Of All the Things To Forget

[Kaz]

He nodded and followed Jen, looking ahead to the cargo bay. Chuckling a bit as he turned for a second, looking towards the old, decrepit prison before turning back to the ship. 'No,' he thought, 'this is the only way'.


His feet fell on the metallic flooring of the skimmer and he felt the door close behind him, leaving him to bask in the tiny wonder that was this ship.


"So, do you have an idea of where I could set my stuff up?" Valen said, looking to Jen as he shifted his bag.

 

[AlwaysKiaMia]

"Sure, follow me." Jen flipped a switch on the wall and the cargo bay lit up in florescent light. At the back of the bay, away from the loading door were two ladders, a double door between them, and doors in the walls on either side. Jen headed towards the double doors explaining on the way, "Door to the far left leads to the bathroom, don't go in there yet, it's a mess. The door on the right leads to the living area, lots of books, most still in boxes. Ladder on the left leads to me and Marcy's bedrooms and a storage space, Ladder on the right leads to two empty bedrooms and a storage space. Double doors lead to the kitchen and further ahead is the control center. You can set up in one of the bedrooms, or the storage space. Food's in the kitchen if you get hungry. If you need something, yell, it's a small ship, noise travels fast."


Jen began to move towards the double doors, then paused, "Whatever you need to set up, you better hurry. We'll have to take off soon, Marcy's probably already checking the engine and getting us ready for launch."

 

[Kaz]

He nodded and took a moment before heading off towards the right latter, the spare room seeming like a good place to set his stuff down. As he walked down the small passageway, tiny lights on each side, Valen was a bit overcome with emotion.


He was finally getting to leave this planet.


The door before him was unlike any ship door he'd ever seen; a small button console next to the silver door. He pressed it and the door swished open, inside was a single bed and small dresser. He set his bag on the bed and set his over coat down next to it.


Rolled sleeves and a quick change of pants, Valen felt the urge to explore the ship. He exited the room and headed back down the passageway, ending up in the cargo bay, only, he didn't see Jen and didn't exactly remember if she mentioned where the cockpit was.


At any rate, he figured, food was a big motivator. He pushed the doubledoors to the kitchen and looked around the rather small dining area.

 

[AlwaysKiaMia]

Jen left Valen be for the moment. She smiled briefly, thinking about the new face she'd have to get used to seeing. Marcy was one thing, Jen had gotten used to seeing Marx everyday. Speaking of Marcy, where did she disappear to? Jen breezed through the kitchen and headed straight into the cockpit. She took a quick look around, finding all three available chairs empty. She stepped further into the compact room, letting the double doors close behind her. In the center of the room, a bit behind the pilot's chair was a trap door. She crouched in front of it and pulled it open. The small tunnel bellow was just big enough for one person to crawl through. She stuck her head in and called out, "We have a guest over and you're hiding in a hole?"


A series of clangs and on mumbled curse sounded through the tunnel, "I'm getting the engine ready for take off, give me a minute!"


"Hurry up, I want off this rock in the next ten minutes."


"Then you come do this." Marx replied, then paused, "Doc's in the kitchen from the sound of his foot steps. Go harass him for a bit, I gotta finish this up...and make sure he doesn't burn himself, that stove is still on the fritz."


"Will do, and don't get oil on that jacket." Jen replied, closing the hatch and heading toward the kitchen.

 

[Kaz]

Valen stared at the tiny stove, unsure if it was even safe to operate, much less put food any where near it. With a dejected sigh, he set down the small packet of food on the table and sat down, cracking his jaw and neck.


His eyes looked up towards the dim light above and sighed, running a hand through his hair. Was this really what he wanted? He'd wished that one of them would have stayed. He was curious, that much was certain, why they'd been so welcoming.


Mulling these thoughts over in his mind, he looked down to his hands and furrowed his brow. Ironic that these hands were meant for healing, when so much had been caused because of them.

 

[AlwaysKiaMia]

Jen pushed a button next to the double doors. She almost wanted to bless Marx for being as paranoid as she was. Because of Marx's paranoia, the door between the kitchen and cockpit and the hatch between the cockpit and engine room were both nearly invisible. The ladders were also capable of disappearing into the walls and at a voice command, all doors locked in record time. As much as the skipper was a safe haven, it was also a death trap waiting to go off.


Jen stepped through the doors into the kitchen and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw Valen sitting at the table. He didn't seem to hear her come in, and more disturbingly seemed to be having a bit of a personal debate. She frowned. What ever he was thinking about really seemed to be bothering him. Jen slid into the seat in front of him with ease, "You know, thinking is usually a very dangerous pass time." She tried to crack a joke, hoping he would ease up a bit.

 

[Kaz]

"Hmm?" He turned to face her and half-smirked, "oh, yeah, I suppose." He said, looking to her with a raised eyebrow.


"So, you still haven't told me why, exactly, you've been so welcoming." He said, rubbing his left arm, wincing a bit at the large scare that ran from his shoulder to his wrist.


Valen found himself taking in the contrast between Jen and Marcy; one a socialite, out-going, happy. And the other more reserved, work driven. If looks were to be taken into account for anything, Jen was obviously the more...open one.

 

[AlwaysKiaMia]

"Should we be anything else?" Jen asked honestly. As far as she was concerned she and Marx had always been the friendly, welcoming types. They'd never really thought of shunning anyone from anything they did...usually. The actual construction of the ship was done in complete secret, though it wasn't their first attempt. Mark 1 of the ship was a catastrophic fail, that nearly ended both Jen and Marx in a Max-Prison on the edge of the star-system.


Jen fiddled distractedly with the food packet. "You looked ready to leave before I even hinted at it. And then you brought up the whole record thing and we were thinking we were going to have to kidnap you, but you seemed ready to go. Initially, we came to the dock to find a pilot. Marcy's a fabulous mechanic, but she's no pilot. And now you're here. What, do you want me to kick you off the ship?"

 

[Kaz]

He shook his head and looked to her with a growing smile, "No, no. I was just curious. I'm glad that you've been so accommodating, thank you."


A bit thrown off by her shift in mood, he decided to try and return to a lighter mood.


"I didn't actually think you were serious about the whole kidnapping thing." He chuckled, looking to her with a small smile.

 

[AlwaysKiaMia]

"We don't exactly need our records showing up on a search in a prison database, so the choice was to beat you up and run, or kidnap you. And given that neither Marcy nor I are very strong, and there was a camera in the room, kidnapping you was the safer way to go." Jen shrugged, like that was the most normal thing in the world. "Speaking of, we better get off planet. We can figure out what to do next, after we've gotten out of the atmosphere."


"Agreed." Marx stepped into the room from the cockpit. She wiped her hands off with an old grease rag, and pushed her goggles off of her eyes to hang around her neck. She plopped down next to Jen. "I'd say we've got about five minutes until people start knocking on our door and demanding we return their doc."

 

[Kaz]

He nodded and replaced his smile with a look of grim determination.


"Right. Then, we'd better hurry. Though, with no pilot, how are we gonna get off planet?" He said, jumping up and lookong towards the double-doors.


"If I know the Government, they won't exactly take too kindly to me leaving, nor you keeping me onboard." He said while looking to the both of them.

 

[AlwaysKiaMia]

"Marcy can get us off planet." Jen spoke up.


"And again, the mechanics of piloting are extremely simple. It's the actual act of piloting that I fall down in." Marx stood back up. "And as for keeping you on board, you've officially been kidnapped. I hope you don't mind."


Jen stood up too, seemingly calmer now that everyone was in the same room. She gave Valen a friendly pat on the shoulder. "Oh yeah, the government. Nah, we just built one of the fastest ships ever designed because we thought it would be fun. This isn't our first run." Both girls stepped into the cockpit. Marx held her arm in the door way so that Valen could follow without the door slamming in his face. She mentally reminded herself that she was going to have to reprogram parts of the ship to accommodate the new passenger.

 

[Kaz]

He followed after them and headed into the rather smaller looking cockpit, looking around to the multitude of buttons and switches.


"And you say you both gathered the parts and she put all of this together?" He said, a little bit suspicious. The guards from outside began to approach the pad, some readying weapons and others contacting the military detachment.


"We'd better hurry, looks like they aren't gonna hesitate to open fire".

 

[AlwaysKiaMia]

"Crud." Jen grumbled, ignoring his previous question. "You better sit down and buckle up, we're taking off now."


Marx was already in the pilot's seat, strapping herself in with one hand and starting the ship up with the other. Jen quickly moved to one of the other three seats left and began strapping in. She took her favorite seat at the navigation console. She listened to the slow but steady hum of the engines powering on.


A voice patched through to the intercom, "Unauthorized ship, you are charged with attempted kidnapping of a government official, illegal docking in a restricted zone, and the ownership of an unlicensed vehicle. You will turn of your engines and step out via the loading ramp with your hands up, or we will be forced to take you into custody through less peaceful means."

 

[Kaz]

Valen looked to Marcy with an uneasy look, "I really hope you know what you're doing." The sirens outside filled his ears, though it was soon drowned out by the engines starting up.


He looked outside again and saw more and more people gathering on the pad; some well armed and others racing to find cover. An uneasy feeling welled inside him, could these two actually get off the planet?


The voice coming from the interface on the ship shrilled again, "You will not be warned again. Shut down your engines now and release your passenger. This is your final warning."

 

[AlwaysKiaMia]

"Me too!" Marx grinned. Both girls looked toward the intercom as the voice continued. "Stall for me!"


Jen snatched up the intercom radio and replied, "We hear you loud and clear. Give us a minute, this rust bucket may fall apart on the launch pad if we shut it down that fast." She flipped the radio back off and grinned mischievously at Marx.


"You have one minute." The voice replied, slowly being drowned out as Marx finished sealing the air locks.


"Rust bucket? Rust Bucket!?" Marx called. Her grip on the steering tightened and she called, "Watch this 'rust bucket' hit Mach 3."


Without further ado, Marx shoved all of the throttles into full power.

 

[Kaz]

Valen had a mix of fascination and terror, this was to be the fastest or shortest ride of his life. He figured they'd amount to the same thing.


One thing was certain though; he'd have to get used to their sense of humor.


"Wh-" He felt words escape his lips though, it would be a miracle if they head them. Suddenly, the entire craft shook and groaned, the engines whined and howled.


They were going to leave, alright. Very, very, soon.


He wasn't sure whether they were going up or down, the flurry of noise around him deafened him, though, he was sure he could make out the terrified screams of those near the craft.

 

[AlwaysKiaMia]

"Rule number one of space craft, back away from the thrusters." Marx mumbled, hearing the occasional scream of those that got too close.


The skipper slowly rose into the air, getting a safe distance from the landing pad for full take off. Gun shots rang out as the federal officers tried to shoot out something vital to keep the ship on planet. Jen yelped as one shot hit the plating on the other side of the panel in front of her and let out a rather loud clang. She quickly tightened the buckle on her seat belt, like that would stop a bullet or phaser blast.


"You two alright back there!?" Marx called over the engines.


"Peachy!" Jen shot back sarcastically.

 

[Kaz]

Valen frowned, looking towards Jen and then over to the cockpit area. He couldn't get the feeling something was wrong, a burning sensation that something was off.


He tried to reach out to brace himself, yet, his arm didn't respond. He tried again and nothing happened, it was only when he tried calling out to her did he realize what had happened.


He'd been shot.


'Well', he figured, looking at his limp arm, 'this isn't good.' Normally, he'd have been freaking out over this, however, his instincts took over as he brushed against Jen.


"Are you alright?" He shouted to her, holding on with his right arm, the only working one.

 

[AlwaysKiaMia]

"Fine, I'm just--Marcy! There's a hole in the hull!" Jen shouted, watching in amazement as a panel shifted over the small hole and sealed it. She blinked at the sudden fix. This ship truly was a marvel. Jen chose to focus on how Marx could have programed that, instead of the fact that bullets were flying and people were yelling. She flailed around briefly, wishing she could reach Marx but settled for leaning against Valen.


Marx pushed the throttle into high gear and they were out of the planets atmosphere in under five minutes. The G's were a bit rough, but nothing too bad. The second they were out of orbit, Marx set the thrusters to keep them moving for a while and turned on the gravity. Marx settled down, flipping off switches here and there to get the engine to quiet down.


Jen leaped to her feet, "We're alive! That was fantastic, don't you think doctor!?" Jen never was very observant.

 

[Kaz]

Valen nodded half-heartdly, wincing as he tried to stop the bleeding.


"Jen, if you could be a dear and grab my bag." He muttered, trying to stand up, blood dripping down his arm. "I seem to have...suffered some lead poisoning."


Only he knew how dire his situation actually was though; he felt cold, clammy, like the world was slowly shifting out of focus. He knew what was happening, he'd seen it so many time before.


Shock.

 

[AlwaysKiaMia]

"Sure thing." Jen headed off to fetch his bag. She assumed it was in one of the spare bedrooms. After a quick search she found it, slinging it over her shoulder and grunting under the weight as she lugged it back down the ladder.


Marx unbuckled the seat belt and set the ship to run on silent. Physics would get them pretty far without the thrusters running at full. She stood up, immediately turning toward her new passenger. He was bleeding, badly. In any other situation, Marx would have left as soon as possible, but this wasn't a time where she could step away from it. She put a light hand on his uninjured shoulder and gently guided him back into his seat, "Don't stand up, I don't know much about...health, but I do know you're better if you don't move much. What can I do to help?"


Jen came back into the room and set the bag down at Valen's side, taking a step back.

 

[Kaz]

"For starters," he grunted, "you can hold pressure on the woud." He said, looking up to Jen, motioning to his bag.


"Grab the hypo-spray and the surgical laser. Then get a pair of sterile tweezers, they should all be in the smaller compartment." More blood seeped out, his fingers becoming more and more pale.


"Hurry, or you'll have one dead Doctor on your hands." He finished; though, he wasn't sure why he felt the need to add that last part.


Another wave of pain washed over him as he grunted again, gritting his teeth and feeling a deep, white-hot pain in his left arm.

 

[AlwaysKiaMia]

Marx carefully did as she was told. Putting pressure on the wound sounded easy enough, even though it was still bleeding. She steeled herself, trying to think of his arm as a hunk of metal, leaking oil. It was hard to imagine when she could feel the him tensing and relaxing. Metal didn't do that. She took a deep breath. This was her ship, she'd be damned if she let anyone die on it.


"Your bedside manor may be fantastic, but your patient manor is absolutely terrible." Marx smiled, this really wasn't the time to joke, but if he was going to, so was she.


Jen rummaged around for what he asked for, setting each item beside him as she found it. Marx gave each a weary glance then turned back to him, "Alright, what's next?"

 

[Kaz]

He exhaled slowly, feeling his arm continue to bleed; the lights starting to swirl together and blur. Even the pressure from Marcy's hands hardly registered in his mind. He shook his head and tried to calm himself down.


"Okay, I need you grab one more thing, this fuckin' bleeding isn't gonna stop. It's on the outside, a tourniquet." He said, pointing to the front of his bag.


"And, you, Marcy. I'll be fine, okay? Try and relax, you're shaking all over." He tried to give as much of a smile as he could before grimicing in pain; his body flooding his system with adrenaline.


With that, he looked to the materials Jen had got for him.


"Once you get that tourniquet on...you..." Valen paused for a second, his head rushing with pain, "You take the hypo-spray and stab it right in my Jugular Vein, alright?"


The pain was unlike anything he'd ever felt before, it was getting harder and harder to focus and he could feel his body start to shake.


"C...covers...b..blankets...c...cold." He muttered.