Lending a hand

Who: Jo and Captain Niples
When: After the meeting before the date with Katrina =)
Where: Meeting room
Jo finally made her way up to the meeting room just as everyone was filing out. One person with pilots insignia on his shirt was wearing a scowl, and the others looked worried and preoccupied, but she still received some curious glances.
She walked into the room to see a tall, blonde and tanned man sitting at the head of the table, resting his chin in his hand and a thoughtful expression on his face. Another Space Corps poster boy, she thought.
“Captain Seymour Niples?” she asked. He looked up, his eyes flicked over her military uniform and the bandage wrapped around her forehead.
“Yes?” “Captain Joanne Peiades,” she stated. Niples sat up in surprise. Jo smiled slightly, “I’ll explain. I’m in command of the Quasar 4, a scientific prototype which we were in the process of testing when we ran afoul of an asteroid field. We were ‘rescued’ by your ships computer as the Blue Dwarf was travelling through said asteroid field. Apparently he did this without the knowledge of anyone on board…. and I can see from your expression that he still has not brought it to anyone’s attention.
“I had assumed his initial forgetfulness was due to the urgency of the situation, being pursued by unfriendlies, but when I spoke to him later he berated me for interrupting his crossword,” she paused and shook her head, slightly mystified at that memory.
Niples grimaced, “Holly is….unique…to say the least.”
“I suggest that you have a diagnostic test run on him at your next port of call.”
He frowned, running a hand through his hair, “Right at the moment Holly is the least of our concerns. You may have noticed unusual amounts of water flooding the ship. We’re slowly sinking into an the ocean of an unknown planet and working against the clock to keep the Blue Dwarf afloat.”
“Yes, I’ve already visited the promenade where some local water dwelling beastie was attempting to make mince meat out of your crew.”
"That’s all I need,” he sighed, “I'll have Harris and his security team look into it."
Jo walked around one side of the long conference table, pulled out a chair and sat down. “One thing I’m curious about. How exactly did a five mile long mining ship end up in a planets atmosphere? General rule of thumb indicates that once something with this mass is pulled out of orbit by gravity it inevitably makes a large crater in the ground.” She sat facing him, her hands folded on the desk and waited while Niples composed his thoughts.
“We’d been ordered, by General Anders, who I’m sure you’re familiar with, to ‘check something out’ in sector 27 gamma. An area in which we had earlier found evidence of alien life. When we returned there we were tracked by two craft once we entered the asteroid field. We escaped them through the use of a newly discovered gateway or portal of sorts. Unfortunately the exit led to a planetary atmosphere and Blue Dwarf emerged over an ocean.”
Jo looked confused upon hearing of the military’s involvement in all that had happened, but her expression turned to one of scepticism upon mention of ‘aliens’. She shook her head in disbelief as Niples finished his explanation.
“If I hadn’t seen evidence with my own eyes, I would seriously question your sanity,” she stated. Her head was filled with questions and she opened her mouth to voice some when the captain cut her off.
“What happened to your ship, the … Quasar 4? Where is it now?”
“Docking Bay 26, hopefully still intact. It didn’t fare too well in our initial crash, and we’ve had more structural problems since arriving on Blue Dwarf. The rest of my crew are still down there making a detailed inspection of the damage. Currently we estimate that it is capable of spaceflight with a few minor modifications.”
Niples nodded, steppling his fingers under his chin. “Under ‘usual’ circumstances, I would be able to organise immediate communication with your superiors and an escort for your crippled ship, but these times are far from usual. We don’t even know if we can return the way we came, even if we are able to get the Blue Dwarf repaired and back in working order. I would appreciate it if you could give us any help in achieving either of these aims.”
“I understand. We’re all in the same boat here. Sorry,” she winced at her accidental pun. “How would you like me to be of assistance?”
“Our primary aim at the moment is to keep the Dwarf from sinking. A number of teams are already working on it under the direction of Jay Chrysler. You might find him down in engineering with the Chief Katy Roskev or he could be outside the ship.”
“Right. I will be able to have a team ready by tomorrow morning, but currently I require the use of a medical officer to treat my crew and access to any burial services you may have.” She stood and held out her hand. He rose from his seat to shake it. “Of course. I’ll send a message to the medibay. One of the staff there will be able to accompany you down to your ship and aid you in both your requests.”
She nodded, saluted him and turned on her heel to walk out the door of the meeting room. Niples watched her leave wearing a pensive expression. Things were getting more and more complicated. He stood there thinking for a moment before realising that they had not discussed the nature of the scientific mission Captain Peiades had been conducting before their mishap. I’ll ask her later, he thought, but now, I need to find Katrina. Captain Niples smiled as he left the room, mind now full of the surprise he had in stall for his sweetheart.
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OOC: Back and writer’s block free….finally. Onion, I’ll leave it up to you to decide whether to involve the “Duality Drive Project”. Niples only has to ask, but then, Jo may or may not agree =)
Steph
~figment of your imagination~
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