Penny comes out of the kitchen to say "Rattlesnarp, dear" she starts sweetly "If I find out it was you who got into the sugar stores AGAIN, I will make good on my promise to boil your brain right out of your ears and serve it with the next meal. No matter how meager a meal it will make!" finishing with a sharp snap.
Seeing Ben she stops with narrowed eyes "Oh, you're back. Katherine has been doing such a fine job I was wondering if you'd bother coming back." dripping scornful disinterest before going back to her duties.
Chase blows a raspberry at Carolyn's assessment. "B$%!%, please. This thing's a piece of cake. I'll have it done in half that time!"
She brandishes her hydrospanner with a confident grin.
"In your dreams, girl," Carolyn replies with an unusual amount of sass.
"Shall we make a bet? I win, I get command of the ship next time the captain's away. You win, I'll pay a forfeit of your choice."
"I think we can take that bet." Ben says, walking into the engine room. "Eighteen hours starting... now. Oh and Chase," He says, heading back out again. "No assistance apart from the goblins."
------------------------------------------
Then he goes after Penny. "We need to talk." He says, sitting down in the galley. "What would you like to say to me? Between friends Penny, you're talking to Ben here." He reads his old friend well enough to have a pretty good idea of what's going on, but its better to let Penny speak her own mind.
Chase rolls up her nonexistent sleeves, tightens her belt, and gets to work, using all her mechanical expertise!
Penny is cooking. There is a pot full of something that smells like roasted heaven with the undertones of baking bread from the oven below. "Friends? Us?" she says as she leans over the pot to take a taste. She sips and nods, then continues "I can't imagine what you mean. If we were friends as your say, we might have discussed where one of those friends stand in the pecking order of an organization instead of hearing it from the cold (but lovely this is not about you Carolyn) tones of a ship wide announcement."
"Is it the why or the how that's eating at you?" Ben replies, refusing to rise to Penny's bait. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you in person, but I was engaged in getting our new cargo and couldn't come back to talk to you all, so I asked Carolyn to do it for me. She could reach you all at once and make sure everyone knew the situation. If you want to set up a regular chain of command for the future then we can do so."
"A regular chain of command?" Penny opens the oven to pull out loafs of golden brown bread. "Oh gosh, that sounds practically grown up. Instead we should continue to bet with the mechanic to give her command next." her tone like an angry wasp.
She starts spooning her stew into the loafs, and moderates her tone a quite a bit, growing softer "Honestly Ben, I thought we had one already but that was my mistake, assuming you trusted a..." she stops herself refusing to go there, taking a moment to lean against the steel counter, sighing "It doesn't that matter." she straightens, then slides a bowl in front of him, saying "I'll take my leave now, Captain, unless there is anything else." she's holding a tray with four of the plates to deliver to the mechanics.
"So the question you want to ask is 'Why didn't you make me Captain'." Ben replies. "Penny, I'd like to talk about this properly, so why don't you come back here once you're done and we can have that conversation? It's not an order, just a request."
Penny pauses for a moment, her mind considering, before leaving. "Lunch!" her shout can be heard from the engine room. "Since time is of the essence, delivered instead of summoned." she lays the tray down and makes sure the goblins do not take Chases. Then returns and sits across from Ben, hands folded in her lap and her dark eyes waiting and watching.
"Honestly Penny, I picked Katherine because she is the safest choice." Ben says, unknowingly mirroring Chase's words to Boots. "I know how she will react to almost every circumstance and, given the situation we are in, the odds of something happening that required drastic action were slim. Therefore picking her made sense, because it would cause the least friction." He eats a few mouthfuls of food and gives the quartermaster an approving smile. "This is really good. Anyway. I could have chosen Chase. She's impulsive but would never do anything to risk the ship and wouldn't have had much opportunity to do anything silly anyway - but since Katherine was an option and a somewhat more reliable one I didn't chose her. It does explain why I'm willing to take the bet though - if it gets us the engine installed quicker then we can test it thoroughly before we leave and that will help immensely. But the question you want answered is 'why not me'?"
He lets out a sigh. "I'm sorry if this hurts Penny, but I wouldn't choose you for the same reason that I wouldn't choose Boots. The two of you don't get along. You are both valuable members of the crew and we couldn't function without either of you, but if I put either of you in charge of the other I would fully expect trouble. One of you would provoke the other, then there would be retaliation - which would either be immensely lopsided since one of you is in a position of authority, or it would degrade any respect for the temporary captain and the captaincy as well. My role in this crew is to stand between you all and mediate situations - that can't always happen, but creating a power dynamic between the two of you at exactly the same time I'm not there to help resolve situations... not good crew management."
He finishes off his food in silence, letting Penny digest his reasoning. "I'm sorry Pen. I consider you my second, my right hand, but unless you and Talah can come to a better working relationship then I will never put either of you in charge of the other."
Penny watches Ben explain "Could you by any chance provide an example of a single time that my opinion of Talih has resulted in my job not being done, Captain? I am knowledgeable enough of 'good crew management' to know that well-documented examples are best when dressing down a subordinate. But I don't think you can, because it hasn't." she pauses to see if he has any.
Not waiting any longer for an answer, she adds "No matter, your mind is made up. I am not a candidate for being in charge, as long as Talah and myself are not Buddies, or as long as you are around to make that call." her eyes drift to the bowl of half-eaten food before him, then back up to him with a slow smile "Kidding."
Talah comes in bobbing her head to some loud and obnoxious music. She scoops up some food and plops into a chair, beginning to chomp loudly while she kicks her legs up onto the table. "THhwis ish delichsoush." she says with a thumbs up to Penny.
After a few more bites she lowers her utensil and asks, "Hey Cap. I get to be actin' Cap next time, eh? I don't intimidate ya, do I? I figure it bein' my turn an all."
Chomp.
Chew.
Loudly (For all to hear).
Penny smiles over at Talah "I am glad you like it. I added those peppers you mentioned to yours. Should clear your sinuses and just about everyone else within ten feet of you."
Looking back at the captain, "Ben here was just filling me in on why he would never put us two in charge. Specifically us two. Katherine, Chase, probably even the goblins could be acting captain in his stead, but never us."
"Ih lovhe it!" she says, nodding a few times with wide eyes.
Her smile falters when she is told that the goblins rank above her in the pecking order. "Whatsh theh fhuckhh Cap? Realehy?"
Swallowing her food, she opens her mouth to say something but then closes it as a quizzical look overcomes her. Turning to Penny, she asks "Wait. Wait. I thought ya were second in command, nah? How are ya allowed ta be in charge?"
She belches loudly to emphasize her point.
"You know I kind of thought the same thing, Talah, but it turns out I was mistaken." she fluffs out a napkin "You have a little stew on you... right there...." she wipes the other woman's chin. "He has decided that we hate each other. Me and you. Can you imagine? And because of that, neither of us is allowed to be in charge of the other."
Talah leans in so Penny can wipe her chin "Thanks, love." before slinging her arm around Penny's neck, "Say it ain't so, Cap? I love me some Penns. Why, just earlier today I was a tellin' Chase that I couldn't be buying all ma nifty swag if Penns here wasn't lookin' out afta me. What would I do without 'er?"
She nods reassuringly before placing a kiss on Penny's cheek and turning to give Ben puppy dog eyes. "I'da be thinkin' it'd be mighty sweet of ya to let Penns be Cap sometime, being as she's numba two and all. Just seems right ta me."
Ben holds up his hands in surrender, a smile curving across his lips. "Well, faced with this sort of teamwork what can I do but retreat gracefully?"
"Carolyn?" He continues, addressing the AI for his interlocutors to hear. "Barring the resolution of Chase's bet, record it that Penny is to be considered acting captain whenever I am able to perform my duties, until further notice."
"Does that serve?"
Penny smiles sweetly back and answers "No."
"The confusion has caused all to wonder 'why not me?' except in Katherine who thought the exact opposite." Penny tilts her head into the side of Boot's, nuzzling briefly "So you have to give Talah a chance to show her captaincy potential as well. You trust her to thread the ship through an asteroid belt, surely that is worth trusting her with the ship in other regards." Penny manages to say all that without displaying the utter despair of weathering that day, but debts are debts.
Talah sits up a little taller and continues with her puppy-dog eyes, batting them incessantly for Ben.
"Should I be incapacitated then that will be your decision." Ben replies, neatly passing the buck back again. "And if you keep up that expression Talah I'm going to start thinking that you want other things from me..."
Why stop now when you're on a roll? Imagine all the perks that could lead to. . .
Lifting her arm up off Penny, Boots rises and saunters up to Ben, standing nose to nose with him. She says in a raspy whisper "Ya know Cap, it does get awfully cold an lonely at night out here sometimes. Boots wouldn't mind some others things, if ya ge tma drift. I'd loveta be gettin' a closa look at ya quarters."
"I'm afraid I don't have any cough syrup for your throat in my quarters, but I'm sure I could ask Katherine to whip something up for you." Ben replies, one corner of his mouth quirking up slightly. "You don't sound so well. Perhaps you should go to your quarters and lie down? We have some new holo-novels that Carolyn could stream for you while you recuperate."
His smile is positively beautific, the picture of a concerned captain.
Talah turns slightly from Ben and raises a fist to her mouth for a pathetic, half-hearted cough that even the goblins would know was fake. "Good idea, Cap. I'll go lay down. Katie's really busy doing science s@$#, so ya might wanna come check up on me soon-like and make sure I'm-a 'kay."
She turns then and saunters out of the room, stopping once to give another half-hearted cough followed by a wink before she leaves.
Winning her bet with Carolyn-5 handily, Chase has the engine ready to go early the next morning, long before the blackhearts are complete. Later that afternoon you receive delivery of the necromantic cargo. With the cargo loaded and the ship ready, you move slowly out of port before engaging your new Drift engine for the journey to Vesk-2.
=====================================================================
Pact Worlds Date: 321-08-24 AG
Location: Vesk-2
Ship Ident: COM-UPYOURSEJCORPXXX
Current Mission: Blackheart Transport
=====================================================================
After a full week in tight quarters with a trio of mischievous goblins, most of the crew are ready to chuck them out the airlock when you finally shift back into normal space. You emerge from the Drift amid a dense swarm of hundreds of immense creatures floating in space. The creatures have massive tentacles that radiate bright bioluminescent colors and translucent, gelatinous bodies that flash with inner fire and electricity. Beyond the swarming creatures lies Vesk-2, an ocean planet dotted with sprawling islands.
It takes a few minutes for the Drift engine to cycle down and bring the system drives back up. Just as the drives come on line, a proximity alert sounds. Checking the sensors, Katherine sees the readout for another medium transport - it's the Wintermourn.
The video comm screen lights up, displaying the bridge of the other ship. You recognize Niva, Dizzy, and Nemelith sitting at various stations along with their verthani pilot who you assume is the cargo-stealing Jynx.
"Let me guess," Niva begins with a smirk. "You had absolutely nothing to do with the bio-containment quarantine that held my ship up in paperwork for two bloody days." She waves her hand as if dismissing the subject before continuing. "I had my suspicions that you were on the same job as we were. I won't even ask where you managed to find another fifty tons of the bloody things. But first and foremost, I'm a professional. What say we settle our little disagreement with a race? First one through this cluster of fire jellies and on planet is first in line to talk to the buyer. Deal?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Ben replies. "My commiserations however, bio-containment can be the worst. As for your race I'd point out that we got here, first but I'm a sporting fellow so I'll take your wager. Talah, GO!"
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Talah wasn't ready. Upon the arrival of the Wintermourn, her comms had chirped with a message from Dizzy who had acquired some of those resources she had been asking for. Halfway through her reply back to him, she says "Huh? What? Oh. S&#~. Right. On it, Cap!"
Punching a few buttons, she shouts "Hold onta yer titties!" and slams the throttle forward.
Both ships accelerate at high speed towards the sea of floating creatures. The vid comm stays open, however, and Niva twitches her whiskers at you in humor. "Captain Daxos," she says with a chuckle. "There's no point in putting your crew at risk. I've got the only pilot in the known galaxy that has successfully navigated the Blockade." The Blockade that she's referring to, as Ben knows, is a necrotic minefield in the Diaspora in the Golarian system. "You can't beat Jinx, so don't even try."
"Navigated the blockade? Boots, isn't that what the pilot old-timers call defecating after a long spell with no fiber?" Penny comments in the cabin as Ben deals with answering the other captain.
"I'm sure Jinx is quite the pilot." Ben replies, full of politeness. "But you've never seen Talah in action either. Enjoy the show. She always performs better with some competition."
Other than a slight tip of the Jinx's head to acknowledge Ben's compliment, there's no other response from the crew of the Wintermourn. Niva continues to stare Ben down. Nemelith is occupied with her computer displays and Dizzy is focused on his comm unit.
Ignoring a cheerful tone from her own comm, Boots focuses on outmaneuvering the other ship.
As Boots pulls slightly ahead of the Wintermourn, she begins to close with the huge mass of space creatures. With the amount of plasma spewing forth from the pyrozoa, the displays and lights on the Oliphaunt begin to flicker and Boots feels the controls start to go a little wonky.
"Hang on, let me make some calibrations!" Chase says as her fingers fly over the consoles.
"Intereference clear! Max power to thrusters! Punch it, Boots!"
Katherine is just rebooting the drift buffers to clear the interference when Chase does exactly the same thing from the engineering console. She huffs in annoyance but has to accept, begrudgingly that the engineer is doing an exceptional job.
Instead Katherine focuses on the opposing ship, activating a worm which gives her a passive view of the opposing ship's systems.
"Their manifold is slow." She says quietly. "If we accelerate swiftly they won't be able to react quite as fast as is optimal."
Chase stabilizes the system without even a second glance and without even switching screens ramps up the energy output of the system engines. Boots feels the extra power as a steady thrum in her seat and the Oliphaunt jumps forward.
"Officially, I must ensure that you're aware that pushing the Oliphaunt's engines past their proscribed energy output limits will significantly reduce their expected normal lifespan," Carolyn-5 offers up. "Unofficially ... That's a rush, Girl."
As the ship races ahead of the Wintermourn and past some of the outlying pyrozoas, some of the creatures reach out with slimy tentacles to grasp at the ship in their midst.
”Yeahk Carolyn, I know you like it like that, baby,” Chase purrs.
She gives the engines another brief boost to get past the tentacles!
"Oh, go easy on me Engineer Reisora," Carolyn replies in a sarcastically sultry voice. "I've never been treated this rough."
Chase gives enough of a boost to the engines that Boots is easily able to pull away from the grasping tentacles. And with the information Katherine provides, the Oliphaunt is steadily pulling ahead of the Wintermourn.
Running in the lead, it seems that you've got this race wrapped up until a huge, swirling portal of extraplaner chaos appears right in the Oliphaunt's path!
Penny was busy looking back at the tentacles when the portal decided to exist right in front of them. "Avoid that!" was all the help she apparently was able to give.
Ben chuckles at the by-play between Chase and Carolyn, and wouldn't be human if he didn't admit to a momentary distraction caused by said words, but then a wormhole appears and Penny isn't doing her job properly.
"Boots, hard to port!" Ben snaps, "Damn it Penny! We need more than that!"
"What more do you need?!"
"Fine. It's a huge, swirling portal of extraplaner chaos. Talah, watch the colors shifting and bank hard on violet!"
Studying the colors and positioning herself to take maximum advantage of their trajectory, Talah holds steady and blasts ahead towards the portal instead of making the long way around.
"Violet. GO!" she blurts and yanks hard to port before reversing and pulling back into position once clear on the other side as if the portal had never even been in their way.
Even with Penny's technical advice and Ben's encouragement, Boots manages to avoid the chaotic portal.
The few moments that she slowed, however, gave the Wintermourn enough time to close the gap. And as you pass by the swirling colors of the portal, the other ship blasts by, slamming the Oliphaunt with a magnetic pulse from its onboard rakes. The buffeted ship veers into the path of a massive pyrozoa spewing plasma from its carapace.
"Ohhhh, so it's like that, is it? That's downright dirty, y'all!" Boots protests as she works to maneuver the Oliphaunt out of the way of the plasma.
"Oh I think two can play at that game." Katherine says whilst tapping away furiously at her station. Sending a spark out ahead of them, Katherine tries to ignite a large cloud of flammable gas in the path of the Wintermourn.
"this would be a perfect time to have missiles" the blonde quartermaster mumbles as she concentrates on her station's readouts.
"We do have missiles." Ben says. "Just try not to blow them up please Penny. We want a name as efficient runners, not murderers."
Boots' nimble fingers manage to avoid a collision with one of the huge creatures and brings the ship back on course and ahead of the Wintermourn. Taking a page from the other crew's book, Katherine summons her own flaming portal in front of the converter harvester. Showing that they're less able to take versus dishing it out, they slow heavily and veer to the side to avoid the phantom.
It looks like the Oliphaunt will win this chase handily, but as you get closer to the planet, you can see that there are more of the creatures and they're much closer together in the swarm near you. Your options would appear to be either blast them out of the way or maneuver through the narrow spaces in between them.
"Carolyn, transfer firing controls to my chair!" Ben orders. "Boots, I'll try and clear you a path!"
A series of short bursts ring out from the chain cannons, punching a larger gap in the swarm for Boots to fly through. As the pilot maneuvers Ben continues to fire staccato blasts into the creatures - keeping tentacles and huge floating bodies out of the ship's path.
"Good shot." Penny admits. "Let's see if we can close the hole behind us. One moment..." Penny presses her hands to the side of her head and allows her mind to reach out to the swarm, just enough to pull them toward the opened gap.