phil jones2 by J. R. Karlsson

you.'
    Phil could see the flicker of doubt in his eyes, all this talk of his limbs and severing things was making him nervous. 'At least, I think that's the case, some of these wires are very hard to follow.'
    Phil tried to nod in agreement but the stasis field refused to let him budge. 'So how long will it take you to figure out what works and what doesn't? Don't we have a starship to rescue or something?'
    'I can't be sure sir, it looks like I'll just have to take an educated guess.'
    The pink glove tightened around his hand at the mention of that. Was it trying to communicate with him?
    'I think you should go ahead with your plan, Hanniman. I can't spend the rest of my life tangled up in wires.' he neglected to mention that until the advent of bluetooth that was exactly how he had spent most of his time.
    As soon as the words had left his mouth he felt his hand go numb, experimentally he cleared his throat and reversed his decision. 'Actually Hanniman I believe that perhaps you shouldn't do that.' the tension eased a little in the glove. 'Yes, I think I should...er... remove the stasis field.' the glove felt a little looser now. 'And try and untangle myself?'
    As if in response to his query, the rubber relaxed totally and Phil let out a cramped sigh of relief. At least until he caught sight of Hanniman's disbelieving face and realised what it was the glove wanted him to do.
    'You would rather try and untangle the wires yourself?' the Engineer asked, the look on his face was of a man that knew he was about to receive an order he didn't like.
    Phil flicked his eyes over to the glove and said very slowly, 'yes Engineer, that's precisely what I want to do.' the lack of tightening suggested that for some reason this was the course of action the glove wanted.
    Hanniman didn't look convinced by the hesitant wording of his commanding officer but neither did he gainsay his decision, crossing over to the same panel that had enabled the stasis field and tapping a few buttons on it.
    'The field is ready to collapse on your command Captain, as your Engineering officer I must formally protest and suggest that you allow me to continue the work.' there didn't seem to be much resolve in the protest. 'Are you sure you want me to turn the stasis field off?'
    He attempted to nod at his Engineer once more before realising that the field was still on, he then replied in the affirmative.
    Hanniman sighed and thumped a large button on the console panel, the buzzing noise grew deeper and deeper then finally ceased. Phil tilted his head experimentally and found that he could move once again. Now what was he meant to do?
    'The field is off now Captain.' the Engineer said helpfully. 'take as long as you need with whatever you had planned.'
    Phil flexed his left arm experimentally and the lights dimmed in response, the glove clearly wanted him to get out of this mess himself but he had no idea how to do so without inevitably destroying the ship's power.
    Oh well, time to do what Phil did best: accidentally destroy priceless machinery.
    He flexed his right leg experimentally, there wasn't much give there. The left leg reported the same, though with a little more leeway. His arms had a good chuckle at the idea of lifting him on their own before his hips decided to take action.
    Phil was well-suited to rolling, the aerodynamics favoured him and the wires seemed to make a conscious decision not to electrocute him to death. There was a whole load of sparks and a series of yells from Hanniman that suggested the engines may not have such a lucky fate though. He really didn't want to roll clear of this mess only to find himself on a ship doomed to destruction.
    He dived clear of a sparking wire that whipped toward his face, only for his trailing leg to get caught on something else which seemed to drag him back into the mess like an eager tentacle of some giant beast.
    Batting wires clear to protect his eyes, Phil started to panic as he grew more and more