Chapter 6: To the Moon, Liam

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"This is intolerable!" protested Zo'or.

"SSsshhhhhh...." Zo'or was shushed from all sides. Renee held a finger in front of her lips, Sandoval shook his head and Da'an waved a hand. The small group was pressed into a curve in the wall, the space created by the junction of two corridors.

"I will not be silenced," responded Zo'or, though in a slightly quieter voice.

"Do want us to get caught?" hissed Renee.

"Don't forget T'than has a sword with your name on it. One designed to be fatal to energy based life-forms," Sandoval pointed out.

"He was certainly angered by what happened," commented Da'an.

"That was not my fault!" Zo'or returned. "He cannot blame me for that debauchery!"

"Hush! All of you!" Liam whispered fiercely. He glared at the group; then, satisfied they would hold their peace for a while, returned his attention to the hallway beyond. He pressed against the wall and peered around the corner. The corridor was blessedly silent.

Liam let out a relieved breath. It seemed they had escaped T'than, for now. He had to get to the portals and transport to the Moonbase. Of course, the whole thing had become a lot more complicated. He hadn't counted on the presence of Sandoval or Zo'or. Da'an and Renee were bad enough. And no one seemed to be recovering from the effects of the Gummi Bears on their own.

Liam turned back to the group and studied them thoughtfully. If he left Zo'or behind, T'than might find him and he had no doubt it would be the end of the Synod leader. It was no use asking Sandoval to protect him, the agent might think it a funny joke to let T'than at Zo'or.

He sighed. There was nothing for it but to take them all. Heaven help me...

"Okay, everyone listen," said Liam. "We have to get to the Moonbase..."

"How do you know about the Moonbase?" demanded Zo'or. He cast an accusing glance at Da'an. Da'an merely shrugged.

"It doesn't matter!" snapped Liam, then continued in a more level voice, "We have to go there. You all are suffering the effects of a Taelon compound, the same one stolen from the Mothership. It was in the Gummi Bears you ate."

The group looked at him in silence. Da'an seemed bored, he'd heard it already, Zo'or gaped, Renee grimaced and Sandoval burst out laughing.

"Down the rabbit hole!" Sandoval managed to say between gasps, tears streaming down his face and smearing his face paint.

"Ha ha," mocked Liam. "The point is we all have to go. I don't think any of you want to be around if T'than figures out which corridor we ran down."

"No, you don't," a voice said.

Liam, Da'an, Renee, Zo'or and Sandoval all swung around in unison and faced a livid T'than.

T'than raised his sword and bellowed, "Die INFIDELS!!!!"

The terrified group broke into a run. With the threat of a sword-wielding Taelon behind them, even Da'an and Zo'or managed to keep up.

Portals, portals, where the hell are the portals?! Liam thought anxiously. He cast glances right and left, trying to orient himself and pick the best route. Finally, something clicked.

"That way!" he ordered, leading the group down a hallway. He rushed past several doors before doing an abrupt left turn and entering one. He skidded to a halt in front of the portal controls. He punched in a few commands and cursed.

"What is it?" asked a winded Renee, who stumbled to a stop next to him.

"I can't access the necessary files!" Liam said. He looked around frantically, his eyes finally settling on the recently arrived Zo'or. "Zo'or! Come here!"

"Do not presume to order me..." began Zo'or indignantly.

"Get'cher blue butt over here!!" Liam demanded, finally losing what little control he had had.

Surprisingly, Zo'or looked chastened. He bowed his head and walked to Liam with the attitude of a child caught misbehaving.

Da'an twittered behind a hand, Sandoval laughed outright and Renee said, in a sing-song voice, "Somebody's in trouble!"

Looking hurt, Zo'or tapped a few commands into the control panel. Immediately, the coordinates for the Moonbase were displayed on the screen. Zo'or bobbed his head a little and stepped back.

Liam studied the screen. It seemed to be all set up. All he had to do was get them into the portal and set the thing to fire when he joined them. For once, something easy...

He turned to inform the group, when the words died on his lips. Shock and fear paralyzed him for a second, then urgency finally freed his tongue. "Everyone into the portal now!"

The group moved just in time. T'than's sword came swinging down where Sandoval and Renee had been only a second before. Zo'or was the first in, since he was the closest. Da'an, Sandoval and Renee tied for second.

Liam quickly set the timing sequence for the portal. I have to get this just right... He couldn't leave the portal open long enough to allow T'than to follow him in. Regretting he had to resort to his gun, Liam pulled out the weapon and fired a couple of warning shots at T'than.

T'than dodged the shots, but was sufficiently slowed. Liam quickly turned and dove into the portal opening just as transport began.

T'than bellowed in rage. He brought the ancient Taelon sword down on the control panel, cleaving it in two.

---

Liam landed with a whumf as he was unceremoniously dumped on the floor. A second later, four other bodies were dropped on him. His breath rushed out in a gush.

"Dog pile!" Renee laughed from her perch on the top.

"Get your foot out of my face!" Sandoval demanded. "Haven't you ever heard of foot powder!" Sandoval grunted as Renee jounced him.

"Would...you...all...get off me!" Liam gasped. He pushed up on his arms to emphasize the point.

"You're no fun," Renee pouted. She slid off the top, followed by Sandoval. Da'an and Zo'or picked themselves up, apparently unharmed by their position near the bottom.

Liam gulped air gratefully. He sat up, rubbing his bruised ribs. He glared at the others, who affected innocent expressions.

"Okay, we've made it to the Moonbase," he said, standing up. "Now we have to get to the labs."

Zo'or gave a short laugh. Liam glared at him, but the Taelon suddenly became interested in a spot on the wall.

Liam turned on Da'an. "What, exactly, can I expect?" he asked.

Da'an shrugged. "There are some difficulties for humans here," he said.

"What difficulties?" Liam knew by now, if he had to ask - it was bad.

"We-ell," drawled Da'an. "The lack of atmosphere for one. Taelons do not need it, or much of it. Then there is the gravity...or lack of it. For the same reasons. This room is the only one provided with both."

Liam ran a hand down his face. Of course, he thought almost hysterically, There has to be something! Calming himself he asked, "Ok, is there any equipment we can use?"

Da'an glanced at Zo'or, who returned the gaze. Some look seemed to pass between them, but when Da'an turned back to Liam it was gone. "Of course."

Liam eyed the two Taelons suspiciously, but decided not to distract them with an irrelevant question. "Right. Where is it?"

Da'an and Zo'or once again looked at each other. Da'an said, "It is stored there," he pointed to a cabinet, "However, only Taelons can access it. Allow Zo'or and I to retrieve it for you."

Before Liam could respond, Da'an and Zo'or had walked to the cabinet. They tapped the panels next to the doors and opened the storage unit. Leaning forward, they appeared to be gathering something from the inside. Liam thought he heard a few phrases of Eunoia whispered, but wasn't sure. Soon, the two Taelons turned from the cabinet. They approached Liam carrying masks, belts and boots.

Da'an held up the mask and explained its function, "This will generate an atmosphere you can breathe. And these," he indicated the boots, "will generate the gravity you need."

Liam studied the equipment, then asked, "What about air pressure? We can't survive the low pressure naturally found on the moon." He assumed, he hoped rightly, that the base was already shielded for radiation.

"Do not worry," said Da'an. He picked up one of the belts. "This will create a shield which will provide the necessary pressure."

Liam nodded. He had no choice but to trust them. "Ok. Sandoval, Renee, get this equipment on." He handed each of them a pair of boots, a mask and a belt. The next few minutes they occupied by putting on the unfamiliar accessories.

"All right," said Liam once he had his mask adjusted. "How do we activate this stuff?"

Zo'or's mouth quirked a little. "Allow me," he said. He reached over and pressed a small depression on the side of the mask. Air began hissing onto Liam's face. He watched as Zo'or repeated the procedure for Sandoval and Renee.

"And I will activate your 'moon shoes'" offered Da'an, quickly following Zo'or's lead. He went to each human and pressed the necessary controls on the boots.

Liam felt a slight tug as the gravity generator kicked in. The tiny vibration caused him to sway. He felt slightly lightheaded. Maybe the air mix is a little off...

"Da'an, I think..." Liam began, but quickly stopped. What the...? "Da'an," he said again, his voice high and squeaky. "What did you do?"

Da'an and Zo'or began laughing uproariously. Their bodies shook and blushed an intense blue. Sandoval and Renee joined in, their own voices unnaturally high.

Liam snatched off his mask. "This is not funny!" he said, sounding like an enraged chipmunk. His pronouncement was met with even more guffawing. In frustration, he stomped his foot...and sent himself flying into the air. "Ooohhh sssssshhhh....." Liam slammed into the ceiling. By virtue of his moon shoes, he stayed up.

Da'an, Zo'or, Sandoval and Renee continued laughing. The two humans had tears running down their faces and all four were on the floor.

"Get me down!!" shouted Liam, his voice gradually returning to normal.

"Do...not...worry," gasped Da'an. "You should be coming down right about..."

Liam plummeted to the ground.

"...now," finished Da'an.

Liam sprung up from the floor, either not as injured as one might expect or too angry to notice. He marched over to Sandoval and Renee, yanking off the masks. He couldn't speak yet, so he contented himself with glaring.

The laughter gradually subsided. Once Liam was sure some amount of sanity had returned, he said, "Da'an, fix these damn things."

"Yes, Liam," Da'an said, grinning. He took the masks, and with a few swift movements, reset them to the proper mixture. He handed them back to Liam. He then proceeded to the moon shoes.

"Oooh do you have too?" Renee pleaded in a semi-normal voice. "I wanted to try flying!" She flapped her arms to illustrate her desire.

"No!" declared Liam.

"Umm..." Da'an straightened from working on Liam's boots. He gave Liam a 'don't yell at me but' look.

"Oh no," Liam said. "Don't tell me..."

"I am sorry, Liam," apologized Da'an. "I do not seem able to reset the moon shoes."

Liam covered his eyes with a hand, if only so he didn't have to see that pathetic expression.

"Let me do it," said Zo'or snidely. He strode over to Liam, bent down and proceeded to manipulate the controls. After a half minute, he straightened.

"Well?" Liam asked, looking at Zo'or.

Zo'or's head twitched a bit. "It is malfunctioning," he said in an off hand manner.

"Great," muttered Liam. "What about their shoes?" He motioned to Sandoval and Renee.

Da'an and Zo'or inspected the two pairs of moon shoes, then gave each other a worried look.

"What?" asked Liam.

"Oops?" offered Da'an.

Liam counted to ten, then thirty, then fifty, then decided he could count to a billion and it wouldn't help. He ground out, "So what you are saying...is that these boots are worthless now?"

"Uh...yes..." averred Da'an.

Liam didn't like the tone to that, and he was loath to say it but, "There's more?"

This time Zo'or spoke. "Unfortunately, along with the general controls...the fastenings have malfunctioned as well. The moon shoes cannot be removed." He actually sounded sorry.

Liam had absolutely nothing to say to that.