The Price of Humanity

“17 fingers.”

Zordra stared in disbelief. “That’s entirely too high.”

The Glurp stared back and Zordra wondered how many of its 55 eyes it actually used. 

“17 fingers,” the Glurp repeated. 

Zordra sighed. He needed this exhaust fitting for his ship or he would be completely screwed. He wouldn’t be able to finish his deliveries or be home in time for dinner. Xaendi would murder him this time for sure. 

“Would you take 10 fingers and a tongue?” Zordra sifted through his utility holster. 

“What tongue type?” The Glurp made his way around the table to get a better look. 

“Earth child,” Zordra replied, pulling the freeze-dried tongue out of his bag and holding it out for the Glurp to examine. 

The Glurp made a noise that gave his race its name, then said, “Fine.” Zordra paid the 10 fingers and tongue, took his part, and left. 

The shop was extremely busy today. Normally the crowds had fanned out a little, but not today. It didn’t help that solar flares across the galaxy were causing everyone to have to move away. He preferred when it was quieter than this. He saw a sign that flashed “Sale on Everything!” over his head. He didn’t really have the time to waste, but he also was a sucker for a good sale.

The Yurd table was full of overstock junk cruiser parts. Complete garbage. He got scammed on that table more times than he would like to remember. 

Junger Bob had an assortment of Earth Parts spanning from basketballs to hard drives. Zordra bought a “Mystery Box”. He could never resist even though it was always a let down. I guess it was the hopeful kid that still lived in him. Maybe this time will be more exciting. 

The line at the Moon Juice stand wrapped halfway around the place. Black Holes, thought Zordra, I could really use a boost right now. 

Not seeing anything that really caught his eye, Zordra left with his exhaust part in one hand and Mystery Box in another. Outside, he spent a solid 15 moon movements fitting the part into place. He checked the charge capacitor, noticed it was full, did two orbits around the perimeter to ensure everything was set, then got in, double-checked his cargo bay loads were in-tact, tossed the Mystery Box in an unused corner so as not to get in his way on deliveries, started it up, and took off. 

Immediately, he got a ping on his NavCon. It was Galactic Enforcement. 

Zordra stalled his ship and awaited lock-on. Once he heard the familiar *click*, he cut the fuel and power. No sense in wasting his resources for this. The Namuh Enforcer walked onto his ship. “Our scanners have detected unauthorized cargo aboard your ship.” 

These guys. 

“Nothing here except the items I paid good body parts for at market, and the regulation delivery items on this schedule.” Zordra’s pointed at the display screen leading into the cargo bay. He didn’t have time for this delay. Xaendi would definitely leave him now. 

“Release the lock,” the Namuh tapped the door leading to the stacks of delivery containers Zordra needed to drop. He sighed. This always happened at the in-opportune time. Last three times he was stopped was because Bradooshna hadn’t completed her one, simple secretarial task and transferred the delivery schedule sheets to his load. So he was flagged for stealing all of the shipments. That was a delay that lasted well over 100 moon movements. Here we go again, Zordra thought as he released the lock-seal on the door. As the Namuh entered, Zordra spent a few minutes putting his documentation in order so he could expedite the inevitable investigation. 

“What in the gravitational shift is this?!” The Namuh shrieked through its ear sirens. Zordra’s blood ran cold. All of his shipments should contain standard, boring, basic items. This didn’t seem standard at all. Zordra hopped over his chair and raced through the door. How these Numah were able to cause this much disarray in so short of time was truly beyond him. The shipment containers were upended throughout the entire bay, most of their contents scattered about haphazardly. He made his way to the very back of the bay, trying to reestablish some semblance of order as he went. Yep, Xaendi was definitely already packing her utility holster. 

When Zordra finally got to the back, he saw the five Namuh standing in a semi-circular formation around his wide-open Mystery Box. As Zordra walked over, he stifled a gasp. 

Sitting inside the box amongst other Earth-related items, completely alive, was an Earth child. 

“Impossible,” Zordra whispered through his 2 sets of lips. “Earth hasn’t been around for hundreds of sun movements. How---”

Zordra froze. The Namuh raised their laser incinerator arms towards the child. Before he could process why he did it, he jumped in front of their aim. 

“Move”.

Zordra didn’t know why he didn’t comply. You idiot. You’re dead. 

“Move,” the Namuh’s aim never wavered. “Last warning.”

Zordra didn’t have a choice. He didn’t want to die for this. But at the same time, he knew that this was important. It had to be. 

An Earth child. 

Zordra shifted slightly so he was nearer to the emergency hatch. He knew this had almost no chance of working, but he had to do something. Simultaneously, one of his six arms shot out to deflect the incinerator beam, the other lifted the hatch, the other toppled a large stack of containers onto the Namuh Enforcers with a simple snip of the support ropes, and finally, one scooped the infant behind Zordra’s back. Amid the distraction, Zordra side stepped into the emergency hatch and began part climbing/part falling down the ladder into the escape pod. Once there, he transferred all data from the main ship’s hub, cleared the main frame, attached a de-detector enabler, fired up, and shot off into the inky black. It happened all in the span of three moon movements. 

Zordra looked at the infant’s face. Its eyes were aglow with wonder, with hope, with peace. 

Zordra didn’t know what any of this meant.He stared at the guidance grids. 

Where to now?