Kale looked from Charlie, to Connor, and then back to Charlie again and sighed, shaking his head at his own foolishness, "Yer right ... I'm sorry.  'Course we can't be wastin' time." his eyes met Charlie's for a moment, "It's Rhaef - an' even if he did leave - he's family.  And I done lost enough of this family in the past few weeks, I ain't gonna be losin' any more."

He looked to Wei-Li then, "Go get Dake an' tell him we'll be needin' his flyin' skills - don't get the boy too excited though, its just fer this trip.  Connor, ya said the transmission was coming from Beaumonde so we'll be headin' there like the nice man said but I want those messages decoded, I want ta know what we're dealin' with.  Geoff, suit up - I'm thinkin' we might have to go in guns blazin'." he looked at Charlie, "How's Destiny doin', she good to fly?"

Connor looked at the captain, and nodded. He had the feeling this was going to be one of those things he regretted later on, when crap began to hit the fan. Connor shrugged. Kale was his captain, he would follow the orders. Connor spun around, a smile on his face. Despite his initial impression of Dake...well, the guy seemed alright, and maybe they'd found themselves a decent replacement...maybe. Connor began furiously hitting keys, attempting to break the security codes. The faster he got that done, the more forewarned they would all be...he had no idea how he was doing as far as cracking the code went...but he was trying his damnedest...

Geoff looked around at the crew.
Ruttin' hell, nice thinkin'. Why not jus' pull the trigger ourselves 'stead a handin' our lives to a hun dun we met three minutes ago. Get it over and done with.
Geoff sighed, but brightened at the thought of impending violence.
"Aye Captain, I'll get Peacemaker out a storage 'fore we get there. Jus' in case we need some room clearin'."

Charlie smiled wide, wiping the tears out of her eyes as she nodded.  "Cap'n...yeah, 'f course.  We've been ready t'go an'throw out t'fly fer th'day.  Ah'd been wond'rin how long we're gonna be hang'n round, but since ya'd never told me, ah'd not started anythin' t'get us out.  When we get'ta wher'ver we're goin, ah'll make sure'n see what'cha be doin' fer th'ship, y'know?"  She took one of Kale's hands, giving it a squeeze as she looked at him.

"Cap'n...thank ya."  She nodded one more time, stepping back so that he could do his thing.  "Ah'm sure he'd be thank'n ya too, you'll see."

Kale patted Charlie's hand when she gave his a squeeze, "I ain't doin' anythin' great or nothin' - this is just what we do, 'lil Charlie - we look out for our own."

When Charlie stepped back and thanked him and told him Rhaef would be thanking him to an odd look crossed Kale's face for a moment, "Right ... I'm - I'm sure he would ..."

Thing was, he wasn't so sure about that.  Rhaef wanted to get lost, said not to come after him, Kale was pretty sure that Rhaef wanted nothing to do with him anymore.  But here he was, going in anyway.  It wasn't like Rhaef would be ungrateful for the help, that wasn't his way ... but Kale wasn't entirely sure he could stand saving him, just to have him take off again.  Was hard enough with him leaving once - leaving twice ... well Kale wasn't going to think too hard on that.

Geoff's reaction to the possibility of needing his gun gave Wei-Li a hint of hope, but there was work to be done.

She turned giving Kale a grateful nod, and what she hoped was an encouraging smile.  They were hurt-- but now at least, they were doing something about it.

----> To Destiny Dining hall

Connor turned around and looked at Kale, looking somewhat perplexed.

"Captain...you might want to check back in with me a bit later...this is going to be a very interesting process..."

Connor turned back to the console, bypassing the security locks being his primary focus now...

"Ah'm gonna go 'hed an'fire up th'ship, Cap'n."  Charlie spoke the rushed words as she headed out of the bridge, touching the walls as she went.  She was speaking with purpose, something that hadn't happened in a while...it was the exact sort of thing that she needed.  Something to believe in.  "Ah'll have a'tha sorts ready t'be liftin' off in less'n two, 'less y'got sumthin' y'need me t'be doin'forehand n'all, y'know?"


----->to Dining Hall----->to Cargo Bay----->to Engine Room 1
This message was last edited by the player at 14:33, Fri 01 June 2007.

Kale peered over Connor's shoulder at the encryption he was running, it looked complicated.  The professor had said Connor was the best though so Kale would trust him, "Just let me know when ya got somethin'." he said to the young man.

He then turned to Charlie with a nod, "Fire 'er up." he said with a smile, it really was nice to see Charlie moving with purpose again.  Ever since Rhaef had left things had taken a downhill spiral that had been affecting Charlie more then the rest.  Time to set things right.

DC stepped onto the bridge as Charlie was leaving.  He looked at Kale.  "I have a reprieve for the trip out?  You mind if I get acquainted with her switches and such before we lift off?"

Connor looked up for a moment as Dake walked in.

"If you're gonna do that, be sure to avoid messing with the panel I'm on...delicate stuff, et cetera, et cetera..."

Connor turned his attention back to cracking the security codes.

DC nodded at Conner.  "Will do."

He had to mentally restrain himself from just taking the pilot's chair.  Play it cool.  Get the big man's nod before you just barge in.  You want to make it more then just one trip, you need to reign in your freakin tongue.

He turned back to Kale.  "With your permission?"

Kale shifted slightly, trying to hide his discomfort as Dake walked onto the bridge.  He nodded curtly to him, appreciating the fact that at least he was showing him respect.  After everything that had happened in their past he was surprised that Dake had even been willing to take up with him.

"She's all yours - for now." he added, he gave Connor a look that clearly said to keep an eye on Dake and then glanced at Geoff, "Come on, let's get ready to get Rhaef back."

[To Destiny: Dining Hall]

DC had to fight the urge to run and jump in pilot seat like a kid.  Instead, he nodded, walked over to the seat and started taking in all of the instrument positions.

Yes!  YES YES YES YES  He closed his eyes as he did a little dance inside his brain.

He touched the leather on the pilot seat.  It was worn smooth, but also well maintained.  It had a ton of miles left in it.  It’s previous occupant had taken very good care of his equipment.  DC bet that the controls and consoles would be just as tight as the seat.

He reverently slid into the seat and just sat there for a moment with his hands on the controls.  The switch panels, engine controls, and monitoring consoles were mostly in the factory positions with a few exceptions.  The exceptions really made sense though.  Who is going to turn their head away from where they are flying to check the main engine temperature and pitot RPM?  Instead the previous pilot had mounted them along to the side of the overhead switch panel so it would be easy to glance at them when flying.

He ran his hand along the instruments and slid out of the seat and looked underneath at the wiring.  He was impressed with previous pilot again.  All of the instrument wires had been bundled together and he could clearly see which bundle belonged to which instrument.  The previous pilot knew what he was doing.   ”Aren’t you pretty?”

DC got the feeling he was going to be trying to fill some big shoes.

Connor glanced over and looked at Dake as he started talking to the ship. A little strange, but then, he himself had yelled at a computer more than once in his life. Kale had said keep an eye on him, so Connor would, though, if anything, this guy did seem enthusiastic about the job. Connor cracked a small smile and went back to work...it was getting pretty tricky now, the encryptions had become more complicated....
This message was last edited by the player at 03:57, Thu 14 June 2007.

Geoff eyed Dake one more time before turning around.  He didn't like the guy.  He didn't like the way he looked at Wei-Li and he didn't like the way he talked with Lei.  Or those beady little eyes, ya, he didn't like those either.

"Righ' behind ya, Cap'n." he said and followed Kale out.

[To Destiny: Dining Hall]

Once he saw how organized the previous pilot had been, DC felt immediately better about piloting the ship.   The wiring was all connected and the connections were solid.

He pulled himself up from under the navigation panel and wiped his nose with the back of his hand.  He found a rag to wipe his hands on, and then sat down to do a quick diagnostic on the equipment before they lifted off.   He noticed the limits on the gauges and whistled softly.

”I bet you are hellfire in a sprint.”

His fingers flew over the equipment, and only fumbled a few times where the instruments had been moved, he assumed, due to pilot preference.   After only about five minutes, he was confident everything was in working order.

A grin split his face and he turned to Conner who was busy with the encryption he was working on.  He didn’t want to disturb him, but he had to work out some of his nervous energy.  Instead he got up and started going through the small lockers at the back of the cockpit to see what they held.

Connor paused, the clicking on his panel stopping as he turned to see just what Dake was doing. He shrugged, and the clicking resumed. The encryptions was beyond difficult, but Connor was getting there. Slowly...

COMM: "Hey Baby B-" there was a pause "Ah'm, uh, sorry 'bout that.  I'm jus' all, um ... the engine's all fire'd up an' ready."

DC felt himself blush slightly.

I definitely got some big damn shoes to tromp around in.

He hit the ship wide comm button.  ”Um….Thank….you.   Waiting on word from the cargo bay before lift off.”

While he waited on a reply from the cargo bay, he contacted Ground Control who gave him taxiing instructions.   There would be no delay getting airborne once he got word from Kale or Wei-Li.   He could go straight to Flight Control and blast outta atmo.

With the bay doors shut and Dake's capable hands at the yoke Destiny left Osiris behind - if only they could leave the painful memories there with it ...

The black was a welcome change from the core world which always made the crew uneasy.  But they all knew that peril lay ahead.  Rhaef was in danger and it there job to go save him.  However this was the most divided the crew had been since the first day Destiny took to the sky.  There was a lot of patching up to do before they reached Beaumonde and had to once again work as a team.

Dake's legs were propped up on the control board, a seemingly reckless place for them, but Dake wasn't about to let his foot slip and hit a button.  He was an experienced pilot after all.  His head was slumped down onto his chest and his eyes closed.  Half asleep from sitting up in the cockpit for the last few hours listening to the tapping sound of Connor at the computer.  He hadn't dared venture out into the rest of the ship yet.  Kale had made it abundantly clear that he was not welcome.

Not my problem, he thought, If Kale wants to act like I'm not doing him a favor that's his deal.  Not like I really want to stay here anyway .. except perhaps to spend some more time with Wei-Li ...  A smile spread across Dake's face and then he opened one eye to see if anyone had caught it.

Connor was still typing away, "You still at that?" he commented, opening both eyes now.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:09, Sat 13 Oct 2007.

Connor didn't even bother to turn around when Dake asked him the question. He kept typing, he couldn't stop right now, if he stopped, he'd waste too much work in addition to having to start over.

"Yes..."

The furious tapping of computer keys...

"...I am..."

More tapping.

"...something you need?"

Dake smiled one of his winning grins, which was completely lost on Connor who hadn't even turned around yet.

"Nope.  Just making an observation." he said, and moved his feet back onto the floor.  There was a few moments silence before he leaned forward and spoke again.

"So, makin' any headway?" he asked idly.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:09, Sat 13 Oct 2007.

Connor kept his focus on the console in front of him.

"That's the problem..."

Furious tapping.

"...with complicated protection algorithms such as these..."

The key tapping slowed down and sped up again.

"...you can never quite tell how you're doing until it locks you out, or you crack it..."