Chapter 13
For what felt like a lot longer than the few hours that they were, Zarabeth was busily rummaging through the trunks and knapsacks filling the crew's quarters in search of the other uniforms. As soon as they were all accounted for, Ewen had her working to get each of his men paired with a set that would fit, the girl somehow managing to find enough for all of them. Once he was satisfied, the smuggler leader let Felix escort her back to the stateroom so she could get Jim's uniform.
Zara was somewhat relieved as she shook the dirt from the jacket she retrieved from the pile of clothes on the floor, the evidence of her tussle with the men the night before still evident everywhere in the room. This was the last thing she had to do.
Handing the jacket to Felix behind her, she searched through the rest of the mess to find Jim's hat and undershirt. "That should do it. Doubt it'll fit him too well, but I'm not here to play seamstress."
"I'm sure it'll be fine. Thank you." The officer ignored the far off look in the girl's eyes as he took the hat from her trembling hands, hardening his own gaze as he prepared himself for what he was about to do.
Looking up once she was finished, Zara moved back towards to door, following behind Felix when the officer suddenly stopped just inside the stateroom, forcing the girl to pause in the doorway. "Felix?"
Turning on his heels to suddenly face her, he took a decidedly firm step closer to where Zarabeth stood, forcing the girl a little ways back. "I'm sorry Zara. But I can't let you go back down there. You need to stay here."
"Wha-" Unsure for a moment about what he meant by it, the girl's mind jumped into awareness as Felix tried to close the door on her, just managing to catch it with a sharp yank back open. "Felix no! You-You have to take me back to Jim-"
"Zarabeth, please. You're not safe down there."
"I'm no safer up here! Don't you understand that? Felix, it doesn't matter what you do. I don't want to be anywhere but with Jim."
For a moment, his eyes gave up their icy glare, a hint of sympathy in his look before he shook his head in complete resolve. "I won't do it. Not to you. Do yourself a favor and keep quiet for a while."
Without another word of warning, Felix took hold of the girl's hands, pushing her back with just enough force to get her away from the door before quickly shutting and locking it with a solid 'click'.
"Felix! Felix no! You unlock this door right now!" Anger overwhelming her mind, Zarabeth pulled and kicked at the piece of wood holding her captive, not caring how much noise she made as she rammed her shoulder against its steadfast frame. Her outbursts didn't last long. Her frustration replaced with utter despair, the walls of the small room began to close in on her as she sunk to the floor. Cradling her head in her hands, the tears she'd faithfully held at bay for so long now fell unhindered over her cheeks.
"Please...Don't take him from me..."
Not like this, it couldn't end like this. She didn't want to be left alive if Jim was going to be killed with the rest. She just couldn't accept that. Not now.
After a few minutes of letting herself cry, Zarabeth pulled her head up with a trembling breath, wiping at her tear stained cheeks before shakily getting back to her feet.
This was no good. There had to be something she could do.
Looking about the disheveled room, Zara's eyes fell upon the small nightstand beside the bed, the thought growing in her mind leaving her both hopeful yet terrified.
It could work. But if it didn't, she knew that would be the end of her luck.
Jim's words from only hours ago, the promise she'd made to him to take any chance to survive rang through her mind. Now was her only chance. She had to take it.
Zarabeth's heart pounded mercilessly in her throat as she quickly moved to kneel beside the bed, pushing the small table aside as her fingers yanked and pulled at one of the smaller floorboards beneath. The wood finally gave way to lift out of the rest of the flooring, revealing the small key hidden beneath. Taking it with trembling hands, Zara replaced the board before moving the table back into place. She never thought she'd need the spare key, but it was for moments like this that Jim had taken the precaution at all.
Zara had to act quickly. If Ewen found out Felix was keeping her separated, it wouldn't be long before a fuss would be raised. She had maybe a half hour at most.
Rummaging through the trunk and wardrobe, Zarabeth managed to scrounge together one of Jim's packs and some old clothes they'd brought, replacing her pajamas with one of his shirts and a pair of her dark leggings. Filling the pack with extra shirts and socks, she managed to relocate the key to the gun closet, choosing the lightest pistol before loading it and tucking it away in the belt tied around her waist. Zara buckled a pair of Jim's boots down to as small as they would go around her feet, knowing that none of her shoes would last long with what she planned to do.
The girl took a moment to look over everything she had packed, pulling her disheveled hair up out of her face before slipping on one of Jim's more worn jackets, filling the pockets with the extra clips of ammunition.
"Ok. I can do this." Looking between the door and the small key in her hands, she took a few deep breaths to calm her mind before moving to slip the key into the lock, turning it nervously until it gave way with a sharp 'click'.
Carefully turning the handle, Zara hadn't realized how much the door creaked until now. Every inch she opened it was another moment for her to hold her breath in terrified anticipation, her efforts finally rewarded as she let herself into the empty stateroom.
Setting down the loaded pack atop Jim's desk, Zarabeth moved his chair as quickly and quietly as she could to prop it beneath the handle of the door leading out onto the deck before securely locking it.
Already feeling better once that was done, the girl began pulling open the drawers of the heavy desk one by one, her search for a certain ring of keys interrupted by a chorus of shrill, ecstatic chirping.
Falling back in complete surprise, Zara couldn't help her quiet giggling as the small pink shapeshifter excitedly licked and loved on her. "Shh shh, Morph you gotta keep quiet. I'm happy to see you too. Glad you're ok, but I'm getting out of here."
The creature's expression changed in an instant as he looked in confusion between her and the locked door before turning into his usual imitation of Jim.
Zarabeth swallowed hard as she tried to get back to her feet, the sudden rocking of the ship, making it difficult for a brief moment. "We can't get Jim. Not right now. The smugglers have him and the crew locked up below. But we still have a chance. If we can get to Inyang and find Silver, he may know what to do. You coming with me?"
At the mention of Silver, Morph swirled around the girl's head a few times before stopping to land on her shoulder, giving her a dramatic salute.
"Ok, we need to figure out where we are." Her hands shaking terribly as she pulled out the most recent chart of Jim's she could find, her touch moved lightly over the surface of the parchment until she recognized the system she knew they were flying in. "Montressor, Thalis, Inyang. The only planet near Inyang is...Rhitan. We're headed to the capitol? We should be flying right past Inyang now. Morphy? I need to find the keys that open the closet over there. Do you know?"
The small shapeshifter instantly floated down toward a certain drawer, letting the girl pull it open to extract the group of keys.
Fumbling through each one, Zarabeth finally found the right fit, glancing fearfully over her shoulder before pulling Jim's heavy solar surfer out from the back of the closet.
The metal scraped against the floor at a hair-raising volume, making the girl squirm and grit her teeth before managing to get it up on top of the desk, the effort forcing her to catch her breath for a moment.
"Come here, Morphy." Signaling for the shapeshifter to hide in the inner pocket of her jacket, Zara's heart jumped back into her throat as the sound of approaching voices stopped her breathing for a moment. "Oh boy. We gotta go."
She'd come this far. She couldn't stop now. She just had to stop thinking and just do it.
Zara couldn't control her breathing anymore as she climbed atop the desk with trembling legs, slipping the pack over her shoulder before making sure her foot was locked into the base of the surfer.
Looking up at the wall of glass in front of her, the girl's resolve faltered for a moment, but quickly returned as the handle to the stateroom door failed to give way to someone on the other side, their muffled sounds of raised alarm urging her back to the task at hand.
"Focus, Zarabeth. For Jim. For Jim..."
Swallowing hard to keep her thoughts together, Zara bit down hard on her lip as she pulled her head inside the oversized jacket. Her own breathing the loudest thing to her ears, Zara bent down low to the board beneath her feet, firmly shutting her eyes before slamming her boot down on the starter.