The Drake Situation

Posted on Tue Jun 23rd, 2020 @ 3:21am by Alden Loxley & Alison Bliss & Kaila Atwood

Mission: The Milk Run
Location: Captain's Cabin
Timeline: Day 8 - Newhall to Hera (Evening)

Well over halfway to Hera now, and still only the three of them knew about the Drake Situation. They'd heard nothing more, but a few things were starting to make some form of sense, even if the wider situation didn't as yet. Alden sat on his bunk and looked to the two women in the current inner circle conversation. Kai, sat beside him, Alison on the small couch bolted to the floor just across from them.

"Far as I can figure," Alden said, summing up what they'd figured out so far. "They can't go to Hera on account of the temporary restricted airspace." It had flagged up on the nav this afternoon while Alison had the helm.

"Our cargo permit gets us down on the ground." He sighed. "And whoever or whatever they're sending us to get is worth enough that they felt a need to take insurance in the form of my brother." He reached to take Kai's hand in a comforting squeeze as he mentioned Drake. "That sound about right?"

Kai let him take her hand and then entwined their fingers as he squeezed. There was something familiar about him... perhaps a trait both brothers inherited from their father. Either way, he felt more familiar than he should when he touched her.

Alison nodded slightly.

“Yes. That means that we are the tool to do something they cannot. Moreover, because they don’t want to wait for this temporary restriction to go away, it means that someone else is on the trail for whatever we supposed to grab.” Alison pointed out. “Meaning troubles along the way. But also, if we get what we are after, then we even the ground and can ask for a trade. On a neutral ground.” She finished with an ominous grin.

"Agreed," said Alden. "Either way we're going into big trouble. It'd help if we knew where exactly they're sending us before we get there, but we don't have that luxury." He sighed. "We're at an disadvantage every which way with everything to lose...."

"What could the possibly want that badly from Hera? And why is it restricted?" she asked. Kai had been held up in her own room so far almost the entirety of the voyage barely even going to meals.

Alden shrugged and shot a worried look to Kai. When she'd joined his crew, he'd wondered how she and Drake would work things out, or not. And now, with their relationship broken and his brother in trouble, old feelings had risen up. Kai anxious and distant, Alden feeling overprotective and somehow responsible. The young woman was far from fragile, but this situation had hit them both hard.

"I don't know," he said. "But even if we find it, we still have to get it off-world. The flight restrictions apply to new arrivals - inbound ships are only allowed in with a current permit. Outbound we'll be fine as long as we don't enter their 'no fly zone'. The Notice mentioned a VIP visit, so I'm hoping that's nowhere near where they need us to go."

"I guess I'd just feel better if we knew why," Kai said, her voice was flat and her gaze distant. "If we knew why it was restricted it might be a clue."

"At this point we can only guess. Let's keeps eyes open and see if we find out upon landing." Alison suggested to no one in particular. "Also, since we have Jacob, we can use him as an excuse to stay on the surface. That would let us send a team to get the thing they want us to get, without any suspicions."

"Hey," Alden said, leaning a little closer to Kai as he spoke. "We'll find out more when we get a little closer, information's kinda hard to come by out this far. And we'll get him back, Kai," he promised, though he had nothing to base that confident surety on right now.

Jacob though - that made sense.

"Good thinking, Ali," noted the Captain. "Jacob gets an appointment, we're clear to be on land for longer." He sighed, heavily, and leant his shoulder against Kai's own, hoping to somehow transfer some of his confidence in their team. "Look, we get there, we sell the saline, we fuel up and we go look where they tell us to look. Right now, that's all we got, it's another few days before we'll get their coordinates, once we know where we're headed on-planet, then we can make a plan."

"Shiny. So are we set? Anything else we should discuss?" Alison asked.

Alden shook his head. "I think we need to know where on Hera we're going before we can work the rest out." He sighed, heavily, the burden of this unwanted extra work hitting hard. "And then, once this is done, we get Drake back."

"There's gonna be some kinda confrontation," he added, giving a significant look to first Alison, then Kai. "Ali - I'm gonna need you to focus on the Echo. Kai - you're my back-up gun, okay? I'm trusting you both to have me covered when I'm out there."

"I've always got your back," Kai said.

Gently, Alden kissed the back of her hand. "Thanks," he told her. "Anyone tries to kill me, you kill them right back, okay?"

“No question,” Kai said, pulling her hand back slowly. She would have thought more into this if she weren’t currently already on an emotional roller coaster for now she’d let it go.

Alison grinned.
"Do I get a kiss on the hand as well? Is it a new thing now?" She joked reaching out her hand and wiggling her fingers.

"C'mere," Alden said, with a friendly aggression as he reached forward to grab Alison's hand. "I'll give you a kiss if you want one," his grin suggested he wasn't entirely serious. "But I really don't think you do, do you?"

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