Chapter 5 I Thought I Was The Only One
After what seemed like an eternity the lights snapped on. Chiana stormed in looking furious.
Realizing that she could very well blow our cover I played my part. "I hope you realize that if you try to force me to recreate that the entire base here is probably watching." I pointed to a camera with my head.
When she saw the camera the expression from her face fell. She then forced herself a smile and being the perfect actress said, "Let 'em watch. I'm going to punish you real good."
She ripped off her jacket, punched me in the jaw and started going at me as if I was any other male with booze money. Between this she whispered in my ear, "You bastard the station commander is suspicious. Those forged orders you gave us had Commandant Graza's signature."
"But of course," I hissed.
"WHAT? What did you mean by of course."
"Graza is dead. She's not very likely to contradict us, is she?"
"Graza hated the idea of hybrids. She knew you after all. Now the station commander is having us all watched too. We dare not get out of line or we're frelled."
"This is very easy to fix. Bring a data linker, my encryption algorithms and -"
"Don't you listen? We're all being watched. You, me, D'Argo and Noranti."
"What about Fluffy?"
"FLUFFY?!"
"Keep your voice down. As far as the Peacekeepers know Rygel is just a dumb animal beneath their notice. This means they won't be watching him. Stop that! Listen very carefully to what I'm saying. Find Rygel and get him to.."
After a rude comment about my sexual preferences she untied me and left me alone. I tried opening the door, which was bolted shut, sat down on the bed and curled up into a ball.
In no time Rygel burst through a maintenance grate, landing with a thud on the centre of the floor. He looked terrible. He was smeared with filth. Tufts of his fur had been pulled out and some little frellnik had tied cans to his tail.
"Those little abominations," he panted. "They cornered me and tried to turn me into a fur coat. The little beasts waited until Noranti's back was turned. This is all your fault! I wouldn't even cross the street to feed you if you were starving but because your whore has-"
I had enough and grabbed the 'dog' by the scruff of the neck, "One more word against her and I'll make you into a new pair of bedroom slippers. Now tell me did you get what I asked for?"
Rygel nodded mutely.
"Good, don't you ever call her a whore again! Now the first thing we need to do is set up a feed back loop on the cameras here -like so. And now did you bring that digital clip board?"
"Why would you want with a seven cycles old study notes is beyond me but yes I did," replied Rygel.
"Be silent! The sooner I can get the answers I came for the sooner I can go back to Sikzou!"
I angrily tore off one of the wall's panels revealing the circuitry I needed. As I was about to install the clipboard to the underlining computer system Rygel spoke again.
"You really do love her."
"Yes I do and as soon she delivers Crichton's baby we are leaving Moya."
When I had finished installing the clipboard to the station network I used my hacking skills to get a schematic of the station. Both my hearts sank. The station was far larger than it looked from the outside and my allies were scattered throughout it. Even if I could circumvent the security system (which I could) I would be stopped long before I even had an idea where I wanted to go. There were so many labs on this station I didn't know even where to start.
Or maybe I did? "Rygel find Noranti, ask her to make a concoction that would allow me to home in who's been receiving my telepathic signal. Also I need my cooling suit there's no way I can fit through that air vent as a Scarren and simply walking out the door in any form is out of the question."
"And what about the others? Are you going to abandon them here?"
"That is Crichton's style. No, as of right now it would take an entire army to even attempt a rescue of any sort."
I then cleaned up Rygel and sent him on his way. In no time at all he came back with exactly what I needed, my suit and a small vial of brownish vile tasting liquid. The effects were immediate. It was like someone had placed a compass in my brain and the needle pointed right through my skull.
I shooed Rygel away for the next part or so I thought. I pulled out the morphic implant in the back of my neck and reverted back to my original form. If I thought turning into a Scarren was painful, it was nothing like turning back into my old self.
At least in that case I had anaesthetics and medical supervision. No such luck here, I fell down to the ground writhing in agony. My vision blurred, I could hear someone moaning. I blacked out.
I woke up later in a puddle of my various bodily fluids. I found a small sink in an alcove and cleaned myself up. When I looked into the mirror I realized how much I had lost control. The pain had been so bad I had actually wept! No doubt any Peacekeeper who had heard this had enjoyed hearing me suffer.
I was starting to feel very warm so I hurried back to put on coolant suit. Rygel was there, waiting for me.
"Goddess! What happened to you?" he gasped.
"The Scarrens are what happened to me. You see I was created as a tool of propaganda to prove how worthless Peacekeepers were, not even fit for breeding purposes. When I proved to be too healthy for their purposes they removed the organs I used for heat regulation. Ever since I was twelve I've been essentially an invalid."
Rygel shook his head in disbelief. When I had finished putting on my suit he announced that he was following me.
"Playing Chiana to my Sikzou are we? Even if I did betray you, you couldn't tell until it was too late!"
"That's not it, you'll need someone to watch your back," he lied. Even though had had just gained his sympathy I did not gain his trust. Or it could have been the fact that if it were one of his wives in your position he would betray the others.
I climbed into the maintenance vent with Rygel right behind me. It was a tight fit and only a contortionist could have made it through all the bends and turns. You discovered how limber I was the first night we made love.
After following my internal compass for about two arns we had finally reached our destination. Rygel was panting behind me. I, on the other hand, was still ready for more. You remember my stamina, my love.
I pulled off the grate, disabled the security alarm and climbed down into the large room. It was a biolab of some sort. Dozens of bodies lay on tables. A flickering reddish field kept each body in some sort of stasis. Their eyes rolled under their closed eyes as they dreamed some nightmarish dream. It was a terrible sight but that was not the worst of it. Each and every body in that room looked exactly like me right down to the suit I wore. They were me.
I stood in stunned silence as I stared at my clones. The sight was absolutely unacceptable but there it was. I thought I was like everyone else in the universe. I thought I was the only one but there they lay mocking me and my self worth.
I so struck by this horrible revelation I did not hear two technicians talking right outside the lab but Rygel did. He barked me a warning just as the lab door swished open. I stood right in the frelling open with only microts to find a decent hiding place. Needless to say I was in deep dren.
After what seemed like an eternity the lights snapped on. Chiana stormed in looking furious.
Realizing that she could very well blow our cover I played my part. "I hope you realize that if you try to force me to recreate that the entire base here is probably watching." I pointed to a camera with my head.
When she saw the camera the expression from her face fell. She then forced herself a smile and being the perfect actress said, "Let 'em watch. I'm going to punish you real good."
She ripped off her jacket, punched me in the jaw and started going at me as if I was any other male with booze money. Between this she whispered in my ear, "You bastard the station commander is suspicious. Those forged orders you gave us had Commandant Graza's signature."
"But of course," I hissed.
"WHAT? What did you mean by of course."
"Graza is dead. She's not very likely to contradict us, is she?"
"Graza hated the idea of hybrids. She knew you after all. Now the station commander is having us all watched too. We dare not get out of line or we're frelled."
"This is very easy to fix. Bring a data linker, my encryption algorithms and -"
"Don't you listen? We're all being watched. You, me, D'Argo and Noranti."
"What about Fluffy?"
"FLUFFY?!"
"Keep your voice down. As far as the Peacekeepers know Rygel is just a dumb animal beneath their notice. This means they won't be watching him. Stop that! Listen very carefully to what I'm saying. Find Rygel and get him to.."
After a rude comment about my sexual preferences she untied me and left me alone. I tried opening the door, which was bolted shut, sat down on the bed and curled up into a ball.
In no time Rygel burst through a maintenance grate, landing with a thud on the centre of the floor. He looked terrible. He was smeared with filth. Tufts of his fur had been pulled out and some little frellnik had tied cans to his tail.
"Those little abominations," he panted. "They cornered me and tried to turn me into a fur coat. The little beasts waited until Noranti's back was turned. This is all your fault! I wouldn't even cross the street to feed you if you were starving but because your whore has-"
I had enough and grabbed the 'dog' by the scruff of the neck, "One more word against her and I'll make you into a new pair of bedroom slippers. Now tell me did you get what I asked for?"
Rygel nodded mutely.
"Good, don't you ever call her a whore again! Now the first thing we need to do is set up a feed back loop on the cameras here -like so. And now did you bring that digital clip board?"
"Why would you want with a seven cycles old study notes is beyond me but yes I did," replied Rygel.
"Be silent! The sooner I can get the answers I came for the sooner I can go back to Sikzou!"
I angrily tore off one of the wall's panels revealing the circuitry I needed. As I was about to install the clipboard to the underlining computer system Rygel spoke again.
"You really do love her."
"Yes I do and as soon she delivers Crichton's baby we are leaving Moya."
When I had finished installing the clipboard to the station network I used my hacking skills to get a schematic of the station. Both my hearts sank. The station was far larger than it looked from the outside and my allies were scattered throughout it. Even if I could circumvent the security system (which I could) I would be stopped long before I even had an idea where I wanted to go. There were so many labs on this station I didn't know even where to start.
Or maybe I did? "Rygel find Noranti, ask her to make a concoction that would allow me to home in who's been receiving my telepathic signal. Also I need my cooling suit there's no way I can fit through that air vent as a Scarren and simply walking out the door in any form is out of the question."
"And what about the others? Are you going to abandon them here?"
"That is Crichton's style. No, as of right now it would take an entire army to even attempt a rescue of any sort."
I then cleaned up Rygel and sent him on his way. In no time at all he came back with exactly what I needed, my suit and a small vial of brownish vile tasting liquid. The effects were immediate. It was like someone had placed a compass in my brain and the needle pointed right through my skull.
I shooed Rygel away for the next part or so I thought. I pulled out the morphic implant in the back of my neck and reverted back to my original form. If I thought turning into a Scarren was painful, it was nothing like turning back into my old self.
At least in that case I had anaesthetics and medical supervision. No such luck here, I fell down to the ground writhing in agony. My vision blurred, I could hear someone moaning. I blacked out.
I woke up later in a puddle of my various bodily fluids. I found a small sink in an alcove and cleaned myself up. When I looked into the mirror I realized how much I had lost control. The pain had been so bad I had actually wept! No doubt any Peacekeeper who had heard this had enjoyed hearing me suffer.
I was starting to feel very warm so I hurried back to put on coolant suit. Rygel was there, waiting for me.
"Goddess! What happened to you?" he gasped.
"The Scarrens are what happened to me. You see I was created as a tool of propaganda to prove how worthless Peacekeepers were, not even fit for breeding purposes. When I proved to be too healthy for their purposes they removed the organs I used for heat regulation. Ever since I was twelve I've been essentially an invalid."
Rygel shook his head in disbelief. When I had finished putting on my suit he announced that he was following me.
"Playing Chiana to my Sikzou are we? Even if I did betray you, you couldn't tell until it was too late!"
"That's not it, you'll need someone to watch your back," he lied. Even though had had just gained his sympathy I did not gain his trust. Or it could have been the fact that if it were one of his wives in your position he would betray the others.
I climbed into the maintenance vent with Rygel right behind me. It was a tight fit and only a contortionist could have made it through all the bends and turns. You discovered how limber I was the first night we made love.
After following my internal compass for about two arns we had finally reached our destination. Rygel was panting behind me. I, on the other hand, was still ready for more. You remember my stamina, my love.
I pulled off the grate, disabled the security alarm and climbed down into the large room. It was a biolab of some sort. Dozens of bodies lay on tables. A flickering reddish field kept each body in some sort of stasis. Their eyes rolled under their closed eyes as they dreamed some nightmarish dream. It was a terrible sight but that was not the worst of it. Each and every body in that room looked exactly like me right down to the suit I wore. They were me.
I stood in stunned silence as I stared at my clones. The sight was absolutely unacceptable but there it was. I thought I was like everyone else in the universe. I thought I was the only one but there they lay mocking me and my self worth.
I so struck by this horrible revelation I did not hear two technicians talking right outside the lab but Rygel did. He barked me a warning just as the lab door swished open. I stood right in the frelling open with only microts to find a decent hiding place. Needless to say I was in deep dren.
