*** Aeran III ***
Martin looked at Rachel who was now absorbed in her new game
but he had grown tired of it.
Sometime ago, they had found a patch of flowers and Rachel
now wore one behind her ear. It was wilting quite a bit but
still looked pretty and it had given her the idea of making
a necklace.
Apparantly she knew how to do this and offered to teach
Martin the skill. He wanted to try it so had helped pick the
flowers under strict instruction before they found a place
to sit and begin the work.
It was easy, Rachel said and showed how to make a hole in
the flower stem with her finger nail and then thread another
stem through so that the flowers were joined together.
Martin had found it wasnt as easy as it looked and had
spoiled a few stems before he got the hang of it by which
time, Rachels flower necklace was already half done. She
intended to make a crown too, she informed him and happily
continued threading the flowers.
Now Martin laid his few aside and stood up, deciding that he
didn't want to be a 'flower necklace' maker.
He squinted his eyes against the sun, watching the group of
newcomers talking to Rangi, Rick and others. There was a lot
of pointing going on, firstly to the mountains, then in
another direction and finally they all half turned round and
gazed across the plain.
Martin looked too but could see nothing apart from the
woodland on the edge of the clearing and a snow capped peak
a long way off.
Rachel continued in her wrapt concentration and Martin
wandered away, pulling a long dried stalk from the grass and
swishing it to and fro.
Suddenly he stopped, hand suspended in the air, thinking
that he heard something in the grass. He stepped forward,
swished the stalk and sure enough, the sound came again. He
repeated the action with the same result and then saw the
grass move.
Certain now that something was there, he knelt down and
slowly inched forward as quietly as he could, reaching
forward to part the tall grass in front of him.
" Wowwww..." he breathed.
In front of him sat a small creature, its soft fur speckled
in shades of brown, beautifully camoflaged in its
surroundings. It looked at him with large almost black eyes,
twitching its little nose to scent him and flicking the end
of its bobble like tail.
"Where did 'you' come from?" Martin asked, delighted by his
discovery.
The little creature raised its head, as though inspecting
the child then chirruped.
Martin sat back on his heels and laughed, for the sound was
exactly like a commbadge.
The action though, startled the creature and Martins sunny
smile turned to dismay as the creature hopped away with
surprising speed.
" Wait!" Martin cried, scrambling to his feet and he set off
in pursuit, following the telltale signs of moving grass and
shrill chirrups.
Meanwhile, Rangi had become aware that the children were not
to be seen and scanned the crowd for signs. She excused
herself from Rick and Fairweathers conversation and glanced
around, soon spotting Rachels figure sitting in the shade of
a scrubby bush.
She crossed the distance towards the child, wondering where
Martin had got to.
The little girl was absorbed in her work and only looked up
when Rangis shadow fell across the buches of flowers lying
on the flattened grass. She wore a wilted flower behind one
ear and a circlet of them at a jaunty angle on her head. A
bracelet graced each wrist and her hands held a part made
line.
"Hello Rachel..." Rangi said cheerfully. " That looks very
pretty."
Rachel smiled, pleased by the compliment and returned to her
work.
"Do you know where Martin is?" Rangi asked and Rachel raised
a hand to point vaguely over her shoulder.
" Over there." she said.
Rangi looked in the direction and saw no sign of him,
feeling slightly concerned now and hoping he hadnt wandered
far.
She walked into the longer grass looking from side to side.
The little creature wasnt alone now.
Martin had followed it by sound ...and sometimes sight... to
a more rocky terrain a short distance away.
He chased it over stones and rocks until it rounded a larger
boulder. He had followed it then stopped in his tracks, his
eyes wide in surprise.
The small creature now huddled against a larger version of
itself which, though furry and appealing in its shape,
looked somehow less friendly.
" Two of them." Martin muttered then stepped forward.
The creatues moved back until they were against they were
cornered against the rock. Martin saw they had no means of
escape so bent towards them.
" Dont be frightened ." he said.
Rangi noticed the movement up ahead and recognising the
colour of Martins blue shirt hurried towards him.
Martin had knelt down, eyeing the creatures.Surely they knew
he wouldnt hurt them he told himself so reached out a hand
to the smallest one saying " Come on...come and say hello."
"Martin...what are you doing?" Rangi asked walking up behind
him and he turned his head to look at her.
The sudden appearance of another enemy caused the smallest
creature to make a bolt for freedom. It shot past Martins
knees like a thing possessed.
Rangi saw something running and gave a startled " oh!!" with
a quick side step while at the same time the larger
creature, whose motherly instinct was now running high, ran
forward too and zigzagged after her baby, giving Martins
fingers a bite for their trouble as she passed.
It dodged past Rangi and disappeared into back into the long
grass, disappearing in a moment.
Martin clutched his hand to his stomach and gave a pitiful
wail.
"Martin...come here ...show me..."
Rangi was at his side immediatley and he held out his hand
to display a perfect set of little teeth marks, the sight of
which increased his cry by three tones.
"It's alright...dont worry." she said holding the hand
gently in her palm as she gauged the damage done.
" Come on..lets get back to the camp and we can make it
better."
They retraced their steps walking together as Rangi asked
what the creature was.
" It was rabbitthing." Martin replied " I only wanted to be
friends with it....I thought it wanted to play when it ran
off...I wouldnt have hurt it."
" I know." Rangi answered sympathetically. " ...but it didnt
understand....and you must never chase animals that you dont
know...in fact you shouldn't chase animals at all!" ." she
added hastily, hoping to cut off further escapades.
"T'Vel?..please get a medkit." she called as they approached
the group and their reappearance caused a flutter of
interest.
" He's been bitten." Rangi said."...by a creature of some
kind..like a rabbit."
"Ahhh." John Fairweather said. " Don't worry...they're not
harmful...can give you a nasty nip though." He smiled kindly
at Martin who gave him a doubtful glance.
The medkit was soon found and set out. Rachel was one of the
onlookers and seemed to take a morbid interest in the bitten
fingers.
Martin wasnt sure whether to cry or not, for the soothing
gel stung bitterly at first but he thought that he had best
be brave as Shane would have wanted.
"It doesnt really hurt. " he told Rachel, lifting his head
high. "It's nothing really."
*** End Log ***
Cmdr Rangi Summers
Med Adv 1st Task Force
USS Chimera-B ( destroyed)
&
Martin Guzman
(npc) Rangi
