A Teenager's Guide to Life in the Uncharted Territories
Chapter 2
Answers and Conflicts (I'm sorry, I'm fresh out of snappy titles here)
A weeken after the unusual trip to the commerce plant and I still haven't asked about Scorpius. Mom and Dad seem uptight and nervous and are trying really hard not to let on that something might be wrong so I won't worry. Have I ever mentioned they can't act? All they're doing is scaring me more. Sure we've pissed people off before, but it's never elicited this kind of reaction. Everyone has become paranoid of any ship drawing near or any planet we pass. Worst part is, Mom's stopped the prowler lessons. So now I'm bored and have resorted, once again, to wandering aimlessly around Moya. I find Mom sitting alone in the central chamber with her head on the table. As soon as I have one foot in the door, she straightens up and whirls around. Her eyes are red and it's obvious she's been crying. I'm completely shocked. I don't think I've ever seen her cry before. "What's wrong, Mom?" "Come here. There are some things I need to tell you about." I go over and sit beside her at the table. Maybe I'll get some answers now. "Before you were born, not long after your father can through the wormhole, he made many powerful enemies. Crais was one of them." I looked at her incredulous. Uncle Crais? Okay, so he hates it when I call him that, but that makes it all the more appealing. "Yes. He thought your father had killed his brother, but it turned out to have been an accident. But soon Crais was the least of our problems. As you know, within a solar day of meeting your father, I was declared irreversibly contaminated by the Peacekeepers, but what you don't know is that several monens later, your father was captured by Crais and put in the hands of Scorpius." So that's how he comes in to the picture. Mom paused, looking on the verge of tears again. This must be the really horrible part of the story. "Scorpius wanted the knowledge he thought your father had of wormholes and knew of only one way to obtain it." "But I thought dad just figured that out eleven cycles ago." "He did, but Scorpius was convinced that your father could control them. Create them at will, predict their locations. He wanted to be able to do that. Can you imagine how dangerous it would be if the Peacekeepers could travel through wormholes? Scorpius had an invention. The Aurora Chair. It was used to enter someone's mind and show his or her memories. The process was incredibly painful. Your father was holding back a memory, and Scorpius thought it was about wormholes, but he couldn't have been farther form the truth. He spent days trying to probe that memory out and almost killed him in the process. Soon we found where he was being held and we went in and rescued him. Scorpius has been looking for us ever since. He's come close to catching us again before, but that commerce planet was the closest call we've ever had. He had left a wanted beacon describing both your father and I, and someone reported us. Now Scorpius isn't normal. Whatever normal is out here. He's part Sebacean, part Scarran. It's only natural that he has both Scarran and Sebacean allies. Both were alerted of our presence. We didn't know until they ambushed us in the market." Okay. I thought I was shocked before. Dad had told me about some of the adventures they'd had out here like when T'raltixx brought the weird crackers and when he had to marry a princess, but he'd never mentioned anything about the truly frightening side of the Uncharteds. "Whoa." That's all I can think of to say. I know English, Sebacean, Luxan, and Nebari, and that's all I can come up with. "Whoa is right," says Dad, having apparently come in while we were talking. He comes up behind mom and me and pulls us into a hug. "But that's all over now. We're haven't seen any sign that Scorpy knows where we are since we left the planet." I had to make a point. "But you didn't know on the planet until he ambushed you. How do you know he doesn't know where you are now?" "We don't. Not for sure anyway." Not the comforting answer I was looking for.
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Command Carrier: "Where are they?" A surprised tech jumped slightly as Scoripius appeared over his shoulder. "They're just metras away from the Scarran fleet." "Excellent. Alert the fleet." "Already been done, sir."
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"Commander Crichton, Aeryn, please come to command. There's something you need to see." Dad reluctantly let go of Mom and me. He wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her forehead before leading her out of the room. Now I get to sort through all this information I've gotten about the history my parents have out here. Kinda scary. Actually, a little more than kinda scary. Completely disarming is more like it. Suddenly the comms crackled to life. "Rayne, listen to me," came Dad's voice. "There's a Scarran fleet right in front of us and we have no way to avoid them. Chiana is coming your way and you are going to go and hide. Don't come out until Pilot tells you it is safe. No matter what you hear, stay hidden. Can you do that?" I'm completely frozen. This can't be happening. "Rayne?" I have to stop doing that. "Yeah, Dad. I can do that." "Good. They should be boarding in less than 400 microts. Hurry." His tone is urgent and I can hear Mom and D'Argo in the background shouting. "Love you." As quickly as the connection had begun, it ended. Just microts later Chiana showed up at the door and beckoned me to follow her. We ran through some of the more maze-like parts of Moya before reaching the innermost regions and finding a small spot where no Scarran would fit and enough curves so a shot wouldn't be able to reach us. Not 20 microts after we were hidden, the Scarrans boarded.
~~~~
A weeken after the unusual trip to the commerce plant and I still haven't asked about Scorpius. Mom and Dad seem uptight and nervous and are trying really hard not to let on that something might be wrong so I won't worry. Have I ever mentioned they can't act? All they're doing is scaring me more. Sure we've pissed people off before, but it's never elicited this kind of reaction. Everyone has become paranoid of any ship drawing near or any planet we pass. Worst part is, Mom's stopped the prowler lessons. So now I'm bored and have resorted, once again, to wandering aimlessly around Moya. I find Mom sitting alone in the central chamber with her head on the table. As soon as I have one foot in the door, she straightens up and whirls around. Her eyes are red and it's obvious she's been crying. I'm completely shocked. I don't think I've ever seen her cry before. "What's wrong, Mom?" "Come here. There are some things I need to tell you about." I go over and sit beside her at the table. Maybe I'll get some answers now. "Before you were born, not long after your father can through the wormhole, he made many powerful enemies. Crais was one of them." I looked at her incredulous. Uncle Crais? Okay, so he hates it when I call him that, but that makes it all the more appealing. "Yes. He thought your father had killed his brother, but it turned out to have been an accident. But soon Crais was the least of our problems. As you know, within a solar day of meeting your father, I was declared irreversibly contaminated by the Peacekeepers, but what you don't know is that several monens later, your father was captured by Crais and put in the hands of Scorpius." So that's how he comes in to the picture. Mom paused, looking on the verge of tears again. This must be the really horrible part of the story. "Scorpius wanted the knowledge he thought your father had of wormholes and knew of only one way to obtain it." "But I thought dad just figured that out eleven cycles ago." "He did, but Scorpius was convinced that your father could control them. Create them at will, predict their locations. He wanted to be able to do that. Can you imagine how dangerous it would be if the Peacekeepers could travel through wormholes? Scorpius had an invention. The Aurora Chair. It was used to enter someone's mind and show his or her memories. The process was incredibly painful. Your father was holding back a memory, and Scorpius thought it was about wormholes, but he couldn't have been farther form the truth. He spent days trying to probe that memory out and almost killed him in the process. Soon we found where he was being held and we went in and rescued him. Scorpius has been looking for us ever since. He's come close to catching us again before, but that commerce planet was the closest call we've ever had. He had left a wanted beacon describing both your father and I, and someone reported us. Now Scorpius isn't normal. Whatever normal is out here. He's part Sebacean, part Scarran. It's only natural that he has both Scarran and Sebacean allies. Both were alerted of our presence. We didn't know until they ambushed us in the market." Okay. I thought I was shocked before. Dad had told me about some of the adventures they'd had out here like when T'raltixx brought the weird crackers and when he had to marry a princess, but he'd never mentioned anything about the truly frightening side of the Uncharteds. "Whoa." That's all I can think of to say. I know English, Sebacean, Luxan, and Nebari, and that's all I can come up with. "Whoa is right," says Dad, having apparently come in while we were talking. He comes up behind mom and me and pulls us into a hug. "But that's all over now. We're haven't seen any sign that Scorpy knows where we are since we left the planet." I had to make a point. "But you didn't know on the planet until he ambushed you. How do you know he doesn't know where you are now?" "We don't. Not for sure anyway." Not the comforting answer I was looking for.
~~~~
Command Carrier: "Where are they?" A surprised tech jumped slightly as Scoripius appeared over his shoulder. "They're just metras away from the Scarran fleet." "Excellent. Alert the fleet." "Already been done, sir."
~~~~
"Commander Crichton, Aeryn, please come to command. There's something you need to see." Dad reluctantly let go of Mom and me. He wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her forehead before leading her out of the room. Now I get to sort through all this information I've gotten about the history my parents have out here. Kinda scary. Actually, a little more than kinda scary. Completely disarming is more like it. Suddenly the comms crackled to life. "Rayne, listen to me," came Dad's voice. "There's a Scarran fleet right in front of us and we have no way to avoid them. Chiana is coming your way and you are going to go and hide. Don't come out until Pilot tells you it is safe. No matter what you hear, stay hidden. Can you do that?" I'm completely frozen. This can't be happening. "Rayne?" I have to stop doing that. "Yeah, Dad. I can do that." "Good. They should be boarding in less than 400 microts. Hurry." His tone is urgent and I can hear Mom and D'Argo in the background shouting. "Love you." As quickly as the connection had begun, it ended. Just microts later Chiana showed up at the door and beckoned me to follow her. We ran through some of the more maze-like parts of Moya before reaching the innermost regions and finding a small spot where no Scarran would fit and enough curves so a shot wouldn't be able to reach us. Not 20 microts after we were hidden, the Scarrans boarded.
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