[i]collab between RoadRash, Kuro, and idlehands[/i]

Bill paused mid-rant, taken aback by Deli’s exuberance. He wasn’t used to most people doing anything less than quailing before his wrath, and the girl’s irking…[i]familiarity[/i] surprised him, to say the least.

“I...Curmy? Deli...I don’t speak...Wait...Hey!” he gaped after her as she took off after Connor, their brief ‘conversation’ seemingly forgotten.

“Explosives…[i]She’s[/i] our demo…” Bill shook his head, dumbfounded. “I’m gonna die. That’s it. I’m gonna die, in space, cuzz a rugrat is gonna blow me up.”

After a few moments of contemplative silence, the burly drill-master looked at his friend Owen.

“Y’ve picked up on that, right? That we’re dead, I mean. All of us. Every goddamn one. Just...Just boom. Fuckin’ dead, man.”

Reece bit down on his toothpick to keep from laughing and he tilted his head, his grey eyes widening. “Yup. Pretty much. We’re doomed but ain’t that always the case with a cute girl with Spanish eyes?” 

He smacked Bill’s arm, “I’ll be looking a little deeper into her background, seems a bit young and...scattered for a demo but those folks are generally out there. Gotta be a bit crazy to play with that shit.”

“Scattered my ass,” Bill growled, clearly not the least bit comforted. As Deli scampered off after Connor he reached into one of the many voluminous pockets of his coveralls and, after rummaging for a moment, withdrew a plug of chewing tobacco. He’d managed to get several such bricks aboard; enough to last him a few months, if he rationed carefully. Deftly opening the bag with one hand, he took a large bite and ripped it free, forcing the wad of chew into his cheek as he returned the bag to his pocket.

“Y’know,” he said through a mouth-full of Kentucky’s best, “I’ve known some crazy demo-rats in my day, but she’s differ’nt. Ain’t quite right, that one.”

Reece rolled the toothpick in his mouth, staring pointedly at the tobacco. “You’re lucky I never got a taste for chaw. Don't worry, we'll run plenty of simulations before the real deal and I'll do my homework on her.”

He went after Conner to speak with him about what he had discovered about the former head engineer for the mining pods. He listened to Connor’s description of the untidy office and frowned. Reece looked at the ship and finally back at Connor, “Yeah. I’d better go with you. I’ll know what I’m looking for when I find it.” 

He moved away from the group, giving Bill a nod and said to Connor who he expected come along with him. “Where’s your office? Just what kinda mess did this guy leave?” 

There had to be clues as to why a man who was good enough to be the lead mechanic, hell he was an engineer, allowed things to get sloppy. It was dangerous and rather unexpected and it filled him with irritation. 

Connor threw a small wave to Deli as he trotted after Reece’s quick strides. “Just a mess. Papers disorganized, food wrappers here and there, food crumbs in the keyboard which was kind of sticky and it kind of smelt like...I had a neighbor once that was a hoarder. It kind of smells like that but minus the cat piss.” Connor shrugged off the top half of his jumpsuit as he walked and tied it around his waist because he was getting sweaty. “Smells like the guy kind of...gave up. I mean laziness happens but not to this extent.” 

Reece paused, hooking his thumbs on his belt, “Give up? I mean this job ain’t easy but hell, it ain’t no hill for a climber. Just make sure the pods are running and fit, the man was an engineer, a professional.” 

Connor shrugged. “A specific career field doesn’t exclude people that can’t handle certain pressures. I mean,” He turned and looked up at the mining ships. “There’s a lot riding on these machines, a lot riding on the crews. Sure we practiced and trained day and night back on Earth but this is the real deal. Maybe he couldn’t handle it?”

He chewed thoughtfully, fraying the end of the toothpick, “Guess that’s true. Why was he let to go as far as leaving this place a mess then? Show me the office.”

“Maybe the murders had something to do with that?” Connor suggested as he resumed walking and lead Reece around the pod toward the door of his office. He was fully prepared to walk back into the mess he had left but he was pleasantly and very surprised.

The mess and smell was gone, replaced with a neat, clean work area that still smelt like the cleaning agents and a perky blonde haired girl sitting in his chair focused on a tablet. “Uh, hi.” Connor greeted, holding up his hand and looking around at the office then back out at the hangar, as he wasn’t sure this was actually his office. “Did we just discover a rift in the space time continuum or are you just an insanely fast cleaning lady?” Connor joked, offering the young woman a grin. 

Looks like the kids were starting to outnumber the older guys.

Reece nearly trod on Connor’s heel when he stopped in the door. He looked confused, the office was spotless and there was a pretty young woman with strawberry blonde hair. She looked excited and happy for having just apparently cleaned a pigsty of an office. He cleared his throat and removed the toothpick from his mouth. 

“Janitors on this ship are easy on the eyes,” he muttered. His grey eyes moved over her and he grinned. She was fresh faced with bright eyes and there was something about her, something familiar. She was like a bit of home when he looked at her. 

Something moved in his peripheral vision and he turned his head quickly, catching a glimpse of a large, spotted cat strolling into the office. Reece raised his eyebrows, “Looks like one of Dr. Albright’s leopards broke out of it’s cage.” 

He narrowed his eyes as the cat looked back at him and flicked his tail dismissively toward the pilot as he made a beeline for the young woman in the office chair. 

“Leop-aah!” Connor moved back and spread out his arms when a large cat slipped past his legs into the office. “Is that a cat?” He asked whipping his head back to look at Reece with wide eyes and then snapping around to point at the feline with a narrowed gaze. “That’s a fucking cat.”

“Course it’s a cat, MIT, a damn big one,” Reece said and he looked closer at the flicking tail, “Shit. My ex had cats and I know what this one’s up to.”

Reece moved toward Mowzer, reaching to scoop him up to take the big Bengal out of the office and the hangar. He could see the cat was probably intact and he was not about to have the whole place smell like piss when the tom decided to mark his new territory.