EVENT: SPACE PIRATES ▒ THE EMERGENCY SHUTTLE BAY & THE SCYLLA

[ataraxites]

CHARACTERS: Ensemble production!
LOCATION: The emergency shuttle bay & The Scylla
WARNINGS: Potential disturbing themes.
SUMMARY: Exploration and salvage of the Scylla and the emergency shuttle bay it's docked onto.
NOTES: April 28 onwards.

An emergency shuttle bay is found tucked away above the 50th passenger floor; holding only two transport shuttles and a network console, it contains the final evidence of the pirates' work. Here, large amounts of the equipment and items they looted from the Tranquility are piled up: some waiting, some already packed up into storage crates for transport onto the Scylla— and some, though not much, already stored away on board. How they came aboard is made clear now by the two holes cut through the metal of the hull-side wall— the openings connect to docking tubes, which provide an easy route onto the Scylla herself. On the wall above is a message left in red: MAKE IT QUICK... And with the jump fast approaching, it might be best to take heed...

Comments

desmond hume; open to 2-3 other people (one thread); switch discovery and flashes log

[thatsaflaregun]

[Desmond's here to satisfy his natural curiosity and maybe convince himself that this really isn't the island after all. After all, he has insurmountable proof they're in space and all logic says that it can't be the island.

Luckily, he's picked up a group of people to explore the ship with- he's more likely to reign in his crazier impulses and be calmer when he knows he's just going to get smacked down for it. The island was a little more accepting of his particular brand of madness. Here... Madness was a bit different.

Still, this really wasn't helping much. It was the freighter all over again.]

I don't know about the rest of you, but there's something unnerving about all this.

gently climbs in here

[goldshirt]

What was your first clue?

[Jim asks, and he hadn't exactly been recruited for this, but they'd been going the same direction and that was enough for Jim. Kirk had plans for the Scylla, and knowing what others were working on would help him stay in the loop.

he isn't looking at Desmond, instead looking at everything else because, lets face it, anything that wasn't the Tranquility was almost like finding water in a desert]

...stumbles loudly in here

[surrogates]

[ Generally speaking, Ric probably should have thought that it was a bad idea to be involved in this mess because of everyone else, but maybe he was going a little cabin fever crazy and even if the Scylla is still a ship? It's at least not the Tranquility. But Desmond had needed the company and Ric wasn't about to let Jenna go along ( well let is a strong word, but he didn't want her to go, so he did ).

Which brings us to now and Desmond being Desmond and Kirk, well, being Kirk. ]

Might have been that everything involving us as a group is. [ Somewhere the fourth wall wept when Ric didn't think to try and break it. ] Ship we don't know about that appears and boards us and thinks we're easy pickings. Sounds like a honeymoon.

[ Ric, let's tone down the sarcasm and focus on what's going on. ]

[thatsaflaregun]

Ship we don't know that thinks we're a ghost story, yeah? [He glances back at Kirk and Ric.] What happens when the rest of the world out there finds out we're not?

[Everything twists in his mind, connecting dots that shouldn't be connected. He shakes his head, feeling the onset of a headache coming on. He'd push through it. Like always.] The cockpit should be around here somewhere.

[goldshirt]

[Jim chooses not to speculate on what others will think when they find out the ship isn't a ghost ship. there are still too many facts and suggestions to study before they can start thinking of that just yet.

but it wasn't something to be ignored. if these pirates were the first of others to come looking for them, Kirk wasn't sure any longer if it would mean their salvation or not any longer. he remembers, once, when Ward and Resnik had said they were taking them to Alexandria, where they'd figure out how to get them home.

knowing, now, that they weren't headed that way—

he glances at the structure of the ship, the lines of the interior and then jerks his head to the left as he takes point.]

Bridge should be this way.

[surrogates]

We're stuck looking like crazy people. [ So, in essence, fucked. Ric has a very unique perspective on the entire ship, considers it, despite all the problems ( the insane amount of problems ) to be his only real chance at happiness ( a life ) and well, it's different for him, so he thinks about these things because he needs to.

From an Earth historical perspective, the odds are— against them at best. And well, at the moment, maybe it's best not to dwell on it. ]

You sure? Because even if this thing is smaller than the Tranquility, not exactly looking forward to running around all of it to find the bridge.

[thatsaflaregun]

[It's a little late to be looking like you're crazy- for him, anyway. Desmond grits his teeth, because he's thinking of the island, the end result of the freighter finding it and what happened after.

If matters continue the way they did before...]

No, I think he's right. We passed the engine room a hall or two that way. [He points behind them.] So we keep going straight... [He stops and points to a door.] Gotcha.

[goldshirt]

[Jim smiles, it's a twitch in the corner of his mouth, satisfaction that he hasn't lost his touch. he glances over his shoulder at his company, as though maybe to share this small victory with them before stepping forward. he half expects the door to be locked, and glances up at the jam in mild surprise when it hisses open and allows them access without any problems.]

I wonder if they left the keys, too.

[it's a nod to leaving your car unlocked, and how easy it can be to lift one, but it's also a real question. if this ship could fly here, it meant they'd arrived with enough fuel to get out of dodge. it could mean a way out.

without waiting for a response, Jim heads straight for the helm.]

[surrogates]

[ The look Ric gives the jam isn't surprise, and instead is concerned. It's not that he wants something to go wrong, but in any horror movie, when something is this easy— something's going to go wrong. ]

They can't be that stupid. [ Because who hasn't known the idea of lock your car and take the keys, so to speak. ]

At the risk of sounding like a Negative Nancy here, be careful. Because this is— weird, honestly. As nice as that'd be, there's no way in hell this could be this easy without some string attached.

[ And if sounds like he says that like it's something he doesn't want to think about, well, he really does just want it to be this easy, but. ]

[thatsaflaregun]

What would we do if they did? [Desmond's stomach twists in knots, equally on edge, but because of something a little more... surreal than simple wariness. Like standing on the cusp of something and being unsure if you're still awake or if you fell asleep and have been wandering around in a dream.

But he keeps moving, because he doesn't know what else to do.]

Even if we could find another living soul out there somewhere, maybe pose as the only survivors of what happened, lie to anyone who asks... We wouldn't be home, yeah? I dunno about you two, but as much as I hate the bloody ship, we stand a far better chance of making it home if we don't rock the boat too much.

[goldshirt]

[Kirk doesn't look over his shoulder at their discussion, though his gaze cuts down and to the side, a private acknowledgement as to what they're talking about. once, Ward and Resnik had said that in getting back to Alexandria they'd find a way home. Jim knew that wasn't the case any longer. the only way they'd get home is if they could figure out that jump drive, if it was indeed the culprit in all of this.

the answer to their being dragged her and the answer to getting home lay on the Tranquility, whether they liked it or not. but there was always a chance they might need to run, and so:]

It's always good to have a back up plan.

[he says, instead of offering commentary on the legitimacy of using this ship, or of getting home via the one they were already living on. he reaches out to the console to boot the system back up. he doesn't touch navigation, not yet.]

[surrogates]

[ this is the problem, Ric doesn't know about Alexandria not being true, and neither does Desmond. it's arguably a good thing, particularly for Ric who, honestly, would like very few things more than being able to stay here with Jenna because she's alive here and she'd dead at home.

but that's a thought for another time, a time when they're not here in the Scylla. ]

Can't argue with that one. Plan B, C, D, maybe the rest of the alphabet sounds like a good bet.

[ Ric just watches, knowing very well that as accustomed to the Tranquility as he had gotten, well, it's best if he didn't touch anything on this ship. he might break something. ]

So far so good. We're not blown up yet at least.

[thatsaflaregun]

[-blown up.

It happens quickly and for Ric and Kirk, it looks like nothing happened at all. Desmond just suddenly goes rigid, eyes vacant and unfocused. It only takes a second or two before he snaps out of it, but for him? Time moves simultaneously forward and backwards, a memory of a freighter blowing itself sky high thanks to a dead man's switch transposed over a series of images- Kirk flicking on the navigation, a countdown suddenly starting with almost no warning. He's running through the ship, yelling and by the time he gets back to the Tranquility, the Scylla has blown, taking a chunk of the Tranquility with her and then...

That second or two he's gone is broken by him suddenly gasping violently. He jerks his attention to the console.] Don't touch it! [He points a finger violently at the panel.] Don't- We need to get out of here. It's not safe.