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<blockquote data-quote="Capellan" data-source="post: 1341413" data-attributes="member: 6294">&quot;Blast Off!&quot; - Part 23The old man staggers slightly as S'Ondra races forward, throwing herself into his arms.&nbsp; A look of confusion crosses his face, growing to absolute bewilderment when he sees S'Ondra's savage counterpart, clinging timidly to Fury's arm.&quot;Really.&quot; Archie complains primly, &quot;All this touching is quite unhygienic.&quot;&quot;Who you?&quot; the elder Venusian manages at last, having succeeded in prying himself out of S'Ondra's gasp.&quot;I'm your daughter!&quot; she wails in response, &quot;But you're dead and I'd lost you but now you're not dead but not you!&quot;The old man takes a half step backwards,&quot;You not daughter.&nbsp; Her daughter –&quot; he points at the savage S'Ondra, &quot;- but her taken Cliff tribe.&nbsp; She belong them now.&quot;S'Ondra, her eyes still brimming with tears, begins to recover herself a little,&quot;We bring her back.&quot; She says at last, &quot;Belong you again.&quot;&quot;But how?&nbsp; She war-prize them, belong them.&nbsp; If you take, belong you.&nbsp; Not belong us.&quot;&quot;I don't think they understand that we want to return her,&quot; Fury says, then glances sharply at S'Ondra, &quot;Not that I remember us actually discussing that –&quot;&quot;She's his daughter!&quot;&quot;- but I'm willing to accept it.&quot; The Captain ignores S'Ondra's interjection, &quot;Regardless, I don't think he understands the idea of us giving her away.&nbsp; Let me try something.&quot;Stepping forward, Fury points at the reality's S'Ondra,&quot;She ours, but we want trade.&nbsp; We give girl, you give furs.&nbsp; All happy.&quot;&quot;She not please you?&quot; the elder Venusian asks in puzzlement.&nbsp; Fury struggles to reply, as he finds himself being pummelled by the small fists of the savage S'Ondra.&quot;It not that –&quot; he manages through gasps of pain as he tries to protect himself.&quot;Straighten your arm more!&quot; S'Ondra calls to her counterpart.&quot;- it just need many fur.&nbsp; All you own.&nbsp; Very important.&quot;&quot;You need to follow through with your left!&quot;&quot;Stop giving her hints!&quot;The old chief, watching his daughter flail away at Fury, gets a crafty expression in his eyes.&nbsp; He knows desperation when he sees it,&quot;Girl not enough.&quot; He says at last, then ducks as she turns and throws a clod of earth at him, &quot;Need more if want all furs.&quot;&quot;We give you fire.&quot; Archie promises smoothly.&quot;What fire?&quot;&quot;It good stuff.&quot; Fury takes advantage of savage S'Ondra's distraction with her father to grab her wrists, &quot;It keep you warm.&quot;&quot;What 'warm'?&quot;&quot;Venus has a proper temperature, Captain.&quot; S'Ondra rolls her eyes, &quot;It doesn't get cold.&nbsp; We'll need a better reason than that.&quot;&quot;Blast it!&quot; Fury shakes his head, &quot;We could tell them about cooking, perhaps?&quot;&quot;Not really.&quot; Archie shakes his head, &quot;I don't think they'd really understand the value of properly cooked food.&nbsp; All the microbes it kills -&quot;&quot;It make food keep longer!&quot; Fury bursts out, looking pleased with himself, &quot;Not go bad and make dying!&quot;The Chief considers this,&quot;Fire is good.&quot; He decides at last, &quot;We make trade.&nbsp; But first you tell who she?&quot; he points at S'Ondra, whose bottom lip wobbles.&quot;Is it right to trade a person?&quot; Gustav interrupts, &quot;Zis is not something zat we should do lightly.&nbsp; Selling a person is like slavery, ja?&nbsp; We should be asking her vot she wants.&quot;&quot;To be fair, Doctor, we are doing it to save their planet.&quot; Fury sighs, then turns his attention to savage S'Ondra, &quot;Do you want to go back to your old tribe?&quot;&nbsp; His only answer is a look of confusion, as the girl seems perplexed at the mere prospect of being asked her opinion.&quot;You have to go back to him!&quot; the real S'Ondra bursts out, rushing over to her twin and grabbing her by the shoulders, &quot;He's your father and you have a chance to be with him and love him and spend time with him and not have him dead but alive and know that he's proud of you!&quot;&quot;We gods.&quot; Archie calmly tells the Chief, having realised that the man still needs an answer and that using the same lie as before is better than any of the alternatives, &quot;We take people form.&nbsp; She choose your daughter.&quot; He points at the two S'Ondras, &quot;But her mind go bad.&quot; He twirls his finger beside the glass dome that passes for his head, in the universal symbol for 'mad as a hatter'.The chief shrugs, his curiosity apparently sated, and the trade is concluded.&nbsp; The four adventurers are seen off on their return journey by the chief and his daughter, who nestles in the crook of his arm as he waves them goodbye.&nbsp; Archie, laden with so many furs that his faceplate is concealed, is one of two crew members who does not wave back.&quot;Are you okay to see, old boy?&quot; Fury asks him, watching the robot trundle around the various obstructions.&quot;Naturally.&quot; Archie sounds mildly offended, &quot;I have simply recalibrated my vision wavelength to allow me to see through the fur material.&nbsp; I shall, however, need a thorough decontamination after this disgusting experience.&quot;The other crew member that does not wave is S'Ondra, who stalks on ahead of the others, never once looking back.&nbsp; This way, no-one will see her tears.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Capellan, post: 1341413, member: 6294"] [b]"Blast Off!" - Part 23[/b] The old man staggers slightly as S'Ondra races forward, throwing herself into his arms. A look of confusion crosses his face, growing to absolute bewilderment when he sees S'Ondra's savage counterpart, clinging timidly to Fury's arm. "Really." Archie complains primly, "All this touching is [I]quite[/I] unhygienic." "Who you?" the elder Venusian manages at last, having succeeded in prying himself out of S'Ondra's gasp. "I'm your daughter!" she wails in response, "But you're dead and I'd lost you but now you're not dead but not you!" The old man takes a half step backwards, "You not daughter. Her daughter –" he points at the savage S'Ondra, "- but her taken Cliff tribe. She belong them now." S'Ondra, her eyes still brimming with tears, begins to recover herself a little, "We bring her back." She says at last, "Belong you again." "But how? She war-prize them, belong them. If you take, belong you. Not belong us." "I don't think they understand that we want to return her," Fury says, then glances sharply at S'Ondra, "Not that I remember us actually [I]discussing[/I] that –" "She's his daughter!" "- but I'm willing to accept it." The Captain ignores S'Ondra's interjection, "Regardless, I don't think he understands the idea of us giving her away. Let me try something." Stepping forward, Fury points at the reality's S'Ondra, "She ours, but we want trade. We give girl, you give furs. All happy." "She not please you?" the elder Venusian asks in puzzlement. Fury struggles to reply, as he finds himself being pummelled by the small fists of the savage S'Ondra. "It not that –" he manages through gasps of pain as he tries to protect himself. "Straighten your arm more!" S'Ondra calls to her counterpart. "- it just need many fur. All you own. Very important." "You need to follow through with your left!" "Stop giving her hints!" The old chief, watching his daughter flail away at Fury, gets a crafty expression in his eyes. He knows desperation when he sees it, "Girl not enough." He says at last, then ducks as she turns and throws a clod of earth at him, "Need more if want all furs." "We give you fire." Archie promises smoothly. "What fire?" "It good stuff." Fury takes advantage of savage S'Ondra's distraction with her father to grab her wrists, "It keep you warm." "What 'warm'?" "Venus has a proper temperature, Captain." S'Ondra rolls her eyes, "It doesn't get cold. We'll need a better reason than that." "Blast it!" Fury shakes his head, "We could tell them about cooking, perhaps?" "Not really." Archie shakes his head, "I don't think they'd really understand the value of properly cooked food. All the microbes it kills -" "It make food keep longer!" Fury bursts out, looking pleased with himself, "Not go bad and make dying!" The Chief considers this, "Fire is good." He decides at last, "We make trade. But first you tell who she?" he points at S'Ondra, whose bottom lip wobbles. "Is it right to trade a person?" Gustav interrupts, "Zis is not something zat we should do lightly. Selling a person is like slavery, [I]ja[/I]? We should be asking her vot [I]she[/I] wants." "To be fair, Doctor, we [I]are[/i] doing it to save their planet." Fury sighs, then turns his attention to savage S'Ondra, "Do you want to go back to your old tribe?" His only answer is a look of confusion, as the girl seems perplexed at the mere prospect of being asked her opinion. "You have to go back to him!" the real S'Ondra bursts out, rushing over to her twin and grabbing her by the shoulders, "He's your father and you have a chance to be with him and love him and spend time with him and not have him dead but alive and know that he's proud of you!" "We gods." Archie calmly tells the Chief, having realised that the man still needs an answer and that using the same lie as before is better than any of the alternatives, "We take people form. She choose your daughter." He points at the two S'Ondras, "But her mind go bad." He twirls his finger beside the glass dome that passes for his head, in the universal symbol for 'mad as a hatter'. The chief shrugs, his curiosity apparently sated, and the trade is concluded. The four adventurers are seen off on their return journey by the chief and his daughter, who nestles in the crook of his arm as he waves them goodbye. Archie, laden with so many furs that his faceplate is concealed, is one of two crew members who does not wave back. "Are you okay to see, old boy?" Fury asks him, watching the robot trundle around the various obstructions. "Naturally." Archie sounds mildly offended, "I have simply recalibrated my vision wavelength to allow me to see through the fur material. I shall, however, need a thorough decontamination after this disgusting experience." The other crew member that does not wave is S'Ondra, who stalks on ahead of the others, never once looking back. This way, no-one will see her tears. [/QUOTE]

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