Return to Bermudas Index
by wordboy
Somrela looked around Command, apparently unconcerned by the Qualta blade and two pulse pistols that were suddenly aimed at him and his two officers.
“Dominar, is there a problem?” He sounded on the verge of laughter.
“You tell us, Mighty Joe Young,” John said, his pistol never wavering. “We don’t like strangers coming onboard and making threats.”
What sounded like a cross between a cough and a belch came from Somrela. “Threats?”
Aeryn moved away from John’s side, to better cover the third of the Rolvarians. “It’s not a good idea to come onboard someone’s ship and tell them that you expect them to die.”
Jool waved her hands at John and Aeryn. “No! Lower your weapons! The Rolvarians have a…unique outlook.”
“A unique outlook?” D’Argo shifted position slightly, covering the three tall aliens. “Is that what you call it?”
“Of course, you yotz!” Rygel floated down and took up position in front of D’Argo. “It’s only a saying! A figure of speech!”
“A figure of speech?”
“Why, yes.” That was Traven, one of the officers. “We accept the inevitability of death, that it can come at any time. To say we expect you to die is to say we expect you to wait.”
Chiana stared at the three Rolvarians. “Would you be insulted if I said that made no sense?”
Travel smiled. “I’m sure your limited perception has trouble with many higher concepts, little Nebari.”
Chiana stared to complain, but Stark put a hand on her shoulder and stopped her. “Don’t bother,” he said.
John lowered his pulse pistol and shook his head. “Save me from holier-than-God aliens. Okay, so me, Rygel and Jool have to travel with you three to one of your bases to negotiate…what? Passage through your space? The exact layout of your borders so we don’t have to go through this again?”
“Linelk and I will be traveling to our base. Traven will remain here to ensure you do not encroach any further into our territory. This is the best way to handle this rather uncomfortable situation. Trust me.”
D’Argo lowered his Qualta blade, a disgusted look on his face. On the other side of Command, Aeryn holstered her pulse pistol.
“This day just keeps getting better,” she muttered.
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John was pulling on his black duster when he heard Aeryn’s voice.
“Are you sure about this?”
“No, I’m not sure, but I don’t see us having a choice.” John checked his pulse pistol. “That ship’s not going to get out of our way unless we go with them.”
“And if Somrela’s lying?”
John turned to Aeryn, looked into her dark eyes and fought back the mistimed desire to reach out, pull her close and kiss her. “Well, if things go pear-shaped…”
“Excuse me?”
“Sorry. It’s slang. If things go wrong, at least you have D’Argo, Chiana and Stark to help you. Who do I have with me? Sparky and the debutante.” A look of dismay crossed John’s face. “God, that sounds like a bad UPN sitcom. Wait, that’s redundant…”
Aeryn frowned. “John, you’re making less sense than usual.”
“Sorry. Momentarily homesick.” John stepped out of his room and started down the corridor, Aeryn beside him. “Look, keep an eye on Traven. If things go bad, well, do what you have to.”
They found Rygel, Jool, Somrela and Linelk waiting patiently by the travel pod. The other Rolvarian, Traven, was staring at John’s module.
“Well, it’s about time you got here.” Rygel sounded more officious than usual. “Don’t you know it’s not good to keep guests waiting?”
“Can you please find it in your heart to forgive me?” John watched Traven lean into his module’s cockpit. “Hey, Curious George! Don’t touch.” John frowned when he noticed several large crates that had been placed near the workbench. “Where did those come from?”
“Those are supplies for Traven. We do not want to risk contamination by ingesting what you call food and drink.”
Aeryn shook her head slowly. “Take care of yourselves.” She hesitated a moment, then held out a hand to John. He took it gently and smiled. “We’ll talk when you get back.”
“Yeah. See you then.” John watched Aeryn lead Traven from the maintenance bay as the doors closed.
“Are the two of you a pair,” Linelk asked.
John shrugged. “Depends on the day of the week. Are you sure they’re going to be all right while we’re gone?”
Somrela nodded. “Of course. Under Traven’s watchful eye, they are under the best of care. Trust me.” He and Linelk started up into the transport pod.
As he floated by, Rygel said, “Trust is a good thing, Crichton. You might try it sometime.”
As Rygel disappeared into the pod, Jool asked, “Are your people always so paranoid?”
John sighed. “It’s not paranoia, Jool. It’s just…on my planet, there are several ways of saying frell you. One of them is trust me.” He looked grim as he started into the pod.
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After leaving Traven in the Central Chamber (to the annoyance of D’Argo), Aeryn went to the terrace. She still wanted to be alone, but there was the sudden need to talk. She sighed. I need to talk to John, but he’s leaving with the Rolvarians. He wanted to talk, but I pushed him away. Again. Stupid!
Aeryn stared at the Rolvarian ship. Barely visible against it, the transport pod searched out and apparently found a docking port. Slowly, the Rolvarian ship moved away.
When it was out of sight, Aeryn sighed again and sat on the floor. After a microt, she lay back and stared through the terrace’s clear canopy. She stared at the peaceful stars, then closed her eyes.
She was starting to fall asleep when she heard Pilot’s voice. “Officer Sun?”
“Yes, Pilot.”
“Can you come here, please? We may have a problem.”
Aeryn’s eyes snapped open and she sat up. “A problem?”
“Moya’s internal sensors are picking up several anomalous energy readings. If you could…”
“I’ll be right there.” Aeryn stood, started for the door, but stopped and looked back at where the Rolvarian ship had been.
“Watch your back, John,” she whispered and left the terrace.
