"All That Glitters..."

[Cptn Elias Moore 0]

The Orion fortress ship was already halfway through its wormhole voyage when Gravus received the news that the captives had been rescued by Challenger. His gold skin shimmered slightly, reflecting his brief agitation. He lifted his portable Mentox inhaler to his left nostril and injected another dose of the drug, restoring his semblance of calm and helping him comprehend this turn of events.

 

"Mmm... you told me they would not risk transporting their people." He lifted his visor-masked gaze to the Orion that had delivered the report. "Their technology is too crude, you said."

 

"They obviously panicked when you launched the graviton probe." The eight-foot tall Jago was physically imposing even for an Orion. Between his size and his keen mind for battle tactics, it was no wonder that he lead the fortress ship's Orion detachment. Now, painfully aware that many of his people had been transported into space by the human ship, he was throwing a deep scowl at the gold-skinned Gravus.

 

"What would you have suggested, Jago, my friend?"

 

"You should have allowed me to launch the Interceptors!" Jago growled. "We could have destroyed the puny Earth ship! Instead we ran away like cowards!"

 

"Now, now, Jago, why would I destroy the pretty human ship?" Gravus gazed slowly around the Bridge, the Mentox drug gripping his mind in a whir of mental computations. "I would love to study it some time. And it houses so many brilliant minds... minds that it is now even more important that we preserve, seeing as how you allowed the captives to escape..."

 

"I allowed no one to escape!" Jago shouted, now pushed to the brink of fury. "Don't you dare imply that this was my fault, you frea-"

 

But Gravus was on his feet before the Orion could finish. In a flash, he tore away his visor, revealing his "eyes"--two portals that emitted a glow too brilliant to allow an observer to clearly discern their appearance. One look at the eyes and the mighty Jago was brought down to one knee, his muscles burning and his brain throbbing. Even the Bridge crew, merely glancing at this exchange, could feel an echo of the power of Gravus' gaze; they kept their eyes averted, not daring to approach.

 

"Of course, dear Jago." Gravus replied, his calm, soft-spoken demeanour no match for his terrible gaze. The Orion was fighting to get back to his feet, a scream of agony held in his throat. "You are right, there is no cause for blame. This day's mishaps would not have occured if we had been able to open our wormhole directly into the Deneva system. But until we acquire the aid of the humans... such accuracy just will not be possible."

 

Jago was rapidly losing the fight, and he had to drop one hand to the floor to prevent a total collapse. His green skin darkened with his physical exertion and beads of sweat trickled down his face. Gravus merely continued, "Don't you understand why this upsets me, Jago? The humans are so important to my wormholes. Of course... there will be other opportunities to collect them... and we did achieve our secondary objective... we demonstrated our power to them."

 

Jago released only a grunt as his face dropped to the floor and his weakening muscles gave up the fight. Only then did Gravus return the visor to his face, concealing the overpowering glow. "But, please, my good friend... don't ever again speak to me in such tones."

 

Gravus returned to his seat, and Jago merely lay face-down on the deck in front of him, gasping for breath and not able to find the strength to pull himself up. The other Orions on the Bridge watched, but offered no help at the risk of angering Gravus. They had seen their gold-skinned master work his terrible magic on many of their number. But they had never seen their commander reduced to such a pitiful state. Aware of the staring eyes, and still unable to move, Jago wondered if any Orion would ever follow him into battle again...