Preflight Checklist, Part 1 - Unpacking

Posted on Sat Jul 4th, 2009 @ 9:41pm by Brian Mallory

1,042 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Session One - Jailhouse Rock
Location: SS Warden, elsewhere
Timeline: before Jailhouse Rock

Pre-flight Checklist, Part 1 – Unpacking
Brian Mallory
Pilot, SS Warden

After his encounter with Sky Summers, Brian returned to the undercarriage of shuttle one. He'd been up to his eyebrows in plasma residue for the last six hours, and was almost done flushing the impulse manifold. I'm a pilot, not a mechanic, he thought to himself, wryly. But with the ship's chief engineer and his mate both engaged in what remained of Warden's retrofit, which left him to deal with the shuttles. Any seasoned pilot worth his salt could execute basic repairs and fine tuning, and Brian Mallory had long ago passed "seasoned." And despite what he'd told the companion, the shuttles weren't in too bad shape to begin with.

It took him another hour to finish his work. Then he stowed his tools and headed to his quarters for a long, hot sonic shower. That was something he hadn't quite gotten used to, but for which he was quite grateful. The crew quarters on Warden, while still quite Spartan, were lightyears ahead of the cramped little alcoves Walkabout's crew had called home. Still, Walkabout's personal space had been far from the worst quarters he'd ever had. But this… he could almost imagine bringing Adam along, for at least a visit. It had been more than eight months since he'd last seen his son, except over subspace, and the separation was wearing on him. Once again, he found himself second-guessing the balance between providing stability for boy, and not abandoning him.

Once out of the shower, Mallory looked at himself in the mirror. He ran a hand over his face, thought about shaving, and decided against it. His five o'clock shadow had reached half-past seven, but another day wouldn't hurt. He dressed and moved into the sleeping compartment.

His duffel bag sat on the small table beside the bed, where it had been since he'd brought it up from the airlock on his first day, still mostly unpacked. He stared at it a moment and a part of him thought Well, what are you waiting for?

"Something permanent," he said aloud, then chided himself. "Yeah right, like anything ever is."

Nothing ever will be unless you take the chance, his inner angel-on-the-shoulder replied.

With a reluctant, weary sigh, Brian sat on the edge of the bed, and pulled the duffelbag next to him. Most of his belongs were in long-term storage, or with Adam and Kaylen, but the bag contained his essentials. Everything he had brought with him to Obsidian Colony, everything that he couldn't live without once he'd left Walkabout.

Brian pulled out a framed holograph, and sat it on the table. He tapped the frame, and the images cycled through, showing him his son at age eight, age twelve, age fourteen. The first image had been taken only a few weeks after he'd taken Adam from his former home on Pacifica, and they were together, eating jumja sticks in the Stardrifter Café on Kal-Dixas. The second was taken during their own two-year walkabout, while attending a baseball game on Cestus III. The game had been between the Pike City Pioneers and the New Chicago Cubs. The latter team had continued their legendary losing streak, but that hadn't mattered to Adam as he proudly wore his Cubs cap and held up the home run he'd caught, autographed by the team's second baseman. Brian smiled at the memory.

The final shot was more recent, and elicited more than a tinge of sadness. Brian had taken it himself the day he'd last said goodbye to Adam. His nephew Kaylen had an arm around the boy's shoulder, and they were both smiling and waving. Brian remembered how hard it had been to get Adam to agree to stay with his cousin, but that once they'd spent a few days with Kaylen on Aldebaran, the planet's rustic culture and Gaelic charm had won the boy over. Kaylen himself had been a big part of that, being only six years older, he related well to Adam, and they had much in common. Though they hadn't seen much of each other in previous three years, Adam had always loved Kaylen like a big brother, and that had made the decision much easier for him to swallow. It was the right decision, so Adam could at least have something like a normal life, which was a rarity in the Mallory clan.

But it still hurt like hell. So Brian turned away from the holo, and started sorting through his other belongings. He had a few books , and placed them on the shelf, along with a few more holos and other odds and ends. The few clothes he had brought with him from Providence barely filled a third of the meager closet space. Probably time for some new threads, he thought. I think the Captain has the monopoly on leisure suits on this rig.

He smiled to himself. When he reached back in the bag, his hand brushed a small piece of canvas. Brian pulled it out and unrolled it, looking at the sketch that Chase had drawn. She'd never had the time to paint him the picture she said she "owed" him, but this she had done only a few days before she left the ship, and he had found it in the cargo bay. It was rather childish, but intentionally so, and depicted a knight rescuing a damsel from a dragon. What made it unique was the maiden was carrying a wrench, and the knight had a scruffy beard. He folded the sketch again, and with a sigh, set it next to the holographs.

After another few minutes, he'd sorted the majority of his possessions. The rest would wait 'til later. Except for one.

Brian released a small catch in the folds near the bottom of his dufflebag. He reached into the small, secret compartment, and his fingers brushed cold steel. With a shake of his head, he left the weapons there, and re-fastened the compartment. He dropped the duffle to the floor and shoved it under his bed. Let's hope I won't need you this time, he thought.

With that, he rose, and left his quarters, securing the door behind him.

 

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