Adrift

[Delila Castillon]

An oomfph and she found herself staring up at the sky. She didn't expect Scars to be hiding out and working so early in the morning. Not after his head wounds anyways.


"Soap? This is my soap. Don't know why you seem so confused"


Delila got up and brushed herself off, offering a hand to Scars.


"Get up, you alright? I got to go home but I'll be back."

 

[Kenth Typho]

[member="Delila Castillon"]

He was pulled back onto his feet and stretched himself a bit once he was there.

Muscles still ached but it was nothing like yesterday. In truth Locke didn't like sitting around, with all his training and experience he didn't need to sit around for a week, until his body was ready for heavy usage again either.

With just some sacrifices he could get it going again.

"Uhuh." Locke didn't sound all that convinced, but wasn't making an issue out of it. "I will probably have the fence up by the time you are back."

A shrug followed.

"Make some noise, when you approach so I can shut it off, so you don't get fried."

His eyes went looking through the jungle, seemed quite for now. But who knew how long that was going to last here?

 

[Delila Castillon]

[member="Elliot Locke"]


Delila was still amused by the notion of his fence. Yes, she had taken a number of precautions over the years. Several close calls. Numerous near-misses. Would she had even thought it was necessary to put up a fence? Well, no. One just had to be smart about things.


"Have fun with your fence. I should be back by mid-day."


With that, she disappeared back into the overly thick jungle.

 

[Kenth Typho]

[member="Delila Castillon"]

Locke just grunted in acknowledgement and went back to work.

Why she was so amused about the fence was outside of his understanding. The first thing you learn is to set up a parameter when you are in hostile territory, be that a motion detection grid, turrets or arc pylons scattered about that fried anyone trying to pass their invisible barrier. It made sense, it allowed you to not worry a 100% of the time when you were trying to survive and instead have it be 40% worries.

Right now Elly was staring at the wires and frowning at himself.

What hadn't been clear about a day ago, was now very obvious to him - clearly that head wound had caused him to drop the ball in so many ways. It was frankly embarrassing, but what was there to do besides moving on?

Locke got to work, had to have this done by the time Dahlia was back.

 

[Delila Castillon]

[member="Elliot Locke"]



Delila had 'stuff and thangs' to do this morning as she trekked away from Scars' crashsite. Bathing was top of the list, as was changing into slightly less disgusting clothes. It was a long hike back to her little stone 'palace' of sorts, tree roots and branches growing through the ruins. Sun was starting to break above the thick canopy by the time she reached familiar territory.


First stop was a small hike to her own crash site. Coated electrical wires remained in place, unrusted due to the coating on the outside. It looked as if Scars would need them for his own vessel, if she guessed right. Delila had unfortunately lost a lot of her knowledge on such things. If you don't use it, well then one clearly lost it. However she was smart enough to grab various lengths and voltages as indicated by the coloring and notes on each wire.


The wire was easy enough to carry once she used vines for rope to hold the bundle together as rope was rather useless in this environment. She had found vines were stronger and well, they tended not to rot.


Back at her stone palace, Delila picked up her slightly less dirty change of clothes, ones she had rinsed in the river days prior to let dry. It wouldn't take long and soon she was bare butt in the river with Scars' soap. Well, his extra bar anyways. After years without soap, it was great to scrub her hair. It might even look red again instead of whatever dirty mess it was now.

 

[Kenth Typho]

[member="Delila Castillon"]

In the meantime Locke got his shet together and made good use of the time he had.

Part of it was locking down the parameter with the arc pylons - they were crappy stuff, half-salvaged from other equipment and all short-wired together until they came into working order, but there wasn't really another option available to them at the moment. He wasn't an engineer by trade, but he was smart, quick and had received several crash courses about the basics and the advanced practicalities quite often.

Mostly because you always wanted to have an as widespread base of knowledge when you were infiltrating one area or another.

Who knew what was next to you, just when you needed to switch characters. Maybe a servodriver?

His hands didn't get burned anymore by electricity now that he didn't see double anymore. Which basically cut-down on the time spend fixing up crap, allowing him to focus on the fundamentals.

By the time she was back?

There would be a gorram parameter here.

 

[Delila Castillon]

[member="Elliot Locke"]


Delila was in no rush to get back to Scars and his perimeter. After scrubbing her hair, she waded around for a bit, listening to the jungle. It was odd to actually have contract with someone after ten years. In many ways it was a relief. In other ways it was a stressful situation. She was going to have to push through though. What was going to happen when Scars got his ship running and dropped her off at the first spaceport? Delila would be going from being around one person to hundreds, thousands or more.


Shaking her head slightly, she decided to get out and dress,pulling up her hair into a ponytail for now. Delila gathered everything, the wires and parts from her own ship into a makeshift bag. It took a moment before it teetered on her back, trying to balance everything.


It took longer with the pack, trying to navigate the jungle. It took nearly an extra hour on top of her original hiking time before arriving back at the crash site. Her feet slowed in her ancient boots, stopping on the thickly carpeted jungle floor.


She dug around and searched for rocks, throwing them towards the campsite to test for the perimeter. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Kenth Typho]

[member="Delila Castillon"]

Almost immediately a reaction followed as the rock passed through an invisible field.

A static shocked lashed out and evaporated the rock immediately. Which solicited a further response from deeper in the camp in the form of a male voice whooping once, before shouting: It works! in joy. It was good this planet did not seem to be civilized in the slightest, it would have been awkward if he had accidentally evaporated some hapless tourists just taking a stroll here.

That would have been difficult to explain.

"Ah, Dahlia." Locke greeted her, before sizing her up.

She had already been an... interesting looker, but now with some soap and wash? Elly would have whistled, if that was a thing he did on occasion.

"I see you found your way back."

 

[Delila Castillon]

[member="Elliot Locke"]



Boys and their toys.


Brow lofted at the perimeter. It worked but seemed a waste of resources. Delila struggled to find the purpose, to find the soldier in her that would see the value. The jungle had washed away much of her thinking on that regard, perhaps she just viewed things with a different practicality now.


"Take a holoimage Scars, it'll last longer."


Delila worked her way past the perimeter now, once Scars permitted her in anyways. She set down the pack of wires and various bits of electronic and electrical equipment. Back stretched a little, happy the weight was off her after the long hike.


"I did, sorry I'm late honey, ran into some traffic. Whats for dinner?"


Grin touched her features.


"Either way, I've brought some stuff from my own crash....I think it might be useful. Or some of it anyways."

 

[Kenth Typho]

[member="Delila Castillon"]

She didn't seem immensely impressed by the thing, but that was alright, because he was impressed enough for the both of them. In truth Locke hadn't been expecting it to... actually work - in a sense it had been simple busywork, while getting used to the new environment and becoming more acclimatized with the situation he was working with. This way his mind stayed occupied, while his subconscious was working at the little tangles of the plan forming.

The fact that it worked? Made it only the more pleasing.

"Real thing is far more interesting, Dahlia, you know that." Elly responded with a smirk, before keying the pylons to her particular physiology.

Unless she had an identical twin hidden behind her skirts, the only ones who could pass safely back and forth from here without getting obliterated by the thing were the two people in the camp right now.

"Yeah, put it there, we can take a look at it a bit later, because now that you mention it..." He blinked and then shrugged. "Yeah, food sounds good right about now."

He eyed her briefly.

"You up for it or still shaking off the crap from last night?"

 

[Delila Castillon]

[member="Elliot Locke"]


Delila drug her pack against some crates with other bits and pieces Scars had been rifling through. Hopefully there was something of use to their entire cause of leaving. Now that she was behind the perimeter, she swore she could hear a small hum. Possibly not being around electronics so long left her a bit more aware to the 'side effects' so to speak.


"I had some fruit this morning. Seem to keep it down. Best to get back up on the bantha, so to speak. Going to have to get used to it sooner or later."


Delila figured she would throw up again or hold it down. A little bit of vomit wasn't going to keep her from trying again so soon.


"Need me to gather more water for the ready-to-eat meals?"

 

[Kenth Typho]

[member="Delila Castillon"]

Locke was practically raised in his career with ready-to-eat meals, but that didn't mean that was all there was to it.

In truth he loved cooking and everything about it - just something about molding ingredients with his own hands into meals was wildly satisfying to him. Luckily, right before Elly's jump to hyperspace he had bought up supplies for the journey. Fresh produce and the sort - it wasn't as good as it could get if you lived on an agriculture world or if you lived in the city where you could just... buy anything you wanted.

But it was better than nothing out here.

"Nah, stocked up on supplies before my jump. Got a few crates with fresh produce in the cargo bay." Locke had already turned around, speaking over his shoulder with a gesture for her to follow.

"That crap isn't gonna last long, because most of the life support systems are crapped to hell and back, so temperature is gonna be a real problem. So, we better eat what we can, before it turns to shet."

A smirk followed.

"I don't suppose you can cook?"

 

[Delila Castillon]

[member="Elliot Locke"]


"I can boil water for tea. I make a mean cup."


Truth was, Delila wasn't much of a chef. She could cook pasta.Grill meat, steam some vegetables. Nothing overly fancy. She cooked for herself and herself only, just the basics to get by so she didn't have to eat out everyday of her life. Just something she never bothered learning. In the field one ate ready-to-eat meals or had a cafeteria with a whole slew of cooks. One merely went through the line and selected.


"Fresh produce sounds great though. I'm a mean sous chef, I'm also great at washing dishes. So what I lack in culinary skill I make up for in others, perhaps just as equally important. Someone's got to chop everything up, right?"


She was following him back into the ship, curious on why he had so much fresh produce. What exactly had he been doing out in the black?

 

[Kenth Typho]

[member="Delila Castillon"]

That was the eternal question, wasn't it?

What was it that Locke did. Not just in general, because 'Intergalactic Spy' had many connotations to it and not all of them were accurate. But what had he been doing this time around and... why were half a dozen crates filled with food important to that cause? Well, it didn't really matter much anymore - not with his schedule completely out whack now and impossible to catch up again.

Once Elly found himself back in the Galaxy SIS would have to start completely anew.

"Hey, the less busy-work I gotta do the better." He retorted over his shoulder, before taking the stairs up, passing the bridge - which contained half a dozen other entrances to who-knows where - before taking one of the staircases down again.

This one led to the cargo bay.

Which - as promised - held a variety of crates. Most of the labeled once where grouped together in one side and there were a few unlabeled once to the side, obviously Locke pointed to the ones with labels.

"Alright, pick one of 'em and I will pick the other. We will see what we can get."

 

[Delila Castillon]

[member="Elliot Locke"]


Delila wasn't quite sure why he had so many crates of produce. Humanitarian drop shipment? Running away? Link up with a military outpost? She took in Scars for a moment, silent. He didn't look the type to drop anchor and suddenly go AWOL. Too proud. Too loyal. Maybe not to the cause but to his own personal set of morals.


She picked up a crate marked 'mushrooms'. Safe enough, she ate her fair share during her exile. Tasted enough like meat without actually getting grease and fats back down into her stomach to unsettle it further.


"Whats with all the food Scars? You can tell me, who can I tell? The millions of amphibians on this rock?"

 

[Kenth Typho]

[member="Delila Castillon"]

For his part Locke looked through the various crates, before he ended up with one particular one.

Lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and even the rare carrot. Some of it would spoil easily without proper storage and sadly they didn't have any - he doubted he could jury-rig the equipment into working state... well, without at least having to dismantle other crap that was more necessary right now. Dahlia asked him a question and it made him frown just a little bit.

It wasn't a secret, but it was still something close to heart.

Finally Elliot snorted, before shrugging at his own worry. She was right, nothing that she could share with anyone and at this point... it didn't really mean anything anymore, too late anyway.

"Couple of months back I broke the hold of this nasty Pirate over a little colony in the Outer Rim." He scratched his chin, while studying the produce and wondering what to make of it. "They are running out of food right about now and I promised to get some for them - was returning home anyway, so I figured it was the last thing I could do."

Frown deepened.

"Nothing much to be done about it now though."

 

[Delila Castillon]

[member="Elliot Locke"]


"Oh." There was a long pause. "Doesn't mean you can't still go. I'm sure whatever spaceport you drop me off in will have produce."


Not that it would help in the short term. If she had to guess their situation would last at least a few more days. More days to travel to this colony. Delila thought it was doable, although people would still suffer.


"You'll get there in time. Don't remember much about ship repair honestly. Doesn't mean I can't relearn.Get you to that colony faster."

 

[Kenth Typho]

[member="Delila Castillon"]

"They are dead, Dahlia."

That was a thing he made peace with while trying to get that grid working. Maybe in some ways the fence had been a way to simply take his minds off of things, while making peace with it. Wouldn't be the first time Locke shifted his attention elsewhere while he worked on his guilt at the back of his head.

"Was working on a tight schedule and was already a few days later than I had wanted." Complications on his earlier job.

There hadn't been anything he could do.

"Anyway, get the food, at least we will get some use out of it."

Already the crate was in his arms and set out of the cargo bay towards the kitchen. Clearly this wasn't a subject Elly felt like talking about a lot.

 

[Delila Castillon]

[member="Elliot Locke"]


The more time spent around Scars the more he revealed himself, just not in the traditional manner. To someone who paid attention, much could be gleaned. Current example being he took failure personally. Delila watched him head up higher into the ship, leaving her behind in one of the cargo holds. She wasn't sure if he was avoiding the subject or choosing not to dwell.


Gut instinct told her to wait a few moments before going up. If it was her she would have appreciated the moment or three.


Hoisting the crate up the kitchen wasn't terrible, although Delila was certain a person could get lost down the countless corridors. Seemed odd. Custom? A mental shrug as the crate went on the counter and she reached for a dry rag to clean the mushrooms. She was smart enough to know water and the delicious fungus typically didn't mix.


"So, you cook? Or are we going to chop this up and just saute, see what happens?"

 

[Kenth Typho]

[member="Delila Castillon"]

By now the smell of vegetables was starting to pour into the air and made Elliot think of other things.

Food was always a good way to distract him, especially good food. In truth Locke understood that there was little he could have done about this situation - how could anyone plan for your ship breaking down around you or a mission getting extended because otherwise people were going to die? Not, that was the answer to that, but that didn't mean he had to be happy about it.

Didn't mean he couldn't feel at least partially guilty for the people who were going to die, because he couldn't help them.

It was the least he could do.

"Yeah, I love to cook, so we are gonna make this good." Locke responded, before starting to array all the vegetables on the kitchen table. His mind was already churning with ideas what they could do.

It was a shame there wasn't any meat though.

"We got any animals around here we can kill?"