Strange Shipgirls in a Strange Land: A Show, A Meal, and a Meeting!

Trin looked down at her daughter tucked into her bed snuggly. She paused and gently kissed her offspring's forehead.

"And after slaying the dragon and taking Codex Genestealer Cults from its lair,"Trinitite said softly to the lightly snoring darling as the aircraft carrier quietly backed away from her bed and towards the door. "So then the brave warrior lass lived happily ever after!"

The little darling had asked for THAT particular bedtime story: the one which Trin had made up on the spur of the moment in desperation for something suitable. What she created instead was a tale that was only vaguely related to both how she had obtained her starter Warhammer 40k kit AND what had lead to . . . other things eventually. Things the aircraft carrier had no clue about actually were happening at the time.

...

You know the usual state of affairs back when the Wo-class first was trying to "blend in"with humans! And even NOW humans still confuse her to no end! Being "Kanmusu-ized"had not changed that.

Still! Yes, she did remember it so very well...

Long ago at the Mill Creek Library parking lot (tent display)...

Sam Handrex glanced oddly at the young woman who was staring at the improvisation he had been forced to utilize for keeping the snack trays warm for this event. Yes, one of MANY workarounds and bypasses to make THIS F*cking thing WORK!!

...

The store keeper who had made arrangements with the librarian for this publicity stunt had been nice and reasonable. Nice girl, her and her wife!

Nothing at all like his *sshole cousin say what "her"type are like, not that Sam had expected anything different (not being a bigotted Klan asshat and such like SOME in his family tree he'd rather not remember)! The librarian had pointed him in the right direction on who to contact to set up the tent for the event when it turned out the poor library's conference room proved to be too small for His side of things.

He knew a guy who knew a guy who had access to some tents like you might have seen (and eaten within) at the food places when the government had pretty much-banned dining within restaurants. Just because things had become safe again on THAT front did not mean that the tents had just vanished into thin air. So, it was perfect for his needs here and now what with finding out about the library conference room's shortcomings!

Oh, it was large enough and then some for the initial 3d printer display to work, but a guy has gotta make ends meet. Doing his civic duty and educating the masses was nice and well, but that wasn't going to pay the hole-in-the-wall apartment's rent. Let us not mention of COURSE it wouldn't pay for his store's rent! SO! That meant that he was also going to do a little bit (or more than a little bit) of promoting his store and it's WARES! His game hobby/comic book store was doing okay, despite having to practically pull miracles during that Covid-19 bullsh*t AND THEN the strain and stress on supply lines for some of his good selling stuff on the gaming side of things!

At least Game Workshop finally had gotten that d*mn stick out of their *ss and started to ALLOW for honest, hard-working businessmen like him to create and sell 3d printed miniatures. Oh, he paid them a monthly fee for use of their digital wares online. And for a modest markup? Turned quite a profit at it, being one of the places one could still GET miniatures that don't look like complete garbage.

HIS 3d printer was a fine machine! Oh, he had to . . . cut a few corners to get cheap enough filament. There was enough plastic "material"around town for that and some pretty primo Youtube videos on how to make the stuff! Just took a bit of practice! Oh, it meant that the filament was a dirty BROWN color after chopping up all those plastic bottles and other plastic garbage, but not as if that mattered IF the client painted it properly, right?! They get their figures and HE did his part in combatting plastic getting into the environment. Recycling at its finest and all that!

Hey, he was more forward-thinking than SOME in his family. Idiots, those inbred . . .

"Help you with something?"the storekeeper asked. "The event for the 3d printing demonstration isn't quite ready yet and I am afraid that the Ikea meatball stuff isn't quite ready yet for eating."

It was something of a questionable risk, including food for this event rather than just sticking to a simple sales pitch and 3d printing demo. However, he'd always felt that it WAS true: the way to a customer's heart WAS through their stomach. And with the heart soon would follow the wallet... It had worked in the past AND with a little bit of charity afterward, the leftovers would be offered to the local charity. Which . . .as low and cheap as it sounded was a great way for the end-of-year tax return.

Hey! He had to make ends meet and that had worked for him! Kept him afloat and his employees employed! Don't judge him!

"But may I interest you in some of my wares . . .being that is kind of the other reason why I am here today and all that jazz?"Sam continued, pointing at some of his more colorful pictures of his products. "It isn't for sale here and now, but it DOES show what I have! That and we're having a raffle for those who buy a ticket for the food we're providing after the first demo."

What? You thought that the food was going to be free? Oh, it was a very reasonable price, those tickets for a fine (or at least decent) meal here for this event. That and there was going to be a starter pack for various roleplaying games and such. Sam had no high hopes that this young woman would be INTERESTED in such things, but one should NOT judge a possible book by its cover! Was a stupid thing to do AND a bad business practice to say the least!

"Oh! I was just . . .noticing how you had set up there for cooking your 'Ikea meatball stuff',"Trinitite blinked, turning away from staring at the open flame of the THING underneath each food tray. "You're not using propane to heat the food but . . .whatever that is there?"

The carrier gestured to the open flame coming out of the improvised food heating gear he'd set up ahead of time.

"Oh, that?"Sam smiled slightly. "That's kind of a product of my youth back when I was in the Boy Scouts! The hobo stove! It's a homemade camping stove they taught me how to make whenever I wanted to go camping and roughing it out in the woods! Makes for a great way to cook things when out there and you don't HAVE access to easy propane and all that, especially when I found out that Walmart had sold out of propane AGAIN when I really needed some for this shing ding!"

He'd bought some cans of the stuff, but had crunched the numbers and realized that he'd not gotten enough for this even for the duration planned. SO he'd done some last-minute shopping and come up short . . .so yet another improvisation with washing out the cans and "sourcing"a few bricks to avoid burning spots in the tables and such. Basically, he was cooking with both propane AND various scrap wood he'd scared up at the last moment.

It worked, but it had been a struggle to set up on time and all that!

"Interesting,"Trinitite mutters, looking back at the affair before coughing. She remembered she HAD been rather happy to manage to obtain some propane, but it had NOT been the very last of the stock!

Though it had been apparent that there had been not a lot left when she'd gotten her supply. Thank the Deep she had lucked out, considering everything!

But she just had learned something which could prove VERY useful in the future if she should need to cook again and NOT have propane handy. Very useful indeed!

"Oh sorry,"Trinitite apologized, shifting the bag with the latest purchase she'd made from Walmart. "I was seeing the sign about the 3d printer demonstration and was curious about it."

She remembered seeing notices in the library in prior visits about this event but had not made much notice of it. Indeed, she'd not realized that the event was today (or really cared about it much). She had seen the tent and had realized that she knew what the term"3-D"meant. It was a term she was VERY familiar with, having been able to coordinate flight plans and vectors while being what she was: an Abyssal aircraft carrier. Through her experience with seeing various office equipment used from time to time while at the worksite, she'd seen computer PRINTERS in action, so knew basically what that was about. But the two terms put together like this?

Nope, not as much.

She'd come in to remedy that shortcoming and had noticed both the food AND the cooking arrangement. She'd become distracted briefly before this somewhat portly blonde man had snapped her out of it.

"Okay, then you'll be please to know the demonstration is starting in a moment . . .,"Sam smiled, going onto point out that the raffle tickets were already for sale and (again) mentioning that the purchase did allow for rights to a dish of food.

The mention of food, as well as her curiosity, drew her into the "trap"and the demonstration of the 3d printer printing a "space marine"(and Sam giving background lore on WHAT a "space marine"was and the setting it came from) was what KEPT her in "the trap".

When she had WON the Warhammer 40k pack for the Tyranids, she vowed to read UP on this board game and be READY to play at least ONE game when she visited Sam's store! It sounded VERY interesting. Rather LIKE what she and her sisters did with combat simulations, but not quiet.

That and set up the "burner phone"she'd purchased from Walmart. Her coworkers at the worksite had cellphones (and cellphone numbers). If somebody should INVITE her out for a friendly get-together after work and ask for her phone number so they could call and arrange to pick her up it would be NICE to have a number to give!

"Elizabeth?"a familiar voice calls, making her pause in her track towards to library entrance. "You play Warhammer 40K?!"

Sern had been running late after that tearful reunion for Tirto with his daughter and granddaughter after that private investigator--Katie Harmon--had visited the work site a few days ago. Work hadn't stopped for the entire day, but everyone had gone by the old man and congratulated him for his good fortune. Trinitite had been maybe the most sincere (albeit awkward) in her congratulations when she'd hugged Tirto, almost like she was afraid she might HURT the old man for some reason!

Still! Even that brusk investigator had been a bit teary-eyed at that sight of the hug in the end (even IF it was kind of funny to see Trinitie in full PPE . . . rebreather and all . . .hugging Tirto).

Sern had heard the investigator mutter something about hoping that her contact, which had been able to find Tirto, would luck out in finding somebody named "Trinitite"as well.

Sern hoped for the PI to have good luck at that as well if family this Trinitite (whoever that was) was in the same situation as Tirtro had been in until now. Yes, there had been SO many families separated by those damn Abyssals. And with that thought he had hared off after Elizabeth to work with her and the others to lay down some concrete and hopefully actually get the building done before the contract deadline...

That said, the idea that Elizabeth should be holding a Games Workshop product surprised him! He himself was somewhat familiar with the game, having begun playing the video game "Dawn of War"...

The fact that it could have been considered a DATE only occurred to both well AFTER the fact. . . .

"Of course that leads to an interesting conversation which leads to a dinner conversation in which Sern told me more about Warhammer,"USS Trinitite chuckled softly to herself as she closed the door to her daughter's room. Amanda might have been a heavy sleeper at times, but no need to disturb her sleep while guests were here, right?

"Ah, and now that she's asleep we have much to discuss!"Trinitite smiled, looking over at the submarine princess as she ruefully shakes her head in consternation.

"Since WHEN and how did you get a daughter?!"USS Georgia sputtered, finally giving voice to what had been a very BIG surprise to the submarine. "Kanmusu (and Abyssals) are about as fertile as a toaster!"

Sern and Trinitite give each other a wry look before looking back at Georgia but it is USS Saratoga, commanding officer of the orbital assets over MARS who answers.

"Georgia dear,"the Lexington class aircraft carrier smiled gently. "That is over on your side of the Portal. As things turned out, Kanmusu and Abyssals HERE are crossfertile with humans."

"As for When,"Sern chuckled slightly, not exactly humorously remembering that particular 'accident'. "It happened a few years ago. I and Trinitite use proper protection, but turned out that the station got shipped a faulty BATCH so. . . . I think you get the idea?"

Sern remembered that night like yesterday. A long session of delight finishing up with a sudden "pop"and wetness as it was left both he and his wife VERY surprised and disgruntled. They had planned on having children LATER when the facilities around there had been more complete. Or at least when back on Earth, where the environment wasn't so hostile outside, what with the vacuum of space around the station or the thin atmosphere around Mars.

Rocketman kind of had it right about raising kids here. It was no place for it. At least not until a bit before their (and a few other surprised couples) unexpected offsprings' birth.

There had been a safe but frenzied hurried to finish up things around there so the kids could do kid things and all that...

"Technically Robbin's sister who you brought back as a Kanmusu also could have children but that is by the by,"Trinitite coughed before changing the subject.

1. "What brings you here?"

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