(… continuing)

With the photo shoot done, Dukk turned to Marr, “Right, time to get suited up. Ten minutes good with you for g-suit cross check?”
“Sure”, Marr answered confidently.
“Give me a shout, Marr and Luna, if you need any help with the facilities or getting into the g-suit,” Annee said as she stood up.
“Thank you, will do,” Marr and Luna replied in unison.

“Anthem time,” said Dukk as he selected an object from the air between his wrists. He flicked it at the centre of the table.
“Anthem?” asked Luna.
“’Mr Blue Sky’, Electric Light Orchestra, the haulier’s Anthem,” answered Mentor just before the uplifting tune started to fill the air.
“Retro rock?” Marr questioned.
“Yep, can’t beat it!” Dukk shouted above the music as he headed towards his cabin.

Dukk closed the door of his cabin and continued singing along to Mr Blue Sky as he started his pre-departure routine.
He had it down pat. He would put some calming music on his implants the moment Mr Blue Sky finished. He would hit the shower and, he would even typically manage to include a one minute meditation on his bed before suiting up.

Marr on the other hand was feeling a little apprehensive as she left the circle-up.
She had just agreed to getting showered and suited up in under 10 minutes. On top of that, she would be using a shower technology she was unfamiliar with and she’d be putting on her new g-suit for the first time.
She went straight to her cabin, grabbed a robe and headed to the bathroom. She was sure Bazzer’s advice was correct. In that she should wear a cap and avoid the hair wash cycle until she had more time. That advice hadn’t helped much with the apprehension.
Stripped off and with the cap on and her hair neatly tucked inside, she stepped into the circular shower unit and sealed the door. She had read about these units but that wasn’t helping either.
“Perhaps this was the kind of thing one is better not knowing too much about,” Marr thought to her self as she listened to the shower instructions.
First, she was blasted for ten seconds with a soapy solution. She then had twenty seconds to lather up. Then a further thirty seconds of rinsing water blasted her from all angles. The final stage was the one minute of the cyclone like drying system.
Standing there in the unit waiting for the machine to instruct her that she could get out, she realised that while perhaps a little too efficient, she was dry, and feeling surprisingly refreshed.
In the robe, she returned to her cabin, applied some moisturiser, put on the inner layer and got into the g-suit.

Marr opened her cabin door just as Dukk was emerging from his cabin on the opposite side of the crew mess.
“Let’s do the g-suit checks and then get outside and inspect the rig,” Dukk said as they met in the middle of the room.
“I am sure you are well read on this, but for efficiency, I’ll check your suit first and show you our protocol. Then you check mine. We start with the ankle clips, the waist, then gloves, and now the med feed connection at the back of your shoulders,” Dukk shared as he inspected her suit.
His hands were firm, gentle and in no way intrusive. She just hoped she wasn’t blushing as the butterfly feeling washed over her.
“Ok, now check mine, then we’ll helmet up and do an airtight test,” Dukk shared, feeling a little self conscious. He hoped his directness was hiding it and keeping everything in check.
Marr followed the same procedure.
With everything in order, they put on their helmets and took turns to use the g-seat at the console to run an airtight test.
“Right, that was relatively painless. What is next?” Marr concluded hoping to hide her awareness of the strengthening connection between them.
“Let’s get out to the pad, have a quick walk around and then we’ll close the doors,” Dukk replied.

“How did you find the shower, Marr?” came a voice from behind them.
Annee was standing in the bathroom door, in a robe, having just had her shower.
“Way too efficient!” laughed Marr in answer.
“Wait until you try the hair washing cycle,” Annee said laughing as she headed towards her cabin.
“Can’t wait,” Marr said sarcastically as she followed Dukk towards the door.

Dukk and Marr made their way silently through the guest accommodation.
The cabin doors were shut, but faint voices could be heard from behind the first door on the left. Clearly the observers still had lots to talk about.
They continued on in silence until they reach the pad floor.
“What is the process for this inspection?” Marr asked.
“It’s pretty straight-forward. We walk around, see that nothing is open and that the pad is clear for our departure. Bazzer will have already done a more detailed check as part of his preparation. And the rig has sensors on everything so this is really just a sanity check.”
“Great,” Marr answered as they headed off in a clockwise direction around the rig.

(to be continued...)

[Rule of Twelve, Double Take, Chapter 10 - Launch (Passage 2 of 5)]

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