There’s a bit of a spring in his step as Jago enters the lounge and a wry smile crinkles up the corners of his mouth on finding Yasmine in full tease mode, as usual.

“Don’t get up,” he tells Ash with a smile as he heads for the coffee pot.

Once he has a big, steaming mug of Java, or a reasonable substitute, Jago turns back to the others, “everything quiet?” he asks, “any calls?”

"I'll let Yas tell you about Ridge.  He was her best friend after all." Saskia says with a barely repressed laugh.

Jago's arrival and subsequent question brings a more serious response, "Fuel plant's looking good, Jago.  Couple more hours and she should be all done and back in working order.  Good as ever."

"Never figured you for one with a death wish, Sas," Yas says, slowly shaking her head, secretly kicking Saskia on the shin under the table.  "He's an ex member of this crew and let's just say he was not quite the gift to womankind as he believed himself to be, and leave it that.  And you needn't worry, nothing untoward is being said about you, or anyone, except the one we're not talking about anymore," she explains, then looks up at Jago.

"All too quiet, hence the need for caffeine.  But I'll head out to do some shopping, or whatever passes for that here.  How about you, any luck with cargo or such?" she says and then continues, waving a thumb at Ash, "Mr. Newcomer here brought patches for us.  I'll let you decide on that, but I got the idea for coasters from it.  Not that we actually need coasters, but commercial gimmick, you know, as popular as towels to remember to pack by accident?"

"And no, not these actual patches, sillybrains, these would not do, especially not if we're to put them on our, uh, clothes," she tells Ash and playfully slaps him on the head with her patch.

At that precise moment, almost as if to prove Yas a liar, a musical chime comes from the bridge, signifying an incoming message...

Saskia’s assessment is acknowledged with a smile and a nod, “plenty of time to go ashore when you’re done,” he says.

“Yea, I got a good deal on a speculative cargo,” he tells Yasmin, “just one little item to finish off, I’m expecting a call.”  “Ah, that could be it,” he continues as the chime rings out.

Jago is still talking as he heads for the bridge, coffee in one hand, cigar in the other, “patches and coasters will have to wait for a while but you can cancel the rest of the phone watch roster, now that I’m back.”

A familiar comfort enfolds the Captain as he drops into his pilots chair, and he takes a slug from the coffee mug before toggling the coms switch.

“This is the Profit Margin, Captain Lanza speaking,” he tells the device.

"Ah," Ash agrees amiable, "I see." to Yas' explanation about the man called Ridge.  Apparently, some things are better left well alone.  And this former crewmember is one of them.  It is interesting to him, since from what he can see the crew is quite tight knit.  So, that one former member is a persona non grata speaks volumes, in a sense.

He sits back down, when Jago tells him not to get up, nodding in acknowledgment to the Captain.  "Yes, S-..." starts to escape his lips before he catches himself.  He transitions (rather poorly) to "Boss."  A shake of the head accompanies his response to Jago's question about any calls, "No calls that I am aware of."

Ash lets out a slight exhalation and mutely accepts the tap on the head with the coaster livery patch.  His mouth opens to start to correct Yas about being able to affix the item to any set of clothing, but then catches himself and merely looks down at his coffee while biting his tongue (literally and figuratively).

The call startles him slightly and he's about to start answering it when Jago makes like he would prefer to answer it himself.  The Captain's assurance that he is expecting the call completely nullifies any chance that Ash has to excuse himself.  He purses his lips for a moment.  "I would have thought, Yas..." the navigator notes with a slight, crooked smile, "that as Security Chief that you would have liked to have had some subtle professional detail for those, albeit potentially rare, occasions that warrant it..."  He didn't envision that she would necessarily wear it all of the time, but given the quite loyal nature of the current crew, Ash seems to think that a small symbol of their allegiance would not be out of line at and potentially welcomed.

"Hello Captain Lanza, this is Saedra Armitage." the broker's voice sounds cheerful, "I believe I've found you a shipment of medical supplies.  I have a five ton consignment of Loxibac Breathe-Easy, packed in ten sealed containers.  It's completely legal, both here and at Rangent, a treatment for people with allergy-induced breathing difficulties.  I'm authorised to offer you the whole consignment for Cr25,000."

She pauses for a moment, then asks, "Additionally, I need to ask you, is your ship equipped with low passage berths?"

Out in the lounge, Ash, Yas and Saskia are still discussing other crewmembers, souvenirs, and uniform insignia...

“Miss Armatage, thank you for calling so promptly.”

“That shipment sounds ideal, does it have a ‘use by’ date?”

As he talks, Jago will open up a link and try to check out the product, trying to make sure he’s being offered a fair price.

“We have six low births, and properly qualified personnel to maintain and operate them, they are all free at the moment.”

"I like mine, Ash.  Thank you." Saskia assures Ash, before lifting her coffee mug to her lips, only to lower it again as she realises it's empty.

"Well, I suppose I have no excuse not to get back to work again."

Ash nods to Saskia, "Thank you."  The gratitude is obvious in his voice.  There is also a touch of relief.

When she starts to rise to leave, Ash pushes back his chair as well.  "Ah, Ms. Blake." he offers tentatively after clearing his throat for a moment, "Do you require any help?  I can't say that I have much formal training with respect to starship drives or fuel reprocessing plants specifically, but I am pretty handy with a wrench."  He shrugs slightly, as he knows that some engineers can be particular about who touches what on their ship.

He offers her a slight smile, before adding, "And sometimes an extra pair of hands or eyes can be useful..."

"One of my contacts happened to mention to me that they have four people seeking Low passage to Zircon, who would be prepared to change ships en route, if necessary.  I wondered if you would be interesting in taking them at least as far as Rangent?" Armitage explains, "I should tell you, though, that two of these passengers are actually felons, being returned to the Zircon system to stand trial, while the others are contracted law enforcement operatives, charged with escorting them there."

“Hmmm,” Jago studies his cigar as he considers the proposition, “can I get back to you on that, I don’t see a problem but I’d like to run it passed my security chief.”

Once he’s tided up details of payment and delivery for the medicine, and arraigned to ‘ring her back’, Jago says goodbye to Miss Armitage and breaks the connection.

“Yasmin”, he says over the intercom, "if you have a minuet before you go ashore, could I have a word on the bridge.”

Draining his coffee cup Jago has lets out a long sigh of satisfaction, ’dammed fine coffee’.

Saskia makes her way back to engineering, the patch tucked firmly into a pocket of her coveralls, leaving Yas and Ash alone in the crew lounge.  Then Jago's voice comes from the intercom, requesting the presence of his First Officer on the bridge.  With a roll of her eyes and a theatrical sigh, Profit Margin's Security Chief shuffles through to see the Captain.

Leaving Ash alone in the lounge...
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:39, Sun 29 Jan 2012.

Entering her work area, the first thing Saskia does is blank the biggest wall monitor in the place, and set the display to black.  She studies herself for a few seconds in the reflective surface before sighing.  Then she removes the patch from her pocket.  Still watching herself in the makeshift mirror she holds the patch up against her shoulder, her upper arm, the chest of her overalls.  Seeking the best placement for it.

Finally she presses it against her forehead, where it sticks, albeit briefly.  "Should take a shower before I go anywhere, I suppose." she mutters.

The patch falls off, and she barely manages to catch it and return it safely to her pocket.

Turning to the fuel purifier, she calls out, "You haven't finished fixing yourself yet?  What have you been doing while I was gone?"

Ash watches Saskia quietly pad away without a response to him; a raised eyebrow is all that he can give her retreating form.  Then he turns and watches Yasmine for a moment as she makes her way to bridge.  The navigator gives her a small salute as she leaves.

All alone again, he shrugs slightly and runs his hands though his short cropped hair for a moment.  He walks to the sink and washes his empty coffee cup in the sink for a moment and then places it securely on the drying rack.  He turns around to look over the empty crew lounge for a moment, standing with his hands on the edge of the sink for a moment.

He stands up straight, shakes his head to no one in particular for a moment, and starts walking towards his stateroom.  Ash pats the pocket with the rest of the livery patches, a slight, crooked smile playing on his face as walked and hummed an old Solomani marching tune.  A bit of time in the fresher and a good book were probably in order...

“Yasmin, this won’t take a mo, we have the opportunity to take four low birth passengers but, two of them are prisoners being taken to Zircon for trial, the other two being their escort, do you have a problem with that, from a security point of view?”

Ash's salute is returned not with a salute but with a teasing grin as her eyes linger briefly on him.  As she walks off she mutters something about a shower and turns to look ahead so she does not end up walking into the door frame or a wall.

Once on the bridge she finds the wall, however, and takes advantage of its mostly immobile nature to lean up against it in a rather casual fashion.

"Low birth, eh?  As long as we make sure we know who's who so we thaw up the right ones first, no problem.  They won't do much in the freezer, after all," Yas replies with a shrug.  "It's the part before and after that matters.  When will they be here?  I want to nip out for a bit, so I hope it's not now."

“I’ll bring them on tomorrow I’m thinking, I might get them in early and in the tanks before the regular guests arrive.”

“You go ashore Yasmin, take as long as you need but remember, we have a full hold this trip so no buying any combat aircraft of main battle tanks, OK?”

Nodding, Yas agrees, "Bringing them in before everybody else and out before too is a good idea.  The less contact the better."

Then she sighs, looking dejected.  "But Boss, I wanted to get a matching pair," she complains like a teenager to her dad.  The next second she smirks and shakes her head slowly, "Doubt I can even find models of those things here, beside, I was thinking of spreading my bike all over the place.  But I'll go get ready and make the place out there unsafe for a bit.  I'll be back before you miss me.  Well, before you miss me too much, anyway."

Jago chuckles, and waves his cigar as she leaves, “have fun Yasmin.”

Right, to business, first the crew, they all have their comms with them, right?

Clicking the switches that will set up a general broadcast Jago tells his microphone, ++“hope your all having fun folks. The Captains back on board so the rest of the roster is cancelled and I don’t actually need you back until the morning, so take advantage if you wish and I’ll see you then.”++

Next, the delightful Miss Armitage, “hello, yes, we can provide four low passages as far as Rangent, do you think they could come aboard during the morning, the various cargos also, I’d like to embark the other passengers around noon, shortly before we depart.”

Miss Armitage sounds pleased as Jago tells her that he's prepared to take on the criminals and their escorts, "That's excellent news, Captain.  I'll let my contact know, so he can pass word on to the passengers.  The enforcement officers are called... ah, here we are... Gan and Kvetz.  I'll see to it that they know they have to report to Profit Margin bright and early."

"The cargoes are all here, on the station, so there should be no difficulty getting them to you at a convenient time."

Meanwhile...

Saskia starts working on the fuel plant again, now reassembling it...

Yas starts the process of making herself the most fearsome visitor Denotam Highport has ever seen...

Ash takes the opportunity to grab a little downtime...

Jago's general announcement has given everybody an unexpected opportunity to relax.

Ash spends the evening in his room relaxing.  After unpacking and stowing the rest of his purchases, he turns down the gravity in the room and begins an extended stretching and exercise routine.  One that he started to use extensively about a decade ago during physical rehab for his right knee.  It has grown over time to encompass much more then just his injured leg, being a workout for his whole body eventually.  In the microgravity of the stateroom, Ash seems quite at home.  Even a casual 'fly-on-the-wall' observer would probably call him adept at maneuvering in zero gravity.

Even after the exercise routine is over, he floats and tumbles for a while longer, savoring the weightless feeling that envelopes him and guides his motion.  A comforting feeling that he had grown to enjoy during the long solitary stretches of n- and j-space during his time in the Scouts.  Plenty of alone time with only your thoughts and dreams to keep you company.  Literally bouncing off the walls in those circumstances entertained for only so long.

But for Ash, the quiet and solitude of the Deep Black always remained.  He smiles slightly as he floats in the middle of the room; laid out flat, arms behind his head - slowly drifting towards the bulkhead.

He might have drifted off to sleep then and there, but his chronometer chimed lightly.  So, Ash restores gravity in the room and then spends some time in the fresher cleaning off the day's accumulated grime before some light reading and finally succumbing sleep, allowing himself to take a nap for a couple of hours.

He awakens a couple of hours later to another chime from his chronometer.  And after getting dressed, the Profit Margin's navigator heads out to the crew lounge to grab a cup of coffee and a quick bite to eat.  He washes down the last of a simple sandwich with a swig of dark black coffee, before standing to make his way to the bridge.  He hopes to find Jago there.  But, even if the Captain isn't on the bridge, Ash figures that he can always occupy himself with some preliminary astrogation calculations - there are only a finite number of destinations from Denotam, after all.

“Hello Ash,” Jago is lounging in the slightly saggy comfort of his well-worn pilots chair as the other enters, completely out of sight, except for the reflection in the view screens ahead. An unlit cigar rises above the back of the chair in a friendly wave.

Ash nods to Jago.  "Good evening, Boss." he responds to the Captain's greeting, "Figured I'd get a little ... er... jump on the jump calculations."  He adds slightly sheepishly, "Some of the higher order mathematical transforms, ah... help me to relax, to unwind."

As he unlocks the session to the navigator's console, Ash turns his head and asks, "What's on the plate for tomorrow?  It sounded like you were busy lining stuff up earlier..."  He taps on the dynamic console, pulling up the astrogation module and starting to input coordinates.  "I am assuming we are still going to Rangent, correct?"

As a slight afterthought, Ash prompts, "Oh, and do you need me to make a special arrangements for loading or stowage of cargo?"  The navigator knows, after all, that it is the Captain's prerogative to off-load some of those more onerous duties, if he so desires.

Jago swivels his chair so that Ash doesn’t have to speak to the back of it, and runs through the itinerary.

“We have some low birth passengers, these are a couple of prisoners and their minders so we’ll stay on the alert and get them tucked away first, before anything else that might cause complications.”

Reaching round Jago retrieves his battered old hand computer, flips it open and starts fiddling with the keys.

“Maybe I ought to make a note of this, for the others.”

“Once they are properly locked down we’ll get the cargo on board, it’s all going to Rangent and mostly low volume stuff so there’s no special stowage arrangements”

“We have a full load of passengers but they shouldn’t be here until late morning and if all goes well we’ll be off around noon.”

The chair creaks a little as Jago gets to his feet and moves over to slot the computer into a printer which whirs and clicks as it runs off a hard copy for him.

“If you want to relax, why not go back ashore and take in a show or something, , , actually, that reminds me, we should update our entertainment media.”