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<blockquote data-quote="Capellan" data-source="post: 2852557" data-attributes="member: 6294">&quot;Venusian Christmas Carol&quot; - Part 9Fury,. Gustav and Larathra are brought into the cavern.&nbsp; Commander Fury is held by two burly Venusians, and has obviously been putting up something of a struggle, as his shirt is badly torn.&nbsp; S'Ondra pretends not to notice.&quot;Oh my.&quot; Larathra peers around the cavern, &quot;What quaint décor.&quot;Fury catches sight of the watching Venusian leaders and immediately snaps to attention.&quot;John Fury.&nbsp; Commander.&nbsp; Serial number 846-Q-93.&quot;One of the Venusians leans forward, his hands coming into the light, but his looming body still in silhouette.&quot;Commander Fury.&nbsp; You will explain the circumstances of Princess S'Ondra's escape from your facility.&quot;Fury narrows his eyes.&quot;John Fury.&nbsp; Commander.&nbsp; Serial number 846-Q-93.&quot;There is a murmur of irritation amongst the Venusian leaders, and S'Ondra catches the Commander's eye.&nbsp; Seeing her worried eyes, Fury eases his own expression.&quot;As far as I know, she just got lucky.&nbsp; I happened to place two prisoners in her cell who had – unknown to me – subverted the programming of a class CHI Robot.&nbsp; The robot broke down the door of their cell, allowing all three to escape.&quot;The silence that follows is palpably disbelieving.&quot;And how did you come to join her, Commander?&quot;&quot;I was accused of treason.&quot;&nbsp; The answer provokes a murmur of comment.&quot;Why?&quot;&quot;I hadn't been following procedure with the Princess's case.&nbsp; When she escaped, Space Force felt that I had known her identity and had conspired to help her.&nbsp; That was not the case, but they didn't seem like they were going to believe me, so I decided to leave.&nbsp; I literally ran into the Princess as I was trying to get out.&nbsp; Our being together is complete happenstance.&quot;&quot;Indeed.&quot; This one word is loaded with an entire paragraph of disbelief. &quot;If you did not know the Princess's identity, why did you not process her like any other prisoner?&quot;&quot;I suspected there was something out of the ordinary about her, but I didn't know what.&quot; Fury shrugged, &quot;And I didn't want to send her to Z Branch on a hunch.&quot;&quot;That hardly seems a good reason to risk your career as you claim you did.&quot;Fury hesitates, clearly reluctant to explain his reasons, and Larathra picks that moment to speak up.&quot;I detect a three degree increase in the Commander's body temperature whenever he mentions the Princess.&quot; She helpfully lets everyone know. &quot;I believe this reaction is consistent with physical desire in the human species.&quot;Gustav buries his head in his hands.&quot;Is this true, human?&nbsp; Was it your intention to befoul our Princess?&quot;&quot;Absolutely not, you barbarian.&nbsp; I am a civilised man –&quot;&quot;You are an invader!&quot; A Venusian leader interrupts.&nbsp; There is furore in the cavern, and the two warriors who were guarding Fury now level their spears in his direction.&quot;Kill him!&quot; the cry goes up.&quot;No!&quot; S'Ondra leaps in front of the Commander, arms spread wide, &quot;You have to listen to this man.&nbsp; He isn't trying to hurt us!&quot;&quot;You.&quot; One of the Venusians interrupts, pointing at Larathra as he does so, &quot;Can you tell if the Princess experiences a similar reaction to the Commander as he does to her?&quot;&quot;Oh easily.&quot; Larathra says happily, &quot;My people have an innate ability to sense heat variations.&nbsp; There are receptors in the tip of our antennae –&quot; she abruptly realises that the question was not meant in a theoretical sense. &quot;- um yes.&nbsp; Her body temperature increases when she talks about the Commander.&quot;&quot;Guards, please remove the Princess.&nbsp; Obviously her judgement in this matter is impaired.&quot;&quot;What?&nbsp; No!&nbsp; You can't do this to me! &quot; S'Ondra is too stunned to do more than protest as she is led away.Fury seethes,&quot;If you harm one hair on her head –&quot; he starts.The tallest Venusian leader cuts him off,&quot;No harm will come to the Princess, human.&nbsp; She is very important to our cause.&nbsp; Too important to be sullied by any further contact with you.&quot;&quot;Ze Kelvor tricked ze humans into attacking you!&quot; Gustav bellows.The Doctor blinks as everyone stops to stare at him.&quot;My wife always said zat vhen logic failed one should try loud and angry shouting.&nbsp; And vhat do you know, it works!&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Capellan, post: 2852557, member: 6294"] [b]"Venusian Christmas Carol" - Part 9[/b] Fury,. Gustav and Larathra are brought into the cavern. Commander Fury is held by two burly Venusians, and has obviously been putting up something of a struggle, as his shirt is badly torn. S'Ondra pretends not to notice. "Oh my." Larathra peers around the cavern, "What quaint décor." Fury catches sight of the watching Venusian leaders and immediately snaps to attention. "John Fury. Commander. Serial number 846-Q-93." One of the Venusians leans forward, his hands coming into the light, but his looming body still in silhouette. "Commander Fury. You will explain the circumstances of Princess S'Ondra's escape from your facility." Fury narrows his eyes. "John Fury. Commander. Serial number 846-Q-93." There is a murmur of irritation amongst the Venusian leaders, and S'Ondra catches the Commander's eye. Seeing her worried eyes, Fury eases his own expression. "As far as I know, she just got lucky. I happened to place two prisoners in her cell who had – unknown to me – subverted the programming of a class CHI Robot. The robot broke down the door of their cell, allowing all three to escape." The silence that follows is palpably disbelieving. "And how did you come to join her, Commander?" "I was accused of treason." The answer provokes a murmur of comment. "Why?" "I hadn't been following procedure with the Princess's case. When she escaped, Space Force felt that I had known her identity and had conspired to help her. That was not the case, but they didn't seem like they were going to believe me, so I decided to leave. I literally ran into the Princess as I was trying to get out. Our being together is complete happenstance." "Indeed." This one word is loaded with an entire paragraph of disbelief. "If you did not know the Princess's identity, why did you not process her like any other prisoner?" "I suspected there was something out of the ordinary about her, but I didn't know what." Fury shrugged, "And I didn't want to send her to Z Branch on a hunch." "That hardly seems a good reason to risk your career as you claim you did." Fury hesitates, clearly reluctant to explain his reasons, and Larathra picks that moment to speak up. "I detect a three degree increase in the Commander's body temperature whenever he mentions the Princess." She helpfully lets everyone know. "I believe this reaction is consistent with physical desire in the human species." Gustav buries his head in his hands. "Is this true, [i]human[/i]? Was it your intention to befoul our Princess?" "Absolutely not, you barbarian. I am a civilised man –" "You are an invader!" A Venusian leader interrupts. There is furore in the cavern, and the two warriors who were guarding Fury now level their spears in his direction. "Kill him!" the cry goes up. "No!" S'Ondra leaps in front of the Commander, arms spread wide, "You have to listen to this man. He isn't trying to hurt us!" "You." One of the Venusians interrupts, pointing at Larathra as he does so, "Can you tell if the Princess experiences a similar reaction to the Commander as he does to her?" "Oh easily." Larathra says happily, "My people have an innate ability to sense heat variations. There are receptors in the tip of our antennae –" she abruptly realises that the question was not meant in a theoretical sense. "- um yes. Her body temperature increases when she talks about the Commander." "Guards, please remove the Princess. Obviously her judgement in this matter is impaired." "What? No! You can't do this to me! " S'Ondra is too stunned to do more than protest as she is led away. Fury seethes, "If you harm one hair on her head –" he starts. The tallest Venusian leader cuts him off, "No harm will come to the [i]Princess[/i], human. She is very important to our cause. Too important to be sullied by any further contact with you." "[i]Ze Kelvor tricked ze humans into attacking you![/i]" Gustav bellows. The Doctor blinks as everyone stops to stare at him. "My wife always said zat vhen logic failed one should try loud and angry shouting. And vhat do you know, it works!" [/QUOTE]

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