AUTHOR'S NOTE: thank you Anonymous Guest for the review.
Chapter 167: Reach for the Stars.
"He writhed in the clutches of the monsters and flailed until he thought he would pass out. He could not even recognise his voice or decipher the rubbish that jumped from his lips."
-MewMewYaoiStar
With the battle finished, Silverweed exited the glass chamber and hopped over to Blackberry.
-"More death and destruction. I hope you're happy."
-"I'm not," Blackberry replied. "I wish it could have been avoided, but it couldn't, so here we are. I hope you won't be as reluctant to fight when we're back home and Woundwort attacks."
-"The sooner we're out of this place and back at Watership Down, the better," Silverweed said, intentionally dodging Blackberry's question.
-"Fully agreed. But for that to happen, we first have to find out why we were sent here in the first place."
-"You'll have to ask Bluebell about that."
On the bridge, the rabbits, still mourning the loss of the Zorn rabbits, remained silent. It took a while before Bluebell spoke.
-"According to the sensors, there are survivors."
-"Survivors?" Hazel jumped off the captain's chair. "We saw the ship blow up. How is this possible?"
-"There is a small shuttlecraft further below, that appears to have escaped the main vessel's destruction largely unharmed," Bluebell explained, taking a closer look at sensor readings. "There is one life sign aboard, but unless we act, they will crash on the planet's surface."
-"Activate hrududu beams."
Bluebell manipulated the controls and did as Hazel had ordered. The artificial gravitation field pulled the shuttlecraft closer to the larger vessel, until it was out of danger.
-"Counsellor," Hazel said, turning to Vilthuril, "can you sense anything that could help us deal with this visitor?"
Vilthuril, having learned from the previous incident, looked at Hazel. She could clearly see how emotionally drained he was. While he kept up a brave face, this strange new world appeared to have taken its toll on him. Unsure how much he had already figured out, she did not tell him about her observation, and instead did as he had asked, and tried to concentrate on the visitor.
-"I sense...someone we know." Vilthuril was disappointed in herself. She really wished she could have been more helpful, but even in this weird place, she still had her limitations.
-"Right," Hazel said. "Spartina, Plump Rabbit, you two go greet our visitor, and escort them to the guest burrow, or the prison burrow, whichever is most appropriate."
-"Now's the part where he goes to the holoburrow," Bluebell whispered.
-"Number One," Hazel continued, "you're in charge. If there's an emergency, I'll be in the holoburrow."
Fiver sighed. His name was a number, but here, he was also "Number One". This place was not as pleasant as he had first assumed; he would have to work with the others so everyone could get home safely. Until then, however, he had another question on his mind.
-"How did you know he was going to the holoburrow?" he asked. Usually, he was the one to predict the future, not Bluebell.
-"Knowing him, and seeing how stressed he was, it was only logical that he would go there to unwind," Bluebell replied. "I predict he will select the Old Sandleford simulation."
-"Bluebell, come down to the machine burrow!" came Blackberry's loud voice over the communication system.
Bigwig and Spartina, meanwhile, had gone to the transporter room so they could bring the Zorn survivor into their own vessel. Bigwig operated the transporter's controls, while Spartina remained close by with a portable thunderstick, ready to fire if necessary.
With a soft noise, the transporter activated, and glowing light flowed downwards as the visitor's body was beamed out of the shuttlecraft to rematerialize on the transporter pad. At first, the two rabbits were unable to see the visitor, leading them to assume that the transporter had malfunctioned. Upon taking a closer look, however, they saw her. Hannah the mouse, in a corner, trying to step forward, but too unstable to remain upright.
-"Oof! Scatterin yur atooms acrooss ze unvers, vat a zay to trayveil!"
With that, she passed out. The two rabbits looked at each other.
-"So, prison burrow or guest burrow?"
-"Sick burrow."
-"That's what I thought. Let's carry her."
Strawberry was asleep in the sick burrow when Hannah was brought in. She quickly realized that she was trapped in another universe entirely, and was being thrust into a situation she was woefully unqualified to handle. She knew very little about healing; that was Blackberry or Thethuthinnang's job. She also had no idea how to operate the tricorders and other advanced equipment present around her. Nevertheless, she did her best with what little skills she possessed.
-"She's stable," she finally told the anxious Bigwig and Spartina. "She just needs rest."
-"Can we talk to her?" Spartina asked.
-"You no doubt have many questions, but she really needs that rest. Besides, I doubt you'll get much out of her while she's asleep."
-"Let us know when she wakes up, so we can come and talk," Bigwig said.
-"I'll do that."
As the two rabbits left, Strawberry remained behind, questioning everything. Of all possible tasks she could have been assigned, it had to be the one she was least qualified for. Why?
-"Hiya!"
-"Brambles!"
Strawberry was startled by the sudden voice. She jumped in the air, and turned around, seeing Blueberry in front of her. Now it made sense. She was Blueberry's temporary guardian, until the permanent adoptive parents came to their senses and accepted their responsibility. Or something, she wasn't sure if she had understood Silverweed's vision properly. She was not sure whether she was doing a good job as Blueberry's guardian either.
Bluebell and Blackberry were hard at work in the machine burrow, The machines had been damaged by the radiation from the explosion of the Zorn vessel, and it was too much for Blackberry to fix alone. But that was not the only reason why he had asked Bluebell to come.
-"How's the big joke going?" he asked.
-"Not as well as I was hoping. Being funny is really difficult, although it would not seem so at first. I've been trying my best, but I haven't been able to make anyone laugh."
-"If I laugh, will you let us go?"
-"Only if you truly find me funny."
Blackberry took a deep breath.
-"You're the funniest rabbit I know. Your jokes keep me going in life. I'm just not very good at publicly expressing emotions, which is why you never see me laugh."
-"Oh Blackberry you make me so happy!"
Bluebell tackled-hugged the other rabbit. Blackberry was slightly annoyed, but nevertheless returned the hug.
-"Can we go home now, though?"
-"We were supposed to go on an exploration mission to Litchfield Down when were were diverted by the Meadow Grove emergency. We should probably finish this mission now, and then maybe we'll be able to go home. Or maybe Bunfleet Command will send us on another mission entirely."
-"It's funny, really, and your attention to detail is amazing." Blackberry was getting desperate. "But this has has gone on long enough. Take us home."
-"I don't understand what you're talking about."
-"Bluebell, we are not at Watership Down. We are in a giant hrududu."
-"Fascinating. But I still don't understand."
It then dawned on Blackberry that Bluebell really didn't understand. When Silverweed had said to "ask Bluebell", he had assumed that this was all an elaborate joke on the blue rabbit's part, but now he realized that this definitely wasn't the case. He must have misunderstood Silverweed's message. He took a nearby wire and, ripping off the tip with his claws, placed it on Bluebell's nose.
-"Ow!" Bluebell jumped back from the electrical shock. "What was that for?"
-"To bring you back to your senses."
Bluebell blinked a few times, slowly coming back to his senses, and paying closer attention to his surroundings.
-"It's the portal, isn't it?" he finally said.
-"What portal?"
-"We were all pulled into the portal I opened. This is a very different world than what we're familiar with."
-"...why were you opening portals?"
The discussion was interrupted, as a worried Fiver arrived in the burrow.
-"Has anyone seen Hazel?"
-"He went to the holoburrow," Bluebell said.
-"I know," Fiver said. "But it's been a long time and he hasn't come back yet."
-"I knew it," Blackberry said. "Embleer holoburrow! These things are not safe. They always malfunction, endangering the lives of everyone inside. Come on, let's go rescue him!"