***I want to point out something that I missed in the last chapter. Jerrthi isn't quite as young as everyone thinks. She's from an old group alright, but she's got their ability to hide her age remarkably well.
Maybe that's why a lot of girls don't like her.
Troxi becomes a bit of a central character in this chapter and Jerrthi offers a bit of support as the Xer gets shot down - in a dating sense, I mean. 0_o
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Book of the Forsaken Part 11 (unless I missed one)
Bronn grimaced as he looked at the smoking ruins of what had once been a neighborhood. His fears had come to pass and the 'flock' that he and Jayne spent time tailing now and then had grown to the size where a stadium full of humans living in shanty shacks and the surrounding area would not sustain them. They were moving out to decimate whole sections of densely populated areas.
As well, he'd gotten both highly magnified satellite images as well as direct shots of the new and revitalized form of the old Merren bureau chief. He guessed that the old bird had no intentions of returning to Merren anytime soon.
He looked to be having far too much fun.
Those images had been taken ten days ago and Bronn had issued the spoken command to raise the communications raft to the surface at the optimal time for transmission, and so the packets of data had wended their way in several series of data bursts to his home world.
When they'd arrived, a copy had been sent back to him so that his system could verify that everything received was correct. Then the small raft deflated and was drawn back down to where they sat on the bottom.
He sat on the floor of his sleeping chamber and held Jayne as they talked of what they'd do when the power levels of his craft began to wane, since they knew that it would happen at some point. She'd offered to help if he could convince his employers to get them to Merren so that she could give her testimony at whatever official function was to follow, but the reply from the Merren was that it was not needed.
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Jerrthi looked up from her reverie as Troxi almost ran up to her, earning her some hard looks from the others there, but the Xer didn't care at all.
"Sorry!" she chirped as she came, but anyone who knew her at all knew that it hadn't been sincere in the slightest.
Troxi made no bones about her opinion that the people here were in a rear position, unless the command craft itself was in action and when anyone pointed out to her that there was indeed some degree of risk to the occupants then, being positioned in a large and relatively slow-moving craft compared to what she rode into battle in, Troxi would always laugh and reply that it must really bite then.
"Hi Jerrthi," she smiled as she leaned over the other side of the table, "Are you ever hard to track down. I've been tromping all over this tub ever since we were all cleared to get out of our seats and everywhere I went, they all just told me that you'd been there and gone. Whatcha doing?"
Jerrthi had to smile. She loved Troxi and her infectious mood anytime now that they were getting to know each other.
"I was just having a cup of some sort of meat broth with Ter'l, but I had to hit the ground running this morning and I could use something -- "
"Me too," the striped Xer grinned," and I know just what. Gimme a shake and I'll wake one of these snails up." She turned and went to ask, but everyone seemed to prefer to pretend that they were preoccupied.
"Xantham, "she cursed, "You're not even in action yet. We won't get there for a long while at the crawl that this turd goes. Plenty of time for you to get your nose out of your own butt and stop pretending to be so important long enough to just show me where I can get a couple of mugs and - ."
Ter'l appeared then and welcomed Troxi, saying that he'd arrange something when he got a moment, "What are you doing here anyway? I thought you'd like a day off."
Jerrthi noted a slight dimming in Troxi's normal effervescent chatter, though she doubted if anyone else saw it. "I wanted to spend some time with Ronkahh, but I couldn't find her, so then I went looking for Arshan or Doona. But Mud Six is squared away and sleeping in the hangar and when I checked, I found them all inside, so I came looking for Jerrthi while there was still time to grab a jump-seat in here."
She turned to Jerrthi then, "I was sorta hoping that you could show me more ways to access Merren satellites for stuff."
Ter'l thought that he had everything that he needed to know and he looked across the compartment and nodded to somebody, indicating the pair at the table with his chin.
"What's the matter, Troxi?" Jerrthi asked.
"Huh? Oh, nothing, Jerrthi,"
But Jerrthi kept looking inquisitively in a polite and slightly concerned way and Troxi shrugged a little then.
"Mud flight's got a down day today since we weren't tasked to take part. That means that you can do whatever you want. I'd kind of wanted to spend time with Ronkahh, but ..."
Jerrthi reached over to touch the Xer's hand, "Troxi, I've known Ronkahh for a long time. Sometimes, she's a little like a kid who gets a lot of things for her birthday. She might be really happy with everything, but there might be one or two things that hold her attention more than the rest for a while, that's all."
Troxi frowned, "That's a really accurate way to put it, I guess. When I used my token to get in through he locked hatch, Ronkahh was having her attention held by two things at the same time, so I backed out and relocked the hatch again."
"It doesn't matter," Jerrthi said, "you're here with me now and I'm sure we'll get something interesting out of the ... whatever this is we're in today."
Troxi's mood brightened instantly and Jerrthi saw it, so she smiled, "And if I get a chance and a station to work at in here, I'll show you just what you can get off the Merren sats."
Their attention was drawn by the communications specialist who'd brought them hot drinks. As she set them down, she drew her fingers back in a hurry and waved them as she spoke in Merren, "Oh, that's hot. I was told that you wished for another beverage," she said, "And Ter'l instructed me to get them for you."
She bowed a little perfunctorily to Jerrthi, "I do not know if this is drunk by the Merren at all, um, Jerrthi, so I must point out that it is a stimulant, made of an enzyme from the gut of a food creature. Try it with care, and allow some time for it to hit your system before you drink it all. Ter'l said that it would likely not harm you, but it has been known to cause heart stoppage in some Merren, though he tells me that you are different, somehow."
"My thanks for your generous hospitality," Jerrthi looked up to read the lettering on the helmet, "Cerrith, and a pleasant work cycle to you is my wish," she added in letter-perfect Xerian as she lowered her head to the exactly correct bow for such an interchange, "and please allow me to introduce my friend here, Troxi. She's one of the --"
