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The Voyages of the Penelope and the Yydryl

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posted on May, 12 2012 @ 05:19 AM
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~*~ What about the girls? ~*~


Jeni didn’t almost turn around and leave the room to check the cabin number - she did.

Entering the portal, greeted with quiet salutations and bowed heads amongst an air of genuine industry? Could these girls really be her sisters? Not a droid carrying a stitch of clothing in site. No more overturned wine goblets and half eaten plates of sweetmeats. The place was spotless. Six desks arranged in a circle shared one common information tower where maps spun slow circles on the screen all of the Yydryl interior and exterior. The quiet tune playing low from the entertainment system added a real sense of serenity, a mood of prodigious tranquility.


Hands on hips Jeni stepped back into the room still doubting her eyes and ears. Clearing her throat for a second time it was Moriah, her youngest sister who rose from her desk and broking the stillness gamboled like a colt to her side with a squeal of delight.


“Oh Jeni! You’ll never guess what we’ve been up to!’ Mori squealed again and threw herself into her sisters arms where she was warmly received.

‘Training lions??‘ The old tease barely covered Jeni’s moan. Her little Imp’s hair was cut. The long golden skein of silk gone from a head that hadn’t been so much as trimmed since birth. The newfound confidence gleaming in Moriah’s eyes helped couch the loss.

‘No silly! We cut our hair! We all did!’ Dancing around the desks touching the heads of her sisters they looked up one by one showing off their new ‘doos’ with sparkling eyes and flushed cheeks.

Unable to restrain their enthusiasm a moment longer the other girls rushed from their seats nearly knocking Jeni down with combined hugs, eagerness and the ‘drama of it all’ as she often thought of when referring to her sisters.

‘Don’t you just love what that droid did?’ Jade, theatrical as ever laid the droll on thick. ’His name is ‘Call-Me-Kenneth’ and he did ‘miracles!’ Jade, sporting the shortest hair of them all cupped her hand upright under her chin moving her face this way and that for Jeni to admire. Making a moue of her lips Jade waited for approval.


‘It’s you Jade. Truly!’ Jeni’s eyebrows raised her head shaking. Whoever this Call-Me-Kenneth was? He’d captured Jade’s no nonsense approach to life in a haircut - her inner glow radiated outward in the platinum moonlight tint he, or she had chosen.

‘And for your information oh Wise One?’ I’m studying to be Ship’s navigator!’ Jade continued. ’Can you imagine the hoot of it? Helping the Yydryl make her way through the galaxy and back again? Trippy huh? Jeni felt pin pricks behind her eyes. Jade wasn’t just beautiful but smart - smart as a whip. Something the Yydryl was about to find out. With a wink Jade retreated as Aine elbowed her way forward having waited long enough to show off her own new look.


‘Ok, ok ok ok! Enough!!!’ Aine tugged on Jeni’s hands no more than her deep violet eyes tugged at her heart. ‘Go awayyyy!’ She waved the others back like a puff of smoke in thin air.

‘Kenneth...he said I could call him Kenneth,’ she added sotto voice, ’He did his best work on me.’ Posing with her palms pushed down by her sides, a hip kicked out, her shoulders lift and crunched into her neck like giving herself a hug. ‘Take a look would’ja! Doesn’t it just rock!’ Spinning in place Aine did just that. Her facade was practiced and methodical and completely contrived. Shy to the bone she fought to overcome her own self and what she saw as her overbearing sisters - a fight she was winning in each new day. Her newly cropped uneven spikes had already given her courage Jeni thought cupping her hand under her sister’s chin.

‘It’s perfect. Just perfect.‘ Jeni asked smiling when Aine’s face brightened further still. ‘And what are you studying?‘

‘The Yydryl,’ she pronounced Ship’s name with awe, ‘She‘s sentient. I mean, you know that but I what I’m saying is she’s really sentient.’ Aine’s dove wing brows arched, ’And there’s this guy Newman and he‘s her Attendant to Ship but I think that dudes gonna need a hand I mean, the Yydryl’s gargantuan for heaven’s sake!’ Tucking the corner of her lower lip beneath a front tooth Aine waited.

‘And you’re aiming to become his assistant? Kind of an Assistant to the Assistant?’ Jeni’s eyes twinkled.

“Yep, that’s me!’ Aine punched a thumb into her chest and smiled.

‘Does he know it yet?’ Jeni eyed her sister quizzically.

‘Nope. But he will as soon as I memorize the Yydryl inside and out!’ Aine ran back to her studies as if to prove her point.

‘What about you two?‘ Jeni asked the twins Sera and Terah waiting their turn.

‘We’re going to...’ ‘Work in the Recovery Bay...’ ‘It’s been without a steward for ages now...’ ‘And we know we can learn all we need to...’

‘In order to care for all the inhabitants on the Yydryl.’ They finished in unison.


The twins habitually spoke over and for one another and despite their changes in hair styles Jeni was glad to see something about the two remained constant. Given them each a hug and the assurance she was mighty proud of their decision she watched as they left the room hand in hand headed for the Medical station.


‘What about you Styx?’ Jeni slung an arm around the ‘middle child’ as Styx insisted being called, the one ‘full of woe’.

‘I’ve not decided fully. Not specifically though I’m sure you’ll not be surprised to lean I’m leaning towards the sciences.‘ She sniffed derisively, ‘Research. Technology. Maybe weapons.’ The most placid and reserved of her ‘girls’ was less than concerned. The right position would come in time she pointed out before placing a quick kiss on her sisters cheek and returning to the study group without mentioning her hair. Jeni hadn’t expected her too. That she’d allowed it to be cut was something surely to please her sisters, not herself. She was too practical for that. But she had seen her eyes light up when she said weapons. Interesting choice Jeni though privately.

‘So are you gonna stay here with us a while?’ Moriah asked glad to have Jeni to herself again.

‘No Imp, I just came by to tell you a droid will be in later to move you all to your new quarters.‘ Relieved this would be a lot easier than she’d imagined Jeni’s mind now turned to making her way back to the flight deck to pursue her own desires.

‘Can I tell you a secret first?’ Moriah looked around as if the walls had ears. Which they did.

‘Of course.’

‘Come on. I’ll tell you on the way!’ Moriah’s voice lowered to a mere whispers and indication she was even more excited than usual.

‘On the way where?’ Jeni laughed after breaking into a run following the little sprite.

‘Oh Jeni!’ Moriah spun in place her eyes wide as a baby owls and as full of promise as anything Jeni had ever seen. ‘I’m gonna be a pilot! I’m going to fly!

‘Guess what Punkin?’ Jeni replied torn between concern and excitement.

‘What?’ Moriah’s curiosity piqued as it would no matter how old she grew.

‘So am I!’ Jeni whispered back rewarded by another of her sisters huge smiles. ‘Race ya!’ Jeni tried but Moriah had already broken into a sprint down Ship’s corridors towards the flight deck.

edit on 12-5-2012 by silo13 because: counter



posted on May, 12 2012 @ 07:32 AM
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Learning To Walk~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are you ready Ship?" Tibbs asked and turned the odd-looking device towards the naked
female's form, the hologram shimmered as the beam from the Positron-Divider struck her
artificial surfaces.

"Will this hurt...?" Ship asked and fought the urge to hide private areas, being a 'solid' had
brought strange feelings and new emotions. "... my sensors show that this function of
amassing antimatter is disrupting certain onboard programmes"
The Vithian didn't even look up.

The small Time-traveller had spent most of the latter-part of the journey to the Khalamzadar
system dealing with The Yydryl's wish to become -as Ship put it, 'one of you' Tibbs scratched
his beard and wondered if this was the right thing to do.


"Yer' know, yer' dabblin' with the order of things?" Mucklebones had whispered into the
hairy ear of her lover. The sultry hues of the room made sleeping easy and for the Crone who
had spent most of her life laying on hard-ground and dirty blankets, the arms of morpheus
were instantly available in these surroundings. But she would have her say before slipping
into the comfortable slumber beside the little man.

Tibbs sighed and rolled-over to face the Alien that meant so much to him.
"It's what Ship wants, the proceedure isn't too difficult and I know that your concerns are in
regards of what BIAD's brother wanted... to be real-in a real world" he said softly and showed
a kind-ancient smile.

Muckles' dark 'oil-eyes' searched the weathered face of her man as she pondered his words,
it was true that she thought that this 'magic' of bringing Tulpa-bodies into being -was very
dangerous and her past would bring testament to that.
"But what of this craft...? who will drive this spaceship...?" she asked and touched the dry-
white beard that disappeared under the covers "...yer' makin' sorcery that'll bring us woe.
I'll set my bones on it"

Velvet and dull-pink tones swirled across the ceiling as the Vithian propped himself up and
smiled at the stalwart of the Olde Ways, "The Yydryl can operate in exactly the same way in
or out of her mainframe, it's complicated" he said and reached for his small-round spectacles.
Night clouds roiled eastwards beneath The Yydryl's massive belly as the two crew members
contemplated their hosts's wish and with lens-assisted eyes, Tibbs looked across the dimly-
lit bedroom at the machine waiting in the corner.

"Antimatter has been used before, it's containing the material that can cause problems... it's
a delicate proceedure" he whispered in the gloom and felt his partner lift herself further-up
the pillow.

Mucklebones followed the smaller-man's gaze towards the Positron-Divider waiting in the
corner, but the Canyon Witch only saw a wand ...a wand in the hands of a novice.
"Ah've seen these 'bodies' before, it's legerdemain of the worse-sort" she hissed and shook
her head "Tulpas take on lives of their own"


Tibbs increased the intensity of the particle-collector, the nearby Gas-Giants were an asset
in the event and that was why the Vithain had waited, timing was everything -he thought to
himself and smiled at the irony.

"Here we go Ship... steady yourself for some discomfort" he announced and looked over at
the wavering hologram. Though the female figure of light looked like she was about to be
shot at by a terrible weapon, she offered a weak smile.

"That particular feeling, I have tasted before... sadly" Ship called above the escalating noise,
the machine seemed to scream as it drew in electrons through the gold membrane across it's
lens.

(Continued Below)
edit on 12-5-2012 by A boy in a dress because: Left Left in Edit Room.



posted on May, 12 2012 @ 07:34 AM
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(Continued From Above)

As the lights fluttered across the vast craft and systems failed and adjusted to get back
online, Ship began to manifest as a walking-talking humanoid. Tibbs sucked in a breath and
increased the particle-flow, Ship's blue-glow eyes dulled as the iris became solid and now
would only soak-in light -instead of producing it.

Hair -that had offered a lustre that would bewitch a man's fingers, lost some of it's sheen and
yet produced a magic of it's own as it sat about the bare shoulders of Ship.
The Positron-Divider roared on and the Dr. Frankenstein in the brown robes and crackling
beard watched his creation solidify and with an scientist-eye, he noticed the shadow
appearing at the foot of the naked Ship.

"THIS IS PAINFUL!" the beautiful female in the laboratory called loudly, the brave lass was
keeping any panic from her voice and this wasn't lost on the Vithian. It was another two
minutes before the Divider began it's process of winding-down, the noise lessened and the
overhead fluttering of the lights stopped. The Yydryl got her wish.

Ship staggered as the ray released her, weight and balance had rushed in like avid autograph
hunters and Tibbs rushed also to slow her descent to the lab floor.
Stifling the need to shout out "it's alive!" Tibbs pulled the dark-green shawl from a nearby
chair and covered Ship's nakedness, the female's lashes were closed -but the eyes moved
beneath.

"Thank you" came the calm-soothing voice from overhead, the woman in his arms was
awake... somewhere in the craft at least -Tibbs thought with relief and felt new-born muscles
move as 'Ship-Woman' stirred.

Tibbs' glasses sparkled in the light's reflection as he looked up to speak, until Ship came
out of her faint, he would continue to communicate the surrounding craft.
"The next stage will be to teach you how to intergrate with..." Tibbs began -but The Yydrl
interrupted, she apologised at once and added "That matter is in-hand"
The Vithian nodded and wondered who that particular teacher would be.

During the transformation and sitting in Tumbler I, the two Droids watched the rolling
screens on the console of Akron. Valve Twenty-Three and Bernard V waited until until the
complicated-confusion abated until the older Droid spoke.

"Ah' didn't touch anything... did you?" Valve muttered and saw the Drainage-Checker shake
his single pincer "Negative" Bernard whispered from behind the Pilot seat.

In the corridor just off from the Contamination Bay, a ghost-like figure appeared for just a
few moments as The Yydryl brought all her systems back to full control.
"We're here" a faint voice said and then the walkway was empty again.


edit on 12-5-2012 by A boy in a dress because: Left Right in Edit Room.



posted on May, 13 2012 @ 03:42 AM
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~*~ To be - or - to Be ~*~


‘As you can see it will be as simple - and complex - as that.’ Tibbs pointed to the screen, snapped his fingers and yawned for the third time as the images before them went blank.

From the center of Silo’d viewing room, the room she’d used to monitor the Center as it grew, Ship, in hologram form had watched Tibb’s simulation her features never once revealing anything of the fear and excitement she felt seeing her life, the possibilities of her life being played out on the big screen.

‘But it’s just wrong.’ Silo snarled again from where she paced back and forth between the hologram of Ship and Tibbs who at that very moment was ready to fire up his machine proceeding to make what they’d just witnessed of Ship, on screen, into something, someone real.

Mucklebones started pacing with Silo. She’d been sitting too long her poncho leaving creases on the back of her stork like legs already crisscrossed with the spider webs of time.

‘Listen to her Tibbs!‘ Muckles hiccuped, ‘This little missy and me knows things. Now we never seen right eye to eye...’ Muckles spun on her heal in military precision alongside Silo, ’But now! Now we both knows this is just a wrong thing ta do. Just wrong. Wrong wrong.’ She hooted as Silo healed again, ’You betcha it is. This whole idea? It’s gonna twist some turns that need straightening and put some...creases in places they just don’t belong.’ Muckles sighed rubbing her legs. ’Noooo Tibbs - this whole ‘being’ idea? It might just put some mighty creases in ...’ Time Muckles was about to finish before Tibbs cut her off with a slice of his hand.

‘This is none of your concern. Either of you.’ He snorted. ’None at all.’ Pulling his glasses from his nose Tibbs spit on each lens and began to rub them furiously with his sleeve.

‘Now there’s a pure picture of gross if I ever saw one.’ Muckles stopped pacing to watch Tibb’s scrubbing maniacally at his lenses.

‘Ship please...’ Silo pleaded when the hologram began to fade out of sight, ‘Don't do this!’

‘Leave. Me.’ Two simple direct words.

Silo threw her hands in their air after swallowing a comment directed at Tibbs removed herself from the others shaking with rage.

Before the door slid shut with a hiss the hologram exploded in a cascade of shimmering lights that blacked out before they hit the ground.

 

Deep in the bowels of Ship’s Center the smell of sulfur cut the air with a mighty crack. AllEna shivered to the core her red gold leaves blowing hard in the following wind.

The lightening had come so close that time. So close.


 

~*~ What’s done is done... ~*~


‘So. It’s done.’ Having been summoned back to the viewing room in her quarters Silo returned - eyes blazing - snapping from Ship to Tibbs and back again.

‘Just as it’s been done, it can be undone my dear,’ Tibbs passed the weakling Ship to Silo who caught her up. ’I never do anything I can’t take back.’ He chuckled watching Silo struggle to support the taller nude beauty. Muckles old poncho was the only thing close at hand to wrap the ‘newborn’ Ship in. Tibbs didn’t hesitate. ‘Just make sure Muckles gets this thing back’ He drawled and giving a low bow to Ship covered her exquisite form with the dirty green poncho and left.

‘Take me to my bed.’ Ship commanded her voice soft and same as ever. As much as she desired to explore her new ‘being’ she was exhausted and her pride won out. Last thing she wanted was to stumble about before her crew.

‘To your bed?’ Silo replied sarcastically, ‘Where might that be?’ She followed helping Ship move one foot in front of the other across the room.

‘Right here.’ One hand raised feebly indicating Silo’s bed, ‘These are my quarters now.’ Ship melted into the coverlet her eyes closing instantly.

Replacing the poncho with a soft clean blanket Silo took up a handful of her personal items, Muckle’s poncho and left her quarters - Ship’s quarters she corrected herself. First thing? She’d get the poncho back to its owner. Next? She’d find this Newman. If anyone was responsible for assigning her new lodgings aboard Ship Proper it would be him.


edit on 13-5-2012 by silo13 because: spacing



posted on May, 13 2012 @ 05:46 AM
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The fog rolled in and threatened to envelop nenothtu. "Not this again!" he muttered in his sleep, and determined to wake up to forestall the Otherwhere episode threatening to break into his Dreamtime. He woke up just enough to realize there was a warm body between himself and the narrow corridor his bunk opened to, and try as he might, he had not the strength to roll over Margo and into the floor. When the Spirits want a palaver, they will seldom allow a denial. Even the Vikings knew that when a sudden, irresistible urge to sleep overtook one, it was because the Spirits wanted a conference. He drifted back into the fog.

As the fog swirled and parted, only to slap back together again as the swirling continued, Margot stepped out of a parting bank of cloud before it merged back together again. "How's tricks?" she cheerfully chirped.

"I don't do tricks" neno responded, adding "I can't get away from you anywhere. If I'm awake, your mechanical self is there, and if I go to sleep, you assail me in the fog. Ain't you got nothing better to do?"

"She's not me, neno. We're two separate and distinct beings. I'm not 'there', I'm only here."

"Y'all got the same DNA."

"You have 98% the same DNA as a chimpanzee. Are you a chimp then? Well - that might have been the wrong question, considering the way you drag those knuckles around, but you get my drift. Identical twins have the same DNA, too, but they are distinct persons. We're not the same. I'm 'dead', and if she plays it right, she never will be. We have separate 'spirits' or 'souls' or 'life forces' or whatever you want to call it. Different experiences. We're different people, in spite of the DNA." Then she brightened. "Look at the positives! You've a girl in every port, whether that world or the next! Isn't that every man's dream?"

"Nightmare is more like it" nenothtu grumbled. "Fer one thing, I ain't a sailor. Fer another, any fella what thinks he can handle more'n one woman at a time is an idjit, and ought to never go to sleep unless behind a locked and barred steel door. Every time the two 'sweethearts' gets together, it's the fella what catches the fallout. That'll make a man old - fast!"

You need not worry over it - I've already explained how she and I are different, and won't EVER be getting our heads together to make your life a misery."

"Eh, she's a jealous sort. I wuz wearin' a food suit not long ago to prove how she gits excitable over nothin' more'n a hunch - even iffen it's a WRONG hunch."

"Relax. She's there, I'm here, and YOU are the only one of the three of us who can walk both worlds with any solidity. Whenever she's in the Dreamtime of the Otherworld, SHE is the ghost - she's no more solid here than I am over there. Oddly, your 'solidity' in both worlds is why I'm here now."

"Why ARE you here, Margot? I KNOW you didn't come just to bat ideas of gender and relational politics around. I'm not up fer any slap-n-tickle... "

"Jenovah sent me. Time for you to absorb another lesson - well, it's a little premature, but Jenovah says you're going to HAVE to know, sooner rather than later, because you've got a trial upcoming, another test."

"Jenovah? The god what lives on Carbiox? What's he doin' out here off his world? vacationing?"

Margot smiled. "You just don't understand. He LIVES out here - well, actually on the other side of Otherwhere, not IN Otherwhere. He was vacationing, as you put it, on Carbiox. Not out here. Jenovah is a bigger deal than you seem to realize - even your friends Death and company seem not to understands the way it really works. Jenovah is THE god - the creator-being, the guy that sets everything in order. The rest of you are all just demi-gods."

Neno spat on the ground. "Death ain't 'zactly a 'friend'. Dumbass seems to try an' kill me ever' chance he gits, not realizin', evidently, that fer me to be dead would be a really BAD eternity fer him - we don't git along very well."

"That's neither here nor there." Margot said in dismissal and steered back to the subject at hand. "Do you know WHY you are solid in both words?"

"I expect it's because I'm dreaming, and I git to say what's what in muh own dreams. That's how I know YOU ain't real - it's jus' a dream over here, and I got that other you with the warm body curled up agin' my side over there, so THAT one is real. Over here, it's just a foggy-assed dream, and ain't NONE of it real."

"You're more right than you know, but wrong at the same time." Margot replied. "What is 'here' is every bit as 'real' as what is 'there', but nothing is really real. For example..." and Margot reached up to stroke neno's cheek before continuing "that felt 'real' enough, now didn't it?"

"'Course it did, but it's s'posed to. That's why dreams fool people who don't understand they ain't real. What is REAL is when Margo pokes me in the damned short ribs with that sharp-assed elbow of hers in her sleep."

"No, that's no more real than this. Here's why. You know that everything - all matter, all mass, is made up of atoms. All atoms are mostly empty space, little bitty particles flinging themselves around other little bitty particles at great relative distances to one another, like tiny solar systems. In other words, everything is mostly nothing - in either world, or in any of the others you've not seen yet."

"It all feels solid enough" neno complained.

"Sure it does" Margot agreed "but that is all an illusion. It's just how people percive what lies around them. Now try to keep up, neno - those particles that occupy that mostly empty space to make up atoms... those particles are NOT solid, either. They are made up of little bundles of energy - nothing 'solid', just little bundles of energy bound up into bundles by other sorts of energy... so EVERYTHING, right down to the smallest which even goes into making the very biggest structures, is basically and at the most fundamental level nothing. Nothing is 'real' ."

"Margot, these physics lessons of your make my head hurt. I'm not a physicist, I'm a knuckle-dragger." nenothtu commented.

"Be quiet and learn!" Margot snapped. "You don't have a lot of time to absorb this!"

"I'm told I have forever to absorb anything I want." neno parried.

"True, you can't be killed, but there are worse things than dying as you are so fond of pointing out. Imagine spending that forever in chains in the dark - that's EXACTLY where you'll spend forever if you don't catch this!"

"I'll pop holes in any bit of 'mostly nothing' that tries to chain me up" was neno's response to THAT threat.

Margot rolled her eyes and reponded "not unless you catch this lesson you won't! Now pay attention! Just as matter is composed of atoms of varying composition according to the material, and just as atoms are composed of varying mixes of particles according to the material, those particles are composed of varying mixes of energy bundles, according to what sort of particle it is. There are only a few basic sorts of elemental energy - gravity, the 'weak' force, the 'strong' force, and so on. Out of those few sorts of energy, the wide variety of everything that is is composed, in an infinite number of variations and combinations at all the several levels." She paused to try to allow that to sink in.

Continuing, Margot said "One of those types of energy is almost indefinable. For all their knowledge, mankind STILL doesn't know what gravity really is, yet they use it every day, and it is present everywhere in the universes - ALL of the universes - just as all the other forms of energy are. The energy that is the subject of THIS lesson, however, is not gravity. Call it what you want - mankind has given it different names in different cultures and in different times, but they don't understand it even as well as gravity - but every living thing uses it, every day. 'Yin and yang' may be the closest description, but even that is inadequate. This force, found everywhere in spacetime, in everything and nothing, has a 'polarity', but an infinite number of polarities, not just 'on-off', 'yes-no', 'male-female', 'positive-negative', et cetera. it doesn't have just two orientations - any bundle of it may be oriented in ANY direction, an infinite number of directions."

Trying to grasp it, neno said "so it's got poles, but those poles can be pointed any whichaway?"

"Yes! Something close to exactly like that!" Margot injected, excited that he seemed to be able to grasp it, however rudimentarily. There might be hope for nenothtu yet. "Now when those polarities are not aligned right with one another, they act against each other, one counteracting the next, but when they ARE lined up right, anything can be accomplished using this force. ANYTHING" she stressed.

"I don't see how that's s'posed to do me any good. I can't split an atom, much less wrestle anything smaller than even that into alignment. What good is it to ME? Why waste your time givin' me a 'lesson' in something I can't do anything with?"

"Because you can do things with it. You just don't know it, but if you catch this lesson, you WILL know it. You see, neno, this force is intimately connected to life, just as it is with everything else. But with LIFE, it is so intertwined that it responds to mere thought. You can THINK it into order."

Nenothtu grinned. "Power of positive thinkin' eh? Whatta crock of crap! It's crazy stuff like this that let's me know this is just a dream!"

Margot sighed and shook her head. "NO, neno, it's real all right - well, as real as anything. People have been using this force forever, even in ancient days on Earth, but most who know that something is there can still only use it imperfectly. They use it to heal - faith healers use it - they use it to levitate, like Indian yogis, they use it for any number of things and parlor tricks, but they all use it imperfectly. You, on the other hand, are just a little different in your mind structure."

Neno snorted. "You ain't the first to tell me I'm a little odd in my thinkin'!"

"Not your thinking, your mind structure, your soul, the part of the life force that makes you YOU, whatever you want to call it. When you were concieved, created, whatever you think of your genesis as, Jenovah added a little something that few others have. Not long ago it was awakened or activated, and even more recently still it was solidified."

" ' Awakened'? Have you lost yer ever-lovin' New Age mind. Margot? You never talked this craziness before - you used to be all business!"

"Yes, neno, 'awakened'. Aboard Penelope, when she first encountered Yydryl, it was activated, and you fell into a coma if you'll recall. You heard a voice saying your 'vibrational level had been raised' or something like that, but it was an imperfect translation of the notice that this part of you was activated. Later, when you were made immortal, that portion of you was 'solidified' - that's what MADE you immortal. It's what makes you a 'god' " Margot concluded.

The muscles in neno's jaw bulged as he gritted his teeth and said "I ain't no gorram 'god' ! I'm just a guy whose hard to kill."

"What do you think a 'god' is, nenothtu? You ARE a god, hewever much you run from it and deny it. It's more than immortality. It's also this ability Jenovah implanted in you and caused to be activated. You can make ANYTHING happen, make it exist or cease to exist, just by using your thought and ordering the energy fields to do your bidding. They key is this force, this energy, so weak and tiny per bundle, but so vast and overpowering in unison, because it exists throughtout the universes - ALL of them - inside and outside of the atoms that make up everything. Your mind can make it work for you, anywhere, in any universe. that's why you can be solid here, or there. You 'walk the worlds' because you have the mind power for it."

" 'Mind power' my ass. I ain't NEVER been the sharpest tool in the shed, an' if this were true, there'd be other people who could run rings around me with this 'power' who'd have been documented LONG ago! Yer blowin' smoke up my ass, Margot."

"Not 'intelligence', neno, 'mind power' - motive force. You HAVE the mind power, but how you use it - or whether you figure out how to in time - will determine whether there is any wisdom to go along with it. Go back to your world, your universe, and try. Practice. THINK about what I've told you here. I have to go report to Jenovah that I'm not holding out high hopes for this experiment." Margot said dubiously. Then she kissed him, stroked his cheek, and locked eyes with him as she said "You'd better prove me wrong, you worthless sonuvabitch. FOREVER is a long time, especially chained in the dark!" and turning, she walked back into the mist, and was gone.

Nenothtu woke up with a start, bumping his head on the low bulkhead above his bunk as he sat bolt upright in a cold sweat. Margo. sleeping beside him, was snoring of all things.

But it was a cute sort of snore, neno thought as he tried to clear the sleep from his head.




edit on 2012/5/13 by nenothtu because: (no reason given)



posted on May, 13 2012 @ 10:49 AM
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........~Initiation~..........


Margot approached Gert and Dag, and then placed her hands on her hips.

"You fouled it up something rotten, Gertrude. You may well have set him back two or three levels with all that nonsense about the badlands, and the lies to those kids!"

"What will you tell Jenovah?" asked Gert.

Margot grinned slyly...."I won't tell him anything. You are going to tell him, and you are going to take full responsibility for what you did to impede neno's progress on Vandalia." She paused for emphasis. "Again!!" she snapped.
"We've written you up, we've dressed you down, we've exiled, mentored, coached and groomed you, Gertrude, until we are all exhausted. You wanted one more chance to redeem youself. You were given it, graciously, with the House's blessings and Jenovah's good faith."

"Well, mebbe I misunderstood," said Gert, her tone changing from a flippant side-step of her blame in the matter into a hopeful suggestion, "the task?"

"Oh, please. That would work for Darling here, she's only just a novice hand...but you were an Admiral! We thought perhaps you were simply having a phase...a menopausal phase or something, so we sent you to Vandalia to recover. And all you did was stir up mischief, get the demigods all riled up, lie to this young thing...." Margot stepped closer to Dag and put her arm around the girl's slender shoulders, "who you knew was a recent recruit and had a promising future! Who we sent to you to prove yourself!"

Gert glared at her. "So this...hazing...you're going to make me face the music and humiliate me in front of our newest hand? That's it?" She laughed mockingly. "How lame."

"Oh, that's only the beginning of it," said Margot. "And I have carte blanche to do whatever I dream up with you, until I am satisfied that you have had enough. When you go back, which you will do, you are going to be Dag's servant. Her hand-maiden. At her beck and call. Muckles is going to train Dag, and you are going to be retrained."

"Where is Mucklebones, anyway?" asked Gert. "Thought this was her party. Last minute dusting to take care of? Or did she forget the refreshments?"

"She was called away to help manage a crisis elsewhere," said Margot. She looked past Gert and Dag then. "Ahh, there she comes now! You see, Gert, Muckles' integrity is not an issue. If her man needs her she goes. Same reason you were asked to wait right here while I took care of a neno matter. That's what we do. We are guardians, guides, helpers."

The Canyon Witch now strode up to the group, looking tired, shaking her head. She blew a long breath out through her cheeks and flapped her arms at her sides. "Ah needn't have gone, Tibbs didn't heed me in his shee-nanny-gans."

"Did you stop him?" asked Margot.

Muckles shook her head again. "No."

Margot flung her arms in the air. "Men!" She took a deep breath and sighed."Dag, I'm sorry to have put such a poor example of our mission in Vandalia, where you took the next steps to awakening. Perhaps I jumped the gun; I was misled by Gertrude's apparent -- and deceptive -- behavior.
But now it's done, and the bright side of it is that we have once again seized her, gotten her off of the streets stripped of power, and also have managed to keep your man within range."

"My man?" asked Dag. "You mean Adam?"

"No, not Adam," said Margot. "Adam, as Mucklebones told you, was the catalyst for your androgeny to resolve, nothing more. A handsome U-man who was indebted to you for your help. But he's not good enough for you, dear. That's why you lost interest. We had to make him drop-dead handsome, of course, to jump-start the female hormones and see if you'd take the plunge. You did, and we were all very proud of you.
"In fact, I used your case just last week in an inservice, while teaching the Leftenants about how to identify possible recruits, and how to engineer them to become a superbio; you were our first successful experiment, and you have done a fantastic job."

"Experiment? Engineered?" asked Dag.

"Yes, for eons the House has been working toward this, picking and choosing DNA, energy particles, vibrational shades, positrons and neurons, sifting through the chaff," she looked at Gert, "and trying to weed out the anti-matter and dark energies. Some of them still needed tweaking. Gert here was a failure, and got out of hand."

"So, I'm her...replacement?"

"No, you might have been her colleague, but instead you are her senior. She is now your subordinate, for eternity, and will do your bidding as you see fit. With Mucklebones' help, of course."

Dag looked at Muckles, who winked at her.

"Muckles will explain the rest to you," said Margot. "You two go on ahead, return to the 3rd dimension. Gert, you are coming with me to see the Supreme One and tell him what you did, take your licks, and then be sent back yourself. It remains to be seen what Jenovah will do before he releases you. But one thing is certain: you will be neutralized of all powers, while still immortal. To suffer until such time as you see the light."

Muckles took Dag's slender hand and the two became transparent...just before their images faded out, Margot added, "But I'm always here, if you need me, Dag!" The young girl's smile was the last bit of her to hover in the mist as Margot unceremoniously gripped Gert by the arm and marched her off to meet her Maker.
edit on 13-5-2012 by wildtimes because: (no reason given)



posted on May, 13 2012 @ 01:55 PM
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Morning Hath Broken~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Heh BIAD, how's it hangin'?" Nenothtu said and instantly regretted the question as the
Boy In A Dress looked down at the hem of that dress and then raised his head. tilting it
with a confused expression.

"I mean how are yer' doing?" the tall Vandal asked and reached for the coffee mug.
The Star Wolf sat behind the two men and as Khalamzadar IV rolled quietly below them,
Neno watched the passing clouds inch their way towards morning from the Parking Bay
window.

They had agreed to go to the planet's surface as soon as daylight reached the coordinates
that The Yydryl had deemed safe, the GunMan couldn't wait to get started.

The rich-aroma of coffee filled the Bay as BIAD took a cup of the black liquid, it was rare
to see BIAD eat or drink anything, but Neno didn't comment on his friend's strange quirks,
he just watched him from over the rim of his own brew.

The steel-coloured door swished open and Tibbs the Pain-In-The-Ass entered with a
determined-look on his face, the small-shuffling figure walked silently to the Vending
Machine Neno had asked for and filled the cup marked 'Best Time-Traveller' with hot
coffee.

"Good mornin'..." Neno said with soft sarcasm and kept his gaze on his planet's orbit,
the idea of getting back on terra-firma had made his mood light and after the dream-meeting
with Margot, he felt that rummaging through Khalamzadar's jungles would be just what the
Doctor ordered, it would get him back to 'the old Neno'

"Women!" Tibbs announced to nobody and hunched his shoulders as he held the hot cup
in his hands, the steam lay tiny moisture-droplets on his white moustache. BIAD nodded
in agreement and yet, Neno knew that the Man/Girl hadn't a clue at what he was wagging his
head at. Neno remained silent.

A Tumbler flew past the window as the three males enjoyed their morning drink and it
was the Vithian who broke the quietness. "It's the Droids going out to check on a Durainum
deposit... I don't know who gave them permission" Tibbs stated, he was now standing next to
the taller Nenothtu.

Without swishing the tails of his Duster-coat, the grizzled-faced Vandal turned and walked
towards the Star Wolf, the big-clear cockpit window showed the bulging reflections of the
odd trio, the interior remained in shadow.

"Well, it's time we got ourselves downstairs too" Neno said as he stepped through the big
vehicle's hatchway, BIAD and Tibbs looked at each other with a 'do we go with him?'-look
on their faces.

"At least it'll make Muckles wonder where I am" Tibbs hissed and stepped towards
the craft, the hermaphrodite placed his empty cup back on the ledge near the Vending
machine and followed the little-guy in the brown robes.

"Can we come aboard?" Tibbs asked into the unlit area through the door.
edit on 13-5-2012 by A boy in a dress because: Left spoon in Edit Room.



posted on May, 14 2012 @ 06:14 AM
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Nearing the top of the gangway ladder, neno heard Tibbs' request from below. He called back down the darkened gangway "You mean you ain't already strapped in? What's the holdup? C'mon up!"

Leading the way into the cockpit, nenothtu took his place at the pilot's acceleration seat, and indicating the other two seats in the cockpit to his fellow travelers, he said "Better strap in. Like as not we'll run into some weather on the way down - Khalamzadar ain't never been TOO gentle. We've got artificial gravity, but sometimes there is an instant or two where it's pushing or pullin' opposite the natural gravity, and when those instants happen, it'll tend to toss yer breakfast around a mite until it catches up with the program. Add in a storm or two, and it makes fer a hell of a ride sometimes entering an atmo."

Tibbs looked like he might reconsider for the first time, but neno ignored it and started flipping switches powering up the ship and activating servos to close and seal the hatches. "Better strap in Tibbs - it's to late to back out now" neno said through a grin. Margo, for her part, had foregone either of the extra seats in the cockpit, deferrring to Tibbs and BIAD, and had started strapping herself in to the Captain's Bunk in the cubbyhole in the narrow passageway leading from the recreational area to the cockpit.

After making sure his passengers were strapped in by the expedient of looking over his shoulder, nenothtu applied a bit of lift - just enough to raise the ship several inches off the deck - and goosed towards the exit bay doors which opened like a pair of clamshells. Edging forward until he was clear of the launch bay, neno retracted the landing gear and applied roll and yaw simultaneously with thrust, lining up on the zero-zero point of the planet "below". The net effect was as if the entire universe was spinning into place, and the ship was stationary, although neno knew that just the opposite was the case.

"Hold on to yer asses - next stop landfall. Barf bags are located in the arm compartments of yer seats if you find you need 'em." The forward thrust he then applied to the Starwolf pushed the passengers back into their seats momentarily before the artificial grav units got up to speed and counteracted it. "Away we go!" neno called and shot the gas to it.

Tibbs muttered morosely "I should have listened to my mother - she wanted me to be a dentist!"












edit on 2012/5/14 by nenothtu because: (no reason given)



posted on May, 15 2012 @ 11:17 AM
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CMB Presents...

THE FOLLOWING TEXT WAS SPONSORED BY:

THE NASA ADVISORY COUNCIL.

INDIVIDUAL READER DONATIONS.


A day-in-the-life episode finds a documentary crew following the main cast of the Space
Opera 'The Voyages of the Penelope and the Yydryl'
Thank you for the cooperation and access to the Writers and Producers of The Opera.
A special thanks to Mr. SkepticOverlord and Mr. Masqua.


"...Even if we could actually get the networks to go with it, an ongoing series in space...?
Come on guys, it'll never work"
-J. Masqua. Senior-Consulting Producer. (2008)
"I won't do it, the pilot alone will get ridiculous ratings" -Nenothtu. (2009)

................................................

6.30.am and trailer-doors snick open, the cast of 'The Voyages of the Penelope and the Yydryl'
step down to take their places on set. Staff-Writer Karen Miles waits with weather-protected
binders as the quiet group near the huge-open doors of the movie warehouse.
It's showtime for the odd crew that we have come to know and love.

"I look on Silo, Dag, Boy In A Dress, Tibbs and the others as my best friends. We met
a couple of years ago in Springer's Casting Room and we just sorta gelled straight away"

-Nenothtu.

The tall man with the brooding-eyes and lop-sided smile sits easy in the chair with his name
on it, Make-up girls fuss around to make the likeable young-man transform into the cold-
blooded killer from Vandalia.
"...it's like I told Asala, you want someone who leads-without-leading, you want a
Josie Wales-type without paying for it"


With a head-toss, Silo13's hair changes from a mousy-brown to a lilac hue, the long neck
of the girl that won ' Cosmo's Best-User' in 2004 arcs in her metamorphosis of the beautiful
Yydryl-occupant. The many wigs of the Core-Child hang behind reinforced glass in a case
that should hold jewels of Royalty.

It seems like we never get a break..." Silo whispers around her lipstick and
hairspray "... I have an island where I keep horses and it seems more-and-more like
I never get to see them"


The Prop-people busy themselves setting up the morning's take and as the hot lights blanche
the hurrying folk around the massive craft that waits above everyone, we move to let the
cameras find their places.

"I like coming to work everyday..." Mr. Masqua chirps and wipes floating talc
-motes from his Italian silk-suit ""... the storyline never ceases to amaze me""
The smooth-haired man in the shadows beams at our Reporter and directs us to the
Executive Lounge.

................................................

Four years-ago, Above-Top-Secret went to Hollywood and laid out their plans for a series
that involved characters from their internet forum. William SkepticOverlord and Simon Gray
began the tentative steps from unreality to reality, a daunting task.

"If Bill hadn't been there, I reckon we'd still be doing News videos, they're ruthless
bastards on that West Coast"
Mr. Gray sneered. The glass-walled office above the set is
a place where peace and quiet has retreated to, our Reporter was allowed in only for a few
minutes.

"We're expanding, our members need more access to information and that means we have
to go further, try harder" The man in the soft-leather chair with the smoke-glassed table
between us says.
"We saw the idea of a space-travelling series as way to bring subjects that our guys talk
about back on the site, believe me... this will be big"


................................................

Dag shrugs on her one-piece suit and sighs in her meditation, the clamour is dying and the
actors are about to do their job, Security closes the double-doors on the rubber-necking fans
outside.

We're all professionals here, we hone our skills everyday" Dag says without
emotion, a nod at the Director and the blonde-beauty from 'Kansas Kittens' jerks the utilty
belt lower on her slim-waist and walks on set.

Boy In A Dress reaches for the small hand of his friend -Tibbs (played by Sir John Gerald)
and with that smile that courted a standing ovation at the Emmy Awards, the Man/Girl
clip-clops towards the underneath of The Yydryl.

Before the episode begins, we cornered the hermaphrodite that recieves satchels of mail
everyday from his fans. The small Make-up Room is adorned with posters of 1970's Glam
-Rock musicians.

... They say the President watches..." BIAD said easily and adjusting his cleavage,
looked at us through the bulb-surrounded mirror. ... I know Canada were looking at
picking up the series and I'm hoping that we will tour. I like looking at the countryside"


Sir John appears from a small room set off from BIAD's area and pulling his robes around him,
he storms out of the Make-Up Department with the 'over-the-shoulder' expression "He's a
freak!"


CMB would like to thank ATS and the studios of the Space Opera
'The Voyages of the Penelope and the Yydryl'
edit on 15-5-2012 by A boy in a dress because: Left Studio Pass in Edit Room.



posted on May, 17 2012 @ 01:22 AM
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~*~ Sslar ~*~


Silo sat quietly at the side of Sslar’s healing couch rubbing the huge Xang behind the ears where her fur lay soft and fine as silk in comparison with the thick almost spiny hair that ran down the middle of her back. Silo watched the cat’s paws and mouth twitch wondering where she’d ‘gone’ in her mind while under heavy sedation.

‘She’ll be fine Mam.’ Terah and Sera checked Sslar's vitals for the third time that hour. Adam had assigned them to watch over his charge making a sound judgment call. Their constant and attentive care was reassuring.

‘Please, call me Silo.’ The two were kind, quiet and even asked about her own recovery before going back to practicing a minor procedure on a Teaching Droid. The occasional sharp electric ‘ping’ just before one of the twins squeaked in pain heralded a mistake. Remembering passing the time with CindyMars playing the game ‘Operation’ at her cabin Silo wondered if the teaching droid was nothing but a modification on the theme.

Continuing to stoke the cat Sslar responded with a low thrummed purr.

‘Did you hear that?’ She asked the girls who bent over their study seemed not to hear her at all. ‘There it is again...’ Silo’s brows narrowed.

‘They...cant hear...’ Sslar’s voice, weak but definitely there curled through her mind like fine whips of smoke.

‘How are you Sslar. Can I get you anything? Can I do anything to help?’ Silo started listing foods the cat might like, the voice stilled her.

‘Neno. Stop Neno...’ Sslar’s voice was already fading.

‘Neno? No one can stop Neno.’

‘He can’t take care of himself. Not...this...time.’ Sslar hissed.

‘Sslar what can I do?’

‘Get me to Neno. Get me to him now.’

~*~ * ~*~


‘Silo? Are you ok?’ Adam shook her shoulder gently. ‘You fell asleep las.’

‘No, no...’ She startled awake, ‘I mean, yes, I’m fine. Really. I just am...tired.’

‘Go get yerself something to eat then it’s back ta bed for you. Doctor’s orders las.‘ Adam helped her to the door with a firm grip on her shoulder. ‘Have that lad walk ya back ta yer quarters.’ Adam smiled leaving her to return to Sslar.

~*~ Follow her wishes *~


‘How’s Sslar?’ Pip was right there when Silo exited the Recovery Bay where he‘d been stationed waiting for news of Sslar. The Twins wouldn’t let him anywhere near ‘their’ patient and Pip didn’t want to be around Adam.

‘Sslar’s fine Pip. She‘ll be just fine.’ Looking right to left Silo wasn’t sure where to start. She didn’t even know where Neno was.

‘Pip, did the StarWolf leave Ship?’

‘Sure, about 16 hours ago. Why?’

‘I’m not sure. Not yet.’ Taping her foot Silo scowled again. Had she just fallen asleep or was Sslar really warning her? Regardless, she thought, with Neno’s penchant for trouble it was better to err on the side of doing what Sslar wanted, pronto.

‘I need you to take a message to Dag for me.’ Silo pulled the boy into the Swamp ordering two ales and a memory disc.

Downing her beer Pip sipped his and grimaced but didn’t complain.

Stepping away from the bar Silo spoke into the tiny recorder beyond his hearing.


‘Dag, Silo here. I’ve good reason to believe Neno’s...’

Silo stopped, rewound the recorder and started again,


‘Dag, Silo here. Sslar’s requested transport to the StarWolf ASAP. She’s sleeping at the moment after making her wishes clear. Can you help her? Privacy is a must. No reason to alert Ship or crew. FYI? I’ll be staying aboard the Yydryl to recoup. Send sealed response via Pip. Silo - out.’


‘I’ll get that too her right away.’ Pip, dressed in Ship’s crew uniform looked more a man than Silo realized. He was growing up fast.

‘Pip, before you go. Are you ok?’ A hand on his shoulder Silo eyes him carefully.

‘I can’t...change the past.’ His voice cracked, ‘I can’t change the past but I can make the future. That’s what Neno says.’ His eyes gleamed brightly.

‘Good advice. I wish you luck with it.’ So much easier to say than do she thought sadly wondering when she’d become so morose but with a wink and a smile she sent Pip on his way.
edit on 17-5-2012 by silo13 because: counter



posted on May, 18 2012 @ 09:26 AM
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.....~~Integration~~......


Ben and Brittle had been sitting together in Cecilia's cockpit for some time. Ben was showing him the controls, explaining the workings of the Tumbler. Brittle sat with brows knitted, chewing his lip, trying to absorb it all, when they heard a rapping on the hatch door.

"Mebbe that's the women comin' back," said Ben, and stood to go let them in. He opened the door to see the boy that Silo had brought aboard, the orphan who called himself Pip. The goggly eyes drank him in for a moment or two, and then he grumbled, "You lost, son? What kin Ah do ya fer?"

Pip cleared his throat and stood tall, chest out. "Acting as courier, mister sir, I have a delivery to make to the lady called Dag." Pip hadn't been formally introduced to Dag, but he had gathered from Adam's conversation with Silo that she was part of the team that had saved him from Vandalia.

"Ah," said Ben. "Well, hand 'her up, I'll see she gets it."

"Nosir," said Pip. "I'm to deliver it to her hands only."

Ben harumphed and lowered the ramp for Pip to climb in. "Guess ye'll have ta wait for 'er, then. She'll be back."

"Where is she now?" asked Pip. "It's urgent, I need to find her."

Ben said, "I don't know. She was here last I saw her, and I'm waitin' for her and t'others to come back. They were havin' a meetin'. Girls only, ya know? So, we wait." He smiled as he raised the ramp back to flush with Cecilia's hatch plate. "There was once a good ole boy name o' Brad Paisely, wrote a song that summed it up perfectly...." and he began to hum Waitin' on a Woman. "Ye'll git used to it, son. No point fussin'. Women-folk are an odd bunch. Confoundin' most o' the time, even. But, well, what would we be without 'em, eh?"

Pip simply swallowed and sat in the chair Ben waved at. He looked at Brittle and said, "Who are you?"

Brittle looked at him and tilted his head. "The new guy," he said.

"He's my new helper," said Ben with a tone of finality. "Lemme have that message, son. Ah swear, Ah won't decode it, Ah cain't. Only crew have the dad-gummed gadgets to do that....but Dag will take it more seriously if it ain't comin' from a small-fry she don't know from Ada--" he burst out laughing, realizing his pun. But his smile fizzled out. "Adam," he repeated, his face settling into thoughtfulness.

There were still unresolved issues between Dag, Brittle, and Adam. Gert had made a regular mess of things, not just lying to the three of them about their "kinship", but also undermining Adam's confidence during the entire sojourn on Vandalia. And worse, she had put Brittle up to kidnapping, separating Dag from Adam and BIAD to begin with.

In fact, Pip was now the only other person who had seen Brittle aboard the Yydryll except for Ben, and Dag was the only other crew member who had seen him ever, and not since he left her in the canyon right before Ben came after her.

"Ah had a helper there on Vandalia, too, weren't much older'n you. Name o' Cain. He was apprenticin' as a wrangler. Ye know him?"

Pip shook his head.

"Hmmph. That's good, he wadn't a bad kid, but he was workin' for some really sketchy folks back there," Ben explained, and rubbing his bristly chin he looked at Brittle. Suddenly his view was blocked, and instead he was gazing at the back of Mucklebones' dress. He heard Pip gasp, and turned to see Dag standing right in front of the boy, her back to him.

"I see you found him, Ben," she said gazing at Brittle with no emotion whatsoever.

"That's right, Dag," he answered. "Ya got a message while y'all were out." Dag looked at him them. Ben tipped his head to the chair behind her and she turned to see Pip sitting there. Her brow wrinkled. "A message?"

Pip handed her the disk. "It's from Silo." he said. "She said to give it to you."

"How is her recovery going?" asked Dag.

"Adam says she'll be fine, but needs to rest," said Pip, glad to be of some help to them. "I'm Pip," he said, and held out his hand to shake hers, "glad to meet you."

Dag smiled. She'd been aware the boy was now under neno's grooming...Muckles had told her. "Glad to meet you, too, young sir," she said. "Tell Silo you handed me her message yourself. Well-done."

"Thank you, ma'am." Pip stood up from the chair, dashing in his uniform, and Ben opened the hatch for him to go.

"Wait," said Dag. "If a response is required, I'll give it you, to take back to her. Like a postman."

Pip smiled. He'd heard of postmen from his dad, a legend of how people had once sent messages back and forth, on paper, using horses. Some thought there were still active postmen on Vandalia, but Pip had never seen one. "Yes'm," he said.

Dag looked at the disc: It was one of those "Eyes Only" kind, with the blue Eye of Horus visible if one tilted it just right. She unsealed it with her decoder ring and read it

‘Dag, Silo here. Sslar’s requested transport to the StarWolf ASAP. She’s sleeping at the moment after making her wishes clear. Can you help her? Privacy is a must. No reason to alert Ship or crew. FYI? I’ll be staying aboard the Yydryl to recoup. Send sealed response via Pip. Silo - out.’
Dag handed it to Ben. He scanned the message, looked back at her, and nodded as he handed it back. She flipped open her wrist-set and activated her recorder.

'Ten-four. Mission acknowledged and accepted. Plan in progress.'

She sealed the disc again with her decoder ring, and Pip watched, mesmerized. He had also heard of decoder rings, that had been sent from comic-book printers by way of the postmen, or sometimes found in Cracker-Jack boxes. He felt a lump in his throat missing his dad, and wishing he could have been there to see the real deal, and his son as a postman.

"Here you are, young man. Take it straight back to Silo, no stopping on the way." She smiled warmly at him, enchanted by his eager acceptance of his task. "You look very official in that uniform," she added. "Very well done. Welcome to the crew."

"Will I get a decoder ring too?" asked Pip.

"Maybe," said Dag. "If you keep up the trustworthy work."

Pip smiled a huge smile, his teeth too large for his young face shining white as snow. Dag saluted to him, and he saluted back as Ben lowered the ramp. "Right away, ma'am," he said, and ran down the ramp and across the bay.

Dag looked expectantly at Ben, who smiled at her. "I take it you have an idea," she said.

"Yep," said Ben, "Yes'm I do." He looked at Brittle. "A good 'un, too."

edit on 18-5-2012 by wildtimes because: formatting and count-bypass



posted on May, 18 2012 @ 11:41 AM
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.........Speed-Planning............


Ben and Dag and Brittle left Mucklebones in the Cecilia to wait for Gert. Muckles noted that the mess had been cleaned up. She was not exactly sure what the others were up to, but preferred not to know. She was worried about Tibbs' participation in Ship's incarnation.

It had been their first quarrel, and the first time that Tibbs had disregarded her objections or feedback. She'd been giving him the silent treatment since, and now, 16 hours later, she'd calmed down a bit. Of course, she'd been in the ethereal dimension dealing with Gert, and time seems to pass much quicker there. It felt as if it had only been an hour or so, but her feelings had calmed as if 16 hours had passed.

She contemplated the fact that he'd said he could "undo" what he'd done. So where was he now? She wanted to see to it that he did undo it.

She left Cecilia and went to her quarters hoping that Silo had returned her poncho. She frowned and shook her head, remembering how naked and frail 'Ship' had been when Silo borrowed the poncho to cover her. She'd not had time to follow up, being needed at the hazing and comeuppance, and now that there was a lull in activity requiring her participation she was relieved to see that yes, Silo had left it in her cabin, and it appeared not to have been tampered with.

Grateful to see it, Muckles unzipped a hidden inner pocket and produced a monocle. She placed it on her face, recalling the long ago acquisition of it, and how much she had appreciated it.

It had been a commemorative gift after a rite of passage, when she'd been given clearance for covert surveillance by the House...and had been horrified with seeing Ship being wrapped in the protection of her poncho. If the House found out it had been out of her possession!! Of if ship or Silo had discovered it, her cover would have been blown!

In any case, she felt her anxiety lower another level, and reached to trip the switch on Tibb's button-cam. Peering into the lens, she recognized nothing. Tibbs appeared to be strapped into a cockpit chair. She could see the back of someone's head...were they in a simulator?


Then she zoomed out to what was beyond the windscreen and saw the enormous snake-dragon hovering in front of the ship. "The Starwolf," she gasped. "They went in the Starwolf, without us!" Hastily, she put the poncho on, took off the monocle and restored it to her pocket, vowing to herself never to let the thing out of her sight again.

She wondered if Ship had been conniving something by giving her the new dress, and her slanted black eyes squinted. At least Ship had not got hold of her private toolkit. But she would have to keep her guard up. She didn't know if Silo had found the monocle, nor if Ship had been aware of it.

Mucklebones sighed. Things had done anything but settle down once they were all safely aboard the Yydryll again, and what with the new personnel, changing jobs, and friction as things reorganized, she was rather kerfuffled. But she headed back to Cecilia to wait for Gert's return. She would wheedle it out of the others to learn whether her secret equipment was still that. Meanwhile, she was gonna watch her man from the cockpit of Cecilia, where she could ensure she wouldn't be interrupted or spotted.

It was too dangerous to use it in her quarters with no lock; couldn't risk a knocker finding her. She bustled off down the hall, clutching her poncho's pocket like holding a baby bird.

*********************************



Ben and Brittle and Dag discussed their plan as they rode the lift to the recovery bay. "You're gonna do that disappearing thing," he told Brittle, "and we're gonna scare the bejeebers outa them gals, them twins, makin' 'em think there's a ghost in the room."

Dag shook her head. "That's a bit much, don't you think, Ben?"

"How else you wanna get them outa there so we can smuggle the cat out? Ya think they're gonna jest up and let us take her? Far's I know, Adam is their boss now, we gotta get 'her past him, too."

"Well, I could, um....distract him," said Dag. "And then I guess if you two want to 'scare' the girls it would be quite a diversion. All right then. That's the plan."

She and Ben both looked at Brittle. "Go on, then," said Ben. "Do it."

"Do what?" Brittle asked.

"Get invisible," said Ben. "The vanishing trick." He waved his hand at Brittle in a sweeping circle.

Brittle nodded and held his tongue out and crossed all eight fingers, then blinked hard. He opened his eyes. Ben and Dag were still looking at him.

Dag sighed. "Uhmm," she fisted a little cough, "...we can still see you," she said. "Do you still see him, Ben?"

"Yup," said Ben.

"Well then, plan B. Brittle, you are going to distract those two girls not by scaring them, but by enticing them....while I distract Adam, and Ben you get Sslar out of there as fast as you can." They exited the lift and found Pip leaning against the door of the bay.

"I delivered your message, ma'am! I did!" he jumped up, nervous he'd failed somehow.

"Very good, young man," said Dag. "And who's in the bay now?"

"Those girls, Tera and Sera, and Adam. And the big cat that I...I...," his eyes welled up with tears.

"Now now, son," said Ben. "She'll live, and you learned. Spilled milk. Toss it before it sours your mind. Where is Silo?"

"Sleeping," said Pip. "She went with that guy...the guy who tazed me. I said I'd stay here."

"Good thinking," said Ben. "Good work. Okay, we need you to go back to Cecilia and tell Mucklebones we're on our way, and to wait for us there. And as soon as you tell her that, you are to go to the canteen and eat...have whatever you want, they can russle it up for you. You look pekid, and you gotta keep your strength up. So no lolligagging, that's an order. You got it?"

"Yessir," said Pip, and ran down the hall. He felt his tummy rumble as he got in the lift, in a hurry to deliver his message to Mucklebones and then to have a big cheeseburger and a banana split. And maybe they'd even have some Cracker Jacks and he'd find his own decoder ring inside! He smiled to himself. "I'm tryin, pa," he said. "I'm tryin.'"

edit on 18-5-2012 by wildtimes because: panicky



posted on May, 18 2012 @ 03:47 PM
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Man, Yer' Memory Can Be A Bitch~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Breaking through the cloud cover, The Starwolf's clear window showed the miles and miles of
deep-forest of Khalamzadar IV. As Thunder rolled around the sky and the dark green foilage
raced beneath them, Boy In A Dress felt his emotions change as the surroundings urged an
aching memory to mind.

The wilderness, the woods and the train carriage containing his Creator.

...............................................

The dripping leaves and grey skies seemed to emphasise the dispair as BIAD neared the old
abandoned rolling stock. The muddy embankment warned the Man/Girl to stay where he
was and yet, after travelling the last thirty-mile on foot, his goal would not be denied.

BIAD breathed in deeply and on all-fours, he began the ascent towards the one thing he
feared, finding Professor Shaw dead.

The remains of the recent snowfalls had faded as the downpour had melted the whiteness
to a dirty-grey slush, it now looked like an unwanted visitor that waited in the shadows.

The rain came again and accompanied his tears, the cold North wood's wind chilled the
droplets that fell from BIAD's lank hair as he clawed his way towards the waiting Boxcar.
The cracked-red lips continued their whispered chant of "be alive-be alive" as scarlet talons
tore at the dark-sodden earth, BIAD closed on his target.

Earth-date: 2012, Christmas Eve. Location: The mountains of Oregon.
Somewhere -not far from where the hermaphrodite struggled to find the one he come to
know as his Father, CindyMars and Silo13 drank a hot brew and ate chocolate cake.
The way those timelines twist... huh, who'd have thought it?

The door of the Boxcar was half-open and with a bobbing Adam's apple, BIAD prepared
himself for the worst, he manouvered his high-heels closer.


"This'll be good for you... it will draw those skills that I'm sure you have -out" Calvin Shaw
had said as he had led the young Being in the red dress into the gloomy woods.
BIAD wondered about his Creator's plans, he seemed to be more-and-more showing him
ways of surviving alone, a newcomer would think the Professor didn't want the grinning
bare-legged creature that stared at the 'staring-back' squirrel.

"You can eat those, but it may be better if..." Professor Shaw began, but as the strange
black strands from BIAD's head snatched the small bushy-tailed animal from it's roosting
place -he just sighed instead.

The surrounding firs swayed in the witnessing of the Man/Girl's search for his Father, with
screaming lungs and aching muscles, he stood at the door of the carriage and looked in.
He was dead.

He was dead and they had murdered him and they had tortured him and he hated them and
they would pay for this, they would pay slowly and they would know.... BIAD's world faded
to a duller-grey than the forests of Oregon could offer and with a distant relief, he fainted.

A few minutes scurried-by before the mud-stained Boy In A Dress awoke and saw the dull
-metallic object in the dirt beside him, a cufflink... a cufflink engraved with the letter 'K'

...............................................

Please play for BIAD's sorrow...

A long time ago... it was a long time ago -BIAD rued and without a word, he reached over
and touched Tibbs on the forearm and straining the safety-straps, tapped Nenothtu's
shoulder. The Vithian scrutinised his friend beside him for a clue to what he was thinking
and saw sorrow in the down-set lips, Neno merely looked over his shoulder and muttered
"what?"

BIAD drew that down-cast mouth back into it's familiar grin and whispered "thank you"
The cigar-smoking Vandal went back to manouvering the craft across his new home and
the bearded-sage sat in the seat beside BIAD offered an all-knowing smile of his own.

Acknowledging the sentiment, BIAD peered back out of the window and as the dirty-grey
clouds rolled down from the mountains, he remembered the hour he took to bury the only
being he had truly loved.

The cufflink had been the clue to find Kershner and he had found him, oh yes... he had found
him and the bastard had told him everything. But the trail hadn't ended there.
Jenovah, he could just eat some Cotton Candy right now he thought and added 'Onwards'

Boy In A Dress and his two friends flew onwards.
edit on 18-5-2012 by A boy in a dress because: Left tear-stained 'kerchief in Edit Room.



posted on May, 19 2012 @ 12:16 AM
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Nenothtu surveyed the endless foliage beneath the Starwolf, trying to find a place to put her down - a clearing or something of that nature large enough to accept the ship, and so far had found nothing but unbroken treetops. Skimming along, he pondered, wondering just what in the devil it was that BIAD had thanked him for.

As he pondered, finding no obvious answers. he climbed over a rise in the landscape which had obscured what lay beyond. Dropping down the other side of it, the vista opened up to a wide, bowl-shaped and flat bottomed valley, ringed with highlands on 3 sides. Skimming along through the murky mists of a departing storm, and just above the treetops he spotted, in the middle distance, odd, regular shapes rising from the tree canopy. "City coming up" he called out. BIAD and Tibbs both strained to catch a view of the metropolis, but were disappointed to see only trees - and a couple of dark spires, which appeared to be artificial.



Checking the display in front of him, neno found that the zero latitude and zero longitude point was marked by the site of the city ruins beneath the jungle canopy. Tibbs observed "pitiful excuse for a city - two buildings!"

neno half grinned as he replied "Don't let yourself be underwhelmed. These ruins dot the landscape here and there. We explored a couple of them nearer the coastline several years ago when I was stranded here. never found anything to show who built them, and only the critters inhabit the ruins now, but make no mistake - you see anything poking out of the trees like that, you're gonna find LOTS of city underneath the trees. They're overgrown, but they're still there." As he spoke, he had increased his elevation and described a big circle in the air around the city, taking readings through the forest canopy to the ground below, and looking for a clearing to drop into within walking distance of the city. 'Walking distance' was anyone's guess - it all depended on the thickness of the jungle beneath the treetops. Neno had seen parts of this planet where it took over a day - local days were about 15 hours long - to progress a mere mile.

The sensor readings indicated structures covering an area of around a square kilometer. Not a large city by most planetary standards, but the previous inhabitants of Khalamzadar had not appeared to build large cities - they instead elected to build lots of smaller cities. At least one which neno had explored had underground tunnels leading off from it, but where they had gone to neno never found out. They were too dark to trace out, and the dark on Khalamzadar often held things that would eat the unwary.

The sensors also showed that close to half of this city was in water. Not deep water - the buildings emerged from it - but water all the same. Whether it was an encroaching swamp, a flood from the recent storm, or a subsidence in the landscape since the city was built was also anyone's guess.

After he had completed a circle of the protruding towers, nenothtu punched a few buttons on the keyboard at his left hand and said "Look at the viewscreens on the consoles at the side of the cabin. THAT is what the LIDAR shows beneath the trees." The view they saw was this:



BIAD exclaimed "all of that is below the trees? There's that much of the towers hidden? Those trees must be HUGE!"

Neno nodded. "Some of them are nearly 20 stories tall". He continued looking for a landing spot near the city but out of the water, and was having no luck. On his second circle of the area, a large form arose from the forest and made for the Starwolf.

BIAD clapped and grinned. "Look! It's a bird! A big one!"

His attention directed to the flying creature, nenothtu adjusted the flight controls and made straight for it, just as it was making straight for the Starwolf. "That's not a bird, BIAD" he growled.



Tibbs chimed in with "Well what is it, then? It's certainly flying like a... Oh Kraznetz! That's a - is that one of those Uktena creatures you mentioned? It's going to .... WHY ARE YO FLYING AT IT? It will EAT us!"

"Relax, Tibbs. You'll leave permanent finger marks in the chair arm! No, that's not an Uketna - it's a 'Snaketena'. 'Bout the same size overall, but this'n can fly, an' it's got a shorter head than the ground-bound version."

"WHY ARE YOU FLYING TOWARDS IT?" Tibbs repeated, his voice rising an entire octave in the process. He had a white-knuckled death grip on the chair arms, which is probably the only thing that prevented him from oozing up the back of the seat as he tried to flatten into the cushions.

"You don't think I'm going to leave that thing alive and on the loose whilst we're be-bopping along through those ruins, do you?" neno replied, perhaps too calmly, and then added "I don't think that would be very prudent..."

"Leaving this place post haste would be prudent!" Tibbs responded, near hysteria.

"Tibbs, you just trusted this flying machine to protect you from a near complete vaccuum. Are you going to tell me you don't trust it to protect you from a flyin' worm?"

Regaining his voice somewhat, Tibbs said "I think 'trust' may be a little optomistic, but that WORM is huge! How can something that big FLY? It looks both hungry and out of sorts, and.... YOU ARE STILL FLYING AT IT!"

"It can fly because the atmosphere is so dense - it's thick and soupy, compared to what you're used to." At that instant, nenothtu touched a stud on the joystick in his right hand, and a dotted line looking for all the world like tracers shot out of the nose of the Starwolf, making a beeline for the flying creature. Where they intersected the body, a fireball erupted, cutting the creature in half and blowing the wings off of both halves, sending the various parts plummeting into the jungle below. When the fireball erupted at the snaketena, BIAD cooed "Ooh! fireworks! I love fireworks!" and clapped his hands. That made neno grin.

"Can you cook, Tibbs? It's probably mostly cooked already, but might need some touch-up heating" neno quipped. Tibbs didn't answer. Not for the first time, he was questioning the wisdom of this expedition.

Finally finding his voice, Tibbs said "Well at least it's dead, and we don't have to look over our shoulders for it."

Nenothtu supressed a grin and said "Don't worry - there's more where that one came from. the place is lousy with 'em" just to rattle Tibbs, because he could, and to impress in Tibbs that one had to watch EVERYTHING here - try to see everywhere at once.

"You're not being terribly reassuring" Tibbs muttered, causing neno to lose composure enough that a snort escaped from him.

"Well, I've orbited this burg twice now, and can't find a landing zone." neno observed.

Hopefully, Tibbs chirped up with "So we are returning to the Yydryl?"

"Not on a bet" neno replied. "We're going to MAKE a landing zone." he punched a few buttons on the keyboard and selected a spot outside of the swamp on the northern edge of the city.

"How do you plan to make..." Tibbs started, but was cut off by a flash to the right which sent a visible shock wave along the ground in an ever expanding circle, mowing down the trees as it went. When it was finished, there was a 300 meter circle blown out of the trees.

BIAD commented "MORE fireworks! This is like the Fourth of July!".

"Like that." neno said. "Daisy cutter. Clears a hole so I don't have to." Flying towards the newly made landing zone, neno announced "touchdown in 3 minutes."

"Oh bother!" Tibbs exclaimed as he hid his face in his hands.



posted on May, 19 2012 @ 09:18 AM
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Spontaneity


Mucklebones watched in horror through Tibbs' button cam as the Starwolf swooped at the huge monster. Her heart in her throat, her jaw dropped open as the image began to shake. Tibbs was scared half to death, and so was she.

"Sacred Rapa Nui!" she muttered, vowing to herself that she would order that earbud attachment that she'd been postponing. Her breath came in short gasps as the ship drew closer and closer to the monster, and then she saw the tracers and watched without breathing at all as the enormous beast was ripped in half -- blown apart, its dismembered and shredded wings flapping wildly like kites gone berserk as they fell.

She heard a knocking on the hatch and, breathing heavily, she ripped the device off of her head and went to the hatchway. Her expression frightened Pip, who'd been smiling proudly that he'd run all the way with his message. "Panic" was the word for what he saw, but it looks a mite different on a Gray Alien crone than it does on a U-man...her eyes were bulging out of her face, and she was drooling, rubbing her bald head with her long, slender hands even as they shook and the monocle danced and bounced off of her skull.

Pip's smile faded. "Are -- are you," he said, his face blanching, "all right? Ma'am?"

Mucklebones closed her mouth and licked her lips, wiping the drool away with the back of one still-shaking hand.
She nodded, fumbling to get the monocle put away, but dropped it, and it rolled down the ramp to land at Pip's feet.
He stooped to retrieve it, turned it over a couple of times looking at it, then handed it up to the Witch. "Here's your...thing," he said, resisting the urge to examine it. They had such cool toys here!

Her fingers bent like bird talons, she snatched it from him, and inspected it to see if it had broken with the impact. It appeared to be unharmed, and she let out a breath of relief. Pip once more assumed his puffed-chest ten-hut stance.

"What now, junior?" she asked, remembering herself, and contrived a calm appearance as she stood above him. She wouldn't put it in her poncho while the boy was watching, no no....that wouldn't do.

"The others -- they said to tell you to wait for them here, ma'am," he said. "And they are on their way."

Muckles harumphed, and the boy stood as tall as he could. looking not at her, but past her, like troops of yore.
"Is there anything else?" she asked.

"No, ma'am," said the boy, remaining stock still.

"Erm, well," Mucklebones struggled to remember the protocol for dismissal. "Thank you." The boy didn't blink. "Okay?" she tried. Still no change. "Run along now." No. Thinking back over the earlier message exchange, she stuttered, "Ack-- acknowledge, erm, four? Ten?" and Pip saluted. She saluted back, and then he was gone, like a shot, running like his life depended on it.

Mucklebones blinked a couple of times and tucked the monocle away into its pocket. She stepped over to the console and flipped on Cecilia's control panel. As soon as they got back, she was taking this ship and going after her man, and nothing was going to stop her.

********************************


Dag had entered first, and scanned the bay for Adam, who was standing behind one of the girls, his arms around hers, "showing" her how to use the delicate instrument in her hands. He had done this with Dag even before she had "womanized", and she felt a surge of emotion seeing it happen to someone else. For some reason she'd always thought he would never have done that with anyone else, but the look on his face now was all business, and she realized it was merely a teaching technique.

She straightened her spine and walked to him with an official stride. "Doctor?" she said. He looked up at her and his hands dropped away from the girl.

"Dag!" he said.

"Um, a...word? Please?" Dag stammered. "Debrief ....the.... scheduled debrief -- is .... well, now, unless there are complications with your patients?"

"No, no complications," he said. "Girls, you've done a splendid job this session. Time for lunch. Take an hour, I'll be locking the bay doors. The droids will monitor Sslar while we're out."

"Yessir," said the one he'd been coaching, and the two of them removed their lab coats and demurely left the bay. In the hallway, Ben and Brittle became abruptly silent when the twins emerged, eyes downcast, and walked past them muttering "Excuse me" and "Pardon me."

"Well, that were easy," said Ben. "Guess we don't need yer to entice 'em, then, hey?"

Brittle's gaze was following them. "Guess not," he said, mildly disappointed. "Guess they won't be able to pick us out of a line-up, either, though."

"That, too," said Ben. He peered into the bay and watched as Dag swept her arm towards the office at the back of the bay. Her expression showed ambivalence as Adam walked past her, but she glanced at Ben and Brittle before following him, and nodded to them.

The plan was a go.



posted on May, 19 2012 @ 10:43 AM
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~~~~~~~~~~~It's Just The Way We Are -When We Come Down~~~~~~~~~

The Starwolf landed among the dying flames of the open-ground that Nenothtu had
created and the craft's legs adjusted to the swampy mire underneath, the Starwolf
creaked in it's settling.



Far off, thunder rumbled again and the torrential-downpour enjoyed the new opening
to the forest-floor, the dark pools rippled with fall of the rain and the ground-hugging fires
smoldered in it's extinguishing.

Tibbs breathed a sigh of relief and unclicked his safety-harness, the old man's features
crumpled in concentration as he peered out of the window. The jungle had taken over,
that was obvious, but to the Vithian looking out at the gloomy world, it seemed that any
chance of the builders of the forgotten city still being here was meagre.

"The air is fine and apart from any of the creatures that ah' met -last time, I'd say we'll
be okay" Neno muttered as he busied himself powering-down the vehicle. Boy In A Dress
struggled with his strappings and it was with help from Tibbs that the Man/Girl stood up
from his seat "Will we need rubber-boots?" he asked nobody as he observed the dark-green
swamp around the Starwolf.

Rain spattered the windscreen and the looming trees promised some dry places, they also
promised shadows and dangerous bogs, the Vandal seemed to ignore all this as he opened
the hatchway and surveyed his kingdom.

"There's a structure about fifty-yards to our left..." Neno reported from the metal steps
"...the ground'll be abit dodgy, so it may pay yer' to carry Tibbs" the crew-cut head turned to
show he was speaking to the hermaphrodite. A nod showed that the smiling-Man/Girl had
understood the suggestion.

Swamp animals had also settled back to their regular routine after the intrusion of the metal
invader, deep croaks and chitterings wavered through the massive foilage that held sway.
Nenothtu stepped onto a slight mound of soil and smiling, he decided that this was an
important moment for him... so he lit a cigar.

"My handset tells me that there's something moving just-off to our left... it's in the water"
Tibbs whispered to the broad-back of the owner of Khalamzadar IV, he consciously tucked his
long beard into the top of his robes.

Nenothu barely moved his head in confirmation, but his steely-gaze went to where his small
friend had indicated. "Grab yer' mate -here, BIAD... we're gonna see my old stompin' ground"
Neno said easily and began to manouvre his way towards the jungle-wrapped buildings.

The black haired-Being in the short dress and high-heels followed the man in the vest and
fatigue pants, Tibbs suffered the indignity of being jammed under BIAD's armpit and the
three odd humanoids made towards the shadowy-wonders of Khalamzadar IV.
edit on 19-5-2012 by A boy in a dress because: Left gumboots in Edit Room.



posted on May, 19 2012 @ 11:54 AM
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................~~Debriefed at Last~~............


Dag hadn't seen Adam since the meeting, and he looked very tired. There were bags beneath his pretty but saddened eyes, and she saw frown wrinkles that had not been there before.

"Are you okay?" she asked, momentarily forgetting everything else.

Adam looked at her and sighed. "Yer askin' now, lass? Or are ye plannin' to answer it for me and continue describin' all that's wrong wi' me?"

Dag sighed deeply and looked around the room. She spied a pair of chairs facing the edge of the desk, their backs to the door, with consoles in front of them, and imagined the twins sitting there while Adam tutored them. "May I?" she asked and indicated one of them.

"By all means," he said.

She turned the chair around, then turned the other around to face it, and sat, indicating the unoccupied chair for him. Rather than taking it, he went round the desk to his larger executive chair and sat, obliging her to stand and turn her chair back. Now there were two console screens and a large desk between them. Dag's heart began to ache.

"Adam," she started, at the same instant that he said, "Dag." They both stopped and their eyes met.

He spoke next. "Go ahead."

She opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again. "Busy morning for me…how about you?" she paused and tipped her head toward the bay behind her. "The new crew working out?"

Adam shrugged. "What, yer the training monitor now? Ye plannin' to have me demoted professionally for me incompetence as well? Just roughin' up a man's heart ain't cutting it?"

"Of course not, Adam," she said wearily, and her shoulders dropped when she saw him nod seeming-knowingly. He spread his hands in surrender. She ran her hands across her face and looked at him, "I mean, of course I'm not here to have you demoted. And you're not incompetent. I know that my behavior has been confusing. I was thinking we might try to sort it out again. If you were calmer."

"Calmer?" he parroted. "Trust me, lass, I'm as resigned as can be. I've lost ye, and no wonder. I sort of watch myself as I move about, and I think about that …" he waved his hand vaguely toward the floor, "…that …. series of unfortunate events down there. I shoulda done ye better, I should'na let ye out of my sight by the lake. I coulda gone faster, thought harder, figgered out what to do."

He paused. Dag remained silent. "I failed ye, and I've none to blame but meself."

"Adam, that's not true. We were all doing our best, and I'm not sure what happened to you while I was being shanghaied and manipulated, but when you finally got to me in that Cave, you … you seemed… changed. I want to hear your story, to learn why you are depressed. Depression is contagious, you know, and that is perhaps part of why I got all sucked in. I haven't dealt with depressed U-mans before."

Adam looked at her for a long moment. "Dunna be daft," he said. "I'm a professional."

"Adam, you're also a U-man. I am half-U-man. We both are prone to ups and downs. Would you be happier with a droid? An automaton that was programmed only to praise and adore you?"

"When have you ever felt like a total failure, Dag? Hmm? Ever?"

She thought back. "Well…..I failed, back there in the Temple, to recognize that I was being lied to. I failed to stay true to our goal, and went along with the ruse that I was somehow important on Earth, to those people. It led me away from thinking straight, and until Ben found me, I was completely bewildered and unsure what to do, wondering what I'd got myself into, and if you'd come for me, or I'd see any of you again. I was muddled and confused. When you didn't come for me, I began to doubt."

"Doubt what?" asked Adam. "That I cared? Or would try? Or would succeed? Ye've no idea what happened to me, have ye? I tried, Dag!! I tried to come for ye!! D'ye think I wouldn't?"

"No," answered Dag, "but then you didn't. And you still didn't. And I should have listened to you tell me why before I assessed the evidence. I can see that I shut you out, and I'm sorry. I think we were both rather rattled by the whole thing."

"Mmm hmm," said Adam. "I saw ye, there by the fire with mister handsome Vandalian native boy and Sslar…I heard ye talking."

"What? You were there? Spying on me?"

"Nay, lass, I was with that old crone Gert, and she did this – this—eye thing…ye recall how I read the thoughts o' folks?"

"Of course," she said. "And she was persuasive with me as well. But now I know how she did it, and why, and I realize you were every bit as bewildered as I was."

"What'dye mean, ye know how she did it?"

.............continued................
edit on 19-5-2012 by wildtimes because: bloody brogue! Gha!!




posted on May, 19 2012 @ 11:55 AM
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...............continued from above...................

"I've just come from a – a disclosure meeting. She's been exposed as a fraud and an outcast."

"Those deities seemed to be in bloody fine cahoots with 'er!" Adam snapped.

"Yes, they did. But she was acting not on their behalf nor on behalf of her mission, which was to anchor the House foundation on Earth now that they had recolonized. It was a punishment for her, a penance for earlier treacheries."

"Like what exactly?"

"I don't know, but I was privileged to attend her last supervisory session, and she has a history of trouble-making and failure to uphold the House Ethics."

"What is this 'house'?" asked Adam.

"Some kind of Universal Federation society of witches. They are a secret society, and they've been around forever. I don't know yet all of their agenda, but I know she failed and is now powerless. In fact, she's going to be my servant now." Dag added.

"Ha!" Adam said. "That makes two of us then, eh? Well…well-done you!"

"That's not what I meant, Adam. Please, will you drop the indignant routine? Can we not just both grow from this? I want you in my life. I want you, -- and I do love you! -- the Adam you can be, that you were! This…this…" she waved at him, "…..groveling, and insecurity does not become you! Can you not see that this – change -- would drive someone to doubt you? How it would affect those closest to you? You are a doctor!"

Adam put his hands over his face and took a deep breath, then rubbed his eyes. She watched him, and thought her heart might break for him. She did love him … and now she could see that part of his U-manness that she had never imagined. He was fragile, and sensitive, and had sunk into a purely human state of despair.

Dag slid the console screen out from in front of herself and leaned forward, her hands flat on the desk. "Adam," she said kindly. "We're both learning. I'm learning about U-mans, and you're learning about biodroids."

"I know biodroids!" he insisted. "I was trained to doctor them!"

Dag tipped her head and smiled at him. "There's a difference between physical repair and emotional balance," she said. "Our lives were brought together for a reason. I chose a female role, after all those star years of androgyny, because of you. Those reasons are still valid, while at the same time I've learned more about who – what – I am. Have you learned anything about who you are?"

Adam thought back to the Center, where he'd gone, as if on autopilot, and played 'hero' for Silo13, and then 'poor pitiful needy victim.' He looked at Dag while he remembered hugging Silo13. Boundaries had been crossed, he knew that. Professional boundaries. And personal boundaries as well.

"Aye, lass, I have. I truly have," he said, and his shoulders slumped. "D' ye…d'ye think we can work it out?"

Dag smiled. "I do," she said. "If we're patient with one another. And ourselves. I -- I need your help, and your guidance, Adam. I need your affection, too. Even while I'm figuring out this womanhood thing…and now….this…witch thing."

"What 'witch thing'?" he asked, alarmed.

Dag sighed. "I told you, I've had a busy morning. And now, I have more business to attend to. But, I promise I will fill you in when I have time, and as I go along. As my partner, my mentor, my doctor, and…best friend. Can we start with that? And see where it goes?"

Adam looked pained, but relief was also evident. "Aye, lass," he said. "Aye, very good sense ye're makin' now. I think I expected a static sort of behavior from ye, and was tipped like a cow in a field when ye seemed to be changin'."

Dag spread her hands now. "I am what I am," she said. "Faults and all. And I'm here, a girl, sitting across from a boy, asking him to … accept her. To love her."

Adam rose from his chair and came around the desk, offering his hand to her to help her rise. She did, and he embraced her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder and sighed deeply. Adam stroked her hair and wondered if he should tell her about hugging silo13, or if she already knew. From neno, or the boy….or from silo herself.

"I'll think about it, lass," he murmured into her soft corn-silk hair. "Aye, I'll think about it."

She nodded but held on for a long couple of moments, and then stepped back to see his face. "Thanks, you," she said. "Well, I've taken up too much time here, and I must be going."

"Aye, I've got lesson plans to draw up for the twins," he said. "Although my appetite seems to have come out of its, erm, coma after seeing ye." He smiled warmly at her, and Dag saw the spark in his eyes that had been missing since they'd parted ways at the lakeside on Vandalia.

She tiptoed up to hug him. "Thanks," she said. "We'll talk more soon." She smiled warmly at him and backed toward the office door as he went back around to sit at the desk. "I'll just … let myself out," she said. "Thanks for taking care of Sslar."

Adam smiled up at her. "I do care, ye know," he said. "Aye, about all of ye."

Dag smiled and nodded again, and left the office, pushing the button to close the door behind her.

edit on 19-5-2012 by wildtimes because: because I hate having seven edit tags below my posts. duh
edit on 23/5/12 by masqua because: edit by request
extra DIV



posted on May, 19 2012 @ 05:56 PM
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.....................................~If I Had A Hammer~.......................................

"Oh crap..." Nenothtu snarled as the Starwolf listed again, the sound of straining metal
sang out across the swamp and brought their journey to firmer ground to a halt. The
exploration would be put on hold while their only means of transportation would have
to be made safe, how to do that -would be another matter.

It would be another hour before the dirt-stained Vandal and the hair-tangled Man/Girl
could feel that the Starwolf wouldn't disappear into the dark-mire, the rope would hold...
it had to.

"Take care with that mallet, BIAD... we might need it again if'n the damned-ground wants
to suck down the ship again" Neno warned and the gasping creature in the grime-smeared
dress dragged the huge hammer back towards the craft's hold.

Tibbs' plan had worked, the rope came from the Starwolf's front landing gear and wound it's
way to a large tree on the bank. From there, it went to a rare outcrop of stone and after being
looped twice around the rock, it ended tied to a fashioned-stake that the sweating GunMan
had beaten deep into the moist soil.

"Leave it outside" Neno said and reached for the hammer, that simple act made Boy In A
Dress stop in his tracks. Nenothtu looked at the mucky-features of his grinning friend and
wondered what he was thinking, BIAD said nothing and lay the hammer near the rock.
The three males set off again.

................................................

"We call it a County Fair..." Professor Calvin Shaw said laying his elbow out of the car-
window, the Impala tore along the country road and the Montana cool air was welcoming
from the heat of Utah.

It was nineteen seventy-six and the Billings County Fair had been promised to the young
Boy In A Dress as a treat for his services to the tests at Dugway, Shaw felt that considering
the ordeals that his protege had endured, a fairground ride and a toffee-apple was hardly
fair payment.

But he saw that the beaming Man/Girl with the prairie-wind billowing that long-black hair
across the car's seat was happy to be seeing the new countryside and the man that had
become the odd creature's father-figure told himself that this would have to be enough.

"...There'll be animals, competitions and shows for you to enjoy" the Professor added and
glanced at the sign proclaiming 'Billings Town Limits'
The Chevy coughed it's way down the tarmac road towards BIAD's reward.

The Harley Electra sent a half-mile dust plume across the dozing wheat field as it left the dirt
-track and hit paved-road, unkowingly, the motorcycle followed the Professor's car to the
Fair.

"Just be careful and keep the sunglasses on" Shaw called to the Boy In A Dress as he ran off
towards the animal pens, the sheep and goats looked bored behind the metal fences as
parents let their children stroke the rough-fur and nobbly-boned heads.

BIAD crouched down and stuck his head through the rails and the Professor quickly reached
the kneeling Man/Girl to hide his revealed bare-ass.
"You're letting the Montana wind in" Calvin Shaw whispered and nudged BIAD with his knee,
a red-nailed hand tugged the rear of the dress lower.

"Is that the one they say looks like the Devil?" BIAD asked as he petted the goat's head, the
souless eyes of the Billy stared back at the reflection in the visitor's glasses.
The balding man in the tweed-jacket looked down at the two creatures and smiled to
himself, BIAD was always asking, always wondering -he thought proudly.

"Throughout the ages, man has always seen the goat as a familair or relation to the one they
call The Old Horned-One" he said "...Superstition has dogged mankind since he came out of
the cave" he added cynically.

The high white clouds sailed westwards as Boy In A Dress soaked in the Billings County Fair
and as he ran from garishly-coloured stall to wonder-promising kiosk, Professor Shaw clicked
off another photograph with his camera.

(Continued Below)



posted on May, 19 2012 @ 06:01 PM
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(Continued From Above)

"ROLL-UP, ROLL-UP... TEST YOUR STRENGTH AND IMPRESS YOUR GIRL" the Barker
announced during BIAD's oggling at the Cotton Candy machine, the hoarse-voice called again.
"A PRIZE FOR RINGING THE BELL, A PRIZE WORTHY OF YOUR GIRL'S LOVE!" the
red-haired Jimmy Cohen rasped and straightened his dickie-bow, business had been brisk
-but lately, it had tailed off.

Jimmy reached for the remains of his cigar from the foil-tin inside the the striped tent
and wondered if Carol would be in the bar tonight, the stinking-stogie glowed it's embers
as Boy In A Dress stepped up to the tall contraption called 'The Striker'
"What do I have to do?" BIAD asked with a beaming smile, Jimmy looked the weird-chick
in the very-short dress and big sunglasses up-and-down and wondered how old she was.
"Well Honey, all you have to do is take that-thar hammer and hit the butt as hard as you
can. If you ring the bell twice then you win a prize" Jimmy informed the long-fringed girl
with a tone that hinted 'you can win a prize another way' and added a wink for emphasis.

An older man appeared and the Barker guessed it was the babe's Father, clearing his throat,
Jimmy nodded a greeting and touched the rim of his straw-boater hat.
Professor Shaw tucked his hands in his trouser-pockets and wondered what the bare-legged
creature would do.

BIAD wondered if the mallet was heavy as he hobbled over to where the large rubber
-headed club leaned against the fireman-red machine, lights of blue, yellow and red
surrounded the wooden framing and made their way to the large-brass bell at it's summit.

"Take a run at it..." a voice came from behind Shaw and all three participants looked to see
who had offered the advice. "... make sure you swing it from your heels" the hard-eyed
Biker said with a tone of indifference.

The man who stood with his arms folded, was dressed top-to-toe in leathers, the scuffs on
the elbows and knees told that whatever transportation he sported, the road had rushed-up
to meet him many times. The stranger showed a lop-sided smile at the black-haired girl that
struggled with the mallet.

"May I help you?" Professor Shaw asked firmly, the grizzled-man with the dark-drooping
moustache looked like he courted trouble wherever he went -he thought to himself and
furrowed his brow for an answer.

"Just givin' abit of advice, fella" the Biker rasped and strode past the serious-looking older
man, without looking at BIAD's features, he reached for the hammer.
"It's all in the swing, pretty-smile" he whispered as he turned to The Striker and glanced
at Jimmy Cohen, the Barker's face showed that he didn't like these greasy biker-types.

The stranger spat on the palms of his hands and let the leather-jacket slip from his shoulders,
well-muscled arms and a deep-tan showed that he wasn't a man to be messed-with, Jimmy
sighed in resignation and said nothing.

Both strikes tolled out across the Midway as the lone-Biker hit the machine with all his might,
Boy In A Dress clapped and hopped at each success and his Mentor chewed the inside of his
mouth as he wondered what may happen if the young man discovered the truth.

"YOWZA-YOWZA... SEE THE MAN WIN A PRIZE FOR HIS GIRL" Jimmy called and ignoring the
cold-eyed Biker, he looked at the crowd that was coming closer to see what the noise was.
Straightening his tie again, he pitched for the future business as he handed the furry Teddy-
Bear to the girl with the wide red-lips.
"COME ON BOYS AND GIRLS... WIN YOURSELF A PRIZE! the Barker called and the people
came,
BIAD, the Biker and Professor Shaw disolved into the oncoming crowd.

The lights were coming on as Big Sky wandered towards the evening, the Fairground at night
held a magic all of it's own and Jimmy knew that the coins would roll in, the recent win of the
scruffy troublemaker was forgotten as he switched on the lights of his machine, The Striker
flashed the winning route to the large bell and a slight gasp came up from the surrounding
audience.
That was when Jimmy realised the mallet was missing.

"Thank you Sir" Boy In A Dress said softly and curtsied, the big toy-Bear was jammed under
his arm -just like Tibbs would be centuries later. The Biker lifted his chin to say 'okay' -but
remained silent and he probably wouldn't have spoken again if Professor Shaw hadn't asked
him for one last favour.

(One More Below!)
edit on 20-5-2012 by A boy in a dress because: Left Silly Hat in Edit Room.



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