Rovers

[noseatbelts]

The events in this aside take place in 2515, 4 years before the current time period. The crew of the Darling includes people who do not feature in the current episode. Below are listed the current crew.

Barnaby Goodweather - Captain

Mona Heyerdahl - XO

Tabitha Haemish - Medic

Riot Torvik - Mechanic

Denholm "Denny" Malarky - Crewmember/Pilot

Benedict "Benny" Malarky - Crewmember/Gunhand



Potentially other crew TBD

[Barnaby Goodweather]

In the years since the War for Unification, The Darling and her captain, Barnaby Goodweather, had seen their share of hard times. Most of the 'Verse still seemed to be recovering in one way or another. Economic hardships being the least of some folks' concerns. Barnaby did his best to make any and all transitions as easy as possible to those in his employ, but it didn't always work like he planned. In the time since his mama and pappy had died, and Barnaby took over the deed and captaining, coming up on five years now, there had been a lot of comings and goings on the ship. He'd been married, well not really, but close enough for him to count it, to a woman who'd really been after his XO, Tricky O'Doyle, who had, at the end of that exchange, also left, though him not so much of his own accord. Barnaby thought about Geraldine often. Trick he tried not to think of.

Currently on board was a pretty good core group of folks who Barnaby trusted and relied upon. He tended to do that to most folks, but these ones, they seemed special. Mona, a wartime friend of his late brother, Nate, was as steady a second officer as you'd want on your boat. She kept everything running smooth and everyone in line. The Malarky brothers and Barnaby went way back. They were the type who'd pop on for a spell, then leave to their own volition, then return looking for work again. There were a whole mess of the Malarkys, so only having two of them to worry about just now was just fine for Barnaby. Barnaby had a soft spot Tabby, their resident witch doctor. She was odd and sweet and had been there when his parents had died. You share something special like that and you're bonded for life.

As he wandered through the halls of his ship, Barnaby thought on each member of his crew and how they fit into the breadth and scope of the Darling. He prided himself on being a good judge of character, all of the times he had been wrong about a particular person notwithstanding. The Darling wasn't necessarily for everyone, but everyone got a chance to prove that fact one way or the other.

So, as he neared the door to the engine bay, he wondered how much longer it might take Riot Torvik to decide which way she fell. Barnaby had to give her adjustment period a little slack. When she took over it had been at the recommendation of her last captain, where she also hadn't had much luck settling in. The Darling had been in dire need of some mechanical expertise. The last greaser to grace her as a full-timer had been Hardy Willis, and there was no doubting that man's genius. But he was easily distracted and didn't care to worry about finer details. There was just as much duct tape and chicken wire holding Darling together by the time Hardy had disappeared as there were nuts and bolts and the sorts of things that are supposed to keep a machine together. Barnaby did his best keeping her running. He knew every single inch of his ship, but she needed someone with expertise and attention. So, Barnaby had hired Riot knowing that there would be some growing pains for her efforts.

Barnaby entered the engine room and found Riot elbow deep in the engine, to his eye it was the Thruster Injection Manifold. He offered a loud cough to announce his presence. "Ahoy there. How's it lookin'?"

Fifty years he'd been a spacer, all of them spent on this rig. Fifty years of crewing and working and captaining. And in fifty years, once a person made up their mind they weren't made out for the life, it was plain as day. Barnaby wished it wasn't so. He didn't like thinking that someone didn't like him or his ship or his crew. But the look on Riot's face was one he'd seen many, many times before.

[Riot]

It had been roughly four years since the end of the Unification war, and just about three years since Rio Torvik had left home to try and find her place in the Verse. A search that she was on the verge of giving up on. As time went on the prospect of returning to Beylix to live out the remainder of her days working in her family's scrap yard loomed higher and higher. Not that doing so would be all bad, her parents had never been anything other than loving and supportive, but after the war... she just didn't feel like she belonged there anymore.

She didn't feel like she belonged anywhere... and the last three years had done nothing but strengthen that feeling.

She'd worked on half a dozen boats in that time, and things always ended the same way, with her walking down the ramp to look for work elsewhere. The reasons themselves were varied. A failed relationship that had turned sour. Unwanted advances from an XO that ended with him in a cast. A predatory crew who screwed new hires out of their fair share of pay after a job. Or just plain old not meshing with the other crew members. One way or another things just seemed to go wrong.

Certainly Riot wasn't blameless in some of the cases... she was often not the easiest person to get along with. Her default was snark and telling people bluntly what she thought. Sometimes people didn't like that and would snark back at her, and then things would get heated... and then sometimes things would end with bruised knuckles and sore ribs.

She had been on The Darling nearly a year now, which was the longest she'd managed without anything major happening. Partly due to the fact that this time around she kept to herself as much as possible. Less chance of saying something to cause offense that way... less chance of getting into a fight. She even slept in the engine room most nights. While she was proud of how long she had managed to avoid conflict, she also hadn't really made friends with anyone... and of course the longer she stayed, the bigger her worry that something was about to happen that would send her walking down the ramp yet again, looking for work elsewhere... or finally giving up and buying a shuttle ticket back to Beylix.

She loved the ship itself, like she always did, in spite of the mess the engine room had been in when she'd signed on. The last mechanic had done things... interestingly. She liked the crew... mostly. Captain Barnaby Goodweather was a kind and good natured man who was always quick to smile and just as quick to offer a helping hand. Mona, the XO, was always straight and to the point. As long as you did your job you wouldn't have a problem. The ships Doctor, Tabitha, was really weird... but in the most endearing way possible. Even Denny and Benny were alright, if a little macho. Though she had gotten into a few heated discussions with the brothers, but thankfully those had all ended well before punches started to be exchanged.

A downside of spending so much time alone with her thoughts... was that she spent so much time alone with her thoughts. Sometimes she would think herself to within one step of thanking Captain Goodweather for employing her in spite of her... prickly nature, and getting off at the next port of call. On better nights, Riot felt sure that everything would work out and they'd all become great friends if only she could come out of her shell, but the looming thunderhead of anxiety that she would mess things up yet again always held her back.



Today was like any other. She'd spent most of it in the engine room, briefly making an appearance for breakfast before returning to continue the work of maintain the Darlings engines. She still found remnants of the last mechanics work, mostly bits of bailing wire and duct tape, even after almost a year. Today's project was the Thruster Injection Manifold.

The Captain walked in at she was finishing her preliminary check. "Ahoy there. How's it lookin'?"

Riot gave Barnaby a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Ahoy Cap'n. Just giving the Injection Manifold a checkup. Honestly surprised its not made completely of tape and wire." As she spoke she continued poking and prodding the piece of machinery. The smile rapidly changing to a frown, as parts of it were actually hot to the touch. Parts that were not supposed to be hot. "Actually... I think there's something wrong with it."

[Barnaby Goodweather]

"Mind if I looksee?" Barnaby credited Riot's expertise completely, in fact, as long as he'd been captain Darling hadn't had a better mechanic. She had a knack for it, no doubt, but sometimes a fella just needs to get his hands dirty and see for himself.

Barnaby knelt beside Riot and reaches into the Manifold, ironically using his sense of touch more than his eyes. Barnaby didn't know any engine you put him in front of. He wouldn't be able to find work mechanicking around the 'Verse. But he knew the Darling. Knew her ways and her ticks and her make up.

Hot to the touch and it shouldn't be. Just as Riot thought but didn't say. Much as Barnaby trusted Riot, he felt she didn't trust him. "Ain't supposed to be hot like that, sure you know."

He stood, stretching out his soon to be cramping muscles, and groaned as he did. "Years are sonsabitches." Barnaby said, trying for a laugh or even a smile, but didn't get much back. "We're putting down in about six hours. There's a yard close to the rondy* I know we can pick up some parts. Ol' Clarence drives a hard bargain but he'll have what we need. Think she'll hold till we can replace her?"







* "Rondy" short for Rendezvous

[Riot]

"Mind if I looksee?" Riot nodded and moved aside, a few thoughts about Barnaby not trusting her claim flitted around the back of her mind, but they were just drops in the ocean.

He knelt and reached in to feel the Manifold himself. "Ain't supposed to be hot like that, sure you know." She nodded at him.

He stood and stretched. "Years are sonsabitches." Barnaby said, and Riot gave him a halfhearted smile. "We're putting down in about six hours. There's a yard close to the rondy I know we can pick up some parts. Ol' Clarence drives a hard bargain but he'll have what we need. Think she'll hold till we can replace her?"

Riot pursed her lips, and thought for a few seconds before answering. "She should hold, yeah. I'll see if I can tweak things to ease the load on it though, just in case." She said, already moving to do so. She wasn't trying to be dismissive, she was just worried and didn't want them falling out of the sky.

[Barnaby Goodweather]

"Good. I'll leave you to it. Holler if you need any help." With that, Barnaby left, hoping that would help assuage any doubts had about him and his feelings for her. As he exited the Engine Room, he stopped briefly at the threshold and regarded the young woman while she worked, a thoughtful look on his face. He didn't know what to do. And maybe he didn't have to do anything at all. That was something Barnaby had always struggled with, not fixing things, sometimes they repaired of their own volition.

Back in the hallway, he threaded through the rest of the ship checking on crewmembers engaged in various activities. The Malarky brothers were organizing the cargo hold, supervised by his XO Mona, verifying the goods they were transporting would be ready to offload at their arrival. Barnaby mentioned to them casually that when they landed, the three of them would be in charge of handling the trade and pay day, as he and Riot would be making a run to Clarence's. Mona put up a fuss about going in unprotected, to which Barnaby reminded her that he was just as armed as she was, and Riot was plenty scrappy enough for any potential scrap in a scrap yard. Barnaby was pretty proud of his word play, Mona was less enthused.

Six-hours later, they landed at the rendezvous point and Barnaby and Riot mounted their land mule to head out to the scrap yard. Mona stood close by as Barnaby relayed a few orders. "Won't dawdle, an hour, maybe two. See about quenching the fuel tanks, check with Tabby see if she needs anything. The larders. Um." He tried to think of any thing else. Leaving the Darling was not something Barnaby enjoyed doing, so he was pretty bad at it. "That's it." Barnaby hit the throttle and off they went.

[Riot]

Six hours passed quickly. Riot spent most of it monitoring the manifold. It was definitely on its last leg, but with the adjustments she kept making it held, and The Darling touched down without any problems. She even managed to nap for an hour and a half.

Once they were on the ground the crew set about their assigned tasks, and Riot headed down to the mule with her toolbox in hand, and her .357 on her hip. She and Barnaby climbed into the mule. Mona was there to see them off and get some last minute instructions from Barnaby, and then he hit the throttle and they were off.

She felt a bit more at ease than usual. She didn't have any issues living on a spaceship, but it was always a nice change of pace to have real gravity pulling you down, and to feel wind in your hair without worrying that it was about to get very hard to breath.

They rode in silence for a while. Riot tried to think of something to say, but she second guessed just about every option that she came up with before finally settling on something safe. "So... Clarence? What's he like?"

[Barnaby Goodweather]

The whistle of the wind as they whipped across rough brush and plains. They'd parked Darling well outside of city limits, there being a parcel of reasons for doing such, and it was their usual custom to do so. You see, smaller planets on the rim, while outside of Alliance control though they may be, were still subject to someone being in charge. And those someones had their own rules and regulations that they could enforce as they saw fit. Often that meant hefty taxes or fees to use "official" docks, which they could then lock you to if someone on your crew so much as looked at someone with some bullshit bureaucratic title attached to their name. It meant a little extra effort to get a job done, but saved a whole lot of hassle in the long run.

And, so it was, the whistle of the wind as they whipped across rough brush was all that could be heard as they went from where they were, to where they were going. Barnaby felt awkward, though he wasn't sure why. He liked the whistle of the wind. He liked the open plains and the rough brush. And the small town as it appeared over the horizon (they were about ten minutes out as he guessed it), he liked that, too. It was the silence that accompanied the wind, as strange a thought though it may be, that was making him itch.

He hazarded a glance over to Riot, who seemed steadfast in her gaze out at the rough brush and open plains. What could he say to her that he hadn't already said a hundred times? Times like this Barnaby felt like a failure as a Captain. But it was worse because his crew was his family and what did it say about a person if they failed their family? Nothing much, but man it made him itch.

"So... Clarence? What's he like?"

Well hey now, that was something they could talk about! "Why Clarence, oh boy, he's a character alright. Has a little junk yard just inside town here." Was that it? Barnaby frantically searched his mind for any stories about Clarence and came up dry. "He bought it, about ten years ago. I didn't know the other fella. But Clarence speaks highly of him." Did he not know anything about Clarence? Dang, Barnaby had known him for close to six years. Now, the Darling didn't make runs here all that often, it was true. In fact, he usually got new parts for the old girl on Beylix, which if Barnaby had thought about it long enough, might have been a talking point he could have used with his mechanic who happened to also be from there. In fact, the junkyard where he'd gotten Darling's newest Quantum Actuator? Not a mile from the one Riot's father owned.

As the town came closer, the silence dropped again and Barnaby sorta thought maybe that was for the best.

[Riot]

"Why Clarence, oh boy, he's a character alright. Has a little junk yard just inside town here." "He bought it, about ten years ago. I didn't know the other fella. But Clarence speaks highly of him."

Riot nodded, and waited for Barnaby to say more. Usually "He's a character alright" would be followed by something more descriptive. Odd habits, anecdotes, or outlandish stories maybe. But nothing came, and the silence fell again. What am I doing? Old familiar thoughts rolled through her head. Do I belong here? I want to belong here... Maybe I should just leave... before I'm asked to. The looming shadow of Beylix grew another inch in her mind.

Her small sigh was lost in noise of the mules engine. She looked back out the window again, the buildings of the little town growing larger by the second, and in a few minutes they were passing the outer limits.

[Barnaby Goodweather]

"We're here!" Barnaby said as they pulled up to the junkyard. It was fenced in with chain link and topped with barbed wire, a gate blocked the road from casual passerby, and a small black box with a cortex link jerry rigged waited for them. "Huh." Barnaby looked puzzled. "Well all this wasn't here last time." The captain craned his neck around as if to make sure they were at the correct place and, to his recollection, they were.

The cortex box crackled to life and an older man with oversized, thick rimmed glasses appeared on the screen. "Can't park there." Was all the man said.

Barnaby was caught off-guard. He draped his arm over the side of the mule and leaned in a little closer to the box. "Oh um sorry about that. Be happy to move it if you open up the gate." He said, slightly shouting.

"I know you?"

Barnaby laughed awkwardly in Riot's direction. "See, what'd I say? A character." Turning back to the box. "Clarence. It's me. Barnaby. Barnaby Goodweather." This didn't seem to ring any bells. Barnaby tried again. "I bought an Engine Pylon for a '64 Scarab about three years ago or so..."

"You cracked the old one because it was running too hot. Also outfitted you a new Convection Converter to keep it happenin' again. '64 Scarab, y'say? Last year those ships were worth a good god damn. C'mon in."

The cortex link went quiet and soon after the gate rumbled to life, opening up for Barnaby and Riot to enter. "See? Told ya. Character." Barnaby put the mule in gear and drove her inside the yard. Clarence came into view and pointed them deeper into the yard as he hopped on his own little electric cart to lead them on. The walls were piled high with junk and scrap of all kinds. Whole pieces of ships coupled with random bits and pieces made for a unique maze of rust and metal. Barnaby thought of a potential conversation starter. "This must be like home, eh?" He made a mental note to try and let Riot do the talking, maybe that would cheer her up a bit.