Stung

-o-o-o-o-o-

Chapter 11: "The Return of the Captain"

-o-o-o-o-o-

It had taken some time and much effort, and repeated trips out to the broken ship, but at last he had it ready. From the wreckage of the unknown spacecraft he'd managed to salvage a repairable communications array, repair it, and power it with the solar collectors he'd found in a storage room. On top of that he'd been able to decipher the navigational reports and pin down a location for himself.

Said location was not encouraging.

Jazz removed his camera from its mount in his chest and set it up on his 'work table,' a flat spreading rock close to the village upon which the women of the Cold River people ground their grain into flour. And with Old Foot seated on one shoulder and Seven Birds upon the other, he began to record his message home.

"Greetings from Seti Four!" he began enthusiastically. "Autobot Jazz reporting in. I'm hoping this reaches you. I know I've been AWOL for a while, but I seem to have ended up... well... not where the space bridge was supposed to leave me and the rest of the team. You might want to give Shockwave a call and suggest he get that thing calibrated."

"I can only hope the rest of the team survived the malfunction. I've not been able to make radio contact with any of them, and I've only just been able to attempt to send a message home, having obtained some alien communications equipment. Salvaged it from a spaceship that seems to have crashed here about three or four vorns ago. You can contact me on my personal frequency at this location. And I know I'm a ways out, so I'm not expecting a rescue anytime soon. I'll wait. Though I think I've figured out this alien equipment enough that I can receive sound and data files on it."

He looked at the two men sitting on his shoulders, the two wondering to whom their god was talking. "I am in no danger here and am surviving on solar power and organic oils. The locals are friendly and have been helpful. And unlike the rest of you, they love my music." That last statement was just a lie to tease though. The Cold River people preferred the primitive whining their stringed instruments produced over the hard thumping rock he enjoyed. So he always saved his personal music for the trips out to the downed ship.

He sighed and leaned toward the camera, speaking with more seriousness. "I do hope the others that were sent on the mission are all safe and sound. Especially Carly and Spike as they're much more vulnerable than we are. I miss you all, and I hope this message reaches you. I'll also be sending out distress calls on the universal frequencies in hopes of someone else finding me. Jazz out."

He switched off the camera and packaged the video file to send. And then filtered out the audio portion to send alone. Both files went into the broadcast bin and he launched them into space along with a prayer to Primus.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Carly kissed Bumblebee's faceplate to wake him, and his lips curved into a smile before his optics flickered on.

"Wake up sleepy-bot," she giggled. "We're going to see the wreck of the Jancis Jo today," she smiled.

"Wouldn't you rather just stay here in bed all day?" he purred, pulling her back as she tried to get up. He kissed her between her bare shoulder-blades.

She laughed. "Didn't we spend enough time in bed last night?" She threw off the sheet, wriggled away, and started pulling out clothing to wear, settling on Spike's shirt and a pair of her own jeans. Bumblebee had admittedly found it humorous one morning to discover that she'd started wearing Spike's underwear and shirt. She later turned his jeans into cut-offs and wore them fairly often when not working. Spike had a few years before explained the difference between mens' clothing and womens' clothing to him and insisted that it was inappropriate for one gender to wear the clothing of the other, with only a few garments considered suitable for either. He'd asked Carly about it, and she told him that no one here knew the difference and that she did need things to wear. But besides a pair of sandals for work and the teal Horobian party ensemble, she'd not bought any local clothing. Perhaps he could talk Vashi into taking her shopping for at least a couple of outfits.

"Are you getting up today?" she asked, noting he'd not moved since she'd woken him. "Lazy robot."

"Lazy?" he chuckled. "I seem to remember someone last night begging me to let her sleep," he reminded her.

"I was tired," she defended. "You wore me out."

"Glad to be of service," he said with a nod of his head. Then he rose and folded up their bed, stowing it into the closet.

They showered, skipped a soak, gathered up some food, and headed out onto the road. But on reaching the crest of the bluffs to the east of Hax Horobis, Bumblebee suddenly spun 180 degrees on the road and pulled to the side. "What is it?" Carly asked at the sudden stop.

"There! Look!" Bumblebee flung open his door and nudged her out.

"What did you see? ...Oh!"

Bumblebee transformed and they stood and watched the huge caramel-colored ship descending to one of the outer landing pads. "I can't make out the lettering from here, but it's definitely of the same class..."

"Do you think it's the Third Horizon?"

"It could be. Captain Vaallo did say they stopped through here on most of his runs."

They watched as the huge wedge-shaped ship kissed the planet with unexpected grace. They were far enough away that they couldn't hear the massive engines as they cycled down.

"I hope it's him," said Carly. "He was really nice. I'd love to talk to him again."

"I hope so too. Maybe we'll get another party invitation."

"And if we do, I have my own dress to wear to it now."

They watched a little longer, and then resumed their expedition.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Charli! Charli!" called Cheshi, the laundry supervisor. "Natch! Natch!"

"Ta, ta. Ya natchi!" Carly crawled out of the undercarriage of the stilled dryer where she'd been brushing and vacuuming away the lint. As the smallest member of the laundry crew, it was her job to keep the mechanics underneath and behind clean and oiled. Righting herself and straightening her uniform, she saw a Yiaan at the doorway.

Her heart skipped a beat. Was it...? "Captain Vaallo?"

"I was hoping I might find you here," he said with a nod.

She walked over and looked up at his eyes, Cheshi moving back toward the other laundry workers to watch. "Yes, I'm still working here," she said.

"I will be here in Hax Horobis for a few days. We're refueling and having one of our external antennas replaced. It took some damage on take off from Dorsii 7. So I thought I'd look you and Bumblebee up. See how the only English speakers on this side of the galaxy were doing."

"Thank you. That's kind of you. We actually saw your ship land yesterday and were wondering if it was the Third Horizon."

At this he smiled. "I'm hoping that I might take you two out to dinner one of these afternoons or evenings during my stay. I'm always in need of a little language practice."

Carly giggled. "Captain, your English is perfect."

"I didn't specify which language. Any chance you speak German?"

She giggled again and shook her head no.

"Mandarin?" he asked hopefully.

Again a negative. Though she knew full well at this point that he was being playful with her.

"Well perhaps then I should give you lessons."

"You're such a charmer."

"And you've left me in need of an excuse to ask you and Bumblebee out. So when are you two available?"

"We're off at 10:00, and then work again at 20:00, and off again at 30:00."

"How about 11:00, if you two don't have other plans?"

"Besides sleeping before work, no. What should I wear?"

"Oh, just something casual. I was thinking we'd go over to this one cafe I've always seen in the terminal but have never stepped into."

"All right then. We'll meet you in the lobby at 11:00, Captain."

Vaallo smiled. "Please, unless I'm wearing my rank insignia," he indicated his eye-stalks with a tentacle, "it's just Vaallo."

"In that case, we'll meet you in the lobby at 11:00, Vaallo."

He took her hand and gave it a little hug in a spiraling tentacle and then departed, shuffling out on his pedes. Carly went back to the dryer she'd been working on, the others all smiling at her. "Sabt!" Cheshi laughed and pulled a large tuft of lint out of Carly's hair in a motherly fashion. "Charli sabt," she said smiling, and then tittered out a string of Taliseet of which she couldn't make out more than a few words. 'Sabt' she knew as well. It was the word for 'good.'

-o-o-o-o-o-

The three sat in a modest restaurant in the spaceport terminal, Carly trying not to stare too much at the act of Vaallo eating a salad. It wasn't exactly cannibalism, but there was some vague notion of it there. He'd pick up a leaf of the lettucy stuff with the wooden tongs and place it into his mouth, a wide orifice set below his eyestalks. Two pairs of small, specialized tentacles set at each side of the mouth assisted with the stuffing of the lettuce inside, where behind closed lips he appeared to chew it. Like most everything about him, she found the process as fascinating as it was monstrous.

And yes, she did find him fascinating. If she closed her eyes and listened to him talk, there in her imagination she saw a cultured, educated man with a slight French accent, greying hair on his temples, an unwavering confidence, and an indomitable enthusiasm for life. But on opening them again, instead of the handsome older man, there was a very large sentient aloe vera plant feeding upon the sundered remains of a distant cousin.

Bumblebee, sitting across the table from the captain, was in a very chatty mood. "So we managed to contact home, and we have been sending messages back and forth through the telegraph office."

"They must miss you a lot," Vaallo said.

"They do. The war goes on without me, and I feel bad for not being there beside them."

"A war? What war?" Vaallo looked surprised.

Bumblebee explained about his home planet and the ancient, seemingly endless conflict that raged between the two factions, a war that had all but destroyed Cybertron and was becoming a growing threat to Earth, a war that could possibly only end with the annihilation of all Cybertronians, save for the few who had been scattered to the stars.

Vaallo looked concerned. "I had no idea that's what your kind were doing on Earth. And I had no idea you were a soldier."

"I've kept it quiet. I didn't think I'd be able to find a job here if I mentioned it. And I'm not exactly a front-liner," he said with a laugh, lifting his arms and looking down at himself. "I joined the Autobot faction because I agreed with what they said and I wanted to work against what the Decepticons stood for."

"I see," said Vaallo, stuffing another ruffled leaf into his mouth. "Well, in that case, you should enjoy your time here. It must be a nice break from the fighting and deprivations you're used to."

Bumblebee sighed. "I miss my compatriots, but I am enjoying my time here." He smiled briefly at Carly next to him. "Instead of a pistol I have a scrub brush. Instead of watching for attacks, I watch for hotel guests. I don't even have to wear my outer plating."

"We still want to go home though," Carly continued. "I miss my friends and my parents, and I've got more classes to take."

"So that's what keeps us going. We figured out that we'll have to work about six to nine months on Horobis to earn the money to get home, and once we have the money, it will take us four to eight months to make the journey."

"That long?" Vaallo questioned, looking a bit stunned.

"Yes. We were shocked when we first found out, but we've gotten over it. By the grace of God we ended up here in the blink of an eye. By his curse it will take us over a year to get home," Carly sighed.

"But at least we will be able to get back to Earth. That gives us a goal to work toward." He took Carly's hand and squeezed it in solidarity.

"I understand," said Vaallo with genuine sympathy. "Your family must miss you terribly," he said to Carly specifically.

"They do. The Autobots contacted my parents and let them know, a week after I disappeared, and again when we got a message home." Here, she smiled up at Bumblebee. "They assured my folks that I was being looked after by capable hands. I'm sure they've calmed down by now."

"How much will it cost to get home? If you don't mind my asking."

"About fifty-three hundred jil...each." Bumblebee told him with a sigh.

"Goodness! That much?" No wonder you two will be working so long."

"I know, but it could be a lot worse, and we're trying to enjoy our time here," Carly supplied enthusiastically. "We went to the wreck of the Jancis Jo yesterday, and the Grand Canyon a couple of weeks ago." She leaned toward him. "Next week we're going to see the Layered Canyons. And we decided that we have to see the Gardens of Alishar before we leave, even though that means taking a week off of work."

At this Vaallo smiled. "Such tourists you are. So it's a working vacation away from the war."

The waiter came, cleared away their empty plates and then offered dessert and drinks, which Vaallo insisted they have. And over this final course, Carly and Bumblebee told Vaallo of their time at the Jancis Jo. Bumblebee pulled out his data pad and scrolled up the pictures he'd taken of the massive colonizing ship that had crashed on Horobis three centuries ago after a reactor breach. And after the meal, Vaallo paid the bill and they headed back to the Garden Paradise Hotel.

"Bumblebee. Carly. I would like to do two things for you,m" Vaallo said as they walked slowly back toward the hotel. He did not move quickly on his short pedes.

"Vaallo, you've just taken us out for a meal. We're already in your debt," Bumblebee said.

"Then call me selfish in my kindness. I presume you have this shift off tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"In that case tomorrow I should like to take you two to the Gardens of Alishar. I've never seen them myself, and this would be a good opportunity for it."

The two both looked at him blankly. "You'd take us there? Tomorrow?"

"But it's on the other side of Horobis," Bumblebee reminded him.

"I have a private shuttle. We'd be there and back in plenty of time for work, and you're welcome to sleep on the way. And Carly, if I may be so bold, I think I might be able to obtain better paying work for you, if you would be willing to allow me to."

"But I can't speak more than a few words of Pelagian or Taliseet," she said.

"Not to worry," he smiled as they came to the entrance of the hotel. "I'll be off again now, and I'll see you two tomorrow at 11:00 again, shall I?"

Stunned by the captain's generosity, the two could only nod.

"Very good then. I'll meet you here tomorrow at 11:00. Be prepared for a long day at the gardens. Though I may see you at the baths later," he said to Bumblebee.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Just after 30:00, Bumblebee eagerly rushed back to the room to await Carly's return from the laundry. "Carly Carly Carly!" he gasped excitedly. "Put on that party dress and some makeup! Vaallo's taking us out again!"

"Again? He just took us out today, and he's taking us out tomorrow too."

"I know. He wants to take you somewhere for a job interview."

She cocked an eyebrow. "In my party gown?"

"That's what he said. He said to wear something pretty and sexy and to put on some make-up."

Carly was puzzled. What sort of job interview required dressing up like she was going to a party? "Well, all right."

As she dressed, Bumblebee located Vashi and begged her to come over and put on Carly's cosmetics for her, which she did. Though she'd abandoned Bumblebee for another mech, and then abandoned that one for another two weeks after, she was still on speaking terms with the washbot, and still swapped favors with him. And when she asked what the occasion was, she was most surprised and delighted.

"Tell her to hold her head high, to move slowly and gracefully, and to walk lightly," was the lizardess' advice.

Bumblebee translated to Carly, causing her to wonder even more.

They met Vaallo at the hotel entrance at 32:00, and together they walked two blocks toward the spaceport, stopping in front of a place called the Rose Beauty Saloon. They'd passed it many times, and Carly had noted the pictures on the sign out front displaying a selection of lovely women of several races dressed in colorful yet rather revealing outfits. She'd assumed it was a brothel or at least a strip club. Vaallo laughed when Carly hesitated and explained. "It's a bit classier than that," he assured her.

"What is it?"

"It's what we call a 'ring bar.' A place to relax and have a drink and watch beautiful creatures dance."

Suddenly it hit Carly what she would be interviewing for—why he'd had her dress up so prettily. "I'm not a dancer," she protested.

"Smile and move gracefully and soon you will be," grinned the captain. "And you'll be making five times what you do folding sheets and towels in that laundry room."

She looked at Bumblebee, and he looked back at her. "It's worth a try."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Inside, Vaallo found a table for them and went to speak with the manager. The two sat watching one of the dancers perform, a blue-scaled Taliseet female. She was perched upon a pedestal at the center of a round counter, dressed in something drapey and diaphanous, dancing to a slow exotic tune. Above the pedestal hung a ring on a pole, to which she clung for balance. And while Carly had imagined a strip club, it was actually fairly tame and the dancing was more elegant than titillating.

Vaallo returned shortly with an older Taliseet man, who greeted Carly kindly and pulled her to her feet, eyeing her up and down. He was pleased by her beautiful yet alien appearance, and soon insisted that she attempt to dance for him.

"But I don't know how to dance like that," Carly protested after Vaallo explained.

"You can. Remember when you were at the party on the Third Horizon, and you danced with me, hanging from my hand? That's all you have to do."

"You can do it, Carly," Bumblebee said encouragingly. "Just imagine yourself a ballerina and you'll do great."

"Are you sure?"

Vaallo grinned at her. "If I wasn't sure, would I have brought you here?"

This gave her confidence, and the club owner led her to another pedestal in the back of the bar, motioned for her to remove her sandals, and then held her hand as she climbed up onto the pedestal. Nervously, she began to dance, improvising some swaying moves and gesturing along with the music. She watched the other dancer on the central pedestal, copying her moves as best she could and trying to look attractive while doing so. As awkward as she felt, five times the earnings was very tempting, especially as they needed so much money for the journey home.

-o-o-o-o-o-

At 11:00 Captain Vaallo appeared in the lobby, his insignia on, and with him another high-ranking Yiaan and another without any insignia. "Bumblebee. Carly. I'd like you to meet Lieutenant Daapaan and our chief gardener, Cuurllen." The two nodded their eyestalks as they were introduced. "I hope you don't mind my inviting them along, but I knew they'd want to come as well."

"Of course not. You're the one who has arranged this trip. We're just fortunate enough that you'd be kind enough to take us," said Bumblebee.

"Do either of you speak English?" Carly asked the two other guests on Vaallo's excursion.

"I do," answered the Lieutenant with a slow blink of his eyes. "But Cuurllen doesn't, which is for the best which means he cannot bore you to death with his talk of gardens and horticulture and plant types and all those things."

They all laughed, save Cuurllen, who blinked in puzzlement, wondering what had been said. He hissed a question to Daapaan, and groaned when he received the answer.

-o-o-o-o-o-

The party made their way out to the parking area behind the hotel, where a gleaming white shuttle waited—the Captain's private craft. Bumblebee and Carly were again impressed. Inside, they settled in for the journey, the captain taking the helm. He lifted off and the spaceport fell away, and soon they were cruising at mid-altitude across the deserts. After a while, Carly tucked down for a nap, curling up into one of the padded berths in the back cabin. But Bumblebee stayed up front and continued talking with the others. Eventually the gardener fell asleep on one of the padded chairs of the lounge-like area behind the helm. Bumblebee drifted into recharge himself shortly thereafter.

A couple hours later, they were landing in the city of Alishar and boarding a taxi that would take them directly to the gardens. Carly was excited and held onto one of Vaallo's hands on the seat next to him. "We saw pictures of the gardens and decided we had to come, even if it would cost a lot. But thanks to you, we just have to pay admission."

Vaallo chuckled. "No admission. Today is a free day for you."

"A free day?"

"Yes, today is "alien robots and pretty human girls get in for free' day."

Bumblebee and Carly gave him a look that suggested he was teasing them.

Daapaan chuckled. "He's buying the tickets. No one argues. I have orders to enforce that."

"But Captain, we have money to buy our own tickets."

"Miss Carly," said Daapaan, narrowing his eyes at her. "I have orders to stop anyone from arguing with his decision." The lieutenant held up all four of his hands and spread the fingers. "Don't make me use these."

Carly drew back, but to her relief Daapaan chuckled again and leaned back against the large taxi's seat.

The gardens were everything the pictures had promised. They sprawled seemingly endlessly alongside a river, which watered the grounds through an intricate network of irrigation channels. In this desert climate, this was a paradise of verdant plantings and blooming flowers—a great, glorified version of the courtyard at the hotel. Large rocks and sculptures complemented the plantings. Paths meandered in all directions, promising vistas of peaceful pools and sprays of blossoms around each turn. Cuurllen soon wandered off on his own, while the other four explored at a leisurely place, marveling at the beauty of Horobis' Eden. Carly was amused by the fact that their host was a plant, and here he was visiting other plants. She decided it was akin to her own species going to stare at apes in a zoo.

But Vaallo and Daapaan were obviously enjoying it, and the two chatted to each other in Yinnic as they read the labels for the plantings and admired what they saw. The greenhouses were of great interest—they contained groupings of plants taken from other planets. In time they had lunch at a cafe, Vaallo again picking up the tab. Afterward, Daapaan took Bumblebee out to see the "Garden of Metal" where a collection of ore-trees from Ferron Twelve had been planted, while Vaallo took Carly to see the Yinnic garden.

"Is it really like your home?" she asked as they entered the large greenhouse.

"It is. Only prettier." She explored ahead, forging along the pathways that wound through thick groves of trees with leafy trunks and enormous colorful flowers that made sunflowers look tiny and uninteresting. The air was thick and humid, and at times water sprayed out from sprinklers overhead to simulate rain. Vaallo followed behind her, delighting in watching her discover things so familiar to him.

"Your planet must be very wet," she said as she took shelter beneath one of the large stationary umbrellas designed to shelter visitors during the artificial showers. But Vaallo stood in the rain, smiling and shuddering happily beneath it.

"It is." And then he sighed. "It's been a long time since I was home. Though admittedly, I was raised in a drier area of the planet. It only rained like this half of the year."

"And the rest of the year?"

"It only rained occasionally." His eyes suddenly hinted at mischief. "Here, watch this. This is what we did in the dry months when the rains were scarce." He raised his tentacles upwards and aligned them into a tight fan. The falling droplets caught in his limbs and rolled down to his body, where the rivulets converged and rolled into his mouth.

"Oh! That's clever!"

"That's evolution." Vaallo returned his limbs to their normal position. "Rainwater is prized above all other liquids," he said with a hint of nostalgia in his voice. "Remember that bottle of wine? What you do with fermented grape juice we do the same with rainwater. Bottle it and date it and sell it for a small fortune."

She laughed in response.

When the indoor weather let up shortly, they continued on through the greenhouse.

"Carly?"

"Yes Captain?" He had worn his rank insignia for the outing.

"After this, I'm taking you shopping. You're going to need some dancewear."

She turned and gasped. "The ring bar owner will hire me?"

"He liked your looks and you can dance well enough. And the language thing is not a problem. He'll take you for the 26:00 to 34:00 shift at first. When you've had more experience, you'll be able to get more hours. But you should be able to work in the laundry for the first quarter shift, and then work at the ring bar at night."

"Oh Vaallo! Thank you!" She threw herself into his mass and hugged him appreciatively. "Thank you, thank you. Oh gosh, I'm getting all wet!" she laughed and pulled back, finding the front of her shirt soaked through from the artificial rainwater on the Yiaan's skin.

Vaallo smiled. "I know you're very independent, but I'm going to buy you three outfits for dancing in. Any more than that, and you'll have to purchase them yourself."

"You'll buy me clothes for it? Will Daapaan threaten me if I argue?"

Vaallo laughed boldly. "Yes. He will. He takes his orders seriously." He enveloped her in his tentacles again and gave her a quick tight hug, and then released her. "Now lets go outside and let you dry out before your guardian sees you and refuses to let me take you out unchaperoned again."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Leaving the gardens and Cuurllen behind, the four went out to a shopping area where there was a dancewear store. Daapaan and Bumblebee wandered off to do their own shopping, while Vaallo took Carly in to find her something to wear for ring dancing. A salesclerk was drafted, and within an hour Carly had three complete outfits to dance in, a mostly sheer red one, a sparkling green one, and a shimmering purple one. Makeup and jewelry was purchased as well, along with six pairs of the leather slippers necessary for ring dancing.

Meeting up later and seeing the costumes, Bumblebee was excited about the new job, and not just for the money she had the potential to earn. "You'll look great up there on those pedestals," he said. "I wish you could have seen the dancers on Cybertron during the Golden Age. They were amazing. And you'll be amazing too," he gushed.

"I'll do my best," Carly said modestly.

"Bumblebee's right. You'll look great," said Vaallo confidently.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Exhausted, the human and the robot slept all the way back to Hax Horobis, the three Yiaan trading off stints at the helm of the shuttle. Carly smiled even in her sleep. Vaallo had been so sweet to her. And she hoped that someday she could repay him for his kindness.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"Stung" continues in Chapter 12: "New Employment"

-o-o-o-o-o-

Author Notes

Spike's Clothes – When I was newly married years ago and we were short of things we needed, I sometimes ended up stealing his undies to wear when I ran out of panties. And I frequently wore his once-worn shirts to work as well since they were hardly dirty after a day at his office.

Fifty-three hundred jil – A lot of money... I've been taking it to be roughly about $15,000.

Rose Beauty Saloon – A nod to Carly's first episode in the G1 cartoon. The "Rose Beauty Salon" is seen next door to "Robots Arcade."

Jancis Jo – Taken from one of the short stories in Stewart Cowley's "Spacewreck," the book being a lot of inspiration for some of the segments in this story. The Jancis Jo was a huge colonizing ship that crashed onto a desert planet, the radiation from the reactor breach killing all of the settlers aboard. The ship, long forgotten, was rediscovered centuries later by a planetary survey team.

Chief Gardener – His name is taken from a friend of mine, who when we met, had a giant pet mushroom he grew in the hot-tub room and babied dearly.

The Gardens of Alishar – I love botanical gardens, and I've roughly based these off of the lovely Kew Gardens outside of London.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Transformers and all related concepts, characters, worlds, and events are property of Hasbro and Takara Tomy. Original characters and story elements are property of E. Potter, writing under the pen name of Miratete.