Chapter 2
"Scraps"
"God, I hope those seams hold." A blond girl with deeply tan skin and a serious expression lowers her welding torch gazing out over the turbulent waters. She takes a deep breath listening to the waves dash against the side of her ship. "That was the last of my fuel" she mutters flatly, she had to make the most recent weld seams much thinner than usual – she hopes they'll hold till she can reach land.
Lean and strong she reaches a gloved hand to brush away chips of metal and ash as she considers her work. Her body looks highly athletic - by pre-war measure – lean and limber. If she were in a picture she might seem young and carefree, but in person her eyes are deep and piercing, they seem to read a person like most people read a book.
She walks over to the television and stands for a moment watching a fight scene with light-beam swords between two men: one in a black robe and the other in a brown one.
"Using a light-saber to fight with when you have telekinetic powers is just…" She mumbles, heaving a heavy stack of unusable metal scraps over the baluster into the murky water "... just stupid."
"I mean, really Ex, why make a movie like this? It makes no sense. Especially when Jedi powers are obviously better in combat…" She pauses to catch her breath glancing at the feline. "Boys. Little boys… or men with the minds of little boys… They're usually the same anyway…" She continues her monologue, addressing Ecstasy the female Siamese cat with blue-eyes and a dark face perched on the baluster. The feline watches her human with calm attentiveness. Like a good listener Ecstasy follows her person as she stows the welding equipment below deck.
"Well, at least I have all six episodes to watch – one down, five to go. That should entertain me enough till we dock…" She remarks lovingly to the furry feline as she gathers her into an embrace.
"Hm? You little purr-box…"
"Well…" She muses setting the now purring Ex on the steering console. "Lets do some fishing, ok? I'm getting hungry."
Her ship is a scavenged deep-sea fishing boat, a 'Mako', if you go by what remains of the logo. She replaced the rotted wooden hull with a welded metal version 'MacGyvered' from pieces of scrap she found mostly on the dock south of the Hub. Managing to attach three extra gasoline drums plus an automatic fuel routing system of personal design she successfully lengthened the 'Mako's' travel distance to five times normal.
After arranging her tackle and line boxes on the floor she baits the three rods standing in their respective catches set into the rail. Removing the smallest from its holder she settles into the fighting chair. Ecstasy gracefully walks the baluster then jumps into the open lap.
One hand on the rod the other gently stroking the soft crème colored fur the pair listen to the sounds of the movie and the ocean.