S1:Ep1 - Time is Flea-ting

Started by Lomari, October 11, 2018, 09:06:17 PM

Tabitha Haemish

"Tabs? You holdin' together OK over there?" Viktor asked, pulling Tabitha's attention to him once again.

"Right as rain," she answered cheerily, shaking herself off and hurrying to the metallic barrier between him and her. She smiled brightly up at him, looking through the gaps in the equipment at his tape job. It looked nice and sturdy and Tabby gave the preacher a thumbs up. "Good job," she whispered encouragingly.

Barnaby's voice came over the radio and the doctor got on her hands and knees to crawl back into Viktor's cage, looking around as the component was described. "There should be a sorta rickety piece there, might even be hanging out. It's small, delicate, attached by a wire out the back," the Captain told them, and Tabitha looked around at the frosted metal, her lower lip trapped between her teeth. Reaching out, the woman brushed extinguisher goop away from bits and pieces, trying to feel around for whichever one wobbled beneath her fingertips.

After a while of poking and prodding, a piece moved drastically at her touch, hanging on, it seemed, by said wire out its back. "Oh! This is probably it," she told both Barnaby and Viktor. It was in a trick spot, nestled in between some bigger engine bits and sort of hiding in the crevice. Carefully, Tabitha sat up with her legs crossed criss-cross-apple-sauce, her fingers trailing over the wire until she found where it was connected a couple of its other connectors clearly undone save for one.

"Disconnect it for me, wouldja?" Barnaby asked.

Her brows shot up and Tabitha looked up, arching her back a bit so she could look at where Viktor was standing up behind her. "Hey, can you put in a good word for us? With the man upstairs? Maybe if you ask nicely he'll help us with this?" she asked, raising her brows and smiling despite her nerves. Sure, she didn't know the potential consequences of unplugging this but she figured if it was here, it was meant to be here and not meant, really, to be unplugged mid trip. So, she sent up a 'please and thank you' to whoever was listening, any denomination, any mythology and returned her attention to the gravwhatever.

Carefully, the unclipped the wire and pulled it free, holding her breath and closing one eye tightly, waiting for something. Or nothing. She wasn't sure what she was waiting for.
Dialogue Color: Pink

Viktor Söderberg

It sounded like the malfunctioning bit would be difficult to get to. Before the preacher could sink back down and begin groping around, Tabitha scurried under and over, feeling around inside the guts of the engine.
His mind flashed on an imagining of her arms elbow deep in some poor faceless soul's abdomen, bright red blood smeared on her skin, her clothes, even in her hair. The scene shifted and the soul had a boy's face, the doctor not a small girl but a very large man, and the smell of perforated intestines was heavy and cloying.
He shouldn't have been there and returning to the engine room he shouldn't be here either. He wasn't a mechanic or anyone else who knew about ships and engines and how to fix bits of broken metal and wires. The doctor had seemed relatively calm enough to be thrust into this new environment with new tasks. How much was a body like an engine? Where the two in any way analogous?

He shifted in tiny, nearly imperceptible movements from foot to foot while she worked, freezing entirely when she said she found it and was ordered to disconnect it. Wasn't it important? Shouldn't parts of the engine STAY connected when they were in the middle of friggin' space?

Tabitha's face turned up, a little smudge of something dark on her cheek, oil or dirt but definitely not blood. She craned her neck back, her face upside down to look at him. She reminded him why he was here.
"Hey, can you put in a good word for us? With the man upstairs? Maybe if you ask nicely he'll help us with this?"
Reminded of his path and purpose he looked down at her in serenity, worry falling from his face, giving his concerns up to his Maker.

"When the God for whom nothing is impossible calls you to a task, He will do the impossible to help you do your job." This was a reminder to himself as much as it was for everyone to whom his voice carried, hoping this included their friends on the derelict.

"Almighty God for whom nothing is impossible, I acknowledge You and praise You for being faithful, all-powerful and all-wise. Your eternal purposes are beyond my understanding, but I trust You as You unfold them here across the stars.
Please grant us the courage, strength and knowledge needed for this assignment, this crew and this boat. Keep our eyes focused on You rather than on the circumstances that appear impossible. We will do our part and trust in You to do Yours. Thank you for what You allow us to accomplish in the power of Your mighty name. Amen."


He wasn't sure if she'd unplugged the thing already while he spoke or if she was going to do so now. He couldn't see her face anymore unless he bend awkwardly over her. So, he waited as he was sure she was waiting and the Captain was waiting, to find out what happens when you unplug a piece of the engine mid-flight.

Lomari

January 18, 2019, 07:04:32 AM #62 Last Edit: January 18, 2019, 07:12:07 AM by Lomari
Ship Time: 1140
Location: Within range of the derelict. Ship's XO, Mechanic, Gunhand inside the derelict.

The Darling:

Click. With little to no resistance, the already loose gravitec exchange came unplugged with very little fuss or protest. It sat uselessly in the Doctor's hand and all at once, the rest of the ship ceased its complaining. Everything became silent aboard the Darling, save for the deep constant thrumming of the engine as it whirred and turned; the ship's heartbeat, as it were and a noise the crew had all likely become so familiar with, they no longer noticed it. Breaths were held, bodies stilled, everyone aboard the ship waiting for something to happen and yet hoping nothing happened at all.

Perhaps it was the Captain's deep connection and knowledge about his ship, or maybe the man upstairs had decided to give them a break on the polite request of the Preacher. Whatever it was, nothing happened. And that was the best outcome they could have hoped for. The ship ceased it's pulling and dipping, the controls once more obeying its Master's commands. The angry vibration and pained groaning in the Engine room came to a slow and easy halt as the world seemed to return to normal. Of course, the exchange would need to be repaired or replaced if they intended on landing any time soon, but for now, all was well in The Darling.

Outside the ship, the tether that had been previously whipping about like an elongated blade finally stilled and slowed to a smooth, gentle drift, no longer pulled this way and that by the ship it was attached to.

The Derelict:

At Riot's touch, the cabin door opened, bumped against something, and continued. The interior was filled with a thick and oppressive darkness save for one thick stream of light that made its way in through a hole on the far end of the wall, the Darling's exterior lights shining through it. Had she not been wearing her suit, she might have smelled the tang of copper in the air. On the left side of the room, a table connected to the floor took up most of the area, clearly an aftermarket addition to the ship. Above it floated several stacks of paper, these ones seemingly organized with little colored slips of thin paper put between them to let the reader know what was what.

Crew. Supply Log. Cargo. Personal.

On the right side of the room, floating above the still laid out bed, a dark mass roughly the size of a human floated lazily about, just outside of the light. However, drifting about and clearly visible in the beam, a red mass of liquid orbited by smaller balls of the crimson hovered in place, glimmering in the light like deep ruby wine.


CHARACTERS
Charity ~ Melody ~ Tabitha


NARRATION
Darling ~ Iscariot

Barnaby Goodweather

Black. That's all that Barnaby saw.

Quiet. That's all that Barnaby heard.

Nothing. That's all that Barnaby felt.

"Wait..." He said, quizzically. Nothing? His eyes opened from their squeezed shut position. He saw the Black, but this time it was though the cockpit windshield. Windshield, that's a funny way to put it. There's no wind in space. Barnaby's somewhat exhausted mind was having a hard time concentrating. He shook it off and smiled hopefully. The joystick was tense in his hand, responsive. After a moment, when the Darling didn't commence to jumping back and forth willy nilly, Barnaby realized that his plan had worked. His smile grew. "It worked!" He said as he opened up the comm channel to the engine room. "Did you do it? Boy howdy you did it. Good work, folks. Ya'llright?"

His elation faded only a little as he realized his captainly duties were only half over. The ship was right but his crew wouldn't be until this job was done. "Hey, uh, Mona? Riot and Rian, too. We's all good up here now, apologies. How ya'll making out? Find the cargo yet?" He started working out how they were going to commence with the transfer now that the tether was... untethered. Moving in too close to the derelict, especially with the gravitec exchange separated, would be dangerous. He could maneuver her, but moreso in broad strokes than with any amount of finesse.

He thought he had a plan, but they'd have to clear the field first. Barnaby pulled up on the joystick and called down the engine room. "Preacher. Tabby. We ain't out of this yet, but will be before long. Need ya'll for one last thing. Then we can put our feet up. Head on down to the airlock, I'll give you guidance from there."
Dialogue Color - LightBlue

Mona Heyerdahl

Quote from: Lomari on January 18, 2019, 07:04:32 AM
The Derelict:

At Riot's touch, the cabin door opened, bumped against something, and continued. The interior was filled with a thick and oppressive darkness save for one thick stream of light that made its way in through a hole on the far end of the wall, the Darling's exterior lights shining through it. Had she not been wearing her suit, she might have smelled the tang of copper in the air. On the left side of the room, a table connected to the floor took up most of the area, clearly an aftermarket addition to the ship. Above it floated several stacks of paper, these ones seemingly organized with little colored slips of thin paper put between them to let the reader know what was what.

Crew. Supply Log. Cargo. Personal.

On the right side of the room, floating above the still laid out bed, a dark mass roughly the size of a human floated lazily about, just outside of the light. However, drifting about and clearly visible in the beam, a red mass of liquid orbited by smaller balls of the crimson hovered in place, glimmering in the light like deep ruby wine.

Mona drifted into position around the time the door got hung up, a "Rrrr-" escaping her throat before she cut herself off. The mechanism freed itself from whatever held up the opening process, reducing the necessity for Riot's further action in the moment. The former soldier and miner chose to take the lead this time, growing a bit impatient not knowing The Darling's current general status and otherwise not wanting the current job to be a bust. After all, if they continued to risk their lives on the derelict she wanted more to show for it than an old pocket watch and the pilot's notes.

Thankfully, more papers floated in the air around the desk bolted to the floor, momentarily reminding Mona of bits of confetti from some long forgotten celebration that fell too closely to her eyes for her own comfort. Perusing the pastel parchment pages and gleaning bits of information ranging from mundane details regarding supplies and recent crew manifest to the writer's very specific thoughts regarding what he thought of the pilot's apparently blossoming relationship with the head chef. Finally she came across a cargo log and started reading when Barnaby's voice called over the comms.

Quote from: Barnaby Goodweather on January 18, 2019, 12:16:23 PM
"Hey, uh, Mona? Riot and Rian, too. We's all good up here now, apologies. How ya'll making out? Find the cargo yet?"

"Glad to hear it, Barn! Rian managed to scavenge some parts from the bridge, could come in handy for making some repairs. We're holding steady at the moment, slowly making our way for the cargo. Looking over the Captain's notes now. Seems the order for the shipment was made by our current employer, all containers labeled simply as "novelty". Oh, Barn. Please tell me we aren't out here riskin' our necks for another container of nesting dolls!"

Mona turned as if to face the Captain, were he present, when her eyes caught the shaft of light and the liquid mass drifting through it like a sanguine lava lamp. "Oh." Her reaction to the sight of blood seemed too casual, maybe a bit callous, though in truth she felt far more accustomed to seeing it in a spray than suspended without gravity like this. For a moment, with the way it caught the light, she dared to consider it almost beautiful before the thought crossed her mind to look for the source. Turning the lights on her helmet toward the darker areas of the quarters, Mona caught a glimpse of the lifeless corpse floating above the bed in the corner and wondered if she currently held their watch.
When the battle is lost And the slain ones are chosen The Valkyries will guide us home
We'll heed the final call A call to arms The Valkyries will guide us home
Blind Guardian. "Valkyries"

Tabitha Haemish

1...2...3...4...5...

Tabitha started counting to ten, something she usually did when waiting for something bad to happen, as though counting out the length of time between now and the disaster would somehow make it less terrible when it happened. It also served to give her a false sense of safety, usually, each second ticking by lowering her shoulders inch by inch. She got up to ten before opening her eye and staring quizzically down at the component in her hand. They hadn't exploded, they hadn't melted, and they weren't being sucked into a space vortex. Well, she wasn't so sure on that last one as she didn't know how gentle space vortexes were supposed to be.

Once more, she arched her back and craned her neck so she could look up at the preacher, brows lifted in question as though he'd have the answers. Maybe God had called him back on their personal phone line and told him he had it all under control and not to worry.

"Barnaby?" she asked curiously. Not a nanosecond later he responded with an enthusiastic, "It worked!" making Tabitha flinch so hard she fell back against Viktor's legs. Carefully, the doctor got to her feet, reaching out for him with one hand and cradling the gravtech exchange in her other, holding it like it might explode at any given moment.

"Did you do it? Boy howdy you did it. Good work, folks. Ya'llright?" the Captain asked and Tabby looked up at Viktor with a bright smile, "We alright?" she asked him, a blush of success creeping its way across her pale cheeks. Shoving the mechanical doodad down the front of her vest to keep it in place, she started climbing her way out from behind the metal, grabbing one of Viktor's hands and carefully leading him along with her, moving slowly so he wouldn't hit his head against anything else.

"Preacher. Tabby. We ain't out of this yet, but will be before long. Need ya'll for one last thing. Then we can put our feet up. Head on down to the airlock, I'll give you guidance from there," Barnaby informed them.

She looked confused for a moment before nodding to herself and nibbling on her lower lip, the gravitech exchange making a strange shape at her chest. "Airlock," she repeated, her hand still holding onto Viktor's, either to give comfort or get some for herself. "This shouldn't be too hard, right?" she asked him cheerily. After what they'd just done, she was sure they could accomplish anything!
Dialogue Color: Pink

Rian Carpenter

January 22, 2019, 05:01:52 PM #66 Last Edit: January 22, 2019, 05:08:27 PM by Rian Carpenter
Rian stayed in the cockpit of the derelict, still futilely flipping through the various papers floating about. Riot had made wise decision to check the captain's quarters. Unerring from his gender's stereotypes, he plugged right along with that bad decision, and continued on uselessly scanning, then crumpling every piece of non-crumpled paper he could find. Checklists. Top 10 lists. Baby names. Carpenter screamed internally and let out an exasperated breath as he crumpled up the last piece of paper he could easily see. Barnaby checked in, they were clear. His fist slightly un-clenched, innately relaxing a little bit more.

Mona's reply implied they had some form of cargo manifest. Rian eyed the room one more time, noticing the box for the auto-pilot had an expensive brand name.

One for the road.

This time, having a better idea how the mountings worked, he popped the device loose without incident, and he nudged it over towards where he'd left the other parts he saw as worthy salvage. Leaving them there for now, he kicked off the pilot's chair into the hallway. They spun in place where he left them. A habit from his old days, he never left any scraps on the table. If there was something worth taking. Take it. If they had time to take these too, they'd at least pay for a resupply of the freezer. The wannabe chef imagined a full plate of marinated salmon with rice and vegetables. He could already taste it. But he'd have to work for that meal.

"Heading towards you, Mona. We're looking for packages marked 'novelty'?"

He knew they were, but he wanted to confirm and maybe just give voice to how it sounded slightly... strange. The former crook quickly had a theory it was code for something. Something probably illegal or at least going un-taxed.

"I don't know about you, but I doubt this is gonna be hula dancer toys..."

Riot

The door opened easily enough, and swung wide, bumping into something as it went. The room was pitch dark, except for a single shaft of light from the Darling coming through a hole on the far wall. What she could see of the space was dominated by a table bolted into the deck, and several stacks of paper that floated above it. Mona was there, and made to enter the cabin. Riot had no problem letting her go first.

Quote from: Barnaby Goodweather on January 18, 2019, 12:16:23 PM
"Hey, uh, Mona? Riot and Rian, too. We's all good up here now, apologies. How ya'll making out? Find the cargo yet?"

Just like that, all the tension Riot had felt over the last half hour drained out of her. Her shoulders slumped, and she bowed her head for a moment and sighed with relief. They're alright. They're fine. They're not going to die. She shook herself, which sent her spinning a little bit. She corrected the unintended movement with a hand on the bulkhead. Mona replied to Barnaby, and Rian indicated he was heading to them. Riot moved into the doorway of the captains cabin and spoke, unable to contain the need to know what went wrong in her engine room. "Cap, what failed? I don't need details, just tell me the part-"

Quote from: Mona Heyerdahl on January 19, 2019, 08:05:40 PM
"Oh."

"-that failed... Oh, oh my. I wondered when we would find a body..."

Viktor Söderberg

"Ya'llright?" the Captain asked and Tabby looked up at Viktor with a bright smile, "We alright?" she asked him, a blush of success creeping its way across her pale cheeks.

They were, in fact, alright, even if he may have forgotten to say so out loud. He steadily let out a breath he'd been unconsciously holding and hugged Tabitha around her middle in delight. "You did it, you wonderful woman!"

He was further grateful to her as she lead him out from the confines of the engine block, her hand solidly in his not even letting go once they were free of the machinery.

"Preacher. Tabby. We ain't out of this yet, but will be before long. Need ya'll for one last thing. Then we can put our feet up. Head on down to the airlock, I'll give you guidance from there."

"Airlock," she repeated, her hand still holding onto Viktor's, either to give comfort or get some for herself. "This shouldn't be too hard, right?" 

"Too hard?" he repeated her question back to her with a grin. "Nah, it'll be a cake walk after this, surely."

They walked together at a quickened but much more casual pace than the last time, hands cupped together all the way, Viktor shortening his stride to match hers.
"Tabitha, what do ya say after this fiasco, you reintroduce me to that dog of yours? Maybe we can find a better way to get along."

Barnaby Goodweather

Barnaby let Mona go on guessing on what might be in their pickup; truth be told he had no idea what it was. He had to grin at the remembrance of the nesting dolls. Priceless, he'd be told, and the fixer who'd sold them on the job had been absolutely correct. Couldn't get a price on those suckers and they'd taken a huge hit on it. In fact, Barnaby had an inkling that they might still have a box or two of those dolls somewhere on board. Mona had made him promise no more toys but work was work and Barnaby knew that picky wasn't an option. "Novelty, huh? Well you'll have to let me know what's in those boxes, Mona, because I surely don't know." The captain collected his thoughts as his crew relayed information to him, as he slowly maneuvered the Darling into position and waited for Tabby and the Preacher. "Harvest what else you can and get ready to transfer, I'm itching to get this job finished. Oh, and Riot, if you happen to spy a Gravitec Exchange floatin' around over there well, that'd be shiny."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few minutes later, after the derelict crew had gathered up what seemed valuable and a couple of crates worth of cargo, and Tabby and the Preacher had gotten to the airlock and guided Barnaby into putting the Darling into position, they were ready.

The weird thing about space is that it isn't on a flat plane. Up and down and left and right is all relative. However, in relation to other objects there are certain absolutes. What Barnaby knew is that there was the derelict and the Darling, with a bunch of debris in between them, and without a tether to reel in they needed a straight shot to get his crew back home and the debris was too dangerous to leave them to their own devices and the short propulsion jets on the suits weren't enough to get them there with any amount of precision or speed. So he wanted to get closer. Closer meant clearing the field of any entanglements, couldn't risk crew, ship, or cargo, and Barnaby could only think of one way to do that.

Or rather, the Preacher had been the one to think of it.

So, with best guesses and eyeballs, and a little bit of the instrumentation illuminated on the control panels of the cockpit, the three of them on board the Darling had positioned themselves to what we'll call 90° from the derelict with the airlock locked and loaded. The plan would be to clear the path with the force of the airlock venting, then swing in close for an easy retrieval. "Put in a word for us with Jesus, preacher, and we'll hope this works. I think it will. Ya'll go on and pop it on your mark!"
Dialogue Color - LightBlue

Lomari

Ship Time: 1210
Location: 90° from the derelict, airlock positioned toward the ship. Ship's XO, Mechanic, Gunhand inside the derelict.

The Derelict:

The crates themselves were plain, unremarkable, simple. They were made with a hardened wood and simply had 'novelty' stamped across one side in dark black ink, along with their particular manifest and destination written in pen on the same side. The classification as well as its intended destination of Aphrodite from its departure location of Meridian made it clear that this was the cargo they'd been searching for. There had been no other obvious bodies on the journey from the Captain's quarters to the cargo bay, but it was safe to assume there might have been others, in different sleeping quarters or other places of vulnerability. With how many holes had been riddled into the ship, it was hard to imagine everyone got away with their lives or in one piece.

On their way down to the hold, trinkets, supplies, and debris floated idly and gently in their path, ready to be left alone in their icy tomb or brought along to live new lives aboard a new ship.

Although there were several boxes, three in fact, they were thankfully the right size to be able to shove them out of the breach they'd made in the side of the derelict. The option to open the cargo bay doors was always there, and surely there'd be a way to manually crank them, but then they'd have to coordinate jumping out with the ship's spinning and hope they didn't end up floating out into the black. So, the breach was the safest and closest option.
CHARACTERS
Charity ~ Melody ~ Tabitha


NARRATION
Darling ~ Iscariot

Tabitha Haemish

"Too hard?" he repeated her question back to her with a grin. "Nah, it'll be a cake walk after this, surely."

Tabitha smiled back at him in return and turned to begin leading him out of the engine room toward the corridor, making her general way down toward where they'd last seen the away team at the airlock. She was almost wishing they hadn't let them go in the first place, but things generally happened for a reason and who was she to say she knew better than the universe did.

"Tabitha, what do ya say after this fiasco, you reintroduce me to that dog of yours? Maybe we can find a better way to get along," he asked.

Squeezing his hand gently, the blonde beamed up at the preacher and nodded, "Bandit's technically Riot's," she began, then giggled and lowered her voice to a playful conspiratorial whisper, "But I reckon she does like me best." After all, Tabby did give about half of her meals to Bandit when she thought no one was looking, dropping bits and pieces under the table. Sharing was caring, after all, right?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few minutes later, Tabitha and Viktor stood outside the closed airlock, the doctor on her tippy toes to peek in through the window at the sealed exterior door. Inside the room on the other side of the glass was a ton of oxygen and the ship's general artificial air, ready to be vented out. Usually, it was vented with the doors still closed, but by opening the barrier at the same time as the venting, it would push the vented air outward instead of recycling it back into the ship's systems. Turning her head a little, Tabby smiled warmly at Viktor, proud that he'd come up with such an ingenious idea, even if he hadn't known all of the particulars of it at the time.

"Put in a word for us with Jesus, preacher, and we'll hope this works. I think it will. Ya'll go on and pop it on your mark!"

Tabitha had her hand hovering over the button for the exterior doors, "I'll press this one and you press the vent button," she offered up, knowing they'd have to do it at the same time and trusting him to do it with her. This would force the door to open, the system thinking the room had already been vented. If she pressed hers first, the door wouldn't open and would beep at her angrily until the room had been vented. But pressing them together tricked the system into allowing them to do such an exciting experiment.

She nibbled her lower lip before giggling a little in nervous excitement and beginning the count down, "Okay, on 'go'. Three..." her hand trembled a little and she shrugged her shoulders a little, "...two..." her gaze turned to look back out the window, toes curling in her boots, "...one..." her hand reared back little in preparation for what was to come, "go!" she called out, pressing her palm on the button that controlled the exterior doors and hoping he pressed the venting button at the same time.
Dialogue Color: Pink

Viktor Söderberg

February 04, 2019, 09:34:41 PM #72 Last Edit: February 06, 2019, 09:15:06 AM by Viktor Söderberg
"Bandit's technically Riot's,"she began, then giggled and lowered her voice to a playful conspiratorial whisper, "But I reckon she does like me best."

Well that just goes to show how much he'd actually paid attention to the beast. But if Tabitha could get him in Bandit's good graces he supposed it didn't matter all too much.

Back at the door to the airlock, Viktor's heart began to pound. They were clearing the way for their companions with a trick Viktor had suggested and only now was he appreciating how little he understood about the science behind it. Would the size of the ship make a difference? The other vessel had been significantly larger. Would they be venting enough air? Would their orientation change things or did it matter that the other ship was spinning? So many things different and only one small change in equation would give new results.

Now wasn't the time to be second guessing because Barnaby was calling for another good word in to the Boss and the doc was instructing him to push the venting button on her mark.

It was a small inconsequential thing for him to lower his hand a few inches to this button but what kind of impact would it make? He'd found out time and again that small actions often had large consequences. He wasn't sure how much he would want to stay around if the worst happened here - assuming he, himself, were still alive. He couldn't cope with more lives on his conscience. But, good Lord willing he wouldn't have to.

Nothin' to it but to do it, now that Tabitha was giving the count down.
"Three..." He could ask them to stop and find out if someone had done the math.
"Two..." Tabitha looked a little bit too excited for this. Maybe it was just nerves?
"One." He wondered if Bandit would like him more if he told him that all dogs go to heaven? And regretting that this might be his last thought, he smashed the vent button on the "Go!" just as the doctor was pressing hers.

Lomari

Ship Time: 1212
Location: 90° from the derelict, airlock positioned toward the ship. Ship's XO, Mechanic, Gunhand inside the derelict.

The Darling:

The buttons were pressed simultaneously, overriding the property way to do things, something the ship was less than pleased about. Angry alarm claxons blared inside the airlock, the light switching to red and turning in slow oscillations of warning. Done properly, the air would vent out of the room and be recycled back into the ship, then the doors would open to allow safe and economic egress from the ship. However, done incorrectly (as they had done...on purpose) both events would occur at once.

The exterior doors opened with a room full of artificial atmosphere, the venting mechanisms working to push the air out of the room. However, the door's opening had sealed off the vents to the room and thus the air only had one way left to go: out. The air left, or rather, was pulled out of the airlock, rushing out through the debris field toward the derelict. Before it could dissipate into the void to be reused in the forming of stars and galaxies, it pushed its way past the debri, creating what almost appeared to be a tunnel of empty space between the derelict and The Darling. Some of the shards of metal and garbage rained against the side of the slowly spinning ship, but Barnaby's proximity had been just far enough to prevent any major alterations to the wreck's position and drift.
CHARACTERS
Charity ~ Melody ~ Tabitha


NARRATION
Darling ~ Iscariot

Rian Carpenter

February 06, 2019, 04:56:18 PM #74 Last Edit: February 06, 2019, 05:25:01 PM by Rian Carpenter
Rian was floating past the Riot as she had paused by the body. He caught only a fleeting glance but knew right away what he'd seen. He'd been around more bodies than most should.

"Ain't nothin' we can do for 'em now, Riot. "

The gunhand/cook tried to think of literally anything better than that and came up blank. It was just something one had to become numb to. Stayin on task he stopped with a thud and pulled himself into the hold. His helmet's lights spotted the novelty boxes quickly. A pang of temptation flashed across his mind to crack one open to see what was inside, but it quickly passed as he grabbed it in one hand, and then was shoving himself down the hallway back towards the breach.

"Jackpot! I got 'em."

After a trip up towards the breach, and a few back to the cockpit and engine room with Riot scrounging for more spare parts, he assembled his haul. Pulling his head up through the breached hatch he could see much less sparkly shards of death.

"Nice work! Our path home is looking a bit less treacherous."

It sounded like things got frantic over there and he let himself inquire as he prepped to hurl his cargo, then himself through the black towards the ship, still tether free.

"How is everybody over there? Gave us somethin' of a fright. I was about ready to start fixing a sail to this wreck."

Stepping out onto the side of the ship, his boots magnetically clicked on and he righted himself, eyeing the Darling's approach.

"I see you got a clear path to come on over. I got time for me to raid the galley? Our cutlery situation is appalling."

Mona Heyerdahl

"I don't know about you, but I doubt this is gonna be hula dancer toys..."

Mona barely registered Rian's voice while watching the macabre display of mortality rotating before her. If a specific emotion overcame her in that moment its identity eluded her under the cover of an overall numbness born of her amidst the fog of war. Somewhere in the static filling her mind, the conversation between Riot and Barnaby drifted directly into one ear and straight out the other until she caught some movement in her peripheral vision.

"-that failed... Oh, oh my. I wondered when we would find a body..."

"Ain't nothin' we can do for 'em now, Riot."

Mona cast icy daggers Rian's direction and flicked her eyes away before she thought he'd notice. "Plenty we could do... Just ain't part of the job is all. Not anymore." Leaving the corpse behind, and her outdated sense of duty and honor along with it, Mona followed in the wake of Rian's enthusiasm and joined him in the cargo hold. "Good eye! Looks to be a box for each of us. Seems we were due a little luck. Alright, let's gather them up... And try to figure some way back through that debris field and back to The Darling."

After touching base with Captain Goodweather, providing a proper update and ensuring one another of their respective successes, Mona became privy to a rather unique plan to clear a path for themselves to make their potentially perilous journey a bit easier. While the lack of their umbilical tether presented its own obvious challenge, the berth of clearer space between the derelict and their home ship gave the valkyrie at least some hope of success. "We'll take these back the breach where we entered and wait for the The Darling to meet us."

Standing on the edge of the breach, struggling against the nausea as the derelict continued to spin. The force of the spin itself affected her little, but rather the constant rotation of the stars around her and the general sense of unease she felt since they cut the tether that tossed the contents of her stomach about. "Darling, we're in position and ready for pick up. Come and take us home."
When the battle is lost And the slain ones are chosen The Valkyries will guide us home
We'll heed the final call A call to arms The Valkyries will guide us home
Blind Guardian. "Valkyries"

Riot

"Harvest what else you can and get ready to transfer, I'm itching to get this job finished. Oh, and Riot, if you happen to spy a Gravitec Exchange floatin' around over there well, that'd be shiny." Riot swore under her breath. That damn Gravitec exchange... and right after she had replaced a wire leading to it... The weight of the fact that her work may have contributed to, or downright caused, her friends and home to almost die hit her very hard. She reached out a hand to steady herself on the door frame.

So consumed was she by her thoughts that she didn't even hear Rian, and almost jumped when Mona approached the door to exit the cabin. She numbly followed to the cargo hold, her mind racing as she went over every little thing she had done to the Gravitec exchange the day before. Rian and Mona had the boxes well in hand, so Riot drifted off to find engineering. It was easy enough to locate. Once she was alone she made sure her mic was off and then let the tears come. She allowed herself a solid minute of angry sobbing before she pulled herself together. Its over and done with. Cant change the past. Only thing you can do is make sure it doesn't happen again. She smacked herself lightly on the helmet a couple times, as if to drive home the point.

She took a look around the engine room, finding the derelicts grav-exchange easily enough. It would have taken a while to disconnect under normal conditions, but since this was to be a quick and dirty salvage, she didn't have to worry about destroying the things attached to it. It took slightly longer than her estimate but she got it out, along with a smattering of other small and easily detached components that might be useful to The Darling. She tied everything to the grav-exchange with a mix of cord from her kit and wires she'd ripped out of the engine, and made her way back to join the others at the breach. She didn't comment on her absence, and her visor was still a little bit fogged from the extra moisture. If anyone looked to close they would be able to tell she'd been crying some minutes before.

"Darling, we're in position and ready for pick up. Come and take us home." She heard Mona say over the coms.

Barnaby Goodweather

Home. The place where you hang both your heart and your hat. It was a word that had immeasurable meaning to Barnaby. And the Darling was the only one he had ever known. There had been a time in his younger days when he had considered another sweet other. There had been a pretty face, of course, and that will go a long way in changing a man's mind. But that was a lifetime ago.  "Nearly there, Mona." A pull of the yoke and a flicked switch or two, the ship was surprisingly easy to maneuver without the Gravitec, and Barnaby brought her through the cleared debris field and in close and safe to the derelict.

At last, they were steady enough that Barnaby felt confident in leaving Darling running on her own for a tick while he went down to check on his crew. As he passed out of the cockpit and through the hallways, Barnaby felt the beginning of a tear in the corner of his eye. This had been a physically and emotionally exhausting event and had taken its role on him. And he was guilt-ridden thinking that the rest had been through it too. Barnaby resolved, once this job was done and payment in pocket, he and Riot would do an extensive ship wide check to be sure Darling was in tip top shape. She deserved it and so did the crew. "No excuses." Heck. Everyone would probably like a chance to kick a little dirt.

At the airlock, he greeted Viktor and Tabitha like he hadn't seen them in months. "Well-pleased and obliged to the both of you. Heckofa job." A hug for his witch doctor and, while he intended a handshake for the preacher, Barnaby couldn't help but pull him in for an embrace. "Let's bring our people home, whataya say?"

Opening up a channel to the away team, Barnaby's smile would have been apparent even over radio. He looked out the airlock porthole as he spoke. "Hey folks. Ain't y'all a sight? Sorry for the dawdle. Bring the goods on over. We'll catch ya."
Dialogue Color - LightBlue

Viktor Söderberg

February 14, 2019, 02:45:27 PM #78 Last Edit: February 14, 2019, 02:47:29 PM by Viktor Söderberg
The buttons were pressed simultaneously and the air rushed out, clearing a path home for the crew on the derelict ship. Viktor and the doctor had completed their tasks as well as they could. He looked over at Tabitha, gave her a big smile and said "Thank God!"
He left his station and ran the few steps to her. His massive bear hug lifted her off the ground.
"We did it and nothing blew up! A win all around!" He may have held her up a moment too long in his elation, but soon set her back to her feet.

Barnaby soon joined them as they celebrated their victories. "Well-pleased and obliged to the both of you. Heckofa job." The captain also graced Tabitha with a hug, and then turned to Viktor. His hand was outstretched for a shake. When Viktor grasped it, however, he felt himself pulled into the embrace. Not one to rain on the parade, he gave a true hug to his captain. Not one of those manly, half-embrace/half-pats, but a real meaningful embrace. He laughed in relief from the stress of the situation.

"Let's bring our people home, whataya say?"

Viktor nodded and smiled, looking over to the doctor again.

"I think that's a grand idea and far past time. Unless you have more hijinx you think we should get up to, Doc?"

Tabitha Haemish

February 20, 2019, 07:55:30 AM #79 Last Edit: February 20, 2019, 07:55:40 AM by Tabitha Haemish
The little doctor couldn't help but hop in place and squeak in pleased surprise after the push of air had cleared a path through the fog of glimmering debris. Feeling Viktor's eyes on her, Tabby turned to meet his gaze and offer him a smile just as big and just as elated. In their shared joy and sizable relief, she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck as he hugged her up off the ground, not seeming to mind that the toes of her boots dangled several inches off the flooring.

"We did it and nothing blew up! A win all around!" he exclaimed and Tabitha giggled cheerily, agreeing wholeheartedly.

"I always count it as a win when nothing blows up," she told him, laughing as she did. Of course, as a doctor, something would have to go remarkably wrong for her to have something blow up while she worked. When her feet found themselves on the ground once more, the doctor patted the preacher's chest happily, seeing the ship moving through the airlock porthole, the other ship getting closer and closer as the captain maneuvered them skillfully back to their crew.

"Well-pleased and obliged to the both of you. Heckofa job," Barnaby praised, pulling her into another hug. By Tabby standards, today was a good day. She'd been hugged twice (and she loved hugs) and her crew was (so far) all alive and well. They'd be forced to all undergo a quick checkup when they were back but that didn't seem any less fun to her than a hug. She blushed at the praise and smiled when Viktor and Barnaby embraced. Yes, today was a good day.

"Let's bring our people home, whataya say?" the Captain asked.
"I think that's a grand idea and far past time. Unless you have more hijinx you think we should get up to, Doc?" Viktor added.

Again, Tabitha laughed warmly and shook her head, "I'll save my plan to explode the ship for another mission," she told them both, lifting her hand to push at some of the now disheveled platinum curls invading her face's personal space. For now, the doctor was content to stand beside the preacher, her hands clasped over her heart as she watched Barnaby and listened for the Away Team's response. She was eager to have everyone back where they belonged.
Dialogue Color: Pink

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