CYOB: Sci-Fi

The following post is my contribution to the second — sci-fi! — edition of Nancy Pearl Wannabe’s Choose Your Own Blogventure. Start at the beginning and then follow along, choosing as you go. Have fun!

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“Howdy!”

Startled, Xinni stopped in her tracks. The man she had spied from afar had approached with alarming speed, and he was headed straight for her. Her right hand fluttered over her bolter, forgetting for a moment that she was completely out of charge from the Sea Scorpion assault. Xinni gave the approaching figure an evaluative once-over: the man was definitely humanoid, however disproportionately bulky in the upper body. No wonder, she realized, since the pack he carried on his back was easily as massive as her ship’s primary fuel tank. She saw that the strange aura around the man was cast by a bobbing lantern on the back of his pack, which formed an odd taillight for his quick progress across the foreign meadow. As far as Xinni could tell, the man’s hands were empty, with the exception of an enormous ten-gallon hat.

He called out again, now a mere ten paces away. “I say, howdy!”

Xinni stood stiffly, arms akimbo, ready to spring into battle mode. The Sea Scorpions may have destroyed her crew, but this Unknown-planet oaf was not about to disarm her.

The man cocked his eye at Xinni’s posture. “Whoa, lady. The name is Boone, and I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.”

Boone stuck out a huge, gloved hand, and Xinni eyed it warily. “I’m … Xinni,” she said, after a moment of hesitation, ignoring his hand. “I’ve come through the Cosmica Rift, and I need to send a message to Dunan.” To Jax, she clarified silently.

“The Cosmica Rift! Lady, you are a long way from Dunan. How do you figure to get that message sent? Plain old yellin’?”

Clearly, this man was no help at all. Xinni shouldered her gear and started continuing on the faint trail. “Boone, I don’t have much time. Excuse me.” She held her breath as she walked away, listening for the quick footfalls of ambush.

“Hold on, there! How do you know I can’t send your message, missie?”

Despite herself, Xinni turned to face Boone. She had hoped that some sort of help would appear, but her father’s words about the dangers of the Unknowns echoed her in her head. She had no other plan; what was the alternative? “What do you mean?” she asked.

Boone shucked off his monstrous pack, his lantern wobbling about. “I never know just what I’ve got in here,” he said, “but usually, the stuff comes in pretty handy.”

He unzipped countless pockets and rummaged around in invisible compartments, readjusting his lantern for better light. “Hungry?” he asked, and held out an oaten cake of questionable age.

Actually, she was. Xinni took the offering dubiously, but it was surprisingly tasty and filling. Boone tossed a full canteen of water up at her as he continued to dig through the sack, and Xinni watched him with a raised eyebrow. What is he trying to find? And what else is in that pack?

“Ah, ha!” Boone emerged from the depths of his sack holding a small orb cupped in his hands. It whirred ever so softly and gave off a pearly glow. With one hand, he tapped the side of the orb, and metal petals unfolded to reveal a complex gear mechanism. Xinni’s eyes widened, and Boone chuckled.

“So, how’s about that message?”

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If you think Xinni should use this contraption to send her message, click here.

If you think Xinni should find out if the bag has anything more useful to her, click here.