Note: Collaboration with Strawberry-Chappy Forever

Chapter 2 - Several Bombs Drop

Wallace was a surprisingly good navigator, despite his considerable bulk and frightening demeanor. His rough fingers charted our path with a practiced ease, and I began to trust him a bit more. After all, anyone who could navigate like that couldn't be all bad, could he? I could tell that Grey was nervous about the big man, but the girls didn't appear to mind his presence at all. Kate chatted away to him about possibly every topic known to man, and he just nodded and grunted in agreement every once in a while. I don't think Maxine took notice of him at all.

In almost no time at all, the land was no longer in sight. The sun was just trying to push its way above the horizon, turning the clouds all shades of pink and orange. Of course, it wasn't anywhere near as wonderful as the night sky, but the view was still breathtaking. Looking out the window of the control room, Kate gasped in awe.

"Have you ever seen such a beautiful sky?" she asked.

I simply smiled and kept my eyes on the monitors. I'd seen better, but I didn't want to spoil her fun. Grey shared Kate's look of wonderment, and even Wallace looked out over the ocean with an expression that wasn't nearly so sour as usual. Maxine, however, didn't even glance up from the small pocket watch she was digging through with a screwdriver, some odd looking aviator's goggles plastered over her eyes. The girl's fingers were amazingly nimble as she fixed the old watch. I leaned over to watch her, still keeping one eye on the dials. When she finished fitting the gears back into the watch, she snapped the back of it shut, and reinserted a tiny screw that had held it in place. She looked over towards Wallace.

"I fixed your watch." she said, holding out the timepiece. Just as she stepped forward to hand it to him, the newly greased watch slipped from her slender fingers. She made a wild grab, but missed, and it clattered to the floor. Falling to her knees, Maxine began to search the floor with her hands, seeking out the watch. I knelt behind her, and picked up the watch from where it had landed. Hearing the chain tinkle, she spun around.

I handed it to her, saying, "Can't see much through those glasses, huh?" The glasses were tinted a very vivid shade of green, and scratched in places. She ducked her head, embarrassed, some of her short reddish hair falling from the thong she had pulled it back in.

"S-sorry." she muttered, and turned to hand the watch to its rightful owner.

Wallace took the watch in his hand and twisted the stem. A quiet ticking noise filled the cabin. "Good job." he rumbled, patting the girl on the head, nearly enveloping it in his enormous palm. This earned a small, embarrassed smile from the girl. Just as I was turning back to my dials, I glanced back at Maxine. There was something somewhat odd about the girl. Then it hit me. But, I couldn't say anything there, and I didn't want to frighten her, especially in front of the others.

After a while Maxine got up from her chair, muttered something about the bathroom, and left the control car. I hesitated. This might look odd to the others. After acting casual for a minute, I told Grey to 'Watch the instruments for me. I'll be right back.' He didn't question it at all. I slipped out the door, closing it behind me quietly. I strode down the hallway at a brisk pace, making my way towards the head.

Just outside the door, I held back, waiting for her. When she emerged from the room, she stopped, and turned slightly towards me, frowning. Then she turned back to the hallway and began to make her way back to the stern.

I cleared my throat nervously. "Maxine." The girl stopped dead in her tracks. Slowly, she faced me. I saw the look on her face that she was trying to control. She was afraid of something. Of me. "Max." I coaxed, using the nickname that Grey and Kate called her, hoping to sound more friendly. Her shoulders relaxed a bit, but only a bit.

I took half a step forward. She slid back, butting up against a wall.

"Max," I said, "I'm your captain. You don't need to be afraid of me." A look of misery crossed her face before she controlled it. In the odd light of the corridor, I could see partially through her goggles. Her eyes were scared and unfocused. From what I could tell, they were a cloudy blue color. "Max," I asked in a serious tone. "Are you blind?"

The teenage girl slumped against the wall. "I-I..." She couldn't get the words out. I saw the expression on her face, and knew what she was feeling. It was the same feeling that I had felt when I had come in as second choice for one of the first astralnauts. Her dreams were all being ripped away from her.

"It's okay." I said gently.

"Wh-what?" stammered Max, uncomprehending.

I placed my hand on the girl's shoulder. "I said, 'It's okay.'. I still want you as a part of my crew."

"But-" she sniffled, "but I'll only get in the way."

"No, you won't." I told her, "I've seen your skill level. And it's amazing. That pocket watch you fixed ran perfectly." Pulling a handkerchief from my pocket, and held it out to her, then remembered the she couldn't see it, and pressed it into her hand.

She slipped off the tinted goggles and wiped her eyes. "You really still want me?"

"Of course I do! Besides, if we had to backtrack to leave you back in Lionsgate the trip would take longer, and Kate would probably kill me." I joked.

Max cracked a smile. "Okay."

When we arrived back at the control car, I knew that Grey, as well as Kate could tell what had happened. Max went immediately to the back of the room and busied herself with a piece of machinery she fished from her belt pouch, oblivious to the stares of the others.

"So..." I accused, "You knew too."

"Yes." She acknowledged, looking downward. "But it was a good thing. You wouldn't have let her on otherwise."

"I would have!" I insisted. "I really would have!"

Kate rolled her eyes dramatically. "Sure you would have."

Wallace didn't seem at all surprised by the events.

"Did YOU know too?" I inquired in exasperation.

"I guessed." he grunted. "She has blind person's hands."

I surveyed my traitorous crew. "Is there anything else I should know? Flat feet, hangnails..."

"Well..." said Kate.

That stopped me. I had meant it as a joke.

"Matt." Kat said, taking both my hands in hers. She was trembling slightly, and had a semi-anxious, but almost happy look about her.

No. Oh no. Definitely not.

"Matt, I'm pregnant." said my wife.