The Heat's On....

"Lookin' out 'cross the desert watchin' the shiftin' of the sand outside the window. You can see the heat waves comin' up from the hot sands. Nice to watch but not right now. Lost my gorram shades out there somewhere when I got my own self attacked last night. Seems someones got sentinels out there by some of the big houses." Shiftin' from foot to foot, was startin' to feel a little caged inside. "Seems there's always somethin' goin' on... Like Catherine gettin' her own self into trouble.... Which got us both into a bad situation... She went down into the mines. Not sure how she got down in there. Was sealed off by Lily for some reason. First time I hear of her bein' down there, she's askin' for help. Lily wasn't 'round so I went on down there through a hole.... Not sayin' where all it was. No one aughta go in there", sighin' decided to go down into the sittin' room to wait and see what they needed me to do.

"Got down in the there and scouted 'round for a few hours. Checkin' a couple of places she might be... Nada. Then I find this here place. Looks like a bunch of traps and hidden mines all over the place. Somethin' Lily might do. I skirted round the place to find a way inside. I could scent Catherine was nearby. Findin' a spot to squeeze through was easier then I thought..... Until I got hit with the dizziness and nausea."

Found an openin' in the buildin'....

"Spotted her as I was movin' back out of range of that feelin'.... Had to think fast. If what I was beginnin' to think happened, then Catherine didn't have much time. Took off the climbin' rope I hasd with me and pulled a grapple from my work belt. Tied it off and went 'Cat fishin'...." Had to groan at my own joke, 'cept it wasn't funny. "Tried twice b'fore snaggin' her jacket hood. Pullin' her back out of there wasn't so easy. Had to get her 'round all the junk down there. By this time I could feel the waves of nausea..... Knew what all was down there that was makin' me sick.... Radiation dose. Pretty high one too." Couldn't set still for long. Got up and paced.

"Had to get a call out for help. Aroha heard me and met us outside at the edge of the wastes. We needed treatment fast. She treated us quick then knocked me out... Good thin' too. I hate confined spaces. " Don't r'member much of it all. Only somethin' 'bout a chamber for stoppin' the radiation and healin' us up."

The anti radiation tanks removing the damage and the radiation.

"Not long after wakin' up I hear Lily sayin' she and the cub were headed out for Al Raqis. I wanted some answers to what near killed me and Catherine. Only way was to get my own self out to that desert world and find out what all she was doin'." Finally had to go outside into the oven... The heat was gorram bad. Could feel the sweat porin' off me, "So there I was...... Tryin' to locate Lily and the cub.. Went door to door to see if they seen either one of em. Finally met up with some woman and a feller and asked em. Sure 'nough... They knew Lily. Said she was out by some rocky terrain in a tent."

Door to door lookin' for Lily and the Cub...

"I found Lily.... She was goin' on 'bout sendin' AuroraBlue out to find the singin' worms.... Figures. Send the little one out to find a worm that can eat a firefly class ship in one bite." Squintin' against the blinding light, had to try to find a shadowed spot to ease the headache, "She was talkin' 'bout this new feller too. Krakken someone. And wearin' a weddin' dress. Like the one she was gonna wear for our weddin'...... She wasn't actin' right... Somethin' 'bout her was seemin' different. Maybe it was her scent... Changed... Like from a long while back... But ain't sure." Rubbin' my eyes, had to sit for a spell out on the steps. "She got all worked up over somethin' when we got to the steps of the house nearby... Her eyes were bleedin'. A lot not like her... And it was real blood. I could tell by the scent. She was changin' again..... But this time I think someone was manipulatin' it.... Or the radiation really humped her insides bad."

"Had to leave her there and go lookin' for AuroraBlue. She'd know what all was goin' on. "Sides, needed to know she was ok. So grabbin' some stuff form the ship, I headed out into the desert...... Ended up stealin' a horse to keep movin'. Days on end and all I saw was red sand. Had to put on a mask to keep from breathin' in all that dust.... And spice." Could hear movements again, so went inside, "Gorram stuff makes my head buzz.... Then I get all sick from it. Not sure why all it does it to me, but the stuff is bad. Headin' further out into the deep desert I finally come 'cross the Botany Bay township.. Not sure if it's a town or city. But went lookin' through some of the buildin's.... And found a morgue. Looks like they were checkin' em for organs.... or the lack of. Not sure if this has anythin' to do with the organ thefts... But then who all knows for sure...."

The Morgue...
"Kept searchin' for her... I could almost sense she was not far, but then wasn't sure it was the spice or the desert muddlin' up my senses. Had to keep movin' though. Not sure how many days went by where I was ridin' then walkin' when the horse went missin' durin' the night. Sounds carry out there. even with nothin' but high mountains of stone and hills of shiftin' hot sands. The heat's like bein' baked all over at once.... Can make a man see thin's that ain't real. More'n once I coulda sworn I saw AuroraBlue right there next to me. Touchin' my face then fadin' away into the heat waves along the dunes."

The deep desert..... Where is she?

"Next thin' I know, I'm bein' shot at me sentinels.... Then wakin' up in someones home. Lily was sayin' somethin' and I could hear explosions... Calina was there with another companion. Both lookin' a might worried. Got my own self movin' and leadin' the women up to a room with a few bolt holes. Lily told me to stay with em and protect em. I did.... Wasn't goin' to argue with her.. Wasn't strong 'nough to yet." Drawin' my gun, wen tot check out the noises I was hearin' "We had to wait it out. Cindal, that girl what caused so much trouble in the past showed up and helped secure the place. Thats when I got to meet the lady of the house.... Lady Rashad. She had each of give our side of the story... Seems I done good. She let me stay the night then offered me a temp postin' to watch the folks in that house. I'll take it 'til I can find AuroraBlue...."