Six Months Adrift

[Morgan Halcyon]

"If the Captain doesn't start the ship moving and do something soon, then I say we should do something about it."

It was not the first time that statement had been made of on board the Plunder's Heart over the past sixth months. Indeed, Morgan, still Hart's first mate despite all that had happened, was hearing it more and more as the months dragged on. So he was already in position to grab one of the other members of the crew as they launched themselves at the naysayer, fist pulled back.

It was the first time however, that Morgan found himself restraining Ensign Cook. He was so shocked by the attacker in question that Cook actually got a punch in before Morgan pulled him off.

"How dare you! Captain Hart made this crew! She gave you your job and she's made you rich and here you are talking about mutiny because she retreated once?" Cook yelled, from the smell of his breath--which Morgan could quite clearly smell even though he was a good foot taller than Cook--he was rather drunk.

"That was six months ago, man!" The other pirate yelled. "We're repaired and we haven't seen so much as the Cove for half a bloody year!"

"That'll be enough, the both of ye." The First Mate growled. "Get back to your posts."

"Why, you got something to do? Jill's a teenager, right? Maybe going to go see if she's good with her hands at things besides sewing?" The defaming pirate said with a sneer.

Morgan looked down at the drunk and enraged Cook, and let him go, with a stoic, "As you were, Ensign."

The other pirate yelped as Cook jumped onto him and started beating him with drunken fury. After a few minutes watching, Cooper and Butch pulled him off.

While a lot of people had something to say about the situation with Cassi, not many of them said anything about it. Morgan, after all, had enough on his shoulders. He had been, since the Jo had retreated into her quarters, running the ship for half a year now.

Captain Hart never left. She barely slept or ate, and she only ate when Andromeda or himself came into her room and forced her to. Morgan was fairly certain she only slept because Doctor Reyes spiked the food with sedatives.

The only order she had given was to stay in deep space. To skulk in the middle of nowhere. The crew was rapidly beginning to get fed up with it. Even though it was a large ship, and even though the crew had plenty of net access, and even though the crew was friendly with each other, stir craziness had set in in force a few months ago. Once the repairs were done and the injuries were taken care of, there was nothing for anyone to do on board.

Mr. Halcyon made his way to the bridge and slumped down in the Captain's chair. "Mr. Cook is gonna be a little late for his shift. He's drunk." He said with a sigh.

"Can I be drunk too Morgan?" Jane asked from the pilot's chair. "Please?"

"No. You're gonna be sober and ready just like you have been." Morgan replied.

"Captain Hart would've let me be drunk." She countered. "And topless."

"Well if ye can get permission from Jo to be drunk and topless, then by all means!" Morgan snapped back. There was a long, silent, empty pause before Morgan put his head in his hands and let out a long sigh. "Fine. Ye can get drunk. But bring enough back for everyone."

"Woohoo!" Jane cried. "We're gonna get waaaasted!"

[Dr. Andromeda Reyes]

Andromeda Reyes sorted through the medical supplies she had left on the ship, categorizing them in their proper places after she had finished with her tally. Next to her, the now thirteen year old Toby cheerfully assisted. He paused in putting away one box of vials, expression tightening into one of concentration before he turned to her. His fingers began gesturing at a rapid pace.

A few months into their self-marooning, Andromeda had asked Katy to help Toby learn sign language, so that he could more easily communicate with those around him. The pretty android had been glad to help, and had tried teaching Andromeda as well. The doctor wasn't nearly as proficient in it as the boy, however, who had taken to learning it and--by association--his friendship with Katy like a fish to water. As it was, the slender woman's golden eyes drifted from her charge to the lavender-haired android, who smiled, translating Toby's intent almost instantly.

"He says he's not sure where these go."

Andromeda smiled, leaning down and reading the label. "Ah, well, that would be my vials of Vestmin. And Vestmin is . . . ,"

Toby bit his lip a little, staring at them. Then he suddenly brightened, and signed again.

"Sedatives?" Katy translated again, and Andromeda grinned.

"Correct. So, they would go . . . ." Toby smiled back, his fingers almost dancing.

"On the third shelf to the right."

The doctor chuckled, reaching out to ruffle his hair. "You're going to make a very fine doctor one day, Toby," she predicted, causing the smaller-than-average teen to puff his chest out a little with obvious pride. He signed something to Katy, who grinned back.

"I know. Soon, you'll be able to sort these better even than me!" she teased.

While the other two were occupied, Andromeda covertly snatched one of the tiny clear vials out of the box, and slipped it into her lab coat pocket.

"Well, I think that's about it for today, you two," she announced. "Toby, I think it's time you got started on those modules I had T.K. upload into your terminal yesterday." The pale skinned boy made a face and Andromeda wagged her finger. "Now, now, all good doctors have to dedicate themselves to learning everything they can. Go on now, I'll see you again for supper. You can take Katy along, if she wants to go."

Toby turned to the android, starburst orange-yellow eyes hopeful. Katy smiled down at him cheerily. "Of course! Lead the way, Dr. Toby."

The slim boy let out a silent laugh as he scampered out of the med bay, only the occasional spark of electricity following in his wake.

After they had gone, the smile slowly left Andromeda's face. Replaced instead by a much more tired, somewhat haggard one. It had been half a year since she had seen her baby sister. Six months, and still no word on when they would be going back, or what they'd even be doing when they got there. The slender latina was still doing her best to hold out hope, that Josetta would come around soon. That Morgan wouldn't let Cassi remain in the midst of a war indefinitely. But with every passing day, her hope got just a little more dismal.

There were nights she lay alone in her bed, wondering if she would ever see Cassiopeia again in this life.

Andromeda did her best to shake off her melancholy, stepping out of the med-bay herself and heading for the galley. She had Happy fix up a tray of food and, while his back was turned, she quickly twisted off the top of the Vestmin and liberally sprinkled the tasteless, odorless sedative into the food. Then she replaced the vial in her pocket before directing her steps toward the Captain's quarters.

They were locked, as usual. Andromeda sighed, reaching for her comm.

"T.K., I need you to override the lock, please."

After six months, he no longer had to ask her which lock she was referring to. "Copy that, Doctor."

A moment later, the lock released on the door in front of her and Andromeda stepped inside the dark, dingy room.

"I thought I told you to leave me alone," came Josetta's voice, sounding haggard and rough from disuse. The slim doctor didn't show any outward reaction to those harsh words, gliding in with her chin lifted, expression determined.

"I've brought you your dinner, Captain," she pronounced breezily.

"I'm not hungry."

"Your vitals say otherwise," Andromeda returned just as flippantly, coming forward to set the tray down in front of where the redhead sat at her desk. Where she'd probably not moved since the last time Andromeda had seen her. The purple bruises under her eyes told the tale well enough. "Eat." When Jo just stared up at her mulishly, Andromeda put her hands on her hips and matched her stubborn for stubborn. "I'm not leaving until you eat what's on that tray," she announced haughtily. "And if I have to, I'll get Morgan to help again."

That caused a grimace of distaste to wreath her features before she let out a loud, aggrieved sigh and reached for the fork. "Don't think I don't know you've been spiking my food with something," she grumbled almost petulantly.

Andromeda was rather proud of the bland expression on her face, and the bored tone of her voice as she replied, "I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about, Captain."

She didn't bring up the mutterings of impending mutiny that was going up around them on the ship, growing louder with every passing day. She didn't bring up Cassi's name either, not once since that first day when she'd sobbed her heart out on the other side of Josetta's door and got nothing but stony silence in return. For now, Andromeda was just the ship's doctor, looking after the welfare of one of her crew--whether that crew member liked it or not.

Josetta was the Captain. Andromeda was the doctor. Nothing more. Nothing less.

[Willie Barbary]

"Another couple of weeks and Joey isn't going to fit into any of the clothes that I have for him," Willie announced. Miller, who sat near-by cleaning his knives, just winced and then sighed somewhat heavily.

The curvy pilot had recovered well from her ordeal six months ago, no small thanks to Doctor Reyes and the woman's incredible talent. Not to mention how her son had fared. Willie's heart still bled, remembering those first few months of his life. Being marooned on a half-beaten-down ship was bad enough, but to have to sit in the med-bay day after day staring at her premature infant inside that glass incubator--his tiny body hooked up to too many machines to count--knowing that his survival was largely up to chance and a higher power, had been pure hell.

Joseph Kyle Miller was a fighter, however. Much like his father. He had eventually pulled through out of the danger zone, until now--at just over six months old--he was as healthy, energetic and as loud as any other baby his age. He had Miller's ink black hair, though it was starting to become as curly as her own as it grew out longer. And he had her eyes as well, big silvery gray orbs that could get him just about anything he wanted from either parent and a good portion of the crew. His skin was a nice mixture of both their tones; notably darker than Miller's rather pale one, but much lighter than her own hazel brown.

The baby let out a cheery, gurgling coo at present where he was lounging in his momma's arms, doing his ultimate best to stuff the necklace she was wearing into his curious mouth.

"What're we gonna do, Miller," she questioned point-blank. To which the slender man sighed rather heavily.

"Believe me, Willie, if I knew that I would've done it by now."

"If it was just you and me, it'd be one thing," she continued stubbornly. "But it's starting to get to the point that my son is going to be wearing rags, if anything at all. Not to mention that Dr. Reyes is starting to run out of the vitamins he needs."

"I know all of this, sweetheart," he heaved.

"And yet nobody's doing a damn thing about it," she snapped somewhat testily. At the sound of her anger, Joey whimpered a little, his gray eyes wide. Miller reached out wordlessly to scoop his son up into his own arms, rocking him a little and making soft, soothing noises while Willie got to her feet to pace restlessly.

"I mean," she continued scathingly. "I hate to sound like a complete bitch and say I told you so, but there you are. Nobody would listen to me the first go around, and not many people are paying attention this time either. This is madness, Miller. We should have been back months ago!"

"That's your father talking," Miller cut in calmly. Willie turned back, guilty flush on her face, but her lover was staring down at his son and gently petting the infant's soft black curls, not looking her in accusation.

They had been ordered not to have any communications with the outside, lest they be discovered. Like hell Willie was going to have gone through premature labor and live out in the middle of nowhere for six months with her first baby and not talk to her mother. Luckily, if anyone else had discovered her transgression, they didn't seem to care. As she had been having regular communications with Zaira for the past four months or so, without any sort of disciplinary actions being taken.

As far as mutiny went, it was pretty damned low on the scale as far as she was concerned. And more than justified.

"I just want what's best for Joey," she pronounced then, somewhat stiffly.

"And so do I," Miller assured her calmly. "I'm not entirely convinced that this isn't the best place for him, right now. We're light years away from all of the fighting and the war, and the biggest danger he faces is not having a shirt or enough diaper rash cream. On the scale of things, I'd say that's pretty minor." Willie just gave him a scowl and he sighed again, getting to his feet and then nearing her, bending down to nuzzle a kiss to her neck. "Trust me. You and Joey come first, no matter what. The minute I don't think that this is the best situation for you both is the minute we're gone. Alright?"

Willie grumbled a little, but nodded eventually before holding her arms out. "Okay, time to get this guy put down for his nap. Maybe he'll let mommy and daddy get a full night's sleep tonight."

"Well, we can dream at least," was Miller's chuckling reply.

[T.K.]

Everyone else on the ship might have started going stir crazy, but not T.K. Oh no.

Sure, he seemed to find himself playing Video Games with Ghost Viper for endless hours at a time, but that was all part of extracting information out of it.

And yah, he had made 3 more Adjustable PHI's for the other 3 A.I.'s, thus leading to bouts of Insanity whenever Anne caught sight of another A.I.

And sure, Ryan had been to the Infirmary a little more often than normal lately, but he was 'accident prone'.

......

OK, fine. T.K. was pretty much bored out of his mind. There were only so many times he could actually tweak the system on the ship, before he'd actually be doing more harm than good. And unless someone purposely broke something, there wasn't much for him and his crew to do, but sit around, and try to beat Ghost Viper at Video Games. Which, he still suspected the thing of cheating at.

In his 'off hours', T.K. usually found himself ruminating on the events from six months ago. So far, he'd already come up with a counter measure for just about every trick the Mamba's had thrown at them. Course, with out actually going back into a fight, none of it could be tested.

Then there were also thoughts about the ship itself. Sure, it was a fine vessel, even more so with T.K. around to tweak it well above it's 'normal' parameters. But in a fire fight, it just wasn't much of a match when Mamba started ganging up, and using heavy ordinance. Not to mention that if they ever got into a confrontation with Clara, he doubted there would be very much they could actually do against her.

Hell, he doubted there was much any Earth built ship could do against her.....

Well, that was rather obvious. Painfully so.

Guess he had something to occupy his time after all.

[Dane]

Dane entered his quarters, scrubbing the back of his neck as he closed the door behind him.

"Honey I'm home." he sang to himself in a effort to cheer himself up.

It worked.

"Daaaaaaannne!" before his eyes Elsa's sprite appeared on the coffee table, then resized to about four foot before tackle hugging him, the weapons expert just chuckled. Eventually she let go of him and proceeded to circle the room. Dane shook his head and sat in his chair.

"Computer." the pad next to him beeped in response to his voice command. "Begin recording, Weapon expert logs." another beep later he began after a deep sigh.

"Dane's personal logs, more whispers of mutiny, had to toss two crewmen in the brig for insubordination and besmirching the captains name." he paused a moment to collect his thoughts, Elsa stopped her circling and resized herself to her normal size while moving around him slowly. A few moments later he continued. "I understand what the crew is going through, all of us have been trapped on the plunder for six months now, mostly cut off from the rest of the galaxy. But, the crew just needs a distraction, I hope for there sake they don't take it any further than whispers." he sighed aloud again and scrub his face. "End log, erase." a confirming beep told him the command was done.

Dammit...

Deep in his thoughts Dane didn't see Elsa staring at him, tapping her foot in mid air, her lips twisted as she contemplated. The sprite perked up suddenly. Zipping up to him she poked the side of his cheek until he opened his eyes and half glare at his AI.

"Whats up girly?" She crossed her arms across her chest and smirked.

"Your being deep and emo. As your AI and craft of choice." her grin widened. " I say we go stretch my legs, we both been cramped up for nearly six months now, besides." Elsa looked around innocently. No one gonna notice a transmission to Lyra coming from my systems." The realization hit him. the weapons expert was on his feet and out the door within' moments.

Elsa sighed heavily. "DAAAAAAAaaaaannnnnE! Wait for me you big dummy!"


***Ten minutes later***

Elsa II flew out of the plunders hangar bay and out into space, once away the boosters kicked in leaving behind the larger ship. Inside the battle suit Dane let out a cheerful yell as he pushed Elsa harder, Elsa herself stood on his shoulder cheering him along.

"Faster! Woooot!" Dane just grinned wider. After a few more minutes of playing around before he brought the suit to a stop, while he flipped some communication controls and typed in Lyra's personal number.

"Okay, put all systems on stand-by and divert power to communications. I don't want any 'blips in communication."

A moment later Lyra appeared on his screen, her eyes where wide with anticipation, upon seeing him she smiled that dead sexy smile that melted him to the floor. He smiled wide.

"Hey baby. Miss me?" he purred. She shook her head and smirked wider.

"Little, about time you called." he smirked as well as he nodded in agreement.

"Things been a little crazy." he shook his head and slumped in his seat. "Okay, a lot crazy." she crossed her arms across her chest and raised a eyebrow, he read what she meant and rolled his eyes. "No, I haven't killed anyone...yet. Got close to it yesterday." her eyebrow lifted further, he just sighed. "Okay...I." he gestured with both hands. " Might have over reacted, he was drunk..." he waved a dismissive hand. "Confidential information you understand." she continued staring at him for a moment longer before he cracked under her gaze. "Okay okay he called the captain a name I'd rather not repeat, and I "Kinda' beat his face in with Veronica."

Her grin widened as she bit her lip. "Love it when you get violent." Dane shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his grin turned sly. He started unbuttoning his jacket, Elsa threw her arms up.

"Thats it! I'm gone, you two enjoy your phone sex." with that the sprite disappeared into static.

Dane smirked wider. "Now that where alone." he purred. Lyra blinked at him a few times blandly. The weapons expert pouted. "C'mon baby. Its been six months, and I hate to say it, but the ole hand gettin' boring. I need something to get me through...well until I see you again...god I hope its soon." he smirked slightly. "I miss Lyra...you have no idea what I'd do to see you again...."

Lyra smiled softly and placed her hand on her cheek, leaning on it as she sighed, Dane could have sworn he saw a blush form on her cheeks. It faded quickly as she sighed heavily and started unbuttoning her shirt. Dane smirked wide as he stared.

Things just got a whole lot sexier...maybe I'll pull out of this without killing someone....




Maybe.

[Morgan Halcyon]

Morgan looked down at the listless dog in his lap and scratched its head. Roger just had not been the same since Cassi left. He was better now than he had been.

Lucky bastard. Probably already starting to forget her. Morgan sighed and picked up the tiny dog gently, putting him down on the bed and standing, pacing the room.

The crew, for the most part, respected him. Not as a person, but as an authority figure. he could live with that. Jo had divorced him at some point over the last six months, but still seemed to want him as her second in command. He could live with that too.

But the ship was falling apart under his stagnant command. No life in the crew anymore. The heart and soul of the ship had left them.

Morgan had not been a risk taker ever in his life. As a pit fighter, he only fought fights he knew he could win--which, by the end, had been most, if not all of them. He had built up his skills at a steady but rapid rate and, while often challenged by an opponent, he never lost a match. Even when offered large amounts of money to do so.

The pirate stopped mid-stride before activating the ship-wide comm. "This is Morgan speaking. We're going to go find Cassi and bring her back. Everyone who's with me, get to your stations on the double. Everyone who isn't, just stay where you are."

[Dr. Andromeda Reyes]

Andromeda almost collapsed where she stood, a hand covering her mouth as the tears suddenly sprang unbidden to her eyes.

Oh, God. Finally. Oh my God, thank you.

The slender doctor might still harbor a twinge of dislike for the powerful First Mate, but if he could manage to track down her sister and bring Cassi back to them, back where she belonged, then he would earn himself a free pass for just about anything for the rest of his life.

After a moment, Andromeda managed to get a hold of herself. She straightened, turning to where Katy was watching her, expression mixed between worry and elation. Doctor Reyes was suddenly all business.

"Make sure all of the exam beds are prepped, and the cabinets fully stocked with as many supplies as we have left."

"Yes, Doctor," Katy agreed immediately, turning around to do as she'd asked. Andromeda was right beside her, a remembered fire in her eyes and a determined spring in her step.

Hold on just a little longer, Cassi. We're coming.

[Beau Altair]

Beau felt his whole body tense at the sudden announcement that rang through the ship, from where he sat in the galley. After the intercom shut off, there was a slight pause of silence. Perhaps from shock or disbelief. And then, as one, almost everyone around him shot to their feet with loud whoops of excitement before rushing off to their stations.

Only a very few remained where they were, muttering amongst themselves about disloyalty, as following Morgan's order was indeed in direct contradiction to Captain Hart's last dictation.

Beau might have agreed with them, if it was for anything other than rescuing Cassi. As it was he got to his feet with a determined expression, stride purposeful.

After six months, most if not all of his anger had faded. Now he just wanted her back with them, in any fashion. He didn't really care anymore if she loved him or not. Sure, it was going to kill him to see her with Morgan, but at least he'd know she was safe. That she was alright.

In the end, he supposed, that's all that really mattered.

[T.K.]

T.K. was in the middle of poking around the Datanet, when Morgan's announcement came over the Com.

“About damn time. Shiyou, call up the Crew heads, re-establish the normal duty rosters. Inform Morgan, that the ship is ready when he is. I'll see if I can find him an update about Cassie's whereabouts.”

T.K. let Shiyou go about delivering the messages, while he started up a secondary search, looking for updates on Clara's War on Humans. Most likely, where Clara went, Cassie wouldn't be far behind.