It was the first time they'd ever flown after all. The ship lifted off the pad on Phase World, smoothly accelerated to cruising speed, and reached the orbital docks about fifteen minutes later.
Some of the other passengers chuckled about the provincial attitude. Most ignored the two. Naruto never noticed, and Jiraiya didn't particularly care.
"It's... round?" asked Naruto eventually.
"Oh yeah, sailors have known about that for quite some time," pointed out Jiraiya. "It's the bottom of the ship that disappears first, that kind of thing."
"Oh," said Naruto, looking around. "What's that streak over there?"
"That would be a freighter under full burn," said one of the other travelers, after glancing up to look and make sure it wasn't a missile or something. Not that such a thing was likely, but it COULD happen.
"Ah," said Jiraiya.
The traveler considered the two briefly, before shrugging and apparently deciding why not.' "First time in space, eh?"
"Yeah, we arrived here through... other means," said Jiraiya, trying to sound mysterious.
"That big dot is a solar power sat, beaming energy to receptors on the ground," said the impromptu tour guide. "That's where I work. Solar engineer."
"Really? That sounds very important," said Jiraiya.
The engineer glanced at the guy, detected nothing sarcastic, and warmed - just a touch. "Really? Most people don't really care what provides the electricity, they just complain if there's a problem."
"Yes, but it's your job that allows them that complacency," said Jiraiya. "Without your work, how many of them would suffer without those things your society takes for granted - like hot water and lights?"
"Exactly!" said the engineer, deciding this guy wasn't so bad despite the weird clothes and hick attitude. "So where you heading?"
"We're meeting a freighter captain on the space dock," said Jiraiya. "We're heading to the Catspaw Nebula."
"Eh? Why..." asked the engineer, then making a guess based on the clothing. "Are you bibbledy-boppity-boo types?"
"Excuse me?" asked Jiraiya.
"Magic wielders," clarified the engineer.
"We have been called that," admitted Jiraiya.
"Oh," said the engineer, now considering that. "You should invest in some weaponry then. Magic doesn't work right in areas like that."
Jiraiya nodded, keeping an eye on the display. "So what would you recommend?"
"You're magic types, so I guess you'd best go with some technowizard stuff," said the engineer thoughtfully. "Never had any use for 'em myself. Give me an old fashioned blaster any day."
"Hmmm, interesting," said Jiraiya. "That might be a good investment. Just in case, you understand."
"Yeah, you can never go wrong having an extra weapon back in areas like that," said the engineer.
"I've heard that before," said Jiraiya agreeably. And as soon as he could, he had a bunch of new terms to put into that dictionary device.
"Hey, Pervy Sage, " said Naruto, breaking in. "When can we go outside?"
"Uh huh," said the engineer. Who then went on to explain explosive decompression.
Naruto twitched.
The engineer then went on to explain radiation.
Naruto twitched again.
The engineer then went on to detail the problems with trying to breathe without air.
Naruto slumped. "Space sounds really harsh."
The engineer nodded, seeing that the young boy understood at least part of it.
"So, what do you think?" asked Jiraiya as he sat down.
"First, I wish I had a few of those scroll things," said the mechanic. "Damn if they wouldn't come in handy in MY line of work."
"Well, I suppose, but I'm running out myself," said Jiraiya. "I meant the puppet."
"Gynoid," said the mechanic.
"A what?" asked Jiraiya, getting the little comlink with the thousand functions. Why couldn't Naruto's translation field cover stuff like this?
"A female-shaped artificial person," said the mechanic. "Illegal in some areas. Considered property elsewhere."
"You mean she's alive?" asked Naruto, eyes wide.
"Backup power cell and all's intact," said the mechanic. "Main one needs replacing, but yeah. Sort of. Without getting into legal definitions."
"Damn," said Naruto.
The mechanic's ears flicked back and forth. "I've accessed the memory and -"
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(Posted Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:01)
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