Lone Stowaway

7

Maureen power walked over to the kids.

"You do realize you can never criticize us for being reckless again," said Penny, smiling.

"Of course I can. I'm your mother. You, Judy and Shadow get the harpoon ready."

"Wait, we have a harpoon?" asked Penny, gaping.

"Will, you're with me," continued Maureen, ignoring her.

-------------

Judy sighed as Penny moved a storage container off the stacks. "We actually have a harpoon gun," remarked Penny, opening the box to reveal harpoon parts.

"All my life, I feel like I've been missing out on harpooning things."

" All this talk of harpooning reminds me, we never got to finish Moby-Dick. Only got to, like, page 30," said Judy lightly.

"The whale kills Ahab."

"Spoiler alert!" exclaimed Judy. Shadow shrugged. "Ehh, never read it, but I guess there's that piece of information you just chucked at us," she said light-heartedly.

"It was written in 1851. You both had your shot," said Penny. Judy continued assembling the harpoon.

-------------

"You girls ready with the harpoon?" asked Maureen over comms. "Yeah. Ready," reported Shadow, as Penny slid the harpoon into place. Judy pressed a few buttons and the harpoon gun lowered. Shadow double-checked everything and nodded.

"I see them!" yelled Will, racing to the front of the cockpit.

"Hey. Nice hydrazine fire you've got there," said Maureen, relief lining her voice.

"Hey!" John shouted back. "I knew you'd find us!"

"It was a group effort," Maureen chucked. "Say hi to the group."

"Hi there," said John.

"Dad?" asked Penny, relieved.

"Dad!"

"You know what, you're not allowed to do that to us again, okay?" asked Penny in a rushed voice.

"I knew you'd be fine," said Will happily.

"Um, hey everybody," said Don, sniffling.

"Are you... were you crying?" asked Judy, looking in their general direction.

"No. Maybe. I mean-"

"Tears of joy," said John, cutting in.

"Yeah," said Don shakily.

"So what happened?" asked John.

"Where to begin..." remarked Maureen softly. "Let's just get you out of the cold," she added.

---

Maureen aimed and turned the harpoon. Suddenly, Robot's pounding stopped. The bulkhead doors unlocked.

"We gotta run," said Maureen urgently.

---

"Hey," said Maureen, climbing down the ladder. Shadow instinctively flared, arms ready to punch someone. "Whoa, whoa!" said Will suddenly. "Jumpy."

"What happened?" asked Judy anxiously.

"Get in the Chariot," replied Maureen. Shadow instantly opened the Chariot doors and got inside.

"What do you mean? What's going on?" asked Penny, genuinely terrified.

"It got out," said Will, quivering.