Chapter 50: Did You Ever Notice Most of This Novel Involves Flying From One Place To Another?

Kalli flew on through the Oregon system. Much as she'd like to stop for a while, she couldn't afford the risk of the Military ships catching up to her if they were pursuing her. Besides, there wasn't anyone on planet Oregon except some hippies and environmentalists. They'd apparently come out here to get away from it all. They succeeded. The environmentalists had managed to halt the plans to construct a gate to the Oregon system on some claim that the fragile indigenous life of Oregon would be destroyed if the planet were overrun by humans. Which was rather a moot point when Primos overran just about everywhere they went to anyway.

She reached Tasmania without harassment, dozing on and off as she continued onward. Much as she was proud of being a Death Dancer, she decided it was prudent to fake her registry signal to claim she was a Glyphan instead. As she passed near Tasmania, a Military patrol intercepted her.

"Glyphan Griffon- man that sounds stupid -please identify yourself and state your destination," said one of the patrol ships over the comm.

"I am Megan Pratt," Kalli lied. "I am travelling from the Oregon system back home to Darwin." She hadn't really planned on using an alias, but figured it likewise prudent just in case they had her name on file.

"Why were you in the Oregon system?"

"I was searching for inspiration from the peaceful environment," Kalli replied.

"Bloody Glyphans," the Barracuda muttered. "You may proceed."

"Have a nice day," Kalli said, moving on toward the jump gate to the Darwin system. She was glad to be able and expected to use a jump gate for once- it would, after all, look strange if she'd gone toward the jump hole to Darwin instead. Confident that she had lost anyone that might be following her, she flew on to Darwin.

She really ought to keep on the move and get to Hamilton before resting, but the prospect of a real bed and food that had a taste to it was tempting. Finally she decided to head on down toward the planet to the Glyphan complex in the eastern hemisphere. It would support her ruse if she landed there, anyway.

Once on the surface, she climbed out with a yawn and a stretch. She was also wearing clothing that didn't openly display her Death Dancer insignia, so unless they recognized her from her brief visits before, even they shouldn't know the difference.

A random Kangaroo approached her. "Hail Glyphan sister! Please come and share our food and beds."

She suddenly felt a bit bad about misleading them like this, but accepted their hospitality. They had offered it readily enough to them as non-members before, after all, she told herself.

Over dinner, one of the Glyphans asked her, "So, Megan, what is your Art?"

"I'm, er, writing a novel," Kalli replied.

"Really," he said. "What's it about?"

"It's about a group of Death Dancers that fly around the galaxy blowing things up," Kalli said.

"That sounds interesting. How far are you into it?"

"Oh, around sixty thousand words," Kalli threw out at random.

"Nice," he said. "I'd like to read it whenever you get done with it."

"Yeah, sure," Kalli said. "I should get some sleep. I'm going to be leaving first thing in the morning."

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Heading up to Hamilton."

"Why are you going there? You could get hurt."

"Research," Kalli said. "I have to make it authentic, after all."

"Oh, okay. Be careful out there."

"Will do. Thanks for the food. Good night." She headed off to sleep. Then she decided it would probably be best if she bathed first, and took care of that, then slept.

In the morning, which actually turned out to be mid-afternoon, she headed out to her Griffon and set out from Darwin toward the jump gate to Gaytopia. Using the jump gates, she was able to get to New Scotland and to the jump gate to Hamilton in a much shorter time than it would have taken using the jump holes. Hiding in plain sight, it was so obvious she wondered why she hadn't thought of it before.

"Glyphan ship, please identify yourself and state your purpose in going to Hamilton," said the battleship that was station at the Hamilton jump gate over the comm.

"My name is Megan Pratt. I am doing research on Hamilton wood snakes for my novel," Kalli replied smoothly.

"Couldn't you just get that information from a data bank?"

"I have obtained some information, to be sure," Kalli said. "But I need to make my novel authentic, and I can't capture that feeling from raw data. They say you should write what you know, after all."

"Whatever," came the reply. "You scan clean. Proceed, but be careful for the guerillas. They don't like outsiders."

"Thank you," she said, heading into the jump gate. On the other side, she had to repeat her story for the units stationed there.

"Crazy Glyphans," they said. "You'd best keep your side arm handy if you go down there."

"Thanks for the advice," she said, heading to the planet. This was easier than she'd thought it would be. They had expected a Death Dancer sneaking around behind their backs, not a Glyphan flying around in plain sight. Even the guerillas didn't hassle her as she landed smoothly in a clearing in the jungle.

Kalli pulled on her gloves and mask, and made sure they met up snugly with her jacket. She was confident around snakes, and dealing with one of them wasn't so tough, but it would be tougher to deal with five or six of them. Grabbing her hand scanner and side arm, she headed out of the ship and began searching for snakes.

"Halt!" said a voice from somewhere in the trees. A vaguely familiar looking man wearing camouflage and brandishing a side arm at her came into view. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"I'm Kalli May," she replied. "I was here some weeks ago with my boyfriend, Michael Pratt."

The man seemed to relax a bit. "That still doesn't explain what you're doing."

"I'm searching for wood snakes," Kalli said. "I don't generally go around dressed up like a burglar for fun."

"What are you going to do with wood snakes?" he wondered.

"Hopefully, kill the Chancellor."

"Well, you're welcome to try," he said. "You seem properly equipped to handle this. Do proceed."

"Thanks," she said. He headed off into the trees again, and she resumed scanning for wildlife.

After a bit of searching, a signal identifiable as a snake coiled up on a branch appeared on her scanners. She approached it and as she got close, the snake dropped down hanging from the branch to flick its tongue at her.

"Well, hello there, little one," she said, calmly picking up the snake near the head. "Let's get you back to my ship and find you some friends, shall we?"

She shoved her scanner into her belt and headed back toward the ship, soothing the snake to keep it calm as she went. Back at the ship, she placed the snake securely inside the aquarium she had prepared for them. Kalli watched it for a minute to make sure it wasn't panicking in there or anything before heading back outside to collect some more snakes.

As she collected the snakes, she wondered just why she needed more than one snake. One would be able to get the job done, right? She prefered to have a backup just in case something went wrong, though. At least the snakes were relatively small, at any rate. After collecting six snakes and making sure they weren't trying to kill one another or anything, Kalli closed the hatch and eased into the pilot's seat again.

"Next stop, Toronto," she said to nobody in particular. As she headed out of the atmosphere again, she considered whether she should continue her ruse of being a Glyphan, or sneak out through a jump hole instead. Ultimately, she decided that she hadn't been there long enough to do anything that might be considered "research", and headed for the jump hole. She made it there safely without a fight, escaping notice of the Military entirely.

Hoping for her luck to hold, she smoothly navigated the Glasgow Nebula, avoiding the volatile gas pockets, and made it to the jump hole to Manitoba. She didn't dare stop anywhere by this point, as she wasn't sure how long her snakes could go without food, even though they seemed fairly calm about the entire business. Once in Manitoba, she headed straight for the jump hole to Toronto, dozing off in the pilot's seat along the way after a long day.