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[Looking way up at Serenity through his round frame glasses. Safe to say, Daniel is impressed. Who wouldn't be, its a SPACESHIP.]

Does it...not fly currently?

[ Serenity looks like she went through a blender or a nest of Reavers. And there is Kaylee looking up at her as she dangles from two large cranes. Panels are missing from her, landing skits are busted, and so much more. With her hands resting on her hips, Kaylee has a longing look on her face as she looks at the ship she calls home. ]

She'll fly again, her engines told me that much, but right now she is gonna take a lot of work.

[ She says without turning to look in Daniel's direction. ]

Lots of work and lots of parts.

[She seemed like she knew what she was talking about.]

Is she yours? The ship, I mean.

[He points to the side, moving towards the hull.] Is that Mandarin? [Languages were his forte, it was exciting to find something familiar this far away from Earth.]

[ She might not be the most technically spoken person out there, but Kaylee's ability to get in tune with machines is impressive. ]

She's not mine. But she is mine in some respect. I'm the only one who understands her when she needs it most.

[ Kaylee turns her head to face Daniel, and she raises an eyebrow in response to his question. While it is indeed Mandarin or a form of it, the language has since drifted from the original. ]

I just thought it was Chinese.

Edited 2017-06-28 19:22 (UTC)

[He's not much to look at perhaps. Glasses, green fatigues, a backpack with mostly notebooks and scribbles on them. But there's a sincere earnestness about him, almost naivete.]

Well...yes. Mandarin is Chinese, there's a lot of different...dialects. So the ship is named Serenity? [He's been on spaceships before but most of them were Goa'uld ships, aka the bad guys. And pyramid shaped.] Does it take a long time? Going from planet to planet?

[ Kaylee is going to leave the dockhands to work on the outer hull of Serenity, as she now turns her full attention to Daniel. This guy talks funny, and nothing he says makes much sense to her. Earth is a long distant memory for everyone, and it is more of a legend than anything concrete is. ]

She is. And have you ever been into the black before? [ Kaylee points a finger up to the sky as if he might be as lost as she is. ] It all depends on where we have to go. Sometimes it takes days, weeks, but if we are gone for the long run, we stock up on lots of supplies.

[ Kaylee begins to crinkle her face when she thinks of a month long trek, and all they have to eat towards the end are those horrible protein bars. ]

[Honestly, she's not the first to think so. Daniel is frequently reminded to talk in plain English from his teammates.

He nods but he doesn't look happy about the memory of it. Goa'uld ships are not fun to travel in, willingly or not. They are not homey in the least.] Once or twice, but I prefer to stay on the ground. Plenty to explore with the stargates.

[His stomach gives a growl and Daniel rummages in his backpack for a granola bar. Since he has more than one, he offers her the other.] People used to do that on Earth, when most of it was unexplored. Pioneers and settlers they were called, traveling across the continents.

[ Tilting her head to the side, Kaylee looks at the strange looking bar that Daniel is offering him, and far be her to be rude and turn it down. She takes it with a smile on her face. Looking at it, she knows what oats and grains are, and she goes to put it in her overall pockets. ]

Thank you, I'll put it aside for when we are eating protein bars. [ She scrunches her face. But then it dawns on her that he mentions Earth that Was. ]

You know about Earth? Are you some type of... [ She motions her hand in a circle as she tries to find the words. ] Earth that was specialist...

[He munches on his own, pushing up his glasses at the question and then smiling as he misunderstands her meaning. That was a fair description of an archaeologist.]

I suppose I am. I specialize in languages, mostly the ones that aren't used anymore. [A beat.] Well, ones we thought weren't used anymore. Hieroglyphics, Latin, Cuneiform....I do know some Chinese but I can't say I'm fluent in it.

[And now he realizes he didn't introduce himself.] Oh, I'm Daniel, Daniel Jackson. [He extends a hand.] Nice to meet you and your ship.

[ A gust of dry wind blows through the small spaceport that is located on planet out in the Rim. The rest of the folk who are coming to pick-up cargo have mule carts complete with mules to hull goods back to the farmsteads.

And that gust of wind blows right through Kaylee's hair. And she continues to look a tad bit confused by Daniel. Old languages of Earth aren't a thing she's familiar with. ]

Nice meetin' you Daniel. [ She goes to take the hand in hers. Her skin is rough and calloused from her time spent working in the engine room of Serenity. ] You can call me Kaylee. Just Kaylee. Don't got much use for the other name. So what's someone who specializes in Earth don' out here in The Rim?

Kaylee. [He likes her right off, she's a friendly sort of person. Rather like him actually. At her question, he adjusts his glasses again and shuffles through his notes to find the one he's looking for. A picture of glyphs on a wall, a really old wall from the looks of it.]

We're looking for new gate addresses. The Stargate, the stone ring at the edge of town? We're explorers and use them to travel from one planet to another.

[ Kaylee very rarely does unhappy, and even when it calls for her to be unhappy, she still tries to be sweet. She peers over at the glyphs, and while she doesn't understand them or the importance of them she ooohs. ]

You're gonna have to tell me what they mean. [ And she raises an eyebrow at the mention of something that is even more alien than the glyphs. ] Oh? I've been on this planet countless times before, and I ain't ever seen something like a Stargate.

[ She gets an idea. ] Maybe you can show me. I know where we can find some horses real cheap.

Well it was kind of hidden, it's very old and probably forgotten about.

[Daniel is surprised by the question.] Uh, sure. I could do that. [He's not exactly good on a horse but he can manage.]

Just give me a few, and I'll be back with a pair of horses. Or you can come with, figure it might be easier that way.

[ Kaylee looks back to Serenity, it will be days before she's able to fly again. And the rest of the crew has gone off to do their own thing. So Kaylee figures it won't be bad for her to do the same. ]

And then you can tell me more 'bout this gate and how it got you from where you came from to here. Cause that sounds like some pretty impressive magic.

Sure. [He falls in step next to her, taking off his glasses and cleaning them on a handkerchief before setting them on the bridge of his nose again.]

It's pretty close to magic, I would say. But it's all explainable...just to people smarter than me.

[Sam could go on and on about how the gate works and Daniel would be able to catch a sliver of it.]

[ Kaylee heads over towards a stable hand, and digs into her pockets to see if she can manage to pay for a pair of horses. She frowns when she sees that all she can afford are a pair of donkeys. ]

You gone and use magic that even you can't explain. I don't know if I'd trust something, I don't understand.

[ The stable hand takes the money, and Kaylee blushes a little bit. ] And sorry, I don't got much money, so I hope you don't mind traveling by donkey.

[ And there are two donkey's that look unhappy about the fate that has been bestowed on them. ]

[Poor Daniel, he'd help but earth money wasn't something they brought with them whenever they went on these excursions through the gate. He looks at the donkeys and immediately sneezes into a handkerchief.]

...sorry...allergies. They'll be fine. [He'll muddle through.]

[ Kaylee can't help but to chuckle at Daniel sneezing. The donkey twitches his ears, and looks anything but amused that his rider might spew human germs all over him. ]

You sure bout that? Don't want you to end up spooking'em.

[He sniffs and then pockets the handkerchief.] No, no, it's okay.

[Daniel slowly approaches the donkey with a tentative pat on the neck before attempting to mount. As uncomfortable as he looks, somehow he manages to stay on.]

[ Being from a world out on The Rim, Kaylee is used to riding something with four legs be it a donkey to a mule. She mounts the surly donkey, and she gives him a pat on the back. ]

You be good, and I'll get you a nice juicy apple for your troubles. Just gotta know how to talk to'im. Same as workin' with engines. But just point'im in the right direction, and he'll know what to do.

[He tentatively takes the reins, one in each hand.]

I think I'm better at talking to people.

[....how do you get these things started? He tries the usual shifting forwards, moving the reins about, and pushing his heels in. Nope. Nada. Donkey not moving.]

I think mine might be broken.

Just give'im a light nudge, and he'll start movin. Not to hard though, cause they tend to be a bit stubborn.

[ Kaylee gives the donkey she's riding a tug to keep from moving too far ahead. ]

And not everyone's got the skill to talk to machines or donkeys.