forum The LAIKA's Journey (closed rp)

Started October 21, 2019 by @Young-Dusty-the-Monarch-of-Dusteria group

tune

"Huh, well, I didn't exactly want you to anyway, so it's all cool. Hey, where should we go, friends? I'm up for someplace new…Here, catch." She tossed them each a packet of nuts.

Ba'al reflexively caught the packet and actually seemed quite relieved to have something to snack on.
"Thanks, Effie," she said.

Treb allowed the package to bounce off his face and fall to the ground. "Where did you find that food?" he asked weakly. "I didn't give you permission to touch my precious supplies…." He didn't really care that much, in truth, but thought he should try to assert some authority over the situation.

Effy looked at him for a moment, "Know what, Treb? I'm going to make you a nice cup of tea, you don't look so good." She shifted to the cooking area. "Hey, Ba'al, are you dangerous to the … er… rest of the crew? I can't yet tell if being honest is something you're into, but please try to do your best."

"No!" Ba'al assured them. "I'm not going to hurt you guys, unless you like, attack me first or something. I promise."

"Sounds fair, I guess," Effy said, handing Treb a cup of steaming golden liquid. "This might help you see the bright side of life again, Treb."
Her eyes sparkled and she gestured to him to drink up.

Treb surrendered and drank it, while internally scrambling to gather his wits back into the rough shape of a human being. "Okay," he said after a chug or two. "Okay. So. You said anywhere but the Falzer System was good, Ba'al?" he turned around in his chair, trying to make sense of the drifting space debris outside the ship's window.

"Yes," Ba'al hastened to assure him, desperate to do anything right. "Yes, anywhere else, and we are ten types of good."

"Great. In that case….uh…." Treb glanced at his map of the local galaxy in attempt to locate somewhere familiar and safe-ish. "….looks like we're heading to Eskay to stock up and plan our trip. I know some guys there, we should be fine for a few days." He took a deep breath. "Sound good, everyone?"

"I'm good with that," Ba'al said, much relieved.

"Some … guys, huh?" Effy looked over at the back of Treb's head, dubiously.

"Yeah," Treb said, taking the ship out of cruise control and steering them forward with more speed and purpose. "A couple buddies, they run a little fuel station in the middle Eskay's biggest desert. We owe each other some favors, and I think it's their turn to pay me back for something. Honestly, it's all I've got right now. You'll like them, they have great curry."

"I'll take it," Ba'al said, sinking onto the bench. "Curry sounds nice right about now."

"Well, I'm up for that! Hey, anyone hungry?" Effy turned to ruffle around in the food storage area.

"Uhhh, didn't we just eat?" Treb glanced over his shoulder worriedly. "Don't take too much from back there, okay? We're digging into my long-haul rations at this point." Glancing at Ba'al, he added, "And if by "right about now" you mean "in an hour or two", then yeah, curry sounds great. Just sit tight for a bit, it's not too far."

Effy slowly and regretfully put the packets of food back in storage. She sighed and settled down to wait.

"She's a hobbit," Ba'al muttered dismally. "A Tanz-Zaran hobbit."
She looked out at the stars beyond the ship, contemplating the intelligence of her choices leading up to this point.
Not very intelligent, she decided.

Treb flew them along in awkward silence for a while, then decided he might try and strike up a conversation to lighten the mood a bit. He'd never captained a crew before, but he could remember his own captain years ago being very good at maintaining a good morale onboard his ship, so it must be pretty important, right?
"Soooo," he said after a while, to no one in particular. "Either of you ever been to the Fringes before?"

"Never been anywhere to speak of," said Effy. "Is this Eskay part of the Fringes?"

"Oh no, it's nowhere near. Pretty tame compared to what we'll find out there, actually. How about you, Ba'al?"

"I haven't!" Ba'al said. "But a lot of people from my planet have, and I've heard the stories. My species actually evolved in the Fringes."

"Really? Interesting." Treb gave her a nod. "Well, I've been there a few times, but never very deep, and never very long. What we're doing now is going to be a full-on expedition to places that maybe nobody's been before. We're looking for valuable resources, undiscovered alien lifeforms, and whatever else might be out there. We can also survey planets and submit our findings to the galactic archives in case they ever need new places to colonize. The archives pay good and let you stay anonymous, so they won't care if we're….y'know…..wanted criminals, as long as our info's good. And everything else, we can collect and sell ourselves. Maybe we'll even make contact with a new civilized culture!" Now Treb was getting excited as he talked about his favorite subject. "Any questions?"

"Just one," said Effy. "Can I come with you guys? I mean can I stay? I'd be a great addition to your team, I think, and I would love to see a little bit of the world before…well, before it's too late."

Treb glanced over, frowning. "Before it's too late?… What do you mean?"

"Yeah, that's a little ominous, can I get an explanation?" Ba'al was suspicious yet again.