Chapter 6

How long had he been here? He didn’t know. There wasn’t any way to tell time in this box. The Cogians kept their new species secluded in a cell all their own now. Just the Consortium creatures. He hadn’t seen a Gyirk since they’d moved him, so he figured they were working on serums or whatever to change the new aliens into Cogians. Not too long ago, the Risous had stopped coming in. He supposed they’d figured out how to change them.

Xander looked down at the small blue form in his arms. He and Jasu had become inseparable since arriving here. The only thing they had was each other now. Xander hated to think what would happen if one of them was taken permanently. Jasu would probably break down and turn Catatonic. Xander... not much different. He almost treated Jasu like one of his own children anymore. She reminded him so much of them, sometimes the similarity was uncanny. He had promised himself long ago that if the two of them made it through this, he would take Jasu in as part of the family. If she so desired.

As he watched, the guards walked in and opened the cell, grabbing one of the more reptilian species. They’d been taking reptiles first. They were the most similar after all. None of them ever came back. Xander and Jasu were the only ones who came back. At first the newcomers had been jealous, angry, but he didn’t care. They didn’t know how lucky they were. Lucky to be killed so soon, whether it was from the experiment failing or just being lost in the Cogian mind.

The torture had been getting worse and worse. The Cogians had stopped using the halo device, or whatever they called it. Now they were using threats, toxins, anything they thought would put enough fear in him to make him spill everything. But they didn’t know him. They didn’t know what he lived for. He doubted these creatures understood love. Real love. All Xander had to do was close his eyes and he would see what he lived for. He would see Aaron, Jade, and Cain. Though recently, two more faces had been added to the vision. Emiaj and Darjan. His family seemed to be growing and he hadn’t even realized it.

Then the footsteps came again. He opened his eyes and watched as the usual guard came in and shoved his way back to Xander. It moved to grab Jasu from him, but he held his hand up to stop it, something they’d all gotten used to. He treated Jasu with respect, something she only got from him. He gently set her on the floor so she could continue to sleep. Standing, he followed them down the hall. He was used to the route by now. Down the hall, turn right, then the torture began again. He started to turn to the correct door, but the Cogian behind him shoved a hand into his back, forcing him to continue on.

This was certainly something new. Where were they taking him if he wasn’t going to be tortured? He knew they were nowhere near completing a serum for any kind of mammal, so that couldn’t be it. As they led him along, they arrived at what seemed to be some sort of observation deck. The walls were made of glass and through them, one could see stars, comets, even a planet they seemed to be orbiting. He stared out, awed by the beauty of it. The planet was a gas giant, swirling reds and greens rotated endlessly around and around. It was almost hypnotic.

“Quite intoxicating, is it not?”

A familiar voice rang out from behind him and he turned to see Croka standing there with a smirk on his face as he watched the human. He walked forward, all four hands folded behind his back as his tail swished slowly back and forth. He had been interested in Xander from the first day and had been coming up with all the torture attempts, trying to see what would break him. Nothing had broken him and Croka found this intriguing. All techniques used had broken even the most skilled Cogians, but somehow this puny soft skinned mammal had held out. Croka wanted to know why.

“I often come up here to watch it myself. I find it soothing.”

Croka walked up next to Xander, staring up at the planet as he pondered the creature beside him. After a few moments, he turned and watched Xander, his gaze steady and contemplating.

“You are a puzzling creature. We have tried every kind of torture we can think of that won’t destroy your frail body. It has become quite obvious that your mind is anything but frail. The next question is... What to do with you?”

He grabbed Xander’s chin and lifted his head, making Xander look him in the eyes. Xander’s eyes narrowed as he wrenched his face away, Croka’s claws leaving deep gouges in his cheeks. He ignored the pain, he was used to it by now. Stepping back, he crossed his arms over his chest. He’d been trying to figure these Cogians out for a while. They thrived on strength, survival of the fittest. 

Everything they did was a struggle to be the best, so Croka was the top dog in any circle - as far as Xander could tell, anyway. But what, other than that, motivated them? They were parasitic, everything they touched was turned to feed their collective hunger to spread. Maybe they didn’t have any real achievement that drove them. That made the enigma all that worse.

“I gotta admit, you’re just as ‘puzzling’. What drives your kind? What do you strive for? Other than conquering the entire universe, that is.”

Croka chuckled and turned, facing away from Xander and staring up at the window before speaking.

“It seems we are at an impasse. I want information on your species, you want information on mine. Perhaps we can exchange information. Cooperate, and I will let you live.”

He turned to Xander, lips drawn back in a fiendish smirk. Xander’s face remained passive, stoic. He wouldn’t give Croka anything to use. Sure the thought that he would live through this was tempting, but he knew that being so vague as ‘let you live’ could mean living in the cells or living as a Cogian. No, he had to find out what made Croka tick, what he could use to make him lose his temper. Finally, Xander decided to settle a bit of curiosity he’d had since day one.

“Tell me something first. That female that interrogated me the first day I was here. Why was she so miffed when I told her to use her tail on herself?”

This enticed a chuckle from Croka, who replied, “That is an insult to our kind. The highest insult, for one of the highest ways to dishonor yourself is to remove yourself from the genetic line, therefore diminishing the gene pool. So you’re informed, I answered that question as a sign of good faith. If you ask another, you will have to answer a question of mine.”

Xander listened to Croka’s explanation and pursed his lips, thinking for a few moments. He could use that. Maybe he could use it against one of his more unstable torturers. He filed that bit of information in the back of his mind and looked up at Croka as he again tried to coax information from Xander. He was so eager to find SOME way to get Xander to talk, maybe that was his weakness. He was trying so hard to get Xander to talk, he was starting to leave himself open. Watching him for a moment, Xander decided to try something.

“I just have one more question, Croka. If your kind is so much more advanced than all the species together in my galaxy, why is it you can’t figure out how to make a little, soft skinned, soft minded mammal give you basic information you should already have by now? Seems rather... inadequate to me.”

Xander’s lips twitched, fighting a smile as he watched the rage grow in Croka’s eyes. That was it. That was Croka’s weakness. Inadequacy. Croka grabbed Xander’s neck with one hand, and lifted him off the ground with two other hands, but rather than struggle and scream, Xander started chuckling. At first, Croka was confused, but then his eyes widened as he realized what he’d just done. With a roar of rage, he flung Xander across the room, sending the human into a wall. Xander’s chuckling ceased abruptly as he was knocked unconscious, his body crumpling to the floor.

Croka roared for guards to take Xander back to the cell and stormed down the hall, searching for something he could normally find without thinking. In his rage, he walked past the door several times before he noticed the biohazard sign on the door. He slammed his fist into it, sending the door flying inside as he followed, searching for the scientist he needed to talk to. His eyes fell on the cowering creature and there was a growl behind his voice as he spoke.

“YOU! Here, now!”

He watched as the scientist stood and ran over, quivering before him. Croka snarled as he watched the pathetic excuse for a Cogian.

“Start work on two sets of nanites for the human! We will break this creature if it’s the last thing I DO!”

Before the scientist could ask why he wanted two sets, Croka had turned and stormed out the door, screaming for someone to find maintenance to replace the door.

...

“What do you mean, they’ve started taking humans!?”

Aaron stood up from behind his desk, staring at the Risous messenger. Since the Cogians had started kidnaping any reptilian species they could, many of them had started remaining behind at the main base. Because of that, the majority of their ships’ crews were mammals or avians.  But now with this news, it was possible that nobody would want to go out on patrols. The Risous stood tall in front of Aaron, unintimidated by the human’s shouting.

“It’s just as I stated. The last ship that returned was devoid of Gyirks as well as humans. Those Gyirks still at the base claim that the Cogians must be desperate for information about your kind and are starting to develop a serum for them.”

Aaron’s eyes closed and he sat back down, putting his head in his hands. This wasn’t something he would ever have guessed would happen so soon. If the Cogians made a serum for Humans, then that meant they were either desperate, or Xander had broken and told them everything they wanted to know. He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, reminding himself that not only was Xander strong willed, but if he’d given them everything they needed, they’d take all of the creatures on board, not just the humans. He gathered his thoughts, took slow steady breaths, and sat up, thinking on this new information.

They were going to turn Xander, that much was certain. Would they try to change his body first, or his mind? No, they had to preserve his knowledge. Maybe they’d change his body, make them think he had nothing left to live for, no reason to keep his secrets. But, Xander was loyal. He’d keep his secrets until the end, when the Cogians would force his mind over to their side. It pained him, but Aaron had to think as though Xander was already lost. Sitting up, he started thinking.

“We need to force them into a defensive position. But to do that, we need our people and ships.”

He stood and started pacing behind his desk, thinking hard and trying to figure out what they could do to set the Cogians off balance. As he thought, he started muttering out loud, going over what they had to do.

“We need to capture some of their people. Maybe we can develop a counteragent to change them back to what they were before. But even the Yevien haven’t been able to effect them. They’re like machines. How can we fight that?”

He closed his eyes, leaning his forehead against the wall as he took slow, steady breaths, doing everything he could to calm himself. His mind was racing, scrambling his strategic abilities. The Risous watched warily, the reptilian creature starting to worry that their best strategist was starting to crack under the pressure.  It slowly walked towards Aaron, who turned and held his hand out to signal he was alright. His face was a little calmer now. A plan was beginning to develop in his mind. When he spoke, his words were slow and precise as he did what he could to relay the plan.

“Send two ships out on patrol. One will be visible, the other will be on the very edge of sensor range. When the Cogians show up for a raid, the other ship will come in to attack. They must aim to disable the ship if possible. Hit the engines first, then try to pinpoint anything else that may be vital. Life support, back up systems, that sort of thing. Bring the Cogians back alive if possible, but we won’t refuse dead ones. ”

As he finished, he looked over at the Risous, who had been recording everything being spoken. It nodded as Aaron finished, then rushed out the door to relay the orders to the pilots. Closing his eyes, Aaron sat down at his desk and pressed a button to activate privacy. His second would have to take care of the problems for a while, Aaron just couldn’t handle everything right now. Xander’s situation was plaguing his mind, he couldn’t stop picturing what those monsters were doing to his husband. He had to do something else to keep his mind off Xander.

A small smile came to his face as he thought of something and he sat forward, turning on his view screen and setting it to contact the screen at Emiaj’s house on the refugee planet.

...

Emiaj walked through the camp the refugees had set up, a basket in her hand. It contained various meats and fruits for Jade and Cain. They had rather different tastes than their Gyirk ‘roommates’ and Emiaj found herself searching for several things she had never even heard of like ‘beef’ and ‘chicken’. After much searching, she had gotten everything they wanted and was now heading back. As she entered, she heard a beep from the table and walked over to the screen sitting on it. Touching the screen, her crest and ears perked up as she saw Aaron’s face.

“Aaron, hello! I didn’t expect to hear from you. Aren’t you busy? I thought you were running the Tactical department.”

Aaron smiled on the screen as Emiaj answered and nodded at her question.

“Yeah I am, but things are just so damned hectic here, my head’s starting to pound.” He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples with a groan. “I was hoping to talk to the kids.”

Opening his eyes, he looked up at Emiaj from the screen. She nodded as she set her basket down. “Wait a moment. I’ll get them.” She turned and walked out to where the children’s play area was set up, calling the children inside. Jade and Cain, upon hearing that one of  their fathers was on the view screen, ran inside immediately.

“DAD!” They both yelled as they saw the face on the view screen, both children grinning happily. Jade took up the conversation, as usual, and reached out, touching the screen. “We heard you were working and couldn’t talk.”

Aaron smiled softly to his children, comforted by seeing them safe and well. Seeing Jade putting her hand on the screen, he reached up and put his on his screen as he answered her question. “Yeah, honey, I’m supposed to be working, but I just needed to take a break and talk to you guys. I know this has been hard on all of us, but we all just need to push through till the end alright?”

The twins listened silently to their father, both nodding in agreement. They’d been doing what they could to be brave and strong, just like they’d been taught to do. Aaron nodded in understanding as he saw the looks on his children’s faces. Smiling, he brought his hand away and looked up at them through the screen.

“Are you two enjoying the planet at least?”

This brought a grin to both faces and they nodded, each starting to talk about the fun things that had been happening on the planet. As Aaron listened, he chuckled, just listening to them and enjoying their voices. The kids started telling him about all the friends they’d been making, and all the things they’d been doing to help out around the camp. Mostly they were carrying light bags of supplies, but they knew they were doing good in trying to help. Aaron spoke with them for as long as he could, but before long, there was a knock on the frame of the tent and he looked over, sighing as he knew he had to end the conversation. Looking at the screen, he just smiled and put his hand on the screen again.

“Stay strong, you two. I’ll try to get all this fixed when I can.”

He kissed his fingers and placed them on the screen, watching as his children did the same, then switched it off. Jade and Cain sat back as the screen went black and looked up at Emiaj. Jade spoke first.

“He’ll be ok, won’t he, Emi?”

Emiaj was silent for a moment, then looked down and cooed softly at the children she’d come to think of as her own.

“Of course he will, Jade. You know how smart your father is.”

She gently placed her hand on Jade’s shoulder, trying to comfort her, then headed back outside with them where they could play.