The "I's" Have It

Posted on Sat Jul 4th, 2015 @ 4:08pm by Cadet Senior Grade Eli Ziyad & Cadet Senior Grade Chance Conradi & Ignatius Reilly

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Enara Prime

*Enara Prime*

But I wish to be there, Iggy pushed again.

“Iggs, you can’t. I’d be happy to have you there, but you know how distracting you can be. This is Eli’s--”

I know! That is why I wish to be there!

“Okay, okay, I know. Look, I’ll record what they’ll let me record, okay? And then we’ll watch it later. I’m sorry, Iggs, this is one of those things you can’t attend.” Chance stroked one of her eight legs. “Irina said she was okay with having lunch with you while we’re gone. Do you want to get yourself down there or for me to carry you?”

I will get myself there, thank you. And make sure your recording is in focus, Iggy told him.

“Okay! See you later,” Chance hurried out of the room, thrilled for several reasons: first and foremost: Eli was getting his pardon and wouldn’t be a fugitive.

*Later*

The spider slowly crept along the floor, tossing out mental feelers ahead, behind and all around her to make certain that she knew whether someone might be in range to step on her. As she approached the kitchen, she felt someone there. Hello? May I come into the kitchen? I am on the floor, she called out.

Iggy? You are welcome, come on in. It was Irina’s voice in her head. I’m at the table and lunch is ready.

Lunch! Iggy ‘hurried’ into the kitchen which, considering the limitations of her movement and breathing, wasn’t very fast. She made it to the table, then considered the issue of getting to the top of the table. Would you mind lifting me? I am fragile, though. They tell me I could break if dropped from too far up.

Irina paused for a moment but when a spider can talk to you, and tell good jokes, it definitely removed the ick factor. She bent down and laid her hand flat on the floor. “Climb on.”

Iggy did so, her prosoma and abdomen covered Irina’s palm and fingers; her legs hung over the sides. When Irina set her on the table, she said, Thank you, Irina. What have you for lunch?

“The boys left something for you and I have it on good authority that you might like a little of this.” She pushed a small plate over with something Iggy had wrapped for later, and then a small shallow bowl that held a clear gold liquid. “That is a local brew, Iggy. See that you think.”

Beer! They left me beer? They must love me, Iggy stepped into the ale with her front legs and cleaned the brew off her legs. That is tasty, thank you. Why did you not go with Eli to this meeting?

“I’m glad you like it.” Irina smiled a moment at the question. “He says it’s just a formality that should take no more than a few minutes,” Irina answered. “And he’s a grown man now, as he tells me, so he’s going to take care of it himself. Once this is done, his life should be far more settled...in some respects.”

His life is settled. He lives with Chance and they love each other, just like Oralia loves Jackson. They say that I will always have a room with them, no matter where they live. Oralia has been very good to me, Iggy opened the package she’d wrapped earlier; it was a bit of egg they’d had at breakfast. She dipped it in the beer then masticated it.

Irina wasn’t so sure how to respond to that. It interested her that even Iggy, as unsophisticated as she was, declared that the young men loved each other. She also couldn’t believe she was discussing life with a spider but as Maran has said to her late in the night - things change.

“Are you sure about the boys?” she asked Iggy.

Sure about them? In what way?

“You say they love each other. You have to understand that here, that sort of life is condemned.” Irina sighed aloud.

Oh, yes, they told me that. I am not supposed to discuss their preferences with anyone outside our persuasion. But you are his mother; I suppose you are part of our persuasion. Chance’s mini-lecture about the phrase hadn’t quite made sense to the spider. Chance and Eli love each other very much. Eli is the stabler one, but that is because Chance died and has not yet quite come back to himself. He will, eventually. But I do not understand why you bipeds condemn that sort of life. They make each other happy; absence from one another makes them sad. It is the same as if they were male and female. Iggy was able to talk with her mouth full without being impolite. She’d kept eating while holding court.

Iggy’s question caught Irina up short, and she sipped her own beer as she contemplated the question. “I suppose, Iggy, because it’s tradition. I suppose it comes down to the biological aspect of carrying on our species but opinions and emotions rarely care about science. Most would say that the belief that it is wrong is because it’s always been that way without stopping to think about it...really think about it.” Iggy’s use of the persuasion term struck her as funny and she began to laugh, softly at first but it grew until she had to set down her glass and wipe her eyes. “Out of the mouth of the Federation’s newest species comes the deepest wisdom. You make it sound so simple.”

Is it not simple? They love each other. When is that wrong? The spider had nearly mopped up the entire pool of ale. She turned slightly to look at Irina, I do not use my mouth to speak, so wisdom cannot come out of my mouth.

“Figure of speech, Iggy.” Irina refilled her glass and Iggy’s dish from a tall brown bottle on the table. “Already you have given me something to think about. I think I need to speak with Chance while he is here. I may have been a little hard on him.”

I am sure you have not been as hard on him as he was on Eli last night. Iggy dipped low into the ale, soaking up some with her abdomen.

“As har --” Irina started to speak, but then the meaning of Iggy’s words hit home. “Oh. Ohhhh...I see. Have some more ale Iggy, I know I certainly am.” She lifted her glass and drained half of it. Suddenly, the idea didn’t seem quite as bad, and she no longer questioned getting advice from a talking spider. She should have expected it, really. “I suppose I should relent and let them stay together instead of in separate rooms?”

I do not think it matters, though it may keep them from waking you as one moves from one room to another. Iggy paused and thought about her next statement. Eli loves you, too. Not in the way he loves Chance, of course. But your approval is something he wishes for.

“I know.” Irina held up her glass, looking at the pale gold of the ale a moment, then drank from it. “It’s been a terrible time for him and I know my first reaction to the discovery of Chance, when we visited 900, was not the best. Sometimes we get too caught up in what we think we are supposed to believe and lose sight of what is important. Then someone unexpected comes along to show you what really matters.” She sipped her ale and smiled. “That’ is you, by the way.”

Will Maran overcome my unexpectedness? He did not appear comfortable even at breakfast this morning. Oralia has a Security officer who does not like me very much. He is always calling me a ‘bandersnatch’. I hope Maran will not be the same.

“Maran will adjust. He’s usually the more flexible one, to be truthful.” Another laugh came from Irina. “If you want to have a little fun, wait for him over on the counter and when he comes in, surprise him. I owe him one for jumping out of a closet and surprising me a few nights ago.”

Chance told me that coming out of the closet wasn’t so bad anymore. Oh, but different closets. If you will set me on the counter, I will be happy to surprise him. I am well-fed and hydrated, thank you, Irina. Iggy stepped out of the ale and shook each leg clean of the liquid, leaving sprinkles of beer on the tabletop.

Irina found Iggy’s mix-up very funny and began to laugh once more. “I’ll move you over in a few and you can keep me company while I clean up.” She paused a moment to empty her glass. “Thank you Iggy.”

It is the most I can do. I cannot do dishes and Chance and Eli do not appreciate my attempts to decorate, so talking is the only thing I can do. The spider moved over to sit on Irina’s empty plate; she drew in her legs and barely fit on the dish.

“Sometimes, that's one of the best things.” Irina smiled and held out her finger. “Talk can solve most anything.”

Making contact with the offered finger, Iggy agreed with Irina,Indeed. Except when Jerry is involved. I have tried till I am blue in the face, but that male just will not learn a language. Instead, when he was ready to mate, he danced around me, waving his little sperm-filled tarsi at me. Iggy demonstrated the tarsi waving and managed to look completely undignified.

Irina almost choked on her laughter. “Iggy, dear, that sort of behavior is not limited to male spiders, if you get my drift.” She heard footsteps outside and now resorted to telepathy. Maran will be in in a second. You just sit right there on the plate and get ready.

Fun! She spied something that would make the surprise better.

A moment passed then Maran entered the house through the back door. He looked around the room, saw Irina at the table, but no one - or thing - else. He approached his wife to kiss her in greeting. That's when the kitchen towel covering a plate moved and gained legs and fangs and... was that foam around the fangs? Maran screamed like a little boy and backed away so fast he hit the wall behind him.

“Gotcha!” Irina began to laugh once more. “Now we are even for the closet.” She grinned at him. “Iggy and I were just finishing lunch. Care for some? You can use my plate.”

Maran looked at the two conspirators and saw Iggy touch a tarsi to Irina's palm. "I'm having a heart attack and you're high-fiving the reason!?" He recovered from his scare and added, "I researched your kind, little monster. On your home planet, they fry you and eat you."

Not me. They eat my ancestors. I have evolved and Oralia said I am protected.

Irina's laughter finally subsided. “Calm down, Maran. Iggy and I have had a most enlightening conversation.” She took a moment to pass the memory of the conversation to her husband and in a second, he had relived the whole thing. “Very worthwhile, don’t you think?”

"Very," he agreed. "Though knowledge of how Chance was on Eli last night could have been left out."

“Well, you can just not think about that part, love.” She smiled at him. “But I feel a little better about it all, not that I can say so in public.”

Maran was relieved. He wasn't thrilled with Eli's situation, but he was willing to support his son in whatever he did. And now he was glad Irina was onboard, too. "Maybe you're not such a bad thing, Spider."

I know. I keep telling you bipeds that, but some of you do not listen. Iggy was grooming herself, ridding her fangs and abdomen of any traces of beer.

"Hmmph," Maran snorted and headed for the kitchen, still giving Iggy a wide berth. "Have we heard from the boys yet?"

“Not yet, no. Loran’s out back, he had the day off or he would have been there at the office today too. He said something about them all going to see the catacombs this afternoon.” Irina looked down at Iggy. “That means you too. I’ll send lunch.”

I look forward to seeing those. I understand that they are like burrows for bipeds. Chance said they may have dead bodies down there. Will we see dead people? The only dead person I have seen is Chance but he no longer counts.

Irina shot a warning glance to Maran as she felt another wave of revulsion from him. “I think all the bodies were removed long ago, Iggy. They were the remains of those who were…” Irina stopped short of saying the bodies were those considered enemies of the state who’d been executed for the same reasons Eli had been on the government’s wanted list. “They’re all gone. It’s mostly a curiosity now.”

Iggy reached out and placed a tarsi on Irina's arm. Why does that sicken Maran?

It’s complicated. I am not so sure he’s comfortable with the idea of someone being killed and coming back, at least in the way he did. Not that it is bad, just a foreign idea. We have had a lot to learn and adjust to since meeting you and Chance, was Irina’s answer.

Yes, Chance does take getting used to, Iggy opined, ignoring how much adjusting people had to do for her. He is a nice male, though. And nearly as intelligent as the female bipeds I have met. That cannot be said of all males.

"Hey! I heard that!" Maran commented from the kitchen.

The front door opened and footsteps came from out in the hall. They could hear Eli’s voice talking excitedly and other steps on the stairs as Eric ascended. Eli popped his head into the dining area and grinned when he saw Irina and Iggy.

“All done and I am a free man!” he all but shouted. “Where’s Chance? They said he came home with Loran?”

Irina smiled and stood to hug him at the news. “Chance isn’t here and Loran’s been home all morning.”

The back door opened as Loran entered. He’d picked up on the conversation in the house and he smiled to Eli. “Congratulations, little brother.”

“Thanks.” Eli looked from Irina and Iggy to Loran. “You weren’t at work today?” He frowned suddenly. “I had to wait since the magistrate was in a meeting and Chance had wandered off to get something to drink. They told us you got off early and that he’d come home with you.”

Maran made eye contact with Irina. "Perhaps he simply got lost on the way back? The way can be tricky and the houses around here look the same."

“But why lie? Why tell me he left with Loran?” Eli’s gaze darted from one to the other and suddenly he was backing out of the dining room and running for the stairs, shouting for Eric.

***************
Cadet Junior Grade Chance Conradi
Ignatius J. Reilly
Irina Ziyad
Maran Ziyad
Cadet Junior Grade Eli Ziyad
Loran Ziyad

The Plot Thickens