<div align="center"><strong>-=the stowaway – returning to ‘her quarters’ – lower deck of the Gamble=-</strong></div><br/>Hearing nothing, she sucked in a breath and kept her head down, opening the door. Ducking for the washer, she checked the clothes for readiness to move over to the dryer. Having tossed them in and started the cycle, she spun for the hall past the shower and ran for the second single cabin on her bare feet. Thinking that the less she remained in the open, the less likely she’d be discovered, she kept low and fast, assuming there would be no one in the infirmary while the day was just starting. Making it into ‘her quarters’, she moved aside to one wall as the hatch closed, scanning for movement or any changes from only an hour ago. Recognizing nothing out of place, she relaxed and thought about the first things she needed to do once upon Bernadette – making an identity for herself, establishing her skills and finding work… not that these were easy tasks. She’d have to<br/><br/>A klaxon sounded, making her jump nearly a foot into the air. Trembling, she had no idea what the ship wide automated notification was for: a breach in the hull, their precious air running out? Glancing around for what she needed to make an escape, she stepped into the only clothing left in her room that wasn’t getting washed – her boots. Grabbing the packets of long term rations and water she’d been able to collect over the weeks, she stuffed them into a pillowcase and knotted it, standing by the door, listening for running steps.<br/><br/>She’d grown accustomed to listing for the crew’s movements since she discovered so many dorms open and available for use in the single quarters. Randomly selecting one for use, she could not assign a lock to the hatch mechanism lest some signal be sent to the bridge announcing its use. Thus she’d been under constant worry of being intruded upon without anyone actively searching for her. More concerned now that she might die in a ball of explosive decompression, she heard nothing in the hall and calculated the likelihood of reaching one of the escape pods with no one already inside it.<br/><br/>Dangerously close to bolting out of her room, she shook with nerves, wringing the tail of her pillowcase between both hands.<br/>