Precious

Chapter 11 - Myself

A few twists and clanks to the engines should keep them working. It still made me wonder why the General used a clunky transport ship to carry the professor's stuff. You'd think they'd be more careful. "And this engine needs some more oil... Geez... Wouldn't they at least send a decent ship for us?"

"Well, the Defense Force lost so much since the Anglar attack," Slippy told me, twisting some loose bolts and pouring some high-density oil at some of the pipes, "so I don't think we'll be having good quality ships. Although I do agree that they should've had given us a well-fixed one! The engines here would collapse if not monitored and maintained within 24 hours!"

Agreed. While I wasn't much of a genius like the frog, I could easily tell that smoking engines, dirty exterior, messy pipes and even odd sounds meant that the ship could easily blow up or lose power without someone looking after them. "Awww..." My shirt was now messy! The stains were quite hard to remove, that laundry was the only option for it to be cleaned. I took my shirt off, only to have my fur get messed up as well. "How stupid of me!" Well, a nice shower later should clean my fur.

I stood up and grabbed the nearest towel. Even with my dark fur, the stains stood out. "Yeah... fur and oil don't match," Slippy commented. Yeah, I had to wash these stains off later. "I wonder how it feels like. I only have moist skin, so oil doesn't stick so much." I laughed. It must be really fun with moist skin not to get messy, but then again not too many were keen with it.

I rubbed the towel around my face and commented, "It feels really, really annoying and like a-"

Whoa! Who the heck was that?

"Umph!"

Krystal! "Oh... sorry... sorry!" Oh my... I just messed her clothes! "I should have been careful!" Her arms were also stained! "I'm really sorry!"

"Tee-hee! It's okay, Panther," she chuckled as if she didn't mind at all. "Just some mess that could be cleaned up with a nice bath. Nothing too much to worry about." She peeked over my shoulder, seeing the restless engine. "So... how are they doing?"

"Worse since yesterday," the frog answered. "These engines weren't really much damaged from the attack yesterday. Judging by the condition of these things, they have been like this since we boarded the ship."

"Oh my," she suddenly replied with a worried tone, "what if something bad happens?"

"Well," I coughed for a bit, hoping not to worry her much, "Slippy and I will try to keep the engines working every day. This ship doesn't have emergency pods or our fighters so..." She was giving a distressed look. "...umm... with that in mind, we will definitely do our best to keep this thing alive for the rest of the trip." She smiled for a bit.

"Never seen you handle machines before, Panther," she asked me with a curious look. I blushed for a bit, because I had never seen people actually becoming curious about me. "Even when I was in your group I haven't seen you work so well with machinery outside the fighter ships."

"Yeah, me too!" Slippy suddenly added. "You're quite good."

I coughed for a bit, smiling at a small opportunity to shine. "Well... My pops was a mechanic. When my mom was away, I usually spend my time with him when he was fixing stuff. When mom died," I coughed again and closed my eyes, seeing Krystal nodding for a bit, "pops became sickly. I had to do his work, tinkering stuff, so I had learned how to man-handle engines." My dad had died soon though, and I had to live a life as a renegade if I had to live. Without my knowledge for mechanics I wouldn't last long in the dangerous life of a mercenary.

"Ah, that's good to hear," she smiled again. "Maybe you should teach me some time while we're around the ship."

I blushed a bit more. I would want to teach her, but I respected her decision to stay with Fox. I was never a man who would break his oath when opportunity arose. "Err... why not Slippy?" I pointed the frog. "He's in your team, and he knows a lot more than me." I could hear the frog laugh.

"Nah, I am not much a good teacher," he laughed, "and well... I have a tendency to speak... umm... 'gibberish' or 'technical'. I doubt Krystal would understand me when I talk like a boring professor! Eh... no offense, of course!"

"None taken," she giggled. "So, what do you think?"

"What about Fox?" I again responded. It was not like I was rejecting her. It was just that as a gentleman, I wanted to show respect to Krystal's decision. If we were seen together, she would be viewed in a negative light.

She sighed for a bit before shaking his head. "Well, Fox hasn't spent much time with me," she spoke back. "He's too focused in our jobs." I wanted to tell her that Fox was just worried about the whole team in general, but she placed her fingers onto my lips. "I know. I know. But still... it felt like he was distancing from me. And now, here, he's more focused at the mission and well... to Wolf." I didn't have to hear that last statement. I already heard Leon's confusion, and now Fox's? "He seems to be too busy these days."

"Well, you should try to understand him," I nodded. "D-don't think I am pushing you away though. I'm just respecting your decision, that's all."

"Don't worry," she smiled again. She was looking at me with a quite distinct face - as if she was really enjoying my company. "You're... you're really messy!"

"And that's what you get for bumping into me!" I laughed, wiping off the mess on her snout. Unfortunately it just spread instead of vanishing. "Oops."

She giggled. I liked it when she made a happy face.

"Hey... um... Panther?" I startled when the frog said that.

Whoops, I nearly forgot. Maintenance wasn't finished yet. "Oh... um... I have to resume maintenance work, Krystal. Sorry."

"Nah, I don't mind. I'll just watch."

Normally I wouldn't mind if females would watch me perform physical tasks while being shirtless, but I felt a bit of embarrassed in front of Krystal. Maybe it was because I didn't want to look weird or funny in front of her. I still couldn't understand it though. I had already given up on my affection towards her. I still loved her, but... I had already made my word.

"Whew... that should do it for now."

"Say, why won't you two have some nice frosted dessert? There are some fruits at the kitchen and some ice cubes we could crush. You guys deserve some nice break after all."

"Good idea!" the frog croaked.

I decided to wipe myself off with any dust. While doing that though, I thought I heard something. It was some sort of buzzing, grinding sound. It was soon making thundering noises. "Uh... Slippy?"

"Oh my... I never heard the engines make a noise like that!" he explained, grabbing a wrench and looking at the engines. "Pressure build-up! Maybe we should loosen some of these bolts."

Loud banging noises from the pipes... grinding noises... This machine... I think it runs on a high-capacity core, but the engines are of low quality. They couldn't handle the power... Oh my, the pressure would be dangerous!

"Slippy, get out!"

I pulled the frog out of the engine, but he accidentally twisted the bolt, loosening it. A strong force blasted me off of my feet. "GAH!" I shouted. The pain! It was piercing! My entire left side was burning with pain! I could feel my blood spewing out from my arm! "UGH!" I couldn't breathe well. The pain! The pain!

"Krystal, call help! I'll try to stabilize the engine!"

Voices... fainting...

"What? What's the matter?"

Vision... fading...

"Oh my... Hurry, bring him into the sick bay!"

Pain... slowly... dying...

"Panther? What's happening? Pan..."

I closed my eyes. It felt like I was vanishing. It felt like I was escaping consciousness.