Posted by Vice Admiral CockRoach (GM) in Main Sim - D Deck - Science Lab
[snip]

That caused him some pause, then Rick shook his head. “No, sir. Nessa sniffed it out first. We weren’t in the ducts but looking in through the vent. I did see something and .. there were some bones of something else there and heard the skittering, you know, like claws on metal. You want to come and see? My scanner has the engineering module and is limited for what it will pick up.”
- Rick and Mark

Eric tapped his chin. “Well I wouldn’t expect that it would eat us, typically they would be scared off by our size. You know, going after a meal that is more of a sure bet. But I would expect that it was hibernating in one of the many crates we received before leaving dry dock. I’m sure not all of those originated from Earth.”

Rick scratched at his cheek, thinking. That would be a possible explanation. He was a country boy and not used to ‘interstellar’ traffic. The ‘traffic jams of his hometown were when three vehicles happened to be on the street at the same time. He had been compelled to follow this path and right now he was having mixed feelings over the ‘excitement’ that it brought. Yes they were at a new world. Yes he was in space traveling at vast speeds that he was helping to maintain. That he expected and looked ahead to. What he didn’t expect was ‘mynocks chewing on power couplings’ - a line that came to him from a very old video he had seen as a child. That and a dog. “I suppose,” he said. What else could he say?

Looking over at the clock on the wall, Eric noted that he still had another hour on his shift. Plus a little bit of exploration would be a nice change of pace, he was stuck still trying to organize and label all of the supplies that had been sent up right before they left Earth.

Rick’s gaze followed and he noted the clock. Still a lot to do this shift but Lt Green should be fine with having discovered something potentially risky to ship systems.

“Why not, let’s see what our little stowaway might be.” Opening one of the drawers along the wall, Eric pulled a scanner out. “Lead the way.”

Lt Eric - Wandering Science Officer

“The Sergeant is keeping watch,” he said finding that such a strange thing to say, but still rather applicable. Idly he thought he might want to have a kind of micro camera attached so that he could see where she was at. I mean in this situation what would happen if one or more of those beasties had come out? “Ready,” he said, looking at Mark who held up both hands as if to say ‘you’re on your own’. His gaze back communicated ‘gee thanks buddy’ before turning and heading out with Eric. “It’s just in the cargo space a deck down.”

The trip was not long and without a lot of traffic that they passed. “Have you had much time in space, Lt?” he asked, making chit chat and trying to feel out where the LT was for ‘exo-biology’ experience.

• NPO Rick

“A bit, mostly around Earth, with only a couple of missions farther out. Haven’t had much opportunity to take these longer duration assignments. What about yourself?” Eric said as he followed along.

The Lt sounded so nonchalant in that, at least to Rick. His own story was deathly dull by any standard. It was something that he battled with - wanting the opportunity that this provides him as a mechanical engineer with shuttle major, but that set against his ‘family’s’ nature of nine to five and back home to the screens humdrum life. Both things prodded at him with an occasional mix of thrill and guilt set into a stew that looked great but tasted sour. He was free however when he worked; there he was in his element. “I’m straight out of the package, Lt,” he said. “You could say that I’m in space by virtue of being in the right place and right time rather than …” Rather than what? Working for it? He did work for it, just not in a military academy setting, a civilian working on a Fleet base close to home as a shuttle mechanic. That was all he had imagined; his reflexes and eyesight was not enough to make him a shuttle pilot of any skill. “Well, I was working on a Fleet base and was offered a spot to fill in as a shuttle specialist when the one they’d selected picked up a tropical bug that gave him vertigo whenever he tried to stand. It was as easy as the Captain of the Aurora talking with the Base Warrant Officer. The Captain asked if there was anyone about that had the knowhow to step in. I happened to be waist deep in an engine assembly in the hangar and I’d guess the only mechanic about when the Warrant pointed to me and said, “Rick knows his way around shuttles.” Well, it was supposed to be a temporary assignment, and was, but then I got moved to the Bonnie and then to here.” He took a breath and bit the bullet. “Do you ever miss Earth, Lt?”

Once they reached the cargo bay, Eric popped up the scanner and started looking around. “So where did you see this creature?”

Lt Eric -Sci

The lights had auto dimmed when it detected no movement and slowly the rose in illumination as they entered. Rick paused to let his eyes adjust and reorient himself. “Toward the back,” he said, pointing. “Behind that line of crates is a ventilation duct. I left Nessa there to keep watch.” He slowly threaded his way through the Bay that felt more like his father’s garage than a storage bay. Or was that the other way around? “Just back here,” he said, leading. “Nessa?” he called.

OOC: Since its been a hot minute can someone remind me is Nessa in the cargo bay here still or did you leave her somewhere else?

GM CockRoach

OOC: We left Nessa guarding the duct in the cargo bay .. Gene
N-PO Rick Walters