Last Voyage of Delilah, Episode 101: An Auspicious Start, Part 2
Jump to: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Special Features
The same cannot be said for the truck with Tian and Vikki. The driver isn't too pleased to have the women aboard as passengers. He sweeps the cab seat clear of papers and debris: ashtray, invoices, food wrappers, empty cups. A basset hound of uncertain vintage and cleanliness is uncovered in the process and the animal phlegmatically watches the goings on with nary a twitch. The driver gives him a shove.
Driver: Rover, move.
Vikki: Oh what a nice dog. What kind of dog is he? He's awesome. (tries petting it) Oh, he's awfully fuzzy. Thank you so much for the ride.
Vikki tries to make friends through the dog. It's not a gambit that works, so she tries next by complimenting the truck. It's a triple-double. Meaning it can take three sets of containers stacked two high. The gearing required to move the sheer weight of a fully loaded bed ... well, that's all Vikki needs to start talking again.
Vikki: What sort of power to you have under the hood? It must be pretty big to be able to haul all that stuff in the back.
Driver: (leers) Oh, yeah …. Yeah, we gotta lot to handle the torque we're talkin' 'bout. (boasts) Eight thousand horsepower.
Vikki: (eyes wide) So do you do all the work yourself?
Driver: That's right.
Vikki: And fixing her, too? And things like that?
Driver: Yeah … sometimes.
Vikki: She looks very well kept up. You must love her a lot.
Driver: (uhh … ) … Well … Why? Are you gonna do somethin' to her?
Tian: (in Vikki's ear) Don't offend him.
Vikki: Just admire her. (pats the dashboard) This is pretty cool. I like this truck. I don't have anything like this back home.
It's true. She's never ridden in anything like this before. The ride goes on a bit more amiably after that even though the rest of the city gets less so.
Persephone is a stratified society and little shows that stratification better than the state of the city. High above the ground where the towers soar and the airships sparkle, the hoi polloi live their lives without noticing those who exist beneath them. The lower one goes, the dirtier, meaner, and more dangerous the city gets. At ground level, it's quite dirty, mean, and dangerous indeed.
The streets are crowded with people and small vehicles, a veritable unwashed ocean of flesh and metal. The driver doesn't seem to notice them. He doesn't move around vehicles or stop for pedestrians, but continues grinding along, seemingly indifferent to anything that might get crushed underneath his wheels. The rest of the world does its best to get out of his way, parting before the truck like the Red Sea before Moses. It's either Karma or good luck no one gets hurt, but even good luck (or Karma) runs out. It isn't long before they get stuck in a traffic jam in an intersection.
A Fed is out there directing the traffic and the man's arms are clearly visible past his cuffs.
Driver: Huh. Well, that's a little strange.
Tian: What is?
Driver: You don't generally see tattoos on a Federale.
He barely has time to finish speaking when both doors on the cab are whipped open and two men jump into the cab. One of them yanks the driver roughly away from the wheel and throws him into the street. The men, clearly hijackers, are startled to see women in the cab and the women are certainly startled to see them. At the moment, the women are caught between the two.
Vikki: (cheerfully shocked) Hi‼ Hello! Are you the Welcome Wagon?
Hijacker #1: Get out.
Vikki: Um … o-kayyyy … ? I just need to … pack my things. Thank you.
Vikki flusters a bit, practically babbling at this point. Tian gets over her shock first. Divining the possible motive behind the hijacking, she addresses the thug at the wheel. Her tone is firm and clear, a doctor-in-charge voice that gets results … stat!
Tian: If you want this medicine to get to your people, you need to let us go. Turn around and take us that way—(points toward the docks)—because I'm taking the medicine to your people.
Hijacker #2: Silence, woman!
He slams her across her face. Blood flies from Tian's nose. It's broken. Oh, that's torn it. Tian is ex-military and her instinct is to fight back. She shoves and kicks in the confines of the cab and manages to push him out the door. The other hijacker realizes that this might not be a cakewalk after all and starts in on Vikki to muscle her out of the cab. She squeaks and holds up her hands, babbling a mile a minute.
Vikki: Okayokayokay, just keep—Look! You want money? I have money. It's right here in my bag. Justletmegetitokay—?!
Before Vikki left Osiris, her best friend gave her a gun for protection. Vikki has it in her messenger bag and that bag is slung around in her lap. She makes a show of rummaging through it for her wallet. She grabs the gun, whips it out, and shoves it in the hijacker's face.
Vikki: (snarls) Huòqǔ tā mā dele wǒ de jū! (Get the fuck off my truck!)
Whoa! The thug definitely didn't expect the little mouse to have such a roar on her, much less be packin' a freakin' gun. He jerks back in surprise, loses his grip on the door, and falls out of the cab …
Vroom! Crunch!
… and he's instantly run over by a speeding vehicle. Vikki slams her door shut. Tian slams hers.
Vikki: Drive! Drive, drive, drivedrivedrive—!
Tian grabs the wheel, grinds the gears, and stomps on the gas. The truck belches and lurches … and trundles forward, gathering speed as momentum takes hold. Tian has the wheel in a whiteknuckled grip. As before, lesser beings get out of the way. She manages to find the berth for the ship assigned to take them and their cargo off-world. She shifts down, applies the brakes, and turns off the engine. On the floorboards at the women's feet, the dog lets loose a querulous bark. Tian blows out a long slow breath and looks at Vikki.
Tian: Well, that was exciting.
Vikki: Wow. Is it like that all the time out here?
Tian: In the Core? No!
Vikki: When we're not in the Core, is it like that all the time out here?
Tian: We're still in the Core. (looks around) Well … sort of. You have to remember: stratified population.
Vikki: Oh. (groks) Oh! (Ewww!) Ewww …!
Tian: It's always been that way.
Tian would explain further but at this point a portly man in greasy coveralls ambles out from the berth.
Freddie: Um, you're in our parking spot.
Tian finds the Bill of Lading (behind the driver's sun visor) and hands it to the man.
Freddie: Oh, hey, we have a job. I'll drive it in.
Tian: Please. Yes. Please.
Freddie: All right.
Vikki: Watch out for the dog.
Tian and Vikki bail out of the cab and Tian pulls her phone to call the IRP. She gets the run-around but eventually she is connected to someone.
IRP: Can I help you?
Tian: Yes, this is Dr. Grace. I am supposed to be shipping out with one of the IRP shipments to Anson's World. I need to speak to somebody who's handling the cargo manifests.
IRP: Hold please.
Muzak drifts into Tian's ear. "The Girl from Ipanema", to be exact, the musical equivalent of flipping the middle finger. As she waits, Freddie brings the truck halfway up the ship's cargo ramp. He hops out and returns with a fork lift/loader to shift the containers aboard.
Vikki watches it all with avid interest. She also sees some men similar to those who tried to hijack the truck coming around the corner, way across the tarmac. They look like they're looking around for something.
Oh, crap.
Vikki nudges Tian.
Vikki: What say we get out of sight. Say, on the ship?
Tian: (sees) Uh-huh! Yeah.
Vikki: Okay.
The women hustle up the ramp. Tian ducks into the shelter of one of the cargo bay's bulkhead struts, her phone still clapped to her ear, peering cautiously out. Vikki squeezes in behind her.
A cab drives up. Rachel emerges from the cab and stares in amazement at the activity in front of her. A truck. Cargo containers. Freddie driving the fork lift.
Rachel: My God, we do have a job.
Valentine: I told you we have a job.
Rachel: Freddie! You need some help with that?
Rachel walks over to help her crewmate. Anatole slips unnoticed from the cab. Sighing, Valentine pays the cabbie and sees to the paperwork. He sees the Bill of Lading was signed by his father. It states the containers currently being loaded as well as two passengers. Valentine also sees from the paperwork that his father had been in possession of a considerable amount of money. From it he was able to pay for the ship's berth a whole month in advance, but Valentine knows what his father's bank account looks like. The remainder of money is long gone. Probably spent getting the ship spaceworthy … or more likely, on bribes.
Valentine goes through the papers quickly but also keeps a weather eye on the tarmac. Right away, he spots the Triad goons sniffing around. Valentine goes over to Anatole.
Valentine: Get on board.
Anatole gets on board right enough. Valentine calls Rachel over to the cargo ramp. When she's at his side, he says quietly:
Valentine: Ms. McAllister.
Rachel: Yeah?
Valentine: Do you have any issues with the Triad that I should know about? Does anybody else on this ship? Does your engineer have issues with the Triad?
Rachel: (incredulous) Freddie?
Valentine: Because there is a bunch of Triad out there watching the ship.
Rachel: Darlin', I have friends everywhere. I don't have enemies. I don't know what you're talkin' about.
Tian sees the men, too, hangs up her phone, and moves toward Valentine on the ramp. If Valentine is surprised by the sight of a strange woman with a broken bloodied nose, he doesn't show it.
Tian: Excuse me.
Valentine: Yes?
Tian: Is one of you the captain?
Valentine: That would be me. For the moment.
Tian: Those guys—
Valentine: Are Triad. Yes, I know.
Tian: No, those guys tried to hijack our truck and we came from the middle of downtown—
Rachel: (to Valentine) See? I told ya they ain't my enemies.
Valentine: Never mind that. How long is this going to take you to load?
Rachel: Freddie! How long is this going to take you?
Freddie: Only got one more!
True. The others are already loaded aboard.
Valentine: (to Freddie) Load it up!
Rachel: Work faster, boy.
Beside Valentine, Tian starts to wilt. Vikki takes her arm.
Vikki: You okay?
Tian: I'm fine.
Valentine: Everyone who wants to get on board, best get on board.
Because by now, the Triad guys are pulling out their weapons. One has a shotgun. Two others have collapsible batons. Behind them, at the street entrance, Valentine sees two Feds watch a moment and then … pull a fade.
Right.
Valentine: I'm going to suggest that we stop loading and get on board. (to Rachel) How quickly can we take off? Within the next two minutes?
Not with the truck halfway up our ramp.
Rachel: Freddie, get the truck off. Move it between the men on the ground and the ship. We don't want 'em on the ground when we take off. They might get hurt.
Freddie: All right!
Valentine eyes the approaching Triad. They're not running but they aren't dragging their feet, either. The tarmac is big but it's not infinitely big. They're going to come even with the ramp soon.
Meanwhile the passengers are making their way across the interior of the cargo bay. It's rough and thoroughly disreputable looking. It's bare to the walls, rust and disrepair everywhere, with pitiful few cargo and the five IRP containers. Nothing is tied down, either.
Valentine: Ms. McAllister, whatever you need to do to get us off the ground in say, the next minute, I'd appreciate you doing it.
Rachel cuts loose a piercing jack whistle that brings a grey wharf rat running from … somewhere. The rat scampers up Rachel's leg and perches on her shoulder like a pet. Freddie hears the whistle and speeds up, moving the truck with a squeal off the ramp. He parks it athwart the stern of the ship and leans out the door of the cab. He calls out to the Triad on the ground.
Freddie: Hey guys, wait! We're about to take off—
BLAM!
The Triad drills Freddie right between the eyes. The hapless engineer crumples off the truck.
Tian gasps in shock. Vikki is frozen in her tracks. Rachel stares at her murdered friend. Tian recovers first. She whips around to Rachel.
Tian: Get us off the ground!
Rachel: But …
Tian: NOW.
Valentine: (quieter) She's right. Drive. So to speak.
Rachel: We don't have anybody to spin up the engines.
Tian jumps on the obvious controls for the ramp and slams the close button home. The ramp screams and groans … but it starts to rise. Slowly… Bullets start whining and pinging off our hull. Tian calls over her shoulder to Vikki.
Tian: Do you know anything about engines? Can you get her started?
Vikki: (snapping to) Where's the engine room?
Rachel: Thataway, go down the ladder.
The woman actually points up, not down, but Vikki gets the gist. Engine room must be a deck up. She runs for the ladder and starts climbing, her bag bouncing on her hip. Tian ducks and runs deeper in to the ship, now that the ramp offers some cover, and catches up to Valentine.
Tian: Captain, I'll explain once we get into the air.
Rachel: Best you do some 'splainin' now.
Valentine: (to Rachel) You just get to piloting. We'll do explaining later. Right now I'd rather not have us all shot full of holes.
Rachel: (pets rat on shoulder) C'mon, Mortimer…
Everyone climbs up the ladders deeper into the ship. Vikki ascends to the deck above and finds a huge section of the deck is missing, open to the cargo deck below. Some attempt has been made to cover it but looks none too secure. A lone catwalk bridges the chasm to a door at the far end. Going by the configuration of the engines outside and the shape of the cargo hold inside, Vikki is pretty sure beyond that door is the engine room. She gets across the catwalk, steps through the hatch and stares in shock.
Everything is …
Vikki: This can't be right … Am I dreaming?
Dreaming? Try nightmare. What's in front of her doesn't look like an engine room. It's a junk pile. It's a trash heap. It's an overgrown jungle of hanging wires, jutting jerry-rigs, and loose parts. If there's an engine under all that crap somewhere, it's damned well hidden. Vikki just has to find it.
She ducks back outside, thinking perhaps she's in the wrong compartment. No, she wasn't. Leaning just outside the hatch is an upright piece of hull plating, obviously drafted into service as a dry-erase board. On it is a to-do list.
Top of the list: Replace Capissen Engine.
Underneath it, row after row of things that need to be replaced or fixed. Some of the items have been on the board so long that they are no longer legible. Vikki sighs, rolls up her sleeves, and gets to work.
Meanwhile, Tian helps Valentine with whatever's necessary to get them off the ground.
Tian: The ramp's up, we're getting off the ground, we should take a couple of minutes to try to strap the cargo down.
Valentine: At least partly, yes.
Working together they find something like straps that are suitable for the job and get to it. While they're working, Tian tells Valentine that the Triad tried to hijack the truck with their med cargo. Why? She's not sure. What value could the cargo have on the street?
Tian: I'm starting to wonder about this job.
Valentine: You don't happen to have the cure for cancer, do you? (off her look) Just asking. I'm just trying to think in the short-term, how concerned should we be about it? By the way, I don't think we've been introduced.
He extends his hand for a shake. Tian pauses in tying things down to shake it.
Valentine: Valentine Quick.
Tian: Dr. Grace.
Valentine: Dr. Grace. Grace Tian?
Tian: No, Tian Grace.
Valentine: Dr. Grace. (nods) Good to have you on board.
Meanwhile, Rachel's on the bridge and flipping the pitiful few switches that still work. Her hands are steady even though she's shaken by Freddie's death. She murmurs to the ship as she settles in the pilot's chair.
Rachel: C'mon Delilah, wake up for me. That's my girl …
Lights flicker and one by one start to glow steady on. A hum creeps onto the bridge as systems warm up. Back in the engine room, Vikki's found the engine and has managed to get it going but … Holy Crap … What has she unleashed?
Smoke pours out of the thing, thick, black, and choking. The moans and screams from the moving parts are deafening. The grav plates aren't in the best of shape, so even the gravity is stomach-churning as it wavers in and out. As the engine comes to life, the entire ship shudders and shakes.
If Dante ever dreamt a vision of Hell, this might well be it.
Down below, Tian looks up at the noise and under her breath utters the vilest Navy curse in her repertoire. She shoots a wide-eyed look at Valentine.
Tian: Is this thing going to hold together?
Valentine: I don't know. This is my first flight. Let's hope it's not my last.
Tian: Oh my God …
Unknown to anyone aboard, someone else is thinking the same thing. In one of the containers, someone has stowed aboard. A man, kinda smallish, and all kinds of scruffy. And desperate, truth be told, if he thought to stow away aboard Delilah. He hears the horrible moans of the ship and knows that it bodes ill … and he starts tearing his way out of the box he's in.
On the bridge, Rachel gets angry calls from ground control but she ignores them. She'll be out of their hair soon enough. There's no landlock on the ship and she dusts off. The Trans-U moans off the ground, climbs painfully aloft, and slowly gathers speed. Sheer physics takes over as thrust and momentum pulls the ship through atmo. Friction makes everything slam, lurch, and shake. Flames flicker along her hull. Agonizing minutes go by. The air finally thins … and disappears. Freed of its embrace, Delilah sails into the vacuum of space. The ride grows calmer and the noise lessens.
Rachel smiles. Pats her ship. That's better.
Of course, better is relative. Tian and Valentine gain the upper deck, unnerved by the take-off.
Tian: What in the world did we sign on for?
Valentine: That is a wonderful question. (sighs) We need to try and survey our assets, see what we've got.
Tian: (Come again?) Survey our assets?
Valentine: We're on board this ship. We need to figure out what we've got.
Tian: Sure.
Valentine: Cargo hold seems … functional. As far as I can tell. I don't have any idea what's where.
Tian: I can tell you what's in the cargo containers.
Valentine: Start with that.
Okay. Tian runs down the list and Valentine checks it against the Bill of Lading. We're carrying a Clinic in a Can. We're carrying medical supplies to equip a clinic. We are also carrying random parts and mechanical gear for assisting life out on the Rim. Vikki can vouch for that, as she's in charge of those contents.
Valentine: So you're assisting out on the Rim? We'll come back to that in a little bit when we discuss the Triad later on, so hold on to that.
Tian: I can tell you the short version now. I have no idea. They attempted to … truck-jack us in the middle of the intersection. And just so you know, the containers are filled with vaccinations for the Plague.
The vaccinations are free. They're not expensive. They're meant to be given to anyone who needs them.
Tian: It's not like they had to take them. They could have just asked.
Valentine: Once again, not worth worrying about now. Let's figure out what we've got to work with. Let's go check on your friend. Who's your friend who came with you?
Tian: Vikki.
Valentine: Vikki. All right. Is she an engineer of some sort?
Tian: I don't know. We just met today.
Valentine starts heading for the general direction of the engine room, or at least what he believes to be the direction of the engine room. He has to survey the ship. He might as well start here. Sharpened by his job as casino manager, he doesn't miss much. He doesn't say much, good or bad, but methodically takes a mental tally of what he sees.
The stairs are rickety. They're made of metal and normally the sturdiest thing around, but on Delilah they're held together with wire and a prayer. Two sets of stairs rise through the decks at starboard and port. The stairs to starboard is the only set that actually connects across all decks.
Lighting is spotty at best. Every now and then a lightbulb flickers on. The air currents are strange, coming and going from odd directions with little rhyme or reason. More experienced spacers would understand that such a thing is not a good sign, pointing toward pinhole hull breach that could turn catastrophic in a flash. It's very noisy in a lot of places, full of bangs and moans, pops and squeals. In other places, the noise seems far away.
Far away is easy to achieve on this ship. She's huge. Her decks span sixty feet across. Her ceilings loft high overhead, at times cavernously so, where the decks above are holed to the decks below.
Starting on the lowest decks first, the cargo decks seem the best maintained, large and open, with stacks of pallets here and there. There is a small crane on the upper deck of the cargo area. It works. The upper deck has several areas filled with parts and scrap. The catwalks that line the perimeter of the cargo decks have loosely welded grids that rattle when trod upon, but otherwise seem good enough for the job. Probably. On the other decks, the conditions are worse.
Ductwork and plumbing lie exposed. Both are in dubious repair and, in many spots, leaking. Electrical trunks and junction boxes are clearly visible, some of them veritable snake nests of cables and wires. Bulkheads and struts lay bare, their rivets weeping trails of rust. Some sections of the ship have been cordoned off with yellow caution tape and curtains of murky plastic sheeting. They billow sporadically in the intermittent currents of air. In some places, one can see that the exterior hull is held in place by cables anchored to internal points on the ship. It goes far to explain the odd currents: as the internal atmo pressure presses the plates outward against the vacuum, the cables are pulling them in. Flexible sealant at the seams keeps the ship from decompression. If one watches long enough, one can see the seals stretch and move with the ship. The shaft of the non-functional central elevator rises vertically like a spine, creating a common point of reference in the clutter. Trash litters the deck. Spills stain much. Dirt covers everything.
Delilah resembles a building that's been stripped to the studs, decrepit, derelict and waiting for the wrecking ball to put her out of her misery … or a building in the process of being rebuilt from the ground up.
Right now, the wrecking ball seems to be winning.
A few things relieve the bleak landscape. Here and there furniture livens the place, bolted to the deck and serving as crew and passenger lounges. Upholstered haphazardly in canvas and assorted scraps, like everything else aboard it's seen better days.
Tian follows Valentine as she gingerly examines her nose. Yup. Broken. With a swift sure motion of her fingers she straightens it. The pain doubles her over. She gasps, blinking tears and seeing stars … but when she straightens up, her nose is aligned properly. Fresh blood starts pouring and she pinches just so to staunch the bleeding. Again, it hurts like hell … but it's effective.
Her vision clears and she sees they're standing on the crew deck next to the vast open area that drops to the cargo hold below. A makeshift railing keeps people from falling through. Caution tape crisscrosses the space. Cage lights have been strung up on extension cords overhead. It's not immediately apparent what the purpose of the construction work is: was the former owner trying to create more cargo space or passenger space? Was he installing an Olympic-sized swimming pool?
There is no telling. Lazarus took the answers with him to the grave.
Tian looks around. There is a crew area forward and center on the deck. A foosball table sits in a corner and a bunch of furniture, bolted to the deck, has been arranged for conversation and for viewing a flat screen mounted to the wall. A pair of crew cabins with bunks has been made from a shipping container alongside the crew area to port. One of the cabins smells heavily of clove cigarettes. Both cabins show signs of use and also of having been abandoned at short notice. Quite possibly Lazarus's crew ditched him once his money had run out. Stray articles of clothing and assorted trash are all they left behind. Upon inspection, the attached showers don't seem to work. The latrines seem to be functional but it's hard to tell if the smell is from the general stink aboard the ship or something wrong with the latrines.
Exploring the crew deck in counterclockwise fashion, Tian and Valentine discover Lazarus' quarters at the bow of the ship. The man was a packrat and his cabin is filled with papers and captures, trinkets and gewgaws of little value. His bunk sports a couple of horse blankets. A saddle and riding gear decorates the cabin walls. No evidence of a horse has been seen so far but given the overall condition of the ship, it might not be too much of a surprise to find a horse stashed away somewhere. Completing the habitable portion of the crew deck is the infirmary to starboard, bringing everything full circle back to the maw in the deck again.
The maw itself is spanned by a catwalk bridge, obviously cobbled together from spare parts, leading to a far hatch. Noise and smoke spilling from the hatch marks the location of the engine room. Braving the catwalk and exploring the space beyond, Tian and Valentine are nearly deafened by the grinding and roaring of the engine. Smoke lies thick here. Grease spills and other fluids make the footing treacherous. Rows of toolboxes line another catwalk to the side of the engine room hatch. There doesn't appear to be any organization to them. Larger tools like torches are leaning against the wall just past them.
The tour continues upward to the deck above crew and engineering. Once there, one immediately sees most of the floor is gone and there is evidence of a massive fire. Was it caused by an explosion? It's hard to tell. Unlike the crew deck, where the opening is rectangular and almost even, the hole here is jagged. Most of the damage has been cut out, in some places professionally, and a fence has been constructed to keep people from the edge. Sheets have been strung up to hide the construction work. It manages to soften the space a little.
To starboard are four passenger cabins, Spartan but clean enough for the purpose. Centered on the deck is the passenger lounge, smaller and a little better kept than the crew lounge below. A window is installed in the bulkhead opposite the cabins as well. The foam seal around the glass is … dodgy-looking and the whole is obviously a weekend-warrior project.
A common bathroom is also found on this deck, with a reservoir tank attached to the bathing facilities. The reservoir and the facilities aren't hooked up to each other, however, so getting clean is an exercise in hand-bailing the water in buckets.
Retracing their steps aft, Valentine and Tian take the starboard stairs up to the final deck. Unlike the other decks, this one is intact—no holes in the floor due to catastrophe or construction. Here they see that Delilah might well have been a party boat in her heyday. There's space enough to have 50 to 60 people drinking and gambling up here. A Tiki bar stands aft of the starboard stairs, installed at the rear area that's dotted with round bar tables and chairs. Most of them are stacked against the aft bulkhead. A walled off galley occupies the centermost position. Portholes occur on the walls at intervals and a large window decorates the wall at the rear. Persephone floats serenely aft, glowing beyond the glass.
Valentine takes everything in without uttering a single word. Occasionally his brow lifts at something here and there but otherwise, he keeps his thoughts from his face. Standing in the soft light of Persephone, he finally breaks his silence.
Valentine: If one defines a masterpiece as the thing that defines and represents an individual, this ship is clearly my father's masterpiece.
Tian turns around and looks at him.
Tian: I beg your pardon?
Valentine: This represents my father in every shape and form that I care to think of him. (sighs) We need to figure out to get to Anson's World and we need to have a conversation with everyone here. (a beat) Do you have any idea where the bridge is? Because that is where my pilot has ensconced herself and while I know she is not in the emotional state to handle this, I have to talk to her.
Tian: (slowly) My best guess would be … forward?
They hit the stairs down. Sweeping the passenger deck, they find what they'd originally missed. Looking up, they find a hatch overhead, the sort that hides the pull-down stairs most people use to access attics. Scattered about throughout Delilah are wall comms, allowing people to call to all corners of the ship. (Although the engine room has only a hand radio duct taped to the bulkhead.) Valentine tests all the ones on the passenger deck until he finds the one that works, and hails what he hopes is the bridge.
Valentine: Ms. McAllister?
Rachel: (weary) The flight time's two days. Enjoy yourself. Make yourself at home.
She cuts the channel. He opens it again.
Valentine: I hate to disturb you—
Rachel: No you didn't or you wouldn't'a done it.
Valentine: No, actually. In this case I do.
Rachel: (sighs) What?
Valentine: We got to talk a little bit.
Rachel: All right. So, we're talkin'.
Valentine: I meant with everyone on board the ship but if we're having this conversation right now, that's fine.
Rachel: I don't remember them being inducted into the crew but we're short one. Aren't we?
Valentine: There are a lot of things here that I feel aren't the normal state of affairs …
From a deck below, Valentine hears a yelp from the engine room.
Vikki: Yikes!
ERRRRRRRRRT! KRSSHHHHHHHH!
No. Not normal at all.
Jump to: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Special Features
Return to Episodes | Season One | Firefly-RPG Homepage | Crew Page
