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fandomweekly2023-11-10 02:59 pm
badly_knitted) wrote in fandomweekly2023-11-10 02:59 pm
Entry tags:
[#200] Essential Supplies (Torchwood)
Theme Prompt: #200 – Duct Tape
Title: Essential Supplies
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1000
Summary: Jack has a surprise for Ianto, a shopping trip to a superstore unlike any his lover has ever visited.
“When you said you had a treat for me, this isn’t exactly what I was imagining,” Ianto admitted as he and Jack parked their solar-powered buggy outside the massive building on the far edge of the spaceport. It looked a little like an old-fashioned out of town superstore: a low structure with wide doors, fronted by parking for several hundred vehicles, although its organic appearance made it seem like it had been grown rather than built. “What is this place?”
“Think of it as a sort of hardware store, specialising in everything the responsible spaceship owner needs for repairs and proper maintenance.” Jack turned the buggy off and jumped out. “The small parts stores you find at the ports on space stations are okay, but space is at a premium and rent is expensive, so they can only carry a limited inventory. That’s why most spaceships have an onboard machine shop, where most replacement parts can be manufactured as needed instead of having to order them and then wait for delivery. That can take weeks, and in the meantime, you’re stuck paying docking fees, unable to go anywhere.”
“Not an ideal situation to be stuck in,” Ianto agreed.
“This place, has it all though. It’s part of a galaxy-wide chain, with stores at all major land-based spaceports, but this one’s the biggest. I love coming here; you can get just about any tool and any part, for practically every make of spaceship in existence, not to mention whatever raw materials you might be running low on.”
“So you decided since we had a delivery to make here, you’d drag me along on your shopping trip?” Ianto raised an eyebrow.
“I accepted the job of delivering our last shipment just so we’d have a reason to land here.” Jack beamed at his lover. “Landing fees are a lot lower for anyone making a delivery than they would be if we just wanted to shop.”
“Ah. I should’ve known there was an ulterior motive behind your sudden desire to transport a load of stinky Oglar fruit.”
“Hey, it was fine; when they’re properly packed in stasis containers, the smell can’t get out, otherwise I wouldn’t have them aboard for any price.”
“For which I’m very grateful.”
When ripe, Oglar fruit, though considered a rare delicacy by several races in the Galactic Federation, smelled rather strongly of rotting fish, which was understandably less than appealing in a confined space.
“You should be. Exporters of Oglar fruit are willing to pay premium rates to have their wares transported to where they’ll make the highest profit.” Jack frowned. “Why are we standing here discussing stinky fruit when we could be exploring the wonders of the biggest spaceware emporium in the universe?”
“I can’t begin to imagine,” Ianto commented dryly.
“No need to be sarcastic. You just wait until we get inside, then you’ll see. Come on!” Grabbing Ianto by the hand, Jack set off towards the entrance doors so fast Ianto almost had to break into a jog.
Inside, the store was divided into various departments, and shoppers travelled along the wide aisles between shelves on small one- or two-person electric carts. Small items could be dropped into the rear compartment, but for larger ones, you used a scanner attached to your cart to scan the product details, and once payment was made at the checkout, your order would be delivered to your ship.
Jack steered their shopping cart around with a sense of purpose, deftly avoiding other carts. Beside him, Ianto did his best to take it all in. There were shelves packed with everything imaginable. Hand tools, electric tools, chargers and power cells, welding tools and soldering tools. Catalogues for each make and model of spaceship, showing every single component. Stasis technology, transport webbing, storage modules, and shelving. Floor coverings, lights, bathroom and kitchen fixtures, pots and pans. Survival equipment, bedding, communication devices, paint, detergents, air circulation and water reclamation systems, sonic showers…
“I’m assuming you know what you want?” Ianto asked as they swept by a rack of something Ianto couldn’t even begin to identify.
“We can browse in a few minutes, there’s just a few things I want to grab before I forget.” Jack swung the cart around into the next aisle. “Ah, here we are!”
Both sides of the aisle were arrayed with what appeared to be roll after roll of duct tape, in every colour imaginable. Not just black and grey and silver, but reds, blues, yellows, greens, even shades of purple, pink, and orange.
Bringing the cart to a stop, Jack hopped out and headed for a section where the reels of tape were all red, studying the display and selecting two reels.
“I know red’s my colour,” Ianto said nervously, “but I hope that’s not for me.”
“Don’t be daft. Red tape is for heating systems, blue for quick repairs to water circulation, brown for sanitation systems, green for life support, silver for spacesuit repairs, yellow for the interior hull and white for the exterior, pink for electrical, purple for sealing anything containing contaminants, and the black is extra heavy-duty for emergency use in propulsion systems.” Jack grinned.
“You can’t be serious!”
“Why not? Duct tape can fix just about anything; if you use the right kind and do the job properly, it’ll hold until you can carry out permanent repairs. I’ve known ships travel twenty light years or more, with practically every system held together by duct tape, and arrive safely. No ship should ever be without a good supply, and you won’t find a better selection anywhere.”
“The idea of duct-taping a spaceship together is a bit… alarming.”
Jack laughed. “That’s only because you’ve never seen anything like this before. What we have here is state-of-the-art, way better and stronger than anything back on earth.”
“Suppose I’ll have to take your word for it. Shopping for duct tape, what a treat.”
“Listen and learn, Ianto. It’s not just tape; someday it might save your life.”
The End
“Think of it as a sort of hardware store, specialising in everything the responsible spaceship owner needs for repairs and proper maintenance.” Jack turned the buggy off and jumped out. “The small parts stores you find at the ports on space stations are okay, but space is at a premium and rent is expensive, so they can only carry a limited inventory. That’s why most spaceships have an onboard machine shop, where most replacement parts can be manufactured as needed instead of having to order them and then wait for delivery. That can take weeks, and in the meantime, you’re stuck paying docking fees, unable to go anywhere.”
“Not an ideal situation to be stuck in,” Ianto agreed.
“This place, has it all though. It’s part of a galaxy-wide chain, with stores at all major land-based spaceports, but this one’s the biggest. I love coming here; you can get just about any tool and any part, for practically every make of spaceship in existence, not to mention whatever raw materials you might be running low on.”
“So you decided since we had a delivery to make here, you’d drag me along on your shopping trip?” Ianto raised an eyebrow.
“I accepted the job of delivering our last shipment just so we’d have a reason to land here.” Jack beamed at his lover. “Landing fees are a lot lower for anyone making a delivery than they would be if we just wanted to shop.”
“Ah. I should’ve known there was an ulterior motive behind your sudden desire to transport a load of stinky Oglar fruit.”
“Hey, it was fine; when they’re properly packed in stasis containers, the smell can’t get out, otherwise I wouldn’t have them aboard for any price.”
“For which I’m very grateful.”
When ripe, Oglar fruit, though considered a rare delicacy by several races in the Galactic Federation, smelled rather strongly of rotting fish, which was understandably less than appealing in a confined space.
“You should be. Exporters of Oglar fruit are willing to pay premium rates to have their wares transported to where they’ll make the highest profit.” Jack frowned. “Why are we standing here discussing stinky fruit when we could be exploring the wonders of the biggest spaceware emporium in the universe?”
“I can’t begin to imagine,” Ianto commented dryly.
“No need to be sarcastic. You just wait until we get inside, then you’ll see. Come on!” Grabbing Ianto by the hand, Jack set off towards the entrance doors so fast Ianto almost had to break into a jog.
Inside, the store was divided into various departments, and shoppers travelled along the wide aisles between shelves on small one- or two-person electric carts. Small items could be dropped into the rear compartment, but for larger ones, you used a scanner attached to your cart to scan the product details, and once payment was made at the checkout, your order would be delivered to your ship.
Jack steered their shopping cart around with a sense of purpose, deftly avoiding other carts. Beside him, Ianto did his best to take it all in. There were shelves packed with everything imaginable. Hand tools, electric tools, chargers and power cells, welding tools and soldering tools. Catalogues for each make and model of spaceship, showing every single component. Stasis technology, transport webbing, storage modules, and shelving. Floor coverings, lights, bathroom and kitchen fixtures, pots and pans. Survival equipment, bedding, communication devices, paint, detergents, air circulation and water reclamation systems, sonic showers…
“I’m assuming you know what you want?” Ianto asked as they swept by a rack of something Ianto couldn’t even begin to identify.
“We can browse in a few minutes, there’s just a few things I want to grab before I forget.” Jack swung the cart around into the next aisle. “Ah, here we are!”
Both sides of the aisle were arrayed with what appeared to be roll after roll of duct tape, in every colour imaginable. Not just black and grey and silver, but reds, blues, yellows, greens, even shades of purple, pink, and orange.
Bringing the cart to a stop, Jack hopped out and headed for a section where the reels of tape were all red, studying the display and selecting two reels.
“I know red’s my colour,” Ianto said nervously, “but I hope that’s not for me.”
“Don’t be daft. Red tape is for heating systems, blue for quick repairs to water circulation, brown for sanitation systems, green for life support, silver for spacesuit repairs, yellow for the interior hull and white for the exterior, pink for electrical, purple for sealing anything containing contaminants, and the black is extra heavy-duty for emergency use in propulsion systems.” Jack grinned.
“You can’t be serious!”
“Why not? Duct tape can fix just about anything; if you use the right kind and do the job properly, it’ll hold until you can carry out permanent repairs. I’ve known ships travel twenty light years or more, with practically every system held together by duct tape, and arrive safely. No ship should ever be without a good supply, and you won’t find a better selection anywhere.”
“The idea of duct-taping a spaceship together is a bit… alarming.”
Jack laughed. “That’s only because you’ve never seen anything like this before. What we have here is state-of-the-art, way better and stronger than anything back on earth.”
“Suppose I’ll have to take your word for it. Shopping for duct tape, what a treat.”
“Listen and learn, Ianto. It’s not just tape; someday it might save your life.”
The End