No, I'm not afraid of Ward. But that doesn't mean I'm going to dive into this recklessly. I've been consolidating things on the side. Once I think the pieces are starting to form a better picture, maybe then...
But you hit the nail on the head. I don't want to come out with something and have half the ship ask stupid questions I can't answer while the other half accuses me of inciting panic.
I've started looking into ways to override the door controls, and designing backup versions of the network that won't get deleted if the system gets wiped like it did before. Half expected them to come after me, too, and like hell am I gonna let what we've achieved here die with me.
You need the information I've consolidated, I can give you that. Thoughts are still all over the place, but I came to the same conclusions you did: too many questions yet that I can't answer even without dealing with everyone else's too.
Think I might test the information out, see what bobs to the surface. Maybe someone else knows something about T that we don't.
Not a bad idea. I'd be glad to take whatever you have and let's see what some of these geniuses on board have sussed out so we add it to the pile. It's like Cambitas two-point-oh, only with fewer code names.
There's some things I haven't done yet, like scrutinising the entries of anyone who's come back from wandering into the ship. It's on the list, though.
Oh, you know, the usual. Alien monsters, space diseases--I'll take what I can get.
In all serious, though, Daddy needs a new pair of shoes. And a new everything else. Turns out pretty new girls on the network don't take a guy seriously when he's wearing patchwork pants, even if - no, especially - if he says he's a Senator. Comes off a bit crazy to be honest.
Oh sure. In that case definitely keep your eye out for something I can drink out of a brown paper bag. I can complete the homeless guy look that you British girls seem to like so much.
I'm already forty one. Tweed will put at least another decade on me. Besides, are you saying I don't have any old fashioned professor in me at all? Damn. Guess I'll have to try harder.
The bow tie is key. Got it. Well, happy hunting, Clara. Keep an eye on your flank while you're out of contact with the ship. If the walls start closing in get back as soon as you can. You're too important to lose out there.
Hey. Uh, I think we - I - finally got the bugs worked out on the cleaning bot mapping team. I know it took a while but there were some problems with actually getting them back for a while. Anyway, I've got it all hooked up to one of the computers now, and there's two of them out there, driving around and mapping stuff. I'm gonna try and get a few more going before the next jump.
That's great. Really, really great. First good news I've heard for days. [ Not true, because nice things do happen to him, it's just hard to say how much he actually appreciates them doing so. ] You getting any telemetry back off them yet?
Yeah, actually. We released them from the comms room so it might take them a couple days to make it out to the uninhabited areas, but they're sending coordinates every few seconds, so the next step is to turn all that into a map, I guess. And that part should be pretty easy.
[It is still so fucking weird to think of himself as being married, man, it takes him a second because wife what a crazy word for Tex.]
Oh, yeah? Well, you know. It's not like I walk around announcing personal details to everyone I meet. "Hi there, I'm Church, and I'm married to this girl Tex but you don't know her, nice to meet you."
You're right. It's not like I introduced my absent ex-wife when we met, but she's not here, you know?
[ He doesn't sound damning. The idea of bringing your work home, or your home life into work, doesn't occur to some people, but Nathan's always worked in fields that require that personal investment. It's not that he doesn't get it, he just doesn't practice it. ]
She's a nice girl, anyway. She the one you had to get back to during the pirate thing?
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