Heather leaned tiredly against the wall and sank to the floor, looking across at her brother and friend.
"Where do we start to look?" Heather wondered. "I don't have much experience of this sort of thing - is it really possible that he's alive?" Her tone was skeptical, though tinged with hope, and her eyes were slightly red from crying.
"Of course he is," Scipio said with surprising conviction, causing even Alice to look across at him. He grimly and seriously raised his battle axe from where it lay against the wall and placed it on the floor, spinning it deftly with his hand. The axe turned a full circle once, twice and steadily came to rest pointing North.
"We'll search that direction first, it's as good as any and while we scourge the North, we can all put our heads together and think about where he might be. But first, let's draw up a map... unless you have one already?" Scipio looked questioningly at Alice who nodded.
"There's loads of maps on the computer," she said.
Yay! Btw, I'm not putting Jordan in anymore. He...died, or something.
Bella sat with her laptop on the bed, scanning through her journal of everything that had happened since she joined the CRA.
She began flipping through different images she had stored, remembering different places Adam had mentioned, and scanning through those too.
Thank God for my computer skills, She though when she came to an image that interested her. The image, a large chamber, people moving inside. A satellite images, obviously. It took her about three hours, but she managed to hack through, and zoom in on the image.
"I found him!" She cried, bolting from the room with her laptop securely in her arms.
"What?!" Everyone turned to look at Bella as she ran into the main deck of the ship.
"Look!" she held out her laptop, pointing to the person who was obviously Adam.
Yay! A pick-me-up for CRA! But I don't know where Adam is. That's up to...someone else...
Nutty rolled out of bed with a groan, muttering to herself.
"Holy....Adam's magic really did me in."
Hearing her own comment, Nutty swore. Where the hell had Adam gone?
Grabbing her spork and pack, Nutty stumbled towards the bridge, looking like death warmed up.
Heather and Scipio were questioning Alice intently.
"Where is he? How does she know?"
Alice shook her head, then spotted Nutty standing in the doorway.
"I told you to go nap. You look terrible."
Nutty snorted and waved a hand vaguely in Alice's direction. "No time to pretend you know how to run this joint, Alice, we have to find the Captain."
Nutty heard the sarcasm in her voice and blinked, wondering why she was so grumpy.
"Damn Atlantian magic." she muttered.
It's not easy having a good time. Even smiling makes my face ache.
Heather moved towards the computers and began type on the main keyboard. The others followed her over.
"What are you-" Nutty hesitated, staring as files opened on the screen, old files that hadn't been opened in a long time.
"I need to understand the situation," Heather explained. "I don't know Elisandro, I haven't experienced what you have so I'm going to read the ship's log and try to work this out. Go ahead and keep thinking and searching while I do."
"That's not a bad idea," Scipio said. "You do that while I go pay a visit to the armoury."
"And why are you going there?" Alice asked, following him to the door.
"Stay and think this through with Nutty. You two know the captain better than us. I'll get Rick and Matt to help me find what I'm looking for." Scipio closed the door behind him firmly, but instead of going to the boys' rooms, he headed straight for the armoury.
Scipio began to sort through the objects carefully, trying to separate those of a magical origin from the ordinary swords and shields. He couldn't have said quite what he was looking for but he had a strange feeling that he'd know it when he found it.
Nutty blinked at the door. "Well, maybe he'll find something new. You never can tell in this place."
Turning, Nutty saw Alice standing cross-armed in front of her.
"Well, you heard Scipio. How are we going to find the Captain?"
Nutty walked around Alice, heading for the door.
"Where are you going now?"
"I'm hungry."
"But, Adam!"
"Can't think on an empty stomach. I dunno about you, but being coated in foreign magic and flying through space really wears me out."
Alice sighed and followed Nutty to the kitchen.
"Chicken?" Nutty held out the plate.
"Uh... Thanks." Alice took a drumstick doubtfully. "Anyway. Adam."
"Well, if you were an Atlantian, and you died in an honorable way, where would you go?"
"Um....."
"Alice, is there an Atlantian 'Heaven?' he may have just been sucked into an alternate dimension, but it's worth checking out the religious beliefs of his kind. If there are any, of course."
It's not easy having a good time. Even smiling makes my face ache.
"And that's for drinking the last Dr Pepper!" Matt shouted as he thrust Jordan into the airlock room.
"Noooooooo..." Jordan shouted as he was hurled out into the emptiness of space. Matt grinned.
"My voice gives me super strength!" he announced triumphantly, then added, "I'm hungry!"
* * *
Nutty was shocked when she felt a finger tap her on the shoulder. Matt stood there.
"Could you make me something to eat?" he asked. "Adam said I'm not allowed to go into the kitchen anymore."
"Make it yourself," Nutty replied. "Adam's not here to enforce the rules."
"Oh, ok - what! Adam's not here!?" Matt shouted. "What do you mean Adam's not here? Why is Adam not here? Where's Adam?"
"I don't know!" Nutty shouted. "No one does. Well, no one's certain, anyway."
"Then we must find him!" Matt shouted, and emitted a shrill whistle. A stomping was heard from Matt's room before a massive Spammian beast pushed its way through the kitchen door.
"Holy crap, Matt!" Nutty shouted as she whipped out her spork. "Look out behind you!"
"What?" Matt turned. "Hooray! Moose Head is here!"
"Moo- what?" Nutty gasped, lowering her weapon. "Did you bring this thing on board!? Man, you are SO lucky Adam's not here, he'd smack you one."
"I caught Moose Head on that big battlestation," Matt grinned, holding up a red and white painted bowling ball. "He does whatever I say!"
Nutty sighed deeply. What had she done to deserve a colleague like this?
*And the Jordan plotline is now nicely tied up. XD*
Nutty looked thoughtful, then with no explanation, turned and rushed out of the room.
"Hey! Now where are you going?" Alice called, going after her.
Matt tapped Moose head on the beast's shoulder, which grunted and yanked its head out of the fridge.
"Woah, you were hungry. Come on then Moosey."
At her room, Nutty opened her door and leapt over the mess of books on the floor, logging on to her computer. Alice arrived moments later, poking her head in the door.
"What are you doing?"
Nutty glanced over her shoulder. "Careful, don't fall over my...uh... floor. I'm researching."
"What?" Alice glared at something. "What's that?" She nudged a indistinguishable pile with a cautious foot. It moved slightly, growling. Alice pulled her foot back with a cry.
Nutty glanced at it. "I have no idea."
"Woah boy! Stop! I said Stop! St-op! Argh!" Matt flew past, clinging to the back of his Spammian beast, who had seemed to forget it knew any english.
There was a crash down the end of the corridor, followed by a cry.
"I'm okay! ...I think."
Nutty sighed, and gestured to the computer. "I've pulled up all the information I could find on the Lost city of Atlantis. Would you check it out? I gotta go see how many bones he broke." With that she stood, pulled out her spork and disappeared after Matt.
It's not easy having a good time. Even smiling makes my face ache.
Alice sat down at Nutty's computer and picked her feet up off of the ground. Nutty needed to clean her room.
"Okay...Atlantis..." She scrolled through the information not really seeing the point in it, Adam would have the coordinates in his room. Giving up she tiptoed back out into the hallway, avoiding the lump of...whatever that had growled at her.
Nutty was still mending Matt when she walked by, "where ya goin Al?" Matt asked cheerfully.
"Any specific coordinates to Atlantis would be in Adam's room wouldn't it?" she responded with a smile and skipped down the hall to Adam's room.
Nutty raised her eyebrow. "She's going to go into the captain's room... when he's not there?"
Matt blinked, poking the bruise spreading across his forehead. "Ow. So?"
Nutty shrugged. "It just seems... wrong. It makes me squeamish thinking about it."
Matt frowned and prodded his forehead again. "Ow. Really? I don't think Adam's the type to leave his gym socks around."
Nutty looked back and sighed, tapping Matt's forehead with her spork and muttering something under her breath, watching the bruise fade with an absent minded expression.
"I suppose we better keep an eye on her, Adam may not leave socks around, but he's produced some rather... explosive things in the past."
It's not easy having a good time. Even smiling makes my face ache.
Alice skipped all the way into Adam's room and then danced her way around his random piles of nothing ness on the floor. It didn't scare her as much as Nutty's room did. She tripped over her boots and landed on one of the non clothes piles. A ticking sound occured. She shrieked slightly and rolled off of it, sheilding her face as the minature bomb exploded.
At the door Nutty sighed. "Wow child."
Alice grinned at her and stood back up. She skipped over to Adam's computer and started browing through the files.
