Mars Daybreak Fan Fiction ❯ Haunting Past ❯ Chapter 6

Haunting Past

 

By: A-Z Mark II

 

Disclaimer: I think that Sony Computer Ent. and Bandai own Mars Daybreak - maybe.

 

-

Chapter 6

-

 

“Be careful, you two,” warned Elizabeth. The woman was standing in the launch bay of her ship, watching Gram and Yagami settle into Yagami's RB. She knew that right outside the Ship of Aurora, Vess was waiting in her Flick, fully armed and probably with an itchy trigger finger. The two ships - the pirate Aurora and the currently-outlawed Hope - were concealed just beyond the sensor net of Harras city-ship.

It had been decided that rather than bring the wounded Ship of Hope to what could prove to be a nasty reception, it would be smarter to try and assess the situation on the city-ship run by Captain Elizabeth's old ship-mate and love-interest, the affable man known as `the Doctor'. In Gram's vest pocket was a recorded message from Elizabeth, to be given to the man should the situation warrant it. The large woman was still of half a mind to snap the disc in half and just hold the city hostage for what they needed. Steady, girl, she disciplined herself. Given what I owe Gram, this is cheap, she once more reminded herself.

“If you get any suspicions about anything, high-tail it out of there - fast!” she reminded them. “We'll think of something else if this blows up in our faces,” she assured the young man to whom the crew owed so much.

“Really, it's ok, Captain,” Gram replied, unconcerned. “You all have done a lot for Vess and I already,” he tried to soothe her. Captain Elizabeth was having none of that.

“We haven't even started paying you back yet, Gram,” she said, her tone unbending. “Pirates hold to their own code, you know,” she reminded him. Gram sent her half-smile.

“Someday, I'd like to get a look at this `code' you keep bringing up,” he chuckled. I seem to recall that she only harps on it when it suits her to do so, he silently mused.

“As would I,” came Vess's voice from the ship's speakers in the hanger. “But that's a different conversation,” she dismissed the topic in favor of a new one. “Are you sure about this, Gram?” she asked; far from the first time. “The Flick packs more firepower than…” she began, but Gram interrupted her.

“Vess, the Flick isn't suited to infiltrating a dock,” he counter-argued. “You know that the hull design of your Buckler isn't much good in tight, shallow areas like a docking port or city-ship maintenance access-way. Yagami's RB can get in and out of the area a lot easier than your's can, so we should use it. Besides,” added the young man, “there is no one I'd rather have watching our backs than you, Vess.”

“Fine,” she sighed. “If this `Doctor' guy tries anything, though,” she added grimly, “I'm sending his entire city-ship to the bottom!”

“Only if you beat me to it, Vess,” seconded Elizabeth.

“Well, it's already on the bottom,” spoiled Gram, grinning. “It's a bottom-type, you know.”

“You know what I meant, Gram,” came the clipped, icy reply from his lover. Smothering a laugh, Gram wedged himself in behind Yagami.

“Of course,” he replied blandly. “Let's get out of here before she goes postal, Yagami,” he murmured to his friend. Yagami nodded, sealing his unit.

“No kidding,” he replied. “Your girl seems a bit high-strung,” he offered. Gram shrugged.

“Not usually,” he disagreed. “You just kind of met her during a bad time,” he allowed. Yagami quirked an eyebrow.

“Uh huh,” he dismissed the remark. The launch port cycled, and the Spirit of Wings joined Vess's Flick outside the sleek hull of the Aurora. Feeling Gram shift behind him, Yagami rolled his RB around so Gram could see the Ship of Hope, floating beside the Aurora. “She's scuffed up,” said Yagami quietly, “but I have every faith that she will be restored to her original condition,” he added.

Beside them, Vess's powerful Flick waved its cannon/blade, indicating the direction that the city ship lay in. Yagami hit the jets and dropped down to the floor of the seas, skimming along barely an arm's length from the rocky bottom, following canyons, ruts and dunes to minimize his signature. Glancing at the display, Gram saw that Vess was slowly climbing to her chosen position, higher than the city-ship's relative height, and back far enough to keep the sensors from getting a solid read on her, but ready to dive down on Harras, weapons blazing.

Back on the Aurora, Captain Elizabeth settled at the wheel of her ship. “Ester, are you ready; just in case,” she asked her first officer, who was currently in command of the Ship of Hope. Once more, the two ships were linked by a communications tether.

“Aye, Captain,” came the immediate reply from the Naval Witch. “Tubes are loaded, and the engines are on high stand-by,” she reported. The informal plan was that if things went south, the Hope would fire a full spread of torpedoes at the city-ship, then turn and run at best speed for the dense ice-packs south of the city-ship. The Aurora, meanwhile, would wade in and slug it out with any defenders long enough to retrieve their comrades before playing rear-guard for the Hope. It was understood that the city-ship would be rammed and blasted before Elizabeth would withdraw, should her former shipmate betray her again.

Assured that all was in readiness, Elizabeth once more found herself thinking about the disc that Gram carried. I really can't say that I wanted it to come to this, but it would be a lie to say that I am completely opposed to this, she fretted. Too late to worry about it now, I suppose, she resigned herself. So, what will it be, Doctor? she wondered.

-

Aki ran toward sickbay, furiously fanning his hand. Behind him, he could still hear the laughter of his fellow crewmen. How was I supposed to know that that pot was still too hot to touch?! he thought angrily. Gram had made a big pot of thick, heavy stew for the crew just before he and Yagami had gone to check out the city-ship's situation. Being greedy for the food, the crew had been nearly rioting for it in the galley. Seeing a chance to score big, Aki had grabbed the pot by the handle.

Of course, the pot - like the stew - was hot; burning hot, in fact. While it wasn't likely that his hand would be scarred by it, it would most certainly be sporting some blisters. Gram's strange friend, Bon, had found it amusing, and to the amusement of his shipmates, the short young man had expressed his hope that Aki hadn't just burned his girlfriend.

Reaching sick bay, he grabbed the latch and tried to open the door. Tried being the operative word as the hatch was dogged shut. “What the hell?!” he screamed. “Sala! We have an emergency here!” whined the young man.

From inside, he heard the sound of a couple of dogs being unlatched, and a moment later, the tall, slim doctor stepped through the hatch, pushing Aki back as she did so, closing the hatch behind herself. “What have you gotten into this time, Aki?” asked the woman. Mutely, he held out his hand. Peering at the burn, Sala sighed. “I see,” she muttered, slipping back through the door and closing it in Aki's face when he tried to follow her. “Wait outside,” came Sala's voice.

“What is going on here?” wondered Aki. Sala never closed sick bay. A few moments later, Sala re-emerged from inside the bay, her hand holding some supplies. Taking Aki's hand in her own, she swiftly and expertly applied some medicated balm, followed by some antibiotic ointment, and finally wrapped it in a functional bandage.

“Try not to use it for the next few days, and come back to see me once the blisters form,” said the doctor, reaching for the hatch. “And try to be more careful, Aki,” she said in parting.

“Hey, what are you up to in there?” wondered Aki, hearing some faint sounds that might be conversation from deeper in the sick bay. Stepping closer, he tried to poke his head past Sala to see who was in there, but the dark-skinned woman pushed her hand against his face.

“Sorry, but that is not your business, Aki,” she said firmly. “Now run along and play,” she dismissed him, once more closing the hatch and dogging it from the inside. His stomach chose that time to remind him that Gram's stew was getting cold, so Aki swiftly moved back to the mess hall. I wonder what is going on in there, he asked himself.

In sick bay, Sala checked the dogs once more, then silently moved back to her place by the curtained-off bed where Shie was resting, her arms around her knees as she sat facing Megumi. The young psychic was tired, but hid it well from the younger blonde girl. Her gamble had paid off, and now, for the first time, the two of them - Sala and Megumi - were getting to meet Shie. Seated comfortably on her chair, Sala resumed her vigil.

Naturally, Shie had had a lot of questions, mostly concerning where she was, who they were, how she had gotten there, where Bon was and first and foremost where Gram was. Megumi and Sala had carefully chosen what to say to her. When she found out that she was on the pirate ship, she had seemed almost relieved. Over the three hours since she had come out of her mental coma, Megumi and Sala had patiently filled in the blanks for the girl, and were just now - finally - getting to talk to her about what had happened to her.

“It's not like that, Shie,” said Megumi, her eyes intent. “Vess was just protecting you, that's all,” assured the young ESPer.

“But…her eyes,” shivered Shie. Megumi nodded.

“I know, Shie, but it wasn't you she was mad at; it was those bad men,” reinforced Megumi, absently rubbing her forehead. Sala suspected that Megumi was in more pain than she was letting on.

“Vess…she…the bad men…”gulped Shie, shivering. Sala carefully reached out and tucked a blanket around Shie. “She killed them, then the water…and her hand was over my face, and I couldn't breathe…!” Shie began to hyperventilate.

“Easy, Shie!” said Megumi urgently, lunging forward and hugging the younger girl. “It's ok,” soothed the young girl, concentrating on her abilities to help her calm the girl down. “Everything is ok now,” repeated Megumi. Gradually, Shie calmed down.

“Vess had to hold your nose and mouth, or you would have drowned, Shie,” interjected Sala. “Gram said that it took longer for the tubes to cycle than he had thought, and that with you both being excited, you ran out of air faster than expected,” she explained. Also, the cold water didn't help you two any, she left unsaid.

“Vess and Gram have been very worried about you, you know,” said Megumi. “They even asked me to see if I could help you, you know,” she shared. Sala glanced at Megumi. The two had decided not to tell Shie about Megumi just yet, but apparently, Megumi had changed her mind. Shie took the bait.

“You? Why?” wondered the girl. Megumi gave her a soft smile.

“I have a…gift, I suppose you could call it,” she related. “Though it is more an ability than a gift,” she amended the previous statement. “I can hear things that aren't said, and read minds; sometimes, anyway,” qualified the young girl. Shie's eyes were wide, her attention completely taken by the notion.

“Like a magic girl?” breathed the fascinated young girl. Megumi blinked.

“Uh…yeah! Like a magic girl,” she agreed. Better ask Gram what she's talking about, she made a mental note. “So, trust me when I say that Vess was looking out for your well-being as best she could, Shie,” the girl moved to reinforce her statement. Shie's eyes were wide.

“A real, live, magic girl on Gram's pirate ship!” she breathed, her mind clearly elsewhere. Her lips curved into a smile. Glancing at each other, Megumi and Sala wondered where this latest turn would lead.

“Well, I guess you could call this `Gram's pirate ship',” allowed Sala. Shie's smile was interrupted by a yawn.

“I'm sleepy,” announced Shie. Her stomach rumbled. “And hungry,” she added, giggling softly. Sala smiled.

“Fortunately, Gram made some stew not that long ago,” said the older woman. “Tell you what,” she added, standing. “I'll go get us all some stew. You stay here with Megumi, ok, Shie?” she directed.

“Ok!” chirped Shie, looking at Megumi with a clearly star-struck gaze. Megumi fought the urge to fidget under Shie's rapt gaze. Sala nearly ran to the mess hall and back with three large bowls of the heavy stew. No sooner had Shie finished off her own bowl than she nodded off.

After tucking the young girl into the bed, Sala closed off the curtain and retrieved a small bottle of pills, shaking out a few and offering two of them to Megumi, who gratefully swallowed them dry. Sala took the rest herself, downing it with water.

“How are you feeling, Megumi?” worried Sala. Megumi sat down in her chair tiredly.

“Exhausted,” she said honestly. “My brain aches, too,” added the girl, rubbing her head. “But at least it worked,” she smiled at Sala. I did it! she gloated to herself. I was able to help Gram's friend, she cheered silently. “Sala, could I…?” she asked her closest friend on the crew. Sala nodded.

“Of course, Megumi,” she said. Nodding, Megumi worked her way to her feet, accepting Sala's aid. Gently, the doctor got Megumi situated in a bed not too far from where Shie was sound asleep.

“You know,” said the dark-haired young girl, “I'll probably have nightmares myself from this,” she muttered.

“It was that bad?” wondered Sala. Megumi nodded.

“It was,” she confirmed. “We shouldn't take Vess lightly,” cautioned the girl. “She's more a pirate than Gram ever was.”

“Is she a threat to us?” worried Sala. The cold blonde scared her to a degree, though she noticed that Ester and Neli seemed to have no reaction to her; and Gram certainly had no reservations about the girl. Megumi shook her head.

“No,” the young psychic allayed her fears, “she's only dangerous to those who threaten her family,” yawned Megumi. “Night, Sala,” she managed before succumbing to sleep herself.

-

In the dark maintenance access passages, Yagami's RB unit slowly, carefully made its way along, looking for an opening. It had been fifteen minutes since they had made their way inside the city-ship's lower sections, and the sensors showed that they were nearing the surface level - if only they could find an open connecting shaft. Both young men were tense, and the cramped conditions of the cockpit wasn't making them any more comfortable.

It had been discussed that maybe they should flood the cockpit, and let Gram swim out to one of the small cross-over passages, but Yagami was reluctant to do that, since it would put Gram in a dangerous position. Currents in the passages were unpredictable due to mechanical pressure, and the water was cold. So, he had urged Gram to just hold tight while he made his way along. “Gram,” he said, spotting a bright spot ahead, “I think we have a shaft. Finally.”

“Good,” said Gram. “Now let's just hope that the shaft isn't all vertical,” he muttered. Shutting off his outer lights, Yagami worked his way closer, the light growing until they could see a stark, rusted expanse of metal in a half-dome of open air. Suppressing a sigh of relief, Yagami expertly slipped his RB onto the edge of the narrow passage, popping the hatch as he did so.

Spilling out onto the narrow ledge, Gram looked around. “BALLS access point,” said the young man, pointing to the squat doors at either side of the ledge. City-ships of this type had several passages like this that were just big enough to accommodate an electrically-driven cart that could be loaded with BALLS drones and swiftly shuttled to the maintenance access areas in case of catastrophic damage.

While the passages were barely tall enough to walk in while standing, they usually connected to a higher deck's access network, which in turn connected to a higher level, and so forth until you were on the streets of the city-ship. Yagami secured his RB unit in standby mode before absently adjusting his glasses. “Shall we?” he asked Gram. The young maverick nodded. Together, the two swiftly strode down the passage, looking for the connecting passage to the next level up.

It took the two a half hour to find the upper-most service area. Cautiously poking their heads out of the access portal, they saw that they were in the engineering section. Grinning at each other, the two jogged over to the nearest call-box. Quickly keying up a directory, they located the office of the city-ship administrator. Now that they knew where they were going, it was just a matter of getting there. Moving through the environmental section, they came across some of the works from the city-ship, but aside from a friendly wave, they just kept moving like they belonged there.

On the streets of the main living level, Gram and Yagami blended into the crowd, moving from stall to stall, apparently shopping, but in reality using the stops to look around for anyone with excessive interest in them. They were also looking for MDF or EF uniforms. Fortunately, they weren't seeing any sign of a persistent presence on the city-ship. Exiting the shopping area, the two made for the residential area.

“You know,” said Gram a half hour later, “I really expected something a bit more elaborate.” The two were standing a few doors away from what was supposed to be the Doctor's home. It was no different from the homes on either side of it, being unadorned and rather worn in appearance.

“Really?” murmured Yagami. “This isn't a residential city-ship, you know,” he reminded Gram. “Nearly all the areas of this ship are given over to mechanical and electrical manufacturing, repair and ship-fitting,” related the young soldier. “So, what homes there are, aren't going to be ornate or large, since that wastes space and resources,” he paused, glancing at Gram, “and on a city-ship like this, space and resources are money,” he pronounced.

“How right you are, young man!” came a friendly, loud voice from behind the two of them. Spinning around, they saw the Doctor himself standing just behind them. Seeing their faces, he blinked. “Aren't you two…?” he started to say, only to have Yagami jump forward, his hand closing over the man's mouth as he pushed a gun against the man's side.

“Yes, we are,” he hissed. “Now, let's you and us step inside for a chat, hmm?” he suggested/warned.

“Yagami, I don't think that is necessary,” said Gram, his voice low. The Doctor nodded. Slowly, Yagami eased his hand away from the man's mouth.

“Listen to your friend, Reaper,” seconded the older man. “I'm not going to turn you or Elizabeth in - not for any kind of reward!” he insisted, his tone insulted. Yagami's eyes stayed hard, though he slipped the small gun back under his jacket.

“It'd be the last mistake you made, I promise you that,” he said ominously. The man sighed.

“She's still mad, isn't she?” he asked quietly, tossing his head toward his door. “A year now, and she still hasn't forgiven me,” he mourned. Gram thought about the disc in his pocket.

“I don't know, old man,” he said, patting the dejected man's shoulder, “you might get a chance to win her heart again,” he offered him. The Doctor brightened up at that.

“Really?!” he asked eagerly, ushering them in behind him. “I'm interested, young man!” he said, dropping into a worn chair in what the two guessed was his living room. Scattered everywhere were bits and pieces of machinery and tools. Yagami moved over to the corner, where he could keep an eye on the Doctor and the door at the same time. Gram leaned against the wall opposite the man. “What can I do to get my Elizabeth back?” he asked directly.

“Try not selling her out in the first place,” interjected Yagami darkly. Gram shook his head.

“You know, Yagami,” he said, exhaling, “Vess and Enora consider your siding with Poe to be a betrayal as well, so you might want to be careful about harping on and on about that,” he observed. Yagami frowned, considering the possible consequences of Vess considering him a traitor while she was on the same ship as him. “And need I remind you what Ester does to those she feels has betrayed her?” grinned the young man.

Yagami gave Gram a sour look. “It was just supposed to be a surprise birthday party, Gram, and you know it!” he protested. Gram nodded.

“True, but my point is that Doctor isn't any more of a traitor than you are, so let's focus on what we need, ok?” he mediated. The older man nodded vigorously.

“Well said, Gram!” he agreed. “So, what do you need?” he wondered. Gram took a deep breath.

“It's about my ship, the Ship of Hope,” said the young man. The Doctor's face blanched.

“That's your ship?!” he hissed, shocked. Yagami smirked at the man's expression.

“Yes, it's my ship,” confirmed Gram, his tone level. “And she's in need of a dry dock and a lot of repairs,” he said firmly. The Doctor sighed, slumping a little, his hand rubbing his nose.

“Of course,” he nearly moaned. Sucking in a deep breath, he straightened, looking Gram in the eye. “Tell me the truth, Gram,” he said firmly, “did you have anything to do with Taklen or Morgan Drift?” he nearly demanded.

“Of course not!” shot back Gram. “Ask yourself if Captain Elizabeth would risk her crew and ship to help me if I were that sort of person,” he suggested. “Taklen was already dead when we got there, and Morgan Drift is where my ship got damaged by a fake Mars Defense Force patrol ship,” he said. “Of course, that was after they had invaded the dock and shot up the town,” recalled the young man.

“Do converted ships ring a bell, Doctor?” came Yagami's distrustful voice. “Gram and Vess sank a ship that was dressed up to look like a pirate job, and the one outside Morgan Drift was dressed up like a MDF patrol ship, but was probably an Earth Forces destroyer or corvette. Been whoring yourself to the enemy again?” accused the Reaper tightly.

“No, as a matter of fact,” denied the Doctor. “After that incident with the Aurora, I am in something of a jam with the MDF and EF factions. Thanks to Elizabeth's temper, the pirates are also suspicious of me now, so times have been tight,” he related. “If it weren't for the increased patrols and the corresponding increase in ship maintenance, this place would be in receivership even now.”

“Your choices led to that,” countered Yagami aggressively. “Don't try to blame Captain Elizabeth for what happened,” he warned the man.

“Yagami,” sighed Gram. “Tell you what,” he suggested. “Why don't you head back to the ship, and let her know that we made contact. Also, tell Vess that everything is ok, so she doesn't go on a rampage.” He looked at the Doctor steadily. “I'll hang out here and talk things over with the Doctor,” he added.

“I don't know, Gram,” began Yagami.

“Here,” said the doctor, fishing around in the chaos of machinery, finally pulling free a cobbled-together bit of technology. “Take this with you,” he said, handing the thing to Yagami. “You plug it into your communication system, then push the tether head against any utility line on the outside of the city-ship, and you can access the communication system. That way, Gram can tell you where and when, without you having to risk your RB getting into tight, crooked passages,” he shared blandly.

“Like I would trust something you made,” scoffed Yagami, though he took the device.

“Then trust me, Yagami,” mollified Gram. Nodding, Yagami moved toward the door.

“Watch your back, Gram,” he murmured as he passed the young man. Gram nodded.

“Always do,” he replied. “And ask Vess to check on Shie, will you?” he added. Yagami nodded before stepping out of the door. Once it was shut again, the Doctor spoke up.

“You still vouch for me, Gram?” he wondered. Gram nodded. “Why?” wondered the older former pirate.

“Maybe because I've been where you were,” shrugged the young man. “It doesn't matter,” he dismissed the topic. Sensing the young man's reticence to speak about it, the Doctor got to business.

“Let's talk about your ship, Gram,” he said. Gram nodded.

“What do you need to know?” he asked. Re-situating himself, the doctor fished around in his pocket before pulling out a small tablet and a light-pen.

“First off, what class is she? Looked like a SHIELD configuration from the news reports,” he noted, pen ready.

“She is,” confirmed Gram. “Converted SHIELD fast cruiser, up-armored to heavy cruiser class,” related Gram. The Doctor grunted.

“I see,” he muttered, making notes. “That's gonna be a bit tricky - not many docks can accommodate her if you need dry-docking,” he warned the young man.

“Unfortunately, she probably will,” commiserated Gram. “Her hull is sound, but there are several damaged decking sections, as well as trim tanks and planes. Her electrical system is damaged as well, and the main engine needs an overhaul.” began Gram.

“Engine type?” interrupted the Doctor, more notes being made.

“Hydrogen turbine. Westinghouse exchanger type, dual chamber, with augmentation condensers and magnetic accelerator-type injection,” supplied Gram. The Doctor shook his head.

“Parts for those are impossible, but let's see if we can't find a solution once she's in and dry,” he dismissed the topic. “Ram hull?” he asked, his mind already working on the problem. Gram shook his head.

“She's built for speed, Doctor,” he said. “Primary intake is in the nose, along with the sensor spine and tubes.”

“Little easier that way,” mused the Doctor. “How bad are the planes damaged?” he wondered.

“Secondary units are gone port front, primary rudder trim is frozen, and a couple on the lower starboard are bent. Probably better to plan to replace them all,” sighed the young man. The Doctor just nodded.

“Easier than fixing them,” he grunted. “Is she fitted for a ship's system?” he wondered. Gram nodded.

“Yes, and fortunately, NAMI is fine,” he assured the older man. The Doctor chuckled.

“Darn,” he grinned at Gram, “I just so happen to have this new ship's system I found lying around after an Earth Forces scout ship developed a strange leak…” he began.

“I'll stick to NAMI, thanks,” chuckled Gram. “And I think the less I know about where and how you get your parts, the happier I'll be,” he added humorously.

“You're probably right, Gram,” agreed the man easily. For the next half hour, the two exchanged information about Gram's ship and made out lists. Finally, the Doctor sat back in his chair. “This is quite the job, Gram,” he mused, reviewing his notes. “It would almost be cheaper to get a new ship,” he mumbled.

“Perhaps,” agreed Gram.

“So, what about the costs?” asked the Doctor. Gram looked him in the eye. Silently, he pulled the disc out of his pocket and handed it to the Doctor.

“Captain Elizabeth wants to talk to you about that,” he said, moving for the door. “I'm gonna go find something to eat. Say, about an hour?” suggested Gram, moving through the door. Blinking at the closed door, the Doctor leaped out of his chair, fumbling with the disc for a moment before he managed to get it into the small multi-function terminal in his living room. A moment later, the familiar face of Elizabeth appeared on the screen.

“Hello, Doctor,” said the woman, her tone tight and guarded. “If you are watching this, you brought up money with Gram,” she said, her lips tightening as her eyes narrowed. “I won't waste my time telling you that I think that was a despicable thing to do, so let's just get right to it, shall we?” she said. For the next twenty minutes, Elizabeth talked, and the Doctor listened.

-

Aboard the Ship of Hope, Ester stretched as she stepped off the bridge. Vess had gotten back from her guard position a few hours before, taken a shower, gotten some food, then relieved her on watch. Neli had been on watch next, but Vess told her that she would take the watch after her, so Neli had just shrugged and made her way to the mess hall. Seeing Vess get comfortable in her command chair, Ester made her own way off the bridge.

A shower sounds good, she thought, making her way toward the bathroom. Reaching it, she swiftly stripped off her accessories and then her shipboard clothes, starting the shower as she stretched her back. Stepping under the spray, she began to wash her hair before she realized that she had forgotten to bring any of her borrowed bath supplies with her. “NAMI?” called out the Naval Witch.

“Yes, Ester?” replied the AI immediately.

“Connect me to Neli, please,” she directed. An instant later, a chirp told her that the connection was made. “Neli, can you bring me the bath basket? I'm in the shower, and forgot to grab it,” she requested.

“Uh, yeah, give me a sec,” replied the mechanic. As she waited, Ester relaxed in the warm spray. A few minutes later, Neli stepped into the bathroom, Vess's basket in her hands.

“Here you go, Ester,” said the mechanic, setting the basket close to hand. Ester nodded at her.

“Thank you, Neli,” said the shorter woman. Neli closed the cover of the toilet and took a seat as Ester began to wash her hair.

“So, you think the Doctor will go for it?” asked the mechanic. Ester considered that, the scent of Vess's shampoo flooding her nose.

“I can't really say, Neli,” replied the other woman. Vess's shampoo and body wash smell really good, she thought absently. “Of the two of them, I think that Captain Elizabeth has more to lose than he does, should he agree,” she analyzed the situation.

“That's assuming that she wants him to decline her offer,” baited Neli. “In spite of herself, I think she still loves him,” she gossiped. Ester shrugged.

“That's her business, isn't it?” declined the smaller woman. Neli faked a pout.

“You're no fun, Ester,” she mock-complained. Ester shrugged once more before ducking her head under the water. “So, have you thought about what Vess and Gram told us?” she asked the wet woman. Ester froze for a second.

“Truthfully, I have thought of little else,” she admitted.

“And?” asked Neli. Ester was silent for nearly a full minute.

“I don't know, Neli,” she admitted. “I just don't know.”

-

Not bad, thought Gram, finishing off his second bowl of food. Waving to the man behind the small counter, he got a refill on his water, sipping it as he idly watched the news. There was the usual fluff pieces, and mixed in with the filler was the propaganda from Earth and Mars Administration. Seems like they are having a `everyone on the band-wagon' show, he thought, seeing reporters in city-ship after city-ship chime in with their support of the pirate hunting and shoot-on-sight orders for his ship.

Suddenly, he found himself looking at a familiar visage. Isn't that…? he blinked. “Hey, can you turn that up a bit?” he called to the man, who clicked up the volume a little before going back to his dishes. Hearing the voice, Gram grinned. “Granny Garma,” he breathed. The reporter had been interviewing `average citizens' - who couldn't have more obvious plants if they had of been wearing `government stooge' labels on their foreheads - when a commotion in the background had brought the camera around.

Standing there was Granny Garma, a crazed smile on her wrinkled face. “Bunch of bullshit!” she yelled clearly - and loudly. “Never seen one of them `citizens' before in my life!” she denounced. “And just where are the aborigines in this little photo-op, huh?” she accused. “You want to know the opinion of the real citizens of Ligaoga, then I'll be happy to tell you!” she offered.

“Um, thanks, miss, but…” began the reporter, nervously backing away from the shrunken old woman.

“But nothing!” barked Garma. “You bunch of flunkies and do-nothings come pushing your way in here, claiming to speak for us, and then don't want to hear what we have to say? Bah! You've learned nothing since the pan-galactic war, have you?” she sniffed disdainfully.

“Uh, I'm sure that you are glad to have the Earth Forces here to protect you from marauding pirates…” the reporter tried to bring the broadcast back on track, but Granny was having none of that.

“Ha!” cackled Garma, waving her arms. “I'd rather have the pirates any day over you bunch of incompetent half-asses!” she crowed. “Seems to me - based on my experiences - that the pirates are better than you bunch! Why, wasn't it not that long ago that you lost the Ship of Aurora here like a bunch of snot-nosed kids? And even when you finally managed to catch her, she waltzed right out from under your entire Earth Forces contingent! How's that kind of incompetence supposed to make me safer, huh?”

“So,” fumbled the reporter, her careful script now in tatters, “you would rather have no protection?” Granny Garma's face turned serious.

“I'll tell you what the aborigines need, missy,” she said flatly. “All we need is our chief, and we'll be fine!” she said, her eyes looking directly into the camera. “Since we were abandoned here back during the pan-galactic war, all we ever needed was our chief,” repeated the woman, her voice steady and her enunciation clear.

“But…but you haven't had a chief in decades!” sputtered the reporter. Granny Garma shrugged.

“Think what you like,” she dismissed. “And now, I think I'm in the mood for some good home cooking,” she muttered, glancing once more at the camera before she moved off. Gram thoughtfully drained his drink and dropped some credits on the table before he moved back to see what the Doctor had decided. As he walked, his fingertips touched his amulet absently.

-

“What do you mean, `she took off'?” hissed Anna Grace, shaking a fist at Joseph. Her personal assistant cringed before her.

“Well, our man had her under surveillance, but then she just suddenly stood up and ran out of the restaurant. By the time that our man got out of there, she was already gone. He did manage to track her to the shuttle depot, but couldn't find out where she went,” he related. Anna growled in annoyance. “Um, we did learn that she hasn't left Mars, though, so she has to be on another city-ship,” he tried to calm his boss down.

“Of course she didn't leave Mars!” screamed Anna. “Damn it!” she swore, slamming her hand down on her desk. Little brat! Every time she comes here, she leaves a mess for me to clean up! thought the woman resentfully. Taking a calming breath, Anna considered the situation. Well, other than not having her close to hand in case things go south on me, it doesn't really affect us much, she reasoned. “Any word on Kuberness, the Aurora or that Ship of Hope?” she asked her aide de camp. Joseph shook his head.

“No, not recently,” he replied, scanning his small hand-terminal. “Should we ask…?” he began, only to snap his mouth shut as he literally felt Anna's glare.

“No,” seethed Anna, “we should not as that officious toad in Earth Forces,” she warned her flunky. “Get me Doolittle,” she directed, grabbing up her small purse. “Have him meet me for lunch at the normal place,” she directed, exiting her office. Maybe there is a way… she plotted to herself.

-

Enora yawned as she sat back in her seat on the LBT transport. It was not a comfortable seat, per se, since the limited ballistic trajectory transports were not set up for passenger duty, being instead rigged for critical cargo. Still, there was nothing faster for getting from city-ship to city-ship than the LBTs. And right now, I need speed, thought the girl impatiently.

That morning, she had been having breakfast when one of her constant-run search strings had gotten a high-percent hit, and drug up a news report from Ligaoga. Ligaoga, Enora knew, had a strong connection to Gram and the Ship of Aurora, so one of her search strings was for aboriginal news related to pirates, Earth Forces, MDF and/or unrest. Eighty percent in one sitting, mused the girl, recalling the words of Granny Garma. And unless I miss my guess, Garma was talking to Gram, she recalled.

Though her own visit to the aboriginal area of the second-largest city-ship had proven to be a disappointment to her expectations, Gram had hit pay dirt in more ways than one. He had learned about his amulet, gotten the box of guidance, made friends with the aborigines and even learned about his lineage. He and Enora had discussed it a few days after their escape from the mines around Ligaoga, once she had gotten over her crushing disappointment that the fanciful notions she had crafted on Earth about the mystic aborigines were false, and from that discussion, she had learned about his encounter with Granny Garma.

At the time, I had only wished that I could have seen him kicking the asses of those treasure-stealing idiots, but I should have been paying closer attention to people, realized the girl. If I had, I might have been closer to the Aurora even now, mused the young woman. Shifting to find a more comfortable position, she checked her PCD one more time. Still no messages from her grandfather, Anna Grace, Doolittle or Rosetta. There was one from Hsia.

“Play,” she murmured to the device, her data glasses settled in place. The vid message came up a moment later.

“I don't know what happened to you, Enora,” said the usually-quiet school girl, “but I hope that your vid-mail address hasn't changed,” continued the girl. “Just so you know, things here at school are different since you were expelled.”

Enora blinked. “Expelled? What the hell?” she murmured, confused. Her attention captured, she focused on the message.

“There was a short text message sent to the entire school network three days ago about your expulsion, and the principal mentioned in assembly yesterday that we should be careful not to - and I quote - `behave like miss Taft'.” Hsia paused, her eyes looking over her vid-message recorder for a moment.

“It's kind of funny, Enora,” said the bookish girl, eyes back on Enora, “but if you hadn't said anything about dreams before you left, I wouldn't have bothered making this message to you,” shared the girl. “The others don't get you; and really, I'm not sure that I get you - at least, entirely,” admitted the slight girl, her low-prescription glasses slipping a little lower on her nose. “But I think I might see your point a little,” her fingers disappeared under the field of view of the recording, and a moment later, a file icon popped up in the corner of the data glass's display, indicating a link to a file had been imbedded into the message. “I checked, you know; about the news from Mars,” clarified the girl. “It's interesting what you can learn when you know the right questions to ask.” Another pause, then she went on. “Well, I hope this helps you. It isn't much, I know, but still,” she shrugged, “if you can, would you drop me a line and let me know where you are?” A smile tugged at her lips. “Actually, I have a betting pool going with most of the girls here - as well as some of the teachers,” giggled her former schoolmate. “Care to get in on it? Odds are running as high as fifteen-to-one on some sides, and the pool is already up to twelve and a half million credits.” An evil smile spread across the girl's lips as she leaned closer to the recorder. “Five thousand gets you in,” she enticed. “Betting matrix is on your current location, goals and plans, with odds assigned in tiers based on probability. Interested?” purred her friend.

“She's making money off me!” muttered Enora, a bit miffed.

“If you are on Mars, please let me know - I'll make a killing if you got off Earth!” giggled the other girl. “I guess that's all for now, Enora,” she said, the smile dropping off her face. “Good luck, huh?” she closed, the message ending. On the LBT transport just inside Mar's atmosphere, Enora considered the message. Selecting the link, she found herself looking at a confusing spreadsheet.

“Accounting? Inventory? What is this supposed to be, Hsia?” she asked aloud, turning pages on the spreadsheet book. Worry about it later, I guess, she decided, saving it local and encrypting it. I need to send her back a reply, thought the girl absently. Her thoughts were interrupted by a yell from the control room.

“Landing in fifteen, kid!” came the man's voice.

“Thanks!” she yelled back, securing herself and her pack against the sometimes-rough landing. Unlike interplanetary shuttles, the LBT transports didn't waste mass on shock absorption systems or use a magnetic deceleration line. Instead, they used a high-inclination approach, followed by a corkscrew flutter to slow themselves, then nosed in on a shallow entry. It could be a little rough, but was no more dangerous than the fancier way that the larger interplanetary shuttles landed.

Bringing up the city-ship directory for Ligaoga, Enora began to prep for her arrival. Booking a modest room close to the aboriginal settlement, she lined up a detailed map, searched for the address for any `Garma' over the age of fifty, searched for event listings and tourists attractions for the prior week and the coming week, managed to find a map of the dock area with docking restrictions listed, and found the local ship's supply vendor.

Thus it was that when the LBT made secure in the supplies dock area, Enora strode off without a word, hailed the first taxi she found, and told the driver to take her to the aboriginal settlement. When the cab stopped at the main entrance to the settlement, Enora stepped out and moved forward, recalling her last visit here with Gram, Neli, Aki and Junior. Of course, Gram ditched me almost immediately, she smiled. Thinking of Gram always made her feel better, and before she knew it, she was humming to herself as she lightly stepped through the settlement.

She made one wrong turn on the way to the address listed for `Garma', but it didn't get her lost. As the sun began to slip behind the edge of the seas, she knocked on the door to the simple house. “Hello?” she called out. “I'm looking for Granny Garma,” she explained to the closed door. Hearing movement from inside, she licked her lips and prepared her story for the old woman. To her surprise, it was a young-looking man that opened the door.

“Hello? Can I help you?” he asked her, giving her a once-over.

“Um, I'm looking for Granny Garma. Did I get the wrong address?” asked Enora, dropping her data glasses in place from where they had been resting on her head and checking the address.

“No, you have the right address, miss,” said the young man. “I'm Kamal Garma, her son,” added the young man. “Maybe I can help you?” he paraphrased.

“My name's Enora, and I need to speak with her about a mutual friend,” hedged Enora. Kamal hummed as he considered her words.

“Granny isn't home right now,” he said. “But, she should be back sometime soon. Would you like to come in while you wait?” he asked her. Enora nodded.

“If you wouldn't mind,” she accepted the offer, stepping into the house. Spotting a couch by a low stone table, she sat down, slinging her pack to her side as she did so. For a few minutes, silence filled the room.

“So,” began Kamal, “are you thirsty? Or hungry?” he asked her.

“Some water would be fine, if it isn't too much trouble,” replied Enora. Kamal moved to a semi-concealed room.

“None at all, miss,” he demurred.

“Please, call me Enora,” said the young girl. “How's the tourism trade going?” she groped for a conversational topic.

“It's all but dried up lately, with the pirate situation and the trouble with frontier city-ships,” replied Kamal, emerging with two glasses of water. Handing on to Enora, he kept the other, sitting opposite her. “If you don't mind my asking, what do you need to see my mother about?” wondered the young man.

“I'd rather not say right now,” hedged Enora. “It's about someone she met here about a year ago,” she half-offered. Kamal considered that.

“You must mean Chief Gram River,” he said slowly. Enora blinked.

“Wha…?” she replied intelligently. Kamal was staring blindly at the wall.

“Mother told me the day that those pirates came looking for the box of guidance that the chief would be coming back to lead us. I didn't really believe her, even if she is an elder, but it looks like she was right,” he said to himself.

“Big brother really is your chief?” asked Enora. Kamal shrugged.

“Well, actually,” he answered, “yes.”

“Wow,” breathed Enora. Her mind caught something else he had said. “You mentioned pirates a minute ago. Do you know which ones?” she wondered. I bet it was Captain Elizabeth, she wagered with herself.

“There were two of them, from the Ship of Aurora,” he recalled. “A big, strong woman, and a thin guy wearing glasses. Granny was out on some errand of hers, and while we were waiting for her to return, some local jackals came by to try and take the box, but she and the guy with glasses beat them up and tossed them out,” he chuckled before continuing. “A little later, we found Granny Garma with the chief, battling on the top of the Peak of Trial with power loaders.”

“Sounds like Gram,” agreed Enora, smiling at the thought of the young maverick. “Captain Elizabeth is a tough one, all right,” she added, recalling her own initiation to the crew of the Aurora. Though I would rather face Captain Elizabeth in a fight than Ester! she recalled the brutal, savage skill of the first officer. “Guess the guy with her had to be Yagami,” she mumbled.

“What's this about chief Gram?” came an old, worn voice from the door. Both Kamal and Enora turned to see Granny Garma there, a smile on her lips.

“Mom, you're back,” said Kamal, standing. The old woman waved her hand dismissively.

“Of course I am!” she scoffed. “You think a little thing like being arrested would stop me?” she asked rhetorically. Enora blinked.

“Arrested?” she asked, surprised. The old woman cackled.

“Oh, they were a bit annoyed that I busted up their precious bit of political suck-upping, so they hauled me in for disturbing the peace,” she snorted. “Just you wait until Chief Gram gives the word! We'll show these Earth idiots what `disturbing the peace' is really like!” she bragged. “So then, girl, what's your name?” she dismissed the topic.

“I'm Enora Taft, Granny Garma,” introduced the girl, standing. “I crewed on the Ship of Aurora last year with Gram,” she explained.

“And what brings you to my door?” wondered Garma.

“Gram is my `big brother',” elaborated Enora. “I got a message from Vess that said that she and he were in trouble, and I came to help them, but I can't seem to catch up with them. I heard about you from him after he got the box from you, and when I saw you on the news, I thought you could help me find him,” she explained.

“Vess, you say?” mused Garma, tapping her chin. “Sounds familiar from somewhere,” she mumbled to herself. Her expression lit up. “The blonde soldier girl! That's right!” she placed the name. Cackling gleefully, she leaned back on the couch. “So, Gram managed to get with his girlfriend after all!”

“Yeah, I guess you could call it that,” agreed Enora, gritting her teeth. I shouldn't feel irritated when she says that, but still…! Her train of thought was broken by Garma's gleeful bark of laughter.

“Oh! I see how it is now, girl!” she gleefully needled the granddaughter of the President of Earth. “Our chief is a handsome devil; that he is!” she kept on. “If I were only a few decades younger, I'd try my luck as well!” she announced, slapping her knee.

“Mom!” protested Kamal, his cheeks colored. Granny Garma sighed.

“You need to develop a sense of humor, son,” she said, sighing mournfully. “You're not any fun without one!” she complained. “Least our chief has a sense of humor…” muttered the old woman. “Not to mention plenty of women chasing after him,” she added slyly. Enora felt herself blush.

“Mom!” protested Kamal once more. Granny Garma flipped her hand at him.

“Oh, grow up, boy!” she scoffed. “You don't think that we can save our people and way of life if chief Gram is celibate, do you?” she asked, as if it were obvious. Enora blinked.

“Huh?” she wondered intelligently. What does she mean by that? wondered Enora. Granny Garma studied Enora thoughtfully.

“You're Earth-born, right, Enora?” she said after several moments.

“Well, yeah,” said the girl, sounding confused. Kamal was looking lost as well. Garma nodded to herself.

“Lived there most of your life, too, I bet,” she thought out loud.

“Yeah,” repeated Enora. “My first trip off-planet was my trip to Mars last year,” she admitted. “But, I've always wanted to come here, ever since I was a little girl,” she bolstered her defense against what she perceived to be a challenge of her right to be on Mars.

“Caught up in the romantic tales of the early days of galactic exploration and colonization, no doubt,” nodded Granny Garma. Enora felt herself blush slightly. Garma noticed. “Bet you were in for a rude awakening, eh?” she prompted Enora.

“I…I guess,” admitted Enora. “Still, for all that Mars wasn't what I had thought it was, it turned out to be so much more!” she stubbornly claimed. “I found out that even though it wasn't like I had thought, it felt like home.” She considered something that she had never really thought about before. “Crewing on the Aurora felt like I was living out my most desired fantasy with my best friends, only, it was real,” she tried to explain. It's like I belong here, rather than on Earth, she silently digested that realization.

“Well, here is a little something that I bet you haven't heard of back on Earth,” shared Granny Garma, leaning forward a bit. “Mar's population is unstable, and aside from we aborigines, it is unsustainable,” said the old woman. Enora's face drew down to a frown.

“You mean, Mars can't sustain its population?” she wondered. Funny, I thought that it was relatively stable, she struggled to recall exactly where she had heard that from. Garma sat back.

“Yes and no, Enora,” she tried to clarify. “You see, while most people think that everyone from Earth is a tourist, the fact is that only about half of the people who come here have return tickets to Earth.” Looking at Enora, she realized that it wasn't quite sinking in yet. “Enora, Mars receives a steady stream of immigrants from Earth, and yet, our city-ships are not running out of room. Why do you suppose that is?” she asked the girl. Enora considered that.

“Well, if Mars gets a steady stream of immigrants, but doesn't need more city-ships, then…either there are a lot of accidents, or some other factor comes into play,” she evaluated the problem. Granny Garma nodded.

“You are on the right track, Enora,” she congratulated the girl. “I wonder, have you ever read about the history of the first Lagrange-orbit stations and Lunar cities?” she asked the girl. Enora nodded.

“It's required material, Granny Garma. We had a test on the history of solar system exploration, beginning in the Second World War, and going through the end of the Pan-Galactic War,” she explained. “I got an `A' in the course,” she recalled, grinning. Granny Garma snorted indelicately.

“Oh, yes! The well-known `revisionist history' deal,” she dismissed it all. “So, Enora, what was caused the halt of the Lagrange-orbit stations and the abandoning of the initial Lunar settlement back last century?” quizzed Granny Garma.

“Well, the economy was over-taxed by the unexpected costs of building and maintaining such ambitious projects, and there was a string of bush wars during that time, with various factions opposing the exploration and colonization of our system,” began Enora.

“Wrong.”

Enora blinked. “What do you mean, wrong?” she wondered. Granny Garma stared at the ceiling for a few moments, organizing her thoughts.

“Were you required to take a medical exam before they let you off Earth?” she asked the girl. Enora nodded.

“Of course,” she replied. “It was a complete physical, too,” she recalled, frowning.

“Did they tell you why?” asked Garma.

“Why what?” replied Enora, lost. Garma sighed.

“Go back and ready your census reports for the century that covers the beginning of the Lagrange and lunar settlements, and ask yourself what they indicate. Concentrate on industrialized nations that lead the space expansion, then come see me again,” said the woman. Enora's jaw tightened.

“I can do that from here,” she said, activating her PCD and fishing in her pack for the small accessory kit she kept. Pulling out the holo-jector base, she plugged it in and swiftly formatted her data mining tool, launching it as she sat back. Granny Garma and Kamal were clearly interested in the cutting-edge device she had. Less than a minute later, the results were ready. “Ok, Granny Garma,” said Enora, setting up the displays she wanted. “Top graph is population census for what used to be China, America, Britain, Russia, Germany and Australia, starting the decade before the start of the Lagrange Station One and ending the decade after Lunar One was granted membership in the UN as an independent city-state.” A multi-colored graph was projected in thin air.

“Below that is the timeline of the exploration and settlement of the solar system for the same period, with the halts to the Lagrange stations and the abandoning of the Lunar settlement,” she added, a second graph coming up below the first. Looking at the two graphs, she didn't immediately see anything, but after a few moments, she noticed a funny correlation to them. “What's with these drops and spikes?” she wondered, swiftly narrowing the selected areas.

Studying it, she began to get the idea that she wasn't looking at the whole picture. Swiftly formatting new strings, she added the dates and statistics of the wars, as well as factoring in economic trends. Wrestling with it, she saw that something was leading and following the pulses of solar system expansion, but it wasn't matching up to what the history books showed. I can almost see it, but…! thought a frustrated Enora.

“Save that, then bring up the Pan-Galactic war, Mars population, five years before through six months before,” said Garma quietly. Swiftly, Enora did as she was asked. A second set of graphs came up. After a moment of studying the new graphs, Enora's eyes went wide. Furiously routing a new interpolation of the data, she sat back, waiting for her PCD to finish her request. With the amount of processing that had to be done, it had to rent time on several government servers and some university nets to get it done, so it was almost a full minute before the hourglass went away and the results came up.

“What is this…?” breathed Enora, fascinated by the moving display before her.

Granny Garma sighed. “This is why our population is unsustainable, Enora,” said the woman. “It is also the real reason that they abandoned the Lagrange station and Lunar settlements three times before making them permanent. It is also why there is such an extensive physical for off-planet travel,” she added. Enora's mind was running swiftly now.

“You said that the aborigines didn't have this problem,” she recalled. Granny Garma nodded.

“Yes, though it would be more accurate to say that our bodies adapted to the situation better than the others did, and over the time that we were isolated, only those whose bodies adapted survived,” said the old woman. “I guess, in the end, humans are mostly designed to flourish only on their native planet.”

“But, what about Vess? She was born and raised here, just like Gram!” protested Enora. Granny Garma nodded.

“Good question, Enora,” admitted the woman. “It isn't unheard of for immigrants to have kids, but it is rare for them to survive to term. Gram has at least some aboriginal blood in him, and it is possible that Vess does as well,” she considered. “Either way, the problem remains the same.”

“Low implantation rates, miscarriage by uterine wall detachment, poor ovarian production, low fertility in semen due to increased radiation…” Enora trailed off, reading the medical article summaries that her PCD had found in the search for data for her. Kids are rare here on Mars, she summarized. Except, the aborigines managed to maintain a stable population for more than a hundred years, so it is possible, but how did they manage it? “Granny Garma, what does this have to do with Gram?” she asked the old woman. A smile began to spread across the old woman's face.

-

Gram yawned as he climbed out of the Flick, Vess just behind him. He had spent the last sixteen hours in Harras, mostly in Doctor's house, working out the logistics of getting his ship into one of the city-ship's dry-dock capable berths without it being seen, then getting the necessary re-fit done to the cruiser. In the end, it had been decided that Doctor would fake a gate malfunction, call in the inoperability of the berth, lose the report, and have his labor BALLS weld the outer doors shut so Earth Forces couldn't `accidentally' find the outlaw ship.

Of course, that would take time. So, the Ship of Hope, along with the Ship of Aurora, would hide out and wait. Doctor said that he could convincingly fake a major malfunction within a couple of days, then they would slip the ship in at night, Doctor making sure that the sensors and lighting would be `under repair' while the battered ship slipped in. Once it was set, he had called for pickup, and to his surprise, Vess had met him at the emergency access port in her Flick. Not that he was complaining about getting to hold Vess.

“Where are Ester and Neli?” he asked, yawning as he and his girlfriend exited the hanger bay and made their way toward the main deck.

“Um, Neli was on watch, and I think that Ester was getting some sleep,” supplied Vess, her hand catching his. “Why?” she wondered.

“Curious,” he dismissed the question, “nothing more.”

“You should get some sleep, too, Gram,” directed his blonde lover. Gram gave her a half smile.

“Sure, Vess,” he agreed, “I'll just get the ship somewhere with some good cover, first, and set up the mimetic odor-print screen,” he qualified. Vess shook her head.

“I will do that, Gram,” she disagreed. “I got a full night's sleep while you were in there with our contact, so I will take care of all that,” directed the girl, pressing her lips to his briefly before continuing. “You need to go find out what our bed is doing, mister!” she mock-ordered him. Chuckling lightly, Gram bowed his head to her.

“Fine with me, Vess,” he said, suddenly lunging up and kissing her passionately, catching her by surprise. Despite her surprise, Vess swiftly relaxed and returned the kiss. For a moment, nothing existed to the two but each other. Eventually, however, the world re-asserted itself on them, and they reluctantly broke their kiss. “Join me once you're done?” he breathed softly.

“You know it,” she replied just as softly. Vess watched Gram turned and move toward the master cabin, while she made a side-trip to the primary stores room to check their supply of mimetic odor-print. Thank god that Kuberness was willing to share his camouflage techniques with me, she thought, absently running the mental formula to determine how long their supply would last, given a mean usage rate for a ship of their size in average current conditions. So, we should be ok for about two days, then, she finished her calculations.

“NAMI,” she called out, heading for the bridge.

“Yes, Vess?” responded the AI immediately.

“Prepare mimetic odor-print camouflage system for use. Load system to max capacity, and prepare to deploy once we find a good hiding hole,” she directed.

“In process,” confirmed NAMI. Vess neared the hatch to the bridge.

“Good,” acknowledged Vess. “Connect me to the Aurora,” she continued. An instant later, a chirp signaled that the connection was open. “Aurora, this is Vess,” she said without preamble. “Who is on watch?” she asked, the hatch to the bridge of her ship opening. Neli looked up from the blonde's command chair as Vess flipped a hand at her, taking Gram's chair instead.

“Vess, this is Captain Elizabeth,” came the reply. “What's the news?” she asked. Vess thought she sounded almost worried.

“It's in motion, Captain,” said Vess, bringing up the systems on the Ship of Hope. “But, it will be a day or two before we can get the ship in, and Gram said that we would need to hide out somewhere and wait for the signal from the contact,” said the girl, touching her terminal, the bridge display bringing up topographical charts of the area. “So, we need to find a hiding place around here, tuck in, and wait,” she said, her tone betraying her wandering attention. “NAMI,” she said, tapping the controls on her terminal, “enlarge that broken fissure,” she said, the main display zooming and enlarging.

“Sufficient space is available for concealing the ship, Vestemona,” confirmed the AI. “Bottom currents should be no problem, and the thermocline should help shield us from sensors and satellite probes, as well,” expanded the AI.

“Good,” nodded Vess. “We're going to get situated, then you all can go back to whatever you were doing before coming to help us,” said the girl, already laying in the course to the fissure.

“Don't work like that, Vess,” said Captain Elizabeth firmly. “We are in this for the duration, so we're going to be hiding right beside you until you are in dry dock,” she said, drawing breath and continuing before Vess could interrupt her. “And once your ship is being repaired, you and Gram are going to be our guests on the Aurora,” she said crisply. “Besides,” she smiled at Vess over the small window display next to the map, “you have two of crew on your ship,” she offered. Vess didn't react.

“They are free to return whenever they chose to,” she said simply. “We're moving to the fissure,” said the girl, bringing the engine up at dead slow.

“Right beside you,” came the clipped reply from Elizabeth as her window closed.

Meanwhile, Gram had dropped off by the bathroom, grabbed a drink of water, and then entered the captain's cabin, not bothering with the light, since he knew the layout and was tired. Stripping off his clothes, the young man yawned again as he carelessly flung back the spread and sheets, dropping into bed with a satisfied sigh, his arm trapping one of the four pillows on the bed and wedging it under his head. With a final yawn, he drifted off to sleep, failing to notice the warmth from the body next to him in the large bed.

On board the Aurora, Captain Elizabeth silently steered her ship along side the smaller Hope, maintaining perfect formation, the communication wires having been left in place. With her on the bridge were Milhe, Clara and Poipoider. As was her habit of late, Clara was covering for Ester, while Poipoider and Milhe tended to the other posts. Most of her crew was on stand-by, sleeping, eating or playing cards.

“Vestemona seems to be offended by the fact that we're sticking with her and Gram,” noted Poipoider idly. “Maybe she blames us for their current situation?” he postulated. Clara hummed.

“In a way, we are certainly partially to blame for it,” she digested the theory, “but I don't think that Vess is looking at it in that light,” she disagreed.

“So why the attitude?” wondered Milhe, remembering her instinctive gunplay when they had first met.

“I think that Megumi is correct about her,” said the cat, watching Elizabeth with unblinking eyes. “I think Vess is scared of something.”

“Like what?” wondered Elizabeth, intrigued.

“Well, it is highly unlikely that she is scared of us, given her abilities with her RB and the heavy armament of their ship, so I would theorize that it is something less…tangible,” supplied the cat. She was arguably the smartest of the crew, and tended to be right. “Maybe her fear is that her two young friends might be harmed by this situation,” she offered for consideration.

“Well, it's making it hard to work with her,” groused Elizabeth. “I mean, it's not like I don't understand how she feels about pirates after her little campaign to catch Gram, but still!” she huffed.

“You know, Gram seems to be the key to Vess,” noted Clara. “I also find it interesting that Ester and Neli don't seem to have any problems with her.”

“It's probably because Ester is just as dangerous as Vestemona is, and Neli is crazy enough not to notice!” Poipoider exclaimed. Elizabeth chuckled, recalling the smack-down that Ester had handed to the beluga whale, power suit or no.

“That's a solid bet, Poipoider,” she allowed. “However, Megumi said that Vess `sounded' like Gram, and it's pretty obvious that Gram and Megumi get along real good, so maybe it is just a case of nerves?” suggested the Captain.

“At this point, it is all speculation,” reminded Clara of her human companions. “It is just as likely that is it a case of `first meeting nerves', as it were,” she went on. “With Gram's connection to us having proven to be one of the biggest stumbling blocks in her reunion with him, she might be subconsciously resentful of our bond to Gram.”

“Ok, I can see some logic to that,” admitted Elizabeth. “Since you are so full of insight, what would you suggest we do to soothe her nerves?” asked the older woman. Clara considered the question. How do you soothe a human's nerves? wondered the cat.

-

Vess stretched her arms as she entered the captain's cabin, touching the small control that activated the low-intensity light near the bed, generating a small, soft area of light around the bed, the rest of the room in shadow. She and Gram shared the dislike of harsh, bright light when waking or falling asleep, so they had re-fitted the room's lighting to a two-type setup. Tossing her jacket aside, Vess unzipped her one-piece suit, stepping out of it before dropping it on top of her jacket; once she had retrieved her gun, of course. Looking back to the bed, she blinked, realizing that she was looking at two heads in the bed, both dark-haired.

Ok, Neli is on the bridge, talking with Captain Elizabeth, so that means… she blinked. “Ester,” she whispered. One of the dark-haired heads twitch, and a moment later, she found herself looking into the red eyes of the Naval Witch. The smaller girl stared at her for a moment before her red eyes went wide.

“Vess!” she gasped, sitting upright, revealing that she was at the least topless. “This…it isn't what it looks like!” she promised the taller blonde. Vess frowned.

“It isn't?” she asked, stifling a yawn. Ester's cheeks were on fire.

“It's the bed,” she explained quickly. “The ones in the other cabin make my back hurt, and since you and Gram said we could sleep in here, I came in here to get some rest, and when I woke up, Gram was here…!” Beside her, Gram stirred.

“And?” wondered Vess, her thumb absently toying with the safety on her gun. With an inarticulate sound, Gram raised his head, finding himself looking at a topless Ester.

“Ester?” he asked dumbly. “When did you get here?” he wondered aloud. Seeing the girl's attention fixed behind him, he turned his head to find his beloved Vess, standing naked by the door, her gun in hand, and annoyed expression on her face. “Vess,” he smiled at her. Vess's lips twitched a little.

“You must be tired,” sighed the blonde, moving to the edge of the bed. Seeing that neither of them was moving, she frowned. “Well?” she hinted. Ester flinched, gathering herself to get out of bed.

“I'll just…” she began.

“Move over,” Vess went on as if Ester hadn't spoken. Obligingly, Gram rolled over, gently moving Ester over with one arm. Vess slipped into bed on Gram's other side. Once her gun was settled under her pillow, she yawned as she touched the second switch, the light going out. Beside Gram - who still had an arm looped over her waist - Ester was stiff as a board.

She had been sleeping nicely when she awoke to find herself in bed with Gram. While that wasn't necessarily a bad thing, looking up to find his girlfriend watching them, naked, with her gun in hand, had not calmed her down any. Why didn't she shoot?! worried Ester, eyes open in the darkness, the warmth of Gram's arm around her waist both soothing to her, and terrifying. Her hatred of pirates is well-known, and she caught me in bed with Gram - never mind that it wasn't intentional! - so, why didn't she shoot? wondered the smaller girl.

Beside her, she felt the bed move slightly, and a bit of muted sound told her that Vess was changing her position. A moment passed before the faintest hint of a touch ghosted down Gram's arm, tickling her skin as it did so. Ester tensed, prepared to make a break for it if the blonde attacked her. “Vess?” she whispered.

“Go to sleep, Ester,” came the slurred reply. “Talk about it later,” added the blonde.

“O…ok,” she managed meekly. She found herself lying next to Gram, unable to sleep for more than an hour before she relaxed enough to fall back asleep. Several times during that period, she debated making a break for it, but each time, she recalled that Vess had her gun in handy reach, and would doubtlessly be all too happy to have an excuse to shoot her. It wasn't until she awoke later that she found that she had rolled over and snuggled up against Gram while she slept.

-

“Well, well!” said Captain Elizabeth, her tone warm and friendly as she looked up from her cup of coffee to see Megumi leading Shie into the galley of the Aurora. “Are you feeling better now, Shie?” she asked the girl, giving her a warm smile. The small, young blonde nodded.

“Yes,” she said. Behind her, Sala came into view, hiding a yawn with her hand. As if sensing the young girl's unease at meeting strangers, Sala patted Shie's shoulder reassuringly.

“It's ok, Shie,” she assured the girl. “This is Captain Elizabeth, and she - like the rest of the crew on the Ship of Aurora - is a good friend of Gram.”

“You're Captain Elizabeth?!” squealed the girl excitedly, her eyes lighting up. “Gram's told me so much about you and your treasure hunt!” she burbled. Elizabeth blinked.

“Um, only good things, I hope,” she replied, caught off guard by the girl's mercurial mood swing. Man, from the look in her eyes, you'd think I was some great hero, she marveled silently. Shie giggled.

“He told me all about you all!” the girl said. Behind her and over her head, Sala twitched her shoulder at her captain; she had no more idea what the girl had been told them Elizabeth did. And since Shie had just managed her recovery the day before - having been sleeping for the last hay and a half - the ship's doctor had no idea what the girl was like.

“I'm sure you're hungry, Shie,” Megumi interjected. Glancing at the small kitchen area, she spotted her boyfriend, looking a bit put-out, manning the kitchen. “What's for breakfast, Junior?” she called out to him, giving him a small smile.

“Megumi!” he gasped, his attention focusing on her when she called out his name. “So, you finally got her up and around? That's good,” he said, eyes back on whatever he was working on. “We're having pancakes,” he answered his girlfriend, “that is, if these damn things would cooperate with me!” he complained. “It looks so easy when Gram does it,” he muttered.

“A lot of things look easy when Gram does them,” noted Shie, moving over to peek into the kitchen area, seeing the young man trying to flip the pancakes. “Flip from the edges,” she said, her voice full of confident expertise. Junior sent the girl an annoyed glance.

“What are you, their cook?” he complained. Shie shook her head.

“No, but Gram told me that the secret was to go from the sides toward the middle, and to use your wrist instead of your arm,” she dismissed his criticism. Junior scowled as he messed up another flip.

“Are those going to be ready sometime today, Junior?” needled Captain Elizabeth, smirking behind her coffee cup.

“Would you like to do it, Captain?” he retorted. The older woman smiled.

“It's your turn, Junior, so no, I think I'll let you do it,” she demurred. Biting back a sarcastic reply, the pink-haired runt tried following Shie's advice, edging the side of the spatula under the circular food item, then rolling his wrist at the half-way mark, the pancake easily flipping to land on its uncooked side without any splatter or deformation.

“Ha!” he crowed, basking in his first undamaged pancake. “Not too shabby if I do say so myself,” he chuckled. I'll give this one to Megumi, he decided.

“They're burning,” came Sala's voice. Blinking away the daydream of serving a pile of perfect pancakes to his girlfriend, Junior muttered a curse as he saw that the other pancakes were, in face, beginning to burn. He quickly went to work on turning them as well.

In the dining area of the galley, Shie hopped up into a seat, Megumi taking the one next to her as Sala settled next to Elizabeth, having retrieved a cup of the potent ship's coffee for herself and two cups of aromatic tea for Shie and Megumi. “Careful, Shie,” cautioned Megumi, sliding the second cup over to her younger friend, “it's hot.”

“I know,” agreed Shie, carefully grasping the cup and blowing on the drink for a moment. Delicately, she sipped from the cup. “It tastes like oranges, but smells like spice cakes,” she shared with the group. Megumi smiled.

“Good, isn't it?” she responded. “We don't often have this kind of tea,” she sighed wistfully. Too expensive to get it from Earth, she thought. Shie nodded, sipping again. Easing the cup back down, Shie looked around the dining room.

“Where's Gram?” she wondered.

“He, Vess, Ester and Neli are on the Ship of Hope, which is currently about one hundred yards away from us,” supplied Elizabeth. Shie frowned.

“Why did they move me here?” she wondered. Elizabeth and Sala exchanged a quick look.

“It's just that the Ship of Hope needs to be repaired, and while it is being repaired, all of you will be our guests on the Aurora,” supplied the captain. Shie smiled again.

“Really?!” she blurted. “I get to go on the pirate ship with Gram!” she giggled to herself. Just then, a group of crewmen came through the doorway.

“I'm telling you,” came the irate voice of Aki, “she was checking me out!”

A snort of laughter preceded a rougher voice. “Yeah, sure Vess was!” scoffed the other party of the argument. “If she were looking at you, it'd be over the sights of a gun, Aki! You aren't her type!” he insisted.

“How would you know?!” yelled back Aki. “What are you to her anyway, Bon?” he snarled.

“Bon!” yelled Shie, waving at her big brother. The short kid forgot the argument with Aki, seeing his sister up and about at long last.

“Shie!” he breathed, sprinting to the girl and hugging her. “You ok, little sis?” he asked her, easing back from the hug. Shie nodded.

“Yes,” she said, smiling at her brother. Bon sighed in relief.

“That's good,” he replied. “Gram and Vess will be glad to hear it,” he added, absently patting her blonde head. Suddenly, he paused, sniffing the air. “Someone's burning pancakes,” he observed; just before loud cursing exploded from the kitchen.

-

“Engines are shut down, ship is secure in dock,” reported NAMI. Gram and Vess powered down the stations and slowly got out of their command chairs. Just behind the two, Neli and Ester watched in silence. “Communication cable attached. Call coming through,” added the AI a moment later. A window popped up with Doctor's face.

“Ok, Gram, she's secure and my BALLS are already at work on her hull. I have a transfer sub waiting for you and your crew. As soon as you are away, I'm going to drain the dock and begin the real work,” he said.

“Thanks, Doctor,” said Gram. “How long do you think it will take to complete the job?” he asked the man. The Doctor shrugged.

“She's banged up; no doubt about it, Gram,” he said, clearly calculating the time. “It won't be a day less than six weeks, and that is with everything going according to schedule,” he warned the young man. Gram and Vess shared an unhappy look. “I think I can safely say that before two months are gone, you'll be taking her on out of here, though,” he tried to brighten up the young man on the other end of the call. “I've got round-the-clock work set up, and the BALLS will run straight through. Oh, that reminds me, I need the pass to your ship's system,” he recalled. Vess's eyes narrowed.

“All you need is a temporary access allowance,” she said, her tone suspicious. No one but Gram and I have access keys to NAMI! she silently stated.

“Ah! You must be the charming Vestemona I have heard so much about!” replied the man eagerly. “I'm pleased to meet you, Vess!” he said affably.

“Don't let your guard down around this one, Vess,” came Ester's hard voice. “He's been known to stab his friends in the back for money,” she sniped at him.

“Not to mention playing fast and loose with the affections of his paramour,” contributed Neli. The man winced.

“Ester Astrada,” he greeted the Naval Witch, “so nice to meet you again,” he managed. “You too, Neli,” he added.

“Drop dead,” spat Ester. “But only after you fix this ship,” she added. Neli grunted, but said nothing. The man sighed, but made no response to Ester's attack.

“Gram, would you give my regards to Elizabeth when you see her?” he asked the young man. Gram nodded.

“Sure, Doctor,” he replied. “NAMI, log shipyard access for this person, ID call is `Doctor',” he added, speaking to the AI.

“Affirmative, Gram,” said the AI. Turning his attention back to the call from the Doctor, Gram wrapped it up.

“We'll grab our stuff and move to the Aurora, Doctor,” he said. “You know how to contact us, right?” he confirmed.

“That I do, my boy!” replied the man jovially. “I promise you, you won't know anything happened to her when I'm done!” he enthused, the call ending.

“NAMI, lock out all access to core functions, log all movement and access requests from shipyard node, secure personal quarters and weapons lockers from access by non-robotic units, and encrypt log and personal files in database,” directed Vess crisply.

“Understood, Vess,” replied NAMI. “Status of temporary crew IDs?” prompted the computer.

“Mark as permanent permission,” dismissed Vess, catching a surprised blink from Ester and Neli. Sighing, she ran her hand through her hair. “Sleep mode, NAMI,” she commanded.

“Aye, aye, Vess. Good night,” said the AI, the icon going into inactive shadow box form before the display went blank and the systems on the bridge flickered before going dark as well. Feeling Gram's hand in her own, she squeezed it back.

“It's only for a couple of weeks, Vess,” he assured the girl.

“I know,” she said quietly. “But this is our ship, Gram,” she reminded him. “I hate to be away from her,” she explained.

“Me, too, Vess, but with the way things are right now…” he trailed off, shrugging.

“I know,” repeated Vess. After a few moments of silence, she turned toward the hatch, still holding Gram's hand. “Let's get our stuff together and go check on Shie,” said the blonde.