We Are Not of This World

[Atticus Hall]

"He just turned five. We got a six month old daughter too."

[Nick Ryder]

"Gale'll have a buddy then." Nick said with a smile. "Last place we lived, lots of girls." he took a sip of coffee. "So Atticus, Thaddeus... I think we have the start of a very interesting friendship here." he gave Thaddeus a nudge to his arm. "How are you with classic cars?"

"Even better. Restorin' an old BMW M5 now. There are some beautiful roads to just go as fast as you bloody want to. I do like shuttles a wee better, no hairpin turns to almost nerf out on." Thad said as he gave Nick a sly smirk.

"Man after my own heart. Think there's a market for a custom shop?" Nick mused.

"Oh I'm sure there will be. Should see the Gran'ma car Atticus and his wifey cruise around in. It's as boring as his suit." Thad chuckled. "Solid but... boring."

[Atticus Hall]

"Hey!" Atticus exclaimed. "This suit is professional. I can't walk into the hospital looking like Saul Goodman. As far as our car goes, that's a practical choice. I can't fit four comfortably into your Beamer with car seats, diaper bags and all. Not to mention the kids'll likely have friends in the future. I'll have you know, in college I had a beautifully restored 2019 Challenger Hellcat. I was the envy of half the students at the University of Texas."

[Nick Ryder]

"Nice... what happened to it? Please don't tell me you traded it in. That it's sitting in a garage under a tarp." Nick winced. "Hey don't feel too bad, my first wife made me trade in my 1985 Trans Am for a black town car because 'intelligence doesn't drive a Hasslehoff-mobile' Pfft. Well engineers do!" Nick said with a laugh and sighed. "At least Alice has a bit more sense of style and class when it comes to things like that. I need to find her something. Something properly British like her."

[Atticus Hall]

"I gave it to my brother when I went to Denobula for medical school. He wrapped it around a tree just outside Nashville, Arkansas driving to friend's house. They had to use laser cutters to get him out and stabilized for transport to the hospital in Texarkana."

[Nick Ryder]

"Geez... that's rough." Nick shook his head. "He make it?" he raised an eyebrow. "Last Hellcat I was in, thing had more roll bars and safety zones than a military shuttle. "

[Atticus Hall]

"More or less," Atticus replied. "He died once during the extraction. A nurse witnessed the accident and was able to recessutate him. He died again in surgery at the hospital, and again they were able to bring him back. Unfortunately he suffered some brain damage. It has affected the left side of his body leaving him partially paralyzed. He also can't live alone so he's living with mom and dad."

[Nick Ryder]

"Man that's rough mate." Thad said with a wince.

"No kidding... used to work on some medical ships, paralysis is hard to treat. One of my guys got hit by a shuttle in the shuttlebay, the pilot didn't see him while he was welding a deck plate and nearly killed the guy, Had to replace a lot of him with cybernetics." he glanced at his watch. "Speaking of parents, my wife will be up soon. I told her she could sleep in, but Alice likes to take a morning walk. Since we don't have any of our work out equipment set up, I have a feeling that my little project isn't the only thing I'm going to be doing this morning. Was great meeting you two. And Thad, come around later this afternoon, meet Alice and Gale... Atticus, we entirely have to do a dinner sometime. My in laws sent over a whole crate of fresh steaks."

Glancing over at the house, he already saw Gale bounding outside with what looked like a set of action figures. "Looks like the boy's up." he chuckled and shook his head. "He found the toy box. I'll bet the room looks like a war zone." he nodded his head. "Gentlemen."

Nick jogged over to the little ridge of rocks and low brush that Gale was playing near. He had a set of 'Starfleet Commandos' and some dinosaurs and of course, Froggie perched on the highest rock.

"Whatcha doin' buddy?" NIck asked.

"Lord Froggie and his dinosaur army are trying to take the ridge! But Captain Bob will stop him!" he held up a very well played with 'Captain Bob' Starfleet captain figure. Why they named him Captain Bob is anyone's guess, but it made him laugh. Probably Angel or Cece... they always thought Bob was a fun name.

"Wow... that's a formidable army... going to frontal assault or flank?" Nick said as he got down to his level.

"Flanking of course daddy." Gale said as he made a shuttle zooming sound and took the shuttle toy alongside the dinosaurs.

"Good man... is mommy up?" Nick said as he brushed himself off.

"Yep. She looks pretty this morning, like she's really really happy." Gale said with a huge smile. "I'm happy too... my room is SO BIG! Can I get a race track in there?"

"It.... might fit... yeah... I think we can make that happen. I think I saw the track in the crates, it's pretty big, sure you want it in there?" Nick raised an eyebrow.

"Maybe." Gale smiled broadly.

"Let me talk to mommy first and then we'll work on your room. I also made you a little surprise, but don't peek in the workshop." Nick said with a wink.

[Alice Ryder]

“Making surprises.” Alice called cheerfully as she stepped into the courtyard carrying a tea cup and a coffee mug. She was still dressed in a pale blue robe and matching slippers. “Hopefully good ones.”

[Nick Ryder]

"Always." Nick said as he pecked her cheek and took the coffee. "Thank you dear... yeah I was wandering around one of the workshops and found this piece of wood and I kinda built Gale a new bed. Looks like Froggie. I think he'll love it." he chuckled and shook his head. "And I met one of our neighbors, they have a 5 year old and a six month old. And... one of the local gear heads. Might hire him to help out, we've got a lot of mechanical issues we need to address. At least the basics work, but so much of this place is Pre-Federation. There's actually a little water fall that would work, if the pump wasn't built in 2038."