By Christina Kamnikar

Part 5 -- Devlin Arpels Satellite #5 - After A While

Time: May 1, 2260 [between "Severed Dreams" and "Ceremonies of Light and Dark" (approx.)]

Later on, when they tried to figure out exactly whose fault it was, Todd, Flynn, and Wally got the most blame. Without them, and the technical virtuosity that made constructing the broadcast array possible, none of the rest of it would have happened. This might not have been completely fair, since after the thing was built all three of them would have been satisfied with surfing the waves and monitoring frequencies from Earth to Orion without doing anything with what they found. But they were the ones that started it.

Although, really, it was Harry's fault. His, and his flyboy buddies'.

"Dave got *arrested*?" Sophie stood up from mess hall table and planted her fists on her hips, slowly stalking over to her boss. Daniel, Flynn and Robin were out playing a game of low-grav volley ball (Robin vs. Flynn, with Daniel doing commentary and getting hit by the ball on occasion) but the rest of the ISN refugees were gathered in the alcove adjacent to the kitchen, discussing their options. What was left of them.

Sophie kept ranting. "He was your ace in the hole, Harry!"

Harry had the grace to look sheepish--- or maybe hunted, Margo decided. "I know, I know... what can I say? EarthForce is being a real--- pain in the ass right now, so maybe we'll have to stay a little while longer than I anticipated..."

"A *little* while longer?" Margo couldn't help adding, cocking an eyebrow at him. Harry shuffled his feet, giving her the sad basset-hound look, and she let her head fall forward onto the table. "We've been here two weeks! My parents--- not to mention the rest of our friends and families--- have to think we're *dead* by now!"

When their first transport pick-up failed to show on-time, they had been philosophical. 'Hey, there's a civil war going on. These things happen.' When the second was diverted back to Luna, they'd been only a little nervous. 'It has to loosen up pretty soon... right?' When the third freighter hadn't been able to stop to pick them up because of patrols, they had started to get worried.

That had been five days ago.

"Don't worry, you said. It's okay, you said. Just a little while longer, you said!" Sophie's voice was getting higher and more strident with every word.

"Sophie---"

"No! Absolutely not! You get me off this bucket of bolts _today_, Harry, or I'm dangling you out an airlock!"

"I'll help," Kit said, getting up to join her. Margo made a face. // Trust Kit to side with Sophie in snit-mode. I should've kept *my* mouth shut... //

"C'mon, guys, it isn't Harry's fault." Margo looked up to see Wally moving to stand behind the older man, shaking his head in disgust. "He got us off of Luna, for cripes' sake. We're in the middle of nowhere, how do you expect him to get us another passage from here? Build one out of gold ore? Sheesh."

"Besides, I don't see either of you all finding any galactic freighters for us to hijack," Drew said, tipping his chair back and shrugging his shoulders at Sophie's glare. "Give the man a break. We're safe here. We're not going to starve---"

"You might not, but I'm going to be sick if I have to eat those frozen meals for one more day," Sophie snapped. "Or take another vibe shower. Or watch Xia and Todd play one more game of Ping-Pong. My God, I'm going out of my *mind* with boredom, can you possibly _try_ to understand that!?"

"Nobody said you had to watch us play," Todd muttered under his breath, then cowering a bit when Sophie nailed him with a narrow-eyed grimace of fury. Xia stifled a giggle.

"And how do you know we're safe?" Kit demanded. "EarthForce could find us here any second! We're sitting ducks in this thing, they could blow us up without even trying, and then what?"

"Do you have another suggestion, Squeaky?" Margo drawled.

"Yeah, we leave. Harry gets on the comm channels and finds someone else to get us the hell _out_ of here!"

"There *is* no one else," Harry answered him quietly. Sophie crossed her arms, her mouth pinched. Kit looked like he wanted to pout, but his eyes were scared. "Look, guys. I'm sorry that we can't go any farther --- but Dave and Torvaal were our contacts on Luna, and they've both been shut down. Who knows when Dave will get out of jail, and Tor can't show his face for fear of getting shot at. Last we heard, he went to ground on Mars."

He looked around the room, meeting each of their eyes in turn. "Face it: we're stuck. That orbital jumper in the cargo bay won't hold more than two people, and it won't get any of us farther than Mars. Which isn't the safest place to be right now. If anyone really wants to take it back there, I'll wish you luck, but I'm not going *anywhere*. It might be another couple months---"

"Months!" Kit choked out.

"Yes, Squeaky, *months*." Harry glared at him, waiting for him to say anything more, then went on more calmly, "So I'll take any suggestions you've got on how to get out of here. I'm out of ammo, kids."

An echoing silence met his words, and Margo could see her ex-boss deflate a little in mingled relief and disappointment. Margo knew it was fine with him that he *hadn't* thought of a possibility if there weren't any left--- except that the idea of there being no options was _not_ a comfortable one.

"I"m sorry, Harry," she offered him, trying to ease the worry in his eyes. "I didn't mean to sound like I was bitching. I - *we* are all incredibly grateful to you for getting us this far. You know that. I guess it's just really sinking in, is all."

"Sinking... sunk." Kit slumped back into his chair, then smiled weakly at Harry. "Sorry, man. Just kinda--- freaked out, there."

Sophie sniffed, then reluctantly said, "I apologize too, Harry. I just... I *am* going out of my mind! I _hate_ it here! This is my worst nightmare!"

"Whining won't make it better," Drew said idly.

"Die, D'Ambow!" Sophie turned and stomped out of the room without any further comment. Margo looked at Wally, and both of them simultaneously rolled their eyes.

"The Diva lives," Harry noted with a sigh.

"Forever and ever," Wally added.

"We *are* going to catch up to her pretty soon, if we don't have something to do, though," Margo admitted. "Too bad there's nothing but Ping-Pong and dead-channel-surfing."

"Actually...." Todd coughed, and pushed his glasses up, shooting Harry a hesitant glance.

"Yesss, O Ambitious One?"

"Flynn and Wally and I were thinking of taking that jumper out and... scamming some satellite parts," the intern mumbled, staring at the table so he wouldn't have to look at anyone.

"Oh, God," Margo said. "Wally, what are you up to?"

"Nothing. Really, nothing!" Wally said in response to the Look she gave him. "We just want to get a better idea of what's going on out there, y'know? But this satellite's comm system isn't worth much. Plus, Mars isn't broadcasting anything but their own emergency status right now. So we thought we'd boost the gain and pick up on the signals coming from Earth and maybe Gaia."

"Go, my children," Harry said benevolently, reaching up to clap a hand on Wally's shoulder. "Scavenge and steal, and remember: though they claim the hardware, the truth is that the airwaves are ours!"

Xia blinked, Drew snorted, and Margo groaned, then grinned at Wally's long-suffering expression. "Well, at least you three will get to avoid Sophie for a while... and maybe she'll calm down in the meantime." // Yeah, right! // "And hey, if you see any passing freighters? See if you can't get us a lift."

"Will do," Wally said, saluting.