With an uncertain and very confused gurgling noise, Mool very slowly and with great difficulty clambered up the first flight of stairs, its hooves clanking loudly in the open echoing space of the loading bay. At the top of the steps was a long platform and a view of a smaller hovercraft secured by several robotic arms. Here there was a control panel to release it.

Mool sniffed a little, looked back with trepidation at the white feline strapped to its back, gave the air a quiet sniff, and made its dutiful way to the next flight of stairs to continue the climb. On the next small landing was a sealed airlock door, which the waddling thing had no interest in. It made the turn and continued to clop loudly up the last flight of stairs, and through a door Golby and Whisper had left open in their wake.

It stepped gingerly into a yellow-painted room full of warm light, snuffling a bit more eagerly now. There was a long table, chairs bolted to the floor, and a full kitchen -- but Mool's intent was set entirely on the pantry. With a quicker gait, it followed its nose to a door against the wall, behind which were all the cereal boxes and cans and jars of preserved food. It snuffled hopefully at the door and bleated softly.

There were two big doors that led out of the galley: one led to a long hallway that accessed the engine room; the other had been left open to a lit hallway with doors for the crew quarters (they opened to ladders that led down into the rooms), the cockpit, and -- just on the other side of the door and around the corner -- a generously sized bathroom. The sound of Golby's music was louder here.

All of the crew quarters' doors led down into generic but clean and fashionable living spaces. Only two of the doors were locked. One of the locked doors shimmered slightly around the edges, as if a bright light were behind it. The other locked door had been painted bright pink.

[color=indianred]"I'M GLAD YOU ASKED!"[/color] Golby laughed in response to Whisper's last question, and he sprang up away from the ship's controls to stand in front of the masked thief, tapping his own sharp yellow sunglasses in quick patterns. A small holographic movie appeared between them, and it flickered through scenes like changing channels -- a tall white tower, a mountain, a recording of a speedball match, an empty room, a blueprint, an enormous silhouette of something powerful with glowing eyes, a river full of little lights, another speedball match -- [color=indianred]"Ah, here's my little princess!"[/color]

The hologram became a movie of a small child holding a controller, staring with concentration at an enormous dinosaur-shaped robot in the distance as it skirmished with a scatter of armed smugglers in the shadow of a cliff. The dinosaur-robot breathed billowing fire and the kid squealed with delight. She was dressed in overalls, straight black hair tied back and thin eyes sparkling.

[color=indianred]"I didn't even know she existed until last week! Her mother hailed me on the radio. Would you ever guess that one wild drunk night could conceive such an [i]angel?[/i]"[/color]

The holographic kid whispered, [i]"Boom"[/i] just before the last of her opponents in the distance were caught in a colossal explosion. Golby laughed. [color=indianred]"She looks nothing like me but that's my daughter all right."[/color]

Behind him the control panel was beeping. The ship, unattended, had begun to drift off course toward some interestingly edible-looking trees. The hologram disappeared and Golby sprinted back to the controls. [color=indianred]"Go ahead and handle the speed and altitude over there,"[/color] he instructed, pointing. The navigation panels were set to the coordinates of [i]Harbinger Estate[/i] -- which, according to the diagrams, was what appeared to be a fortress island. [color=indianred]"Do you think you've got enough resources here to arm the crew? Things might get a little messy where we're going. I also recommend lunch."[/color]

He grabbed the radio, and with a click of a button the loudspeakers throughout the ship sizzled to life.

[color=indianred][i]HELLO! HELLO, HELLO! THIS IS YOUR CAPTAIN SPEAKING! FAIR SKIES AND BEAUTIFUL WEATHER OUTSIDE -- TO YOUR LEFT YOU'LL SEE THE CHOCOLATE TREES OF RUNAWAY GULCH, TO YOUR RIGHT IS THE WORLD-FAMOUS GLASS LAKE. OUR DESTINATION THIS AFTERNOON IS HARBINGER ESTATE, A HIGH SECURITY SKY ISLAND RUN BY SOME VERY INTERESTING PEOPLE THAT MAY NOT BE HAPPY FOR OUR ARRIVAL. THIS IS A SEARCH-AND-RESCUE MISSION. YOU MIGHT WANT TO HAVE LUNCH AND EMPTY YOUR BOWELS BEFORE WE LAND. ALSO CAN SOMEONE BRING ME A BAG OF BURGER CRISPS? THANKS![/i][/color]