take too long, and then you’ll receive your payment.”

“Alright then,” John nodded. “It better not take too long though; we’ve got places to be.

Not anymore, Hicks thought to herself.

“This isn’t the zoo…” John said slowly as they drove past a military checkpoint. “Hey where are we going?”

“Please be quiet,” Hicks said as she wound her window down and handed a guard in a booth an identity card. He looked down at it and then back up at her. He nodded and handed it back to her, waving her through.

“No, I won’t be quiet, where are you…” John stopped talking when she suddenly pulled a gun up and aimed it at his forehead.

“Please be quiet,” she repeated calmly, following the white van along a road that veered down sharply under the large, bland, white building in the middle of the Helgoland desert.

“I thought guns were banned here…” John said, gulping.

“They are,” Hicks smirked. “That’s why it’s so easy to get away with carrying one. Who’s going to stop me?”

“Good point,” John nodded, putting his hands up. She sighed and whacked him across the face with the butt of the pistol, knocking him out cold.

“Anyone else want to chime in?” she called, looking in the rear view mirror. They said nothing. “Good.”

The car rounded a concrete pillar and parked next to a door in the wall. As she got out, waving her gun to signal the other two should get out as well, two armed guards in black suits stepped out.

“There’s another one unconscious in the passenger seat,” she nodded to them. One of the guards nodded and walked around to the left side of the car, opening the passenger door and catching John as he fell out. As he struggled to sling John over his shoulder, the other guard led Parker and James through the door and down a white corridor. Hicks slipped the gun into the holster around her waist and wandered in the direction of the white van.



Gorbgan growled as one of the new humans reached for his snout. He was desperately trying to use his powerful jaws to tear the rope that bound them, but it was holding them down too firmly.

The new humans wrapped something that looked even stronger around them as well, some kind of leather strap. Once they’d buckled it tightly they removed the coarse rope and tossed it aside, lifting him onto a stretcher.

He was carried through some bland white corridors, held in place by two bulky humans after he tried to wriggle off the stretcher. They slammed through some doors and dumped the stretcher on a metal table, sliding Gorbgan onto some kind of metal study table. His arms were untied, only to be strapped down to the corners of the bed. His feet were similarly restrained.



“Look there,” one of the doctors said, pointing at the X-rays. “I would say this creature is no less than ten years old. It’s still growing. Look at this odd cranial structure… almost as though it’s been designed to endure lots of punishment. And here…”

“Well what about these claws,” another scientist said. “They’re bone, but harder even than the skull. Just like the teeth; and those would probably grow back if you snapped one off.”

Once of the lab assistants wandered in and leaned on the wall, seemingly annoyed. He’d probably been working there all day.

“What do you want to do with the alien, sirs?” he asked unenthusiastically.

“Oh, just take it to an isolated holding cell,” one of the doctors waved his hand, not taking his eyes off the X-rays. “Now what do you suppose that is? Redundant organs?”

The lab assistant shrugged and wheeled the bed backwards out of the lab and down a corridor. He stopped some way down and pushed a door open, struggling to manoeuvre the bed through and inside. He managed it though, and stopped beside a large cage.

“You two, give me a hand,” the assistant called. Two guards stepped over and untied the creature, picking it up securely when they freed it. The lab assistant unlocked the cage and opened the door as struggled to hold it still. As soon as it was open, the guards through the creature inside and the lab assistant slammed the cage door shut. The two guards pulled handguns out and aimed them at the creature until the assistant locked the cage, and then they all left it alone and went about their business.



Gorbgan looked around the room from the confines of this peculiar cell. Small, non-sentient animals filled similar cells on the opposite wall. Some of them didn’t look very well; some of them looked insane, smashing their heads against the bars repeatedly and making odd sounds. Gorbgan didn’t like his chances.

He fiddled with the strap around his snout until it came off and started trying to figure out how the door to this primitive cell opened when another human came to him, standing over him and looking down curiously.

He knew very little about mammals, sentient mammals at any rate, but he knew enough. This one appeared to be female. If that peculiar chest it had was what he thought it was, this one had recent offspring somewhere. Mammals used those mammary glands to feed the very young. No eggs involved. It was a strange concept.
It said something, but Gorbgan had no idea what the gibberish the primitive was spewing meant.



“Only a child,” Hicks said thoughtfully, looking at the creature. It sat down in the cage, mainly because it was too small for it to stand up. It was designed for smaller animals, but they’d never had to make accommodations for alien life before.

“Yes,” Doctor Karl said, stepping beside her and looking down at it.

“I wonder if its parents are worried about it,” Hicks pondered.

“I doubt it,” Karl shook his head. “This is, by all intents and purposes, a reptile. They don’t typically value their offspring as much as we do. There have been exceptions in the past, but for the most part…”

Hicks crouched down to get a better look at the creature. She cocked her head sideways curiously as it slowly moved closer to her.

“I wouldn’t get too close if I were you,” Karl warned.

The creature’s yellow eyes narrowed and it grabbed the mesh, poking its claws through. She smiled at it and it cocked its own head in return.

“Reklar! Kraaat too meck kanaereash tomack rectu!” the creature suddenly roared. A series of grunts and growls with a few things that could be construed as words in-between. Hicks jumped backwards, her heart pounding by how sudden it was.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Karl smirked as the creature violently shook the cage.

“It’s intelligent,” Hicks deduced, dusting herself down.

“Very,” Karl nodded. “I expect the adults are highly intelligent. This one acts so irrationally because it is basically a frightened child. Even though its brain is smaller than ours, it uses a lot more of its brain than we use of ours.”

“Shouldn’t you find better accommodations for it?” she asked, stepping away. “If it’s intelligent, and has advanced technology, it probably doesn’t like being caged up like this.”

“Probably,” Karl snorted. “We don’t have much in the way of resources here though, as you well know.”

“Still…” Hicks trailed off. “Never mind; I have duties to attend to. I’ll see you later.”

“Indeed,” Karl nodded. “Goodbye, Agent Hicks.”

“My lord,” a soldier stopped in front of the throne and dropped to one knee, slamming his arm across his metal-armoured chest in a salute.

“What is it, soldier?” the Emperor asked, rising to his feet.

“Emperor, one of the egglings’ tutors in East Section is reporting a missing eggling,” the soldier said. He seemed uncomfortable in the Emperor’s presence. Even the Gerash Guardians who stood behind the throne seemed uncomfortable, however.

“Why are you telling me this, soldier?” the Emperor asked calmly.

“We have located him, my lord,” the soldier said, handing him a datapad. “Humans have him.”

The Emperor looked at the pad carefully. A map of this ocean. It zoomed in to a nearby island, isolated a building and then a single lifeform reading within that building.

“That is most unfortunate,” Gorbgan said. “How did the eggling end up in this predicament, soldier?”

“We believe he… found a… gap, in the Great Barrier, my lord,” the soldier said hesitantly. “There was a human presence detected on the shore of 0micronis not long after the eggling left his hocket training. I believe they captured him.”

“And I ask again, why are you telling me this, soldier?” the Emperor growled. “Especially considering the dim light it casts you in…”

“To see… to see if you will order a rescue, of course, my lord,” the soldier said.

“A rescue?” the Emperor laughed. “Reveal to the humans our presence to rescue an eggling? Have you gone quite mad, soldier? Does he hold valuable information about the Imperium or something, soldier?”

“I was under the impression, sir, that the function of the Imperial Guard on this colony was to defend against human attack,” the soldier said, almost angry. “Not to find out where Ghargonian lifeforms are being held by humans and watch them… fade.”

“We are tens of thousands of lightyears away from home, soldier,” the Emperor said, tossing the datapad on the floor and sitting back down on his throne. “But I will not let us stray from the Ghargonian way. If this eggling is strong, he will find his own way home. If not, we do not require his presence here anyway. Helping the weak results in failure; remember that, soldier. However, you may leave the same hole in the barrier open for five solar days. Post a guard there to ensure no humans get through. If the eggling hasn’t returned by then, he probably never will.”

“Yes, my lord,” the soldier said, bowing.

“Rescue mission,” the Emperor snorted to himself as the soldier left the throne room.

The scientist put his head in his hands for a few minutes, rubbed his forehead, then stood up and started pacing up and down.

“Where are you from?” he asked again, looking at the alien through the glass. The alien sat on a metal table, looking at him intently. He growled every now and then, much to the scientist’s displeasure, but said nothing. He had been offered a comfortable red chair which was now upside down in the corner of the room, but he’d chosen the table.

“If you don’t start getting results soon, they’ll start dissecting it,” his companion said calmly.

“I know you can hear me,” the scientist said to the alien, ignoring his colleague. “I know that you’re intelligent; if you don’t help me, I can’t help you. Now, where are you from?”

The alien remained motionless and silent, blinking his yellow eyes calmly.

“Dammit…” the scientist sighed, sitting back down. “Well, I’m out of ideas. We’ve tried offering it food, shocking it, talking rationally…”

“Have you ever considered that it doesn’t understand what you’re saying?” a woman’s voice asked. He looked around to see Hicks standing in the doorway, watching their progress, or lack thereof. “It’s a child, it might not even understand its own language, let alone ours.”

“The thought had crossed my mind,” the scientist sighed. “Even if that is the case, it’s not going to learn our language by sitting in silence, and it has the brain power to learn…”

“Yes,” she nodded, stepping forwards. “But how many children have learned to speak by being interrogated in the past?”

“There are no such documented case,” the scientist shook his head, adjusting his glasses.

“Exactly my point,” Hicks smiled smugly. She pushed him out of the way roughly and stepped up to the glass. The creature looked up at her, recognising her, and cocked its head sideways.

“Kate,” she said, thumping her chest. “My name’s Kate.” She pointed at the alien. “What is your name?”

The alien blinked and cocked its head the other way, and opened its mouth. Her eyes widened as she saw the lines of razor-sharp teeth. She figured out why the offerings of food probably weren’t particularly appealing to it; they kept offering it vegetables and fruit.

“Gorbgan,” the alien snarled finally, smacking its own chest.

“Gorb… gan? Right.” Hicks looked around at the scientist and smiled. “You can call it Gorbgan now, instead of ‘Specimen 29191 alpha’.”

“Right…” the scientist nodded, removing his glasses.


The female again. Obviously females were dominant in this culture; she simply shoved her male counterparts out of the way, and if the pistol shaped object under her peculiar garments was anything to go by, she was armed.

From his basic English lessons, as mandated to all who wish to join the military, and the way in which she used the words, he managed to pick up a few terms and words from her exchange with the other humans, and her own words to him. At this rate he’d be able to pick up a few secrets from them soon.



“Any sign of atmospheric disturbances?” Hicks asked.

“Nope,” one of the technicians said. They were in a room full of huge computers, printing things out on rolls of paper continuously. Retro-tech at its finest. “No rescue attempts, unless they’re already here.”

“Good,” Hicks nodded. “Keep a lookout anyway.”

“What are your numbers?!” the MCI agent shouted, leaning on the table. Gorbgan went to take a snap at his nose, but his arms had been tied to the chair and he was a few centimetres short.

“What level of technology do you possess?” the agent continued. “Why are you here? Where are the others? What do you intend to do?!”

Gorbgan snarled, but said nothing. He understood a lot of what he said now, but he simply chose to make them believe otherwise.

“Right, you brought this on yourself,” the agent said, clapping his hands. Another agent stepped up from behind and smacked him across the snout with a metal pole. They’d discovered that he wasn’t actually caused all that much pain by simple fists; indeed, his tough skin hurt their hands more than they hurt him. So they’d switched to poles.

Gorbgan’s chair toppled over and he smacked his head against the concrete floor. Dazed, he had another go at breaking the bonds around his wrists, but he was ultimately unsuccessful. The female human, ‘Kate’, stood at the glass staring at him coldly. He gave her a suitable ‘I’m going to kill you’ look as he was lifted back up again.



Hicks turned away the second time they smacked the alien with the pole. She’d witnessed and, indeed, carried out many unofficial interrogations in her time, but never on a child, no matter what colour he was. Despite their mandate, the MCI should still be representing the interests of Mattikistan, and those interests did not include beating children.

She headed for the commander’s office and smashed the door open, standing by his desk and putting her fist against the table.

“Can I help you with something, Agent Hicks?” the black-suited man asked calmly after examining her face.

“Is it really necessary to beat a child for information when he quite obviously can’t speak any English?” she demanded.

“This thing could be the vanguard of an invasion force,” the man said, shrugging and leaning back in his chair. “If it is, we need to know everything it knows. Even if it isn’t we will be needing to perform more, how should I say, ‘in-depth’ study.”

“Does the Prime Minister know about this?” Hicks asked, furious. “Does he know that you are breaking the laws of racism and equality because of what might happen? Does he know that the very constitution of this country is being violated in the state right next to him?”

“Of course he doesn’t,” the man smiled. “You think a civilian would believe such a tale? I am quite at liberty to terminate your contract without notice should you attempt to inform him or his colleagues, by the way. Or anyone else, for that matter.”

She knew what that meant. It meant she would be fired, literally. Dead as this kid was going to be in a while.

“In fact, Agent Hicks, I am going to take you off this case immediately,” the man said, sitting up and grabbing some papers from his desk. “I believe you have become irreversibly emotionally entangled with a creature we plan to dissect at some point in the near future, and I can’t have you interrupting that. At 8pm tomorrow you are to take a flight to Reloria. There is a band of Confederate-supporters there who intend to try and overthrow the monarchy; they will need all the help they can get.”

“Sir, I…”

“Agent Hicks, I have an almost infinite amount of patience,” the man said, smiling. “Let’s not waste time trying to find out how long it takes to wear out, hmm?”

“Yes, sir,” she grumbled, and slowly left the office, shutting the door behind her quietly.

I need to get some of these thoughts out of my head, she thought, blinking rapidly and tapping her forehead. Please tell me I’m not about to do what I think I’m going to do.

She sighed, clutched the pistol hidden beneath her jacket and started walking towards the containment area. It was going to be one of those days again…

Hicks crouched down beside the cage and put her cheek close to the front. The creature – Gorbgan-- looked up, apparently unsure of whether he should stay still or slash at her face through the mesh.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” she whispered. “I know you can understand me. Get back from the door and play along.”

Gorbgan looked at her for a second, narrowing his eyes. He was probably trying to figure out what sort of games she was playing. Frankly she didn’t blame him for not trusting him, considering his treatment he had no reason to. Still, he better learn to do so sooner or later, or this was going to be more difficult.

She sighed. She reached up and let her hair loose as she moistened her lips with her tongue, and turned around, smiling at the soldier guarding the door.

“Hey there,” she said, walking over to him casually.

“Ma’am,” the nervous soldier nodded. “Can I help you with something?”

“Well, perhaps,” she smiled. “I’ve devoted most of my life to the agency. I’ve made sacrifices, I’ve kept to myself, and I’ve maintained my anonymity. But… I’m lonely and… well… I have certain needs…”

“M…ma’am?” the soldier stammered. “Are you… asking me, to…?”

“I could make it an order if that’s what you’re into,” she smiled, toying with her hair.

The soldier let his rifle drop to his side clumsily. She smiled wider and gave him a swift kick to the groin. As he went down she pulled her silenced pistol out and slammed the butt down on him. He hid the floor with a thud, sleeping like a baby.

“Dumbass,” she said, kicking him a kick in the side for good measure. She turned back to the cage now that she was alone. Gorbgan had been watching the scene, and jumped to the back of his cage as Hicks aimed her pistol at the lock. With little more than a click and a clang, the lock dropped down to the floor and the cage door opened slightly.

“Easy,” she shrugged, twirling the pistol. She looked down at Gorbgan. “Follow me if you want to get out of here.”

“Yes,” Gorbgan growled. “I want to leave.”

“See, I knew you could speak English,” she smiled. “Come on, we won’t have long before security is alerted.”