Today was just really not Cobe’s day. First, they had been all out of Min’s favorite snack food. Then, he had been accused of being a Defective by two veeery strong-looking soldiers, who to prove this, stole his goggles. If it hadn’t been for Min and the power of explosives, he would be halfway to Judgmentia by now. Fortunately for the both of them, someone had left their Spittle Runner unlocked, so they had managed to get away. But they had no where to go! Very few planets were not under the rule of the Irkens, and if they landed on even one of them, they’d find themselves surrounded before they could say, ‘Any parking?’

And now they had run into the largest Vortian ship that either one of them had ever seen. It was, quite possibly, as big as the Massive! Not to mention the little fact that a scout ship was headed their way. The way Cobe saw it, one of two things could be happening. Either, a) it was an Irken-run ship and they were sending a ship out to arrest them, or b) it was an Irken-run ship that didn’t know they were running from the government, and they were going to help them. But the latter was not very likely at all, since everything was so streamlined in the government nowadays, very few convicts ever escaped.

In fact, now that he thought about it, Cobe realized that there was only one who immediately came to mind- Lyn, the Irken who tried to assassinate the former Tallest, Red and Purple. And she had escaped by getting on board with a rebel group…who traveled in a Vortian ship.

“Cobe, do you think that this might be the Resisty’s ship?” Min asked, voicing his thoughts, not without a trace of awe.

“I-I think it is.” He stammered, as the scout ship sent a message via video transmission.

Silhouettes and glowing eyes popped up on the screen. ‘Attention Irkens- you are hereby under arrest by the Resisty.’ Snickers in the background. ‘Shut it, Spleenk, you’re the one who came up with it! Follow us into the main ship. If you do not comply, we will open fire.’

“No, no, we comply! We comply!” Cobe said hurriedly. Min nodded. They’d have no hope at all if Irkens took them in, but a rebel group? It would give them a chance- no matter how slim. An entrance opened up on the side of the main ship, and Cobe steered the Spittle Runner into it, followed closely by the Resisty’s scout ship.

The inside was large, but unimpressive. Rows of similar scouting ships were lined up, along with some bigger, more heavily armed ships. All of them, no matter what their purpose, were made in near-identical styles. Just looking at them reminded Cobe of being in a manufacturing plant (it was mandatory for all would-be scientists to take at least a year of ship manufacturing, in case they were called upon to create new weaponry systems, or generate fuel sources).

“You two, exit your ship and follow us.” A voice shook him out of his thoughts. Looking up, he saw a Cyrabetic- a race that was implanted with self-growing armor from the day they are born. Irkens scientists had been trying to perfect self-growing armor for their own race for centuries, but the secret had always eluded them. The closest they could get to was ‘automatic’ armor, for which activation depended upon blood pressure and heart rate.

Cobe picked up Min (this had become a conditioned reflex by now) and stepped out of the ship tentatively. So far, nothing had gone wrong, but this being ‘one of those days’, he could bet that something would. The Cyrabetic just nodded towards a door on the far end and started walking. Taking the hint, Cobe followed.

The door opened. A green blur knocked the wind out of him, and he suddenly found himself on the floor, being pushed down by a small-but-forceful boot. A strangely accented (but distinctly female) voice growled in his…er, antennae.

“Well, Irken scum, who sent you?” But another voice- male, in a clear Vortian accent, responded before Cobe got a chance.

“Lyn! What are you doing?” The weight was lifted and Cobe managed to sit up and see his assailant. A green eyed-Irken female in a black overcoat…it was that Lyn! And standing beside her was a male Vortian with green-tinted goggles (‘I wonder if he has any spares…’ Cobe caught himself thinking.)

“Interrogating the prisoner.” She said simply.

The Vortian sighed and shook his head. “You can’t just attack them, even if they are Irken. For all we know, they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“But he’s an Irken! A uniformed Irken!”

“That doesn’t make it right.”

By this time, Min- who had been dropped and dazed when Cobe had been assaulted- was walking over to the scene of the debate. “Are you alright Cobe? You’re not bleeding or anything, are you?”

“I’m fine, it’ll just a bruise.” He smiled, trying to reassure her.

The Vortian looked over at Min, with a very confused expression. “Why do you have a smeet with you?” The Irken was giving Cobe a disgusted look, and he could probably tell what she was thinking.

Min bristled, and said indignantly, “I am not a smeet! I’m hardly younger than him!” She pointed to Cobe. Despite the situation, he found himself amused. He had forgotten how short Min really was; having grown used to it.

“Oh-um-Sorry about that, then.” The Vortian cleared his throat, and took on a much more authoritative tone. “I am Captain Lard Nar of the Resisty. You two are hereby prisoners aboard this ship. Shloonktapooxis!” A Moxian, one of the cone head race, floated in from whatever room the doorway lead to. “Take these two to the holding chamber.”

“Sorry Lardy, but we don’t have one.”

A beat passed.

“What?”

“Yeah. We never had any prisoners before, so it was always at the bottom of the to-do list.”

“You mean we have no where to put these two?”

“Well, there’s Ixane’s old room- it’s pretty dull looking since we took all her stuff out though.”

“I don’t care what it looks like!”

“But-” It appeared that the two were settling into an old routine, because the Cyrabetic was starting to fall asleep, and Lyn was leaning against the wall and yawning.

“Um, I’m sure it’s fine. We don’t mind.” Cobe spoke up, and the arguing two looked surprised, as if reminded of their presence.

“Well- alright then. Shloonktapooxis- take them to the holding chamber that was formerly Ixane’s room.” Lard Nar said, trying to regain his composure. He certainly didn’t expect two Irkens to be taking imprisonment so… acceptingly. Something was wrong. The taller male picked up the female and followed as the cone led the way (babbling at a rapid pace as he did so), the Cyrabetic awakening from his nap and leaving as well. When they were all a safe distance away, he turned to Lyn, only to be beat to the point.

“There’s something not right about those two. Did you see the male’s eyes?”

This took Lard Nar be surprise. “No- why, was something wrong with them?”

“They were blue.”

“Blue? I didn’t notice. Is there something wrong with blue eyes?”

“It is in the Irken Society. Blue eyes are seen as a defect.”

He looked puzzled. “Any reason?”

“They’re incredibly rare, and blue has always been looked down upon by Irkens. It’s a very peaceful color, after all.”

Nodding, Lard Nar looked down the hall. “Do you think that he might be a Defective?”

She thought for a moment. “At any rate, the government probably does. That doesn’t explain the female though. Irkens don’t make, or keep, friendships, but those two are practically glued at the hip.”

“In any case, they require questioning. We’ll discuss them with Shido and the other Rebel Leaders at the next meeting. Maybe Ornen will be able to recruit them.”

Lyn looked doubtful, but nodded. “It’s worth a try, anyway.” A loud crash was heard down the hall. “Oh great, that sounds like Spleenk’s gone into one of his panic fits again.”

“We should go see what it is.” He grinned. “The two Irkens probably scared him.”

He was partially right- it was Irkens who scared him. But it wasn’t the prisoners.

A fleet of Ring Cutters and Rippers, led by a Viral Tank, were headed towards the ship. And they were after a certain blue-eyed Defective and his accomplice.

A/N: My friend Taylor will be recognizing a certain character of her’s in the next chapter. I don’t like this chapter as much as the last one, but authors are usually the worst judges of their work. That’s why reviews love, you guys! On another note- for those of you who have seen my ‘Rebel Leaders’ piece on DA (or the colored version by Tora-Yakari)- those characters will be showing up in either the next chapter, or the one after it. And more Semurn and Reinik soon, for those who miss them . I promise!