Drunken Lullabies (Chapter 2)

We aim to misbehave! Join the crew of Jenny Wren in this sim set within the Firefly Universe.
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Drunken Lullabies (Chapter 2)

#1

Post by Ellie »

BDH Narrator wrote:
Jenny Wren is breaking atmo above Beaumond, on route to their first job. The crew and passengers are preparing to go planetside. Ellie is currently the only one who knows their objective. Players may post where they are and what they are doing as we set down on Beaumond.

Just a reminder, if your character is on Jenny Wren in the original storyline, Little Piece of Freedom then make sure you are posting in both threads until the first one is concluded and locked.
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#2

Post by Ellie »

Ellie wrote:Location: Jenny Wren, Ellie's Quarters

"Approaching Beaumonde Captain, we'll be breaking atmo in ten," Jane's voice came over the static filled comm, breaking the still darkness in her room. Ellie groaned a bit, stretched and crawled out of bed to get ready to go planetside shortly. Once dressed, she splashed some cold water on her face and toweled it back off. Finally she pulled her hair back in a loose pony tail and headed out of her room. She made her way up to the bridge and dropped into her usual co-pilot seat. "How we lookin'?" she asked Jane. The woman gave a nod to indicate everything was normal and Ellie hit the shipwide comm. "Look alive people, we're setting down on Beaumond in less than ten minutes. We'll be planetside for twenty four hours to pick up some cargo and then we'll move along to the delivery location." She turned the comm back off and muttered under her breath, "Let's hope this stop goes better than the last two..."

Location: Jenny Wren, Bridge
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#3

Post by Ellie »

Fiona wrote:Location: University Library, Beaumonde

So far, it was all going to plan, which unnerved Fiona just the slightest. Sure, in all sorts of storybooks and Cortex feeds, thieves pulled things off swiftly and beautifully, but they had practice! And elan! And a budget! And, usually, a sidekick or two! She had an artist's knife, some other assorted junk, a half-thought-out plan, and one big desire - to somehow get Rowling's Fantastical Universes out of the library without being caught.

It had taken her the better part of an hour to recreate the book's bar-code with a sheet of card-stock and a thin-tipped marker and a super-precise ruler. But after all that breathtaking work, when she slid it under the reader, the book's title and shelving information popped up. With a few quick taps of the screen she changed the book's information - setting it to "moved to discard bin" instead of "on reading room floor." With any luck, no one would go looking for the book until long after it had departed Beaumonde.

The next part was going to be done quickly - carefully, but quickly. She had to cut the original bar-code out of the book and destroy it, then attach the new bar-code to the heavy-bound album she had hidden in the artist's portfolio at her feet. It was the right dimensions but the wrong weight, but Fiona was pretty sure that a decoy only had to look convincing. People were often so close-minded as to believe their lying eyes; if it looked like a duck, it was a duck. Or, in this case, a book.

And then there was the somewhat messy part of setting off the micro-flashes, something showy to create a distraction without destroying anything mega-important, allowing her to get away while everyone else was looking elsewhere. She hadn't quite figured out how to get the micro-flashes to go off in one part of the library while she was in another, but there was nothing the "F" volume of the Book of Answers ("f" for "fuse," of course) couldn't help her with.

And then? Well, Fiona hadn't gotten that far. She was counting on adrenaline to get her out of the University Library and as far as the docks, and then... and then, there was no plan. A ship, yes. Going somewhere far away from Beaumonde, yes. She'd prefer someplace warm and well-lit, with space to pore over Fantastical Universes for as long as she wanted, and a place to recharge the processor batteries keeping her this side of hearing, but she was willing to negotiate on all of that.

"I wish I had a sidekick," she murmured as she carefully slit the plastic casing holding the bar-code to the book. "It's going to be such a let-down if I pull this off and there's no one here to crow to - to share in my glory, as it will be." She considered this. "Well, perhaps discretion is the smarter part of valor."
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#4

Post by Ellie »

Kitsune wrote:Location - Kitsune's quarters

Hours before present-

Kitsune began to search the cortex for possible jobs at the destination.

To the cortex hand held terminal. "Begin search Bounty's License number BK421-009, Begin search all Securities License number AS1098-009, Begin search all Private Investigation Requests License PI1021N3, Begin search Process servings Requests License PTRBCSO finally begin search Request for prisoner transport License PT009 and narrow search parameters to Beaumond". Having a five star badge was harder to get then becoming a cop and infinitely harder to maintain so most people just became cops but seeing how that was in the past this was the only way to do jobs like these. Prison transport, process servings, securities (be them private, personal or commercial )Private investigations and bounty-hunting, all required different licenses, policy's and procedures, renewals to maintain and having to do this while your competition constantly tried to get your licenses taken away to open more jobs for them made it ludicrous for someone to want to get a five star badge, but it put the food on the table he thought. "And notify on continual 30 minute intervals of new alerts." Beginning to pack up his gear in the reverse order he unpacked it. then thinking to him self the following

Most of the really juicy work was always out on the rim were the law was scarce. That's why he left his ship back on Osiris it would have never made a run to the rim it was designed for police duties in the core and boarder worlds being a double occupant (the second person riding in a cage) police AS-5 Proteus. No place to move limited fuel and maintenance was a bit of a pain specially sense he was no longer in the service. it was retired, having exceeded its term of use standard set by the alliance, when he bought it but he could get it fixed at any fleet service station when he was a cop. Now not so much. Sure he had the money but police parts were almost impossible to come by being regulated and what not. Yet now he was wishing he hadn't hes on a ship full of angry people with things to hide and still has yet to leave the boarder worlds this entire time. And to top it all off this ship was boarded which obviously upset a good portion of its passengers and crew, and if stuff had gone south he doubted he could have just said "Im just a passenger I have nothing to do with them" and the troopers just give him a thumbs up and let him walk off ship with his belongings....yea more likely it w ended with a hand in his rectum, his gear confiscated and at least a month of interrogation. then he thought to him self, Ah Marissa why don't you stick your head out just for a moment to get noticed so i can have a real challenge. But he knew his sister was better then that. With that thought complete his terminal began to beep.

Finally the list was compiled being a border world there should be plenty of such work needed. He began to sift through the files, Smuggling ..nope, embezzlement...pays good but not my cup of tea, Cheating husband.....lets see what we got. He continued like that till he heard the captains announcement

Present -

A few decent jobs marked and hopefully some entertainment to it, he sat down in the desk chair and waited for the green light to depart ship.

Location - Kitsune's quarters
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#5

Post by Ellie »

Ellie wrote:Location: Jenny Wren, Bridge

Jane got permission to land and brought the ship down with no hiccups. Ellie left her with instructions to stay with the ship. She didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave it anyway, so it suited her fine.

Ellie went back to her cabin and holstered her sidearm before snatching the brown leather jacket off the back of the chair that sat in front of her desk. A thought struck her and she pulled open the drawer and rifled through it until she found a little book of contacts. Flipping the pages she found the pages for Beaumonde. Her finger slid down the page and stopped at the name she was looking for. It had been a long time. Too long, in fact. Would a visit be welcome now? A lot had happened in the intervening years, and a lot had been said on the last time they had seen each other. Things that couldn't be easily forgotten or forgiven. She slipped the book into her pocket. It could be decided later; after the cargo was safely in Jenny's hold.

As Ellie reached the cargo hold she hit the comm once again and announced, "Welcome to Beaumonde folks. New Huntsville to be exact. We'll be docked here for just twenty four hours so don't get too settled in. Be sure to find a bar and get yourself a drink while you're at it. Earth-That-Was Distillery makes the finest in Old Earth style spirits and this is the cheapest place in the 'verse to get 'em. For those of you who are getting off at this stop, glad to have you hitch a ride on Jenny and best of luck on Beaumonde!" She smiled a bit to herself and then went on, "Major James, can you join me in the cargo hold..." pausing for a moment she came to a decision, "You too Kitsune. That is, as long as you are not in too big a rush to get somewhere." She would need a little help for this job. Mostly just some more guns and muscle for show to keep the undesirable sort away from the cargo they were being employed to transport.

The cargo bay door opened and let the sunlight stream in. Well, as much of it as there was to be had. This being one of the cities with factories in it, the air was full of the usual haze of pollution. The only places free from it on Beaumonde were New Dunsmir and the open country, far from Blue Sun's factories. "You'd think we would've learned our lesson from Earth-that-was," she commented to no one in particular. The people passing by along the docks ignored her as she stood on the loading ramp surveying the scene. Turning back into the ship she saw Kitsune coming in from the passenger dorms and she could hear Teddy on the spiral staircase so she knew he would be with them soon too. Ellie crossed the space in the cargo hold and met Kitsune by the Skiff. She moved over to it and opened it up as she explained, "I'm sure you have a job in mind or something or other to do, but if you could lend a hand in my cargo pick up it would be appreciated. I'd be willing to pay you a bit as well for your time. Though it won't be much since it won't take much of your time."

Inside the Hover Skiff, she began the start up procedure and gave a curt nod to Teddy as he joined them. Finally she explained, "We've got a pick up for cargo. It's all legitimate business, but it could cause some folks to be jealous. I'd like for you two to help me move it from the pick up to the ship. Scare off anyone who might be up to no good, if you follow. You up for it?"

Location: SHI LAV-30 Hover Skiff
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#6

Post by Ellie »

Fiona wrote:Beaumonde Docks

"Hummingbirds' hearts beat at 1400 beats per minute," Fiona whispered to herself as she moved towards the docks. "The king of hearts is the only king without a mustache in a standard deck of playing cards. Blocks of tea used to be used as currency in Siberia-That-Was."

The facts kept spilling out of her mouth as she headed up the road towards the docks. The muscles in her legs were burning from the quick getaway from the University Library, and her arms were wrapped around the artists' portfolio containing Fantastical Universes; the backpack-style duffel bag on her back contained the rest of her possessions. Her processors were turned down to half-volume - it helped her to be able to focus on what was important: getting a ride on a ship, and never letting the litany of facts stop. If they stopped she'd surely be caught, and if she was caught, well...

"Glass takes one million years to decompose. A group of geese on the ground is a gaggle, but in the air they're called a skein. A group of larks is called an exaltation. A group of owls at rest is called a parliament. A group of toads is called a knot. A group of ravens is called a murder. A group of rhinoceri is called a crash. A group of unicorns is called a blessing."

Having fully exhausted her list of animal-group facts, Fiona let her eyes scan the ships at the docks. A surprisingly low amount, based on the number of people at the shops. Mostly government - she could tell by the markings.

"A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce from the bottom of the glass to the top without stopping." That one slowed her thoughts a bit - how in the world did she know anything about champagne? Or raisins?

Her eyes caught sight of a Dragonfly-class ship at the far end. Fiona's father had a "thing" for Dragonflies, though he'd never flown on one. Much like she had a "thing" for odd facts and could spout them day and night without ceasing if provoked, her father could wax poetic on Dragonfly-class ships with a sense of wonder and fascination.

That settled it. Still spewing facts like a dropped encyclopedia, Fiona headed towards her new-found ride. "Porcupines float in water. Confucius was a corn inspector. James Buchanan was the only unmarried United States president. Lobsters have blue blood."

She slowed as she came to the ship. It looked deserted, but the cargo bay was open oh-so-welcomingly. She flicked her processors up to full volume, all the better to hear if anyone was coming for her.

Fiona took a deep breath, hugged Fantastical Universes closer, and strode aboard the ship. Every step she took, she paused, waiting to see if anyone was around.

Cautiously she peered around the cargo bay. Nothing out of the ordinary.

And there - there was her saving grace. A big carton pushed into a corner. Fiona hurried towards it, ducked behind the crate, and crouched down. She took off her backpack and settled it on the floor next to her. The black canvas bag containing Fantastical Universes stayed in her lap.

She hugged that magical book, pulled her knees up to her forehead, flicked off her processors, and with one final fact - "There are several body parts we don't actually need: the coccyx, the pinkie toe, wisdom teeth, body hair excluding facial, the female vas deferens, the male uterus, the appendix, and, according to most scientists, the spleen" - she curled into herself...

... and fell fast asleep.
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#7

Post by Ellie »

Kistune wrote:Location - Skiff

Kitsune-"Its all right by me, I haven't really decided if anything here peaks my interest, So I'll give ya a hand" Usually when some one says it might make people jealous and scare people off it usually means to Kitsune that it might be an interesting time. With that though he undid the top off his duffel and pulled out one med kit and three of his smoke grenades, then re did the duffel."Don't recon I been to this town in particular does it have a bank? and if so where might it be?" putting the three grenades in three holsters on the backside of his crossing belts and putting the med kit on like a back pack. Not waiting for a reply since he was going with them anyway he hopped off and set his duffel bag between some crates in a corner then hopped back on the skiff. "Well I'm as ready as I will be, less you want to give me some details about the people we might just be agitating" then his mind went to the payment, I hope she pays in kisses he thought. Just then his portable went off and he looked at it. Theft, library laughing to him self he continued on with the bulletin, list of suspects is shot, first was a little girl who visited the book daily "Wow ok really daily" if that didnt scream has a hard on for it nothing did.he looked at the servaliance photo of her then looked to the next suspect the attendant who issued the book "Ok you know what its not my style and I dont care" he was hopeing for a deviase villan who preyed on the weak and was semi smart, some one who truely needed to be removed from the verse not a little girl who took a book. Smiled at him self for the took a book though, "wow im getting dumber by the minute"

Location - Skiff
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#8

Post by Ellie »

Ellie wrote:Location: Hover Skiff

"Its all right by me, I haven't really decided if anything here peaks my interest, So I'll give ya a hand. Don't reckon I been to this town in particular does it have a bank? and if so where might it be?" Ellie shook her head slightly, "I think there's one just off the docks in the opposite direction we're going right now. You can probably look it up on the Cortex when we get back to find out for sure."

She swiveled her chair around and began start up. The sound of the hover engines kicking in was rather loud in the cargo hold, but there was no one there to hear it, at least they didn't think there was. The three occupants of the Hover Skiff could feel the Skiff begin to lift off the ground and finally the engines reached a nice steady level and she looked back at them with a grin, "Strap in boys, we're off!"

Ellie took the Skiff cautiously out of the cargo hold, for fear some pedestrian might walk across their path just as they left the ship, but once to the end of the loading ramp, she could see the road was clear and she hit the gas, quickly picking up speed as they went along. She was particularly fond of the Skiff. Timmy might have accused her of taking it instead of the Mule just for the fun of it, but Ellie was pretty certain the load capacity might be more than the Mule could handle. It was pretty limited. She zipped around a corner, barely slowing down and breezed down another, slightly more narrow road. She continued in this manner for about fifteen minutes, taking corners quickly and using smaller side streets to avoid traffic, and as many pedestrians as possible. If they were looking outside, the guys would notice that the businesses and housing was thinning out as they Skiff was coming into the industrial zone of the city. They soon were amidst large factories and heavily armed plants on either side, and finally Ellie slowed and brought the hover craft in to a an entrance on their left. The sign over the entrance read, "Earth-That-Was Distillery" and she stopped at the guard gate.

The officer on duty approached the Skiff suspiciously, "You got business here ma'am?"

She nodded, "Been employed to carry a small shipment off planet. Name's McKee, with Jenny Wren. They should have sent our info ahead already."

"Wait here while I check," the officer went back to the guard booth and they could see him talking to someone probably by wave. Ellie explained as she watched him, "For the smaller buyers on the Rim worlds, it's less expensive to charter your own shipment than to pay the fees the distillery charges. Costs an arm and a leg to get them to ship to a Rim World. I only charge an arm," she joked.

The guard gave them the go ahead and opened the gates, telling them, "Straight ahead past these two buildings to the third on on the right, they'll have the shipment on the loading dock by the time you get back there." The man cast a friendly smile at her and touched his uniform cap as he retreated to the booth again. Ellie returned the smile and took the Skiff inside the factory grounds, following his instruction to the proper building. Easing the Skiff up to the dock they could see a burly guy leaning casually against six large crates. "Let's get them loaded up gentleman..." Ellie released her belt and clambered quickly out of the Skiff.

The guy standing there, rolling a cigar stub around in his lips, eyed her up and down and then commented, "these boxes are awfully heavy for a pretty little thing like you."

She placed her hands on her hips, pushing back her jacket in the process, revealing her sidearm and commented coldly, "Then it's a good thing I have help with all of that now isn't it?" His eyes looked past her as Teddy and Kitsune got out of the Skiff behind her. He mumbled something and moved out of their way so they could load the goods into the Skiff. Within minutes they were finished and twenty minutes later, they were bringing the skiff up the loading ramp into Jenny's cargo hold once again.

Ellie opened the Skiff door yet again and taking a hold of the nearest crate she commented, "Thanks fellas, mind giving me a hand getting it into the hold and then if you have other stuff you want to do here in New Huntsville, then you can get to it?" She didn't wait for their answer as she hauled the first crate out and set it up against a crate close to the back wall.

Location: Jenny Wren, Cargo hold
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#9

Post by Ellie »

Kitsune wrote:Condenced time happens over a matter of hours, possile character interaction points read carefully

Location - Cargo hold

After unloading the skiff Kitsune turned to the captain. "I'll be back for my stuff in a few hours or so if ya don't mind" turning he headed out the cargo hold for that bank the captain had mentioned.

Once the bank was in sight Kitsune slowed down and started to take in the area as he walked. Its at that moment Kitsune spotted a Lady with her child in an alley across the street from the bank, the woman and child were covered in dirt and dust. He watched as to gentlemen in fancy suits walked past them with out notice or care. "what horrid times we live" he said as he crossed over to them, their look connived that they had been there a while and were being covered by dust from passing vehicles. Stopping in front of them he pulled off his med kit and produced a food stuff brick. "this is a grade A food stuff brick, could last you at least a month, more if its just the two of you" she smiled a weary smile at him "wont do much for the grumbles though its just ment to provide you with all your supplements and immunizations to keep you going." He then reached behind him and pulled out his money bag and with out looking pulled out one platinum piece and handed the bag over to the mother. "there is ruffly 3 and a half platinum in that bag, I recon its a good start." the mother began to cry causing Kitsune to tear up. "Now don't you be going and doing that you ganna make me cry" in order to maintain his composure he looked to the little girl and held up the last platinum coin. The girls eyes lit up as he leaned in close "Little miss can you do me a favor" he said "can you buy you and your mommy something nice for me" the girls head began to bounce joyously up and down the smile of being given such an important task st-rune across her face and before Kitsune could straiten up she latched onto him around the neck in a hug. The mother full of tears now

Mother-"Bless you stranger"

Kitsune couldn't keep his composure and began to let tears run down his face. Standing up "now see what you gone and made me do" he wiped the tears from his face and turned away not to look back again and started off to the bank "You take care of each other now you hear me" a very child like voice replying to his back

Kid-"Thank you mister"

Location-Bank

Inside the bank Kitsune spotted an old man at the teller window. "Hay old timer, how you doin"

Old timer (OT)-"Fair to midland how bout your self"

Kitsune (K)-"Cant complain my self thank you for asking"

OT-"what can I do ya for today"

K-"do you partner with Osiris Trans Union"

OT-"surely do" taking kitsunes card "Kitsune....you ain't kin to that Law man Marcus Kitsune are ya"

K-"Yea I am" seemed he would never get out of his fathers shadow or away from anyone who once glanced him

OT-"I saw him once bring in eight guys single handed"

K-"The way he tells it it would be more like 50" trying to humor the old man

OT-"I would too if I was a big name like him....but down to business what can I do for you today"

K-"I'd like 10 platinum or equivalent in credits which ever you have or is most excepted in this town"

OT-"the prefer hard currency here but will take both, now lets see here......Oh my seems your father left you a small fortune"

K-feeling like he just got underrate man of the year "He ain't dead and I had to bust my ass to get that money" though he knew the teller had hit his mark, his dad did give him 45000 platinum and instructions to bring his sister back home alive.

OT-"I'm sorry sir didn't mean no offense, but 10 platinum that sure is allot, planning on going to see that Companion the made fall not but a short while back?"

K-the thought hadn't occurred to him "you know what make it 20 then" he never imagined running into another companion. that jenny wren sure took him to the best places.

OT-looking him over with a bit of scrutiny "I was only funnen youngster you know them lady types are choosy about who they bed with, she was booked up before she even landed"

K-"oh i just might find a way" Now looking forward to the possibility of a woman's touch, the smell of her skin. It would mean he would have to forgo any jobs here and would have to fly with the wren again so he can use her gally. It would also mean he would have to make good with her while on world. Perhaps by cooking for her a couple time and bringing it to her which ever ship she was on.....which would mean cooking for the whole crew of the wren to keep them from jacking it before he could leave ship and bring it to her. And perhaps the captain will see his amazing cooking skills and want to sleep with him too. Thats it he decided I'm ganna stay on the wren for a spell, good places smoking hot crew I'm bound to get some one to love me. speaking to the old timer again "I also thought i saw a ship resupply store just on the other side of the dock walls. Do they have any good produce and the like?"

OT-"They grow their own produce about 20 miles outside of town on a farm, so its pretty fresh and the owners are a nice couple too very friendly"handing over 20 platinum

K-"Alright thanks old timer I'll give them a look over"

OT-"Alright you take care now and don't be fool to think your ganna win that lady over or nothing"

K-"I'll keep that in mind" stepping out of the bank."

Location - Supply store

K-"Howdy, I need some things for a trip off world mainly fresh food can I get that here"

Gentlemen behind the counter (G)-"You most certainly can"

K-"Alright I'm in need of 3 five pound bags of flower,3 apples, a few heads of lettus, a couple bell peppers, about a Pound of habenaros, 3 pounds of salted pork, some chicken"

G-the man interrupted him "I got whole, feathered, and cuts which do you prefer"

K-"Whole will do nicely thank you, I need 8 pounds of beef stakes and 8 pounds of ground beef, how ever much corn you can spare and 25 pounds of rice"

G-"Will that complete your order"

K-"For the food part yes sir, I also would like one bedroll with blanket, a grade A food stuff brick if you got it and that spice rack"

G-"I can get you everything but the food brick, they are near imposable to get outside the core worlds and way to expensive to keep on hand out here"

K-"Fair enough, so how much I owe ya"

G-"Lets see here" doing some tallying "7platinum 14 silver"

K-"Make it 8 and I'll take that hole bucket of flavored candy canes" Kitsune had the verses biggest sweet tooth hands down

G- smiling like he just made out on the deal the man began to box it all up "You got a deal, will you be needing any help carrying that back to your ship"

K-"Na I will use one of the carts the port provides as a service to your shop"

G-"alright then thank you for your business but I'm ganna give you fair warning the carts are the cheapest they could find"

waving kitsune left the shop loaded up a cart and began his laborious trip back to the ship, fully getting the meaning the shop keeper ment to in-part on him as he went. Once on board though he figured life would have to take a turn for the better. he wheeled his cart over to his duffel and bent down to pick it up. but noticed something out the corner of his eye, so he took

a lean forward for a better view and was only able to utter a single sound "Huh" leaning back up and looking around to see if anyone else is around. No one so he leaned forward again for another look uttering the same thing "Huh" it was obviously a teenaged girl and obviously from her choice of sleeping spots not a passenger. he looked around again, the voice in his head telling him, leave this be you don't wanna get booted off ship when its cold out side before you taste a woman's touch again, cause surely the captain would refuse to make him the happiest man in the verse if she found out he helped a stow away, but his heart told him just do it you softy. So he did he took out his newly acquired bed roll the three apples his key to his quarters a flash light and one of his last two remaining food stuff bricks and placed them around the corner to hid with her. In doing so he caught a glimps of a hearing devise. "Well I'll be" Pulling out his handy dandy note pad or as called by his dad a cops best friend, he began to write a note. It read

Little girl, don't know how big of cahonnies you got but it took some to sneak on so I'm not ganna rat you out. But you cant stay here in the open for too long. My room was 7A, its the one closest to you on the right hand side. You can hide there no one will bother you if you don't make too much noise. Best of luck to you Kitsune

Well he thought to him self, he was ganna be spending his nights in the lounge he'd better come up with a stellar reason to give the crew. While he thought on this, he placed his belongings back in his room this time just putting the whole duffel in the foot locker and locking it shut then he took the food up stair to the gally were he planned to put it away.

Location - Gally
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#10

Post by Ellie »

Fiona wrote:Location: Jenny Wren's Cargo Bay

Deaf to the world - and therefore undisturbed by any outside noises - and exhausted from carrying out the plan to steal Fantastical Universes, Fiona slept on, curled tightly into a ball.
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#11

Post by Ellie »

Ellie wrote:Location: Shuttle

Once the cargo was secured and Kitsune had taken off with some comment about coming back for his stuff later, Ellie had decided to pay her visit. So she took a shuttle out and currently was heading into the prairies of Beaumonde. It was a good forty minute trip so it gave her plenty of time to think about what she would say.

Finally she saw a small ranch in the distance, the coordinates were right so this must be it. As she came in closer, she realized it was not as small as she first thought. Below her there were cattle roaming in a pasture along one side of the little dirt road. looked like a decent size herd too. The house was a two story farm house, painted white with green shutters and a big red barn. "Very picturesque," she noted. Bringing the shuttle down she cut the engine and climbed out. Brushing a stray hair out of her face, she plucked up the nerve to walk up to the front door. Her hand hovered indecisively in front of the door and then she quickly rapped on it before she could change her mind. She could hear the pounding of feet running to the door and it yanked open to reveal a little bare foot boy, maybe six years old. Freckles across the bridge of his nose and mussy dark brown hair. "Oh!" Ellie was caught off guard, "I'm sorry I must have the wrong ranch--" her comment was cut off by the sound of a familiar voice calling from inside, "Connor, who's at the door?"

A tall, slender woman came up behind the little boy and looked at Ellie with as much surprise as she had looked at the boy. "El?"

Ellie was surprised by the change in her, she looked older of course, there was a touch of gray in her brown hair. Yet the most striking thing was the difference in her eyes. She had always been slight and lady-like, but now there was a kind of wisdom there that Ellie didn't recall. Guess that came with age too.

Ellie nodded, "Good to see you Charlotte."

Charlotte stood there a moment as if not sure what to do then she said, "Where are my manners, come in. Put your feet up, have a drink," as she shooed the boy out of the way and pulled the door open farther for Ellie. The captain complied, entering the house as cautiously as she would have a bar full of Alliance Feds. It wasn't decorated fancy and the furniture certainly wasn't high quality, but it was cozy and inviting. Charlotte showed her to the kitchen.

"Coffee?" she asked.

Ellie nodded, "You know me, never turn down a good cup of coffee.

Charlotte turned to make the coffee as she replied, "Not sure how well I know you now, but I did know you once upon a time."

There was an awkward silence for a couple minutes, filled only with the sound of the coffee percolator. Then Charlotte turned and sat down at the table across from Ellie.

"So..." began Ellie uncomfortably, "You've got a little boy now?"

Charlotte nodded, "Three actually, and one girl."

"Wow!" Ellie smiled a bit, "You always did seem like you'd be a great mom. You and Ian must be really proud of them..."

Charlotte laughed, "Ian? I assumed you heard that the wedding was called off!"

Confusion crept over her face, "I thought... no, I didn't hear anything about it. I left the morning after we last talked and... how did you think I would have heard about it?"

Charlotte changed the subject, "Sounds like the coffee's ready, you still take cream and sugar?"

Ellie nodded, not sure what to make of Charlotte's response to her question. She simply watched as the woman set the coffee down in front of her and looked out the window at the sound of an tractor pulling up in front of the barn. Charlotte smiled and said, "Looks you get to meet my husband and the rest of the kids."

Moments later a chaotic group practically seemed to tumble in the door. The two boys were both vying for Charlotte's attention, telling them what they had helped their pa do on the farm that day and finally a tall man with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes entered the room, carrying a girl probably no more than two in his arms saying, "look who I found out back playing with the new lamb." He leaned over and kissed Charlotte and handed the girl to her, commenting that the boys did well out there with him today and then seemed to notice Ellie's presence. Charlotte explained, "Henry, this is my old friend Eloise McKee."

A look of comprehension to dawn upon his face and he extended a hand across the table to her, "I'm pleased to meet you ma'am. Any friend of Charlotte's is a friend of mine. And the way I understand it, I owe you a debt of gratitude."

Ellie didn't understand what he meant but she stood and accepted his handshake with pleasure and smiled at him. He excused himself to wash up and Charlotte said, "These two little hooligans are Robert and Matthew," she tousled each of them on the head as she introduced them saying, "say hello to Miss Ellie boys."

"Hello Miss Ellie," they echoed obediently, and then just as quickly rushed out of the room to find something more interesting to do.

Charlotte called after them, "Supper will be on in twenty minutes! Clean up before you come back to the table!"

Ellie smiled, they seemed so genuinely happy. She turned her attention back the girl who was watching her shyly from her mother's arms, "And who is this little beauty?"

"This is Eloise," Charlotte responded softly.

Ellie looked at her with unmasked surprise, "Charlotte..."

The woman set her little girl down and softly instructed her to go find her brothers and play with them. Once the girl was out of the room, she sat down and motioned for Ellie to do the same too.

"I don't understand any of this..." Ellie began, but her friend cut her off.

"You know for how quick you can be to respond to everything, you can sure be slow figuring out the simple things," Charlotte said with a grin, "Sweetie, we were friends for near on twenty years. We were best friend since grade school. Did you really think anything would have change that?"

"Yes. Yes, I think what I told you would have changed that for good," Ellie replied miserably.

"What happened hurt like hell, I won't deny it. And I was so very angry with you for a long time. If you had shown back up here ten years ago, I would have sooner shut the door in your face than serve you coffee!"

"I couldn't blame you if you did."

"But once I got past it all, recovered from it, I realized that you were closer to me than a sister and that without intending to I had forgiven you."

"I'm so sorry Charlotte," was all Ellie could trust herself to say at that point.

"It's history," Charlotte said brightly. "Besides, if not for you I would have married the wrong man and never would have met Henry. Which is why he was thanking you, in case you were wondering." Charlotte said with a laugh.

The family invited Ellie to join them for supper and she did. She found it was the most comfortable group of people she had been with in many years. They were warm and loving and just... family. It had been a long time since Ellie had been with anything resembling family. Finally the night wore away and Ellie said she had to leave. They said their goodbyes with promises of visiting again before too long and she headed out to her shuttle. Just as she opened the door to it she heard Charlotte call to her as she ran out of the house after her. The woman hugged her tightly and then stepped back to look her in the face, "I thought he would have told you that I called the wedding off. I just assumed..."

Ellie shook her head a bit and then brushed it all off, "Like you said, it's history. I haven't talked to him since that day either."

Charlotte watched sadly as her dearest friend lifted off in her shuttle and flew off in the night.

Forty minutes later, Ellie brought the shuttle in and docked with Jenny. She sat for a moment, gathering her thoughts before leaving the ship. Then stepping onto Jenny Wren, she left it all behind her.
"Back to the present," she told herself resolutely.

Location: Jenny Wren, Lounge
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#12

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Fiona wrote:Jenny Wren Cargo Bay

Hidden behind the crate, she was dreaming.

She had to be dreaming.

People swam towards her. They were talking. She couldn't hear them.

Her hands rose up. Was she trying to fight them off, or was she trying to sign? Could it have been both?


She whimpered. Or was she crying?
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#13

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Ellie wrote:Location: Jenny Wren, Galley

There was a sound of sizzling and the smell of some kind of breakfast meat (or meat like product at least) cooking in the galley. A tray full of pancakes sat on the counter top, and removing the meat from the stovetop, Ellie slid a plateful of it onto the counter right next to the pancakes. She then poured herself a glass of something that tasted almost entirely like juice but was intended to be a juice substitute with all the vitamins and minerals therein. Pulling a plate from the cupboard she put some of the breakfast foods on it and carried it up to the bridge where Jane was sitting at the controls. The pilot looked at her in surprise as Ellie set the food down in front of her. The captain smiled and explained, "Figured since you were driving this ship, it's the least I could do," then she went back down to the galley and got herself some food.

Jenny Wren had lifted off earlier than anticipated since no one was running around on the planet and the work was done. So Jane had taken Jenny off Beaumonde a couple hours ago and they were well on their way to the next destination.

Sitting down at the table, she started eating and waited for someone to smell the food and come looking for the source. Most of them had been asleep when they left the planet, or she assumed they were asleep. She hadn't seen anything of the passengers or Timmy that morning anyway.

Location: Jenny Wren, Galley
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#14

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Kitsune wrote:Location - Ships lounge

Resting on the couch in the Kitsune hears the captain begin cooking. The lights were low on his side of the lounge so she probably didn't notice him and probably didn't mean to wake him. Know this was the case he kept still and let her do her thing. She was making pancakes and meat, the aroma made Kitsune hungry but it was her food so he continued to watch. It had been a long time since he had pancakes.

Once she finished cooking she took up a plate and walked away. With nothing interesting to observe Kitsune closed his eyes again only to noticed the change in gravity. "We're no longer on planet." Sitting up, "I had much more to do on planet" namely visit a companion. He thought he would have to talk to the captain about this, it was unexpected. Then he thought better of it, Its not like she would turn around after taking off. Maybe she had a good reason? But he did buy all that food now it was just gonna have to be used on this crew. "Nuts" He wondered how long they were out but couldn't check before the captain returned and took a seat at one of the tables. He decided to play it off like he had sat down after she left, cause he had not thought of a explanation for sleeping in the lounge. He stretched his arms across the back of the couch "Morning cap, seems we left planet. Whats the destination? if you don't mind me asking?" He hadn't truly thought about staying on board but seems he would be, sides the captain took him to the most interesting places so far why not see whats next.

Location - Ships lounge
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#15

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Fiona wrote:Location: Cargo Bay
Fiona shifted and moved and blinked. The heavy canvas bag was still on her lap, but she appeared to be surrounded not only by her own belongings, but a variety of other objects. The effect was odd, as though she was some sort of saint flush with patrons' offerings.

She picked up one of the apples - "Huh." - and then set it back down.

She flicked her processors back on and immediately a spinning sensation jolted through her head. It swept her and she put her forehead to the floor. An apple rolled past her hand, startled by the sudden movement.

"We're moving," she informed the floor. "Euggh, we're moving."

Besides the spinning vertigo sensation bouncing through her artificially enhanced cochleae, excitement fizzled through her limbs. She had gotten away with it - Fantastical Universes was still cradled against her. And they were going somewhere, hopefully far away from Beaumonde.

When the spinning finally stopped, thanks to her processors playing catch-up, she sat up carefully. She strapped the canvas bag across her back, and stood, bracing herself on the crate in front of her.

It was becoming apparent that her father's obsession with Dragonflies was ridiculous - it felt like flying in a tin can being thrown down a gravel driveway. Or were deaf people the only ones to perceive it that way?

With a deep breath, Fiona squared her shoulders and headed out from behind the crate to properly introduce herself to the other inhabitants of the tin can.
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#16

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Ellie wrote:Location: Jenny Wren, Galley

Ellie was carrying her plate and drink back over to the table when she was startled by Kitsune's voice, "Morning cap, seems we left planet. Whats the destination? if you don't mind me asking?"

She about dropped her plate because she had no idea he was here. She hadn't seen him come in. Eyeing him suspiciously she asked, "When did you come in?"

Setting her plate down she slid easily into a chair and responded, "We're on our way to Greenleaf. Hope you didn't mind us leaving planet before we planned, just didn't see a reason to hang around since business was done and no one on board seemed interested in wandering planetside..."

Ellie motioned to the counter where the food sat saying, "Feel free to eat, I made enough for everyone. It's not much but it's hot," and then started eating her food.

Location: Jenny Wren, Galley
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#17

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Kitsune wrote:Location - Dinning hall

"Dont mind if I do" walking over to the food she left on the counter and put enough for an average person on the plate. "So greenleaf huh?, you got buisness there? Not that its any of mine, just wondering if you might need to hire on some extra hands again. ..."filling up a glass of the liquid she had "Or seeing how its a world out on the rim there might be some work for a guy like me." he looked over the plate. "Also being a rim planet transport is well harder to come by...........hold those thoughts I'll be right back, got something for this in my room." taking the food and heading down to the cargo bay were he spots the girl he was going to give the food to comming out of hiding. As if it was a scene from a bad comedy Kitsune stopped in place one foot in the air not yet landed, a dumbfounded pale look on his face."you got to be kidding me shes the worst stow away ever." moving over to her after a quick servy of the area for others. He knew she was hard of hearing but there was a good bet she could hear or at least read lips. "Hay over her, what are you doing your ganna get cought"handing over the plate and glass to her and readying to hurry her off to hiding.

Location - Cargo Bay
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#18

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Fiona wrote:Fiona considered the dark-haired man, trying to catch what he was saying. Having her processors on made her feel drunk, so she'd turned them down to half-as-loud. She focused intently, unconsciously copying his lip movements as she figured out what he'd said.

"I do not fear being caught," she said. Her voice was odd: flat, strangely devoid of most emotion, and somewhat difficult to understand, somewhat at odds with her almost fae-like appearance - much like she'd been taught to speak by professionals, instead of from infancy. "I am a passenger. I have money to pay my way. I came aboard differently than most but I am willing to pay what is owed."

She looked confusedly at the plate he was attempting to give her, and then some sort of realization dawned on her face. "Ah, you are the one who believes me some sort of saint in a wayside shrine."

She handed him an apple, smiling. "I am no saint, and this tin can down a gravel driveway is no wayside shrine."

Fiona considered him a moment longer, unwilling to let go of the artist's bag still in her grasp, even though the food smelled delicious. "And you, lonely pilgrim along the highway, are not the captain whom I seek. Tell me, is the captain about?"
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#19

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Kitsune wrote:Location-Cargo Bay

"Desho? Watashi wa rikai dekimasen. Watashi wa itta nodakara." Moving aside to let her past. "Shes up there eating" a completely stuffied look on his face. He was just dismissed like a child....by a child!! He remained a few more moments. There's no being kind to some people, though she didn't ask for my help did she he thought. then it hit him again she totally just verb-ably slapped him, and she did it with no emotion, kinda like when you step on an ant hill while walking ya just don't care. he realized at that moment that girl was about to talk to the captain, most likely in the same tone and to be coupled with the fact she was a stow away......."OH MAN" running up the stairs after the little girl trying to catch up to her before she talked to the captain who just might space the girl.

Location-Cargo Bay/Dining Hall stairs
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#20

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Ellie wrote:Location: Jenny Wren, Galley

Ellie cast an amused glance at Kitsune at his question about Greenlead. Seems he forgot about the cargo they picked up the day before. He obviously was a little off this morning, but she wasn't sure why. His thoughts seemed a little jumpy or something and he excused himself saying something about having something in his room. She watched him leave the galley with her fork half way between the plate and her mouth. He made no sense, something was definitely up.

Pushing her chair back from the table she quietly followed in the direction he went and nearly barreled into him when he stopped in surprise. She just managed to stop herself in time and pull back out of sight. He must have been thoroughly distracted by whatever he was looking at because he did not seem to have noticed her following him.

He proceeded down into the cargo bay in a hurry, announcing "Hey over here, what are you doing your ganna get caught"

Ellie stepped out into the cargo hold behind him and saw a young girl standing in there! She was so surprised by the whole scene that she was speechless for a couple minutes while the girl talked to Kitsune. None of it made much more sense than Kitsune's conversation in the galley had. In fact, it made a great deal less sense! Something about a shrine and a saint...

Ellie drew back into the stairwell to try and sort this out in her mind. Did Kitsune bring this girl on board without consulting her? Why would he do that? And so secretively? She moved to head back into the cargo hold when she collided with the girl, coming to talk to her. She caught her balance quickly and then stepped back. Looking over the girl's shoulder she could see Kitsune come careening to stop, a look of concern on his face.

"What's the matter Kitsune, forget to tell me you brought a girlfriend on board last night?" Ellie gave a sweeping look at the girl and then back at Kitsune, "She's kind of young for you, don't you think? Or are you really more of a lech than I thought...?"

Crossing her arms across her chest, Ellie finally turned her attention to the girl, "Well?" Then waited for some kind of explanation from someone.
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#21

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Fiona wrote:Fiona didn't catch everything the redheaded woman said, but it ended with "Well?"

For a split second she considered turning her processors all the way back up. Being able to hear everything would probably outweigh feeling like she was being tossed down a gravel driveway. Shifting the artist's bag to her right hand, she reached for the control unit clipped to her belt with her left, and flicked both processors back up to full power.

"Yes, yes, I can see now. You are the captain very clearly," Fiona said, giving the red-head her full attention. She hoped the captain wouldn't be put off by her voice. She knew she spoke differently than most people - a typical "deafie" voice, as her former speech pathologists had lamented.

"My name is Fiona Fiacha," she went on. "I am a passenger. I am going wherever you are going. I will pay you. As passengers do."

Without meaning to, her gaze flicked to the bag in her hands, which she had stubbornly refused to let go of since her arrival on the ship. It looked odd, her clinging to this bag like she was some sort of child and it her security object, but as she stood here with the tin-can ship roaring in her artificial cochleae, it made her feel stronger.

"Um, thank you for having me on your ship. Also, did you know that birds require gravity to swallow? That's why there are so few off-world parrot smugglers. Um, not that you are an off-world parrot smuggler. Or a smuggler of any sort. I don't know anything about smuggling. I do know quite a bit about birds. And all other things, actually. Like that human thigh bones are stronger than concrete. And that nutmeg is poisonous if injected intravenously. And armadillos can get leprosy, although I'm not sure if anyone's getting leprosy anymore, people or armadillos."

With that she trailed off, realizing she sounded a little like someone who had substituted pudding for brains, and just gripped Fantastical Universes tighter in its bag as she gave the captain a small, quirky sort of smile.
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#22

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Kitsune wrote:Location - Cargo Bay/Mess Hall

Slapping his face with his palm to were it covers all of it while dropping his head "What she said birds, digestion, bones so on so forth" dropping his arms to his side and falling back against the wall looking up at the ceiling. "Not my girl, not a lech, hate special hell, no sexy" he thought to him self how could this little girl be so much trouble. "As she said shes a passanger got fair and everything." He used his shoulder to push him off the wall and began to walk past the captain hopeing not to be put in a head lock or asked any questions. obviously the girl and the captain had a bit more talking to do and he should at least go put the dishes down.

Location - Cargo Bay/Mess Hall
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#23

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Ellie wrote:Location: Jenny Wren, Stairwell

There were many moments in Ellie's life when she had not been in control of the situation. There had been an equal number of moments in which she felt like everything had gone sideways. But there were only a select few moments in which, in addition to the aforementioned, she also felt as though somewhere along the way she had missed a step and fallen completely out of sync with reality and somehow managed to end up in some alternate universe where Niska was someone's polite butler and The Alliance made life better for all the planets. This was one of those moments.

As this girl, Fiona her apparent name, stood in front of her and rattled off ridiculous information like an encyclopedia set to randomly dispense useless pieces of trivia in a voice that could only be attributed to some kind of hearing impairment (something the captain surprisingly could identify), Ellie could think of absolutely nothing to say. And it was a rare occasion indeed that left Eloise McKee completely speechless...

Kitsune brushed past her with an air of resignation, presumably to go back to breakfast, leaving Ellie alone with Fiona.

Finally she spoke, "I only have one question for you and I ask that you answer me honestly." She paused a moment and spoke slowly and carefully, not because of the girl's hearing impairment, but rather because she felt like her brain was scrambled and was trying to be as calm as possible. "Have you recently escaped or been released from the bughouse? I ask because, you know, that could present a risk to my other passengers and crew..." It was as polite a way she could think of to ask if this girl was off her head.

In truth, she would have liked to ask about the bag as well, but whatever was in it was obviously very important to the girl so Ellie figured that could wait until later. After she had ascertained the girl was not completely balmy and would not flip out and slit all their throats in the night. And after breakfast. Yes, a normal breakfast was definitely in order right now.

Location: Jenny Wren, Stairwell
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#24

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Fiona wrote:Fiona smiled more broadly. She knew many things about bugs, most of them fascinating if you were a "bug" kind of person. "More people are killed every year by champagne corks than poisonous spiders. That is, of course, in places where they're still using corks in champagne bottles. Oh! And there's a species of moth that lives entirely on cow tears. But neither poisonous spiders nor these moths pose a danger to you or your crew. Mostly because those moths only live on planets where there are cows, and because poisonous spiders generally don't find spaceships hospitable places to live."

Then she realized the captain hadn't asked her about bugs. She'd said "bughouse." Which was something completely different.

"Ohh, you think I'm crazy," she said slowly. The stolen book seemed to get heavier in her arms, and instinctively she hugged it tighter to her. "No, I'm not crazy. I'm deaf and I have an IQ of 174 and I speak twelve languages and I love those little cookies filled with raspberry jam, and one time I may have used strongest-hold rubber epoxy to glue my little brother's fingers together right before his piano recital - but all psychological inquiries have determined that I am perfectly not-crazy, if a little eccentric and occasionally unfocused."
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#25

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Ellie wrote:Location: Jenny Wren, Stairwell

Ellie stared in disbelief at Fiona. Cow tears? Rubber Epoxy? The weirdest thing was the girl seemed to be perfectly serious. She knew she should be angry that someone had stowed away on Jenny, but it was all so bizarre that she couldn't find it in herself to be anything other than mildly bewildered.

"Okay, well in that case I suggest you come upstairs and put some food in your stomach."

Ellie led the way up the stairs and into the galley, where Kitsune had retreated to in order to escape the Captain and Fiona. Motioning to the counter where the food was sitting she said, "Help yourself to pancakes and mystery meat."

Ellie settled back down into her seat and nodded to Kitsune, "So, you didn't bring her on board then?"

To Fiona she said, "You know, normally I would have set you right back down where I found you, but I'm on a bit of a tight schedule so I guess you get a ride to Greenleaf. What were you doing hiding on my ship anyway?"

She listened to the other two talk as she finished her breakfast, which had unfortunately gone cold when left sitting on the table too long.

Location: Jenny Wren, Galley
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#26

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Fiona wrote:Fiona looked at the breakfast that had been laid out on the table. It looked marginally better than the food she'd been eating on Beaumonde, although that wasn't saying much. "If you're right-handed you tend to chew your food on the right side of your mouth, and if you're left-handed you tend to chew your food on the left side of your mouth. The pupil of the eye expands about 45% when a person is looking at something pleasing."

A pause, as she shifted the book bag in her arms. "Also, I like pancakes."

She sat down, putting the bag on her lap, and leaned in towards the table. "I wasn't hiding on your ship," she said, looking up at the captain, still speaking in her somewhat-eerily flat voice. "My father has a unique preoccupation with Dragonflies. So sad, since he's such a brilliant man otherwise. I say this not to offend you, of course, captain, because I believe that history has proven that most captains have something like a sexual fascination with their ships, even lady captains, but to someone like me it is like being thrown down a gravel driveway in a tin can. By the way, women who read romance novels reportedly make love with their partners almost 74% more than women who do not. Um, but my father, of course, is not deaf, and therefore has no idea what that would feel like. Also, incidentally, he has never flown in a Dragonfly. I suppose he would be a bit disappointed by the experience."

Fiona stopped abruptly, tilted her head, and stared off at something in the corner for a moment. Then she started speaking again: "What was I saying? Oh, yes, I was not hiding on your ship. I was napping. For the past two weeks I have been abiding on Beaumonde, doing a lot of exploring and not very much sleeping. I was tired. I meant to wake myself up to greet whoever handles the monetary end of your business, but I had my processors off and I guess I just didn't hear anything."

She tapped her fingers against the edge of the table and continued, although in a much lower tone: "Porcupines float in water. Ants don't have eyelids. Bamboo can grow up to thirty-six inches in a day. A leech has thirty-two brains. Saint Teresa of Avila is the patron saint of chess players. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at any tempo is always precisely seventy-two minutes."
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#27

Post by Ellie »

Timmy wrote:Right at the most awkward moment Timothy walked out from the engine room. He was yawning; didn’t have a shirt on, in fact he barely had his kaks on. It was hanging in a fashion were you could see a bit of hair and base of his privates. Only thing really keeping his pants up was one suspender barely clipped in front and the strap nearly off his shoulder. It had seem he forgot it wasn’t just him and ‘Cap’ Ellie anymore. Then again; he wouldn’t have cared if he was stark naked in public ether. It was one of those things that he did when he woke, to find food and be carefree of being modest with folk. He walked strait pass Ellie and the ‘small girl’(, Fiona). He heads towards Kitsune where it had looked or very possibly that Timmy was sleep walking. He acted as if he was alone in the Galley & Lounge. As he open a small door pulls out a plate sets it down on the counter. Scratches his bum and with the same hand pulls out a cup then sits it on the counter next to the plate. It looked as he was setting a dinner table, while he pulls out a napkin and places it along side. Turns around with plate on hand next to Kitsune to gets some food. He turns back to his cup, while his pants seemed to slowly sag lower. Enough to see more then anyone would like and if anyone would notice he was smooth and proper like any twink would be. Just as he takes a sip from his ‘empty’ cup, Timothy yawned. He puts the cup back down and takes a bite of whatever food as he held it with his bare hands. He began to walk away but just before he leans over to Kitsune and smells him just over his shoulder, between his ear and neck. With plate and empty cup on hand he walks back from where he came.
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#28

Post by Ellie »

Kitsune wrote:Location - Mess Hall

"Did you hear that captain 32 brains" in a sarcastic tone. what was this girl going on about he had never encountered anyone who just rambled and he had arrest allot of people with nervous ticks before. as he was thinking this he picked up a piece of pancake with his fork and was just about to bit into it when he was sniffed. Shear shock, amazement and confusion cause his brain to miss fire and shut down leaving him standing there with a wide eyed open mouth look on his face. It seemed like an eternity, If days had past kitsune would have believed it. and on que the fork fell from his frozen form and hit the counter with a metallic clank of a tuning fork. Finally life returned to his eyes, a primitive life. He through him self back by pushing off the counter and drew his guns as his back hit the wall. "What the **** was that?!" his body reacting out of panic. finally higher brain functions returned and with it his memory. "I ... I ... my apologies" holstering his weapons. then scratching his head he re-assumed his spot and asked "Did he just."

Elly- responding so fast it seemed part of his sentence "Yes"

Kitsune - "And I just"

Elly- "Yes"

Kitsune - "So he's"

Elly -"YES!"

"huh.............Never had a guy attracted to me." he stopped and pondered the possiblities. "Na" waving it off "Although" pondered again "Na wouldn't work were would we find a cow bell some antlers and a night rider t-shirt" speaking to him self semi oblivious to the others still in the room.

"So Captain," thinking to break the akwardness of the whole event

Location - Mess Hall
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#29

Post by Ellie »

Ellie wrote:Location: Galley/Lounge

Ellie had continued eating as she listened to Fiona’s meandering conversation about various and sundry topics, few of which were of any consequence. She took a drink of water and nearly choked on it at the girl’s comment about a captain’s sexual fascination with their ship. This girl obvious knew nothing about tact. Still, she said nothing and let her ramble. Timmy entered the room and Ellie only gave him a brief glance, and went back to her breakfast with no more than a small shake of her head. She was used to him by now and the rest of this group would have to adjust to Timmy’s quirks sooner or later. At least that’s how she figured it.

Kitsune responded a bit differently, “Did he just?”

Ellie smirked a bit to herself and replied promptly, “Yes.”

“And I just”

“Yes.”

“So he’s”

She couldn’t help but laugh as she replied, “Yes.” Took him long enough to figure that one out.

Probably more amusing to her was his following conversation with himself, but in the end she just dismissed the whole thing. “So once we hit Greenleaf I can use a hand moving the cargo again if you would be willing?”

“I haven’t checked for any work on greenleaf yet so.. Yea I’m free I will be glad to give you a hand.”

“So what’s your angle, Kitsune?” Ellie asked, and realized it was probably a bit of a vague question so she went on, “I mean what is it you’re after?”

Stopping with a smile. this was a good opportunity for his usual flirtation. “I’m after a good woman, one with a decent job, loves to fly captains a ship. Preferably with red hair and freckles.” Smiling and looks at her “Know anyone who matches that description”

Shaking her head she replied, “No, sorry. No one I know fits that description. Besides, I don’t buy all that. You’re after something more than a woman. I just can’t figure out what.”

“well you know I’m after the events leading up to and including sons or daughters but i thought that was a bit forward and maybe a little out of line.” getting serious “But perhaps you can point me in the direction you are inclining?”

“See, you’d like people to think you’re all about sex and settling down to make kids, but if that was what you were really after in life or maybe just at this moment in life, then it wouldn’t drive you to a vagrant’s lifestyle,” she pointed her fork at him, “You’re after something else.” Ellie picked up her dishes and wandered over to the sink to wash them up, collecting Timmy’s dishes as well and washing them (and her hands!) as she went on, “I’m curious to know what it is you are pursuing because it will help me understand just how far I can trust you with my business. Take Teddy for instance. If I were to engage in say smuggling, purely hypothetically mind you, I would be in no hurry to solicit his assistance because the man lives by his damnable standards. Standards are all well and good in the proper place, but his are rather too much in line with the almighty Alliance, if you understand my point.”

“First of all Vagrant’s lifestyle, we prefer processional wanderers. Maybes soldiers of opportunity. But vagrants makes us sound like old homeless men,” smiling as he faced her. “But that’s neither here nor there, Truth be told I am hunt someone, however its an ongoing adventure, not likely to come to a head anytime soon. So while I’m doing that I pick up side jobs as i see fit, preferably with hot females.”

“Are you hunting this person for law reasons or personal reasons?” She didn’t feel the need to know a lot beyond this particular question because just this could reveal a lot about whether or not she could use his help in some jobs that might fall in the ethical gray areas.

Looking at the girl then the captain,”No no personal, I think she gave me crabs once......just kidding. But all kidding aside it is rather personal and I’m not quite ready to talk about it here or with you, sorry, you’re hot and dare I say my type, but we're not at that level yet.”

Ellie shrugged, “That answer is enough, it’s all I was asking anyway. I can respect you have stuff you don’t want to share, most everyone does. Also, pretty much any remotely good looking woman is your type from what I can tell, so that’s not saying much. And it’s still not happening either way. But kudos for your persistence,” she laughed.

“I’m shocked, and offended. remotely good looking no no no there has to be something about them. Soul stealing eyes or a smile that could melt iron. No madam remotely good looking does not cut it for me, I am so offended by your allegations.........ok I’m not but you get the point.“

“Get it yes, whether or not I believe it is another story. Anyway, my point in that whole conversation is that I may have a lead on another job on Greenleaf after we finish delivering our cargo. I don’t want to go into it all now, but if you don’t find any other work on the planet let me know because I might be able to make use of you.”

“Oooo sounds kinky. But for you captain sure I’ll lend a hand. I wont look up any work on the planet.” looking over at the girl again “As for the persistence, I told you once one day you just might slip up, and then your ganna be shocked and amazed and maybe addicted …... to me”

Ellie shook her head at him again, “You’re crazier than she is,” she nodded towards Fiona. As she did, the captain noticed the girl had just finished her breakfast and she figured it was high time she stop ignoring the elephant in the room and see about making this girl a proper passenger, with a proper place to sleep. “Well Fiona, like I told you before, you’re getting a trip a to Greenleaf, which is no easy feat. They’re pretty restrictive about who they let on their surface. What this means though, is that you are getting a trip to Greenleaf and then on to wherever we go next as well. I can’t leave you on the planet without you having some valid and documented reason to stay. For now though, how about we set you up with some personal quarters downstairs.”

Turning back to Kitsune she asked, “If I put her down by your quarters will you keep an eye out for her?”

“I... I..” Kitsune knew the girl was the one from the cortex who stole the book from the library, possibly what was in the bag, and to top it off she totally verbal slapped him. “Yea sure not a problem.” He doubted any of the things he had would be of any interest to her and she wouldn’t be a bother since his original plan was to put her in his room. He pondered whether to tell the captain about the theft and decided to refrain for the time being. “Anything else I can help with?”

“Not that I know of at the moment, no. Thanks.”

She motioned for Fiona to follow her and led her out by the spiral staircase going directly down into the passengers corridor. She stopped at the second room on the right, just past Kitsune’s own. Pushing open the door she allowed the girl to go in first, “It’s not much, but this will be your room, no one will bother you here unless we run into trouble.” She paused awkwardly and then said, “Well, I’ll let you get settled in and when you are ready to talk about whatever arrangements we make from here, you can find me upstairs. Most likely in the lounge or the bridge.” Ellie left Fiona to make herself at home, and headed back upstairs.

Location: Galley/Lounge

Joint Post by Kitsune and Ellie
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#30

Post by Ellie »

Fiona wrote:Fiona looked up at the captain. "I'm not crazy," she said. "And the smallest known living crab is the Pea Crab, which is the same name as its size, and the largest known living crab is the Spider Crab, with a total outstretched leg-span of eight meters."

She shifted the bag in her lap. "I don't have a valid and documented reason to be anywhere, except Ariel. Or my house. And I don't think I'm wanted either place."

Fiona turned to Kitsune. "You don't have to keep an eye on me. I'm sixteen and I can keep an eye on myself. Well, in a completely non-technical sort of way. Neither of my eyes can look at myself. And besides, 40% of women have hurled footwear at men, so take those odds as you will."

To the captain, she said, "I like this room. It's small and quiet and so am I. Sound travels 15 times faster through steel than through air, did you know that?"

She inspected the room, and then knelt to look under the bed. Finding a compartment there, she pulled it open and pushed the big artist's bag into the space, then closed the door tightly.

When the captain left she sat with her back against the bed, flicked her processors off, and just for a moment, sat in silence.
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#31

Post by Ellie »

Ellie wrote:Location: Galley/Lounge

Having left the new girl in her quarters to settle in, Ellie decided she probably ought to talk with Timmy about dressing appropriately in common areas seeing as how they now had an underage passenger. She nodded to Kitsune as she passed and went over to Timmy's door. Rapping on the door she waited until the still groggy young man answered her knock. "Good morning Sunshine. You gave us a bit of a show this morning. Now, I don't really care either way personally. But we just took on a new passenger and she is a bit on the young side. Might be good if you stayed fully dressed when you use the shared areas of the ship. Protect her innocent eyes." Ellie finished up with an smirk, thinking that a little time with Timmy would be enough to take away anyone's innocence if they had some to start. But she felt responsible to make sure they took proper care of the girl, Fiona seemed a bit naive about the ways of the less civilized parts of the 'verse. Even though she seemed to think she could handle herself. Most young people thought that, Ellie certainly did when she was that age.

As she was wrapping up her short conversation with Timmy, the ship wide com crackled to life and Jane announced that Ellie should come to the Bridge. "What now?" Ellie wondered to herself as she hurried up to join Jane.

Jane didn't even glance up at her when Ellie entered. She just pointed at the screen, "We're picking up a short range communication for help."

Ellie sat down and flipped the screen on. Black and white static momentarily filled the screen and then a picture took shape. A face, a man who appeared anxious and unshaven. He said, "Captain McKee?" Obviously Jane had spoken to him a bit already. Ellie answered, "Seems you have a leg up here, you know me but I don't know you."

"Silas Glibert, I run a small transport ship, strictly passenger travel between border worlds. Right now we are in a spot of trouble though..." he glanced back over his shoulder at something and then back at the screen, "We had a catalyzer burn out on us. thought we had a spare but it turns out we don't. My mechanic tells me we're dead in the water until we get one. I have a enough fuel to run mostly dark and conserve energy for just life support, but it doesn't help me any if we can't get the part we need. If you have a spare I'd be willing to buy it from you." His voice sounded hopeful.

"I'll check with my mechanic and see if we have one. If so, we can sell it to you."

A smile of relief broke across his face, "I'd be mighty grateful for your kindness."

She nodded, "I'll get back to you shortly. Send your coordinates to my pilot and we'll change course to meet you."

Leaving Jane to take care of the details, Ellie went back to knock once again on Timmy's door. When he answered yet again she skipped the small talk and asked, "I need to know if we have a spare catalyzer we could sell to someone who needs one."

Location: Outside Engineering (Timmy's '2nd' quarters)
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#32

Post by Ellie »

Timmy wrote:He didn’t understand what ‘Cap’ was talking about exactly, as his sleep walking doesn’t control much of his movements nor what he wore. Well depends on his dream for that moment. Likely for those whom were honored to seen his smooth twinky self. He wasn’t having one of ‘those’ dreams which would likely give Kitsune a run for his money. Timothy’s eyes were still closed when he answered the door. He simply nodded to Captain Ellie just to get rid of her. However he did hear her say of a new passenger particularly a young one. As he some what left the Engineering door open he mumbled, ‘Mmmmm’ He moaned ‘……lost my innocents much younger then her, I’m sure. ’ He laid back on a self made bed of crates that formed his second bed. Where his actual bedroom was across the other side of the Galley & Lounge. Likely that Timmy had sleep walked out of his bedroom to engineering sometime before the three were awake. He had likely sensed Kitsune sleeping in the Lounge and had integrated it in his sleep walking dream. Think that he might have been a talking tree or one of his past ‘friends’ he had snuck on the ship. So if he would remember to stay covered in common areas during this 'snooze march'. It best for her mature quick as what mischievous activities he would bring on board. ‘Good luck to yahs innocents…….’ As he said just as his eyes closed, however, not long he hears Ellie’s voice again. Asking for an auxiliary catalyzer. Timmy knew that they had one or maybe two but didn’t remember if it was the spare or the damage replacement. He crawled off the crates and on to the cold floor with one eye open. He looks for it and finds it where he forces himself up and walks to the door. Timmy had handed Ellie an object an unmentionable that certainly wasn’t a catalyzer. ‘Here ‘Cap’!’ Where he extends his arm with the ‘thing’ on hand. Likely Ellie would have ether just left him or if was brave enough had took it and place it on the ground. Kicking it back in to the Engineering that Timmy was sleeping in.
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#33

Post by Ellie »

Kitsune wrote:Location - Crew Quarters hall

Kitsune Collected the items he left in the storage bay and went back to his room and took a seat in the chair. The captain had asked him about who he was chasing. This had sparked memories of that person. Leaning back he began to remember the last day he saw them.

He was on the Police transport Back to the planet. Kinsaye his long time friend right besides him. Kinsaye - "I'm so sorry man we all know it wasn't your fault, They hung you out to dry for political reasons."

Kitsune - "Its alright my friend I will be back. You'll see I will prove my innocence and come back stronger then ever. (in a serious manly tone) And when I do I will be Chief of police for all of Osiris."

Kinsaye - "I don't know about chief"

Kitsune - not phased by his interruption and with the same tone of authority "And my first order when I'm chief is to order all female officers uniform pants to be micro mini skirts!" Taking up a manly triumphant pose

Kinsay - "I'll follow you any were my captain" Grabbing hold of kitsunes leg and rubbing his face up and down it

When he arrived it was on Osiris late in the evening, the sun had just set and he was walking up to his Daddy house. It was his parents anniversary and they wanted their kids around this time. His dad even had something he wanted to tell them. Why not he thought I already lost my job maybe hes gonna tell me he's moving to a floating island and leaving me this swank house. he chuckled "that will be the day" he arrived. It was a three story square house with a slopping front yard that ended in a hedge row about three feet high. The house was solid white with a flat roof. His dad picked it out cause he said it was simple, yet perfect in so many ways. Kitsune could agree but it was the inside that Kitsune loved so much, a perfect merging of wood and technology. It looked like a completely done up house in deep brown and white woods but it was just for show and feel. In actuality it was a modern smart house. He stood at the gate to the yard looking up at it, his dad kept the place in mint condition, the hedge was perfectly cubed the lawn was cut to exacting lengths, the paint looked as new as it was 19 years ago, nothing changed. Just as he opened the gate an explosion rocked the area, it came from the third floor of his dads house. shrapnel cut his face and arms as he was thrown to the ground, but he couldn't stay down he had to get in there so he picked him self up. "Dad" he yelled drawing his gun and dashing for the door. with out waisting time looking for the key he kicked in the door weapon leading the way. "Mom, Dad!" smoke obscured his vision a little he sweep-ed into the living room then the kitchen, only fallen objects and sparks of popping electrical devises were found, "Any body here" he yelled moving to the stair case. He knew his parents were here, his dad was anal about how the world has gone to shit and he was never late or absent from anything. He proceeded up the stairs slowly checking his old room and his sisters room before proceeding to the third floor were his dads study and armory were. Once at the top of those stairs he heard voices. One was his fathers, one was his mothers and once sounded fairly like his sisters. Not knowing what was going on, dust and smoke still lingering keeping visibility to a low level he pressed him self against the wall and slowly made his way to the study listening the entire time.

Marcus Kitsune (Marc)-"Why Marissa why are you doing this. "

Kitsune stopped in disbelief, just around this doorway was his sister and this whole event was her doing.

Marissa Kitsune (Risa)- "I cant tell you that father, now just give me the data disk. " the sound of a hammer being cocked back hastened Chris's resolve. springing around the corner only to see his sister make a swiping catch of a disk that was thrown at her.

Christopher Kitsune (Kitsune)- "Why Marissa" his gun pointing at her then as if hit by a hammer he noticed she was in full body armor, her unique face plate hiding her features. His mother was splaid out over his father protecting him from her daughter, and his dad was holding himself up by his arms looking at her with anguish in his eyes. His sister didn't say anything her gun still pointed at her father she turned her face to him. Christopher loved his sister, she was very important to him yet here he was pointing a gun at her but what other choice did he have, what was going on he was so confused. he was to busy trying to take in what was going on he failed to notice her other hand toss a flash bang dead between the two and it exploded mid air at eye level. Chris covered his eyes with his arm but off to the corner he saw his sister jump through the hole in the wall and as he did he caught a glimpse of her eyes, as if his eyes zoomed in to meet hers. There was agony in her eyes too a level of sadness he had never seen in her. Then she was gone. staggering over to his father and mother. "Dad are you alright"

Marc-"Forget about me go after your sister, stop her!" his mother crying into his father's chest his father struggling to remain up right. Christopher knew he had to go after her, his father would be alright he could make out the sound of approaching rescue vehicles, and his father wasn't one to make foolish calls so Christopher took off after his sister jumping out of the hole in the wall too.

Forgetting him self he noticed all to late his dads 08 Proteus outside the hole at ground level. he braced for it and hit it with a thud rolling down the other side. he had to move quickly she had a good lead on him, he collected himself and began to give chase down the street. He ran after her for what seemed like eternity running through peoples homes and businesses jumping from roof top to roof top and just as he thought he had her she vanished. Kitsune skidded to a halt, he couldn't believe it she was completely gone not a single trace of her any were. frantically he looked around but nothing.

When Kitsune got back to the house the emergency crews were loading his father into an ambulance that had landed on the street outside the house. with a grim look on his face Kitsune approached his father

Marc-"She got away didn't she"

Kitsune-"Yea pop she got away, and I don't know were to begin looking for her either"

Marc- "You have to find her son, Bring her back, do what ever it takes bring her back to me alive. please I'm begging you bring my little girl back to me"grabbing kitsunes hand in his, his face began to tear up something Kitsune never saw in his entire life. This man had been stabbed in the neck in front of Kitsunes eyes and he didn't even blink yet here he is crying.

Kitsune- "I will father I will I promise" letting free his fathers hand. what in the world was going on here he thought, as he just stood there and watched the ambulance take his father and mother of to the hospital. so many questions crowded his mind making in near impossible to think or sort it out.


Location - Kitsune's Quarters
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#34

Post by Ellie »

Ellie wrote:Location: Outside the Engine room

Ellie looked at the object Timmy just handed her with a mixture of disgust and shock. She quickly tossed it aside and went to check the supplies herself. The engine room was an accident waiting to happen. He had wires, parts and tools strewn about the entire place with no seeming rhyme or reason. She did a cursory search and found that the only catalyzer they seemed to have was a burned out one that for some reason Timmy had chosen to keep rather than throw away. She would never understand why that boy held on to so much junk!

She stalked back to the bridge and leaned against the console to hit the communication signal. Within moments the other captain was responding. "Captain McKee?"

"Yeah, and the good news is we have a spare catalyzer. The bad news is that it's burnt up. No go."

"Tzao gao!" the man muttered with frustration evident in his voice.

"So how long can your ship last with life support if it runs mostly dark?"

"Two and half weeks, give or take a day or two. What did you have in mind?"

"Santo is only four days journey from you now. I could take someone from your crew there to find a catalyzer and bring them back. All told it should only take eight or nine days."

She could see the gratitude in his eyes, might even go so far as to say he was moved, but in their world, emotions weren't something you wore on your sleeve, and so he only responded, "I'm much obliged ma'am."

She shrugged, "Without that part you all will eventually suffocate out here. Can't count on another ship happening along in time so it seems the right thing to do in this situation."

He nodded thoughtfully and gave a heartfelt thanks to her.

"Don't mention it. We should be seeing you in roughly two hours now. Hold tight 'til then."

Location: Bridge
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#35

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Fiona wrote:After stowing the rest of her things in the small room, Fiona went looking for the captain. She trailed her fingers over various parts of the ship, curious about everything. As she went she kept up a steady stream of random information. It might have seemed odd to an onlooker, but it was the easiest way for her stay calm. And after awhile, it just became part of her, like her heartbeat. "A rat can last longer without water than a camel. The dot over an 'i' in the English language is known as a tittle. The possible ways of playing the first four moves per side in a game of chess is 318,979,564,000."

Back in the galley she sat down in the chair she had occupied earlier, and continued. "The very first bomb dropped by the Allies in World War Two killed the only elephant in the Berlin zoo. The word laser is an acronym for light amplified by stimulated emissions of radiation. Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated."

As she spoke she was imagining the book stowed under her bed, hoping it would be safe. Who on a ship like this would be looking for someone who stole a well-known book out of a University Library? She wasn't too sure. It worried her to have the bag out of her sight and grasp, but it looked even odder for her to be carrying it around all the time.

"A cat has 32 muscles in each ear. A mayfly has a life span of twenty-four hours. The giant squid has the largest eyes on the planet. There are 336 dimples on the average regulation golf ball. A shrimp's heart is in its head. It is physically impossible for a pig to look upwards. Killer whales are not technically whales; they are, in fact, orcas, and relatives of the dolphin and the porpoise."

Fiona shifted in her seat and looked around. Had the captain come back through while she was reciting? Either way, she would stay here until the captain came back. She certainly had enough facts. "If you keep a goldfish in a dark room, it will eventually turn white. No piece of dry paper can be folded in half more than seven times..."
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#36

Post by Ellie »

Kitsune wrote:Location - Kitsunes Quarters
Kitsune had to get his mind off his sister but on cue as if the everyone in the universe knew what he was thinking about his cortex box sounded an alert. "What now" looking down at it it was the first fox his uncle red kitsune bearing the emblems of both his uncle and his father the seventh fox.

It was a data report. Containing information the other members of the Kitsune clan had gathered on his sister. It included a couple sighting reports, some activities that she was involved in. and anything of note. More importantly it gave the status of all 9 hunters, their locations and leads. Reading over that information he took note that his father and uncle are both heading to Beaumond.

"Son of a bit**" punching the wall. He had just left there, the thoughts of what if or what he could have done flowed through his mind causing him even more anger. Had she actually been there did he see her and it not register, no that was impossible. Worse off then before he really needed some release and with the companion no longer flying with them that left no presently interested females......and one interested male. "Oh god" cooking was his only option left. he left his cabinet with some of the supplies he bought back planet side and headed for the galley.

Kitsune began to cook. Cooking was relaxing to him, and the smells always made him feel better about life. Today he decided on his foxfire pepper stake. He began searching for some alcohol surely there would be some, and there was he opened on lower cabinet and found a few dusty bottles. "Rum, rum, 151 rum, rum.....jesse does she just keep rum?" finally he pulls out a white bottle with only one character on it. "Ah ha this will do, rice wine." putting the rest back. Next he looked and found some soy sauce with ease. Once he had all the ingredients on hand he began to work starting with cutting the green onion into tinny rings, the habenaros into large rings the bell peppers into large slivers. next he mixed one cup of soy sauce one table spoon of sesame oil one tablespoon of vegetable oil some ginger paste some sugar some salt and some corn starch into a bowl. "Lets see" dumbing the vegetables into the bowl and setting it to the side. "now all that's left is the steak." pulling out a slab of beef stake and slicing it into small thin strips and then dumping them into the sauce. "Now turn the heat up to medium and.." popping a habanero into his mouth "feel the burn" a few minutes past and the pan got hot enough to start. He poured the contents of the bowl into the pan. the moment it happened the pan sizzled and popped, the aroma of the soy sauce and habaneros filled the air much to his liking. While that cooked he rolled the pepper n his mouth to the other side to help with the burn and began on the rice.

twenty minutes later his face was burning red, his eyes were watered and his nose was beginning to snot up. "So good" the pepper had burned his cheeks and gums pretty good but its how he kept him self from eating his creation. He had set the table and put the rice as a bed for the pepper stake. he had also boxed one serving up in a to go box. There was two degress of the ppper steak, Fox fire for the hard cores and just pepper steak for the little girl and anyone else who didnt want their insides cooked. through all that though his face never lost the troubled look nore had it completely faided from his mind. More importantly the smell which he was so used to that filled the air was a pretty decent crowd control method as that suddenly hit his mind. "OH **** did i just pepper spray the crew!!" he took a deep breath focusing on the smell. "Ah damn i did"

Location - Galley
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#37

Post by Ellie »

Fiona wrote:Fiona watched the male crew member as he cooked. She lit up with excitement when he started using pepper; the spice flew through the air in a pleasant way. "Pepper is often referred to as 'the king of spice,'" she informed him. "While called a pepper 'corn,' it's actually a berry. Pepper is noted for its health benefits - it's an anti-inflammatory and an anti-flatulent, and it increases gastrointestinal motility. Dentists occasionally use compounds derived from black pepper for antiseptic preparations and treatments for swollen gums. And pepper is extremely versatile - it can be used in sweet foods as well as savory ones. It goes well in fruitcakes, breads, and pies."

She grinned up at him.
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#38

Post by Ellie »

Kitsune wrote:Location - Galley

"well at least someone finds this funny" and as if that were her que to enter Jane came into the galley

"You stupid ****" rushing him and hitting him with a falcon punch in the gut "Do you know what you have done."

"Im sorry I was just cooking lunch" He picked him self off the floor

"Its still morning" Hopping on his back and trying to choke him as he had choked the crew with his lung burning vapors.

"Hay" the captain ran in and pulled her off of Kitsune "Enough both of you, Jane go up to the bridge I'll deal with him, and you" pointing at Kitsune

Location - Galley
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#39

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Fiona wrote:Fiona tried to catch the captain. "Captain? About the fee? My traveling fee? Hello?"

She waved the peppery air.
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#40

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Ellie wrote:Location: Mess Hall

Ellie was passing through the mess hall when Fiona caught attention. She shot a glance at Kistune, who was doing something in the kitchen which left the air so thick with spices that her eyes were beginning to burn. But she decided to ignore it since the food smelled so delicious. "Oh yeah, your fee..." Ellie stood thoughtful for a minute and then shook her head, "I'll tell you what, you get the ride to Greenleaf for free. After that if you stay on we'll talk about your fare." Ellie hated to admit it, but she had a soft spot for kids. It was probably why she had taken to Timmy, well aside from the fact he was a genius in the engine room of course. She still thought this girl was as weird as they came, but there was something vulnerable about her, it drew out the unfulfilled mother side from Ellie. "Deal?" she asked Fiona.

A call came from the bridge, "Cap'n, we're coming up on the other freighter, you want to join me up here?" Ellie patted Fiona on the shoulder and headed up to the cockpit to see through the docking process. Once the other ship had docked, she made her way back down to let their guest in. Passing once more through the mess hall she said to Kitsune, "we've got company. Bring a gun and meet me down there. No use taking any chances." She flashed a wink and a grin at Fiona, "Guess it's a good thing he just made all that food, eh?"

Location: Cargo hold
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#41

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Kitsune wrote:Location - Mess hall

sure thing ma'am he headed off down to his room.

Once in his room he grabbed his belts and strappped them on, then his modle 608's and then his 4510. quickly he checked him self over, his outfit was the same full body armor cause he wasnt a moron three weapons. "Perhaps a smoke grenade or a flash bang....yea a flash bang" picking up the grenade and putting it on his hip. "there that feels right" smiling he stepped out the door and joined the captain in the cargo bay and awaited the air lock doors to open.

Location - cargo bay
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#42

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Fiona wrote:"Far too much pepper," Fiona informed the captain. "He's an all right cook, but he's heavy-handed on the spices."

She tried to catch the action as everyone whirled through the galley. "What's...? Where's...?"

She scrambled out of her seat and ran after the captain and the cook, eager to find out just what sort of events transpired on her father's very favorite type of ship.
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#43

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Ellie wrote:Location: Docking Bay

Ellie approached the hatch cautiously and gave a quick nod to Kitsune and Teddy, indicating she wanted Teddy to stand out of sight beside the hatch door and with another nod she indicated to Kistune she wanted him behind her but in sight. Hopefully seeing them armed might dissuade them from doing anything stupid. Perhaps it was a bit paranoid of her, but she wanted to be sure to cover all the bases. Stepping up to the small, dirty window, Ellie peered into the other ship. There were two men there. One she recognized as the captain she had spoken to earlier, the second had a duffel slung over his shoulder. She stood back and swept a glance over the guys, "Here we go."

She unlatched it and pulled it open, and stood in the door frame. "Welcome to Jenny Wren, Captain Gilbert."

He smiled and held his hand out for her to shake, "Captain McKee, can't thank you enough for lendin' a hand. And call me Silas."

Ellie flashed a warm smile and gave his hand a firm shake, "Don't mention it, Silas. I'd want someone to do the same if the tables were turned." She looked now to the lanky man standing beside him, "Is this our passenger?"

Silas nodded, "Aye, this is Lewis. He's my mechanic, he can take care of getting the part if you can get him to Santo."

"We can do that, and should be able to be back before your life support runs out."

The other captain nodded again and looking between Lewis and Ellie he said, "Then I guess we shouldn't waste any more time. Air is precious and I am partial to breathing."

So Ellie allowed Lewis inside and latched the door behind him, leaving Captain Gilbert looking on from the other side.

Turning now she introduced their new guest to the boys, "Lewis, this is Kistune and Teddy," she grinned at the guys, still with their guns pointed at him, "I think we can stand now boys."

For the first time Ellie realized Fiona was standing there. If she had realized it sooner she would not have let the girl stay. If it had gone south she might have gotten injured. "And this is a passenger of ours..." she didn't see the usefulness in a stranger knowing about her other passengers and so instead she spoke to Fiona, "Well girl, had enough excitement for an evening?"

She grinned as a thought crossed her mind, "How do you feel about a game of cards?" Glancing around she went on, "In fact, how do you all feel about a game of cards?"

Crossing the cargo hold she hit the comm to the cockpit, "Jane, release the docking clamps and take us to Santo by the quickest most direct route. Make sure to let me know when you here from ground control."

Turning back to the others she gave a quick head jerk towards the stairs, "I think Mr. Kitsune cooked us some grub already, and I can get the cards out. That is... if you all think you can stand being beat by a woman." She grinned and winked at Fiona.

"Lewis, You can have the third room on the right. Make yourself at home, and then meet us upstairs in the Galley for some fun."

So saying, Ellie led the way back upstairs.

Location: Mess/Lounge
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#44

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Fiona wrote:Fiona grinned. Cards! She had a wide variety of card games spooled up in her memory banks, almost simply endless in their names and rules. "What do you play?" she asked the captain in her odd voice. "Ba Shi Fen? Bagchen? Bu Bu Gao Sheng? Carousel? Dealer's Choice? Irish Don? Fan Tan? French Dominoes? Gob Dum Gob Dang? One-Eyed Jack? Jass? Klootzakken? I simply adore Klootzakken!"

Her eyes shone brightly as she tucked her hair behind her ears. "And I'm really, really good at Telesina, but... sometimes I cheat because my father taught me to play and he used to gamble. But that's probably more than you needed to know. As usual."
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#45

Post by Ellie »

Kitsune wrote:Location - three feet behind the captain.

Kitsune = "Beat in cards, me the Vagabond rouge of the Kitsune, please you have better chances of being left alone in your sleep with me in the same room...... I mean you have better chances of , you know what foot in the geave just ganna shut up now and say bring it."
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#46

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Ellie wrote:Location: Mess Hall/Lounge

Ellie blinked at Fiona's apparent love of cards and then asked with a chuckle, "Why do I have the feeling I am about to be beat by a teenager?"

Shooting Kitsune a "you wish" look, Ellie retrieved some cards and the group settled down at the table to pass some of the time. She noted that their guest didn't seem too interested in joining in the game she called to her young mechanic, "Timmy! How about you give our new friend a tour of Jenny, eh? Show off your baby for him." at least it gave Timmy something to do that might keep him out of trouble for a while...

Location: Mess Hall/Lounge

OOC: I realize I have been seriously absent in the last few months, my life has undergone some considerable change and will not fully settle down until the fall. However, I no longer want to neglect my writing here. So I posted this short bit here to stir a bit of activity while I prepare a longer post this weekend to move the storyline forward. From now until Sunday night you can write about how your character spends the evening, if you want to write about paying cards, or doing something else, the sky is the limit. Enjoy yourself, because the story is about to get a bit more... Interesting. ;) thanks for sticking with me guys!
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#47

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BDH Narrator wrote:Moving the story line forward two days, Jenny Wren is en route to Santo to get the catalyzer that the drifting freighter needs. Jane leans back in her pilot seat, staring out into the black of space, idly spinning the chair. She checks the readings once again, there had been an Alliance cruiser they passed near to earlier in the night, but now it was nearly 400 hours and no sign of anyone else and it would be another twenty six hours to Santo. As she looked over the readings however she saw that in about forty five minutes they would need to pass through and asteroid belt, which was going to require some maneuvering. Ellie would need to be alerted before they entered, but Jane figured for now she would let the Captain get some more sleep.

A faint noise from behind caught her attention and just as she turned to look, a heavy piece of pipe crashed down against the side of her skull. The slight woman was a fighter, but she was no match and toppled over like a twig in a windstorm. Lewis set the pipe on the floor gently. Last thing he wanted to do was wake anyone else up. Pushing her limp body aside, he settled down in the pilot seat and set to work on locking all other control panels out, giving him sole control over Jenny. Then he set course directly for the asteroid belt. A beep on the console told him his partners were coming to meet them.

Half an hour later the crew is wakened to the sound of another ship docking with Jenny Wren. And before anyone can get to the hold and try to keep them out, a crew of seven men has entered the ship, all heavily armed.

The man in charge, a short and stout man with black hair that is starting to gray and a few nasty looking scars on his face and neck motions to two of his men and orders quietly, "Cale and Brock, you two cover the upstairs corridor. Jones and Mike, you guys take the downstairs quarters corridor. Make sure anyone who wakes up is kept in their rooms. Shoot them if they get fussy about it."

He turned with a smile to look over the cargo hold and said to the two remaining men, "The three of us will search this hold until we locate where they hid their cargo. It'll still need to delivered, the people on Greenleaf won't be too fussy about who brings it to them. Let's move people!"

With that, the group split up to carry out their various tasks.

OOC: Let the fun begin Jenny Wren crew!
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#48

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Ellie wrote:Location: Captain's Quarters

Ellie had been sleeping heavy, but even in her sleep, the sounds of metal scraping against metal as their uninvited visitors docked with Jenny Wren woke her up. She sat up in confusion, and throwing off her sheets she ran out into the corridor, overlooking the fact she was in her sleeping clothes which consisted of some comfortable flannel shorts and a tank top. She turned toward the cockpit and blinked in surprise. Jane almost always kept the door open yet now it was closed. She hurried over and tugged on the handle, finding to her dismay that it didn't budge. Ellie peered in through the tiny window and what she saw made a feeling of dread knot up her stomach. Lewis back faced her as he sat at the controls of the ship and on the floor she could see Jane laying in pool of blood. Ellie banged on the door,"Lewis you guay toh guay nown, open this ruttin' door RIGHT NOW!"

The sound of a gun cocking behind her brought her about and she found herself looking at two large men, both pointing their guns at her. Ellie crossed her arms and said, "Don't recall givin' you boy s an invitation to breakfast. Mind tellin' me what the hell you are doing on my ship?"

"Well, well, got a pretty little captain on our hands now don't we Brock?" the man with long blonde hair that seemed like it could use a good washing leered at her. Brock snickered from behind Cale and Ellie shot him a glare. Cale went on, "No worries gorgeous, once we take the goodies off your hands, we'll leave your little ship. Now I recommend you head into your bunk."
She eyed them both for a moment and decided this might not be a bad idea. At least it would give her time to think...

As she headed back into her quarters Cale called after her, "And if you're lucky I might be in after a bit to join you!"

"I'll cut your ruttin' ji ba off if you even try," she muttered under her breath.

Location: Captain's Quarters
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#49

Post by Ellie »

Kitsune wrote:Kitsune's Quarters

Kitsune was asleep on his bed, naked, as he usually does, his faced being supported up up above his body by a pillow, his mouth open with a large flow of drool streaming onto his arms. the faint sound of a body hitting the floor woke him up with a start. However as soon as his conscious mind was back in control his body firmly reminded him why three day old Chinese pepper stake was more brutal then the first. "OH GOD" jumping up and kicking the wall to release the toilet which he immediately sat down on. doing so alerted him to a new and more horrifying problem. "Oh this is ganna hurt how am i ganna pass such a behemoth."

as if the universe loved answering his questions in a humorous way a large man slid open his door which tragically looked strait at the toilet.

Startled by the man threw his hands up. "Well I need not worry how to pass it now it just kinda happened"

the man was pointing a gun at him with one hand and he had a pair of bola balls in his other. .

Kitsune looked at the odd choice of weapon having tested the use fullness of them before.not a very practical modern entangling weapon to have "Question do those work for you"

The man looked at him quickly then saw were he was looking "Na not really I cant get the balls to do what i want when i need them too, do you know how to make them work?" seeing the decor in kitsunes room and figuring him for a weapons man.

With out missing a beat kitsune interrupted "Did you try working the shaft"

"Oh i see what you did there, I guess I walked right into that one. I guess your ganna be difficult"

"Well probably" kitsune replied with a look of arrogant delight on his face.

"Guess Were ganna have to keep an eye on you then, get up and get into the cargo bay"

"Um can i get dressed first" whipping himself

"shoulda thought of that before you became a smart ass" motioning with his gun to move

"Alright alright standing strait up hands over his head."

"Yea that's.. MY GOD WHAT IS THAT"

"Been so long sense you seen yours you forgot what one looks like has it"

unable to speak he was so mad he kicked kitsune in the back down the corridor were he was meet by another armed man.

"WOW WHAT THE HELL MAN! why are you naked, Why is he naked"jones said to mike

"Your friend back there wouldn't let me get dressed and forced me to come out here" kitsune answered

"He was being difficult" mike said as he began to look into the room across from kitsunes

"Were you now" jones asked kitsune

"He asked how to work his balls"

"Did you tell him to work the shaft"

"Yes."

"Nice" giving kitsune a high five

"I know right, See i wasn't being difficult just honest"

smiling jones nodded his head back to kitsunes room "Get back in there and take your pet iguana with you before it bites someone."

"Thanks" with a slight chuckle

"What the hell" mike shouted at jones

"Boss said lock them in their room and besides i don't want to watch over a naked man do you?"


Kitsune's quarters
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Re: Drunken Lullabies (Storyline 2)

#50

Post by Ellie »

Fiona wrote:Fiona didn't hear the intruders, but she sure as shootin' felt the vibrations when their ship docked against the Dragonfly.

She jerked upright and reached over to the bedside console for her processors. With a quiet snap the magnets attached to the implanted electrodes inside her skull, and with another quick click she flicked on the amplifier and the processors, attaching the amplifier to the neck of her pajama top.

Unsure of what was going on, she crept quietly to the door and slid it open gently, slowly, sticking her head out into the hallway. "Hello?"

Her deaf girl's voice rang across the corridor, awkward like a wildebeest on a dance floor.
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