Orwig, bound and gagged in the holding cell, struggled futily against the restraints his ward had appropriated from him. Liz flashed him an evil grin as she slipped his overly
large shirt over her head, and cinched his belt tightly around her slim waist.
"Keep tryin', honey", she cooed flirtatiously, "I'm sure you'll get loose eventually."
"And when I do", the corporal spat, "I'm coming after you!!"
"I knew you was sweet on me", she replied, coming over to rub her hands through his brush cut hair. He kicked his legs at her as he strained against the bonds holding his hands behind his back, but
she side stepped his attack with cat-like grace.
"I'd love to stay and wrestle with ya' darlin', but I got more important things to do right now." That said, she tore off a piece of the towel she'd been wearing, and stuffed it in his mouth.
She could hear his muffled curses as she exited the detention area.
Meanwhile in engineering, Eve-Stay and Broski were standing over a puddle of heavy, translucent liquid. In light of their current situation, the corporal had graciously relinquished his hostilities toward
the alien.
"Whad'ya think we should do?", Broski asked, prodding the ooze with the handle of the hammer Jeff had given him.
"I am ay ought nay er shay", the Melkinian replied. "Erhaps pay ee way ood shay ought nay uch tay it ay."
Broski looked up at him quizzically. "Why the hell not?!? He's been like this for five minutes. Somebody's gottta do something constructive."
"Oaking pay im hay ith way a ick stay is ay ought nay ut way I ay ood way all kay onstructive kay."
"Whatever", the corporal remarked, wiping residue from the tool. He got down on his hands and knees, placing his face inches from the thick pool. "Hey, Proteau!", he shouted, "how 'bout
becoming a little more, ya' know, substantial."
The puddle shifted and bubbled, but no other reply came. Ensign Hibbard stepped up, pointing a sensory device at the liquid.
"I think he's having a reaction to the demagnetization", he explained. "Evidently he uses the magnetic structuring of his cells to form himself."
"Oh say ut way oo day ee way oo day", Eve-Stay inquired.
"Have Schultz toss an EMP grenade at him", Broski suggested, earning him a dark look from Hibbard.
"Once we return power to the generator", the ensign remarked, "the residual energies should re-magnetize his cells, allowing him to return to a more palatable state."
"Sure, yeah", Broski muttered, still bent over the puddle. He looked up from where he knelt. "He smells kinda weird."
Eve-Stay and Hibbard shared a perplexed look.
The corporal bent lower. "I wonder what he tastes like."
