I finally got my 100th review from. . . WaffleKitty! Thanks, Waffle! *bows*
*****
"Alright, men, this is going to be tricky," Amelia instructed the three 'crew members'
reluctantly. Hardly a crew at all. A minor, her well-meaning but ultimately clumsy husband, and
a convicted criminal. Lovely. She looked about the gaggle of half-adequate men and then out at
the etherium. She'd formulated a small plan in her mind. It was all she could come up with, given
the time constraints and the pressing situation. They were twenty minutes away from the
godforsaken little building that now housed two thoroughly irate guards and one young cadet
whom she was responsible for. It was soon to contain a good four of five more officials. Trained
officials. Skilled, tra- well, perhaps not *that* skilled, but certainly better than Delbert or his
nephew. The pirate might be a match for them, but there were no guarantees in this sort of-
"Beggin' yer pardon, Cap'n, but, eh. . . yeh wanted us all here fer a reason?"
Amelia frowned slightly, then looked back to Silver. Yes, she had called them together.
Her plan wasn't the best, but it would have to do. Her plan was simple, really. But it required
another fast escape. The four or five guards that would come were sure to be followed by one or
two more. At least. It was important that the Volitant be long gone by the time those others
arrived. Who knew what artillery they might bring with them? She sighed and started addressing
the group again.
"Like I said, this is going to be tricky. We're going to have to intercept several. . . parties,
in the space of just several moments. One or two at the most."
Doppler fidgeted nervously. "Intercept several parties? Amelia, d- er, Captain, that may
be a bit more difficult for me- eh, Aaron, than it seems."
"Hey!"
"Shh!" hissed Doppler to Aaron. Aaron began to protest, but Doppler looked back to
Amelia and cut off the boy with a forced laugh. The feline-like captain was not amused.
"Would you prefer Mr. Hawkins stay in that cell?" She quirked a skeptical eyebrow at
him. He looked shocked for a moment at how blunt the question was. Silver used the opportunity
to cut in with his response.
"Jimbo ain't rottin' in no grimy jailhouse!" He took a defensive step towards Amelia. Her
ears lifted at his sudden speaking up. He hadn't spoken directly to her for nearly two years. And
the last time he'd done it, he'd been yelling at her to 'get this blasted heap turned 'round'. She
still got a defensive feeling every time she thought of him calling her Legacy a 'blasted heap', but
now wasn't the time to get angry at a man that was easily four times her weight and probably a
good three times her size. Of course, she wouldn't dare show her apprehension at such things.
Delbert and the boy would see it and immediately surrender to the brute.
Brute? Amelia shook her head. This was the man that she had willingly come to save.
He'd spared young Hawkins' life several times. Saved it, even. And she was so presumptuous as
to think him a brute? Well, he was rather- She shook her head again and nodded to the cyborg.
"Right you are, Mr. Silver." She decided that she could chance an approving (though gruff)
smile at him. It turned into a smirk at his shocked expression and she turned back to the helm.
"We'll be arriving shortly. Doctor, you are to use your exemplary skill with firearms-" ("Not all
that exempl'ry. . ." muttered Silver) "-to stop the incoming authorities."
Doppler recoiled involuntarily. "Ame- er, Captain, I could never bring myself to ki-"
"Don't be ridiculous, Doctor, I mean only for you to fire in such a pattern as would keep
them at bay, so to speak. Mr. Silver and myself will assure that they stay out of the way," Amelia
instructed as she kept facing forward at the helm. Aaron stared at the back of her head curiously,
wondering just what she had in mind. Silver, however, grinned.
"Ah, savin' the good work fer th' man that can *really* get the job done, Cap'n?" He
winked at her, grinning slyly, but instantly wiped the look off his face. She'd turned around,
glaring at him once more. She derived some satisfaction from the fact that his eyes flickered
unsurely for just a moment. "Eh, I were on'y foolin'. . ."
"I'm sure," she said skeptically. Doppler smirked at Silver as Amelia turned back around
and instantly assumed a much more authoritative tone in her voice. "You and I will render the
superfluous officers unconscious - gently - secure their limbs to prevent escape, and lock them up
in their on ships, respectively. If there is only one ship, then so much the better. We are not to
harm any of them in any way. Am I perfectly clear?"
She turned her head around slightly to see Silver nod reluctantly. "Aye. . . Cap'n."
"Excellent." She nodded once back to him. "Now, this is going to be rather different than
our last rescue attempt, despite the last's. . . partial success." She paused while working the helm
and readjusting her footing - you had a tendency to slip backwards slowly without even realizing
it when the Volitant was going at full speed. "This is going to be difficult. We'll need to find
three of the incoming authorities with rather. . . specific sizes. . . ."
***
Jim was lying face-down on the putrid bed, arms covering the back of his neck
defensively. Would've been his head, but he didn't want to touch that gash that the guard had left
him. He probably looked like a ten-year-old in a meteor shower drill, but he was not inclined to
GIVE A DAMN. He gritted his teeth and fought back the tears that threatened to spill out of his
closely-guarded eyes. Your eyes gave away everything, if you let them. Jim had, thus far, been
good at hiding his emotions. But you can't hide crying. And you can't cry if you want to be taken
seriously. Not unless it was someone you really trusted. Like your mom, or your. . . or your dad.
Jim sniffled reluctantly. He could hardly believe it, but right now. . . right now he missed
Leland Hawkins. He didn't hate him. Not now. He just missed him. He was a scared kid, and he
missed his dad.
The sound of sirens became clearer and clearer as they approached the small building, but
James Pleiades Hawkins, survivor of a supernova, a black hole, a pirate mutiny, and an exploding
planet barely noticed. He was crying into his mattress because he missed his dad.
***
"Gettin' there soon?"
"Yeah, just shut up for a while, alright? Jeez. . ."
"Alright, alright. . ." Reanning flicked at a tassel on his uniform, bored out of his mind.
They had been called in to some stupid assignment to pick up some. . . kid. The damned idiots at
post 51-C had been so proud that they'd caught the shrimp, too. It was a teenaged kid, for Flint's
sake! Those guys had always been morons. He shook his head and sighed. "Kid was probably
just visiting that pirate they were keepin' out there. . . wanted to tell his friends a story. . ."
***
"We haven't heard from them. . . haven't heard a REPORT of them. . . haven't gotten a
LETTER from them. . ." Sarah Hawkins scrubbed at the pot that she was currently at work on
with clenched teeth. She had continually been scrubbing harder and harder as she talked to
herself. She looked down at the pot and realized that she'd been washing the same one for a good
twenty minutes. It was immaculately spotless. Sarah sighed and dropped it back into the sudsy
water, wiping her hands on her apron as she turned back to look at the dark dining room. It was
late, and the only moving thing she saw was B.E.N., moving around the room as he swept up the
food that had somehow found its way to the floor. He looked up from his work.
"Somethin' eattin' at ya, Mrs. H?" His blue eyes glowed from the dimly-lit room. He was
standing by the window, sweeping up near the table that Delbert had sat at so much. Delbert and
Amelia and their children (who were currently upstairs, asleep). Sarah rubbed the back of her
neck and looked around the room, remembering that day that the constables had walked in the
door for the who-knew-how-many?-eth time, and stepped aside. . . and Jim had been there, in his
uniform. Changed, but still the same. All grown-up, but still her little boy. She wiped at her face
with the heel of her hand, knowing how B.E.N. got when he saw her cry.
"No, B.E.N., no. I'm fine. I was just thinking about Jim, and. . . I'm fine." She sniffled,
blew her nose into her apron, and turned away. B.E.N. frowned slightly and walked over, his
gears squeaking slightly in want of oil.
"Aww, Mrs. H, Jimmy's okay! Jimmy and Doc and Cap'n!" He grinned shakily, but
Sarah kept her back to him, head down, as she worked at the dishes. B.E.N. returned to his frown
for a moment, then put a hand on her shoulder. "Uh. . . don't worry, Mrs. H. . . s'okay. . ." His
glowing, blue eyes widened when Sarah suddenly turned, threw her arms around his neck for
support, and began sobbing into his shoulder.
***
"Alright. Everyone clear?" Amelia looked around at the three. Doppler and Aaron
nodded, and Silver added his own 'aye'. Amelia nodded approvingly to the lot and took a deep
breath. The Volitant was a moment's distance from the prison once more. As the came up,
Amelia sighed with relief as she saw that there were neither guards outside nor additional
reinforcements on the small dock. They'd been fast enough. More likely than not, though, just
barely. She pulled the Volitant into the dock.
"Alright. Young Doppler, you know where you are to stay?"
Aaron nodded, keeping his eyes on the deck. He was a little more than 'pretty upset' that
he didn't get to go back into the prison and rub this in that guard's face. "Yeah, I stay on the ship,
hidden, until I get the signal, when I start powering up the solar sails and get the thrusters ready
to go. I know, I know. . ."
"Very good. Now, gentlemen. . ." She looked at Doppler and Silver, who both
surprisingly straightened up when she addressed them. She looked to the dock and executed a
polite 'after-you' motion, a small smirk on her face. Doppler and Silver glanced at each other in a
moment of companionship in their embarrassment, and turned to head down the gangplank
quickly. Amelia noted Silver's cybernetic arm revolving into a flintlock and nodded again. The
man did have some brains about him, that was certain. She laughed a bit in surprise when she
noticed Delbert pulling a flintlock of his own out of one of the inner pockets of his coat. She'd
underestimated her dear husband, it seemed. She leapt lightly out of the Volitant, giving a quick
salute to Aaron as she disappeared over the edge. She landed lightly on the dock next to Delbert
and Silver and they all settled into position outside of the entrance to the small jailhouse.
***
Jim lifted his head as one of the guards walked by quickly. He heard shuffling footsteps
and low voices, but he couldn't make out any words. There was definitely a tone of excitement to
the speech, though. No doubt about it. Bad news for him. He sat up and rubbed his eyes quickly.
He wasn't going to let them see that he'd been crying. Not a chance. He shook his head
(carefully) and looked up again. He didn't want to walk to the bars of his cell, but. . . he was
curious, dammit. He contented himself to sit stock-still and listen as best he could. Having no
success in this, he stood up and began pacing.
There had been no sign of Silver, Doc, or anyone, yet. And there was probably no more
than ten minutes until the other cops came. Cops that could probably keep Jim out for a little
longer than half an hour. Jim sighed and touched the back of his head, making a face of disgust
when he felt that the blood had dried in his hair, making it hard and prickly. It wouldn't be so
prickly if it wasn't so damn short, but the academy did have rules. Jim sighed and examined the
spot carefully with his fingertips for a moment, then put his hands in his lap an leaned forward,
allowing his mind to wander for a while.
He remembered Treasure Planet so clearly. . . he always would, too, he supposed. It was
hard to forget something like that. He'd remember the crew, and all of their habits, and of course
he'd remember Doc and Amelia, and how they'd. . . y'know. He shifted on the dingy mattress
and managed to smile a little. And then he remembered that party. . . to celebrate his acceptance
into the academy. His smile widened, but it was a sad smile now. Having the constables bring
him in had been his idea. And his mom's face had just lit up when they rolled aside. . . . Jim
sniffled again and wiped at his eyes quickly, sitting up once more.
Morph had been keeping pretty quiet, which suited Jim just fine. Better the guards not
know that Jim had a friend in here with him. He supposed they'd find out sooner or later, but
why not enjoy it while he could? He fell back down onto the mattress and felt the lump of the
flintlock under it. That put some comfort in his mind, too. Just knowing he had it was good
enough, he guessed. Couldn't make much use of it at the moment, but a gun was a gun.
Jim stroked Morph a little bit before turning his head away and closing his eyes, trying to
block out the excited voices of the guards. They were getting louder and louder. Despite his
trying to block them out, Jim managed to catch the words, "Here they-"
***
"-come!" whispered Doppler anxiously.
"Shut yer yap, ya lubber," hissed Silver quickly. Doppler frowned but nodded and looked
back to the approaching ship, raising his flintlock defensively. The cruiser ship came in, small
and sleek, pulling into the designated dock with a fluid grace that was slightly intimidating.
Doppler was about to comment on this, but when his eyes fell to where Amelia had been hiding,
he frowned.
'Now where did she-'
"Ah, you got yerself a smart'un, Dops," Silver allowed a hushed laugh as he kept his eyes
trained around the docking ship.
"What do you mean, I go-" Doppler stopped, having seen exactly what it was that Silver
had been watching. Amelia had crept up to the ship and pressed herself against it, one ear rested
on the port side, back near the stern. Doppler caught a glimmer of a smirk on her face (the
distance was too great to see more), then smiled himself as she held up four fingers. Four
authorities on board. Time to get moving.
*****
Thanks to everyone who's been reading up to this point, and an especially big thanks to everyone
that's been reviewing!
*****
"Alright, men, this is going to be tricky," Amelia instructed the three 'crew members'
reluctantly. Hardly a crew at all. A minor, her well-meaning but ultimately clumsy husband, and
a convicted criminal. Lovely. She looked about the gaggle of half-adequate men and then out at
the etherium. She'd formulated a small plan in her mind. It was all she could come up with, given
the time constraints and the pressing situation. They were twenty minutes away from the
godforsaken little building that now housed two thoroughly irate guards and one young cadet
whom she was responsible for. It was soon to contain a good four of five more officials. Trained
officials. Skilled, tra- well, perhaps not *that* skilled, but certainly better than Delbert or his
nephew. The pirate might be a match for them, but there were no guarantees in this sort of-
"Beggin' yer pardon, Cap'n, but, eh. . . yeh wanted us all here fer a reason?"
Amelia frowned slightly, then looked back to Silver. Yes, she had called them together.
Her plan wasn't the best, but it would have to do. Her plan was simple, really. But it required
another fast escape. The four or five guards that would come were sure to be followed by one or
two more. At least. It was important that the Volitant be long gone by the time those others
arrived. Who knew what artillery they might bring with them? She sighed and started addressing
the group again.
"Like I said, this is going to be tricky. We're going to have to intercept several. . . parties,
in the space of just several moments. One or two at the most."
Doppler fidgeted nervously. "Intercept several parties? Amelia, d- er, Captain, that may
be a bit more difficult for me- eh, Aaron, than it seems."
"Hey!"
"Shh!" hissed Doppler to Aaron. Aaron began to protest, but Doppler looked back to
Amelia and cut off the boy with a forced laugh. The feline-like captain was not amused.
"Would you prefer Mr. Hawkins stay in that cell?" She quirked a skeptical eyebrow at
him. He looked shocked for a moment at how blunt the question was. Silver used the opportunity
to cut in with his response.
"Jimbo ain't rottin' in no grimy jailhouse!" He took a defensive step towards Amelia. Her
ears lifted at his sudden speaking up. He hadn't spoken directly to her for nearly two years. And
the last time he'd done it, he'd been yelling at her to 'get this blasted heap turned 'round'. She
still got a defensive feeling every time she thought of him calling her Legacy a 'blasted heap', but
now wasn't the time to get angry at a man that was easily four times her weight and probably a
good three times her size. Of course, she wouldn't dare show her apprehension at such things.
Delbert and the boy would see it and immediately surrender to the brute.
Brute? Amelia shook her head. This was the man that she had willingly come to save.
He'd spared young Hawkins' life several times. Saved it, even. And she was so presumptuous as
to think him a brute? Well, he was rather- She shook her head again and nodded to the cyborg.
"Right you are, Mr. Silver." She decided that she could chance an approving (though gruff)
smile at him. It turned into a smirk at his shocked expression and she turned back to the helm.
"We'll be arriving shortly. Doctor, you are to use your exemplary skill with firearms-" ("Not all
that exempl'ry. . ." muttered Silver) "-to stop the incoming authorities."
Doppler recoiled involuntarily. "Ame- er, Captain, I could never bring myself to ki-"
"Don't be ridiculous, Doctor, I mean only for you to fire in such a pattern as would keep
them at bay, so to speak. Mr. Silver and myself will assure that they stay out of the way," Amelia
instructed as she kept facing forward at the helm. Aaron stared at the back of her head curiously,
wondering just what she had in mind. Silver, however, grinned.
"Ah, savin' the good work fer th' man that can *really* get the job done, Cap'n?" He
winked at her, grinning slyly, but instantly wiped the look off his face. She'd turned around,
glaring at him once more. She derived some satisfaction from the fact that his eyes flickered
unsurely for just a moment. "Eh, I were on'y foolin'. . ."
"I'm sure," she said skeptically. Doppler smirked at Silver as Amelia turned back around
and instantly assumed a much more authoritative tone in her voice. "You and I will render the
superfluous officers unconscious - gently - secure their limbs to prevent escape, and lock them up
in their on ships, respectively. If there is only one ship, then so much the better. We are not to
harm any of them in any way. Am I perfectly clear?"
She turned her head around slightly to see Silver nod reluctantly. "Aye. . . Cap'n."
"Excellent." She nodded once back to him. "Now, this is going to be rather different than
our last rescue attempt, despite the last's. . . partial success." She paused while working the helm
and readjusting her footing - you had a tendency to slip backwards slowly without even realizing
it when the Volitant was going at full speed. "This is going to be difficult. We'll need to find
three of the incoming authorities with rather. . . specific sizes. . . ."
***
Jim was lying face-down on the putrid bed, arms covering the back of his neck
defensively. Would've been his head, but he didn't want to touch that gash that the guard had left
him. He probably looked like a ten-year-old in a meteor shower drill, but he was not inclined to
GIVE A DAMN. He gritted his teeth and fought back the tears that threatened to spill out of his
closely-guarded eyes. Your eyes gave away everything, if you let them. Jim had, thus far, been
good at hiding his emotions. But you can't hide crying. And you can't cry if you want to be taken
seriously. Not unless it was someone you really trusted. Like your mom, or your. . . or your dad.
Jim sniffled reluctantly. He could hardly believe it, but right now. . . right now he missed
Leland Hawkins. He didn't hate him. Not now. He just missed him. He was a scared kid, and he
missed his dad.
The sound of sirens became clearer and clearer as they approached the small building, but
James Pleiades Hawkins, survivor of a supernova, a black hole, a pirate mutiny, and an exploding
planet barely noticed. He was crying into his mattress because he missed his dad.
***
"Gettin' there soon?"
"Yeah, just shut up for a while, alright? Jeez. . ."
"Alright, alright. . ." Reanning flicked at a tassel on his uniform, bored out of his mind.
They had been called in to some stupid assignment to pick up some. . . kid. The damned idiots at
post 51-C had been so proud that they'd caught the shrimp, too. It was a teenaged kid, for Flint's
sake! Those guys had always been morons. He shook his head and sighed. "Kid was probably
just visiting that pirate they were keepin' out there. . . wanted to tell his friends a story. . ."
***
"We haven't heard from them. . . haven't heard a REPORT of them. . . haven't gotten a
LETTER from them. . ." Sarah Hawkins scrubbed at the pot that she was currently at work on
with clenched teeth. She had continually been scrubbing harder and harder as she talked to
herself. She looked down at the pot and realized that she'd been washing the same one for a good
twenty minutes. It was immaculately spotless. Sarah sighed and dropped it back into the sudsy
water, wiping her hands on her apron as she turned back to look at the dark dining room. It was
late, and the only moving thing she saw was B.E.N., moving around the room as he swept up the
food that had somehow found its way to the floor. He looked up from his work.
"Somethin' eattin' at ya, Mrs. H?" His blue eyes glowed from the dimly-lit room. He was
standing by the window, sweeping up near the table that Delbert had sat at so much. Delbert and
Amelia and their children (who were currently upstairs, asleep). Sarah rubbed the back of her
neck and looked around the room, remembering that day that the constables had walked in the
door for the who-knew-how-many?-eth time, and stepped aside. . . and Jim had been there, in his
uniform. Changed, but still the same. All grown-up, but still her little boy. She wiped at her face
with the heel of her hand, knowing how B.E.N. got when he saw her cry.
"No, B.E.N., no. I'm fine. I was just thinking about Jim, and. . . I'm fine." She sniffled,
blew her nose into her apron, and turned away. B.E.N. frowned slightly and walked over, his
gears squeaking slightly in want of oil.
"Aww, Mrs. H, Jimmy's okay! Jimmy and Doc and Cap'n!" He grinned shakily, but
Sarah kept her back to him, head down, as she worked at the dishes. B.E.N. returned to his frown
for a moment, then put a hand on her shoulder. "Uh. . . don't worry, Mrs. H. . . s'okay. . ." His
glowing, blue eyes widened when Sarah suddenly turned, threw her arms around his neck for
support, and began sobbing into his shoulder.
***
"Alright. Everyone clear?" Amelia looked around at the three. Doppler and Aaron
nodded, and Silver added his own 'aye'. Amelia nodded approvingly to the lot and took a deep
breath. The Volitant was a moment's distance from the prison once more. As the came up,
Amelia sighed with relief as she saw that there were neither guards outside nor additional
reinforcements on the small dock. They'd been fast enough. More likely than not, though, just
barely. She pulled the Volitant into the dock.
"Alright. Young Doppler, you know where you are to stay?"
Aaron nodded, keeping his eyes on the deck. He was a little more than 'pretty upset' that
he didn't get to go back into the prison and rub this in that guard's face. "Yeah, I stay on the ship,
hidden, until I get the signal, when I start powering up the solar sails and get the thrusters ready
to go. I know, I know. . ."
"Very good. Now, gentlemen. . ." She looked at Doppler and Silver, who both
surprisingly straightened up when she addressed them. She looked to the dock and executed a
polite 'after-you' motion, a small smirk on her face. Doppler and Silver glanced at each other in a
moment of companionship in their embarrassment, and turned to head down the gangplank
quickly. Amelia noted Silver's cybernetic arm revolving into a flintlock and nodded again. The
man did have some brains about him, that was certain. She laughed a bit in surprise when she
noticed Delbert pulling a flintlock of his own out of one of the inner pockets of his coat. She'd
underestimated her dear husband, it seemed. She leapt lightly out of the Volitant, giving a quick
salute to Aaron as she disappeared over the edge. She landed lightly on the dock next to Delbert
and Silver and they all settled into position outside of the entrance to the small jailhouse.
***
Jim lifted his head as one of the guards walked by quickly. He heard shuffling footsteps
and low voices, but he couldn't make out any words. There was definitely a tone of excitement to
the speech, though. No doubt about it. Bad news for him. He sat up and rubbed his eyes quickly.
He wasn't going to let them see that he'd been crying. Not a chance. He shook his head
(carefully) and looked up again. He didn't want to walk to the bars of his cell, but. . . he was
curious, dammit. He contented himself to sit stock-still and listen as best he could. Having no
success in this, he stood up and began pacing.
There had been no sign of Silver, Doc, or anyone, yet. And there was probably no more
than ten minutes until the other cops came. Cops that could probably keep Jim out for a little
longer than half an hour. Jim sighed and touched the back of his head, making a face of disgust
when he felt that the blood had dried in his hair, making it hard and prickly. It wouldn't be so
prickly if it wasn't so damn short, but the academy did have rules. Jim sighed and examined the
spot carefully with his fingertips for a moment, then put his hands in his lap an leaned forward,
allowing his mind to wander for a while.
He remembered Treasure Planet so clearly. . . he always would, too, he supposed. It was
hard to forget something like that. He'd remember the crew, and all of their habits, and of course
he'd remember Doc and Amelia, and how they'd. . . y'know. He shifted on the dingy mattress
and managed to smile a little. And then he remembered that party. . . to celebrate his acceptance
into the academy. His smile widened, but it was a sad smile now. Having the constables bring
him in had been his idea. And his mom's face had just lit up when they rolled aside. . . . Jim
sniffled again and wiped at his eyes quickly, sitting up once more.
Morph had been keeping pretty quiet, which suited Jim just fine. Better the guards not
know that Jim had a friend in here with him. He supposed they'd find out sooner or later, but
why not enjoy it while he could? He fell back down onto the mattress and felt the lump of the
flintlock under it. That put some comfort in his mind, too. Just knowing he had it was good
enough, he guessed. Couldn't make much use of it at the moment, but a gun was a gun.
Jim stroked Morph a little bit before turning his head away and closing his eyes, trying to
block out the excited voices of the guards. They were getting louder and louder. Despite his
trying to block them out, Jim managed to catch the words, "Here they-"
***
"-come!" whispered Doppler anxiously.
"Shut yer yap, ya lubber," hissed Silver quickly. Doppler frowned but nodded and looked
back to the approaching ship, raising his flintlock defensively. The cruiser ship came in, small
and sleek, pulling into the designated dock with a fluid grace that was slightly intimidating.
Doppler was about to comment on this, but when his eyes fell to where Amelia had been hiding,
he frowned.
'Now where did she-'
"Ah, you got yerself a smart'un, Dops," Silver allowed a hushed laugh as he kept his eyes
trained around the docking ship.
"What do you mean, I go-" Doppler stopped, having seen exactly what it was that Silver
had been watching. Amelia had crept up to the ship and pressed herself against it, one ear rested
on the port side, back near the stern. Doppler caught a glimmer of a smirk on her face (the
distance was too great to see more), then smiled himself as she held up four fingers. Four
authorities on board. Time to get moving.
*****
Thanks to everyone who's been reading up to this point, and an especially big thanks to everyone
that's been reviewing!