[ THISAVROU: INBOX ] MID messages & IC mail

[forwardmomentum]

I N B O X

IC Voice Mail "Personnel Officer Miles here. If this is a personal matter, leave a message; if it's ship business-related, may I direct you to the Personnel Office's suggestion box. Sending me a barrage of texts will not make me respond to you any faster, so don't, Ivan." Mun Contact PLURK:   runawayballista

Comments

voice.

[t65]

[There are a lot of people Luke could make this proposal to, but they're all people Luke would either rather see spared from danger, or wouldn't appreciate the idea of jumping into danger in the first place. Miles, controversially, seems by all accounts completely unfazed by potential danger. Also, he's like, a spy or something? Somehow, that makes him extra qualified in Luke's mind.]

Hi, Miles! Um, have you ever tested experimental transport upgrades before?

voice

[forwardmomentum]

[ uhhhhhh ]

...No...

[ why does he have a bad feeling about this? ]

Why do you ask?

[t65]

...Would you like to?

[forwardmomentum]

[ uhhhhhhhhh ]

In what capacity?

[t65]

The... testing kind? I'm sure it works fine, I just need someone to be there unless I'm wrong. But I'm sure it's- it's fine. It looks fine.

[You just keep saying that, Luke.]

C'mon, haven't you ever wanted to be a test pilot?

[forwardmomentum]

No, I've always wanted to be the one in charge of the test pilots.

So -- let me get this straight. You want me, someone with minimal experience in engineering and none whatsoever in transporter tech, to operate an experimental and wholly untested transporter, the best endorsement of which you can offer is 'it looks fine'?

[t65]

No, of course not! That would be dangerous.

[More dangerous, anyway.]

I'll fly, I'm a good pilot. But I need someone else in the cockpit to be able to comm the ship if something goes wrong and we need a rescue. I don't think that will happen, but better safe than sorry, right?

[Quite possibly the first time he's ever uttered those words.]

[forwardmomentum]

Wait, wait, wait. You want to do this while flying?

[ HOW DID HE MISS THAT PART. ]

[t65]

How else do you test engine adjustments!

[forwardmomentum]

I wouldn't know, I'm not a test pilot! I thought you'd, I don't know, have some kind of ground tests or something before you haul that thing into the sky!

[t65]

I already did those.

Look, if you don't want to, that's fine. I can find somebody else. I just figured, I don't know... you didn't seem like the type that minded risks.

[forwardmomentum]

Oh, well -- why didn't you say so?

[ the idea is a lot more appealing when it doesn't sound so much like a blind test. also, intended or not, that sounds like a challenge, and miles's ego as it is now can't leave one like that unaddressed. ]

As long as they're not suicidal, yeah. [ that's not even true, miles ] Alright, so -- run this by me again. You want to test these engine upgrades. You're going to pilot. And I'm going to copilot and, what, call for help if things go pear-shaped?

[t65]

I figured it'd be obvious! [His voice goes a bit squeaky, signifying whiny affront.]

[But after a prolonged huff, he gets over it. Or, more accurately, he gets too wrapped up in his explanation to care much about Miles' apparently low opinion of his engineering abilities.]

Copilot, call for help, tell me what the readouts say, you know. If something does go wrong, I'll have to try and fix it while we try to get back to the Moira. You just have to make sure we don't crash, and tell me if my adjustments are having an effect. And if things get really bad, call for help while I try to keep the life support online. I don't think anything that bad can happen, since all I did was redouble the ancillary proton canals to the main channel drive and widen the fuel intake modifiers... [And reverse the polarity of the neuron flow.] But we'll play it safe, since you're paranoid.