Young Writers Society

Roan Chbosky | The Mall

"I'm not a situation!"

Roan surveyed Shaun's bar, how at about 3/4 the way down the serving bar things blew up. Lizzie was in lightly-clasped handcuffs, and Adam was standing beside her, also in cuffs, but also wearing a band around his mechanical arm that disabled the electronic nerve systems that allowed him movement.

"Sir, I have three witnesses that support my report. It was a simple incident, caused mostly due to a broken water seal on Adam's arm circuitry."

Roan fiddled with Adam's arm as he stared forward, wordlessly.

"Lizzie, as intoxicated as she was--and is currently--spilled her drink on Adam's unsealed circuitry, causing his muscle stimuli to override his control mechanisms. His strength overwhelmed the wood of the bar, causing most of it to collapse...and he was stopped thanks to," he gestured beside him, "this fellow. Mister...Harry Potter."

Roan cocked an eyebrow. "Mister Potter." Roan sized the man up, took note of his chiseled physical build and near-shaven haircut--a sign of military background or activity. "How did you learn to deactivate a Grade-S Android?"

Harry averted his gaze. "I don't know how to Android. I just saw havoc and stopped...the havoc."

Roan nodded. "Be sure to record that, Lieutenant. And what room are you living in on our journey?"

The man was jostled slightly. "Room...D-64?"

Roan roared in laughter. "HAH! Stowaway and liar! That's Evangeline's room!" The crowd around them made that noise that live studio audiences make when the two stars of the show kiss...and Roan was suddenly very aware of it. "...which I know...because..."

"You're the captain," whispered Isaac.

"Because I'M THE CAPTAIN!" Roan cleared his throat. "Boys, have Lizzie taken to the Detention block to wait our her sobriety. Take Adam to the Mechaphysician. Mister Potter's coming with me for Tea and Dialogue in the Arboretum." Roan looked at his men, all at attention. "Dismissed."



_______________________________
*Tea and Dialogue: A code phrase developed by Roan to indicate the spiking of his guest's drink with Sodium Tiopental, or Truth Serum.

Issac Vanderbilt/First mate/Corridor:

Issac rubbed his temples, this was not turning out to be a good day, not even remotely pleasant by his book. First his Captain, his best friend was (to issacs mind) going sightly off his rocker with all his anxiety issues, secondly all the strange stuff going on and now hearing about radioactive dogs?

"Oh Hell..." he muttered rubbing his temples harder. They had just wanted to end the day with a nice drink, then each go to their separate cabins to sleep off the booze and hopefully wake up refreshed-but no. of course that would never happen. Roan just HAD to take the Counselor to god only knows where, to do what Issac had build up as the ultimate evil in his mind- he hoped it hadn't gotten that far, that it wouldn't. and THEN, the bar-fight. Issac equated it to a dog fight, one moment everything was just fine and dandy then POW, a brawl had broken out and didn't it just fit that Risk was at the center of it- she did have a way with trouble? And that stow away? and the robot.....Issac unlike roan hadn't the foggiest idea there was a robot on board apart from the ships A.I and a few service droids.

"Isaac!" He turned, Roan was coming towards him,

"Yes sir?"

"Come on we're going to speak to Mr. Potter." Issac nodded- clearly there was no sleeping for anyone tonight...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

Evangeline Carter/ships counselor/her rooms:

Evi wandered her room, pulling a bush through her curls fitfully- her mind whirling from the events of that evening and the booze. God almighty had she really let herself be taken away on the wings of fancy and thrown herself at the captain? Her cheeks burned just thinking about it.

To be sure she did find the captain attractive, and she had begun to have less then professional thoughts about him in the last week or so-but no! NO, she couldn't allow this. she was ships counselor, she needed to be objective about everything and everyone- and most certainly the captain...

"HAH! Stowaway and liar! That's Evangeline's room!"

Roan's sudden deceleration played through her mind again, the looks of the people in the bar.... the things that insinuated...

"He knows where my room is...." she murmured, she knew he'd never been in it, she knew they'd never done anything inappropriate- but the realization he knew, he remembered and clearly was thinking about it? she squirmed inside her own skin.

Evi what have you gotten yourself into girl? you know better then this.... just sleep off the booze and put yourself back on the straight and narrow tomorrow.

With this she crawled into her bed and burrowed under the sheets, trying to hide and forget....

Bar Owner | Shaun Paladin | The Bar | Day One

Shaun wondered briefly if letting Evi go off with the captain counted as throwing herself at a man, but since it was the captain and Shaun trusted him to have no ill intent, he let it be. If the captain had been drunk, that would have been another matter.

Of course, all of this flew out of his head when Lizzie's drink spilled over the arm of the young boy and Shaun stepped over, ready to make apologies for her and ward off any fighting but... the boy malfunctioned. Shaun caught a bottle of brandy which was toppled by the sheer force of the mechanical arm slamming down on the bar. He didn't know what to do. That didn't mean he wasn't going to do nothing, but he hesitated for a second because he didn't know what to do.

That second was apparently all it took for a member of the public to step up and de-activate the android, though not before that side of the bar was pretty beat up. Shaun couldn't help but admire a man like that.

"Quick and handsome," he purred as he slid the brandy under the counter and brought out a cloth to sop up the spilled liquid and carefully collect the glass.

Shaun spent a good two minutes arguing with Isaac after the instruction was given for Lizzie to be taken to the Detention block.

"Now you know all she did was spill a drink and that's hardly a reason to be detained. I'm the owner of this establishment and I will see she gets back to her room safely and is not a danger to herself or anyone else. If she'd been fighting, that would have been a different matter, but do you see anyone laid out?" Not this time at least.

"Those were the captains orders, Paladin. It is not in my place or my desire to countermand our captain and-"

"Isaac, how long have we been friends?"

"While our relationship is certainly a beneficial one, I am hesitant to describe ourselves as friends. We are colleagues certainly and we have been acquainted for some years upon this vessel and-"

Shaun smiled and shook his head slightly. He was used to Isaac being like this. "Fine, on the grounds of our relationship then, why don't you leave miss Elett with me." Shaun rolled his tongue around the words and leaned forward slightly with a quick wink.

Isaac's normally smooth expression slipped for a moment, though into what Shaun couldn't say. Once he'd recovered though, he pushed off from the bar and turned to the men who were gently restraining Lizzie. Shaun had to admire their restraint with the feisty redhead since she was currently attempting to bite one of them.

"As the incident occurred at the bar and this is Mr. Paladin's sector of authority and no laws of the constitution have been broken, Miss Elett will be released to Mr. Paladin who will hence take responsibility of her."

"I hope you mean only for this night," Shaun returned in good nature. Roan's men looked happy to let the girl go and Shaun quickly got a staying hand on her shoulder before she gave them any farewell bruises.

Unfortunately, by this point, the handsome stranger had been led away.

"Immy!"

While his sister manned what was left of the bar, Shaun got Sparky settled in his guest room in the back and laid her tool belt out on a chest of drawers beside her. Then he came back to the bar and dug in his pocket, absently pulling out the piece of paper the captain had slipped him.

"You can't refuse me!" The raised voice drew Shaun closer and he placed a protective arm across his sister's shoulders as he closed his hand around the note from the captain.

"I want a drink now!"

The speaker was the android boy and Shaun quickly assessed the situation. It occurred to him almost immediately that the boy was right: non human passengers did not have to be age certified to be served at the bar.

"So now you're telling us you're all android?" Shaun gently prodded Imogen to one side and knowing her brother's signals, she went off to serve a customer at the other end of the bar. Shaun pulled down a glass and, remembering the boy's order from before, he started to draw a pint of beer.

"Why lie before? Are you that desperate to be a real boy?" Shaun knew he was pushing it, but he had to test the boy's anger levels and if that anger was going to be directed at someone, better it be someone who could handle himself. Someone like him. "Well real boys don't get this, but androids do." Shaun waited to see which claim the boy would make.

Adam - The Bar

Adam was getting very near the breaking point. Almost literally. He still felt twitchy after his systems went haywire. It was terrifying to him that something might be irreparably broken while he was on bored and there was no one around skilled enough with machines to fix him. That stupid woman could have killed him and no one would care. Just stick him in a closet somewhere. They still might do that, once the captain was done talking to "Harry Potter". They certainly had no problems with shutting his limbs off, which was not helping him avoid panicking.

Now he was trying to get a drink to skulk off to corner, but that was apparently too much to ask. Even the bartender from earlier was being a jerk.

"So now you're telling us you're all android? Why lie before? Are you that desperate to be a real boy?"

Adam nearly slugged him. Instead he gripped the bar itself, feeling it bend a bit beneath his fingers, a sure sign his systems were still out of whack if he was getting that much pressure. Or maybe he was just that angry.

An embarrassing part of him wanted to yes, obviously.But starting fist fights over wanting to be human that ended with someone else's bones broken had proven to be counter-productive.

The man behind the door waved a pint in front of him. "Well real boys don't get this, but androids do."

"I am real" Adam snarled, trying to snatch the glass and failing. "But I'm not a boy. And I'm not human I guess. Not that it's anybody useless business."

The man gave him an expressive look. Adam hated to admit it, but it was technically his occupation to make sure paying adult customers could buy alcohol and teenagers couldn't. But that didn't mean he had to be accusing Adam of lying when he simply wanted to be treated like a person.

Clenching his fist, the android deliberately helped himself to a stool. "If you want to kick me out, you have plenty of reasons already. If you do serve androids then please do."

I'm moving this along a little~

Technician Lizzie Elett | Shaun's guestroom | Day One – Two

It was nice of Shaun to let her stay there, her mind whispered to her as she fell asleep. A nice comfy bed, warm, enough space for anyone. More than others had. The thoughts followed her into her dreams, polluting her sleep with whispers of the hate clouding Isati's eyes, of being locked into a tiny room she couldn't move in. Flames licked at her feet but she couldn't feel them. A wave of terror washed over her. The floor fell out and she fell-

Starting awake, she covered her eyes with a forearm, taking deep breaths. Dreams were dreams, limited to the imagination. Cables and electricity didn't have imagination. Rolling over, she searched blindly for the crate of wires she kept next to her bed before remembering this wasn't her room. Blinking, she pushed herself up until she was sitting started a little as Fli dropped her toolbelt into her lap. She found wires in the pockets and twisted them together in her fingers until she had calmed. Frowning at the little creation resting on her hand, she slid it into her toolbelt and stood up shakily, pushing down her headache.

She trailed out of the room, intent on finding a fix for her hangover. A large glass of water would do the trick. It normally did. Propping herself next to the wreaked side of the bar, she surveyed the splintered wood guiltily. She'd apologise to Shaun, make it up to him somehow. Glancing at the clock above the bar, she read 4am and sighed. It wasn't that early for her, just tiring. Pulling herself a glass of water, she gulped it down. Finding a scrap of paper and a pen in her toolbelt, she tucked a note to Shaun telling him that she had gone to work under the glass on the bar before creeping out. The Mall was darker than the artificial daytime generated on the ship, but there were still lights flashing in the Arcade and most of the shops were still open. She re-entered the innards of the ship by the same panel she had exited them from the morning before.

The low humming of the electricity around her soothed her headache a little more as she trailed through the shafts, making her way towards the engine room. She took the cold cube from her belt and bounced it in her hand. Stepping over to the control panel, she reached behind it and pressed it to the underside, waiting to hear a little click before letting go. A tiny light lit up on her tech watch, nothing that anyone else would, and 5h showed up in the very corner of the screen, next to the time. Nodding, Lizzie re-traced her steps back to the service floor between the Military and Civilian I quarters.

There were already people about - the night shift, mainly - but no one had ever really noticed her in the shafts, and no one was about to. Slipping the roll of neon green ribbon from where she had stashed it the last time, she wrapped the little sculpture she had made before in it. Padding through the shafts, she stopped at a star on the wall. The vent panel next to it came away with a slight push and tug in exactly the right place. Only the technicians knew about the panels, and they weren't really visible from the outside unless you knew what you were looking for. Placing the ribbon-wrapped square on the floor at eye level, she pushed it so that it ended up next to the nightstand with a tiny tap. The panel went back up quickly, and Lizzie left just as fast.

Back at the Mall, she consulted her watch again. 5:10am - 4h20 shone back at her. Bouncing on the balls of her feet slightly, she frowned. There wasn't anything to do, the technicians on the night shift had finished all the problems for now. Glancing at Shaun's bar, she remembered the android and his haywire arm. It wasn't as if she didn't know how to repair one. Admittedly without the actual licence to work on one, but in her part of town, that had rarely been a problem. She set off in search of the blonde haired kid and soon found him, not too far from the bar. He eyed her cautiously.

"Hey..." She called, stopping in front of him. "I'm Lizzie. I'm a technician on this ship..." She hesitated, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. "I'm really sorry about last night, I was drunk. I owe you a drink or something. I hope I didn't damage your arm too much. Would you- do you- can I repair it for you?" Her last words stumbled out in a stuttering rush.

Captain Roan Chbosky | Captain's Quarters

Roan sat awake in his bed, bottle of anxiety pills splattered on his dresser and a glass of Scotch in his hand, nearly nursed to death. A pale beam of light shone through the ventilation in his room and landed on his bare chest where his breath was slow and concentrated.

This was two nights without sleep, and Roan couldn't shake the premonition that something was wrong. No matter the anxiety pills or booze, his eyes were wild with possible scenarios. Wild with public opinion. Wild with his own opinion. He'd spent hours questioning an innocent man last night, and the guy'd just smiled at him, so polite and disarming. His name--Harry Potter--it didn't sit well with Roan, but how could he know what was worth trusting or not? Something in his mind was going off, and he couldn't stop it.

Maybe he should visit Ellie.

No. She had to have a limit, and a 5am visit was pushing it. He could visit her room. The room the innocent man had confused for his own. It's only two doors down, Captain, Isaac had assured him. Roan closed his eyes and breathed in through his nose. The burn of the bog whiskey made his nostrils flare. He parted dark lips and downed the tiny remnant of what had been a half bottle of Shaun's finest. Roan wondered if he'd read the note.

The Captain jostled out of his bed and entered his bathroom, staring deadly into the mirror. His face was sinking, bones showing from undernourishment. Most of his torso was the same, with the exception of four abdominal muscles visible where there had, a month before, been six. Something was wrong with him; something Evangeline hadn't brought up in counseling--granted, she wasn't a proper general physician, and had never given Roan a physical. The most physical thing she knew about him was how his breath smelled for those brief moments on the bridge.

Romance. Unprofessional romance. Secret romance. Forbidden, steamy, risky romance. Roan saw his face flush with the red of excitement, but set his mind on the least sexy thing he could imagine. A roulette ran through his mind: Isaac, Paperwork, The Smith Family, Atomic Dogs.

Winner: Atomic Dogs. The thought hurried away his heightened blood pressure, but also brought back the anxiety. He had yet to see the atomic dogs, but it was too early to bother his men with an expedition to see the canines. Roan left his bathroom and pulled on civilian clothes: jeans and sneakers and a sweatshirt that failed to zip all the way up his chest. He pulled the hood over his cropped hair and left his room with his access card in his pocket.

Grif had returned to his quarters, the door locked. He was fairly sure he was being watched, but as long as he didn't do anything stupid, the attention would probably wane once he left the ship. Probably.

The interrogation was poorly conducted and any awkwardness that Grif had evaporated in the interrogation room. Adelaide would probably give him hell about being more comfortable under interrogation than he was in public. Maybe she would have a point.

Damn! He shouldn't have been nearly so relaxed, not even after hours of close questioning. Apparently no one had picked up on it; which was lucky for Grif. More fortunate was his alibi, that of an AI specialist. It gave Grif a reason for knowing how to disable cybernetic implants; without generating an overt amount of suspicion. Finally, an aide had arrived and notified the Captain that Grif was an authorized passenger. The apologies after this had been sincere and profuse.

There was a lot going on in the ship, but if his experience in the bar had taught him anything, it was that Adelaide was much better at finding the dirt than he was.

Grif was about to retire for the night, when there was a knock on the door.

Bar Owner | Shaun Paladin | The Bar - Grif's Room | Day One - Two

Real but not a human. Shaun felt like he'd pushed it enough for one night and the 'boy' had shown remarkable restraint so he slid the pint over and considered his next move very carefully. There was a big part of him which was curious. Shaun had never kissed an Android before or been with an android... did they have any functioning parts? Other than the arm, the boy sure looked human and- right, right. He looked like a human boy. Shaun was shocked with even himself and quickly pulled back, but he couldn't keep the curiosity at bay.

"Just uh- out of interest. If I were wanting to tell a human and an android apart, are there any obvious signs? Like, I don't know, maybe... some parts which don't quite look or work like they're supposed to?" Shaun offered a cheeky grin and thought well why not? He wasn't really a boy anyway, he'd said it himself. Why couldn't Shaun snog him if the android seemed equally inclined?

The android gave him a flat stare. "I'm real," he insisted. "That's all you need to know." Then he took his pint and stalked off to one of the nearby tables.

Shaun felt Imogen come up behind him and she patted his arm. "I don't think he's your type, hun."

"Immy, when it comes to men, I don't need a type." Shaun flashed her one of his trademark smiles and then checked the clock on the wall. Caroline should have been starting her shift around now and right on cue, he saw her heading their way. "Right on time, Valkyrie!"

The dark haired girl smiled and tied an apron around her waste as she swung back the wooden board to join them behind the bar. Shaun quickly mixed up a few drinks and slid them on to a tray. He didn't think about what a bad idea this might be, he just did it and was rewarded with a raised eyebrow from his sister.

"You're not going upstairs?" she asked.

"Not tired. Don't wait up for me." Shaun winked and whisked the tray into the air like an expert, then set off across the deck of the ship. Shaun was a man on a mission and he knew most people's rooms aboard this ship. People talked when they were at the bar and he'd helped enough of them back during the early legs of the voyage. He also knew which rooms were, ah... vacant. Sometimes that was useful to know.

Shaun tried one a few doors down from Evi to no avail and then he tried a room a few doors up from her and... bingo. Hello handsome stranger!

"Can I help you?" the man asked.

"I thought I'd let you know we deliver to the room. You looked like a cocktail man, am I right? I'm always right." Shaun grinned and moved to set the tray of drinks down on an empty surface.

Adam

Finally Adam was allowed to take his sour mood and nurse it along with his beer in the corner. It was amazing what people would ask...Kind of entertaining though. He wondered how long he could keep the goo barkeep guessing before it got really awkward.

The bar didn't seem to be closing even long past what could be considered morning, but there wasn't really any reason to stay beyond bothering the staff. Sighing, he slipped down the halls, heading for his bed when a female voice stopped him. He briefly considered ignoring it, but she stepped in front of him.

"I'm Lizzie. I'm a technician on this ship..."

She was also fidgety. And the one who spilled water in him to begin with.

"I'm really sorry about last night, I was drunk. I owe you a drink or something. I hope I didn't damage your arm too much. Would you- do you- can I repair it for you?"

Adam studied her. On one hand, he really didn't like the thought of someone he didn't know, r even particularly trust, mucking around with his parts. On the other hand if she could fix it, it could save him from getting dragged back home again. Or from something worse.

"Can you? It's pretty complicated.”

"Of course I can." She sniffed, offended. "And I'll prove it. Just give me a chance?"

Still unconvinced she knew what she was doing, Adam reluctantly nodded and let her lead him to her workspace. She kept trying to reassure him, but he was still plagued with nerved even when official technicians worked on him.

"Does it have panels, or solder? What are the specs of the nerve receptors?” She asked, eyes shining a little.

"Wait...I’m taking it off first then you can play with it all you want."

Lizzie raised an eyebrow, but nodded. Carefully, he worked open the seal above his elbow. He tried to hide the wince of pain as the nerves of the prosthetic disconnected from his from his. He didn't think he was entirely successful.

"There," he said, holding out. "Try not to break it more."

"I don't normally break things," she murmured, turning the prosthetic over in her hands before turning her gaze back to him. "You're not normally the one to take it off."

He shrugged, holding the end of his "real” arm close to his chest. It didn't look particularly awful. Just a spot where the arm abruptly cut off, the artificial skin ended and the machinery was obvious. Leaving it hanging made him feel exposed though.

"I'm the object, not the mechanic," He said. "What I know of how to fix it myself got deleted."

She looked at him appraisingly before narrowing her eyes at the machinery. "This is really good stuff. Only someone decided that the terminals weren't going to be covered, which was why it went haywire. I need to work on this so it fits your specifications, and not those of whoever grafted it. Do you mind coming with me?

"Um…Sure," he said, blinking. Apparently she really did know what she was doing.

"This way." She led him to the elevator, then swiped a card to go up two floors. Adam could tell it was the military floor by the soldiers walking around. He got a few curious stares, but the glares the woman aimed at them quickly warded them off. Pushing at a door, she gestured him into a room full of cables and tools.

"Um, just clear some of those and find yourself somewhere to sit." She gestured at a chair piled with wires and half-finished bots. Sitting down at a table, she flicked on a light and started picking at the panels on his prosthetic. "So. How did you come into possession of such a high-end prosthetic? Even for android, this is amazing."

He poked at some of the mess trying to find a spot to actually sit. "I'm more sophisticated. To be able to pass. It just wasn't in the budget to replace it good as new, but I got the next best thing."

"I'd like to know what best is if this is next best," she muttered, prizing off a panel with a small cry of satisfaction. Picking up a small pair of insulated tweezers, she began picking through the wires, muttering to herself. After a while, she stopped, and started searching through the crate next to her. "How did you end up here?"

Adam looked away, looking at his good hand instead, which she was not getting a look at. And he was not telling her he was trying to get as far away from the people that built him as possible. "Just...looking for something new."

"Mhmm." She hummed. "New's what you get." Setting down the cables in her hand, she stepped over to him. "Let me see this end."

"Do you have to?" he asked. Competent as she was, this was more than just the discomfort of watching a part of himself getting pried open and fiddled with. The nerve sensors were actively painful to touch.

She grabbed her chair and plunked it down in front of him. "Look. I've worked with prosthetics before. And kid, I know it's painful, but in the long run, it's a lot better for you and the mechanics if I get this done properly. I do know how to fix this, but it's going to take time and patience."

"I'm not really good at patient," he tried to tease. He offered her his arm though, the opposite hand gripping the bench beneath him in anticipation.

"I've had someone try to knock me out before. You can't be any worse." Turning around, she blocked his sight so he couldn't see what she was doing. He barely felt the first touch to the nerve ends. "Some ass has your settings way too high. That's the problem."

"I like being able to feel more than just what hurts," he said, lamely. Being sensitive was important when someone was attempting to take you out.

"Okay." She fiddled with his arm before letting go. "This end's fine now." Give me a couple of hours and I can do the prosthetic." She migrated back to the table and bent over the metal arm, shutting down and focusing on the wires under her fingers.

"Thanks," he mumbled, but she wasn't paying attention anymore. There didn't seem to be a reason for him to stay, so he quickly backed out, tugging his sleeve down over his arm and heading for his room.

Technician Lizzie Elett | a little bit of everywhere | Day Two

Working on the android's arm was so absorbing that Lizzie barely noticed the time fly by. She set the cover back in its newly waterproofed slot with a satisfied sigh, then glanced at the clock. She started at the fact that it was already 9am. She wasn't particularly surprised that time had gone by so fast - she always lost track of the time when she was working on something interesting. Hefting the arm, she returned her essential tools to her belt. Fli floated around her head, whirring very slightly. The soft sound of mechanics was one of the most comforting things in space, she decided as she left the room, holding the arm carefully.

Glaring at the people who bumped into her, she stood in the lift and got out her small handheld tablet. She quickly ran through the system, finding which room the young man had ended in. She made her way along to the civilian corridors to the room and knocked on the door. The boy opened the door warily, then let her in when she waved the arm at him a little.

"Hello, again!" She chirped, in a surprisingly good mood, despite her growing nerves. In fact, she felt rather hyperactive. Ushering him over to the only chair in the room, she smiled at him. "How has the beginning of your morning been?"

"Okay, I guess." He probably hadn't left the room.

"Well, that has to be a good enough reason to wipe that frown from your forehead." Placing the arm on the small desk, she decided against squatting in front of him. She was already short enough. "Okay. So I repaired every last bit of damage I managed to make last night, and then I went and waterproofed it for you. The whole arm. Doesn't mean you can go deep sea diving with it now, but dousing it in a liquid, or even dumping it in a bath won't do much to it."

He thanked her with wide eyes as she reconnected his arm to the socket. It wasn't the most painful thing to have done in the universe, but it wasn't very comfortable either, and Lizzie prided herself in making it the least painful possible. So it took time. Quite a period of time. When you coupled that with getting all of the specs right, it was a long time for anyone to be holding their arm up, but the boy managed it, and she respected him for that. He didn't seem to want to chat much, so she worked in silence.

Once she was done she made for the door before stopping and turning to him. "You know, I don't believe I even got your name."

He hesitated before replying "My name is Adam."

The end of his sentence was greeted with a huge lurch. After all her years on the ship and unstable surfaces, Lizzie managed to stay upright, and Adam was already sitting down, so he didn't go anywhere. She could hear cries of distress from the corridor though.

She ran out of the door, jumping over a few people laying on the floor. She didn't spare them a second glance. They'd be fine. Her heart thumping in her chest, she sprinted to the elevator, bouncing her leg until the doors opened on the bridge. The captain and his forever faithful lieutenant were already there. Barrelling between the two of them, she ran over to the instruments and fluttered her hands over them checking the readings. As a group of technicians tumbled into the room from other less known entrances, she turned back to the men, wide eyed. The clock on the wall behind them read 9:30.

"Well, what happened?" demanded Isaac. It wasn't too hard to act shocked as the words tumbled from her lips.

"We've stopped."

Adam| Cabin/Hall

Adam had spent the morning pacing his room. He was expecting to be called back down to Lizzie's workshop, but instead she showed up at his door. Reluctantly he let her in and let her attach his arm for him. It was a lot easier than trying to do it himself, for a lot of reasons, not the least of which because it hurt less.

".... The whole arm. Doesn't mean you can go deep sea diving with it now, but dousing it in a liquid, or even dumping it in a bath won't do much to it."

His mind flashed for moment to one of his brothers, who as far as anyone knew was still at the bottom of the sea. He wouldn't be trying that any time soon. THough he prospect of trying a dip in a pool or even taking a shower without incident was an interesting one. He missed that since his arm got torn off.

Shockingly, to him, he almost missed it as the arm connected. That threw him. He wasn't used to it being as...easy. He looked up but she was already making her way out. Probably she had sensed how uncomfortable he was around her. She did ask his name though.

For a second her thought about just giving her his designation, or otherwise shrugging off the question. That seemed ungrateful though, so he let her have the name his sister had decided on when he'd refused to pick one of his own.

"My name is Adam."

He didn't get to see what she would have said to that. She ship suddenly lurched, and when they were able to move without being thrown LIzzie took of. Confused and obviously concerned about what that was, followed.

The mechanic was long gone, but there were people in the hall who hadn't been quite so lucky when they ship rocked. His training kicked in and he started looking for anyone obviously hurt and helping people up.

Bar Owner | Shaun Paladin | The Bar - Grif's Room | Day Two

"What did you expect, Shaun?" Immy gave an exasperated sigh and rolled her big, blue eyes as she unpacked the glasses from the dishwasher. The sound of clinking grated on Shaun's over-sharp senses as he lay, sprawled on his bed.

"Gaydar must be off," Shaun mumbled as he buried his head in his pillow. He didn't really believe in such stupidity - gay and bisexual men came in all kinds of wonderful shapes and sizes - but it was fun to say.

Immy started rummaging in his closet. "So he threw you out his room and then you decided to drink a bottle of our best stock?"

"There was no throwing," Shaun complained. If there had been throwing, that might have been fun."

"Well get in the shower before I throw you in."

"Would you?" Shaun peeked out from under his pillow in time to get a face full of underwear. He pulled the boxers away from his eyes to see that his little sister was giving him the serious face. Shaun groaned and pulled himself into a sitting position.

"How long have I got?"

"Twenty-eight minutes and Shaun-"

"I know. Don't drink it if you can't sink it."

Immy gave Shaun a fond smile and then left him to it. Exactly twenty-seven minutes later, he was standing behind the bar and smiling at his first customer of the day. He also noticed, belatedly, that he was wearing yesterday's trousers.

As he charmed the pants off the customer, he wondered if it was quiet enough to run upstairs and change his own. He tried to think back to the previous day's events and to uncover if any drinks had been spilled on or around him, wishing he could pull the trousers off and give them the smell test. Then slowly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the Captain's note. That was right, the Captain did slip a note to him.

"Well this can't be right." Shaun read the note again and then pulled the intercom toward him. Not all of the shop owners got the privilege of a civilian-wide intercom, but Shaun was special. It had to be all that manliness he had, that was why the captain liked him.

"Attention, Civilians. Please be aware that suspicious behaviour has been noticed on the Civilian decks. We can assure you that the Crew will be following up on this and we would appreciate your co-operation. If you have any concerns, please see me at the bar. Thank you." That would set the gossip chain in motion. If there was anything to find which the civilians were wary of talking to the captain about, Shaun would find it out.

Almost as soon as he had set the intercom down, the ship gave a huge lurch and then something was wrong. Shaun had been on a ship for long enough to recognise what that something was: the ship had stopped.

There was a reason that Grif didn't drink; the alcohol took effect much too quickly. He had fallen asleep very quickly; only to be woken by a lurch. Grif was thrown to the floor. He got up quickly, only to be thrown down again. Suddenly, the ship was shuddering from impact after impact.

"Adelaide, report!" Grif said automatically. He remembered immediately that this wouldn't work; as Adelaide wasn't on board.

"The sensors are down; but if I had to guess, we just hit a gravity mine. Extensive damage to all decks and ship systems," Adelaide replied. Grif gaped for a moment and was about to say something stupid like, "What are you doing here?" then thought better of it. Instead, he focused on looking at the display in front of him.

It was currently describing how a gravity mine worked. When a ship got close, it would fall towards the ship, then detonate, causing a gravity pulse. This would effectively stop any ship in it's tracks. The devious part was that, in addition to stopping the ship, it would also cause any nearby objects, such as mines and asteroids, to converge to the location of the pulse. Grif frowned at the graphic.

"Any chance we can bring the SPEW Gryphon here?"

"No, the Comm-array took a direct hit and vaporized."

"Engines?"

"Not responsive. They might be destroyed; or perhaps the explosions severed their connection. Pretty much any system near the outer hull took a beating. The good news is that the power plant is intact as is the life support. But weapons, comms, engines, hangers, anything near the outer hull got pummeled."

"Casualties?"

"Unknown. There was a hull breach in at least two locations; anyone in those areas wouldn't have stood much of a chance. What should we do?"

"Our only option is to aid the repairs of this ship in any way we can. I met one of their technicians earlier tonight, I forget her name-" Grif said.

"Lizzy Elett," Adelaide filled in.

"What's her location?"

"She's on the bridge."

"In that case that's where I'm going. I want you to go to the Captain and report yourself as a stowaway, then brief him on his ship. Do your best to keep my name out of this. I trust you can handle any computer safeguards?" Grif said. Adelaide simply smiled and vanished.

Part Two
Δ9:Σ14

Captain Roan Chbosky

"Sir, there've been reports of--"
"Sir, our shields have--"
"Sir, I believe we've hit a grav--"
"It's probably pirates--"
"Sir, about my furlough--"
"The engines, Captain--"

Roan stood perfectly still, admittedly with his knees locked, arms folded behind his back, and watched the streaks of comets outside the bridge's ultraglass frame. He thought about the people aboard his ship, thought of how they had, no doubt, continued on like nothing was wrong; he thought about the lowest level of the ship blown apart upon impact, about how he had been there just a quarter hour before.

"Lieutenant, dismiss all from the bridge but skeleton personnel and engineers."

"But, sir, the reports are flooding--"

"Now, Lieutenant."

Isaac held up a hand and pointed at the extraneous officers flooding the bridge--most of whom hadn't said a word--and ushered them to the door, stopping the engineers beginning with Elett. The door to the bridge slid shut more slowly than normal, and once shut, Isaac typed in the isolation lock codes.

Officers on the bridge all stood as Roan cleared his throat. "The four dozen reports of engine failure are not the only force at work here," he demanded. "Seconds before the engines are reported to have failed, noted as zero nine hundred thirteen hours, the ship experienced a full-stop of motion indicative of an unpolarized gravity field. My strongest educated theory thus far is that we've entered the territory of a band of midspace pirates, most reasonably the Bebop Gang--"

"That is incorrect, Captain Roan."

Each head on the bridge turned to find the all-encompassing voice, but stopped their searching when a blue hologram materialized in the central bridge.

"This last location signal to pass through the now ruptured communications line indicates that the ship is well within government territory, approximately a mere Hyden Week from the entry gate of the Pepsi galaxy."

Roan sucked in a hard breath and blew it from his nostrils. "What are you, and who do you represent? Are you from Grahn's entourage? Or a virus planted by Doctor Smith?"

The hologram shook her head. "I assure you that I am no virus. At first signs of a deadening intergalactic communications network, I gathered all of the vital data from the last moments of the ship's outer network."

Roan looked at the incredulous faces of his subordinates, then nodded. "I will confirm your identity and motives at a later time. For now, you are hereby a member of the Persephone and will aid us in repairs." Roan addressed everyone on the bridge. "Gather the passengers in the mall. I will address their concerns in an open forum. Inform Mister Paladin of our commandeering of his facility for this purpose. Once communications are running, you are to broadcast Protocol Delta Nine Sigma Fourteen."

A beat as he approached the door.

"Location Unknown: Mission Failed."