What it Takes: Blending in on Earth

[Writer]

From the personal journal of Matthew Garrison:

 

Well, it's been a month now since what's left of the Council of Jabros picked Earth for a convenient hiding spot... and I think that none of us involved really understood how much of a challenge that would be for them. While they've perfectly adapted by physical standards (despite the fact that one of their females is mimicking a male... weird), the mannerisms are turning out to be much more difficult to teach. I think they didn't realize how complex human emotions are... you know, that being sad can be a good thing, that being happy can seem a little creepy... and whatever.

 

Their leader, Jathan is continually kept on his toes by the youngest member of the Council, the girl I've slowly come to realize is his little sister. Now, I'd say I feel his pain, but... I'm an only child, so... anyway, they're quite the bunch.

 

Jaiera, the risk-taker, who wants to get out of our little observatory every second she gets; Pallax, the most militarily minded of the bunch, who still seems a bit sore over the fact that Jathan led them away from Jabros; Ishi, who's fascinated with our customs and works extra hard to understand them (albeit with an odd twist of logic sometimes); Titell... and I'm not sure what his issue is, but he's got rather little patience with us and seems the most reluctant to learn from us; Odrimae, who seems to understand our mannerisms relatively well, but tends to take after a 'loner' stereotype; Shaqui, who seems one of the most eager to interact with us... something to do perhaps with the fact that he's a negotiator. And finally, there's Jathan, the leader of the bunch, and the one I understand least. It's like he's got this overwhelming burden on his shoulders and he's unwilling to share the load...

 

Anyway, I'm hoping their enemies don't come 'round anytime soon. Of all of them, Jaiera and Ishi seem to understand how to act more than most... with Odrimae and Shaqui coming in close behind. Pallax gets the military viewpoint, but she's a bit rough when it comes to everyday interaction. Titell... I just don't know. I'm thinking I'll have to get Dianne's opinion on all of them...

 

 

- - - - - - - - - - -

From the personal journal of Jathan:

 

And here I was thinking Humans were so simple. It's why I chose Earth as our destination. But while our natural physical forms are similar, very little else is. We have the same emotions, but they are expressed far differently. I'll name anger specifically. Jaiera is often angry with me, for I voted against her when her name was on the hot-list for replacing Kivran. But these Humans tend to exaggerate their anger response... often going for days without speaking to one another as a result of anger. It seems highly counterproductive, but it is this... counterproductivity that we are now finding ourselves required to imitate. Jaiera finds it amusing... and she's taken to 'running away' from time to time, to cement the point that she's angry with me. Quite honestly, I find it exasperating and childish. Then again, what am I to expect of someone who's barely mature?

 

The human leader... Matthew Garrison is overeager to interface with us, and I find myself concerned with what may be his reasons. He says he's just excited that his dreams have come true, that there are other species amongst the stars. He says. At any rate, he's calling for me... Jaiera seems to have gone missing again...

 

- - - - - - - - - - - -

 

 

"Did anyone see when she left?" Jathan asked patiently. Matt shook his head.

 

"No, I'm afraid not," he replied. "Your sister is remarkably good at sneaking out of the observation center. I'm tempted to install some kind of safety alarm... anytime it's not deactivated before the door's opened, it could go off..."

 

"Consider it more seriously," Jathan ordered. "I'm taking your car. She's fast, but your car is faster."

 

"Be careful!" Matt exclaimed. "Follow the rules!"

 

Nodding wordlessly, Jathan headed for the door.

[JasraLantill]

((Small amount of jointiness w/Writer. ))

 

“Driving?” Ishi looked up at Jathan from the magazine she was reading. “You can’t drive Matt’s car, Jathan. You don’t have a driving license and it is protocol that you have one. Pallax and I saw that on that on an episode of COPS not long ago. The consequences seemed most severe.”

 

Jathan shot her a harsh glare. “Where Jaiera is concerned, I don’t care if I need a license or a full blown song and dance before going out in a car. It’s a simple carbon-powered machine. And I follow the rules, anyway, Ishi. The kind of driving you see on Earth television is... erratic at best."

 

Ishi sighed at Jathan’s rebuffing and went back to her magazine. "Fine. Just remember. A green light means 'go'. A red light means 'stop'. And a yellow light means 'speed up so you can get through the intersection before the red light comes on,’” she called after him as he darted out the door, Matt’s car keys in hand.

 

"Got it, got it!" he shouted back at her in reply.

 

Matt meanwhile watched the exchange, then shook his head. "Oh, yeah... you all are really adapting well..."

 

“What?” Ishi’s eyes widened, and she suddenly looked up at Matt. “That's... that's sarcasm!" she exclaimed, eyes growing wide with concern. “I read about that. It means there is something we are doing that is not complying with conventional norms."

 

"You certainly do your homework," Matt chuckled. "Don't worry. It's fine. Technically, if the light turns yellow, you should slow down, because it means the red's coming up and you'll need to be ready to stop." He shrugged. "Going through a yellow light won't get him pulled over though... he'll be fine. Most Americans do much the same anyway,” he added, “so the cops don't tend to bother."

 

Ishi nodded slowly as if she were making a mental note. “I shall remember that, Matt. Thank you.”

[starmark2k]

“What will she Remember?” Dianne asked walking into the room where her friend Matt and the Jabric known as Ishi.

 

Dianne had been watching Ishi closer than the other one as she had been the Jabric who seemed to be collecting the most information about Earth culture. It also didn’t help their relationship considering Ishi despite being the female of her species choose to look like a man, Dianne was a women, she had worked hard to get where she was and this alien seemed to undermine this whole thing.

 

“I hope y’all haven’t been feeding them information again.” She told Matt shaking her head.

 

“More suspicion from that Human.” Titell Said Standing in the corner of the room, he spoke in an English accent as he felt that it was the most civilized this primitive world had to offer. “Driving in cars ran by Fossils, so primitive.”

 

“Oh God! What’s he doin’ here.” Dianne exclaimed as she continued to walk over to Matt.

 

“Trust me, I’m not here by choice.” Titel replied.

[mur'phon]

"I hope I one day become integrated enough that I understand why you have such a problem with us learning when it's clearly to your benefitt." Shaqui said with a smile, hoping he had chosen his words right, or hadn't overdone the smile or.... Stars what he would give for Ishis understanding.

 

From the begining it had been clear that Dianne didn't like any Jabric, especially not Titel and Ishi, though he suspected he was third on that list. However her problem with Titell was the only one he thought he could do something about, so he walked over to him.

 

"I have come to expect humans to act irrational from time to time, but why do you seem to anoy them at every turn? If it's something you know that I don't, please share it with me, if not, remember we depend on them."

[JasraLantill]

"I believe both Dianne and Titell are suffering from forms of discontent," Ishi said to Shaqui. "Titell from the frustration of being stuck here among aliens with a technologically inferior society, and Dianne from...."

 

She hurried flipped through the magazine she was reading from (which had on its cover a picture of a beautiful brunette wearing a bright yellow string bikini and posing on a beach,) trying to find a particular article.

 

"Ah! Here it is. 'The Green-Eyed Monster,'", she started to read, "'jealousy in the workplace--tips on how to deal with your cranky female boss.' It says here that jealousy, phallus envy, and rivalry are common emotional aliments among females in the workplace, particularly those who harbor ambitions for advancement in male-dominated career fields."

 

She looked up, this time eyeing Dianne. "Careers involving mathematics, medicine, and physics are in the top ten of the male-dominated career fields, Dianne," she added. And then she smiled. "So, Shaqui you are quite correct in attempting to reason with Titell in order to get him to alter his behaviour, because Dianne is reacting in a perfectly normal fashion for a successful, career-minded, goal-oriented, un-married human female between the ages of 20 and 55."

[Rogue Nine]

"I think there's just a wee bit more to it than tha', Ishi," Cael O'Rinn told the Jabric as he came in through the front door, smelling of smoke. "Oh, and for future ref'rence, human females don't normally like to have things like that pointed out to them, 'specially by men."

 

He glanced over at Dianne. "Easy there, Dee," he told her, his voice soothing. "These are our guests and ti'snt right if ye be actin' all rude." He gave her a smile. "Where's that Texas hospitality?"

[starmark2k]

“In Texas.” Dianne replied to the Irish scientist. “Just sayin’ that we should be careful with all this information we’re giving to them on a silver platter, is all.”

 

“The information you have given us is only basics on your society and nothing harmful.” Titel defended his species. “Your suspicion is unfounded and shows the primitive nature of your species psyche.”

[JasraLantill]

"Oh, and for future ref'rence, human females don't normally like to have things like that pointed out to them, 'specially by men."

 

Ishi opened her mouth to say something to the effect that she was, in actuality, a female, but then she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. She abruptly closed her mouth, and then a slow, shy smile began to appear on her lips.

 

Even from her Jabric point of view, her outward appearance wasn’t just male—she was quite an attractive specimen. She could see Cael’s point on how Dianne might feel intimidated by her previous comment.

 

Ishi quickly brought her thoughts back to the present situation.

 

“Just sayin’ that we should be careful with all this information we’re giving to them on a silver platter, is all.”

 

“The information you have given us is only basics on your society and nothing harmful.” Titel defended his species. “Your suspicion is unfounded and shows the primitive nature of your species psyche.”

 

“Titel,” said Ishi, “you are being argumentative and unproductive in fostering relations.” She looked at Shaqui, giving him a nod of solidarity and support as he was the one who had taken it upon himself to foster Human/Jabric bonds. “May I make a suggestion?” She held up a finger to make a point, and then opened up the local newspaper that was lying on a nearby table. “How about a group activity?” she suggested, as she tabbed through the pages. “An outing where Human and Jabric can participate in a common activity and thus gain additional awareness of each other’s social and cultural customs? I believe the colloquial phrase is ‘a teambuilding exercise.’ Ah, here.” She folded the newspaper back upon itself, then held it up for the rest of them to see. It was an advertisement for a hotel resort.

 

She smiled. “We should go to Las Vegas.”

[RobQel-Droma]

"Is that really necessary?" said a quiet voice. Odrimae slowly walked into the room, looking at Ishi. "Wouldn't that attract quite a bit of attention to our.... oddity?"

 

He seated himself in one of the chairs and looked down at some of the magazines, slightly interested in what she had been reading. ...is famous for massive and lavish casino resorts, the unrestricted availability of alcoholic beverages (as is true throughout Nevada), and adult entertainment. Once officially referred to as Sin City... he read. Somewhere he had read about the Earth term sin, and he thought it implied something bad, or dangerous.... something like that.

 

Not that he really cared about danger from Earth, he was more concerned about what lay out beyond Earth; but he felt that it would be better to be cautious when deciding to go into large public entertainment areas. He felt slightly insecure about going to this "Las Vegas" when he knew almost nothing about it.

[Writer]

((I should have mentioned this long ago... we're not in Nevada any more... and our location will be revealed in this here post... so hang tight ))

 

 

Matt smiled faintly. "Vegas is a bit of a drive," he said, "and we can't exactly shuffle you Jabrics on a plane without ID." He laughed. "Security would go nuts... to say nothing of the letter agencies..." He frowned thoughtfully. "Group activity's not a bad idea though, Ishi... tell you what. Boise's about a three hour drive, give or take a half hour or so. They've got a semi-decent mall there we could browse. Soon as Jathan gets back with Jaiera, we'll assemble everyone and see if we're all in favor."

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

Jathan could see why some humans considered driving a calming activity. For one thing, it gave him time to think of how to handle his irresponsible sister. He was fairly certain he knew where she'd gone, as the last time they'd gone into the town... what had Matt called it? Maycall? Jathan glanced at the sign on the way into the town and repeated the letters, "Big M, little c, big C, little a-l-l... Maycall? Hmph..."

 

At any rate, Jaiera had been particularly interested in a large building the Humans had identified as an ice skating rink. How she'd get in without money was another matter entirely, but Jaiera was unnervingly good at getting into places she shouldn't be. Perhaps that was why she'd been elected in the place of Kivran. After all, if you're replacing a sneak, replace her with a sneak who'll sneak for you... or something like that...

 

At any rate, Jathan pulled the car up to the ice skating rink and tugged the door open, scanning the room for his sister. Almost immediately, he singled her out, putting on a pair of ice skates on the other side of the room. She saw him too, but initially made no indications of recognition. As he drew nearer, she held up a pair of skates for him... she'd known he was coming.

 

"Jaiera, we can't stay," he said softly. She regarded him blankly.

 

"Who's Jaiera?" she asked. It was a slight blow to Jathan's patience, but Jaiera loved games...

 

"Jessica, we have to go," he said, stressing the Human name she'd chosen.

 

"Why?" she asked, imitating a pout.

 

"Because of what hunts us," Jathan murmured into her ear. "Alone, we are vulnerable."

 

"Bunched together, we make a bigger target," Jaiera countered. "Skate with me."

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

 

Two hours later, Jathan and Jaiera returned to the observatory; Jaiera seemed utterly pleased, while Jathan wouldn't speak. A bewildered Matt called after him, asking what had happened. Slowly, Jathan turned, shot a glare to Jaiera, who'd gone to sit next to Ishi, and shrugged.

 

"We went ice skating," he muttered, turning and moving out of sight.

[JasraLantill]

"We went ice skating." Jathan's words sparked an interested look in Ishi's hazel eyes and she gave Jaeira a smile as she sat down next to her.

 

"Ice skating, indeed?" Ishi grinned, obviously pleased that Jaeira had made the most of her outing. She had tried extra hard to bond with the girl ever since her close friend and fellow council member, Kivran, had been ousted, and she feared that Jathan saw her more as a co-conspirator rather than someone who had been duped along with the others. "You will have to tell me all about your experience." Ishi draped an arm over Jaeira's shoulders in a friendly, almost parental manner. "And you'll have plenty of time to do that when we...." She paused, then gave an inquiring look at Matt. "Assault the road?"

 

"Hit the road," Matt corrected.

 

"Hit the road," Ishi continued to Jaeira. "Matt's promised to take us on a group outing to a mall."

 

"Hey, I never prom...." Matt started to object.

 

"The Towne Square, I believe it's called," Ishi continued, completely ignoring Matt. "In Boise. Three hours driving time." Another small nudge, and Ishi tapped her finger on a fashion ad in one of the open magazines on the coffee table in front of them. "They have," she said conspiratorially, "a Macys there."

 

She suddenly straightened her posture and cleared her throat. "Not that, I, disguised as human male Pat Connor, should be seen to enjoy myself while participating in any part of the apparel browsing process, but... I do need to obtain some attire more suitable than jeans, boots, and a T-shirt if I'm ever going to do more... interactive social studies."

 

She glanced askance at Dianne. "Not that I have an immediate plans to do so," she added quickly. "But just... in case. One can never be too prepared when staying on an alien world."

 

She turned to Jaeira again. "So, tell me about ice skating...."

[Quist]

Pallax stood in the middle of the court on the roof, staring up at the wintry sky. It was cold, and the human form she was currently in was far less efficient at keeping her warm than her natural Jabric skin. Nevertheless, she had followed Jathan's orders not to be conspicuous and had adopted 'camouflage', so to speak. That didn't mean she had to be comfortable or happy with it.

 

She breathed out deeply, watching the wispy condensation of her breath in the air as she continued to gaze upward. Somewhere, among the bright specks in the sky, her kinsmen were being hunted. Somewhere, the usurpers of the throne were roaming free, ferreting out those loyal to the rightful ruler. It angered her that she was not up there, fighting the fight and striving actively to take back Jabros. If there was one thing that angered Pallax more than betrayal, it was inaction.

 

Still, Jathan could have picked a worse place to land. Earth was fairly hospitable and humans were easy enough to blend in with, at least physically. The only sentient species on the planet had a great many oddities about it and she had trouble understanding most of them. Ishi, of course, was delighted and eager to learn more about their new hosts, and Pallax conceded to herself that she would probably have to ask the younger Jabric about human customs and whatnot, for the purpose of 'fitting in'. She just hoped that Jathan would have a plan soon enough, and one that involved action.

 

Pallax took one last longing look at the sky before turning and heading back inside.

[Writer]

Jaiera flashed a smile. "It was..." She paused, searching for words. "Remember when the Kiferan ambassador came to Jabros... and we mimicked his species' wings? And how his daughter showed how to use them and ride the wind currents?" She grinned. "It's sort of like that... without all the ups and downs." She giggled. "Jathan fell twice."

 

Matt snorted. "And on that note, I'll go find the man... he's your leader, so I figure he'd best have some say into the mall trip."

 

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

 

Jathan was not the only one in the central room upstairs; Kayla and Logan were there, just as silent as ever. Jathan was pretending to ignore them, but his senses were on high alert whenever he was around them... he could practically taste tension in the air when they were around the Jabrics. Something wasn't right about those two, but he could not pin the feeling down.

 

"Hey Jathan... oh..." Matt began, but he paused as he noticed his cousin and her boyfriend. "And Kayla and Logan... umm... Ishi wants a group outing... suggested Vegas, but that's a bit far. We're talking about the mall in Boise... three hours away."

 

"I'll have to... uh..." Jathan muttered. He shook his head and shrugged. "We're trying to 'lay low', I believe you called it..."

 

"You look human," Matt reminded him. "Maybe it's time you all started trying to put your extensive learning this past month to good use."

 

Jathan nodded thoughtfully. "Very well," he conceded. "We will go to this... mall. I shall inform the rest of my people."

 

Matt grinned. "Ishi's gonna be thrilled... what about you, Kayla? Logan? You coming with us?"

 

Logan left the room without a word. Kayla shrugged. "We'll hold down the fort here," she promised. "I haven't been to a mall in years and I shouldn't like to repeat the experience."

 

"Oookay..." Matt muttered, turning and heading away to spread the news of the mall outing to whoever he met. But the first being he ran into was Pallax... and he'd still not gotten quite used to her, for she was the most combat-minded being he'd ever met... and he was far from it.

 

"Ooh, uh, hey Pallax," he stammered. "Uh... I think Jathan's looking for you."

 

"I was, actually," Jathan said, coming up behind the two. "Thank you, Matt."

 

Matt grinned and departed, and Jathan took Pallax aside.

 

"I had a sleepless night," he told her quietly. "I spent most of it going around to the different observation stations... and I feel your desire for conflict will be satisfied sooner than I had expected." He shifted into their language and softly murmured, "The Trackers are inbound... unless technology has drastically improved since we left, they should touch down not far from where we did in a matter of hours."

 

He straightened and returned to speaking English. "I understand that Ishi has recommended a group activity. Can I count on you joining us?"

[Quist]

Pallax's face remained impassive, but inside, her mind and emotions were churning. Shifting into their tongue, she whispered urgently to Jathan, "The Trackers know we're here?" Her eyes flashed. "We need to intercept them and take them out, so they don't send for reinforcements. I don't know how you can think of going to a group activity while danger is upon us. Not only to ourselves, but any humans who may get in the way." She glanced over at Kayla and Logan, who were observing the two conversing Jabrics out of the corner of their eyes. Shifting her gaze back to Jathan, she looked into his oddly-colored human eyes, imploring with her own for him to take action.

[Writer]

Jathan sighed. "Under more favorable circumstances, I'd agree with you," he replied. "But the distance is to great to reach them in time to do something about it. By the time we could get to their touchdown site, they would be long gone... off to hunt us."

 

He turned away for a moment before whispering, "We came to Earth for more reasons than just the ease of physical blending in."

 

He whispered at length directly into her ear and then withdrew. In English, he prompted, "The group activity?"

[starmark2k]

Dianne had walked off into one of the recreation rooms within the observatory, it was empty of all but her. She walked over to the small Piano in the corner and sat by it opening the cover over the keys. She began to play a tune, soft and slow, she wasn’t sure what it was it was just a comfort to play anything in these stressful situations. It wasn’t the arrival of the aliens that upset her, she was actually quietly excited about being one of the first to discover Extra terrestrial Life was out there and intelligent. What upset her was how many matt and the others seemed to be taking the Aliens on face Value, taking every word they said to be the truth, Dianne knew how kind words could hide dark Intensions. She continued to play as she thought and tried to calm herself down.

[Black Knight of Keno]

The spot illuminated on the wall moved rapidly as a figure turned it's head in the dark. The light was in the man's mouth and the spot swiftly moved back in front of the man so he could see what he was doing to a large lump of machinery that served as a backup generator. since there were two feet of snow on the ground, you never knew when the powers went out and especially in the case of having literally dozens of computers doing extremely important work on the second floor, they could not lose the power for even half a second and less.

 

As the only accomplished engineer in the group, he had the task of janitoring the place most of the time and in January most of his time went into making sure the place stayed well equipped with the essentials: electricity, water and heat. To be frank, he hadn't even had the time to get acquainted with the aliens or their technology since their arrival, even if he had attempted to do so repeatedly, only to be interrupted by something or someone. Nonetheless, Alexander at no point seemed to lose the driving force behind his energy even if he was discouraged by the menial tasks he had to do before getting to his main interests.

[RobQel-Droma]

Catching the sound of his own language being spoken, Odrimae slowly walked upstairs, wondering what would have necessitated one of his fellow Jabros' need for privacy. He continued up the staircase and almost ran into Jathan and Pallax, who were still conversing in the Jabros native tongue.

 

Jathan leaned forward to whisper something into Pallax' ear, and Odrimae respectfully withdrew back into the corner. The two didn't seem to notice him yet. Then Jathan straightened back up, saying, "The group outing?"

 

"We're going to a.... 'mall', in an Earth city called Boise." Odrimae quietly answered his question, stepping forward so that they both were aware of his presence.What has happened? He muttered.

[JasraLantill]

((Joint post with Writer.))

 

Jaiera flashed a smile. "It was..." She paused, searching for words. "Remember when the Kiferan ambassador came to Jabros... and we mimicked his species' wings? And how his daughter showed how to use them and ride the wind currents?" She grinned. "It's sort of like that... without all the ups and downs." She giggled. "Jathan fell twice."

 

Ishi showed a slow, sly smile at Jaiera's disclosure. "He fell?"

 

Jaiera nodded. "That's part of the reason he was so... shut down just now. That and the fact that I wasn't supposed to be out, I suppose... but mostly that. I think he's in a little pain."

 

She shrugged. "I don't think he's quite the type to understand the basic workings of active sports..."

 

“Yes, he never did work out how to properly work the Kiferan wings…” Ishi shrugged off the memory. “Humans do seem to be very physically active creatures,” Ishi observed. “Have you noticed all of the sporting-based media programes they seem to broadcast? And,” she added, holding up a mindful finger. She reached over and picked up another magazine from the table. “They like to wager on the outcomes. Look here.” She showed Jaiera an article on illegal sports gambling.

 

Jaiera looked at the article with a puzzled frown. "I can understand the interest in physical challenge. We do much the same, though in different ways... but this seems like sheer idiocy."

 

“Indeed. Their penchant for wagering is most puzzling.” Ishi put a finger to her lips. “Perhaps humans get some sort of physical stimulation from the activity? Adrenaline perhaps? I will query Dianne about that later.”

 

Jaiera shuddered at the mention of Dianne and lowered her voice. "What's her issue, anyway? Matt's so friendly. Dianne's just... not."

 

“I believe Dianne feels threatened by our presence,” Ishi said plaintively. “Females have a lower status in society here. She feels insecure.”

 

Jaiera paled. "Oh..." she said in a small voice. "But... she has done well enough, hasn't she? And, well... we... how would that make a difference? We are here to imitate their culture... not to overthrow it with our own."

 

Ishi pressed her lips together, then cocked her head to one side. She could hear faint piano music and knew that Dianne was playing it. Which meant she was not in earshot. “I believe my taking on a male appearance is disconcerting for her. She doesn’t trust me.” She paused. “Much the same as your brother.”

 

Jaiera's face fell. "I keep telling him you were deceived just as much as the rest of us," she sighed. "I don't know what will convince him."

 

“I don’t think anything will,” Ishi said ruefully. “Perhaps, in time, he will come to realise this.” She managed a grin. “In the meantime, we should plan our outing. We must make the most of the opportunity.”

[Writer]

Jathan nodded to Odrimae. "I was just informing Pallax of the trip," he said. And in response to the younger Jabric's question, he replied, "Oh, we were just remembering things of the past... what Jabros was like before things started getting unsettled..." He shot a glance at Pallax, silently urging her to say nothing of the Trackers just yet.

 

Suddenly, Matt's voice rang over the intercom, sounding all throughout the observation center, as well as outside.

 

"If I could have everyone's attention, please," he said. "A group activity is in planning. If everyone could report to the TV room, that'd be great. Thanks."

 

Jathan nodded. "Let's go... we'll see if Matt has any further information to give us about this... activity."

[Rogue Nine]

Cael let go of the truck's hood, letting the large piece of metal thump back down on top of the engine. He grabbed a washcloth and rubbed the grease off of his hands as he headed back inside the house. Since they were soon to be making a trip, he wanted to be sure that they'd make it there.

 

As he came through the foyer, he heard the unmistakable sound of their small Steinway piano being played in one of the side rooms. Tucking the cloth into his back pocket, he walked into the doorway and leaned on the doorpost. "Rachmaninoff," he said, looking over at Dianne. "I think you're playing it a little too lento, Dee." He gave her a crooked smile. "What's on yer mind?"

[starmark2k]

“Alien, the universe and the future of all mankind.” Dianne replied continuing to play the piano. “Ya Know nothing to heavy.” She chuckled lightly. She stopped playing the piano and looked up at the Irish scientist.

 

“So are you here to make sure I turn up at the group activity or just to socialise?” Dianne asked standing up.

[Rogue Nine]

"I don't think Matt is gonna make you go if you don't want ta," Cael reasoned. He knew that the young Southern astronomer was none too pleased with their new houseguests. "Though I'm sure that if you did come, you'd see that they're not that bad. And really, wouldn't you like it if some alien planet you visited had natives as nice as us? At least they're not bloodthirsty carnivores or nothin.'"

[Quist]

Pallax stiffened at what Jathan had whispered to her, but said nothing. She didn't like how things had turned out, but for now, she'd have to trust his word. She just hoped that they would live long enough for him to fully earn that trust.

 

As the intercom rang through the house, she glanced at both Odrimae and Jathan. She exhaled a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. "For now, Jathan, I'll come with you on this... 'group activity'. I just hope the humans have something safe planned."

[starmark2k]

“How can you be sure what they are like?” Dianne argued. “He have no proof that what they tell us is true… I mean for all we know they could be some Vanguard for an all out invasion of the planet.”

 

Dianne shook her head. “Look I’ll come but only to do what the rest of y’all won’t and keep an objective view of their activities.”