Malik walked around BB familiarizing himself with her layout. She would chirp out some bit of information, almost as if she still thought he was new to it all.

The communicator on his wrist chimed, indicating that his things were outside.

"BB, aft hull door please. I need to get my gear in and stowed." She replied with a soft sound and the ramp lowered to the landing dock outside. "I said please." He patted her hull as he walked out to greet the dock droids. "Inside, and down to the left is the workstation, boys." They chirped their replies and took his tools into the ship.

When they had dropped off his things, one of them presented a holo-screen for his print. Malik pressed his palm out and after a recognition scan, the transaction was complete.

"BB, close'r down. We don't want anymore riffraff than myself on board." He chuckled but there was no sound, other than the soft woosh of the magnetic seal on the aft door. "Tough crowd."

He walked through the galley, then down to the workshop, careful to avoid any noggin knockers. At his height, they were easy to find. "BB, scan engines, diagnostic sequence A twenty three, Sector X through Zed. I want to know the operational temperature of the coolant ducts through all phases of flight."

"Scanning, Malik." She replied.

"Please and thank you, Ma'am." He added.

"Much nicer, Thank you." She seemed happier to comply. "Why are we scanning these particular areas, Malik?"

"I'm not sure what paces that Cap's put you through, but there has been failure reported. The relocation displacers have overheated and broken down at the most inopportune times."

"Duci and I have been through many things. But, I will scan and tell you when completed."

"Thank you, BB."

Since Duci said that her ship was fishing for compliments, he decided that manners were in order.

He pushed his tool chest into the maglock clamps and secured the wheels. His critical eye had already seen a few things to repair and improve, so with a gyro-mallet in hand, he got started.

tink tink

The mallet seemed to echo.

tink tink ta tinka tink.

Another pipe picked out for the open, hollow ends. tink tink tink ta tinka, thunk thunk. Thunk Thunk

"Some times I feel I've got to,"

thunk thunk "Get away. I've got to,"

tink tink

"run away."

"Malik?" BB wasn't sure what to make of the song.

"You don't really want anymore from me,"

thunk thunk

"to make things right..."

thunk thunk

"Malik?"

The man snapped out of his song with a chuckle. "Yes, BB?"

"What are you doing?"

"You've got great accoustics down here, BB." Compliments make her happy he knew for fact.

"Oh." She paused a moment. "Thank you. Your scan is complete. Temperature for operations ranges from two hundred twenty seven parcets, to five hundred seventy five."

"I need to adjust then. The range is too low." He thought about it a few seconds. "Calibrate coolant levels to point one eight. Power level increase to six."

"You're sure?"

"I am."

"What if Duci disagrees?"

"I'll talk to her about it over takeout. Deal?"

"Agreed, Malik. I shall make the changes."

"Thank you, BB."

Galileo Sector

13th Parallel

Surface of Xandar. The Wayward Lady bucked and kicked as the storm pelted her. Shields were deflecting impacts of what seemed to be huge chunks of ice and mud. The cabin was lit with every flash of the eerie alien lightning, but the men kept the ship on course.

"Echo, Charlie, Five, Five. Away, report?" Malik spoke into the comm that rested against his throat. "Repeat, Echo..."

"Charlie Five, heavy damage. Immediate extract. Three PAX. Two Cargo. Repeat. Charlie Five, heavy damage. Immediate extract. Three PAX. Two cargo. Casualties. Lost Cam..." The voice of the Away broke in for a few seconds.

Malik dropped his hand to the screen trying to adjust the signal strength, his eyes followed. Casualties weren't part of the deal. Camden or Camryn" His mind raced. "Come in, Echo Charlie."

"Mal!" Cap called his name just as the ship banked hard to the left. His hands flew back to the controls for assist.

Through the steelglas screen a wall of jagged ice covered rock appeared right in front of them. That's when he noticed the planet's surface starting to come alive with ship killers.

"All hands on deck, Cap." Malik said as the men worked together dodging and flying past the sudden eruption of black rock and ice.

"Charlie Five. Planet surface unsafe. Need immediate extract. Three Pax. Storm intense."

"Thanks for the update, Away." Cap said as he ground his teeth in concentration. "Malik, displace more power to forward shields. If one of these walls pops and we can't dodge'er, I wanna at least bounce off. Don't wanna be pickin' it outta my teeth."

"Aye, Cap." The order handled and his mind was still on the Away. Camryn wasn't supposed to go. She had wanted to see the lake we'd flown over. Her brother Camden promised to watch over her.

"Scan's showing three," Cap said and adjusted course. "Seismic on surface is off the charts, Boyo."

Malik nodded as he was in concentration on assist. "Should I buckle in?"

"See how she's doin' in ten klicks, but I don't see 'er gettin' all calm. She's like my second wife. Fine one minute, ragin' the rest of 'er life." Cap laughed at his own joke. Malik never knew that the Cap had been married once.

"Cargo, any idea what it is?"

"No. Ya know I don't ask."

"If it's too big and I'm buckled in, it stays Cap."

"But you're so big. Why ya workin' out with all them pull ups and weights if you can't handle a little cargo?" Cap joked, but deep down he hated the idea of losing the credits. "Your safety first, Mal. You know that." The scan beeped again, they were closing fast. "You should buckle in. We aren't touchin' down."