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 eryn had once said
that Chiana got them into more trouble than any of the rest onboard
Moya. John, standing down at the green edge of the brush on the
commerce planet called Timora, wished heartily that Chiana hadn't
chosen this day to substantiate the truth of Aeryn's
words.
Moya's
irriscident fluid stores were once again running low and Rygel and
Aeryn were currently in the central part of the city negotiating a
very big trade. To be more exact, Rygel was negotiating and Aeryn
was his back up in case the negotiations turned sour. D'argo had not
accompanied them on this trip because Timora was a very green and
flourishing planet and D'argo's nose was allergic to the pollen of
its green and flourishing vegetation. In spite of this fact, the
Luxan warrior would have insisted on coming down until it was
pointed out to him that to the native inhabitants of Timora a sneeze
was considered a
very grave insult. So grievious that it was punishable by death.
Could he keep from sneezing? Relunctantly, D'argo had agreed to stay
aboard Moya and oversee things with Pilot while the rest split into
groups and boarded the Prowler and a transport pod.
Zhaan had
decided to join the planetside venture when Moya's scans revealed to
her the splendid variety of flora on Timora's surface. Throughout
the cities of the planet, signs dotted the landscape whereever there
was any sign of flora which read, in effect, "Keep off the grass.
Violators will be censured." It seemed Timorans had also designated
large areas of their planet exclusively for specific wild flora and
fauna and these areas were well marked. In such areas, travel was
restricted and no structures were allowed to be built within those
specific boundaries. The Delvian wished to take a closer look at
this culture which had such a high regard for plant life and absorb
herself in it. Microts after the Prowler and the transport had
landed side by side in the spaceport, Zhaan had pulled her dark
cloak around her shoulders and then disappeared into the streams of
arriving travelers headed in the general direction of a shining
glass building that resembled a huge greenhouse.
All of this
meant the necessary task of grocery shopping fell into the hands of
Crichton and Chiana. And Aeryn had told him in no uncertain terms
that the last inventory check Pilot had run with DRDs had shown that
food stores would soon be running dangerously low so he better not
make a muddle of this chore.
They had been
standing in a huge square located just outside the spaceport and the
usual crowded bustle and din of a commerce planet filled the
atmosphere. The black earth of the beaten paths worn by hundreds of
footfalls was broken up by thin rectangular strips of green and
these greens appeared where brightly colored rails warned travelers
away from setting foot on the vegetation.
"Don't worry
about it," John had said to Aeryn, ticking off his list on fingers
as he spoke. "All I have to do is secure food on a strange planet
with almost nothing to pay for it, plus make sure Chi doesn't get
sticky fingers, trample on the daisies or end up insulting anybody.
How hard can that be?"
Aeryn gave him
that stare in which she blinked very quickly to control her temper
and keep back what she was thinking. It must have been something she
had learned to do from her Peacekeeper life and something she had
kept doing when his oddities were too bizarre, too time consuming to
comment upon. She kept on the subject and said severely, "We may
have to be on this planet several days so remember to pay the
innkeeper and watch Chiana. Alright?"
John smiled.
She didn't have to say it. The words rung out as clear as a bell in
her tone of voice. Do your duty. Keep out of trouble and keep Chiana
out of trouble because I won't be able to watch you both every
minute. I'm counting on you. Can you handle that, John?
"Alright," he
said, still smiling at her. He, too, kept his thoughts to himself.
Yes, I can handle that, Aeryn.
A loud whistle
blew from a tall tower in the distance.
Rygel zigzagged
his hover throne sled over to them, coming away from where he had
been arguing with Chiana over who would be the most skilled at
getting a bargain. "The trading is about to begin. We better go and
put in our bid now," he announced.
Aeryn nodded.
She gave John a parting look then turned and followed Rygel out of
the square headed towards the high tower.
John pulled his
comm closer to his face. "Hey, Pilot. You hear me?"
Pilot's
composed voice crackled over John's comm. "Yes, Commander Crichton,
your signal is transmitting at audible levels."
"You been
monitoring communications on this world?"
"All that are
on open channels, yes. You will be happy to know Moya and I have
discovered that while Peacekeepers do stop here on occasion, there
is presently no Peacekeeper presence in this system nor has there
been for quite some time."
"That's good.
What else?"
Pilot seemed
perplexed by the question. "What else do you want to
know?"
"Gimme the
dirt, Pilot. The who's who and what's what around here."
John could
almost see Pilot's huge eyes rolling in confusion at the question as
the being who spent his life connected to the Leviathan starship
responded, "I believe that you are in a better position to obtain
dirt than I am, Commander."
John chortled
and shook his head. "Maybe you're right. Crichton out."
He looked about
and was dismayed to find that Chiana seemed to have struck up a
conversation with a very unsavory-looking character. It was wearing
a huge black hood and John could only catch the faint glitter of its
eyes.
John stepped
closer to catch the words of their conversation.
"So, what's a
girl supposed to do to protect herself around here?" Chiana was
asking.
"Beware the Tin
Mons. Beware the dark," hissed the creature while Chiana listened
with rapt attention.
"The Tin Mons?"
Chiana asked, intrigued as one listening to a scary story. "What do
I have to fear from them?"
"Fear innocent
ones. Fear deceptive appearances." The hood slipped back a little,
revealing the fiery red-colored, scaly reptilian face of the speaker
and the dark slitted pupils of his yellow eyes.
The guy's a
snake, John thought with alarm. He grabbed China's arm and broke in,
"Come along, Pip. No time to chit chat. Let's get around this world
and back to Moya ASAP."
"Are you
calling me a sap?" Chiana had allowed herself to be pulled away but
now stopped in the middle of the square.
"No. No, I'm
not and I'm not in the mood to explain it to you so if you want to
keep eatin' just drop it and let's just go, okay?" He released her
arm, knowing she would resent being ordered around and the best way
to get her to cooperate would be to make her think it was her own
decision.
Chiana
considered this briefly. "Okay," she said with a shrug of her
shoulders and fell into walking beside him. "I want to eat but we
can't do that unless we find out where there's food which is why
I--"
John was struck
by a sudden thought and stopped in his tracks. "Wait a
minute!"
"What?" Chiana
jumped at the interruption, swinging her arms out at her side to
keep from falling over in surprise at his exclamation. "I didn't do
anything! I swear I didn't!"
For once, John
wasn't worried about anything she'd done or hadn't done. He
chuckled. "Am I an idiot or what? Do you think we should just go
waltzing away from the transport pod and the Prowler leaving them
totally unprotected?"
Chiana giggled.
She leapt atop an iron railing that ran along the stone walkway they
now traversed and sat there for a moment. "You're not going to trick
me into staying behind with that line. Besides, Aeryn saw to it that
no one would mess with her precious Prowler or the transport pod for
that matter. You didn't think she would have just left for the
negotiations without thinking about that, did you?"
John counted to
ten, then blew out a gust of air. He blinked his blue eyes and said,
edgily, "I don't know. Maybe somebody was too busy talkin'
with Sir Hiss about tin men and forgot to tell me about it." Even
after living over a cycle in the Uncharted Territories, John still
found that his shipmates forgot to tell him things that needed an
explanation if he didn't first recognize the need to ask.
Chiana shrugged
and hopped down from the rail, much to John's relief, for images had
flashed through his mind of her falling into the plants that were
growing up behind it. "You were off answering nature's call and
never asked." She started to skip ahead of him on the walkway as
they began moving forward again.
"Oh," John
remarked. His irritation gave way to curiousity. "What did she
do?"
Chiana was about to tell him when her nose began to work. She
tilted her head and turned around. "Do you smell something strange?"
Chiana asked.
"Yeah, all the time. On Moya. Planetside. Nothing smells right
anymore," John started to ramble on but the Nebari girl shook his
arm and pulled both him and his speech to a halt.
"No, take a deep breath," Chiana said. "It smells good!"
Half-heartedly, John closed his eyes and took a deep breath. A
delicate and delicious odor filled his nostrils. It reminded him of
citrus fruit mixed with a hint of vanilla and a dash of cinnamon.
"Yeah--hey, if it tastes as good as it smells lets add that to our
shopping bag."
Chiana tapped him hard. He opened his eyes. She shrugged
impatiently at him. "Well, what are you waitin' for. It's comin'
from--"
He stopped her. "Oh, wait. Don't tell me." He loved making things
into games. Life in space, as hard as it was to believe, could get
monotonous sometimes. He squinted and sniffed. Then, he opened his
eyes and pointed. "That way."
Chiana nodded. "Yeah, Crichton but how did you..."
John grinned. "Simple. A technique a friend of mine taught me.
Just follow your nose!"
Several microts later, John wished his nose hadn't been so
accurate. Chiana and the vendor of the delicious smelling fruit
(which looked as good as it smelled) were bargaining like there was
no tomorrow and bickering with tongues that flew so rapidly that it
was impossible for him to get a word in edgewise.
Chiana tilted her head upwards to meet the eyes of the vendor.
"Why don't you lower your price?"
"I will not lower my price. Do not ask that again," growled the
vendor for the ninth time.
"Fine, fine. Well, why don't you increase the amount you'd give
us. Give us more? We could always use more," Chiana said in her most
persuasive voice.
The vendor was immune to her persuasion. "If you don't like the
price," replied the vendor, roughly. "Go pick your own!"
John wasn't too thrilled at seeing the vendor was becoming
increasingly irritated. It didn't help matters either that the
vendor had huge yellow eyes, brownish grey skin, and a huge mouth
and nozzle that reminded him too much of a raptor. Oh why, oh why
did it seem that the ironic twists of the Uncharted Territories
included a society that revered plants but looked like they'd been
plucked straight from Jurassic Park?
"Pick our own! Well we--" Chiana replied, changing thoughts in
mid-sentence. "What do you take us for? If folks can pick their
own--why bother trading for them--with you?"
The vendor began to roar violently and John thought the fellow
was going into a fit of rage but then realized that the strange
convulsions of his throat were merely laughter. "The fruit of the
Kyden grows only in the Zone of the Forbidden on bushes near the
Caves of the Forgotten Sun."
"Then, how did you get it?" Chiana demanded.
"Whoa! Whoa! Hang on," John broke in at last. He couldn't see
this conversation going any farther without involving something
illegal or at least that spelled trouble. Surprisingly, Chiana
seemed to agree with him for she curbed her interest and raised no
objection when John suggested they go on to the next group of
vendors.
The street market closed before they struck upon anything edible
that could be secured in large enough amounts to replenish the
depleted supplies and it was time to head to their lodgings for the
night. "Well, Pip," said John, turning in the direction of the inn.
"I guess we better..." John trailed off as he realized he was
speaking to the thin air.
Chiana was no longer in sight.
John sighed. He did a quick search of the local area but no pale
Nebari showed herself. He expanded his search, retracing some of the
steps they had taken during the day, and finally resorted to asking
some loiterers in the market if they had seen a girl of Chiana's
description pass by and, if so, which direction had she gone.
The few responses he did get to his inquiries were brief and
sketchy but he finally figured out that the wayward Nebari had
headed in the direction of a zone that was generally forbidden to
the public.
Which could only mean one thing.
Aeryn had once said that Chiana got them into more trouble than
any of the rest of the others onboard Moya. John, standing down at
the green edge of the brush on the commerce planet called Timora,
wished heartily that Chiana hadn't chosen this day to substantiate
the truth of Aeryn's words.
Chiana had gone to the Caves of the Forgotten Sun located inside
the Forbidden Zone to pick fruit!
Upon tracing Chiana's steps, John discovered that even the
sentries he had seen posted near the guard railings of other
restricted areas were absent from this forbidden zone. There was no
reason to guard it for it seemed everyone feared to tread these
grounds. In fact, shunned them like the plague for the road was
deserted and not even an occasional passerby was in sight.
The grasses, ferns, trees and bushes all held the unblemished
beauty of the untouched wilderness and John mildly wondered why the
zone had been forbidden. Tourists would certainly have paid to see
this view and it was unlike the people of a commerce planet to pass
up an opportunity to make a profit.
Not faraway a rocky formation broke through the canopy of trees
and vegetation.
Seems like the best place to put a cave, John thought. He cupped
his hands and began to call for Chiana, as he headed through the
trees towards the formation.
"Pip! Pip! Are ya there?" His voice echoed through the treetops
and he started to get the creepy feeling that he wasn't alone. He
pushed the feeling aside and blustered onwards. "Chiana, if you're
hiding I suggest that you--"
There was a sound of snapping twigs behind him. John spun around,
apprehensively.
Then, his shoulders relaxed and he smiled. "Why, hello there,
little one."
Sitting on its haunches, looking up at him, was a small furry
creature. It reminded John of a prairie dog, but its tail was more
like a beaver's. Its little nose twitched like a rabbit's and its
black liquid, doe-like eyes watched him innocently.
But John had learned not to take anything for granted in the
Uncharted Territories. This creature could be an animal or it could
be some kind of sentient being asking for his tourist pass. "I um,
just came here lookin' for a friend of mine. You seen her?"
The rodent-like creature scratched its pouch-like cheek with one
of its hindlegs and then chattered like a squirrel.
That pretty much settled the question for John. He turned his
back on the creature to continue his search for Chiana.
"CRICHTON! LOOK OUT!" The screaming voice came from above his
head and he looked upwards. It was unmistakably Chiana's.
"Hey, Pip! What are ya doin' up--" His question was never
finished for a ferocious snarl came from behind him. Without even
bothering to look back and with visions of M'Lee's transformation
running through his mind, he ran. Ran fast! And while he was
running, he managed to shout. "Chiana! Help! Get
heeeeeeelllllp!"
He had the fleeting impression that Chiana had taken off through
the treetops much in the same manner that Tarzan employed, and only
hoped that she was endeavoring to carry out his instructions.
He gave into the temptation to look back over his shoulder and
the sight that met his eyes was anything but helpful.
He recalled and understood too late the words the black-hooded
storyteller had spoken to Chiana in the square.
Fear innocent ones. Fear deceptive appearances.
That guy hadn't been talking about tin men. Beware the Tin
Mon.
The Tiny Monsters.
Looking back he saw snarling lips and fangs and in that instant
his foot was caught under a jutting tree root and all he could see
then was the dirt in his eyes.
Help!" he yelped, frantically struggling to his feet. But he was
too slow. It felt like a hundred tiny knives were piercing his skin
and John howled in pain, hopping up and down. The extra weight of
the malevolent rodent gripping his leg threw him off balance. He
fell roughly back to the dirt-packed ground, sending shivers of pain
up his shoulder where the impact was felt the hardest.
In the next instant, Aeryn was there and John's heart swelled
with hope. She would know what to do.
He was surprised by what she did.
She stood several paces away from him and fired into the air.
John saw black and tan flashes out of the corners of his eyes,
darting away from him and he gasped in surprise. He hadn't felt them
circling around him like vultures. He wondered how long it would
have been before the tight circle closed and they had pounced upon
him to tear him to shreds and end his existence.
Aeryn ran up to him. "We have to get out of here. Now!"
John's pained expression agreed but first he pointed down at the
beast which still was tearing at his leg. He flailed helplessly in
an attempt to throw it off.
Aeryn aimed her sights at the animal but then changed her mind.
She struck the Tin Mon with the butt of her weapon. The hard blow
detached its hold of John's leg but some of his flesh still clung to
its teeth. Bloodthirsty and battle fervored, the dazed rodent now
charged towards Aeryn but this time all hesitation to shoot had
evaporated and she pulled the trigger. Her tiny attacker crumpled to
the ground and moved no more.
John held his leg to his chest, cradling the injury. His wound
was bleeding profusely. He could only stare at it, transfixedly.
"John!" Aeryn slapped his shoulder and he realized she had been
calling him several times before he had heard her. The world seemed
to be fading in and out. "Stay awake!" Aeryn's voice pierced through
the fuzzy feeling that had gathered in his brain.
He struggled to keep his eyes open. Her face came into focus.
"Crichton! It'll be dark soon. Get up!"
John sat up, shaking his head. Aeryn helped him to his feet.
"Aeryn...I don't think I--"
"Yes, you can!" Aeryn snapped. "Lean on me. Those creatures are
cowards during the day, but at night they band together."
"How did you find me?
"You weren't at the inn, so I was out searching. I ran into
Chiana."
"So, she made it out."
"Yes, she did."
"Good."
"Which is less than I can say if you don't move faster."
John winced and did his best to keep up with the pace that Aeryn was setting. "You think those creatures are comin' back?" he asked after a moment.
Aeryn's silence confirmed his fears. With his leg in the state it was they would never get out of this foliage before those creatures had time to regroup. Then, he realized they weren't headed back, but forward. "Aeryn," John stumbled, and Aeryn helped him regain his balance. "This isn't the way out."
To be continued...
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