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the master came to see me at the inn. we did not say anything to one another; we just sat in silence and let our minds whisper our farewells. he gave me a parting gift, a scroll, which he said not to open until i'm settled somewhere more permanently. our telepathy may not function well over the great distance between earth and cavvy...so this may be the last time i ever see/speak with him again. i am sad. when the master finally takes his leave, i sit by myself in a corner of the room and wonder what life on earth will be like now that so much is different.
can one ever go home? ever go home and have things be exactly as they were? would anyone want to? the prodigal son returns, as shall the prodigal bunnies. we return changed, as is the requirement...our bildungsroman. our journey-quest. and? unlike the lost boys in nevernever land, we grew up. we needed this time to grow into our height, into ourselves - stretch toeses and noses into new cornerses. we were only children before...children delighted by and yet afraid of our own power - testing its boundaries. and then suddenly thrown into this crisis situation, we came into our own, fought for ourselves. are finally on our way home...what will home be like? can prodigal rabbits ever go home? and still, not all that much has changed. home, in very important ways, is very much the same as it was. what will it be like, not being able to tell anyone where we've been, what we've done...and even if we could...would anyone ever believe us? will we lapse into comfortable old age, nibble rabbit kibble, and wish we had grandbunnies around us, to nuzzle and to whisper our outrageous tales? come, come, now young buns, lean in, lend an ear, for we've things to tell you - one or two. grandbunnies always believe in the magic of tales.
i guess that i misjudged black beans. i thought he was totally "the job" and it turns out that he's not. he has a sense of duty that is only surpassed by his sense of what is right. he shares our opinion that executing two innocent, tho wascally, rabbits is not right. he found the information pyong pyong needed...and with his security clearance they were even able to access it. the venusian ship is currently in orbit around cavvy. it is scheduled to leave in 2 days. 2 days only to get myself and pyong stowed away...somehow...onboard. black beans says that they will need to take aboard some final supplies for their return journey to venus. he is going to do everything in his power to delay that shipment - to be relayed to them via a short range cargo shuttle - until i arrive in zoiza. it's going to be pretty tight. drin will be taking me. i still have to remain incognito as this is no planetary effort to ensure the safety of two vagabond rabbits. pyong pyong has already made her golem, which is crouching in her quarters pretending to be relapsed. the cavvians guarding her are only too happy to have such an easy charge. pyong herself is already hiding in the cargo shuttle. i am to meet her.
later...
he said WHAT???
he said he would help us, powder!
and you trust him???
well, i didn't at first. i was afraid to trust him with my real mission - finding the venusian berth - so, i asked him to help me find schematics of the space port in zoiza. and then once we'd looked at those, i asked him for a schedule of all arrivals and departures, and a list of all ships currently in the port, in orbit, etc.
pyong!!!
no, it's ok, i mean, obviously i was interested in the goings on of the space port, because that's where he found me - control central. he knew that much already. i didn't tell him right away what i was most interested in...
but you told him? eventually?
yes. it was after we'd looked at all of the schedules and lists and schematics...and i still didn't know anything about the venusian ship. maybe it was my expression...i was so tired, and i was so close to finding what i needed, but i was also so stymied. he turned to me and he said, "now, why don't you tell me what you really want to know." and my heart was up in my throat, because i really wanted to just come out with it and tell him, get the answer in the easiest way possible...but then he'd know...and what if he betrayed my confidence? i tried to say something, who knows what it would have been, but all that came out was this dry croaking. black beans looked at me then and said, "pyong pyong, you have to trust me. i WILL help you. i MUST help you. please. let me. i will do anything i can to get you to safety." and when he said this i felt better, but still had to know, "black beans, will you help us go home?" and he sort of froze for a moment. i think he expected that we wanted to go into some kind of hiding...perhaps he had faith that his people would somehow pardon us and we'd be able to live normal (if there's any such thing for us!) lives once again on cavvy. but looking at me with my hope and fear all visible, i think he saw all of those miles stretching between cavvy and earth, and my grasping desperation to close the distance. i said to him, "black beans, there is no other way. there is no life for us on cavvy." and he nodded. once. then i told him.
pyong takes more chances...
pyong pyong did a scary brave thing today. she stayed after that meeting and hung around the spaceport until she was able to locate a control center. she knew we had to find out where that venusian ship was mired...so, upon hearing that drin had turned up zip on the ship in his quest for information, she blinked out with nary a pop and followed busy looking g-pigs as they scurried back and forth. she'd worn herself out by the time her efforts paid off, but she is nothing if not determined. she hit the control room and immediately hummed a little tune that put every g-pig down for a nap. then she got on one of their computers and started searching for the missing ship. she'd barely begun her search when someone suddenly entered the room. she'd uncloaked unthinkingly when the g-pigs conked out, so she was quite visible and quite obviously messing with something she shouldn't be. what luck it was that her uninvited visitor was none other than black beans.
"pyong pyong." he said knowingly. his tone was a mixture of grudging respect and dark amusement.
pyong nodded and pressed her lips together to hum.
"wait," said black beans, "hear me out first, and don't put me to sleep."
pyong hesistated a moment and then nodded. "go ahead, captain."
"you were at that meeting. i know you were. i saw this shimmer on top of the table at one point, and some papers rustled as if there had been a freak wind...but it was no wind. it was you...i know i'm not telling you anything you don't already know...but, what can i say? you've held out on us... now, i'm not accusing you of anything. obviously, we cavvians have done our share of keeping things back. and we were the ones who put you in this situation. don't think i don't know it, and please don't think that i'm heartless enough not to care. i accept responsibility for having changed your lives...and i accept the fact that it cannot be undone. i truly thought that we were offering you a new home when i brought you here, one where you wouldn't have to hide yourselves." he laughed somewhat bitterly. "well. we can see how that worked out."
pyong looked up at black beans. "so now what? are you going to turn me in? are you going to let them know how much more dangerous you suspect i am?"
black beans stared her down for a long time before replying. "no. i'm not going to do that. what i am going to do is ask you why you had to put these g-pigs here out of commission. what are you looking for?"
pyong pyong hesitated. "black beans...you may be sorry, and you may sympathize with my situation, but i need to know what your intentions are right now. what are you going to do?"
black beans blinked at her. "why, i'm going to help you... that is, if you'll let me."
pyong slowly grinned. "well then. why didn't you say so?"
i missed out on a few things leaving pyong pyong and the meeting when i did. like the part where the g-pigs decided what their story (with rabbits and grass carefully edited out) would be. the security chief grumbled, "repairs. that's why you stayed so long. it was an ordinary botanical collection mission in all other respects, save this one. the ship experienced an equipment failure and had to be overhauled for repairs. you had all of the necessary parts, but there were complications, and so you had to stay longer." that's their story, and they're sticking to it.
drin assures me that it will be relatively easy for us, pyong and i, to sneak onto the venusian ship once we find out where it is. and, with pyong's ability to make herself scarce, and mine to scatter myself and walk through walls, i'm thinking this will be a piece of cake. there is one tiny snag...no one seems to know where the venusians have parked their ship. oh, i'm sure someone knows...but no one drin has talked to can tell. that probably means that it's not here in grama. and that does present a problem. well, the distance between grama and zoiza presents a problem at the moment. i'm reluctant to flee to zoiza if the ship isn't there. sitting tight is driving me absolutely insane, though. you can't tell, can you?
pyong pyong shut me out after that. i shrugged. i wasn't helping in my bon jovi state, and she with the level head, was probably making plans. drin returned to the inn not much after i got the bad news, and i laid it on him in the best way i could. "yo, i'm outtie." and it was one of those things that seemed funny at the time, but took far too much explanation to be satisfying. and also, it was no joking matter, really. "the world wants me dead," i moaned.
"aw, shut up, powder. the WORLD does not want you dead. stop with the melodrama already."
drin. so wise. but how can he knows what it feels like to...feel like this? ha. it was suggested that i knock it off and get in touch with the master. this i did after i firmly removed all traces of bon jovi from my head.
the master was way ahead of me. he already knew the outcome of the meeting...and he knew that pyong was planning to get us on the next venusian ship out of town. it's not a bad idea, powder. it saves you the trouble of asking them for help, certainly. and when you are discovered - as you must be at some point in order to make it back to earth - you can say you did the same thing on earth - you wound up on a cavvy spacer, and had no idea what you were getting in to. drin will confirm this, i'm sure, that the venusians don't really know that much about earth. they just know that humans are dangerous and not worth getting involved with...and their policies are similar to cavvy's - they don't want to interfere with the development of other intelligent life.
drin's nodding...he says the venusians are VERY cautious in dealing with other beings. it took them a long time to work out trade agreements with cavvy, and they are STILL suspicious. this whole *incident* has made them rather uneasy. oh, fyi, drin's been hanging out at all of the spacer hangouts today...and that's all they're talking about. how the venusians have become all standoffish and suspicious of everything. they think the g-pigs are lying about something. and they're right, of course.
and hours and hours and hours...
i waited as patiently as a rabbit trapped in the room of an inn can wait. a rabbit alone. a rabbit on his own. a rabbit without anyone with him. yup, that's me. and there was nothing to do. i hopped around the room a few times, but realized that no one was supposed to be in the room at the moment - drin was out on the town sniffing for news. i think that means he was doing a pub crawl...or whatever the cavvian equivalent might be. i quieted down. i quieted my mind. i hid under some hay. i tried contacting the master, but he flashed me a busy signal. i think as much as he wants to help, he has other responsibilities as a major religious leader. yeah. figures. i know how to pick 'em. or rather, they know how to pick me. counting on people...so hard.
i was a bit stir crazy. just when i thought i could take it no more...i fell asleep. i dreamt pyong pyong was running through the tunnels of my mind shrieking at me to wake up. i awoke. she was, in fact, running through the tunnels of my mind shrieking at me to wake up.
i'm UP!
powder, link to me and listen carefully. a security officer has just briefed the g-pigs gathered here on the "rabbit situation." the moderator has asked for suggestions. they're about to decide what's to be done with us.
ok. i'm in.
we listened from underneath the table...both of us wishing that we could see the faces of the g-pigs above.
pyong, we need to see them. we need to see their faces, their eyes. i want to know what they're thinking.
ok, powder. i'll jump up on the table.
whoosh. pyong landed in the center of the table. the g-pigs nearest to her looked around a bit, noticing the strange breeze as she hopped by. pyong crouched and looked around. i could feel her heart racing. she was terrified. even though no one could see her, and no one was aware of her presence in that room, she still felt exposed.
calm down, pyong pyong. it's ok. no one can see you. you're fine.
i know...it's just so open here. too much space, nowhere to hide.
a booming voice interrupted us. "we have a rabbit problem. terminate them."
stunned. stunning. stupefied. we looked around that table, scared. the booming voice belonged to a g-pig we hadn't met. he was the head of planetary security. he was our doom. funny that, for in his eyes, we were his. he was completely serious. this was his judgment. stupid things ran through my head - like elmer fudd singing, "kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit, kill the wabbit!" and bill and ted's excellent adventure, "put them in the iron maiden!" "iron maiden? excellent!" "EXECUTE them!" "bogus." yep.
stop it, powder. look at black beans. black beans was wriggling uncomfortably in his seat. as were many of the other g-pigs. this execution option wasn't sitting well with any of them. still...security officers aren't the ones known for giving second chances. this g-pig's strategy was to blow us out of the water before we knew what hit us.
there was little more discussion. the motion to terminate us passed. rather, the motion to terminate pyong-pyong passed. i was to be terminated if i could be found. and a rigorous search was to be mounted to locate me...or my remains. dead or alive. "i'm a cowboy, on a steel horse i ride, wanted WANTED dead or alive." powder, bon jovi sucks.
know what pyong pyong? "ooooh i walk these streets, a loaded six string on my back - i play for keeps, cuz i might not make it back. i been everywhere, still i'm standing tall. i seen a million faces, and i rocked them all."
hopeless. you are.
pyong, we're doomed. we'll have to spend the rest of our short short, terminated lives here invisible.
no, we're getting out of here. we're getting on that venusian ship, and we're leaving.
oh? how? what are we going to tell them?
we aren't. we're stowing away.
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