Stepping Across

Posted on Tue Aug 4th, 2020 @ 3:41pm by Ka'see 'Cassie' Anderson (*) & Fordyce Kirschler PhD

Mission: Mission 11 - Prospecting
Location: SS Mary Rose - Bridge
Timeline: MD03 - 07:00
442 words - 0.9 OF Standard Post Measure

Cassie frowned as she stepped onto the bridge and was struck by how quiet it was compared to the times she had served on it in her previous life. With all the systems that The collector put in, the ship could be run with very few people and it was apparent with only three people on the bridge. She looked around but not sure who to ask as no one seemed to fit the bill. Who would want to help her when her quarters were acting like they were possessed?

“Hey… I need some help with my quarters.” She admitted with a sigh as stood there in pyjamas that something was very wrong. The woman never appeared looking that frazzled or admitting she needed help.

For perhaps the first time in his life, Fordyce Kirschler had bags under his eyes. He looked up from one of the panels on the bridge, tried not to be too obvious about sighing, and moved into a more polite range for discussion. He'd been in the middle of tracking down a supplier for coil spanners, which apparently were in short supply in Engineering but nonetheless "absolutely critical" to operating the ship.

"What's goin', sis?"

Cassie offered a small smile to the man. He looked like he hadn't slept since the last time she had seen him. Maybe she could offer to help him as science had no direction or leads other than the gel and she had already given over her opinions from her mother experience from her genetics experiments. "My quarters are acting... odd. Things turning on and off, doors opening and closing." It was like one of those twenty-first-century films that people seemed to enjoy as classics.

Ford straightened up and slipped into thought. When he broke out, he frowned a little and launched a series of questions. "Just your quarters or the adjacent rooms?"

Cassie waited patiently. She had seen him like this before. It was not new in the slightest. "Just mine."

"All the systems, or just certain ones?"

"Everything."

"Any pattern to it or random intervals?"

"Random."

"Hmm," he said, raising a hand to scratch at the growing stubble on his chin. It sounded like rough sandpaper. "This sounds 'bout as tough as nickel steak. You been summonin' ghosts?"

"Not that I know of and I am sure we how rowdy and the bad luck this ship has I bet they would have appeared before now." She shrugged a little at his question as the woman tasked with keeping the ship in orbit watched the pair open-mouthed. "You need a shave." She added as a comment.

TRUNCATED