SD 08/07/04 - "Rain of Terror" Well, thanks to Lera, half the bridge crew, myself included, got hit with water from the cursed springs of Planet Jusenkyo. Just when I was forgetting what it was like to deal with pants made for a tail, claws, and a coat, here we go again. At least Lera's leaving me alone.
Unfortunetly, I can just imagine the jokes about catnip and balls of wool.
It all happened at the meeting room to discuss our next move concerning our missing comrades and the ship's funky computer. I swear, it's getting almost as daffy as "Compy" in the previous Freedom. We had been doubleing back in our course to find some trace of them, but had found nothing. Not even a trace of an ion trail. Notifying Starfleet of our situation, they officially declared the Captaincy back under me, and Lera as XO. Unfortunetly, Ironbottom wants us back on our course, reguardless of who's missing or how bad the computer is.
What to do? Taking a look at the planets nearby, there are no Federation settled worlds or bases that can help with our computer. But there is one independant world that can - Megas-Tu, home of a people known as the ".Magicks." A world in a pocket dimension of sorts, the rules of reality as we know it do not apply there. The people there are skilled in various forms of magic, most specialized in a single field. Besides seers who can provide us with clues to where Tempres, Dammers, and M'Rander are, maybe they can do something about that crazy computer.
Unfortunetly, there's a slight problem. Although the planet iself is easier to get to lately thanks to a wormhole to the place, they haven't been very receptive to visitors lately. This goes even more against humans, of whom despite the relief upon hearing Terrans were no longer the superstious and violently afraid bunch they were in Salem and the Inquisition, afterwards they became more suspicious again. No humans have been allowed to visit in recent years, and others are more often than not turned away as well. Those that were admitted had something the Magicks were interested in, notably exotic items. Items that were found to be "magical" were always found to grant the ship a visit. So I figured our supply of Junk water ought to get their attention.
Unfortunetly, Lera revealed she had disposed of every sample we had!
Needless to say, everyone in the room was stunned. Our ticket to solving our two problems, gone. Even the easygoing Lott looked like (s)he was about to blow a fuse, and started to the door. Lera told us she didn't dump it, but tried to erradicate it by breaking down the molecular bonds. Fortunetly for us, magical items aren't so easliy destroyed, which made itself clear when a cloud just beneath the ceiling came down the hall and entered our room. We put a force- field on it, but not before Lott got wet. He got turned into a dark felinoid. The computer turned uncooperative, and with the transporter offline we ducked under the table, Cosmo taken down from his chair.
The situation was potentially hazardous as Lynx and Tara were pregnant, and the affect of Junk water on pregnancies is unknown. We finally got the force field around the cloud only, just barely around it, but we had a wet floor. We had shoes, but the felines didn't. Lott got Lynx out, but unfortunetly bumped the table while I was getting out, resulting in me getting doused and turning once again into a Caitian. Melvin and I got Tarra out, but we tumbled and I ended up between the carpet and her - owie. Ennin and Orlan looked out of the water on the table out of curiosity, then Orlan poked at it. Somehow the led gave way, and they were both sloshed. Ennin turned into some kind of foxlike creature, what he called a "Genoworks Model Three Kitsune" geneticly-engineered artificial being. Orlan was changed into a a Skorr.
The girls escaped taking a hit, Lynx & Tarra with our help, Lera with her "Junkphobia" not taking chances. She immediately left the room. I later found out she went to the computer room threatening it with bodily harm and getting only jokes and sarcastic remarks in response. Orlan in his new "birdman" form was crowing about it, no pun intended, "Bow down before me, mortals! Muhahahaha!" He stopped when he was reminded he was the only "bird" in a roomful of carnivores. He then began making remarks to me about "Chinese recipies adjusted for Caitian portions." But from what I've heard, that's not necessary. Caitians like Chinese food as it is without substitutions for meats & herbs of their world. Some prefer Japanese cuisine with it's sushi, but that's another matter. Ennin seems happier in his new form, no longer suffering from the ailment that left him confined to a chair. Lott, maybe he(r), or rather now his, partial shifting ability before is helping him deal with his change. Then again, Lynx seems to be dealing with her recent loss by getting together with Tarra and making the new feline feel welcome.
What's this I hear about Lynx and Tarra getting fifty pounds of leather? Leatherworking wasn't my favorite activity in the Boy Scouts, which was the last time I did it. Oh well, if the girls want to relive their happy memories of their days as Brownies, or whatever they had in Tarra's socety, let them.
Overview of TAS Episode "The Magicks of Megas-Tu"
images of TAS Episode "The Magicks of Megas-Tu"