The Technician's Fight, Draft 1, CH12

Jeremy tasted the filling and made a face. Still too sour. He added more sugar and heated it some more. While it cooled, he rolled out the dough. His attempts were getting better. This one was holding together. He sent a message to Xenial for his friend to see about getting him some Jorinik fat. With preparing more of his own meals, he’d noticed every time he printed the same food; the taste was slightly off, and he wondered if that extended to ingredients. If the taste was off, could their effects on what he cooked also be different?

It could explain why so much of the ingredients in the eateries were stored instead of printed.

He poured the cooled filling in the pie, and as he went to take the dough for the crust, the door buzzed.

Jeremy was surprised to find a bashful brown, black and white furred Kelsirian on the other side.

“Hi,” Toomerimortoral said.

Jeremy shook himself out of his surprise. “Hi, come on in. Gral’s off to deal with ship stuff, but I can call him, if you want.”

“It’s okay. I came to see you, but I don’t want to bother you.” The guy was looking around Jeremy; at the table with his new pie attempt.

He chuckled. “You aren’t bothering me. I’m just keeping busy since I’m not allowed to work, with being part of the stuff with the humans. Trying to make different kinds of pie.” He picked up the crust from the counter and turned to find Toomerimortoral raising a filling covered claw to his tongue. “Don’t.”

He was too late. The guy made a face. “How can you stand that?”

“I have a different tolerance for sweets than you do. Broader range, I think, since some of the sauce you enjoy still tastes sufficiently sweet to me. I haven’t really looked into it. I just enjoy an occasional slice.” Under the other guy’s attentive gaze, he placed the crust, cut it to size, and crimped the edges. “I’m thinking of trying a savory one next. Those might be more to your liking.”

Once it was in the oven and he cleaned his hands, he turned to face an uncomfortable-looking Toomerimortoral. “Are you okay?”

“I should ask you that. Yesterday, you looked angry when I left.”

“I was, but you weren’t the cause. Me and Gral resolved it.”

“And about what we did?”

“The sex?” Jeremy chuckled at the uncomfortable expression. He didn’t know if Toomerimortoral was unlike other Kelsirian he’d met and didn’t talk about his sex life, or it was just the situation between them, but the reversal amused him. “I’m not thinking too hard about it. I have decades of behavior assimilation from exposure as to what is the ‘right way to be in a relationship’. And it’s not liking being confronted with a completely different system. But it’s just ingrained habit and beliefs, not enforced programming, so I’m going to get over it.”

“I’m glad. I liked it, but I don’t want it to cause trouble for you and Gral. I should probably go. Let you get back to this.” He was almost at the door before Jeremy got himself to move.

He grabbed the arm before Toomerimortoral tapped the control. “Wait.” As the guy turned to face him, Jeremy focused on the sensation of the fur in his hand. As with when He touched Gralgiran, there was an added sensuality to fur against his flesh. It was a reason he limited his contact with other to hugs. Now he remembered the feeling of Toomerimortoral’s fur moving against him while they had sex, and he forced himself to let his body react. He had pants on, so it wasn’t like he was advertising. And he trusted Gralgiran’s friend not to think this meant anything.

He let go, his face burning as the memory of the guy’s legs over his shoulders, the furs caressing his neck while he—

“Jeremy Bradshaw?”

“Sorry.” He breathed. “I don’t want things to be weird between us. I told Gral I’m okay with him having sex with you, and I mean it.”

“Are you really?”

Jeremy’s chuckle sounded forced to him. “No, not really, but I will be. I’ll make myself be. You two have known each other for a long time, and sex between friends is normal for you. I got over bring taught that men can’t love men. I can get over a belief that sex is only allowed within a relationship.”

The arms wrapped around him and held him tightly. He returned the hug and forced himself to appreciate it.

“Thank you,” Toomerimortoral said, letting go. “And I’m sorry for all the stalking. I should have just talked with you.”

“It’s in the past. And you came to talk with me this time, so there’s been improvement. Do you want to stay? I can make us something to eat.”

Toomerimortoral looked around Jeremy and forced a smile. “Thank you for the generous offer, but I need to head home. I have a shift to get ready for.”

Jeremy didn’t comment on the fact it was hours until the next shift, or that he doubted a pilot needed that much time getting ready for work, especially not while they were docked. While he thought it would have been nice to enjoy a meal with Toomerimortoral, this gave him more time to test a different kind of filling.

He’d only printed the new fruits when the door opened.

“Gral,” he said, turning to greet his Heart, “You just missed—” armored humans rushed into his home; Seven of them. He had his gloves on as he ran for his tablet on the table, but one of the humans reached it first and threw it across the room hard enough it broke on hitting the wall.

He twisted out of the grab and punched the woman in the stomach. She bent over. Not as much armor as he’d expected. A look at the door and that wasn’t an option. Two of the humans were before it.

“Don’t let him reach a comm,” one of them ordered.

Jeremy bolted for the corridor. They weren’t armed, so if he could get to the toilet, he’d be locked in. Safe from them.

He was tackled, but managed to shove the man away as they hit the floor, then was on his feet. A woman in the opening for the corridor, two by the door, locking him into the livingroom-eating area. The door panel had a comm on it, but it was out of reach. There was on by the couch, and one at the counter. He didn’t look in those directions.

“Just calm down, Jeremy.”

“It’s Technician Jeremy Bradshaw to you,” he replied.

The man looked annoyed. “I know you think you have to get one of them to save you, but it’s just because they’re twisting you mind. We just want to bring you home to your family. They miss you. Your father’s here and—”

Jeremy ran for the couch.

A woman intercepted him and shoved him back. He saw the man reach for him, slapped the hand away and punched in his the face. The man cursed loudly.

“You’re in my home,” he told them. “You’re trespassing in Kelsirian territory. You better leave before my Heart comes home, because he isn’t going to leave anything of you.” They’d address how humans had made it this deep within the ship afterward.

“They aren’t your friends,” the man said, getting to his feet and glaring at the blood on his hand.

“They’re more my friends than any of you. Than Omar ever was.” They exchanged a confused look, so this wasn’t happening on his ex-doctor’s orders. It didn’t matter. He needed to sound an alarm or get out of his home. If he could find any adult Kelsirians, they’d have the advantage.

He ran for the counter and was tackled. He slammed against the table, the side digging painfully into his back, before he managed to shove his assailant away.

“I’m sorry for the pain,” the woman said. “It wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t making this so difficult.”

“Difficult?” He glared at her as he pushed himself into a crouch. “You haven’t seen me making anything difficult.” He rushed her, ignoring the pain. He slammed a shoulder into her chest and turned to face the others as she landed. “Come on. If you think I’m making this easy on you, you’re dreaming.”

A man came at him. Jeremy side stepped and punched him in the side, then kneed him in the crotch. A hunter didn’t fight fair, because his enemy wouldn’t. He grinned at their surprise.

“I thought we were bringing back a civ, not a soldier.”

“He’s just a guy desperately clinging to the lies he’s been told. They probably programmed him to die instead of returning home.”

“I am home, you son of a bitch.” He ran at him. He was going to teach them a lesson. They were going to regret messing with him in his home. He missed, and blocked the man’s punch, side stepped a grab, almost fell off balance from an improper kneeing, but it was just while he waited for the opening.

They wanted him alive.

Fortunately for him, that didn’t have to go both ways.

He batted the swing aside hard, and swung back, opening his hand and tensing it as his fingers reached the neck. They touched it, and red flowed in their wake. The man staggered back, hands trying to stop the flow. The others stared in surprise, then dismay, then horror. One reached for his hip and searched for the holster that wasn’t there.

“Remember,” someone said, “Orders are to bring him back alive.”

They came at him together, getting in each other’s way, but it was six against him. He’d been an idiot.

He dodged under a grab. Elbowed someone aside and ran for the counter. He considered the comm, but they wouldn’t give him the time to use it. He didn’t know if it was designed to trigger an alarm if it was broken. What he needed was something that would sound the alarm regardless of what happened to him. And it needed to happen quickly

He reached the oven, with one of them falling on his back. He grabbed onto the locked door’s handle with a hand to keep from being pulled away, while deactivating the safety protocols and raising the temperature as high as it went. Then he shoved the one on his back off and turned in time for a hand to reach for his face. He ducked and felt the fingers in his hair.

They pulled, and he staggered to the side. They pulled up and forward, then down. He saw the tabletop, then his vision exploded from the impact. Up again, and down. More pain. A third time, and darkness.

Outline section 

Jeremy didn’t know what was stranger, the fact he was watching a movie half naked pressed between equally near naked kelsirians and eating ice cream, or the fact that doing all of the above mentioned actually seemed to calm him down. The ice cream was a surprise, but not an unexplainable one; they’re on a station with other humans at the moment, getting ice cream wouldn’t even require a hundredth of Xenial’s talents. After a few bites, the ice cream is mostly for Jeremy, which is good since they don’t know what an adult kelsirian’s lactose tolerance is.

The bigger surprise was the movie. This one wasn’t even human or kelsirian, instead being some Garan romance about a famous star crossed couple from their ancient past. As the movie ends, Jeremy has to ask just how many movies romantic movies has Gral been watching, and Gral admits it’s been a large enough number he’s had to catch himself from just sweeping up everything and instead reading reviews for the best of the best least it impacts the household budget. Still, they’ve all been very educational.

This draws shared glance of worry between Toom and Jeremy, followed up with them trying to explain to Gral that those are most romances are either comedies, dramas, or tragedies. Everything is taken up to eleven for either laughs, tension, or tears. Gral doesn’t really see it that way, after all, just look at his relationship with Jeremy... and yeah, hard to argue against that one, but having to rescue one’s heart from the brig isn’t a normal relationship starter.

Eventually, they settle in for another movie, this time a Taournian spy drama chosen from Toom’s collection. Say what you will about their pirate problem, their movie studios know how to put together a good thriller filled with intrigue.

###

Wake up call in the morning doesn’t come from the system clock but from a call from the bridge. The court has called with complaints from the humans that Gral has broken protocol by not only returning to his ship but staying there overnight. Even the ridoshi find it petty under the circumstances, but they need Gral to at least put in a verbal rebuttal to their complaints over the secure channels.

Gral kisses his way out of whatever huddle they were all sleeping in to get dressed and handle that. Toom also excuses himself; even docked they still need to have a pilot on bridge, and his turn is coming up soon and all his clean clothes are in his room. Jeremy kisses Gral goodbye, and after slight hesitation hugs Toom. Then the two kelsirian’s are off, leaving Jeremy to make himself breakfast and try not to drift into panicking about the court case again.

Things go pedestrian for awhile, and Jeremy almost gets to have a cup of coffee before stuff hits the fan...

...but then the door opens, and instead of Gral coming back from the bridge for breakfast, it’s humans in combat armor. Jeremy fights, but he’s mostly barehanded against fully armed commandos; even with the kitchen utilities he’s not going to win this. But he does well enough to realize he’s going to loose, and he’s in a kitchen. Meaning he comes up with a way to trigger the fire alarm before getting knocked out.

Addition 

No Additions

Only the end of the outline survived the changes I made to the story. Because of that, I needed to come up with something, which is why I set up Toom visiting Jeremy in the previous chapter(see, I can plan!) the cooking was a natural thing to use as what Jeremy did, and now that I’m typing this, I’m realizing cooking had kind of overshadowed Jeremy’s personal engineering work, I’ll have to address that at some point.

The fight wasn’t planed to be this involved in the outline, but I need to establish some behaviors for Jeremy and this was a good place to start