This story was originally written as a flash-back from Ryan Bow. It tells the story of how the young engineer met the girl he instantly fell in love with and who would later break his heart. It is also the story that gave birth to Brint Dao-Tsun, another character that I now play.
“So Ryan, what do you think about the new mechanic?” Brint asked Ryan, interrupting the work on the mule again.
“What’s there to think about? We haven’t met him yet. All we know is that the captain hired another mechanic who’ll check in on board this morning.” Ryan had had this conversation about five times now with Brint and he already knew where it would lead again.
“Him or her.” Brint replied, not letting Ryan down. “It could very well be a woman.”
“Yes, it could be,” Ryan confirmed. “It would be a nice addition, especially for Cynthia, since she’s the only woman on the ship at the moment.”
“Not to mention,” Brint said, “that she’s far too old for me.” Brint would never change. He was always very confident about himself, especially when it came to the ladies.
“Now you’re just being mean to Cynthia,” Ryan said. “Besides, she’s a better mechanic than you’ll ever be. Hand me the autowrench, will you?” Ryan wanted to finish the work on the mule before the morning was over. The cargo bay of the ‘Shining Glory’ still housed about nine other vehicles that needed attention today, and there were only five mechanics to do it. Well, six in a little while.
“I hope she’s hot.” Brint continued the conversation, “So I can work my irresistible charms on her.”
Ryan was starting to get annoyed. Not only because Brint was stalling work again, but also because his bragging about how easily he could charm the ladies wasn’t entirely made up. Ryan on the other hand, never was that good with women. He was easily intimidated and far too uncertain of himself. Especially when Brint was around. “Will you just shut up and help me finish the mule?!”
Brint looked at Ryan with a smirk on his face. “Sheesh, take it easy, grandpa!”
Ryan wasn’t in the mood to argue with Brint. “Just shut up and give me a hand, will you?” The two best friends continued working on the mule as the morning went on.
As the work on the mule was nearing its end, the voice of captain Dong Fue sounded through the cargo bay: “May I have everybody’s attention please? I would like you to meet our latest addition to the crew: Nadia Forlay. Her previous job was working on industrial vehicles, so there’s not much new that she needs to learn. Basic stuff is the same, only a bit smaller, as she herself so adequately put it.”
Ryan heard Brint, who’d immediately crawled out from under the mule, comment on the new mechanic: “Oh yeah! Things are going to get a lot more interesting on this ship!”
Ryan got up from under the mule as well. He was about to start another discussion with Brint as he saw the new mechanic standing next to the captain. The young woman was absolutely gorgeous. She had long, wavy blond hair with a golden glow eminating from it. And she wore a smile that made Ryan lose the feeling in his legs.
“Nice, ey?” Brint said as he gave Ryan a nudge in the side. But Ryan was stupefied by Nadia. All he could do was stare.
“I’m gonna need one of you to show her the whats and wheres of this place.” Dong Fue said. “Who’ll –“
“ME!!!” Brint shouted eagerly, raising his hand. “I’ll show her everything she needs to see.”
“And that’s exactly why you can put your hand down again, Brint.” Dong Fue said. “I can’t have you harassing the rest of the crew.” Ryan could feel the fire in his chest blaze with the smile Nadia produced by the comment.
“Ta Ma Duh!” said a clearly upset Brint.
“What was that, Mr. Dao-Tsun?” The comment might not have been meant for the captain’s ears, but it had reached them.
“Nothing captain!” Brint always had been sort of a rebel, but he knew when to back off.
“Good. I want you to start working on that hover truck in the back. Bow can finish the mule on his own.” The captain clearly did not want Brint anywhere near Nadia for the time being.
“Yes captain,” Brint said reluctantly as he made his way over to the back of the cargo bay. But not before looking back and giving Nadia a wink.
This was Ryan’s chance. All he had to do was to say that he’d gladly take the job, but he was afraid that he might sound too eager, and give Nadia the impression that he was just like Brint. Maybe Cynthia was more suited to show her the ropes. Or maybe even Dwight or Pjotr, although those two certainly wouldn’t like to. Dwight and Pjotr hated everybody new. Or anybody old for that matter. In fact, the two didn’t seem to like anybody, not even each other.
So, Cynthia was probably the best- “Bow,” Dong Fue said, interrupting Ryan’s thoughts. “Care to come back to us from wherever you were just now and show Nadia how we work here?”
“S- Sure, captain! H- Happy to!”
“Okay then, that’s settled. I’ll show you your quarters later on; right now I need you to work on the vehicles with the rest, cause we still have a lot of work to finish before the day ends. Do you have any questions right now, Nadia?”
“Just one captain: where do I leave my bag?” Nadia pointed to the large bag at her feet.
“I’ll take it up with me and put it in your quarters.” Dong Fue grabbed the bag and tried to lift it; the bag lifted a couple of inches before it fell on the floor again. The captain’s face reddened and he quickly heaved the bag with a lot more force. This time he managed to keep it from the ground, but it was obvious it took him some effort. As quick as his heavy cargo would let him, he made his way out of the cargo bay. Nadia smiled at the situation, then turned towards Ryan’s direction and walked over to him.
“Mr. Bow?” Nadia extended her hand.
Still not entirely sure what’d happened, Ryan answered. “Y- Yes, but please call me Ryan.” Ryan pulled a cloth from his back pocket and wipedhis sweaty palm before shaking Nadia’s hand. “Grease,” he lied.
“Nadia Forlay. So, what’s wrong with this mule?” Nadia turned her attention to the vehicle in front of them.
“It’s uhm.. It’s.. It’s not working,” Ryan blurted out. He couldn’t stop staring at Nadia. At her perfect hair, her well-shaped figure, her breath taking eyes…
Nadia started laughing. “I kind of figured that out for myself, Ryan.” Ryan felt his face turning red.
“Ooh, he blushes.” Nadia teased him. This didn’t exactly help the situation and Ryan was pretty sure that his face instantly went from red to a deep purple.
“Oh come on, Ryan. I’m just teasing you.”
Brint was right about one thing. Things aboard the ‘Glory’ were going to get a lot more interesting!