(008) Meet Connie Malone

[Keven]

"Or, we can check out all three of them as we fly by, love. These 'elves', though, how close to human are they?"

Focussing on the Connie Malone Sigrun distractedly replies "They are light elves so they look like you'd expect - smaller with golden skin and pointy ears but are basically human. Don't you Imperials have sagas?"

"'Basically human'. So, human or not? The question is a lot more important than you might realise, Sigrun. Somebody told me once that back on Old Terra, they'd cured cancer a couple hundred times in lab rats, but couldn't duplicate it in humans themselves. So, while they might have something that works for them, that doesn't mean it'll work for somebody that's mostly ethnic Vilani."

"It's a bit bigger than what I'm used to calling 'home away from home', at least. A 400 tonner, looks like. We can always upgrade later, love..."

Sigrun searches for a translation and replies "She is a workhorse, she is the best ship for earning us money".

"We need to check the cabins' grav plates before we pick one," Zaki says calmly.

Sigrun loudly agrees "Ja, cabin gravitics are very important". Then she snickers and with robust nudge and an entirely theatrical wink asides to Zaki in mock prudishness "You are so shameless - "Belter girl"!"

"Nothing wrong with liking light gravity. It's easier on her hip."

[Tiglath]

Sigrun furrows her brow and replies "I don't really know but I don't think it works like that. The Ljósálfar magic doesn't care what you are - it just heals you anyway".

"Lighter gravity is good!" She switches from near laughter to a more serious tone and adds "All Sword World ships have a "centre" sometimes it is a place - like a shrine, sometimes it is person. I think Zaki is our Hearthfire. You will guard her well Carlos?"

[Keven]

Sigrun furrows her brow and replies "I don't really know but I don't think it works like that. The Ljósálfar magic doesn't care what you are - it just heals you anyway".

Carlos lifts an eyebrow.

"Lighter gravity is good!" She switches from near laughter to a more serious tone and adds "All Sword World ships have a "centre" sometimes it is a place - like a shrine, sometimes it is person. I think Zaki is our Hearthfire. You will guard her well Carlos?"

"Of course I'll guard her well. She's got both hands wrapped around my heart." He halfgrins. "Let's give this boat the once over."

[Tiglath]

"Of course I'll guard her well. She's got both hands wrapped around my heart." He halfgrins. "Let's give this boat the once over."

Sigrun smiles and simply says "I think you are a good man Carlos". She then agrees "Ja, it is time to look over our ship".

[Eris]

"Virushi."John Lee says, "You need to find some Virushi, Zaki...a Virushi Doctor. If anybody can figure out how to fix your problem it'll be one of them."

With that he take's Sigrun's hand and together they start toward the gaping mouth leading into the cargo bay.

[Tiglath]

As John Lee takes her hand Sigrun hesitates for a moment - not with any reluctance but in apparent indecision. Then, suddenly she smiles a bright smile that illuminates her heterochromatic eyes and laughs as her gun hand fiercely grips his and she matches his stride as they board the Connie Malone to begin the tour.

[Keven]

"Virushi."John Lee says, "You need to find some Virushi, Zaki...a Virushi Doctor. If anybody can figure out how to fix your problem it'll be one of them."

With that he take's Sigrun's hand and together they start toward the gaping mouth leading into the cargo bay.

"Virushi are back home, and their home planet isn't high tech. I've been there."

[joertexas]

"Virushi are back home, and their home planet isn't high tech. I've been there."

Zaki follows Carlos' lead as he walks them toward the ship. She makes a mental note to speak to John Lee at a more opportune moment about the Virushi.

[ffilz]

Chandra checks over the engineering compartment. Considering the condition the ship was in when we liberated it, there's a lot of parts, tools, and equipment we need to pick up. Anyone care to join me on an engineering shopping trip? Lord Muscha, your soft skills might serve well in navigating startown to find the best deals.

[Keven]

Carlos checks out the cockpit with Zaki, showing her how to work the navigation routines a bit. He sets up the program to generate a jump to their next destination to check to make sure it's working right.

[joertexas]

Carlos checks out the cockpit with Zaki, showing her how to work the navigation routines a bit. He sets up the program to generate a jump to their next destination to check to make sure it's working right.

Zaki sits next to Carlos, having turned the helmsman's chair to face his navigator's chair. "Okay, I understand the part about positioning your exit vector, but when you get into the jump calculations themselves, I get lost." She pointed at the cascade display at the left side of the holo, where a steady stream of information flowed like water down the display. "I know this represents the jump field's interaction with jump space, but I have no idea how to interpret it."

[Keven]

Carlos checks out the cockpit with Zaki, showing her how to work the navigation routines a bit. He sets up the program to generate a jump to their next destination to check to make sure it's working right.

Zaki sits next to Carlos, having turned the helmsman's chair to face his navigator's chair. "Okay, I understand the part about positioning your exit vector, but when you get into the jump calculations themselves, I get lost." She pointed at the cascade display at the left side of the holo, where a steady stream of information flowed like water down the display. "I know this represents the jump field's interaction with jump space, but I have no idea how to interpret it."

Carlos chuckles. "Hon, half the navigators I know don't have any idea how to interpret it. They just take it on faith. Now this part", he points at a sidebar, "shows fuel consumption during the jump itself. When you set the jump up and do a prelim like I did, you then want to optimise it. Like so..." He taps in a few commands, highlighting a section of the sidebar. "Cross reference it with the local data in the library program, optimise the waypoints..." He taps in another command, hits <ENT> and the sidebar updates with green in the sidebar. "See? Half the info you use on a standard jump is from the star catalog in the ship's library. Part of the info is stellar drift, which is why a jump tape is only good for 5 to 6 weeks. And that's why I had to use the yacht's Generate program to make us a tape to get us back from Ruie. Now, if I was going to blind jump into a rift, it gets a bit hairier. Doable, but hairier."

[joertexas]

Carlos chuckles. "Hon, half the navigators I know don't have any idea how to interpret it. They just take it on faith. Now this part", he points at a sidebar, "shows fuel consumption during the jump itself. When you set the jump up and do a prelim like I did, you then want to optimise it. Like so..." He taps in a few commands, highlighting a section of the sidebar. "Cross reference it with the local data in the library program, optimise the waypoints..." He taps in another command, hits <ENT> and the sidebar updates with green in the sidebar. "See? Half the info you use on a standard jump is from the star catalog in the ship's library. Part of the info is stellar drift, which is why a jump tape is only good for 5 to 6 weeks. And that's why I had to use the yacht's Generate program to make us a tape to get us back from Ruie. Now, if I was going to blind jump into a rift, it gets a bit hairier. Doable, but hairier."

"Brrrr," Zaki shakes her head, her blonde curls swaying in counterpoint with her movements. "I'm glad you're here to keep all of this straight. Would we be able to make it across the rifts if we chanced the blind jumps? Or do we need to work up to a longer ranged ship?"

[Keven]

Carlos chuckles. "Hon, half the navigators I know don't have any idea how to interpret it. They just take it on faith. Now this part", he points at a sidebar, "shows fuel consumption during the jump itself. When you set the jump up and do a prelim like I did, you then want to optimise it. Like so..." He taps in a few commands, highlighting a section of the sidebar. "Cross reference it with the local data in the library program, optimise the waypoints..." He taps in another command, hits <ENT> and the sidebar updates with green in the sidebar. "See? Half the info you use on a standard jump is from the star catalog in the ship's library. Part of the info is stellar drift, which is why a jump tape is only good for 5 to 6 weeks. And that's why I had to use the yacht's Generate program to make us a tape to get us back from Ruie. Now, if I was going to blind jump into a rift, it gets a bit hairier. Doable, but hairier."

"Brrrr," Zaki shakes her head, her blonde curls swaying in counterpoint with her movements. "I'm glad you're here to keep all of this straight. Would we be able to make it across the rifts if we chanced the blind jumps? Or do we need to work up to a longer ranged ship?"

Carlos scratches his nose. "We'd really need a longer ranged ship, hon. Or rent space on a bulk transport. The Islands Subsectors would be a bit rough on anything less than a Jump 3, and we have to cut across them AND catch another bulk transport across into Reavers Deep." He grins. "Whelp, computer checks out. Let's find a cabin."

[joertexas]

Carlos scratches his nose. "We'd really need a longer ranged ship, hon. Or rent space on a bulk transport. The Islands Subsectors would be a bit rough on anything less than a Jump 3, and we have to cut across them AND catch another bulk transport across into Reavers Deep." He grins. "Whelp, computer checks out. Let's find a cabin."

"Hm." Zaki smiles until her dimples show, but she just stands up and walks aft through the bridge hatch. She turns right, and enters the crew area through another hatch to her left, noting with satisfaction that the computer was properly recognizing her as a crewman. She peeks into the galley, and then turns to face Carlos. "We're the first ones here, so we have five rooms to choose from."

[Keven]

Carlos scratches his nose. "We'd really need a longer ranged ship, hon. Or rent space on a bulk transport. The Islands Subsectors would be a bit rough on anything less than a Jump 3, and we have to cut across them AND catch another bulk transport across into Reavers Deep." He grins. "Whelp, computer checks out. Let's find a cabin."

"Hm." Zaki smiles until her dimples show, but she just stands up and walks aft through the bridge hatch. She turns right, and enters the crew area through another hatch to her left, noting with satisfaction that the computer was properly recognizing her as a crewman. She peeks into the galley, and then turns to face Carlos. "We're the first ones here, so we have five rooms to choose from."

Carlos points at the door of the cabin athwart of the common area. "How bout that one?" (the one up against the corridor behind the bridge)

[joertexas]

Carlos points at the door of the cabin athwart of the common area. "How bout that one?" (the one up against the corridor behind the bridge)

Zaki steps past him with a demure smile, and opens the door. "It's been cleaned recently, so that's good." She walks inside and looks into the fresher, then turns in a circle. "I think it's perfect. For a starship, anyway." She sits down on the lower bunk. "I don't know how comfortable this bed is, though." She looks up at Carlos with an air of innocence. "And, we don't know how well the grav plate controls operate in here."

[Tiglath]

From an adjacent stateroom comes the sound of hurried movement and Sigrun’s rich laughter. She appears braced in the doorway of one of the portside cabins with a joyful smile on her face and absently tucks an errant skein of blond hair behind her ear whilst adjusting a fastening on her vacc suit.

With a glance behind her and another laugh she offers “Um ... Mister Petamore insisted on checking this cabin … for Virushi!” A mischievous smile then flashes across her features as she taps the stateroom’s environmental control panel just inside the door. This is immediately followed by the sound of about eighty kilos of Imperial Scout making ungainly contact with the deck. “He has checked out the gravitics too! We’ll take this one!” She turns back into the stateroom and leads a grinning and contentedly dishevelled John Lee out by the hand and off towards the Ship's Locker.

[Keven]

Carlos points at the door of the cabin athwart of the common area. "How bout that one?" (the one up against the corridor behind the bridge)

Zaki steps past him with a demure smile, and opens the door. "It's been cleaned recently, so that's good." She walks inside and looks into the fresher, then turns in a circle. "I think it's perfect. For a starship, anyway." She sits down on the lower bunk. "I don't know how comfortable this bed is, though." She looks up at Carlos with an air of innocence. "And, we don't know how well the grav plate controls operate in here."

Carlos frowns. "We can always swap the bed out. A port this big should have a lot of ship chandlers." He walks over to the gravplate control. "Here we go..." He turns the gravity down...

[Eris]

"Virushi are back home, and their home planet isn't high tech. I've been there."

Zaki follows Carlos' lead as he walks them toward the ship. She makes a mental note to speak to John Lee at a more opportune moment about the Virushi.

The Launch atop the ship makes a notable bump above the upper deck and there is no ATV on the ramp, but otherwise the outside looks much like the above picture.