Six Degrees of Separation (Drake + Open)

[Emma Nash]

0535, Oct 2st 2003; Hyperion Gym

It was her third day on Hyperion and already Emma had met and become well acquainted with many of the pilots both viper and raptor aboard, as well as many of her fellow ECO’s, witnessed a fight and bet on the losing horse--but he was a pilot so who else was she going to bet on no matter the score--and was now settling into her usual routine.


Cash, was the call sign of her new partner. The bus driver of her raptor, number 32. Logan ‘Cash’ Caulfield appeared to be a nice enough guy in the short amount of time that she had known him. He talked enough for the both of them. The irony was she was the one relaying all of the information to others, and yet he was the more verbose of the two. It was Emma’s nature to be quiet ever since she was child and that would probably never change. She only ever spoke if spoken too, or if it was necessary. She didn’t see the need for excessive chatter when there was nothing important to say.

At 5:30AM Emma had sprang out of bed, dressed into her uniformed workout attire—dark grey tank top and lighter grey sweats—and ran to the gym hoping not many people had the same idea. When she entered the room it seemed fairly vacant. She put in her headphones, pulled her hoodie over her head, wrapped her hands and approached one of the free bags hanging from the ceiling.

For at least 45 minutes Emma beat on the bag, pummeling her fists into its leathery exterior and changing it up with intermittent kicks. Her style of fighting betrayed her kickboxing roots. Emma was more powerful in her legs than her arms and enjoyed using them to her advantage. After a while her hood fell backwards from the top of her head and the faint sounds of the room seeped behind her earpieces. She did her best to ignore them nonetheless and kept her focus. After nearly an hour she decided she was in need of a break. Chest heaving, she was out of breath and desperate for a drink of water. Emma walked over to the bench nearest the bag where she had set her towel and her water bottle. She flopped down onto the bench and wiped the towel over her face sopping up the beats of sweat that were running down her neck. Twisting off the top of her water bottle she began to gulp it down.

[Drake Wolfe]

It was a little after 0600 when Drake swung his feet over and off of his bunk. His ship from Caprica had come in late the previous night, so he was still tired from his trip, but after spending the last week and a half with his parents in Phoebus, he needed to start working off the results of ten days of easy living. Groggily, he stumbled into the bathroom he shared with Captain Weiss. Ah, the benefits of being the CAG. Only one roommate, and a private bathroom to boot. He grimaced as he looked into the mirror, running his hand over the stubble he'd allowed to grow over the past few days.

'Meh, I'll take care of it later.' [/i]

Drake fumbled with the faucet, letting the cold water run for a few moments before splashing his face with it. Drops fell from his chin onto his bare chest, leaving trails as they continued down to the waistband of his sweatpants. Blindly, he felt around for his towel. Feeling the cloth on his fingertips, he grabbed it and dried his face, wiping away the last remnants of sleep. Satisfied, he threw on his undershirt and headed for the gym.

~~~

As he entered, he noticed a woman sitting near the punching bags, and it seemed she had been there a while already. She was already glistening, and the darkening of her clothes bore testimony to how hard she had been working out. He gave a small wave as he headed for the row of treadmills nearby.

[Emma Nash]

Emma lifted the grey hoodie which had fallen over her eyes again. Her head hung towards the ground, her elbows supported on her thighs which were spread wide in front of her as she leaned forward, elongating her back and twisting her torso from side to side in an effort to get out the kinks and stiffness more thoroughly. She then turned sideways on the bench, lengthened her leg out to one side, drawing her left foot into her right thigh and folded her abdomen over her leg, resting her face on her knee, and wrapped her hands around her foot. After a few moments she switched sides. Her eyes shifted upwards and her gaze fell on the man who had entered the room. He was tall, broad shouldered and classically handsome with a strong jawline, hair like the sun and clear blue eyes.

From word of mouth she had heard that Drake was the CAG. Drake Wolfe, the name reverberated in her mind as she watched the man head towards the treadmills. It was a strong name, a sturdy name. She vaguely wondered if the man before her was very different from the name he had been given. She had only ever seen him once in passing. As he had done now Drake had given her a friendly wave in greeting. She hadn’t spoken two words to him. Let alone barely smiled at him in response. ‘Perhaps it seemed rude’, she thought fiddling with the string of her hoodie. She took another gulp of her water crushing the bottle slightly between her fingers; it was almost half empty.

Rising from her seat she walked towards the treadmills. Enough time had passed for her break and she didn’t want her heart rate to plummet too much. Nearly all the treadmills were empty. Emma thought of walking all the way down to the other end of the row, farthest from Drake. Again she wondered, ‘would that appear rude?’ Emma almost hesitated before stepping onto the treadmill beside Drake’s. Clearly, normal human interaction was not her strong suit. She started pressing the buttons setting herself up for a specific track and level. Then slowly she began walking. Her pace came to a jog, and then as the treadmill sped up she broke into a run. Emma loved to run. She preferred running around the ship, or out in the open than on the treadmill. There was nowhere to go on a treadmill; it felt a little defeating if she were honest. Emma felt most free when she was running, either that or kickboxing. There was something very satisfying about beating a bag into submission.

As she ran in silence beside Drake, other than her steady breath and the pounding of her feet on the treadmill, her dark grey tank top slapped against her skin. Her music blasted from her headphones still dangling from her ears, the cord ran under her shirt, the device tucked into her bra to keep it from moving around. Without her light grey undershirt the smaller tank partially revealed a few rose petals and the start of peacock features from the expansive tattoo decorating her backside. It hadn’t even crossed Emma’s mind but she was very careful to keep her tattoos under wraps, not wanting to break any rules or regulations.

[Samuel Lion]

Today was the day everyone was to report back to the Hyperion. Samuel wanted to get an earlier start to the day. He woke up and grabbed his gym gear before heading to the head(shower/bathroom), while there he shaved and washed the sleep out of his eyes.

He had his music playing in his ears when he walked into the gym. He needed to get warmed up before he started his leg day. As he walked in he rolled to his toes and started bouncing his way to the tread mill. He hoped on the machine next to Emma. He didn't know who the woman was but why not start the day off right, running next to a beautiful woman. He punched in a steady hill climb to warm up. He looked over with a smile and said "Good morning"He said with a friendly tone. You could still hear the sleepiness in his voice as he spoke.

Early morning's where never Samuel's favorite but the military dictated a rather early schedule for most crew. Being a pilot it was important for him to stay in peak physical shape and to have strong legs. The machine started to kick in and started off at a nice steady pace it quickly sped up and he was running around eight miles an hour at a ten incline.

[Emma Nash]

Emma Nash was a quiet, snarky, misanthropic individual. She liked her space and her silence. Her biggest quirk was her social awkwardness. Most of her mannerisms stemmed from her anxiousness which arose when around people. Normally this level of apprehension required large groups of people but she could just as easily be startled by a single person. This made her clumsy and even sometimes gave her the air of ‘damsel in distress.’ Should anyone tell her such, they would find themselves looking up at her from their backside, and they wouldn’t have gotten there in the most pleasurable of ways.

One would have to understand this about Emma to fully understand the chaos that was soon to unfold. The brunette noticed the other man step onto the treadmill beside her. It was at this moment that she regretted not moving to the far end of the row where she had a wall on one side and only room enough for one occupant on the other. She didn’t like being trapped on both sides by people. Not that she could run to either side anyways; she was on a treadmill, running to nowhere.

She was running at a steady pace, sweat beading on her forehead and dripping down her chest. The strands of hair that had fallen out of her ponytail were matted to the sides of her face. Her music was pounding in her ears mirroring the beat of her feet on the ever moving tread. It was then that someone else’s voice snuck in behind the sound of her music and shocked her.

“What?” Emma asked pulling one of her headphones out of her ear with a little jump as she turned to look at him. It was like watching a catastrophe or a cartoon, except Emma didn’t bounce. Her hand had slammed into the controls as she flung her earpiece out of her ear. And as she turned to look at Samuel, the man she didn’t know, the tread beneath her gave a great lurch and went into a sprint. Emma however was not in a sprint; the immediate switch flung her backwards.

With a gasp and a cry of something horrible Emma went sailing backwards and met the ground in a pile of arms and legs. The wind was knocked out of her for a second. A breathy ‘ouch’ was followed quickly by a few choice curse words, all signs that she was alright. Emma propped herself up onto her elbows and glared at the treadmill which was now making a soft buzzing noise as it continued to run at top speed as if mocking her. ‘I think I bruised my coccyx,’ she thought to herself. This couldn’t have possibly been more humiliating.

[Drake Wolfe]

Drake and the young woman had been running along in a comfortable silence for a while before one of his new transfers had come in. Drake recognized him from the picture on his file. He had yet to meet the young pilot personally, but he had met with the other CAGs currently on Aerilon, during which time they discussed all of their transfers, lauding and criticizing the pilots they were losing to each other in equal measure. This new pilot's former CAG had only good things to say about the man. All of his remarks seemed to be of a personal nature, and it was obvious that the two were chummy. Only when pressed for his professional opinion did Drake get the information he wanted.

The words "narcissistic", "a little intolerant of the gods and their followers", and "very competitive, almost to a fault", as well as the revelation that he didn't exactly get along with Gemenese because of their faith was disheartening. The kid was a hotshot, through and through. Most pilots were to some degree. Hades, even Drake had gone through a reckless phase himself. But all of these things, though minor on the deck, could easily lead to the death of a fellow pilot.

A swift, irregular movement to his right brought him back to the present. The young woman who had been running beside him had turned the treadmill up to full speed, and it had returned the favor by throwing her across the floor. The CAG turned quickly and jumped off his machine, rushing to the fallen girl.

"Are you ok!?"

Now that he was actually looking at her, he recognized her as one of Weiss's people. Well, technically one of his, too, but he had allowed Captain Weiss to have pretty much direct control over all things Raptor related. He looked up and over at the Viper jock.

"Run to the nearest med station and grab somebody to come check her out. Doesn't have to be DePaul, just someone who knows what they're doing."

[Samuel Lion]

Samuel was getting started as the events started to unfold. He said a friendly greeting not overly loud he just mostly wanted her to know he was going to run next to her. Yes there where other treadmills but Samuel had grown fond of this one. There where many treadmills like it but this one was Samuel's. At that moment the woman looked over at Samuel and pulled out her Ear buds. She had asked him what he said and before he could reply she was flung off of the treadmill. As this happened Samuel pulled the emergency cord on her treadmill and then on his own. Samuel rod the tread until the end and then hoped off.Samuel would have gotten of earlier but she seemed more frustrated at herself for falling then hurt.

Then his future CAG wanted him to go fetch a doctor. He even went so far as to mention the CMO ' what the frakk she isn't dieing its a frakking treadmill. Someone has white knight syndrome bad' He thought to himself. He wanted to confront him and say why don't we ask her how she is before we go seeking Medical help. She looked fine she wasn't screaming. Ya she let out an ouch but who wouldn't. The mats where soft but they where no pillows. So instead of arguing with the CAG he quickly moved for the door. As he was about to open the hatch a marine walked through. The man must have been very proud of being a medic because he had the red cross on his work out uniform. Now he may not have been a medic so Sam decided to ask. "Hey are you a medic" He said in a regular tone no real rush in his voice. The marine looked at him quizzical and pointed to the cross on his shirt. " yes he said plainly. "Good come with me." He said as he was bringing the medic over to check her out. "She fell off the treadmill and my Superior would like you to check her out." He kept his tone formal and calm. Inside he wanted to but out laughing. She fell of the treadmill can you check for bleeding and brain damage' He thought to himself, it brought a small smile to his face.

The medic checked her out and said " well everything seems fine you will probably be sore. Take some OTC pain meds, which ever you prefer and I'm sure you will be bright as rain in no time." Then the marine went to his workout. Samuel offered her a hand up and with a smile he said"You know that's why they make these" as he grabbed his emergency stop cord that was still clipped to his shirt.

(((OOC it seemed to me that you weren't badly wounded Sawyer if that is in fact not the case let me know and i can change my post.)))

[Emma Nash]

((ooc: that was perfect Sam, I just wanted it to be something amusing and embarrassing for Emma, hehe.))

It was at times like these Emma wished she could disappear. She sighed, still glaring at the treadmill that was coming to a complete stop since the other pilot Samuel, who she still did not know at this point other than as the friendly guy who was for all of a minute running beside her. This had to be one of the most humiliating things she had done in a while. She was hoping to avoid looking like a fool for at least a few months, but no her ill-fated timing had other plans. Gods this was humiliating, could this get any worse.

Emma was aware that the CAG had jumped off his own treadmill and swooped in to her rescue but she was still focused on the treadmill that had thrown her off it like a bucking horse. At least horses were nicer, she thought to herself. She could hear the CAG asking her a question ‘Are you okay?’ in the background as if under water for a moment, she was still glaring at the treadmill and frankly a little stunned, not that she would ever admit that of course. Emma began gathering her legs up to her chest and palming her hands on the ground in an attempt to get up and salvage whatever dignity she had left.

Suddenly the words ‘nearest med station’ filtered into her consciousness and forced her back into the present. Her head jerked to the side, wide eyed she glanced at Drake the CAG, “I’m fine,” she snapped a bit more harshly than she had meant to as her expression turned into a glower. She hated doctors. Doctors meant needles and she hated needles. Someone had invented needles to torture people, all that prodding and poking, unnecessary. It was as if everything had sped up though, and like the treadmill launching into high speed, Emma had no control over the situation. “Wait, no,” she was floundering as she waved her hands at the viper pilot’s retreating backside, obviously under the CAG’s rule because he didn’t ask questions. Well, not many would of the CAG really.

When the viper jock brought over a medic Emma could feel her cheeks burning as blood rushed to the surface of her face. She was blushing profusely. Gods this was utterly humiliating, apparently it could get worse. Her brown eyes shifted around the room, people were starting to star. She wanted to die. Disappear in some deep dark hole. The medic seemed unfazed by the whole ordeal. He crouched down beside her with a gentle smile, introduced himself and then asked how she was, she gave him the same answer she had given the CAG only with a little less attitude this time. “What hurts?” he went on to ask, “Nothing, I’m alright, really,” she tried to protest. The medic nodded and made a few hums of agreement as he checked the ankle she seemed to be favoring. “No sprains, you’re lucky,” he informed her with a kind smile then continued on to tell her that she would only sustain some mild bruising.

Finally the medic left and everyone else seemed to go back to their business as usual. Maybe she would be renamed ‘run don’t slide,’ in regards to the treadmills. Glancing up as she heard the viper jockeys voice she reluctantly took his hand as he helped her to her feet. “Heh, yeah, and this is why I prefer running around the ship rather than on a machine where you don’t go anywhere…normally,” she deadpanned. It was the most she had said to anyone for three days. She gave him a half smile and shrugged before turning to the CAG knowing she had to say something. “Thanks,” she said earnestly to Drake, still feeling a bit foolish for falling off the treadmill in the first place and in front of the CAG no less. Technically he was her boss, even if Weiss commandeered control over the raptors. Emma liked Weiss, she respected the woman and her all-business manner of doing things probably because Emma was exactly the same when it came to her job and everything else for that matter. Falling down in a ball of embarrassment was not exactly the first impression she had wanted to give Wolfe however. She felt mortified. With a bruised bum to go with her bruised pride Emma stepped back onto her treadmill. A part of her didn’t really want to after that whole catastrophe, a big part of her…but the rest of her knew she needed to, she needed everything to go back to normal and for everyone to not think of her as the crazy girl that fell off the treadmill within her first few days of joining the Hyperion.

[Samuel Lion]

After Samuel had helped her up he gave her and said with a light laugh"Ya, generally the ship doesn't run away with ya."

Before she got back on the treadmill he caught her attention and said. "Sorry about my distraction, i was just trying to say. Good morning." He then gave her his signature smile and headed for the new leg press machine the Hyperion had.

The Hyperion was the newest and baddest ship on the block. It had the latest and greatest workout equipment of any other ship. Besides the hopeful promotion this one machine was worth transferring for (In Samuel's mind of course. Most other people could care less, to them it was just another leg press.) To Samuel, however, this machine allowed him to work out the way he flew with no breaks. This new fantastic piece of equipment was the best piece of training equipment ( aside from simulators and actual flight of course.) Samuel could have ever wanted.

Samuel strutted up to the piece of equipment as if he was going to ask it on a date. (give him some time and he just may.) He pulled out his memory stick from his pocket and put it into the machine. This machine was kind of like a flight simulator in the way it would simulate the G turns someone would make. You merely uploaded a sim, or the turns you wanted to work out with, the machine did the rest. As the machine cranked one it stated his weight and adjusted the steel plate where he set his feet automatically. Then the machine directed him to put on the holo band, there he could select the pace he would like to go and how many reps he would like to do "each turn" (IE the G forces that would be pushing down on his legs.) For this run he had typed up a special workout. Samuel had never managed an eight G turn but today he was going to see if his body could take it.

Samuel input all of his data he wanted to do four reps per G force resistance change. He would alternate legs but would do two reps with his right then two with his left. (Samuel liked to isolate his legs, because truth be told you would never use two feet on one pedal.) The work out would take him a total of thirty five minutes. The workout had G forces ranging from a minuscule .25 all the way to the massive 8 G's. The lower the G forces the less time he allowed per rep, generally the quick turns wouldn't be over hard on your body. ( there are always exceptions to the rule. Samuel would make sure to train with a few fast reps at the higher 6.2 G range, just to make sure his body could take it.)

As Samuel approached the big 8 G turn he prepared his body and his mind. Samuel knew that the feat would be almost impossible. He had trained long and hard, but the truth is, no one has the leg strength to make an 8 G turn with, there legs alone. The mark VII had a lot of other great factors and although you may be making an 8 G turn your legs weren't pushing that weight in space. Samuel knew that he weighed two hundred and twenty pounds. An 8 G force turn would be one thousand seven hundred and sixty pounds. He knew there was little chance of him doing it with one leg.

Now came crunch time the holoband showed him setting up and flashed an alert letting him know that this was the largest weight he was to lift. As the weight hit his legs strained not to slam against the metal stops at the end. Samuel started to push with all he had grunting along as he started to move that colossal weight with his right leg. Samuel made it about have way before he had no choice but to cheat the weight up and use his other leg. Samuel finished his four reps with both legs and the simulation was done.

Samuel slumped back in the seat and took the holoband off of his head. The workout had been the most intense thing he had done in a long time. The sweat was streaming from his face and his clothes where drenched with it. In an average engagement no pilot would do nothing but turn for thirty five minutes, but this was designed to be a workout. The machine helped a pilot gain strength, and stamina. It was a fantastic workout and all though He didn't accomplish his goal, Samuel was to damned tired to care. (tomorrow was another day, eventually Samuel would get there.)