Escape [PSL]

[wicked_west]

Elphie had been asleep without Ford or the Chistery. Once she'd disappeared from him that one day, she stayed away. But today of all days, he was banging on her door. Him and the monkey. And he was hollering something about a ship and if she wasn't the witch anymore to follow him.

Elphie threw on the nearest dress... her flowered one... and grabbed all her scarves. She left the broom behind.

"What do you mean a ship?" the former witch asked as she opened the door.

Comments

[got_his_towel]

Ford ran inside the door and slid into the pilot's seat in the pod, pressing buttons frantically to start the ejection sequence so they could escape.

[wicked_west]

Elphie was busy getting a panicked Chistery in when the guards came barreling down the hall shooting at them. Luckily they weren't good shots. And Elphie was able to close the door the second the monkey's tail had made it through the door.

"Lock... we need to lock it... or leave. Now... Right..."

She turned towards him in aggravation and caught a look out the window. What was she worried about again? It didn't compare to the sight of that immense blackness out there. Elphie sat against the wall involuntarily as she tried to take it all in.

[got_his_towel]

Ford ignored her, choosing to concentrate on the controls. Once he finally got the pod away, jettisoned off into space where it spun wildly until he could get it under control, he glanced over at her. "I was stuck on Earth for fifteen years. Barely escaped before I was trapped on prehistoric Earth and then in the hotel. How many spaceships do you think I've piloted in that time?" he pointed out testily. As if he hadn't wanted to get away. Self-preservation was his number one instinct.

[wicked_west]

She heard him, but she wasn't exactly listening. "Great Lurline..." Elphie's eyes looked out at the black, trying to focus on something.

Finally the green woman turned to Ford, fear present in her face. She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but no words came out.

[got_his_towel]

Ford glanced back at her. "Well, it's over now!" he pointed out reasonably. "We can go wherever we want." He paused and looked at the readout on the screen. "We can go wherever we want within the radius where we'll run out of fuel and/or oxygen," he corrected. "This is a short-range vessel."

[wicked_west]

Elphie snapped out of it as she processed the words short-ranged vessel. She moved forward and briefly placed a hand on Ford's shoulder in thanks before sitting down in one of the chairs. "It's so black... and empty... I've never seen blackness like this."

[got_his_towel]

"You get used to it," Ford said absently as he punched buttons on the console, trying to find a star system close enough for them to get to.

Sorry. Was down with the flu for a while.

[wicked_west]

"Yes... Yes, I imagine..."

She swallowed and deliberately turned to face him.

"Sorry I yelled," Elphie murmured. "It was... stressful and new."

[got_his_towel]

Ford shrugged it off as he shrugs off uncomfortable things in all forms.

"We'll find somewhere nicer to go. Maybe with a beach."

[wicked_west]

"A beach?" she asked. "You mean a beach with water?" She was Elphie. The green woman was sure she was Elphie. But maybe her water allergy was back now that she wasn't at the hotel. And that made her nervous.

Chistery took the opportunity to fly up to them. He settled on the back of Ford's chair and began picking through his hair murmuring random words to himself. Elphie looked back out the windows. Actually, a beach with water would be preferable to all this black. "I like the sound of a beach," she said as she settled back and tried not to think of the oppressiveness of space.

[got_his_towel]

Ford looked over at her. "Maybe you should test things out before we do... stuff," he told her. "If you go to that panel on the wall, it'll make whatever you ask it for. Ask it for water."

[wicked_west]

Elphie glanced at him as though he were nuts, but made her way to the panel like he said.

"Um... hello? I'd... I want some water?"

She jumped back as the water appeared, but grabbed the glass after a second. Elphie stared at it for a long moment before taking a deep breath and dipping the very tip of her pinky finger in the clear liquid.

[got_his_towel]

Ford looked wildly over his shoulder after he heard the machine work.

"Well? What? What? What's the verdict?"

[wicked_west]

Elphie shook her hand and let a droplet of water arc it's way to Ford. "I'm alive and not burning. So I guess we can do a beach." She drank the rest of the water without incident.

[got_his_towel]

"We have to find some swimwear first!" he said gleefully. "Though we might have to beat some froods off of you with a stick if they catch sight of you in a bikini..." he mused.

Oh dear... Elphie in a bikini. I have to go bleach my eyes now...

[wicked_west]

Elphie frowned. "A bikini?" Oz was far enough behind 20th century earth that they still wore swimwear akin to the early 1900s. Good luck getting her into a bikini Ford.

"Why would we have to beat them off me? Are they going to attack?"

Hey, HE thinks she's hot.

[got_his_towel]

"What? No. Well. I don't think so. It's a figure of speech. Mostly they'd just be really, really interested in getting your attention." He looked back at her. "Because you're so pretty."

Well, we all know Ford's a little different!

[wicked_west]

"Because I'm so pretty?" Elphie blushed purple and sat down in the copilot's seat. No matter how many times he told her she was pretty, Elphie still didn't believe him. But she knew better than to question it.

"Chistery will be happy to beat them off. He doesn't like people bothering me."

[got_his_towel]

"I noticed," Ford said, rubbing his head like he could still feel the pain from his hair being pulled months later.

[wicked_west]

Chistery moved over to Elphie's chair and started picking through her hair. "It's clean Little One... you won't find anything in there," she murmured, reaching up to scratch the monkey's head.

"I'm glad you thought to bring me with you Ford," she added. She hadn't been sure he would considering she'd left him and the monkey for a while so she could hopefully dewitchify.

[got_his_towel]

"You said you didn't want to go back to your home," Ford pointed out reasonably. "You said it was dangerous; that people were mean to you."

[wicked_west]

Elphie nodded. "I just thought you would leave me since I was... not myself." She stared out the window, ever uncomfortable with being open.

Though she was still scared and still curious, the last hour's events began to catch up with her. It wasn't long before she fell asleep as they flew looking for something.

[got_his_towel]

He landed the shuttle with more of a bump than he'd intended, but he was rusty. The spaceport didn't exactly have a beach. Or... a sky. It was dingy metal hallways and bad coffee. But they could get a ride somewhere in a ship made for interstellar travel.

[wicked_west]

Chistery screeched and Elphie woke with a start, grabbing at the arm rests as the pod shuddered to a standstill.

"Awake. I'm awake and alive and in a ship," she reminded herself out loud as she examined her person to make sure she was in one piece. Nodding when she saw she was, she looked out the window at... a lot of metal. "It's... dingy," she finally breathed.

[got_his_towel]

"It's a space port," Ford said, as though that explained everything, and led them happily into the crowded base.