"Off we go, into the wild black yonder..." Or something like that at least. Having had some input from Mal (now rejoining the glorious Fenspace Writers collective from his solo mission for the State) there is a new scene for this.
250K Saloon, East Rim, Kandor City, Luna
20:09 KCT
Mal lifted his second drink of the evening to his lips, then took it away to glare at it because it was empty. This meant he saw Sora look up and break into a smile as the door opened and let in two familiar figures in bikers leathers.
"Hey Guys and Girls." A.C. smiled and Greenpeace waved as they walked up. "Sorry we're late. Got a little caught up by S.H.I.E.L.D. Noah's about three minutes behind me, so it looks like I'm springing for the next round. Who wants what?"
After getting the orders A.C. walked off in the direction of the bar and Greenpeace sat herself down for the short wait before Noah and Yayoi walked in. Which happened a few minutes later, when a happy Noah and an embarrassed Yayoi arrived. Greenpeace waved to them.
They took the seats at the end of the table - Noah sat down beside Mal, while Yayoi slid in beside Greenpeace. "That was *not* fun."
"What happened, Yayoi?" asked Sora.
"They pulled me over for speeding. And Noah wouldn't let me use my new ID card to get out of the ticket."
Mal raised an eyebrow. "New ID card?"
Yayoi sighed. Finally, Noah answered, "It's a reward for her action during that mess off Ganymede last month, combined with punishment for ignoring protocol at Crystal Paris. Yayoi's promotion was just made official."
"I didn't want a promotion..."
Noah nodded. "That's why it's punishment. Ignore the whispered protestation from the new Crisis Senshi who really shouldn't have tried to pull rank for personal reasons, everyone. That's why we're a bit late, by the way - we just got out of her official commissioning ceremony at the Watchtower."
"That's right," added Yayoi, "so don't make a fuss over me - Noah and A.C. did that already. This is *your* party."
"Here comes A.C. with the drinks." Greenpeace interjected.
A.C. had borrowed a large tray to bring the drinks over, and those who could noticed how level they were despite the crowd as she returned to the table.
Yayoi winced in anticipation of the mess that was sure to happen when Noah grabbed a full-pint of Crystal Sapporo Dark from the edge of the tray... then blinked when A.C. still kept the tray balanced.
A.C. noticed, and smiled at Yayoi while still balancing the tray. "Well, are you going to take the ice-cold sake you wanted or not?"
"How...?" She asked, taking her drink.
"Ancient Chinese magic." A.C. said deadpan, causing Yayoi to look unimpressed. "Full waveborg, remember?" Yayoi's look didn't change. "Yeash. Tough crowd." A.C. muttered, handing Greenpeace her Irish Flag and A.C.'s own bottle of Elephant Beer.
"I thought you were going for a Gargle Blaster?" Greenpeace asked.
"This place doesn't have the weapons licence needed for the True Version, and were out of EverClear for the Mostly Harmless version."
Once everybody had settled down, Greenpeace broke the ice.
"So, has the Jason already asked for plant samples if you find any?"
"About everyone and their dog has." Mal snorted. "Including you. About three times if I remember rightly."
"Greenpeace," A.C. sighed. "Stop bugging the poor man. He's just suffered a promotion after all." She turned to Sora. "And *you*."
"Me?" Sora squeaked.
"Yes, *you*. Chief Engineer of Ptichka." She fake-sniffed and wiped away an imaginary tear. "They grow up so fast, Noah."
"That they do." Noah smiled at Sora's blush.
"It'll take more than a drink to answer the insult to my engineer," Mal mock-grumped.
"You go first then Noah." A.C. leaned back with a smile. "You may as well bribe the captain while you're at it."
Noah sighed. "It isn't a *proper* bribe if everyone knows about it..." Yayoi handed him a box wrapped in duct tape. "And this isn't a bribe at all. Mal, this is the copy of The Database that I want you to stash somewhere in the Delta Pavonis system. And this," Yayoi handed Mal a second box the same size while Noah continued, "is your copy of the database."
"Interesting," Mal said, examining the box. "So what are you calling it?"
Noah blinked. "What?"
"What are you calling it? You can't just call it 'the database,' people would get confused. There's so many databases out there, after all. And people like names, so if you want them to accept it, it needs a proper name."
Noah looked at Yayoi, who looked at Sora, then all three of them just shrugged. "We just called it The Database." offered Yayoi.
Mal rolled his eyes. "There are days when I wonder how you've managed to survive out here so long." he said.
"Lack of competition for years, and a *really* good tollhouse-cookie recipe."
"Seriously?" Noah nodded, and Mal rolled his eyes. "Sweet sufferin' St. Xenu. I'm a better businessman than you at times, and I'm a *communist.* Right. So it needs a name..." Mal trailed off, looking at the ceiling. He grinned. "And I've got the perfect one." Mal held a hand out. "Somebody give me a knife."
Shad pulled out a wicked-looking combat knife and rammed it into the table point-first. "How's that?" he asked.
"Perfect." Mal extracted the knife and gently laid the box on the table. "By the power vested in me by Noah Scott's complete lack of imagination," he intoned, tapping the box on all sides with the knife, "I name you the Whole Fenspace Catalog. Go forth and produce many weird technological children."
"HEAR, HEAR! WELL SPOKEN BRUCE!" thundered the assembled Soviets, raising their drinks high in salute.
"But... it's not *just* a Fenspace catalog..."
Yayoi put her hand on Noah's shoulder. "Noah, this time Mal's right and you're wrong. Stop whinging and go with the flow." She paused for a moment, then asked "Bruce?"
"Before your time, Yayoi. But it follows Rule One..." Everyone else except Greenpeace joined in: "No Poofters!"
The two androids looked at each other, then shrugged their shoulders.
"Don't feel too bad Noah," A.C. commiserated. "Given where it came from it could have been a lot worse."
Noah paused, suddenly considering.
"Good point." He shuddered. "Now for the bribes."
Yayoi gave Mal a few seconds to stash the larger boxes under the table. "Captain Fnord, this is a gift from all of the Stellvians to all of the Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily." She handed a flat box to Mal, who opened it.
"Good lord... 10, 15, and 20-year 'Irreproachable Service in the Armed Forces of the USSR' defense service medals. I've never actually seen any, just photos. Whoever made these copies did a very good job."
"Those are authentic, Mal," grinned Noah as he pulled another box from his jacket pocket. "Here are the moulds we made from them. Award the copies to your people as you see fit."
"Now we're going to have to keep track of service holidays," Mal mock-groaned. "If this keeps up, we're going to end up as bureaucratic as you, Noah."
"I feel your pain. Not. Here's my gift to you." He handed Mal a presentation case, opened to show off the six Soviet and Russian commemorative coins within. "The Trekkies told me you're about to launch a ship named after the man honoured by these, so they seemed appropriate."
"These are authentic, too? Of course they are. I can see the wear marks on the older two coins."
"And this is for you, Sora." Noah pulled a small bag from his pocket, and placed it in Sora's hand.
She looked inside, and her eyes went wide. "It's lovely... but how did you know early enough to make it?" She pulled out a charm bracelet with one silvery charm - a Buran-class shuttle.
Yayoi smiled. "Let's just say a little bird told me while I was out flying."
"Is that platinum?" Kali wondered.
Noah shook his head. "Platinum isn't good enough for my little girl, or for your flagship. That's a solid rhodium charm."
Sora gulped. "Maybe I should put this away somewhere safe...like the vault at Azkaban."
"Wear it," suggested Mal. "Nobody would think it's as valuable as it is if you keep it on all the time, and it is too pretty to just lock up."
Sora thought for a moment. "Well, I shouldn't wear it when I'm working. I don't want it to break in engineering, or cause a short-circuit. But I'll wear it when I'm off-duty."
"Well, I suppose it's my turn now," A.C. noted, reaching down to the backpack Greenpeace had been carrying. "I'm afraid Andy hasn't really started on anything other than whisky, so no vodka, but he assures me that these are more than adequate for such tastes." She put two 1-litre bottles on the table. "For Sora however, I got something a little more useful."
Here she put a wrapped gift on the table. It was about the size of two hardback books stacked on top of each other.
Sora took it and carefully opened it, revealing a polished wooden box with shiny brass fittings. After a blink, she popped the latch and opened the box.
"Is this...?" She asked in surprise.
A.C. smirked.
"One Mk. XXIV Doctor Edition sonic screwdriver, fully tricked out by Old Tom himself." She shrugged. "I'll admit I'm making up for all those missed birthday and Christmas presents. There's a PADD in there with the manual."
Kali paused in raising her drink.
"Did you say Mk. XXIV?"
"So it's a bit early." A.C. waved the objection away. "Tom wouldn't have let me have it if it wasn't ready for release."
Sora grinned. "Kohran's going to be jealous - she only has a Mk. XVII."
"She'll only be jealous if we tell her," Noah commented. Then he turned to Mal and raised his voice. "I believe this is the point where the new Commander gives a speech, right?"
250K Saloon, East Rim, Kandor City, Luna
20:09 KCT
Mal lifted his second drink of the evening to his lips, then took it away to glare at it because it was empty. This meant he saw Sora look up and break into a smile as the door opened and let in two familiar figures in bikers leathers.
"Hey Guys and Girls." A.C. smiled and Greenpeace waved as they walked up. "Sorry we're late. Got a little caught up by S.H.I.E.L.D. Noah's about three minutes behind me, so it looks like I'm springing for the next round. Who wants what?"
After getting the orders A.C. walked off in the direction of the bar and Greenpeace sat herself down for the short wait before Noah and Yayoi walked in. Which happened a few minutes later, when a happy Noah and an embarrassed Yayoi arrived. Greenpeace waved to them.
They took the seats at the end of the table - Noah sat down beside Mal, while Yayoi slid in beside Greenpeace. "That was *not* fun."
"What happened, Yayoi?" asked Sora.
"They pulled me over for speeding. And Noah wouldn't let me use my new ID card to get out of the ticket."
Mal raised an eyebrow. "New ID card?"
Yayoi sighed. Finally, Noah answered, "It's a reward for her action during that mess off Ganymede last month, combined with punishment for ignoring protocol at Crystal Paris. Yayoi's promotion was just made official."
"I didn't want a promotion..."
Noah nodded. "That's why it's punishment. Ignore the whispered protestation from the new Crisis Senshi who really shouldn't have tried to pull rank for personal reasons, everyone. That's why we're a bit late, by the way - we just got out of her official commissioning ceremony at the Watchtower."
"That's right," added Yayoi, "so don't make a fuss over me - Noah and A.C. did that already. This is *your* party."
"Here comes A.C. with the drinks." Greenpeace interjected.
A.C. had borrowed a large tray to bring the drinks over, and those who could noticed how level they were despite the crowd as she returned to the table.
Yayoi winced in anticipation of the mess that was sure to happen when Noah grabbed a full-pint of Crystal Sapporo Dark from the edge of the tray... then blinked when A.C. still kept the tray balanced.
A.C. noticed, and smiled at Yayoi while still balancing the tray. "Well, are you going to take the ice-cold sake you wanted or not?"
"How...?" She asked, taking her drink.
"Ancient Chinese magic." A.C. said deadpan, causing Yayoi to look unimpressed. "Full waveborg, remember?" Yayoi's look didn't change. "Yeash. Tough crowd." A.C. muttered, handing Greenpeace her Irish Flag and A.C.'s own bottle of Elephant Beer.
"I thought you were going for a Gargle Blaster?" Greenpeace asked.
"This place doesn't have the weapons licence needed for the True Version, and were out of EverClear for the Mostly Harmless version."
Once everybody had settled down, Greenpeace broke the ice.
"So, has the Jason already asked for plant samples if you find any?"
"About everyone and their dog has." Mal snorted. "Including you. About three times if I remember rightly."
"Greenpeace," A.C. sighed. "Stop bugging the poor man. He's just suffered a promotion after all." She turned to Sora. "And *you*."
"Me?" Sora squeaked.
"Yes, *you*. Chief Engineer of Ptichka." She fake-sniffed and wiped away an imaginary tear. "They grow up so fast, Noah."
"That they do." Noah smiled at Sora's blush.
"It'll take more than a drink to answer the insult to my engineer," Mal mock-grumped.
"You go first then Noah." A.C. leaned back with a smile. "You may as well bribe the captain while you're at it."
Noah sighed. "It isn't a *proper* bribe if everyone knows about it..." Yayoi handed him a box wrapped in duct tape. "And this isn't a bribe at all. Mal, this is the copy of The Database that I want you to stash somewhere in the Delta Pavonis system. And this," Yayoi handed Mal a second box the same size while Noah continued, "is your copy of the database."
"Interesting," Mal said, examining the box. "So what are you calling it?"
Noah blinked. "What?"
"What are you calling it? You can't just call it 'the database,' people would get confused. There's so many databases out there, after all. And people like names, so if you want them to accept it, it needs a proper name."
Noah looked at Yayoi, who looked at Sora, then all three of them just shrugged. "We just called it The Database." offered Yayoi.
Mal rolled his eyes. "There are days when I wonder how you've managed to survive out here so long." he said.
"Lack of competition for years, and a *really* good tollhouse-cookie recipe."
"Seriously?" Noah nodded, and Mal rolled his eyes. "Sweet sufferin' St. Xenu. I'm a better businessman than you at times, and I'm a *communist.* Right. So it needs a name..." Mal trailed off, looking at the ceiling. He grinned. "And I've got the perfect one." Mal held a hand out. "Somebody give me a knife."
Shad pulled out a wicked-looking combat knife and rammed it into the table point-first. "How's that?" he asked.
"Perfect." Mal extracted the knife and gently laid the box on the table. "By the power vested in me by Noah Scott's complete lack of imagination," he intoned, tapping the box on all sides with the knife, "I name you the Whole Fenspace Catalog. Go forth and produce many weird technological children."
"HEAR, HEAR! WELL SPOKEN BRUCE!" thundered the assembled Soviets, raising their drinks high in salute.
"But... it's not *just* a Fenspace catalog..."
Yayoi put her hand on Noah's shoulder. "Noah, this time Mal's right and you're wrong. Stop whinging and go with the flow." She paused for a moment, then asked "Bruce?"
"Before your time, Yayoi. But it follows Rule One..." Everyone else except Greenpeace joined in: "No Poofters!"
The two androids looked at each other, then shrugged their shoulders.
"Don't feel too bad Noah," A.C. commiserated. "Given where it came from it could have been a lot worse."
Noah paused, suddenly considering.
"Good point." He shuddered. "Now for the bribes."
Yayoi gave Mal a few seconds to stash the larger boxes under the table. "Captain Fnord, this is a gift from all of the Stellvians to all of the Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily." She handed a flat box to Mal, who opened it.
"Good lord... 10, 15, and 20-year 'Irreproachable Service in the Armed Forces of the USSR' defense service medals. I've never actually seen any, just photos. Whoever made these copies did a very good job."
"Those are authentic, Mal," grinned Noah as he pulled another box from his jacket pocket. "Here are the moulds we made from them. Award the copies to your people as you see fit."
"Now we're going to have to keep track of service holidays," Mal mock-groaned. "If this keeps up, we're going to end up as bureaucratic as you, Noah."
"I feel your pain. Not. Here's my gift to you." He handed Mal a presentation case, opened to show off the six Soviet and Russian commemorative coins within. "The Trekkies told me you're about to launch a ship named after the man honoured by these, so they seemed appropriate."
"These are authentic, too? Of course they are. I can see the wear marks on the older two coins."
"And this is for you, Sora." Noah pulled a small bag from his pocket, and placed it in Sora's hand.
She looked inside, and her eyes went wide. "It's lovely... but how did you know early enough to make it?" She pulled out a charm bracelet with one silvery charm - a Buran-class shuttle.
Yayoi smiled. "Let's just say a little bird told me while I was out flying."
"Is that platinum?" Kali wondered.
Noah shook his head. "Platinum isn't good enough for my little girl, or for your flagship. That's a solid rhodium charm."
Sora gulped. "Maybe I should put this away somewhere safe...like the vault at Azkaban."
"Wear it," suggested Mal. "Nobody would think it's as valuable as it is if you keep it on all the time, and it is too pretty to just lock up."
Sora thought for a moment. "Well, I shouldn't wear it when I'm working. I don't want it to break in engineering, or cause a short-circuit. But I'll wear it when I'm off-duty."
"Well, I suppose it's my turn now," A.C. noted, reaching down to the backpack Greenpeace had been carrying. "I'm afraid Andy hasn't really started on anything other than whisky, so no vodka, but he assures me that these are more than adequate for such tastes." She put two 1-litre bottles on the table. "For Sora however, I got something a little more useful."
Here she put a wrapped gift on the table. It was about the size of two hardback books stacked on top of each other.
Sora took it and carefully opened it, revealing a polished wooden box with shiny brass fittings. After a blink, she popped the latch and opened the box.
"Is this...?" She asked in surprise.
A.C. smirked.
"One Mk. XXIV Doctor Edition sonic screwdriver, fully tricked out by Old Tom himself." She shrugged. "I'll admit I'm making up for all those missed birthday and Christmas presents. There's a PADD in there with the manual."
Kali paused in raising her drink.
"Did you say Mk. XXIV?"
"So it's a bit early." A.C. waved the objection away. "Tom wouldn't have let me have it if it wasn't ready for release."
Sora grinned. "Kohran's going to be jealous - she only has a Mk. XVII."
"She'll only be jealous if we tell her," Noah commented. Then he turned to Mal and raised his voice. "I believe this is the point where the new Commander gives a speech, right?"