[center][h2]The Search IS On[/h2][/center]

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/qEZu58W.jpg[/img]
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“Nowhere to run to, baby,
Nowhere to hide…”

He’d heard the song so many times by now that he could almost recite every lyric.  Turning the “quick hide” drills over to SAMANTHA had been a stroke of the captain’s genius.  The AI was relentless in choosing times with no apparent rhyme or reason to suddenly upend all activities aboard China Doll and send her refugee passengers racing to their hiding spots in increasingly record time.

But this time, it wasn’t a drill.  “Company,” the single word message from Edina, suddenly played from his cortex.  Yuri looked about.  Imani was already engaged, rushing Anabaptists to their secret places and watching as they secured bulkhead panels behind them.  His eye turned toward the galley, careful to note any telltale signs of their guests’ presence, and finding none.  The tidy Anabaptists had a habit of cleaning up after themselves, with dishes and utensils even now drying in a rack above the sink.  Satisfied with what he saw, the first mate pressed the “Clear” icon.  

He’d gone to the cockpit, stepping inside just as the com system crackled out a message.

[i][b]”Attention! Attention! This is Detective Hekubah, Capital City Police. We have a warrant to search this vessel for illegal cargo or human trafficking. All crew and passengers are ORDERED to report to the cargo deck…IMMEDIATELY. Failure to comply will result in criminal charges. DROP WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND COME TO THE CARGO BAY…NOW!”[/b][/i]

“Better do as they say, Tommy,” Yuri inclined his head toward the hatchway.  “I’ll be along in two shakes.”  With the pilot now on his way toward their captors, the first mate sat down at the copilot’s position.  His hands were steady, composure battened down tight as he activated the boat’s log tablet.  A quick scroll to the “China Doll Crew” page later, he added a fresh name to the roster.

[u][b]Riemen, Elias - Mechanic[/b][/u]

He was taking an awful risk, but if Sister Lyen’s perception was true, Yuri conjured that the uniforms currently invading the boat had little to no idea about the masked mute who’d put his back into the boat’s technical dealings.  Once the position was recorded, he closed the tablet and carried it, along with Abby’s clipboard, through the cockpit hatch…straight into the muzzles of a half dozen autorifles.

“FREEZE!”  A young corporal roared.

Yuri froze.  “I’m the first mate,” he volunteered.  “I’ve got our logs and the current manifest.  I’m unarmed.”  None of that seemed to matter as he quickly found himself face down, cheek pressed into the corridor grating.  Once frisked and cuffed, he heard the same corporal issuing further orders.

“Get him up.  Take him to Captain Kondo..along with these.”  As he was rudely hoisted to his feet and hustled away, Yuri could hear the Corporal directing his troops.  “You’ve got your search diagrams.  Toss this deck.”