Working The Starways (Closed for Iscaa)

Still feeling stiff Sive continued on her way to the ship's galley, wondering about how she
could get back at the crew for laughing at her and Jason, ( oh the hell with Jason, he's just
as bad, I will include him too in my little revenge.) Once in the galley, she looked around
at the supplies. There seemed to be plenty of the usual fare, dried meats of all kinds, vegatables,
fruits. Then she spotted the food synthesizer, ( Great, I hope it works) walking over to it,
she noted that it looked fine.

Gazing around Sive thought (A nice stew would be good for a change even though I haven't
cooked for more then two people in my entire life, how hard can it be? Forget the food
synthesizer, I will cook the crew a meal they won't soon forget.)

Looking in the various cabinets she finally came across a huge cooking pot, pulled it out
and started to throw in some of the ingredients she had come across earlier. Being busy
the the next few hours, she was able to forget how sore she was, plus the stew seemed to
be starting to smell pretty good. She kept on tasting it, and throwing some more spices in.
At one point as she was shaking the pepper ( probably more then she should have), she smirked
to herself, when the lid fell into the pot along with a giant amount of pepper. ( OMG )..Grabbing up
the mixing spoon she tried to scoop it out, but there was just no way, it quickly disappeared.

Sive sat down and wondered what she was going to do now. After a few minutes, she
got up again and walked over to the pot, sniffed it, ( OK, it seems to still smell fine,
maybe no one will notice it.) Looking up at the clock, she knew there was no other
option, they would have to eat what she had made. She finished preparing the rest of
the meal, buns and that sort of thing. Then set out the dishes and cutlery for the crew to
come in and help themselves. Now she waited.

Jason spent most of the morning working on the ship. What wasn't broken usually needed preventitive maintenance; what didn't need preventitive maintenance needed monitoring or adjusting. By the time lunch rolled around he was tired. And thirsty.

He thought about skipping lunch, then realized he couldn't hide from the crew forever. They'd see it as weakness, and the teasing he faced would be good-natured enough. So...he drank some water and headed for the common room. He could smell the stew from here and it smelled pretty good. Sive apparently had picked up some domestic skills along the way with everything else.

<tag>

As half the crew filed into the common room, Sive kept an eye on things from the galley.
If anything went wrong she planned to make a quick exit and hide in her room. Now she was
getting nervous, ( I should have tasted it after spilling all that pepper in there, I hope it isn't
too noticeable.) She nibbled on her fingertip as she peaked around the corner of the doorway.

Donny came in first with Zlanta close behind, joking between themselves. Then in came two
others she had not had a chance to talk to yet. They all commented on how the food smelled
looking forward to chowing down. Finally Jason walked in, the comments stopped as they
all looked at him and started to chuckle. One look from him and it stopped suddenly as they
settled down in their places, still glancing at Jason.

Once he had his plate full, he took a drink saw that there was a vacant seat beside Zlanta,
walked over and sat down. She smiled and asked how the systems were working. They
both put their heads together talking shop for a few minutes before getting to their food.

Sive was really nervous by now, ( Oh gods, what if its too spicy? ) , she looked at the exit
again. Suddenly she heard a roar, this was the signal for her to make a run for it, which is
what she did. Whipping off the apron she had been wearing, she threw it on the sink just
before reaching the door. She could hear footsteps behind her, screaming now Sive broke
into a run.

Jason watched Donny take off after the fleeing Sive, grinning. The stew was insanely peppery, but he'd had worse. Oh, he didn't plan on eating any more of this if he didn't need to. They could add to the stew, reduce the peppery taste. Donny on the other hand wasn't much into spicy foods. Jason figured they'd sort it out.

Donny pursued Sive through the corridors. His knowledge of the ship showed very quickly, allowing him to get an arm around her before she could make it to her quarters. He hoisted her over one shoulder easily with an arm used to pushing the large systems of the ship here and there. Marching back to the common room he sat her down at the table, standing behind her to keep her from going anywhere.

"Sylvie, would you please serve Sive a bowl of that...interesting stew? Thank you", said Donny as the stew was served.

Jason watched all this, a small smile playing on his lips. The smile vanished with a thought. Does Sive understand they're treating her like family?

<tag>

As Sive ran down the corridor she took a quick look to find that it was Donny, and he didn't
look too happy. She doubled her efforts, if she could only reach her quarters slam the door
and lock it. Maybe he would cool down with a little time, she could then explain what had
happened. Just as she was nearing her quarters, Donny's arm went around her and before
she knew it, she was hanging over his shoulder on their way back to the common room.

“ Donny, Donny wait, let me explain its all been a terrible mistake, I didn't mean to make
the stew so spicy. You have to believe me. I just wanted to make it a little bit peppery” It
was hard to talk as she was bounced up and down on his shoulder. She continued, “Let me
down and I promise I won't run away, I just want to explain, it was just an accident really
it was.”

He was silent, as he continued to march. Sive could only hang on and try and think of some
way to get out of this predicament. Finally they entered the common room, Donny plunked
her down in a chair asking Sylvie to serve her up a bowl of stew. He then stood behind her
and waited. Sive looked at everyone in the room, no one smiled including Jason. Sylvie filled
a bowl with the offending stew walked over to the table sliding it in front of Sive, then went
back and sat down.

Sive looked down at the stew, then back at everyone. Defiantly she picked up the spoon and
took a big mouthful chewing it while looking at each one. “ See? That wasn't so bad.” All of a
sudden her eyes became huge and she started to cough. “Water...water,” she croaked waving
her hand at her mouth.

Donny feeling a little guilt ran to get the pitcher of water, but still couldn't stop himself from
grinning. Everyone started to laugh. Grabbing the pitcher out of Donny's hand Sive didn't bother
pouring water into a glass, she just started gulping it down straight from the pitcher. Looking
at the water dripping down her chest she joined in the laughter. Wiping her mouth with the
back of her hand she coughed a few more times to clear her throat smiled slightly, “Sorry about
the stew, I could make you all some scrambled eggs instead.”

Jason smiled. She'd taken that like a trooper. "No need, Sive. We've got rice and bread enough to make it more palatable. And this", he looked at the rest of the crew, smiling "is a good reminder to not tease the person cooking your next meal. Now, eat up. We've got a lot to do and we make planetfall in 47 hours."

Matching deed to work Jason gets out the rice they kept on hand for stretching meals. Mixed in with the stew the rice spread out the peppery taste and brought it more within edible standards. The crew settled down and starting eating. No one noticed their passenger in the corridor with a video recording. The eye pointed right at Sive.

<tag>

With a sigh of relief Sive looked at everyone sheepishly. “ Just so you all know, I was going
for just slightly peppery, not melt your brain peppery. I promise to do better for dinner.” Taking
her bowl she walked over to the pot and dumped it in, mixed it up, then ladled herself another
portion. As she went back to her chair, Sive noticed the passenger in the corridor, “ Come join
us”, indicating the chair beside her. Sitting down, she watched him walk over to the table.

When Sive called out to Victor, he quickly put his recording devise away, smiling he walked
into the common room. As he approached the long table, “ I don't think I have been introduced
to most of you here, Victor Victor Orson. Nice little transport ship you have here.” Everyone
nodded as they continued with their meal. They had met plenty of passengers over the years,
and didn't have to need to be overly polite. That would be the steward's job.

Sive looked at him as he sat down next to her. A tall dark man, even though he was smiling,
she got the feeling that something was not quite right about him. Putting on her best dumb act,
she turned to him tilting her head , “ I hope you like the stew I made, sometimes I get a little
carried away with the spices. I hope you like spice”, she batted her eyes at him.

Everyone at the table had their ears wide open now, as they busily consumed their food.

Sive continued flirting as she leaned forward “ So Victor tell me, what brings you to our part
of the galaxy?”

Jason watched Sive work. This was really Zlanta's job, but Sive seemed determined to make her mark. He also wondered what the guy had been doing in the corridor. He either should have been in his quarters (some folks did that, stayed away from the crew) or joined them for the meal. This passenger had been...watching? lurking? Hard to know and that put Jason on edge.

Victor grinned at Sive's flirting. "I'm headed out to the same facility as your cargo. I'm the chap they expect to install all that and make their mine work better. We'll see. A lot of times it's not the equipment but the boys running it that's the problem. What about you, little lady? What's got someone pretty like yourself running with a lot of starjacks? No offense to the crew, I mean, but you're a rare flower and no mistake."

<tag>

Sive pretended to be flattered by Victor's remark, but after 5 years of running she had developed
an instinct for sniffing out trouble. She knew it was Zlanta's job to see to the passengers, but she
had been on her own so long, it was automatic for her to take charge. “These starjacks as you put it,
are my family, been with them for years.” She felt that she had to exaggerate in order to see where
he was headed with his remark. She put on her sweetest smile, “Maybe I can show you around
later on.”

He nodded when she mentioned a tour. “ I'll just get some of that stew,...it smells great.” He
walked over to the side and started to help himself.

Sive immediately looked at Jason, frowned and whispered, “There is something about that guy
that I don't like, just can't put my finger on it.” She looked at Victor as he filled a bowl with stew
and picked up a bun. “I'm going to see if I can draw him out.”

Victor came back a few moments later with his meal, sat down beside Sive and dipped his spoon
into the stew. Tasting it, he looked a little taken aback, looking at Sive he said; “This is great stew,
just like my Mom used to make.” His face was getting a little flushed. Seeing his discomfort, she grinned,
“Why thanks, everyone here loves my spicy stew.” she looked around at everyone giving them a wink,
“Don't you?” Turning back to Victor, “Since I have to leave now, why don't we meet back here say
in about an hour?” Getting up, she smiled warmly down at Victor before sauntering off.

Jason nodded. He'd also open the intercom to the common room while they were in there, though he wouldn't tell Sive that. He'd keep the mike on the bridge muted, but no point in taking chances. They'd both twigged to something hinky about their passenger and that meant being on guard.

He passed the word to Zlanta that the passenger might be trouble. She'd let those of the crew that would be of help in a fight know. They'd be as prepared as they could be. And who knew? Victor might just be weird in some other way having nothing to do with Sive or the Angel. They'd find out soon enough.

On the bridge, Jason heard Victor enter the common room. His boots made a sound distinct from Sive's light footsteps. Fingers drumming absently on the console Jason listened to their conversation.

<tag>

Sive looked up when she heard heavy footsteps, smiling she said, “Hi Victor, glad your on
time. Have a seat, lets get to know one another before I take you on a tour. Oh and if you
want fresh coffee, help yourself.” He replied, “ No thanks, I've had my quota for the day.”
He sat across the table from Sive looking at her as if trying to make up his mind about
something. This put Sive's radar on full alert, she'd been down this road too many times.

“ OK, Victor or whatever your name is, what do you want?” She watched his reaction
carefully. A flash of surprise crossed his features before he could stop it, sitting back now
he acknowledged, “Your a little clever girl aren't you? But of course being on the run for five
years and escaping all our trackers you would have to be. You have met your match now,
Alayna McLeod. Your going to make me a very very rich man.” He leaned back now with
a self satisfied smirk on his face.

Sive sighed, “And how are you going to make that happen here out in space, you really
can't be as clever as you think. I am afraid I won't be going anywhere with you, we will
be dumping you on the nearest planet.” With disgust she moved to stand up, suddenly with
amazing speed he grabbed her wrist pulling her forward across the table.

He whispered, “ Oh you will come with me, and make excuses to your captain that you
changed your mind, and would rather make your way on solid ground. You see I know you
just recently got on this ship as a crew member.” Gritting her teeth she asked, "Why would
I do that?” trying to pull away. With a smug look on his handsome face, he pulled her even closer,
again whispering into her ear, “ Because I will kill everyone on board including your beloved
Captain, if you say one word about it.”

He now let go of her wrist and leaned back, smiling, “Shall we go on that tour you were
telling me about?” Shaken to the core, Sive stood up rubbing her wrist, “ Yeah, sure let's
get going, then I have to get back to my duties.” As they both left the common room, Sive
was desperately trying to think of what she was going to do now.

Jason heard the exchange in the common room with concern, blossoming into rage at Victor's calm assurance that the crew would be easy targets. He flipped the intercom to engineering, telling Donny to check every place Victor had access to for explosives. He reached under the console and pulled out a package he'd thought he'd left behind. Unwrapping it revealed a service pistol, lovingly cared for if not used.

Jason stood and donned his gun belt from the war. It still fit, riding easily on his hips as though he'd worn it just yesterday. Then he headed for the corridor Sive and Victor were in. Zlanta would be making her way around via the emergency access tunnel, but he wasn't sure she'd make it in time. Sive needed help, now.

Jason stepped into the corridor between the bridge and the common room just as Sive and Victor entered. Victor was behind Sive, making any shot difficult at best.

"Stop right there Sive. Victor...odd behavior for a mine expert. Let the girl go."

<tag>

As soon as Victor saw the Captain enter the corridor he grabbed Sive around the throat, “ I don't
think so Captain, I have been searching for this little girl too long to lose her now.” As soon as Sive
felt Victor grab her from behind, she started to struggle against him, to no avail. He was way too
big and strong for her. His arm tightened enough to make it hard for her to breath. It wouldn't be
long before she would lose consciousness. Her hands grasped at his forearm, trying to pull it lose.

Victor eyed Jason, “Make one move and I'll snap her neck like a twig. Now, your going to
take us back to Lacuna , drop both of us off, and I mean both of us. I'm not leaving this ship
without her. I've put way too much time, effort and expense in getting this far.” He looked down at
Sive noticing her struggles were getting weaker by the second. He loosened his hold a fraction,
so she could breath a little. Not that he cared so much, but an unconscious girl would be much
more awkward to maneuver.

Glancing back at Jason, “ Do you have any idea who this little chit of a girl is? And what certain
parties are willing to pay for her delivery?” He laughed now,“ Enough to let me live in comfort for
the rest of my life, anywhere I choose. “Your not going to deprive me of my prize at this late date.
Now move back into the bridge, change those coordinates back to Lacuna where I will have
a ship waiting for us. Try anything funny and you will have one dead girl on your hands.”

He slowly advanced with Sive, keeping his eye on what Jason was doing.

Jason's fingers twitched. The pistol was in his hand pointed at Victor's head in one motion so smooth it seemed to have leapt from the holster into his pointing hand. Jason smiled inwardly at the moment of shock on Victor's face.

"No, I don't think so. That girl's a mighty handy crewmember aboard Tainted Angel and I protect my crew. You even twitch that arm again and I'll make the continents of your face shift and collide. Now listen to how this is going to go.

"You're going to let the girl go, and follow me to your quarters. I'm going to seal the door of your quarters shut until we get to the next stop. I'll let you out 10 minutes before we leave and you'll never hear form us again.

"On the other hand, you can fight this one out. One of three things will happen. You'll kill me and take over the ship. I'll kill you and space your body. Or I'll capture you and space you anyway. So make your choice."

<tag>

As Jason said his peace to Victor, Sive could feel his body tense up, including the arm he had
around her neck. She started to gasp for air again, dots were swimming in front of her eyes. As
she slipped into unconsciousness, her last thoughts were, ( Oh gods, look what I have brought
down on the Angel!), her body started to go limp and fall.

As Sive's unconcious form sagged Jason fired, hitting Victor in the shoulder and spinning him away from her. Jason stepped over Sive to make sure Victor was unarmed only to have Zlanta drop out of the airvent further down the corridor.

"Zlanta! You and Donny get this guy into restraints, then search the ship. He seemed to think he could kill us all and I'd like to know why. Get the rest of the crew involved. Wake up the off-shift and have them help."

Jason stepped back to Sive, and once he knew she was breathing started rubbing her arms and face to increase circulation. "C'mon, Sive, lovely. Time to wake up. It's over for now, honey, wake up please..." Murmuring softly he continued until she stirred.

<tag>

“ Ohhhh” Sive moaned as her hand reached up to her throat. After a few seconds she moaned
again croaking,“ What happened, where is that creep Victor?” Then suddenly she was remembered,

“Is everyone OK? He threatened to kill everyone on board, You have to stop him.” Looking
up at Jason her voiced again croaked, “ Jason, look at all the trouble I have caused, I should never
have come on board. They are never going to stop looking for me.” She kept rubbing her bruised
throat, tears forming in her eyes.

Sitting up, Sive looked around and saw some blood on the deck floor she continured, “Good you got
the bastard! I hope you didn't kill him, we have to find out how he tracked me and if anyone else
knows where I am.” Now her temper was taking over, “ I want to question him, ...just wait til I get
my hands on him, he'll be so sorry.” She struggled to get up now, fueled by her raising temper.

"Here give me a hand and take me to him now, I have to get this sorted out as soon as possible,
he threatened to kill everyone, I have no idea if his threats were real or not, but I must find out!

Looking up at Jason, she then asked, “Your not hurt are you?” Her emotions were all over the place,
she was clearly in shock.

"Easy, Sive, calm down. Zlanta and Donny are dealing with Victor, and the crew is searching the ship for any signs of tampering. I'm not hurt, Victor took a slug to the shoulder, and your throat is coming up all bruises. You are going to stay right here until you calm down, then you're coming with me to tend to your throat. Maybe, once that's all done, just maybe you can have a crack at Victor.

"As for the trouble? We've been in scrapes before. This isn't our first orbit by any stretch. If you weren't aboard here how would you have dealt with him? Better to have friends willing to help than try to be a loner in times like this.

"Now, if you're ready, I'll help you up and over to the med-cabinet for a diagnosis."

Jason offered his hands and helped her to her (as yet) wobbly feet.

<tag>

Sive looked up at Jason, condsidering what he just told her,

“OK, your right, take me to the med-cabinet, I know some pain killer would feel pretty good right now. Then let me at that horrible man.” As she got up she leaned heavily on Jason, “Once we get some answers, what are you going to do with Victor? I know he is scum, but, maybe we could just dump him on some rock in the middle of nowhere, what do you think? That is , if he isn't in partnership with anyone, he won't have a chance to find me again. I really thought after we got rid of the tracker in my pendent I was safe from this kind of thing.

As they slowly travelled down the corridor, Sive continued speaking in a rough voice,

“I suppose I have been pretty lucky these last 5 years, but I knew it was only a matter of time before someone got their mitts on me. Usually on a planet, I was been able to change my outer appearance, and slip away through some back door. You know maybe I could fake my death, and then these hunters will find someone else to chase.”

She sighed and gently rubbed her throat again coughing,“ I need some meds, my throat is
starting to swell up a bit, as well as hurt like hell now.”

When they got to the med-cabinet, Sive quickly got the hypo spray out, inserted the meds,
she needed. Opening her vest she handed Jason the devise, “Here put it directly in this vein,”
she waited while he finished. Within seconds, she could feel the pain decrease, sighing now
Sive looked at Jason, “That was a pretty dreadful situation we went through. But I am starting
to feel like I can handle a little questioning now. By the way you did say you shot him in the
shoulder didn't you? Let me get some supplies then let's go pay visit to Victor.”

Jason holds up a hand. "We're not going anyway near him until we get word back from the crew about the search. Donny's going over Angel with a fine-toothed comb and we're going to sit tight until he reports to us. Zlanta's got Victor in the airlock right now. One button push and he goes for a very long walk with no oxygen. She's not talking to him or letting him talk. Nice when you can turn the volume off on the intercom." Jason grins coldly.

"As for you, you are going to my quarters and taking a nap. I will be on the bridge, and if anything happens I will get you immediately, clear?" He looked at her, face somber. "You are hurt, you are not used to violence as a solution, and I'm not going to risk losing you. Understood?"

<tag>

“But...but...”Sive looked at Jason sighed and then gave in. “OK, your the captain after all. Just as
she is about to leave she glances back frowning, “Do you always get your way?” Without waiting
for an answer she continues on. ( I hate to admit it but I could use a little rest, the drugs must
be affecting me.)

As she walks down the corridor, Sive wonders if she would get away with having a quick peek
at Victor in the airlock. But then realizes, ( If Jason found out I didn't go straight to his quarters,
he would probably skin me alive, he is a bossy kind of man.) She chuckles to herself.

Arriving at Jason's quarters, Sive enters and closes the hatch behind her. This is one place she
could relax and feel safe. Sighing, she walked over to the small mirror on the wall and looked at
her reflection. Her face looked pale and her neck was somewhat red, but the swelling was under
control thanks to the injection Jason gave her. Looking at his bed, she all of a sudden felt a
great need to sleep, shedding her tight fitting cloths as she walked over, lastly undoing her
dark brown hair letting it loosely fall down her back. Sive slipped under the sheets thinking of
her life only five years ago. How she looked so different then she did now, as she drifted off
to sleep her mind was still focused on her real image.

Her body started to shimmer and change, her eyes became grey, her hair turned a rich auburn,
skin lightened up and had lots of freckles. Her facial features changed as well. Within minutes
Sive had disappeared and Alayna lay in Jason's bed.

Jason watched as Sive left, knowing she needed the rest. He also wanted her to one side in case they found something...tricky. She had enough on her plate. Worrying about something she could'nt change wouldn't help. Jason clicked the intercom. "Donny, anything yet?"

"No, sir. I'm just going back through Engineering now. No sign of a transmitter or explosives package. Zlanta's got our guest in the airlock still. Want to ask him?"

"I'll do that. Let me know when you've been over the whole ship. Captain out." Jason arose and walked down to the smaller airlock. Zlanta stood there with a riot gun, just in case. In the box-like lock Jason could see 'Victor' slumped against the far wall, there not being enough room to truly lie down. Jason flicked the intercom button for the airlock.

"Alright, 'Victor'. We're searching the ship as you and I talk. You're in a spot where any transmission you might send is going to be hard to send, either into the ship or out into space. You've lost a fair bit of blood, and we have an actual doctor aboard, as you seem to know. So. Tell me how this was supposed to be so easy for you. Walk me through your plan and we'll get you patched up. We'll drop you on the next planet just like your ticket says...though it won't quite be where that ticket says. Or you can be stubborn. In which case I crack the airlock open.

"Tell me the plan, 'Victor'."

Victor

Victor looked up at the small window, he grimaced in pain. “OK, I see I have no choice but to
tell you what I know. I was contacted about a year ago, it was anonymous, my instructions were
always anonymous.” He shook his head slightly before continuing, “Anyways the instructions
were to find the girl, and I would be so handsomely paid that I would never have to work again.
All I was told was that she was a master of disguise and was on the run. The few details I was
given was that she was a research scientist that had stolen some data that didn't belong to her.
Then I got her physical description and a photo.” He scowled, “And let me tell you she is a
master of disguise, I have never seen anything like it.”

He shifted his position to get more comfortable. “I am the best in my field, a tracker by
profession. Anyways, I have been after her for the past year, you know she is quite a unusual
girl, I have never come across someone that could evade me for so long. I still haven't figured
out how she does it.” He shook his head again, “Just when I think I had her, she would simply
disappear and I would have to start all over again. But she always left enough small clues
for me to follow,” looking at Jason, “ Yes, I am that good at tracking, so it was only a matter of
time before I caught her. Then all I had to do was contact my employers and they would come
around pick her up quickly, put the credits in my account and that was to be it.”

He tried to straighten up but the pain and loss of blood was taking it's toll, he slumped down
again. Closing his eyes for a few seconds, he took a deep breath, “ As for threatening everyone
on board, there is no explosive devise, I just said that to get her to cooperate with me. I may
be a tracker but I am no killer.” Looking Jason in the eyes he said,”So what are you going to
do with me now?”

Jason looked at him, then nodded. "I'm going to treat you like a dog that bit me, Victor. I'm going to have Zlanta here let you out of the airlock and we're going to move to the med-cabinet. Sive's going to patch you up, then you're getting locked in your quarters. We make landfall in about 18 hours. Once we're ready to lift, we'll dump you off somewhere remote enough that it'll take a day or two to hike out. And we'll call it quits.

"Unless you decide to fight us. I'm just as happy to space you, and have my log show that you attacked one of my crew and we had to space you to protect the ship. So, your choice actually. Easy or hard, how are you going to go?"

<tag>

Victor

Victor looked up at Jason, defeat in his face. “OK, you win, I know when to cut my loses, this
is one of the few times I'm willing to walk away from my prize.” Looking around , his expression
changed, thinking to salvage something he added, “ Do you really know how valuable your little crew
member is? If we played our cards right we could both end up a great deal richer. You could
probably get this ship overhauled like you've always dreamed of, or hell, get yourself a new ship.”

His eyes never left Jason's eyes as he waited for him to think about his proposition. He shifted
again trying to get more comfortable. “All you have to do is say the word.” Victor waited for
an answer, “Come on it would be so easy and you never have to worry about money ever again,
what do you say....join me?”

Still looking at Jason, he tried to straighten up but found he was getting weaker by the second.
He reached up to try to stop the blood flow but only managed to lift his hand up half way before
dropping it down again. As he slipped into unconsciousness his body slumped down to the floor.