Silence
Anonymous Me
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."
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."