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Tweak says, "You look hot, Daphne. "

scoresby is the name. (leescoresby) wrote in silverage,
@ 2011-06-27 18:52:00

Entry tags:

!log, galen, lee scoresby

first world problems
Who: Lee Scoresby + Galen
When: Early afternoonish
Where: Joe's Rental Hangar (or basically a hangar)
What: Lee checks on his balloon and remains to be faced with his never-ending financial crisis.
Rating/status: ~PG/finished.

"The valve cord's no good and the burner's busted?"

That was what Lawrence the mechanic-person said and he just repeated it so what was he to do but nod? "That's what I said," he even added before he waved to the gigantic wicker basket he was knelt beside, "On top of a lot of things but they're relatively smaller, if you ask me."

"Huh! Smaller," Lee must have snorted a little. "Small's not very small if they all cost you something, anyway." He thought about what stood ahead of him as he removed his hat, raked his white locks up, scratched the back of his head and then wore his hat again. "How long's it going to take once I get them to you?"

"Ehhh, give or take a couple of days," Lawrence sighed as he stood up and plucked his cap out of his balding head.

"And where can I get them?"

"Dunno." Lawrence shrugged sharply before he gestured to Lee. "Thought you're the balloonist here?"

"Ain't from around here," Lee stated honestly but he tipped his hat to Lawrence scratching his skinny side. "Anyhow, we'll take a look around. Good day to you, Lawrence."

"You too, Lee."

Outside, the sun was fierce. Under the shade of his hat, Lee scoured through what surrounded him before he pulled up his pants and started out to the city. "Well, don't suppose we were looking for much good news, anyway."

"Suppose you look for a new hangar, Lee?" Hester suggested at his feet. "See where that takes us."

"Mighty fine suggesting that after we paid the rent!" Lee smirked a little to the warm summer day. "We'll find ourselves those damn things and see what happens. If nothing better comes, we'll look for a new place, all right." And hope upon all hope that the rent would be just as affordable!

"And find a job while you're at it," as if Hester needed to remind him. "The last one was too short for comfort!"

"Least it let us pay the rent," Lee said. Find a job, find that valve cord and burner, find a new hangar -- maybe.

As if he didn't have enough things to think about. Suddenly, he missed the skies.

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	technogalen 2011-06-28 04:50 pm UTC (link)
	"I've seen the blimps they use for logging on a few planets," Galen nodded and waved a hand for the other man to lead the way. "But I would certainly be interested in seeing your... balloon did you call it?" "What sort of a lift and drive system do you use? Helium? You mentioned you were having some problems with it?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

leescoresby
2011-06-29 04:39 am UTC (link)

"Helium!" Lee laughed. "Never even imagine a helium balloon could lift something bigger than a note!" That will be the day. "No, Sir, we use propane tanks. Here, let me show ya."

Lawrence must have gone to an errand as by the time Lee came back to the shelter of the dingy hangar, the closest person they got to a mechanic was gone. But everything was in order: at a corner of the space was his deflated balloon. The wicker basket was pressed against the left wall, covered by a large piece of canvas. His propane tanks were a few steps away, a relatively good distance to keep the basket from catching fire instantly in case something terrible happened. His tools and different items of obsession sat close to the basket in a box and spread out on the floor was the envelope of his balloon. The design had faded, not that there was much of one. It looked like an opaque, light shade of blue and gray from afar and away from the light but upon closer inspection, the colors would be separated by a tightly knit pattern of diamonds and triangles. This wasn't its original color, though.

Already, Lee could see where all that wind, rain, sun and everything had gotten his beloved balloon. Maybe he should consider getting it changed, all right. But that was going to cost him more than his leg right now, he was pretty sure.

"The valve cord needs replacing and so does the burner. On top of that, I'm low on propane and I need a change of oil. My balloon could use a couple of makeovers, too," he gestured to the envelope, "As you can see."

Hester had successfully slipped inside the canvas and she allowed Lee to pull it away so he could carry her and drop her into "familiar ground". The rest of his ropes and hooks were tossed into the basket and Hester made herself comfortable in her favorite corner.

"Least the basket's still fine. But then again, it's always fine!" he laughed.

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technogalen
2011-06-29 05:27 am UTC (link)

Galen looked at the flying craft stored in the hanger. "A hot air balloon, then. Although I have seen lighter-than-air craft that use huge bags of helium for lift - big enough to lift complete trees out of a forest."

He noted the weather-beaten appearance of the actual balloon fabric; everything about the thing showed signs of being well worn. "Looks like you've put some miles on this craft, Mr. Scoresby. Since I don't see any sort of a drive on the passenger compartment, I'd assume they were all slow, wind-driven miles. You must be a very patient man."

Listening while the other man itemized his problems, Galen nodded. "Of course I don't know anything at all about your equipment, but since I travel by myself too, I've had to become a fair technician and handle my own repairs and maintenance. Oil and propane should be readily available here and now from what I've read. I'm not sure what valve cord is, and what exactly is wrong with your... burner? Would repair be better than replacement?"

He looked around at the various parts of the balloon. "I assume your craft is rather rare here in New York and that is why you are having trouble with parts?"

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leescoresby
2011-06-29 04:22 pm UTC (link)

Lee didn't really get that, again. What was lighter-than-air-craft? An aircraft that was lighter than air? Well aren't all aircraft lighter than air? If they were heavier, how the hell was the air going to carry them? And then he realized that it only worked for balloons and not airplanes, exactly which is why they crash. "That's a mighty fine way of moving things then, Mr. Galen," Lee chuckled.

"Wull," he sighed as he slipped a hand inside his pocket, then slid it out and placed it at the side of his balloon and slipped the other one in instead, "You get this old, you can't help but learn a lot about patience. Took me a couple months to learn how to fly," he patted his basket, "Must have been how I got all my white hairs!" he laughed.

"Yeah, that taught me a thing or two 'bout fixing balloons and stuff," Lee flicked a hand to his empty basket. "New York's got to have some oil and propane, sure, it ain't going to be New York without it. But let's just say the resources with which I'm to avail of oil and propane aren't readily available. The valve cord's easy. That," he gestured for something overhead with a wave of his hand back before he turned to his flattened envelope and pointed to the top of it, "'sbasically what you pull the valve with, that flap of cloth right there, so the balloon starts to go down. Now the burner," he turned to Galen and shook his head.

"No, the burner's ruined. I stick with it, I'd end up worse than Amelia Earhart!" Then with a slight shake of his head, he muttered to no one in particular -- or maybe his basket, "God bless that sweetheart."

"Anyhow, a balloon ain't so rare these days and the parts are fine. It's the getting them that's a little difficult." He cleared his throat. Gesturing a little to Galen as he shifted his weight on his legs, he said, "So you fancy yourself a technician, eh? From uhh...from 2767? Is that right? Is that a spaceport or something? Beg your pardon but I've been noticing the words you've been using. Like uhh...like lighter-than-aircraft and picking up trees with balloons and planets and uhh...energy for Hester. Where are you from exactly?"

"Oh Lee, mind your manners," Hester advised openly from her corner.

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technogalen
2011-06-29 06:21 pm UTC (link)

"Just Galen, Mr. Scoresby, please."

Galen nodded. "My flight school was six months long, 18 hours a day for 7 days a week. If you plan on heading out to the back of beyond, you have to be able to fix anything that might come up as well as just con your ship."

"The common problem of these days," he chuckled. "The 'Almighty Dollar' as it is referred to. I understand the new Welcome Center has job listings and rooms for the new arrivals. I was fortunate that I can at least sleep in my ship. I've enough power for life support and the like left. I suppose if I ever manage to recharge my hyper engines I could take you along for the sheer pleasure of having someone to talk to while I attempt to make my way back to where I am from."

"But you should at least let me take a look at that burner of yours. Cracks can be welded, parts can be fabricated."

His smile grew much wider. "Forgive me for assuming you'd know what I was talking about. Twenty two sixty seven is a when, not a where. Where is out there." He pointed up. "I'm as stuck here as everybody else seems to be."

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leescoresby
2011-06-30 08:52 am UTC (link)

"When? You mean to say you're from the future!" Lee chuckled, rubbing his jawline somewhat at his discovery. This was both so odd and yet not at all. He was talking to a man from the future and yet he was also talking to a man period. "Sorry to hear about your predicament. I suppose the government hasn't done you much help yet, have they? Least it sounds like a mighty fine ship you got there, Galen," he said with a the corner of his smile quirked up a slight. A hyper engine sounds very high technology to him, the kind he'd expect Stark Industries would be going on and on about. "I'll be happy to accept your invitation when it comes."

The burner was still covered by the canvas but it was such a bulky thing to miss, even after Lee muttered, "Now where's that burner at?" A good tug of the canvas covering was all it took to reveal the worn thing sitting beside his basket and he walked towards it with sure feet, crouching just beside it with a hand on the coil crowning the entire device on its frame. "Now I can't say exactly how many problems this thing has anymore. Hell, I don't even remember when was the last time I changed it to a real new one! But the hose doesn't attach firmly and the coil doesn't feel right anymore," he nudged it a little. "The valve's kind of loose, but that's all I know about it."

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technogalen
2011-06-30 01:08 pm UTC (link)

"I haven't gone anywhere near the government here. Have you read anything about it? They are in the middle of what they call a cold war here. Enough weapons poised on both sides with the power to totally destroy the planet several times over. They certainly don't need access to future technology."

Galen went to active scanning with his implants. If Lee were to look at his eyes, he'd probably see the light of the sensor grid, but the other man already knew he was from the future. He bent down to give the burner a thorough scan.

"I see stripped fittings, heat fatigued metal, and weak spots and a few actual cracks in the burner. The valve body is badly worn inside." Galen shut down his active scan. "Looks like you are correct, it would take less time to fabricate an entire new mechanism than it would to repair this one. Unfortunately, I don't stock a lot of the best refractory alloy in the repair shop of my ship. With full power I could synthesize it in a few minutes. What energy I have available now would stretch the project out for months. I would be happy to help, but it would take some time."

Galen straightened up and shook his head. "A few dozen terrawatts of power for six weeks or so and I could restart the mains. You don't find that sort of energy just laying around somewhere in this time."

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leescoresby
2011-07-01 02:58 am UTC (link)

Um.

To be honest, Lee was a little disappointed that Galen couldn't help him with his problem but why he couldn't help him, he could only think it was because of some lack of power for his ship because 1964 doesn't serve it. That was the simplest way of putting it, right?

"That's a damn shame, then," Lee said as he grunted and pulled himself up straight. "But thank you nevertheless for checking her." He smiled at him.

Leaning over to the wicker basket to pick Hester up, he began wrapping the entire thing in canvas again as soon as she was down. "Well, I suppose it's back to the old drawing board for Hester and I. And you, Galen," after dumping the end of the canvas back to the floor, Hester doing a good job pulling and tugging to complete the cover, he turned to the spaceman (that's what he thinks he is now), and said, "I remember you fancy seeing some airplanes, didn't ya?"

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technogalen
2011-07-01 03:43 am UTC (link)

"I think airplanes can wait for a little," Galen said as he thought about the situation.

"You know, I was thinking of the best metals I knew for the job," he said after thinking for a few minutes. "As I look over my recordings of your burner there, nothing there is really an exotic alloy, and yet the thing seems to have worked for you for some time now. Would a replacement made out of similar metals suit you for a while?"

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leescoresby
2011-07-01 03:55 am UTC (link)

"If I can be honest with you, Galen, I must admit, I don't know lots about metals and the likes," he said as he pulled out a loose thread from his inner top and flicked it aside. Hester had hopped over to his flattened envelope, perhaps to check on the wear and tear herself. "But if you can help out an old man here, I'd be much obliged." Spoken with that same carefree smirk of his as he rested his hand on the veiled wicker basket, again.

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technogalen
2011-07-01 04:07 am UTC (link)

It was theatrics, Galen had to admit, but then, all of life was but a stage...

He made a quick gesture with one hand, and the canvas flipped back off the basket and burner. He caught up the burner mechanism in an energy field, then using his implants in a way he hadn't since he arrived in 1964, levitated the burner and drew it toward himself through the air.

"I'll need a little extra metal for this job," he told Scoresby. "Are there any castoffs - I believe it is called a scrap pile - with metal parts around here somewhere? Things that won't be missed?"

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leescoresby
2011-07-01 05:08 am UTC (link)

Lee cried when the canvas was blown off his balloon, it couldn't be helped! He kept a hand pressed on his hat as the burner took on a life of its own and for a while there, he just stood gaping at the floating burner because last he recalled, burners floated with the entire balloon -- never on its own.

Hester herself had hopped closer to Lee, ears twitching as she watched the spectacle a step behind the pilot's foot in case he had a need to want to pick her up. That was what she was for, after all.

"I'm not very sure about the scrap pile," Lee said as he removed his hand from his head. "But I do recall the mechanic mentioning about finding me something at the back. Reckon that might be what you're looking for." He still couldn't take his eyes off his burner.

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