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Post by Solomon Taylor on Oct 17, 2009 19:27:42 GMT -6
Thankfully the bags and boxes that Sol and Caden had brought back with them had been small, not enough to warrant a search from the soldiers posted outside. It was a good sign for days to come when they figured out what sort of shipment to smuggle Cassandra back into.
Sol felt exhaustion setting in as they wandered back into the cargo bay, putting the stuff down near the stairs. He took a moment for himself, sitting down on some crates. When he'd left the planet the first time, he hadn't planned on coming back so soon, so he hadn't really thought he'd even get some of his random possessions back that he'd made himself give up in order to get in the small shuttle and leave so fast. It was strangely nostalgic already to rummage through the small little cabin he'd built over the years and pull some more things out that were less important to immediate survival and more about emotions or memories.
He pulled a knife out of his box, running his fingers over the carved hilt of it. It had been given to him a decade ago by an Elf he often went hunting with, and it had proven to be an extremely useful as well as beautiful tool. It didn't have a ton of use in space, but he was glad to have it back in his hands regardless. He realized he was beginning to feel a little less aimless now that he had his things back. Like he felt like he had an identity again, rather than just a ship.
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Post by Magdalen Verena on Oct 18, 2009 20:46:18 GMT -6
Magdalen had given herself a few hours before succumbing to her own growing impatience, pacing the ship corridors with both arms folded and leaving the rest of the crew to their own devices. Many of them seemed at ease on the surface; however she was sure they were feeling just as anxious as her … only far more adept at masking it. Not that the blonde was able to draw any comfort from that fact as she descended the ladder into the cargo bay.
Needless to say she was shocked by the image of Solomon sitting quietly on a few crates, eyes growing wide but body remaining stationary. Was she hallucinating? No.
“ Hey.”
It was all she could manage at first, trying to show some self-restraint by not asking a thousand questions at once.
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Post by Solomon Taylor on Oct 19, 2009 0:00:51 GMT -6
Sol glanced up in surprise when Magdalen's voice broke the silence in the room. "Oh, hey." He tucked his knife into his belt and then motioned towards one of the bags. "Brought back some stuff the Denvers gave me that was yours..."
He could tell she was going to eventually ask about Cassandra. Everyone on the ship probably wanted to ask. Now that she'd stuck her neck out for Cass like she had, if anyone would want to know what was going to happen most of all, it was probably Magdalen. The least he could do was give her her belongings before they discussed anything further; though he hoped she wasn't going to think he was trying to avoid the obviously needed discussion with the act.
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Post by Magdalen Verena on Oct 20, 2009 19:35:45 GMT -6
Moving towards one of the bags he’d indicated, Magdalen busied herself with rummaging through it for a few moments. Most of what was inside comprised of old but warm clothing … however it seemed John had snuck in a few extras such as the DatPadd and a watercolour Eloise had done. Little touches of home she supposed, and smiled faintly as she turned her attention back to Solomon.
He was so unreadable sometimes.
With a sigh, she made to nudge another crate opposite him and eased herself down upon the edge of it.
It was true that he may have appeared calm and in control of things, but there was no doubt in her mind even he felt strained by the string of events that occurred so suddenly in the past few days.
“Are you okay?”
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Post by Solomon Taylor on Oct 20, 2009 20:02:13 GMT -6
He watched her rifle through some things, surprised to see that there was a painting in the things they'd lugged back. The Denvers certainly went beyond the call of duty on that one. It would probably look nice in her room. He suddenly had an even further urge to make his room his own.
Finally she scooted next to him on another crate. Time to talk. Though the first question she asked surprised the heck out of him.
"Yeah, I just..." he stopped himself there. No point lying. "...no, not really." He sighed, shaking his head. "I wasn't quite ready for this level of stress right out of the gate. Guess I got far too comfortable with my private, boring life for the last decade and a half..."
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Post by Magdalen Verena on Oct 20, 2009 20:15:36 GMT -6
She watched him carefully, knitting her eyebrows together as he confessed to the stress she’d known he’d been keeping to himself the entire time. His last words provoked a smile however, and she clasped her hands together as she searched for the right words.
“Solomon, I don’t embody any of the qualifications that make a Captain ... so I can’t say for certain. However it’s plain to see you’re the type of man no one has trouble looking up to. It may be bad luck that you’re faced with so much right now, especially since it all happened much sooner than you might have anticipated. But you’re not alone. The rest of the crew is right behind you. We all knew there were going to be some interesting surprises with such a diverse group of people aboard one ship.”
She laughed a bit then, tucking a strand of hair behind one ear.
“I should apologize for the fact that I pressed so hard for you to give Cassandra another chance. It was unfair of me to be so pushy, and I hardly have the right to make such obnoxious suggestions. It won’t happen again, and if she causes any further problems … I have no problem taking full responsibility.”
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Post by Solomon Taylor on Oct 20, 2009 20:50:05 GMT -6
"No, no, it was helpful," he shook his head. "Gave me a further push to look into it further instead of taking the easy way out and then feeling guilty later on. I should really thank you for it."
Sol stood up, walking back over to his box of things. Poking through the stuff some more, he pulled out a wallet-like pouch, looking at it closely. He wasn't about to wave it around, but inside it contained his old military IDs. He wasn't even sure why he'd kept it all these years. He should have really just buried the whole thing when he'd come across them again, but something in him had persuaded him to grab it and bring it along. A reminder of sorts, he supposed.
"I just don't understand why doing the right thing always seems to screw me over in the end." He grumbled, and tucked the wallet inside his jacket with plans to hide them somewhere in his room later.
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Post by Magdalen Verena on Oct 20, 2009 21:11:41 GMT -6
She lifted an eyebrow curiously as he went to look through his stuff, twisting in her seat to watch for a moment before turning back around and staring blankly in the opposite direction.
“I suppose one can only hope that making the nobler decision will count for something in the long run. I mean … it’s easy to be selfish and act in accordance with what is more convenient for us, but it really shows something about a person who can make sacrifices in good faith that everything will turn out alright eventually.”
Magdalen was staring at her hands now, thinking back to her interrogation and cringing at the reminder she’d forsaken her own brother for a stranger’s sake.
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Post by Solomon Taylor on Oct 20, 2009 21:37:07 GMT -6
"I hope so," he replied, closing up the box once more. He could sort more later. "I really hope so."
He wandered back over to the crate, sitting back down next to her. "I told her we'd help. Over the next few days I'm going to make a bunch of orders for supplies we need. And we're going to get her into one of those boxes. Somehow." He eyed some of the crates, mentally trying to still work on the plan in his head.
"And then..." he glanced over at Magdalen. "I think a few of us are going to have a good talk and clear some air. I think there are a few other unsaid pasts between a couple of us, and it doesn't feel right forcing Cass to spill her guts to me without us being on a level playing field." He subconsciously put his hand to his side, resting against the spot where the ID pouch sat in the inside pocket of his jacket.
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Post by Magdalen Verena on Oct 20, 2009 21:50:15 GMT -6
Magdalen seemed a bit shocked by the idea of secretly transporting Cassandra via shipment boxes, but then reminded herself that most of the girl’s limbs were removable and therefore it wasn’t quite as ridiculous as it initially sounded. Only at that moment did the blonde come to grips with how bizarre the whole story was. But brushing those thoughts aside, she focused instead on Solomon’s following words.
"Well ..."
Her eyes lowered to his hand which had absently moved to brush one of the pockets of his jacket and blinked.
“I’m not sure how some of the other crew members are going to react to the idea of sharing some of the more intimate details of their lives. With that said however … everyone has to realize this operation isn’t going to be successful if we aren’t able to fully trust one another.” She laid gentle fingers upon his shoulder and smiled.
“Another hurdle to overcome, but no one’s left yet have they?”
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Post by Solomon Taylor on Oct 20, 2009 22:09:36 GMT -6
"It doesn't have to be the whole crew," Sol decided to clarify. "I wasn't even planning on it being with everyone. But some of us need to clear the air, and if I'm going to force someone to tell me their painful secrets because the captain needs to be aware of them, the least I can do is tell her some of mine."
He wasn't going to make Cass repeat herself in front of everyone. He knew now, and he was the one with final say on the decisions. That's all that mattered for now. In time she would need to tell the others so they knew why she was essentially joining the crew, but that would be up to her. He wouldn't push it.
"On the other hand," he added. "I'll definitely urge the others to tell me anything they think I may need to know to avoid situations like this in the future. But they can do that in private as well. I'm not going to make a habit of putting people on the spot in front of everyone else unless I think it's seriously important."
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Post by Magdalen Verena on Oct 20, 2009 22:22:23 GMT -6
She nodded her acknowledgement, staring thoughtfully down at the floor. So he wasn’t going to prod any of the other crew members for personal information unless they were comfortable sharing it? Well what other option was there really. He couldn’t just threaten to leave them stranded on Antheia should they opt not to divulge anything about their past. Or rather … he wouldn’t.
Rising to her feet, Magdalen decided she needed a bit more time herself before she recounted everything that was said between her and Cain.
“You know what’s best for your ship and crew,” she told him. “I’m just glad Cassandra is safe and you’re working on bringing her back.”
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Post by Solomon Taylor on Oct 20, 2009 22:39:24 GMT -6
He nodded. "It might be a few days before we can make it happen, but we'll get there, even if we have to bring her on, piece by piece each day." Not that he wanted it to come to that. He wouldn't want Cass to be completely limbless for more than a few hours it took to move her from the farm to the ship. No one wanted to be completely helpless for any length of time, let alone days.
He motioned to her things. "Feel free to take your stuff up to your room. You probably want to unpack it and everything. Let me know if you need help carrying any of it up there. Those stairs are awkward when you have to carry stuff." He remembered when he'd loaded the kitchen closet full of food the previous week. It definitely hadn't been fun climbing up and down the stairs.
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Booker
Junior Member
Human
WHOOOO, baby!
Posts: 75
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Post by Booker on Oct 21, 2009 12:35:47 GMT -6
Booker was busy doing push ups in the medical bay when he heard talking coming from down the hall. He stopped what he was doing, got up and walked into the hallway to hear it better. It sounded like Maggie and... Solomon! The captain's back! He got really excited and came down the stairs to the cargo bay. Solomon and Maggie were sitting on a crate talking.
"Welcome back captain!" He saluted, "I stayed quiet and didn't say anything to anyone, just like you told us to, cap'n!" Booker walked over to Sol and gave him a massive bear hug. "Do you need help carrying these?" He asked as he picked a box up.
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Post by Solomon Taylor on Nov 7, 2009 13:45:53 GMT -6
Sol jumped at the arrival of Booker and his booming, excited voice. He regained his composure and glanced over to where the man was coming down the stairs towards them. He sighed a little, feeling a slight bit of annoyance creep up on him as Booker came over and started talking. That feeling alone surprised Sol, and he couldn't quite figure out where it was coming from.
"Oh, good," he replied to Booker as he stood up. "So far things have gone we--" he paused as Booker scooped him up into a hug and he felt his feet lift off the floor a bit. He blinked, patting him on the arm. "Okay, down boy..." Receiving that large amount of affection made him feel even more guilty about being annoyed at his arrival. Also, it was fairly awkward. He hadn't received much of it in a long time, save for Olive's attention, and the family visit back on Terra.
When Booker let go and scooped up a box, he felt even more awkward, seeing as it was his stuff. "Uh... sure... they're not that heavy or anything, but... I guess you could take that one to my quarters. Just leave it outside the door." That would work, he realized, as much as he was wary about Booker handling his personal things. It could send him away for a bit more.
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