Ash smiles slightly at Jago's joke.  At least, the edges of his mouth curl up, having met Draik, the lanky navigator is having a little trouble trying to envision him next to a militaristic hexapod that is a K'kree.  He simply shrugs then, "As you wish, Boss."  'Don't ask, don't tell' seems to be the order of the day; he won't be the one to broach the subject with Covan.

He moves on to the other topic that Jago asked of him, "The prelim plots will be done by the time we start refueling.  As you know that, the full calculations will require the actual 100D coordinates and reference time for our opening jump aperture.  So, usually once we set our course for that out-system location, I start running the final calculations.  They will definitely be done by the time we are ready to jump again."  He catches himself likely getting overly technical; so, Ash stops and simply paraphrases, "The more accurately we have the start time of the jump and our location at jump start, the more accurately I can pinpoint our transition and location at jump end."

And while he is sure that everyone assembled understands that bootstrapping issue involved, Ash makes the quandary explicit, "But since the calculations themselves take time..."  You can only be so accurate in your predications as the act of calculating causes the result to fluctuate; the nature of jump mechanics.  And the basis of all misjumps - misalignment of the calculation to reality whether due to inaccuracies in the input location and time, problems in the theory approximations, or actual fuel purity.  Any and all could be disastrous.

But in this case, they should be fine.  He trusted Saskia's awesome engineering expertise, the tested multivariate splines used in the standard jump calcuations, and his own navigational (extensive, if he could be so bold) experience.  So, there wasn't anything to worry about.  After a pause, he simply adds, "Anyways.  There should still be plenty of time.  Everything should be fine for a fast turnaround, boss."

Just for a moment Tylen flashes back to his days in the X-Boats, when the computer used to make all the navigational jump calculations and he just used to press the button.  "Maybe, I'll take the shotgun down with me when I stand watch over the cargo handlers.  That should give us a bit more of a presence." he says languidly as he scratches his temple with his thumb.

Profit margin's captain nods, "I've got every confidence that all of you will do your jobs like the consummate professionals that you are.  I just wanted to make sure you're all aware that we have some unusual circumstances related to the next couple of Jumps.  And let all you know that, for those two Jumps, I'm making a few changes to the usual routine."

He leans back in his seat and tries to ignore the siren scent of the bacon.  Useless effort, of course.  In order to succeed he would need to have his nostrils plugged with wax.

"I think now would be a good time to mention, as well, that after Dinomn I plan to almost double back... well, more of a 120° detour... and head for Regina.  It's just a single Jump from Dinomn.  Class A port, with decent tech and law levels.  Was thinking of stopping there for a couple of weeks.  Take the chance to visit family.  Corlan's from there too, of course, and I know he misses his grandchildren, even if he pretends not too.  So everybody will get some leave on a civilised world with an open sky.  I'll also treat you all, including Corlan, Eneris and Keryn, to a meal at the best restaurant we can get to."

Shui watches the captain like a hawk, though without the predatory avian's 'kill and gorge' instinct.  "Regina sounds wonderful, Captain Lanza.  It would do you good to see your family again, and certainly Corlan would enjoy the chance to regale his with his exploits...as well as hear their own stories."

One eyebrow arches slightly.  "Perhaps I should send your family a message with regards to your current dietary necessities.  It would certainly make things easier if they do not have to scramble upon your arrival.  After all, you are planning to work on your health while visiting, are you not."

It's not really a question.

Jago sighs, and shakes his head, "Sending them a message wouldn't do much good from here.  It'd probably arrive at about the same time as I do.  Maybe later, since Covan Draik told us he's had trouble finding a ship that's headed in that general direction.  In fact we're the first one he's found since he started looking."

"Shame we don't have a mail contract, or you could have paid me to carry the message to my own family.  He laughs, and then adds, "But we'd need to commit to a regular route, and set aside cargo space for mail."

It seems that Jago has, at least, looked into the idea of taking a mail contract.

The captain settles for a little more tea, and a piece of lightly buttered toast.  "Anybody got any further questions about the next couple of Jumps, or our new passenger?"

Saskia's face settles into a frown as Jago speaks.  A frown which deepens as he continues.

When he asks for further questions she sees her chance.  She clears her throat and says, "Not about the Jumps, no, but Regina.  I was wondering if you plan to put the ship in for her annual maintenance while we're there?  It's about due.

"And will you be paying for hotel rooms for everybody while the port techs are working on the Margin, because I bet Keryn and Eneris can't afford to pay for their own."

Jago smiles and nods, "No putting anything past you, I see.  Yes, I was thinking of getting the annual checks done at Regina, depending on yard availability.  The war might be putting pressure on them.  It'll be just under a month early for the maintenance, but that's close enough.  So two weeks vacation on a subsector capital for everybody."

The second part of Saskia's question brings a slight frown.  "I wasn't planning on paying for hotel rooms, no.  As you know, the usual procedure is that people make their own off-ship sleeping arrangements and pay for it themselves."

"You raise a good point about Keryn and Eneris though.  I'll need to think about paying for them to stay somewhere.  The ship won't be comfortable, or safe, while the work's being done."

"But to tell the truth, I was thinking that Keryn might want to leave at Regina.  It's a rich world, where she can get good medical care and education for her child.  For herself too, for that matter.  Since Yas has been paying for her passage on the ship, I'll return Keryn's money to her, converted to Imperial currency, of course."

"I won't force her to leave, but I will talk to her, and explain that there are worse places than Regina to live."

"Ah, let me talk to her, all right?" Yas says, having been sitting there silent, eating extra bacon and what not.

"I'll also make sure she got somewhere to stay, whether she will... remain with us or not," she adds, a slight frown making its way onto her features.  Somehow her appetite was gone, and she stands up and makes her way to where the coffee awaits.  There she slowly pour herself some, her back towards the others.

Tylen. too, takes some extra bacon and fiddles around making a sandwich out of it, then eats it slowly and appreciatively.  "I like bacon sarnies." he says to no one in particular.

As he chews, he starts pulling up details on Regina. It's a while since he has been  there, and most of that was spent port side. Now there is a chance for a bit of a holiday, it is worth having an idea of what to expect.

Saskia puts her cup down, afraid that she'll drop it.  "I'm with Yas.  She's the one Keryn followed home, so she should be the one to talk to her about this.  It'll sound less -- frelling official -- coming from her rather than from an actual Captain.  So Keryn will be less likely to take it the wrong way.

"You can't just say to her that maybe she should think about leaving the ship.  If you don't handle it right she might think that it's a hint to pack up and get out."

And then, as an afterthought, "If you were planning it as a hint, Jago Lanza, then you'd be looking for a new frelling Engineer about a minute after you dropped it.  And their first job would be working out what the yotz I did to the drives before I left."

"Oh, I suspect Captain Lanza meant nothing of the sort, Ms. Blake.  We should give him the benefit of the doubt."  Jago being a decent man on all accounts, his only flaw being his deplorable diet.

Evidently Yasmine is none too sanguine about Keryn leaving; it's rather obvious.  She should ask the security officer about it...but Shui knows that the reply would likely be deflections disguised as humor.  Yasmine likes her privacy, especially with regards to emotion; pressing her will only firm up any wall.  Better to just wait and see if the officer broaches the subject herself.

One eyebrow cocks as she studies Tylen.  "You could do much better, health-wise, than bacon sarnies," she finally notes.  Scouts.  Put a man alone in a ship for months, and the bad cooking habits start to pile up....

"With lots of ketchup." he grins across at Shui, please that she rose to the bait.

However, he stays well clear of any discussion concerning Keryn's destination and Jago's motives.  He might look it sometimes, but he is not that stupid.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:51, Tue 19 May 2015.

Ash sits quietly, sipping his coffee out the large mug in front of him and watching most of the crew - well, all of the women-folk - grill the Captain on his choice of words regarding Keryn.

He casts a knowing glance at Tylen.  Leaning back in his chair, the lanky navigator runs one hand through his close cropped hair.  And with his other hand, he keeps his mug close.  Though Ash has never been secretive about his affection for their pregnant passenger (in a purely, brotherly way, of course), he is not about to pile on.

Or get between a figurative stoning mob and their quarry.  You'd have thought that Jago had taken the name of the ancient Solomani diety, 'Jehovah' in vain or some such to deserve the looks and barbs he was getting.

"Look... " Jago says, raising his hands in a placatory gesture, "you're all getting this wrong.  I have no intention of kicking Keryn of the ship.  I like her.  She's shown more interest in how the ship operates as a freetrader than some crew members we've had.  I was just going to let her know that Regina is probably going to be the best place to live that we're going to find for some time."

He decides to risk a smile.  "It's comfortable and, as the local capital, well defended."  If it'll make everybody feel better, and save my shower suddenly being converted into an emergency airlock, then Yas can talk to her about it."

"Now, can we stop planning a mutiny?"

"Uh huh, the 4518th Lift Infantry, almost as good as Marines.  Better eqipped, though, best there is.  The Duke's guard.  Certainly safe," Yas notes in a deapan voice, still with her back towards the others.

A preganant pause; might be twin puns even.

She stirs the cup in labour pains.

Then comes the birth.

"She's my responsibility, simply."

Luckily for some she is no mind reader, or the Margin might have been looking for a new navigator before they reached Regina, after the previous one had somehow slipped on the soap and managed to fly out the airlock, while in j-space, even.  He probably would have shouted, "go on without me" and "fly, you folks".  Yeah.

Jago sighs at the narrowly averted mutiny.  "All right... talking to Keryn about Regina is Yas' responsibility, but all decisions will have to be cleared through me, since I am, technically, in command of this ship.  Good, I'm glad that's all sorted out."

Then, as if to assert his authority, he picks up his fork, reaches out, and spears two rashers of bacon.  He places them on a round of toast, tops them with another round, and  proceeds to eat his bacon and toast sandwich in a distinctly defiant manner.

"Now, anybody got anything else to say about my plans for the next few weeks?" he says between bites, apparently well satisfied that he has put his foot down with a firm hand, "Anything that doesn't question my control over Profit Margin."
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:55, Sun 24 May 2015.

Saskia considers a number of options before saying, "Yotz!  We were only joking with you, Jago.  If the thought of not eating bacon does that to your frelling sense of humor, then maybe you have an addiction problem?"  Then she smiles as sweetly as she can to show that this, too, is just a joke.

"The planned route, and the rules about this new passenger, it all looks good to me, and I like the idea of some downtime at a good port.  On a nice planet too."

About to make comment on the situation, Shui rocks to a halt.  For a long moment she watches, blank-faced, as Jago consumes the sandwich.  "Nothing further, Captain Lanza," she finally states, her tone as flat as her expression.  Standing, she silently moves around the table collecting used dishes and brings them to the sink to be washed.

"Technically," Yas says, sounding tired, "it's her decision, being a paying passenger."

She empties her cup and puts it in for washing.

"Unless you plan to kick her out, of course.  Then I might object.  Excessively," she attempts to jest, but not quite making it.  So, with a sigh, she excuses herself and leaves in the direction of her cabin.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:45, Wed 27 May 2015.

Ash cradles his mug protectively, not even considering it for a scrubbing from the ship's steward.  Taking another sip during the slightly awkward silence that follows Jago's bacon fest, he gives the Captain a thumbs-up, then chimes in, "Sounds good to me, Boss."

Pushing away from the table as the others start to disperse, Ash excuses himself, "I'll, uh, be on the bridge."  He offers the assembled a wan smile before continuing, "Uh, prepping astrogation calculations."  Yeah, that's it...

With a slightly raised eyebrow, Tylen stands and helps Shui to collect dishes  "Sorry." he mutters wondering if his joke about the bacon had gone to far.  In all honesty, it hadn't been that funny, but then a lot of situation jokes aren't really funny.

But then he cheers up again "At least we know we get some decent time ashore in a couple of jumps." he adds with a grin "And there is bound to be somewhere worth visiting on Regina."

The meeting dissolves, as people leave the table.  There's a definite atmosphere though, very noticeable, as the crew of Profit Margin head for their duty stations or their quarters, leaving her Captain alone with the last of the bacon.

For a long, mouth-watering moment he regards the food with something akin to lust... then, with a sigh and a shake of his head, he pushes away from the table and returns to his cabin.  Regina he muses, as he settles at his desk, will give everybody a welcome break.  From the job, and from me.

In the lounge, Tylen helps Shui with the dishes, emptying them and loading them into the washer.

Yas makes for her quarters, where the door refuses to slam, no matter how hard she mashes the "close" button...

Saskia and Ash head for their respective stations to make sure everything will run smoothly when Jago gives the command to leave Phlume.  A check of the monitors shows that refuelling is proceeding as expected...

Saskia decides to use her Bridge panel simply because there's nothing running in Engineering just now that she can't watch from there.  The fuel guages are at the 75% mark so she starts the refining plant.  Phlume can't provide purified fuel, so it's up to ships to run their own treatment process if they want it.  Privately the Engineer is glad that Jago only uses refined fuel.  She's seen what impurities in the D₂ can do to a Jump drive.

She glances across to the Nav station, "Hey, Ash, do you think Jago handled things right there?  There were some frelling angry people around that table."

"Your joke," Shui states, with a small smile to prove her words, "was not an issue at all, Mr. Orgesh."  She could lie here.  She probably should.  She does it often enough, after all, making certain that she isn't a problem for anyone.  But...

"I am upset," she confesses, well-after Jago has left the room.  "Nothing to be done about it, and most certainly it has nothing to do with you.  I am sorry for my tension; certainly you deserve none of it."  She fiddles with the dishes for a moment, taking the last from the table and cleaning them.  "Ridiculous.  My mood is not helping.  I will let this go." 

A shrug follows.  "There is no point in agonizing over something one cannot change."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:18, Tue 02 June 2015.

"So tell me about it." Tylen says with a shrug.  "Sometimes talking  helps to get things out of your system.  Or at least lets you come to terms with them for a while." he says.  Never very sophisticated, in these terms, he offers Shui the only form of support he can think of.