Personal Log: Penelope
Entry #: 1
Date: 06.14.2405
I like the engine room. It's so white and clean. Console lights blink rather eerily in the darkness; with the lights on they glare off other surfaces.
I walk down the creaky steps and haul the door open, stepping down into my favorite room on the ship. Shay tells me I might as well live down here, considering I spend more time here than my actual cabin. Why not? I think; at least it's bigger than my cabin, which just manages to hold a cot and a pair of boots.
I don't turn the lights on, because there's enough natural light coming in through the windows on the outside-facing bulkhead. I'm carrying a sandwich in one hand, and my cat is on my heels. This is a normal lunch. . .
. . . Only to be disturbed by an intruder's presence. I grimace as I bite into my sandwich, staring down the intruder relentlessly.
Michael just sits on a console by a turbine, his palm on the hull. "Fraternizin' with my engine, I see?" I snarl. Michael is tall and athletic, and I wouldn't stand much of a chance against him in a fist fight (I know this from experience) but it doesn't take too many words to get him off my turf.
I settle back on a wooden bench, leaning against the bulkhead and pulling up to get comfortable as I eat. Mouse, my cat, hops up next to be and begins licking her shoulder vigorously. "So. . . A new crewmember, huh Mouse?" She momentarily perked her ears in my general direction. "This Gale Hawthorne, who claims there is no Capitol, and the districts have rebelled. . . And who doesn't know about the ruins. Ha! And *he* laughs at *us* when we tell him about things like airships and Reapers! That 'District Twelve' deadhead is just going to get in the way. . ."
I don't know why I'm complaining so much. Shay already brought it to my attention that I've been 'mooning' over Gale, and I'm not a good liar most of the time so my voice just had to rise an octave as I protested. But either way, I don't know why Shay had to say yes and invite him aboard, just because this Gale individual looked all bent out of shape. Just another pain in the neck for me to deal with. We were doing just fine, just the three of us.
As I finish my sandwich, an idea comes to me. Quickly stuffing the last bite into my mouth, I pat Mouse on the flank and she leaps up to follow as I go up the stairs to the deck. Shay stands at the bow, his arms crossed, seeming lost in thought (not unusual). "Shay!" I call as I run up to him. He doesn't seem to hear me so I elbow him when I reach him.
Jolted out of his thoughts, he says serenely, "Yes?"
"Shay, I have an idea."
"And. . .?" he prompts.
"Remember how Gale didn't believe us when we told him about the Reapers?" Shay nods and I continue, "Well, if we don't show him what Reapers are like, his ignorance could be dangerous for the rest of us. If he's going to be on board, we're going to put him to use. Which means he'll have to take a watch shift. . . But he's not going to take that watch seriously if he thinks all Reapers look like our two day old little skeleton, now will he?" Shay stays silent.
"If I'm correct, based on the lines of the mountains," I continue, pointing out the rising and falling ridge ahead of us, "we're near Reaper territory. Normally we would navigate around it, right? . . . I think we should fly through it."
This was written by my friend Pixel. 169. She has some get stories if you want to read more from here and we will continue writing this together.