John looked like a quarterback in the huddle as he kneeled to examine Trev, the rest of the crew standing and leaning and waiting. “He’s alive. Not sure how exactly, considering the toxic levels of purification he’s inhaled. Hynerian physiology still eludes me,” said John as he looked over his shoulder directly at Kyra. “All I’m saying is, if he were Kulmykian, he’d be dead.”“What the heck did you just say? And what the heck is that?” asked Rog, pointing to the posy.
With a gloved hand, John held the flower upside down as one might hold a rabid bat. “This is a thorn flower, native to Kulmyk. They’re quite rare. First time I’ve ever seen one outside of a book.”
“What exactly is a thorn flower?” asked Von. “And how and why does Trev have one?”
“I was about to explain the former. Someone else is going to have to shed some light on the latter.”
“Sorry to interrupt. Carry on.”
“Thorn flowers, when bled from the stem, or torso as it is called, exude a crimson sap that, upon contact with air, evaporates into a plume of rose colored mist. If used in the right way, which is to say inhaled in the proper dose, the user experiences clarity of thought, a purification, so to speak.”
“Explain what you mean by purification?” asked Kyra.
Before John could answer, Mairi blurted out, “It was suppose to bring clarity of thought, a cleansing she said, of all the abuse he suffered at the hands of Sal.”
Everyone turned toward Mairi. Kyra spoke: “Go on.”
“Trev got himself in over his head with the wrong crowd back on Kulmyk. What was suppose to teach him a lesson got out of hand and he was sexually and psychologically abused to within an inch of his life by a woman named Sal, who worked for Lil’ Twilight. Lil’ was horrified. BC, her boss, wanted Trev dead, something to do with the credit chip they had stolen from him, you know, the one John gave each of us. Lil’ intervened with the muscle, bought them off, or so she said. Still, they beat him to a pulp and left him to die, although they did knock on my door before leaving.”
No one moved. No one said anything. Mairi took a breath and continued.
“Anyway, before we left, I had a visit, from Lil’. She asked about Trev, said she was sorry about what happened, that he didn’t deserve it, and then gave me a box. Said, I should give this to Trev, that there would be instructions inside. She wanted me to make sure he understood it came from her.”
“So you knew?” queried Rog. “You knew.”
“Frail you.”
“Rog, that’s enough,” said Kyra.
“She knows more that she’s telling.“
“This is neither the time nor the place. Mairi, please continue.”
“So I gave the box to Trev, told him it was from Lil’, that it might help, if he needed help.
Several blank stares appeared like judges.
"What? I didn’t know.”
“I believe you Mairi,” said Em, breaking the awkward silence with a tone of voice best described as clean. “Trev shared the same story with me. He told me about the flower and asked what I thought. I told him I thought it was a crutch, that he didn’t need it, but at no time did I know, nor did Trev imply, that using the flower could be dangerous in any way. I had the impression when he left that he wasn’t going to use it.”
Mairi glowered at Rog. He made faces back.
“Okay,” said Kyra, “let’s get him into sickbay.”
“Ms Kyra,” commed Goldie.
“What is it Goldie?”
“We have an incoming message. Says his name is Tom.”
Rog looked at John. “I thought you said we were stealth?”
“Thought we were.”
“Well, obviously we’re not?”
“You think?”
“John, join me on the bridge,” commanded Kyra. “Rog, get Trev to sickbay.” Looking at John she said, “This is not good is it?”
John sighed. “Hard to say. Does kinda change our plans though.”
Kyra put her hand on John’s shoulder as they quickly walked to the bridge. “I never expected that plan to survive first contact. Was a nice thought. Do me a favor.”
“What’s that?”
“Keep an eye on Rog. He’s been acting very strange lately and I’m not sure why. We’re going to need him and need him focused.”
“I think I know why,” said John.
“Well? You gonna share?”
“It appears Yul may no longer be in remission.”
“You’re shiotting me?”
“I was just examining her when we got the call about Trev, so I can’t be certain, but Rog seemed quite agitated during the exam.”
“This is good news.”
John stopped in the corridor. “Come again?”
“The law of averages. The way I see it, we’re due for a stroke of luck. I mean, what else could go wrong?”
7 comments:
Famous last words. :-) I'm with Kyra though, it does seem as if they have had a fair bit of bad luck just recently, but then again, one thing that can almost always be counted on is that things can always get worse.
This story, however, could this story be any better! You truly do amaze me. Eight main characters, seven hynerians, one Kulmiakian, all travelling in the same direction but through the 8 of them we have a multitude of story lines all running parallel and fitting together so perfectly. Like I have said before, though we know it is not the case, because it is that good, that neat, that reasonable and convincing, and epic that in trying to fathom how you create such wonder, it's still tempting in spite of fact to entertain for just a moment the simple answer, in striving to understand how, that you simply must be working backwards, for it all to fit together so well. Most wonderful of it all is the truth of how. :-)
Fabulously imaginative twist, one way and then the next. Was such a shock to believe/suspect that the anguish became too much for Trev, or rather not that it became too much, but that he might actually commit suicide to escape it. Understandable, completely, but unexpected still. Alive still, but not entirely out of danger by the sounds of it. Fabulously imaginative idea in regards to this toxic flower, to first create such a special image as the one below and then to see an idea within it and turn that to what we see below and continuing here. That is how it all started, how it most often continued, and it is no less special after two years, this uniquely creative process that brings such pleasure to your readers here.
I must say also that it was a pleasant surprise to learn that Lil' is deeply regretful about what happened to Trev and that although she was the person who allowed Sal access, what happened to him had nothing further to do with her. She, which is saying a lot I know given the two (or three) scenes that featured her and their content, just seemed sympathetic, in short I liked her and was hoping to learn a little more of her, certain there was very much more to her than we had seen.
The hostility between Rog and Mairi is never far from the surface, looking forward to eventually understanding more about where that comes from.
Tom sending messages, Yul no longer in remission, never a dull moment. Love, love, LOVE the story. :-)
Sweetest, I'm not sure what is up with this hostility between Rog and Mairi other than the country boy and city girl differences. In time, I suppose we will learn more--who knows, maybe something happened at the dock between the two of them or maybe Mairi knows something about Rog and the rest of us don't, or maybe something else completely. Who knows.
As for the chapter below, once again an image created the chapter. When I saw the image of a flower, and one that looked dangerous, I knew I had a wonderful image that needed working into the story. I did seriously consider that Trev might commit suicide, but upon further reflection, I just didn't want to lose him--it has too much value to the story in exploring what happened to him and how he recovers. Besides, when you only have eight to start with, you need to be careful about killing off too many. :-D
If I have a talent, it is for taking pieces and fitting them together. Nothing in this story is pre-planned. I hardly know what is going to happen until it happens. I kinda like it that way. Almost a double-blind game of solitaire.
This chapter is what I call a plot chapter, which is to say, it moves the story forward in a workmanlike fashion, but is not one I would point to as good writing. In short, it gets the job done, but with more time and effort, it could be honed to look a good bit better. Of course, I could say that for all the chapters too, so I suppose it is what it is.
Expect fireworks with Tom. Still not sure what is going to happen there, but it will be interesting to say the least. :-)
Perhaps being the farm boy that he is, Mairi's background not only intrigues him, but unnerves him. Perhaps he like everyone else knows there is extensive training - what was it Dr X said he had learned somewhere, something along the lines of there being three months training just to smile with the eyes (details of that memory could be very wrong) - but not really knowing much else, other than that Mairi with her training might be able to gauge things about him that he would rather not reveal, at least not to her, and add to that her special skills and what we have is a woman whom he does not understand, at all. She is different from Kyra in that she does not, he seems to feel, deserve his respect. Perhaps he is both fascinated and on some hidden away level if not repelled by then at least judgemental about her previous vocation and the combination is what makes his reactions to her so volatile. Will be very interesting to see what happens when (if) you decide to dig deeper into their (lack of) relationship.
Another notable and most excellent trait of the story that the chapters differ in this way in regards to style and that they are what they are stylistically when that is what is most appropriate for content. Your talent for writing is great and you are able to do so in a great variety of styles, from the readers point of view at least so very comfortable and skilful within such different styles. The variety in itself is part of what makes this story thrilling, there is not only a storyline to follow, but at the same time we are treated to interchanging styles and so in this way too there is novelty.
Waiting right along side John, Kyra and the rest for what Tom's reappearance will mean and with as much anticipation. After knowing what orders have been given, after being given a hint of what kind of man he is and the extent of his relationship with John, my mind is wanting to leap ahead and start exploring possible ideas about what he might say - a warning perhaps and then being who he is that's the extent of his personal loyalties - but very much looking forward to hearing what actually happens from the only source that knows. Tom. :-)
Twist in the tale I see :)
& so the saga continues without the loss of one life...
The flower seems like the Snow White witch's poison apple.Only there the thorn was struck in the throat...
Here it is like some drug.
& then mystery again.. who knows about the sudden change of plans?
Mona, I've been thinking of writing a "reader's guide" to the story. Here is why. Over the last two years I've had five people ask for the written copy of the story so that they could catch up and know the whole story. Four of the five never returned to make a single comment on the story again and the fifth didn't read what was sent. Although there are several reasons this could be the case, not the least of which the writing is not compelling enough to keep interest, I believe the main reason is the approach the reader takes, namely, to treat the story as a book and to attempt to read it like one would read a book when in fact it is not a book and cannot be enjoyably read that way. A book has a beginning a middle and an end. My story doesn't (or I should say, it has already eneded). A book has a small number of "set pieces" upon which all the prose supports and these "set pieces" may number less than ten. My story has over 300 set pieces, since almost every chapter is written to stand alone as well as fit within the story as a whole. One does not have to know the story to enjoy any one particular chapter. Where a book will flow with a single purpose, maybe two, and may involve a twist or two, this story is serialized with each chapter or blog post offering a twist or the culmination of a twist. Also, where a book can be read without pictures or maps or images, I really feel the original art I create for the story is an integral part of the experience. Likewise, I feel the story is a living entity (via comments and interaction with readers-something a book cannot offer) and that many times the richness of a chapter only comes to life in the comments as readers ask questions and share insight--so again, to try and read the story as a book, one loses the art and the comments and the audio and the video and therefore, I can only image the experience is similar to eating the ingredients of a cake and wondering why it doesn't taste like a cake. Then again, I might just let it all be and just write to write and let the pages fall where they may. :-D
George, you are right. Every chapter is a unique experience in itself!
& then the comments & the commentary do serve as a more enriching experience. Surely this is the most unique reading experience I have had up to date! It makes your Imagination participate and your intelligence speculate & it is mentally & spiritually stimulating too!
Mona, your comment warms my heart on a cold night in blogland. Thank you. :-)
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