WIWJ-I'm glad you're liking it so far! I had a feeling you'd like the family scenes :-).
NikitaKaralis-Aww, thank you! If nothing else, there is another tournament in March. So I might have to set my sights on that one! Also, I've already eaten way too much candy haha. Thanks so much for your reviews :-)
Zara08-Haha can you imagine? Poor Riker. Course, he's pretty used to it :-p
"Quit sampling!" Lorana smacked Kadan's hand as he reached for a sweet roll.
"But I'm hungry!" the little boy whined. "And Tern's eating one!"
His brother, who could have been his twin if not for the subtle age difference, stuffed the stolen roll into his mouth before his mother could make him put it back. Then he smiled smugly at Kadan, both cheeks bulging with food. Lorana leaned over them with all the wrath of a maternal glower. "If I catch either of you eating more food before it's on the table, you better pray to every single one of the gods-"
"Mama!" Jora's voice rang down the corridor. "Mama, Mr. Elion is back!"
The rest of Lorana's threat died in her throat. "Mr. Elion?" she repeated, smoothing the front of her apron as though she were smoothing her frazzled mind.
He appeared in the kitchen doorway, an apologetic smile on his face. "Hello again, Lady Lorana. I hope you don't mind."
"Well you government folks aren't the type to give notice," she grumbled. "What can I help you with now?"
"How about some dinner?" He patted his belly hungrily. "I haven't eaten since this morning, and your cooking smells better than any restaurant in Kitadara."
She huffed and puffed, her face turning red with exasperation. "Fine, fine. Now everybody out until dinner is served! How am I supposed to get anything done with a crowd underfoot…" Kadan and Tern scuttled out of the kitchen, filching a few more sweet rolls on the way. Snickering with success, they darted under the long, wooden table in the dining room to enjoy their loot.
"Hey! What have you got now?" came an accusatory voice. Their sister appeared, squatting down beside the table to better see what they were doing.
Tern groaned. "Under the table is for boys only, Jora."
"You don't make the rules." She clambered through the chair legs to join them. "And give me one of those sweet rolls, or I'm telling mama."
"Sure, I'll give you a sweet roll," Kadan offered. He handed her a cloven lump of bread and flashed her a cloying smile.
Jora examined it carefully. "You licked it, didn't you?"
"Did not!" he protested. "Look, do you want a sweet roll or not?"
Still unconvinced, she lifted the top half from the bottom half. And there, on the doughy surface inbetween, wriggled a fat brown worm.
"A crawler? Really?" She shoved the roll into his hands.
"What's the matter?" he taunted. "Don't like any meat with your bread?" Both he and Tern fell about laughing.
Not amused, Jora crossed her arms. "Where did you even get a crawler from? Don't tell me you've been collecting them again."
"He's been hoarding them!" Tern's eyes shone with utter delight. "Show her, Kadan!"
After a quick glance around, Kadan shoved his hand into his pocket and produced a fistful of flailing worms. Then he reached into his other pocket and emerged with even more.
Jora recoiled in disgust, sending both boys into new bouts of laughter. "You didn't leave any in the kitchen, did you?" she asked, her face filling with sudden horror.
"I can't remember," Kadan teased. "I guess you'll just have to find out!"
"Yeah, but be careful eating your salad!" Tern joined in.
Jora's fists clenched. "You wouldn't ruin mama's dinner like that! Besides, what are you going to eat then?"
"Maybe I'll eat worms." Kadan smacked his lips together. "Juicy, delicious worms."
Slowly, Jora's fists uncurled. Something sly slid across her face. "Oh yeah? Then eat one. I dare you."
A faint trace of fear fluttered behind Kadan's eyes. "Now?"
"Right now."
Tern bunched his legs beneath him excitedly. "Yeah! Do it!" he goaded. "The Perler family never backs down from a challenge, remember?"
"Shut up!" Kadan glared at his traitorous brother.
"He won't do it. He's a baby." Jora ruffled his reddish-brown hair. "It's okay, baby. Maybe I can fetch you Wrennie's bottle of milk instead."
Now it was her turn to join Tern in a round of derisive laughter. Kadan's face turned purple with indignation. "Fine," he hissed. "I'll do it."
Both his brother and his sister fell silent. They watched him intently as he picked up the smallest worm and held it in front of his face. It writhed between his fingers, glistening with putrid slime.
Kadan opened his mouth. He brought the worm closer, shuddering with anticipation. The worm passed his lips and disappeared behind the wall of his teeth. His mouth closed.
"Jora?"
A voice startled each of them. Jora jumped, nearly hitting her head on the underside of the table. "Carmen!" she exclaimed. "Uh, hi!"
The young woman peered at them through the forest of chair legs, a baffled expression on her face. "I thought your mother said no more eating until dinner?" Her gaze flitted between the pile of rolls on the floor and the pile of worms in Kadan's hand. For some reason, the boy's mouth was clamped shut and his eyes bulged as though trying not to cough.
"We just...we uh...want some?" Jora sheepishly offered. Carmen shrugged. She reached under the table, but to Jora's horror, she scooped up several worms instead of a sweet roll. Then, without hesitation, Carmen let them slide off her palm and into her mouth.
Tern blanched. Meanwhile, Kadan's skin was turning a peculiar shade of green. A mortified silence stole Jora's words as she waited for the aftermath of their horrible misunderstanding. That's it. She'll hate me forever now.
But Carmen's face remained neutral. For a few moments, all that could be heard was the squelching sound of her chewing. "Needs a little salt," she stated, straightening back up and then leaving the room at a leisurely pace.
As soon as she was gone, Kadan hunched over the floor and began to wretch. "I swallowed it whole!" he shrieked. "The slime...I can still feel the slime…" He rubbed frantically at his tongue.
"Did you see that?!" Tern's stare was glued to the hallway, where Carmen had disappeared from his frame of view. "She didn't even flinch!"
Jora was staring after her new friend, too. But a sense of pride slowly filled her chest at the awe in her brother's voice. "I know. Isn't she great?"
The dining room filled with mouth-watering smells. Platters of food covered the table, each one colorful and magnificent and making Carmen's stomach rumble. She had never seen the likes of such a feast before.
At Lorana's bidding, everyone took their seat. Jora wedged her brothers out of the way, ensuring a place next to Carmen. Riker and Troi stayed close to their hosts. Elion, to their surprise, joined the gaggle of boys at the other end. He took a seat between Kadan and Tern, who exchanged mischievous grins at their stroke of luck. One of the chairs remained empty, Carmen noted. Then she realized that Jora's oldest brother was missing. Strangely enough, nobody seemed surprised or upset by this fact.
An excited clamor ensued as everyone began to pile food onto their dishes. Elion helped some of the smaller boys who couldn't reach before filling his own plate. Curious, Carmen found herself studying him from across the table. She tried to concentrate, reaching into her empathic senses. Maybe she could find a trace of deception, something duplicitous from the man. But to her disappointment, she found nothing of the sort.
"So then, Mr. Will," he said once everyone's plate was full. "Where did you say you were from?"
"Ebon Plains," Riker answered, his tone flat and guarded.
"Ebon Plains...let's see…" Elion rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "That's a mining town, right?"
"That's right."
"And what brings you this way?"
"Work." Riker brought a forkful of food to his mouth, offering nothing else on the subject.
"He never cared much for the mines," Troi explained. She passed the agent a polite smile. "We're hoping to find something better in Kitadara."
"The city!" Elion brightened. "Oh, you'll like the city. The center of innovation. Have you ever ridden in an auto carriage? Fuel-powered, no animals necessary! They're all over the roads there."
Adren snorted. "I'll stick with my animals, thank you very much. They don't break down and leave you stranded."
"But animals tire out. They have limits."
"Your machines have limits, too," Adren pointed out.
"For now," Elion admitted. "But one day, I think they'll surpass our wildest dreams. You know they're working on things that can take us into the sky?"
"What's in the sky that's so interesting?" Adren wheezed with laughter. "Mr. Elion, the High Court must be full of of fanciful fellows like yourself to be funding this sort of nonsense."
"The High Court?" Troi pretended to look surprised.
Elion set his fork down. "Oh! That's right! I never properly introduced myself. I'm Elion Redlum, agent of the High Court."
"And what are you doing outside of Kitadara?" she asked, leaning forward to rest her chin on one of her hands.
"They've sent a few of us here to investigate the crash."
"It wasn't a crash," Adren insisted firmly. "It was a rock. Those space rocks have been known to fall this time of year."
"But I heard it didn't fall. It flew. Flew into the jungle like a bird with a broken wing."
Carmen's gaze flicked over to the commander. They exchanged a subtle glance. Meanwhile, Adren shook with incredulous laughter. "Aliens! Is that was this is about? Has everyone in our government lost their minds?"
But Elion held fast to his dignity. "There's life on our planet. Is it such a leap to believe there could be life on other planets?"
"Aliens?!" one of the littlest ones cried. "I've seen a picture of aliens! In one of Kadan's books! Did you know they eat brains?"
"Only the brains of little boys," Jora taunted. Her mother stared at her sternly, but Carmen cast her an approving grin.
"Perhaps they eat worms," she whispered. Jora giggled at the private joke, though its true depth went above her head.
"What do they actually eat, do you suppose?" Tern asked, enthralled with the conversation. "Or do they even need to eat?"
"The real question-" Troi interposed. "Is what would they be doing here? What are your thoughts, Mr. Elion?"
Elion smiled at her appreciatively. Carmen looked down at her food, keen to hear his answer but trying not to show it. A small, furtive movement caught her attention. Across the table, Kadan was pulling something from his pocket.
"Well," Elion started. "Maybe they're explorers. I mean, if you had the means to leave this planet, wouldn't you want to see what else is out there?"
A roll. It was a roll that Kadan was carefully retrieving. His free hand crept towards the roll already occupying Elion's plate.
"We have a whole jungle still unexplored," Adren retorted. "No need to traipse around someone else's backyard just because of a...a well-developed sense of curiosity. And anyways, if it was aliens, how come they haven't shown themselves yet? Why travel all this way just to hide?"
Elion's brow wrinkled in a pensive fashion. "Maybe...maybe they're just here to watch."
"Watch what? Watch me work in the garden?"
"Watch us develop. Maybe they're waiting for us to be technologically worthy-"
"Worthy? A pompous lot, your aliens are."
"No, see…" Elion shifted in his chair. Meanwhile, Kadan had slipped the agent's roll out of view. "Maybe they're staying hidden because they don't want to interfere with our natural progression. Think about the ramifications of showing up on a primitive planet with advanced technology. You'd be altering an entire civilization's future."
"Who are you calling primitive?" Adren shot back. Carmen mustered a laugh, but she felt increasingly more uncomfortable with his uncanny deductions. Looking over at Riker, she could feel the same apprehension emanating from the commander. But he concealed it with much more competence. One could barely even tell that he was listening to the conversation.
Troi, on the other hand, tilted her head to the side as she hung onto every word. While most of her reaction was contrived, Carmen could sense a hint of genuine intrigue. "Surely you'd have some sort of...of evidence by now. Tell us," the counselor implored. "Have you found anything exciting?"
Elion's smile faltered. "Well...nothing exciting enough for the High Court. But when I was out there last, I saw...well I could have sworn I saw…" Carmen held her breath, waiting for him to finish. Then she noticed that Kadan had placed the roll from his pocket onto Elion's plate. Something wriggled in its center.
"What? What did you find?" Troi asked.
"Smoke," he answered. "I thought I saw a spiral of smoke coming from the base of that distant ridge."
"Shadow Ridge?" Jora squeaked.
Elion looked over at her, puzzled. "Is that what it's called?"
"That's what I call it," she admitted. "Because it's always covered in shadow. It's like clouds never leave the sky above it."
A strange little smile took the place of Elion's confusion. "You seem to know that jungle better than anyone I've met," he mused. "It's kind of funny, actually."
Carmen felt a blaze of indignation from the girl. Her face scrunched into a defensive scowl. "Why?" she demanded. "Because I'm a kid? Or because I'm a girl?" Keeling's face drifted into Carmen's mind. She felt a sudden and strong sympathy towards the young Vakronian.
"Jora," her mother scolded sharply. But Elion's smile waxed sincere.
"It's alright, I took no offense. And to answer you, young lady-I meant neither. What I should have said is that it's ironic." His gaze shifted to the head of the table, where Adren sat. "Ironic that your daughter should have one of those...what did you call it? A well-developed sense of curiosity?"
Against her own will, Carmen realized that her regard for the man was changing. Adren chuckled, conceding defeat. "You've got me there, Mr. Elion." He glanced at his daughter fondly. "But I've always believed that there are two things a parent should give their child: one is roots, and the other is a pair of wings."
Carmen felt the weight of someone's gaze. She looked up to find Riker watching her, a small smile hidden in the corner of his mouth. There was a hint of sadness that she couldn't quite grasp. Then she noticed Elion pick up his roll. Kadan perked, his eyes widening with bated excitement.
"Actually...Jora is the reason I'm here tonight," Elion said.
His admission elicited a fair amount of surprise from the other end of the table. "What do you want with my Jora?" Lorana asked. Her face pinched together worriedly.
He opened his mouth to take a bite of the roll, then paused. "I just have a few questions," he assured. "About those fellows that were here earlier. The ones who have up and vanished. They were camped out in the jungle, you know. The jungle that Jora is so familiar with." Finally, he put the roll in his mouth and bit down.
Kadan gripped the edges of his plate, trembling with suspense. Carmen, too, found herself eager for a dramatic reaction. But nothing even slightly dramatic happened. Once Elion finished chewing his food, he set the rest of the roll back on his plate. "Anyways, we can discuss all that later. After we've enjoyed this marvelous dinner you've prepared."
Grumbling in disappointment, Kadan picked up his own roll and shoved it into his mouth. At once, he began to cough and gag. "Kadan! Chew your food!" his mother admonished. The boy pounded his chest, a terrible wheezing sound coming from his throat. Lorana shook her head. "Maybe Mr. Elion was right-we are a primitive lot."
Something fell from Kadan's lump of bread. Carmen stared at it in disbelief. It was half a worm. Somehow, when nobody was looking, Elion had switched their rolls.