TEST DRIVE #1 - Ten Forward

[tenforward_m]

You know how you were standing there, back in your home world, just minding your own business?

Time to forget all about that.

Instead of doing whatever the heck you were just doing, you're standing in the middle of this very stylish, sedate barroom. Happily, you're not alone there - in fact you're surrounded by people who seem to be as confused as you are...and some of them look a little, well unusual

Now would be a great time to do....well, something. Ask some questions of the person nearest you, throw a fit, stage a coup....maybe do a little exploring? No matter what you do, you're going to be here for a very long time.

For others might call it the USS Enterprise, but for the foreseeable future, you'll be calling it home.

[OOC: this test drive's open until the next app period.]

Comments

[do_your_duty]

John can huff and puff all he wants, and only earn the continued curl of a raised eyebrow. She doesn't like this. Unexpected large numbers of people and rooms appearing out of nowhere. It's not normal, whatever he says, and even more it should be normal for anyone here. They should have security somewhere, too. A place like this.

"Fine." Again. Puncture down like a knife blade or a shot.

While reaching up with her other hand to tap her comm badge. "Zhaan, D'Argo, come in." But there is only silence after it. Not that she was expecting much from the appearing room. With it's strange, subtle sophistication that also looked nothing like a Peacekeeper ship. "Pilot? Can anyone hear me?"

[never_felt_better]

A-yup. That's about what John had been expecting, even though he'd been hoping this was still somehow part of Moya. He didn't feel the physical shift associated with traveling through a wormhole, not even a skip; hell, not even a jiggle. Just one step, then another, and bam! Hailing frequencies open.

Or closed, it looks like.

He faces the room, his back now to Aeryn, and surveys the crowd. "'Scuse me!" he hollers. "Can anybody tell us where we are?"

No, it isn't subtle, but it'll get the job done. Eyes are already turning on them, and one guy in a really familiar red and black jumpsuit is looking particularly promising. John blinks. "Well, butter my bottom and call me toast."

[do_your_duty]

Aeryn is certain that one didn't translate right. Even after the sudden yelling.

But then what else is new with John, and the strange things that come out of his mouth.

Inane, obviously untranslatable, witticisms aside, she doesn't miss the way his expression shifts. Because as much as she says she doesn't take the time to notice him, or the rest of the crew, she can't not either. She was trained to be a good soldier, a good team member. One of many. To know the weaknesses and strengths of her teams. Until they could read each other in battle, and out.

And John looks...amused. Surprised. But pleasantly. Like he's suddenly pleased with this place, and whatever he just spotted. Which just confuses her more. Especially when she's looks at the same group of milling people in uniforms and not, including one unsurprisingly headed for them now, and back to John. "What?"

[never_felt_better]

Nope, just good ol' fashioned Southern colloquialisms, Aeryn. John has an endless supply and all the cycles in the universe to introduce you to each and every one of them.

"This is too good," he says, voice hitting that higher register he gets when he's about to get his geek on. "Hey, Aeryn, watch this. I'm about to show you some mind-reading voodoo I bet you never learned in commando boot camp. Ten bucks says the next few words out of this guy's mouth are Enterprise, Starfleet, and Federation."

He straightens his shirt and clears his throat, biting back his grin as much as he can. The officer stops and asks how he can be of assistance, and John answers: "Greetings! My friend and I come from a, uh, galaxy far, far away. How did we end up here? Oh, and uh, where is here?"

[do_your_duty]

There are certain things that, even on Moya, are untenable to change.

Among the many off the top of her head that the food is mostly only ever passable, Rygel is never to be trusted with anything even half the size of himself, and John Crichton is almost never right. About people and situations, maybe, at times. But not about any of the races, planets, technology, history, anything around him.

It's the reason why, even before she ever saw one of his wormholes, it was almost believable that he was telling the truth.
Or that he was a frellwitz who'd been hit in the head too many times. But that theory had, annoyingly, worn off.
But that part about him never being right about every species and planet they ran into? It never had.

So the fact John is smiling wide and bright, all teeth and crinkles at the edges of his mouth and eyes, making something around her sternum tighten, warm and sharp, is all wrong. It makes the muscles down her spine want to tighten harder than her fingers against her gun, when the uniformed man -- black and red, shiny beads on the left collar side, and odd shaped comm badge on chest right -- is using all three of the words John just threw at her.

Leaving her unerringly unbalanced and unpleased, shooting a hard look between them. "How did you do that?"

And not to leave the man flatfooted and out of the line of fire, she follows hard on it's heels with, "Why are we here? Why have you taken us from our ship?"

[never_felt_better]

The officer, bless his little heart, is having enough trouble figuring out why John is grinning to beat the band through his entire explanation. And, sure, it's probably not the normal reaction, but hell, he just made John's night.

He wriggles his fingers at Aeryn, intentionally mystical. "Don't you pay her any mind, her bark's worse than her bite. Well. That's not true, so you should probably answer her."

The officer startles, and goes on to explain the situation. Completely apologetic, and almost completely unhelpful. Apparently he's not high up enough on the food chain to know every detail, but it makes enough sense to John. Powerful alien entity with a bone to pick, and a ship full of unsuspecting humans to put through the wringer, see how they react. Sounds par for the course, really. At least there are no Peacekeepers around.

"So you're trying to fix it, then?" John says at the tail end, turning to Aeryn. "You see? They're on top of it. Nothing to worry about."

[do_your_duty]

Aeryn has no idea what John is doing now. Waving his hands, wiggling his fingers, and grinning away like an overblown grolash. Which, fine, half of that can be written of as John Being John. The way even Zhaan says That's just Critchon. Doing odd things no one finds familiar, with dedicated inability to give up and assimilate.

But that still doesn't actually answer her question to him. Doesn't explain how he knows just where they are.

It's only marginally not Exceedingly Frelling Annoying that he encourages the man to start talking next because she won't have a problem taking liberties from someone else keeping things from her, someone who is not part of her team. Maybe it's her temper, or the fact she likes this place less the more she's still standing, but she's not positive the officer isn't mostly useless himself, too.

Especially because someone with magic powers supposedly just took them from their ship as part of 'a test' for other people.

"Except for the part where we're now stuck. Here." In this utterly foreign place. "If he's even telling the truth."