“So, what? You just spend loads and loads of money and time refining hydrocarbons just to waste it on electricity?” asked Tski incredulously.

“Look, we don’t have sun always and wind always like you…” sighed the human. “We need other options. Besides, you still have gas for vehicles.”

“Only because we have to!” chortled the te’visk. “You humans are ridiculous! You can explore space but you still depend on burning fuel for power?”

“Not an engineer. Not a… What word for ‘money-scholar’?” asked Adwin.

“Economist.” answered Tski.

“Thank you. Not an economist.” continued the human. “Don’t know why everything runs on gas. We have better power tech. Wind. Solar. Water. Nuclear… Well, nuclear dangerous. Had… Bad disasters in past. Chernobyl. Fukushima.” he went quiet for a moment. “Still, we have alternatives. Overreliance on gas is strange, now that I think on it.”

Tski churred bemusedly as she shook her head. “You humans really are so stra--”

The astrophysicist felt a low rumble as she stopped walking. The human seemed to react to it as well.

“Earth-kweɪk?” the human asked, quite likely referring to the tremor they both just felt.

“I don’t know what that wa--”

Professor Tski was interrupted by the overhead lights cutting out all at once. They were promptly replaced by the amber glow of the emergency lighting system. Then, an alarm started blaring.

“What happen?” asked Adwin.

Pito’s body feathers flared. “I… I don’t know.. Some kind of emergency?”

“We must find out what happen.” commented Adwin with a serious, urgent tone. “Where can go to find out?”

Pito thought silently for a moment. “We can check a guardian desk. Those officers should have mobile comms, I think.”

“Okay. Show me where. I follow.”

And so, the te’visk girl lead the human boy to the closest guardian’s post. They didn’t run; the regular safety drills had long since inculcated the importance of remaining calm in a crisis, but they were still moving with an understandable briskness. For a few driks they moved silently through the corridor, the only sounds between them was the looping alarm and the human’s heavy, desperate footfalls. As they neared the desk, it seemed like they weren’t the only ones with that idea; more than sixteen te’visk were already gathered there. A clawful of guardians were trying to listen for updates on their mobile comms while managing the frenzied flock. A young guardswoman was struggling to raise her voice above the clamour.

“Everyone, Everyone please! Remain calm!” she called out. “We’ve just received reports that there has been an explosion on the compound.”

Many of the gathered group gasped at that news. “WHAT?!” cried out some of the others, Professor Tski included.

“Where has explosion happened?”

The crowd quieted and turned towards the source of the awkwardly spoken, accented question; Adwin.

Taking advantage of the temporary quiet, a guardsman listened intently on his comm and jotted down some notes on a slip of paper, then passed it on to the guardswoman that was addressing the crowd.

She quickly read the note. “Canteen Two.” she reported.

Another wave of discord passed through the crowd. The chaos was so overwhelming that Tski almost didn’t notice the human walking off.

“Adwin?” she followed him out of that cramped section of the hallway. “Adwin, where are you going?”

“Canteen Two. I know where it is.” he replied. “People might be hurt.”

Tski had to jog a bit to catch up to him. It was a struggle to match his pace; Adwin was famously athletic, and she herself was… Perhaps not as dedicated to her physical conditioning as she should have been. Maybe she should consider setting aside some time to exercise after this ordeal had passed.

Once they had rounded the corner that lead into the dining area Adwin abruptly stopped. Tski barely had a moment to appreciate the reprieve for her squawking legs when she noticed the disaster area before her.

Her nostrils burned from the dust and ash in the air. There was a dark haze blanketing the space where the canteen should have been. She could barely see a few people limping out towards her from the smoke, but just a few spans beyond that everything was hidden by the smoggy cloud. Nevertheless, she knew more were trapped behind that wall of smoke.
A wall of smoke that the human was walking into.

“Adwin!” the yellow astrophysicist cried out, latching on to his arm with her talons. “What are you doing?!”

“There are still people there!” he said.

But she already knew that. Because she could hear them.

Coughing. Sobbing. Wailing.

She could hear them.

“But it’s dangerous…!” she rasped out, ash scratching the back of her throat.

“Tski.” Her human faced her. He held her right claw with his left hand. He placed the other on her shoulder. She felt the soft warmth of his touch as he looked up into into her eyes. “Someone has to help.”

She looked down into his expressive eyes, luxuriating in their warmth. A warmth that was mirrored from the sensation of his hands on her feathers. A warmth that she was afraid to lose in the smoke. But he was right. Someone had to help.

“Just, be careful. Please.” she sniffled.

“Of course.” he smiled as he pulled away from her. Not his usual mischievous, fae-like smile. It was sincere. Warm.

And off he went, his diminutive form fading into the smoke.

Each passing cleg felt like a bel. Her eyes stung from the smoke but she didn’t dare look away from the spot where Adwin had disappeared into the gloom. Eventually, she saw a dark shape forming in the haze. It was him. Her human. And he was carrying a man. Adwin held him up in his arms like an over-sized sack of juul-drupes. The human placed the man down; a sever, by the looks of his attire. He was bleeding, but he was clutching his side and groaning. That meant he was alive. Tski attended to him, siting him up in a recovery position. Adwin was already walking back into the smoke.

“Adwin?” she croaked out, ripping part of the server’s uniform to fashion a makeshift bandage.

“There’s more. Plenty more.” he said.

She choked back her protests. “Okay.” she said.

And so, he went into the smoke again. And returned to her a second time, carrying a woman on his shoulders time. She was dazed, but awake.

Into the smoke again, returning a third time. Another woman.

Into the smoke again, returning a fourth time. A man. Adwin coughed a little bit as he rested him down.

Into the smoke again, returning a fifth time. Another woman, with scarlet feathers and a blue shirt…

“Professor Pito?!” Tski cried out when she recognised her. She was bleeding. Not moving.

“It’s Pito?! The smoke… I couldn’t see... I didn’t rea--” Adwin started coughing again. “Is she okay?”

Tski placed her earhole near the linguist’s slightly agape mouth. “She’s breathing.” the astrophysicist sighed with relief. “She’ll need medical attention soon, but she’s alive.”

“Okay. Good.” Adwin echoed Tski’s relief. “Still more to help. Plenty more.”

“I know.” She thought on Adwin’s coughing. “But don’t push yourself.”

“Okay.” he smiled. Still no mischief, but it somehow seemed a bit less sincere this time.

Back into the smoke we went. He returned with a sixth rescue. A well built male this time.

“It’s Colonel Solam…” commented Tski. “He got caught in the blast too? How surprising...”

“The colonel? One of the general’s men?” asked Adwin. “Think he saw me coming. He called out for me, even lifted arm. Asked me to save a woman. Didn’t know it was Pito back then.”

“--ra… Is Pit…” muttered the bleeding man.

“He’s delirious, but he’ll live.” said Tski.

“Okay, will look for more.” said Adwin.

And look he did.

A seventh time. An eighth time. A ninth time.

Eventually a proper emergency response team arrived on the scene. Adwin continued helping. Tski lost count of how many the human specifically saved, but by the end thirty-eight men and women were pulled out from the rubble. There was a wide range of injuries; one poor soul would need reconstructive surgery on his leg. Even Adwin was a wheezing, coughing mess at the end. But thankfully, no one died.

» » »

This was an absolute mess.

“What in the frost-caves happened here, Chief?” growled out the general as she marched towards the infirmary.

“No idea yet, General.” Chief Nalor kept pace with her as they rushed through the corridors. Major Chilus and a few other officers were following along as well. “But I guarantee you that we’re going to find out. My engineers will check every bolt and screw, from the comm array on the roof to the boilers in the basement until we find out what caused this.”

“I’ll hold you to that, Nalor.” she barged into the infirmary with singular purpose. “I need that info eight bels ago.”

“Understood.” replied the chief.

General Hydor turned her attention to a random nurse in the room. “Where’s the colonel.” it came out more like a command than a question.

“Right this way, ma’am.” replied the nurse, prompting the general to follow her through a labyrinthine tangle of occupied beds and bustling medics. As she moved through the maze of people, she noticed that Chief Nalor broke off from her group. Where was he go--?

In a nondescript corner of the room she noticed the human. It was slumped over on a bench and had an oxygen mask over it’s… ‘face.’ The yellow astrophysicist was seated next to it. She seemed to be fussing over it. Nalor met up eitht hem, and also seemed to be concerned. What was the alien doing here? Did it get caught in the bast too? Not important. She would deal with that later.

Eventually she made her way to Solam’s bed. Hydor’s heart sank when she saw the sorry state of her top officer. The colonel was splayed out on the cot, with intravenous tubes hooked into his arm left, and a breathing tube down his throat.

“He inhaled a lot of smoke,” commented the nurse as she took note of his vitals. “and he lost a lot of blood. But we got to him in good time, and removed the shrapnel from his body. It looks like he should make a full recovery.”

Chilus placed a claw on Solam’s free arm. His eyes fluttered open, glancing first at the major, then focusing on the general. His free claw slowly moved it’s talons, touching his thumb to his pinky. It was a common gesture, used and understood by te’visk worldwide. ‘I’m okay’ was the intended meaning. ‘Everything will be alright.’.

General Hydor relaxed slightly. “That’s excellent news. Thank you nurse.”

“No problem general.” the nurse replied casually as she walked over to check the vitals of the patient on the bed next to his. It was a woman with brilliant red plumage…

Pito? Ara Pito was injured too? This was no longer just a mess. Now it was a dark-damned catastrophe.