Re: 'Obsidian Rose'
Interfacing....
... Interfaced.
Connecting ....
... Connection Established.
Warning: Remote comms system model capability 10 terabytes / nanosecond only. Video and audio quality reduced to compensate.
You will be charged 10cr per minute for this call.
The holoscreen changed from a semi-transparent empty frame into the image of a woman sat at a desk, inside what appeared to be a pre-fabricated plastic hut. She was dressed plainly in a light grey jumpsuit, her coppery-blonde hair tied back into a pony tail. Despite being in her early fifties her skin was smooth and glowing. Her eyes had a youthful life to them that enhanced her beauty and lowered her apparent age by at least ten years. She smiled out of the screen.
"Hi mom. Just a quick call to wish you a happy birthday. How's life out on the edge?"
"Richie! Great to hear from you. You should be here, its amazing! You know the sky has these electromagnetic storms that rage across it every three days? A deep mixture of blues and purples dance across the atmosphere in a flood of colour. Its beautiful. So how's Rose? Is she still seeing that nice polish girl, what's her name again?"
"Asia? Mom, that was two years ago! You know what Rose is like when it comes to relationships. Can't hold one down for more than a few months."
A strange ten legged spider like creature with orange furry skin suddenly strolled into view. It's head had a series of tentacle-like feelers where a mouth should be and a group of large eyes on slender stalks seemed to galance in all directions at once. It slid along the desk, up the woman's arm and ended up on her left shoulder where it began to beat its mouth-feelers gently against her neck. She giggled like a schoolgirl.
"What.. is.. that?"
"We call them ticklers", the woman giggled, "they live in the great purple and black trees to the north of the camp. Aren't they adorable?"
"Uh. Adorable, yeah!", Richard replied, a mixture of confusion and revulsion on his face.
"You know, son, you should come on of these expeditions. Its amazing how much life there is out here. There's something really serene and peaceful about a planet that hasn't yet been touched by an advanced civilization and all of its problems. No beaurcracy. No politics. no..."
"War." Richard finished the sentance for her. "Mom, we may not have always seen eye to eye, but I miss him too." He saw the pain cross her face and half wished he'd hadn't even mentioned his father. He sighed inwardly.
"Anyway, Richie. Gotta go. There's a species of bird out here with a fourty foot wingspan. Charlie spotted it on day two and we think we've found out where its nesting. We're heading up there in a few minutes. Take care. I love you son."
"I love you too." He cut the transmission.
It was always the same. A brief conversation once every few months that got cut short at the mention of his father's death in the line of service. Richard had been a disspointment to the old man ever since he dropped out of flight academy at nineteen. Despite this he had loved his father in every aspect except for one. The old man's devotion to duty that made him put his career before his family and had ultimately clamied his life.
"The transfer of construction materials and working equipment to the very greatful farmers of this dear little planet is complete. They have shown their gratitude by bestowing us with credits and transferred the second set of cargo for transport to Tortuga as soon as we are ready."
The voice echoed through the bridge comm system at a level that although comfortably audable was so smooth and musical that it felt like it was being softly sung rather than spoken. The owner was O'dell, a Sanri and navigator aboard Richard's ship who was overseeing the cargo transfer. The ships "Security" officer, Ssaluman, had stayed on board during shore leave and was now fine tuning the weaponary of the "Obsidian Rose" for the tenth time since making the system jump. The had decided not to let 'Sally' take shore leave partly because he sometimes had what could only be described as 'anger management' issues but mainly because having a Largran on board your ship as a crewmember did tend to make the locals nervous. Which left only one more crew member unaccounted for.
"Any sign of Rose yet?"
"Our beautiful and highly intelligent cyber space expert is most likely enjoying the exotic charms of some suitably minded young farmer's daughter. I don't know how she manages to bed so many like minded partners when she lacks the usual paraphenalia of mating ritual phrases that you humans are so fond of employing."
"I don't creep around them. I don't promise them what I can't deliver, only what I can. I'm honest about what I want from them. And I have good 'gaydar'."
The third voice, softer and more musical than the first if a little less flowery than the Sanri's, had a hint of mock anger in it.
"Rose! Ah such an apt name for such a beautiful creature. Have you ever considered what it would be like to forgo the charms of a warm-bodied female and instead try the protective strength within these four masculine arms?"
"Hey! hands off O'dell! I saw her first!"
"Keep dreaming boys! Keep your hormones to yourself. The only way you're getting any piece of this cherry if if you go for major gender reassignment. Got it?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
Richard did a quick systems check before initiating launch procedures.
"O.K. Since we're all here. O'dell - get your ass down here. We're already three hours behind schedule. Next stop - Tortuga."
--> Tortuga
This message was last edited by the player at 16:42, Mon 16 July 2012.