Down The Rabbit Hole - Part Five

Pennsylvania Avenue NW 

Pennsylvania Avenue continues here, running past a large piece of property upon which sits an exact replica of the White House. A large fountain sits in front of it along with a vast garden of roses.

Tharsis sits on a bench at the entrance to the lab, looking out at the hovercar traffic that passes by on the main artery that is Pennsylvania Avenue.

Tamila makes her way out of the lab, and seems to have added a white lab coat to her attire, most likely in an attempt to try and pass as someone with a full education. She moves to oneside of the lab doors, glancing up and down the street. "Hey Thar," she greets when she spots the avatar.

Tharsis looks up as Tam exits. "Heya, Tam. Making any progress with the tech heads?"

"Slow, but we thin' we might be gettin' somewhere," Tamila replies to Tharsis. "I thin' there tryin' to harmonise a device of there to make the wormhole stable and give us a fighting change of gettin' back."

It is at that moment that Dr. Franklin appears from within the lab, a clipboard in hand and a very pleased expression on his face. "Something which I believe we have succeeded. To date we have not had the ability to generate the power necessary to create such a device, but with the powerplant available on your vessel, we can. The prototype is nearly complete. Within the hour, it will be operational."

Tamila turns back to look towards the Doctor and looks somewhat surprised, and then grins. "Oh, excellent!" she says with a grin. "It ain't gonna cause damage to the ship when fired, is it?" Her brow furrows lightly in concern. "I ain't really an engineer, so I'll just wait 'til the all clear."

The doctor nods. "The weapon's recoil should not pose a significant detriment to the vessel's structural integrity. Once the device has been installed, then the President has indicated he intends to send an escort with you, because the wormhole is still within Lothan territory. One they detect your approach they may try to stop you."

Tharsis widens his eyes a bit. "I sure don't want to meet up with those suckers again..."

Tamila slips a hand inside of the labcoat she wears, giving an understanding nod. "Feel free to use that grav-mine in the lab," she provides to the scientist. She distracted for a moment, before she smiles, "And hopefully these notes will help in future to keep the Lothan fascists out of the way. It's a powerful device Doctor Franklin, so please becareful who has access to it." She glances towards the older male and nods. "Certainly hope we ain't gonna run into them 'gain."

"It is much appreciated. The Tristifarians simply want to be left alone to live in peace, but so long as the Wrr'Gotan'Togat rules half of the Expanse, then peace will never be." the doctor says sadly. At that moment, a group of technicians appear around the building wheeling a very large device on a large cart. Dr. Franklin takes note, and smiles. "I see completion of the device has taken less time than I anticipated. With your permission, we can begin the installation."

Tamila's attention is caught by the device the technicians are wheeling out, before glancing towards Tharsis. "They want to stick thin's to you, are you up for it? Ain't my call there," she says to the avatar. She then looks back towards Franklin and nods. "Well that should give you an edge if Tofu wants to start flexin' muscle. 'Sides, I wouldn't mind tryin' to come back here for holidays some time and it'd be good to be able to do that without bein' locked up."

Tharsis looks over at the device appraisingly. "Hey, if it works, might be a nifty little addition for later." he remarks. "If it'll get us home, then I'm all for it."

Dr. Franklin nods. "Perhaps with some fine tuning, it may be possible to open the doorway with different ending coordinates, and you would arrive near our territory rather than theirs. In either case, should you manage to return, you would be quite welcome."

Tamila smiles and inclines her head politely. "It would be nice, Doctor Franklin," she replies, before trailing off. "And than' you for letting me have access to the lab, I feel I've learnt a lot durin' the short time we've been here. Sure, I ask some strange questions, but I really appreciate everythin' Mister President, the people and this great lab have done for us."

"Absolutely." says Tharsis. "I fear what those maniacs who had us at first were going to do to us before you managed to bust us out. We'll always be grateful for that."

"It was our pleasure. Once the President heard that strangers in a strange vessel had been captured by the Lothans, he knew they would stop at nothing to gain whatever secrets you posessed, and would likely have killed you afterwards in order to ensure that they, and they alone, had them." Dr. Franklin says. "We, on the other hand, believe in individual rights and freedoms, and thus felt that even at the risk of war, you must be freed. Simply finding yourselves in a strange land should not mark you for death."

"And their minister of science is very impolite," Tamila points out, in a semi-serious tone. "I didn't even get that ritzy dinner I asked for." She laughs and then shakes her head. "I wish you and your people the best of luck in the future, Doctor Franklin. You have the device and information that the Lothans were after." The TK native then glances back towards Tharsis, before glancing back to the older male once again. "It's a nice planet, and it's a shame we should depart soon." I can't see that here.

Tharsis nods. "Well... if the device is ready, then theoretically we can leave at any time. It'll take some time to get it calibrated anyways."

Dr. Franklin nods. "You are of course welcome to stay for as long as you like." he says. "I have to return to my experiments, but you are in good hands with my technicians for the installation."

"Take care, Doctor Franklin," Tamila says, bidding farewell with a friendly smile. She rubs at her arm before looking back towards Tharsis. "How long do you thin' it'll that, Thar?"

Tharsis looks back over at the device. "The physical installation may take a few hours, but it'll take a full day to calibrate it into my neural net."

"I'm seriously gonna hafta ask Bri what a neural net is," Tamila idlely remarks to herself. "Well, I don't know if we can help with that, so I'll see if anyone wants to go to the beach 'gain. Last chance and all."

Tharsis nods. "True enough. When we get back to Comorro, a beach will seem like a luxury."

Tamila nods sadly, giving a faint smile. "Yeah," she says in agreement. "I wouldn't mind getting Subhan, Varal and Norran so they could see it at least once. I don't thin' they've ever seen one." She slowly nods. "Gettin' to the beach is a luxary. I never saw one until last year."

"I'll be tied up during this install and calibration, so it might be a great thing to keep people busy until we're ready to depart." Tharsis says.

Tamila finds herself nodding in agreement. "I'll go and wait for them near you then," she says. "It could be a good way to keep them happy."

Tharsis noddles. "I'll meet you there."

And so stealing the labcoat, Tamila starts to saunter back in the direction of the landing pad.

Landing Pad  Situated on a peninsula near the mouth of a wide river, this spaceport looks to be a busy one. Dozens of civilian ships are docked at the various landing areas at any given time, and behind a secured area military vessels can be seen docked. Marked walkways lead to a large building that appears to be the only way on or off the landing pad. A large sign over the door reads 'United Systems of Tristifar Customs and Immigration Office' in Terran Standard.

Tharsis replaces his mobile emitter in a storage compartment near his ramp as the technicians roll the device towards him. "I think a ventral install should work best." he says to the techs, and walks underneath to a spot under the center of himself, indicating good mount points and power connections.

Tamila strolls in from the customs office, heading towards the Tharsis (the avatar). She makes her way under the bow, and the hologram. She goes silent, watching intently but she stays well out of the way.

The techs nod and start getting their tools set out, and Tharsis looks to Tamila. "It should be well secure here." he says.

"I don't know nothin' 'bout engineerin'," Tamila admits. "I can peel hulls off, but this stuff is way outta my league." She makes her way up to stand beside the avatar. "You thin' it's gonna work?"

Tharsis nods. "I think so. I took a gander at the plans for the thing and they make sense to me. If the gravity waves this thing generates can match the natural frequency of the wormhole, it should set up a harmonic amplication that will get the wormhole 'in sync' and stabilize it. If it works, it'll be come conduit between Hiverspace and here, but I don't know how long it would last. Between you and me, I think we might want to consider collapsing it if we can, otherwise those crazy fascist bastards could spill into Hiverspace. If we try to come back, I think Franklin's got a point. Try for a better landing zone."

Tamila stares ahead for a moment, eyes watching the technicians. "Or we draw Tofu and his men in," she says quietly. "Then collapse it on the way out, either scatterin' Tofu's men 'round the place or crushin' them inside." She slowly nods to herself. "It can shatter matter, so we might be able to use asteroids to make our own dust and repeat. 'Course, it ain't gonna be as fine and hopefully we can calculate everythin' so we end up back here if we decide to return."

Tharsis nods. "Might be a good idea. I think if we drop one of the mines just before we exit the wormhole, the explosion might collapse the other end, and it'll be a cascade that will slam it shut clear across its length."

"I get the feelin' that I should go and spend a bit more time at the lab," Tamila replies with a slow nod. "'Cause, I just sorta started to figure out how to use some of the equipment." She scuffs her foot a little bit. "And I sorta enjoy the challenge."

Tharsis grins a bit. "Knowledge is power, I always say."

"I just feel that maybe I need to start tryin' to figure out a way to develop a safeguard or somethin' 'gainst the grav-mines," Tamila admits with some worry. "I created these ones, so I thin' it's up to me to come up with a way to neutralise the effects. It'll be lon' and hard."

Tharsis nods. "That might be a good idea. I can devote a few computing cycles to it myself. There's always got to be an anti-dote to something."

"It would be appreciated," Tamila replies to Tharsis. "I knew they'd be powerful, but not to this level. At least they're in good and capable hands here. I hope." Tharsis nods. "Perhaps this device here might be the answer. If a mine is deployed, this cannon could create a disruption wave that would create a 'pocket' in the shockwave to allow it to pass harmlessly around the vessel."

Tamila seems to consider Tharsis' proposal and then nods. "Perhaps have it wired to a sensor system, so that if gravitation weapons are detected, it automatically deploys and takes over some of the energy from the shields?" she counter-proposes. "It might save some fool turnin' it on 'fore a mine goes off and turnin' themselves to go when they make an envelope."

Tharsis nods. "Very possible. I'll ponder it.."

"Unless you're turnin' to a life of crime, then turnin' people to goo could be profitable in gettin' their ships and creatin' a new beverage," teases the TKer. Tharsis laughs a bit. "Could be something against those Medlidikke, eh?"

Tamila grins and then laughs herself. "See, that's a good plan. We were discussin' baintin' the Mudlickers a while back, by goin' to areas where they're known to operate, drawin' them out and dumpin' 'cargo' while runnin'. Hopefully they'd stop to pick up the cargo, and then they'd find a nasty surprise inside. High powered explosives." She slowly nods to herself. "Now your structural shields keep the explosion and shock wave contained inside of the ship, so a decent explosion should blow out the airlocks, damage engineerin' and expose a lot of the ship to vacuum."

Tharsis nods. "Hell yes... it would indeed."

Tamila grins somewhat darkly, closing her eyes. "And that was why I was one of the highest rated when it came to demolitions and explosive devices," she boasts. "Of course, I haven't had the chance to study have a Mudlicker ship, so they could be cross sectioned."

Tharsis nods. "You know... the idea is gross... but Comorro's eaten enough she might be able to tell you."

"Sometimes you got to eat thin's you wouldn't wanna eat to survive," Tamila says, not seeming that badly fazed by the thought. "Better eatin' them than it is us. I should speak with her, I haven't spoken with her for a bit. Very good suggestion."

Tharsis nods. "Tell me about it. I've had to ingest some fuels that didn't agree with my tank." he says, his tongue sticking out.

Tamila goes silent and just nods in agreement for some reason. "Yup, there's some strange stuff out there to eat," she agrees.

Tharsis nods, watching as the technicans set to work patching the cannon into his superstructure. For a minute, a laugh escapes him. "Dang it.. that tickles..."

Tamila looks towards Tharsis with a raised brow. "Never knew you were ticklish," she remarks. "So does this count as a penis extention or more as a tattoo?"

Tharsis grins a bit. "I think of it more as nose ring myself."

Tamila laughs and then shakes her head. "Nothin' permanent then," she replies. "You ever thought 'bout takin' on a custom paint job? I ain't good at paintin' but we had a couple of ships that worked for the Syndicate back home that had a paint that changed colours however you looked at them."

"Oooh.. that would be neat. Chameleon paint." Tharsis says with a grin.

Tamila gives a nod to Tharsis and then laughs softly. "I'll talk to Finch when we get back," she says. "But I'm gonna go and see who I can chase off you to come to the beach." With that, the TKer makes her way out from under Tharsis.

Tharsis offers a bit of a wave. "Have fun!"