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.

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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?

About the new appliances?

[ She blinks. ] Oh. Oh! I see what you mean. No, I know how ovens work. We just didn't have them like this back home.

Oh! All right.

Well, I'll let you know when I start working on it?

Sure. [With a little shrug.]

There's plenty of opportunities to earn some money on the planet, so now would probably be a good time. I'll see if I can find any places that sell things like ovens... Though they'll probably all be decorated in team colors.

[...which means they'll be blue, if she has anything to say about it. Go Waves!]

Thank you, Katara. I'll let you know when I'm ready to get started.

Sounds good, Clark. If you get stir-crazy up there by yourself, just give me a call, okay?

[ She hates the idea of someone being up there for a week by themselves. ]

I will. Thank you, Katara.

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