The Mystery Cube
by GitonCrais
“What’s
that?”
“What?”
“That!”
“Oh, that?”
John Crichton
looked at the small cube in his hands. He had been playing absentmindedly with
the multi-coloured cube ever since they had finished the morning repast. He
kept twisting and turning it in his hands, changing the combinations of
colours. The incessant clicking sound had produced a scowl from Crais, who was
sitting at the end of the table.
The others
were fascinated by it.
Ka D’Argo
leaned forward, his eyes riveted on the small cube in Crichton’s hands
Chiana
looked at it eagerly too, her fingers dancing impatiently on the table, “Is it a game?”
Rygel had
given it a brief glance, quickly judged it to be of no value, and decided to
ignore the whole thing.
Aeryn tried
to look uninterested but her eyes kept coming back to it, intrigued.
Only Crais
didn’t seem to be interested in it at all.
Crais had
arrived on Moya the day before on one of his occasional visits. Talyn, his
Leviathan, had expressed the wish to speak with his mother. That had also meant
that Crais would be joining the Moya-crew for a couple of days. As always, they
were not particularly happy to see him and he either kept mostly by himself or,
as he was doing now, sat somewhat apart from them, working on a data pad.
Crichton
smiled at the little group, “This is a Rubic’s cube. It’s a children’s’ game on
Earth. I hadn’t even realized that I had it in my bag.”
Chiana’s
eyes lit up, “Ooh, a game. I like games. What does it do?”
“It doesn’t
do anything,” replied Crichton, “You have to solve the puzzle.”
Crais
glanced briefly at Crichton, but then returned to his work.
Crichton
continued, “You have to twist and turn the cube until all sides have the same
colours.” He demonstrated it by turning the cube’s separate interlocking sides.
Soon he had one corner in three matching colours. “You repeat this until all
sides are the same matching colours,” he concluded.
Ka D’Argo
was the first one to try it. The cube nearly disappeared in his big hands. His
eyes were fully concentrated on the cube. But soon he grunted, then sighed, and
after about 10 microns, he gave up trying to solve it. Every twist and turn
only resulted in other colours changing where he had already lined the colours
up. With a frustrated growl he tossed the cube on the table, “This is
impossible to solve. What kind of a child’s game is this?”
Chiana
picked up the cube, a look of delight and fascination on her face. She twisted
and turned it, and even managed to line up a corner in the same way Crichton
had done. But then she gave a frustrated yelp when her next turn changed the corner
which colours she had already matched up. She too tossed it on the table. “I
agree with D’Argo, this is impossible.”
Crichton
handed the cube to Aeryn but she looked at him with a scowl, “I don’t see why I
have to start the day by getting frustrated. If it is a children’s game, why do
you have it?”
Rygel,
meanwhile, had moved away from the table and helped himself to some more food.
Crichton
looked over at Crais, “Yo, Crais! You want to give it a try?”
Crais looked
up from his data pad, “Why should I, Crichton? I’m busy. I have no time for
childish games. Why don’t you show the others how to solve the puzzle?”
The others
turned their attention to Crichton, “Yes, you show us, John.”
The smile
disappeared from Crichton’s face, “Well, I’ve never actually solved it yet.”
An amused
smile appeared on Crais’ face, “I thought you said it was a children’s game.”
“Well, yeah,
but it’s not a very easy game.”
“Maybe we
have need of a child to solve this,” Crais said sarcastically.
Crichton
tossed the cube onto the table, “Maybe.”
After a
short while, everyone left the galley. The cube lay forgotten in the middle of
the table.
About an arn
later, Crichton remembered that he had left the cube in the galley and returned
to pick it up and put it back into his bag.
When he
arrived and reached for the cube, he found that the puzzle had been solved. All
sides were in the same matching colours. A thoughtful frown creased his
forehead. Who could have done this? There was no one in the galley; they all
had left after breakfast.
He scrambled
the sides of the cube again and placed it back on the table.
He took up a
position opposite the galley door, hiding in the shadows. Whoever had done this
would be tempted do so again, and he was going to find out who had solved the puzzle.
Ka D’Argo
entered the galley first, stayed for about 10 microns and left again. Crichton
stood up but he had to duck into the shadows again when Aeryn came around the
corner and entered too. She also stayed in the galley for a short while before
leaving. Crichton grew frustrated when, just as he decided he would enter the
galley, Rygel and Crais came along and entered it together. They stayed longer.
Then Rygel left, and Crais followed him a few microns later.
When
Crichton walked into the galley and looked at the cube, he found that the
puzzle had once again been solved. He was still none the wiser as to who had
done this.
Again he
scrambled the cube and left the galley.
Aeryn’s voice
came over the ship’s comms, “John, can you give me a hand in the Maintenance
Bay? I need assistance with some repairs here.”
After one
last look, Crichton left his position. Nobody had re-entered the galley yet.
With repairs
done, he hurried back once more to the galley. The puzzle had been solved
again! Well, at least that ruled Aeryn out. He scrambled the cube once more,
determined to find out who was doing this.
In quick
succession, he helped both Ka D’Argo and Chiana with their chores. Each time,
he returned to the galley afterwards, only to find the puzzle solved again.
That only left two people, Rygel and Crais.
He doubted
that it could be Crais. Crais hated relaxation and games. Rygel loved puzzles,
even if the Dominar wouldn’t admit to it.
He had to
force the issue. Not knowing who kept solving the puzzle was almost as
frustrating as trying to solve it himself.
He left the
puzzle scrambled on the table one final time, and then called Rygel to join him
on Tier Two to sort out the supplies. That would definitely get Rygel’s
interest .
They went
through the supplies and he had to stop Rygel from “testing out” the food
supplies.
When he
returned, the puzzle was solved again.
They
gathered for the afternoon repast. The cube lay solved on the table. The others
looked at it with surprise, except for Crais who had taken his plate and sat at
the end of the table engrossed in his data pad, punching in adjustments while
he ate slowly.
“It’s
solved!” Chiana clenched her hands in glee.
“Yes,”
replied Crichton calmly.
“Who solved
the puzzle?” Ka D’Argo’s deep booming voice filled the galley.
“Definitely
not John,” replied Aeryn, “He has already told us that he’s never been able to
do it, unless he spent the whole morning at it, which he didn’t.”
“I didn’t do
it,” said Rygel, “Children’s games are beneath me as a Dominar.”
“It was
Crais,” said Crichton, “Wasn’t it?”
All eyes
turned to Crais.
Crais looked
up calmly, “Yes.”
“I thought you
were too busy to solve children’s games,” Crichton said with a sneer, “And yet,
you’ve solved it six times. Wasn’t once enough?”
“I left it
so the others would see that it could be done but someone kept scrambling it
back up again. I presume it was you trying to work out who had solved the
puzzle?” His eyes rested on Crichton.
“Aha! You
just couldn’t resist the temptation to prove that you are superior,” Crichton
said triumphantly.
“Why would I
have to prove that,” said Crais with calm arrogance.
His remark
irritated Crichton and produced a low growl from Ka D’Argo.
“If you’ve
really solved it by fair means, then you won’t mind showing us again,” coaxed
Crichton. He received a scowl from Crais.
“Yes,” Ka D’Argo looked at Crais, “Show us
that it can be done fairly. Peacekeepers can’t be trusted.”
“I am not a
Peacekeeper anymore,” said Crais through gritted teeth.
“But you
still think like one,” retorted Ka D’Argo.
For a moment
it looked as if Crais was just going to leave the galley. His eyes lit up with
anger and his jaw muscles twitched. Then he regained his usual equanimity.
“Very well,” he said, bringing himself under control. He moved over to the
others.
Crichton
picked up the cube and scrambled the sides one last time, showing the others
that the sides were totally mixed up before passing it back over to Crais. He
looked at his watch to see how fast Crais would do it. He vaguely remembered
that the record had once been set at twenty-eight seconds.
Crais looked
at the cube briefly and then his hands twisted and turned the sides with
remarkable speed. Nothing on his face or in his eyes showed that he had to
concentrate any harder than usual on the task. Twenty microts later he placed
the cube back on the table. The puzzle was solved.
Crichton
stared at it and at his watch with an open mouth.
“That is
incredible,” he said when he finally found his voice again, “No one has ever
done it faster.”
“Not even
your Erp’s children?” asked Crais with an amused smile.
“It’s Earth
not Erp,” exclaimed Crichton. He still couldn’t understand why a man who could
be so brilliant in many ways (he grudgingly admitted that to himself), who
could pronounce names other people could get laryngitis over, just couldn’t
pronounce the name of Crichton’s planet.
“How did you
do it?” Rygel asked Crais in surprise.
“It was
easy,” replied Crais with a cocked eyebrow, “As Crichton said, a child can do
it.”
Crais left
the galley, leaving the others in stunned silence.
When Crais returned
to Talyn, the youngster was happy to have him on board again. Talyn was always
pleased to talk to his mother, but now he was eager to be back in space again
~You are happy, Crais, much happier than you usually are when you return from
Moya. Did something happen?~
Crais
smiled, “Yes, I am, Talyn. And something did happen. Crichton tried to baffle
the others with an Erp-puzzle. He even told them that a child could do it, and
he was very much enjoying the frustration of the others when they then found
the solution difficult. I proved that it was indeed easy.”
~Will that
stop him from doing this again? Especially when you are around?~
“I doubt it
will,” Crais said with a sigh.
He looked at
the Navigation console and plotted their next course, deeper in the Uncharted
Territories. Maybe he would find something more challenging there.
The End