"I don't trust this guy a bit; if he can't prove his honest intentions, I say nail his hiney to the wall! This ship has more than enough power to--

"Hey!"

That self-imposed interruption was immediately followed by a yelp as I instinctively responded to what I had found hiding in the depths of this containment locker. As I had groped about inside, my hand had hit upon the back wall of it, deep within its depths.

To my surprise, that wall immediately slid away, revealing a hidden compartment. Further groping, and I contacted the familiar feel of the weirdly metallic paper the Sith used in their logs and other books.

I backed out on my elbows, and when I cleared the edge and was able to sit up again it was to see that I was holding another log book in my hands.

Even though it looked just like the navigation logbook, there was something about it that bespoke of another age, one different from the time period 4,000 years in the past from which this ship had originated.

Of course this was only a hunch--

"Hey," I repeated, rocking back on my haunches. "I found something."

I scrutinized the cover; there was something written in the middle of it. The patterning didn't look familiar to me, not like the title of a navigation log or something.

"I can't read this, I wonder if it's a personal log?"

I stood up slowly, all thought of our would-be assassin lost before this new mystery.

"Where's Panthar?" I asked at length, turning to Shayla.

"He said he can read Sith, maybe he can translate this for us."

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

...it's so that others can know where he's been and what he's done. So then why is this thing hidden away?"

She trailed at this, pursing her lips and not liking the road her thoughts were travelling upon. "You know, this ship was berthed in Char'lingua when we first came upon it...

...and Lord Aelvedaar was the one who provided her to us. Now I don't know much about the Sith language, but perhaps the reason you can't read this Galen is because the clan lords had another language, one which was used by only them. If that were the case...

...whoever wrote this didn't want anyone else, other than perhaps the other Clan Lords, to understand its contents. Unless, of course...

...the language on this book isn't even Sith. After all, isn't it just a little too convenient that, when I had to take Graysith's place on that Yuuzhan Vong ship, Aelvedaar was able to find it at all? Perhaps he could have the ability to do just that...

...but the universe is a big place. What if Aelvedaar knew where that ship was because he had already visited it himself, and perhaps aboard this very warship? We have got to find out just what's inside this book..."

[ 11-16-2004 03:32 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

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"Well," I finally said, beginning to wave it about for emphasis.

"We can speculate about this until the dewbacks come home... but we won't know diddly squat until the damned thing is translated.

"Where's Panthar?"

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“He went out to find pilot suits. Mumbled something about a huckleback sandwich and left with the other mooks.”

The object in Galen’s hand now caught his attention. Curious as to what the ladies had discovered, he nonchalantly sidled over to them and glanced towards the object in Galen’s hand. He raised his eyebrows and merely said “Whoa.”

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...then glared at Phalomir aka Thoran. "Whoa what?!" he growled. "Mind sharing your observations with the rest of the class?"

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I stomped over to Phalomir where, stopping and standing up on my tiptoes, I thrust the book up into his face.

"Obviously you can read this; what does it say?"

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Perhaps it was the murderous look in Galen’s eye that caused him to quickly add:

“But if you let me look through it, maybe I can make it out. The cover doesn’t really say anything. Can somebody take the Gray lump here?”

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

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No longer in control of his senses, he could only experience what his mind randomly threw his way. Bits of sound, images, smells, and sensations flitted by. He knew was still holding Jharmeen, he was still on the bridge, but that was about all he could tell.

Finally he stopped struggling. Without his magick there was little he could do, and perhaps if were still then more sensations would somehow come to him.

And more sensations did come.

An image of a book, held aloft to his face, flashed before him. A sudden familiarity rushed over him, and he suddenly felt very anxious. A sense of urgency came over him, and he doubled his efforts to break free. Still. He could not break his spirit out of the bonds, and his tormented screams echoed through the empty corner that Thoran had thrown him into.

Then he paused.

If Terrin were still here, perhaps he was still free. If he could somehow send a signal to him, maybe there was way he could help. His magick was gone, but he was still the Dark Lord of the Armorers, and the power vested upon him by the Symbol of Entitlement could possibly still be tapped into.

“Terrin!” he called out, trying to amplify the word through the power of his station. “Terrin! Help me!”

Outside, in the bridge, the fire in Galen’s eyes was intensified briefly by the flash of light from the tattoo on Phalomir’s face as it flickered and dimmed.

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

Even as he thought this, Terrin then began to struggle forward in Phalomir's mind...

...only to be stopped short for a moment as he swore he heard words coming from another direction within Phalomir's mind...

...words which sounded alot like Phalomir's.

He managed to push forward enough through Thoran's hold on Phalomir's body to take control back. "This is Terrin again," he said then, "I think Phalomir's in trouble, I can here him..."

He trailed, his thoughts darkening. "And you can hear him too, can't you Thoran?"

[ 11-16-2004 04:47 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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He put Jharmeen back into Phalomir’s arms and anxiously held his hands to Galen, eyes wide and dissolving into puppy dog mode. A hopeful smile beamed towards Galen.

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

I blinked, taken quite aback. Suddenly the atmosphere had shifted a hundred and eighty degrees, from Thoran's dark and dire "whoa," to Panthar's gleaming eagerness to see what I held.

A bit numb by the sudden turn of events, I held the book out to him, and sidled closer, telling myself it was just to get as far away from Phalomir-cum-Thoran as I could, even though I knew Terrin was in there too.

But really, I was curious as hell to learn what that mysterious writing was saying....

[ 11-16-2004 05:07 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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...but I sure as kriffing hell hear Phalomir struggling in this head of his somewhere. I know he's in some sort of trouble..."

He trailed, a brow cocking as Panthar showed such great interest in that book. "And just what the hell does that book say already?"

[ 11-16-2004 05:15 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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Thoran blasted his way past Terrin, driving him harshly into the background. He sent a mind-numbing blast of magick into Terrin’s spirit, sending him reeling back into the dark recesses of Phalomir’s mind. If he could feel pain, Terrin’s head would have been spinning from the intensity. Instead, his spirit felt an oppressive crushing for a moment, then was surrounded in darkness.

[ 11-16-2004 05:18 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Thoran ]

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I jerked, and turned to Phalomir.

"What's wrong with him, Terrin?" I asked, knowing he knew I meant Phalomir.

"Can you try to reach him and find out? Call to him; maybe that will get through or something."

I fell silent with that, a little bit of discomfort coming over me. All this sharing of bodies was a bit nerve-wracking, to say the least; while I waited, I turned back to Panthar to hear what he had to say about the book.

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

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

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" I growled, sidling up to Phalomir with murder in my heart and fire once again blazing in my eyes.

If there was anything I hated most in the universe, it was a terrible fake. And I could tell in a heartbeat this wasn't Terrin; by simple process of elimination, there could only be one particular personage who had just spoken.

"Mind digging around in there a tiny bit further, pal, and letting us in on what in Hell's Seven Circles is going on? Unless, of course, you're doing something inside Phal's head that you really oughtn't be doing...."

[ 11-16-2004 05:32 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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He took the book gingerly from Galen’s hands and sat on a chair. He carefully opened the cover and turned a few pages.

“My, this is extremely well preserved,” he said, eyes not leaving the pages. “Where did you find this?”

As if forgetting that he asked a question, his finger pointed to a passage on a page and he yelped.

“That’s it! Oh, I wish I knew how to read Sith 10 years ago!”

He looked up, excited, and saw everyone looking at him.

“Now that I know how to read Sith, I can tell more about these runes. This is in a language similar to High Sith, but it’s different enough to be of particular interest. I studied this for a long time, thinking that there was a link to the runes I found on various planets and the old Jedi and Dark Jedi hocus pocus of the past – no offense, Shayla – but this confirms instead a link with the ancient Sith race itself! I’ll need a little time to look this over, but I might be able to glean some sort of information from it.”

He turned back to the book and mumbled.

“Yeah, here is a word from High Sith – or sort of, it’s similar to the word for ‘Messenger’, or ‘piss boy’ to be more exact. T’elion. Give me some time, OK?”

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...and totally unable to regain control of Phalomir's body.

Phalomir? he called, struggling, Phalomir can you hear me?

Then he directed every amount of energy he could into regaining control of Phalomir's body once more, hoping to the gods that he could send Galen some sort of sign that all was not well. He didn't know just how successful he would be, seeing as Phalomr was apparently unable to regain control...

...but he was at least not expending a great amount of his energy keeping another person alive and away from harm, as Phalomir was.

For the barest of moments, Phalomir's eyes flashed blue...

"Trapped..." he whispered in a gasp, the blue then fading to green once more.

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“Terrin?” he called out. Then louder, his thoughts echoing throughout the darkness, he shouted “TERRIN! I AM HERE! HELP ME!”

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Where have I seen these symbols before? Wait, this one, this symbol grouping has certain characteristics resembling the High Sith word for “antiquity” – the cave! Back when life was more or less normal, when I was a well-funded archaeologist exploring the caves on – oh, what planet was that? It seems so long ago now, but I remember that cave. And finding the Eye… That word was on the stone columns surrounding the skeleton.

DING!

Oh my, and I just remembered where I saw other words like this. Ohmygosh!

Panthar slammed the book shut and looked around. Hs eyes rested on Galen, staring up at Phalomir – or Thoran, actually. He was still holding Gray, tenderly, as if Thoran wasn’t completely in charge of the arms that supported her. Interesting.

But not as interesting as the memory that popped into his head.

“Um, guys? I think we really need to get going.”

No-one seemed to pay him much attention. Galen and Thoran still stared at each other like two rancors vying for dominance, Shayla and Eric looked on waiting to pick up the pieces of whoever lost, and the others were busy figuring out the suits. He sighed, pulled the cover off of a seat and wrapped up the book in it. He stood and walked to a portal and peered out at the morning sky.

The temple was in the near distance, looking much the same way it did the last time he was sitting in a ship waiting for people to be ready to move. The birds flew ovehead, just like before. The vines wound around the trees, just before. The trees gave way into a clearing, giving a clear path to the temple from the ship, just like before. Two rows of tuk’ata lined the path all the way to the temple, just like –

“Hey!” he cried out. “What in the kriffin’ name of womprat butts is going on here?”

[ 11-17-2004 03:31 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

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...and that Panthar was now urgently suggesting that they haul rear.

Once he'd gotten his suit in order, he addressed the former first.

"Look, buddy!" he growled at Thoran, actually stepping forward and pointing a finger. "What the hell have you done with the Boss..."

He trailed a split second, "...with Terrin?!?" he then ammended. "You had better damn well not be pulling anything funny now."

He paused once more at this, trying to look as threatening as he possibly could, fire quite nearly shooting out of his ears. And in this silence, his ears registered Panthar's final words.

"Huh?" he asked, turning just enough to look in Panthar's direction...

...and just enough to see exactly what had grabbed Panthar's attention. "Oh hell," he muttered, his eyes going wide, "We are so dead..."

[ 11-18-2004 03:19 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Jasyn Lancaster ]

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“We’re not dead,” said Panthar, a grin spreading on his face. “On the contrary, I think we’re being welcomed. That big guy on the steps, that’s my bud!”

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He struggled to send a thought back Phalomir's way, uncertain of whether he could be heard or not. I'm trapped here too now, he started, And everyone else is in trouble. Thoran is up to no good...

He trailed then, waiting to see what response, if any, he might receive...

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