Nylell Back Story

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Some considerable time into their journey since they were abandonned...

The ship had been running smoothly for a while since they had figured out how to fly the thing.
In fact it had been a bit boring really. Thankfully though a signal was just about to be received requesting help.
"Cornell, I've just picked up a signal, it seems some planet is requesting assistance as it's under attack from a hostile alien force."
Cornell was still a little uneasy in his newfound captaincy of the ship. It had been quite a career jump from Bar Steward to captain. He still wasn't sure whether it was a good or bad thing. "How far away?"
"Well we could try and use the tachyon shunt and get there in say, 5 minutes." Schend replied.
Cornell was still unsure about attempting to control the tachyon shunt, none of them had quite figured it out yet. "And how long if we don't?"
"Couple of days, I'd say. Or at least as best I can figure out. As you know I'm more familiar with autochefs" Schend was factual and blunt as ever.
"Hopefully they can wait then. Can you possibly find out more about the situation?" Cornell was hopeful for their first mission as freelance troubleshooting consultants.
"I'll see if Melissa can find out." he hails Melissa Baibridge, the security officer, on her communicator.
"Security Officer Bainbridge, here."
"What information do you have, security wise on planet Epsilon Aroth?"
"It's in the middle of a highly volatile war with another planet which is on a similar orbit around its star. It would be a near impossibility to go into that area and survive. Anything else?"
"No, that's fine."
"Okay Bainbridge out."
Schend relays the information to Cornell who ponders briefly about the situation. This could be the first opportunity they have for making a name for themselves. He checks the battle computer for chances of success. To no one's surprise the odds are very low.
"I suppose you're one of those types who say 'never tell me the odds aren't you?'" suggests Schend
"Hell no! There's no way we're going anywhere near that place with odds like that. Let's go somewhere else."

---

Alice Mosse is hunched up at her desk, office door only half-shut because she can't raise the enthusiasm to get it fixed.
She is staring intently at the computer screen on the wall, until the words "Now Recording" appear. She immediately sits up and her features relax.
"Hello, this is Officer Mosse of the starship.. no, flagship, except it's not anymore and we haven't thought of a new designation yet. Well we're on a spaceship anyway and. Dammit. Rerecord."
The screen goes dark and she slumps forwards again, glowering through the lapels of her officers coat.
In the hallway, Noemi coughs and taps gently on the plexiglass.
"Greetings, I am Officer Mosse..." Alice begins again. Noemi takes this as her cue to enter but parks herself quietly in the corner."...of an as-yet unnamed starship of non-standard displacement. We urgently require fuel cells, water, yes Noemi what is it? Dammit. Rerecord."
Noemi mouth opens to speak, but the message is delayed as it passes through several mental filters.
"Yes? " Alice urges.
"I. Er." Noemi says, painfully softly.
The computer restarts its record cycle and Alice turns back to the screen.
"Salutations. No wait, just Hello. I am Office Alice Seska Mosse of the yadda yadda yadda. We urgently require stuff like fuel and water and that. Also miscellaneous tools like allen keys and paper clips that we can bend out into devices for removing CDs from CD drives with no power to them."
"Shoes." Noemi utters.
"And shoes in a variety of styles and colours. We can barter; we have approximately four hundred unused Nylell crew jumpsuits and some strange grey cubes that like we haven't worked out what they do yet but. Dammit, sounded crap. Rerecord."
"What are you doing?" Noemi whispers.
"This is to be transmitted automatically on, uh, non-mainstream channels." Alice explains. "So we can get supplies without going to core systems."
"Why do you keep starting from scratch? Just edit and splice what you've done?" Noemi suggests.
"What do you want, Noemi?"
The girl looks at her feet. Alice frowns.
"I can't keep doing this for you. Why don't you ask Schend? He is a man, after all?"
"No, he's creepy."
Alice contemplates the situation for a moment, nestling further into her overcoat.
Noemi shifts her weight from foot to foot, then folds her arms and hunches up.
"Or you could..." she starts, almost afraid of her own voice, "figure out what you want to say and write it down first."
Alice shivers.
"I suppose, but, hang on." She frowns and forms her mouth into a small 'o', breathing out a puff of air.
"I can see your breath!" Noemi says with awe.

---

back to past tense, if that's okay.
On the bridge, Cornell actually unclasped the top button of his stewards uniform.
"It's gotten rather hot in here."
"It is rather warm," Schend agreed. "Computer, room temperature please."
Cornell turned to investigate a flashing message on a computer screen. "Something something environment something manual control, it says here."
They both looked at the screen in confused silence.
"Does it mean there's a button for it?" Schend pondered.
"I don't think I've ever had to change the temperature before, it's always been fine."
Bainbridge arrived, clanking up the metal stairway from the access corridor to the bridge.
"Hey, Cornell, I remembered some more information on Epsilon Aroth and, say, it's really warm in here."
Cornell nodded to her. "Something about manual control."
She bobbed her head here and there, ostensibly looking for such a control but actually trying to remember what she was going to say about the wartorn planet. "Computer, room temperature please," she suggested half-heartedly.
"We tried that." Schend stated in monotone.
"Nothing's on fire. Try whatshername - Theodoros. She's engineering."
"But she's not an engineer," Schend objected. "She's a 'technician'."
Cornell tapped the communicator for the engineering deck. There was an uncertain pause of static from the speaker. The three of them crowded around expectantly.
"Theodoros?" Cornell tried.
"Ah. Er. Hello." came her lilting reply.
"Ah, yes, hello Theodoros. How are you?" Cornell smiled into the comm-board. Again there was a pause.
"I'm. Er. Yes, I'm okay I suppose. Has anyone else been down here?"
"No, Theodoros. This is Cornell. Do you know how to manually change the temperature?"
"The temperature's fine? Do you know anything about an axe?"
"No, Theodoros. It's rather warm here on the bridge. In fact it's uncomfortably warm. What's going on?"
"Well, there's this fireaxe..."
"I mean with the temperature, Theodoros," Cornell continued with well-honed patience.

---

Salacia Theodoros had woken a few hours ago on the greasy floor of the engineering deck
, just between Manifold Regulator 38/2 and the cargo crate of cleaning fluids.
This itself hadn't suprised her, and she suspected the open and empty bottle of white spirit she was laid on had something to do with that.
What she had been trying to figure out is where she had managed to get a fireaxe from, and what it was doing arranged neatly at her feet, the blade's curve a smile of innocence.
Nothing seemed to be damaged, so she had left it there and staggered to the autochef, fumbling for anything with caffine in.
Here and there she wandered, getting her bearings in the clinical white-light of the vessels cavernous repair depot and attempting a few routine tasks (in her new elevated role of engineering chief.)
But something was amiss. It took her a moment to spot it, but there it was. Another fireaxe, this time in the claw of one of the maintainance droids.
"Now what are you doing with that?" she mumbled with the enthusiasm of a hangover. "We shouldn't even have any of these on board."
In vocoder-drone the droid replied "This artefact is forbidden under section 5-12 of the health and saftey regulations. I am taking it for disposal."
"You're not taking it anywhere," Theodoros pointed out. "I haven't fixed your treads yet. Where did you get it from?"
"Under section 5-12 of the health and safety regulations I cannot relay..."
"Yes, yes okay," Theodoros finished, talking over the monotone drone and taking the axe from an unresisting claw. One hand on her aching head, she dragged the axe across the floor-grills and unceremoniously dropped it next to the other one.
"Did I really think blade's curve a smile of innocence?" she said to no-one. "What kind of crappy cliche is that?"
She took her thoughts with her to the main console, where she stabbed semi-randomly at the pad in an attempt to bring up any security footage of the past few hours.
It was at this point that that smarmy git Cornell hailed her with some twaddle about the temperature in the bridge.
"Just tell the bridge computer to bring the heat down," she suggested, trying to get comfy on the console's stool but finding it impossible with her hangover queesyness.
"We tried that, Theodoros, but it's not working. Can you look into it? Thanks."
"Wait on, don't ask me, everything's find down here. If anyone's messing with the temperature, it's going to be Stupid Simon Sandwich Smith. He'd be the type to mess with environmentals."
"Yes, thanks, thanks for doing that for me Theodoros, report to me as soon as you can."
"Fine, whatever. Is that Bainbridge with you?"
Bainbridge did a little mini-wave into the camera.
"Bainbridge, can you pull up security footage for the engineering deck; the past few hours?"
"Uh, sure." Melissa said in the background.
Theodoros terminated the com, then sat grimly with boredom and pain. After a few moments the comm-board came to life again. It was that officer wannabe Mosse.
"Hey," she said. "Is there anyone down there in engineering? Get the heating on-line, there's icicles forming in the admin block!"

---

In bridge/security elevator #2B, Melissa mopped her brow with the sleeve of her guard uniform.
"Maybe you could convert it into a sauna," she smiled. Schend considered this.
"I think that would be a foolish waste of resources."
Melissa looked at her boots, not certain if she mention this was a joke just in case it turned out Schend was joking too, in which case she would be terribly embarrased and not want to speak again during the elevator trip.
However, mearly thinking this made her feel embarrased so she spent 12 second journey quietly picking at a loose flap in her uniforms ballistic weave.
Arriving at the security deck, she sighed heavily with relief, glad to be alone. She made her way to the nexus, making sure the armoury door was locked on the way.
The nexus was always a bit dingy, glowing green from the bank of monitors. She took her seat in the big G-chair.
It's all mine now, she thought happily. No longer just a non-contracted security guard.
Security Chief Bainbridge! We have a situation in the brig!
She span to one side in the chair and pretended to flip some toggle switches.
Dispatch a SORT team, stat! I'll inform the captain!
She chuckled to herself until a sudden twang of anxiety tugged at her heart. She ignored it and turned her attention to the main monitor.
Bainbridge, the situation is getting out of hand! She frowned. Okay, stop make-believing now.
She tapped in the code for security-footage retrieval.
Chief Bainbridge, the prisoners have escaped! We've been overpowered, they're on their way to the... hang on, look: stop daydreaming now and get to work.
She slumped back in the chair, fed up with herself. That was the problem; there was no work. No Nylell contract. No StarTemps agency. No responsibilty. She felt like a vagrant.
The footage from the maintainance deck was playing in fast rewind - there was Theodoros jiggling backwards, then asleep on the floor. Fifty minutes-worth of footage earlier and Melissa saw herself walk through the deck in reverse, on her 'rounds'. A bit earlier still, and Samuel Smith was present on deck, searching around the workbenches, avoiding the slumbering technician.
She rewound all the way back to the point that Theodoros lost consciousness.
"Drinking again. Tut tut." Bainbridge said, watching her stumble about swigging from the cleaner bottle. But that was it; nothing usual.
She tapped the comm-board.
"Theodoros? This is Bainbridge. I've got that footage you wanted."
"Good," came the reply. "Now who's been leaving these axes around? It's driving me nuts."
"I have a negative on the axe situation." Melissa said, rubbing her eyes and trying to think how to make her next comment sound diplomatic.
Theodoros seemed taken aback. "What? But they weren't there before!"
"I noticed you were... uh... drinking." Melissa winced. "Are you, um?"
The technicians face contorted in barely supressed anger. "Look! Are you looking at the monitor? What do you see?"
"Uh-huh. You look like you're having an epileptic fit."
"Damn it! This! This great thing here in my hand!"
Melissa stared at the screen, watching Theodoros slowly waving her fist about.
"Okay. Calm down. I can't see anything."
"The AXE dammit!"
"Is it a really tiny one?"
"You've got to be joking!"
Melissa watched Theodoros franticly push her fists back and forth.
"Gee, you're having some kind of fit! Don't make me send Vora down there."
Theodoros began shouting incoherently, so Melissa just spoke over her: "Take a pill, or hair of the dog or go see the medibot or something."
The ranting figure ran out of steam quickly.
"Thanks for... nothing... you... " (the comm-board's filter edited out a bad word) "I'll get... a second opinion."
The screen went black. Melissa shrugged.

---

Samuel Smith answered the first call with relish. Eagerly turning on the comm-board he was face to face with Mosse.
"Smith?" she said, shoulders all hunched up. "Do you know what's happening up here? Like the thermostat is broken or something."
Smith's eyes flicked left and right, comparing the two screens. "You look cold," he smiled, rotating a pen through his fingers.
"Yeah, about five minutes ago I could see my breath."
"Did you try to contact anyone at that point?"
"Uh. Theodoros said you might know something about it."
"So would you say that the point that you made the call to Theodoros, that was the point of discomfort that forced you to do something about the, um, environmental situation?"
"What? I suppose so?"
"Excellent."
"Look can you warm things up in here? It's a bit awkward for me to move to another office."
Smith wasn't paying attention, he was reviewing the brain scan on screen two.
"Smith?"
"Right, no please don't move. I'm sure I can alter the temperature."
"Right. Thankyou." Alice said with trepidation before flicking the board off.
Smith rattled the pen between his teeth, wondering about the Cornell situation. Would he have to make adjustments for the fact he was now alone?
The second call came through - it was Theodoros. She was red in the face.
"Hello Salacia." His voice had softened, just for her.
"Smith. Look at this."
He wheeled his chair closer to the monitor. "Hello, yes, I can see you."
"Look, Bainbridge is messing me around, I think she planted these around the maintainance deck."
"Okay; planted what?"
"This fireaxe here, and another one over there."
"Show me."
"Look, here in my hands." She moved her fists closer to the camera. "Please tell me you can see it or I'm going nuts."
"Well it's with mixed emotions then I tell you I can't see an axe in your hands."
Theodoros looked distraught, empty-faced for a moment and the comm-board filtered out a single utterance.

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