Moonshine

Posted on Mon Apr 4th, 2022 @ 8:10pm by Crewman Finn Jones & Petty Officer, 1st Class Christian Tremblay & Petty Officer, 3rd Class Kiyara de Vos

Mission: Mission 5 - Babel
Location: Hydroponics Bay
Timeline: 279
1923 words - 3.8 OF Standard Post Measure

Moonshine what’s the order of business that night as the small group of people crammed into the hydroponics Bay. No one knew if they would get it again so a party had been called to enjoy the moonshine that was left and work out a plan to see if they could get Duncan McManus to continue the project that had been started with Sam King.

Finn has lowered the light levels and had moved his usual stuff from the small office that was there and put it under the desk and in the storage area so that no one knew that he’d been sleeping there again. It was easy to slip into doing it so he did not need to go far from the hydroponics bay even with the modifications he was making thanks to the experience on The Caelestis but still he did not want to risk the fresh food.

Christian grabbed a pre-poured cup of the swill and took a swig. The burn of the booze going down was refreshing given he had been spending most of his time down on the alien planet with the science teams cataloguing the various flora they had discovered. Today had been the first time he'd caught a fresh shower, and he had put an extra helping of his cologne on just in case. He nodded a greeting to several of the other enlisted crew that he recognized, before he spotted Finn and made his way over to him. "Finn how ya been," he asked with a nodded as he looked back out to face the crowd. Being from Quebec in Canada, Christian spoke with a French-Canadian accent.

The young man turned at someone actually saying his name and turned to see the other man. "Good." He lied with a shrug before looking around. "Did not think so many people would turn up." He admitted noticing a few of the younger officers wearing civilian clothes among the people just trying to relax a little

"I think word has gotten out about the still," Christian replied as he noticed some officers in the mix. He looked back over at Finn, "So, how many days have you been sleeping in here?" Christian had noticed the bay seemed to cleaner than usual, but he had heard the interdepartmental rumors that Finn was keeping himself to the bay. He noticed the man's alarmed expression before he put up a hand to reassure him, "Relax Finn. Your secret, if any, is safe with me."

"Secret? Who has a secret?" Manishie had been milling around and was heading for Finn to compliment him on the latest batch when she heard Tremblay talk about a secret. "I like secrets, it's why I got into detective work." She nodded a bit at that. "So let me see." She looked Finn up and down, "fraternisation with an officer?" She shook her head, "too easy." She looked at the glass in her hand, "the hooch?" Another shake of the head, "That ship has warped out."

Finn fid not get a chance to reply Christian as Manishie appeared like a bloodhound hunting for a clue. “I have nothing to do with the hooch… it’s Engineering and marines. I just allowed people to use the space for a party.” The young man spluttered as he felt ganged up in by the pair. It was like when he was a child again surrounded but his cousins as they tried to get answers over what was going on. “I… it’s not your business my secrets.” He finally said standing up to someone as he did not want to be discussing the fact he slept there.

Manishie sidled up to Christian, "So what's his deal?" She took another sip of the moonshine, leaning into the man next to her.

Christian picked up on Finn's tension and gave the man some space as he took a sip from his own cup. He looked over at Manishie and lowered his voice some, "Finn is just really guarded. You have to go easy on him or he goes back in his shell. He's a pretty good guy when he opens up."

"Just seems like someone needs to get a bit more booze in them." Manishie finished her drink and smiled at Christian before pushing slightly away from him again. "Some others need to know their limits." She took a moment to centre herself as the booze was making her a little lightheaded.

Christian looked back over at Finn and caught his eye as he mouthed the words, "I'm sorry." Raising his voice he looked at his two shipmates, "So, did everyone get a chance to go down to the planet? It was quite refreshing if I say so myself."

Finn nodded accepting the apology despite how the blush rose across his face. He did not want people talking about him more than they already here. "I did. Was nice to be able to feel fresh air and get some sunshine on my skin." He looked tanned under the embarrassed tint to his skin.

Kiyara was never one for parties, but the engineering team had been quite proud of the moonshine they'd been able to distil and from conversations with others they realised they should mingle more with people from other departments. So there they were leaning against the wall, hair in a wild curly explosion on their head, casual cargo pants with way too many pockets and a baggy button-up shirt half tucked in. Quite possibly the worst dressed wallflower in the history of wallflowers.

"Looks like you were able to get some sun," Christian replied before he spotted Kiyara and waved her over to join them. "I know I spent a lot of time down there, Ensign Lepine had me help her conduct studies on some of the wildlife. She seemed oddly fixated on something that resembles a large squirrel. She told me that she thought they were telepathic, but I'm not so sure." He shrugged when the others gave him confused looks.

The crewman nodded. He had gotten a lot of sun, it had turned his usual pale tons first red than a nice brown colour that suited him. It would fade eventually but it was nice to be a bit of a healthier colour for a while. “I did. Was nice to get some real sunshine rather than.” He indicated the sun lamps all around them. Finn opened his mouth a few times around the comments on telepathic squirrels and frowned seeing the confused looks all around. “Nothing down there was telepathic. I heard Nascimento…” He grew quiet for a moment thinking of the man in the sickbay before he carried on. “… say that he could not see anything to support that claim.”

Finn paused and looked around. "What about you guys?"

With a small shrug, Kiyara shuffled a bit closer to the group. "We were sent there to set up some scanners and such. Later they needed me to make sure the tower collapse was only local." Another shrug, as they sipped the quite strong moonshine.

"Oh, I went around quite a bit. Accompanied the doctor. Some security team expedition as well." Manishie wasn't anything like Kiyara, she was simply thriving in this environment. "Was plenty to be seen on that planet, even without telepathic squirrels. It's too bad we have to keep moving to have any shot at getting home before we're all dead and buried." she looked around when she said that, knowing that it would be quite the buzz kill for some people. "I wouldn't want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere with anyone else!" She threw an arm around Christian, he seemed most open to her brand of awkward.

Christian looked around with a slight shrug before gently letting Manishie's arm slide from around his shoulders. "Well, someone certainly likes the moonshine," he said before taking another sip from his own mug. "It is a shame we couldn't stay longer, but I for one am glad we are moving on. Given what happened with the collapse and all," he said as the all silently acknowledged the loss they had endured. "I wonder if this will be the last batch of moonshine unless someone is willing to keep it going without the Major," he said as he looked around at the small group.

"Engineering were the brains with the equipment maybe we need to find McManus a partner," Finn said thoughtfully. He knew of no one else off the top of his head but he did not exactly talk to many of the crew so he could not claim to know everyone. It would be a shame to lose what people had worked on for the last two hundred plus days, seemed like it would be a good way to honour the Majors memory. But who was he to think that, he did not know the man other than when he helped to pick out some herbs and stuff to flavour the hooch.

"Anyone talked to McManus about it? I mean, there is bound to be someone who knows how to make hooch," Christian replied before downing the last of his cup. He gestured towards the group, "Next round on me?"

"You're Engineering," Finn said to Kiyara remembering that she had to be close to McManus or at least knew him enough to talk to him about stuff other than just the ship.

"Well.. uh.." Kiyara looked at the drink in her hand, she was sure she could keep the machinery going, "I mean the still is very basic tech. I'm sure I can keep that going." She looked around, she had no clue what to put in the thing to make moonshine come out the other end though, "I just. I don't know anything about the rest of the process though."

"I think they need someone who knows the process but I am sure McManus would need help with the still," Finn said with a positive glint in his eye as he glanced at Christian for a moment before looking away. "What flavour do you have?" He asked the group knowing his own drink was tinted with something sweet but there were many options.

Christian had stepped aside to refill his glass. Having woven his way back, he heard Finn ask them which flavoring they had chosen. He took a sip and mulled over what he was tasting, "Seems like a kind of passion fruit with a lemon zest." Catching Finn's glance his way, Christian found himself returning the look. He caught himself lingering and smiled slightly at Finn before turning his attention back to the group.

Kiyara looked back down into her cup and she took a small step back away from the group, she couldn't quite tell what the flavouring was that was added. She'd only taken small sips. She gave a small shrug, "It's fruity, I guess," she said quietly.

"But you like it right?" Finn questioned quickly. He enjoyed helping with the flavours so it was interesting to know what other people thought.

"It's great, certainly doesn't taste like typical moonshine I had back in Canada. That was like drinking lighter fluid," Christian offered as he raised his mug towards Finn. "And we have you to thank for giving it some sweetness."

Finn blushed and held up his glass in a salute. “I try.” Was all he murmured quickly before returning his gaze to the party. There were be so much to clean up after.