Boarded

Clarroy frowned as his work light, along with all the lights in lab save for the red emergency ones, had shut off. He could hear the sounds of a struggled outside, but he didn't concern himself with them. A little part of him felt that maybe he should be worried and that he might be broken in some manner for not caring, but he waved off the thought as it didn't really matter.   At most he was annoyed. If Brice's crew was under some sort of attack then there was the option that they would loose, leaving him with another set of pirates to be bossed around by. Would they let him bring his equipment? Would he have to start from scratch yet again? He looked at he door wondering if his assistant would survive. It was useful not to have to run about for every little thing himself.   At any rate he wanted to keep his research papers, there was too much of interest to let them get left behind. He should have been keeping them in a bag for easy removal should something like this happen. He'd do that from now on, he told himself, as he started gathering them up and placing them in a neat and tidy pile on his worktable. He wouldn't have to write them on paper if Brice would just let me have a blasted datascroll.   Hrm.. what bag should he use? He'd want something easy to carry, as he wasn't able to lift that much on his own. But he wanted something sturdy so they wouldn't get damaged.   He was in the middle of contemplating this when the door opened and slammed shut again. He looked up to see his lab assistant brace himself against the door, a grin on his face. The kid was crazy, Clarroy decided, if fighting for his life made him that ecstatic.   "Good timing Oradoal, put these papers into this case would you?" He ordered, waving a hand at the pile as the kid took hold of the table and used it to brace the door instead, careful not to knock over any papers.   "Hurry it up, I have other things to do than wait around for you."   Oradoal laughed as if it was all some joke, but, to his credit, he did as he was told. Perhaps it was Clarroy's own disinterest in danger that effected the poor boy's sanity, he reasoned. He hadn't stopped to consider he might be influencing the young man some how. A mildly interesting thought, but not really his field of study, so he didn't really care to pursue it.   "Roza in her room?" Oradoal asked, pushing Clarroy up against the wall and away from the bright light of a laser cutter melting away the lock on the door.   "And how should I know where she is?" Clarroy crossed his arms. "Don't leave my notes over there to get burned up. Use that brain in your head, you stupid boy, it isn't there for nothing."   "You know, Saw, you really should get a datascroll, way less to carry about." Oradoal shrugged off Clarroy's choice of words and moved the bag to keep it safe. That was what he liked about having the boy as an assistant, he did what you told him and didn't get all caught up on how you said it.   "It's Clarroy. And tell that to Brice, I only have what she provides me. I hope these other pirates know the value of research."   "They aren't pirates, its the Jaumun navy." Oradoal corrected as he handed the bag to Clarroy and started looking in Roza's favorite hiding spots.   "What?" That gave him pause. He didn't know anything about the Jaumun government's policy on Doctors captured by pirates. He didn't really know anything about Jaumun at all, now that the thought of it. But he did know his own government's policy. In their eyes he was a pirate too, so there was a good chance instead of switching groups he'd be killed or imprisoned. Being dead would make finishing his work impossible.   "Confound it Oradoal, what are you doing in here then? Shouldn't you be out there... I don't know..." He waved a hand around in exasperation. "Fighting or something?"   Oradoal shrugged. "Take your bag and go hide in Roza's room. If they open the door let them know you're both hostages, alright? And try to be nice."   Hrm.. not a bad idea really, the boy could use that brain of his after all. If they were more understanding to captives then he might make it out of this fairly alright. Then again he was Ovie...
But what else could he do? Fight them? Run... to where, space? No this was the best option, he would, at the least, avoid any physical injury while hiding. Clarroy clutched the bag to his chest and headed for the little closet that was Roza's 'room'. He struggled with the door a bit and Oradoal had to yank it open for him.   Roza was huddled in the corner and hissed at him as he entered. He ignored her and sat down, his long legs barely giving him any room as he curled up around the case of papers. Hopefully she wouldn't have one of her fits and try to scratch his eyes out again, that was never pleasant.   "Don't fight too much in my lab Oradoal, you'll break my equipment." He ordered as the door closed and left him in the small dark space with the hissing little girl.

Main Cast

Clarroy, Ora

Locations

The Roza

Characters

Roza, Jaumun Federation Navy


Cover image: Story Cover by Lengna(Paper)