adventures in vents
two
Miles took this job to explore the world and make a little money. He didn’t take the job so he could take on rapid fire in the engine room of a ship, desperately trying to keep the thing from exploding as seven imperial cruisers tried to shoot them down. On top of that, Daniel was flying like a madman. Miles understood that he was a talented pilot and it took some creative maneuvering to outrun imperial cruisers, but he was also sure that Daniel was trying to show off. The spiraling that sent Miles slamming into walls felt unnecessary.
Alarms were blaring as Miles ran to get to the control room below deck. One of their jets was completely gone, and the other was in flames. He deployed a spider droid to crawl out onto the wing, then programmed it to start repairs. The spider was one of Miles’ own inventions, so he could make repairs outside while the ship was in motion rather than put on a space suit and go out there to do the dangerous work himself. It was a pretty decent droid, but it’s not like he ever got recognized for it. It was hard to control the spider and weld the broken parts together when Daniel was swerving so much, but Miles could only do the best he could.
Finally, things slowed down when Daniel lost the railing cruisers. Miles sank down to sit on the floor, exhausted. The spider tucked itself back into its compartment, now that the ship was okay enough to land on a nearby planet. Miles only had a couple minutes to catch his breath before someone came down and nudged him with their foot. He looked up to see Daniel himself glaring down at him.
“What the hell was that?” he snapped. “You’re supposed to be my support. How am I supposed to fly this tub if I can’t count on my engineer to keep it in one piece? You’re lucky we’re close enough to land somewhere.”
“You could thank me,” Miles suggested. “Or ask if I’m doing okay. Both are acceptable options.”
Daniel just scoffed at him and stomped off. Miles had known Daniel since they were kids, and the man had always been a little bit of a sensitive drama queen. The smallest thing would shatter his ego and it had only gotten worse after he became a “tall, dark, and handsome pilot”. When he decided to start his transport business, delivering imported products all over the galaxy, Miles was reluctant to accept. He was a skilled engineer and he was desperate to leave their dusty home planet, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to be around Daniel all the time. Ultimately, he decided the adventure would be worth it. It was only after he joined the crew that Miles realized Daniel wasn’t just transporting fancy crackers. He was also smuggling a drug called cryopane across borders. As conflicted as Miles was about being a drug smuggler, he decided his hands were off the drugs enough to feel like he wasn’t responsible for it. If they were caught he might end up doing some minor prison time, but hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. Anything was better than staying on his home planet, where he was a dirty street orphan with no job or life.
When they landed on Onius-1, Daniel seemed to blame Miles for the parts they needed not being around. He just sat in a corner, nursing a drink as he was picked on by the entire crew. Not just Daniel, but also the two weapons experts, Jimmy and Logan, and their hacker, Owen. Somehow, they had all decided they were better than Miles and he was the dork that was lucky to be around.
When the girl came around and offered her help, Miles wasn’t consulted. He shouldn’t have expected to be. When was he ever consulted on anything? He was down in the engine room when Daniel came to deliver her. She wasn’t exactly handled with care. She was dropped off like she was one of the parts they needed.
“Alright, Darcy,” Daniel said. “Do your magic. If you can get this ship off the ground, you can stay.”
“Is this your engineer?” she asked, noticing Daniel had passed over Miles.
“Yeah,” Miles said, answering for Daniel as he held a hand out to her. “I’m Miles. Nice to m-“
He was cut off by Daniel waving a hand at him dismissively.
“He’s useless,” Daniel said. “That’s why you’re here.”
“Useless?” Miles said, glaring at him. “I held this thing together by a single thread.”
“Whatever. Get to work.”
He left Darcy down there with Miles and they just stared at each other briefly. Then she awkwardly cleared her throat and looked at the control panel.
“The toolbox is over there,” Miles said, pointing to the carrier in the corner. “Give it whatever you got, I guess.”
“Okay. Let’s see what’s going on.”
Alarms were blaring as Miles ran to get to the control room below deck. One of their jets was completely gone, and the other was in flames. He deployed a spider droid to crawl out onto the wing, then programmed it to start repairs. The spider was one of Miles’ own inventions, so he could make repairs outside while the ship was in motion rather than put on a space suit and go out there to do the dangerous work himself. It was a pretty decent droid, but it’s not like he ever got recognized for it. It was hard to control the spider and weld the broken parts together when Daniel was swerving so much, but Miles could only do the best he could.
Finally, things slowed down when Daniel lost the railing cruisers. Miles sank down to sit on the floor, exhausted. The spider tucked itself back into its compartment, now that the ship was okay enough to land on a nearby planet. Miles only had a couple minutes to catch his breath before someone came down and nudged him with their foot. He looked up to see Daniel himself glaring down at him.
“What the hell was that?” he snapped. “You’re supposed to be my support. How am I supposed to fly this tub if I can’t count on my engineer to keep it in one piece? You’re lucky we’re close enough to land somewhere.”
“You could thank me,” Miles suggested. “Or ask if I’m doing okay. Both are acceptable options.”
Daniel just scoffed at him and stomped off. Miles had known Daniel since they were kids, and the man had always been a little bit of a sensitive drama queen. The smallest thing would shatter his ego and it had only gotten worse after he became a “tall, dark, and handsome pilot”. When he decided to start his transport business, delivering imported products all over the galaxy, Miles was reluctant to accept. He was a skilled engineer and he was desperate to leave their dusty home planet, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to be around Daniel all the time. Ultimately, he decided the adventure would be worth it. It was only after he joined the crew that Miles realized Daniel wasn’t just transporting fancy crackers. He was also smuggling a drug called cryopane across borders. As conflicted as Miles was about being a drug smuggler, he decided his hands were off the drugs enough to feel like he wasn’t responsible for it. If they were caught he might end up doing some minor prison time, but hopefully it wouldn’t come to that. Anything was better than staying on his home planet, where he was a dirty street orphan with no job or life.
When they landed on Onius-1, Daniel seemed to blame Miles for the parts they needed not being around. He just sat in a corner, nursing a drink as he was picked on by the entire crew. Not just Daniel, but also the two weapons experts, Jimmy and Logan, and their hacker, Owen. Somehow, they had all decided they were better than Miles and he was the dork that was lucky to be around.
When the girl came around and offered her help, Miles wasn’t consulted. He shouldn’t have expected to be. When was he ever consulted on anything? He was down in the engine room when Daniel came to deliver her. She wasn’t exactly handled with care. She was dropped off like she was one of the parts they needed.
“Alright, Darcy,” Daniel said. “Do your magic. If you can get this ship off the ground, you can stay.”
“Is this your engineer?” she asked, noticing Daniel had passed over Miles.
“Yeah,” Miles said, answering for Daniel as he held a hand out to her. “I’m Miles. Nice to m-“
He was cut off by Daniel waving a hand at him dismissively.
“He’s useless,” Daniel said. “That’s why you’re here.”
“Useless?” Miles said, glaring at him. “I held this thing together by a single thread.”
“Whatever. Get to work.”
He left Darcy down there with Miles and they just stared at each other briefly. Then she awkwardly cleared her throat and looked at the control panel.
“The toolbox is over there,” Miles said, pointing to the carrier in the corner. “Give it whatever you got, I guess.”
“Okay. Let’s see what’s going on.”