Return to Bermudas Index
by wordboy
APPARITARUS – A COMMERCE PLANET…
She knew she was lying down. Beyond that…nothing.
Aeryn opened her eyes slowly, not surprised to find them unfocused. She closed her eyes and tried to remember what had happened. She remembered following Somrela down the alley, only to have him disappear from sight. Someone called her name, and Aeryn found herself confronted by a Luxan. Before she could ask if he had seen Somrela, the Luxan’s tongue lashed out, striking her on the side of the neck.
After that, nothing.
She opened her eyes again, relieved to find her vision cleared. Aeryn found herself staring at the stars through a canopy that reminded her of Moya’s terrace. She sat up slowly and looked around.
A microt later, Aeryn realized her clothes were gone.
Aeryn looked around quickly, trying to locate her clothing. She was on a table of some kind, covered by a sheet of lightweight material. The table, as well as the rest of the furniture in the room, was made of a clear material. Even the walls and ceiling of the room were made of the same material. The floor glowed with a soft white light. There was darkness beyond the room.
Quickly, Aeryn wrapped the sheet around herself in a kind of robe. She then slipped off the table and began to examine the room. It reminded her of the hotel room she and John had gotten. All the furniture was secured to the floor and unmovable. The seams where the walls and floor came together were perfectly sealed.
Aeryn tapped the walls, trying to figure out how thick the material was. Arbitrarily picking a spot, she took a few steps back then rushed forward, striking the wall with her shoulder. It gave a little, and the recoil pushed her back. She tried again, spinning and kicking out at the same spot. The wall again flexed but didn’t give.
With a resigned sigh, Aeryn looked around. “Guess I’m not going anywhere.” She looked up. “If anyone is there, I want an explanation for this. What’s going on? And where are my clothes?”
Movement above and to the left attracted her attention. Some kind of small drone, about the size of a DRD, came out of the darkness. It hovered for a microt, then crossed over the room until it was above the table. It dropped down until it was in contact with the clear material. Silently, part of the material opened up like an iris, and the drone lowered into the room. The drone continued down until it came to rest on the table. There was a click, and the drone rose up again, leaving a small, covered tray on the table. The drone continued upward until it was out of the room. The material closed behind it.
Aeryn stared at the tray, frowning. “Well, it’s not my clothes.” She walked up slowly and lifted the cover. On the tray sat a plate of food cubes and an assortment of clear, colored cubes. Aeryn picked one up and found it to be made of some kind of jell-like substance. “Dinner, but no utensils.” She sniffed the cube then popped it into her mouth. It melted quickly, and had a taste that reminded her of berries.
“How are you feeling, my dear?”
Aeryn spun. Behind her, a hologram hovered in one corner. The man appeared to be Sebacean, but his face and head were highly scarred. He was smiling, but only half his face responded; the scarred side appeared dead and frozen.
She took a few steps forward. “Who are you? Where am I? And what the frell is going on?”
The man smiled. “Ah, defiance. The new ones are always defiant when they first arrive. And you still have your modesty. Well, that will go away after a while.”
“Who are you?”
The hologram began to pace. “My name is Tianza.”
“Never heard of you.”
“No reason you should have. I have attained a measure of local repute, but it unfortunately does not extend beyond this system. I am, you may say, a collector of beautiful things. It has been my driving passion for nearly twelve cycles.”
Disbelief crossed Aeryn’s face. So what am I doing here, she wondered. “You’re a collector? What do you collect?”
The living side of Tianza’s face smiled. “I collect all manner of things. If I find them beautiful, I will do whatever is necessary to posses them, be it a work of art, jewelry…people.”
Again, Aeryn wondered, What am I doing here? “Excuse me? Are you saying you kidnap people just because you find them attractive? You’re insane, you know that, don’t you?”
“Is it insanity for a man to want to surround himself with beauty?”
Aeryn took a deep breath and fought to remain calm. She thought, Maybe I can bluff my way out of this. “Do you have any idea who I am? I am Officer Aeryn Sun, Special Commando, Icarion…”
“No, you are former Officer Aeryn Sun, former Special Commando, once of Icarion Company, Pleisar Regiment. You have spent the last two and a half cycles as a fugitive, after being declared irreversibly contaminated. You spent two years living on an escaped Leviathan with other escaped prisoners, and the last half cycle on a Leviathan gunship. As you can see, if you were hoping to instill the fear of High Command in me, it has failed.”
“How do you know so much about me?”
Tianza’s smile became almost predatory. “I have my sources. Now, eat. Get some rest. We’ll talk more later. And if you were hoping your male would come to your rescue, I would reconsider that. Within a solar day, he will be dead.” Tianza’s hologram faded and was gone.
Aeryn stared at where the hologram had been then looked up through the clear ceiling. “John…”
---------------------------------------
John rubbed his eyes and shook his head, not believing what Ixa told him. “Let me see if I’m wrapping my brain around this. This Sebacean guy, Tianza, collects all manner of things that he finds attractive, up to and including people.”
Ixa nodded quickly. “Yes, that’s it.”
“And he’s kidnapped Aeryn because he finds her attractive and wants to add her to his collection?”
“Yes, exactly.”
John shook his head slowly, not believing any of it. “That is sick. I mean, yeah, she’s beautiful, but still…” He shook his head again and looked around. The bar was empty except for himself, Ixa and the bartender, a being whose skin seemed to be melting. Still shaking his head, John began to pace.
Ixa began to pace next to him. “Haven’t you ever seen a woman you really wanted?”
John looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “That’s why most guys watch Baywatch, to watch women that they can never have. But most guys don’t kidnap women they don’t realistically have a chance with. Does he have any idea who he’s kidnapped? Aeryn’s a former Peacekeeper. Hell, she could kick my ass without breaking a sweat.”
“Oh, he knows. He’s taken precautions, though. She can’t get out of her display case.”
“Display case? Great. I need a drink.” John turned and headed for the bar. He looked at the bottles of the same thick liquid he had been drinking before then looked at the bartender. “Do you have anything else to drink besides this? Rasklak? Fellip Nectar? Romulan Ale? Anything?” The bartender just stared. “Fine. Give me a bottle and a glass.” John pulled a handful of coins from a pocket and slapped them onto the bar.
As Ixa followed him to a table, John asked, “Why did you try and warn me? What’s your part in this?”
Ixa looked uncertain for a microt, as if she was trying to decide what to tell him. “Let’s just say Tianza took something of mine, something that’s very valuable to me. I’ll help you get Sun out, if you help me get back what he’s taken from me.”
John looked at her, then poured himself a glass of the thick liquor. He heard someone come into the bar, but didn’t take his eyes off of Ixa. “All right. How do we get to this wack-job?”
“He lives in an orbital habitat. He likes to think he’s above the rest of us in more ways than one. The only thing there is to do is find something that he’ll find more attractive than Sun. Maybe then you’ll be able to trade for her.”
“Trade for her. Do you have any idea how that sounds? What’s his security like? If this trade idea goes south, could I blast my way in and out again?”
“I don’t know. I can find out.”
“Good. Why don’t you go get the lowdown on Tianza’s security? I’ll see if I have anything that might catch his fancy.” Ixa nodded and left the bar, muttering under her breathe something about finally getting started.
John watched her and sighed in resignation. Just like back on Moya, he thought. Makin’ it up as I go. He took a long drink and winced. He didn’t think it possible, but this was thicker than what he had been drinking before Aeryn was kidnapped.
We attract them, all the lunatics, the holier-than-God aliens, trouble in general. Must be something about Leviathans. Either that, or it’s me. John sighed and let his head hang low.
He heard the footsteps just as a hand landed on his shoulder. “Whoever you are, go away.”
“I think not, Crichton. We have unfinished business.” It was Somrela.
John sighed again. “Go away, Sommie. I’ve got bigger things to worry about than your vendetta.”
The next voice John heard did not belong to Somrela. It was a low, rumbling voice. “You’re right. You do have bigger things to worry about.”
A hand clamped down on John’s shoulder and lifted him out of his chair. In an instant, he was aware of the Luxan he had encountered earlier. He tried to break the hold, but was carried back and dropped onto another table. John winced and looked up.
The Luxan had drawn a large knife. He kept one hand against John’s chest, holding him down. There was a wicked smile on the Luxan’s face. “Enjoy your afterlife.”
John’s eyes went to the knife. “Aw frell.”
