Cinnamon Raisin Prompt 1
Cinnamon Raisin Prompt 1: "Life Is Short, Eat Dessert First"
Story: Space Beyond Us
Rating: PG- Fighting Scenes
Summary- The crew is laying around when suddenly, a point is proven. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The crew had successfully stolen the needed medical supplies from the government facility. Now to get it to the people that needed it at Trisken.
The stolen supplies were packed safely away. They should arrive back at Trisken to make the delivery in about a day’s time. They just had to sit back and wait for the Magnificent to get them there.
They were now doing just that. Everyone was gathered in the main living quarters. It was a circular room tucked behind all the other rooms on board. It had a homy feel to it. The Magnificent was given the coordinates and was flying smoothly on auto pilot.
"I have an inquiry," Demari stated matter of factly as they sat around the main living area.
"Then ask it, silly," Mil’kai responded playfully from her spot on the floor.
Demari nodded politely to her. "I have a curiosity about what people value both on a racial and individual level. One of the ways I feed this curiosity is by asking what quote people include in their lives. I realized I have never asked any of you this question."
"What quote do we live by? That is an interesting question," Sha’nol thought about what she would answer.
Pyth almost threw himself out of his spot of the long couch bordering the wall, "I know one that I always live by. That’s, ‘Life is short, eat dessert first.’" He beamed at his revelation.
"That’s your favorite quote?" Ren asked incredulously.
"Sure is," Pyth announced proudly, "I always find that if you save the good for last, by the time you get to it, there’s no time to enjoy it anymore. So, I say, eat dessert first. Then there won’t be any regrets."
Everyone in the room had mixed feelings over the statement. Zenith proudly agreed. Sha’nol agreed mostly but that it didn’t stand in all instances. Vinc disagreed, claiming the more important thing was to stay living, which meant nutrients, doing the most important things, not sugary sweet things. Demari agreed with Vinc but that some meals needed to be pure sugar for the sake of the soul. Mica agreed that most instances needed the sugar but not everyone gets a dessert to enjoy to begin with. Mil’kai thought it a novel concept, though she could not appreciate the love for something sweet, she could say she agreed with living for the good things in life first.
In the middle of their discussion, no one heard the very audible "Chi Ching" sound of a very important engine part falling into a million tinier pieces. Neither did they hear the engine choke out three rotations before it simply stopped. Everything else on the Most Magnificent Vessel of Our Modern Age stopped with it.
The complete darkness silenced everyone on the ship. A few seconds passed before the emergency red light glow filled the essential rooms. A calm male voice announced that emergency protocol due to engine failure had come on. Emergency life support and lights would remain active for eight hours before complete energy failure occurred. It cautioned everyone to remain calm and to repair the engine or land on an inhabitable planet immediately.
Mil’kai immediately ran for the engine room to see what complections had occurred. Ran’s sarcastic and deep voice joked, "This stupid discussion made the Magnificent commit suicide."
Zenith corrected him sharply, "That’s the Most Magnificent Vessel of Our Modern Age. She shouldn’t be giving up on us like this," He turned his commanding eyes to Demari and questioned, "Demari, what’s happening?"
Demari fluidly lifted the dark patch from his covered white eye. He gazed in the direction of the center table briefly before gasping gently and recovering the eye. His calm voice intoned, "An important part has been damaged beyond repair. Mil’kai most likely will not be able to fix it with the things we are carrying. The nearest planet that we could land on is about two hours away. I would not advise landing there though. The individuals inhabiting that planet will not appreciate visitors, despite our being in distress."
The static of the intercom interrupted the brief silence of thought. Mil’kai’s deep voice came over it. "Captain," She called.
Zenith walked to the little receiver screwed into the wall and pushed the button beneath it to respond. "Yep, you came through," Zentih reassured her.
"Problem. Very big problem, Sir," Her voice informed nervously.
"Got that inkling," Zenith ushered her to continue.
"The main cooler busted apart, Sir. Without that the engine can’t even rotate without over heating. We are space junk when this thing goes out. I can’t figure a reason for it to just crumble this way, Sir. There really isn’t a way to make up for it either. We need this exact part if we are to go anywhere, Sir."
Zenith sighed heavily. "Thanks Mil’kai. We’ll see what we can do about finding you a part in that case." The static of the intercom faded as both sides stopped conversing.
"Do a scan for anyone out there we can call to for help in that case," Zenith announced to Demari.
He nodded and headed to the Navigation room in the Northern tip of the ship.
Ran asked in a more serious tone, "What do you want the rest of us to be doin’?"
"Right now, we need to save on what little life support we have. Close all non essential rooms. Until we find that part, there isn’t a whole lot else to be doin’," Zenith concluded.
Everyone moved to close off the majority of the ship. Only the engine room, Navigation room, Storage room, and Main Living area was left opened to life support. The eery silence of the ship crept up everyone’s spine.
The buzzing static of the intercom broke the unwelcome quite. Demari’s calm voice came over it, "Captain, I have found only one other Vessel out there. They are willing to help but there is a mild complication."
Zenith punched the lower button, "What exact complication, Demari?"
"Sir, the Vessel is government owned and operated," Demari stated.
Zenith cursed under his breath. Government was exactly what you avoided when you had a couple of crates of stolen goods from a main medical facility, owned by the government, tucked away. They lacked any other options. Life support was only going to last a few more hours.
"Are you sure we can’t land on that planet," Zenith asked.
"Captain," Demari calmly rebutted.
"Alright, fine stupid question considering you can see the future. They have the part we need?"
"Yes and they are willing to give it to us for the standard price but we have to land on their base to perform repairs and receive the part. A mandatory law is for any ship that lands on a military base to be scanned and searched."
"Yeah, I remember that," Zenith sighed. He punched the button again, "Delay for a few moments so we can cover any holes and then tell them thank you and that we will land."
"Yes Sir," Demari calmly replied.
Sha’nol stood from her place on the far end of the long couch and suggested, "I may be able to assist him in communicating with the officials."
"Go ahead and join him then. Tell Mil’kai what’s going to happen," Zenith gestured to the Navigation room. He grabbed her slender dark arm gently before she could leave the room, "I also want you to be one of the first to greet these guys, alright?"
Sha’nol nodded and continued her brief journey to the Navigation room.
Zenith led the way to the supply room on the lower deck of the ship. "We have cargo that needs to be thoroughly hidden, c’mon," He commanded the remaining crew members inside.
Everything that didn’t have obvious symbols was hidden in plane sight. The rest was hidden in various cubbies throughout the ship.
Zenith gave the all clear.
Demari landed smoothly into the visitor chamber of the large Government base ship. He quickly moved to join the others in the Loading room where the officials would enter.
Sha’nol was indeed the first one to greet the officials as they calmly and brashly came to investigate the ship. They were eased by her calming words and the crew’s relaxed posture. They did only a general scan, enough for their paper work, and an even more general search of the ship. The procedure of sell for the part was done swiftly and efficiently. Zenith thanked them for their generosity, always helped to stroke the ego. The officials said they were just being decent citizens and went on their way.
Mil’kai was eager to fix the Most Magnificent’s heart as quickly as she could. Within five minutes they were able to leave and continue on their original journey to Trisken to drop off the illegal cargo.
"Thank the gods that went better than it could’ve," Mica sighed as she collapsed into one on the single chairs in the Main Living room.
Vinc smiled as he moved to occupy the only other empty chair left.
Pyth was nothing but left over nervous energy. Ran quickly left to prepare dinner.
Ran summoned everyone to the Dinning Room within an hour.
Everyone took their normal seats at the table. Ran brought out each of their prepared meals, specifically designed for their species, out and then took his seat to the left of the captain.
"Wait," Zenith announced.
"What’s wrong," Mica inquired.
A playful smile crossed his features, "I demand to have dessert first."
Soon everyone was in agreement that dessert deserved to be eaten first after such a day as they had.