"This vessel was definitely intended for long-range travel in style." added Jahv. "Multiple rooms, personal furnishings."
"Where's the cockpit?" asked Niklas.
Jahv looked around. The scanner wouldn't do a whole lot of good at this point even if he used it. This sort of inspection had to be done personally. He tried to imagine the shuttle in its original condition, and turned towards where the cockpit, at the very front of the craft, should be.
He found what he believed to be the cockpit door, hidden beneath a tangle of vines in a section of the shuttle that was nearly buried. This shuttle had come down hard and at a very nasty angle. Something told him to bring the scanner out again. He checked his readings and scowled. "Found the cockpit."
The others joined him. "Can we get that open?" asked Keith.
"Maybe, but I don't think we should." said Jahv.
"Huh? Why not?" asked Keith.
"Readings indicate decayed biomass." answered Jahv. Keith raised an eyebrow. "Bodies. Or what's left of them. Best guess — two adults."
The boys were all silent for a long moment, and backed away from the sealed cockpit.
"Somebody still had to set up that distress beacon." said Davy at length.
"Let's keep looking around." said Jahv. "I'd like to find some indication of how this happened, and who did survive, at least long enough."
"This wreckage isn't very clean, you know." commented Niklas. He and the others were already getting streaked with rust and grime.
"What are you worried about, getting your clothes dirty?" joked Jahv. For him, it had been too obvious to pass up.
Davy had crawled around to the far side of the shuttle from where they'd approached. "Jahv, this shuttle would have had two engines, right?"
"Yes." replied Jahv. One engine, relatively intact — or at least as much as the rest of the shuttle, could be seen protruding from the side of the shuttle from where they had approached.
"Then I think I know what happened, sort of." answered Davy. Jahv and the others came around. The second engine was at least half missing, and the portions that remained looked exploded.
"Yeah, that'd do it, I guess." remarked Keith.
"But what made it blow up?" asked Niklas.
Jahv was inspecting the machinery in the shuttle. "I'm not an expert on Dorrian ships, but engines tend to be engines to some degree, and this one looks like a power coupling failed."
"How can you tell?" asked Davy.
"Because the Dorrians bought their power couplings from Botarans, and I certainly know a Botaran power coupling when I see one, and only half of it is here — charred, too."
"Okay, we know what brought it down. Now we need to find out who set up the distress beacon." said Niklas, heading back into the shuttle.
"We are going to need baths so badly when this is over." commented Davy. He'd gotten very filthy crawling around the engine.
"Aw, quit griping about a bit of dirt." said Keith. "You can be really pathetic sometimes, y'know?" Keith was poking around everything he possibly could. He'd just found a large cylinder attached to some piping near what little remained of the ceiling of the shuttle. "Hey, maybe this is like an overhead luggage rack or something."
Jahv looked over. Keith was trying to pry open a hatch. "Um, Keith, I'd be careful there. That looks a whole lot like a.
Keith finally got the cylinder open and was promptly doused in a dark blue gelatinous substance. "Aw, gross!" he proclaimed, sputtering.
"Coolant reservoir." finished Jahv, trying not to giggle.
Niklas and Davy were less successful at restraining themselves. "All we need now is some peanut butter and two really big pieces of bread!" said Davy. "What were you saying about a bit of dirt, Keith?"
"Ah, shaddup." muttered Keith, trying with very little success to wipe the sticky goo off. "Hey, this stuff isn't dangerous, is it?"
"No, it's completely inert except when in use as part of a shuttle's drive system." said Jahv. "However, you will be — sticky until it can be washed off."
"Not to mention blue." added Davy.
Keith just groaned.
"I suggest we split up a bit to search the remaining rooms." said Jahv. The four boys were facing what was left of a corridor, and there were entrances to large rooms on either side. "Niklas and I shall take the one on the left, Davy and Keith the one on the right."
The boys separated, and Jahv and Niklas wandered into the darkened room. Here the roof was relatively intact, and little light shone through. "You asked me before we landed what it was like to go around naked most of the time," remarked Jahv. "What do you think of it?"
Niklas shrugged, trying not to blush but grinning slightly. "Yeah, but it's just us guys here, so it's no big deal. But I can see one other advantage."
"Which is?" asked Jahv.
"No laundry worries." quipped Niklas.
Jahv focused his small hand-light on a nearby console, and then flashed it around the room. "Some sort of master quarters, I would guess." There was a large bed and a comfortable sofa, bolted into place. The cushions for the sofa were in place, but the pillows to the bed were missing. Then something soft clobbered Jahv in the back. "YEEEK!"
Niklas started giggling. He'd found the pillows and had thrown one of them.
"You scared me." said Jahv, not really angrily.
Niklas just shrugged and grinned. It was just annoying enough to Jahv that he grabbed Niklas and wrestled him to the floor. Jahv had his nose to Niklas' face and said, good-naturedly, "If you're going to start a fight, you'd better be ready to finish it."
Niklas did so by kissing Jahv on the nose. The action so startled the alien boy that he backed away immediately. "What was that? Some form of surrender?"
Niklas looked at Jahv. "Hasn't anyone ever kissed you before? Not even your parents? Or your brother?"
Jahv shook his head and rubbed his nose, looking slightly cross-eyed as he did so. "What's a — kiss?"
Niklas suddenly felt profoundly sad for Jahv. "It's — a way of showing someone that you care about them."
Jahv looked at Niklas and suddenly smiled. Had there been better light, Niklas would've seen Jahv's face turn a slightly brighter shade of green.
Any further discussion was prevented, however, by a sudden call from the other large room. It was Davy. "Hey, Jahv, Niklas! I think you guys should see this!"
The two boys stood up and went into the other room. Keith was sulking at the far side. Davy had a blotch of blue gel on his upper chest. He'd probably teased Keith once too often. But that wasn't the point. Davy was holding several obviously child-sized robes and an odd stuffed animal. "Jahv, those two — bodies that you scanned in the cockpit. You said they were adults?"
Jahv looked at the robes. "Probably." He held up one of the robes. It was far too small for any of them to even consider wearing. The owner had probably been no more than five or six years, in Earth terms. "Someone this young wouldn't likely have been in the cockpit, anyway."