MILLICENT: “Noma, will you ever tell us why you brought us here?”
ALEJO: Alejo sits down at the controls, straps in, and takes the helm.
STORY: “I have told you as much as I can, Millie.”
TUELLER: Tueller straps down everything as best he can, and tries to prepare people who haven’t done this before for a radical reorientation of gravity.
MILLICENT: “I miss Noma, Noma.”
MILLICENT: Millie straps herself in
STORY: “I do too, Millie.”
ALEJO: Alejo opened one of the heavy double-doors to the Thief and King, expecting to hear an inebriated Jac assault him with some gloriously profane greeting. The party should have started by now. But the pub was empty. No customers. No crew. No bartender. Just a lone, half-full pint of beer on the long, slender, copper-topped bar. His heart skipped a beat before beginning to race. The quiet was all wrong – a lie. He suddenly wished he’s avoided the three shots of tequila he’d slammed before coming. He fought against an alcohol buzz, trying to sharpen his senses. As he took a cautious step, his peripheral vision caught a blur of movement, a figure emerging out of a shadow. It was swift and silent. He spun instinctively, squaring his body in the direction of the movement and distributing his weight for a fight. Esi was too quick for him, however. By the time that he’d recognized her and dodged one swing from her rattan, she’d clipped his leg with the other.
—
STORY: Tueller, you wake up in a cold sweat. It’s nighttime, the cool air is blowing in gently through your open tent flap. Jenny snores her low snore. You glance over to the spot usually occupied by Akilah, and it’s empty. You were just having a dream about something – she was yelling at you?
TUELLER: Tueller sits up slowly, looking around, disgruntled. Even by his standards since they left the king, he’s more unsettled than usual. Satisfied that Akilah isn’t in the tent, he stands up and walks out the tent flap.
TUELLER: Taking a moment to make sure the autostill he’d rigged in an off moment is still percolating happily, he looks around at the camp.
STORY: Your sister is sitting by the dying fire, looking out at the water.
STORY: She has her back to you.
TUELLER: Tueller _tck-tcks_, like summoning a cat, which has been their shared sibling noise ever since they were kids, as warning not to attack him as he comes up behind her.
STORY: She turns back and gives you a small wave.
TUELLER: Even so, he comes up an arms-reach away.
STORY: “Can’t sleep either?”
TUELLER: “I can sleep. It’s just the type that brings bad dreams.”
STORY: She nods. “Mm.”
TUELLER: “Might just be this fucking planet. It’s always a mistake to get down in the dirt.”
STORY: “Yeah, I’m, uh. Ready to go.”
TUELLER: Tueller laughs a mirthless laugh.
STORY: “I mean it, T. From all of this.”
STORY: “From that.” She points down to where Peregrine lies underwater.
TUELLER: Tueller is silent.
STORY: “We used to do things that felt like they mattered.”
STORY: “This… just feels like running from one trouble to another, watching people get hurt along the way.”
TUELLER: “Maybe you did.”
STORY: She nods. “Yeah. Maybe it was just me.”
STORY: She stands, pulling her jacket around her. “Well. If you think of a way to break it to Alejo, uh, let me know.”
STORY: “I’m pretty sure ‘it’s not you, it’s space’ isn’t gonna go over great.”
TUELLER: “That’s on you, Lah.”
TUELLER: “I think I can only make that worse.”
STORY: “Cmooooon,” she whines.
TUELLER: “I haven’t NOT made a thing worse in months.”
STORY: “Yeah, okay. Are you gonna be okay?”
TUELLER: “You tell me. I really don’t trust my judgment right now. Probably better if someone else points me where I should be.”
TUELLER: “But I don’t have the judgment right now to know who that should be. The Doc? Alejo? Jenny seems like she might be the least like me. Maybe she should point me right.”
STORY: “This is not on you, you know.”
TUELLER: Tueller shrugs. “Still.”
STORY: “Yeah.”
STORY: “Night, T.” She squeezes your arm as she walks by, back to the tent.
TUELLER: “Night, Kiki.”
STORY: “Gross.”
STORY: Next morning! Millie, I assume you’re an early riser. Alejo and Kahn are due back sometime this morning from their latest trip up the mountain for parts. The sun’s up, the birds are singing, there’s a crisp autumn weather thing going on. You feel good about progress today.
TUELLER: Tueller’s still up, sitting by a dying fire, but doesn’t look like he’s feeling friendly.
MILLICENT: Millie does her stretches and then goes to stoke the fire for morning tea
STORY: It’s been three weeks since your conversation with Noma, and she has chosen to stay mostly quiet since then. Three days ago, you finally got the interior of the ship fully drained and sealed, and now that most of the water has dripped its way out, you have a dry, albeit upside-down, interior to work on the electronics and the engine in. You think, if Alejo and Kahn recovered the right stuff (and why wouldn’t they, you provided _detailed instructions),_ you should be a few days from powering her back on.
STORY: What is everyone doing? Alejo, you can arrive back any time you like.
MILLICENT: Millie is making tea
ALEJO: Alejo and Kahn roll into camp, laughing, which is definitely a first in the last couple of weeks. Kahn is driving the horse-drawn cart. Alejo has his legs dangling off the side, looking relaxed.
TUELLER: Tueller glances up with a flash of irritation that he quickly stamps down.
MILLICENT: Millie runs over, gives them a friendly, if cursory, greeting, and examines what they’ve brought.
ALEJO: Alejo hops off as Kahn stops to allow Millie a chance to look through the goods. He notices the flash of irritation and turns down his good mood.
TUELLER: Tueller comes over and quietly makes himself available to help with the work.
TUELLER: “Rode through the night, huh?”
ALEJO: He nods. “I’m definitely sick of this camping shit.”
ALEJO: “Everything okay here?”
TUELLER: “I read on Earth people do this for fun.”
TUELLER: “Mudfuckers.”
STORY: “Absurd. That can’t be right.” Akilah comes over to give Alejo a kiss and take whatever he’s carrying.
ALEJO: He kisses her back and gives her a smile.
ALEJO: “Crazy assholes.”
MILLICENT: “Yes, it’s a grotesque habit.”
MILLICENT: “I don’t indulge, myself.”
STORY: Jenny calls from under a large pipe. “I love camping.”
STORY: “Not this kind, but, you know, the kind where it’s pretty and not a horrible place we’re trapped in.”
TUELLER: Tueller gives Jenny a blank look.
STORY: “It’s–” she grunts and adjusts her grip. “Peaceful!”
TUELLER: “Jen hon, I’m sometimes not sure we’re the same species.”
ALEJO: Alejo laughs easily at this.
ALEJO: He turns to Millie. “We got everything, yes?” He holds up a hand, crossing his fingers.
MILLICENT: “38, 39, 40.” Millie looks up from her inventory. “Looks good! We’ll get to work as soon as it’s unloaded.”
ALEJO: Alejo’s fingers turn into a fist, which he briefly shakes in victory. “Go team Vespertine and Soto.”
STORY: “Woo.” Kahn doesn’t actually cheer, but he is in a good enough mood to be dryly playful.
TUELLER: “Point me, Doc. I’m ready to leave this rock.”
TUELLER: “Any activity from the Magic Mountain?”
STORY: “Nope. Whoever was making that thing move either hasn’t noticed or doesn’t care.”
ALEJO: Alejo shakes his head. “Dead quiet.” He pauses. “Too quiet,” he adds under his breath.
TUELLER: “Weird that it hasn’t noticed it lost a craft.”
MILLICENT: Millie points at something heavy, loads her own arms, and hops down.
MILLICENT: “It _is_ weird.”
TUELLER: Tueller grabs what Millie pointed at, hoisting it on one shoulder like Schwarzenegger in _Commando_, and follows Millie.
MILLICENT: “Is there any chance you were followed back here?”
ALEJO: Alejo shrugs at this. “I don’t think so, but yeah. I mean, this is round trip, what, ten? It’s not like we’re being particularly covert at this point.”
MILLICENT: “Fair enough. Once I get the ship up and running I’ll see if I can spare some time to recalibrate the sensors to pick up any transmissions going or coming from Magic Mountain.”
ALEJO: “Sounds good, Doc.” He starts to turn away and then looks back. “And thanks. Thanks for the excellent work. I can’t believe what you’ve gotten done with . . . scraps.”
MILLICENT: Millie smiles. “What we’ve gotten done.”
MILLICENT: “Now let’s go make these scraps indistinguishable from magic!”
STORY: Millie gets to work, Alejo and Tueller follow directions, and progress is made.
STORY: Millie, I’d like you to make your one and only Face Adversity + Expertise roll to see how well you fix the ship.
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 2
STORY: josh rolled 3 + 2 = 5
STORY: So. Millie, you spend the day inside the ship, working on the engine with T’chololl, and come to the conclusion that one of the parts that you couldn’t get from the dragon is broken.
STORY: Hard broken, not fixable.
STORY: You need to fabricate a replacement.
STORY: Millie, you’re going to need to make a mold out of the broken part, adjust to account for the big-ass crack in the frame, and then somehow make a new piece out of aluminum.
STORY: You’ve got the metal you need from the dragon, you just need to solve for the rest.
STORY: What’s the plan?
MILLICENT: Okay
TUELLER: “Can we salvage a spare from a war machine?”
MILLICENT: “Not this time, I’m afraid.”
MILLICENT: I’m assuming this is a meeting with Akilah, Alejo and Tueller
STORY: Sure! Let’s make it inside the engine room, for funsies.
ALEJO: Alejo leans against the bulkhead. “Well shit.”
MILLICENT: “The superconductive gyroscopic hypercam is completely shot. Cracked down the orbital side.”
MILLICENT: “I can make a new one.”
STORY: Akilah looks at the part you’re talking about and nods unhappily.
MILLICENT: “Well, I can _help_ make a new one.”
MILLICENT: “Here’s the part no one’s going to like. Here we go. Rip the bandaid.”
MILLICENT: “We’re going to need a blacksmith.”
TUELLER: Tueller starts.
MILLICENT: “Well, just the smithy, if it comes to it. I’m pretty confident I can use a smithy if I’ve got a pair of competent hands next to me.”
TUELLER: “Sorry, I had a dream about a blacksmith the other night. That’s…weird feeling. Go on, Doc.”
TUELLER: “Isn’t…uh, I thought a smithy was a nickname for a blacksmith. What is it actually?”
MILLICENT: “Oh, it is. It’s also what the structure a smith works in is called.”
TUELLER: “So. Not man-portable.”
MILLICENT: “It shouldn’t take more than a few hours. A short day or a long night, probably, as we certainly wouldn’t want to be seen making a superconductive gyroscopic hypercam.”
MILLICENT: “Right, it’s, you know, the whole building, all the tools and supplies.”
TUELLER: “So back in civilization, such as it is.”
MILLICENT: “But that’s taking a, you know, extinction level risk.”
ALEJO: “We know a blacksmith. Tiffany’s brother.”
ALEJO: “We can minimize the risk.”
MILLICENT: “We can’t eliminate it.”
MILLICENT: “We’d be taking all the lives on this planet into our hands to do this.”
MILLICENT: Millie looks down at her hands
MILLICENT: “Believe me, it’s a lot to carry.”
STORY: Akilah rests her hands on her hips and sucks air through her teeth. “Is there any other way we leave?”
ALEJO: “We stay and we’re sure to take all the lives on this planet, at least if we believe Noma.”
MILLICENT: Millie shrugs helplessly. “I can’t make a part I’m sure will get us through the atmosphere without it.”
MILLICENT: “The only other way we leave is if we find, kill and fix an interstellar dragon.”
STORY: “Which Noma also said was a risk we couldn’t take.”
STORY: “Well. Does she get a vote, or are we still pretending she’s not listening?”
TUELLER: Tueller stays silent, watching.
MILLICENT: “I would like to hear her thoughts on this, yes, if she has any.”
STORY: Millie, have you fixed the ship’s intercoms yet?
MILLICENT: Sure
MILLICENT: That was an easy fix and it made Millie directing repairs in one part while she worked in another easier.
STORY: Noma comes in through the intercom. “Does Mr. Soto believe he can lead a covert mission into this smithy without detection by any of the locals?”
ALEJO: Alejo nods once, then remembers Noma can’t see him. “Probably.”
STORY: “Then I believe this is an acceptable risk.”
ALEJO: “Trouble is going to be using it without getting caught.”
ALEJO: “But I don’t really see other options, or at least other options that aren’t at least as risky. Am I missing something obvious?”
MILLICENT: “The other option is to leave Peregrine where she is and,” Millie shrugs. “Live here.”
TUELLER: “How long would it take to build our own smithy?”
MILLICENT: “I don’t like it, but someone should say it.”
MILLICENT: “We could live and die here.”
STORY: “That would be the safest option,” Noma agrees.
TUELLER: “I wouldn’t last a year.”
ALEJO: “We stay, we can’t hope to stay hidden. We get found out at some point and we’re at the same point. Only with way too much fucking camping in between.”
MILLICENT: Millie rubs her temples. “I haven’t the first idea how to build a smithy, Tueller. I suppose I could apprentice to one in order to learn, but that could take years.”
MILLICENT: “I agree, I don’t really want to stay here either.”
MILLICENT: “But it’s our responsibility to at least say out loud the thing we aren’t willing to do. So we can look at it in the eye.”
ALEJO: “It’s not just that I don’t want to stay. I don’t. But if we can’t be discovered, then staying is a losing strategy. In the long run.”
MILLICENT: “Akilah?”
TUELLER: Tueller walks off to the side, and sits down on a bare piece of ceiling. His armor locks and acts like a chair for him without needing a chair.
TUELLER: “I go where you point me, captains.”
STORY: Akilah rubs her neck and exhales. “We could assimilate.”
STORY: “It would suck, but we could, theoretically, improve these people’s lives.”
STORY: “Not tell them anything that would put them in danger, but incremental improvements? Running water? Democracy? These things can be done in a lifetime.”
ALEJO: “Look, if we need a command decision to take the pressure off others, I’ll make it. We go to the smithy.”
MILLICENT: Millie breathes out. “I agree. I just wanted to make sure we. I. Faced it, this time.”
ALEJO: “Get what you need, Doc. We go at nightfall.”
TUELLER: “Me too?”
TUELLER: Tueller crosses his legs; the armor still carries him like a chair.
ALEJO: “Yeah, for sure. The three of us. We go light and fast. Doc, you need more hands? Or can just the three of us get this done?”
MILLICENT: “One to keep watch and one to help should do it.”
MILLICENT: Millie smiles. “I think it’s going to be kind of fun.”
TUELLER: “Wouldn’t mind a sniper overwatch, but that’s…[sigh].”
STORY: “Maybe less killing this time,” Akilah says without looking up.
TUELLER: “Less killing this time.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods.
TUELLER: Tueller doesn’t sound enthused.
ALEJO: Alejo glances at him. “Kahn’s been sneaking to some overwatch spot. I’ll put him on it. But yeah. Less killing.” He looks down. “Though I feel like I’ve said that before.”
TUELLER: “I seem to remember saying ‘no one dies this time’”
TUELLER: “Meant it, too.”
TUELLER: Tueller looks down at the ceiling, avoiding eye contact
ALEJO: Alejo nods slowly, looking at the floor as well.
TUELLER: He uncrosses his legs and stands back up.
ALEJO: “Nightfall.” He turns and heads to his quarters.
STORY: You’ve got the day to prepare. Anything you want to do?
MILLICENT: Millie pulls as much about blacksmithery as she can from the ship’s files and goes over her math twice.
ALEJO: Alejo sends Kahn to the overwatch spot and instructs him not to engage. If we get caught, the crew is to hunker down until we can escape.
TUELLER: Tueller dresses comfortably, packs his knife, and gets just drunk enough so that he’ll sober up in time for the job, sitting with Fiona apart from everyone.
STORY: Fiona rests her head in your lap, purring.
ALEJO: Alejo puts on the black robe that he stole, flips the hood over his head, and checks checks his boots.
TUELLER: Before leaving, Tueller gives his gloves over to Akilah. “I’ll want these back.”
STORY: “Better come back for them, then.”
TUELLER: Tueller doesn’t know how to respond, so he doesn’t.
ALEJO: Alejo lets them have a moment and the, before leaving, walks up to Akilah and gives her a quick kiss. “I’m getting you off this rock and back to your home.” He flashes her a quick smile.
ALEJO: “Or you’ll have to come rescue my dumb, arrogant ass.”
STORY: She looks surprised, and glances up at Tueller quickly.
TUELLER: Tueller gives Akilah an almost imperceptible shake of the head.
STORY: “Yeah. We’ll be ready.”
MILLICENT: Millie gives Sweet and Figgan some instructions so they can be ready to install the new part when she returns with it.
STORY: They’re ready.
STORY: Everyone’s in position. Jenny and Kahn lead you through the path Kahn established to the other beach, then up the hills and out of sight until the path branches. “That way to town. Jenny and I will be up here,” Kahn points uphill to a vantage point.
ALEJO: “Things go pear shaped, keep everyone safe.” Alejo says this and then slips onto the path, leading the way.
STORY: What do, friends?
TUELLER: Tueller follows Alejo, trying to keep the Doc as quiet as can be.
ALEJO: Alejo leads the way to Tiffany’s house, sticking to the shadows, moving quickly and quietly. He keeps Millie in the middle, trusting Tueller to have their backs.
MILLICENT: Millie wears as period accurate clothing as she cans, wearing the broken part in a pack on her back.
STORY: Let’s have a Face Adversity + Mettle, Alejo!
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 6 + 2 = 8
STORY: Okay! You start making your way through town and see a guard doing his rounds. You gesture for the others to follow you quickly into an alleyway, but Millie misses the signal and takes a few steps in the wrong direction. The guard is turning around. You can let her be seen or get involved.
ALEJO: Alejo steps forward and puts his arm around her, guiding her back to the darkness, but, if they are seen, he tries to make it seem like a sweet lover’s stroll.
STORY: You are seen! The guard looks over at you, and calls out. “Ho, there.”
TUELLER: Tueller lurks back in the shadows, trying not to bristle into sight.
ALEJO: Alejo signals Tueller off, knowing he’ll take up a precautionary position. Alejo laughs and then turns towards the guard, keeping his hood up tight and pulling Millie into him. “’Eve, Sir.” He says brightly.
ALEJO: He keeps them close to the shadowy part of the nearest building, angled away from where Tueller is standing.
STORY: “What has you out so late, sir? Madam.”
ALEJO: Alejo smiles from under the hood. “Such a lovely night. Just wanted a quick stretch of our legs and a little romance under the stars, if you know what I mean.” He kisses Millie on the cheek.
ALEJO: The move allows him to spin them a little closer to the building, getting the guard twisted a little further away from Tueller.
STORY: “Keep it to yourself, scoundrel, and begone from the streets, forthwith.”
ALEJO: “Sir. Of course. Thank you.” He lets go of Millie and turns to head off, leading her back towards their path.
MILLICENT: Millie giggles and skips and a little to sell it.
TUELLER: Tueller maneuvres further back into the shadows.
ALEJO: “Cute.” Alejo whispers to her with a quick smile.
ALEJO: They keep moving towards Tiffany’s house.
TUELLER: Tueller manages to resheath his knife without anyone seeing.
STORY: You make it the rest of the way – but the lights are out, door locked. What do you do?
ALEJO: Alejo quickly scouts around the house, trying to determine who’s home, if anyone.
TUELLER: Tueller keeps close to Millie to keep her safe and out of the way.
ALEJO: He looks for open windows or easy entrances first.
STORY: Alejo, Assessment + Mettle please
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 7 + 2 = 9
STORY: You’re pretty confident both kids are home. As for access points, you tell me! What’s the security situation here?
STORY: There’s a fair amount of costly wares inside in various states of completion, so there’s got to be something protecting that.
ALEJO: The house is pretty simple. The main door is locked and bolted from the inside, so it would be impossible to pick. There’s a side door that also seems bolted from the inside, though it’s in a more remote part of the house, it be just a lock. But there’s a second floor hallway window that’s cracked open. That looks like the best entrance. We need to get into the house to get to the smithy, which is attached. It has large doors that open to the outside, but they are all sealed up right now.
STORY: Second floor window means less noise, but riskier, the blacksmith and Tiffany likely sleep upstairs.
ALEJO: Alejo slips back around to tell Millie and Tueller that he’s going to try to slip into the house and unlock the main entrance from the inside. “I don’t think there’s another way in. But how loud is your work gonna be, Doc? We’ve got Tiffany and her brother home, I think.”
TUELLER: “We owe it to them to talk to them first.”
MILLICENT: “Smithy loud. I don’t know if-. Yes.”
TUELLER: “Only people alive who’ve been legit nice to us.”
TUELLER: “They don’t want us, we go.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods. “Besides, having his help will save me at least an hour.”
ALEJO: Alejo nods. “Yeah. Yeah. Agreed.”
TUELLER: “Sorry. You’re the captain.” Tueller makes a zipping his lips motion.
ALEJO: “No, you’re absolutely right, T. ’Sides, you know I don’t have that kind of pride of place.”
ALEJO: Alejo talks around to the main door with them. He gestures to Tueller to give it a knock while he keeps his eyes out for guards who might be passing by.
TUELLER: Tueller gives it a Shave a Haircut knock.
STORY: You wait thirty seconds. No answer.
ALEJO: Alejo frowns. He gestures for a second try. “Probably fast asleep. I think they’re on the second floor.”
TUELLER: Again, a little harder this time.
STORY: Still nothing.
ALEJO: “Shit.” Alejo frowns again. “I think I gotta go in.” He looks at Millie and Tueller to see if they have any other ideas. “If they’re asleep, I’ll try to wake them without getting killed or having them scream bloody murder. Then, same plan. If they’re not in, we do what we came to do.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods. “We’ll keep watch out here.”
ALEJO: “If you hear a lot of violent screaming, get outta here. I’ll meet you back at camp.” With that, Alejo slips around to the open window and does some nifty parkour moves to get up to it, hanging on to the ledge while he eases the window open enough to pull himself up and inside.
TUELLER: Tueller, under his breath to Millie: “You think if it comes to it, it’s faster for me to carry you, or for you to run next to me?”
MILLICENT: “It will definitely be more fun to be carried and so that is my vote.”
STORY: Face Adversity + Mettle please!
ALEJO: /roll 2d6+2
STORY: ablair01 rolled 10 + 2 = 12
STORY: You climb the side of the house silently, slide open the window, and set down inside a narrow hallway between two doorways with a stairway beyond.
STORY: What now?
ALEJO: Alejo sees who’s home, very, very quietly.
STORY: You open both doors as quietly as you can, and see the sleeping form of the blacksmith in one bed. The other is empty.
STORY: Tueller, the front door opens. It’s Tiffany, rubbing her eyes.
STORY: She tilts her head, confused.
TUELLER: “Sup, Tiff.”
STORY: “Is it you, Sir Tueller?”
TUELLER: “Can we come in?”
TUELLER: Tueller smiles as winningly as he can.
STORY: Alejo, you hear conversation downstairs. You turn back to the open door, and see that the blacksmith has _also_ heard conversation downstairs, and is quickly rising out of his bed with a club in his hand toward you.
STORY: What do you do?
ALEJO: “Whoa, big fella!” He backs up, raising his hands, but he also blades his body slightly, in case a fight is coming. “It’s me, Tiff’s friend. Alejo Soto. We need your help, and I think Tiff’s just opened the door downstairs.”
STORY: He stops just before reaching you, also rubbing his eyes. Downstairs, Tiffany lets you in.
TUELLER: —I like that the blacksmith carries a club. It’s like the potter always drinks out of misshapen pots.
STORY: Let’s fast forward a bit. They want to help, and don’t ask too many questions. The blacksmith’s name is Willem, and he spends an hour restarting his forge for you.
STORY: The project is going to take until just before dawn. Tiffany, being five, would like to go back to bed, and does.
TUELLER: Tueller pours him a drink of homebrewed poteen as thanks.
STORY: Millie, let’s see how you do?
STORY: Face Adversity + Expertise, I think
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 2
STORY: josh rolled 8 + 2 = 10
MILLICENT: My science has returned!
STORY: You science! You super science. You build a mold out of a block of wet clay Willem has in the forge for such purposes, repair the crack in the mold, and cast a new one from the scrap aluminum you brought along. The result is perfect, and you’re done before dawn.
STORY: Willem is fairly amazed at the product you create and its intricacy and looks disappointed when you smash the mold.
ALEJO: “Thank you, Willem. Truly. You have no idea how much this means to us.”
MILLICENT: “I’m sorry and thank you!” Millie puts out her hand to shake Willem’s.
STORY: He gives you a bewildered handshake and you swoop out of his shop.
STORY: Well, first Tiffany gives everyone a hard-boiled egg for the trip back.
TUELLER: “Take care of her. Better than I would.”
STORY: Willem nods, as if he understands what that means.
TUELLER: “Thank you both.”
TUELLER: Tueller definitely does not cry or anything like that that’d be absurd.
ALEJO: Alejo gives her a quick hair ruffle and then heads out, leading them back out of the city, keeping out of sight, as much as possible.
STORY: You make it back to camp without incident, Kahn and Jenny joining you along the way. The part is perfect. You can leave in a matter of hours. You’re fucking free.
STORY: And Noma wants to know what your plan is.
TUELLER: Tueller sits down again. Present but not.
ALEJO: Alejo is in the galley, having a drink of whatever is left that has high alcohol content in it.
STORY: Every room is upside down, for the record, so anyone in any particular place has nowhere good to sit, and most of the stuff that was in cabinets is in crates on the floor/ceiling.
ALEJO: Alejo takes a sip of the drink, clearly distracted. “What’s up, Noma.
STORY: “Captains, I am afraid I must ask for your intentions.”
MILLICENT: “I think we intend to get back to familiar space, Noma.”
MILLICENT: “Do you mean, what do we intend to do with knowledge of this planet?”
TUELLER: “My first impulse to buzz the palace and level it with our guns is clearly the wrong one, so someone else take the lead here.”
ALEJO: “For now, we’re leaving and going back to Sol.”
STORY: “Our guns would not accomplish your wishes, Tueller, and they would also likely ensure the destruction of everyone who witnessed it, so I cannot condone your plan.”
TUELLER: ’I KNOW Noma, Christ, fucksake.”
ALEJO: Alejo smiles wearily at this. He looks at Tueller sympathetically before continuing. “You didn’t leave us a lot of choice, Noma, so I don’t know what else you want us to say. We know we can’t tell anyone about this place. We won’t.”
MILLICENT: “And once we jump back into known space I can delete the record of our location from our jump computer.”
ALEJO: “Care to give us more information, now that you got what you wanted?”
STORY: “What do you want to know?”
ALEJO: “What the fuck is going on with this planet and who the hell is going this godawful thing to those people down there?”
STORY: “I told you I do not know, Alejo.”
STORY: “I only have suspicions, and they would be unsafe and unwise to share.”
ALEJO: He nods. “So, no then.” He takes another sip.
STORY: “The human need for comprehension seems to be a significant weakness of your species.”
ALEJO: He nearly spits out the drink he just took. Then he smiles. “One perspective, I suppose.”
MILLICENT: “It seems pretty common among the collective,” Millie adds mildly.
ALEJO: “Also seems a little hypocritical since it turns out that you brought us here so that you could . . . comprehend something.” He mutters this mostly under his breath.
TUELLER: “I’ve got other weaknesses too. Some of them uglier.”
STORY: “I am concerned about your mental health, Tueller.”
TUELLER: “I think the only one not is potentially Loll.”
TUELLER: Tueller raises his flask at the speaker system.
MILLICENT: “That’s my question, Noma. Why _did_ you bring us here?”
TUELLER: Tueller hits that flask with a hard pull.
STORY: “The process of separating my functions has unraveled some old code, to use a metaphor. It has given me access to fragments of data I previously could not see.”
STORY: “That data raised questions.”
STORY: “I came for an answer.”
ALEJO: Alejo pours himself another glass and then gets one for Tueller, filling it and sliding it towards him.
MILLICENT: “What was the data, Noma? And what will you do with it?”
STORY: “I have not yet decided. Most likely nothing.”
TUELLER: “Can we just go now, or do you need us to do anything other unsavory shit here before we can leave?”
ALEJO: Alejo nearly spits out another drink that he’s taken. “Nice. So . . . ” he stops as Tueller says this.
STORY: “I did not encourage you to do anything unsavory, Tueller.”
ALEJO: Alejo just shakes his head and takes another drink.
TUELLER: “That’s not an answer.”
ALEJO: “Let’s get out of here. We’re done.” He stands and heads to the flight deck.
TUELLER: “Stow everything. Prepare for 180 flip! Let’s fuck off.”
MILLICENT: “Noma, will you ever tell us why you brought us here?”
ALEJO: Alejo sits down at the controls, straps in, and takes the helm.
STORY: “I have told you as much as I can, Millie.”
TUELLER: Tueller straps down everything as best he can, and tries to prepare people who haven’t done this before for a radical reorientation of gravity.
MILLICENT: “I miss Noma, Noma.”
MILLICENT: Millie straps herself in
STORY: “I do too, Millie.”
TUELLER: “It’s best to get rid of any concept of absolutes, especially for the next ten minutes. If not forever.”
ALEJO: Alejo checks in with Tueller. “We locked down?”
TUELLER: Tueller checks to confirm that’s true, then gives a thumbs down that turns into a thumbs up.
TUELLER: He grabs a room strap just for this purpose.
TUELLER: “Fuckin’ dirt.”
ALEJO: Alejo flips the ship and burns hard away from the planet.
STORY: Everyone loads up, straps in, and the engine roars to life, instantly lifting the weight holding the ship in place as it shoots out of the water, newly buoyant. Alejo rides the momentum and takes off into the air, breaking atmosphere in fifteen seconds flat.
STORY: Noma comes in over the intercom in the bridge. “Captain Soto.”
ALEJO: “Yeah, Noma.”
TUELLER: Tueller spits, nevertheless aiming it into one of the vents in the floor to slough it off.
STORY: “Do you intend us to wild jump a second time to return to Sol?”
ALEJO: “Do we have another option?”
TUELLER: “Trust the robot. Never guided us wrong,” Tueller says a little drunkenly.
STORY: “We could attempt to travel through the space around this planet until we recognize a match on known star charts, but I calculate an 83% chance that the crew will run out of food an oxygen before we make progress.”
TUELLER: “But will we run out of booze?”
STORY: “At the rate you are lately consuming alcohol, Tueller, you will run out in 22 days.”
ALEJO: Alejo clenches his jaw, takes a deep breath, and then says, “We jump. Make the best calculations we can, and let’s get it done.”
STORY: Noma switches to the global intercom. “Crew members, please consume alcohol per procedure for upcoming wild jump. Jump in two minutes.”
TUELLER: Tueller passes the flask.
STORY: Back to the bridge intercom. “One other thing, Captain Soto.”
STORY: “If you don’t mind me interrupting your imbibing, I would like to address a personnel issue with you.”
MILLICENT: Millie takes a long pull and hands it back
STORY: “And I believe Figgan keeps a bottle of Arcturan brandy under the panel to the left of the catalytic converter adapter.”
ALEJO: “Yeah?” He takes the flask and takes a long drink. “Okay,” he says, has he passing the flask back to Tueller.
TUELLER: “Jen hon.” Tueller passes the flask on to her.
TUELLER: “Battle stations everyone!” Tueller shouts in a voice that no one takes seriously by this point.
TUELLER: “We’re into the fucking breach again, once more.”
ALEJO: Alejo stays strapped in on the bridge.
STORY: Everyone else files into the galley and starts drinking and making gallows jokes, assuming you’re all about to be torn apart after this hellish trip to medieval times.
ALEJO: Alejo sits back, and looks out at the stars. He smiles.
STORY: “I understand, Captain, if you would like me to depart the crew when we return to Sol. I cannot be completely honest with you, and this seems to be a non-negotiable issue for you and the other captains.”
STORY: “I would appreciate the opportunity to make arrangements with a representative at Erde-Maris command so I may find an appropriate system there and continue to search for my missing code with their assistance.”
ALEJO: Alejo closes his eyes for a long moment. “Noma, for being a super-smart, badass AI, you’re a real dummy.” He opens his eyes again. “You’re part of this crew. You want to leave, you’re free to do so. But I wouldn’t like you to depart. I would like you to get your shit together and start acting like part of the crew. The problem isn’t that your lack of honesty is non-negotiable for us. it’s that you don’t seem to trust us, and that makes this a lot more difficult — and dangerous — than it should be.”
STORY: “Is it inconceivable that there is information you, as humans, are simply not capable of being trusted with?”
ALEJO: He pointedly ignores the rhetorical question. “And I said we’d get your missing code.”
ALEJO: “Nothing’s changed with that.”
STORY: “Understood, captain, thank you. I will remain onboard.”
STORY: “May I recommend we hire a therapist as our next crew addition.”
ALEJO: Alejo laughs out loud at this. “Now that’s not a half-bad idea.” He leans back again and smiles at the stars, waiting for the wild jump that might end them all.
STORY: “Proceeding with jump, in 5, 4, please sit down, 1. Jumping.”