It's a little after 04:00 by the ship's internal time, but local clocks say that the business day has started.  The local clocks may be right, since a couple of cargo haulers just arrived in the docking bay, their attendant loading droids, four in total, are whirring and humming as they climb down and prepare to start transferring containers from Profit Margin's hold to the crawlers.

The droids stand abut three metres tall, with four squat legs and six powerful arms.  No head, just a band of optical sensors around teir "waist" giving 360° vision.  They're painted in yellow and black hazzard stripes, and covered with warning notices.  Not pretty, and not made for delicate work, but they should make short work of the cargo handling.

The human overseers stand nearby, studying the paperwork and discussing who will take which containers from this, and the three other pick-ups they need to make this morning.


Jago is on the bridge as the haulers arrive, going through the replies he's already had for the "Help Wanted" ads he put out on the local networks yesterday.  There seem to be plenty of replies, but few with any qualifications. or experience.  Still, there are a couple of handy-looking prospects.


Jett and Kal-chan step out of their quarters almost simultaneously. having set their alarms for an early start, going to the recruiting offices.  Kal-chan looks fine, in spite of the previous evening, but Jett looks much the worse for wear.  He heads for Shui's quarters first, wincing as the sound of his own footsteps drills holes in his skull.

Saskia comes out of her quarters, barefoot as usual, winding her hair into a loose knot at the nape of her neck.  Seeing the look on Jett's face, she smiles pleasantly, then leans close, puckering up as if to kiss him on the cheek, before shouting, "MORNING, JETT!" right into his ear.

In a more conversational tone, she continues, "How are you two boys feeling today?  All set for our Big Adventure are we?  I might have reenlisted myself, but where'd Jago find another engineer of my caliber?"

Heading for the coffee, she adds, "And even if he could, why should I trust somebody with ten thumbs to look after my drives?"

The mention of thumbs reminds her about her hand, which is good.  The fact that she had to be reminded means it's stopped hurting.  Maybe later she'll speak to Shui about getting the dressing checked.

Maybe tomorrow.

Doing her duty, Yasmine is heading for the ramp to oversees the overseer, carrying her usual scattergun as well as the revolver that could blow a hole in a small moon if need be.  In case one of those loaders loses it, she will make certain it indeed loses it, for good.

"Indeed, a fine morning," she agrees with Sassy with a grin as she watches the soon to be former navigator cringe at the slightest sound.  "ROUGH NIGHT?" she suddenly asks Jett once he looks to have calmed down after the engineers little stunt.  "Oh, yeah, right, I was there.  And I didn't drink much either.  I will remember everything you boys did, or tried to do, for a very long time..."

She smiles that innocent smile of hers, the one that lets people know something is really, really wrong - and that she will use that.

"Hey, Sassy, careful with your tools, or you may end up with only thumbs yourself," she chuckles as she heads over to grab a cup of hot cocoa before going over to the ramp to supervise the unloading.

The chime at her door has Shui putting down her steaming teacup, and tightening her short silk robe.  The woman raises one eyebrow, checking the clock.  Early, still.  Settling feet into her small slippers, she pads lightly to the door, pausing to check her attire.  Decent enough.  With a nod, she triggers the entry, permitting the door to hiss open.

One look is sufficient for diagnosis.  Shui blinks, pushing back her glases.  "Mr. Grady - you appear to be in need of assistance."  Part of her almost drags this out, the better to watch him squirm, but she simply can't.  It isn't in her to make a joke that way.  "Please - come in.  We'll see what I can do about that hangover."

It also isn't in her to be anything but honest regarding medical issues.

Beneath the belly of the ship, the ramp lurches into action with its usual tortured shriek, which brings an equally torturd groan from Jett as he steps into Shui's room, which doubles as the medbay.

Kal-chan looks at Saskia, shaking his head, "I hope she can help him.  In that condition, even the Scouts wouldn't take him."

Jago places a call to a likely-looking navigator, and while he waits for the answer, he notes that the gunner he had his eye on has the same comm code.  This could be good, two crewmembers who know each other already.  Anyway, it's not like he has a lot of choice.  The second best gunner on the list has experience with mining lasers, while the next navigator on the list has only worked on local shuttles.

As the ramp hits the ground, the robots shuffle their bulk around to watch as Yas, armed to the teeth, as always when on duty in port (though rumours that she takes at least a couple of guns into the shower with her may be exaggerated) steps out to greet them.  The overseers come over to Yas.

"Morning, Miss, we're here to collect a load of fruit." the older of the two says, handing the Security Chief a wad of paperwork.  "Maybe your engineer should take a look at that ramp, when he gets a minute, eh?"

Jett sits on the edge of the bed, eyes unfocussed while Shui sorts out some pills for him.  His eyes are bleary and red-rimmed, and his voice is cracked and weak, as he speaks to her.  _{"I'm going to sign up today.  It seemed like a good idea yesterday, but today I've got this damned... virus.  I can't see, my voice is gone, I have a headache, and something I ate doesn't agree with me."}

Jago switches the comm off.  The two best-looking candidates can be here in an hour, for interviews.  Seems they're staying at the TAS hostel in this same port.

"Security Chief Crow.  She would, if we hadn't gotten used to it.  Makes a nice burglar alarm too," Yasmine replies with a small grin and then checks out the paperwork while eying the two men and the robots.

"Looks fine to me.  The fruit's all yours, mister," comes the reply after a few moments and she steps aside to let the men and the robots pass.  "I bet they like fruit here, eh?  Can't grow much of it, I gather," she says to small talk a little while she checks out the other guy a bit more.  Not The Hunk, but not too bad to rest the eyes on anyway.  At least it gives her something to do while she baby-sit them.  "Been on Vilis long?"

Shui frowns.  True, it looks like a hangover.  But what if it isn't?  What if it's something worse?  Assumptions can be deadly.  "Sit still.  I will verify the cause of the illness...should it truly be due to over-intoxication, there are a few things I can do."  Taking a medscanner, she quickly (and painlessly) snatches a sample of blood and then (with a swab) mucous membrane from his throat.  Then, while the sample is determining results, Shui checks him more thoroughly herself, searching for signs of infection.

Jett looks pathetic, every bit the antithesis of the potential hero, as Shui checks him over.  The scanner pings, and she picks it up to check the readout, faitly certain of what she'll find, having already checked him over the old-fashioned way.


The robots start their work, hauling the cargo containers out of the hold, and loading them onto the vehicles, as instructed by the overseers.  It looks like Vilis is one of those worlds where they trust robots to do the work, but not to decide how it should be done.  There are a lot of places like that.

The younger man smiles at Yas.  "You could say that, yes.  Thirty three years.  Since I was born.  Now Arbel, there, he moved here ten years ago, from Garda.  He hates it here, and... "
"No I don't!"
"And he does nothing but moan about the place.  Then again, he moans about Garda too."
"What I really do... oh... my truck with that... What I really do moan about is why I let my daughter move in with you."

And so the unloading goes on.


Jago makes his way back to his cabin.  Just time to get cleaned up before the candidates show for their interviews.  Plus he needs to get those two envelopes out for Jett and Kal-chan.  He opens the safe...


In the lounge. Kal-chan and Saskia continue their discussion of Jett's chances of surviving his first encounter with a Navy petty officer, given his current condition.

"Thirty-three?  Got a couple of years on me then," Yas fibs and smiles her best smile, knowing she does not look her age and could probably get away with claiming to be closer to 30 today still.  Given this is how far this "flirt" is to go, she feels she can take the chance to feel young.  No harm in that, is there?

"Ah, so this is a family business then," she jokes as she watches over the procedure of unloading.  "I'm the kind of girl that likes to roam around, I’m never in one place, I roam from port to port...  A wanderer, you know.  No roots yet," she contiues and suddenly is struck silent as a thought occurs to her.  Her eyes loses themselves in the distance for a moment before she shakes her head and resumes her vigilance, although with a slight hint of melancholy in her eyes.

Shui taps her foot on the ground for a moment, before pulling her glasses down a touch to glare at Jett.  "Mr. Grady," she says quietly, "you are suffering from a hangover, nothing more.  Now - being as this is your last day on the ship, I will do my best to assist you find your chosen profession.  However, you might recall my advice to the crew when I first came aboard..."

"Always tell the doctor the truth."

Turning away, she begins to work with some of the medicines.  "It speeds diagnostics immesurably.  What I will do, now," she continues, changing subject with bewildering rapidity, "is give you a treatment.  Consider it a going-away present, given my former lack of interest in 'curing' such afflictions."  Coming up with something that will take away much of the pain, as well as expell some of the alcohol from his system, Shui turns back.

"You do not have to show up at the recruitment office now.  I suggest you page Kal-chan, or I could do that for you, and ask to leave in four hours.  You return to your room, and drink half of this - not only will it assist your illness, but it will stabilize your electrolytes.  Follow it with two hours of sleep, the other half and a glass of water, and then another hour's sleep.  I can wake you, myself, at those times, should it be necessary."  She frowns.  "A shower will be critical before you seek your future, Mr. Grady.  You will reek of alcohol, given the amount you consumed.  While this will not prevent them from accepting you - indeed, it might hasten the process - it will ensure you do not receive a good placement."

Jago does a double take as he opens the safe, and pauses before reaching in gingerly to extract a couple of brown envelopes.  Closing the safe with deliberate care, Jago is in thoughtful mood as he moves away and out towards the cargo hold.

Seeing Kal-chan in the lounge, Jago stops to give him one of the envelopes and wish him luck before moving on in search of Yasmin.

Jett nods glumly as he listens to Shui's directions.  He takes the medication, and  makes his way back to the lounge, where he quickly sees Saskia and Kal-chan sharing a joke.

"I... I'm not feeling well.  Shui says it's a virus of some sort.  Probably picked it up when we went shopping.  I've got to take this stuff, and rest for a couple of hours."

"We can go to the recruiting office a bit later, yes?"

Kal-chan exchanges a look with Saskia, then raises his hand to scratch his nose, but mainly to cover a grin, "Well, I don't know, Jett.  I was hoping to get there early and avoid the rush."

His face drops, and Jett mumbles, "Sorry.  I guess you'll have to go without me then, and I'll... "

He stops, as Kal-chan doubles up laughing.  Finally the marine regains his breath.  "Virus?  Hangover more like.  Go get some rest, and I'll see you later."  He finished up with a slap on the back that almost rattles the navigator's pounding head right off his shoulders.


The robots are hard at work when Jago makes his way out of the ship and finds Yas at the foot of the ramp chatting with the overseers.  Friendly conversation or not, he notes, Yas is still taking her job seriously.

Jago smiles to himself on seeing Yasmin in conversation with the guy by the loading ramp and he stops to watch the unloading for a moment before heading over there, wouldn’t do to cramp her stile now would it.

“I have a couple of guys coming over for interviews,” he tells his security chief, “you can sit in if you like, we can close the ramp once your friends have finished.”

Having drifted away into thoughts for a moment, thoughts she was happy to have Jago interrupt, Yasmine chuckles quietly at the captain as he comments about her friends.

"You got it, capt'n," she replies, sticking to the more polite forms of address in front of these two men.  "Easy enough to find folks who are willing, I bet, we'll see if they got what it takes."  The slightly crooked smile on her lips as she says that would possibly have worried those two men if they had been here already.  Now, it may only give the two robot overseers something to talk about once they have left Profit Margin.

Shui hums quietly to herself as she puts away her medical gear, pausing to tap a couple of commands into her dataglove - in two hours it will remind her to get out in time to say goodbye to her patient, and to make certain he is well.  Sometimes technology does have its uses.

Then she carefully cleans up the last of the detritus of the search, and sits down in her chair, puffing out a breath.  "Well."  The word doesn't quite echo in the lab, due to the equipment, but it might as well have done so.

You need out of here.  She glances at the wind-carven statue, recently purchased.  Not for more trinkets.  You need to get out of here, meet people.  Talk with the crew.  But people don't see the world the same way she does, and sometimes it's difficult.  Weaknesses, stress points, illnesses...these are the things to which her eyes gravitate.

Perhaps Saskia does, at that, though in a different way.  In mechanics, rather than people.

With a sigh, Shui pushes herself to her feet, and pads to the door.  She pauses for a moment, then slips out, listening carefully before heading toward the sound of conversation.

Saskia looks up as Shui comes into the lounge, "Shui!  Hey, the hand's doing good.  Look."  She smiles and raises her hand, turning it in front of her face, then clenching it into a fist, before changing her mind and making it a half fist.  The smile picks up a slightly rueful edge.

"Well, it only hurts if I try to do too much with it, and then only a little, and for a short while."

Shui grimaces at the motion, quickly moving over to put her hand atop Saskia's.  "Nonono, please...."  Removing her hand, she shakes her head with an exasperated half-smile.  "As we doctors are wont to say, if it hurts to do something, do not do it."

Engineers.  She probably went right back to work.

Sitting down, she raises an eyebrow, that frustrated smile still touching the corner of her mouth.  "There are far too many qualifiers in that explanation, Saskia.  'Too much...a little...short time'."  With a sigh, she shakes her head, the smile easing a touch.  "But...I very am pleased to hear that you are on the mend."  Always.  It makes everything - everything - worthwhile.

A line appears across her brow, and she glances around before leaning a touch closer to the other woman, pushing up her glasses.  "Have there been any other 'discoveries', aboard?  Misplaced Navy items?"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:31, Tue 03 Jan 2006.

With Shui's arrival, Jett, looking somewhat nervous, makes for his own quarters.  Kal-chan laughs quietly, as the cabin door closes, and says, "You've got him scared of you, Doc."

He takes a seat, and watches as Shui examines Saskia's hand, wondering what the engineer has done to herself, but not wanting to ask.  Instead he settles for, "So how are you settling in, Doc?  I'm going to miss this place."


Outside, the robots work steadily, and the hold empties quickly.  After about half an hour, the last container is off, and the documentation signed and thumbprinted.  The haulers pull out of the bay, and Yas is about to close the ship up, when two men wander in through the docking bay entrance.

They pause for a moment, checking the bay number and ship name, then walk towards the ramp, where Yas waits.

"All right, what do you boys want then?" Yasmien asks, one hand on her hip and the other holding the rather impressive scattergun, the more deadly end pointing down towards the floor.  She suspect this is the two men that will replace her old shipmates, but she is not about to let her guard down now.  Plus, if she can show who is in charge now - after the skipper, of course - it will save these boys a lot of trouble later on.

Her face is next expressionless as she eyes them from the top to the toe and then back up again, trying to judge what they could be worth - and whether they are cute or not, of course, although that is not something anyone could guess from her visage.  It is more the look at cat would give the mouse, leaving the mouse uncertain whether the cat is just dropping in on a social call or looking for its next dinner - that is, inscrutable.

Saskia shakes her head, "Didn't find anything yet.  I was planning on finishing the rebuild on the drive, probably another three, maybe four hours.  Five tops, then I'm going to start a proper search, same as the one we did in your place."

The engineer takes a sip of coffee, "I can do that while the diagnostic programs are checking the drive.  I'll never be a hundred percent sure, there's just too many places to hide a bug, but I can scan the system logs for anything strange.  That's how Kal-chan spotted his, a tiny power surge that he  happened to notice."

The man on the left is a tall, slim man with snow-white hair and icy blue eyes as well as a pale golden complexion.  He is dressed in a light gray jumpsuit that has the Darrian Confederation Navy insignia over the right breast pocket with a pair of dark sunglasses tucked into the pocket.  He wears black synth-leather jump boots and a pair of black synth-leather driving gloves (though on his left hand is a metallic silver-gray Dataglove computer and on his right wrist is a black sports watch).

Over the jumpsuit tunic, he is wearing a black synth-leather lightweight flight jacket and around his neck he wears a small brass magnetic compass (with the DCN insignia in the background) on a thin chain.  He has a black synth-leather gunbelt around his waist with a revolver in the holster and to Yasmine's trained eyes; she can probably notice the snub pistol worn in a shoulder holster under the flight jacket.

Careful to keep his hands away from his weapons, Alexei takes a moment to assess both the ship and the woman confronting him and Tylen.  Alexei pays close attention to the "hardware" being put on display by the woman before he shifts his focus to her face.  With a friendly smile on his face, Alexei says in a calm, relaxed tone, "Good morning Miss.  My name is Alexei Asimov and to my right is my friend Tylen Orgesh.  Assuming our information is correct, this is the ship Profit Margin correct?

If so then we've come in response to a call issued by the commander of this vessel, Capt. Jago Lanza.  It is our understanding that he is looking for replacement crew to fill the berths of Navigator and Secondary Gunner.  We've made arrangements with Capt. Lanza to schedule an appointment for a job interview for this time."

"Thought as much," she replies with the smallest possible smile, "Hey, Jago, the new guys are here," comes a shout aimed inwards, although somehow her eyes never really leaves the two men.  Her posture shifts to the other foot as she lifts the scattergun up to rest it over her shoulder.  The hand on the hip comes forth to motion to them to walk up the ramp as she turns the side to them.

"Yasmine Crow, Security Chief and First Gunner.  The captain will be with you shortly," she informs them while she waits for Jago to turn up, and possibly the other guy to speak up as well.  "I'll join you during this interview, by the way."

"Well enough, I suspect, though I appear to make Mr. Grady uncomfortable."  She smiles, quickly, there and gone.  Almost a nervous habit.  "I fear he did not take well to my opinion on his illness.  He took it wrongly, though."  She doesn't actually judge Jett on his actions, but merely dislikes wasting important medications on self-created illnesses.

Then again, are not many of our illnesses self-created?

"I was only beginning to get used to this ship."  She looks around, then straight at Kal.  "Now, I must do so all over again, with new people," the doctor continues mournfully.  A small sigh, and Shui cocks her head ot the side.  "You will be missed, Kal-chan - it runs in both directions."

The doctor listens quietly to Saskia's explanation of Kal's discovery of the chip, nodding at all the right parts.  "Hopefully you will find what you seek...or not, as the case may be," she says, with another quick smile.  Having two people here has Shui a trifle nervous, worried about juggling the conversation, keeping track of what to say to whom.  Difficult, sometimes, for her.  "Another way Kal-chan will be missed," she finishes, a small frown touching her lips.

Alexei nodded his head in acknowledgement and moved up the ramp along with Tylen.  In a friendly tone Alexei said, "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Ms. Crow.  Do you know if Tylen and I are going to be interviewed together or separately?  Have there been many applicants interviewed for the positions thus far?"

Well this is an interesting way to start, still I suppose you can't fault them for be extra careful about security.  Ms. Crow seems a bit "informal" in her address of the Captain, I wonder if that's SOP or merely slack the Captain cuts her because she's an "old hand"?

Hmm... so does the Security Chief attend every meeting with the Captain or just when new people are involved?  I wonder what Tylen makes of his potential senior gunner-in-charge?

"I'm sure it is.  And that's Security Chief Crow, for now.  As for the interview, that's up to the captain," Yasmine replies, not wanting to get too familiar with someone she may kick off the ship in a few minutes, even if she is struggling a little to hide a smirk at the thought of two grown men wanting to be together all the time.  Perhaps that is the way they bend, simply - if so, they will at least leave her alone.  But then, perhaps it was merely a slightly strange question from a nervous guy.

"There might have been a few.  There seems to be a number of people eager to leave this place at the moment," she answers cryptically, after a moments thought.  No need to make them think they pick up the first best to come along, even if Jago no doubt screened away those that were of no interest whatsoever.

Tylen trailed slightly behind Alexei while his eyes skimmed the surrounding area, checking out the ship, and glancing about the dock before coming to rest on Yasmine. He withdrew his sunglasses and smiled politely, checking her over, and wondering how many weapons were concealed on her. She looked sturdy but most likely wasn't as quick as he was. Her aires of authority heavily laden and worn like a huge poncho, leaving no doubt about her complex.

He exchanged a look with Alexei, his own thoughts instantly obvious to his old friend. Then he brushed open his loosely adorned tan synth-bomber sporting an IISS insignia on it, shifting the weight of his two holstered revolvers slightly, amid a trim midsection covered by a red shirt. He did it slowly enough so that he wouldn't raise any alarm from the woman, not wanting a scene before they got to the interview. He nodded to her, "Security Chief Crow, I'm Tylen Orgesh, thank you for having us aboard your ship. So just out of curiosity, how long have you served aboard the Profit Margin?"

"It's not my ship as such, it's Captain Lanza's.  But I've been with him since back then, Mr Orgesh, so I guess I am pretty much a part of it now," Yasmine replies with a nod as she kept a close eye on his every move.  Never knew when some madman looked to get their own passage off this planet in light of the recent news and whatnots.

"Mr. Orgesh, Mr. Asimov, this way, please," comes the next phrase with perhaps a hint more warmth in the voice - but still rather strict and businesslike.  She stands aside to let them pass through the cargo hold and towards Jago's cabin.  "After you, gentlemen," she smiles, although it might be the fact that she gets to have them in front of her in case of trouble that is the cause of the smile - or possibly the chance to see how their "aft sections" are built.

Jago strolls onto the cargo deck with an unlit cigar hanging from the corner of his smile, “I think you’ll find that they built this ship around Captain Crow,” he says with a wink at his security officer, “if you’ll come this way gentlemen, lets get these preliminaries out of the way.”

Jago leads the way back through the hatch to the forward crew lounge and on to his cabin

Tylen smiles again after Yasmine comments as he walks up the ramp, almost six inches taller than she. His smile held no malice though and no attempt at intimidation, as a Darrian he was used to being taller than average in the Imperium though short next to Alexei. "Thank you Chief," he remarked as he lead the way into the cargo hold.

Met by Captain Lanza, another genuine grin spread across his face when he caught the joke. He immediatly extended a hand to the Captain as they walked. "Captain, I'm Tylen Orgesh, it's a pleasure. The man behind me here is Alexei Asimov, he's an old friend of mine. Thanks for taking a look at our notices."
This message was last edited by the player at 22:09, Wed 04 Jan 2006.

"Ah, well, that's ex Marine Captain, that is," Yas chuckles and gives Jago a crooked smile, waving the men past her with a slight shake of her head, looking up at the tall men.  The bigger they are, the harder they fall, she thinks to herself.

"And I'm not quite that old just yet!"
This message was last edited by the player at 22:05, Wed 04 Jan 2006.

Alexei nods at Yas and says in a relaxed tone with a mild shrug, "Very well then, Chief Crow it is."

Nothing like formality to remind one of the "good ol' days" of military service.

Alexei follows the Captain back to his cabin.  As he walks through a part of the ship, Alexei takes a moment to quickly assess his surroundings, a habit that comes so naturally to him that he doesn't even consciously think about doing it anymore.

All those lessons in "Situational Awareness"... well I suppose it beats being surprised.

Alexei bows his head to Jago and says in a more serious and business-like tone, "Good morning Capt. Lanza, I appreciate your interest in our job applications.  As Tylen has already pointed out, I am Alexei Asimov from Darrian and I'm the one applying for the open Navigator berth.  I understand from Chief Crow that you have a number of interested parties for the open berths, I hope we can impress upon you the professionalism of our qualifications."

The Captain seems to be at relative ease with the Chief, perhaps the "formalities" are mainly to impress the potential new crewmembers?  I wonder what sort of competition Tylen and I are up against?
This message was last edited by the player at 02:47, Thu 05 Jan 2006.

Trailing the others - and enjoying the noise from the ramp as it lifts up - Yasmine waves her fingers at those gathered in the crew lounge and flashes her brightest smile.

"Top o' the morning, folks.  Good to see you all up finally.  Lovely day, is it not?"   Always fun to tease them a little.

And then she steps in behind the others, staying at the door to keep an eye on things from there.  No need to crowd them more than necessary.  When Mr Asimov mentions the competition, the Security Chief winks at the captain although the rest of her face remains rather deadpan.

Shui pauses in her conversation with Saskia and Kal-chan, standing and turning toward the door to the crew lounge as the little group wanders by.  Two people...not official...with the Captain and Yasmine.  Replacements, no doubt, she thinks, coming to the correct (and depressing) conclusion.  Yasmine's little wave has her lifting one hand to reciprocate, then she turns back to the other two after the foursome disappears into the ship.

"Well.  It appears that, at least here, interviews have already begun."

Saskia downs the last of her coffee, and tosses the cup into the recycle bin.  A perfect shot from four metres away.  "Unless it's customers, Jago sometimes gets Yas's opinion on hazardous stuff."

She shrugs, "We'll find out soon enough, I expect."  Standing and stretching, she continues, "I should go do some work, light work, that is.  The heavy stuff is finished, it's just a matter of calibrating everything now.  Catch you later, Shui.  Kal, make sure you let me know when you're going."

She makes her way back to engineering, closing the hatch behind her.  She turns to face the drives, smiling as she murmurs, "Hello my babies, Mommy's home.  Just let me get my big hammer, and we can start having some fun.  Who wants to play 'Calibrating the shozt out of the manifold housing'?"

Shui's eyes snap to Sakia's throw, but, oddly, she watches the engineer, rather than the flying cup.  Hardly a common reaction.  The noise of it landing confirms success, and the doctor focuses on what the woman has to say.

"Light work...yes."  Shui frowns when Saski leaves; suddenly the lounge seems that much more empty.  She doesn't know anyone on the crew very well, and Kal-chan is going to be leaving, soon.  Attempts to get to know him now will be uncomfortable, and futile.  "Best I return to my arranging and cleaning.  I have yet to finish checking all of the unused bearths.  Please, inform me as well, Kal-chan, as I wish to be on hand at your departure."  A small bow, and she walks quickly away, down the hall to her office.

Where, shutting the door, she leans against the panal and breathes out a sigh, running the back of her hand across her forehead.  The tension had been high, especially with the strangers.  Raising one hand, she studies it for a long moment.  A touch of quiver.  Bad form, that, but understandable.  She's out of practice with this.

Regrettably, the instincts and feelings still hold true.  You can take the girl out of the family, it seems, but taking the family out of the girl...ah, that's another matter, altogether.

Left alone for the moment, Kal-chan looks around.  Everybody, it seems, is busy.  Except him and Jett, and Jett isn't good company.  With nothing better to do, he makes his way through to the gunnery position, the place where he has spent a large propotion of the last two years.

He gets himself comfortable, and spends a little while just thinking.

Finally he decides to return to the lounge and see if anybody's about.  Then it occurs to him: Corlan might be awake.  He's from Regina too.  Maybe he'd like somebody to talk to.

With a sense of purpose, he steps out of the cubicle, and catches sight of a blinking light on Jett's console.  No, not Jett's any more.  Somebody else's.

Curious, he wanders across to take a look.  An outside call.  Feeling a little nervous, he answers it, "Profit Margin, Kal-chan speaking.  No, I'm afraid Captain Lanza is not available just now.  Can I take a message.  Oh, just a minute."

He pulls a pen from his pocket, and grabs one of Jett's notes, something about beacon frequencies at Mjolnir, "Go ahead."  He writes the number down, and the name, "I'll see that the Captain gets the message, Miss.  Goodbye."

Looking up, Shui pulls down her glasses and stares across the room to check the number on her screen.  With a sigh, she pushes them back up again and silently pads over to the machine.

It isn't that she doesn't want to talk to Corlan - she does.  She wants to help him, too.  It's that sometimes she gets tired of constantly dealing with depressing things.

It's a good thing her job description includes steward, she muses, keying the screen.  "Yes, Mr. Delsant.  May I be of assistance?"

"Not exactly, Ms Tiesi." Corlan looks exhausted, his eyes red-rimmed and puffy, and his usual immaculate appearance is, quite frankly, a mess.  "I've been trying to get hold of the Captain, but he  must be busy.  I have been awake all night, thinking, and I've reached a decision."

"There is no point, I suspect, in my heading for Regina.  In all likelihood, I couldn't get close to the world, and if I could then surface travel is probably severely disrupted.  I would be no better off."

A sigh, and a shake of his head, "No.  I've decided that it would be better for me here, where I know I have friends.  I just wanted to thank you for your help."

"I am truly sorry, Mr. DeSant," Shui replies, sitting.  "The Captain is busy, but that is no excuse - someone should have spoken to you by now.  I can take this up with him, at a later time."  Her tone does not imply fire and brimstone - rather, it gives the impression of 'this is something that should be discussed'.

"I am certain we will do all in our power to discover information concerning your homeworld.  Anything we receive will be brought directly to you," she promises without even bothering to inquire if this is correct.  It WILL be correct.  "And should the situation change, we can again discuss possiblity of transporting you there."  Shui pauses for a long moment.  "Would you like me to bring you some tea?  Or would you like to join me?"

Right now, he shouldn't be alone.  Having made that decision, it's important for him to feel it is the correct one.  And she hurts for the man, exhausted, worried and lonely in his cabin.

"There's no need to apologise.  I needed some time alone anyway, to think things through.  I am the only one qualified to make this decision.  Only I know how I feel." he smiles then, but the worry lines don't leave his face entirely, "But your advice was useful.  At least I am no longer considering that foolish low berth idea."

"I will join you, if that would be acceptable.  I need to get out of this cabin.  I have some mint cake left, bought on Joyeuse when we were there, shall I bring it with me?"

"Of course, Mr. DeSant," Shui says, her eyes flicking around the medical bay for an instant.  It's a good thing she has cleaned up in here, and that her one hibiscus is currently blooming.  It's a trial, that plant, but she keeps it going.  "The cake would be a wonderful addition to the tea I have just prepared."

She has, as a matter of fact, prepared tea for one.  It is, unfortunately, insufficient for two.  But that won't matter in about forty seconds, give or take.

"And thank you.  I have been working all day, and would be more than happy for the company."

After signing off, Shui rises from her chair and heads immediately for the kettle in the closed-off, 'quarters' area of the bay.  Her motions swift and smooth, not rushed, she cleans out the teapot and immediately begins to boil some water.  Hunting in her stock of teas, she finds that of her highest quality, a bag of sealed, loose tea (mixed with what appears to be puffed rice) from her homeworld.  From her family gardens, as a matter of fact.  Calmly, but with no wasted time or extraneous gestures, she prepares the tea, pausing to consider how it might interact with Corlan's Joyeuse mint cake.  Acceptable, and perhaps complimentary.  The sweetness is an issue, but the mint cool will go well.

The lights are next, adjusted to a more yellow, softer level, rather than the bright, blue-white of her working illumination.  Two comfortable chairs are placed on the same side of her desk, facing each other, an area cleared, and the flowering hibiscus moved into a slightly more prominant location.  With a small smile, she cleans a drop of the sticky, sugary sap from her finger with a medical wipe.

It isn't perfect, of course, but this is a med-bay, not a lounge.  She would have him visit in her 'quarters', but they are nothing more than a tiny bedroom.  That wouldn't be appropriate at all.

Corlan is there within a few minutes, along with the boxed mint cake, which turns out to be a thin slab of almost-sticky white confectionery, which seemingly consists mostly of sugar, very delicately flavoured with peppermint.

"It's an old Terran recipe," he explains as he opens the package to reveal that there is just enough left for two portions, "Apparently mountaineers would carry it with them on expeditions, as an energy boost.  I had never tried it before.  I suspect we're too far from Terra, here in the Marches, to see much of it, but the Sword Worlders cling to their roots."

He sniffs the air as Shui offers him a seat.  "Ah, you are a connoisseur when it comes to tea, it appears."  He smiles happily as he sits.


In the lounge, Kal-chan jumps to his feet as Yas exits Jago's cabin, "Yas, is Jago nearly finished in there?  I have a message for him.  It seems important."

"That certainly looks like it would give a great deal of energy," Shui quietly notes, studying the cake.  Even from here, she can smell the sugar.  That much cannot be good for someone...but then, it isn't as though either of us eat this every day.

Well, for myself.  She can't speak for Corlan.

"I do my best," she continues, pouring him a small cup of tea, then doing the same for herself (no spilling).  "I hope you enjoy it."  Sufficient, that, and ready for a subject change.  Stupid to use tea from my homeworld.  But it has been so long since she shared it with anyone...nostalgia and companionship can make anyone foolish, Shui decides.

"What can you tell me of the Swordworlds?" she asks.  A safer subject, and one in which she has true interest.  "Their roots...you have visited them, of course, and I am curious to hear your impressions, Mr. DeSant."

"Yo, Caution, wassup?  Ants in your pants?  Dogs in your drawers?  Seriwogs in your socks?  They're wrapping things up there," Yas replies to him, nearly laughing at seeing him so on edge, rearing to go.  "Don't sweat it.  I'm sure it can wait a moment longer."

Time passes...

Jago wraps up the interviews, satisfied that the new crewmembers should work out well.  They do seem to have plenty of experience in their own fields.  Looking for somebody to show them round, he sticks his head out of the cabin, and is immediately accosted by Kal-chan, "Captain, git a message for you.  Came in a little while ago." he hands Jago a slip of paper, bearing a comm code.

"She said she bought the cargo off you, and she's got something you might be interested in.  Can you call her as soon as you can?"


In engineering, Saskia stands back from her handiwork, and smiles.  Time to run the diagnostics and see if anything else burns out.


Corlan sips at his tea, smiling as he savours the taste.  "This is very nice."

"I've never been to the Swoed Worlds until Profit Margin went there.  In fact, before I came aboard this ship, I had never, in my entire life, left Regina.  Then when I retired, I thought I should see some of the worlds that my company was sending goods to."

"Anyway... the Sword Worlds were colonised from Terra.  All from a single city, I think.  A place called Europe.  They have some interesting customs and still follow their old traditions."

He looks about, conspiratorially, and lowers his voice, "But, just between us, they do tend to think they're better than anybody else.  Some silly notion that Terra is the original homeworld of all of humaniti."
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:02, Thu 12 Jan 2006.

As Alexei exits Jago's cabin, he quickly moves aside for the large man who seems determined to have a word with the Captain.  Alexei is about to head further into the ship when he hears something about cargo and he realizes that his "auxiliary tasks" work as the Captain's new PA may already be starting.

Alexei looks over at Jago with an eyebrow raised in curiosity and says in an interested tone, "So Skipper, if this recent message is about the possible embarkation of new cargo... do you want me involved?  I suppose it's never to early to start a little "on the job training" as your new PA."

Wondering if Jett and Sassy is the exception from the Navy, Yasmine says nothing, only shakes her head.  Either he assumes she is slow, or he is if he takes her comment about the honey literally and then points out that his was not.  She looks at Caution, slaps her forehead, smirks and walks off to her cabin before any of the newcomers gets out of the cabin behind her.

Quickly ducking into her cabin she sighs with relief - a few moments to herself to avoid "going subtle" on that weird fellow already.  If he lasts his few jumps and stays hired she will have to learn to deal with a Navy that makes her miss Jett even more - and that she does not need.

"I'm glad you enjoy it," Shui replies with a smile, feeling a rush of pleasure that her guest is comfortable and pleased with the offering.  Better and better - his mood has improved.  Getting out of his room seems to have brought back the man's inquisitive and experimental nature.  A good thing to have, in this situation - it may keep him from brooding, which would be very detrimental to the health of his spirit.

She listens politely as he speaks of the Sword Worlds - a place she has never been.  Nor have many of her family, if she remembers correctly.  A few times in the last hundred years, and after the last they made a rule: Never Again.  Such people were to be avoided at all costs.  They had no understanding of subtlty, tact, or care.

"Dangerous people," she murmurs, peering at him from over the lip of her teacup.  "Dangerous ideas and ideals.  Brave of you to journey off the spaceport, into a land of arrogant fanatics, to satisfy your curiousity."  Shui shifts, uncomfortable at the idea of levelling such judgements.  It isn't part of her training, as a doctor or a member of the family, to voice such opinions.  Still, this is a relaxed setting, and perhaps she can set aside the doctor, push down the family's stamp (again) for a time.   "I was, regrettably, too busy putting the medical bay in order in our last few stops.  Europe...I am not familiar with the name.  All from the same city?  An interesting legend, to be sure."

Adjusting her glasses, she sits back, more comfortable herself, now.  "What sort of interesting customs, Mr. DeSant?  I am a collector - I collect bits and pieces of other societies, and that includes knowledge of their culture and mores."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:24, Fri 13 Jan 2006.

On her way forward, Saskia sees Kal-chan talking to Jago in the doorway of the Captain's office.  "Jago.  I'm just going to disable the safety protocols for a while and run some Jump simulations.  If everything looks okay, you should have everything back online in three hours or so.  Don't panic if any alarms start, it'll just mean the Jump drive thinks it's done something wrong."

She passes the stranger, giving him a curious look, but saying nothing, then ducks into the bridge.

(NPC'd)

Jago studies the slip handed to him by Kal-chan.  He glances at Alexei, "No, I think I should" he waves an acknowledgement to Saskia, "deal with this myself, thanks, at least until you settle in and you get the feel for how we do things."

"Kal-chan, can you do a guided tour for me, while I sort this out?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:39, Sun 15 Jan 2006.

Once in her quarters Yasmine gives herself a few moments, which is spent tinkering on her motorcyle.  It was a rare find she did a number of months ago, and one that she found out that she enjoys - riding the bike in the wild was quite a rush, as well as along the roads as well, of course.  Now she keeps it in her cabin while they are on a planet that does not allow for it to be used outside,learnign the ins and outs of it by taking it apart and putting it back together, polishing and tweaking things.

In a way, it is her way to relax and wind down, plus to get some hands-on experience without shooting Will all over again, so to speak.

Alexei nodded his head in acknowledgement and said in a casual tone, "Gotcha Skipper, just wanted to check... just in case.  If you need to get ahold of me fast, my comm frequency is {insert code sequence}."

Alexei looked over at the big guy and smiled as he said in a friendly tone, "Hello Mr. Kal-chan, the name's Alexei Asimov.  I'm going to be the new Navigator for the Profit Margin.  So I take it you're a member of the crew, what position do you hold... if it's not prying too much?"

"Ex-member would be more accurate." Kal-chan replies, smiling.

"Was second gunner here for two years, but with the fall of Regina, which is where I hail from, I want to get into the fight.  As soon as Jett gets over his hangover, we'll be heading down to the recruiting office to re-enlist."

"So... what do you want to see first?"

"Well, they have a variety of customs and beliefs, which date back to their origins on Terra.  A lot of those customs were brought out into space by other Solomani, but they were changed and absorbed into the Imperium, or lost entirely.  The Sword Worlders are very strict about maintaining the purity of their culture." Corlan finally says, after pausing to savour another sip of the tea.

"Everything from the choosing of names for their children, to the wording of marriage ceremonies, to the organisation of their military and government.  In everything they do, it seems they are trying to regain some lost way of life.  It always struck me as a little... sad.  As if they haven't noticed that the modern world is just as marvelous as their past."

Alexei nods his head and says in an understanding tone, "Ahh yes, I understand your motivation.  If Darrian was under siege I would probably feel the same way.  So I guess Jett must be the former Navigator?  Before you two head out, I would like a chance to speak with him since I'll be taking over his duties.

Well now, as to what to see first... let's start here and just move section-to-section and/or room-to-room.  Yasmine has already warned me that her quarters are "off limits" and I don't want to bother her.  The Skipper mentioned that normally the passenger quarters were off limits except to the Steward but that it would probably be ok to drop by just to familiarize myself with it this time.

The Skipper also mentioned something about treading "lightly" in the Engine Room due to the Engineer's proprietary feelings.  I take it that the young lady who just left after mentioning engine tests, Miss Saskia I believe, is the Engineer?  Speaking of which, I would really be grateful if you could introduce me to the members of the crew I've yet to formally meet.  Thus far I've met Yasmine and the Skipper."

"Strange that they would think this," Shui comments, sipping at her tea.  "I find that knowledge of both past and present is necessary for safe travel into the future."  A sad smile, and a shrug.  "Then again, at time it is not an easy thing to understand...though it baffles me that an entire culture cannot see this."

Pausing for thought, she shakes her head.  "No, I am wrong.  It is perhaps easier for an entire culture...and it certainly would not be the first time."  Another sip, and she takes a small bite of her piece of cake.  "Delicious.  My thanks, Mr. DeSant."

"Though...I have not heard enough about you, Mr. DeSant.  If you will pardon my curiousity, what drives you to see the universe in the method you have decided?"

"Sure.  I won't be able to show you inside anybody's rooms, except my own maybe, but their all the same anyway, except Jago's, which is bigger." Kal-chan replies, still cheerful at having something to do.  He leads the way forward.

"This is the bridge.  At the back, there, you've got the two gunnery stations.  And yes, that's Saskia, our Engineer." he gestures towards the bare-foot woman seated at the starboard control position. "Saskia, this is Alexei, our new Navi."



Corlan smiles, "You wouldn't be the first to find it a little odd.  My own daughter called me a lunatic."  The smile slips for a moment, then returns, "It's a simple enough story.  For years I ran a electronics manufacturing company on Regina.  DeSant Electro.  Became very wealthy, making good quality products.  In that time we shipped components to systems all across the subsector, and beyond.  Because I always preferred a hands-on approach, I dealt personally with the documentation for most of it."

"One day, and I remember it clearly, even if it was over three years ago, I was working on a shipping order, and I suddenly thought, Why do they need five thousand DSE-7745/3 self-regulating pulse control units on Yorbund every three months?  What do they actually use them for?"

He chuckles then, "It occurred to me, right then, that I didn't even know exactly where Yorbund is."

"So I decided to retire.  I gave the company to my daughter and her husband, and began to make arrangements to see some of the worlds I'd only seen the names of on the documents."

"About a year after that, I was ready to go, and boarded Profit Margin."

Alexei smiled and said in a friendly tone, "By the way Kal-chan, I really do appreciate your taking time out to show me around the ship.  It's very generous of you.  Speaking of the ship, I'd be interested in hearing your views of the vessel and her crew.  It always helps to get an "insider" point of view on things when one is trying to settle into a new berth."

As Kal-chan points out Saskia, Alexei makes a small bow towards her and says with a friendly smile in a polite tone, "A pleasure to make your acquaintance Engineer Saskia.  As Kal-chan just mentioned, my name is Alexei Asimov and I've just signed on to take over the Navigator's post from Mr. Jett.  I hope we're not disturbing your engine tests."

"Stupid frellin' dumb ahz thing!" Saskia glares at the display, before glancing at Alexei, only vaguely aware that he's spoken to her, and giving him a half-hearted wave.

She adjusts a few settings, then tries again, "No no no no no no no.  No!  N.  O.  I told you to ignore that, I know it's not linked in yet, but we aren't going anywhere yet.  It's just a test, stupid."

Another glance at Alexei and Kal-Chan, almost looking surprised to see them there, as if they had just blinked into existence, "Sorry.  I'm kinds busy right now and - No!  You idiot heap of junk!"

Having tinker for a few minutes, Yas decided it was time to check up on a few other things to make sure they were in working order.  She exits her cabin and heads over to the cargo bay, giving anyone on the way a nod.  One there she opens a panel and plugs in a little device in a socket and checks the readings.  She grunts a little and plugs it into another socket, keeping this up for a little while.

Shui listens in silence while Corlan spins out the tale of his life.  She sips quietly at her tea as she does, pausing to refresh her guest's.  Finally he finishes, and she stares down at her cup for a long moment, before looking up into his eyes.  Those eyes have seen a great deal.  The best of people and, no doubt, the worst.  And much, much of everything in-between.

"I think," Shui begins, choosing her words with care, "that a life spent without questioning the universe around us would be the more strange of the two.  You have seen...a very great deal," she continues, hunting for the words.  They don't come easily - she isn't a poet.  "More than vast numbers of people might see in their own lives, for all that you made this choice late.  How can this, then, be the act of a fool?"  A small, sad smile, and a shake of the head.  "People question that which they do not understand.  You questioned the Universe, and sought understanding.  Some have questioned you, and not cared to understand.  Instead, they labelled, so as to place you somewhere convenient, where your choices do not force them to question their own."  Her head makes an ironic tilt for a moment, her smile becoming wry.  "Human nature, I fear."

It is something with which Shui is familiar, herself.

Enough of that - she doesn't want to be seen as criticizing his family, though Shui feels there is much room for that, here.  Your opinion, and you know only very little of the whole story.  Additionally, it is not your place.  She would defend her own family against attack, odd as it may seem to any person comprehending her situation.  "You must have thousands of experiences on the worlds you have visited, Mr. DeSant."  Shui touches a finger to her lip, thoughfully, then adjusts her glasses.  "Have you kept a diary?  It might be interesting to gather your notes, to write a book, a guide."  Another small smile.  "Something that might better allow people to understand."

Understand both the universe and yourself.

In his cabin, Jago places his comm down on the desk.  The call had proven most interesting...



"Funnily enough, it did occur to me to record my travels for posterity, even if posterity is only my grandchildren, in this case."  Again there is that flicker of concern and sadness on Corlan's face, before his expression becomes more cheerful again, "Yes, I've recorded images and impressions of various places along the way.  Some worlds are less... exotic... than others.  Underground complexes on asteroids lose a little of their charm when you've seen six or seven of them.  Parallel evolution works for societies too, a given environment forces a particular lifestyle, but if you look a little closer, the small details vary."

"At Macene, the people, in an environment where there is little open space, fill that space with light and music, but at Gitosy they seem almost proud of the darkness, adapted to it, as it were.  Two asteroid belts, less than seven parsecs apart, and yet two entirely different societies, and they...  Ah, I'm sorry, I'm rambling.  This is all still rather exciting for me, I'm afraid."

"What is your homeworld like?"


Kal-chan gives Alexei an apologetic smile, as Saskia returns to ignoring them.  They, after all, are mere flesh, bone and blood, she will find time for them when beings of plastic, metal and electricity no longer require her full attention.

He leads the Navigator off the bridge, and into the forward section of the crew lounge.  Cramped though it is, it's the only place in the crew swction of Profit Margin big enough for a crew meeting, where people can relax a little.  He glances about, conspiratorially, before murmuring, "Seriously... she's a good ship.  State of the Art, even if she doesn't look it,  The engines, computer, sensors and weapons are all only a couple of years old, courtesy of the Imperial Navy."

"And the crew is the best.  Take Saskia, she can tell what the Jump Drive is thinking.  Did you notice that she wasn't wearing boots?  She says she can feel how the ship is, from the vibrations in the deck plates."  He chuckles, then continues.  "I can't even feel any vibrations, let alone figure out what they mean."

"Jago's a good Captain.  If you play fair with him, he'll never let you down.  Yas has been here almost since Jago got the ship, and she knows it inside and out.  Don't whatever you do, try to hide anything from her.  If she puts her mind to it, she WILL find it, and if she doesn't find that, then she'll find something else you'd rather she didn't."

He stops then, thinking for a long moment, "Shui is our medic and steward.  Not been aboard long, so I can't say much about her.  She seems okay though, if a bit quiet, but you know what they say about still water,  Unless you're from a desert world, of course, when you likely won't have a clue what they say about still water."

"All the crew quarters are along the outer wall of the lounge, and back there is Engineering.  Now would be a good time to take a peek, while Saskia's on the bridge."

He leads the way aft...

Shui, still listening, still attentive, nods along with Corlan.  She doesn't interrupt, but merely uses the proper body language and facial expressions to subtly urge him along.  Not only for his own benefit (this talk seems to be helping his spirits) but for her own - it is genuinely intriguing, as is the man's outlook on things, his interpretations.

His family winds through all he does.  He cannot separate it from himself, despite distance, despite decisions, despite a lack of understanding in his children.  For an instant, there is a hollow feeling in her own chest.  Perhaps she, too, misunderstood her own parents?  Completely?  Were they, in fact, correct?  For family is the one thing she, herself, cannot separate from her own life.

"I would like to see these images, if I might," she says quietly, during a lull.  "Having been on a few asteroid complexes, I find, as you say, that it is the small differences which catch my attetion.  People are unique, as are societies, no matter what the Swordworlders might attempt."  Another smile, this one shading closer to a grin, at his self-disparagement.  "Excitement," Shui points out, "is contagious."

His question, however, catches her completely off her guard.  She should have expected it - it's a measure of how rapt she is, caught within his discussion of the worlds and his views upon them.  "My..."

My home?

"Lan-chou," Shui says, after the momentary pause.  "A farming world in the Deneb sector.  Our population is small; the 'Celestial Bureaucracy' keeps it under strict control."  That said with an ironic touch to her tone.  "As such, much of the world is either pastoral or pristine.  A quiet world - it rarely sees visitors, especially given the lack of technological comforts."  A small shake of the head.  "I give the wrong impression; it is hardly stone-age, merely far from being up-to-date."

Pausing for a moment, she sits silently, no tell-tales on her feelings, then smiles again.  "Do you know anything about our next destination?  Has the Captain spoke of it to you?  I imagine you research our ports ahead of time."

Past to future.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:00, Tue 17 Jan 2006.

Alexei smiled at Saskia's indifference and he nodded his head as he casually waved goodbye saying in a polite tone, "Sorry for intruding Miss Saskia, you go on ahead with your tests.  There'll be time for more formal introductions later."

Alexei headed out with Kal-chan and chuckled lightly as he said to Kal in an amused tone, "I see that it doesn't matter where one travels, Engineers tend to act the same... especially good engineers.  I remember Chief MacMurphy from the DCNS Starchaser, he too went without shoes for very much the same reason.  But to his credit, he often caught trouble before the electronic monitors, with all their sensitive sensors, registered a problem."

As Kal continued to talk, Alexei quietly added more notes to his dataglove computer.  In an interested tone, Alexei said, "Hmm... so the Imperial Navy spared no expense in upgrading the Profit Margin?  That is interesting.  The Skipper mentioned that he had Letters of Marque but I hadn't quite figured on what "strings" might be attached to them, nor the possible benefits of close ties with the Imperial Navy."

At Kal's suggestion, Alexei nodded his head in agreement and said, "Sure Kal-chan, let's go check out Engineering while we can."

"Nah.  The upgrades were a couple of years ago.  We got hired by a Navy Intelligence guy, and he arranged for the upgrades, so that we'd be more use to him I suppose.  The letter is more... freelance work I guess.  We only have to do something if we want to."

"So... this is engineering, which is about all I know about it." Kal-chan points aft, "There's an airlock back there, opens on the upper hull.  If you go out that way any time, watch your head, there's an aerofoil up there, almost dorectly over the outer hatch.  Can catch you by surprise if you're not used to it.  It can be handy though, if you need to go up there and somebody's taking pot-shots at you."

He grins happily, "Happened to me once.  We tried to offload some cargo one place, and the next clan decided they didn't like it.  They kept shooting at the guys who came to collect it with muskets, of all things.  I went on the roof, and a couple of shots popped against the aerofoil, then I discouraged them with my SMG.  But not before whacking my head on the damned 'foil."

He leads Alexei out through the air-raft bay ("Air-raft.") and into the empty cargo bay.  "Coldsleep berths through there." he points, "Jago doesn't like anybody going in there, except the Doc, and Saskia, if she's needed to work on the things.  They give me the creeps.  Get somebody to tell you about the ghost, sometime."

"Hey, Yas.  You met Alexei, yeah?"  He waves to the Chief, where she works on a security sensor cluster near the sealed ramp.

"Oh, when we're portside, we keep the ramp sealed at all times, except when passengers and cargo are coming and going, and when that's happening, either Yas or me... uh... Yas or the new guy will be on guard."

"I've had the pleasure, yes," Yasmine says after she glances up when the two men enters.  "Given the grand tour, Hotlips?" she asks as she closes the hatch and locks it, turning to look at them.  She pockets the device and puts both hands on her hips, lookign between Caution and Hotlips.

"That 'new guy' would be Ty," she informs the lumbering gunner with a grin.

Alexei smiled at Yas and said in a relaxed tone, "Yes that's about the size of it Chiefie... and quite an interesting tour it has been thus far.  I hope we aren't disturbing you in your duties.  We tried to speak with Miss Saskia earlier but she was quite involved in her engine tests.  I guess a good Engineer is always busy with one thing or another. "

Alexei looked over at Kal and said in a polite tone, "My apologies Kal-chan, I should have mentioned who it was that was taking over for you.  He is a fellow Darrian by the name of Tylen Orgesh.  While not an ex-Marine, he does have sufficient experience gained in the IISS.  He's a good guy to have covering one's back in a tight spot."

In his cabin Jago shakes his head and shows the young lady on the comms relay view screen his ‘sad’ smile, “to be honest it doesn’t look like a very attractive proposition from here for a number of reasons, Miss, but I will bare you in mind when I come to deciding our next move.”

Choosing the ‘next move’ is at the forefront of Jago’s mind right now, and had been since he learned of the war but with one thing and another, he’d not had a chance to actually stop and think rationally about it. Even so, some sort of a strategy had formulated itself somewhere in the ‘cob web zone’ of his subconscious.

With a promise to get back to her, Jago signs off from his current call, puts in a request for off world cargos under 40 tons with destinations within jump two, then switches the screen over to the computer for a long hard look at the nav. screens.

"Disturbing me?  No, then I'd ignore you.  And Sassy tends to get so far into ther engines it's amazing to see more than her feet sticking out from under, or only out from, somewhere," Yas says with a somewhat crooked grin and then looks directly at the new navigator.  Whatever stirs in her mind is for her to know, but she does speak after a moment.

"Done many jumps as navigator?" she asks him, her eyes narrowing ever so little as she waits for an answer.  One hand drops as she shifts her weight to one foot - the finger on the hand that dropped runs over the fingernails in turn, which are short but still longer than absolute minimum.  She needs to trim them a little soon, she notes.

Alexei's eyebrow goes up in surprise as a sly grin forms on his face and he replies in a nonchalant tone, "Many jumps?  Oh well I suppose that all depends on how you define "many".  I suppose one might ask you a similar question... have you hit "many" people as a marine?  Based on your manner, it is probably safe to assume I've performed fewer jumps than you've hit people.

Still... with nearly 12 years in the DCN, most of that time spent as a navigator, I imagine it is also safe to say that I know what I'm doing when it comes to jumps."

Alexei glanced over at Kal-chan and added in a friendly tone, "Oh and speaking of navigators and jumps, Kal-chan when do you expect I might get a chance to speak with Mr. Jett?  I'd like to go over a few points about the Nav-Comp and see if he's kept a jump-log for prior system travel."

"'Have I hit many people'?  So that what you think is all a marine do," Yas says lifts upa  hand to look at the nails.  "You're not going to make this easy on yourself, are you?  I ask you a question, simple enough for even a Navy officer to grasp, and you go with that attitude.  Let me remind you that you ain't permanent yet, Mr. Asimov.  And based on your manner, it is probably safe to assume I have performed more dances that you have made friends - and I don't dance.  You better resume your 'tour' while you are still are aboard this ship, kid," she says with a evidently fake friendly smile.

"Dismissed, Mr. Asimov.  And that's Security Chief Crow to you," she adds cheerfully, as if having forgetten to mention it before.  "Caution, get this thing out of here before some jarhead hits it, will you?  Thanks!"

"As a marine myself, I find myself agreeing with you, Yas." Kal-chan remarks, his seemingly permanent smile, sliding a little.  "As for seeing Jett, that depends on when he wakes up.  He's sleeping right now, orders from the Doc.  When he wakes, then we'll see about talking to him."

Alexei looks clearly surprised as he responds in a hurt tone, "I'm very sorry Security Chief Crow that you've taken my jest so poorly, it wasn't meant to be taken seriously.  After all you've been calling me "Hotlips" and I haven't objected even though you made a big point earlier about not calling people by the wrong name.

Also I had assumed that you were teasing me about how many jumps I've made.  As you say, I AM Navy and I have 3 tours of duty behind me including the command of two vessels for which I almost always calculated my own jumps.  I'm rated as a Senior Navigator by the DCN and I've got a degree in astronavigation from Darrian University.

So... if I were to have taken your question seriously, then I think I have a right to be a bit offended as well.  How many jumps have I handled?  Hell... too many to recall at the moment and I've always gotten my ship to the right place at the right time all safe & sound.  You heard me list my credentials to the Skipper so I had to assume you weren't being serious... thus I played off your own teasing with a bit of my own.

I thought you were the one who told me I had to have a sense of humor and take things more lightly?"

Alexei then looked over at Kal-chan and added in a calm tone, "For the record Kal-chan, I have nothing against Marines and I wasn't the one who started making inter-service rivalry digs.  It was Security Chief Crow who chose to start making cracks about the Navy.  However instead of taking offense as many Naval officers I know would, I decided to shrug it off and play along by replying back in kind.

I've had my ass covered in a few close quarter combat engagements by good Marines who I trusted to watch my back.  I respect them for the job they do... just as I would hope THEY would respect me for the job I do, which in this case is being a Navigator.  While I agree there is more to being a Marine than hitting people, I suppose in some ways you could say that being a Navigator is primarily about calculating & executing jumps."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:58, Wed 18 Jan 2006.

"Listen, kid," Yas says with a grin and shakes her head, rubbing her forehead for a moment, "assumptions kills people.  Tell you what, next time I do make a joke I will wave a little flag, just for you, so you won't end up putting your foot in your mouth and making a jarhead wanting to go postal on you.  As for wrong name, that was regarding Jago.  Call him something offensive - and, please, don't make me having to spell out what that means - and you'll regret it.  Clear enough?" she asks and crosses her arms over her chest while watching him intently.

"A good reply to my question would have been anything from 'A few hundred' to 'More jumps than a Terekkian dog got fleas'.  My bad from trying to do some small talk.  We jarheads ain't good at that, as you probably know."

"As for trading insults, it's all in the delivery.  Jett is Navy, and a damn good man.  I trust him with my life.  But I have taken more than enough crap from white-shirt Navy snots that think they are the very core of everything, and I'm not taking it anymore from anyone.  Got it?"

She sighs and, with her hands on her hips once more, looks at him for a moment.

"Tell you what, Hotlips.  We got off on the wrong foot, or feet, it seems.  Want to start over?  Just don't call me a jarhead or I will use your head as a jar," she says and juts out a hand towards the replacement navigator in an offer to shake hands.

"And that is a promise, not a joke or a threat," she adds with a crooked grin that suggests it actually is a joke.  Perhaps.

Saskia looks up from the displays, a slightly puzzled frown on her face.  "Kal-chan, can you - oh." Where did they go?  I didn't hear them leave.  Oh, well, if it was important, I suppose they'll come back.

Turning her attention back to the test results, she slaps her forehead, "Ha!  Gotchya!"  Fingers dance across the controls, and a smile appears in place of the frown, as the readouts drop into an acceptable range.

That is, acceptable for her.  For anybody else, the original readings would probably have been more than adequate.

Alexei nodded his head in agreement and stepped forward with an outstretched hand as he said in a polite tone, "Fair enough Security Chief Crow... or may I go back to Yasmine again?  In answer to your question I think the closest accurate reply just off the top of my head would be "More jumps than a Terekkian dog got fleas"... especially one that hasn't been bathed in decades.

How about we shake hands and clear the slate?  As for trading insults, I didn't expect anyone to take my barbs about the Marines seriously... just as I've been shrugging off the cracks about the Navy.  This sort of "jarhead verses squid" banter was fairly common off duty during my DCN tours, nobody took it to heart and all joking ceased when the Battlestations alarm sounded."

Alexei sighed slightly as he added with a grin, "I guess trading "Mr. Asimov" back in for "Hotlips" is a small price to pay for harmony.  Though you're apt to give me a reputation with a nickname like that... not that I'm complaining mind you."

With a friendly smile on his face, Alexei accepted Yasmine's hand for a handshake and tried not to wince at the strength she put behind it.  He wasn't interested in making trouble, never had been in the past, and he really hadn't meant for anyone to get sore over his quips.  Alexei made a mental note to adopt a much more "strictly business" tone with the Security Chief in the future... apparently the free license to tease was a strictly one-way affair.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:43, Wed 18 Jan 2006.

"Yas, Yasmine.  Either works.  As for any reputation, that I leave to you, as should be," Yasmine replies and shakes his hand, making sure she does not squeeze too hard, feeling how little effort he put into.  He needed a healthy workout, this boy.  "Now if you'll excuse me, I got work waiting."  She turns away and steps over to near the ramp where she squats down at a small panel that she opens.

She feels slightly annoyed at herself for letting a stranger get to her - and one that had such a poor sense of joking as well.  Sure, she is a little thrown off balance with both Jett and Caution leaving, but she should know better after having dealt with who knows how many raw recruits and white-shirts with an attitude problem.  Maybe it was the fact that he reminded her of Will, of all people.  That guy had made jokes that offended everyone around him, and yet he never could understand why, thinking he was merely being funny.  Evidently some people lacked the right gene, or something.  Maybe she would have to wave that flag after all.

To top things off, the odds of meeting Will's soulmate this far away must be staggering at the every least.  She chuckles a little where she sits looking at her instrument.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:31, Wed 18 Jan 2006.

As Yas got back to work, Alexei turned back to Kal and said in a relaxed tone, "Well I think we'd best leave Yasmine to her work here.  Where to next Kal-chan?"

I'd better warn Tylen about Yas's uneven treatment with regards to teasing before he gets back.  It seems one can be made fun of and threatened "just for laughs"... but if one tries to play the game with a bit of quid pro quo, one ends up on the wrong end.

Or maybe she just doesn't like anyone beating her at her own game?  Perhaps if I'd allowed myself to take her jabs at the Navy more seriously and displayed some sign that she was getting to me, she'd be happier?  I guess it's no fun if the butt of the joke doesn't respond accordingly... or worse turns the tables on the would-be joker.

Note to self: slams against the Navy are fine, cracks about the Marines are off-limits.  Oh well, I've been stationed under worse tyrants and commanded by officers with less sense of "fair play".  I'm sure Tylen and I can survive.

"Of course you can see the images." Corlan smiles, "I'll fetch them across later."

"Your home sounds most interesting, Miss Tiesi.  Perhaps, one day, I will have the opportunity to visit it, and see it first-hand.  I suspect it will not be with Profit Margin though.  Captain Lanza seems to like working in the Marches, and while Deneb is close, I doubt he'll travel there."

A sigh, and Corlan pauses, finishing his tea.  "A pity. it would be interesting to see a world, accompanied by somebody who knows it well, and isn't a professional guide, showing me only the official tourist sites."

"The tea alone would make the world worth a visit."

He stifles a yawn, "Excuse me, as I said earlier, I didn't sleep well."

"I have no idea where the Captain will take the ship next.  I haven't spoken to him since yesterday.  Usually Mr. Grady would download some information regarding the next destination for me, and I would look through it select the places I'd like to see."

A pleased nod of the head greets Corlan's offer, and Shui does a quick check of her itinerary.  Nothing, of course, barring accident.  She will certainly have the time to peruse the pictures.

"A pity, indeed."  Shui frowns, while inside she is...relieved.  Not so good for Corlan's journey of enlightenment, but certainly better for her.  I did sign on after checking the ship's past destinations, and most probably patterns of travel.  "I would point you in the direction of a suitable guide, but it has been years since I have been on-planet.  No doubt my friends have moved on."  Likely as not, if not more.  "Were I with you, I, too, would likely be woefully behind the times.  Regarding the tea, you can purchase it in any number of stores on-planet, of course."  A small smile, then; she just can't help herself.  Pride, she supposes.

The revelation about Corlan's lack of foreknowledge is irksome, to say the least.  "The captain is hiring new crew, of course," she says carefully.  "They will likely have to be appraised of your requirements.  It is a small thing, but important to you - I will have the new navigator send you the relevant data."  She taps a finger, lightly, upon the arm of the chair - a small sign of consideration, rather than impatience.

"Regarding your lack of sleep - stress, of course, can produce such a result, as we all know.  There are certain exercises I know which might assist with its alleviation - I plan on performing them every evening."  She doesn't want this to sound awkward, or make it into something it isn't.  Best to be careful.  "Perhaps you might like to join me for them?  We can arrange a more suitable time, should it be necessary."

Another small bite of the cake.  "I shall certainly have to do them tonight," Shui notes.

Alexei glances at his wrist chronometer, and says, "Excuse me, Kal-chan.  I will have to postpone the rest of the tour.  Foolish of me to forget, I know, ha ha, but I am supposed to meet Tylen in town, to collect our belongings.  I shall return in a little while.  If you will excuse me?"

Alexei turns on his heel and heads for the ramp, pausing near Yas.  "If you would be so kind as to let me out, please?"

As soon as she does so, he hurries away to meet his friend.

"My pleasure," Yas replies with a genuine smile, and opens the ramp to let the Darrian out of the ship.  Sorely tempted to close it on him to see if she can snip anything more or less vital off, she resists the urge and closes it once he is clear.

"Charming fellow.  Do you think he is single?" she asks Caution and bats her eyelashes, looking ever so coy and innocent at the same time.  She sighs dreamily and tilts her head to one side while she waits for any kind of reaction from her good friend that soon will be a part of Profit Margins crew no more.

The worn leather chair creaks slightly as Jago leans back from his desk and taps imaginary ash, from his unlit cigar, onto the floor. Jago stands and roles the cricks out of his shoulders, runs his stubby fingers through thinning hair and heads out in search of coffee.

"Oh, this could hardly be Captain Lanza's fault.  I haven't even told him yet that I will be staying, and with Mr. Grady leaving, I'm sure it's just slipped everybody's mind."

Corlan ponders Shui's offer of helping him with an exercise program, giving it careful thought before replying, "That could be a good idea.  Providing, of course that it doesn't start too strenuously.  I'm not as young as I once was, after all."  For the first time since he first approached Shui for help in deciding what he should do next, his smile actually seems genuinely cheerful.

No hint of sadness there now.

Shui conceeds the point regarding the Captain with a nod of her head.  She watches him carefully as he considers her 'exercise program', her face giving no sign of her own thoughts.  What am I doing?  Have I gone insane?  Perhaps.  But the plight of this decent, curious man has touched her, deeply, and she will not take back the offer.

With his acceptance, she feels a smile break over her own visage, and gives him a little, seated bow.  "I will ensure it remains easily within your capabilities, Mr. DeSant, though I cannot promise it will remain easy as those capabilities grow."  One eyebrow quirks.  "At times, none of us are young, Mr. DeSant.  At times, years fall away.  For you, this is one of the latter moments."  Reaching over, she carefully fills his teacup again.  "I am honored by your acceptance of my offer; that a man as experienced in life and the universe would choose to take this on, with me, is an oddly humbling feeling.  I will endeavor to not disappoint."

Leaning back, she studies him over the rim of her cup, looking not only with a doctor's gaze but with the practiced eye of one experienced in exercise.

"I am sure you won't disappoint me, I was more worried about making a fool of myself in front of you."  Corlan stands then, stretching a little, "I will leave you in peace for now, Miss Tiesi.  Thank you for the tea, and the company.  I can drop my journals in to you in a little while, after I've tidied them into some sort of order."





Yas and Caution are sharing jokes about the last two years while she works, when the access signal sounds.  Yas checks the security monitor at the head of the ramp and spots the new gunner (Tylen?  Yeah, Tylen) waiting below with some sort of small vehicle, loaded with gear, alongside him.  No sign of the Nav though...

"I have my doubts, Mr. DeSant," Shui says, rising to give him a small, polite bow.  When she straightens, there is a small smile quirking one corner of her mouth.  "I have seen your medical files, recall, and performed a physical.  I know your condition quite well.  As for the journals, you have my thanks – and I will certainly enjoy them as much as I have enjoyed this time, together.”

Following Corlan to the door, she pauses.  “I would spare you some of my tea,” Shui states, “but it would be easier if you simply came to ask, should you desire some.”  The doctor cocks her head to the side, slightly.  “I would appreciate if you would not hesitate to do so.”

"Hey, now what?  Only the scout.  Maybe the Navy sunk somewhere, eh?" Yasmien says with a chuckle to Caution as she moves over to lower the ramp to let the new gunner aboard.  Mixed feelings stirs inside - a close friend being replaced by a stranger, starting over from zero to get the new guy to learn the ins and outs of the ship and the weapons.  As the ramp lowers she sighs, the shriek of the ramp easily masking it.  By the time the ramp is all the way down her face too is reset to zero.

"Where's your friend then?" she calls out to the scout before he can get on the ship even.  "Please don't tell me he is bringing a truck load of gear!"

Tylen glanced at Yasmine doubiously, watching her eye sharply, looking for any sign of foul play or humor. "I'm not in the mood at the moment Chief.....Is he still here? He was supposed to meet me," Tylen said as he brought a leg over his Quad bike, his hand was gripping his bomber at about waist level when he gained solid footing facing the ramp and Yasmine.

He did not look pleased.

"Since he decided not to show, I brought his gear as well."

"The mood for what?  I wasn't asking for a dance," Yasmine says and peers at the man.  "He left some time ago, in a hurry, was heading to see you, or so he said.  I was expecting to see the two of you," she tells Tylen and steps aside to let him get his little bike up.

"Four wheels, uh?  I prefer two myself, makes it more fun," comes the next comment, now with a small but crooked smile on her lips as she give the bike a look.

He smiles a little to replace his worried look at Yas's second comment, since his friend hadn't met him up and apparently Yas wasn't lying to him or "in" on it. He sighed, "Sorry, I thought I would find him here....playing one of his old jokes on me again, somehow getting you to play along--Getting me to bring his stuff. That's really odd though...he didn't get to my housing unit. I suppose I should get in touch with the enforcement, just to be sure...."

He rolled the bike and it's contents up the ramp with a little 'vroom', and parked it next to another bike, which must've been the bike Yas was talking about. He backed himself over to Yas to admire both light vehicles from a distance. "Nice, though I prefer the steady, workhorse application of the quad ATV."

He paused, a sly humorous look creeping across his weathered face accomanied by an arched eyebrow, "So you wanna dance huh?"

One eyebrow of the Security Chief lifts up as she listens to the words of the Darrian.  "Get me to play along?  No offense to your friend, but I think not.  But yeah, better see if something happened," she says and watches him park his little "workhorse", chuckling at his comment about such a use for it.

"It's just something I picked up, it's great for quick scouting, gets through wherever you can fit yourself, low fuel consumption, surprisingly quiet, fast and comfortable.  Quite something to have between your legs, heh, and it's too much fun to be legal on some worlds.  In other words, perfect," she explains, getting a hint of enthusiasm and perhaps even a hint of passion in her voice as she talks about her enduro-styled bike.

"Depends on the dance you had in mind, scout," she then says with a smallish smirk, "it might not be for all, after all..."

Jago stands in he forward crew lounge, trying not to scald his tongue on steaming coffee he sipped from a lightweight beaker.

When Corlan emerges from the medic’s room, Jago smiles, after countless hands of cards and games of chess over the passed few years, he considers the man as much a friend as a passenger.

“Have you got a moment Corlan?” Jago asks, “I’ve come to a decision about our imitate future, which I think will meet your approval, also there is another matter I’d like to talk about.” Jago indicates the door to his cabin, which stands open, as it usually does.

]

Tylen just grinned, removing some of the tied down baggage on the quad. "I think for now the dance will just be escorting me to whatever quarters you've got lined up for me. Are you game?"

He wondered how long he should wait to hear from Alexei before getting very worried. It was unlike his friend to simply not keep an appointment at all, though fashionable lateness was his MO. He wondered when and where he would meet the Darrian next, and if something had happened to him, what would he tell his family. These thoughts began to sour his face again with concern.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:01, Sun 22 Jan 2006.

Humming quietly, Shui cleans up around the lab, putting away her tea and brushing the crumbs into the garbage.  When finally finished, she takes one, last look around, then slips out the door.

Voices.  Several, coming from the bay.  A quick glance in that direction, and the medic chooses to head to the source.  Something is up, it seems.

Corlan, not surprisingly, occupies her thoughts as she heads to the entry hatch.  A terrible position for the man to be in, but he's a strong man.  It takes a strong man to walk away from his life, as he did, in search of something better.  Especially against the wishes of his family.

Shui pauses, frowning.  That sounded almost egotistical.  Well...I was not thinking of myself when I thought of it.  In any case, she would do her level best to assist the man, any way she could.  Besides, he was a fine conversationalist.

Speaking of conversations....

Arriving at the ramp, she stares at Yasmine's back for a long moment before peering around the woman.  One man, with a quad.  Hm.  One of the new men she saw, walking with Jago?  Looks like.

"Hey, I'm not that kind of girl.  If you want company to your room, ask Sushi," Yasmine says with a fake innocence, knowing full well that the good doctor has crept up behind her.  Then she "accidentally" looks around and jumps a little.  "Hey, when you speak of the Borrogian tree bunny...  Ahem, what I mean is, she is the Steward, after all!"  Big smile at Sushi.  Turn around.  Wink at Tylen.  Big, helpless shrug.

She can tell the Darrian is worried, and she suspects that she knows why - a failure of a friend to meet up, so maybe a bad joke could cheer him up.  Of course, it might misfire and she will end up having to dodge the doc for a week, but hopefully the good doctor knows the security chief only too well by now to realise why she cracks this joke.

"Sushi, meet Quadman.  Quadman, meet Sushi.  There.  I should leave you two alone now..." she adds and begins to edge away from the two.

Kal-chan chuckles at Yas' renaming of the new gunner, "Don't worry, she does that to everybody.  It's a jarhead thing, I guess, give everybody a code name so the Navy boys won't know who you're talking about."

"I'll show you your berth, and your workshop too.  I've got nothing better to do until Jett wakes up from his mystery virus anyway."  He winks at Shui, at the mention of Jett's illness, grinning from ear to ear.

Then he leads Tylen through to the crew section, and into his own old quarters, where the bags with his few personal possessions still lay on the fold-down bunk.  "This is it.  It's not much, I guess, but Yas said you were a Scout, so you're used to worse than this.  You can haul your stuff through in a little while.  If I'm still about, I'll give you a hand."

"Let's take a look at the gunnery station."

The gunnery stations are located at the rear of the bridge, two small cubicles.  The fire control system in one looks pretty much standard, if fairly new.  The second station looks a little more esoteric, with some odd-looking readouts and controls.  "Plasma cannon." explains Kal-chan "Yas' babies.  Impressive as anything, close up, but don't have the range of a missile.  Pretty devastating against anything non-milspec though."

Shui stares back at Yasmine for a long moment, one, thin eyebrow rising slightly.  The woman obviously knew she was there, prior to her 'discovery'.  Hence, the comment is for everyone's benefit.  Yasmine, she has come to realize, has a tendancy to use humor like a bludgeon - frequently and with great force - but always has a reason that lies outside of that ugly 'Make Fun of Another' circle.  She simply isn't that type, from what the Doctor has deduced.

The marine merely likes a good laugh.

"Indeed," she finally says.  "That is absolutely true."  A small pause.  "The Steward portion, not the tree bunny."  A hint of a small smile on her face, she turns to Tylen.  "Good afternoon, sir.  I am Shui Tiesi, both Steward and Doctor aboard the Profit Margin."  Another glance toward the slowly retreating marine.  "I know better to assume that your name is Quadman."  A quick bow to Kal-chan.  "So, he is our new gunner?  I will leave the two of you to examine your quarters and the weapons.  Please report to me for a physical when you are finished," she says to the new person.  "And if there is anything else you require, as well."

A tiny line appears between her brows.  "Mysterious illness, is it?  Apparantly I have discovered an odd link between alcohol and sickness, then.  I must write a paper to better disseminate this find."

Turning, she watches the two men go, before looking back down at the quad, and the retreating Yasmine.  "Quadman?"

Tylen bellows out a laugh at the Chief's assesment of his intentions and new nickname as well. She definitely had a decent way to bring him out of his reverie. He found himself already liking her. At the introduction of Shui, he smiled pleasantly, unable to help his sweeping look at the beautiful woman. "My name is Tylen," he paused glancing at Yasmine already in retreat, "Tylen Orgesh actually, and my only intent was to find out where my quarters were to be. It's a pleasure Shui Tiesi, I'll definitely be by to get my check-up after I'm through with the tour."

He turns when Kal-chan nodding his agreement of the Chief's attribute of renaming people, still unable to wipe the grin from his face. As he replaced his gear he began to fall into step with Kal-chan. He followed Kal onto the bridge to examine the stations. "Thanks very much for giving me the tour, by the way. Yes, not bad at all, the 'Boat I was on was much older than this vessel's systems. It seems much more streamlined than my former berths at least. The 'Bright eyes', very nice."

Tylen sat down at the station he assumed would be his next, shifting in the seat to see how comfortable it was. Then again, he didn't expect that the seat would be his 'home' since they weren't a fighting crew. He glanced over the systems getting a feel for their positioning and judging his reaction times using them. "I've always kinda liked the "Javelins", great design for a missle system. What do ya think?"

"I do not!" Yas objects to Cautions claim, and then she adds, "Well, all right then, I do..."  She grins and watches her friend lead the new gunner away and then she turns to Sushi.

"Did you see the look he gave you?  You better watch what kind of physical you give him, Sushi!" she teases the doctor and then shakes her head with a sigh.  "No man ever looks at me that way."  Was that a hint of real sadness in her voice, or was it all acted?

"Quadman, yup," she quickly jumps in and nods slowly, "See.  He needs four wheels, the poor man.  You should check his balance while you check the... rest... out."

Kal-chan chuckles as Tylen expresses his approval of the missiles.  "Tell the truth, they're all good systems when they're pointed at the other guy.  Here, watch this."  He leans past Tylen and presses part of the panel, immediately dropping the whole console down to half brightness.

"See, this is set up how I like it, but this is all latest Naval tech, you can change it about to suit yourself.  This is the missile launch control here, just where I like it."  He touches the control in question, and it brightens.  "The whole console is just a touch sensitive display really.  Now if you prefer the missile system on your left, you just drag it across with your finger tip, like so, and drop it where you want."

He moves his finger across the panel, and the missile control moves with it.  "When you have it all set up to suit yourself, then you hit the flashing green spot up there, the only control that can't be moved, and that locks everything.  It asks for a password too, so if somebody shifts things about, you can restore your configuration with just a word."

"Have fun with it when you get a chance, and set it just how you want it."

Shui blinks once in surprise as Tylen assessment, then nods.  "Very well, Mr. Ogresh - I shall see you in the medical bay when you are ready.  If I am not there, please comm me."  Another, almost nodding bow as the man passes her by, and Shui turns to watch him go, then back to Yasmine.

Time for a rapid assessment of her own, it would seem.  Shui glances down at herself, then takes a quick look at Yasmine before raising that eyebrow again.  "I hardly think that is the case," she replies, with a pointed look down at herself again.  Shui keeps herself in good condition, but she can't compare to the Chief's near-fanatical regime.  In addition, Yasmine certainly has a more curvaceous body than herself; the best compliment she has ever received on that matter is 'lean'.

And that's not even counting the invisible factors.

"I believe, Ms. Crow, you may be suffering from a mild case of myopia.  The evidence certainly supports the hypothesis."  Crouching to pick up a pebble from the deck, brought in by the visitor's boots no doubt, she bounces it on her hand, experimentally.  "Regrettably, this is the sort of visual defect that *I* have no way of helping, though I suspect that others might find a remedy."  The faint smile returns as the stone bounces up and down on her palm.  "Shall I forward to you the results of Mr. Ogresh's 'check-up'?  For 'Security' reasons?"

"Hey, take my word for it, he didn't look at me that way.  And my eyesight is just fine, even if I don't check you out, Sushi.  Not my scene, if you know what I mean, girl," Yasmine replies with a amused chuckle, shaking her head in denial.  Then she laughs out loud at the offer to pass on information, a hearty laughter and steps up to the side of her as reaches out to give the good doctor a hug around the neck with one arm.

"In fact, my eyesight tells me that he quite liked what he saw when he looked at you.  And I'm an ex Marine, we then to scare people rather than seduce them by just appearing," she explains and ruffles the hair of Sushi playfully with the one armed hug still in effect, "as for any information, you keep it!  Who knows, you might need it soon..."

Releasing the doctor/stewardess she continues to chuckle, snort and chortle as she moves away towards another panel.  Wagging at finger at Sushi she says over her shoulder, "You are one naughty girl, doc - I like your style!"

"*I* was not the one asked to his quarters for a dance," Shui points out, brushing past the comment about her own ideas regarding Yasmine.  She doesn't lean in that direction, herself.  The pebble almost falls out of her hand when Yasmine gives her a squeeze, the doctor almost bobbling a catch out of sheer surprise.  It's unexpected, to be sure, but she adapts quickly enough, returning the one-armed grip with an awkward one of her own, squeezing the marine's waist for a moment before relaxing.  A put-upon sigh, then, as Yasmine ruffles her hair, and Shui blows it out of her eyes with an exasperated puff of air.

"Rest assured, Ms. Crow," she continues as the marine frees her from her lethal clutches, "any information I receive will be used only in a professional manner.  And unless the Captain has upgraded my on-board license recently, this does not include 'courtesan activities'."  A flicker of embarassment runs through her, though; Shui isn't used to this sort of talk, and it shows.  Her smile is a trifle nervous, though real, Yasmine's final shot making it weak and wobbly.  Only so long before she trots out the 'playing doctor' comments.

With a small cough, Shui visibly gathers the shreds of her dignity about her, and attempts to change the subject.  "On what are you working at the moment, Ms. Crow?  Something to do with our naval visit?  Or is there another problem of which I should be aware?"  She glances out the hatch, frowning.  "Aside from a missing recruit."  Her lips thin, and Shui glances at the pebble still in hand.  Her thumb snaps it into the air; as it falls her forefinger flicks out, and the pebble spirals out of the hatch.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:17, Tue 24 Jan 2006.

"Wasn't me!  It was he who asked!" Yasmine claims with utmost vigour and opens a panel, "...sort of," she adds and then looks back over her shoulder.  "Now, if 'courtesan' means 'paid sex', that won't happen on Profit Margin, except over my dead body.  And no, that's not a hint at necrophilia either!  I doubt Jago would approve either, but then, the subject haven't come up.  Yet.  So no need to worry about that, girl."

"Minor check-ups on the security grid.  I need to make sure it is all calibrated," she explains in a instructing manner, turning back to the panel, and sounding as if she had said nothing a bit too deplorable the moment before.  "But thanks for reminding me about the bug-hunt.  I really  doubt there is anything, but it's a way to pass time, and to make sure they didn't dump anything else on us, the little ship rats."

A small pause, tinkering with the device in her hand.

"Oh, and if I 'push the limit' or something with my jokes, just holler and I'll make sure not to repeat it.  I think I'm a little off balance at the moment.  Thinking too much about too many things.  Never a good idea," she concludes, sounding dead sober all of a sudden.

The rapid-fire reply from Yasmine has Shui standing in bemusement, content to listen and sort the truth from the hyperbole.  It's not easy, but then it isn't supposed to be, she suspects.  Here is a person with as many, or more, walls than the Doctor, but one who conceals them better behind a constant flow of repartee.

Obviously the woman has a lot on her mind right now, and the last words confirm that fact.  Perhaps it is Kal-chan and Jett's leaving that has her off kilter.  Perhaps it is the discovery of the bugs.  Perhaps it is the fact that their newest employee is singular, rather than plural as 'he' should have been.  Perhaps it is all of these, or none of them, or some confusion mishmash through which Shui could not find her way with a map and a flashlight.

She does, however, understand about thinking too much.

"I have a thicker skin than some," she notes quietly.  "I have no cause for complaint...yet."  The smile is steady again.  "Something bothers you.  Are you-"  Possibly it isn't a good idea to ask if she is feeling anything a marine might consider 'weak' - it wouldn't open a conversation, to be sure.  "-angered?" she finishes.

"Bothers me?" Yas replies where she sits, intently examining the device and switching between the various outlets inside the panel.  "Angered?" she echoes as well.  The shoulders pulls up in a small shrug and then drops in conjunction with a soft sigh.  There is a lot of thing on her mind, for certain.  Some of them not even related to anything that is going on - or at least not directly.  But talking about such things was nothing she is used to, especially not with her background in the military.

"Sort of, perhaps," she finally admits, reluctantly, the frown on her forehead hidden from the doctor behind her.  "But, it's nothing I can't handle," she claims, considering going to the firing range and waste some imaginary targets - that usually helps her unwind a bit.  And then she rounds it off.  "Wouldn't want to keep you from your duties, doc."

Shui waits, listening silently.  Yasmine will either tell her, or not.  And the woman does...in a way.  Nodding slowly, the doctor waits to see if more is forthcoming, but no - a dismissal, but not of her.  Of Yasmine's own feelings.  The smile fades, Shui's face growing serious.  "The health of the people aboard this ship is my duty, Ms. Crow," she states quietly.  "But prying is no way to assure it."  She bows, stepping back.

"However, you should know that by the same token, nothing is more important to me than the crew and passengers," she continues, still in that same quiet, serious tone.  "If there is anything I can do to assist, Ms. Crow, please - assure yourself that it is part of my duty."  The hint of a smile returns.  "I am at your disposal, should you wish to speak on something."

And that will have to be that.  For now, Shui considers, hoping the woman will take her up on her offer, but prepared to back down for the moment should that not be the case.

Perhaps she tested the good doctor with her last statement.  She is not certain, and she does not really care.  It was anything but easy to open up to someone for her.

"Bah, I'm just a jarhead.  Once a marine, always a marine.  Kind of hard to break habits hammered into you for most part of your life," Yas says with a chuckle that dies halfway through.  "And call me Yas, please!" she adds a little bit more perky, looking up to give Sushi a grin.  It fades after a moment though and she turns back to the panel.

"Maybe it's because you haven't been here long, or maybe it's just you, but...  It seems easier to talk to you than anyone else.  Apart from my sister.  Ah, yes, that was before your time," she says, carefully weighing her words.  "I guess I've reached a point in my life where I... evaluate it.  Things and times lost, opportunities...  Choice of life path and all that, you know," comes the words, attempting to make the last sounding a bit more carefree than it really is.

Truth is she is not sure why she is telling this now, but it feels good at the same time to actually talk about it.  Or maybe she was just going soft in her old days - past her prime and nothing but old age to look forward to.

"Labels," Shui says quietly, "are cheap, easy, and very destructive.  Your marine friends were far more than 'jarheads' - why should you consider yourself the same?"  She ruminates on that matter for a moment.  "I assure you, we do not think of you as such.  You are Yasmine Crow, with all that entails," she finishes, settling down on her haunches, poised on the balls of her feet staring up at Yasmine.  One hand, almost as an afterthought, adjusts the glasses on her nose.

"Choices."  The doctor's tone turns brooding for a moment.  "We all make choices, and some of them prove to be bad.  I am a poor choice, for example, of someone to give advice in those matters," she continues, her smile ironic, now.  "But I can understand...time lost.  Opportunities slipping through the fingers like sand.  A great man said this about choices: 'Tomorrow is the most important thing in life.  It comes into us at midnight very clean.  It's perfect when it arrives and puts itself in our hands.  It hopes we've learned something from yesterday.'"

She laughs, quietly.  "How pretentious of me - quoting.  But there is always a tomorrow, Yas.  And it begins now, should you wish.  Few choices are forever."  One palm up, she rises.  "Of course, easy to say, harder to do.  I, myself, am guilty of the same concerns, same worries, same...uncertainties."  Reaching out, she touches Yasmine's shoulder.  She's hurting.  Is it Kal-chan?  Jett?  Or something else?  Whatever it is has put a serious crack in this woman's granite-strong spirit, and she's bleeding now.  "I understand what weight sits on your shoulders, and I am, as I said, always ready to listen."

Removing her hand, she steps back, apparantly to lean against the wall.  An astute obvserver would be able to tell Shui is not actually putting her balance against the wall at all.  "Your sister...I know nothing of her.  Do you correspond?"

"Labels are true to an extent.  A Marine is taught not to feel much, or to show it.  It's been years since I left them, but it's imprinted deep," Yas replies, still working inside the panel, only glancing over very briefly as Sushi sits down.

"Not all things have a tomorrow though.  Time doesn't wait for us," she says cryptically and then stops working to look down at it as the hand touches her shoulder.  "But it's a choice made," she continues and looks back to her work as the hands comes off, "and it'd probably drive me nuts anyway."  Still avoiding to mention exactly what it is that troubles her, she closes the panel and turns to look directly at the doctor.  Her eyes are tired, pained even though the mouth carries the same old devil-may-care grin as most of the time.

"Infrequently.  She came by on a suprise call a couple of years ago.  It was the first I've seen of her for too many years before that, and probably will be a few more years before I see her again," she explains, looking down as she puts away the device in a pocket.  She picks at a nail with a light scowl as she continues.  "It's kind of hard to keep in regular contact with us skipping all over the place, and her being sent here and there too.  She's in the scouts, of sorts.  I think you'd like her," she decides and looks up with a crooked grin, noting the stance of Sushi.  Evidently there is more to the good doctor than meets the eye, and not only all the things she says withotu saying anything.

"Sparse as our contact is, I suppose she's my best friend.  We're as close as sisters can get, I'd say.  How about you, got any siblings?"

"Labels are labels," Shui murmurs.  "They can be useful, I admit, but break down under closer examination."  She's glad she listened to her own instincts, and kept her distance.  The woman is in not mood to be touched, her earlier rough-housing notwithstanding.

"As for the driving nuts," the doctor continues, "observation tells me it would be a short drive."  This with another small smile, but she sobers again, quickly, both from the topic and the tired expression on the security chief's face.  "Time does march onward," she agrees.  "It is the future choices that can change the paths of the past...some of them, at least."

"Well, if your sister is at all like yourself, I am certain I would find her company pleasant."  The small smile returns for a moment, fading again.  "It must be extremely difficult to have family and see them so infrequently - almost easier to have family one never sees.  Perhaps you might contact her, arrange for a vacation together at some point."  Shui shrugs, checking her glasses again.  "The Profit Margin might be in need of an overhaul in the future, though if you inform Saskia I said that, I will deny everything.  It may not seem possible now, but who can say?"

Still, Shui has to admit, it does seem unlikely.  So painful - separated from her sister, with whom Yasmine obviously shares a deep bond, and now sitting on the knowledge that things could be different, now (in what way Shui can only guess), had she picked different choices from those before her...Yasmine, as she has said, is in the unenviable position of questioning her entire life.

And there is little you can do or say to help how she feels, Shui.  She knows that for a fact.  This is going to be a heavy pain inside the other woman for a long time, an undigestible brick in her gut.  Unless she changes how she feels.  And much easier said than done, that.

"I am sorry - truly.  For-"  A quick wave that encompasses 'everything'.

Then, of course, comes the tricky question.  "I have several, in fact," Shui replies, keeping relaxed.  "Two sisters and three brothers, at last count.  One of my sisters is younger than I, and two of my brothers.  We have not spoken in years, nor do I expect to see them again."  Her smile is strained, genuinely.  "I have had family difficulties.  They did not approve of my choice of careers, and our parting did not go well."  What she always says when this subject comes up.  "But that was years ago," Shui points out, "and I have had time to grow accustomed to it."

She taps one finger on her lips.  "Your sister.  Is she younger than you?  Older?  In the scouts...fascinating."
This message was last edited by the player at 17:02, Tue 24 Jan 2006.

"Some of them being the key-phrase," Yasmine says with a dry chuckle.  She inhales deeply and rubs her forehead with three fingertips.  "Whatever.  Talking won't solve it, only concrete action.  But hey, we can't all be the kind that settles down and sprout roots, uh?"

Then she quickly cracks into a big smile, as if wishign to change the subject, and waves a finger at Sushi, much like her old teacher did when making a point.  "She is like me when I was younger.  Well, sort of.  Too full of herself and what she can do, but she actually do things too that few others could, or would," she explains and looks into the distance for a moment at some sweet memory of the past.

"Nice ideas, but it's not only my end that needs to click.  She's probably not having much free time now either.  I'm not even sure where she is as of right now, she drops off the radar for weeks at a time, much like we do, I guess," she tells the doctor with ill hidden dashed hope in her voice.

She waves away the condolences from Sushi with a smile that is slightly askew and then listens to what Sushi says about her own family.  Clearly the good doctor has problems of her own - as most people alive do.

"Yup, kid-sister.  Special service in the scouts, with quick a nice little ship she gets to use.  I'd go nuts in a little can all alone, but then, I'm probably nuts already!  As for your family - would you want to see them again, or is the feelings mutual by now?" she inquires, not one to hold back a question if she has got one.

So.  Settling down, sprouting roots.  Likely as not it does have something to do with Kal-chan or Jett leaving.  Shui would guess the former, though she's smart enough to realize it could be either...or neither, and just a gut reaction to change.

Yasmine obviously wishes to change the subject, though, and Shui honors her desire.  Filing away the information regarding the sister as 'Important', Shui cocks an eyebrow at Yasmine's question.  The subject change, on her part, failed to function as it should.  Yasmine is a terrier; once she gets ahold of something, she won't let go.

No doubt she sometimes shakes things until their necks snap, as well.

"My family?"  Adjusting her glasses buys the doctor some time.  "I wish I could see them again.  However, I departed under a great deal of acrimony, and have no wish to run that gauntlet again.  Regardless of my feelings, I understand that my family harbors a great deal of anger."  She gives the other woman a wan smile.  "I think it would be better for myself and them, both, to let old wounds heal.  To leave them in peace."

Her fingers tap against her leg for a moment, then Shui speaks more briskly.  "We should attempt to keep tabs, as best possible, upon your sister's comings and goings.  The better to be able to arrange something in the future.  Could it hurt?  From the sound of it, she would be willing to bend her own schedule in order to meet with you for a short vacation."  That finger taps her lip again.  "As you said, time passes.  Life is too short not to make the attempt..but that, of course, is up to you."

It would be safer not to try.  Shui wonders which direction Yasmine will turn.  "I, myself, would greatly enjoy a meeting, should there be time," she notes.

"One of those families, uh?  Honour before compassion.  Sounds a bit too much like the Marines in that respect," Yasmine comments and now it is her time to put a hand on the shoulder of Sushi as she spots the reaction.  "Never say never, though.  I thought I'd never see Tasmin - my sister - here, but poof, there she was one day!  So you keep track of them and maybe some day you'll all be happy to see one another, eh?"

She shakes her head as the suggestion to keep tabs on her sister comes up.  "That's just it, you see.  She doesn't know where she'll be next month.  She was the one coming looking for this ship, and not on her spare time.  So that'll have to be, and the way things are right now, possibly until after the war," comes the statement as the gunner and security chief shakes her head and let the hand fall from the shoulder.

"But I'm sure you'd enjoy it, unless you went insane from being around two people much like me," she teases Sushi and winks.  Shields up, evasive manoeuvres, as the Navy liked to do when it got too hot for them and sent in the Marines instead.  "Speaking of liking, what do you think of Quadman then?" she spits out as if to add to the confusion.  Who and what the second in command of Profit Margin misses is her own problem, after all, and she will get over it sooner or later.  Hopefully.

Shui considers the idea of her family suddenly 'Poof - turning up'.  Oh, yes.  That would be very good.  Father's fury, mother's tears, my brothers' insistance that I return with them, and my sisters' cold anger.  Just the idea makes her nauseous - something to be avoided at any cost.  A poisoness environment, to be sure.

So she lets that pass with a considering nod, Yasmine doing the reaching out this time.  Shui awkwardly pats the hand on her own shoulder, ignoring the reactions howling through her body at the touch - too much talk of her family has her nerves wired, and they're screaming out reactions completely out of place with the situation.  An effort of will puts them under control, easily, and Shui shrugs.  "Who can say?" she agrees.

Should I have any say, it will be no.

"Oh, I believe I could handle two of you, simultaneously," she replies, cocking her head to the side.  "It would be difficult, of course - speaking to you sometimes makes my head spin.  Shall we simply say I would enjoy the hurricane?"  This with a smile, before Yasmine shifts the subject so quickly it does put her thoughts a-whirl.  "Quad - Mr Ogresh?"  Shui considers, running over what she recalls of the man.  "Polite enough, though a trifle rough about the edges.  Both in manner and dress," she notes, recalling his 'once-over' as well as his clothing and lack of a recent shave.  "He goes well armed, does he not?"  She could have hardly missed the twin revolvers at his hips.

"Yourself?"

"All right, enough family talk.  If one lives, one might find out," Yas states as a matter-of-fact, sensing something from Sushi's reaction that tells her it is best to drop that.  For her own sake she does not mind dropping it either, seeing how it only makes her miss her sister more.

"Me?  I always am well armed," she jokes, pretending to misunderstand the question completely, once more falling back to her near life-long habit.  "Even when unarmed.  I'm a lethal weapon, and I even got some training in unarmed combat!  And I ain't talking about my two cannons either, sister..."  She stretches up, jutting out her chest a little and sucking in her stomach to make it clear just what cannons she is talking about - and winks at the doctor.

"We'll see.  So far he seems all right, but it'll take quite soem time to see what he's made off," she concludes, a bit more seriously.

"Anyway, you play about with that for a bit.  It's in setup mode just now, so you can't do any harm with it." Kal-chan tells Tylen, "I just need to speak to Jago for a minute."

He leaves  the gunnery station and heads round to Jago's cabin, where he thumbs the intercom button.  "Captain?  It's Kal-chan.  Have you got a moment?"

“Yes, of course,” Jago’s voice squawks back out of the speaker, “come on in.”

Corlan DeSant is in the cabin with Jago, but both rise to their feet when Kal enters, and there is an exchange of handshakes, “I’ll keep you up to date as we go along,” Jago assures his passenger as he sees him to the door with a friendly hand on his shoulder, “and otherwise it’s business as usual.”

As Corlan leaves, Jago turns his attention, and a big smile, to the ex gunner, “all set Kal, anything I can do for you?”

"Yes, sir.  Just thought you should know.  The new gunner is aboard, but the navigator apparently got lost somewhere.  I'm giving Tylen a quick tour for now, familiarising him with his station, all that stuff.  He has no idea where his friend got too either."

Kal-chan smiles, "Uh... sorry about the Sir, I'm slipping back into military mode, I guess."

"I am in the presence of a living weapon."  Shui bows, slightly.  "It is a pleasure, sifu - please do not kill my unworthy self."  She glances down at herself for a moment, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly, looking back at Yasmine's display.  "And never before has that unworthiness been demonstrated so well."  A mock sigh, though the doctor's cheeks redden slightly with embarassment - it's obvious she is unused to this sort of discussion.

But she likes this woman, this hard, human, marine.

Growing more serious, Shui nods.  "I suppose we can do little but trust the Captain's judgement in the matter.  I hope the other half of our new crew arrives soon."  Lips thinning, she takes a quick look around, almost as though feeling out the ship.  "I dislike it when things are not in their proper place, and without a navigator, the Profit Margin feels wrong."

Jago smiles warmly, “we’ll miss you round here Kal.”

“You know that we will always be in and out of Regina from time to time, if you are ever that way, look us up or leave a message or something.”

"Yeah, and I'm likely to go off any moment too," Yas jokes and then peers at the doctor with acted suspicion, "but did you just call me 'seafood'?  I though you didn't..."

Then she nudges Sushi with her hand in a gentle, playful shove.  "You really are a naughty girl!  I like you as much as a girl can like another girl without sharing bed, Doctor Shui Tiesi!  But don't worry, I'll keep it quiet, just between us," she teases on and then eventually shrugs.

"And without a navigator, we won't be going anywhere.  If Hotlips turns up dead I'll kill him myself!  But, I bet Jago is all over this already - there's plenty of fish in the sea, after all."  It is clear that she is completely back to cracking jokes non-stop, as if anything she said the last few minutes never had been said.

"Now, I guess I actually should get back to work.  Been a pleasure trading words, Sushi."  A genuine, warm smile is thrown at the doctor before the security chief begins to turn away to hunt down the next panel to prod.

"I'll miss everybody here, too, Si -uh- Jago.  I better go and see how Tylen is doing."

Shui blinks a few times at Yasmine's sudden changes of direction, finally raising her eyebrows a hair at the qualification regarding affection.  The doctor nervously smiles at the teasing - uncertainty of how to respond seems to be the problem here, rather than taking Yasmine's words as factual.  The shove shifts her, and she puts one hand on the wall to catch her balance, a stilted, unnatural motion.  "One does one's best," she manages, before the flood of jokes again rises.

A sage nod to the Chief's assessment of their current situation, vis a vis the navigator issue, and the doctor nods to Yasmine's sudden dismissal.  "Very well, Ms. Crow.  I shall leave you to your work, and see if I cannot find someone to instruct me in the fine art of haggling.  If this has been a trade," and she cocks her head, adjusting her glasses again, "I have come out the worse in it."  Her tone of voice, however, clearly indicates she isn't serious.

The smile is a welcome surprise.  Shui gives the other woman a short bow, then turns to head down the corridor, considering the problem of the navigator.  How to get from point A to point B...without a line in-between?

A problem for the Captain, she supposes.

"Woah there!  It's Yas or Yasmine!  Don't make me come over there and find out how ticklish you are," Yas calls out before Sushi can get away.  Yes, the doctor was on the level and not square.  By far the best one they had aboard, at least as far as personality goes.  As the security chief rarely goes to see the doctor other than for her check-ups she finds it hard ot judge the skill of them easily.

"I could teach you to haggle, but you might find it too much of a jarhead approach for you," she tosses out before turning back to work.  One last panel here and then onwards.  Work, work, work.  Goood to take the mind off other things, for sure.

Catching sight of Kal-chan, on his way back to the gunnery station, Saskia beckons him over to where she still sits on the bridge.  "So is that the new gunner then, Kal-chan?  What's he like?  The other guy seemed a bit - formal - to be working here.  If he'd called me Miss Saskia once more, I'd've hit him."  She is smiling, as she says this.

"There, see.  You thought I wasn't paying attention.  I know more about what goes on here than anybody thinks I do." she adds, with a wink.

Pausing at the exit from the area (for a clean getaway, should it become necessary), Shui turns.  "I shall remember that for next time, Ms. Crow.  And I learn a great deal simply being around you - if you actually attempted to teach me something, the results could be shocking."  A quick bow, then, in case Yasmine is taking offense at the name, and Shui vanishes smoothly out of the area.

It has been a bit of a full day, so far.  Her body on autopilot, she walks quickly toward her sanctum, strides evening out, quick and sure.

"Ms Crow, Ms Crow.  You are asking for it, my dear Sushi Tissue...  Question is, what will I come up with?  It'll be fun to think of something to surprise her with," Yas comments quietly to herself as Sushi leaves.  Some kind of prank that will tell the good doctor directly who is behind it, yet without any kind of proof at all to bring before the judge and jury that is the captain.  Oh yes, this will be a good one...

And then she refocues on her work, going from place to place, lost in her own little world - called Profit Margin.

Tylen sat quietly at the gunnery station pretending not to hear the whispers between Saskia and Kal-Chan. He winced at Saskia's assesment of his friend though, something that was hard to ignore. His 'forsaken Darrian senses picking up things which he wished he didn't.

His mind was elsewhere though, he was merely keeping his hands busy reconfiguring the station to optimum efficiency within his hand's reach. Thinking of Alexei's disappearance was troubling enough. At the moment he feared the worst. He began to form a plan, more of a list in his head about what should be done about that situation. If his friend didn't turn up soon he would be forced to start taking action.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:41, Thu 26 Jan 2006.

"Well, I should go make sure Tylen... that's his name, by the way, Tylen... is okay.  I told Jago about the missing nav, so we'll see what happens.  See ya later, Saskia."

The big marine gives her a half-wave-half-salute and goes back to the gunnery cubicle.

"How's it going Tylen?  Hey, I see you like the laser power regulator under your right thumb too."  He grins, happy to have met a kindred spirit, even if briefly.  "Best place for it.  Only place that makes any sense to me."

Tylen looked up as Kal-chan peered into his cubicle. He feigned a smile to the man as he noticed some of the configurations he had chosen. "I always have liked it when it was closer. One of the 'Boats I rode on had fixed controls, and the regulator was way up here," he made a gesture to the upper portion of the control panel, "it always bothered me.....heh. So what's next Kal-chan? Do I get quarters on this beast? Oh, is there a terminal I could get a line out on perhaps; I was thinking of making some calls to see if I could track down Alexei...."

Saskia, with nothing else to do while the test sequences perform imaginary Jumps, opens up the comms console and starts channel surfing the local networks, "Nature program?  Yeah, right, on a world with no native life.  Vargr romantic comedy?  Suuuuuuure - boy meets girl, somebody falls on their butt.  Weather reports?  Booooring.  Local news?  All pet shows.  Music?  Not to my ears.  Wait a minute, Saskia, back up."

A minute later she bursts into Jago's cabin without waiting to be asked. "Jago!  I just saw that new navigator, Alec Whatsisname.  He was on the news.  The local cops just put out an APB for him.  Here's the thing though, they were interviewing a cop, and he gave the whole 'yadda yadda do not approach' routine, and, in the background, quite by coincidence I suppose, was our friend Santorri.  He was pretty far back, but I recognised him."

Jago turns from his desk to listen to Saskia when she bursts in, “Asimov,” he says, absently filling in the gap while he thinks the thing through.

“Well done spotting Lieutenant Santorri, I’ll give him a call and see if he knows what’s going on.”

“Would you mind letting Yasmin know, in case the guy turns up here, and you better tell Tylen as well, in fact, could you ask him to step in here.”

As he talks, Jago switches his relay to the local news channel, and opens a comms link to the number Santorri gave him in the first instance.

Shui pauses on her way back to her ship, the memory of her encounter with Yasmine still fresh in her mind, but the thump-thump-thump of rapid footsteps grabbing her attention.  The doctor watches as Saskia heads past, post-haste, on her way to the Captain's cabin.  A moment later, she checks her dataglove.

No emails.  No emergency alerts.

It might be something to do with the ship, but Shui trusts Saskia to give a general alarm if it has something to do with 'explosions'.  Sighing, she continues on her way.

It has been an...interesting day.  It appears likely to become moreso, very quickly.

Kal-chan looks out of the gunnery cubicle, "Sure, Saskia's not about right now, you can use one of the comms boards on the bridge.  Come on." he beckons to Tylen and leads the way to the portside console.  "Use this one, Saskia's using the other console for some of... her... eng... " he slows to a halt, as he catches sight of what's on the other comms display.

"Uh... don't look now Tylen, but I think I know why your friend didn't turn up."

"Friend?  What do you..." Yas asks Caution as she steps out in time to hear his statement.  The questions dies before she can finish it as her eyes are drawn to the display.  Her face goes through a number of expression; surprise, anger, irritation and finally a dark cloud settles over her face.  She mutters under her breath for the reminder of the bulletin.

Jago thanks Lieutenant Santorri and cuts the connection, he takes a long, thoughtful pull at his unlit cigar, and dials another number, “looks like we still need a navigator” he says to no one in particular.

Jago doesn’t feel particularly enthusiastic as he goes back into the list of potential navigators, there were plenty of names on it before, but on close examination, Asimov was the only one who inspired him with any confidence.

On the starboard control panel on the bridge, a signal chimes and an indicator flicks from amber to green.  The fuel transfer is complete.  Except for the lack of a full crew, Profit Margin could leave immediately.


When Shui gets back to her cabin, the intercom is buzzing almost before the door closes behind her: Corlan again, "Miss Tiesi, I have my journal and the images I spoke to you about, if it's convenient to bring them across now."

Tylen glanced up, wondering what he was talking about, just as he was about to walk by him to see ask Miss Saskia about that very question. He looked at what Kal-chan was talking about and his face drained of color, as the former gunner spoke. His jaw dropped open just as he saw the details being relayed, about an APB on Alexei Asimov. Suddenly as if he had been stricken with the old brain disorder, Parkinson's disease, Tylen lets go of a stream of profanity punctuated by a sharp-low growl, "What in the megasphere are they talking about!"

Shui perks up at the news; that was quick.  She keys for a reply, leaning against the wall.  "Of course, Mr. DeSant.  My thanks."  Quickly, the woman hurries to her desk, flicking on her kettle on the off chance the man will decide to stay.  You never know, and it's always best to be prepared.

Corlan turns up in a matter of moments, bearing a small case containing datechips.  "They weren't as untidy as I thought."  He holds the case out, "There's a reader in there too, just in case you don't have anything that can handle the chips."


On the bridge, Yas, Kal-chan and Tylen watch the monitor with interest as the news bulletin loops.  It seems that Profit Margin's  new nav is wanted by both the local police, the Imperial Navy, and possibly the Darrians too.  There is, however, nothing to explain why that should be.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:06, Tue 31 Jan 2006.

"Thank you, Mr. DeSant," Shui replies, taking the chips and immediately placing them on a table next to the door.  She looks them over, briefly, nodding and making appreciative noises, before turning back to the traveller.  "I will be looking them over in my spare time - I hope you do not require them back soon?"  A quick glance around the lab, then a helpless shrug.  "Though...perhaps not as far away as that.  I appear to have plenty of leisure time on my hands."

A slight line appears between her thin brows for a moment, then smooths away.  "Perhaps I could contact you if I have any questions.  I am certain there are things in the chips that would require a bit of explanation, and I would much rather have the whole story."

"Oh, that's just great.  Just great!  If I get my hands on him..."

Yasmine sounds anything but happy at seeing the news about their new navigator.  Clearly somewhere he took a wrong turn and now he is a wanted man.  If he is lucky, one of the three official sources looking for him will find him first - if the security chief of Profit Margin gets her hands on him first he will never be found by anyone else.

"You, you're his friend, right?  What do you know about this?" she asks Quadman with a suspicious glare.  Chances are he knows it, and if not, well, that will soon show itself.

Tylen looked up at Yasmine's face meeting her glare word for unspoken word. His face livid with the implications of the glare. "What?! This, you think that I'm involved somehow? I've been in the scouting service since a couple weeks ago, Alexei got an Honorable Discharge when the Darrian Navy stopped by here, I've seen his paper work....thats all I know, Sister. So you better give that line of questioning a rest right now. He's either been framed or they just found out about something he's done, because this didn't happen till now, two weeks after the Darrian ship left," he had found his nickname for Yasmine.

Eyes narrowing, Yasmine steps up closer to Quadman and pokes him in the chest with a finger, hard.

"Call me 'sister' again and you'll be a sister, Mister Ogresh," she growls.  "Tasmin is the only one I ever let me call that, do you read me!?"  She barks and stares hard at him for a moment and then shrugs and looks at the screen again.  The fact that he has no clue that Tasmin is her only sister is not her problem.

"But I believe you.  As far as you being in the dark like the rest of us, that is.  No one can fake the kind of reaction you gave.  Guess I'll have to pull some strings on this," she says, suddenly all calm and almost more to herself than to him, "and then we'll know if he's done anything."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:36, Wed 01 Feb 2006.

Tylen blinked as though he'd been hit with an APC. He had to keep his cool, to get a grip and her admonishment had reminded him. Though the disappearance of Alexei and the subsequent APB had hit him hard, this sort of behavior would never have flied even in the Scouts. He had to remember that this was his superior now, and it wouldn't do to alienate the only people that might be able to help him find out what was happening to Alexei. He clamped his jaw tightly, cutting off any possible response that he might've thrown out at Yasmine. The truth was that this had opened a can of worms within him; surprise, anger, worry, the possible loss of a close friend and the implication that he'd been lied to. All this swam together in his mind.

He needed a breather. To step back and regain himself. His eyes held a certain apologetic look to them, though he wouldn't say so. He took a deep breath, "What should I do to help Chief?"

“Is there a problem here?” Jago asks as he steps into the rather frosty atmosphere of the bridge.

As his eyes fall on the news reports scrolling across the screen a little frown puckers his brow and he points with his cigar, “ah yes, it seems that Mr Asimove took a little more baggage of off his last ship than he was supposed to, the Darrians are looking to retrieve some navigation software. The guy seemed straight enough to me so it might just be a misunderstanding but in any case, he won’t be shipping with us after all.”

“Sorry Mr Orgesh, I hope you’ll still be coming along.”

“I’ve rounded up a replacement navigator, Mr Dietz should be coming aboard shortly, he’s a man I’ve worked with before and I think he’ll fit in here just fine.”

Jago drops into his pilot's chair, more out of habit than any need to sit down, and takes a long pull on his unlit cigar.

“Funny the way things work out some times,” he comments quietly.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:20, Wed 01 Feb 2006.

"Well, there's..." Yas starts to reply to Tylen and then Jago steps onto the bridge.  She falls silent and turns to him to listen, an eyebrow arching up high.  As he finishes she purses her lips and then lets out a dry chuckle.

"Let me guess, you beat me to Santorri?" she says with a crooked grin, but then she sighs and lifts a hand to rub the bridge of her nose between the thumb and the index finger, closing her eyes.  "I should have checked up more myself.  This is my bad, skipper.  I would probably have let a crazed saboteur aboard, even.  It won't happen again," comes the conclusion as she reopens her eyes - at least physically - and shakes her head with a small frown adorning it.  Apparently she is more out of balance than she first thought, and she can not afford that.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:59, Wed 01 Feb 2006.

Tylen watched the Captain as he stepped in and eased into the situation expertly. Here was a respectable man, with a moment's notice he had said all that needed to be said. Short, sweet and to the point with a certain amount of tact, he found himself admiring him for his use of the skill. "No Sir, no problem....just dealing with this news...rather poorly I'm afraid. I understand that this is not really any business that you want to stick your neck into, but isn't there anything we can do for him? If it was a mistake then I can't just leave him here."

He looked thoughtful for a moment considering his guilty conscience, " And yes, regardless, I haven't changed my mind about riding with you."

There’s a certain sympathy in Jago’s eyes as they fall on Tyleen, “if they guy was an established member of the crew, we’d be pulling out all the stops to get this resolved, that’s not the case I’m afraid.”

“Well monitor the situation, but I doubt there is anything practical we can do, even if he turns up here, I’d probably have to turn him over to the authorities because the port is being watched.”

“If you have any suggestions, I’d like to hear them, but otherwise it business as usual, which means getting ready to take on a fresh cargo, which means applying a good old fashioned mop and bucket to the cargo hold, we shipped fresh fruit last time round and it’s left a bit of a mess, want to give me a hand.?”

Jago’s grin clamps down round the cigar as he uses both hands to leaver his slightly generous bulk out of the form fitting confines of the chair.

“Could you keep half an eye those reports Yasmine, but leave Santorrie to me please, you guys get on like a couple in a custody court."

Still grinning, Jago gives a nod of his head that invites Tylen to follow, then heads for the hold and the cupboard in the corner where the cleaning supplies are held. He maybe lord and master of all he surveys, (or at least holder of the mortgage), but Jago is not above applying a little elbow grease to a dirty floor and he sure ain’t sending the new guy out to do it on his own. Besides, it gives him a chance to see how Tylen reacts to such a task and maybe the opportunity for a little informal chat.

"Will do, captain," Yasmine says, suddenly getting a dark shade around her eyes and turns to glare at the screen.  The simile that Jago brings up throws her straight back into the conversation earlier with Sushi and especially the very things that was not said then.

Yup, she had messed up, and good.  Cursing her inability to regain some sense of balance in her life she clams up and stares at the monitors as if she could burn the answer from them, hands crossed on the back and the jaw chewing silently on nothing but dentition.  This meant extra workout to burn away the failure as a punishment, and no tinkering with the motorcycle for at elast two days.  She must keep the discipline.

Kal-chan grins at Yas.  "Hey!  I'm not crew any more.  I can sit about and watch you guys clean up the hold.  Just like when I had to tidy up that time, after the liquid fertilizer spill."

Then he notices her expression, and quickly adds, "Of course, that was my fault.  So I'll help anyway, because I'm kind like that."

Tylen pursed his lips as he listened to Jago's comments, and nodded even if he didn't want to. He understood the trouble that Alexei had gotten himself into and though it hurt to admit to himself, he had no better suggestions. His forehead remained furrowed however, still feeling a little too unsettled by the transpired events for him to appear comfortable. That would pass eventually.

He regained himself quickly and fell in behind the Captain, he needed to occupy himself with something else for the time being. Of course he didn't much care about what it was at the moment and moreover he prided himself on his work ethic despite the lax environment offered by the Scouts. He took some intiative and grabbed at the mop and brush. Within minutes he is scrubbing alongside the Skipper. "Thanks Cap, I needed to get outta there for a bit anyway, I think I was upsetting Chief Crow. I was caught more than a little off guard by all this."

Yasmine does not seem to notice Caution's comments, but inside her skull she kicks him around the hold a bit and then uses him to swab the deck.  Normally that would crack a little smile in her face, but now it only serves to darken her mood.  Soon he would be gone, back in action, and she might never see him again.  But who needs anyone, anyway.  It all ends in hurt that needs to be stomped out anyway.  So she burrows her eyes into the monitors, barely keeping that half eye on them while fighting her inner demons.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:49, Wed 01 Feb 2006.

Jago responds to Tylen with a nod, “it’s been a bit ‘intense’ round here for all of us since yesterday, but things will settle down.”

“This your ATV is it?” Jago asks, stopping by the vehicle and leaning on his squeegee, “what do you use it for?”

He actually smiles at this, pausing long enough to begin, "yeah, that's mine alright. I used it on my survey adventures mostly. It's kind of grown on me since I first picked it up though. It's decent enough to get around in for short distances, can pull or pack a load on it, and fast enough to get away from most indigenous populations."

He adds that last with a wink and went back to work.

Turning away from Mr.Lanza and selecting another portion of the deck to scrub, Tylen asked in an offhanded way, "So who's this other choice for Navigator? Dietz, is it?"

Corlan chuckles, "There isn't any reason to hurry.  The longer you keep them, the longer I can put off actually doing anything with them.  And, please, feel free to ask if you need more information.  My notes are in there, but they are just that - brief notes."

He bows, and  adds, "I will leave you in peace now, Miss Tiesi.  Once again, thank you for your help."


Yas watches the news reports for a while longer, transferring them to the other control position when Saskia returns to coheck on her drive diagnostics.  The engineer could, of course, have run the tests from the panel in Engineering, but the seats seem so much mor comfortable on the Bridge.  Closer to the coffee too.

The reports continue to cycle, occasionally adding something new, though nothing of importance.  Soon Yas knows Alexei's DoB, where he was born, what schools he went to, the name of his first girl friend (currently married to a Darrian research scientist), and what he called his first childhood pet...


Corlan, going back to his cabin, passes through the hold, where Jago, Tylen, and Kal-chan are all busy cleaning up and discussing vehicles.  He stops and approaches Jago, "Captain Lanza.  I'm glad I caught you.  I had a chat with Miss Tiesi, and she has persuaded me to stay aboard.  I'm sorry if I caused you any concern."

"I will most certainly be inquiring, Mr. DeSant," Shui notes, realizing Corlan doesn't plan on coming in.  That's fine - she will drink the tea herself, and begin perusal of his chips.  It should be interesting - she takes small souveniers from wherever she goes.  A habit, that 'small' part.  Not getting bogged down in 'things' is essential.

He, on the other hand, takes something much more interesting.  Information, and vast amounts of it.

"You hardly disturb me, Mr. DeSant.  It was my pleasure.  I hope to see you tomorrow morning," Shui adds, trusting he hasn't forgotten about exercising.  Then, when he leaves, she moves back into the med-bay, sliding in behind her desk and beginning to go through the box.

Vast amounts of information seems to be an understatment.  With a frown, she pushes the box aside for the moment - best not to get too caught up in it.  There's a physical that has yet to be done, on their newest crewmembers.  It might be some time before either of them show up at the bay (though not too long - she'll have to go looking, if they dawdle), but there are forms to prepare, programs to run, and instruments to calibrate.

With a sigh, and one last forlorn look at the box, Shui pushes back her chair again and moves to prepare the lab for visitors.

“Conread Deitz, we shipped together way back when in the merchant service,” Jago tells Tylen, “he’s a good bloke and he knows his stuff, I’m lucky to run into him.”

Jago’s smile is warm and genuine when Corlan addresses him, “that’s excellent news,” he says, “may I introduce our new gunner, TylanOrgesh, this is Corlan DeSant.

_{"Great.  I know more about his life than my own now, and nothing of any real value,"} Yasmine grumbles where she stands in the same spot as before, watching the screen.  She still is not happy with him or herself, but she intend to stay here and watch this as a sort of punishment for her failure to do a proper check.  Plus she is not in the mood for doing workout at the moment, as that is what awaits her if she returns to her quarters.  Once she promises herself something she sticks to it, after all.

Tylen smiles, extending a hand to Corlan. Trying for his best polite tone, "Very pleased to meet you Mr.DeSant. How do you do? So you must be a passenger with us then?"

Tylen looks back and forth between Jago and Corlan to verify if he had gotten that much right. He assessed the man quickly, not being obvious about it and not wanting to alarm the man who seemed quite friendly. Tylen always felt out of his element in social situations, but he could always manage a decent greeting and a firm handshake.

"It's good to meet you, Mister Orgesh.  I had heard that we were about to lose some crew mwmbers, to help in the War." Corlan replies, then turns his attention to Kal-chan, "Could you bring Mister Grady over to see me, before you leave?"

Then he goes back to Tylen, "I'm not exactly a passenger, Mister Orgesh, since I have no destination in mind.  I am, in fact, more like a tourist.  I go where the ship goes."

Tylen nods to the gentleman, "I see, an adventurer then. What world do you hail from then and what do you do, or should I say, what are your interests Mister DeSant?"

He leans on the brush inquisitively, genuinely interested in the man's story now. He wasn't just a passenger so he must be more of a philanthropist, but he would reserve assumptions until the man finished his story. This was turning out to be exactly the sort of distraction that Tylen needed in light of Alexei's supposed crimes and it was taking his mind off of them admirably between the work and his meeting Corlan.

"I'm from Regina, and when I retired I decided I wanted to see something other than the inside of my own house.  That's all, just spent a lot of time dealing with paperwork that sent the products my company manufactured to other worlds, and realised I had no idea where a lot of those worlds actually are, let alone what they're like.  Never been of Regina in my life." replies Corlan, still smiling, "So I decided to rectify that, and try to see some of the Imperium brfore I die."


On the bridge, the comm display lights up with an incoming call signal.

Jago moves to clean another part of the floor, leaving Corlan to Tylan’s interrogations.

Stepping over to the comms, Yasmine takes the incoming call, rather happy to get some distraction from her own thoughts and blame.

"Security Chief Yasmine Crow of the Profit Margin, how can I help you?" she says and watches the screen to see if the caller uses video.  If it is Hotlips she will probably end up shooting the screen itself.  Chances are it is someone desperate to leave this place, or perhaps even someone with cargo to be delivered.

Tylen smiled and nodded, "well, I believe that the Profit Margin seems to be the correct ship for that, as you already know.  I see that the Captain is a hardy worker, although I can't let him do the work himself now can I?"

Tylen winked at Corlan, " I look forward to talking more with you on our journeys Mr.DeSant."

Finally finished.  The lab is completely done, and now all she has to do is wait for their new arrivals to come.  Shui glances around, just to make certain and nods her head.  Her eyes are inexorably drawn to Corlan's box of goodies, but she snaps them away after a moment.

The men could arrive at any time.  Best to be ready, not sitting at her desk up to her neck in tapes and vids.

Still, there is something she could do.  Silently cursing her lack of thoughtfulness, Shui moves to the desk and sits.  Opening the top drawer, she removes her holstered snub pistol.  For a long moment she stares at it in disgust, then sighs, putting it down on a handy paper towel.  Breaking out the kit, she begins inexpertly disassmbling the weapon, years of training telling her that to leave a tool, ANY tool, without maintenance after use invites disaster.

She hates firearms, lasers, CP Spitters, all of those sorts of things.  But what else can someone do?  What needs to be done should be done.

"Yes.  I think I'd enjoy that too.  But... I'll leave you to get on with your work.  Goodbye for now."  Corlan makes his way back to his own cabin, where he records a note to himself regarding the new fitness program that he's decided to take up.


The comm lights up.  A round faced man with skin that looks as though he's spent a lot of time indoors, with the lights set to low intensity.  "This is Aernast Kerervaelt, at Soldeeranaphaeland Aliimgakshidig LC.  We arranged to ship forty tons of liquid polymer plastics to you, care of Docking Bay 97, at Cr2,000 per ton.  The delivery was intended to arrive tomorrow, but we've had a cancellation, and can have it there today, within two hours, if that is convenient?"

"Give me a moment and I will check with the captain, Mr, uh," Yasmine says and then murmurs the name, knowing she would be unable to get it right, "Care-to-welt..."  With a smile she pushes the mute button and lifts her comm link to call Jago.  Plenty of weird names out here, for certain.

"Hey, skippy, there's a Honest Careful-pelt or something wanting to deliver forty ton of polymer plastic in two hours rather than tomorrow.  Bay 97, 2000 creds a ton.  Wadya say?" it comes over the link while she glances at the screen, the smile still in place.  That man could use about 500 rounds of her exercise, if his face and complexion was anything to go by.

Jago looks around at the freshly cleaned deck and smiles, “yea, send them over Yasmin, any time they like.”

“Good job Mr Orgesh,” he says as he tides up the cleaning equipment and moves to open the ramp controls. “This thing squeals like a stuck pig,” he says as it begins to drop and the hot, dry Vilis atmosphere washes in along with harsh sunlight reflected from the fero beneath the ship.

The ramp does indeed squeal loudly as it drops, “Saskia, keeps threatening to fix it, but I think we’d all miss it if she did, it’s nice to know that no one is going to creep up on us. Have you met our engineer yet?”

"Roger that, boss," Yas replies to Jago and then turns to the screen, pushing the mute button again.

"That would suit us just fine, sir," she says, avoiding the use of his name and shows him a businesslike smile - the best she can muster at the moment.  "Two hours it is then.  A pleasure doing business with you, sir."  At least she can try to sound liek she means it - he did not have to do this, after all, but he choose to when he had the chance.

"Couldn't have said it better myself Sir," Tylen said with a grin and a few pearls of sweat already starting to form from the sudden shift in heat, "sure does sqeal, though it's got to be a pain when you have a headache. I'm thinking I might come out and use some grease on it myself, I've heard that things like that can break down eventually if left too long. Though I'm sure...Saskia is it, is aware of that. Unless she managed to sneak by me, I don't think I have had the pleasure of meeting her."

It actually takes a little less than two hours for the cargo to show.

In the mean time Saskia moves back and forth between Engineering and the Bridge, running diagnostics and tweaking the settings until even she is starting to seem satisfied.

In her quarters, Shui works on her gun, spinning it out as she waits for the new crew members to stop by for an examination, though they seem to be finding ways to delay that.

In the hold, Jago, Tylen and Kal-chan get everything clean, and the former gunner goes to check on Jett, who finally emerges from his cabin for coffee.  At least he's up and moving, though he still looks somewhat the worse for wear.

Meanwhile Yas keeps an eye on the news channel, updating anybody who comes by on the the non-progress of Alexei's ongoing story.

At last the cargo shows up, seventy-nine composite-framed plastic cubes, a metre and a half on each side, and each one containing (according to the documentation) 500 kg of liquid plastic polymer, plus an eightieth cube holding the catalyst which will make the liquid contents of the other containers into a hard-wearing solid.  Forty tons total.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:15, Tue 07 Feb 2006.

The new gunner walked around the ship after a finishing touch on the cargo hold. He still wasn't sure which quarters would be his, but all in good time. He carried his duffel with him as he showed himself around. Once happening upon the passenger area, which he abruptly took his leave of(after a quick look around). Finally he found his way to the infirmary area, and used the 'knock' chime positioned just outside the closed doorway. "Doctor, are you in? It's Tylen Orgesh, ready for my check up."

Shui glances up at the chime, then down at the pistol.  Every part of the accursed thing gleams to the point of almost glowing in the dim light, and is greased and/or oiled to perfection - not overdone, not underdone, but just right.  Like porridge, in a child's story.

One might even say 'lovingly', but that would be a lie.

Picking up the edges of the cloth, Shui slips the disassmbled weapon into a drawer.  "Come in, Mr. Orgesh."  Standing, she moves to the door to greet him when it opens.  A short bow, then, and the doctor takes the opportunity to survey her newest charge.  In good shape, so it would seem...though it's difficult to tell with the clothes he wears.  Heavily armed, as well.

Then again, that could simply be because he hasn't been given a room.  The man appears to be carrying his belongings around, after all.

"Doctor Shui Tiesi," she states, straightening to look him in the eye.  Her head tilts slightly, a small smile touching her lips as she adjusts her glasses before stepping to the side and waving him toward the desk.  "Please.  May I get you something to drink?  Café?  Tea?"

Tylen gave a sort of quaint, somewhat puzzled smile as he bowed back and entered after her sultry display. Unsure of what had just passed between them, if it wasn't just his imagination. He entered and looked around the room, expecting a sterile white bleary thing from his days with the scouting force. What he actually found was somewhat surprising and rather homey. After letting his eyes settle through out the room, he turned back to Shui, letting his hands find their way to clasp behind his back. "I wouldn't mind a glass of café please. So Ms.Tiesi, have you been with the Profit for long?"

It was interesting the way she had thought to look him in the eye. It pleased him to know that she would show him that kind of respect. A rare thing in this day and age. He takes his jacket off and for the moment holds it over his arm. He looks a bit embarassed and unstraps his weapons as well, carrying them along with the synth-leather bomber.

Tylen's acceptance of her offer is a pleasure for Shui; some people just can't seem to become at all relaxed around a doctor.  "Please."  Ushering him in, she carefully takes his coat and, should he be amenable, the now-unbuckled gunbelts.  "There are some comfortable chairs by the desk," she hints, hanging up his jacket (and, possibly, the gunbelts).

Moving quickly behind the desk, she flicks the switch on the brewer.  "Not long; two cargo hauls.  I could look up the exact date if you wish -" a pause to shoot him a quick smile, then back to the machine "- but I have noticed most spacers tend to think in terms of contracts and agreements, rather than days and weeks."  Except, of course, when life support is failing...but she doesn't mention that.  Hardly the sort of thing with which to begin a conversation.

"The café will be a moment."  Coming back around the desk, Shui moves to one of the comfortable chairs.  "Perhaps we might sit for a moment, and you can tell me about yourself."  Again, the small smile.  "Whatever you wish, of course, though there are some things I should know."

When the cargo arrives, Yas takes up her usual post; top of the ramp, keeping an eye on the unloading, and chatting to the tall blonde driver (Kaylan, she says her name is).  The heavy work is all done by a smaller, thin, dark-haired woman, strapped into a cargo exoskeleton, but she doesn't seem much inclined to chat.

Kaylan mutters, when her partner is busy fetching the thirteenth or fourteenth container, "Alex don't talk much normally, and she's worried about her twin brother today.  He signed up for the Marines, two days before we got word about the trouble with the Zhos.  Now she's convinced... " she stops talking as Alex clomps past in the exo, carrying the container into the hold, "She's convinced he'll get shipped out somewhere and killed in the first fight."

"Well, I'm an ex Marine, and so's one guy here that is rejoining them.  We both came through fine.  But I can understand her worry, it isn't easy to stand on the side and just watch," Yas says to Kaylan as Alex is out of earshot.  "But, with him being so new, she won't have to worry, I think.  They'll have to teach them which end of the gun to use when, for starters," she then chuckles and a crooked grin creeps over her face.  "If he ever gets shipped out it will be a long time from now, I bet.  No point in sending rookies to do the fighting of veterans, after all.  It'll be a long war before that'll happen."

Of course, if the local Marines were short-handed, it would come up qicker, but she doubts he will go anywhere anytime soon, regardless, considering the distance to it.  It takes desperation to send out untrained troops, and this was merely starting.

"Doesn't make it easier, but that's how things work from where I am anyways.  The Navy's different, where whole cities, more or less, floats about with rookies and old squids alike, and goes looking for trouble.  Nah, he'll need basic training and stuff, and that'll keep him busy for some time."

Tylen offers up his weapons to the woman and smiles his thanks at the suggestion of a chair. With a grin at her humorous remark, "that won't be necessary Doctor, the exact time... you seem to be capable and if Lanza thinks that your good enough then so do I. And thank you for making me feel welcome. Well, a little about me...hhhmmm.

He takes a moment as he sits and makes himself comfortable in the plush seating, not sprawling out but conservatively and comfortably. "Well, I have a copy of my health records on my dataglove," he says reaching into duffel, "it will detail an accident that I suffered a year ago and affected nerves along my right side. That was the main reason that I left the IISS, they were putting me to work as a administrator/truck driver. Not a shiny prospect...let me tell you."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:00, Thu 09 Feb 2006.

Returning the smile, Shui waits for her guest to sit and then settles in herself, leaving her tea for the moment.  "I certainly hope I will not disappoint," she murmurs while Tylen considers the request.  It's not a polite nothing - with the responsibility for the Low Berths, the Doctor is quite nervous about missing something.  People have died, in the past, due to improper care in the Low Berth.

Nodding to his offer, Shui activates the infrared receiver on her Dataglove so that Tylen can send his information directly.  Her thin eyebrow rise at his comment regarding his troubles, though.  "An accident?  Neurological damage they could not properly adjust?"  There is a hint of disapproval in her tone.  "I would expect as much from a shipboard doctor, but one would think...."  The woman shakes her head.  It isn't her place to criticize (well, unless it is obvious that poor medical aid was given), and certainly she doesn't wish to dredge up the past.

There is a beep from the brewer and, with a polite nod, the doctor rises and slips around behind the desk.  "Milk?  Sugar?  So, the life of a truck driver was not amenable to you?"  There is the question of his injury, of course - why, if the IISS cashiered him from the front lines, would he be capable of working aboard the Profit Margin.  There must be a reason, Shui decides; she isn't going to ask, though.  That would be...more than rude, and give the wrong impression - that she did not believe him capable.

Certainly the relevant information must be in his medical history.

Tylen shakes his head, "No thanks, just black."

He hits a few studs on the dataglove and sends the information to Shui's. The vidscreen indicates it's success and beeps when the task is complete. "Well it's definitely not as bad as I make it out to be. Up until a few weeks ago it was scarring and a bit of pain. Now it's mostly just scarring. If you take a look at the most recent dates, you'll notice that I just completed a follow up surgery to dislodge some of the shrapnel which the Service decided to ignore."

He was amused by the Doctor's disapproving expression and tone. He looked at her with a smile, which hid a bit of pride, "It was actually a pretty amazing incident. During one of my survey mission we met with some nasty buggers, they ended up not liking us and panicked, blew up one of our rigs. It tore up my shoulder pretty good, even though it was classified as a 'Light wound'."

The café Shui pours is a carefully bred strain of bean that contains all of coffee's heavy flavour, with little of the bitter aftertaste.  In terms of caffeine, it has approximately two thirds the 'regular' amount for a cup.  Not exactly the foul brew of choice for people wanting to stay up overnight.  Pouring herself a cup of lemongrass tea, the woman returns to her chair, passing Tylen his steaming drink.

Her dataglove gives acknowledgement of a file received via a slight vibration; Shui prefers it to be silent, so as to not disturb any person with whom she might be speaking.  She nods at the explanation, then gives Tylen a sympathetic look.  Living with pain for so long - it must have become a constant companion.  "Good news, then...and some bad, I fear.  I will have to do a physical if there has been a change.  I fear every silver lining comes with a dark cloud, Mr. Ogresh."

At his description of the circumstance, Shui leans forward, balancing the teacup on her knee.  "Evidently the surgeon was given to understatement," she notes, one eyebrow rising.  "I hope you did not suffer casualties...obviously your team escaped."  Firefights...no wonder he carries so many weapons.  Shui doesn't approve of killing, but her experience tells her that sometimes a situation may require one person to die so that another may live.  Good people can be pushed into those situation; evil people create them.  She takes a thoughtful sip of her tea.  "I expect you have a wealth of experiences, Mr. Ogresh, after such a long time with the Service."

Tylen nodded at the news inside he wasn't too worried but there was still a nagging doubt about the damage she might find. The work done on his shoulder in his own eyes had been considerable but she might see it as very routine and normal prodcedure. Whatever the case he didn't mind a checkup to see if there was anything further wrong, in the worst case she might see where the Service's surgeon's had missed something. He sipped his cofee, noticing the flavorful content and not missing the lack of bitterness, "that's very good thank you."

"There were only a few of us performing survey operations, luckily no one was killed though another of my friends made out slightly worse than myself. Most of the experience I gained through the service was between the generous voyages, which were long I can tell you. So in actuality, the balance of my time with them was between systems," he added the last as almost an afterthought.

"Though out on the edge can be a troublesome place to find oneself."

Very pleased that the café is acceptable, Shui sips at her tea and continues to listen to the man explain his past.  It helps, sometimes, to understand from where a person is coming.  This is something she learned back with her family, but it transfers well into her current vocation.

"I hope the service doctors did better work upon your friend," she says quietly.  "As I understand it, being in the scouts can demand your time for months on end without any chance of time off.  Understandable, but certainly a high-stress environment."  High stress environment - she knows the feeling quiet well.  "Having seen a few vids," this said with a depreciating smile, "I suspect what happens out upon the fringes is quite difficult at times.  Different, of course, from what the movies project, but equally challenging in its own way."

A pause for thought.  "You have seen a bit of the Profit Margin and its crew thus far; I am curious, of course, to your first impressions."  She waves one hand around the room.  "Should you wish to say anything, it will not leave this room; this is a personal question from me, not a professional one."

Understand from where a person is coming, to see where they might go.  An important rule.

"Jago?" Saskia's voice comes over the intercom, intermittently almost drowned out by something humming in the background, "I just got the results back on the engine tests.  All looks good, apart from a 0.001 percent variance in the T.F.M., but thats only a twentieth of the I.B.S.S. allowed discrepancy, so I can leave that be for now.  It'd probably take a few days to set right anyway."

There is a clatter from the intercom, metal on metal, "As it stands though, give me ten minutes to get the cover back on this housing, and we can jump as soon as you like after that."

Kaylan nods at Yas' words, but says nothing as Alex passes them to fetch the next container.  As soon as she passes though, the blonde woman speaks again, "See, I tried explaining that to her.  Even pointed out that sending him out untrained would just be wasting the Corp's budget, but she just asked what I'd know about it, since I never joined up."

"Say... could you have a word?  She might believe it from you."


Elsewhere, Saskia reports the good news on her progress to Jago.  The ship is looking in good shape, age, and wear and tear taken into account.

Kal-chan and Jett sit drinking coffee in the crew lounge, discussing their plans.  Jett is doing surprisingly well, despite his somewhat delicate state of health, though Kal-chan would admit, if asked, to an odd feeling of depression and loneliness, despite the sounds of the ship all around him.

Shui conducts her medical interview with Tylen.


Across the port town, Conrad Dietz rides a gravbus towards his new job...

”Thank you Saski, you’re a gem,” Jago’s disembodied voice responds over the intercom, “I’ve been waiting for you to finish before processing the raw fuel we took on.”

OOC
How long does that fuel processing take, about eight hours if I remember.

"Sure thing.  I'll grab her when next she passes, push her up against the wall and tell her the lay of the land.  Marine humour.  I'll try to do it more subtly, even if it isn't my forte," Yas says with a grin in place and then waits for the opportune moment to catch Alex when she is a bit off to the side.  Then she lunges her like a predator lunges at it prey, if in a figurative way.

"Hey,  Alex, right?  I'm Yas, in case you forgot.  Head of security and all that.  Heard your brother signed up for the Marines!  As an ex Marine myself, I tell you you should be proud he made it.  Few get in there, you know, only the best, unlike the Navy!  I remember when I first joined up!  By the Fuming Swamps of Loomis Demise, I swear I never thought basic training would end, but they dragged it out for quite some time!  No point in sending rookies out, they said, if in less charming words.  And then I ended up dealing with rookies for years myself!  Boy, it was a sight to see their faces when they realised they wouldn't see real action for months!  Heh!  But they needed someone to show them the ropes," she starts to ramble, as if she was dying to talk memories with someone, and Axel with her brother was the perfect victim.

Tylen is all smiles at the question, it seemed that she was implying that he might have doubts as to his new position or how he might get along with the rest of the crew. Thus far he had a very good impression of the crew, especially the captain who it seemed was a very admirable fellow. Even Yasmine, with whom he had almost overstepped his bounds with earlier. He could hardly argue in retrospect, she had acted as he might've in her place given the situation. He laughed a genuine and good laugh, "So far so good, I'm relieved to be aboard and filling a position of some import actually. I was starting to feel retired for a while there. Like perhaps I'd have to take up whittling. No, everyone I've met so far has been very accepting and quick to offer a welcome. Though I still haven't met Saskia, the engineer."

Another sip of her tea, and Shui studies Tylen over the lip of her cup.  "I am pleased you think so - very pleased.  Saskia will certainly not ruin your impression of the ship, then.  She is a fine engineer, and an even better person - my own personal observation."  Shui smiles, cocking her head to the side.  "Though there is really nothing to prevent you from taking up whittling here, of course.  Hopefully you will be pressed into boring work, such as maintenance and the like...forgive me if I hope you are not required to perform the duties for which you have been hired."

If their ship is shooting at someone, it's likely because someone has started shooting at them.

"Of course," she continues smoothly, "it might be difficult to find wood in space."  Setting her cup down on the desk, Shui leans forward.  "Well, Mr. Orgesh.  How do you feel about a quick physical?  Nothing unpleasant, beyond a blood test.  Of this, I can assure you."

"Your reservations remind me of the paradox of military medicine. Of course, it appears that the Captain is a good man and wouldn't force me to use our weapons on...anyone who didn't require it," he said looking up at her, a grin slowly spreading across his face, "So I'll welcome the boring work. Mostly as a personal favor to you Doctor."

He studied her for a moment and nodded. He didn't much care for medical work or check-ups or needles, but he knew it was a necessity and resigned himself to it. "Let me know what you need then, and where you want me."

"'The paradox of military medicine'."  Shui nods.  "I rather like that.  Yes, that is it - precisely.  I lament the necessity, but...."  She glances away for a moment, obviously a touch embarassed by the attention, then looks back to meet his gaze.  "Well, then.  That puts me in your debt."  A small smile quirks the corners of her mouth.  "What does the military say about having the ship's doctor in your debt?  A good thing, or bad?"

It's pretty obvious Tylen isn't too happy about the upcoming physical, but Shui requires the information.  "You may trust that I will make it as painless as possible," she notes, waving toward one of the cots.  The lighting there is kept deliberately dim, to avoid tension.  "Which is to say, completely."  She smiles.  "Even the blood test.  If you could sit yourself on the bed, there, and remove your shirt?"  One hand snags a small headband, complete with a fibre-optic light at the temple.  "I keep my devices warm, Mr. Orgesh, so you need not fear a cold touch on your back."

Another good reason to drink tea before, as well - it warms up the hands, holding the cup.

Tylen takes all of it in stride, withdrawing his shirt as he sits on the cot. His left shoulder bears the scarring he had told her of, a viscious spider-webbing of tissue, although they had already started to fade in places with time. "Well, I'd say that a man in my position couldn't hope for a better person to have in his debt. Definitely a good thing," he says deliberately turning from the look in her eye regarding the shoulder.

"As for what the military says about such things, I'd say it's a better thing than having an angry doctor treating you," even with his head turned away, Tylen's voice is laced with mirth and his cheeks grow with a smile. "You have an excellent manner Doctor. You have managed to put me at ease quite easily."

OOC:I'll have a hard time posting much this weekend, so I hope you don't mind. However don't let me slow things down.

"Well, I am pleased to say you take that way of looking at it," Shui murmurs, moving around behind Tylen so that she can examine the injury without embarassing him.  It's pretty obvious he doesn't like the fact that he's scarred, given his reaction.

"And thank you, though putting you at ease was not the primary goal," she continues distractedly.  "Please tell me if anything hurts.  No, I think that since we will be working together, it helps to have a more comfortable relationship."  Her fingers probe the scar, but very gently.  And very businesslike, as well.  Her eyes study the injury, then she pulls out a medscanner.  "I will take a quick sample from the area - you can tell a lot about scarring from the blood - then I'll get the regular sample from elsewhere.  Hold still please."  A swab paints a line of cold along Tylen's shoulder, the medication seeping in and numbing the muscle before she inserts the extremely thin and strong needle.  There is no pain, and it's over in an instant.

After that, there is a similar treatment for his arm (more blood), then Shui moves on to his heart and his lungs, checking breathing as well as heartrate.  Stepping away from the table, she makes a few notes, then moves back.  "Would you please lie down, Mr. Orgesh?"

The small woman stops the exoskeleton and regards Yas with a somewhat irritated expression, which gradually softens as the former Marine explains about such things as basic training, and the distance to the front lines.  "So what you're saying is that by the time they get the lunkhead trained enough not to shoot himself in the head with his rifle, and get him to the fighting, the war might not be there any more, yeah?"

"Okay.  I'm not the one who's worried really, but I've been catching grief from my Mom.  I'll explain all that to her tonight.  I'm sure it'll relax her.  Thanks."

She returns to her work, while her partner continues to chat to Yas, and count off the containers.  Meanwhile, a stranger steps into the bay, hidden from sight until he steps around the transport, at which point Yas spots him.

Yasmine gives Alex a smile and a nod before returning to chat with Kaylan, at least until she spots the figure that looks something like a flasher skulking about the transport.  He will find otu he picked the wrong bunch of ladies to show his meager hot dog to.

"Excuse me, duty calls," she says with a smile to the two workers and steps down the ramp, stopping about halfway.  She levels the shotgun at the figure with casual disinterest, or so it would seem, tilting her head down slightly.

"We ain't buying," she says and shifts her weight over on one foot, in effect taking up a stance in case she needs to fire the shotgun.  "So unless you got any legit business here, I'd suggest you mosey on out of here."

She shows him a smile that unquestionably tells him that she is being very serious regarding this matter.

"I'm guessing you're Yasmin Crow?  Jago's told me all about you, all good, by the way." the stranger replies, his voice deep, slow and drawling.  He spreads his arms from his sides, showing his hands empty.

"Me'n'Jago, well, we go back a ways.  Name's Deitz, Conrad Deitz.  Jago's 'xpecting me."

He flashes the security officer his most charming smile.

"He never said you were so cute, or full of flatter," Yasmine says as she lifts the shotgun up over her shoulder and strikes a post by putting the left hand on her hip.  She flashes him an equally charming smile.  At least he was not half bad to be resting the eyes on, and so far he has not said something that makes wanting her to shoot him.

"As for what Jago said, don't believe a word of it," she jokes as she turns to let him pass her.  She may have lower - or raised - the gun, but she was not about to lower her guard.  Plus, if he goes past her she can check him out some more.

Jago sits at the desk in his stat room, the door to the crew lounge wide open as usual. Unusually, the cigar in his mouth is lit and a plume of fragrant smoke drifts up at an angle towards the air duct. On the desk, in a shallow, stainless steel tray, is a pale blue thing, about twenty centimetres tall, in the shape of an egg that’s been twisted in the middle. Jago regards the thing, while puffing speculative clouds towards the ceiling.

Saskia checks the readouts, then starts up the fuel plant.  Eight hours, and the tanks will contain pure deuterium.  Nothing but the best for her babies.  She pats the side of the Jump drive as she passes it, and gasps at the stab of pain in her hand.

She lifts a corner of the dressing and looks underneath, then replaces it quickly, fighting down a sudden wave of nausea, inspired more by the memory of pain than by the actual sight of the wound itself.

Still, she should get Shui to take another look at it, now that her own small domain is all in good order once more.

Grinning, Conrad winks at Yas, "The lady is too kind to me.  Maybe we can talk more after I've seen Jago.  In fact, I guarantee that, if'n things go well with him, well, you'n'me will have plenty of chances to talk some more."

He puts one foot on the end of the ramp, "Permission to come on board?"

"Too kind?  I can be less kind if you prefer," Yas grins and tilts her head to one side as she gives him a telling look,  "and of course, come aboard.  I didn't step over here to get a better view," she concludes, quietly adding in her thoughts 'but I will get one when you pass me!'

So far so good, but she was not about to take anything out in advance, friend of Jago or not.  Not this time.  But she smiles slightly at him and waves him up the ramp.  "And that's Yas, not 'lady', Mr. Dits."

"Absolutely," he says and lays back on the cot for Shui to continue her exam.

Tylen had to admit, it was nice to have found a decent place to work and what's more it would be a place to call home, for a wayward Darrian, it sounded almost too good to be true. "What did you do before your time with the Profit Margin, Doctor?

Shui continues with a physical examination, ending above the waist.  There's no need for a more detailed check, given that his records seem to be up to date.  But she wants to examine that scar, test the mobility, as well as check his eyes, his heart, his lungs, that sort of thing.  This will involve the scanner as well as her fingers, and frankly it's easier to use when he's lying down.

"Myself?"  Shui frowns briefly, concentrating.  "I served for twelve years with the Merchant's Guild, on a variety of different ships.  Nothing truly interesting to speak of," she continues, "and no scars."  This last with a quick smile, before she goes back to examining him.

OOC - looking for some information from the GM.

Conrad makes his way up the ramp, chatting to Yas while avoiding getting stomped flat by Alex in her exoskeleton, as the woman continues with the loading...

As Yas moves up behind Conrad she grins at the other two women, pointing to the the unsuspecting fellow and then shakes her hand with loose fingers, jokingly letting them know how hot he is - and they know that she will be the one working with him, so they better enjoy him while he is around the cargo hold.  She hides her grin quickly as he glances back and she points towards the interior of the ship, towards the hatch leading to the crew lounge.

"Straight through there, Jago is no doubt expecting you, so his door might be open," she says with a nice smile which quickly turns into a wolfish grin as soon as his attention wanders away from her again.

Now, what name will she give him then?  She will have to observe him for a while before deciding.  "Hotbuns" comes to mind and she bursts out in a chuckle that she quickly tries to mask into a cough.

Conrad chuckles at Yas's compliments, and puts a swagger into his walk as he climbs the ramp and receives his directions.

"Thanks, Chief.  Talk to you soon."  Conrad waves to Yas, and moves off in the indicated direction.  He steps through into the lounge and catches sight of Jago through his office door.  He crosses the lounge and raps smartly on the doorframe.

"Hey, Jago, how're ya doin'?"
This message was last edited by the player at 23:32, Mon 13 Feb 2006.

”Come in Conrad,” Jago says with a warm smile, “take a seat.”

Jago reaches for the whisky and pours a couple of fingers into two glasses, one of which he passes to Dietz.

“Once you sign up, your just one of the crew, I can’t go showing favouritism, you know that,” Jago says, rising his glass towards Conrad before taking a sip.

Finishing up, Shui steps back to give Tylen some room, simultaneously studying the results on her medscanner.  Linking it to her Dataglove, she sets the machine down and begins some high-speed data manipulation, altering formats and saving for later perusal.  "Well, Mr. Ogresh, you seem to be in reasonably good condition."  She glances up, briefly, looking over her glasses.  "However, while your reflexes are superb for a man of any age, you should try to get more regular exercise."  She glances around.  "More easily said than done, of course."

Turning from her dataglove, Shui faces Tylen squarely.  "Is there any way you can find time to put in, say, a half hour of exercise once every two days?  Preferably more, but that would be sufficient for small improvement and maintenance.  You will do fine for many years as you are now, but as a doctor I must always look for a chance to assist you to improve."  She cocks her head to the side.  "That includes eating habits...nutritional advice, though, is outside my jurisdiction unless a patient's health is immediately affected."

"Hello.  What are you doing there?"

Saskia leans forward and recalibrates the display, increasing the vertical scale by x10.  There is an anomaly there, and it's probably been there for some time, but the glitch she just fixed had been masking it.

"Stupid, Saskia!  You should know what those frelling Navy techs are like.  You used to be one!"  Angry, she bangs her fist down onto the control board.

When the faintness passes, she sits staring at her throbbing hand, close to tears.  At least it didn't start bleeding again.  But this is typical.  Question is, is it deliberate, or did they just not notice.

She calls up the tech logs for the last two years, and the specs for the Navy's improvements, and there it sits, looking back at her.  Not urgent, not yet, but annoying considering she could easily have fixed it while she had everything else stripped down.

If she ever runs into any of those techs again.  Somebody will suffer.

Tylen grins at the advice, truth was, it had been a course that he'd been planning for sometime anyway. Darrians aren't naturally gifted with an overabundance of muscle. So its always been an uphill climb to stay in reasonably good condition. Since being in the service he'd been lax on his physical activity. So this would be good for him in any case. Besides, what else would he do on a ship like this."Of course Doctor Tiesi. Doctor's orders are law among spacers. I will do what I can and try for an everyday workout, sound good?"

"Well, consider this a strong reccomendation."  She smiles, stepping back from the table to give him room to pull on his shirt.  "Your current health likely will not affect your ability aboard this ship, unless you stay with the Profit Margin for twenty years.  I am merely looking out for the best interests of your future self.  An everyday workout is good - be certain to include muscle-building exercises with your cardio in order to increase your metabolic rate."

A few notes on the dataglove, holo-interfaces appearing and vanishing.  Then the doctor looks up, pushing her glasses up higher on her nose.  "Do you have any questions, Mr. Orgesh?  Should I send you a copy of the test results, as well as my interpretations and reccomendations?"

"Well, now, I wouldn' expect to be treated no diff'rent to the rest of 'em, Jago." Conrad drawls, and takes a hit of the whiskey, "Now that's a damfine whiskey.

"Anyways, like I told ya on the comm, I'm sorta desp'rate for work just now, an' nervous 'bout being trapped this close to the border with a war brewin' up.  I reckon there's a storm comin', Jago, an' she'll tear through here an' leave nuthin' standin'."

Yas returns to her post, where she finds Kaylan and Alex still hard at work.  Well, Alex is, Kaylen just watches and checks the containers against her list, ensuring that Profit Margin gets all that she's entitled to, and nothing else.  "Last container aboard will be the catalyst, so we'll try and keep that a bit apart if we have room.  Last thing you want is soms sort of freak spill mixing the poly and the cat and filling the hold with a solid block of plastic."

"So... what's the deal with that guy then?  He part of your crew?"


Shui and Tylen continue going through his medical records, while Saskia considers all the ways she can get revenge on worse-than-useless Navy techs, and Jago discusses employment details with Conrad.

“Well you certainly have a birth here if you want it,” Jago smile and follows a sip of whisky with a long draw on the cigar, smoke drifts from his mouth and nose as he goes on. “The first jump is probational, to see that we all get along, I know you but Yasmin doesn’t yet, and she gets a say in any new crew.”

“I should warn you though,” Jago twirls his glass thoughtfully as he speaks, “we wont exactly be avoiding this storm. Several of the crew hail from Regina, including me and our resident passenger, and we are a little pissd at having our home world overrun. We have letter of marque from the navy, and the hardware to back them up. I intend to ply my trade close to the front line where raider are scaring off the completion. There’s a profit to be made there, but more importantly, a chance to make our own contribution to the war effort.”

Jago’s eyes flick to the open door and beyond top the crew lounge where the picture of a brightly coloured ship in its last moments of combat hangs, he smiles a little and takes another sip of whisky before looking Conrad in the eye.

http://www.bigbadron.net/file_...20pages/Pic-0013.htm

"What's the deal with him?" Yas echoes in acted surprise and chuckles, shakign her head.  Then she winks at Kaylen, "I take it he isn't your type, uh?  Or maybe you prefer ladies?"

"But, yeah, he might be crew soon, yeah.  And you're right about keeping the containers seperate - if there isn't room now, I'd appreciate you making some, with the exo and all here," she agrees and looks around to see if there is a suitable, distant location - as far as that goes in the restricted space.  Odds are nothing will happen, but why take needless risks when there is no need for it - that is why they are, after all, needless.

Tylen slips his shirt on quickly and watches the Doctor for a moment. Her confidence in his ability was surprising, but data was data. That's what she saw, he reminded himself, "Well thanks Doctor, I appreciate your candor and advice then, my future self will be thanking you I'm sure of it."

He sighed, letting his grin relax, "If you would go ahead and send me a copy, I'd like to see what you might've seen that the Scout surgeon's missed. Other than that though, I'm all out of questions for you. Thanks again."

He stood and went to his jacket and gunbelts, withdrawing them and wrapping them around his back. He paused thoughtfully as he stooped to pick up his duffel. Then when he had it in his grasp he looked over at the Doctor again. "At the risk of sounding dubious...You wouldn't happen to know where my quarters are supposed to be?"

Shui bows to Tylen's thanks, and his confidence in her.  A good thing, that.  She listens, nodding, to request, then smiles when he announces his intent to leave.  A small line appears between her brows, then, and she slowly glances around, as if thinking of something.  Or looking for something.

That small confusion vanishes, though, at his last question.  "Of course, Mr. Orgesh.  I am the Steward here, as well - multidisciplinarian, as are many of the crew.  I can take you to your quarters - it might be easier than trying to give directions."  Moving to the door, she thumbs it open, waiting for him, and cocks her head to the side.  "Were there not supposed to be two of you, together?"

Tylen's eyebrow went into an arch almost spasmically. "Well....not together, but Alexei was an old friend of mine from the Darrian Navy, coming to join as well. Unfortunately, he met with some...interference. He is wanted now supposedly, having taken a piece of sensitive software fromt he Navy before he was discharged.....It troubles me, but this is where I'm at for now, he got himself into this somehow...I expect he'll find his way out again if he's not guilty though..."

He fell into step alongside the Doctor as he talked. Aside from his initial reaction to the news, there was little he could do for his friend without abandoning all sanity and safety. Of course, you think you know someone for years and then to have all that turned on it's head was disconcerting to be sure.

"Strange," Shui says, frowning.  It concerns her - any strange occurances are worth checking, for her - but seems fairly straightforward.  Did he take the software?  She doesn't know, and has no way of checking.  The main thing is that he won't be coming...which means the Captain will have hired another person.  Hopefully.

Given the expression on Tylen's face, this can't be easy.

"And I feel sorry for you, regarding your friend.  You must have been looking forward to serving together."  She steps out of the cabin (CQ4 on the map) into the curving hall, that small line appearing on her forehead again.  "I hope that it turns out to be a mistake, and that he thinks to send you an explanation."  There's nothing like living in a perpetual state of uncertainty, of waiting.  Shui knows this.

She knows this very, very well.

Her brow clears and she turns back to Tylen.  "I shall take you to your cabin immediately - we would not have you lost aboard the Profit Margin."  Turning away, she takes a few steps then stops beside the next door down the hall (CQ3 on the map) - one hand reaches out, triggers the door.  "Here we are."  Looking back, she gives Tylen a quick smile, one eyebrow arching slightly.

Past her is the cabin.  It's about four and a half meters square with a two and a half meter ceiling, much the same as Shui's cabin.  Unlike hers, it doesn't have the two extra, comfy chairs, nor the second fold-out bunk with the banks of medical equipment above (Tylen knows that bunk intimately, now).  There are, of course, storage cabinets, a shower area and a fresher.  The 'rear' wall of the chamber is curved, and seems to sport some kind of holographic displays.  In Shui's room they haven't been activated.

Conrad nods at Jago's words, smiling, "Well, ya see, there's a diff'rence, between bein' on a ship that can Jump away if'n things get a mite too hot for comfort, an' bein' stuck on a world, with no escape, when the neighbors up'n'decide to send a hundred thousand drop troops round to sit awhile."

He drains his glass, "If'n it's all the same to y'all, I'd rather be aboard this here ship."

Jago grins, drains his own glass and climbs to his feet, “excellent, my last navigator has quit to ‘join up for the duration’, but we had a good send-off party last night and I think he’s been sleeping it off, come on, we’ll see if he’s still aboard, we can sort out the paperwork later.”

Trailing a thin plume of smoke, Jago strides to the open door and peers out into crew lounge in search of Jett.

OOC
If Jett is not there, Jago will ask whoever is if they have seen him.

Jago leads Conrad out of the office and into the lounge.  Glancing around, he spots Shui showing Tylen his berth, and, beyond them, in the rear lounge, he catches sight of Kal-chan, seated at the table and speaking to somebody just out of sight around the corner of the bulkhead.

Heading down that way reveals a still fragile-looking Jett.  At least his face is no longer that awful shade of green though.

Kal-chan looks up as Jago appears with the stranger in tow, "Hello, Capt... Jago." he says, smiling, "We'll be gone soon, so we won't be making the place look untidy for much longer."

"Just grabbing a coffee." adds Jett, though his own smile is far shakier.

Jago pauses to make a quick introduction, “this is Shui Tiesi our medic and Tylen Orgesh, our new gunner just starting today,” he say, pointing at them each in turn with the smoking end of his cigar, “and this,” he adds, turning the weapon towards the newest member of the crew, “is Conrad Dietz, our new navigator.”

"Good morning Captain.  A pleasure, Mr. Dietz," Shui says, bowing slightly and shaking Mr. Dietz' hand if offered.  "The difficulties have been rectified?" she asks Jago, giving no hint of the fact that she knew absolutly nothing of said difficulties until a few minutes before.  "And very quickly, as well," she finishes, obviously impressed by how quickly the gears have turned.  A small smile - the Captain's stress level tends to rise when things go wrong aboard the ship (understandably!) and she prefers the crew to be as calm as possible.  More healthy.

"Mr. Dietz," she continues, turning to that worthy, "perhaps you might stop by the medlab - my cabin - in order to have a physical?  I would also require your medical records, should you have them."  Another small smile.  "At present, I am showing Mr. Orgesh to his cabin, but I should be finished soon.  Should I expect you?."

Tylen nods tossing his duffel to the bed. He glances around a bit and nods again, this time in approval, "Thanks Doctor, I appreciate it. Being lost on one's own ship can be a bit troublesome at times...this is nice, definitely surpassing my own needs."
                                  **************************
Just then Jago and Conrad round the bend. He waits a moment as Shui finishes her own business and introductions as is polite. Then afterwords, he reaches out to shake the man's hand, "Hello, Mr. Dietz, I look forward to serving with you. The captain says you are a good man so it's a pleasure."

“It will have to be later on Shui, I’d like Conrad to meet Jett before he leaves the ship.”

“This way Conrad,” Jago leads off to the rear lounge where Kal-Chan and Jett are sitting.

“No hurry, Kal.”

“Jett, this is Conrad who will be taking over as navigator, I wondered if you could find a few minuets to show him round the nav console before you go.”

"Sure, I can do that, Jago.  This way, Conrad."  Jett picks up his coffee and heads for the bridge, leaving Kal-chan with the others.

On the bridge he starts demonstrating the console to the new nav.  "As she stands now, this is my preferred layout.  These boards are Navy spec, all Profit Margin's controls are.  If you hit the yellow pad up in the top right there, and drag the displays and controls around to suit what you like yourself."

"You can save the settings, and rig up a password that will automatically reset the board to those settings, if anybody else uses it.  Like Saskia, for instance, sometimes she'll come up here to run mock Jumps when she's been working on the drives, and sometimes she'll forget to reset the board when she's done."

"So, what you can do is... " and he wanders off into the realms of technical and mathematical arcana...


The last of the containers is placed carefully in the hold, with as much distance as possible between it and the rest of the cargo, which isn't a lot of distance, when all is said and done.  Perhaps a metre or so.  As they get the documentation authorised and thumbprinted, Alex thanks Yas for her help, and Kaylan gives the Security Chief a grateful smile, before the two of them make their way back to the transport, and drive off, leaving Yas to secure the cargo.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 09:55, Sun 19 Feb 2006.

Yas waves the two girls off and then goes to secure the cargo, letting otu a light sigh.  While she would have preferred the catalyst much further away it was nothing to do about it now.  So she begins to fasten the containers one by one, taking care to do it properly.  In case the gravplates gives up she does not wish to go in here and sort out flying containers.

Once she is alone her mind starts wondering again, and unfortunately not to the sunny side of the street, so while she struggles with the attachments of the containers she also struggles with keeping her inner daemons at bay.

Yas gets the cargo all locked down, then does the same to the ship, ensuring that the ramp main ramp is locked, as well as the two airlocks, before heading back to the crew section.

Jett spends his last couple of hours aboard running through the navsystems with Conrad, explaining the normal procedures, and the emergency ones too, such as they are.

Saskia continues to work in Engineering, tidying up, squaring things away, and logging the repairs, just in case an IBSS inspector happens to drop in  unexpectedly and demand to see her paperwork.  It's never happened yet, but you never know...

Tylen gets settled into his berth, unpacking, skimming through the display options for the holographic "windows" on the curved outer wall of the cabin to see if any of the scenic choices take his fancy.

Jago, back in the office, continues with his own paperwork, makes a few calls confirming passenger bookings, and plays, thoughtfully, with the striated orange and brown ball which had been sitting in the metal tray on his desk.

Shui spends a little time reviewing and updating crew medical records, but her eyes keep going back to Corlan's collection and notes.

And so two hours pass, at the end of which Kal-chan goes in search of Jett, and the two of them end up standing at the door to Jago's cabin.  Kal-chan salutes, before he manages to stop himself, "Permission to leave Profit Margin, Captain?"

With an unlit cigar safly out of the way in the corner of his mouth, Jago offers a warm handshake to each men in turn, “you take care now, and look us up when this is all over.” The captain stops himself short of explaining how they should do that, they will find a away if the want to. “Permission granted,” he adds, smiling, in your own time.“

"NOT SO FAST!" the Security Chief barked behind the two men, standing there with the arms crossed over the chest and the legs slightly apart to give an impression of authority.  "I should do a strip search to make sure you aren't trying to smuggle out your cabins or someone of the crew," she rants and cracks into a big grin as the first impression from the two guys finally gets too much for her.

She softens and puts her weight on one foot, although the arms keeps hugging herself, partly because she feels like she needs a hug, sort of, and partly because she is not sure what else to do with her hands.  Two of her friends, leaving, just like that.  Uncertain whether or not she wants to go with them or not, she understands their motivation.

Jett, the lost navigator that was so much fun in the mornings before he got his cup of coffee.

Caution, a colleague from a lifetime ago and later a good friend, with more brains that he would let show and an even bigger heart.

Damn, how she will miss them both.

Tylen finally found a holo setting he liked, a view of the Crab Nebula swirling about the wall. Very nice he smiled to himself. He sat down on the bed and rummaged through his duffel, bringing out a picture of his brother, Alexei and himself, standing about after graduation from college. He laid back for a second and imagined the moment again, so long ago.

Wistfully he came to, sticking the picture back into his duffel, he hauled out his other effects, finding places for them in the cubbies. A chain that his mother and father had given him on his fifth birthday, he slipped it on, he had almost forgotten about that one. The chain had been the only thing from his parents that he had taken with him when he'd left Darria. In fact it had gone with him everywhere over the last fifteen years. Tylen began to finish up his work almost ready to go. He stopped and adjusted his perference for light settings, late night study settings and twilight setting. Then he readied himself to head over to the bay, to pick up the rest of his luggage...

While Yas distracts the two deserters, Jago steps back into his cabin, and a moment later his voice echoes from the intercom system throughout the crew section.

"Attention all crew.  Please report to the forward Crew Lounge immediately.  All crew, please report to the forward Crew Lounge immediately."

Shui, fingering a datachip, blinks as the voice echoes through the ship and the chip squirts out from between her fingers.  Her hand hazes for an instant, then she sets the recaptured bit of plastic and superconductors back down, frowning.  It didn't sound like an emergency, but...every time this happened, on any ship, that same knot hit her stomach.

Could this be it?

Swallowing, she stands and quickly moves to the door.  For an instant Shui considered the pistol in her desk drawer, then shook her head.  She might as well be optomistic and assume this is for a different reason than her.  Essaying a smile, the doctor frowns - plastic, very plastic.  Opening her mouth relaxes her cheeks, and the smile becomes more natural.  Better.

Keying the door, a hint of a smile on her lips, Shui strides quickly down to the forward Crew Lounge.

Tylen immediately stands at the abrupt sounds over the intercom. Grabbing nothing but his Bomber and his gunbelt, he slips them both on as he smacks the pad for his door. What was this, some kind of emergency? There wasn't an alarm that sounded with the intercomm, but that didn't mean something wasn't up. Tylen halted his train of thought, best to find out for myself.

He rounded into the hallway, cutting almost in front of Shui. He looked at her with questions pouring from his visage. He locked his belt into place as they stepped into the Lounge.

Saskia frowns as Jago's voice comes from the PA.  Odd. she thinks, Nothing's running hot enough to blow.  She leaves what she's doing, and makes her way to the lounge.

As she steps out of engineering she catches sight of Shui and the new guy (Tyler?) just ahead of her.  Feeling a little guilty, she shoves her injured hand, with it's dirty and dishevelled dressing into her pocket and calls out to them.

"Hey!  What is it?  What's going on?"

They gather in the lounge, and succeed in trapping Jett and Kal-chan with no place to run.  The two men look stunned, mixed with a certain degree of fragility, in Jett's case.  Kal-chan's face is red, and he looks as though he will burst into flames at any moment.

Jett clears his throat, shuffles his feet nervously, and finally speaks, "Um... we were just going."  He tries to follow up on his statement, and finds that Yas is standing in the exit.

"Right.  You'll be expecting a speech or something then, I suppose?  Being a gentleman, I'll let Kal-chan go first."

"What?" the former gunner's face brightens a couple of shades, "Well, okay, I guess.  But, Jett can say all the fancy stuff, in a minute.  I just want to say, 'goodbye, and I'll miss this ship and everybody on her.'"

A shrug, and a big smile, tinged with a hint of sadness, and then, "Your turn, Jett."

"I fear I have no idea," Shui shoots over her shoulder to Saskia, hopeful in her heart that her answer is true.  She gives Tylen a quick raise of the eyebrow in return, obviously uncertain as to the reason for the summons.

Relief hits like a bullet when she enters the lounge to discover the real reason behind the page.  For a brief, irrational instant, Shui considers hurting Jago.  A lot.  But that passes in a heartbeat - the man has no idea what his call cost her (possibly a white hair or two?), and is doing this for the crewmembers who are leaving them.

She barely got to know them.  It must be so much more difficult for Jago, for Saskia, and for Yasmine.

So she banishes her tension and smiles for the two people leaving and the three who are staying, waiting to hear their final words aboard this vessel to the people who may well have become family to them.  But birds need to leave the nest, and away they fly.  She hopes, fervently, that no owls await them in the night between the stars.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:29, Tue 21 Feb 2006.

"Hmph.  That won't do, not at all.  You will have to have at least one last cup of our wonderful coffee, or tea, before I can let you leave the ship.  Plus, you would not want to waste the cake now, would you?" Yasmine Crow asks with an innocent face and then steps over to a cupboard, from which she pulls out a cake that looks to be worth about five hours of workout under Yas' regime.  She places it on the table and then steps back and looks at everyone now slowly gathering around, giving a wink at Sushi as she point to the cake that surely will be a nightmare for her, of sorts.

"Don't worry, I didn't bake it," she says with a mock glare around the room, "and if you refuse at least a little bit I'll feed it to you myself!  C'mon, everyone, dig in!"  She turns to gather some plates and cups so that everyone will be able to get a share withotu having to hold it in their bare hands.

When Conrad hears the announcement, he saves his settings and makes his way back from the bridge, straight into a farewell party.  He takes a piece of the cake with a smile at Yas, "Many thanks.  Say, what do I call y'all?  Yasmine?  Ms. Crow?  Chief?"  He smiles, and adds, "Please don't be sayin', Sir!  Had enough'f that back in the Navy."

Tylen folds arms as the two men give their speech. It was an odd feeling to be in attendance of the farewell to the men he'd been chosen to replace. The two seemed nice enough but it was a feeling of being out of place or underdressed. So he performed the usual dance of courtesy; taking a bit of cake, coffee. Shaking the mens hands and wishing them luck. Then he slipped out as conversations of 'old times' would undoubtedly begin to errupt.

Once back in his cabin, he slipped out his datapad and began to write. He wanted to remember this day, to look back one day and think about the events that had transpired with an amount of clarity.

Shui leans over to Yas as the woman passes around the cake, a weak smile on her lips.  "Yasmine," she whispers, horribly embarassed, "I apologize deeply but I must ask.  Your cake - does it have only synthetic products in it, or are there any animal products?"  She feels ill - this is an important moment for everyone on the ship, and here she is asking this kind of question.

But she has her rules, and she has to follow them.  Please, please, let it be acceptable cake.  Shui feels like praying, wishing desperately to spare Yasmine her own foolishness at not having spoken up sooner.  Have we discussed this?  Has anyone asked me my dietary habits?  She can't remember.

"I wouldn't dream of having you call me sir.  You can call me ma'am," Yas replies to the new navigator with a small smile.  "You see, in the Marine's we knew to tell men from women, and we were pride of the differences that there are between us," she explains and stretches up as if by chance, makign it clear that, yes, she is female rather than male.

She keeps that face for a few moments and then starts to chuckle, shaking her head.  "My dear Dits, call me Yas when we're alone," she half whispers and nudges him before she concludes, "but in front of visitors Chief will do."

It is kind of hard to not notice the Quadman withdraws, given the number of people in the room - there was a lot more room available suddenly.  But, that was his decision, so she shrugs and leaves it be.

Then Sushi comes up to her to ask something that makes her eyebrows rise a bit.

"Animal products?" she asks, as if never having heard the term before.  "Bueh, well.... Eh, let's see," she says and opens a cabinet, in which the package still sits.  She mumbles and studies the box for a bit.  "No animals harmed when...  No wait, that wasn't it, was it?" she jokes and grins at Sushi.  "Sorry, all synthetic.  I can't afford the real thing anyway.  It still tastes nice, though!"  She winks at the doctor.

Thank the gods.  Shui inclines her head in relief.  "Thank you, Ms. Crowe.  I believe I will have a piece of your cake."  She happily takes one of the slices (looking warily at the copious frosting) and helps herself to a cup of tea.

It is a good thing that Yasmine is frugal.

Saskia stands nervously, as far to one side as she can get.  The cake and coffee are balanced on top of the conduit which houses the main control linkages between the bridge and the drives.  In her mind's eye, the connections inside the conduit are all clearly visible.

She smiles and nods, and makes small talk when required, but her bare feet are shuffling on the carpet, and one hand is jammed deep in the pocket of her coverall, while she picks at her cake with the other.

"Oy, oy, oy, oy!  That's Yas to you, Sushi.  And, anyway, I think I remember something about you not agreeing with some food, right?" Yas chuckles and then jams another bit of the delicious cake into her mouth, once more proving that a Marine fears nothing, not even a cake.

"What's up, Sassy?  Been a naughty girl again and got a hairy palm now?" she teases the engineer after gulping down the cake.

The engineer's face colors, and she poises at that delicate crux between Flight and whatever an alternative is that's less aggressive than Fight.  In the end she settles for screwing her face up and poking her tongue out at Yas, and pointedly looking away.

"That'll show her!  Go Saskia!  Right, su-u-ure.

Her hand, meanwhile, jams deeper in its pocket.

Cake in one hand and cigar in the other, Jago watches his little crew, old and new with a small smile on his face. He will miss Jett and Kal, miss them badly, he’d come to depend on them, all of the crew in fact, far more than he realised until something like this bought it home. Still, he was pleased with their replacements, Conrad he knew of old and was pleased for several treasons, to have him here, and Tylen had excellent credentials and was standing up well to Yasmin’s rather quirky sense of humour.

Jago was under no illusions as to just how lucky he was to have such a crew, even if his smile is tinged with a little sadness. He takes a large bite of cake and promises himself that in the morning, he’ll start on those press-ups.