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| Episode 4: Quest for Freedom; All Aboard the Albright | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 9 2012, 10:27 AM (18,716 Views) | |
| Ariel Duquesne | Feb 20 2013, 04:52 AM Post #46 |
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Aerial Artist with 'tude
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Infirmary Ari didn't know how long she had been in the med bay, but when she awoke, sitting bolt upright with a gasp. She looked around and immediately knew she was in a med bay with an IV was in her arm, pumping what looked like fluids into her. She felt like crap, but she was distrustful of the Alliance and quickly pulled the needle out of her arm. There wasn't anyone in the room right then, but she was sure they were guarded and she vaguely remembered a man holding her arms down. Her heart pounded in terror. She spotted Amber laying in the bed next to her and swung her legs over the edge and shakily stood up. She was weak, but she didn't want to stay here. Not at all. She made her way over to Amber and shook her shoulder as she leaned heavily on the side of the bed. "Amber... Amber wake up!" she whispered as she continued to try to rouse her. "We've got to get out of here." Already her mind was racing, taking in the room, trying to spot a way out. She shook Amber again harder. "AMBER!" |
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| Amber Kynes | Mar 12 2013, 03:12 PM Post #47 |
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Infirmary Long after she and Ari were left alone in the infirmary, Amber continued to thrash around and mutter in her... sleep?... light coma?... thing. Whatever you wanted to call it. She kept reliving that horrible day over and over, but only in bits and pieces and not in a way that made any sense. Had she known the things that spilled out of her mouth... particularly about Louisa... she might have been somewhat horrified, and shocked. And she would have been afraid that the rest of the crew would hate her and turn her out for naming any of the crew, even one that had left them. Her dream... nightmare?... was at the part where she and Ari got captured. Only this time, Ari was pushing at her and telling her they had to get out of there. But they couldn't get out of there. The pig-faced feds had guns, and wouldn't hesitate to fill the to women with bullets the moment they even looked like they might make a run for it. Amber opened her mouth to try to tell her they couldn't do that, that if they had any chance at all of living they had to allow themselves to be arrested. Ari screamed her name, and this time when she pushed at Amber, the two of them went tumbling over a cliff towards jagged rocks and a violently pounding ocean. Neither the cliff nor the ocean had been there in reality when the arrest took place. Just before they impacted the rocks, Amber's body jolted hard, bringing her to some form of wakefulness. She didn't know where the hell they were now. The room was unfamiliar. It certainly wasn't the jail cell they had been in before. That is if that room had even been real, and not part of the dreams... nightmares... whatever she'd been having. She still felt weak and shaky, but better than she had expected given what little she remembered about the jail cell. With an effort, she pushed herself upright and fought back against the spinning in her head that made her want to lay back down and go to sleep again. But she knew that what waited for her in sleep was worse than what she was feeling now. "Ari?" she muttered, her voice and mind still somewhat sleep-fogged. That was starting to fade though. When she pushed herself up further, she felt a tiny jab in her arm, drawing her attention to the IV. Not trusting to the Alliance any more than Ari did, Amber likewise removed the needle and let it fall to the floor. Not quite trusting to her memories yet, and not quite trusting to herself to tell the difference between reality and dreams, she swung her feet over the edge of the bed and cautiously tried to stand. After wincing a bit at the coldness of the floor on her bare feet, she managed it. "Any idea what the hell's going on here?" There were patchy things about seeing Sergei and a few other men both recognized and not, but she couldn't be sure they weren't part of her dreams... nightmares. Whatever. But more importantly, she wanted to know why she and Ari were in what looked like a med bay instead of a jail cell, not strapped down, and seemingly unguarded. |
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| Major Samuel Harrigan | Mar 16 2013, 12:37 AM Post #48 |
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Detention Center "What is that? Some kind of secrety agent code name?" Harrigan snorted a bit at the secrety agent comment. Obviously, the man hadn't ever heard about the enigmatic Advocate. He didn't know how dangerous the man was. He was not a mere lawyer. The snort earned a glare from the Advocate. "You should ask the brother there what kind of worthless hun dan his kin was," "After all, who knows how many women he raped." "You know nothing-" Major Harrigan began to protest with vehemence, but his words were cut short by the withering glare from the Advocate, as well as the lawyer moved a step closer to him, putting him within an easy strike range. Then he was subjected to the outlandish account of his brother's supposed illicit affairs. All the while knowing he couldn't say a thing back. It was humiliating not to be able to defend his brother. No one knew Snake like him. He was confident that Snake was no rapist. Rapists ranked in the 'lower than low' category for Major Harrigan and he held his brother in high regard. And to top the whole scene off, Romanov smirked at him with satisfact as he relayed whatever line of bullshit those little whores gave him. "So where is your captain. Reno Carson is it?" He watched as Romanov's answer was offered. "I'm not exactly sure. We parted ways a while back and I came here to help Lars get his ship back. I also wanted to find the girls and check on them. Good thing I did." Lars... God, the guy was young. And scared from the way he kept himself hidden behind Romanov. So scared that he didn't even answer the question that the Advocate asked him. Something was fishy and he was going to find out what it was. And he was going to avenge his brother one way or another. |
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| The Advocate | Mar 21 2013, 01:05 AM Post #49 |
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Detention Center The Advocate was not dull. He was getting the idea that perhaps something was amiss with... Lars. The guy just seemed like he had froze up and almost seemed like he was nearly shell-shocked. Romanov made sure he placed himself between both Harrigan and himself and Lars. And Harrigan... That man was getting on his last nerve. He almost thought that he wasn't going to be able to keep his mouth shut during his questioning of Romanov and Lars. The Advocate almost wished he kept talking. A little bit of physical exertion would have been nice, but the hundan went and followed directions. He also sifted through the information given to him. If he believed what Sergei Romanov was saying - and Sergei definitely believed it - then what the girls had experienced was terrifying. But The Advocate wanted to press his buttons a little too. "So do you believe the girls? Do you believe what they said happened, actually happened?" he asked. Just in case, he steeled himself for Sergei's possible backlash. |
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| Ariel Duquesne | Mar 21 2013, 02:06 AM Post #50 |
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Aerial Artist with 'tude
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Infirmary "Ari?" She was so glad that Amber was waking up and that she had the same distrust that she felt. Amber had gotten rid of the IV quickie fast as well. She sounded a little groggy, but Ari didn't know if that was from the torture or they were drugged. Amber finally got up. "Any idea what the hell's going on here?" "I don't know..." she said as she looked around. Her senses were getting clearer too. "But I don't like people sticking me and putting God knows what into my body." She sighed heavily as she shivered just a bit. "I had the weirdest dream. It was about what happened in the Double Trouble but..." she had a haunted look for a moment as she dwelled for a bit on what happened. She shook herself out of it though, the patented Ari detached calmness. "I just think someone was in here. Someone who held me down. We need to get out of here. We need to get off this God forsaken ship." She went over and tried the door, but it was locked. Her façade wavered a bit as she looked around, her eyes darting a little as the beginnings of panic started. "We've got to get out of here," she murmured. "We've got to get out of here... We've got to get out of here." She finally saw the vent. "The vent... We can go out the vent!" she mumbled as she went over, pried it off with a pair of scissors she found in a drawer and shimmied inside. "Amber! Come on!" |
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| Darren Roberts | Apr 30 2013, 09:48 PM Post #51 |
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Ventilation Shaft by Infirmary It wasn't the way he intended to get there, but Darren had found himself crawling through the ventilation shafts in order to get to the medical bay of the ship that Amber and Ari were being held in. There were lots of twists and turns and he had almost gotten lost a few times due to the low light conditions, but he had been lucky enough that the ventilation system had been included with the rest of the schematics for the Alliance ship. As Darren neared the vent that lead into the medical bay, he came to a halt as he heard Ari's voice and then the faint metallic scraping noise of the vent being pried off. He backed away just a tad as the small rectangle of light that quickly became visible was blotted out just as fast by a human female form that could only be that of Ari. "Amber! Come on!" "Ari?" asked Darren inquisitively and cautiously as he noticed how tight she was gripping the pair of scissors in her hand. "Are you and Amber OK? I was just about to rescue you two, but I hadn't expected that you'd be takin' the same route I was at the same time." |
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| Amber Kynes | May 9 2013, 04:32 PM Post #52 |
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Infirmary Amber couldn't remember what she had dreamed of, only that she had dreamed and that whatever it was about, it was far from pleasant. She was still groggy from the effects of the torture and starvation, and possibly from whatever they might have been pumping into her through that IV. She felt light headed and unstable as she made herself get up and walk around. The chill of the metal plating under her still bare feet helped to wake her up a little. She held herself up against the wall and looked down, wondering for a moment where her shoes and socks were. Then she remembered she'd taken them off in the cell when they had become sodden with sweat and the heat had become too much to bear otherwise. Bizarrely, she noticed the black polish she had on them was still intact. Weird. How was that even possible? Must be some damn good nail polish. Ari's voice yelling at her shook her out of her groggy day-dreaming. Oh. Right. Escape. Escape would be good. She could ponder the mysteries of nail polish that stayed put later. The scalpels caught her attention for a moment, but she shook her head and decided against them. Though her mental fog was fading, she knew she was in no condition to be handling a weapon. Especially not a scalpel. Besides, they were too brittle to be much good anyway. She was just starting to climb in after Ari when she heard a male voice from inside the vent. She almost grabbed Ari's ankles and yanked her out of there, but recognized the voice as belonging to Darren just in time. Which was possibly a good thing. Ari might have kicked out at her had she tried it. "Darren?" Amber queried, keeping her voice low. "How the rut did you get here? And the others? Where are they?" she demanded. She couldn't see jack in the vent from where she was half in and half out, other than Ari's legs from the knee down. |
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| Ariel Duquesne | May 17 2013, 01:46 AM Post #53 |
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Aerial Artist with 'tude
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Infirmary Ari felt crazed and caged. She wanted to crawl out of her own skin. She wanted to get out of there so badly. She had the scissors gripped firmly in her hand, ready to use them. She startled when she realized someone was in the vent and was ready to strike. "Ari?" "Are you and Amber OK? I was just about to rescue you two, but I hadn't expected that you'd be takin' the same route I was at the same time." She nearly stabbed him, but she found herself relieved it was him. Darren. Crew. Family. But was she dreaming? Or hallucinating? Were they even out of the detention center? "Darren?" "How the rut did you get here? And the others? Where are they?" Amber was there and she confirmed that it was Darren. She dropped the scissors with a clang and lunged forward, nearly knocking him backwards in the small area. "Take me out of here... Take me home... Please Darren..." She trusted him. Ari's circle of trust was extremely small, but right now, she trusted him to get her out. She trusted him to make her feel safe. |
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| Sergei Romanov | May 24 2013, 04:06 AM Post #54 |
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Detention Center Sergei glanced back at Skyelar and saw that the young man was losing it. He was terrified and had backed himself into the corner. Worst place ever to be and the first place someone who was unaccustomed to this life. As soon as he could, he needed to gave Reno get the guy the Hell out of here. Either back to the Gypsy or to the Entertainer. Especially since Harrigan was eying the young man like Skyelar was the canary to Harrigan's cat. That was probably enough to send the kid running scared, that was if they could've run at the moment. But they couldn't. They were stuck in a detention cell. The Advocate drew his attention back to the task at hand. "So do you believe the girls? Do you believe what they said happened, actually happened?" Sergei balled his hands into a tighter clench and stepped forward a bit. "Are you saying that they lied about it?" He snarled. He knew that getting closer could mean that he would be taken out by a bullet and leave Skyelar unprotected, as well as the girls. "Amber was knocked senseless, she was in no shape to be doing anything. And we don't do that kind of thing to crew, we're a family." He thought back to what he said about what he did to Reno once he found out the man had known about Ari's predicament. "Without a gorram good reason. Like keeping information back from the rest of the family about the health and welfare of one of our own, but was just a well placed punch, not a complete betrayal." He took a deep breath. "Ari is a good actress, but no one can act that well. Not to the point of intentionally trying to take her own life. She's a survivor and been through a lot in her life. It would take something like this to send her over the edge," Sergei informed them, his eyes blazing with anger. "And even though Amber hasn't said anything to any of us, I can tell by the look in her eye that she's suffered by the hands of your precious Alliance. I haven't pushed her on it, but you can just tell. Believe me, I would know." And he would. POW camps gave someone fast experience in picking out folks who were haunted by experiences they've endured. He wished he knew. He wished he could help her. Hell, he wanted to wrap her arms around her and put her demons to rest, but he knew he had to wait until she wanted to talk about it. He knew how that felt too. He wasn't about to come clean with his background either. Right now, he just wanted to get to the girls, then to the Gypsy and get the Hell out of there. "Do you think we could possibly go see them. I am sure you know how seriously I take the welfare of family to heart." Somehow, he just knew that the Advocate knew a Hell of a lot more about him than what he let on. He'd have to figure out now which side of the fence the man was going to fall on. The troupe's or Harrigan's. |
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| Major Samuel Harrigan | Jun 1 2013, 02:43 AM Post #55 |
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Detention Center Major Harrigan was eying Skyelar like he was studying him under a microscope. The more he did, the more the guy seemed to try to disappear behind Romanov. What was that guy's deal? He didn't know, but he was definitely going to find out. If only he could get a hold of the young man. If he did and could get him alone, then he could beat it out of him if needed. But his attention was swung back on Romanov as the Advocate asked him if he believed that the two whores they had in custody were telling the truth. Romanov answered vehemently that they were telling the truth. Plus gave up information that the girl who claimed she was raped by his brother had tried to kill herself. Harrigan snorted as if that statement proved something. "See? The girl is unbalanced. Obviously mentally ill. How could you ever believe anything that came out of her mouth? She was probably making it all up since she was embarrassed that she had some wild sex with a couple of guys she didn't know." The glare he received from the Advocate was enough to make his blood run cold. Plus it looked like Romanov was about to leap on him and begin swinging fists. Harrigan was hoping he would. He would love to have a throw down with the guy. |
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| The Advocate | Jun 2 2013, 07:22 PM Post #56 |
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Detention Center The Advocate raised his eyebrow at Harrigan as he gave the death stare to the slender young man hiding behind Romanov. He wondered what the story was with the young man too and he had been watching as well, just a little more subtle. One thing he knew was that the young man was not a member of their crew, or at least not long, but Romanov protected him like he had been with them from birth. He expected Romanov to deny that the women from his ship were lying about what had happened. And he did. Along with adding the fact that the Alliance had wronged the other woman as well. And what was that behind the big man's eyes? Love. He was in love with the one named Amber. The Advocate's lips curved up into a slight smile. Love was for fools. He really had no use for the emotion. All it did was muck things up. You get to be a man in his position or in any key position and add that messy thing called love? I was a recipe for disaster. Disaster was also set aside for the emotion of romanticism. Anytime you got all gushy and lovey-dovey with any particular woman it spelled trouble. And right on cue, Harrigan snorted and spouted off about the young woman who was allegedly raped being mentally unbalanced. The Advocate rolled his eyes then glared at him hard for pretenses. He had to be convincing as a lawyer, but really... the whole scenario was getting tiresome. He knew he had a debt to pay, so he had to see it through, but dear Lord... The two of those men needed to just get inside a fighting ring and have at it. It would probably do good to both of them. So he got an idea. "Major... Why don't you take Mr. Romanov up to see Ms. Kynes and Duquesne? I am sure he'd like that," he then stepped up close to Sergei and leaned in to whisper in his ear. "I know your Captain is on this ship somewhere. I will stay with the young man until he arrives to collect him. I know that we agree that this is no place for the faint at heart. Don't worry... I will not reveal his presence to anyone. It is far more interesting this way." He clapped the shoulder of the big man and walked back to where Harrigan was and leaned forward to whisper in his ear. "I better not hear about any weapons malfunctions, am I clear Major? If that happens, I will..." the rest was barely audible to even the Major. When he was done, he smiled at the pallor of the man. Such a nice shade of puce. He returned his voice to the normal volume. "Major, let's go get the proper paperwork done so that these men might be able to leave this area. After all, these are not our prisoners, they are... family." Well, at least to the women they were. He ushered out the Major to go get what needed to be done completed, plus, it would give Romanov a chance to get things in motion on his end. |
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| Sergei Romanov | Jun 29 2013, 03:05 AM Post #57 |
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Detention Center "See? The girl is unbalanced. Obviously mentally ill. How could you ever believe anything that came out of her mouth? She was probably making it all up since she was embarrassed that she had some wild sex with a couple of guys she didn't know." Sergei balled his fists and was a hair's breadth from leaping onto the man, but the Advocate beat him to it and shut Harrigan up with a mere glare. "Major... Why don't you take Mr. Romanov up to see Ms. Kynes and Duquesne? I am sure he'd like that," "Yes I would. It would go a long way to prove a little good faith." Good faith my ass, thought Sergei, but he was desperate to see the girls. He had to make sure they were all right. The Advocate then leaned forward to whisper in his ear. "I know your Captain is on this ship somewhere. I will stay with the young man until he arrives to collect him. I know that we agree that this is no place for the faint at heart. Don't worry... I will not reveal his presence to anyone. It is far more interesting this way." How could he know that Reno was there? Had Reno accidentally revealed himself? That would be bad. They needed Reno to be able to stay in the shadows and call out any obstacles that come his way. But the Advocate said he wouldn't reveal Reno's presence. Did he mean overall or just when he came to the Detention Center to retrieve Skyelar? Was it really a trap? He looked over at Skyelar and knew by the look on the boy's face that he was losing it. They would have to chance it. Skyelar needed to get somewhere safe. Sergei nodded slightly to acknowledge the "plan". But something about what the Advocate said bothered him. The fact that Reno's presence made things "far more interesting". What was with that? Was this some game to him? He vowed to keep an eye on the man. Then he was talking quietly to the Major. Once he was done, he spoke loud enough for both of them. "Major, let's go get the proper paperwork done so that these men might be able to leave this area. After all, these are not our prisoners, they are... family." Family? Hardly. That was just weird. No one with the Alliance would ever be family to him. The Major left the cell and Sergei tapped his comm ever so subtly. "Reno?" he whispered. "We need a pick up. Lars is losing it. He needs to be removed from the game." He double checked to see where Harrigan was. "Watch your back. You may have been compromised. Dong ma?" Then he readied himself for the trip to the Med Bay. Somehow he knew that it was going to be one rough trip. And he welcomed it. |
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| Reno Carson | Aug 3 2013, 12:07 AM Post #58 |
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The Hidey Place Reno waited and wondered what Darren had planned, not having heard from the mechanic for what seemed like eons. His earpiece buzzed to life and Sergei's voice entered his head. "Reno?" "We need a pick up. Lars is losing it. He needs to be removed from the game." "Gorrammit.." growled Reno under his breath and into his comm. "What else is new?" "Watch your back. You may have been compromised. Dong ma?" "Understood. I'll get someone on that right away." replied Reno, obviously displeased with how things were currently going. Clicking off his comm, Reno didn't want to stay and find out if his position had indeed been compromised. He'd find a way to get to Lars without arousing too much attention. If he had to subdue any purplebellies that got in the way, then so be it. Clicking his comm back on, Reno turned it to Darren's frequency for one last transmission and asked, "Darren? Where are you? You better have a gorramn good reason for being silent and I could use an extremely good distraction right about now. Dong ma?" |
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| Major Samuel Harrigan | Aug 3 2013, 12:10 AM Post #59 |
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Detention Center God, this Advocate guy was wearing thin on the Major's nerves. "Major... Why don't you take Mr. Romanov up to see Ms. Kynes and Duquesne? I am sure he'd like that," I am sure he would, Major Harrigan thought with distaste. "Yes I would. It would go a long way to prove a little good faith." Harrigan about laughed out loud on that one. Good faith? They were lucky that they were getting out of the Detention Center. The two women shouldn't have either. He wished they could either die like his brother did or be locked up in some God forsaken penal moon for the rest of their lives. And now he had to take the big man up to see the women like he was some kind of tourist guide. His nerves and patience was at the end. Then the Advocate came and whispered into his ear. "I better not hear about any weapons malfunctions, am I clear Major? If that happens, I will..." The Advocate finished that sentence so quietly that the Major almost didn't hear him. But what he said made his stomach turn. He was thinking about telling the Advocate where he could stick it, but after that, he decided to keep that man at an arm's length. Now Romanov? That would be a totally different situation. "Major, let's go get the proper paperwork done so that these men might be able to leave this area. After all, these are not our prisoners, they are... family." Harrigan felt his jaw clench so much that his teeth hurt. Paperwork? He wasn't an ensign or a administrative officer. Now he had to do paperwork too? And family? These people were no family at all. He had family. Snake was his family. Because of these people, his family was dead. Refusing to stoop to paperwork, he went out and found an ensign and had him pull everything together. With the Advocate's security clearance, it didn't even need Commander Murch's approval. So it didn't take much time. When it was done, he came back and stood near Romanov while addressing the Advocate. "Do you want me to get him a shiny visitor's pass too?" he sniped. He didn't even bother to wait for an answer, but pointed at Romanov and then to the door. "Follow me." Halls on the Way to the Med Bay Romanov followed him closely as they exited the Detention Center. There were plenty of people milling about and Harrigan took a more circuitous route than needed. Matter of fact, he just wanted to just find a place where he could confront Romanov on his own. He knew not to use a gun to "fix" the big problem that was following him, but he had other ways. Like Romanov, Harrigan was not a small man. And he had training. He was an Alliance Officer for God's sake. He was trained to kill. This guy? He was a carny. Sure he was big, but a civilian none-the-less. It took them a while until they came across a rather large corridor that was deserted. Harrigan slowed down to a stop. "The Advocate said I couldn't shoot you or use any conventional weapons and I will tell you that I won't," he said with a sneer. With that, he unleashed a strong kick backwards, landing his foot square in Sergei's chest. It felt good. So he turned to face the watchdog to the women that killed his brother, advanced on him while he was stunned and then began to swing his fists. It was on. |
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| Darren Roberts | Aug 3 2013, 12:54 AM Post #60 |
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Infirmary - Ventilation Shaft "Darren?" "How the rut did you get here? And the others? Where are they?" "I didn't get here by magic, if that's what you're gettin' at, Amber." replied Darren, a faint smile on his face even though he knew she probably couldn't see it with Ari blocking the view. The smile faded as he continued, "Don't know where the others are, but I know where the ship is." He was caught off guard from Ari's forward lunging and the air was knocked out of his lungs as the two of them tumbled further back into the ventilation shaft. "Take me out of here... Take me home... Please Darren..." "I'm plannin' on gettin' both you and Amber out of here, Ari. Don't you worry." replied Darren, getting air back into his lungs. "Just need to get a hold of the Captain first." There was a sudden electronic crackle in the mechanic's ear as his earpiece came to life with the Captain's voice on the other end. "Darren? Where are you? You better have a gorramn good reason for being silent and I could use an extremely good distraction right about now. Dong ma?" "Sorry about that, sir." whispered Darren into his comm. "I'm in the infirmary vent shaft with Amber and Ari. As to the long awaited distraction I promised, that'll happen in a few moments." Like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a top hat, Darren produced his tablet computer from inside his uniform and turned it on. The dimness of the shaft was brightened a bit by the screen's back light. His fingers danced atop the screen as he brought up what he needed from the various images and programs that popped up. Smiling as he looked at the button marked 'Execute', Darren said to both the ladies and Reno, "Hope you brought your flashlights or night vision goggles, boys and girls. Cause the ship's about to go into ship-wide blackout." And with that, Darren's fingered gingerly tapped the button on his screen and plunged the ship into an unexpected power outage. |
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3:40 AM Jul 11


