Chapter 5: Hey, Hey, The Gang's All Here
or
Never Take a Taelon to a Night Club

-

The Companion Protector ran a hand through his hair. He seemed to be doing a lot of that, and the result was that he was starting to resemble a porcupine. His tortured locks were standing on end. He sighed and leaned against a wall. Liam was getting more than a little frustrated. He'd searched for Da'an and Renee but hadn't found them. In fact, he hadn't found anyone. That was really bothering him. There should be a ship load of people. He had expected to encounter more Volunteers like those by the portal. But he hadn't.

Liam decided to try a different method. He pulled out his global and dialed the connection to Augur.

"Liam, what's going on? Have you found Renee yet?" Augur asked as soon as he picked up.

"No, that's why I'm contacting you," admitted Liam. "I haven't been able to find Renee, and I managed to lose Da'an in the process. Something's going on, Augur. I've been over meters of this ship, but I haven't run into anyone. No Volunteers or Taelons."

"That is unusual," drawled Augur.

"You don't sound too concerned," said Liam. "Have you been monitoring the transmissions?"

"Of course," Augur said, sounding offended. "I've also kept a watch on the portals and shuttles. Trust me, Liam. NO ONE has left the Mothership. They're there. Somewhere."

"Yeah, but where?" Liam asked.

"Maybe they're playing hide and seek," Augur shrugged. "What did the internal sensors say?"

Liam stared blankly at the global's screen. Internal sensors? Liam closed his eyes and resisted the urge to hit himself on the head. "Right, I'll check them. Just... contact me if you come across anything."

Augur nodded slowly. "Uh huh. Tell me you haven't eaten..."

"I haven't, Augur! Just keep me informed!" Liam snapped the global shut. He willed himself to calm down. I won't think any better if I stay angry. It was a stupid mistake, but one I'll remedy right now. He turned to an access panel on the wall, and started to punch in the necessary authorization.

"GOTCHA!!" a voice shouted. Liam jumped and whirled about, his face washed of color. He stared at his golden-haired assailant.

"Renee! I've been looking everywhere for you!" Liam said.

"Looking for me?" frowned Renee. She looked at him strangely. Then she smiled. "You weren't s'posed to be looking for me, silly!" She gave him an affectionate punch on the shoulder. "You were s'posed to be hiding! I'm IT, remember?"

"IT?" Liam asked. Would there be no end to the madness?

"For hide'n seek of course," Renee laughed. "Now you're IT! You have to find us!"

"Us?"

Renee sighed dramatically. "Me and the Volunteers," she explained. "They've been hiding and I've been seeking. But you know what?" She leaned close and whispered, "I think they're cheating! I haven't found any of them yet."

Liam nodded. He wasn't about to get into an argument over it, not after what happened with Sandoval.

"Well!" Renee said, this time loudly. "That's not my problem any more! You are IT, Major Liam Kincaid! Find us if you can!"

Renee laughed and turned to leave. Liam grabbed her arm quickly, determined not to lose her now. She glanced back at him and frowned. "Hey..."

"Uh...why don't we play a different game?" Liam suggested. He smiled as winningly as he could. "You said those Volunteers were cheating, right? That's no fun, is it?"

"Well...no," admitted Renee. She looked at Liam skeptically. "But what are we gonna play?"

Liam grinned. "Trust me, you'll like it."

---

Liam impatiently tapped the controls on the panel in the wall. He'd managed to access the internal sensors but he wasn't sure whether what he was seeing was good or bad. Apparently, just about every Volunteer and Taelon was crammed into one of the largest of the audience chambers. And someone had disabled a majority of the sensor functions inside. All he knew was that the crew was there, but not what they were doing.

"Liiiiaaaammmm!" Renee whined. "I thought you said we were going to play a gaaammmmeee!?"

Liam glanced at Renee, irritated. She stood with her arms crossed and a disgusted look on her face. She glared at him. He didn't really care at this point. For the last few minutes, she'd been asking the same question in the same grating, nasal voice. He was beginning to understand what a road trip with a six year old must be like.

He took a deep breath and plastered a smile on his face. "Ok, Renee, I just...uh...had to make sure everything was in place for the game. I'm done now." Can't get any more from the sensors anyway, Liam thought. He was a nanosecond away from punching a hole in the wall.

"Goody!" Renee jumped up and down in excitement, clapping her hands and her golden hair bouncing. She beamed at Liam. "So, what'er we gonna play? Huh? Huh? Huh??"

"Well...uh...it's a surprise!" Liam improvised. He had to get to that audience chamber and keep Renee entertained. Maybe if she thought it was part of the game? He took one of her hands and started pulling her in the direction of the chamber. "We're going to go play now. Come'on."

"Wheee!!!" cheered Renee. She smiled and let herself be led along.

---

Liam and Renee stood in front of the door leading to the large audience chamber. Liam swallowed nervously. He had no idea what they'd be getting into but...he had to check it out. It was possible Da'an was inside. And he needed Da'an to get to the Moonbase. He took another deep breath and mashed the door control.

The door whooshed a opened. A hard rock beat and colored lights immediately engulfed the pair.

"Oh God..." Liam groaned. He bowed his head and tugged on Renee's hand, leading her into the crowded room. Dancers on all sides jostled them. Loud, indistinguishable music assaulted their ears. This...this... He gave up trying to define it. Concentrate on finding Da'an, he told himself.

Liam scanned the crowd, trying to find any sign of Da'an. He squinted into the murky interior. The dim lighting and the flashing colors made it difficult to determine faces, or even if a body was human or Taelon.

"Hiya!" someone shouted in Liam's ear. He snapped his head around and found himself facing a Volunteer. She smiled at him and said, "Welcome to 'The Mothership Club'! You're just in time to see our live band!!"

"Live band?" Liam asked, even though he knew he shouldn't.

"Yeah!" the woman said. "It's called 'The Joining'! Oooohhhhh, looooooook!!!!" The Volunteer pointed to the other end of the room where a stage had been set up. "They're coming on now!! Whoooo!!!!!"

Liam watched in horror as the very Taelon he was searching for walked to the middle of the stage. At least, he thought it was. A tall, graceful figure walked to the center of the platform. Dressed in a sparkling silver jumpsuit, makeup and a striking red wig, it seemed to be some rock icon reborn.

The figure bowed and waved, then motioned to someone off to the side. Another familiar figure joined the first. Wearing black leather pants and jacket, the black and white faced band member peered into the room. He gave a short wave to the crowd.

Liam gasped in recognition, when the figure's movement revealed a skrill attached to his arm. Oh no no no no no..... A small group of similarly costumed Volunteers and Taelons came on next, taking places in the back. They picked up what Liam assumed were instruments. The occupants of the room burst into applause and cheers.

Da'an waved again, then turned to check on his bandmates. Apparently satisfied, he tapped a beat with his foot and signaled them to start playing. A heavy metal rhythm filled the chamber. Liam's head began pounding. He tried to cover one ear with his free hand and grimaced.

Da'an and Sandoval stepped to the front of the stage, snatched up the mics there and began to sing. Or at least, what one could loosely termed as 'singing'.

Screaming seemed a better description to Liam.

"AAAAaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!! Come on, come on, come on!!! Join with us!! Rage against the Commonality!!! Join with us!!!! AAAAAHHHHH AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!!!!!"

Liam pulled on Renee frantically, he wanted to get Da'an and get out of there. Unfortunately, Renee didn't seem so inclined. She resisted Liam's urging.

"Hey!! Stop that! You're hurting my arm!" Renee complained. She snatched her hand away. "What're ya tryin' ta do?"

Liam grimaced at Renee. He was getting very low on patience. He said, as sweetly as possible, "Don't you want to get closer? The view is much better in front of the stage."

This seemed to mollify Renee. Her face brightened. "OOoooohhhh!! You're right! It'd be much better! Let's go!!" She grabbed Liam's hand and dragged him through the crowd. Pushing and shoving, she managed to get them to the front in record time.

Liam stood silently as Renee started be-bopping to the music. He decided to let her entertain herself while he tried to come up with a way to get Da'an off the stage. He'd failed to come up with any ideas besides waiting for the 'performance' to end, when a solution presented itself.

There was a horrible screeching sound, then all the instruments went dead. The music and singing stopped. The puzzled rockers looked around trying to figure out what had happened. A self-satisfied laugh echoed into the room.

"Hahahahahaha!!!! You thought you could betray me!! But I've found you out!"

Liam watched dumbstruck as an extremely furious Zo'or strode onto the stage. He cast Sandoval a look that could have caused spontaneous human combustion. "You...you...traitor! How dare you take up with this...this..." sputtered Zo'or. He didn't finish, merely spun away from the shocked implant and faced Da'an. He grabbed the red wig from the other Taelon's head, threw it down and began to stomp it vigorously.

The crowd booed and hissed. Several of them picked up various objects and glared at the new arrival.

"Uh oh..." Liam knew this wasn't going to end well. He had to do something. "Come on, Renee." He grabbed her hand and started pulling her up to the stage.

"What? What!? I told you to stop that!!" Renee bellowed.

Liam turned to Renee, he had to think quickly. Of course! "Hey, Renee...remember the game I promised? Well this is it! It's called 'kidnap the rock star'. You want to play, don't you?" He gave her an ingratiating smile.

Renee grinned back. "Oh yea!! Let's go!" She scrambled onto the stage, leaving Liam behind. She sauntered up to Sandoval and caught him in a headlock.

"Renee! Wait!" Liam dashed up after her. He tried to free Sandoval while explaining, "No no, not this one! He's not the lead! See, we have to get the lead!" He glanced nervously to the rowdy crowd below, getting rowdier by the second.

"Ooohhhhh....OK!" said Renee. She dumped the half-choked agent on the stage floor. She ran over to where Da'an and Zo'or were. She practically pushed the Synod leader down in her haste. Zo'or stopped stomping the wig and glared at her.

"Impudent human! How dare you!?" he shouted.

Renee stuck her tongue out. "I dare very well!" she snapped back.

Liam interjected himself between the two. "Hey hey! Don't fight! It's ok. No need to get upset." He laughed nervously.

"WHAT IN THE COMMONALITY IS GOING ON HERE?!?!"

All heads in the chamber turned to the speaker. A hush fell over the crowd.

T'than stood at the edge of the stage, his ancient Taelon sword in hand. His eye twitched as he took in the spectacle. He raised the sword. "You...you have all defiled the Mothership!!!!"

Liam grabbed Da'an and Renee's hand.

"RUN!"