Real Life series

by marcelb

This series tells the adventures of Joan Crandon. Adventures that seem very familiar

2. Episode 2: Two for One

Series: Real Life
Episode: 2 - Two for One
Timeline: Between Bad Timing and the Peacekeeper Wars
Disclaimer: The familiar stuff so doesn't belong to me. Nope, it all belongs to Henson and the creators of Farscape. Trust me, I don't get a penny from this, only the satisfaction of having written something that others like to read (or so I hope).

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Hey Dot, Mom

Had an interesting day today. It started out with me being incredibly nervous. I still wasn't sure whether I should inform the others here about what I know, but I was leaning towards it. Bohr (I'm guessing on the spelling here, since I have no real idea about how his name should be spelled; this just looks good. By the way, he's the blue plant-man, a Palian) seemed the safest choice and I had started to make my way towards his quarters.

The closer I got, the harder it became to go through with it. I still felt there were a few good reasons to keep quiet. For one, I'm still the new kid on the block and the other kids don't seem to like me much. Secondly, this whole I'm-living-the-life-of-a-fictional-character thing might turn out to be just a coincidence and I'd come off as a fool, not that thatwould change the other's preconceptions about memuch. But eventually I decided to follow through.

Joan tapped the wall next to Bohr's door. "Bohr? Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Of course, Joan." He palmed the door open to let her in. "What's bothering you?"

Joan, after stepping in, started to have doubts again.

Apparently, Bohr noticed her hesitance. "Joan, you can tell me what's on your mind. Is it about something you don't understand or know how to use? That would be understandable."

Joan shook her head. "No, that's not it." She sighed. "Alright, better get this out now, before I completely chicken out." She looked Bohr in the eyes. "Am I right when I say you at one point killed your lover? To...to avenge the lives she ruined?"

Bohr kept quiet for a while, looking at Joan. "How...how did you know?"

Joan shrugged lightly. "Saw it on TV." She held out her hand to forestall the inevitable questions. "Please, let me explain." She started to pace. "On Earth, we have TV, a device to show images. Mostly it's used for entertainment."

Bohr nodded, apparently still following her explanation. Joan continued. "A few years back, a new TV show came on, called Farscape. It's a fictional show, about a Human astronaut and scientist getting sucked through a wormhole to end up in an unknown part of the galaxy on a living ship with escaped prisoners and a Peacekeeper that was expelled from their ranks because she stuck up for the Human."

Bohr seemed to understand where this was leading to. "Much like the situation you found yourself in."

Joan nodded and stopped pacing. "Exactly. That thing we went through on that planet, you know, the swamp landing? It has an uncanny resemblance to the second episode of that TV show. Only genders seem to have been swapped, and names changed."

Bohr seemed to contemplate this. "But you said this show was fictional."

John sighed. "Yeah. So either it wasn't, or I'm just dreaming...this." She gestured around the quarters.

"But how could someone make this show before it ever happened?"

"Wormholes. On the show, they showed that wormholes are not only used to travel through space over vast distances, but can also be used to travel through time, though that's considered extremely dangerous."

"So, you suspect someone you met, or perhaps are going to meet, here, returned to your past to warn you about what's going to happen?"

Joan nodded. "Yeah, but I'm not sure for what reasons."

"To prevent you, or perhaps all of us, from making mistakes?"

Joan sighed again. "Yeah, but the show clearly showed that messing with history is not a good idea. Still, I think we'd be able to prevent a few catastrophes from actually happening. The thing is, how am I gonna convince the others?"

Bohr smiled. "The same way you convinced me: tell them something about themselves that you couldn't possibly know about."

Joan snorted. "The only reason I could tell you is because you're probably the only one around here level-headed enough to not knock me out or kill me where I stand." She paused. "And I don't think they'd like the others to know their big secrets."

Bohr nodded. "Perhaps. But if you don't inform them and give them proof, they might not follow your suggestions should you need to direct us away from possible catastrophes."

Joan sighed. "I know." She contemplated her options and sighed again. "Alright, let's gather the troops. I'll find a way to let them each know what secret I know about them without giving it away to the others."

Needless to say, as easy as it was with Bohr, the harder it was with the others. I had decided to just tell them exactly what I thought was going on; if they needed proof (which I figured would most certainly be the case), I'd whisper a secret of each of them into that person's ear. Dot will know what secrets I'm talking about. It turned out better than I expected.

V'Enda (that would be the big warrior lady, D'Argo's counterpart. She's a Toran), of course, didn't believe a word I said. She was the first who needed some proof

"So, that's how things are at the moment," Joan concluded.

V'Enda snorted. "Are we supposed to believe this dren?"

Joan smiled wistfully and muttered, "At least the curse words remained the same." She turned and walked to V'Enda.

V'Enda's eyes grew larger the more she heard Joan whisper in her ear. When Joan was finished she nodded. "Alright, I believe this. The first part you could've gathered from the Peacekeeper data stores, but no one knows about the second part."

Joan nodded. "Exactly." She looked over at Aeron. "Do I need to tell you what secret I know about you?"

Aeron nodded. "Yes, but I have nothing to hide."

Joan quirked an eyebrow. "Really?" Even though Aeron nodded, she went up to him and whispered in his ear.

Aeron gazed at her for a moment and then sighed. "Close to the truth."

"Joan came to me first and also told me something she couldn't know, that I doubt any of you know." Bohr looked around at the group. "If she does have information, it might help us greatly."

Joan nodded. "Well, let me see. We've done the premiere, next came 'I,E.T.', done that. Then came, uhm, the Drak!"

"What?"

Joan looked around. "I'm not sure when exactly, but at some point we're going to run into what looks like asteroid debris, but it's really a swarm of space living creatures. We use it as a shield to hide from a Peacekeeper scout ship. The Peacekeepers leave, 'cause they won't detect us, but next thing we know, the swarm enters Moya."

"So, we should prevent that," V'Enda stated.

"No, we should prevent killing them." At the incredulous looks, Joan looked around. "They just need a warm place to give birth." She looked at Aeron. "We should find you a cold place that is isolated from the rest of the ship. These beings need warmth; the warmer it is, the sooner they can get it over with. You don't wanna end up with the Living Death."

Aeron looked at her. "I take it you can regulate your core temperature?"

Joan nodded. "Yeah, one of the differences between your species and mine. Anyway, we'll have to deal with the Peacekeepers as well." Again, this statement was met with incredulous looks. "Don't look at me. I can only assume they'll spot us while we're battling the heat problem."

"But we'll not be trying to solve the heat problem, are we?" Rohnn reminded her.

Joan nodded. "True, but we'll still have to deal with 'em."

We spent maybe an hour coming up with a plan and locating a room with its own A/C for Aeron. I figured it would be a while before it would actually start. I was wrong.Aeron commed me within an hour.

"Lemme guess. A Peacekeeper vessel is searching and we're using the debris as a shield."

Aeron didn't look in her direction and just nodded. "Mm-hmm. Is this what we discussed?"

Joan sighed. "Yeah, I think so. We have some time, but you should head to the Falmor Chamber once the Peacekeepers leave."

Aeron nodded again, looking even more reluctant than before. "You call me the microt..."

Joan shook her head. "No, can't do that." She paused. "And you can stop glaring at me. Like I told before, it's going to get pretty hot out here, and you can't handle the heat. We're not gonna call you until it has cooled down again." She paused again. "Or when it's clear it's not gonna heat up." She pointed at the door. "Now, go."

Aeron sighed and stood up. As he walked out of Command he turned briefly to Joan. "You'd make a good Peacekeeper captain." He turned back. "You have the perfect arrogant, commanding voice for it."

Joan watched him leave, shaking her head. "I think I know how he got himself demoted," she muttered.

We'd planned to have a talk with the Drak. Only one way that I knew of, but Rohnn wasn't cooperative. V'Enda chose that moment to agree with the deposed ruler. That meant I'd needed to be cloned (I preferred myself in this case, since I knew how to handle them), and hope I can explain to the clone about this situation. So, I headed to the maintenance bay, since I believe that is where Aeryn got hit by the dart and she was the first. I didn't have to wait long.

"Ow!" Joan exclaimed as she was hit by the dart. Though she had anticipated it happening, she was still surprised by the sting. She threw the dart on the floor and moved away to give the bug the impression it was alone.

From a short distance she looked as the bug retrieved the little dart and a little later started to change shape. She walked towards her replica. "Can you talk?"

The replica looked surprised, but didn't respond.

Joan nodded. "Thought so. I'm going to assume you do understand me and have a way to communicate with your queen. You're aboard a living ship and she has a limit to the temperature she can handle. She will cooperate as much as she can but don't try to increase it beyond her comfort. We have isolated one compartment and kept it at a cool temperature. The room needs to stay at that temperature so don't mess with it. You're free to breed."

Joan turned around at the sound of footsteps. She saw it was Bohr, but he didn't appear to be entirely himself. "Did you hear what I said?"

Bohr responded, but in a different voice. "Yes, I understand. We will do this as quickly as possible and will attempt to keep the rise in temperature local to our breeding area. Thank you."

Joan nodded. "Sure, you're welcome."

"Joan? What am I doing here in the maintenance bay?"

Joan smiled. "It's alright, Bohr. The queen temporarily hijacked your body and mind so she could talk to me. She is grateful for our assistance and has promised to complete their cycle as swiftly as possible."

The Peacekeepers didn't return and the Drak (since they never told us what species they are, I'm using the Farscape name instead) were nearing completion of their cycle. You're probably thinking 'well Joan, that wasn't really interesting.' But wait! There's more. Deal with one problem correctly and efficiently, and you get a second one for free!

"Are you sure, Pilot?"

"Moya and I are certain, doctor."

Joan frowned, trying to figure out what was going on now.

"Is something wrong, Joan?"

Joan turned to Bohr. "Yeah. As I said, I expect Peacekeepers, not some unknown ship."

"A change in events? So soon?"

Joan nodded. "Yeah, that's bothering me, too. The thing is, I'm unsure what we're going to have to deal with."

"Doctor, it appears Moya has accidentally come into contact with the vessel, causing it to lose propulsion control. Moya insists we bring the vessel aboard and assist in repairs."

Joan's face cleared up. "Aha! Durka returns!" She turned to the others, all of them looking very confused. "Never mind, I know what this is. We're gonna get a new shipmate. He or she's a bit early, though."

V'Enda stepped closer to Joan. "Anything important we need to know?"

Joan looked at her. "Well, lemme think. Uhm, on the show Durka was a Peacekeeper captain of the most famous Peacekeeper vessel ever."

V'Enda nodded, as did Rohnn. "The Zelbinion," they said in unison.

Joan was surprised. "Really? Huh, another name that hasn't changed." She shook her head slightly. "Anyway, a race called the Nebari had gotten hold of him and 'Mind Cleansed' him."

Bohr interrupted. "Those Nebari, are they completely without color?"

Joan nodded. "Yeah."

Bohr also nodded. "Yes, the Botari are said to clear one's mind of any original thought, all for the 'Greater Good'."

Joan nodded again. "Exactly. So, on the show, Miss Congeniality's counterpart had a bone to pick with the neutered captain and created some kind of bomb. Since he got the proportions wrong, everyone survived. Unfortunately, it reverted the captain to his former bad-ass self and things went south pretty quickly after that."

"I'll be sure the double check the proportions," Rohnn grinned.

V'Enda turned to Rohnn. "I'll make sure you won't get your tiny hands on any of the ingredients."

Bohr looked at Joan. "So, how are we going to deal with this?"

Joan shrugged. "Play along at first, just to see if the facts check up. After that, it's just a matter of convincing the guardian and neutered captain to leave the prisoner behind and leave Moya. I'm pretty sure the good captain will have no issues leaving the heated Moya but the, uhm, Botari?" At Bohr's nod, Joan continued, "he or she might be a problem."

Because of this new development, I completely forgot about our crew member in solitary confinement. Later, I learned from Pilot that he'd been extremely restless. Apparently, he'd gotten angry too when he learned about Moya's insistence on bringing our new visitors aboard. The idiot had insisted on being let out of the refrigerator immediately and come to our, at that point in timeunneeded rescue. Pilot kindly informed him he wouldn't last long in our super-heated home.

Anyway, Durka turned out to be a woman called Dinta, or so I was informed by V'Enda and Rohnn. Turns out she was indeed aboard the Botari ship. The Drak had left the hangar and maintenance bays at a lower temperature; still toohot for Seforan comfort, but not so hot as to induce Heat Delirium on the spot.

"How is it you can stand this heat?"

Joan smiled at the woman in front of her. "Like all other Peacekeepers, we've been genetically altered so we can handle higher temperatures better." No need to inform them of the fact that she's a completely different species. "Perhaps you should remain inside your vessel."

"Perhaps I should." She turned to her companion. "Will you be able to handle our prisoner on your own?"

He nodded. "Yes, that will be no problem."

The prisoner turned to Joan. "Please, help me."

"Remain silent, Nerri."

I'm not kidding here, Dot. Our latest addition to this happy, dysfunctional family is actually called Nerri. I remember thinking that this guy probably has a sister called Chiana, leading the Botariresistence. I refused to follow the original story as portrayed in Farscape, knowing exactly what the 'crime' was and not wanting to get the poor guy zapped for talking. Certain events, however, appear to be unavoidable. Or maybe V'Enda really was curious...

"What's his crime?"

"They won't tell you, 'cause they're embarrassed. You wouldn't consider it a crime."

Joan was unsure of what to do. If this Nerri guy kept talking, he'd get zapped by the Botari guardian, who's name she still didn't know. But if she ignored Nerri now, he might not trust her enough later when they needed his help.

"But we do."

Joan turned her head slightly to the guard. To her it seemed like this guy was just itching for a reason to use his zapper.

"Please, I beg for amnesty."

Joan, knowing the zapping would be inevitable by now, suppressed a sigh. "We're not a diplomatic ship, but perhaps we could use moral authority." With a swift move she knocked the guard's arm away from his temple and shoved him against the wall. "There's no harm in talking. I'm not judging your justice system but I will not accept needless punishment while you are on this ship. Now, what do you say about locking him up and leaving him alone, huh?"

"I would like to point out that interfering with us might cause bigger problems for you."

Joan shrugged. "I'm sure we can handle it."

Even then I knew that was a bluff. If this Botari guard got a chance to talk to his buddies back home, Moya would be in a hell of a lot of trouble. This may not have been the smartest move I ever made.

Anyway, right after Nerri was put in his cell, I suddenly remembered Aeron was still locked up, not knowing what was going on (remember, I didn't know Pilot had already informed him of our unexpected guests). I decided to go to him in person, seeing that I could do with a little cool-down myself.

Meanwhile, V'Enda had taken it upon herself to check whether our little lady frog was behaving herself.

V'Enda walked towards Rohnn's quarters. She just knew the little Domina would try something. Maybe not with a bomb, but one thing V'Enda had learned, and come to respect about the smallest crew member, was her ingenuity. Just too bad she only used that if it could improve her own situation or procure something of value.

As V'Enda came closer, she focused on walking more stealthily, all the while sniffing the air to determine if Rohnn was inside or not. She couldn't be certain, as the smell of Faracian could easily be explained by the fact Rohnn had been in that quarters for many cycles.

Eventually she reached the grating that functioned as a door and peeked inside. Nobody. V'Enda tapped her comms. "Pilot, does Moya know where Rohnn is at the moment?"

After a short pause, Pilot replied. "She's aboard the Botari vessel."

"Thanks, Pilot." V'Enda closed the comms channel. "Frell! I should have stayed with that tiny creature." She stomped off in the direction of the maintenance bay, reactivating her comms. "Crandon, Bohr. As I feared, our Lowness has gone to the Botari vessel. I doubt she just went to reminisce with the good captain about their prior encounter."

By that time, I had informed Aeron about the current situation. Since I'd left out some of the details, like names, species and/or military ranks, Aeron was quite surprised to learn about a captain being amongst the visitors.

"Captain? What captain?"

Joan shrugged a little after closing the comms. "The one from the Zelbinion."

Aeron's eyes widened. "The legendary Captain Dinta? Wait, that's impossible. The Zelbinion was lost over one hundred cycles ago. Dinta was already middle-aged by then."

Joan nodded. "She escaped, or rather, abandoned ship, once the Botari came for a visit and started transforming the Zelbinion to scrap metal."

"She abandoned ship?"

Joan nodded again. "Yeah. The Botari picked her up and put her through a process to eliminate the thought patterns that led to her 'inappropriate behavior', taking almost a hundred cycles of cryonic suspension."

"So, what's this got to do with Rohnn?"

"The Zelbinion was the first prison ship for her. The good captain took great pleasure in torturing her."

"Did you know that she might do something to Dinta? Did something like that occur in that show?"

"Yeah, but that was with a bomb. V'Enda made sure Rohnn wouldn't be able to make one. But I forgot something. On that show, your counterpart went to Rohnn's counterpart and took away the knife. You never went, so my guess is that Rohnn has a knife and is going to use it on Dinta."

I hate it when I'm right

"Let's see her come back from that!" Rohnn spat on the head she unceremoniously dumped on the floor right outside the Botari vessel.

V'Enda moved towards her and the head, her face showing a mixture of annoyed anger and satisfaction.

The Botari guard showed pure hatred. If V'Enda wouldn't have been in between him and Rohnn, he would have certainly attacked Rohnn. "You've ruined everything!"

Rohnn grinned. "I did no such thing! I made this universe a better place."

The guard looked around. "You will all pay for interfering with our plan. The hive ship is already on its way to retrieve us. They will destroy you once they learn about this, as well as the judging earlier of how we handle our prisoners."

See, I knew my earlier interference would bite us in the ass. Did I mention yet I hate being right?

Anyway, by now it was clear to everyone we needed to keep this grey dude away from any comms. Luckily the comms on his vessel were completely fried, which made our job a whole lot easier. Well, I thought it would. Less than half an arn later I was called to Command. I only took two wrong turns getting there (my sense of direction is definitely improving).

"What's up?"

V'Enda turned to Joan. "Apparently, the Botari guard has taken control of Pilot, and we can't get there."

"Has he gained control to all systems of Moya?"

V'Enda shook her head. "No, not yet, but that's just a matter of time. So far, he still hasn't gained access to the comms, propulsion or life support systems, though he did manage to lock us out of those systems, too."

"Is there absolutely no way to get in there?"

Again, V'Enda shook her head. "No, Pilot's den is completely sealed. Even DRDs and our Lowness can't get in there."

Joan frowned, deep in thought. After a while she looked back up at V'Enda. "How about bugs? If there's air going into the den, could bugs use that access point?"

"Yes, but I doubt we could infect him."

"Not infect him, take him out."

"And how would a bug do that?"

"By changing into us." Joan saw the confused looks. "Those bugs that are aboard Moya, they can take our DNA and change into us. If we ask the queen if she could spare a few of her subjects, we could use them to overpower the Botari guard."

Good thing I'm not totally thrown off-track by the sudden change in events. Granted, it's not Peacekeepers we're trying to fool, or for the same reason, but the general idea can still be applied.

But, there was one tiny little problem: since the bug queen had said she would leave us alone, none of us had seen any of the bugs. That left us with only one way to communicate: send the little toad to the hatching area. To you, Dot, that might sound familiar, so you won't be surprised that it wasn't as easily done as it was said.

"Come on, Rohnn. I told you you'll be safe."

"Huh. And you base that on what? A piece of fiction that showed my counterpart was safe?"

"That, and the fact I already talked to the queen and informed her we would leave them alone."

"Exactly. They expect to be left alone. Letting me in there will not be tolerated. Not that I blame them. I wouldn't enjoy being interrupted during... procreation activities either."

V'Enda sighed, grabbed Rohnn and forcefully shoved her into one of the access shafts. "Stop wasting time, you're going now."

Queen eat-a-lot took her sweet time. It took her nearly half an hour before she finally reported back.

"The hive queen has agreed to provide help in the execution of your... plan, for lack of a better word."

"I didn't hear you come up with any," Joan muttered, making sure Rohnn wouldn't hear it. Out loud she replied, "Excellent. They already have my DNA, so they only have to acquire V'Enda and Bohr's."

"Huh, luckily I prepared myself, in case I would be forced to go through with this nonsense. I took some small tokens from both Bohr as well as V'Enda. Consider it payment for my services. It contained enough DNA for the hive to use."

I'll spare you the string of curses and threats coming from V'Enda. Suffice it to say that Rohnn was wise when she informed us she was going into hiding for a few days.

On with the show. About twenty bugs went to Pilot's den. With a handful of V'EndasBohrs and Joans, it should be possible to take this Botari guard out. The queen herself hijacked Bohr again, to keep us informed, seeing as we had no way to know what was going on inside.

"The colorless one is providing much resistance. My subjects are unable to get near him."

"Use V'Enda's tongue to knock him out."

The queen looked questioningly.

Joan pointed to V'Enda. "Her tongue contains an adaptive venom. It will render someone unconscious. Just hit him with one of her tongues."

Yes, Mom, I know, that sounds really weird. In all likelihood, I'll be spouting more and more weird things in the coming months, increasing in level of weirdness, I'm sure.

The queen nodded once. "The first one missed, but the colorless one was hit by the second. He's now incapacitated."

"Fantastic," Joan exclaimed. "Now all we need to do is have Pilot regain control over Moya's systems and we can get that annoying grey guy out of here."

"Any ideas on how to do that?"

Well, no, not immediately, as this situation didn't occur on Farscape. But we got lucky.

"The entrance has been opened."

"Pilot has regained control on his own?"

"No, but I am able to communicate with the host."

"The host? Oh, Moya. Is she able to give Pilot control back?"

"The host is trying, but the symbiont is not fully conscious. I do suggest you make your way there quickly, before the colorless one regains consciousness."

V'Enda and I ran towards the den (V'Enda sure can run fast; I had a lot of trouble keeping up. I'm sure I annoyed her because I was slowing her down). When we arrived, Pilot appeared more lucid, and the colorless one, I mean, the Botari guard was attempting to get to his feet.

"I would advise you to remain on the floor."

The guard looked at V'Enda and then to Joan with pure hatred in his eyes. Then his eyes fell on a couple of copies and his expression changed from pure hatred to partial hatred and a lot of confusion. "How..?"

Joan shrugged a bit. "A number of space-living creatures have taken residence aboard Moya for their hatching cycle. They have the ability to take our DNA and shape themselves accordingly."

I took a little time to think. These Botari might become a real problem, and I wondered if they also used STDs to spread the mind-control thing. If so, this guy might be useful in determining the virus and perhaps even finding a cure for it.

On the other hand, bringing it up now would clearly indicate to him that I knew a lot about their cause, meaning if he got out, we would surely get the Botari on our collective asses.

Then again, if he got out, we would get the Botari on our collective asses anyway, though for a totally different reason. Either way, it was clear this guy could not leave Moya, but keeping him here wasn't the safest thing either. Well, cross that bridge and all that.

"Are you a carrier of the virus your people use to infect others by frelling them?"

Note to self: inform crew about these things before I spring it on them in tense situations. But the reaction from the Botari was priceless (great, now I miss my credit-card) and all-telling.

"I'm taking that as a yes." Joan turned to V'Enda. "I'll explain later." She turned back to the Botari guard. "I'm guessing your people want Nerri for two reasons. One, to find out how was he cleansed from the contagion and two, does he know where his sister Chiana is, and by extension the location of the Botari Resistance."

"Why is this important?"

Joan turned to V'Enda. "If he's a carrier, we might be able to find a cure before the currently-inactive virus awakens, allowing them an easy takeover of this region"

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but the Botari are not interested in anything but the greater good."

"Which would be..?"

Right after asking the question it occurred to me this guy's nervousness had turned into smugness. That couldn't possibly indicate anything good. He got nervous when I confronted him with the truth I shouldn't have known, and all of a sudden he's mister confidence himself. I once again turned to V'Enda

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"He seems suddenly very sure."

"He's going to blow himself and this ship up!"

Joan turned around to see Nerri standing there.

V'Enda immediately knocked out the Botari guard. "Help me carry him to the nearest airlock. He's leaving."

And here I thought only humans were stupid enough to do suicide bombings. Anyway, V'Enda and I got him to an airlock well in time and Pilot had regained enough control to increase the distance between us and the Al Qaeda wanna-be

The hive queen informed us they had finished their cycle and would leave Moya immediately, though she expressed her gratitude.

That only left Nerri, who had clearly heard me rambling on and on about stuff I shouldn't have known.

"That is so drad! You can tell me exactly what's going to happen!"

"Not exactly. See, the fact you are here now, instead of a few monens from now, is already a deviation from what I know. It might even be that only a handful of episodes are actually going to play out for real, and each change I make may result in even bigger deviations. In short, I can only inform you about things just before they happen, and even then I might get things wrong."

"Oh." Nerri paused. "Will I see my sister again?"

Joan shrugged. "Possibly. I don't know for sure." She sighed. "Look, I can't guarantee anything, but on the show Chiana did get to see Nerri, if only on a vid-chip. I can't say anything beyond that, I'm sorry."

"No, that's okay. I'll just wait and see." He paused again. "You see, a weeken ago, the life-disc that connects us stopped working."

"She's not dead. She just removed the disc because she wanted you to think she's dead, in case you'd be captured." Joan paused. "At least, that's what I got from that TV show."

Apparently, that was enough for Nerri. He's just like my little brother, too. Well, besides being completely grey with black hair. But his personality is so the same. I think I can really become good friends with him.

Aeron doesn't seem to like him, much like Aeryn didn't seem to like Chiana too much at first. I'm thinking it'll become better.

I think I'm going to quit now. I'll have to remember to not write long stories next time, but just give you the bare-bones. I mean, how likely is it I'll be able to buy more paper and pens around here? Anyway, love you both very much. Give my little brother a hug from me (not you Dot, Mom should do that). I'll promise I'll write him a little note later.