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?"