And then…(II)

[SadGeezer]

(Insert disclaimers)

Warning: still a work in progress with intermittent edits and changes as I go along….

[b]REDUXX[/b]

INTERLUDE:
[i]THE MUSIC OF THE DREAM ZONE[/i]

The dream zone was theirs. It had been theirs since the beginning. It was through the dreams that they molded their race, through the dreams that they guided their history as they had done through every cycle of time, as they had done for countless cycles of time.

In the dream zone they were music: chiming, trilling, singing, moaning, whispering. Chords swelled into oceans, the key changed and forests whispered, a new note and shooting stars appeared. It was these songs that filled the dreams of the Brunnen-g, that talked to them of their past and their future, it was the source of their common destiny.

Yet even in the dream zone the memories of the cycles were shadows, the light on the path intermittent. But they knew that when they sounded the perfect chord, the shadows would fade; the cycle would be complete one more time.

CHAPTER 2

[b]2.1[/b]
[i]Spinning, turning, swooping, gliding,
movement is thought, thought is music:
A net of glittering, crystalline harmony scattering time, racing into the blackness, fishing for something dark and silent, before it sinks into oblivion: the last missing note of the perfect chord.[/i]

[i]The net sweeps through the debris of worlds and time seeking one still moment in the clamor of elements. It finds it and keeps it from slipping out of reach. Carefully it pulls its catch back from the black, back into cold, deep space; there the harmony envelops the silence, caresses it, lets it gently float in the pulse of the music.[/i]

[i]Inside the net there is no deep, no cold, no black. There is brightness and clarity, the lift and fall of sound.
And one fragment of darkness. The music whispers to it.
We will wait.[/i]

[b]2.2 [/b]
Little Lexx stretched out, she was in her element. She was riding the currents of space, feeling the fizz of their energy against her skin, listening for the faint whispers that helped her navigate. Each day she learned a little more about the universe around her, as her body grew, so did her knowledge; she was absorbing everything and storing it in her memory banks. She liked the way it was all connecting, each new tidbit helped her understand the rest.

She sensed the life inside her too: the two moths were quiet, she chatted with them sporadically, but their intelligence was limited. Xev and Stanley were different, more complicated, more like her. Xev was sleeping now; Little Lexx touched her dream and was disappointed, she would learn nothing there, it was another black one. Stanley was on the bridge, seated on the control stand and half asleep as well. Little Lexx thought she would talk to him in a while, she liked talking to Stanley, and telling him what she was learning. Sometimes she surprised him. When she first told him she was a female several months ago, he hadn’t expected it, he had fallen silent.

“You’re not pleased Stanley?” she had asked.

“No, that’s not…I mean I [i]am[/i], I like the idea. But it just made me wonder about something else we’ve never actually asked you. Can you blow up planets like the big Lexx?”

“I have the ocular parabola Stanley. I am not sure how strong it is now, but when I am fully grown, I will be able to blow up planets.”

“That’s good”, Stanley sounded happy. “I wonder if we should practice on an asteroid or something, to see what you can do now.”

“I can only fire my weapon at my Captain’s command Stanley”, I will have to wait until she tells me to do so.”

“Oh.” She could tell Stanley was disappointed. “Never mind, we’ll test it out some other time.”

Sometimes she wasn’t sure Stanley understood everything she talked about, and sometimes she asked him too many questions, but mostly he seemed to enjoy their conversations just as she did; he liked having someone to talk to. She tried to talk to Xev as well, but it was harder. Xev never seemed to be interested. Xev just wanted to know if they were near any planets, or if she had enough food; she was impatient when Little Lexx tried to ask her things. Even her dreams were no longer helpful, they were black too often now. Stanley said Xev missed their friend, but Xev never mentioned him. Stanley talked about him sometimes, but only to her, not to Xev.

An unexpected echo among the whispers surrounding her caught the ship’s attention: faint, not really different from what had been there before, but perhaps a little too much like it. She listened for a while, but it became no clearer, it was more of a feeling than a sound. She was intrigued, but thought she would not mention it to Stanley yet, she could not explain it and Stanley might get nervous. They would just talk about normal things now; she rolled sideways just enough to make him slide to the end of the control stand. “Hello, Stanley” she greeted him as he woke up with a start and grabbed for his hat.

[b]2.3[/b]
Xev woke up abruptly. Had she been asleep? All she remembered for a moment was black. Nothing else. It disturbed her.

How long had she slept? She was still disoriented. Somehow, she was thinking of him again. [i] He was sorry he couldn’t love her the way she wanted him to.[/i] She had turned the words over again and again, she was no longer sure what they meant. They didn’t matter anymore, why couldn’t she forget them?

She sat up, surrounded by muted light. How familiar this ship was, yet how much different from the Lexx. She had noticed it when they first came on board, it was not just a matter of size, but the Little Lexx was complete and whole, the spaces for crew and systems organically integrated, not gouged out and forced as they had been in her father. It was even more apparent now, the ship had grown over the last few months.

She had actually felt an unexpected pang when the Little Lexx chose Stanley as her Captain, it was clear that she never really had a chance to get the key. But there had been little time to brood, as they were quickly tossed into the turmoil of the flight from the spreading devastation of the black hole.

She had not been afraid then; perhaps they would escape the turbulence, perhaps they would not. She tried to tell Stanley that, but he didn’t understand, he thought she was talking about something else. Stanley was afraid, she could see it, but he tried to hide it from Little Lexx and keep the ship calm and heading outward.

Xev had listened to him talking to his charge, he knew as little as the ship did. But somehow, moment by moment, a trust began to build up between them, something almost tangible–and something that did not include her. It began to gnaw at her, that too familiar sense of abandonment.

She had stared out at the darkness they were sliding through. She saw nothing but she could feel it: cold and vast and empty. The darkness began to settle in her then, time had not erased it, now it had even invaded her dreams.

[i]The ship feels empty. She feels empty as she always does when she thinks of him. She knows Stanley is here but it doesn’t remove the emptiness somehow. How did she want him to love her? Were there so many different kinds of love? She didn’t know.[/i] Xev pushed the thoughts away. None of that should matter any more; she slowly closed her fingers over the slight glow in her palm. She was the Captain, she held the key to the Little Lexx.

She had left the bridge that first night, she knew Stan would not notice. She found a corner to sit in, her mind was racing, she could hear her own heart beating, she couldn’t rest. He was gone, in the end he had not chosen to live. He had not chosen to stay with her. It was then that she began to understand that she should never again count on anyone else, that from now on she had to depend on herself alone. Xev reached a decision; Stanley and Little Lexx would not be allowed to exclude her, Stanley would [i]not[/i] be Xev’s Captain.

She sat there for a long time, she noticed that the periods of tubulence had lessened, that the ship seemed to be flying more freely than before. Finally, Stanley came from the bridge, looking exhausted. He had managed to find a couple of the blankets they had stored in the moths. Xev turned away from him, pretending to sleep in her corner. She could feel Stanley looking at her, wondering whether to wake her; then she heard a sigh as he covered her with one of the blankets and turned and found a niche of his own to lie in.

She waited until he was settled, then went to him. She had to shake his shoulder several times before he woke up.

“Xev?” he said, groggy and confused.

“Make love to me Stanley” she whispered, leaning over him, her hair brushing his face.

“What?” Stanley shook his head, trying to clear it.

“Take me in your arms, make love to me.” Xev placed her hands on his chest, and bent down to kiss him.

Stanley would have responded to that kiss in his sleep. But after a moment he caught himself and drew away.

“What are you doing Xev? Are you alright?”

She raised her head and gave him a long look from under her lashes. She did not answer but began to slowly undo the fastenings on his coverall.

“Wait”, Stanley caught her hands in his and sat up, fully awake now. “Why now Xev? there’s something not right here.”

She moved closer to him. “You don’t think this is right?”

Stanley gulped. It felt very right indeed. Little Stan was beginning to stir. Should he…? He pulled himself together one more time. No it wasn’t right. Xev was not herself. And he was too tired to figure out what was going on.

“Xev I don’t think this is….”

“Touch me Stan, hold me” she whispered, “make me feel alive.” She took one of his hands and slowly, deliberately, placed it on her breast.

After that, Stanley was easy, as she had known he would be. Love Slaves could do things Stanley had only heard rumours of, and Xev knew exactly what she needed to do. When he lost the key, he was too far gone in pleasure to even realize it, only Xev felt the shudder that went through the Little Lexx as the key left Stanley and entered her. She knew Stanley would realize what had happened soon enough. She saw the satisfied smile on his face, and to her surprise, felt a twinge of guilt, they [i]had[/i] been friends for a long time.

Xev stood up, not quite pleased with that memory. It was good to have her own chamber now. In the beginning, when Stanley was still sulking, the smallness of the ship had made things uncomfortable, they could not really avoid each other. It was easier to stay apart now, the niches had grown into rooms, and they had come to a tacit agreement to alternate their time on the bridge.

Stanley had tried to get the key back a few times, but they both knew he could not do for Xev what she had done for him, she saw no reason to give him false hope. They were polite to each other now, and she felt lonelier than ever.

She could hear Stanley talking to the Little Lexx as she neared the bridge. She had no reason to forbid the ship to talk to him, but often felt as left out as she had that first night. The Little Lexx always listened to her and obeyed her, but Xev never felt the same sense of closeness to the ship that Stanley seemed to feel. She shrugged, that didn’t really matter either, she held the key. She would make them tell her what they were laughing about.

[b]2.4[/b]
Bunny had bonded with the young girls stranded on the Noah immediately; they had been as scared as she was when the ship shot into space, and her maternal instincts had been engaged. She and the girls had chosen to wear the form-fitting blue jumpsuits Dr. Longbore had stocked for his female passengers as soon as they found them, Longbore picture on the sleeve and all. They were just finishing the daily aerobics class Bunny insisted on when Prince appeared in the doorway. He watched them dispassionately for a moment. The girls were all a variation of blonde and well-endowed; Prince already knew as much as he needed of them, he seldom bothered to try to tell them apart. Dr. Longbore had not been a particularly imaginative man he thought as he looked at them picking up their towels.

“I’ve come to recruit today’s [i]sous chefs[/i]” he gave the group a charming smile.

“I’ll help”, the tallest blonde volunteered quickly, giving Prince a sideways glance.

“Mary Elizabeth, we have a schedule. [i]You[/i] are on the laundry detail today. Meals are Mary Jane, Mary Francis and Mary Sue”, Bunny ignored the tall girl’s pout and shooed all of them off to the shower. Prince gave Mary Elizabeth a private, rueful look as she passed him, then had a smile and a wink for the other girls. It should do for now, a little turmoil to cheer himself up, he thought.

“Bunny I congratulate you,” Prince adressed her with only a trace of irony. “Your organizing prowess has quite taken me by surprise. Your girls have become a well oiled team. I’m sure we wouldn’t be nearly as comfortable without you.”

“Thank you Prince, it’s nice to know [i]someone[/i] appreciates what I’m doing”. Bunny was clearly peeved about something. Even though Prince usually made her feel like a rabbit caught in the gaze of a large coldblooded snake, she forgot her unease for a moment to absorb his praise.

“Yes, it’s too bad the President doesn’t really understand how hard you are working”, Prince was all sympathy.

“No he doesn’t, he thinks I have nothing better to do than wait for him to notice me!” her voice rose on the last few words.

Prince did not need to look behind him to see who had come into the room. “If you’ll excuse me–” with a slight smile he made his way down the corridor. One did what one could…

President Priest watched him leave with an anxious glance over his shoulder, then cleared his throat nervously.

“Bunnikins, don’t be angry with me, I don’t want to fight. We never get to spend any time together anymore” he said plaintively.

“I waited for you this morning. You never came back” Bunny turned her back to him and bent over to pick up her towel.
Her tempting rear end distracted Priest from her words, and his hand crept out to give her a squeeze.

“Mr President!” Bunny turned to him, outraged. “I am angry with you. Sometimes I think even…even [i]Prince[/i] treats me with more respect.”

Priest was abashed. “I did come back Bunny-wunny, but you were already gone.”

Bunny turned her back on him again and folded her arms. “How long am I supposed to wait for you, I have responsibilities too you know.”

“You’re always busy with those girls. What about me–I miss you honey bunny.” Priest inched up behind her and started nuzzling her neck.

Bunny’s anger was dissolving, as it always did when her Mr. President was near. “I miss you too Mr. President, but you’re always with your plants. And I had something special for you….” she turned around.

“For me? Oh Bunny!” his arms had crept around her waist, “I can’t wait to see it.”

“Well, maybe after dinner. [i]If[/i] you have the time.”

“Yes, after dinner, just the two of us.” Priest eagerly began to rain kisses on Bunny’s face.

Bunny couldn’t help herself, he was her Mr. President after all. She began to kiss him back.

“President Priest, I am waiting for you” Prince’s voice coming over the intercom startled them out of their embrace.

“I must go sweetie pie, don’t forget, after dinner.” Priest planted one more kiss on her lips and then darted out of the room.

“Wait I…” Bunny watched him go and stamped her foot in frustration.

Prince was waiting for Priest in the hydroponics room, amusing himself by pinching the blooms off the Professor’s orchid collection. Horrible plants, they reminded him of Water in their lush uselessness. They were thriving here, all the plants were. Priest had taken over their care when they found the robot arms had an incurable black thumb; he surprised Prince with his wholly inappropriate talent for making things grow. Prince crushed a few more plants. [i]Nothing[/i] was quite as he had expected. From the time he first saw the Lexx in Fire’s orbit, he knew everything would change. Something new had come, a sense of possibility, suddenly he found himself making choices.

He had grabbed at the opportunity for change greedily. But why? He had not thought in those terms, he had no idea it would matter. When he tried, he could still feel the lightness that had excited him, but now he also felt the darkness inside him growing stronger, needing to be let out. He had to temper it now, he could not let his craving for destruction plunge the Noah and its crew into complete chaos yet; he was walking a fine line and more and more aware of it .

Priest entered the room, quickly closing the door before any of the robot arms could follow him in–Tina had not been able to figure out yet how to reprogram them to stay away from the plants. He eyed Prince warily, trying to gauge his mood. His Prince had seemed exceptionally short tempered lately, and Priest had found himself arousing that temper more often than he wanted to. He himself did not dislike life on the Noah, he had his Bunny, he had his plants, there was no need for him to engage in any of the unpleasant activities that had been his lot on Fire and later on Earth. Something niggled at him. He had his Bunny …but less often than he liked lately.

“I am here my Prince”, Priest announced himself, casting a gloomy eye on the beheaded orchids that marked Prince’s path through the room.

“So I see, it took you a good while to get here.” Prince stopped and scowled at Priest.

“I…I just wanted to say hello to Bunny my Prince, I hardly have a chance to see her anymore.”

“Yes,” Prince looked thoughtful. “She does seem to spend a lot of time with those girls, doesn’t she? Odd…”

“Odd? what do you mean odd?” Priest was taken aback by the comment.

“Mean?” Prince shrugged and pulled at another flower. “You don’t find it odd that she prefers to spend her time with a gaggle of young women”?

“I don’t like it, no” Priest was shaking his head. “I don’t like it but what can I do?”

“Show her there are other fish in the ocean, make her jealous, then she’ll chase you.”

“But I don’t want other fish, I just want my Bunny,” Priest was confused.

Prince sighed. “You just [i]pretend[/i] you want someone else. You just want to make her think so.”

Priest considered the idea for a moment, it made sense. “Yes, that’s what I will do. Perhaps I will have dinner with Mary Elizabeth. She has a very nice…” he made a curving motion with his hands.

Prince frowned again. “That is [i]not[/i] a good idea.” Another flower bit the dust. “How about Tina? She’s usually alone.”

“Tina?” Priest seemed bewildered. “I don’t think she likes me.” He saw the exasperated look on Prince’s face and added quickly, “Yes, I understand, I shall flirt with Tina tonight. I’ll make Bunny jealous, then she’ll be extra eager to be together after dinner,” he nodded happily, the dead flowerheads forgotten.

Prince smiled to himself. He still had the touch. The thought of the friction to come gave him something to look forward to…

…to be continued

[Anonymous]

Well, here’s Chapter 2–it wouldn’t all fit into the last thread so I had to start a new one 😕 Let me know if there’s a better way.

I realize we’re not moving into the action really quickly here–the next installment will have [i]something[/i] happening! But I want to set everything up properly and figure I can always go back and edit this stuff. I’m still experimenting and just kind of amusing myself.
So, maybe it will amuse you. 😛

elmey

[Anonymous]

Touche! Your writing is of a style [i]I[/i] easily identify with…emotional exploration, detailed set -up…I think it’s great! Please continue. I’m looking forward to it. As for mine, it is sitting there waiting for me to post-which is a big deal ’cause I CAN’T TYPE!!! Right now I just don’t have the patience or a block of time to do it…but soon! 😕 So Tina survived, eh? I especially like that! 😉

[Author]

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