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Love, Laugh, Die
A/N: (IMPORTANT!) This chapter is being posted along with Chapter 5, which, as you will see, is extremely short. Furthermore, it just works far better on its own than as just a part of one great big chapter. So don't forget to read the next one! A review on both would also be nice. Maybe the energy of review power will even be enough to restart the PA system of the SS Bad Wolf, but don't quote me on that.
I also apologise for the late update. But uni has been going on, which actually means I have a decent excuse for once. To make up for it though, this chapter is long af; it comes with another little one to follow it; and there's some timey-wimey stuff in here that took some time to write.
Chapter 4
…
Rose and the Doctor didn't see each other until breakfast the next day. She greeted him with a smile; he with a solemn nod. He still didn't feel like talking, much. They sat together, watching the other passengers strutting about the dining hall and serving themselves.
"Sleep all right?" Rose asked haltingly, once they'd sat down.
"Didn't."
"Oh." She nodded slowly, suddenly finding her coffee cake intensely fascinating. An awkward silence fell between them, and the air was soon swollen with it.
"Did you know there seems to be a security breach?" the Doctor blurted out, and her head snapped up.
"Hey?"
He passed her the note, which sure enough he'd found on the floor of his room, just under the door. Rose took it, frowning, bowing her head to read the text there, mumbling something about having "tossed the bit of paper she'd found." He watched as her eyes widened, her brow creased, and finally as she gave a sceptical look. Eventually Rose passed it back to him.
"Security breach," she agreed resolutely. "I mean, an unexpected failure in ship's PA system?" She frowned then. "But why bother sending out notes at all? From what I can tell everyone's pretty happy to muck about and forget anything weird ever happened. Y'know, forget anyone died. Pool was proper packed yesterday."
"They're losing control," said the Doctor shortly, shoving eggs into his mouth. "They don't know what to do. They're just trying to keep everyone calm and happy. The benign pleasures of the rich; the ultimate drug. The risk of everyone panicking is huge. Lawsuits would be… complicated. The passengers don't even know if they can file lawsuits, mind, but still it's complicated."
A shrill scream and a clatter emitted from the hall. Rose's head shot up, her eyes widening in the alarm. "What was that?"
"Nothin' good," he replied, getting to his feet. "Coming?" He reached out one hand to her across the table, and she took it. Together they sprinted out into the passageway to the sight of one of the laundry-maids, her hands clasped over her mouth. At her feet lay two things – a spilled tray of eggs, and one body, lying spread-eagled on the ground.
Rose clapped her hands over her own mouth.
"What should I do?" the frightened laundry-maid whimpered. "Do I…?"
"Everything under control, is it?" the Doctor muttered. He marched forward towards the nearby Emergency Station and slammed his finger down on the button. An alarm bell began to ring dully from the speaker. Then he turned and grasped Rose by the hand. "Come on. Let's go."
She looked incredulously between him and the young man's body, and he pulled her close, muttering in her ear, "I've been asking too many questions, they reckon. Best we clear off, come back to ask questions. It'll be the same old thing either way."
"But – "
"We'll get kicked out anyway. C'mon, let's head over 'n' figure things out behind the scenes."
She hesitated, then nodded. She cast an apologetic look to the laundry-maid before hurrying to follow him towards the stairwell. Already she could hear the clamour of staff rushing to the scene. "I'm sorry, we just, we dunno what to do – " she called out to the girl as the Doctor ushered her into the stairwell and the heavy door began to close.
The moment they had descended a few flights of stairs and were well out of earshot of the commotion upstairs, Rose rounded on him. "The hell was that about?"
He put his hands up in surrender. "Listen, I told you. We're best off goin' behind-the-scenes. You're good at talkin' to people, yeah? I've been on these kinds of ships before. They see us ask too many questions, they arrest us. Is that what you want?"
Rose was annoyed. "We've been arrested loads of times."
"Yeah, but – " He took her by the shoulders. He could not tell her that he wanted to keep her out of the direct line of fire. Keeping Rose out of danger while travelling was a proper laugh, of course, but still – there were such things as precautions. That was not to say he did not want her helping out at all, but there were dangers and risks he could still protect her from. "But people are dyin' right and left, the crew's losin' control, and if we don't act fast, it could get worse. And being arrested is just gonna hinder us."
Rose sighed, looking upwards. She shut her eyes. He had a point. This also annoyed her. "Fine. Let's go talk in your room." She turned on her heel and began to trot down the stairs. When he lingered, she looked over her shoulder and gave him a teasing grin. "Come on, then."
A grim set to his features, he followed.
They said nothing until they reached the Doctor's cabin. The last time Rose had been in here, night before last, it had been empty and bland; had resembled a room inhabited by any passenger who didn't care for personalisation. Looking about the small space now, there was no doubt anyone could have occupied it but the Time Lord. The desk was scattered in papers, including what appeared to be blueprints of some kind, presumably for the Bad Wolf. On the unmade bed sat a funny-looking metal device that reminded Rose of those trick metal rings you got at joke shops; a balled-up jumper; and a banana peel.
Rose raised an eyebrow, gingerly picking up the banana peel and dropping it into the bin just across the room. He did not look particularly embarrassed by this, shoving the twisting metal device to the side, and sitting on the edge of the bed. Rose settled down cross-legged and picked up one of the blueprints. "Blimey, someone's been busy."
He leaned over, tapping at a heavily labelled section near the bottom of the blueprint. "First goal is to find the core of the problem. Where's it all originating from? If functions are shuttin' down, where would they start? Who's got control?"
"Er, the engine room?"
"Or the Captain's cabin."
"Oh!" She looked up excitedly. "You don't reckon… you think he's shut down the PA system on purpose?"
"Don't see why not," he shrugged. "It's always the ones on top." He tapped the blueprint again. "Captain's cabin is just off Deck D. It's on the same level, but it's sectioned off. They got pretty tight security 'round there, but you know that from when I went the other day. I never guessed it'd be the Captain until I got the PA memo, though."
"Huh." Rose crossed her arms over her chest. "And… " She pointed at the metal device. "What's that?"
"Oh, this?" He picked it up and held it between his hands. "Brought it over from the TARDIS. It's meant to pick up on energy signatures, find out where they're pulsating the strongest. It's not working too well at the moment, though; been shut away too long. But with a bit o' jiggery-pokery… " He tossed the device in the air, caught it, and set it back down.
Rose grinned at him. "Hang on, 'where energy signatures are pulsating strongest?' Wouldn't that just be the engine room?"
His eyes widened and he broke into an excited grin. "Oh, right! Of course. Rose Tyler, you are a genius!"
She beamed. "Intuition."
The excited grin twisted into a smirk. "There's other kinds of energy signatures besides the ones what emit from engines, Rose."
"Oh." He didn't reply right away, and Rose simply smiled to herself and picked up another blueprint. He'd scribbled over the blueprint in his own language, so much so that the blueprint itself was all but impossible to read. She found herself smiling wider. She didn't imagine they'd ever have to go through an adventure without some kind of risk. This was what they lived for; lived and breathed. And it followed them everywhere.
A thought struck her then. "Hang on." She put the blueprint down and laced her fingers together, leaning forwards in the chair. "Why is it that no matter where we go, it seems like there's some kind of alien attack? I mean, aliens are attackin' people right and left all through history. We're always there to stop it. Just seems like we'd have to miss a few, yeah?"
"I'm nine hundred years old," he reminded her. "I've had a while to save the Earth. And all the other planets, really, but you lot get invaded an awful lot. And I have plenty of time to go on saving the world. Think of it this way. Say next month, we head over to the, I dunno, War of 1812, and stop an alien invasion. We haven't experienced it yet. But we're still gonna stop it. Vis a vis your timeline, to the people of Earth in 2005, the War of 1812, and therefore that alien invasion, already happened. We've already stopped it, even though the you and I right now haven't stopped it. Once you sign up to be a time traveller, it doesn't matter if you end up settling down after a while. You still, effectively, exist outside the mostly linear timelines of the people around you. Understand?"
"I think so. But wait – what you're saying is… I effectively exist outside of time?"
"Sort of, yeah. That is, time is no longer relevant to you. Soon as you set foot in the TARDIS."
Rose nodded. "So that means… long as we travel to my past – or what was my past, I guess – we don't have anything to worry about? We'll stop it for sure cos we already did?"
"Not exactly. Remember how I was saying once, that the whole world revolves around me?"
She nodded again. They'd talked about it the first time they'd met properly.
"Well, I meant it. It sort of does. Every choice I make has an impact on time. There aren't many other time travellers out there. Think of it this way. Time has a strict course that needs to be followed, yeah? Messin' with it, altering it, causes all kinds of problems. Usually people don't need to worry about that sort of thing cos they're following time along a linear path. But if you travel through time, you've been inside the vortex. You understand and experience time as something that's in flux, which it is. You understand that there's possibility, and differences. Your own timeline starts goin' all over the place. And it has a past, in its own right.
"Okay. So. You had coffee cake this morning. You experienced it, and that's that. You can go back half an hour and do something else at that exact same second. Meaning that while the Rose Tyler of half an hour ago's having her coffee cake, the older Rose Tyler could be off at the pool at that exact same moment. You can do that, but you can't buck over and stop the Rose of half an hour ago from having the coffee cake.
"Now, say tomorrow you have toast. Say that possibility is already floating around in the vortex. It's in your timeline, and maybe it affects someone else's choice. Say they think the toast looks real nice and they have some too. The Rose Tyler of right now can change her mind and stop the Rose Tyler of tomorrow from having toast by deciding to have eggs instead. You can do that, because vis a vis your own timeline you haven't done that yet. Sends out small ripples in the vortex, but no harm done. Time is always moving and changing, flowing like a river. The Rose Tyler who had coffee cake is like… a stone, stuck at the bottom of the river. You can't go back and move her without polluting the water. But the Rose Tyler who's gonna have toast tomorrow is still just floating around, and you can do whatever you like with her. As for the person who decides to have toast, too, well, maybe they decide they don't want toast either. But that doesn't matter, because it's not a fixed point yet.
"Same goes for me. If I died, right now, we wouldn't be able to go back and stop the alien invasion during the War of 1812. We won't have been able to stop it. Then, time… changes. All of a sudden aliens took over the Earth in 1812 because I wasn't there to stop it. I'm a time traveller, and there aren't many of us out there. The same rules applies to you, to some degree. Time, the fate of time, is dependent on my existence – er, yours too." He paused. "Does that make sense?"
Rose blinked. "I think I'd better have the toast tomorrow," she said. "Just in case."
He grinned. "There's the idea."
Rose pushed her tongue out between her teeth thoughtfully. "So you want us to go and talk to Maria some more?"
"Er. No." He stood up, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "You're gonna talk to Maria, if you know her already. I'm gonna head over and have me a little word with the Captain." He began to make for the door.
Rose shot to her feet, grabbing his elbow and frowning. "Hang on. Correct if I'm wrong, Doctor, but didn't you just say we ought to keep our heads down? What was it you said? Stay behind-the-scenes? Blimey, that don't strike me as behind-the-scenes. Sounds more like downstage and centre, spotlight 'n' all."
"Well." He sighed. "I'm already on some sort o' blacklist, me. And it pays off."
"Blacklist? That's ridiculous. They haven't got a blacklist."
"You know what I mean," he replied stoutly. "I'll see you for tea." He shook her off and made for the door again.
"Hang on." At her words he turned. She was regarding him with stern annoyance. "Don't do anything too stupid, yeah?"
He grinned, briefly. "Not too stupid, nah." And then he was gone.
…
Deck D was quiet as the Doctor wandered down the passageway towards the Captain's quarters. The small staff passageway, too, was empty, but the door was flanked this time by two security guards. The Doctor didn't recognise either of them. Good. It was good to start with a blank slate.
"'Scuse me," he said, adopting a jovial tone. "Was hopin' to speak to the Captain?"
The first guard looked at the other. "He's not exactly a drop-in-for-a-chat-and-a-cuppa sort of person, sir," she said apologetically, shrugging her shoulders. "You realise we're talking about the Captain of our ship?"
"He's a busy bloke," her partner added.
"Really? Not that I understood. Look, I just want to ask him a few questions… "
The first guard looked hesitantly over at the second again. "Er. I dunno about that, mister. We can guess what – I mean… We might get in trouble… "
The Doctor flipped out his psychic paper. "Member of the board."
"Oh!" The male guard looked terrified. "Oh, shite. I mean – oh, shite… we're proper sorry… We know passengers can speak to the Captain, but, with all what's been goin' on, you know... "
He waved a hand. "'S fine. Can I speak to him, please?"
The male guard rapped on the door to the cabin, resulting in a vague grunt from the other side, and pushed it open. The Doctor smiled, nodding politely before passing through.
The Captain's quarters were smaller than the Doctor expected. They consisted of a very large and elaborate control panel facing the large window. Another section of wall was covered in monitor screens displaying feedback from the various cameras placed on the outside of the ship. In front of the control panel were two large swivel chairs, one of which was occupied by the Captain. A cot was stuffed into one corner, along with a small bedside table on which sat an electric kettle, a box of tea bags, and various small packaged snacks. There wasn't even a lav.
The Captain himself was a burly fellow, square-jawed and sturdy. He offered his own friendly smile at the Doctor. "Morning, sir. Er, please, sit down. Now. What can I do for you?"
"Just wanted a wee chat about what's been goin' on."
The Captain's expression darkened as he glanced out the window, then studied the Doctor. "Right. Well, it's a proper mess, I can tell you that. Wouldn't be a problem if they hadn't outlawed CCTV. But I can assure you, sir, we're trying to understand what's going on. Once we figure out a cause of death for those poor passengers, then we can move on to trying to understand."
"People."
"Sorry?"
"Those poor people. A maintenance manager was killed too."
The Captain nodded once. "Yes, he was." He did not elaborate further.
The Doctor looked about. "Not very roomy in here. I thought they'd give the Captain of the bloody ship a suite."
A bitter snort. "Please. I'm just an employee with a convenient license in flying spacecraft, not a member of your precious board." He eyed the Doctor with suspicion. "Must not be very high up yourself if you don't even know what the provisions for staff are."
There was little point in lying. The Doctor would not be able to pull off the stint of being a member of the board for very long, and he wanted to get to the core of the problem as quickly as possible, not beat around the bush pretending to be a member of the humans' stupid board. "Tell you the truth," he said, "I'm not with the board."
"You're not… sorry?"
"I'm just trying to figure out what's going on," the Doctor said calmly. "I can help."
The Captain glared at him. "You're just a passenger!" he accused.
"Sure, but a useful one. I'm not your – regular tourist. Now, if you could give me any insight… please… "
The Captain shut his eyes. "We don't know anything. I'm sorry." And the Doctor knew it to be true. "Please. Could you just… would you mind leaving?"
The Doctor hesitated, then nodded. He left the room without another word.
…
She had, personally, expected further outbreaks of panic upon the discovery of another body, but people carried on about their daily activities and rites as usual. She'd initially assumed the crew had managed to hush everything up before any passengers even wandered by, but that assumption was crushed upon overhearing a crowd of people talking about the "latest body."
She ran into the Doctor while exploring the ship; as it turned out his visit to the Captain's cabin had been a failure. All he'd gotten out of their meeting was the fact that he could cross the Captain off their list of suspects. He'd been in a dour mood about it, too, so she'd bullied him into a few rounds of ping-pong before he'd headed off to the TARDIS to tend to whatever it was he planned on doing; something to do with his energy signature machine. Rose decided to look for Maria.
She found the laundry-maid while wandering about Deck M, one deck below the site of the latest body discovery. Maria was passing by and Rose approached her with a friendly smile. "Hiya."
"Oh – hello." Maria seemed idly, pleasantly surprised. "Just lingering about?"
"Yeah. Not doin' much of anything, really. Just thinking."
"I'm on break right now," the laundry maid burst out. "I have an hour and a half. I was just going to wander back to the cabin, really." She paused. "I was hoping to find you and talk to you, actually… "
"Do they let you round at the pub?" Rose nodded her head over to the deck's pub a ways down the passageway. "They do this brilliant hot chocolate."
"Oh." Maria looked slightly embarrassed. "Well, they do, but… oh, staff don't go there, you know. People would stare. It would be strange, Mi – Rose."
"You're with me," Rose insisted, looping her arm through the other girl's. "C'mon. Hot chocolate and a bite. We can chat about whatever you wanted to talk about." She looked at her meaningfully, and after a clearly apprehensive, uncomfortable pause, Maria nodded her assent. "Aye. Let's go, then." She smiled, shyly, and the two walked arm-in-arm into the pub.
The bartender today was a London chap; friendly without being overly warm. He eyed Maria, still clad in her maid's garb, as she leaned over by the bar alongside Rose, but said nothing. The passengers in the bar were staring, too. "Ignore 'em," Rose insisted. "Let's take a corner table. Probably a good idea anyway." Maria nodded again.
They ordered hot chocolates and tinned fruit, and settled into the most secluded corner they could find. "So," said Rose conversationally as she cupped her hands around the mug, relishing as ever the way the rich, steaming drink seeped into her fingers through the ceramic and warmed her to the core. "I'm guessin' you wanted to talk to me about… something you found."
"In a way." Maria looked down. "I haven't got much. Really I wanted to talk to you about… helping you." A beat. "I told you I'd help you out where I could. Well, I've changed my mind."
Rose's face fell. She opened her mouth to say something, but Maria cut her smoothly off. "I want to help in every way I can. The rest of the staff are just as frightened as the passengers, as frightened as me. There aren't any high-ranking board members on the ship to tell us what to do, just a supervisor or two to make sure we're doing our jobs." She swallowed. "We all know how much trouble we're in when we get back. When it comes to us, little people like us, they don't care either way. We'll all be sacked, you wouldn't need a genius to tell you that. Letting a thing like this happen, it'll be our fault, even if it was them that tore down the security measures the ship needs. None of us know what to do." She shook her head and took a sip of hot chocolate; then when she looked up, her expression was grim and frank. "I'm frightened, Rose. You and your boyfriend seem to have a better understanding of what to do even than our supervisors. I'm frightened, so what else can I do but help you?"
A small, thankful smile flickered over Rose's face. "Seriously?" Maria nodded, and Rose's grin widened. "Blimey. I, I can't tell you how much that means to us, Maria. That's brilliant. And – brave of you, proper brave." She frowned slightly as she registered the Irish girl's words. "The Doctor ain't my boyfriend, though, we're just – well, speak of the devil."
The Doctor swung into the bar and spotted them easily, ambling over and pulling up a chair. He dropped into it heavily and clasped his hands together, looking down.
"Doctor," Rose said pointedly. "You remember Maria, yeah?"
His gaze flickered up and he seemed to remember himself, straightening. He held out one hand and gave a friendly smile. "Nice to see you again."
Maria took it. "Likewise."
Rose was eyeing the Time Lord carefully. She'd long since lost track of how long she'd been travelling with him; but she knew it had been at least a couple months. Long enough to know him all too well. There was kindness in his smile, in his eyes; that was doubtless. He'd told her long ago that he was experienced at picking people out, who was good and who was not. He would be kind to the people who deserved it, and even then only when it suited him, when he had the patience. But there was, lingering in the depths of those steely blue eyes, a slight apprehension that Rose knew only she could see. He was judging her, he supposed. He was wondering how much she knew, how much he could trust her.
The handshake ended, two hands dropped to the table again. Maria's smaller one took her fork and she prodded at her fruit. An awkwardness lingered in the air, one Rose hurried to put an end to. "Maria's gonna be helping us out," she said. "With the – " she shrugged – "case, I guess you could call it. She's been real nice. She says she'll do whatever she can."
He looked between the two young women. "That a fact?" He hesitated. "I appreciate it. Thank you." A curt nod, then he turned to Rose. "Sorry – could I speak to you a tick?"
Rose looked from the Doctor to Maria, mouthed sorry and followed him out to the passageway.
"How much does she know?" was the first thing he asked.
"Hardly anything. Told her we work at that station, or whatever it was you said to get us onto this ship. She thinks we're just scientists or whatever."
"Yeah. Well. I have access to information no-one should. I'll dig things up no-one in this century should be able to understand or know about. She wants to help and that's fantastic. Good of her. But how's she gonna react when I start jabbering on about civilised alien races, huh? You lot haven't even got proof of primitive life forms out there yet, let alone a thorough understanding of advanced ones."
"You don't trust her?"
He looked at her meaningfully. "Do you?"
Rose nodded with certainty. "Yeah. I do."
He bowed his head. "All right, then. Then I agree. We tell her everything."
That comment took her aback somewhat. "Wait, seriously? Aliens, time travel and all?"
"Everything. You trust someone, then so do I." He nodded to the pub. "Let's not keep her waiting. Rude." Rose nodded her assent, following him. They returned to the corner table, where Maria was waiting and nursing her drink. She looked up at them with one brow arched as they settled down.
The Doctor, being the Doctor, did not beat about the bush. He looked at her gravely. "So you want to help us. Then there's some stuff you need to know first."
She arched her brow again. "All right. You're not about to tell me the both of you are working with the murderer, are you?"
"Rose and me are gonna be pretty busy with the job. We're… experienced in the field. And we'll be able to come up with stuff, knowledge and information you shouldn't be able to understand. Beyond human knowledge." The bartender, spotting the Doctor, began to approach their table. The Doctor waved him away.
"And you're an incredible genius, then, I imagine."
"Well, I am, yeah, actually. But that's besides the point. I am not human, though Rose is. I'm a Time Lord, from the planet Gallifrey. I'm a time traveller. I am nine hundred years old and I know more than any human will ever know."
Maria blinked, then settled back. She nodded. "Very well."
He looked almost disappointed. "That's it? 'Very well?'"
She smiled. "My mam always told me stories of the faeries when I was a wee. I never really stopped believing in them. And there have been three murders on this ship; week-old bodies showing up with no signs of decay. A couple of passengers have been kind to me, and treated me like one of them. I can believe quite a lot."
"So you'll help?"
Maria laughed. "You. Of course I will."
"Then thank you." He held out his hand one more time. "Hope you enjoy the ride. Cos lemme warn you, it's quite a ride."
"I'm ready."
And just like that, they settled into a casual, friendly conversation, consisting largely of Rose making fun of the Doctor and both women laughing at him.
" … and he's all, 'ooh look I've got a screwdriver; it has a glowey blue thing on the end and it's like a plot device; it can do anything!"
"Oi. It's sonic."
"Keep telling yourself that," Rose shot back.
In response, he reached over and grabbed the last maraschino cherry from her fruit, popping into his mouth. He smacked his lips exaggeratedly. Rose's mouth dropped open and she slapped the guilty hand. "Oi! Those are the best part!"
He wrinkled his nose. "Not as good as the proper, fresh stuff anyway."
"You dirty tosser!" She turned her attention to her hot chocolate. "Least I still got… " A hand reached over, snagging the last mini marshmallow from the top. Rose spun on its owner just as Maria popped the marshmallow into her mouth. "You – !" she exclaimed, laughing.
Maria smirked, revealing her empty cup. "I'd say you could have one of mine, and yet… "
"You're both awful!"
And they laughed, the three of them together, freely and openly, as if they would never have to stop.
…
Maryann tiptoed out into the passageway. She didn't really like going to the lav on her own, especially at night, but her mummy and daddy had been sleeping soundly and last night they'd gotten cross with her for waking them. They said that she could take herself to the lav now that she was nine and a big girl.
The corridors – no, passageways; that's what you called them on ships – were ill-lit and too quiet at night. She curled her small hands into fists and she began to walk resolutely along. She had to stop being silly; had to stop acting like a baby. She was nine, not five, after all. If she weren't such a baby the other children at school would finally stop teasing her; they teased her for a reason, after all. She might even make some friends if people started to like her. There was a nice idea.
The floor was very cold against her bare feet that slap-slap-slapped against the concrete. She tried to walk a little quicker. Then, suddenly, the lights flickered out. Maryann froze. She screwed her eyes shut tight. She wanted to go back to her cabin. Lavs could be scary. The girls' toilet on the second floor of her school was haunted; there was a ghost who would kill you by cutting your throat if you went inside the stall they haunted. Lots of toilets were haunted. She would just turn on her heel and run back to find her cabin and wake her mummy or daddy. Or she'd hold it in.
No, no, she had to wake mummy and daddy; she really needed a wee.
Maryann turned and took a few steps, feeling her way in the dark with her little heart pounding quickly inside her chest. She heard a creaking noise like a door opening coming from in front of her, but it was too dark to see and she gasped. But no…ghosts snuck up on you from behind.
The lights flickered on. They were even dimmer than before but at least she could see. There was a little girl standing in front of Maryann. Her face was cast in shadow from the poor lights. She looked to be about Maryann's age, and she had long dark hair just like her. She was wearing a long white nightie like girls in books.
"Hello," said the other little girl.
"Hello," said Maryann. She cocked her head. She hadn't known there were other children on the ship; let alone on her cabin. "I'm Maryann."
"Are you going to the lav?" the other girl asked. Her voice sounded kind of funny, Maryann realised. It was very quiet and whispery. She thought little of it; maybe the girl was just shy.
"Yes. I need a wee and my parents are making me go on my own. It's the other way." She started to turn.
"Oh, it's in your best interest to go to another one."
"Which one?" Maryann wanted to know.
The little girl began to walk away from her. "I'll show you. This way."
Maryann trotted to keep up. "The one by the lower dining hall? That one's the nicest." There was no answer, but she kept following. A little girl just like her, probably her exact same age. Maybe they could be playmates. This little girl might want to be her friend. That would be nice.
There came a groaning, creaking sound. It sounded as if the very bones of the ship were crawling up the walls to let loose all the ghosts that had settled there. Maryann froze, gasped. "What was that?"
"Just a noise." The other child's voice was vague and dismissive.
"What noise?"
"Just a noise," she said again. They had reached a stairwell. But not the stairs that led up to the higher decks. Those were the other way. This was the stairwell that led down to the lower decks; Maryann knew that. The engine room was down there; it was off-limits to passengers and probably dark and spooky.
"We're not allowed down there," Maryann informed the girl, helpfully. "Our access cards don't even let us."
In response, the door was opened. Maryann was impressed, but also apprehensive. "I don't think we ought to go down to the engine room," she called out to the other little girl, who was already beginning to make her way downstairs.
The other little girl stopped without turning. "You… don't want to come with me?"
"We might get in trouble."
"Come on." The other child's voice was a sweet whisper. "We could play together down there."
"In the engine room? Now?"
"We could be friends. This way… it'll be fun."
We could be friends. Friends. It sounded like a promise to Maryann. We could be friends. The words she had sought out her whole short life but had not yet been able to grasp and have for her own. Friendship belonged to children in books and in cartoons, but now she might have her share.
The idea that her parents might be cross flickered through her mind but she batted it away. What did they care, anyway? Here was a girl who wanted to be her friend, and she would follow her even into the spookiest corners of the engine room. Besides, this girl was brave, braver than Maryann. She would protect her. They would protect each other because that was what friends did.
"All right," Maryann agreed. "What will we play?" She began to trot down the stairs after the girl. She was upset when there was no answer, but still, she trusted the other child. She was going to be her friend, after all, and Maryann would play anything she wanted her to.
Down into the lower decks they went. The passageway was so ill-lit Maryann could scarcely see a thing. The other child was little more than a silhouette, a whisper of a shadow, walking determinedly forward. Maryann wondered how she could see. She groped out in the darkness. She took all her previous thoughts back. No, nothing was worth being killed by a scary ghost. "It's dark down here. Can't we play somewhere else? Where are we going?"
"Shhhh." The other girl stopped, and even in the darkness Maryann could see they had come to one of those big watertight doors. It must lead to the engine room, she thought.
The door was a crack open, as if it had been waiting for them, and Maryann followed her. There were tall structures all around them, storeys high, great hunks of metal crawling with rust.
The other little girl beckoned her deeper, and deeper, into the complex of the engine room. "Come on," she coaxed. "This way… "