The Dividing Lines

“Sir, we've intercepted a new bounty letter. It's from Morse.”

“Send it to me.”

The two men were communicating not through words but through their telepathic abilities. They sat on opposite sides of a room on their ship, separated into cubes with gold walls. They rode on one of the silver octagonal ships that were most common in the O-Nah controlled region of the universe, containing the three planets, O-Nah, Tah-Woh, and Tah-Reh.

The captain, Ward, as he was often called in the void, had a chiseled face with an almost boyish charm, he moved his eyes brow as the information was sent to him. He read through the offer letter, a great amount of money was being offered in returning a certain Pirate back to “The Mockingbird” alive or dead, along with her captive, some doctor from Earth.

Ward smiled, his teeth were sharp and his eyes seemed to glint at the prospect of a new job.

“This woman must have done something very naughty to earn a reward this high. Lets get her.” His mouth never moved but his second in command nodded his head sharply and set new coordinates into the console of the ship.

Ward glanced back at his console, “She outran the Avenger, this “Skye” must be a heavy hitter, not many can do that.”

“Think that’ll be a problem, sir?” His deck hand’s eyes twitched slightly.

“No. But we can’t be as "efficient" this time since her hostage has to be brought in alive.” Ward made a grimace. “Speaking of, lets move out of “The Avenger’s flight path, I don’t want to run into them again.” His hand moved to a large scar down his neck as he relived the memory.”

“Yes, sir. Though, there are no reports of their coordinates.”

Ward waved his hand dismissively, “Then we wait, they’ll come crawling out of the wood work eventually. Cockroaches always do.”

“Yes. Sir.”

“Circle around until then, they won’t move too far from the planets, Skye needs to stay close to Tah-Woh, and I want to go down to Tah-Reh to check on our progress. Also, 796 has been getting on my nerves but if I kill him, I’m going to have to explain to the insurance company what happened and I don’t want to do that.”

The second in command, input the new coordinates.

Ward then, suddenly, opened his mouth and yelled violently, “796!” His mouth seemed to have trouble getting around the words but that didn’t make then seem any less threatening.

The door slid open and a young man, barely into his twenties, shuffled out, he was wearing a uniform like the rest of the crew but it was far too big for him, his head was shaved and he had scars littering the right side of his face. He didn’t look Ward in the eye as he approached.

The captain sighed, and looked the young man up and down, “Do you think it’s okay for ship hands to lax on their jobs?” He asked venomously,

The young man shook his head. Ward smacked the palm of his hand into the side of the chair, “Don’t lie to me!” He yelled, “If you truly believed that you wouldn’t have done such a shit job. Take that off and clean yourself up, you’ll be out of here soon enough. It’s back to the camps for you. I hope you’re proud of yourself. Now Get out of my face!”

The young man jumped at the captain’s raised voice but he nodded his head and turned and shuffled quickly out of the door.

Ward sighed, he no longer spoke with his tongue but with his mind, “This time you get to choose, I think I’ve got too big a heart, I always feel bad for the weak ones.” He smiled, chuckling in his mind.

The second in command laughed as well, “Be my pleasure, sir. But if I may say, sir, you’re going to have to be tougher on those Tu-Guus, otherwise they’ll keep walking all over you.”

“I know you’re right, I’m way too soft on them, but if they keep talking back to me I’m just going to have to stop being nice.” Ward shrugged,

“I know it’s hard to, sometimes, but you’ve got to handle them, otherwise, next thing you know they’ll be pushing you around,..”

“You’re absolutely right, Old boy.” Ward conceded, “Now, hows that new wife of yours doing?”

The quiet conversation was shockingly domestic and their crude manner never dawned on them as they communicated through the cold silence of the ship, carrying one of the many heads of a cruel and corrupt empire.
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“Oh my...” Jemma breathed out slowly as she gazed outside of the broken ship and into the exspansive landscape of the unknown planet, “It’s beautiful..” She remained frozen next to Skye who mimicked her open mouthed expression of awe.

They had come face to face with the rest of the forest that they had crash landed into and save for the strip of land that was bare after coming into contact with the bottom of “The hula Girl”, it was a sprawling paradise, untouched by humanoid life.

The jungle was thick and crawling with exotic looking creatures, red and blue, with snakes slithering away from the commotion with diamond shaped yellow designs on their backs. Behind the forest, which seemed to take up most of the planet, stood grand mountains like a spiky fence containing this oasis of life.

Aside from the sounds of their ship falling apart behind them, the air was filled with unique noises coming from inside the jungle, and the air was fresh and clear. Clearer than anything Jemma had ever breathed, and she took it deep into her lungs.

Skye was the first to blink out of their trance and turn back to the ship, she put a hand to the hull and patted the scratched metal apologetically. Jemma never took her eyes off the vision in front of them and she didn’t notice as Skye moved away, talking about repairs with Helen.

A few minutes later Skye returned, “You okay?” Skye’s voice finally snapped her away from what she was looking at and she turned to face the captain, nearly running face first into her. Jemma shook her head and pushed her hair back out of her face. “Dr. Simmons?” Skye persisted.

“Er yes, I am, I am okay, thank you.”

“Your sure?” Skye turned her head, trying to get a better view of the Doctor, atemmpting to determine what the woman was thinking.

Jemma shook herself again, not only because of the view but the shaking deep in her bones after the crash, “Yes, I’m just-- Just a little shaken? And a bit amazed, honestly-- I mean.. Look at this place!” She gestured to the landscape.

Skye chuckled and her eyes moved along the land with Jemma’s hand, “Yeah, it’s pretty amazing.. There’s something about being completely Isolated. It's freeing.”

She stood next to Jemma and watched the entirely new environment move around them, Helen was inside the ship, in sleep mode attempting to heal anything that had gone wrong and get a better idea of what was wrong with the ship. They had nothing to do but wait.

As they watched, Skye’s eyes eventually moved from the jungle to Jemma’s face, by the time she realized what she was doing she cleared her throat and Jemma had looked at her, curiously.

“You saved my life. Thank you.” Her voice cracked as she spoke and she cleared her throat again.

“Well, it wasn’t just your life I was worried about, you don’t have to thank me.”

“It was though.” Skye turned to face Jemma. “I mean, the bounty is out on me, you and Helen would have been fine, but you... You took control anyway..” She laughed, her head falling back to look at the sky, “I am the worst captor ever!”

Jemma’s face was blank as Skye’s words sunk in, “You mean.. They were there to rescue me? Not to attack us?”

Skye shook her head, “I though you knew that.” Skye braced herself for Jemma to freak out, she didn’t even blame her but she still thought that she owed the woman the truth.

But a freak out never came, instead Jemma plopped down on the edge of the ramp and began to laugh, her head falling into her hands as she laughed. At first Skye though that she was crying and a wave of guilt washed over her but after she realized that they weren’t tears but in fact, laughter, she crouched down next to her.

“I’m sorry, Dr. Simmons, I really am.”

Jemma laughed some more as Skye became more and more confused, however, Jemma wiped the tears away from her face and looked up at the Captain, “Oh, Don’t apologize, you’re really a terrible pirate, you know that?”

Skye plopped down next to Jemma, smiling “I guess I am,” She laughed for a moment, “But good pirate or not. I’m grateful, I want you to know that.”

“It was nothing. Really.” Jemma took a deep and slightly shaky breath, “Plus, it’s not like any of it matters now, anyway. We’re stuck on this planet, nothing can change that now.”

“So you’re not mad about not being rescued?”

Jemma paused for a few moments, thinking it over, “Well, as angry as I am at you for putting me in this situation..” She held her breath, “If I had to get stuck with some brutish pirate.. It might as well be you.” She finished quickly, looking away.

Skye was having a difficult time keeping the grin from taking over her features, “You think I’m brutish?” She almost giggled out.

Jemma rolled her eyes and then lightly pushed Skye’s arm and she rolled with it, still grinning, “I’m just thinking about the best case scenario here and, let’s face it, you’re not exactly the ‘rough and rugged outlaw’ we’re all warned about.”

Skye made a defiant “Uh!” sound, “I am totally rough and rugged, have you even seen my wardrobe? I’m a thuggish pirate. I’m ruthless.” She said, almost jokingly,

“It’s really the actions that count, Captain.”

Skye rolled her eyes, “Fine, whatever, but when you’re about to be eaten by some two headed anaconda you’ll be wishing me and my ruthless nature were there to save you.”

“I would like to see that.” Jemma said, swinging her legs over the ramp.

“You would?” Skye asked, watching the Dr.’s facial features closely, as she mimicked the leg swinging, she definitely saw a blush creeping up Jemma’s face as she asked.

“I-- Er, I mean, you know, it would be funny to watch you fighting a large two headed snake. That’s all... Especially without a bloody gun.”

"You're still caught up on the whole gun thing aren't you?"

"Well, our imaginary snake won't fall for your bluff quite as easyily as the crew of "The Mockingbird".

“Hey, you’re the one who said I was brutish. I'm sure I could find a way.” Skye quipped,

Jemma shook her head, holding back a small laugh, and standing up slowly, rubbing her sore arms and neck from the crash. She stretched and looked down at the captain, “We’ll just have to see, Captain, when such a time comes. I’m going to lay down, I assume we’re going to start putting the ship back together after Helen has conducted a scan of the ship’s systems?” She sounded like a proper Crew Member.

She walked back to the opening of the ship and turned around.

Skye nodded, looking more at the ground than at Jemma, “Yeah.. Get some rest, Dr.”
Jemma didn’t respond but she paused in the doorway before turning back around to go back into the ship, then Skye stopped her before she could leave. “Hey, By the way, how in the world did you know how what to do today?”

Jemma sighed, “Before I came into space I prepared myself for nearly everything that could go wrong.” She paused, “Almost everything.”

“You learned how to fly a ship and how to avoid detection?” Skye asked, skeptically.

Jemma smiled, almost sadly, “I’m a very prepared person, Captain.” that's all she said as she turned to leave.

“Call me Skye.”

Jemma paused, “Good night, Skye.”

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"I promise you are safe. Please return to your quarters. Give any questions or concerns that you have to the crew and they will be happy to adress them. Please excuse-- I'm going to my cabin, lieutenant Rose!"

Captain Morse pushed herself into her cabin through the hords of passengers and crew alike who were demanding answers. It was just her luck that she had at least ten journalists on board.

lieutenant Rose ran in just behind her, yelling at the computer to close the door and lock it. She was a young woman, just placed in this position out of the academy, Morse almost felt bad for her, having to deal with this shit along with the Captain.

Rose laid back on to the wall and took a deep breath, Morse didn't stop for a minute as she went straight for her computer, turning it on and snapping in the air for Rose to give her the details, they didn't have time to dally.

"We have sent out the bounty, Captain, and we are currently feilding transmissions from the O-Nah government administration asking for details on their package--"

"Anyone respond?"

"Confirmation came from the "Silver Tongue", Captain."

Morse sighed in frustration, "God, I was hoping we could avoid working with that bastard, but I guess if he can do it.. Anything else?"

"Yes sir, the emperor of O-Nah wants to talk to you, as does the security officer and the head of public relations, the one press organization and also the parents of Dr. Simmons has requested time with you." Rose listed off the information, clearly and orderly.

Morse looked up in surprise at the last listed, she had expected all of the other beaurocrats but she had never agreed to release the information to the Milky way counsel. "How the hell do they know this information?" Morse demanded.

"Uh--" Rose stuttered and glanced through her handheld device, "I don't know, Captain, they just cntacted us out of the blue. I can request they stop communications until this is all over." She seemed nervous as if she was afraid that she had done something wrong.

Morse groaned but quickly shook her head, "No. No. Put them through first, they deserve to know what's going on." She really didn't want to this but she believed in what she had said, "Patch me through."

"Yes Captain."

She hit a few buttons and a second later a small hologram popped up on Morse's desk, containing three people, Morse assumed they were Dr. Simmon's parents, especially since the woman staring at her in the middle looked like an older version of Simmons. Next to them a younger man, around Simmon's age sat, looking just as scared as her parents.

She explained the situation as delicatly as she could, trying to be as professional and understanding as possible, when she was finished and the hologram flicked off, she laid her head on the desk and sighed.

She looked up at Rose's curious face, "It used to be easier you know, I thought I was getting a second chance but I swear being a criminal was never this hard, never this tiring.." She trailed off.

She chuckled, apparently forgetting that her second in command was still standing there staring at her, "Widow said I was being stupid when I took this opportunity, said that I would turn back sooner or later.. But I thought life was only black and white, a reckless pirate just searching for chaos and adventure but I was to scared to go through with it.."

"What do you want me to do about these other meeting requests, Captain?" Rose seemed understandibly uncomfortable.

"Tell them to fuck off, I'll deal with them when we land. You know--" She waved a hand, "Nicer than that but make sure they get the point"

Rose nodded, "Yes, Captain, Also the doctor is requesting that you sleep or come down to the infirmary to get a sleep aid, she says that you've been up for 42 hours, if you push yourself any more it could affect your decision making and she may have to step in."

Morse laughed, "Yeah, I bet. Tell her I'm going to bed right now."

"I will, Captain. Sleep tight, Captain."

The captain nodded without a word as the lieutenant left the room, she glanced at her bed an then back to her desk. She sent out a small letter asking the Widow if she had been able to capture Skye, then she sat staring at the blank inbox for a lot longer than she should have done.

"Jesus Christ, Bobbie, what the hell are you doing here?" She mumbled to herself as the room darkened around her.