ELEVENTH WAVE

[astrogate]

CHARACTERS: any and all
LOCATION: Gravity Couches and beyond
WARNINGS: maybe some swearing, or even some violence, and more than likely some implied (and possibly explicit) nakedness.
SUMMARY: Another month, another jump, another round of new faces.
NOTES: Keeping up with the tradition and copy pasted like always from the last one


You wake up in darkness.


There's a breathing tube jammed down your trachea, and you're suspended in a tube of clear blue fluid. Upon registering your level of consciousness, the gravity couch drains the fluid surrounding you and retracts the breathing apparatus; the doors in front of you open, and you're deposited on the floor of a stark, sterile medical bay.

You are not alone.


There are others who have come before you, others who are awakening beside you. Some may be familiar to you, perhaps even friends. Others have much less amiable plans. Some are merely alien and inexplicable, but there are always those who might mean you harm.

After you catch your breath and your vision returns, you notice a number on the inside of your forearm. Maybe it's a familiar number. Maybe it means something. Maybe it's just a number. But the number—completely unique to you—is a tattoo, and it does not come off.

If you enter the room adjacent to the medbay, you will find a small locker with your number on it, surrounded by rows upon rows of identical lockers. Inside, you will find a few of your personal items, a communications device, and a ship's uniform in your exact size. The comms device is fully powered and connects directly to the ship's network; it's your only means of communication beyond physical conversation. Upon turning the device on, a neutral, automated voice will say, "Please take the blue lift to the passenger quarters." Any other attempts at communicating with the rest of the network are met only with static.

This is your welcome party.

Comments

[talkstoengines]

[She shrugs her shoulders. Only a little! And not very good.]

You're on a space ship. She's called Tranquility, but don't let the name fool ya, it ain't very tranquil.

[nobrakes]

[He's less concerned about the name, Kaylee, and the upturn of his eyebrows says at much.]

I'm beat up, not stupid. I'm not gonna believe we're on a space ship.

[talkstoengines]

[Kaylee just shrugs. This is only her second jump, but she's already used to the disbelief from people who've never been in space before. So she just shoves the spare towel at him again.]

You will. Don't take long. Bein' in the black is different from anything else.

[nobrakes]

The black?

[He takes the towel, only because he's not fond of swinging around in front of women and children. Well, at least women he's not dating anyway. Vanessa got lucky and saw all parts of him.]

[talkstoengines]

[What is it with people not knowing what 'the black' is? Kaylee just sighs.] You know, the black? Space, it's all black. The whole 'verse is pretty much nothin' but black.

[nobrakes]

Why didn't you just say space then?

[Excuse him, Kaylee. He's a little grumpy and a whole lot of painy right now, grimacing with each move as he struggles to his feet.]

Fuck...

[talkstoengines]

'Cause it's the black. [She just looks at him, confused, until he starts trying to get up. Then she tries to help him as best she can without hurting him more than he already is.] We'll get you to Simon, he's around here somewhere. He's the best doctor, he'll patch you right up.

[nobrakes]

[Whatever, Kaylee, whatever. He'll argue with you once he's not bleeding out everywhere.

Wilee nods at her offer of help, but then freezes in place.]

Wait... my bike.

[Once again, priorities. But this one is seriously important now.]

[talkstoengines]

It ain't here, if it's on the ship it'll be in your locker. [Kaylee's got her hand on his elbow, gently, hoping he can hold himself up because he's a bit bigger than her, she couldn't carry him that's for sure.]

You gotta get a shower, clean up those cuts. Then worry about your stuff.

[nobrakes]

No, no, I gotta get my bike.

[He will let himself bleed to death over this thing, okay? Oh, sure, maybe not, but if his bike is here like this woman says, then it means Nima's note is still in the handlebars. And Wilee's not going to rest until he knows Monday doesn't have it. His voice is firm even if his stance isn't.]

Where's my locker?

[talkstoengines]

You gotta go through the showers to get to the lockers. [She shakes her head a little.] It'll be safe in there, don't you worry. C'mon, stop fussin' around. See that tattoo on your arm? [She shows him hers.]

[nobrakes]

[Wilee glances down at her arm, then his--the non-injured one--and sees the numbers stamped there: » 011 » 137. He frowns and compares his to hers, seeing completely different numbers.

Vanessa is the one with the tattoos. Wilee was the one who collected scars.]

When did I get this?

[talkstoengines]

No one knows. We all got 'em. [She points to his.] That first is your jump number. All the new folks that showed up with you got that eleven. The second one is just yours. That'll be your locker, and your room number in the passenger quarters, on floor eleven.

[nobrakes]

[Armed with that information, he turns on his heels, not caring that he's covered in blue goo and blood, and marches down to the lockers, searching for his number.

He finds it and fusses around with opening it, just like Kaylee told him not to, with opening the locker, only to find his baby in there. She's not in pristine condition, but she's there.]

Fuck, thank you.

[talkstoengines]

Whoa, hey, careful there! [Kaylee follows after him, mostly worried he's gonna fall on his face, or worse, and dammit, she's going to get him to Simon if it's the last thing she does.

She can see his relief at whatever it is he finds in the locker - looks like a bunch of twisted metal and gears to Kaylee, no discernible engine in sight.]

You move pretty fast for a fella who's probably got some broken ribs, you know that?

[nobrakes]

[She's about to see some more relief on his face once he seems to fiddle around with the handlebars. To anybody else, it just looks like he's checking to see if they are still in workable condition, but he's really checking for Nima's note that was tucked up in there. It's there, still there, tightly rolled.

But shit. That means it hasn't been delivered so she's fucked, he's fucked, and everybody's fucked. Wilee, you dumbass.]

Uh... so what happens back at home while we're here? Like do they put out an Amber Alert for a missing person or something?

[talkstoengines]

[Kaylee's got her arms wrapped around herself, loosely - it's getting a little chilly here in her towel and she needs to shower before she gets dressed.]

Dunno. Not sure we're in any part of the 'verse I know about. Maybe it's a completely different 'verse. We all come from different worlds. Lotsa folk from Earth-that-was, though where I come from, well. We ain't seen it in a coupla hundred years.

[She stops rambling long enough to think for a moment.] Maybe time gets stuck! Might be you could ask some of the folk who were here, then left and then came back. Pretty sure there's some around like that.

[nobrakes]

[Wilee's pretty much tuned her out by now, sorry. Kid's got a one track mind sometimes. He's worried about shit he can't do anything about and it's not cool at all.

He slams the locker door shut with a force that travels back through his injured arm and to his ribs and has him bending over in pain again.]

Shiiiit...

[talkstoengines]

[Yeah, she's getting a little annoyed and is about to wander off for that shower her - this guy is worse than Simon, that's for sure, but then he doubles over in pain again and Kaylee is right there]

Whoa, there, take it easy. Sit yourself down now, okay? Your stuff is there, just like I said. C'mon. You'll feel better once Simon patches you up.

[nobrakes]

[Okay, even Wilee knows when he needs to give in and he nods to Kaylee, shuffling to a nearby bench.]

Who's Simon?

[talkstoengines]

Friend of mine. [She perches down next to him, happy to explain while he gets his bearings again and focuses on breathing.] He's a doctor, a trauma surgeon really, but he joined our crew a while back as medic. He's real good at what he does, don't you worry.

[nobrakes]

He got aspirin?

[Wilee, you're going to need more than just aspirin for those ribs of yours.]

[talkstoengines]

He'll give you somethin' for the pain, I'm sure. And, you know. Stop the bleedin'.

[nobrakes]

Then what are we waiting for?

[For you to stop bullshitting around, Wilee.]

[talkstoengines]

For you to be able to stand without throwin' up?