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Chapter
Five
THE
PRESENTS
Zhaan and Crais
John had given
everybody a weeken in which to find, prepare, cajole, snurch,
or make whatever present they were going to hand to whoever they
had chosen. He had provided them with very strict rules - they
were only allowed to make one thing, for one person, and there
were to be no exceptions.
Zhaan, being
Zhaan, was completely unable to decide who to give her present
to. She supposed it ought to go to Stark; they were soul mates,
after all, and she now knew that she was going to receive something
from him. She should, therefore, return the gesture. That would
be the courteous and expected thing to do.
Her thoughts
then turned to D'Argo. Sweet D'Argo, who had always been there
for her, and who was so much more than met the eye. Should she
make something for him? She loved Stark, but, in an entirely
different way, she adored D'Argo, and thought she ought to show
her appreciation for him.
But then again
there was John. They had shared Unity, after all. Would it be
more appropriate to offer him a gift? Perhaps something that
reflected the bond they shared?
The Delvian
sighed, the indecision confusing her. What about Pilot? Everyone
would be sure to forget him, no matter how much they claimed
to value him. Or Moya? She dearly loved Moya. In fact Zhaan loved
everyone: John, D'Argo, Stark, Pilot, Aeryn, Chiana, Moya, Jool
she was even becoming fond of Rygel and Crais.
Zhaan moved
to the window of her quarters and looked out. The stars always
calmed her and cleared her head. The ritual John had described
was meant to be fun, just something to pass the time for a weeken
but where matters of the heart were concerned for Zhaan, it was
not to be taken lightly. John had strictly told them that they
were only allowed to give one gift to one person, otherwise it
defeated the point of the exercise. She wanted to give a gift
to everybody!
Just when she
was beginning to think "Sunt Fahllentyn's Day" was
a very silly tradition, she was struck by a brainwave.
She smiled
to herself and positioned herself, cross-legged, on the floor.
The recipient had been decided on. All she had to do now was
come up with an appropriate gift
Crais was pacing
again. He had absolutely no idea what had possessed him to agree
with Crichton's idea. Boredom could make a man do strange things.
Truth be told, he hadn't really been paying attention; all he
really knew was that he had to give something to someone, and,
apparently, the someone had to be a person he liked.
So, he was
pacing, trying to work out who he liked enough to give them a
present. His immediate thought was Aeryn. At least there was
mutual respect (or, at the very least, he thought there was.)
Then, he considered that Crichton would have had the exact same
idea, and he didn't feel like getting into yet another argument
with him over the subject of Officer Sun. Besides he knew Aeryn
wouldn't return the gesture.
So who? The
Delvian? He didn't not like her. Well, everyone liked Zhaan.
Zhaan liked everyone. Therefore, she should have been the obvious
choice but she seemed somehow too obvious.
Crais turned
and walked back across the room again, frustrated. Silly human
rituals.
The Nebari.
She was certainly appealing. However, he refused to lower himself
to act on those kind of feelings. Perhaps he could simply 'forget'
about it, and get out of it later He was a Captain! He shouldn't
be obligated to follow Crichton's orders!
The next time
he turned, something caught his eye in a nearby box. It made
him stop, suddenly, in his tracks, and move over to examine it
more closely. Once he'd pulled it free, careful not to damage
it, he began to rethink his options
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