Colliding Worlds

[Silence]

Part way through the night Illya shifted slightly, though it wasn't enough to be considered measured improvement. He continued to sleep through the next day and soundly into the night again. It wasn't till the third morning that he began to stir in the early hours. Illya rolled to his right side and frowned a little. After nearly half an hour he shifted to lay on his back again before rolling to his stomach. With a groan he turned over on the bunk and flopped his cast over the edge of the bed. Slowly lifting his sheet marked face he squinted a little.

It was dark in the cabin. the ship was quiet. Illya looked at the wall on the clock on his heart nearly skipped a beat. He'd slept three nights and two full days. That was not good news. What if the captain had gotten increasingly sick, or maybe she ran out of the cream he gave her. He needed to make more of that cream for her. Before he could even wrap his blanket around his shoulders again his stomach began to growl and it all hit at one time.

First Illya had to go pee. That many hours of sleeping and he needed let something out. He was thirsty and ravenous. After his trip to the washroom Illya made a slow trudge to the kitchen where he began to pull out a few rations. They were pitiful, but he was hungry and he was willing to eat almost anything. On the side he planned to have one of the puddings and then a sandwich too. The light flicked on as he opened the fridge and then he spotted the spilled containers and several smears of food where it shouldn't be. Illya's eyes traveled over the length and width of the fridge before he closed it. He wanted to blame Ayrn for this, but he was going to have to talk with Calysta before he began to deal out punishment to the stowaway. Illya knew he was unreasonable when he slept like this and first woke up. Instead he decided to have some oats instead of the pudding. Oats were spilled and spread all over the place. Plucking the can from the cabinet Illya noted that it was nearly empty.

With each new discovery in the kitchen he could feel his anger go up by one notch. When he finally had a decent meal pieced together and finished he figured he would go back and get dressed before he woke up Ayrn. It was still early and he suspected the man was lazy. He wouldn't get up unless someone was there to get him up in the morning.

The first place Illya checked for his clothing was in the closet. After several blind attempts to grope the closet and find his clothes he had to turn on the light to the room. None of which seemed to cause any disturbance to Ayrn's sleep. Patting all the empty shelves Illya frowned. Nothing, absolutely nothing in the closet. There was only one other place that he could have left something like his clothes. It was possible that he would have folded them and put the clothes underneath his bunk if he was tired. So far he was positive that he put them in the closet before he fell asleep. Gazing back across the room he saw his bag from the Ehaui was laying open in a peculiar manner. The bag looked as though someone had been tampering with it. Perhaps Ayrn had been digging in it. Illya's clothes were missing and that meant the note was gone too. He needed to have that note. All of it pointed to the room mate that laid on his bunk with a stupid smirk on his face. Even in his sleep he looked so smug and it burned to the very core. Ayrn would not be sleeping well tonight or for several more.

Dropping the blanket that he had been holding around his shoulders the Chippeqouti strode across the room. It mattered very little to Illya that he was only in his boxers. With one arm he jerked Ayrn out of the bed and threw him on the floor. As he barely hit the floor Ayrn began to squeal like a stuck pig. Illya's face was dark with rage and he made a fist with his right hand. Bringing his fist toward himself he then thrust it forward and slammed into Ayrn's chest. Ribs started to get a little mushy underneath his fist and he got onto his knees and straddled the startled looking man. "I'll bust every damn bone till you tell me where it is. Did you take it!" Un-clenching his fist Illya slapped Ayrn firmly across the cheek. "Yah took meh clothes and yah dug through them. I swear if you don't tell me where they are I'll cut yah open and spread your guts in a trail. We'll stop at the nearest planet and a witch will tell me where you hid them."

It almost looked like Ayrn didn't know what he was talking about and Illya began to pummel him again. Since the man's face was already welting some and his ribs were turning black with the bruising Illya decided to resort to torture instead of beating. "I had important information on a friend of mine in my clothing and I'll break every finger then move my way up your arm and dislocate every vertebrae on my way down to your leg if yah don't tell me." Grabbing Aryn's hand with his cast he gave the man a deadly stare. "Yah tell me what yah did with it eh?"

Hauling the man off the floor with one hand Illya shoved him in front and nearly stepped on Aryn's heels all the way to the kitchen. "Yah dig dem out and yah dry dem carefully. No dryer." He was afraid that the message had already been severely damaged. If he couldn't retrieve the information off of it he would kill Aryn as a spy. That was the only way to deal with this kind of situation.

Illya kept one hand on Aryn's shoulder and when the man delayed in any sort of obedience Illya squeezed harder till the Terran was squealing again and he eventually crumpled to the floor. Wrenching him off the ground he shoved Aryn's face practically into the freezer. "Pull dem out and do what I said!" While the Terran shakily gathered the clothing Illya whipped around to see Kalizda entering the room. She had a disapproving look on her face and he narrowed his eyes. "Yah stay out of da way. He works for da Federation. A spy!"

She ignored his demand and looked at Illya, with calm in her grey eyes. "He's not a spy. He's too much of an idiot and he's too lazy to even work for himself much less the Federation." Ayrn knew enough to keep his mouth shut as she spoke, cringing everytime Illya so much as twitched.

The statement seemed preposterous. "A spy could act like anyone." Shoving Ayrn's head against the freezer he growled. "I take care of meh clothing den and ef he tampered with anything I kill him. If not I fex him up and do his work eh?

Aryn yelped as his head slammed into the freezer and Calsyta winced. What had him so worked up? So paranoid and angry? This was not the Illya she knew. "If he tampered with anything, we'll deal with it, but we're not killing him."

"Ef its tampered with I kill him. Yah dun't know what's at stake." Yanking Aryn to the side Illya held his cast to the side for Aryn to give him the frozen clothes. "Kalizda, dis is between meh and him."

Calsyta looked at him, trying to be patient. Something was obviously very wrong. "I would if you put him down and tell. But I'm not having someone killed on this ship Illya. "

Gritting his teeth Illya set the clothes aside in the kitchen. He knew it was far enough away from the bunk room that Ayrn wouldn't be able to hear. "Fine I take him and lock him in da room." Illya set a fast pace back to the room and he roughly tossed the other back into his bed. "Yah move and she can't save yah hide." Since it appeared that the other wasn't in a hurry to go anywhere Illya backed out of the room and locked it behind himself before he went back to the kitchen to begin working on gently thawing the clothing so he could retrieve the message.

Even if it wasn't tampered with he could only pray it wasn't damaged beyond use. Kalizda was still in the kitchen and she was waiting obviously for some kind of explanation. "I saw an Ehaui yesterday. She gave meh a message to pass on." Still focused on retrieving the message Illya stared at his pants while he tried to slowly warm the pocket that had the information. "Ehaui and Chippeqouti were in an alliance during th-the war. Dey are also exiled. We are not allowed to leave. All th-their communication is shut down and she tell meh thhhat Federation is forcing Ehaui to develop a virus th-that causes bone rot in Chippeqouti. Maybe delayed because bone samples are old now. Ehaui used to help Chippeqouti. We were protection and th-they gave us medicine and saved many Chip during the war. Many dat should not have lived. Th-this message is for da elders of Quoti. She summons th-their aid. Thhey all know one Chip now is flying and it is meh duty to get back wit meh books and help repair all broke ships on Quoti. Elders can decide after if thhey will answer the call of Ehaui and renew th-the alliance."

 

[aryamajor]

Calysta listened to Illya carefully and without interruption. She had heard of the Ehaui in passing before on some of the more rural out posts, but those had been simply rumors and she had no idea they had anything to do with the Chippeqouti. So, these people were exiled to? And now, from what she understood, there had been a biological weapon designed specifically against him and his people. This is what had been bothering him, and for obvious reasons, she only wished he had said something sooner. With a cough, she sat forward in her chair more and gazed at Illya for a moment, thinking. "This is the old friend you spoke of then. What will happen if we take these books to Qouti and the Chippeqouti decide to answer that call?"


Illya clenched his jaw. "Yes it was da friend." The question of the call was a big one and even Illya wasn't sure what the Quoti would do. It depended on the elders. Some of whom were more likely to be cautious after the last war and others that were a little more eager to set things right. "I dun know what th-they will do. If thhey answer it could be in many forms or another war."

She sat and looked at him as his jaw clenched, and his green eyes lit with rage. On the one hand, she didn't want to get involved in what could a full out war. One that she would have helped bring about by bringing an end to the Chips exile. On the other hand, she believed that exile to be extreme and ridiculous in some sense. Whatever the perceived wrong of the Chips was, it didn't warrant casting an entire generation into ignorance. Or getting rid of them all together. "Alright then," said to him hoarsely, as she stood, "Correct our course for Qouti then. Though we will have to stop for water and supplies on the way, it wont take long."

Though he had been busy plucking at the edge of the pocket on his frozen pants his head snapped up at her response. "Yah what?" He almost couldn't believe that she was telling him to re-direct their course. There was still far more for her to do and she wanted to clear her name. It was only fair that they went wherever it as that she was headed. "We're almost to yah port anyway. Land th-there and we launch to Quoti after." Illya kept his eyes steady with hers. "Can't ignore all yah business and yah have no reason to help the Chippeqouti. Meh people would be grateful to yah even if all yah did was drop meh with da books. I know enough to help teach dem to repair ships and get thhem in air."

"If its as urgent as this, my issues can wait. Those charges aren't going away any time soon, but we can restock on Gkoe since we are close," She offered him a firm hand up from the chair. "And I do have reasons, for wanting to help."

Illya looked at her hand and he set his hand in hers and stood up. Peering into her eyes he started carefully, "Kalizda woman you will be respected among the Chippeqouti for what you do for us."

His hand was warm in hers and she looked back into his green eyes. A soft, but playful smile came to her lips, "Maybe, but the respect of one is enough either way."

***

Illya was still working on his clothes with the auto pilot chimed, signaling their entry into the main engine sector of the planet. The jump drive powered down and a planet of green and grey sat in the window like a giant, swirling marble. Except this marble, had a scar of bright lights taking up much of the western hemisphere, which was cast in night time. Behind the planet was a massive 6 pointed gate way patrolled by large ships and lit blue with the surging power generators used to fuel the star-gate.
Gkoe was one massive city; easy to get lost in and even easier to never be found among the bustling streets, endless sky scrapers and constant traffic. Sleeping was unheard of but the parties and political activity was always the talk of the galaxy. It was the place where many of the anti-treaty ralliers would show their distaste, both Kaerelean and Terran alike, but they would wait. The negotiations had not yet ended and would probably continue well into the future given the circumstances.

Calysta brought them smoothly into the atmosphere and a warning flashed up on the landing display. Be Advised: There is a level 4 smog alert for the entire 7th quadrant of Gkoe. Please wear protective gear when entering the city.

She disliked Gkoe for many reasons, but this was one of the main reasons. Why did they insist on not keeping what they have to breathe clean? Kinte would never allow something like that to happen on Kaereal.

Coughing some, she finished the landing process and touched them down at a massive docking station among thousands of other ships from their galaxy and the next one over. They would need breathing masks to filter the air and those were usually stowed in the bunks or in the part and equipment room. Easing out of the chair, she walked down the hall to the parts room and opened one of the lockers. There were several boxes of random bits inside, including everything needed to put together a sealed space suit for a walk outside while in orbit. Tossing aside the bright orange suit, she found a heavy plastic box in the bottom and opened it. Four masks of plastic with filters and a vent to be fitted over the mouth were sitting inside wrapped in plastic. At least they would be getting fresh masks.

Pulling out two of them, she walked to the bathroom where Illya was still drying his clothes. When she came around the corner and glanced inside the open door, she found he was just reaching to the dyer for his clothes, using his damaged shoulder. Or was it? Her eyes scanned over his tan shoulder looking for the bullet wound that should be there, but there was nothing but a round, pink pockmark where the hole should be.

Illya had told her a little of the way Chippeqouti heal, and she had learned some about the way his bones were made on Zkree, explaining his ability to survive a shot to the head, but seeing the ability first hand amazed her. How could he heal so quickly? Is that why he had gone to sleep for so long? His long nap had scared her into thinking he really was dead for awhile, but his body didn't go cold and eventually she had found a pulse. A faint, fluttering pulse. Apparently, the sleep had done Illya good, even if he left her to put up with Ayrn making odd jokes and a mess. Cleaning up behind the stowaway had worked her back onto a fever by the end of the second day, and it was all she could do to check on Illya and the engines from time to time.

She watched as he rummaged through the pockets, looking for his message and her eyes landed on his cast, as he fumbled. Would his arm be healed to? It was then she noticed the scars on his injured leg and she realized the Chip was in fact, wearing only his boxers. Her eyes shot back to his face and she made sure to keep them there, as she cleared her throat with a wince. "Here, you'll need these once we go out side," she said, holding up one of the masks, "Is the message safe?"

***

Ayrn laid back miserably on his bunk where he had been tossed. Every inhale and every exhale was a painful effort and moving beyond the position he had managed to settle into was out of the question. The right side of his face was swollen from his jaw to his cheekbone, throbbing from the punch he had taken. The bastard couldn't have hit him on this side that was already screwed up? All of this for some frozen clothes! He'd only meant it as pay back from the snake, and all the work the man had put him through, but the man wanted to kill him! Death over some harmless prank?! When Illya snatched him out of bed it had been terrifying, but the scarier part was when he demanded something that he didn't even have. How was he supposed to know something important was in those pockets?
If it hadn't been for Calysta, her co-pilot would have used his guts as a bloody jump rope for 'tampering' with whatever it was they thought he took.

The settling of the ship landing was enough to make him groan in pain as he realized they had landed in Gkoe. Were they just going to toss him out into the city like this? He'd be robbed for what little he was worth and left to die within a day. Illya would be more than happy to send him on his way like that, he was sure.

Ayrn nearly jumped out of his skin when the door to the bunk room opened, sending pain down his chest from the sudden jolt. His eye cut up to a large shadow in the door way and his heart leaped to his throat at the sight of Illya glaring down at him.

 

[Silence]

Illya had barely taken his pants out of the dryer and he was pulling the message out of them when he noticed that Kalizda was standing in the entryway of the laundry facility. She was staring for the time so he continued on focusing on the message. Carefully he felt around the edges and then toward the center where there was a chip. It didn't feel like it got too warm. From here on out he would have to keep in his pant pocket and just hope that the water, freezing, thawing, and then drying didn't ruin the chip part of the message. It was likely some sort of coded message and he didn't want to be the one to fail to deliver a working message to the elders. That would be a miserable failure and they would want to send him back to her. For now the best action was to simply leave it untouched and let the elders deal with whatever they got.

Hopefully the paper around the message had some sort of helpful guidance on it. Finally the woman spoke and he turned toward her with a slight smirk. Illya really wasn't sure why she seemed to be so strange. She was hinting one moment that she was interested and then the next she was pretending that she wasn't. The signals were so mixed that for the time Illya decided to simply decide that it was best to proceed as if nothing had happened.

Clearing his throat some he nodded. "Seems the message is fine. At least far as I can tell." Illya took a step forward and took a mask from her. Holding it he nodded a little. "Might have to get dressed before I put th-this on eh?" Flopping the pant legs out in front of himself he started to push one leg in and then skipped around slightly to be sure that his foot was all the way through before he put his other leg in. After he had his pant on he started to fight with his shirt and then he got an idea. "Eh." With a growl he kneeled next to the shower. There was a small ledge there and he tapped his cast against it as if testing to see if it would withstand the force and then drew his arm up and smashed it into the rim.

With the loud smack there was also a crackling sound and Illya got up off the floor. Wandering into the kitchen he grabbed a knife and worked it under the edge of the cast. It was coming loose with a lot of extra work and finally he followed the weakness up to the top of the cast and he began to pull it off. There was a nasty pinkish scar where the doctors on Zkree had cut his arm open to perform their surgery and seal the bone. Other than that there was no sign of it.

Illya noted the nasty layers of dead skin and he went back to the washroom again to scrub his arm before getting into his shirt and putting on his socks. Illya had yet to untie his boots which would have been nearly impossible with his cast on. Glancing over at Kalizda he winked. "Now I can get da mask on, no trouble." Since he was dressed in everything, but his boots he glanced up at the mirror to push his black curled hair to the side. A frown came to his face. "Thhink I need a haircut." Glancing at Kalizda he sighed. "I pay for yah's too. Should maybe do th-that since I sold it a while back."

********************

As soon as he stepped into the room Illya caught the alarmed expression on Ayrn's face. "Arse yah get to live another day. " A smirk crossed his brown face as he stared down at the other. "If yah want to file a complaint against meh yah can ask da captain for a ID10T form." Grabbing the man's face he made sure his big hand didn't touch the bruises. Glancing at the bruises he took a deep breath and then pulled the shirt up.

"Yah dun fight meh and dun touch meh stuff. Yah never know what yah get when yah board a random ship and yah picked the wrong one." Illya stared at Ayrn for a long moment. "I fex yah up good, but yah learn not to touch meh stuff ever again. Long as yah just riding I have every right to pick through yah stuff to ensure yah not a spy or some other kind of trouble. Yah become crew and there will still be random searches. Th-There is no time for dis sort of thing eh?" Since it seemed to have finally made sense to the other man Illya pulled the shirt back down and nodded to him. "We land soon and den I get medicine for yah."

******************************

Illya still needed more herbs for Kalizda and he would need some more for Aryn. It was going to be a couple of very long days. The stress was building almost by the minute. At least he still had a good portion of money left from when he visited the Ehaui. She had made sure that Illya had more than enough and he expected that this port would not charge as much for the goods. Perhaps he could get enough for a small collection of herbs and keep the basics on hand. While he was busy with his part of the business at an apothecary he saw that Kalizda was headed over to a different shot.

The port was large enough that he didn't feel comfortable with them parting ways very often, so it was agreed that getting their hair cut would be at the same place. Besides that it was the only way Illya could pay for her haircut without having to play the money circle and then he would be ensured that he didn't overspend and short her on the price. Eventually the two of them came to a small shop. Illya tried to smile behind his mask, but that didn't seem to do anything, but squeeze his face. Once they stepped into the shop he was able to take his mask off and put it on the counter in line with the others. A woman came out to greet them and immediately took Illya to a chair while another woman greeted Kalizda and also seated her.

It was so relaxing to get his hair washed and for the gentle fingers to run along his scalp. The sensation was nearly therapeutic. Every now and then he would look over at Kalizda and the woman cutting his hair would turn his head back to where it was before. So far it seemed that the hairdresser taking care of Kalizda was having a little more difficulty shaping the uncouth cut.

Since it appeared that there was still time Illya looked at the woman that cut his hair and then the backroom. He had noticed there was a sign advertising a massage. "I uh..." Pulling out the coin he had he paid for both haircuts and then held up an extra. "Yah do the massage?"

A sly grin came to the woman's face and she ran a hand through his hair. "Been a long time since I've serviced a Chip."

Illya glanced behind himself and it appeared that he would still have time so he followed the woman to the back. Taking his shirt off he laid face down on a massage bench and let out a long breath before she started to rub some oils into his. "Ooh...Yah really know how to touch a man." Though he thought he wasn't that loud it was enough for the other women on the other side of the wall to hear him. Every now and then Illya would give a satisfied grunt when she worked a particularly difficult knot out of his shoulders or neck.

When he was done Illya slipped his shirt back on and smiled at her. "Thank yah, haven't had a massage like that in a long time." Rolling his shoulders some he stepped back around the wall and nodded to Kalizda. "Yah ready to head back now?" He knew that meant he would have to put the mask on, but he felt far more prepared to deal with both the injured and sick on board the ship. Cleaning would be easier too if he had his shoulders loosened up. Digging under the table he grabbed both his and Kalizda's bags of items that they had shopped for and handed hers over.

 

[aryamajor]

Calysta was relieved that Illya thought the message was undamaged, and that Ayrn hadn't really known it was there. she felt the knot of tension in her chest untie for a moment...before Illya pointed out he needed to get dressed. "Oh, yes I suppose you do," she managed to reply.

She disappeared from the doorway and leaned against the further down the corridor, letting him dress in peace. Though he probably wouldn't notice or care if she stood there and watched him pull on his clothes. She'd learned Chips had such different views on privacy and personal space. Not a drop of shyness in Illya, that was certain.
A loud crack echoed from inside the bathroom, making her jump and Illya strode out half dressed toward the kitchen with a determined look on his face. That was a look she'd seen a few timed before at this point. There was another popping sound and when Illya returned, she realized his arm was free of the cast as he started washing his arm down. The pink scar that ran down his arm from the surgery was bright against his tan skin but she knew it would fade like the many others over his body.

When he glanced up at her and winked she realized she had been staring again by accident. "Now I can get da mask on, no trouble." The masks were gripped in her hand the entire time and she had forgotten about them. Why did she keep doing that? Her face turned pink and he continued talking about haircuts as if he hadn't noticed at all.


****
The city was as dirty as Calysta remembered and even with the mask she felt stifled by thickness that hovered in the air. Still it was nice to be off the ship for awhile and to relax some. Illya stopped by an herbal store and started to purchase the stocks he needed for patching up Ayrn. His ability to mix and use the herbs as he did fascinated her, even if every Chip knows this. She had wondered if he might be willing to show her some of what he knew about them.

As he walked up to the counter and placed his order, another shop caught her eye. They had agreed not to wander far from each other, given the size of the port, but the shop she wanted to see was right across the street. A tiny hole in the wall shop lined with battered old books from all over the galaxy and some from the neighboring one. A tiny bell rang as she entered but no one greeted her, so she combed though the shelves, running her fingertips over the spines as she went. Her fingers tickled over one book and the name was immediately recognizable. A Terran book she had read a long time ago. There wouldn't be much time for reading soon, but maybe Illya might like it anyways. With the little winnings she had left over after buying supplies, she bought the patchy, leather bound book by leaving the right amount on the register, then stuffing into her bag.

****

The hair salon was a welcome sight to Calysta as the workers greeted them and invited them inside. A woman with a kind smile and almond shaped eyes sat her down in a chair and took her mask to put it with the others before returning.

"What are we going to do today?" the stylist asked, running her hand through her hair.

"I...I'm not sure," Calsyta replied honestly, "The last hair cut was...rough."

The pretty stylist tutted as she inspected the choppy canvas she would be working with. "Not to worry, love, I'll get fixed up." There was an edge of hesitancy in her voice that Calysta didn't find particularly comforting but anything the stylist could do would be far better than her own haphazard shearing.

She could have fallen asleep at the wash station. The stylists soft hands massaging her scalp and gently washing her hair with shampoo that smelled of berries, was more then enough to make her melt into the chair and grow a wistful sort of smile. Next came the actual cut, which was taking longer and longer. The woman 'hmmm'd' and 'huumed' over what to do with her thick, black hair then suddenly started cutting away at it. As she watched more of her hair flutter to the floor, she caught a glimpse of Illya, who looking at her in middle of his own haircut. Why was he looking at her? Was the haircut making her look worse?

Calysta didn't have time to ask before his own barber turned his head back in the right direction and the two had some sort of exchange. Illya nodded and the stylist who was wearing a sly grin on her lips and running her fingers through his hair, then the two got up and went into a room at the back. She blinked a few times, to make sure she was seeing what she thought.
Ayrn had rambled off some about the trading post and how Illya seemed to have some kind of trick with attracting the hired company there. She'd only paid half attention and didn't believe a word of it, even telling the stowaway she'd believe it when she saw it. Did he just...hire a...no..there's a massage sign on the back of the wall..he didn't.

"Ooh...Yah really know how to touch a man."

The voice was loud and most definitely in the Chips accent. A few of the other women in the room giggled and some even looked at her with a curious glance, no doubt remembering they had come into the shop together. Her cheeks grew hotter as every now and then a quiet grunt would come from the same room.

"Love, sit up in the chair some. I'm almost done," the stylist said, tapping her shoulders, "It's going to look ten times better."

She finished up the cut and showed Calysta the back of her hair, using a mirror. She had managed to shape up her hair into a good looking pixie cut of sorts, cropped close in the back and longer around the front with the tendrils framing her pale face.

"It looks better, much better, thank you," she said, with a small smile.

"Yah ready to head back now?"

Illya's voice caught her attention as his head poked around the door and she nodded at him.

****

The walk back to the ship was long. She kept taking glances up at Illya who appeared very relaxed after having been in the room with his stylist for a good while. He had never struck her as that type, but then again he was always surprising her with what he did...It wasn't any of her business what he did and who he did it with, but still she wanted to know. Did he really? Why did it matter to her?

When they made it aboard the Ekram, Illya removed his mask and rolled his shoulders back, still looking pleased as she fumbled with her own mask. As soon as it was off, the burning question came tumbling out of her mouth before she had time to stop it. "Illya, did you just hire your barber for more than a haircut?"

****

Ayrn had stared at the top of his bunk for most of the day while the other two were gone. Calysta had come by and given him a few pain pills but they were starting to fade. He managed to get up for some water out of the kitchen, giving the kitten and her yellow eyes a wide berth, as he did. "Truce," he mumbled to the cat as she stared.

His entire body felt like one big bruise, even after Illya patched him up. He would have much preferred that Calysta had done that part, but the suggestion would not have gone over well with the co-pilot. He could barely shuffle back to his quarters, but as he went the captain passed him by on her way to the kitchen, and a thought struck him about the complaint form. "Hey, Calysta?'

She turned to look at him with her grey eyes narrowing just a little. "Yes?"

"Illya mentioned some sort of form? The ID10T? "

Her brow raised at him and with a serious face she gave him a nod. "Are you sure you want to fill out one of those?"

"Maybe."

Calysta gave him a bit of a smile as she slipped into the kitchen. "Well, they're pretty simple. Fool proof really. I'll show you tomorrow."

As he started walking again, he heard giggling from the kitchen.

 

[Silence]

"Illya, did you just hire your barber for more than a haircut?"

Shoving his mask into a small compartment Illya turned toward Kalizda with a confused expression. "Yes I hired her for more than a haircut. Why wouldn't I?" It was difficult sometimes to tell exactly what Kalizda was thinking.

Her eyes grew wide, not only at the shock of what she had asked, but also his reply. She was at a loss of what to say at first until words came spilling out of her mouth again. "Because...people just don't normally hire their barbers for that sort of ...pleasure."

It seemed that the further this conversation went the worse it got. Illya stepped into the kitchen to start mixing up some of the herbs and he frowned. "If dey offer thhe services and I need dem, not a bad idea. It felt good. Mebbe yah should have hired yah barber to do thhe same. I would have covered it for yah."

Calysta's face turned crimson, and there was no fighting the blush. Did he just seriously offer to pay for that? "The barber isn't my type...and hiring someone for sex doesn't appeal either."

"No!" Illya's voice rose in surprise and indignation all at the same time. "I pay because I was very hard." Sometimes he didn't have the right words with the trader's tongue and by the look on her face he assumed that it wasn't a good choice of wording. "Here." Patting his shoulder and then sliding his hand up the back of his neck he noticed that she wasn't really looking convinced. "I'll show you." Stripping his shirt off he let her see where his skin was still glistening with the oil. "She didn't touch meh anywhere else. I prove it." Fumbling with the button on his pants he prepared to take them off so she could see that the barber didn't handle him anywhere else.

Calysta held up her hands and clamped her eyes. No! No....you..uh... don't...need to show me anything, Illya. It's fine..."

Pausing with his pants half way down Illya rolled his eyes and pulled them back up. "Always changing yah mind. First yah accuse meh of running wild den yah don't want proof I stay clean." Half in disgust he started to pull the shirt over his head again. "Egh!"

She took a peek at him, just barely opening her eyes, to see if his pants were back around his hips. "Well, I didn't want to think that you would," she replied, her voice hoarse.

There was still plenty of disgust to be had and Illya turned to his work again with a grumble and growl. "Yah tink I have no modesty?" Though it was a rhetorical question he continued to vigorously mash the leaves on the plants and then bruised others and dropped them into a cup. "Drink dat in 10 minutes from now. It help with yah cough." Illya pushed the cup across the table and then he reached into the supply bag to pull out a tub of coconut cream. It would help to dilute the oils from the leaves that he was currently mashing to put into it.

Grabbing the second tub he set a small bowl with other leaves next to it. That one he would have to get to in a little bit. Since Calysta was going to have her tea first he figured he could make her cream last and in the meantime he needed something to help soothe and heal the bruises to Aryn. While he was busy working on the mixture Calysta got up to go somewhere. It didn't matter much to Illya one way or another. He was still disgusted with what she even insinuated. That she thought he was so immodest to even suggest he might want to pay for her to spend time with a prostitute in that way. A decent Chippeqouti would never do something like that and here she was accusing him of being the base sort of being that would indulge in that.

Grinding the leaves and gathering the oil was faster than usual. It probably had to do with the frustration of the circumstances. He was going to say something when he heard Calysta returning to the kitchen. Instead he heard her talking to Aryn and the mention of the ID10T form broke through his frown. Smirking slightly he held his laughter in. Obviously the guy hadn't figured it out yet.

Giggling sounded from Kalizda almost as soon as Ayrn was shuffling his way down the hall again. Illya snorted and he pushed a cream toward Kalizda. "Yah need da tea now and rest. Put cream on and I go take care of Arse. Thhen I make dinner and clean, den bed."

*********************************************

Illya took the little tub of cream for Ayrn into the room. It seemed that the Terran was quite delicate. Just as delicate as he looked. Dipping one large finger into the tub of cream and oils Illya took a glop out and he rubbed it gently into the side of the man's face and then he pulled his shirt up. "I give da rest to yah. Use it only when yah need." Meeting the man's gaze he thought for just a moment. "Yah might not want to fill ID10T form out. Won't do much for yah." He doubted that Ayrn would listen to him, but now at least Illya could say that he warned him.

 

[aryamajor]

Calysta went to her room with the tea Illya had given her. It strong enough the first few sips left her throat clear and her lungs tingling some. At first she thought the sensation would make her want to cough more, but instead her lungs opened and it was a relief instead. She sat on her bed as Keysha padded her way across the blankets and plopped down her lap with a meow. The kitten began licking at the bottom of her cup, sneezing as her tongue met some of the herbs.

"My fierce little tyrei," she hummed to her in Kaerelean.

When she was done with the tea, and feeling somewhat relieved, she laid down on the bed and curled up with Keysha who was more than happy for the company. Outside her door she could hear Illya's heavy boot falls pass by every now and then. Her first instinct was to get up and go help, but she held back. He was irritated with her and she wasn't exactly thrilled with him. How could he be mad at her? What was she supposed to think? She hadn't meant to insult him, but it would have been only natural. He was a man, regardless of his race, and a good looking one at that.
A little flash of flush ran to her cheeks at that thought and she stuck her head face first into the pillow in exasperation. Now, was not the time to be thinking of things like that.

****


The man had cleaned most of the afternoon, keeping him out of the bunk room which was perfectly fine by Ayrn. It was quiet and he didn't have to worry about the next time he might be snatched out of his bed. Now, it was time to sleep before leaving out tomorrow, for a destination he didn't know of, which he was sure Illya wanted to keep it that way. Ayrn sat back on his bunk, putting on the cream stuff Illya had give him as the co-pilot sat back on his own bunk looking grumpy. His brow was furrowed, and his movements a little jerky as he snatched off his shirt.

Snippets of his loud conversation with Calysta had leaked through to the bunk room and it had been quite the interesting conversation. He had seen Illya in action on at the trading post, and it had sounded like the Captain had discovered her co-pilots affinity for picking up women as well. She hadn't sound too pleased either, especially with his explanation. Ayrn had used the tactic before, and creating jealousy in a woman could sometimes have a pay off though, just not in this case. Calysta was too sharp and he'd gone about too far in claiming innocence and then told her why. In a pretty lewd manner too. Even the smooth co-pilot had managed to botch that catch It was a just reward for being such a hog earlier and too good of an opportunity to pass up.

"Trouble in paradise?" Ayrn commented, casually as he touched at his side.

Illya ignored him as he started removing his shoes.

"Couldn't help but over hear some stuff. Sounds like you had some fun, but man, I wouldn't have told her all that personally. No woman ever wants to hear a man hired a woman because he was hard."

The co-pilot glanced up at him with a strange look as he if wanted the conversation to end, but also had no idea what was being talked about. The look made a surge of nerves dart through Ayrn. He didn't want to get beaten again and he knew Illya would do it without reserve.

"Sorry, " Ayrn gulped, shifting out of arms reach, "I only meant a woman doesn't typically like to know when a man is up - he pointed his finger to the ceiling- unless its for them. But to each they're own. Better luck next time, eh?"


***

Calysta woke early in the morning feeling much better and dressed quickly before going into the kitchen with Keysha at her heels. She was the first one awake this morning and she intended on taking on more of the work again since she was feeling some better, starting with breakfast. There were few things she could could and cook well, but breakfast was one of them, thanks to her father.

With a bowl, a few ingredients for dough, and a hot pan, she mixed up a thin batter before pouring up thin, golden crepes. She stuffed them full of some of the pre-packaged sausage she had bought for their trip to Qouti. The smell of sweet batter and butter sauce mixing with the hearty scent of sausage made her appetite finally remembered it existed and her stomach growled.

The first crepe was ready and she started to flip it onto the plate, nearly missing it. Part of the crepe landed off the edge and sausage tumbled from the middle on the floor where Keysha happily started trying to gobble it down.

"Wait! I don't think you can have that yet!" Calsyta yelped, as she tried to put down the plate. The cat continued eating the unexpected treat, as she slid the haphazard crepe onto the table and picked up the kitten who gave a sad meow.

"Sorry, Keysha not until you are a bit older. I'll have to ask Ill-"

Her words were cut short when the co-pilot stepped into the room, having just woken up.

 

[Silence]

When it was time for bed it was partially a relief. Illya couldn't have imagined where she got the idea that he was so immodest that he would give his body to a prostitute to handle. To make matters all the worse it seemed that Ayrn had been listening to whatever he could hear from the bunk room. If the man was really smart he would have pretended to not hear anything at all. Instead he began prattling and then suggested that Illya had been speaking about being hard elsewhere.

Shooting a warning glare at the other he also half wondered if what he thought he heard was correct. Illya began to rise from his seat on the edge of his bed and he noticed the other was scooting away while he continued with his obnoxious talk. It did bring about a rather enlightening perspective. If that was what Kalizda thought he meant it may have explained why she came to the conclusions that she did. Giving a low growl he watched as the other grew quiet and then he settled into his bed. There were a lot of thoughts running through his head though. It was totally understandable what and why she thought of that.

Illya woke early the next morning and intended to get up only to find himself drifting off to sleep again. The next time he woke with a start and he rolled out of the bed and shoved his feet into his boots. There wasn't time to tie his shoes. He knew that Kalizda would be getting hungry and she was still sick. It was his job to be taking care of the crew right now. A loud 'oof' sounded as he stepped on on lace and fell into the wall before he corrected himself and ran the rest of the way to the kitchen. Grabbing hold of the door frame he found that she was already making something for breakfast and it was a food he'd never seen before. She was doing all that after he'd been unwittingly quite lewd. Blinking a few times he stood straight and then strode into the kitchen as if he hadn't been running or racing at all.

"I came to apologize to Kalizda woman." A slight red came to his cheeks. "What I say yesterday. It sounded very bad. Not what I meant. Yah culture says th-things different and I should learn more so I don't embarrass da captain." Carefully he looked over at her. "Eh?" A slightly sheepish grin came to his face and he looked at the food half flopped on the table. With one hand he pushed it onto the plate the rest of the way. "Yah want help?"

It was as good a time as any to offer some help and Illya was a little awkward feeling after his wild statements yesterday. Now that he knew what it translated into for her it was quite awful. If he was to be flying in a ship with her it would do him well to learn her customs as she was trying to learn his.

 

[aryamajor]

Keysha wiggled in her hands, trying to get back to the sausage on the floor as Illya spoke. She barely noticed the trying to escape. Instead, her eyes were locked on Illya in a bit of disbelief at what she was hearing. For the many things that he had done that were so ornery and contrary, he had never apologized. She had never expected him to , of course, but now that he was standing in front of her actually looking apologetic and embarrassed, she didn't know what to say. If this was something that made him willing to come to her and say this, she knew had to be telling the truth. It had been a simple, but drastic miscommunication on both their parts. Her face turned a little pink, matching his and she managed to nod. "I think we both were a little confused," she replied, giving him a timid smile, "And help would be great. Do you like crepes?

Nodding timidly Illya accepted her statement. "It would be fair to say we were confused." He wasn't going to argue if she accepted his apology. Then she moved on and that was even better. It was a wonderful thing not to be focused on a mistake such as the one that he'd made yesterday. "I dun know what crepes are." Staring at the mangled mess on the plate he narrowed his eyes slightly. "Thhose?" Then he peered down at the cat munching on the meat at the floor and grinned. "Must be good eh?"

Calysta tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled more genuinely. "Mhm. Except the meat is supposed to be on the inside of the dough. My father used to make them for me when I was a young." She pulled a fork from the drawer to her left and offered it to him. "Try it?"

Assuming that she meant to try a bite of the food Illya took a modest forkful. He didn't want her to think if he took a tiny one that he was afraid it wouldn't suit his taste and neither did he want to take a large bite in case he didn't care for it, since it would prove to be more difficult to hide distaste for the offering. Chewing the food slowly he seemed to savor it carefully before giving an opinion. "Yah father a good cook. I like it."

She was glad he seemed to like it. It seemed to take away any remaining awkwardness in the room, at least for her and she grinned. "Good, maybe I can try making them with snake meat sometime." Then she stepped to the side, leaving him room to come to the stove top next to her and see the second crepe being made.

***
Ayrn eventually roused at the smell of food and managed to haul himself out of bed to into the kitchen. He stopped in the doorway as he realized Calysta and Illya were in there at the stove. The captain was smiling as she flipped what looked like a pancake in a pan near the stove. The co-pilot was standing close by watching her work and mixing something in bowl as they talked back and forth some. Interesting. He stood by trying to listen, but his eye caught site of the kitten. It had been nibbling on something in the floor but stopped when it saw him. It's yellow eyes narrowed at him a bit and its tail flicked back and forth. Even the dumb cat didn't like him apparently.

As Calysta flopped the messy roll onto a plate, he decided it was time to make his entrance and he poked his head inside the doorway. "So, what's cookin' captain?"

She jumped some, almost dropping the plate in her hands and then shot him a look. "Crepes, there's one for you too."

He shuffled into the kitchen the rest of the way, and slipped into a chair at the small table, grinning at the thought of food. How did she know how to make Terran food? "Don't mind if I do."

****
Once breakfast was done and the dishes cleaned with Illya's help, she went to the cockpit and ran her pre-flight checks. Though she was feeling much better thanks to whatever concoction he had made for her, the cough still plagued her a bit when she moved too much, so she let Illya take over the checks in the engine room. He did them quickly and efficiently, which was more than she could say for Ayrn's assigned task of helping read the traffic control monitors. She had to bark at him a few different times to pay attention before she could finally clear them to take off.

With clearance to merge into the outgoing traffic, Calysta hit the thrusters and guided them out of the smoggy atmosphere to open space. It felt good to be leaving Gkoe behind, even if she knew it was the best place to get the information she wanted. She would come back.

Pushing them out of the 'no-wake' zone where traffic was thinner, she plotted the coordinates to Qouti. Those numbers were something she couldn't seem to forget, or ever would. When the coordinates were locked in, she brought the jump-engines to full power and put them into a jump as Ayrn spun in Illya's seat. It would take a good 2 days by jump-drive to arrive at the planet, which would give her enough time to rest. If she was honest, going back to Qouti made her nervous. Not merely because of what they were bringing back, but also because the last time she was there, it was obvious they didn't like outsiders. The Chippeqouti had every reason not to like off-worlders, considering what the war had cost them, she knew, but it did put her into an odd situation. By landing on their planet would she be seen as an ally, as Illya thought, or be attacked as an outsider? One reaction felt more likely than the other. Still, she felt like taking everything back to them was the right thing to do. Not only for the Chips, but also for her friend. She would trust Illya and deal with whatever lay ahead as she always did.

***

Calysta had gone to put on more of the medicine Illya made after a coughing spell when the ship made a sudden jerk. The motion was so fast, it tossed her feet out from under her and she slammed to the floor, hitting her side hard. "Ahg!"
Clambering to her feet, she rubbed her elbow and ran out of her quarters, hitting her shoulder on the door frame as she dashed to the cockpit. It felt like the jump-drive had stalled, pulling them out of the fast travel speed, but why? Engine malfunction? She jumped into the captains chair and started checking the readouts on the engine, and found they all looked perfectly normal.

She turned on the outer cameras and her mouth fell open. There was a line of grey armored Cirellant cruisers before them, each with a distortion field generator mounted on the front capable of halting any jump-drives in the area. Other ships floated around, also having been pulled out of their travels. Calysta's heart leapt to her sore throat as she gripped the arm of her chair tightly. It was a blockade and there was no doubt in her mind who they were looking for.

 

[Silence]

Ayrn seemed to be elaborately lazy and he took every chance to excuse himself from any kind of duty because of the pain. At least that was how it appeared to Illya who had begun to contemplate giving the Terran something to actually complain about. Broken ribs hurt and a welted face hurt, but they were not enough to cause severe damage such as the man pretended.

All during the breakfast of crepe that Illya had helped mix batter and do the flipping for he would glance over at Ayrn. It was impossible to hide the contempt that he felt toward the other. For the sake of Kalizda he kept himself in check and chose to do his best to be patient with Arse. A slight smirk crossed his face as he thought of the ID10T form. There was still that small question of whether Arse figured it out for himself and kept quiet, or if he was still stupidly pursuing the complaint form. If he had figured it out for himself and remained quiet it would have been the first move of Arse that Illya could congratulate as being semi intelligent.

Considering the icy relations between Illya and Arse the Chippeqouti thought it was best to simply finish out the meal and then excuse the lazy bum. Besides there were a few motivations besides getting the other out of sight. Illya wanted a little more time to talk with Kalizda. He was finding her to be a pleasant person to talk to. "I help Kalizda clean up." Catching Arse's gaze he shrugged. "Yah hurt too much if yah remember." This was one of the few times that Illya was going to allow for the excuse to work. After the other was gone he grinned at Kalizda. "I could do it if yah just want to sit and talk for a bit?" It seemed no matter the offer she was still wanting to help so Illya made some space for her at the sink. A blank look came over his face briefly. Isla used to ask him when they were younger if he could help her cook and clean the dishes. He couldn't say that he'd always been compliant. Some lessons were learned the hard way.

Suddenly as if he were brought back to the future his eyes showed some recognition again when he looked at her. "Oh.." She was holding a dish out and he took it from her. "Yah don't say about yah mother. She was not part of yah life?"

******************************************

There was only a short time later till Illya was finding himself highly annoyed with Ayrn again. Though he was sent to check engines Illya had noted how slowly the Terran male was determined to move. He was never in a hurry for anything and he was constantly looking for one reason or another to slack off. The Chippeqouti knew that more than likely Ayrn would do that to Kalizda as well. Unless he tried to save all his charm for her and he actually had some ambition. Even thinking of Arse having ambitions for Kalizda made Illya's blood boil. Kalizda needed someone that wouldn't be trying to put his ding dong in every available slot.

By the time he returned Illya saw Ayrn turning circles in his chair. Since they were already taking off there wasn't any need to take his seat back, but he wanted to. Instead of being troublesome just for the sake of it Illya turned around and started for the main hall. There were crumbles of food and hair everywhere in it. Keysha had managed to dump her kitchen bowl of food when she thought that she was going to move it. The clang must have scared her and hence the reason for tufts of hair stuck to the corner. Leaning over he slid the bowl back around the corner into the kitchen and reached for the broom. While he was busy groping along the wall for it and still surveying the damage to the clean floor the ship lurched.

A rough jerk sent Illya careening into the wall with his shoulder and then he fell sideways trying to gain his balance and stumbled into the wall behind himself before he tried to give himself a shove to get away from the wall and instead slammed into the bunkroom doorway a few paces down the hall. Turning sharply he returned to the navigation room to see that the captain had already made her wild dash.

They'd encountered this group looking for her before. At least Illya thought they had. "I uh..." Licking his lips he gave a frown. "Think I'll let them make a connection to board. Yah hide with all the material we need in that one secret cubby in the cargo bay." From his memory the cargo bay was where they usually liked to make boarding connections. It was a broader space and gave more room for more men to board at the same time. "That hollow floor section?" Illya continued. "Yah stay in the hold with the gear and I'll pose as captain of th-the ship. Ayrn will be with yah. Once the cargo bay is mostly empty and thhey search the ship I'll take care of those left to guard meh and we take another ship. Maybe thheir ship faster th-than thhis one eh?"

 

[aryamajor]

Illya continued to surprise her at breakfast. Not only had he apologized for the mistake of yesterday but now, he stood next to her doing the dishes and seemed content to talk with her more. The Chip was interesting to talk to. He was speaking traders-tongue with much more fluency now, which helped and he even nodded every now and then, confirming that he was listening in return.

There was a moment where his bright green eyes had grown distant though and his hands stopped drying dishes as she held out another for him. Where had his mind gone, in that moment? To have such a look of memory in his eyes? Maybe it was the war, but the tinge of sadness in his expression made her think he had gone to somewhere different, so she waited patiently until he returned and then offered he plate again. She started to ask what was on his mind, but he asked a question of his own, catching her off guard.

Calysta glanced up to him, with a half smile. "My mother is a bit of a mystery for me. I was an infant when she sent me to Kaereal to live with my father and he raised me on his own. He thought me to fire a pistol and how to braid my hair," she chuckled.

Illya's brow began to crease a bit, as if he understood in part but didn't understand fully. The truth of it was, she didn't understand why her mother had sent her away, but it was one of the only questions she had ever stopped pursuing. It had taken her awhile to learn that whatever answer her mother could give wouldn't matter at this point in her life.
"I'm sure that sounds strange," she added, her cheeks turning a little pink, "It's not the traditional upbringing for Kaereleans either."

As she handed Illya another plate, she wondered if there were situations like that among his people. Given the look Illya had, and from what he had told her about their traditions in choosing a spouse, she thought probably not. Chips seemed to do things differently. They were not so...casual... in their relationships as her parents had been. A fact she found rather to her liking.


****

Having been dismissed, by Illya, Ayrn had gone to his bunk and laid down with a huff. He didn't get it. Yesterday it sounded like the co-pilot had struck out with the captain and left some sort of an opening. Now it seemed like the two were fine. He had thought the Calysta would be upset with the co-pilot for a good long while and the fact that she was not, made her all the more a point of interest. Especially since she also seemed to know Terran cooking. The crepes had been amazing, despite the cold stares he got from Illya any time he spoke or even glanced up from his plate to look at the captain.

The co-pilot was another issue all together. The man ha obviously used whatever trick he had on the captain and charmed his way back into her good graces. What Illya could have possibly said to Calysta to manage that sort of forgiveness was beyond him, but he was determined to find out eventually. How many times could he have used a ploy like that...

A hard jerk slammed him into the wall against his bed, jarring every sore rib and smacking his nose too. "Oouhg! What the hell!?"
He grabbed at his side and rolled off the bed into the floor before climbing to his feet. For a moment, he thought that it had been some trick from Illya. He wouldn't put it past the man, but as he hobbled out into the hallway, and toward the cockpit, he could feel the that engines had stalled.

Illya was already there and so was Calysta. The co-pilot had a deep frown on his face and the captain looked a bit pale as the outer cameras displayed some sort of blockade. He recognized the ships as Cirellants. The Terran's had never liked the bug-people and while he never got involved in politics, Ayrn could say he wasn't a fan of them either. They had a nasty habit of taking people they didn't like and selling them to the Myraxys and if they didn't do that, sometimes they ate them.

"What exactly is going on?"

****

Calysta looked Illya in the eyes and bit her lip. The idea of hiding didn't set well with her. It was contrary to her nature. But the Cirellants would kill her if they found her, considering they thought she had murdered one of their high-ups. "Using one of their ships will confuse them for a moment. Long enough for us to get past the blockade, but what if they send more than you expect on board?"

If they send more than we expect they still have to spread out." Illya looked at her seriously. "Yah propose standing our ground in the ship and letting them gun us down instead?"

"What's going on?" Ayrn asked again. Calysta ignored him and pinched the bridge of her nose trying to think of their options.

"No. We wont be able to move out of range of the boarding portal this time either. I just..." She didn't want to tell him that she didn't like leaving him to deal with any hostiles alone. Cirellants were a tough, insect type race. A hard exo-skeleton with spines and sharp mandibles. Facing their numbers head on would be impossible. His proposal was the best one to avoid that. "Lets grab what we need to and open the portal," she said finally, "We shouldn't go straight to Qouti though. I'm not leading them to your planet's door step."

Ayrn crossed his arms, and scowled. "Can somebody please tell me what is going on?"

With the first interruption from Ayrn, Illya just shook his head at the man and waited for Kalizda to revise her plan if she was going to be putting any ideas out there. It sounded like another delay to returning to Quoti and he clenched his jaw. This wasn't going to turn out good either way. "We'll grab what we need and then you hide with Ayrn." Again the other man interrupted and Illya spun toward him. "I'm trying to save yah miserable carcass. Just do what the captain says eh?"

Fine," Ayrn grumbled, "Inquiring minds want to know is all." Calysta wheeled around on Ayrn with her eyes sharp. "Then perhaps you should have thought about what you were doing before you decided to sneak aboard the ship. Go get your stuff together and keep it light. Report to the cargo bay." Ayrn looked like he might argue but then caught sight of another look from Illya before clamping his mouth shut and going to do what he was bid. Calysta turned to Illya and stood up. "I'll take the message and Keysha with me. Use the pistol on my night stand and try not to grab them if you can help it. Go for the eyes if you have to, alright?"

The Chippeqouti nodded. "Aye. Eyes are a fine place to make a jab. Imagine that's what happened to Arse. Went for the wrong woman." Chuckling slightly Illya started back for the bunk room. He really wished he hadn't lost his sword back on the last ship, but they had to run and so he would be fighting with whatever was hidden on board for weapons.

Despite the situation, Calsyta found herself chuckling at Illya's comment as she followed him down the corridor.

****

Calsyta went into her quarters and threw on her jacket before scooping up Keysha who curled up happily in her pocket. She put the jar of Illya's medicine in her other pocket and remembered to grab the book she had gotten for him too. Stowing that into her shirt strap, she marched off to the cargo bay.

Ayrn had done something quickly for once and was waiting for her with his bag. She didn't bother asking him to help her with moving the grate in the floor, covering the small compartment. There would barely be enough space for them both.

"Get in and I'll follow," Calsyta ordered.

Ayrn shot her a grin as he started to climb down. "Aye, captain. If you insist."

 

[Silence]

Illya found the weapon compartment. It was fully stocked with small guns and larger ones. Letting out a sigh he shoved a gun into a holster and wrapped it around his leg. It was slightly irritating to find that the majority of the gun holsters were far too small because they were not made for his kind. A single holster had been able to stretch far enough in the straps to fit his body and while it was tight, it shouldn't restrict his movement too much.

When he got to the main bay he saw Ayrn crawling into the hatch. Illya gave the man a small warning glance before he shut the trap door on the two of them. He could only hope that he would be fast enough for the two of them to escape. There wasn't time to wonder though. With a blockade and no choice he was going to be posing as the captain and it seemed that anyone who knew these creatures were well armed and for good reason. So Illya determined that he was going to be doing his best to play the part of an unassuming ship captain that hadn't anticipated such a stop. Carefully he put his feet and shoulder width and waited with a stance that appeared to be casual and untrained, though it left him in a more than capable position to lunge if he needed.

As the portal came open Illya glowered at the insects that came marching in. They were in pretty good number, though they appeared to be rather sure of themselves. That is if you could judge by the shoulders and their proud carriage. Illya frowned at them as he examined their ugly form. He remembered the part about going for the eyes and he determined that would be his first target. With all the thick armored skin and scales on top it was best not to make those his first point of contact. The pincers were going to be the most dangerous part. At least for the time because Illya wasn't sure how much power was behind them.

The first one to have come through stopped in front of Illya and started to buzz some sort of language and Illya shrugged. Obviously they didn't even try to make communication clear because the bug backed away and started to send his various other companions into other parts of the ship. They were going to be looking for the others. In a way it was good thing if there was a lot of them on board here. It meant that the crew would be minimal on board the other ship when he went on board to take over.

Gradually the ones taking over the ship began to disperse. There was still a surprising number of creatures on board and Illya glanced around the room. He would have to move a lot faster than he had originally intended. If they had communications, which they likely did he would be fighting the whole way through this. However, he was creative as were most Chippeqouti. Walking closer to the portal he left all the insect type invaders on board the ship. They would be far too anxious to get back to their own if they thought he was hijacking it. As a new plan formed in his mind it was almost impossible not to smile. Despite the new idea that had begun to form Illya was able to maintain his concerned expression. Staring at the one guarding the portal for a long moment he finally sighed. "Why yah searching meh ship eh?"

Instead of getting a decent answer he got the usual buzz from the creature. It was annoying to be treated with such disregard. He hated to be treated as if he were nothing and Illya's face showed the obvious irritation with his treatment. This was going to be present the perfect chance to test his theory and that would be the tell tale sign of whether or not the hive theory of battle would work.

For the most part it appeared that these creatures were more than aware of their weakness being in their eyes. There was a small seam between two plates that made the exoskeleton on their chest. "I don't favor being treated like an inferior." Meeting the creature's gaze he thrust one hand forward and pried the plate away while the invader crumpled to the ground screaming in pain as half of its chest was revealed. A yellow goop began to seep from the exposed chest and lung. Stepping over the body Illya started into the tunnel that led to the other ship. Behind him there was a growing buzz and he glanced to the rear to see some of the others scrambling over the body of their dying companion to chase after him.

Picking up the pace Illya was almost immediately met on board the ship by more of the creatures and this time he pulled out a gun. The eyes on the enemy were large enough they didn't take quite as much time to aim for as it would have for other species. Illya fired off 5 shots and watched the guards that had approached confidently fall to the ground squirming as they held their eyes. Making his way to the first set of guns he shot the bug occupying the cockpit seat and shoved it off so he could fire a few rounds on the other ship. By now they would be assuming he was taking over their ship. There was a loud buzzing sound over the intercom and what sounded like thousands of stamping feet. Slipping along the wall and out into the hallway he made his way to the captain's cabin and beat on the door. Again he heard more buzzing and it seemed to be far more than what should be on a single ship. Either they were trying to play tricky or they were panicking and going into hive mentality and believed their strength were in numbers.

Taking the theory of hive Illya made his way long the perimeter of the ship with the constant buzzing always present and nearby. Eventually he found a port that had connected another ship. Peering into the portal he saw there were no more coming through and he snuck into the next ship. This one was far more quiet. Before taking any drastic moves he decided to look out one of the windows to ensure that they had closed the port to his ship where Calysta and Arse were.

Sure enough, in their attempt to isolate the reverse invasion they had taken the hive formation and were trying to overwhelm him with sheer numbers. Fighting against the hive mentality was all about mobility and that was what Illya needed. If he ran out of space he would be out of options. Racing through the ship he slipped into another gun pit and this time aimed for the engines of the enemy ship he just left. Since they were no longer connected to his ship he took a deep breath and fired at the engines. In a short burst of fire the ship began to falter and then he felt his ship begin to tip before whoever was piloting the ship disconnected from the other. A blast sounded as the ship fell from the sky and the ship Illya was on quivered with the blast. Hopefully it hadn't caused any significant damage to Kalizda's and his ship.

Illya bolted to his feet and raced for the next ship. He couldn't afford to blast every ship out of the sky, but he knew a great number of the enemy perished on the first one. There was thankfully only a few more ships and he could simply disable their hyper speed. Reading all he could in those books and learning from Kalizda was paying off.

In the next ship Illya disabled the hyper drive in 3 other ships before he was forced to move. By the time he made it to the last ship he broke down the captains door and killed the pilot so he could give the order to connect to his ship again. Illya started for the portal and he almost made it when a sharp sting hit him in the back of his calf. "Agh..." Growling a little he continued limping for the portal. A numbing sensation had begun to move through his leg and he didn't have much time before the temporary paralysis took over. For Chippeqouti the venom usually took longer to take effect and it wore off faster than it did in other species. It could still get one killed if they succumbed to it in a bad place.

Tumbling through the other end of the portal Illya started to crawl across cargo bay of his ship. By the time he reached the guns he couldn't even feel his legs. Clenching his jaw he blasted at the portal till it flew open in flayed shreds. The enemy would be losing pressure if they didn't close it off fast enough. They needed to get to hyper speed and get out while they could, but he couldn't seem to hold onto the controls for the gun with any kind of real grip and he was starting to lose feeling in his arms.

Kalizda hadn't seen war before, that much he had gathered from her. However, he expected that she knew this would be a good time to take off and leave the enemy behind. Slowly he began to lean forward and then he slumped against the window of the small gun pit. With his face pressed to the glass his lip was pulled up funny and he could feel the drool running out his mouth and there was nothing he could do about it except growl.

 

[aryamajor]

Calysta found herself wedged next to Ayrn nearly nose to nose as Illya closed the grated hatch over them. She could feel Kesyha wiggling around in her pocket, trying to go back to sleep and the stowaways lone eye on her.

"So, do you do these kinds of things often?" he whispered, "You know the whole-"

"Shhh!"

She shushed him as she rolled her eyes. Did the man ever shut his mouth? Ayrn settled into silence with a huff, obviously disappointed she had cut him off. He'd get over it.

The sounds of the portal opening and Illya's muffled voice echoed into the compartment over the hum of the Cirellants. Their barbed insect feet poked through the grate above them as at least a dozen of them marched into the cargo bay and started to spread throughout the ship. Their humming gave her the chills despite the fact she was s starting to sweat from the heat of being in such an enclosed space, and a decent shock of adrenaline. The heat made the urge to cough even stronger and she clamped a hand over her mouth to keep the sound held in. Ayrn seemed to think the move was driven by fear and he gave her a soft look of concern before putting a hand around her shoulder in an attempt to make her feel better. All the move did was increase the heat and she couldn't open her mouth to tell him to let go because she would start coughing.

She stood there in a long, uncomfortable moment trying not to cough and ignoring Ayrn until a blood-curdling scream broke through the buzzing sound followed by a splatter as a dead bug collapses half on top of the hatch. Illya had attacked, but there were far too many still left in the bay. The move was far too soon! What was he doing?Cirellant's clattered over the grate and their dead comrade to attack the Chip in a swarm of angry hums and clicks. There were no sounds of fighting however. He would have at least taken them on and they would have heard some sort of melee happening from above, but there was nothing at all. It took her a moment, but then it dawned on her. He went through the portal.

"Illya!?" she coughed.

There was no answer. What the hell was he thinking?! He had lead all of the Cirellants back to their own ship but, he had effectively trapped himself if he couldn't get back to the portal. "We need to get out of here now!" she barked at Ayrn, "Help me with the hatch."

Ayrn didn't argue with her. He didn't want to be anywhere near the Cirellants and it looked like Illya had been dumb enough to lead them off the ship at his own expense. Calysta started trying to push the hatch open, bracing her hands and pushing up and to the side, but the dead Cirellant weight made it impossibly heavy. Gelatinous goo oozed down between the slits in the hatch and dripped down on them, smelling like earthy sulfur. Ayrn curled his lip at the yellow ooze but braced his hands against the hatch and helped her push upward, as his ribs ached with the effort.

It began to budge, shifting to the side until the ship suddenly pitched to the side sending them both sliding into the wall. Ayrn hit first and was met by a bony elbow in the chest from Calysta who slammed against him. "Ooof!" He half caught her before she was already scrambling away trying the hatch again, covered in the sticky goo.

"They're firing on us!" Ayrn yelped as he rubbed his chest.

"I've noticed!" she snapped back, her voice cracking, "I can't do anything about it till I get out of here!'

Calysta pushed against the hatch again. Where was Illya? He hadn't come back yet and now the Cirellants were firing on the ship itself. Had he been captured? Killed? I
She forced the thoughts from her mind and focused on getting out when there was a clatter from above and a sliding sound, someone had come back through the portal in the cargo bay.

"Damnit!" Grabbing Ayrn by his shirt collar, she hauled him out of the corner and forced him to focus. "C'mon!"

Ayrn blinked at her a few times and then nodded as he started pushing against the grate too. The blow to the ship had shifted the bug from the hatch and it popped open and slid to the side with both of their efforts combined. Calysta didn't hesitate to crawl out of the compartment and start looking around for what had come through the portal, but saw nothing.

Leaving Ayrn to decide whether or not he wanted to come out or not, she took off toward the cockpit, careful watch the blind corners and open doors as she went. The sound of the ships weapons firing pulsed through and she picked up her pace, running as fast as she could to the front with Keysha mewling in fear from her pocket.

When she made it there, Illya was slumped over in the floor and the display screen for the outer cameras showed debris floating around them as the captured ships were making a mad dash into jumps with bright flashes of light. Illya on board. Cirellants were down. Jump-drives were online again.
That was all she needed to see.

Calysta leaped over Illya, and into the captains chair before reactivating the jump-drive, pulling it up to full power without giving much thought to warming it up. It was dangerous to do that, but so was hanging around waiting for the bugs to get over the shock of whatever had happened. With the drive at full power she hit the throttle and sent them into a jump to the their previous destination Qouti. That'll have to change too.
She wasn't as familiar with the area, but luckily the Zkree had a map. She punched in a destination that looked remote enough the Cirellants wouldn't think to follow and then turned to the Chip piled in the floor with his face mashed against the glass of the gunnery.

"Illya?!"

Her first instinct was to worry that he was hurt again, but when she spied the spike in the back of his leg, she realized he was only paralyzed from the Cirellant's spine poison. With a sigh, the relief she felt was replaced by anger. He had just decided to go maverick?! Changing the plan... pitting himself against what was hundreds of bugs and blowing up one of their ships...

Her fists clenched as she fumed and climbed over the Chip to start helping him up. The poison would last a few hours and the spine in his leg would have to be removed.

****

Illya's dead weight proved to be more of a challenge than she thought. He was wedged between the seat and the window with his bulky frame good and stuck. His feet crumpled underneath him, so dragging him out wasn't an option unless she could un-wedge his broad shoulders. She freed Keysha and went to work trying to get him out.

"You know if you had stuck to the plan, your face wouldn't be planted into a window right now," she grunted, pulling at his shoulders.

All she received was a growl in return.

"Don't grumble. You went off on your own, left me wondering what the hell you were doing..." Her anger made her tug harder at his shoulders, but her grip slipped, sending his face back into the glass by accident. "Sorry."

"Uh..." Ayrn appeared in the door way, having come out of the compartment with his bag on his shoulder, "Need some help?"

She didn't even bother to look up, taking up his shoulder in her small hands again. "Yes. Grab his other shoulder."

Ayrn dropped his bag and walked around the cockpit to Illya's other side and grabbed the man's shoulder, earning him a deep growl. He had to admit it was a bit satisfying to see how the mighty had fallen, even if it was just for couple of hours due to what was obviously Cirellant poison. Not to mention Calysta was mad as a hornet at him.

"On three," Calysta instructed, "One..two...three!"

With a hard tug from both of them, Illya's shoulders popped free and they hauled him up as high as they could to free his legs. Ayrn's ribs pulled at him though and he started to lose his balance and his grip. "Whoa...whoa...whoa...whoa!"
"Ayrn! What-" The co-pilot's massive frame tumbled to the side taking Calysta with him, half collapsing on her in the floor. She smacked her head on the floor as he his weight bowled her down, his head landing to the side of her stomach and the rest of his dead weight pinning down her legs.

"Uhg! Ayrn!"

"He was heavy! My grip slipped!"

"You don't say?" she snapped, trying to haul him off of her with no luck.

His heavy shoulders just bounced back to their original spot at every shove. Now she was stuck underneath Illya, the stowaway was practically useless, and to top it off her face was turning pink. How was she supposed to get him to the med bay if she couldn't even lift him? He was far too heavy...weight...gravity...an idea formed in her mind.

"Ayrn, listen, there's a button with an arrow and red stripes on the inside console of the captains chair," she said quickly, "Hit it."

Ayrn found the request weird, considering the captain was currently being crushed by her own co-pilot, but he gave a shrug and complied. As soon as he mashed the button a whine sounded and suddenly things began to grown lighter. Her hair started floating around her, Keysha lifted from the seat with a mewl, and Illya started to float off of her, much to her relief.

"Not a bad idea, Captain," Ayrn commented with approval as he floated by.

Calysta slid from under the very conscious but immobile Chip and flipped him over with much more ease so he was on his back and looking up. His arms floated awkwardly to the side and she grabbed them, tucking them in so he would fit down the corridor. Her eyes met his for a moment, and she couldn't tell if he was angry with her not, but at the moment she didn't much care. He had gone off and done his own thing and gotten himself poisoned in them process. The Ekram was safe, but he had also made her worry about him. She wasn't exactly sure when she had started doing that and it made her feel conflicted about being angry with him.

Pushing his floating body down the corridor, she made sure he was hovering over the med-bay bed and went to go return gravity to the ship.
Aryn stayed with Illya, making sure the co-pilot didn't fall into the floor when full weight returned to the cabin.

"I'm guessing that puts you out of favor with the captain again," he winced as Illya bumped slightly into the wall, "Ah, well. Easy come, easy go right?"

The co-pilot gave a particularly savage growl at him and Ayrn's small smile blossomed into a bit of a smirk as gravity suddenly returned.

 

[Silence]

The pulling and jerking seemed to tighten all the muscles through Illya's shoulders and neck again. He probably had already put his muscles in knots when he slumped against the glass and he continued to lean against it like this for several more minutes while Kalizda put the ship to flight. They had already put the enemy far behind and then Kalizda's jerking started to hurt some. Growling was all the more he could do to tell her that it wasn't the most comfortable way to be pulling. It was making his spine twist in odd directions and he felt like she was practically digging her fingers under his collar bone. While he was big and his bones strong it didn't mean that these sort of things couldn't or wouldn't cause pain.

As if reminding him of his vulnerable position she lost grip and he slammed his face into the window again. There was a dull thud as his head and face made contact with the glass again. While he couldn't do anything but growl she was going on and reprimanding him for the action he took. Illya wanted so badly to correct her. There wasn't much else he could have done if they wanted to get out of this alive. Try as he might, Illya couldn't even muster a frown or any sign of displeasure. Instead his face held that same stupid complacent expression. There was nothing and he could only sluggishly blink his eyes. If there was to be a bad omen of any kind it was the arrival of the idiot. Arse of course managed to lose his grip and Illya was planted right into the captain. He couldn't even express his discomfort at having her knees shoved into his diaphragm or the fact that this felt like a very personal place to be resting his head.

Growling at this point hardly seemed to be the thing to do and instead Illya was just going to have to lay here and quietly wait for them to figure something out. He could only hope it would be fast. At last Kalizda figured something out and Illya felt himself begin to lift. It was slightly embarrassing to have to be hauled through the ship and then seemingly parked over the bed while Kalizda disappeared to turn off the anti gravity. Illya growled again when he saw Ayrn standing next to him. That grin got wider just as the Chippeqouti felt himself drop.

If he wasn't still suffering some effect of the venom he would have yipped or at least raised his eye brows in surprise. Instead he maintained the same facial expression and he hit the bed with a grunt. Illya let out a breath and he stared at the ceiling and whatever else managed to slide into his view from time to time. What was most irritating was that he couldn't see if there was anyone with him, or even feel if they touched him.

The idea of being numb grew increasingly upsetting. Illya was sure that while he was incapable of doing anything that Ayrn would be wanting to cut off fingers or something like that. Eventually a sensation of pin pricks started to crawl throughout his body and there wasn't an inch that hadn't been effected. To say it was uncomfortable was an understatement. Even the slightest twitch made it feel like he was on fire and his skin surged with the sensation of needles and knives being drove into it. If anyone had been in the room they left after they discovered he couldn't do or say anything after the first hour. Shakily Illya sat up in the bed and he gingerly threw his legs over the edge of it.

When his feet hit the ground it felt like little knives pushing into the soles of his feet and he held onto the bed for some balance while he tried to determine if he could even walk. Finally he managed to force one leg to move and he got about half way through the step before he hit the floor with a thud. Growling a little Illya picked himself back up and started out with an uneven gait. Tottering down the hall with his arms out to brace himself he finally came to the kitchen and peered inside of it. Nobody was in there so he assumed that she had to be in the navigation room.

It felt rather hazardous to attempt a step down to the pit, but Illya didn't see how he could get in otherwise. However, there was an option like usual. Instead of stepping in he half flopped into the room and caught himself on the back of a chair. Dragging his legs back underneath himself he worked his way around the chair and flopped into it with a grimace. Now the needle sensation traveled through his rear and he didn't enjoy that either. It appeared that they were going to be landing. Illya narrowed his eyes slightly. He thought he was seeing just fine, but it was difficult to tell if it was a thick fog or if the entire planet they were looking at was simply a chunk of ice with swirling snow on the surface. The closer they came to the landing pad the more certain Illya was that the planet was a freezing hell of sorts.

 

[aryamajor]

Calysta was silent as she worked on Illya's leg, not wanting to fuss at him anymore while he lay on the cot in the med bay. The Cirellant spine was barbed, and had pinned his pant-leg to his calf as it was trickling blood. She cut away the pant leg with a single snip and then used a small scalpel to removed the barb with two simple cuts before cleaning the wound. Even though the Chip was thoroughly numbed and couldn't feel anything, she was still gentle with her care. When she was finished, she left the med-bay without a word.

Her own body had started to stiffen up too. Being tossed out of out a jump, then scrambled in the cargo bay, along with Illya landing on top of her had taken its toll. Her side and back were beginning to feel like one very large bruise that was tender to the touch. Rubbing at her neck, she returned the cockpit where Keysha was sitting her chair. Picking up the kitten, she sat down in her chair with a groan and put the cat back in her lap where it curled up without complaint.

As she stroked between Keysha's ears, she thought of Illya and what had happened. The irritation was still there, but it was layered over with concern now more than anything. He had suddenly decided to change their plan, and it had been reckless to corner himself like that. The man wasn't indestructible even if he was stubborn and crazy enough to try taking down an entire blockade on his own. Not to mention of the Cirellants tied the incident back to her, it could mean trouble for Kaereal as a whole. She had no desire to see war come to her home when they worked so hard to keep the peace. But he had protected them, the message and saved the Ekram, which was thankful for. She'd never had the desire to smack someone and then hug them at the same time, but some how Illya managed it.

What was done, was down now though and she had to move forward. The coordinates she had put in lead to a nebula of frozen gasses where a remote port awaited them. She would have to assess any damage to the ship, re-calibrate the jump drive and double check the weapon systems while she was at it.

"Need some of these?"

Calysta turned in her chair to see Ayrn standing behind her with a cup of water in one hand and two pain pills offered out to her in the other.

She looked him over carefully then nodded as she took the pills and cup. "Thanks."

"Of course."

Ayrn sat down in the co-pilots chair with a sigh and folded his hands behind his head as she took the pills. "So, your co-pilot just took down an entire Cirellant blockade..."

"Yeah," she replied before chasing the pills with some water.

"I've never seen anything like what he just did," Ayrn shrugged, " The guy's practically a one man army. How did you end up working with him?"

Calysta took a deep breath. She wasn't in the mood for questions, particularly the kinds of questions that would lead to trouble.

"Its a long story."

Ayrn propped his feet up on the console and smiled, though the bruises on his face the grin odd looking. "Well, we've got nothing but time right now. I'm a pretty good listener."

Calysta shot him a look and he dropped his feet from the navigational console. "You listen when it suits your purposes," she replied coolly, "And it's really none of your business."

"Alright...alright..."

A few quiet minutes passed and Calysta rested her head back on the headrest of her chair. Ayrn usually prattled on but something he said did ring true to her. Illya was a one man army. And she was taking the means to end the exile of many others, who she assumed, were like him in the way of abilities. She didn't see him as a war-monger or someone who wanted violence, but that left the question: What did he want?

The ship began to slow as the auto pilot ended the jump, leaving them in a swirling cloud of sparkling silver, and pink cosmic dusts. The images relayed from outside the ship to the screen were beautiful, and any other time she would have loved to take a small pod and race through the nebula just to enjoy the view. A silver planet finally came into view on the screen through the dense fog and she took on the ships controls to guide them closer, swerving away from large, jagged ice crystals as she went.

A shuffling sound came from behind her as she worked, and Ayrn jumped out of the co-pilot seat as a floppy limbed Illya stumbled into the back of it. Illya plopped down in the seat in silence, obviously still early in the stages of poison fading away.

She said nothing and managed to get them landed on an open paddock outside a heavy metal door that lead into a large building that was so covered in ice and snow, it nearly blended in with the terrain. They were the only ship on the dock and there were no signs of life or greeting.

"I've never been here before, so I have no idea what to expect, but the Zkree map said this place was just called C23," she said, turning to both of them, " I'm going to assess any damage to the ship and check the jump-drive. You two can go inside, if you want, but be careful meet back here in 3 hours. Also, the sensors say the air outside is in the negatives, so if you do go out. Wrap up."

Ayrn didn't hesitate to walk to his room and pull out a jacket from his duffel bag, giving it a quick sniff. He'd smelled worse and he'd gladly wearing anything if it meant getting off of the ship for awhile. He tugged on the jacket while he was walking down the corridor to the hatch.

While Ayrn dashed off to his bunk, Calysta glanced to Illya, her eyes catching his bright green ones. The glint in his eye told her he was irritated at best and on a certain level she couldn't blame him. She would be irritated too, if she were in his position. He was numb, still had the burden of that message and was probably none too happy with her either. She wanted to talk to him, but the poison was still wearing off and she doubted he could form a syllable. There had once been a time when she would have loved to see him unable to utter a word, because then he might have actually listened, but having a one sided conversation with him isn't what she wanted anymore.

When Ayrn came back to the hatch he saw Illya sitting, and it looked like Calysta was giving him some sort of look. It wasn't her usual "shut the hell up" look which surprised him, considering she had still been plenty mad at him a little awhile ago.

"You coming inside, or staying out here, man?" he asked with a grin to the Chip, " I'm going in to take a peek."

 

[Silence]

It was a sad thing to realize that even his balls hurt. Illya did his best to convey all the irritation that he could with his eyes. There was no point in making it worse by trying to talk and he was most certainly not wanting to touch himself anywhere. Mostly because it increased the pressure and tingling. Carefully he turned his head as Arse came up to him and seemed to be looking for more reasons to mock the current situation. Illya simply gave Arse a severe frown, at least the best he could manage with the tingling in his face and grunted at him.

When the man had finally left Illya sighed and he looked at Kalizda again. There wasn't anything he could say or do for the moment so he turned his head to peer outside at the freezing cold. He hated the very sight of snow. It was not a place that he wanted to be. Since they needed some supplies he would have to go out later on and get some of the kitchen foods that he wanted to eat or make for himself and the others to eat. While he was watching the snow drift in and settle on the floor of the landing pad Kalizda got up to go take a shower. Illya barely glanced in her direction while he did his best to keep himself occupied with the current situation. It wasn't until nearly half an hour later that he felt like he could walk without slamming into walls and tumbling into every available corner.

Awkwardly dragging one leg and limping along he made it to the kitchen where he washed up his arms to get the blood from the Cirrellan off himself. By the time he stumped his way back to the cock pit Kalizda was there and he sighed. "Yah wanna talk?" It was the best assumption considering the fact that she had stayed in the ship when she could have been doing other things and she was staring at him rather insistently. Though the words came out nearly clear Illya had a hard time saying them.

"I think we should, yes" she nodded, as she turned in the chair to face him better, "I do want you to know that I am...thankful for what you did...even if I was angry. I've never seen anyone do anything like it, but it also makes me wonder something. Do you mind if I ask you something?"

Gingerly taking his seat across from her he took a deep breath. "I thhink I don't like yah question when yah say it like that." Usually when she asked if she could ask he didn't like to answer her. "Ask anyway." It wasn't like he could stop her inquiring mind.

She met his eyes, and hoped he wouldn't take offense when she asked, but she needed to know. "You've said that when we land on Qouti with this message that you will give it to your council and let them decide to answer the call. To decide to go to war or not. You fought in the first war and from what Ive seen, up to now, you...you don't seem like war is something you want again..you've been protective but not..looking for a fight. . After what I have seen you do to day though, I want to ask what it is you want. I don't think its another war, but...I want to know."

Somehow it seemed that she was trying to get somewhere with the question, but it wasn't coming out right away. Illya frowned at her and he narrowed his eyes slightly. The way she asked made him wonder if she thought he actually wanted another war and didn't want to say it. "I want Chippeqouti free to roam. If th-they fight and I get called to service I go. Not meh first choice to go to war."

Her shoulders relaxed a little and then tension in her jaw seemed to fade some and she looked at him. He had gotten to the heart of her question at least, even if she was rambling like an idiot unintentionally, "You want for your people to be free. Its a good want, I think. I have no desire to start a war and neither do you. You said if you were called to service, you would have to go though. Is that what happened in the first war?"

Naturally it couldn't have stayed at a basic single question. Instead she wanted to know more about the war. Why did she have to ask so many questions about it? Shaking his head he looked down at the floor. "I chose to go first time. No Chippeqouti is forced until th-they are 50 and have 1 child to replace dem if thhey are killed."

She didn't move her eyes from his, but her curiosity only seemed to deepen the more he talk, "And you went on your own because you were trying to defend your people from the off-worlders?"

"We were beginning to lose men and I knew what I had to do." Illya looked at her. "Meh father was a great general and I learn from him since I was a boy. Trained very hard and some of meh men hated meh. I did not assess value to prisoners. Only way to win da war was tah kill all dah enemy I could. Dey wouldn't give meh people mercy so I slaughtered all I could of meh enemy." Illya clenched a fist and he stared at his hands intently.

Calysta was quiet for a long moment, as her eyes dropped away from his and she thought about what he said. He had been a brutal and cold soldier in the first war and the idea of it shocked her. That wasn't the man she knew sitting across from her though. He could be prideful and stubborn, even forceful at times. Never once had she seen him be truly cold and cruel as he described. "I don't think you are that person anymore, Illya," she whispered.

"If dah federation comes for meh people dere is noting I won't do." Illya glanced up at her and clenched his jaw. "Some tings never change."

He had misunderstood her in part, but she understood him. She would expect nothing less than for him to protect his people with everything he could, even if he wasn't out chasing a war. It's what she would do, if she had to, and she couldn't fault him for it. She nodded. "You're right, somethings never change, Illya. But sometimes things do. "

Searching her face he shook his head. "Yah don't understand. If dey start another war I won't wait a year into meh fighting to kill prisoners. I kill dem all starting on day one."

She looked at him, taken aback by what he said. "W-Why?"

Illya took a deep breath. "Because I know what dey do to Chippeqouti. Dey poison water and give children candy dat gives dem bone rot. Dey take us prisoner and break all dah bones dey can and den inject dem with disease and release dem so we have to kill our own people. When prisoners know what happens dey kill demselves before dey come back. If dey can't kill demselves we kill dem before dey are allowed back to the city. Yah don't understand what dah Federation does. It is evil."

Calysta listened, trying not to show how hearing this made her sick. Her fingers gripped the the arms of the chair and she swallowed, trying to clear her throat enough to speak. What could the Chippeqouti possibly have done to warrant that? "Illya, I don't..I don't understand. Exile is one thing, but what you say something entirely different. I don't understand if you were exiled over a broken contract, why they would do such things?"

"We occupied th-their cities until dey would pay. If we don't get pay we would take it by force." Illya looked at her. "To protect dem we had to be paid. It is how we paid Ehaui for medicine and ships and our bases." There was a lot of politics to it that he didn't always understand and still couldn't since there was a great deal of it that only the elders knew. "I dun want to talk about dis anymore."

Her eyes softened some as she looked at him, knowing she had pushed him far enough for now. Rising to her feet she waited for him to join her. "We're speaking of things of the past, and things we cannot know about the future," she said quietly, "Lets just deal with the present, alright?"

Illya nodded and he let out a breath of relief. He couldn't even begin to untangle the war in his mind. It was such a jumbled mess of fear, anger, rage, screams, blood and massacre. Remaining seated for a while longer he finally dropped his head into his hands.

*********************************

Stepping out of the ship after a few hours of being on board and having maintained consistent balance for at least an hour Illya finally felt comfortable enough to go into public. The first blast of cold air hit and he almost curled into a ball on the spot. His shoulders rolled forward and he let out a long shaky breath. "Damn its cold..." Rubbing his hands underneath the large blanket he peered over at Kalizda. How her kind could tolerate this kind of weather he didn't know. Illya didn't have boots, hat, gloves, or coats for this kind of weather and he didn't think there was enough covering in the world to make this weather tolerable in the least.

Whenever there was something too high for Kalizda to see or check Illya would do it for her, though he shuddered almost anytime he had to move. Nearing the end of the check he pulled the blanket tighter around himself. "Too cold. We need to leave soon." Wincing a little he started for the first store in sight. "Mebbe thhey have something I could cook."

No matter how hard he tried it was impossible to get warm even inside the supply store. Looking over at Kalizda he shivered a little. "Too cold. We need to leave soon." With the news from the Ehaui, Illya was feeling more stressed almost everyday. She told him by now they were probably having a harder time preventing the final production. They were running out of excuses and Illya knew that he couldn't ask them to sacrifice their own people for his. Still he was getting nervous and it made him almost sick to know he had the cure. They needed a way to expand and it would then be impossible for the Federation to actually complete their plan. What he needed was a large volume of ships to get the Chippeqouti off the planet and into more friendly territory. Then he half expected that they would be obligated by honor to do something about the Ehaui.

****************************************************

When they had finally left the frozen planet Illya was still bundled up in his blankets and he shivered almost constantly. He couldn't make his room stiflingly hot enough. If he was getting warmed up finally the Terran would come in and turn the heat down. Illya finally took to laying on the top bunk near the thermostat so that the next time Ayrn came in he clamped a large brown hand over the Terran's. "No." Shaking his head the Chip stared at the other. "I like it warm. That's the way it will be." He had the room set to be nearly 95 degrees.

Even with the heater running almost constantly in the room Illya was buried beneath mounds of blankets till the next morning when he awoke to find himself pleasantly sweaty. It was the first time since he left home that he could say he felt truly comfortable and it was great. Illya still held the blankets around his shoulders while he went to check and see where they were on the trip. They had been jumping through space gates for several days now and he figured they should be just about to Quoti.

Seeing the red dusty planet below almost made him want to jump out now. The worst part about the landing was that he could see the planet hours before they were actually ready to set down on the earth and step outside. Letting the blankets slip from his shoulders he peered out the window. "We're here." A faint smile came to his face.

Illya started back to his room to gather the books and ensure that he had the message and everything that he needed. First of all he didn't expect it to be a great welcoming party. More than likely they would be suspicious and ready to pillage as they had any other ship that landed for the last several decades if it wasn't one of their recognized merchants. This time he didn't help with the landing. Illya stood near the doorway with a book in hand so that when the first arrived they would meet him. "Ready!" Yelling to Kalizda he then turned his head back toward the doorway as the trap door dropped. As he expected on the other side there were already several Chips waiting.

Instead of a rush they stood there with narrowed eyes and then one of them pushed to the front of the group. "What is this? You steal from us in the night and then return with this?"

Nodding, he started off "Books, tools, and a message from the Ehaui." Illya spoke in his native tongue since the others would doubtless want to keep this to themselves rather than thinking that he had shared it with the others on the boat. The other smiled and walked up the ramp. Pulling Illya into a hug he smirked. It was as Illya expected, enough to be accepted again.

Instantly the smirk changed when he saw the others with Illya. Pushing away from Illya he glowered at Kalizda and Arse. "Yah bring foreigners."

"Th-they're not Federation." Illya met the man's gaze and he cocked his head to the side. "What is it?" The town was strangely quiet and the houses nearly empty. It didn't seem right at all.

"Another plague. Federation sent a ship overhead with dust. All the old and the children are dying. Many Chips over 340 are dying." He shot a glance at Kalizda and the other again. "Yah bring trouble. Elders will decide what to do with them."

Illya's heart almost dropped to his stomach. When he had thought to have brought something to help it was already too late. The Federation must have heard that a Chip had escaped and they used the poison whether it was ready or not. Glancing behind himself he looked at Arse and Kalizda. Nodding to the other two he started to speak in the common tongue so they would understand again. "Yah come as meh prisoners or yah die."

A permanent frown had come to his face. Walking through the town with the other two behind him and a Chip running ahead to gather the elders he couldn't help feeling that war was coming. The elders began to gather around the well outside and some of them leaned against it while others were casually milling about. It hardly looked like a formal meeting. Illya approached the group and presented them with the tablet full of books, the one on machine repair, and then the message from the Ehaui. While he was still talking to the elders a woman came and tapped Kalizda on the shoulder. Silently she beckoned for her and Arse to follow.

*****************************************************************

After hours of Illya standing in the sun with the elders and explaining his entire journey the elders determined that Kalizda was not a threat and neither was Arse so long as he maintained good behavior. A messenger ran to the woman and she turned toward Kalizda. "Can yah represent yah people?"

Calysta looked at the woman, keeping her tone respectful. "What do you mean by represent?"

"Are yah one wit powa like a elder?" The woman stared at her intently. "I hear messenger say he speaks highly of yah."

It sounded like they wanted to know if she had any power to speak for the Kaereleans as a whole. Her finger tips ran over her thumb where her ID chip had once been and shook her head. "No, I'm afraid I can't speak for my people as an authority. I'm just a simple pilot."

The woman's eyes softened. "Dan yah as good as he says. Yah help us at risk." Immediately she turned toward her stove and began to slide a pan into it. "I make bread for yah. We put our best food for yah because yah good woman."

Calysta wasn't sure she understood why it was good she couldn't speak for her people. She understood the deep distrust of the Federation, but Kaereal wasn't part of the Federation. Wouldn't they have wanted someone with some sort of power? "Oh, uh..thank you. Do you need any help?"

"Nah, I serve yah. Yah serve us selflessly, yah don't know what good it is for us tah hear." Meeting Kalizda's gaze she beckoned for her to come. "I show yah da war. We have history in hologram from da Ehaui." She was herself an elder, but stayed behind with the prisoners to be sure they were worthy of helping to gain allies.

The woman seemed grateful, and Illya had been too, but he had been reserved about it. This Chip seemed more willing to thank her, thanks she wasn't sure she entirely deserved, and it felt strange. She remembered the Ehaui though, and did want to learn more, so she followed the woman with a nod. "Alright."

Stepping into a large stone room the woman motioned for Kalizda to sit. She left Ayrn with another Chip for the time. Speaking a few words and then tapping on a stone pad in sequence a large colored hologram appeared in the room. The opening scene showed many proud and well dressed Chippeqouti arguing with others. The woman translated for her since it was not in a language that Kalizda would understand. "Dey claim da cost of war is too great. Cannot pay da Chip. So da Chippeqouti assess value of all heads of state. Heads of state serve da people and so dey must pay da debt and dere families if need be. Officials share in cost wit dere people. All must pay."

Since the hologram targeted memory on events of significance it skipped ahead to a few months down the road. "Dere citizens cry out because dey do not want ta serve da Chip. Become angry wit dere leaders so da officials do not face justice of people, instead dey start a war and put out propaganda." The screen showed many atrocities among which accused the Chippeqouti of eating children, saying that they were devouring the life that the children could have. "Den da war." Many scenes began to flash by.

Battles where Chippeqouti wiped through the lines and her face began to show some strain. The woman still remained silent and held her head high. "We take prisoners to our home as is custom. Dey live and eat wit us. We have no place to put dem. Already so many live in barracks so our soldiers can watch dem." Suddenly she fell silent. A small child took a piece of candy from a prisoner and ate it. A grin plastered to her face and she giggled. After swallowing the candy she skipped about the room and held her tiny hand out for another piece. Her bright violet eyes dancing and black curls pulled into a neat bun. Only a day later the child lay shivering in her bed and the screen flipped ahead in time by 2 days and it showed the same girl crying constantly with a trickle of blood running out the corner of her eyes and a stream flowing from her nose.

"Meh great niece. She pay dah cost of dah war. Dis man said he would cause her ta pay wit her life because da Chip demand payment for defending his city and den demanding payment. We devour dere children and dey devour ours." Her voice wavered some and she fell silent again. The next scene showed a young woman holding her child and weeping when a man came through the door. It was unmistakably Illya. He took the child in his arms and his eyes grew distant. While he stared listlessly at the girl and tried to comfort her pained cries silent tears streamed down his face. Then the woman whispered in his ear and he gave her child back.

The last that was shown of the man Illya was when he left the home and rounded up prisoners from barracks, the town and everywhere he could find them. Many of the Chippeqouti seemed to either watch with approval or shake their fists at him as he gave orders to his men to slaughter the prisoners. Most refused and then he started to work himself.

"Many oter children die dis way. Before and after. Soon da Chip leave dere way and begin killing prisoners and we kill our own when dey return poisoned. Ehaui cannot help us anymore." The woman lowered her head almost in shame. "We lose all lands except dis one. No oters could survive da land. Dey could not find da underground rivers." As the screen flipped ahead it showed a massive ship fly over head and what looked like dusting for a crop began to settle over the villages. "Dey return many times ta test plagues and den a few days ago dey test again and our people begin ta die. Dere afraid we escape and take revenge." When the hologram turned black and the room was dark again she set a hand on Kalizda's shoulder. "Now Kalizda woman yah understand. I give yah dis message and yah share it wit yah people. Maybe dey listen ta just a pilot."

 

[aryamajor]

After having sent a naked and embarrassingly injured Ayrn to put on pants and thoroughly scrubbing down her captain's chair, Calysta sat back in her chair enjoying the quiet for a moment. Illya had retreated back to the bunk where he had cranked the heat so high Ayrn had decided wandering around the ship naked was the solution. Keysha had corrected him with a quick claw to a very senstive spot and suddenly he seemed much more interested in clothing.

The proud kitten rubbed around her feet until she bent down and picked her up, tucking her into her lap. They were getting very close to Qouti now and while Illya seemed to be relaxing some, relieved to be headed home, she was growing more anxious.

Landing on that planet had been dangerous the first time and she had no doubt that their welcome would be similar. With waiting raiders at the door. Hopefully, Illya could handle it when they arrived.

Ayrn came shuffling back to the front with pants on and a protective hand hovering close to his legs and giving Keysha and grumpy stare.

"You're fine," Calsyta commented rolling her eyes, "Don't blame the cat."

Ayrn eased himself into the co-pilot's chair and gave her an annoyed look. "That thing has it for me, I swear."

"Well, maybe you shouldn't have been wandering around the ship naked," she said pointedly, as Keshya purred.

Ayrn ran his hands through his hair and adjusted his eye patch. "Yeah, well your co-pilot has the bunk room so damn hot, I didn't have much of a choice. Nobody can sleep like that."

"He can," she shrugged, without a hint of sympathy, "I wouldn't recommend bothering him about it either."

The stowaway sighed and spun in his chair slightly. "Yeah, wasn't planning on poking the bear. Though that form might be useful, if you've got the time."

Calysta kept her face serious as she drew out her notepad and pencil, bracing the paper on the arm of her chair to write. "Alright...ID10T...what are those complaints again?"

"Uh, well, there was the fact that he tried to kill me with a snake.

"After you insisted on riding with us and the snake wasn't technically poisoned ..but go ahead..."she replied as she wrote.

"Then, I came to get my books back and he nearly killed me again."

Calysta scribbled his words on the note pad, keeping her tone even. "Uhuh you mean after you stowed away on my ship and froze his clothing...right....anything else?"

Ayrn paused for a moment. He could hardly complain to her about the pit stop they had made while she was sick, but there were other things.

"Then there's all the work, and tbe knocking me out and now the heat."

Calysta wrote everything down, nodding to herself. "Uhuh."

When she was finished, she tore the paper off and handed it to him with the title and his listed complaints. Then she stood, letting Keysha leap to the floor, and gave Ayrn slight grin as he read it over, his eye growing wide. The whole thing had been a joke.

"We're going to a very dangerous place, Ayrn. I might suggest keeping quiet," she said, pointing to the paper, "And not acting like one of those."

Then she turned on her heels, fighting a laugh, and walked to her room with her cat at her heels.

*****

The landing went as she expected. Chips were waiting for them ready to raid until Illya, who was waiting the door with an excited grin, said something to them. His demand that they come at as his prisoner made her frown, even though she suspected this had more to do with protecting them than it did making them actual captives. Of course, there was little she could to protest the demand anyways. Hopefully they wouldn't raid the Ekram as they had done her Gylcryn. She would not be giving up Keysha, her ID chip, useless as it was, or the book she had purchased for Illya.

She shut down the engines with a practiced hand and complied without a word. Ayrn started to open his mouth, a look of indignation creeping to his face, but one warning look from the captain shut him down and he followed then out the door. He had no desire to be an ID10T.

The heat rolling off the dusty ground was enough to make her pale skin feel like it was baking with seconds of stepping out of the hatch. Walking through to the village with Illya ahead of her was even worse, as the sun bore down her cheeks. Even as she squinted in the bright sun, she could tell something was different. The last time she was here, the villagers had been active and going about their days as normal, but this time the streets were vacant except for a few people. A group of tall Chips, made of both men and women seemed to be waiting for them and already in deep conversation. The heavy feeling of trouble was settled over them, evident in the way they spoke their language and written on their expressions. They greeted Illya but otherwise ignored her and Ayrn save for a few harsh looks until she felt a tap on her shoulder.

A tall, beautiful Chip woman beckoned her to follow, pulling her away from the group. The idea of leaving Illya made her hesitate against the request for a second, as she cast a glance at him. They had made an agreement to stick together after the run in with the Braxion, but her friend was already talking in his own language to the group, his eyes focused and hardened. There were things he obviously needed to sort out and her presence may be more of a hindrance than help.

Nodding, she slipped away and followed the woman, noticing that Ayrn was also being lead away by a male Chip with bright blue eyes. Maybe the stowaway would keep his mouth shut and wouldn't get himself in trouble. Calysta hoped for his sake that he would.

******

Aryn followed the much larger man into a stone hut where he was invited to sit. He did so without complaint and looked around the place, his head turning where his one eye failed to see. It was a pretty primitive place, but fairly clean and had an herb smell that tickled his nose. More importantly there was only one exit and that was the way he came in. If this guy wanted to beat the bloody hell out of him, or kill him, then that single exit wouldn't be much good, considering he took up most of the doorway. The man sat in front of him with his weird bright eyes, and occasionally asked him simple questions in broken traders-speak. Ayrn could only tell him he was a no-account Terran, he had stowed away on the ship, and was now being dragged everywhere with the two crazy owners. Where were those two anyways?

Eventually, the man stopped asking questions and they fell into an awkward silence, which only made him feel antsy in the unbearable heat. A long time passed and he could tell that afternoon had set in by the long shadows cast outside the hut. Glancing to his stoic guard, he relaxed some. They didn't seem interested in killing him at least.

"So..uh...wanna hear how I got the eye patch? Its a pretty good story to pass the time....."

******

Calysta's nails dug into her forearms and her jaw clenched tightly as the Chip woman ended the projections. Though the flickering images had stopped playing, what she had seen would be burned into her memory forever. The Chippeqouti had done what they always did, expected payment for a service rendered and when they were denied, they expected service back. A broken contract. But for the people they expected service from, it was viewed as a forced indentured servitude. Slavery. It had been a misunderstanding from the beginning and no side was truly right...but there had been so many horrible and grievous wrongs because of it.
The image of the little girl flashed through her mind, blood dripping...and the look in Illya's eyes....Illya.

Her thin fingers slipped over her mouth and she closed her eyes for a moment. She had been appalled that he would do such a thing to prisoners and now she understood why. Why he hadn't wanted to talk about it anymore and all the more why her questions hurt him so much. Now, what he had gone through seemed to be happening all over again with the attack on his village. Would it have made a difference if she had gotten them there sooner? Even by a day? Would they declare war because of this? The images of his people wiping through the lines of the enemy came to her mind, until she pushed it out, bringing her eyes up to meet the Chip woman's in front of her. It wouldn't do any good to think like this.

She took a deep breath, and a long moment to collect herself. Tears wouldn't do any good, as it would just make her look weak and that was not what Illya needed.
"I understand," she whispered, "What will happen now?"

If the decision was to be war, she wanted to know without Illya being forced to tell her.

 

[Silence]

The Chippeqouti stared at Ayrn half in disbelief. They were about to be making a major decision that could determine the outcome of the entire Chippeqouti people and this man was going to prattle on about how he lost his eye. "Yah tink dis a good time for dat?" Though it sounded like a question it was more rhetorical. Shaking his head the Chip answered the question for himself. "It's not a time to talk about yahself. Yah better tink of what yah do wit yahself if we go to war? Whose side yah be on. We don't have time fo yah stories about a missing eye."

While he sat in the heat he would glance over his shoulder from time to time. It seemed that the elders were taking long enough. It must have been a heated debate, because if it took this long they were disagreeing about something. There was a strange scent that was seemingly coming from his little stone hut and he sniffed a few times only to to stare at Ayrn. It was the only place that such a smell could be coming from. Taking another deep breath through his nose he couldn't help the involuntary twitch at his brow. Depending on what was decided he was going to talk with Illya about making sure that his charge was bathed properly. They would have to find buckets for this one eyed foreigner to use.

*****************************************************************

After hearing everything that Illya said the elders started to pace the ground around the well. They weren't even trying to hide the options from the people at this point. It had boiled down to a matter of only a few choices. "We need to claim what is ours, or they will come back to claim what they want time and again. To rise only to hide and run away from our enemy will prove that the Chippeqouti are truly an ineffective race."

Another one of the council members retorted almost immediately "And see our children die over and over. Only this last plague has proved that we are going to fail and there will be none of us left in a short time. Many of our children died during the war. Now our old die and the women who lived through the war will quickly be coming to an age where they will not be able to bear anymore children. What then? We win a war to die as a people?"

"We can't ignore the Ehaui!" Another Chip yelled over the others. They had kept it to their tongue for the duration of the meeting though it appeared to do little good. They were not making any kind of decision in a reasonable time.

Finally one of the elders turned toward Illya. "Yah know these strange new races better. What would you think? Could we have allies in our war?"

Illya shook his head. "Her people are only explorers. They are curious about the unknown. If we make a delegation to send to them we may find allies to explore our part of the quadrants and we could break the barrier to the Ehaui." He wanted to steer as far away from a war as possible and he couldn't say that directly since it was an option that the Elders were considering, but he could give them alternative. As if they could see the point a few of them nodded and then further inquired of how they could get a delegation to her people or how to protect those remaining on Quoti. "We will repair all the ships here." There was enough space for all the Chippeqouti to load into the ships that had crashed and broken down over the years since the war. "We could spread out with the Ehaui and mingle with the other peoples."

There was almost an instant murmur of disapproval of the idea. The immediate area around the well became quiet and the elders motioned for Illya to step away for a time. Quietly the whispered among themselves and finally returned long after it had grown cold and the darkness had settled over the land. Finally the head elder approached Illya and she placed a hand on his shoulder. "We cannot ask you to join another war. There is still blood that cries out to be put at peace here. The spirits still wander the dunes at night." Peering into his eyes she nodded. "The elders have decided that you will find a place for the elderly and what remains of our young. The rest of us will fight. We know that you will do whatever is necessary to see that they survive."

With the final nod from the elders Illya rose to his feet and he returned to the house of the elder that waited with Kalizda. When he stepped through the door alone it was a sign that he was free. "Come with meh Kalizda." Though it was phrased like a command he didn't try to make it sound like one. When they were at last on the way toward his hut with Arse in tow he spoke. "Tomorrow I give th-the rest of the books to meh people and we prepare to leave."

While he was walking the sound of running feet sounded behind him and another Chip stopped just at his side. "Illya," It was perhaps the only word that the others would recognize as the man continued in his native tongue "Yah need to make sure dis one is bathed. He stinks."

As hard as Illya tried not to laugh he couldn't help a small chuckle from rising deep in his chest. "I know. Filthy and he likes to be that way. If he refuses I'll have yah help meh hold him eh? Maybe I finish washing him and we get supplies then come to the pleasure house. Very cold place before here and meh bones hurt for days."

The man nodded to him. "Yah bring dem wit tomorrow and I see yah get a good massage."

After they parted ways Illya looked back at the others. "We clean in bath house tomorrow morning and use herbs thhen we go to pleasure house and leave eh?"

***********************************************************

By the next morning Illya found that Kalizda was still sleeping soundly and pressed into his back. He waited for a few moments longer before getting up and letting the cool morning air blow across her spine. "Kalizda time to clean in bath house." Grabbing a few buckets inside of his hut he handed one to each Kalizda and Arse then started out for a larger house that was already full of Chips. Illya pointed to one side. "Women over th-there." Nodding to Ayrn he took him to the side where the men were. There wasn't even so much as a barrier between the men and the women. All of them stripped and left their clothes hanging neatly on a hook and then waited their turn to get access to the spigot so they could fill their buckets.

A small smirk came to Illya's face when he noticed at least one of the other Chips had taken note of the claw marks on Ayrn. Illya made a quick explanation in Quoti and the group of men laughed.

Some of the women hurried through the morning routine as usual though the others were interested in trying to talk with Kalizda. Most of the questions were about her position and what she did where she was from. They were curious about her way of life since it seemed similar and yet different from their own. At the end one of them threw her clothes at her and motioned for her to wash them. "It is much cooler Kalizda woman to wear wet clothes during da day." With that she left the room.

Illya was waiting near the door for Kalizda to finish getting dressed. "Now we go back to ship and I unload what I brought for meh people." There wasn't much and he needed to reload with some water though he didn't want to take anything he didn't have to. "Both yah take only what we need. I take thhe books to da elders." It was difficult not to falter in his language when he was home and among others that spoke almost exactly like himself. Of course there wasn't much needed and it was barely anytime at all before he had them headed for the pleasure house. Somehow he was getting the idea that Ayrn thought it was something different. As far as he was concerned it could be entertaining to let Arse think otherwise.

When they arrived in the stone hut Illya spoke to one of Chips near the front and arranged for Kalizda to have a woman and he and Ayrn had men. The man was solely for the benefit of making Ayrn uncomfortable and Illya needed someone to work the muscles deep in his back and leg. Again they stripped and Illya handed a towel to both Kalizda and Ayrn then took one for himself.

The room they entered was a large open space like the bath house only this one had multiple beds and each person took a bed to lay face down on. Illya happened to glance over at the other two and he immediately turned his face away again. Ayrn looked nearly panicked with the big burly Chip rested his large hands on his shoulders and Kalizda was almost swallowed by her bed. She was barely visible with her towel and the massive bed. If it wasn't for her pale colored skin and dark hair she might have resembled a lump of towels.

 

[aryamajor]

Ayrn spent a cold night tossing and turning on the floor of what appeared to be the co-pilot's home while the man got all cozy on a bed roll with Calysta beside him. The guy had someone to keep him all warm, and left him to the ground with a blanket. He flopped over turned away from the two, and huddled down. Out of the many places he had wandered through this was probably one of his least favorite. It was hot, and the people had the same lack-luster charm of Illyuck. Not to mention he had sand stuck under his eye patch and it was causing his scar to itch. This Qouti place wasn't for him, and it was a relief knowing they would be leaving out tomorrow.

The next morning, Illya woke him up with a nudge from his boot, handed a random bucket to him and then lead him outside along with Calysta. The sun was already out in full force and so was the heat of the day. He squinted against the brightness and shuffled behind them to a larger hut that seemed to be much busier than any place he had seen so far.

Inside he realized it was a bath house. He'd been in communal bath houses before, shared by both men and women a like. The sight of hairy assed men, was usually made up for by the fairer sex and he could hardly complain about that. "When in Rome, eh?" he commented to Calysta with a wink as he started to strip.

With his clothes tossed on the hook by the door, he took his bucket and sashayed over to the spigot. Some of the men chuckled but he just shrugged. These guys had a fair bit of height on them, but they lacked charm, just like their brother co-pilot. He managed to steal a few hidden glances at the Captain, but all he saw was pale skin and a her short cropped hair because she kept her back turned to the men the entire time. Oh well.

When they were done scrubbing down, he did feel better, but he smelled like a packet of Terran gum. They went to the ship for a bit and he piddled around his bunk waiting for this promised 'pleasure house' Illya had mentioned. The offer was a bit of a surprise considering he was sure the co-pilot would rather set him out of an air-lock than see him enjoy anything. He was even more shocked when he saw Calysta accompanying them to the stone hut. Maybe she was a little more free than he thought? Or maybe she just had a thing for his type of people, though he couldn't see why.

Grinning, he entered the hut where he saw the tables and towels lined up. They really did believe in communal everything apparently. Illya spoke with a burly man with dish-pan hands and a tall woman with bright green eyes as he stripped down. When the huge man handed him a towel and beckoned him over to a table, he nearly had the urge to run out of the place. What kind of a pleasure house was this exactly? The co-pilot had set this up on purpose. He glanced at Illya who seemed perfectly fine, and he was determined not to look like a jackass in front him, or Calysta for that matter.
Climbing aboard the table, he laid face down and two large hands clamped down over his shoulders. He grit his teeth and his eyes went wide from the hard grip. These people had the weirdest ideas on pleasure he had ever come across. He would be skipping out on any sort of happy ending this time.

*****

The prickle of coldness woke Calysta and she curled against the chill. It took her a second to realize the sudden cold was because Illya was no longer beside her, but up and asking her to wake up too. She stretched and rose to her feet, feeling well rested. With the long day and the constant tension, she half expected to toss and turn all night but she had fallen asleep easily and stayed that way for the entire night.

Illya handed her a bucket and woke Ayrn who was sleeping, mouth open in the floor, and lead them to a larger hut. Calysta knew what the bucket was for, but she had no idea that they bathed communally. She had shared an open bathroom with men at Skycorp training, and the style of bathing didn't shock her, but she was hesitant. Being bare and bathing in front of the Chip felt odd.

Of course, Illya and Ayrn didn't seem to have any reservations about stripping down. The stowaway even shot her a salacious wink and grinned. "When in Rome, eh?"

He had a point. This was Illya's home and if this was the way things were done, then she would try to adhere to them even if she blushed. There was nothing in there she hadn't seen before, and that included most of Illya and unfortunately all of Ayrn. It would be just like the shower in Skycorp, right? At least she had thought enough to shave in her last shower.

Peeling off her clothes and putting them on the hook by the door, she padded barefoot to the line where the spigot and waited her turn along side the other Chip women. They were all much taller and had a more filled out frame then she would ever have, but they didn't seem to mind. Some of them even seemed interested in talking with her, which was a welcome distraction. They mostly asked about where she was from and what she did for a living as they bathed in the cool water and washed with fresh smelling herbs. One of them, a younger woman with longer brown hair was interested when Calysta tried to explain how her home planet's people lived in the air on floating continents. The woman didn't understand at first, with her limited traders-tongue but with a few tries they had a good conversation which only ended when the Chip had to leave.

"It is much cooler Kalizda woman to wear wet clothes during da day," she said before she left, tossing Calysta her clothes.

Calysta smiled and nodded, taking her up on the advice. When she was done dressing, the three went to the ship where she was glad to see everything was still intact. Keysha greeted her with an exuberant meow and scurried over to them when they came through the hatch. Ayrn backed away from the kitten, skirting around to his quarters, and Illya followed, going to gather up the rest of the things he brought to his people. She picked up the cat and watched Illya retreated down the corridor. He seemed in good humor this morning, despite the circumstances, and she wondered what happened last night. He had told her nothing so far, though she had expected if he knew anything that he would tell her. Maybe the elder were still deciding? It was probably a good thing if they were taking a day to think about what to do.

Keysha gave a purring mewl from her arms and Calysta broke out of her thoughts to set about her pre-flight tasks.

When that was done, Illya lead them to another stone hut in the village. He had mentioned something about taking them to a 'pleasure house' and Calysta knew well enough that his words were not exactly what he meant, but was curious to see what he was talking about. Ayrn seemed to take Illya for his direct meaning and looked almost giddy as they stepped inside the hut, until he realized he would be getting a massage from bulky a Chip male. She tried not to laugh as he was lead away to a nearby table, and gave Illya a knowing grin.

Her own masseuse was pretty Chip woman with soft hands that Calysta fully appreciated.... after she managed to climb onto the table. The table was tall and much broader than she was used to. It was meant for an Illya sized person, not Kaerelean one. She tried climbing up at first but realized that was going to be a bit harder to do while she kept the huge towel wrapped around her. Instead, she took a bit of a hopping step and twisted at the last second, hoping to land her button the middle of the table. She landed half on and half off, and rather than just sliding down, her first instinct was to grab the edge. The towel dropped away as she cling to the side of the table totally exposed and the woman gave her an amused look. As Illya started walking back wrapped in his own towel, she scrambled up onto the bed as fast as she could and tossed the blanket-sized towel over her before burying her face into the bed with a sigh of relief. She had no desire for him to see 'Kalizda woman' struggling to climb a table.

****
Calysta heard a knock on the hatch door, which she had closed to keep out some of the heat. The outside cameras showed that there was a strange looking group of Chip villagers standing on the gang-plank right outside the door waiting for a reply. They were mostly white haired and slightly stooped elderly, or small, bright-eyed children who stood by their counterparts looking scared. None of them came with weapons or appeared hostile, so she walked over and opened the door.

The older man, who was still at least six inches taller than she was and sported curly grey hair said something to her in Qouti and then walked past her into the ship. When he entered, the rest followed, spilling into the ship and walking past her. Occasionally one would mutter "Kalizda" and nod, but other than that, not one of them would say anything else. They probably didn't even know enough traders-tongue to explain the sudden need to board the ship. Illya would know what was going on though, or at least be able to translate.
She scooted past people in the corridor and Ayrn's face popped out of the bunk room with a confused expression. "Uh...Captain...there's some.."

"I'm aware," was all she bothered to reply.

She found Illya walking down a corridor and greeting one of the newcomers with confident nod.

Calysta tugged Illya into her quarters, the only space that had yet to be filled by children or elderly Chips, and shut the door. She wasn't going to ask this in front of the others but he had told her nothing about what had happened. Respect had kept her from asking so far, but she had at least hoped he'd bother to tell her something eventually. "Illya, why are your people coming aboard?" she whispered.

It all seemed to be rather clear to Illya and he looked at her for a long moment before answering. "Because I was commanded to take them somewhere safe." There was almost a hint of a question to his tone since he wasn't sure by the look on her face if he was in trouble or not. "Did I do something?"

She blinked at him with an disbelief. "You were told to take these people somewhere safe...and you didn't bother to tell me?"

"I just did." Illya shrugged his shoulders. "Doesn't change anything."

Her fists clenched and as she struggled to reign in the words that came to her mind. "So, I'm back to being simply told what I'm supposed to do? I thought you would have at least told me before people started coming aboard," she replied, finally her tone a bit wounded.

A confused frown came to his face. "I was told last night. If da Elders command it there is no question." Illya was finding himself slightly frustrated with her lack of understanding. "I tell yah now. We don't have a choice. Yah like to know before so yah worry all night?"

The fact that he knew last night frustrated her even further. It wasn't just the matter of her personal feelings about not being asked. There were problems beyond that. "I like to know because its courtesy, because you are my co-pilot and because I want to protect your people too. I can't do that if I don't know what's going on, Illya."

"I will." Illya sighed. "We work hard and we talk eh?" She was wanting so much in advance if it was just orders. Briefly his face pulled into a more severe frown as it occurred to him that she probably didn't do things the same way in her home. She was not a Chippeqouti and so springing this job on her last minute was not going to go over well, obviously. "Yah want meh to talk wit yah like an elder?"

His reply caught her off guard and she paused. She didn't fully understand what it was to be one of his elders, but they seemed to be distant, though treated with great respect. Her anger ebbed and her eyes softened some. "We work hard and we talk. I want you to talk to me like I'm your friend and your partner on this ship. That means telling me things like this so we can work on them together."

"That doesn't work so well." Illya smirked. "I did with the Cirrellians. Yah didn't like when meh plans changed."

"Of course I didn't like it when your plans changed! You told me one thing and then you went off on your own which was reckless . I didn't know if-" she cut her words short, and then sighed. "Anyways, not only didn't you tell me about this, but where do you want me to take them? The Ekram wont be able to support this many people for an extended period of time."

It seemed that she must have caught the idea that the first plan didn't work like he thought it might and he had to do what was necessary. So at least she understood that much and then she went on to complain about the ship's ability to support that many people. "Th-than we make more stops."

"It's not as simple as that. These people need a safe place to live I'm assuming. They'll need food...they'll need medical help...among other things..." she pointed out, "Where do you want me to take them, Illya? I'd never leave them here, but I know we can't stay in space forever."

The man tilted his head to the side with obvious irritation. "I know this. They must have shelter and a new life, they will need work." He couldn't help his frustration with the current situation. "We take dem to yah planets. Someplace warm and den we need a place dey will not be hunted."

"All information that would have been helpful before they were on board," she grumbled. Kaereal would be safe for them. They were accepting of other races and they could live in relative peace there, as long as they were less stubborn as the Chip standing in front of her. "I'll...figure out something...just-" Her door peeked open and a tiny face with bright eyes and dark ringlets poked inside with a giggle, saying something in Qouti. Calysta mustered a smile through her irritation and walked over to the door.

****
Calysta sent Ayrn work with Illya getting the Ekram prepared for the trip, instructing him to do a head count of how many people were on the ship, and get a count of their food and medical supplies. Her words were firm enough the man didn't seem interested in arguing, so he went to go find Illya as he was bid. While this ship was being tended to, she went back into the village.

Illya hadn't told her about the people coming aboard which begged the question what else he hadn't bothered to mention. Rather than cause him more irritation or asking him about what happened, she went to the hut of the woman from the night before. The woman was sitting inside and looked up at her, not surprised, but some what welcoming.

"Can we talk?" she asked, quietly.

The woman invited her to sit down and this time Calysta came inside without fear, and didn't hesitate to ask what she wanted. "What is it the elders decided? Will you please tell me?"

The Chip shifted in her seat and nodded.

****

She walked back to the ship feeling a bit listless. War. That had been their decision. She understood the reasons why they had made that decision and the fact that Illya would not be involved gave her a little comfort, but all the same people would be dying. The woman had been kind enough to answer all of her questions, though warned her not to say anything. A request she would adhere to. She didn't leave the hut without words to say of her own though.

"I don't judge them for their decision," she told the woman, "But I can say this from my own people's history, war only begets more war. I know the federation has been unforgivably cruel, but history will repeat itself over and over until there is nothing left, unless someone is willing to give in to peace."

****

The ship was in relative order when she returned and things seemed to have settled down. Much to her surprise, Ayrn had done what he was asked and brought her the numbers she had requested. Based on those numbers, she calculated out the best route according to time and necessary stops. It would take a week at best and several different stops along the way. Illya sat down beside her in the co-pilots chair as she worked, but she stayed silent. She didn't know what she could possibly say to him at this point. All she could do was get them into the air and on their way.

 

[Silence]

Illya turned slightly when the girl poked her head in the door. She was asking for water and Illya was feeling frustrated enough with Kalizda to just excuse himself instead of telling the girl to wait. Looking over at her he nodded and gave a quick answer in Quoti back to her. The little girl swung the door open a little wider and she stepped to the side so he could come out with her. Glancing back into the room he shook his head and closed it. Kalizda was impossible sometimes. She wanted him to act like they were partners and friends when at the same time she would rather he just reported to her like an elder.

If it was something that wasn't critical at the time a friend would have carried the burden for a time and then they would have dealt with the issue together. If she needed more time to think about this then they could have delayed and given the elders a good reason to be extending their time in Quoti before leaving. Putting a hand on the little girl's head he steered her toward the kitchen and then gazed at the cupboard before deciding that instead of giving her a cup he would simply have her drink from the faucet. Kalizda had said that the ship would recycle and clean the unused water.

Grabbing the little girl under the arms Illya lifted her to the sink and he turned the water on. The girl was barely finished and he felt another kid shove in front of him and the line almost seemed to last forever. Finally he heard the engines start and Illay figured he should get to his seat. "Go to yah bunks." Nodding to the children he figured that they would be best out of the way. Stepping into the navigation room he sat down in his chair across from Kalizda and he took a deep breath. Women had a way of giving a man the murder signal without having to say a word. Somehow Kalizda had managed to channel that wicked look and she gave him the silent treatment too. Pushing on the buttons rapidly and almost angrily he went through his part of the job with all haste.

Whenever Isla would do that in the past it was her way of saying he'd better give in, or else. It was like the argument was already over and he lost. No matter how badly he wanted to finish it and come out on top he knew he wasn't going to and it was better to make it up instead of hold a grudge. Still he felt angry about the whole thing and he didn't want to make it up just yet.

As soon as they were safely in the air Illya swung his chair around and started for the doorway again. "I need ta get a few tings done. Plenty of work ta do." The more upset he was the thicker his accent got and Illya barely threw a look at Kalizda before he marched out the door and slid the navigation panel door shut behind himself. She could sit in there and do whatever it was that she wanted to. He shouldn't care about what she thought and he knew that he was probably just desperate for any kind of attention and Kalizda had provided some of those more gentle womanly attentions almost from the beginning. It was so strange that he found himself almost liking her and she was a foreigner.

While he was busily making a meal for the crew on board the ship Illya heard one of the children come into the kitchen. A little 'ew' with a sneer came out of the girl's mouth as she watched Ayrn pass and then started into the same process when she saw Kalizda coming into the kitchen. Illya let her have her opinion about Ayrn, but Kalizda deserved more respect. Pinging the girl in the mouth he peered down into her shocked violet eyes. Her little lips turned out in a pout she blinked quickly as a tear formed in the corner of her eye. Speaking in Quoti he held her gaze with his own. "Kalizda woman deserve yah respect. She agreed to help da Chippeqouti. She's honorable and yah better treat her as such eh?" Turning his head back toward his work he ignored any other exchanges in the room unless he was directly addressed.

The first night was far from comfortable as he found all the Chippeqouti stayed in the bunk room and one of the children had already settled in Illya's bed. Pushing the child over he crawled into his bunk. He was barely drifting off to sleep when one of the younger boys started to cry for his mom and dad. His crying in turn started a round of wails from all the younger children including the one in Illya's bunk.

It took nearly an hour of holding the children for all of them to settle. By early morning Illya's whole side ached where the child had insisted on laying. If it couldn't have gotten worse the boy sat up with a greenish tint to his face and then promptly puked on Illya's chest. The Chip clenched his jaw and got up to take himself and the kid to the bathroom to wash up. Sending the boy out ahead of himself he rubbed his head. Maybe the plague made the boy sick, maybe it was motion sickness. Overall it was impossible to tell at this point and Illya left his shirt and the boy's shirt hanging in the washroom to dry. "We get da others up eh? Clean da ship and make breakfast for Kalizda?" The little boy nodded eagerly and dashed off into the room while Illya worked on getting a breakfast of soft desert cakes and opened several cans of the fruit. It was a treat for Chippeqouti to eat fruit and he figured that they would like some with the usually bland desert cakes.

Since it was never good to be angry with a friend Illya served a platter especially for Kalizda and stopped outside her door. Knocking gently he called to her. "Kalizda, Kalizda I bring yah someting to eat."

A rush of feet sounded and he knew that the other Chips were up and within half hour the food was finished and even the elderly Chippeqouti began to scrub the ship from ceiling to floor. Children usually worked on the lower half of the decks. Many of them smiled and nodded when Kalizda passed though there was no such reception for Ayrn.

 

[aryamajor]

Calysta was putting on her shirt that still smelled of mint from the bathhouse yesterday when she heard a knock at her door and Illya's voice. They had barely spoken since lift off other than the necessary answers, and the irritation between them had been evident to even the oblivious Ayrn, who commented on it while she was flying. She pulled her shirt over head and down over her hips, before answering the door. He was standing there with a plate of fruit and a pastry and looking resigned. Some sort of peace offering?

"Oh, uh thank you, Illya," she said, taking the plate, "It looks good."

His eyes looked her over for a moment with a brow raised before the sound of little footfalls echoed down the corridor. It sounded like everyone else was waking up. He gave her a simple nod, and then went to go see about the other Chips breakfast. When he left, she shut the door and glanced down at the plate in her hand. Why did he think of doing kind things like this as if it were normal and yet couldn't tell her somethings? Was it so hard to just talk to her? Whether it was because he was a Chip, or because he was a man, he just didn't understand.

Then again maybe she didn't either. Wasn't that how the entire war between the Chippeqouti and the Federation started? A simple misunderstanding and stubborn pride on both sides? She sat down on her bed and nibbled at the pastry while Keysha watched her with expectant yellow eyes. It was like the cat knew what she was thinking sometimes. "Yeah, I know," she sighed, "I know."

****
Aryn woke to the smell of vomit and quickly searched his bunk in a half-sleep daze. It didn't appear to be his own tossed dinner so he rolled over in an attempted to go back to sleep. It had been a long night filled with crying children waking him up and the occasional cough or sniffle. The room was packed beyond capacity and he had no idea why the captain had decided to play taxi service. She had been reluctant to even give him a ride to the nearest star port when they left Kaereal.

At one point one of the villagers said something in their language and another shuffled over to the thermostat. Within 20 minutes he was sweating and withing another fifteen he was kicking off his covers. He was tempted to strip down all the way, since from what he'd seen, these people were not exactly shy. However, they didn't seem to like him very much and he was in no hurry to run into the captain's cat.

The captain herself was an oddity that he hadn't quite figured out, but he kind of liked the idea of the challenge. Particularly now that Illya seemed to have really pissed her off for the umpteenth time. He was starting to wonder if Illyuck just enjoyed making her mad so he could just enjoy charming the woman back into his favor.

When the others started to get up and wander into the kitchen for breakfast, he followed suit, ending up in the back of the line up. Some of the kids kept giving him weird faces. Didn't they know it wasn't nice to make fun of the guy with the eye patch? When he finally got to the head of the line, he realized the meal was just fruit and a pastry this morning. Definitely not the crepes Calysta had made, but not bad. He noted that the captain wasn't among the crowded line up or in the kitchen with the her co-pilot. Apparently she was still mad.

While Illya wasn't looking, he snagged an extra pastry and walked casually down the hall to knock on Calysta's door. She answered it with her hair standing in all directions and a confused look on her face.

"Hey, thought I'd save you some breakfast," he smiled, holding out the plate with the cake on it.

"Oh, thanks. Illya brought me some already though," she replied, "Maybe one of the kids would like the extra?"

His smile faltered a little but he managed to give her a nod. "Yeah, maybe. I'll go see if one of them will take it off my hands instead."

She shut her door and Ayrn sighed as he retreated back to the kitchen. Illyuck had done it again.

****

Calysta went about the daily tasks, which there were much fewer of thanks to the work of their new passengers. It left her more time to devise their schedule and try to figure out some sort of arrangements for them. An idea had come to her mind on a good place for them, but she would have to get much closer to Kaereal to even see if that was a possibility. In the mean time, there was their first pit stop to handle. The port she had selected was a decent one that was clean but remote from what she could tell. It was on a planet not unlike Kaereal, but was occupied by a cat-like race called the Surnsi according to the Zkree database. It would be a warm tropical climate to stretch their legs.

As the day wore on, she realized she had very little chance to talk to Illya. She'd barely seen him at all since their exchange over breakfast and even when she had he wasn't where he could talk easily. The children seemed to take to him like a magnet and he was surprisingly good with them. He would pat them on the head, or ruffle their hair as head lead them down the hall or got them a drink of water.

Every now and then she would talk with some of the elderly in small phrases, answering questions or helping with smaller tasks. They were nice to her, but she could tell the didn't quite trust her. On the other hand, the children seemed to like her. They gave her smiles and generally seemed more relaxed around her even though she was sure they didn't speak any traders-tongue at all.

By the time everyone was settled in and all was quiet, it was late in the evening. Illya was in the kitchen doing dishes and she had just finished feeding Keysha. She had wanted to talk with him for most of the day, but never quite got the chance. She had been just as stubborn as he had been and even though he had given out the first olive branch, she wanted to reciprocate with her own.

Calysta walked into the kitchen where Illya stood at the counter, putting away the last plate. She watched him from the doorway for a moment, something held in the crook of her arm, before saying anything. "I was going to see if you needed help, but it looks like everything is done."

"Yeah its all done." Illya pushed another dish to the side while he dried the one next to it. "Yah got our next landing charted out?" He hadn't stuck around long enough to find out the other day and he was slightly ashamed of himself for taking everything so personally.

"Aye, I did. We'll be landing tomorrow afternoon," she replied as she walked over, and put the plate away, "It will be a nice stop for the children while we restock. Is there anything I can get that they would like? Or the others?"

Letting out a long breath he thought for a moment. "More food." It was fairly basic. They had all packed what they would need and a few had even packed food with just to be sure that there would be enough to go around during the voyage. "I need ta ask if th-they need anything."

He still seemed irritated with her, even after breakfast this morning. "Fair enough." She put the next dish away and then put the book out on the counter. It was old, battered with slightly yellowed pages. When she looked at it sitting there, it looked like a pitiful peace offering. "That's for you."

"What!?" Illya nearly yelled even as he turned toward her. He was a little confused at why she would be offering him a book. "Why?" Narrowing his eyes slightly he stared at her intently. It was difficult to tell exactly why she wanted to give him a book.

Calysta jumped at his out burst and nearly stepped back. Why was he so weird over a book? "I got it in Gkoe and thought it would be something you liked. I'm trying to be nice."

"Yah just trying to be nice?" Illya frowned and he set the towel aside. "I uh..." Peering a little more carefully at the book he picked it up and began to flip through some of the pages. "Thank yah. Just been a long time since anyone gave meh a gift. Yah just surprised meh is all."

He was the only person she'd ever seen frown at a gift. A half smile came to her lips and she chuckled a little. "Surprised that the gift or surprised I can be nice?"

"Surprised at a gift." Illya met her gaze for a moment. "Thhis a history, or a story?" Nodding at her answer he carefully set it aside. "I'm out of practice. How do I thank yah properly?"

"It's Terran myth and classic, so its a bit of both," she replied, looking up at him, "Out of practice, huh? Just a thank you is well enough for me and if you read it, you tell me what you think."

It seemed she wanted him to read it soon. "I read it tonight and each night after till it is done eh?" Illya was terrible slow reading the Trader's language, but it was good of her to think of him and buy a book in a language he could read. "Is it normal where yah from to give gifts?"

She tilted her head to the side a bit, considering his question. "For friends it can be, or for holidays. Terrans have an entire day dedicated to gift giving that my father practices. Do Chippeqouti not give them often?

There was a lot of gift giving in her culture. When she returned the question Illya shook his head. "Not as much. We give a gift to da dead, to a new baby, and when we agree th-that is all." For the most part there wasn't much reason for them to give gifts and he didn't understand how one could be so casual unless you were attempting to impress them. "Unless..." A smirk came to his face. "Yah be giving a gift in secret and not make it formal."

Both of her heritages seemed to give gifts much more freely than his and his comment about informal gifts made it clear that offerings like the book may mean something different. She didn't want another 'barber' mishap though, so she deigned to ask. "Gifts in secret?"

The grin on Illya's face grew broader. "Yes. It is not proper to give a gift without death, birth, or agreement. Yah want to give a gift to a friend or maybe pay when someone refuses payment so yah leave a gift. Dey cannot refuse what th-they cannot prove is a gift."

She looked at his growing smile, the mischievous grin she had become familiar with, and laughed lightly. His description of secret gifts fit with his stubborn nature and culture and she could see him doing something like that easily. "I hope you don't mind the improper delivery of this one, then," she replied.

Shrugging a little he kept the grin. "Oh I tink maybe yah don't know." Illya looked at the book in his hand. "Maybe I like yah way of doing th-things. I learn more about yah people."

****

Illya's interest in asking more about her people made her some what speechless for a long moment. At first she thought he might have been being a slightly fecisious but the way he said it made it seem otherwise.

She spent a little while talking with Illya about Kaereleans and Chippeqouti. Only smaller, simple questions to which they both found the answers surprising and different. It was strange for him to be so open with her after being so silent on Qouti, but she found the company enjoyable. Engaging even. When they were both tired, Illya suggested that they should sleep and she agreed. It was late and their first port stop would be tomorrow.

With a yawn, she wandered to her quarters and sat down on her bed to take off her boots. As she tugged the first one off and tossed it over by the closet, her eye caught on the red dress hanging inside. She was lucky she still had the dress and the necklace after landing on Qouti even if they had been randomly found on the ship...

"Dey cannot refuse what th-they cannot prove is a gift."

His comment sprang to her mind and her mouth fell open. She had felt like the dress box hadn't been there and thought it was odd that the necklace had been found in the kitchen. They were odd because those things had not come with the ship at all. Her cheeks started to turn pink and a smile spread over her lips as she sat back against the wall. How was it he managed to make her blush and he wasn't even in the room?