A trail of cheddar-cheese crackers. Fish-shaped, orange-colored crackers. Little crackers on the floor ... in the corridors.

The bat, curious (and squinting), followed the trail ...

... which had been waiting for her, seemingly, on E-deck. Leading her to another lift. To another deck. To ...

... engineering.

Swish! Walking through the double-doors.

Juneau, at one of the side-stations, looked up at the gentle sound. Gave a friendly smile, turning around (for she'd already been standing). "Adelaide ... "

"There are ... " The bat, confused, nodded downward. "There are crackers on the floor."

"Yeah ... " The squirrel looked around with her. Nodding. As if it were an everyday thing.

"Well ... it's like someone put them there. Like it's a trail. Like it's ... for me," she said quietly, padding forward. A step. Another.

"Maybe it is," Juneau said.

Adelaide stopped and looked to her.

"For you," Juneau finished. "Maybe ... " She smiled and turned away.

The pink-furred bat was tempted to scan Juneau's mind. Get every detail of this mystery, but ... didn't. Couldn't. Back when Luminous had first launched, she'd kept her telepathy (and other mental abilities) a secret. Afraid no one would trust her. Afraid they would be scared of her. Telepathic powers, common to all bats, had given the predators an excuse to ... bring her species to near-extinction. She hadn't been certain how prey would react ...

Of course, the secret hadn't lasted long ... especially after her abilities triggered similar (latent) powers in Field, and ... all ... and, sometimes, she DID ... scan their exact thoughts. Exact details. But only when she needed to make a point (such as ... to win an argument, or ... to defend herself, or Field). Never casually, though (and certainly never for harm). She knew, from Pyro, that her counterpart in the other universe (the mirror universe) ... she'd used her powers at full-throttle. Used them to elicit every kind of advantage. Used them as a weapon. As a tool for ... power. Pain. It was an easy line to cross. And, having encountered a renegade group of bats a few weeks back ... oh, she knew how easy it would be ... how tempting.

With great ability came ... great pleasure. But, also, great responsibility. No fur could know how hard it was ... and, especially, when she was the strong one. The stable one. The confident one. It was expected of her. She didn't feel she could show weakness ... which is why, upon Field's recent capture ... and then rescue and rehabilitation ... she had started to crack. The strain ... and she'd broken down (into tears, into frustration, into ... whatever). But Field was better, and she was ... herself again. But she still felt the pressure. The pressure ...

... upon those with wings. That is: to be perfect, heaven-sent things. To not fall to the too-familiar pitfalls on this mortal coil. She ...

" ... you still there?" Juneau asked. A smile.

"Mm?" Adelaide blinked. Shaking the thoughts away ... " ... yeah ... "

"Warp core. Does it to every-fur. Very soothing ... isn't it?" Juneau closed her eyes. The warp core was powered to low power, but it still made a gentle, gentle ... thrum. Thrum ... like the ship was purring (in repose).

"Yeah," Adelaide whispered. Giving a quiet nod. Not reading Juneau's exact thoughts. Limiting herself, instead, to simply sensing her emotional spectrum ... and, right now, what she got from the squirrel was: a cheeky playfulness. A secretive plotting. Some kind of ... giggling.

And the squirrel let out a breath, saying, "I gotta re-calibrate the secondary sensor array. It got dinged up by that hail yesterday. Signal's all fuzzy. Mm ... " Tapping buttons. Beep-be-beep. "I'm gonna have to crawl outside ... and fix it by paw, I think." The main sensor array was on the deflector dish, beneath the saucer section of the ship ... on the front of the drive section. The secondary array was on the back of the drive section, exposed to the air. A severe weather front had moved through recently ...

... Luminous still landed in the vast plains in a temperate region of this planet.

Their new home.

"Really?" Adelaide asked.

A nod. "Yeah. Anyway ... " Turning (briefly) back to the bat, to look eyes. "Happy fishing." And the squirrel (again) turned away, resuming her work.

Adelaide opened her muzzle to say something more, but shut it, sighing ... looking back to the cheddar-cheese (goldfish) cracker trail. It led right up to the warp core.

The core, cylindrical, stretching from ceiling to floor (and going beyond both), surrounded by metal supports (shiny, silvery ones), and with railings around the base of it (and the mid-section, up on the second level of engineering) ... it glowed a soft, swirling ... purple-blue. As if there were vapor clouds inside. As if ... some kind of light. The light ...

... and Adelaide stepped toward it. Pad, pad ... on foot-paws. Following the crackers. Which stopped at the railing, and ... the bat squinted. Saw a folded piece of paper. Taped to one of the metal supports.

And the bat hesitated. Before crouching, reaching under the railing ... and grabbing the paper. Yanking it off (tape and all). And, still on her haunches, the bat opened it.

It read:


Our pink-hued romance,
born in this starry vacuum,
breathes because of you.


The bat's eyes scanned the words. Ran over them. Again ... again ... Field's paw-writing. Very neat. Very organized. Done in purple ink. Oh, it was him ...

... and she looked around. Scanning the minds in the room. They were all in on it. On this. On ... they all knew about this. But no one looked to her. No one looked in her direction, and ...

... she stood, took a bit of a breath, and ... realized the cracker trail did not stop. No, it went on. Around the railing, to the other side of the core, and ... out the backdoor of engineering. She hesitated. And, biting her lip, smiling shyly ... she followed it.



It led her to sickbay. From G-deck all the way up to C-deck, and ... another note. Taped to the wall outside of sickbay. And she picked it off.

Delicately opened it.

It read:


To my eyes, a sunset. Of the pinkest hue.
There is no color more beautiful ...
... than you.
Carnation, salmon, cotton candy, rose. Any kind of pink.
I cannot think of your shade.
It has no name ...
... other than Adelaide.

You are a color of your own.
If someone were to tell me to take off my rose-tinted sunglasses,
I would respond, "Whatever to do you mean? For I am wearing
Adelaide-tinted sunglasses. And they improve my vision
ten-fold. They open my eyes to such hope.
Such possibility.
Such love. No ... I shall never take them off."


A bright smile on the bat's muzzle, she read it again ... oh, and one more time. Eyes shining. Watering. She clutched at the paw-written, papered poem. Holding two poems, now, in her paws, and ...

" ... hey, Adelaide."

She looked up, blinking. Pyro coming into view.

"Hey, uh ... you assigned me to do that agricultural survey, you know," he said.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, well ... I'm done." He showed her his computer pad. "We can support any kind of crops in these plains, but ... you know, it'll take careful control and ... "

"Yeah ... uh ... that's great." She tried to move past him.

"Well, my report. I've been trying to give it to you all afternoon."

"Well ... " She looked past him. To the cheddar-cheese goldfish cracker trail ... " ... put it on my desk." She maneuvered around him.

"Okay." Pyro blinked (a red-eyed blink), turning. Frowning. "Hey, you don't have a desk! Adelaide," he called, but ... she was already in the lift.

Headed for E-deck.



On E-deck.

Follow the cheddar-cheese road ... follow, follow ...

... and stopping at a junction in the corridor. Another poem taped to the hatch of an access tube. She pulled it off.

It read:


Your fur, so soft,
as soft as your gaze. Unable to be captured by
words on a page.

My mate, I must confess:
I am addicted to your (sweet) caress.
To the pink perfume of you.
Your apple-blossom scent. You smell of nature.
Of all that is right.
You smell of spring-clouds. Of flight.

Oh, thou ... which has wings!
Such a beautiful thing!
Your mind, so sharp ... it doth shine!
Your spirit, so rich ... divinely lit!
You are a new world. Furs would travel seas
to discover you. Yet ...
... you discovered me.
My gratitude abounds.


The bat took a slow, shaky breath ... a lump in her throat. She sniffed, resuming her walk. She knew where the trail would end, and ...

... chitter! She stumbled back. Having bumped into Assumpta.

The snow leopard blinked, asking, "Are you okay?"

"Didn't see you there." A sigh. Adelaide cleared her throat. Her heart pounding.

"I scared you?"

"I was just ... elsewhere," she said.

"You are on E-deck." Her tail, snowy-white and grey-striped, snaked silkily behind her.

"No. I mean ... " A slight giggle. "No, I mean ... in my mind. In my head. My thoughts. You know? I was lost in them ... "

A slight nod on Assumpta's part. "There are crackers," she observed, "all over the ship."

"Yeah, I know. I'm, uh, following them." A pause. "Did you plan this, too? He couldn't have spread all those crackers around by himself ... " The bat squinted at the feline. Trying to figure her out.

"It is not for me to say," was her enigmatic response. "However, someone will have to clean all the crackers up." A pause. And a helpful addition of, "It will not be me."

A giggle. "Mm ... don't like crackers?"

"I have stepped on several," she admitted, "already." A frown. "It is unpleasant ... to hear that crunch. And the crumbs ... "

"Yeah, well ... crackers don't matter so much," Adelaide reasoned. "After all we've been through, and ... " She clutched, dearly, at the love poems in her paw. "What's a few crunched crackers on the floor? Compared to all the tears and blood we've spilt? Crackers clean up," she whispered, "far more easily."

Assumpta gave a head-tilt. Nodded. "Yes ... "

Adelaide sighs, eyes watering. "I, uh ... gotta go. See you later ... " And the bat moved past the snow leopard ...

... and further down the corridor.

To the door of their quarters. Her quarters. Her and Field's.

One final poem taped to the wall to the right of the door.

She picked it (as if picking a ripened piece of fruit ... with delicacy ... with anticipation).

It read:


Adelaide,
Darling, you are, to me,
Everything, and. i
Love you so much, and
Akira (who has your beauty) could have no better mother.
I need you ... and want you ... and, oh, i love you, if i
Didn't already say that.
Every day, i thank God for bringing you to me ... eternally yours ... Field.


The bat held her breath. Eyes closed. Biting her lip. The tears ran quietly down her cheeks. Dripping off her cheek-fur. To the floor.

She could sense him on the other side of the door.

And she, still crying (still quietly) pressed the door-pad ...

... and the door slid apart. Revealing ...

... a shy mousey smile. A whisker-twitch. Blue-grey eyes ... so gentle. After all he'd endured, still gentle. His innocence back. And ... the love, so evident, and ... and ...

... his arms wrapped round her.

And she buried her face and muzzle into his neck-fur. On his shoulder.

His paws gently went over her back. Softly, softly ... in little circles.

She sniffled, swallowed ... cleared her throat. And breathed ... breathed ... the baby asleep in her crib. Within view of the doorway.

"Adelaide ... "

A sniffle. "Yeah?"

"I really love you ... I ... I wanted to write some poems. I wanted to ... I should write you poems everyday. You deserve them."

Her eyes, through the water of the tears ... they were shining. And she smiled, blinking, wiping her cheeks and eyes, and ... she took a deep breath. "Thank you ... Field ... " And a tight, squeezing hug. "Oh, I love you, too ... you ... " She had to stop to compose herself. "You're like the sun ... in my life. You make me feel," she said, voice breaking, "such beautiful things ... " She closed her eyes. A few tears leaked out.

The mouse's own eyes watered. He cried more often than she did (by far), and ... seeing her in tears ... was making him emotional, too. After all, their minds were telepathically linked. What she felt ... he felt. And it wasn't long before his tears flowed, too.

"Look at us," Adelaide said, giggling weakly. "Making a ... a river in the doorway. We're gonna flood the corridor ... "

The mouse giggled and ... sniffed. "Mm ... I ... "

"Hey," she whispered. Right into his ear. "Thank you," she whispered. "For going to all this trouble ... I ... no one's ever done anything like that," she said, "for me."

"I wanted to."

"I know ... " A deep-breathing hug. Oh, he was so special ... more than he knew. And, after a minute or two more, still standing in the open doorway, Adelaide began to nose his neck. Began to fish for a kiss.

Field obliged, and ... nosed her cheek. Whiskers twitching, and tail snaking, and ... whispering, "Door's still open. Anyone who walks by ... will see us."

"Let them," was her passionate whisper.

"But, um ... mm ... "

"Oh ... " A giggled realization. "Oh, you're right." She grinned, pushing him into their quarters.

Oh, passers-by! Out of luck, those who'd been hoping to see a good ...

Swish!

The doors shut.