| Check, Check, Check |
| Summary: | In which Iosif and Longinus pass the respective beginning and end of the work shift on Deck. |
| Date: | 12 Jun 2042 AE |
| Related Logs: | None |
| Players: |
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| Hangar - Port - Midship - Battlestar Cerberus |
| The single largest rooms on the Cerberus are the hangar decks. Each flight pod consists of two stacked landing bays with adjoined decks and hangars, which along with computer-assisted landings results in a faster Viper recovery rate. Mirror images of each other, these two huge areas are located on the flight pods. The inboard sides of the deck, closest to the ship's main hull, are lined with parking and maintenance bays for Vipers and Raptors based aboard the battlestar. The outboard side of the deck contains the launch tubes used by the Vipers for standard deployment. Huge blast doors seal the deck into four sections, each one containing an elevator that leads up to the flight deck directly overhead. The fore-most section contains an elevator system that leads towards Aerospace Fabrication. |
| Condition Level: 3 - All Clear |
| Post-Holocaust Day: #471 |
Iosif is just coming on duty on the deck, checking the buckles on his coveralls to make certain all his equipment is in place as he moves into the area designated for Raptor refueling. It's third-shift, the later haul as far as time of day goes on the battlestar, but that means little in space. The work goes on.
Longinus paces up and down the deck, going down a list of items on his clipboard. Check, check, check, check. All set to call it a day and let the third shift take over. Sees Iosif coming on duty, gives him a howdy salute. "How's it going, O'Keefe? Starting to get used to life on the deck?"
Iosif raises a pair of fingers to return to pseudo-salute to Longinus, offering the man a quick grin and nod to go with it. "Corsel. Aye. Honest day's work if you can get it, which I guess is more than some can say these days. You seen the Chief about this shift?" There's a note in his voice that tries to make the question sound casual, but it doesn't quite.
Longinus stops walking to chat with Iosif. He smirks as if Iosif's just made a joke. "What do you think? I've been here for half of today and I haven't seen him once." He tilts his head towards Damon's office. "Don't even know if he's in there. Go find out at your own risk."
Iosif smirks at that, looking over his shoulder toward the Chief's office, then back to Longinus. He shakes his head. "Don't figure I'll give it a go. I was wondering if he'd been out of his office today, but I'm taking that as a negative." He drops his voice then. Not that it's hard to get below earshot, given the noisy work that goes on around the hangar deck. "Look, mate. You been at this longer than I have. Chief Damon ever acted…funny before?"
Longinus shrugs and sighs. "Well, I don't know him well, but this is the first time I've seen him like this. As long as everything's still getting done around here, I'm not going to make it any of my business. You doing okay? Learning everything without too much problem?"
Iosif shrugs. "Aye, I guess that's so. Work gets done just the same. Just seems like he's been a bit…off ever since he got captured by them crazy bastards on the Areion. Shut up in his office all the time, ain't barely seen him on the deck at all. Dunno quite what to do about it, though. I mean…he's still the boss." As to the latter question. "I suppose so. I never figured it'd be the work that'd get me, and it ain't so much. Not that I put my hands to military aircraft before I joined up, but I been working on ships since I was a boy. Mechanic-wise. My parents had this old freighter. We lived on it more than any colony, doing cargo runs and the like to make a living. My folks taught my brothers and sister and me to pitch in where we could. Saved a few cubits on hiring out crew, y'know?"
Longinus says, "Good to hear that the work's not getting to you. Having a mechanic background definitely helps. I didn't know a thing about aircraft before I enlisted myself, but that was a thousand years ago. How about the military lifestyle? All the rules and the protocol, the life and death urgency. But I'm not worried about you. You seem like a smart guy, and adaptable.""
"Ain't going to lie, mate, if the colonies were still in one piece I'd never want a life like this. All the 'Yes, sir, no sir', guns, being told where to sleep and eat and shite and the like. But now…I dunno. At least the Navy's still sort of pretending it's got itself together, not like everything else. I miss just working for myself, flying off to whatever port I wanted to trade it. But between given the options, I figure this is about as good a job as a bloke can get." The 'thousand years ago' bit makes him chuckle. "You a lifer, then? You been here since I started working the deck, but that ain't saying much."
Longinus puts his clipboard down and leans against the hull of a raptor. Technically, his shift is over now, so no need to look busy. "Been in the fleet for eleven years now," he tells Iosif, "and it feels much longer than that. I figure I am a lifer. Like you said, there's nothing else for us now."
Iosif lets out a brief "Heh" at that. "Maybe we're all lifers now, come to it. Ain't like we can go back and retire on Aquaria or something, as it's boiled to nothing. You do anything before you was Navy? I just worked for my folks. Ran the freighter myself mostly the last few years, after my Da got too old to really manage it. Work wasn't always regular, but it was a good life. Got to see just about every colony before I was old enough to shave, which ain't a thing I guess most can say."
"I was the opposite," Longinus chuckles. "I'm from Gemenon and barely ever left my village let alone the planet before I was old enough to shave. This was my first real job. I was going to be a fisherman, like my father, and he started to teach me his trade. My life would be something completely different if I went that way. But hell, I guess I'd be dead, so it wouldn't matter anyway."
"Gemenon?" Iosif can't quite suppress a low whistle when that planet is mentioned. Though he quickly adds, "I mean, no offense meant. I ain't never been. Figure the stories you here got to be exaggerated. I mean, I ain't from no place really but I was born on Aerilon, and they ain't all sheep-frakkers who chew tobacco or nothing."
"Don't worry," says Longinus. "I'm not offended. I wasn't in love with Gemenon either. I left for a reason. But I'm curious about what you've heard."
Iosif idly reaches back to scratch the back of his neck, shrugging. "Oh, y'know, the usual stuff. Religious fundies, people wandering about town high on chamalla and sacrificing their house cats 'cause Zeus told 'em to and…y'know, that sort of thing. I mean, like I said, I'm sure it's exaggerated."
Longinus laughs at some of those. "I don't know about Zeus demanding cat sacrifices, but it's true that there is a lot of fundamentalism. Anyway, you should get to work before we both get chewed out for standing around idle." He picks up his clipboard and turns to leave. "See you tomorrow, O'Keefe."
"Well, can't be any crazier than that love-yer-Cylon stuff Specialist Bannik's preaching at these days," Iosif says, raising a pair of fingers in another parting pseudo-salute to Longinus. "See you on the morrow, Corsel." And with that, he does go off to get some proper work done.