Expectations: The Planet of the Mad Vampires Part 4 of 5
Title: Expectations
Adventure Three: The Planet of the Mad Vampires Part 4 of 5
Author: Aquariuslover
Pairings: Yunjae, KyuWook
Rating: R
Genre: Crossover, Science Fiction, Humor, Adventure
Beta Unicornsinger
A/N: Future adventures might be friend locked, but all five parts of The Planet of the Mad Vampires will be open to everybody as long as they remain linked to HUG. For future updates it would be best to check my journal, although I really hope to post the fourth adventure to HUG.
Summary: Captain Yunho in an attempt to reward his crew for all their hard work gives them shore leave on what appears to be a safe planet. That illusion is soon broken when crew members start disappearing and fictional creatures straight out of Earth’s horror stories are to blame.
Prior Adventures
Changmin, Ryeowook, Junsu, and Eunhyuk completed their climb up the staircase and entered the bottom level of the castle. Changmin looked around the large room that had a spotless marble floor, a very high ceiling and huge chandelier hanging from it. The other levels of the castle could be easily seen as the staircase winded around each floor. Knights in their shiny armor stood as displays against the walls, and on the opposite wall from them, were three matching, gold-colored doors. “The structure is remarkably like that of a European castle during the early Renaissance period.”
“Except a whole lot creepier,” Junsu added as he looked around the castle that was in perfect condition, instead of old and abandoned as the scans of the planet had suggested.
“Such a brave man to insult my home,” came a voice from above them. They all looked up and eyed another vampire who stood on the second level of the castle, staring down at them. She was unlike the other vampires. She had their height, but she had long red hair, red eyes, and was as clean as the other vampires were dirty. She was extremely fat, and her long, red hair clashed with a red dress she wore that seemed to be made entirely of sequins.
Changmin watched her carefully and asked, “Who are you?”
“I am everything to you. I am your empress, your duchess, your countess, your madonna, your lady, and most importantly I am your queen,” she told them as she stretched out her arms, looking down at them.
“Why have you brought us here?” Changmin inquired, trying to keep the skepticism out of his voice.
The queen threw back her head, laughing, and told him, “I did not bring you here. You brought yourself here. You are the ones that came here searching for rest and relaxation.”
Ryeowook stepped up closer to Changmin as the taller man fought to keep from frowning. “We are sorry for intruding on your planet. If you will return our crewman, we will be happy to leave,” Ryeowook explained apologetically.
The queen sneered down at him. “I am sure you would be…little one, but it isn’t that easy. There is still a test to be taken.”
“The test of our mental might?” Junsu asked as he walked up to Changmin’s other side with Eunhyuk close behind him.
“Yes, that test…for one. You are facing three doors. Behind one of those doors is your lost comrade. He’s indisposed right now…so he isn’t going to be able to help you,” the queen told them, unable to keep the amusement out of her voice.
“Indisposed?” Ryeowook demanded as he raced up to the doors that were locked. Ryeowook banged on the doors and screamed, “Kyuhyun!” but didn’t get a response. Ryeowook walked back to Changmin and looked up at the queen. “What did you do to him?”
The queen’s red eyes glared down at Ryeowook. “I haven’t done anything yet, but if you fail your test, I am going to drain him of his wonderfully fresh blood. And after I have sucked him dry, I will feed his flesh to the others.”
“What kind of test do you want us to do?” Eunhyuk asked, worried.
“You simply have to pick the door that your comrade is behind. If you pick the right door, then I shall spare you for now, and we shall have another test,” the queen explained to them.
Changmin’s right eyebrow flew up. Picking the correct door that Kyuhyun was behind would be simple for his father’s bondmate. “We will wait till our captain arrives before picking the door.”
The vampire threw her head back and started laughing hysterically at Changmin’s words, as if he had said the funniest thing she had ever heard.
“Changmin, when was the last time you talked to the captain?” Ryeowook asked anxiously as his skin crawled at the sound of the queen’s laughter.
“You heard me. I talked to him approximately fourteen minutes ago,” Changmin answered, but he already had his hand up to his insignia, trying to contact the captain. “Captain, can you hear me?” The queen continued to laugh. Changmin eyed the other three men as he got no answer back from the captain. “Captain, come in.”
Junsu swallowed nervously as he watched the queen try to control her laughter. “This isn’t good.”
“Yunho, are you okay?” Changmin pleaded, his usual calm evaporating by the second. “Yunho, come in!”
The vampire stopped her laughter and smiled down at them with all her teeth showing. “I’m sorry but your captain isn’t going to be able to help you or anyone else…ever again. It seems he’s gone and got himself buried.”
Changmin’s eyes widened as he stepped up. “Buried?”
The queen opened her mouth and licked her teeth slowly before answering him. “Such a waste of good blood, but those three somehow killed one of my darlings, and that can’t go unpunished. You have fifteen minutes to choose. If you pick wrong, we will feast upon your comrade right in front of you.” The queen then winked at the four men looking up at her and added, “I might even give you a bite.” She then turned her back on them, leaving them alone to take the test.
***************
“You know if you are going to subject me to crazy prisoners who like to go naked…it could at least be women with big tits-” Shindong stopped talking to squeeze his breasts. “You know what I mean?”
The ensign who was sitting at the table in the security department with Shindong as he ate his dinner just shook his head. “He isn’t a prisoner.”
Shindong looked up as the two other ensigns who had rounded up the naked man, leading him from the security department. “Why does he have guards then?”
“He just requires close observation,” the ensign explained as he picked up a small tomato from Shindong’s plate and popped it in his mouth.
Shindong frowned at one of his tomatoes being stolen. “The food isn’t anything to write home about.”
“You seem to like it well enough,” the ensign said, eyeing the almost empty plate.
“I have to eat for nourishment. I was just commenting on the lack of taste. All the food taste so bland,” Shindong explained.
“That’s because it is synthesized. You will get used to it,” Commander Yoochun explained, shocking the young ensign and Shindong with his unexpected arrival. Commander Yoochun leaned against the wall casually, with observant eyes studying Shindong.
Shindong immediately felt off-guard. This man who had entered the security department wearing a gold uniform was not like the other members of the Expectations crew he had met before. There was something in his eyes…that wasn’t completely tame. “What does that mean exactly?”
Yoochun slowly pulled away from the wall and walked to the table. “I could give you a big, long lesson on dematerializing matter and then rematerializing that matter in another form, but I will spare you.”
Shindong’s eyes lit up as his mind went over the possibilities. “Does it just apply to food? Or could you do it with other substances?”
Yoochun lips curled, smiling down at Shindong, but without the smile ever reaching his eyes. Commander Yoochun gently caressed the ensign’s shoulder. “Leave us, Ensign.”
“Yes, Sir,” the ensign answered, getting up quickly from the table to leave the room.
Yoochun took the ensign’s abandoned seat and eyed Shindong carefully. “We can replicate almost anything. Fine jewels…almost everything that makes a greedy man’s heart flutter in anticipation.”
“Do you think I’m a greedy man?”
“Are you denying it?”
“No. What do you want from me?”
“I want information.”
“What do I get in return?” Shindong asked as his bartering instinct took over.
“You like it here, don’t you?”
Shindong frowned, but had to admit it, “You treat me well enough for a prisoner…exceptionally well. I get all the bland food I could ever ask for. My stay here has not been unpleasant.”
Yoochun’s smile finally reached his eyes. “I can change all that.”
“What do you mean? Captain Yunho takes very good care of his prisoners,” Shindong said, suddenly feeling uneasy.
Yoochun nodded his head, still smiling. “Captain Yunho does take excellent care of his prisoners…sadly for you, I’m in charge now.”
Shindong’s mouth dropped open. “What happened to the captain?”
“That doesn’t matter. Here’s what matters. There is a warlord after you. He thinks you helped let his prize Joong escape him. I’ve been listening to the space chatter, and he would do about anything to get a hold of your hide,” Commander Yoochun informed Shindong.
Shindong swallowed nervously. “ZhouMi.”
“Yes, and if you don’t help me, I am going to hand you over to him. Do you understand me?”
“Yes,” Shindong agreed, nodding his head quickly.
“Computer, display the planet we are orbiting,” Yoochun ordered and instantly a screen on the wall came to life. “Do you recognize that planet?”
Shindong looked at the screen and suddenly everything became clear to him. “Oh, so that’s where the good captain is. Too bad, because it’s very rare that anybody ever makes it back from that planet.”
“You better hope he does,” Yoochun hissed.
“I want him to…it’s just that the Planet of the Vampires isn’t a good place to be. Most who go there never return,” Shindong explained quickly, because he had no doubts that Commander Yoochun would hand him over to ZhouMi with a smile.
“Vampires? What the hell are you talking about?” Yoochun asked in disbelief.
“They are nasty beings. They suck you dry of blood, then they eat your remains. They have been known to appear on other planets, but they are usually stupid,” Shindong quickly informed the commander. “They say there is a queen on this planet. The few who have escaped the planet say she is wicked and loves to play games with her prey before she eats them. Somehow she reads what a ship is looking for and tricks them into landing on the planet - or beaming, in your case.”
“If you are messing with me,” Yoochun warned, unable to wrap his head around the thought that vampires were real.
“No, I am serious. Some have tried to put up beacons warning travelers, but the planet just manages to shoot them down,” Shindong explained.
Yoochun tapped the insignia on his uniform immediately. “Lieutenant Yesung, shields up now,” Yoochun ordered, realizing the ship could be in danger.
“I don’t know what else I can tell you, but I do know if you have crew down on that planet…then I wouldn’t count on getting them back,” Shindong told Commander Yoochun, who was now standing and looking down at him.
“Well I do expect to get them back. I am going to send somebody in here to question you in detail, and you will be as helpful to them as you were to me…remember, it’s in your best interest if we get the captain back,” Yoochun advised as he turned and headed toward the door without sparing Shindong a backwards glance.
****************
“Argh,” Yunho mumbled as he awoke under a pile of small rocks and dirt with a shooting pain in his right side. Yunho pushed the rocks and dirt off him and sat up and tried to clear his mind. “Jae!”
“Yunho…so far, not a fan of shore leave.”
Yunho couldn’t help but smile as he heard his lover’s voice in his head, as the pain in his side disappeared. “Kangin?”
“I’m alright, except for all this fucking dirt,” Kangin grumbled as he tried to climb to his feet. “What about you?”
Yunho, who had found Jae beside him, was pushing the debris off his bondmate when he answered Kangin, “I thought I had hurt myself again, but luckily, the pain seems to have gone away.”
“You used to never be so accident prone,” Kangin replied as he tried to steady his shaky feet. “You used to be able to get your ass kicked by a Gorn and come out of it with only a few bruises.”
“I know. I don’t know what’s happened to me. It’s like my arm snaps like a twig lately, but lucky for me I’ve-” Yunho trailed off when he noticed a large, jagged edged rock digging into Jae’s right side. “So it wasn’t my pain I felt?”
Jaejoong winced. “Sorry, I’m blocking you from it now.”
Yunho shook his head and tossed the rock away. “Don’t you dare be sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Jaejoong answered, wincing again when Yunho pulled up his shirt to look at the wound.
“Like hell it is,” Yunho cursed. “Kangin, grab a torch and bring it over here.”
“It will be fine.”
“Can you heal this? Can you go into your healing sleep?” Yunho asked Jae aloud, not liking the look of the wound.
“I can’t risk that,” Jaejoong answered, trying not to cry out as Yunho felt the bruising that was already forming on his side.
“Here,” Kangin said, holding up a torch so they could better see Jaejoong’s wound. “Ouch, that’s gotta be the liver…you do have a liver don’t you?”
“What do you mean you can’t risk it? This could be serious. Go into your healing sleep and fix this,” Yunho ordered in a firm, no nonsense voice.
“I will not!” Jaejoong answered back without hesitation, just as firmly. Jaejoong was immune to the authority in Yunho’s voice.
“Jae! You are no help to us injured,” Yunho said, attempting to reason with his lover.
Jaejoong sat up and said with a grimace, “If the vampires return…you will need me. My body will not let me die. If my condition becomes too critical, I will fall asleep.”
“We can handle the vampires,” Kangin responded, causing Jaejoong to snort.
“I am sure you think you can, but I’m not willing to risk Yunho’s life on that false assumption and mere bravado. I am not falling asleep, and neither of you can make me,” Jaejoong snapped, the pain making him irritable.
Yunho took a deep breath and found his patience. “If I were hurt like this…you would heal me. You wouldn’t let me go around like this.”
Jaejoong sighed exasperated. “When I heal you, I use the power of our bond…just believe me. It’s simpler for me to heal you, than for me to heal myself. You don’t understand.”
Yunho stood up and said calmly, “That’s because you never explain anything to me. I have no idea how the bond works. I haven’t a clue how you heal me. I know little or nothing.”
Jaejoong looked up at Yunho. “We’ve been busy. It’s only been three weeks. I will-”
“Dude, you two have only been together for three weeks? Can you imagine what you will be like in a year?” Kangin interrupted, shocked that the two lovers had only been together for such a short amount of time.
“Not quite three weeks, if you want to get technical,” Yunho answered, patting the front of his shirt “My insignia must have fallen off.”
“It seems like longer, so much longer…in a good way,” Jaejoong sent to Yunho mentally.
Yunho got down on his knees, feeling around for his insignia. “Don’t sweet talk me. I am not happy with you.”
“Why, because I don’t want to lose consciousness and let some vampire kill you? You are mad at me because I would rather suffer than endanger your life,” Jaejoong whined, while holding his side.
Yunho found his insignia and started wiping it free of dirt, ignoring Jaejoong.
“Isn’t endangering his life…like endangering yours? Didn’t I hear that? Isn’t keeping Yunho alive basically keeping your own self alive?” Kangin asked Jaejoong as he held up the torch for Yunho, who was working on getting his insignia working.
“How can you even suggest that? You know nothing of our bond. He was dying, and I saved him. I would have risked anything for him. To suggest that I do this out of some sort of selfishness…but of course you who’s never been in-”
“Stop it!” Yunho ordered, stopping Jaejoong. Yunho then sat back down behind Jaejoong, straddling him, and wrapped his left arm around him. “He was just asking a question. You are cranky when you are hurt.”
“I’m not good at hurting, but now it’s better,” Jaejoong admitted as the pain started to ease as he leaned back into Yunho.
“Does my touch help you?” Yunho asked, noticing the change in Jaejoong.
Jaejoong nodded his head, while looking up at Kangin apologetically. “Yes, it helps…a lot.”
“Why couldn’t you have said that to begin with?” Yunho asked Jaejoong.
“I should have,” Jaejoong answered, closing his eyes. “I am sorry, Kangin.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Kangin told him as he started moving rocks out of their way.
Yunho tapped his insignia. “Changmin, what’s your status?”
“Yunho!” Changmin’s relieved voice was instantly heard. “You are alive?”
“Of course I’m alive, but we have run into some trouble,” Yunho explained as Jaejoong fought to keep from falling asleep in his arms.
“Captain,” Changmin replied much calmer this time. “We have encountered a vampire that calls herself the queen. She told us you were buried alive.”
“We almost were; go on,” Yunho told his son, eager to know what was happening.
“We are in the castle now. It seems this planet is some kind of trap for travelers. We have thirteen minutes to take her test. How long will it take you to get here?”
“Jae is wounded, and we are going to have to remove some rubble before we can even start heading your way. We won’t make it in thirteen minutes. What kind of test is it?” Yunho asked calmly, trying to hide his worry.
“There are three doors for us to pick between. Commander Cho is behind one of those doors. He is unable to answer us. If we pick the door that Commander Cho is behind, then he gets to live. If we pick wrong, they will feast upon him in front of us,” Changmin replied. “Is there any way Jae can help us?”
“Jae,” Yunho asked, rubbing Jaejoong’s arm.
Jaejoong tried to open his eyes, but failed. The desire to sleep was too strong, especially in Yunho’s warm arms. Jaejoong shook his head and answered Yunho, “Not from here. The healing sleep is trying to pull me under, and the vampire’s minds are a mess. I can’t see the doors clearly. I can sense Kyuhyun, but he doesn’t even know what door he is behind.”
“Then Changmin will have to do it,” Ryeowook said over the insignia.
Jaejoong’s eyes flew open at Ryeowook’s words and sputtered, “Changmin can’t do this.”
“Yes, he can,” Ryeowook said. “Changmin has the highest ESP rating among the four of us here. He is extremely intelligent. Vulcans have said for decades that human beings have the capacity for telepathy, but our species is still too young to have developed this skill. Changmin is just going to get in touch with this latent ability a little early. How would you advise he do that?”
Jaejoong pulled away from Yunho and focused. Ryeowook wasn’t trying to tell his secret; he was merely trying to save his husband. “Doctor, you and the other two must leave, or get as far away from him as you can. Your thoughts and feelings will only serve as a distraction. Changmin must close his eyes and push every thought that is not of Kyuhyun from his mind. Changmin has to focus on Kyuhyun…and not on how illogical or stupid he thinks this idea is. Kyuhyun is in pain, but that isn’t what he should focus on. Kyuhyun is consumed with a sense of longing. He longs for a reunion with you. Changmin must focus on longing and yearning, and he will then be able to pick the right door. Kyuhyun reeks of this,” Jaejoong instructed through gritted teeth as he fought to control his pain.
Yunho pulled Jaejoong back toward him. “Lieutenant, do as Jae instructed, and once you have freed Commander Cho, contact me. That’s an order.”
*****************
“Doctor! I am not a telepath! This plan is absurd,” Changmin told Ryeowook, flabbergasted at his suggestion.
“One of us has to do it, and you are our best choice,” Junsu answered for Ryeowook.
Eunhyuk nodded his head in agreement. “Think of all the times…you have known things when you shouldn’t have.”
“I know things because I’m intelligent. I know things because I observe clues that other minds can not comprehend, not because I’m telepathic!” Changmin informed them, eyeing the three doors uneasily.
“Junsu and Eunhyuk, sit down,” Ryeowook ordered, pointing to the ground. The two men quickly obeyed the doctor and sat down on the ground. “I am going to sedate you till Changmin saves Kyuhyun,” Ryeowook told them as he injected both of the men in the arm with a hypospray.
“Doctor, have you lost your mind?” Changmin asked in disbelief as he watched the two ensigns fall asleep. “You can’t possibly think that-”
“Oh, but I do think it. You are a mystery, Jung Changmin, and you always have been. You cling to your logic like it’s a safety blanket, but you can’t do that now. You are going to toss everything you know about logic out of your head, and you are going to listen to Jae!” Ryeowook said forcibly as he pointed the hypospray at Changmin.
“But-”
“Don’t you but me! We have been friends for a really long time, and I know the only thing you value and trust more than logic, is the captain. The captain ordered you to listen to Jae, and that’s what you are going to do. You are going to trust in the captain’s judgment,” Ryeowook said as he sat down on the ground and adjusted the hypospray.
“Ryeo-”
“Stop with the doubt,” Ryeowook ordered as he looked up at Changmin with big, trusting eyes. “You can do this. I know you can. I know stuff like this scares you…feelings scare you, but you have a huge heart. I trust in you. I know you can do this for me.”
“For you?”
“I might be extremely angry at Kyuhyun right now, and I might want to make him bathe in Tardevil Beetle dung, but I’m not ready for him to be vampire food. He’s your friend, too. One of your real friends, and I know you can do this for Kyuhyun, for yourself, and for me. I have faith in you.”
“I fear your-”
“You can do it,” Ryeowook said, interrupting Changmin again. “When you are done, just hit me with this hypospray and I will arouse. You can do this. I promise you can,” Ryeowook told Changmin confidently as he injected himself in the arm and instantly fell into unconsciousness.
Changmin bent down and took the hypospray from the unconscious doctor and turned to face the three doors. His internal clock counted down the seconds. The illogic of the situation was beyond anything he had ever known. It was simply beyond reason that they expected him to get in contact with some dormant telepathic abilities that the human race might or might not have.
He walked over to the three doors, inspecting them for some sign of which door Kyuhyun was behind. He could find no scientific evidence to help him come to a logical conclusion. He pressed his ears against the doors, and he heard nothing. He yelled for Commander Cho, but got no response. It was an impossible situation. How Yunho could order him to follow Jae’s instructions…there had to be a scientific way of doing this. There had to be, but if there was, he could not find it in the little time he had left.
He stepped away from the doors ‘til he could see all three of them. He would follow Yunho’s illogical orders. He remembered how Jae had stood that day when he had searched for the lost crew. Changmin closed his eyes and reached out his hands, and he tried to sense longing. What was longing? What did it feel like? He asked himself, but instantly, he knew the answer to his own question. Changmin longed for the truth. All of his life, Changmin had longed for the truth of his existence. He longed to know the strange circumstances of his birth and how he had traveled back in time at such a young age. This was longing, so he closed his eyes tighter and reached out for that familiar feeling. Changmin longed for the truth, and Commander Cho longed for love; although they longed for different things, the sense of yearning was the same.
Changmin’s eyes snapped open instantly, and he knew without a doubt which door Commander Cho was behind. “The middle door.”
*******************
“Commander, wait!”
Yoochun, who had been working in engineering, was about to step on the elevator to take him to the bridge, when a familiar voice stopped him. Yoochun turned around to find Lieutenant Sungmin walking toward him. “Lieutenant, aren’t you supposed to be in sickbay?”
“I have spent too much time lying around in bed already. I should have been out of sickbay days ago,” Sungmin replied, walking up to him with determination.
“I was under the impression that you were recovering from life-threatening wounds,” Yoochun said as he stepped onto the elevator with Sungmin.
Sungmin nodded his head. “I was, but I am more than recovered. I have been monitoring the situation, and I think I can help.”
Yoochun leaned against the wall of the elevator without commanding it to move, as he inspected Sungmin from head to toe. “And how would you help?”
“There is a shield over the castle that keeps us from beaming them back to the ship.”
“Yes, we discovered that earlier.”
“I think we should aim our phasers at it. I think we can hit it with a low-level phaser fire setting, with just enough strength to weaken the shield, without harming anybody on the ground or in the castle. If we kept it up, we would eventually be able to drain the shield’s power. I highly doubt it has a power source that could handle a bombardment of our phasers for long,” Sungmin added without hesitation.
Yoochun’s eyes twinkled, liking the lieutenant’s plan. “That’s an excellent idea; we still don’t know what the power source is, but hopefully your hypothesis about it being too weak to handle our phasers for long is correct.”
“If not, perhaps it will weaken the shield enough, so our scanners can find the power source,” Sungmin added.
“Bridge,” Yoochun ordered to the elevator as he smiled at Sungmin, nodding his head. “It’s good to have you back, Lieutenant.”
***************
The middle door flew open, and much to Changmin’s eternal relief, two vampires exited, dragging a gagged Kyuhyun between them. Changmin backed away from them ‘til he reached the sleeping Ryeowook. Changmin bent down and injected the doctor with the hypospray, causing him to instantly awaken, while never taking his eyes off the vampires.
“You are not a regular human are you?” the queen asked, looking down from the second floor and startling Changmin. He had not noticed she had returned. “You are a strange breed of humans.”
Changmin looked back up to the second floor to face her. “I am not from this galaxy,” Changmin explained as Ryeowook quickly got up and took the hypospray from him and moved toward Junsu and Eunhyuk to awaken them.
“The second test will not be so easy,” the queen warned.
Changmin stared at Kyuhyun, who was still being held between the two vampires. “You promised to return our comrade.”
“Did I?” the queen questioned, with a smile full of deceit.
“You did,” Ryeowook said, speaking up as he went to stand beside Changmin.
The queen sneered down at them. “Perhaps I do not keep my promises to food. That’s what you are. Nothing but food, and I do love to eat.”
“That’s obvious,” Eunhyuk mumbled from beside Changmin, where he had gone to stand. Junsu had gone to stand on the other side of Ryeowook.
The queen’s glared deadly down at Eunhyuk and seethed, “I shall have you gutted - ” the queen stopped her threat as she tilted her head up as something else caught her attention. “Grendel and Goneril, give them their comrade,” the queen ordered as she hurried away.
The two vampires threw Kyuhyun at them as they hurried up the stairs to follow their queen. Ryeowook hurried to examine Kyuhyun’s leg, as Junsu quickly removed the gag from Kyuhyun’s mouth. “What is going on?” Kyuhyun said, the instant the gag was off.
“Commander, we are being held hostage by vampires that want to eat us,” Eunhyuk was quick to respond.
“I noticed that, but I want a full report now,” Kyuhyun ordered.
Changmin, who was still staring in the direction that the vampires had vanished off to, answered, “Commander Cho, this planet is a trap set by beings that call themselves vampires to lure in travelers. There is apparently a power source on this planet that prevents the Expectations from beaming us back to the ship. The captain, Ensign Kangin, and Jae are also on the planet, and they are on their way to join us.”
“This is going to hurt just a little,” Ryeowook said, ignoring Changmin, as he injected a hypospray into Kyuhyun’s leg.
Kyuhyun frowned down at Ryeowook, confused. “Hyposprays don’t hurt.”
“That wasn’t what I was warning you about,” Ryeowook told Kyuhyun as he set the bone in Kyuhyun’s leg, causing the man to grimace in pain.
“A little?” Kyuhyun complained through gritted teeth.
“Eight days doesn’t get you much pain medication,” Junsu mumbled from behind Kyuhyun as he eyed the knights in armor lining the walls.
Eunhyuk snickered, causing Kyuhyun to look at him suspiciously, but before he could question him, Ryeowook explained, “I have to start rationing the pain medication; it won’t last forever, and we know Jae is hurt, too.”
“Understood,” Kyuhyun agreed as the pain started to ease up.
“I have to report to the captain,” Changmin explained, tapping his insignia. “Captain?”
“Lieutenant, how is Commander Cho?” Yunho asked.
“He has a broken leg, but he seems mentally intact.”
“I knew you could do it.”
“It was completely illogical. I also must report that the queen suddenly disappeared. She looked panicked to me,” Changmin informed the captain. “I hate to speculate, but it seemed like something drew her attention away from us.”
“Really? Maybe Yoochun is giving her something to think about. We will be there shortly,” the captain told Changmin, ending the conversation.
“I am glad I appear mentally intact,” Kyuhyun said, looking up at Changmin with amusement, as Ryeowook tended to his leg.
“What are you doing?” Eunhyuk asked Junsu, who was now standing in front of one of the knights in armor.
Junsu pulled a sword free of the armor and smiled back at Eunhyuk. “The captain told us earlier that cutting the vampires’ heads off killed them.”
***************
“Are you sure?” Kangin asked as he followed Yunho up the stairs.
Yunho, who was carrying Jaejoong on his back, answered, “I promise he weighs nothing.”
“How is that possible?” Kangin questioned.
“It’s a weird bond thing,” Yunho explained. “It’s like the bond rewards proximity,” Yunho added, remembering how easy it was to carry Jaejoong on the day of their first meeting.
“It seems to come in handy, but it’s too bad you can’t heal him.”
“The bond does seem to benefit me mostly,” Yunho had to admit as he climbed the stairs.
“Not true,” Jaejoong whispered mentally as he fought against falling asleep as he clung to Yunho. “Being this close to you almost dilutes all the pain.”
“Almost isn’t enough, you need to heal yourself the first chance we get,” Yunho answered him as he quickly bent his head forward and kissed an arm that was wrapped around his neck.
Jaejoong didn’t reply back; he just clung tighter to his lover as Yunho entered the castle and was immediately greeted by his crew. “Captain!” Junsu said excitedly as he ran up to the captain with a big sword in his hand.
“Nice sword,” Yunho said, greeting Junsu with a relieved smile.
“Vampire heads are going to roll,” Kangin said, with an expectant glint in his eyes as he walked up to Junsu, admiring the sword.
“There are more,” Eunhyuk said, pointing toward the armor. Kangin immediately went in the direction of the armor to get a sword.
“How is he?” Yunho asked as he walked up to Kyuhyun and kneeled down, motioning for Jaejoong to slide off his back.
“I am fine,” Kyuhyun answered as Jaejoong got off Yunho and sat beside him.
“His leg is broken…and is that blood?” Ryeowook asked, immediately getting up from the spot near Kyuhyun’s injured leg where he sat to grab the captain’s left arm.
Yunho brushed Ryeowook off. “Jae fixed it. I am perfectly fine, but he isn’t,” Yunho replied, pointing to Jaejoong, who was looking miserable sitting next to Kyuhyun.
“You look paler than normal, and I didn’t think that was possible,” Ryeowook said, inspecting Jaejoong.
Yunho reached down and ran a hand through Jaejoong’s hair. “He refuses to heal himself.”
“Why?” Changmin asked as he came to stand beside the captain.
“My telepathy is the best defense we have, and if I’m in the healing sleep, it will be useless,” Jaejoong explained as he leaned his head into Yunho’s touch.
“Can I help?” Ryeowook asked doubtfully.
“No,” Jaejoong answered. “My body will metabolize anything you inject into it. It makes us practically immune to the deadly affects of poison, but it does have its drawbacks.”
“I told Yoochun before I left, to work on enhancing the insignias,” Yunho told Changmin as he turned to face the younger man.
“That may prove to be helpful, but still, the power source must be found,” Changmin explained to Yunho as he looked down at Jaejoong. Jaejoong had both eyes closed, as he leaned into Yunho’s hand that rested gently on his head.
Yunho nodded his head in agreement. “I know, but we have wounded, so that’s going to slow any hunt we need to do down.”
“Captain, I am perfectly fine. I don’t need-”
“Shut up,” Ryeowook snapped at Kyuhyun. “You can’t even walk.”
Kyuhyun looked up at Ryeowook, irritated. “I can wait here, though.”
“By yourself? I don’t think so,” Ryeowook barked back at Kyuhyun.
“I thought you didn’t care,” Kyuhyun taunted.
Ryeowook practically growled, “I’m a doctor. I took an oath, and you better be glad I did!”
“Hush! Nobody is getting left behind,” Yunho informed the both of them disapprovingly.
“The one from earlier that I didn’t kill is coming,” Jaejoong warned from his spot next to Kyuhyun on the floor.
“All of us together now,” Yunho said, standing up straighter from behind Jaejoong, as the others gathered around him.
“Here,” Junsu said as he handed Yunho and Changmin each a sword.
Yunho looked down at the sword and smiled at Junsu. “Thanks.”
They waited, and very soon, the vampire called Grendel walked down the staircase that lead from the second floor where the queen had been.
“The queen has kindly decided to provide you all with accommodations for your stay tonight,” Grendel said in the same squeaky, high pitched voice that made them all flinch.
“We are all staying together,” Yunho informed the vampire.
The vampire turned her back on them and started moving up the stairs. “I have no interest in your sleeping arrangements, but you will not be allowed to stay on the first floor.”
“They are worried about something.”
“About what?”
“This one just knows the queen is worried.”
“Are we supposed to follow her?” Kangin asked.
“You will follow me,” Grendel said as she reached the top of the stairs. “Or you will wish you had.”
“They have a force field and they are going to tighten it around us.”
“Follow her,” Yunho ordered, as he bent down and lifted Jaejoong up into his arms with ease. “Ryeowook and Eunhyuk, get Kyuhyun. I want the rest of you on guard.”
“Captain, are you sure we should follow her?” Changmin asked.
Jaejoong’s eyes, which had shut once he was in the comfort of Yunho’s arms again, flew open. “Yes, it’s starting to close in.”
“Move,” Yunho ordered as he moved toward the stairs.
Adventure Three: The Planet of the Mad Vampires Part 4 of 5
Author: Aquariuslover
Pairings: Yunjae, KyuWook
Rating: R
Genre: Crossover, Science Fiction, Humor, Adventure
Beta Unicornsinger
A/N: Future adventures might be friend locked, but all five parts of The Planet of the Mad Vampires will be open to everybody as long as they remain linked to HUG. For future updates it would be best to check my journal, although I really hope to post the fourth adventure to HUG.
Summary: Captain Yunho in an attempt to reward his crew for all their hard work gives them shore leave on what appears to be a safe planet. That illusion is soon broken when crew members start disappearing and fictional creatures straight out of Earth’s horror stories are to blame.
Prior Adventures
Changmin, Ryeowook, Junsu, and Eunhyuk completed their climb up the staircase and entered the bottom level of the castle. Changmin looked around the large room that had a spotless marble floor, a very high ceiling and huge chandelier hanging from it. The other levels of the castle could be easily seen as the staircase winded around each floor. Knights in their shiny armor stood as displays against the walls, and on the opposite wall from them, were three matching, gold-colored doors. “The structure is remarkably like that of a European castle during the early Renaissance period.”
“Except a whole lot creepier,” Junsu added as he looked around the castle that was in perfect condition, instead of old and abandoned as the scans of the planet had suggested.
“Such a brave man to insult my home,” came a voice from above them. They all looked up and eyed another vampire who stood on the second level of the castle, staring down at them. She was unlike the other vampires. She had their height, but she had long red hair, red eyes, and was as clean as the other vampires were dirty. She was extremely fat, and her long, red hair clashed with a red dress she wore that seemed to be made entirely of sequins.
Changmin watched her carefully and asked, “Who are you?”
“I am everything to you. I am your empress, your duchess, your countess, your madonna, your lady, and most importantly I am your queen,” she told them as she stretched out her arms, looking down at them.
“Why have you brought us here?” Changmin inquired, trying to keep the skepticism out of his voice.
The queen threw back her head, laughing, and told him, “I did not bring you here. You brought yourself here. You are the ones that came here searching for rest and relaxation.”
Ryeowook stepped up closer to Changmin as the taller man fought to keep from frowning. “We are sorry for intruding on your planet. If you will return our crewman, we will be happy to leave,” Ryeowook explained apologetically.
The queen sneered down at him. “I am sure you would be…little one, but it isn’t that easy. There is still a test to be taken.”
“The test of our mental might?” Junsu asked as he walked up to Changmin’s other side with Eunhyuk close behind him.
“Yes, that test…for one. You are facing three doors. Behind one of those doors is your lost comrade. He’s indisposed right now…so he isn’t going to be able to help you,” the queen told them, unable to keep the amusement out of her voice.
“Indisposed?” Ryeowook demanded as he raced up to the doors that were locked. Ryeowook banged on the doors and screamed, “Kyuhyun!” but didn’t get a response. Ryeowook walked back to Changmin and looked up at the queen. “What did you do to him?”
The queen’s red eyes glared down at Ryeowook. “I haven’t done anything yet, but if you fail your test, I am going to drain him of his wonderfully fresh blood. And after I have sucked him dry, I will feed his flesh to the others.”
“What kind of test do you want us to do?” Eunhyuk asked, worried.
“You simply have to pick the door that your comrade is behind. If you pick the right door, then I shall spare you for now, and we shall have another test,” the queen explained to them.
Changmin’s right eyebrow flew up. Picking the correct door that Kyuhyun was behind would be simple for his father’s bondmate. “We will wait till our captain arrives before picking the door.”
The vampire threw her head back and started laughing hysterically at Changmin’s words, as if he had said the funniest thing she had ever heard.
“Changmin, when was the last time you talked to the captain?” Ryeowook asked anxiously as his skin crawled at the sound of the queen’s laughter.
“You heard me. I talked to him approximately fourteen minutes ago,” Changmin answered, but he already had his hand up to his insignia, trying to contact the captain. “Captain, can you hear me?” The queen continued to laugh. Changmin eyed the other three men as he got no answer back from the captain. “Captain, come in.”
Junsu swallowed nervously as he watched the queen try to control her laughter. “This isn’t good.”
“Yunho, are you okay?” Changmin pleaded, his usual calm evaporating by the second. “Yunho, come in!”
The vampire stopped her laughter and smiled down at them with all her teeth showing. “I’m sorry but your captain isn’t going to be able to help you or anyone else…ever again. It seems he’s gone and got himself buried.”
Changmin’s eyes widened as he stepped up. “Buried?”
The queen opened her mouth and licked her teeth slowly before answering him. “Such a waste of good blood, but those three somehow killed one of my darlings, and that can’t go unpunished. You have fifteen minutes to choose. If you pick wrong, we will feast upon your comrade right in front of you.” The queen then winked at the four men looking up at her and added, “I might even give you a bite.” She then turned her back on them, leaving them alone to take the test.
***************
“You know if you are going to subject me to crazy prisoners who like to go naked…it could at least be women with big tits-” Shindong stopped talking to squeeze his breasts. “You know what I mean?”
The ensign who was sitting at the table in the security department with Shindong as he ate his dinner just shook his head. “He isn’t a prisoner.”
Shindong looked up as the two other ensigns who had rounded up the naked man, leading him from the security department. “Why does he have guards then?”
“He just requires close observation,” the ensign explained as he picked up a small tomato from Shindong’s plate and popped it in his mouth.
Shindong frowned at one of his tomatoes being stolen. “The food isn’t anything to write home about.”
“You seem to like it well enough,” the ensign said, eyeing the almost empty plate.
“I have to eat for nourishment. I was just commenting on the lack of taste. All the food taste so bland,” Shindong explained.
“That’s because it is synthesized. You will get used to it,” Commander Yoochun explained, shocking the young ensign and Shindong with his unexpected arrival. Commander Yoochun leaned against the wall casually, with observant eyes studying Shindong.
Shindong immediately felt off-guard. This man who had entered the security department wearing a gold uniform was not like the other members of the Expectations crew he had met before. There was something in his eyes…that wasn’t completely tame. “What does that mean exactly?”
Yoochun slowly pulled away from the wall and walked to the table. “I could give you a big, long lesson on dematerializing matter and then rematerializing that matter in another form, but I will spare you.”
Shindong’s eyes lit up as his mind went over the possibilities. “Does it just apply to food? Or could you do it with other substances?”
Yoochun lips curled, smiling down at Shindong, but without the smile ever reaching his eyes. Commander Yoochun gently caressed the ensign’s shoulder. “Leave us, Ensign.”
“Yes, Sir,” the ensign answered, getting up quickly from the table to leave the room.
Yoochun took the ensign’s abandoned seat and eyed Shindong carefully. “We can replicate almost anything. Fine jewels…almost everything that makes a greedy man’s heart flutter in anticipation.”
“Do you think I’m a greedy man?”
“Are you denying it?”
“No. What do you want from me?”
“I want information.”
“What do I get in return?” Shindong asked as his bartering instinct took over.
“You like it here, don’t you?”
Shindong frowned, but had to admit it, “You treat me well enough for a prisoner…exceptionally well. I get all the bland food I could ever ask for. My stay here has not been unpleasant.”
Yoochun’s smile finally reached his eyes. “I can change all that.”
“What do you mean? Captain Yunho takes very good care of his prisoners,” Shindong said, suddenly feeling uneasy.
Yoochun nodded his head, still smiling. “Captain Yunho does take excellent care of his prisoners…sadly for you, I’m in charge now.”
Shindong’s mouth dropped open. “What happened to the captain?”
“That doesn’t matter. Here’s what matters. There is a warlord after you. He thinks you helped let his prize Joong escape him. I’ve been listening to the space chatter, and he would do about anything to get a hold of your hide,” Commander Yoochun informed Shindong.
Shindong swallowed nervously. “ZhouMi.”
“Yes, and if you don’t help me, I am going to hand you over to him. Do you understand me?”
“Yes,” Shindong agreed, nodding his head quickly.
“Computer, display the planet we are orbiting,” Yoochun ordered and instantly a screen on the wall came to life. “Do you recognize that planet?”
Shindong looked at the screen and suddenly everything became clear to him. “Oh, so that’s where the good captain is. Too bad, because it’s very rare that anybody ever makes it back from that planet.”
“You better hope he does,” Yoochun hissed.
“I want him to…it’s just that the Planet of the Vampires isn’t a good place to be. Most who go there never return,” Shindong explained quickly, because he had no doubts that Commander Yoochun would hand him over to ZhouMi with a smile.
“Vampires? What the hell are you talking about?” Yoochun asked in disbelief.
“They are nasty beings. They suck you dry of blood, then they eat your remains. They have been known to appear on other planets, but they are usually stupid,” Shindong quickly informed the commander. “They say there is a queen on this planet. The few who have escaped the planet say she is wicked and loves to play games with her prey before she eats them. Somehow she reads what a ship is looking for and tricks them into landing on the planet - or beaming, in your case.”
“If you are messing with me,” Yoochun warned, unable to wrap his head around the thought that vampires were real.
“No, I am serious. Some have tried to put up beacons warning travelers, but the planet just manages to shoot them down,” Shindong explained.
Yoochun tapped the insignia on his uniform immediately. “Lieutenant Yesung, shields up now,” Yoochun ordered, realizing the ship could be in danger.
“I don’t know what else I can tell you, but I do know if you have crew down on that planet…then I wouldn’t count on getting them back,” Shindong told Commander Yoochun, who was now standing and looking down at him.
“Well I do expect to get them back. I am going to send somebody in here to question you in detail, and you will be as helpful to them as you were to me…remember, it’s in your best interest if we get the captain back,” Yoochun advised as he turned and headed toward the door without sparing Shindong a backwards glance.
****************
“Argh,” Yunho mumbled as he awoke under a pile of small rocks and dirt with a shooting pain in his right side. Yunho pushed the rocks and dirt off him and sat up and tried to clear his mind. “Jae!”
“Yunho…so far, not a fan of shore leave.”
Yunho couldn’t help but smile as he heard his lover’s voice in his head, as the pain in his side disappeared. “Kangin?”
“I’m alright, except for all this fucking dirt,” Kangin grumbled as he tried to climb to his feet. “What about you?”
Yunho, who had found Jae beside him, was pushing the debris off his bondmate when he answered Kangin, “I thought I had hurt myself again, but luckily, the pain seems to have gone away.”
“You used to never be so accident prone,” Kangin replied as he tried to steady his shaky feet. “You used to be able to get your ass kicked by a Gorn and come out of it with only a few bruises.”
“I know. I don’t know what’s happened to me. It’s like my arm snaps like a twig lately, but lucky for me I’ve-” Yunho trailed off when he noticed a large, jagged edged rock digging into Jae’s right side. “So it wasn’t my pain I felt?”
Jaejoong winced. “Sorry, I’m blocking you from it now.”
Yunho shook his head and tossed the rock away. “Don’t you dare be sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Jaejoong answered, wincing again when Yunho pulled up his shirt to look at the wound.
“Like hell it is,” Yunho cursed. “Kangin, grab a torch and bring it over here.”
“It will be fine.”
“Can you heal this? Can you go into your healing sleep?” Yunho asked Jae aloud, not liking the look of the wound.
“I can’t risk that,” Jaejoong answered, trying not to cry out as Yunho felt the bruising that was already forming on his side.
“Here,” Kangin said, holding up a torch so they could better see Jaejoong’s wound. “Ouch, that’s gotta be the liver…you do have a liver don’t you?”
“What do you mean you can’t risk it? This could be serious. Go into your healing sleep and fix this,” Yunho ordered in a firm, no nonsense voice.
“I will not!” Jaejoong answered back without hesitation, just as firmly. Jaejoong was immune to the authority in Yunho’s voice.
“Jae! You are no help to us injured,” Yunho said, attempting to reason with his lover.
Jaejoong sat up and said with a grimace, “If the vampires return…you will need me. My body will not let me die. If my condition becomes too critical, I will fall asleep.”
“We can handle the vampires,” Kangin responded, causing Jaejoong to snort.
“I am sure you think you can, but I’m not willing to risk Yunho’s life on that false assumption and mere bravado. I am not falling asleep, and neither of you can make me,” Jaejoong snapped, the pain making him irritable.
Yunho took a deep breath and found his patience. “If I were hurt like this…you would heal me. You wouldn’t let me go around like this.”
Jaejoong sighed exasperated. “When I heal you, I use the power of our bond…just believe me. It’s simpler for me to heal you, than for me to heal myself. You don’t understand.”
Yunho stood up and said calmly, “That’s because you never explain anything to me. I have no idea how the bond works. I haven’t a clue how you heal me. I know little or nothing.”
Jaejoong looked up at Yunho. “We’ve been busy. It’s only been three weeks. I will-”
“Dude, you two have only been together for three weeks? Can you imagine what you will be like in a year?” Kangin interrupted, shocked that the two lovers had only been together for such a short amount of time.
“Not quite three weeks, if you want to get technical,” Yunho answered, patting the front of his shirt “My insignia must have fallen off.”
“It seems like longer, so much longer…in a good way,” Jaejoong sent to Yunho mentally.
Yunho got down on his knees, feeling around for his insignia. “Don’t sweet talk me. I am not happy with you.”
“Why, because I don’t want to lose consciousness and let some vampire kill you? You are mad at me because I would rather suffer than endanger your life,” Jaejoong whined, while holding his side.
Yunho found his insignia and started wiping it free of dirt, ignoring Jaejoong.
“Isn’t endangering his life…like endangering yours? Didn’t I hear that? Isn’t keeping Yunho alive basically keeping your own self alive?” Kangin asked Jaejoong as he held up the torch for Yunho, who was working on getting his insignia working.
“How can you even suggest that? You know nothing of our bond. He was dying, and I saved him. I would have risked anything for him. To suggest that I do this out of some sort of selfishness…but of course you who’s never been in-”
“Stop it!” Yunho ordered, stopping Jaejoong. Yunho then sat back down behind Jaejoong, straddling him, and wrapped his left arm around him. “He was just asking a question. You are cranky when you are hurt.”
“I’m not good at hurting, but now it’s better,” Jaejoong admitted as the pain started to ease as he leaned back into Yunho.
“Does my touch help you?” Yunho asked, noticing the change in Jaejoong.
Jaejoong nodded his head, while looking up at Kangin apologetically. “Yes, it helps…a lot.”
“Why couldn’t you have said that to begin with?” Yunho asked Jaejoong.
“I should have,” Jaejoong answered, closing his eyes. “I am sorry, Kangin.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Kangin told him as he started moving rocks out of their way.
Yunho tapped his insignia. “Changmin, what’s your status?”
“Yunho!” Changmin’s relieved voice was instantly heard. “You are alive?”
“Of course I’m alive, but we have run into some trouble,” Yunho explained as Jaejoong fought to keep from falling asleep in his arms.
“Captain,” Changmin replied much calmer this time. “We have encountered a vampire that calls herself the queen. She told us you were buried alive.”
“We almost were; go on,” Yunho told his son, eager to know what was happening.
“We are in the castle now. It seems this planet is some kind of trap for travelers. We have thirteen minutes to take her test. How long will it take you to get here?”
“Jae is wounded, and we are going to have to remove some rubble before we can even start heading your way. We won’t make it in thirteen minutes. What kind of test is it?” Yunho asked calmly, trying to hide his worry.
“There are three doors for us to pick between. Commander Cho is behind one of those doors. He is unable to answer us. If we pick the door that Commander Cho is behind, then he gets to live. If we pick wrong, they will feast upon him in front of us,” Changmin replied. “Is there any way Jae can help us?”
“Jae,” Yunho asked, rubbing Jaejoong’s arm.
Jaejoong tried to open his eyes, but failed. The desire to sleep was too strong, especially in Yunho’s warm arms. Jaejoong shook his head and answered Yunho, “Not from here. The healing sleep is trying to pull me under, and the vampire’s minds are a mess. I can’t see the doors clearly. I can sense Kyuhyun, but he doesn’t even know what door he is behind.”
“Then Changmin will have to do it,” Ryeowook said over the insignia.
Jaejoong’s eyes flew open at Ryeowook’s words and sputtered, “Changmin can’t do this.”
“Yes, he can,” Ryeowook said. “Changmin has the highest ESP rating among the four of us here. He is extremely intelligent. Vulcans have said for decades that human beings have the capacity for telepathy, but our species is still too young to have developed this skill. Changmin is just going to get in touch with this latent ability a little early. How would you advise he do that?”
Jaejoong pulled away from Yunho and focused. Ryeowook wasn’t trying to tell his secret; he was merely trying to save his husband. “Doctor, you and the other two must leave, or get as far away from him as you can. Your thoughts and feelings will only serve as a distraction. Changmin must close his eyes and push every thought that is not of Kyuhyun from his mind. Changmin has to focus on Kyuhyun…and not on how illogical or stupid he thinks this idea is. Kyuhyun is in pain, but that isn’t what he should focus on. Kyuhyun is consumed with a sense of longing. He longs for a reunion with you. Changmin must focus on longing and yearning, and he will then be able to pick the right door. Kyuhyun reeks of this,” Jaejoong instructed through gritted teeth as he fought to control his pain.
Yunho pulled Jaejoong back toward him. “Lieutenant, do as Jae instructed, and once you have freed Commander Cho, contact me. That’s an order.”
*****************
“Doctor! I am not a telepath! This plan is absurd,” Changmin told Ryeowook, flabbergasted at his suggestion.
“One of us has to do it, and you are our best choice,” Junsu answered for Ryeowook.
Eunhyuk nodded his head in agreement. “Think of all the times…you have known things when you shouldn’t have.”
“I know things because I’m intelligent. I know things because I observe clues that other minds can not comprehend, not because I’m telepathic!” Changmin informed them, eyeing the three doors uneasily.
“Junsu and Eunhyuk, sit down,” Ryeowook ordered, pointing to the ground. The two men quickly obeyed the doctor and sat down on the ground. “I am going to sedate you till Changmin saves Kyuhyun,” Ryeowook told them as he injected both of the men in the arm with a hypospray.
“Doctor, have you lost your mind?” Changmin asked in disbelief as he watched the two ensigns fall asleep. “You can’t possibly think that-”
“Oh, but I do think it. You are a mystery, Jung Changmin, and you always have been. You cling to your logic like it’s a safety blanket, but you can’t do that now. You are going to toss everything you know about logic out of your head, and you are going to listen to Jae!” Ryeowook said forcibly as he pointed the hypospray at Changmin.
“But-”
“Don’t you but me! We have been friends for a really long time, and I know the only thing you value and trust more than logic, is the captain. The captain ordered you to listen to Jae, and that’s what you are going to do. You are going to trust in the captain’s judgment,” Ryeowook said as he sat down on the ground and adjusted the hypospray.
“Ryeo-”
“Stop with the doubt,” Ryeowook ordered as he looked up at Changmin with big, trusting eyes. “You can do this. I know you can. I know stuff like this scares you…feelings scare you, but you have a huge heart. I trust in you. I know you can do this for me.”
“For you?”
“I might be extremely angry at Kyuhyun right now, and I might want to make him bathe in Tardevil Beetle dung, but I’m not ready for him to be vampire food. He’s your friend, too. One of your real friends, and I know you can do this for Kyuhyun, for yourself, and for me. I have faith in you.”
“I fear your-”
“You can do it,” Ryeowook said, interrupting Changmin again. “When you are done, just hit me with this hypospray and I will arouse. You can do this. I promise you can,” Ryeowook told Changmin confidently as he injected himself in the arm and instantly fell into unconsciousness.
Changmin bent down and took the hypospray from the unconscious doctor and turned to face the three doors. His internal clock counted down the seconds. The illogic of the situation was beyond anything he had ever known. It was simply beyond reason that they expected him to get in contact with some dormant telepathic abilities that the human race might or might not have.
He walked over to the three doors, inspecting them for some sign of which door Kyuhyun was behind. He could find no scientific evidence to help him come to a logical conclusion. He pressed his ears against the doors, and he heard nothing. He yelled for Commander Cho, but got no response. It was an impossible situation. How Yunho could order him to follow Jae’s instructions…there had to be a scientific way of doing this. There had to be, but if there was, he could not find it in the little time he had left.
He stepped away from the doors ‘til he could see all three of them. He would follow Yunho’s illogical orders. He remembered how Jae had stood that day when he had searched for the lost crew. Changmin closed his eyes and reached out his hands, and he tried to sense longing. What was longing? What did it feel like? He asked himself, but instantly, he knew the answer to his own question. Changmin longed for the truth. All of his life, Changmin had longed for the truth of his existence. He longed to know the strange circumstances of his birth and how he had traveled back in time at such a young age. This was longing, so he closed his eyes tighter and reached out for that familiar feeling. Changmin longed for the truth, and Commander Cho longed for love; although they longed for different things, the sense of yearning was the same.
Changmin’s eyes snapped open instantly, and he knew without a doubt which door Commander Cho was behind. “The middle door.”
*******************
“Commander, wait!”
Yoochun, who had been working in engineering, was about to step on the elevator to take him to the bridge, when a familiar voice stopped him. Yoochun turned around to find Lieutenant Sungmin walking toward him. “Lieutenant, aren’t you supposed to be in sickbay?”
“I have spent too much time lying around in bed already. I should have been out of sickbay days ago,” Sungmin replied, walking up to him with determination.
“I was under the impression that you were recovering from life-threatening wounds,” Yoochun said as he stepped onto the elevator with Sungmin.
Sungmin nodded his head. “I was, but I am more than recovered. I have been monitoring the situation, and I think I can help.”
Yoochun leaned against the wall of the elevator without commanding it to move, as he inspected Sungmin from head to toe. “And how would you help?”
“There is a shield over the castle that keeps us from beaming them back to the ship.”
“Yes, we discovered that earlier.”
“I think we should aim our phasers at it. I think we can hit it with a low-level phaser fire setting, with just enough strength to weaken the shield, without harming anybody on the ground or in the castle. If we kept it up, we would eventually be able to drain the shield’s power. I highly doubt it has a power source that could handle a bombardment of our phasers for long,” Sungmin added without hesitation.
Yoochun’s eyes twinkled, liking the lieutenant’s plan. “That’s an excellent idea; we still don’t know what the power source is, but hopefully your hypothesis about it being too weak to handle our phasers for long is correct.”
“If not, perhaps it will weaken the shield enough, so our scanners can find the power source,” Sungmin added.
“Bridge,” Yoochun ordered to the elevator as he smiled at Sungmin, nodding his head. “It’s good to have you back, Lieutenant.”
***************
The middle door flew open, and much to Changmin’s eternal relief, two vampires exited, dragging a gagged Kyuhyun between them. Changmin backed away from them ‘til he reached the sleeping Ryeowook. Changmin bent down and injected the doctor with the hypospray, causing him to instantly awaken, while never taking his eyes off the vampires.
“You are not a regular human are you?” the queen asked, looking down from the second floor and startling Changmin. He had not noticed she had returned. “You are a strange breed of humans.”
Changmin looked back up to the second floor to face her. “I am not from this galaxy,” Changmin explained as Ryeowook quickly got up and took the hypospray from him and moved toward Junsu and Eunhyuk to awaken them.
“The second test will not be so easy,” the queen warned.
Changmin stared at Kyuhyun, who was still being held between the two vampires. “You promised to return our comrade.”
“Did I?” the queen questioned, with a smile full of deceit.
“You did,” Ryeowook said, speaking up as he went to stand beside Changmin.
The queen sneered down at them. “Perhaps I do not keep my promises to food. That’s what you are. Nothing but food, and I do love to eat.”
“That’s obvious,” Eunhyuk mumbled from beside Changmin, where he had gone to stand. Junsu had gone to stand on the other side of Ryeowook.
The queen’s glared deadly down at Eunhyuk and seethed, “I shall have you gutted - ” the queen stopped her threat as she tilted her head up as something else caught her attention. “Grendel and Goneril, give them their comrade,” the queen ordered as she hurried away.
The two vampires threw Kyuhyun at them as they hurried up the stairs to follow their queen. Ryeowook hurried to examine Kyuhyun’s leg, as Junsu quickly removed the gag from Kyuhyun’s mouth. “What is going on?” Kyuhyun said, the instant the gag was off.
“Commander, we are being held hostage by vampires that want to eat us,” Eunhyuk was quick to respond.
“I noticed that, but I want a full report now,” Kyuhyun ordered.
Changmin, who was still staring in the direction that the vampires had vanished off to, answered, “Commander Cho, this planet is a trap set by beings that call themselves vampires to lure in travelers. There is apparently a power source on this planet that prevents the Expectations from beaming us back to the ship. The captain, Ensign Kangin, and Jae are also on the planet, and they are on their way to join us.”
“This is going to hurt just a little,” Ryeowook said, ignoring Changmin, as he injected a hypospray into Kyuhyun’s leg.
Kyuhyun frowned down at Ryeowook, confused. “Hyposprays don’t hurt.”
“That wasn’t what I was warning you about,” Ryeowook told Kyuhyun as he set the bone in Kyuhyun’s leg, causing the man to grimace in pain.
“A little?” Kyuhyun complained through gritted teeth.
“Eight days doesn’t get you much pain medication,” Junsu mumbled from behind Kyuhyun as he eyed the knights in armor lining the walls.
Eunhyuk snickered, causing Kyuhyun to look at him suspiciously, but before he could question him, Ryeowook explained, “I have to start rationing the pain medication; it won’t last forever, and we know Jae is hurt, too.”
“Understood,” Kyuhyun agreed as the pain started to ease up.
“I have to report to the captain,” Changmin explained, tapping his insignia. “Captain?”
“Lieutenant, how is Commander Cho?” Yunho asked.
“He has a broken leg, but he seems mentally intact.”
“I knew you could do it.”
“It was completely illogical. I also must report that the queen suddenly disappeared. She looked panicked to me,” Changmin informed the captain. “I hate to speculate, but it seemed like something drew her attention away from us.”
“Really? Maybe Yoochun is giving her something to think about. We will be there shortly,” the captain told Changmin, ending the conversation.
“I am glad I appear mentally intact,” Kyuhyun said, looking up at Changmin with amusement, as Ryeowook tended to his leg.
“What are you doing?” Eunhyuk asked Junsu, who was now standing in front of one of the knights in armor.
Junsu pulled a sword free of the armor and smiled back at Eunhyuk. “The captain told us earlier that cutting the vampires’ heads off killed them.”
***************
“Are you sure?” Kangin asked as he followed Yunho up the stairs.
Yunho, who was carrying Jaejoong on his back, answered, “I promise he weighs nothing.”
“How is that possible?” Kangin questioned.
“It’s a weird bond thing,” Yunho explained. “It’s like the bond rewards proximity,” Yunho added, remembering how easy it was to carry Jaejoong on the day of their first meeting.
“It seems to come in handy, but it’s too bad you can’t heal him.”
“The bond does seem to benefit me mostly,” Yunho had to admit as he climbed the stairs.
“Not true,” Jaejoong whispered mentally as he fought against falling asleep as he clung to Yunho. “Being this close to you almost dilutes all the pain.”
“Almost isn’t enough, you need to heal yourself the first chance we get,” Yunho answered him as he quickly bent his head forward and kissed an arm that was wrapped around his neck.
Jaejoong didn’t reply back; he just clung tighter to his lover as Yunho entered the castle and was immediately greeted by his crew. “Captain!” Junsu said excitedly as he ran up to the captain with a big sword in his hand.
“Nice sword,” Yunho said, greeting Junsu with a relieved smile.
“Vampire heads are going to roll,” Kangin said, with an expectant glint in his eyes as he walked up to Junsu, admiring the sword.
“There are more,” Eunhyuk said, pointing toward the armor. Kangin immediately went in the direction of the armor to get a sword.
“How is he?” Yunho asked as he walked up to Kyuhyun and kneeled down, motioning for Jaejoong to slide off his back.
“I am fine,” Kyuhyun answered as Jaejoong got off Yunho and sat beside him.
“His leg is broken…and is that blood?” Ryeowook asked, immediately getting up from the spot near Kyuhyun’s injured leg where he sat to grab the captain’s left arm.
Yunho brushed Ryeowook off. “Jae fixed it. I am perfectly fine, but he isn’t,” Yunho replied, pointing to Jaejoong, who was looking miserable sitting next to Kyuhyun.
“You look paler than normal, and I didn’t think that was possible,” Ryeowook said, inspecting Jaejoong.
Yunho reached down and ran a hand through Jaejoong’s hair. “He refuses to heal himself.”
“Why?” Changmin asked as he came to stand beside the captain.
“My telepathy is the best defense we have, and if I’m in the healing sleep, it will be useless,” Jaejoong explained as he leaned his head into Yunho’s touch.
“Can I help?” Ryeowook asked doubtfully.
“No,” Jaejoong answered. “My body will metabolize anything you inject into it. It makes us practically immune to the deadly affects of poison, but it does have its drawbacks.”
“I told Yoochun before I left, to work on enhancing the insignias,” Yunho told Changmin as he turned to face the younger man.
“That may prove to be helpful, but still, the power source must be found,” Changmin explained to Yunho as he looked down at Jaejoong. Jaejoong had both eyes closed, as he leaned into Yunho’s hand that rested gently on his head.
Yunho nodded his head in agreement. “I know, but we have wounded, so that’s going to slow any hunt we need to do down.”
“Captain, I am perfectly fine. I don’t need-”
“Shut up,” Ryeowook snapped at Kyuhyun. “You can’t even walk.”
Kyuhyun looked up at Ryeowook, irritated. “I can wait here, though.”
“By yourself? I don’t think so,” Ryeowook barked back at Kyuhyun.
“I thought you didn’t care,” Kyuhyun taunted.
Ryeowook practically growled, “I’m a doctor. I took an oath, and you better be glad I did!”
“Hush! Nobody is getting left behind,” Yunho informed the both of them disapprovingly.
“The one from earlier that I didn’t kill is coming,” Jaejoong warned from his spot next to Kyuhyun on the floor.
“All of us together now,” Yunho said, standing up straighter from behind Jaejoong, as the others gathered around him.
“Here,” Junsu said as he handed Yunho and Changmin each a sword.
Yunho looked down at the sword and smiled at Junsu. “Thanks.”
They waited, and very soon, the vampire called Grendel walked down the staircase that lead from the second floor where the queen had been.
“The queen has kindly decided to provide you all with accommodations for your stay tonight,” Grendel said in the same squeaky, high pitched voice that made them all flinch.
“We are all staying together,” Yunho informed the vampire.
The vampire turned her back on them and started moving up the stairs. “I have no interest in your sleeping arrangements, but you will not be allowed to stay on the first floor.”
“They are worried about something.”
“About what?”
“This one just knows the queen is worried.”
“Are we supposed to follow her?” Kangin asked.
“You will follow me,” Grendel said as she reached the top of the stairs. “Or you will wish you had.”
“They have a force field and they are going to tighten it around us.”
“Follow her,” Yunho ordered, as he bent down and lifted Jaejoong up into his arms with ease. “Ryeowook and Eunhyuk, get Kyuhyun. I want the rest of you on guard.”
“Captain, are you sure we should follow her?” Changmin asked.
Jaejoong’s eyes, which had shut once he was in the comfort of Yunho’s arms again, flew open. “Yes, it’s starting to close in.”
“Move,” Yunho ordered as he moved toward the stairs.