"This is for you, Doctor." JS said, pointing at a container. "Vasquez, organize a team to assist the doctor with the equipment." At that moment Jetsam and Flotsam arrived. JS had convinced them to stay on the Victory in order not to attract too much attention. The two urchins had agreed, bribed by the promise of a gift. Now they came to claim their reward. Jetsam, got her glittering parcel, was starting her hunt for new potential gifts among the supplies stored in the hangar, when her attention was distracted. "But these devices are.. incredible! They're the state of the art! Miranda, even the richest hospital in the Earth didn't own equipments like these." Lee almost couldn't believe his eyes. Miranda Vasquez chuckled: "You thought I'd join a sh*t-house of a spaceship, man?" "But how can you put your hands on this?" Lee waved his hand. "JS's magic!" Vasquez grinned. "You write a wish list, give it to JS and he fulfills it!" Jetsam exclaimed joining the conversation. "Have you ever wondered how he makes it?" asked the doctor with a suspicious tone. "After he told you.." "He kills you!" Jetsam ended. She and Vasquez laughed. "Kill me?" Lee asked shocked. "Hey, you got as dull as ditchwater! Where's your sense of humor, man?" Vasquez said, and began to organize the team. Meanwhile Eve watched JS playing with Flotsam. Except for business, JS kept his mind stubbornly sealed. Eve breathed a sigh that seemed to arise from the tips of her sandals. "Eve, what happened to Jay? Is he sick? I can get in touch with half of his mind only!" Vickie said in a tone of concern. "No, my fault." Eve told her what had happened. "It's not your fault! It was that idiot!" Vickie said with a belligerent tone, "I might turn off the oxygen from his cabin. What about that, Eve?" "No, Jay does NOT want it!" Eve stopped at once. JS was asking her if she could help Adam with the supplies. "I'm on the bridge." JS disappeared. In their quarter Eve was waiting for JS, willing to explain herself. Her mind still wide open. "He won't came." Vickie said. "He's treating me like a rusted iron shipwreck. He's looking for something on the Net and says nothing. Why he does behave this way, Eve?" Eve sighed: "My mother told me that males are like that. Sometimes they want to be alone in a sulk, until it's over. My mother says it's a typically masculine trait, a genetic feature in the Y chromosome. It's their way of pouting. And Jay, as special as he is, is an excellent specimen of the male gender, I daresay." There was like a ripple in the mental field, as if someone was smiling. "Do you think that Jay is listening to us." Vickie whispered. "You bet!" said Eve. "Well, at least I hope so!" and she felt that ripple again. As she spoke, stroking JS's jacket that she had taken to put in a closet, a piece of paper slipped to the ground. Eve took and read it. "Oh, Jay, why didn't you tell me!" "You're safe here, Jay!" Vickie cried. "If they try to hurt you, I'll kill them all, my word!" "Tomorrow I'll get your new friend, the mermaid. You go with me?" JS's voice purred caressing. Eve spun around. She hadn't heard him to plump in, but he was leaning against the door, a sly smile on his lips. "Here you are, at last!" Eve paused then asked, "You don't do it for me, do you? I don't want you to risk your life for a whim of mine!" "I cannot stay away from my women!" JS chuckled stretching a hand toward her. "No, I thought about it. It could be a temporary solution." "But they're looking for you! I saw the note, don't deny it." "The last time they tried to kill me, we met! not so bad, I think! Atargatis might be a good hiding place for us all. Callousness allows rational thoughts." JS smiled sadly. "You aren't heartless!" Eve hugged him and the wave of her love washed over him. "An excellent specimen, you said?" he fully opened his mind again. -- Thanks Tyllo: textures