The Second Book of the Alienbutt Saga. The Rise of Mr Fluffy. Part 12.

Alienbutt had stood, and waited while the trader Stoney had completed some business, overseeing the delivery of a number of crates brought in from his ship. After the initial shock, Alienbutt’s mind had begun to work overtime. If this trader was human, then there was a way for him to get home. Finally with his initial business complete, he made his excuses to the frog people and walked over to take a seat next to Alienbutt.
“Well, my strange new friend, it seems we have stories to share. Maybe we should tell our tales before you start to ask questions.”
“I need to know how you got here. I have to get back,” Alienbutt cut in, not wanting to wait and share stories. “A war rages and I must get back to help my friends.”
“The way I came here will not be possible to use.” Stoney held up his hands to put off Alienbutt’s response. “Let me tell you my story and explain why you can’t return that way.”
Alienbutt nodded and swallowed his impatience as Stoney began his story. “I was the entertainments officer on a scientific research mission to an area of space known as Ashia Minor. The mission was to study the dead space phenomena and the local legends of an ancient civilisation. What we quickly discovered was unexpected. The area was awash with pirates who made a living from expeditions such as ours. Selling second-hand state of the art science equipment and ships makes a lot of money, as does selling slaves that have special skills. Any crew member not having a resale value, though, would be marooned, as they were surplus to requirements.”
“You were marooned then?” Alienbutt asked.
“How did you guess?” Stoney asked looking at Alienbutt.
“You were the entertainments officer. When things get rough it’s the entertainment officer and the food vending technician that are the first to go.”
“In that order too,” Stoney added, laughing. “They kept the technician though, so I was marooned alone.”
“So how did you escape and get here?” Alienbutt asked.

“I was marooned on the edge of dead space in a large asteroid. It was one of the alleged outposts of the ancient civilisation and had a breathable atmosphere in its hollow centre. I was an amateur archaeologist in my youth and so started hunting around the place in my boredom. The place was littered with items that I collected together. Most were of little use, but I found a few strange amulets. I then came across a large circle with strange carvings; it was hidden within a room beyond a rock fall. I don’t know how but it activated and I found myself somewhere else. I was in a strange temple and the priests there didn’t seem happy to see me.”
“You found a portal? Where’s the temple?” Alienbutt asked excitedly.
“The temple is an evil place, Alienbutt. The priests sacrifice anyone who isn’t a believer; I barely escaped with my life. They are a death cult and have spent thousands of years trying to activate that portal so they could conquer space and escape some weird curse that means only a few can leave the desolate planet they live upon. When I first arrived they thought I was their ticket to escape. It was because I was wearing one of the strange amulets I found, around my neck. It was a holy symbol to them and must have made them nervous of killing me. I will not tell you of the events that happened, but finally I managed to steal a ship and escape them. I travelled across the universe to put as much space between them and me as possible.”
“So there is a gateway for me to get back home, I just need to get past the mad priests to get to it,” Alienbutt said with a smile. “Where do I find that temple, Stoney?”
“It’s more than mad priests,” Stoney said sadly. “I travelled for twenty years, crossed three war zones and even then there are no guarantees you can open the portal and make it take you to the right place. It’s over a hundred years since I made that journey and I have no intention of trying to get back. I’m old now and live in a place of peace. My life is good. I’m not going back home to Earth and a war zone for anyone.”

To be continued.
All images are mine.