And a little bit more. Hopefully we'll do the plan justice.
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
Quote:A green Ford truck was drifting through the darkness of the asteroid belt. Most of the cargo area appeared to have been shot up, with the tonneau cover hanging wide open, held on solely by on clasp. Sunlight shone through big holes, much like those which’d be caused by a standard Fen coilgun.________________________________
Spattered inside where the purple remains of a cargo of thionite, the vast majority of which had long since dissipated in the vacuum.
The lights in the cabin were dark, but still, there was life aboard.
“What do you think? How long will it take until they finally receive the radio signal and decide to look after us?” Cathy asked, her head laying in Fords legs.
Ford had originally been a little uncomfortable with it, but finally accepted that the catgirl had to have somewhere to sleep. Besides, Cathy was supposed to be hers now. Ford was in her usual getup, mechanics overalls under an armoured leather jacket.
Cathy was dressed in a sleeveless top with a 3WA writing and some really short hotpants. As long as Ford were petting her new pet often enough, she was okay with this.
“The batteries should keep it warm in here for at least another 12 hours.” Ford said, “And we’ve air for a day, unless their aim was that bad.”
Cathy groaned. “It has been 6 hours already.”
“It’ll take a while before they’re convinced we really need help and no-one else is coming.” answered Ford, “But we should be outside their range before we run out of power, after that, the Nova can pick us up if they don’t.”
She was still pining for her poor unfortunate truck. It’d just gotten a new engine and everything after the old one had blown on the way to the last convention. Ford had hated the part of the plan where the Nova had shot up the entire back end of her truck.... she hated it even though it had been her idea.
Nothing but real damage would do. Fortunately, that Senshi on the guns knew what she was doing. There really was nothing left to do but wait and listen to the radio, set to shuffle. It had settled on the suspiciously apropos Space Oddity.
“A song about an astronaut dying stranded in space, while we’re stranded in space.” Ford said, with a bemused snort. “Define irony,”
Still, Ford reflected as she stared out the window, it was humbling. They were only a few thousand kilometres from Nehallenia, but it was still lost in an infinite number of sparkles. She wondered which one was Earth. She wondered which one was Mars. She wondered if Jet ever felt this.... small.... when she was out in space on her own.
Cathy followed her look out to the starscape and smiled. “Thats why I named my craft... why I left Earth... maybe even why I never looked back.” She began to purr happily. “I don’t know how many hours and hours I have looked up into this dark sky.”
Sierra nodded. “Never saw the stars in Chicago, except when the power went out,”
Cathy nodded. “They just produce too much light... that’s why Astronomers were fleeing to the most remote places on Earth... and some of them up here.”
The radio in the front console suddenly beeped with the sound of an incoming radio signal.
“... on a light... unknown truck, please respond... if your radio is not transmitting anymore, switch on a light.” a female voice was calling over a short range radio frequency.
Cathys head shot up as she looked to the radio, curious if their waiting time was finally over. “I hope we are not accidentally rescued by someone else” she chuckled. Cathy jumped up and began to look through the screen of the trucks cockpit, curiously looking for the source of the radio call.
Ford glanced around, checking her mirrors. Bright lights shone from an unknown vehicle.
She started to flash her lights. One long flash, followed by one short one, then repeat the pattern. It was a simple pattern, but one that obviously pointed to life inside.
The radio crackled. “I see you. I’m coming alongside. Use the emergency channel if you still have radio.”
Ford selected the channel, “This is Cally Auron,” she said, “Aboard the Star One. There’s two of us aboard. Myself, and Teela, my catgirl.”
“Copy that,” the voice on the radio answered. “This is Nehallennia One. What happened to you?”
Ford looked at Cathy. Most rescuers normally gave their name. Unless she had reason to hide it.
“We got shot up,” Ford answered.
The lights from the rescue vehicle played across the battered shell of the truck, picking out the holes in the cargobay. Ford held her breath. Long seconds ticked by. This was the make or break moment.
“Great Justice did it?”
Great, let her draw her own conclusions. She’ll believe them more.
“Yeah,” she answered, “They shot me up and splattered my cargo across space. I was lucky to get my ass away and get this far.”
“Too bad,” the voice on the other end responded. “How much air do you have left?”
“About a day’s worth,” Ford replied truthfully.
“Great. We might be able to just tow you in to Nehallennia, instead of doing something more complicated.”
“To whom do I owe my survival to then, Miss mysterious stranger.”
“Sato, Naoko Sato. And trust me, I’ve been doing this for years.”
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?