Eco-Challenge FS (conc)
Raven-Kat -- Rae breathes deeply
and slowly begins one of the most difficult forms of magic known in the multiverse.
She has sent out her awareness before without difficulty, miles away, even, from her body, without harm. This time, though, it is different. Once her awareness has located what it seeks, she must send her soul after it. Her disciplined mind ignores the obstacles and attractions that are part of any such journey and focuses on finding what is left of the dimensional rift.
It is a tiny hole, only a few molecules across, but since things like awareness do not take up space, she is easily able to slip through. When the time comes, her soul should follow just as easily.
She quickly locates the object of her search. The checkpoint is a flurry of activity, which suprises Rae since there are no teams about. Then she seems Crais and Larraq gently carrying an unconscious Jila towards the med tent. Cursing, she looks around for her other self.
She picks her easily out of the crowd as she stands rubbing her hands together in distress. Rae slowly moves her awareness closer, until she is 'looking' Ensign Katlyn in the eyes. Then she wills her soul to follow.
With a snap, she lurches forward, nearly bumping into her alternate self, who lets out a little squeal of surprise.
"Be calm, Ensign!" Rae orders firmly. "Tell me what happened to Jila."
Accustomed to following orders, Alternate Rae explains, "I think when Miss Lessa and Wing-leader F'Lar punished my Jila, yours was simply..."
"Caught in the cross-fire?" Rae asks, shaking her head. "Is the damage permenant?"
"I'm not sure..."
"Not..." Rae shakes her head. "Look, we must talk. You have a great deal to tell me and time is short."
"But..."
"I want to get you home to your Crais, love, but I can't do that without help. Show me the others, first."
"Can they see you?"
"Probably not." Rae tells her, only to be immediately proven wrong as Crais emerges from the med-tent.
"Riv, could you come..." He trails off and stares at the scene before him. The Ensign is talking to a ghostly figure who look just like "Rae!" he shouts, running forward. He tries to throw his arms around her, but instead finds himself on the ground after passing through her imaterial body.
Rae shivers at the sensation. "Don't do that again. I feel like someone just walked on my grave."
He picks himself up. "What... How..."
"Later, hmm? My time is short. What's Jila's condition?"
"It's hard to tell yet. Obviously the other Jila absorbed the brunt of the attack..."
Rae nods. "Then there is yet hope. Good. On to how we're going to turn the world right-side up again."
"You have a plan then?" Crais asks, delighted.
Rae shakes her head. "Not yet, but Sunny's talking teleportation."
"Unless the other Sun can teleport as well, that rather leaves the other team out on a limb." Crais notes.
Rae nods. "We need a way to cleanly reverse the process. Say, planting a worm-hole right in the middle of the camp."
"Or a plot-hole." Alternate Rae suggests softly. Rae and Crais stare at her. "It was only a suggestion."
"It may have merit. Assuming we can convince the others to go through another one after what happened." Crais noted.
"Not bloody likely." Rae mutters. "And I don't think they're going to trust me with plastique in the near future either."
Crais sniggers.
"Get frelled!" Rae snaps.
"Gladly, my dear. If you'll just step into my tent..."
"If I were corporeal, I'd kick your eema right now." Rae informs him, laughing.
Alternate Rae stares between the two, awed by thier easy way of relating to each other.
Rae notices and grins at her. "Shyness is very unbecoming for the Rivyn's and Bailar's of the world, my dear." Rae tells her, grinning. She then turns to business. "Look, wormhole or plot-hole, the key may be having us in exactly the same positions in both worlds. Do you-" Rae trails off as she becomes aware that her feet have left the ground. "Frell..."
"What is it?" Crais asks, staring at the slowly ascending Rae.
"I think I just flat-lined." Rae says, looking bewildered.
She is vaguely aware of the looks of horror on the faces of Crais and the Ensign, then there is blackness and a rushing sensation, like being pulled along in a stream feeding into a waterfall.
Raven-Kat -- “Colonel? Colonel?”
Alternate Crais repeated frantically, trying to shake Rae awake.
Rae was aware only of darkness, until, faintly, "Can you hear me?"
"Owwies..." Rae groans, rolling onto her stomach. Her headache and the buzz she is feeling give her a quick idea of what has happened. "I died, didn't I?" she groans, trying to push herself up.
Alternate Crais nods slowly and puts his hand on her back. "Try to rest. When you didn't respond to the first Nerve shot, I was afraid it was over."
"FIRST Nerve shot?" Rae sits up, staring incredulously at him. "How many total?"
"Four." Alternate Crais tells her. "I finally gave up and did CPR." he admits sheepishly.
Rae stares at him. "You put your lips on mine without permission?" she asks sternly. As Alternate Crais begins stammering a reply, she laughs and hugs him. "Thank you."
"You aren't angry then?"
She shakes her head. "You made the right call. How long was I gone?"
"Gone, gone or dead, gone?"
"Both." Rae groans, lying back on the cot.
"Dead for five minutes. Gone for almost 15."
"That's all?" Rae sits up again. "Cool, then I have some free time before the others get up. I'm going for a jog."
"No you are not! You were DEAD!"
"So?" Rae shrugs at him. "I'm feeling better now. Great in fact." She smiles.
"That's because you're ODed on the Nerve shots and you know it, Colonel!" Crais says firmly.
Rae laughs. "Look who finally learned to stand up for himself. I'm proud of you man. But I could still really use a run."
"No."
"Kickboxing?"
"No."
"Raquet-ball?"
"You are not leaving this cot."
"And who's going to make me stay?" Rae gives him a curious smile that makes him turn bright red.
He rises quickly and begins backing towards the tent-flap.
"Thought not." Rae mutters, grinning and laying back on the tent. This man might not be as confident as her Bailar, but he was a lot more fun to tease...
Lurkingghost -- He’s right, Rea
A voice next to Rea's elbow made her jump.
'Ghost materializes on the cot next to her.
"You need to rest, being dead like that must have been tough on your body. You should take care of it; it's a good one."
"GAHH! 'Ghost! Don't DO that."
"Sorry! I felt you starting to 'shuffle off the mortal coil,' so I followed you back to make sure you were ok. Now I've got to get going, I don't want to risk bumping into by double. Take care, Rea."
'Ghost waves and disappears.
-'Ghost
Lurkingghost -- Team Deviants pulled into the checkpoint
And come upon Team Holy Rollers resting up and discussing what they should do.
Chryse groaned. "No water or food."
"Well," Grack offered, "There's a little brook running by here. It's not a hot shower, but it'll get us unsticky."
"Where's our support team?" Mouse asked retorically.
"Um, they ran into a few problems." 'Ghost answered. "I've been flitting back and forth while I'm scouting. Rea and Team Heat Delerium fell into a plothole, and got 'ported to another dimension. Their doubles got sent here, and now everyone is trying to figure out how to get them back where they belong. It's a big mess. I don't think support is going to be here anytime soon."
(Are Team Deviants and Team Holy Rollers going to continue, or go back to help untangle the double-mess?)
-'Ghost
Raven-Kat -- “Yee gods!”
Rae sighs, leaning back into the cot. "The woman's going to give me ANOTHER heart-attack..."
Grinning and shaking her head, she adds a telepathic, *Thanks, Ghostie!* that she knows her friend will be able to hear.
Mouse2000 -- “My vote,”
says a very cranky Mouse, " is to stay right here. It sounds like all hezmana is breaking loose over there and although I want to make sure everyone comes out ok, I don't think having an extra 7 people over there is going to help matters. Any other thoughts or suggestions?
Crais Mandroid -- Crais sighs
as he considers everything that's been going on in the past few days. Something suddenly occurs to him. He jumps up. "Larraq!" he snaps, pointing.
"Sir?"
"Get you emma to the next checkpoint. This is still a race. Stay there, wave the teams through, give them what aid you can. Bring Geredan and Fluffy and comm the mansion for more support personel if you need them."
"Frell, I'd forgotten all about the other teams." Sighing, Larraq grabs what supplies he will need and jumps on Geredan and whispers a few comforting words to the still tired animal.
He lands at the next checkpoint and hurriedly begins unloading, apologizing profusely as he does so.
JilaCosa -- Team RainbowMonkey
enters the checkpoint just as Larraq and Geradan land. They look rested, neat and clean.
"How....??" Team HolyRoller ask as one. They're not covered in chocolate anymore but they are still sticky in spots.
"What?" The IQ clone team stops, looks at each other and then back at Team HolyRoller whose clothes still have brown spots on them.
"Why is it you're so Clean?" Mouse asks walking over to and around the IQ's
"Yeah, what's goin' on?" Twig buzzes around their heads.
"Ahh," Two answers for his team. "We've been listening to the comm and realized that everybody was busy with the alternate dimension problem."
"So at the ocean we took a break." Seven concludes. "Looks like you fell in the chocolate river."
"Gee, how could you tell?" Kara asks.
"You didn't look at your map before the boat ride, did you." Six shakes his head.
"No. Why?" Spy digs the map out of his wing and unfolds it quickly.
"Rae put a little asterisk riiiiight there." Three points to Spy's map and then turns the map sideways
***Get off the river here, Waterfall ahead.***
"uh oh." Mouse's face turns a little pink. She was map reader at the time.
"Frell! I'm sorry guys!" Larraq says, leaping off Geradan's back and undoing the rope attached to the clean water barrel. "All Hezmana's broken loose back there and we forgot about you." Next comes the boxes of food pacs and replacement gear.
"Is everything alright?" Chryse and Wiz ask as they pic through the boxes.
"We think so." Larraq says, but the doubt in his voice is loud and clear. "Rae sent us a message from the dimension she's in and told us that we had twelve hours to get them back here and close the dimensional rift." *Or Jila's in trouble* The thought ran through his mind before he could stop it. "We're down to ten hours right now."
So, as the three teams find their replacement gear, and Team Holy Roller tries their best to remove the remainder of the chocolate stickiness with the clean water, the ultimate question comes up.
"How do we reconcile the time lost by the lack of a checkpoint. Do we:
1)Take off together, starting from equal footings, or
2)Leave here one team at a time, separated by the amount of time that we've been waiting around."
Mouse2000 -- “I don’t know.” Mouse said
testily , "and I'm beginning not to care." The other teams look at Mouse with confusion and wonder where this anger has come from. Yes, it's been a hike, and they've all had their share of problems, but that's no excuse to get nasty.
"Look, I apologized about not being here..." Larraq started, but Mouse cut him off.
"It's not you. It's me. I'm tired, wet, sticky, dirty, and I think I really hurt myself with that last stunt." With that, Mouse pulled down her sock to reveal a VERY swollen-and-soon-to-be-black-and-blue ankle.
"Let me take a look at that." Larraq checked out her ankle and turned to her team. "It's pretty bad. If you want to finish as a team I suggest you get in that boat right now and finish before this swells up any more."
Team Holy Rollers huddles up and decides to leave now and finish, and let the others decide how to score the race. Mouse's ankle is wrapped tightly, she's given some medicine to help the swelling and some icebags to keep her ankle surrounded.
After a brief rest and some food and showers, the teams all decide to leave at the same time and let whoever gets there first win. They are assured by Larraq that Crais has Team Heat Delerium under control and their presence would not help matters. With relatively clear consciences, they all head out to the boats. A stiff headwind is blowing which keeps the boats at a pretty even distance from each other.
First one to the dock wins!
kayde -- Kay seemed perturbed
but, knows there isn't anything she can do.
"What is it Kay?" Rae asks seeing the usually easy going Kay at sorts.
"Nothing, but, the others are going on ahead, and we can't, till we fix this mess. That's all. I know Alter Kay is around, and from the sounds of things, not a nice person. So, I just wish we could send them back."
"I am working on it as fast as I can", said Rae.
"I know you are. We'll figure it out", said Kay with a smile.
Alter Rae, peeking around the corner thought, "Wow, this Kay is a lot different than the other one. She seems nice. I wonder if I could tell her what the other one is doing, and she could stop her. " Sighing, she knew that was not possible.
Jila called Kay over to Lessa and F'lar. They greeted her warmly, and Ramoth's eyes swirled in delight when Kay reached up to scratch her eye ridges.
"She remembers me!" said Kay in delight, forgetting the more pressing problems for the moment.
Lessa grinned at Kay, "Ramoth said you are wishing for a ride. She will be happy to take you. And, Jila too." She said with a wink, as Ramoth told her Jila wished for the ride as well.
Grinning, the two Scoobettes jumped on Ramoth's back, and were off in a flash. Acoomodating Jila's wish to take them Between briefly, Ramoth does. And, in a flash, they are back, and headed back to the group, with a very excited Jila and Kay.
Barely landing, they jumped off.
"We saw it! We know what to do!" Kay yelled at Rae.
"You saw what?" Rae asked.
"We saw the other dimension! And where they meet! We know how to get everyone back! Rae, you must take a ride on Ramoth. She'll take you there, and you will see for yourself!" Jila yelled excitedly.
Nodding, Lessa and F'lar smiled. Finally, this could be solved.
Raven-Kat -- Rae hesitates
"Um..."
"Rae?" Kay gapes at her. "What is your problem? I know it's not riding the dragon, since you ride Geredan all the time..."
Rae sighs. "This is different. It's a different breed of dragon, for one, and, um..."
Lessa stares at her. "You're scared to go between?"
Hearing it phrased like that, Rae walks up to Ramoth and gently rests her hands on the queen's head.
*You'll keep me safe.*
*Of course.* Ramoth looks mildly offended by the question.
*I'm afraid.* Rae admitts, so softly that not even Sunny could have heard.
*You will be safe. But your friends are convinced that you must see this.*
Rae sighs and climbs aboard the dragon's back. She politely declines when Lessa offers her riding-straps. "I'm fine, thankyou."
Lessa shrugs and climbs aboard. "Ready?"
Rae nods firmly, her legs tightening around the dragon's neck. Ramoth lifts off and vanishes Between.
Rae had heard the horror stories about Between, but it was worse than she had imagined. It was not just terrifying, it was beautiful. It called to her, impelled her to abandon the dragon, to remain behind. The cold was so soothing to her exhausted body and mind that she momentarily considered remaining.
"So this is what staring into the Abyss is like."
She spoke the words aloud, but did not hear the slightest sound. She looked around in the darkness. This too was an odd sensation given her disembodied status. It took her a moment to realize that she was not seeing the nothingness that everyone spoke of when they mentioned Between. It LOOKED like nothingness, but it was not.
She began to see. Black was not an absence of colors at all. It was what happened when something absorbed every color on the spectrum. It was ALL colors. Once you saw that, you saw black differently. You saw the color.
And Between was all dimensions. And once you could see that, you could see the paths, as clear and obvious as footprints in the snow. It was enough to drive a person mad.
*Take me back!* Rae said swiftly to Ramoth.
The dragon quickly returned them and landed in the clearing. Rae slid from her back, weakly clutching the dragon's fore-leg for support.
"You were gone too long." Alternate Crais said, rushing up to her. "We were worried. Even F'Lar."
Rae nodded weakly and pushed herself upright. "I saw it. I saw where the two universes meet. I saw how to bridge the gap."
She half-fell to the ground and feverishly began scrawling equations into the sand.
"It's so clear when you put it like that." Alternate Crais said. "Someone get me a piece of paper!"
Rae continued writing in the sand, ignoring the sudden burst of activity around her.
Kay knelt next to her. "Are you okay? Was it horrible?"
Rae finished writing and smiled up at Kay. "It was beautiful..."
She collapsed into her friends arms.
Raven-Kat -- “Are you sure about this?”
Alternate Crais asks softly.
"If you ask me that one more time," Rae groans from her cot, "I am going to kick your eema. It WILL work."
"If Rae says it'll work..." Kay tells him firmly, entering the tent. "So, what's the plan?"
"We open a small singularity..." Rae yawns. "Sorry. Small plot singularity in the center of the camp. The two camps are located in almost identical locations in the different universes. So long as everyone's standing in the exact locations I've laid out, the singularity will take care of the rest."
"Great..." Kay nods uncertainly. "Isn't a singularity like a black hole?"
Rae nods. "That's the point. A black hole is a junction between different universes."
"Won't the gravity crush us?"
"Gra..." Rae laughs and shakes her head. "That is such a pre-Wingsloe theory! Trust me on this one, Kay. It's a bit difficult to explain the true nature of a black hole, but it's not unlike a worm-hole."
"Great. So what's next?"
"Crais here and his Techs set up a singularity generator in the center of camp. I take another astral trip and convey the plan to the others. THEY set up a singularity generator. With any luck at all, the backlash from the transfer will collapse the plot-hole as well, solving all of our problems. Bye!"
"Bye?" Kay stares, perplexed.
"I'm not doing this with an audience. Bye, Kay, hon."
"Um, bye. I'll just go see if I can help Teeg."
"Thanks." Rae waves as she leaves and leans back with a sigh.
"This is dangerous." Alterante Crais protests.
"I know."
"I won't lose both of you."
"I'm not yours to keep OR to lose!" Rae snaps. "You don't know me and I don't know you. I don't WANT to know you. I just want to get home. Now, if you'll excuse me."
"You want to do this alone?"
"Leave the Medical DRD."
"I wish you'd reconsider."
"Go. NOW."
Alternate Crais sighs and flees the tent.
Rae stares after him with a sigh. "Okay, Fluffers 2," she tells the DRD, "all you have to do is keep an eye on my vitals. If I flat-line, pump me full of Nerve shots until I come back. Understand?"
CHEEP, WHRRR... BZZT-BUZZ
"Don't you start on me, too..." Rae leans back and closes her eyes.
AlternateRae -- Alternate Rae stared at the ocean
sighing softly.
"What is it, Ensign?" Crais asked softly, walking up to her.
"Your Jila will be hurt because of actions attributable to me. I'm so sorry..."
"Child... First off, my Jila is NOT going to be hurt because my Riv is going to make things right. Second of all, you weren't the only one indiscriminately setting off explosives inside that plot-hole. So enough with the guilt. It's really unappealing."
She stared at him. "Sir?"
"It's not your fault, young lady." Crais sighed and rose. "I won't have you blaming yourself." He pulled her to her feet and into his arms. "Your Jila is a monster and deserves to be punished, but our Jila is not and so will not be. Riv will see to it."
"Really, sir?" She smiled hopefully at him.
"You are so pretty when you do that. Why don't you do it more often?" He bent to kiss her.
"Sorry to interupt." Rae said cheerfully. "Should I come back some other time?"
"Riv?" Crais stared at her. "You're unharmed? I was worried."
"Obviously." Rae smiled, enjoying his discomfort. "Ensign."
Alternate Rae blushed and slid out of Crais's arms. "I can explain, ma'am!"
"Don't bother. It was really pretty self-evident, anyway. Right now, I need you to listen..."
Crais Mandroid -- “This had better work....”
Crais and Alternate Crais muttered at the same moment as they placed the finishing touches on the singularity generator.
Rae staggered out of the medical tent and drew three small circles in the sand, surrounded by a much larger circle. "Sunny, here. Kay, here. Everyone else, out of the large circle. 100 microts and counting." Rae steps into her circle and Sweetie settles onto her shoulder.
"This is shaving it damned close." Teeg points out as Kay and Sunny take thier positions. "What if they can't do it on the other end, Riv?"
"Then we're frelled." Rae smiles at her. "Fifty microts! If you aren't going, get out of the circle!"
"You sure about this?" Sunny asks dubiously.
"Not really. Thirty microts!" Rae sighs. "A hundred dollars says it works, though." She grins at Sunny. "I can't lose a bet like this."
Sunny sniggers rudely as Alternate Crais picks up the countdown.
"Ten, nine, eight, seven, good luck, three, two, initiating..."
~~~~~
"Hurry, hurry!" Crais flaps his arms frantically at Larraq as he lugs Alternate Kay out of the medical tent. "Get her into this circle here. Move! Eighty microts and counting. Cadet Sun, if you could step into this circle. Ensign, over here with the bird, please."
"I'll miss you, sir." Alternate Rae whispers, kissing him on the cheek.
"Me too..." He smiles at her and leads her to her circle. "Everyone but these four, OUT!" he shouts, running from the larger of the circles. "Ten microts."
"Nine," Jila picks up the count. "Eight, seven..."
"It's been real!" Alternate Sunny calls, throwing up her fingers in two V's and striking a pose. "Or... sur-real as the case may be."
"Four, three, two, one, contact."
Crais triggers the generator and everyone in the camp is momentarily stunned by a flash of blue light.
Raven-Kat -- Rae groans in pain
as she slowly becomes aware of her surroundings. She is lying on her stomach with her mouth and nose full of sand. Pushing herself up with her hands, she sees Sunny and Kay lying nearby. Sweetie is sprawled on the ground next to her.
She experimentally pokes the bird, earning an outraged squawk.
Crais hurries over to her as Larraq and Jila rush to the sides of Sunny and Kay. "Did it work?" Crais asks nervously.
"Bailar, why the hezmana is my mouth full of sand?" Rae asks between attempts to spit it all out. "And how much DID I drink? I had the oddest hallucinations..."
"They weren't hallucinations." Crais tells her.
Rae sits up and gapes at him, cradling Sweetie in her arms. "You mean to say that I successfully astrally projected TWICE? Wow!"
Rae lets out a war-hoop that can be clearly heard at the next check-point. She jumps into Crais's arms, knocking him backwards into the sand and laughing. She bends over and kisses him on the forehead, then stops.
"You kissed the Ensign!" she says accusingly, grinning.
"You did not see anything, you can not prove anything." he says, sitting up.
Rae laughs and shoves him back into the sand. "Crais and the Ensign sitting in a tree..." she chants softly.
"Why are YOU in such a good mood?" Crais smiles at her. "I'd figured you'd be exhausted from your effort."
"I would be, except for the four or five Nerve shots it took to bring me back to life each time." Rae hesitates, a horrible thought occuring to her. "Does that count as a performance-enhancing drug?"
"Um..."
"Frell it, Rae." Sunny suggests. "We've practically lost already, so let's just give it up."
"No!" Rae shakes her head. "I am NOT quitting. We came this far. Hezmana, we've already been farther than any other team... We can't quit! Can we?"
Sun Aeryn -- “I didn’t say that!”
Sunny looks at Rae
"I didn't say we should give up. I think you were hearing my alter or something. I think we should stop thinking we can win this thing...but I never give up." Sunny finished...sounding alot like her idol/heroine Aeryn Sun.
Rae looks at Sunny...
"Velorek, maybe you should take a look at her....I think she must have hit her head."
Sunny gasps *I did not!*
"We do not have time for this. If we are going to at Least finish this frellin' race....we better get back at it, NOW!" Sunny says heading for the showers.
After a shower, Sunny starts unpacking her gear....replacing the old stuff with new stuff. Crais, Jila, Rae and everyone else looked at Sunny, she was acting like a mad woman.
"Why are you three just standing around? Are we getting back into this frellin' race or not!?" Sunny asked...heading to the mess tent. She was hungry.
Mouse2000 -- The three teams
battled their way back to checkpoint one. Team Deviants were in the lead, with Team Holy Rollers and Team RainbowMonkey close behind. Suddenly there was a waterspout in front of team RainbowMonkey and they quickly pulled over to see Team Slewfoot emerge from the ocean, their sub turnng back into a canoe. This let Team Holy Rollers move into second place.
With the checkpoint in sight, all the teams started rowing harder.
Who will be the first to cross??
AlternateRae -- Happily ever after...
Ensign Rivyn Katlyn groaned softly as she pulled herself into a sitting position on the small cot in the medical tent. For some reason, the transfer had affected her worse than any of the others, and it had taken her several hours to recuperate fully.
"Look who's decided to rejoin us!" Teeg smiled at the Ensign as she stepped into view.
Alternate Rae stared uncertainly up at her. "How much trouble am I in, Teeg?"
"Not as much as you think." Teeg smiled at her. "Kay's been removed to a human hospital pending psychiatric evaluation. Jila's link to Geredan was severed about twenty minutes ago. F'Lar and Lessa brought her back with them for some reason. I suppose she's to undergo further discipline or something. High Command has indicated that they believe you acted properly given the circumstances." Teeg smiled at her. "On that note, the Captain wishes to speak to you as soon as you feel up to it."
Alternate Rae nodded and slowly pulled herself to her feet. As Teeg reached out to help her, she said, "I think I can walk. Where is he?"
"On the beach, saying good-bye to Geredan."
"He's not staying?" Alternate Rae asked sadly. "The Captain will be disappointed."
"He's going to Benden for retraining. They hope to match him with a more suitable rider next time..." Teeg shrugged. "The Captain." she reminded Alternate Rae softly.
Alternate Rae nodded and quickly left the tent. She still felt a little wobbly, but she could not help but smile at the sight of Sunny trying to surf on the smooth-as-glass ocean. Somehow, it seemed only fitting...
As she approached Alternate Crais, he was obviously saying his final fair-thee-well, judging by the tears in his eyes and the dragon's. She waited at a respectful distance until the dragon had taken wing and vanished Between.
"You wished to see me, sir?" she asked.
"Riv." He smiled and turned to face her. "Yes, I have something to tell you. Something I imagine will make you a very happy woman."
She smiled, bemused. His stutter was gone. "Sir?"
"You don't have to call me that any more, Ensign. Or should I say Lieutenant?"
She gaped. "I've been promoted?"
He nodded, smiling. "Happy?"
She smiled incredulously and nodded. "Never happier, sir."
"Bailar."
She smiled shyly. "Never happier, Bailar."
"I like the way that sounds when you say it."
"Me, too." She grinned. "Is it really true, though? How?"
"After reviewing the situation, High Command and the Terran Central Authority determined that Jila and Kay were extremely unsuited for thier leadership capacities." Crais smiled. "A new, joint office is to be formed for groups such as ours. A human and a Sebacian working together. The Viking, as the next in the human chain of command will form half of the team."
"And the Sebacian?"
He smiled broadly. "Me!"
She threw herself into his arms. "Sir, that is wonderful!"
"Things are going to change here. No longer is one species going to be able to assert dominance over another. The humans are our allies, not our rulers, and they will start treating us accordingly or lose our support in the question of membership to the Alliance. At the risk of sounding like a sound-byte, the Alliance is about equality between species."
The newly appointed Lieutenant laughed happily. "I see wonderful things in our future."
He laughed and nodded. Suddenly serious, he added, "Starting, I hope, with a change in the nature of our relationship."
"Sir?" She smiled hopefully. "You don't mean..."
He nodded. "I do..." He trailed off as Teeg came running down to the beach.
"Turn on your comms!" she shouted, running up to them.
Alternate Crais swiftly kissed Alternate Rae. "We'll resume this discussion shortly."
"I'll hold you to that." She smiled and turned on her comm.
A cheerful human woman was speaking, her voice echoing slightly as it was heard over thousands of comms at once.
"And for those of you just joining us, it IS official. The war with the Scarrans is over! We take you now live to the Orbital Station Freedom for a news conference."
Over the comms, the sounds of ruffling paper and a thousand voices whispering together could be heard.
A man cleared his throat and began speaking. "The Terran Central Authority has just confirmed the news with Peacekeeper High-Command. In response to the news of our joint worm-hole breakthrough, the Scarrans have unconditionally surrendered and withdrawn the bulk of their forces back into their own space. Venus was among the first planets abandoned, and we have unconfirmed reports that troops on Mercury are preparing for evacuation as well. That is all at this time. We will keep you posted as further details become available. Questions?" A flurry of shouted questions. "Yes? The Delvian in the second row?"
Alternate Rae clicked off her comm.
"Can you believe it?" Teeg asked, laughing.
Alternate Rae and Crais shook thier heads.
"I'd say that this calls for a celebration." Alternate Crais announced, putting on arm around Teeg and the other around Alternate Rae and steered them back towards his tent. "Now, I have a one-hundred-cycle-old bottle of Felip Whiskey..."
and they all lived happily ever after...
We now return you to your regularly scheduled reality...
Mouse2000 -- Ragnar and Mr. Lee
reached the top of the mountain with little problem. Ragnar was still pretty miffed at Mr. Lee for making him look silly in front of the women, but there was no time for recriminations. As the time for the Eco-Challenge to end drew near, they knew they needed to get going if they even wanted to finish the race. Seeing there was only one glider, Mr. Lee decided that it would be best to ride on Ragnar's shoulders and that way they could both make it to the savana floor. Ragnar wasn't happy about it AT ALL, but her realized that the faster this thing was done, the faster he could get back to the longboat and do some fishing. So they got set up and started out. On the way down, Ragnar spotted a puff of smoke and realized that it was from a shotgun. Knowing the cause was more than likely one of the Kittens, he steered the glider towards the puff.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Pedro fired again. *That kitten WILL BE MINE* he thought maniacally. He didn't give a second thought that the shotgun blast would attract attention. All he cared about was getting Fidget, and then getting Mischief and Fidget and the baby lynx out of this frellin jungle and some cash in his pocket. As he ran up, he spotted Elvis who was uncharacteristically barring his teeth. Fidget told him what was going on and he was NOT having any part of it. As Elvis loped towards Pedro, Ragnar and Mr. Lee glided down behind Pedro. With stunning accuracy, Ragnar hit Perdo in the back with his feet and Elvis slid to a stop in front of Pedro, tripping him. Mr. Lee hopped of Ragnar's back, and sat on Pedro, pressing his cane to the back of his neck.
"You will stay here, please."
Mouse2000 -- Jeff heard the shots
and got nervous. Pedro was always doing something stupid like this and this frelling cat wouldn't shut up. And now he was stuck in this frelling jungle and it was getting dark. Luckily he knew where the little boat was that would get them back to civilization quicker than quick, and if Pedro didn't get back here in a couple minutes, he was out of there.
The sun set, and the jungle started to get really dark. Jeff was through waiting around when he heard a rustling of the jungle plants. "Pedro! What the ..." the accusation died on his lips as the spendor of the momma Lynx came into view. Pedro took their only weapon, and now what was he going to do? Those glowing gold eyes pinned him and a voice echoed in his head. *Release my cub and the other, and I will let you live.* Jeff, being a wuss at heart, realized something strange was going on and froze in his tracks. Again the voice in his head commanded he release the cats. This time it was louder and more insistent. Being a true coward, Jeff released the animals and fled. The baby lynx cub walked majestically towards his momma, knowing the whole time that she would NEVER let those evil men take him. Mischief, on the other hand, had no clue where to go. The momma Lynx pointed him in the right direction and gave him a little pat on the butt. He skedaddled down the path, and *smacked* right into Trouble. Kitten walked over to him and grilled him on the "other artickitten" but when he told them what happened, Kitten was satisfied that she would NOT have to share her crunch. Ragnar and Mr. Lee made Pedro take them to the boat that he and Jeff had stashed. They found Jeff whimpering in the bottom of the boat, crying about how nothing ever works out for him. Ragnar silenced him with a look, and they all cast off, heading back to checkpoint one.
JilaCosa -- *GERADAN!* Jila mental shout rang out
*I'm here* was the soft reply
Jila scanned the skies as tears rolled down her cheeks. "...break her bond with the dragon." was the last thing she heard before she passed out. But he was still there, so soft in her mind that she had almost missed the familiar hum of his thoughts. *I was so afraid...*
*But all is well.*
Geradan and Larraq soon landed, and Jila ran to the two and hugged Geradan around his neck. Geradan hummed his contentment, and Rae smiled as she rolled herself into a sitting position on the cot in the med tent.
"Why are you back?" Velorek asked Larraq as he approached. "Why didn't you just send Geradan for us?"
"The race seems to be over." Larraq said with a slight shrug.
"What do you mean the race seems to be over?" Sunny asked as Team Heat Delirium and Crais walked over to the landing spot.
"The three teams that were waiting for me," Larraq counted them off on his fingers, "Team Rainbow Monkey, Team Holy Roller, and Team Deviant, decided to race back to the first check point, and whoever got there first was the winner of the Eco-challenge."
"But I've mapped out challenges on two more Lands." Rae said taking a seat on a convenient rock. She pushed her hair out of her face and sighed heavily. It had been hard on her getting her friends back from the other dimension.
"I don't know." Larraq shook his head. "Perhaps they felt that you had made the course too rough. All I know is that they replaced their supplies and headed back."
"As soon as we pack up here we'll take you back with us." Crais said. He was more worried about Rae than he'd ever been before.
"Like Hezmana!" Rae yelled and stood up quickly. Too quick actually, as the blood rushed to her head and a wave of vertigo hit. She sat back down just as quickly.
"um, I'd like to rejoin the race." Kay spoke up. "Even if it is just back to the beginning."
"Frellin' right!" Sunny agreed vehemently. "I didn't come this far to bail before the race is done."
"Riv, are you sure?" Crais knelt in front of Rae, holding her face in his hands, and looking her in the eye.
"Yes, I'm sure." Rae took his hands from her face.
"I would like Velorek to check you out first." Jila said, finally letting go of Geradan, and walking over to stand behind Crais. "You've been through a lot Rae, but if he says you're okay to finish then you can go. Okay?"
Rae scowled but agreed.
The examination was quick, and Rae was declared fit for travel.
"Sunny, Kay, Sweetiepie," Larraq said as Team Heat Delirium made ready to leave the checkpoint. "If she looks like she's having a hard time continuing report immediately. No matter what she says."
"And we'll be there like that." Crais tried snapping his fingers as he had seen the Scoobs do from time to time and got frustrated when he couldn't make it work.
"Don't worry Crais." Jila chuckled and shook her head. "I'll show you later."
*Don't worry.* Geradan's voice whispered to Jila, and to Rae. *I'll keep track of her* To which Rae smiled.
"Raegun." Velorek said when Team Heat Delirium left the checkpoint. "Keep a running scan on Rae vital signs. I want to know quicker than Sunny if Rae's having trouble."
"She won't like it," Raegun answered, his comms to the other teams, and his direct link to Rae, being off for the moment. "But I'll do it."
Raegun -- “Um, Rae, how are you feeling?”
Raegun asked uncertainly as Heat Delerium set out.
*Feeling? Raegun, my love, I DIED today! Twice!* Rae laughed mentally. *And my first thought both times was 'Frell, not again'. I am feeling fine. Now stop scanning me before I send some feedback your way.*
Raegun gulped, but held firm. *No.*
*It's cheating, Raegun, and I won't have it.* Rae persisted. *Get out of my head!*
*You're not yourself, Rae.*
*Then who the frell am I? Hmm?* Rae deliberately ignored his presence as Heat Delerium treked on.
Raven-Kat -- “We can still win this!”
Rae shouts cheerfully as Heat Delerium slogs through knee-deep chocolate mud.
"Right." Sunny mutters.
"Well, we can still place in the top 5."
"There are only 5 teams." Kay points out, groaning as she steps on a particularly sharp piece of rock candy.
"Then we're sure to place in the top 5!" Rae enthused, picking up a piece of rock candy and popping it into her mouth
"You have totally lost it." Sun decides.
"Have not!" Rae sticks her tounge out at Sun. She looks around for a cinnamon stick. Not finding one, she picks up a chunk of chocolate and begins chewing on that instead.
"Sugar high." Sunny explains to Kay and Sweetie. "Sebacians don't get a lot of sweets in their diet, and the caffine in the chocolate is NOT helping..."
Rae begins skipping down the path and singing:
Who can take a sunrise,
Sprinkle it with dew?
Cover it in chocolate and a miracle or two...
The candyman,
The candyman can,
The candyman can 'cause he mixes it with love
and makes the world taste good...
Who can take a rainbow,
Wrap it in a sigh?
Soak it in the sun and make a stra'bry lemon pie
The candyman?
The candyman can...
The candyman can 'cause he mixes it with love
and makes the world taste good...
The Candyman makes
everything he bakes
Satisfying and delicious.
Talk about your childhood wishes.
You can even eat the dishes!
Who can take tomorrow,
Dip it in a dream?
Separate the sorrow and collect up all the cream,
The candyman?
The Candyman can, the candyman can...
The candyman can 'cause he mixes it with love
and makes the world taste good...
And the world tastes good
'cause the candyman thinks it should...
Raven-Kat -- “Row, row, row your boat...”
"PULL!!!" Rae shouts, heaving on her oar. "PULL!!!"
"We're not a frelling rowing team!" Sunny snaps. "And stop wasting your breath."
Rae pulls out her occulars. "Frell me dead..." the oar slips from her hand and nearly into the water.
"Hey!" Kay quickly retrieves the oar before it can sink. "What's wrong, Rae?"
"Nothing." Rae grabs her oar again. "I saw a boat. I think it's Rainbow Monkey."
"You're kidding?" Kay grabs the occulars. She promptly drops them again, making a face. "How do you get these things to work?"
"Frell them." Sweetie advises. "I see TWO boats!"
Rae retrieves the occulars. "Make that three!" laughing, she begins rowing again. She hits her comm and begins humming the Jaws theme.
Mouse's voice comes over the comm. "Rae? That you, you freak?"
"Yup, Mousie. And you're going to have to row a lot harder than THAT if you really want to win!" Rae turns off her comm and lets out a war-cry that the other teams can hear even without the comms. "Raegun, our position?"
"Three hundred yards and closing..."
Mouse2000 -- No one knows how it started
It could have been a bird's wing dipped into the ocean. Or a pebble thrown from a far off beach. Or a stray breeze from a passing tropical storm. But it started. The little rings of water continued out and out, and got bigger and bigger. Soon the wave approaching the Scoobies was mammoth. A sunami, a tidal wave, call it what you will, but it was heading towards our Scoobies with lighting speed, with little care about what got in it's path.
Meanwhile...
The war cry from Rae spurred the teams on. As they passed the edge of the island, out popped Ragnar, Mr. Lee, the Kittens, and Jeff and Pedro, who were made to row. So all the teams were in line, a couple hundred feet from each other. Everyone was focused on the finish line checkpoint that no one looked back. As sure enough, the wave approached. It hit Ragnar's boat first, and lifted them high in the air. They rode the crest of the wave as it swept by Team Heat Delerium, then RainbowMonkey and Slewfoot, then onto the Holy Rollers and Team Deviants. All the teams were caught by surprise, but held on tight and rode the wave as best they could, trying to steer with oars, but basically holding on and praying.
The wave hit the beach.
**********************************************************
Mouse pulled herself out from under their boat. The wave had damaged most of the boats, and there were Scoobs half burried all over the sandy beach. Anxious queries of, "Are you ok?" and "Where's my shoe?" filled the air. The Scoobies were waterlogged, disoriented, but basically ok.
A triumphant Kitten's cry filled the air.
Kitten was suspended by her collar around the checkpoint flag. She was a sight, dripping water, with a piece of seaweed draped over her head, but beaming. She DID get to the checkpoint flag first, and was therefore, the rightful winner of the Eco-Challenge. And although she might give some credit to Elvis and the other kittens for getting her there, this was HER victory.
Ragnar sighed.
"We're NEVER going to hear the end of this!"
Raven-Kat -- “And THAT is how the cookie crummbles.”
Rae noted blandly as Mr. Lee fished kitten out of the tree. "I told you we'd place." she added to Sunny, shaking water out of her feathers.
"So, where's this great dessert you promised us?" Mouse asked, wringing out her hair.
"Oh, that..." Rae grined and raised her arms.
After a few moments of chanting, the beach was suddenly lined with buffet-tables. And it was not just dessert. A full lunch with all the Scoobs's favorites. From steak to bird-seed, there was something for everyone. One table was completely covered with different types of pizza. Another had salads. A third was devoted solely to Rae's doughnuts. The bar alone occupied three tables.
Still chuckling, Rae picked up the trophy and walked over to Kitten. Somehow on that short walk, the trophy became filled with Crunch. Solemnly, Rae presented the trophy to kitten, producing a large piece of raw-hide for Elvis.
As the Scoobs and pets settled down for lunch, Rae walked over to Ragnar. "Glad you could make it, big guy." She smiled and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Now, can I interest you in some doughnuts?"
Chryse74 -- FOOOOOOOOOODDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!
"I'm starving," declared Chryse.
"Yeah, me too," agreed Wiz.
One final race was run as all the scoobs raced for the tables, each heading toward their own favorite foods.
Soon afterward, the scoobs were contently stuffing their faces and drinking their favorite drinks and companiably sitting together, talking about the various adventures they had on the Eco-Challenge and laughing good naturedly about all the ups and downs of the race
JilaCosa -- “She What???” Jila yells in amazement.
She turns sideways in her seat to make sure she hears Raegun right the next time, since the noise of the wind howling past her ears is tremendous.
"Kitten won the Eco-challenge." Raegun repeats himself turning his volume up another couple of decibles.
"Unbelievable!" Jila laughs and slaps Larraq on the thigh.
"Rae has set up a banquet for everyone at the finish line." Raegun informs the two.
"Oh Great." Jila frowns, "By the time we get done with the supplies and stuff there'll be no food for us."
"Yes there will Jila!" Rae's voice booms over the comm. "I doubt that half of this will be gone before you get back. As a matter of fact......." Rae's voice trails off.
"Stop it Riv!" Crais' voice comes over the comm as the rest of the supplies and things disappear out of Crais' grasp.
"I haven't cleared you for this much magic use, Riv." Velorek's voice is heard too.
"I feel Great!" Rae laughs.
*She is more herself every second* Geradan's voice came softly over the noise of the wind.
"Thanks Geradan! Told you I'm fine!" Rae gives what sounds like a big, juicy raspberry over the comms. "Tell'em Gunny!"
"The brain wave patterns are almost back to Rae normal." Raegun agrees.
As Jila and Larraq land, Jila sees kitten contentedly munching her favorite snack from the winner's trophy. She shakes her head and chuckles. *Who'da thunk it.*
As Geradan takes to the air again to pick up Crais and Velorek, Larraq approaches Rae, and with Raegun held horizontally across his outstretched hands presents Raegun with a regal bow. Rae bows her head formally, then laughes, takes Raegun back, and gives Larraq a big hug.
"Good to have you back Gunny." Rae speaks softly as she lets go of Larraq and hugs Raegun, but Raegun conveniently? has left his comm on so everybody hears her. Chuckles can be heard around the eating area and quiet comments about Rae being an "old softie too". Rae chooses to ignore it all.
*It's been quite a day.* Jila sighs, and then makes the rounds of the tables. *Gods, she laid out quite the feast here.* Jila grabs a plate, hands one to Larraq who has joined her, and begins finding goodies to fill her plate.
Soon Geradan lands, drops off Crais and Velorek, and takes to the air once again to find a meal of his own. He doesn't fault the sorceress for forgetting him, his meal alone could fill one third of this area. He thinks perhaps he'll find that savanna again and feed there.
"So what exactly happened?" Jila asks Rae as Jila sits down beside her to eat. Crais, Velorek, and Larraq join them and Rae tells the tale. She too is amazed at the luck the kitten had.
After the tale, Rae makes her rounds of the teams to congratulate them all on their efforts through her Eco-challenge. Even though the race was only half finished they did a Great job through the challenges.
Meanwhile Jila and the Mandroids are finishing their meal.
"You're pretty quiet Jila." Velorek speaks up.
"Yes." Crais agrees "I would think that after being together this long that you'd have much more to say."
"What's the matter Jila?" Larraq asks
"Well, it's like this." Jila says putting her fork on the table so she won't fiddle with it while she's talking. "Life goes back to mostly normal once we get back to the Mansion."
"It doesn't have to." Crais replies
"uh, yeah, it does." Jila nods her head emphatically. "I've been away too long. My family is going to start thinking I abandoned them."
"But you'll be..... available, won't you?" Velorek asks shyly.
"Available?" Jila asks in return, arching her eyebrow and starting to grin.
"Yes," Larraq answers, chuckling at Velorek's shyness. "On those occasions when we'd need.., well, appreciate some more help understanding human customs."
"Oh That!!" Jila bursts out laughings. "All right, if Rae's unavailable, or it's something you don't feel right asking her about, come and find me." Jila gets up from her seat and hugs, then kisses on the cheek, each of her teammates. "You guys are great."
kayde -- Kay chuckled
when she found out that Kitten had won.
"Well, that's cool, she probably did deserve it. If for cunningness over anything else, " she said as she patted Kitten on the head, on her way to pile her plate high with food.
"Food, finally!" she said, grinning at Rae
RagnarRB -- Ragnar nibbled on Rae’s
....doughnuts of course.
Ah what fun.
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