Episode 1: Every Mile is a Marathon

Started by HumanHyperbole, August 28, 2021, 12:04:39 PM

HumanHyperbole

August 28, 2021, 12:04:39 PM Last Edit: August 28, 2021, 12:09:50 PM by HumanHyperbole
It had been two whole days since their financier, and their human treasure map was kidnapped right out from under their noses. Traffic for landing clearance had massively backed up. The feds had a Ministry of Commerce cruiser performing a random spot check. That meant every ship coming in had to clear through customs aboard the massive vessel. Crate by crate scans, tax fines being issued, safety inspections. Every spacer's worst nightmare.

The backup in traffic also meant that even with members of his brand new crew missing, Captain Holt had to just sit on his hands with an increasingly anxious teenager charged with finding her father before Mom totally flipped out. Speaking of whom, Rhiannon's cortex was lighting up with a vid-call request just moments after the Shanghai's cockpit Nav system glowed green, indicating takeoff clearance was finally granted.

The rest of the crew had their bunks and crew assignments for days now, but with no orders yet and no leads on their financier's location, tensions were starting to run high.

Beth Williams

September 08, 2021, 12:58:20 AM #1 Last Edit: October 12, 2021, 02:21:31 PM by Lomari
Beth spent a whole five minutes settling into her new quarters and the rest of the next couple of days going over the ship's systems, starting with the engine. She took note of make, model, and serial number of each system, running diagnostics where available, going through the maintenance logs, and building a spreadsheet for easy reference that included all the information she had gleaned along with her assessment of the condition of each. She scanned the Cortex for references to known issues with the systems and added links to sites that she felt were most useful, including where parts were likely to be available. She built another tab that had when each system had last been overhauled, serviced, and when it was next due for maintenance, adjusting the dates on the conservative side if she felt that its condition warranted earlier attention. Of course it was going to take more than a couple of days to complete but she managed to get the critical core of the work done.

A kind observer might have said that she was being thorough but a more accurate description would have been that her behaviour was obsessive, bordering on mania.

Each morning, after the initial mild (for her) panic over the unfamiliar surroundings until her memory caught up and she got her bearings, Beth was struck anew by the realisation that she actually had a job. She found herself able to get out of bed quickly, something that had often eluded her, especially in her university days. A quick, light, breakfast and a large cup of coffee were the only things that she let get between waking up and heading for the engine room. Lunch was notable by its absence and only hunger drove her to down tools, have a shower and join the rest of the crew for dinner. The Cortex searches occupied her after dinner until, too tired to keep her eyes open, she fell asleep.

Beth wasn't completely oblivious to everything else that was going on so she was aware of the disappearance of Pool and Applebaum but not having met them and feeling that she had nothing special to offer she didn't get involved. Being a Good Citizen TM she did make time to go to the medbay.

Location: Med bay

"Hello Dr. Wickson," she said, looking in through the door, her normal quiet, high-pitched voice communicating her shyness, a deep frown of anxiety on her face. "You wanted to see if I am still more-or-less alive?" she added, her voice as deadpan as its tremulous nature would allow.
Dialogue Colour: Fuchsia

Player: Clare : Other Characters: Velocity Grey-Lambert

Rhiannon Pool

September 09, 2021, 09:54:47 AM #2 Last Edit: September 09, 2021, 09:59:22 AM by Lomari
Location: Bridge

The sound of stressed pacing filled the walkway nearest the bridge, boots echoing on metal flooring and several heavy sighs bouncing off the walls. Rhiannon moved forward and aft with her cortex held tightly in her hands, her face turned downward and half lit with green as she contemplating throwing it out an airlock and ignoring the call. It was more than likely her mother calling to ask for an update or rescind her allowance of Junior's presence, or read her another riot act mostly intended for her father.

Finally, the girl stomped anxiously into the threshold of the bridge, not entering fully without permissions but wanting to be near people just in case she needed to make some half assed excuse to get off the call. Glancing up once at anyone on the bridge, she took a deep breath and answered the call.

"Mom, you gotta stop calling. I don't have any upda--"

A deep voice, clearly faked, interrupted her. "Hey! What's up? I mean like, I know what's up, we kidnapped your dad and his fancy pants friend," he greeted. Junior stared at the man on the screen, his face hidden by a gaudy Elephant mask. Brows knit, the teen raised her gaze to look frantically at those in the room, the rest of her expression turned to emotionless stone. Something she'd likely picked up from her father.

"You have two days to get us the coordinates a...shit what's it called? Donnie!! What's the thing I gotta ask them for?" There was a pause as the elephant looked off screen. Donnie. Junior committed that information slip to memory, not that a first name would do her any good in a heavy traffic place like this. But it was something for her to latch on to.

"Oh yeah a search grid. Gorram archaeology lingo or whatever. Anyway, we know you are looking for treasure and we'll gladly trade you the treasure for your dad. Sid's kinda fun though we might keep him," he explained. Junior scanned the room one more time before looking down at the man behind the screen.

"That's really dumb," she said curtly, brows furrowed.

"Like, my dad's real old. Super crazy old. Dementia and Sundowners. It's a shame, really. You see how crotchety the Sundowners makes him, yet? Gets real violent. Love him to bits but he's not worth the search grid for a treasure. Tradin' just him seems real stupid. You're not stupid, are you?" she asked, frowning down at the Elephant.

"Pot's not good enough. I want my dad, the fancy pants, and ten thousand credits wired to our ship's account, or no deal," she told him, raising her brows. "You want that search grid? You send coordinates for a meetup and we'll come do the swap. You got two hours," she countered, then hung up and frisbee'd the cortex onto the ground, eyes wide. After a moment to process what she did, Junior groaned loudly and crumpled to the floor, laying in the threshold to the bridge with her hands over her eyes.

Two hours to come up with a plan.

*Narration given by HumanHyperbole
Dialogue Color - Indianred

Rose Wickson

Location: Med bay

Two days ago, Rose had announced her sudden departure and bid a very tearful goodbye to her mentor, family and friends -- unaware that the ship she was getting on would actually be grounded indefinitely, meaning she'd be sticking around for a while longer and was technically still able to spend time with her loved ones. She didn't, though, opting to stay firmly within the confines of the ship. It wasn't a big deal, delays happened, yet the idea of facing the locals so soon after her grand exit felt awkward, like when you hugged your friend goodbye after an outing, thinking you're about to split up, only to head in the same direction.

Besides, she didn't want to risk running into Gus again. She had a feeling she'd gotten off easy the first time because her direct rejection had caught him off-guard; she did not want to have another face-off with him after he'd had time to regroup and simmer in his anger.

A nagging guilt over the disappearance of Pool and Applebaum gnawed at Rose's insides. Whatever fate had befallen them, be it an accident or a kidnapping, she couldn't help but feel like she'd placed them at risk by letting them wander off the clinic in their vulnerable state. However, she hadn't shared these feelings with anybody on board. She didn't want to make the situation about herself, not when there was a teenager on board whose father had gone missing.

Fortunately, there was plenty on the new ship to distract her from her vague embarrassment and tangible guilt. She needed to get familiar with the med bay and the equipment she had to work with, not to mention the crew members whose health and well-being was in her hands now. She was in the middle of doing an inventory of additional supplies she might want to acquire for the med bay once the budget allowed, when her first patient arrived.

"Hello Dr. Wickson. You wanted to see if I am still more-or-less alive?"

Rose looked up from her work and flashed Beth her warmest smile, hoping it would be enough to smooth out at least some of the worried wrinkles between her brows. Based on her very limited interaction with the mechanic, she'd gathered she had something of a nervous disposition in general, but that didn't rule out the possibility of her having anxiety around doctor's appointments.

"Not the words I'd use, but in a sense." She almost asked Beth to drop the Dr. Wickson nonsense and just call her Rose, but stopped herself. She'd earned the title, she should be proud of it... even though it felt awful formal. "I just need to ask you some questions about your health. Routine stuff."

She turned her attention to the console in front of her, pulling up her notes about Beth -- or rather, the mostly blank document that would become her notes about Beth. She hesitated for a moment. Everybody on board was aware of her stutter by now, there was no need for her to feel self-conscious about it, yet a knot twisted in her stomach. It was one thing to stutter in casual conversation where you could maneuver around the most troublesome words. At her job, she could only deviate so much from the script. She'd managed well enough back on Three Hills where she had her home field advantage, but this was a brand new setting. What if the words refused to come out altogether?

 "Uh... do you have any m-medical c-c-conditions? Or have you ever received m-medical care before?"
 
Okay, that's not so bad. She turned to look at Beth, her smile unfaltering.
Dialogue color: palevioletred

Gemma Pierce

September 12, 2021, 03:15:02 PM #4 Last Edit: October 12, 2021, 02:22:05 PM by Lomari
Location: Bridge

Gemma had been taking a bit of a snooze in the bridge, her now home away from home. Things had been settled in her room for now but she always felt more comfortable behind the wheel...even if it wasn't going anyway where. She sat with her feet up on the dash a light snore escaping from her every other breath. Rhiannon's conversation seemingly entered Gemma's dreams as she muttered back incoherently. 

She awoke with a sharp snort as the cortex hit the floor. Gemma fumbled her way out of her current position. Looking around, slightly bewildered and trying to recover from the rabid racoon, or what one would assume was a racoon, chasing her in her dreams; Gemma pushed her self up and ran a hand through her hair. She cleared her throat and looked back, then saw the green light out of the corner of her eye.

A smile of achievement crossed her lips while she gestured toward the nav system. "Would ya look at that, a quick nap everything is right as rain." She grabbed the comm and tuned into Des' frequency, still slightly groggy and unaware she wasn't alone, "Oh captain my captain, we are cleared to fly. What's our heading?" Gemma let the unit go and looked around waiting for a response, startled that she in fact...was not alone. "Oh hello....how long have you been standing there?"

Beth Williams

September 19, 2021, 09:12:32 PM #5 Last Edit: October 12, 2021, 02:21:43 PM by Lomari
Location: Med bay

The stutter surprised Beth and for a moment she was distracted by the apparent paradox of someone who had the intellect and drive to go through the long and expensive process of becoming a fully fledged doctor having such a... complication. Her own experience helped her through the process of reconcilliation; although hers was only an ordinary degree, nothing fancy like a doctor's degree and subsequent internship, comprehending the technical content of her courses had always been the easy part of it. It had been the dealing with people and bureaucracy had been the part that had almost sunk her on many occasions. Beth decided that she was in no position to judge, even had she been a judgemental person, and the best thing she could do was not put any unnecessary obstacles in Rose's way.

Belatedly, Beth realised that she should have thought about what parts of her medical history she should reveal ahead of coming to see the doctor. Now she was feeling surprised, flatfooted, and at a significant disadvantage. The physical was easy enough; she had never had any serious issues. It was the mental that was more challenging. It would be nice to start with a clean slate and hope that weaning herself slowly off the powerful antidepressants would go okay this time.

Like that would work. It hadn't worked previously and coming off them had resulted in a serious crash each time; Beth knew that a strong sign of madness was repeating the same thing and expecting a different outcome.

Avoiding another crash meant ensuring continuing access to the one drug that seemed to be effective and that meant admitting to the seriousness of her severe, chronic, depresssion.

"The body seems to work okay," was her eventual opening gambit. "I don't have any chronic conditions or allergies," she added, leaving unvoiced her one major allergy... life itself.

"But...." it was as far as she could bring herself to go for the moment.
Dialogue Colour: Fuchsia

Player: Clare : Other Characters: Velocity Grey-Lambert

Desmond Holt

September 24, 2021, 09:55:20 PM #6 Last Edit: September 24, 2021, 09:57:07 PM by Axe
Location: Galley

Two days. Two, whole, days since two members of his very first crew as a captain had been kidnapped literally minutes after agreeing to work together. It wasn't a good sign. He and some of the other crew had gone out and looked around of course, but there'd been no sign of Pool or Appleball. Desmond was frustrated, and a little unsure of what to do next. He'd made a deal with Pool, while only a verbal one he still felt that to be binding, but without Pool and Applebowl, they didn't really have anything to go on. Plus apparently Applebloom was the money, so they wouldn't even start to get paid until they found him, and Desmond had absolutely no clue how they were going to manage that. He made a growl of annoyance as he stood in the galley, a mug of coffee in his hand. Maybe he needed to start looking for another job. He didn't feel right about the possibility of kicking Pools kid off the ship, Desmond felt that might be a murderable offense once Pool got free of wherever he was being held, but Desmond had a crew that needed paying. Plus it had been two days with no ransom call. Not a good sign. Maybe Gemma would have some insight, she was almost always on the bridge unless otherwise occupied, so that was his destination.

He sighed, and drained the last of the coffee, rinsed the mug, and then headed up the ladder to the bridge.

Location: Bridge

As he neared the top of the ladder he could hear someone talking. Sounded like Pools kid, and she was saying... something about Dementia and Sundowners? And the word stupid several times. As his head cleared the floor he could now hear Juniors words clearly.

"Pot's not good enough. I want my dad, the fancy pants, and ten thousand credits wired to our ship's account, or no deal, you want that search grid? You send coordinates for a meetup and we'll come do the swap. You got two hours," Followed a moment later by the sound of something clattering to the floor. He paused for a moment. Gears starting to turn in his head, promptly interrupted by Gemmas voice coming from both the cockpit, and the galley where he'd left his Cortex pad.

"Oh captain my captain, we are cleared to fly. What's our heading? Oh hello....how long have you been standing there?" Desmond could hear the grogginess in her voice, clearly she'd been napping in the pilots seat, which wasn't surprising. He finished moving the rest of himself into Ops, and then walked onto the bridge. Junior was crumpled to the floor with her hands over her eyes.

He leaned against the door frame and regarded them both with a neutral expression. "No heading yet, Gem, but from what I gather we should have a heading within... 2 hours? That right, kid? So we have between now and whenever they either send us a location, or send us a new deal, to come up with a plan on how we're going to rescue your dad and Appleboom, without any of us ending up with severe lead poisoning?" His eyes lifted to the ceiling and he smiled. Having something to focus on was certainly better than waiting around for two days.
"The best surfer out there is the one having the most fun."
Dialogue Color: Seagreen

Rhiannon Pool

October 04, 2021, 02:13:17 PM #7 Last Edit: October 12, 2021, 02:20:24 PM by Lomari
Location: Bridge

"Oh hello....how long have you been standing there?" came the voice of the pilot from where she'd been napping at the helm. How nice it must have been to be able to sleep so easily when people were missing.  Junior snorted angrily and glared at the woman from where she was laying on the floor, her hands lifting from her eyes just enough to peek at her through the gaps. 

She felt the ground beneath her thrumming in the telltale rhythm of footsteps and the girl turned her head to stare up at Desmond. "No heading yet, Gem, but from what I gather we should have a heading within... 2 hours? That right, kid?"

Swallowing hard, she scrambled to get out of his way. She moved to a crouch, launched forward with too much force, hopped across the bridge, and came to an abrupt halt when the front of her hips hit the edge of the console, her hands held up at head level to keep from accidentally smashing buttons and somehow blowing the ship up. Junior let out a relieved exhale.

"Junior, please, or Rhiannon," she corrected, not keen on being called Kid. "And yep, 2 hours," she confirmed, her hands slapping over her face again and a defeated groan filtering between her fingers.Why had she said two hours? Why couldn't she have just said 'yessir, thank you sir'?

"So we have between now and whenever they either send us a location, or send us a new deal, to come up with a plan on how we're going to rescue your dad and Appleboom, without any of us ending up with severe lead poisoning?"


"Yep," she conformed again, lowering her hands and sighing heavily as she looked up at the Captain. She felt so badly about all of this that she didn't even bother correcting him about their Financier's name.
Dialogue Color - Indianred

Gemma Pierce

October 04, 2021, 05:46:56 PM #8 Last Edit: October 12, 2021, 02:20:30 PM by Lomari
Location: Bridge

"No heading yet, Gem, but from what I gather we should have a heading within... 2 hours? That right, kid? So we have between now and whenever they either send us a location, or send us a new deal, to come up with a plan on how we're going to rescue your dad and Appleboom, without any of us ending up with severe lead poisoning?

Gemma adjusted her glance towards Des, impressed by how quickly he had made it up, handsome and efficient, she smirked towards to herself. She nodded at him in acknowledgement, keeping her mouth shut, it was clear she had rubbed their client the wrong way. Junior was clearly upset and Gemma cursed her inability to read people. She removed her legs from the dash and leaned forward on her legs, roughing up hair in an attempt to wake up.

Her eyebrows rose as Junior stumbled across the bridge in an attempt to get out of Des' way, forcing herself to keep the smirk buried. In any other instance it'd be hilarious, but this was not the time to laugh.

"What're you thinking boss?" She directed towards Des, "Work it on two fronts? Try to find out who these guys are and find them - and prepare for the inevitable fight where we rescue everyone and take the money anyway?" Maybe it was a stupid idea but she felt the need to provide something of value...after all she was quite literally sleeping on the job.

Sidney Applebaum

October 06, 2021, 12:39:12 PM #9 Last Edit: October 06, 2021, 12:46:28 PM by Sidney Applebaum
Meanwhile aboard the Bolivar...

"Oh god! No! No! No!"

Glass smashed on the ground. Sidney yelped out in agony.

"Oh Jesus that burns!"

Their captor, Maximo, cackled with laughter at the pain he was inflicting. Sidney Applebaum was once again, no longer cogent. Not because of torture, but because of the Bolivar's own moonshine prepared in-ship, and in-engine. Following what had been Ximo's lead, Sid smashed his glass on the steel floor.

"Yes! You're a pirate now, baby!"

Sidney was still practically doubled over, reeling from the hooch that they could and did use to clean out engine grease on the Bolivar. Maximo patted him on the back.

"Oh okay, let's get you some water..."

As Sidney started to gulp down a glass of water that had been placed in front of him, the interrogation actually started.

"You really think the old mule you rode in with still can find the treasure."

Sidney almost laughed. And almost barfed.

"Psshhhhhyeeahhhh!!! Ugh... Hurrg..."

Ximo motioned to a member of his crew. Before Applebaum had any idea he wasn't having fun with his new friend anymore, he was being dragged out like a limp, drunk, Jewish scarecrow and tossed into the room he'd been sharing with his partner.

Before he could register his friend's presence, the elder Pool was being escorted out of the room. It was Reinhardt's turn to be interrogated. Though at first glance at the room, broken glass, and the smell of stomach-churning hooch, an Alliance holding cell, this was not.

Reinhardt Pool

October 06, 2021, 02:24:51 PM #10 Last Edit: October 07, 2021, 06:16:28 AM by noseatbelts
When Pool had first woken up after being drugged by a stranger's kiss - which had gone differently this time than it had in previous instances of his life - he felt confusion. When he woke up, laid out on a thin, stained mattress leaning partway against the wall, the first thing he noticed was the smell. Next, was the headache. Like a hangover, but foggier. He rolled out onto the carpeted floor and immediately regretted touching the fabric with his hands. The missing Sidney Applebaum lay snoring on a similar mattress. Pool got to his feet and looked around the tiny room he found himself in. The walls painted a garish red and hung with posters featuring naked people on top of racing shuttles.

Pool had tried the door and found it surprisingly open. Also surprisingly open, was the reception he got upon exiting the room. The crew that had kidnapped them welcomed him, offering food and drink. After an ill-fated escape attempt, pushing past the goons and heading for the door, Pool was drugged again, this time via aerosol.

That was the first day.

Pool woke up a second time, now with cinder blocks duct-taped to his feet like a pair of comically heavy shoes. Now, in his day, Reinhardt Pool was very strong. He'd once lifted a crashed hover mule off of an accomplice in a robbery so he could retrieve the loot and get away with the goods. But that was thirty years ago.

Speaking of thirty years ago, that was what the kidnappers were most interested in, too. Apparently while Pool was out, Sid had spilled the beans, his guts, and let about a dozen cats out of the bag. Pool had shuffled out of their room, carrying the concrete clogs 'cross the carpet and been inundated with questions about the whereabouts of the Ebony and Ivory. He'd grumbled that he didn't remember and even if he did, he wouldn't tell them. Maximo, their ringleader (if you could call him that), seemed to empathize at first but insisted that he wouldn't let them go until Pool also told them everything he knew.

Pool was happy to get drunk with them from then on, because he knew they had nothing to lose. He may not have been able to lift like he had thirty years ago, but he'd be damned if these twerps could out drink him. He just had to bide his time and be ready to escape when the chance arose. That night, after everyone had passed out drinking, Pool saw his chance. Regrettably, he didn't think he would be able to bring Sid with him, but sacrifices had to be made. He rose from his bed and struggled to his feet, swaying and trying to balance with the bricks on his boots.

One step proved too much, Pool lost his balance and crashed through the door, waking everyone except for Sid, who snored through the whole thing.

Pool was summarily drugged again.

And then, finally, they were pulling him back out of the room after having doubled the weight on his legs. He saw a very intoxicated Sid unceremoniously dumped back onto his mattress and was brought before Maximo one more time. "Hey Ximo."

"What's up old man?" Maximo didn't seem as jovial as usual. "It's been two days." He seemed impatient.

"Has it? I lost track." It was alright. Pool had a plan this time.

Maximo settled into a chair across from Pool and scratched at his face, as if he didn't know what to do with his hands. Pool figured they'd used up their resources on this job let alone their patience. Right where he wanted them. "Haven't I been nice, Mr. Pool? We gave you food, drinks, all the porno you can watch. Admittedly, you were not so much into the porno as your friend. I know you said that it was because you were married and didn't want to watch a porno with other guys, let alone strangers, but it did kind of hurt my feelings a little bit. And then when we were drinking tequila you said you liked my hat, and I wasn't sure about this hat, but now it's my favorite hat. I just needed the validation, I think. After all that, I thought we were friends."

"You kidnapped me, Ximo. Friends don't kidnap each other."

"Don't look at it that way, man. I prefer to think of it as a mutual business opportunity."

"Mutual? What's in it for me to tell you where the Ebb and Ive is?"

Maximo smiled. Yeah, maybe me and my guys get the treasure and live a life of luxury for the rest of our days. I mean, splitting it evenly between five guys doesn't yield the same benefits as a single party taking it all, but it would still theoretically be a worthwhile sum. I plan to invest at least fifty percent into a high-yield, low risk money market account. The rest I'm going to use on drugs and a mansion." Ximo realized he hadn't addressed the question. "Oh yeah, you tell me and I don't kill you and your friend."

Pool wondered if Ximo and his gang were really cutthroat enough to cut throats, but decided he didn't want to find out. "Listen, I've been thinking." Ximo leaned forward. So did his gang, who had assembled around their leader. "I wasn't lyin' when I said I don't remember where the ship went down." Ximo and co. looked disappointed. "But..." They perked up. "I wrote it down. I'm old, what can I say? The uh, search grid." He made that last bit up. Something Sid had rambled once, he was pretty sure. "Call my kid and get it from her. Trade that for me and the spaz. You get the treasure. We go home. How's that for mutual?"

And Ximo took the bait, hook, line, and sinker; called Junior, and they set up a meet. Pool was pretty pleased with his perspicacity. Now the two hours was almost up and they'd have to set up a time and place. Pool could only hope his daughter had a plan to get them out of this. That and maybe that Bearded Captain had a lot of guns.




*Narration assistance by HH
Dialogue Color: firebrick

HumanHyperbole

The Bolivar:

Ximo's eyes lit up at the mention of a search grid. It would at least be a starting point. He tried to act casual. Standing up he stretched and forced a yawn. As if the conversation had grown tiresome.

"Arright. I'mma go make a phone call. See if this search grid thing pans out...Don't go anywhere!"

Laughing at his own joke he sauntered out of the room. Before his laughs could get become distant, two men were picking him up by the arm-pits and dragging him back to his room with Sidney. One thing in the halls would have stood out to his eyes, a faint color-coded path system, the streak of red ran to the engine room, blue to the cockpit, and yellow, he could just barely see the words through the dust and faded paint:

Shuttles ====>

----------------------
The Shanghai:

Another wave came into Shanghai's comm system. Ximo was once again in his elephant mask, ready to shake down Kiddy Pool for Sidney's supposed search grid. As luck would have it, a dock worker arrived at the open cargo-bay door of the Shanghai, clipboard in hand, and with several large trunks of personal possessions. Even if you couldn't see Sidney's nametags he left all over them, it'd be pretty easy to guess who arranged to have most of their stuff shipped over as freight.

Rhiannon Pool

October 12, 2021, 02:11:10 PM #12 Last Edit: October 12, 2021, 02:20:47 PM by Lomari
Location: Bridge

"What're you thinking boss?...rescue everyone and take the money anyway?" Despite not being the one the pilot was addressing, and most assuredly not having earned the title 'boss', Junior looked thoughtful and nodded slowly, her fist settling under her chin. "Yeah, probably," she muttered.

Another wave came into Shanghai's comm system, and at the same time a person came into view on the camera to the exterior cargo ramp. Rhiannon leaned over the console, completely invading Gema's personal space bubble, to stare at the image before snapping her fingers and looking pleased with herself.

"Ah hah! That's the play!" she told Des and Gemma, looking at them both with a self satisfied smile. No wonder she'd been left in charge while her father was away. This was a test from the universe and she was pretty sure she was getting a solid C-.

"Someone who isn't me will take that wave, and stall the kidnappers, remember we're meeting them in two hours and they owe us money," she began, pointing toward the general direction of wherever she thought their comms system might have been situated on array of controls.

"And then I'm gonna go get those suitcases from that guy down there, cuz all of that shiny shit is Sid's. I bet there's something in there I can use to...do something," she wagered, nodding curtly and pushing away from the helm.

Rocking back on her heels, the young woman smiled and took a deep breath. "Yeah, that's a plan," she muttered before turning on her heel and sprinting out of the room.

She slid down to the galley, rounded the corner without looking both ways, sprinted pas the bathrooms and took the stairs two at a time to get down into cargo hold. Her hand slammed onto the door control and the girl squeezed between the opening slabs of metal, too impatient to wait. "Hey! I accept these! Thanks! Mooooove!" she yelled at the innocent dock worker.

Junior fell to her knees and ripped the tape and rope from the boxes before yanking them open and rummaging through Sydney's things. The first box, the heaviest one, was absolutely stuffed with books. The girl leaned in and pushed the books around. Most of the books were about pirates and old world history. Her brows quirked upon finding that some of these books were about her dad. With downturned lips, she pocketed one of them to read later.

The second box she opened was just clothing, which was unceremoniously tossed over her shoulder as she checked to make sure he wasn't hiding anything beneath them.  "Ah hah! Stupid pirate obsessed dandy boy, of course he'd hide the treasure somewhere obvious," she said, both proud of herself and disappointed with Sid's lack of imagination. Nestled at the bottom of the clothing suitcase were two books. Her salvation. She hoped.

Junior picked them both up, inspecting them before catapulting one of them off the edge of the cargo ramp as though it had burned herr, her eyes wide and mouth agape in horror. Smut. It was a smut book. About.... Junior made a high pitched keening in the back of her throat, gagged a little, and wiped her hand off on her pants until her palm was red. Why did Sydney have a smut book about her dad?! Who wrote that? Why?! Even the image on the cover alone had been unforgivable...

Focus. Taking several deep breaths, Junior opened the notebook and thumbed through it. Notes. A drawing of Sid as a pirate. Some kind of grid with numbers all over it. A list of pros and cons. Wait. "Oh you perfect idiot! Thank you!" she said, kissing the paper and standing back up to run inside again, leaving his things out on the ramp.
Dialogue Color - Indianred

Desmond Holt

"What're you thinking boss?...rescue everyone and take the money anyway?" Desmond was just opening his mouth to reply when Pool The Younger cut him off. "Yeah, probably," she said, looking thoughtful. Desmond caught Gemma's eye and raised an eyebrow, grinning.

The console chimed, indicating another incoming wave. Again, Desmond opened his mouth to say Captainy things, and again was cut off by the young Pool. "Ah hah! That's the play! Someone who isn't me will take that wave, and stall the kidnappers, remember we're meeting them in two hours and they owe us money," Desmond lifted a finger to explain that she was pointing at the environmental monitoring system, not the comm system, but she would not be interrupted it seemed. "And then I'm gonna go get those suitcases from that guy down there, cuz all of that shiny shit is Sid's. I bet there's something in there I can use to...do something," She pushed herself back from the console and took a deep breath. Desmond just stared at her in amusement. "Yeah, that's a plan," she muttered before turning and sprinting out of the room. "Aye aye, Boss." He said, grinning as he gave her a lazy salute as she slid down to the galley below.

He turned back to Gemma and the comms console. "Right, well, you heard the kid. I'll take the wave and see if I can stall them I guess. You see if you can get a location off their transmission in case we actually have to go chase them down guns blazing. Honestly I thought I was going to have to do more of the planning stuff, so far being the Captain aint such a bad gig." He sat down, adjusted the camera angle, and put on his best deadpan intimidating face before answering the call. "Captain Holt here, -" he said, not giving Ximo a chance to speak. "-you'll be calling to provide us with those meetup coordinates I assume, good, good. I half expected you to take the full two hours to talk it over. I appreciate a fellow Captain who can think quickly. It always makes things... easier."
"The best surfer out there is the one having the most fun."
Dialogue Color: Seagreen

Beth Williams

The interview with Rose had been .... interesting.

The information that Beth had provided was confidential but, in the context of a ship, be it on the sea or in space, she knew that the doctor was perfectly at liberty to reveal that information to the captain if, in her opinion, Beth constituted a risk to the other crew, passengers, and/or the ship.

It was enough to make someone with a nervous disposition anxious and Beth was nothing if not the possessor of a very nervous disposition.

Fortunately there were more immediate concerns than what the young doctor would do, such as maintenance schedules that she needed to discuss with Ulrich, and finding Ulrich, something which had proven, so far, to be impossible. 

The Captain had metioned Ulrich; had gone so far as to threaten an introduction but somehow it had never happened. Ulrich seemed to have disappeared and the ship aside, Beth didn't even know where to start looking. A little touch of paranoia even had her wondering if the whole existence of Ulrich was a joke at her expense but she quickly dismissed it because she couldn't believe that anyone would think her important enough to go to the trouble of inventing someone just to tease her.

But she did need to resolve the issue, both of the schedules and of the location of the senior ship's engineer so she headed for the Bridge.

As was so often the case, Beth's timing was atrocious; she arrived just a moment too late to hear the Captain's outgoing message and too early for the response to have been received. The situation was exacerbated by the fact that she was totally focused on her own concerns and was never very good at reading a room.

"Do you know where Ulrich is? I want to talk to him about the maintenance schedules but I haven't been able to find him since I joined the ship."
Dialogue Colour: Fuchsia

Player: Clare : Other Characters: Velocity Grey-Lambert

Gemma Pierce

As Rhinnonan answered her question she offered a smirk and a head shake to Desmond, attempting to keep her mouth shut. The kid was worried, rightfully so - and now wasn't the time for inappropriate reactions. Even if it was a special talent of hers. Gemma's attention was pulled by the sound of a call coming in, and before she had a chance to acknowledge the plan Des was already sitting down.

Her brow raising at the change in demeanor, a side she had never seen on Des, but she didn't hate it. As requested Gemma began to try and pull a location off the call, listening intently while Des chatted up the abductors.

HumanHyperbole

November 19, 2021, 04:41:35 PM #16 Last Edit: November 19, 2021, 04:47:55 PM by HumanHyperbole
"Captain Holt here, -" Ximo smiled under his mask as if that would somehow come across. As words started to form in his mouth, his fellow Captain interrupted him.

"-you'll be calling to provide us with those meetup coordinates I assume, good, good. I half expected you to take the full two hours to talk it over. I appreciate a fellow Captain who can think quickly. It always makes things... easier."

The elephant-masked criminal rolled with the large and shockingly handsome captain.

"I appreciate you too, bro! Damn, they grow Captains big where you come from! Was your planet radioactive or something? Like you must have to eat like chicken breast every couple hours to maintain muscle mass like that?"

Mimicking Holt's tactic somewhat, he opted to just ramble rather than interrupt.

"Nah!! I bet that shit's genetic. Just look at him! "

One of his crew shoved his face in front of the camera.

"Yo! How much you bench, dude?"

Ximo quickly shoved the schmuck out of view and got back to business.

"Any-effin-way I can tell you're a busy man, we're both Captains with crews, possibly full of morons to look after... You guys are gonna shoot me them coordinates or search grid fèihuà within the next twenty minutes at this secure address..."

The kidnapper held up his hand to the camera, a secure cortex address had been scrawled across it with a pen.

"Been a pleasure, peace!"

With that, he abruptly cut off the call. The cortex unit lit up, they'd received a text message from the secure address he'd shown on screen.

"This is the address, I probably didn't need to write on my hand. Have a good one!"

Another message quickly arrived in succession.

"Also get us those coordinates for the search grid, so we can keep things positive! Entrepenuers like us gotta look out for each other. Or else."

Rhiannon Pool

By the time Junior had rushed through the ship again and returned to the bridge, Beth had arrived and Des had finished his communication with the kidnappers. She inched around Beth, eyeing the woman and frowning, looking for a moment like her father as she mimicked his surliness. Typically people said she was the spitting image of her mother, but she had been known to channel the bigger Pool on occasion.

"You make a better window than a door..." she told the woman, pretty sure she had gotten the phrase right. Although it didn't make sense. Junior squinted, but waved it off and continued in to stare expectantly at Des and Gemma, the notebook in her hand.

"You guys arrange the trade for my dad? And I guess Sid? He wire us the money he owes us?" Junior asked, brows raised.

"I found this, which looks like a search grid. Don't know if it's legit but Sid is obsessed enough with pirate adventure that it sure looks real. And that's good enough for me. We can give this to them, get dad and the wallet back, and then zip on out of here before they realize we duped them. Probably," she continued, looking down at the notebook and raising a brow.

Of course, it could have been the real thing and she was just handing them her dad's treasure. If that were the case, would her dad be angry with her for giving them such a great head start on them? No, she reassured herself, smirking. He'll just shoot them out of the sky if it's real. They'd be fine.
Dialogue Color - Indianred

Reinhardt Pool

November 23, 2021, 12:11:22 PM #18 Last Edit: November 23, 2021, 12:16:13 PM by noseatbelts
QuotePrytta couldn't believe what she was seeing. The Primarchs had destroyed her entire Township. "Why did they do this?" She mused to her good friend, Fryd.

Fryd stood up on the rock wall, piercing blue eyes as defiant as his beautiful cheekbones. "Because that's what the Primach's do, Prytta. They take and take, until there's nothing to take anymore. But one day, we will have Avengment for our Township. And we Young Ones will be the Primarchs."

Pool leaned back on his mattress, a well-worn paperback in his hands, reading glasses perched on his nose. It was some science fiction thing aimed at a much younger demographic than Pool, but when you're bored you'll do just about anything. He wondered if maybe Junior would like it, she was always reading, which is something she got from her mother. Pool only read when he was really bored. It had been a couple of hours since he'd convinced Ximo to help them escape and after about twenty minutes, Pool had asked for something to do because he didn't want to watch his kidnappers watch music videos and play video games anymore. A little peace and quiet, which wasn't something he usually got even at home.

And then the snoring started up again.

SNNNRRAAAAPCKKK

Sidney, still passed out from the drinking, was a snorer, apparently. And when he'd been returned to their room, Pool had made sure to flip Sid over to his stomach, which muffled the sound. Was his partner in treasure hunting at risk of suffocation? Pool wasn't a doctor. At least the snoring was quieter. He'd tried waking the putz up, but being that drunk it was better to sleep it off, even if he had been able to rouse him.

SNNNRRAAAAAPPPPCKCKCKCK

But the financier had a tendency to roll over. Probably something to do with breathing. Necessary it may have been for Sidney, Pool found it annoying. It was a pain to move across the room, with the cinder blocks tied to his feet, so maybe he could just ignore it. Lose himself in the words on the page.

QuotePrytta beamed up at her friend. Did he know how she felt? She had always been more shy than her beauty would imply. She tugged on her braid thoughtfully. Something her headstrong friend had said nagged at her. "But if we become the Primarchs..."

"Get down!" Fryd exclaimed, jumping from the rock wall and drawing his spearsword.

A Primarch Pegasus flew overhead, it's lazer eyes combing the countryside.

SNUUUUURRRKKKKKPAAAACKCKKKKK

"Gorammit." Pool let the book fall to his lap, his eyes glaring daggers at Sid. "Hey! Loudmouth, wake up. Wake up! SID! WAKE! UP!" He was never going to find out what happened in Avengement Saga: Rise of the Young Ones: Prytta's Journey at this rate.
Dialogue Color: firebrick

Desmond Holt

Beths timing was impressive. "Do you know where Ulrich is? I want to talk to him about the maintenance schedules but I haven't been able to find him since I joined the ship." Desmonds eyes flicked over to her, and he held up a hand in a "just a second" gesture, while he listened to the kidnappers reply. He was about to compose a reply when they abruptly cut the connection. He stared at the screen for a moment, mouth hanging slightly open in surprise. "Huh." He said, "I don't remember being that bad at stalling." There was some amusement in his voice.

In reality, he figured that theses guys were either pros who had done this before, or were just really dumb and were doing the right things by pure luck. Or maybe it was a bit of both. He looked at Gemma, shrugged, and then turned his attention to Beth. "Right, Ulrich." He said, giving her a warm smile. "No idea, I haven't seen him either to be honest... He kind of just showed up after I won the ship, and came and went as he pleased. Always walks so damn quiet too. He's probably around here somewhere... Or he left as suddenly and mysteriously as he arrived. He gave Beth a shrug. "I promise that he is the exception, and that I am much better at keeping track of the rest of my crew." a chagrined pause. "When they aren't getting randomly kidnapped, at least... Anyways. You can go over the maintenance schedule with me instead, once we get this whole situation under control." He gestured vaguely towards the Comm station.

Sounds form the ladder behind Beth drew Desmonds attention, as Junior climbed into sight, clutching a notebook. "You guys arrange the trade for my dad? And I guess Sid? He wire us the money he owes us? I found this, which looks like a search grid. Don't know if it's legit but Sid is obsessed enough with pirate adventure that it sure looks real. And that's good enough for me. We can give this to them, get dad and the wallet back, and then zip on out of here before they realize we duped them. Probably,"

Desmond grimaced ruefully. "Yeahhhh, nope. My overtly intimidating demeanor failed to... persuade them? Pretty sure think they still think we're going to be the ones paying. They sent a cortext address to send the "search grid" to though. I could always give them a sob story about being totally broke... Which also happens to be the truth, since we haven't technically been paid yet... and hope they decide to just take the grid and be done with it?" He finished, somewhat hopefully, looking back and forth between Junior, Beth, and Gemma. "Unnnless you managed to get their location from that message they probably intentionally cut short so we couldn't track them, Gem?"
"The best surfer out there is the one having the most fun."
Dialogue Color: Seagreen

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