Silence
Anonymous Me
Kalizda seemed to spend more and more time talking with him. In some ways it was nice to have someone to just talk about life with even if they were quite different in many little things. At the end of the evening he started to find himself more frequently missing words that she said and sometimes he just stared at her with a blank expression. Finally he nodded and stood up from the table. "We need to get some rest eh?" He felt a little wore out and he hated to admit that the long hours were starting to get to him, but he had to get to bed. Not to mention sleeping in an over crowded room and sharing his bunk with a kid really didn't help the situation of rest.
Getting settled into the bed he had to shift the kid over again and then he heard one of the others begin to whimper a little. Illya cringed at the sound. He just wanted to get some sleep. Then as soon as it was quiet and he could sleep he felt like he was wide awake instead. The book from Kalizda was still here in his bunk so he flicked the overhead lamp on and started to read some of the book.
When Illya woke he discovered the book was laying across his chest and he had one hand flopped over his eyes with the lamp still shining brightly overhead. Usually he remembered falling asleep, but this time he must have been especially tired out. Carefully sitting up he threw one leg over the edge of the bunk and lifted himself up with his arms. Illya had originally intended to get out of the bed silently. With just a simple miscalculation his foot managed to entirely miss the ladder and he was in mid air and far too late to change his mind. Instead it almost appeared that he was vaulting himself over the kid in his bunk and then onto the floor. "Whoaaaaa..." Even though Illya tried to old onto the side bar of the bunk it only seemed to make it all in slow motion. He watched himself tip upside down and his leg coming off the bunk flew straight up in the air and he could see he was going to kick the light out, but there was no stopping it.
It wasn't until Illya hit the floor that he realized his book must have slid off the bunk at some point too. The spine of the book was thankfully durable though Illya arched his back slightly after he hit the book. For a brief moment he wondered if they lined the book with metal sheets. With a groan he started to peel himself off the floor and promptly knocked his shin on one of the lower bunks when he put the book back in his bunk. Even if he had intended to let the others sleep it was apparent that most of them were awake now.
One of the other Chippeqouti peered out of their bunk at Illya. "Sorry I moved meh ladder. Kept kicking it last night."
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By the time they had landed on the new planet Illya had managed to fall out of his bunk, burn his thumb on the cooking kettle and hit his head on the door jam of the navigation room. There were times when he forgot to duck and that had been one of them. Rubbing the top of his head Illya flicked his end of the controls on and began to throw the damper onto the thrust so they would gradually slow down rather than come to a halting stop.
Kalizda told him it was a warm port and that was happy news. The confines of the ship had almost become too much. Everyone needed out and Illya figured that the elderly Chips probably felt as eager as himself to get outside. They were not used to living so much of their lives indoors. Since Illya wasn't feeling particularly energetic after several nights of limited sleep he went back to his room to get the book, pen, and some note paper. As he was preparing to step outside a herd of children came tumbling after him. One of them started to yell in Quoti and Illya looked back at the child. "Practice yah Trader's language. It will be important where we go eh?"
A few of the older children nodded. They were still eager to get outside and they wanted Illya to take them. The man relented and decided that it couldn't hurt to take them to a large outdoor area to play and he could simply read. It was obvious by the kinds of citizens living here that it wouldn't be difficult to pick out the 6 Chip children that had come with him.
Laying down in the brush Illya held the book almost over his face while the kids raced around outside and then decided to try and pick up one of the cat people's children. "Look! We should keep it. Illya got one almost like dis and he gave et ta da captain as a pet. A little tiny one." The cat squirmed in the arms of the boy and managed to get himself free.
Straightening his clothes the little cat boy looked at them. "I'm not tiny!"
The children gasped in surprise as the little cat answered them. "Da captains cat never talks." They'd never witnessed a cat talk before not even in the desert of Quoti. "Doesn't wear clothes either. Just walks around in its fur all day long." One of the others exclaimed.
Ears pricked on the mother cat when she heard what was going on. It sounded like these strange little children had witnessed a kidnapping or sick slavery or sorts. Her emerald eyes narrowed and she peered about to see who this Illya was that they were talking about. Casually she drew out her phone and she began to dial the police. They needed to be here to ensure that these travelers were not kidnapping their young.
Illya barely heard the tail end of the conversation going on with the children. "Wha...." Sitting up off the ground he quickly tucked his book under his arm along with the notebook and pen. "No, no, no." Clearing his throat he made his way over to the kids. "C'mon time ta go." Last thing he needed was to get into some sort of altercation with the natives on this planet. "Keysha is not dis kind of cat. She's different."
"But da captain hogs da cat. We want to play wit et too!" Throwing up protest one of the children looked up at Illya with hopeful eyes. "Dis one talks!"
"No!" Illya shuffled the kids back toward the little sidewalk that would take them to the ship. They needed to get out of here before the kids said something much worse. They didn't understand the concept of different races. Suddenly a voice behind him snarled and Illya turned instinctively, which proved to be the wrong reaction. A long electric prod caught him right right in the side. The cat wasn't particularly kind about it either. It was almost like it enjoyed to play with its prey and Illya barely got control of his senses enough to keep from falling and the cat hit him with the prod again. After several jolts of electricity he started to stumble and two of the kids took off. The other four screamed and kicked when the other cat people arrested them. A single prod wasn't quite enough to do much more than stun Illya and a few more police cats joined the process of zapping him till he was on the ground and far more manageable.
How they managed to get Illya back to the jail cell that he was now crouched in he didn't know. It was like a tiny box they had tried to stuff him in and the four remaining children sat on a bench all tied together and staring at him from the other end of the bars. Sitting next to them he saw his book, notebook, and pen. At least he wouldn't lose all his algorithms that he'd made to try and explain the history of her book.
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"Captain!!!!!!!!!" Screaming at the top of her lungs one of the older girls drug her sister behind herself. At the age of 8 she wasn't quite familiar with the idea of stealth, or inter racial relations. "Dey trying ta kill Illya!" Her sister tripped part way up the plank leading into the ship and she drug her regardless.
On the heels of the children a unit of cat police came charging in on all fours. There wasn't time for the children to explain their situation before one of the cat police showed a court order. "We're here to investigate a case of possible catnapping, slavery, and cat-trafficking." The golden eyes of the cat person sharpened some as he peered at all the strangers on board the captain's ship. "Are you the captain?" Nodding a little he went on with some of the further charges and then asked a final question. "Are you aware of all your crew's doing?" Giving a little hiss he whipped his tail about and then took down a few more notes. "We'll make a thorough investigation then."
Getting settled into the bed he had to shift the kid over again and then he heard one of the others begin to whimper a little. Illya cringed at the sound. He just wanted to get some sleep. Then as soon as it was quiet and he could sleep he felt like he was wide awake instead. The book from Kalizda was still here in his bunk so he flicked the overhead lamp on and started to read some of the book.
When Illya woke he discovered the book was laying across his chest and he had one hand flopped over his eyes with the lamp still shining brightly overhead. Usually he remembered falling asleep, but this time he must have been especially tired out. Carefully sitting up he threw one leg over the edge of the bunk and lifted himself up with his arms. Illya had originally intended to get out of the bed silently. With just a simple miscalculation his foot managed to entirely miss the ladder and he was in mid air and far too late to change his mind. Instead it almost appeared that he was vaulting himself over the kid in his bunk and then onto the floor. "Whoaaaaa..." Even though Illya tried to old onto the side bar of the bunk it only seemed to make it all in slow motion. He watched himself tip upside down and his leg coming off the bunk flew straight up in the air and he could see he was going to kick the light out, but there was no stopping it.
It wasn't until Illya hit the floor that he realized his book must have slid off the bunk at some point too. The spine of the book was thankfully durable though Illya arched his back slightly after he hit the book. For a brief moment he wondered if they lined the book with metal sheets. With a groan he started to peel himself off the floor and promptly knocked his shin on one of the lower bunks when he put the book back in his bunk. Even if he had intended to let the others sleep it was apparent that most of them were awake now.
One of the other Chippeqouti peered out of their bunk at Illya. "Sorry I moved meh ladder. Kept kicking it last night."
**********************************************************************
By the time they had landed on the new planet Illya had managed to fall out of his bunk, burn his thumb on the cooking kettle and hit his head on the door jam of the navigation room. There were times when he forgot to duck and that had been one of them. Rubbing the top of his head Illya flicked his end of the controls on and began to throw the damper onto the thrust so they would gradually slow down rather than come to a halting stop.
Kalizda told him it was a warm port and that was happy news. The confines of the ship had almost become too much. Everyone needed out and Illya figured that the elderly Chips probably felt as eager as himself to get outside. They were not used to living so much of their lives indoors. Since Illya wasn't feeling particularly energetic after several nights of limited sleep he went back to his room to get the book, pen, and some note paper. As he was preparing to step outside a herd of children came tumbling after him. One of them started to yell in Quoti and Illya looked back at the child. "Practice yah Trader's language. It will be important where we go eh?"
A few of the older children nodded. They were still eager to get outside and they wanted Illya to take them. The man relented and decided that it couldn't hurt to take them to a large outdoor area to play and he could simply read. It was obvious by the kinds of citizens living here that it wouldn't be difficult to pick out the 6 Chip children that had come with him.
Laying down in the brush Illya held the book almost over his face while the kids raced around outside and then decided to try and pick up one of the cat people's children. "Look! We should keep it. Illya got one almost like dis and he gave et ta da captain as a pet. A little tiny one." The cat squirmed in the arms of the boy and managed to get himself free.
Straightening his clothes the little cat boy looked at them. "I'm not tiny!"
The children gasped in surprise as the little cat answered them. "Da captains cat never talks." They'd never witnessed a cat talk before not even in the desert of Quoti. "Doesn't wear clothes either. Just walks around in its fur all day long." One of the others exclaimed.
Ears pricked on the mother cat when she heard what was going on. It sounded like these strange little children had witnessed a kidnapping or sick slavery or sorts. Her emerald eyes narrowed and she peered about to see who this Illya was that they were talking about. Casually she drew out her phone and she began to dial the police. They needed to be here to ensure that these travelers were not kidnapping their young.
Illya barely heard the tail end of the conversation going on with the children. "Wha...." Sitting up off the ground he quickly tucked his book under his arm along with the notebook and pen. "No, no, no." Clearing his throat he made his way over to the kids. "C'mon time ta go." Last thing he needed was to get into some sort of altercation with the natives on this planet. "Keysha is not dis kind of cat. She's different."
"But da captain hogs da cat. We want to play wit et too!" Throwing up protest one of the children looked up at Illya with hopeful eyes. "Dis one talks!"
"No!" Illya shuffled the kids back toward the little sidewalk that would take them to the ship. They needed to get out of here before the kids said something much worse. They didn't understand the concept of different races. Suddenly a voice behind him snarled and Illya turned instinctively, which proved to be the wrong reaction. A long electric prod caught him right right in the side. The cat wasn't particularly kind about it either. It was almost like it enjoyed to play with its prey and Illya barely got control of his senses enough to keep from falling and the cat hit him with the prod again. After several jolts of electricity he started to stumble and two of the kids took off. The other four screamed and kicked when the other cat people arrested them. A single prod wasn't quite enough to do much more than stun Illya and a few more police cats joined the process of zapping him till he was on the ground and far more manageable.
How they managed to get Illya back to the jail cell that he was now crouched in he didn't know. It was like a tiny box they had tried to stuff him in and the four remaining children sat on a bench all tied together and staring at him from the other end of the bars. Sitting next to them he saw his book, notebook, and pen. At least he wouldn't lose all his algorithms that he'd made to try and explain the history of her book.
***************************************************
"Captain!!!!!!!!!" Screaming at the top of her lungs one of the older girls drug her sister behind herself. At the age of 8 she wasn't quite familiar with the idea of stealth, or inter racial relations. "Dey trying ta kill Illya!" Her sister tripped part way up the plank leading into the ship and she drug her regardless.
On the heels of the children a unit of cat police came charging in on all fours. There wasn't time for the children to explain their situation before one of the cat police showed a court order. "We're here to investigate a case of possible catnapping, slavery, and cat-trafficking." The golden eyes of the cat person sharpened some as he peered at all the strangers on board the captain's ship. "Are you the captain?" Nodding a little he went on with some of the further charges and then asked a final question. "Are you aware of all your crew's doing?" Giving a little hiss he whipped his tail about and then took down a few more notes. "We'll make a thorough investigation then."