Daydream

11. Operation-rescue!

"Does everyone know what they're supposed to do?" Miguel asked while he adjusted the belt on his space suit. The suit, specially the helmet, had not been cleaned since he used it before but there weren't any time to do it now and he just had to deal with it. After all, what was a little mess compared to rescuing a friend?

"We go in, find Karen, grab her, eliminate the kidnappers and then leave." Said Ernest.

"I don't remember us ever saying anything about killing someone..." Miguel looked at the robot.

"No, but if they hurt her in any way then they should be hurt too." Carlos said as he also put on his spacesuit.

"We're not killing anyone! That's illegal!" Miguel said and then sighed. When had he become Karen? "Is everyone ready?"

"Yes!"

"Yes."

"No."

The three looked at Zezilia who had the expression of a child who didn't want to go to school. Miguel didn't know for how much longer he could stand her. How could someone with such intelligence that she could build a robot from scrap metal be a completely useless coward? It was no wonder Karen had snapped at her.

"It doesn't matter, you're outvoted. Now dock the ship." Miguel told her and she begrudgingly unlocked the door to the corridor away from the ship. She pushed buttons and Daydream shook a little as the corridor connected to the pirates' ship.

"Why am I even in this mess? Can't the cat do this instead? Can't I run away? I want to run away." She mumbled as she did her work.

"You're coming with us because otherwise you just run away with Daydream and leave us here."

"True, that sounds like the better option."

"Well, at least you're honest about it." Miguel wasn't sure if that was good or not.

"Docking complete." Ernest said. "Prepare to board in 3... 2... 1... Now."

Miguel and Carlos ran out through the connecting corridor. Ernest carried Zezilia under her protests while Alpha and Beta stayed behind to guard Daydream. The corridor was a gravity free zone and they floated to the other ship's door. Zezilia easily hacked the door and opened it, though she did it while complaining. Miguel was just glad that she actually did something useful. Then they entered the other ship.

Miguel didn't know what he had expected the other ship to look like, but it wasn't what he had in front of him. On the walls were black flags with skulls and crossed bones, there were also old movie posters of cartoon pirates. The walls behind the flags and posters were painted baby blue with pink dolphins. The flags and posters were probably there to cover up the childish paint. On the floor was a turquoise carpet with the text Ahoy! Hammers! He assumed that it was some kind of joke, but he couldn't guess as to what. Their pirate speak made no sense to him. In one of the corners was a potted plant with a plastic treasure chest under it. On the treasure chest was a note that said Aiko's Secret Treasure – Don't Touch! which only made him want to look at it even more. Who knew? Maybe it contained something handy like a map of the ship or a baseball bat to threaten the pirates with. He carefully opened the chest and peaked inside. It was full of birdfeed and three reserve hook hands. Somehow he was disappointed. Couldn't they do better than that? Their whole pirate-thing was a sham.

"So where is Karen?" Carlos whispered when he asked Ernest.

"According to my scanners five meters and thirty-four centimetres to the left."