Interning on the Aronnax

An Incredibly Helpful Ghost

A/N: Kaiko's turn! 0w0 And I'm making things up about the Aronnax, but they make sense. ;P

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"...and after we repair the thermostat -wow, that's going to take the rest of the day- there's a dozen alerts for loose paneling along the top of the Aronnax. How did that even happen?"

"Colossal squid," Kaiko said tiredly.

Professor Fiction cocked his head, studying the massive sucker marks on the side of the Aronnax. "How big?"

"We sent you video," Kaiko said, confused.

"All I got was static and screaming," Professor Fiction cheerfully informed her. "Maybe something's wrong with the transmitter. Just another thing to fix! Come on, Kaiko, we're wasting daylight!"

As Kaiko trailed after the professor, she made a mental promise to never, ever touch a light bulb again.

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True to Professor Fiction's prediction, repairing the thermostat in the engine room ended up taking most of the day. Kaiko and Fiction were both greasy, hot, and ready for a break.

Kaiko checked in on her family. Will had been busy in the Professor's library all day. Lestor was keeping an eye on Ant and Griffin's tinkering in the workshop. Kaiko learned that Fontaine had spent most of the day in a corner of the workshop, leaving when she saw Professor Fiction and apparently had a question for him.

Since everyone was still busy with their distractions, Kaiko decided to work on the Aronnax a bit longer. The loose paneling was her biggest concern. If water got in the wrong places, it could be disastrous.

Plus, she just didn't like the thought of the Aronnax being damaged for any longer than necessary.

After telling Will where she was headed, Kaiko retrieved her tool belt and headed inside.

The secret to the Aronnax's impenetrable hull as a narrow space between the hull itself and the ducts. The hull was entirely secured from the inside of the Aronnax, meaning outside forces rarely affected the panels and many repairs could be completed from the inside.

The crawl space had three access points: one under the lip at the bridge's main view port, one in the hold, and one near the Aronnax's tail, where there used to be a back-up generator, engine access, and such.

Because the crawl space was the Aronnax's one vulnerability to invaders, it was the only area with any serious security measures in place at all times. Only herself, Will, and Professor Fiction had the electronic access code in their comms.

Kaiko checked her tablet and headed to the hold, where the access would be closest to the breaches Professor Fiction had discovered.

Kaiko opened the air-tight hatch. She grimaced when she saw the damp walls; water had gotten inside after all.

While she expertly scaled the slick, narrow ladder leading to her destination, Kaiko mentally noted what areas were wet and how much water had collected. Luckily, she couldn't hear dripping and almost no water had collected as far as she could tell.

Kaiko reached the breach. She paused to pull her harness -little more than a belt with a short lead and a clip on the end, more for stability than safety- from her tool belt and secure herself. She then turned and sought out the loose screws.

Kaiko looked. And looked. For fifteen minutes, she checked and poked at screws, but everything was tight. She double-checked her tablet, then the panels. She could see where water had leaked through, but it was already drying.

Kaiko lifted her comm. "Professor Fiction, could you check the hull integrity again?"

"Right away!" A brief pause followed, then Fiction said, "Good job, Kaiko! Everything is nice and tight now!"

"I didn't do anything," Kaiko said. "Were the earlier scans mistaken?"

"I doubt it. Nothing else has changed since then. Maybe someone else beat you to it?"

"Everyone else was inside the lab," Kaiko said.

"It was the ghost!" chimed in Ant, who was apparently listening.

"Ghost?" Griffin repeated.

"Yeah! Someone fixed our air during the squid attack, but we never found any sign of him. I'm pretty sure it's a ghost."

"There's not a ghost on the Aronnax, Ant," Fontaine said.

"Then where'd he go?"

Fontaine didn't respond. She'd probably only added her piece out of older-sister obligation.

Kaiko scanned the crawl space. Nobody but her in sight. How could someone else have even gotten through the locked doors? The hatches had been secure the previous day; Kaiko had checked them.

Kaiko ran her hand across the repaired surface. Well, whoever was the Aronnax's mysterious guest, they obviously didn't mean any harm to the Aronnax or Nektons.

Switching off her comms, Kaiko called, "Hello?"

Her voice echoed slightly, but there wasn't any response.

Kaiko shook her head. She wasn't one to believe in ghosts. Everything had a simple, logical explanation.

She just didn't have one for this particular situation. Her family had encountered plenty of odd things... maybe it was about time they added "ghost" to the list.

Kaiko chuckled to herself, unable to believe that she was thinking that way. How had she accepted Ant's theory so quickly?

"Well... whatever you are," Kaiko said to the silence. "Thank you for your help."

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A/N: The development between Kaiko and the "ghost" is one of my favorite ongoing things for this story. XD