"Tay!"

[OdileCondacin 0]

Cells replicate quickly... but there were many of them. It was not Tay's place to start things... or to end things. Agincourt people begin. Agincourt people end. Gideon people watched the middle, spending Gamma shift waiting for machines to beep beep beep. Gideon people waited for changes.

 

She made herself comfortable; lowering her metabolism, spending no more energy than most grown people would spend sleeping. Still, Tay wasn't asleep. Not really. Here eyes watched the flashing lights, waiting for change. Her ears too were alert, listening. She hung silently and carelessly from her perch, a bar strung just below the ceiling of the bio lab. Waiting...

 

A little flurry of activity out in the main lab caught her attention. More conversation, a bit of "snapping to it" than usual from the Gammas. And then...

 

"Ensign, uhm, Tay?" The slightly grating voice sounded almost nervous, but definitely confused. "You're... hanging. Upside down."

 

"Tay!" A quick sonar check of the individual who spoke. Female. Yet a different bone structure. Too big to be prey. Wearing cloth. Definitely not prey. Not predator either. Officer. Pips. Using words. 'Uhm'? She did not know uhm. This one likely wanted to use more words. Tay decided to increase her metabolism and look to the one using words. Hanging upside down? Yes. She was. Was this important?

 

The word-user in question blinked, squinting, and twisted her neck uncomfortably to see Tay better. "Could you, uhm, get down for a minute?"

 

"Could? Must???" Tay opened her wings, and withdrew her heel talons. A quick pivot, twist, and one heavy wing thrust, and she landed lightly on the floor, looking up at the two-pip person. "Tay!" She flipped her wings primly shut, and waited for more words. If it was important that she be head up, there were usually more words. Could they hear better head up?

 

"Thanks... that's a little better." The two (at least semi) humanoids looked at each other for a moment, and finally the other one spoke. "I've been looking at some of your work," the two-pip started, "and I've been wanting to fill a spot that Driscol left when he switched to Beta." But I didn't know you hung upside down. Nervously, Odile looked Tay over. So that was why Engineering had that odd request to install... monkey-bars in her lab. More like Tay-bars.

 

Tay smiled. "Driscol was alpha? Tay alpha?"

 

"Yes, Tay alpha." In her mind, Condacin swore. She'd be talking like batgirl here soon! "I mean, I think I'd like Tay to move to alpha shift, yes."

 

"Tay like! What do?" Tay's smile at least seemed compatible with a human smile, even if the teeth were clearly a carnivore's teeth.

 

"Well, same sort of thing you're doing now. More Bridge time. Better experiments." Better food and cushier accommodations. "Less specialized study, though..."

 

"Tay fly? Fly ship? No wing people can't fly." Her voice was very high pitched. In fact, the primary frequencies of her sonar were well above the normal hearing range of most species. Communicating with words was at best uncomfortable. Still, her inflections and pitches carried human emotion overtones far better than her abbreviated syntax. Her scorn for the thought of wingless people trying to fly the ship came across quite clearly.

 

"Well..." O'd'yl thought for a moment. "I suppose you could fly ship. Pilot, that is. Working with astrometrics... no fancy maneuvers..."

 

Her eyes narrowed. "Pilot fly ship? Or pilot tell computer fly ship."

 

"Uhm..." There that word was again. "You don't have a steering wheel, Tay..."

 

"Stick?" Wistful hope.

 

"Uhm..." Again! "Maybe... later... first you use computer. Okay, Tay?"

 

"Computer." She didn't apparently think much of computers. "Computer counts cells. Computer sequences DNA. Computer simulates transform. Computer no soul. Ship has soul. Ship flies!" She unfurled her wings, casually taking a stance that a dancer might be proud of, then folded them again, glaring at the enclosing walls. "Tay!" The walls echoed. "Ship flies." But she was resigned. The wingless ones just did not understand.

 

Now Odile looked downright alarmed. "Ship flies," she started slowly, "because of engines, Tay, not soul." But she was kindly about it.

 

"Know engines. Know science. Know biology. Know computers. Know flight." Too many words. How can one paint an echo picture to one whose ears can't hear high frequencies? How could one describe flight to one who programs computers to move ships around? "Cannot tell. Someday show. Gideon flew. Knew Gideon before broke." Tay shook her head. How could one live in a ship, and not know it could have a soul?

 

Odile frowned a little. "I'm sorry about Gideon. I really am..."

 

"Tay." Sadness.

 

"Well... we can talk about less orthodox flight... and with Harpy, but for now, you do helm, and you do science, and neither involving a joystick."

 

"Tay!" She smiled, a little sadly, not completely happy, morning for the Gideon that was, and for the Agincourt that could not yet be. Still, alpha seemed better than waiting for cell counter computers to beep, to give warning when the Soltan shifts were going to reach critical phase. "Tay alpha. Tay helps."

 

"Good. You start tomorrow morning, unless you need another shift of sleep."

 

"No sleep. Watch lurk. Good morning."

 

Odile nodded. "Until then, Tay."

 

She smiled. "Tay!"

[Tay 0]

Just to know what she looks like...

 

[Kansas_Jones 0]

Wings! It's a bird, that's all I need to know.

 

Here Birdy, Birdy...

[Tay 0]

Wings! It's a bird, that's all I need to know.

 

Here Birdy, Birdy...

 

Hsssssssst!

[Kansas_Jones 0]

::only a matter of time before Bat Girl lands::

 

::circle pattern::

[Kairi 0]

::Has spray bottle in one hand, and tennis racket in the other.::

 

You two behave. :D

[OdileCondacin 0]

Cat. Bad. Keep away from batgirl.