by Ladron Reece
91008.1200
Two Weeks After The Soothsayer
( in the year 2239)
-=Aboard the Trill Ship, on the Surface of the Planet Sveji=-
91008.1200
Two Weeks After The Soothsayer
( in the year 2239)
-=Aboard the Trill Ship, on the Surface of the Planet Sveji=-
Ladron smoothed his white suit jacket. It was not much, but it was the only protest he could really make here, in their new home. It was not a bad home. The ship sat nestled on a massive outcropping of rocks at the base of a mountain. Out the front window they had a spectacular view of the valley that was encircled by the mountain range. Solar panels provided all the power they needed to power the computer and replicator.
Ladron and Tolarum each had their own bedrooms with the finest linens Trill had to offer. Yet somehow the designers of this vessel saw fir to provide only one restroom, a fact Ladron complained about on a daily basis, despite the fact he spent no less than ten times as much time in the bathroom as his counterpart.
He had begged, threatened and whined to Tolarum to give him the passcodes to the navigation system but to no avail. According to his old friend, the Symbiosis Commission made it clear that if either of them ever returned to Trill, their next stop would be prison. The government was also seeing to it that his aging mother, her two felines and her assortment of tropical birds were moved into the lap of luxury for the remainder of her natural life. So long that is, as her son never set foot on the homeworld again.
So Ladron tried to make the best of it, and wore his white suit jacket each day to let Tolarum know that he wasn’t just going to give up on hoping he could get back what he lost. He was so close. So close, to having that seaside mansion he had always dreamed of owning. A few more sermons and he would have had enough cash funneled into his anonymous account to pay the realtor in cold hard cash. When he closed his eyes he swore he could smell the chlorine in the pool and hear the meat sizzling on the grill.
But, they were here, on whatever this world was. All alone, just the two of them, for the rest of their lives. At least that’s what Ladron intended for Tolarum to go on believing.
“So what will it be today? Flahbin? Treshyak? Blackjack? Three Card Monte?”
“Is that all your mind can think about? Games of chance? The con game?” Tolarum asked.
“Its either this or I read a book off the computer. There are probably only about five on the computer I would ever care to read, so if you don’t mind, I’d like to space them out a bit since I’m going to have to make those five books last for the next seventy years or so.”
“Well I would go out for a walk but it is looking like rain. I think I saw some sort of small animal yesterday and I was hoping perhaps to sample the local cuisine.”
Ladron’s face contorted into a frown of disgust. “Really? Kill your own food? Aren’t you like, a major egghead? No offense Tolarum. You are probably the smartest man I’ve ever known. I just don’t think of someone like you as the kind of person that would be caught dead out on a hunt.”
“Well our ancestors had the choice of hunting or starving. If it was good enough for them, who am I to complain?”
“Yeah but the only hunting you have to do is through the replicator file structure to find the meal you want.” Ladron tapped on the panel with his finger as if to demonstrate how the replicator was to be used.
“Just deal the cards.” Tolarum instructed, as he plopped down into the crewman’s seat that sat directly behind and to the right of the pilot’s seat. This left the aforementioned pilot’s seat for Ladron.
“Oh no, I get the crewman’s chair. You know I like to look out over the valley while we play.”
“Can’t I look out just once?” Tolarum complained. Ladron’s voice took on the soft melodious quality he used when speaking to his fellow Trill.
“My dear friend. You have dragged me halfway to the middle of nowhere to spend the rest of my life in exile. Against my will I might add. Do you not think I should be entitled to look out the window if I wish?”
It wasn’t so much his words but rather the nearly hypnotic quality of Ladron’s voice that convinced Tolarum to move. He could understand why the people of Trill were so easily swayed. Ladron had the power of persuasion down to a science. Still, there was no chance in hell he was getting the passcodes.
He decided on the Terran card deck for today, and dealt two cards to himself and Tolarum. One face down, and one face up. Tolarum look down at the king looking back up at him.
“So I’m supposed to get how many points?”
“Twenty-one.” Ladron said, in awe of the fact one of the greatest medical and scientific minds on Trill could so easily forget the rules of a game like blackjack in two days.
“And the king is worth?”
“Ten.”
Tolarum peeked at his hole card, then sat back in his chair, apparently deep in thought.
“And a queen is worth?”
“Also ten.” Ladron said with a roll of his eyes. “You will stay.”
Ladron looked down at his own three, which was accompanied by a deuce in the hole. He flipped up the next card, which was a seven.
“Twelve, damn! I’m going to bust.” Ladron took another hit, a jack, which busted him just as predicted. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a bright flash of reflected sun out the cockpit window. He had been waiting for this.
“Ha!” Tolarum grinned and pointed at Ladron’s cards. “Not so smart now, are you?” When he looked back up, he saw Ladron’s eyes fixated on the window. “What? What is it?”
“Hmm? Nothing. Just thought I saw the local cuisine running across a tree branch out there. You know what? I think I’m going to take a walk today.”
“What? Now? I told you it looked like rain. Or are you just sore because I beat you at your own game?”
“I just need some fresh air.”
Tolarum shook his head. Now of all times he decides to leave the ship? “All right. Don’t say I didn’t warn you when you get drenched. And don’t expect me to mother you when you catch pneumonia.
Ladron fetched a long black slicker from the closet. One with a hood to protect the precious blond hair atop his head that he spent so long caring for in the bathroom each morning. As he stepped out onto the rock face, he saw the glimmer of reflected sunlight again, still off to the west. He dash downed from the precipice heading towards the source of the light.
After a kilometer of hiking, the trees gave way to a large clearing. The tall grass in the distance had been trampled and broken, recently. Ladron followed the broken grass back into the trees, stepping carefully so as to not alert anyone who may happen to be nearby.
Then, he saw her.. A young girl walking amongst the trees in the distance. A shaft of sunlight found its way through the leaves, reflecting off the clip that held her hair in place just as he had seen from the ship. He thanks his lucky stars that it was a child’s hairclip he saw and not, say, the bat’leth of a Klingon who, like Tolarum, wished to kill the local fauna for dinner.
*You are NOT going to follow her, Ladron,* Reece warned.
“I’ve got this all under control, just relax Reece.” He whispered.
He kept his distance, as the girl wound her way through the woods, picking flowers that she stowed into a small satchel slung over her shoulder, and tucking small pieces of wood, presumably for a fire, under her left arm.
A rumble of thunder signaled the approaching storm that Tolarum had promised. The girl seemed unphased, as she continued to gather stick and flowers. That is, until the sound of a female voice shouting in the distance drew her attention.
“Must be mom.” Ladron whispered. The girl broke into a run, just as the skies broke into a downpour. He kept pace far enough behind her to remain hidden, but close enough to not lose site of her. He stopped at the edge of another clearing, hiding behind a tree, as he saw a small village before him. There was farmland, a farmhouse, internal combustion engine vehicles and a road of some sort dotted with more dwellings.
The girl ran towards one of the nearby dwellings, just barely ahead of the pouring rain that was already soaking Ladron a few hundred yards back. The family was there waiting for her to deliver the wood. They took it under the cover of a lean-to and appeared ready to begin some sort of barbecue. She handed the flowers in her satchel to her mother, and received a kiss on the head for her efforts.
They huddled in the small shelter safe from the rain. Laughing, eating, listening to raucous music. Ladron bought his time until the rain blew over, and took a deep breath. He dropped the rain slicker on the ground, and once again smoothed out his suit jacket.
This endeavor would end up one of two ways. Either he would soon find himself running this planet, or he would be shot dead on the spot by one of the men in the lean-to. He began to walk, slowly and deliberately across the clearing towards the girl and her family. It was not long until they spotted him approaching.
As he got closer, the faces of the aliens began to take form. They were gray in color with short hair, wide spread eyes and long thin noses. Not horribly different from a Trill, but there was no doubt Ladron did not fit in here.
The father motioned for his family to stay back, but out of curiosity they hung just a few meters behind him to see the stranger. Ladron raised his hands to signal that he had no weapon, and hoped that on this world that did not mean something like, “I intend to kill you and take your wife as my own.”
The man began shouting in his direction, and his hand reached for the projectile weapon he had on his hip. Ladron slowed down a bit, hoping if the man kept talking that the universal translator would decipher the language by the time he had to explain himself to this person.
The girl starting pointing and calling, as did the mother and two other children. A few words began to trickle in out of the gibberish, and as he stopped, now face to face with the father, he could understand every word. Just in time as well, as that father now had his weapon trained on Ladron’s midsection.
*Aim a little higher you moron.* Reece’s voice said in Ladron’s head.
*Not now!* Ladron thought back.
“Just who, or what, the hell are you?” The man said. “Not another step,” He waved his weapon menacingly.
The girl broke free from her mother’s arms, and rushed up to Ladron Reece. “Are you a magic man?” She asked. The mother grabbed the arm of her husband, lowering his weapon before he accidentally shot their child.
“Not exactly,” Ladron answered as he tussled her hair.
“Please, let her go,” The mother begged.
“Oh, I don’t mean any harm to anyone. Go to your mother sweetie.” The girl rushed back to the safety of her mother’s arms, and the father kept his weapon down, not quite so eager to shoot the newcomer now that he had seen his daughter released freely and unharmed.
“Who are you?” He asked again, this time with curiosity rather than fear.
Ladron smiled, and as if on cue the clouds broke, and a shaft of sunlight almost seemed to make his light blond hair glow in a halo about his head. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am God. I come to you with news of how you can achieve eternal happiness in Wonderland.”
***************
Ladron Reece
Soothsayer
Ladron Reece
Soothsayer