Jay on the run and many frustrated engineers
Who: Jo, Zodar, Katy, and the other members of the Blue Dwarf engineering teams
When: As the alcohol is being drained (a slight back track, I know)
Where: Outside.
After many hours of welding and repair work, the Blue Dwarf was now relatively water tight. Unfortunately, even with the multitude of balloons that were now attached to the hull, the ship was still sinking. The speakers fizzed and cackled to life with the shipwide anouncement.
"All hands this is Lt. Jay Chrysler...it is with a heavy heart i have to inform you that so far all of our efforts to lighten the ship have failed" the general consensus of the crew was one of sadness as it sunk in that they may all be stranded on this planet.
"It is because of this I must make one..last drastic measure...in order to lighten the ship enough to stay afloat I regret that I am going to have to......drain the ships alcohol supply tanks" Many of the engineers who had stopped work to listen to the announcement suddenly dissolved into blubbering children.
"I know this will be hard for all of you.." Jay's voice quavered, "Please know..this is an outcome I tried desperately to avoid..Chrysler out”
"Wait! Lieutenant Chrysler! Stop!" Jo yelled, jogging towards over the slippery surface of the Dwarf's outer hull. She tripped on the uneven surface, landing heavily on her knee and slid towards the precarious edge, fingers scrabbling frantically for purchase on the blue decking. Stopping about a foot from the edge, Jo breathed a sigh of relief, as she peered at the dizzying drop below. Slowly she levered herself to her feet and proceeded to limp at a more sensible speed towards the engineers.
Jo hobbled up to Zodar just as a group of rabid security officers set off in pursuit of Jay.
"What on earth does he think he's doing?" She vented furiously, "Not only is he endangering his own life, but he just poured thousands of tonnes of poison into an alien ecosystem. He'll have killed every living creature within a five mile radius of the ship!"
Zodar looked up at her blankly. His brain was still wrestling with the shock of losing all the precious fluid. "All gone...it's all gone..." he muttered monotonously. Trying to control her irritation, Jo turned to look down at the other operations going on around her.
"Katy," Jo called over the edge, "Have all the holes been sealed?"
"All except one on the bottom of the hull. A diving team is working on it now. They're almost finished," the Chief called back.
"Ok. Need any help down there? "No, we're fine. Thinking of knocking off myself," she sighed, "This is ridiculous. We need someone to catalogue what is vital equipment and what can be jettisoned. Even then, fully evactuaing the supply decks of a ship this large in space dock takes a month with the correct equipment, let alone stranded on a planet, half submerged in an ocean, with only mining gear to work with. There's no easy way to get rid of it. We'd be underwater before we'd emptied even half."
Jo shared her frustration. The situation was looking dismal, and now the moral of the crew would be at an all time low, with not even a drink at hand to drown their sorrows in. She hammered a fist on her thigh, and watched Zodar whimpering in a corner for his 'Mommy'. Jo chewed her lip as she stared at him. An idea was creeping around inside her head, but she couldn't quite catch hold of it to examine it in the light. It hovered there tantalisingly, flickering at the edge of her consciousness. Calmly, she dismissed it, hoping it would work itself out in its own time and present her with some workable form at a later date.
"Oh get up," she said to the still prostrate Zodar, hauling him to his feet. He was still gazing desolately into some private hell. Jo slapped him once, and he blinked, finally coming out of his trance. "Where can I get some decent food on this submarine?"
"Um....Parrots Bar or...ah...Le Regal de McKenzie," he mumbled wide eyed.
"Hrmmm, the cheapest would do fine. And some food might take your mind off things. Lead the way," she said to him.
"Hey Katy," Jo called again as they were tramping down the gangway towards one of the air locks, "We're going for some food. Care to join us?"
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OOC: So what's the social scene like on this ship? =)
- Steph
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