Reggie boarded and slowly shook his head. " Fraid not, Mr. Wymp. I was hoping to catch some rumors about the Papist paradise we are bound for. But either I am losing my touch, or there is nothing really juicy to hear."

"Have a seat, we're interviewing potential crew when they show up and the captain wants everyone's input. The 'weather' is nice here." he says with a smile in the starport.

 With a smile, Reggie adjusted that baseball style cap he never seemed to remove, and claimed a chair." I thought we had enough crew already. What slots need to still be filled?"

"Sarah is being replaced by a Dominique or something or other and Florence is leaving. Plus we have a possible passenger to St. Brendans, a Crosser."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:49, Tue 14 Jan 2020.

   Approaching the airlock that separated the ship from the passageway and the rest of the terminal, a woman dressed in a white pants-suit and a black top made her way down, one hand moving to the bridge of her nose to push the amber-tinted glasses back into a higher position. She walked with a purpose to the airlock, her other hand holding the handrest to a large rectangular suitcase that rolled along behind her.

   Her forward motion slowed as the hand moved from her glasses and inside the sleeve of her jacket, where she extracted a small hand-held computer. She looked down while she slowed, then up again as she resumed her pace and approached the entranceway. After she'd replaced the unit back into her coat, she came to a stop and took a deep breath. With a slow exhale, she pressed the stud at the bottom of the keypad that would activate the door protocols. She looked up into the scanner, then lowered her glasses and spoke:

   "I'm looking for the Captain or the Chief Officer on this ship? My cousin may have mentioned something about me ... I'm Dominiq."

"We've been waiting with bells on, come on in!" Horace reached out his hand to help with the bag."I'm First Officer, Horace Wymp. This is the Captain, the others can introduce themselves."

In reply to Horace Wymp (msg # 35):

 Reggie smiled at the newcomer. "Hello, just call me Reggie. I look after the ship and crew. You might call me the ship's welfare specialist ."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:45, Tue 14 Jan 2020.

Einar, dressed in his new coat, some cargo pants and a pair of deck boots nodded to Dominique as he saw her approach, and then offered a hand as Horace introduced him.

"Captain Einar Karvonen, good to have you aboard Miss Shabazz. Sarah had mentioned you before, but I'll admit I didn't put two and two together until she mentioned your stage name" he admitted with a slight smile. "Didnt quite realize at first that we would be hosting a celebrity."

He stepped back and gave a welcoming gesture aboard. "How was your trip in?"

   Looking through her amber-tinted sunglasses at the trio of gentlemen, one of them a well-dressed man who leaned forward to offer a hand for her baggage, Dominiq smiled. At first, it was a simple curl of her lips used when meeting them for the first time. When the Captain spoke and mentioned her history as a celebrity, the look warmed and her smile rose towards her brown eyes. Dominiq cast a quick glance down to the First Officer's feet, then back up as one corner of her mauve coloured lips curled slightly. "That might have been an interesting look on you, Mr Wymp," she said playfully as she moved her right wrist and a trio of gold bangles slid with a small bell-like sound to surround where her wrist met the bottom of her pale palm, "But thank you for that, though. I needed a good laugh."

   Her attention turned to the Captain as she took his hand and,  her voice lowering to almost a whisper, "I'm not a performer anymore, Captain. But it's nice to still be thought of like that occasionally. As for the trip, well ... it wasn't High Passage, but it wasn't Low, either." Another half-smirk implied she was more than aware of the difference between the two.

   She let go of his hand and spoke in her usual tone. "I'm here because my cousin said she needed my help. I'm not sure about what she did on the ship, but she always was good with a circuit board - when I was just starting out, she helped keep the sound equipment together while I helped pay her way to become an Anthropologist."

   Dominiq smiled to Gain as well, something that judging by the small, thin lines on either side of her mouth, she did fairly often. "Thanks, Reggie. 'Welfare specialist', hmm? Sounds like you and I will be seeing a bit more of each other in the next little while."

   She turned back to the Captain. "I don't want to be a bother to any of you - I'm not sure if I'll be crew, passenger or supercargo here--" She paused a tic; either whether she was trying to find the words to finish or gauge the men's reaction to what she'd already said, but continued with little more than a brief pause. "But I'd like to get started as soon as possible. And if we're on mostly first name basis here, I'm fine with Dominiq, or 'Nique for short. Ms Shabbazz I'd like to leave at the airlock, and if anyone calls me 'D', I'm not responsible for what gets tossed in your direction."

  She looked over her shoulder back to the passageway. "And preferably without too many eyes, ears and drones listening in. If one of you could direct me where I'll be staying for the next little while, I'd appreciate it."

Horace directed Nique to her quarters, pulling her suitcase for her.

"This will be your room, I hope you are comfortable. You will have complete privacy from paparazzi that's for sure." He lets her suitcase in the middle of her room and steps out the door and heads off back to work. "When you're ready to complete your interview, come on up to the bridge."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:54, Fri 17 Jan 2020.

 Before Mr. Wymp could take the ladies luggage, Reggie spoke." Please excuse what I am about to say and do,lady. But as the self appointed welfare officer, I must ask if you are carrying  any weapons in your luggage, or upon your person?"

 He was smiling,when he asked, and was polite, but it was obvious he was serious. " Ship policy is for crew and passengers to declare anything that might be a danger, to crew or ship."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:52, Thu 16 Jan 2020.

   Dominiq half-turned and looked towards Reggie and saw the smile on his lips first, but the more serious intent in his eyes before he spoke. He was trying to be polite - and to be honest, he was doing a fair bit better than some ship's Purser's she'd met in the past - but she understood his intent. Weapons, she knew, were dangerous; either in space or on the ground. Reggie was only looking out for his ship.

   "Even as a slightly faded star," she smiled, "I still get the odd trouble here and there. If you don't mind?"

   She waited a moment, then slowly moved her right hand around and behind, the move opening her alabaster coloured jacket while she calmly reached back for something. As the jacket opened, it revealed a small, leather-bound sheath on her right side, with what looked like a short-bladed dagger inside. The blade's handle was secured by a quick-release strap across the handle, indicating the weapon could be easily brought out and used in a fight.

   When she reached back and stopped, she made a small lifting motion behind her and brought it back around casually, so as not to appear suspicious. When she brought the object around, she produced a secured holster that contained a small non-metallic auto-pistol - one that might serve to pass weapon-detection systems. There was little wear and tear on either holster or the weapon, indicating either she'd just purchased the thing or hadn't had much time to practice with it. "I'm assuming the ship has a locker, or someplace to store weapons. I keep this, along with a smaller pistol on me at all times - just in case. I've spare ammunition in my bag - its all secured, no need to worry. I've also got permits to carry both on me as well as my perscomp, as well."

   She lowered the hand with the secured holster and regarded Reggie evenly. "You can take the guns now, or I can surrender it all once I've unpacked. The only request I have is that the knives stay. They've been everywhere since I was a teenager, and I'd like to have something to defend myself with if things do go sideways and I can't get to the armoury. Fair deal?"

   Dominiq walked along with Wymp towards her stateroom, now slightly lighter in her armaments after she'd surrendered both pistols and ammunition to Reggie. It was a short walk to her room, and she watched Wymp roll her case into the room. "Thank you, Mr Wymp," she answered, then set herself to the task of settling in once the man left and the stateroom door closed.

   It didn't take long for her to unpack - she didn't have much in the way of possessions, and she'd learned to travel light from the first tour she'd ever been part of - so, in a matter of minutes, she stepped out from her room and made her way along the corridors of the Arcus towards the Bridge. Brown eyes took in the ship's character; the newness (or lack thereof) of the ship's systems, how well maintained the ship looked, as well as the people who served aboard her. From what she could tell, the Arcus was a small commercial vessel, intended to be piloted by a small group with some automation to help the crew. Snug, she thought.

   She stopped just before the doorway to the Bridge and stood in place and breathed slowly to calm herself. She took a moment, closed her eyes and breathed deeply; strangely, it almost felt like stepping on-stage. Only this stage was smaller and more intimate ... After the second deep breath, her eyelids fluttered open and she stepped forward towards the door and onto the Bridge.

   "Hello again," Dominiq said as she entered, "Ready ta begin if y'all are."

Horace nodded hello and turned to the captain to take the lead.

In the Cafe Americain...

Marlo is fascinated by the idea that this Human actually wants to try the Crosser language.  Marlo switches off the translator.

Marlo says a few things which don't sound right to Florence, then pauses, and the words change to things she can interpret.

"I am sorry.  Now I speak Trade Dialect.  That is what is usually taught to you as our language.  Each Home Ship now has its own dialect.  Tens of thousands of years will do that!  But Trade is for one Home to another.  It has many old words and forms we do not use now except for Trade Dialect speaking.

"I am glad to have my request forwarded by you to your ship.  May my request be accepted and may it be mutually beneficial.  But as for exports and trade talk... you must know, that Crossers trade with other civilizations. We cross the vastness between them.  Trade is good, it is our life.  Thus we know the value of information, which can be of great wealth one moment, and gone the next when a secret has turned to common knowledge.  Thus, I am glad to speak of exports and imports and what is the production of St. Brendan, but... once I am accepted and aboard.  Consider this something I offer in addition to the fee!"

** ** ** ** **

Meanwhile... back towards the ship...

Most of the available passengers have simply submitted their requests, and let it stand at that- either you have room and can take them or you cannot.

But one has decided to be persistent.  It is the journalist, who catches up to Reggie when Reggie is in the passageway back to the ship.  He's a young man with black hair and a Mediterranean look, who sounds a little excited.

"You're from the ship outbound to St. Brendan, right?  You have someone talking to the Crosser.  I saw them  in the Concourse.  Listen, the alien.. the Crosser... I watch them, report on them.  People like that stuff, you know?  Travels of an alien emissary, what is it doing, what does it want.. is it a spy?  I need to be on, too, if it's going on your ship.  It's important.  Do you have any space?  I'll sleep on the floor if you're out of cabins.  But I'm not paying first class for a floor."

Far from finding the news about the two languages depressing, Florence seemed really interested by it… Though she was quite a bit worried in the first few seconds when Marlo spoke and she didn't understand anything.

Once the Crosser explained his position on trade, Florence nodded with a smile. "That sounds fair, though I can't say how it'll be received." She shrugged. After a second, she added. "And I'd be pleased if we were able to talk during the trip. I hope you'll be willing to teach me a bit of your Home Ship language too." While it wouldn't be all that useful long term - though who could say? - it could do quite a bit of good if they ended dealing with the ship itself after St. Brendan. Of course, most people wouldn't be able to learn much of anything in the time they had, but for her? It would be a piece of cake.

"For now though, I suppose we'd best go to the ship itself and get you a spot." She seemed to hesitate to add something else, but in the end she shook her head and stood up, inviting Marlo to follow her to the Albatros.

The bridge itself was not designed for a "conference", being very much designed to have everyone facing the same direction. And as the adjacent office was prohibitively small to include everyone, Einar had elected to take a more casual approach and merely stood nearer the bow, his back to the observation window.

"Sure, shouldn't take long" Einar replied and leaned slightly against one console. "So we didn't know Sarah long, seemed smart as a whip" he grinned faintly. "But she made it clear she was never in for the long haul."

He glanced around at the others. "We're a brand new operation, just incorporated, and the ships fresh from the dealer. Military auction" he noted offhand. "But we've got some old hands abaord, most of us are on second careers."

He crossed his arms "But, the main thing we've got goin for us is we're free agents. We can pick and choose where we go, and why we do. Need to keep the tank full and the galley stocked of course, but we've got a lot of wiggle room." he stated proudly.

"So with all that in mind, was there somethin in particular that brought you out this way? We're you...lookin to get to someplace? Or...just a change of pace?" he asked casually, and seemed earnestly interested.

   Before the Captain spoke, Dominiq took a quick look around the Bridge. Usually, such areas were off-limits to civilians, so getting the chance to be invited seemed like a small indulgence to her. From what she could tell, was that the seats showed little wear, and there wasn't the usual lived in ship smell that some tramp freighters usually acquired after a couple of years.

   Dominiq managed a soft giggle as she heard Karvonen's assumption of her cousin, Sarah, and nodded in agreement with the man's words. Smart, sure ... she thought, But occasionally smart-arsed when she got to know you.

   Dominiq took a half-step forward and placed her feet about shoulder-width apart as the Captain finished and asked her what she was looking for. Her left hand rose and rested above the belt on her pants, while she used her right to gesture as she answered Karvonen's question.

   Her hand flattened, palm up, as though she was accepting a gift. "Thank you, Captain, for spelling out not only what you and yours are about, but where you might be headed as well. Always good to know where things stand, so you can figure out where a person might fit in."

   Her hand changed, going from flat to an almost first, with her first finger extended. "What brought me here was a note I received from her that she was leaving the ship and going somewhere else." Dominiq paused, almost taking a moment to consider something, then shook her head and continued. "I'm not exactly sure of the way, or the details, but there is a matter of a Ship Share she'd offered to help buy this vessel. I'm not sure if I'm buying her share, or assuming ownership of same, but Sarah did want to have me involved in some way or another."

   She stopped and took a breath, and looked once again to the gentlemen she'd glanced to before as if she might be trying to gauge their reactions. "As some of you might know, I had a small singing and recording career going for a few years before I got tired of all of the runabout an' stuff that made me walk away. Right now, before my cousin told me about all of this--" she paused and her brown finger made a slow, lazy circle. "I would have been perfectly fine with coming to you all as a passenger looking to see the Galaxy and enjoying sort of a semi-retirement from the biz."

   She raised her finger once more, using it to make a point. "But I know a lot of ships like this go Merchant, and I wouldn't blame you for going the same way. If you're headed that way, I might be able to help out. I'm no expert when it comes to buying and selling cargo, but I know people well enough. You don't exist in the music business without learning a thing or two about producers, power-brokers, and the occaisional trashy disc-spinner." Dominiq rolled her brown eyes and sighed before she returned her attention back to the group.

  "So, pardon a girl's curiousity," she said as she moved close to one of the nearby leather chairs and raised a hand and placed it over the top of the seat to hold it in place while leaning against it. "But do y'all have a plan for the Arcus?"

"Albatross, she use to be the Arcus, now she is an Albatross. We renamed her."
This message was last edited by the player at 16:08, Sun 19 Jan 2020.

 Reggie  responded to Ms. Shabazz. “ I am sorry, Ms. Shabazz, but the policy cannot be changed, unless the Captain authorized such. I am afraid you shall have to surrender all weapons. And again, I regret the need of my having to search your luggage. Until we can upgrade, it is old school methods." Reggie did indeed, seem to mean what he said to her.


 Later, on his return to the ship after running a quick errand, Reggie was intercepted by a young man seeking to bypass the  process to become a passenger on the Albatross. The self-appointed ship’s “Welfare Officer” stopped to regard the man.”  To be honest, I am not aware if there is room or not. If you like, you can accompany me to the ship, and I shall inquire of the XO. Mr. Wymp.” With a smile, Reggie turned and started walking again.

Marlo follows Florence back to the Albatross.  Refueling didn't take that long, and the ship is ready to leave at any time.

There's no hurry to kick them out.  Even though a large passenger ship from Poseidon is arriving soon, the station will still be fairly empty.  (The ship, a regular liner, won't be continuing on to St. Brendan.  The Nebula Pearl simply goes back and forth, Poseidon and Deseret, one of those very comfortable routes some spacers, like characters, get bored with.)

And the young journalist, Sammy Sastrelli, goes to the ship as well, to hopefully secure boarding.

He's excited that the alien will be on the ship.. and then stuck at St. Brendan.

"It'll give me more time, get more info, better stories, that kind of thing."

Sammy is a kind of Paparazzi.  He likes quirky subjects, like Crosser Explorers visiting Human space.  Celebrities aren't his main line... but he knows enough to know who Dominique is.

He mentions this casually to Reginald.  "Now I have to be on this ship!"

Marlo pays no attention to him.  The Crosser is simply interested in a friendly trip to St. Brendan.  Marlo's introduction is by way of the small Translator the alien always carries- when Crossers speak it sounds like musical growling.

"I hope you are comfortable with me.  I know that your species has some instinctive reactions, I understand."

Marlo is referring to something the others might have heard of- anyone with an Education of 8 or better certainly.  Crossers are civilized, gentle, mild mannered people, but they look like carnivorous dinosaurs.  The big reptilian jaws full of long teeth can make humans think of them as "monsters" and react accordingly.  Crossers find this exasperating.

"We're safe Nique, we will not be bothering you so you won't need a knife generally, though you can use one if you need to in your work. If you need one, let Reggie know and he can make arrangements for an exception."

 Reggie make a mental eye roll,at the would be journalist. "If there is a berth for you,Sir, I must ask you not to bother your fellow passengers. If they wish to speak with you, all fine and well. But if they do not, then that is that. Do you accept this?" Asked in a polite tone of voice, and a smile.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:32, Tue 21 Jan 2020.

Einar continued to chat with their highest profile crew member while Wymp and Gain continued to attend to their duties.

"That's an excellent question" Einar replied slowly, and nodded as if it was a topic long discussed among them. Or at least one he had devoted a lot of thought to.

"We are incorporated, so there is a lot of discussion to be had. I imagine Wymp might want to lean her out to maximize the profit margins on our runs, while Reggie, well" he grinned. "That guy might turn her into a full on gunship if he had the money and the time."

He stood and paced a little as he continued. "My background's in Salvage" he explained. "I first took an interest in the ole' girl because of her cargo layout, there's ah, big central bay you see, large diameter access. It's a good design for Salvage because you can cut off a chunk of whatever you want, store it whole, and then sort of chew on it while you are lookin' for your next claim." he took a deep draw from his cup. "So if it were me, I'd take her out lookin for a good claim, somethin we could sell back to the Navy ideally, maybe even somethin their intel wonks'd pay real money for."

He looked her in the eye, then jerked his chin towards the ships exterior. "There's nigh on two centuries of stuff just out their driftin from the wars. And I get the impression that the powers that be don't have a clue where most of it is"