Cassandra: Trying not to get her collar felt

Who: Cassandra
Where: In a Promenade department store
When: After Holly got destroyed, before everyone else returned to the Dwarf, a
day or two before everyone else got shrunk (anyone able to remember that far
back?)
<ooc>
Cass wasn't at the ambassadors' reception; this is what she was getting up to
beforehand
Had a shockingly similar couple of weeks as the other AndyL, so apologies as
well about the late post
</ooc>
<snip>
Cass dashed between a couple of beauty concessions, and snaked her way past
several others, taking a couple of sharp lefts, before finally darting, panting,
behind a ceiling support pillar nestled amidst a couple of large artificial
plants
She peeked out from behind the pillar, looking for any sign of pursuit, and
wondering why this sort of crap always seemed to happen to her, when the pink
suitcase bumped her leg
"This *is* exciting" it burbled, "Do you think we managed to shake the filth?"
</snip>
She whipped her head back, not bothering to answer, content to let the chunk of
masonry that was blasted out of the pillar near where her head had been to
suffice as an answer to such a stupid question
"...I'll take that as a 'No' then, shall I?"
Cass glanced down at the pink suitcase
"Oh, smeg off..." she growled before she shot from her cover, making a dash
towards the lift cluster nestled on the far side of the store
Another couple of energy blasts crackled overhead, making Cass thankful that the
'bot was at least a dire shot, as she skidded around a display gondola packed
with plastic dinosaurs and strange large eyed dolls that purportedly peed
themselves when subjected to stress
The black suitcase dutifully wheeled along to join her
Cass poked her head back out again to glare at the pink one, aimlessly milling
about near where she had been hiding
"OY!" she yelled, "When I said 'Smeg off', I didn't mean 'Just amble around
there, and not follow me!'"
"Sheesh, make your mind up, Miss Bossy. That sort of attitude'll get you into
trouble one day..."
The security 'bot stomped, flat footedly, into view from around the pillar, and
levelled one of its blasters at Cassandra.
She ducked her head out of sight again and as an afterthought vainly scattered a
few shelves of dinosaurs on the floor, before the top shelf erupted under
blaster fire, and fountains of what Cass hoped was just water from the dolls,
before she shot down an aisle filled with other garish googly eyed homunculi,
and took a sharp left down an aisle full of sports equipment, making her way
towards the lifts
"YOU ARE ONLY MAKING IT WORSE FOR YOURSELF" the machine called out, its feet
thumping heavily on the ground as it strode onward with a measured, even pace
Cass tore past nets of footballs, Jai-Alai cestas', and a pile of hockey
equipment, snagging herself a hockey stick on the way past, almost as an
afterthought, before dashing out into the open area surrounding the stores main
lift cluster, as another blast crackled overhead, blowing a chunk out of the
ceiling some distance away
Vaulting over a perfume concession, she hurried towards the lift doors, and
smacked a lift call button, glancing nervously back over her shoulder, as she
thumbed the button another couple of times
The suitcases trundled into view from around the perfume counter
"I'd urge a little haste, Ma'am" the black one purred smoothly, "The security
droid is fast closing on us... And while I hesitate to mention the subject at a
time like this, may I remind you of Space Corps directive 1852, section five:
Making off without payment...?"
"No shit!?" Cass muttered, forcefully thumbing the lift call button again "Is
that what that one is?"
"Yes, Ma'am. Making off without payment: No Space Corps employee shall make off,
without payment, with goods above the value of thirteen dollarpounds fifty,
except in the case of demonstrable need during Tribble infestation"
"Give me strength" Cass snarled, vainly leaning into the call button and
punching it again, even though she knew that the lift wouldn't turn up any
quicker for her doing so
"Indeed, Ma'am" the suitcase responded, unphased, "Space Corps directives
explicitly prohibit this sort of activity."
Cass jabbed the call button another seven or eight times in quick succession
before she threw her hands up, and exasperatedly snapped "Well it's a good
smegging job I'm not a smegging Space Corps employee, then isn't it?"
The black suitcase wheeled around a bit in evident confusion
"I... Ah... Yes Ma'am..."
"Well, I'm glad we got that settled" the pink suitcase chirped happily "Anyway,
I hope you packed your plasma cannon before you left home today, because here
comes trouble!"
The security 'bot stomped into view around the corner from the sports aisle, and
levelled one of its blasters at Cass, it's blue light still flashing on top of
its head
"LET'S BE HAVING YOU." it droned "COME ALONG QUIETLY NOW, MISS"
Cass closed her eyes and took a deep breath
"Look, can't we just forget about this...?" she began, nervously fingering the
hockey stick she held behind her back
The lift finally arrived, the doors softly pinging open behind her
Cass smiled and opened her eyes again
"Tell you what: How about we just continue as we were?"
She stepped smartly backwards into the lift and punched the 'Up' button,
grinning with satisfaction as the doors slid closed, taking the punch from yet
another blast from the bots weapons
A dull thud from near her feet made her look down, to see the doors closing on
the pink suitcase; her smile quickly dispelled when, to her mounting panic, the
doors began to slide back open again
"Stupid smegging, damn smegging thing!" Cass snarled, slapping the door close
button again, and aiming a kick at the suitcase, but quickly thinking better of
wasting the time, and dropping instead into a crouch as a couple of blasts
screamed overhead and impacted on the back wall of the lift, filling the cabin
with a wash of heat and smoke
"Could you damn well try not to just smeg it all up in future?" Cass snapped at
the suitcase as it trundled with an air of smugness past her into the lift,
dutifully followed by its black companion
"Huh, I'd have thought you wouldn't want to just abandon us, and leave your
precious toasters behind"
Cass closed her eyes and gritted her teeth, briefly massaging her temples and
trying to ignore the heavy thuds of the security bots closing footsteps, before
the lift thankfully chimed pleasantly and began to close its doors again
"I hope the rest of the smegging crew will appreciate what I've gone through for
this", she muttered to herself, as the doors finally closed with a soft thud.
A hammering sounded from the other side of the doors
"OPEN UP. THIS IS THE POLICE!"
Quickly scrambling back to her feet, Cass smacked the button for the upper
promenade deck, and retreated away from the door, brandishing the hockey stick
in what she hoped was a dangerous manner, on the off-chance that the 'bot
managed to get the doors open again
In the end, she needn't have worried, as with an almost imperceptible jolt, the
lift started its smooth ascent, strains of Nin Huguen and the Huguenotes playing
through the internal speakers, before the doors finally pinged open a moment
later revealing a vast vista of women's clothes: from bold flowery dresses,
designed to flatter or at least detract from the frumpier old older bird, to the
barely decent and highly impractical yoof fashions favoured by younger women
with vestiphobia
...What all this smeg was even doing on a mining ship in the first place, Cass
hadn't the vaguest idea
Stepping out of the lift, she glanced up at the level indicator above the
neighbouring lift's door, and noting that it was already on the way up, simply
stepped back into the lift and pressed the down button, planning on outwitting
the 'bot by just sneaking back down again, and making good her escape
The doors of her lift opened again after another moment of teeth grindingly dull
elevator music, to reveal the security droid standing scant feet from her, its
blue light still flashing on top of its head, aiming both its blasters into the
lift cabin.
The damn thing had anticipated her move admittedly not too sneaky move
"Aargh!" Cass dived to the floor amongst the suitcases as the 'bot opened fire
"YOU ARE UNDER ARREST" it droned "YOU HAVE ONLY THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT!"
"This is getting repetitive" Cass snarled, slapping the up button again as the
'bot began strode forward, placing both its hands against the closing doors,
pushing them open again
"Ohhh... Why me?" Cass snarled, raising herself to her feet, and tightly
clutching the hockey stick, which she poked hard at the droids head, banging off
its cranium with a good solid thump
"YOU ARE ASSAULTING AN OFFICER OF THE LAW" the machine droned "I AM DULY
AUTHORISED TO INFLICT THE STANDARD PENALTIES"
Cass gave the 'bot an extra series of vigorous jabs to the face with the handle
of the hockey stick for good measure, pushing the thing back a step or two,
allowing the lift doors to close, and at the same time, preventing it from being
able to gain a decent target lock on her, as it frantically waved its blasters
about
A final good hard push sent the 'bot tottering back a further step, giving her
just enough time to whip the hockey stick out of the way as the doors finally
closed and the lift began its ascent again, the sound of the 'bot repeatedly
blasting the doors outside, thankfully growing ever more distant
Once the lift had made it to the top floor again, Cass shot out of it, dashing
for the other side of the shop towards the exit onto the upper promenade
The suitcases followed her as best they could, but she easily outpaced them,
especially the pink one which just dawdled through ladies wear, weaving in and
out of various clothing concessions saying unhelpful things like: "Oooh, just
look at this, you'd look fabulous in this one, darling!" and "Why don't you
steal one of these as well?"
Choosing just to ignore this drivel, Cass sprinted from the store onto the upper
level of the promenade, skidding to a halt across several meters of polished
marble effect plastic flooring, and finally sliding into the promenade deck
rail, where she quickly scanned left and right, lank hair flying, as she tried
to establish her whereabouts and figure her next move
The glass partition and deck rail to her right exploded in a shower of sparks
and crystal debris as a bolt of blaster fire crackled home next to her, blowing
a large hole in the promenades balustrade
To her acute embarrassment, Cass screamed like a girl in shock, before she
mastered her composure and turned to face the security 'bot striding towards her
"THAT WAS A WARNING SHOT" it intoned "NOW, COME ALONG QUIETLY"
Other than a possibly fatal plummet straight down to the lower deck, Cass
realised there were no places left to run; either direction to her left or right
would simply result in her just being shot in the back, and so, with a sigh, she
raised her hands up into the air, and slowly sank to her knees
"It's a fair cop..."
"YOU ARE UNDER ARREST" the machine began "YOU HAVE ONLY THE RIGHT TO REMAIN
SILENT. ANYTHING YOU DO SAY WILL BE EDITED, TAKEN OUT OF CONTEXT, AND USED IN
EVIDENCE AGAINST YOU..."
The droid stomped over towards her, pulling a set of handcuffs from a concealed
buttock compartment
"Oh, not those!" Cass started "I wanted the furry ones..."
The droid answered simply, by menacingly charging up one of its blasters
"DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"
Cass said nothing, mutely looking up at the droid
"IN THAT CASE: AAAARRRGHHH!"
The black suitcase had shot from the store and barrelled into the droid,
pitching it through the newly blasted gap in the balustrade, down onto the lower
promenade deck below
Cass had never been so happy to see a piece of luggage before in her life
"Thank you" she happily breathed, figuring it was about time something had to go
right for her
Chancing a peek over the balcony edge to see what had become of the 'bot, Cass
had to pull her head back sharpish as another blast of energy flashed overhead,
blowing a collection of ceiling tiles out; the damn thing was still active, and
apparently wasn't about to give up, it seemed.
Sighing, Cass pulled a pack of cigs out and sparked one up as the pink suitcase
leisurely rolled out of the store
"C'mon you two" she muttered "Let's go"
Turning she strode quickly down the promenade towards a service lift cluster;
maybe she could lose the 'bot between decks...
<tbc/>