Just me and the stars

Posted on Fri Jul 28th, 2017 @ 3:05am by Dixoho Saa (*)

Mission: Mission 4 - Combustion
Location: Deck 9 :: Observation Deck
Timeline: MD -05 21:00
2648 words - 5.3 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

Marcus had signed on the ship as an engineer apprentice and gotten an advance on his pay to buy his kit. After replacing all he had lost there had been little enough left so he had nothing really to use for entertainment once his shift was over. Tonight he was taking his stuff to one of the observatories, the one he was going to seemed to seldom be in use so he came here. He had brought a camping air mattress and a pillow so he could lay on the floor to watch the stars. He entered with the lights off looking for a good spot to spread out. He wanted to chart the stars, so by referencing them to navigation charts in his PADD he could figure out where he was. It was just a hobby but he liked to know where he was and where he might be going. He was standing there with his stuff in his arms looking at the stars, just watching them stream by when he heard a footstep in the room. He jumped, startled by the noise. "Hello, Just me Marcus. One of the new engineers? Hello?"

"Hi..." A voice said as Dixoho walked around the slight curve. She had been sitting in one of the seats curled up at the other end of the huge space and had ignored the gentle chirp from the PaDD. Dixoho was wearing a simple long blue top and leggings.

"Hello, sorry I did not know anyone was in here." Marcus shuffled his feet looking down, he sort of felt like a kid with his hand in the cookie jar. "I was just going to watch the stars? I like to lay down as it is easier on my neck." He shifted his gear in his arm as if showing her his camping gear. "I can go elsewhere, I did not see you over there." He turned to back out of the room but his mattress caught on the console and he dropped everything. His cheeks grew pink as he bent to retrieve his stuff. "Excuse me, sorry."

Dixoho laughed a little and moved forward quickly bare footed and crouched to help him pick up the stuff. "It is okay. This place is big enough for most of the crew and then some." She assured quickly as she picked up the pillow to pass back to him.

He accepted the pillow sheepishly "I was not going to sleep here honest. It is just easier to watch the stars laying down. I am a new hire, Marcus Brandon." He offered his hand to the pretty red head "do you like watching the stars as well?"

"Sure you weren't." Dixoho laughed a little at the sheepish look on his face. She looked at the hand and took his shaking it firmly. "Dixoho Saa..." She giggled a little when he asked if she liked watching the stars. "I am the Navigator." She admitted.

"Oh? Oh my, should I call you Sir or Ma'am? I never know with officers as it seems everyone is different." He assumed being a navigator made her an officer. He smiled "I bet I can find out where we are in twenty minutes or less?" He put his stuff down "I do you buy us a couple soft drinks I fail I buy and get us a bag of snack chips."

"Here and now I think it is okay to call me Dixoho." She said with a small smile thinking through his wager. "I like the sound of this deal but shall we get your bed done first?" She wondered teasing him just a little.

"Sure, plenty of room for us both." He began the inflation of the mattress. He separated the pillows and offered her one. "Once we get set up you can begin timing me." He smiled as he turned to sit down and plopped a pillow behind his head. He took out his PADD and opened his star chart application. "Okay, Dixoho when you're ready just say go!"

The red head grabbed a pillow from one of the old fashioned lounge chairs and put it behind her head as she lay down on the inflatable. "This is very strange." She said bouncing a little on the bed before settling down putting her arms behind her head.

Marcus looked at her "how so? Strange I mean. have you never came in here and looked at the stars streaming by and daydreamed of high adventures. Discovering new worlds, new races, finding ancient artifacts. I often just watch and wonder what is out there that no one of our races have ever seen before. Imagination I have been told is the key to release boredom and set us free."

"No... this thing..." she bounced again to prove her point in the bed. "How do you think I became a navigator?" She wondered curling on her side to look at him. "You sound like you should be a Scientist instead of an Engineer."

"Me, a scientist." Marcus laughed "I do not have the smarts for all that." He tapped his temple, "I am not all that smart, I have been studying stars since i was a little kid just because they fascinated me. I am good with my hands though and I can fix stuff. I might not know how to do all the math and calculations but I can like see where the stress is on a joint and add a brace or support correctly to save the structure." He shrugged "if you gave me a problem though to figure out abstract like I would be lost." He smiled at her and lifted the PADD, "I just draw in the stars and give the sector and the application does the rest. I just have to add in the stars right."

Dixoho nodded lying back onto her side with a smile still on her lips as her hair looked like a halo around her. "If you say so. When you are ready ask the computer for a timer. She might be sullen and unhelpful but she can do a simple timer." She assured wondered if she should go find the rest of her clothes.

"Computer? Twenty-minute timer, start now." Marcus opened the application and began marking in the stars. As he was working on the star map "Have you been on the Mary Rose long? What is the ship like, friendly?"

"Been here since the beginning of this...operations." She said leaning to look at the application he was using. It was a simple one but she was impressed so far. "Have you not been to the messhall or anything?" She was lucky as navigator she got access to the ward room where it was a little more civlised but she could still enjoy the Messhall if she wanted to.

"I was working nights the first few days, now sort of a swing shift as the newest hire I get the crappy jobs." He shrugged "I do not mind really as everyone needs pay their dues. The ship had a lot of modifications i have noticed? Someone of it looks like it was done in a rush or by someone rather angry? I have seen a few places that need some structural work to make them safer. I handed in reports but nothing back yet? Then we have been pretty busy." He made eye contact she was certainly pretty! "Oh, yes I have eaten meals in the messhall." He laughed as he realized his ramblings had not really answered her simple question.

"You should go there after meal time," Dixoho suggested softly with a smile. About 21:00 hours the messhall got a different feel to it with a little alcohol and music. "Heavily modified indeed. Yes The Collector was certainly an angry person," The Navigator laughed a little as she thought about the previous owner of the ship from twenty years ago.

Marcus looked up sort of surprised "wow, really.. You don't say?" His grin grew "sure I will check in on that the first chance I get." He looked down at his PADD and handed it over "Computer stop the clock and time?" The computer spoke seventeen minutes twenty-two seconds." Marcus smiled "looks like your buying the sodas this time but if I see you in the messhall will be my treat if that is okay? I do not want to cause trouble for you if you have a jealous mate?"

The woman took the PaDD and looked it over intently as she lay back on the inflatable still amused by the bed made of air. "Looks like I am indeed buying the... I don't know what sodas is but I will buy the drinks and snacks." She glanced at him as he said the word mate. "What do you mean by 'mate'?"

"Ahh, like a significant other person who might be annoyed if I was too friendly?" Marcus shrugged "I mean I would really like to hang with you but I would not want to cause you a problem."

"Got no one," Dixoho said slowly sat passing the PaDD back to the younger man with a small smile. "Good to know if anything happens to me you will get us to nearest port."

"Me. do what?" He laughed nervously "I don't know anything about navigation. I just know how to see where we are and what is nearby. I would not even know where to add information even if I knew what to add." His leg rubbed against hers as he shifted and he liked the closeness. "Dixoho you said you are not dating anyone. Does that mean you might enjoy letting me hang out with you time to time?" His expression was hopeful as he asked.

"Be navigator." She said softly hearing the nervous laughter before turning to look at him a little. "Hang out... Sure." She murmured. Hanging out was fine in her books, she hadn't really had any friends since Talon had died. "Do you want me to go get those drinks now?" She offered moving to get up.

He put his hand on her arm "no need to go right away? You could stick around a bit and just watch the stars with me first?" He was enjoying having company and maybe even making a friend here. Most of the engineers were more standoffish even if they did work with him well enough. They were like most working people not easy to win over. He knew once they accepted he would pull his own weight they would come around. That took time though and well She was easy to look at and willing to talk with him. They also had the stars in common! "If it is the same with you we could grab something after we leave here?"

"Um... okay.... can I go grab a blanket though I am kinda chilly in here." She admitted softly still pushing herself up off the low bed disappearing into the darkness

"Sure? Marcus watched her move away smiling, she had a nice shape and a pretty face. He was hoping for a friend but a girl-friend was not a concept he would overlook. Once he could no longer see her though he leaned back to watch the stars. She might not return but the stars were always going to be out there.

Dixoho silently returned holding a water bottle and a fleecy blanket. "You cold?" She wondered as she delicately sat back down not sure about the mattress and how much strain it could take.

"Glad to share the blanket if that is an offer?" Marcus patted the mattress, "jump on, the show already started." Marcus reached up to help unfold the blanket.

"This is very strange." She said softly sitting on the inflatable bed still worried that she might break it by being too harsh. She passed the end of the blanket to him with a smile.

Marcus looked at her, "you have never been camping? This thing is firmer them my bunk mattress and much more comfortable. In fact I put this on top of my mattress in my quarters." He laughed as he helped spread the blanket over them, "I could use this as a raft if the water was not too rough. If it was a little heavier though it would work just fine." Once they were situated he looked out at the stars, "do you ever think about how we got out here to the stars? What made the first people desire braving space to move among them?"

"I've never lived on a planet." She admitted softly. She couldn't imagine under the stars instead of in them. She snuggled into the blanket with a comfortable smile. "Not at all but it must have been a longing to see the unknown, much like people explored the seas before they chose the stars."

"I suppose so." Marcus was watching the stars stream by with a smile of simple joy. As he watched the stars he asked out of the quiet reverie "did you ever consider Star Fleet as an option?"

"I grew up on a boomer ship. It was my only option to stay there." She said simply thinking about the fact she had grown up with every member of her family on the ship within a few metres of them. It was surreal to think that they were most likely carrying on with their day to day tasks while she was out there in the stars all by herself.

"A boomer ship? Is that like a long range colony ship? So I can you decided to now continue to the colony and took a berth on another ship?" Marcus was not sure of the term but he thought those ships went really far away and then they cannibalized the ship to set up the colony.

"Long haul Cargo." She murmured quickly. She pulled the blanket up to her chin. "I grew up on a ship about this size and older than this." It was so old the route of the ship had been passed down four generations.

"Oh? so like your family was the crew? That sounds cool," He laughed "well cool and gross at the same time. Cool you have your family close by and everyone knows everyone. Gross for the same reason, all those creepier relatives always around! I don't envy you that. I had a great Aunt who hugged and kissed us every time she came to visit. I can not imagine seeing her every single day with no reprieve ever!"

"My Dad was the Captain, My mum was the Engineer, My Nana the doctor." And that was before she got into talking about her brother and sisters. "Not good when you have a boyfriend." She remembered shivering at the very memory of it all.

"Well, I would think you would have lots of places to hide?" Marcus smiled at her and took her hand "want to go get those snacks now or stay here a while longer? They had been there nearly two hours by then and it was getting late.

"Oh yeah," Dixoho said fondly thinking of the adventures she used to have with boys and girls trying to avoid her parents. "I would like to stay here but you are welcome to carry on and leave." She glanced down as he took her hand.

Marcus shook his head, "actually I am fine. If you do not mind I will stay as well." He noticed she did not retrieve her hand and smiled on the inside. Tonight had turned out much better then he had hoped! He relaxed back into his pillow watching the stars.

OFF:

Marcus Brannon
Engineer Crewmen
SS Mary Rose
(PNPC MacCloud)

Dixiaho Saa
Chief Navigator
SS Mary Rose
(PNPC Gregnol)