Movin' on Up
By Aris Merquoni

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o/~ I'm movin' on up / You're movin' on out / Movin' on up / 
Nothing can stop me! o/~
                       - Movin' on Up, M-People
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	Ahh, the joys of hiking. Twelve hours a day with a pack 
on your back, snow in your boots, sweat in your eyes, and the 
constant nattering of wild animals in your ears. Not that I 
didn't enjoy the last, but the constant screeching of something 
off to my left was starting to get on my nerves.
	It was about 8:00 at night and getting dark when Shadur 
suddenly stopped. "I vote we stop for something to eat," he said 
rather loudly. The bird stopped screeching, squawked in protest, 
and winged off into the wild blue yonder.
	"Amen to that, Shad," I called. I could manage another 
hour if I really had to, but truth to tell, I was sore and tired 
and hungry. The others chimed in at about the same time with 
their agreements.
	"Good," he said, slipping off his pack and dropping it 
next to a tree. "I'll be back." Before anyone could complain, he 
took off.
	"Where's he going?" Selvane demanded.
	Nexx shrugged. "He's probably off to hunt down some food 
or something. You don't honestly think the measly rations in the 
VR packs are enough to sustain a dragon, do you?"
	"They're not," I said, but nobody heard me.
	"I hope he doesn't get lost or in trouble. We don't have 
time to go looking for him," Selvane griped.
	"I don't think there's anything in these mountains that 
eats dragons. I'm sure he'll be fine." And with that statement by 
Nexx, the issue was closed.
	"I don't blame Shad," Phoe said as he tried to bite off 
a piece of a VR-issue protein bar. "These things are not exactly 
gourmet."
	"I know, and if I'd thought of it, I'd have gotten us 
all some rations while we were in the city," Nexx said 
sorrowfully. "It's too late now. I'm sure we'll live." She pulled 
a ration bar of her own out of her pack.
	I pulled out a ration bar of my own, then compared the 
nutrition info on it to that on one of my Kzinti rations. I 
finally decided that the Kzin rations probably had a better 
balance, so I skinned the wrapper off of one and choked it down.
	What I'd give for real food. Roast pork or something.
	We divvied up tasks about then, Phoe and I being picked 
for firewood-gathering. We set ourselves to our tasks with wild 
abandon, and had gathered up enough wood to see us through the 
night at about the same time Shad dragged back this REALLY 
butt-ugly... thing.
	I couldn't hear anything Nexx was saying, as we were 
still pushing through the trees, but the scene was clear enough. 
When we got back, Shad was in the process of twisting the head 
off his find.
	"Better take that somewhere far away from camp," Selvane 
commented, "or we'll be up all night with the scavengers it 
attracts." Shad shrugged draconically, grabbed the predator's 
head, and hauled it away into the trees.
	The rest of the dwindling daylight we spent reminiscing, 
trying to steal bits of Shad's meat, and generally trying to 
forget about our trip and get back some of the happy-go-lucky 
spirit that we had found in Chi-lin. Finally, we set watches, 
Shad first and Nexx second, and us lucky ones fell asleep.
	I was awakened a few minutes after dawn by a loud roaring 
noise outside the cabin, accompanied by a blast of wind that sent 
the entire thing rolling. Selvane nearly tripped over me flying 
out the door, so I pushed to my feet and followed him, with 
Phoenix trailing us.
	"What the hell was that?!" Selvane asked, and I noticed 
he held his gun out, ready to shoot at any sign of threat.
	"That was the sound of one dwagon roaring,'" I said, 
glaring at Shad. "And if you even think of doing that again I'll 
rip your scales off one by one." I tried to sound menacing, but I 
yawned halfway through. It was too early, by Firefoot!
	"What time is it?" Phoe asked, also yawning.
	"Seven AM, and high time we got moving," Nexx said. I 
grumbled silently. It was too early to be awake, much less 
moving, much less *thinking.* "I caught breakfast, if anyone 
feels like noisy bird," she finished.

"What?" Selv said, still looking shaken at being
awakened Too Early by a dwagon. I took another look at
him and chuckled; he was decked out in his undies and
looked cold as well as confused.
	"Bird. If you want it, go ahead. I don't eat things I 
kill if I can help it. I can pack the shelter while you eat," 
Nexx replied, unperturbed. Selvane blinked at her and I shook my 
head in amusement before going to grab my stuff from the tent.
	I grabbed my backpack and rummaged around in it for a 
Kzinti ration and some perk-me-up pills from Jim deGriz while 
Nexx started collapsing the shelter. Within ten minutes the 
shelter was a small pack in Nexx's backpack and it was time to 
go. We trooped past the untouched bird on the ground and started 
thrashing through the wilderness again.
	In around four hours by the sun and the pains in my legs 
we hit upon Nexx's trail, and the going got a little easier. 
Still, we were heading in the general direction of uphill, and I 
wasn't used to going long stretches on two legs. I cursed 
Firefoot's bad timing for his little prank and stumbled along.
	The only one who seemed immune was Selvane. I thought 
dirty looks his way and trudged along before Nexx plopped down 
and pulled out a canteen. "I need a break. We're not going to get 
there any faster by walking ourselves to death, and we're not 
going to be able to stage much of a rescue when we're all about 
to fall over."
	"Ah'shrri et arr'tastrem," I said jokingly, then gave it 
up when I figured out that I wasn't translating. I slumped down 
and pulled out my Throatwarm. Tastes nasty, but the stuff goes 
straight to your muscles and synapses.
	Selvane evidently didn't need a break. "I'm not tired," 
he said. "I'll scout up ahead while you take your break. I'll 
yell if I spot anything," he said as he turned off.
	After about five minutes, and just as I was working some 
of the cramps out of my hamstrings, Selvane ran back, slightly 
out of breath. "Nexxus, did you run across a ghost town last time 
you were here? Because the trail leads into one less than thirty 
yards ahead," he reported.
	Nexx frowned, puzzled. "No, there was only a trail last 
time I was here. It's probably a different trail..." She shrugged 
and stood. "We might as well check it out. We need to get going 
anyways."
	I groaned, but pushed to my feet and followed.
	A few minutes later, we were at the 'town.' A few 
buildings scattered about, overgrown with plants and vines. The 
feeling of age was overpowering; in the forest the plants all 
were fresh and green, but seeing them in this light, reclaiming 
what Humans had done, the weight of the years seemed to press 
down like a great hand.
	"What was this place?" came a voice to my right; Phoenix, 
wondering aloud. I glanced at him, then back to the surroundings.
	"It looks more like a military outpost than a 
settlement," Shad observed, pointing out the remains of a Roman 
encampment-style ditch-and-wall. "A normal settlement would've 
had more roads through it. And look at the way it's situated- 
it's effectively a plug in the crack that valley makes in the 
mountains. Nexx, were Marraketh and Chi-lin ever at war?"
	"Not really," Nexx said, thoughtful, "but way back when 
they were one nation they split up because of a massive 
dispute... That kinda cooled relations a lot... I guess this was 
one of the army posts built in that time just in case it would 
ever come to a war."
	"... but instead Marraketh became a fairy tale, and the 
post was abandoned just like the war..." Shad mused.
	I looked around. Abandoned wars, abandoned fights, 
abandoned dreams. I felt incredibly depressed for a moment.
	I was jerked away from that train of thought by a loud 
meowing song coming from Nexx's backpack. I looked up and 
frowned. "What in the world do you have in there, Nexx?"
	Nexxus looked puzzled for a second. "Just my 'Linker," 
she replied as she started rummaging in her pack, "but it's 
supposed to be broken....." She pulled it out and opened it, 
frowning.
	We crowded around her, trying to get a glimpse of the 
screen. Phoe was about to make a comment when Nexx yelped.
	"MeowMix! It's from Mal, or at least it's got his initial 
at the bottom. Look at this!" She said, turning it to face us.
	The message was short, but it wasn't good. Mal was 
apparently in position and ready for us, which would be good if 
we were there. That wasn't the bad part, though. The bad part was 
that things were rapidly, to quote Babylon 5's most used cliche 
line, going straight to Hell, and Mal wasn't able to stop them. 
Not good. Noot hippy. Bad-
	Before I could come up with any more synonyms, I was 
bodily lifted onto the back of a charging Dwagon with little more 
than a "Hang on!" for warning. I grabbed onto a back ridge and 
swung my legs into riding position as Shad bounded up the 
mountainside with a speed that left me breathless experiencing it 
from the rider's perspective.
	We climbed rapidly, then got to the peak of the ridge. 
Without a second thought, Shad flung himself into open space and 
caught air.
	I have to say, *riding* a dragon in flight is much less 
pleasant then actually *being* one. he sensations of catching air 
and gliding as experienced while hanging on for dear life are 
rather... nauseating.
	We glided for a few minutes, Shad beating his wings for 
further speed. Finally, we saw a road with a group of weary 
jihaddi stumbling along it. Shad put on the breaks and landed us 
right in front of them.
	As I slid from Shad's back and listened to Nexx make 
quick plans with the other group's leader, I looked toward the 
horizon. I could just about see our destination. I hoped we'd be 
there in time to do some good.
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