Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Capellan" data-source="post: 1895659" data-attributes="member: 6294">&quot;The Targ Totality&quot; - Part 5Gustav and Fury struggle to clip on the last few parts of the Targ encounter suits,&quot;It vos fascinating to see ze creatures inside ze equipment, ja?&quot; the Doctor observes, as he fastens the clip on his collar and picks up one the Targ helmets.&quot;Oh, absolutely.&quot; Fury responds on auto-pilot, frowning thoughtfully as he considers how to don the head gear without getting helmet hair.&quot;Ze physiological ramifications are astonishing.&quot; Gustav is oblivious to Fury's obliviousness as he gingerly tries walking in the suit.&nbsp; It gives him a splay-gaited waddle, reminiscent of a penguin.&quot;Uh huh.&quot; Fury gingerly dons the helmet, and does his best Targ impersonation, &quot;I am a Targ!&nbsp; You will be exterminated!&quot;&quot;It is a pity ze insignia and labels on zese suits are in ze Targ's own language.&quot; Gustav continues, peering down at the writing on his chest, &quot;Evidently zey were taught to speak English in case zere were any survivors on zis planet, but zey do not to use it amongst zemselves.&quot;&quot;Uh huh.&quot; Fury's waddle is less pronounced than Gustav's, but more comical because his stiff-backed posture suggests that the costume is pinching in all the wrong places.&nbsp; &quot;Wait ... what?&quot;&quot;I said it is a pity -&quot;&quot;I got that bit.&nbsp; What came after it?&quot;&quot;Zey were taught to speak English, but zey do not to use it amongst zemselves ... &quot; Gustav trails into silence.&nbsp; &quot;Oh.&quot;&quot;Oh, indeed.&quot; Fury says grimly.&quot;Archie!&quot; Gustav shouts, his voice echoing slightly from inside the encounter suit, &quot;Come here, please!&quot;The robot calls back from off-screen,&quot;Princess S'Ondra wishes to know if it is safe for her to uncover her eyes, yet.&quot;&quot;Ja!&quot; Gustav shouts.&quot;Is it safe to uncover mine?&quot;&quot;Archie!&quot; Fury's patience wears thin, &quot;Get your shiny metal carcass over here!&quot;The robot trundles into shot, giving Fury a reproachful look as he does so.&quot;What can I do for you, Doctor?&quot; he asks, primly ignoring the Captain.&quot;Do you still have ze Venusian translator I designed, Archie?&quot;&quot;Indeed, Doctor.&quot; A panel opens on the robot's chest, and he pulls out the small, wire-wrapped contraption Gustav built during the crew's mould-interrupted visit to Venus.&quot;Excellent.&quot; Gustav takes the device and - producing a screwdriver out of one of the pockets in his encounter suit - probes inside, muttering to himself.&nbsp; After a few moments, he unwraps one of the wires and jams it into a socket inside the robot's chest cavity.Archie beeps, then shudders for a moment.&quot;Program loaded.&quot; He announces in an uncommonly mechanical voice.&nbsp; Then he continues, in his more normal tone, &quot;I wish you would warn me before doing that, Doctor.&nbsp; The wire plugs could have been dirty.&quot;Gustav ignores the complaint,&quot;Can you detect any Targ radio communications, Archie?&quot;&quot;Communications detected.&quot; The robot confirms, &quot;They are speaking in Targ.&quot; His voice changes to the echo-y, mechanical intonation it had before, &quot;Translation algorithms running.&nbsp; Estimated time to decipher Targ speech: thirty-seven minutes.&quot;&quot;Zere.&quot; Gustav tosses the translator back inside Archie's chest, closes the hatch, and claps his hands in satisfaction, &quot;By ze time we reach ze Targ encampment, Archie will be able to understand ze speech of ze aliens and transmit ze translations to us.&quot; He taps the radio receptor on his helmet, &quot;Zen we will speak, he will translate to Targ, and beam ze communication to the receivers of ze aliens.&nbsp; It vill seem as if it is we who are speaking ze words.&quot;&quot;What about reading their writing?&quot;&quot;Estimated time to decipher Targ alphabet: four hours, eight minutes.&quot;&quot;Zank you, Archie.&quot;&quot;S'Ondra!&quot; Fury waddles out from behind the bushes where the two men have been changing.&nbsp; The Princess is facing away from him.&nbsp; She turns, watches Fury walk toward her for a few moments, and struggles - not very hard - to keep from smirking.&quot;Yes, Captain?&quot; her attempt at a nonchalant tone is spoiled by barely smothered laughter.&quot;What?&quot; Fury peers down at himself, &quot;Does this make me look fat?&quot;&quot;No more than usual.&quot; S'Ondra manages to school her expression into something resembling seriousness, &quot;Are we ready to go?&quot;&quot;Almost.&quot; Fury nods, &quot;Are the prisoners secure?&quot;&quot;Tied up with steel cord and hidden out of sight.&quot; The Venusian confirms.&nbsp; She hefts her heat lance. &quot;When do we set out?&quot;&quot;As soon ...&quot; Fury pauses, &quot;... as soon as you hand over your weapon.&quot;S'Ondra's eyes narrow, her lips curling back in an unconscious snarl,&quot;A warrior does not simply give up her weapon!&quot; she exclaims, her body tensing as if for battle, &quot;No man has ever taken this lance from me!&nbsp; And none will, while I still breathe!&quot;&quot;What about -&quot; Fury belatedly considers whether mentioning Xinthon would be a good idea, and decides not.&nbsp; He soothes his tone, &quot;I understand how you feel, Princess, but if we're to pretend that you and Archie are our prisoners, you can't be carrying weapons.&nbsp; I assure you that I will guard your weapon as if it were my own.&quot;The Princess stares at him for a long moment, her face still hard.&nbsp; Then, slowly, she relaxes her posture.&nbsp; With obvious reluctance, she nods, and proffers the weapon to Fury,&quot;Make sure that you do.&quot;The Captain takes the heat lance carefully, and gives her a nod of gratitude.&nbsp; His reply lacks the tone of cheerful lechery he usually employs when speaking with the Princess.&nbsp; Instead, it holds only respect,&quot;You have my word.&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Capellan, post: 1895659, member: 6294"] [b]"The Targ Totality" - Part 5[/b] Gustav and Fury struggle to clip on the last few parts of the Targ encounter suits, "It vos fascinating to see ze creatures inside ze equipment, [I]ja[/I]?" the Doctor observes, as he fastens the clip on his collar and picks up one the Targ helmets. "Oh, absolutely." Fury responds on auto-pilot, frowning thoughtfully as he considers how to don the head gear without getting helmet hair. "Ze physiological ramifications are astonishing." Gustav is oblivious to Fury's obliviousness as he gingerly tries walking in the suit. It gives him a splay-gaited waddle, reminiscent of a penguin. "Uh huh." Fury gingerly dons the helmet, and does his best Targ impersonation, "I am a Targ! You will be [I]exterminated[/I]!" "It is a pity ze insignia and labels on zese suits are in ze Targ's own language." Gustav continues, peering down at the writing on his chest, "Evidently zey were taught to speak English in case zere were any survivors on zis planet, but zey do not to use it amongst zemselves." "Uh huh." Fury's waddle is less pronounced than Gustav's, but more comical because his stiff-backed posture suggests that the costume is pinching in [I]all[/I] the wrong places. "Wait ... what?" "I said it is a pity -" "I got that bit. What came after it?" "Zey were taught to speak English, but zey do not to use it amongst zemselves ... " Gustav trails into silence. "Oh." "Oh, indeed." Fury says grimly. "Archie!" Gustav shouts, his voice echoing slightly from inside the encounter suit, "Come here, please!" The robot calls back from off-screen, "Princess S'Ondra wishes to know if it is safe for her to uncover her eyes, yet." "[I]Ja![/I]" Gustav shouts. "Is it safe to uncover [I]mine[/I]?" "Archie!" Fury's patience wears thin, "Get your shiny metal carcass over here!" The robot trundles into shot, giving Fury a reproachful look as he does so. "What can I do for you, Doctor?" he asks, primly ignoring the Captain. "Do you still have ze Venusian translator I designed, Archie?" "Indeed, Doctor." A panel opens on the robot's chest, and he pulls out the small, wire-wrapped contraption Gustav built during the crew's mould-interrupted visit to Venus. "Excellent." Gustav takes the device and - producing a screwdriver out of one of the pockets in his encounter suit - probes inside, muttering to himself. After a few moments, he unwraps one of the wires and jams it into a socket inside the robot's chest cavity. Archie beeps, then shudders for a moment. "Program loaded." He announces in an uncommonly mechanical voice. Then he continues, in his more normal tone, "I wish you would warn me before doing that, Doctor. The wire plugs could have been dirty." Gustav ignores the complaint, "Can you detect any Targ radio communications, Archie?" "Communications detected." The robot confirms, "They are speaking in Targ." His voice changes to the echo-y, mechanical intonation it had before, "Translation algorithms running. Estimated time to decipher Targ speech: thirty-seven minutes." "Zere." Gustav tosses the translator back inside Archie's chest, closes the hatch, and claps his hands in satisfaction, "By ze time we reach ze Targ encampment, Archie will be able to understand ze speech of ze aliens and transmit ze translations to us." He taps the radio receptor on his helmet, "Zen we will speak, he will translate to Targ, and beam ze communication to the receivers of ze aliens. It vill seem as if it is we who are speaking ze words." "What about reading their writing?" "Estimated time to decipher Targ alphabet: four hours, eight minutes." "Zank you, Archie." "S'Ondra!" Fury waddles out from behind the bushes where the two men have been changing. The Princess is facing away from him. She turns, watches Fury walk toward her for a few moments, and struggles - not very hard - to keep from smirking. "Yes, Captain?" her attempt at a nonchalant tone is spoiled by barely smothered laughter. "What?" Fury peers down at himself, "Does this make me look fat?" "No more than usual." S'Ondra manages to school her expression into something resembling seriousness, "Are we ready to go?" "Almost." Fury nods, "Are the prisoners secure?" "Tied up with steel cord and hidden out of sight." The Venusian confirms. She hefts her heat lance. "When do we set out?" "As soon ..." Fury pauses, "... as soon as you hand over your weapon." S'Ondra's eyes narrow, her lips curling back in an unconscious snarl, "A warrior does not simply give up her weapon!" she exclaims, her body tensing as if for battle, "No man has ever taken this lance from me! And none will, while I still breathe!" "What about -" Fury belatedly considers whether mentioning Xinthon would be a good idea, and decides not. He soothes his tone, "I understand how you feel, Princess, but if we're to pretend that you and Archie are our prisoners, you can't be carrying weapons. I assure you that I will guard your weapon as if it were my own." The Princess stares at him for a long moment, her face still hard. Then, slowly, she relaxes her posture. With obvious reluctance, she nods, and proffers the weapon to Fury, "Make sure that you do." The Captain takes the heat lance carefully, and gives her a nod of gratitude. His reply lacks the tone of cheerful lechery he usually employs when speaking with the Princess. Instead, it holds only respect, "You have my word." [/QUOTE]

Verification