"All right, this contest. What am I supposed to do? You say I have to change my outfit. I assume they wouldn't welcome Peacekeepers or even Ex-Peacekeepers very heartily. I do not have to bring weapons but my own... skills. For the sake of argument, remind me what the contest is about." His voice had grown deep and sweet.
"Aw, Crais..."
Crais turned an angry scowl at Crichton and his voice was raised in anger. Crichton, SHUT UP!" He breathed deeply and closed his eyes, the thumping in his head had grown and when he opened his eyes it was clear that he was on the edge of thumping anyone near him, preferably Crichton.
The others couldn't understand Crais' behaviour and Aeryn's face dropped, "Sorry, Crais. Since you suggested it we thought you would enjoy the experience. Let's get into appropriate clothing first. Do you still have the outfit you wore last time? That finely woven cream coloured half robe, with the flowing brown trousers? Admittedly, no matter what you wear, that aura of command persists, but you can use that to your advantage. You certainly proved that last time! Why, Ka D'Argo and I had a hard time being almost as good as you and not letting you down. You can't have forgotten that?" Her eyes widened with bewilderment.
Cream? Brown? Crais was still trying to remember if he ever had such an outfit. Only black came to mind. He tried to picture himself in the colours she described and couldn't. He passed a weary hand over his hair, "I don't think I have the outfit on board."
Aeryn perked up a bit, "Don't worry, you must have lost it. We'll get you something that will make you look stunning and less severe."
Crais tried a different tactic since straightforward answers were not forthcoming. "Shouldn't we be practicing for the contest?"
~Well done Crais~ Talyn piped in happily ~whatever the contest is, we should be able to find out in practise~ Crais nodded in affirmation, feeling quite smug with himself.
"I thought you'd never ask," came Ka D'Argo's booming voice from the entrance.
Crais whirled around and his mouth dropped open when he saw the tall Luxan dressed in an outfit unlike any he had ever seen him wear before. For all the teasing he had been subject to the last few cycles about how he could not relax his severe (in a multitude of respects) Peacekeeper ways, he had never seen Ka D'Argo in anything but his Luxan military garb, either.
But now...
Crais closed his eyes briefly, hoping that the vision would go away and that he would find everything suddenly returned to normal. When he opened his eyes again, nothing had changed.
"Are you sure you want to wear that to the contest?" asked Crais in disbelief. He hoped that they hadn't thought of anything like that for him.
"Of course," Ka D'Argo said with a booming laugh which only exasperated Crais' growing headache.
"But Ka D'Argo, it is... outlandish. It is garish. It's so... Nebari!" Crais couldn't think of a word to describe what he was seeing. It assaulted his senses, his taste; it made his headache grow worse. The colours, the design....
"I hope you don't have anything like that in mind for me," Crais said with a noticeable shudder.
Aeryn grinned, "Yours will be more subtle, Crais."
"I should hope so," Crais replied with horror in his voice, "I surely hope that you don't want me to wear..." ... he found himself at a very uncharacteristic loss for words... "that."
D'Argo, Aeryn, and Crichton all looked at each other and broke out in peals of laughter.
Suddenly Bialar identified one of the things that had seemed odd. "By the way, where is the Nebari?" Ka D'Argo looked a bit uncomfortable, "Slight problem there."
"You can call it slight, I would call it major," Crichton said with a big broad grin, "I'll be surprised if she lets you into your room."
"Shut up, John," Ka D'Argo replied annoyed, "she will, once she cools down."
Crais frowned, "What happened to Chiana?"
It was Aeryn who enlightened him, or so she thought, "Chiana can't make it to the contest. She caught a really nasty bug, which happily only affects Nebari, and now she is sulking in their quarters. Ka D'Argo has not been able to get in for the last weeken. We might have to find another one to replace her. Do you know of any, Crais?"
Crais cringed as he heard himself ask, "Any what?"
The other three seemed to find this the funniest thing he had said yet.
Ka D'Argo once again reached over to slap Crais on the back. This time Crais was prepared and stepped out of the way of the Luxan's big hand. Did he have to slap him on the back repeatedly? His nostrils flared with prolonged annoyance, "Any what?" repeated Crais. This time he couldn't keep the annoyance out of his voice.
"Not any 'what' Crais, any 'who'. Unless you have already stashed someone on Talyn," Crichton told him.
"I have 'stashed' no one on Talyn, Crichton," Crais started to lose his patience fast. "May I just have a simple answer to a simple question?"
He was ignored. Aeryn grabbed him by the arm, "Let us get you outfitted first. We'll come up with something suitable. Hmm, you could even wear... no, that won't work, not on you... Crichton's old Erp suit is a little the worse for wear, but that isn't the real problem with it. The effect just won't be right.
On the other hand, that PK outfit won't do either. It would be a shame to get so far in the contest, and then to throw away your chances at this stage just because you don't have anything suitable to wear."
None of them seemed to notice the look of horror that overwhelmed Crais as he imagined himself in the orange jumpsuit.
Talyn called Crais silently and Crais could detect a certain glee in the youngster ~I could quite picture you in the orange suit~ Talyn almost did a roll of pleasure in space and Crais could hear his laughter in his mind ~but that would be cruel. Anyway, you are more widely built than Crichton. It would stretch too much over the chest~ Talyn was rolling with laughter and Moya admonished him.
Crais was not amused and frowned in irritation. None of the others had noticed his silent communication with Talyn.
"We could let him wear a cape," Crichton said with a thoughtful frown at the others.
"Hmm, or maybe one of those long robes the Delvians wear. Gold would set off his dark hair beautifully," Aeryn mused.
That did it! Crais was not going to wear orange, yellow or any other garish colours they wanted him to wear nor was he going to wear capes or dresses or... he looked at Ka D'Argo... that.
"Silence!" Crais raised his voice over the din. "I will not wear ridiculous colours in whatever form. I will wear my Captain's coat and uniform. I will appear in my very best garb in honour of the judges, and the contest, and my opponents. I will show my respect for them. If they are unable to judge me fairly because they are prejudiced by my background, then it is more their loss than mine."
The others quieted down somewhat, although Crichton seemed to be fighting a losing battle to keep a straight face. He had an image in his mind of a once, and still, very popular Erp singer. In his mind, juxtaposed, were two mental images. One was of a popular performer by the name of Elvis. The other was of Bialar Crais in his old orange jumpsuit, the front unfastened to accommodate the Sebacean's broad chest.
Aeryn walked up to Crais and draped an arm over his shoulder. "Crais, I know your intentions are honourable but your perception is a bit off. Unfortunately there is prejudice, and I would hate to see that prejudice influence the outcome of the contest. You agreed with us last time and it worked out fine."
Crais listened quietly to her.
"Okay, too much colour is out (Crais scowled) or maybe black will be the new rage but you have to consider how the judges will react. It wouldn't be fair to you if their decision were coloured by the clothes you wear. Besides, it is much more fun to win when you know you've won a contest fairly. Don't deny that to your opponents, Crais."
Crais was disconcerted by the way Aeryn had casually draped her arm around his. This was not the way she normally acted.
He turned to her and sighed, "Very well. I concur. I will wear something that is not made by Peacekeeper tailors but I will have final say in the matter. If I don't think the clothes are fitting, I will refuse them."
"Agreed! Now we only have to find you something that will be acceptable both to you and the judges. Maybe we should leave Moya a little earlier than we had planned. That garment shop planet side where you had the cream and brown outfit made up had nice materials and the workmanship was truly outstanding. The tailor did quick work last time, and I'll bet this time around, he'd be even faster. That combination of cream and brown looked stunning on you--it really set off the tones of your skin and hair.
"Even if you didn't need a change in outfit for the contest, it would still be a good idea to have some non-PK clothes. Both of us have made trips to commerce planets for supplies only to experience fear and resentment from the locals because they identified us as Peacekeeper. The day may come when that costs us our lives. Better to have the option of not being so immediately identified as PK, don't you agree, Crais?"
Crais could only agree with her. He had thought more than once along the same lines but had never been able to find a style that didn't scream "Peacekeeper", and at the same time was comfortable to wear in battle.
He dropped the thoughts of what the contest was from his mind for the moment. They weren't going to give him straight answers anyway. Maybe by choosing the garments he could find a clue.
"I don't have that many credits," he said ashamedly. Getting to Talyn and StarBurst in the Command Carrier hadn't left him much time to put credits together.
"No problems, my man," said Crichton, "We have enough. Don't worry about it."
"Let us go to the planet now and get you outfitted first," said Aeryn cheerfully. She walked over to Pilot's clamshell. "Pilot", she said, "Is that transport pod ready yet? Moya's DRDs were still checking out its control system about an arn ago. They seemed to be having trouble finding the problem."
Pilot replied annoyed, "We are still trying to find the problem, Officer Sun. Some things just cannot be hurried. I would suggest patience."
John looked over at Aeryn, "You can never teach patience to Peacekeepers."
"Ex-Peacekeepers," both Aeryn and Crais said in unison with matching scowls.
"Okay, Ex-Peacekeepers," John said demurely, "but still, no patience whatsoever."
Both Ex-Peacekeepers looked at him as if they could tear him apart.
Finally Crais turned to Aeryn, "We can use my pod. There is nothing wrong with mine and the sooner we get this business over, the sooner we can get to..." He left a pause hoping that someone would fill it.
Ka D'Argo stepped forward, "Crais is right the sooner we get this done, the sooner we get to the contest grounds. It's always better to get a chance to settle in and relax beforehand. If we leave now, we should have time to practice and go through our routine." Ka D'Argo finished with a big grin.
Crais' nerves were tense. His other personality had agreed to a contest but nobody had given him any clues to this mysterious contest. Outlandish outfits! No weapons! What was it? Crais was ready to choke the life out of somebody if it wasn't made clear soon what this was all about.
He could feel the rage in him rising. His hands balled into fists, his heart rate sped up, his brows drew together while his eyes blazed fire and a low deep growl was issuing from his throat.
Ka D'Argo slapped him hard enough on the shoulder that it knocked the wind out of him. While he stood coughing, Ka D'Argo laughed out loud, "Practicing already? Don't worry. You'll knock them dead when the time comes. Let's get ready to leave. First we need to make our way back to that tailor shop and have him measure you again. Then we can stop at the food stall next door to him. That was some of the best Tharkelian stew I have ever eaten in my life," boomed Ka D'Argo. He turned back to Crais, "You even said that the Savorian Eels were to die for."
Crais looked as if he would gladly choke the Luxan with the Savorian Eels, and then stuff them down his throat with a Hynerian fork. The evil smile that appeared on his face didn't go completely unnoticed.
"You all right, Crais?" asked Crichton, "You look like you have eaten too many beans and..."
Crais had enough and for the first time in cycles he showed Crichton that he had always kept his strength in rein. He grasped him with one hand on the front of his tunic and lifted him effortlessly off the deck, his face snarling at him.
It was Ka D'Argo who came to Crichton's rescue and took Crais' hand off the Human's front. "I know you are nervous, Crais but you have to relax! If you don't, you'll be worn out by the time the competition begins. Don't Peacekeepers have relaxation techniques they practice before they go into battle?"
Aeryn moved over to Crais, "Would it help if we went through the Sshr'gh together before we go down to the planet?"
"Aeryn, I am relaxed," Crais snarled, "I don't think the Sshr'gh will help me relax further."
"Sure, you're relaxed, Crais," Crichton added helpfully, massaging his throat, "I have seen tightly wound springs that looked more relaxed than you do now. Breathe deeply, in... out... in..."
Crais growled, "Crichton..."
Crichton opened his eyes and grinned, "See, I feel much better. What is Sshra-gagh, anyway?"
Aeryn tried to explain calmly, "The Sshr'gh is a revered and ancient set of exercises meant to train both body and mind. There are 46 forms. It is traditional to perform these sets of movements three times, once very slowly and exactly, then at "normal" speed, and finally at "battle" speed. Long before there were Peacekeepers, Sshr'gh was the basis for nearly all of the martial arts forms practised by Sebaceans of any discipline."
Ka D'Argo mumbled, "Typical for Peacekeepers to think that battle exercises are relaxing. What do you do for dessert, eat babies?"
This time it wasn't only Crais who growled at the Luxan.
Then Aeryn broke into a smile and looked at Ka D'Argo, "You have been around Crichton too long. Even your jokes start to sound like his."
Strangely enough, it was Crais who brought them back to attention. He had managed to get himself under control again. "Aeryn, if we want to make haste to the planet below, we will not have time to go through the Sshr'gh."
"You are right, Crais, we better get ready and go down." She walked toward his pod and turned to the Luxan, "Ka D'Argo do we have all of our equipment ready for transport?"
D'Argo held up a big satchel, "All in here, ready for use. Are we all ready to go then?"
"Aw, Crais..."
Crais turned an angry scowl at Crichton and his voice was raised in anger. Crichton, SHUT UP!" He breathed deeply and closed his eyes, the thumping in his head had grown and when he opened his eyes it was clear that he was on the edge of thumping anyone near him, preferably Crichton.
The others couldn't understand Crais' behaviour and Aeryn's face dropped, "Sorry, Crais. Since you suggested it we thought you would enjoy the experience. Let's get into appropriate clothing first. Do you still have the outfit you wore last time? That finely woven cream coloured half robe, with the flowing brown trousers? Admittedly, no matter what you wear, that aura of command persists, but you can use that to your advantage. You certainly proved that last time! Why, Ka D'Argo and I had a hard time being almost as good as you and not letting you down. You can't have forgotten that?" Her eyes widened with bewilderment.
Cream? Brown? Crais was still trying to remember if he ever had such an outfit. Only black came to mind. He tried to picture himself in the colours she described and couldn't. He passed a weary hand over his hair, "I don't think I have the outfit on board."
Aeryn perked up a bit, "Don't worry, you must have lost it. We'll get you something that will make you look stunning and less severe."
Crais tried a different tactic since straightforward answers were not forthcoming. "Shouldn't we be practicing for the contest?"
~Well done Crais~ Talyn piped in happily ~whatever the contest is, we should be able to find out in practise~ Crais nodded in affirmation, feeling quite smug with himself.
"I thought you'd never ask," came Ka D'Argo's booming voice from the entrance.
Crais whirled around and his mouth dropped open when he saw the tall Luxan dressed in an outfit unlike any he had ever seen him wear before. For all the teasing he had been subject to the last few cycles about how he could not relax his severe (in a multitude of respects) Peacekeeper ways, he had never seen Ka D'Argo in anything but his Luxan military garb, either.
But now...
Crais closed his eyes briefly, hoping that the vision would go away and that he would find everything suddenly returned to normal. When he opened his eyes again, nothing had changed.
"Are you sure you want to wear that to the contest?" asked Crais in disbelief. He hoped that they hadn't thought of anything like that for him.
"Of course," Ka D'Argo said with a booming laugh which only exasperated Crais' growing headache.
"But Ka D'Argo, it is... outlandish. It is garish. It's so... Nebari!" Crais couldn't think of a word to describe what he was seeing. It assaulted his senses, his taste; it made his headache grow worse. The colours, the design....
"I hope you don't have anything like that in mind for me," Crais said with a noticeable shudder.
Aeryn grinned, "Yours will be more subtle, Crais."
"I should hope so," Crais replied with horror in his voice, "I surely hope that you don't want me to wear..." ... he found himself at a very uncharacteristic loss for words... "that."
D'Argo, Aeryn, and Crichton all looked at each other and broke out in peals of laughter.
Suddenly Bialar identified one of the things that had seemed odd. "By the way, where is the Nebari?" Ka D'Argo looked a bit uncomfortable, "Slight problem there."
"You can call it slight, I would call it major," Crichton said with a big broad grin, "I'll be surprised if she lets you into your room."
"Shut up, John," Ka D'Argo replied annoyed, "she will, once she cools down."
Crais frowned, "What happened to Chiana?"
It was Aeryn who enlightened him, or so she thought, "Chiana can't make it to the contest. She caught a really nasty bug, which happily only affects Nebari, and now she is sulking in their quarters. Ka D'Argo has not been able to get in for the last weeken. We might have to find another one to replace her. Do you know of any, Crais?"
Crais cringed as he heard himself ask, "Any what?"
The other three seemed to find this the funniest thing he had said yet.
Ka D'Argo once again reached over to slap Crais on the back. This time Crais was prepared and stepped out of the way of the Luxan's big hand. Did he have to slap him on the back repeatedly? His nostrils flared with prolonged annoyance, "Any what?" repeated Crais. This time he couldn't keep the annoyance out of his voice.
"Not any 'what' Crais, any 'who'. Unless you have already stashed someone on Talyn," Crichton told him.
"I have 'stashed' no one on Talyn, Crichton," Crais started to lose his patience fast. "May I just have a simple answer to a simple question?"
He was ignored. Aeryn grabbed him by the arm, "Let us get you outfitted first. We'll come up with something suitable. Hmm, you could even wear... no, that won't work, not on you... Crichton's old Erp suit is a little the worse for wear, but that isn't the real problem with it. The effect just won't be right.
On the other hand, that PK outfit won't do either. It would be a shame to get so far in the contest, and then to throw away your chances at this stage just because you don't have anything suitable to wear."
None of them seemed to notice the look of horror that overwhelmed Crais as he imagined himself in the orange jumpsuit.
Talyn called Crais silently and Crais could detect a certain glee in the youngster ~I could quite picture you in the orange suit~ Talyn almost did a roll of pleasure in space and Crais could hear his laughter in his mind ~but that would be cruel. Anyway, you are more widely built than Crichton. It would stretch too much over the chest~ Talyn was rolling with laughter and Moya admonished him.
Crais was not amused and frowned in irritation. None of the others had noticed his silent communication with Talyn.
"We could let him wear a cape," Crichton said with a thoughtful frown at the others.
"Hmm, or maybe one of those long robes the Delvians wear. Gold would set off his dark hair beautifully," Aeryn mused.
That did it! Crais was not going to wear orange, yellow or any other garish colours they wanted him to wear nor was he going to wear capes or dresses or... he looked at Ka D'Argo... that.
"Silence!" Crais raised his voice over the din. "I will not wear ridiculous colours in whatever form. I will wear my Captain's coat and uniform. I will appear in my very best garb in honour of the judges, and the contest, and my opponents. I will show my respect for them. If they are unable to judge me fairly because they are prejudiced by my background, then it is more their loss than mine."
The others quieted down somewhat, although Crichton seemed to be fighting a losing battle to keep a straight face. He had an image in his mind of a once, and still, very popular Erp singer. In his mind, juxtaposed, were two mental images. One was of a popular performer by the name of Elvis. The other was of Bialar Crais in his old orange jumpsuit, the front unfastened to accommodate the Sebacean's broad chest.
Aeryn walked up to Crais and draped an arm over his shoulder. "Crais, I know your intentions are honourable but your perception is a bit off. Unfortunately there is prejudice, and I would hate to see that prejudice influence the outcome of the contest. You agreed with us last time and it worked out fine."
Crais listened quietly to her.
"Okay, too much colour is out (Crais scowled) or maybe black will be the new rage but you have to consider how the judges will react. It wouldn't be fair to you if their decision were coloured by the clothes you wear. Besides, it is much more fun to win when you know you've won a contest fairly. Don't deny that to your opponents, Crais."
Crais was disconcerted by the way Aeryn had casually draped her arm around his. This was not the way she normally acted.
He turned to her and sighed, "Very well. I concur. I will wear something that is not made by Peacekeeper tailors but I will have final say in the matter. If I don't think the clothes are fitting, I will refuse them."
"Agreed! Now we only have to find you something that will be acceptable both to you and the judges. Maybe we should leave Moya a little earlier than we had planned. That garment shop planet side where you had the cream and brown outfit made up had nice materials and the workmanship was truly outstanding. The tailor did quick work last time, and I'll bet this time around, he'd be even faster. That combination of cream and brown looked stunning on you--it really set off the tones of your skin and hair.
"Even if you didn't need a change in outfit for the contest, it would still be a good idea to have some non-PK clothes. Both of us have made trips to commerce planets for supplies only to experience fear and resentment from the locals because they identified us as Peacekeeper. The day may come when that costs us our lives. Better to have the option of not being so immediately identified as PK, don't you agree, Crais?"
Crais could only agree with her. He had thought more than once along the same lines but had never been able to find a style that didn't scream "Peacekeeper", and at the same time was comfortable to wear in battle.
He dropped the thoughts of what the contest was from his mind for the moment. They weren't going to give him straight answers anyway. Maybe by choosing the garments he could find a clue.
"I don't have that many credits," he said ashamedly. Getting to Talyn and StarBurst in the Command Carrier hadn't left him much time to put credits together.
"No problems, my man," said Crichton, "We have enough. Don't worry about it."
"Let us go to the planet now and get you outfitted first," said Aeryn cheerfully. She walked over to Pilot's clamshell. "Pilot", she said, "Is that transport pod ready yet? Moya's DRDs were still checking out its control system about an arn ago. They seemed to be having trouble finding the problem."
Pilot replied annoyed, "We are still trying to find the problem, Officer Sun. Some things just cannot be hurried. I would suggest patience."
John looked over at Aeryn, "You can never teach patience to Peacekeepers."
"Ex-Peacekeepers," both Aeryn and Crais said in unison with matching scowls.
"Okay, Ex-Peacekeepers," John said demurely, "but still, no patience whatsoever."
Both Ex-Peacekeepers looked at him as if they could tear him apart.
Finally Crais turned to Aeryn, "We can use my pod. There is nothing wrong with mine and the sooner we get this business over, the sooner we can get to..." He left a pause hoping that someone would fill it.
Ka D'Argo stepped forward, "Crais is right the sooner we get this done, the sooner we get to the contest grounds. It's always better to get a chance to settle in and relax beforehand. If we leave now, we should have time to practice and go through our routine." Ka D'Argo finished with a big grin.
Crais' nerves were tense. His other personality had agreed to a contest but nobody had given him any clues to this mysterious contest. Outlandish outfits! No weapons! What was it? Crais was ready to choke the life out of somebody if it wasn't made clear soon what this was all about.
He could feel the rage in him rising. His hands balled into fists, his heart rate sped up, his brows drew together while his eyes blazed fire and a low deep growl was issuing from his throat.
Ka D'Argo slapped him hard enough on the shoulder that it knocked the wind out of him. While he stood coughing, Ka D'Argo laughed out loud, "Practicing already? Don't worry. You'll knock them dead when the time comes. Let's get ready to leave. First we need to make our way back to that tailor shop and have him measure you again. Then we can stop at the food stall next door to him. That was some of the best Tharkelian stew I have ever eaten in my life," boomed Ka D'Argo. He turned back to Crais, "You even said that the Savorian Eels were to die for."
Crais looked as if he would gladly choke the Luxan with the Savorian Eels, and then stuff them down his throat with a Hynerian fork. The evil smile that appeared on his face didn't go completely unnoticed.
"You all right, Crais?" asked Crichton, "You look like you have eaten too many beans and..."
Crais had enough and for the first time in cycles he showed Crichton that he had always kept his strength in rein. He grasped him with one hand on the front of his tunic and lifted him effortlessly off the deck, his face snarling at him.
It was Ka D'Argo who came to Crichton's rescue and took Crais' hand off the Human's front. "I know you are nervous, Crais but you have to relax! If you don't, you'll be worn out by the time the competition begins. Don't Peacekeepers have relaxation techniques they practice before they go into battle?"
Aeryn moved over to Crais, "Would it help if we went through the Sshr'gh together before we go down to the planet?"
"Aeryn, I am relaxed," Crais snarled, "I don't think the Sshr'gh will help me relax further."
"Sure, you're relaxed, Crais," Crichton added helpfully, massaging his throat, "I have seen tightly wound springs that looked more relaxed than you do now. Breathe deeply, in... out... in..."
Crais growled, "Crichton..."
Crichton opened his eyes and grinned, "See, I feel much better. What is Sshra-gagh, anyway?"
Aeryn tried to explain calmly, "The Sshr'gh is a revered and ancient set of exercises meant to train both body and mind. There are 46 forms. It is traditional to perform these sets of movements three times, once very slowly and exactly, then at "normal" speed, and finally at "battle" speed. Long before there were Peacekeepers, Sshr'gh was the basis for nearly all of the martial arts forms practised by Sebaceans of any discipline."
Ka D'Argo mumbled, "Typical for Peacekeepers to think that battle exercises are relaxing. What do you do for dessert, eat babies?"
This time it wasn't only Crais who growled at the Luxan.
Then Aeryn broke into a smile and looked at Ka D'Argo, "You have been around Crichton too long. Even your jokes start to sound like his."
Strangely enough, it was Crais who brought them back to attention. He had managed to get himself under control again. "Aeryn, if we want to make haste to the planet below, we will not have time to go through the Sshr'gh."
"You are right, Crais, we better get ready and go down." She walked toward his pod and turned to the Luxan, "Ka D'Argo do we have all of our equipment ready for transport?"
D'Argo held up a big satchel, "All in here, ready for use. Are we all ready to go then?"