The Motley Scientist

"Denied,

Xand'raa. You must remain here where it is safe - you're too important to lose. You're a Tactra not a Clantee, if you were attacked then you would surely die - then who will solve all the mysteries of the universe," the Queen was firm with her, but ended with a jab to let her know she was serious.

The scientist bowed her head and grumbled, as she walked out of the Queen's packed luxurious hall.

'Refused again,'

her face was flush, as she continued that train of thought in extreme frustration,

'what have I ever done to the Unes to deserve this? I'm too important she says...'

. She scoffed and walked out the front door of the palace with hands in her long white coat's pockets over top a blue blouse; while today she wore black slacks with sneakers, as she walked up to a waiting car in the large driveway.

"The airport, please. I need to go back to the UN, get me a pilot."

She spoke to the driver, as she climbed into the back of the car. The car drove for about twenty minutes through the temperate climate landscape, before it pulled up to a small airport with one jet. She quickly exited the car and walked to the jet around the side of the small building by the runway.

When she got onto the plane, she noticed a pilot was already there, and they were soon in the air. After a three hour flight, she arrived at the UN airport - a much larger one with several runways and ample parking space for jets. She left the plane for another car and was soon pulling up to her lab, she thanked the driver and asked her to go ahead.

"I'll be working late tonight. I won't be able to sleep. I'll call you, okay?"

"Alright, Xand'raa. Good to see you back in the city."

"Thanks, nice seeing you too!"

The cute blonde with blue eyes was one of her favorites, but her heart belonged to another unrequited love. She turned away from the vehicle and walked through the tall building's front door, before she entered an elevator and pressed the key for the second floor - weapons development. Her personal projects allowed her access to all of the joint research programs run by the UN of her people, so she used her key card to gain access.

Entering through the now open door, she quickly went to the other side of the room and looked at the alien bracer that projected a small force-field off the arm it was worn on. She rolled up her jacket sleeves and fashioned the device on her left arm, before she grabbed one of the alien bracelets that could be worn to project their holographic computer consoles and put it on her right wrist - it was bulky. She covered her arms back up and left the lab with her bag still across her shoulder.

She went to the lunch room on the first floor and gathered some provisions into her satchel; enough for the trip. Xand'raa walked out the back door of the facility. She made her way through another temperate climate on foot and soon entered the large forest between the labs and the new spaceport.

A few hours later, she came upon the chain link fence and threw her bag over it, before she climbed over. The nerd crouched in the cover of darkness and approached the spaceships she helped design. The Clantee would stop her if they spotted her, and she had to wait for them to switch shifts to enter one of the big rectangular cruisers through a side hatch. She slowly crept through the hall and turned right towards the engine room once she came to the turn.

"So, everything has been double checked and we're ready. The whole fleet is ready."

She heard someone talking, probably an engineer by the sound. She backed against the wall at the corner, holding her breath. The two women walked past her without noticing, and she slipped around the corner.

Xand'raa dashed towards the hatch to engineering, still trying to be sneaky as the door opened. She managed to sneak in, started to breathe again, and walked around the engine to a spot where one could crawl through to access a different part of the large engine. She laid flat on her stomach and crawled into the hole that led to the rarely used sub-compartment.

She had to crouch to move, once she got to the small room. There were many pipes and moving parts nearby. The scientist sat her satchel in the corner, before she sat down beside it. She tried to occupy herself for a few hours, ate, and eventually fell asleep.

She stirred when the engine started, but stayed put and fell back asleep. She came out when she woke up again, and the Captain chewed her out. They were already underway to the battle in a FTL lane, so there was no turning back.

The journey took almost a month, but Xand'raa had managed to convince the Captain to let her watch the battle from the bridge. The large rectangular vessel plummeted through the atmosphere in formation with three more large cruisers and Lilli'une's cruiser. The Captain started to give her orders over ship wide coms, as their vessel rapidly approached a large city.

"All units get into positions, prepare to drop when we open hangars. Make for the target location and destroy any resistance you meet. Once the fight is over, we'll land and foot soldiers can help load the cargo, while mechas stand guard. Good hunting."

The communication ended, and the Captain pressed keys above the left armrest to open the hangars. The scientist watched carefully, as the Captain studied the readings on the floating screens. She pointed out the large viewport and ordered her bridge crew.

"Eris'ree, focus gun batteries on the enemy mecha responding there."

"Yes, mam."

The battle only lasted about half an hour, and Xand'raa was pleased by the results of her labors. She felt like her science was finally making a valuable contribution to her people. The ship landed shortly, and she spoke firmly.

"I'm going to retrieve the technology to make these things. So we don't need to do this again, Captain."

The Captain turned and ordered her, "Oh, no you're not!"

She was already halfway down the hall at a sprint, as officers in the bridge chased after her. She made it to the elevator, as people exited and the doors began to close. She pressed the key for the first floor and snickered.

When the door opened for her again, she sprinted out and barely slipped through two Clantee waiting for her. Breaking into another mad dash, the scientist was soon running out of the cargo hatch in the side of the large vessel. She did not stop and continued following the trail of soldiers, who were dragging large black cases back from the enemy facility.

¹Xand'raa turned a corner and saw Lilli'une's machine; she had placed a sticker in a special spot on it to tell it apart, a sticker of a teddy bear under the chin. Someone would have to know to look for it to spot it; the scientist shouted to her princess, as she rapidly approached.

"Lilli'une!"

"I heard my mother forbid you from coming."

She skidded to a stop and smiled up at the machine's green eyes, as she replied out of breath, "Frack that... I stowed away... No way... am I... gonna miss our last opportunity... to close the gap for good."

"You're too important to risk, half our breakthroughs come straight from that stupid noggin of yours... Well, hurry up. We're out of here once we get the cores loaded, with or without you. Get a gun from one of the Marines."

The scientist nodded with a solemn expression; she ran directly to one of the soldiers and asked, "The princess told me to get a gun from one of you, can I borrow your pistol?"

The soldier did not respond behind the black visor, but just reached down and grabbed the pistol. She handed it to the scientist and continued to drag the black case towards one of the cruisers. Xand'raa sprinted towards the destroyed facility doors and jumped over the broken glass through the hollowed door frames.

¹

Entree point from "A Prologue Part One ~ Diary of a Drunken Space Pirate" Ch. 16

This is not the end - Act Two ->