Nothing happened.

There were no exciting kidnappings that took place, no attempts on his or Vok'Rul's life. They ate breakfast in peace - as much peace as he could get with a crowd around him and an Ezekiel that had no manners - and went about the rest of their day with little trouble.

Viktor waited for the other shoe to drop the entire day. He was tense and uncomfortable. Vok'Rul picked up on it as soon as he had sat down with the rest of them to eat. Though, he was worried about something else entirely.

"Is this about Thruul and I?" he asked in a whisper. "I am sorry I did not tell you, my little Kohgrash. It completely slipped my mind."

"No," he whispered back heatedly, reaching out to steal some of Vok'Rul's meat kebabs. He made a small noise of protest and despair but didn't retaliate. "I'm happy for you guys. Really."

"What are we whispering about?" Ezekiel whispered loudly, leaning over Viktor to shove himself into the conversation.

"Where we should drop you off. Neptune is pretty nice this time of year."

"Hey!"

After breakfast, and after reassuring Vok'Rul some more that Viktor really didn't mind about not being told, the group went to the plaza. According to the itinerary, there was going to be an information session for those who wanted to attend. With nothing else to do, Viktor convinced the others to tag along with him.

"But we already know stuff," Ezekiel complained while shuffling his feet. "Your alien is literally the big boss. You probably know stuff that his people don't know about."

"Be real, Zeke," Viktor scoffed, wondering if that was even true. They didn't really talk about political stuff. Though, if he did take the alien up on his offer of ambassador, that would surely change. Maybe he should start learning some politics. Like how to react when someone called him lord.

"Welcome to The Conquest's first informational panel," a pale purple alien spoke. They stood in the middle of the plaza on top of a raised platform. Viktor wondered if they just rise out of the floor. The way there always seemed to be platforms appearing out of nowhere was sort of comical.

The alien looked along the crowd, and their eyes seemed to lock right with Viktor's. "I am Turrkn, and I'll make you scream much louder than that!"

Viktor tore his eyes away, fingers trembling around the bars of his walker. His breathing was shallow. He leaned in closer to his dad, trying, desperately, to ignore the way his voice shook when he asked, "What, uh, w-what did they say their name was?"

Oskar shrugged, looking at him oddly. "They said something like Turquoise. I couldn't pronounce it."

"Turshkah," Pedro supplied helpfully. "Aren't you listening?"

"Lost in thought," Viktor wheezed out. Turshkah wasn't any better.

Thankfully, a human stepped up as well and basically took over. They were reading from a script, and whatever questions the crowd had left them floundering, but it was leagues better than a Vokkrus giving out information. Viktor felt a bit bad that he was so distrustful of them. They hadn't done anything wrong.

Ezekiel was right, though; the information session wasn't all that helpful. It just explained what had happened the other day with the Drive. Most humans hadn't sustained any lasting injury with their leap through space, but some had been a little worse for wear, especially those that had already been injured. The session then explained how their stomach acid was particularly fatal to Vokkrus, and to take great care if they felt like throwing up.

Their trip would be extended, they said, estimated to about a week, now. There were some unhappy mutters, and then the questions started flooding in.

Would rations last that long? What are we supposed to do for a week on this ship? Can't we move any faster?

Not everyone on the ship had attended the information panel, but it was enough that Viktor and his group had to retreat. The noise was too much for all of them.

"That sucked," Aiko sighed after they had fled into the hallways of the ship. The crowd's noise was a low roar in the background, much more manageable to them all. "Viktor, where's your alien at?"

Viktor shrugged, trying to concentrate on his breathing. "Somewhere," he responded, feeling the familiar whisper of anxiety at not knowing Vok'Rul's whereabouts. He had gotten better about it, but today had him struggling to get his feet underneath him.

They set out to find him simply because they had nothing else to do. It had the added benefit of exploring the ship. While they had gotten the tour from Captain Ghhvresh, they hadn't been shown the really interesting stuff, it had all been business.

"What do you think this does?" Nikolas asked, pointing up to a particularly tempting button on the wall. It was surrounded by a panel with some flashing lights. It had white, bold text written on it, but Viktor couldn't read their language that well, so he had no clue what this said.

"No idea," he said. He looked around, trying to get some context. Maybe there was a secret weapon on board just in case they got boarded by space pirates. Were there even space pirates? It would be so awesome if he could see space pirates.

Realistically, though, the button probably just opened some airlock. He told them as much. They were silent for a moment before Pedro and Ezekiel said, at the exact same time, "We should throw something out of it."

"Jinx!" Ezekiel shouted, punching Pedro on the shoulder. The Hispanic man dodged, pushing the other's arm away and shoving him to the wall. Ezekiel yelled wordlessly, laughing. "You owe me a soda."

"Hello?" a Vokkrus rounded the corner, looking worried and frazzled. Their eyes, a piercing blue, landed on the group. Oddly, they had a card attached to their belt, one that Viktor often saw on the staff. Except, this one wasn't wearing any of the uniform that accompanied that rank. Their expression grew disgusted for a split second, barely noticeable, before it switched back to a pleasant one instead."I heard yelling. Is everything alright?"

Viktor wondered if these aliens were tailing him. He felt like he would've seen it coming.

"Yeah," his dad said, voice distrustful. "Can't we explore the ship?"

"Of course, you can," the alien's voice grew a little frosty in response. "But one should always be wary when there are wild animals loose on the ship."

"What did you just say?" Nikolas hissed angrily, followed by Ezekiel's angry exclamations of,

"Shove it up your ass, alien! We aren't animals any more than you are."

Viktor saw its claws curl, and if it had a tail, he was sure it'd be preparing to lunge as well. He had a bad feeling about this guy. He stepped forward, shrugging off his dad's hand with as much strength as he could muster. "I think you should leave," he said to the alien, holding himself stiffly to prevent his arms from shaking. "Before anyone..." he paused for a second, "gets hurt."

"Lord- Lord Kohgrash!" the alien spluttered. It looked a little too nervous to see him. Its eyes flickered for an escape."I mean no offense, of course, I was only just -"

"How did you get on this ship?" he cut it off, squinting at the alien distrustfully. The others fell silent behind him.

"Uh, w-what?"

"How did you get on this ship?" he repeated. "Did you make donations?"

"Of- Of course I did!" the alien tried to get his dignity back, laughing at the question as if incredulous. It straightened and looked down on Viktor. Viktor smiled wolfishly at it. "Why wouldn't I? That's the only way to get on the ship, after all." Its voice trembled, just slightly. This guy was a bad liar.

"Unless," Viktor said, feeling his heart speeding up in his chest. He didn't really like confrontation, but he couldn't deny that it felt good. His body was itching for a fight, even though it could barely walk. All this fearful, nervous energy wanted to get out. "Unless someone snuck in. Pulling an alarm is bound to cause some sort of panic. Maybe not to the extent of someone who wanted to infiltrate the ship with an entire team, but certainly, a Vokkrus or two could sneak in. Maybe even pickpocket a ticket in the chaos."

His friends shifted behind them, and the Vokkrus looked at them all nervously, a feeble smiling playing on its face. "I - I don't know what you're speaking of, my lord. If you have concerns, maybe you should tell -"

"Oh, Vokkra already knows," he lied sweetly. The alien looked even more nervous, now. "How strange an alarm would go off right as we are finishing boarding. Wouldn't you, if you were Vokkra, wouldn't you investigate as quickly and as efficiently as possible? I mean, what do you take him for, an idiot?"

"N-No," the alien was quick to say. It threw up its claws in surrender, taking a few steps back. It was ready to run. Viktor's own legs tensed in anticipation, even though he knew he wouldn't be able to chase after it. Humans may be quicker than Vokkrus, but he hasn't been able to conquer walking just yet, let alone running.

"What's this about my being an idiot, Kohgrash?" Vok'Rul's voice filled the hallway with an icy coldness. Viktor was still tense, but he felt a knot loosen in his stomach. Now that he was here, this alien had no choice but to confront its crimes. "I hope you are not slandering my name in front of our friend, here."

"Of course not," Viktor said with a genial smile.

"You- Your!" the alien couldn't even get the words out. It was trembling so badly that Viktor was sure it'd fall over any moment.

"Did my ears deceive me," Vok'Rul whispered, stepping close to the alien. He towered over it, clasping its shoulder in his hand, "or did I hear something about sneaking onto the ship?"

It was funny, if a little pathetic, how quickly the alien caved and confessed. Vok'Rul must have contacted Captain Ghhvresh sometime between interrogating the alien - who was a lower-level member of the Cords and sent to gather intel about Earth from the meager threads of the group they had left - and coming to Viktor's aid.

"How did you know where I was?" Viktor asked, watching Ghhvresh and a few bulky aliens escort the alien to whatever acted as a cell on this ship. Vok'Rul didn't seem too concerned about the Cords' invasion and subsequent attempts to upset the shaky peace the humans and Vokkrus had. It could be due to the fact that Vok'Rul was so confident in his security that he had nothing to worry about, or because the Cords were scrambling to gain any sort of traction that they were desperately playing all their cards.

Vok'Rul tapped his own wrist, and Viktor mimicked him, twisting the bracelet around his skin. "I modified it while you slept. It's still a tracking device - I hope you don't mind that part, still - but I added a monitor, for your heartbeat. I worried that your heart might fail again."

Viktor hummed. He didn't mind. It wasn't like he about to take it off, either. He had an unhealthy attachment to that thing. "What were you up to?"

He went a little purple. "I did not think the information panel would appreciate my presence. Thruul and I went downstairs to stroll through the gardens on board."

Despite the fact that Vok'Rul had definitely come back from a date, Viktor was more interested in the gardens. "There's plants here?" he asked cheerfully. He'd tease them about it later.

The gardens were not as luscious and grand as the ones back home, but it was greenery that Viktor and the others appreciated. Even though the soil had little to no earthy smell and some of the larger plants were fake, Viktor was glad to look at something else other than walls.

"I wonder what alien horticulture is like," Nikolas mused out loud.

"I don't care about any of this plant crap," Ezekiel declared, whirling around to point an accusatory finger at Viktor. "I wanna know what that was all about. How'd you know that bastard pulled the alarm?"

"I didn't," Viktor said, reaching up to inspect a fruit hanging off one of the branches. He wrinkled his nose at it. Fake. He wondered if Vok'Rul had any real ones somewhere. He'd have to ask.

Ezekiel snapped his fingers in front of his nose impatiently. Annoyed, Viktor looked up, scowling at his friends. They were all looking at him with interest. Even Nikolas looked intrigued.

"What?" he muttered, a little self-conscious. "Wasn't it obvious? Its claws were curling to attack you guys, so I called its bluff. It looked way too nervous to see me, so I just put two and two together."

"Curling?" Oskar asked at the same time Pedro piped up with, "You were always good at reading them."

"I am glad no harm befell you," Vok'Rul said, looking upward. Viktor followed his gaze. The room was domed, with the centerpiece being a small, white orb of light. It radiated no heat, but Viktor could easily imagine warmth coming off it in waves, mimicking A1-308's small sun. "It would have been foolish to attack any of you while you are strong in number. I must ask that you all stick in a group."

"Sure thing, boss man," Ezekiel said, apparently happy with Viktor's answer. Honestly, he was glad. He probably couldn't explain it. The paranoia and fear that filled him made him itchy and hyperaware of everyone around him. His gut had never proven him wrong.

"Hey," Viktor said after they had circled the gardens a few times. Vok'Rul had eventually picked him up after he had fallen from the group for the fourth time in the span of ten minutes, to which he was secretly grateful. He rarely asked for Vok'Rul to carry him - the act was somewhat embarrassing - but he was always happy when he didn't need to use his legs too much. "Does this ship have a pool?"

"Pool?" Vok'Rul repeated, mystified.

After explaining, somewhat briefly as Ezekiel tried to feed Vok'Rul misinformation to the best of his ability, what a pool was, Vok'Rul surprised them all by saying they did have something like that. It was primarily used for bathing instead of anything fun, though, much to Nikolas's disappointment.

"There's some else for you humans to do, though!" he said cheerfully, ushering them all to the exit. "Come! Rukka whipped this together herself, Kohgrash. She was utterly humiliated at the festival with the outcome of the enrichment course she designed."

"Oh, that thing," Viktor said, thinking about the little playset that had been in the human section on the second day of the festival. It had been pretty poorly made, but that day was fun. He had gotten to see his friends together for the first time in months.

He tried not to think of the festival, though. All it did was drag him back into the facility, with Turkkn and Nhafka's cold voices in his head.

The room that held Rukka's new and improved 'enrichment course' was massive. Instead of the harsh, buzzing lighting that filled most of the ship, this room had what came across as natural lighting. It was nice, Viktor thought. Already he could feel some of the worries seep off his shoulders. He forgot how much he enjoyed sunlight, even if it was fake. Even the garden light had nothing on this.

The room resembled a park. Grass - still brown and dead-looking - coated the floor. It reflected the light a little oddly and touching it revealed that it was fake, too. There were small, dirt paths that wound around the park, weaving in and out of trees, bushes, and some benches. Interestingly, it hardly reminded Viktor of the obstacle course that had been at the festival. There were only a few slides, poles, and bars to climb around on. Most of the room harbored places to hide or run. It even had a ramp with holes in it. The aliens must have watched their games more closely than he had thought.

"Oooh, they got some bean bags," Ezekiel said, picking up a much neater bean bag than their socks had turned out to be.

"Huh," Nikolas laughed. "Maybe another game is in order."

"What game?" his dad asked. It was only then that they remembered he hadn't been able to go to the festival. They launched into an explanation of what had happened the weeks before the humans' release.

"-squirmed under a tree like a little rat," Pedro chortled. Viktor would've smacked him but Vok'Rul was nowhere near the man.

"Shut up, man, you're just jealous I won," he huffed.

"What'd you win?" Oskar asked curiously, kicking a leathery ball across the room. It smacked into the wall with such force it made everyone jump in fright.

"A starfruit," Viktor sighed wistfully, pressing his hand to his chest to settle his heart. "They're delicious."

"I think your tongue is broken," Pedro told him incredulously.

"Your tongue probably thinks you're still eating brothmeal."

"Stop talking about food. You're making me hungry," Ezekiel complained. Aiko made a noise of disgust. Viktor was inclined to agree. Who thought of brothmeal and decided they were hungry? It made no sense.

"It is almost dinner time," Nikolas said.

Viktor looked up at Vok'Rul, who was listening to their conversation idly. "Can Thruul make us some food?" he pleaded. He was going to miss Thruul's cooking. He mercilessly stomped on the thought. He didn't want to think about leaving everyone. It just didn't seem real.

"He would be very happy to, my little Kohgrash."

"Score," he cheered.

***

The days after followed the same pattern. They ate breakfast, explored the ship - which never got smaller no matter how many times they circled the place - and finished with a delicious dinner courtesy of Thruul. Five days had passed when they dropped out of the Drive.

Viktor had gotten used to the pressure around his ribs, so when it vanished while they slept, he jolted out of the semi-peaceful sleep he found himself in.

"What?" he half-wheezed, half-growled. Something brushed against the side of his face, and he jerked sideways, smacking the hand away weakly.

"It's just me," Vok'Rul's sleepy voice broke through Viktor's half-awake, panicked daze. "We're out of the Drive."

Viktor mumbled something noncommittally, scrubbing against his eyes to wash away the sleepiness. It took him a moment to register what Vok'Rul said.

"Out of the Drive?" he asked, perking up. The exhaustion dogging his bones cleared up, and he quickly got to his feet, grasping his walker as he wobbled unsteadily. Still, it didn't damper the excitement that flew through him. "Does that mean we're close?"

"Yes," Vok'Rul affirmed, something reluctant in his tone. Viktor barely heard it, though. He immediately made his way to the window in their room, pressing his hands and face against the cold, kaleidoscope glass. "We should make it to Earth by the end of the day, today."

"Are you broadcasting a message this time?" he asked idly, straining to get a glimpse of anything. It was just inky blackness, like normal. No planets, no asteroids, no Earth, nothing. Just darkness. He recoiled from the window with a disappointed huff.

Vok'Rul was suspiciously silent in answer to his question, and Viktor turned around incredulously. "You did tell Rukka to make a message for you, right? That you're all peaceful and whatever?"

Vok'Rul looked away, humming innocuously. Viktor rolled his eyes upward. "Vok'Rul," he said reproachfully.

"I was rather busy!" he defended himself. "You know, leading a planet, prepping a ship, et cetera!"

"You need to go to the cockpit and make a message, right now," Viktor demanded, feeling some sort of nervous fear behind his ribcage. He did not want to see thousands of missiles heading right for the ship. "They probably already know we're on the way, so it should be easy to get a message through." He hoped.

Vok'Rul harrumphed but made no other noise of protest. It was the quickest they had gotten out of the room. Even Thruul was surprised to see them when they bumped into him in the hallway.

"Where are we going, my lords?" he asked, trailing behind them as Vok'Rul led the charge, weaving through the hallways with the efficiency of someone who had navigated them for many years.

"To Captain Ghhvresh," Vok'Rul responded, turning abruptly to whip around a corner. They nearly collided with one of the workers. Viktor offered them a feeble smile of apology before they were out of sight. "I fear our message of peace may have been compromised."

"He forgot to do it," Viktor clarified. Vok'Rul shot him a wounded look. Thruul made a grumpy, discontented noise behind them.

"My lord," he said just as reproachfully as Viktor. "Didn't you follow the list?"

"I misplaced it," was the grumpy reply. "No matter, my friends. This shall be easy enough to rectify."

The Captain's Quarters were underneath the cockpit. A small, unassuming room that held nothing but a simple bed and a rickety dresser that looked like it was on its last legs. Ghhvresh looked tired, greeting them with a jaw-cracking yawn. Viktor had to stifle his behind his hand.

"What's the issue, O Vokkra?" she asked, half-asleep. "We should have dropped out of the Drive by now. Has something happened?" As she spoke, Ghhvresh woke up quickly, becoming more alert as the words fell out of her mouth.

"Ah, sorry to wake you, Captain. I did have a few concerns... but how are you?" Vok'Rul seemed hesitant to admit his mistake, but Viktor nudged his tail with his walker harshly. "Yes, Kohgrash, I'm getting there."

Ghhvresh pulled on her jacket and straps, stepping out of the room in one fluid motion. "With all due respect, Vokkra, what is it? Should it be something urgent, time is crucial."

Vok'Rul cleared his throat, following Ghhvresh to the cockpit of the ship. "I forgot to record a message of peace for the humans."

"...By the Spirits."

***

"Hello," Vok'Rul said slowly into the microphone. It was a compact device, hooked up to one of the consoles of the ship. It would automatically translate the message into English before shipping it off to Earth. The Vokkrus attending it told them that it would send the recording to Earth in a matter of minutes, despite the ship being miles away. It made Viktor wonder what waves they were using. Radio waves were slow, weren't they? "I am Vokkra Rulshkka..."

His speech was stilted and awkward, and they had to do a few takes of it.

"You're good at public speeches, I thought," Viktor said, thinking about the speech in the school he had done.

"To my own kind," he complained. "I admit that I'm rather... nervous speaking to yours."

"That's true," Viktor said thoughtfully. "I mean, you're going to be the first alien ever to make contact with Earth. Your recording is gonna go down in human history."

"Stop talking, Kohgrash." Vok'Rul looked like the mere concept of being immortalized in history was worse than a death sentence. Which was crazy since he was the leader of an entire planet. He was going to be in history no matter what he did.

"Try again, my lord. Just pretend that you are talking to Kohgrash," Thruul advised helpfully.

"Say, 'we come in peace.' They'll eat it up."

"Kohgrash, you cannot eat words." At least Vok'Rul sounded more amused than nervous, now.

It took them a while, and a lot of brainstorming, but they came up with a pretty good message. Viktor just hoped, when they did land, that they wouldn't be met with hostility. Hostility with words was okay, but hostility with guns? Not so much. He watched with bated breath as the Vokkrus manning the console hit the button to send off their message.

"Hello, I am Vokkra Rulshkka, leader of planet A1-308. We come in peace. My race visited your planet over a year ago..."