A Big Shiny Blue Marble Ch. 57

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"We're going to an unimportant blue rock called Earth."
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Part 57 of the 59 part series

Updated 10/29/2022
Created 08/12/2012
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TaLtos6
TaLtos6
1,932 Followers

***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.

-----------------------

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 --"

The dark Xer's eyebrows rose a little at that as she interjected, ignoring Troxi completely, "Such fine speech in our tongue. I must say that I am a little impressed. I have a break now. May I join you? I have heard that you have knowledge of communications. It is my specialty here."

Jerrthi nodded and Cerrith said that she would return with her own drink in a moment.

Troxi sat staring at the female in a bit of wonder as she walked away, "I've been looking for that one for like four days now, ever since the night of the party. I just could never find her."

She sighed, "It doesn't matter, I guess. She was looking right through me just now."

Jerrthi sniffed her drink for a moment, "Well that's a little odd, and maybe even rude, considering the way that you helped her that night."

"Yeah," Troxi agreed, "I just think she's so ... " She looked over and then down, "I guess you saw that, huh?"

"Don't mind me, Troxi," Jerrthi laughed, "I think she's lovely too, so I can see the attraction. I'm not like that, but I'm not blind either."

Cerrith was back then and sat down, "I hope it isn't rude to say it, but I think I overheard you say that you could access the Merren satellites?"

"Sure," Jerrthi smiled, "You can too, and so can Troxi here if you can read Merren. You just have to get past the long acceptance garble and set up an access account. There are about a million different and distinct user levels, each with its own access rights. Anyone can at least access the sats. It's just what you can get at the different levels that changes, much like anything else.

You're both Xer and the Xer and the Merren share a lot of information. Same goes for the sat images and data. You'd probably get in deeper if you had permission from your commanders for it. That gets you official status, though there are limitations."

"Jerrthi got me a sat shot that showed the hits of my ship's bombs yesterday," Troxi said, "I was surprised that she could do that from right here."

Cerrith turned to the other Xer, "Right here?"

"Yeah, Troxi said, nodding, "From this ship -- that station right over there."

"You can do that?" Cerrith asked, "From the fuss over what was done, I noticed that some Merren facilities on their net were closed to me not long afterward when I tried to access them."

"Jerrthi's a Merren Watcher," Troxi said, "She can get anything off their stuff."

Cerrith bowed her head a lot farther this time and she held it, "I had no idea that they would place a Watcher on our ships."

Jerrthi waved her hand, "No no, "she smiled, "You're making the wrong assumption. I used to be a Watcher and I still have full access. I'm on leave right now, so I'm pretending to be a journalist, since the network hired me to be one during Xhan's inquiry.

Yesterday, I just used a back door to get the picture that was wanted, that's all."

"I don't know how it is with the Merren," Cerrith said, "I hope that I am not making another -- assumption," she smiled, "Did you become a Watcher due to high birth or something?"

Jerrthi shook her head, "I worked for it, I would tell you to ask my colleague Ronkahh, who is not here now. She'd tell you in a heated way that I stem from a very small minority group here, one which, though the government makes noise about treating us equally and fairly, it just isn't so. By the time that we got out of the Merren training center yesterday morning, I thought that she wanted to kill somebody in there over the rude way that I was treated because of what I am.

I was told not to return this flight suit to them after this, and it was said with a sneer and a wrinkled nose.

I am not high born. There is no such thing for my kind, Cerrith. When I was small, my family moved away from our ancestral home so that I might have a better education in the Merren public system, the same as anyone. We only went back for recreation periods so that I could learn what my kind needs to know.

They gave us all tests at every turn in school. I didn't know it, but some of the tests -- the ones which I enjoyed the most -- were government aptitude tests. I was an adolescent by the time that I figured that out.

Gradually, the tests led me to a narrow range of positions -- all of them in telecommunications, so when it was all over, I was given my job, since the tests by then were for employment -- the same as everyone else, and I had no choice in the choosing. They told me what I would be and I could not refuse.

But I never took all of my recreation leaves and now it has caught up to me, since I am not to return for a cycle. It pleases me anyway. The headaches that I would get behind my eyes ..."

The other two nodded, each having jobs where the passage of high volumes of data for extended time periods just brought that sort of thing on.

"Troxi likely has it the worst, I think," Jerrthi said, "I don't know how she manages it and listens to search for the signals that she does, and at stupid speeds and upside down and sideways. All that I heard were a lot of hissing and a few squeals when she allowed me to listen in."

"What do you do, Troxi?" Cerrith asked, "I'm sorry, but all that I know is that you crew on the craft which did something different yesterday and got me locked out of what I wanted to see. It means little to me, I'm afraid."

"I'm a ghoster," the other Xer said in a slightly subdued voice which surprised Jerrthi to hear, "Nothing special."

Cerrith smiled that thin and perfunctory smile again, "Well it has been very interesting speaking with you, but I must return to my tasking. If you have need of anything, please ask."

She was gone in the next moment and Jerrthi looked over at Troxi, who sat with her head on her hand staring into her mug.

"She said 'please ask' as though what she wanted to sat was, 'please don't ask me'. Not a lot of sincerity there."

"I just ... I just like her," Troxi sighed like a young girl, "I mean, I know that I haven't got a chance there, but ... "

"I think it might go better if you just spoke to her alone. I think she was just stuck on me out of her interest. Is there something between the 'field' people and these ones or something? I think I was looking at something like that from her side."

"Fucking command pukes," the gray Xer muttered, "They forget that their purpose is to kiss the asses of the ones who make the decisions. They also prefer to forget that if the shit goes bad; they'll be in the dirt along with everybody else, trying to walk home."

"There might be something to that," Jerrthi said, "and I can't say everything that I know, but that one, maybe out of everyone in here but Xhan and Ter'l, well she's been there before. How bad have you got it for her? I think if I had nothing to lose in your place, I might give it a shot in private.

I'm not suggesting it; I'm only mentioning what I might do."

"You would?" Troxi looked over questioningly and Jerrthi nodded.

"You want to wait for another chance like now, since you at least know where she is at the moment? You don't try, you can't get."

"You're right," Troxi said as she stood up. "I'll be back in a bit."

Jerrthi liked Troxi quite a lot by now. She wasn't attracted to other girls at all, but she found that she did think the world of her now. She was a little saddened to see that "a bit" was about as long as it lasted.

Jerrthi wanted to slap her forehead as she realized that Troxi was approaching Cerrith from her off-side, the one with poor hearing. If she'd thought of it, she'd have told her not to do that, but it hadn't crossed her mind and she watched with a quiet groan as the gray Xer approached the dark one from there.

She guessed that Cerrith hadn't noticed Troxi and when she did, she jumped a little, visibly startled and looking annoyed as she spoke to Troxi. Jerrthi couldn't hear the short conversation, but she could see a lot in the body language.

Troxi came back then and sat down to finish her drink.

"Did you ask her out or anything? Jerrthi asked, and Troxi said, "I didn't get much of a chance.

I asked her if she remembered me from the party or anything and she said that yes; she recognized me from the party. That was all that she said about it.

So I told her that I'd really wanted to meet her and I've been looking for her since then.

She said that she'd been working a lot, but she said it really coldly, you know? I was a little put off then, losing my nerve, I guess. I was gonna ask her out anyway, but then she asked me if I usually made a habit of hanging out with Merren, because she sure didn't and she didn't look too fondly on anyone of us who did.

I told her no, that I'd never really even met one before I met you, but by then she was already shut down to me and taking a call in her ear."

Troxi sighed again, "Shot down in flames."

Jerrthi thought about it for a second and felt a little of what Ronkahh must have felt in her breast for her at her treatment by the Merren. And here it was - the same thing happening from the other direction. She couldn't care less from a personal standpoint. She was used to it, but it annoyed her to think that just from sitting next to her, Troxi was paying the price somehow.

"The fucking self-entitled asshole," she muttered, "Come on, Troxi. I think we've still got a little time before they tell us to sit down and call battle stations."

She had a brief conversation with Ter'l who nodded.

Then she walked back to the table, "I'm going to get you access to the Merren sats now just to see you cheer up a little. Can you read Merren?"

Troxi nodded and they walked over, approaching the female from her off-side again, just because. Jerrthi ignored the surprised and annoyed look as she was purposely pleasant in her request and then she asked Cerrith rather coolly if there was a station which was not in use at the moment, and she was shown an older one off to the side a little.

"I haven't looked in a while, but I believe that it is still functional. What do you wish to do?"

"I'm going to get my friend access, and then we'll be out of it before we go into action, since I'll want to file a report about it," Jerrthi said.

With the terminal up, Jerrthi's fingers flew over the pseudocharacters on the keyboard after setting her preferences for her own type of Merren.

As the access screen appeared, she selected her own language as a preference for the first part, since she would log in under her own account and then she switched back to regular Merren as she set up a Xer military account and then a Xer private account in moments, far too fast to follow.

Troxi commented on it, and without missing a beat, Jerrthi muttered, "I used to make my living with seven different keypads, watch my display and everything on it, as well as interact with many accessing clients verbally at the same time. That one back there has only one earpiece and three little screens. If I was in her job, I'd have the time to scratch my ass with my free hand too.

I've seen you work, Troxi, I know you can follow me on this. I also know that she can't."

The next thing that she did was set her preferences for the interaction to be completed after that point in Encrypted Merren, since she could see the icon which indicated that Cerrith was watching from one of her own screens. Her fingers flew over the flat surface in front of her for a moment and then she asked Troxi to stay seated.

She stood up and walked over to Cerrith's station noting the terminal number there on the side. Cerrith looked up questioningly.

"I cannot get in any further," she said, "You have slaved your terminal to mine. The Merren systems see this as an intrusion attempt. Please disengage it."

Cerrith shook her head, "That's not possible. I-"

Jerrthi pointed at the number, "That's what that station indicates to be happening from this one. That's what Merren Data Control concurs with and unless you disengage, I will be asked if I am using a secure system. They will detect that it is not secure and block my attempt."

"But it is a secure system," Cerrith said.

"Not to the Merren," Jerrthi said, "because they also see an open link to Xer 43rd HQ through your terminal and are querying it now. A link goes both ways.

I am a Watcher, Cerrith. Following access attempts is how I made my living. This is a Xer war vessel over Merren soil. You'd better believe that it will be looked at. To access Merren data while being linked to Xer is a leak to them.

Please just disconnect from my terminal and everything will be fine, I assure you."

Cerrith looked over pointedly, "To them? You're one of them."

"I'm unimportant," Jerrthi smiled coldly, "I worked for them, whether I liked it or not. I lost a lot to them, family and more. My people have been treated like dirt by them for longer than anyone can know."

TaLtos6
TaLtos6
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