|
Post by Dragonfly on Nov 8, 2011 20:38:19 GMT -6
Jenny Wren is breaking atmo above Beaumond, on route to their first job. The crew and passengers are preparing to go planetside. Ellie is currently the only one who knows their objective. Players may post where they are and what they are doing as we set down on Beaumond.
Just a reminder, if your character is on Jenny Wren in the original storyline, Little Piece of Freedom then make sure you are posting in both threads until the first one is concluded and locked.
|
|
Ellie
New Member
Firefly Simm%\1\%
Posts: 73
|
Post by Ellie on Nov 8, 2011 21:01:45 GMT -6
Location: Jenny Wren, Ellie's Quarters
"Approaching Beaumonde Captain, we'll be breaking atmo in ten," Jane's voice came over the static filled comm, breaking the still darkness in her room. Ellie groaned a bit, stretched and crawled out of bed to get ready to go planetside shortly. Once dressed, she splashed some cold water on her face and toweled it back off. Finally she pulled her hair back in a loose pony tail and headed out of her room. She made her way up to the bridge and dropped into her usual co-pilot seat. "How we lookin'?" she asked Jane. The woman gave a nod to indicate everything was normal and Ellie hit the shipwide comm. "Look alive people, we're setting down on Beaumond in less than ten minutes. We'll be planetside for twenty four hours to pick up some cargo and then we'll move along to the delivery location." She turned the comm back off and muttered under her breath, "Let's hope this stop goes better than the last two..."
Location: Jenny Wren, Bridge
|
|
|
Post by Fiona Fiacha on Nov 9, 2011 0:24:42 GMT -6
Location: University Library, Beaumonde
So far, it was all going to plan, which unnerved Fiona just the slightest. Sure, in all sorts of storybooks and Cortex feeds, thieves pulled things off swiftly and beautifully, but they had practice! And elan! And a budget! And, usually, a sidekick or two! She had an artist's knife, some other assorted junk, a half-thought-out plan, and one big desire - to somehow get Rowling's Fantastical Universes out of the library without being caught.
It had taken her the better part of an hour to recreate the book's bar-code with a sheet of card-stock and a thin-tipped marker and a super-precise ruler. But after all that breathtaking work, when she slid it under the reader, the book's title and shelving information popped up. With a few quick taps of the screen she changed the book's information - setting it to "moved to discard bin" instead of "on reading room floor." With any luck, no one would go looking for the book until long after it had departed Beaumonde.
The next part was going to be done quickly - carefully, but quickly. She had to cut the original bar-code out of the book and destroy it, then attach the new bar-code to the heavy-bound album she had hidden in the artist's portfolio at her feet. It was the right dimensions but the wrong weight, but Fiona was pretty sure that a decoy only had to look convincing. People were often so close-minded as to believe their lying eyes; if it looked like a duck, it was a duck. Or, in this case, a book.
And then there was the somewhat messy part of setting off the micro-flashes, something showy to create a distraction without destroying anything mega-important, allowing her to get away while everyone else was looking elsewhere. She hadn't quite figured out how to get the micro-flashes to go off in one part of the library while she was in another, but there was nothing the "F" volume of the Book of Answers ("f" for "fuse," of course) couldn't help her with.
And then? Well, Fiona hadn't gotten that far. She was counting on adrenaline to get her out of the University Library and as far as the docks, and then... and then, there was no plan. A ship, yes. Going somewhere far away from Beaumonde, yes. She'd prefer someplace warm and well-lit, with space to pore over Fantastical Universes for as long as she wanted, and a place to recharge the processor batteries keeping her this side of hearing, but she was willing to negotiate on all of that.
"I wish I had a sidekick," she murmured as she carefully slit the plastic casing holding the bar-code to the book. "It's going to be such a let-down if I pull this off and there's no one here to crow to - to share in my glory, as it will be." She considered this. "Well, perhaps discretion is the smarter part of valor."
|
|
kitsune
New Member
Firefly Simm%\0\%
Posts: 61
|
Post by kitsune on Nov 9, 2011 18:08:17 GMT -6
Location - Kitsune's quarters Hours before present- Kitsune began to search the cortex for possible jobs at the destination. To the cortex hand held terminal. "Begin search Bounty's License number BK421-009, Begin search all Securities License number AS1098-009, Begin search all Private Investigation Requests License PI1021N3, Begin search Process servings Requests License PTRBCSO finally begin search Request for prisoner transport License PT009 and narrow search parameters to Beaumond". Having a five star badge was harder to get then becoming a cop and infinitely harder to maintain so most people just became cops but seeing how that was in the past this was the only way to do jobs like these. Prison transport, process servings, securities (be them private, personal or commercial )Private investigations and bounty-hunting, all required different licenses, policy's and procedures, renewals to maintain and having to do this while your competition constantly tried to get your licenses taken away to open more jobs for them made it ludicrous for someone to want to get a five star badge, but it put the food on the table he thought. "And notify on continual 30 minute intervals of new alerts." Beginning to pack up his gear in the reverse order he unpacked it. then thinking to him self the following Most of the really juicy work was always out on the rim were the law was scarce. That's why he left his ship back on Osiris it would have never made a run to the rim it was designed for police duties in the core and boarder worlds being a double occupant (the second person riding in a cage) police AS-5 Proteus. No place to move limited fuel and maintenance was a bit of a pain specially sense he was no longer in the service. it was retired, having exceeded its term of use standard set by the alliance, when he bought it but he could get it fixed at any fleet service station when he was a cop. Now not so much. Sure he had the money but police parts were almost impossible to come by being regulated and what not. Yet now he was wishing he hadn't hes on a ship full of angry people with things to hide and still has yet to leave the boarder worlds this entire time. And to top it all off this ship was boarded which obviously upset a good portion of its passengers and crew, and if stuff had gone south he doubted he could have just said "Im just a passenger I have nothing to do with them" and the troopers just give him a thumbs up and let him walk off ship with his belongings....yea more likely it w ended with a hand in his rectum, his gear confiscated and at least a month of interrogation. then he thought to him self, Ah Marissa why don't you stick your head out just for a moment to get noticed so i can have a real challenge. But he knew his sister was better then that. With that thought complete his terminal began to beep. Finally the list was compiled being a border world there should be plenty of such work needed. He began to sift through the files, Smuggling ..nope, embezzlement...pays good but not my cup of tea, Cheating husband.....lets see what we got. He continued like that till he heard the captains announcement Present - A few decent jobs marked and hopefully some entertainment to it, he sat down in the desk chair and waited for the green light to depart ship. Location - Kitsune's quarters
|
|
Ellie
New Member
Firefly Simm%\1\%
Posts: 73
|
Post by Ellie on Nov 12, 2011 0:35:23 GMT -6
Location: Jenny Wren, Bridge
Jane got permission to land and brought the ship down with no hiccups. Ellie left her with instructions to stay with the ship. She didn't seem to be in a hurry to leave it anyway, so it suited her fine.
Ellie went back to her cabin and holstered her sidearm before snatching the brown leather jacket off the back of the chair that sat in front of her desk. A thought struck her and she pulled open the drawer and rifled through it until she found a little book of contacts. Flipping the pages she found the pages for Beaumonde. Her finger slid down the page and stopped at the name she was looking for. It had been a long time. Too long, in fact. Would a visit be welcome now? A lot had happened in the intervening years, and a lot had been said on the last time they had seen each other. Things that couldn't be easily forgotten or forgiven. She slipped the book into her pocket. It could be decided later; after the cargo was safely in Jenny's hold.
As Ellie reached the cargo hold she hit the comm once again and announced, "Welcome to Beaumonde folks. New Huntsville to be exact. We'll be docked here for just twenty four hours so don't get too settled in. Be sure to find a bar and get yourself a drink while you're at it. Earth-That-Was Distillery makes the finest in Old Earth style spirits and this is the cheapest place in the 'verse to get 'em. For those of you who are getting off at this stop, glad to have you hitch a ride on Jenny and best of luck on Beaumonde!" She smiled a bit to herself and then went on, "Major James, can you join me in the cargo hold..." pausing for a moment she came to a decision, "You too Kitsune. That is, as long as you are not in too big a rush to get somewhere." She would need a little help for this job. Mostly just some more guns and muscle for show to keep the undesirable sort away from the cargo they were being employed to transport.
The cargo bay door opened and let the sunlight stream in. Well, as much of it as there was to be had. This being one of the cities with factories in it, the air was full of the usual haze of pollution. The only places free from it on Beaumonde were New Dunsmir and the open country, far from Blue Sun's factories. "You'd think we would've learned our lesson from Earth-that-was," she commented to no one in particular. The people passing by along the docks ignored her as she stood on the loading ramp surveying the scene. Turning back into the ship she saw Kitsune coming in from the passenger dorms and she could hear Teddy on the spiral staircase so she knew he would be with them soon too. Ellie crossed the space in the cargo hold and met Kitsune by the Skiff. She moved over to it and opened it up as she explained, "I'm sure you have a job in mind or something or other to do, but if you could lend a hand in my cargo pick up it would be appreciated. I'd be willing to pay you a bit as well for your time. Though it won't be much since it won't take much of your time."
Inside the Hover Skiff, she began the start up procedure and gave a curt nod to Teddy as he joined them. Finally she explained, "We've got a pick up for cargo. It's all legitimate business, but it could cause some folks to be jealous. I'd like for you two to help me move it from the pick up to the ship. Scare off anyone who might be up to no good, if you follow. You up for it?"
Location: SHI LAV-30 Hover Skiff
|
|
|
Post by Fiona Fiacha on Nov 12, 2011 23:58:35 GMT -6
Beaumonde Docks
"Hummingbirds' hearts beat at 1400 beats per minute," Fiona whispered to herself as she moved towards the docks. "The king of hearts is the only king without a mustache in a standard deck of playing cards. Blocks of tea used to be used as currency in Siberia-That-Was."
The facts kept spilling out of her mouth as she headed up the road towards the docks. The muscles in her legs were burning from the quick getaway from the University Library, and her arms were wrapped around the artists' portfolio containing Fantastical Universes; the backpack-style duffel bag on her back contained the rest of her possessions. Her processors were turned down to half-volume - it helped her to be able to focus on what was important: getting a ride on a ship, and never letting the litany of facts stop. If they stopped she'd surely be caught, and if she was caught, well...
"Glass takes one million years to decompose. A group of geese on the ground is a gaggle, but in the air they're called a skein. A group of larks is called an exaltation. A group of owls at rest is called a parliament. A group of toads is called a knot. A group of ravens is called a murder. A group of rhinoceri is called a crash. A group of unicorns is called a blessing."
Having fully exhausted her list of animal-group facts, Fiona let her eyes scan the ships at the docks. A surprisingly low amount, based on the number of people at the shops. Mostly government - she could tell by the markings.
"A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce from the bottom of the glass to the top without stopping." That one slowed her thoughts a bit - how in the world did she know anything about champagne? Or raisins?
Her eyes caught sight of a Dragonfly-class ship at the far end. Fiona's father had a "thing" for Dragonflies, though he'd never flown on one. Much like she had a "thing" for odd facts and could spout them day and night without ceasing if provoked, her father could wax poetic on Dragonfly-class ships with a sense of wonder and fascination.
That settled it. Still spewing facts like a dropped encyclopedia, Fiona headed towards her new-found ride. "Porcupines float in water. Confucius was a corn inspector. James Buchanan was the only unmarried United States president. Lobsters have blue blood."
She slowed as she came to the ship. It looked deserted, but the cargo bay was open oh-so-welcomingly. She flicked her processors up to full volume, all the better to hear if anyone was coming for her.
Fiona took a deep breath, hugged Fantastical Universes closer, and strode aboard the ship. Every step she took, she paused, waiting to see if anyone was around.
Cautiously she peered around the cargo bay. Nothing out of the ordinary.
And there - there was her saving grace. A big carton pushed into a corner. Fiona hurried towards it, ducked behind the crate, and crouched down. She took off her backpack and settled it on the floor next to her. The black canvas bag containing Fantastical Universes stayed in her lap.
She hugged that magical book, pulled her knees up to her forehead, flicked off her processors, and with one final fact - "There are several body parts we don't actually need: the coccyx, the pinkie toe, wisdom teeth, body hair excluding facial, the female vas deferens, the male uterus, the appendix, and, according to most scientists, the spleen" - she curled into herself...
... and fell fast asleep.
|
|
kitsune
New Member
Firefly Simm%\0\%
Posts: 61
|
Post by kitsune on Nov 13, 2011 7:40:01 GMT -6
Location - Skiff
Kitsune-"Its all right by me, I haven't really decided if anything here peaks my interest, So I'll give ya a hand" Usually when some one says it might make people jealous and scare people off it usually means to Kitsune that it might be an interesting time. With that though he undid the top off his duffel and pulled out one med kit and three of his smoke grenades, then re did the duffel."Don't recon I been to this town in particular does it have a bank? and if so where might it be?" putting the three grenades in three holsters on the backside of his crossing belts and putting the med kit on like a back pack. Not waiting for a reply since he was going with them anyway he hopped off and set his duffel bag between some crates in a corner then hopped back on the skiff. "Well I'm as ready as I will be, less you want to give me some details about the people we might just be agitating" then his mind went to the payment, I hope she pays in kisses he thought. Just then his portable went off and he looked at it. Theft, library laughing to him self he continued on with the bulletin, list of suspects is shot, first was a little girl who visited the book daily "Wow ok really daily" if that didnt scream has a hard on for it nothing did.he looked at the servaliance photo of her then looked to the next suspect the attendant who issued the book "Ok you know what its not my style and I dont care" he was hopeing for a deviase villan who preyed on the weak and was semi smart, some one who truely needed to be removed from the verse not a little girl who took a book. Smiled at him self for the took a book though, "wow im getting dumber by the minute"
Location - Skiff
|
|
Ellie
New Member
Firefly Simm%\1\%
Posts: 73
|
Post by Ellie on Nov 13, 2011 20:42:07 GMT -6
Location: Hover Skiff
"Its all right by me, I haven't really decided if anything here peaks my interest, So I'll give ya a hand. Don't reckon I been to this town in particular does it have a bank? and if so where might it be?" Ellie shook her head slightly, "I think there's one just off the docks in the opposite direction we're going right now. You can probably look it up on the Cortex when we get back to find out for sure."
She swiveled her chair around and began start up. The sound of the hover engines kicking in was rather loud in the cargo hold, but there was no one there to hear it, at least they didn't think there was. The three occupants of the Hover Skiff could feel the Skiff begin to lift off the ground and finally the engines reached a nice steady level and she looked back at them with a grin, "Strap in boys, we're off!"
Ellie took the Skiff cautiously out of the cargo hold, for fear some pedestrian might walk across their path just as they left the ship, but once to the end of the loading ramp, she could see the road was clear and she hit the gas, quickly picking up speed as they went along. She was particularly fond of the Skiff. Timmy might have accused her of taking it instead of the Mule just for the fun of it, but Ellie was pretty certain the load capacity might be more than the Mule could handle. It was pretty limited. She zipped around a corner, barely slowing down and breezed down another, slightly more narrow road. She continued in this manner for about fifteen minutes, taking corners quickly and using smaller side streets to avoid traffic, and as many pedestrians as possible. If they were looking outside, the guys would notice that the businesses and housing was thinning out as they Skiff was coming into the industrial zone of the city. They soon were amidst large factories and heavily armed plants on either side, and finally Ellie slowed and brought the hover craft in to a an entrance on their left. The sign over the entrance read, "Earth-That-Was Distillery" and she stopped at the guard gate.
The officer on duty approached the Skiff suspiciously, "You got business here ma'am?"
She nodded, "Been employed to carry a small shipment off planet. Name's McKee, with Jenny Wren. They should have sent our info ahead already."
"Wait here while I check," the officer went back to the guard booth and they could see him talking to someone probably by wave. Ellie explained as she watched him, "For the smaller buyers on the Rim worlds, it's less expensive to charter your own shipment than to pay the fees the distillery charges. Costs an arm and a leg to get them to ship to a Rim World. I only charge an arm," she joked.
The guard gave them the go ahead and opened the gates, telling them, "Straight ahead past these two buildings to the third on on the right, they'll have the shipment on the loading dock by the time you get back there." The man cast a friendly smile at her and touched his uniform cap as he retreated to the booth again. Ellie returned the smile and took the Skiff inside the factory grounds, following his instruction to the proper building. Easing the Skiff up to the dock they could see a burly guy leaning casually against six large crates. "Let's get them loaded up gentleman..." Ellie released her belt and clambered quickly out of the Skiff.
The guy standing there, rolling a cigar stub around in his lips, eyed her up and down and then commented, "these boxes are awfully heavy for a pretty little thing like you."
She placed her hands on her hips, pushing back her jacket in the process, revealing her sidearm and commented coldly, "Then it's a good thing I have help with all of that now isn't it?" His eyes looked past her as Teddy and Kitsune got out of the Skiff behind her. He mumbled something and moved out of their way so they could load the goods into the Skiff. Within minutes they were finished and twenty minutes later, they were bringing the skiff up the loading ramp into Jenny's cargo hold once again.
Ellie opened the Skiff door yet again and taking a hold of the nearest crate she commented, "Thanks fellas, mind giving me a hand getting it into the hold and then if you have other stuff you want to do here in New Huntsville, then you can get to it?" She didn't wait for their answer as she hauled the first crate out and set it up against a crate close to the back wall.
Location: Jenny Wren, Cargo hold
|
|
kitsune
New Member
Firefly Simm%\0\%
Posts: 61
|
Post by kitsune on Nov 14, 2011 8:30:40 GMT -6
Condenced time happens over a matter of hours, possile character interaction points read carefully
Location - Cargo hold
After unloading the skiff Kitsune turned to the captain. "I'll be back for my stuff in a few hours or so if ya don't mind" turning he headed out the cargo hold for that bank the captain had mentioned.
Once the bank was in sight Kitsune slowed down and started to take in the area as he walked. Its at that moment Kitsune spotted a Lady with her child in an alley across the street from the bank, the woman and child were covered in dirt and dust. He watched as to gentlemen in fancy suits walked past them with out notice or care. "what horrid times we live" he said as he crossed over to them, their look connived that they had been there a while and were being covered by dust from passing vehicles. Stopping in front of them he pulled off his med kit and produced a food stuff brick. "this is a grade A food stuff brick, could last you at least a month, more if its just the two of you" she smiled a weary smile at him "wont do much for the grumbles though its just ment to provide you with all your supplements and immunizations to keep you going." He then reached behind him and pulled out his money bag and with out looking pulled out one platinum piece and handed the bag over to the mother. "there is ruffly 3 and a half platinum in that bag, I recon its a good start." the mother began to cry causing Kitsune to tear up. "Now don't you be going and doing that you ganna make me cry" in order to maintain his composure he looked to the little girl and held up the last platinum coin. The girls eyes lit up as he leaned in close "Little miss can you do me a favor" he said "can you buy you and your mommy something nice for me" the girls head began to bounce joyously up and down the smile of being given such an important task st-rune across her face and before Kitsune could straiten up she latched onto him around the neck in a hug. The mother full of tears now
Mother-"Bless you stranger"
Kitsune couldn't keep his composure and began to let tears run down his face. Standing up "now see what you gone and made me do" he wiped the tears from his face and turned away not to look back again and started off to the bank "You take care of each other now you hear me" a very child like voice replying to his back
Kid-"Thank you mister"
Location-Bank
Inside the bank Kitsune spotted an old man at the teller window. "Hay old timer, how you doin"
Old timer (OT)-"Fair to midland how bout your self"
Kitsune (K)-"Cant complain my self thank you for asking"
OT-"what can I do ya for today"
K-"do you partner with Osiris Trans Union"
OT-"surely do" taking kitsunes card "Kitsune....you ain't kin to that Law man Marcus Kitsune are ya"
K-"Yea I am" seemed he would never get out of his fathers shadow or away from anyone who once glanced him
OT-"I saw him once bring in eight guys single handed"
K-"The way he tells it it would be more like 50" trying to humor the old man
OT-"I would too if I was a big name like him....but down to business what can I do for you today"
K-"I'd like 10 platinum or equivalent in credits which ever you have or is most excepted in this town"
OT-"the prefer hard currency here but will take both, now lets see here......Oh my seems your father left you a small fortune"
K-feeling like he just got underrate man of the year "He ain't dead and I had to bust my ass to get that money" though he knew the teller had hit his mark, his dad did give him 45000 platinum and instructions to bring his sister back home alive.
OT-"I'm sorry sir didn't mean no offense, but 10 platinum that sure is allot, planning on going to see that Companion the made fall not but a short while back?"
K-the thought hadn't occurred to him "you know what make it 20 then" he never imagined running into another companion. that jenny wren sure took him to the best places.
OT-looking him over with a bit of scrutiny "I was only funnen youngster you know them lady types are choosy about who they bed with, she was booked up before she even landed"
K-"oh i just might find a way" Now looking forward to the possibility of a woman's touch, the smell of her skin. It would mean he would have to forgo any jobs here and would have to fly with the wren again so he can use her gally. It would also mean he would have to make good with her while on world. Perhaps by cooking for her a couple time and bringing it to her which ever ship she was on.....which would mean cooking for the whole crew of the wren to keep them from jacking it before he could leave ship and bring it to her. And perhaps the captain will see his amazing cooking skills and want to sleep with him too. Thats it he decided I'm ganna stay on the wren for a spell, good places smoking hot crew I'm bound to get some one to love me. speaking to the old timer again "I also thought i saw a ship resupply store just on the other side of the dock walls. Do they have any good produce and the like?"
OT-"They grow their own produce about 20 miles outside of town on a farm, so its pretty fresh and the owners are a nice couple too very friendly"handing over 20 platinum
K-"Alright thanks old timer I'll give them a look over"
OT-"Alright you take care now and don't be fool to think your ganna win that lady over or nothing"
K-"I'll keep that in mind" stepping out of the bank."
Location - Supply store
K-"Howdy, I need some things for a trip off world mainly fresh food can I get that here"
Gentlemen behind the counter (G)-"You most certainly can"
K-"Alright I'm in need of 3 five pound bags of flower,3 apples, a few heads of lettus, a couple bell peppers, about a Pound of habenaros, 3 pounds of salted pork, some chicken"
G-the man interrupted him "I got whole, feathered, and cuts which do you prefer"
K-"Whole will do nicely thank you, I need 8 pounds of beef stakes and 8 pounds of ground beef, how ever much corn you can spare and 25 pounds of rice"
G-"Will that complete your order"
K-"For the food part yes sir, I also would like one bedroll with blanket, a grade A food stuff brick if you got it and that spice rack"
G-"I can get you everything but the food brick, they are near imposable to get outside the core worlds and way to expensive to keep on hand out here"
K-"Fair enough, so how much I owe ya"
G-"Lets see here" doing some tallying "7platinum 14 silver"
K-"Make it 8 and I'll take that hole bucket of flavored candy canes" Kitsune had the verses biggest sweet tooth hands down
G- smiling like he just made out on the deal the man began to box it all up "You got a deal, will you be needing any help carrying that back to your ship"
K-"Na I will use one of the carts the port provides as a service to your shop"
G-"alright then thank you for your business but I'm ganna give you fair warning the carts are the cheapest they could find"
waving kitsune left the shop loaded up a cart and began his laborious trip back to the ship, fully getting the meaning the shop keeper ment to in-part on him as he went. Once on board though he figured life would have to take a turn for the better. he wheeled his cart over to his duffel and bent down to pick it up. but noticed something out the corner of his eye, so he took
a lean forward for a better view and was only able to utter a single sound "Huh" leaning back up and looking around to see if anyone else is around. No one so he leaned forward again for another look uttering the same thing "Huh" it was obviously a teenaged girl and obviously from her choice of sleeping spots not a passenger. he looked around again, the voice in his head telling him, leave this be you don't wanna get booted off ship when its cold out side before you taste a woman's touch again, cause surely the captain would refuse to make him the happiest man in the verse if she found out he helped a stow away, but his heart told him just do it you softy. So he did he took out his newly acquired bed roll the three apples his key to his quarters a flash light and one of his last two remaining food stuff bricks and placed them around the corner to hid with her. In doing so he caught a glimps of a hearing devise. "Well I'll be" Pulling out his handy dandy note pad or as called by his dad a cops best friend, he began to write a note. It read
Little girl, don't know how big of cahonnies you got but it took some to sneak on so I'm not ganna rat you out. But you cant stay here in the open for too long. My room was 7A, its the one closest to you on the right hand side. You can hide there no one will bother you if you don't make too much noise. Best of luck to you Kitsune
Well he thought to him self, he was ganna be spending his nights in the lounge he'd better come up with a stellar reason to give the crew. While he thought on this, he placed his belongings back in his room this time just putting the whole duffel in the foot locker and locking it shut then he took the food up stair to the gally were he planned to put it away.
Location - Gally
|
|
|
Post by Fiona Fiacha on Nov 14, 2011 15:46:37 GMT -6
Location: Jenny Wren's Cargo Bay
Deaf to the world - and therefore undisturbed by any outside noises - and exhausted from carrying out the plan to steal Fantastical Universes, Fiona slept on, curled tightly into a ball.
|
|
Ellie
New Member
Firefly Simm%\1\%
Posts: 73
|
Post by Ellie on Nov 15, 2011 22:11:54 GMT -6
Location: Shuttle
Once the cargo was secured and Kitsune had taken off with some comment about coming back for his stuff later, Ellie had decided to pay her visit. So she took a shuttle out and currently was heading into the prairies of Beaumonde. It was a good forty minute trip so it gave her plenty of time to think about what she would say.
Finally she saw a small ranch in the distance, the coordinates were right so this must be it. As she came in closer, she realized it was not as small as she first thought. Below her there were cattle roaming in a pasture along one side of the little dirt road. looked like a decent size herd too. The house was a two story farm house, painted white with green shutters and a big red barn. "Very picturesque," she noted. Bringing the shuttle down she cut the engine and climbed out. Brushing a stray hair out of her face, she plucked up the nerve to walk up to the front door. Her hand hovered indecisively in front of the door and then she quickly rapped on it before she could change her mind. She could hear the pounding of feet running to the door and it yanked open to reveal a little bare foot boy, maybe six years old. Freckles across the bridge of his nose and mussy dark brown hair. "Oh!" Ellie was caught off guard, "I'm sorry I must have the wrong ranch--" her comment was cut off by the sound of a familiar voice calling from inside, "Connor, who's at the door?"
A tall, slender woman came up behind the little boy and looked at Ellie with as much surprise as she had looked at the boy. "El?"
Ellie was surprised by the change in her, she looked older of course, there was a touch of gray in her brown hair. Yet the most striking thing was the difference in her eyes. She had always been slight and lady-like, but now there was a kind of wisdom there that Ellie didn't recall. Guess that came with age too.
Ellie nodded, "Good to see you Charlotte."
Charlotte stood there a moment as if not sure what to do then she said, "Where are my manners, come in. Put your feet up, have a drink," as she shooed the boy out of the way and pulled the door open farther for Ellie. The captain complied, entering the house as cautiously as she would have a bar full of Alliance Feds. It wasn't decorated fancy and the furniture certainly wasn't high quality, but it was cozy and inviting. Charlotte showed her to the kitchen.
"Coffee?" she asked.
Ellie nodded, "You know me, never turn down a good cup of coffee.
Charlotte turned to make the coffee as she replied, "Not sure how well I know you now, but I did know you once upon a time."
There was an awkward silence for a couple minutes, filled only with the sound of the coffee percolator. Then Charlotte turned and sat down at the table across from Ellie.
"So..." began Ellie uncomfortably, "You've got a little boy now?"
Charlotte nodded, "Three actually, and one girl."
"Wow!" Ellie smiled a bit, "You always did seem like you'd be a great mom. You and Ian must be really proud of them..."
Charlotte laughed, "Ian? I assumed you heard that the wedding was called off!"
Confusion crept over her face, "I thought... no, I didn't hear anything about it. I left the morning after we last talked and... how did you think I would have heard about it?"
Charlotte changed the subject, "Sounds like the coffee's ready, you still take cream and sugar?"
Ellie nodded, not sure what to make of Charlotte's response to her question. She simply watched as the woman set the coffee down in front of her and looked out the window at the sound of an tractor pulling up in front of the barn. Charlotte smiled and said, "Looks you get to meet my husband and the rest of the kids."
Moments later a chaotic group practically seemed to tumble in the door. The two boys were both vying for Charlotte's attention, telling them what they had helped their pa do on the farm that day and finally a tall man with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes entered the room, carrying a girl probably no more than two in his arms saying, "look who I found out back playing with the new lamb." He leaned over and kissed Charlotte and handed the girl to her, commenting that the boys did well out there with him today and then seemed to notice Ellie's presence. Charlotte explained, "Henry, this is my old friend Eloise McKee."
A look of comprehension to dawn upon his face and he extended a hand across the table to her, "I'm pleased to meet you ma'am. Any friend of Charlotte's is a friend of mine. And the way I understand it, I owe you a debt of gratitude."
Ellie didn't understand what he meant but she stood and accepted his handshake with pleasure and smiled at him. He excused himself to wash up and Charlotte said, "These two little hooligans are Robert and Matthew," she tousled each of them on the head as she introduced them saying, "say hello to Miss Ellie boys."
"Hello Miss Ellie," they echoed obediently, and then just as quickly rushed out of the room to find something more interesting to do.
Charlotte called after them, "Supper will be on in twenty minutes! Clean up before you come back to the table!"
Ellie smiled, they seemed so genuinely happy. She turned her attention back the girl who was watching her shyly from her mother's arms, "And who is this little beauty?"
"This is Eloise," Charlotte responded softly.
Ellie looked at her with unmasked surprise, "Charlotte..."
The woman set her little girl down and softly instructed her to go find her brothers and play with them. Once the girl was out of the room, she sat down and motioned for Ellie to do the same too.
"I don't understand any of this..." Ellie began, but her friend cut her off.
"You know for how quick you can be to respond to everything, you can sure be slow figuring out the simple things," Charlotte said with a grin, "Sweetie, we were friends for near on twenty years. We were best friend since grade school. Did you really think anything would have change that?"
"Yes. Yes, I think what I told you would have changed that for good," Ellie replied miserably.
"What happened hurt like hell, I won't deny it. And I was so very angry with you for a long time. If you had shown back up here ten years ago, I would have sooner shut the door in your face than serve you coffee!"
"I couldn't blame you if you did."
"But once I got past it all, recovered from it, I realized that you were closer to me than a sister and that without intending to I had forgiven you."
"I'm so sorry Charlotte," was all Ellie could trust herself to say at that point.
"It's history," Charlotte said brightly. "Besides, if not for you I would have married the wrong man and never would have met Henry. Which is why he was thanking you, in case you were wondering." Charlotte said with a laugh.
The family invited Ellie to join them for supper and she did. She found it was the most comfortable group of people she had been with in many years. They were warm and loving and just... family. It had been a long time since Ellie had been with anything resembling family. Finally the night wore away and Ellie said she had to leave. They said their goodbyes with promises of visiting again before too long and she headed out to her shuttle. Just as she opened the door to it she heard Charlotte call to her as she ran out of the house after her. The woman hugged her tightly and then stepped back to look her in the face, "I thought he would have told you that I called the wedding off. I just assumed..."
Ellie shook her head a bit and then brushed it all off, "Like you said, it's history. I haven't talked to him since that day either."
Charlotte watched sadly as her dearest friend lifted off in her shuttle and flew off in the night.
Forty minutes later, Ellie brought the shuttle in and docked with Jenny. She sat for a moment, gathering her thoughts before leaving the ship. Then stepping onto Jenny Wren, she left it all behind her. "Back to the present," she told herself resolutely.
Location: Jenny Wren, Lounge
|
|
|
Post by Fiona Fiacha on Nov 17, 2011 0:21:40 GMT -6
Jenny Wren Cargo Bay
Hidden behind the crate, she was dreaming.
She had to be dreaming.
People swam towards her. They were talking. She couldn't hear them.
Her hands rose up. Was she trying to fight them off, or was she trying to sign? Could it have been both?
She whimpered. Or was she crying?
|
|
Ellie
New Member
Firefly Simm%\1\%
Posts: 73
|
Post by Ellie on Nov 20, 2011 20:59:02 GMT -6
Location: Jenny Wren, Galley
There was a sound of sizzling and the smell of some kind of breakfast meat (or meat like product at least) cooking in the galley. A tray full of pancakes sat on the counter top, and removing the meat from the stovetop, Ellie slid a plateful of it onto the counter right next to the pancakes. She then poured herself a glass of something that tasted almost entirely like juice but was intended to be a juice substitute with all the vitamins and minerals therein. Pulling a plate from the cupboard she put some of the breakfast foods on it and carried it up to the bridge where Jane was sitting at the controls. The pilot looked at her in surprise as Ellie set the food down in front of her. The captain smiled and explained, "Figured since you were driving this ship, it's the least I could do," then she went back down to the galley and got herself some food.
Jenny Wren had lifted off earlier than anticipated since no one was running around on the planet and the work was done. So Jane had taken Jenny off Beaumonde a couple hours ago and they were well on their way to the next destination.
Sitting down at the table, she started eating and waited for someone to smell the food and come looking for the source. Most of them had been asleep when they left the planet, or she assumed they were asleep. She hadn't seen anything of the passengers or Timmy that morning anyway.
Location: Jenny Wren, Galley
|
|