[center][h2]Busted?[/h2][/center]

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/xh9pIsH.jpg[/img]
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“That one.”  Detective Hekubah’s dander was up as he pointed toward another bulkhead plate. He knew those Anabaptists had to be stuck away somewhere on this old bucket.  Every smuggler’s nook known to Law was being pried open, but for their trouble, they’d found a filthy rag, a few wore out air filters, and a dusty box full of nekkid pictures.  Seemed even the great and powerful Alliance could be outfoxed by a little girl playing Hide and Seek.

The lower deck wasn’t panning out, either.   All of the guest quarters had been tossed, with deck and wall plates pulled to reveal any hint of recent occupants, if not the occupants themselves.  Likewise the lav, though most soldiers weren’t too fired up when it came to sniffing around toilets for stowaways.  Nothing…zero.

Now, ‘cept for Doc Lysanger, Imani…beg pardon, “Deborah,” and two guards on the medbay hatch, China Doll and her resident shuttles were a ghost town.  That is, except for the cargo bay, the current scene of Detective Hekubah’s mounting temper.  The purple soldiers were getting bored, rustling all about the crew, who were still on their knees and cuffed.  Naught to do but watch as First Mate Yuri and Deckhand Abby set to work on yet another panel.  Using coffin wrenches, the pair rotated the catches, before lifting the heavy metal plate clear.  Then two soldiers would kneel down, hand torches flicking over the inner hull beams.  They’d look around a spell, then with faces almost betrayed them making sport of the detective, they’d shake their heads.  “All clear, sir.”

“Nothing?” Hekubah demanded.  “Nothing at all?”

“No, sir. Found some dust tracks, but they led to a fresh structural weld.”

Yuri spoke up.  “That was me.  Repaired a stress crack.  It’s recorded in the engineering log…”

“Shut up!” the detective spat.  “Do that one next!”

And so it went, panel for panel.  On and on.  Even the reserved Captain Kondo was beginning to display patience sorely tried.  “Detective,” he finally said, “this is pointless.  Unless they’ve found some ingenious method, there simply aren’t enough crannies aboard this boat to hide forty people.”

Hekubah whirled.  “I know they’re here!  I’ve got sources!”

“Perhaps your sources are mistaken?”

“No!” he cried.  “You two!”  Hekubah pointed toward a much smaller panel, right under the gaze of China Doll’s crew and the Alliance captain.  “That one!”

“That one?”  Abby’s face done gone all pale.

“Detective,” a tired Hideki Kondo consulted the diagrams on his pad.  “This schematic says that recess is not a meter deep and barely half that measurement high.  It’d hardly hold a child, let alone an adult…”

“Roger that,” Abby give an enthusiastic nod, ‘er eyes’ dartin’ away from ever’body.  “Waste ‘o’ time…”

“Why don’t you want us to open that?”  Hekubah seized upon her apparent guilt.  “What’s in there that you don’t want us to see?”

Now her eyes was wide.  “Nothin’...nothin’!  Jest don’t wanna yank another panel…”

“Open it.”

“Aww, c’mon…” the girl balked.

“Abby…” Yuri cautioned.

“OPEN IT!!”

“Abby!  Let’s go!”  Yuri laid a hand upon her shoulder.  “The last one..let’s do it.”

“I got it,” she done give up.  “This’un’s hinged.”  Now ever’body’s givin’ her tha eye.  Abby dropped tah one knee, and pried beneath tha bottom with ‘er fingertips.  Weren’t more’n a tick afore tha panel give way, swingin’ ap an’ clear on its’ hinges as a colorful glow come out tha openin’.  Now tha jig’s up, Abby stood up an’ stepped back, her eyes closed as them purple bellies got a right good look.

The two soldiers squatted before the open space, but neither went for their torches.  “Well, I’ll be a son of a bitch.”  The hidey hole was all done up pretty, filled with lace bedding and pillows.  A string of Noel lights swagged about the ceiling, their little multicolored lamps casting a cheerful glow upon the dozen or so doll babies that lounged on the bedding.  Conjuring the culprit behind this caper was easy peasy, seeing as she’d written her name on the back wall in colorful chalk and glitter.

[i][b][h2]Abigail[/h2][/b][/i]

Hekubah stood before the opening, a dumbfounded expression upon his face.  One or two of the bored soldiers laughed, while others just smirked.  Captain Kondo stifled a smile as he turned away.  “Um…Abigail?” Yuri could barely keep his own mirth in check.  “Care to explain?”

“I like doll babies.”

“Come again?” He placed a hand to his ear.  Even some of the crew had smiles and loosed chuckles at the sight.

“I LIKE DOLLS!” the deckhand shouted.  “WHAT?” She glared at Yuri, then seen all them smirks on ‘er shipmates’ faces.  “SHUT UP!!!”