Crash Landing

supervisor

*Mae*

Was I crazy for thinking that my mother could somehow communicate with me hundreds of thousands of miles away while I was on the Celestial and she was back on Earth?

To think that maybe I could hear her voice calling out for me to come save her when it might just be another symptom I was experiencing along with the headaches and nosebleeds and possible hallucinations?

Perhaps I was crazy after all but I still needed to try because if I didn't, then I'd never know if I was right or not.

At least this way, I could determine if I may or may not be experiencing strange hallucinations due to the lack of oxygen that was slowly being rerouted over time from the lower unit levels or if maybe my assumptions were correct after all.

Maybe Mama was still alive and this was her way of asking me to help her.

But I'd never know the truth unless I did something about it and my doing something was always bound to be big, loud and brash.

A distraction of sorts, in a way.

A small hint of a smile pulled at my cheeks but I quickly hid it behind a stoic wall, not allowing the temporary supervisor observing my work to see my true intentions behind fixing up this old piece of equipment in my hands.

That's it! A distraction is exactly what I need to break free of the Celestial and steal--excuse me, commender a spaceship to pilot it back to Earth!

But what could I even use as a distraction?

My presence here is already being watched from the upper levels, I'm going to have to be sneaky about this one.

Humming a small tune under my breath, I allowed my mind to wander as I worked my magic on the mechanical equipment, fingers at ease with the practiced method of reconstructing and rebuilding that they have been taught and trained for over years.

"I still love you, a bushel and a peck…"

My voice was muffled beneath the sound of the machinery around me, so quiet that it was almost inaudible but I could still hear the tune as I worked and my supervisor probably could as well, the crotchety old man who probably had liver spots in places unforseen frowning with confusion at the unfamiliar melody that was rarely sung anymore.

Nobody aboard the Celestial listened to music anymore, that was a luxury that only the Commander and the Members of the Board could afford to indulge in but I couldn't help but wonder what music I would listen to if there were instruments playing throughout the Celestial.

Would it be something classical?

Something hard sounding like rock, maybe?

Would it sound gentle and sweet?

Or be rough and crass?

My mind kept wandering around about the music portion of my thoughts but I couldn't allow it to wander for too long, I still had an escape route to plan out, after all.

My hands kept busy at work despite the constant feeling of being put under a microscope and my every movement examined by the supervisor who was probably going to keel over to his death at any moment now.

But I didn't mind the extra attention that was being placed on my work, after all, this was just a simple invention designed to help the Explorer's mission so I shouldn't feel as nervous as I was right now.

Plus, it gave me time to percolate and allow the ideas for my escape route to ruminate around the vastness that was my mind.

Until, at least, my best friend since I first boarded the Celestial many years ago, Indigo, decided to drop by for her routinely visit.