“So, what’s the plan?”

Loomie and Doc stood at the table in Anna’s kitchen compartment alongside the mess area, preparing food for their captors, making as much noise as possible without trying to seem too obvious. The two pirates guarding them had disappeared somewhere inside the ship. Doc was taking her time with the food. “I’m thinking” she answered Loomie. “I have to find a way to get to med bay without them knowing about it”.

“Why? What’s in med bay?” Loomie asked, clanking a metal spoon around the inside of a half-filled bowl.

“Something to put them out”, Doc answered.

Loomie put the bowl and spoon down and stepped over to peek out the galley door. “Well, they’re not out there right now”.

Doc slipped in behind her. “No telling when they’ll come back, though”, she mused. “I suppose I could make a run for it and hope for the best”.

“Hey!” a voice yelled from somewhere in the passageway. “Get back at it!”

“I thought they’d gone somewhere”, Loomie murmured sourly as they returned to their work. “Now what do we do?”

They both heard a faint knocking noise in the vents. Looking up, they both saw Lewis, squeezed tightly into the ventilator shaft, peering out the overhead grille. “Lewis?” Loomie asked in a hushed voice. “What are you doing up there?”

“Aldous had me cleaning the reclaimator and then the captain called over the PA. I tried to clean up and get down to the cargo bay, but then these guys with guns came through and I had to hide”.

Doc continued making noise to cover their voices as she stared at Lewis through the grating. “Listen to me, Lewis. Were you practicing stealing earlier?”

Lewis paused before nodding.

“Did you take that thing they’re looking for?”

Lewis paused again before admitting “Yeah”.

“When?”

Another pause. “While everyone else was at dinner”.

Doc thought for a second. “Alright. Never mind that now. Can you make it to med bay without getting caught?”

Lewis looked up the vent duct. “It’s tight, but I should”, he answered.

“Good. Get up