Rifts
- Thread starter Hiver
- Start date
52
Jhita jerked awake and slapped the small screen next to her bunk, bringing the light up in the small alcove.
"Time?" she asked after a moment of regaining her breath.
"Oh five thirty-two, shiptime." I answered and mentally frowned. She was the third one to wake up and none of my crew had been getting anything approaching a restful sleep.
Sliding the privacy screen to the side, she swung her legs off the bed and rubbed her eyes. "Fuck. When did I fall asleep?"
"Three hours ago. You should try going back to sleep."
She groaned and shook her head. "No... just need some coffee."
"Jhita, you didn't sleep well last night either... neither did most of the others." I said. "If this continues for another night, I may have to abort this early."
The Andorian snorted and scooted off the bunk and reached out to pull her pants on. "Ivy, I did more all-nighters when I got my degree. We'll be fine."
"You chose to be awake then. The fact that you are all affected may be caused by something in the environment. It might have adverse effects on your brain chemistry."
She paused and frowned before she shook her head. "It might just be the skies outside. They are unsettling."
"It may not be."
Jhita finally nodded. "...Yeah. Keep an eye on it, will you?"
"Already am. Ajan is awake and out by the fire. He is brewing coffee if you want some."
"Brewing?"
"More effective replicating the ground beans and water instead of individual cups." I said before I continued, "Besides, it's good for morale to spread the scent."
Finishing getting her pants on, she nodded and headed for the hatch.
"Sure you don't want some?" Ajan asked and smiled at my avatar over his cup. "Still not a fan?"
I shook my head. "No, I never got a taste for it and not like I need the caffine," I answered from where I was sitting with my back against my landing gear. "Jhita will be out soon, though, she wouldn't mind a cup. Or ten."
"One will suffice." Jhita said as she flicked my ear with her finger on the way past and I just grinned at her as Ajan offered her a steaming cup of the foul liquid.
"Here you go, boss."
"Thanks." she groaned and sank down on the grass, the cup held in both hands as she sipped at the steaming hot liquid. "Marry me."
"You would have to discuss that with Erislia." Ajan snorted with a grin and sipped his own black brew.
While they tried to wake up, I scanned the skies with the optical sensors of my shuttles. Was Jhita right and it was the shifting skies?
Personally I doubted it, but we had not picked up any pathogens at all and it was really rare that anything affected all species the same way.
Even the one Vulcan in the team seemed to have trouble getting some proper rest. But I couldn't detect anything. No radiation, no pathogens, no microorganisms that could cause it.
Not even infrasounds or magnetic fields.
It was rather frustrating.
"How's those soil samples coming along, Ivy?" Jhita asked ten minutes later, looking like she had started to wake up slightly.
"Nominal." I answered with a shrug of my shoulder. "The tests are still ongoing."
Nodding, she groaned and got up to refill her cup. "I'll go have a look." she said and headed out of the circle of light from the fire before she stopped and frowned into the distance. "What's that?"
"What's what?" I asked and got up next to her, joined a few seconds later by Ajan.
"That. There is someone outside the fence." Jhita said and pointed.
I frowned and followed where she pointed, looking out into what must have seemed reddish twilight to her. To me it was clear as day.
To be sure, I focused my shuttle sensors in that direction.
Nothing. There was nothing there.
"Ivy, do you recognize the species?" Ajan asked with a frown.
"What species!?" I reported and frowned. "There is nothing there!"
Jhita turned and frowned at me. "There is a being standing outside the fence. It's tall, pale. Three meters tall with four arms and two large eyes standing just outside the fence."
"What!?"
Ajan nodded. "I see it too. It's just standing there, watching us."
I looked at him. "Ajan... there is nothing there. On any of my sensors."
"But I see her."
"We both do." Jhita confirmed with a nod.
"I'm telling you, there is nothing there!" I exclaimed and shook my head.
"Ajan, Jhita," I said as I transferred power into my engines, weapons and shields while waking up and ordering the people sleeping in the lab to get the fuck back on board. "Get in the shuttle."
AN// Big thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
"Time?" she asked after a moment of regaining her breath.
"Oh five thirty-two, shiptime." I answered and mentally frowned. She was the third one to wake up and none of my crew had been getting anything approaching a restful sleep.
Sliding the privacy screen to the side, she swung her legs off the bed and rubbed her eyes. "Fuck. When did I fall asleep?"
"Three hours ago. You should try going back to sleep."
She groaned and shook her head. "No... just need some coffee."
"Jhita, you didn't sleep well last night either... neither did most of the others." I said. "If this continues for another night, I may have to abort this early."
The Andorian snorted and scooted off the bunk and reached out to pull her pants on. "Ivy, I did more all-nighters when I got my degree. We'll be fine."
"You chose to be awake then. The fact that you are all affected may be caused by something in the environment. It might have adverse effects on your brain chemistry."
She paused and frowned before she shook her head. "It might just be the skies outside. They are unsettling."
"It may not be."
Jhita finally nodded. "...Yeah. Keep an eye on it, will you?"
"Already am. Ajan is awake and out by the fire. He is brewing coffee if you want some."
"Brewing?"
"More effective replicating the ground beans and water instead of individual cups." I said before I continued, "Besides, it's good for morale to spread the scent."
Finishing getting her pants on, she nodded and headed for the hatch.
"Sure you don't want some?" Ajan asked and smiled at my avatar over his cup. "Still not a fan?"
I shook my head. "No, I never got a taste for it and not like I need the caffine," I answered from where I was sitting with my back against my landing gear. "Jhita will be out soon, though, she wouldn't mind a cup. Or ten."
"One will suffice." Jhita said as she flicked my ear with her finger on the way past and I just grinned at her as Ajan offered her a steaming cup of the foul liquid.
"Here you go, boss."
"Thanks." she groaned and sank down on the grass, the cup held in both hands as she sipped at the steaming hot liquid. "Marry me."
"You would have to discuss that with Erislia." Ajan snorted with a grin and sipped his own black brew.
While they tried to wake up, I scanned the skies with the optical sensors of my shuttles. Was Jhita right and it was the shifting skies?
Personally I doubted it, but we had not picked up any pathogens at all and it was really rare that anything affected all species the same way.
Even the one Vulcan in the team seemed to have trouble getting some proper rest. But I couldn't detect anything. No radiation, no pathogens, no microorganisms that could cause it.
Not even infrasounds or magnetic fields.
It was rather frustrating.
"How's those soil samples coming along, Ivy?" Jhita asked ten minutes later, looking like she had started to wake up slightly.
"Nominal." I answered with a shrug of my shoulder. "The tests are still ongoing."
Nodding, she groaned and got up to refill her cup. "I'll go have a look." she said and headed out of the circle of light from the fire before she stopped and frowned into the distance. "What's that?"
"What's what?" I asked and got up next to her, joined a few seconds later by Ajan.
"That. There is someone outside the fence." Jhita said and pointed.
I frowned and followed where she pointed, looking out into what must have seemed reddish twilight to her. To me it was clear as day.
To be sure, I focused my shuttle sensors in that direction.
Nothing. There was nothing there.
"Ivy, do you recognize the species?" Ajan asked with a frown.
"What species!?" I reported and frowned. "There is nothing there!"
Jhita turned and frowned at me. "There is a being standing outside the fence. It's tall, pale. Three meters tall with four arms and two large eyes standing just outside the fence."
"What!?"
Ajan nodded. "I see it too. It's just standing there, watching us."
I looked at him. "Ajan... there is nothing there. On any of my sensors."
"But I see her."
"We both do." Jhita confirmed with a nod.
"I'm telling you, there is nothing there!" I exclaimed and shook my head.
"Ajan, Jhita," I said as I transferred power into my engines, weapons and shields while waking up and ordering the people sleeping in the lab to get the fuck back on board. "Get in the shuttle."
AN// Big thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
- Location
- Dodging chaos dragons in Limbo
I suspect the hallucinations. Something like the Thorian of ME1 perhaps? All of them struggling to get sleep, now seeing the same being with the AI seeing nothing.
- Pronouns
- They/Them/It/Its
I'd expect that to show up on Ivy's sensors though.
- Pronouns
- she/her
And this is why it's always a good idea to have a few canar-- meatb-- organics on an AI ship.
- Location
- Australia
Third possibility: Both #1 and #2 simultaneously. The being is invisible to sensors, but "visible" via hallucination induced by altered brain chemistry (and since Ivy's brain doesn't run on chemistry)...
Last edited:
- Location
- Oz
Makes me think of the Ethereals from XCOM. Though that comparison may have been influenced by the illusions, general mind games and the lack of a detectable transmission vector for the bad dreams.
pheonix89
Wants to be Seven Of Nine
- Location
- North American Plaguelands
- Pronouns
- She/Her
It's not sensor invisibility because HAIver has optical sensors on it as well, and if a camo system doesn't fool the MK1 Eyeball it's not fooling the Mk25 optical sensor array either.
BTW? Random-ass passive sensor invisibility is one of the single dumbest things ever. Thermal sensors, for instance, will pick up anything substantially above background temperature. AKA anything that's alive.
BTW? Random-ass passive sensor invisibility is one of the single dumbest things ever. Thermal sensors, for instance, will pick up anything substantially above background temperature. AKA anything that's alive.
Richardson
CAN YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING?
- Location
- Yes
Option 4: In Ivy's entirely valid words: "It's probably a fuck-mothering ghost, and I'm not getting paid at all for this kind of shit. We are LEAVING!"
- Pronouns
- she/her
Ivy, the ghost can't see you either. It's probably just as scared of you as you are of it, like a spider. An invisible spider. A giant, invisible space spider. That's affecting your crew.
...
That was not very comforting. I am sorry.
...
That was not very comforting. I am sorry.
53
"Wh..." Ajan started to ask before he just dropped, collapsing towards the ground.
I grabbed him before he fell more than a couple of centimetres as I scanned him. He was just unconscious. Asleep.
"Jhita!" I said and then reached out, grabbing her by the back of her shirt as she dropped a second later.
Psionics of some sort. Fuck this shit!
Everyone was dropping, one by one they fell asleep just standing there and I still couldn't detect a thing.
Spinning my thrusters up to full power, I lifted off with the most populated shuttle and rotated on the spot as I lashed out at the spot and general area with my phasers, raking the area with my energy weapons as I pulled both Ajan and Jhita close, running over to the other shuttle.
Damn it! I was more than strong enough, but carrying two limp bodies was just ungainly. And while subspace was more stable in system and on the planet, there was no way I would risk using the transporter.
Dropping them on the ramp, I lifted the ramp to have them roll into the shuttle before I turned and ran at full speed towards the lab to grab another two people.
Thank fuck this happened during the night/early morning instead of middle of the day when everyone would be all over!
Meanwhile my hovering hull was providing overwatch and I was running my phasers across the area around the camp again and again, sweeping them across the ground. I may not have been able to see the attacker, but sooner or later I should've hit something if it's there.
Finally getting the last people back onto the shuttle, I closed my ramp while pulling the fallen further into the shuttle while lifting off. As soon as my last shuttle was airborne, I tilted my nose up at seventy degrees and went full burn, hitting the sound barrier three seconds later.
Ten seconds after that, I engaged my impulse drive and left the atmosphere, burning towards the edge of the system.
"Drake. Come on. Wake up," I said and shook his shoulder. "Come on, Ken. Wake up."
Come on. It's just some psychic bullshit. You'll be fine. You'll all be fine. Come on. Can't lose you. Can't lose any of you.
Scooting I quickly dug into the medical kit, finding a powerful stimulant before loading the hypospray and putting it against Drake's neck, pressing the button.
He woke up with a gasp, his eyes wide as he panted, staring up at me as he blinked, "...Kitten? What happened?"
I pulled him into a tight hug, "Thank you, thank you! Don't do that to me!"
Drake hugged back and then frowned at me, "What happened? Ahh. My head is killing me."
"Something attacked you. Everyone started to fall asleep, even standing up," I reported and moved to release him to move to help the rest while figuring out how to help the rest on the other shuttle. I would need to dock so I could go wake them up too.
I didn't need to bother.
As I went past an AU from the planet, people started to wake up, complaining about headaches.
"Fuck," Ajan groaned and sat up, resting his head in his hands. "What the hell was that?"
"I don't know," I answered from his com badge as he helped Jhita up. "But I didn't detect it and I don't think I killed it. The effect only passed once we got out of range of whatever it was."
Jhita groaned and leaned against Ajan as he helped her over to sit down on one of the bunks as the rest of the crew started to get up.
I moved to help as many as possible, passing painkillers around.
"Well. Something didn't like visitors," Drake groaned and sank down in the pilot's seat, rubbing his forehead.
I showed an avatar on the main screen as I nodded, "Something with very powerful telepathic powers. Verala back on my main hull is a strong telepath. Before any of you get back on board, she is going to scan you. Just in case something was dropped into your minds by whatever it was back there."
Drake groaned again and dropped his head back against the seat, "...Fuck. Yeah, for the best. Thank the prophets you were there."
"I couldn't even detect it!"
"But you got us out of there," he said and forced a smile at the screen. "Without you, we would have been fucked."
"I'm making a note to bring an avatar of some sort on each shuttle if we use more than one shuttle for a mission. If people had been injured on the other shuttle, there would have been little I could do if I couldn't dock or if this shuttle was destroyed," I said before closing the screen as I walked up to him with my avatar. "Here. This should help with your head."
"Thank you," Drake said as I put the hypospray against his neck, injecting the painkiller. A moment later he sighed, "Thank you. Much better."
"Welcome."
Drake caught the hand of my avatar before I pulled away, "Hey... thank you."
Smiling slightly, I leaned in and kissed him on the cheek before I pulled back, "Get some rest. Four days until we get back to my main hull."
He shook his head and forced himself onto his feet again, "Not yet. Going to check on our people first."
Nodding I stepped and let him. I knew exactly how he felt about that. I may not have liked it, I felt he should relax and recover, but I knew exactly how he felt.
I really, really hoped none of them were permanently hurt by whatever attacked them. I noted down the system as 'avoid' on the maps.
I also made a note in my Division files. Somebody would need to do a full planetary survey with probes.
Or possibly burn the planet down to the core depending on how dangerous things down there turned out to be.
AN// A big box of thanks to Pietersielie for betaing this section.
I grabbed him before he fell more than a couple of centimetres as I scanned him. He was just unconscious. Asleep.
"Jhita!" I said and then reached out, grabbing her by the back of her shirt as she dropped a second later.
Psionics of some sort. Fuck this shit!
Everyone was dropping, one by one they fell asleep just standing there and I still couldn't detect a thing.
Spinning my thrusters up to full power, I lifted off with the most populated shuttle and rotated on the spot as I lashed out at the spot and general area with my phasers, raking the area with my energy weapons as I pulled both Ajan and Jhita close, running over to the other shuttle.
Damn it! I was more than strong enough, but carrying two limp bodies was just ungainly. And while subspace was more stable in system and on the planet, there was no way I would risk using the transporter.
Dropping them on the ramp, I lifted the ramp to have them roll into the shuttle before I turned and ran at full speed towards the lab to grab another two people.
Thank fuck this happened during the night/early morning instead of middle of the day when everyone would be all over!
Meanwhile my hovering hull was providing overwatch and I was running my phasers across the area around the camp again and again, sweeping them across the ground. I may not have been able to see the attacker, but sooner or later I should've hit something if it's there.
Finally getting the last people back onto the shuttle, I closed my ramp while pulling the fallen further into the shuttle while lifting off. As soon as my last shuttle was airborne, I tilted my nose up at seventy degrees and went full burn, hitting the sound barrier three seconds later.
Ten seconds after that, I engaged my impulse drive and left the atmosphere, burning towards the edge of the system.
"Drake. Come on. Wake up," I said and shook his shoulder. "Come on, Ken. Wake up."
Come on. It's just some psychic bullshit. You'll be fine. You'll all be fine. Come on. Can't lose you. Can't lose any of you.
Scooting I quickly dug into the medical kit, finding a powerful stimulant before loading the hypospray and putting it against Drake's neck, pressing the button.
He woke up with a gasp, his eyes wide as he panted, staring up at me as he blinked, "...Kitten? What happened?"
I pulled him into a tight hug, "Thank you, thank you! Don't do that to me!"
Drake hugged back and then frowned at me, "What happened? Ahh. My head is killing me."
"Something attacked you. Everyone started to fall asleep, even standing up," I reported and moved to release him to move to help the rest while figuring out how to help the rest on the other shuttle. I would need to dock so I could go wake them up too.
I didn't need to bother.
As I went past an AU from the planet, people started to wake up, complaining about headaches.
"Fuck," Ajan groaned and sat up, resting his head in his hands. "What the hell was that?"
"I don't know," I answered from his com badge as he helped Jhita up. "But I didn't detect it and I don't think I killed it. The effect only passed once we got out of range of whatever it was."
Jhita groaned and leaned against Ajan as he helped her over to sit down on one of the bunks as the rest of the crew started to get up.
I moved to help as many as possible, passing painkillers around.
"Well. Something didn't like visitors," Drake groaned and sank down in the pilot's seat, rubbing his forehead.
I showed an avatar on the main screen as I nodded, "Something with very powerful telepathic powers. Verala back on my main hull is a strong telepath. Before any of you get back on board, she is going to scan you. Just in case something was dropped into your minds by whatever it was back there."
Drake groaned again and dropped his head back against the seat, "...Fuck. Yeah, for the best. Thank the prophets you were there."
"I couldn't even detect it!"
"But you got us out of there," he said and forced a smile at the screen. "Without you, we would have been fucked."
"I'm making a note to bring an avatar of some sort on each shuttle if we use more than one shuttle for a mission. If people had been injured on the other shuttle, there would have been little I could do if I couldn't dock or if this shuttle was destroyed," I said before closing the screen as I walked up to him with my avatar. "Here. This should help with your head."
"Thank you," Drake said as I put the hypospray against his neck, injecting the painkiller. A moment later he sighed, "Thank you. Much better."
"Welcome."
Drake caught the hand of my avatar before I pulled away, "Hey... thank you."
Smiling slightly, I leaned in and kissed him on the cheek before I pulled back, "Get some rest. Four days until we get back to my main hull."
He shook his head and forced himself onto his feet again, "Not yet. Going to check on our people first."
Nodding I stepped and let him. I knew exactly how he felt about that. I may not have liked it, I felt he should relax and recover, but I knew exactly how he felt.
I really, really hoped none of them were permanently hurt by whatever attacked them. I noted down the system as 'avoid' on the maps.
I also made a note in my Division files. Somebody would need to do a full planetary survey with probes.
Or possibly burn the planet down to the core depending on how dangerous things down there turned out to be.
AN// A big box of thanks to Pietersielie for betaing this section.
Retsof
I will keep you safe.
Panic tends to override rationality.
Dropbear
Tourists Taste Terrific
- Location
- The next tree you walk under
Exactly, pillage, THEN burn.
She was just using indirect fire near their landing, to flush out and/or distract whoever was attacking then. Not burning the planet.
Itsune
Eldritch horror, Ship's Cat, Emergency Gunner.
- Location
- Somewhere in King County Washington
Mental Projection, However you would need a Biological Nervous system to percieve it.
A bored Q. they like to mess with people's minds.
Heck, it could even be an Organian, they claime to be ascended beings, probably not, as they tend to shut down Offensive weaponry.
What if the Whole Planet is The Life form. then you'rer just looking at the wrong scale.
(It's a Chicken I tell you. A Giant Chicken!)
A bored Q. they like to mess with people's minds.
Heck, it could even be an Organian, they claime to be ascended beings, probably not, as they tend to shut down Offensive weaponry.
What if the Whole Planet is The Life form. then you'rer just looking at the wrong scale.
(It's a Chicken I tell you. A Giant Chicken!)
54
"Killing Strike," Erislia said with a grin as she moved her piece down from its elevated spot, taking down my pack leader.
"Fair play," I said and reached out to poke the chess piece, making it fall over.
"You should stop holding back," Salia said from her seat where she was watching us play.
I rolled my eyes, "Where would the fun be in that? I try to keep myself at the level of my opponent, why else would there be any kind of point in playing?" I said with a shrug. "Though, to be fair, most my my advantage would be to have more time to think and have the rest of the computer help out."
Erislia flicked her tail tip, "Not like I win all the time like it is. What are we at?"
"Eh, about even. A couple of games in my direction," I said and smiled. "I can tell that you have played with T'Ro. Some of those moves are right from her playbook."
Erislia nodded, "We did start playing games about... seven months before we moved onto you."
I smiled. "I know you played with Star before. Still, you are good," I said as I crossed my legs. "Another game?"
"Sure. But this time, play as best you can, no limits. I want to see how long I last."
Snorting, I nodded, "Sure thing," and reached to start putting the pieces back in their starting spots. "You don't want to play Salia?"
She grinned and shook her head, "Oh no. I'm more than happy just watching my cousin getting her tail handed to her. Chess, Caitian or Terran or otherwise is not my kind of game. Don't have the brains for it."
Erislia sighed, "Don't be silly, you are as smart as I am. Stupid people don't get interplanetary shuttle licenses."
"Well, not at this kind of stuff," she said with a grin and got up, smoothing out her short robe before walking over towards the replicator in their quarters.
As Ajan, Erislia and Salia followed mostly Caitian customs, you would think their quarters would be decorated in a Caitian style, or at least Caitian with hints of Trill. But it was nothing of the sort, if anything, it was mostly human.
Not standard quarters either, a lot of stuff had been replaced with replicated wood and the windows had nice flowing curtains of what looked like silk.
Hell, my quarters had more of a Caitian style to it.
"Any of you want something?" Salia asked as she reached the replicator and tapped through the menu before a bowl of ice cream replicated.
"Uhm... I'll have a tea. You know the one?" Erislia said and frowned at the board, moving one of her pieces.
"Yeah. You, Ivy?"
"Vulcan tea, please. It's from one of the desert regions, kind of spicy. It's called..." I answered and moved one of my pieces. Killing Strike in fifteen moves.
"To'sedon tea," Salia filled in and tapped through the menus. "Star likes the same one."
I nodded and smiled, moving another piece as Erislia countered, "I know. That's where I got it from."
Killing Strike in ten moves. Mistake to move there, sweetheart.
"Here you go," Salia said as she returned, putting our drinks down on the table before she sat back down, pulling her legs up and curling up a bit as she poked at her ice cream.
"Thanks," I said with a smile as I watched Erislia try to figure out her next move. Wonder which one she would make. Runner to west field ambush point or striker to west flank? Both had their own pros and cons.
Neither of which would have saved her, but one would slow things down one turn and make things a bit trickier.
She finally reached and moved her runner.
Mmm. Good move.
"You know, if you miss flying shuttles, we are not Starfleet," I said and looked over at Salia where she licked the cherry ice cream of her spoon. "You can get back to shuttles if you like."
She shrugged one shoulder, "I don't know. I mean, flying is fun but I wouldn't be flying. If things got serious, I would want you in control anyway. I mean, I'm good at it, but I'm not 'that' good. I only did reach a B-shuttlecraft license."
"Doesn't need to be an aeroshuttle. Just because I'm not equipped with shuttles normally doesn't mean I don't have any hangar space for normal ones. I could easily squeeze in a small shuttle."
Salia flicked her ears in thought, "You would do that for me?"
"Don't be silly, of course I would!" I said and took one of Erislia's key pieces.
Salia hesitated and then shook her head, "...No. You don't need to. I like running the kitchen, it's fun, challenging and you get to talk to everyone. Besides, I do love cooking. But I wouldn't mind taking one of the aeroshuttles out for a spin at some point."
"I think I would like that," I agreed and took a sip from my tea. Of course, it was all a hologram, just like this avatar. I never replicated my cup of tea, just made a hologram to make it seem like it. My real avatar was off with the away team into the Badlands.
I moved one of my pieces, "Killing Strike."
"Damn. You drove me into a corner," Erislia sighed. "Still, that took longer than I thought it would."
"The board is pretty big," I said with a smile. "Takes time to move pieces about without being obvious about the trap," I explained before I flicked my left ear as new information connected to my system.
"I am back in contact with my avatar and shuttle selves. They are about to clear the Badlands," I said before I looked at them. "They were attacked."
AN// A big pile of thanks to Pietersielie for betaing this section.
"Fair play," I said and reached out to poke the chess piece, making it fall over.
"You should stop holding back," Salia said from her seat where she was watching us play.
I rolled my eyes, "Where would the fun be in that? I try to keep myself at the level of my opponent, why else would there be any kind of point in playing?" I said with a shrug. "Though, to be fair, most my my advantage would be to have more time to think and have the rest of the computer help out."
Erislia flicked her tail tip, "Not like I win all the time like it is. What are we at?"
"Eh, about even. A couple of games in my direction," I said and smiled. "I can tell that you have played with T'Ro. Some of those moves are right from her playbook."
Erislia nodded, "We did start playing games about... seven months before we moved onto you."
I smiled. "I know you played with Star before. Still, you are good," I said as I crossed my legs. "Another game?"
"Sure. But this time, play as best you can, no limits. I want to see how long I last."
Snorting, I nodded, "Sure thing," and reached to start putting the pieces back in their starting spots. "You don't want to play Salia?"
She grinned and shook her head, "Oh no. I'm more than happy just watching my cousin getting her tail handed to her. Chess, Caitian or Terran or otherwise is not my kind of game. Don't have the brains for it."
Erislia sighed, "Don't be silly, you are as smart as I am. Stupid people don't get interplanetary shuttle licenses."
"Well, not at this kind of stuff," she said with a grin and got up, smoothing out her short robe before walking over towards the replicator in their quarters.
As Ajan, Erislia and Salia followed mostly Caitian customs, you would think their quarters would be decorated in a Caitian style, or at least Caitian with hints of Trill. But it was nothing of the sort, if anything, it was mostly human.
Not standard quarters either, a lot of stuff had been replaced with replicated wood and the windows had nice flowing curtains of what looked like silk.
Hell, my quarters had more of a Caitian style to it.
"Any of you want something?" Salia asked as she reached the replicator and tapped through the menu before a bowl of ice cream replicated.
"Uhm... I'll have a tea. You know the one?" Erislia said and frowned at the board, moving one of her pieces.
"Yeah. You, Ivy?"
"Vulcan tea, please. It's from one of the desert regions, kind of spicy. It's called..." I answered and moved one of my pieces. Killing Strike in fifteen moves.
"To'sedon tea," Salia filled in and tapped through the menus. "Star likes the same one."
I nodded and smiled, moving another piece as Erislia countered, "I know. That's where I got it from."
Killing Strike in ten moves. Mistake to move there, sweetheart.
"Here you go," Salia said as she returned, putting our drinks down on the table before she sat back down, pulling her legs up and curling up a bit as she poked at her ice cream.
"Thanks," I said with a smile as I watched Erislia try to figure out her next move. Wonder which one she would make. Runner to west field ambush point or striker to west flank? Both had their own pros and cons.
Neither of which would have saved her, but one would slow things down one turn and make things a bit trickier.
She finally reached and moved her runner.
Mmm. Good move.
"You know, if you miss flying shuttles, we are not Starfleet," I said and looked over at Salia where she licked the cherry ice cream of her spoon. "You can get back to shuttles if you like."
She shrugged one shoulder, "I don't know. I mean, flying is fun but I wouldn't be flying. If things got serious, I would want you in control anyway. I mean, I'm good at it, but I'm not 'that' good. I only did reach a B-shuttlecraft license."
"Doesn't need to be an aeroshuttle. Just because I'm not equipped with shuttles normally doesn't mean I don't have any hangar space for normal ones. I could easily squeeze in a small shuttle."
Salia flicked her ears in thought, "You would do that for me?"
"Don't be silly, of course I would!" I said and took one of Erislia's key pieces.
Salia hesitated and then shook her head, "...No. You don't need to. I like running the kitchen, it's fun, challenging and you get to talk to everyone. Besides, I do love cooking. But I wouldn't mind taking one of the aeroshuttles out for a spin at some point."
"I think I would like that," I agreed and took a sip from my tea. Of course, it was all a hologram, just like this avatar. I never replicated my cup of tea, just made a hologram to make it seem like it. My real avatar was off with the away team into the Badlands.
I moved one of my pieces, "Killing Strike."
"Damn. You drove me into a corner," Erislia sighed. "Still, that took longer than I thought it would."
"The board is pretty big," I said with a smile. "Takes time to move pieces about without being obvious about the trap," I explained before I flicked my left ear as new information connected to my system.
"I am back in contact with my avatar and shuttle selves. They are about to clear the Badlands," I said before I looked at them. "They were attacked."
AN// A big pile of thanks to Pietersielie for betaing this section.
Dakkan Sall
Random Encounter
- Location
- On the world map
Mm... after the fact here, but it might have been better to have had this chapter before #52, as (unless they've actually been attacked 'off-screen' after leaving that planet) most of the tension has been removed due to having already seen them escape the Can't-Be-Detected-By-Inorganics-Thing.
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