The crew had been together for years. There was Sully, Cap, Joey Photo, Jacob, Ron, Rachael, Edward, Donna, Gabriel, Guillermo, Keith and their newest and youngest member, Kitty—my only friend at the time. Then, there was me: the outcast, the pariah. If the Cheshire Herself contained its own back door, Cap would have kicked me out there many moons ago. Luckily, that type of magical tech was reserved for the revered Thunderbird Order. I had to win back their approval, if I ever was going to be free of this brig and back in their good graces.

Now equipped with newfound dimensional leaping capabilities, my days consisted mainly of that, instead of deep meditation. I had nothing but time and I decided to dedicate it to reconnaissance of my estranged crew and Captain. I couldn’t quite navigate the multiverse yet. So astral leaping about the many rooms of the Cheshire’s circular main deck provided the necessary and safe practice. That’s how I had visited Kitty those several nights ago, and that’s how I would check in on the rest of the crew, my energetic body undetected.

The ship was shaped like an upside down anchor. The storage closet, where they had stowed me—and where my Drop secretly held entrance—sat at the very base, by the engine room. Then, a large vertical shaft would take passengers to the next main deck—a circular tube that wrapped around the central staff. It spun at a constant rate to mimic gravity on the outer floor of the tube. Here held the crew’s quarters, the kitchen, various common areas, living and activity spaces and an artificial garden where we grew our vegetables. The Captain resided at the very top of the Cheshire, by the solar sails.

My goal was to get to know my fellow crew, since I hadn’t been given much opportunity to do so in person before succumbing to the Cap’s incarceration down in the bowels of this ship. If I could observe these people candidly in their environment, perhaps I could appeal to their emotional side eventually, when I’d campaign for my release.

What I knew about the crew so far:

Sully, the pilot, was still preoccupied with learning to fly the Cheshire once again. His misfortune was the reason the Cap had relegated me Downunder indefinitely in the first place.

Joey Photo, the navigator, had not lost a step, but had little to do without his pilot. They both spent the breadth of their days in the wheelhouse studying the ship’s many manuals. The wheelhouse was also too close to the Cap’s quarters. And though she likely couldn’t sense my energetic, astral body hovering in superposition above them, I also wasn’t sure she couldn’t. She also scared the shit out of me.

Further down in the crew’s ring, as I came to call it, was where most of the action occurred. It also became quite evident that there were several couples on board. Donna and Edward were an item. So were Ron and Rachael. The Cap and Guillermo—her No. 2—also seemed to be quite intimate. Then, there was Jacob and Gabriel, who were hetero lifemates as it were. Keith was everybody’s friend. And, of course, you already know Kitty. Unlike this guy, they all performed specific roles to fly the Cheshire through multidimensional space.

Jacob’s code name was “the musician,” since he’d play melodic tunes as a method to synchronize the many intricate processes required to navigate the multiverse. His unassuming nature also proved quite useful when accompanying his mate, Gabriel, the field team lead, on their ground missions.

Donna and Edward were mystics. They leveraged collective remote viewing to chart courses throughout the convoluted multiverse. Without them, the Cheshire would have had to navigate a thick, mercurial fog. Once they’d establish a destination, they’d then work with Joey Photo to chart a course.

Ron and Rachael were the ship’s scientists. They helped us to understand foreign worlds’ cultures, economies, flora, fauna, you name it. At times, it seemed like they held the infinite complexity of the multiverse in their heads.

Keith was a character. He was also the ship’s doctor and a lover of Scotch (which seemed counterintuitive to his health). He kept everyone in good spirits.

When Guillermo wasn’t visiting the Captain in her quarters, he was down with the rest of the crew in the ring. He was the ship’s shaman, a mystic like Donna and Edward, except far more experienced and versatile. He could perform remote viewings, for instance, if the other two were unavailable, but his primary functions concerned more sophisticated techniques. He held relationships with higher conscious life forms and could interpret their will. These connections proved necessary when navigating the sometimes treacherous multiverse. His allies protected us and helped guide us, when it wasn’t clear what our next move should be. He was also the only one anywhere near capable of holding the Captain’s interest. She was perhaps the most interesting of the crew, but I’ll get into her history a little later.

Kitty, you already know.

I observed all of the crew individually and collectively to better understand them as people and as a cohesive unit. They certainly supported each other intently. And, perhaps if I could convince them that my contributions could complement this electric dynamic, they’d finally let me into the fold.

I entered daily updates into my journal to capture anything of note. I won’t bore you with that minutia here, but the following are several pivotal events that led to my eventual liberation…

***

NEXT UP: Crew undergo episodes, as the Thunderbird in training Bill watches on. He’s getting to know them.

***