Space Camp Session 1

Princess Guard - The New Era 2016/01/12 	 Titan Wolf Sebastion Jet Tali Quiet Unix Artemis Nohrbor 45

Room 1206 Quinn Tower.
Room 1206, is a conference Room on the 12th floor of Quinn Tower. Today it is the location for a briefing by NASA for the participants of the 72nd annual Space Camp. The walls of the room have photographs and illustration of previous Space Camps. Pride of place in the center of the room is a scale model of the latest NASA Shuttle which will be the transport for the Space Camp. The resemblance of the model to a slightly over sized Quinn Jet is discreetly not mentioned.

On one side of the room is a well stocked buffet with a varied selection of foods, snacks, and drinks.

---

Camp Companions
Commander Edward Iverson, Mission Commander and Pilot. --- Deceased

Captain Julio Henchard, Flight Engineer. --- Deceased

Captain Susan Hibson, NASA Co-pilot. --- Mission Commander, Replacing Iverson.

Jackson May, age 16, Springfield College, Air Force Cadet. --- Trainee Pilot

Sibyl Meecham, age 16, Bayside Acadeny, Heinlein Prize Winner. --- Fiction Writer

Robert 'Sparks' O'Reily, age 14, MIT Electronics Student. --- Electronics Genius

Amanda Oakly, age 16, Nashville School. --- Daughter of Astronaut Scott Oakly

Ann-Maria Phillips, age 12, Daughter of British Minster of Defense. --- Brick

Maria-Ann Phillips, age 12, Daughter of British Minster of Defense. --- Brick

Graham Sparks, age 12, Son of Bristish Superhero Electron. --- Energy Blaster

Peter Thomson, age 14, Son of British Superhero Illusionist, --- Mentalist.

Patrica Doi, age 12, ex-Wolfguard, Adopted Daughter of Suzeban. --- Martial Arts

Mark Quinn, age 12, ex-Wolfguard, Adopted Son of Anthony Quinn. --- Martial Arts

-

The first to arrive in the room are, unsurprisingly, several of the Quinn staff, followed by the caterers. Next are the NASA contingent, putting out the display and publicity materials as well as the scale model that dominates the center of the room.

Space Camp! It's been a dream of Sebastion's since he was a child, walking on the moon, on mars, meeting aliens, and then as he got older and familiar with the old show Star Trek, well... Long Live Captain Kirk. Sure the high schooler has realistic ideas about his future, since being an eight foot tall goliath at only seventeen years old sort of puts a hamper on some more regular jobs. So even though the chances of him being chosen to go /to/ Space Camp are slim to none, Sebastion can't help but go to the actual open briefing on what it will take and what will be expected of the kids who are accepted into the Space Camp itself. He doesn't bother trying to find a chair though, instead after ducking and turning sideways to get through the door, he finds a spot in the back of the meeting area where he can stand and watch without blocking anyone else's view.

Jet looks as always. Being surrounded by whirling winds makes subtlety difficult to say the least. Having heard of a briefing, Jet enters the conference room to see and hear any potentially interesting information. But in order to see, one must look. So Jet takes to a corner, and Jet looks, as always. Tali notices something is up as she strolls through the city too fast to be seen. Space camp! Sounds like fun! She decides to check out the briefing.... She's next to the buffet when people first notice her.

Space. The viral frontier. With the gathering hype of Space Camp, Quiet thinks she may be able to put some of her related skillset to work. While obviously not on the NASA roster, she has worked with Starguard in the recent past. Herding children may be markedly different than Zero-G combat (she'd rather someone was shooting at her), it's a bit more stable market. She is, technically, retired, afterall. There are worse civvie optoins out there, so this is worth looking into, seasonal or not.

One of the caterers turns to another as Sebastion enters. "He must be on the high school football team." The other caterer grins, "He probably /is/ the football team."

The NASA people are circulating.

After what happened on the last trip, Johnathan "Titan" Vasilikos doesn't bother with a holo-disguise this time. Instead he just shows up as himself, dressed in casual clothing. He's relatively quiet as he walks into the room and looks around. Though a Quinn staffer asks for his autograph, and he obliges happily enough.

Commander Iverson approaches the first to arrive, Sebastion. "Good afternoon. I'm Commander Iverson, Mission Commander for Space Camp 2067. Welcome to the briefing." Neanwhile Captain Susan Hibson makes a beeline for the hunk, Titan. "It's Titan, isn't it?" she asks. "This year's Space Camp briefing has just gotten a lot more interesting."

Noticing the buffet, Sebastion was about to head in that direction when Commander Iverson approaches him and he jaw drops, literally at being approached. His teeth clack as he closes his mouth and then offers a humongous hand to the Commander to shake, "Hello Commander!" He rumbles, already a deep baritone even at his age. "I am so glad this is open to everyone. Couldn't resist the opportunity to see what the camp is going to be about, or what it is like, I wish I could go myself." He then pauses, "And I am totally rambling. Hi. I'm Sebastion Kronidis, friends call me Seb or Bastion or runs at the mouth like it's my indian tribe name and..." He pauses, "Seb." Pause. "Or Bastion." Pause. "So nice to meet you." Pause. "Sir." Then he finally shuts up.

Tali looks at Titan and Sebastian. "And scenic!" she comments to herself. The first kid makes an appearence, a boy of about sixteen wearing an air force cadet uniform and a aura of arrogance.

Titan smiles and offers a hand to Captain Hibson. "That's correct. Nice to meet you."

Wolf pads along quietly on all fours, tail held high and wagging happily as he follows Titan into the briefing room. Wolf assumes that Johnathan will be leading this PG expedition, as he has all the others, and so that is only proper and fitting. He curiously tilts his shaggy angular head to one side, looking around to see who else is here so far as he follows Titan into the room. He *points* his nose in friendly salute to the heroes he knows about in Jet and Quiet and points his ears curiously toward Bastion and Tali, whom he has not yet met.

Patrica and Mark are next to arrive. They wave to Titan. The older boy looks toward them and sneers but doesn't say anything. He's more interested in the drinks, and is trying without succeess to convince a caterer to let him have a beer.

Patrica and Mark go straight over to Wolf and hugging follows.

THe buffet seems to have reduced in size a little, somehow. Tali goes over more towards the others, wondering what a wolf has to do with space camp.

The next arrivals are a boy and a girl. The girl about 16 and the boy younger, maybe 14. They seem rather shy and quiet, moving over to a corner.

Titan returns the wave from the two kids.

Almost on the heels of the boy and girl is another group of children, two red-headed twins and a boy with unruly hair sticking out in all directions, all aged about 12, and a studious looking boy aged 14 or so. These go over to join Patrica and Mark and Wolf.

Tali thinks. o O (The ros know these kids - I wonder what's treating....)

Jet thinks. o O (This is kinda of awkward. I guess I wait and see.)

Tali, for amusement mostly, goes up to the arrogant-looking kid, gives him a friendly "Hey", and passes him the beer which is now in her hand.

The arrogant seeming boy grins, "Hey. Neat. How did you get that. I wasn't getting anywhere with those numbskulls. I'm Jackson May. You're cute."

Any chance to go into space would be a welcome one. Althea has been longing for the stars ever since she and her brother-in-arms crash landed on this primitive planet. When Lightray suggested she join at a chance to guard younglings and get back into space, she was eager at the chance.

"Just don't scare the kids. Tone it down. Behave like earth's heroes," he had suggested to her. Althea nodded and spent some time watching television and the news to get a better feel for this human thing. How well she really learned has yet to be seen. Taking the moniker Artemis at his suggestion without understanding its special meaning, she lands outside and walks inside, cape billowing briefly in the fall wind until it falls still upon entry.

Wolf *wag wag wag*'s joyfully to see Patrica and Mark, and trots on over to say "Hi!" and find out what they've been up to: *sniff sniff sniff?* He relaxes into the hug that Patrica and Mark offered, closing his eyes and leaning his fuzzy frame softly into their combined embrace and making happy-sounding "whrrrfff* noises. He opens his eyes again when he hears the redheaded twins and the rest of the kids approaching, and hops sideways and runs about in a small semi-circle to include them in the reunion mix as well. Soon a game of "close-quarters tag" erupts, causing minor chaos and major amusement and laughter.

Tali says, "Hey. I'm Tali. And yeah, hard to get a drink if you look like a pup! Nega-mild, if you ask me."

Quiet avoids the buffet in favor of the NASA personnel circulating. Preferably narrowed to any who look to be in a possition to make an administrative decision, as opposed to just babysitting kids and/or the buffet. To any who might fit that bill, a data sheet is offered containing her resume and qualifications, filtered and tailored towards the scope of off-planet operations.

Commander Iverson excuses himself from the conversation with Sebastion and makes his way to the podium. He steps up and taps the microphone there.. "Chunk... Click.." and when it proves to be active he says, "Good Afternoon..." and waits for the noise of conversation to quieten.

Titan remains out of the way and turns his attention to the speaker.

Commander Iverson waits for quiet, then says, "Please be seated." and waits again for movement and the sound of chairs scraping on floor to settle down.

Tali says, "So you're going to space - oh! Guess things are starting!"

Tali takes a seat.

Artemis is immediately attracted to the buffet table. A warrior's feast is hard to ignore! "Now, this is the first time I've seen Earthians do things right." She is loading up a plate generously when Commander Iverson calls for attention. Munching on crudits, she moves over and takes a seat.

When Commander Iverson manages to break away from the giant sized teenager, Bastion rumbles, "Globally crash." To himself and then he blinks, shaking his head as a bit of hero worship fades. He rakes his hands through his hair and then takes another look around, "Wow, got crowded..." He says to nobody in particular then shuts up and settles in, while occasionally giving a side-eye towards the canine, but since everyone seems ok with it, he doesn't make a scene. Instead he looks towards the podium and watches, listening. Then Artemis is talking about Earthlings, and his attention is drawn in that direction, and held, in that direction...

Wolf's fuzzy pointed ears flicker, point and swivel toward the podium as the mic makes *chunk* and *click* -ing noises. With a soft *whuff* for attention he instantly stops playing "tag" and quickly starts "herding" the kids into seats facing the podium, where and when such encouragement may be needed. He himself turns around in a small circle three times and settles down in the aisle, his shaggy tail tucked neatly atop his forepaws.

Jet remains in the back corner of the room, silent and unmoving.

"Good afternoon, ladies, gentlemen and others. Welcome to Space Camp 2067 Briefing. Space Camp is an annual event. This is the 72nd year year of NASA Space Camps. This is also the first year that Space Camp will include Mars on our itinerary. I'm Commander Edward Iverson. I'll be the Mission Commander and Pilot for this years Camp. I'd like to introduce Captain Susan Hibson, Co-Pilot, and Captain Julio Henchard, Flight Engineer."

Nohrbor has spent over a year out amongst the 'Wilds of Earth'- though to a Doj'on the 'wilds' are amongst the minds of sentient beings. This species of the Bloodlit are mindwalkers, born to trade, educate & learn from all beings- naturally peaceful & strong willed.

Unfortunately, Nohrbor Nanuran Surryx & his 'Sister' were captured as younglings and forced to fight in the gladitorial arenas of the Tau Spring Galaxy. Earning their freedom- Nohrbor and Althea fell to Earth and were immediately ostracized for their alien attitudes on war, life and most certain death. The latter, is not known to any species of the Godflora. The young Doj'on had never seen a world with such varying beleifs and confusing customs and so one day Althea and Lightray would wake to find him gone.

He's returned to Colonial Bay, not to find his sister but to better integrate amongst the people of this world.

He's wearing the face of a deadman, handsome and likely unrecognizable to those living today. nevertheless, the credentials were 'given' to him so he might experienece a typical group of children experience space for the first time. He will be surprised to find that his Bloodbound is present and that these kids- well they are anything but typical.

He sits quietly and listens to the briefing.

Commander Iverson closes the blinds with a remote and switches on a 2D holo projector. The image is of the full moon. "Our itinerary this year includes two days on the Moon. You'll have the chance to take the Dust Skimmer scenic trip across the Sea of Thirst and watch rock and water mining operations. Then we'll head to Mars for two days. As well as a stay in the domes of Barsoom City there be a crawler expedition to the Tyros Rift."

Artemis chuckles in between bites of her food, finding the proceedings quaintly amusing. "72nd," she repeats in a bemused murmur at how young the humans and their civilization are. She tries one of the little smokey sausages on a toothpick as she pays attention again.

Tali thinks. o O (Arid. How do people get to go on these camps, anyway?)

Titan smiles to himself as he listens. . o O (I hope I get a chance to try a space walk without a suit. Just to see how it goes.)

The mysterious man in the back of the room manages to stiffle his own snicker as he thinks, .o0(These Hu-mans lives are so fleeting- their civilizations marking triumphs by the dozen... I wonder how proud they will be in another 20 thousand years?)

Of course the GodFlora present are from places so far away that even the most gifted worldwalkers would have an impossible & infinite challenge ahead of them. So Mars is just another small island in a small chain. Still- he has grown more fond of these 'Hu-mans' over his year amongst them, so he watches quietly.

Wolf stares with rapt and fixed attention as the image of of the full moon fills the air above the holo-projector. For the first time all day, his usually expressive tail is still. He does not blink. He might not, in fact, be breathing. . . so intense is his concentration. His eyes drink in every detail of the image.

Quiet can only assume the easiest way for the guests to get in the camp is to have a parent who 1) has a great deal of dispoable income and, far more common, 2) is not terribly worried about the possibility that their teenage will explosively decompress due a dust particle impacting at relativistic speeds against a vehicle made by the government's lowest bidder.

She watches and listens to the introductions and presentation.

As the Commander starts to speak again Bastion pulls his gaze from Artemis and over towards the holoprojector and he studies the images intently. He even moves a bit closer to loom over those in the back row to get as good a look as he can. He is careful to not invade anyone's space directly though, "Absolutely crash." He says to himself softly, wide eyed and intent, "Wish I could go." Commander Iverson continues his introductory remarks, "During the first Moon Landing in 1969 it took the astronauts three days to reach the Moon. The advanced shuttle craft we have, you can see a model of it in this room, can make that journey in three hours. The first manned Mars landing in 2022 took eight months to reach Mars. We'll do the same journey in two days. So, as I'm sure you've all worked out already, the total duration of the Space camp will be nine and a half days. One day for familiarization of the equipment you'll need, four and a half days traveling, and two days on the Moon and another two days on Mars." he pauses briefly, "Any questions so far?" he than asks.

Unix had somehow been unnoticed by most in the room, likely having snuck in from the bathroom or some such. ahh the mysteries of the bathroom and the women's purse. Anyways, Unix sat watching the briefing, the hologram and memorizes the information therein while listening in.

Jet thinks. o O (Three hours to the moon, huh. At least they aren't breaking relativity this time.)

Unix says, "How fast would we be traveling in general to the moon and to mars? Seems we'd be moving 100x or faster than the original astronaughts and missions... assuming how many G's the body can handle, what type of life support or systems are put in place to keep people's hearts from stopping?"

"Will we be able to bring samples back?" Bastion asks, "Moon dust, martian soil?" He pauses, "By 'we' I mean... those who get to go on such a thing." He smiles a little sheepishly, thinking to himself .oO( I am sure they would notice a weight discrepancy of two hundred kilograms... Maybe I can...

Speaking of stopped hearts: Wolf blinks for the first time since the image of the Full Moon first appeared. He remembers to breathe again, and so he starts doing that too. Furrowing his shaggy brow and twitching his whiskers, he forces himself to pay attention to the part of the presentation dealing with Mars. It is difficult. His mind is certainly lingering on Luna's digital portrait and his heart was nearly stilled by the thought that he just might, after so many lifetimes, be given the grace of meeting HER, in person. He's fairly quivering with the electric euphoria of that potentiality.

Commander Iverson nods to Unix, "A good question. The highest G force will be 1.6g during take off from Earth. The major difference between our flight and that of the pioneers is that they spent almost all the travel time in zero gravity, coasting. Modern shuttles are under drive constantly. So although the g-forces are lower, the velocity we reach is much higher." he explains.

Tali smiles to herself, remembering something of the advances of future spaceships - not that she ever experienced them properly.

Unix says, "This is due to fuel consumption issues i assume?"

Commander Iverson then addresses the question from Sebastion, "At some time in the future it may be required to control transfer of material from the Moon or Mars. At the moment the only restriction is size and weight, and all such samples must be declared and given an all clear by our safety team."

Nohrbor might have been tempted to complain about being trapped in here with these mortals for a full 9 days in such cramped confines- but these days he's grown more comfortable amongst their thoughts, wishes and dreams. So he is quiet, his eyes scanning the room more than the information presented.

"Yes. In the early years of space flight vehicles used chemical fuels. We still use some chemcial fuels during Earth take offs, but mostly we now use water superheated to a plasma which yields an immensely higher specific thrust. That's for inner system. The deep system vehicles often use ion drives, and there are even a couple of light sail vessels out there." Commander Iverson says.

Unix nods, it made sense, she got a feel of how it worked and was put together. Titan doesn't really understand any of the science involved, but he listens intently nonetheless.

Commander Iverson says, "Those who are already booked in for Space Camp 2067, can you stand up please."

Titan steps forward, away from the side of the room, making it clear that he's one of those going on the trip.

Tali thinks. o O (And those of us who aren't snoot can keep sitting.)

Wolf clambers up to all fours, briefly *shake shake shake*'s out his fur, and stands in the aisle, tail swishing softly, as he looks over to the kids.

The older kids stand up. So do your younger kids. The arrogant air force cadet glances at the young kids of yours. "Sit down pip-squeaks. You're too young." he says sneering.

Jet thinks. o O (Awkward. I figure if I keep hovering in this corner and pretend to not be paying attention, they'll figure I'm not booked.)

Titan raises an eyebrow and glances over at the cadet, giving the kid 'the look'. Though he doesn't say anything.

Bastion was already standing, but he doesn't have a chair so he was just going to crouch down on the balls of his feet for the time being but he gets distracted by Jackson May's attitude and he narrows his gaze at the much smaller teen. Well smaller compared to Bastion then, "I guess they don't teach proper manners or etiquette in whatever school you're going to." He rumbles, it's not meant to carry, but his baritone carries, there's no way around it. "Negaright."

Artemis devours another 'lil smokey sausage as she mulls over the time involved with getting to and from the locales of this sector. With any luck, these ships will be nothing like the questionable spacecrafts she experienced before arriving to Earth. She finally slows her eating and sets her paper plate aside, uncertain of the booking in process. "Hmm. Lightray did not explain that..."

Commander Iverson looks at the air force cadet, "What is your name, Cadet?"

The Stranger simply sits and smirks as if he's in on some joke the rest of them aren't. Then again, anyone capable of draining the willpower of a person with the wave of their hand, 'booking' is likely a amusing concept.

The boy answers, "Jackson May, Sir."

Quiet is still in-process, as it were, so takes a leaning sit against the wall in the back. She looks to the cadet and her desire to make it onto the trip begins to increase. If just to borrow the left seat from the commander long enough to prove that the cadet'll be the first one to lose his lunch during maneuvers.

Commander Iverson nods, "Thank you, Cadet May. You may leave. This briefing will be of no further interest to you this year. A word to the wise, May. If you apply next year I'd spend the intervening time improving your interpersonal skills."

The boy just stands in place looking stunned.

Titan smiles slightly as he hears the commander's decision. . o O (And here I was sure that cadet was going to be an issue on the trip.)

The Phillips twins are grinning cheerfully.

Wolf's shaggy eyebrows shoot up in surprise and he looks from May to Iverson and back. He *squnches* up his nose thoughtfully, (( Empathy )) feeling sorry for the child who's been cast out of the pack of youngsters bound for space on a grand adventure. He carefully watches the reactions of the Air Force cadet, not without sympathy.

Tali looks a bit pained. Yeah, Jackson seems a bit without, but sidebarring him just like that is harsh. She likes to give people a second chance, anyway.

Jet thinks. o O (Okay, the 'look like you aren't paying attention' thing seems to be working. Some people seem to be happy with this, and some people (and animals) don't seem as pleased. Interesting to know who is who. Well, I don't judge, mostly because I don't have the type of experience for that type of thing. Merely observing has proved pretty informative so far.)

Artemis looks back and forth between all the disciplinary voices and looks, all aimed at the insecure and arrogant boy. "I say, that does seem a harsh lesson for a youngling who is just in need of some...correction," she comments politely.

Commander Iverson is still looking at the boy, watching the slow realisation coming to the boy's face. The boy is smart. He's just never really been told 'no' before. "Do you have anything to say, Cadet May?" Iverson asks after another few moments.

Wolf lifts his head, straightens up his posture and arranges his paws more tautly in line with his shoulders. Evidently this NASA organization has more than a few roots in military culture, judging by Iverson's bearing, demeanor, and decisive action. Wolf thinks this over, slurping the edges of his nose thoughtfully. The carefree and playful attitudes of the children aboard the cruise ship might not be as welcome in space. Hm. How to break it to them, gently, that more discipline will be expected this time around?

Cadet May shakes his head to the commander. "No, Sir." he says. Then he turns, looks at the younger kids, "I.. I apologise." he says. And starts toward the door.

Now that standing is less a signal and recruiting attention is diverted to the presentation, Lien only now makes her way, unobtrusively, the the buffet. The show's been entertaining so far, so she can wash it down with some finger food. Also maybe one of the cold ones that the one kid thought he could get away with getting.

"Cadet May." Iverson says, his voice without the harshness of the previous few comments, "Perhaps you won't have to spend a year after all. You may stay. In fact, you can be the first to introduce yourself to your Camp companions."

Jet's memory is good enough to remember who reacted to the intial decision. Jet pays careful attention to their facial expression to see their reactions now. Of course, it doesn't look it. His face isn't even turned at them.

The boy comes to attention, "Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir." he says. "My name is Jackson May. I attend the Springfield Technical College and am a member of the Air Force Cadet force. My ambition is to become a pilot."

Tali is glad to see that the apology was rewarded - it seemed sincere, given he thought he was already kicked out.

Wolf continues to watch Cadet May carefully, his fuzzy ears pointed in Jackson's direction and his whiskers twitching thoughtfully as he assesses the after-effects of the emotional roller coaster that the young man has just been on. (( Empathy )) He waits and watches to see how Iverson's gambit will play out. ..

Wolf can see the young cadet is chastened but knows he brought it on himself. He may have grown emotionally from this.