GR RP "Adventures in GunRunning" ACT 22
POSTED BY: CapnRahn
UPDATED: Thursday, October 28, 2004 03:16
VIEWED: 19308
PAGE 4 of 10
Book's Move
Location: Infirmary
Book leans back against the counter and watches River and Thorne begin to play. The smile on Thorne's face is so easy now, telling volumes about his state of mind. Such a contrast.
Quote:
FLASHBACK - The Thorne Family Farm - Walking slowly through the still war-blasted landscape, Book sees himself approach Thorne's Farm. Watches the Man grieving for his loss. Feels his own loss well up within him. Book steps back from his flashback in an interesting way, becoming a third person in the scene, moving independent of his memory. Moving forward in time.
THORNE:"Shepherd, it may be Providence that you came along. It's not in my creed, and I don't believe it's in yours, but I'd like you to hear my confession.
Book feels the need in Thorne's voice.
"I will." he sees himself say.
Book watches himself listen to Thorne's part in the Battle for Serenity Valley, and himself responding in the wrong way. A moment he couldn't forget, as Thorne helps him retrieve his windblown Bible pages and then throws him to the ground, hallucinating. The look of intense madness and utter disbelief curling around the corners of his eyes. Just as quickly, the look is gone.
THORNE:"My Lord, Padre, I don't know what came over me. This place just makes me so sad and angry at the same time. I swear I didn't know it was going to come out like that. You have no call to, but please forgive me. I'm not usually a crazy man...when I'm away from here." END FLASHBACK
Thorne's eyes crinkle in delight as he snatches up foursies and laughs aloud. Book lowers his head and with difficulty supresses a bodily shake.
EM
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Blended post, DAMON and KAYLEE
LOCATION - CARGO BAYAs ...
Damon zips the bag of explosives closed, leaving Jayne to do whatever it is he's doing. The guy seems pretty weird sometimes. He stands up and spots Kaylee closing her locker. Now's as good a time as any to ask her about the cords. "Kaylee, is this what you had in mind?" He motions toward the two braids of bungee cord. "Merz and I just finished."
Kaylee sets down her toolbox again, to inspect the hanging cords. "Well will you look at that. Just what I had in mind. That's pretty good. Now all we need is some cable ties to make one piece out of it, and tie up the ends. I got some o' those around."
"Well, I don't know when Capn will be done so I got time to start tying them for you if you want."
She sets the toolbox down on the floor and rummages through it once again. Coming up with a package of long cable ties she hands a couple to Damon and then places one around the end of the combined cords nearest her. Damon watches closely and then goes down to the other end and repeats the prcess. Then they start towards each other and place a couple more in the middle, making a single strand out of the double.
"There, that otta hold it for as short a time as we are going to need it. She grins at Damon.
Damon nods and motions to her box of tools and the items she pulled out of the locker. "What you workin’ on now?"
That's party supplies. Our captain has passed the word that tonight's gonna be a night off. He has made a request and I'm happy to be able to fulfill it for him. Fresh inter-engine squeezin's for the festivities. And a little sumpthin' extra from me. You feel like a little party?
Damon smiles and lets out a chuckle. "A party huh?" He looks past her at the keg and cardboard box. Isn't that the box with the chocolate in it? Looking at the keg, he can tell there won't be enough to really do him any good, not once it's been split with everyone. And even if there was enough, he knows it wouldn't be a good idea. But a glass or two can't hurt... "Yeah, I could go for that. How strong is that stuff?"
"Hard to say, no two batches ever seem to match. But don't let it fool you, that ain't beer, that's hooch. I acquired some shot glasses for that stuff, ya don't dare put it in a water glass, lest you forget what you're drinkin'". She grins again and punches him lightly on the shoulder "I reckon it will do what you need."
Damon jumps back half a step at the unexpected punch- if you could call it one. He quickly calms himself down and nods. "I'm sure it'll do fine." He motions toward the stairs. "I better go... Mal wants to talk to me, at least I think he does."
She is startled when Damon jumps back at her touch. She didn't think she hit him that hard. If MAL wants to see you, then probably best not to keep him waiting..
On the heels of that speech a yell echos through the cargo bay.
MAL
KAYWINNET LEE FRYE, you got some 'splainin' ta do!!!" Well, he did not sound mad really, but after what she just told Damon, better get on up there and find out what was up.
EOM
If Justice is the dish, then I am your waitress
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MERZ move
LOCATION – TRAVELING: GALLEY TO CATWALKS
He confuses her. How can he shift from one emotion to another like this? How can he keep track, keep any control?
MAL
“OOOK, I’ll ask her. You, you go finish up and tell the others to git done with what they’re doin’ and … relax or somethin’. he smiles at her, “OR, I’ll hav’ta take anybody not havin’ fun fer a ‘Spin’.”
His face falls into a more somber expression. “Book is suppoz’d to tell Kaylee to ‘open the cabinet’, if ya see her ‘fore he does, let her know I said so. Gonna be quite a day tomorrow. Dismissed.”
Mal hops off the table and begins to move towards the fore hatch. Taking her cue from him, MERZ pivots and returned to the aft hatch to undog it as well.
MAL
“Oh yeah, tell Damon to come to my ‘office’ when he is finished up.” When she turns to look at him as he speaks, he is looking back at her over his shoulder. One eye twitches. Possibly in that civilian gesture she has heard called a ‘wink’. There is significance to that. She just does not know what it is …
~… talk to KAYLEE if Kaylee has not spoken to Book. pass a message to Damon. i still need to hunt up ROWAN and pass on the test results. finish rigging the conex, which means finding a structurally integral point to anchor the cord to. Kaylee would know…~ Merz exits the common area blindly following the hallway in front of her, going she is not sure where.
Deciding to look ROWAN up first, MERZ pauses, closes her eyes and concentrates. Serenity is a relatively small, enclosed space. She might be able to locate ROWAN from here. MERZ is just outside the aft hatch for the common room, in the back hallway towards the engine. She can hear fragments of conversation from several areas, and the usual assortment of smells. But whatever she is doing and wherever she is, Rowan is not speaking right now. Or Merz is losing her touch. A possibility.
She drifts slowly down onto the catwalk, across under the common room. There had been conversation from that direction, and she did not want company right now. By the time she is halfway through the cargo area she decides 75% probability ROWAN is on the bridge and slowly moves in that direction. MAL is in the front hall, in earnest conversation with Kaylee, MERZ hangs back, not wanting to come under his scrutiny just yet again. She stands on the catwalk, running over puzzling events of the day.
EOM
If Justice is the dish, then I am your waitress
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JAYNE - CARGO BAY to FORE HALL
Jayne decides to leave the tools right where they are for the time being. Before he flashes his manly chest to any more of the passengers, he decides a shirt is the first order of business. Jayne tromps up the stairs to his quarters.
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Rowan's Move
LOCATION: BRIDGE
Rowan sends Spyhopper back to the anomalous signal in the Galley and starts the piggyback. In less than five seconds, she has not only audio, but video of the goings on inside the galley.
MAL: "Now, just what do you need from me?"
Reynolds has himself parked on the table, hands folded under his arms, eyes focused on a point just inside the aft hatch. Seeing a pair of booted feet just inside the frame, Rowan uses the stylus on the on-screen toggle controls, redirecting the video to see who he's talking to. Then she sees Merz standing at stiff attention and feels a chill go up her spine.
ROWAN (inwardly): Lashi - what the hell does he want with her?
Closing in on Merz's coldly composed features, Rowan sees a flicker in her eyes that surprises her. TROYs were trained from birth how to hide their emotions. She shouldn't have allowed any inward thought process to show, and just that little break in protocol indicated the height of her emotional state.
And if at any point she were to feel personally threatened, would Merz reach on over and snap Reynolds' neck like a twig?
MERZ: "I cannot answer that question, sir. I do not know."
On another impulse, Rowan calls up Spyhopper's recording feature and proceeds to get the rest of their conversation. At one point, after Reynolds asks about whether Merz might pose a danger to Serenity or the crew, Rowan closes in on Merz face again in time to see what looks like an internal conflict. Almost as if she's hearing contradicting voices in her head, each warring with the other. Did TROYs have the capacity to communicate among themselves through internal transmitters?
Or worse, was detachment from her structured environment causing some manner of fragmentation?
And now Reynolds is calling her on the carpet for something. What had he witnessed that caused him to orchestrate a confrontation with a TROY?
After a prolonged moment of silence, Reynolds lets his hands fall to his sides. He rests his palms down on the edge of the table, visibly more at ease than before. He seems willing to accept Merz's determination that accidents could occur - she is stronger than all of them combined, with more finely honed reflexes and instincts set to more or less break bones first and ask questions later. He seems satisfied, however, that she is not about to cause harm deliberately. What surprises Rowan is how easily he's able to relax about it. In her experience, former Browncoats weren't generally that calm about anything.
MAL: "Just what were you doin' with those bungee cords?"
Rowan smiles. He's got an awfully adorable scowl. So does Merz, although she's likely not aware of it. Realizing she's gone from surveillance to voyeurism - reminded of how Cordelia basically started ravaging Robert before the system could deactivate - Rowan begins disengaging Spyhopper from active surveillance. She creates a static copy of the map of what she now figures are microcams for future reference.
Now that the more private part of the Galley encounter is over and done, Rowan lifts her gaze to see Wash watching her - or trying not to look like he is - out of the corners of his eyes. From down the hall, she hears the sounds of the hatches being reopened.
ROWAN: Say, Wash? Serenity's just mentioned detection of an anomolous magnetic signal. What do you make of that?
MAL: "Kaywinnet Lee Frye, you got some splainin' to do!!!"
EOM
Fans come and fans go...but zealots are with you until the bitter black end.
I draw...therefore I am.
http://www.mnartists.org/artistHome.do?rid=7922
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River
LOCATION- COMMOM AREA
THORNE: "I haven't played this game in more than 40 years. Hope I can remember what to do. Yes; it seems to be coming back to me. After I got interested in the army, at around seven, I kept stealing the jacks to use as chevaux-de-frise in my sandbox battles, and my sibs finally hid them away from me. Guess I was the troublesome brother."
River watches Thorne's hand as he continues snatching jacks from the floor.
"Simon was never troublesome. I had to convince him that it was okay to sneak into the neighbor's yard to get our balls back."
She looks up at Book and smiles sadly. "Now he's running around the verse getting into all kinds of trouble."
I'm not broken, in my dream I win...
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Malachi's Move
Location: Unchanged
Peering through the mechanical eyes of the msr, Malachi considers his options. The remote video feed had shown him opposition at first, but now... Why is he kneeling on the floor? Is he trying to feign injury, or is he really injured? Who injured him and why? Putting his hands behind his head, Malachi stretches quickly, then swivels around in his chair to reassure himself of what he knew he would see on the monitoring device attuned to Book's card. It's still on that ship.
His decision made, he rises and goes to the msr port control. He deploys another, and manuevers it a few hundred meters off the port bow of the other ship. Turning his attention back to the first msr, he engages the auto-destruct on the miniature robot and watches with satisfaction as the window it was attached to explodes silently out into space. He waits a few seconds then sends in the second msr to investigate.
Assuming the death of the fool onboard the other ship, Malachi reaches up to a shelf above his head and pulls down his helmet and gloves. Attaching them to the black spacesuit he preferred when on a mission, he starts the life support function built into the suit and turns back to his monitor to inspect the damage caused by the first msr before proceeding.
EM
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Damon's turn:
LOCATION- FOLLOWING KAYLEE
Damon watches as Kaylee turns toward the stairs, bringing her box of tools with her. Not knowing what else to do, he decides to follow her and find out if Mal still wants to talk to him or if the matter has (hopefully) been dropped or forgotten about. Suddenly remembering that Mal probably has his gun now, he mutters a silent curse. He'll have to talk to him sooner or later if he wants the gun back. All the more reason to get it over with.
I'm not broken, in my dream I win...
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Inara's Move
LOCATION - COMMON AREA
THORNE: "Demoiselle Sera, It appears that I am called away from our engagement by pressing matters involving tactics and complex game theory. Be assured that I have noted the progress of our collaboration so far, and that upon resumption of our meeting I will be ready to resume it at the point which we have already achieved."
She nodded, smiling coquettishly at her friend and client. "Well, if it is a pressing matter of tactics and complex game theory, how could I possibly object?"
Inara smiles to herself as she watches River convince Thorne to play a game with her -- she's more than content to postpone their continued arrangement to get to see River smile. Her heart aches a little for the girl, for how lost she is without Simon, and, once again, Inara offers a silent prayer that the doctor will be safe when they find him. There's not a doubt in her mind that they will find him. There's no way that Mal would --
She's not going to think about Mal right now.
THORNE: "I haven't played this game in more than 40 years. Hope I can remember what to do. Yes; it seems to be coming back to me. After I got interested in the army, at around seven, I kept stealing the jacks to use as chevaux-de-frise in my sandbox battles, and my sibs finally hid them away from me. Guess I was the troublesome brother."
RIVER: "Simon was never troublesome. I had to convince him that it was okay to sneak into the neighbor's yard to get our balls back. Now he's running around the verse getting into all kinds of trouble."
Inara isn't shocked at either of those statements -- that Roosevelt had been a 'troublesome' child, and that Simon absolutely hadn't. The sadness, however, in River and her smile is painful to see, though. She crosses to stand behind the girl and gently strokes her hair.
"We will find him, mei-mei," she murmurs reassuringly.
EOM
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Blue Sun Headquarters, Londinium.
Davis walks into the conferance room. All around him are the twenty-two Powers of the Blue Sun, seated randomly about the table. This is going to be unpleasant.
Eleventh Power Michelob rises ponderously. He is a large, doughy sort of man, with the darkest of skin. He surveys the room, waiting until the very second until Davis takes his seat.
"What has happened to First Power Helsing?"
Davis sighes. "He suffered from cerebral shattering. Preservation treatments, as some of you are aware, work by by hardening the parts of the body that are generally immobile, or move in the most basic of ways. This allows a failing body to focus its own regenerative capabilities on the more active functions, such as breathing or pumping blood through the brain. This can, however, make muscles, bones and particularly veins brittle, and easy to shatter. In a protected arena such as the Headquarters, such activity is easily avoided, unless blood pressure rises too high. At least, that is what I'm told. A full medical explaination is in your Cortex accounts."
The Fourth Power rises, waiting for Michelob to take his seat. Amongst civilians, he is CEO Robert LeBlanc of the Blue Sun Corporation. This man resembles a bug of some kind, with spindly arms but a thick body. His voice is smooth, if a bit thin.
"What of the Corporation?" he hisses, full of concern, Davis thinks dryly, for the Sun and what it benefitted from the Corporation.
Davis slits his eyes. "The Corporation still gives us an extreme monopoly over the Core, as well as a vested competitional strength over the more successful colonies on the border planets. We own seventy-nine point twenty-two percent of the economy here, Fourth Power. In fact, investment has gone up, no doubt helped along by the stories of the Reavers making their way further into the border planets." It was true. The military received most of its weaponry and supplies from the Blue Sun; as a result, they received an obscene amount of support from the civilian quarter. Davis turns to the Seventh Power. "And what of the recovery of Brink Helsing?" He strains to keep control of his. . .excitement? No. Desperation.
The beetle sits down. The third man rises, his well-built frame graceful, as his gravelly voice makes its report.
"The location of his body seems to be changing. The Alliance showed an ounce of intelligence, and reportedly did not destroy the observation craft. They negated such intelligence, however, by not reporting its precise whereabouts, nor its course."
"I see. Our final piece of pressing business. As you all are aware, we have received a promotion due to the unfortunate death of the Father of the Blue Sun, may he dream forever. This leaves an empty space among the powers. To dispell any secret desires to further your own, however benificial to the Sun they may be, I am placing the Nemesis-class operative Bolo as a reward for his completion of his ritual."
The Seventh hasn't sat down yet. Davis turns his head slowly. "Yes?"
"First Power Davis, Bolo reported himself near the last known location of Brink Helsing. Perhaps he may make a slight detour to investigate?"
Davis nods. "Excellent. Wave him immediately."
EOM
We can't all be heroes, since some of us have to sit at the curb and clap as they go by.
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