Fun in Space

[Elegost]

Mackie popped his head in and swiftly out of the mess hall. It smelled strongly of sulphur. "What is going on - no, doesn't matter," he started, before deciding to leave it to be sorted. It always got sorted.

Mackie then decided that he probably wouldn't be getting breakfast anytime soon, and threw himself down into his chair at the CIC. He kept a box of chocolate under the desk, some rare stuff from back home, and - it was gone. Either Mother had cleaned rather more well than she was designed to, or somebody else was hungry before him. He was betting the latter. "Damnation."

His thoughts were interrupted by a blink on the CIC. He'd had quite enough of blinking lights already this morning.

"Yeah, what is it?"

[melda]

Damar contemplated the face on her screen. The man had several gold studs in his nose, and glistening dark skin. He was staring at her, unblinking. "Um, have a call from someone off Kronos, says he knows you, Captain. Won't give a name. Transferring now."

Whoever it was flashed white teeth. "Thanks, sweetheart."

She patched the call through and the screen went dark. "Fly the damn ship," she muttered. "All I wanted to do." The kitchen popped back up again, slightly less hazy with smoke. "Mother, that coffee, ASAP?"

[Elegost]

"Patch it through," said Mackie, just as Damar remarked she was transferring it. Damnit, he thought. So much for protocol.

"Let's see then," he mumbled, getting comfortable in the chair and assuming a stance of control. "I hope it's not somebody like Ivan -"

"Hello, Karl," offered a video of a black guy, face littered with trash he called jewellery.

"Ivan, Ivan Marsden," Mackie finished, swallowing. Marsden never meant 'easy' or 'worth the effort'. He was more, well, 'bed of lies' and 'rip off'.

"Karl, Karl. I have a job for you. It's easy, good money, worth the effort for you."

"Do you not remember last time?"

"Hey, Karl. I don't want to rip you off again. You nearly shot me last time, remember?"

Mackie pulled a pistol from his side holster. "This gun remembers."

"Well, take it or leave it Karl. I'll upload co-ordinates and a brief. You'd be unwise to pass it up."

"Thanks, but no thanks," motioned Mackie, finally, and shut the connection. Ivan was a cruel man. He had respect for Mackie, but he doubted that respect would stretch to his crew. It was definitely folly.

Mackie opened the link to the bridge. He hesitated for a moment.

"Damar. Head to the co-ordinates and print me a copy of the brief."

[melda]

"They're uploading now. I'll alter course immediately." Damar closed the link and punched in the new numbers, quirking an eyebrow at the first few coordinates. They denoted Area 47, presently the only Abas Consortium subgroup with a few hazy map edges. The gently rotating planet that zoomed into full view on her screen was mostly obscured by faintly yellow clouds, parting to allow glimpses of bright green and blue.

Details began to scroll down the side of the screen. Damar snatched the brief from the printer, wondering why the captain didn't upload to his individual comlink instead and putting it down to eccentricity. She very carefully folded the pages in half and was not in the least tempted to peek.

Several long strides and a jump down some short stairs had her at his door. She tapped. "Hard copy of the brief for you, Captain."

[Elegost]

"Come in, and sit down," replied Mackie, turning his chair to face the other one. He took the brief from Damar. "Now, what we have here, could be one of two very different things. It could be a lot of money. Enough to get you a coffee machine on the bridge. Enough for Oliver to have one of those new Tool boxes with all the extra stuff in. Enough to upgrade Mother so she can compute decisions on a faster scale. And I'm talking fast."

He pulled a leg up and crossed it, resting back in the chair."It could, however, leave us shot, stabbed, flattened, burned or even, get this, in jail."

He handed the brief out to Damar.

"You tell me which one it is."

[melda]

"No, thank you," said Damar, and handed it back. Fly the damn ship. She crossed her arms. "With due respect, that's not in my job description."

[Elegost]

"Right, so you're perfectly happy for me to accept whatever is written here without the prior opinion of my crew?" asked Mackie, retracting the paper momentarily. "Listen, sweets, this isn't the military. Don't get me wrong; when I say jump I do expect nothing short of a backflip, but I respect you enough to give me an opinion."

He stared at Damar quietly.

[melda]

"That is trust misplaced, then, Captain. You barely know me." Backflips were fine, so long as they came in the form of barrel rolls. "You advertised for a pilot. I am a pilot. You are employing me to fly your ship, and I will fly your ship where and how I am directed."

There was a short silence. "Also, legal endeavors have always been my preference. I would appreciate consideration of that in your decision-making. Am I dismissed?"

[Elegost]

Mackie savoured the conversation a moment.

"I would appreciate that you would consider I might need you for field work, if it comes to it."

Damar was still there.

"Dismissed. Get me some bacon up here."

[melda]

Damar shut the door behind her and headed for the kitchen. She stuck her head in. "Mother, I think if the Captain doesn't get some bacon ASAP he might blow a fuse."

The smoke had cleared, for the most part, and the espresso machine was clearly not in service. Damar rubbed her temples and looked at the bottom half of the mechanic sticking out of the oven. "Oliver, please tell me I will have access to coffee soon."

[RaistlinMajere]

Mother could hear sounds up to 20 dB below the human threshold of hearing, so she detected Damar's approach long before the pilot stuck her head through the doorway. She did a few quick things.

"I apologize for the lack of coffee, Damar," she said sincerely, as soon as Damar showed up. "I understand that coffee is an integral part of your daily functioning, as my task list is an integral part of mine. As a similar epinephrine stimulant but, regretfully, not quite a substitute for coffee, may I offer you a cup of hot chocolate?"

Mother held out the hot chocolate, which she'd heated via the fusion reactors in her chest cavity.

[melda]

"Okay," said Damar. At least it resembled coffee. "What's wrong with the oven?"

[pirateoftherings]

"Beats me," said Oliver. "You might find this hard to believe, but kitchen appliance repair isn't a large part of the astronautical engineering degree plan."

He stood up and snatched one of the plates that Mother was balancing. The food disappeared in a matter of seconds, followed by a glass of juice. "Thanks."

He extended the slightly blackened fuse for Damar to see. "I'm hoping this is our only problem. If it is, I should have it patched up by tomorrow. Maybe the next day. Depends on what other surprises this fine lady has in store for me. Are we making port any time soon?"

[melda]

"Just under twenty-four hours," said Damar. "The planet's called Adelaide. Area 47." She regarded the murky depths of her hot chocolate for a moment. "Not that this isn't nice, you understand" - with a glance at the anxious SSU - "and I realize that it's a byproduct of my own stupidity, I assure you, but - the coffee?"