Return to Bermudas Index
Scorpius faced the entire crew of Moya in Pilot’s chamber, and saw the hostility and fear in those who faced him. Further, they presented him with no alternatives. They would not let him leave Moya. “Am I your prisoner?” he asked.
“Yeah,” John drawled, “You could say that. But how about you get our trust.”
Scorpius studied the group before he answered. He was sensing more that he first noticed. The fear and hostility were still there, but it was mixed with something else, something he did not understand. “How do you suggest I do that?”
“Scorpius, you have dealt honestly with us in the past.” Rygel emphasized his next statement by rising to Scorpius’ eye level and pitching slightly forward. “Give us the key to your message so we might decode it. Prove it has nothing to do with us. Prove you weren’t sending the Peacekeepers a way to find us.”
“Then I am your prisoner,” Scorpius paused before stating his objection. “I do not trust YOU with my private affairs. You will not have the key.”
“Uh, uh, Scorpy, you don’t trust us, period.” John said, waggling his finger to punctuate his statement. “Is it all of us you don’t trust, or just some of us?”
Scorpius stared at John, and asked, “Explain yourself.”
“Well, Scorpy, you jus’ jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. If you want to stay out of the fire, why don’t you give one of us the key? I can think of someone on Moya who can be trusted.” John looked at Pilot while he spoke, not at Scorpius. “I’ll give you three guesses who, and the first two don’t count.”
Scorpius smiled, then said, “It will not do you any good John. The message is private and it will remain private.”
=====================
Since the room Scorpius was using was a converted cell, he remained there with the cell door locked, the DRDs still maintaining their vigilance.
Jane assisted Pilot and Sikozu to break the code. They now assumed the message was a danger to them and, more than ever, they needed to know what it contained. John suggested they try some variant of his mother’s name for the key, which to no one’s surprise, didn’t work.
On the second day of trying to crack the code, Jane wandered into the central chamber to grab something to eat. John was sitting there staring at a drink and looked up when she entered. “Hey, Jane, how’s it goin’?”
Jane was picking through the food, her back facing John when she answered him, “It is both slow and frustrating. His code is very elusive.” Having selected what she wanted, she turned around and sat down to eat.
“I just don’t get it. It’s almost as though he wanted us to lock him up,” John said while swirling the water in his cup. “Are you gettin’ anywhere?”
“Sikozu thinks we are close, and so do I. I just hope that it is not wishful thinking,” Jane said between bites. “Do you think he does not want to leave?”
“Dunno. I s’pose it’s possible. It ain’t likely he’ll tell us though.”
“Well, I guess I had better get back to work on that code. As Scorpius is not forthcoming with any information, being able to read the message is the only thing that will indicate what he is about,” Jane said, finishing the last of the food on her plate.
John put his hand on Jane’s before she could rise from the table. “Why don’t you get some rest? You look really tired. I’ll clean up.”
“Thanks, but I have an idea I want to pursue first. I needed this break, but I am ready to start again,” Jane said as she rose from the table. She added before leaving, “And, John, I should be able to break Scorpius’ code, I believe I know how he thinks. It is only a matter of time.”
========================
Stark hadn’t slept since he arrived on Moya three days ago. Actually, he hadn’t really slept since he lost Zhaan. Each time he’d succumb to his fatigue, he would have visions of all those dead people; besides the individuals he helped to cross he also kept the tortured souls of the ten thousand Bannik Slaves. Zhaan was always present, but she was at peace. But the ten thousand Banniks were the most troublesome. He blamed Scorpius for their deaths. He blamed himself more. Creeping through the hallways, Stark found himself drawn to Scorpius’ cell. The one thought, ‘I must know,’ echoed in his head. When he got to the cell he could see Scorpius lying on his back, eyes closed, perfectly still. Stark knew Scorpius was awake. He opened the cell door and silently entered.
Stark was standing over Scorpius when he opened his eyes. He removed his mask letting it fall to the floor. Stark stared at Scorpius, his energy was radiating from half his face.
“I must know,” Stark half shouted, half bleated his mantra.
“Know what?” Scorpius asked. He tried to sit up, but Stark prevented him from moving, his face was only denches away.
“You killed them, killed them all!” Starks voice suddenly dropped.
“Killed who?” Scorpius asked, while trying to sit up. “You must be more explicit. I do not know whom you are referring to.”
Jane and Sikozu continued to work on cracking Scorpius’ code. They felt they were very close to breaking it, and dogged it for over two arns past Jane’s already late meal. Finally, Jane couldn’t keep her eyes open and excused herself, promising to return after a few arns sleep. Sikozu continued to work.
Jane was walking towards her quarters, which took her past the hallway to Scorpius’ cell when she heard Stark shouting. She ran to Scorpius’ cell and found Stark leaning over Scorpius, pinning him to the pallet.
“Stark! What are you doing?” Jane asked, moving up behind him.
Jane’s sudden appearance startled Stark and he stood up quickly, releasing Scorpius. Scorpius stood up so that both he and Jane were facing Stark who looked back and forth between them for several microts while crying, “Scorpius... Scorpy... Scorpy... Scorpius... “ He collapsed to the floor.
“John, I am with Scorpius in his cell. Stark has gone mad, he is in here without his mask!” Jane commed John as soon as she was able.
“On my way.”
“He is unconscious, Jane. His mask fell to the floor earlier, it should be easy to find.” Scorpius said while pulling Stark away from the pallet.
Jane found the mask wedged in a corner between the pallet and the wall. She retrieved it and with Scorpius’ help put it on Stark. John entered the cell as they finished strapping the mask on.
“What happened? Who opened the cell door?” John asked.
“I was lying on the pallet when I was suddenly aware of Stark looming over me. I was unable to sit up,” Scorpius said.
John looked at Scorpius askance, not wanting to believe him. “You mean to tell me you weren’t asleep and you didn’t see or hear him? How’m I gunna believe that?”
“I was... meditating. I had blocked out all external influences,” Scorpius said. He sat down on the pallet, making no move to leave the cell.
“John, when I found them, Stark was over Scorpius, preventing him from moving. I do not know how he got in that position, but I am inclined to believe what Scorpius said is true,” Jane added.
Stark groaned and then tried to sit up. He opened his eye and saw John holding him. “Scor... Scorpius!” Stark cried out and struggled to sit up.
“Stark, whaddaya doin’? Why’d you come in Scorpy’s cell?” John asked while helping Stark get to his feet.
“He killed them! He killed them all. They won’t leave me alone. Ten thousand souls... ten thousand souls dead because of him,” Stark cried, becoming marginally coherent.
“Scorpius, why did you kill the Banniks once you had Jothee? They couldn’t do anything to you,” John asked, still holding Stark.
“I did not kill them. I gave them to Natira... for payment... “ Scorpius said.
“No – sh... you... “ Stark interrupted.
“Stark, Natira had them killed and now she is dead,” Scorpius said and then added, “You have already avenged their deaths.”
John saw Stark looking at him for confirmation. “I wasn’t there when that went down. I don’t know,” John said.
“C’mon, Jane, let’s get Stark back to his quarters,” John said while steering Stark out of the cell.
Jane walked into the hallway followed by John and Stark when Stark blurted, “No... no... not Scorpius.” Stark was staring at Jane.
“Uh, I think I will just go to my quarters, John. You can handle Stark by yourself,” Jane said.
Nodding, John locked the cell door and gently pulled Stark away.
As Jane turned to walk away Scorpius called out to her, “Jane, wait.”
Jane stopped, turned half way showing her profile to Scorpius. “Scorpius, I am extremely tired. Can this wait a few arns?” Jane asked, slumping against the wall emphasizing her fatigue.
“Who are you?” Scorpius asked, ignoring her plea.
“Later,” Jane said and walked away.
==================
Jane slept later than she had intended, but she still needed to talk to John prior to working on the code. They met in John’s quarters. “Stark knows who I am and Scorpius suspects... something. Plus, he has already asked me who I am. What do I tell him?” Jane asked.
“Have you cracked the code?” John asked. He added, “If that message that Scorpius sent does betray us, then he can’t be told anything. In fact, he should be shot!”
“And if it is innocent, as he claims, then what?” Jane asked.
“I dunno. I think it’s time Scorpy and I had a little talk,” John said. “How close doya think you are?”
“Very close. We have been able to tease some data out already, but it is not making a lot of sense. We are coming up with Sebacean words, but they aren’t saying anything, basically gibberish,” Jane said, shrugging her shoulders. She then added, “It is interesting, the code’s key appears to be Scarran.”
“Very interesting. Can I see it?” John asked.
“Absolutely!” Jane said.
“Look, I think we had the key yesterday, only we did not know it,” Sikozu said while laying out the message. “I have run hundreds of variations on this code, none of which work at all. I believe this is the key.”
John stared at the message, all twelve words. It was a declension of the Sebacean ‘to be’ in the present tense. Laughing, John said, “That sommabitch! He set us up, he never wanted to leave Moya!”
“I believe you are right,” Sikozu said. “I also tried to run this key and several variations through the results multiple times to determine if there would be secondary, tertiary, or n-level results, but there were none. Unless the code is so well hidden that our extensive runs cannot find it. I do not believe for a microt that this is the case.”
