Off We Go

[Trace Kennet]

Sitting at the controls of the ship, Trace took a deep breath. Today was the day. In a few hours they would be lifting off Osiris, and his life as a pilot would really begin. He flipped on the console power switches, and felt the ship's power system hum to life. He let out the breath and settled back into his seat. Reaching out he picked up the comm, and radioed to the captain's office. "Captain, are we ready to go?" He waited, but no response came. He decided to try again. "Captain, are you awake sir?" Still no answer.
Then a warning light flashed on in front of him. "What the," he muttered. "Why is the cargo bay opening?" Switching the comm to page the cargo bay, he paused. Then he spoke. "What is going on down there? If we don't shut the door, this is going to be a short trip."
Without waiting for a response, he jumped up and headed down to the cargo bay.

[Trace Kennet]

Well, thought Trace as he returned to his seat in the cockpit, that was fun. He took a moment to run through the recent events in his head. The captain had a new person on the ship. She was not exactly friendly, but she hadn't killed anyone yet. The captains voice came through the comm, telling him he was good to go, and he began the pre takeoff checklist.
He pushed all of the thoughts of what had just happened out of his mind. He needed to focus, on the task at hand. He didn't want anything to go wrong on his first takeoff, not with the crazy new lady on the ship. He had a feeling she would notice if he screwed up, and he didn't want to know what she would have to say.
More importantly, the captain would probably kick him off as soon as he could, if he couldn't perform to his high standards.

[Jordan Maxwell]

Jordan walked into the cockpit, still looking over her shoulder. "What could possibly go wrong with guns on a ship." She growled under her breath. She watched in silence and waited until they were safely into the black before speaking to Trace.

"Trace, Cap'n gave the a-okay for testin' her out. You up for it?" She tried her best to smile as she put her hand on his shoulder, but she was a little more then worried. It was the first time out on this ship, added to that, a new pilot, a new guest, and she was sure the engine was screaming for some tender loving care.

[Trace Kennet]

Trace had been so concentrated on flying that the hand on his shoulder made him jump. Without turning around he said in a small voice, "There isn't a knife in your other hand is there?"
He didn't want to get in trouble so early on in the flight. "If the captain says it is ok, then I will do whatever you need. Just tell me what you want and we'll see about getting it done."
He was still experiencing the euphoria of flight, and so even the fact that he was a little frightened by this lady was not going to bring him down too much.
"So, what do you want to do?"

[Jordan Maxwell]

"No knife, I do have my tool kit however." She set the kit down and plopped down on the co-pilot seat. She started looking over the instruments, checking power availability. "Hold that thought."

Jordan climbed under the co-pilot station and removed the panel. "Is she handlin' alright for ya'?"

[Trace Kennet]

"Like a dream," Said Trace, "There is a little bit of a vibration, but i doubt it is anything serious... is it?" He chanced a glance over at her, or what little could be seen of her beneath the station. "I hope you aren't breaking anything."
He could just imagine the captains reaction. "You have been flyng for less than a day, and it is already broken." Not that he didn't trust her, he just didn't want any trouble. "So what do you think of our madame crazy?" he asked, trying to start some conversation. "She seems to be quite the character, if you catch my drift."

[Jordan Maxwell]

"She will take some gettin' use to that's for sure." She felt around for a moment grabbing at her kit, finding it she pulled it under the desk with her. "It seem he Cap'n know her from before. If he trust her then I guess we aught to. After all, he trust you, and our lives are already in your hands."

She peeked out at him. "As for your vibrator problem, does is it still doin' it or only at take off?"

[Trace Kennet]

"I don't know if that is a compliment or not..." Said Trace with a hint of his trademark playfulness. "But it is nice to know that you approve of me flying." He was about to say more when a look of concern cam across his face.
"I don't know what is causing it, but that vibration is getting worse." He was alarmed by the feeling. Something was definitely out of place.
"Here," he said, "Feel it?" He leaned back so as to let her in to feel. The vibration was starting to scare him.

[Jordan Maxwell]

Jordan saw his face and quickly screwed the panel back in place and got up. Moving over to him she put her hand on the wheel. She could indeed feel the vibrations. "Switch to the co-pilot." She said as she reached the station to release the panel.

[Trace Kennet]

"No problem," Trace said with a nervous laugh, "You know how to fly right?" He was alarmed by the tone of her voice. Great, he thought as he flipped the switch to copilot, I broke the ship, this is just great. "Do you know what is wrong? I didn't mess with anything before we left, so i don't know what it could be."
He was beginning to panic a little. This was not a good start to his first day as pilot. He kicked himself for not paying more attention, maybe he had missed something earlier that could have stopped this.
"Jordan, I'm sorry if i screwed up, I didn't mean to." Pitiful, he thought, the pilot apologizing to the mechanic for flying. This was not going well.

[Jordan Maxwell]

"You fly I'll fix the problem.. It could be any number of things, the last crew let her go." Jordan climbed under the control desk and started fiddling around, she pulled out several cords and started to wire other things together. "Ai Ya!" she said as she moved other things around.

Moving to the wheel it's self she looked it over before taking it off, there was normal gunk and some standard issues she expected, but that wasn't the main issue.

She replaced the wheel and moved back under the panel. "Shaking over there?" She asked after a few minuets, not even thinking of asking that before now.

[Trace Kennet]

"Yes, its getting worse," Said Trace in real alarm. "Do we need to call the captain?" He wanted to know what was going on, and he felt that the captain should at least know. "Not that I don't think you are capable or anything."
His arms were starting to shake, despite how tense his muscles were. "Not to rush things Jordan, but my arms might fall off if this goes on much longer." He was losing his cool, and his voice cracked. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
He didn't look away from his displays, but he strained to focus on his peripherals and see if he could tell what was going on. "I think we should call the captain."

[Jordan Maxwell]

"Slow the ship down." She said, with that she took off with her tool kit to the engine room. She could feel the vibrations coming off the engine. She started looking over it, that's when she saw it, stabilizer.

Jordan watched as the engine slowed. She opened a compartment on the floor then hopped down under the engine. Looking around she knew she was going to be spending several hours down here. Hitting the com she spoke. "Trace I found the issue, keep her steady and keep her slow, I can fix it but its going to take a little bit." She looked around and sighed, and started with the support struts.

[Trace Kennet]

Trace sat in the cockpit, relieved. He had been worried that things were going to go very very wrong, but now he was starting to relax. When Jordan had run off, he had slowed the engine like she had asked, and then there had been a long silence. He had been relieved to hear her voice say she found the issue, but now he was left with nothing to do except hope. She hadn't thought tho put the pilot station back together, so here he was, at the co-pilot controls, wondering what had just happened.
"So what now," He wondered aloud, "Shadow puppets?"
As he sat pondering his life, his eyes were drawn to the space around him. He hadn't had a real chance to look around, what with all the excitement. He was amazed by what he saw. Wow, he thought, to think this has all been here the whole time. He slipped away into a rather slack jawed gaze of wonder.