Madeline Beaufort and the Moon Thief

Madeline sat down in exhaustion, catching her breath and wiping the sweat off her forehead. This is not what she expected her first time in a spaceship would be like. She took a moment to process what had just occurred, What was that light? Where did it come from? Already a part of herself knew the answer to those questions, that she was responsible for it. Even if deep down she felt this to be the truth, she still had no explanation as to how such an amazing thing was possible.

She suddenly remembered her new friends and the bug man that was in trouble. Madeline peered over the side of the cockpit, “Are you guys alright?”

“Yeah! You did good, kid!” Said James, who was somewhat distracted as he and the Abyssal continued to look for their compatriot.

A little arm reached out from the pile. Madeline pointed it out to the two. “Over there!”

James and the Abyssal rushed over. The bugman was pulled from the now still vines. Madeline crawled out and slid down the side of the saucer, falling into a pile of tendrils that had coalesced at the bottom. Madeline thought about cutting the tip of one tendril and putting it in her pocket, but she didn’t know what purpose it would serve other than as an interesting trinket.

“What are these things anyways? Why are they attached to the ship?”

The bugman responded, still catching his breath, “Internal biological fibers. Used for insulation and conducting energy. They work especially well with the kind of metal alloy that used to be utilized in this discontinued ship model.” He glanced at James and the Abyssal, “Although usually they are supposed to stay internal... but something caused them to grow out of proportion.”

“You think this was our fault?” James responded.

“I’m not placing any blame here, but biologics are your department.”

James was not happy with the insinuation. “The big guy thinks it was tampering, and I’m inclined to believe him. This might sound like ego, but we worked on these fibers ourselves little over a week ago and we don't make mistakes like this.”

The insectoid looked concerned and glanced at Madeline. “Should we be discussing this in front of the guest?”