Part 3 of Dreams begins.....
        C+C can be sent to phantomr@sprynet.com


        Accessing Searcher's Captain's Entry, File 1022.

        "Captain?"
        I rolled over in bed and curled up tighter around my stuff animal. My
mind retreated from the voice and the light. I pulled my bed covers over
my head. I didn't hear myself groan and ask for five more minutes of
sleep. The voice belonged to Em and it was coming from my comm panel
next to my bed. My bed jiggled with water while the nice warm sheets
soothed me. "I'm having a good dream, get someone else to do it." I
murmured from beneath the covers.
        "This is your wake up call Captain."
        I clutched both pillows around my ears and rolled onto my stomach. "I'm
sorry Captain Cassi isn't in right now but if you please leave your name
and number. She'll get back to you as soon as she can. *BEEEEP*."
        "Do you want me to get Alex to sing to you, sir?"
        My heart skipped a beat. "You wouldn't." I muttered under my breath and
shook my head. Em was a by the books first officer she had no sense of
humor. Well maybe a very very dry one yes. Even during our Academy days
she was the one sour blanket in the group. But to go as far as getting
my brother to sing to me. "You wouldn't dare," I repeated.
        There was a soft shuffle of feet that came across the comm link, a
muffle of voices until I heard someone clear their throat. "Testing,
one, two, three," Alex tapped the comm mic and took a deep breath and-
        I kicked the covers off onto the floor and rolled left. In one swift
motion the back of left hand hit the comm button just in time to kill
anything briefly related to a do re mi. "I'm up! You merciless little
sonofvabitch."
        I took a look in the ceiling mirror and frowned, my hair extensions
were starting to grow a little faster then I expected. I stood up and
padded across the fuzzy rug that carpeted my quarters. I stopped in
front of the full length mirror and ran a finger nail across my rather
full breasts. They rippled in response which answered my question. I'd
been wearing my body shield since we found Knol's remains. After a while
I must've gotten used to the constant hum from the power pack. I
unzipped the compartment where the pack resided and eyed the readings. I
frowned again. Full charge? I shook my head slowly and continued towards
the head. "I'll be ready in ten minutes."
        "What no singing in the shower Captain?" Alex's voice moseyed into the
shower with me.
        "You do and I'll make sure you and Decca don't mate for life," I smiled
wickedly as the hot water hit my skin.
        "What?!?" Alex's voice hit a high note as most of the bridge crew must
have been looking from him to Decca, back again and let their minds do
the rest.
        "You told her?" Decca's voice growled as the comm went dead.
        I ran my fingers through my shoulder length long hair which at this
rate would be down to my buttocks in two weeks and sighed. I gargled
some warm water for a moment and spit it out. Feels weird not to have
the tac drives running, I thought and grabbed the shampoo from it's
holder next to my right hip.
        "Computer display my appointments for today, please."
        "Location?"
        "Captain's shower. Eye level if you would please."
        "Affirm, working." The computer beeped and showed what I had for
appointments for the day.

        I dried myself off and walked out into the bedroom again. This time the
bright light that had been hidden by the window shades caught me off
guard. I blinked for a moment and opened my eyes completely. The land in
front of me looked more beautiful then when we landed. I pressed my face
up against the glass and could almost spell the trees, the grass. Even
the rays of light, basking down on my body.
        I opened up one of the dresser drawers and felt like dressing casual. I
pulled on a blue body stocking and my one piece uniform dress with the
slit up the side. After fixing all the creases I could find I took a
look in the mirror. "Cassi, you look like you're ready for a date," I
joked to myself. I winked at myself and walked out the room. The few
crew members that were already up nodded their salutes to me as made my
way to the briefing room. I eyed the chrono on the wall outside the
room. So I was a little early.
        Decca and Dina were already there at the table, Alex was staring out of
the port windows admiring the view while the rest of the command staff
had yet to arrive. I found the Ch'abo looking at me for a moment, he was
young; about half my age and was blushing profusely. I smiled and winked
at him which made him avert his eyes quicker then anything. After our
first few weeks in space everyone got to become friends and the gossip
wheel was born, the largest rumor was the doc had a crush on me. Age
knows no bounds or is that love? I dismissed the lustful urgings and
walked over to Alex.
        "See a place you like?" I asked.
        "Yeah, right over there," he pointed to a circle clearing with rather
large trees on all sides and a little babbling brook next to it. "I've
got this little house in mind, three story one main bed room with three
add on rooms for nurseries." He smiled to himself and rubbed his hands
together.
        "So when are you going to ask her?"
        "I already did."
        "And what did she say?"
        At that point Alex broke out of his little trance of fatherly bliss and
snapped his head left to see me with a rather large shit grin on my
face. "When did you get here?" He blustery asked and shot a helpless
look over at Decca. She intern just frowned at him and then looked from
me to him. "She said yes," he whispered.
        "Why are you keeping the house a secret?"
        "Because it's supposed to be a surprise birthday present for her,
that's why!" He hissed and took his seat next to Decca and tried not to
look to upset at me.
        The rest of the command staff enter a few seconds later and we began
the briefing-

        Access Denied! Central Memory Block Off-Line!
        Arghhhg!
        That voice!
        Everything is black. I can't hear a thing. What's going on? Something
around me is calling my name. I turned in all directions to the sound.
The Searcher is no more. Only Hirala is constant! Everyone is dead.
There is nothing around me. Except the pain! Pain and darkness! Just the
way it was on Hirala but centered this time. Feels like someone is
pinching me like a zit. I can feel them, why can't I see them. Hurts
everywhere, the epicenter is my mind. It's on fire. The fire engulfs me.
I scream but I can't hear it. Feels like something trying to hot
wire......ack!
        Can't get it out of my head!
        Who's screwing with the computer!
        Computer access......no......can't be!

        Accessing Callipso's Wary Log Entry 2190a.

        Deep within the bowls of a ship I hear another conversation going on.
But this one was more along the lines of suicide then safety. Down
darkened corridors, through doors that should have remained locked, two
people argue.
        "We have to go, didn't you hear, we have fifteen minutes till this ship
blows!" One of the people is a Secoian scientist named Jabril, he is in
his forth regeneration and is a man in his seventies. Secoians live for
five thousand years (Earth Standard) and over the years have been
integrating the Black Arts into their society. His blue skin and red
hair show him to be from a very high house on Seco. His mismatch clothes
tell me he is in hurry. He is the senior Wary scientist on this ship.
        This ship? Where am I?
        Can't remember...too much information, slow down...
        The Wary are a group of Secoian scientists. Their area of expertise is
xenobiology. The Callipso made first contact with the Secoians a year
ago. They both exchanged scientists and the Wary were chosen for one
reason: Find out what was in the core that demanded armed Warriors 24/7.
        Answer: My crew and I.
        How do I know all of this?
        Due to certain recent revelations I can access the Callipso's data
banks. While my own body has been asleep my mind has been surfing the
memory core of this ship. Watching over her crew and mine. They have
been experimenting on my body with no success. The one hitch in their
plan was they weren't expecting the armor to still be alive. The armor
that encases my body since Hirala's false god experimented on my crew.
The armor is sentient and a part of my life, I've accepted that. But the
Wary can't. They want to know my secrets. Jabril's right hand is another
scientist; Darien. He is still at his station looking over specs. Darien
is the youngest of the group and too thick headed to even know what was
going on. Jabril has most of his stuff packed even before the attack on
the Callipso, even before she left on her mercy mission back to the 13th
Quadrant.
        The Callipso? She is ship carrying aliens from the 13th Quadrant; a
spec of space near my homeworld. A spec of space that is now dead. All
due to my people and curiosity. 
        "I'm not leaving," Darien thumbs to the specimen in the stasis pod.
"She still has a lot to give us. I'm not leaving!" He doesn't even look
at the person who is suspended in the stasis pod attached to the far
wall. The occupant is female, rather tall and her skin from head to toe
nails glows like a light bulb.
        The occupant is me.
        Various scanning devices line the outside of the pod and feed
information through wires connecting to Darien's console. "She's been
more responsive to the treatments then the others have been. If we drop
her back down a few settings and into a deep sleep we'll lose all of our
data. The council wants information on these beings. No matter the
cost." He seems to want to keep her alive...I think?
        Jabril drops his bag on the floor, places his hands on Darien's
shoulders and spins him around to get a good look at him. "Do you
understand what you're saying man?!" He points a crooked finger at the
Athena in the pod; who appears ever so slowly to be watching this little
talk.
        Slowly. Come on. Think, slow but sure. You can do this. Wake up.
        "She and the others are cursed. Anything they touch turns to evil." He
walks up to the edge of the pod and glared daggers at the alien as her
eyes meet his for the first time in a year. "We should've left that
planet alone. It wasn't ment to be found."
        Darien shakes his head. "But look at the data we received so far from
just her! She's the key to this all damn mystery. I just need to get
past her damn armor security protocols and 'boom' we're home free."
        "What key? What mystery?" The elder scientist broke eye contact just as
the Athena's hand touches the glass.
        When I am free, I will find you. I curse to him through thick glass.
        Jabril eyes his chrono. "We need to get out of here, now! We can come
back!" He shoulders his bag once more and heads towards the door. The
door hisses open revealing the lift that would send him up into the
higher decks stood ready. His right hand hesitates on the up button.
"Are you going to come with me or not?"
        Darien stood and walks over to the pod. He places the palm of his hand
on the pod's glass window. The Athena; even in her somewhat comatose
state mimics his action and seems to smile?
        You're the one who has done this to me? You will be the first I kill
with this body. The first alien kill. My blades with pierce your
thumping hard and make it cry. I can feel my strength coming back. The
strength you took from me. You're MINE!
        "I'll join you in a few moments, teacher." My captor murmurs softly.
        "Good." Jabril replies and presses the up button. The lift comes to
life and takes him up a few decks. The doors open and he quickly joins
the masses towards the escape pods.
        Darien smiles back at the Athena. "Your friend's little device worked
it's magic now, you do yours."
        I smile at him.
        /You have no idea what you're dealing with./
        He stumbles back from the mere presence in his mind. His mouth opens to
scream but he cannot. What he has heard will keep him company when he
closes his eyes at night. For peace and quiet will not come to him as
easily as it has in nights past. I will always be there, to talk to him.
To ease his fears of the things to come. He falls to his knees and
bellows in agony. Being able to read people's minds can really suck
sometimes.
        /Free me, now!!/
        He hesitates at first but then our eyes meet. I point one of my long
nailed fingers to the button on his control panel. The button that will
open this pod that I currently reside. I've been locked in this since he
captured me on Hirala. The encounter seems like years ago, although at
the time he pretended he pitied us. He took us on board and helped some
of us. Or the ones he wanted to experiment on like our false God. But
that is in the past, what happens now is what counts. Keep your cool
Cassi, grin and bear it.
        He still hesitates?
        Grin and Bear it eh?
        I grin at him, showing him all of my teeth. All those sharp little
blades. Blades made from the toughest alloy in the known universe, yes
those. The same ones which have been known to cut anything and
everything. The ones he hasn't seen yet. I'm a regular Ginsue 1,000
piece collectable knife set, lady and germs. I could chew my way out of
here, but to see him crawl over there and do it himself is so much more
satisfying. 
        He presses the button, finally. And the glass cover begins to unlatch
itself from the body. The liquid I had been suspended in slowly drains
from around me and I land with both feet on the floor. The glass
covering slides up and the cold exhaust from the pod fills the room. I
do like grand entrances. I take a full breath of air for the first time
in what feels like years and let it out. My legs shudder uncontrollably
for a moment and I nearly land on my butt.
        But Darien is still in his funk. I grab onto a chair for support and
continue with it's help to walk towards him. The armor that encases my
body begins to awaken fully. I can feel it's heart beating in time with
my own. My vision blurs for a moment then a layer of various scans mesh
together until finally I can see. In crisp, clear color and full
surround sound. The armor plates link together just as they should and
become completely solid. The weapons at my disposal slowly begin to
break the ice that had encased them. I can hear perfectly now, at first
the sounds around me are overwhelming but slowly I can hear his heart
thumping against his rib cage.
        "You look scared Darien," I hear my voice sprung from my vocal cords.
It's still a little horse but considering with all the effects going on
around me, it can't hurt to much. I perk my ears up and listen as the
deck plates under my feet shimmy. "What's going on?" I ask bluntly. I
can hear reverberations of something against the walls, but I can't tell
what it is.
        "sssshhhhiiipppp..........bbbeeeeeiinnng aatttaccckkkedd..." Darien
babbles.
        "Attacked? By what?" I demand. The rest of the armor's tactical systems
have thawed out now. Various compass readings and GPS locator beacons
warm up in my helmet sensors. I can sense it looking for a comm port or
some kind of outlet to plug it's eyes and ears into. "Where's the
nearest comm port?" I ask.
        I follow Darien's shaking finger towards the far wall. I walk past him
without the help of the chair this time and watch while one of the metal
tentacles from my shoulder blades slither down and jack into the socket.
        I suck in my breath as a flash of images course over my eyes, through
my brain and automatically get copied. As I see them they are copied
into the armor's memory. The armor feels like it's looking for
something, it slows down the data feed to star charts and logs. It stops
then starts at the front of the mainframe and travels at incredible
speed across logs and charts. Until it slows and finds the most recent
charts. I realize what it's doing a second after it appears in front of
my eyes. It's home sick. It's looking for route back to Hirala? While in
one eye I see the data the other eye trains on Darien; who appears to be
regain some cognitive skills. He has managed to get back into his seat
and just stare at me like I'm a ghost.
        I guess in all reality I am a ghost.
        Or maybe the devil in a white sheet.
        Hehs, now that'd be cool.
        "What...are...you...doing," he slowly states to me. Even though his
mind is cursing himself, trying to speak like a normal human being. He's
one of the Wary's top scientists and he's babbling like a child. He
doesn't know weather he should stay away from me or get closer to study
me. He'll get over it soon.
        "I'm accessing star charts to get home." I reply, a little less horse
this time. I stop for a moment.
The armor stops too and listens. I take two steps into the lift's shaft
and tilt my head up towards the voices. I cock my head to the side for a
moment and wait as the armor's enhanced hearing sorts out all the voices
and sounds. After they're all catalogued, it begins a slow sweep for
something it knows is here. I take a whiff of the air and savor the
smell.
        Across my eyes the answers comes.
        Darien shudders almost uncontrollably as I snap my head around and
center my gaze on him. The armor begins to show it's anger. Shifting
from white to black to gray. I walk back into the room, my head dipped
enough and shoulders arched. My hands are the only things Darien is
afraid off. They are the things he watches. They are the killers for
tonight. Not me.
        My knuckles crack as I grab his shirt front and lift him up out of the
chair. His shaking and shivering is not an act. He knows I know. I bring
him close to me, face to face. I leave the armor up, the body shield
around me lowers from my face to my shoulders as not to electrify Darien
into unconsciousness. I growl at him from the depths of my throat and he
turns, trying to avoid my gaze. Those little two red coals in the
darkness, those sharp teeth and the voice......
        "Where is he!" A voice I haven't used only in my most heated arguments
slams Darien.
        Darien is silent. He is on the brink. He is lying to the devil.
        "Did you hear me?"
        Darien's eyes flick up to my face for a moment then stare at his feet.
"............who.........?"
        "You know who," I growl. I feel my armor's tail begin to uncoil from
the curve in my back. It stretches for a moment and gently brushes
against the floor. In one eye I cycle through my options for play
things.
        Pike? Rifle? Claws? Chains? Proximity Alarm beeping...
        Prox Alarm?!?
        "Drop him!" A female voice orders from behind me and to the left.
        The armor chirrs a surprise at this. It wasn't expecting two kills with
in the same hour. I have forgotten the tendencies of this form. I must
learn to control myself again. If I don't then they both die without
even knowing what hit them. After I kill him then I'll calm myself. I
break from my thoughts and look over my shoulder with an eye brow
cocked.
        A female Tseidi drone wearing uniform of a first officer stands just
inside the door way. She is about my height, her facial markings tell me
her mother is Tseidi and father is Podaci. The Tseidi is a race of
humanoids and very powerful ESPers. The Podaci is a race of cyborgs;
half human half living metal. Her father's homeworld has already been
slaughtered by my people's wrath while her mother's is still thriving.
She only has on her torso armor, standard flack pants and pair of heavy
battle boots. Even with the side arm out in front of her, she looks
ready for a fight but the look in her eyes tells me something different.
        A brief flash of memory makes me freeze.
        Everything goes black. The sounds around me die.

        R. Bentley
        phantomr@sprynet.com

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