Profit Margin spends more than sixty hours in orbit before the storm starts to lose momentum.  Five hours later it is deemed to have abated sufficiently to permit a landing at Rangent's primary "starport".  A call to Ore Hound confirms that conditions on the surface are much improved, and Jockram's crew have made it home safely, though a little less wealthy than when they left, having spent much of the last few days holed up in a bar.

"I sent them straight back out again," Jockram cheerfully informs Jago, "to clear snow off the hull and check the landing gear hasn't iced up.  That'll learn them for leaving me here while they went and got drunk."

Forty minutes later, and Profit Margin drops through the cloud cover after a somewhat turbulent descent, and settles into position about thirty metres from Ore Hound.  Banster and Hegerich don't seem to have done a good job on clearing the hull.  Drifting snow is still piled against the stern of the ship and across much of the upper hull surface.  The forward end, including the bridge viewports, is clear, as is the turret with its mining laser.  The landing gear is almost completely hidden by piled snow.

Beyond Ore Hound is a domed structure, partly buried by snow.  Metal, glass and ferrocrete can be seen in places, showing through the icy shroud.  A flashing red arrow indicates a row of five doors, cleared of snow.  A large sign above them reads, "Welcome to Davis City.  Entrance Alpha"
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:51, Sat 19 Jan 2013.

Ash stands from his copilot's seat and stretches for a moment, his hands held high above his head and lanky frame.  Despite the bumpy ride, there wasn't much for him to do, other than remain vigilant - as per Jago's prerogative (and general propensities), the Captain seems to prefer to do most of the heavy lifting (i.e. piloting).  That is fine with Ash, he knows what he has been hired to do.  What his forte is.  And while he isn't a bad pilot of either starships or shuttles, Ash knows he is a much better navigator.

Glancing out the view port towards the entrance to the downport and the Ore Hound, Ash prompts their fearless leader, "So, Boss.  What type of duty roster do you want?"  He presumes that as long as Othati-Fenn is on-board (even if in cold sleep) that they need some sort of surveillance.  After a thoughtful pause, the Margin's navigator turns to look at Jago more directly and adds, "Are we waking up Edrin or his brother first?  And where are we planning to leave our erstwhile freedom fighter?"

The comms system chooses that moment to wake up, playing a recorded message.  "Welcome to Rangent, and thank you for choosing to land at" "Davis" "starport.  We would like to remind visitors that Rangent does not have port staff on duty.  This includes cargo and baggage handlers, security personnel, and customs and immigration officers.  Starport facilities on Rangent are currently being upgraded, and we hope to be able to offer a full range of starport services in the near future."

In engineering, the drives are powering down, going through the largely automated procedures required for a safe shut down.

Shui, meanwhile, has passengers to deal with, both warm and cold ones.

For the security crew, there are, of course, concerns about the frozen passengers.

And, of course, there is the cargo.  Nobody on this planet is paid to unload ships...

“We’ll leave the low birth passengers for now,” Jago tells Ash, “in fact I’d best have a quick word with Shui about that.”

+“Shui, could you see me on the bridge when you have a moment,”+ he tells the comms.

Returning his attention to Ash he goes on, “I’d like to sell this cargo and get everything else squared away before I start fussing about those guys, could you find out for me if there is any sort of central trade exchange, also I’d like to know what ships are likely to be heading for Pequan and when, it’s a good four jumps from here to Arden, our bounty hunters will probably have to stop at  Pequin on the way and depending whether there’s a ship heading in that direction they might be stuck here for some time.”

Shui pauses in her efforts to assist Marina in getting everything prepared for off-loading.  A flick of a holoswitch activates the dataglove.  + Certainly, Captain Lanza.  It will be soon. +  Then it's back to her work, keeping things organized and moving smoothly.

It's not a job, it's a vocation.

"Aye, aye, Cap'n" Ash intones easily, when he is given his orders.  As he has slid back into his seat and unlocked his console, he starts to tap away on a number of his dynamic displays, looking for any reference to trading or exchange markets on Rangent.  Given what he knows of the planet, Ash isn't very picky to start with.  Only if overwhelmed with options (which is figures to be highly unlikely) would he consider narrowing his scope and being more selective.

The Margin's navigator also adds thoughtfully, "Since the they are only going to Zircon, they could also get passage through Tremous Dex as well."  Then he prompts not wanting to presume too much, "Should I check for traffic through there as well?"  Ash does feel compelled to ask - it may only be his job.  But it is the least he can do.

"Yes, good thought, they will probobly be looking for the quickest way so see what you can come up with."

Ash's check of the local facilities reveals that there aren't really any local facilities to check on.  There is a simple bulletin board system, and that seems to be about it. 

Shui, meanwhile, is finding that those passengers who plan to disembark at Rangent are pretty much packed and ready to leave as soon as they have permission to do so.  A couple of days stuck on low orbit has left them with very little else to do.  The younger Doyles have spent the last hour sitting in the lounge watching a partly interactive animated show for children, presented by a talking (and entirely unrealistic) fish.  Currently they are bored, as the colourful characters have stopped hitting each other, and are engaged in a song and dance routine about how good it is to be friends with the viewers.

Yas, Tylen and Saskia, with little to do at the moment, are all able to relax, at least for a little while.

Ash plugs away for a few moments, but purses his lips as his broad search finds slim pickings, indeed.  The thin navigator glances in the direction of the Captain, "Only three trade factors of note here..."  He pauses for a moment and then rattles off, "Rangent Import and Export, Davis Trading, and something with the acronym of 'RTF' - presumably the Rangent Trade Factors or Forum or some such?"

The ex-Scout sighs when the results of his next search for outbound flights also comes back woefully  short.  "Nothing currently outbound to Pequan or Tremous Dex." he summarizes.  "But..." Ash notes after a pause and a moment squinting at the schedules, "There is a regular construction shipment inbound from Tremous Dex.  Due in tomorrow..."  He turns to regard Jago, "I'll push the flight details to your comm.  That looks like the best bet for our bounty hunters...."  He figures the Captain should be armed with something...  If they give Othati-Fenn too much time on the same planet as the bounty hunters with his brother there is bound to be trouble.  If they wait even two days to thaw Edrin out, the others could be off-planet before he even regains consciousness.  Assuming that they don't drop him from low orbit as both Saskia and Ash have posited... in the informal office pool.

Making her way to her own quarters, Saskia calls up a view of the area outside the ship.  She watches it for a few seconds, then closes it down again.

"Frell!" she curses and looks around the room, "Where did I leave my boots?"

A quick search reveals one of them inside an EPS access panel and the other behind the fresher.  Not that the engineer plans on stepping off the ship on this primitive, backwater snowball, but she might not have a choice.  It looks cold out there, and ice doesn't always play well with some of the moving parts on the ship's exterior.

She might end up having to work out there, and she can't do that without her boots.

And just the thought of going out there makes her feel cold.  "Coffee."

She leaves the cabin, and goes into the lounge, speaking aloud to the air, "No frelling ice.  You hear me?  It's not good for you.  Or me."

The passengers, at least the warm ones who had booked passage to Rangent, are all off the ship.

A simple matter of ensuring that they were wearing cold weather clothing, and lending them filter masks so that they weren't breathing disease laden air during their fifteen minute walk across the ice to the city dome's entry lock.  Yas and Tylen escorted them across, and returned with the borrowed masks once everybody was inside and breathing clean air.

Simple.  No immigration or customs checkpoint, and everybody had to carry their own luggage.  Marita Doyle's husband was waiting for his family, and Yas had been happy to report to Shui, with a chuckle, that the woman had punched him in the face as soon as she had seen him.  The couple had last been seen heading towards a parking bay where the man apparently had a snowcrawler stored, with their children in tow.  Both of Profit Margin's gunners had concurred that Doyle should be able to drive, even with his rapidly blackening eye.

So that just leaves the cargo, and the low berth passengers to deal with...

While not condoning violence, Shui nods slowly to Yasmine's report.  "Richly deserved," the steward murmurs, heading down to the Low Berths and thumbing a holocontrol on her dataglove.

+ Captain Lanza?  Do we have a specific order for the reawakening of our passengers?  Additionally, I'd like to request the presence of our Security Team, in full regalia, in the Low Berths as soon as possible. +

Once in the room, she commences the pre-awakening checks on the passengers' conditions.  She does not, however, begin awakening them as yet.

Tylen had chosen to wear his security uniform, along with the appropriate side arm and combination mask for the unloading of passengers and cargo.  If nothing else it looked the part.  For cargo, he might need to change back to civvies if he is doing the humping about, but for now he is more concerned about passengers and port security.

Back aboard The margin he heads for the low berths, ready for the release.  ”Do you think this is formal enough?” he asks indicating the uniform and revolver  ”I can always go for the combat environment suit and las carbine, but that might be over doing it.” he suggests, although then he appears to reconsider that ”Although that might be appropriate if both groups go ashore at the same time ...”

After pushing the required data to Jago's comm, Ash sits back and starts to pull up the security feeds for the ship.  He pulls the ones for the cargo bay and the low berth areas to the forefront.  Ash also checks the locking protocols for the ship sections, making sure that he can respond quickly if necessary.  He honestly doesn't expect any problems, especially with Shui, Tylen and Yasmine all there.  But, that doesn't stop him from trying to make sure that 'homefiled advantage' for him teammates doesn't continue to mean something.

++Eyes up on the Bridge.  Security feeds available.++ he posts to the common crew channel as his fingers dance to make sure that everyone can see what they need to on the Margin.  Ash hums a tuneless little tune as he continues to move the displays and data streams on his console and the tactical screens of the bridge.

Jago replies to Shui's call, providing instructions for the revivification process, "Don't start until you have Yas and Tylen present, even if one of them has to wait outside the door.  Bring out the bounty hunters first, and then their prisoners, but only once you're certain the hunters are going to be fully awake when the prisoners come out of it.  Don't mention to any of them that we have Edrin Othati-Fenn in the other berth.  And I want you to call in just before you release the hunters from the berths."

He brings Saskia in on the call, "Saskia and Ash... when Shui calls in, I want both of you to find some excuse to be over in the passenger lounge until the hunters and their prisoners are all standing out on the ice.  Maybe something over there needs fixing.  And I want you both armed, but be subtle about it.  Just in case of trouble."

The captain smiles, "I can watch the feeds from here, and coordinate everything."

"Done."

The voice, slightly electronic, comes from the surprisingly quiet battledress (http://www.dmchristopher.com/r...er%20battledress.gif), sporting an ACR (Advanced Combat Rifle).

"This is as 'regalian' as I can go.  May be overkill, but I'll be unloading the cargo soon and I like the chance to try it out any way.  Plus, they're both legal here!"

She sounds strangely happy, however, where she stands outside the "freezer-room", scrutinizing her gun.

"Maybe I should stick a RAM grenade on, hmm?" she asks in her typical deadpan voice, leaving it up to the listener to decide whether she is jesting or not.  "Not that I need it, I could just squash them flat if they cause problems, I suppose."  The last statement gives the impression that she is grinning inside the helmet.

At her side hangs the bag with the bounty hunters guns, or at least a similar looking one.

Tylen smiles softly "We could give a whole new meaning to Good Guy, Bad Guy ..." he comments to Yas via his comms set.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Yas says in such a way it sound more like "yes".

Ash nods to Jago as he pushes back and gets up from his console.  "Aye, aye." he intones dutifully, acknowledging the Captain's order.  He makes his way to his cabin to slip on his diplomatic vest under his regular working coveralls.  A holdover from his days in the Imperial service, Ash is used to wearing highly abrasion resistant coveralls, what amounts to light ballistic cloth.  It costs more than simple cloth, but doesn't wear out nearly as quickly either.  He slips on a shoulder holster for an autopistol and ensures that his knife is strapped to his right thigh.

He sits on the edge of his bunk for a long moment, taking a deep breath.  He rubs his right knee gently before standing and making his way to weapons storage in the ship's locker.  At the ship's locker, Ash uses his biometrics to grabs his autopistol and a spare clip.  He checks the safety on his firearm and then secures both into his holster tucked under his left arm.

Ash keys his comm, pinging Saskia specifically, ++Ms. Blake, I am at the ship's locker.  Do you require any equipment from here?++  Ash pulls two repirator masks and filters just in case he and the engineer are required to do repairs ... or anything else ... outside.  You know, just in case.

As the crew sets about the revival of the bounty hunters and their prisoners, Jago post a list of cargo on the bulletin board to see if there’s any interest, he’s not as optimistic as he was before he’d actually seen this God forsaken place but then he’s not carrying anything he can’t shift elsewhere.

While he’s at it he studies the boards for cargos to buy, in case he does have room in the holds when they leave.

+ Very good, Captain. +  Shui isn't entirely certain how things are going to proceed, but Jago has An Idea™, so she'll run with it.  "You look perfectly fine, Mr. Orgesh.  And you as well, Ms. Crow." Yasmine's battledress is...rather impressive, in a frightening sort of way.  But fine for heavily armed security, which is rather the point.  She pauses for a brief smile at Tylen, then returns to facing the coldsleep berths.  "Very well...let's begin."

+ Captain, I'm commencing work on the bounty hunters now, + she sends over the crew intercom, and begins slowly bringing the two 'officers' out of their coldsleep.

Tylen winks at Shui and then stands impassively 'at ease' as he waits for the bounty hunters to come around.

The process of reviving the bounty hunters goes smoothly - telltales wink through sequences of colours at the proper times, and audible signals are all of the "informational2 sort, rather than the, "DANGER! IT'S ALL GOING HORRIBLY WRONG!!!" sort.

About a half hour after the procedure starts on the two berths, the hatches pop open, with a quiet hiss of escaping vapour, and a slight drop in temperature in the room. The hatches slide all the way back to reveal the occupants, who look to be in reasonable condition, if a little dishevelled...

Gan is first to move, groaning as he lifts a hand to wipe at his face.  He blinks at Shui, "Did I make it?  Because I feel like I didn't."

"You say that every time." growls Kvetz, running her hands through her hair, "I'm getting sick of hearing it."

"Yeah, but you'd rather hear it than not, I bet."

"Not really.  If you don't pull through, I get your share of the take."  Kvetz tries to sit up in the berth, and gives a yelp of pain, "Stupid cramp." she mutters, leaning forward to rub at her calf.

In the passenger lounge, Saskia and Ash have have an access panel open.  Saskia is... doing something technical inside, while Ash stands nearby and hands her tools as required.  The three remaining passengers, Corlan, Eneris and Keryn are sitting nearby, pretending to be absorbed in their own activities and ignoring the work, while actually observing the break in their routine with some interest.

Eneris finally cracks... "So what is it you're doing there?  Is there a problem?"  With the question asked, all eyes are suddenly fixed on the crewmembers.

Jago sits on the bridge, like a living work of art depicting "the loneliness of command".  On one monitor he has a live stream from the cold berths, where he can see that everything seems to be going according to plan so far.  On a second monitor he has a list of available cargoes.  Mostly they seem to be consignments of frozen sealife, or shipments of the same sealife, processed and packaged.  Mingled with them are a few lots of minerals, most of which seem to be sulphur compounds.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:29, Sun 17 Feb 2013.

Ash seems a little preoccupied, he is obviously pulling double duty as he keeps a significant amount of his attention on the tiny displays that are being projected onto the reticule lens of his personal HUD headband.  The rest of his focus is preoccupied with handing Saskia a different tool every minute or so.

Eneris' questions, though not unexpected really, do catch him slightly off-guard.  He is in the middle of handing the Margin's engineer a 13mm spanner, when he notices that the three other occupants of the lounge are now concentrating on him and Saskia.  A quick glance tells him that Saskia is studiously preoccupied with the contents behind the access panel.

So, he give Eneris, Corlan, and Keryn a slightly crooked smile.  "Ah, no.  No problem." he notes, trying to sound rather nonchalant, "Just routine maintenance.  Diagnostics and preventative care."  After handing Saskia the spanner and taking the diagnostic probe from her, the thin navigator adds quickly, "You know, given the rather extreme conditions outside...  His eyes instinctively dart to the display once more tracking some movement, before they return to the three passengers.  He knows that the navy man might not be convinced on technical reasons.  And that the older businessman may not be convinced due to his social acumen and for other more personal reasons.  But Ash does hope that Keryn given the crew the benefit of the doubt.  One out of three isn't bad.

There is the fleeting thought to Ash that the same might be said for the remaining low berth passengers to be revived.  If something were to happen with Edrin Othati-Fenn (aka Jonn Andari aka Jonn Cooper aka The Prisoner aka Jago's Charity Case aka 'The Current Thorn in the Profit Margin Crew's Side'); well, one out of three isn't bad...

Tylen stands impassively, as Shui resurrects her charges, little more than a piece of the background.

Saskia nods at Ash's explanation, and adds, "Nothing to worry about just now.  But with the weather outside, and the extended time exatmo, Jago wanted us to make sure that nothing's going to burn out next time we jump.  I mean, right now I'm looking at the thermal regulator modules for the water system.  Nothing serious, but you wouldn't want your shower to run thirty degrees too cold one day, would you?"

Even as she talks, she is still working on something inside the panel, not looking around, and definitely not looking anybody in the eye.

"Frack that!" Eneris declares, "Had enough of that sort of thing in the Navy.  Make sure mine's working best, and there's a bottle of Tolinquin brandy in it for you, next time we land somewhere civilised."

"Two bottles if mine runs best, and I have them in my luggage, right now." Corlan offers, as a counter-proposal.

"You have Tolinquin brandy?  Next time somebody kidnaps you, can I have your stuff?"

"Eneris!  Don't be horrible." Keryn interrupts, her expression one of shock and dismay.  Corlan, however, seems totally unmoved by the comment, "If I get kidnapped, just remember you'll be playing cards against her on your own, so you won't keep any of my stuff for long anyway."

In the low berth chamber, Kvetz eases herself out of the berth and tries to work the cramp out of her calf, watched by Gan, while Shui gives him a quick once-over.  Tylen and Yas are also watchful. 

Kvetz gives a sharp intake of breath and stumbles against one of the berths containing a prisoner...  The restraints, laying on top of it, are dislodged, and slide to the floor.

Jago pays the monitor a little more attention when Kvetz knocks the restraints to the floor, but he keeps on typing at his keyboard and figuring out how to turn a profit.

Tylen stands impassively.  Although his first thoughts are to move over to help, his has spent to long doing this sort of job to even flinch a muscle.  Instead he stays in position, alert  to the actions of Kvetz and her partner who has not yet risen from his cold sleep berth.

While it is most probably a genuine stumble -  these two are a team.  They are used to spending time in cold sleep, and they have been holding a conversation between the berths since they awoke. Sure there was nothing untoward in that conversation, but alerts, triggers and key words can be hidden in a any conversation between long standing partners.

Back during his first tour of duty, at the base on Lopiengeta, there had been a series of 'warning words' that could be buried into a conversation to carry hidden messages.  That had been a hangover from someone's experience on an unstable world with kidnapping potential, and had never actually been used -  but the lesson learned there had stuck in his mind.

"Ms. Kvetz!" Turning away from the man, Shui hurries to assist the woman.  "Please, await your turn."  Taking the woman by the arm, she (rather firmly) attempts to move her over to a chair. "These cold berths are sturdy, but they are electronics.  Not only might you damage yourself if you move around before you are fully prepared, but you may cause irreparable harm to someone in coldsleep."

For the moment, she ignores the restraints; it's better to deal with the woman, first, before she hurts herself or breaks something.

OOC - Would have done more, but am not sure how much success I'll have with this.

Assisted by Shui, Kvetz takes a seat.  She seems less than happy, grumbling about her leg, "Cramp... that's all it is.  Get it a lot when I wake up in the morning's.  Nothing to worry about.  It'll go away  soon."

If he is concerned about his partner, Gan shows no sign of it, apparently more interested in reading his own vital signs of Shui's interests.  "Hey, Doc, what does this mean?  Am I healthy?" 

Keryn smiles at Corlan's comment about her gambling skills, and galances back at the datapad she's been reading.  After a moment, she directs a question to Ash and Saskia, "Do either of you know anything about robots?"

"Temperature fluxuations are better ..." notes Ash off-hand, "than getting line flow reversals."  The Margin's navigator has no experience whatsoever with that or how something like that might happen.  I mean that would require redirection of very complicated piping.  It could never happen accidentally.  Except for the time on the Unchained Melody.  To that witch who tried to (well, actually, in retrospect, did) steal his job as navigator, even though she couldn't find a coherent sentence with two hands and a flashlight - let alone plot a fourteen-fold symmetric topological curve through j-space.  But then again, that lady, as the Captain's main squeeze, apparently didn't need to talk in the dark.

The brief memory is interrupted as Ash looks slightly distracted for a moment.  The moment coinciding with the exact time that Ms. Kvetz slips, though the other passengers in the room with them are likely not aware of that.  While his hands don't shift position, the ex-Scout's feet do turn him such that his coverage of the door is a bit better.  And it shades him slightly towards the passengers.  Seemingly he is merely positioning himself to better to interact with them, of course.

Ash glances in Keryn's direction momentarily when she asks about robots.  "Um..." he ventures tentatively, "a little."  There was plenty of automation (and the requisite maintenance thereof) in both the Naval and Scout services.  And even though he is sure that Saskia knows much more than he does about mechanics and robotics, Ash doesn't wait for her to respond.  "What do you need to know?" he asks Keryn innocently.

Shui shifts between examining Kvetz's leg and checking on Gan's vital signs.  "Not to worry, Mr. Gan," she assures him.  "Your core temperature is a touch low due to your recent revival from coldsleep; in a few minutes, that should stabilize."  She quickly moves back to assessing Kvetz's leg, on the hunt for signs of something worse than a simple cramp.

"Ms. Kvetz, your health is my responsibility.  Please remain still while I verify there's nothing untoward here." A small smile removes some of the severity from her request.

Studying his screens, Jago finally cracks a smile and rolls his unlit cigar from one corner of his mouth to the other. How many organisations were there on this planet, that might be interested ‘Breath-Easy’, time to start fishing.

.

When Keryn asks about rbots, Saskia lifts her head.  There is a loud bang.

"Frell it!"

Profit Margin's engineer backs a little way out of the access port and raises her head again, rubbing at the back of her skull with one hand before examining her fingers.

"I know something about the mechanics of them.  A lot less about their brains though.  Why do you ask?"

With a puzzled look on her face, Saskia extends a her hand towards Ash to show him her fingertips, "Do you think that's blood, or did I just wipe conduction gel in my hair?"

Ash jumps slightly when Saskia bangs her head and then cuts loose with her expletive of choice.  He raises an eyebrow as the Profit Margin's engineer's head and face emerges from inside the access panel.

The navigator dubiously inspects the slick red fluid on Saskia's fingertips.  "Ummm..." he ventures tentatively, "I'm not a doctor."  Which is an understatement; however, Ash does have some familiarity with recognizing blood, especially when it is outside the human body (and also when it is his own), "But that does look like blood to me, Ms. Blake."

"We," he notes with a slight sigh, "should likely get Ms. Tiesi to take a look, posthaste."  From the video feeds, Ash knows that Shui has not yet revived any prisoners - so, an interrupt right now may be the least intrusive in the sequence.

Keryn looks deeply concerned about Saskia's mishap, "I'm so sorry!  I shouldn't have distracted you.  You'd better get Shui to take a look at it, head injuries can be serious."  Not so concerned, however, that she forgets her question, "It's nothing important, but if one of you gets  a chance later, I'm having trouble understanding linear, parallel and synaptic processors, and how they relate to logic and command architectures."

Jago is making fairly good progress.  The limitations of the primitive bulletin board system available here are more than made up for by the number of options they present.  The small number of contacts available are doing nothing to overload the system... 

"That's good to know." Gan says to Shui with a smile.  Then he turns his attention to Tylen and Yas, as Shui goes back to examining Kvetz.  "How do you want to do this?  I assume we won't get our weapons back until we're off the ship, so how are we going to handle the prisoners?  Will you bring them out to us, or should we wait here, without weapons, and take charge as soon as they're out of cryo?  And cleared by the doc, of course."

Shui examines Kvetz's leg, medical instruments and careful manual probing revealing the cause of the bounty hunter's pain.

"Correct assumption.  I'll handle them.  Just to avoid any accidents, you understand," comes the electronically tinged voice.  "Got your toys right here."  She taps the bag at her side.

She stands at ready to allow them passage out of the ship, and turns to Tylen, "You go with them and once I'm coming down the ramp with their friends you give them their guns back."  She holds out the bag for him to take, the seal she placed on the bag still there and intact.

Tylen nods at Yas’s decision and turns towards the bounty hunters.  ”Do you have filters?  Or do you need to borrow some” he asks as holding out a pair of filter masks.

When the  issue with the filters is resolved, Tylen pulls on his own combination mask and makes sure that it is securely seated, then for a brief moment regrets not having chosen to wear his combat environment suit.  Still, it is too late for that now.  He already has a pair of commdots in place and tuned to his data glove, so he flicks the internal comms channel open before he takes the weapons bag from Yasmin.

"Ready when you are." he adds, both for the benefit of the bounty hunters and to check that the comms link is functioning properly.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:52, Tue 26 Feb 2013.

Everything seems to be going surprisingly well, the trade negotiations are ticking over nicely and no problems so far, unloading the passengers. Unaccustomed to things going well, Jago frowns and does an active sensor sweep of the area around the ship, he’s finding the situation a little out of his comfort zone.

.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:33, Tue 26 Feb 2013.

"A cramp, Ms. Kvetz, nothing more," Shui assures her.  It's something she has seen before, and shouldn't prove to be a problem.  "It happens to a small percentage of the population, and exercise can mitigate the effect.  As can anti-inflammatories - if you wish, I can give you some painkillers."

She cocks her head ot the side. "It can persist for a time.  What is the norm for you to feel the symptoms?"

The comms channel chimes, and RTF are back again.  "Captain Lanza?  We've spoken to our client, and I'm afraid that he's adamant that he can't go above Cr2,550 per ton."

"In addition, we are definitely interested in the Loxibac Breathe-Easy that you mentioned.  We can offer you Cr35,000 for the whole shipment.  I'm sure you won't get a better offer from our competitors."

Gan confirms that the two bounty hunters have filter masks in their baggage, along with clothing suitable for the conditions outside.  "That plan would be good with me, but would you mind if we wait underneath the ship?  Gives us a bit more shelter."

Shui, meanwhile, continues her examination of Kvetz, who admits that she isn't really sure about leg cramps, but seems to think the pain persists for hours when she gets them.  She gladly accepts pain medication from Shui.

The bounty hunters open their bags carefully, making sure that Yas and Tylen can see they aren't going for weapons.  A few minutes later they are wearing insulated jumpsuits and  breathing gear, and following Tylen out into the hold and down the ramp.

Leaving Shui and Yas to play with the prisoners...

Saskia and Ash start tidying up their equipment, ready for Saskia to go and talk to Shui about her head.  Keryn is still talking about robots, "Shui got me this course on robotics, and most of it is simple enough, but the chapter on programming and brain structure is giving me some trouble."
This message was last updated by the GM at 22:15, Tue 26 Feb 2013.

Ash has always accorded himself to be a fairly well-educated man.  But Keryn's fairly specific question about some of the more advanced (if 'basic' advanced) neural net hardware interfacing with some of the more progressive artificial intelligence software catches the Profit Margin's navigator off-guard.  He silently counts himself lucky that he can even understand the question.

Which unfortunately, doesn't leave him much hope of actually being able to answer Keryn (let alone really help her in any meaningful way).  "Ah," he notes through pursed lips, "I... don't think that I will be of much help there, Ms. Taylor."  He pauses for a moment to glance in Saskia's direction - serving double duty, as he is trying to see if there is actually an open gaping wound in her head that might need immediate attention, "I cannot speak for Ms. Blake, but even the basic theory and practice of artificial intelligence studies are beyond me.  And unless, our engineer knows more, I don't know who else on the Profit Margin might know more..."  Ash shrugs slightly and then gives Keryn a slightly crooked, slightly rueful smile.

Saskia shakes her head vigorously and winces.  "If you'd asked me about power distribution protocols or joint articulation I could have probably helped you.  The brain is not my area of expertise."  Then she sees the look on Keryn's face and adds, "But I can take a look at what you're stuck with.  Maybe between the two of us we can figure it out.

"I'll go talk to Shui about my head, and then I'll come back.  I have more work to do here anyway, so Jago won't mind me spending some time over here."

On the bridge, Jago continues his discussion with the rep from Rangent Trade factors concerning Profit Margin's cargo...

On the ice, Tylen waits with Gan and Kvetz, gaining some shelter beneath the hull of the ship.  Gan is trying to plan their next move with Kvetz - places where they can stay, places where they can keep the prisoners until they can catch their next ship - but the woman is not feeling talkative, apparently still suffering som pain in her leg.  In the end she props herself up against one of the landing struts, and Gan wanders across to look at the ventral turret.

After a quick tour around the outside of the turret, he asks Tylen, "What is it?  Laser and two launchers of some sort?  She have another one up top?"

Shui starts thawing out the bountyhunters' prisoners.  Now it's just a matter of waiting, for both Shui and Yas.  Relays in the berths tick over as the systems run through the automated process.  Shui's job consists mainly of monitoring the readouts periodically.  Yas' job seems to consist mainly of somehow managing to loom over Shui, even though she's actually outside the door of the room.

Keryn chews at her lower lip for a moment before answering, "This is all new to me.  I'm struggling with some parts of it.  But only come back if the captain says it's all right.  I wouldn't want to get you in trouble."  She smiles at the two crew members.

"Now go and get Saskia's head examined.  Oh... " she blushes suddenly, "That didn't come out the way I meant it to."

Shui sighs quietly, turning her head to study Yasmine, currently waiting just outside. "Ms. Crow, I realize that it's an acquired skill, possibly requiring some dusting off preparatory to use upon the prisoners, but might you practice your armored loom on the coldsleep panel over there?"

A small smile plays over her sharp features as she turns back to her study of the bio-readouts.  "I find it distracting.  At least if you come in here, you can give me company."

"Well, I've been known to be somewhat distracting," Yas says in her deadpan voice as she steps into the room and takes the good doctor's advice to loom over the panel instead.

After a couple of moments she points to the panel and leans in over it even more.  "Hmm, never looked closer at one of these.  What does this button do?  Is that supposed to flash that way?  These numbers are fluctuating, is that normal?"

Jago agrees the 2,550cr per ton for the protein concentrate, provided the buyer collects from the hold, but will hold off on the ‘Breath-Easy’ until he’s heard from the other interested parties.

This, now, she can handle. "The button is a calibration tool, please don't touch it."  Her tone is somewhat absent, but still carries a hint of firmness.  "The numbers are supposed to be fluctuating, as the clients are being raised from cryogenic slumber."  Shui cocks an eyebrow.  "I would be concerned if they were not fluctuating."

Another switch thrown, and they're that much closer to finished.  "Do you want them removed simultaneously, or one after the other?" the doctor inquires.  "I seem to recall us wishing to remove the prisoner first, handing him over to his guards, then releasing his brother after they've had time to leave."

"For calibration?  That's an odd place for it.  And I hope you are waking the right guys, the wild brother isn't due for thawing just yet, just the other two that our bounty hunters brought in, the freezers that had the shackles on them," Yas replies and looks around. "Those go on when they wake up."

"Oh, and one at a time, but close enough so we can shackle one as the other thaws up."

She glances at the panel again and shakes her head.

"Absolutely.  Easy enough to manage."  The two prisoners are now being 'thawed' in a staggered sequence, allowing for plenty of time to get the chilled, disoriented men into their shackles.

It won't be EASY, as it leaves just Shui and Yasmine, but she has utter confidence in the security officer's capacity...even if she weren't handling men already far below their peak due to the coldsleep.

"These two first...delivered...then our unexpected guest," she murmurs.  "As for the button, it does seem an odd place, but if one is familiar with the item in question it works."  A small smile touches her lips.  "I found the...ah...'knives' you gave us for practice to be awkward, myself; I'm certain things would be different were I accustomed to their use."

Just to be sure, she paces over and checks the readout Yasmine examines, her slim form rather small beside the armored woman.

"With this little suit I could just hold them up if they tried something, but safety first.  As for the dear brother, we shall see where and when he is released.  Meanwhile, no one will hear about him."

Yas seems completely as ease regarding the prisoners and more interested in the panel.

"Really?  I suppose if you get into a bad habit then you get used to it, but it's not up to military specs, I tell you that.  Too easy to confuse these here, see?  Mistakes can be the last thing you do, and...  Ah, heh, sorry to bore you, let's get Frosty and Popsicle out, shall we, and dress them up with their finest?"

"As for the 'knives', that's another story with bad habits..."  Shui could tell Yas was making a face behind the visor but it was hard to tell what for.  "Oh, you best handle the shackles, wouldn't want to accidently pinch their necks with these." she chortles and wiggles her powered fingers about.

"Yep.  Sand and missiles. A couple of cannons  top." Tylen replies briefly as they await the release of the prisoners.

"Perhaps not to military specs," Shui admits, "but to medical ones, that is a different matter.  It functions sufficiently well for those trained in its use, and unlike military equipment, isn't necessarily needed to be puzzled out by someone untrained in the field.  Hence, things fit where they are the most expedient for a skilled operator."

"And most certainly I am not bored."

Pausing in her work, she considers Yasmine's armor. "I have no doubt you will have little trouble with them, either wearing that or not..."  A shrug and a small smile follow. "However, we will likely have less trouble from them if they do not believe they have any chance at all.  So, one at a time, as you advise.  Though as you say, I will handle the restraints."

There comes a moment of silence as Shui continues to work.  Then: "There is something about the knives that disturbs you?" she quietly inquires.

"Untrained?  Oh no, then you're not allowed to use it, barely carrying it to someone, nah, more a question about safety, too easy to push the wrong button.  But then, this isn't used under stressful circumstance, really, so I suppose ease of use takes precedence over safety," Yas says with a powered shrug.

"Of course.  We know they haven't got a chance, but they need to know too.  Hence my hardware," she points out and pulls up her biggest gun.  It is easy to picture her grinning even if the voice is deadpan.

A moments silence, then a long, slow breath in.  The voice that follows is if possible even more deadpan.  "Knives in general?  No, only in combat situations.  Shooting someone is bad enough, but...  Yeah, you know.  Eye to eye and all that.  They'll watch you.  For ever.  Except for those who can't handle it, and take to the blade like a bad habit.  Those, ah, they're lost for good.  Can't turn back from that."

So, are they about ready then?"  The change on subject follows immediately and without a change of tone and she motions to the sleep chambers.

Jago doesn't have to wait long.  Within a few minutes the other two trading operations here at Davis have contacted him.  Rangent Import and Export are apparently prepared to buy all of the Loxibac Breathe-Easy for Cr6,500 per ton.  Davis Trading offer only Cr30,000 for the whole shipment.  When Jago doesn't immediately accept their offer, they do bump it up to Cr32,000, and then they play the, "We can beat whatever you are offered by our competitors." card...

Seems like the Loxibac could be a big seller here...

In the cryoberth bay, Yas and Shui are deep in conversation with only the frozen passengers for an audience.  At least they can be reasonably certain that it's not their chat which is leaving the prisoners cold.  A timer on the berths reveals that they will open in fifteen and twenty minutes...

Keryn stands up and grabs hold of Saskia's elbow.  Then she marches the engineer towards the hatch into the cargo bay.  "Go.  Your head is bleeding.  Would you leave something unattended in the engine room if it was leaking... some stuff?  Ash, make her go and get her head fixed."

"Ah, sand launcher." Gan says, nodding appreciatively, "Heard of them.  Man I spoke to said they can be used like a giant shotgun, if you need one."  He glances at a timepiece strapped to his wrist and sighs, "About a half hour before your boss fetches the other two out, I suppose?"

Kvetz pushes away from the landing strut and starts to hobble about, "Don't you ever shut up?"

"See what I have to put up with?  No respect for her superiors."

Ash gives Keryn a sheepish smile as he takes Saskia's arm.  "Yes, Ma'am" he says as he applies gentle pressure to both the engineer's arm and the hand that is being held over the wound.

He seems a bit tentative, though it seems more out of deference to Saskia and her momentary silence than anything else.  "Are you all right, Ms. Blake?" he prompts, trying to determine if he should be helping Saskia lie down or get to over to the cold berths to bother Shui.  Ash is uncertain if he is strong enough to lift the Profit Margin's engineer, even though she is smaller than he is.  He instinctively tenses the muscles around his right knee to ensure that if he needs to bear some extra weight that it won't be too much of a problem.

"Indeed.  Lack of necessity for use in a stressful situation favours expedience." Different worlds, the battlefield and the Low Berths, the barracks and the doctor's office.  "One hopes I will never have to do this quick..."  She waves at the timer.  "No matter how fast one finishes, there is a limiting step in the time necessary for the process itself to complete."

But at Yasmine's next words, the slight woman stills.  Almost unnaturally so.  In perfect silence she listens to the leaden words.  Yasmine's face might be obscured, but Shui can imagine it, the empty eyes staring into a distant point or time.  It's easy for her.  She sees those eyes in the mirror, every morning, and right now they're like little chips of obsidian slicked over with black ice. "'Like a bad habit'," she echoes quietly, her own voice flat.  "Yes, I understand this."

Abruptly the doctor blinks, her distant gaze thawing as Yasmine swiftly changes the subject.  Words claw their way up her throat, but she chokes them down, unwilling to force a continuation upon the chief, who obviously would prefer to speak on something else.  "I fear they will be some time yet.  A good quarter hour.  Did you happen to bring something to read?"

"Doubt it can be done quickly, unless you thaw them up the old fashioned way, which probably would kill any way, so, yeah."  A dry chuckle and then slow shrug.

"Fifteen standard minutes?  Easy enough.  Been standing in the same spot for hours during training, so all I need is right here," she says and taps the side of her head, or helmet as it may be, letting any talk about habits slide.  "Of course, that was done in complete silence, on my part, so it isn't quite the same.  But, kind of meditative, I suppose.  How about you, anything to read?"

She looms a bit over the doctor again.

"Shall we try to avoid bonfires in the cold berths?" Shui requests, amused.  Her smile fades when she considers standing for hours in silence.  In the same spot.  A slow nod follows.  "Indeed.  An impressive feat.  I, myself, have never had to stand for hours in silence, so I cannot comment on it.  But it seem you have all you require, indeed."

A pause.  Then: "Does that suit become heavy?  Or does it have servos to compensate?" A small smile curves her lips. "I am...unfamiliar with wearing such armor." Specific use of words keep this from being a lie, much like her comment about 'standing for hours in silence.'  Shui has never worn that armor, nor any like it, but she knows something of them.  Heaviness, however, has never been part of her studies...and she really doesn't enjoy falsification.

Also, curiousity regarding the armor; she has never considered it from the perspective of the wearer.

"For myself?" She waves the dataglove.  "Comprehensive library on many subjects is available with a search.   Or meditation, though the glove cannot assist with that.  I am well-prepared, Ms. Crow, even should you continue to loom."

Another pause.

"As you are now."

"Possibly avoid fire, mostly because Sas wouldn't like it one bit," Yas says, by the sound of it grinning from ear to ear inside the helmet.  Then she laughs, if briefly, "At least I wasn't posted as honour guard.  Poor fools, standing around, looking pretty and having to ignore tourists.  Worse duty ever!"

"No, ma'am, this thing carries itself, and me too almost.  If it wasn't for the helmet and more bulk I wouldn't be able to tell I'm wearing it.  As long as I don't get an itch anywhere, at least..." she explains and does a few moves to show she is as fast, or faster, and mobile as ever.  "Got to remember I am stronger, though, and can jump higher, even run a bit faster although that is an art on its own, really.  Will fail spectacularly if attempted in normal fashion, or running is such a fashion without the suit.  Plus I basically have three hundred and sixty degree vision, no blind side, due to sensors and...  But now I blab on about things that may bore you again!"

She starts to show off the suit and then holds her hands up apologetically.  "What can I say?  I like the suit.  Plus it makes most portable weapons null and void against me."

"Ah, yes, always preferred actual books myself.  Haven't read many, but, I don't know, the feeling, you know?  But, yes, good to hear you're prepared!" she continues and starts to almost sound as if she is embarrassed, possible from talking too much by the way she finishes her last sentence.

She attempts to un-loom a little.

Finally taking the hint, Saskia lets Keryn escort her to the door.  She pads, barefoot, across the hold to the coldsleep berths, where she finds Yas and Shui talking about books, and about doing something that she would not like one bit.  Though she doesn't hear exactly what that would be.

Probably best not to ask, it'll only encourage them.

Besides, the sooner Shui checks her over, the sooner she can get back to doing something she actually wants to do.

"Sorry to interrupt.  Shui, can you take a look at my head?  I cracked it pulling out of a frelling access panel too quick.  I think it's bleeding."

Turning to regard Saskia as she approaches Yas chuckles.

"Really, Sas, I kow you think of the Margin as alive, but a bleeding panel?" she says teasingly.  Evidently it is not that bad, since the engineer made it here on her own, so a few jokes should be in order, ah, should not be out of order.

"Tell me Yas, did they deliberately break your sense of humor when you signed up, or was it damaged in a training accident?" the engineer replies with a sweet, innocent smile.  She studies the armor for a second or two before pointing at the helmet.  "I suppose that must be why they call marines jar heads.  Tell me, how did you fit your enormous, great, big, chief-of-security-and-second-in-command head in that tiny little bucket?"

"Ha, she's fine, doc, just put a cork in that hole -- the one on the top of her head -- and send her back!" Yas says with a laughter.  "As for how I got my head in the helmet -- by being sheer awesome!"

The chief of security strikes several poses in quick succession, all coy and fitting one of those holo-magazines with scantily clad females, quite the stark contrast to the impression the armour gives.

"The rest is classified, ma'am!"

She finishes with a snappy salute.

Saskia glares at Yas in mock fury, declaring, "Awesome or not, I can still do something you can't."  She points to her mouth and pokes her tongue out at the gunnery chief.

"I'd show you who's really frelling awesome, frelnik, even though I'm weak from blood loss, but I know Shui's busy and doesn't have time to waste while I finish you off, and I don't see why she should tidy up all the armor scraps after we're done."

Somehow Yas manages to get around and duck behind Sushi, cowering in fear by the looks of it.  "Doc, help me!  She's mean!  The blow has made her mad... ...der...!"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:40, Sat 09 Mar 2013.

"Yeah!  You better frelling hide!"

It's clear by this time that Saskia, for all that she's shaking her fist at the power armored former marine, is having trouble keeping herself from laughing.

Jago watches the gathering on by the cryo births for a moment or two, then tunes into any local news feeds he can find while he does yet another visual and scanner search of the perimeter. Local news is always interesting but mostly he’s looking for an update on the war, especially regarding Regina.

The trade factors are all interested enough in the Loxibac that they each agree to send a representative out to the ship for an auction in the morning.  RTF make one last attempt at stealing the consignment out from under the noses of their opposition, offering Jago Cr37,000 before agreeing to participate in the auction.

Jago's survey of the news turns up almost nothing but local stuff - weather, some sort of sport played, unsurprisingly, on ice, latest information on the improvements to the port (apparently everything is on schedule, in spite of the recent bad weather), an ice-skimmer accident near Alderson City which left five people dead, and seven more injured...  Unfortunately though, Rangent is far enough off the major trade routes that news from other systems is hopelessly out of date.

A quick check reveals that there is no TAS or TNS office on the planet...

Under the ship, Gan continues poking about, if "poking" is the right word for looking at things while being careful not to touch them.  Occasionally he pauses and looks to be considering something, only to shake his head and move onward.  Finally he seems to make up his mind and turns back to Tylen, "Tell me if I'm out of line, but I have to ask, do you enjoy your job?  I mean, do you think it's a good job?  As in, would you recommend it to somebody?"

Kvetz snaps her head round to stare at him, "Why are you asking him that?"  Gan raises a hand to quiet her...

The sudden arrival of Saskia and Ash in the cryoberth chamber makes it just as crowded in there as before Tylen and the bounty hunters stepped outside.  Fortunately the hunters' remaining prisoners won't be defrosted for at least twelve more minutes...

Without really making a point of it Tylen makes sure that he doesn't get bracketed by the two bounty hunters as they wander around the ship looking at things.  While he really isn't expecting trouble from them, he knows that you stay out of trouble is to be aware of it happening before hand.

When the question comes, he pauses for a moment, but he sees it as little more than small talk.  ”Depends.” he says choosing to answer the later part of the question first.  ”It suits me.” he shrugs ”Lots of quiet time, a room of my own, travel and seeing new worlds.  Liveable wage.  All the normal stuff.” he says with a grin, before he adds ”Depends on if you want excitement or not.  I like the travel without too much excitement.” he concludes with another shrug.

It's an impressive suit that Yasmine wears, Shui must admit.  Quite impressive.  She can even understand the need for the woman to take care...though it would create certain problems under specific circumstances. "It's probably best you don't have a book right now, given your situation," she states with a wave to Yasmine's gauntleted hands.

The arrival of Ash and Saskia puts that conversation to rest.

There's a lot of joking going on, but the moment Shui can leave her post at the console, she does, smoothly shifting to where Saskia awaits. "Now, let's just keep things quiet for a moment.  Mr. Tescali, if you might keep an eye on those tell-tales at the panel and let me know if anything slides into the yellow?"  Pausing, she turns to look at the cowering Yasmine, one eyebrow rising.  How the woman can go from looming to that she has no idea.  "Ms Crow..."

There are no words.

Eyebrow still raised in disbelief, she goes back to Saskia's poor, injured head.  "As I would like to avoid dealing with further injuries, I trust you will keep from taking a wrench to poor Ms. Crow or her suit, Ms. Blake?"

OOC - obviously doing some basic medical judgement and treatment.  Does Saskia require X-rays and so forth, or is it just a surface wound?

The Margin's navigator has to suppress a smirk at the banter between the security chief and the chief engineer.  He remains conspicuously quiet during the exchange.

Then Shui takes charge.  Ash nods.  "Yes, Ma'am" he notes with a slight salute.  He may not be intimately familiar with this style of cryoberth, but the ex-scout has some idea of what he is looking at.  Though, he sticks to his directive and merely ensures that no alarms or warning bells are triggered on either of the berths he is monitoring.

Shui takes the time to give Saskia's scalp a quick examination. 

Ash watches the displays, which remain unchanging for the whole of the examination (with the sole exception of the slowly rising temperatures).

Kvetz glowers at Gan, "No.  I mean it.  Why are you asking him what his job is like?  You're thinking of quitting again, aren't you?"

"Well... why not?  I'm getting too old to be chasing criminals all over known space."

"We go through this fracking business every time we go anywhere.  You get all dreamy eyed and start to talk about an easier life, or something."  She looks at Tylen, "Please don't encourage him.  He gets like this all the time.  Probably thinks your life is like in some holodrama or something"
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:56, Tue 12 Mar 2013.

"Much appreciated, Mr. Tescali.  Now...let's see."  After a moment, Shui pauses, frowning.  "Ms. Blake...upon what, exactly, did you hit your head?  There is a scrape, but it is minor, not requiring attention.  However..."  She brings back two fingers smeared with a reddish-brown ooze that appears superficially to resemble blood, but is in fact far more viscous. "This is not blood.  I would hazard a guess at some kind of mechanical fluid."

The doctor cocks an eyebrow, knowing she's about to step into dangerous territory with the engineer.  "I would suggest returning to the scene of the crime and conducting a thorough search of the area, focusing upon whatever outcropping against which you had your accident; there may be a leak."

"Sas, you're an android!  Or a robot!  You bleed, what, hydralic fluid or something!" Yas pipes up where she squeezes out of the now crowded area and does her best to loom over everyone.  "I knew it!  That's why you've gotten to second base with Margin!"

"Its just a job" Tylen shrugs again "but one that comes with a pseudo-family." he adds.  "Much like you two need to look out for each other, we all look out for each other.  On a small ship, you get on with everyone - or, I guess, you move on."

"I like the quiet of a jump, and the time it gives me to read up on things and fiddle around with stuff. But a small ship isn't good for you unless you can cope with that all the time." he pauses for a moment  "I am sure the pair of you could get berths as a security team on a ship somewhere ...." he half suggests

The laughter dies.

"Not blood?  I asked Ash if it was blood or conductor gel, and he said it was definitely frelling blood.  Sorry, I wasted your time Shui."  Saskia's lips clamp into a tight, thin line as color flows into her cheeks (and this time it is blood).

She starts to back away, towards the exit.

"Ms. Blake!  Saskia!" Distraught, Shui hurries after the woman, waving away Yasmine with an exasperated glance.  "Please.  I would rather have people come to me when they think there's a problem.  As for the conductor gel..."  She rubs it between her fingers.  "It does look like blood at first glance."

The doctor wrings her hands before putting them behind her back.  "An honest mistake, and possibly due to the darkness of the area." She's guessing, but assumes it probably didn't happen anywhere well lit, if Saskia were banging her head.  "And had that bump been any deeper, yes, you might have required stitches.  Hardly a waste of time."

Ash turns to look at Saskia, the level of her vehemence rather surprising to him.  His mouth opens once or twice, but no words come out.  He is finally able to stammer, "Uh... My apologies, Ms. Blake.  I did preface my assessment with 'I am not a doctor...'"  He knows that it rings hollow - and that he should more than likely just keep his mouth shut instead of giving Saskia more fuel for the fire.

He gives the three women present a slightly rueful smile.  And then begins to wonder if the Margin's engineer will merely switch the hot and cold feeds to his fresher, or the input and output sewage lines.  The ex-Scout and navigator lets out a plaintive sigh.  Unbidden, an old Solomani poets words come to mind, Hell hath not fury...

Saskia appears to consider what's being said to her.  At least for a second or two.  Then she screws up her eyes, turns and storms out of the room.  Those in the cryoberth chamber can clearly hear the hatch on the crew side of the hold open a short while later, and then close again with a dull whump.

Not quite as effective as a good slam!, but probably the best that can be managed with heavy duty gaskets on both the door and the frame.

The engineer grabs herself a cup of water and gulps half of it down before throwing herself down into the couch, where she sits muttering to herself.  "Stupid frelling idiot.  Of course it was stupid frelling conduction gel.  Stupid.  Call yourself an engineer?  Stupidest frelling engineer on the Starship Frelling Stupid, that's you."

Ash purses his lips slightly as Saskia storms off.  His worry had come true, the Margin's engineer seems to have misconstrued his remark and continues to blame him for the mix-up and misdiagnosis.  And Ash knows that he is more than partly responsible.

He swallows hard for a moment, glancing back at the cyroberth controls.  And then back at the the exit.  "Ah," he notes slightly ruefully, "I'd probably best go after Ms. Blake and actually apologize."  He gestures towards the thawing prisoners to make sure that Shui is ready to return to monitoring their progress.

Then he quietly steps out of the low berth area and crosses over to the closed hatch to the crew door.  Ash stands in front of the door for a long moment, before he taps in the crew code to crack the hatch open.  Sticking in his head and peering around the lounge for a moment to get his bearings, the Margin's navigator waits quietly for the mutterings of the engineer to die down.  Once Saskia appears to have spent her current vial of bile (even if it was not directed at him per se, but at herself - something which the ex-Scout seems to find equally disturbing), Ash pushes him thin frame through the portal and stands there for a moment as to not surprise Saskia.

Finally, he ventures, "Ms. Blake?"  Another pause in the hopes that the engineer is receptive to talking, "I didn't mean to embarass you there, I know that what I said in the cryoberths was probably callous and inappropriate..."  He holds out his hands in a contrite gesture, "You have every right to be upset with me; I was probably too alarmist - too much on edge.  So, please to don't take it out on yourself or the Profit Margin."  Apparently, those big ears of his did pick up the very end of Saskia's mutterings.

"Was it something I said?" Yas asks, but only once she is the only unthawed person left in the room.  She takes up position near the door again and waits in looming silence.

Saskia doesn't answer at first.  Instead she lifts the cup to finish the last of the water.  Only afterward does she speak.  "Wasn't taking it out on the Margin.  Was taking it out on me.  I'm a frelling engineer - I should be able to tell the difference between conduction gel and blood.  Frelling dren!"

Her hand comes down hard, smashing the cup onto the coffee tables and sending plastic shards in all directions.  "I was stupid."

"Don't do that to yourself, Ms. Blake." Ash chides Saskia, "It isn't worth it.  And it isn't true.  Besides, if anyone is fault for the misdiagnosis, it is me."

His eyes widen slightly when the cup explodes, but to his credit he doesn't flinch.  He starts to pick up shards of the shattered cup off of the floor, noting semi-playfully, "Ms. Taylor will likely get a kick out of our mistake."  He raises an eyebrow, venturing, "Maybe she will even forget to ask us more about artificial intelligence algorithms..."

The navigator then reminds the engineer, "Likely we should check that access panel again. That conduction gel is coming from somewhere."  He knows that she hasn't likely forgotten, but Ash also figures that if he can get her to focus on that.... well, then maybe a month of cold showers isn't a forgone conclusion.  Maybe.

Jago settles back into the familiar comfort of his well-worn pilots chair and runs another exterior scan. After a short while he shifts his position and realises that these days, there’s a bit more familiarity and a bit less comfort that there used to be, in fact so much so that he wonders if Saskia’s skills extend to upholstery.

Just a couple of minutes to go.  Both berths are still in the green, though one lags slightly behind the other in the chase to reach the correct temperature for opening.  So everything is going to plan.  Shui and Yas are alone again, at least for the next two minutes or so...

Jago sits on the bridge, watching the local news feeds.  They aren't, frankly, that interesting.  And then something catches his eye...

Authorities in Fordon City have announced that the recent rise in cases of respiratory tract infections are not due to Beck's Syndrome, as was first assumed.  They are now working on the theory that the crew of a visiting ship introduced a bacterial strain, one previously unknown on Rangent, to the city.  City officials have assured the local residents that there is no fault in the city's air filtration system.

"See?" Gan says, gesturing towards Tylen, but addressing Kvetz.  "He says it's nice and quiet.  That's what I need now, I think.  I'm not a young man any more.  Sure, the freezers have stopped me ageing as fast as most, but I am still ageing.  Last month I was even thinking of retiring... "

"What?" Kvetz sounds incredulous.

"Yes, yes, I Know... me, retiring."  The bounty hunter laughs and reaches up to slap the belly of the ship, "But this...  This would be better.  It would at least keep me busy and reduce the risk of dying in a freezer."

He waits for Kvetz to answer, but all she does is shake her head and look away.  "Look, we just have two prisoners.  You should be able to handle them on your own.  I've got some money on me.  I'm thinking of asking the Captain if I can stay aboard as a real passenger until he hits the next port.  Then I'll look for work on a ship.  You take the prisoners home, and the bond is all yours.  Call it a going away gift."

"What do you think?  Will your Captain be looking to take passengers?"

And in the lounge, Ash and Saskia discuss their individual medical expertise...

Having paused in the doorway, Shui watches Ash follow Saskia away.  With a small sigh, she returns to the room, just in time to catch the tail-end of a comment from Yasmine.  It's a rhetorical question, though, so she doesn't answer it.

Silence falls as the doctor goes back to her work, distressed.  First Corlan, now Saskia.  These days there doesn't seem to be much she can do to assist her friends.  That is selfishness, Shui, she reminds herself.  Stop being self-centered, and focus on your task at hand.  There will be time to do something for Saskia later; feeling good about yourself is not the priority here.

Saskia sighs, "I think I know where the gel came from.  I was working with it.  Then I smacked my skull on the panel, and I must have had some gel on my hands when I rubbed my head."

The engineer starts picking up fragments of the cup, "See?  Sometimes I'm not too frelling bright.  Dim as a broken lighting panel."

Ash has to stifle a chuckle when the Profit Margin's engineer explains the likely origin of the conduction gel.  "Saski-" he starts, then catches himself and blushes slightly, "... er, Ms. Blake, that is hardly a mistake that reflects poorly on your intelligence."  At this point, the navigator is pointedly looking down at the floor and fastidiously gather shards of mug.

Only once all of the visible pieces are collected does he look over at Saskia.  "Have enough coffee?" Ash prompts, "Or do you need another cup?"  He gives her a crooked smile, knowing that it is more than a bit of a dopey pun.  He stands and makes his way to counter and the trash disposal, muttering under his breath to himself about trying too hard.

Of course, the counter also puts him conveniently close to the coffee as well...

”Probably.” the ex-scout responds laconically.  ”But from what I recall we are heading away from the main rather than somewhere with good shipping links.” the scout adds after a moment’s thought.

Then he shrugs his shoulders again.  ”But then you know how to check out destination logs as well as me.  Just make sure you get somewhere with a decent flow of traffic through it, rather than the backwater I grew up in.  One ship a month and every one competing for the spare berth.” he adds by way of explanation.

”And make sure you keep a ticket or two in your back pocket until you trust the crew you are with.  Too many stories of people getting  ‘left behind’  somewhere after their first trip or two.” he adds as a final warning, although that is probably more reflexive that with ant expectation that the bounty hunter really needs that advice.

There is a low warble, followed by the hiss of escaping air as the seal breaks.  The first of the two remaining berths is open.  The hatch lifts aside, revealing a somewhat woozy prisoner.  This one would be Gulvar Othati-Fenn, whose brother, all unknown to him, is still frozen in one of the other berths.

The younger Othati-Fenn groans, but doesn't try to move, except for his eyes which look about the room.  Then he says, weakly, "Let me go... I'll see that you're well paid."

Gan nods at Tylen's advice, then asks, "Can I speak to your Captain?  See if he'll let me book a cabin?"  Kvetz just shakes her head and mutters, "Idiot." before walking away, to stand as far as possible from Gan while still remaining under the ship.

"And now she isn't talking to me.  Again."

The news feed on the bridge monitor continues with more information about the bacterial infection which is apparently running unchecked in one of Rangent's small domed cities.  It doesn't seem too serious, and appears to be causing more psychosomatic issues than actual physical illness, but it is causing people to take time off from their jobs.

And in the lounge, Saskia and Ash are tidying up...

"Silence.  Let her put the restraints on you without resisting, or it will hurt," Yas says to the newly waken with a detached, cold voice.  She does not move, merely stands nearby in her power suit.

She knows better than to start bargaining with prisoners, be they hers or not, and hope to spare the doctor the need to wrestle with pleas and anything else that may or may not sway her or even give her a bad conscience.

"I'd give him a call once you have taken these two into custody and got them safely shore side." Tylen says "He doesn't like being interrupted when we are first down.  he always has business to do.  Catch him in a bad mood and you will get a very short answer that ends in 'off'.  I know." he says with a lopsided grin.

"Anyway, you don't want a rep for leaving a job half finished.  The good ships will check up on your references." he says with a knowing look, flicking his eyes quickly towards Kvetz.  "And you probably won't enjoy the ships that don't check." he says ominously.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:26, Sat 23 Mar 2013.

Saskia shakes her head, "No, I'm good.  But thanks."

She looks, and sounds, anything but good.  "I should get back passenger side.  I promised Keryn I'd take a look at her book and see if I can help her puzzle it out.  I don't know anything about frelling robots.  Especially their brains.  Never could understand how they work."

"I think not, sir." Shui assists the man in sitting up as she checks his vital signs herself.  Machines are nice, but machines are not immune to error; between her and it, she should have a good idea of his condition.  "As the security chief implies, you waste your time.  Please remain peaceful; given your condition and the chief's presence, it boots you nothing to struggle."

She isn't going to allow a lawfully detained criminal to escape, no matter what payment he offers.  Oh, possibly if the offense were something minor and the punishment far outweighed it; certainly not when he is a known terrorist.  So the moment she has determined Othati-Fenn is improving rather than worsening, she moves to place the restraints upon him.

Oddly enough, she has some experience with this as well, due to having obvserved officers in the past.  One of her stints aboard a ship was as a temp on a patrol boat, substituting for basic custodial services.  One learns things in such situations.

No sooner is Gulvar Othati-Fenn declared fit and reunited with his plastic and ceramic restraints than his partner, Zilon Anatsen, is released from his own berth.  Unlike Othati-Fenn, he does not appear to have considered the possibility of bribing anybody to release him.

He sits quietly through the examination, providing monosyllabic answers to questions about his condition.  He makes no attempt to resist the restraints.

With some prompting from Yas, both men proceed towards the ramp, under escort.  It's cold outside the ship, but not as cold as where they've just been.  Their clothing should be sufficient to protect them on the short walk across to the city entrance, and their captors have spare masks to protect them from the atmosphere's deleterious effects.

Gan nods appreciatively, "Thanks for the advice."

The ramp drops, with its customary screech of tortured metal, "Ah... here we are."  Yas brings the prisoners down onto the ice, and Gan and Kvetz move to put protective masks on them.  The prisoners' masks are of noticeably simpler design than those worn by the hunters.

"We'll have our gear back now, and be on our way."

Escorting the prisoners out Yas makes certain to always remain behind them even if they are in shackles.  Not that they really pose a threat for her in the suit, but it is common sense, after all.

"Sure thing.  It's all in here.  I'll take thebag back, thanks," she says at Gan's prompting and holds out the bag with their weapons in, still secured with the seal she placed there.

"You're welcome." Tylen nods as the prisoners and weapons are handed over to the bounty hunters.  "Now, if you will excuse me, I will get back inside where it is warm." he comments.

Once back aboard The Profit Margin, Tylen will use the crew channel to warn Jago that Gan may well be calling looking for a passenger berth.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:00, Tue 26 Mar 2013.

Saskia pushes herself up of the couch, throws her collection of plastic shards into the waste disposal and starts to leave.  Just as she reaches the door she stops with her hand on the controls, looks back at Ash, and gives him a sheepish smile.

"Ash.  I'm sorry I blamed you.  I should be able to recognise conduction gel when I see it."

Having disposed of his own collection of coffee mug shards, Ash turns to watch Saskia leave.  He is seems pleasantly surprised to have her apologize to him.  He reddens slightly, making light of the situation, "I don't really mind, Ms. Saskia."

He shrugs slightly, adding, "I've been blamed for a lot of things in much less flattering terms.  And with much less provocation..."  Unbidden, the end of his last stint with his previous crew comes to mind.

The lanky, navigator leans forward, pushing off the counter.  "Do you mind if I join you in your talk with Keryn?" he asks, a tinge of eagerness in his voice, "I might learn something."  He does stop short, however, pausing to note, "I'll understand if you prefer not.  I mean, if you'd like some time to yourself..."

Watching on the monitors as the prisoners escorted ashore Jago  sighs, this episode doesn’t sit well with his conscience and it’s not over yet.

Jago turns away and keys the toggle for ‘crew comms’, ++“Good job everybody, could I see you all on the bridge in twenty minuets.”++

Noting Jago's orders, an eyebrow shoots up.  He stops where he is; halfway from the counter to Saskia and asks of the engineer, "Perhaps, Ms. Taylor should wait?  Sounds like the boss wants to talk to everyone..."

He looks expectantly at Saskia, while typing in ++Aye, aye.  Be there presently, Captain...  The Margin's stops typing waiting to see whether he should accept for just himself, or the engineer as well.  Ash turns the quirked eyebrow towards Saskia and prompts, "Ms. Blake?"

Alone in the Cold Berth, Shui studies her remaining charge.  "Apologies, sir, but you'll have to stay sleeping a while yet," she murmurs, checking his vitals.  The Cold Berths have work to be done upon them - resetting, checking levels, then shutting them down properly until their next use.  One doesn't just pull the plug on them, not if one expects them to function properly over the course of years.

Jago's message comes through as she's finishing up.  Shui slowly nods, knowing where this is going.  Keying the controls of her dataglove, she responds.  + Yes, Captain Lanza.  I will bring refreshments. +

Her job here finished, she leaves the cold room behind and heads to the galley to prepare everyone's various libations.

Tylen waits in the hold until Yas is back inside and then closes the ramp and checks it is secure.

Then he will make his way to the meeting.

Gan and Kvetz take their gear, and return the bag to Yas.  Then it takes them just a minute to fit the prisoners with masks, before they turn to leave.  Gan raises a hand in a cheery salute, "Bye, Profit Margin, thanks for doing a good job of getting us, and them, here with no trouble."

Kvetz still seems too annoyed to say much of anything, merely grunting her agreement with Gan's sentiment...  Then the hunters and the hunted start the short trudge across the ice.  As they start to walk off, Gulvar Othati-Fenn can be heard saying, "Frack me!  It's cold here.  You never warned us that it'd be this fracking cold."

Unfortunately Kvetz is closest to him.  All of her anger goes into a slap across the back of his head, and a growled, "Shut it."

...

Twenty minutes later, everybody starts to gather on the Bridge to see what Jago has to say.  Yas appears to have spent the time slipping into something more comfortable... if she, in fact, considers "nearly unarmed and without body armour" comfortable.

Upon her arrive, Shui sets down her tray and begins handing out the various different coffees, cocoas, and other choices of drink.  She has brought a small cup of tea for herself, an average leaf of the green stock, perhaps a touch too long in storage.  Better she drink it than offer it to another.

"Captain Lanza," she murmurs, offering him his coffee.  "There are sandwiches as well, but perhaps you should simply begin?" There's a hopeful sound to the question; it would be better for both her curiousity and his health if Jago would  get to the point.

Jago takes the coffee with a nod of thanks and sips it before beginning.

“I just wanted to bring everybody up to speed on what’s happening,” he says, “I have a buyer for the protein concentrate, they will be along tomorrow to collect it. In addition I’ll be holding an auction for ‘Breath Easy’ medication I bought. I’m expecting three people for that, sometime in the morning. Do you think you could lay on more of these Shui?”

Jago helps himself to a couple of sandwiches, by way of illustration, and takes another sip of coffee.

“We still have Edrin Othati-Fenn in the freezer. There is a ship in here tomorrow from Tremous Dex, returning there a few days later, the bounty hunters will probably take that on their way back to Arden. I intend to release Edrin once they are gone. In the meantime perhaps someone can get him so cold weather gear. ”

“I hope that we’ll be ready to leave by then, we’ll be heading for Phlume which should be a little more civilised than this place. I also thought that maybe tomorrow night we’d invite the crew of the Ore Hound, and our own long term passengers, over for dinner, what do you think Shui, are you up for that? we’ll all help with any preparations, it might be fun.”

"Although you might get a call from Gan looking for a solo ticket out of here." Tylen reminds Jago, before sipping appreciatively at his coffee.

Ash takes a sip of black coffee from the mug that Shui has prepared for him.

He merely nods when Jago talks about the cargo and the coming auction.  He raises a hand and asks, "How much security do you want for the auction, boss?"  Then after a pause and some tapping on his wrist computer, the navigator asks idly, "And do we have any new cargo lined up for the trip to Phlume yet?"

Ash listens to Jago's plan to dump their last passenger here after the others are off-planet, and simply nods.  Since he had supplied the Captain with the transit data, it is hardly a surprise to him.  He taps his chin thoughtfully for a moment, then prompts, "Should we get him a respirator mask as well?"  Presumably, the navigator is volunteering for the task, he glances at Shui and the others in turn soliciting them for any other items the Profit Margin might need. "Is there anything else that we need to stock up on here?  Anything for the Ship's Locker?  Or the pantry?"

While Rangent wasn't the highest tech world, he assumed it did have plenty of survival gear present (and generally unrestricted in access) and some cold-weather recreation goods whether they were snowshoes or skies or snowmobiles.  Ash wasn't so sure about food availability, at least, fresh (and not frozen) food availability...

Having been across to the passenger section to let Keryn know that she had to go to attend a meeting but would be over to talk about robots later, and that her head was not badly hurt (but without saying just how "not badly") Saskia arrives for the meeting and grabs herself coffee and sandwiches.

Boring stuff, from her point of view, just talk about cargo sales, and some sort of auction tomorrow.

Then Jago mentions having guests for dinner, and the engineer is suddenly all ears.  A change of routine.

"We should probably use the passenger lounge.  More room, and the EPS conduits and other ship systems are more concealed, so it looks tidier."

“Security for the auction, that’s a good point, we’ll keep it low key, I don’t want to put people off with battle armour stomping around, what do you think Yasmin?”

Jago sips his coffee as Ash goes on  . .

“I’ve not sorted an on-going cargo yet, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of choice in the matter, seaweed or fish. There’ll be plenty of time to sort that out.”

. . and grabs a few more of those tasty little sandwiches.

“Ye, get him a respirator, I’ll sort out some funds for you after this. Shui, if you need supplies for the dinner have a word with Ash.”

“The passenger lounge, that’s a good idea Saskia, maybe put up some balloons and bunting.”

Jago drains his coffee cup and takes a long, slow pull on his unlit cigar and looks around at the assembled crew, “yea, that should work, anything else?”

Tylen checks the time using his dataglove before chiming in. "I want to do some shopping while I have the chance.  I need to get a few more bits and bobs and I can make a good show of security." he says thinking of the new gear he bought recently.  "I need some pseudo-military webbing for it, and perhaps a night stick, or something similar>" he grins broadly "Then I can look as formal as you like."

With that he reaches for some of the sandwiches, making sure he gets a share before Jago scoffs them all.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:39, Sun 07 Apr 2013.

Busy with cleaning one of her guns, the .50 cal revolver, Yas only looks up when directly addressed.

"Your opinion has been noted, thanks for the input," she says with a sweet smile at Jago and takes a sip of her cocoa before she says anything else.

"But yeah, the passenger lounge makes security easier to handle.  No one will accidentally spill their drink on the crucial control panel, find the captain stash of cookies in the locked bottom drawer or wander into engineering looking for spare parts," she continues with a shrug and returns to cleaning her weapon.  "Got to have this baby ready in case someone has too much to drink," she says under her breath.

With a wary glance at Yasmine's pistol, Shui nods to the Captain.  "Certainly, captain, to both the dinner and the sandwiches." She pauses a beat. "Should I make more now for the rest of the crew?" The question is pointed, but only a touch.  "I will require further supplies for the dinner - I would like to make something a little more palatable than the norm, so perhaps a trip into town would be warrented.  If not - duty may not permit - I will certainly liase with Mr. Tescali for the delivery."

One eyebrow rises.  "I will also determine our final guest's size, the better to outfit him."  She has some experience with purchasing clothing, and has the man's medical scans.  It should be enough to give her a basic idea of his size.  "Mr. Tescali, I'll bring up a list of basic supplies whether or not I will be going for the dinner supplies myself.  I shall also assist Ms. Blake with the lounge."

As usual, taking on more than she can easily handle, what with her other duties.  Shui merely makes a mental note that she won't be getting much sleep in the next short while.

The discussion of the proposed dinner, and of the auction, continues.  They both involve similar subject matter, so it seems sensible to address them at the same time.  Both need a location and consumables, and both apparently raise security issues.  There is also the matter of getting their one remaining coldsleep passenger safely ashore.

Fresh food might not be so easy to get on Rangent, unless the buyer is interested in fish or marine plants, but there should be imported produce available, and Shui agrees to draw up a list of required items.  Though there is, of course, no guarantee that they'll all be found locally.

The passenger lounge seems the natural location for the dinner, as it is more spacious and less cluttered with the crew's personal effects.  It also alleviates some of the security concerns.

Which still leaves a location to be selected for the auction.  The hold would seem like a good place, if a little lacking in creature comforts.

Ash nods in affirmation to Jago and then Shui in turn to acknowledge the shopping list generation.  He taps a bit on his wrist computer and then takes another sip from his coffee mug.  He leans forward to grab on the of the sandwiches before they are all gone, indifferent to the actual filling.  His time in the IISS had taught him that many different things could be eaten for sustenance and, honestly, Ms. Tiesi has never let him down with respect to anything that she has prepared with respect to taste; so, he has started to become accustom to accepting anything that she offers - trusting that it will take quite good.

He glances at Saskia, prompting, "Ms. Blake, any parts that I should be on the look out for?  Or do you plan to go shopping separately?"  Then not wanting to appear as though he is catering to the Margin's engineer exclusively, he glances in Yas' direction, "Or anything the you need me to pick up, Chief?"

Since Tylen has already stated that he intends to shop on his own, Ash doesn't bother to ask his fellow scout for his list.  When Ash does look over at Tylen, he merely ventures, "Mr. Ogresh, perhaps we should go into town together..."

Saskia gives Ash a look.  Then she smiles.  "You're offering to go shopping for Yas and me?"

The Enginer nudges the Security Chief with her elbow.  "Hey, Yas, you remember when Ridge offered to go shopping for us, and it turned out that it was just because then he'd know what sort of underwear we liked?"

She takes a sip of her coffee, and the mug doesn't quite conceal her grin.

"Ugh, you had to remind me!" Yas groans, and not from pleasure.  "But that reminds, me, I could actually use some...  Ah, never mind, Ash, I couldn't do that to you.  Beside, did you know there are over 250 different systems for measurements, that I have recorded so far?  Even the 'standard' is anything but, so you have to try it on every time..."

She trails off and grimaces, holding her hands up at Ash.

"Sorry, I suppose I shouldn't talk about some things, but that's me, and I know not everyone cares for the way I am, I think I scare a lot of guys, but I suppose if they can't accept me as I am then perhaps," she starts, the speed of talking growing throughout her speech and then she cuts herself off as abruptly as she stands up and blurts, "I appreciate the offer, but I best do my own shopping."

"Damn it," she mutters and turns to briskly walk towards her cabin in an unusual display of with might be embarrassment, holstering her gun.

"Wow!  Who knew she'd react like that over a few tiny scraps of leather and fur and handful of metal studs?"  Saskia comments, but not until Yas is well out of earshot.

His close-cropped head tilts to the side, eyes wide.  Ash is obviously taken aback when Saskia suggests that he try to help her add to her personal wardrobe.  Still, he tries to recover and rise to the occasion, "I'll do my best, Ms. Blake.  If you'll let me."  Then he taps another note into his wrist computer.

When the Security Chief states her request, Ash is about to agree, until Yasmine leaves rather abruptly.  Given the large caliber handgun in her hands, the navigator decides to keep his mouth shut.  He does type another quick reference into the keypad on his lower forearm.

Then Ash shrugs with a slight, crooked smile on his lips to Saskia's reference to the materials used in some undergarments.  "Interesting." he notes rather deadpan, "You know, I didn't realize that the Profit Margin wore leather undergarments..."  But, then the lanky ex-Scout knows that there are plenty of things that he is not privy to.

"That's standard issue Marine underwear.  But only to be worn with dress uniform.  The rest of the time they go commando."  Saskia replies with a chuckle.  "I thought everybody knew that."

She stands up, finishing her coffee without taking a breath, "I better see if she's okay.  She might be upset, and it wouldn't do to have her murder everybody in their beds.  Like she did last time."

"If you like." Tylen responds to Ash's  question as to whether they should shop together.  However he pauses to listen to the exchange concerning  underwear styles.  Then he grins "Tell her that I can check the calibre of "standard" ammunition for her is she likes  ..." he suggests to Saskia, before turning back to Ash.

"I need a military style holster, and a matching belt with all sorts of utility pouches on  it." he starts with a grin  "Another revolver, possibly a shoulder stock for it, and I want a shot gun -  standard  ammunition with a folding stock.  A police style helmet, a normal one - although I also want a psionic shielding device as well." he pauses for a moment as he thinks through his list before he adds, "Oh, and a grav belt if I can get one at a decent price." he adds casually, almost as an afterthought.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:32, Tue 16 Apr 2013.

Shui stays far, far out of the underwear discussion, seeing that Yasmine is actually discomfited by the whole affair.  Better not to add fuel to that fire...besides, it might lead to speculation about doctors, next.  Besides which, she already knows what kind of underwear everyone wears; it comes with that doctor territory.

"Poor Ms. Crow," she murmurs, then shoots Tylen a sharp look.  "Ms. Blake, please don't hesitate to page me if Ms. Crow needs to talk without men around...Mr. Orgesh, shall we move off the topic of you purchasing underwear for women?"  That came out a trifle too touchy, especially given the circumstances of their 'relationship', and Shui shakes her head.  "Ms. Crow seems a trifle stressed."

Then her eyebrow cocks.  "That is an...impressive amount of military equipment, Mr. Orgesh.  Are you preparing for something in particular?"

"Wha .." Tylens starts off in response to Shui's comments, but then half chuckles at the thought of trying to check the calibre of women's underwear.

"I just assumed that Yas would be worried about ammunition.  She is always after more weapons and ammunition ..." he offers in response.  "And you always check the calibre when you are buying somewhere this far out.  Just to be on the safe side." he adds in self defence.

"As for my list of equipment, it is just to complete the security guard set I started last time out.  I couldn't get any hardware at all back there, and I thought my more casual style of weapon belt didn't quite complete the look properly." he adds in reference to his own shopping list  "and I quite fancy a grav belt -  might be fun to play with." he says with a grin.

However, he makes a mental note to buy some of the skimpiest underwear he can find as a peace offering gift for the doctor  - OK, more of a tease really - but a bit of fun anyway.

Ash chuckles along with Saskia when the engineer makes her remark about Marine underwear protocols.  He shakes his head, "You likely have more experience than I, Ms. Blake."  Even though they are both ex- Imperial Navy.  He adds with a slightly rueful smile, "'Commando' isn't really my style.  I'm more just into terror and survival."  The lanky ex-scout waves to Saskia as she pads off after Yasmine.

As the meeting seems to be breaking up, Ash looks over towards Jago, and prompts, "Anything more, boss?"  Just to be sure.

Then he turns to Tylen.  "Right, it's a date." Ash nods to his fellow inactive IISS member about going shopping.  He adds off-hand, "Though, given what I saw in the entry for Rangent, I don't think that there will be very many shields or grav belts around."  The navigator shrugs slightly, before continuing, "At least not at bargain basement prices."  He puts his mug in the sink, and then brushes off one of the pleats on his coverall sleeves.

He smile slightly at the thought of Tylen rounding out his security kit, "You know I never really pegged you as a 'uniform' guy."  Especially, in light of their previous conversation with respect to the crew patches.  But to each their own.

"I'm not" Tylen responds with a smile.  "But other people are, and sometimes people behave differently when they see a security uniform." he shrugs.

"Take Port Security, for instance.  They see a man in jeans and a t-shirt, with a pair of low slung guns - they watch him to make sure he is behaving.  A man in a security uniform, they nod to and go about their business secure in the knowledge he is one of their own.  To some extent, the same sort of thing is true of the average man in the street." Tylen shrugs as he lays out the simple psychology behind his reasoning.  "And when we were back on Frenzie, I realised I wanted all the edge I could get." he adds, rounding out his reasoning.

"But it is a long standing shopping list.  If I can't find what I want at the price I want to pay, I'll wait until we get somewhere else."
This message was last edited by the player at 08:35, Tue 16 Apr 2013.

“Yea, that’s about it, don’t forget to take comms if anyone goes ashore, ” the Captain says, apparently oblivious to any pointed comments about sandwiches.

“Our next port of call is Phlume, Tylen, slightly more high tech and sophisticated than this place so it might be worth saving your shopping list for a while.”

There are, of course, a few more details...  The auction is scheduled for about midday, local time, which would put it at about 09:30 by Profit Margin's chronometers.  There is also a reminder for anybody leaving the ship to dress warmly and ensure that they have protection against airborne contaminants.

Saskia heads for Yas' quarters to check up on her friend.  The two have known each other almost as long as they've known Jago which, given the generally transient nature of freetrader crew rosters, is a very long time.

Ash finalises his shopping list, adding a few alternate choices, in case the local food retailers don't have everything that Shui would really like, and discusses with Tylen when they should head into the nearby dome to see what they can pick up.

That would leave Jago and Shui to handle the invites for dinner.  And deal with any passengers who might not be interested in attending, but would still have access to the lounge...

Shui coughs.  "Ammunition, yes.  Apologies, Mr. Orgesh," she continues, somewhat embarassed.  "I am...unfamiliar with terminologies and so forth used among military personnel..." This is just going to dig her in more deeply, and she abandons her attempt to nod along with his explanation of the security guard set.

It does seem a bit much for security, especially when Tylen has a laser carbine already, but having already placed one foot into her mouth, she's loath to taste the other.

Fortunately, Ash strikes up a conversation with Tylen, and Shui takes that moment to hurry off to the sink and wash the dishes placed therein, including Ash's recently abandoned mug.  With that completed, she retreats to work on her list of supplies, as well as head out to seek a head-count from the current passengers with regards to the dinner.  "Captain Lanza, I shall handle theinvitationsforthedinner, contactyoushortly," she rapid-fires on her way out.

Safe.  Or partly so; her life has certainly shifted a few degrees off-center of late.

First, she decides, to Mr. DeSant, and firming her shoulders, Shui strides down the ship's halls in search of that passenger.  It never occurs to her to send the invites via e-mail.

Tylen watches almost bemused as the women make their exits, then turns to Ash  ”I just need a moment or two to get my mask and cold weather gear.  Then I’m ready.” he says with a shrug.  ”Have we got Shui’s list yet?  Or shall I chase her up for it?  Although it might be easier to see what there is for sale and call …”

With that he makes his way back to his cabin to strap on his revolvers and the put his cold weather over-coat over the top. He selects a synthi-wool hat, that will fold up and go into a pocket, and a pair of gloves  made from the same material.  He keeps his normal boots on, working on the basis that he expects it to be warmer inside  the city and that he will only be out in the extreme cold in short bursts.

Once he is ready, he makes his way back to the lounge, his combi-mask swinging lightly from his hand.

Like Tylen, the navigator of the Profit Margin does have to pause and watch as all of the women leave in their various emotional states.  He tries with middling success to keep a mischievous expression from creeping on this his face.

His internal reverie broken by his fellow scouts' musings, Ash shrugs and notes off-hand, "I believe that I have enough input from Ms. Tiesi concerning food stores."  But then he adds with a slight, crooked smile, "But if you wish to pursue her further, feel free."

The navigator notes more seriously, "I am pretty much ready as well."  He stands and starts towards his quarters, "Meet you back at the 'lock in five?"  Ash just needs to grab his duster, cap, and gloves.  And stop by the locker for a mask - though he could probably just hold his breath and sprint if he really needed to.

As the others take their leave, Jago has one final item of preparation for his dinner party and turns to the comms consul.

“Hello the ‘Ore Hound’, this is the Profit Margin, anyone one there?”