Kid Fleet Season 1

Chapter 2~ Games

Liz was bored. It wasn't to the point where she'd be begging the dockworkers to help blast barnacles but it was getting there. She sighed. "I'm bored." "Read." That was Victoria's ever stoic reply even as she continued to read through her magazine, the cover of which being something that Liz knew Mary would never let her see. Liz shot her a glare. "I've already done all my studies for this week and the next two beyond." She replied. "Study some more. Your history's been lacking as of late." "Reading's boring. I wanna have some fun!" Liz whined. "Good luck with that." And the older ship turned back to her magazine.

Liz pouted for a few minutes before her eyes sparkled with an idea. A brilliant idea. So simple she was surprised she hadn't thought of it before. She backed out of her berth carefully, using precision timing with her pods and thrusters. She snuck up behind Victoria. The older ship was so engrossed in her inappropriate for children magazine that she never heard Liz approaching.

"TAG!" Liz leaped back out of the way as Victoria squealed, backing completely out of her berth at the sudden fright. "Goodness me!" She cried. "Couldn't you have provided some warning?" "Nope!" Liz giggled. "It's tag!" "And I'm it is that it?" Victoria asked, stifling a sigh. "I swear she's like a shipling!" Her eyes took on a mischevious glint. "Ah, a little fun can't hurt anyone." Liz nodded. "Yep! Come and catch me!" She waggled her stern as she raced off in a shower of spray. "Cheeky lass!" Victoria laughed and gave chase.

Seeing Victoria following her, Liz increased her speed giving a startled eep as she realized how close the stealthy big ship had gotten. She knew she couldn't outrun her for long. Victoria was slightly faster than her. So she looked around for places to hide. Ah, there near the river junction was a construction depot. Drydocks, cranes, stacks upon stakes of crates. It was a perfect place to hide! She changed course, hull groaning at the sudden motion at such speed. But the grin never left her face as she cruised right in, taking up a hiding position between some massive steel beams. She was perfectly visible though and Victoria had no trouble spotting her. Still though the older ship decided to have some fun before she caught her prey. "Where or where has my dear Liz gone. Oh where or where can she be?!" She sang. In her hidden corner, Liz giggled unable to stifle it. Victoria continued to head in her direction but she sailed past and for a second Liz thought that Victoria had missed her. Then... "TAG YOUR IT!" Victoria poked her bow in, getting the younger ship right square in the side.

"Eeep!" Liz squealed in fright, startled by Victoria's sudden action. The younger liner bounced straight up right into one of the cranes as it was in the midst of lifting a several ton steel beam. A chain reaction followed. The crane wobbled on its foundation and began to fall. Time seemed to slow down after that. Liz, too frozen in fear to do anything other than watch, saw just a blur of black in the corner of her vision moments before something slammed hard into her side, sending her clear of the falling debris. One beam struck across her stern, its weight coupled with that of all the other large ones holding her effectively in place. Once the spray had settled, Liz looked around for her fleet mate.

"Victoria?" She asked. "I'm here." came the reply. "Where are you?" "Behind you but I-I'm stuck." Liz whimpered. "So am I." She replied. "Beam's got me by the stern." "Hang on, I might be able to reach you." There was the sound of shifting, beams groaning under the strain. The one holding Liz rolled off allowing the young ship to steer free. The beams resettled in a series of loud crashes. Once the splashing died down again, Liz was able to see the extent of the devastation. "Victoria..." Her fleetmate was trapped in the center of it, with three beams lying square across her deck, their ends held down by the masses on top of them. One of her eyes was closed, already blackened with bruising. Blood streaked her hull on both sides with a trickle of it running from her nose and mouth. And, much to Liz's horror, she could see at least one beam had pierced through her deck.