Editing Episode 509: Joshua Drake, This Is NOT Your Life ...
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Kiera: Darn it. We made it. <br><br> | Kiera: Darn it. We made it. <br><br> | ||
| − | And she promptly passes out again. The staff checks her drip, makes her comfortable, and pretty much leave the patients to their thoughts: | + | And she promptly passes out again. The staff checks her drip, makes her comfortable, and pretty much leave the patients to their thoughts: We’ve made it. But where exactly are we? And how did we get here?<br><br> |
Arden starts asking the staff about the rest of his companions, asking what their status is. The staff assures him that someone will come and answer his questions and sure enough, before too long someone does show up. It’s a woman in a doctor’s coat but she carries an air of confidence and authority about her. When she introduces herself to Arden and his portion of the crew, we immediately see why.<br><br> | Arden starts asking the staff about the rest of his companions, asking what their status is. The staff assures him that someone will come and answer his questions and sure enough, before too long someone does show up. It’s a woman in a doctor’s coat but she carries an air of confidence and authority about her. When she introduces herself to Arden and his portion of the crew, we immediately see why.<br><br> | ||
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CMO Cooper: No one has suffered heat stroke to the point where we think there is any brain damage. It’s mostly just trauma and oxygen deprivation but as near as we can tell, your preparations and the use of the life pods and the vac suits appears to have done the trick. It was quite a gamble. I mean, we, ah, …<br><br> | CMO Cooper: No one has suffered heat stroke to the point where we think there is any brain damage. It’s mostly just trauma and oxygen deprivation but as near as we can tell, your preparations and the use of the life pods and the vac suits appears to have done the trick. It was quite a gamble. I mean, we, ah, …<br><br> | ||
| − | Her expression changes to one of | + | Her expression changes to one of close call-well done! before she gets a grip and continues.<br><br> |
CMO Cooper: One of the scouts, one of the long range scouts picked up your distress call and summoned us. And so we recovered your shuttle and your—<br> | CMO Cooper: One of the scouts, one of the long range scouts picked up your distress call and summoned us. And so we recovered your shuttle and your—<br> | ||
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CMO Cooper: If you’re in custody? Ahmm, I don’t know. I’ll look into that.<br><br> | CMO Cooper: If you’re in custody? Ahmm, I don’t know. I’ll look into that.<br><br> | ||
| − | Two beds over, Rina can’t | + | Two beds over, Rina can’t believe Arden’s saying this. Are we in custody? Don’t give the opposition any ideas! If only she could hit him. She eyes the line of the CMO’s back as the woman walks out and hopes Arden hasn’t put us on the fast track to the brig.<br><br> |
CMO Cooper walks to the next recovery ward over and stands in the central aisle, scanning the screens mounted over the beds. Nika has been awake for a little while and pushes Kiera’s insistent offer of water aside when she sees CMO Cooper walk in. <br><br> | CMO Cooper walks to the next recovery ward over and stands in the central aisle, scanning the screens mounted over the beds. Nika has been awake for a little while and pushes Kiera’s insistent offer of water aside when she sees CMO Cooper walk in. <br><br> | ||
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CMO Cooper: April 5th.<br><br> | CMO Cooper: April 5th.<br><br> | ||
| − | Minus 22 hours aboard | + | Minus 22 hours aboard Aceso, which means we were picked up toward the end of our 4th day—the last day we’d have air in our suits. We’d cut it pretty damn close. Nika pushes the thought aside to contemplate later.<br><br> |
Onward.<br><br> | Onward.<br><br> | ||
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He’s having unusual dreams of his childhood. Where most children might have dreams of lying in bed and hearing Mommy and Daddy arguing about taxes downstairs, Joshua’s dreaming about lying in bed and hearing other children tortured the next room over. Well, not tortured so much as being hurt.<br><br> | He’s having unusual dreams of his childhood. Where most children might have dreams of lying in bed and hearing Mommy and Daddy arguing about taxes downstairs, Joshua’s dreaming about lying in bed and hearing other children tortured the next room over. Well, not tortured so much as being hurt.<br><br> | ||
| − | He tosses in his dream bed, desperate: | + | He tosses in his dream bed, desperate: I want to wake up!<br><br> |
| − | His dreams change. He’s walking in a desert now. Getting parched. Losing energy. Giving up. Dying. The sun beats down and the heat soaks in and a voice calls to him. Joshua doesn’t want to hear it. | + | His dreams change. He’s walking in a desert now. Getting parched. Losing energy. Giving up. Dying. The sun beats down and the heat soaks in and a voice calls to him. Joshua doesn’t want to hear it. No. Tired. Do you have water? Otherwise, go away! And then a feeling steals over him. It’s love. Love and concern for him. And Joshua wraps his mind around it like a hug on coming home. The voice draws closer, becomes more soothing, the words growing clearer.<br><br> |
| − | + | Rex. My son. Rex.<br><br> | |
Joshua blinks awake and looks into the loving eyes of his father. Wait.<br><br> | Joshua blinks awake and looks into the loving eyes of his father. Wait.<br><br> | ||
| − | His | + | His father?<br><br> |
Of course. The dream pulls out of his head like an ocean wave, leaving memories of his father glistening on the shore, and Joshua comes all the way awake.<br><br> | Of course. The dream pulls out of his head like an ocean wave, leaving memories of his father glistening on the shore, and Joshua comes all the way awake.<br><br> | ||
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Joshua lies there and tries to think. So … he’s known this man his whole life? And … Joshua remembers something. When still a Borrower for Blue Sun, Joshua routinely undergoes a weird schizophrenia when leaving a job, where is not really connected to anything very well and facts just kind of … line up … and literally people would come up to him and say, “Now remember, Joshua … You’re Joshua and not—” whoever he’d been assigned to Borrow. They would literally bring Joshua back to where he was, who he was.<br><br> | Joshua lies there and tries to think. So … he’s known this man his whole life? And … Joshua remembers something. When still a Borrower for Blue Sun, Joshua routinely undergoes a weird schizophrenia when leaving a job, where is not really connected to anything very well and facts just kind of … line up … and literally people would come up to him and say, “Now remember, Joshua … You’re Joshua and not—” whoever he’d been assigned to Borrow. They would literally bring Joshua back to where he was, who he was.<br><br> | ||
| − | Right now, in a strange bed, staring at a man who says he is his father, Joshua’s feeling that same disconnected feeling that he got when coming down from a Borrowing. And yet … the man looks very familiar. In fact, Joshua does recognize him. Furthermore, Joshua can remember being in the shuttle, of boarding | + | Right now, in a strange bed, staring at a man who says he is his father, Joshua’s feeling that same disconnected feeling that he got when coming down from a Borrowing. And yet … the man looks very familiar. In fact, Joshua does recognize him. Furthermore, Joshua can remember being in the shuttle, of boarding Lagniappe to find help for his crew. So … it’s coming back to him now. He was on Lagniappe, he went to find help. Help, apparently, has found him. And if help has found him, has it found … ?<br><br> |
Joshua: So … wait. So, I … You … you rescued our shuttle? My friends, my companions?<br> | Joshua: So … wait. So, I … You … you rescued our shuttle? My friends, my companions?<br> | ||
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Joshua: Um, wait. Wait. Okay?<br><br> | Joshua: Um, wait. Wait. Okay?<br><br> | ||
| − | His father pats him and the message is loud and clear: | + | His father pats him and the message is loud and clear: Sh-hhh. It’s going to be okay.<br><br> |
Father: I’m going to go talk to, ah, the Captain of the ship. And let him know that you’re okay.<br> | Father: I’m going to go talk to, ah, the Captain of the ship. And let him know that you’re okay.<br> | ||
Joshua: (lost) … Okay … (tries again) … Well, it’s … it’s good to see you. I … I missed you.<br><br> | Joshua: (lost) … Okay … (tries again) … Well, it’s … it’s good to see you. I … I missed you.<br><br> | ||
| − | He does. He remembers the shock of learning of his father from the Blue Sun chip. Of mourning his death in the galley on the | + | He does. He remembers the shock of learning of his father from the Blue Sun chip. Of mourning his death in the galley on the Gift. And now to have him back? Yes, it is good to see him. And yes, he has missed him. And yes, this is clearly his father. And yet … And yet that odd dissociative filter is getting in the way. Joshua is still very confused, the facts aren’t exactly lining up. But …<br><br> |
Father: (sighing) Ahh, I wish we were closer to the Core so I could wave your mother. (a breath) She’ll find out soon enough.<br> | Father: (sighing) Ahh, I wish we were closer to the Core so I could wave your mother. (a breath) She’ll find out soon enough.<br> | ||
| − | Joshua: … Gosh … it would be nice to talk to | + | Joshua: … Gosh … it would be nice to talk to her.<br><br> |
But … there’s something not quite right about this, but Joshua’s not quite sure what it is. And he wonders about his mother and his father’s odd statement just now: she’ll find out soon enough. Why did he say that? Is she sick? Is she sick and his father doesn’t want to tell him? Perhaps he is just trying to downplay it? His father leaves and Joshua finds himself finally able to take in his surroundings.<br><br> | But … there’s something not quite right about this, but Joshua’s not quite sure what it is. And he wonders about his mother and his father’s odd statement just now: she’ll find out soon enough. Why did he say that? Is she sick? Is she sick and his father doesn’t want to tell him? Perhaps he is just trying to downplay it? His father leaves and Joshua finds himself finally able to take in his surroundings.<br><br> | ||
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Feeling like a thousand flavors of crap, Rina is up and out of bed, using her rolling IV stand for support, ready to choke the living shit out of someone. She noticed that the CMO did not tell Arden where Joshua was when he asked. The CMO only said the others were in the other room. This is not, to Rina, a good sign that these people are trustworthy. Where is Joshua? Where is her fiancé? If he’s in the other room, then by God, she’s going to get her ass down there and verify for herself that he’s in there, that he’s alive, and that he’s okay. No one stops her. She gets to the other recovery ward and looks. Our passengers are gingerly getting up, moving around, drinking from juice boxes. They see the expression on Rina’s face and they get out of her way.<br><br> | Feeling like a thousand flavors of crap, Rina is up and out of bed, using her rolling IV stand for support, ready to choke the living shit out of someone. She noticed that the CMO did not tell Arden where Joshua was when he asked. The CMO only said the others were in the other room. This is not, to Rina, a good sign that these people are trustworthy. Where is Joshua? Where is her fiancé? If he’s in the other room, then by God, she’s going to get her ass down there and verify for herself that he’s in there, that he’s alive, and that he’s okay. No one stops her. She gets to the other recovery ward and looks. Our passengers are gingerly getting up, moving around, drinking from juice boxes. They see the expression on Rina’s face and they get out of her way.<br><br> | ||
| − | Rina goes through the room, looks everywhere. Joshua isn’t here. Instead she finds Kiera and Nika in their beds, side by side, with the steward arguing at the Captain to drink more fluids and the Captain just chatterboxing her hand at the redhead: | + | Rina goes through the room, looks everywhere. Joshua isn’t here. Instead she finds Kiera and Nika in their beds, side by side, with the steward arguing at the Captain to drink more fluids and the Captain just chatterboxing her hand at the redhead: blah-blah-blabbity-blah.<br><br> |
But no Joshua. Where is Joshua? It’s becoming a mantra in her head, pounding in time with her headache. Where is Joshua?<br><br> | But no Joshua. Where is Joshua? It’s becoming a mantra in her head, pounding in time with her headache. Where is Joshua?<br><br> | ||
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There are medical staff here and there in the room, helping some of the others who aren’t as apparently physically well off as Rina. Urging them to keep resting, plying them with liquids. Overall, everyone is getting very good treatment and are being treated well, possibly even better than we’d get at a Coreside hospital. Then again, one also gets the feeling that maybe the staff doesn’t have anything else to do around here, either, and when a boatload of twenty patients just drop into their laps … ? They’re going to pull out the stops and really treat their patients well.<br><br> | There are medical staff here and there in the room, helping some of the others who aren’t as apparently physically well off as Rina. Urging them to keep resting, plying them with liquids. Overall, everyone is getting very good treatment and are being treated well, possibly even better than we’d get at a Coreside hospital. Then again, one also gets the feeling that maybe the staff doesn’t have anything else to do around here, either, and when a boatload of twenty patients just drop into their laps … ? They’re going to pull out the stops and really treat their patients well.<br><br> | ||
| − | As Rina takes this scene in, a figure appears and based on her own experience with the Alliance Navy, she recognizes him as the Captain. Nika sees him and recognizes the rank if not the man, as well, and straightens a bit on her pillows as he enters the room. Kiera notices him too, if for a different reason: tall, fit, silver-haired, with blue-grey eyes and a clean-cut jaw, this man is | + | As Rina takes this scene in, a figure appears and based on her own experience with the Alliance Navy, she recognizes him as the Captain. Nika sees him and recognizes the rank if not the man, as well, and straightens a bit on her pillows as he enters the room. Kiera notices him too, if for a different reason: tall, fit, silver-haired, with blue-grey eyes and a clean-cut jaw, this man is smokin’ hot. All three women watch as the man speaks to the doctor on the deck and looks over at Nika when the doctor points her out from the rest. He approaches her bed and Rina moves in to listen and to watch her Captain’s back.<br><br> |
Captain: Captain Earhart?<br> | Captain: Captain Earhart?<br> | ||
Nika: (military polite) Yes.<br> | Nika: (military polite) Yes.<br> | ||
| − | Captain: Yes, I am Captain Wise of the | + | Captain: Yes, I am Captain Wise of the Aceso. I, ah, I don’t know what to say. Finding your ship was a one-in-a-million chance and then finding my son aboard …<br> |
| − | Nika: | + | Nika: Excuse me?<br> |
Kiera: Huh?<br><br> | Kiera: Huh?<br><br> | ||
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Captain Wise: Rex. You had Rex. He was on the shuttle that we found. It was—was the shuttle yours?<br> | Captain Wise: Rex. You had Rex. He was on the shuttle that we found. It was—was the shuttle yours?<br> | ||
| − | Kiera: | + | Kiera: Who did you pick up when I was unconscious?<br> |
| − | Nika: | + | Nika: Joshua?<br><br> |
Rina unfreezes and closes in on the Captain Wise of ''Aceso''.<br><br> | Rina unfreezes and closes in on the Captain Wise of ''Aceso''.<br><br> | ||
| − | Rina: | + | Rina: Joshua. Where is he?<br> |
Captain Wise: He’s in—he’s being looked at by some specialists.<br> | Captain Wise: He’s in—he’s being looked at by some specialists.<br> | ||
Rina: Is he—<br> | Rina: Is he—<br> | ||
Captain Wise: Now, look, I don’t know how he got on board your shuttle or why, but I don’t care.<br> | Captain Wise: Now, look, I don’t know how he got on board your shuttle or why, but I don’t care.<br> | ||
| − | Nika: | + | Nika: Who do you think he is?<br> |
Kiera: Who—wait, this is—?<br> | Kiera: Who—wait, this is—?<br> | ||
| − | Captain Wise: He’s my | + | Captain Wise: He’s my son. Rex.<br> |
Kiera: (cautiously) Describe Rex.<br><br> | Kiera: (cautiously) Describe Rex.<br><br> | ||
| − | And standing to the side, Rina’s already going into paranoia overdrive. Wise thinks Joshua is Rex. Joshua is separated from the crew, ostensibly being looked at by specialists. Specialists in | + | And standing to the side, Rina’s already going into paranoia overdrive. Wise thinks Joshua is Rex. Joshua is separated from the crew, ostensibly being looked at by specialists. Specialists in what? Dear God, where is Joshua and what are they doing to him? She grips her IV pole and manages to keep it together and she sees Wise pull out a data pad and bring up a picture on its screen. He holds it up to show the three women.<br><br> |
It’s a picture of Joshua—younger, clean shaven. A picture of a man in uniform.<br><br> | It’s a picture of Joshua—younger, clean shaven. A picture of a man in uniform.<br><br> | ||
| − | Rina: (zeroing in) From the | + | Rina: (zeroing in) From the Trafalgar, right?<br> |
Captain Wise: No, he was assigned to, ah, well … wait. You know him from ''Trafalgar''?<br> | Captain Wise: No, he was assigned to, ah, well … wait. You know him from ''Trafalgar''?<br> | ||
Nika: (forestalling Rina) How long has it been since you’ve seen your son?<br> | Nika: (forestalling Rina) How long has it been since you’ve seen your son?<br> | ||
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We first met Joshua on 26 June 2520. Captain Wise’s answer fits. What he says next clinches it.<br><br> | We first met Joshua on 26 June 2520. Captain Wise’s answer fits. What he says next clinches it.<br><br> | ||
| − | Captain Wise: He was last seen on | + | Captain Wise: He was last seen on Trafalgar. That is … Has he spoke of it? To you?<br> |
Nika: Um, okay. Let me put it to this way. The name you’re giving him is not the name we know him by. Now whether it’s because he can’t remember that name or what, maybe we should all talk about it at the same time.<br> | Nika: Um, okay. Let me put it to this way. The name you’re giving him is not the name we know him by. Now whether it’s because he can’t remember that name or what, maybe we should all talk about it at the same time.<br> | ||
Captain Wise: Yes, there are some questions that I’d like—need to ask you about this because this is kind of unusual. First of all …<br><br> | Captain Wise: Yes, there are some questions that I’d like—need to ask you about this because this is kind of unusual. First of all …<br><br> | ||
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Doctor on Deck: Yes, sir.<br><br> | Doctor on Deck: Yes, sir.<br><br> | ||
| − | Captain Wise walks out. Rina stares at the man’s back. Is he | + | Captain Wise walks out. Rina stares at the man’s back. Is he really Joshua’s father? If he is …<br><br> |
Rina: I’m eloping.<br> | Rina: I’m eloping.<br> | ||
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Nika: ''Where is Arden?''<br><br> | Nika: ''Where is Arden?''<br><br> | ||
| − | Arden is in the other recovery ward, checking the girls over. It’s not that he doesn’t trust the docs on | + | Arden is in the other recovery ward, checking the girls over. It’s not that he doesn’t trust the docs on Aceso, no. It’s just that they were his patients first and originally under his care. He’s just being responsible and following through. When he’s done doing that, he realizes that Rina hasn’t come back from the other room yet. That could be bad news or it could be good news. He grabs his IV pole and makes the walk next door and joins the rest of his crew. He notices he’s missing a crewmate.<br><br> |
Arden: So, Joshua’s not in here. He was supposed to be in here.<br> | Arden: So, Joshua’s not in here. He was supposed to be in here.<br> | ||
| − | Nika: (dryly) Oh, no, no, no. We have a small issue. With a capital | + | Nika: (dryly) Oh, no, no, no. We have a small issue. With a capital ISSUE.<br><br> |
Yeah. You can hear the all-caps.<br><br> | Yeah. You can hear the all-caps.<br><br> | ||
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Nika: Kiera. You’re doing it again. (off her look) You’re doing it again.<br> | Nika: Kiera. You’re doing it again. (off her look) You’re doing it again.<br> | ||
Arden: No, what’s the issue?<br> | Arden: No, what’s the issue?<br> | ||
| − | Nika: (sweetly) The Captain is claiming that Joshua is | + | Nika: (sweetly) The Captain is claiming that Joshua is his son Rex, who he’s not seen in a number of years and who was last seen aboard Trafalgar. And if we would like to tell him that well, you know, we found his son on an abandoned planet somewhere and he had recreational drugs in his system and we just went ahead and took his credits to transport him to wherever, he would be most in our debt. ''And he’s going to keep his son''.<br><br> |
Her pause is heavy.<br><br> | Her pause is heavy.<br><br> | ||
| − | Nika: But you know | + | Nika: But you know if there’s more to that story …<br> |
Arden: Which there is.<br> | Arden: Which there is.<br> | ||
Nika: Implying there could be huge problem with the “more to that story” and he has no intention of letting us see Joshua before we have our interrogation.<br> | Nika: Implying there could be huge problem with the “more to that story” and he has no intention of letting us see Joshua before we have our interrogation.<br> | ||
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Rina: He needs to cover his ass.<br> | Rina: He needs to cover his ass.<br> | ||
Kiera: Yeah. <br> | Kiera: Yeah. <br> | ||
| − | Nika: | + | Nika: No. No, I’m—<br> |
Rina: He wants Joshua.<br> | Rina: He wants Joshua.<br> | ||
Nika: Okay, chalk it up to paranoia, here, but somebody aboard wants Joshua and they want to keep him. Now whether this guy’s even telling the truth that he’s Joshua’s father, we have no idea.<br><br> | Nika: Okay, chalk it up to paranoia, here, but somebody aboard wants Joshua and they want to keep him. Now whether this guy’s even telling the truth that he’s Joshua’s father, we have no idea.<br><br> | ||
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Arden: All of this is beside the point. Are we telling the truth?<br> | Arden: All of this is beside the point. Are we telling the truth?<br> | ||
| − | Kiera: I’m serious. Now this is where the rubber hits the road. I don’t know anything and y’all are talkin’ | + | Kiera: I’m serious. Now this is where the rubber hits the road. I don’t know anything and y’all are talkin’ Trafalgar and stuff. And all I know is when … ?<br> |
| − | Arden: We picked Joshua up on | + | Arden: We picked Joshua up on Trafalgar.<br> |
Kiera: No, but before you say anything, do you want me not to know? <br> | Kiera: No, but before you say anything, do you want me not to know? <br> | ||
Arden: I don’t care, personally?<br> | Arden: I don’t care, personally?<br> | ||
Kiera: Because I have to be able to say with all honesty, is there a problem with me knowing his story? Would you rather I walk in there honestly not knowing anything from the point I got on?<br> | Kiera: Because I have to be able to say with all honesty, is there a problem with me knowing his story? Would you rather I walk in there honestly not knowing anything from the point I got on?<br> | ||
| − | Arden: Well, you can say | + | Arden: Well, you can say “This is what they told me, I don’t know if it’s true or not”.<br> |
Kiera: All right. It’s your call, Captain. What do you want?<br><br> | Kiera: All right. It’s your call, Captain. What do you want?<br><br> | ||
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Kiera: But he really thinks this and just wants a little bit of info and then “You go on your merry way and thanks so much for bringing him back”.<br> | Kiera: But he really thinks this and just wants a little bit of info and then “You go on your merry way and thanks so much for bringing him back”.<br> | ||
Arden: Well, that’s not going to happen.<br> | Arden: Well, that’s not going to happen.<br> | ||
| − | Nika: Right. | + | Nika: Right. Exactly. And therein lies the problem.<br> |
Arden: It’s not a problem yet.<br> | Arden: It’s not a problem yet.<br> | ||
| − | Nika: It’s | + | Nika: It’s going to be.<br> |
Arden: (amends) It’s a problem that could arise.<br> | Arden: (amends) It’s a problem that could arise.<br> | ||
Nika: I have a feeling here that being our luck being what it is—<br> | Nika: I have a feeling here that being our luck being what it is—<br> | ||
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Arden: In fact, I’m moving Joshua to the top of the most-stubborn list of our ship. He’s more subtly stubborn than we are.<br> | Arden: In fact, I’m moving Joshua to the top of the most-stubborn list of our ship. He’s more subtly stubborn than we are.<br> | ||
Nika: I’ll buy that.<br> | Nika: I’ll buy that.<br> | ||
| − | Arden: | + | Arden: I’ll say I won’t do it. He’ll say he’ll do it, but he won’t do it.<br> |
Kiera: I’ll say he’s manipulatively stubborn.<br> | Kiera: I’ll say he’s manipulatively stubborn.<br> | ||
Nika: Yeah, he just lets me think I’m in command most of the time.<br> | Nika: Yeah, he just lets me think I’m in command most of the time.<br> | ||
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Beglan: As long as there’s no sinister Alliance Intelligence agency or Blue Sun organization trying to reach us, or something like that, I see no reason to not to tell the truth.<br><br> | Beglan: As long as there’s no sinister Alliance Intelligence agency or Blue Sun organization trying to reach us, or something like that, I see no reason to not to tell the truth.<br><br> | ||
| − | Nika gives Beglan | + | Nika gives Beglan The Face. The ''You Sunovabitch'' Face. Arden steps into the gap her silence makes.<br><br> |
Arden: Now based on my knowledge of these types of situations, when he interviews us I would suggest making sure there’s someone taking a transcript. <br> | Arden: Now based on my knowledge of these types of situations, when he interviews us I would suggest making sure there’s someone taking a transcript. <br> | ||
Nika: Why?<br> | Nika: Why?<br> | ||
| − | Arden: | + | Arden: So we can be played back.<br> |
Kiera: It’s an Alliance vessel. They’re gonna be takin’ a transcript, period.<br> | Kiera: It’s an Alliance vessel. They’re gonna be takin’ a transcript, period.<br> | ||
Nika: All right, look. We know that Joshua’s on the run.<br> | Nika: All right, look. We know that Joshua’s on the run.<br> | ||
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Kiera: No, wait a minute. Joshua worked for Parliament?<br> | Kiera: No, wait a minute. Joshua worked for Parliament?<br> | ||
| − | + | Nika and Arden together: No. Otto. <br> | |
Nika: But he could be working for a faction of Parliament, too … There were plenty of factions in Parliament.<br><br> | Nika: But he could be working for a faction of Parliament, too … There were plenty of factions in Parliament.<br><br> | ||
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Digression tabled. Onward.<br><br> | Digression tabled. Onward.<br><br> | ||
| − | Nika: So by telling the truth here we’re only pissing off Blue Sun and getting | + | Nika: So by telling the truth here we’re only pissing off Blue Sun and getting them in trouble as opposed to these guys which are Alliance Navy, so … Oh crap. I forgot about the Colchester op.<br> |
Arden: I haven’t.<br> | Arden: I haven’t.<br> | ||
Nika: (sighing) It’s so hard keeping track of all of it …<br> | Nika: (sighing) It’s so hard keeping track of all of it …<br> | ||
| Line 438: | Line 438: | ||
Arden: Well you know that when the more people tell the same story, the investigator knows that some must be lying. Probably all of them. <br><br> | Arden: Well you know that when the more people tell the same story, the investigator knows that some must be lying. Probably all of them. <br><br> | ||
| − | So what? We should run it like | + | So what? We should run it like Roshamon? ‘That’s not the way I remembered it…’?<br><br> |
Rina, meanwhile, is going over the area with an eye toward security. This feels like a very open plan hospital. There are several large rooms. The room we’re in now looks to be an intensive care/recovery ward. There are two bedrooms toward the for’ard end of the ward with the emergency areas toward the stern, along with the elevator banks where she suspects lead to the shuttle bays just outside in the corridor. Thinking back on her stint in the Navy, she pulls up what she knows of the Upsilon Brigantine class.<br> | Rina, meanwhile, is going over the area with an eye toward security. This feels like a very open plan hospital. There are several large rooms. The room we’re in now looks to be an intensive care/recovery ward. There are two bedrooms toward the for’ard end of the ward with the emergency areas toward the stern, along with the elevator banks where she suspects lead to the shuttle bays just outside in the corridor. Thinking back on her stint in the Navy, she pulls up what she knows of the Upsilon Brigantine class.<br> | ||
| − | The class is made to be pretty generic, about 20,000 tons, and is used for a variety of purposes. The | + | The class is made to be pretty generic, about 20,000 tons, and is used for a variety of purposes. The IAV Aceso is tasked as a medical brigantine ship. She has five decks and is efficiently laid out as a hospital. One deck is the main hospital level. Two other smaller decks are made for servicing emergency vehicles—shuttles built to serve as ambulances. There is also flex space, to allow for reconfiguration to suit events like mass influx of patients during battle. It has decks also for crew, cargo, and operations. IAV Aceso is also a good old-fashioned medical ship in that it is entirely unarmed. That doesn’t mean that there the people aboard her entirely unarmed, a fact that’s not lost on Rina. There are more than enough SPs to handle security and protection of the ship and she’s seen them passing by during her cursory examination of the ward.<br><br> |
There is also the presence of nurses and orderlies and doctors, but they don’t seem to stay and watch or guard the crew. Not even the SPs. Nobody is forcing us to stay in the ward but whenever one of the girls does wander out of it, she’s gently asked if she needs assistance finding a restroom or … ? Rina notes the gentle touch in the herding of the patients, but there’s that sense of herding nonetheless. She checks where the emergency exits are next. In case, you know, we need to make an emergency exit. There’s an exit schematic mounted to the bulkhead. By it she knows that decks five and one are dedicated to shuttles. No escaping that way. And over here are the life pods in the engine rooms on deck three. The ward where we are staying is on deck two. And so by increments, she circles the ward and sees what she can see without activating any of the staff to guide her back, and rejoins the crew. Nika fills her in.<br><br> | There is also the presence of nurses and orderlies and doctors, but they don’t seem to stay and watch or guard the crew. Not even the SPs. Nobody is forcing us to stay in the ward but whenever one of the girls does wander out of it, she’s gently asked if she needs assistance finding a restroom or … ? Rina notes the gentle touch in the herding of the patients, but there’s that sense of herding nonetheless. She checks where the emergency exits are next. In case, you know, we need to make an emergency exit. There’s an exit schematic mounted to the bulkhead. By it she knows that decks five and one are dedicated to shuttles. No escaping that way. And over here are the life pods in the engine rooms on deck three. The ward where we are staying is on deck two. And so by increments, she circles the ward and sees what she can see without activating any of the staff to guide her back, and rejoins the crew. Nika fills her in.<br><br> | ||
| Line 450: | Line 450: | ||
Nika: Errmmmm, at the very least the rest of us will be in the conference room.<br> | Nika: Errmmmm, at the very least the rest of us will be in the conference room.<br> | ||
Arden: (to Nika) I don’t think we’ll be in the same room together.<br> | Arden: (to Nika) I don’t think we’ll be in the same room together.<br> | ||
| − | Rina: (quietly) Are we going to say that we met him on | + | Rina: (quietly) Are we going to say that we met him on Trafalgar? Helped him escape his handlers? That he’s made his life with us ever since, doing good?<br> |
Arden: Make sure you let him know it’s a Blue Sun handler we helped him escape from.<br> | Arden: Make sure you let him know it’s a Blue Sun handler we helped him escape from.<br> | ||
Rina: Absolutely.<br> | Rina: Absolutely.<br> | ||
| Line 456: | Line 456: | ||
Arden: I don’t think we need to go into details about the trip going into Blue Sun and then back to Parliament, and then our running away from Blue Sun—I mean, Parliament. That whole episode doesn’t need to be discussed. Or the blow up of the Library.<br><br> | Arden: I don’t think we need to go into details about the trip going into Blue Sun and then back to Parliament, and then our running away from Blue Sun—I mean, Parliament. That whole episode doesn’t need to be discussed. Or the blow up of the Library.<br><br> | ||
| − | The Colchester op, yeah. Kiera just walks off at this point. This is venturing into territory she does not want to know anything about, from incidents that predates her involvement with the crew. So off she goes. Nika drills Rina as to what the engineer is going to say as to why Joshua left | + | The Colchester op, yeah. Kiera just walks off at this point. This is venturing into territory she does not want to know anything about, from incidents that predates her involvement with the crew. So off she goes. Nika drills Rina as to what the engineer is going to say as to why Joshua left Trafalgar to come with us.<br><br> |
Rina: He tried to save our lives, in the light of the Blue Hands during the sonic attack. And they realized he turned his coat and they couldn’t trust him anymore. So he hung with us.<br> | Rina: He tried to save our lives, in the light of the Blue Hands during the sonic attack. And they realized he turned his coat and they couldn’t trust him anymore. So he hung with us.<br> | ||
