Bond Mason's Story

Bond

Waking didn't feel nice. He needed more sleep, but had operated on less before.

Hearing Regina's announcement about the land cruiser decided where he would go. Off this ship. He needed to be alone.

He didn't speak to anyone on the short trip down, nor did he follow the others. He stole away and walked through the town that he didn't pay any attention to. He didn't need to educate himself on whatever flat planet this was. He needed a hiding place.

Once in the alley, Bond's mind spiked. It was a strange pain, one he thought he had experienced before, but also one he knew he never had. The tumult of confusion woke him up further and briefly, he wondered...how did I get here?

The yellow screwdriver in his pocket grew warm and he drew it out, eyebrows raised in confusion. Why was he here? Why was his screwdriver glowing now? Should he find Regina? Was Minn okay? Oh no, was Minn okay?

"...He...You...Are you...Comi...Agen..."

Muffled voice emitted from the screwdriver. Bond held it at arm's length, studying the contraption he had owned for most of his life, suddenly erupting with sound. It was an inanimate object, what was it doing!?

Now that he was alone, he could focus.

"I'm here," he responded, holding the screwdriver close. "This isn't exactly the best crew, Captain."

"Stick to your objective."

"Sir...there's...slipping."

"..."

What were his orders? "Sir?"

"Continue. We'll contact Ryn."

Nodding, he pocketed the screwdriver.

Blinking, Bond shook his head and started back to the cruiser, wanting to go back to his bed as soon as possible. He couldn't for the life of him, remember why he had decided to come down here in the first place. Shrugging and closing his eyes, he waited for Reggie and the others to return.


Minn

When she refocused, the machine hooked up to her had finished her stitches. She sat up, fingering them gently on her head. Fatigue was etched along her face, but she smiled briefly to the doctor, muttering a "Thank you" before standing and making to leave. She wasn't sure if she should go back to making food, or find a place to collapse for a nap. The crew needed to be fed though. "Do you know when their all coming back?" she asked, wondering if she had enough time even for the smallest of cat naps.

Her head swirled with unwanted images. Surely sleep was the only thing that would help.

Regina

Most of the crew had made it to the Inn, all enjoying a cool drink and each other's company. Reggie couldn't help but feel the stress, even as she downed her glass of alcohol. Vic was next to her, chuckling quietly at the things he would see.

"You've got an interesting patch of crew members." He observed.

"This is only a few of the crew." She explained. "The rest are just as crazy." She laughed. Vic chuckled.

"You'll need crazy. Only crazy would follow you on this damned voyage."

Reggie nodded, her eyes staring blankly at the table. Vic's hand touched her shoulder, giving her a comforting pat. She smiled up at him. Finally, with the downtime, the captain finally felt how tired she was. When was the last time she'd gotten any sleep?

She couldn't remember.

She pulled out her datapad and quickly sent a message to the crew. In the next half hour, I will be returning to the Nightwing. Anyone is welcome to come and stay on the ship for the evening. Anyone else is free to stay on the planet for the evening. The Inn has graciously provided the crew rooms for the evening. We will make one last descent to the planet in the morning to restock supplies and then be back on our way. Thank you.

"Not staying at the Inn then?" Vic asked, he had been reading over her shoulder.

Reggie chuckled. "No. Believe it or not, my bed in my quarters is a lot more comfortable then the beds you have here." She downed the rest of her drink and then stood from her chair. "I'll be back in the morning. Tell Nelly, so she doesn't get angry with me for leaving without saying goodbye."

Vic laughed once again. She bid him a good night and left the Inn. She yawned, finally feeling the full weight of how tired she was. She just had to get back to the Nightwing and then she could sleep. She slapped her cheeks a few times, and finally made it to the land cruiser.

There she spotted Bond, waiting awkwardly for something. "Hey," Reggie said casually. "Everything alright?"

Bond

"All right? Everything's...fine." Except that I feel like I have to puke. "You?"

Bond fidgeted where he stood, kicking at the dirt by his boots and realizing he was holding the yellow screwdriver tightly in one hand. He immediately dropped it, though wasn't sure why. Then he looked at his hands. Where are my gloves?

"Are we...heading back?"

Annarein

The captain ignored Ann, or perhaps Ann had spoken too quietly when she asked if she might join the conversation. Or maybe the captain had thought Ann was speaking to a different captain because Ann was facing in the wrong direction - these things happened sometimes. Ann took the lack of answer as a yes, and listened in on Regina and Vic. She didn’t get much useful information this way.

After quite a while, the conversation stopped for a moment, then her datapad buzzed. Annarein let her fingers slide over the bumps on the screen, reading whole lines at once. Apparently the captain was going back to the ship, while crew members were welcome to sleep at the inn. Ann decided to follow the captain. If there was any information for her to study - there should be - it would be on the ship. She was also curious about this Minn girl, who apparently had not joined the trip to the planet. Which made sense, she was the cook and there wouldn’t be anything especially tasty for sale on this dull planet.


Saein

Saein slapped her forehead when Tom replied with “I didn’t” to her joking about him not surviving his childhood.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. I was just picturing a kid running around all day going ‘shoot me! shoot me!’” She waved her arms like a scared chicken to imitate the image in her mind.

She sat in awkward silence, welding the last few pieces. It didn’t take long to make half of them black, and the other half was painted in a single shot. Collecting them took some time, the chess pieces had bounced everywhere. A message telling the crew to go back to the land cruiser or sleep at the inn appeared on her datapad. She liked the timing of that. When she walked back, she noticed her sister, Tom, Bond and the captain among the small group gathering at the other side of the land cruiser. Bond didn’t look well, even compared to the tired others.

Saein stretched her arms and yawned. If it were up to her, this day was pretty much over, and if this were a democracy, it would be too. Come to think of it, if this were a dictatorship ruled by the captain, the result would still be bedtime. So naturally something would happen now to keep everyone awake. Saein looked around. Where was that thing that would keep her awake soon? She hoped it was something she could shoot.

Ann grabbed Saein’s left hand with her own and wrapped Saein’s arm around her. Saein began to say something, yawned again (this time remembering to cover her mouth), and successfully completed her short sentence. “Hey sis.”

Tom was talking with the captain, and she wasn’t interested in what was wrong with Bond, so besides Annarein there wasn’t really anyone around to talk to. Saein helped her sister and the furnak back into the land cruiser, sat down next to them, and hoped they would leave soon.

Regina

"All right? Everything's...fine. You?"

Bond seemed a bit distracted, which concerned the captain. Reggie sighed. "I'm okay," She stated.

"Are we...heading back?"

"Good to see you, Captain. Do you know if there are any rooms left in the ship?"

Reggie was startled by the sudden appearance of Thomas. Even the robot sounded tired. Everyone just needed a good night's sleep. So much had happened in the past days, and she could see the exhaustion in her crew's faces. "Yeah, Thomas, we're going back to the ship. Unless you would like to stay at the Inn?"

She gestured back behind her, towards the Inn she was just at. "I think we could all use a good night's rest. And, Thomas, there's the barracks where most of the crew will be staying. Although, our resident android, Dlew, stays in MAK's main computer room. It's up to you though."

Reggie sighed once again, and when the allotted time was finally up, she climbed into the pilot's seat of the land cruiser as the rest of her crew followed. When all were strapped in, Reggie started up the cruiser and headed back up to the Nightwing.

She barely remembered the trip. It was like she had fallen asleep, and didn't wake up until she was halfway down the corridor to her room. "MAK, did we get back okay?" She questioned, leaning against the wall.

"Yes, captain. The cruiser experienced no turbulence, and you parked it perfectly. You even hooked it up for diagnosis." MAK explained. "Is everything alright, Captain?"

"Yes, MAK, everything is fine. Just tired."

Running a hand through her hair, Reggie continued on down the corridor to the elevator. She stepped inside, and immediately told MAK to take her straight to her quarters. The elevator shot up, and the captain eagerly began removing her clothes during the trip.

The doors slid open, and she stepped inside her room, throwing her clothes to the floor. She collapsed on her bed, curling up around herself, and immediately welcomed sleep.

Tom hadn't met Dlew the resident android, but he decided the computer room would be quite a nice place to stay. That is, if there was a bed in there. Somehow he doubted it. In the end, he resolved to stay in the barracks - at least that way, he'd quickly meet all the crew he hadn't met yet.
Lost in his thoughts, he got in the speeder and before he knew it they were back in the ship. Saein and Regina left swiftly and Ann wandered off too, and he decided he'd have a proper explore of the ship.
He got up and caught Bond's eye before he disappeared as well.

"Hey, Bond - you know the barracks? Can you take me there?"

"I can take you there..." said MAK, but Tom ignored him. He much preferred to be guided by someone he could see.

Bond

Disoriented when they arrived back on the ship, Bond jumped a little at Tom's request. His eyes scanned the robot-like humanoid thing...thing...he ...he couldn't think straight, but gave a nod. He thought he remembered where they were and without a word, started down the hallway.

His thumb grazed his pocket. Somehow the screwdriver had returned there.

"Here...we are," he sighed, seeing the beds and nearly collapsing with happiness. "Kinda far from everything...but...looks comfy."

Laying back on the bottom bunk of the closest beds, he smiled a little. "Oh yeah. Comfy."


Minn

Busying herself with the food, Minn was happy more crew members had arrived to eat this time, even if they were a little rude. Well, the girl was. "I'm the cook," she answered her and then turned to Ann and Eddie. The chess set was beautiful and Minn glanced sideways at Saein with a smile. Eddie definitely liked it.

"Furnak?" she inquired, tilting her head at Ann's question. "There should be plenty if he gets in here now," she giggled, hoping that a furnak wasn't too large for the kitchen. She couldn't quite put her finger on what they looked like from memory.

Facing Rokunam, she handed him a plate and bowl with yet another smile. She was just happy she was working with food. "You can help yourself," she assured. "But I like serving too. Have a seat!"

With everyone seated and with food, she sighed and leaned against the counter. "It's mostly done," she replied to Saein's request to help her clean up. "Just what has food in it."

Eye lids drooping a little, she focused on Eddie, examining the pieces of his present happily. Part of her felt bad, but didn't know what to make him for his birthday either. Her cheeks grew hot at the memory of strawberries and she had to shake her head and face Ann again to concentrate fully. "What's your furnak's name?"

Tom entered the barracks, thanked Bond, and plopped down on the nearest unoccupied bed. He let out a great whoosh of breath as he landed and just lay there spread-eagled as he deflated. He was exhausted.

He stared up at the ceiling for a bit, finding patterns in it and imagining pictures made out of the various scratches and smudges.
Time passed, but after a while, he woke from his daydreaming and dragged himself from the bed. A more prominent need was making itself known: hunger.

He stood and made his way back to the hangar, following the route Bond had showed him in reverse. From there, he found his way to the kitchen and found Saein, Ann, Ip, Minn, Eddie, Rokunam and Maria sat at various tables. He made his way over to Rokunam's table, giving those sitting with Saein and Ann a wave of greeting, just to make sure they didn't think he was avoiding him on purpose. He grabbed himself a pastry on the way, using his other hand upturned in front of him as a plate.

He sat at the table across from Rokunam, his metal rear end providing just about as much comfort as Rokunam's bony bum. The poor Exburnan looked incredibly uncomfortable.
"Hiya," Tom said in greeting. He thought for a second, analysing Rokunam's posture. "I don't know if this will be helpful for you or not, but you might find it easier on your neck if you were to lift your bowl up."
Then, realising he had only two fingers per hand, "Or, er, maybe I could find you something to put the bowl on to raise it up a little?"

Minn

Saein's eyes fluttered closed and Minn was glad she wouldn't have to wonder about what to do, at least for tonight. Embracing her roommate, most likely soon to be more, she closed her eyes too, the lights dimming around them. MAK must have been watching. Minn probably would have cared, but sleep took her almost instantly.

.-.-.

She stood in a long hallway. Doors lined the walls, lights above bright and irritating to her eyes. Pulling a pair of shades down over her scowl, she started down the hall, pausing at the second to last door on the left-hand side. She knocked once. Listened. No answer or movement. Checking the handle, she saw it was unlocked and pushed herself inside.

The bunk was small, like a closet. A metal frame bed was shoved in the corner to make room for two duffel bags, food wrappers and cans. It smelled like a guy room. And the supposed culprit lay on the bed on top of the covers, sprawled out like he had fallen onto the thin mattress from a great height.

Minn closed the door and kept the light off.

Snaking her arms around him, she gently bit into his ear, grinning madly. He reacted as she expected him to react, jolting up, nearly knocking her out with his own head as his fist came around.

"Hey," she giggled, a soft edge to her voice that felt strange on her tongue. "It's just me."

Where her hands touched him, the muscles relaxed and a sigh wrapped around her. "Don't...do that," he muttered, leaning over his knees.

Minn smiled and hugged him. "You slept for a long time," she revealed, leaning her head on his shoulder.

He looked over, but she couldn't see his face in the dark. "Should I go?"

"No," she assured, tracing one finger down his jawline. "Stay here. With me."

"Minn?" he asked, a strange question.

She laughed. "Of course its me." Sitting up on her knees, she forced him back down on the blankets, straddling him middle and holding his hair tight as she pressed her lips to his. His hands reacted with sliding grace, moving up her sides to her hair as well, keeping her against him. Rocking her hips, she smiled into the kiss, tingling all over. It had been so long since she had been touched like this.

He broke the embrace, to breathe, to assess. "Did Boyle send you?"

"No," she laughed, stroking the side of his face. "Why would anyone send me? I can't come here on my own?"

He gave an empty chuckle, not explaining. "Look...I don't know if this is such a good idea..."

"Of course it is," she pressed on, fingers tapping and dancing down his chest to the waist of his pants. "You've wanted to for months."

His body was growing tense. "Yeah..." he admitted. "But Minn..."

Her pink fingers pressed to his mouth. "Bond. Just relax," she ordered, smiling madly.

.-.-.

Minn sucked in a deep breath, sitting up and trembling fingers heading straight for her hair. That wasn't a dream. That wasn't a dream!

Leaping from the bed, she stumbling and fell to her knees in the dark. She rocked forward. Why was she with Bond? What had happened that night? Had he been a previous client? She didn't understand! The memory was slipping away too quickly and tears came to her eyes from frustration.

What did it all mean?

Minn

Saein was comforting her, but didn't seem to be in an state to do so. Minn nodded furiously pulling her back to the mattress and fighting tears as she clung to her tightly, nearly shaking from the effort. "I'm sorry," she whispered, once she knew she could managed speaking evenly again. "About...your important person."

She buried her face down into Saein's shoulder, curling her legs around hers. Distantly she wondered if Saein was alright, but held tight anyway. It did help, little by little. Her words, her hug. No, maybe nothing was wrong with her, but someone had done something. They had taken part of her mind and it was driving her crazy. Bond must know something. She vowed to confront him as soon as possible, but not right now. Right now, she was hugging Saein and that's all she needed.