a thumpin' good time

incoming...

hiya, pyong pyong! i'm here! we're here...

powder. word reached us that you're...unreachable. the g-pigs sent someone to tell me that you're lost in the mountains. i managed to look surprised and concerned. this is the first report they've bothered to give me about you since you left! it seems they have recently become concerned about your whereabouts.

indeed, pyong. we were met by a monk just outside of grama who warned us that there were *agents* searching for me. still not sure how much i should worry.

you should worry some, powder. do whatever drin and the master tell you and stay out of sight. i'm at the meeting right now - we're on a break.

NOW?!

yes. and it's not looking good for us. the venusians do NOT know that we are here. they do not know about us specifically. they do know that the g-pigs spent a long period of time in orbit around the earth. the g-pigs thus far have decided to tell them about their harvesting missions - looking for other species of plant life to cultivate. they are not going to tell them what went wrong on earth.

why is that, do you think?

i don't actually have to think. they've said. the reason they're so afraid, the reason we are so dangerous, is not really us, and not really what we know, because we hadn't guessed and maybe would never have guessed that what we know is a danger to Cavvy.

how can we be dangerous?

not us, powder. information. we carry within us the seeds of their destruction. we know what really happened on earth. the g-pigs came for grass samples. they fell in love with a field of orchard grass. they took their samples, but they also contaminated the field with their own soil from Cavvy. the grass that was contaminated mutated. the samples they took on their ship mutated even more - it literally consumed all of the potting compound. it also killed the g-pig that tried to eat it. the g-pigs returned to earth to wipe out that field...and discovered that something else had mutated as well. us. in the process of discovering how we had changed, the g-pigs also revealed too much about what had happened on earth. the ship's crew, the beans, they didn't know either, didn't guess at the implications. but those responsible for security here on Cavvy immediately knew that this was a potentially disastrous situation. that's why we were *invited* to make Cavvy our home. we can't do any damage from here. or so the g-pigs thought. the venusians curiosity is making it rather obvious that we are still dangerous.

oh pyong...it's the grass that ate a world...and it tastes so good any g-pig would eat it without a second thought...and die. and we two are the only outsiders who know.

it certainly spells doom for us, powder. the g-pigs have not yet decided to terminate us...but they may see no other option. and the ones who may be our saviors and our only ticket off of this planet, the venusians, why, their very curiosity about earth also makes them dangerous for us. if they keep asking questions the g-pigs will become alarmed and will do something drastic...and we will end before we've even begun.

this is terrible. i don't know who we can trust. and i don't know who we should talk to. everyone is so fearful...how can we make them trust us? we would never tell anyone about the orchard grass threat. and to get a ride with the venusians, well, we'd have to say that the g-pigs were covering something up...and the story, in some form, would come out...and if the venusians felt that the g-pigs were dangerous, it could spell trouble for them, too. do we even have a bargaining chip in this whole mess?

i don't know, powder. the meeting is about to start up again...i'll get in touch with you as soon as we have another break...i'm thinking this could go on for hours.

posted by: barkalot at 15:12 | link | comments |

ok, drin, it's funny. can you stop laughing now?

sorry, powder. it's just that i've never seen such a look of offended dignity on a rabbit before. tis true i'm no expert on lapine facial expressions, but still. chuckles.

right, right. moving on, drin...i can't see where we're going. can i look through your eyes? where ARE we going, exactly?

sure, have a look around. i followed drin's thoughts to his optic nerves, then back again to his brain where the images were being processed...rather circuitous, but i didn't want to BEcome drin, i just wanted to see what he was seeing. over there, that hill in the distance...that's where we're headed.

and where is that exactly?

it's an inn, powder. we're going to stay at an inn. or rather, i'm going to get a room, and you're going to stay in it...until we can find out how serious this interest in you is. you don't really need to be out and about in the city itself in order to talk to your lady friend...

no, i can do that from the inn. i can also *talk* with the master and the rest from the inn and discuss what our next move should be.

i looked through drin's eyes...grama was somewhat rockier and hillier than zoiza, and so there was less grass. still, it seemed that the g-pigs cultivated it wherever it would grow. the effect was ornamental as well as edible...the dual purpose garden was doing well in grama. i found myself viewing everything with suspicion. every g-pig that passed us made my heart leap in terror. as if my discovery were imminent, and i'd be shackled and thrown in some kind of jail cell if they were to find me. the reality, once i'd settled down a bit, was that we were in a rather large city...though, not like an earth city, it was filled with bustling busy g-pigs who were going about their business. we blended in just fine, drin looking very much like most of the other g-pigs. there was no reason at all that we should draw anyone's attention or spark their curiosity. after i got over my panic attack, i felt let down somehow. i mean, entrance into a somehow forbidden and foreboding city and tension laced atmosphere is supposed to produce some kind of exciting climax. but it wasn't. and grama, even though it was somewhat different from zoiza, and certainly different from earth, failed to grip me after my initial agitation...so, i fell asleep. and when i awoke, drin and i were safely sequestered in our room in the inn.

posted by: barkalot at 13:05 | link | comments (2) |

it's no fun being a bunny burrito. back in the day when we were earthbound bunnies, our person would take us to the vet to get our teeth filed down. speaking of...we haven't been for awhile. and am i feeling any points? nooooo...maybe it's all a crock. lies perpetuated by the veterinary system in order to drum up regular business. ah well. the vet has this burrito-ization technique down pat. she takes a towel and wraps it over your forepaws while you are crouched down in terror. then she carefully wraps it around your back and rump, effectively securing you in the "bunny burrito." within this towelled coccoon, bunnies' teeth can be examined without bunnies escaping. although, there's THIS trick you can try. as you're getting wrapped, stand tall, then when the burrito is complete, you still have some space, once you crouch down again, to pull your head into the towel - thus thwarting attempts to put nasty dental instruments in your mouth. bleah.

my point is this: i have been burrito-ized again. and this time, i've been stuffed in a sack and am bouncing none too comfortably on the back of my trusty steed, drin. and he's laughing, he's LAUGHING at me.

posted by: barkalot at 19:47 | link | comments (2) |

i related our conversation to my traveling companions and we all agreed that it was best to hightail it into grama - as quickly as possible. pyong-pyong would be attending her meeting soon, and we needed to be in position to make things happen at a moments notice. with that in mind, we stepped up the pace. for the last two days we have been walking nearly nonstop. we rested for 5-10 minute intervals along the way and then only a 2 hour stop in the night. drin scouted ahead a bit and discovered a well-worn throroughfare (an actual cavvy road), and so we were able to move more quickly and with less concern that one of us might take a misstep and plummet to his/her demise. one of those long walk off a short pier kind of incidents.

near dusk we encountered a lone g-pig on the road. it was one of the monks from grama. the master had been thinking to him and reporting our progress - and the importance of our mission. he bowed his head to us in greeting before speaking. then said, "i would welcome you to grama, but this news cannot wait. nor is it for the ears of any passersby." some murmurings among us as we took that in. "may i suggest we leave this road and adjourn to the clearing just to east there?" the master nodded and we all trudged our weary bodies over to the clearing.

once we were all assembled and as comfortable as sore muscles and nil sleep could make us, the monk said, "let us meditate..." we cleared our minds and concentrated on the quietness the empty. anyone watching or listening would have shrugged it off as some arcane religious ritual. what we were really doing was joining our minds so that we could hear the monk think to us.

are we all present and accounted for?

as one we answeredyes

well. as you may have guessed, the news is not good. i could not wait for you to come marching into grama. we have had word from zoiza - today. inquiries into your whereabouts - especially the whereabouts of your young rabbit companion. it seems that someone with considerable power would like to know...personally

me again. trouble trouble trouble.

i have not given them this information...exactly. i have told them only that the group is expected in grama in a matter of days. for now they are satisfied with this. i was not able to ascertain if they want to take powder into custody, or merely ask him some questions. at any rate, our home is being watched, so if you continue there, your presence will be noted...by someone.

what am i supposed to do, then? wait here? i am stymied at every step of this journey, it seems. they tell me to go out and make cavvy my home, learn about it, understand it. and suddenly they've come to pick me up?

the monk turned to me, it may have to do with the possible security leak to the venusians that your friend, pyong-pyong mentioned. if that's the case, they may only want to reassure themselves that you're not going to make an unscheduled appearance when they're trying to keep your presence under wraps.

that's all well and good. i'm safe for now. but what if the big pigs in charge decide that we're ALWAYS going to be a security risk? no matter what the venusians know now...what will they do then? we were a danger on earth, and now we are possibly a danger here...if they don't kill us, they'll lock us up for the rest of our lives. i can't live like this.

there was silence.

the master spoke, powder, i think we shall file a missing rabbits report...we were in the mountains and you disappeared one day. we searched all over - this may sound familiar to you - but were unable to find you. fearing for your safety, we hurried to grama to organize a professional team to search for your whereabouts...

ok...so am i supposed to hide out until the danger passes? i need to be in grama, i can't be hiding out in the hills somewhere hoping this will all blow over. while i'm waiting, i may well blow my chance to get off of this planet!

too true! drin chimed in.

no, powder, i won't have you hiding out in the hills or in the woods. you are going to enter grama with drin, who is going to enter grama alone.

i think you just said alone...how is that going to work?

don't worry, bunny, you'll be traveling in style - in drin's carrysak

grrreat. bunny burrito, here i come.

posted by: barkalot at 20:06 | link | comments (4) |

i did not hear from pyong-pyong for another week.  she was only angry with me for about an hour, and then once again became caught up in the intrigue of her own plans - to find out what venusians might be doing here on cavvy. she continued to follow black beans around, feeling that since she didn't really have any other specific contacts or leads serendipity might strike when she least expected it.  she remembered to cloak herself this time (and was sure to mention the fact right off when she thought to me).  as it turned out, she was in the right place in the right time.  the right place just happened to be under the boardroom table where black beans was attending a particularly long and boring meeting.  she was falling into a comfortable snooze on the softest woven grass mat she'd ever encountered when she overheard one of the pigs say "venus."  she quickly swiveled ears to pick up the rest of his broadcast which made mention of "our small visitors" and "neighboring planet."  from the comments that followed she ascertained that somepig had spilled the "beans" (yeah, bad pun, since it most likely was a beans that did it) about the bunny "friends" who had been taken from earth.  in fact, cavvy's continued presence around earth had aroused some suspicion in the venusians who were concerned about their reasons for being there.  this was a general meeting to brief staff on many issues, and this information was deemed important enough to have its own meeting in another week.  the g-pigs planned on presenting a united front to the venusians regarding the "rabbit issue."  someone was going to be assigned to cozy up to their ambassador, to do the schmoozing and reassuring and to find out exactly what those venusians know.  oh yes.  and someone had to hunt down the leak and make sure to put a stopper in it.  that sounded bad.  deadly maybe.  pyong hopped quietly out from beneath the table at this point to get a look at black beans' face.  he looked none too pleased.  it was certain he hadn't  blabbed as he was at this security meeting...but he knew someone on his team had. 

"now, powder, i don't know for sure that the venusians know anything about us.  and i expect that if they don't know, the g-pigs aren't going to tell them...it's possible that they will lie, too - try to convince the venusians that the information they received was fabricated by a crazy g-pig.  it depends on what they know and what kind of spin they can put on it.  i'm going to be at that meeting next week..."

"that's good, pyong.  we need to know what they find out.  it's going to be very important.  and once we know, we'll need to act - probably very quickly.  we still don't have any idea what the venusians are like.  we need to find out.  we need to know why they'd be concerned about cavvy's presence around earth...we need to know what they think about earth and the beings that live there.  gods, we need to know so much and suddenly it's like there's no time at all!"

"tell me about it.  i mean, this might have been a totally missed opportunity if you hadn't contacted me, if i hadn't recovered, if i hadn't followed black beans in the first place...and we still have to find out whether the venusians have good intentions.  i think we can safely assume that the g-pigs will attempt to prevent our exodus from their planet."

"you know what doesn't make any sense?"

"no, what?"

"the fact that the g-pigs took us at all.  sure they wanted to cover their butts (no tails, breezy back there, i guess), but even if humans did discover us, why would they automatically connect our enhancement with 'alien influence?'  doesn't make sense.  humans are not inclined to believe in life on other worlds.  they may write about it in books, but they don't believe it.  they'd most likely think, fluke, and then dissect us.  so.  there must be some other reason that we've been abducted.  something to do with a cavvy security issue.  and we aren't hip to it.  i bet they talk about it during that meeting."

"hmm.  good point, powder.  it doesn't make sense.  i'll be extra attentive at that meeting...and until that meeting.  when do you reach grama?"

"in about a week.  we'll join the ranks of other monks at the temple and the master will put me in contact with some other g-pigs who can help us."

"ok, i've got planning to do, so i'm outta here."

"right.  talk to you soon."

posted by: barkalot at 20:22 | link | comments |

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