Cara woke alone in the strange bed and for a moment, she felt a wave of panic. She expected to feel the hard table beneath her and her limbs tied with the ropes. Instead, she felt the touch of fur and a rather soft surface beneath her. Sighing, as the events of yesterday? Last night? Went through her mind. The creature, no, Todd, she corrected herself, had saved her from the soldiers..the GENII, and brought her to his….Hive? She still had no real idea what a HIVE was, but she felt safe…though she knew nothing about Todd or his kind…the Wraith. Sitting up, she realized she was STILL naked. Sighing, she looked around the darkened room and wondered, absently, where the light switch was. Suddenly, the light flared on and for a moment she was nearly blinded. She let out a little yelp, and thought , :softer please….too bright….: Immediately, the lights dimmed and she looked up, expecting to see Todd standing in the room. But she was alone, as far as she could see. Confused, she reached out with her mind, looking for a person. She felt the presence of many other telepaths, but shied away from their thoughts, as it seemed wrong to intrude…but one presence felt different from any other. She reached out, cautiously, touching the mind and felt a huge presence that seemed to suffuse the entire area. The presence wasn't angry, or mean, indeed it felt cautiously excited as though it was hoping she was what it had been seeking. Curious, she reached a bit further and found that while there were not true WORDS, this entity transmitted feelings, impressions, thoughts… Her fear forgotten, she caressed the entity's mind, and it opened to her, allowing her to feel the loneliness and sadness it had been feeling, along with many other emotions, positive as well as negative. The ship knew she wasn't exactly what she was what it had been waiting for, but her feeling was….
:Wait…..did you think SHIP?: Cara leapt to her feet and rushed over to the wall, forgetting her current state of dress, or rather Undress, and looked out what she'd assumed was a window. It was a window, but the sight that met her eyes nearly caused her to drop to the ground. It was quite obvious looking out that window :porthole?: that she was not on a planet. She felt the touch of Todd's mind, slightly worried as he tried to see what had caused her sudden strong emotions, idly she assured him she was fine, and she went back to the ship's thoughts. She concentrated on the ship, /questioning/ : you ARE the ship, aren't you?:
/positive response/ almost a caress of her mind, as though the ship sought to calm her. She reached back and caressed the ship in return sending :I'm fine…it was just a shock….are you sentient?:
/amusement/acceptance/ If the ship COULD have talked, it would have said something like "obviously". As it was, the ship felt almost parental, as though it was amused at her youth or naivety. She used the connection to move through the ship, it was connected to every system. Careful to not change or touch anything, she used the mental connection to explore, accompanied by the consciousness of the ship. Occasionally, a very aware mind, no WRAITH, she corrected herself, would try to stop or corner her, but the ship gently, in most cases, guided those minds away from her as she explored around her. She idly tried to access the deeper, personal sentience of the ship, the memories, but the ship gently guided her away; leaving her with the feeling that would be for a later date.
She continued her exploration, now her physical body had sunk to the floor and the ship actually seemed to form around her, into the most comfortable "chair" she had ever sat in. She went through the different places, shying away from some things, such as a Wraith in a rather compromising position. :Well…at least I know that Wraith and human's are compatible in that way: Then she found a section of the ship that seemed different; cold, restrained. She tried to use the ships sensors to see the room, but the ship gently prevented her. She cast her mind out, as the ship almost sighed, both amused and mildly exasperated that she refused to be guided away. She felt the being in this room, and several other in the vicinity and realized they were all human, though not Earth humans, more like the villagers in the planet she landed on first. But these people were in some sort of trance or deep sleep and confined in small cubicles, for lack of a better word. She queried the ship, but received no real answer, merely a "when you're ready" type of answer. She would have gone further, but just then , there was a beep on one wall and an opening began appearing, obviously a door.
Two women stood in the doorway, one, slightly shorter than the other with dark hair pulled back into a ponytail. The taller woman was striking, a real beauty with blond hair artfully arranged to look as though she'd just rolled out of bed and green eyes, that seemed to glare at Cara. The smaller woman was smiling, a little shyly, and her brown eyes were friendly. Both carried items in their hands and Cara drew herself up to her full height, granted not as much as she wished, and raised her chin, responding to the blonds' obvious dislike. The smaller woman's smile faltered as she turned her head to look up at her companion, and frowned. Then she said,
"Greetings…my name is Halla…this is Celandra. We were ordered to bring you some clothes, personal items and some food. Mama Mearl thought you might be hungry. "
Clearing her throat, though her voice was still somewhat hoarse, Cara said,
"I'm Cara….who is Mama Mearl?" The blond narrowed her eyes and spoke in a cold voice, "Mama Mearl is in charge of the human worshippers on this Hive. I'm sure you'll meet her soon enough when you are moved to the Workers quarters….." Halla frowned, "Celandra!" Turning to Cara, Halla smiled apologetically and said, "Don't mind her…the Commander requested her a few times before he…errr..found you, and now she's a little jealous".
Cara smiled at Halla and said, "I'm sure she is…I take it staying in the Commander's quarters is a big deal?" Halla nodded and said, "Oh yes! Becoming a private or personal worshipper, especially to one as influential as the Commander, is very special! Here…this is some food we brought to you…..and some clothes", as Halla deliberately ignored Cara's lack of dress, blushing, Celandra did not. Celandra looked Cara up and down, her look saying plainly that she saw no threat in this new woman. Cara felt her mind and sensed her bitterness, anger and jealousy and reacted accordingly. Drawing herself up, she said, "Thank you Halla for the clothes and food…I'll make sure to tell the Commander wonderful you are….. Celandra, you may go now…" Glaring, and fury filling her, Celandra drew back her arm, possibly to throw the bundle at Cara and Cara simply reacted…shoving Celandra mentally backward, into the hallway. The blond woman stared, shocked and frightened at Cara, who raised her chin and continued to watch the blond. At that moment, the familiar form of the Commander walked into sight and stopped, taking into account what he saw and what he felt. He reached out to touch Cara's mind and she allowed him in, to see what she had done and why, and he mentally summoned a drone, ordering him , :take this one: , indicated the blond on the ground, : to the worshippers section and confine her…then have the Head Worshipper report to me for instructions…tomorrow.: The drone nodded, then stepped in and picked the blond up, preparing to follow instructions, but Celandra wasn't done, she grabbed at the Commander's coat, crying, "NO! Commander…please…..she attacked me…". Disgusted, Todd wiped the blonds hands off his coat and said, "are we acquainted, human? If so, it must not have been very important as I do not remember you at all. " Cara smirked at the stricken expression on the blonds face as Todd entered his quarters and nodded to her, "Madame", : I trust you are well? Perhaps once the others are gone, we can discuss a few things: She nodded, "Commander" :thank you for allowing me to save face here….I'm happy to tell you all about it in private:.
Turning to Halla, Cara said, "Thank you again…you can go ahead and leave now, unless the Commander has any need of you?"
Todd chuckled, /Amusement/ "No…you may leave, human….but if you please my Worshipper, perhaps I will have you assigned to her permanently. Looking nervous, the woman bowed and hurried down the hall, following the Drone who half dragged, half carried the semi-hysterical blond.
Todd entered the quarters and began removing his outer coat. Watching his new pet, he cocked his head and thought, :you have been very busy, Little Human….would you like to join me in a soak while you tell me about it?:
Frowning, Cara thought, :are you angry with me?: /worry/fear/nervous/
Todd cocked his head as he stroked his goatee and thought to her, /comfort/amusement/gentle mental caress/ :I am not angry, Little One….but I have felt you exploring the ship today and I'm curious as to what you have found and what you feel…and I believed you enjoyed the soaking before, yes?:
/Hesitant happiness/hesitant mental touch/ :I did enjoy it…:
/Amusement/welcoming/ :then come…you're already dressed for it, Cara…:
:huh? OH!: Blushing from head to toe, Cara realized that Todd's teasing remark was correct, the entire previous conversations had happened with her standing naked in Todd's quarters. /Ashamed/embarrassed/wanting to hide/
Todd finished removing his outer coat and padded softly over to her, gently reaching out to touch her shoulders as he thought :There is nothing to be embarrassed about, Cara….and no need to hide..now come, join me in the soaking unit….:
Cara knew this was a turning point in her life; one decision that would decide what path she took for the rest of her life. Todd seemed to sense her thoughts and stepped back from her, letting his hands fall from her shoulders, but reaching out one hand, palm down, allowing her to make her own choices. Her mind cast around and found that Todd's mind was open to her, at least part of it. Should she say no, he would still help her, but their connection would go a different way…then she touched the entity of the ship and knew her choice was already made. She reached out and hesitantly touched Todd's hand, allowing him to wrap his hand around hers, though there was a strange feeling to his palm. That was a conversation for later however, for now, she allowed him to lead her from main quarters to the soaking unit.
