JP Lt Herrick, Ltjg Nilsen, 1lt Maxwell, Ens Yinn, Ens Kovacs, Zarah Johnson - JOPA 404 pt3
Lhandon Nilsen
((Toxin’s Quarters, Deck 4))
Toxin knew the hour, he’d been invited to his last JOPA, it’s been difficult with HENRI and the rift between he and Lhandon to really engage outside of regular duties.
oO Herni: you should go, it’s the last time now that you're a senior officer. Oo
Toxin ignored the voice in his head but still pulled up the internal sensors from the hallway outside their quarters. Toxins were right across the hall from Lhandons. He watched as a motley crew exited and headed towards the turbo lift, a perplexed look crossing his face.
He followed them for a bit before realising he knew where they were going and headed out the door.
((A short time later, Deck 5 EV Lockers, USS Octavia E Butler))
When the doors whisked open, Josh was pleasantly surprised that this ship seemed to have an abundance of suits.
Herrick: (smiling) Looks like we’re in luck.
Johnson: It’s not luck, it’s the Ops people doing their job.
As if on crew, Lhandon chimed in over the comms system, he had found his way to OC.
Nilsen: =/\= I mean…yeah, I might have made sure they got there before you…and not because there are always suits in those lockers. ::Sarcastically:: No, I totally was able run past all of you, and get to the lockers before you did: laughs/\=
Zarah cast a wink over at Nilsen before she ran through the suits and picked one that looked about her size, then unhooked it from the rack. Although she hadn’t done any walks, she displayed no hesitation as she unzipped and slipped into it.
Yinn would never say this out loud to her crewmates, but she had suggested the idea of extending the shields and walking out on the hull exposed because she found EV suits claustrophobic, ever since a cadet training exercise clearly designed to see if the cadets would panic under pressure. But Zarah slipped into hers so easily, and Yinn didn’t want to betray her nervousness to her younger friend. So she took a deep breath and slid her leg into the suit.
Eli pulled a suit off the rack and zipped it open. While the tech may have improved considerably over time, there was something nostalgic about them — harkening back to similar design as the astronauts used during the first moon landing of 1969.
Filing in behind the others, Max cast his eyes across the racked suits and pulled one free. He’d unzipped it and stepped in, and was currently pulling it up his body as Arlil appeared.
Toxin stepped into the airlock room door and observed the JOPA crew gearing up. When the doors had slipped open, he obviously had startled them, they must have assumed he wasn’t going to come, well surprise, here Toxin was.
Arlill: Looks like I’m not too late for the fun!
oO Henri: finally, you need to have some… wait what fun, you’re not planning on…Oo
It seemed like the lieutenant was in on the plan, and the donning of suits continued.
Herrick: (putting his arms in the sleeves) Chief! Good to see you.
Eli waved a friendly hello to the bearded blue man.
Zarah froze and glanced at the other officers gathered there. Although she knew Toxin had been a member of JOPA, that was no longer the case. Did his higher rank and responsibility mean that he had to inform his superiors about their shenanigans?
Yinn: Hey, Tox, are you here to get us in trouble, or here to join the trouble?
Herrick: =/\= Herrick to Nilsen, looks like we’re all green down here. =/\=
Nilsen had made sure all the T’s were crossed and the I’s were dotted, and he was on comms with the group in the OC,
Nilsen: =/\= Keep this line open, I’ll be following you from here. =/\=
Kovacs: =/\= And, it seems like we have 1 latecomer on the details =/\=
Eli motioned to Arlill to speak up; Nilsen had been worried all evening if the man was even going to show up.
Arlill: =/\= Good Evening Lhandon =/\=
Nilsen: =/\= Ha! Finally, Tox where the heck you been? =/\=
Arlill: =/\= Busy, but I couldn’t let this group just float off into space. Someone has to keep an eye on them. =/\=
Max waved towards the far end of the rack.
Maxwell: I’d say that looks tae be about your size, L-T.
With that, the young woman relaxed, for evidently Toxin wasn’t going to cause a problem. Zarah had no plans to be an engineer, but having a mom who was one came in handy, mainly because despite her attempts not to, she knew more than she probably should about systems. She also knew the basics of flying, though she certainly couldn’t do anything fancy, and she hadn’t exactly taken any tests to pass her official flying certification. In fact, she hadn’t actually flown anything outside of a simulator, so she didn’t try, but simply enjoyed being a passenger. They had all clustered together, and the time had come. Nilsen, efficient as he was, had managed to get them this far - they need only take the final steps.
Johnson: Is everyone ready?
Kovacs looked around the room, nodding.
Herrick: (offering a thumbs up) As ready as I’ll ever be.
Maxwell: Aye, ready.
Yinn: Oh, sure.
She was both excited and terrified at the prospect of being out in open space, but she wasn’t going to get into it with this group. Maybe later with Counselor Salo.
Arlill: Not my first rodeo.
oO Henri: Wait, rodeo? What’s a horse event have to do with walking in space?! I hope you’ve done this before! Oo
Lhandon saw them out and then made his way his way to the Operations Centre to watch over them
((Exterior Hull, USS Octavia E Butler & Operations Center (OC), Deck 7, USS Octavia E Butler))
As Josh took the first step out of the airlock, and his boot magnetised to the hull plating, it was hard not to stop and take in the 360 degree view, the beauty of New Bajor and the magnificence of DS14. His wonder was abruptly punctuated with a prod at the back to get out of the way.
Herrick: =/\= Sorry! ::stepping out further:: =/\=
Arlill: =/\= I get it, isn’t that a sight! =/\=
She had never been outside before, but that didn’t stop Zarah. Watching those who did have experience closely, she mimicked everything they did, but when that first foot stepped out onto the plating and the magnetic boots took hold, lifting her foot took far more effort than she realised. The sensation and how to navigate it slowed her down, but she managed to finally take one step forward. Then another. Although she knew sounds, at least sounds that humans could hear, did exist in space, the boots elicited nothing but silence, not even conducted through the mechanical pathways her suit afforded. Instead, her breathing echoed through the helmet, an eerie sound, a steady rhythm that let her know she was still alive. That was a plus.
Maxwell: =/\= Aye ::turning to look up and down their ship:: she’s a beauty right enough. =/\=
Nilsen: =/\= Rather you than me Max, I’ll stick with the window. I’ve got overwatch on you all. Obviously it goes without saying that I can now hear everything you can say, comms don’t turn off on these walks =/\=
Yinn: =/\= See, even when you throw us out the airlock you still have to listen to us, Lhando! =/\=
Taking a few steps out along the hull plating, Max paused and looked “up” towards New Bajor. He took a few slow breaths to centre himself in the present, driving away the thoughts of the last time he had walked the hull of a starship. This time he wasn’t carrying a scroll full of names.
Kovacs: =/\= Brings back memories of the Academy. I haven’t been on this side of the hull in a long time. =/\=
Arlill: =/\= Yeah, it’s been a “while” ::using air quotes:: =/\=
Johnson: =/\= This is my first! =/\=
Zarah’s voice beamed brightly through the intercom. It was all rather disconcerting, but though she wouldn’t admit it, since the others were there, it helped her feel better about the entire thing.
Max’s grin could almost be heard through the comms.
Maxwell: =/\= Hey, good for you lass! =/\=
Yinn: =/\= Yeah, mine too. =/\=
Toxin wandered over to a panel near what looked like a transporter array. Anyone who knew this ship’s schematics would question why there was an array here, but not Toxin, this array wasn’t part of the larger system, but rather one dedicated to operations, “gifted” by intelligence. The array wasn’t what he wanted to look at, no it was a small marking nearby the array. Kneeling down he ran his fingers over the inscription, “A new Home. ~ TA”.
oO Herni: Who is “T”... oh wait, when did you…Oo
Arlill: ::quietly:: before you.
Johnson: =/\=Did you say something, Toxin?=/\=
Zarah could have sworn she heard a soft murmur in his voice, but the coms made other people sound slightly different, flatter, and not quite themselves, yet they remained recogniseable.
Arlill: =/\= What? Oh nothing, just thinking out loud (beat) where are we going? =/\=
Max kept quiet, mostly. Instead he lightly began to whistle “I like to go a-wandering” to himself.
Toxin took a moment to look back towards the inscription and smirk. Avander had taken him out a few weeks ago to show him the array since not everyone in even engineering would be privy to this array.
Johnson: =/\=Where did the inscriptions go last time?=/\=
Rumours had circulated around the Oumumua about names and initials out on the hull, but Zarah hadn’t ever seen them - it had been in an area not visible to any windows.
Nilsen: =/\= On the Oumuamua? Everywhere, that ship was more signatures than hull plating, but on here, until you folk leave your paw marks on the OEB, it's just me and… =/\=
He stopped himself. Everyone heard that that slip up but faked some static.
Arlill: =/\= You might be surprised Lieutenant. =/\=
Kovac: (nudging the man playfully) =/\= So… you’ve beat us to the punch? =/\=
Nilsen: =/\= It’s…classified. =/\=
Johnson: =/\=So where would the best place on this ship be? =/\=
She wasn’t the one to look too hard at schematics other than locations of where she wanted to go. If Zarah didn’t know where something was, she’d just bring up a map on one of the public consoles inset into the walls throughout the ship. When it came to layout outside of the ship, she was even more clueless. Her mother would have been disappointed in her.
Maxwell: =/\= Somewhere that’s tucked out ae the way I reckon. =/\=
Yinn: =/\= Aww, I was going to put mine in the E in between “Octavia” and “Butler.” =/\=
Nilsen: =/\= Section 221-Beta. It’s only about 10 meters ahead of you all. =/\=
The group made their way forward, the thudding of their boots only audible to themselves in their suits. There was a rather generous panel in between multiple raised components. If something was to fire here, this piece of plating would likely make it out unscathed.
Herrick: =/\= What’s under here? =/\=
Nilsen: =/\= You really wanna know? :: small laugh:: It’s the waste reclamation systems, no one looks there. =/\=
Herrick: oO Why does my life always come back to the waste reclamation systems. Oo =/\= Got it, soooooo… less likely to be discovered. =/\=
He fumbled around the EV suit belt until his hands grasped upon the laser scalpel. He raised it up in the air to the group.
Herrick: =/\= Maybe we go in reverse order today. Start with the youngest and make our way up, which means ::holding the scalpel to Zarah:: You’re up! =/\=
Zarah’s face brightened visibly beneath the helmet and she carefully accepted the device. She’d handled one before in secondary school science courses so she wasn’t too unfamiliar with how to use it. Stepping forward, she took up a position on the ship, observed the hull, then carefully etched out the letters. After her name, she put the date, then added “Ad Astra” as a final touch. Finally, she was done, and she turned to hand it over to the next person, beaming.
Johnson: Your turn, Yinn!
Yinn wordlessly accepted the scalpel from Zarah. She knew how to write the blocky script the humans used, but she wrote her name the Bolian way, first a few spidery lines for her own name, and then five threads extending upwards to her parents, and one extending downward to Tikk. There were dozens of Yinns on Izos alone; your name didn’t mean anything without the context of your family. Which Bolians naturally saw as a metaphor for life. Even lives that were lived a few million miles away from their family.
She passed the scalpel onto Eli. He knelt down, looking at the fresh etchings of the two that went before him for a moment before activating the device. Then, he seared his name into the hull, ‘Elijah Ivan Kovacs, 2401, May the Gods Look Kindly Upon Our Bow’
Eli turned and passed the scalpel to the blue bearded man beside him.
Arlill: =/\= I’m good, here you go Chief. =/\=
Herrick: ::taking the scalpel:: =/\= Thanks Chief! =/\=
He paused for a moment, reflecting on the fact that Arlill said he was ‘good’, and in a way that suggested he already had his name etched somewhere onboard. Josh bent down, wondering how many signatures would eventually make their way here. Then, he scribed his addition, ‘Josh Tobias Herrick, 2401, We Chart Our Own Path, with a Dash of Science, Engineering, Magic and Luck.’
Herrick: =/\= You’re up Maxwell =/\= ::offering the scalpel.
Accepting the scalpel, Max took a knee and activated it.
Leaning forwards and steadying himself with his free hand, he thought for a moment of a quote he’d read somewhere. Inside the suit, Max nodded to himself before beginning.
Arturo Maxwell, 2401. “In a Galaxy filled with Adversity, We Must Dare to Dream”.
Standing, he turned to offer the scalpel out.
Maxwell: =/\= You’re up, doc. =/\=
Stendhal: Response
Kovacs: (nodding to the rest of the group) That’s us then.
Arlill: =/\= A proud group. =/\=
Nilsen: =/\= We gotta get a picture after this. I love all you folks, and I’m never going to say that again so savour that =/\=
Johnson: =/\=It’s seared in my memory. Did anyone bring a camera?=/\=
Herrick: =/\= Don’t worry, I’ve got the EV recorder on the go, so you’ll each get a souvenir of you ‘making your mark’ on the OEB. Now let’s get back in before someone questions why we never actually ‘repaired’ something. =/\=
Zarah turned to get a view of the writings now that everyone had finished. Tugging at her leg, the magnetic boot stuck more soundly than she remembered when walking out there. Pulling did no good, and finally she tried to literally jump, but still nothing happened. Looking over the options on the controls in her arm, she tapped on the one that had a boot shaped picture, and was rewarded immediately with a release. Only, she realised rather belatedly that she probably shouldn’t have done that, for suddenly, she started floating away from the ship.
Johnson: =/\=Ack!=/\=
Toxin had seen Zarah struggle for a moment with her boot but before he could make his way over to help the young star fleet prospect punched a control on her suit.
Arlill: =/\= Don’t panic Zarah, stay calm and breathe. =/\=
Yinn instinctively reached out for her friend, but she was too far away and getting further away every moment. Could she deactivate the boots and go after her? Then she’d just be caught in the same current.
Turning, Max saw the younger Johnson drifting away.
Maxwell: oO Suit failure? Oo
Stendhal: Response
Herrick heard the shouts and looked backwards, his eyes widening a bit in abject terror as one of the gang had started floating away from the ship.
Herrick: =/\= Nilsen… =/\=
Lhandon heard that right right away, his tone switched.
Nilsen: =/\= Herrick, report? =/\=
Herrick: =/\= Johnson’s no longer attached to the ship, she’s floating about 15 metres above the hull and heading in the wrong direction. =/\=
Arlill: =/\= It appears our would be ensign has discovered the magnetic release on her suit. (beat) Mind locking onto her with the transporter (beat) in case she’s not so lucky here? =/\=
Toxin knew that Zarah would be fine, she was panicking as would anyone their first time in space and now floating away from their one sanctuary of a ship. If they weren’t successful helping her back she’d have to be transported and the new logs were harder to scrape than the old transporter logs were, they left obvious gaps when transports were erased, thus the Ops specific array & transport system.
Flailing about, Zarah’s hands and feet synchronised motions, but such movements would work far better were she underwater. There was nothing that acted as a force in space, however, unless she could catch onto something else. Turning her head, she desperately tried to spy something, anything she could latch onto.
Eli wondered what anyone from DS14 might think if they looked out the window and saw the scene unfolding. Several folks standing there while Zarah slowly started to rotate away from them in a somersault like fashion. He would be panicking if he didn’t find it so funny. Most cadets had experienced something similar, albeit in holo-training.
Johnson: =/\=Guys…help!=/\=
Nilsen: =/\= Zarah, don’t panic. I’m tracking you now.=/\=
Yinn: =/\= Do these suits have jets? Or can we beam her back onto the ship? =/\=
Kovacs: =/\= Manual jets aren’t usually a good idea for novices… =/\=
Arlill: ::To Eli:: =/\= It’s ok, Nilsen will recover her if she has trouble with the controls. (beat) again… =/\=
The reminder kept Yinn’s impulse to go after Zarah herself in check.
Eli stopped mid-sentence as he watched Arturo.
As fast as a magnetised suit on the outside of a starship would allow, Max began chasing the drifting member of their party. Fit as he was after only a few dozen steps, Max was sweating with the extra exertion of “running” in the suit.
Maxwell: =/\= Keep yourself calm lass, you’re going tae be fine. =/\=
Desperately swallowing her fear, Zarah tried to remind herself that they had plenty of experience even if she didn’t and there was no way they were just going to let her float off. Still, the panic rose in her throat and she still clawed at the ‘air’ around her. Little good that did. It took a second, but the message that hit her ears eventually went to her brain and finally transferred to her hands, which stopped their frantic pawing.
Nilsen: =/\= The suits have got a recall button, On your left wrist. =/\=
Arlill motioned to the button on his suit hoping that Zarah could see what he was pointing at.
Johnson: =/\=Which one!?=/\=
Nilsen: =/\= Bottom left, it looks like an arrow going into a circle. =/\=
Glancing over the controls, she pressed the button, which sent her surging forward and back toward the ship.
Maxwell: That’s good, we’ve got you.
The sigh of relief Yinn breathed out fogged up her visor for a moment. Logically, she knew there were a dozen different ways the crew could save Zarah, and certainly would, but there was still something terrifying about seeing your friend drift helplessly off into the infinite void of space.
She moved at a much faster pace than had been achieved by her random thrashing of her limbs, and with some relief, she watched the distance between her and the ship grow smaller. The others called to her in encouragement, but she didn’t respond, focused on watching so she could grab on to something as soon as she got close enough.
Arlill: =/\= Easy goes it Zarah, you’ve got this. Your course is a bit erratic but you’re heading towards the ship, that’s a good first step. =/\=
Nilsen: =/\= Zarah, are you able to control your course? =/\=
Johnson: =/\= Uh…I can try!=/\=
She wasn’t sure how, but Zarah figured it was worth a try. In her mind, she kept the knowledge that for every action there was an equal and opposite reaction, so when she wanted to go left, she whirled her right arm about in order to send herself in that direction.
Altering course, Max tried to position himself to grab at Zarah as she came closer. If he was able to grip her, then the worst outcome would be that he would fall over and bounce a bit. If that happened, he was confident that the others were close enough to secure the pair of them before they drifted upwards.
Maxwell: =/\= Hold out your hands lassie, I’ve got you! =/\=
Nilsen: =/\= I’ve got Transporter lock on you both. Max tell me if you need it =/\=
Ceasing her windmill motion, Zara stretched out her arms toward the Marine who did the same. Soon, the length between them became no more, and when Zarah realised that she was going a little too fast, it was not soon enough to adjust. She pummeled right into Maxwell.
Josh watched as the auto-nav fired the jets, navigating her back to the hull a bit too aggressively, resulting in her colliding directly into Maxwell. Luckily, as one of the boots scraped against the hull, it managed to get a firm lock.
Arlill: =/\= Nicely done Max, good job Zarah, like a pro! (beat) Nilsen you can stand down. =/\=
Kovacs: =/\= Ouch =/\=
The sharp impact was enough to - as he’d thought - knock Max off his feet. As he slowly started to fall backwards and drift away, he twisted and managed to land a foot back on the hull to anchor himself. He drifted back and forth like some kind of bizarre flower as he attempted to bring his other foot down.
Herrick: =/\= It looks like they’re safe… Max… Zarah… you good? =/\=
Maxwell: =/\= Aye, no bad. Left my dignity behind though. =/\=
Arlill: =/\= What you might have lost in dignity my friend you earned back in heroism. =/\=
Johnson: =/\= Yeah…yeah, I’m good.=/\=
Pressing the button that had gotten her into that predicament, Zarah once more found herself anchored to the ship and in a much less precarious position. Taking a deep breath, she managed a small, embarrassed smile to Maxwell.
Johnson: =/\=Nice catch. Thanks.=/\=
Maxwell: =/\= Nae worries ::He raised a hand to offer a thumbs up:: But we’ll no be telling your Ma about. =/\=
Yinn: Drinks are on me when we get back inside, assuming I can find a good one that doesn’t dissolve your fragile human insides.
Yinn knew she was joking to hide how genuinely afraid she had been, but maybe she’d tell Zarah that later and not advertise it to the whole crew.
Josh went to wipe away a bead of sweat running down his forehead, his glove smacking the EV helmet. Even though there was no real risk apparent, you never know what could happen out in space.
Herrick: =/\= I did get that all on tape Zarah… if you wanted a copy for memory’s sake. =/\=
Johnson: =/\= You’d better not share that, Josh!=/\=
The young cadet to be cried out, though there was little she could do in her current get up.
With Zarah brought back to the hull a collective sigh of relief was had. Some kick-butt flying from Maxwell, Nilsen got on the comms.
Arlill: =/\= I don’t know Josh, recording this might be a violation of JOPA rules!=/\= ::winking at Josh::
Johnson: =/\= Exactly. Remember, we can’t leave behind easily accessible evidence!=/\=
Herrick: =/\= (grinning) Don’t worry, I’ll code it as ‘JOPA eyes only’. Anyone else tries to open it, it’ll purge itself. =/\=
Even if they did etch their initials into the hull, it wasn’t exactly something someone would notice unless they went on a walk on the outside of the ship, which she suspected wasn’t often.
Stendhal: =/\= Response =/\=
One could hear the palpable relief on Lhandon’s voice
Nilsen: =/\=You folks best get in. That’s erm…too much excitement for one day. =/\=
Arlill: =/\= Agreed, let’s all head back. =/\=
Yinn: ::putting her arm around Zarah:: You know, if you’re that desperate to get away from us, there are easier ways.
Zarah couldn’t help but laugh, grateful for the comfort from her friend. Leaning into Yinn, she gave her a squeeze, though the suit likely prevented it from being felt.
Johnson: =/\= Yeah, I think I’ll not try that again any time soon.=/\=
Maxwell: oO Now tae keep that little incident out ae Milly’s earhole….. Oo
Turning, Max began to follow the others back towards the airlock.
Despite the snafu, Zarah didn’t allow herself to be intimidated. It was a mistake, one she wouldn’t make twice, but her companions weren’t about to leave her hanging. Just like JOPA members were supposed to do, they all looked out for each other.
*******
1st Lieutenant Arturo Maxwell.
Marine Officer, 4/73 Marines.
USS Octavia E Butler: NCC-82850.
O239311AM0
&
Ensign Yinn
Science Officer
USS Octavia E. Butler
O240011Y12
&
Lieutenant JG Josh Herrick
Acting Chief Engineer
USS Octavia E. Butler
O240005JH3
he/him/his (player/character)
&
Elijah Kovacs
Engineer
USS Octavia E. Butler
he/him/his (player/character)
&
Zarah Johnson
Civilian
USS Octavia E. Butler
M239008AD0
&
Lieutenant JG Lhandon Joseph Nilsen
HCO & Acting Asst. Chief
USS Octavia E Butler
O240007LN1
He/Him/His (Both player and character)