The Life of Spiders

Posted on Tue Jan 8th, 2013 @ 5:11pm by Ignatius Reilly & Elijah "Eli" Samuels & Eldren Tohr

Mission: The Struggle Within
Location: Jolliet's Revenge - Elijah's Ship

A few days had passed since the Admiral and Li Hawke had disappeared and Sakkath and Oralia had had no choice but to lift the closing of the Station's ports. Even so, Security had tightened up their scanning of items leaving and entering the starbase. So it was that Tohr's 'luggage' was briefly scanned by Security's equipment. The computer noted and dismissed the two live arachnids in the package - transporting arachnids wasn't illegal by any stretch of the imagination and Oralia had not yet hit a panic level regarding Iggy's mysterious failure to return home.

Inside the case, Iggy held onto her much smaller companion's box, chewing on one corner of the cardboard. When she sensed they were past any help, she cautiously asked, May I talk now?

"If you must..." Tohr responded laconically, his voice betraying no emotion as he strode down to the berth assigned to Jolliet's Revenge "As long as you don't try to do that with occasional bystanders, that is" Tohr ended his already stated threat lingering between the lines.

I must, the arachnid confirmed. Is the male, Elijah, out there? Sensing him as they drew closer to the JR, she extended her reach and asked, Are we going to travel faster than light? May I sit where I could see this happening?

Finishing up his preflight, Eli made his way back to the boarding ramp. "Really gotta get on that port plasma inducer when we get back." he mumbled. Looking up, he saw his client carrying some type of aquarium approaching. Once again, he caught a muffled tingling at the base of his skull and almost heard words. It was the same experience he'd had in Tohr's quarters.

Weird. Putting a smile on his face, he stepped down the ramp. "Welcome to the Jolliet's Revenge. Fastest freighter this side'a Vulcan." Meeting Tohr's eye, he kept the tight smile. "Who ya talking to out here?"

"None of your business." Tohr replied climbing up the ramp with his disquieting grin. "The game was 'no questions' do you remember? Here are your bars for the trip." he ended unloading his pack and putting the terrarium down pushing it with a foot, not too gently, in a dark corner.

The latinum bars glittered in his hand as he offered them To Elijah "The rest on safe arrival." the bajoran smiled.

Hey! Do not ignore me!, Iggy complained at the two, frustrated that neither Elijah nor Tohr were answering her. She tapped, hard as she could, on the terrarium's wall; Her tarsi didn't make much noise against the glass, though. If she'd have had a tin cup, maybe the noise level would have been louder.

Eli looked down at the spider that was making the noise. Surely it wasn't talking....or was it? Hell, he'd once seen a Horta. Any universe that could evolve sentient rocks could produce anything. With a shrug, he looked back at Tohr, taking the proffered slips.

"Good enough for me. Welcome aboard. I cleared out the crew quarters for you." He indicated a small room with four bunks made into the bulkhead just off the hold. "I usually sleep up near the bridge." With a nod he indicated the hammock he'd hung just off the mess area behind the door to the pilot cabin.

Again, Iggy attacked the terrarium wall and reached up to attempt to push the lid off the thing. She managed to rattle the lid; given time, she might be able to shift it off the terrarium. Let me out!

"Shut up." Tohr hissed finding his way inside the small room grunting lowly as his head bonked on some piece of apparel jutting out from the roof. "Well... I've seen worse in my younger days. As long as I can be taken where I need be I'll have no complains and you'll have the rest of your latinum."

"By the way..." Tohr turned to face Elijah again "There are two passengers you are transporting indeed. I'm telling because I'm sure you can hear her and there's no point into keeping this hidden due to the fact that it is very unlikely she'll keep her mouth closed." He ended nodding at the box.

Well, that answered that, Eli thought. Looking down at the box, he nodded. "Talking bug, huh? Ummm....what do you eat? Not sure the replicator is up to crickets, might be able to do some Klingon stuff. Is that good or you need me to hit up the dockmaster for something before we ship out?"

I am not a bug, Ignatius sibilantly hissed, affronted that the male couldn't tell the difference between food and a predator. I am an arachnid. Able to scale walls, sling webs, and... eat bugs. Once upon a time, there was a superhero like me: Spiderman. But he was male and everyone knows males lack the intelligence that females have. Plus, he was bipedal; clearly inferior to my eight-legged beauty.

Now that that was settled, she shook herself and added, As for food, I have found that the Klingon dish gagh is quite tasty. It will do if you do not have a hissing cockroach or three available.

Eli gave a long slow nod. "Yeah, ok. Sorry 'bout that." He then looked up at Tohr. "So, wanna point me in the direct we're flying?"

"Bring us through the wormhole then I'll tell you our final destination." Tohr replied sitting on the bunkbed. "Have to contact my customer but not while we're within SB900 reach."

"Wormhole it is." Sitting down, Eli flipped several switches, bringing the JR's engines live. When one particularly pesky indicator stayed red, he tapped it with his knuckle until it turned green.

"Awright. Grab a seat, and we're ready to go."

"Anytime." Tohr responded laying himself on the bunkbed "I think I'll enjoy some well-deserved rest."

Fine! I will be right here when you get back! Iggy 'shouted'.

________________

Ignatius J. Reilly Zeferino
Stolen and Bugged

Eldren Tohr
NapTime

Elijah Samuels
Still thinks spiders are bugs