Cold, Bored And Worried

Participants:

alia_icon.gif gael2_icon.gif melissa3_icon.gif

Scene Title Cold, Bored and Worried
Synopsis With little else to do, three of Rebel's astronauts to be have a little chat.
Date October 10, 2010

Cargo Plane, somewhere above the Pacific


While the private plane used to go from New York to Seattle was comfortable enough, the cargo plane used for the next leg of the trip is…not. It's cold, it's crowded, there aren't any seats or anything for people to sit on, and with a lack of seats is a distinct lack of seatbelts. Clearly the cargo it's intended for isn't of the human variety. Which is likely why Noah is in the cockpit with the pilot. There are probably seats up there. Or at least one extra.

Melissa has found herself a nice crate situated against a wall to perch on, one leg tucked under her, the other bent, knee nearly at her chest, her back against the side of the plane. It's not the most comfy of positions, but it's better than some of the others. Likely though, she's wishing that she'd thought to bring along a coat.

Gael could have done with a coat, too, or a thick jacket - but on the other hand, there was always the possibility that the plane would be too cramped even for that, much less blankets or pillows. Decompressing will have to wait until they land. At least he had a chance to pick up some reading material (a paperback of Huckleberry Finn) for this leg, but he's been at it for long enough that his eyes are wandering. "Want to borrow this?" he asks Alia, glancing over at the less familiar - and perhaps less hostile - fellow traveler.

Alia has a coat on, apparently having thought to come prepared. Or maybe she just chills in normal aircraft. She also has a space invaders scarf… amazingly, on her lap, is a laptop computer, which she had in her backpack/carryon. She smiles, and instead offers a second set of headphones. It seems she's watching the OLD King Kong.

Conversation, or at least a few words, has Melissa glancing over to Gael and Alia. The book is eyed for a moment before she leans her head back, relaxing. In the absence of anything real to do, it seems that people watching will work for now.

Rubbing his eyes, Gael shakes his head in response to Alia's offer. If it was just music, that'd be one thing, but the movie would be no easier on his vision than the book at this point.

Leaning back, he glances over toward some of the others who have managed sleep or at least a good imitation thereof, then to Melissa to see how well she's holding up. "I thought the chill back in Seattle was bad enough," he muses, "but it takes a draft from a vent to really put the edge on it."

Alia considers a moment at Gael's offer… she hadn't been watching closely, then it dawns on her. She smiles, and closes the movie. And opens up WinAmp instead. Cued up, Five Finger Death Punch - No One gets Left behind. To his comment, she shrugs. Apparently she is not very talkative at all.

"At least it isn't like spring was," Melissa says dryly. "A chill I can handle…for a little while. But that freak storm was hell." But then she pauses and grimaces faintly. "How long did they say this flight was gonna take?" she asks, huddling in on herself a little more, in an effort to retain some of her body heat.

Gael splits the difference, taking one earbud and leaving the other out so he can respond to Melissa. "I was just glad it didn't snap back and go to the opposite extreme. Arizona weather we can deal with. And— about twenty-four hours from start to finish? I think we've gotten through about four, so far."

Alia digs into her backpack, pulling out, of all things, a sweater. She tosses it to Melissa wordlessly, then removes one of her own earbuds to listen, as the music program is louder then hte movie was.

"Okay, no idea who you are, but you're my new best friend," Melissa says, uncurling to tug the sweater on. As soon as it's in place, she's huddling again. "And damn. Twenty-four hours sucks. Where's a boyfriend or best friend when you need to share body heat? Or a pillow?" she asks, grinning a bit. See? She's not //only/ hostile!

Unfortunately for Melissa, this time she's stumbled across one of Gael's triggers. "I had a fiancee, up until about a month ago," he mutters, before turning over onto his other side to focus on the music. He can still hear her - and Alia too, if she ever actually says anything - but there's no question as to his mood.

Alia sighs at the change in mood. "… Alia." she says simply, as a form of introduction.

Gael is watched for a moment before Melissa nods to Alia. "Nice to meetcha. I'm Melissa." She looks back to Gael. "Sorry to hear that. The DHS raid?" she asks, though it's stated more a comment than a question.

"Mmm," he mumbles, the lack of contradiction serving as confirmation. After a second, he turns back over to face the others. "The date kept getting put off, and then— We were in different parts of the building when the raid went down. Didn't even get any last words."

Alia winces. She's not close enough to the stranger with her extra earbuds to offer much in the way that would show her sympathy otherwise…

"I sorta know the feeling," Melissa says, nodding slightly. Losing an adopted brother isn't quite the same as a fiance, but loss is loss, right? There's a long pause, then in an attempt to change the subject and hopefully the mood, "So. Space, huh? Kinda exciting, don't you think?"

"It's certainly not anything I pictured myself doing," says Gael, glancing up toward the roof of the cargo area for effect. "Should be a hell of a view on the way up— but on the other hand, it'd probably be rough enough to make this leg feel like a cake walk. Not something I'd want to have to do more than once." At least not while dealing with all the restrictions involved with the current situation.

Alia quietly smiles. "Take pictures?" She asks simply. She knows her role. Her job is to get the group off the ground. And then figure out somewhere for them to land.

"I've got my camera for that very purpose," Melissa tells Alia with another smile. "And yeah, I don't imagine it'll be easy. Even just taking off should be hell. All the g's and everything. Not to mention the whole fight just to get on the shuttle. But how many people actually get to go up into space?"

At the mention of pictures, Gael nods. "I'd like to get copies of those, later. If only to remind myself that I didn't just hallucinate this entire week. I just hope Rebel isn't assuming we can handle more than we can - that's always a risk of managing a situation from a distance - because I doubt we get more than one shot at this."

Alia tilts her head back, then says. "One shot. Get you up. Promise." Her words aren't loud. But they are resolved. She knows how much is at stake. The only thing worrying her… is so far, the lack of plan on the landing.

"Of course," Melissa says, nodding to Gael. "As for Rebel…I don't think so. I mean, I don't know most of the people he got for this whole little…adventure…but he's not a complete dumbass." Her head tilts as she looks to Alia. "I'd feel better if you promised to get us up and down again. Safely."

Gael shakes his head. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves there. I do intend to get some reassurance that this isn't a suicide mission, once we're on the ground again— but Alia, or someone else, can work out the details when the time comes. It'll take some time to get there and deal with the equipment anyway."

Alia smiles a little. She opens a map she has saved to her computer, enlarging a portion of Arizona desert, namely a stretch of freeway away from civilization. "Problem… NORAD. Working on it."

"I don't think it's too much getting ahead of ourselves. As much as I can't wait to see the Earth from space, I'm so totally not going up if I don't think I'm coming back. My life's going as well as it ever has, and I'm not throwing that away for any photo op," Melissa says, shrugging.

By this point, they're splitting hairs— and while continuing to do so would help pass the time, it would also help give Gael a headache that much sooner. Nodding, he leans back and stares up at the ceiling again, stray earbud blasting quietly as it clatters a few inches across the ground.

Alia leans back, and falls silent herself. There isn't much more reassurance she can give, personally, without ggiving herself a migrane.

When the others settle back to go off in their own little worlds, Melissa pulls her phone and headphones out, settling the headphones in place and turning on some tunes. If she's lucky she'll be able to sleep for a good chunk of the flight to Singapore. If she's not…well, she won't be any worse off than the others. Cold and bored and worried. At least the first two problems will be dealt with all too soon.


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