Recovery, and reintroduction

Sickbay . . .
"Optimisation procedure beginning," announced the computer, and
a rumbling filled the walls. Zack opened his mouth to scream, but
then suddenly he was drenched in a mixture of every liquid
imaginable, streaming from the pipes above his head.
After what seemed like an eternity, the flow was cut off. Zack
sat there, dripping, as the panel retracted.
"Optimisation complete," announced the computer, "Please refill
ointment vats to repeat."
Dr. Keto walked in, and smiled at the astonished Zack.
"Feeling better?" he asked.
"Mrgle, Brgle, Mwiff!" was the best that Zack could manage.
Dr. Keto smiled. "Wonderful! That was one of my better mixes,
if I do say so myself. Let me know if you have any other maladies
that I can help you with."
Zack finally managed to get enough of the ointment out of his
mouth to speak intelligibly. "But I was just here for medical
clearance to start working at McKenzie's!"
Dr. Keto stopped, then checked his clipboard. "Oh, well that's
different. You get an entirely different treatment for that."
A scutter sliding by sickbay heard alternating screams and
splashes, but knew enough of Dr. Keto's reputation to keep going.
The good doctor had on more than one occasion attempted to introduce
ointment into the scutter preventative maintenance program, and this
particular scutter had no desire to be in any way involved in that.
Later . . .
Everyone on Kayn's floor was asleep, bar Zack - who was
currently throwing up corrosive acid, muttering the words 'ointment'
over and over
"You need a doctor" came from Kayn's lips as Zack started puking
the green liquid. THis resulted in a cry louder than a sonic boom...
"Ointment....work...tommorow...not...enough...strength...need....
rest.... some...idiot...threw me out.....no...place...ug...rest"
Oh god...thought Kayn. He told himself not to go to Keto when it
came to his personal record for his new job and tugged Zack into his
quarters and threw him into the top bunk.
"Poor lunatic" thought Kayn as Zack muttered "ointment" in his
dreams. As an afterthought, Kayn gave Zack a bucket
Zack tossed and turned, fleeing in his dreams from morphing
blobs of multi-colored ointment all chuckling at him in Dr. Keto's
voice. "Just a few more doses, and you'll be right as rain."
He woke up in a sweat, fingering Cubie's case. Perhaps they
could . . .
No. She'd been unable to link up with the STCP mainframe. Her
homidical tendencies were not unusual, especially lately. But that
was the first time she'd been cut off from the mainframe that allowed
her to coordinate ST-jumps. Were they actually stuck somewhere?
He sighed. It wouldn't take Blotz too long to find them, unless
the jump was so random that it didn't send out the standard time
ripples that the STCP had been using to pursue them.
He pulled the green case out of his pocket and stared at it
lovingly. "Sweetie, you might finally get your wish. I might end up
with an honest job yet." He smiled at his good fortune. He couldn't
remember, but he thought that the exchange rate from pounds to
dollars was about fifty dollars per pound. This McKenzie paid his
people well, that was for certain!
He tried to go back to sleep, but he knew it was unlikely. His
gut still ached from the lingering effects of Dr. Keto's concoction,
so he rolled out of bed and headed out.
Just then it dawned on him: how had he ended up in a bed? And
with a bucket thoughtfully provided.
He noted the location of the door, and the name 'Kayn'. He'd
have to return later to thank his benefactor.
Stumbling off, he headed off to find hologram maintenance.
OOC: And since Zack is who Zack is, I decided "Why not?" and replied
to Smegg's intro anyway . . .
Drive room
After the destruction of the Valkyrie fighter
Our hero the Chief Engineer of the mining ship Blue Dwarf
settled down in the drive room once again. The hustle and bustle of
emergency repairs was underway. Engineers ran around like scutters
furiously fixing the ship's engines, trying to get them somewhere
even close to half capacity. As for Smegg himself, he had decided not
to get so hands-on this time, but to direct the whole operation for a
change. It was definitely easier, he thought to himself. Not as
satisfying, but maybe he could be command material someday...
The thought was interrupted by a funny swooshing sound coming
from right above the chair in which the chief engineer sat. He lifted
his head and noticed a swirling green vortex in the ceiling,
seemingly receding to infinity, even though he knew there were only a
few meters of titanium plate separating the drive room from cold,
hard vacuum. Then, just as suddenly as the vortex had appeared,
something seemed to be falling through it. In the split second before
Smegg instinctively covered his face, he recognized a human figure.
WHUMP! The person from the vortex landed right on top of Smegg,
making a moaning mess of tangled limbs on top of the chief engineer's
chair. The two extricated themselves from each other, and then the
stranger shakily stood up and pressed a button on some green device
he held.
A hologram of a woman appeared. "Cubie?" the stranger said. "Did
you give me the wrong STC's again?"
"Cubie" kicked the strange man in the balls, sending him into
convulsive fits of pain. Must have been hard-light.
Just then Smegg noticed an antique coin that must have fallen
out of the stranger's pocket lying on the floor next to him. The
thing must be worth a fortune; he reached for it.
The woman's green stiletto heel came down right on top of
Smegg's grasping hand.
They called those things "stiletto" heels for a reason!
Smegg pulled his hand back, a flaring red mark a poor indicator
of the amount of pain that he was in.
He looked over, and saw that the woman was sitting on the man's
chest, bouncing his head off the deck. The stranger looked at him
with desperation and shouted a syllable between impacts. "Goose
(thunk) her, (thunk) Ja-(thunk) son! (thunk)"
Smegg was surprised. How did this man know his name?
But the woman was exceptionally attractive, so he thought 'what
the heck?' He reached over and seized a handful of the woman's
derriere. She sat bolt upright with a startled squeak, then lashed
out with a backhand that knocked Smegg back and made stars swim
before his eyes.
His vision cleared enough to see the man stretch and seize the
green device that he'd been holding, then tap a control. The woman
disappeared suddenly.
"Whew! Thanks, Jason." The man ran his fingers through his
flat crew-cut, then rubbed the back of his head. "You know, I think
that in this case two wrongs definitely made a right. I now forgive
you for goosing my wife at that party. You didn't even know she was
my wife then. And by doing so now, you kept her from becoming a
widow."
The stranger smiled as he dusted himself off, then popped the
maintenance cover on the device and started making adjustments.
Finally satisfied, he reactivated the hologram. She seemed much more
settled down, although she gave Jason a look that would have blown a
circuit in a scutter.
"Cubie, you remember Commander Smegg?"
Her frown deepened. "Oh, yes. I remember HIM."
Jason tried to respond, but was at a loss for words.
Her expression changed to one of puzzled concentration. Then
suddenly she brightened. "Oh, Zack! You're not going to believe
this."
"What?"
"We've ST-jumped to the exact same day we came to the Blue Dwarf
the first time. Remember that?"
Zack winced. "Do I ever! Thought I was going to die
from 'ointment poisoning'."
Cubie's expression suddenly shifted to one of almost sheer
panic. "Zack! Blotz just arrived!"
Zack's smile disappeared. "WHAT?! How could be possibly get
here so quickly?"
"Our second jump to the same coordinates must have set off an ST
echo."
Zack grabbed her by the shoulders. "Well, let's go, baby! Fast-
fast-fast!"
Suddenly, another vortex opened up in the deck, and the two
strangers fell into the hole. A second later, it disappeared,
leaving Smegg still trying to find something in his vocabulary that
would be an appropriate response.
While he was thinking, he spotted the antique coin and carefully
started to reach for it again.
Then the door to engineering smashed in, and a seven foot tall
armorplated muscle stomped in and shoved a weapon barrel in Jason's
face.
Actually, the more accurate desription would be that he shoved
Jason's head inside the barrel of the weapon. All Jason could see
was a dim red glow at the end of the tube.
The giant roared. "Where's Richards?!"
<Back to you, Smegg. Beware of scatterbrained time-traveling
fugitives. They keep unusual company.>