"Will do, Bart," the Steward said, working towards looping one

end of

the suspenders around the unconscious girl's wrists, securing them behind her--and then doing the same to the girl's ankles with the other end, effectively hog-tying the stowaway. "Be careful."

Looking at Percy as he passes, "I need you to stay in your damn room till we've searched the ship."

"You heard the heavily armed gentleman, Lord Percy, get in here and sit down."

"Oh, all right." he says, "I wish you'd listen to me!"

Paris' face went bland. "I am listening. You right now may have just sacrificed this ship trying to do the right thing--we'll talk later."

"Mouse, I like the new look. A bit of tit is always good for moral," he shouts as he runs back to the cargo bay.

Paris shook her head and, as she worked on tying down the girl, held her blouse as together as she could. "Dammit."

"She came in through the bathroom window...I mean vent." Percy says as he steps into the room rubbing the back of his neck, "I think you hurt my neck."

"Think of it as a learning experience, a little pain is a good reinforcement."

"She told me that she had to get away from here before they caught her, Paris. That they'd kill her." he says looking at what the steward is doing with his suspenders, "She wanted to go to Parlek and the ship is going to Parlek.

"We were. Might not now."

"So, I reckoned, well why couldn't we take her there...." he trails off then adds more firmly, "Look, she was scared Paris, and she could have conked me in my head before I woke up, but she didn't. I think we should help her."

"Then you should've brought this to my attention last night. I don't leave this ship, you're my charge, along with any other passenger or member of this crew--and our stores, O2 and Hydro are rationed carefully--whether it appears it or not, and one extra unaccounted body can spell disaster for all."

She sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for the sleeper to come out of shellshock. "For right now, we'll sort this out and I'll let Sasha make the call--and the best bet for you is to keep your mouth closed."

The woman glared and continued to hold her blouse shut. "Sasha, Paris, we need to talk, and we need Merinn and Des to work with Bart and verify this ship is secure."