What Have I Gotten Myself Into? Pt. II ((--Nicky!--))

[Anonymous]

((OOC--continued from Red District--))

Skah and Katrina walked down more corridors until they came to one of the many reinforced slidder doors. Skah approached the control panel next to it. The panel was just a blue screen in the shape of a hand. He placed his hand on it and suddenly, the screen glowed for about three seconds, then dimmed. The door slided open, and they stepped inside.

Skah's quarters were pretty simple in design. To the left was a hammock-like bed strung from the door wall to the back wall. A couch and glass coffee table sat in the center facing the huge window that had a magnificent view of the earth below. A door led to the shower room, and next to it was a heavily vaulted door that had the words, "Escape Pod."

"Make yourself comfortable," Skah said to Katrina with a smile. "I'll check to see if the escape pod still works."

[Anonymous]

Katrina looked around, her mind spinning with decoration ideas, despite the fact that she didn't have much intention of trying to decorate Skah's home, it was a force of habbit, and she found it comforting. It made things more familiar in her mind.

"Okay" She said, perching on the couch to wait for him while she admired the earth through the window. It was strange seeing it from the outside after growing up on it so long...

[Anonymous]

Skah went to the heavily vaulted door and looked at the control panel. He punched in a few buttons, commanding the panel to run a diagnostic of the escape pod. After a few seconds, the panel bleeped, indicating that the pod was still workable at 100% capacity. He punched in a few more buttons, and the vault slid open, revealing another vault-like door, which slid open as well. Looking inside, there was enough room for two people.

"Okay, it still works," Skah said. "Come on." He waited by the pod entrance for Katrina to come over.

[Anonymous]

Katrina gracefully stood to her feet and trailed him into the escape pod. Slightly self conscious in the close space, she smoothed her skirt without thinking about it as she glanced around. "Do you know how to drive this?" She asked, realizing that she hadn't a clue what any of the buttons did. She'd barely learned to drive a car, let alone fly any sort of device.

[Anonymous]

Skah followed in as both doors closed behind him. "Well," he began as he sat down next to her. "The people on this ship told me that in order to activate this, you have to first set a flight path. After it's released, I think the autopilot takes us to the destination."

[Anonymous]

"Oh, well that shouldn't be too hard right?" Katrina said as she looked at the instrument pannels. She was getting nervous, but more an excited nervous than a forboding. She was going back to earth.

[Anonymous]

"No, it shouldn't be," Skah said. He then punched in a few buttons in the control panel until the screen said, SET FLIGHT PATH. "Do you have a particular destination in mind?" he asked Katrina.

[Anonymous]

"Well, were you wanting something big city, historical, mountains, forests, rivers oceans....or what exactly? I'm not sure what's left of anything, but if there was something you'd never seen and wanted to, I could at least probably show you where it used to be."

[Anonymous]

Skah puzzled over this for a few moments. What did he really want to see? He then remembered a word used to describe a really nice place to visit. "How about a, um...oh, what was that name?...um...uh...a paradise?" Yes, that was the word.

[Anonymous]

Katrina pondered this a moment "Well, it depends on what your idea of paradise is. If you're talking the generic, green, leafy, peaceful forest near the water, I'd guess we'd be looking near the equator. If you're talking paradise in the relaxing, shopping, resort sort of paradise, then...I don't know really what's left behind at this point." She grinned "Let's try for the Caribbean."

[Anonymous]

"Carri...bean? Okay, let's try for that," Skah said as he punched in a few more buttons. But the computer blinked, NO MATCH FOUND. "Drat," he said. "Well, let's try someplace near the equator." He punched in a few more buttons, and the computer blinked, FLIGHT PATH SET." "All right. You ready?"

[Anonymous]

Katrina nodded "I'm ready...do I have to do anything? Harness myself in? Click my shoes together?" She asked, not sure how anything worked.

[Anonymous]

Skah nodded. "Well, strap yourself in, cuz it's going to be...one heck of a ride," he said, stapping the harness on him and pressing one final button. The pod hummed loudly as it disengaged from the station, and soon, the hum of thrusters could be heard as they hurtled the pod towards Earth. They were on their way at last.

[Anonymous]

Katrina quickly strapped herself in, white knuckled griping the arms of the chair as they shot into the sky. She had done very little traveling, and what she had expirienced, had not been at such high speeds. Naturally, escape pods would need to be quick, but it hadn't occured to her until after they were already hurtling through the sky. She was just glad she wasn't prone to motion sickness too much anymore-- she hoped.

[Anonymous]

Skah held onto his seat as the pod experienced re-entry...the point where the gravity on Earth captures the ship and pulls it in at incredibly fast speeds. He felt the centrifugal force on his body as the ship plummeted to earth. Were they going to crash into it?

Suddenly, he felt the pod slowing down considerably. The reverse thrusters had been activated, and they were slowing the pod down.

[Anonymous]

Katrina finally let go , her palms imprinted with the texture and corners of the arms of her chair. "Um...Skah?" She said, her voice shaking a little. "Are we there now?" Somehow, no matter what was on earth, staying there seemed to be a good plan. It kept her from having to make the return trip.

[Anonymous]

Suddenly, everything was still and quiet. Skah shuddered from that experience. "I-I think so," he said, undoing his safety harness and standing up, shaking all the while. "That was some ride."

[Anonymous]

Katrina nodded, smoothing her skirt a bit too furiously to be truely calm before finally remembering her harness and releasing herself. She stood, but her knees quaked, much like a person who has been on a ship for extended periods of time and suddenly finds themself on solid ground-- which continues to sway within their perception. "So....now what?" She asked, holding on to the backs of the chairs as she attempted to move across the pod towards him.

[Anonymous]

Skah shrugged. "I guess we, uh, take a moment to...um...what was that term?...gain our bearings. Then we go outside," he said. His knees were still quaking as he leaned against the wall for support. "Are you alright?" he asked, noticing her shaking.

[Anonymous]

Katrina nodded "I'm just...not used to traveling like that. Never been much for dare devil, speedy adventures." She drew a slow breath, conivincing herself that she wasn't going to be sick. "is there a way to look outside without opening the door?" She'd heard stories of course, so if there was a way to check, she didn't want to simply walk right out into potentually hostile hands.