Minerva (Minn) Darv's Story

"That's right, Sa-ine." Saein pronounced her name a bit slower to help Minn. "Miss Fix-it? Ha! I like that. And I can tell you don't just 'deal' with food, give yourself some credit hon. Or make me some Wen-style sour dumplings sometime, and I'll do the bragging for you."

She turned to Eddie. "Right, so you're the one who will be nagging me about the controls not being 'just right'. Pleased to meet you anyway." Her big grin revealed she only meant the part about being pleased to meet him. She wondered if shaking hands with the entire crew in little time as possible might help her get rid of that annoying twitch (had Eddie noticed it or was she imagining things?). It wasn't their fault they were members of different species. She'd probably run out of jokes that way. Oh well. "But seriously, anytime you notice anything the slightest bit odd, tell me. I like to stop problems before they become difficult to solve. I'm lazy like that." Should she ask Eddie what kind of ship the Nightwing was? Nah, she would see soon enough.

Saein noticed Minn looking at her. "Do you like my hair, Minn? I like yours, it's almost the same color as that of the one woman I'm madly in love with... You know, first face I see every morning when I brush my teeth, I'm sure you met her."

Minn

Laughing, Minn knew she definitely liked this woman.

"I do like it," she said. "How do you get it so curly? Mine's only as curly as this right now, barely anything." She flicked a bit of her pinkish hair and it fell back into his natural wave.

"And as for the dumplings, I'll need to remember the exact recipe for Wen delicacies. I've only made them once before. Well received though."

All the talking was calming her down considerably and she even noticed her back wasn't completely straight by that point. She fixed that though right away, still not wanting to look anything but professional.

Saein played with her curls. "To get your hair this curly, you could try reincarnating as a Firni... No, wait, don't try that, at least not anytime soon. You look great as you are and I'd like to see you many more times before you try the reincarnation thing." Wait, this was getting dangerously close to flirting. Bad idea. If Minn didn't like that sort of attention from a woman, things would get weird, and if she did like it, things would get VERY weird because of the touch issue. Saein decided to leave her full glass where it was, she didn't think she was anything close to drunk but better safe than sorry. Also, maybe it was better to let Minn and Eddie do the talking for a bit.

She noticed Minn getting back into her straight and professional posture. Twelve years ago she had been similar to that: fresh out of two years of mandatory military service, always making sure to look professional to make a good impression... Well, right now she wasn't going to tell Minn to relax. Besides, in a way she approved of Minn wanting to be professional.

Eddie more or less just slapped their girlish conversation and told it to go elswhere when he spoke up. When Saein shook his hand, he noticed something, almost a bit 'off' about it. This immediately told him she really didn't want to shake hands, or something to that degree. Was shaking hands with other species an unpreferable thing for her to do? Was she forcing herself to and whatnot? Oddly, he had to figure out, but being the man that he was, he wasn't going to directly call her a racist or anything, but he needed to know if he was going to work with her.

He smiled. "Is there something wrong with my hand?" he asked, keeping a more pleasant tone about him. "I did wash it just a bit ago...." his gaze was on her, and wasn't going to be averted until he heard what he needed to.

Inqueta had been listening to the conversation between the pilot, cook and new mechanic. She sensed Saein nervousness with touching other people, and she even voiced it. Eddie became very displeased with her, and Inque was getting two very different feeds of emotions. She finally spoke up. "Firni," she addressed her by her race, rather than her name. She didn't know her last name, and she couldn't bring herself to call her by her first. "Pilot Ackers is right. You need to take into consideration the ship you have joined." Her voice was emotionless, and her eyes were glued on the woman's face. She blinked a few times, then turned to look at Eddie. Some of her silvery hair fell in her face, and she pushed it back with the back of her hand. "Pilot Ackers, she isn't racist. Like she said, the Firni, as a race, have a hard time touching other races. It gives them weird sensations." She glanced at Saein again. "Please, correct me if I'm wrong. I have not studied your kind in many years." She blinked a few times again, and flared the sensory glands on her temples. They shut one by one except for the top. She was trying to read the emotions near her. "I'm not trying to cause more problems, but rather solve some that would otherwise be unnecessary." Her eye brows went up slightly, and the corners of her eyes twitched upward slightly. In an instant, her face was back to it's exotic, stoic expression. What she did may have been the beginning of a smile, but she doubted anyone noticed.

"Miss Darv," she turned her attention to Minn, "I should safely be able to assume you don't know any Schael recipes. If I am wrong, I apologize. I have a few written down and if it's alright, I'd like to share them. I cannot cook, but I know you can." She tugged at her shorts, and shifted uncomfortably. She scanned the room, but kept her head still. It was impossible to know her focus wasn't on the group anymore. She couldn't see the Captain.

Minn

Racist? Minn sat straighter with her nerves picking up again. She might have groaned in annoyance if she was outside the group. She just wanted a good, easy time with everyone. Why couldn't everyone get along?

Inqueta approached, addressing the mechanic and agreeing with Eddie. She then brought up food and Minn smiled. "Recipes would help immensely," she said, wondering what sort of food Schael ate. She had made plenty of specialty dishes before, most of them she had never even heard of and it had been her first time preparing them, yet the customers were satisfied, asking for more. Confident she could pull off anything Inqueta had to show, she smiled brighter.

Eddie only raised an eyebrow as the Schael decided to join in. She was even supporting him, for the most part. As she finished and mentioned that Firini as a race disliked touching other races due to whatever reason, he could only think of how redundant that information was: He already knew this, and didn't mind it one bit. He grinned rather widely before letting out a hearty laugh and then explaining himself.

"I know she isn't racist, and only a fool would assume that just because touching others wasn't a preferred action," he informed. "However, I find myself in a rather bored mood, and I couldn't help but mess with her," he laughed again, looking at inqueta. "I guess I should be an actor, if I hid my true feelings that well,"

He then shifted back to Saein, with a bigger smile on his face. "Don't worry, I don't believe you to be racist in the slightest. I've been around most kinds of aliens, and have actually bothered to inform myself on them, so I understand" he sighed. "But yeah, I'm not the biggest fan of touching either, beyond a handshake,"

Once more, he turned his body, this time just outwards towards wherever and addressed the group before him. "Yeah... don't take me seriously too much, if you want to remain sane at least,"

Inqueta listened to what Eddie had said. He was laughing, and saying something about being bored. She felt bored as well. He had done a very good job at hiding his feelings, although, she wasn't sure if he was just trying to cover up his annoyance. She decided that it didn't really matter in the long run, and pushed the conversation away. Arc made her way over, and picked up on the joking. Inqueta wasn't very amused. She understood they were joking, but it still made her uneasy that they were saying they shouldn't listen to a thing Eddie says. When Arc addressed her, Inque put her focus on the human girl. "Equally." She said and inclined her head slightly. She opened the slits in her nose and took a deep breath in, closing them once more. "It's quite crowded in here. I think I'm going to stretch my legs before we get settled onto the ship. She turned away from the group and slowly, yet deliberately walked towards the door. She still didn't see the captain, and now that she though about it, the second in command wasn't to be seen either. They must have been getting the rest of the crew up, or prepping the ship.

Saein grew more and more confused, and it showed. Her spots now resembled a swarm of angry bees. A moment after Eddie mentioned it being a joke, she finally figured out what was going on. "Eddie," she said, "normally I love jokes, but that one was hurtful." More for the benefit of others than for Eddie, who already seemed to know, she explained: "These little spots all over my skin don't just show my emotions, we Firni can sense them on each other when we touch. The moment between sensing that someone doesn't seem to have emotions and sensing they are warm and alive after all is really weird. It doesn't help that I really like to touch my friends." To help everyone relax, she made a face and added "That last bit sounded dirty, didn't it?"

Putting on her serious face again, she turned to Inqueta. "I know I could avoid that feeling by avoiding mixed crews, but it would be kind of racist if I did, don't you agree? I've been told the feeling can go away with practice, and if it doesn't, well, I'm a mechanic, not a masseuse. And please don't say 'Firni' if you want to get my attention, I don't think I'll recognize that as referring to me. You can call me Saein, or mechanic Vernig. And you are...?" She held out her hand for a handshake. She had no intention of stopping shaking hands with those she introduced herself to.

That is, if those people did appear to want handshakes. She smiled right back at Arc. "It's great to meet you too. Like I've been telling everyone all day, my name is Saein." She was back in her relaxed and happy mood,

A part of her had been paying attention to Minn all that time. She placed her hand on the girl's shoulder. Luckily at least that body part was covered, so she could touch without hesitation. "Listen, hon, you'll probably see many worse confrontations on a ship. There are two people who can always end them. One is the captain, who can tell everyone to stop it. The other is the cook, who can distract everyone with food. Okay?" A gentle squeeze, an encouraging smile, and she let go. The cook was her favorite crew member so far. Saein would suck up to any cook, but she genuinely liked Minn.

Minn

Saein's words helped Minn relax and she smiled brightly again, but the spoon was still gripped in her hands tightly. "I'm good with food," she agreed quietly. Peering around, she hoped they would be leaving soon. Waiting was not working out for her very well. She was trying to be friendly, but internally she was freaking out.

It's better than where you were before, right? Stop complaining. Stop worrying.

Before she had had to sleep in a tiny closet sized space with three other girls, colorful blankets strewn on the hard floor and door always closed since Betna liked privacy. Hot and horribly cramped, the girls had basically worn no clothing unless going out and Minn had had to sneak off to the club's kitchen to make food for all the employees in the back. It was a trade. If she made good food for all the girls, then they would make sure she wouldn't ever have to be alone with one of the customers. They could be brutal, especially so someone as tiny and curved as Minn.

Glancing down herself, she cursed her heritage for the millionth time in her life. Sure, she was "nice on the eyes" as Dawn had always said, but with the lifestyle she was thrown into because of her ashamed father, the beauty came at a price.

This was her chance. Her only chance. She had promised the girls she would find an actual life outside of bars and clubs. And now that it was here, she needed to get it over with. Her stomach was going to explode from tense nerves.

Excusing herself from the bar, Minn went to sit alone in a booth for a moment, steadying her breathing and trying to only think good thoughts. She played with the beads on her pants. Dawn had made her clothes for her. She was so talented. Why was she still stuck with that awful man?

Minn pushed the thought away and glanced to the crew. She sensed there would be some issues between mates but overall, a good vibe rolled off of them. Placing her hands on the table and rest her head on them gently, she forced a smile. Just relax. You'll be fine.



Bond

Tossing back some water, Bond allowed his sight to travel over the gathered "troops." Two red/pink hair ladies. He wasn't sure how he felt about it. Curly hair wasn't really his style, likening to long flowing locks on his gals, but he smiled to the new recruit. She was cute enough, seemed direct, had a nice smile. Bond felt he could like this girl, hoping she would return the sentiment since they would be working together.

Stepping over, he introduced himself. "Name's Bond. Engineer Bond." He didn't hold out his hand just to see what she would say in response to him. He noticed the tools on her person, lips curving up a bit.

"Didn't catch your name."

"Earth? We're looking for EARTH?" Saein laughed out loud. "That's crazy. I mean, you don't lose a planet like a datapad dropped into a toilet. There may be some dangerous things involved. At least all of the crewmembers I met seem like people who know what they're doing and how to get themselves out of trouble." Only a species that could literally grin from ear to ear could smile a bigger smile than Saein's. "Just like the good old days. Good crew, looking for something improbable, some danger... Today must be my lucky day. This, after I quit my job this morning, checked in in a random hotel, noticed the scent of a great cook, and she turns out to work for someone who offers me a job out of the blue!"

Saein appeared to suddenly remember something very bad. "Oh dear. Catch-22. I think I've just given myself a headache. Please excuse me."

She found herself a booth, a reasonably quiet place to try and figure out the problem she had just noticed. One of her crewmates didn't seem like she knew what kind of mission she had gotten herself into. Her ethics required her to warn crewmates about danger, but if she did give that warning, the girl might quit, and that very same girl happened to be the only truly convincing reason to want the job at all. If Saein's actions cost the captain her cook and her mechanic, the captain as well as the others wouldn't be pleased and that couldn't be good for her chances to find some other job. She didn't mind risking her career for a crewmate, but if the cook got scared away she wouldn't be a crewmate, just some stranger. Saein could decide not to say anything, but that would make her feel responsible for watching Minn's back. But if they were going to spend a lot of time on the same ship, she wanted to be friends with her, and imagined responsibility would prevent that.

It was all much too complicated. "Okay, Saein, think outside of the box" she said to herself. "Try thinking with your heart instead of your head."

What did her intuition tell her Minn would do if warned that the mission could be more dangerous than she might think? The girl seemed nervous, not just new-job-nervous, or big-adventure-nervous like Saein had been twelve years ago, but must-not-fail-nervous. As if she was coming from a situation much worse than whatever she thought the job might bring.

If that intuitive guess was right, that meant there was no problem, but it made Saein feel sad. At least it was something she could ask Minn about without getting in trouble, and if she turned out to be wrong, maybe she could think of another way out later. Now where was that girl? Saein got up to look around. No Minn...? Oh, there she was, in the booth right behind her.

"Minn, can I ask you a quick question? Is this job much better than your previous one?"

Minn

The voice startled her and she straightened up right away. "What?" she inquired at first, not fully processing the question. Minn shook her head, grabbing onto a lock of pink hair, before answering, "I can't really say yet since we haven't really started." She tried a smile. "But the company seems nice. Not that my co-workers weren't nice before. They were more like family really...but the management was...well, not good."

Her thoughts started to get away from her, but she forced herself to focus on Saein and her similar colored hair.

"I hope its better. All I've really wanted to do was cook and bake and...here I am." Her shoulders lifted to her ears almost as she grinned.

"What about you?"

Narration

After a long and tiring morning, Reggie finally had all her crew members. She officially welcomed Dr. Alexander Greenhaven to the crew, who happily accepted.

With the final pieces in place, Captain Oris gladly led everyone outside to the land cruiser.


Reggie

Finally, they finally had everyone. Reggie could feel her adrenaline kicking in. Her mind so focused on getting everyone up to the ship. She wanted to begin this journey. The thought of discovering Earth, after so many years! No words could describe her excitement.

"Alright, everyone!" She called as they neared the cruiser. "It's going to be a tight fit, but I promise the Nightwing is a lot larger." She popped open the door of the cruiser and climbed in, immediately taking the pilot's position.

"Make sure you're strapped in." She called behind her as everyone else piled in. She was so excited to see her ship again, to sleep in the bed she had grown accustomed to, she was half tempted to start flying while everyone was still trying to strap in.

Colin took his place in the seat next to her, strapping himself in. She beamed at him. He knew how excited for this she was. She had been trying to get funding for this expedition for years after discovering the possibilities. It was finally happening.

"Everybody ready?" She called back, it was hard to turn and see everyone while being strapped in. She got a resounding "yes" or "all good" from her newly hired crew. Not wanting to waste anymore time, she turned on the cruiser and slammed it into full throttle.

Just like last night, when she had shown Eddie the Nightwing for the first time, she gave out a hoot of excitement. She loved flying. The land cruiser was a bit more exciting because you could physically feel the small ship gain the speed. A large ship like the Nightwing was built to handle the high speeds. It was meant to move smoothly even at drastic speeds.

Blasting out of the atmosphere and into the vastness of space, Reggie instantly spot her ship sitting at the docks. "MAK, open the hanger," She spoke pressing a button to communicate with the on board AI.

"Welcome home, Captain Oris." Was the AI's reply as it lowered the hanger door.

"Welcome to the Nightwing, everyone."

(rewind)

The words of the answer didn't really solve the problem, but perhaps the way Minn acted did. Or perhaps not. Maybe she should stop worrying, the girl was an adult so she was responsible for her own decisions.

"What about you?"

"Oh, this is MUCH better. More dangerous too. I'm not sure I'll find the same sense of family with the whole crew as in the job before the last one, but I guess I'll have you...?" Saein smiled at Minn. "You can rely on me if you want to."

She saw the captain had returned. The woman looked much less stressed than before. Saein pointed at her. "I think we may be leaving soon. I'd better get changed. Never ever wear a dress when there's the slightest chance of zero gravity, trust me on that one."

(fast forward)

Apart from changing into her work clothing, Saein had put on her old RMEE jacket. It had been quite a while since she last felt worthy of wearing it. "Not bad at all" she commented when they approached the Nightwing. Soon she would be walking around the ship, sniffing the air and listening for any hidden problems, while comparing everything to the technical logs and documentation. If she hadn't been strapped in, she would have jumped with joy. "Getting to know a ship always is exciting, isn't it?" she said to nobody in particular.

Cassandra looked up from the table she was digging a knife into to see Regina. She smiled slightly, before putting the knife down flat. The barkeeper was going to hate her, saying she had carved many symbols and such into the table. Still, she stood and crossed the room to go follow the captain, like many. She heard Regina shout something about how it was going to be a tight fit, but she simply shrugged. She didn't mind, if it was for a short period of time. Which, it supposedly would be. She climbed in and took a seat right behind the pilot's, and strapped herself in.

"All good, Nauar." She announced, along with all the others saying similar things to announce they were ready. However, the Xylamar's voice was drowned out by the engine of the engine starting to life. She sighed and leaned back in the chair, ignoring all signs of somebody trying to start the conversation with her. Soon enough, the cruiser stopped, and the engine was cut off. She undid the buckle that held her in and stood. Even though the cruiser was too small for her to stand fully, she craned her neck a bit and stretched her limbs before heading off and into the hangar. She was the first one off, so she simply stood there and stared at the Nightwing. Soon somebody approached behind her, but she wasn't sure who. But she had to say something to them. So she did.

"It's beautiful, The Nightwing. I can't wait..."

Before Arc even got the chance to respond, they were called to the ship. Finally! His excitement was uncontained! It was leaking out of him! It was... well, he wasn't anymore 'visibly' excited then the rest. However, inside, he was cheering. They were finally getting ready to go! He followed Regina as they were led to the shuttle and then flown to the actual ship.

After the cramped shuttle ride up to the Nightwing, Eddie found himself giving second-glances to all the features of the ship he had already seen before. He wasn't as curious as the others, given the fact he knew what all this was and had seen the ship the day before, but he did admire the actual beauty of the ship as he walked.

As Reggie informed them of the AI, Eddie found himself not taking advantage of the thing, obviously because he wasn't completely comfortable with it. Then again, he didn't really need it, he did actually pay attention during the tour. Eddie caught himself before he got too far away from the others and smiled. "I would suggest nobody leaves without knowing where they are going, unless you want to wander around for a while," he warned jokingly.

“I don’t know, aren’t they kind of all the same” Arc replied to her remark, then looked a bit embarrassed. Saein smiled. “Yes, they’re all designed to keep air inside and have some sort of engine to move them around. Kind of like how all weapons are meant for pointing at things you feel threatened by.” She made the “pew pew” gesture at Arc, laughed, and added “Just teasing.”

As she got out of the land cruiser, it became obvious to Saein that the Nightwing had once been a passenger ship. She wasn't happy about that. Passenger ships were full of unneeded space, making them both less sturdy and more likely to hit something. Worse, they were designed to be silent, making beginning problems more difficult to hear. Worst, they weren't designed to be easily repaired when a pilot took them beyond their specs, instead everything was built to defend such ships against kids with screwdrivers and drunk passengers who might confuse a handle on a wall panel for a door. The last ship she had worked on had been an example of these problems, those were the only reason it needed more than one or two mechanics. At least the Nightwing had been improved both on the outside and the inside.

She walked a short distance away from the rest. “Hello, MAK. My name is Saein, I’m the new mechanic.” Her datapad buzzed, she ignored that for now. “I'm going to need the technical data and the spare parts inventory list.”

“Welcome, Saein. You already have it.”

Saein looked through the information. “Is that all?”

“I left out the things that aren’t relevant to your job.”

“I'm a proactive mechanic, MAK. Everything is relevant to my job.” She sighed. Who had ever come up with the bright idea of making computers worse by letting them make assumptions? At least MAK did give her the remaining data without complaining about insufficient access rights. “Now guide me along the shortest route visiting all of the ship except the private areas.”

“Understood. Keep walking in that direction, then turn left” the AI replied.

Saein turned to face the rest of the crew first. “Hey Bond, MAK is showing me all of the ship, do you want to join the tour? It will be a long one.” Turning back to follow the directions of the AI, her eyes landed on Minn for a moment. She hoped things would work out well for that rookie. Saein brought her thoughts back to ships and work. “Okay MAK, here we go.”

Bond

He sauntered onto the ship with everyone else, impressed with Reggie's work on the thing, nodding here and there. Saein dove right in of course and he decided it was best to follow along, especially since she seemed to be taking lead with their jobs. He didn't mind working under someone, as long as he was able to do what he did with his skills, which were overly impressive and documented in several places, he would be fine.

Taking his spot at Saein's side and glancing at the data she was collecting, he smiled. "Noticed the same issues," he commented. "This'll be one fun ride, eh?"


Minn

Overwhelmed from the air conditioning, Minn wrapped her arms around herself, staring around in amazement. Her first time on an actual ship in actual space. Her smile was hard to hide.

Everyone seemed to be splitting off into their own little groups or wandering off on their own, so Minn decided to do the same. She wouldn't be much help technical-wise, or with moving the ship, or with weapons planning. She just needed the kitchen. Following her nose, she took step after step, exploring it all.

She found the bed chambers and entertainment rooms quite interesting, each bedroom a single slim mattress with drawers in the bottom and a ladder leading back up to the main areas of the ship. Several screens lined the entertainment room and Minn was tempted to press buttons, but knew she better work on food first. Eddie was first after all and he seemed a hungry type of human.

It took nearly twenty minutes more until she stepped down three stairs into the dining and kitchen room. Oval, open and walls painted a burnt orange, Minn fell in love.

She dashed to the pantry seeing ingredients stacked and lined on ten different shelves. The cooling cupboards filled her mind with delicious possibilities. Even the pots gleamed in such a way that begged her to use them.

Spinning around once, she laughed out loud then covered her mouth. It was even a bit warmer in here. It was perfect!

Cassandra looked around as everybody split up, realizing she was now alone. She turned around slowly, looking at all the doors. Which one to go through first... She decided on the door directly in front of her and stepped inside to see a rather small living space. There was one bed, and then a couple of drawers. It was perfect. She opened the drawers to find a couple set of clothing. Looking down at her own shirt that ended at about the top of her rib cage, she bit her lip. Maybe changing up her wardrobe would help.

"Hi, MAK. My name's Cassandra. Is this room already taken?" She spoke out, hoping the AI would hear her somehow. Luckily, it did.

"Welcome to the Nightwing, Cassandra. No, it isn't." The Xylamar smiled before nodding. It was perfect. "I'd like this room, MAK." She said, slowly, and the AI seemed to make mark of that, but didn't say anything else. She left the room, determined to find some area where she could retreat to for some studying. She opened yet another door, hoping to get a little lucky again and find another area she could claim. Unfortunately, the door led to yet another hallways. She continued on, opening many other doors. Room, room, and something that looked like an armory. She would have to check that out later. Just when she was about to give up, she heard laugh come from behind yet another door. She opened it cautiously, to find the kitchen.

"Hello. I take it you are enjoying this place?" Cassandra said, smiling at the Shariva. Minn, her name was. Or something like that.

Minn

The voice startled her, but as she spun about and noticed Cassandra, Minn giggled with numerous nods. "It's amazing...just look at all this!" She dove for the cabinets, extracting knives, listing off ingredients and rushing back and forth between appliances, making sure to give Cassandra the full run-down on the make and model and special features each had to give.

"It's like a dream...I very very delicious dream."

Minn giggled and faced her crew mate once more, suddenly realizing how long she had been talking. "Sorry..." she said, smiling nervously. "How are you liking the ship so far?"


Bond

"Engines sound like heaven to me," he replied, pulling out his screwdriver and saluting Saein with it. "Lead on!"

They ventured a bit further into the belly of the beast and Bond was smiling the whole time. He wondered about MAK, the AI on the ship. Reggie seemed to trust him, and Bond wasn't going to question Reggie after knowing her judgments were sound, but it worried him slightly, memories flashing in his mind's eye. The AI on his previous jobs had never gone rogue, but they were little help in crisis. Something to do with system failures and unresponsive chips. Bond believed relying on the AI for anything except tours was hard to do.

But it wasn't his place to worry about MAK right now. He followed Saein until the hallways turned more into a boiler room setup and he grinned, hearing the engine whirring nearby.

"Come to papa," he purred and pushed forward, pulling open the Engine Room door. "Oh glorious beauty. We meet again."

It was what he had hoped. Cylinder shaped, Cones at each end, gears here, levers there...He rounded the large machine twice, wondering where to start his inspections. He looked to Saein. "I could marry this thing."