2008- 14 April 2009

AUTHOR'S NOTE: WARNING! This chapter contains light discussions of subjects some people have very strong feelings/oppinions on. The discussion within this chapter is just that: Discussion. So I don't want people flaming me because I didn't tag their party line or some such rubbish.

I lay spooned behind Harry, my head propped up on my hand as I ran my other hand through his hair. He was breathing slowly, but not quite slow enough for him to actually be asleep. The sun light coming though the window didn't seem to make much of a difference to him. And perhaps resting was the best idea. I was still trying to come to terms with the fact he had saved my life. I wasn't sure how I felt about it to tell the truth. While I am relieved to be alive of course, the fact he chose me over his lifetime friend actually kind of disturbes me. I kept thinking What else could I get him to do? What else would he be willing to do for me? The question of power, the temptation I know it would bring...

I shook my head. I must resist. Great power and the responsibility and all that.

Also... that someone so small could defend me with such strength and visciousness... I am in awe of this.

But now I needed to deal with the fall out.

"I'm sorry." I said, and meant it. "I'm so sorry for all this."

"...what do you mean?" He asked quietly.

"It's all my fault. If I hadn't goaded you into coming down the valley with me, none of this would have happened."

Harry was quiet for some time. In some way I was hoping/expecting him to brush it off with a simple 'that's alright', but that was not the response I got. "You're right." He solomly said instead. 'It is because of you." Again he was quiet for a while before speaking. "Sometimes I wonder what I would be doing right now if I had never met you. Would I be climbing through the forest? Would I be collecting food alongside my kin? Would I be dancing on the mountain side waiting for the clouds to fall? But it doesn't matter. I'm not doing that. I probably never will again. And while somethings are very painful for me, and I would like them not to have happened," He graped my hand and squeezed. "I will always treasure you." The way he said it, it was like he was expecting something terrible to happen. Like someone saying goodbye before they are lead off to be executed for something they didn't do.

____

The door chimed, making me pause my stroking of his hair and roll away. He didn't move as I padded across to the door to find Ford standing there waiting, again with his hands folded across his body under his slieves, and his face a mixture of nerves and calm.

"Good morning." I said, running my hand through the mess on my own head. "What can I do for you?"

"Good morning," He echoed, then peered past me into the room briefly, curiosity fluttering there on his face for a moment, reducing his age to my eyes. "Am I interrupting?" He asked quietly, his expression returning to normal as he looked back at me.

I rubbed my face with my hands, shook my head, and motioned for him to enter with my arm. Ford stepped past me and into the center of my room where he stood still and gazed across at Harry. When I closed the door and came to stand beside him, Ford turned to watch me. I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall, waiting. After a few moments Ford turned back to Harry and then moved to sit stiffly on the bed.

"Child-of-the-forest-who-is-ever-wandering," Ford spoke in Iniri (once again I heard gibberish with my ears and the meaning in my head). Harry's ears twitched, but otherwise he remained still. "I have spoken with the family of Flower-of-the-sunshine." He paused. After a few moments Harry sighed and rolled to face Ford, his eyes red and puffy from crying.

"What action do they demand?" Harry asked in Iniri.

"None."

Harry blinked, then frowned, his brow creasing with confusion. "None? My understanding... fails." His voice croaked at the end.

"His family leave you holding no responsibility, stating their child had already been taken by the Jakre ten awakenings prior."

Harry's eyes widened with horror, and he clutched at his heart, a shocked noise escaping him. "I deny..." He breathed, his face whiter than normal, only the pink of his cheeks standing out. "I query then, that possibility. What name held the life-spark I extinguished?"

"The physical manifestation once belonged to the life-spark of Flower-of-the-sunshine, however he was no longer present. He had already passed when his physical manifestation was corrupted."

"I query?"

'As stated, the family of that child witnessed his destruction by the Jakre by the Asendac. Mourning had been enacted since that time. The reason behind the physical manifestation that attempted to defile your sacred bond is not yet understood. The presence should not be possible."

"Yet is was." Harry closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. "I am disturbed in increasing measures."

Ford concurred.

So did I.

"So," I cut in. Both Iniri looked at me with their heads tilted to one side. "Are you saying this... guy... was a zombie?" They both blinked with confusion before Ford recited the online dictionary, waiting for me to confirm it was the right word in my language. When I did, Ford blinked, looked me steadily in the eyes and said, "Yes."

Harry shuddered, and quickly wrapped his arms around himself. I rushed to him, hugging him as he shivered wildly.

"Will he return?" Harry whispered in my language. "Will we be safe?" He leaned hevily against me.

"I don't know?"

"Where is IT now?" The distaste in Harry's voice was almost visible in the air.

Ford looked at me, silent. Harry pulled back to also look me in the eyes, quietly asking my name.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked. "I've been here since last night. I don't know what's going on."

"I believe that Iris has custody of... the body... and is interested in examining it. From the inside."

"You're letting her do an autopsy?!"

Ford tilted his head to the side. "Of course."

It was my turn to blink with shock. "Wow. Ok. I just wasn't sure you guys would be ok with that sort of thing." I paused. "You do know what happens during an autopsy, right? How the body gets all cut up?"

"Yes. The life-spark left it may days ago. This situation should not have happened. We all want to know why."

____

Iris closed the door behind herself as she entered the meeting room. Ford and myself were there waiting alongside Peterson and some of the other medicos. Harry, although curious and a little clingy, didn't want to leave our room, and Iris wanted the appearance of formality to be kept... Which made me more concerned than anything. She sat down at the head of the table, pressing some points on the table's data screen.

"Well," She said. "If I hadn't known he'd been up and attacking Harry, I would have sworn I just autopsied a ten day old corpse."

I blinked. Ford just waited for her to continue.

"And not just a corpse, but more of Those Plants." She ran her fingers over the desktop controls and an image of flesh and bone appeared in front of each of us. "This is his cerviacle spine." She explained using the pointer that also appeared on each of our images. "Here, here, here, and here you can see the plant fillaments and where they infulltraited the nerve branches. They are present the full length of his spine." Tiny, barely visible, thread-like things were woven through the flesh and tissues like thread worms. "The plant itself" she continued. "was located anterior and superior of the cerebellum. Again here," An image of what I think was a cut open skull containing brain matter now appeared before us. "you can see the extent the plants' fillaments have infulltraited the tissues, gaining control over the body's ability to move. It's rather amazing really."

"How do you know he was really dead beforehand?" I asked.

Iris' mouth twitched slightly before she flicked through a few more gory slides to one in particular that showed the gaping serrated slashes through peeking intestines. "Also, there were larvae. Lots of larvae. And a distinctive odor."

"Harry said he recognized his scent." I butted in. "How could that be possible if the guy had been decomposing for over a week?"

Iris frowned. "I don't know."

"Perhaps the plant was able to keep the... body... from decomposing normally." That was Ford jumping in, himself flicking through the slides of gore with his head tilted to the side slightly. "There was an awful amount of fresh blood, and that was after the Jackre had taken him."

Peterson leaned forward. "Is that possible?"

Ford turned his head to look at the other head medico. "I wouldn't be surprised. If this plant were... controlling 'Theoryn's shell, then it would need it to last for as long as possible. Especially given what it was trying to do." The other crew members started talking amongst themselves, discussing theories and possibilities. Ford continued to flick through the slides, a frown deepening on his face. "I find it disconcerting the amount of interest these plants are showing towards Harry."

"Huh?" Both Iris and I said, and all other discussion froze.

"Wait a minute," Iris jumped in. "You can't actually mean that these plant are... that they may be... sentient?"

Ford blinked calmly. "Why not?"

"Well for one thing... because they are PLANTS!"

Again Ford blinked. "So?"

__

Harry was absent from our room when I returned after the meeting, which after the things Ford had said sent me almost into a panic. But I took deep breaths and calmed myself, instead going to the onboard computer to track him down. I was expecting him to be outside munching on the grass as he had been in the past, so I was surprised when the computer locked onto him on the uppermost life support deck. So up the elevator I went to find him.

Stepping out of the elevator to walls of cool, soothing, green in all directions, I looked up at the domed roof that was currently turned transparent to let the Tselzry sunlight in. Fluffy clouds slowly drifted along in the blue sky, and if you didn't know better, you would have no idea this was not an Earthside sky above us. I went through the clear superplex airlock that was between the elevator and the gardens on this deck, and was immediately hit with cooler, moist, earth-scented air, and the sounds of running water and forest birds. I took quick glances down the paths that lead from this inner circle off in all directions like the spokes of a wheel, and when I could see no one along those paths, turned back to the center of the room that housed the elevator, and above that, on this side of the airlock, the observation and control tower. I made my way up the ramp to the observation deck where I found two of the life support crew seated at one of the many table there, drinking coffee and reading datapads. They both looked up at my approach, waving their greetings.

Des, the head of life support, smiled, his face crinkled in a way that showed he had lived a lot of his life outdoors and mostly smiling. His hair was virtually white, long at the back, and pulled into a tight plat, and his also white beard was neatly trimmed. He was dressed in the same uniform all the crew had, but his held the patch on the chest with the stylised tree that designated him life support. The fact he wore no rank on his shoulders indicated he was not military or security, but a civilian contractor (and probably more of an expert than any of the other crew could ever dream of being). Des knew his stuff, and was a damned good bloke too. The woman seated at the table with him was his youngest daughter, following in her father's footsteps. She was blond and wore her hair in the same style- minus the facial hair of course. I'm pretty sure her name was Laura, but I never really spent much time around her, and she wasn't anywhere near as friendly as Des. She barely glanced in my direction before turning back to her datapads.

Des approached me, hand out in welcome. "I was wondering how long it would be before you were up" He grinned at me. "Harry's been here for a few hours now. We were starting to worry something had happened to you."

I blushed with the realization that I was so obvious in my dealings with Harry that the whole crew seemed to know about it, but I covered this up with a shrug. "I was in a meeting." I said as a way of explanation.

"Ah," Des clapped a hand on my shoulder and ushered me through the doors of the lab. The lab was full of monitoring equipment showing the flow of water being purified and the levels of humidity as well as soil acidity. There were charts for growing the various types of vegetation hanging on every wall, and real books on book shelves. Des was one of the few remaining Earthside who were able to work the soil without the use of the chemicals that were in the last few hundred years proven to be poisoning the planet and the people. It was mainly because of him and his team that the rest of us had fresh vegetables that actually tasted better than any available Earthside (and also made great grog!!!), pure water to drink, a toilet system that recycled everything- which may be kind of yuck to think too deeply upon so I don't- and most importantly... Des' plants meant we had fresh air to breath. These were some of the reasons why Des and his team were the most respected, protected (and highest paid) members of the crew.

"It's been a while since I saw Harry last." Des continued. "He seemed to really enjoy the plant encyclopedia I leant him."

Ah, so that's where he got it from. "Yes, I've been meaning to bring him back here. We've just been, um...”"

"Busy." Des supplied with a grin that could have been implying things (that were actually VERY true), or simply that he understood how hectic life in general could be.

"Yeah," I said, hoping I wasn't blushing again.

"Well I sure am glad you have both come by. It's a tad bit boring with just us around. I like the way Harry gushes about my gardens. Keeps this old man happy, it sure does."

Harry looked over at us from the other side of the room, away from a large box he had been peering intently into, and grinned with delight as he called my name. He bounced over to us with excitement (which I can't describe how good that made me feel to see his face light up like that after the last few days. It had me grinning in response). "You have got to come look at this!" He grabbed my hand and tugged me over towards the box. "I have never seen anything so wonderful!"

Des followed behind us at a more sedate pace, smiling indulgently. Harry crouched in front of the box again, pulling me down to beside him, then pointed through a little window on the side. The box was actually an old fashioned incubator, with sun lights turned down upon dozens of eggs... and the chicks that had just recently hatched. Some were still on their way to cracking the eggs open, and every now and then movement could be seen from with in some of the shells. The little chicks had tiny wings and yellow puffs for bodies, and walked around on legs that seemed far too big to suit them. They chirped at each other as they wandered around their containment, sometimes standing on egg shells, and sometimes on their fellow hatchlings. Harry was virtually plastered to the window, cooing softly with adoration.

"Look look look!" He pointed at an egg that had cracks in it and was pulsating as the chick slowly worked it's hole bigger.

"It can take days for a chick to hatch." Des informed me as Harry went back to his soft cooing. (And was it me, or did the chicks all look in Harry's direction and gather a little closer when he did that?)

"I didn't know we had chooks on board, Des."

Des gave me a sly look. "Of course we do. Keeps the garden healthy."

"Ah." I sure hope there is no possibility of bird flu or some other illness that could contaminate the planet.

"Besides," Des added quietly. "The eggs make good eating." Before I could make any comment or query, Des opened the side door of the box and reached in to pull out a scared chick. "Here," He handed it to Harry, whose eyes were wide with shock. "Have a hold."

Cautiously Harry reached out to get the chick, cooing that soft coo of his that while had no words, expressed peace and calm, and stroking the chick's trembling body. Slowly the chick calmed and sat quite calmly in Harry's arms. "So soft," Harry breathed as he stroked the little thing.

"Well I never." Des looked at all the other chicks who had also sat down calmly in the sawdust at the bottom of the box in the corner closest to Harry. They were no longer chirping with any sort of anxiety or panic that was expected for this type of situation. "I have never seen anything like this before."

Harry just looked up from the chick in his arms and beamed.

___

"I am amazed at the similarities of life forms between our planets." Harry chattered away happily as we walked hand in hand back to the mess hall. I was seriously looking forward to some coffee, and didn't think Harry had eaten at all yet. "Although I shouldn't be surprised." he continued. "We were all created by the same one after all."

"Huh?" Was my eloquent contribution.

"I know some of your science says you came about by macroevolution, but really. Sometimes I wonder how you humans can be so smart with all your technology and things, and yet be so stupid!"

I yanked him to a stop. "What? No, hang on. We have evidence that proves evolution-"

"Oh please." Harry rolled his eyes and spoke in such a human manner that I had to force myself to remember he was not one of us. "I have read those articles on your onboard computer, and they have absolutely no grasp on reality. I've read the histories stored there too. This teaching is very new to your planet in the grand scheme of things. I'm surprised you are still being taught that since there is far more scientific evidence that proves you were created, just like we were. It's like saying-" He then said something in his language that really made no sense to me. Something like "a Lallyput is a Sassensismer because it is square." (Don't ask me what that meant, because seriously, I had no idea. And I still don't.)

Then he froze, a look of horror upon his face, and he ducked his head. "I'm sorry." His voice lost the happy, teasing tone it had just moments before. "I didn't mean to disrespect your religion. Please forgive me. My punishment is in your hands."

I blinked, chilled. "You didn't disrespect my religion." I told him quickly. "Coz I don't have one."

"...Oh." He frowned, blinking his big eyes up at me, before tilting his head to the side, and looking at me like I was some strange kind of puzzle. "How strange."

I shrugged. "Depends on your point of view, I guess. I've never really thought about the whole creation-verses-evolution thing. I suppose I don't even know what each of them really mean. And does it really matter anyway?" I continued walking. Harry followed after, watching me, silent. "What do you mean by creation? How do your know you were created and that you didn't evolve?" By this time we made it to the mess hall and stood in front of the counter trying to decide what to get. Harry gave me a look that said it was obvious.

"I asked The One Who Remembers, that's how."

Iniri live for thousands of years, I get that. Really I do. But how old would this guy have to be? There is no way this could be possible. No one lives that long, right?

"If you want, I could introduce you to him?"

"Uh, sure."

"Wonderful. You would need to tell Iris that you will be gone for a while though. His house is many days journey from here."

"Okay. That may take some organizing. What if Iris wanted to come along too?"

"I'm sure that would be fine. Bring along anyone you would like, I say." He grinned his sunshine grin up at me.

"Okay. Let me discuss this with the crew." I'm sure the bosses wouldn't mind another expedition, especially if it turns out this One Who Remembers guy is some form of computer or A.I. They'd be very interested, I'm sure. Probably pee themselves with excitement and jump the next ship out here so they could claim it for themselves.

Harry hummed happily to himself, one hand pressed over his belly as we continued to wait for the line to shorten. "Des knows The Creator," he said suddenly. "And so do the Chicks."

I wasn't sure what to say to that, so I said nothing. I just waited until it was my turn and ignored the looks we got from my fellow crewmates. I had a feeling this was going to be a long day.

To be continued...