~~~~~
“Then a brilliant blue light suddenly filled the cabin. I don’t know what happened next.” Jacobi looked around at the faces that all stared back at him. He took a deep breath. “I think there was an explosion of some sort. Maybe Charlie shouting - or cursing - but other than that,” He shrugged. “There’s nothing.”
The medical ward of the Windsor was silent, save for the sounds of Jolt’s machinery.
Captain Hughes was the one to finally break the silence: “Thank you for the thorough report, Captain Myles.” The man looked as if he could collapse at any minute, but despite his apparent lack of sleep his posture was impeccable, his shoulders were squared and his voice was loud and clear. He had obviously served the UPSC for a great fraction of his life. “According to Jolt,” He directed Jacobi’s attention to the glowing pink woman. “Your recovery is nearly complete.”
“Yes.” The A.I. chirped. “I will have to take you back into the operating room to remove the nanobots. According to your current rate of recovery you should be back on your feet by the time we reach Mars.”
Jacobi’s hand went to his stomach. “That’s… amazing.”
“Jolt is the top medical A.I. in the UPSC, after all.” Trip boasted.
“Well then, Captain, I am going to rest,” Morgan started.
“Good, you look like Hell.” Tiger jabbed.
The room filled with laughter, even Jacobi couldn't help but chuckle.
Captain Hughes cleared his throat and the laughing died down. “Anyway, I’ll be off duty for a while, so Shaark will be standing in for me.” He placed his hand on the war-hardened soldier’s shoulder. “Feel free to call for Jolt should you need anything, Captain.”
“Yes sir.” Jacobi replied with a satisfied smile. Then, without thinking, he blurted: “Captain Hughes?” Morgan nodded, signaling Jacobi to speak. “The orb…”
Jacobi rubbed his arm. He felt bad for asking such an accusing question to the people who had saved him, but the small, strange metal ball was all he had left to take down Gabgoblin.
“Where is the orb?”
Morgan smiled. “Your artifact is in the caring hands of Trip Canta, the best Engineer this side of Mars.” He feigned a whisper: “And probably on the other side of Mars too.”
Laughter once again filled the room. “I hope you don’t mind him holding onto it for you while you’re resting.”
“No, that’s fine. I just wanted to know that it was safe.”
“Well then, if that’ll be all, I’ll take my leave.”
Jacobi nodded.
“Good day, Captain.” He strode from the room and Bolt, the now-green A.I. followed.
Trip, Shaark and the male A.I. turned in unison and snapped salutes at Jacobi. “Captain,” Trip said. “We’ll also be taking our leave.”
Jacobi nodded, bewildered.
“Rest up!” Shaark called in a rough voice as the three of them left the room in a single-filed line.
Before Trip passed through the doorway he turned and added: “I’ll be in the hangar, salvaging whatever I can from the Outrunner. I’m willing to accept a helping hand, or two, if anyone wants to lend one…”
Murmurs spread through the remaining crowd and Jacobi wondered how much of his ship was still intact.
“Hey! Hey, Jacobi.” Mao leaned forward. “Can I see your scar?”
“Mao!” Geannina reached up and smacked the girl’s arm. “Don’t be rude.”
Mao’s tail whipped around and her ears flattened against her skull. “But I want to see it. Its not every day that someone gets impaled by a ship and lives to tell the tale.”
“The wound is bandaged up anyway, isn’t it? Jolt?” Devon, the one who called himself Slick, asked the hologram.
“Affirmative.” She replied.
“See?” Devon turned to Mao with a grin.
“You’re no fun.” She pouted.
Tiger and Lily were engaged in a hushed conversation a few feet away from where they had stood during Jacobi’s story. He wondered what it was that they were talking about, but he figured that it didn't have anything to do with him, so he turned his attention elsewhere.
The girl who hadn’t had time to introduce herself sauntered over to Jacobi and the tall, dark-skinned man followed close behind. Her hand shot high into the air - yet only reached as high as the tall man’s chin - and she called out to Jacobi: “Yo!” Her curly brown hair bounced as it settled into place.
“Y-yo…”
“I’m Blair Stewart,” She shoved her hand towards Jacobi and he accepted it.
“We call her Blare! Blair ‘Blare’ Stewart.” Mao added with a grin.
Geannina noticed Jacobi’s confusion and silently motioned for him to ignore the girl.
Blair hooked her thumb over her shoulder. “He’s Shik, Shik Youssef. He doesn’t talk much… actually he really never talks, but he’s a good guy.”
At the mention of his name Shik bowed his head in greeting.
Jacobi returned the nod. Both Blair and Shik were wearing the same uniform as Shaark. “Are both of you soldiers?”
“All of us are,” She waved to the occupants of the room. “Sort of, anyway.”
“Sort of?”
“It’s kind of classified information. Not really something I should tell a civilian, such as yourself.”
“Right. Sorry for prying.”
She lifted her shoulders and tilted her head to the side. “It’s no big deal,” She laughed. “I’m sure I could trust you with a secret. In fact, this whole ship technically doesn’t exist.” The smile left her face after she realized what she had said. “I mean…”
Shik looked down at her with an eyebrow raised, it was the first sign of emotion that Jacobi had seen on the man’s face.
“That’s a pretty big deal, Blare.” Vaughn walked up and flicked the girl on the forehead. “I’m going to tell the Captain about that one.”
Blair’s face paled. “You wouldn’t.
“I will.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “Rules are rules and I am a law abiding soldier. I will, however, forget about the issue if you treat me to some grub.”
Blair’s expression soured. “Really?”
“Really.” He smiled. “You’ll forget about it too, right Captain?”
After watching the exchange from the sidelines Jacobi took a second to realize that the question had been directed at him. “Yeah, yes. You don’t have to buy me food or anything like that though. People make mistakes, it’s natural.”
Mao, who had been watching the exchange with a playful grin, snickered, jumped from the bed and wove her way through the small gathering of people. She then promptly disappeared.
“It’s decided then!” Devon shouted from behind Vaughn. “Lunch is on Blare, to the galley!”
Vaughn followed Devon’s cheer with a cheer of his own and the two of them headed to the hall. “Take care, Captain!” He called as they left the room.
Blair stood and slunk after them, Shik followed. “You’re coming too?”
He nodded.
Blair groaned as she followed Devon and Vaughn out of the medical ward.
“What did she mean that this whole ship doesn’t exist?” Jacobi asked himself mentally.
“No clue, but you did promise her that you’d forget about it.” The voice of reason said. “So keep your promise.”
Jacobi pushed the issue to the back of his mind and looked around the medical ward. Tiger and Lily were still locked in their quiet debate, but from the looks of it Lily was winning; Jolt had moved into the operating room where she stood over Sara, Charles and Charlie, Jacobi hoped that their operations would be finished soon; and Geannina sat silently in her chair. Fen Mao was nowhere to be seen. He wondered if she had joined her fellow soldiers for lunch, but somehow he doubted that she had left the infirmary.
Tiger leaped over to the side of Jacobi’s bed and whispered: “If you don’t mind, the two of us,” He waved toward Lily.
“Are goin’ to get goin’. Did you need anythin’ before we go?”
Jacobi shook his head.
“Okay, well, try to get some rest.” He looked around. “If Kitty comes back and starts to bother you, feel free to tell her to scram. And if that doesn’t work, tell Jolt or Doll and they’ll take care of it.”
Jacobi laughed. “Will do.”
Tiger shot Jacobi a nonchalant salute and returned to Lily.
“Take care, Captain Myles.” Lily said over her shoulder as the two of them exited the room.
Geannina sighed. “Everyone’s gone, huh?”
“Seems like it.”
A moment of silence passed before Geannina spoke again. “It must have been rough, going through all of that.”
Jacobi looked over to the foot of the bed where he thought he saw movement, but nothing was there. “I guess…” His voice trailed off as his gaze shifted toward the operating room. “But we’re free now.”
“What do you plan on doing now? Now that you’re free…” Geannina asked.
The voice of Jacobi’s mind instantly shouted: “Justice.”
He cupped his chin. “I really would like to bring down Gabgoblin Industries and free Titan of Plough’s tyranny. It seems like a far-fetched goal, but I’ll do whatever it takes.” He thought of Sara and Charles and frowned. This path was a long and arduous one, and more than likely he’d have to leave his new friends behind. He doubted that there were many people who would help him on his crusade.
In a murmurous voice, as if to reassure himself, he repeated: “Anything it takes…”
“Even, perhaps, joining…” She trailed off and diverted her eyes to the floor. “Would you go as far as, maybe, joining the UPSC?”
“Is that really an option for me?” He hadn’t really thought of joining the UPSC. Sure, he planned on using their aide in his endeavors, but somehow the thought of becoming part of the UPSC never occurred to him.
“Is it not?”
“I’m sure you would do well on the placement assessment.”
“Placement assessment?”
“I bet he’d place higher than Hughes did!” Mao shouted as she popped up from the side of his bed.
Jacobi jumped back with a startled yelp. The various IVs and wires attached to him pulled taut and the machines beside Mao crashed into the side of the bed and she scrambled to steady them.
Jacobi sat, wide-eyed and panting, on the edge of the bed with his hand over his heart. Mao’s tail flew through the air as she gave him a satisfied grin.
Jolt materialized behind her and she did not look amused.
“Fen Mao.” The A.I. barked.
Mao quickly righted the machinery and gave Jolt her full attention.
“Sit.”
Mao fell to her knees. Her ears flattened against her head and her tail lay motionless on the metal floor.
Jolt looked down at Mao and readjusted the holographic glasses on her holographic nose. “Just what do you think you are doing?”
“Playing around-“
“That’s right. You were playing, weren’t you?” She tapped her foot impatiently. “This is no place for you to play, Fen Mao. I’m sorry but I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
“It’s not that big of a deal, she just startled me a little bit.”
Mao’s eyes lit up at Jacobi’s attempt to stand up for her.
“You may not realize it, Captain Myles, but you’ve torn open your stitches and are currently bleeding internally.”
Jacobi tried to interject but Jolt cut him off. “Now I must take you back into surgery to repair the damage that Fen Mao has caused. Is that not a big deal?”
“Yes ma’am.”
“I’m glad you understand.” She turned to Geannina, who had until now been watching the conversation quietly from her chair. “Geannina, please escort Fen Mao from the infirmary.
Gean scrambled from her chair and saluted. “Yes ma’am.” Her small voice was shaky as she replied. She beckoned Mao to her. “Come on, Kitty”
Jolt’s angry gaze followed Mao until the two of them were out of sight, then she turned to Jacobi. “I’m going to put you under again. Please do not fight the feeling of sleep.” She turned to walk away but disappeared instead.
Jacobi laid down, the bed started moving and his thoughts began to wander.
“This isn’t quite what I expected the crew of a military vessel to be like…”
“They’re definitely an odd bunch.” The voice of reason replied, it sounded as if it were stifling a chuckle.
“Maybe joining the UPSC isn’t such a bad idea. I would have access to much more information and resources than I do now, as a civilian.”
“Oh, making plans for a bright, new future are we?”
Jacobi turned a mental smirk to the voice.
The door to the operating room slid open and by the time the bed rolled to a stop Jacobi was fast asleep.