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

jim kirk; ota

[goldshirt]

[the jump was only a few days away and when Jim walks into the emergency shuttle bay, he realizes just how little time they're going to have this week. it seemed like half the Tranquility was in this tiny room, and they'd have to go through all of it. that was a feat in itself, but then there was the Scylla. the make it quick was a pretty damn good suggestion that they had a limited time with this piece of machinery.

emptying the ship should be their first priority, with others moving everything else out of the room. once it was somewhere that wasn't as precarious as this room, they'd have more time to go through it. Gunnery should try and collect as many weapons as they could find, too.

as it stood, Jim had one mission right now, and that was the ship's systems. he's armed with a few datapadds and a pouch on his belt of tools he'd need to get under the dash if necessary. he spares one glance up at the red text before he starts forward for the tubes.

eventually, he'll be found on the bridge, hacking into the scanning systems or with half his body disappeared underneath one of the consoles, like he's working on a car]

Re: jim kirk; ota

[logicunlocked]

[ The very existence of this ship is tantalizing for York, given the evidence that the tech on board is more advanced than what he's seen on the TQ. He could never resist the call of a lock that he hadn't yet worked out how to crack, or a security system he had not yet hacked. And there were too many on the TQ that fit under that category. It's frustrating for him, but he's nothing if not persistent, and it seems to him that fiddling around with more advanced versions of the same thing is just the way to learn how to solve that problem.

He has some electronic lockpicks he's devised out of bits and bobs of things on the TQ, and now was the time to put them to use. The cockpit door is open, but there's a lock on it similar to those on the TQ he's failed to crack. Investigating this clearly means attempting to use his improvised tools to lock himself in. That should give him enough knowledge to crack the lock open again.

In theory, anyway.

It's not the same as the holographic locks that have given him trouble in the past, but this is another example where having stereo vision sure would come in handy. He's not willing to resort to bobbing his head to compensate though, struggling to focus his bad eye instead, and tests the catch. The door slides open and he slams it shut again. ]

Dammit.

[ That's the third attempt and the third time he's failed to secure the lock. ]

[goldshirt]

[so involved in his own work, Kirk has heard people come and go onto the bridge already, but fifty percent of the time didn't bother getting up to see who it was. this was delicate work, and he didn't want to accidentally set anything off in the ship that he didn't have control over.

still, but the third time he's heard the door hiss open and slam shut, he figures he should probably see what's going on. it's likely York might not have seen him, half hidden behind a chair with most of his body under a console, but he squirms out and sits up, craning around the middle of the room to see what's going on. he's quiet for a moment, long enough to watch him try and get back into position before he speaks up:]

What are you doing?

[logicunlocked]

[ He hadn't, though there had been people wandering around the area. He stands from his crouched position and wipes at his forehead, seeking out the source of the voice. ]

Hey.

[ York similarly had been trying to work with precision, but the interruption was probably a good thing, because in his frustration he'd become a little less patient. Kirk can probably see now from his vantage point the way the panel next to the door has been removed, and the row of little electronic gizmos York has lined up on the resultant ledge. ]

Just helping out with the tech recovery. Sort of reverse engineering this lock, so to speak.

[ Never mind the fact that this specific aspect of recovering the technology on this ship probably appealed to himself and no one else. ]

[goldshirt]

[Kirk presses a hand into the small of his back, arching enough that the popping sound could undoubtedly be heard by York. some days he honestly felt way too old, and some days he had to tell himself he wasn't because of the sliver of gray at his temples. he cranes a little from where he's seated to take a look at the panel, because he hadn't really looked into it. his hacking skills had become almost moot on the Tranquility, which was a huge disappointment because Kirk was a damn good hacker, especially in regards to places he wasn't supposed to be.]

I'm guessing you're not having much luck?

[logicunlocked]

You're guessing right.

[ He frowns and gives the exposed innards of the panel a poke, then gives the other man a glance, turning his head so that he can see Kirk through his good eye. He doesn't enjoy feeling this handicapped by the bad one, and wouldn't ever admit it's the source of his trouble. ]

I'm on the right track, I think. Pretty soon I'll work out whatever it is I'm missing.

[ He picks up one of his lockpicks and starts messing with it. He needs to change the frequency of its electronic signal. In the meantime he may as well keep up the small talk; Kirk looks like he's earned a break. ]

Guess you've been here for a while?

[goldshirt]

[Jim watches him for a moment, studying the tilt of his head and the way he works on the panel from where he's seated. after a moment, he shifts forward and climbs to his feet, giving his own project a glance. it could wait five minutes.

he was curious enough to see how York was going about trying to hack this door open, because it wasn't in a way that Jim himself usually did things. he crosses over, careful to stay out of the other's light, peering at his handiwork.]

You mean under that console or on this terrible vacation?

[logicunlocked]

Heh. Both, I think.

[ He's recalibrated his lockpick and he gives it another try, tinkering inside the panel as he talks. ]

Back home I was an expert on locks and security. I always thought the principles would pretty much be the same no matter where I was, but this tech has stumped me ever since I got here five jumps ago.

[goldshirt]

[Jim's mouth quirks]

It's stumped me for seventeen. If you find a way into that thing, I'll make you dinner and get you drunk.

[because trading up here required a little more than I'll buy you a drink. they didn't have to buy anything, considering how much of everything they had and the fact there was no currency (but he still has to tell himself we have enough we have enough we have enough).]

[logicunlocked]

[ He shoots a grin in Kirk's direction before returning his attention to his work. ]

I'll take you up on that. Soon enough.

[ Arrogance, no; just good old-fashioned confidence. He knows his locks and he doesn't intend to be stymied forever on this type. ]

[goldshirt]

[though he looks like he's going back to it, Kirk sits down in the chair nearby and slouches, legs splayed. he stares across at the console for a moment, eyes narrowed like by staring it down it might change it's mind about giving him grief. then he swivels the chair and looks at the lockpicker]

I don't think we've met properly. I'm Jim Kirk.

[logicunlocked]

Garrett Murray. Everybody just calls me York, you can too. Comes from my military days.

[cargojet]

[ After this thread, chronologically.

Nathan had every intention of talking to Kirk about it himself, but getting the man alone was turning out to be harder than he'd first thought. The same probably applied to him, to tell the truth. Even though Nathan thought he'd spent long stretches of time during the last few days entirely alone, the truth was that those moments had been made to seem longer, simply because he was left to occupy his time with his own thoughts.

It didn't bode well. The whole thing was a complex mess, there was too much to do, too much to regret, too many things he wanted to but couldn't begin to explain. He wanted to shout at some people until his throat bled, smash his hands to pieces beating on the Tranquility herself, take Captain Lauren's lifeless body into his arms and shake the man for an explanation. Pointless excesses of emotion weren't going to achieve anything, though; they had to work on these things, one at a time, until everything was done.

And that meant cornering Kirk. When he found the right moment, Nathan closed the door to the bridge, joining Kirk beside the console where he could watch the door and praying that no lookie-loos chose this exact moment to take a tour of the flight deck. ]

Mind if I have a minute?

[goldshirt]

[he doesn't get up when the door opens because he's heard it open and close more times than he's cared to count while under this console. it isn't until he hears Nathan's voice that he shimmies out from where he is and wipes the back of his hand along his forehead.]

Good a time as any. Sorry I didn't find you first. [and he was, even as he levers himself off the floor. he wipes his hands on his slacks, though being black it doesn't leave much in it's wake. he leans over the console and hits a few buttons, clearly trying to trigger whatever he'd been working on. after a moment, when he doesn't get much of a response, he straightens and looks at Nathan.] Uhura told me.

[cargojet]

[ Nathan feels filthy. He's stolen some clothes to make up for the grease and sweat and dirt, but he's almost looking forward to the Jump just so that he can have a good sleep and a nice, long shower. There's no time otherwise. ]

I thought she might, but I was holding out a hope I'd get to speak to you first. I owe you an explanation.

[ He rubs the back of his neck. ]

I was planning to say something, but I...I didn't want to give anyone false hope. I wanted to know it could be done first.

[goldshirt]

[Kirk folds his arms and leans his hip against the console, but the weight in his gaze has less to do with any kind of judgement as it has to do with the privacy of the conversation. though Nathan is facing the door, Jim is aware of it in his periphery. he considers locking it, but knows that'll probably ring all kinds of alarms if someone comes along. after all, most of the people on the Scylla weren't civilians.]

You did what I would have done. [plain and simple; if Kirk had been in charge of this ship from the beginning, it would have been on his list. find a way to communicate, call out to a starbase. something. it was standard procedure: ask for help. the risk that it could have gone sideways was always there. it was in their own universe, with all the hostile species out there.

and Kirk might not have communicated it to anyone else, either. it was Comms job to do it, there would have been no sense in telling any other department. they weren't involved. but seeing this fall out, hearing the arguments in the Lupin boy's post— that isn't the way things can work up here. not if they want to avoid catastrophe again.]