Stepping into the ship, Olivia was taken aback to see the entire inside was hollow. She felt like she was in a movie theater, as she made her way down the center aisle. Comfortable seats spread out in rows, all facing a huge screen in the front of the ship.
Taking a seat in the front, she saw the screen flicker and come to life.
"Welcome to ship Nanobot Express. Please make yourselves comfortable in a seat and we shall be deporting shortly. Be aware that there are seatbelts for your protection that should be placed around your waist and chest. If you need help, please raise your hand, and the seatbelts will show you how to put them on."
The voice was feminine and pleasant to the ears. Olivia wondered who the model for the voice was.
"We shall be departing momentarily, if the rest of you will please take a seat and fasten your seatbelts, we can leave."
After a few more moments of rustling, the screen lit up, and the view of the city below them appeared. They could see everything that was before the ship, as it took off. Olivia was very impressed with the smooth ride. She could barely tell the ship was even moving.
As they left the atmosphere, her brow creased in confusion.
"What happened to all of the ships that were in orbit?" she asked, noting that the area around the orbit was completely empty.
"The nanobots have acquired all of the metal, as per King Dustin's orders. Small clusters of nanobots will fly to Haven, as per protocol, leaving a small amount in orbit around the planet in case any new ships appear. This way, the threat that is the A'Dfukl shall never again bother the race of Uz'En."
Cheers broke out throughout the ship, as the computer's words were realized by the prisoners she had just rescued.
XxxxX
The closest stick person approached him and touched his arm, where the PED used to be. With a smile, he formed a new one out of nanobots, and handed it to it. Taking the device, it quickly placed it on its arm, then changed into the form of a young girl.
"Thank you. We are curious to know if you wish to take these children to your ship? We will offer you aid, if you will also take us? We do not wish to remain here any longer."
"Are you able to communicate with the others of your kind who are still on the planet?" he asked, as the children were slowly woken up, and gathered into the arms of the other stick people.
"No, the distance is too far for our minds to speak with each other, but we ache for them. Would it be too much to ask for us to be reunited?"
"The only way you could ever get me to go back to that planet, is if you all decided to come off of it. I hate that place."
"We have no problems with your request. Our memories of our home are distant. It was changed a lot by the Josagn and is not really our home any longer."
"Help me get the other Uz'En off the station, and back to my home planet, and I will get the rest of your people."
"This agreement is acceptable to us."
The children were so much easier to maneuver through the crowd of people who were determined to follow him around, with the stick people helping. As he guided the last child onto the ship with Granny, he spied the group of people he had uzenated. After a moment's hesitation, he headed in their direction.
"What have you done to us?" asked one of the men as he approached them.
"I made you an alien. None of you would have survived as humans, so I made you one of my people so you wouldn't die."
They murmured amongst themselves for a few moments, then turned back to him.
"What will happen to us now? This is a station for humans, not aliens. Sure, we have the occasional alien that stops by, but they don't live here!"
Dustin thought about telling them that aliens did live here, but decided it wasn't worth the effort. They obviously had no clue about anything.
"I can take you to my planet, where my people have just started living. You can get a job helping out with the necessary needs of survival, and have a family whenever you want. No one will try and kill you either."
"How is that possible? We were sterilized when we were born. Is there not a population control in place to keep your world from becoming too populated?"
"There's plenty of space for people. We don't need any kind of population control. As for the sterilization, I got rid of that when I made you my people."
His words shocked many of them, but overall, they were excited. Many in the surrounding crowds, who overheard his words, were interested in this too.
"Can anyone live on your planet?"
"Only my people are allowed." Dustin wasn't sure he liked where this was going.
"Can you change just anyone into your people?"
"Only humans…" he watched as they all started talking excitedly about the possibilities.
As he herded the uzenated people towards the ship, the crowd of humans started to ask, then beg, for him to change them as well. With a sigh, he knew that he should have seen this coming. It was only a matter of time before these people were killed if they stayed here.
Glancing out a window, at the darkness of space, he wondered how Olivia was. The knowledge that she had plenty of nanobots around her, and they had the hidden protocols he had programmed into them, settled his moment of concern.
"I have to get the rest of my people off this station, before I will consider changing any others. My ship only has so much space."
This calmed the people down for a few moments, before they started asking if he would come back for them. It was clear that they were willing to go to great lengths to be able to leave this station, and frankly, Dustin understood why.
"If you try and stop me, or keep me from what I need to do, I will not consider you for uzenation."
His words calmed them all down immediately. As much as they wanted to get off the station, they were not willing to jeopardize their chances by making him mad.