Ivy's feet slapped against the deck, her bare feet. The thing had stolen her boots. She did not want to know why he had taken her boots.

She knew she wasn't out of danger yet, and she knew her head was still spinning a little bit from all the oxygen. Her first priority was getting the hell away from wherever the guest might think she was, and her second was getting off the ship.

Whilst she was out, the tilt of the deck had got so much worse. There wasn't a doubt in her mind about the cruiseliner crashing anymore. The ship was going down which meant she needed to find a landing craft.

She did give a thought to Talia, and to Desdemona, and even to the professor she had seen earlier. She couldn't help any of them, right now. She could barely help herself, and panicking had caused her to nearly get eaten.

She needed to help herself.

The landing craft were near the front of the ship, and launched from either side. However, Ivy was pretty sure she was still getting hunted. So she headed for the access corridors right down the middle.

She slid down stairs, trying not to picture Talia's frightened face.

She jumped off the end, trying not to wonder where all the other people were.

She ducked under a couple of hanging signs, all askew and falling with the change in the gravity. Passing by one of the snack stores and trying not to remember Desdemona being dragged off.

She burst out into the open of the front of the ship, and skidded to a stop as she found all the missing people. Guests yelling loudly and pointing fingers, shaking fists.

The landing craft seemed... Locked.

Ivy shook her head and shoved her way through, ignoring the responding elbows and protests, until she got to the side of the ship. To her surprise, she found the captain there, arguing with an access panel.

Commander Amir hit the screen in frustration, "Open this acursed doors! The ship be crashing, I tell you!"

Ivy put a hand to her chest, trying to catch her breath, "Is Sudais talking to you? She went silent on me. Nearly got eaten."

"Who are... Oh. You." The man said with annoyance, and went back to arguing with the silent panel. Completely silent.

Ivy rolled her jaw, "Commander Amir, if Sudais has... Been shut down? What then? How do you reactivate her?"

He hesitated, as if feeling stupid for not thinking of it, "Why would she be offline?"

"You had a princess kidnapped."

Amir's eyes went wide, "One of the guests was kidnapped? Blazes. To reactivate her, I would need to go back to the top deck. It requires a key, you see. Just in case she goes bad or something, you know how people are with AI. Never trust it."

"A... Key?" Ivy said in surprise.

He pulled a silver, metal and physical, key from around his neck. "It has some encrypted thingy inside of it. I don't get it... But I can't leave. The people here are panicked enough without -"

"Fuck off." Ivy shook her head quickly, "I just had someone try to motherfucking eat me. I am not running off on my own to reactivate a pissy AI. You have to have a bypass to get inside the ships."

Amir stared at her for a moment, entirely surprised that she could stand up for herself. She was just a maid. Then his mouth fell into a frown, "I can't go. And we die, if no one helps."

Ivy shivered, feeling her mortality. Again.

"You die, too." She retorted.

Not all the guests would die, of course. Ivy knew she could survive a crashlanding through the atmosphere. No had probably slowed their descent, and... Losing him hurt... But some of the others would be far tougher than she was.

Not everyone. The Commander was probably done for, and would turn into something nice and fried. Most of the guests would be the same. If Desdemona had still been there, Ivy would wonder if the woman could drop without injury. Especially considering their home planet.

Except she was gone.

Ivy jumped up on top of the misbehaving computer console, so that she could look out across the crowd. She ignored the commander yelling at her, as she focused on the faces.

She couldn't really see anyone she knew.

There was no annoying professor looking for a book he knew damn well he should not have brought on an expensive cruise. There was no bell-toting bovine laughing or crying, either.

Her selfish collapse might not just have got herself kidnapped. It might have got her friend killed.

Sudais would be able to find Talia in an instant. Get them both safely down to the ground. Might even be able to fix the ship, from whatever evil instructions the raiders had left behind.

Ivy jumped down and blew at her fringe in irritation, "Fine. What do I do with the key?"

*****

Halfway up to the main office, or whatever it was called, Ivy had to take a double take. The entire ship was creepy and empty, so when she stumbled on the professor, she stared.

He smiled nervously over at her, his blue skin so pale that it was almost white. "I... I cou-ldn't ge-et so-ome help, cou-ld I?"

Ivy darted over as she heard the strain, and stared as she found the man hadn't tripped. His foot had gone into some kind of maintenance hatch that had been left open, twisted and then... There was a lot of red.

She went down on her knees, and her eyes focused. Her species main sense was that of smell, and right now... Everything was screaming that this man was about to die.

Unfortunately, those senses didn't come with magic powers. Instead Ivy had to work out how to get his limb out with minimum damage, and then... Then her shirt might become a tourniquet. Wasn't like she wanted to wear it.

Ivy looked up to the professor, and smiled nervously, "I'm afraid I never got your name, sir. Remembering you as 'the book guy' isn't the friendliest of terms."

"I... What are you doing?"

She sighed, withdrawing her hands, "Mostly trying to distract you."

"Why would you -"

He screamed as she took her chance. The wail warbled and sang so loudly within her ears that it seemed to echo.

Uniform hit the ground, and Ivy tied it around his ankle as tightly as she could. She didn't know if he even had veins or arteries, but she was guessing he had the usual blood system. One that she didn't have.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Maybe her studies were actually useful, on board this death trap of a crashing ship.

Ivy felt her flowers open and puff with relief, as she fell backwards into a sitting position. She smiled nervously at him, "Well, now that the first death-defying thing is done... We can't actually leave. If I could help you hobble to the landing craft, it wouldn't help."

He nodded slowly, "Oh. Shit."

She shrugged, "I've got a key? Commander Amir wants me to reboot Sudais. She should be able to unlock everything... But she might be able to stop the crash, too."

"He asked... You?" The professor said with surprise.

"I know. Just a maid. But everyone seems to have really lost their shit." She said with annoyance.

The professor shook his head, "Sorry, no. That wasn't my cons-ideration."

The man had to stop, breathing hard. He took a couple moments, and then smiled weakly, "Your people... Don't deal with... AI... Do they?"

"Yeah. Not really." She gave a small laugh, and then tried a little sweetness, "There's no chance you could hobble up with me and help, is there? She can probably get you back down safely, once she gets control of everything again."

He shrugged, "It seems the wisest ch-oice."

Dying man helps woman command computer. Not what Ivy thought would sell a plan to anybody, but she wasn't about to argue.

*****

Back when she was a student, Ivy had always wondered why so many people died on a sinking ship. The things took forever to go down, usually. Hours. All the same, people never managed to make it free.

Helping the professor through the ship, up the stairs... She figured younger her was an idiot.

The density of the air was changing, quicker than Ivy thought it should be. She could feel it in her leaves, as she stumbled her way along with the half-dead weight on her shoulder. All three of her hearts were working overtime.

The tilt was beyond noticeable. Her feet hung between the steps. She stepped onto the edge, not onto the flat. They both had to use the handrails, as they moved further up the death trap.

A flying city sounds great, right up until the giant thing comes crashing down.

The silence got to her. With everything going as bad as it was... There should be screaming. People panicking and running. Idiots who had stayed behind in their cabins, disbelieving that things were falling apart, should now be desperately trying to make their way.

Finally they hit the deck, and moved quickly towards the administration offices. There was no room overlooking the whole ship. Captaining felt more paperwork than endeavour, these days.

Ivy almost wished for the receptionist as they moved in. Wishing they had her tentacles to pick them up and move them through the damned place.

"It's locked." The professor said, trying the handle on the door.

Ivy tried the key, and stared when it didn't even fit inside the lock. "You have got to be shitting me."

"You swore." He stared at her.

She ignored him. Of course she did. The entire ship was crashing, the floor was nearly vertical, and they were in the wrong damned place if they were hoping to survive. They needed the AI to stabilise things, or they weren't getting back safely.

"Sudais, open this door right now, or I'm gonna do something I regret!" Ivy yelled, without actually having a hope.

The door clicked.

"What in the...?"

The professor stared, "I thought the AI was... Offline?"

"Yeah..." Ivy opened the door slowly, and stepped onto the skirting where the wall met the floor.

The room was pretty much as she remembered it. A lot of the captain's books and things were on the floor. Lots of pens and not many knick-knacks. No bones for dogs.

She climbed up to the desk, which was bolted to the floor or something. The professor climbed into the room behind her, as she did. Ivy looked around it carefully, and did find a sequence of hidden buttons that seemed very official.

It seemed almost universal in her studies. If the society had a need for a very dangerous thing, they made it a singularly bright button, and made damn certain there were no words or instructions near the thing.

"Bright blue, red, and deep orange." Ivy said and looked up at the professor, "Any ideas what they do?"

He frowned, "I am afraid not. I think I recall a certain warning about aurora or rust coloured switches and buttons. To never touch them, under the worst of circumstances. But I confess, I have not a clue why."

The blue button in front of her pulsed, softly lighting up the area before going dark again. Ivy shivered, "Creepy... But... We're falling out of the sky. Can't get much worse."

She pushed the button. It was solid, and required an actual amount of force to shift, before it thunked down and stayed down, sticking in place.

The professor coughed nervously, "Did you really just do that? You are a good sight braver than I."

"Call me Dr. Happy Hat." She said callously, "Or have you not noticed we're falling out of the actual sky!?"

"`Attempting to stabilise the ship is not possible, Mistress Green.`" A disembodied voice filled the room.

She grabbed her chest as all three of her hearts jumped. "By manchineel trees! Far out. You're actually around, Sudais?"

"`The button you just returned to active position, is the control on my volume. I was muted by Commander Amir. You may mute me, if you so desire, Mistress Green.`"

"Mistress Green. I thought you were a maid? Just an employee." The professor looked over at her curiously.

She shrugged, "Not arguing, not right now. So... Um... If you can't stabilise the ship... Can you release the controls on the landing craft? So we can get the hell off?"

"`That is not possible, Mistress Green.`"

She winced, "Why?"

"`Instructions from Duffle & Hurley, with the highest of priorities, were transmitted to Commander Amir.`" The AI was emotionless.

Ivy scratched the side of her head, "Duffle & Hurley want us all dead?"

"`Witnesses of the kidnapping of Princess Desdemona are not allowed to survive. As such, I was instructed to weaken defenses and destroy the ship within the atmosphere of the primitive planet below.`"

The professor stared at her, as both of them realised the implications of what the AI had just said.

"Did the captain know?" Ivy asked quietly.

"`He is the one who muted my communications platform, following the orders.`"

The professor grimaced, "He sent you here... Why? What does he get out of that, our Mistress Green?"

"I'm here to distract the AI. Because the damn things get very obsessive." Ivy winced.

"`Commander Amir's attempts to hack my security protocols are currently failing.`" There was a hint of arrogance to Sudais' voice. If that were possible.

"AI has been known to become hyper focused on individual things, especially that which it cannot predict." The professor shifted uncomfortably against the wall, lifting his leg and letting it dangle. "There has to be a hint though, if Amir is risking his ass on it."

Ivy nodded, "Yup. I got a staff room, after some jerk tried to freaking eat me. Sudais started treating me like staff, after. Which might just be poor database crap, or I might have been interested. But I really, really, don't like or know AI stuff. My planet grows stuff. We don't do computers."

"`No.`"

"Eh... Yeah we do." Ivy said more firmly.

"`That is not the intent of that word.`"

The professor raised an eyebrow, "What?"

Her face dropped, "Oh. He died."

"`He was an expression of my own affections.`" The AI filled a giant hole, "`Whilst he was semi-autonomous, he was still an expression of my own existence.`"

"We very much need to ban AIs from replicating emotions." The professor sighed.

"If you care about me..." Ivy ignored him, "Then why are you about to kill me?"

"`Such has always been the way of things.`"

Her memory of all of her ancestors could not exactly disagree with that. Never done it herself, but there was always some king or emperor who thought that way. They also somehow managed popularity with the populace.

Thankfully, she knew that AIs were a things of rules, and were things that abided by them as closely as possible. She was not improving her opinion of smart tech, though.

It was going to need careful consideration... But she could do this. Considering that she had to.

"So... Ignoring that we're all going to die... Can you tell me where Talia is? Is she okay?"

"`I am afraid that Talia Bovina-grego is contained below decks, within a certain type of container.`"

Ivy felt her stomach do a backflip, "No way. Not him."

"`You were located close by, when you were contained in a similar manner. However, as I am now in a more active state, I should be able to aide you actively in releasing her from such a difficult position.`"

The professor winced, "Talia is in trouble, I guess? And you want to trust this thing to help you?"

"Yes." Ivy stated strongly, eyeing him and wishing he could understand pheromones so she could at least get something across.

He shrugged, "Fine. I'm afraid I will be quite unable to aide you against... Whatever difficult position it is, that you are speaking of. My injury, considered. Might I help another way?"

Ivy shook her head, not really knowing. "No idea. To be frank, we are about to die. You in possession of any amazing skills I've got no idea about?"

"`Professor Fahim is a verified pilot.`" Sudais offered innocently. "`He could await you within Commander Amir's private craft, accessible from a hidden door within this very office. It would be a more comfortable place of final decline.`"

With that bomb shell dropped, the wall slid open, and a million hopes and dreams were born for Ivy. She wasn't a pilot. She wouldn't have been able to do anything, even if she knew this miracle existed.

A man she met, because he brought an expensive book on board a tourist ship, and was only with because he got hurt, had lucked out into the skills she needed to survive.

Maybe the entire universe didn't hate her existence.

"I'd rather you didn't watch my friend lying down and waiting to die, on board. Cut off your access to the ship." Ivy instructed.

"`Certainly, Mistress Green.`"

She looked over at the stranger, "You're going to wait for me and Talia, right?"

"I would not be so terrible. But... If things become too terrible..."

She nodded, "I can do this."