Subject: [SB031] De-evolution Date: Sat, 22 Jun 1996 12:46:23 -0800 (AKDT) From: Jenn the Ice Raptoress Reply-To: herpetophile@lists1.best.com To: herpetophile@lists1.best.com Alright! Geez, Dino, if you really want to motivate me, you should try the leather manicles AND the duct tape. Nonetheless, here is the next installment of the Story Bored. Its a little different then previous posts, as it is more serious and intense. Deal with it, kids. :) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- SB031: De-evolution Reverently, the Dinosorceror placed the small red crystal designated "field" beside the Dark 4-D Lens in a pouch around his neck, which rested comfortably beside his own 4-D Lens against his chest. He wanted to be sure of where the peices of this puzzle were at all times, so that they would not be lost again. He felt especially protective of the Field Crystal, for he knew that the lives of an entire village of anoles depended on it for their survival. The TURDIS, having been properly cleaned and sanitized (and now smelling lemon fresh) was on the move again, back through the Circuits of Time and on its way to the next Object. "What happened to 'Aquamarine'?" Red asked, perched above the main controls of the TURDIS and peering down with interest at the flashing and beeping lights. "I thought it was the next Object?" "It was while we were on that side of the galaxy," Jerhevon explained as he checked their progress, "But when we got stuck in the Circuits of Time, we got knocked in the wrong direction." "Not surprising," X commented dryly, "considering how this epic has been going thusfar." The four were currently alone in the control room, most of the rest of the SBers having split off to their respective rooms for rest and/or relaxation after the fiercely fought battle against the Pnuemonia Dragons and Cera's coelosaurs. Everything was quiet for almost the first time Dino could recall since this all this insanity had started. Dino clicked his claws against the shiny plating of the computer, "Where to next, Darwin?" The computer chirped up cheerfully, "The Planet of the Untamed Amazonian Vixens." Jerhevon raised his eyeridges, "Sounds promising for a change." "Seriously Darwin," Dino hooted warningly. "Alright, alright. Closest Object coordinates to our present location is the planet designated as LV-426. I have no information on the object itself." None of them liked the sound of that, and Dino wondered why the name of the planet sounded so familiar. Regardless, he had some sort of destiny to fulfill here, it was no time to worry about such trivalities. "Fine. How soon until we get there?" "ETA: 5 hours." "Hmmm, that doesnt give us much time to rest from the last planet," Jerhevon mused. Dino looked at him worriedly, "Do you think we're up to it?" Jerhevon considered for a moment, gnawing his lower lip thoughtfully, "Yes, I think we can handle it. We should all get some rest, however." They set the autopilot on Darwin and spilt up to find their rooms and get some rest. Dino felt faintly hungry as well, and thought he might track down that McDonalds he had seen on the TURDIS map. He paused in the corridor, "X?" She stopped, looking back at him over her shoulder. "Join me for some food?" Her dark eyes sparkled for a moment, but she shook her head. "Perhaps later, Dinosorceror," she said and headed down a different corridor. Dino sighed quietly. Aboard Cera's ship, it was terror in the corridors. Due to her rage about losing the TURDIS once again, hundreds had died. She drummed her stubby fingers against the armrest of her chair, huffing angerly. "Well? Well?!" she demanded hotly, "What's going on?!" Her second, Ruth, turned to face her, showing none of the fear that the others displayed. Cera wasnt sure if that was impressive or annoying. "They've set course for LV-426," "LV-426? Why in the world would they want to go to that dismal place?" "Presumably it is the location of the next Object. Shall we follow?" Ruth waited for a reply, but Cera was no longer listening. Her beady mind was in a sudden whirl, the spark of an idea coming to her from apparently nowhere. She erupted suddenly with an order that Ruth was completely unprepared for. "Ruth! Get me a copy of Episode 19!" she roared. Ruth looked rather startled, "um, Episode 19?" "Yes! I have just remembered a trivial detail that may prove useful to us!" Ruth shrugged, went to the computer and printed up a hard copy of the requested episode (though Ruth preferred to think of them as mission logs). Cera scanned the copy quickly then clutched the paper in her hands with a delighted "Heeeee!" Ruth waited expectantly, "Ma'am?" "Hop into the Circuits of Time," Cera ordered, her small eyes ablaze with the passion of impending victory, "Set course for the Hoth system!" There was surprised muttering throughout the crew, Ruth blinked, "The Hoth System?" "Yes, yes! After it was abandoned, the previous Dinosorceror used the base as one of his strongholds. If I am right, the very advantage we need will still be in storage there. Ruth! I want to be there yesterday!" she shrieked. "Yes, ma'am!" Ruth saluted and turned to do her mistress's bidding. By the time the TURDIS set down on LV-426, everyone was rested and had gathered in the main control room again, ready for a new adventure. Unfortunately, there was a snaffoo. "This planet is an inhospitable rock," Stormfront informed them, as she took readings from outside, "The atmosphere is barely existant. We'll need respirators." "Great," Orelious the Goat grumbled, "And we dont even really know what we're looking for." "It gets better," WolfWings pointed to the locker which contained survival gear. "We only have three sets of respirators." Everyone looked at Dino. He blinked rapidly, realizing that he was being called on to make an executive decision. He cast a long gaze over his crew and then tried to sound as commanding and in control as possible, "Jerhevon and X are with me. I want Stormfront to remain in constant contact with us, monitoring the surroundings and letting us know if anything unusual is coming our way. Orelious will assist. This will be a good time to fix that thing that leaking whatever it is Cera's using to track us, WolfWings will take care of that with Red's help. Benjamin, see what you can do about pinpointing the locations of the next few Objects and work out a flightplan based on those locations." There were nods all around. Inhospitable rock was right, Dino reflected as he moved across the terrain between X and Jerhevon. There was nothing for miles but rock and wind and dark grey skies, with the exception of a faint glow to the west. According to Stormfront's readings, there was a lot of radiation in that direction, so it was best that they steer clear. The TURDIS's sensors were picking up a large metallic object just beyond the first rise, so they were heading for that, in hopes that it would be the location of whatever Object they were there to get. From the TURDIS, Orelious was giving them directions so they would not lose their way in the blowing winds. Both X and Jerhevon were decent trackers, however, and were unlikely to lose their sense of direction. The respirator mask over Dino's snout was annoying to him, as were the safety goggles necessary against the gritty wind, but he had resigned himself to facing any hardship necessary to fulfill his destiny. The Dinosorceror was not sure exactly what that destiny was, though there had been hints toward it, but he was determined now because of the events that took place on Peger IV, coming face to face with a daughter he did not actually have yet. It made him determined to make the universe a place that would be good for his descendants, to bring together the various peices of his destiny. He had not discussed meeting his daughter with any of his friends yet, though it was obvious they had all sensed the change in him. And he was not certain how he would approuch the subject with X, with whom his relationship was nebulous at best. Did he have a relationship with X at all? he wondered. There had been looks, a few moments of quiet togetherness, and of course, rampant fantasy, but was there actually anything between them? Dino wasnt certain who X was, afterall, except for this dimension's version of Jenn, and his bodyguard, though Dino still wasnt sure who she was working for. But there was no more time to think about it for they had reached the top of the rise. The three stood together and looked down at the huge ancient ship filling the valley below them. It was half buried in sands and debris, like some sort of black insect caught midway through a rise to the surface. Its lines were organic and flowing, there did not seem to be any sharp edges anywhere, and one long arm seemed to tower up over the bulk, the wind whistling over it relentlessly. X shifted her weight nervously, "I have a bad feeling about this." "Yeah," Jerhevon agreed. The communicator beeped. Dino answered it, "Stormfront?" "Cera's ship just went into orbit around the planet," Stormfront's voice was crackled from wind interference. "Great," groaned Jerhevon. Dino looked down at the ominous ship below them. "We've come this far, no time to stop now. We'll just have to deal with Cera when she makes her move." X primed her gun, and they started picking their way down into the valley. They reached the valley floor without incident. From this vantage, the ancient ship was even more emmense, rising above them like a dark god of the sand. Dino was starting to share his friends' feeling that something was dreadfully wrong here. There was a weight of death around the ship that was physically oppressive. They hesistated at the base of the ship, looking up at its form, the shine of their flashlights playing along the heavy surface. There was something hideously familiar about all of this, but Dino simply could not dredge the memory from his mind. The communicator crackled, "Dino! Watch ou---" Stormfront began but the transmission was garbled in static. X grabbed Dino and pushed him behind her, towards the protective curve of the ship, turning to cover him. Jerhevon also turned, just in time to be greeted by a flash of light, startling in the darkness around them. Cera appeared in the flash of light, along with several of the ever-present coelosaurs. They were all properly outfitted for the thin air, and Cera carried what appeared to be a gun comparable to X's. The stormtroopers also carried guns and they immediately opened fire on the trio. X and Jerhevon were timely about returning the fire, at the same time herding Dino along the side of the ship, dodging laser fire and keeping him out of harm's way. Dino ducked and dove to avoid the blasts which bounced ineffectively off the surface of the ship's hull. He heard Cera shouting, filled with obvious glee at having trapped her enemy. X's gun hissed with each blast, the bolts enveloping and disinagrating coelosaurs one by one. Jerhevon used both his gun and his tail, whirling to catch stormtroopers on his deadly spikes. Dino suddenly felt a shearing burning sensation along the line of his back and screeched in shock. One of the bolts had nicked him. He fell in the sand. X hurried to cover him, but was cut off by a hail of lasers from Cera's troops. Jerhevon roared lowly and dove to protect the downed Dino. He wasnt fast enough. Cera was there and had fired her gun. Dino saw the yellow light coming at him as if in slow motion, then felt himself encased in hot energies. He cried out as every molecule in his body was torn and twisted, changed and violated. He heard X's veloci-screee as she attacked Cera, tearing the gun away and shreading it with her talons, but the damage was done. Dino choked and sputtered, trying desperately to draw air from the respirator mask which did not seem to fit properly over his face anylonger. He heard Cera laughing, "Yes! Yes!" she heeeee'd. "At last! The Dinosorceror is no more!!" "What the hell?!" Jerhevon came to a halt beside Dino, looking shocked to say the least. "The Origin Inducer!!" Cera cried joyously, "My troops! Retrieve the Objects from the neck of the human!" Dino felt X grab him and was jouseled as she ran with him, Jerhevon huffing along beside her, still firing behind them as they took refuge in the yawning opening on the side of the ship. Darkness and stillness immediately surrounded them, but Dino's vision was in chaos, he was unable to make sense of the images due to the nausia flipping through his gut and the spinning whine in his head. Cera's laughter was echoing through the dust of the ship. "Down there!" Jerhevon's voice shot through Dino's brain like an arrow. When X at last put him down, he heard her breath coming in soft controlled pants, and close beside them, Jerhevon was rumbling in quiet agitation. Now that the movement had stopped, Dino was able to clear his head. He tried to sit up, but X held him still with her foot as she craned her neck up to keep a lookout for Cera and her troops. "Damn damn damn!" Jerhevon swore softly. Dino saw that they had taken refuge behind ancient organic-looking machines, the darkness nearly complete. As he reached up to grasp X's ankle, he stopped in a shock of terror, staring at his hand. It was a human hand. With a cry, he pushed his way up, knocking X's foot aside. He looked down at himself, and felt his face, panic and fear growing within him. He was human again! "Oh my god. . ." he wheezed softly and fainted, weakened by the change and shock. "Now what?" Jerhevon growled lowly. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Over to you, Phil! .*&#, ______, ##mmWWWU-^~ -' `^4Xz. Jenn _7/ Joy and Raptors! fsjle@aurora.alaska.edu -Raptor X- "Noooo, that's probably just a pie plate flying at 30 thousand feet."