++++

Sally Bench sat in the garden and listened to her brother Charlie
carry on a silly conversation with the plants standing beside him.
She would have liked to join them, but other, more pressing matters
cluttered her mind.

Not too long ago, the heavyset man with the silly hair had a chilling
conversation with a dark-haired man. She didn't like him at all.
Something about him made her cement crawl.

If only there were some way to tell what she'd overheard. Well, there
wasn't, so she'd just have to hope for the best.

And speaking of the best, the new Captain just walked into the
garden. He was one fine specimen of a humanoid, and just being in the
same room as he really made her marble sweat. Sally hoped he'd rest
that cute tush on her.

Her wish was granted when he slowly lowered onto her. She could tell
he was troubled. He'd slumped forward, propped his elbows on his
knees, and rested his head in his hands.

Sally wondered what was bothering him. Futilely she wished she could
do something to ease his problems.

Suddenly, she felt him shift. He sat straighter, his body just felt
lighter to Sally. The reason for his change in attitude became clear
to Sally when she felt another, slight weight rest on her.

It was the pretty woman with the long dark hair, and strange ring
around her head. Sally's concrete heart lifted. If anyone could cheer
up the sexy captain, it was this woman. Now, if only they could stop
those awful men from earlier.

End