The Wolfclan: Chapter 7

Elim was very nervous. He was certain that when he and Cretal tried to save planet T-50323, they would both be killed. Elim was in the ship’s cafeteria. Cretal walked over to him. “Elim,” Cretal said, “I’d like a word with you, privately.” Cretal then winked, and Elim knew what he wanted to talk about.

Neither Cretal nor Elim had their own living quarters. They shared quarters with other crew members. The only place were they could talk alone was the rest rooms. Cretal and Elim went in the nearest one and checked to make sure no one was in it. After they found it to be empty, they began talking.

“They have the pack of wolves and the were wolf now in the prison. In two hours they will start to control their minds and make them invincible,” said Cretal.

“Do you plan to act now?” asked Elim.

“Of course,” answered Cretal. “No sense waiting till the last minute.”

Elim took a deep breath. “Okay,” he said. “Let’s go.” It was the policy of the alien government not to let the crew members carry laser guns. Only the commander and the first officercould carry the laser guns. The rest of the laser guns were kept locked up in a big safe, which only the commander, the first officer, and the second officer knew the combination to. Having no guns did not stop Cretal and Elim though. Besides, Elim had the gift of shooting fire.

Elim and Cretal walked quickly down the halls in the direction of the jail. Their plan was to take the key s from the jailer and free the were wolf and the wolf pack. As they were walking, an alien named Riton stopped them. “Cretal! Elim! How are you guys? I haven’t seen you two in weeks. Where have you been?” he exclaimed.

“Well it’s a big ship,” said Cretal. “It’s not hard to see why we haven’t run into each other. Listen Riton, what are your feelings about the way our government acts?”

“What brought this up?” asked Riton.

“I’m just taking a survey,” answered Cretal.

“Hmmm, well I guess those dang taxes are a little bit annoying,” said Riton.

“Okay,” said Cretal, pretending to write down the answer.. “How do you feel about the government’s policy to kill all intelligent life forms we find?”

“What kind of a survey is this?” asked Riton. “If I say I’m against the policy, I’ll get a laser through my head.”

“Oh no!” said Cretal. “This survey is confidential. Not even our government sees it.”

“Yeah right,” said Riton. “Who are you guys anyway? Secret government agents? I refuse to take this survey.”

“Okay then,” said Cretal in a relaxed voice. “No survey.” Cretal tore up the paper on which he had pretended to write down the answer. Riton was very nervous now and decided to change the subject.

“Did you guys see the new creature?” he asked.

“What new creature?” inquired Cretal.

“You haven’t heard?” said Riton. “The government just shipped him over to our ship today. We’re supposed to kill it using a special acid that we have onboard. If you hurry you might be able to see it before the science officer kills it. It’s the weirdest thing.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” said Cretal, trying to keep calm. “Come on Elim,” he said. “Let’s go see him.” Cretal and Elim walked quickly down the hall, towards the science lab. As soon as they were out of sight, they beginning running at full speed.

When they got to the science lab, they rushed in and were relieved to see that the creature had not been killed, but the science officer was about to pour the acid on it. “Stop!” yelled Cretal and Elim in unison. “We want to see the creature a minute before you kill it.”

The science officer looked up. “Well certainly boys,” he said. He chuckled as he took the creature out of the cage. “You two sure make it just in the nick of time.” The science officer brought the creature over. “Here he is.”

Cretal and Elim were both amazed. The creature looked like a rock. It had a face which looked very much like a human face, but its whole body was like a rock. The creature was about as big as a human head. “Amazing,” said Cretal. “How does it move?”

“Actually it doesn’t,” said the science officer. “It just sits in one place.”

“Then how does it survive?” asked Elim.

“Quite simple actually,” said the science officer. “The creature requires no nutrients. In other words, it doesn’t need to eat to survive.”

“Like a plant?” inquired Elim.

"No, no," said the science oneedser. "A plant nees nutrients from the soil, water, and sunlight. This creature needs nothing. It's like, well like a rock."

"Amazing," said Cretal. "What about predators?"

"Here, feel the creature," said the science officer as he put the creature into Cretal's hands. "Not only does it look like a rock, it feels like a rock. It would also taste like a rock if an animal tried to eat it. It also happens to be the only intelligent life form on its planet, so no intelligent life is around to kill it on purpose."

"So they don't die?" asked Cretal.

"I never said that," said the science officer. "They can die of disease or old age. They can also die from natural disasters, like if lightning hit them or a volcano erupted or a hurricane struck. Aaccidentallyanimal accidently knocked it off a cliff they could die that way too. Besides, us aliens can kill it with almost any of our weapons."

"How does it reproduce?" asked Elim.

"Oh, it reproducoursesexually of coure," answered the science officer.

"Earlier you referred to the creature as a he," said Cretal. "How do you know it is a male?"

"Actually the creature, and the rest of its species are of neither sex," said the science officer.

"The creature doesn't look too lively," observed Cretal.

"That's because he's asleep," said the science officer. "However I must wake him up before we kill him." The science officer, using an eye dropper, put a drop of acid on the creature. The creature's eyes opened immediately and it cried out in pain.

"If the creature can not move," said Elim, "I don't see how it could be a threat to our empire."

"What the creature lacks in physical capabilities it more than makes up for in its mental facilities," said the science officer.

"Even if the creature is exceedingly wise," said Cretal, "I don't see how it could do anything against us."

"Do not under estimate the creature," said the science officer. "It would find a way."

"But if the creature is so smart then wouldn't it know that it would be unwise to attack the empire?" asked Elim.

"I agree that the creature would not attack if it was not sure of victory, but if it found a way of defeating us it would be most wise of them to take aggressive action," the science officer answered.

Elim looked at Cretal. Cretal spoke. "We are going to free this creature," he said. "Are you going to help us?"

The science officer was stunned by these words. "You boys are crazy," he said.

"Are you going to help us?" repeated Cretal.

"Never," said the science officer coldly. The science officer ran to the shelf where all the chemicals were kept and took a beaker of very dangerous acid. Before he had a chance to throw the acid, Elim shot fire out of his eyes. He shot a straight line of fire which hit the science office's hands. The science officer dropped the acid beaker. The beaker broke and acid splattered all over, some of it landing on the science officer's legs. The science officer fell down in pain. Elim and Cretal rushed over to see if he was alright. When the science officer had fallen he had landed right by thkeptace where he kpet his chemicals. He grabbed another beaker of acid, a kind of special acid that is not found on earth, and waited for Cretal and Elim. Neither Cretal nor Elim had seen him grab the acid.

When Cretal and Elim reached the science officer, he threw the acid at them. Elim shot fire outinflamedyes and inflammed the acid in mid air. The acid was made of a very flammable material, and there was a fiery explosion. Everybody was knocked backwards. The room quickly caught on fire. Elim absorbed enough fire to make up for what he had turnedand Cretal tunred on the ceiling sprinklers. In seconds the fire was out.

"Is everyone alright?" asked Cretal.

"Everyone except the sansweredfficer," asnwered the creature. "In the explosion he was knocked against his acid shelf and several acids spilled on him."

"You speak the same language we do," said Cretal in astonishment.

"Well, actually it's not my native tongue," said the creature. "I picked it up while I was on your ship."

"But you've only been on our ship less than a day," said Cretal.

"Well, species to your speciies I'm a fast learner," said the creature. "Oh, by the way, I extremely appreciate the fact that you rescued me. The wisest plan of action would currently be to do some thing about the science officer."

"Of course," exclaimed Elim. "How is he?"

"He looks in serious condition," said the creature. "I think we can safely say that heconsciousnessgain conciousness for several hours."

"Perfect," said Cretal. "I'll take him to the ship's hospital and say he accidentally mixed two chemicals together that weren't supposed to be mixed and the explosion knocked him into his acid shelf."

"Okay," said Elim. "You do that and I'll keep every one out of this laboratory until you get back."

"Okay, see you then," said Cretal. Cretal put the science officer on a stretcher (the alien government made it a policy to keep a stretcher in every room in case of emergencies) and began dragging him toward the ship's hospital.