[Daniel] Day 11: Grim News (tag all)

[fikgirl.livejournal.com]

By the time Daniel gathered the majority of the survivors around the cookfire, it was writ on many of the faces that the news had already trickled down the metaphorical grapevine. What was the saying? Good news travels fast, but bad news travels faster?

He looked out at the eclectic assortment of people, from different walks of life with different knowledge and different skills, all thrown together into this community due plane crashes, spaceship crashes, misdirected wormholes, and rips in the fabric of time. All brought here by people or beings unknown with reasons just as unfamiliar and unknown, with the slowly waning hope that they would ever be rescued.

Taking off his glasses, Daniel pinched the bridge of his nose. He thought for a moment, tossing out the previously rehearsed words in favor of just speaking from his heart and his head. He wasn't going to give empty platitudes or hollow words, these people didn't want to hear that and truly, he hated the sound of such things.

"As I'm sure most of you may have heard, Lucy Brightman is no longer with us. She took her own life this morning and drowned in the ocean. Plans are being made to retrieve her body from the reef, and there will be a burial and a memorial service. If anyone would like to say a few words, then please see me and we'll make arrangements. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to see me or Blaise."

The hardest part over, Daniel took and released a breath. "Now, unfortunately, as callous as it sounds, Lucy is gone, yes, but the camp is still here and we still have to survive another day. There is still food to be gathered: foraging, fishing, snares, and possibly boar pits to be dug. A raft is being built to retrieve the body, and any help with salvaging logs or materials to strap them together would be a great help.

"Most importantly, and I *cannot* stress this enough, talk to one another. Everyone here, we are all a community now and we need to pay attention to the needs of one another and the general feeling within the camp." His gaze nearly strayed to Clarice, but he resisted. She was pushing herself again, trying to hold it together while helping with the raft and as much as he wanted to tell her not to, he didn't think that preventing her help would be good for her; of course, he wasn't sure that her helping was good for her either. "Help one another.

"Any questions?"

"I have a question," Shannon piped up.

"Yes, Shannon?"

"What's going to happen to her stuff?" Shannon looked around, speaking over the rumbling growls and indignant mutterings, "What? It's a practical question. Survival. Isn't that what Daniel was just talking about? Life goes on? He can say it, but I can't?"

Comments

[Jon] Whodunnit (tag Jon, Daniel, open)

[sophiedb.livejournal.com]

"Coffee? Yeah, sure. Thanks."

Jon almost grinned at the thought, despite the morning's events. They'd been spoiled by those couple of nights in the TARDIS, where real coffee actually existed. He wondered whether anyone had dared tell Daniel that little snippet just yet, though the substitute that Ripley and McKay came up with was apparently pretty good.

He put away dreams of the previous morning's breakfast and went back to watching faces then, trying to be circumspect about who he was focssing on. Zoe was one - apparently they had some kind of history back in Sydney, and she'd taken up with Amanda and Shannon fairly quickly after the crash. Jon doubted that any of them would have done anything deliberately, but could a trio of bitches really wear someone down that much in so short a time, given the right material?

Jon let his eyes wander, absently munching on a wax apple while the camp commiserated. He met Harry's gaze at one point, reading only a little sadness and a little calculation, then realized the guy was far more interested in the women - as per usual. The loser was probably wondering if any of them would let him get away with a sympathetic grope.

His other initial suspect was Ethan, mainly down to the stories he'd heard about women being approached last week. All that stuttering made the guy seem relatively harmless though, and for all his height Jon didn't think the guy could have done anything without leaving a few more marks. On the other hand Jon knew he hadn't been paying much attention to that end of the camp and had been away for a few days. He needed to talk to someone who had, preferably someone he didn't have to pussyfoot around too much.

OOC: Is this is the cuckoo island coffee? Any side effects to watch out for?

OOC answer

[starborn-scribe.livejournal.com]

Yep, cuckoo island coffee. *snicker* Most everyone's been treating it as really strong coffee plus the intoxication of alcohol without the sedative effects. IIRC Daniel started getting loopy after three cups.

Re: OOC answer

[sinanju.livejournal.com]

The island coffee, of course, had no effect on George. It takes a lot of booze to get her loaded--or a lot of island coffee.

The fact that she spent the rest of the day shagging Carlos senseless is, of course, completely coincidental.

Re: OOC answer

[sophiedb.livejournal.com]

ROTFL!

Re: OOC answer

[lost-mckay.livejournal.com]

Had one cup, but McKay has coffee instead of blood, so he was fine. Awake, a little more animated, but fine.

Re: OOC answer

[purplerhino.livejournal.com]

Rose ended up bouncing in her seat singing songs by the Kinks. ;)

[McKay] Whodunnit (tag Jon, Daniel, open)

[lost-mckay.livejournal.com]

Actually, the beans weren't all that bad. A little caffeine rush, a little harsher than what he had at home, but all in all, not that bad. Couple that with the fact that one takes what one can get, and they are coffee beans after a sort? One makes coffee.

McKay returned quickly, tossing a handful of beans into the makeshift mortar and pestle gotten from the Doctor, and after sitting down, began the hand process of grinding them. He glanced around at the small groupings, following Jon's line of sight. The astrophysicist had nothing in common, really, with any of them. The Doctor, sure. His companion, the cute blonde? She was nice, didn't seem to mind him much. And the pair had no chips on their shoulders, at least in regards to him.

Daniel, well... Dr. Jackson seemed more lost than McKay'd ever noticed in the mission reports. Probably wasn't easy keeping this 'group' together and focused. And Rodney had problems focusing? Ha.

The grinding was quickly finished, and into the pot to be put over the fire. Rodney shifted the wood a little, more poking, trying not to get burnt in the process, settling the pot down before blowing on his hand and waving it wildly for a second or two. "Hot-hot-hot..."

"So, ah, you tell me. Think Carter'll figure it out?"

[Jon] Whodunnit (tag McKay, Daniel, open)

[sophiedb.livejournal.com]

Jon snorted. "'Course!" Then blinked. "Which bit?"

McKay glared at him, clearly ready to launch into another rapid-fire diatribe. Jon merely smirked and held up a hand.

"Look, as far as I'm concerned both of you have achieved the impossible before so why not now? It might take a while, but she'll get there. Either way they know we're all alive and they're looking for us, which is more than either side had a few days ago."

The trouble was that if it was as simple as plotting a course to the island, the Navy would be here by now. The Doctor and McKay said they'd broken through this time bubble thing, which was great, but what other kinds of camouflage had the people who'd brought them here put in place?

"I've waited longer for rescue before, or as good as - I can do it again." He grinned broadly. "So can you, now that we've got coffee."

[McKay] Coffee's on! (tag Jon, Daniel, Doctor/Rose, open)

[lost-mckay.livejournal.com]

As the pot began to boil, the aroma of island java began to fill the immediate area. No doubt, now that McKay's back, it'll be a pretty consistant smell in camp.

"Well, now that they know where the team ended up," That'd be Daniel and Blaise, "that helps." Rodney paused a moment, watching the coffee as the pot began to boil. He checked his watch quickly, now timing exactly how long it had to do it. "Wouldn't they ask, well, you know, the 'big guys' to help?" Thor. Odin. He could have mentioned their names and simply been thought to still be one of those fringe Canadian/Norwegians that still followed 'the old religion', but truthfully, he'd rather not. "Seems they'd be able to help. If they could figure out how to deal with the time elements." Which, truthfully, may actually be beyond them. Oddly enough, that gave the astrophysicist a warm, fuzzy feeling. He may be the only scientist on earth with a practical application of being able to cross time. With the right technology, of course. And he wasn't just aping it. He understood it.

"Personally, I don't want to wait a long time for rescue. Who knows what Dr. Zelenka is doing to my city."

McKay looked back at the boiling pot, and after a couple more long moments, leaned over to pull it from the fire, making 'my hands are burning' noises once more as it finally drops it into the sand. "It's ready. Just needs to stop boiling..."

"You know. I heard they were making a raft. What if we used the raft after, tried to sail it, unmanned, out, see how far we got? I'm sure we could rig something. Back to the plane, see what we had as far as a power source? Wouldn't have to be anything powerful. Watch the water, catch the tides, and send it out? Sort of like a MALP. Put some sort of EM tester on it and see what happens." See? Rodney didn't ignore Jon back at the TARDIS. He just needed some time to let the idea foment. "I'll talk to the Doctor about it, and Dr. Jackson. To get the raft."

Re: [McKay] Coffee's on! (tag Jon, Daniel, Doctor/Rose, open)

[fikgirl.livejournal.com]

There ya go, Rodney. Good brain :-)

OOC

[lost-mckay.livejournal.com]

Where's my cookie?
:)

[Jon] Coffee's on! (tag Rodney, Daniel, Doctor/Rose, open)

[sophiedb.livejournal.com]

"Forgive me if I don't sound all that keen about calling in the 'big guys'. Personal grudge," Jon replied wryly, though he couldn't help but be amused by the idea that a 4 foot high Roswell grey was 'big'. It was about as appropriate as calling Charlie a hobbit.

"But yeah, they might send out a call. How long it'll take them to get to this, uh.. neighborhood.. is another matter. They had trouble at home last I heard." He shrugged, glancing in Daniel's direction. "You guys know more than I do."

Jon scooted to the other side of the fire when Rodney declared the coffee ready for consumption, returning with a motley collection of mugs. There'd be a queue of coffee addicts soon enough, so they might as well be prepared. The raft idea sounded interesting though.

"You mean like a beacon of some sort? Or to see how far the bubble thing goes? Blow it up, perhaps?" He grinned at the eye-rolling he got for that one. "Whatever it is, if it looks feasible just go for it. Oh, and hey - the plane that Mara and Faith came down in is still out there. If you're missing a few parts there might be some spares available."

Jon held out two coconut bowl/mugs, his expression oh so innocent as he waited for McKay's reaction to the idea of another hike.

Re: [Jon] Coffee's on! (tag Rodney, Daniel, Doctor/Rose, open)

[fikgirl.livejournal.com]

LOL!

Nice LoTR reference there...I always forget though, was he Merry or Pippin?

[sophiedb.livejournal.com]

Um.. *off to IMDb* Merry :)

[McKay] Coffee's on! (tag Jon, Daniel, Doctor/Rose, open)

[lost-mckay.livejournal.com]

"I don't know. I thought they had that bug problem taken care of." Rodney blew on his hand to try to get the tingling to stop and feeling to come back, and waved it around in front of him before reaching for a cup.

Jon did receive the requisite eye-roll. It's almost as if the kid asked for it. "That's always the first answer, isn't it?" The scientist exhaled in a rather put-upon sigh before he brought up his free hand to gesture with, accenting his words. "You were the one who said that we have no idea what the Navy would encounter. You're right. But that raft'll give us an idea as to how far the field goes, and whether or not it's penetrable, and if they actually have something up their sleeve."

The coffee was done, and there was no sense letting it now get cold, so Rodney picked it up once more and began to pour the black liquid of life. Well, his anyway, the two cups, at least, filled. Thinking about it a moment, he poured one more for Daniel to be taken at the anthropologist's whim.

Jon received a scowl for that particular suggestion, but the problem is, McKay's a realist. If anyone was going to scavenge, it'd be him. He knew what was needed, could identify it in a second and determine if it was, indeed, salvageable. So, while he really didn't like the idea, there wasn't any other that he could think of at the moment. "We'll use the raft after they're done with it; I'll write the specs up to get the best use out of what we have here, but we might have to find their airplane. If the raft can make it out past the bubble, it might be good to have their black box attached."

[Jon] Moving on.. (tag open)

[sophiedb.livejournal.com]

Jon stood, balancing his bowl of coffee in both hands so it didn't spill.

"Sounds like a plan, McKay, or the beginnings of one in any case," he sniffed the hot liquid appreciatively and gave it a test sip, then screwed up his face. "Gah, hot.. but good. Thanks."

He looked over the dispersing crowd one last time before heading off. The general consensus wasn't all that surprising: everyone was sad that Lucy was dead, and Shannon was a callous bitch for raising the issue of the woman's inheritance quite so soon. A fair proportion of the camp hadn't even bothered attending though - some were clustered around the half-built raft, others by Mara's tent.

I gotta get me one of those tinfoil hats. Or maybe he should just bite the bullet and ask her what she thought she was playing at when she called him 'sir'. Ya. Sure.

"Right, I'm off to gather wood or.. something. Gimme a yell if you do decide to go on this next trek, unless Daniel decides to send Blaise. I don't know how open Faith is to tag-alongs or when they're setting off, but you're still a natural resource."

Jon wondered silently when he'd stopped thinking of Daniel as someone who needed babysitting, particularly since the old coot seemed to (what with the Marine escort). Or maybe that was an anthropological "show of strength" thing. Either way McKay seemed a lot higher on the vulnerability scale despite fighting intergalactic space-vampires on a regular basis, and Jon didn't rate his chances of survival if he let the guy out alone because his feet hurt.

[McKay] Moving on.. (tag open)

[lost-mckay.livejournal.com]

Rodney watched Jon rise with coffee in hand, his expression turning back to a thoughtful scowl. He didn't move, however, instead preferring to continue sitting before the fire, and, as a result, near the coffee.

"I'll let you know." Even now, the scientist was beginning to think of ways around having to have some sort of primitive power to get the raft out as far as he figured it'd need to go. "I'm going to have to watch the tides first before I even think about finding the other airplane."

Truthfully, McKay probably was one of the more vulnerable here, having lived, up until a year ago, a completely sheltered, academic, theoretical life. His personality, his ego, it all conspired against him, making him a target for some until it was discovered that it was all compensation. That need to be included, even if he was difficult. His friends had figured it out long ago, shrugging his gaffes off as 'That's just Rodney'. He needed to be protected, and sometimes, even from himself. He needed, at times, to be told what to do under high stress or he'd completely fall apart. With something to occupy himself, however, he was focused on the task, and now was no different, though his single-mindedness would probably lead to yet another dangerous trek back into the jungle.

Rodney shook his head, exhaled in a sigh, and after grabbing a small twig, began to write in the sand an electrical diagram, filled with small lines, squiggles and boxes. "Keep it simple, McKay."