Chapter 5 – It never rains …
They had been walking uphill for just over an arn, following
a faint path that wound its way up and around the steep hill that formed the
island.
Crichton glanced at Hailen who was walking alongside him,
chatting happily. She didn't even
appear to be breathing hard. During the
walk she had asked him many questions about his home and travels. She had explained to him that she had never
been off this planet, which she called Epane, but she longed to see other
worlds. Crichton found his new friend
to be a pleasant companion, easy to speak to and an attentive listener. It didn't hurt that she was gorgeous, of
course; shorter and younger than Aeryn, with more curves and a large smile. Her long dark hair fell prettily in loose
curls around her face and shoulders. And she was flirting with him. Arm touching, attentiveness, giggling, even
when he wasn't being particularly funny.
Yep, definitely flirting.
He couldn't help but enjoy the attention. It was uncomplicated and pressure free. No pain, no deep emotions, no "we will not act on it", just
innocent boy/girl stuff to boost his flagging ego.
A short distance behind Crichton and Hailen, came Chiana and
Jothee who had spent the entire walk so far fooling about. One would trip the other and then the other
would push the tripper, then they would walk a little and laugh and then the
whole thing would start again. Walking
behind them, D'Argo wondered at the energy of the young and smiled. He was delighted that his son and his love
were getting on so well. He felt that
Chiana's relationship with Jothee would help him forge a stronger relationship
with the boy himself. Behind him he
could hear Rygel explaining his royal lineage to Damor, probably trying to
claim that this planet was part of his empire.
D'Argo sighed and glanced at Aeryn walking beside him. She had hardly said a word since they had
begun. She was probably wondering what
Crichton was doing flirting so obviously with Hailen. He had to admit that he was curious about that himself.
They continued for another half arn and, just when Crichton
was about to give up his macho front and demand a rest, Hailen stopped by a
large rock. "This is where we
live." She smiled and passed through a
gap behind the rock.
They entered into a narrow passageway that led to a much
larger chamber. There were around
thirty people in the chamber, men, women and children of all ages. They all had the same dark hair and pale
complexions.
Hailen grabbed Crichton's hand and pulled him forward to a
middle aged man, sitting at the far side of the chamber. "Father, these are the visitors I told you
about. They have encountered the Mevi
and are trapped here. This is John
Crichton." Crichton flashed the man a
peace sign. "Ka D'Argo. His son,
Jothee. Chiana. Dominar Rygel. And
Aeryn Sun." Each nodded as they were
introduced. "This is my father
Grisott."
"Grisott, Hailen said that you might be able to help us get
back to our ship." Aeryn said, straight
to the point as ever.
Grisott motioned for them to sit down on the rugs, which
were scattered over most of the chamber floor.
As Crichton began to sit, he realised that Hailen's hand was
still holding onto his. When had they
got to the hand holding stage? He
gently pulled free and took a quick look at Aeryn. She was concentrating on Grisott, but she looked really…tired. Tired and unhappy. Hailen put her hand on his arm and smiled as he looked back at
her. It suddenly struck him that Hailen
wasn't Chiana. They were about the same
age, but they were galaxies apart in terms of outlook and experience. He couldn't
flirt with Hailen like he used to with Chiana and expect it not to mean
anything to her. Hailen clearly felt
that he intended to start some sort of relationship with her. Dren.
He'd really screwed up. And it
was hurting Aeryn. He couldn't deny
that he had wanted to make her jealous.
Wanted her to see that others found him attractive. Would be willing to act on their feelings. But what had seemed like a bit of harmless
fun to make a point and to boost his ego now seemed thoughtless and cruel to
both women. For someone with two PhDs,
he could sometimes be really stupid. He
tried to turn his thoughts back to what Grisott was saying.
"This is all that is left of our people." Grisott waved his hand sadly around the
chamber. "We used to populate the whole planet and now there are only 34 of
us."
"What happened?"
Aeryn asked.
"The rains. Every
year the rains have been heavier and longer than the year before. When my father was a boy, our people built
our homes and farmed on the rich soil by the many rivers in our land. But inexplicably the weather of our planet
began to change. The rains got heavier
and heavier and eventually the rivers burst their banks, flooding that land and
our people were forced to take to the higher ground. Each year the water rises.
It is only because we have taken pains to plant trees and other plants
to stop the erosion of the soil that the rain hasn't washed it all away and
condemned us to starvation. But that is
not where our problems end."
"The watchamacallit...the Mevi, right?" Crichton felt Hailen lean into him and grab
his arm again. He tried to put some
space between them. This had definitely
gone too far.
"What? The
creature?" Chiana looked surprised.
"Yes. As the waters
grew ever bigger and the land ever smaller, so the water creatures grew larger
and stronger. Our people used to fish and
use boats to travel from one island to another, but the Mevi soon started to
hunt us, and as they grew in number, it soon became impossible for us to go
near the water. They grow stronger and
bigger every year and can pluck us from the land now."
"So if you are trapped on this island, how the yotz can you
help us?" Rygel scowled.
"No, you misunderstand me, your Eminence. Our problem is not getting off this
island. It is the highest piece of land
in this area and so the safest place for us.
Our problem is getting of this planet in order to save our people."
"Getting off the planet."
D'Argo repeated with a weary look at Aeryn.
"Yes. Our people
have no means of interplanetary travel.
We are farmers, not explorers. Visitors to our planet are few and our
time grows ever shorter. If we are
still here in two or three cycles, those of us who do not drown or starve will
be plucked from the remaining land by the Mevi. We can help you get back to your ship if you take us with you."
Crichton looked around the chamber at the children and the
elderly. "You know, we're kinda like a
magnet for trouble. You might want to
pick a safer ride."
"Few pass this way."
Hailen explained. "You are the
first visitors we've seen during my lifetime."
"D..during your lifetime?" Crichton raised his eyebrows at her. " And you're what?
19...20 cycles?" She nodded. Crichton looked at D'Argo.
"And how exactly would you get us back to our
transports?" Aeryn asked.
"There are underground tunnels connecting some of the
islands." Damor replied.
"And there is one of these tunnels between this island and
the one where we left our transports?"
"Yes." Hailen smiled
happily.
Aeryn gave Grisott a tight smile. "May we have a moment to discuss this please?"
"What is there to discuss?"
Rygel demanded. He turned
towards Grisott. "We agree. Take us to our transports."
"Be quiet!" D'Argo
turned to Crichton. "I hate to say it,
but I think Rygel may be right, John.
We do not have many options."
"I don't think we have any options. Aeryn?"
She nodded. "Yes."
"Hey! Isn't anyone
going to ask us?"
"Well, Pip. If you
have anything to add, now would be the time."
"Well… we agree."
Jothee nodded.
"Fine. Thanks for
your input." Crichton turned back to
Grisott. "We agree. Take us to our transports."
"I told you."
Rygel grumbled.
Grisott got to his feet.
"Excellent. We will leave
tomorrow. Hailen and Damor will show
you where you can pass the night."
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Hailen led them all through another narrow tunnel at the
rear of the large chamber to a smaller chamber, empty apart from the rugs on
the floor.
"Damor is finding you mattresses and blankets." She shrugged apologetically. "We don't get visitors so we do not have
extra bedding put aside."
"Whatever you can give us will be fine." D'Argo assured her.
"Where does that one go?"
Chiana enquired, pointing at another tunnel leading out of the sleeping chamber
just as Damor entered with two others, their arms full.
"It leads back out onto the hillside." He said.
"But the tunnel is long and you should not feel the night chill."
Hailen sat down on the floor next to Crichton and watched as
the others settled on where they would sleep. She talked happily of how excited
she was that she was to see a living ship and maybe even other worlds. She was curious about the others too, never
having seen off-worlders before, and it wasn't long before she had persuaded
each of them to tell her a little about their home planet. They were all charmed by her interest and
enthusiasm. As Chiana started
explaining about her race's fondness for mind cleansing, Crichton looked over
at Aeryn.
She was lying on her mattress, a little back from the
group. She had not offered to tell
Hailen a story. Well, he could
understand that; she didn't have the sort of history that you brag about, but
she didn't seem to be listening to the others either. She was staring at the ceiling.
Yep, that fitted the pattern of the past 24 arns: look at the ceiling;
look at the floor; look at the others; look anywhere but at him. Hell, even Rygel was getting more eye
contact than he was. She had not looked
him in the eye since they had fought the creature. And this thing with Hailen wasn't helping.
He groaned inwardly and closed his eyes. He really need to sort things out and it
wasn't going to be easy. OK. Strategy time. First explain the situation to Hailen and then apologise to Aeryn. Sounded simple enough. But he needed to talk to Hailen alone and
that wasn't going to look good…He looked over at Aeryn again and reasoned that
she probably couldn't get any angrier with him. Crichton ran his fingers through his hair and took the plunge. "Hailen, why don't you show me 'round this
place?" He saw Aeryn close her eyes
slowly, but her face remained otherwise immobile.
Hailen smiled at him happily. "Yes, of course." She
took his hand and led him back to the main chamber.
If Aeryn noticed him going she gave no sign.
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Hailen showed him one chamber after another, explaining what
each was for, often linking them back to her own life: she used to live in this
room when she was a child; she broke her arm in that room; her brother was born
over there. She had lived her whole
life in this collection of tunnels and chambers and they were filled with her
memories. Crichton hoped that he wasn't
going to add a painful one now. They
reached a small room, decorated much like the others with rugs on the
floor. It had a mattress to one side.
"This is my sleeping chamber." She said almost shyly.
Crichton took a deep breath. "Hailen, I have to tell you something."
She came towards him, as if to embrace him, but he caught
her by her upper arms and gently sat her down.
"Hailen, we've been getting on great and I like you very much…"
"And I like you too."
She interrupted, blushing.
"That's good, but I get the feeling that you wanna be more
than just friends and I can't do that."
She looked at him, unsure of what exactly he was telling
her. "You do not want me?" Tears were welling up in her eyes.
Crichton looked at her not sure what to do or say to make
things better. "No…yes. What I mean to say is… you're a very
beautiful girl. Who wouldn't… want
you?" Hailen's face looked a little
more hopeful. Crichton hurried on. "But
I'm not free to make a commitment to you.
I am committed to someone else."
"You already have a mate? Where is she?"
"Mate?" He pulled a
face. "Well, not exactly…but close enough, I guess. And she's here. It's
Aeryn."
Hailen looked at him through her tears, incredulous. "Are you sure? She doesn't even seem to like you."
Crichton sighed.
"Yeah, we get that a lot." He smiled sadly at her. "I'm sorry if I hurt you. Please believe that I never meant to."
Hailen grabbed his arm desperately. "Aeryn Sun is not a good match for you. Perhaps when we are all on board your ship
and you get to know me better you will change your mind."
"I won't, Hailen."
He said firmly. "I'm
sorry."
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To Be Continued