Jump Space is, as always, featureless and uneventful.  Which, considering how worrying and/or lethal events in Jump Space tend to be, is just the way everybody likes it.

The first evening in Jump had been quiet, and all looks set for the rest of the journey to pass that way.

The passengers, all of them, have been served their breakfast, and now it is the crew's turn.  In the crew lounge, Captain Jago Lanza, health conscious as always, studies the labelling on a package of vitamin enriched, high fibre cereal before setting it aside and and continuing with his usual fried breakfast accompanied by an industrial grade solvent thinly disguised as coffee.

He's in a good mood this morning.  His talk with Yas the previous evening had gone well.  Better than it might have, all things considered.

"So, just in case any of you don't know yet," he announces, "Yas has agreed to train everybody, including me, in basic self defence.  The hold is going to serve as a classroom  for this.  Shui, after breakfast, can you go over and ask if any of our passengers would like to be involved?  They get a choice."

Shui ensures the others have their breakfast - as always, she ate several hours ago, allowing her to serve first the passengers then the crew without any distraction.  Sighing, she offers Jago a pointed look and taps meaningfully on the cereal package before turning a doleful stare on his coffee.

Why he prefers that swill is beyond her.  There's perfectly good stuff prepared, smooth and flavourful from being made in a pristine pot.

The Steward continues her efficient work, clearing away empty plates and replacing them with full ones, stacking the dirtied objects neatly in the sink for soaking.  She keeps a surreptitious watch on Keryn Taylor, impressed by the girl's fortitude, already venturing outside of her cabin despite the massive weight of the unfamiliar gravity.  One eyebrow rises, though, when Captain Lanza offers up the latest news.  A flick of the wrist dispels the holofield around her dataglove - currently set on a minor surgical procedure and visible to her eyes alone due to the wonders of holographic focal length - and is preparing her appreciation for Jago beginning an exercise regime (it takes more than a class or two to become proficient in any kind of defense) when he finishes.

"They get a choice."

Her mouth clamps shut, and for a long moment Shui stares through the Captain.  Then her sunny smile returns with nearly double the wattage.  "Of course, Captain Lanza.  It seems a useful skill to learn.  I shall speak to the passengers after breakfast," she echoes.

Collectiong a few more plates (including Tylen's still-full mug of coffee), the Steward moves to the sink, letting her hands take over the chore of washing and drying.  Mindless in their focus, they snag the nearby coffeepot, still steaming and half-full, and dump its contents into the recycler before beginning the process of cleaning the machine and preparing another pot.  All the while, Shui stares holes through the bulkhead, her stomach knotted, her brow suddenly cold with a patter of perspiration, her mind spinning in circles.

WhatdoIdowhatdoIdowhatdoIdo?

Lie?

Ridiculous.  She could no more lie to these people than she could shoot them.

But what, then?
This message was last edited by the player at 01:11, Wed 12 Jan 2011.

Yas puts a hand on Sushi's shoulder and asks, "What's on your mind, doc?"

She hopes that it is not the surgery, with the doctor part of Sushi claiming it is a simple deal.  But then, few things in life are simple and there is no such thing as a surgery without risks.  It is, however, always less risky than getting in the way of shrapnel.

Having made sure Teryn is fine she returned to have her breakfast when she noted the expression on the doctor's face, spurring her to initiate this inquiry.

"If you don't mind me asking," she adds and smiles slightly.

Shui's hands still their movement when Yasmine touches her shoulder.  For a heartbeat she stares blankly at the wall, then blinks away her fugue-state.  When she turns her head toward Yasmine, her smile is as bright as always, if a touch strained.  "Apologies, Yasmine...perhaps you might be able to assist me, I have some questions before I approach the passengers."

It's a dodge, but close enough to the conversation it might not seem as such.

"What do you plan to teach in these classes?"  She cocks her head slightly, considering - behind her smile, her mind races.  "Basic strikes for know-how, placement of such, avoidance strategies, one or two practical techniques?  Will there be contact, resistance training?  Use of weapons?"   With an effort, she keeps the questions slow and deliberate.

No foolish babbling, Shui.

A furrow appears between her thin brows.  Panic has subsided (for the moment) with thought, and now the doctor begins to consider other issues.  "And...your surgery.  How will we schedule that if you must teach classes?"

Saskia is happily eating her usual breakfast - toast and a marmalade made of some sort of fruit, whose name escapes her.  And coffee of course, just like Jago.  Except that she wouldn't touch the sludge that Jago drinks.  She's seen the pitting on the spoon.

Then Jago makes his announcement.

"Wait.  What?  You want us to learn to defend ourselves?  Isn't that why we have Yas and Tylen?"

The Navy had, naturally, given her some basic training when she joined up.  But that was years ago.  When she transferred to Engineering she found that she had far more important things to do with her hands than hurting people.  And that the most efficient martial art is an orbital bombardment.

"Do we have a choice too?" she asks, her voice quiet and forlorn.

"Apologies?  What for?" Yas asks but then waves a hand, "Ah, never mind, I'm just going to show some basic things, nothing fancy.  How to break away if someone grabs you, good spots to attack if all else fails and such.  Contact will probably be needed for some of the stuff, but I'll be the dummy in those cases.  No weapons, but tips about such, improvised ones," Yas says, and watches Sushi's face with inteest.

"So, no, the surgery won't stop me.  It'll just be good-to-know stuff in case the first strategy fails - the get the heck outta there," she continues on a bit further and glances over at Sassy.

"No you don't," she answers and chuckles.

Tylen shrugs at the announcement that he is to do self defence training, if nothing else it would pass the time away while there were in jump.

While he had been given some very basic self defence training n the scouts it was nothing really to write home about.  Thinking back he remembered the lessons, he had always been better at dodging out of the way of physical contact rather than getting caught up in  a toe to toe fight.  He hadn't been strong enough to break holds easily, and since the accident he ran out of breath way too quickly for a real fight.

Tylen goes to dunk his pancake in his coffee, then frowns as he realises that his mug is missing.  Left with a dry pancake in his hand, Tylen takes  a small bite and the starts chewing, although the look on his face shows it isn't exactly to his taste.  Shooting Shui a confused look he asks "What happened to the coffee?"

Then he takes another, uncharacteristically,  small bite from his pancake as he waits for her the stewards response.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:00, Thu 13 Jan 2011.

Shui slowly nods along with Yasmine's description of activities.  Of course they will need some training to allow for basic strikes - most peoples' knowledge of how to even throw a simple punch was woeful - and repetative practice, but it seems as if the class would be...safe.  For her.  She hopes.  Numerous emotions flicker across her face - concern, distaste, agreement, a hint of nausea, and, curiously enough, a touch of interest.

When Yasmine finishes, the Steward purses her lips thoughtfully.  "A well-rounded curriculum.  Thank you for the explanation."  Her tone is a touch wooden, with all that rampages through her head, but her weak smile is genuine.

At Saskia's despairing query, she turns a commiserating look on the engineer - sadly, Yasmine's reply confirms the mandatory nature of this course.  "A short course only, Ms. Blake," she reiterates, hoping it might mitigate some of Saskia's misery.  Then Tylen's grievence registers.  Coffee?  She looks down at the sink, recognizing the gunner's mug instantly.  "Oh!  Mr. Orgesh, that was my fault."  Wash-rinse, and dry a moment later fixes half that problem, but there's nothing that can be done to speed up the machine.  Vexed with herself, Shui bites her lip.  "My deepest apologies, Mr. Ogresh.  I will have another cup for you, momentarily."

It's not hard to see the man is less-than-satisfied with the lack of beverage.  Embarrassed, Shui glances around the table to ensure she hasn't stolen from anyone else.

"That's all right." Tylen says with a bit of a smile.  "I thought you looked a bit distracted." he continues  looking across at the steward.

After a moments  thought he adds, "I am sure that Yas won't let you get hurt though." he says reaching across the table for some  syrup for his pancake.

Shui blinks a few times at Tylen's pronouncement.  Her head tilts slightly to the side, as if she has been struck by a new consideration.  Then she nods, her smile returning.  "Thank you, Mr. Orgesh.  For the reassurance." the Steward replies, snagging the nearly-full pot of coffee and pouring him a cup.  "You are correct, of course; Ms. Crow will most certainly ensure this is safe for all involved."

She sets the mug down next to his plate and pats him on the shoulder, absently brushing a hint of lint from his shirt.  "You are a good, kind man," Shui whispers, genuinely touched by his concern for her.  "I feel much better, now."

And she does, though not for the reasons one might think.

"Bah, you're welcome," Yas says with a grin and watches Sushi as she deals with Tylen and his missing cup.  Nothing show on her face except for the grin until he gets a pat on the shoulder.

"Of course no one's gonna get hurt, that'd defeat the purpose of this exercise," she adds in case someone still have doubt.

She leans up against the nearby bulkhead and stands there watching everyone, the grin changing into a slightly crooked and faint smile.

Not quite sure what he has done to warrant the extra attention, Tylen smiles as Shui brushes the lint from his shirt and whispers.  "You're welcome." he replies quietly.  Somewhat at a loss for anything else to say he reaches out for the new cup of coffee and takes a sip, almost burning his mouth in the process.  "Good." he says raising his cup in salute to the stewardess.

Ash watches the rest of the crew banter and talk easily with each other.  He purses his lips, only a slight tinge of envy present.  Otherwise, he sips his black coffee quietly after chewing on his last spoonful of cereal sprinkled with some sort of reconstituted fruit of some sort.  Even that meager fare was a step up from some of the prepack tubes that Ash had had the 'privilege' of having to use at various points in his space faring career.  Texture alone, sometimes made all the difference.

Ash rubs his knee thoughtfully as the rest of the crew discussed the upcoming self-defense class.  It probably wouldn't hurt to have some sort of organized training.  He isn't sure how much he can really absorb, but that would not Yasmine's fault at all, solely his own.  Ash quietly contemplates how high strung their Doctor and Steward was - her reaction surprises him a bit as she normally seemed in tight control.  But the thought of violence seemed to make her physically ill.  It was a different reaction from when flying the air-raft.  And it was definitely a departure for her normal demeanor.  Troubling in some ways, he thought, troubling as though there must be story.  Something from way back.

Ash sighs slightly again.  He knows quite well, that if Shui isn't going to tell Yasmine or Tylen or Saskia about whatever 'it' is.  There is no way she is going to open up to him - a complete stranger, by all accounts.  Another mystery to be unravelled at a future time.  He catalogued it and continues to sip his coffee quietly at the far side of the table.

Jago relaxes a little.  Yas had taken care of the queries, and deflected a lot of the attention away from his part in the planning of the proposed training regimen.

He smiles as he helps himself to more food and coffee (he should, after all, keep his strength up).  "So that's all settled then.  You'll thank me for this, next time you're involved in a dirtside brawl or have to restrain a troublesome passenger."

"I thought that Yas could explain the basic principle of each move, and then people could split into pairs and practice for a few minutes while Yas gives them pointers and tells them what they're doing wrong."

"How does that sound?"

"Yep. Sure." Tylen comments in-between bites of pancake and mouthfuls of coffee.  "Who will be your training partner, Jago?" the ex-scout asks laconically,  deliberately assuming that the captain wouldn't ask his crew to do anything that he wouldn't.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:51, Sat 15 Jan 2011.

"If nobody else minds," Saskia says, her voice carrying the merest hint of a totally uncharacteristic hard edge, "I'd like to partner Jago."

The engineer stretches, and cracks her knuckles, and the smile that she gives the captain is all sweetness and light.  Jago volunteered me for this, after all, so Jago is going to reap just what he sowed.

Tylen grins at the thought of Sakia's boots and the captain, then mock-doffs his hat towards Shui.  "Shall we?" he asks imitating the half awkward days of a teenager at a semi-formal dance.

Ash watches the others pick their partners, then realizes that he's the only one left without a partner.  That is, unless either Keryn or Corlan partake of the lessons.  Or unless he wants to get beaten up by Yasmine.  But since neither of the passengers is guaranteed to participate and Ms. Crow is a known quantity, he smiles slightly, even as his shoulders slump a little, and then notes to no one in particular, "It appears that I am to be our Security Chief's demonstration dummy."  He tugs at one of his slightly over-sized ears after emphasizing the word 'dummy'.

"Please, be gentle, Ms. Crow." Ash addresses Yasmine, "I do have a bad knee..."

Shui's eyebrows rise slightly.  "Mr. Orgesh, are you asking me to train?"  A real smile lights her features this time, and she gives him a small, formal-looking nod in return, head tilted to an angle just so.  "Of course I accept, without a doubt."

At least, she feels, when Yasmine starts the classes there won't be any fumbling through a search for a partner.  And she's fairly certain Mr. Orgresh - an experienced scout - won't fumble something in the actual practice, either.  Paired up with a complete neophyte to this sort of thing could be disastrous to Shui.  The other person might unknowingly attack in a wild fashion...which could prove to have poor results for both people involved.

Plus, she trusts Tylen.  Not that she mistrusts the other members of the crew, but...it's a matter of solidity, she decides.  Tylen has always struck her that way.  Not more trustworthy than the others, but extremely...protective.  That's the word, and a quality she admires.

"I expect you are capable enough in this dance not to step on my toes," she notes to the gunner, eyes bright with amusement.  "I shall do my best not to embarass you, myself."

Saskia appears well-pleased with her choice, but poor Ash seems somewhat worried by being the last one out, so to speak.  Shui frowns slightly.  "Mr. Tescali, we really must have that physical.  And soon, if you are to be partaking in this exercise."  She shoots a narrow-eyed glance at Jago, scarfing back the food, then raises an eyebrow at Saskia.  "Make him work," Shui mouths at the engineer before turning back to their pilot.  "If you are free after this, Mr. Tescali, perhaps we can get it out of the way, and I can stop harping on the subject?"

Ash should feel privilaged, though likely he cannot yet see that.  The safest place for him, the least likely place for injury, is with the instructor.

"How cosy!  Truth is, though, I was thinking it best to randomly draw partners each time.  After all, you rarely get to choose troublemaker for real, unless you're the one starting it, and that we don't want, right?" Yas chuckles as people starts to pick out a partner.

"But don't you worry, Ash, even if I'll jump in now and then to mix things up no one's gong to go very hard on anyone.  It's only a week, so we'll stick to the basics," she continues and scratches her cheek, as if trying to straighten out the crooked grin on her face.  "Besides, some of you may have some experience and therefore it wouldn't be fair to the others if you always stuck to the same partner, right?"

Jago has the look of a man reconsidering his command decision that he would take part in the training program.  Reluctantly, though, he is forced to conclude that if he backs out now, it would probably look really bad.  "Well, until Shui checks with our three passengers, we won't know exactly how many people we have interested in this." he says to his crew.  "So we don't know  whether we've got an even or odd number of... er... students.  Makes it difficult to decide the best way to divide them... us... divide us up.  Yes... us."

He gazes at the table for a moment, clearly pondering something of paramount importance.

"Does anybody else want that last rasher of bacon?"

Randomly drawing partners is more logical - it forces people to adapt to different circumstances, and doesn't allow them to fall into predicting how their partner will act and react.  That doesn't help Shui feel any better about it, and she gives Tylen a small, apologetic smile.  "Over the course of several days, I am certain we shall have an opportunity, Mr. Orgesh - luck and fate willing."

The smile fades at the Captain's plaintive question.  Stepping forward, Shui snakes the bacon off the communal plate and deposits it on the nearest, non-Lanzo dish - Ash's, as it turns out.  "Yes.  Mr. Tescali has a physical today, and I would like him to be well-fed." It makes no sense, but that isn't the point.  "Captain Lanza, you do have a dietary regime to follow.  While some deviation is sadly expected, this is the perfect opportunity to put you on the correct path."

Her eyes narrow into flat lines as she leans on the table, practically face to face with Jago.  "I can do nothing about what you hide in your office, but at the table?  I have been lax.  Unforgivably so, for it is your health under consideration - yours and this crew, not simply my own.  I blame myself; I have been too soft, killing with kindness."  Her head droops under the weight of guilt as she considers her failing, then rises again with eyes afire.  "Your idea holds great merit from a health perspective as well as that of self-defense.  It has inspired me to consider a regular series of group exercises - mandatory group exercises.  Better diet.  Better exercise.  This may not be the marines, but the health of the crew is my business.  My duty."

Her lips tighten and she leans a hint closer.  "Cheating on my instructions will only fuel my determination," the doctor whispers.

One finger edges Ash's plate a touch further out of Jago's reach, then Shui straightens, her sharp resolve softening.  "I should speak with the passengers, determine which will join us.  Excuse me."  With a nod to the table, she moves to where their guests are seated.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:17, Tue 18 Jan 2011.

Tylen is about to comment, but sits back and takes a mouthful of his coffee instead.  Sometimes he knows when to be quiet.

Ash's brow furrows slightly as he listens to Shui's tirade against Jago.   He is about to push back from the table to give their Steward more room, when the last piece of bacon mysteriously appears on his plate.  Under Doctor's orders, apparently.  Unwilling to invoke Shui's newly discovered wrath, Ash begins to partake of the bacon - though he conspicuously avoids eye contact with Jago.

Once the evidence is gone, Ash slowly pushes back from the table and sits quietly listening to Shui talk.  He breaks that silence only once, when addressed directly, by offering a curt, "Yes, Ma'am." when Shui notes with some exasparation that Ash still has not approached her for his physical.

"You tell him!" Saskia cheers Shui on, "The less frelling padding he has, the fairer it will be for the person who has to spar with him.  Plus he needs to lose weight, because hauling him round is a strain on my poor engines."

The smile that forms on her lips then is tinged with cruelty, "Besides, if he doesn't have that bacon, he'll starve to death before lunch, and then the ship is ours."

She laughs.  A short burst of giggles which stops abruptly, as she realises she might have gone too far.  "Oops.  Did I say that out loud?"

Tylen's eyes flick from the steward to the engineer and a slight smile twitches at the corners of his mouth before he schools his face carefully.  A bunch of mad women he thinks as he considers his female crew members, good job they like me.

I hope

Jago folds his arms across his chest and glares at Saskia and Shui, "So.  It's mutiny, is it?"  He can't keep from smiling though, as he gets up from the table, "Luckily I'm not really in the right mood to space the pair of you today.  Maybe I'll enjoy the pleading and crying more tomorrow."

"I'm going to change my clothes for some... " and the lighting in the lounge dies, coming back a second or so later, as Jago's voice trails off, "... thing more athletic."

"Okay...  That's not good.  Saskia, find out what happened.  Shui, check on the passengers.  Everybody else to stations until we find out more."

"Just anticipating your wishes, Boss." Tylen grins as he stands up "Computer thought you were going to say something more comfortable" he grins over at Jago and then, just for a moment, he wonders if it really is a bit of programming left over from Jago's days as a swinging bachelor.

"So we starting now, or are we waiting for Saskia to run checks first?" he asks, finishing off his coffee and putting the mug on the side.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:04, Sat 22 Jan 2011.

Ash doesn't wait for Jago to answer Tylen.  With the bridge not very far away, Ash is up fast and despite a slight hobble, makes it to station in seconds.  His dishes are dropped off unceremoniously (though quietly) in the sink.  He would rinse them, but that will have to wait for later.

As he sits in his seat, Ash buckles his harness.  The action is almost second nature, as he doesn't really think about it.  He is instead preoccupied with collecting and displaying information.  His fingers move over the dynamic console configuration as Ash starts pulling up internal diagnostic displays, checking alarms and trying to note anything unusual.  He may not know the system like Saskia, but he can try to collate as much information as possible.  Ash is fully aware that if the jump bubble bursts prematurely - they are all likely dead.  So, he also starts querying the computer core about the nature of the power outage as well as the state of the lanthanum grid and the hydrogen bubble surrounding the ship.

Even if he cannot make much of the data - Ash tries to be prepared.  If they have misjumped and by some miracle survive... then it will likely fall to him to figure out where they are and what they can do to get anywhere.  Ash purses his lips, hoping for the best, but fearing and preparing for the worst.

Saskia's support lightens Shui's spirits - currently aflame with determination - and she shakes her head at the engineer's concerns about crossing lines.  Jago's rebuttal receives a very un-Shui snort as she marches away to deal with the passengers -

- the lights die -

- Shui straightens out of her half-crouch, allowing her hands to drop as the illumination returns.  All traces of levity have vanished from her sharp features.  "Immediately, Captain Lanza," she returns, picking up her pace as she moves to the passengers' lounge.

"So sorry about the inconvenience," the Steward begins with a small bow.  "Nothing spilled?"  Her tone remains deliberately light and she avoids questions about injuries - likely there are none, and asking about topped coffees will put the passengers in a less concerned mood.  "Captain Lanza has a proposition for recreation while we travel," she continues, determined to focus their attention on something other than the current 'incident'.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:42, Tue 25 Jan 2011.

Hurrying back to Engineering, Saskia drops into her chair and starts running diagnostics.

"Right, which one of you farbotz idiots decided it would be fun to interrupt my breakfast?" she mutters, "Come on.  Own up, and be frelling quick about it.  Or I'll stop treating you so nicely.

"Don't have time for this dren.  Need to go beat up Jago.  Yes, that Jago." she glances at the power plant's plasma constriction manifold, "Yes, I'll give him one for you, but first I need somebody to tell me what the yotz is going on here."

With a shrug Tylen casually follows the others out of the lounge and back to his station, playing idly with something between his fingers as he does so.  On some of the scout ships he had served on, the lights going down for a moment or two was nothing to worry about ....

Jago moves to his own position on the bridge, and starts checking things over.  Outside the ports, all he can see is a formless grey fog.  So that's good, Jump Space is supposed to look like that.  So far, it doesn't look like a misJump.  As far as he can tell.

The instruments all look to be confirming this.  Which means he has to wait for Saskia to confirm that the power drop was something trivial.

"You see anything out there, Ash?  Tylen, Yas?  Anything on anybody's sensors?"



"Nothing spilled." Corlan confirms.  He is sitting at a table with Eneris.  Keryn is nearby, sprawled on one of the much softer couches.  None of them seem unduly concerned by a momentary flicker of the lights.  All three of them, however, make some indication of interest in the idea of shipboard recreation, though each of them does qualify their interest somewhat.

Keryn is concerned about how hard it will be for her to do any physical exercise before she gets used to the gravity, and both Corlan and Eneris point out that they are no longer in their prime.

"Just the normal jump static." Tylen offers as he lounges in the doorway to his gunnery cubicle.

"Thought for a moment I saw a voluminous captain of a kick-arse ship getting his stern kicked by a scrawny engineer, but no, nothing," Yas says in her best matter-of-fact voice.

Hopefully that scrawny engineer is all over this already, coasting along in J-space is not the most productive life, neither is dropping out of is somewhere you did not expect.  But she will cross that bridge when and if she comes to it, unless she decides to blow it up, of course.

"Shall I do a quick check of the other systems?" she asks Jago.  If nothing else it will at least give her something to do other than sit on her rear and see things that are not there in the random static of J-space.

Ash shakes his head slowly to Jago's question.  He taps his console to tie his link into the general crew link even though Jago is on the bridge with him.  Ash speaks so that the others can also hear him, stating tentatively, "++I'm not seeing anything unusual with the sensor readings, Captain.++"

He pulls up another couple of displays and notes, "++All systems look normal to me, all metrics are currently reading nominal.++"  He glances at Jago, "++I've got greens across the boards, currently, Captain.++"

Relieved to find the passengers sanguine, Shui seeks to address their concerns.  "Of course, Ms. Crow will certainly tailor her tutelage to the physical conditions of her students," she assures them.  "Some of the teaching will be theoretical, some practical, and the practical portion will be done in controlled conditions.  I, myself, will be on hand to monitor."

After that potentially worrying comment, the Steward shakes her head, smiling.  "Not that I expect to be needed.  This is not some rough-and-tumble free-for-all, no.  And should anyone lose interest, obviously they can choose any time to bow out."

A pause.  Then, "Applying to the passengers alone, mind." Her smile grows slightly ironic.  "Captain Lanza has made it compulsory for crew.  Including himself."

She keeps her attention focused on the passengers, her primary concern.  It requires an effort of will, but Shui trusts her fellow crew to take care of whatever problem has cropped up; her responsibility is here.

"Jago, I got it." Saskia finally reports in, "It was just the lights themselves, that's all.  A fuse burned out and the backup circuit took over. It didn't affect anything other than the EC-I.  I'm replacing it now, so you can relax - we aren't misjumping or anything."

Just like my old scout ship Tylen thinks to himself, smiling slightly as he watches for the reaction of the others in the bridge area.

Jago relaxes as Saskia explains the problem, and thanks the engineer for letting him know.  He hits the intercom stud and makes a ship-wide announcement, "Attention.  This is your Captain speaking.  We apologise for the recent brief fluctuation of the lights.  This was cause by a problem with a fuse, and was automatically rectified.  At no time was the ship in any danger.  Thank you."

He removes his hand from the panel, and ponders for a moment.  Then he turns to Yas, Tylen and Ash, "Do you think I might have overplayed it by mentioning that we were in no danger?  I always wonder if it's a good idea talking about how we aren't in danger, because it might start passengers wondering if there are times when we might actually be in danger."

The passengers are discussing the combat training with Shui when Jago's announcement goes out.  There is a brief pause in the discussion while they all listen to it, followed by a few comments.

"Does that happen often?" Keryn asks, without any real hint of concern in her voice.

"What?  captain Lanza making an announcement?" is Corlan's immediate response, accompanied by a chuckle, "Actually, I think that's the first one I've ever heard him make."

"No, of course not.  I mean the thing with the lights." the young woman says, rolling her eyes in mock exasperation.  She glances at Shui, "I feel sorry for you, having to put up with Corlan all the time."  Her smile seems to indicate that she might not be entirely serious on this point.  "I've only known him for about a day, and he's driving me mad."

"Happened all the time when I was in the Navy." Eneris assures her.

Relieved that the passengers aren't unduly disturbed by the interruption, Shui shakes her head at Keryn.  "Mr. DeSant has his own charm - a surfeit of it, in fact - but on occasion his sense of humor is somewhat odd."  Like Keryn's, her smile takes any and all sting out of her words.

Her eyebrow rises when Eneris chimes in, and she blinks in mock surprise.  "Mr. Armusezash, you were driven mad every day in the navy?"  The Steward shakes her head.  "My apologies, Mr. DeSant's humor appears to have infected me...fortunately I have antidotes back in my office.  More seriously, absolutely correct - even the best of ships can encounter power fluctuations, and it happens with such irregularity to the Profit Margin that this one even surprised the crew.  As it turns out, a fuse, nothing more."

Her smile widens as she imagines Saskia combing the ship in search of the offending part, muttering dire imprecations against the manufacturer and the faulty fuse itself for failing her ship.  "I am very certain our Engineer has completely dealt with the issue.  More beverages?  Or food?" she inquires.  "Or questions regarding the classes?"

A sigh of relief escapes Ash's lips when Saskia's explanation comes out over the comm.  He visibly relaxes in his posture and his finger movements become far less frantic.  In fact, they pretty much stop, although a could of the displays on his console continue to stream a steady set of new numbers scrolling the old ones off the bottom of the display.

Ash smiles slightly at Jago's question to the crew on the bridge, he notes enigmatically, "Well, what's done is done, Captain."  He pauses for a moment and shrugs, "But, I think that passengers are all adults and they know there are inherent dangers in space travel.  Ultimately, your confidence is what they key off of."

With the mysterious power fluxuation explained and disaster avoided, he then busies himself with tidying up his console, realigning the dynamic displays and outputs back to their normal configurations and layers.  Ash is quite meticulous, spending plenty of time 'getting it right' - probably more of a by-product of his Imperial Navy time, than anything from the IISS or plying the free trade routes.  Still, the routine is deeply enough ingrained in him that Ash doesn't really question it.

He rubs his right knee again idly, looking thoughtful for a moment.  Then Ash sits up a little straighter and locks his console, "Captain, with your leave, I'll report to Medical for my physical."

Saskia is about to go back through to the lounge, until she remembers the defence lessons which are being set up.  She hesitates while she considers that, and then returns to her console.  After all, if a fuse burned out, then there must have been some sort of EPS surge or fluctuation to cause it to happen.  And there's nothing to stop that irregularity happening again.

"I ought to check that out, to be on the safe side." she says, as she starts summoning up system displays, color coded for normal and maximum expected power levels.  "If frelling Jago needs me to beat him to a pulp, he'll just have to come and fetch me.  This is important."

Had somebody been in the Engineering compartment with her they couldn't have failed to notice her wink at the panel.

Jago shrugs, "I'm sure they'll figure it out, Ash.  And Shui's over there with them, so she can help them with that."

He glances at a time display on his panel and announces to the room at large, "We can start the  defence classes in fifteen minutes or so, I guess."  Standing and stretching, he adds, "I'm going to get changed into something more suitable for combat.  If I don't have anything in my closet, I'll just strip naked and smear my whole body with grease."

In Engineering, Saskia continues to work.  Important work.  Tracking down the cause of the (minor) power fluctuation which led to the problem with the lights. 

Eneris chuckles at Shui's joke about being driven mad in the Navy.  "Not far wrong there."  He leans back in his chair, "You know, there are still a lot of ships out there where they dim the lights just before they Jump.  Dates back to when they had less efficient power plants, so non-essential systems would have to be cut so's they could divert power to the drives.  Nowadays a lot of captains still do it, just for luck."

"Oh... I've seen that in vids!" Keryn says, excitedly, "I always wondered why the lights went down for a few seconds, but nothing else was affected, like the machines in the ship casinos and everything."

In his mind's eye, Tylen gets this mental image of a greased pig and people trying top catch it, that he had seen on some pseudo historic game show.    It had looked amusing at the time, watching them all fall around the floor.

The grin caused by that image lingers as his mind turns to the forthcoming exercise session.  "We had self defence classes in the scouts, of course, and I never was much good at them.  I was always better at dodging and blocking the strikes, or wriggling out of holds than I was at hitting people." the ex scout confides in his companions. "So what approach are you going to take Yas?  Should I just put a set of sweats on, or should I follow the captain's advice and come down in just my shorts?" he asks half grinning.

"Luck and chance are factors in space travel," Shui notes.  Then she smiles, shaking her head.  "Not huge ones - no more than luck plays a part in avoiding an accident when one walks to the corner store - so there is no reason for concern.  But much as a mother might say a prayer when her son leaves the house for the store for the thousandth time, so do ship's captains and crew have their own rituals."

She cocks an eyebrow at Corlan.  "I am certain Mr. DeSant can regale you with things he has seen in his time aboard this vessel - stories of our curious idiosycracies that have no doubt left him scratching his head in perplexity.  I assure you, there is always a reason behind them...even if we, ourselves, do not recall it!"

As Jago turns away to leave the bridge, Yas makes a fine show of sticking a finger down her throat before grinning at Tylen and Ash.  Then she heads off to make sure her classroom is ready for lessons to start.

Fifteen minutes later, most of the crew assemble in the hold.  Shortly after, all three of the passengers have joined them, though Corlan has thoughtfully provided a chair for Keryn to sit on, and it is clear that the young woman will not be joining in any of the more active parts of the training, at least for the moment, due to the fact that she is not accustomed to the gravity in the hold.

"I can watch what happens," she cheerfully explains to anybody who will listen, "and I can probably learn some of it that way."

Apart from Keryn's chair, the only other piece of "furniture" in the hold is an empty cargo container which serves as a makeshift table.  On the top of it are a number of lengths of plastic tube, about twenty centimetres long and two centimetres in diameter.  Yas stands behind the table, surveying the class, some of whom are noticeably conspicuous by their absence.  Behind her, her new suit of armour gleams dully where it is strapped to the wall between her own motorcycle and Tylen's small ATV.

Five minutes late for the lesson's start, Jago enters, wearing a set of orange coveralls, and dragging an annoyed-looking Saskia by one arm.

Yas walks around to the front of her table, "Okay... how many of you've got any experience in close combat?"

Ash glances at his crewmates for a moment and shrugs slightly.  "Ummm...well..." he offers, "I... I haven't had any real formal training beyond the basic self-defense techniques taught in the services.  You know, IISS basic and such."  He gives the assembled a slightly crooked smile, as he adds, "But, I have been stabbed in a bar brawl before, though..."  And Ash pulls up his left sleeve to the elbow, revealing an old scar on his forearm.  Actually, two of them, as the knife in question appears to have passed all the way through Ash's forearm and come out the other side.   The wound is fully healed - marking it as an old injury, though it looks pretty ragged as though the knife was probably serrated; but also, perhaps, the medical care at the time was not top-notch.

Arriving early for 'class', Shui ensures there are towels, water bottles, and a first aid kit within easy reach.  Likely as not, none of these will be needed - this isn't aerobics and people will be going very easy, she suspects.  But it's always good to be prepared.  She whispers thanks to Corlan and ensures Keryn is comfortable - offering a waterbottle - before returning to study the table and its assortment of 'weaponry'.

Jago and Saskia trickle in last, and the class begins.  So to speak.

She should have expected the questionn - worse yet, Yasmine's choice of words has left her no wiggle room save outright lying.  Shui closes her eyes for a long moment, silently cursing herself, then opens them as Ash answers.  The scar is noted, as is his rundown of his training and experience; more details on the wound will be asked when they finally do the physical, a good time being after this class.  The man finishes, leaving the floor open.

The taste of bile is bitter in Shui's mouth, but she raises her hand.  "Experience," the steward manages, then swallow to hydrate a dry throat.

Perhaps she will be needing some of that water, after all.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:09, Wed 09 Feb 2011.

By the time he gets to the 'gym', Tylen has changed into a pair of shorts, one of his old black tee shirts and a pair of old, well worn, plimsolls for the training session.

"Not really." Tylen offers when Yas asks about close combat experience.  "Just the basic IIS stuff like Ash, I suppose." he grins as he continues "And even then I was more concerned with getting away than hitting someone.  Shooting them  up from a  safe distance is much more my style."  he concludes.

Lounging across to the supplies that Shui has provided, he helps himself to a water bottle and takes a mouthful as he listens to the others.  "Whoo.  You are the dark horse." he grins across at Shui as she admits her experience with close combat.  "What with you and Yas, a man won't be safe around here ..."  he tails off in mock horror.

Saskia waits, frowning, for as long as she can.  Then she sulkily volunteers, "I had some training in the Navy.  Not much though.  Just enough to know not to get in the way of a boarding party and leave it to ship's troops or the jarheads, no offence Yas, to deal with them.

"I don't remember most of it anyway."

Jago smiles ruefully, "I've been beaten up in more than a few bar brawls over the years, but I can use a knife for something other than buttering toast, if I really must, despite what some of you might think."

He looks at the passengers, "What about you three?"

Corlan shakes his head, "I'm afraid I have no combat experience at all."  He chuckles, "For me, self defence has always meant hiring a bodyguard, on the few occasions when I felt I might run into trouble."

"I am keen to learn how to defend myself though." he finishes, with obvious enthusiasm.

Eneris states, "I learned a little in the Navy, but back then 'close combat' meant about twenty thousand klicks.  Got some experience with zee-gee fighting, but mostly, like Saskia said, we were taught that Marines were better trained for that stuff."

Keryn sighs and blushes a deep red, "I once hit a boy with my shoe because he kept saying I was stupid.  Made him cry.  I was about seven at the time, and I got grounded for two weeks.  My parents made it very clear that fighting was not a nice thing for young ladies to do.  That's about everything I know about it."

Standing in a pose with the legs slightly far apart and hands clasped on her back Yas looks ever the part of a drill sergeant.  Listening to each one as they either confess or deny experience of close combat, the former group being utterly dominant, Yas' face remains blank, apart from a slightly crooked and brief grin at Keryn's confession.

"Truth to be told, fighting is not a nice thing for anyone to do," she says in a grim tone.  "But sometimes," her eyes wander over those gathered, "you don't get to choose.  Whether it is a war or a personal conflict, the choice is sometime taken away from you, or made on your behalf.  Therefore I shall do my best to teach you the basics, with the focus on disarming the situation.  That is always the best option, at least in personal conflict.  Now, I cannot teach you much about diplomacy, so I will focus on what comes after that fails."

She walks up to each one in turn and looks them in the face, saying nothing.  Her gaze is intense and she gives the impression of trying to look through the person before her.  Then she steps back to stand in front of the desk.

"The first manoeuvre, and the first thing you should try, is to practise the better part of valour.  Strategic retreat or whatever fancy way of saying it.  I call it 'live to fight another day', but then, let's hope you won't have to do any fighting at all."

Clearing her throat she cracks a rather ominous grin.

"I'll assume you all know how to run for your life, so we won't actually practise that part," she says and chortles before the grin fades.  "But always try to avoid fighting.  Best way to survive a battle is to not take part and all that."

"We'll go over unarmed combat as well as some basic mêlée weapons."  She turns half around to pick up a piece of plastic tube and then turns back again to hold it up to her "class".

"This is a deadly weapon," she says and gives a pause for effect.  A flimsy piece of tube that "at best" could scrape the skin or smart a bit if slapped with it.  "A knife, a bottle, whatever you want.  It's more or less harmless, so we'll use it in our lessons about what to do when facing someone with such a weapon, using it on someone efficiently - such as 'good' spots to strike, and also what to do if both of you got one.  Now, it's mostly harmless, but try not to poke it into eyes, your own or someone else's, it's a bit unpleasant."

"Well, I could kill with it, in several ways, but let's not go there."  It is impossible to tell if she just cracked a joke or not.  "But!  Enough talk, though, let's get down to business..."

Shui can only offer a weak smile in response to Tylen's banter, good-hearted though it might be.  She listens to Saskia note her own lack of training, Jago discuss his prowess with a knife, and the passengers, unilaterally, claim little to no training.

Hardly surprising, the entire list - otherwise Yasmine wouldn't be making the offer of this class.

And with that, their teacher begins.  Shui thinks it's wise to start with the idea that there are times when a fight is unavoidable - too often people pander to pap like 'running is the best defense in any situation', ignoring cases where it would be dangerous to immediately bolt, cases where one is protecting another, or cases where it is simply impossible.  She contiues, still wisely, by stressing the fact that running should be used when possible.

Again, a fact often ignored for the extremes.

Then come the 'weapons'.

Shui immediately moves to where she placed the drinks and picks up two pairs of plastic laboratory glasses - all she had in her storage.  If they continue this sort of thing, she'll have to put in for more, but for now...  Moving to Corlan and Keryn, she pushes a pair into each of their hands.  "Doctor's orders," Shui whispers.  "Do not take them off."  Then she moves back to her place, and listens attentively to their instructor.

At least their two entirely civilian passengers have eye protection.  Mistakes can happen.

After the brief introductory remarks and the provision of safety equipment for the passengers, the lesson starts...

Risin' up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive

It starts simply enough, with a brief discussion of the theory of hand-to-hand combat, and moves on to examples.  Yas selects victims partners to demonstrate various moves on, and then, after a couple of examples, pairs everybody up so that they can practice for themselves...

So many times, it happens too fast
You change your passion for glory
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive

By the second morning, a lot of the initial awkwardness has dissipated, and everybody seems to be getting into the spirit of it.  For just a couple of hours each day, the division between crew and passenger is blurred...

It's the eye of the tiger, it's the cream of the fight
Risin' up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he's watchin' us all in the eye of the tiger

On the third day, Keryn manages to join in the exercises, alternating between ten minute spells of activity and twenty minute rest periods, all closely monitored by Shui...

Face to face, out in the heat
Hangin' tough, stayin' hungry
They stack the odds 'til we take to the street
For we kill with the skill to survive

Day four sees the first real injury - in an attempt to evade a lunge from Corlan, Jago overbalances and bangs his elbow against the wall.  Yas refuses him a time-out, because (as she points out) a real opponent wouldn't give him a break if he were injured in a fight...

It's the eye of the tiger, it's the cream of the fight
Risin' up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he's watchin' us all in the eye of the tiger

On day five, Keryn is splitting her time between half hour periods of active partcipation, and half hour breaks.  She really seems to be enjoying the class, and even manages to successfully block or dodge a sequence of "knife" attacks from Tylen...

Risin' up, straight to the top
Have the guts, got the glory
Went the distance, now I'm not gonna stop
Just a man and his will to survive

The sixth day brings a prolonged sparring match between Ash and Eneris, with neither of them able to gain the upper hand, until Yas finally calls a halt on the grounds that everybody else is sitting about doing nothing...

It's the eye of the tiger, it's the cream of the fight
Risin' up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he's watchin' us all in the eye of the tiger

On the seventh and final day, Shui and Saskia end up sitting on the deck on opposite sides of the classroom, both laughing hysterically after their sparring match results in them simultaneously disarming each other... 

The eye of the tiger...

With the week of classes over, Yas dismisses everybody to prepare for the emergence from Jump, though not without a warning that they will need to keep practicing if they don't want to lose their newly acquired skills.

The final class is over and at least the week ended well.

Saskia doesn't have time to waste waiting about.  By her estimate she has about two hours before Profit Margin drops out of Jump.  Plenty of time to shower and grab a change of clothes.  Maybe even something to eat.

She smiles at Shui, thanks Yas for the lessons and starts back towards her quarters.  Then she turns back, looking about on the deck.  Spotting her target, the plastic "knife", she snatches it up before walking away again.

As she goes through the hatch, the deadly weapon vanishes into her pants pocket.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:01, Wed 16 Feb 2011.

Amused by her gaffe in sparring, Shui waves a goodbye to Saskia as the engineer leaves.  The passengers are all well, and headed back to their quarters; no problems there.  She clumsily toys with the 'knife', the 'weapon' no more than a small length of plastic in her hands, much as it has been for the entire series of exercises.  Her only true expertise with knives involves surgical scalpels, and Shui knows she is a Ship's Physician, not an ER doctor.

She carefully sets the plastic toy down with the others, smiling slightly.

"I should prepare for the exit from Jumpspace," the doctor murmurs, before turning to Yasmine.  "Thank you, Ms. Crow." She bows slightly - as is her wont, not in mockery of martial traditions - and heads out of the room for her quarters after collecting the day's towels and empty bottles of water.  There is work to be done, the Steward realizes as she marches along the hallway.  Food to be readied, coffee to be made, and she, herself, must be presentable.  And yet, Shui realizes as she enters her quarters, she has a few minutes.

And that the classes are finally finished.

Sealing the door, she simply drops the bottles and towels on the floor and stumbles into her fresher.  Peeling her clothes away, she activates the water and dials up the heat.  The knot in her stomach slowly unravelling, Shui steps in, and the steaming, near-scalding spray gradually sluices away the grime, the sweat, and her overflowing tension.

It's also good at hiding tears of relief.

Ash had to admit that the slow-motion duel between he and Eneris had been pretty funny.  They circled and feinted (but luckily did not faint), they parried and then circled some more.  Even though Ash was probably a decade (if not two) younger than the grisly ol' spacer, he didn't move much (if at all) quicker.

After the class, Ash gives Yasmine a quick, but sincere, "Thank you." before he heads to his quarters to freshen up.  Back in his quarters, Ash showers quickly then starts to dress.  As he straps on his belt and utility knife.  He draws the old blade and fingers the Imperial Naval emblem on the pommel.  He smiles sadly, as he reminisces about the ceremony in which the blade was presented to him a decade and a half ago.  He rubs his left forearm again idly as his mind wanders.  There had been some fencing lessons then, too.

Then Ash shakes his head and blinks as he dispels the cobwebs and comes back to the present.  He sheathes the knife and finishes dressing.  After a quick shave, it is onto the bridge to prepare for the jump transition back to n-space.  He unlocks his console and pushes the jump transition estimation timer to the forefront of his displays and onto the main tactical screen for the bridge.  Ash also starts to pull up the various star charts for their presumed destination, System 728-907.  That is, assuming that the power glitch at the beginning of the trip wasn't an actual misjump...

Like the others, Tylen lets himself get fully involved in the combat practice,  his hands and feet seem to be quick, often letting him get into position faster than he, and probably, anyone else expects.  However, he is much more interested in the defensive moves, than learning too many ways to strike his opponent.  Even when it is his turn to be the knife wielder against Keryn, his strikes are unimaginative and fairly routine, although they would certainly have been effective if they had made contact.

After the final lesson, he grins across at the others "That was fun Jago.  Perhaps you ought to arrange classes like that every time we jump?  A physical task in the morning and perhaps a more cerebral class in the afternoon?  After all, the more one knows ...." he tails off as if expecting everyone to know the ending of that old adage themselves.

A quick shower and change and Tylen heads back to his station ready for when they leave jump space.  After all, you never know what is going to be lurking out there.  Leaving the door to the gunnery station open he watches the general goings on in, and around, the bridge.