The elder ship slowly opened a bay door on the side of the ship with enough space to allow for a single ship to maneuver through. The inside was light and open, the single bay door opened into a large space with many ships inside lining.
The ships shined while being lined up in a straight line throughout the space. The Druin flowed to and fro, the ships organised different plans, reports and areas.
They continued to move around as Razaloth's ship pulled into the bay and settled onto the ground.
The druin like grains of sand after a storm, flowed around the bay, moving between ships and finally settled around the ship that had newly landed.
Their eyes held anxious looks as they glanced around the bay looking for some sort of sign of reassurance; they waited on baited breath for the hull to open.
The hull folded out of the way, seeming to fold back upon itself where no seem was visible to expose the innards of the ship. Standing waiting was Razaloth and the captain, their eyes also scanning the crowd.
The man who had appeared in their bridge through the shards stood close to them, waiting for them to descend.
The Razaloth and the captain descended into the crowd of awaiting Druin, their nervousness evident as they looked into the crowd.
"Why all the people?" asked the captain.
"Just curious, that is all" said the man before turning his back "Follow me" "That cannot be all, look at them all" said the captain as she waved her hand around the bay showing how many Druin had gathered. They were between ships, huddled in any space they could find and standing waiting.
"I assure you it is nothing" the man continued as he walked from the bay with them both in tow.
Razaloth shot the captain a glance, he knew they were here as a show of force, a way to intimidate or scare him and all the crew aboard. They were not welcome here and the crew were making that well known.
Razaloth shot a sympathetic look to the crew aboard the ship before he kept moving, following the man in the sea of Druin that parted as they made their way through.
....
Across on the human ship Seth had been racking his brain about how he would kill the elder. He needed proof.
Once he got aboard he could see a way to kill the elder. He must be alone at least while going to the bathroom, most people were and most people let their guard down on the toilet, that is when he planned to kill the elder.
He still did not know how he would get aboard the ship; the ships around the elders' ships were self-contained. They did not move between each other often, if at all.
The ships visiting would circle and dock with an outer ship rarely going past the first circle of ships, never mind the third.
This would mean Seth would have to board a ship and ride it as far as the first circle, or third if he was lucky.
Then he would need to find a ship home once he found a key piece of information.
This mission began to look more and more impossible as he analysed it.
He readied himself, the suit he donned was tight, the shell it created kept him safe from the vacuum of space. His personal boosters strong enough to propel him vast distances, the only matter now was the timing.
His black suit would hide among the stars, his body small enough to not set off alarm bells on ships; he would have to do this with his body as the craft.
"Sir we are picking up a ship entering the sector" "Is it heading to the elders' fleet?" "Yes it is sir, 10 minutes until it is within range" "Are you ready Mongrel?" "Yea, I am but are ya sure about this plan" "Moderately so" "Really? Because to me it looks like you want me to shoot myself into space and hope I grab a hold of a ship" "No, not hope, it is what the magnets in your gloves will take care of" "Very funny. But seriously how likely are we to succeed?" asked Mongrel as he looked at Seth, his normal jovial smile gone, his face stone and cold.
"On making the main ship or killing the elder?" replied Seth as he continued to put on his helmet without looking Mongrel in the eyes.
"Both"
"About 10 percent"
"That isn't too bad" replied Mongrel as his smile returned to his face.
"That we grab the passing ship first time around" Mongrel was stunned for a moment before hunting down the answer he originally wanted.
"And what about the rest?"
"I don't know Mongrel, we are about to kill someone who has never been killed. An elder has never been killed without the whole fleet being wiped out, so honestly my friend the number is so small I do not think I could quantify it" "Great, so a bees dick in a honey suckle tree" replied Mongrel with a grimace on his face.
Seth let out a chuckle as his mask clicked shut with a snap and he was fully enclosed inside the suit his voice returned but through the filter sounded grainy.
"haha not a bees dick in a honey suckle my old friend"
Walking to the air lock, Seth and Mongrel looked back at the ship. It would catch them if they missed if it could but more then likely they would be floating in space for hours or days before the ship could safely navigate around the elders fleet and pick them up again.
The air lock slowly shut behind them. The air gushed from the space into the rest of the ship, the artificial the space around them slowly emptied of air, when it was all out the air lock to the outside
opened with a mechanical click and they were exposed to the vastness of space, all and nothing was held in this seeming empty space.