Editing Last Voyage of Delilah, Episode 301: Centaur's Wake

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<span style="color:#800000"> '''''Synopsis vs. Verbatim. I love the former too much to give it up in favor of the latter. Below is a combo of the two. Sound file available on request.—Maer'''''</span><br><br><br>

''Air Date: 07 Jan 2015''<br>
''Present: Andy, Kim, Matt, Terri, and Maer''<br><br><br>


Jump to: [[Last Voyage of Delilah, Episode 301: Centaur's Wake|Part 1]] | [[Last Voyage of Delilah, Episode 301: Centaur's Wake, Part Two| Part 2]] | [[Last Voyage of Delilah, Episode 301: Centaur's Wake, Special Features| Special Features]]<br><br>

'''''From last season ...'''''<br>
The verification of the surf records completed, the crew takes off from Yànwō for Albion in the Core. Due to the discretion required by the buyer, Rachel's plotted a back roads route to our destination. It's made to avoid any Imperial entanglements but being so remote, we're far from help should anything go wrong.<br><br>

So of course the Universe sees to it that something does.<br><br><br>


'''Sunday, 28 Oct 2525''' <br>
'''En route to Albion'''<br>
'''Somewhere between Blue Sun and White Sun'''<br><br>

Mary Ann Valmont has taken another vessel from Yànwō so as to divert any attention from ''Delilah''. One might get the impression that perhaps she doesn't want to be associated with the ship that is the source of recent bad memories, but that could just be our imagination. Still, thanks to the Reavers on Meridian, one can't blame her for wanting to seek another ride. Valentine takes it in stride, insisting that no one need justify flying or not-flying with us. He understands. So they part ways and ''Delilah'' takes off for Albion.<br><br>

While we've said our goodbyes to Mary Ann, if only temporarily, we welcome aboard a new face. We have a new cook on board, Eli, the man we "rescued" on Yànwō. He insists that he can make the protein we've been subsisting on more appetizing and tasty with the help of his own Protein Texturizer. It's his own invention and he reassures us that it's free of the design modifications that caused the TSE outbreak several years back. He can make the protein taste like anything we want: fried chicken, steak, whatever we want. <br><br>

Valentine tells him that he'll take whatever Eli's willing to make. <br><br>

We 're flying radio-silent, the better to hide our existence. Rachel is manning the chair on the bridge nearly 24/7. Given the lack of comms traffic, flying our girl requires more eyeballing than usual. Everyone is assigned their turn in the watch schedule. Solar night and day fades in meaning as everyone settles into their in-flight routine: sleeping and eating, making repairs, taking inventory, standing watches. <br><br>

About a day or so out of Yànwō, Eli finds Valentine. <br><br> 

'''Eli:''': Captain, can we have—the three of us have a meeting?<br>
'''Valentine:''' Who are the three of us?<br>
'''Eli:''': Oh, I'm sorry. Your pilot, you, and I.<br>
'''Valentine:''' Sure.<br><br>

They go up to the bridge and knock before entering to find Rachel manning the chair. <br><br>

'''Valentine:''' Got a minute?<br>
'''Rachel:''' (turns around) Yep. Got a lotta time. What's up?<br>
'''Eli:''': So … um … I thought that I'd just like to know what kind of … rules you have on board the ship about any ... um, crewmates … fraternizing … or anything like that?<br>
'''Rachel:''' (smirks) I'm not gonna stand between you boys if y'all wanna. It's all right.<br><br>

'''Eli:''' blinks and starts to shuffle his feet. Valentine laughs.<br><br>

'''Valentine:''' I have no particular rules about it as long as the two people involved are willing. <br>
'''Eli:''': (recovering) Well, sometimes some ships are …. you know, it might be troublesome. It might cause problems of some kind … (off their looks) … You don't think so? I've been in places where they frown on it, cuz of the … <br>
'''Rachel:''' Who're you plannin' on fraternizin' with, Eli? <br><br>

Eli looks at Rachel and slowly replies.<br><br>

'''Eli:''': Well, I … I mean, I was ''assuming'' that there might be some more … (pauses) …<br>
'''Valentine:''' Go on.<br>
'''Eli:''': You know, on account'a what happened back at the … the station, there. That there might … again … sometime?<br><br>

Valentine can see where this is going and starts edging for the door.<br><br>

'''Valentine:''' It's okay. Have a good time.<br><br>

Valentine makes a quick exit and manages to hide his amusement before it embarrasses Eli … too much, at any rate. Rachel's more open about it: she rolls her eyes and shakes her head with a smile.<br><br>

'''Rachel:''' Eli, you didn't have to ask him. You had to ask me.<br>
'''Eli:''': I dunno. When you're on someone's ship—and he said I was workin' now—I didn't wanna break any rules.<br>
'''Rachel:''' Fair enough. All right.<br>
'''Eli:''': I'm not presumin' nothin'. If you think it's presumptuous I'll—<br>
'''Rachel:''' No, I think it's kinda charmin' in a way. I just—that was kinda different. I mean, you could ask him if there was any rules but you didn't need to include me in—I—<br><br> 

Rachel cuts herself short and looks Eli straight in the eye.<br><br> 

'''Rachel:''' You say you're interested? <br>
'''Eli:''': (taken aback) I'm a little afraid now. I mean, I didn't mean to insult you. Really, I was just trying to—.<br>
'''Rachel:''' Oh, no, I wasn't insulted. I'm just a mite confused. I've never had anyone ask my captain for permission.<br>
'''Eli:''': I wasn't askin' permission, per se … (thinks) … Was I? … (reconsiders) … I guess in a sense I was. More it's just sort of knowing what the, you know, if somethin' has to be curtailed, for crew morale and such. Cuz a lot of ships, they don't like that kinda stuff.<br>
'''Rachel:''' No, no curtailin'. It's fine. <br><br>

She pats the console.<br><br>

'''Rachel:''' Right now, I'm watchin' the ship fly and I don't like to leave it. But we'll get through this section and after that, you c'n come up and knock on my door.<br>
'''Eli:''': (smiles) Well, all right.<br>
'''Rachel:''' (smiles back) Yeah. <br><br>

'''Eli:''' hooks a thumb over his shoulder.<br><br>

'''Eli:''': Right now I'm tryin' to organize the stores. Whoever had it before, didn't know what he was doin'. <br>
'''Rachel:''' Well, good luck with that.<br><br>

Wait. We have stores? As in food stores? That's a surprise, we've been running on so little for so long. If our buyer on Albion comes through for us … well, let's just say that we'll have won the equivalent of the lottery: a number followed by a LOT of zeroes. <br><br>

Nice thought, ain't it? Kinda boggles the mind to contemplate all that money. Well, we don't have it in hand yet, but we're flying as fast as we can toward that payday. Eli nods at a display on the console.<br><br>

'''Eli:''': Looks like your sensor array's got a bug in it.<br>
'''Rachel:''' Oh, she's havin' a fit. She does funny things like that. What's it showin' right now? <br><br>

An error message.<br><br>

'''Rachel:''' Awww, it's back. Now, see, I know what it does when it does that. It's when it works right that I have a problem. All right … (pats the screen) … It's all good.<br>
'''Eli:''': (unconvinced) … Okay-yyyyy …. <br>
'''Rachel:''' You look out that viewport, there's nothin' out there. Just the Black. No big rocks. We're okay.<br>
'''Eli:''': How do you know?<br>
'''Rachel:''' (nods forward) Cuz there's a window. <br>
'''Eli:''': So there's no meteorite travelin' at tens of thousands of miles an hour?<br>
'''Rachel:''' There could be. I guess we'll dodge it when it gets here.<br>
'''Eli:''': … Okay …<br>
'''Rachel:''' See, that's why I can't go and fun with you now. I'll be watchin' out the window. But we'll be through that section in no time flat. You just wait.<br><br>

Rachel smiles and pats Eli's arm. No worries, lambie pie. It's all good.<br><br>

Our plan is to fly to Albion, as we cannot land directly on our buyer's estate of Avalon, and make the sale at a location more to our buyer's liking. His man will contact us with the location, assuming our buyer is satisfied of our credentials and honesty. His representatives want to be certain that this is not a scam to bilk him of his money. So there are a few hoops we must jump through still. It's just business, you understand. Poco's not impressed. He quips at Valentine when the news comes through about the added measures.<br><br>

'''Poco:''' Oh by the way, you weren't  plannin' on robbin' the place while we're set down, were ya?<br>
'''Valentine:''' No.<br>
'''Poco:''' Okay, just makin' sure.<br><br>

We've already gone to considerable risk getting the records verified to our buyer's liking. What kind of operation does he think we're running, anyway? Valentine takes it in stride, not willing to do anything to give our buyer the impression we're anything but accommodating and willing to make the sale. <br><br><br>


'''Monday, 29 Oct 2525'''<br>
Vikki's standing her turn at watch when she hears a little '''tink!''' and an alarm goes off.<br><br>

'''Alarm:''' Warning! Hull Breach, Deck Five! Warning! Hull Breach, Deck Five! [[Last Voyage of Delilah, Episode 301: Centaur's Wake, Special Features#HOW TO SPEAK CHINESE| Jǐnggào! Hè ěr wéiyuē, jiǎbǎn wǔ! Jǐnggào! Hè ěr wéiyuē, jiǎbǎn wǔ! !]] Hull Breach, Deck Five! Warning! Hull Breach, Deck Five! Jǐnggào! Hè ěr wéiyuē, jiǎbǎn wǔ! Jǐnggào! Hè ěr wéiyuē, jiǎbǎn wǔ!<br><br>

It wakes everyone who's asleep and for those not asleep …<br><br>

'''Valentine:''' (on the comms) Poco.<br>
'''Poco:''' (sleepy-grumpy) … Whaaaaaat? …<br>
'''Valentine:''' Hull breach … (a beat) … You might want to get on that. If you want to live and all.<br><br>

Vikki starts getting into a suit. Poco drags out of his bunk and suits up as well. While he and Vikki start hunting for that leak on the casino deck, Valentine rousts everyone else up and evacs them to our shuttle. The shuttle's airtight and spaceworthy and should our girl actually decompress, we should be able to ride it out in the shuttle just fine.<br><br>

Of course, it's a scenario we'd like to avoid, thank you.<br><br>

Poco and Vikki make it to the top deck and can't find anything out of place. No smashed out windows or gaping holes in our hull, no smoking meteor or anything else meets their eye. And yet, there's a hull breach. Somewhere. We've got readings of dropping pressure on that deck.<br><br>

Poco hits upon using smoke to find out where the breach is. He lights up a cigarette and uses the smoke off it to track any errant currents … and sure enough, the smoke starts drifting toward a spot on the hull behind the slot machines. Moving the machines aside, they find a tiny hole in the hull. <br><br>

It's tiny. About the size of a pebble. Tiny.<br><br>

Looks like our girl's sensors are working just fine. It's not like the bad old days when we were flying with nothing but plastic and duct tape over some of the holes in her hull. Or near enough as makes no difference. <br><br>

Poco patches the hole right up with some tape, despite Vikki's worries that it might get larger without proper welding, and the alarm shuts off. Valentine ushers the remaining crew out of the shuttle and Poco ambles off for a smoke.<br><br>

All clear. <br><br>

Eight hours later, the alarm goes off again. Rachel's on watch this time and the alarm alerts her of a hull breach on Deck One, the cargo hold.  She comms Valentine the news and Valentine has Poco and Vikki scramble into their suits to investigate. As the only way to get to the shuttle is through the cargo hold and our girl's stairwells are open across all decks, Valentine evacs the rest of the crew onto the bridge behind Rachel's airtight door.  It's a little crowded as a result but it beats the alternative.<br><br>

Just as with the first, this second hull breach is hard to find. Poco and Vikki make a systematic search and they finally find it. It's tiny. This time they find the cause—a teeny bullet-sized meteor bit lies smoking on the deck. Vikki pulls off her suit gloves to deal with the breach and despite its small size, she manages to get an exposure burn on her hand. <br><br>

Ow!<br><br>

She keeps on working until the breach is patched. Job done, the all-clear given, Vikki goes to the infirmary so Tian can treat her burn while Poco goes to the bridge to inspect out proximity sensors. One micro-meteor hit is within the allowances but twice in eight hours without proper warning? Something's not right.<br><br>

To fix our sensors, he's going to have to strike a ping, breaking radio silence. Repairs can be made without breaking the silence but it will take longer, during which time we might suffer another meteor hit … and there will be no knowing if the meteor will be smaller or bigger. We need to get the sensors fixed.  Poco digs into the console innards and discovers that the leads to our sensors were soldered in place with inferior solder. Our sensors are failing and our recognition software is likewise sub-par. Poco sets to fixing what he can but he'll have to take our sensors off line to do it. <br><br>

It's that or electrocute himself to a crisp.<br><br>

As we prefer our Papa Bear alive and whole, we take the sensors off line, suffer the ping, and have Rachel eyeball the space outside the bridge windows while he works. Once she's free of the infirmary, her hand wrapped, Vikki joins him on the bridge and together they're on their backs fiddling with this and that.<br><br>

All the while their muttering and clanking with tools are going on underfoot, overhead and everywhere is the hiss and pops and ticks of micrometeors hitting our hull. Tiny flares on the glass of the bridge viewports show where they die from friction. Rachel squints and sees the faintest of fogs in the Black.<br><br>

Is that something spread across our course?<br><br>

Rachel gets a flash of a reading from our sensors as Poco and Vikki swap out the leads … and she realizes that we're not heading ''toward'' that micro-meteor field, we're ''already on the edge of it''. And then she sees something bigger off to starboard on the screen ... and then it's gone. <br><br>

'''Rachel:''' Hell's Bells …oh yay.<br><br>

We're in the debris trail of a comet … or rather, judging the size of that thing off to starboard, we're more likely in the debris trail of a Centaur: half-comet and half-asteroid in size, a Centaur is capable of shedding debris across a larger area. There's no telling how big the field is. Or how big the comet/Centaur spawning that field is. Our sensors are out. She leans back in her chair and says to Poco's feet sticking out from under the console.<br><br>

'''Rachel:''' Papa Bear?<br>
'''Poco:''' (slowly) … Yes?<br>
'''Rachel:''' What would you say if we were flying through the back end of the tail of a Centaur? Cuz we were slightly off course cuz the sensors have been wonky … and it moved. And I forgot. So we may be swinging through some lotta this stuff and there may be a comet over to starboard part of our sky. Just wanted to bounce it off'a ya. What would you think?<br>
'''Poco:''' [[Last Voyage of Delilah, Episode 301: Centaur's Wake, Special Features#HOW TO SPEAK CHINESE| Tā mā de!]]<br>
'''Rachel:''' It's a good thing we think alike, cuz that's exactly the four-letter word I had in mind, too.<br> 
'''Vikki:''' (from under the console) Gee, the four-letter word that went through my head was "Cool!"<br><br>

Cuz she's never seen a Centaur before. Rachel smacks Vikki on the way to smacking the nearest comm. <br><br>

'''Vikki:''' Ow!<br>
'''Rachel:''' Val, we kinda need to have a staff meeting right now. The ''central'' staff, please.<br>
'''Poco:''' (muttering) Everybody but the gorram cook.<br><br>

No need to involved Eli in this … yet. Valentine looks up as Rachel addresses the ship, then hits the bridge.<br><br>

'''Valentine:''' (closing hatch) Before you call the staff meeting for me, would you mind informing me what the staff meeting is about? Because I'm going to ask what it's about before I call it. What's it about?<br>
'''Rachel:''' Uh, well … <br>
'''Valentine:''' Give me the five word version.<br>
'''Rachel:''' You know how in outer space there's these shotgun blasts of little bits of comet dust and stuff? Well, guess what we're flyin' through?<br>
'''Valentine:''' (evenly) Okay. Why do we need a staff meeting for this?<br>
'''Rachel:''' Cuz there's a giant piece of it to the starboard side that I can't see cuz the sensors are wonky. but I got it for five seconds—<br>
'''Valentine:''' I still don't know the reason for what the ''staff'' meeting's about. What do you think ''we'' ought to do, Pilot?<br>
'''Rachel:''' Not hit it.<br>
'''Valentine:''' Well, there you go. (evenly) What are our options?<br><br>

The situation doesn't take a genius to figure out. If we stay in this area, we'll continue to take hits from the debris field. Given how the tiny bits have the power to punch holes in our hull, do we really want to find out how much damage the ''bigger'' bits can do?<br><br>

No. Not really.<br><br>

But thanks to the longer round-about route we're taking to the Core, we don't have the fuel to spare for major course corrections and we're not anywhere near a refu'''Eli:'''ng station. Minor adjustments in our heading are not likely to get us free of the debris, either.<br><br> 

There are days, Valentine would swear, that he's the Universe's butt-monkey.<br><br>

'''Valentine:''' That's what I wanted to know. Thank you for giving me that. (sighs) ''Now'' I will call a staff meeting. <br><br>

He turns around to hit the comm only to find Tian standing on the bridge behind him.<br><br>

'''Valentine:''' How long have you been standing there?<br>
'''Tian:''' Long enough. (off his look) What? Rachel called a staff meeting.<br><br>

Butt Monkey. Today. ''Rightthehellnow''.<br><br>

'''Valentine:''' (to Rachel) Next time? Do me a favor and—<br>
'''Rachel:''' (to Valentine) But I called "you". How did everybody—? Captain, all I did was press the button and it went out.<br>
'''Vikki:''' Oh, was I leaning on the all-ship button? I'm sorry.<br>
'''Tian:''' Five by five, people.<br>
Valetine: (gives up) Fine by me. Let's go. Down to the staff room. Get around the staff table. Have a staff discussion.<br><br>

Done and done.<br><br>

'''Valentine:''' So here's the situation as I've been told and how I understand it.We're in the tail of a comet-like thing and we've all sorts of tiny debris bits making holes. So the two options that Rachel suggested were staying in and continuing to get punctured or taking a radical course deviation to get out of it and running low on fuel. What I want is are there any other options anyone else is thinking about or if you're thinking about the two options.<br>
'''Poco:''' Just so we can start the staff meetin' with other than a lotta cussin' and bitchin'. It ain't unrepairable. We got tools. We got options. We can repair it enough to get a fix on where we need to go before powerin' outta here.<br> 
'''Vikki:''' Gradual course changes? Not radical, but gradual so we can drift out. What's the spread pattern on this thing anyway?<br><br>

Like much of space, it's on a scale that exceeds human comprehension. It's HUGE. Mind, it's not ''full'', like sand filling a sandbox. The pieces are 100 miles apart or more. Thanks to the fact that the Verse has ''five'' suns to exert influence on everything that moves in it, everything is spread out quite a bit in all directions and predicting the drift pattern of the field is too complex to just eyeball it. Veering to the right or left isn't going to get us clear before our hull is turned into Swiss cheese.<br><br>

Unless, of course, turning the hull into Swiss cheese is our favorite thing to do.<br><br>

'''Valentine:''' So what you're saying is doing the math on this would make an astrophysicist's head implode?<br>
'''Tian:''' (murmurs) Oh now that's interesting …<br>
'''Vikki:''' How many suns does this poor thing orbit, anyway?<br><br>

Probably all of them. From her reading in school, Vikki remembers that the Verse is inherently unstable and 50 million years is all it's got before it all flies apart. And as far as the crew's concerned, 50 million years is too long to wait to get ourselves out of our current predicament.<br><br>

'''Valentine:''' Poco, so fixing the sensors at this point, even if you could, is not a solution, right?<br>
'''Poco:''' Well, it might help. Cuz she only saw the comet-cloud for a few seconds while I had it in the right place. I meight be able to get partial functionality out of it so you can at least tell what you're dealin' with, so you can maybe keep from hittin' the bigger pieces.<br>
'''Valentine:''' But the small pieces are the ones that are doing all the damage. I understand that the big ones are "game over" but the little ones are potentially "game over" if they hit the right place. <br>
'''Rachel:''' Like a bullet through the windshield right into my head, yeah.<br>
'''Valentine:''' So say we take a radical course deviation. What are our options for conserving fuel usage, reducing our risks of running out of fuel before we get there?<br>
'''Rachel:''' If we slowed the speed down, that won't necessarily save us fuel. Burst and then drift it?<br>
'''Vikki:''' I was thinking we could do that. A hard burst, cut the engines to save fuel, and coast the rest of the way thanks to the momentum. I mean, physics still works out here. It's just … trickier.<br><br>

Without sensors to tell us how big the field is, we won't know to calculate for 8 hours coasting or 8 days … or longer. We're also far enough out from any nav beacon's range Rachel wouldn't have had a really strong sense of direction even if we had our sensors back online. Lacking any reference point to gauge our relative speed and momentum, the best she can do is aim for White Sun and hope for the best. While physics would still work, we could barrel right through the heart of it ... or barrel right through the Centaur.<br><br>

Or we could lose our momentum in the middle of the field and still get worn away to nothing.<br><br>

'''Rachel:''' How's the sensor package on our shuttle? It's Navy, so it's better than what I've got?<br>
'''Poco:''' It's only short range.<br>
'''Vikki:''' Is there any way we can boost the pick-up on that, boost the feed so it can go farther?<br>
'''Poco:''' Or use parts from it to do that.<br>
'''Vikki:''' That was my second question, yeah.<br>
'''Poco:''' What about bulling through?<br>
'''Rachel:''' Well … we can …<br>
'''Valentine:''' What? You mean speed up?<br>
'''Vikki:''' Damn the iceberg, full speed ahead?<br>
'''Poco:''' I mean, don't change course, just get to the other side faster.<br>
'''Vikki:''' Of the field?<br>
'''Valentine:''' (to Rachel) You don't have any idea how far away the other side is, do you? <br>
'''Poco:''' We might, if we fix the sensors.<br><br>

Fixing the sensors seems the best facilitator of either option—either bulling through or course change. Even if we only got the sensors fixed enough to get a relative fix off the Centaur to chart our course deviation ….<br><br>

Valentine wraps it up, before we start chasing our tails. He orders Poco to repair the sensors. If he has to scavenge parts off the shuttle, do so.  Meanwhile, he orders the ship to fly dark inside and out to save as much fuel and energy for any radical course changes that Rachel might need. Life support and ship flying operations only.<br><br>

'''Vikki:''' Let's get crackin'. I'll get my tools.<br><br>

In the course of getting the repairs in, Poco notices our reactor's deuterium levels are dropping. We've sprung a leak from another micro-meteor hit. Without enough deuterium for our reactor, we won't have the power we'll need to get clear of the field once we get our sensors repaired. <br><br>

Valentine reassigns Vikki and Poco to finding the deuterium leak. The sensors can wait. Vikki and Poco throw everything they've got at it: craft, fix, jerry-rig, raw native talent, walking widdershins and waving witch-doctor charms.<br><br>

Mind, they can't replace the deuterium that's already lost, but at least once they find the leak they won't be losing any ''more''.  Realizing that the sensors are just as valuable as the deuterium, Valentine sends Vikki back to fixing the sensors. He's extra nice about it, using her crush to make her to go above and beyond. It doesn't take much and she pulls it off. <br><br>

Yay!<br><br>

The sensors are fixed enough to get a good look around. We're not on the fringes of the field anymore. We're right in the middle of it. <br><br>

Not so yay!<br><br>

Still, there's a silver lining in that debris cloud—Rachel's gotten another look at the Centaur off to starboard, a look good enough to use her old paper maps to figure out which Centaur it is. From there we can get a fix on our relative position. All we need now is to replace the deuterium we lost and get a respite from the micro-bombardment we're suffering.<br><br> 

Hmm … Are Rachel's eyes playing tricks on her or does the debris field look lighter on the far side of the Centaur? Is it possible that the Centaur itself is sweeping a path clear through the debris?<br><br>

Or clearer, anyway?<br><br>

She turns back to her maps. Centaurs are large, big enough in some cases to support commercial mining and development. It's Centaurs of that type that have been marked on the maps and she's hoping ours is one of them. In all likeliehood, the mining facilities will be automated and no one will be on hand if we get into trouble there.  But even if automated, the mining facilities will have supplies and comms for the occasions when human personnel arrive for ore transfers or to repair the equipment. And Lord knows, we need to repair some equipment.<br><br>

The Universe throws us a bone—our Centaur is one of the mapped ones. There's a mining facility somewhere on it, likely on the lee side of the thing, partially shielded from the debris.<br><br>

Valentine tells Rachel to find that facility and land us on it. Vikki jiggers the sensors some more so Rachel can fly better. Rachel has to fly farther into the field to get to the mining station … and it means we take a hit on our deuterium, despite all the power saving measures we've got in place. Our supply is running dangerously low and we start running hot.<br><br>

We get another bone: Rachel can actually see the station dug into the surface of the Centaur and it has a nav beacon pinging away. Rachel flips a switch and its message sounds out over the bridge.<br><br>

'''Beacon:''' Welcome to Erebor Mining Station. This is private property. Do not approach.<br>
'''Vikki:''' (from under the console) Erebor?  Tolkien. ''The Hobbit''.<br>
'''Beacon:''' Welcome to Erebor Mining Station. This is private property. Do not approach.<br>
'''Rachel:''' Too bad. We're landing on it anyway. Val, do you wanna see if anybody wants to respond at all?<br>
'''Valentine:''' Nope. There's a beacon. We're going to use it. And we're going to hope that there's no one paying attention or down there.<br>
'''Rachel:''' So your orders are still standing: Get her down.<br>
'''Valentine:''' Yeah. We've got this far. We're not ditching now.<br><br>

Rachel sniffs and flexes her fingers on the yoke.<br><br>

'''Rachel:''' Well, we're about to blow out our deuterium doin' it.<br>
'''Valentine:''' That's already happened, so might as well go whole hog and land us.<br>
'''Rachel:''' Yep.<br><br>

Rachel is going to land us on a comet. She brings ''Delilah'' round to the lee side and by dint of eyeballing the station lights winking in the darkness and the landscape the sensors gives her, along with decades of flying our girl on feel alone, Rachel sticks the landing, centering us on the pad at the station's front door. <br><br>

Wow.<br><br>

Is the hog squealing yet? Yes, indeedy. All the way home.<br><br>

Hmm … On second thought, maybe that squealing is our engine intakes sucking in all the dust stirred up on our touch-down. The Centaur '''is''' a dustball hurtling through space and it's been sweeping more dust out of its way for untold eons. There's a lot of crap thrown into space from our directional thrusters and some of it has managed to get inside our ship, clogging the works. Until we get that junk cleared, we're not going anywhere.<br><br> 

Great.<br><br>

Nevertheless, it's a landing we can walk away from and Rachel mates our extension airlock to the station's front door.<br><br> 

Knock, knock, y'all. We saw your porch light on and thought we'd come callin'.<br><br>

Valentine gets Vikki and Poco ready for boarding the station to look for supplies and once he's got them gainfully employed suiting up, he notices our new cook isn't around. He looks for Eli and finds him laid out in the crew galley. If it weren't for the fact we're in the middle of nowhere, you'd swear the poor man's been shot—he's got a small hole with blood leaking out of him.<br><br>

An awful lot of blood. Too much, in fact. <br><br>

Valentine hits the comm and calls for Tian, who comes running. She takes one look and realizes what's happened. Another micrometeor has managed to hole our ship and punch a hole in Eli. in the process. Tian treats him right there in the galley and thanks to her quick action, she buys Eli more time. They shift him to medbay and when Valentine ducks out to check on the rest of the crew, Tian works on Eli in earnest. The micro-meteor is somewhere inside him and it's holed some major organs. If she doesn't get a move on, the man's going to die.<br><br>

Of course, she wasn't exactly neat about it. She's up to her wrists in blood and gore. The plasma bags squirted a bit as she grabbed them and hooked them up to her patient. Valentine sticks his head into medbay and immediately sees the blood and gore everywhere. On the walls. The deck. Is that a splash on the ceiling?<br><br>

Looks like. <br><br>

Valentine keeps his voice calm. <br><br>

'''Valentine:''' How's our patient, Doctor?<br>
'''Tian:''' Stabilizing.<br><br>

She's preoccupied, trying to save Eli. Valentine moves to her side, watching her for a minute. Then: <br><br>

'''Valentine:''' You okay?<br>
'''Tian:''' Yeah. <br>
'''Valentine:''' Look at the wall, please?<br>
'''Tian:''' (looks, sees) … Oh! …<br>
'''Valentine:''' Were you aware of the stuff on the walls? <br>
'''Tian:''' Yes … I was, actually.<br><br>

It's on the walls, it's on her hands. She stares at her fingers, horrified and amazed that she hadn't even put on her gloves but had simply dived right in. Given her ongoing emotional fallout from the Reaver attack, all that blood and gore is impossible to ignore. It pulls at her senses, exerting a weird fascination that sends her imagination down twisty paths. In a strange hyperaware way, Tian can ''see'' the blood moving on the walls and on her hands, ''feel'' the heat of it, ''taste'' the life pulsing in it … and she starts to ''listen'' to the siren song of it … Valentine sees her focus shift, knows she's sliding toward madness. He snaps his fingers sharply in her face.<br><br>

'''Valentine:''' Hey! Focus, Tian! Focus! <br><br>

'''Valentine:''' Do you remember when you came to me and said that if you exhibited symptoms that you might be unwell or something potentially along those lines that I should throw you in the brig? Well, you're ''doing'' it. Hey. Hey! Focus in. Wash up. Clean up. Take care of the patient. <br>
'''Tian:''' (small voice) Yes, Captain.<br>
'''Valentine:''' Okay. We'll talk. But first …<br><br>

He points at Eli. Tian nods and gets back to work saving his life.<br><br>

Valentine leaves to find Rachel and finds her with Poco, helping him suit up. She's given him a beer and he's sipping as she checks his suit. As Valentine approaches, he overhears her admitting to the mechanic that she might have munged up the intakes on landing, sucking in meteorite dust. <br><br>

'''Rachel:''' Oh, and we're out of beer. Sorry.<br>
'''Poco:''' (pausing) We're out of beer?!<br>
'''Valentine:'''  Poco. Vikki. What's broken and needs to get fixed immediately?<br>
'''Poco:''' Ask that question the other way around. What ''isn't'' broken and needs to get fixed?<br>
'''Valentine:''' I understood that but that's the "immediately" portion of the question that's important. What's up first?<br>
'''Vikki:''' That depends on how fast we have to leave.<br>
'''Valentine:''' Don't worry about that. Give me a run down.<br><br>

Because, beer or no beer, we're going to have to prioritize.<br><br>

'''Vikki:''' (sighing) Okay. <br>
'''Poco:''' Intakes are clogged. Can't go anywhere without deuterium. <br>
'''Vikki:''' Deuterium, first. <br>
'''Poco:''' Then the intakes.<br>
'''Valentine:''' You got these two things divided between the two of you?<br>
'''Vikki:''' Poco, you know the engine room. You do the deuterium. I'll start shov'''Eli:'''ng out the intakes. <br>
'''Poco:''' The intakes are on the outside.<br>
'''Rachel:''' Honey, I'll go out with you. Y'all tell me what I need to help shovel.<br>
'''Vikki:''' Tether up.<br>
'''Poco:''' We should explore doin' a reverse burn on the intakes to clear 'em. Some ships're made to do that.<br>
'''Rachel:''' That's true. We could try it.<br>
'''Vikki:''' Not to cast aspersions on our lovely little ship, but what do you think the odds are of that happening?<br>
'''Rachel:''' Okay, Tinkerbell, let's get me suited up. Put me to work.<br><br>

Seeing his crew's working on the mechanical problems, Valentine walks toward med bay to see how the doctor's handling the medical problem. As he leaves, he hears Vikki's voice saying behind him:<br><br>

'''Vikki:''' You know, if Smaug the Dragon comes flying out of one of the mine shafts, I'm calling it quits.<br>
'''Rachel:''' Who?<br>
'''Vikki:''' Didn't you catch it? The beacon said "Welcome to Erebor." <br>
'''Rachel:''' Yes, because that's the name of the Centaur.<br>
'''Vikki:''' Yeah, I know, and it's a Tolkien reference. <br>
'''Rachel:''' A who?<br>
'''Vikki:''' Look, let's just suit up and I'll tell you all about it. So anyway, you've got this little Hobbit living under a hill and—<br><br>

Valentine starts to run. Between Hobbits and dragons out of fantasy and Reavers and gore out of nightmares, he'd rather deal with the latter, thank you very much.<br><br><br>



Jump to [[Last Voyage of Delilah, Episode 301: Centaur's Wake|Part 1]] | [[Last Voyage of Delilah, Episode 301: Centaur's Wake, Part Two| Part 2]] | [[Last Voyage of Delilah, Episode 301: Centaur's Wake, Special Features| Special Features]]<br><br>

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