driftfleet | [ audio ]

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[ audio ]

Who: Clark Kent and you.
Broadcast: Fleetwide.
Action: Aboard the Marsiva.
When: The week of his arrival.

I don't suppose I could click my heels three times. . . [ Only Clark gets his little joke. ]

I'll keep this brief. My name is Clark - I'm from Kansas.

[ He's been the new guy at work often enough to sound chill about this, but he is feeling a little shaky having woken up here in the middle of his workday. To top it off, not being able to hear his mother's heartbeat is jarring.

There's some stress baking in Clark's future. ]

What do you make of this place? I'm curious to know how it compares to where you come from.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ That's a very interesting question, really. ]

Hi Clark. My name's Katara. I haven't been here very long, but the fleet is very different from home and ... both similar and different from where I was just before here. Are you still on the Marsiva?

Hello, Katara. Yes, I am - I can't seem to get off the ship.

[ He'd like her to elaborate, but this first. ]

Yeah, that happens until you're shuffled onto one of the smaller ships. [ A frown of concern in her voice. ] Is anyone on the ship with you?

[ When she'd arrived, there had been several others. She hopes that's the case for him, she can only imagine how disorienting it must be to wake up there alone. ]

Not that I know of.

[ He can hear and scan all of it normally, but he hadn't thought it would be weird to be alone until she asked. ]

Is that unusual?

I don't think so? There were a bunch of people who arrived at the same time as I did, but there doesn't seem to be any pattern to it, for as much as I can tell. People arrive at whatever point and stay on the ship until the end of that week, then get shuffled onto one of the smaller ships.

[ All by himself in that creepy ship with that music, poor guy. ]

At least the food is pretty good up there?

I'll try it out and give you my professional opinion. [ He's teasing. Clark will be okay with sunlight.

He's a little more worried about the implant, but that means talking about his unbreakable skin. ]

Is there no way for anyone to come here from the other ships?

Oh, are you a cook? [ Because - professional opinion and all... ] Because I'm not saying the food's great, but I am saying it's not... [how to put this? sludge? goop?] ...protein paste.

[Yes, nailed it, good job, Katara. She makes a face at the thought of the goop, but then moves on.] I've not tried flying a ship to the Marsiva myself, and honestly I haven't asked about it, but you can tell from out here that there's no docking point on the ship.

[ So even if they reached it... how would they get in? Space is a vacuum and breaching the hull would be a terrible idea. ]

I know my way around a kitchen.

[ He doesn't seem disheartened that there's no way off just yet - it would have been nice.

He's patient. ]

. . . Is there no proper food on your ships?

[ THAT would be a job for Superman! ]

The common rations for the fleet are... well, different types of synthetic proteins, basically. We can pick up real food on the planets and keep a garden on the Iskaulit, but what's provided for us will... sustain, but even if we can make it taste good, the consistency is still... kind of gross. [And this from someone who eats sea prunes.]

So enjoy the food on the Marsiva while you can. [With a small smile.]

[ Clark is stunned, and not in a good way. ]

I assume the Iskaulit is that other large ship I can see from the window?

[ She nods. ] It's got a lot of different rooms over there. People can use them for whatever they like. There are restaurants and a swimming pool and a gym and a bunch of other places.

Is there a garden, or a kitchen?

There's a whole greenhouse on board that former members of the fleet put together. You just need to help maintain it to use it. I'm trying to make one on the Blue Fish too, but it's a lot smaller. All the ships have kitchens... but I don't think there are any free ones on the Iskaulit. Why do you ask?

[About the kitchens, she means, the garden is pretty obvious. Alternatives to protein paste, please!]

There should at least be a common space to cook. . .

Well, I know what I'm doing the moment I'm off this ship. [ He's determined. ] Thank you, Katara.

Of course.

[...] Are you thinking of making a kitchen for everyone on the Iskaulit?

Yeah, why not?

I mean, you can if you want? [As long as he makes sure that it's not flammable or anything like that... fire on spaceships worry her.] But each ship has an individual kitchen, so I'm not sure why you'd want to?

Convenience is one, and it'd be nice to have a communal space, wouldn't it?

[ At that question, Katara experiences a sharp pang of homesickness. In the South Pole, all the meals had been prepared in a communal space; there hadn't been much other option, but it had made the village like a family.

She glances down and speaks quietly. ]

I think it's a very nice idea, Clark.

Would you like to help me, Katara?

[ She blinks, drawn more forcefully into the current time and place than she otherwise would have been.

Would she? She's not sure, but more than that-- ]

--I don't think I'd know how. I have no idea how you'd make one of the ovens that I've seen in kitchens like these, or how you'd hook them up to the ship's power system.

No, you just buy one of those. All we need are sockets.

[ She blinks. ]

Oh - right. That makes sense. [ She shakes her head a little and then gives a half of a shrug. ] We don't really have things like that where I'm from.

[ Ovens. Electric sockets. ...stores. ]

No time to learn like the present, right?

[She blinks, confused.]

...to learn what, exactly?