An Abbreviated Biography

Starbase Quarters Starbase 


 * A long hallway filled with numbered doors that branches off the further you walk. This is the section of the base where all the workers live, separated in designated areas for administrators, officers and simple laymen.

Jack is laying on his bunk, hands folded behind his head. In one of the rooms designated to visitors, of course.

Volaya wanders down the corridor, trying doors. She opens one, peeks inside, closes it, opens the next. Her aura is dark, her expression neutral.

Jack's right foot starts to swing at an invisible beat, humming underneath his breath. Nothing to do, nothing to do.

Open, close. Open, close. Open, close. Open-- "Right. I give up," Volaya mutters as she closes another door. Her mind slices out cleanly through the walls. ~Jack, where are you?~ she sends, encountering a familiar target.

Jack sits up in his bed as the voice splinters his mental privacy. His nose wrinkles up, swings his legs off the side of the bed, then goes to his door and opens it. "Lookin' for lil' ole me, doll?"

Volaya looks over her shoulder at the door that's just opened, about ten feet behind her on the opposite side of the hallway. Irritation prickles in her mind. "Yeah, thanks," she says, heading towards the door.

Jack blinks at Volaya, moving off to the side to let Volaya inside. "You ok, Vol?" The room, when entered, is predictably utiltarian. Small table, a desk, abudant lights. A bed.

The contrast between forcibly suppressed irritaion, mentally, and perfectly toneless voice, physically, in extreme. "Do you know," the girl asks, "how many doors there are in this hallway?"

"Alot." Jack offers with a grin. "Don't tell you tried everyone but this one?" Yes, his tone is about as neutral as he can manage, but it's obvious a bit of amusement is to be had at Volaya's expense. "Bet it took awhile, huh?"

"Just every door on the other side of the hallway," the Vollistan informs in that same forcedly casual tone. "Does hiding count as 'running off'?"

"No, it counts as hiding." Jack says with a chuckle, "I don't care to find out what my punishment would be if I dared that after complaining about it twice. Did you want company?"

Volaya's mood abruptly lightens, her mental link colouring with a sudden predatory posessiveness. She smiles, stepping across the room to curl her hand through Jack's hair. "Yeah, well, that was the idea."

Jack blinks at the sudden contact, head rising a bit. "Well... hell, Volaya. If I had known you were in the mood, I woulda hunted you down. Here I thought bein' in a place where they turn babies into weapons would kill some of your appetite."

Volaya freezes, her closely-nestled mental sense suddenly turned to impenetrable ice.

Jack pauses, thin shoulders tensing. 'Oh, shit. What I say?' Or that's the general gist of the feelings that Volaya may or may not be picking up on. "Volaya..."

Volaya's fingers curl tighter in Jack's hair, moving into discomfort but stopping short of producing actual pain. "Jack," she says, her voice perfectly controlled and perfectly pleasant, "where do you think I grew up?" Still there is that frozen, immobile presence in Jack's mind.

"Uh." Jack says, hazel eyes darting back and forth as if looking for an escape, even as his hands stay by his side. "Vollista, right?" Good guess? Hopefully!

The girl's mind is so cold and so distant, Jack's words have no effect. She speaks, she moves, but that sense of her, in Jack's skull, doesn't so much as blink. A few seconds after Jack's spoken, though, that icy presence abruptly changes. There is a moment of utter chaos, the mental equivalent of static, or a storm, and then Volaya's mind fixes sharply on those eyes. The mental spillover has an odd effect; Jack sees a slight double vision, his own view strongest and a sligth image of his face looking back at him. The Vollistan makes a small, unintellible sound, and her aura flares a hot white from previously dark skin.

The aforementioned hazel eyes widen suddenly, staring dumbfounded, as his vision refracts and bends, and then he's looking back at himself. Kinda. The soft noise from the Vollistan draws him from his stupor, and he offers a weak shove at Volaya's chest. "W-what are you doing?"

Volaya's mind lurches, grasps for control, and suddenly her presence and her vision are both gone from Jack's mind. Her aura is dead again, her smile paiinfully tight. "Sorry, Jack," she mutters, "weak spot."

Jack places shaking hands to his temples, eyes going to the ground. "Well... that was unexpected. I.. uhh.. what happened?"

Volaya drops her hands and takes a step back. One deep breath later she says disjointedly, "I was raised by the Nall to tear people's minds into little pieces for information. Speaking of child weapons."

Back to conversation one. Jack's disoriented mental presence scrambles for a bit, before he latches onto the appropriate railway. "Volaya, I knew that. That was thoughtless of me to joke about that." In a smaller voice, hands rubbing his temple, the man tacks on something else. "Sorry."

"Love, it's okay," Volaya says automatically, "it's not your problem, it's mine. I just... I'm sorry. Okay?"

"Yeah, okay." Jack mutters, looking up and blinking, then rubbing at his senstive orbs. "Okay." The second agreement is stronger, as he takes the step forward and gingerly wraps his arms around the woman's waist. "So, beyond provin' your dominant position in this relationship, what did ya care to do?"

Volaya's arms wrap back for just a moment in a quick hug. "Well, I'm going to go for a bit of a walk and make sure I don't go weird on you again. Will you be here in an hour or two?"

"Probably." Jack says, clenching tight, before pulling back. "Just one more thing, Volaya, an' I should apologize before hand." The gloved hand disappears into his coat pocket, looking to the bed.

"Later, Jack, please," Volaya says, her voice suddenly tight. With that she wheels and leaves the room abruptly.

Some time later...

Volaya opens the correct door this time, slipping back into Jack's room quietly.

Jack is back on the bunk, a hat pulled over his eyes. If not for the swinging foot, he could almost be asleep.

Volaya closes the door near-silently behind herself, and heads over to the bunk on quiet feet.

The closer the woman gets, the more obvious it becomes that Jack is distracted. The music blaring into both ears only seals the deal. And the foot? Steadily swinging with the beat. Looks like the Glowie goes undetected.

"Jack?" Volaya says, still quiet. "Jack?" She bites her bottom lip.

Jack's foot stops, and he pushes his hat back to peer at his guest. Then he flicks off his music, still laid back. "Yeah, Volaya?"

Volaya peers back, her blue eyes anxious. She tries a bit of a smile. "Yeah, hey."

"Aw, you're worried I'll be mad at you." The La Terran says with a crooked smile, folding hands behind his head. "For fuckin' with my head earlier? That's what you're worried about, right?"

"I'm worried I hurt you," Volaya says candidly, sitting down beside the man.

"I'm a hero. It's almost necessary I have a dangerous love interest that'll eventully lead to my downfall." Jack says with a smirk. He reaches out to scratch at her back. "Don't worry about it. Everythin' seems to be in workin' order. No drooling, ghost visions, or illusions of grandeur here. Nope."

Volaya's sigh is quiet and relieved. She lies down precariously on the slice of mattress next to Jack, curling up closely. "Yeah, well, no time soon."

"Preferably." Jack agrees, scooting over to offer as much room as he can. "Give me a story. Something memorable. Unless you had something better in mind to pass the time?"

Volaya scoots over as well, mostly to stay close to Jack. "A story?" she asks.

"A story." Jack repeats. "You keep hintin' that you have your share of them, mostly when your driving your claws in."

Volaya turns her head to the side, away from Jack. "Yeah, well, nothing good."

"Not going to let me be the judge of that?" The La Terran says, hazel eyes trying to find contact with the woman's. Succesful or not, he tries.

All that's visible is the curve of Volaya's cheek and the silver fall of her hair. She shakes her head a little bit. "No offense, Jack, but I like your current image of me better."

"Volaya, all I have of you is a bitter woman that's really flexible. An' that you care enough about me to give up chasin' on your past." A hand touches the silver waterfall, followed by a sigh. "Fine. I ain't gonna push you into doin' something you don't want to do, even if I wish you showed me a little trust."

"Jack. I was born on Vollista, a long long time ago. I'm something like thirty one this year. When I was ten, I went into training at the academy of the mind. I did well. A little after that, I started working. I broke into people's minds. Mekke, sometimes, humans, other Nall. I got beaten a lot. They used to beat me for singing in the shower. When I was happy I would forget and do it anyhow. I forgot a lot, Davian said that's what your mind does when you're stressed. They killed almost everyone I got information from, and they were the only people I knew at all. They didn't keep interrogators together unless they'd proven themselves. I was good. I was proud of being good. Then all hell broke loose and I ended up on Sanctuary." Her voice is a monotone, not stopping for anything.

Jack isn't interrupting, and neither does he distract with any petting. Friendly or otherwise. He's just a sponge, soaking in the information.

"Davian was there. We used to make milkshakes. I was pretty messed up. I think Davian was a shrink assigned to me alone, if that helps you understand how messed up I was. He showed me how to be a good girl. I tried for awhile. Sanctuary ended up in the future, I met Volanta. We tried to be good together. I was a cop on Sivad, everything was good at first. In the end, we failed. We had too many bad habits and we were too afraid. We knew what we'd done, Jack, I knew what he'd done, he knew what I had. I tried to be fucked up for awhile. I was miserable. Now I'm trying this, the middle of the road." Still, she doesn't look back.

The hand starts moving, a continous stroking, silver strands dancing between leather clad fingers. Jack laying down next to the woman on the inadequate bunk. "But, you understood each other. You knew what you both went through, and that has to count for something. I wish I could say the same, but if I claim I understand, I'd be lyin'. An' well.. you can find out if my lyin' pretty easy, can't ya?"

"Well, I thought it was supposed to count for something, Jack," Volaya tells the wall monotonously, "but it doesn't. It's not what counts. Not at all. Not if--"

Lucius exits his room with a sour, bored, uncontemplative look on his face, jaw visibly grinding and his foot tapping on the ground inpatiently. He immediatly pulls a cigarette from a pack in his trouser pockets, lighting it up.

"If?" Jack says, not aware of Lucius' exit of the room, what with his closed door and all. "If what?"

"FUCK!" Lucius yells, sort of spontaneously. Though spontaneous to who but himself is a good question, as the hall remains empty. "What the fuck is there to do here?" He ponders to himself.

"Shut the fuck up!" Volaya yells without missing a beat, and then her voice drops again. There's still anger in it, though, as she continues, "not if you're not willing to act like a decent person."

Jack blinks at the first voice, then winces when Volaya adds in. There. He pokes her in the stomach. "Don't do that!"

"Yeah, he started it," Volaya says irritably.

Lucius rises up to the percieved challenge of Volaya's voice, eyes rolling. "Fuck you too!" He yells back at Jack's door, jaw still grinding. Yet now, an odd little smile has found its way on his face. Perhaps the sound of life caused it.

Jack preemptively slaps a hand over Volaya's mouth to keep her from offering a retort. "What the fuck you want?!"

Volaya lifts her hand to tug at Jack's. ~Let go,~ she commands peremptorily.

The La Terran pulls his hand away from the woman's face with a sheepish smile. "Right, sorry."

Volaya inflates her lungs and bellows joyously, "Sloppy seconds for you, Naliafucker, you're too late!" She grins over her shoulder at Jack.

"I WANT YOUR HEAD.. ON A PLATTER JACK! YOU'RE GOING DOWN!" Returns Lucius. "AND THE OTHER ONE.. Well, haven't really thought of that yet." He scratches his chin, pensively.

Jack sighs, attempting the whole, 'I'm so annoyed right now look'. It's suppose to be hot these days. Still though he can't help the muscle twitch that just happens to force one side of his lips to quirk upwards. "Alright, asshole, if you're gonna talk, come on into the room." The La Terran leans forward to kiss the back of the larger Vollistan's neck, then sits up.

"What the fuck!? Jack won't give head to-" Volaya begins, and cuts off. She frowns slightly. "You know him, Jack?" she asks in a more normal tone of voice.

"I'M COMING IN NOW YOU BASTARD. I'VE GOTTA SWORD, WATCH OUT!" Instead of the door being kicked in, it is simply clicked open, revealing a smirking Martian, cigarette smoke rising from the cancer stick in his lips. "Ok, maybe not." He enters.

"Yeah, I imagine I do." Jack says, "It's either Malion, Arnassis, or Lucy. The other ship crews ain't left their rooms after the first day." When the La Terran spots the man, he waves a hand. "An' it was Lucy."

"Oh, no, a sword!" Volaya shouts back. "I got a brain, softskin, so I'm a couple up on you." She's still lying comfortably on the mattress, grinning, when Lucius comes in. Then, again in a normal tone, "other ship crews? what is this, a resort?"

"Jesus, Jack. Lucy? C'mon, ain't I ever told you how to pronounce my name? It's like Luke, loo-kee-oos." Lucius quirks his head a bit as he enters, the door closing automatically behind him. He pulls up a seat and an ashtray for his convenience, planting his ass down. "Softskin, eh? I assume you got scales under yours? Nice to meet ya, by the way." The Martian's tone remains light and amused.

"Cargo haulin' for a gigantic evil space station, with the hopes of stealin' some very illegal research data to bring this place down, or at the very least, sell." Jack answers Volaya. "Loo-kee-puss, meet Volaya. Volaya, Loo-kee-puss."

"Volaya, resident mind- and Captain-fucker. Nalia shine and all that Lucky-puss." the Vollistan girl rolls over, back to Lucius, and snuggles back against Jack. She mutters, "My boyfriend, superhero. Right."

"Ah, now I get it. You must be one of them pre-Sanc Vollies I've read about. Gotta say, it's a refreshing change. I'm so used to the Light Singers on New Luna and their blissfull ignorance that your apparent pessimism is nice." Lucius takes a haul off the cigarette, busying himself with finger cracking as he continues. "Good to know Jack is getting his poll waxed. So to speak."

"Well, hero business doesn't pay so well. When freighterin' apples puts more jing in your pocket, you know it might be a time for a change in how you do things." Jack waves a hand at the desk. "Take a seat. I think I need a break from Volaya's story tellin'." At the comment about his poll, he coughs.

"I would," Volaya says cheerfully, "but people keep running into the room swearing."

"On this kinda station, that don't seem to be too uncommon. On account of the extreme boredome we're all experiencing. Fucking shit, I can't wait to get down there and start blowing shit up." Lucius pauses, clearing his throat. "I mean er.. if that's necessary." A wicked grin comes to fruitation on his face.

Jack peers at Volaya, opens his mouth, and thinks better of it. "Um, yep. At this rate, I've been reduced to starin' at the wall. Then my sweetnums here stopped by for a visit and chased the boredom away. An' yeah.. I'm lookin' forward to checkin' out what is under our feet. Though not really interested in blowin' it all up."

"Okay. I give up," Volaya announces, rolling off the bed and to her feet. Her aura comes up, a grand green-and-red swirl around her. "I give up. You guys talk, I'm going to go grease my own pole. Catch you later."

"What?" Jack squeaks, sitting up. "Dammit, Lucy."

"Shit Jack, I didn't know you were into that.. the chix with dix kinda thing. To each their own, I guess." Lucius chuckles, rolling his eyes. "Have a good one, then."

Volaya grins impishly at Jack, gives a little finger-wave, and saunters back into the hallway and towards the ship.

"Mother fucker." Jack grumps, watching as the woman disappears. Then he flops back on the bed, glaring at Lucius. "She doesn't have a dick, Lucky Puss."

Ebon saunters in from the common deck, heading to Jack's door and rapping sharply.

"Hey, I don't take chances when a woman tells me that she's going to grease her own poll." The Martian's attention is drawn to the door as it's knocked on, though he remains silent now.

Jack shakes his head at Lucius, looking to the door. "Come in."