Thread: Space Revolution {KayLove & BlackThorne}

Duncan had been about 5 deep diverted with various tasks, but he had made sure to talk to his XO first. Lang might have been one of the few officers aboard taller than Duncan, tall , ram rod straight, a military bearing that had been both drilled and bred into him. Lang was a grim man, rarely given to smiling, almost as if his face would break if he were to give in to such a silly expression. Distaste was his natural resting expression, and yet as an XO dealing with various crew members with variying moral codes, not to mention various factions of crew members, that was a plus. He had also made a point to talk to Jon Wilson, one of his tactical officers. Wilson would be second officer once Duncan left and his bridge rotations put him in a place to keep an eye on the crew. He wasn't about to leave a ship like the Damascus without some trusted people in key places, and Wilson had a kill-key if need be, that was only useable when Duncan was not on board. Duncan trusted Wilson despite the fact that Wilson was in fact what LEOs and bounty hunters often called a Short Trace. , or Short. The name Wilson only traced back 1 or two generations back from Jon. It was one chosen by Jon or perhaps Jon's parents or grandparents, who selected a last name to opt-in to the system and avoid some of the stigmas and stereo-types of being a Spacer. Spacers were treated like the Romani Gypsies were back on old earth in less enlightened times - suspected of every crime , every problem apossible spacer sabotage. But it wasn't always like that. Of course the tradition of the Spacer was a long , storied ones. Most of those who took on the last name Spacer were men, and they were predominantly men, to be sure were walking away from a past they didnt want to follow them. Debts, marriages, children, even convictions and desertions. In a way it was like the French Foreign Legion of old. Space ships needed men who would take on unreasonable risks in uncomfortable conditions without any guarantee of riches. That was true back in the days of sub-light travel, and near jump short haulers and today with the Far jump mega freighters. Space stations needed to be crewed with dockworkers and scutdogs, fuelers , hazmat containment hands , spacejacks, brown and grey water swampers, and dozens of other positions as well. Many of the original Spacers were those who called themselves Belters, they had individual family names still but identified as someone who spent their entire life in the Asteroid belt. They werent accustomed to comforts and luxury or even safety, they had a sense of mission and purpose and were rugged individualists. Their language was most similar to the earth language known as Singlish. Belters have unique talents due to their bodies being formed and fully acclimated to zero and low-g life and are tolerant to low oxygen and high toxic level environments. But on a planet, or even a large satellite, they were at a severe disadvantage, some even helpless or worse. Some belters were so fragile boned that prolonged exposure to a planetary gravity well could crush every bone in their bodies. Meanwhile, many of those who had first taken on the surname of Spacers fell into mining, much like the belters back in Old Earth Space. Those who did so often took on the name Miners, though today there was not much crossover between the groups, as Miners had a generally better reputation but were just as cutthroat and stuck together. There were just 2 factions to manage . Besides Spacers and Miners , there were the virulently anti-government Freemen, and their rivals the Outlaws along with a few anti-technology faction the Humanists, they were strongly against computer AIs, and those were just the named factions. Duncan had finished a few more tasks when he got the page from Lily. He set down his extra datapad on the helmsman's station, and made his way to meet her. He had to admit, she was an interesting woman. As he came up on her, she was a total mess. He had never met a woman who could dedicate herself to this kind of work, but he knew she also had an amazing scientific brain not to mention being a master level scrounge and kit-basher. Anyone who could impress Oracle certainly held Duncan's esteem. He smiled at her, an almost avuncular, protective smile. She obviously was working too had, and yes, she was a mess, under there though, along with the genius, that was also a woman , one that Duncan wanted to know. He took her hand and pulled her to himself, purposely pulling just a little too strong so she pushed into his chest. He looked at her and brushed her hair out of her eyes You could use some rest. You know the sonic shower in my quarters also has steam He grinned - a rare treat, but the water was more than 99 percent recovered from this use , but the moisture was so luxurious, he rarely used it. Ships systems in general were all mostly made of necessity with few luxuries like that. The head, for instance, solved certain problems - you didn't want to rely on an expensive Sonnberg field to make keep the waste where it belonged. Luxuries like steam were rare on a military designed vessel. He brought her to his cabin now and set the do not disturb. This is your cabin for now. Whenever your changes are installed enough, we willl be leaving on the Kos. Once aboard we will be able to speak more freely, he smiled at her, he hd almost brought her to his cabin there, but he had wanted to give her the experience of the steam shower as she looked like she could use it.