Hey Everyone!! :-)
Here's a little bit more of the third installment in the Petri Dish Chronicles! As always, the disclaimer is that this is a draft and, as such, it's unedited and likely full of errors and is subject to revision, revamping, and being completely scrapped and rewritten. But, with that in mind, I'm reasonably satisfied with the basics of it, at least at the moment, or I wouldn't have bothered posting it. Enjoy! :-)
Excerpt from the third Petri Dish book:
"Why did they do that to you? You weren't crazy enough to go after them after we left, were you?”
Daji snorted. “No. They came after me. They appeared on my ship as I was departing from a delivery and abducted me.”
“They can't have done this just to test me. There’s got to be a reason they would go to all that trouble. I know you think they’re evil, but they're not irrational. They wouldn't just put an entire planet's worth of people in danger simply to get my attention.”
“They didn’t,” said Daji, shaking his head, at the same time Chessie exclaimed, “What?"
Daji turned to face Chessie. “She's correct. The energy the Arcanum infected me with would have spread if Petri had been unable to neutralize it effectively. It would have eventually reached every sapient organism on this planet, entered their minds, and torn them apart. It’s even possible that it would have gone farther than just this world if effective quarantine measures weren’t implemented in time." He crossed his arms over his chest and turned back to Petri. “Which certainly seems to qualify as evil in my estimation. I warned you that you should choose a less populated world; anywhere you go, you’re a danger to those around you.”
It was Petri’s turn to cross her arms over her chest. "I'm not the one who brought it here. You are.”
“I was given no choice! The aliens you defend so determinedly manipulated my mind and planted a compulsion that forced me to seek you out.”
“I don’t defend them; I just don’t see the point in purposely antagonizing them if they're willing to leave us alone, which they were until you did something to change that. What did you do?”
“I did nothing," Daji hissed. “I have already told you; they sought me out.”
“Why?”
“To give me a message to deliver and a task."
“What message?”
“They wish me to inform you and Chessie that they require your presence at a location they have designated. My task is to convey you to this location. By whatever means necessary, provided you are not permanently harmed. Failure to complete this task will result in the destruction of my homeworld. So, you see, it is not only the people of this planet you endanger, but mine as well. If it were not for your…”
“…Existence?” interjected Chessie. “You're blaming Petri when none of this is her fault. She didn’t sic the Arcanum on you, and she certainly didn’t tell them to harm you or anyone else. On the contrary, as soon as she saw what they had done to you, she immediately acted to save you. Without any hesitation or thought about whether there would be risk to herself!”
Petri put a hand on the older woman’s arm. Chessie turned to her, breathing hard with indignation. Petri smiled and her friend smiled back, putting her hand over Petri’s. "You don't deserve this from him, hun.”
“It’s okay. Let him get it out of his system. Then maybe we can find out what’s really going on."
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