Quoted By:
You shake your head, but pause and think on it. Then, you answer: “I’m looking for work.”
“Work?” She raises an eyebrow, then jerks her head back to the bustling aft deck. “Ain’t no shortage of it.”
“Lieutenant Commander Geary sent me here,” you explain, with only somewhat of a wry expression. “Said something about ‘pulling my weight’ and, uh…free lunches.”
The woman smiles. “Yeah, no that sounds about right. That’s a song and dance that most folk gotta go through aboard this ship.”
“Even passengers?”
“We ain’t exactly a cruise liner. Everybody gotta work.”
“How about honored guests?”
“If I see any,” she says with a faux-conspiratorial whisper, “I’ll letcha know.”
Hah.
The woman doffs her hat, throwing a lazy salute that turns into an offered hand and a genial smile. “Deck Chief Holt. I’m in charge of the maintenance crew and the daytime shift. For this expedition, I’ll be yours and Gully’s crew chief and PUEXmech. Real nice to meet you in-person…Unami, was it?”
You return her smile, and her handshake with an equally strong grip. “Yeah, that’s me. How’d you know who I was?”
“Oh, easy,” she says, “I know every single one of my crew that’s supposed to be on the deck right now. Last I checked, you ain’t on that list. And there's only so many new faces...”
“Ah. Well, in that case, if you’ll excuse me-”
“Hold up, don’t go runnin’ off just yet,” she interjects with a wry grin. “Cap’n wants you to work, yeah? I’m pretty sure that we’ve got boxes that need shufflin’ around.”
Something distasteful must’ve flashed in your eyes. Holt laughs, and waves as if to clear the air. “Jokin’, just a joke. Wouldn’t have you doin’ that kinda grunt work unless some folks are in sickbay. ‘sides, I didn’t think you’d come down here for a while.”
You relax. “Engineering and maintenance are always the first places I stop. Just to make sure my PUEXO’s been loaded on correctly.”
“Well,” Holt says, pointing towards the hangar, “You’re in luck. I actually needed you to drop by so we could do a shake-and-break. First time we’ve had a <span class="mu-i">Magellan</span>, so I wanna do things by the numbers. And it’d help a ton if you were with us. Just in case somethin' breaks.”
You snort at that. With a smile that you don’t have to force, you nod to the chief and reply, “I think that would be at least a day’s worth of food.”
Holt's laugh is carried by the spray of the sea, and echoed by a nearby, overhead flock of seagulls.
>>Calypso Hangar No. 2
The superstructure of the hangar isn’t nearly tall enough for the PUEXO’s to stand upright. Your <span class="mu-i">Magellan</span> lies on its back, resting aboard a mechanized flatbed, linked to a motorized rail to bring it out for deployment. Polyester ratchet straps hold the machine in place, while nearby tow cables can bring the bed up for “under the hood” maintenance.
(cont.)