The Mimi Incident

By Lynn Taylor

..Mimi…

Normally Mimi was over looked as she ambled around the ship for she never caused problems. She was Doctor Sane's ginger tabby and the mascot of the ship the Argo.  She generally had a good temperament and everyone loved her.

Now to say she was at fault for the incident that now had her name on it in the ships records was not fair. Captain Derek Wildstar sat writing it and frowned. He wrote:

It was Dr Sane's fault and everyone knew it. Nova was nursing the wounds of those whom Mimi had attacked in her temper tantrum.  But I am getting ahead of myself; let me start from the beginning….

Desslok's wedding was a three day event one spent in ceremonies and pomp and circumstance. Two spent in Partying, dancing and singing and a general good time to be had by all. Especially…Dr Sane who had enjoyed the drinking. He had liked the new liquor that Ambassador Natasha Yesikov had brought. For Russia had sent three cases along with other things. Doctor Sane had been barely aware of the budding romance Between Mark Venture and Natasha. He thought it was cute how they danced, but it was his task to try every liquor provided.

He was pretty well lit up, when on the third day everyone headed to the ship pretty late. No one could have guessed that the Goodbye they were to say in the morning would not be given. Derek had come aboard tired and the ship was in orbit over Galman awaiting his orders to go home after his adieu to Desslok.

Other things had contributed to the disaster that lay ahead. There was an engineering officer under Sandor one Randy Royster, the cousin to the Royster that died when they were fighting the Comet Empire. Randy had ruined his uniform at the wedding and went to the Dynamic-do-all putting in his size and dimensions for a new dress uniform. He had been so ashamed when he had damaged it that he hadn't wanted anyone to know. And by the time he had replicated him another everyone was coming back. He forgot to clear his project out of the memory of the Dynamic-do-all.

The final factor was Doctor Sane's bright idea. And the fact he shared his booboo with Mimi. Sane had liked the Vodka so much he had taken a bottle to his room. He decided that he should mix it with his beloved sake.

This had been a very, very bad idea!

For he shared it as usual with Mimi.

And herein started the problem! Mimi was fine till she woke with a hangover; this had given her the bad temper!

Now, Dr Sane was quite surprised that she had run from him. He stumbled down the hall of the very quiet ship after the poor kitty carrying the bottle of mixed liquors.

The chase had taken him all through the ship and she had tramped across many access panels on the way. "Mimi, come here you bad kitty." Sane said slurring his words.

He had finished the 20 min chase onto the bridge were he had cornered her on the Wave motion drive access panel by the helm. Sane was quite unaware that his grabbing and her bouncing around on it had initiated it several times. He just lay there after cornering her and then fell into a stupor for the Vodka sake mix drink had finally hit him and hard.

Derek woke to the thrust of the warp and looked up puzzled. "Wildstar to the bridge has there been an emergency? Are we underway? And why wasn't I told." Derek said annoyed.

The only answer he got was what sounded like faint singing. "Great I wonder what is going on?" Derek said.

He found himself joined in a run by Sandor and Mark Venture. "So if it is not ether of you two who is driving the ship?" Derek gasped.

The bridge door opened and they saw Sane laying on the floor near the console half-asleep singing. "To the theme of Star blazers."

"We flew off to Ishkandar ‘twas too far to drive a car. So we had to make the trip in a rusty old battleship,

We went off to outer space, To save the human race and since earth didn't disappear Let's drink a cup of good cheer!

Desslok's a blue ugly brute, Nova is just really cute and since she is such a beauty I would love to pinch her bootie…"

"Doctor!" Derek’s face reddened and he scowled. "Doctor Sane that is quite enough! Just what have you been doing?" Derek said.

"Oh my keep him away from Desslok if you don't want war." Natasha said coming onto the bridge holding her forehead, followed by Nova, who was limping a little.

"Are you ok!" Mark said with a worried face as he looked at Natasha in her nightgown.

Likewise, Derek looked worried at Nova, who was fully dressed in her uniform except for one boot missing on her bad ankle.

"Oh yes after the first surge I was aware of my head hitting the wall waking me." Natasha said.

“And I fell out of my bunk after the first surge,” Nova added.

"First surge? How many did you two feel afterward?" Derek asked.

Mark had ran to his console and turned pale. "Captain!" he gasped.

"Oh four at least. I am a light sleeper so i think four in all, three after I woke." Natasha said looking at Mark who had been joined by Sandor.

In the meantime, Nova dutifully ignored her pain and tried to catch Mimi in the background. She was not successful and got scratched several times.

"Captain! Derek none of these stars are on the star charts. I am not even sure what quadrant we are in!" Mark said.

"What!" Derek said he too had turned pale. He looked at the doctor whose hands had scratches on them.

Artwork: “Mimi Goes Berserk” © 2011 by Freddo All Rights Reserved.

That was when he saw Mimi growling and hissing in the corner before she jumped to the helm.

Derek snapped, "Get him and the cat off my bridge! Venture, see if you can calculate the direction and the amount of space we have traveled to." Derek said turning to see Nova, who had found Natasha's head bump. She was trying to treat it…while balancing on her undamaged ankle.

“Are you all right?” Derek said to her.

“I’ll live,” Nova said as she walked to the helm supported by Derek. “I’ve been through worse than a berserk cat.”

Derek got on the PA and ordered, "Bridge crew to the bridge at once. All other crew report to sick bay if you are injured! Keep me informed on anything strange." Derek said while scowling at Sane who was trying to talk Mimi out of the corner to his arms.                                                                                                                                                                                                          Artwork: “Mimi Caught” © 2011 by Lynn Taylor

__________________________________________________________________________________________

It took three men and Sandor's shirt to subdue Mimi. Sandor and Dash and even Homer had to be seen for their scratches. In the meantime, Derek said, "Sane, you are confined to the sick bay till further notice. Mimi, too! Sandor see to it someone cleans his room out of all sake and take that bottle away from him for god sake." Derek said annoyed.

"Oh…but Captain! Don't waste it!" Sane asked in a whiny voice.

"You are right Better yet give me the bottle and bring him here." Derek said looking at Dr Sane's very badly deeply scratched hands.

Wildstar grabbed a clean waste paper basket and dumped the paper into another sitting near his seat. "We all know cat scratches can be dangerous," Derek said forcibly making Sane put his hands in it.

Sane howled as at least 120 proof liquor washed over his hands. For being part Vodka and part sake we are not sure the true proof of it. "Now, Nova bandage him up. Then take him away. If you weren't our only doctor I would lock you in the Brig till we get home." Derek said sternly.

Yessir,” Nova said. “Doctor, come on…you should be ashamed of yourself!” Nova had to treat her own scratches and tape up her own ankle with a little help from Derek, but, as she had said, she had been through worse. Since Sane was in no shape to treat anyone, Nova did the emergency treatment on the others by herself.


...More mischief afoot...

"How many uniforms for Randy Roster?" Derek asked even more annoyed.

"Three hundred and fifty full dress uniforms all to Royster’s measurements! There are cat foot prints as well as signs Sane had been here trying to catch her. It would have been more if I had not stopped it." Sandor said this time he was angry.

"I shut it off. See in the computer log it shows after making one it was shut off." Royster moaned looking down.

Sandor couldn't get over having a second Royster under his command. This one if possible was even geekier than the first. This one didn't have glasses but had a very studious geeky way about him. He was even shorter than his cousin had been.

The thing that worried Sandor the most was not only did they have the uniform… But everything for it, that is… three hundred fifty belts and pair of boots and over jackets, as well as the pants and the Arrow shirts. What were they going to do with them all?

Times like this made Sandor think of how good it had been to work with Eri when she was on his engineering crew.

Eri! He thought pulling the necklace from his collar. It was in searching mode. Both had suspected that this might happen since they were so far away at Galman. But now how far away was he. How long would he have to wait to see her lights again.

He had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. To not know how she and the baby and children were doing? It made him lonely for her even more so.

"Sandor have Royster stack them to the side till we can deal with them later. We need you up here unless there is other engineering equipment involved." Derek said.

He got to the bridge just in time to hear the conclusions of navigation. "The last paths were wiped from the computer. And we are unable to calculate our route home." Venture said.

Sandor nearly sank into his chair with worry. He looked around and everyone else had the same pale look on their faces.

"Captain Wildstar! I am here to report on Sane. In his room we confiscated 10 bottles of sake. In the sick bay he had 3. But amongst the ones in his room was an empty Vodka bottle. Sane says Mimi according to scans is suffering from a whopper of a hangover." The security man said.

"Oh for heavens’ sake!  A cat with a hangover caused this! Dose Sane have one?" Derek asked hopeful.

"No sir not so far. But his blood alcohol level is .30 percent. Even he said it is dangerous. He said he was mixing Vodka and sake." the man stated.

"He is still standing? And talking how is that possible?" Sandor asked stunned.

"Come to a full stop. Ah Sandor see if you can help Venture we have to find a route home." Derek said.

...Food supplies...

After much calculation Derek, Mark and Sandor came to the conclusion they were lost. Totally lost.

"Before we do anything we need to take stock in what we have what we need and our estimated course back to our space." Derek said.

"I think we need to do a 360 and try to find anything that may look familiar. Maybe do a wave motion warp till we do," Dash said pushing his glasses up on his nose.

"I agree with that! But I am not sure that we should warp. What if we jump past where we had started from? We have no idea how long the warps were. "Sandor said seriously.

"Captain if I may!" Natasha said coming onto the bridge again.

"Madam Ambassador!" Derek said smiling wryly.

She looked at him oddly and then smiled. She realized he was teasing her. "Well how much food supplies do we have? How much of any supplies do we have? We must figure we are going to run short if this is too far from places we know. How much did we bring this trip?" Natasha said curiously.

"We had a three week supply. That won't last long. I have men working on that as we speak. Also with exception of the 3 hundred and 50 extra uniforms I am not sure till we get their reports." Derek frowned.

"Three hundred and fifty uniforms?" Natasha said tilting her head inquisitively.

Mark smiled for he thought it was cute. "Yes seems the Cat thought Royster needed new clothes. She activated the Dynamic-do-all." Mark grinned at her.

"Oh my well! I have a contribution also the cat shouldn't be the only one to donate. I have three cases of caviar. Desslok disliked it so I brought it back." Natasha said.

"You telling me to add that to our diets?" the cook said wrinkling his nose.

"It is better than nothing. So how are our food supplies?" Derek asked.

"Well we have dry goods enough for three weeks but fresh vegetables we don't I would say only a weeks’ worth." the cook said.

"We should start looking now for a planet with vegetation that would be safe for us." Mark said he had got up and come behind Natasha taking her hand.

"Sandor, see if we can correlate the chronometers to evaluate if we can find out any of the lengths of the warps." Derek said.

"The first one was something like 6 seconds. I was watching my alarm for I had hit my head and wondered when it would stop." Natasha said thoughtfully.

"What about the others?" Sandor asked hopefully feeling his chest where was the medallion was under his shirt.

"The second warp knocked my alarm off and broke it." She said sadly.

"Well Thanks Ambassador we can at least use that to do one jump. Venture one jump for 6 seconds." Derek said.

"I will go to my room. See you gentlemen later." Natasha said.

After calculating the jump Derek made the announcement. "We are going to jump in 5 minutes everyone strap yourself down." He said authoritatively.

Everyone was waiting for Venture or someone to tell them that they were in known space afterward but the news was not good. There were no stars they knew.

Homer was frantically listening for communications from anyone. He looked down sadly. "Nothing at all!" Homer moaned.

Randy Royster was caught singing a song every time he saw Sane. He only knew one verse.

What shall we do with a drunken sailor?
What shall we do with a drunken sailor?
What shall we do with a drunken sailor?
Early in the morning.


Way-hay, up she rises
Way-hay, up she rises
Way-hay, up she rises
Early in the morning

Put him in the long boat 'til he's sober
Put him in the long boat 'til he's sober
Put him in the long boat 'til he's sober
Early in the morning.

It was after this that several others joined him but they knew different verses.


Put him in the scuppers with the deck pump on him
Put him in the scuppers with the deck pump on him
Put him in the scuppers with the deck pump on him
Early in the morning.

or this one,

Put him in the bilge and make him drink it
Put him in the bilge and make him drink it
Put him in the bilge and make him drink it
Early in the morning.

Another was,

Shave his belly with a rusty razor
Shave his belly with a rusty razor
Shave his belly with a rusty razor
Early in the morning.

yet others sang.

Soak 'im in oil till he sprouts some flippers
Soak 'im in oil till he sprouts some flippers
Soak 'im in oil till he sprouts some flippers
Early in the morning.

Doctor Sane at first thought it was funny till he added the only verse he knew. He was singing it when Wildstar went into the sick bay to get something for his insomnia he had been experiencing as of late.

Put 'im in bed with the Captain's daughter
Put 'im in bed with the Captain's daughter
Put 'im in bed with the Captain's daughter
Early in the morning.

Derek’s face turned red and he looked very vexed. "Not in a million years, Doctor Sane! Right, Nova!?" Derek said again annoyed his fists on his hips.

"Right you are dear!" Nova said smiling to herself thinking about having a daughter with him someday soon.

Wildstar’s personal favorite was.

Send him up the crow's nest till he falls down
Send him up the crow's nest till he falls down
Send him up the crow's nest till he falls down
Early in the morning.

New verses were being sang every day and Doctor Sane didn't feel much like singing after this. And in fact each new verse got worse as they found them.

Like Sandor's favorite.

Throw him over the side and Keel haul him.
Throw him over the side and keel haul him
Throw him over the side and keel haul him
Early in the morning.

This one had been Sandor's for he was upset about missing Eri his pregnant wife and Sasha and Tatsuo his year old son. Sasha was Alex Wildstar and Starsha's daughter who had come to live with him and his wife. For the longer this trip the more upset everyone was getting. He wanted so much to be there when the baby came.

The song did annoy Sane after this especially since he didn't have his favorite Nerve medicine, Headache medicine, or Health tonic all of which he called his sake.

He was actually desperate enough to ask Natasha for more Vodka when she went into the sick bay for some of her bruises from falling…as usual.

"You have got to be kidding me?" Natasha said narrowing her eyes at him.

"It was the cat that did it not me!" Sane said trying to convince her. At this point Mimi growled at him knowing he was talking about her.

"Oh yeah! Right! And just who fed the poor Mimi the liquor?" Natasha said picking up the now happy Mimi who had been spoiled and cuddled since her hangover.

Mimi was now a big softy and no one could hold it against her.

It was 12 days later that they found a planet that had signs of cities. It too had, at first scans possible food supplies. They had got some barely eatable plants on one planet. And the crew was getting sick of the caviar. Natasha on seeing the crews’ faces she sympathized.

"I know boys I hate fish eggs too. Maybe this planet will have better plants for our needs." Natasha said.

Three men turned pale and Homer who had been eating it with gusto started gagging. "Fish eggs?" he said gasping.

"Why yes Sturgeon to be exact. I think it is an acquired taste myself!" Natasha said looking surprised at them.

"Thanks for the warning darling!" Mark said coming up laughing. He had put his back after she had said it.

...The Planet's cities...

Sandor and Mark landed with some of the Black Tiger squadron. They had a shock waiting for them.

Wildstar the city is empty! It is a pretty modern city but there is no one living here. Looks as if it had been attacked at one time." Sandor said looking around the empty streets.

There were cracks in the street and plants were now growing through it. Some of the buildings were destroyed from above and others were untouched. General decay was the order of the day as they looked around. Once or twice wild animals ran from some of the buildings. And droids were trying to fix the broken streets.

"There is no radiation. Or signs of bodies. It looks as if after the attack they just left the city entirely." Sandor said.

"I need to get some life form readings have Royster come down with three units." Sandor further said.

On the Argo the reading told of 13 cities. But they too probably would prove in the same condition. Derek thought to it was strange the satellites around the planet didn't match up with the technology that was on the planet.

"Sandor,anything yet?" Derek said.

"Yes life form readings some 25 miles out. In the hills," Sandor said.

"Ok I will be waiting for more reports," Derek said.

It was Royster that saw them first. He was scanning when a little face poked out from around a tree. The translator buzzed and then figured out what they were saying. "It isn't a giant. But he has machines that make funny noises. Let’s tell the adults." the little voice said.

"Wait let me see you please!" Randy said in a nasal voice.

The fleeting glimpse was that of tiny children who were bright blue green in appearance and nearly naked in tattered clothes. "Sandor I have found something. I mean someone." Randy said.

Sandor found him and they started walking toward were the children had ran. They came up to a ridge and as they did they heard them. A general din of clicking and movement and the sight they saw horrified them. Men, women, and children in emaciated states pushing carts with heavy ore in them. Children carrying water and the din stopped when the two little ones ran up to a bent over man talking to them.

He motioned for all to stop and Sandor and Royster walked up. "More giants! You said that the man you saw was not a giant. Run to the caves." The man said to the children.

Sandor seeing the fear of the small people smaller in most cases than Royster who was all of 4 and a half foot. He knelt down bending his head. "We are sorry! We didn't mean to frighten you. I am Sandor of Earth this is Royster we found your planet looking to supply our ship." Sandor said.

"We have very little. The Green giants have left us very little. Please don't take our ore, because then they will finish killing us," The man said.

"That is not what I meant we are lost and we were looking to supply vegetables for ourselves for our long trip home." Sandor said kindly.

"Oh thank goodness. So you don't want the ore and gems?" the man said.

"No we didn't mean to startle you and we only wanted to ask before we took anything away." Sandor said.

The man stood up to his full height and sighed he was taller than the rest by a bit. He was taller than Royster who looked amazed.

"The Green ones have had us under oppression for so many years it will take a while to get used to not being afraid. This is the Planet Clevus. I am Chalgo the head man of this mining camp." the man said waving for the people to come out of the caves.

100 men women and children came out of them. All in clothes that were in disrepair tattered and decaying thin and starving. "Why are you not in your cities? How come you are hidden here?" Royster asked.

"The Green ones came one day destroying parts of our city. They enslaved us here. We are just the small remnant of people left. The make us keep only the clothes on our backs and eat only what they gave us on pain of death." Chalgo said.

"Royster call Natasha to come have them bring your uniforms; the extra ones. Bring Sane also so he can check out the health of these people also," Sandor said.

Sandor had sat down and waited. Talking to find out more information. He gathered that these people were slaves of the Comet Empire. Little over a year and a half ago though the Empire's men up and left. Telling these people that they would be back. That they had better keep on working. This planet had over 7 million people when the Comet Empire had first came and part of their people were taken away and the others were worked to death now for over 20 years.

"About a year and a half ago we were the next victims of the Comet Empire. Because we destroyed The Comet Empire's mother ship they were going to destroy our home world. But a special Queen Trelaina of Telezart gave her life to save our world. They are no longer around." Sandor told them.

"In fact I lost someone to the Comet Empire! And so did Royster." Natasha said coming in to the clearing with men with boxes.

The little man looked at Natasha and smiled. He was her height at 5' 3" and was pleased to see they weren't all as tall as Sandor. "We have some clothes that you may like. Those look so worn," Natasha said having the men put the boxes down for them to see.

"This is mighty generous of you. You said you were lost and you are helping us?" The man said.

"It is the only civilized thing to do." Sandor said.

The man bowed and looked at them waving for his people to come close. Natasha took out a set of clothes for each smiling prettily. She saw men and women coming up to get some and smiled.

Royster saw them to and seeing the pretty girls he smiled oddly, " I think the females should have skirts for she would look much prettier in a skirt. I mean they would, "Royster said for he had seen a pretty purple eyed beauty with long pale blue green aqua colored hair.

The girl in question looked down shyly and giggled running off with her set of clothes handed to her. "She is mighty pretty Royster." Natasha whispered to him.

It was decided for the transport to take the people back to their city and to see if they could find some place for them all to stay for the night. The people were shy and still afraid.

And Sandor was oh so grateful that Natasha had come down to convince them the Comet Empire was conquered. He watched as her reasoning abilities and Negotiation abilities were put to good use.

Natasha had found that these people had been highly advanced in technology. That they were skilled in ecological preservation as well as engineering and other technologic professions. They just had no want or need to go to space. This was one of the reasons that this planet was taken over by the Comet Empire.

Even now the damage done by the Comet Empire was being fixed by the technology that they had. Nothing had been removed and even after 20 years of slavery the Technology was working to keep things up.

Checking out the other cities and telling them of the news about the Comet Empire’s demise. The people were very grateful. Food supplies were gathered and the Argo was preparing to leave.

Natasha came aboard with 12 little blue green people. "Captain Wildstar these people want to go with us. They would like to know if they on our trip can look for their lost ones." Natasha asked.

Derek looked up startled and then thought about it. The bridge crew had decided on it. But as Sandor had found out that the satellite was Comet Empire so they could link each planet they owned with each other.

"Since we are in Comet Empire space we should be able to follow one satellite to another finding a system we recognize the stars from." Mark suggested.

It was that night they would realize they would be able to find their way home sooner. For Sandor went to bed very tired and wore out. Having done tons of calculations on the different satellites that they knew they had found signals from. There were 20 different destinations they could warp to and he was pleased.

He took off his shirt and a strange green glow woke him to full alert. It took him a second to realize it was his necklace Eri had made him. He was nearly crying as he saw the light for Eri and the baby and the one for Sasha, Alex Wildstar’s girl and the one for Tatsuo.

Sandor had ran to Derek’s room happy so very happy he had missed this little comfort and now it was there again shining for him.

"Sandor I had just got to sleep! What do you want?" Derek said groggily.

"The satellites will lead us home! Sandor said smiling.

"Yes I know you and Mark told me earlier." Derek said looking clue less at him.

"No look!" Sandor said holding up his necklace smiling.

Derek smiled brightly with recognition also. "The satellites are picking up her signal from Earth. She had designed it to chain from any satellite to be able to read me and me her. We can follow the strongest signal straight home! She couldn't read me at Galman. That is why I was out of sorts so much at the wedding." Sandor said.

"Wow that is great, Sandor! Hay how come there is 4 lights on your necklace medallion? I thought you only had one baby boy. What do you mean you were out of sorts?" Derek said.

"Ah I was nervous not being able to see her lights. This is Eri and the baby's she is pregnant remember. That is Tatsuo's and the extra light is for a little niece that has come to live with us. Mio!" Sandor said. He went to his room smiling.

...Boost the signal gain...

Eri had not been surprised when she couldn't see his light. And she had warned Sasha. So she didn't worry till she got a personal message from Emperor Desslok himself.

"Lady Sandor! When we woke we were supposed to say our goodbye's. But the Argo was gone. Some of our people saw it warp in the middle of the night. We were unable to calculate their path for it had been to many hours when we found out." Desslok said.

"I knew I couldn't pick them up this far away but now you say they aren't there? They must have gone further away?" Eri said crying.

"I will do all I can from my end Dear Lady. Do not worry!" Desslok said.

This disturbed Eri and she was at a loss. And Sasha was right there to comfort her. It was a whole week with no word at all. And Eri feared the worst.

That was till Tatsuo came dancing in looking at his necklace. "Daa Daa! Daa daa!" he sang smiling brightly.

Eri pulled out her necklace thrilled for there he was he was alive. But the signal was weak. "I must boost the gain." Eri said brightly.

She went to Earth Defense Forces Headquarters and showed them.

"They are alive. There signal is weak but they are alive so please. May I use all Earth’s satellites to boost the gain so we can find them?" Eri asked.

Eri with the help of 5 other tech's put a device on one satellite that would pick up hers and the kids signals and then boost the gain. They made it so that every satellite of earths would send out a signal to see if they could find the Argo.

"It is a waiting game now!" Eri said for she had only had his signal for three days. Now it was gone again.

...Mid warp signal loss..

The first warp away from the planet was a eye opener. And Sandor got sick when it happened. He happened to be looking down on his medallion mid warp when the lights went out and it went into searching mode.

He had taken no note of where but he knew only one thing for it. After the warp Sandor stood up. "Captain Wildstar we have to go back to that planet. I lost the signal in mid warp. We are going further away from Earth." Sandor said.

"You mean we have to somehow home in on earth using your necklace?" Derek said.

"We were able to get the signal from the satellite. But as soon as we were too far-away we lost it. We have to stay within the proximity of the correct satellites.” Sandor said.

They warped back to the planet then to the next one on the list of satellites to warp to. Royster was in the engineering room when the girl whom he had admired on the planet came up. "May I help?" she asked sweetly.

Sandor who had just came in looked at her curiously. "Do you think you can? We would appreciate any we could get." Sandor said.

"I was the one who they taught to repair the RF Signal receptors on the automated drills and such." She said looking up.

Sandor smiled and looked at the cute girl. "You can do a RF signal Tracker. And find the RSSI to find our way home?" Sandor asked brightly for he was impressed she was like his Eri.

"I would have to have the signal you want to follow. But yes." She said looking up at him.

Sandor took off his necklace and showed her the medallion. "It runs on a low band frequency that is never used. It is a life sign scanner for my wife and children." Sandor said.

"That is sweet. So you know they are alright?" She said carefully looking at it. Sandor saw her look up and smile at Randy Royster who had a goofy look on his face.

"So what is your name young lady?" Sandor asked.

"I am Azura." she said again admiring the inner workings of his medallion.

"So Azura if they had the technology to run automated mining equipment. How come they needed slaves?" Sandor asked puzzled.

"Their technology? No you miss understand it is ours. They wanted us to do it by hand driving the mining machine. And running the carts out with ore and gems by hand. I decided to make them automated and we of the scientists implemented it so as to save ourselves much labor." Azura said handing Sandor back his medallion.

"Wow you are smart!" Randy Royster said looking at her in awe.

"They thought we were dumb people and not advanced. This is why they wanted to make us slaves. We were in there minds, childlike." Azura said sadly.

"We don't think that of you. I just assumed that the mining stuff was theirs. I saw your cities were modern and eco-friendly. I was impressed." Sandor said.

"Yes me to the maintenance droids that kept the city up was a major accomplishment." Randy said brightly.

"I altered the mining equipment to make them more efficient and to automate them and we let them think we were doing all the work. It was their equipment!" Azura said.

It had taken three hours and 12 men to make the signal booster for the communications tower. And Sandor chain linked her to himself for her very first spacewalk. They installed it and in less than a half a day they were off to another satellite in the ones that had linked Sandor to Eri.

...Better moods...

Sandor was in a very good mood and didn't realize he had been humming the drunken sailor song.

When he saw the doctor wince and walk out of his way he laughed. They had let him out of the sick bay for going to the cafeteria. Sandor saw the fun of it and began to sing.

What do you do with a drunken kitty,
What do you do with a drunken kitty,
What do you do with a drunken kitty,
early in the morning.

Put her in her room till she gets sober,
put her in her room till she gets sober,
put her in her room till she gets sober,
early in the morning.

Sandor found the little blue green people like the tune and would dance to it. So he told Derek who laughed. "Yes a dance would be a great idea wouldn't it. We are on our way home and we need to relax. It will boost crew morale." Wildstar said.

Mimi was the little belle of the ball being petted and cuddled the whole day. The little blue green people danced and sang with the crew. Sandor seeing Azura waiting to dance with Randy watching him shyly took things into his own hands.

Randy was standing to the side just watching the fun when Sandor came up. "You’re going to dance with Azura?" He asked playfully.

"Me dance? With her!" Randy said looking frightened.

"Oh for heaven’s sake." Sandor said pushing him up to her.

"Is this the shy fellow you have been wanting to dance with?" Sandor asked her bowing.

Randy saw the sparkle in her purple eyes. "Oh yes Mr. Sandor thanks I thought he was hiding from me." Azura said taking Randy's hands.

"I wasn't really! I just thought you were so pretty that you wouldn't like me." Randy said blushing.

"Awwww…But you are the cutest man on this ship." Azura said.

All the others looked at each other and began laughing for Randy had blushed almost a brilliant red.

The music started and every one had a verse to sing the song. Some old and some very new. Mark was seen dancing with Natasha by picking her up so her feet never touched the floor. And even Derek danced with Nova having a great time.

It was going to take them a while to get home but at least they all knew they would.

...Found them...

The first to get news that The Argo was on its Way was Desslok. Eri made sure that he was to be the first. "Yes Emperor Desslok. I have there signal and they are in an area of space that is un-known to us. Here is the area the signal is coming from." Eri told him.

"So how did you track them down? That is deep in the dead Comet Empire’s territories?" Desslok said.

Eri held up her necklace showing him. "This is my way of knowing he is ok. I made this link to ships com then to any satellite it finds to track the whereabouts of my beloved Sandor. I knew your world was far enough away from Earth that we couldn't read each other from these. But somehow the signal got through after they went missing so I boosted the signal." Eri said.

"If you send me the specs and the frequency in which that reads them I will set one up in orbit around Galman so if he is here you will still be able to read him. Unless of course you come with him so I may meet you in person." Desslok said.

...The home coming...

Every stop at a new planet with satellite revealed a new group of slaves working for no one. And one by one they found the people who were related to the blue green people of the planet Clevus they had stopped at.

It was the last one before coming into human space that Azura was looking out the observatory window looking at it sadly. Sandor saw her and went to find Randy. He had known the first time he saw the girl look at Randy on Clevus that she liked him. He found Randy at his station working on more upgrades.

"Do you know where Azura is?" Sandor said curiously at the sad countenance of Randy.

"She was checking out the planet. She said her people were here also." Randy said.

"Don't you like her? She loves you and is confused as to what to do." Sandor said.

"I love her but I don't think it would be right to take her from her people." Randy said looking up seriously.

"Don't be so silly! She likes you! She is smart and she is a real catch. Just like my Eri was for me. If you let her get away you will be like Mark before he got to know Natasha. You want her to be the one that got away?" Sandor said sympathetically.

"I don't want her to get away! I don't want her to leave but she will!" Randy said putting what he was doing down looking at him thoughtful. But he didn't make a move to go look for her.

Sandor looked annoyed. He picked Randy up holding him under his arm. He walked purposefully toward the observatory room. He found Azura still looking out sadly crying.

"Ah there you are Azura! This man loves you he told me so! He needs to know if you will come live with him on earth." Sandor said.

"Would I? I certainly would if he would only ask me!" Azura said running up to where Sandor had stood him.

She nearly knocked Randy down kissing him and Sandor smiled. As he left the two hugging and kissing. Sandor smiled to himself. If only he had done this to Derek and Nova years ago it wouldn't have been such a long time and painful to watch Nova and Derek blushing at each other. Everyone knew they liked each other but neither wanted to make the first move.

"Love may wait but why if you don't have to!" Sandor said thinking of his Eri whom he was going to see in two days. The stars were now ones they recognized and Dr. Sane had been let out of confinement to see them.

Everyone was over their anger at him and this was why they were blaming it on the poor kitty. From time to time it was fun to walk past Dr. Sane and start singing, What do you do with a drunken sailor?

Eri sent the information and after two more weeks of waiting she went to the docks where the Argo was to come in. She,  Sasha and Tatsuo waited for Sandor on the dock. Her hand was on her large belly smiling happily as she recognized his tall frame coming out the door.

It was Sandor who saw them first. He jumped the railing smiling. When everyone saw this they all cheered for Eri had saved them all. They all wanted to thank her.

Sandor ran up and held his arms out. His hand had cupped her cheek and the other had curled Sasha Tatsuo and Eri in a hug.

"I missed you all. Oh my Mio you have grown!" Sandor said looking into Eri's bright happy eyes.

We missed you to Eri said snuggling against him. Sasha let Sandor hug Eri and smiled brightly. "Look, Tatsuo your daddy loves your mommy." Sasha said happily. Sasha grew at a fast rate almost a year for every month. For when she had come to live with them she was smaller than Tatsuo And now she carried him. Sandor and Eri loved her as if she was their own.

It was at this point the men of the crew came up singing. Mark Venture had started it smiling for he had wrote it.

What do we do with Sandor's Lady,
What do we do with Sandor's Lady,
What do we do with Sandor's Lady.
Early in the morning.

Way-hay, for she saved us
Way-hay, for she saved us
Way-hay, for she saved us
Early in the morning.

Kiss her hand as we all thank her,
Kiss her hand as we all thank her,
Kiss her hand as we all thank her,
early in the morning.

Sandor laughed when Sasha danced to the singing as if she was dancing with Tatsuo who looked up brightly and happily at everyone. He held his Eri tighter leaning in kissing her.

Desslok and Space Force and all their families of them thanked her. Eri was shocked when she heard what had made them lost. She made some special sushi for Mimi who appreciated it.

Dr Sane is now very careful not to mix drinks and stays far away from Vodka. He is now and then reminded of what he had caused when he hears that dreaded song. And usually it is Sandor humming it with a fiendish grin on his face.

Randy and his new wife moved in a apartment near Sandor's and Eri's. Eri and Azura are great friends. The share a similar like of engineering.

Sandor sings his own very romantic verses of the song to her. They are for Eri's ears only and would be inappropriate to write here.

_________________________________________________________

END.