Author Notes: Thanks for all your reviews I'm sorry it took so long to update! I'm glad you picked up on a few things -when I write, I sometimes forget readers can't see into my head! As I can't think of a way to work more explanation into this chapter (I don't want my characters to dwell on the past too much), I'll explain here.

Basically, Malcolm won't go searching for the Enterprise because of the wormhole situation; he knows it would be pointless from what Katrina has told him. As to the trust issue, I've always seem Malcolm as a very good judge of character, and now he's with Katrina, it's got less paranoid and more instinctual. As for your question, volley, that will be explained in a future chapter. Hope that clears things up, if not, feel free to ask more! Anyways, on with the chapter!

Chapter 7: Insurance

"Sir, that won't be necessary. We will deliver your cargo to its destination." Katrina tried to explain to a particularly paranoid client.

"Of course you will, and this creature shall keep an eye on you. You will be paid in full upon reaching Sechri. There will be no arguments, or I will give the job to someone else."

Katrina sighed, "Very well sir. The cargo is fully loaded and my crew are ready to go, so if you could clear your slave, we will be on our way."

The man clapped his hands and a petite human woman, about twenty five, stepped forth. She would not meet anyone's eyes, "I shall give you a slave of your own race. Give her a name and she will answer to it. Now, I have other business to attend to." He swept off.

Katrina glared at his retreating back in disgust, and then turned to the woman and sighed; to be honest, she would have preferred an alien, at least then she would have been able to remain distant, "Follow me please."

The woman fell into step with Katrina two paces behind. They reached the Eclipse and received confused looks from both Malcolm and Jamie who were waiting on the gangway. Malcolm frowned, "Who's that?"

"One of that bastard's slaves. He demands that we take her along so she can keep an eye on the cargo." She scrubbed her face with her hands, "Can you get her settled Mal? I want to enter Jump as quickly as possible and I need Jamie down in the Engine Room."

Malcolm nodded, and gestured for the woman to follow him to the quarters. "Have you been in Jumpwave before?"

"Yes sir." The reply was barely audible.

"Don't call me that, my name's Mal, or Malcolm if you want. What's you name?"

"Alexandria, sir."

"I won't win this argument, will I?" Malcolm commented, to no reply. He continued, "These are your quarters. Someone will yell if they're making something to eat, but feel free to help yourself."

"Begging your pardon, sir, but I will gladly sleep in the cargo hold."

"You what? Never going to happen, sorry. I don't give a shit what your master is like. While you are here you are a human, not a slave, alright?"

Alexandria gave him a strange look before diverting her eyes; she was clearly not used to this attitude. Malcolm sighed, "The bathroom's down the hall, but I'd advise you wait until we finish traversing the first Jump. I don't want you asking permission either. I'll be in the cockpit if you need me, okay?"

Alexandria nodded mutely. Malcolm sighed in frustration and went up to talk to Katrina.

Jamie hollered up the ladder, "Alexandria! Dinner!"

A soft padding of feet could be heard above them, and the small human slid lightly down the ladder. She remained standing while the other three sat down. Katrina was not known for her patience, so she immediately stood back up and literally steered Alexandria to her seat, forcing her to sit. "Cut the crap woman. People can't be slaves without a master around."

The meal continued amiably and although Alexandria did not join into the conversation, she listened attentively. Malcolm rose first and shoved the dishes into the cleaner. They were spending the night in an asteroid field before continuing non-stop to Sechri the next day. By Malcolm's calculations, they should reach their destination by the sunset of the planet. It was a short stint for the poor woman, and he couldn't help but wonder what would happen to her when they arrived. Bidding his crewmates a good night, he retired to bed.

Malcolm sat bolt upright, his hand already on his gun. A tinny beeping had started up near his pillow; barely audible. It was the Night Proximity Alarm, which sounded only when Covenant ships were near. Considering their position, it was unlikely to be a coincidence. Malcolm didn't bother to pull on boots, only yanking on a pair of cargo pants he found on the floor. He slid out of his room to see Katrina, Jamie and Alexandria do the same, although the latter did it mainly out of confusion.

"Alexandria! Get back into your quarters unless you know how to shoot a gun!" Katrina hissed. The woman complied.

Malcolm frowned, "It could be a false alarm." He was cut off by a scraping sound on the Eclipse's hull.

"Funny, that sounded like the beginnings of a Boarding Party to me. Alright, spread out; shoot whatever comes your way."

The three humans slid off in separate directions, sealing the hatch to the sleeping quarters behind them. Malcolm crept down to the cargo level, shivering slightly as the unheated air enveloped him. He crouched behind some crates as he heard voices. "They must all still be asleep; the idiots. We've found the hatch to the quarters and are breaking through now. Do you want us to start loading the cargo?"

Malcolm stole a glance at the nearest man, and was not surprised to find him lacking Covenant uniform. The tattoo that ran down the side of the man's face was a tell-tale insignia of a Raider, depicting which clan he had allied himself to. It was likely that the ship they inhabited was a smaller ship; one that would have been easy to hijack. Although admittedly Malcolm was thankful that they were not in the service of the Interplanetary Guard, whom they had already succeeded in pissing off a few times, Raiders were no more fun. The sound off gunfire filtered down from the level above, and the other Raider replied angrily, "I thought you said they were asleep? Deal with them."

Malcolm seized the moment, and took a clean shot at the retreating Raider's head, killing it instantly. The accompanying Raiders immediately hit the floor and returned fire. In hindsight, it was perhaps not the smartest move Malcolm had ever made, as five more Raiders had appeared. He managed to get a few shots in, but knew that if he wanted to do any damage, he needed to get to the arms locker. On the upside it was situated on this level, but unfortunately it was on the other side of the ship.

The Raiders were closing in, and Malcolm was beginning to feel more and more like a caged animal. Suddenly, shots rained down as Jamie leapt clean from the walkway above. Malcolm immediately darted out from his cover and ran as fast as he could to the secluded corner where the arms locker was situated. Hastily punching in the code, he grabbed the most logical choice of weapon; a Scythe Grenade. Yelling in English to Jamie to hit the floor, Malcolm threw the grenade out in the air. He then flattened himself to the ground. There was a whirring sound, and then a rush of air mingled with a few shouts of alarm. All went quiet, and then an echoing thud of the grenade hitting the floor sounded out.

Malcolm stood quickly and surveyed the damage, glad to note that Jamie was okay. He wrinkled his nose as the scent of burnt flesh reached his nostrils. A Scythe Grenade was by no means the nicest of weapons. As soon as it leaves the hand of the thrower, there is a two second count before it releases a twenty metre radius cutting wave of energy that slices through all organic matter. Even the Raiders that were crouched on the floor had had the crowns of their skulls sliced clean through.

"The Raiders weren't too experienced; they didn't even leave a skeleton crew. I shot everyone I could find. They're all dead." Jamie informed Malcolm.

"Where's Katrina?"

"Last I saw, she was attacking a few who were attempting to get to the top level."

Malcolm nodded and jumped up the steps to find her; Jamie following. They called her name, but received no answer. Then Jamie yelled, "I've found her! She's alive, but I think she was shot by an Ika gun!"

Malcolm cursed, and ran to where Jamie's voice came from. "I can't slow the bleeding."

"Help me move her to the med."

"No." Both men turned to see Alexandria standing behind them, "If you move her, the bleeding will worsen. Sir." She added as an afterthought.

Jamie frowned, "You a doctor all of a sudden?"

"Actually, I was before I was caught. I can help her if you'll let me."

"There's no cure for Ika nanobots." Malcolm stated despairingly.

Alexandria quirked the first smile either of them had seen from her, "Don't believe Covenant propaganda. It's not in their self interests to create a weapon they can't cure their own men from." She turned to Jamie, "Keep pressure on the wound, I need to get some things from your med bay." She rushed off.

"Do you think she's genuine?" Jamie asked his friend.

Malcolm couldn't tear his eyes off Katrina's body, "I hope so."

Alexandria's voice floated down the corridor, "I need someone to help here!"

"Go," Jamie told him, "I've got pressure on the wound, it would be stupid to switch."

Malcolm nodded and ran down to the med bay. "What do you need?"

"Do you have any live vaccines?"

"Like what?"

"Jurana Influenza, Poliomyelitis , Kio-"

"I think we've got Jurana; Jamie caught it a month ago, so me and Katrina had to take it." Malcolm rummaged around and produced a small bottle of a clear viscous liquid. He handed it to their new found doctor and watched.

Alexandria quickly unscrewed the top and picked up a metallically coloured capsule that she had got from a bottle marked Oral Blood Clotting Nanobots. "Normally, these are only useful for stopping nosebleeds or average cuts that refuse to clot; much more affective than platelets, but wouldn't stop an Ika wound from bleeding. However, when combined with a live virus they can simultaneously attack the other nanobots, which have some organic components, and heal the victim." She shook the bottle up and grabbed a hypospray, which she quickly filled with the solution. "Come on."

They returned to Jamie, "I've tried to staunch the bleeding, but it's not working very well."

"That's okay; this should take effect in a matter of seconds."

Alexandria administered the drug and the three waited, finally heaving a sigh of relief as the blood began to slow.

Jamie knocked on Alexandria's door, which swung open, "I thought you'd like to know, Cap'n says we'll be leaving within the hour. The client will be pissed; we'll arrive three days late."

"Surely the salvage will be ample compensation if they deduct money?"

Jamie grinned, "Yep. That ship had a signature mask, which Katrina was ecstatic about; means we're less likely to be found the next time. And it had distortion sensors."

"What are they?"

"Instead of looking for what is there, they look for what shouldn't be, like a slight disarrangement in a nebula; should come in handy. The rest we can sell."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, and then Alexandria spoke up, "You know, the idea of a shipwide communication is that everyone on the ship hears it. Considering that the Captain let us all know we'll be leaving soon, I'm thinking you didn't come by to give me an update."

"The Cap'n has been talking about buying you using some of the money from the parts we've salvaged. As you've seen, we need an accomplished doctor around the place. The fact that you're human only adds to your case. We wondered if you were interested."

"I'm not for sale."

"Well, now I feel loved."

"I don't mean it like that, I mean, I have to be a legitimate slave to be sold and I'm not."

"I'm not following."

"I was born on Aqxix."

"You were what? That's one of the central government planets! You're immune to slavery!"

"In theory. In reality, if they give you incentive, then you have no choice."

"You mean threaten you?"

She smiled crookedly, "Yes. It's funny - you are less likely to be a taken into 'slavery' if you are alone with no ties; minority races only of course. Me, I had a home and a little sister, so I voluntarily left to work in the service of Geren. I was a doctor at Central Hospital, snagged on my way home one day, five years ago. I'm my sister's guardian, so they decided to make it a family outing. I don't know which is worse, serving Geren or being a Covenant citizen" She ended bitterly.

"Where's your sister now?"

"On Sechri; she's there to make sure I won't run away." She sighed, "I'm tired, do you mind?"

Jamie rose and bid her good night. He was going to tell the others about this. A sly smile broke out on his face, and he went to find them.

The Eclipse docked into a port on the southern continent of Sechri. Unbeknownst to Alexandria, the three other humans had formed a plan. They dutifully unloaded the cargo and were met with a Sechrian, who came with a shadow in the form of a ten year old human girl. He smiled, "Good, late, but good. Everything is in order." He handed Katrina a chip, "Access to the account."

Katrina frowned, "This is a quarter of the amount we agreed on with your cousin."

"Don't be late then. Slave, come." He instructed Alexandria. Little did he know it, but he had just made it a lot easier for the crew of the Eclipse than they could have hoped for.

Malcolm side stepped to block Alexandria's path, "We do not like being double crossed."

Katrina raised her gun, "I almost died getting this cargo to you - shall we see how painful it was?" She charged the cell. Jamie and Malcolm followed suit.

The pathetic business man whimpered, "Fine, you can have your money!"

Jamie shrugged, "We don't want to go through all that; these two should about cover the costs." He gestured to the two humans.

"No, no, no, that's not possible; they are my cousin's property!" He cried desperately.

Katrina sighed dramatically, "You wouldn't want the Covenant to find out about your illegal slave suppliers, would you? I hear that type can get very nasty when betrayed, and they are very good at tracing a leak back to the source; namely you."

"I would have to go through the paperwork-"

Malcolm walked forwards and took the little girl by the hand, leading her over to her sister, "Paperwork is boring, and we need to be going. Remove their bracelets, or I'll remove your head." The bracelets were a version of chips.

Begrudgingly, the Sechrian complied.

Malcolm sat on the floor of the cockpit with Sara, their newest recruit, chatting in whispers so as not to wake the sleeping crew. "I want to learn how to shoot!"

"Sorry kid, but your sister would likely kill me. Doctors are always the worst kind of people to piss off."

Sara giggled, "I know, she once 'accidentally' injected her boyfriend with a cold virus when he cheated on her. He was sneezing for weeks!"

Malcolm laughed, easily picturing Alexandria sneaking a hypospray into a guy's bedroom. He dreaded to think what the doctors on Earth would say to that kind of behaviour. His attention was caught by the doctor in question standing in the doorway, looking worried, "I'm sorry Commander! I hope she isn't bothering you."

"It's Malcolm already! This ship's not posh enough to have a bloody commander - not that I'd want to be one anyway. If you don't start calling me by my name, I'm going to start ignoring you. You're not a slave, and if you're anything like your sister describes, you are hardly reserved."

The woman smiled, "Very well, Malcolm. You can call me Alex. And thank you for earlier."

"It was Jamie's idea." Sara's stomach growled, making him laugh.

"Shall we go cook breakfast?"

Sara piped up, "Just so you know, my sister's a great doctor, but will likely give us food poisoning for a week."

"Sara! I'm not that bad!"

Malcolm smiled, and stood. As he and Alex walked into the corridor, Sara asked innocently, "Malcolm?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you realise how boring your hair is?"

Malcolm turned to see a very evil smile spreading over the Sara's usually innocent face.

To Be Continued…

Authors Notes: Blimey! That was longer than expected! Please review! I need to know what you think!