by Tbolt on Mon Nov 13, 2006 3:41 am
Lauril’s attention perked a bit at Syr’s mention of the corrupted greatest commandment, but the account seemed to be moving at a pace that lent itself to continuation, not interruption. She filed the reference away as interesting, and nodded encouragingly when Syr paused.
Syr’s antennae slightly twitched as she continued her story. “I guess I was the exception in many ways. For one thing I knew both my parents. On Vulpes prime, love is considered one of the highest forms of art. Couples give themselves to each other on a very casual basis. Offspring of such unions rarely are allowed to survive.” She shook her head “Art must be free of all constraints to be pure.”
Lauril frowned slightly. Free from ‘constraints.’ Children… ‘constraints.’ She shoved the thoughts aside. If she allowed herself to follow them, she wouldn’t be able to listen.
“Vulpinia turned inward, looking at itself for its own beauty.” Syr began to wad her sheet up a little tighter. “All that seemed to happen was that people began to care only for themselves. Art lost all meaning, it became only what the artist said it was. Anyone who tried to contradict the new order was branded backward, a fool, and a bigot. That was how the exile worlds came to be.”
Again, associations flitted through the chipmunk’s mind. This time memories of the art and art criticism she had encountered in college and curiosity about the ‘exile worlds’ vied with the words she was hearing for her attention. Then Syr’s eyes met hers, and their troubled expression drew her focus back.
“The only people left on Vulpes Prime that I admired were the soldiers. They were the only ones left that seemed to care about something larger than themselves.”
For a moment there was silence, and the chipmunk feared that the fox was waiting for her to speak. She wasn’t really sure… what to say. She looked across the room and fidgeted slightly, trying to think of something before the silence stretched on for too long. Soon, however, Syr continued.
“Then came the Viledarian incursion. General Hoppes warned us of Viledaria's expansionist tendencies. He said they were only interested in pillage and slavery. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Anyone disagreed. They thought Viledaria could be negotiated with.” Syr's eyes began to glisten with moisture. “My parents were part of the first “volunteer” party sent to negotiate with the Viledarians.” Syr looked down at her paws which now crushed the wadded sheet between them. “The Viledarians accepted our overture, alright. They listened to our delegation, accepted our gifts, then when the diplomatic vessel was in low orbit, they gave their final answer. They disabled the ship's engines and laughed as it plunged back into the atmosphere!”
Lauril gazed at Syr as she listened to the account, sadness, shock, and helplessness growing in her almost as one. Her mind flitted back to the conversation she had just had that afternoon… with two living, loving parents she would be seeing tomorrow. What could she say to something like this? She looked down from Syr’s face, her eyes falling to where the fox’s paws sat entangled with the bed sheet. Hesitantly, the chipmunk reached out a paw and placed it gently over the tangle. Looking back up, but not exactly meeting Syr’s eyes, Lauril finally managed, “I- I’m sorry…”
Syr blinked and two tears rolled down her muzzle. A small smile twitched the corner of her muzzle. “That's what the delegates from the SPCA and the Vulpinian council said too.”
At the words, Lauril’s stomach turned over. Oh, no, I always say the wrong thing! She was about to withdraw her paw in shame when the fox pulled her own out of the crumpled sheets and gripped it tightly. “Don't go, Lauril, please,” Syr blinked back more tears. “There's a difference, I can tell that you mean it. Your parents mean a lot to you as well.” She closed her eyes against more tears, drew a deep breath and went on.
“They wanted me to be part of the next delegation, as a sign of good faith, that we did not hold past mistakes against them. I couldn't believe that they were so stupid. The second ship would be completely unarmed to show our trust. I accepted, because I knew what I had to do.” The fox shuddered as she prepared herself to continue.
“The night before we left, I used my dad's access codes and copied all the military information from the senator Renquhart's computer, heh, there wasn't much there anyways I fit everything into my digital music player. I only had to delete two songs. Just to be vindictive I added the location of SPCA's headquarters as a primary military installation of supreme importance. I encrypted the files and had a suicide patch installed in my arm.”
“The delegation consisted of seven vulpinians. Three members of the high council, two representatives from the SPCA and myself. The pilot made seven. Eight hours into the flight there was a “malfunction” with the ship's atmospheric regenerators. Six went to sleep, but only one would ever wake up again. I dropped the pilot off at the last border station before leaving Vulpinian territory.” Syr's paws trembled. “I think he lived.”
“I used our diplomatic envoy status to speed our passage without questions. I would pilot the ship myself for the next month, alone, with the dead. Oh, did I mention that we had an onboard communications failure that permitted text messaging only as well?” Syr shook her head.
"I spent those three weeks training myself to be Viledarian. I built my body, trained myself in their culture, learned their combat styles. I emptied myself of everything my parents ever taught me was valuable. And then at the end of that time I made planetfall.”
Last edited by
Tbolt on Mon Nov 13, 2006 4:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.