Silence on the line

Inquirer

Not over the open air you SHMUCK! Scorpius suddenly hears me mentally yell at him, echoing inside his head with my frustration which only adds to it's vehemence. The Company is monitoring every word here! Besides, what you want is not Crichton!

The priest I'd had Elrondir and B'Elanna fetch me groans softly as she continues to concentrate while holding onto the Prowler that I'd guess correctly had belonged to Scorpy when he'd made his escape from the Gammack base. Since it turns out that apparently this was Scorpy's own personal (souped up) ship, his close association with it (needful for this trick of mine), we've had a very good turn of luck indeed!

Have to hand it to Scorpy, though. He's been doing some d*mn fine tinkering on this side project of his (while not slaving over wormhole experiments). Frankly, I think he missed a trick when he cooked up this rather primitive version of what B'Elanna called a bargain basement "Romulan Cloaking Device".

That's what allowed him to get into Hyde Park (past resident Londoners or Company goon lookouts) without his ship being detected (except until I actually bumped into it, for Creator's sake)! If not for the fact that the ship he'd stolen from the now defunct Company hit squad was much larger, passenger space wise, than the Prowler I'd have expected him to not have abandoned it!

...

Ah, really nice ship. Maybe after this is all over I could....

....

Inquirer, keep your mind on the Quest and not on fancy spaceships that catch your eye, please.

Now, for the cloak...

No, that's probably not what he called it and perhaps (though I doubt it) the company agent (a now very DEAD incredibly redheaded woman Ragan called "Niem") had planted the seeds for this tech, but I fear that Scorpy invented it by his lonesome! Creator only knows WHY he didn't try to sell his tech toy here to his superiors rather than slave away still on wormhole research (which hadn't been going anywhere if I guess right until the Company started mucking about here)...

Nevermind. It's not important right now.

Meanwhile whilst I, through a bit Terra Prime magery (and luck) have been able to form a commune with her as she casts a Torgian "Miracle of Faith": Mental Link.

Why Mesus, you ask? Well, you probably heard from us that she was a "minor" goddess of Honor, and thus you guessed she was less powerful than her brethren in the Honor heavenly circles? You'd be correct if this was an ordinary situation within one of my Torg games. However, something is up here and I fear I can guess what it means. See, the "major" priests had weakening spells, which suggests that their source of power, the "major" dieties of Aylse were....fading. Meanwhile, Sigin's PC (a Paladin of Mesus) had commented to me that he'd been feeling a lot more....power behind the abilities Mesus granted him after his conversion into a half-folk (i.e. a human/lizardman instead of the Living Land species he'd been before all Hell had broken lose soon upon our arrival). Suggests...I fear that there is gonna be a major shift in the theological playground back on Aylse (as well as those who worship those dieties on Core Earth by now). Meaning that the best bet for success for this Mental Link is a Mesus priest!!

Hm, wouldn't be too terribly surprised to find out that a lot of OTHER things about Aylse is going to change here soon. Some that might even knock out their very basis of their economy.....

Ah, nevermind! I don't have time to woolgather over such relatively (for now) unimportant details right now!!

Now, as for this Miracle called the "Mental Link" it's exactly like it sounds. It's mental telepathy over a great distance via a boon from the Aylsian Gods (or in particular, the goddess Mesus, goddess of the half- folk like centaurs and such). Now, since Scorpy and the priest don't share a common language (the translator microbes don't cut it for that needful thing for this Miracle to work normally), the priest cannot talk to Scorpy (or vice versa). However, with me piggybacking onto the priest's mind I can! See, amongst OTHER things, I can.....

Uh, it's a bit complex so I'll leave out the really technical jargon here.

I'm using the priest as a relay.

The priest cannot understand what I'm saying to Scorpy and cannot understand Scorpy's replies due to not speaking the language.

I can speak with Scorpy through this means, mind to mind, because amongst OTHER things that came with me becoming a Golem was the built in Universal Translator in my AI base unit also came along! Usually, it's only good for non-telepathic communications (and redundant because of the TARDIS being able to instantly translate every word spoke around me).

This isn't one of those times of uselessness, thank Creator!

Think that Mesus (or Whoever) is giving me a boost, to allow that, though.... Goodness only knows how mind numbingly difficult it is for me to "connect" with the priest, who's STILL running mostly on Ayslian axioms (vice Farscapian physics)! It's painful to me (and her, to be frank), and right now I'm a bit....testy....

Will light a candle tonight in prayer in thanks to my Diety, whatever the case, for allowing this communication...

.....

Well, back to the show!

You want to put low the Scarrans who brought you into the world and treated you so crappy as you grew up, I barrel on without mercy. Seen in their eyes as something of a failed project!!

To say I'm not surprised to feel him start would be a lie. Betty, as per usual, has the knack for being right with her TV knowledge.

At least, whatever the case, I see through his eyes that he does have Lady with him. I let him see, through my eyes his Prowler (and only his Prowler) since I don't want to tip my hand any more than I must!

Guy's too slick by far for my taste....

Now, going back to the TV knowledge stuff?

Myself, I figure that the Rules and Agents had a hand in that when they handed down this Quest to us, somehow. Well enough, whatever the case. Sure beats the Hell out of going in totally blind!

And the data within Crichton's head is only a means to an end! I snarl. But before you make any MORE damn demands of me and the other NON-Company friends, I'd suggest you take some basic scanner instrument readings of the universe around you and meet us at Stonehenge after you figure out what that means for your grand plans! OUT!

I break contact off both mentally and via the communicator, whistling all the while as the others look at me aghast AFTER I tell them how the mental meeting went.

And a few minutes (or hundred microts if your Farscapian) later, a very subdued Scorpius calls back.

"Am on my way," he says.

He sounds shaken a little bit (but hides it well in his voice), cannot hide it from my ears though.

....

Still, all the same I'd wish we could pull out that transmat/transporter we have in storage inside the TARDIS. However, it takes too long to set up to be useful for our needs here and now. It is too bulky and too...a lot of things, alas. Otherwise, we'd have beamed that SOB and the Lady off his ship as he'd mockingly circled London, well above whatever we'd have been able to reasonably send up after him!

1. Oh well. Would not think he'd be so easily cowed.

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