You Broke The Ship!
Posted on Sun Sep 10th, 2023 @ 9:06am by Alden Loxley & Cooper O'Reilly & Daiyu & Spencer Wainwright & Jacy Wright & Morgan Martin
Mission:
Oh, Give Me a Home on The Range
Location: Ezra - Blue Cloud Ranch
Timeline: 18 November, 2517 - Late Afternoon
It had been a messed up kind of treasure hunt to grab the bigger parts of the starboard VTOL engine. Now, they were down to searching for any and all other pieces of metal that might belong to the battered little Firefly, related or otherwise to said engine and its direct hit. Cooper, Daiyu, Morgan and Jacy were out looking, the four of them a short distance and well within sight of the two who had stopped to take inventory. The day had turned comfortably warm from its earlier static heat, the sky was a majestically sweeping mid-blue and the wind that whipped up the grassland was now a couple of degrees warmer than the static air.
Luckily, as Spence and Alden sifted through those already-found parts, it seemed that all the major components were intact, slightly smokey perhaps, and occasionally bent out of shape some, but present. Between them, and with care, engineer and captain tied down the big pieces and began to place the smaller ones in boxes on the side of the ranch's spare Mule. The motorised kind for ease and comfort of the travelling back to the waiting, unhappy looking Fortune's Echo.
So far, no shots had been fired, no voices raised beyond the search party, and the savannah was quiet, only the crew's words and the sounds of the wind to interrupt them.
"If we could just catch a real break," Alden muttered as he tied off a second leather strap and gauged the weight on the Mule. "That would be real peachy."
"It's words like that that make a freshly hired hand uneasy," Spence commented, not immediately realizing that he may have spoken out of turn. He wasn't wrong though. He was used to shit and unpleasant events while on the job. In fact, it was part of the job description nowadays. "Though a real break would be standing on top of the 'Echo and hammering all of this back together. We're going to need to strong bracing or scaffolding to pull this off."
Alden chuckled, the irony of this exchange not lost to him. "My apologies," he said, with a lighthearted tone matched by the gleam in his dark blue eyes. "But I'm already treating you as one of us, so you get the honesty treatment same as the others." He considered his new engineer's words with a serious expression once his fleeting grin had faded and nodded. "Yeah," Alden agreed. "I think we can pull that off. We've got some scaffold poles from when we fixed the red barn roof, and we can use a tractor or two if we need to give Echo a nudge... We get her in a good pose, you think you'll be able to get us back up and running?" He'd help, of course, but if Spence doubted his ability, better to know now, so Alden could call in some assistance from further afield.
"Good poses help," Spence confirmed, securing another strap. "Helps especially on the underside where the VTOL rotator regulator hides. As for getting her up and running, if I can't then I suppose you don't have to pay me this go, do you?"
The Echo's captain raised an eyebrow, then turned to regard his new engineer. He missed Chloe, particularly not getting a chance to say goodbye (he hadn't forgiven Drake for that yet either), but Spence sounded like he knew what was what. Man had clearly had some poor previous experiences though. "Hey," Alden told him, tone gentle but voice strong. "You don't make it worse, you get paid, same as the rest of us. We're a crew, this ain't slave labour. Do your best, I fully 'ppreciate this ain't a great start to our relationship."
Somehow, Alden's words brought some comfort to Spence. "Yeah, well, if I can't get Echo flying again, then I must not be a good engineer." Spence was only half-kidding, which he indicated with a chuckle and a shake of the head. "What I really need is time, an anvil, some extra hands, and a big hammer. I didn't see anything of the VTOL axle here, which is good. Means it should still all be on one piece on Echo. If it ain't bent too bad, we can mount the burner, then we can move Echo on her own to a place where we can finish her up."
"I figure Echo's seen more than her fair share of engineers already," Alden confirmed with a wry smile. "Good ones, great ones and ones with great determination to be both good and great. But yeah, definitely need to get you set up wiht some proper kit. Anvil, warm bodies and a mighty hammer - I can provide those no worries." Alden considered Spencer's words regarding the VTOL axle and sincerely hoped the younger man was correct. It would be in one piece, he told himself, they'd had more than their fair share of crappy luck already. "Sounds good," he confirmed, optimism kicking back in slowly. He patted the side of his ship fondly and spoke warmly as he added. "See, girl, s'all gonna be okay. Got us some 'fessional help here, knows fancy words and all, and you're sitting pretty in some real good country here too. So relax, enjoy the view and don't worry none, 'right?"
From somewhere just above their heads a low rumbling sound reverberated for a second or two. Alden kept his hand on the outer hull and looked to Spence.
"See," he said, jokingly. "She believes us."
Meanwhile, Cooper and Daiyu were working one side of a small (manmade) stream with a very basic metal detector while Jacy and Morgan searched the other. Cooper stayed close to his charge, who seemed just as interested in the local flora as she was their hunt for any still lost parts of the ship.
"Find anything?" The Shepherd called over to Jacy and Morgan even as he kept an eye on both Daiyu and the softly pulsing piece of farm-borrowed detecting kit in his hands.
While Cooper was checking in on the others, Daiyu finished gently rolling a white-topped plant she had plucked up from the soft soil near the stream. It went into her shoulder bag along with other items she had collected. None of it was mechanical or particularly useful for the task at hand, but no one had said anything and she made no apology.
"Not much!" Morgan called back, only casually looking along the bank of the stream. Without a metal detector, he could only look so thoroughly after all. He gave a slight smile at the two as he looked over, before turning his gaze back towards the edge of the stream.
This was not her idea of fun. But then again…these days she wasn’t sure just what her idea of fun actually was. Certainly it couldn’t be out here traipsing along searching for - the question pulled her out of her thoughts. She spared a quick glance, a wistful smile, and a shake of her head after Morgan’s response.
"One sec," Cooper's detector registered something metallic and howled. He knelt down and pulled a big piece of something that definitely looked like it belonged elsewhere out of the foliage. Turning it round, he still had no idea what it actually was, but if clearly hadn't been there too long as the leaves were freshly crushed by its fall. "Here," he called to Morgan, "Catch!" And he lazily lobbed the detector over towards the pilot and doc.
The sound the metal detector made was probably one of the ugliest sounds she had ever heard, but it was one that grabbed her attention. She grabbed her hair, twisted it around her hand and rested her hand on the back of her head, her gaze on the other two instead of the ground. Maybe they’d found something useful? Maybe they wouldn’t be traipsing out here too much longer… A small squeal passed her lips as Cooper tossed the contraption towards her and Morgan. “I’m a doctor, not a..not a…” Her voice trailed off as she had trouble coming up with the right word. Was this really what her life was now?
Morgan gave a hearty, honest laugh as Cooper tossed them the metal detector. He completely fumbled the catch, but just smiled, and leaned down to pick it up. "You want to try?" He asked Jacy, motioning the metal detector towards her.
She supposed she should be more friendly, get to know the crew a bit more...better. Maybe it would help distracte her from the little job Arlo had give her to do. But she had to admit, that if what he promised her was true, she could get used to not having to constantly worry if Ford was going to find her. Only now, she had to worry if they'd shoot first or not. With a small, friendly smile she gave her head a light shake and gestured towards Morgan, "I'll let you have the honors. Know how long we'll be out here?"
Jacy's question was interrupted and then punctuated by the sound of the detector schreeching in response to something a step or two ahead of them both. As they looked further, following the obvious aural trail through the thick undergrowth, Morgan located a small, flat metal box about the size of an Earth-That-Was portable hard drive. It had connector ports either end, no obvious link for power and it was clean so definitely hadn't been here long. Along one side letters were etched into the metal, four remained clear and legible though the four (or maybe five) before it had been scored through so as to render them unreadable. It said 'ETTA'.
"C'mon lil lady," Cooper then said to Daiyu. "Let's just search this last little bit, see if we can't find anything else." He grinned, then and played to his weakness, but her strength. "Think I can see some sand-verbena up ahead..."
"Chew some to clear your sinuses," Daiyu offered, "but not too much or you'll get diarrhea." She frolicked along, her gait soon turning to a skip as momentum built up. "Do you kill witches?" she asked, seemingly at random and without looking over her shoulder.
"Definitely rather avoid the shits," muttered Cooper to himself, then he stopped dead and stared at Daiyu as she asked her question. "Do I what now?" He asked, then with a moment's thought. "Are these witches trying to kill me?"
Daiyu shrugged. "'Suffer not a witch to live,' right? God doesn't like witches. You and Whit and Father Grimshaw kill people God doesn't like. Why wouldn't you kill witches?"
Whit would likely quote the Bible, but in this instance, Cooper took a more personal approach. The good verse was welcome in many ways, but he had the distinct feeling Daiyu had an underlying ulterior motive to her questions, and he wanted to root that out before he committed to a point of view. God was a good sounding board for such matters, but sometimes the other fella got too deeply involved.
"It ain't quite that simple, lil miss," Cooper stated. "It's more 'bout actions taken than 'bout liking or disliking certain souls. What folks choose to do is more important than the label the Verse puts upon them."
"But how do you know what actions deserve death?" Daiyu pressed without missing a beat. "What if you thought I was bad?" She stopped her searching and stared at Cooper with a penetrating eye. It was not lost on her that he followed her everywhere she went. People did not trust her, thought she was bad. Maybe she was. But then who wasn't? It was... confusing. Not a depressing confusion, but the sort that demanded answers. "Would you kill me?"
This, Cooper realised too late, was why Whit quoted scripture. He smiled, at himself rather than Daiyu's words and then considered her questions. "It's not about what I think," he said. "God calls upon us when he needs our hands to do his work. If you were bad, you'd be dead already," he pointed out. "I'm here to protect you and those around you, lil miss, not to end you." He pointed to the stream where a piece of what looked like something metallic was jutting out of the sand, changing the water's path just a little. "I'm gonna grab that, you stay up there and watch our for me, okay?" He paused, stood in the stream. "Do you think I'm bad?" Coop asked Daiyu.
While Daiyu watched Cooper enter the stream and retrieve the lost part, she stared right through him. Had she heard his question? Her blinking increased at a rapid interval until her lashes were practically flapping. "I don't know," she said at length and shrugged. So she had heard. Her eyes fell to the shoreline at her feet. "You protect me. That's good enough." Lifting her head just enough for her eyes to meet Cooper's, though still nearly obstructed by her brow, she posed another question of her own. "Why do you protect me? No one else wants me around. Captain Alden... even he tried to send me away. Would the 'Verse be better if..." Trailing off, she looked back toward the Echo for a brief moment and then looked away toward the opposite horizon. A lone tear streaked down her cheek.
Climbing back up the bank with his rescued piece of ship, Cooper rested his meaty hand on the slender young woman's shoulder with a careful, big brotherly gesture. "Protecting you is my current calling," Cooper said, simply, as if this explained everything. His gaze wandered briefly skyward and a silent prayer followed in that direction. "Person'ly, I'd say our captain wants to be sure you're safe, not to be rid of you," the Shepherd stated then. "And the 'Verse wants you here," he continued, confidently. "Wouldn't be right to think otherwise, miss. Lord works through mysterious motions and we're all here for a reason. To live, learn and share. You being here? It's important. We'll figure it out." His rough thumb caught the tear's path and brushed it away, leaving a smudge of dirt on Daiyu's cheek.
"But I killed folk," Daiyu whispered so lowly it was nearly a croak. "Where do you figure I fit with that?"
"I've killed folks too," Cooper said. "But I made peace with my path when I took the oath. You need to find your peace, little one. All your voices need a space to speak." He looked to Daiyu, and then beyond to Morgan and Jacy who were still present and searching across the river. "Don't know that I'm the best one to figure it out, but I'll listen."
Daiyu looked thoughtful. Or maybe confused. Possibly just nauseous. "What oath?"
"Shepherding Oath," said Cooper, succinctly. "Now, c'mon. Let's get this stuff back to the ship." He looked over to see how Morgan and Jacy were faring, but his main attention, as pretty much always, remained on Daiyu.
"Shepherding Oath..." Daiyu repeated the words under her breath like a magic spell she was unsure of speaking aloud. She followed Cooper's lead without paying much attention, her thoughts spinning in regards to oaths that could make peace with a broken past.
--------------------
