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The beeping had stopped, but the warning screens hadn't gone away.
Juju frowned, leaning over Ray's chair to get a better look. "Generators malfunctioning," he read out loud. Raising an eyebrow, he glanced at the captain. "Has that happened before?"
"Not to my knowledge," Ray replied absently, typing rapidly into several computers. "Vee tells me he usually buys a new ship before anything drastic happens. He must be quite good at finding sellers willing to accommodate his budget."
"Yeah. Good for him," Juju said, not willing to be the one to point out how Vee's criminal record was only its length due to the amount of vehicle theft he'd committed. And the murders. "Anyway, can I help?"
"Perhaps. Could you try and find another crew nearby? They may have a mechanic willing to assist us."
"Sure thing, Cap." Taking a position in front of a small holographic screen, Juju began his search with a signal. "Checking for nearby shuttles within two lightyears."
"Hm. Would a larger radius be possible?"
"Sorry, doesn't look like it. It says we don't have enough power for anything more than that."
Ray paused his typing. He turned to look at Juju's screen, worry creasing his brow. "Really? I thought we had more than enough stored…" He trailed off, beginning to sort through the rows of flashing warnings.
"Captain!" Dot ran in, slightly out of breath. "We're losing our lights."
"Show me," Ray commanded, standing up straight. Juju rushed to turn off the engines, but they were already striding out of the cockpit.
The hallways were dimmed, a stark contrast to the well-lit control rooms. "The kitchen and dining room lights have gone out completely," Dot explained, stopping just outside. He waited for the door to open, then cursed so softly Juju thought he'd imagined it as he jogged to the captain's side. Tapping a code into a small keypad on the side, Dot flipped a few switches before it hissed open. "It must be affecting the door mechanics too. Use 830-97 for the override code," he reminded them.
The next room Dot showed them was one of the crew's rooms. Third from the entrance to the corridor, a blue-and-black haired alien was sulking outside."Mimita," Dot called out. "Is the light working now?"
"No." With a miffed huff, he stepped aside, showing an unlit keypad and another row of already-flipped switches. "It won't let me in either. I tried."
Dot clicked his tongue. "Really?"
Sure enough, the door remained firmly shut.
"This is ridiculous," Mimita complained, trotting after the other three as they began the lengthy descent towards the generators. "What kind of shuttle doesn't have a backup system for electricity?"
"It only kicks in once the main one fails," Juju said patiently. "We just have to go check it now."
He grimaced. "Why would they break now?It's been fine till-"
A loud clang somewhere within the shuttle's walls made them all jump. A moment later they were plunged into darkness, and another second had barely passed before a blaring siren began to scream.
Mimita opened his mouth, only for the ship to lurch violently sideways. He was sent flying into another room, the door hissing shut. "Mimita!" Juju cried out, already flipping open the keypad.
A pounding on the other side stopped him. "Don't worry about me! Go fix this!" the Mercurian shouted from inside. "I'll be fine, just hurry up!"
He hesitated, but Ray nodded. "Go back to the cockpit and try to stabilise the shuttle. See if you can find a crew to help."
"We'll let you know what's going on once we're at the generators," Dot added.
"If you haven't heard anything in fifteen minutes, prepare two emergency shuttles. Come back for Mimita, and we'll meet you two there. OK?"
Juju bit his lip. "Roger that. Be careful," he told them, before running back down the hallway.
Watching him go, Ray started when Dot grabbed his hand and made for the opposite direction. "Let's go. We can't have this ship exploding while you're on it, Your Highness."
The generators were red-hot, and even though Ray wasn't an expert, he was pretty sure this wasn't a good sign.
He was also sure that Vee wrestling with a small body on the floor wasn't a good sign either.
"Get off of me!" it yelled, kicking wildly. Vee shook his head, already reaching for his gun.
"Vee!" Dot rushed to his side. Ray followed, eyeing the stranger with a mix of suspicion and concern. "Don't."
"This," Vee hissed, "is what's wrong with the ship. I found him sabotaging the generators."
Dot's eyes widened. He looked down quickly. "Were you really?"
The alien squirmed uselessly, sticking his tongue out at Vee. "No! Let go of me! Leave me alone!" he shouted, much like a petulant child throwing a tantrum.
"A stowaway," Ray said quietly. "Vee, let him go."
"You little- What." Vee stared at him, gaping.
"Let go of him, please."The stowaway wriggled out of Vee's grip, plopping down crosslegged and crossarmed. He was pouting, and upon closer inspection, shaking.
Ray kneeled down, looking at him in the eye. "My name is Ray. What's yours?"
"Maru."
"Maru. It's a pleasure to meet you." Dot raised an eyebrow, but joined him on the floor. "Maru, why were you sabotaging our shuttle?"
He sniffed loudly. "I wasn't. I was just trying to help." Even Ray didn't seem entirely convinced. "Your generators were overheating, since the impeller got blocked. I checked and you haven't maintained it in years, it says so right there. It got worn down and broke apart, so it's not cooling the engines down." Maru lifted his head, glaring at Vee. "I was trying to fix it when he came in and got all mad at me!"
Ray nodded slowly. Sure enough, there was an open toolbox and several dismantled parts beside the glowing generator. "We've lost power throughout the whole shuttle. Did something happen while you were trying to fix them?"
"He tried to shoot me!" Maru yelled, grabbing Dot's arm when Vee lunged at him. "Leave me alone, leave me alone!" Dot blinked down at the alien clutching onto him like a lifeline, and reached to hesitantly pat his head. "Like, he missed, but still! No active weapons in a generator room, don't you know anything?!"
Pointing forcefully at the machine, which now bore a perfect, utterly misplaced hole, Maru stuck his tongue out. "You're lucky nothing happened!"
"If," Ray held out an arm to stop Vee from trying to jump Maru again, "If we get Vee to leave you alone, can you fix this?"
Maru let go of Dot, then looked over his shoulder at the whirring machinery. He shrugged. "Yeah."
"All right. Do you need anything else?"
"Nope. I have everything I need." He stood up, stretching himself to his full height (which was not much more than previously). A huge grin broke out on his face. "Just leave it to me!"
Ray smiled back, quietly herding Vee out of the room, leaving Dot to monitor a holographic display of the generators' data, the flashing temperature bar slowly creeping back down into a solid green colour.
What a funny crew I've got, he thought to himself.
The enormous shape of Neptune was steadily growing, and Juju kept a watchful eye on the many screens in the cockpit. "We'll be entering orbit soon." he reported, checking a radar. "How's everyone going back there?"
"Fine, thanks." Dot replied, entering the room and setting down a platter of star-shaped sandwiches in the centre of the round coffee table everyone was gathered around. "Here, for you." He placed another plate beside Juju.
"Thank you!" Maru said happily, shoving an entire sandwich into his mouth. "Waah, this is so good!"
Mimita curled his lip. "Don't talk with food in your mouth."
Dot just laughed. "I'm glad. Here, have some more." Piling them onto Maru's plate, he chuckled again at his cheering.
By the time Juju joined them on the floor, the platter was empty. "Thanks again!" Maru said, sighing contently. "It's been ages since I've had something good like that to eat."
"Where are you from?" Juju asked.
At that, his shoulders slumped slightly. "Mars."
Mimita sputtered, blue eyes wide. "T- That's ages away! What- What the hell's a kid like you doing on here?"
"You're from Mercury, that's even further," Vee mumbled.
Dot looked worried. "Mimita is right. How and when did you end up on our shuttle? And why?"
For the first time, Maru looked upset. Brow creased, he drew his knees up to his chest. "It's a long story."
"And we've got plenty of time," Ray said, motioning to the blue planet taking up most of the windows. "It would be best for us all if we knew why you have been living in our generator rooms since we left Mars."
Maru stayed quiet, gazing forlornly at the clouds swirling on Neptune. "Okay. But promise me, even after you hear my story, you'll let me stay with you?"
Ray exchanged looks with Dot. "Of course, Maru. As long as you tell us the truth."
"Okay." He took a deep breath.
"It started off like this…"