********** Scene: Outside Scribonia's door. The crowd stands around for a second, everybody looking at each other. Counselor Jiapa runs up out of breath and assesses the situation. Jiapa: You've got him! Finally! Well, isn't anybody going to go in? People glance at each other again, until the Insecurity Officer hesitantly pushes the entry button. Scribonia: Come! The doors slide open to reveal Scribonia at her desk, and Ananda sitting across from her. They both look up as all of twelve people tumble into the normally spacious office. The child-like wonder steps forward, or rather, squeezes forward holding Lite above his head: "I understand you were looking for this?" Jiapa: Yes, he's been roaming the ship and won't seem to settle down and be tested. Transporter Officer: Roaming the ship is one way to put it. Causing havoc and being a real pain in the ass is another. Redshirt: Yeah! An' he killed us! CrimsonTunic: Hit. Redshirt: Wha? Redshirt and CrimsonTunic are steadily ignored by everyone else. Insecurity Officer: He, well, he didn't seem that bad. He's just a kid. Kendragon: He may be just a kid, but I want him dealt with. He SHREDDED. Guillaume: Specifically, he shredded library papers. Stoops: My MUSIC for the library. He deserves to be locked up! yaz: Yes, he came into my room, ruined my puzzle and broke my statuette, and his only excuse was that he was looking for some zero gravity... Metag: He even jumped up and down on the artificial gravity cube, trying to disable the gravity! Stoops: (horrified) Did he break it? Metag gives Stoops a sarcastic look. Metag: Noooooo! ************ Outside Scribonia's door again: Mreen and Topaz arrive at the door. Mreen: Well, here we are. Do you want to go in or shall I? Topaz: You should go in. I don't what to be around when Scribonia or Kabeta hears about this. Mreen: Ok, you go on then. See you later. Maybe. (smiles and waves, then pushes the door buzzer) Inside the room: Scribonia: (holding her head) Come! Mreen enters, is startled by the packed state of the room. Mreen: I just came by to tell you that the logs have been transferred up, and we found out what happened to the crew of the ship. It looks like there never was one. Scribonia: WHAT? Did you review the logs? Give me a full report! Mreen: The kid was the only one on board the whole time! We rewound the logs back to several days ago and saw him sneaking on board the ship while it was in drydock and the crew was on shore leave. He talked the computer into giving him control of the ship, with it's help for navigation and engineering, and stole the ship single handedly! He was using the computer to fire phasers on the Nash and forgot to tell it to raise shields before starting the attack. The whole thing was a joyride! Scribonia: (to Lite) A joy ride? A JOY RIDE? Lite: (sulking) Well, I almost blew up one of your stupid ships! Scribonia: A JOY RIDE? yaz: Wait a minute! This whole thing could still be set up! He could still be a spy! Ananda: That's what I came here to tell you! (everybody stops talking and looks at the tiny source of this passionate outburst) When I accidently read his consciousness (she looks at her feet while admitting that she did this) on the Hidden Valley ship I didn't see anything that indicated that he was sent here by anybody. He really is a child! Just a child with a big imagination. I had to come by to tell you before you jumped to a wrong conclusion. All of them mull over this for a bit. Lite sulks. Child-Like Wonder: But how can one kid be so destructive? And what are we going to do with him now? Scribonia: I don't know the answer to your first question, Lt., I think it's up to our ship's counselor to find out, however. Jiapa: What? Scribonia: To prevent any further damage to the ship, Lite will be locked in Jiapa's room for the remainder of the time until we reach the starbase. Jiapa: But...but... Murmurs of approval from the crowd Scribonia: We'll have to seal the door from the outside to prevent any escape, Counsellor. You should have about six hours to conduct tests before we arrive. Jiapa: Wait! Why me? Scribonia: Any information you can get about ways to manage him is of vital interest to the Federation, and more importantly, to whoever gets "saddled" with him on the starbase. Cheers and applause from the crowd. Several hands reach for Lite. Transporter Operator: Come on! We'll throw him in there ourselves! They move exuberantly out to the hall, sweeping Jiapa along with them. Jiapa: Wait! Nooooo! **************
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