FicWad

Authors note: I actually thought of this while I was asleep. Then woke up and decided to write it. Blame my subconcious mind.

**

Opportunities Wasted

"Hanako!"

She looked up at the sound of the boy's voice, just in time to see Shoomday whiz in on his scooter. "You're off early. Again."

Shoomday brought the scooter to a halt on top of the hill that was the youth of Babylonia's favourite hang out spot. "I convinced the Brigs I'd finished on their ship. It'll hold together."

Hanako shook her head. "You'd better be careful..."

Shoomday grinned. "I'm always careful. Hey, and check this out..." He put his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small metal device.

Hanako looked at it closely. "Shoomday... that looks like a fuse..."

"Yeah, it's one from the weapons initiation systems. Basically it's just a boring old fuse... 'til you do this..." He closed his hands around the fuse and rubbed it vigorously. Then stopped and opened his hands slightly, but not enough to let too much light in. The middle part of the fuse glowed softly. "That means the system's working properly. Well... it would if it was actually still attached..."

Hanako laughed. "You picked that up because it looked pretty?"

Shoomday looked slightly miffed. "Thought you'd like it. Besides, I didn't just take it because it looked 'pretty'. 'Initiation system' remember? The weapons won't initiate without it. The next innocent ship those Brigs try to take down might stand a chance."

"Wait... you took something from a Sphere ship that they still needed?! They know you worked on that ship; when it doesn't work they'll killed you!"

"Relax! These things are designed to break if there's a fault. Half the time you can't find them once they do. They'll just think it blew. I wasn't working on the weapons systems anyway, they won't know."

"Yeah, but..."

They were interrupted by the clank of metal on the stone steps below them. Seconds later two Brigs reached the top of the hill.

"Whoops... looks like it didn't hold together as well as I thought it would..." Shoomday whispered to Hanako.

"Ship technician, level 1 - 4907," one of the Brigs intoned.

Shoomday rolled his eyes. "Yeah, what's up? Your ship still got a screw loose? 'Cause I can fix it if you've still got a problem, but you might have to pay me overtime..."

"Silence. You were observed leaving the ship with an important component."

"Oh, that..."

"He doesn't have any component!" Hanako tried, moving up behind Shoomday. She grabbed at the hand he held behind his back, attempting to get the fuse off of him as imperceptibly as possible. "Check him!"

Shoomday kept his hand clasped tightly shut. "No... I think I know what they mean." He stepped forward, putting himself in front of her.

He took his hand from behind his back and opened it. "You mean this? Ah... yeah, I did remove it. I thought you needed a new one. You can have it back if you'd like, but I would recommend a replacement."

"This component was from the weapons systems. You were not working on the weapons systems."

"I'm showing initiative!"

"You removed a critical component without authorisation. Your actions have been identified as an act of sabotage. This is punishable by death."

The second Brig raised its weapon arm.

"No!" yelled Hanako.

But Shoomday had put himself too far in front for her to make any difference. The blast hit him in the chest dead centre, throwing him back and to the ground.

"Shoomday!" Hanako dropped to his side and shook his shoulder. "Shoomday, come on... please..."

The second Brig dropped its weapon arm.

The girl stayed by the boy's body. She ignored the Brigs completely. She was no threat.

The two Brigs about-faced and headed back down the stone stairs. They didn't bother to retrieve the fuse from where it had fallen on the ground. A new one could easily be obtained.