DotCom

The Last Kings of Orion

Later, she wouldn't be certain of precisely how she found herself on the foremost bridge of the Copernicus, only that she did.

It wasn't surprising, by any stretch of the imagination. Maya Coleman rarely did anything without careful, deliberate thought, but the waking had bee particularly hard on her. The vertigo had been so aggressively fierce, she'd been given leave to skip the briefing just so she could remember how to get her feet beneath her, and when she'd drunkenly insisted on going, the tech had insisted on wheeling her there, seeing as how she could hardly walk across the room without weaving to one side, that much only if she was lucky.

But of course the had gone to the briefing, and of course she'd walked there herself, even if she'd arrived ten minutes late, doused in a cold sweat, having stopped to retch half a dozen times en route.

Her head was pounding, and the periphery of her vision had darkened to a spotty black, the telltales signs of an inevitable migraine that meant she ought to have been lying down somewhere in the dark. But the former Air Force pilot was nothing if not dedicated. As she saw it, she had a job in refamiliarizing herself with the ship she'd be piloting for the next year, cryosickness be damned. It was, after all, quieter on the bridge than it had been in the conference room, or those areas surrounding the conservatory and mining pod hangars. It seemed a good portion of the waking crew this year were impossibly young, something she found as frustrating as it was inexplicable, though logically, she knew it bore well for their eventual future in Canaan.

Canaan.

Thanks to the weekly Sunday ministrations of her adoptive grandmother during her early years in Brooklyn, Maya knew all matter of Biblical minutia of the contested 'Promised Land'. How different, she wondered, would this Canaan be from the one they'd left behind? Would they, like the supposed Canaanites of Earth, spend generations in bloody battle over a thin strip of land that might promise life? It didn't, she knew, matter much. Her job had never been to question orders, only to obey them.

But Maya Coleman knew much of promises, and she'd never been much of a believer -- Christian or otherwise -- to begin with.

•••

"'Park'. Just 'Park' is perfectly fine."

In his eleven year practice in Northern California's Bay Area, Ha-neul Bae Park was nearly certain he'd said no other words quite so often. He had lived in the States for nearly fifteen years at the time of his leaving -- not only California, not only the US, but Earth in its entirety -- and while he was fluent in English, he still held something of his Korean accent, and it was not uncommon for people, out of respect or something not so kind, to assume he went by his given name. And certainly he was not opposed to it. Park was a strong believer in the past as a fluid modifier for present and future. But he had found a simple nickname seemed to settle his patients, and most in general, if only because it was easier to remember. So, he had given the name to First Sergeant Abby Larson, and to the waking crew of the Copernicus as a whole in his gentle introduction, the corners of his eyes crinkling under a perpetual, if knowing, smile.

"Good morning," he'd stated calmly, as he had eased himself from a sitting position into a something just slightly less stooped. There were old injuries not precisely keen on the abrupt wakening after three years, but he could hardly complain, especially given that news he had just heard. "My name is Ha-neul Bae Park, but most simply call me Park. And as Sergeant Larson has just stated, I am in fact both a doctor and a pastor," here his smile changed only slightly, "though whether one can be a pastor without a congregation is rather beyond me. In any case, I am here to provide support for all of you, particularly in the wake of such...tragic news. My background is largely in psychiatry, and should you feel you require regular meetings, please come visit. I am also, however, not adverse to simply chatting." He laughed. "You'll find I can wax poetic on nearly any topic, should you have the time for an old man."

He had left them with the location of both his cabin and his office before taking his seat again. He had only visited his office briefly to ensure things were in order -- the pharmacy shared between himself and the other medical doctors, Dr. Brock in particular, was well stocked with all manner of psychotropics, sedatives, anti-depressants, and so on -- but Park had always preferred the medicine of simple human compassion, and he had found most were more inclined to talk informally. So, he had set up his cabin to accommodate such requests, at virtually any hour of what now constituted the day, setting up a small, but plush chair in an empty corner of his office, with a small table stocked with candles and other aromatherapeutics.

The people aboard the Copernicus had left much behind, and many had had a good deal taken from them. To his understanding, there were several military men and women awake for this cycle. But in his experience, those folks often accounted for a bulk of his visitation.

The Last Kings of Orion

KuroTenshi said
There is still no picture for Maya

Yeah, that's being weird. *I* can see it, but I can't open it in a new tab, and when I try and drop-and-drag Google image search, it turns up 'large white square'. >____> I think I'll just screenshot it and call it a day.

The Last Kings of Orion

Gross. Sorry, Lil. >_<

In unrelated, less upsetting news, I have a couple hours free this morning. I *WILL* post for Maya and Park, and Deli, should the occasion arise.

The Last Kings of Orion

That was wonderful, ladies. Worth the early morning read when one was woken by an errant earthquake. I suppose I really am back home...

The Last Kings of Orion

I'm actually headed out of town for the day, so I may not be home until late. BUT I *will* have my phone, so I'll respond there if I can.

All my days go more or less back to normal after tomorrow, honest. >___>

Never Lose Your Hat!

Ivy stopped counting under her breath, leaping to her feet to nearly crash into Jötz, all in one fluid movement, her words overlapping his.

"LOOK WHAT I MADE!" she demanded brightly, too excited to be annoyed by the interruption.

Cupped in her hands, she held a small robotic spider. The creature had eight springy legs, one large, glittering eye, and a multitude of gears and wires tucked into a bulbous container, presumably representing its abdomen.

"Its name is Petris," she said, now whispering almost reverently as she brushed a single finger over the clank's right foreleg. At its touch, the small spider stiffened, then wriggled fluidly before said leg straightened, elongating abruptly to fire a laser into one corner of the room, turning an empty crate into a pile of smoking ashes.

Ivy's grin broadened. "See?" she demanded. "Now you don't have to get hurt anymore. Watch." She turned and set her newest creation on the floor at the base of the heavy door. "I want to go in there," she said patiently, then turned over her shoulder to give her companion an excited giggle as the clank went to work.

It scuttled up the side of the door with no apparent regard for gravity (though closer inspection would reveal a series of cleat-like spikes protruding from the ends of each of its spindly legs) until it reached the bronzed doorknob, whereupon its two foremost legs moved at a blur. A moment later, the doorknob fell away, revealing a small space to look into the room. The spider folded itself to fit through the hole, and then it was gone.

Ivy turned back to Jötz again. "See? No explosions necessa -- "

A muffled boom came from the other side of the door, and Ivy rocked back on her heels as the barge swayed in response. A moment later, Petris emerged from the hole left by the discarded doorknob, its demeanor now strangely smug, quickly followed by a curl of black smoke and the smell of gunpowder.

Ivy shrugged as she held out a hand for the clank that was now warm to the touch. It crawled up her arm and settled in a curtain of black hair at her shoulder. Ivy shrugged. "Well, no big explosions. C'mon."

She leaned against the heavy door again and was not remotely surprised when it swung back under her hands.

The Last Kings of Orion

Justric said
Um... No?

I don't understand the question, and I won't respond to it.

...you know, aside from saying I won't respond, but I think that's a given.

The Last Kings of Orion

Wouldn't we all...

The Last Kings of Orion

Oh, yes, it's not a secret. Y'all could probably figure it out with not all that much sleutherizing.

Buuuut I'll enjoy the upper hand while I have it and pretend Deli is off to have a secret affair with Gavin. =p

The Last Kings of Orion

Still? Mergh okay, easy edit. Sorry, Kuro! D=