Date: Sat, 24 Aug 1996 19:47:18 -0400 From: Donna Buschmeier Subject: INT: The Hub (Pythoness Palace) Reserved: Nyneve (female Terwellian shapeshifter) Karrghln (human, former pilot, now an outcast) Bebe (felinus minimus -- Terwellian feline-like pet) Nyneve was exhausted. With a sigh, she parted the curtains at the rear of The Pythoness Palace and entered her living quarters. "Any luck?" Karrghln asked from where he was sitting on the bed, propped up by a huge pile of multi-colored pillows in a variety of sizes, shapes, and textures. She looked at him and shook her head. "None at all." She yawned and stretched, lifting her arms way up over her head and twisting slightly from side to side. "I heard a few words being passed around at Ten Forward, but no one seems to know much more about this Terran ship besides its name." He lifted a brown bottle to his mouth and took a drink. "What's that you're drinking?" Nyneve asked, sitting down beside him. "Beer," he said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Beer?" She frowned. "Isn't that a Terran drink?" "Sure is." Karrghln grinned. "Where did you get it? They don't have that at Ten Forward, do they?" He shook his head. "I've got my... sources." Nyneve smiled. He could be so... so... infuriating sometimes, but in a very endearing way. She lay down next to him and rested her head against his shoulder. He was wearing what he usually wore: a brown, leather "pilot's jacket," tight-fitting khaki trousers, and spit-polished, black leather, steel-tipped boots. It was a peculiar outfit -- so she had been told by others. Nyneve herself had no idea -- all she knew is that he claimed his clothes were antiques and he was so particular about them he would only take them to the laundering unit himself. Karrghln wrapped one arm around her shoulders and gently stroked her hair. "Hmm... I *love* it when you take on a human form," he said in a husky voice. Nyneve laughed. "Oh really?" She nuzzled his ear. "And what about my *real* form?" She draped her arm over his chest and hugged him closer. "Don't you like that anymore?" she asked, trying without much success to stifle a giggle. "You know I do," he replied, shifting his position so that their faces were nearly touching. "Ever since I saw that shimmering silver skin of yours..." His voice faded away as he kissed her. Suddenly, a furry, black and white creature appeared on the bed, right on top of Karrghln's head. "Oomph!" he said, falling backwards. "Mwaga?" said the black and white beast. "Jesus, Allah, and Krishna!" Karrghlan exclaimed, reaching up and prying the felinus minimus off his head. "Can't you train him to stop doing this?" he asked Nyneve in exasperation. "Bad boy, Bebe," she said, scooping her grinning pet into her arms. "Bad boy!" Karrghln ran his fingers through his hair, scratching. "Always the head," he muttered, "always the head." "Mwaga?" Bebe looked at him imploringly, luminous yellow eyes large and hopeful. "No," Karrghln said sternly, "no mwaga for you until you learn that it's not polite to --" "He can't help it," Nyneve interrupted, stroking the thick fur around Bebe's neck. "He's still young and playful." "Yeah, sure," Karrghln grumbled. "You *could* try to train him, couldn't you?" "He *is* trained," she said, getting up from the bed and crossing the room to the food cache. "You should have seen him before we met. He couldn't control his transport skills at all." "Still reminds me of the blasted Cheshire Cat," Karrghln muttered. "The *what*?" "Old Terran story. Never mind." Bebe launched his sinewy body through the air and landed heavily on Nyneve's shoulder, watching impatiently as she pulled out a large, round purple melon-like fruit and began slicing it with a long knife. "Mwaga? Mwaga? Mwaga?" "Yes, it's coming," she told him, scooping the lanvender chunks she'd cut into her hands. "Here you go." She let the mwaga pieces fall to the floor. Bebe leapt down from her shoulder and began devouring the fruit. "Hey, did you say you found out the name of the Terran ship?" Karrghln asked, sitting up to watch the creature gobble down his treat. "Yes. It's the Sea Dog." "The *Sea Dog*!" Karrghlan leapt to his feet, nearly tredding on Bebe's long, curly tail in the process. "Hey!" Bebe squawked. "I don't believe it," Karrghln said incredulously, ignoring the creature's protest. "You've heard of it?" Nyneve asked, slipping out of her dress and wrapping herself in a loose-fitting silk robe. The strain of maintaining a human shape for so long was beginning to take its toll on her. Every inch of her body was tingling. "Damn right I've heard of it," he said. "And there's only one man alive who'd be foolish enough to still be flying that rust bucket around the galaxy." A wide grin took over his features. "Carl North." "Carl North?" Nyneve sank down onto the bed. If she didn't shift soon, she was afraid her body might make the decision for her. And that was never a pretty sight. "That's right," Karrghln said, picking up the beer bottle from the floor and swiftly draining it of its contents. "And I've got one hell of a bone to pick with him after all these years." "Oh?" She closed her eyes. A furious pounding was starting up inside her head. "I lost my pilot's cert by taking the fall for him," Karrghln explained, zipping up his jacket and heading toward the curtain-draped doorway. "Seems to me it's time to settle the score..." ************************************************************************** ---<-----<-----<--{@ ~~~The Lady In Black~~~ ---<-----<-----<--{@ ---<-----<-----<--{@ ---<-----<-----<--{@ ---<-----<-----<--{@ ++The Lady of the Lake++ ---<-----<-----<--{@ *************************************************************************** Donna M. Buschmeier Head Writer of MISTY WATERS, a serial in THE SOAPS (created by Chris Vaughan) For exciting new stories on the WWW, visit THE SOAPS at: http://members.tripod.com/~cvaughan/thesoaps.html *************************************************************************