Friendly Meeting

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"Spam...spam...spam...Let David play with this one...let's read that Con notice now..." Space between Pallas and Mars is pretty boring. Catching up on my email was just about the only thing to do, and even that wasn't high on the excitement list. "OK, did someone run this through an alpha version of Babelfish, or was it composed using those magnetic poetry strips?"

"Maybe it was a combination of the two?" Max suggested. "By the way, we're coming up on Kevin's usual parking space. He's not there. Probably already left for the Con."

"Somehow, that wouldn't surprise me," Edgar said. "This is a group I've never heard of before, which makes me wonder if they're something like the Cabal, and trying to keep people from figuring out who they are by interpreting their writing style."

"Could be, but everybody knows there is no Cabal." We all laughed at that. The joke was so old, it had dinosaur droppings on it. "OK. Max, scan to see which way Kevin went, then set up email headers and plug in this text: Fred, Edgar, and Maxmillian MacManus en route for Convention. Will need parking space for Max. Pressurized space preferred. End message. Max, can you get a list of who has rooms available and reserve a single? Preferably as far from the main floor as possible?"

"Will do, Dad. Mail's sent, downloading list of rentals now. Edgar, why don't you do the search while Dad and I do some debris-dodging?"

Debris-dodging? Max slid the armor shield over the cockpit's canopy while I let myself sink fully into the link, and now Max/I saw it clearly. some bits of molten metal, a little shrapnel, some organic material and a very, VERY thin cloud of air. It looked as if someone's...hmmm...license plate?...yup, someone's car, no make that truck, had blown up in the area, long enough before that the air cloud was maybe 1 or 2 molecules per cubic meter of space. This must be where Kevin blew up the zwilnik. Time to make a call. Max/I switched to our preferred frequency and gave out a shout.

"Hey! Bel-chan! Are you girls ok? And what's Kevin up to? Want some company? Gimme a call back, ok?"

As Max/I expected, even though we were able to dodge the obvious bits of wreckage - of which there was a lot less than expected even given the time that had passed - some of the smaller stuff, probably droplets of metal that had resolidified after the explosion, pinged off the our skin. Just to be on the safe side, we folded into guardian mode and activated the gun pod. Sure, handwavium wasn't usable as a weapon itself, but it's not like I needed it to be - not as long as it could be used in building a power plant large enough to feed a proper gatling laser. If I could ever get the kinks out of the Ravenfield design, I wouldn't have to worry about the power plant, but until then...thank goodness for Wagner and Tchaikovsky. At least the gun pod's power supply didn't want Sousa.

No response. Well, Kevin usually cruised in this part of the Belt when he wasn't on site for a specific job, so as long as Max/I kept going on my current path, we would be sure to bump into him sooner or later. Hopefully before we get to the Con. It'd be nice to see what he and the girls think about that crazy jumble of Engrish.

"Hello, Fred," Fate's chorus of voices came in about a half hour after my call. "Sorry we didn't call back earlier, but Kevin was kind of busy, and we didn't want to interrupt him. I'll let him know you called once he's figured out what to do with his tail."

"His tail? Do you all have another zwilnik on your ass? Need some backup?" Max/I switched back to fighter mode and cranked up to max speed. No way were we going to let Kevin and the girls fight someone without help. Luckily, the signal was clean enough we could home in on it easily.

"No, nothing like that," Lachesis laughed. "We really do mean a tail. You know, furry, prehensile, throws off his balance so he keeps falling on his arse. That kind of tail."

"A...tail." OK, that was a surprise. Max/I throttled back and scanned for the Fateful Lightning, which had to be coming up close, while trying to decipher that one. "How long has he had a tail?"

"About an hour," Lachesis said. "That's why it's so fun to watch him. He's like a baby, just learning to walk. Except lots cuter."

"Lots cuter." Since Kevin's ideas of cute and mine didn't always intersect ( I voted for Ayanami Rei, while he voted for Ikari Shinji, for instance), I thought about what kind of being with a tail would fall under Kevin's definition of "cute". The answer wasn't hard to find. "I...see. So do I need to make him up a collapsible quarterstaff to keep in his pocket?"

"Want me to ask him?" The tone of 'innocence' in Lachesis' voice made it clear she thought it'd be a fun way to tease him. How could I possibly deny her the fun?

"Sure. Go for it." I really wanted to see what kind of reaction she got, and I knew she'd keep a recording of it for me. Ah. There was the Temple coming into view, not too far ahead. Max/I adjusted speed to match theirs and took up a position above the temple's roof. "We'll just ride shotgun out--"

"Hei Kaptein!" Elsie called. "Hva er skjer med det zwilniks?"

"English, little sister," Clothos chided gently. "What's this about zwilniks?"

"Awww, you're no fun, Skuld!" Elsie complained. "I just wanted to know if you'd heard anything more since you guys blew up that zwilnik. You think it might have something to do with the surprise Con?"

Fate's choir answered Elsie, "Between the zwilnik and what we've been hearing about attacks by 'Reavers' on various miners...as well as numerous other rumors that haven't been validated yet...there is at least a decent probability someone has decided to address the issue. It depends on how much information has been collected by others."

Elsie nodded thoughtfully. "We can hope, at least. If there's a reason like that for the Con, maybe we won't have to put up with Fred's whining about how crowded and noisy it is." She laughed. "We might even be given an excuse to go Reaver hunting."

Atropos snorted softly, "You always did like more excitement than is good for people, child. Though if there are Reavers out there, their threads do need clipped."

"Awww, what's wrong, Auntie Urd?" Elsie giggled. "Just because I ENJOY my work...."

Atropos snorted again, and the tone implied rolled eyes. "Yes, child. We know. How could we not?" She chuckled. "I suppose we'll see. Father did NOT appreciate the zwilnik threatening his friends. Foolish idiot. If he'd just threatened Father, he might've lived. But you know Father...threaten his friends or children...."

"Yup. Kev's a lot like Mike that way," Elsie laughed. "Threaten him? No big deal. He'll just swat you. Threaten his family, friends, or patients? Wrath of the Gryphon time."

"That's Da, yes. So...we'd invite you inside, but Max, you're a bit big for the trailers, lad. We're doing a slow haul to the Con - the lad wants a chance to get used to the changes and all." Lachesis chuckled softly, "Do you want to travel together? Are you set OK for a slow trip in? Or do you need us to speed up some? I'm sure the lad will agree."

"Eh," Elsie shrugged. "We've got enough esteefee to keep us until we get there. Fred seems to enjoy being linked up to Max, so it's not like he's in any rush, and the rest of us can keep ourselves entertained." She laughed and added, teasingly, "Especially if you have compromising videos of Kevin learning how to control his new body to share with us."

Clotho giggled, and Lachesis joined in with a chuckle. "He's currently trying to clean up from the mod. He managed to keep his balance enough to walk once he figured out the problem...barely....but he was walking like day three of a four day bender."

"Only without the hurling, I hope," Elsie laughed. "I'm gonna let Fred back in front now. I think I'll be laughing about that image for a while."

"--here. Damn it! I HATE it when she does that!" I realized I'd lost several minutes, and got the flashed impressions of Elsie's conversation. "Yeah, Elsie's right. We've got enough esteefee for two or three weeks. Might want to come over in a day or two and borrow your showers, but we're ok otherwise."

Lachesis replied, her voice still sounding amused. "No problem. You know you're always welcome here. The lad will be happy to see you, too. It's not often the two of you get to chat face to face, after all. He should be done cleaning up before too long. Want him to call you when he's done?"

"Sounds like a plan. Thanks, ladies. I'm gonna find my Excedrin now." One of the many reasons I hate it when they jump front like that is that it always leaves me with a headache. "Talk with you in a bit, ok?"

Fate answered, "Yes, Fred. We'll talk to you soon."