<div align="center"><strong>-=the stowaway – above the cargo area, moving – the Gamble=-</strong></div><br/>So much going on, confusion and yelling and noises. Watching from above, blue eyes captured every detail of the mutual care and concern from the crewmembers about each other. A profusion of expressions and attitudes were displayed; swiftly businesslike, angry, pensive or unconscious. The shuttle was manned and prepped, everyone paying attention to the wounded men. As they disappeared inside, the stowaway had to dance pretty around corners and into shadows to keep from being noticed despite the crew’s distractions. Getting smart about where she hid, the pillowcase-toting girl wended her way along the port side and ended up in the galley. Just as the shuttle dropped away, she moved to her favorite spiral staircase. It was at that point the Gamble lit up and took off, her hands gripping the rail just in case of turbulence. Frozen for a moment, she adjusted to their pull and breathed easier as the ship leveled out, edging into the black.<em>They were leaving their shuttle-flying friends on Bellerophon! Did that mean they would be back later to pick them up?</em><br/><br/>Just starting to relax, her mind calculated the Gamble’s rate of fuel consumption and was chipping away at the possible refueling options as she overheard a door close below. Leaning over to peer through the slats of the staircase, she recognized the tiny blond pilot, who was obviously not doing the piloting right now, and the white-blond man that had been cowering (cowering? More like intentionally hiding… what’s the difference?) deep inside the cargo stacks during the firefight. Funny, he still seemed to be hiding… creeping… up on the pilot-girl.<em>Huh?</em><br/><br/>Watching the male pull a blade and threaten the pretty blond woman, the stowaway felt a terrifying shudder of revulsion hit her stomach. Placing her free hand over her mouth to keep from making herself known, she held her breath, unable to make out anything he was saying. Considering the way the woman was stiff and wide-eyed against the wall, she did not appear to be enjoying herself, especially after he cut away the buttons of her only garment and groped her in an unwelcome fashion.<br/><br/>Then the woman's knee rose and the man’s face went all kinds of psychedelic colors. Hunched over, he’d dropped his knife and stumbled but reached out with a lunge and grabbed at the screaming pilot. Tearing away her rag of a shirt, the blond was trapped by the length of her hair and smacked cruelly across her delicate face before crumpling against a closed stateroom door. The witness was shaking violently with fear and rage, feeling impotent while forced to relive every faceless nightmare of sexual predation and sense of personal weakness from her hiding spot. As the would-be-rapist unlatched the door and tossed his target inside, the stowaway lost sight of Mae for a moment, the girl’s name suddenly blaring to the forefront of her mind.<em>That’s <span class="bbc_u">Mae</span>… a person I know. I don’t know her well but she’s an individual, a crewmember aboard this vessel and I recognize her. I… I care about her. She needs to be well and… and protected. Oh Buddha, isn’t anyone going to protect her?<br/><br/>I will… I will protect her. Because I can. I’m the only one who can.</em><br/><br/>Dashing down the staircase, the red-blond woman dropped her pillowcase near the laundry and rushed between the infirmary and the restroom, down the terrifyingly one-way corridor.<em>No extra exits from here… either you back out the way you came or you don’t back out at all.</em>Her hand snapped out at the wall, tearing out of its brackets a small fire extinguisher. A label in several languages gleamed in holographic brilliance against the cylinder; what kind of fire it would appropriately aid in diminishing, how to work the release of the clean agent fire suppressor, how far back to stand for optimal use, that it was ideal for sensitive electronics and documents. The stowaway simply wanted it because it weighed between 5 and 7 kilograms and fitted to her hands nicely.<br/><br/>Her boots slapped against the metal plating of the floor as she drove herself into the room behind the male, becoming his attacker. A silent snarl misshaping her lips, the girl used her momentum to swing the metal weapon up in an arc, her arms at full extension. Sure, her back and arms would feel this the next day, but she didn’t care about the future right now – she was only too aware of the present and the circumstances that Mae was being forced to deal with. And they were unacceptable.<br/><br/>Slamming the side of the fire extinguisher across the crown of the male’s skull, the stowaway made her presence known. As he’d been using only one hand to hold himself up above Mae’s body, proudly showing off his cock’s heft with the other, he was knocked off balance and tumbled into the floor, dazed and blinking. Rolling onto his back, he looked up to find a different enraged and nearly naked woman standing over him, the bottom of a heavy metal cylinder aimed for his nose. At the connection, a disgusting crack preceded a gout of blood from both nostrils. The male flopped heavily limp, mercifully unconscious as his nose began to swell with a nasty break. His attacker backed up a step, breathing thickly, the softest voiced grunt rasping from her mouth as her arms relaxed. Lowering the extinguisher, she looked to Mae, shaking now at having exposed herself… in more ways than one. Frozen in fear, she let go of the weapon, letting it clank loudly upon the floor. Shaking slightly, she backed up again, bumping into the bulkhead before stopping, still staring at the nude pilot with terror and empathy in her azure eyes.<br/>