The Gang's All Here.

Posted on Thu Oct 3rd, 2019 @ 6:19am by The Narrator & Lieutenant Commander Mara Ricci
Edited on on Thu Oct 3rd, 2019 @ 6:20am

Mission: S1E4: Upon A Darkening Tide
Location: ACCS Acheron, Greenhouse, Carpathia
Timeline: MD01 1100

The GreenHouse took up a great deal of space along the entire port side hull of the Acheron. The hull plates along that wall were transparent aluminium, polished to a perfect sheen that not even the constant sandblasting of the air outside could scratch. Within the long room were beds and racks of planters, some holding soils whereas others held a gel substrate for hydroponic work. Little green leafy things poked their fronds out of the dirt or gel, some clearly doing better than others. The air smelled of freshly tilled soil, cut grass, and machine oil.

"Mother fuckin' Fukashima Heavy Industries piece of crap!"

The voice was a woman's, rough, hard in the syllables and utterly without remorse for the act of mechanised murder she was inflicting on a water pump. She was knelt next to it when the pair arrived, using a hydro spanner to try and get a pump housing to come free. Even under the Acheron crew jumpsuit, the woman looked painfully thin with the jumpsuit hanging off her like a poorly modelled wireframe doll. She was had short hair, a buzz of blonde over a skull crisscrossed with the salmon coloured scars of old surgeries.

She gave up, rocking back onto her rump and tossed the spanner half-heartedly at the water pump with a hand gesture of ill repute.

"Hey there Grinder," Alex said. The woman waved a hand dismissively, and began to pat at the pockets of her jumpsuit absently. "Any chance Bree is in here?"

"Green Thumb'll be out in a minute," Grinder grumbled, still searching in vain for something. "Hey, you seen my smokes?"

"You know Bree has rules about that sort of thing in the Green House," Alex commented. "Thought the doctor had you on who chewable lozenges?"

"Yup. Cigarette flavour caddies never tasted so good, 'cept when they run out. Doc's busy with some new Freezer Burn cases they thawed out, so no time to synth up another batch for Me & The Gang," Grinder rolled her head, and looked up at Mara. "Huh...you're new. To bright-eyed to be from the frozen pea country, so you must be the Fleet wrench monkey? Sorry Alex, Deni called ahead to leave a message for Bree that you were lumbering her with daycare duty."

Mara shrugged. "If you would trust me, I wouldn't need a babysitter," she replied. "But, whatever makes you comfortable. I don't mind. I'm Mara Ricci."

"And I'm Bree."

This statement was made by the same woman Alex had called Grinder. But as she stood up, extending a hand to Mara, it was like someone else had stepped into the baggy jumpsuit. The way she spoke, moved, even the tiniest trace of an old Earth French accent tugged at her words.

"A pleasure to meet you," she said, gesturing to the pump she had been working on before. "Grinder is the more mechanically minded of us, but he isn't exactly socially outgoing. Or...Alex you did explain us?"

"Bree, or Dr Elizabeth Bree Carson, is a Multi Core. I didn't think it was my place to say," Alex added.

"You are sweet," Bree/Grinder/Eliz said with a smile. "But confusion is bitter. I have self-induced multiple personalities. A team of experts, with a single body."

Where once there was confusion on Mara's face, now dawning understanding shown. "Ah, I see," she replied. "That could certainly come in handy." It was odd, though, and Mara thought there was no way she would want more personalities in her body, but she couldn't deny that it would be useful to have others to confer with all the time. "So... this is the difficult water pump?"

"It is," Bree said gesturing to the device. "We use a mineral water mixture to feed the hydroponic tanks. These were the best the Acheron Colony Corporation could get, but I'm having to dismantle them daily to clear out mineral build-up. I do not mind the extra work, but having to dismantle them every day is wearing them down faster. And Grinder has been working on them daily, but it eats into the time myself and The Team could be used to better effect."

Mara nodded as she walked around the pump slowly. It was a simple, but effective design, intended for light use. She frowned. It wouldn’t hold up long if they had to keep taking it apart. Unbidden, her mind started working on how to add filters and self cleaners to make them last longer between cleanings. “We might be able to modify it to make it work for a while,” she said. “Although, we really need some better ones. I don’t think Starfleet could authorize just giving you some- and I’d have to request them anyway- but perhaps a trade?”

“A trade?” Bree asked with a raised eyebrow. She gestured to the racks of grow vats and planting beds, all containing their own little fronds just beginning to grow. “I do not think we have much to trade, given our present circumstances. What do you think your commander would want in exchange for more robust pumps?”

“And what more might he ask, given he has us over the proverbial barrel?” Alex said from where he\d taken to leaning against a wall.

“I wasn’t planning on asking him,” she replied with a grin. “The rest of us would be happy with any spare fresh vegetables you have. We don’t get much fresh food up there,” she added, pointing skyward. “And replicators leave something to be desired.”

"I thought your Starbase had a large agriculture dome in its Service Module?" Bree asked, cocking her head to one side.

"Currently being used to house refugee's from the first world we ran into right? Karkosian's? Xitosian's?" Alex ventured. "We get news down here, there's a FNS affiliate among the colony so we even have a Radio Carpathia."

"Well if you have spare hands, there's always scut work around here. I could use people who have knowledge of growing things in adverse conditions," Bree said. Then she shifted her weight to her other hip, and her arms folded up to cross her chest. "Hey, space wrench monkey: you done pawing the pump, or you going to buy it dinner? Alex, this is not a playpen."

"Grinder, Bree wasn't finished talking," Alex chided.

"And I give a fig what Mom things? Look I'm grateful as the other snots that she gave me room in her head to think, but I got stuff ta do," Grinder, now fully in control began to count off on their fingers. "I got this pump to fix, then Rack 5 need's a stabiliser readjusted, grow lights need to be rewired for battery backups. Then I got to get the plant samples ready so Bree or Adam can start planting the little carbon scrubbers. I got me a full day. So choppy-choppy ya know?"

Mara grinned. "It's okay," she assured Alex. "I'll get the plans for the upgrades to you as soon as possible. We should be able to make these last for at least a couple of years more and by that time, we should be able to get new ones here. I'll even come back and help with the upgrades if you like," she offered Grinder, not entirely sure the offer was a good idea but she still had to try.

"Am I meant to be impressed the Space Wrench Monkey can use a matter fabricator?" Grinder shook her head and then pointed towards the back of the greenhouse. "Your head looks about the right size to hold up a grow bed. Follow me back here whilst I fit Rack 5's new stabilizer. Get some dirt like molecular composite under those Fleet nails."

She was already walking.

"Grinder is one of The Team's more...acerbic personalities. The others at least have some form of filter on what they're saying," Alex said. "Look I got to get back or Deni is going to dismantle my Crawler for parking near her mechs. There's a bar in town called The Wistful Photon, on Port Side if you'd be interested in meeting more of the locals later? I mean if your boss doesn't drag you back to the Station any time soon?"

Being an introvert, Mara almost declines immediately but stopped herself. Building a good relationship with the colony might be a good idea. After all, they were all going to be living in close proximity for a long time. “I’m down,” she answered. “And maybe I’ll bring some friends along, too. Don’t let Demi work you too hard,” she added with a grin and turned to catch up with Grinder/Bree/whoever else.

"The more the merrier," Alex grinned.