Mel was so focused on packing up her Startracker to fly down to Houston that Kelvin running up towards her on the flightdeck caught her completely off guard, and she wheeled on him.
“Plantside, asshole! What? Am I a prisoner here now ‘r something?” Mel snapped.
To be fair, she was also still more than a little pissed at him for his comments the previous day.
“Whoa there, sailor! Not what I’m talkin’ about at all! You look at your ship lately?” Kelvin gestured to Cobra 3. “You’ve got laser scouring all along the port side, one of your tail fins is bent, and the other is…” Kelvin paused to make sure he was seeing correctly. “...missing?”
Mel turned to look at her ship, watching as he pointed out the various points of damage on the hull.
“And if what you’er tellin’ me about what happened when you tried to pick up more escape pods other than the kid is true, then either yer storage manifest computer tripswitch or your tractor beam itself is completely borked.”
Kelvin paused and looked the ship up and down one more time. “Maybe both honestly,” he said.
“Fine…FINE! Have it your way,” Mel threw her hands up in defeat. “You’re probably right. Ship’s seen better days, and those days were a LONG time ago.”
“Exactly. So let my boys handle the repairs, and we’ll make sure ya get to Houston safe. Come on, follow me,” Kelvin waved her along to follow him as he began walking towards the other end of the flightdeck.
Mel followed cautiously, unsure of what her father’s old partner in crime had in mind. As they walked around a semi-derelict Rhino freighter, Mel saw where Kelvin was leading her, and froze in her tracks.
“Oh no…no no. F*CK no!” Mel began protesting.
There, perched in a quiet corner of the Junkers’ flightdeck was a near factory fresh LZF-6364 Patriot with crisp blue and red highlights.
“Abso-LUTE-ly not!” Mel said emphatically.
“You’re meaning to tell me you’er gonna fly to Houston, past HUNTSVILLE of all places, in a Junker craft…or worse still, a XENO fighter??” Kelvin looked at Mel incredulously.
“I…no…?” Mel said, and then looked away whistling to herself.
“That’s what I thought. Ya got heart kid, I know that. But dammit ya gotta work on your street smarts,” Kelvin laughed.
“Phfff…” Mel tried to play it off like it she didn’t care, but deep down she knew he was right.
“Fine, I take the cop cruiser, but just let the record stand that I’m not happy about it,” she said.
“Noted.”
“Alright,” Mel said and stretched her arms a bit. “Gonna grab my day kit off Cobra 3 and then find the little one.”
“The Rhienland girl? You aren’t gonna keep her here while you go planetside? No reason to bring her around a whole bunch of new people all over again after all she’s been through.”
“I am NOT letting Ida outta my sight, understood?” Mel snapped.
“You got it, boss!” Kelvin said.
Mel sighed.
“Look, I’m sorry about yesterday,” she said. “And I guess I’m still processin’ through sh*t. I keep biting at you and that’s not fair. It’s just…you got your ideals, and I got mine. So please, just don’t accuse me’a compromisin’ myself and my morals. ‘k?”
“Fair enough, Mini.”
“Alright, Cap. Gas me up, and let’s get me airborne!”
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