Sheets of ice cold rain pelted from the sky on a late spring day and all streams and rivulets were flooding over their banks. A small village situated by a large stream had been totally decimated by the floods, all inhabitants being forced to flee. One was not so fortunate, the whole hut they lived in instantly swept away and trapped in the overpowering current.

The Marines stood on the outskirts of the village, watching and waiting. Pvt. Phillips wanted to run in and help those being swept away by the current, but he knew he couldn't. So he sat, listening silently to the pelting of the rain hit his and his comrades helmets. A few gunshots could be heard in the distance. They were on the Song Tra Bong river in Vietnam. The year was 1968. As the Marines looked on, they noticed Viet Cong commando's moving into the village. The jungle plants rustled around them as more Marines moved forward, training their sites on the V.C. They all knew what they must do, orders were orders...

Her father had made it quite clear that she would have to remain out of sight. In fact, she hadn't planned on leaving the shuttle, but she saw a chance to catch a specimen. The organism had wandered away from the rest of the group, dangerously close to the swift water. Sonya had sent Artichoke down and he worked efficiently, grabbing onto the creature and pulling it down into the mud. Fortunately, he grew still after falling, so Sonya had time to think her plan through a little more. First, the other members of the group must think that her captive had been swept away. Then, she had to get it safely into the shuttle... as her mind wandered through fields of possibility, Artichoke climbed back up the tree and snuggled up against her to regain some of the warmth he had lost. Sonya absentmindedly stroked him, then let out an involuntary yell, as he shook and splattered her face with mud and leaves.

A member of the group below looked up alertly at the noise and spotted Sonya.
"Hey!" He shouted to gain the attention of his comrades, gesturing with an arm to where Sonya was perched in the tree. "There's something in that tree there."

Sonya jumped, switching on her emergency signal as she did so. Landing squarely on top of Private Phillips, she managed to avoid getting mud on her new Fyaq-skin boots.

While the bewildered group of Marines stood and began to efficiently search the surrounding jungle for Sonya, she was yanking off the private's boots and helmet, tossing them into the rushing water. Strapping Artichoke into her knapsack, she stepped into the water, grabbed the private, gritted her teeth and dove in. The current was strong and she let it carry her, striking out for the floating hut. It was whirling crazily in the flood, and Sonya was glad she had left it before it was swept away. The shuttle did have balancing gears, but turning them on now would arouse suspicion. The mere fact that the seeming 'hut' was staying in one piece would soon draw attention.

Sonya reached the hut and grabbed on. Taking a deep breath, she plunged underneath it, dragging Pvt. Phillips with her. Pushing up a hatch underneath, she entered the air-lock. The private was pulled up afterwards and left to drip in a corner as Sonya closed and drained the air-lock. Releasing Artichoke, she stepped through into the main compartment of the shuttle. Being a Ritchan design ship, it was larger on the inside that the outside, but not by a great deal. After all, it was only a shuttle.

"Hello, Sonya." The navigator looked up from where he was enjoying a cup of hot tea and watching the river reshaped the landscape. "Is trouble following you again?"

"I think they've gone." Sonya tilted her head. "Are we leaving soon?"

"Once we cross this bend. Your father thinks it best if we don't tarry. I've called the zoologists back. No specimens this trip, I guess."

"Actually, I've got one in the air-lock right now." Sonya grinned. "Artichoke took him out, but I think he'll be alright."

The navigator grinned and rubbed the furry, green animal who accompanied Sonya wherever she went. Artichoke wasn't much use as a guard animal, but he could haul twice his substantial weight of 20 pounds without difficulty. His hard shell kept him from being easily injured and he was amphibious, so he could accompany Sonya on her exploratory dives quite easily.

Sonya fell back into the control seat, and sighed deeply. Her stomach started to feel horrible, and she felt her eyes start stinging.

"What's wrong Sonya?" The navigator looked at her over the top of his cup of tea, his eyebrows bunched together questioningly.

"Do you ever wonder if what we are doing in the past could be altering what is happening in the future?", Sonya looked up at him. Her lower lip started to quiver, a few tears started to roll down her cheek.

"Hey, Tsk tsk," the navigator reached out and pulled her into an embrace on his chair, her sitting on his lap.
"None of anything happening now is our fault. The only reason we are back here is to find out how to defeat the Enomena. That's all. You saw how many soldiers there were out there, they won't miss one. Trust me." He reached up and wiped her tears away, and kissed her forehead softly.

"How about some tea?"


Sonya was restless. She had fallen asleep after talking with her Navigator, and couldn't sleep anymore. They were still unable to get the ship to work, something about a faulty fuse box or fuse or something or other, she hadn't really been listening.

She got up and out of her hammock slowly, her shoes padding softly on the cold, metallic floor. As she walked out of her quarters, Artichoke ran up the hall.
*Must be hunting*, Sonya continued down the hall, in the opposite direction, towards the medical quarters.

Whens he arrived, she spotted the soldier laying on an operating table. He had no incisions, but he was still pretty banged up. She walked closer, silently, not wanting to wake him.

"Wha-what am I doing here?", he slowly whispered, turning his head to the left towards her, raising his right hand to block out the bright light shining into his face.

Keep it up everybody!
P.S. Comments like this don't count as one of the 3 posts before you get to add another. No worries though (Dak :P ) still a great post.

~Anybody need a dime?

Haha, remember I said have 3 other people post before you posted more? Well, you did wait 3 posts, but I kinda meant story posts only, not comment posts. So, you actually posted again after only 2 other people had posted story posts. Like I said though, it isn't a big deal.

~:P pennies nickels dimes! QUARTERS!

Oops, sorry about that, totally miscounted. I got excited... =-\

Private Phillips' first thought was that, finally, the sun was shining and that God-forsaken rain had stopped pouring down on his and his comrade's heads in that God-forsaken jungle in Vietnam. His second thought was, "Oh. Not the God-forsaken jungle. A God-forsaken hospital room. That has aliens in it." And that's when things went a bit hazy again.

The haze was interrupted by a sparkling face which appeared over him. The bright light that he had mistaken for the sun seemed to glance off many-colored shimmering scales, which produced the outline of a face. The human features smiled at him, and in a strangely accented voice said, "How are you feeling? You had a nasty bump on the head."

"Ugh ..." responded Phillips.

"I see. Here, you can sit up for a second, and I'll let you have a sip of water."

"Ugh?"

"My name is Sonya. You are traveling in a space ship towards the Second World. My father needs to talk to you."

"Ugh." Struggling to remain upright, Phillips took a small sip of the water that the sparkling girl handed him. He peered at her face, trying to figure out what color she was. The scaly surface over her cheeks and forehead was delicate, and seemed to be a faintly aquamarine color, something he had never seen previously unless a person was severely injured. Quite as though she had turned green in shock.

She gently lowered him back to the cot, and turned to occupy herself at a computer station a few feet away. The back of her jumpsuit was cut out in several slits up the center of her back, where wavy fin-like extrusions dangled approximately 6 inches off of her spine.

Suddenly feeling much more alert, Phillips cleared his throat. "Ah, you said a space-ship? Like from Mars?"

"Yes, a space-ship, no, not from Mars. Mars is uninhabited."

"Oh. From ... the Second World?"

"Well, Scaira was crafted on the Fourth World, but I am from the Second World. We're on a sort of expedition to ... Well, it's complicated. And I don't think my father would want you to know much more before your actual interview." She glanced up at a display against the ceiling. "We'll be there in about 46 hours, anyway. So you can rest up, and wander about the ship if you like. I'm sorry about the concussion, Artichoke didn't realize there was a rock right there."

"Artichoke ..."

"My pet. The little green guy who scurries around. Don't trip over him, he doesn't always look where he's going."

"Right." Private Phillips lay still for a moment, digesting all the information that was piled over him. Then he asked the most important question on his mind at the moment.

"Can I have something to eat?"

Dak, isn't it your turn???

I need story! Pretty please?

Anemone

Dak! Dak! Are you out there? Somewhere? The interrogation is going nowhere! (Have I used enough punctuation?!?!)

The One
The Only
The Deadliest
TRENCHCOAT

Ahahahahaha!

I would do it... but you won't let me have all the fun.

Head of the Enomena. . . . what a grand title. Puura slowly caressed the arms of the chair he was about to sit in. If you sat here, people saw in you a source of power. For everyone knew, you could not attain the seat without it, without some source of devastating power. Over the past millenia, everytime the seat changed hands, it was well known that the room in which it resided had been a mass of corpses, the bodies of all who had slaved under the rule of whichever Head had previously existed. It was not deemed wise by those seeking this power to leave any remnant of existance, any memory of those who sat before. To do so would not only suggest that they themselves might someday suffer a similar fate, which was unthinkable as they gave themselves the title of a "god." It also would provide a possibility of former loyalties getting in the way of things which MUST be done properly.
Puura came around to the front of the chair, and slowly began to ease himself into it. As he was about to rest his weight in it, he suddenly felt himself stiffen. Sweat broke out on his forhead as he realized he was unable to move. . .except his head, which was slowly, yet forcefully, brought up until his eyes met the eyes, the black, seemingly soulless eyes, of the Head, Borygiull. Had the head released his power at that momemt, Puura would still have been frozen, unable to move in his terror. For, as all knew who followed and served any Head, they beheld their own doom in their masters face.
Borygiull spoke one word. He said it quietly, even as a wisper so that none could have heard were they not within a few feet of the two. It was deceptive, for the cold-blooded power of the word was enough to some out of their minds. That word was easily enough to break Puura out of his terrified trance, and he likely moved faster than he ever had, or ever would again, to get away from the chair.
His master then turned, and sat in it.

What are you doing posting lots of things at something like 4am??? Seriously! How am I supposed to keep up if you cheat like that?

Anemone

O.o, I'll have to be more carefull about the time of day I do my posting. Really wasn't giving it much thought at the time. So, anyhow, time for the TC or, possibly, if he ever comes back, Dak to do some writing. Or who knows, maybe some of our newer members will try their hands?

Out of cash, but not comments.

"Trenchy," Dak, someone who hasn't written yet . . . c'mon ppl don't be shy, help us write this!

Artichoke was hunting when Sonya saw him running down the hall, but she had scared his prey away when she came out, so after giving her a dirty look he went in search of it. Just before he came to the end of the hall he saw a slight movement on the left wall out of the corner of his eye, and without looking at it, continued walking down the hall. Just as he was passing the spot where had seen the movement, in a blur of green, he suddenly torqued his upper body to the left and pounced on the general area. He surprised the camouflaged enua and it barely had time to wiggle out of his fingers and scamper away out through an air vent where it had undoubtedly gotten in. Artichoke followed the enua through the air vent and sealed the vent again behind him. He didn’t think about where he was going when he followed it, all he knew was that it had escaped, so he was going to catch it.

(Spare, every time I read your note about wee snicker bars up a bit further, I burst out giggling. You're going to ruin my reputation for stoicism.

Stoic Anemone)

An enua is a small-lizard like creature that can camouflage itself, and its back feet are webbed for swimming.

You'd have to ask him what he does with the creatures he catches. For all I know he lectures them on the subject of hiding in his spaceship.

There is nothing in the air vent that I know of, it was just an escape route.

I can't do anymore of any kind of scene until some other people write!

The Unstoppable Juggernaut

"Sonya."

The tone of her father's voice brought Sonya up short as she stepped out into the passageway. She had been trying to explain the shuttle to her specimen, but he seemed so upset by the concept of something being larger inside than out that she decided to let him rest. After all, he had just had a nasty bump on the head.

"Yes, Papa?" She turned with a look of concern. Her father had sounded unnaturally intense.

"The Council has dissolved itself. Time-Lapse News was just playing the speech by the self-appointed 'Lord of Sevens'.

Sonya stood in stunned silence for half a moment. "You cannot mean the Council of the Seven Worlds. That... that can't happen. And everyone knows that the 'Lord of Sevens' is just a murdering despot..." She would have gone on but her father interrupted her.

"The Veil-Breakers just issued a statement saying that they are recognizing him as the legitimate ruler of the Empire. The Enomena have gone even further. They say they will be sending him assistance as he tries to calm the anarchy that has been left by the sudden and inexplicable deaths of the Seven Seats. The Historian government has issued a statement saying they will give refuge to anyone fleeing the empire."

Sonya gave a sigh of relief. "I was thinking that everyone had gone mad. Good for Pragmamn. Have you heard from... "

Her father cut her off again. "Riots are breaking out, Puura of the Enomena has control of six entire sections of the city of Riiev. The Veil-Breakers have said that anyone wishing to volunteer as a soldier for the Empire can take free passage through them. There are three full-sized Comandeer ships leaving this afternoon, from a port off Riiev.
It is practically civil-war, Sonya. I am afraid our expedition to Mares is not to be completed."

Sonya look at him, her face turning the color of spinach in her distress.
"Civil war. We cannot afford civil war with that ... that tyrant looking to conquer us next." Then her face became worried. "Have you heard from Ura?"

No." Her father sounded worried as well, though somewhat irritated. "Probably still in that quasi-dimension. She told me she hoped organize an organized fighting group with her friends in the Council. The others, under Tamos Qa seem to be starting a group to undermine the government from within. Ura thinks it more important to show up in the galaxies as a fighting group, while Tamos dares not reveal himself, because of the danger to his workers."

Sonya smiled slightly. "They are still arguing?"

"Aye. Both doing the necessary, but unwilling to agree that they are both doing something worthwhile. Ura feels that Tamos is turning away from his people, Tamos feels that Ura is rashly sacrificing lives. Perhaps in time they will realize." Her father broke off and gave a deep sigh. "I only meant to tell you that I have been called in to command my decimins. They want me as quickly as possible, so I am sending you and Artichoke into port in the shuttle and taking the ship around to the military base. Your mother already knows where I am, I just visited her. Grab your bags and hunt down your pet as quickly as you can, Sonya."

"And the specimen?" Sonya asked. "Does he go with you?"

"Oh." Commander Suchei scowled, his fins waving in an irritated pattern. "It would be better if we hadn't found one after all. You will have to take him to your mother. I know she will find a way to deal with it. Make sure you keep him properly enclosed until he can be trusted at large. You will have to turn in paperwork at the transportation office and get him an Establisment Card."

Sonya nodded silently and then turned away down the passage. "I'll go get Artichoke now."

Nice!

Good job, I like it.

Anemone

Do hurry it up, there's a good co-compositor.  :-P

Anemone

Not at all appreciative. Tsk tsk. It is just too bad.

Sonya Suchei entered the room with much more energy than she had previously exhibited.  Her greenish tones were  pronounced, and there seemed to be pinkish spots appearing on the fins protruding from her spine.  Private Phillips was startled by her hurry, and did not absorb her words the first time she spoke.

"I beg your pardon?  What?"

"I said we are leaving.  You will not be interviewed by my father at this point."  She was methodically searching the room, grabbing certain items and throwing them into a bag.  "Pick up your things and follow me.  We're taking the shuttle to the station, and hopping from there to my mother's house."

"Um, okay.  Is ... everything okay?"  He wasn't sure how to read green aliens, but she seemed rather distressed.

She paused, looked at him in what appeared to be a slightly calculating manner, then resumed her scan of the room.  "I'll talk to you on the shuttle."  She added in an undertone, "although you'll probably have to wait for most of it until my mother talks to you ..."

 

Phillips's packing procedures were hardly onerous -- he had what was left of his kit, and the clothes on his back, and that was it.  Sonya had fitted Artichoke with a small pack which Phillips assumed contained some of that pet's belongings, and she had several bags herself.  Another vibrant alien, who seemed to be mostly orange, assisted her with her bags, and Phillips offered to carry another.  The shuttle attached to the ship on the opposite side from the sleeping quarters -- which seemed a strange design to him, but he was hardly in a position to criticize space flight arrangements, considering that humans had only just achieved orbit. 

The orange-finned alien, whom Sonya had referred to as 'dear' and 'Navigator' in separate addresses, saw them safely onto the shuttle and then returned to the main ship.  Phillips felt awkward as they kissed goodbye, then berated himself.  I suppose aliens have as much a right to romance as anyone else, he thought wryly.  After the doors had closed, Sonya moved to the controls of the small shuttle. 

"This is Shuttle QXA, come in ESS Scaira, over."  She spoke in a normal tone of voice, directing her attention to the dashboard in front of her.

"This is the Scaira, report, Shuttle QXA, over."  A radioed voice replied to her call.

"Scaira, Shuttle QXA now requesting authorization to detach for planet-side docking, over."

"Authorization granted.  Safe journey, Shuttle QXA.  Over and out."

Phillips heard a small thump and click, saw Sonya bite her lip, and then, after pushing a short sequence of buttons, she turned back to him.  Her shoulders slumped, and the rush seemed to be over.

She saw his worried expression, and smiled.  "We've not got much to do for a while, now.  The shuttle is programmed to the proper descent, and then the planet-side dock computer will bring us the rest of the way in.   It will only take about two hours."

As she began to gather the luggage which had been dropped in a heap next to the airlock, Artichoke started snooping around all the edges and corners in the small craft.  Phillips had been inside here once, he supposed, although not in a condition to appreciate the furnishings.  There were three branching corridors from the 'bridge' of the shuttle, which led to staterooms, a kitchen, and a small lounge area.  Sonya had told him that it measured a bare 30 feet by 30 feet from the outside, and had tried to explain some sort of technology which caused the inside to be large than the outside ... however, his blank look must have discouraged that line of conversation.  Not that she measured distance in feet -- but one of her basic units was quite close to the same measurement.

 

After they had finally docked on the planet, and before Phillips had realized that the gravity had remained constant from the ship to the ground, Sonya informed him that they were going to register him as a sentient zoological specimen.  While he wasn't exactly accustomed to being referred to as a 'sentient zoological specimen,' that appealed to him more than 'pet,' so he went along with it.  They stepped from the shuttle out onto a paved concourse, which was streaming with the most oddly assorted colored fin-people Phillips had ever not seen.  There was the occasional even stranger conformity of physical appearance, but for the most part, the major species appeared to be the same as Sonya and the Navigator.  Come to think of it, they were the only two 'people' he had seen since his ... well, alien abduction.  To be fair, that's pretty much what it was.  How cousin Jemima would laugh ...

While private Phillips was busy trying not to think about what life would be like as a sentient zoological specimen, Commander Suchei and his navigator were talking about what would happen after they reached the military base where the decimins under Commander Suchei were. What the commander didn't know was that there was something on board his ship that didn't belong there.

The first inkling he got was when, after he had been talking with the navigator, he straitened up to go to his post at the helm, as the ship was coming in to dock at the base. He thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye and turned to look but he didn't see anything except the empty entrance to the hallway, and the air vent above it. He dismissed it as a trick of the light.

Later after the tower at the base had initiated the guiding of the docking procedure, Suchei was bending down to pick up his bags when he heard something above him. Looking up he found himself staring at an air vent. Inside the air vent there was a flash of purple and then whatever it was was gone.

Commander Suchei ran into the control room and grabbed the first operator he saw. The startled operator started to say something but Suchei cut him off "Run a check to see if there are any life forms that are unaccounted for on this ship, and hurry!"

The bewildered operator did as he was told. "Everything looks normal sir, nothing unaccounted for."

"Are you sure?"

"That is what the information I received indicates."

The commander was silent for a moment. Then he said. "Abort the docking procedure."

"Abort sir?"

"Yes. And send a message to the tower that we have an unidentified foreign object on board and we are going to continue to hover until we identify it."

"Yes sir."

A few seconds later the tower responded on speaker. "Commander Suchei of the ESS Scaira come in please over.

"This is Commander Suchei."

"What is your status Commander?"

"We are are in the process of docking, and need to abort."

"Because there is supposedly an unidentified foreign object on board?"

"Yes."

"Could it be an equipment failure Commander?"

"Not unless my eyes count as equipment."

There was a pause.

"Where did you see this UFO Commander?"

"In the air duct."

"I see Commander Suchei, you may abort docking procedure immediately. We will send someone up in a shuttle to take care of your rodent infestation. Over and Out."

Duarde Suchei leaned back and sighed. That could have been a disaster, he thought. Who knew what it, or its intentions were. It could have intended to blow up the base. And they weren't out of danger yet. So why didn't it show up on the life form check? He sighed again and wished Sonya's little pet Artichoke were here, he went in the air ducts all the time.

Slippery purple aliens.

Yes, that might be slightly frightening to the ordinary mortal.

The extraordinary TrenchCoat