Disclaimer same as last time, nothing but Shirley is mine.
THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH
Chapter 2
"Hurry up, Marv!"
The Commander grabbed a spare rag and made his way to the window where Shirley was waiting. He balanced the rag between the two paint cans.
"I would prefer to be called by my title." He complained, setting down the paint. Shirley threw an old white gown at him.
"So would I." She retorted, hoisting a paint can onto the ladder.
"But," Marvin fumbled with the gown for a moment. "Your title is 'Esteemed but not as esteemed as the Head of the Department for the Study and capture of Non-Planet entities, said department's second in command."
Shirley grinned. "Yep. But thats not the point."
"I should think it was, if you felt the need to bring it up. I am NOT wearing this."
Shirley glanced down from the top of the ladder. "Oh yes you are! It's to protect you from paint spills."
"But it has lace and frills!"
Shirley made no answer, climbing down to get the second paint can.
"And why are we doing
this again? For fun?"
"Yep! Back in the old days
earthlings actually used to do things manually, and with very little
purpose. For fun, to be exact."
Marvin stuffed the gown over his armor. "This was their idea of fun? Are you sure the Head of the Department didnt just sneak away because of you?"
Shirley laughed. "Looking good, Commander."
Marvin felt himself blush. "I suppose you have to find some way to occupy yourself without help from Centaurions."
He walked over and picked up a pallete of paint. "What do I do with this?"
Shirley studied him for a moment, before breaking up into laughter.
"What?" Marvin asked, confused.
"You- You only came here because you're crushing on the Queen!"
Marvin's eyes narrowed. "Never mind, I found out what to do with it."
He threw the blue paint all over Shirley.
She made a strange squeaking noise, before bumping the ladder, sending the red paint down all over him.
"Ha! You just admitted it!"
"I didn't say a thing!" Marvin countered, throwing the last of the red paint at her.
"Oh, now youre asking for it!" Shirley giggled. She threw a hand up into the air, getting even more paint on him.
But he wasnt worried about that. There were much bigger things to worry about. He remembered in a flash how the department had managed to catch most of their species for study-Shirley's mastery of telekinesis.
He squeaked as three paint cans hurled towards him ominously.
The Queen walked down the hall. Every so often, when it was silent enough, she thought she heard a voice.
For the first few times, she had called out, thinking someone was talking in another room. But the voice persisted.
She ran back to the control panel. Immediately the voice was drowned out by the buzzing of activity.
For a moment, she looked at the display screens, but couldn't concentrate.
She knew the voice was still there. It wanted her to go back out into the silence. She cast a longing look at the door, before yanking her eyes away forcefully. She could hold out now, but not forever.
Marvin sat in a puddle of paint, a deep murky brown from all the blending of colors. He looked down at his now-grey gown.
"So much this did for keeping the paint stains off." He sighed.
Shirley looked at him, immersed in her own pudlle, and burst out laughing again.
He looked up, half irritated, half amused.
A sudden image came up on
the windshield. Two martians peered into the messy room.
"Shirley?
You in there?"
Shirley stood up. "Yeah. Hi guys. Whats up?"
Marvin stood up as well, hoping the audience wouldnt notice him. They did.
"Who's that, Shirl?" The girl asked.
"That is Commander X-2. The Queen persuaded him to come help me since the dissapearance of the Head of Department."
"Bet it didn't take much persuasion." The male said.
"Did you milk it for all it was worth?" The female grinned.
Marvin grew hot again, a sure sign that he was blushing.
"Just how many people know about that!"
"Calm down, Commander. It's actually a good thing you're here. Shirley will need your help on this one."
Marvin stepped out of the shower, and almost ran into Shirley, who was coming out of her own.
He looked up at her elegant figure partially hidden behind a towel, and quickly looked away.
Shirley ran a hand through her once again purple hair. "That felt good.."
"Wow. A female who showers quickly. It's a surprise, considering everything else on this ship is still stuck in the last century."
Shirley shrugged. "Well, it keeps out the ghosts."
"Ghosts!" Marvin was at full attention.
"Calm down, we only get honest to goodness ghosts every once in a while. I'm talking about the energy beings who inhabit computers and wipe the harddrives. Of course, we do get a few gremlins every once in a while..."
Shirley began to walk away. Marvin stared after her. He thought she was kidding about the gremlins, but it was hard to tell.
An hour later they had cleaned up the ship, and Marvin was quite thankful for the technology Shirley did have, which didn't force him to clean the floor manually, as he had at first thought. After getting clearance from the Queen, they were off.
Shirley was a bit distracted during the drive, and eventually turned to meet him face on.
"Did the Queen seem a bit...off...to you?"
Marvin thought for a moment. "Now that you mention it, she did..."
Shirley frowned, but said nothing.
A few minutes later, she
tossed a change of clothes at him, still brooding. He eyed them
suspiciously after the last clothing item she had given him had
turned out to be that horrid gown.
"You have to blend in. As
best you can. And we're going to need clearance."
She
flipped on a monitor screen. The Cadet's smiling face came into view.
"Ah, Sh-Sh-Shirley. How N-n-nice of you to have c-come."
Marvin paled. "Wait a minute! We're not gong where I think we're going!"
Shirley sighed, then grinned again. "Yes, Commander. Earth."
