[oom] A visit to the Milliways Garage with Adrian Shephard

[dejah_thoris]

 She finishes her coffee and turns to Shephard.

"Would you mind if Woola joins us?  He enjoys exploring almost as much as I do."

Comments

[hecu_marine]

"Yep," says Shephard. "Got some pretty sweet onboard beam weaponry, too. This is the second one I seen down here. First one got shot out from under me'n I got pinned down in the wreck."

[dejah_thoris]

All that technology, and an inadequate escape mechanism. Dejah frowns.

"Were you in battle here? Or in some other universe?"

[hecu_marine]

"Mine," says Shephard. "This happened back home, in my universe."

[dejah_thoris]

She turns her head enough to glance at him.

"Really. Did this technology originate in your universe?"

[hecu_marine]

"Nope. Friend of mine who took me down her to show me some shit from her world told me about it," Shephard says. "Half the onboard systems're automated, so there weren't all that much to learn. I reckoned a huge fuckin' robot lion with combat laser armaments beat whatever piece-of-shit murderbird we might drum up in the helicopter section any day."

[dejah_thoris]

She chuckled, and shook her head in amusement.

"'Murder bird.' An apt description, I suppose. I still don't understand the necessity for this," she gestures towards the lion, "particular configuration, but I suppose, if it's effective, then..." Again, she shakes her head and grins. "Who am I to judge?"

She pans down the length of the lion, and then gently descends back to the ground level. Woola has disappeared again somewhere.

[hecu_marine]

"Oh, it gits better," Shephard says. "You see those other lion robots over there? You git one more, think it's supposed to be red, and the damn things'll all fold up parts'n come together to form one giant goddamn sword-wielding humanoid robot called Voltron. They just ain't got lion number five."

[dejah_thoris]

Dejah blinks rapidly, the skimmer drifting down to just a few inches off the ground. She half-turns in her seat.

"They -- reconfigure? Into another, bigger machine?"

Who the hell thinks of these things?

[hecu_marine]

"So they tell me," says Shephard. "I'll be the first to admit, it ain't what I'd call sensible, but somebody did it and fuck me if I ain't gonna take advantage of it when I need it."

[dejah_thoris]

Again, she shakes her head. "Any well in the desert, I suppose. Still, it sounds like a small child was the head of their design team."

[hecu_marine]

"Kinda does, don't it?" Shephard agrees. "Least they got it to work... anyways, those're the ones I know best 'round here. I got a motorcycle parked down here somewheres but it's back with the cars."

[dejah_thoris]

She perks up immediately. "A motorcycle. That's a two-wheeled craft? Is it functional?"

She's already turning the skimmer back in that direction.

[hecu_marine]

"Sure is," says Shephard. "I've spent a lot of time bringin' that thing up to speed. Handles pretty damn well, too, for a machine that age."

[dejah_thoris]

"Does it handle two like this one does?"

[hecu_marine]

"Long as the one who ain't drivin' holds on real careful, yeah," says Shephard. "Want to give it a try?"

[dejah_thoris]

She picks up a little speed as they turn down the aisle back towards the four-wheeled vehicles.

"Hell, yes." Shephard's language may be wearing off on her.

[hecu_marine]

Shephard grins, and rattles off a series of directions. He knows where that Buell is, all right.

[dejah_thoris]

She follows them to the letter, and finds the bike in record time. The skimmer folds up nice and neat, tucked into an empty space within walking distance.

The moment they're back on the ground, Woola zips up to get a pat. He sniffs at Shephard a bit, and checks him out with a wary eye. "It's all right, Woola. He's a friend." Her assurance seemed to set the creature's mind at ease.

"Is this it?"

[hecu_marine]

"Sure is," says Shephard, holding out his left hand- the ungloved one- for Woola to inspect. "1989 Buell RS1200. Bought the original used off a fella in Terra Alta when I wasn't but sixteen, spent the money from my job that year on fixing it up so it'd run proper, lost it again for a couple years, found it here, been restoring it to proper condition ever since."

[dejah_thoris]

Woola gives him a proper snuffle, and then grins up at him, pushing his massive head under Shep's hand.

Dejah squats down beside the bike to examine the machine more closely. She touches it and pulls back her fingers, rubbing them together and sniffing the black stuff that comes back. "Petroleum based, yes?"

She seems fascinated with what little she can see of the engine.

[hecu_marine]

"Yep," says Shephard, scritching the calot's head, because seriously, why not. "Workin' on converting it to ethanol, though. Ain't my favorite option, but we ain't exactly got the gas to spare back home these days." His mouth twitches. "Least my ship's got a nuclear reactor. We'd be up a hell of a creek if we had to feed Borealis diesel."

[dejah_thoris]

Woola rumbles his subsonic approval of head scritches, his eyes closed in contentment.

"I wonder if it couldn't be converted to a radium drive just as simply. The vehicle, not the ship. I'm not sure I could abscond with that much radium and not have it be commented on." She's musing to herself as she eyes the drive train. It would certainly be an interesting engineering experiment, to recreate a ground running craft like this.

She stands back up and quirks an eyebrow at him, smirking in anticipation.

[hecu_marine]

"Uh-" Shephard rubs at the back of his neck. "I ain't sure if it'd be the same grade as what y'all use on Barsoom, but Bar'll dispense radioactives same as she will anything else that ain't a weapon or illegal where you come from. Might not give you a whole hell of a lot all at once, but she's given me a fair little bit of strontium for explosives when I've asked her real nice. Had to return the safety gear it came with, y'understand."

Not that he's exactly comfortable with the idea of a reactor that close to his groin, but shit, the lady's done it plenty of times herself and if she's got cancer or fucked-up DNA she sure as fuck doesn't look it, so all in all they've probably worked those particular bugs out of the system. And he'd like to not have to worry so fucking much about fueling his goddamn ride.

"Engine's gonna be a mite loud in a place like this, next to somethin' like what you're used to," he warns before stepping forward to fire the beast up.

[dejah_thoris]

The machine roars to life, and she steps back, laughing from sheer surprise and no small amount of glee. Woola gives a startled chuff and dashes around the bike, checking it from all angles to make sure it's not about to attack his mistress.

"It sounds like a machine for crushing rocks. Are you sure you wouldn't miss that element of the ride? A radium drive would be much quieter!" Yes, she's shouting a bit to be heard over the rumble of the engine echoing off the concrete walls.

[hecu_marine]

"Ain't gonna lie, I might have to rig up a tape recorder or somethin'," Shephard admits, equally loudly. He bounces in place experimentally; the bike's balance seems sound. "Reckon I'll live, though. You want a ride, I recommend you git on from the left. There's a peg for your foot down there, so put a foot on and swing your right leg over."

Helmets and riding leathers and such are vitally important when you're actually riding, but Shephard doesn't consider a demo in a controlled environment like the Milliways garage to be anywhere near the same. Far as he's concerned, they'll be fine.