A cart loaded with goods from the docks rumbles by the nearly refinished home that Chastity has chosen as her home, herbarium, and, with some misgivings, the embassy for the Chirr'T'Thar here in Haven. The elderly fox has gone off in search of some special herbs, leaving Kainudy, Simtra, and Andromeda to fend for themselves. At least the floor has been fixed. It should now be able to handle either 15 slam dancing felitaurs, or one 5 ton meteor strike. Whichever is worse.
Andromeda has bought herself a snack from a merchant, a side of...something...that used to be alive, and is neatly devouring it.
Kainudy taps her claws on the floor, and asks, "So, when are you going to send a crew to dig up that crystal brain and analyze it, Andromeda?"
Simtra wakes up from his sleep and stretches looking around.
Andromeda shudders, "Wouldn't it be best to keep it buried? As for the rest, we're trying to track down who started this whole thing. You never did find that feline, Razda Ferian. We've also taken to not transmitting anything that needs security, but transporting it manually. We'll monitor that site for a bit, see if there is any activity before we try to dig it up, and you said that it fed on light?"
Kainudy says, "It might be solar powered.. but then, if that was the case why have it in the middle of a mountain?"
Simtra looks around the house to see if there is anything that he can eat.
Andromeda shrugs, "Maybe to keep it from growing out of control? Or maybe certain wavelengths hurt it? We're keeping a close eye on it, but being turned into crystal is not my idea of fun."
The dragon mutters, "Next you know, everyone with one of the little statues will wake up with their brains turned to crystals. Better than pods.."
Andromeda bites off the leg of her dinner with a loud snapping and crunching sound, then swallows, "Kai, could you stop talking like that? I'm trying to eat."
Simtra returns to the pair, "What was this about brains turned in to crystal? I don't have anything to worry about. Do I?
Kainudy says, "You statuette was zapped, Simtra.."
"... unless you're already infected, of course," the dragon adds.
Andromeda takes another 15 pound bite of her "lunch" and swallows, nearly done, "Well, we do need to find out why some of it grew and some didn't. We're trying to analyze what we have left."
Simtra sits down slowly and plays with the amulet around his neck nervously, "Oh. . ."
> It's been awhile now since the stelya-rhyan shuttle arrived at
Nimby and parked itself between the tower-in-progress and the entry to
the underground shuttle garage. And it only took the Chirr'T'Thar a few
hours to figure out that it was hovering upside-down two meters above
the ground.. despite the birdlike landing legs being fully extended 'above'
the craft.
>WolfSinger tits his head, looking at the upside down shuttle
wondering
if it's guidance system has gone haywire?
>WolfSinger moves to the front of the shuttle to peek into the cockpit
to see if the pilot is okay.
> The black shape bulges in the right places to suggest a cockpit,
but there is no transparent area. As WolfSinger approaches, however,
the bulging black canopy splits open along its length. Odd how the rubber
seal of the seam might appear to be black lips pulling back from black
teeth..
>WolfSinger backs away as the canopy opens, curious as to what kind
of shuttle this is?
Simtra watches Andromeda eat, "Where did you get that food from Andromeda?"
> A large white blob drops out of the inverted vehicle, then pulls
itself back into a spherical shape and looks at WolfSinger with a
featureless gold orb.
>WolfSinger yips!! and backs away REAL fast.
> "Yip!" echoes the sphere, which starts to float along after the
retreating wolf.
>WolfSinger runs off. "Help! it wants to eat me!"
> The sphere pauses, and says, "I do not eat. Who are you?"
>WolfSinger errrfs? and slows down. "My name is WolfSinger."
> "What do you sing?" the sphere asks, still keeping its distance.
>WolfSinger answers, "I was named that, because as a pup, I howled
songs to the moon."
> After a few moments pause, the sphere asks, "Did you think it would
sing back to you?"
>WolfSinger thinks for a moment, not sure how to answer. "Well....
it's the way of my kind. And who might you be?"
> "I am called Mister Happy Blob," the thing replies in that hollow-sounding
monotone.
Andromeda hmms to Simtra? "OH, someone's Gambzar was hit by a falling tree. He was happy to sell it to me."
>WolfSinger asks, "ummmm... is your ship upside down, or is it supposed
to be that way?"
> "Yes," is the short, and ultimately uninformative, reply.
Simtra nods and moves a bit closer to the fireplace to warm himself.
Kainudy takes a good look a the back of Simtra's skull as the fox walks past, checking for any new growths or bulges.
Andromeda purrs, "Want a leg?" which is about all that's left by now.
>WolfSinger blinks confusedly. "Okay..... So, where do you come
from, and why are you here?"
Simtra looks back to Andromeda, "Oh could I? I don't want to leave you hungry but I did not see anything around here to eat myself."
Meanwhile, a tall grey form comes ambling up the street outside, approaching the reputed location of the Chirr'T'Thar embassy with deceptive nonchalance. As he casually strolls closer, Devereaux's senses as well as Bob's are keeping a sharp metaphorical eye on their surroundings.
> "I am of Naiam," the sphere says, "I am here because this is where
I am supposed to be."
Andromeda lifts the leg, which is about half as big as Simtra. Gambzars are those pony sized lizards folks use as beasts of burden.
>WolfSinger asks, "Did someone send you here?"
"Bleh," the dragon comments. "Lizard meat."
Devereaux slows to a stop at the edge of the lawn, sweeping his steely gaze over the house before him. "This must be the place..." he mutters to Bob, "None of these other buildings have anything even close to a security perimeter."
Devereaux smirks faintly to himself. "Such as it is."
Simtra blinks at the size of offered leg, "I guess I did not see how large that was. I don't need that much, since I could not eat all of that if I tried.
Andromeda ohs, "How much do you want? I'll cut you off a slab."
> "Yes, I was sent with the shuttle," the bobbing white thing says,
and starts to bob a little closer.
>WolfSinger backs his head away. "Who sent you? and why?"
Simtra closes his paw into a fist and holds it up, "Not too much bigger then my paw, if you would please"
Devereaux ahems, straightens his FarRim Explorer Corps shipsuit, and steps onto the path to the door. He's not here to skulk and spy. Not at the moment.
> The sphere moves a little closer, and says, "Kainudy sent me. Something
had to pilot the shuttle. I need to use your brain."
Andromeda ohs and with a sound of metal sliding on metal, her wing spurrs come out and she gouges out a chunk of thigh for Simtra and hands it to him, and quickly devours the rest of the leg.
Simtra takes the meat from Andromeda and slow eats it.
Devereaux walks up to the sturdy front door, posture erect and his nonchalance gone, replaced by a cool professionalism.
Devereaux examines the doorjamb for anything resembling a bell or signal device.
>WolfSinger relaxes a bit at the mention of Kainudy's name. "Oh....
this must be her bio ship she told me about. But what do you need
my brain for? I kind of need it myself.
All that's on the door is an old fashioned iron knocker. It is, however, in the shape of the first mother with one of her many mythological mates. Chastity no doubt hasn't seen it yet. ;)
> "I cannot interface properly with the shuttle," the sphere explains.
"You must pilot it to its proper roost."
>WolfSinger asks, "And where might that be?"
> "Where it will be happy," is the simple reply.
>WolfSinger moves back toward the shuttle to peek inside. "and where
will it be happy?"
> Bobbing alongside WolfSinger now, the sphere says, "It will tell
you when you find such a spot."
As Devereaux calmly examines the door, he extends his senses beyond the portal and across the breadth of the structure. He subvocalizes to Bob, "Two sentient thought-clusters, bearing 067 mark 0, range 6 and 7 meters respective. One reads as designate Simtra. Confirm." The reply to his audial implant is quick and crisp. "Confirmed."
>WolfSinger asks, "but how will I know where such a spot is? The
universe is pretty big, you know... could take a long time to find such
a spot.
Devereaux nods faintly to himself and reaches for the VERY interesting knocker. He can't help grinning as his hand grasps it, lifts it, and gives it three good hard knocks, with zeal.
Kainudy immediately bellows from inside, "IF YOU DON'T HAVE DONUTS, YOU'D BETTER HAVE A GOOD REASON FOR KNOCKING!"
> "I am not a shuttle," explains Mister Happy Blob. "It is a simple
creature though, you should have no problem finding a satisfactory location."
Simtra stops eating for a bit, "Donuts again? Don't you eat anything else?"
Andromeda would giggle at Kai, but is finally downing the last of the Gambzar.
Kainudy hmphs, "Of course I do. Pizza."
Devereaux says calmly and quietly, "Oh, I have an excellent reason for knocking. But no donuts, sorry." The words undergo serious amplification as the sound travels, into a penetrating bellow in reply.
>WolfSinger reluctantly peeks his head into the creature's "cockpit"
half expecting something to jump out and start sucking on his face.
Devereaux folds his arms and waits, projecting his point of view into the hall on the other side of the door.
Simtra goes back to eating and guesses Kainudy will answer the door.
> A bunch of tentacles jump out of the cockpit and suck on WolfSinger's
face for a moment, then retreat back up into the darkness.
> "It likes you," says the blob.
Andromeda ears go back. She recognizes the voice.
Kainudy blinks, "Is that Zilvar out there? He wouldn't knock though."
Devereaux thinks, "Mmmmm.... donuts. Definitely must find some donuts."
>WolfSinger acks!! as the tentacles grab him "eeepp!! Reminded
me of a goshurm kiss..."
>WolfSinger looks around inside for any kind of controls, curious
how you fly a creature.
Devereaux lifts the knocker and gives another three precise, sharp raps.
BAM BAM BAM
Simtra notices that no one seems to be getting up to get the door and heads for the door.
> There are no signs of any controls.. or any other features, for
that matter, except for a long cushion-like bench which the pilot presumable
lays on. When the ship isn't upside-down, that is.
Simtra opens the door, "Yes?"
>WolfSinger peers inside, tilting his head? "ummm... how do you
fly this thing?"
> "You lay on the tongue," is the reply from the blob.
Devereaux looks down the 9 inches of height difference between himself and Simtra. "This is the Chirr'T'Tharr embassy?"
>WolfSinger barks, "ummmm.. could you tell it to turn right side
up so I can get in, then?"
Kainudy perks an ear. Not a local, certainly..
Andromeda's ears go back to upright, almost. "Ask Devereaux what he wants Simtra. And yes, this is our "embassy" in Haven."
> "It doesn't like me," Mister Happy explains. "Just reach up and
touch it."
The dragon arches an eyeridge at Andromeda. "Friend of yours?"
Simtra hmms, "Oh. Yes it is. What do you need sir?"
Devereaux looks up sharply at the voice, one he recognizes. He speaks past Simtra. "I wish to make contact with your government."
>WolfSinger reaches in with a paw, touching something inside. "why
doesn't it like you?"
Andromeda whispers to Kainudy, "Michael thinks he's a spy of some sort. He crashed here recently. I get odd vibes from him. He wavers from nice to devious."
Kainudy waggles her ears and snickers, knowing what the Chirr'T'Thar might make of a request for 'contact'.
Andromeda purrs, "Our what? Oh, you mean the council of elders, or the local clan leader? Let him in Simtra, I like facing people when I'm talking to them."
> Once contact is made with the leathery surface, gravity seems to
invert itself for WolfSinger, and he falls up into the cockpit. "I think
it is jealous," says the blob.
Simtra opens the door fully and lets Devereaux in, "Ok Andromeda"
>WolfSinger acks!! as he "falls" inside the creature's cockpit.
He ewws a little to himslef. "Jealous of what?"
> "I'm cuter," says the blob, just as the canopy closes and leaves
WolfSinger in darkness.
Devereaux nods, and steps past the fox. He heads directly for the room with Andromeda... and Kainudy.
Kainudy gives the stranger her usual suspicious look.
Simtra humfs and does not like being ignored.
Devereaux steps through the doorway into the room, and stops cold as his gaze falls on Kainudy. His steely eyes widen for an instant, then narrow, before just as quickly going back to normal, his expression one of profound unconcern.
>WolfSinger acks!! panicking a bit in the darkness. He feels around
with his paws.
Anyone sensitive to 'vibes' will pick up a sense of profound startlement from Devereaux, the equivalent of a thorough mental 'What The F?", followed by a burst of suspicion, concern, and even paranoia, before -something- snaps into place, and Devereaux's mental presence vanishes completely, as if it had never been anywhere near the house.
> Tentacles secure WolfSinger's probing paws, and pull him flat against
the leathery 'tongue', which extrudes two paddle-like pseudopods
that press against the wolf's temples.
Andromeda's go back, picking up some of the emotional response. She tends to distrust folks who repress their emotions so much.
Kainudy grins, "Hello there.. first time you've seen a dragon?"
Simtra closes the door and walks back into the room to take a seat next to the fireplace again.
Andromeda's tail teases Simtra's to cheer him up.
Devereaux says coolly, as if nothing were wrong, "Ah, Andromeda, good to find a familiar face here. And I assume this is a friend? He looks to Kainudy with an amiable nod, but his gaze is appraising as it sweeps along her form. "A dracoform, impressive. Are you representative of a local space species?"
Kainudy says, "Nope. Extrauniversal one, actually. Passing through on business."
Devereaux says, "Well... one so much like the dragons of my race's myth, yes. There are a few reptilian races in known space with various similarities, but nothing that fits the bill like you do." He steps forward and nods again. "A pleasure to meet you. the name's Devereaux.""
Devereaux nods. "I can understand that. I'm not exactly from around here myself. And I'm looking for passage back, since my..." He looks to Andromeda, "...vessel is scrap by now."
>WolfSinger barks, "okay... some sort of neural link, I would assume..."
Simtra smiles back to Andromeda cheered up a bit and finishes eating his meal.
> A moment after contact, the wolf's senses get rerouted.. until
he's feeling and seeing things from the shuttle's viewpoint. And what
a viewpoint! The thing seems to see in every direction at once, in various
wavelengths, and has a few other senses that just don't seem to translate
well.. such as being able to taste inertia.
Devereaux mutters under his breath, "Slag-sucking X'Chakk..."
>"wow.... this is weird.... Wonder where Kai got this thing?" he
mumbles to himself.
Andromeda purrs, "Well, yes, we've started salvaging your ship, but there is such a backlog with all the invader vessel remains to deal with first. So, what do you want?"
Devereaux's eyebrows rise slightly. "Invaders? Had an attempt on your planet, have you?"
Andromeda nods, "Here and Tharhome." She frowns at the memory.
Kainudy asks Andromeda, "You ran into this spook in the company of the Invaders?"
Devereaux says thoughtfully, "Tharhome. The homeworld, i take it?"
>WolfSinger thinks, "okay.... so Kai wants me to make it happy....
is it hungry? does it want it's mommy?
Devereaux's gaze swivels smoothly to Kainudy at being referred to as a 'spook', the effect similar to a tracking gun turret.
> After a few more heartbeats, WolfSinger's motor cortex is mapped
to the shuttle's, so that he can control it as if it were his own body.
There doesn't seem to be much emotional feedback from the shuttle itself
though.
Andromeda nods to Devereaux and shakes her head to Kainudy, "Nope, his ship and an some other ship appeared through an dimensional rift. His ship crashed.
Kainudy says, "Ahh.. so is there any actual evidence to back up his claims?"
Andromeda's whiskers and tail tip twitch, and looks at Devereaux, "What claims are you making?"
Devereaux snorts. "You mean the logs from the orbital stations that I picked up before the Hammer's drive caught a chunk of X'Chakk hull-chitin?
Devereaux says, "That's what I came to your embassy for, to present myself."
Simtra finishes eating and tries to comprehend what is being discussed.
Kainudy narrows her eyes suddenly, "Who are these X'Chakk?"
Devereaux says, "I figure your people don't want an unknown like myself roaming a barely-settled colony world."
>WolfSinger thinks, "and if it's hungry, what does it eat?
Andromeda is confused, and wonders how any of this ever makes any sense to her brother. After a moment of thinking, she figures her brother is just as confused, but fakes it. "I guess I don't quite understand what you want?"
Devereaux says, "X'Chakk, they're... well, by now they should be an official enemy of my nation. A militaristic, aggressive insect empire. The X'Chakk Dominance."
>I don't have nutritional deficits at this time, is the shuttle's
reply to WolfSinger's thought.
Devereaux lifts a hand high above his head. "Consider, oh, a 7 foot cross between a praying mantis and a wasp."
>WolfSinger barks, "I know nothing of your kind... how do make you
happy?"
"Sounds cuddly," the dragon remarks, "How'd you generate a dimensional rift?"
Devereaux says, "Well..."
Devereaux thinks fast.
Devereaux says, "Their Plasma Turbine suffered a tragic failure shortly after they captured me, which catapulted both ships... here. Wherever here is. I guess this is what happens to ships that vanish in N-Space."
> I like being happy. Happiness is mother's womb and nipple. Happiness
is movement. Happiness is seeing things. Happiness is not sadness.
Kainudy says, "If you were captured, why were you still on your own ship?"
Andromeda nods, "Along with the spatial instability of this region, you get a lot of things like that. Shame we can't understand our gate better. All it says about your point of origin is "90 degrees offset from reality". That's weird enough to kill the first mother's libido."
Devereaux says, "Well, when their drive started to go up, my captors suddenly had more important things to worry about than a weak human prisoner. i got back aboard my ship and broke away before I got caught in the fireball."
>WolfSinger barks, "Well, I don't think I can be your mother, but
movement and seeing things I think I can do...."
Andromeda flicks her ears, noting once again Devereaux isn't being totally honest. Seems to be S.O.P. for him.
>WolfSinger starts to "walk" off in a random direction. he doesn't
know much about this planet, so we'll both go exploring.
> The shuttle moves accordingly, somehow having righted itself along
the way. Each 'step' takes it a few hundred meters in that direction.
Kainudy says, "There was a battle going on at the same time then?"
The dragon asides to the felitaur, "He's from a sibling universe if you registered a perpendicular phase."
Devereaux says, "No. I'm a singleship explorer pilot for the FarRim Explorer Corps. *points to the symbols on his shipsuit breast* I was off course, and stumbled across a X'Chakk naval outpost."
Andromeda ohs and makes a note to tell Copernicus that. Explains why tracking things has been so hard.
Devereaux rubs his chin. "Are you certain? The Turbine rupture could have simply punched a cross-continuum hyperspatial anomaly and shunted our masses into their spatial equivalents on this dimensional stratum."
>WolfSinger hmmmms, and sees one of the far continents, and heads
for it.
Kainudy hmms. "Somehow, you don't strike me as someone incompetent enough to get lost and captured, and yet still manage to escape after sabotaging your captors' vessel."
Devereaux says, "Hey, space is a big place, by definition. And who said anything about sabotage?"
Kainudy says, "You knew exactly what was wrong with their ship. How could you know that if you hadn't caused it?"
Devereaux watches Kainudy pleasantly. Threat Assessment: Moderate to Severe.
Simtra gets up for a bit to throws another log onto the fire to build it up again and sits back down in front of the fireplace.
Devereaux says, "In 140 years of space travel, you make note of the things that go very wrong. Besides, my ship's sensors registered the failure."
Andromeda curls a wing around Simtra and snuggles, letting the two paranoids go at it.
Simtra hmmms and enjoys the warmth from the fire and Andromeda.
Devereaux subvocalizes to Bob, "I want a full cross-spectrum scan of this critter, physical and prospective Talents. It knows FAR too much."
> The shuttle gains a bit of altitude as it heads for WolfSinger's
target, along with the feeling of virtual wings spreading out from the
body.
Bob returns, "Acknowledge, Initiating."
Kainudy says, "140 years? And yet you got captured, without a fight apparently, if your ships sensors where still in good working order. How'd they get the drop on you? What exactly where you looking for out there?"
>WolfSinger soars around for a bit, getting a nice view of a mountain
range. "would you like to go look for Kai?
Andromeda whispers to Simtra, "They're two of a kind, aren't they?"
> Are you happy? queries the shuttle.
>WolfSinger barks, "this is quite relaxing. I've never actually
felt like I was the one doing the flying before."
Simtra smiles and whispers back to Andromeda, "Ya, I just wish I was able to understand a little bit of what they were saying."
Devereaux's eyes narrow just slightly, his attitude cooling considerably. "I don't believe I am required to answer those question." He turns to Andromeda, and smiles pleasantly. "Now, is there any way to get in touch with someone representing the, ah, people of your race?"
>You are a pilot of machines?
>WolfSinger barks, "yes... we call them shuttles."
Andromeda flicks an ear, "Well, I guess till Copernicus gets back, I am, in a way. What do you need?"
Kainudy smirks, and goes back to taking up space in front of the fireplace.
Devereaux says, "I need to establish where i fit into the scheme of things around here."
>I have seen mechanical shuttles. They would not talk to me, even
when I sang to them.
Kainudy chuckles..
>WolfSinger barks, "well.... that's because they are not alive as
you are."
Kainudy says, "In other words, he needs to know who to infiltrate, Andromeda."
Simtra erps has the fire is blocked and snugs a bit closer to Andromeda wings.
Andromeda blinks to Kainudy, "Is that what they call love making?"
Devereaux's gaze snaps back to Kainudy. "If you have something to say, say it. Jettison the innuendos and lets get a clear beam here."
>Being inanimate is no excuse for rudeness, is the shuttle's
reply, as it shows WolfSinger how to telescope its vision.
Devereaux looks back to Andromeda, patience worn thin. "What??"
Kainudy says, "It's screwing of a kind, yes."
Andromeda shrugs, "Neither of you two (pointing to Devereaux and Kainudy) makes any sense. You're both paranoid.
>WolfSinger barks, "they have no mind or will of their own.... they
*CAN'T* reply."
The dragon grins at Devereaux, "Out in the open? Okay. I think you're a spy. You're far too comfortable and arrogant for a shipwrecked prospector. You've got a mission to complete, and you want to get back to it any way you can. That's the only reason I don't suspect you of being sent to spy on us."
Devereaux closes his eyes for a moment, calming himself, and looks at Kainudy, but addresses Andromeda. "Your friend definitely isn't part of the diplomatic corps, is she? Accusing foreign nationals of espionage is hardly promoting interstellar friendship, is it?"
Devereaux says coldly and quietly, "How do you know all of that?"
Kainudy says, "And you're from a bureaucracy to boot, I'll wager."
Andromeda settles back with Simtra and has this sudden urge for popcorn, "We don't have a diplomatic corp. Diplomacy makes very little sense to me. Or to my brother, though he's supposedly a diplomat."
>WolfSinger barks, "do you have a name?"
Devereaux subvocalizes, "Response Level 4, stand by."
>No, do I need one? ask the creature.
Andromeda flicks her ears, "Why don't you both calm down? I still don't understand why you are here Devereaux."
>WolfSinger barks, "well.... ::he thinks for a moment:: not really.
Are there more of your kind?""
Devereaux says, "Neither am i, any more. I suppose help from your government won't be forthcoming, leaving a poor shipwrecked starfarer to fend for himself.""
Devereaux says, "And to answer your question, dracoform, I am from a democracy. And I still want to know just how you arrive at your conclusions about me."
Andromeda frowns, "If you'd just SAY what is on your mind, we could get a lot farther faster. As for the money for your salvaged ship, we can give that to you now. But what help are you looking for?"
>There are twelve thousand three hundred forty two of us within
Kraken
Devereaux says, "All right. I'm looking for transport off of this planet, preferably a replacement vessel of some kind, and any assistance returning to my sector that your people would care to give."
Kainudy smiles, "Just experience with humanoids."
Andromeda purrs, "Transport to where? We've had no luck pinpointing down your universe of origin."
Devereaux mmmhmmms at Kainudy.
>WolfSinger barks, "oh..... where is Kraken? I have not heard
of it...."
Devereaux says, "I want a ship."
Devereaux says, "I want spacegoing capability."
Devereaux says, "Perhaps if i could offer some sort of... service to your race?"
Andromeda flicks her ears, "Well, we don't just hand those out Devereaux. If there is a place you want to go, we can probably get you there, assuming we can find the coordinates. But we're not going to just hand over a ship to you. What kind of service can you provide in exchange for a ship?"
>Kraken is the stelya-rhyan which grew me. Now another part
of the vision field telescopes, focusing on a blurry smear of light
that might be a star, but the atmospheric distortion and daylight make
it hard to tell.
Devereaux decides that if their race is as loosely organized as is implied, dealing with them will be MUCH simpler than he first expected.
Devereaux glances at Kainudy. "I have certain talents."
Kainudy grins back, "Besides getting captured and crashing?"
>WolfSinger barks, "Shall we go look for Kainudy now? She probably
misses you."
Devereaux says, "Fine, we'll get it all out in open atmosphere."
>Kainudy is in the population center called Haven. She wished
for me to find a roost at the island where the Chirr'T'Thar are living.
Andromeda sighs as those two go at it again, "Simtra, know any games?"
Devereaux says, "I was performing a deep reconnaissance of X'Chakk Staging Area B-13, when my vessel was intercepted and captured by one of their patrol destroyers. Subduing the boarding team, i penetrated their security, sabotaged the Plasma Turbine unit, and returned to my vessel. but i didn't disengage fast enough and got dragged here."
Kainudy nods, "Okay. That sounds more reasonable. Thanks." The dragon makes a little nod of respect.
Simtra unwraps Andromeda's wing from around himself and stands up, "Yes, but I think I need to take care of a few things upstairs. If you would excuse me. I should get started."
Devereaux regards Kainudy calmly, "NSA Operative POD186, at your service."
>WolfSinger barks, "maybe we should talk to her... find out more
of what she wants for you."
Kainudy hmms, "Terran?"
Devereaux's eyes widen. "What? Yes! National Security Agency, United Systems of America."
Simtra heads up the stairs and closes the upstairs door behind to keep the noise down.
>WolfSinger starts to jog off toward Haven.
Kainudy hmms, and says to Andromeda, "I was mistaken before, he's not from a sibling, but a cousin universe."
Andromeda blinks, as Kainudy offers some hope, "So you know where to send him then?"
Devereaux says, "Yes, do you?"
Devereaux says, "And better yet, how to get a genuine First Contact team back here?"
Devereaux says, "I'm not cut out for this, I'm a security agent, not an ambassador."
Kainudy glances at the ceiling for a bit, then says, "I know what family of universes he comes from.. but there are thousands of siblings in it. The stelya-rhyan have maybe sampled a dozen of them."
Devereaux says, "Stelya-Rhyan?"
Devereaux says, "Your race?"
>The harbor is the first feature of the city that comes into view,
then the gridwork of the streets and eventually the bustle of people
moving around on various errands..
Kainudy says, "No.. a subrace I helped create."
Devereaux says, "Ahhh, a genetic engineer to boot."
Devereaux says, "Impressive."
Kainudy says, "Travel between siblings is much easier than between cousins.. and more extended relations need physical linkages."
Devereaux says dryly, "You make dimensional travel sound like incestuous sex."
>WolfSinger tries to remember where that house is: he's only been
there a couple times, and it all looks different from above.
Kainudy grins, "The metaphor isn't too far off."
Andromeda obviously doesn't understand Devereaux's simile, "How so?"
Devereaux says, "They never couched it in those terms during my Theoretical Dimensional Physics instruction."
Devereaux says with faint distaste, "Really..."
> Picking up on WolfSinger's desire, the shuttle heads down towards
the house where it dropped off Kainudy and Simtra earlier.
Kainudy says, "That's because mathameticians never get laid."
Devereaux bites back a giggle. "Good thing I'm no mathematician."
Kainudy doesn't comment on that.. Devereaux will find out soon enough what not to mention around the Chirr'T'Thar.
Andromeda is from a race that doesn't use too much innuendo, or phrases to say what you want to say without saying it. They're very straightforward. And Andromeda has been more sheltered than her brother, Copernicus, so she purrs, "Laid? Is he an egg?"
>WolfSinger 'peeks' in through a window.
>Do you wish to be let out here? the shuttle asks its pilot.
>WolfSinger barks, "yep. as good a place as any"
Kainudy says, "No, but mathematicians can sometimes be described as egg-headed for some reason. Human terminology is full of interesting contradictions."
Devereaux is, unfortunately, unaware of all this about Andromeda's race. "Oh, no. it's a sexual reference."
Devereaux shrugs. "It's just a turn of speech. Hardly a human monopoly."
>Since the wolf brought the shuttle close to a second-story window,
the shuttle opens the canopy there and disengages the pilot interface.
Andromeda ponders this for a bit, "Oh, I guess laying an egg is an end result of mating for some races. Odd."
Devereaux says matter of factly, "Oh, it is."
Kainudy says, "Or of telling a joke badly."
Devereaux says, "Well... i certainly expected a much cooler reception when my actual job description was uncovered. Fortunately, I'm not one of those government-destabilizing types. I cross the borders and scan the straight drek on what our less friendly neighbors are up to.""
Devereaux grins wryly. "That's more of a bombing run."
Andromeda bats at the interpreter built into her armband. Must be fritzing out again.
Kainudy waves a hand, "Oh, don't worry about that Devereaux. If the Chirr'T'Thar tolerate me, they'll tolerate anybody."
>WolfSinger yips!! as he suddenly gets yanked back to his real senses.
Devereaux says, "Oh, speaking of which."
Devereaux says, "Your people need a crack pilot, Andromeda?"
> There's also something else.. WolfSinger is now wearing Simtra's
backpack.
Kainudy says, "Actually, they need a spy. Just don't realize it."
Devereaux says, "I'm your man."
Andromeda blinks at Kainudy, "We do?"
Kainudy rolls her eyes at Andromeda..
>WolfSinger barks, "ummmmm.... could you go down a bit lower so
I can get out safely?"
Andromeda's ears twitch as she hears a *thunk* on the roof, and some panicked voices outside, "Somethings up there. Odd, no alert on the security system."
Kainudy says, "What have I been harping on for the past few weeks, Andromeda? How else are you going to track down this weird crystal-brain-growing cult of vanishing sculptors?"
Andromeda blinks, "Oh, yeah, that. Hey, you need to talk to my brother when he gets back then."
Outside, the shuttle's nose dips slightly, and a thick bundle of tentacles lower WolfSinger to the ground.
Andromeda has risen to her feet, and pads to the door and opens it, and blinks, "Kai, your shuttle is here."
"Again?" the dragon asks. "See if it brought Simtra's pack. Or donuts."
Andromeda hrrrmfs, "It's your shuttle. You ask it."
Devereaux says, "Crystal brain?"
Devereaux sounds curious, but turns to look outside... from where he stands inside the room. "A biotech craft! Fascinating."
Kainudy nods to Devereaux, "A very suspicious one, too. Taking over people's brains and such."
Kainudy looks as well, "And that's WolfSinger. Wonder why he brought it back here?"
Devereaux nods, as he studies the craft, both physically and mentally. "It's sentient."
Devereaux says, "And friendly.""
Devereaux looks at his wristband. "New friend, Bob."
Kainudy says, "Be sort of silly to make it stupid and mean."
Andromeda nods, "Most of Kai's kids seem nice. Weird, but nice. ;)"
Bob says from Dev's wrist, "Hoo boy!"
Andromeda chuckles at Devereaux, "Bob?"
After depositing the wolf, the shuttle rises and extends it's claw-like legs to perch on the roof of the embassy.
Dev's wristband speaks again. "That's me!"
Kainudy peers at the wristband..
Devereaux holds the arm up and taps the band. "Bob, my sidekick (Partner!) partner."
Andromeda sighs, "Can your shuttle camouflage itself? The locals won't like it around."
Devereaux says, "OH, yeah, the locals don't like off worlders."
Andromeda purrs, "Well, they really don't like things exploding overhead, and I can't blame them, neither do I, but they place blame in odd ways."
Kainudy hmms, "I suppose it can. I'll go talk to it." The dragon steps outside, and flies up to the roof to talk to the shuttle.
Devereaux decides it is time to show off a bit. *BLINK* He makes his way across the roof to join Kainudy.
Devereaux simply vanishes from Andromeda's sight, literally in the blink of an eye.
The dragon doesn't notice Devereaux's arrival, and stands on her hind legs to press both hands against the side of the shuttle.
Andromeda hmmfs. Teleporters. She leads Wolfsinger inside and has him take Simtra's pack upstairs, where the fox is packing something.
Devereaux folds his arms and watches quietly, as Bob tells him needlessly, "Increased synaptic activity in both subjects, coinciding with a spike in quaron and deson levels."
Devereaux subvocalizes, "They're communicating." Bob responds, "I just SAID that."
The shuttle's insectoid black exterior changes to a sky-blue, and eventually to a more subtle blending to match the sky exactly. Only someone on the roof or flying overhead might notice it now, because of the shadow it still casts.
Devereaux, as will be demonstrated at some future point, is intimately familiar with such procedures.
Devereaux finally speaks quietly, "Nice vessel."
Kainudy pulls away from the shifting skin and turns to see Devereaux. "Oh, didn't hear you come up. Yes, it's one of the more intelligent shuttles I've known. I suspect the other stelya-rhyan have been making improvements to Kraken." She pats the invisible ship, "I'll fly it back to Nimby later, and try to think up a good name for it."
Devereaux says, "Kraken? The, ah..." He grins, "...mother ship?""
Devereaux steps forward, beside kainudy, and slowly raises a hand towards the shuttle's flank, to give it or Kainudy ample time to stop him if necessary.
Kainudy says, "You could call her that. Andromeda can probably describe her to you better than I can."
The shuttle's skin is warm to the touch, and not at all the hard surface it first resembled.
Devereaux pats the skin appreciatively, smiling a kind, warm smile that is completely at odds with the aloof, wary face he presented earlier. "She seems like a good ship. So she doesn't have a name yet?"
Devereaux says, "Is she female, at that?""
Kainudy hmms, "I'm not sure the shuttles have genders. Kraken is female though, the first female of her race. So I suppose her shuttles would be daughters by default."
Devereaux nods. "I take it a companion for Kraken is in the works?
Kainudy says, "Oh, Kraken is over 1200 years old now.. she's had lots of children."
Devereaux runs his hand in a gentle circle over the ship's surface, and nods.
Devereaux says, "So the race is expanding."
Kainudy nods, "There must be over a hundred of them by now. Maybe more, I've never really asked."
Devereaux nods and says firmly, "Good. I like seeing a quality gengineered race get off and running."
Devereaux says, "Spacefaring biotech is cutting edge for my race, but the eugenics and genetic optimization are pretty old hat.""
Andromeda pads outside and hears that, "Oh really? Well, thank you, I guess."
Kainudy says, "I'm not too familiar with mechanical technologies. Andromeda here trusts her life to them though."
Devereaux looks at Andromeda, "Oh, yeah, your people are genetic constructs too. One could almost forget. Heh, I'm not exactly stock equipment, myself."
Devereaux nods. "We've gone quite a ways with mechanical technology. It's good solid stuff."
Devereaux grins.
Andromeda blinks at Kainudy as she hops up onto the roof. "Oh c'mon. Failure rates on our equipment are super low."
Devereaux says, "So... your race is almost predominantly biotechnology based?"
Devereaux addresses Kainudy.
Andromeda pats the shuttle playfully, seeming to pick out it's location easily.
Kainudy blinks at the human, "We don't have any technology, really. No tools, no written language, no art."
Devereaux blinks back blankly. "That... is a job for the xenosociology boys to puzzle out. I'm not even going to ASK how you got as far as you did."
Devereaux says, "Seems like a big fat contradiction in terms to me, but I'm hardly an expert, so i won't even try to puzzle it out."
Kainudy says, "We didn't, actually, as a race. Just a few individuals."
Kainudy says, "I was born on Terra.. well, one of them anyway. We had to have a way to transplant our race to make room for humans, so we came up with one."
Devereaux says, "Sounds like a discussion for a long free evening, one of these nights. I'd love to hear more."
Devereaux chuckles and nods. "Yeah, we humans are pretty tenacious... and in our early days we were pretty ruthless with anything that might threaten us. Well, we still are, but we TRY to understand it and compromise first, on the whole."
Kainudy nods, "Yes, we'll have to swap tales sometime. I'm glad we were able to create the stelya-rhyan in time."
Devereaux says, "I'd love to."
Kainudy says, "If you visit Tharhome sometime, maybe I can arrange for a trip to Kraken for you. Give you a taste of home."
Devereaux says, "And I hope we can establish relations all around, I know my government would be very interested in making contact."
Devereaux nods. "It'll be good to run across something, anything, Terran."
Kainudy says, "Ah.. my race doesn't contact other civilizations yet. Still working on one of their own. The Stelya-rhyan might be interested, but they tend to avoid technological societies for some reason."
Kainudy grins, "Why, even the Chirr'T'Thar lobbed a missile at Kraken when they first met her."
Devereaux chuckles and spreads his hands. "Well, we're definitely technological... but, well, we're branching out nicely. I am sure at some point amicable and mutually-beneficial relations can be established."
Devereaux says, "Shame on them."
Kainudy says, "Perhaps. There might be something you have in common with each other."
Bob has been busy all this time quietly scanning and analyzing the shuttle, out of curiosity as much as anything else.
Kainudy says, "I've never met a human or stelya-rhyan that didn't like to explore."
Devereaux says, "that's me to the core."
Devereaux says, "The US is ever interested in pushing back the boundaries of the unknown."
Kainudy eyes the street below. "I think all of us standing on the roof like this is drawing almost as much attention as the shuttle did."
Andromeda nods, "Exploring new regions is fun. We lobbed it past her bow, not at her Kai. You did bring this 8 mile long thing into our system without warning. ;)"
Devereaux says, "A warning shot, understandable... but we'd try a hail first."
Kainudy says, "Hey, I wasn't piloting it! And you're the ones with the record for dropping big things on folks by surprise."
Andromeda chuckles, "It's not easy hailing a ship without a radio. ;)"
Devereaux tsks. "A shameful oversight."
Devereaux says, "And what did they drop? A space station?"
Andromeda mumbles something in answer to Devereaux's question.
Andromeda hops down to the ground.
Kainudy starts heading down the side of the building, "No. A solar system."
From the roof. "A WHAT?"
Andromeda purrs, "Tharhome is our homeworld. This galaxy is not our home galaxy."
Andromeda purrs, "Talk to my brother. It's his fault."
From the roof. "A WHAT?"
*BLINK* And Devereaux is standing in the street, hands on hips, looking up at the descending dragon. "They dropped a WHAT?"
Devereaux looks at Andromeda. "Now THAT'S a thorny logistics problem."
Kainudy reaches the street. "Their whole solar system. Almost right on my head, too.
Andromeda shrugs, "My brother saved us, but got us displaced, big time. A bit of advice, whether or not you believe in magic, and we basically don't....don't mess with it."
Devereaux hmmms, "....magic...."