14 The USH Womb of Terror

Aboard the Terror Captain Zinc was straining his braincells to their limit. He didn't have cells per se, the concept of cells and membranes and such was deeply rooted in biological life, something he just wasn't. But he, nontheless, had been bestowed a sort of grown circuitry that enabled him to think. Some things came easy to Sylvanians. Creative or inpired thinking didn't. He, or she or it for lack of gender and simplicity, had humans and the Terrors Ai to do it for him. However this decision had to be made by him. His white blueish hide was beginning to glow from his overheating brain. He needed to be careful, zinc became brittle when hot, and he already had a nasty crack across what could be his forehead.

'Captain Zinc, your orders?' (i'm sorry for the inconsitency, at this point ill be switching to " ' " for direct speech, ♥ )

One of his human assistants prodded him. Zinc hat difficulties telling them apart, he liked this one. The white reddish one with the frontal potrusions and, what did they call it again; '... hair?' , was his favorite. She? yes that was the pronoun they used, was quiet calm and patient. A quality invaluable to someone like him that needed time to think.

Some time passed as more heat was shedding off of Zinc's head and his metal was beginning to make worrisome cracking noises.

'Engage a squad of combat drones.'

'Sir, while the ship agrees that we cannot assume that there is no trap lain for us it is a PLB that is pinging us, I suggest we send a recovery drone aswell'

'OK do that, dismissed'

He liked the word. Dismissed. Diss - miss -ed. Dis-mi--seed. It had a superior sound to it.

Satisfied with his involvement in the situation he relaxed his brain and the cracking noises, to his relieve, subsided.

Elsewhere in the star system, Botan, who was in a state of delirium, delirium tremens had come, haunted him and subsided in favor of general delirium, vaguely noticed that he was being rescued but couldn't muster the strengh to be happy about it anymore.

'Captain Zinc, the recovery operation was successful, the survivor has been taken into medical care and the dead ones have been incinerated. It will take some time for him to regain full conciousness'

One of his assistants said.

Heat was building up again.

'Good, have him interrogated as soon as possible.'

Pause.

'Do we have a lead on the missing ship? this Golden Nori?'

'Not precisely Sir, it appears the Nori has activated her Drive and left the system rimwards, the terror is unable to pinpoint its course Sir, maybe the interrogation will give us a clue as to where exactly they are headed.'

'So we .... wait?'

'Yes Sir, it would be prudent, Sir'

Zinc relaxed a bit and cooled off. Prudent. Pru-dent. Pr-U-D-enT. Another good word. Zinc wasn't learning fast but as continuously as his heat management allowed him to. Granted, he could calculate Pi to the Pi to the Pi to the Pi in his head in a finite amount of time but that was just numbers. Language, the whole concept was strange, for most of his race utterly unneccessary, but in a way beautiful. He enjoyed it.

'Inform the investigator of his task'

'Right away Sir.'

The Investigator was special. Zinc was special, but the Investigator even more so. He had been human, thousands of millenia ago. He had been dead, but not quite. He had been transformed, revived, by some sort of old alien Goo, died again. Then revived again, this time by feeding his semi mortal remains to the Hive mother. He was Human, he was alien Goo, he was Sylvanian. A being so lost lonely and trans species he was hard not to pity. Its name was Miller. It was strong. Stronger than even the toughest sylvanian combat drones which was already remarkable, but its best quality was that it loyal to the Hivemother and almost as old as her. His downside Zinc was just beginning to grasp; Sarkasm and Nihilism. But Miller would get the job done, extract what information was needed from the survivor and give them the course they needed to catch up to the pirates and make them suffer the wrath of the mother. Zinc admired the Investigator.