Riptide

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"Aye... I don't need a plate smackin' me on the head cause your going a bit too wild." the teasing quip would follow with a small chuckle.

Shaking her head, Kaile went to work. There were a few perishables that she'd bought. Those were more of a little treat to themselves and had to be eaten early on in the trip. What she had really splurged on was in a small brown wooden box. Just seeing them made her smile. Maybe I'll be able to make that dessert for Kurt after all.

Sandwiches were pretty simple, but when done right was fantastic. Kaile had plenty of experience with being a short cook at Yum Bunnies when they needed a back up. So being able to replicate some of their infamous meals was right up her hyperlane.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Jumping towards the core was always an interesting exercise in safety.

A lot of people thought that the outer rim was more dangerous than anything else, but...well they weren’t pilots. In actual fact the Core was probably more dangerous than any other place in the galaxy, at least, to fly around in. The outer fringes of the galaxy were spread apart and spaced out, but in the core?

No such luck.

Everything was squished together. Asteroid fields, black holes, planets, roving stars, all of it was mashed into a big ol’ ball of danger.

That meant plotting hyperspace routes through the Core was extremely dangerous, so dangerous in fact that most galactic explorers tended to stay away from the place. A good example were planets like Byss, after thousands upon thousands of years of being colonized, Byss still only had one well known hyperspace route to it.

That fact in it of itself was mind-blowing, but it was that way for good reason. Traveling through the core was incredibly dangerous, Kurt knew that, and so as he typed in the proper hyperspace coordinates he would make sure not to kark up.

“Going in 5….4…” He counted down slowly so that Kaile could get ready.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

When the countdown began, Kaile situated herself so she could latch onto an overhand rung. The Messa was a fast girl, and she could give quite a punch when jumping into hyperspace.

Sure enough, when Kurt came to zero, the G-Forces hit with enough strength to have Kaile stumble. Good thing she had her feet braced, allowing her to hold steady. The sandwiches were nicely secured on the counter, she managed to place them in a bin prior to the jump.

Once the Messa leveled out in hyperspace, Kaile went back to the bin to take both sandwiches out. Holding them in one hand, she called out, "Kurt, wanna eat down here or up there?"

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

“Up here!” He answered back as he slowly pressed the levers forward and pushed them into hyperspace. There was a hard shake, and then they jumped into Hyperspace.

The transition between real space and hyper-speed was always an interesting one. It made his stomach lurch each time, even though by now he’d lived through it a thousand times. Perhaps it was because there was just something...unnatural about going into hyperspace. It wasn’t a place that people were meant to occupy, not really anyway. He shrugged slightly and then turned in his seat.

“Have to watch everything.” He explained through the entrance of the cockpit. “Traveling through the core can get a bit...hairy.”

That was an understatement.

There were reports of entire Star Destroyers being ripped apart by a roaming blackhole. Huge space stations being destroyed because of sudden meteor showers, and dozen other occurrences that made even the most experienced spacer weary.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

He wasn't kidding. The Messa was tweaked to the point that not just anyone would be able to pilot the Messa. While the VT Throne aided with controlling the ship, it took more than just mere skill. Kaile was the only one whom Kurt trusted to fly it properly. Even then, there were so many plants within the Core that any seasoned pilot would have to concentrate to not make a miscalculation.

Taking up her datapad in one hand and the two sandwiches in the other, the espion headed over to the ladder well. Climbing up to the cockpit, Kaile's strawberry blonde head popped up from the hatch to peer at the pilot.

"Hey!" her smile came back, the woman attempting to keep a measure of cheer up. Had to so that her mind didn't go elsewhere to the pressing matters of her pregnancy and another man with gold-flecked green eyes.

"Here you go," she offered, climbing into the cockpit and handing him his sandwich. A quick plop in the co-pilot's chair and the Lorrdian joined him.

"Got some fresh produce," it was rare to get it, which made it even more expensive, but it was nice to have.

"Hope you like it."

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt took the sandwich, though he didn't quite bite into it yet. There were still a few things that he had to tell Kaile, he wasn’t sure if she had ever traveled through the core before, at least the deep core. He knew that her work had taken her all over, but things were different at the center of the galaxy, dangerous.

“Have you ever been to the deep core?” Asking directly would be the simplest way. It wasn’t like he was worried or anything, but he just wanted to stress to her that The Core wasn’t any place for amateur pilots. Of course he didn’t want to insult her either...but...well he just wanted to make sure Kaile knew that he would probably be flying for the entirety of this trip.

Not that he didn’t trust her, just the danger was rather palpable.

He often wondered what it would have been like to live on one of the deep core worlds. Byss or Prakith or some of the other planets that were constantly spinning around the multitude of black holes at the center of the galaxy. It would have been interesting to say the least, if only because of the paths one could carve, the dangers you could brave.

He smiled slightly at the thought.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

There was a soft crunch as Kaileann bit into her sandwich. A bit of mayo caught at the corner of her mouth, which she used the tip of her tongue to flick it right up.

"Mm?" Deep Core? As she was mid-chew, the Lorrdian gave a quick nod but with a bit of a side to side gesture to indicate not too frequently.

Swallowing, she managed to say in a muffled voice behind her hand. "Umhm... but Coruscant.. Empress Teta." classic spacer stops.

A pause, then a slight squint of her eye. " Once went to Tython!" that had been more of a liasion gig, but she had learned quite a bit. It had been prior to the One Sith occupation. Actually it had been at a time when the newly formed Jedi Order had not been tied to the Galactic Republic.

"A long while ago."

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Coruscant, Empress Teta, they were both planets that had dozens of trade routes mapped. They were some of the most important planets in the core, and thus received the most attention from cartographers and other map-makers. The set routes of course were the most important parts, vier off of them and well...it wasn’t certain death, but close to it.

Tython?

Kurt had never even heard of Tython. “Well.”

The pilot thought for a moment about how he could best put this. There was a danger to all of it of course, but he didn’t want to scare Kaile unnecessarily, not when there was better ways of trying to get his point across.

“We’re were going is dangerous. The Deep Core, unexplored regions.” She knew that likely. “Black Holes, meteorites, dozens of Asteroid fields. Pilots get lost there all the time, very good pilots.”

He had known a few. “I think it’d be best if once we drop out of hyperspace I handle most of the flying.”

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]


The more that Kurt described the Deep Core, the slower Kaile chewed. Each one of those potential hazards that could get them blown up quickly.

"Alright," Kaile replied after swallowing her first bite. A wag of her finger came next. Still, maybe I could do something.

"How often have you've done it?" setting down her sandwich, she traded it for her datapad. From here she could connect to the information Asmus' datastick gave her.

"Lemme see what I have here that could help."

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

He thought for a moment. “Fou…”

No, there was that time with Reggie.

“Five times.” The Republic had occupied much of the Core in their time, and although The One Sith had eventually usurped that position, Kurt had been around in The Navy long enough to have participated in some of the exploratory missions. “It doesn’t get any easier.”

That was mostly because The Core was constantly changing.

Though things on a galactic scale tended to move very...very slowly, The Core was a different place. Black Holes, Quasars, Nebula’s, everything from the smallest rocks to the largest stars seemed to be in constant flux in the core of the Galaxy. Kurt didn’t pretend to understand why, but he knew enough to say that it was incredibly dangerous.

“Not easy flying.” He said with a shrug.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"I can imagine." with as many hyperjumps and stops folk had to make that far into the Deep Core, it definitely wasn't easy flying. Tucking her toes under the blanket, the Lorrdian swept her finger over the display to find the file.

"Okay, found it," she told him. Leaning forward, she used her toe to turn her chair over towards the Nav Computer. Transmitting the information was easy. A half minute later, the hole array displaying a custom made galactic map bloomed. In it, there were various smuggling routes, little-known paths, and the algorithm Asmus Janes had imputed that would adjust the course based on any patrols. A rather nifty way to keep under the radar. The parting gift that scoundrel with the gold flecked jade green eyes had given to her.

"Kokash Sector." she selected the sector, zooming in to view the routes. A slight frown of concentration wrinkled her brown under the shaggy mess of her strawberry blonde hair.

"Fastest way would be the Corellian Run, then take the Aay Gee Circut.... then the Byss Run." that last one would be, well a handful. There were plenty of One Sith likely still patroling the sector. One of the last bastions of their power.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

”Yep.” Kurt said knocking against the side of his head. ”I know.”

Though he was hardly an explorer, Kurt knew hyperspace routes like the back of his hand. The Core had been an interesting place to fly, and it wasn’t an experience that he would soon forget. After their last outing he’d made sure to study all the paths he could, especially considering the fact that he might have to do it again some day.

”Don’t worry. I’ll get us there safe.” He always did in the end.

Flying was Kurt’s first love, or rather, going fast was.

Jamie was a close second, but, well there was nothing to him like going fast. It was why he had upgraded The Messa into the state it was now, it was why he had raced all those years, and it was why he was a Courier now. His job allowed him to indulge in his favorite hobby, if only as a by-product.

Still, it was something.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"Oh I'm sure you'll get us there safe," Kaile said with a smirk, going through her data. Kurt didn't ask where she got it from. Likely thought it was from the Alliance. Otherwise there would be another story to tell. Among the others...

"But if you could have a good time while you are at it, I'm sure you'll do it. " she stuck her tongue out at him in pointed fashion, her eyes twinkling with mirth.

"We'll see." a glance around brought up another thought. "So, what are the priorities with this ol' girl." she patted the chair she sat in, referencing the Messa.

"What should we work on next? Hot tub? The shields?"

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

He rolled his head back. "Suppose we should finish things before we start anything else."

Kurt was of course referring to the hot tub. They really only needed one more piece for it, a water cycler. It was simple enough to find a part like that, and it would allow them not to waste a tremendous amount of money whenever they wanted to use the hot tub. His father had already helped to install the scrubber and The Messa had come fitted with a water tank. The cycler was really all they needed. There was already a small one aboard of course, but that wasn't enough for something as big as the hot-tub.

"We can buy the part after this job." He commented. "Shouldn't be that much."

They could probably even get it new. "After that? I dunno. At a certain point you can't keep stuffing a ship with new poodoo. Takes away the charm."

Why fly anything that was so loaded with crap that you couldn't even enjoy it? The Messa was already one of the, if not the fastest ship in the galaxy. Even the old legendary vessels couldn't beat it out. That was a fact Kurt was incredibly proud of, and as it stood, he liked their little home.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"Well could salvage one too." ever the penny pincher, Kaile wanted to see if they could save a few credits and simply refurbish one. That way they could spend the funds on other items. It was one way they were able to splurge now and then like the time they went to Cloud 9 or to the beach.

"Travel to Raxis Prime and grab whatever else we might need," it was a good salvage world. Between the both of them, tinkering came easy. It just came along with a bit more elbow grease than what others were used to.

"Although I reckon we could make without the automatic beverage machine." her brown eyes gave a slight mischievous twinkle at that. "You'll have to get your drinks the ol' fashion way and mix 'em yourself." along with adding the tiny umbrella to the glass. Kaile had mixed a few of Yum Bunnies' classics and the tiny umbrella put it all together.

It was after all the most important thing.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"It won't be that expensive to buy it new." He pointed out. "With something like that...well I'd rather not have it rusted out and eaten by acid, you know?"

If they were going to use the thing to clean water that they would later bathe in...yeah, best not have it be old. They could clean it, replace what was broken, and even fix the rusted out bits, but at a certain point it was just easier to buy the part new, not to mention a whole heck of a lot safer. The cheaper side of him of course agreed with Kaile, but, well he was growing up. It was time to make the responsible decisions, and in this case that meant buying a new part. "That way we can mix drinks with clean water."

Did you mix drinks with water? He had no idea.

"Go get some rest." He instructed.

"We'll hit the core in under a few hours." Once again thanks to The Messa's speed. "I doubt there will be much time to relax when we get there."

For him most of all.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"Alright." he had a point. There were times when they should shell out the credits for something new. Being from Tatooine and knowing all about water purifiers, Kurt was more apt to know what would be best in this situation. And frankly neither had any desire to have their water have a questionable lingering taste of stars knows what. Taking up her datapad, the Lorrdian gave a nod.

"Sure you don't want me to stay?" honestly Kaile was feeling a bit needy. Not only was she missing Asmus something fierce but now she had the wallop of a discovery that she was pregnant; very possibly the daddy who did said impregnating was sitting in front of her -- or somewhere in the 'verse planning to become a pilot in his own right. She nervously shuffled in her seat again, recalling just how surreal this all was. Part of her thought that it was just a dream. Another told her that she was too far in now to consider it to be a mere figment of her imagination.

Maybe I should go get a second opinion??? Could be that perhaps the droid had been faulty. Not all droids are keen like that. They get glitches!

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

"No its alright." He said with a smile. "You can stay obviously, but...well you'll have to watch me sleep."

Kurt offered Kaile a wink.

Sleeping anywhere at any time was a skill that he had garnered while still in the Navy. It was something you got used to when you were a Pilot. Sometimes you just needed to sleep, and right now was probably one of those times. He shifted slightly in the chair, making himself comfy. "Need to be rea-"

The pilot let out a loud yawn.

"-Dy." He finished. "Never know what's going to hit us."

He gave Kaile another smile. This job clearly meant quite a bit to him, the money would settle them in a more secure place, and once it was done they would be able to relax just a bit. Both of them needed a little bit of relaxation, something that the hot-tub would really help with.

 

[Kaile Vera]

[member="Kurt Meyer"]

"Reckon you do have such a pretty sleeping face." A bit of Kaile's mischevious charm bloomed over her face then. She wiggled her brows and then gave a small chuckle.

"I'll stay. I don't mind." she really didn't want to go either. Her body language was enough to read off of that.

"Plus if something happens I'm already right here!" a nod then went towards his sandwich. "Finish that off buster! I worked hard on it!" she teased.

With a shift back on the seat, Kaile made herself comfortable again. There was still so much to do. Dozens of things going through her mind. How to go about it? Where to start?

When did life get so complicated.

 

[Kurt Meyer]

[member="Kaileann Vera"]

Kurt nodded, then let out another yawn.

There wasn’t much else to say at this point, he was pretty tired, and sleep was calling him. As he shifted in the chair and made himself comfortable he thought about what he had read that day. He thought about all those comments on the forum, he thought about Jamie, he even thought about the job that they were embarking on.

It felt strange.

A part of him longed to return to the circuit, a part of him longed for things to stay the same, and still yet another part of him longed to simply be with Jamie. He’d never been the most intouch with his feelings, but now...well now it seemed like he was more distant that ever.

The truth was, Kurt had absolutely no idea what he wanted, and that was starting to be a major problem.

As he thought about it, he slowly drifted off to sleep.