Smugglers Cove (Love2write and Silence)

Killian broke a piece of the cake off with the fork and waited to take a bite until after she had taken a bite. He wasn't waiting so much for the cake as he was to hear what she was going to say. "No I-I uh...Well smuggling isn't my goal forever." Taking a bite of the cake he savored it and the bit of food helped to keep his mouth from going completely dry. "If I save enough money I'd like to just disappear. Live quietly in a home somewhere. Its why I joined the rebellion. They offered a pardon and that means I won't have to hide if they win. I can buy a house anywhere. Maybe keep the ship so I can explore from time to time. What about you?"
 
Star nodded, smiling lightly. She'd been hoping his answer would be somewhere along those lines. "Before joining your crew, I was just trying to survive and keep out of prison. But...one day, hopefully in the near future I'd like to settle down with someone...maybe even start a family. Somewhere peaceful where I don't have to worry about looking over my shoulder." She smiles at her cake, a longing look in her eye. She looks back up at him with a smile, "What would a perfect day look like for you?"
 
While it seemed that Star was making a hint at what she wanted he was feeling wary. It was possible this was just a general conversation though it didn't feel that way. Regardless it was better not to get one's hope up so soon. Clearing his throat he gave a short answer. "Have a long night, late morning, some time to do a little charting, food, maybe work on some projects, more food, then relax and go to bed again." Still he was almost dying to know if she was meaning this to be them together so he ventured out with his own question. "Would you settle down with me?"
 
Star's eyes widened. The question took her off guard. It had been the last thing she'd expected him to ask. "I...maybe." She smiles and chuckles nervously. "I guess it depends on how things go from here on out."
 
The answer really didn't help anything. Killian nodded nervously. "Well I'm just going to assume that means as long as I don't get myself killed in the war, or the ship blown out of the sky, or my crew slaughtered, or any other number of things that I wouldn't want to do." Glancing at his plate he shoved another bite of the cake around it till he decided to take the bite. It was quiet for a few moments. And then he broke the silence. "You know I've never met anyone that uh...Well that seemed to really care if I got back to the ship or not. Mike would go on and so would the rest of the crew. I do my job and they do theirs. Just feels different with you. Its nice that somebody would care a little more about what happened instead of just worrying about how to make things work without me."
 
Star took his hand. "You have no idea how worried I was earlier today when you didn't answer your comms. I almost had a panic attack and all I could think was, 'finally I have someone in my life who really seems to care about me and I might lose him.'" Her forehead furrowed as the memory instigated that worry once again. She withdraws her hands, wringing them in her lap "I...I know this life is dangerous. And that you have to go out into dangerous situations and do what needs to be done for the crew and this ship, but I hope you'll remember to be more careful, cause...I'm always going to be worrying about you." Star breathed a sigh of relief, glad to have the thoughts off her chest.
 
"I was a little concerned about me to." Chuckling lightly he tried to avoid her gaze. It was strange. Not very comfortable to have someone want to hold his hand like that but, he worked on not refusing that kind of gesture. How it could feel more personal than the time he spent with prostitutes was a wonder in itself. He'd have to ask Mike about that. Killian noticed that she was getting considerably upset with her wringing of her hands. "Hey...." Leaning forward slightly he tilted his head to get a better look at her face. "Don't get so worried. I mean...I'm going to be more careful. Just think of what we'll do when the war is over. Makes this stuff a lot easier."

Somehow the easiest way to get past these sort of situations was to laugh. "You know I'm scared every time somebody points a gun at me." Maybe he didn't look it, but that was years of acting like he wasn't to get to the point that he didn't look it. "All I can think about is how to escape, and how bad its gonna hurt if they do shoot me. Nothing to worry about there. I've got a good dose of self preservation."
 
"As do I...but it didn't help me much." She says seriously. There was a scar on her chest just peeking from the edge of the neckline on her dress proving that self-preservation only helped so much.
She forces a smile, "But you're right. Worrying doesn't really help anything. I just have to trust you'll make out every time." She forces herself to relax and tries to change the subject. "Did you like the cake?"
 
The way she put it sounded pretty dismal. Even the captain had to frown slightly. Just trusting he was going to make it out every time was a bit of a stretch. There was a good chance that he wouldn't. "Cake....Hmmm...." Taking another bite he ate this one very slowly. "Yeah I guess I like it. Never had cake before." Killian waited till she looked like she might believe him and then he started laughing. "I've had cake before. Stole some right out of a bakery window. After I broke the window. I was just a kid. Thinking yours tastes better than that one did." Leaning forward he rested a hand gently on her hip and another at her upper back. "Am I allowed to give you just one kiss?" Just as they began kissing the door opened and there was the doctor. Killian pulled away from Star and peered back at Kato. "Do I have to start locking my door?"
 
Kato flushed, barely kept the look of pain off his face at the sight of them kissing. Star in her red dress...a romantic atmosphere. He couldn't help but see their vitals through his implants. Their heart rates elevated...especially Killians. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the datapad, but through it all, not a sign appeared on his face from his inward distress. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt, but uh, your button went off."
"Oh." Star looks down at her wrist. "I'm not even sure why I have it on anymore." She strips it off and offers it to Kato. He steps in and takes it, feeling as if a part of his heart was being stabbed. Essentially, she'd just told him she didn't want him to check up on her anylonger. That she was well enough to care for herself. "Um...I'll leave you two be."
Kato hurries out of the room, shutting the door behind him. He leans against the wall, clutching the button to his chest, sighing deeply. Perhaps...perhaps it was time to move on. Watching Killian and Star was just too painful.

"Sorry about that." Star smiles at Killian, still flushed from the kiss. "Umm, so this was nice. Hopefully we'll find some time to do it again soon and ask other questions." She stands and begins picking up the plates.
 
At first Killian glowered at the doctor and then Star produced the button. That little contraption that he'd made and she forgot about it. After so long it wasn't terribly surprising. Silently he watched the scene unfold. It was like suddenly it was all over now that the doctor had interrupted. It was a little frustrating and at the same time probably a good thing. He was certainly feeling the effects of that kiss.

"No its fine." A little out of breath he nodded to her and stood to help though there wasn't really anything left to do. "I should probably get a little sleep before we make the drop." More than likely he would only get about 2 hours of sleep and then they would be in range of other ships.

**************************************************

Alarms went off throughout the ship and the flashing red light woke Killian. Scrambling out of his bed he hit the floor hard with the first attempt and then got back up. Running down the corridor he swung into the navigation room. Sliding a headset on and hitting the intercom button he gave the first order. "Stations and guns all crew."
 
Timo rushed to engineering to help out Mike while Star hurried as quickly as she could (while still maintaining her balance) to the gun she'd be manning. She sat in her chair, slipping on her own headset. Her heart pounded. This was actually happening...their smuggling ship had just become a war ship. She turned on the screen to the gun and tapped the map to get a view of the number of ships and what types.
 
While the rooms had seemed to have no specific order it made sense when the crew members poured out of their rooms. Mike and Timo dodged down one direction and the girls another. Killian was already working at maneuvering to get out of immediate fire range of the aircraft that the system had detected. A rumbling sounded inside the ship and then a loud crack sound and more rumbling. They were getting shot at for sure. "Sound off where are you?"

Mike yelled into his headset. "I'm in the engine room and I've got Timo."

Immediately following the older man Andy called in. "I've got the rear guns."

Killian heard Star call out her position and then the doctor his. "I said all crew to the guns." Turning the chair he fired off a few shots at in incoming fighter. Only thing scary about this was that a fighter was only slightly smaller than their ship. At least that was how it looked when it came overhead. "Andy you've got one coming your way. Its over the top." Reaching over with one hand he turned the ship mostly on instinct rather than actually looking at the controls. There was no time for that while he was trying to make sure they didn't take a critical hit to the front of the craft.
 
Kato grumbled at Killian as the Captain ordered him to take a seat at one of the guns. He wasn't a fighter...he was a doctor. But, if shooting down ships meant he could help protect Star, he was going to do it. He took to the gun and took a breath. His eyes widened and his cybernetics x-rayed his vision through the walls. He could see the whole view before him that would have otherwise been restricted by a small window. Because he could see such a distance, he was able to anticipate exactly when a fighter would pass his gun's target range and began shooting ships out of the sky, one after another

Star controls the gun, forcing it shoot at the ships as they flew by. She clipped one in the wing and it went spinning away. Her focus however, was one of the main ships in the area. She began shooting at its engines to limit its maneuverability and hopefully set off a chain reaction.
 
Killian flinched when a bullet came for the front windshield. It was only instinct to do that. Returning fire he noticed the ship wasn’t even trying to avoid making contact. “Hold on everyone.” They couldn’t afford to just run into the ship. Growling under his breath he took the ship for a deep dive. As they were coming back up he could hear a whine in the engine.

“Mike? Tell me what’s going on.” A little bit of static sounded and Killian pushed on his earphones. “Hey!” Still he wasn’t getting anything but interference. For the time he was going to have to trust that the machines would be alright. Then he heard the ominous thump above. Something hit the top of the ship! Killian looked up and of course he couldn’t see anything. “Hold on again.” Making a sharp turn might get rid of whatever was on top of the craft.

*************************************************

A click sounded behind Andy. Turning in her seat she saw a droid. “Oh my gosh!” Turning around she shifted the gun with herself and began firing at the thing. It was shooting too and the ricochet started. A whizz sounded past her head. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Screaming again she fired and then the droid finally went down.

Panting she almost relaxed but then she noticed that the doctor was slumped in his own chair. “Hey you alright?” Rushing over to him she pushed the chair around to face her.

*****************************************

The firing in the ship had Killian on edge there was only so much that he could do about it. They needed to get the ship past the envoy in front of them and reach the rebel base. Ducking in his seat he grabbed the gun that he had in a holster on his leg. Remaining slumped he waited till the droid came up on him. Raising his head he reached for the controls and turned them sharply. With the machine tilting and momentarily losing aim it was all the time he needed. Perhaps the captain was the only one in the ship prepared for the wild move. Shooting at the droid he aimed for the neck. It was the one weak spot on the machines.

A voice sounded in the headset. They must have killed the drones that were on board cause there was no more interference. “Doctor is down.”
Killian took in a breath. “Alright we’ll make this drop and do what we can for him then. Take him to the medical bay.”
 
Star yelped as the ship took another sharp turn. She was barely managing to stay in her seat and shoot the gun at the same time. She heard shooting deeper in the ship. It made her nervous, but she nearly had taken down the shields of one of the main gunships. A few seconds later it explodes from the inside out. Chain reaction for the win....only... Star pales...she'd just killed a bunch of people. She knew what Killian would say. It was them or us. She chose 'us'.
....
Kato was doing well. The number of small fighters had decreased significantly. Every fighter down meant one less one endanger Star and the rest of the crew. Suddenly Andy began screaming behind him, why, he wasn't sure and he no time to turn and check as a ship was headed right for them. He sets the guns sights and fires. A sharp object burns into his back. He gasps, doubling over. Andy turns his chair, kneeling in front of him. His face was pale and twisted in pain. "My back...something hit me..." He gasps, unable to sit up.
Andy touches her head set, "Doctor is down."
How ironic, the doctor is the one in need of a doctor...
Andy pushed her arm under his shoulder, pulling him up. He groaned, nearly passing out from the pain right there. He tried to help her, tried to walk, but his legs wouldn't move. No doubt some of the nerves had been damaged. "Put me down, before you hurt yourself...get...get the wheel chair."
...
Timo grabbed a railing as Killian took another hefty turn. "What is he doing!? Trying to kill us?!" He yells.
 
Andy met the doctor's gaze. "Oh I won't drop you if that's what you're worried about." Gripping the man a little tighter she proceeded to drag him to the medical bay. She was too scared to leave him alone. It was likely going to be at least an hour or more till they were leaving and it would be a fight getting out too. Once they were in the medical room she flopped Kato's upper body on the bed and put her head on his rear end to keep him from sliding off the bed while she wrapped her arms around his ankles and moved him up on the bed the rest of the way. "Sorry I'm a little short for this." While the doctor was laying on his stomach she lifted the shirt and winced. "Oooh I'll get an ice pack until they can get to you."

*************************************************

All the shifting left Mike holding onto the railing for dear life. Glancing over at the boy he got a worried look. "If he's flying like that its for reason. You always remember. No matter what happens in a ship with the crew. It's always for reason. Don't question it." Face paling he waited for the ship to right itself and then it turned again. The second jerk sent Mike over the railing. His shirt caught in one of the gears. Frantically he tore at the buttons to try and get free of the shirt. "Don't shut it off!" Yelling at the boy he knew that Timo would want to shut it down. The middle of a fire fight wasn't the time for that.

***********************************************************

Killian called into the headset. "Crew be ready to make the drop. We got 10 minutes at the base to get it unloaded and they'll give us cover fire to get out. In the clear for now."
 
"No, ice..." Kato says between pained breaths. "Grab a towel, or gauze...press it against the wound...gotta stop the bleeding..." He orders her.
***
Star wasn't ready for the next sudden jerk, as much as she tried to be. She flew out of her seat hitting the wall. "Ow...shi...." She pushes to her feet and grabs hold of the controls again. The sound of fellow guns at work had completly stopped. What had happened to the others. A metal scitter on the floor causes her to spin in her chair. Drones! She fires at the three she sees, turning them into scraps right there. Finally Killian called over the headset that they were about to make the drop. She grabs her cane and hurries to the cargo bay to help with the drop.
***
Timo's eyes widen. "Mike! I have too! You'll be caught in it!" The boy releases his hold of the railing and rushes to the panel to shut off the engine.
 
Andy threw the ice pack back in the cupboard and began digging into the drawers. Finally she found a towel and whipped around. Flopping it on his back she stood on her toes to get enough pressure on his back to make it stop bleeding. "Sorry I know it's gotta hurt."

The older man got one arm out of the shirt and he was working on the second. Once the gears grabbed hold of something there was hardly anything to do about it but work fast. Mike cried out as the gear began tearing at his arm. Still he pulled against it and struggled to get out of the shirt. "Don't watch." He knew it was going to be ugly and he didn't want the kid to be traumatized over this. Instead he heard scampering above and Mike yelled. "No Timo!"

As the power to the engine was killed the ship suddenly lurched. With his arm caught in the gear he couldn't have moved anywhere except for bashing his head against the machinery. Mike hung limply with his arm in the gear and his body dangling, nearly touching the floor boards below. A slow drip of blood started to fall from his hair and then it turned to a steady stream.

Killian tilted the ship to prepare for landing. They barely broke the magnetic barrier and then the ship lost all control. With a jerk of the currents he was thrown into the desk. His ribs mashed into the edge of it. Momentarily he lost his breath. Gasping for air he pushed himself away from the desk and coughed a few times. Another rough jerk from the currents sent him hurtling into the desk again. Rolling out of the chair he laid on the ground to minimize any further damage. "Star...." He couldn't get his voice above a whisper as he tried to edge toward her. Killian was still gasping for air by the time he reached her. Laying partially over the woman he winced as any loose items such as books flew around the room. A control pad hit him in the leg. Thankfully in ships they bolted everything to the floor including most of the benches for occasions such as this. Sliding to another wall he hit it with his back while still trying to keep star from hurting herself anymore.

The first jolt dropped Andy right onto the doctor's back. "I'm so sorry!" Almost yelling the words her eyes filled with tears. She felt terrible. It had to hurt. By the second jolt she noticed the lights had gone out and they weren't coming back on.

**********************************************

Finally the several jolts later the ship came to a crash. Metal ground against the docks and sparks flew. Killian let go of star and curled into a ball on the floor. Wrapping his arms around his ribs he winced and waited for several minutes before even attempting to move. "Aghh..." Pressing the transmit button on his headset he called in. "What's going on in the engine room?"

Andy had done her best to steady the doctor and keep him from being jostled too much during the crash landing. It couldn't even be called that. Losing all power they had also lost any ability to steer the ship. To keep Kato from significant damage she strapped him to the bed and held onto it since it was solid and bolted to the floor. At least she held on till they hit the ground and then she went flying across the room.
 
Kato groaned and clenched the bed with his fingers as Andy pressed down on the wound. "Don't be...sorry." He groans. Then the engine shut off. Somehow, Andy managed to get him strapped down and hold on tightly, screaming all the while as they came in for a horribly rough landing. When it was finally still he looked through the fog in his eyes for Andy. "Andy?" She'd been thrown across the room and he was helpless to help her. "Andy!?"
****
Timo was thrown into the wall was the engines shut down. Another heavy bounce and he was thrown towards the railing where he managed to grab hold and hung on for dear life. Tears streamed down his face in a panic. They finally landed and with shaky legs he hurried straight over to Mike who was in a precarious position. "Mike! Mike!" Even in his panic he remembered the things Mike had taught him about the gears and how to operate them. He sprints across the room, dancing over fallen object that were strewn around the place. One of the cupboards had flown open spilling its contents everywhere. Timo threw items aside like a mad man till he found the crank for the gears. He grabbed a ladder, setting it up then climbed to the spot he needed to be. He shoved the crank into place just shy of Mike's fingers and pumped it as hard and fast as he was capable of. A few minutes later, Mike dropped with a heavy thud. Timo jumped off the later, kneeling at his side. The man's arm and head were bleeding heavily. There was so much blood...it scared him. He sprinted off for help, running to the medbay. "Kato! Kato, help! Mike! He's seriously hurt! Help!"

Kato lifted his head looking up at Timo whose eyes were wide with panic. "What happened?"
"Mike...he got his arm caught in the gears. He's bleeding bad. His head too!"
"Timo...listen to me carefully." Kato took a deep breath, concentrating on the boy despite the pain. "You need grab two packets of the blood clotting agent....pour one on the wound on his head and the other on his arm. Depending on how big the cut is, you may need to use two on his arm. Then get some bandages and wrap both wounds best you can. Can you do that?"
Timo nods and rushes off to do as he was instructed, still panicked but desperate to save his mentor.
****
Star blinked open her eyes. Her vision blurred in and out several times before she fully came to. The initial turbulence after the engines cut out had thrown her head against the controls of the gun. Everything had gone black then. She sat up slowly, her head spinning and her body feeling like it had been punched several time. Killian was curled up in a ball next to her, clearly in obvious pain as he sat up. "Killian? What happened?"
He was distracted though and called into his headset, "What's going on in the engine room?"
Timo's panicked voice fame over the comm. "Killian! Help...Mike's hurt bad. I'm...I'm trying to...to stop the bleeding. Kato's hurt too."
Star raised head in shock. The movement was too fast, and black and red spots entered her vision. Blood dripped down her forehead from a small cut and she swiped it away. "Killian, what's happening? Did our engines get shot out?"
 
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