Editing You Can't Always Get What You Want
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Potemkin was done. Half an hour of pitched battle and it was all over. Stitches. Mercs. Bullets. Blades. We’d bested everything he’d thrown at us. But not without cost. ''Summer’s Gift'' was a blasted out hulk and Nika … Nika’s beautiful blue eyes could no longer see, ruined by the toxic waste Potemkin had stashed aboard.<br><br> | Potemkin was done. Half an hour of pitched battle and it was all over. Stitches. Mercs. Bullets. Blades. We’d bested everything he’d thrown at us. But not without cost. ''Summer’s Gift'' was a blasted out hulk and Nika … Nika’s beautiful blue eyes could no longer see, ruined by the toxic waste Potemkin had stashed aboard.<br><br> | ||
| − | Standing now on the bridge of ''Exeter'', my heart ached with the knowledge that she couldn’t see it. I knew how much she’d yearned for a fast ship, a shiny ship like she’d flown for half her adult life. On '' | + | Standing now on the bridge of ''Exeter'', my heart ached with the knowledge that she couldn’t see it. I knew how much she’d yearned for a fast ship, a shiny ship like she’d flown for half her adult life. On ''Exeter’s'' bridge, it took little effort to imagine Harbinger’s. It would have been much like this one. The pilot’s seat took pride of place, its yoke and console centered on the deck. Helm and copilot sat at the bridge windows forward, flanked by Comms and Engineering. With all the consoles up and running, it was blazing away like Christmas. I couldn’t bear to look at it. I gave it my back and walked aft to engineering.<br><br> |
| − | It felt exceedingly strange. Nothing was familiar and yet … echoes of | + | It felt exceedingly strange. Nothing was familiar and yet … echoes of Janus tugged at me. Aside from the bridge, it was nothing huge or strikingly alike. It was the little touches. The framing of the corridors. The paint job on the deck and bulkheads. The fixtures. The way the atmo smelled. All subtle, but packing a punch. I trailed my fingertips along the walls and listened to the engines as I drew closer. _C, G, middle C, and E._ It was a chord that had sung me to sleep, soothed my hurts, and fed my spirit for three years. I’d missed it. And yet …<br><br> |
''Stop. Don’t go there. She’s gone. They’re both gone.''<br><br> | ''Stop. Don’t go there. She’s gone. They’re both gone.''<br><br> | ||
| − | I didn’t see the conference room or the crew quarters on my way back. The crew lounge barely blipped on my radar. I hit the aft corridor and scaled the four steps to the engine room and stood on the threshold listening. | + | I didn’t see the conference room or the crew quarters on my way back. The crew lounge barely blipped on my radar. I hit the aft corridor and scaled the four steps to the engine room and stood on the threshold listening. _C, G, middle C, and E._ Say what you want about Potemkin, he knew how to keep his ship running well. Or maybe he hadn’t had her long enough to make a botch of it. With a bastard like Potemkin, it was hard to tell.<br><br> |
| − | The engine room was much like the bridge. Bigger. Beefier. More bells and whistles. More like what Nika and I had known and loved before. Normally I’d be like a kid at Christmas in the middle of all the shiny but Christmas had come on the heels of a funeral. ''Summer’s Gift'' was a blasted-out hulk. Nika’s were eyes beyond repair. The ship’s engines sang in the voice of my first love lost. I leaned on the jamb and crossed my arms and tried to shut it out. But | + | The engine room was much like the bridge. Bigger. Beefier. More bells and whistles. More like what Nika and I had known and loved before. Normally I’d be like a kid at Christmas in the middle of all the shiny but Christmas had come on the heels of a funeral. ''Summer’s Gift'' was a blasted-out hulk. Nika’s were eyes beyond repair. The ship’s engines sang in the voice of my first love lost. I leaned on the jamb and crossed my arms and tried to shut it out. But Exeter hummed through the deckplates, sang through my bones, and there was no escaping her or the memories she stirred, past and present. So I stood and bore it and waited for the pain to pass.<br><br> |
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| − | Joshua stepped away from the pilot's seat for a minute. As he stood next to it, looking out the cockpit window, he thought, | + | Joshua stepped away from the pilot's seat for a minute. As he stood next to it, looking out the cockpit window, he thought, It ought to be Nika's seat. It felt somehow...wrong...to be the first of the crew to fly the ''Exeter''. It should've been Nika's honor. But Potemkin had taken that away from her. He had taken so many things and this last one was the most brutal. But Joshua refused to let this last one be permanent. There had to be a way to restore Nika's vision. The crew and their shiny new ship would just have to find it.<br><br> |
As he came out of his thoughts, Joshua realized he had been standing there, looking into the Black for over ten minutes. I need a break. He needed to go check on Rina in the medbay. She ought to be resting, since she almost died at the hands of the stitches. But Joshua knew the woman he loved. So he wasn't in the least bit surprised to find her missing from her bed when he arrived at the medbay.<br><br> | As he came out of his thoughts, Joshua realized he had been standing there, looking into the Black for over ten minutes. I need a break. He needed to go check on Rina in the medbay. She ought to be resting, since she almost died at the hands of the stitches. But Joshua knew the woman he loved. So he wasn't in the least bit surprised to find her missing from her bed when he arrived at the medbay.<br><br> | ||
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| − | “And you’ve got a wench with your name on her.” I | + | “And you’ve got a wench with your name on her.” I rose and quickly kissed him back. “Name. Lips. Hands. It’s all good. If you’ll have her.”<br><br> |
As to the rest of it, even I wondered why I hadn’t collapsed yet. The adrenaline had worn off and standing up hurt. I put my arm around Joshua and tried to make it seem I merely wanted to hug him all the way to medbay but in actuality, I needed the support. By the time we’d crossed the crew lounge, I was gritting my teeth from the effort to keep moving and by the time Joshua got me back where I belonged, I was blowing hard. Joshua was in little better shape and I knew if he’d been able to, he’d have swept me up like the romantic leads in his favorite vids and carried me the rest of the way. One painkiller injection later, the agony receded somewhat, making me lightheaded … to say nothing of giddy. I watched him dispose of the sharps and said, my tongue going thick as the opiate took hold.<br><br> | As to the rest of it, even I wondered why I hadn’t collapsed yet. The adrenaline had worn off and standing up hurt. I put my arm around Joshua and tried to make it seem I merely wanted to hug him all the way to medbay but in actuality, I needed the support. By the time we’d crossed the crew lounge, I was gritting my teeth from the effort to keep moving and by the time Joshua got me back where I belonged, I was blowing hard. Joshua was in little better shape and I knew if he’d been able to, he’d have swept me up like the romantic leads in his favorite vids and carried me the rest of the way. One painkiller injection later, the agony receded somewhat, making me lightheaded … to say nothing of giddy. I watched him dispose of the sharps and said, my tongue going thick as the opiate took hold.<br><br> | ||
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“There’s room for two on here, you know.” I patted the blanket he’d pulled over me, blinking as the room began to swim. “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Or should I say what’s good for the duck is good for the drake?”<br><br> | “There’s room for two on here, you know.” I patted the blanket he’d pulled over me, blinking as the room began to swim. “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Or should I say what’s good for the duck is good for the drake?”<br><br> | ||
| − | ''Oh my yes. Giddy '''and''' witty. Perhaps I should get creamed more often. | + | ''Oh my yes. Giddy '''and''' witty. Perhaps I should get creamed more often.<br><br> Or so I tried to say but I couldn’t get the words to leave my head. |
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| − | '''To read more on Joshua, go to''' [[Joshua Drake | '''Joshua's Crew Page''']] | + | '''To read more on Joshua, go to''' [[Joshua Drake | '''Joshua's Crew Page''']] |
| − | '''Go back to: ''[[Mutineers Timeline Season Four | Timeline Season Four, April 2521 to | + | '''Go to''' [[Joshua Drake | '''Joshua's Crew Page''']]'''Go back to: ''[[Mutineers Timeline, Season Four | Timeline Season Four, April 2521 to -- ]]'''''<br> |
| − | '''Go to ''[[Peripatetica - | + | '''Go to ''[[Peripatetica - Journal entry and RP log]]'''''<br> |
'''Go to ''[[Rina's Russian Glossary]]'''''<br> | '''Go to ''[[Rina's Russian Glossary]]'''''<br> | ||
'''Go to''' [[Marina Kseniya Sebastien | '''Rina's Crew Page''']] <br> | '''Go to''' [[Marina Kseniya Sebastien | '''Rina's Crew Page''']] <br> | ||
'''Go to [[EPISODES]]''' or '''[[MTimeline#2511-2518|TIMELINE]]'''<br> | '''Go to [[EPISODES]]''' or '''[[MTimeline#2511-2518|TIMELINE]]'''<br> | ||
