The One Who Fled the Flock (collab with Radiumio)
27 Mar 2022Lily Flemmon
Lily's TITAN ID
(A note: this log and the arc it's part of are still pending confirmation into the lore of Titan Contractors; contradictions may occur.)
Continued from A Diplomat's Trial By Fire
Yeah, the pilot was definitely crying, and the CSF captain's reaction was much less than ideal.
The captain sighed. "Really? Crying?"
"Yeah, really. Which starts to give me clues as to why he's here."
"... Well, if he's alone, maybe he... lost the rest of his people, or whatever. God knows, I'm not an emotional support hotline."
"Yeah, no kidding. Glad you have a diplomat taking point now?"
"Look, Commander. You do your job, and I do mine. We have a carrier to keep safe, and you have... someone to console in there."
I was a little relieved at his change of tone about the situation. "Yes, I do. Oh, and captain? Thank you for helping. I know it's your job and all, but still. Thank you."
With that, I turned back toward the internally shuttered glass of the canopy. I knelt down on the hull and thought about what to say for a moment, trying to get myself into a linguistic mindset he'd be most likely to understand, before reaching forward and knocking on the canopy glass.
"Hey, it's me, Lily. Look, I saw you at the generation ship, and I've listened to its logs. I know it seems like there are enough horrible people out here to make things hopeless, but... Stars, where was I going with this? I know you're not okay in there, and I don't know what happened to bring you here, away from your clan, I just... I just want to help."
There was a pause as I sat back onto the hull and tears welled up in my eyes. For a moment, everything seemed to stand still, everything except my tears. One single tear slowly ran down my face, and was flicked off my chin as I flinched at the sound of something unlatching. The shutters retracted, and I saw the pilot directly in front of me, in the only seat in the cockpit, looking at me with eyes reddened from crying.
He smiled ever so slightly when he saw me, and wiped at his eyes. I returned the gesture almost involuntarily, wiping at my own eyes to see better. I expected the seat to be offset, like in a standard Cobra, so it was a bit of a surprise that he was right in front of me. And as I opened my eyes back up, the canopy unlatched and pivoted upwards. I tried to thank the pilot, but I was still too choked up to speak.
The pilot spoke before I could, saying the same words I wanted to say to him. "Thank you."
I looked at him and smiled, wiping more tears from my eyes. I felt CSF eyes watching me, but for the first time ever, it didn't feel unnerving. Anonymity of law enforcement and security forces is a major red flag in my book, but CSF seemed to be okay so far, and this team in particular, well, they actually seemed like people. Sure, the captain is a bit of an ass, but at least he's human about it and aware of his flaws.
I focused my attention back on the pilot. "Hey, friend... What's your name, if I can ask?
"Deranov. Deranov Astrinatus Anakalyftis." He seemed to hesitate before saying the rest of his name, as if it bothered him somehow.
"Hey, Deranov. I- I just wanna know, is your clan okay? Did... did something happen to them?"
"Yes, they're fine. But also... Yes." He leaned into the back of his chair and sighed. "We were trapped in a system, unable to restock rations... my friend, my... lover, he... thought he was going to die, he was ready to give his life for the survival of the clan. He's loyal to them, and he... he told me how much he loved me, and I told him how much I loved him. But the clan, they'd have banished us both if they found out. And they need his skills, his loyalty, so... I left. I was already shunned by much of the clan for work on my ship, for integrating outside technology so much, and..." He closed his eyes, as if in pain, and his voice trailed off.
"It's okay, I understand... really. You did what you had to, and it hurt. And now you feel alone, but... you're not."
He looked back at me. "I'm... you're right, I'm not alone. Not entirely, I guess."
"The guards here need to do some basic security checks, we have a community to protect here, and that needs a bit of caution, unfortunately. But after that, I can bring you to meet people here on the Solaris. Is that okay?" I held out my hand, although I was well out of his reach.
The silence in the pause that followed was deafening. I'd reached the point where I'd done absolutely all I could, and I didn't know if it was enough. I lowered my hand a bit shakily as Deranov thought about my offer. I could tell he was on the fence between two very uncertain outcomes to him, and I couldn't blame him. It was definitely a hard decision to make.
Then the CSF captain, either in a stroke of unprecedented social awareness or, more likely, sheer dumb luck, decided to signal an all-clear to his squad and the maintenance crew, and I looked around at the sudden commotion, seeing the guards relax and holster their weapons and the maintenance crew hurry out onto the pad, talking to each other excitedly.
I let out a sigh of relief and turned back to Deranov, who got up out of the pilot seat and moved to climb up onto the hull. I offered my hand again to help him up and he took it, more as a gesture than actually needing my help. He stopped at the nose as the CSF captain looked up at him, and he considered ways to get down off the ship.
I stepped forward and stood next to him. "I'll lower you down if you want." I held out my hand, and he took it, putting his weight into it as I gracefully squatted on the hull and lowered him down to the deck, starting to lower myself down as well as the hand I was holding went below the nose of the ship. Another half meter and his boots locked to the deck, and I dropped myself the remaining short distance and stepped forward, following Deranov.
The captain greeted Deranov as he reached for his profile analyzer. "Well... Welcome to the Solaris, pilot. Sorry about the welcome party. We have stringent security in effect around here. Stand still for a moment while I scan you, nothing to worry over."
As the captain tried to scan Deranov, I couldn't help but laugh. and the captain tuned his head toward me in response. "What's so funny?"
"Oh, it's just that you're using a profile analyzer to check for bounties on someone whose first direct encounter with the Galnet system and Pilots Fed protocols was a document he received only a few minutes ago."
"I'm afraid I don't quite follow." He started the scan, holding the profile analyzer up at Deranov.
"He won't have a criminal record if he has no record at all."
The scanner beeped, indicating a complete scan, and the captain looked at its display, which simply indicated that it couldn't find a profile. "Of course. Well, if you don't mind, we need to quickly sweep your ship for security purposes."
Deranov shrugged. "Go ahead, it's not like I have the Knowledge Core on it or anything."
I turned to Deranov. "Hey, uh, maybe you should help the maintenance crew connect power to your ship...?"
"Well, it's still compatible with standard couplings for a Cobra Mk II, I don't see why-"
"Hold up. Mark two? How old is this ship?"
"... Right, it's somewhere around 240 years old."
"Yeah, it's been a while since those couplings were ever used. Let's go help them out. Besides, it looks like they're itching to meet the pilot of this ship."
Deranov and I turned and headed toward the maintenance crew, and everyone in the crew was looking excitedly at Deranov like they were meeting a minor celebrity or a renowned professor.
He smiled warmly when he saw them, the pressure of feeling unwelcome having lifted. "Indeed they are."
----
I have to make note that Deranov does not directly connect anyone to the Scriveners Clan, and he has specifically requested that their isolationism be respected, and I will back him up on that. Don't come prying him for information, and nobody gets hurt.
Also, on a less formal note, it's safe to say that meeting Deranov has solidified the fact that I am not strictly a lesbian. He's hot, okay? I'm not flirting with him, mind you, but I am attracted to him, and although he's not the first man I've found attractive, my feelings toward him establish a pattern. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's the way his eyes sparkle as they look with fascination at every little mystery in the galaxy. The way his hands are deft and gentle to everything they touch. And maybe it's how he loves to hear and tell stories... Ah, whatever it is. he's brightened up the lives of everyone he's met in the two weeks and change that he's been here, and I hope we've been able to brighten his.