[240103.29 Morning: Ancient ch'Rihan]
As the sun's glow rises and spreads its glow across the planet's surface, the majority of the village begins to awaken. The villagers are used to waking up with the sun, to the call of the [rooster], so that crops could be tended and the day could begin. However, the crew of the Wildstrike is from a different time, and as a result on different time. The majority of them continue to sleep in their tents, content to tune out the noise and try to sleep through until a more reasonable hour. But for several officers, the noise is too much, and they are forced to rise as well...
Springtime on ch'Rihan. Warmth. Light. Happiness. Inside a nice warm tent, Donalh tr'Rhagarokk gives a slight groan and rolls over. He vaguely remembered tweaking the sensors and a lot of smoke. And he also even more vaguely remembered drinking some red liquid from D'Tarik. Other than that, his head was pounding, the genius centers of his brain where attempting to regain control, and every slightest sound seemed amplified. In short, he was hungover.
Trying to tune out the din outside, Rhagarokk fumbles around blindly for a pillow to pull over his head. Instead of finding one, he feels something warm and smooth... an arm. Not his arm. Panicking, Rhagarokk forces his eyes open. As he attempts to stand up, his eyes gain focus. Lying there naked in the cot is t'Seebia, one of the Wildstrike's biologists from before ch'Vania. Doing his best not to disturb her, Rhagarokk finds his pants (noticing that he had slept in the top half of his Galae uniform) and his coat and dons them quickly before heading out. The light immediately shines in his face, causing Rhagarokk to cringe and shield his eyes. Reaching into his coat, he quickly swaps his glasses for sunglasses.
Through the messiness in his brain from the hangover, Rhagarokk begins to consider the implications of what he had (apparently) done. While it wasn't specifically in the Galae rules, this sort of thing tend to be very discouraged, especially by the Tal'Diann and Tal'Shiar elements on the ship. While there weren't any Agents of either sort around to prosecute, he knew there would be trouble when the crew would inevitably be debriefed upon returning to the present. He hoped that certain details will be omitted...
Thinking more clearly, Rhagarokk pulls out his multicorder and begins to type in a few commands. Tapping into the Wildstrike's computer location system, he quickly locates D'Tarik's location. Finding that the Chief Medic is outside the ship, Rhagarokk quickly walks around the ship, before spotting the short boy: lying face down in a ditch. Sighing and putting away his equipment, Rhagarokk steps up and tries to rouse the boy......
"Wake up, D`Tarik..." says the scratchy voice of the Leih.
Sitting up suddenly, D`Tarik's own foggy voice answers, "Na, Sylah! Ninte llurih had that extra head and clone when I found her, I swear!"
Squinting through his sunglasses at the boy, Rhagarokk questions, "What's that on ninte head?"
"Oh..." D`Tarik comes to his feet, and answers very calmly, "That's my horn..." then takes a moment to feel the 5-inch long sliverish horn sprouting smaller little spikes all over it, that stuck out of the center of his head, then suddenly reacts, "AHHHH!"
Ignoring the horn for the moment, Rhagarokk questions, "Do au have any more of that drink au gave me last night?"
Rylan steps out of his tent and takes a moment to stretch. Overhearing DT and Rhagarokk, he heads over towards them. Giving an odd look to DT, Rylan smirks and leans up against a random tent post to listen in on the proceedings. DT's startled yelp woke Tacrun from his sleep in his chair, his face pressed in a book, "Wha...what's all the noise?" He walks out of his tent and notices the tree. "Oh..." then wanders over.
Peering at the Leih's neck a moment, D`Tarik asks, "Rekkhai....is that a...hickey?" Making Rylan to bite down on his lip to keep from laughing, and not quite able to do it.
Quickly moving his hand to cover up a random part of his neck the Leih demands, "Do au have more of that stuff, or na?" He glances over and frowns at tr`Tuhmek.
"Umm...maybe..." D`Tarik reaches into a random lab coat pocket and pulls out the bottle. "Here au go...au want more?" he asks confused.
Rhagarokk doesn't answer. He just snatches the bottle and moves to set it down on the ground. Drawing a modified disruptor, the Leih fires at the bottle, causing it to contort in several directions not yet discovered by science before the bottle disintegrates into dust.
Looking away and still trying not to laugh but failing the attempt, Rylan mutters, "And they say *I'm* the io with a problem!" he starts to walk away, "I can handle my own liquor just fine, hann`yyo...."
Growing annoyed at Ry, Rhagarokk yells over, "Aren't Rihannsu supposed to have respect for a superior officer?" As D`Tarik experiments some with his horn.
The horn sinks back into his head, then quickly pops back out again, "WOW!" D`Tarik says happily, as he makes the horn retract again.
Tacrun stops a bit away, "Uhh... I think now is na the time to bother them..." he hides behind a tent and watches, listening and wondering what happened after he left the bar last night.
"Oh!" Rylan stops his footsteps and turns around, "Ie, rekkhai..It was..." he smirks and points to DT, "him I was laughing at..." then tacks on a "Rekkhai."
Looking back at D`Tarik as the boy plays around with his horn, Rhagarokk orders, "Stop that! Listen, if au ever make that stuff again, I'll have au punished. Understand me?"
"I have a horn!" D`Tarik says happily, "And I have seemed to already cure my hangover. I must of did that while still drunk! Here, rekkhai..." he hands the Leih a small pill, "Take that." Rylan, still battling it out with a fit of laughter, rubs a hand over his eyes and turns away again, trying not to look at the Unicorn-D`Tarik. "Hey, don't laugh!" D`Tarik says insulted, "I can make the horn go away when I need it too!"
Having the events finally catch up to him, Rylan suddenly looks serious, "Don't take that pill, rekkhai...it might've been what did that." he points at DT's forehead, "I've got Detox if au need something for a hangover."
Rhagarokk looks at the pill in his hand a moment, "Ie, the Detox please..." then looks back to the boys, "Au two might na know this about me, but my biology is...na normal." he says cryptically.
"It is Detox!" D`Tarik defends his pill, "Au do na trust me!" Rhagarokk doesn't answer, but pushes DT's horn down. Taking the hint, DT makes the horn stay put.
"Ah...na normal, rekkhai?" Rylan repeats, thinking it over a moment, "Stimulants won't...effect au then...will they?"
"Na anymore then usual." Rhagarokk answers, "But more...esoteric effect could have bad consequences..."
"Ie then," Rylan says with a slight grin, "Detox light it will be." He turns around and heads for his tent, "I'll be right back with it."
"I have something that might help au, rekkhai...If au would trust something of mine." D`Tarik interjects.
"Alright, fine..." Rhagarokk agrees, "This blue pill? If au promise, on ninte rank, that it will na have any side effects, I'll trust au."
"I used it as my Detox..." D`Tarik explains, "And I promise it had na-thing to do with this." he taps the top of his head, "I have done a scan of ninte biology. This Detox will na do any harm to au."
Rhagarokk nods and pops the pill, then cringes for a second. "Ah...much better..." Rylan halts his footsteps once more, and waits to see what happens with the pill. Shaking his head briskly a moment, Rhagarokk says, "Ie, much better, hann`yyo."
"Au`rh Aefvadh." DT nods.
Tacrun chose this moment to leave his hiding spot, and wanders over to them, "Jolan`tru, rekkhai-a."
"I have a horn!" D`Tarik once more happily interjects.
Ry grins and shakes his head, "I can't wait to hear what Emni will say about that, DT." he looks over to the engineer, "Jolan`tru, Tacrun."
"Jolan`tru..." the Leih responds as well.
"I'm sure she won't mind it." DT answers, "She loves me for me!...Jolan`tru Tacrun." then continues to the Arrain, "And I will be the io to tell Emni about the horn, got it Rylan?" after a moment's pause, "I wonder if I should be more upset about that....na." he shakes his head.
Ry only raises a brow at DT, "I wasn't implying that I'd snitch DT. Au know better then that."
DT smirks at the taller boy, "I was just making extra sure."
Rhagarokk looks back to D`Tarik, "Have anything to cure a hickey?" then looks around to the assembled officers, "And this never gets mentioned again, understand?"
"Ie..." Ryan says seriously with a nod.
"Ie, never again, rekkhai." Tacrun nods as well.
"A hickey..." D`Tarik repeats, "That's easy to cure, it's just basically a kind of like a small bruise. Here...." he takes a hypospray out of a pocket, "Can I just give au a shot of this, right on the spot of the...'hickey'...and that will get rid of that."
As Rhagarokk leans down to receive the spray, Tacrun looks around, "Au know, rekkhai-a...maybe au shouldn't be doing this in plain sight?"
Rylan almost smirks again, but bites it back just in time, just itching to know who gave the Leih the hickey in the first place. "Ie...." he says to Tacrun, glancing around as well, "But who's gonna tell on us? Farmers?" he motions to the camp in general, "Na many up yet, and those that are, are busy."
As DT injects the Leih, Rhagarokk looks around at the village, and notices some of the villagers watching, "Ah, fvadt it!" he straightens up.
Ry shrugs at this, and says to the Leih "They're na gonna tell - they're *Farmers*. They've had a snort themselves on occasion."
Trying to look like he's doing something important, Rhagarokk replies, "Ie, I hope so...the scandal would be immense. The media would be all over this..." he pats his side, "Hey, where'd my kaleh go...?"
Ry hides a sly grin, "Well..were'd au wake up? It's a good bet it's there..."
"I saw au come out of a tent, rekkhai." DT offers, "Is it in there?" then says proudly, "I have a horn!"
Both Ry and Tacrun turn to look at the tent that D`Tarik pointed at. Tacrun asks offhand, "Who's tent is that anyway?"
Rhagarokk cringes knowing that they knew who's tent he just came from. "Na, I checked. What I have on me is all my stuff that was in there..."
"Uh..." Ry tries to find a tactful way of putting it, "Well..where else were au last night, rekkhai...?" then lets the question hang there.
"I kinda remember us being together at io point, rekkhai..." DT offers, trying to remember.
"I do na remember anything past being in the bar..." Rhagarokk kicks the dust angrily, "I do na even remember...being with... the person I was with."
"Well, it's gotta be around here somewhere..." Ry looks to DT for help, "So, do au remember anything after the bar? where au went?"
As he asks, a small villager girl runs by dragging an odd-looking kalen on a piece of rope. Rylan turns and watches the little girl, "Ah..." he points, "is that it?" The little girl stops and stands looking at the men. Grabbing the kalen, she begins to pet the hilt of it as if it were a pet.
"Na, that looks like Aemhig's...." Rhagarokk says, taking out a multicorder to scan the area. "It's na where in the area, and the locator might have been disabled....."
Feeling as if they were about to grab her prize away from her, the little girl speaks up, "A lady gave this to me. She said it was a Bun-Ny! It's my pet now!" she says defiantly, the runs away with her prized bunny-kalen.
Rhagarokk shakes his head, "We have to get out of the past...."
"I have never been io to live in the past..." DT smirks at his own bad joke.
"Me either." Rylan says in all seriousness.
Tacrun shrugs, "I like it here, myself."
Ignoring the historian, Rylan brings them back to the matter at hand, "Now...where did au go after the bar, DT?"
"I forget..." the smaller boy admits, "I woke up in this ditch with a horn..."
Ry pokes DT's forehead, "Um...Medlab would be a good bet.." then steps back quickly as the horn shoots out again.
"I hope there's na horribly mutated villagers running around somewhere..." DT worries, "Na...I would never do anything like that.'
Ry raises a brow at the smaller boy, "Oh, ie au would." he nods, remembering the antenna-incident that he had gone through himself.
The Leih questions the engineer's previous statement, "So, how come au aren't out there enjoying it, instead of staying in ninte tent reading?"
"There's a murderer around, rekkhai." Tacrun shrugs, "I wasn't taking any chances..."
Rhagarokk nods, "A good point...hey, the murderer...wait a sec..." he takes out his multicorder again and begins to type, "I have an idea..." after a moment he says, "Each crew member can be located by the computer...." then waits for someone to say something.
"Hmmm..." DT watches the Leih.
"tr`Sorek is a crew member..." Tacrun supplies.
"So...." Rylan chimes in, "If we divert the juice to the computer to extend its area of location, it should find him for us, is that it, rekkhai?"
Rhagarokk nods, "Well, this guy is smart, so he probably doesn't have his communicator on him... but it could still help." then adds, "He also knows the computer inside and out..."
"Au know...." DT says, "We really should try and figure out a motive for these killings... Vyynd's been looking into this...We could figure out if he is going to come back based on his motive."
Rylan waits for DT to finish his statement, then asks, "Do au have medical files on tr`Sorek, DT? We could feed that to the computer and tell it to look for that specific lifeform. That would find him for us."
"I have medical files on him, but my files were highly damaged in the crash..." DT supplies.
"Yeah..." Rhagarokk says, "Tacrun, au'll have to give us some more power to work with....and au and I can also work with the computer core. tr`Sorek was a computer expert, so probably has stuff set up to protect him, but na-thing we can't overcome."
"Ie, rekkhai." Tacrun nods.
"I will go looking for his medical files." D`Tarik agrees.
"Let's get moving then..." Rhagarokk steps towards the ship, "Just remember, na io mentions that I slept with t`Seebia."
Rylan bites back against the chuckles before it could escape, while Tacrun shakes his head and follows after the Leih. "Who didn't au sleep with?" DT asks, "Oh, right! Don't mention it... got au..." he winks stupidly and walks off.
|