The Calm Before Serenity

Posted on Thu May 28th, 2020 @ 7:03pm by Alden Loxley & Alison Bliss & Jacob Lara & Karen Dawson MD & James Thomson & Noah-Jade True & Kaila Atwood & Tristan
Edited on on Fri May 29th, 2020 @ 9:48pm

Mission: The Milk Run
Location: Aboard the Fortune's Echo
Timeline: Day 1 - Newhall to Hera

On Board Fortune’s Echo
Leaving: Newhall
Heading to: Hera

Ever since Alison had taken up the pilot’s couch back on that desolate little moon seven months ago, Alden had opted for a turn-based system. It was her turn to fly until he determined otherwise, and today, he just felt like being the one to break atmo.

They’d all had a few days’ leave down on Newhall, time to chill out and spend some hard earned money enjoying the freedom of its island chains. Time to get that flutter in the engine fixed, work out a few kinks and embrace sunshine and ocean. And time to pick up a job that chilled Alden’s heart to the bone.

‘Go to Serenity Valley, pick up what you find at these coordinates.’

He’d received the message on the Cortex and hated every word of it, but it checked out. Drake’s secret code validated the damn text and he’d never shared that with anyone but his siblings since they’d been kids. Whoever was playing this song, one way or another they had Alden’s little brother and that was motivation enough to haul arse.

So, the cargo of salt brine would pay for the parts and the journey, but the main cost was considerably more personal. That was all Alden had on his mind as the ship left Newhall behind and a shout from his cousin drew his attention to yet another problem.

Below deck, within the cargo bay, James had been giving the area a once over in search of something to do. Normally he'd find someone to bug, probably Alden, but today something had drawn him to the hold. A few times since the departure James had heard the odd noise that had seemed out of place but had been dismissed as audible signs of the Echo's age. Moments before though he'd definitely heard someone try to cover a sneeze and he knew the rest of the crew were where they had outta' have been.

After a quick search, his suspicions had been confirmed when he caught a hazel eye observing him from behind some containers of salt brine. Quickly he'd darted forward, giving the stranger little time to react before he was hauled over the containers, knocking one on the floor. Once uncovered James kept a firm grip on the intruder's collar, holding him high enough so he couldn't quite get the footing he'd need to escape.

"Alden, we have a stowaway!" James called out to his cousin with a proud grin that he maintained as he observed his catch.

The young man struggled against the hold on him, trying to shush the man. "Please don't tell," he said, still struggling. "Please."

A mumbled string of cursing left Alden's mouth as he heard James' shout. What was the point in having security if they didn't find the illegal passenger until after they'd left? But here they were, no sense in whining about it now. Plenty of time for that later... "On my way, cuz," Alden called, and left Alison to take over for a moment as he jogged down to the lower deck, boots clattering on the metal steps. "Who ya got there?"

"I don't know" James shrugged with his free arm, still grinning. "You heard the man, who are you and what are you doing on this gorram ship?" James asked, shifting the stranger so he could see Alden.

Tristan struggled, grabbing the man’s arms to try and stabilize himself. “Please don’t hurt me.”

"James," said Alden, in a voice that suggested it was very possible that James might. "Don't hurt him."

Having heard the yelling, and the slight scuffling noises from the cargo bay, Jacob stepped out onto the catwalk above and looked down. Dressed in a well-tailored suit, in a deep purple, he stood slightly in shadow, seeming to somewhat blend in and stay out of sight. He was a little surprised to see James, holding a complete stranger by the collar, stretching him up on his toes so he couldn't try to get away. Feeling it would be best if he kept silent for the time being, he leaned against the rail and simply observed.

Noah dropped the part he was working on when he heard the sudden shouts from the cargo bay. A stowaway? he vaguely considered as he watched the metal part fall to the floor, his body already accepting its inability to catch it and not even trying. Well a stowaway wasn't his deal, the mechanic thought, mentally preparing himself for the sound the metal part would make against the hard floor. He cringed at the clang; but his bird suddenly screamed, woken up by the noise of metal on metal.

The others could probably hear the bird from the cargo bay - the shrill, inhuman shrieks of a ringneck parrot. "Shh, shh," he said, stepping over towards the bird's perch. "It's alright, boy." The bird quieted down when Noah grabbed him, climbing up the engineer's sleeve to take a place on his shoulder. With the bird quiet, Noah leaned down to pick up the spare part, tossing it back on his bunk alongside the screwdrivers and other little tools he had been fiddling with.

"You woke up the bird," Noah called out of his room, directed at nobody and more of a statement than a comment, before closing the door so he could simply pretend that all the drama in the cargo bay wasn't happening.

Alden did a slow double-take in Noah's direction, then rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to James and the scrawny looking stowaway.

Karen, having slid down the ladder of her dorm room like an experienced firefighter, entered the main cargo hold. She was wearing jeans and a cotton v-neck shirt with a jean-jacket.

"Let's everyone just be calm," the doc spoke with a steady voice. Her eyes looked sternly to everyone she knew carried weapons. "Everyone keep our weapons stowed and just calmly and rationally talk."

The last thing she needed was some of the trigger-happy and knife-throwing idiots on the crew drawing blood when there was no need for it.

Tristan nodded frantically. He definitely didn’t want anyone to start pulling out weapons on him.

"Are you injured? Hungry?" Karen asked with concern, bypassing the pecking order to establish someone on the crew was keen to make the stowaway feel safe.

“No,” Tristan said, quietly, his eyes moving between James and Karen.

Satisfied, Karen nodded to Alden. It was his ship, so his choice on what to do with the stowaway.

All the commotion made Alison sigh. She slowly put down her bare feet off the pilot console and stood up. Making sure that it was on autopilot, she didn’t bother to put on boots, but she picked up the belt with the gun. She put it on around her waist, on the way out of the bridge. ‘Stowaway’ she heard at the distance. The ship had good acoustic that she had to admit. At the end of the fore deck, she took the stairs to the cargo hold, getting down enough to see what was going on. Seeing that basically everyone was there, she stopped and decided to look at the from the distance. She had a shirt tied under her breasts, exposing her midriff and jeans. Her hand went down on the pistol, ready to cover the captain and the crew, in case this would turn unexpected or ugly.

Pointedly, Alden rested a lazy hand on the holster at his side. The Model B was secured with a small, well-worn leather strap so as to remain there safely if he moved fast or fell, but it was a simple flick of a thumb to release it. He didn't. He moved to stand within an arm's reach of the boy and scowled at him. James had him held, and there was no shortage of observers.

"You are hungry," he said, pretty sure of that fact. Kid looked like he'd not eaten in a while, skinny, nervous and pale. "And more importantly you're uninvited. Give me one good reason I don't just chuck you out the airlock?" He wouldn't, of course, but the boy didn't know that.

And... Karen facepalmed her dismay at how quickly Alden decided to escalate the tension.

James huffed a snort at the doctor's retort, relaxing his grip on Tristan so he could stand more comfortable and switching to hold the young man in place with a firm grip on his shoulder. He knew Alden wouldn't do what he'd said and James had taken it as his cue to ease up. At least for the time being.

Tristan swallowed hard as he considered the man's question. "I uh-" His eyes flitted between the three people who stood in front of him. "I'm not trying to cause a problem. I just...need a ride?" he said, unsure of what to say.

Finally reaching the point where he felt it would be best for him to step forward, Jacob came down the stairway from where he'd been lurking, and stepped forward. "Captain, might I suggest something?" he asked, and then continued before anyone could answer. "This young man looks fairly harmless and scared half to death, as well. Perhaps it would help if I simply paid his way to the nearest stop and then between here and there we can figure out what his next steps will be," he added, hoping to try to defuse some of the tension that was obviously building.

"What the hell is going on in here?" An annoyed, and distressed looking Kai appeared in the hatch. She had her pistol in her hand it was pointed at the ground as her arms were at her sides. She had been late to the party she was in her quarters trying to get through the mission at hand in her mind and so her desires to will the raucous in the cargo bay didn't work and she finally went to investigate.

Alden visibly tensed, but he didn't turn around to regard Jacob. He kept his attention firmly on the supposed runaway being held by his cousin with a brief shift of his glance to check on Kaila. "Kai," he said gently as the younger woman arrived on the scene. "Keep calm, but keep your eye on the kid. We're about to find out."

Normally Kai would have been angry at the direction to keep calm, yet today she didn't care, she had more important things on her mind. She nodded absently at Alden not even really looking at him she just held her weapon tightly and looked at the kid being questioned.

Alison rolled her eyes hearing Jacob but remained in her position hand on the pistol in the holster. Not that she could see Alden throwing the kid through the airlock, but Jacob interference was not helping.

“Jacob, let the boy convince us we should let him live.” She said from above.

Tears began to well in the boy's eyes and he began to slightly tremble, "Please I didn't mean to hurt anyone," he said, his voice catching slightly.

“That’s the reason we are trying to talk to you.” Alison said calmly, moving her hand away from the pistol and putting it on the railing instead. Her face was neutral as she curiously observed the boy for any cues. “You are an adult, so act like one and talk back. We are not a charity.”

After being so abruptly dismissed, and then listening to young man's life being threatened for the second time, Jacob turned to leave the cargo bay. If the people in charge of the ship wanted to deal with this situation in such a crude manner it would be no concern of his. His passage was paid up, and if he needed to stay in his shuttle to keep clear of people of questionable sanity, so be it. "If you need me, Captain, you know where I can be found," he said as he walked away shaking his head.

"Okay," Alden said with a sharp sigh, and the one word seemed to be aimed at both Jacob and the scrawny little kid before him. "Here's how this is gonna go down, " he continued, his full attention on their stowaway now. "You're gonna give me your name and tell me who you're working for or you'll be travelling to Hera in the airlock with a packet of crackers. Dohn ma?" (Understand?)

"I'm T-tristan," the young boy said. "I'm not working f-for anyone. I just...needed a place to go."

Alden's heart melted a little bit, but he steeled himself against that softness. Sadly, he'd encountered such sob stories before, and not in a good way. The Verse was a cruel, dangerous and messed up place, and... well... people lied. He had a ship full of people to protect and a wayward stranger with zero credibility currently. Tristan was an unknown, and given the fact that Alden had already mislaid a brother to mysterious folk in the last 24hrs, a badly timed one if he was innocent.

"How old are you, Tristan?" Alden asked, coolly. "Are you hurt? Who are you running from?"

Tristan took a breath, his nerves calming slightly. "I'm not running from anyone," he said. "I'm 19 and I'm just looking for..." he shrugged, "My place in the verse."

Old enough that they weren't in fifty times of trouble at least then. Alden nodded to James to let the kid go free. Then he aimed a serious and searching gaze at the boy as he spoke again. "If you can't pay your way to Hera," Alden said. "You'll have to work it." Because they couldn't turn back to Newhall, so they were stuck with him for now. "What can you do?"

The young man looked down in embarrassment, "I'm not really sure. I've never done anything before." Tristan looked up at Alden. "But I'll do anything, please. I can help around on the ship or help in your mission. I've never been to Hera but I'm sure I can be useful. Please."

Never done anything?? Alden made a note to discuss that later, in a slightly more private conversation. But for now, keeping an eye on their unexpected guest and keeping him busy was paramount. It would take a few days before they'd reach Hera and a few days could tell a lot about a person.

"Anything, huh?" Alden said rhetorically. "Great. Well, James'll find you some chores to do and I'm sure - Noah," he raised his voice on the engineer's name. "Has plenty of tasks that need doing. We'll keep you busy. You want to prove yourself, you've got until we reach Hera. Anything other than useful is gonna be a problem." He locked a silent level gaze with the boy's own. "Understood?"

Noah had been half listening to this conversation the whole time. Ship doors weren't quite soundproof after all - he had simply feigned ignorance of the going-ons, alone in his room, deconstructing the same part for the umpteenth time to try to figure out why it wasn't working. But he looked up at the mention of his name, on instinct. "Stay," he said to the bird, setting the creature down on its perch beside his bed. This time, he set the piece down more gently, on his nightstand. He arranged the screwdrivers perfectly on either side of it, like cutlery at a fancy dinner. Then he smiled at the thought. He left his room with a confident stride, wearing a surprisingly clean suit for a mechanic, preparing himself to meet said stowaway.

Tristan looked up to the man who walked into the cargo hold. That must be Noah. "I'll do whatever you ask of me," he said, both to the Engineer and to the Captain. "Wh-who is James?"

He wrinkled his nose and regarded Tristan, then Alden pointed to his cousin, the man who had initially manhandled their stowaway from his hiding place. "James," he stated, then he indicated Noah. "Noah." He didn't introduce anyone else for the moment, bar himself. "And I'm Captain Loxley. These two will keep you busy, and you stay in the cargo bay until one of them tells you otherwise. Understand?"

Tristan nodded, though he hated the idea of manual labor. He would need to find some other way of being useful on this vessel before long.

Alison sighed softly. She would have to talk to James and Kai on the fact they let in a stowaway. Now, that the damage was done, there was little they could do. They could threaten to space the boy but none really thought about it. Slowly shaking her head Alison turned around and walked back to the bridge. This ship was getting busier every day. Who would be next? Maybe she should start taking bets on that? Earn some coin.

Kai shook her head and turned and left the cargo bay, she was returning to her quarters still holding her weapon not having the holster on her. She had more important things to worry about than some punk kid that somehow snuck aboard. Again something that would have angered her that worry about Drake just washed away.

With things back under some semblance of control, Alden followed Kai. Right now, she needed the support, and if he was honest, so did he.

---