Chapter 1: Calm Before The Storm

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rredmond
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Re: Chapter I

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Solomoriah wrote:Will Thornton stepped out of the car. He was running late, and he knew it (as traffic that day was bloody awful) but he was relieved to see the great blades turning only slowly, and people still entering the hangar.

"Well, have a good trip, neighbor," said the mousy fellow whose car it was. Will regretted that he could not remember his name, but then he doubted it mattered as he would likely never see him again. They had only been neighbors for a year or so, after all. Will smiled... people were always willing to help if you only asked them just right.

He got his bag from the back seat, and waving in a friendly fashion at the driver, he said "Thanks for the ride, chum." Then he turned toward the great building and began walking briskly, hoping to see either Monday or Pennington boarding. He did not see Mr. Pennington, unfortunately, and he realized as he stood looking at the people climbing the boarding staircase that he had no idea what Reginald Monday even looked like. How would one identify an American millionaire, he wondered, as he showed his papers to the steward in the crisp white uniform at the foot of the boarding stair.
Will cursed a little to himself, late is never good, and the mark he knew on sight was not within sight. Then he smiled, the game was never easy, the thrill is most of the fun. Still, it would be nice every once in a while... He continued boarding and held onto his bag intent on seeing as much of the passenger sections of the ship as he could under the guise of looking for his room. He will also mark any VIP sections that he might not be able to get into (due to status) and any sections for the crew that a VIP would be headed - for example the helm/captain's areas. As he does this he mentally takes note of anyone who may be a VIP or well-to-do... just in case he needed to switch focus. He stretches as he walks, smiling, it's been a while, but he feels the invigoration that he almost forgot, of the beginnings of the chase - not even being sure of his prey, but it is a captive audience as they say.
He'll say hello and shake hands with anyone who initiates. But Will's goal here is to get a lay of the land and the people as quickly as possible without drawing too much attention to himself - for now.
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Re: Chapter I

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Mak wrote:Artie nods at the Frenchman in a friendly manner, then evades the stare by turning back to Cesar and Lily. "I'm Art Evans, ship's pianist," he says, proffering a hand to Falco. "Do you like jazz?" he asks, making small talk.
Cesar spared Artie a brief glance, shook his hand and, turning his gaze back to Lily, answered, "Jazz is good, but a beautiful woman singing, now, that's magnifico!"

Lily blushed once again. "Oh, sir, you're too kind, you haven't even heard me sing yet!" Cesar took her by the hand and guided her gently to a seat at a table on the starboard side. Leaning down to slide her chair in, he whispered something in her ear that made her blush once again.

Looking up, Lily saw Artie watching her. "I'll catch up with you after brunch," she said, "and we can figure out what to do tonight." Then she turned her attention back to Cesar, who was still smiling warmly at her.
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crazycrypt
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Re: Chapter I

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Solomoriah wrote:"Here now, Mister Mansel, don't get too comfortable at the helm," said Lt. Sullivan, presently in command of the bridge. "You won't be taking her out. We're just here because regulations require the bridge to be staffed any time there are passengers aboard. You and I will just be spectators when Captain Pelton orders Leftenant Scott to take us out."
Tom looks up from his gun at Lt. Sullivan and says, "Yes, I realize that, however, better to be safe then sorry. I don't want anything to go wrong during takeoff." Tom looks back down at his gun to continue on.
Solomoriah wrote:"Nice pistol," said Lt. Sullivan. "I favor the Colt 45, meself. One thing the Yanks are good at is guns."
Tom looks back up at Sullivan, this time looking a bit agitated and says, "The Colt 45 is alright, but I'll take my Luger over a Colt any day. This baby is quite special. It has gotten me out of several sticky situations."
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Re: Chapter I

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rredmond wrote:He continued boarding and held onto his bag intent on seeing as much of the passenger sections of the ship as he could under the guise of looking for his room. He will also mark any VIP sections that he might not be able to get into (due to status) and any sections for the crew that a VIP would be headed - for example the helm/captain's areas.
Entering the ship, Will's eyes took in everything. A man in a white uniform stood at an intersection, directing him to the door at the right; beyond the uniformed man Will saw a spiral staircase going both up and down. A sign near it read "Crew Only." To the left, opposite the door, Will saw a narrow hallway with doors on either side plainly marked "Men" and "Women."

The man in the uniform was evidently named Neville, based on the brass nametag he wore above his left jacket pocket. As Will met his gaze, the other man smiled in a friendly fashion. "Welcome aboard, sir. I'm Leftenant Neville, second watch helmsman."

Will noted a nervousness behind Neville's eyes... no, call it uneasiness. Neville had a secret, something weighing on him... but Will could also see no value in pursuing the secrets of this rather ordinary-seeming crewman, so he merely smiled at him and said, "Thank you. It's a pleasure just being here."

Turning right as directed by Neville, Will noted that the passenger section seemed to be all one area, with no distinction between passengers of higher and lower rank. This would make identifying the best marks more difficult, but on the other hand there would be no extra impediment, locked doors, etc. in his way.
rredmond wrote:As he does this he mentally takes note of anyone who may be a VIP or well-to-do... just in case he needed to switch focus. He stretches as he walks, smiling, it's been a while, but he feels the invigoration that he almost forgot, of the beginnings of the chase - not even being sure of his prey, but it is a captive audience as they say.

He'll say hello and shake hands with anyone who initiates. But Will's goal here is to get a lay of the land and the people as quickly as possible without drawing too much attention to himself - for now.
A few others preceded Will as he went down the main corridor. Looking at his boarding pass, Will saw that he would be in room 13, sharing with a Dr. Burton; but so far, Dr. Burton didn't seem to be present. Will dropped his carry-on items on the top bunk, then paused to check his appearance in the mirror. Satisfied, he turned back to the main corridor and nearly ran into a tall, beautiful brunette in a striking red dress (an Oriental print, he noted even as he grabbed the doorframe to regain his balance).
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rredmond
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Re: Chapter I

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Solomoriah wrote:...
A few others preceded Will as he went down the main corridor. Looking at his boarding pass, Will saw that he would be in room 13, sharing with a Dr. Burton; but so far, Dr. Burton didn't seem to be present. Will dropped his carry-on items on the top bunk, then paused to check his appearance in the mirror. Satisfied, he turned back to the main corridor and nearly ran into a tall, beautiful brunette in a striking red dress (an Oriental print, he noted even as he grabbed the doorframe to regain his balance).
"Pardon me madam," Will says (after steadying himself) reaching out with two hands to steady the brunette, more in the form of welcome whether she needs steadying or not, "very clumsy of me." Then he'll look her in the eyes, watching every expression, "Will Thornton is the name, world traveller returning to America," he adds. "Are you okay?"
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Re: Chapter I

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The woman gave Will an appraising look before deciding to smile, but before she had time to speak a man stepped up behind her. "She's fine, mac, no harm done. Isn't that right, Violet?"

As Will watched, the woman warmed up her smile a notch before turning to the man behind her. "Yes, I'm fine," she said brightly. "Let's hurry forward, David, I want to get a good seat."

They walked off together, stopping at their rooms to drop off personal effects. Will noted that Violet was in room 8 and David was in room 6. He stepped from his own room, intending to proceed forward to the lounge, and nearly ran into another person.

This time it was a man, fortyish, balding, and well tanned, dressed in the sort of clothing that British professors always seemed to wear. "Terribly sorry, son," he said. "I'm Doctor Henry Burton. You must be William Thornton, with whom my boarding pass says I am rooming for this trip. This is my daughter, Catherine."

Doctor Burton turns slightly, making just enough room for a rather plain-looking brown-haired young woman dressed in a white blouse, khaki vest and matching khaki trousers. She held out a hand, not palm down to be kissed but rather held out for a handshake. "Pleased to meet you," she said.
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Mak
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Re: Chapter I

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Solomoriah wrote:Looking up, Lily saw Artie watching her. "I'll catch up with you after brunch," she said, "and we can figure out what to do tonight." Then she turned her attention back to Cesar, who was still smiling warmly at her.
Artie nodded and, putting his hands in his pockets, strolled over to the windows at the front of the lounge. He was itching to get at the piano but sensed that it'd only cause problems to bother the crew with a request just before takeoff. Instead, he looked out at the airfield and the activity about the craft, and then made his way to his stateroom.

Once there, he hung up his jacket, opened his suitcase, and dug around for a package he'd brought with him from London. It had been sent to him by Stan, a buddy who used to come to hear him play at a club near Pickadilly. Stan had written on the envelope, "Light reading for your journey".

Ripping open the package, Artie pulled out a sheaf of typewritten pages. On top was a handwritten note: "We'll be publishing this book next year. We've already produced the galleys, so I'm sending the typescript for your reading pleasure. My nine-year-old liked it a lot -- so I figured it'd be right up your alley! Seriously, I enjoyed listening to your music and our chats (and pints) together. All the best in America! Yours, Stanley Unwin."

Artie smiled and folded the note into his shirt pocket. He lay down on the bed, bunched the pillow comfortably behind his head, picked up the first dozen sheets of the typescript, and began reading.

"Chapter I. An Unexpected Party.

"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit."

What is tarnation is a hobbit? wondered Artie irritably. He closed his eyes, feeling a wave of tiredness come over him. Within minutes he was asleep.
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Re: Chapter I

Post by Rosisha »

Simon Lars moved back to his quarters, and made sure his things were stowed away safely. After making sure of that he reported into the bridge, to become familiar with its location and to examine the other crew. He nodded politely at the man on watch, and made sure to mark him in his memory as armed and dangerous.

He smiled: "Here to check the structure friend." And with a brief nod to all present, he proceeds to check the bridge for any flaws, or dangerous, keeping a careful eye out for anything hidden or out of the ordinary.

ACTIONS:
Simon is going to begin his examination of the ship with whatever tools are appropriate. He will pay attention to any possible dead space which could conceal something, and will search while examining the room. He wants to be absolutely sure he is as familiar with everything as he can be.

He will then move back to the radio room. He wants to learn more about the radios, so if the room is empty he will draw diagrams, and attempt to puzzle out the system. I'm not sure if he'll learn anything, but when all else fails, he does know that a bullet will do the trick!

However, a bullet through the front is obvious. If he needs to take over the radio, he wants a non-obvious way of doing it.
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Re: Chapter I

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Rosisha wrote:Simon Lars moved back to his quarters, and made sure his things were stowed away safely. After making sure of that he reported into the bridge, to become familiar with its location and to examine the other crew. He nodded politely at the man on watch, and made sure to mark him in his memory as armed and dangerous.

He smiled: "Here to check the structure friend." And with a brief nod to all present, he proceeds to check the bridge for any flaws, or dangerous, keeping a careful eye out for anything hidden or out of the ordinary.
"Thorough, eh?" replied Lt. Sullivan, the command officer on duty. "I like that in an engineer." Somehow, though, Lars knew that Sullivan wasn't happy about being disturbed, even though he was hardly busy.
Rosisha wrote:Simon is going to begin his examination of the ship with whatever tools are appropriate. He will pay attention to any possible dead space which could conceal something, and will search while examining the room. He wants to be absolutely sure he is as familiar with everything as he can be.
OOC: You have looked at the deck plan, haven't you?

The bridge is walled on three sides with glass windows, framed in aluminum. Some windows to port and starboard could be opened for airflow, and presently they were all open; even with the overhang of the gas envelope, the glass-walled space was a bit hot.

The centerpiece of the bridge was, of course, the helm: a more or less standard ship's wheel, mounted to a pylon that could be pulled back or pushed forward to operate the elevators. On the helmsman's left stood another pylon, this one housing the throttle control. In front of the helm stood a panel of instruments: altitude, airspeed, fuel gauges, compass, chronometer, thermometer.

Against the back wall were affixed benches, and on the port side near the door hung a space-saver telephone with a dial on top. A list posted beside the telephone read as follows:

1 Bridge
2 Captain's Quarters
3 Engine Room
4 Kitchen
5 B Deck
6 Crow's Nest
7 Lounge
8 A Deck Loudspeaker
9 B Deck Loudspeaker
0 Radio Room
Rosisha wrote:He will then move back to the radio room. He wants to learn more about the radios, so if the room is empty he will draw diagrams, and attempt to puzzle out the system. I'm not sure if he'll learn anything, but when all else fails, he does know that a bullet will do the trick!

However, a bullet through the front is obvious. If he needs to take over the radio, he wants a non-obvious way of doing it.
In the radio room, Lars found Lt. Markwell hard at work, obviously much more busy than the bridge crew. He was wearing headphones and talking to the ground crew, while simultaneously shuffling papers that appeared to be telegram forms. In the room, a bank of radio equipment stood upon a table on the left, affixed to the wall; a desk lined the back (portside) wall, where Markwell was working; and to the right, another table containing a black box labeled "Automatic Electric" with a telephone logo on the front was positioned next to another box with a plain label saying "Loudspeaker." Underneath the tables were stacked boxes evidently containing radio parts.

Markwell turned, looking a bit flustered. "Lars, is it? Sorry, old chap, a bit busy here."

From behind him, Lars heard the deep voice of the Captain. "Make way, son." Turning, Lars stepped back into the radio room, and the Captain and Lt. Chapman passed him, entering the Bridge. "You boys are relieved," said the Captain. "Leftenant Chapman, please make ready. As soon as the tow is ready, we'll be pulling out." As Lt. Chapman took his place, the Captain muttered, "Next time, I'd like enough time to pull the ship out before we take on passengers."
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rredmond
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Re: Chapter I

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Solomoriah wrote:...Doctor Burton turns slightly, making just enough room for a rather plain-looking brown-haired young woman dressed in a white blouse, khaki vest and matching khaki trousers. She held out a hand, not palm down to be kissed but rather held out for a handshake. "Pleased to meet you," she said.
"Yes I am Will Thornton," and returning the handshake w/o hesitation, "my pleasure to make the acquaintance of both of you. How came you to be on this wondrous ride?"
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