STEAM LONDON: Realms of Aether Game Thread

[Stella Gaslight]

Cain came over and poked at the big hunk of sausage and Angel had a very good idea. "It is squishy, we can roll it out like cookie dough and then make circles out of it."  She was very sure the meat should be in circles.

Helena had never been a very girly girl. There was no place on the pirate ship where she grew up for childish fantasies or wallowing in weakness but right now she wanted to giggle and swoon just a little bit.  She settled for walking hand in hand with Sigmund back to The Boheme with a blush on her cheeks.

Emma closed her eyes picturing how it must have been.  "I want to fly with you too someday.  Listen there is a thing of salve on the table that is suposed to take the hurt out of these blasted spots could you rub some in to the spots on my back?"  He picked up the jar and she made him turn his head while she took off her camisole and laid on her belly on the bed.  There were purple splotches all over the creamy skin of her back it looked almost like she had been badly bruised.  His fingers worked over her back and she made happy noises.  "It has been so long since we have gotten to just talk like this.  When did we get so busy?"

[Duellist]

Leyton watched the events unfolding with the commodore and his new (yet old) romantic interest.  Deciding that the commodore was in no sort of trouble that he could not handle, the Englishman drew out a cigar and then paused for a moment.  After considering his cigar, he turned to Jock and asked about the fact that had been preying on his mind recently.

"I am sorry to interrupt this little reunion, but I have considered something.  I seem to remember that the lifting force for ships of this type comes from hydrogen, but nobody seems unduly worried about hobnailed boots striking sparks or even the risks of white-fire around such a flammable gas.  I must therefore wonder which misunderstanding on my part explains the fact that we have not yet been blown to the proverbial 'kingdom come' yet."

[Genevieve Ozuna]

As the door opened to reveal her Comodoro with a lady's arm wrapped about his waist, Nadya raised a single eyebrow in questioning surprise. Behind her, she heard Hyacinth stiffen in recognition, and it dawned on her who this lovely regal-looking woman was. 'Ah, and so the fiance, Marina, makes her triumphant return,' she mentally chuckled. A sly grin slipped over her face as Dreyfuss announced her obvious return and Ishmael called for  the men to stand down. He then turned to Nadya, and before he could say anything, she gave him a curt nod, conveying her understanding of the situation. She stood, and felt Madame wrap and arm around her own waist as the stood and waited for the couple to make some announcement so they could all leave. She struggled not to think about the whitefire, or about how this would change the way he was able to provide her that feeling of protection and safety. Lucky for her, he gave her something to distract herself with my referring to her as "Little Nadya" as he grasped for an apology. Gods how she hated being called little. Being the youngest of five brothers, she'd been called Nadyalita right up until their deaths, and so her face feel the moment he spoke that word.

He probably assumed she was solemn towards the subject of his apology, but the truth was that her face was reflecting deluge of painful memories and frustration he had let forth. And so she turned on her heel, prepared to storm from the and return to her game of Truths with Hyacinth, but her grand exit was marred by Leyton standing directly in her way. She sighed frustratedly as he made another damnable comment involving science that gave her half a mind to shove him in to the aether and see if that would teach him a thing or two. Instead, she flashed an obviously fake smile at him and sidestepped to return to her bunk with the cyborg woman. Once she did though, Madame Arachne forced her to pause by wrapping a porcelin arm around her waist and holding her steady. "Hush now dear, calm yourself for a moment before we leave," Hyacinth whispered in her ear, her voice tinkling with barely contained laughter, and Nadya grumpily rolled her eyes and complied.

[Nigel Wetherby]

Sigmund Could only smile as he watched the strong young woman blush meekly at his touch. He kissed her cheek once more, rather enjoying the heat she gave off. Though he could have done without her venemously enraged glare, which caused his entire body to run cold.

Cain Followed Angel's instructions to the letter, though he had to make some assumptions (Such as turning the oven to the proper heat) to assure the food was edible.

"Patience, Nadya." Madame Arachne cooed in a sweet, creamy voice. Her silken hand stroking Nadya's dark shoulder.
"Now...I beleive you still owe me two truths."

[Stella Gaslight]

Helena noticed the fear on Sigmund's face and immediately felt horrible about putting it there.  "Sorry Sigmund I was thinking of the first boy I ever had a crush on.  It was back when I was still working on my parents ship and we had pulled in to this tiny port near Siam.  He was a dock worker and just about the prettiest boy I had ever seen. He told me his name was Marco and we spent a truly wonderful afternoon gathering supplies for the ship and talking about flying.  At the end of the day I gave him our wireless frequency so we could talk some more.   I didn't think anything of it at the time but later that night a pirate hunting ship came out of nowhere and caused a crash that killed most of our crew and nearly killed my family.  My mother lost an arm, My father lost his sight and I have some rather nasty scars.  Later I found out that Marco had turned us in for a bounty.  So you see my first taste of love left a sour taste in my mouth when it should have been sweet.  None of it had anything to do with you I promise."

Once Angel had found the the cookie cutters from Christmas she insisted on making little angels out of sausage. Cain was rather happy with that because it freed him to make sure things kept being food as apposed to turning in to charcoal. Angel brought him a plate of sausage patties and sniffed him.  "You smell good." She said and then gave him a lick and followed it up with a kiss. 'You taste good too."


Emma was enjoying her self, Trip gave really amazing back rubs when you could keep him from wandering off to the labs.  "You know maybe I should get sick more often."  The only thing she couldn't do that she really wanted to was kiss him.  It was good when one was sick and the other well but when they both were sick it was no fun.

[Nigel Wetherby]

Sigmund placed his hand on her shoulder, his pale face lit up with a reassuring smile that seemed to deliver some solace to the sharp, bitingly cruel memories of her traitorous former love.
"I'm sorry about him, but I doubt I could bring myself to betray or sell out anyone on this ship. You're all such good people." His words were honest, giving Helena a gift her previous crush destroyed, trust. "How terrible things befall you is a wonder beyond my poor, shallow military mind." His tone was just the tiniest bit comical, though it was toned so that he himself was unsure if his mind was past learning besides standard physical and telepathic warfare.

Cain had yet to get used to the idea of being licked like so many of Angel's candy sticks, though the fact that his lips curled into a smile showed that he did not entirely oppose the idea. He found that he was laughing to himself as he felt Angel's smooth tounge brush his cheek.

[Stella Gaslight]

"You are a very kind young man Sigmund despite your rough beginnings."  She hugged him and smiled.  "What I felt for Marco was shallow and childish.  I have grown up a lot since then.  What I feel for you is far stronger." She smelled the air the closer they got to The Boheme the more it smelled like food.  "I think we had better go see who is cooking."  She sincerely hoped this was not going to be like last valentines where Angel tried to make cookies all on her own.  The stove had ever been the same and they had to re-tile some of the counters.

Angel looked at the gray brown things in the pan.  "Is is food now?"  It was looking like if it wasn't Angel was going to nibble on Cain.

[Genevieve Ozuna]

Having been calmed— or at the very least subdued— Nadya was easily distracted by the game of truths, and allowed herself to be escorted from the area by Hyacinth. As they walked, Nadya considered the possibilities for her truths far more seriously than she had earlier, as the giddiness from dancing had thoroughly subsided. After several moments of silence to assure herself that they were away from prying ears, she began to tell her two truths, and their tone was far darker than her counterpart's had been.

"For my first truth, I was born to a family of gypsies in the Spain of another world, and we traveled throughout Europe until we reached Rome, where the caravan became victim to a raid of religious zealots. As far as I know, I'm the only one who survived," she paused, as they reached the room, but thinking that there was no danger of speaking out in the open here, she did not enter, and instead leaned her back against the wall with her hands pressed to the small of her back. "As for the second, I've a fondness for the fairer sex as well," she finished, throwing the tone in a complete one hundred an eighty degree turn and peering slyly through her eyelashes at the woman.

[MWBailey]

Dreyfuss felt, rather than saw or heard, something about Nadya's reactions to the re-advent of his fiancee and her appearance on the ship; He was about to try a cantrip to discover the reasons, when Leyton made another one of his wildly non-apropos comments about some scientific tidbit or other, this trime about why the St. Elmo didnt blow up every time someone struck a spark.

Dreyfuss pinched hi nose as he answered, the cantrip completely forgotten in his irritation, "Because we don't use hydrogen, Mr. Leyton, or coal gas, or methane in any form; we use Helium, which escapes from the ground in teh northern parts of Texas; as far as anyone has been able to determine so far, Helium is non-inflammable. As far as I know, the boheme uses helium as well, although I could well be mistaken.

" Ahh..'Nadyalita'; her face went sour when I used that name. I guess it doesnt mean the same to her folk as it does to the Tejanos back home, or it holds bad import for her personally.

"I wondered aboutthat myself, Jaisen Dearest. you really ought to just use English, love, you  don't have good enough command of Spanish to use it without risking offense." Mariana chided him gently, "the girl seem sto be a good sort, if a bit sullen -- but I suppose I'd be sort of sullen too if I thought I had you all to myself and then a tall readhead came in and took what I thought was my place at your side.
"Mariana! I didnt lead her on!" and yes, I do love Nadya as well. "
" I think I could love her like a sister, in time. after that, who knows; Jaisen, I want to be with you; your crew is like your extended family, and that includes Nadya, even if she does think I'm an isufferably typical English prig." She held him at arm's length then, and looked him squarely in the eye. "she lost something this evening, Jaisen. I don't think she mistrusts you, quite, but she did lose something she cherished."
"Like what? did I take it away?"
"To some degree, yes, but I think I did too. I think she has come to count on you for a sense of security; you do have that kind of solidity to you, expecially since your whitefire has started coming in," she said. "When the full import of the situation finally hit her" (a woman notices these things, dear one) "she looked, for just a moment before she managed to cover it up with her irritation at your use of that damnable name, as if she had lost all of her assurance of security.Don't go running to her to apologize, Jaisen, please; that will just make her think you're trying to cheat with her." Mariana sighed almost disconsolately "It will also most likely be a long time before she trusts me at all. She will have to build her sense of security back up again. The best way to help her to do that is to avoid hurting her any more, but also to not avoid her.

"Now, Do I get to see this raygun of yours that I keep hearing about? is that it there, on your suspender?! She squealed like agirl at the sight of it "what a sweet little gadget!

Dreyfuss laughed, it's not a 'sweet little gadget,' it's a 'very useful tool and horrifically-powerful weapon'...."

Here's hoping they let her stay awhile this time; with any luck we'll be having this shiprunning like clockwork before long. I hope Nadya does get to trust her; sometime soon.

[Nigel Wetherby]

Sigmund felt much better upon hearing Helena's explaination, this young man Marco must have been an utter moron to even consider forsaking such a beautiful and wonderful young woman for nothing but a bag of shillings. This young woman seemed as if she was worth more than any possible sum of money. He suddenly became terribly aware of these odd thoughts that surfaced in his head. He knew plenty about love and the concept of it, mostly from the queen and Captain black. But he never quite understood all those things Black would tell Emma during nightfall.
'So that's what he meant...'
His deep thought was eliminated by the rich, spice-laden scent of the cooking sausage.

Cain prodded the sausages with a seperate thermometer Patrick had made to assure meat was fully cooked.
"Well, Patrick's thermometer says it's safe."

"Oh my, I am very sorry to hear about your parents, however a life is nothing without a little hardship. What does not kill us makes us stronger. As for attraction to the fairer sex, It's hard to not be attracted to the beauty of a beautiful woman, even if they are lacking in certain departments." She shifted her weight on her several legs rather unconciously.
She leaned foreward, touching Nadya's shoulder and leaning foreward. "And I must say, your the fairest of the fairer sex I have ever met, but don't tell my girls, they're like daughters to me."

[Stella Gaslight]

"Yay food!" Angels said making a plate full.

Helena was quite happy to see that Cain was the one doing the cooking. "So what are you two up to?"

"Look Helena angel sandwiches." Angel was the only person she had ever met who would make a sausage and jam sandwich.

"Those look nice. Did you say thank you to Cain for cooking?"  Something about Angel brought out the maternal side in almost every woman.

"I gave him kisses. They make good thank yous." The look she gave Cain promised more kisses later.  "Have a little angel Sigmund. They taste good but not as good as Cain tho."

[Duellist]

Leyton nodded at the explanation, wondering why it was news to him that helium blew out of the ground in Texas of all places.  It was yet another little fact out of place, which either suggested madness, ignorance or...

As had become his way, Leyton found himself walking on instinct as his mind considered a problem.  It all came back to the one they called Lana...  He found himself at a writing desk with a pen in his hand, wondering if it was a compulsion or habit that she evoked in him.

Dearest Sara

It seems that my time abroad draws short.  Soon we shall be together, as the Queen's
prophecy foretold, and I accept this fate just as I accepted your gift.  Know that it pains
me, but I will honour our bargain for the sake of the love I bear you.

I remain, as always, your loyal servant,
TL

Leyton reflected on the name she had given him, the name of his ancestor whose fate he must share.  He looked away to glance at the mundane skies beyond the window, knowing that the letter would be gone when he looked back.  Instead he stood, scenting the roses that marked her fleeting presence, and left the room. 

[Vancouver Air Privateer]

Now that the airship was docked, Elisha wandered around the corridors. There was so much maintenance to do. He wandered in to the galley and was assaulted by a plate of sausages. He took a plate and sat down.

"Good job with this." he said to Angel, nodding.

He sat down and ate silently. He pretty much forgot the others were in the room. He'd finally managed to get a note out to be sent to Ella, but had been told that another assignment had come up in another part of London. They didn't even tell him what it was. Just hospital work? If it was anything more dangerous he was going to crack some skulls for this. He closed his eyes. He didn't like this sense of distance. He missed her. Elisha was almost always cold and professional. But he did have a very gentlemanly, sensitive side to him. But he had a hard time bringing the lighter parts of him up without Ella here. So he sat in moody silence, absent mindedly nibbling on the edge of the sausage.

[Nigel Wetherby]

Sigmund popped the inventive sandwich into his mouth, chewing it slowly as if chewing it too fast might pop some poisoned capsule within. After swallowing almost half as quickly as he chewed.
"This...This is delicious!" He proclaimed, as if surprised by the very fact that it was pallatable.

Cain felt a welling sense of pride as the crew enjoyed Angel's sandwiches. He couldn't help but plant a kiss on the back of Angel's neck as a bit of reatliation to her licking.
"You know, you don't taste half bad either." He chuckled.

[Stella Gaslight]

"See I told you it was good Cain"  She made faces at Cain until he kissed her.  Helena just shook her head, Angel though everything went better with jam even vegetables.   "I taste good 'cause I am sweet.  Mama told me so."  Angel giggled, neck kisses tickled.

"I should cook for you some time Sigmund.  My mother taught me a lot of Brazilian dishes and my father taught me some of the simple dishes he had in Greece as a boy.  My feshwada isn't as good as my mother's yet but I am working on it."  Helena turned to Elisha.  "I know you were kind of pressed in to service so if there is anything you need please tell me." 

[Genevieve Ozuna]

Nadya grinned, glad to have the older woman as her companion— whatever traits she may have felt she was lacking. By that point though, she was feeling quite confined within the ship. Perhaps it was the weight of realizations, or perhaps she was currently too connected to the free spirits of her past, whatever the reason, she suddenly craved the open air. "Come with me," she suddenly stated, reaching for Hyacinth's hand. The woman paused, but complied, and soon they were off down the hall. Nadya had yet to grasp the full map of the ship within her mind, but she thought with reasonable assurance that she could find her way to the observation deck. After all, once she found the stairs it was simply a matter of climbing up, and the stairs were in plain view from her bunk.

As they began climbing, the younger of the two women soon began to feel her flesh crawling with the desire to see the sky, to feel the wind in her hair, and breath the fresh air. Her muscles were used to heavy exercise, and so, remembering that Hyacinth could likely alter her pace as necessary with her artificial limbs, she picked up the pace until suddenly the reached a final platform and open the door to the sky. She rushed out in to the open air and twirled for a moment, repressing unhappy thoughts as she felt the wind pick up her tendrils of hair and whip them about. As she stopped, midspin, she flashed a euphoric grin at Madame Arachne, and conveyed without words that all unpleasantness from earlier was not welcome here.

[Nigel Wetherby]

Madame Arachne inhaled the sweet, icy sky air, moisture collected on her hair pins, eyelashes, and earrings giving her an iridescent appearance. Her mechanical legs took solid footing as she leaned foreward as the cool air lapped at her cheeks, neck, and chest.
"It's been so long since i felt the cool sky against my skin. It makes an old whore feel young again." She laughed at her own self-insult. Hyacinth pulled back the pins that held her hair in the restricted ebony dome of a tightly wound bun, letting her hair loose in a torrent of flowing ansem locks. The shimmering black hair blew gently in the cool, moist wind, adding to her godess-like appearance.

"I've been rather curious about Brazilian cooking. I once marched through Brazil, it was a beutiful country, and the fruits there were delicious." Sigmund fondly recalled the closest thing he had to a vacation. White sands, blue seas awash with the floating corpses of those whos airships had fallen the day before, Roasting corn kernels on ground made scorching hot by incidiary shells and hearing the wonderful island music played by the local merchants who's wives agreed to do unsavory things to the seregant in exchange for survival all were memories that came like bittersweet chocolate rations.

"And your sweet because all the Jam and candy you eat." Cain chuckled. "You're like one big jar of jam shaped like a wonderful, wonderful Angel." He wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder and smiling hapilly.

[Stella Gaslight]

"The skies over Brazil are like no other in the world, or so my mother says.  That was where I was first taught to fly.  You get very good at avoiding obstacles and making very clean takeoffs when you are surrounded by trees.  Someday I will take you around to explore this world.  London is nice but there is so much more out there.  We could go to Siam and see the magnificent temples or to Africa to see the animals and if you like the beach I know of several hidden little islands in the Adriatic that we could have all to ourselves."  There were so many good things he had yet to experience and she could not wait to show him.

"Yup. It is even in my name Angel Jam."  She was so very proud of her last name.  Angel came up with it all on her own when she and Cain published their first book.  Sweets showed up and gave Angel the please feed the poor kitty look and she fell for it just like she did every time. As far as Sweets was concerned she deserved every bit of food she got for putting up with sticky fingers and the occasional dress up time. 

[Nigel Wetherby]

Sigmund let the images of these wonderful places dance in his head. Their insubstantial beauty taunted him like the mirages of water and food to a starving man in the desert. He could practically feel the warm air on his face, though imagining it without the stink of blood was a rather big effort on his part. He had always delighted in the udea of a beach without blood, and a place that was so hot never seemed so appealing to a cold-one.

"And it's a perfectly wonderful name for my 'for-always'. But then again, you're wonderful period." He found himself blushing as he realised just how much amourousness he was pouring out in public. He was very thankful Elisha was not there, as he was sure he would get some very odd looks. Sweets was even giving him the feline equivalent of a raised eyebrow.

[Stella Gaslight]

"I know we won't have much free time during this mission but after it I promise to take you on a grand tour."  Helena noticed the clock on the wall for the first time.  "It is getting late so we should rest.  I know Emma might not like the idea but I think we should leave as soon as possible.  I mean we have no way of knowing if any of the pieces of George are in danger or causing trouble like last time.  So it is better to get them quick."

"My Cain is very sweet too and smart, he knows all about everything in the whole wide world."  Angel yawned maybe Helena lady was right and it was bed time.

[Nigel Wetherby]

"Er, right you had better get to sleep." Sigmund said warmly, as if he were bidding a younger child to go off to her beddie-bies. Cain found this very piturbing. He stepped up beside Sigmund, still wary due to his cold-one nature.
"Why aren't you going to sleep? It is rather late."
"Well," Sigmund sighed "My kind really don't need much sleep, only about one hour will keep me going through the whole day, I can get alot of energy from what I eat, I guess that makes me alot like one of those big snakes, eh?"
Cain couldnt help but laugh "Yes, I suppose so, though you don't seem like one to lounge about on a rock. Can you devour a wildebeest in a single swallow?"
"I have not yet checked." The two laughed as if they were brothers or old comrades reunited.

[Stella Gaslight]

"Well if you are going to stay up don't tire yourself too much.  There is a library on the second floor stocked will all kinds of books and the commissary stays open all night.  We are going to leave right after breakfast so be ready.  Good night Cain and Angel, Goodnight Sigmund"  Helena yawned and wandered off to bed.

"Come on Cain it is bed time."  Angel liked bedtime because it meant cuddles and snuggling. 

[MWBailey]

The skies above Jodrell Bank that morning dawned misty and cold, with patches of fog blowing across the beach nearby.

Later that day, they had been marred by a battle between the Sara March, and the RTAFJean Lafitte, diverted from the homeward leg of its cruise to the capitols of the nations of mainland Europe, to deal with the pirate craft, which had been sinking fishing boats and ravaging small villages and harbors since early morning. The Lafitte had despatched the other craft, but only after suffering heavy damage.

The Lafitte managed to limp homeward but only at one-half speed; Engines three and four had been damaged beyond the ability of Engineering to repair them. The stricken ship had to wait for another three hours before the aetherphone was repaired well enough to call London and acquire permission to use Tinker's Row, instead of the Docklands, as the emergency port.
Then Engine two blew out all expansions in its cylinder array, leaving the Lafitte with one engine still in operational condition. At approximately eight o'clock that evening, The Lafitte reached the outskirts of London; the fires on her outer hull and shining from within could have been seen from Tinker's Row, if anyone had been looking in that direction. widespread panic in the streets below ensued as the ship continued to burn and large explosions from within rained debris. Tinker's Row, however, remained oblivious until the call came from the Lafitte's finally-repaired Aetherphone.

KKKKRRRUUMMPPPOWWWW...CRASH...aaaaaaiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeee...
The sounds of massive quantities of deck gun ammunition and smallarms munition boxes detonating, and the screams of the wounded and dying swelled in the background as Hargood P. Mondragon, one side of his face a bloody mass, and his entire person burnt, and bloodied, managed to get the aetherphone operational and call for aid, "RTAF Jean Lafitte to Tinkers Row Airdock. RTAF Jean Lafitte to Tinkers Row Airdock, Come in, RTAF St. Elmo, over....RTAF Jean Lafitte to Tinkers Row Airdock. RTAF Jean Lafitte to Tinkers Row Airdock,"he paused, coughing, "Come in, RTAF St. Elmo, over....  

The voice of Captain Ishmael of the St. Elmo answered, "RTAF Jean Latitte, this is St. Elmo, go ahead."
" Captain...we have engaged and destroyed the pirate craft Sara March, but we are *cough* badly damaged and in need of assistance, possibly a tow, can you oblige."
"Lafitte, This is Dreyfuss, Captain Mondragon... did you say you need a tow? say again please."
"Affirmative, Commodore, we need a tow *cough, cough*"
"will do, Hargood, hang on a moment."
"Captain Ismael, get the spare aetherphone and call the Boheme, tell Miss Emma what's up, and also call the Hangar and fire crews to prepare for a badly-battle-damaged Warship in tow, in about...lets say, about four hours from now, but stand ready in case we make better time."
"Aye, sir."

"Lafitte, this is St. Elmo, we will be there in approximaqtely one hour, how do you read?"
A pause. It became longer.
"Mondragon? respond, please."
There was no answer; Mondragon had collapsed at his post, even as what remained of his crew and one badly-damaged engine made the wounded warbeast limp homeward...

[Vancouver Air Privateer]

Elisha stood on the observation deck, lost in his thoughts. At this time, he really needed to stay with the Boheme. The thought had occoured to him to ask them to let him stay out of these mission, until he heard word from Ella. But he was uncomfortable with the thought of backing down when his help might be needed. But he felt...like how he always used to feel when he wasn't with Ella. He shivered. Sometimes, when the night was black, he felt it again. The parasite. That was too close, far too close.

He didn't notice Nadya and Madame Arachne make their way up onto the deck. He stared up at the sky. Under some other skies, pieces of George were waiting. But who knew what was there in the spaces between the stars? He sighed, sitting down. He felt quite isolated. He couldn't help with any of this science that Emma, Trip and that girl Helena were working on. He didn't have a ship to command like Dreyfuss. All he seemed to be good at was killing. That, and not dying, though he was more cautious about the latter these days. Would they run into Cold Ones across dimensions? Worse? He began to wonder, if Ella was here, if he wanted her going on these missions. She didn't deserve to be endangered. She was too good for that.

[MWBailey]

The warm air inside, and the calm, cool air around the St. Elmo was suddenly shattered by the klaxon alarms, and then by the voice of Captain Ishmael announcing,” All hands! All hands! General quarters! Repeat, General quarters, Emergency Rescue Protocol.” Ishmael repeated the orders again, as the crew exploded into action, and the Aether reciprocation engines roared to life.

Dreyfuss had gone down to the Engineering deck, and was helping Jock check the aether collectors, which had been severely tested a few hours before, when they blasted away after the bird that had carried off one of the marines. Everything seemed fine, save for some slight wear on the slide rod in reciprocator three. "sounds fine to me, Jock." Dreyfuss said. "But let me know the minute the tone, or the rhythm changes without an apparent reason. Where are Madame Arachne & Miss Nadya?” he asked.

“I’m not sure, sir,” Jock said,’ “I think I saw ‘em going up the stairway to the observation deck about a half-hour ago, sir.” Dreyfuss looked up, and imagined the distance from his current location to the observation deck; although it was actually right over his head,  it was also separated from him by two decks, and the cavernous Envelope hold inside the middle of the envelope, and the distance on the stairways that led up to it. “Damn.” He didn’t begrudge them their time together; his “regard” for the otherworldly Nadya was largely paternal; the part that wasn’t… well, he decided not to dwell on that, Besides, Mariana needs my devotion, he thought, [/I]and I need Mariana's.[/I]

He strode toward the forward spiral stair, on the other end of the Engineering Deck, and then changed his mind and stepped back over to speak to Jock. “Chief, “ he said, “when Madame Arachne and Nadya come down, please tell them to meet me over there,” he pointed at the bulkhead behind which the Safety Equipment stores and the magazine were located.  I’ll be back down in about thirty minutes; I have to go and see about something up on the fo’c’sle deck.

"If I don’t make it back down here before We leave, please, tell Nadya not to ‘walk onto the Lafitte until We've checked out the situation from the Elmo; I’d hate for her to get shot for a spy. People in battle-damaged ships that aren’t in port yet tend to be jumpy. Also, tell Madame Arachne that Mariana and Leyton may be coming down to help with the wounded, but don’t let Leyton experiment on them."

“Couldn’t Mr. Leyton help with the extraction of the Lafitte’s crew, sir?”

“Huh. Why didn’t I think of that? You’re right, he probably could. Maybe do triage before they come over, provided the ship isn't about to blow up. Anyway," he continued," if I dont get back down, tell them what I said, and then give Nadya a knapsack for carrying medical supplies, and let her get them from the safety closet, or from the Sickbay if she prefers and be sure to tell her what to watch out for; for all any of us know, she might be used to rescuing people from burning War Zeppelins, but better to be safe."

"Aye, sir."

"And, I'll be going over as well, one way or the other. I can still use a grapnel-and-line, if need be."