After dropping off the OB in Kepharon's orbit, the OCS Destiny made its landing on the planet's surface. Then the ship became as a hive of worker-ants: The ICC and ICH were detached first, and sat close by (with airtight tunnels connecting) as independent storage and staging facilities. Then a large portion of the star-frigate's body split out and took the form of a large ground base: the PB-2-001 Planetary Operational Headquarters, with all the amenities of the Destiny now aground, and only the engines, thrusters and forward command bridge left behind and sliding back together to form a starship that might be used to shuttle cargo up to the OB, or even back to Earth. As this was all being put together, and some members of E&R (Makayla included) were tending to the greenhouses, when three Cheetah-class starships found the new space base and rejoined the others in the Mission. Some of the ICH had folded out to add a large open-air section to its hangar bay, and here Commander Jensen and her men landed and hopped out.
Naturally, there were other members of N&S here, as well as plenty of C&E people to which Jacques could pass off his damaged SD for repairs. "You break it, you buy it," said one woman from C&E. "That's your ship now, pilot JD: the one without a flight drone."
A green-clad woman, with her bulky, digitized E&R helmet on, walked up to Jacques and his ship. Jacques recognized her as one of the people Kay had brought to meet them back in orbit before they'd left.
"Gotta have something to remember it by, right?" this woman said, and she took a bucket and brush off a nearby C&E cart. With both, she smeared a splotch of dark pink onto Jacques' ship.
"Hey!" he shouted. "What'd you do that for?"
"Now we know it's your ship, Jacques Delende. The pink one."
Jensen came up behind him and chuckled. "Perfect. It'll match his cheerleader digs."
"Urgh," he said. "You—what's your name again?"
"Livvy. Livvy McNally. And Kayla said you were smart."
"Well, Livvy, even if I wanted to personalize my ship, that doesn't mean I wanted it marked pink!" He rubbed at the paint splotch, which was already too dry to remove with his gloved hands, and only succeeded in making them pink.
Jensen laughed more heartily, and Livvy said: "Pfft, don't cry, you can just paint over it. Make it into a pig, or a titty or something." Jacques glared at her and shook his head, sighing. He was hungry enough; he made quickly for the mess hall, annoyed.
Jensen rushed to catch up to him. "Delende, hey!" He stopped, and she caught up. "Listen, Ensign, I figure it ain't fair to hold you to any bets, seeing as you got banged up and all."
"Fuck it," he hissed. "I lost, might as well wear the damn costume. It'll match my ship, right!?" He wheeled and kept walking towards the doors of the ICH.
"Aww, Delende!" She hurried after him. "Look, don't be sore, I'm sure they got some paint thinner here, or something!
Jacques stopped and looked back. "I don't need your pity, alright! I…" He exhaled heavily. "Look, whatever, right. I learned my lesson. But I wouldn't agree to a bet I didn't intend to keep, and if it's all the same to you, I will keep my end." He frowned. "And not make any bets with you again, not ever!"
She followed him inside; Jacques removed his helmet, then Cori did, smiling. "What a sport," she said. "I'll make sure your uniform gets to your room. Oh, and Jacques?"
He stopped short. "What?"
"Rover bay should be opening up outta I-C-C any minute now." She smirked. "Your shift starts at 1300, and day's done for dinner at 18. Better be there by 1230 if you want a rover that works right. Oh, and say hi to Lt. Aimes for me!" She waved and parted towards a little office in the corner of the ICH.
Jacques sighed. She'd given him a quick once-over down in the tunnels, and then Pérez had used some little x-ray device to check each one of his bones individually, shined a little pen-light into each of his eyes, twice. The bruises still smarted, but he was okay, and thankful for it. It was just as that N&S guy back over Earth had said: Cori Jensen had gotten him into trouble (no thanks to his own stupid confidence), but she was right there to get him out. He smiled ironically and continued on towards the forward exit tunnel.
"Hey." That girl Livvy was there at his side. "You going to lunch?"
Jacques scowled, rolled his eyes, and continued on.
She followed after him. "Hey! I'm sorry about your ship, I'm sure we can get it off. Hey Jacques… you know Makayla pretty well, right?"
"Yes, well… I knew her decently well, when my sister was in school…"
"Oh yeah, she's still got the pennant up in her room here. It's a… uh, a leopard, or something."
"Jaguar. And yeah, she and Sena were pretty close, but that was a couple years ago. I don't think they've been in touch so much since then, though."
"Well yeah," said Livvy, "Kayla was busy getting her doctorate. We went to school together, actually… I heard you were in the northeast too, MIT!"
"Yeah. Undergrad for Aerospace."
"Oh shit! And you're a pilot now, guess that tracks. You ever, like, design a plane, or a spaceship or anything?"
Why is she still talking to me? "Nah, just went in to try and be an officer after that. Then I got into this, but I wasn't really done with training yet—oh, 'sup Kay?"
Makayla came out of a crossing hallway and noticed the other two. "Jacques Delende. How's things lookin' out there?"
"Eh." He sniffed. "Whole buncha rocks. Actually… we found some plants out there! Yeah, seriously, some purple space-plants, down in a cave with a buncha the thraxite crystals." All three were stopped in a hallway crossing; people swerved to part around them.
"Oh, shit," said Kay. "You two gettin' lunch right now? Let's go, I wanna hear more about this."
She led them down the hall towards the galley.
***
Wayne Bradley, the Head Foreman of Construction & Extraction for this operation, sat in his office in the mission base at his computer desk. He'd brought his old work computer, a hulking white thing made in a year that started with '19,' and was clicking through an internal network interface on it, reading off assignments. He rubbed his nearly-hairless head. "Alright," he shouted, to workers sat waiting in the next room over. "E&R's puttin' out a few SR4s, and wants one of our guys in each!" Eyes on his screen and mouth open sideways, he shouted: "Griggs! Dayton! Serrano! Rea—eh…"
He squinted at the screen; there was some kind of visual fuzz where the fourth name should've been. He scrolled up and down with his mouse wheel, but the fuzz stayed. He slapped the plastic side of his computer monitor, then kicked the motherboard beneath his desk. "…and Wilson! You four, in here!"
A woman and three men hopped up out of their seats and joined Wayne in the office. "They're getting' the rovers ready in the I-C-C," he said. "You three, go! Wilson, hold on a minute…" The other three left.
Fred Wilson scratched his beard and knit his brow. "What's goin' on, boss?"
"Somethin' ain't quite right," said Wayne. "You're one a' my best guys, and I coulda sworn I kept you here, close at hand today, with all this madness goin' on. But either I'm crazy or this hunk a' junk's got a screw lose… seems that Reaver's here today, and you're out. Sorry, looks like you're joinin' the scientist swah-ray."
"It's alright," said Fred, "does it say which rover I'm assigned to?"
Wayne waved his hand and clicked his tongue. "Let N&S sort that shit out, or the greenbacks or whatever. Just keep your head down… unless it's a pretty girl scientist, then you better get 'er number!"
Fred rolled his eyes. "Not for you, bossman. Not 'less she's pretty stupid too."
Deviously, Wayne Bradley cackled: "Eh-heh-heh." He stood up and clapped Wilson on the shoulder. "You're alright, boy, just don't make 'em like ya too much over there. Now get, I don't want you gettin' yelled at by any a' those intellectual pricks." Fred shuffled out and down the hall. Wayne took out his cigar, snuffed it, and raised a graying eyebrow out the door. "Yep, he's a good one, alright," he muttered. "One a' the best…"
***
The food was excellent; Jacques found himself getting up for a second pair of plates. The women joined him, though he noticed Livvy only took vegan options. He wasn't bothered by it, not really, but; dyed hair, vegan? This is one of those chicks. She and Kay had gone to Harvard together for post-grad, apparently. He'd have to ask her later about how she'd gotten involved with… a 'liberal arts' type. They sat together and picked at second helpings.
"But it had leaves?" Kay asked.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, light purple leaves, like chalky colored. Why? …it's a plant. Plants have leaves."'
"Yeah, but it—" Kay eyed him. "You know what leaves are for, right Jacques?"
"Uhhh…"
"They're wide and flat to maximize area, especially on the top. And usually they're green, 'cause they have chloroplasts. To turn sunlight into energy. Only…"
"Oh. Oh! Yeah, that is weird. And there wasn't any sunlight down there either…"
Livvy finished a bite and rejoined their conversation: "But what are they for then, Kayla? No chloroplasts and no sunlight, huh…"
"That's what we gotta find out," Kay said. "When we get out there, we'll take samples. I hope you got that cave marked down somewhere Jacques, in case the plants aren't plentiful."
Jacques started and looked at his watch. "Oh shit, it's 12:28! I gotta get to the ICC, I'm on rover duty!" He stood.
"Wait, really?" Kay stood also. "I'm in a rover today too, let's go together."
Livvy looked at both of them in turn. "…alright. Bye." She took another bite and smiled, waved by clapping one hand.
Jacques and Kay hurried out down the corridor, dodging passerby as they went. "Hey," she said. "Heard you took a spill when you were exploring out there."
"Heard? Heard where?"
Kay grinned. "Guess your N&S buddies like to spread stories. Seriously though, you good?"
Jacques shook his head. "I'm fine. Just took a couple bruises, only really fell like ten feet. And I found your plants because of it, so it's pros and cons, y'know."
"Sure Jacques."
"No seriously. There's this guy Pérez, Lieutenant Pérez, and he's always worried about everything. Thought he was gonna 'cavity search' me or something." He snickered.
Kay looked at him funny. "But you're alright?"
"Yeah, geez. I can drive a rover, that's for sure. Might need a coffee so I don't die of boredom."
"When did you get so talkative, huh Jacques? You were always the quiet one, while Sena was blabbin' about who-knows-what."
He snorted. "Guess some shit grows better without too much sunlight."
The ICC was a throng of activity. They wove through the moving crowd, to a large holoshield-covered opening where this storage unit, too, had a panel folded out to store rovers outdoors. Kay and Jacques put on their helmets and secured their airtight seals.
There were two rovers left outside, and one being boarded by a full crew: two E&R, one C&E, and Lieutenant Aimes, the pilot. He waved to Jacques as he shut the back ramp behind himself. By the other was one large man in C&E livery and brimmed, reinforced helmet to match, who seemed to recognize Kay. And not necessarily in a good way.
"Aw shit," she said loudly. "You're that big doofus from Seat Block 7, right?"
The man clasped his arms behind his back. "Fred Wilson, ma'am. Looks like it's God's plan we sit together at every possible juncture. I'll try to, uh, stay out of your way." He bowed his head.
"Doctor, not ma'am," she said, "and this is Jacques Delende, who I guess is gonna be our driver."She stalked off towards their vehicle.
Jacques reached out and shook Fred's hand heartily. Fred smiled and nodded; he seemed a very friendly man, and said: "Well, ain't we a rare sorta trio. Delende, that French? Or no, Nigerian?"
Jacques shook his head. "Canadian. But yeah, my parents are second gen."
Fred whispered: "Well, guess we might get some peace and quiet." He looked back at the rover, smiling. "Maybe. Seems like you two know each other; she decent folks?"
Jacques glanced over at Makayla, who was inspecting the rover's wheels. "Yeah, she… I don't know. Went to Spelman with my big sister. She definitely, uh… moves intentional."
"We're good Jacques!" Kay shouted. "Unless an N&S guy can see something I can't… come have a look!"
Jacques started towards the rover, but stopped. "No, wait," he said, "SRs hold four! Is one of you expecting another passenger?"
Kay shook her head, but then looked back towards the ICC. Fred and Jacques followed her gaze; there was another man exiting the door, dressed green for E&R. He looked at the three and seemed a little put-off.
Pleasantly, Kay shouted: "Hey, Kyle!" and ran down to meet the man.
He, Kyle, looked at her confused, then pulled a friendly smile. "Oh, from Seat Block 7! What's your name again?"
"Makayla, Doctor Makayla Farris. And maybe you remember Fred here, Fred Wilson? He's gonna be our mechanic in case things go wrong. Oh, and this is Jacques Delende…"
Jacques sighed and walked towards the rover alone. He had a sense for things, and today it told him: who cares about this 'Kyle' guy, and Kay could be a lot. No wonder she and Sena got along. He inspected and found the wheels, the axles and the shocks all good enough. This shit's all pretty much brand-new, right? OCM really spared no expense, huh.
The other three followed him aboard, and the Scouting Rover departed, driven by Jacques the Ensign.