Chapter 8:
Occupation

	Samantha stretched the early the next morning. The night had been long, 
since Tobias could not fall asleep. She rolled over, ready to drape her arm 
across his chest. She couldn't. She opened her eyes and saw him getting 
dressed. "Tobias?" she said softly. "Why are you up so early?"
	"Gotta go to work," he said. "Don't want to be late."
	She sat up. "But it's your day off."
	"I should go and check up on-"
	"You can check up on whatever it is later." She slowly crawled out of 
bed. "And I know why you're up and getting dressed." She slipped over to him, 
nude body swaying. "You're upset."
	"I am not," he said defensively. "I-"
	"You're upset that Isthus is in charge." He fell silent. She sighed. 
"I'm sorry. But it's the truth, isn't it?" He nodded. She reached up and 
started to undo his shirt buttons. "Tobias, come back to bed. You need to 
relax. It can't be healthy for you." She leaned up and kissed him ever so 
gently. "For me?"
	He shut his eyes. "I know you're right. But I wanna go check in on 
Kaitlyn and see how she and Myst are progressing on the weapons."
	"No need to." She slid his shirt off of his body. "Kaitlyn called me 
yesterday to say she was going to visit." She smiled and ran her hands over 
his chest. "Apparently, Myst has some tinkering with a prototype rail gun to 
do and needs the lab to himself."
	He nodded and took his belt off. "Okay. I understand." His pants fell 
to the floor, leaving him in his boxers. "When is she supposed to get here?"
	"In about three hours." She smiled and hugged him. "Please come back 
to bed and rest."
	He put his hands on her waist. "You know I can't do that." He sighed. 
"Put your robe on. I'll cook us breakfast."

	"Okay," Myst said. "Try it now!" He flipped a few switches on the 
control panel in front of him and pushed a button. He watched as the large 
machine sitting in the vacuum tube in front of him began to charge.
	"Power at 30%," Kaitlyn, who stood at a control panel on the other 
side of the tube, said. "When should we fire?"
	"We'll try 65%," he replied. "That's always a good plan, right?"
	"Indeed." She watched silently as the meter on her control panel 
slowly rose. "55% and rising..." She looked over at Myst, who was 
concentrating on his controls, and smiled. This guy IS kinda cute, she said 
to herself. She looked down at her controls again. "65%."
	"Firing!" He pulled a lever and pushed a button. The machine in front 
of him let go of a high pitch whine. He waited patiently. Unfortunately, the 
device caused an explosion on his side of the tube. Smoke appeared, which 
was quickly sucked out and sent careening into space. He sighed and slammed 
the controls. "Close tube." The tube shut and regained air pressure.
	Kaitlyn shook her head. "And we almost had it this time, too!" She 
sighed. "Well, we've been working non-stop for two days. We should take a 
break." She looked over to Myst. "What do you say? Go visit Tobias?"
	He had already gone to a table to review and redo the plans for the 
device.
	"Myst..." She walked over and looked over his shoulder. "C'mon. We 
need to eat and sleep. Let's go visit Tobias. I'm sure he's cooking 
something."
	"Eh...you go on ahead. I'm going to work on the plans."
	She rolled her eyes. "You're going to overwork yourself." She smiled 
and hugged him. "Don't overwork yourself."
	He smiled and attempted to hug back. "Don't worry about me. Tell Tobias 
I said hi."
	"I will."

	There was a knock at the door. "Door's open," Samantha called. The 
door slid open, and Kaitlyn wearily walked in. "Well, look who's out of the 
lab."
	Kaitlyn grinned. "Very funny," she muttered.
	"Odd," Tobias said from his vantage point over the stove. "You're not 
yourself today."
	"Why do you say that?"
	"Well, for one thing, you haven't asked for pancakes yet. And we were 
getting requests from Crash and the boys just down the hall." He grinned. 
"And you have yet to yell at me for what Samantha is not wearing."
	"Huh?" She looked over at Samantha. She was in a black silk robe. The 
belt was not tied up and her goods were showing. "Samantha! Close-" She 
stopped herself. "Wait, that's right. I'm sorry."
	Tobias put the pan down and looked at her. "Are you okay Kaitlyn? You 
wouldn't let our marriage get in the way of giving Samantha a lecture on why 
she shouldn't let her ya-yas hang out like that."
	"Yeah, I'm fine," she responded. "I've just been up for two days 
straight working with Myst."
	He placed the last pancake on a plate and brought three of them over 
to the two girls. "That's not healthy."
	"I know. But Myst thought he had the configurations right for the 
prototype Rail Gun power cell perfect. He wanted to build it and test it 
out."
	"What's he doing now?"
	"Studying the blue prints to see what we did wrong. The cell blew up 
in the vacuum tube."
	"Ah." He placed the plate of pancakes in front of her. "So how is 
Myst?"
	Kaitlyn lowered her head slightly to hide the blush. "He's fantastic. 
Busy little beaver, the feline that he is."
	"Yeah," Tobias said knowingly as he sat down next to Samantha.
	Kaitlyn poked at the pancakes. "I think he's adorable."
	Samantha looked up at her. "Kaitlyn?"
	She looked up at the two. "I haven't felt this way in a long time. Not 
since I met you, Tobias. And not since..." She shut her eyes. "...I fell in 
love with that asshole before that."
	Samantha shut her robe and moved closer. "Kaitlyn? What are you 
saying?"
	"She's saying she has a slight crush on Myst," Tobias said. Kaitlyn 
blushed even worse than before and nodded slowly.
	Samantha smiled and hugged her. "Well, I think Myst is the perfect guy 
for you."
	"Really?"
	"Yeah."
	"Yeah," Tobias added. "He's the greatest technological mind from the 
Viper Sting, and you're the greatest Pack mind we've got on this excursion. 
Besides that, he's got one hell of a personality on him." He cut off and 
took a bite of his meal. "I found that out when I was in Raider turf."
	Kaitlyn smiled. "You think I should go after him?"
	"Kaity, you have my blessings." He laughed and dodged a flying pillow.

                                     *******

	Isthus looked at his opponent viciously. "You've just fallen right 
into my trap!" He slammed his fist into the poor human's chest, shattering 
bone and sending him flying. The human smashed against a wall and slowly 
slid down into a bloody mess. Isthus sighed and shook his head. "These 
humans are no challenge." He put a towel around his neck and stepped out of 
the box.
	"V-very good, sir," Julia said as she watched the clean up crew move 
the dead body out of the pit. "Nice right hook."
	"Thank you, my dear."
	"If I may say so sir," Allen added. "I would like you to teach me how 
to do that."
	Isthus looked at him and laughed. "My friend. You don't have the 
muscle mass like I do! It'd be impossible for you to crush your opponent's 
rib cage without breaking your own hand!" He patted the two on the back. 
"How about we go get a drink?"
	"Sure, sir," Julia said, trying her best to mask the uneasiness in her 
voice. Isthus bought it and led them to a bar. "My usual," she told the 
barkeeper.
	"Eh, I'm not sure what to get," Allen said.
	"I'm getting some of that 'Hard Lemonade' we picked up out of many of 
the human shops. Why not try one?"
	"Oh, what the hell! You only live once, right?" Isthus laughed and 
slapped him on the back, nearly sending him onto the floor. The bartender 
pulled two bottles and placed them in front of the two, then fixed Julia her 
drink. "So, Lord of the Earth," Allen joked. "You're in an 
uncharacteristically good mood."
	"Well, wouldn't you be if you just conquered the homeland of your 
mortal enemy?"
	"I'll drink to that!" The two popped open the crude human bottles and 
drank up. Julia sighed and ran her finger along the side of her glass.
	"What's up with her?" Isthus asked, noticing her down mood.
	"Eh, she's not to keen about close quarters combat," Allen explained. 
"She must have been spooked by the blood."
	He nodded. "Well, I've got plans to lay out. I'll probably see you two 
later." He started to walk away. "Oh, and before I forget, since your girl 
was instrumental in our conquering of Earth, you're both invited to a 
banquet tonight. See ya there." He took off out the door.

	Allen looked at Julia, who was still sulking over the glass. "Julia?" 
he asked, sitting down on the stool next to hers. "Julia, are you okay?" She 
shook her head. "Was it the blood?" She nodded. "Don't worry. It's just a 
little-"
	"It's not just that," she said. "That was just...just spooky, that's 
all." She looked over towards the pit. Some of the other customers were 
watching as one of her fellow crew members - she couldn't see who - fought 
with a sport human. "I don't like that pit. Who created it anyway?"
	"That Khan chick," Allen said. "A real sweet deal for our soldiers."
	She shot a baleful look at him.
	"Sorry." 
	There was a sudden cheer from the pit. The crowd split to let the 
obvious victor past. She walked right up to the bar and smiled at the 
barkeeper. "Sssome of that human ssscotch, pleassse," she hissed. Julia 
shuddered and took a sip of her drink. Khan looked over at her and smiled. 
"Enjoying a well dessserved drink?"
	"Yeah," she said, her voice a little shaky.
	"Hmm...ssseemsss the alcohol is taking effect. How many drinksss have 
you had ssso far?"
	"This is my first."
	She frowned. "Weak ssstomach?"
	"No," Allen explained. "She can't stand to be in close combat, let 
alone watch it. I mean, I'm sure you saw what Isthus did to that human."
	"Yesss," Khan hissed excitedly. "I like hisss ssstyle. I wish he would 
teach me how to do that sssome time..."
	"Disgusting," Julia whispered as she took another sip of her drink.
	Khan shot her a dirty look, like she had heard it. "Anyway, I'll be 
going in for another round. Would you like to join me, Allen?"
	He looked at Julia, who was getting up to leave. "Nah. I'm gonna go 
with Julia. Thank you for the offer, though."
	Khan laughed. "Sssilly mechanicsss. Don't mind getting dirty in their 
machinesss, but when it comesss to getting a little blood on them..." She 
took the scotch that was given to her.
	"We fix things," Allen said. "Not break them, Khan." He offered Julia 
his arm, which she readily declined and took off after her.

	They walked past a mining camp. Julia stopped to look at the seemingly 
endless number of humans, beating away tirelessly at the earth as armed 
guards watched over them. She leaned against the fence and sighed.
	"Julia," Allen asked. "What's wrong?"
	"Look at them," she said. "Toiling endlessly, without a thought in 
their minds except to keep working or else they'll get beat." She shook her 
head and started away. "It's disgusting."
	Allen put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"
	"Yes. Why do you ask?"
	"Because this isn't the Julia I know. You've suddenly got this soft 
spot for the humans." She looked at him. "The Julia I know threatens to rip 
my balls off and hand them to me ever time I try to sneak a kiss." She 
looked away. "Julia, it's okay. I'm here for you."
	"Yeah," she said, putting a hand on hers. "Take me home, please."

                                    *******

	"We lost two transports, four thousand of our defense robots, and, 
most importantly, we've lost all hope until Lone Wolf arrives," Terry said. 
The four who sat around the table didn't respond much. "I've ordered Sara to 
begin construction on the parts of the base that our reinforcements will be 
needing. I've also started up a research project that can be handled without 
our interference. Other than that, we're dead in the water."
	"We can't move without running the risk of Isthus finding out," Vu 
said.
	"Hell, he's probably hunting down the source of our robots right now," 
Mallory said. "When he finds us, that's it."
	"If he finds us," Terry said. "Don't forget. We're on the bottom of an 
ocean. It'll take him a while to find us and just as long to get down here."
	"We could try a few raids once every two weeks or so," Vu said. "But 
if we don't want to blow our cover, then it seems we're stuck."
	"And don't forget their forced human soldiers," Kari said. Everyone 
looked at her. "I'm...I'm sorry. I have no business in this."
	Terry sighed. "Yes you do, Miss Zakhary. As much as it hurts, you're 
one of the last free humans on this planet. And we need you more than ever 
to help us free your people." She nodded silently. "I've already dispatched 
tiny spy robots into the different compounds we've found. The data we've 
received so far isn't good."
	"Care to share?" Shivana asked.
	"I'm not sure I should. It would easily upset the three of you."
	"What about me?" Mallory asked.
	"It...it bugs me just to think about it."
	"Oh."
	"Don't care," Vu said. "If it gives us incentive to interfere with 
Isthus, then we need to know."
	He sighed. "Just remember, you asked me to read this." He pulled out a 
couple of sheets of paper. "According to the initial intelligence, the human 
race has been enslaved. Children are being trained for various roles in 
their adult lives, while the adults have their own purposes."
	"What purposes are those?"
	"We're not sure exactly yet. So far, all we know is that there are 
labor slaves, personal slaves..." He shuddered. "Pleasure slaves..."
	Kari let go of an audible growl.
	"And the worst part is that they cull any human that gets to the age 
of 50." A deathly silence fell over the room. "We have to give Isthus enough 
problems to sustain us until Lone Wolf arrives," he said, finally realizing 
the seriousness of the situation. He slowly turned away.
	"Terry," Mallory asked.
	"Yeah?"
	She got up and moved closer to him. "You okay, love?"
	"No...I'm not."
	She slipped around to catch his gaze. "It's going to be okay."
	"I know."
	She gave him a soft kiss. "Then why-?"
	"It's nothing to worry about." He slowly stepped away. "I need some 
time to breathe...to think..." He slowly walked out of the room, holding his 
head.
	"Terry," Mallory said, slowly sinking backwards into his seat.

                                    *******

	"Motherfucker!" Myst smashed the control panel with his fist as he 
watched the power cell in front of him explode once more. "Computer, close 
vacuum and repair damage to cell. Await further instructions." He turned 
away as the glass tube sealed up and regained it's air pressure. He sat down 
at the designs and quickly began to work. "I don't get it," he muttered to 
himself. "Why isn't it working?" He ran his fingers along one of the many 
wires that led out of the drawn out energy cell. "I don't understand..." He 
yawned. "Maybe if I..." He took a pencil, erased a few parts to the design, 
and redrew them. He looked at it, and then quickly erased it. "No! What am I 
kidding?!" He yawned again. "I swear...I'll figure it out..." He slowly 
rested his head on his arms. "But I need to rest..." He slowly shut his eyes.

	When he woke up, he found himself in bed. He slowly sat up and rubbed 
his eyes. "What happened?"
	"Tobias brought you in," Samantha responded. She had just walked in the 
door to see him sitting up. "He went into the lab and saw you sleeping at 
the controls."
	He looked around. "So this is how he lives," he muttered. "Very nice. 
But why did he bring me here?"
	"Because your partner stumbled in a few hours before you were brought 
here."
	"Kaitlyn?"
	Samantha nodded and pointed to the couch where Kaitlyn slept 
peacefully. "She didn't even get through a full conversation before falling 
out." He watch Kaitlyn and smiled. "Myst?"
	"Huh?" He broke his train of thought and looked at her. "Yeah?"
	She smiled. "You guys have work to do. You've had a good eight hours 
of sleep. Go wake her up and get back to work."
	"Of...of course." He slowly got out of the bed. "Thank you for lending 
me your room."
	"Think nothing of it!" she responded with a wink. "Now, your partner 
in crime is waiting for you. Go wake her up and get back to work." She 
smiled and moved further into the room, heading for a desk.

	Myst sat down next to Kaitlyn. She was buzy squeezing the living 
daylights out of the pillow she had grabbed. Her sleep was peaceful. I hate 
to disturb this, Myst thought as he gave her a gentle shake.
	"Hmm?" She slowly sat up. "Wha-?" She saw Myst and blushed. "Myst!" 
She quickly started to button up her shirt. "When'd you arrive?"
	"According to Samantha, eight hours ago," he responded. "When did you 
fall out?"
	"Eh, some while ago." She smiled. "Ready to get back to work?"
	"Well, yes, as a matter of fact." He looked over at Samantha, who was 
busy writing something down. "But I think we should take breaks every twenty 
hours, ya know, to recharge."
	She nodded. "Yes. We should." She slowly reached for his hand.
	He saw her movement and pulled back. "Well, shall we?" He stood up and 
offered his hand.
	"Thank you Myst." She took it with a firm grasp and pulled herself up. 
"Back to the drawing board."

                                      *******

	Julia moaned as she woke up the next morning. She held her head and 
started to shake it. She knew she was covered in a cold sweat. She knew she 
was trembling uncontrollably. She knew she had that dream again. "Ooooh...my 
head," she moaned as she slipped out of her bed and into the bathroom. Her 
robe slowly slid off of her body as she stepped into the shower. She 
groaned, a pre-programmed command that was added to her shower. The warm 
waters started to flow from the shower head, soaking her fur clad body, 
enveloping her in a warm embrace. She sighed happily, hugging herself. The 
images she'd seen over the last few days. The nightmares. They were all 
washed away. She looked straight ahead at the wall in front of her.

	She was starting to question her lord's reasons for their actions.