The inner door on the airlock pops open, and Jockram steps into the interior of Profit Margin to be greeted by her crew.  He's clad in a vaccsuit which is adorned with a picture of sunset in a binary star system.  In one gloved hand he carries a metal case, which he hands to Jago, then breaks the seal on his helmet and starts to remove the suit.  "Good evening everybody.  Banster and Hegerich are outside, waiting for me to tell them it's not an ambush.  If you like I can just not call them... we can leave them out there and dinner'll be about a hundred times more civilised."

The case proves to be unlocked, with a padded and insulated interior which holds two bottles of wine, and one of Halkan brandy.  "I don't know much about wine, but I've been told that those are reasonable, and the brandy's from my own personal stock."

The prospector finally manages to remove his colourful suit, to reveal a dark blue jumpsuit beneath.

Jago grins as he casts his eye over the labels on the bottles, “they’ll be excellent,” he assures the other captain, though the statement is based on supposition rather than knowledge, “we better let the others in though, not much point in an ambush without them.”

As the airlock recycles Jago indicates the way through to the crew lounge, “go on through,” he says with a smile, “unless you’d like to look round the bridge, that’s through here.”

OOC
Assuming that they are entering through the new forward airlock.

Jockram steps into the crew lounge, and looks about while he waits for his own crew to come aboard.  "I need to get a ship like this." he calls back to the welcoming committee near the airlock, "More spacious than the Hound.  And cleaner."  He reaches his arms wide, "I could have a good stretch in here without worrying about accidentally purging the atmosphere or disengaging the reactor safety interlocks."

The airlock starts to cycle again, and finally opens to reveal two figures crammed inside.  Banster's suit has some sort of vegetation, with a tall straight stem and a cluster of long drooping fronds at the top, standing on a beach alongside a blue ocean beneath an improbably picturesque sky.  Hegerich's features brightly coloured birds, flying in spirals which loop around the suit from his feet up to the neck seal.

Each raises a hand in greeting, then starts to remove his helmet.  As soon as the suits are unsealed, they both start to talk...

"Hello everybody."

"Jockram ain't finished all the brandy yet, has he?"

Ash had been doing his best wallflower impression, waiting at the back of the room while the assembled crew welcomed their Ore Hound counterparts.  He still had to admit that he felt slightly like an outsider as the newest (bar Eneris, of sorts) crew member.  It wasn't anything that the others on the Profit Margin, far from it.  The lanky navigator knew that it was his own hang-up.  The others just knew each other so much more intimately; it just took time to establish that type of camaraderie.

As Jockram pushed into the room to clear the area around the airlock, Ash eased his way over to the grizzled miner.  "Captaim," he greeted him and more formally introduced himself with his hand outstretched, "Ash Tescali, I am pleased to put a live face with the voice."  The comm link may have had grainy video capability, but nothing beat an in person meeting.

The ex-scout gives Banster and Hegerich a casual salute as they enter the ship proper.  He offers to help with their suits, but doesn't press them if they prefer to disrobe on their own.

Once the two boys have shed their suits, he also introduces himself to them as well, since he's never met them formally either.  He doesn't answer Hegerich's question merely shrugging and then gesturing to the lounge where there is more room for everyone to spread out.

"Gentlemen," Shui states, offerning a small bow.  She's dressed in one of her 'shore leave' outfits: a sleeveless black shirt, pale knee-length skirt, and a short black jacket.  "Our thanks, both for your presence and your gifts."  She breathes a small sigh of relief at the sight of the wine and brandy; it's something she's going to have to put in stock next time they're in a decent port, for circumstances such as this.

Thank goodness she can at least present a good table foodwise.

"I'm sure Ms. Blake would be pleased to discuss the ship's specifications with you," she informs the Ore Hound's captain.  "In the meantime, if you like I can pour you something to drink - from your stock, or a fruit juice if you'd rather spare it for the dinner."  She cocks her head to the side slightly, smiling.  "We also have coffee and various different teas."

”Or we have got beer.” Tylen says opening a bottle of the dark beer for himself.  The ex scout is back in his everyday clothes now.  After a quick trip through the fresher, it was natural to put the cargo pants and tee-shirt back on.  After all, these were friends coming to dinner, not guests who needed any special looking after.

His eyes linger on Shui for a moment, and he wonders perhaps if he should have dressed a bit more, but then decided its way too late now anyway.  ”Anything you want me to do, Shui?” he asks the stewardess, half expecting her to have everything well and truly organised by now.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:11, Sun 26 Jan 2014.

With everybody out of their vaccsuits and introduced, the two crews make their way over to the passenger lounge, where the rest of Profit Margin's "family" await them.  And in all the excitement, nobody seems to notice that the ship's Chief of Security was absent from the welcoming committee...

The passenger lounge is larger than the crew one, and considerable effort has gone into converting it into a suitable venue for a dinner party.

Extra chairs have been brought in from the empty cabins, and the wall displays have been set to show a slowly cycling sequence of scenic views from the popular, "Natural Wonders of the Third Imperium.  Corlan and Eneris had spent several hours selecting the particular views, and had avoided the shots of binary stars, nebulae, and other stellar phenomena, reasoning that the crew of a prospecting ship probably sees quite enough space as part of their regular routine.

Instead they have chosen views of purely planetary scenery.

Corlan is dressed in his best shipsuit, while Eneris is in his full Naval uniform, complete with medals. 

Keryn has managed to put together an outfit - a flowing, ankle length synthsilk dress, in gunmetal grey, and a few items borrowed from Saskia, Shui and Yas.

Introductions are made, for those who have not met, and people start to drift towards their seats...

Saskia wasn't planning to spend a lot of time on getting ready.  A quick shower and the best "off duty" clothes she could find that weren't too badly wrinkled from being stuffed into the closet.  She briefly considers putting her boots on, and decides she'll be more comfortable without.  Then reaches a compromise.

Finally she stands before the mirror in a black jumpsuit with tan sleeves, and a pair of socks.  "Perfect" the engineer murmurs, before adding a translucent dark green scarf, and immediately removing it and shoving it back under her bunk.

Five hours later she leaves her cabin in a pair of calf length black trousers, a light purple shirt (the words "Frankly, I couldn't give a frell" over her heart tastefully concealed by the black vest that she had decided to wear at the last moment).  The dark green translucent scarf and a pair of black socks complete her outfit.

The arrival of visitors on the crew side makes her nervous, so she stands well back and lets Yas distract all the attention from her.  It's all going perfectly until she realises that Yas isn't doing her job properly.  At all, in fact.  She isn't even there.  A brief pang of regret that she hadn't thought of a way out of this herself (an urgent coolant pump diagnostic, or something) and then it's over to the passenger lounge.

Keryn looks nice, hardly surprising, since Saskia had lent the passenger the best of her small collection of jewelry, and quite deliberately too.  Eneris has scrubbed up nicely, and has enough metalwork hanging on his chest to armor a strike cruiser.  Corlan is as well-groomed as ever.  But there's still no sign of Yas.  The empty chair just emphasises that one of Saskia's decoys is missing.  She might end up having to engage in polite conversation and social interaction.

Oh dren!

Those who know Jago might notice the clean shirt under his bomber jacket, they might notice that the aforesaid jacket and his boots have had a wipe down with a damp cloth that he’s recently shaved and missing an unlit cigar, but otherwise he looks much the same as usual as he takes the seat at the head of the table.

“Place looks nice,” he says with a smile to the long term passengers, “you’ve done us proud, thanks.”

For a moment the Captain considers asking Shui if she has everything ready but such a questions would be foolishly redundant, instead he asks, “can we give Yasmin a few minutes before we start , I don’t know what’s keeping here but I’m sure she’ll be along shortly.

Does everyone have drinks? ”

Aside, he ask quietly, “Ash, do you have a link with the bridge? We need to keep a weather eye open.”

"No worries, Boss." Ash reassures Jago with a thumbs-up, "I'm on it.  Everything appears to be in order ..."  His heads-up display overlay on the reticule of his headband has been gently glowing the entire time.  Like his Captain, the thin navigator of the Profit Margin is loathe to leave the bridge unattended at any given time - especially if they are in flight (even if they are in orbit).  Of course, their physical presence isn't actually required, the ship's computer has enough bandwidth and horsepower to keep his wrist computer and communicator patched in and updating real-time with any telemetry.

Ash is probably the least excitingly dressed of his companions.  He is wearing a simple, dark blue coverall, though it is freshly pressed and the pleats look quite crisp.  The sleeve arms are rolled up and his naval utility blade is strapped to his side.  The leather belt at his waist has a set of gloves tucked into them as well (he had donned them originally in anticipation of needing to help the Ore Hound's crew with their vacc suits).

He cradles the mug of black coffee that Shui always seems to have on hand when he is around.  And then slowly starts to make his way to wherever his assigned seat at the table is.  Along the way he gives an appreciative smile to Keryn and her outfit, an approving nod to Eneris and his uniform, a tip of his mug to Saskia and her outfit (sans footwear), and then a slight bow to Corlan and his unique finery before he gets to his place at the table.  He pulls out the chair for any of his female companions that might have had the luck (either good or bad, depending on their point of view, he supposes) to have been placed within his proximity, waiting for them to sit first.

"Should you wish," Shui replies, "you might assist with the pouring of drinks." She flashes the gunner a bright smile.  "Some of that beer and mead you have squirrelled away, perhaps, for those preferring libations of that nature.  After that, please seat yourself."

Reaching out, she touches his arm.  "My thanks," the steward whispers before sweeping off to take orders.

Everyone gathers in the lounge for dinner, making it quite a bit more crowded than normal.  Not cramped at all, despite the numbers; the ship's lounge can certainly accomodate three more people.  Shui bustles about, helping people find places and pouring whatever drinks are requested.

The buzz of conversation fills the lounge.  With eleven people (hopefully soon to be twelve) in a room that was designed to be used, comfortably, by eight, things are definitely not too crowded, but there is the option to use the rear section of the lounge, should anybody feel like getting away from the noise and activity for a while.

Corian seem very interested in the economics of mining, and is soon engaged in a discussion with Jockram and Jago on that very topic...

Banster and Hegerich are standing close to the drinks, possibly for convenience, and talking among themselves.

Keryn homes in on Ash and Tylen, and starts telling them about the scenes being displayed on the walls. 

Eneris, meanwhile, latches onto Saskia.  Navy types sticking together.  Hopefully it won't end with them both drunk and starting a brawl with everybody else in the room...


OOC: The rest of you... circulate!  Butt into conversations.  Dinner should be served soon.  For now... MINGLE.  :) 

Shui passes through the room like a shadow, seen but inobtrusive.  She serves the requested drinks, whisks away glasses for refills, offers up small finger foods, and wonders when Yasmine will be making her appearance.

It's a good thing that people are mingling to some extent, but she notices that Banster and Hegerich have shifted to speak with each other.  She's not surprised - to spend long periods with a very small group in cramped confines demands a singlar sort of personality trait.

"Gentlemen," she begins, moving up to them.  "One hopes everything is to your liking...I find myself curious.  I have spent a little time on a mining ship -" different from their own "- and was wondering what your duties might be, generally speaking, aboard your own."  She smiles, a touch of irony in the expression.  "With such a small crew, of course, there will be a great deal of overlap, I'm certain." 

Eternally grateful for the pointers she received from her friend Shui, or Sushi as she always will be to her, Yas looks herself over in the mirror on last time before leaving her quarters.  On one hand she feels she has overdressed for the occasion, but on the other hand it has been far too long since last she don anything like this.  Indeed, she cannot bear the thought of counting the years, lest it makes her too self-conscious to show up in this getup.

She sighs and turns in profile.  At least she is happy for keeping up the exercises learnt in the Corps, even though she is probably a few kilos heavier most of that is actually muscles.  Age has yet to start robbing her of that.  Leaning in she ignores the ever more present crows feet and focuses on more important issues.  Even though there is no chance, thanks to the gentle molecular tape, she still checks the top to ensure no "natural disaster" has occurred the last few minutes.

All ballast secure, it would appear.  She gives the old girls a push to make certain.  Indeed.  The miracle of the WunderBra™, as if she really needed it.  Still, the Marines always like to go big before they go home, victoriously of course.  With another sigh she reaches the conclusion that it is time to face the music head-on, if that is even possible.  Then again, nothing is impossible for a Marine, and once a Marine always a Marine.  And this Marine is ready to storm the entrenched troops, odds of overdressing be damned.  Earrings?  Check.  Bracelet?  Check.  Necklace?  Check, big time.  She still loves looking at it even now.  Hairdo?  Check.  Weapons?  Oh yeah, check.  Shoes?  A lift of the hem.  Check.  Perfume?  Check.  Subtle but there.  It all checks out; she is checking in to be checked out, Oorah!

With that she steps out of her quarters and only stops briefly in the crew lounge to make sure all security markers she set up are lit up green.  So that are, including the one warning her about anyone wearing the same outfit.  As if that could happen.  It was one of a kind, and made to order.  Now is the time to show it, and some other things, off.

Even as she steps through the hatch to the passenger lounge she hears that the others have begun to mingle, so she takes the chance to strike a pose with a familiar grin in place before speaking up.

"Pardon my tardiness, you have no idea how hard it was to get my two guns in place in this outfit."

____________________
Click here to see what she looks like:  http://creativelass.net/Yas%20...with%20hair%20up.jpg
This message was last edited by the player at 17:42, Wed 29 Jan 2014.

“Looking good Yasmin, spectacular even” Jago says, after a little pause to take in this new, and rather more intimidating aspect of his security chief.

Jago stands, and holds up his glass, “I must say that I’m impressed by the efforts that all of you have put in to ‘scrubbing up’ for this and I’d like to propose the first toast of the evening, ‘puttin' on the style’.”

This message was last edited by the player at 10:44, Sun 02 Feb 2014.

Tylen is as surprised by Yas's style as Jago appears to be - and raises his beer towards the woman as the captain proposes his toast.

"Shall we see if the guys want more beer?" he says generally to Ash and Keryn.  "Shui gave me the job of keeping them topped up, but I suspect I am not doing it to her standards." he says with a grin as he watches the doctoring stewardess engage the two miners in conversation.

"Coming?" he asks the pair as he sets off across the room.

"Do you guys want beers?" he asks as he gets closer  "Its not too bad ... "
This message was last edited by the player at 16:50, Sun 02 Feb 2014.

Then lanky ex-Scout has to stare at the transformed Security Chief for a long moment.  He raises his mug in a silent, if genuine, approval in her entrance.  His smile is equal parts amazement and bemusement, the ex-Marine is quite amazing.  On many levels - and this is just one more.

"Here. Here" Ash chimes in as part of the toast's chorus, "To style."  Even if he has displayed is own lack of it with his lack-luster choice of clothing.

Allowed to return his attention to Keryn by Jago's interjection, Ash compliments Keryn on her own fashionable attire and then nods amiably as he tries hard to keep up with her seemingly archival knowledge of various vistas in the background.  He doesn't recognize more than a small handful of the images - either by reputation or actual first-hand experience.  Though the fact that he has seen some of the vistas first-hand must count for something; the Profit Margin's navigator simply can't envision just what.

He nods to Tylen and motions to Keryn to walk with them towards Banster and Hegerich.  With the ebb in the conversation, Ash can't help asking the young woman, "You seem a bit distracted, Ms. Taylor."  He smiles casually, then prompts, "Is there something on your mind?  Besides your machine sapience studies?"  With a glance in direction of the Ore Hound crew as they approach, he tries to introduce her to them, "Have you met our dinner guests?  Banster and Hegerich, I believe..."  He points to each in turn, then back to the pregnant brunette, "Ms. Keryn Taylor, one of our long-term passengers..."

Glancing towards the door, Eneris stops talking to Saskia in mid sentence.  After a brief pause, he asks, "Is that Yas?  She looks different.  Is that how she dresses in the crew lounge?"

Hegerich responds to Shui's question with a snort and a grin, and Banster says, "To be honest, we're not really sure what Jockram does, because we do everything."

Hegerich then decides to clarify, "Jockram is in charge, and pilots the ship, navigates, and handles all the finances.  If we need permits to work in a system, Jockram deals with the red tape.  Banster here does most of the engineering duties, but I do a little of that too.  Mainly I'm what they'd call the science officer on a fancier ship - we fire the laser at a rock, low intensity, and the computer runs a spectrographic analysis.  It's my job to look at the results and make a guess at whether or not it's worth moving in to mine the rock."

"He calls it a guess," Banster interrupts, "but he's never wrong."

"Yeah, well, I started doing the job on my dad's ship, when I was fourteen or so."

Keryn shakes her head to Ash's query, "No, I'm fine.  I was just... wondering where Yas was, that's all.  She helped me out with my clothes, and I was hoping she had something to wear herself.  Obviously I needn't have worried."

The two miners decline the offer of beer for the moment, declaring themselves to be "Fine, thanks." and "Barely started on this one."

The introduction of Keryn brings friendly smiles all around.

Corlan and Jockram, in conversation with Jago, are distracted as Profit Margin's captain greets the security chief.  They join in the toast, and then Corlan excuses himself, walks over to Yas and says, "Miss Crow, I don't believe I've ever seen you looking more... dangerous.  The room is full of men who will die of broken hearts when you leave it.  Can I offer you a drink?"

Yasmine, of course, makes her entry with an off-colour quip.  It's her way, of course, and Shui ignores the comment for the picture she presents.  And it's a fine picture indeed.  They had gone over the dress, discussed the hair and accessories, but Shui hadn't actually seen the full picture; it solidifies her first impression, that Yasmine certainly has style.

"Well done, Ms. Crow," she murmurs under her breath, still standing over beside Banster and Hegerich.  She can't very well abandon them after asking a question, nor can she call out across the room - it just wouldn't be proper, and like Yasmine, Shui has her own ways - but there must be some acknowledgement, especially given the attention the woman is getting.

Raising her cup - teacup, of course - Shui salutes the Security Chief with a smile.

Well done, indeed.

"Impressive," she replies to Banster with a small laugh.  "I have no doubt."  She listens more seriously as Hegerich describes their duties, Banster backing him up - no competition among this pair, only full support, and that's a joy to see. "It seems Captain Jockram is a lucky man to have the crew he does," she comments, nothing but sincerity in her tone.

"Since fourteen," she muses.  "Quite a long time, Mr. Hegerich."

Ash arrives, Keryn in tow.  "Mr. Tescali, Ms. Taylor," Shui greets them with a small bow.  She reaches out and touches Keryn's synthsilk sleeve. "This is lovely." 

A chance to dress up shouldn't be ignored.  Shui has, herself, deliberately kept things more subdued; she's the steward and service, here, not the center of attention.  It's pleasing to her that the others have taken the time to enjoy their clothing.

...well, not the men, but that's par for the course, she considers with wry amusement.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:56, Tue 04 Feb 2014.

“Thanks for your help back there,” Jago says to the other Captain as he tops up his glass, “I’m looking forward to getting clear of this place, what with one thing or another it’ leaving a bad taste in my mouth.”

Taking a sip of his own drink, Jago leans back in his chair and smiles, “so, how’s things been with you guys? Is there good mining around here?”

Yas cannot help but grin at the toast, feeling it was worth the effort to dress up, even if she no doubt is overdressed.  But you only live once and the odds of her getting to show off this dress ever again are, she estimates, slim at best.  She nods to them all, an unusually relaxed smile settling on her face.

"You're looking good too, boss," she tells Jago.

"Sas, never change, please."

"Ty, honouring the scout service, I see.  My sister would approve."

"Ash, really suits you, that."

"Sushi, thanks for the assist.  Looking stylish there."

"Ker, you're stunning.  That looks so good on you!  Go easy on the guys now, young lady."  She sort of feels like Keryn's mother, responsible for her well-being, and not just because she get her out of trouble back at Frenzie.  Although she prefers to view it as her older sister, to avoid feeling too old.

"En, I bet you've earned more medals than they given you.  Looking sharp."

"Corlan, how kind of you to say so, I think...  Yes, a drink would be great, thank you."

With the crew dealt with she moves on to greet their visitors.  Looking them over she makes a semi-curtsey.

"Good to see you face to face, guys.  That was some nice shooting back there, took me back to my days in the Corps with the Navy floating above us.  We had this gunner who could fry the enemy within spitting distance, and did so at times.  Got a few stories, there...  Any way, reminded me of him, actually.  At least in skill.  I'd be honoured to have you guys cover my back any day."  She offers a hand to them in turn as a more traditional greeting, at least in her case.

Once Corlan brings her a drink she will toast to them.  This kind of event is something that was so long overdue that she did not even realise it, allowing her to unwind as much as it is possible while being in charge of ship security.  But right now, she is going to do her best to just relax and enjoy things.

Ash nods to Yasmine - the human whirlwind, responding to her compliment with a smile, "Thank you, Ms. Crow.  You look absolutely stunning.  Truly amazing."  This is definitely a side of Yasmine that Ash has never seen before; he holds up his mug to salute her.

As she drifts away to speak with the others, the lanky navigator returns his attention to Keryn.  "The Chief can take care of herself. Obviously." he notes off-hand with a chuckle, repeating Keryn's own assessment for emphasis.

Ash shifts his position slightly to include Banster and Hegerich, "I want to thank you gentlemen for backing us up with all of business on the surface.  It could have been much rougher without the extra set of sensors."  A pause, and then he adds with a wry smile, "And the extra laser..."  He takes a long draught from his coffee mug.

"How was the view of the ... uh ... final 'drop' on the dome from orbit?" Ash asked of the two prospectors.

Tylen smiles and grins along with the conversations whilst taking the occasionally swig of his beer.  It isn't that he feels uncomfortable with the situation, after all he knows everyone here and is comfortable with them all.  He just isn't much of one for small talk.  Even growing up, he was always one of those youths that were found in the kitchen at parties - and it doesn't appear to have changed all that much in the intervening years.

For good measure he completes the circuit offering to fill glasses for people, giving particular emphasis to the beers and mead that he and Ash collected from the surface.  However, he is happy to refill glasses with any of the other drinks that are available.

Eventually he finds himself next to Shui.  "Anything else I can do to help?"

"No, she usually only dresses like that when she's trying to lull some farbotz greebol into thinking she's harmless.  They think she's unarmed, but she isn't.  Even with no weapon within a hundred metres of her she's always armed somehow." Saskia assures Eneris quietly.  "Only person I ever met who has a gun stored in the shower, just in case somebody tries to start trouble in there."  She raises her drink to Yas in a silent toast and smiles at her crewmate.  The Security Chief appears to have come dressed to provide a good distraction.  An excellent one even.

"Can we eat soon, or am I going to have to gnaw somebody's arm off?"

"A gun in the shower?" Eneris seems unsure whether or not to believe Saskia.  In the end he simply decides to skip over the remark and changes the subject.  "You know, I've notice that you, Yas and Jago make a good team.  How long have you all been working together?  I mean the others work well too, but they obviously haven't been here as long."

"Twenty seven years this year." Hegerich confirms to Shui, "It's pretty common for asteroid miners to start work at fourteen,  Sometimes younger.  Their families live on the ships and move about a lot, and the kids go with them.  So you pick up the job from living in the workplace, and just sort of drift into it."

Banster nods, confirming all of this, then adds, "Not me though.  I grew up dirtside, went to school until I was eighteen, then tried to enlist in the Navy, but they were between recruitment drives and I didn't get in, so I spent about eight years hopping from one merchie to another, and eventually decided to sign on with the Hound for a change of pace."

Jockram slaps Jago on the shoulder, "No problem Jago, any time.  You gave us a fair cut of that salvage, so it was only fair that I helped you out.  And in times like these... well, people like us should cover each other's backsides.  Navy's probably too busy with other stuff, and we're outside Imperial territory now anyway."

"Where are you bound for next?  I'm heading for Tremous Dex to resupply, then on to 871-438.  Heard a rumour of a lanthanum strike over there.  With a war starting the Navy will need it for Jump drives."

Keryn, meanwhile, blushes at the compliments, and tries to focus on what Banster and Hegerich are saying in an effort to conceal her embarrassment.

The two Ore Hound crewmen wave Yas and Ash's thanks aside.  "It was nothing."  "Least we could do."

Then, "The view from our position was... "

"Spectacular.  Though nowhere near as spectacular as the view in this room." Banster raises his beer to Yas, Shui and Keryn, and to Saskia as well.

Hegerich adds, "We're looking for a new skipper, you know.  One who's easier on the eyes than Jockram.  Would any of you ladies be interested?  Hard work, poor food, and two men who would worship the deck you walk on."

Corlan stays close to Yas' side, and joins the conversation with the two prospectors, "They aren't just pretty faces, gentlemen, but very adept at their jobs too."  He nods at Keryn, "It's only fair to warn you that I'd beware of this one though, she's a notorious gambler and would leave you as poor as she's left Eneris and myself in about a week."
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:30, Sun 09 Feb 2014.

"Fourteen.  Certainly beginning early." Impressed, Shui gives Hegerich a little bow.  Her own training started somewhat earlier, but it was of a different sort; that he began at such an early age is impressive, the moreso as he likely wasn't pressed into it. "And you've 'been about', as they say, Mr. Banster.  I, myself, have done quite a bit of ship-to-ship moving, though I am well-pleased with my current situation."

She offers both men a bright smile, with another small bow, this time to Banster.  "Hence, while your offer holds merits, gentlemen, I fear I would personally have to decline.  Of course, I might bring it up as ammunition in discussing a raise in pay."  She cocks her head slighlty.  "I do appreciate the sentiments; coming from someone who has no doubt seen wonders when mining, they mean a great deal."

It's hardly surprising the men make comments like that, cooped up alone in their ship for extended periods.  Certainly Shui isn't offended; they seem polite, good people, especially given their situation.

She sniffs at Corlan's warning. "Mr. DeSant is merely bemoaning his losses; men often accuse women of being 'sharks' when they turn out as superior in matters of the manly art of poker."  And other things.

She glances sidelong at Tylen as he moves into reach.  "Perhaps, Mr. Orgesh, you might chat with our guests here while I check the food and ensure it won't be overcooked.  You've done a great deal to assist, and I wouldn't want you to miss out on enjoying yourself." Giving him a quick pat on the shoulder, she heads off to do just that.

It's her job, after all, and Shui takes it very seriously.  Tylen has been a huge help thus far, but she hopes he relaxes and enjoys the party now that things are in full swing.

Noticing Keryn's discomfort with the compliments, Ash tries to change the subject for her.  "Where did you learn to play cards, Keryn?" he asks idly, adding quickly, "And don't just say 'on Frenzie.'"

The thin navigator has to crack a smile at the banter between Hegerich and Banster.  He can only admonish them for trying to steal away crewmates.  "Gentleman," he warns with a half-playful, half-serious tone, "stop trying to cut into the Profit Margin's margin..."

He takes a sip of coffee to mask his chuckling over Corlan's statements and Shui's rejoinder.  "Well," Ash says simply as a rejoinder to the rejoinder, "men have to be good at something, right?"

"But it was on Frenzie.  I'm sure I'd remember if it had been anywhere else." Keryn's reply is accompanied by a smile, now that the conversation has move onto less embarrassing topics.

"Well, I suppose you want me to be a bit more precise.  There was a sort of casino, and a neighbour's son worked there.  He taught me.  Said I was pretty good at it, but I thought he was just being nice, you know?"

Hegerich, barely able to keep a straight face, replies, "Probably best to avoid you then.  Banster and I have no experience whatsoever of gambling.  My entire knowledge of cards is probably that an ace of fours is the best hand, especially when they're all full houses."

"Oh yes, definitely." his partner adds, confirming that they have rarely, if ever, played cards.

“Well, good luck with that. We’re heading for Phlume initially, then generally on in that direction. We might stop off at Regina, both me and Corlan have family there, but it depends on the fighting really. There’s a Navy base at Extolay and I hope to pick up the latest when we get there.”

As he talks to his opposite number Jago absently picks up a table knife and roles it between his fingers.

“Do you have family dirt side anywhere?” he asks, “I must say it’s a bit of a worry and dammed difficult to keep in touch.”

Yas drifts a bit as people talk between themselves and ends up near Ash where she lifts her glass in return to his recently compliment upon her entry.

"Merely stating what is obvious.  You're evidently one of those fellows that anything work on, so to speak.  And thank you, I rarely get a chance to dress up this way, can't in fact pinpoint the last time.  Got to let my hair down every now and then, even if I currently wearing it up."

She chuckles and sips some of her drink, trying to think of something else to say.  Unless she has something important to talk about or something to crack a bad joke over she is not that much for small talk, so now that the things she had to say are said she struggles a bit to come up with something.  At least the drink is a good excuse, perhaps that is why they have drinks at parties.  As long as the silence doesn't get awkward, or she cracks a joke to sheds the colours of her dress she should be fine.

It is so much easier to just shoot things.

Tylen is torn.  He would much rather follow Shui away from the big group of people that is forming.  Sure he knows them all, and is happy to have a beer or three with any of them, but he really isn’t at his best in larger groups.  His early career had left him on a small base, and then it was the X-boats - before he took the exploration job.  Nothing that had really equipped him for  parties.  However, she clearly wants to get on with her job and he isn’t one to impose himself like that either.

With a smile he moves to the edge of the group, allowing the conversation to go on around him as he smiles and fiddles with his beer bottle.

Jockram starts to speak, "No, I...  Oh, tanj!"  he draws a deep breath, "Yes.  Yes, my brother, and his wife and kids, are on Sting.  Moved there about five years ago.  As you can probably guess, this mess has me worried about them."

"They're probably safe - I'd be more worried if any of us were Imperials, but our family comes from Elixabeth, which is outside the Imperium.  But the fighting makes it hard for me to check if they're all right."

Shui makes her way into the rear portion of the passenger lounge to check on the food. 

Tylen drifts to the aft end of the main lounge, edging out of the main conversations, but does find himself close to Saskia and Eneris, who seem to be having a discussion about length of service aboard Profit Margin.

Yas moves around to where she can talk to Ash without having to yell like a Gunnery Sergeant on a parade ground, leaving Keryn and Corlan to chat to the two Ore Hound crewmen about their feigned ignorance of gambling...

Realising that he’s about to place the knife handle in his mouth as a substitute cigar, Jago ‘huruphs’ and places it deliberately back in it’s proper place on the table.

“I’ve heard of Sting but never been there, a high tech place somewhere  trailing here isn’t it?”

"I've been here, let's see, just over four years, and Yas has a couple of weeks on me, at least on the Margin, she knew Jago even before that I think, or maybe somebody who was already on the crew recommended her."

Saskia laughs, "Even back then she acted like she ran the place.  Not the ship, no, the whole frelling downport.  I came over for an interview with Jago, and Yas was sitting on the ramp.  Questioned me for frelling ages, then acted like I was lucky she was letting me speak to the Captain, even if I did have an appointment.  And she wasn't even the First Officer then."

A sip of her beer and then, "So, yeah, we've known each other for four years and some."

"Four frelling years." the Engineer shakes her head in wonder.

Jockram thinks for a moment, then, "Possibly.  The one I'm thinking of is rimward though.  In the Sword Worlds."

Eneris nods, "Four years is a long time on a ship like this."  Then he hurriedly adds, "Ah... I didn't mean anything bad by that.  Just that these small independent ships can have a high crew turnover."

Satisfied, Shui returns to the room.  Upon her arrival, she notes Tylen's shift in position, and ponders possible reasons.  The gunner has always seemed better in small groups; perhaps he's not an extrovert?  That would fit with his previous occupation, to be sure.  Moving up to him, she touches his shoulder, offering a quick smile.  "I could certainly use your assistance in a moment."

Then she moves out, not into the center of the room, but facing everyone.  "Excuse me?  Crew and guests both new and familiar?"  Shui waits until she garners everyone's attention before offering a small bow. "Dinner will be served momentarily; if you might all take your places at the table?"

She had thought about providing specific places for everyone, but she doesn't know some of them; better to allow them to settle themselves as they desire, for better conversation and comfort.

Ash merely gives Yasmine a crooked smile and shrug.  He nods slightly after taking a sip from his mug.  "Obvious." he agrees readily, before venturing, "But not unwarranted, I suspect."  As for being 'one of those guys that is easily impressed', the corners of his mouth merely curved down slightly and he gives the security chief another shrug.

"I wholeheartedly agree," the Profit Margin's navigator says amicably, "You should let your hair down more often, Ms. Crow."  Ash was definitely not arguing with the results.  He sips his black coffee from his mug again - unspiked, as considers himself wholly 'on duty' for the time being.  Plus, no one on the Margin has ever seen him imbibe any liquor at any point (despite having bought a fair bit of it at the Rangent downport); not that he has been with the crew that long.

"The only dress that I know any Marine to be familiar with is battledress..." Ash notes with a wry smile and a shrug, "But I much prefer you in this, Chief."  A touch of ruefulness creeps into the edges of the smile, "Probably less firepower.  And far less collateral damage."  His expression is distant for the briefest of moments, as if he's said too much and too little all at once; but then the focus returns and the lanky ex-squid adds matter-of-factly after the momentary pause, "Though no less devastating."  He simply nods for emphasis.

Worried that perhaps he has said too much, Ash clears his throat and asks his First Officer, "When was the last time you had seen the crew of the Ore Hound?"   It is possible that the last time she dressed up was then - which would mean that she is trying to impress one of them, potentially...

Despite being used to having a poker face, the confusion surfaces briefly at Ash's comment about not being unwarranted.  She goes over her words and then his in her head and wonders if things got misunderstood.

"Uh, just saying you'd probably look good even in a synth-weave sack," she says with a brief flash of a smile.  Yeah, this just took an awkward turn, she thinks.

She merely nods and listen as he mentions battledress and collateral damage, the other conversations fading into background noise.  Is he saying what she think he is, or is she misreading him now?  Before she can consciously think about an answer she hears herself speak, somewhat defensively.

"Well, you know, you don't know what you're getting into when you join the service, and when you do realise it, it's way too late.  No going back to who you were, that's probably why I'm here on the Margin instead back somewhere homeward playing house."

Woah, critical levels of awkwardness incoming!  Crash'n'burn imminent!  Need diversion, stat!  She is not even sure why she said all that.  The Corps might have been her family, but it was a somewhat dysfunctional one, shaping you into a cold killing machine with no people skills.  Thank goodness I didn't say that, at least.  He said nice things too, focus on that.  Maybe he simply is too innocent, in comparison, or maybe I'm just misunderstanding.  Argh, either way.  She forced herself to stop thinking before she ended up blushing.  That had not happened since the first few days in the Corps, when she still was guiltless and young.

His compliment about being devastating salvages a bit of her self and helps remove a bit of the pensive expression that she is not even aware of.  Then it softens further when he gives her an escape route about the same time as Sushi starts to call for attention.  "Oh, a couple of months, give or take a few days, never seen them in person before though.  Did we ever tell you about the ghost ship?"

"Ah, seems grub is waiting," she says with a slightly embarrassed smile, wondering if she will get through the part of eating without getting too Corps on everyone.  So hard to change, no matter how much you want it.  And grub?  Classy.  Then comes the seating.  A few moments ago she would have sat down next to Ash and hope to get to know the new navigator a bit, but now she was unsure whether he wanted that or not.  Wouldn't want to have Jago look for a replacement again so soon, I'm evidently far more rusty with these things than I though.  Maybe I should have stuck to my regular stuff, like Sassy.  I only fool myself, dressing up like a lady when I sure ain't one...  I mean, even my opening line when I got here, yeah!

A small sigh escapes her without her notice as she looks at the table.  If only they had been shooting at an enemy instead.  Perhaps it is a good thing they don't do this more often.

People start to make their way towards the table, gradually filtering their way into some semblance of a seating order.  Jago, as captain and host is, naturally enough, seated at the head of the table.

Other positions around the table are more flexible, and there is a certain amount of shuffling about and trading places before everybody is seated to their satisfaction.  In any case, the table is small enough that, even with twelve people seated, nobody is too far away from anybody else to be able to speak to them easily.

Only Shui and Tylen remain standing, for the moment...

"Sure." Tylen responds to Shui with a smile, happy to help out.  It wasn't that he felt particularly uncomfortable in this sort of gathering, just that he didn't really have a lot of small talk.

Once people were seated, Tylen was happy to fetch and carry whatever Shui needed before he took his own place at the table.

"Wonderful."

Moving to stand beside Jago, Shui gives the table a little bow.  "Thank you all for joining us today on this victorious occasion.  For those of us who travel, friends are a rare gift; your company and support are to be cherished."  Her hand falls upon Jago's shoulder.  "Captain Lanza may have a few words to say...or fewer than a few.  Then we will serve."

Another of her small bows, and Shui heads into the galley with a motion for Tylen to remain where he is.  "I will hand the dishes to you," she whispers in passing.

Ash watches Yasmine as she seems to want to say more about the service, but then seems to decide not to.  He ignores - if he even has noticed - her discomfort and merely nods amiably, "I would wager that all of the Imperial services leave their mark."  Then after a pause and a rueful smile, "I'm not sure that one can ever really seamlessly return to civilian life."  And now it is his turn to withhold, for it seems obvious that his statement - though stated as a generality - contains a much more personal set of experiences in it.

Thankfully, it seems that Yasmine uses the silence to respond to his question about the Ore Hound.  And the derelict ship they found together.  Forcing himself to refocus, Ash shakes his head to her question about the details, "You and Ms. Blake really only mentioned it in passing..."  At the time, he knew that there was more involved - and would have loved to have heard more.  "but, there wasn't much detail.  It sounded rather harrowing, and quite dangerous..." he prompts his First Officer to elaborate.  But only if she wants to.

With the summons for the meal to begin, he starts to slowly make his way towards the dinner table.

As the approached the table, Ash took Yasmine's pause before moving to sit as a cue for him.  He paused only long enough set down his mug at one place setting before pulling the chair next to where he had placed his coffee out away from the table.  The lanky navigator gestures for the dark-haired marine to sit, "Please.  I-If you would allow me the pleasure of your company, Ms. Crow..."  Obviously, he intends to sit next to the Profit Margin's First Officer.  But only if she wants him to.

Jago cocks an eyebrow at Shui when some sort of speech is suggested, fortunately she's already said all that is needed and he responds with a simple, "Yea, what she said", then shrugs, "speeches will only spoil it, lets eat."

Happy to move onto other subjects, such as the ghost ship, Yas knows that it is something she can talk about without getting into awkward subjects or stumbling.

"It's quite a story, for sure, I'd be happy to tell you more," she says as they move to sit down.  She can't help but smile when he offers her a seat.  Not sure the last time that happened either.  Maybe he is right, I should let my hair down more often.  I may be stuck in a rut, but I might be able to shake it up now and then.

With a gracious nod and a happy smile she sit down, perfectly content with not being the one responsible for things at the moment.  The security measures she set up should alert her if anything changes, so for now she can relax and enjoy a good meal with new and good friends alike.

It feels a bit off, sitting down in this outfit.  No shoulder holster, only bare shoulders, drawing a gun would take at least three seconds -- yes, she is indeed wearing two -- and the feel of the seat against her.  At the same time it feels good, including knowing she can still catch the men's attention.  This might be another good memory, courtesy of the Margin.  There's no place like home, they say, and I'd say this is mine now.  Nothing back where I came from, other than memories.  Here I make new ones.

"Good speech, bo...uh, Jago," she says, trying a bit harder to behave well, at least for the time being.

"And great job, Shu...  Er, Shui," she adds to make sure she appreciated the fact that Sushi made it all happen.  "If it tastes half as good as it smells I'll be spoiled for life."

"Well now." says Hegerich, who has managed to get a seat between Saskia and Keryn, "Everybody will have to forgive any slip in table manners on our part.  I can't remember the last time the three of us sat down for a meal at the same table.  We tend to live on instant meals, straight out of the package, usually eaten at our duty stations and whenever we get the chance.  Sometimes I'll be having breakfast while Jockram's eating lunch and Banster's making his dinner."

"Yeah, but that's only because you get out of bed later than anybody else." Banster quips, as food starts to appear on the table.  "This all looks very nice.  Hey, Jockram, did you know that you don't have to eat food straight out of the packet?"

The food, or at least the starter, does indeed look as good as it smells.

Jockram shakes his head at the banter between his crewmen, "It's not too late, you know.  I can still send them home and save the entire evening from their nonsense."

Hegerich starts a response, which is cut short as Keryn snags some food from his plate, "If you're not going to eat this, I'll have it."

Resplendent in his immaculate Naval uniform and polished medals, Eneris scowls, "Oh great.  Not content with taking all of our money, she's learned to steal food as well."

Pacing behind the chairs as she lays out the food, handing some off to Tylen, Shui leans over Yasmine's shoulder. "My thanks, Ms. Crow.  No need to dispense with the usual nicknames; I'm quite honored by them, as well as your appreciation of the dinner."

"Ah, but Mr. Jockram," she continues, sweeping down the table to add to others' plates. "The company is a breath of fresh air.  Send them away and you'll deprive the dinner of the compliments."  Her smile indicates she knows full-well he's only joking.  "And I'm the only one here who stands on ceremony; we tend to be an informal group, ourselves."

"Be nice," she murmurs to Eneris, stage whispering.  "Sour grapes aren't on the menu today, only the fine wine our guests have provided."  Her finger flicks an imaginary speck of dust from his epaulet.  "Though the stern look certainly suits you."

"Well, I'm all ears..." Ash notes with a touch of playfulness - especially given the actual prominence of his own auditory organs.  And after pushing in Yasmine's chair, the lanky navigator takes his own seat next to her in preparation for the meal.

He raises his mug high, echoing the toasting sentiment, "To victory.  And cherished company."  Ash moves to tap his cup with the others near him before taking a sip.  He nods in agreement with the his First Officer's assessment of the food, "Looks and smells delicious, Ms. Tiesi."  He has earned the right to give Shui a nickname at this point.  And though he is obviously salivating at the luxurious spread, Ash dutifully waits for everyone to be served and ready before entertaining the idea of digging in.

The meal can't be considered to have properly started until Tylen and Shui are seated.  Can it?

"See if you still think that after you've put up with them for more than a few minutes." Jockram answer's Shui, "And this does look good.  Smells good too.  Thank you."

Eneris gives Shui a smile, "There's no need for you to scold me, Miss.  The girl's quite capable of taking care of herself.  She'll probably own my uniform, medals and all, by this time tomorrow."

"She does, indeed, appear to have a knack for gambling." Corlan confirms sadly, "It's almost uncanny."

Keryn, unsurprisingly, denies that she has any unnatural ability with the cards, declaring it all just "beginner's luck".  For some reason, Banster and Hegerich find that highly amusing.

Before too long, everybody is served, and Shui and Tylen are able to take their places at the table...

Jago leans back in his seat, enjoying the banter around the table, seeing everyone relaxing a bit and appreciating the excellent food, he really couldn't think of anywhere he'd rather be.

"Top grub Shui," the Captain tucks in with gusto.

"I shall let you know my conclusions, Mr. Jockram." A nod of the head with a smile follows his compliment.  "And my thanks."  One eyebrow rises toward Eneris.  "Ah, but Mr. Armusezash, some men simply demand scolding," she jests.  "There are several about this table, I'm sure."

Jago and Ash both receive whispered thanks and a touch on the shoulder as Shui finishes her rounds.  Once Tylen is seated, she takes her own chair.  There isn't a lot of food on her own plate; Shui knows full-well she'll be busy throughout the meal, picking up plates, bringing out other food, ensuring there's sufficient wine and other spirits on the table, and so forth.  But it's neither onerous nor work for her, strictly speaking.

It's who she is, now, and that means it's a pleasure.

It's good to see the crew enjoying the food as well.  "I must say, the meal is much enhanced by the gifts of our guests," she notes, raising her glass toward Jockram, Hegerich, and Banster in turn.

She had missed things like this, having the chair pushed in all that, not much of that happening in or out of combat in the Corps.

"Sushi it is then," she says with a growing grin and takes to heart what both she and Ash say about the company.  A chuckle escapes her at the banter and she leans in to the navigator with a wink.  "Then I shall make sure to not shout, although I hope you got enough mouth left to enjoy the meal too."

Looking around the table she takes note of all the faces before lingering on Keryn.

"A toast," she calls before people are lost in the food, "to extended family.  To Keryn," she lifts her glass, "who I see as my younger and more well-behaved sister," and the daughter I never had.  "We shall find her the best place there is, where she can live with her kid."

At the peak of the lift realisation hits her like an earthquake, shaking her inside and out, and a small portion of the drink rises above the rim and begins to fall.

Keryn will leave.  Not yet, but some day.  Probably before the baby is born.  Yas herself will most likely never see it, or Keryn again.

The spilled drink hits the table.

"Frelling yotz!"  Even as she loses her footing, and the pain reaches her eyes, she regains it and veils the sorrow with a grimace.  "Sorry about that, Sushi, must be my old age, getting clumsy and all that."

Is this how it feels?  When the kids grow up and leave?  For parents who care, I mean.

"To extended family," she resumes, "who fills the empty void..."

...in my heart...

"...we call space, making it a warmer place to live in."  She looks around the table, not wanting Keryn or anyone else to catch onto her innermost thoughts.  Time to make some good memories.

"Cheers!"

"I stand corrected." Ash agrees amiably to Yasmine's rejoinder, "I am only mostly ears."  There is a bit of a wink and definitely a light, playful tone to his words.  He stabs a piece of food with his fork and puts in his mouth for emphasis.

He watches with some puzzlement as Yasmine stands to make her toast and then sloshes about a bit, and then almost seems tearful.  The lanky navigator suspects that he's missed something.  But, Ash also knows that this is probably not the venue to try and dig too deeply into the personal life of the Margin's First Officer.  There is no use in calling any more attention to the spill; it merely blends into the rest of the food on the crowded table, in any case.

So, he does what he can to support Yasmine.  Ash foregoes his mug and raises his water glass to toast along side the ex-Marine.  "Here, here." he notes with a slightly crooked smile.  "To Family." he repeats with his glass held high.  Then he takes a sip and also repeats, "And to Keryn.  And her baby."  He had almost forgotten that the young woman was pregnant.  Well, not really forgotten, just it had never really been at the forefront of any of their conversations - and he had just accepted it and moved on.  A sort of distant detachment since he was neither her physician nor the child's father.

Still, once reminded Ash nods the smile still playing on his lips;  He's happy that in some small way he might be party to helping them both.  Of course, that leads the lanky ex-Scout to also wonder if the baby will be as interested in (and as adept with) artificial intelligence architectures as its mother is...

Tylen passes plates, and fills glasses  before he takes his seat and starts on is own meal. After the first few mouthfuls he raises his glass, slightly, in salute towards Shui, "Nice meal." he says quietly, before he returns to listening to the banter flying around the table.

Tylen is used to Marines standing up, demanding a toast and then spilling their drink all over the place.  However, that is normally at the end of the night and after a skin full - rather than this early and before the drinking has really started.

As he joins in the toast, he looks across at Yas closely, to see if she had been pre-loading before she came out.  Always a possibility, even if he didn't think it was likely. After re-assuring himself that she really isn't falling down drunk this early in the meal, he pick up a bottle and reaches across to refill her glass.  "Top up, Yas?" he asks.

Of the passengers and guests, only Keryn seems to catch the meaning behind Yas' slip, and the spilled drink.  The smile on the young woman's face falters, just for a moment, before she forces it back into place.

The toast is completed as everybody raises their glasses.

"You do realise," Banster comments. grinning, as he returns his glass to the table, "that if we're all family, then that makes Hegerich the weird uncle that nobody mentions."

"Behave, you." Keryn replies, "He's being a perfect gentleman."

"See, I told you." Jockram pronounces darkly.  "Can't take them anywhere."

As the person who knows Yas better than just about anybody else on the ship (unless Jago has been having long, personal chats with the Security Chief about men, life and chocolate cake), Saskia can tell right away that there is something wrong.

Yas, of course, puts it down to old age.  But that doesn't ring true.

"Cheers!"  The Engineer raises her glass and joins the toast.  And well said it was.  Not sure what I'd do without the Margin.

Looking around the table, she tries to remember the last time she knew anybody as well as these people.  Even Keryn and Eneris, who've only been aboard for about five minutes, have been acquaintances for longer than most other people she's met.  It's sad really.

She turns her attention to her plate, and starts to eat.  But I'll try and have a word with Yas in private, later.

Good food, good company and passable alcohol, Jago basks in the warm glow of the occasion and the chance to repeat some of his more amusing tales to people who haven't already heard them more times than they can count.

He wonders, briefly, at Yasmin splashing her drink, the woman has the reflexes of a mongoose but perhaps they don't apply to a relaxed situation like this. He considers for a moment whether technically Jockram is an enemy in the current political situation, a thought that causes a little involuntary chuckle before  he continues telling the adventure of trying to by shoes for a Vargae in an exclusively human market place.

"Thank you, Mr. Orgesh," Shui responds with a small smile.  Official duties and all, despite the situation.  "I'm most pleased to share it with you," she continues, a touch more quietly.

Then comes the toast - certainly warrented, but not without its hiccups.

"Not to worry, Ms. Crow," Shui deftly responds, immediately on the scene with a napkin to sweep up the small splash.  It's almost uncanny, how quickly she arrives; not due to hasty measures, no, but rather smooth, unhesitating movement allowing her to clean up the tiny mess and sweep away.  But not having missed the shadow crossing the security officer's face, oh no.  Shui is a student of such things, after all; it's part of her duties as a doctor and a steward, as well as her earlier training in life.

She knows that look.  It is loss.

With that, it's not hard to put two and two together, given the topic.  This ship is Yasmine's family.  Keryn is part of that family.  And soon enough...

Well, Shui supposes one could raise a child on a freighter, but it would be lacking.  Not love, no, but socialization?  Most certainly.  No other children, to start with.  No peers.

Tylen steps in with a deft offer as Ash supports the toast, Saskia right behind him.  The banter begins again, thanks in part to Yasmine herself.  Shui, on her feet, collects a plate or three, bringing them to the back in preparation to the next course.

She really, really needs to speak to Yasmine, but obviously now is not the time.  Of course, for the closed-in Security Chief, never may be the right time, and if so, Shui must respect that.  Of course, that doesn't mean she cannot try.

Back into the room, and she settles herself beside Tylen, her gaze roving around the room, her small smile settled into place.

Happy that people focus on the toast and not the spill -- but it is family, after all -- Yas empties her drink in one swoop and takes her seat again to properly engage with the meal.  She suspects some of them noticed, however, and may want "a word" later.  Merely a twitch of the arm, though, so if they push it they might be pushing it...  But whatever, I suspect I'll notice soon enough.

"Of course, after a toast you ought to top up," she replies with a brief grin to Ty, holding out her glass for him to refill, without it as much as moving this time.  A nod to him before she replaces the glass next to her plate.  Not that she cannot hold her drink, she could probably drink anyone here under the table, but she has other things to focus on for now.

A chuckle escapes her as Jago relates the shoe shopping, and she tries not to miss the Vargr she called Dashing Fuel.  Instead she dons her best poker face, the one she uses when telling her dead-pan jokes, and then leans in to Ash and speaks quietly.

"So, about that ghost ship..."  The only change to the deadpan expression is an eyebrow slowly arching.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:51, Tue 04 Mar 2014.

All of the passengers and guests laugh at Jago's story about buying shoes for Vargr, including Keryn, once it is explained to her - the young woman has never seen a Vargr in the flesh, at least not at short range, and has to be reminded that they have digitigrade feet.

Corlan launches into a story about a time, when he was younger, when his father was running the business that Corlan now owns, while he himself had been a junior executive learning about the company.  On one occasion he had been required to negotiate a sales contract with a Virushi.  So he had spent some time researching their culture, and discovered that Virushi are friendly and pacifistic.

But he had neglected to do any research on their physique, believing that the Virushi were some offshoot of the Vilani... resulting in his inviting a thousand kilo three metre long armour plated quadruped to a meeting in his office.

"My head didn't quite reach her shoulder, then there was her head, and the horn on top of it.  And even if she ducked, she was too wide to fit through the door.  Luckily she had a good sense of humour, and found the whole business very amusing."

"We won the contract, and I learned to always check details."

Tylen grins as Shui sits back down beside him and, once he has seen to Yas’s glass, tops up any other glasses that are in need of a refill.   Tylen in more comfortable now the conversation has moved on to anecdotes rather than general chitter-chatter.  Years of working the x-boat service left him with plenty of time to try out his tales and stories.

When there is a pause, he chips in with a story about living on Lopiengeta, known to the locals as 'Ell.  He tells of a simple life where people either work in the old (and very quiet) Starport or they wrest a living from the sea itself.   The story is peppered with small jokes and amusing situations, normally at his own expense, and finishes up with him deciding to join the IIS instead of the Darrian Army.

Then he is happy to fill up wine glasses and smile along with the rest of the conversation.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:19, Tue 04 Mar 2014.

Ash laughs at the various antics brought up by those around the table, but doesn't offer a story of his own.  Instead, he shows a preference to concentrate on Yasmine (and, seriously, with a dress like that who wouldn't) and her more detailed telling of the discovered derelict.

True to his word, Ash appears to be mostly, if not all, ears when it comes to Yasmine and the ghost ship.  "Do tell..." he prompts the security chief and shows that he is more than willing to listen to the story.  He's got a genuine interest in the derelict ship (seemingly a product of a misjump).  A mix of both personal and professional interests, of course.  He is an ex-Scout.  He is a navigator.  He knows that he is in the minority of this crowd that wasn't actually there - experiencing the situation first hand.  And mostly Ash just wants to know more about the crew he works with and what makes them tick.

He tries not to interrupt, but is only marginally successful.  He seems interested in any and all of the minutiae that Yasmine (or any of the others that were there) seem willing to offer up, but any details related (even remotely) to the misjump and its aftermath piques his interest.  Probably not surprising given Ash's profession and current role with the Profit Margin's crew.

He shakes his head slowly at one point, "Sounds to be an all-round harrowing experience.  For everyone involved."  The lanky navigator glances around the table, "Both the discoverers and the discoverees..."  A thin tight smile crosses his lips as he adds, "though obviously at different times for each."

"Details are important, for sure," Yas offers briefly to Corlan's story.

"You'd made a fine grunt, I'm certain thereof," she tells Ty with a grin.

"And tell I shall," Yas says to Ash and relates the tale as she recalls it, allowing him to ask questions when he wants.  "...and the sight of the misjump, phew, I defaulted back on my training where enemies aren't people, they're enemies.  Of course, in this case, they weren't enemies, just...  not people.  The Corps taught us to not think, after all, only follow orders.  If it hadn't been for that then the reason I left, no, the cause of the reason I left would never have been..."  She grows dark for a moment before throwing it aside.  "But that's a story for another time, as it's far darker than the misjump.  That, after all, was an accident..."

She sips her drink and clears her throat and mind alike.

"Now, that creature when we left, well, that made it all worth it.  All right, the money haul was part of it, but that thing?  Probably never seen before, perhaps never again.  Dumb animal or intelligent?  Who can say?  But it was a privilege.  After the Corps I started thinking, about all sort of things.  The size of this galaxy, for instance, and those beyond.  Mind-boggling, and makes our worries seem rather petty, reasons for war and all."

"So yeah, harrowing at first, but for us, in the end, it was rewarding beyond the salvage.  But what about you?  Surely you have seen something out there too?  Space is big, after all."  She leans in a bit, hoping he will do more than listen.

With everybody else telling amusing anecdotes of their past, Saskia feels compelled to tell the tale of her first duty assignment, aboard a destroyer, the commander of which believed that the ability to make good coffee was the most important asset that any Naval officer could bring with him.  Furthermore, the Captain had run classes for his crew in the fine art of making coffee good enough for a commanding officer to drink.

"The rumor mill had it that promotions and assignments mostly depended on how much he liked your coffee, with performance of duties a secondary factor."

The Engineer smiles as she recalls, "After they'd taken the class, everybody got to take coffee with him in his office, just you and him, and you had to bring the coffee.  He'd sip it while you chatted with him, and he'd make lots of notes -- on hand made paper, no less, with an old fashioned ink pen -- and your entire career in the service depended on that coffee."

"Sounds like my kind of commander," Jago says with a chuckle, "our Shui would soon make admiral on that ship." He raises his glass to the Doctor/Steward before drinking.

Pleased that Tylen has begun to relax, Shui picks at her food, occasionally hopping up to bring in further libations or victuals.  She listens along with his story - having heard a large portion of it before makes it no less interesting, and there is always something new - and shifts her attention as he does, upon its completion, to the other various anecdotes floating around.

"...I defaulted back on my training where enemies aren't people, they're enemies."

The Steward falters for a moment at Yasmine's words, her eyes going glassy as polished onyx.  Then she blinks, nodding along another comment.  The words have struck home, and hard, though not as one might expect.  Instead, they resonate a little too well with her, from start to end.

Set it aside, her mind whispers; and she does, hiding her sorrow for the Security Officer.

Something about Yasmine leaving the corps, there, and it not being an accident.  Shui files it away for another time, hopefully when it's just the two of them sitting and having tea.  Seems like a more private thing.  Things turn to Saskia, and her own stories of her past, and Shui raises an eyebrow at the Engineer's description of her work assignment. "How horrid," she murmurs.  "Despite Captain Lanza's compliment -" she raises her own glass to him in welcome of his words "- it sounds like a terribly inequitable method.  Might I ask how well you managed, Ms. Blake?"

Her gaze falls upon Jago.  "Sadly, your own comment has brought attention upon yourself, Captain Lanza.  Perhaps you might regale us with the story of how you began with the Profit Margin?"

"It's hardly a stirring tale Shui, I joined the service straight out of school, worked my way up, sat exams and, after twenty years or so, made Captain. It had been my ambition from the start to have my own ship so I'd saved hard all along and once I'd scraped enough together for a deposit, including a bit my mum left when she died, I looked around for a suitable ship. I got really lucky at that point because the Margin came up for sale, I got me a mortgage and I've been in debt ever since. It wasn't just finding this ship that was lucky, I just happened on a brilliant crew from the off."

Jago raises his glass yet again.

"To the crew, may they ever continue to make my life easy."

"I've heard of skippers like Saskia's." Eneris comments, between mouthfuls of food, "Never really understood them myself, which could be why I didn't get promoted any higher than I did.  One I heard of would invite junior officers to his ready room to talk about roses, of all things."

"Shouldn't they be getting taught about strategy and tactics?" Keryn queries, then, as an aside, "This is really good, Shui.  I hope there isn't much of it, or I'll end up getting fat."

"You'd think so.  But they learn that sort of thing at the Academy, where they take basic officer training, so they can enter the Navy with a commission.  Or they pick it up in advanced training after they enlist."

"This business with coffee and roses and... and... sports trivia... is something else.  I always thought that maybe they were looking for people who were interested in the same things they were.  A long patrol can go a lot easier if you have somebody to talk to about your hobbies."

Jago's toast brings raised glasses, and salutes to the crew.

"May they continue to make all of our lives easier." Corlan adds his own sentiment...

The Profit Margin's lanky navigator chuckles at the interchange between Keryn and Eneris.  He "here, here"'s to Eneris' assertion that the Deep Black can be made more hospitable with company and shared interests.

He also subtly pushes one of the serving dishes closer to Keryn.  Or maybe two.

"To the rest of the crew." Ash echoes Jago's sentiment.  Then he adds with a slightly crooked smile, "I only try to ensure that we know how to get to wherever we are supposed to be going..."  He knows that he neither sets the course nor ensures that the technology gets them there.  He doesn't keep the crew and ship safe (except in the most indirect way) or healthy (except, again, in the most indirect way).  No.  Mostly, Ash is just along for the ride, in many ways.

The meal continues, course following course in the time-honoured fashion...

The conversation also continues - serious and humourous by turns - jokes, current affairs, speculation on future developments, and personal anecdotes.  Including the tale of how Jockram met his two crew members, and spent a night in jail with them, all three accused of a crime that none of them had committed, and which (insofar as they had ever been able to determine) had never actually occurred, outside the imagination of an overzealous law enforcement official.

"As it turned out, it looks like there was a glitch in the system, and the credits didn't get transferred, which stopped the purchase.  So the clothes weren't stolen, they were just never delivered to the lady.  Of course, after the brawl with the Lawkeepers, we're no longer welcome on Hammermium."

"Which is no great loss." Hegerich confirms as Jockram concludes the tale.

"So they accused you of stealing the clothes because you were strangers?" Keryn asks, the dismay and disapproval obvious in her tone.

"Oh, it wasn't just us.  They questioned lots of people, but Hegerich there decided he objected and chose to make something of it." Jockram explains, "So they ended up arresting everybody in the bar who was involved in the ensuing riot.  And the theft accusation was added mostly on account of the way Hegerich objected to the questioning."

"They felt that only a man who had something to hide would deny it quite so... er... strenuously." Banster adds helpfully.

"There's a great deal more, Ms. Taylor - you should enjoy yourself."  And, true to her word, Shui continues to shuttle out the food, each small course a slightly different experience in spices and choices.

She's no gourmet chef, but over the years the steward has certainly amassed a fair amount of recipes.

Then comes Jockram's story, with its inevitable dénouement.  "Certainly a point against such forms of denial," Shui dryly notes, though not seriously (it's likely expected of her).  Brawls, dustups, and other such things...she deplores them, and people do suffer crippling, even lethal injuries on occasion, but better that than gunplay.

She's relatively certain Yasmine would agree with her, here.

"I fear I have no such amusing anecdote to mark my first steps aboard the Profit Margin," she continues, well-aware it would be rude of her to remain silent.  Bland is better. "I merely responded to a fortuitous advertisement; one of my better spots of luck - and better choices! - thus far."

"Well, we're glad to have you aboard, Shui."  Saskia raises her glass to the steward,  And smiles as she continues, "Don't worry, we'll have you being rude to Jago before you know it.  After that we can move on to the advanced lessons, like how to get yourself arrested properly and the five least indecent ways to get all the charges dropped.

"Only one of which involves the rest of us mounting an armed assault on the law enforcement offices."

Her grin suggests that she's joking about the latter part of all this.

Or is she?

Shui blinks.  "Well," she slowly begins, "I suppose I have a fine example to follow, Ms. Blake."  The steward offers a small, innocent smile to the engineer. "Perhaps I should assault a police officer," she muses, tapping her fingertip on her lips.  "That MIGHT gather everyone at the police station to affect a rescue.  Or at least pay the hundred and fifty or so monetary units necessary to deal with the fine."

She coughs once, delicately.  "Of course, I'm sure had the fine comes to much greater, we could graduate higher on the Five Least Indecent Ways to get the charges dropped.  Possibly including that armed assault." 

Nodding her head, she takes a small sip of her wine.  "THEN I could be rude to Captain Lanza."

Keryn stifles a laugh.  "Can't we start with the lessons on being arrested?  I think I can probably manage rude already.  Shui too, by the sound of it.  The being arrested lessons sound like they might be exciting, and I'm on a tight schedule."

"I'm afraid I can't really vouch for her rudeness." Corlan interjects, "I'd probably categorise it as more like simple cheek."

"I can be rude." asserts the young woman, "But I don't like being too rude to old people like you and Eneris, in case your heart stops."

"I take it all back.  She's definitely capable of being rude, I think."  Corlan takes a sip of his drink, then, "But this whole conversation, particularly Miss Blake's contribution, reminds me of my experiences when I first started travelling aboard Profit Margin.  Almost like Keryn, I was a little inexperienced with travelling away from my homeworld.  While most of my knowledge was not derived from the same sources as hers... "

"He means he never watched the same trashy holovids as I did."

"Exactly, yes.  Still I was surprised at how informal things are on a ship like this and, seemingly, on the Ore Hound too.  Keryn, at least for her first few days aboard, was somewhat shocked by the total lack of white uniforms and formality between crew members.  The same applied to me, albeit to a lesser extent."

"I must admit though, that it was a not altogether unpleasant discovery."

Jago chuckles quietly to himself as he seems to remember some one or other trying to encourage uniforms for the crew when he joined the ship.

"I think the level of formality aboard any ship is the prerogative of the Captain, or owner. In a large service, where you might be expected to work with people you've not met before, some sort of formal hierarchy is an asset but personally I've had a belly full of it and certainly wouldn't want to inflict it on any one else. Some Captains set them selves up as little despots and won't even talk to people they consider beneath them."

This message was last edited by the player at 10:14, Fri 21 Mar 2014.

Ash seems caught up in his conversation with Yasmine.  It is solely due to the topic of the Ghost Ship, naturally.  Surely, it has nothing to do with her dress neckline.  Nothing at all.  He's obviously more than a little distracted from the rest of the conversation happening around the table.

It is only by happenstance that when Jago chuckles slightly that Ash happens to be looking in that direction.  The Profit Margin's navigator glances about the table and listens to the captain's statement about formality on-board.  Ash's expression has a bit of the 'deer in the headlights' look as he tries to piece together whether the boss is referring to him.

"I, uh," he posits tentatively after a moment, "like informality as much as the next guy..."  Which is, of course, Eneris further down the table in his dress uniform; Ash reddens slightly.  Then stammers a bit, venturing a bit self-deprecatingly, "Ummm... probably not the best time to revisit the idea of the crew patches ... "  He gives the rest of those assembled at the table a slight crooked smile.

"Well, casual and informal both have their time and place, as do dressing up.  Or dressing down people, for that matter, ha!  Either way, I think they forgot to specify how to dress for this occasion.  I must say, though, I rather wear a bit more than just patches, Ash," Yas wisecracks as usual and only realises at that time that she indeed is no proper lady.  Ah, screw it, lady or not, at least I got to use the dress for once.  I'll probably be ten years older before the next.

"As for being rude and starting fights, I have no idea how to do either of those, but I know how to end them," she says with a rather cheeky predatory grin.  Nothing indicates her referring to Ash, even if she aware of his looks.  But that is sort of the whole idea of this kind of outfit, for people to look, she figures, or she might instead wear her battle armour.

"Trashy holovids, on the other hand, are a great source of information, be that information incorrect or otherwise, and they are entertaining as well!"  She laughs out loud, doing her best not to think about some of those trashy holovids, especially those her sister tend to like, ancient ones with space monsters from before space travel was common.  Even so, sci-fi holovids can be fun to watch, trashy or not.

Tylen sits quietly, letting the conversation ebb and flow, nodding and smiling along as  everyone else has their comment.  Indeed, he seems happy filling glasses,passing plates and dishes and letting his colleagues hold the floor.

Banster takes another mouthful of food, then comments, "I'd love the chance to watch a trashy holovid, but I just don't get the time, because my Fearless Leader is a slave driver who makes us work twenty hour shifts, then adjusts the chronometer so we think we've had four hour's sleep, when in fact we've only had two."

"Twenty hours?" Hegerich asks, "Jockram?  Why does he get to only work part-time?"

Jockram looks bored as he responds, "Moaning again?  You should count yourself lucky.  When I first started in this business, the 72 hour shift was standard.  And we didn't have ships.  I had to walk out to the Platinir Belt every shift and mine four tons of iridium, using only a spoon - the same one I ate with.  I was glad when I got promoted, and earned my certification to use a spork."

Which causes Keryn to inhale her drink, rather than imbibing it in a more traditional fashion, and start coughing.

Tylen chuckles as the conversation turns to shift lengths  ”Try working on the X-Boats" he says with a grin.  ”a shift is a Jump, and you are on duty all the way through.  Lots of time for reading and learning stuff though.  Although you had better make darn sure that you have a decent personal computer that is loaded chocka full of stuff to look at.  Otherwise you will go completely stir crazy …”

He pauses as he drinks some more of his beer , and tells a story about a legendary X-Boat pilot who had done a dozen jumps, one after the other.  Completely alone with just a four hour refuel at tenders to update his reading, for months on end.  After his marathon shift, his first few nights of R & R was spent talking about the ghost in his last X-Boat and how it had followed him ashore and was standing over in the corner watching him.  It took weeks of counselling to get him fit enough for duty again.

Shui laughs along with the jokes, continuing to shuttle in and out of the room as necessary to keep the food and drinks flowing.  She remains still for the stories, though, listening carefully to take in the details.  Herself, she's quite pleased with how Jago handles his ship; it leaves things comfortable, and gives her enough time to continue with her own pursuits - such as they are - while keeping her duties up to par.

Tylen's story garners a quirked eyebrow.  "A ghost?  An actual manifestation, Mr. Orgesh, or a psychotic break on the part of the pilot?"

"I am not sure Shui." The gunner responds with a grin.  "It is one of those stories that does the rounds, and I guess it grows with the telling." he adds with a shrug of his shoulders.

He starts to fiddles with his spoon as he admits  "To be honest, I am not really sure how accurate any of it is.  It is probably just one of those stories that was trotted out whenever someone was being pushed for that one extra jump that all X-Boat crew get pushed for occasionally."

Realising he is fiddling again, he puts the spoon back where it should be and folds his hands quietly in his lap.

Yas stops laughing and stands up abruptly, her chair evidently caught by surprise at it seems to leap back on its own, then fall over, no doubt in shock.

"Easy there, kid!"

Surprisingly fast, considering the outfit she wears, the security chief moves over to the coughing Keryn, leaving the poor chair unattended.  Once there she effortlessly pulls out the chair with pregnant woman still on and places a hand on her back and the other on the back of the head, gently pressing the younger woman down.

"Bend over, try to get your head between your knees," she softly instructs Keryn as she guides her to a semi-prone position.  "Head down now, keep coughing, it'll come out."

Keryn sits for a while longer, bent over with her head down.  Gradually the fit of coughing subsides, and she resumes a more upright posture, wiping tears from her eyes, her face crimson as she says, "Sorry.  Jockram made me laugh... and my drink... went down the wrong way."

A grateful smile to Yas, "Thank you, I feel better now."

In the mean time Corlan has also moved across to see if he can offer any assistance, "I have a little knowledge of first aid, should it be necessary?"

Jockram himself appears concerned, until Keryn seems to recover, at which point he glares at Banster and Hegerich, "There you go.  I told you my jokes are funny."

Seeing that Keryn actually has begun choking, Shui shifts in her chair, but Yasmine has it all under control.  The security chief has sufficient skill to handle this sort of thing and much more - the more distant Shui contents herself with moving around to put Yasmine's chair back in its proper place.

Corlan also feels the need to offer his own assistance; with both of them prepared to help, Shui figures it's better not to get into a bidding war.  Besides, if Keryn can talk and breathe normally, she doesn't need help any more.  Just observation, which she herself can manage from this side of the table.

There are enough people around the young woman already, and her embarassment is clear.

"Goodness, Ms Taylor," Shui cuts in. "There's no need to apologize.  It happens to everyone."  One eyebrow rises.  "Especially in this group."

Crisis averted thanks to Yasmine's quick thinking and movement, Shui turns back to Tylen.  "Such tales are common, are they not?"  She sighs.  "I'm always curious about how many of them are based in fact, and hoping for more information."

Saskia doesn't notice the emergency until its all but over -- too busy talking to Eneris about time served in the Navy.  Both had been in the Marches during their careers, but in different subsector fleets.

Then their conversation had been interrupted by Yas suddenly jumping to her feet and moving around to assist Keryn.  Not really surprising.  In their years on this ship together, Yas has always kept a close eye on everybody aboard and has usually been the first to notice impending trouble, and spring into action.  Imperial Marine training makes for the best guardian angels.

The incident is over before anybody else reacts.  Good work Yas.

"Are you all right, Keryn?"

Ash watches wide-eyed as Yasmine ministered to Keryn; he is more than a touch stunned at the immediacy of the circumstances.  He had not reacted or noticed nearly quickly enough.  He nods in agreement with Saskia, the engineer had the right of it; hopefully, Keryn would be all right.

He pursed his lips for a moment; they were lucky that the Security Chief had known what was happening and what to do.  "Well done, Chief." he acknowledges, adding admiringly, "That dress doesn't seem to have hampered your reflexes at all..."  Then he stands and moves to straighten out her chair and wait for Yasmine to sit first again.  The lanky navigator runs his hands through short cropped hair a touch sheepishly, as it is an archaic gesture.  But, he figures that it is only courteous.

"No worries, girl, we all been there, bad jokes are dangerous," Yas says with a grin and resists the urge to ruffle Keryn's hairdo.  As long as the girl was all right it was enough for her, but she will really miss her once she is gone.  She moves back to her seat where Ash is waiting before she cracks and ruffles that hair.

"Well, it's a bit awkward to move in, but at least it stayed on," she replies to him in a stage whisper.  Evidently the molecular tape worked as advertised.  Then again, she knew what it could do from the service, but it was nice to see the civilian version worked too.  As for the action itself it was more instinctive than anything, even if she had to admit to herself at least that she watches Keryn a bit more closely.

She flashes Ash a smile and takes her seat again, not having seen much courteous behaviour outside of holovids.  Sure are far worse things to experience.  "Thank you."

"Yes, yes.  I'm fine.  Thank you.  Apart from the embarrassment."  Keryn takes a more careful sip of her drink, "Sorry if I spoiled anybody's enjoyment of this lovely meal."

"Corlan shakes his head, "Nonsense.  While I was a little concerned, my dinner has not been ruined now that I know you are recovered.  I suspect the same goes for others."

"Next time I'll try to give you more warning." Jockram says, smiling.  "If you see me scratch my left ear, then I'm about to say something mildly funny.  Scratching my right ear means there's a danger of choking.  And if you see me making this face... " he twists his face into a most alarming grimace, before continuing, "... that means I'm about to tell a joke so devastatingly funny that it's been known to kill entire world economies because people are too busy laughing to do their jobs."

"Talking of which...  A Zhodani, a Vargr, and a Hiver walk into a bar and the Hiver waggles its tendrils at the barman... "

Banster and Hegerich both groan in unison, "Not this one again."  "This joke is terrible.  If you're going to tell it again, I'd rather stand outside the airlock, without a suit."

Jago sips his drink and happily samples the delights that Shui has prepared, somewhat amused by the attention Keryn can generate just by snorting her drink.

Jockram’s jokes have been round the block a few times to be sure, but he could make people laugh, or short their drink, buy reading the names in a company directory, Jago enjoys the performance and bets himself that Banster and Hegerich will both laugh as well, at the end of it.

A good do, all in all, just the thing to take his mind off the financial killing he’d had to sacrifice because of the criminal elements on the planet below, and the prospect of a second jump with the same cargo and no new passengers.

With a sigh Jago drains his glass and fills it up again.
 

Tylen pauses as he watches the byplay around Keryn and her drink, but once that is sorted out, everyone has returned to their places and some sort or normality descended - he turns his attention back to Shui's comment.

"Oh, I am sure that each of the services and just about every settled world has stories like that.  A story like that, with some real truth behind it, accounts for many of the hunters, and even fishermen, on Lopiengata carrying two guns. It is, perhaps, a bit gory for dinner, but I'd be happy to run through it over a bottle of wine some time." he suggests letting his knee press lightly against hers.

Shui cocks an eyebrow at Tylen.  "I'm not sure it's a fine recounting for a bottle of wine, either, though as a child I did enjoy the occasional ghost story.  So I shall most certainly take you up on that offer, Mr. Orgesh."  She shoots a quick look around the table, judging how things proceed, and gives Tylen a brief touch on the forearm.  "Perhaps the next time we stop at a port with any kind of worthwhile wine shops...Captain Jockram, Mr. Banster, and Mr. Hegerich certainly saved the day with their offers."

Even if Jockram's joke is an old one; some things are certainly forgiveable.

"I know the Navy has stories like that." Eneris chips in, "I know one quite well, because it happened on my ship.  We had a new ensign, name of... oh... what was it?  Ah... Niim, that was it.  So he was straight out of the Academy and thought he knew it all.  He was assigned to Third Shift on the Bridge one night, Communications.  We were on patrol, so we had just made a routine Jump, and the Nav asks Niim if he minds monitoring sensors while he goes to the fresher.  Niim says, 'No problem', and the Nav shunts the sensor feeds over to his panel."

"A few minutes later the rest of the Bridge crew all see Niim giving his panel a funny look, and starting to reconfigure it.  Only from the look on his face, it isn't doing any good.  Of course the others know what's happening - they're all in on the joke and trying not to laugh.  The Nav's standing just outside the door, using a hand comp to feed inputs to his own panel, which are then forwarded to Niim's sensor displays."

Eneris chuckles, and glances at Corlan and Keryn, "I don't know if you know, but ships can't detect each other in Jump, or communicate.  Each sits in its own tiny universe, completely cut off from everything outside.  Well... Niim was seeing something on the sensors - dozens of ships.  Nav had loaded in a simulation of a Zhodani task force, and it was a real beauty.  About a half minute in, our passive sensors started picking up their active scans and Niim really starts to worry."

"Thing is he doesn't want to say anything to the Duty Commander in case he's done something wrong, because he knows that he shouldn't even be able to detect anything in Jump."

"Anway, about then his own comms telltale starts blinking, so he shunts the signal to his earpiece, then screams and damn near falls out of his chair, because what he's hearing is a voice, with a Zho accent, whispering, 'Ve arr coming to ged you, Niim!'"

Ash chuckles and bows slightly to Yasmine, "My pleasure."

He seats himself again next to her and shakes his head at all of the jokes flying back and forth.  He doesn't bother to acknowledge Jockram retelling of a well-worn classic.  Though to be honest he still wonders how the Hiver supposedly got two tendrils stuck in a bottle.

Ash shrugs slightly when the idea of ships having their own 'ghosts'.  "Lots of strange stuff out there in the universe." he says rather enigmatically, "And it is lonely in the Deep Black.  Those x-boat runs especially."  And he seems to be speaking from some level of personal experience, "Really lonely."  The Profit Margin's navigator grimaces slightly, "It's really weird not having an m-drive and just sitting there drifting for days in n-space..."  He shudders slightly then shrugs again.

Moving on, the thin navigator points to Eneris, "Your Duty Commander must have been my first XO's brother.  I was plotting my first jump fresh out of training.  It was on an old Type T Patrol Corvette on border patrol out of Jewell."

"Due to the jump flash," he points out, pausing for a short digression, "there is always a momentary reorientation calibration for the sensor arrays after the j-space transition.  So, the ship is blind until they fully reset."

Ash smiles ruefully as he starts to more fully recall the details of his own story with him as the butt of the joke, "Anyway, we came out of the J-transition and the XO - with the blessing of the Captain, of course - had rigged the planetary proximity alarms to trigger..."

Shui isn't so certain Eneris' story is amusing.  Not for her, anyway.  Oh, she's perfectly aware that it could be considered humorous, and probably would be by most people.  Not so much for her.  Putting that kind of tension in another person doesn't make her laugh, no matter how cleverly done; it sets her nerves on edge.

The practical 'joke' played on Ash is even less amusing.  She can only imagine the panic, the instantaneous guilt Ash felt before he realized it was all trick.  And Shui knows all about guilt.  "Sounds...horrid," the steward murmurs, taking a small sip of her drink.  Then she stands, moving around the table again to collect plates and prepare for the next portion of the meal.

She'll end up being a wet blanket on the discussion if she's not careful, and that's something Shui doesn't want at all.

Tylen just raises an eyebrow.  He has heard  stories like that before but nothing quite that bad had happened to him.  His first job had been ground-side, and while he had been sent to fetch the traditional left handed screw driver and various other little pranks, there had been nothing  in the same league as those.  But then, perhaps it was the service and the scouts were a bit more 'grown up' than the other services.

Anyway, he tops glasses up around the table and then leans back in his chair, glass in hand as the party continues.

"Well know, this joke I have to hear," Yas proclaims as she sees the reaction of Jockram's companions.

As the stories goes to ghosts and x-boats she remains silent.  Briefly she considers retelling the time when she was left drifting in a malfunctioning escape pod with four other Marines, only to lose one before they finally was saved more than a week later, only to learn they were the only ones left alive out of their whole platoon.  And it was not ever during any war.  But no, too grim, and she does her best to steer away from it, beyond a knowing look at the Profit Margin navigator as he speaks of lonely.

She opts for a slightly less tomb-like approach.

"Oh, yes, playing tricks on people, part of the training, eh?  Much more fun was the practical jokes we played on each other in the platoon, such as filling someone's socks with whipped cream just before inspection, ha!  Or replacing the soap with a perfect copy made out of charbonite, you know, the chalk-like substance that has to wear of rather than being washed off, ha!  Once we even made another squad turn blue using the showers, not to mention the time I ended up with white, straight hair, ha!  I got him back, though, oh yes..."

Time moves on, and the tone of the conversation ebbs and flows, from stories of haunted ships to tales of practical jokes, to the latest news on the War, to the recently reported death of Duke Norris, and back to somewhat lighter topics.

And after doggedly refusing to tell his joke for some time, mostly due to threats of dire consequences from his own crew, Jockram finally gives in to pressure from Yas, Keryn and Corlan and tells his joke about the Zhodani, the Vargr and the Hiver...

"A Zhodani, a Vargr and a Hiver walk into a bar, and the Hiver wiggles its tendrils at the barman.  The barman, knowing that Hivers have no vocal apparatus, and speak using a complex sign language, says, "Sorry mate, I don't understand what you're saying."  The Zhodani closes his eyes and concentrates, then pronounces, "That's hardly surprising, he's very drunk.  I'll have a glass of pliebr wine, please."

"So then the barman asks the Vargr what he'd like to drink, and the Vargr says, "Nothing for me thank you.  I'm only here because you need three people for one of these jokes."

Corlan groans, as Banster reminds everybody that they were warned, and Keryn throws half a bread roll across the table, hitting Ore Hound's captain just above the ear...

Saskia's head slumps, almost landing in the remains of her food.  Then she straightens up slowly and stares at the belter, "Frelling Hezmana, Jockram.  I don't know how you have the mivonks to tell that to people who are still alive.  Why hasn't somebody shot you yet?"

Time to change the subject, perhaps to something more entertaining, "Who wants to see how long Jockram can stay alive in hard vacc, wearing just his underwear, and with Tylen shooting at him from the lower turret?  I'd say Yas, but her turret uses plasma weapons, and it just wouldn't be as sporting because even a near miss would kill him.  Plus she isn't dressed for it."  Then another thought strikes her, an even more interesting one, and her voice drops to a near whisper as she makes her suggestion, "Or would anybody like to hear a real ghost story about the Margin.  All true, and it scared the dren out of everybody at the time."

"I vote for the real Ghost Story," Shui states in the aftermath of the seemingly horrible joke.  Horrible to most; not being one to prefer puns, she finds it rather clever.  Jockram seems to be enjoying the negative attention - no doubt the point - so she gives a small smile and a raised glass in the direction of the other captain.

"I personally think the joke a decent one," the steward continues, "and would rather not see Mr. Jockram spaced."

'Mr.' Jockram; on the Profit Margin, there is only one captain, much as there would be aboard the Ore Hound.

"I think you'll like the story, Shui.  It has to do with some of your duties, even though a different person was doing your job then." Saskia says with the faintest of smiles, "I hope it doesn't give you nightmares."

Tylen fills his glass again and then settles back in his chair as he awaits the story..

Jockram smiles, and raises his glass to Shui, before growling at his two crewmen, "See?  Some people like my jokes.  Not everybody qualifies as uncivilised heathens, like you two good-for-nothings.  Why, I bet Saskia is only pretending to hate it so people won't realise that she's really very cultured and sophisticated."

"Shui's probably only heard it this once." Hegerich responds with a sigh, "That wasn't even the first time I've heard you tell it today.  Next thing you'll be asking, 'What's round and bites?'"

"A vicious circle." Banster replies promptly.  "Heard that a couple of times today too."

"That's a lie.  I haven't told that one since yesterday." protests their captain.

Keryn clears her throat, and interrupts, "Profit Margin has a ghost?  Me!  I'd like to hear about it." she says, enthusiastically.  Then she calms down as she adds, "Unless it lives in my cabin.  In which case I don't want to hear about it, even a little bit, and would like to formally request, Captain Lanza, that I be moved to different accommodation."

Then she laughs, "Not really.  I like ghost stories.  Even the ones that clearly aren't true.  Like when nobody lives to tell the tale, so how do people know all the details of what happened to them?"

Eneris also expresses interest in the tale, though Corlan remarks that, while he too lived through the haunting, he would be interested in hearing Saskia's version of events.

Jago cocks an eyebrow and smiles quietly to his self while speculating on which story the Saskia as in mind.

Ash's right eyebrow rises at the prospect of another ghost story, especially given the supposed venue.  "Do tell, Ms. Blake." he piles on with some eagerness, "Here on the Profit Margin?"  There is just a hint of skepticism in his tone, not disbelief, mind you - merely, that now this much more personal.  He almost expects the lights to flicker and Saskia to use her most sinister voice.

Still, it has already been prefaced as the distant past.  Ash cast a glance in Jago's direction, just to see the Captain's reaction.  As it seems that only he or Yasmine are likely to be able to potentially attest to the veracity of this particular story.  Then his body turns slightly as the Margin's navigator turns to more fully regard Saskia, giving the engineer his full attention for her story.  "A ghost on the Profit Margin..." he muses quietly a mix of eager wonderment and bemused nervousness present.

"Colour me most curious, Ms. Blake," Shui replies, eyebrows raised.  "It may give me nightmares, but I'm too interested to skip it, I fear."  If it does, it'll make a welcome change from the ones that occasionally stop in for a visit, even now.

She can't help but smile at the banter between the Ore Hound's shipmates. "I rather like the vicious circle, as well, though I imagine if the witticisms are overdone, they lose their taste." A small nod to the other ship's captain.  "Perhaps some additional material for your crewmates, Mr. Jockram, saving your oldest and best for new acquaintences like myself?"

Saskia smiles nervously as all eyes turn to her.  She sips her drink, and then starts to tell the tale.

"It was a couple of years ago, in the Wypoc system, I think.  We ran into a ship full of Vargr pirates.  Ridge, who used to have Tylen's job, got in a lucky shot with a missile.  Knocked out Engineering and left them drifting, powerless, in space.  No M-drive, no Jump, weapons all down.

"So we picked up a couple of survivors and put them in cryoberths until we could hand them over to the authorities.  Then we Jumped to our next destination, because we had other passengers who wanted to get there."

The engineer takes another sip of her drink before continuing.

"And while we were in Jump, we started seeing a ghost.  A Vargr who would show up somewhere on the ship and glare at anybody it would meet.  One time it was even on the outside of the hull, in Jump, without a suit -- not that a suit would have done it any good, because J-Space doesn't follow normal rules, and a person outside the ship, even in a suit, would just end up inside-out or turned into a billion kilometre long monofilament thread, or something.

"But while all this was happening, we kept getting electrical faults across most of the ship, and one of the passengers, a kid, was having nightmares about a monster coming to kill us all.  A monster that, from his description, looked a lot like the ghostly Vargr."

Saskia looks around the table to see if anybody is still listening.  "And we could hear the ghost laughing at us from the internal comms, and whispering stuff about how he was in Vargr Hell, and would have revenge on us for killing him.

"Anyway, it was the worst week I ever spent in Jump.  And it got worse, we didn't drop out at the expected time.  Emergence was nearly twelve hours late, with a slew of minor system burn-outs all across the ship, and we ended up limping into port, where we thawed out the Vargr and began to get some idea of what had happened.

"One of the berths had malfunctioned, dropping the prisoner's core temperature lower than usual.  Much lower.  His brain cells became superconductive, and he kind of woke up in the berth.  He couldn't move, and he felt cold, and everything was black, so he was convinced he was dead and his afterlife wasn't very nice.  So he just lay there planning to get back at the people who killed him.

"Which would have been no problem, but for the kid.  He was a psionic, which is probably why his family were in such a hurry to move to a new world before somebody found out about it and had them all arrested.  Anyhow, the kid was picking up the Vargr's thoughts while he was asleep, which explains his nightmares, and why we only saw the ghost on the night cycle.  The kid's psi powers were broadcasting the Vargr's thoughts, making us hallucinate all the ghost dren, and they were even affecting the ship."

Another smile, "The End.  Thank you very much, you've been a wonderful audience.  I'll be here, well, pretty much for the rest of my life, I suppose."

"That wasn't really a ghost story, I think," says Keryn, "but it was spooky.  Thank you."

Corlan chuckles, "It was even spookier for those of us aboard the ship when it happened.  The lights kept flickering, and the heating in my cabin was very erratic."

Ore Hound's crew all look suitably impressed by Saskia's tale, while Eneris appears a little skeptical at first, at least until Corlan confirms the veracity of Saskia's story.

Finally the grizzled veteran shakes his head, "Have to admit, I don't have anything to top that one."

"Well now, Sassy, do you actually plan to stay here at this table until you die?  Death by overeating?  I know Sushi's food's good, but still..." Yas says with a deadpan voice and expression, as is her customary style, unless it is a huge grin, having kept that poker face throughout the story, merely shaking her head on occasion.

"But yeah, that's about as real as ghost stories gets.  I haven't got one, but I do have another story, although, not sure this is the time and place for it.  Not much gore or that, but any way..." she muses, tapping a finger on the tip of her nose.  "It's about finding saving lives instead of taking, not leaving anyone behind and all that Corps stuff...  Just without the killing, that is."

Shui HAS heard the story before, and anticipated it, but it's one worth hearing again even moreso due to its veracity.  When Saskia finishes, she raises a glass to the engineer in salute. "Well told, Ms. Blake.  A true ghost story, and a fine one indeed.  It would be hard, if not impossible, to beat."

The others chime in with their own feelings.  Then Yasmine speaks.  Shui smiles and nods slightly at the cooking jape, but she grows more serious and her eyebrows rise as the Security Officer announces another potential tale.  "I would be pleased indeed to hear it," she puts in.  "I'm always ready to hear stories of that nature, Ms. Crow."

"I too would be interested in hearing the story." Corlan chimes in, encouraging Yas to add her own tale to the evening.  "I'm afraid I don't have much to add, having led a somewhat sheltered life before retiring and booking passage aboard this fine vessel."

Jockram adds his own voice to the  calls for Yas to tell her story, "I'd like to hear it as well.  Most of my stories are about drilling through rock and finding more rock underneath it."

"Me too.  I'd never left my home city, or even walked on the surface of Frenzie, before Yas rescued me.  The best I could tell would be holovid plots.  Probably never will have an interesting story to tell." Keryn adds, a little glumly.

Chuckling, Jockram corrects the young woman's perception of her life, "Well, now... you have the makings of a good story right there.  You decided to leave your underground home on an airless ball of rock, were rescued by an Imperial Marine who, as I understand it, walked you unharmed through a virtual war zone, and brought you out into the stars."

"Stars which, by the way, do not shine as brightly as the ladies present this evening." Hegerich comments.

"Agreed." Corlan raises his glass in a toast, "To attractive company, and good friends."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:52, Tue 22 Apr 2014.

Ash nods approvingly at Saskia's 'story' and joins the common consensus.  "Wow.  I think that you have a knack for storytelling, Ms. Blake." he finally vocalizes, suitably impressed, "That must have been really unnerving when it was happening.  Perhaps a good story and funny now, but not so funny then..."  The lanky ex-scout seems thoughtful as he contemplates just how much this crew has experienced in what seems to be such a short time:  derelict, misjumped ships; errant psychic ghosts; interstellar wars; naval intelligence gathering; alien artifacts.  It boggles the mind.  Or at least, it boggles Ash's.

Turning to face the wonderfully dressed woman next to him, the thin navigator adds his own voice to the others, "I'd love to hear more about your adventures, Chief."  Like many at the table, Ash readily concedes, "I don't have anything comparable to tell in either substance or eloquence.  I mostly delivered Imperial mail.  Not much excitement in sitting alone for weeks on end in an x-Boat."  He smiles slightly ruefully and then shrugs, "You do get to read a lot though..."

He is stirred from his personal reverie by Corlan's toast.  "To beauty.  And friends." Ash agrees with a chuckle at Hegerich's blatant pandering.  He raises his water glass and takes a sip, the smile still playing on his face.

"Being a Marine means you usually take lives to save more, but on sometimes you end up lucky enough to only do saving and no taking.  Those are the best ones.  This is such one of those occasions for me.  And Keryn, you will have plenty of stories to tell soon enough.  Not all have to be larger than life, what matters is that you're there to tell them."  Yas says, giving Keryn a smile before giving Hegerich a dazzling smile, just because.

"Anyway, we were way out in the boondocks doing some fapping, er, that is, F A P, Fleet Assistance Program, helping out with various tasks that needed to be done to keep the Navy afloat.  Such as cleaning the vents, something only a Marine was fit for, girth-wise..." she tells, putting on a grin at the end.

"Peacetime, that moment when we prepare for when the shit to hit the fan again.  No downtime for us, but it makes for a change, at least."

"Either way, my squad was helping out fixing some systems on a forgotten end of a ship, under the watchful eyes of the regular service crew.  Something about conductors and needing their bi-decennial service, so we were tearing it all out.  Quite boring, really."

She takes a sip of her drink.

"Next thing you know, alarms go blurting all over the place.  The techs jump high in the air, screaming something abut fire.  Normally nothing to react to, but since we've been ripping out conduits there was no fire control working.  The ship was about to expose this section to space to suffocate the fire.  No worries, normally, except for Private Ngeru who I'd seen crawl into one of the access vents along with Private Walker.  Walker was out, Ngeru wasn't."

A scowl plays on her face as she pauses briefly.

"At this time the Marine was starting to form a gagglefrak, the techs already gone into the next section, about to seal the doors, so I naturally dove head first into the vent.  That's when the rush of air sucked me in.  I reached this vertical section and would have gone out in space if it hadn't been for my combat boots being able to stick to the frame of the access.  That's when I saw Private Ngeru falling towards me from above, but I managed to grab hold of her leg just as she came hurtling past.  Dislocated my shoulder, it did."

She moves her right shoulder in a circular fashion, grimacing at the memory.

"Of course, after a few seconds the fire was out, but it felt like a lot longer.  Never seen the stars first hand before, even if it was only a couple of them through a distant hole.  Either way, my squad got their act together and pulled us out of there.  The techs came back too, pretending to get busy with things straight up.  The corpsman yanked my arm and I was good as new, so we all went back to work too."

"Now, the story doesn't end there, as such, because that night when I was in my quarters, a glorified broom closet since I had made officer recently, I heard something at the door.  Opening it, what did I see if not Private Ngeru.  She just looked at me and, what the heck, I though, I let her in.  I must admit it was nice with some company in bed."

Another pause for a long sip from the drink, eyes watching the others.

"Then, the next morning, as I sat down in the chow hall with a meal for me and her, I heard this ruckus from the nearby and sure enough, there she came running full speed, soaking wet from the direction of the showers, chased by a few Marines in their birthday uniforms or towels.  She lept onto the table and skid to a halt in front of me, looking pleadingly at me for help.  So of course I had to help, again.  I yanked a towel of a pursuing Marine and threw it over Ngeru and then, well, that's when things took off on their own.  Everyone, dressed or otherwise, piled up around her and started rubbing her with the towel.  Mischief maker as she is, no one could resist her.  Oh boy did she squirm and shriek under there..."

A chuckle escapes her and she shakes her head.

"'CEASE AND DESIST, MARINES!  AND GET THAT OF THE TABLE!  NOW!'" she shouts abruptly and bangs a hand hard on the table for effect.

"Oh yes, Major Holler, yep, that's his actual name, had came walking in on the scene, and he's a bit of a stickler when it comes to these things.  So, the shower detachment retreated towards their hideout, minus a towel, and I picked up Private Ngeru, towel and all, placing her in my lap to make sure she got properly dry.  But since that day we were the best of friends, and whenever Holler wasn't around she'd eat on the table.  Best ship's cat I've ever known, mighty glad I saved her."

Yas sits there with a smile as content as the cat that got that elusive bird – in the form of food in a dish in front of her.  "The end."

Tylen offers to fill glasses around the table and then cracks another bottle of beer for himself as he sits back and listens to Saskia’s and then Yas’s tales.


The old fapping joke makes him smile, it has been around all the services for years, but it was always worth a chuckle or two.  There had to be a twist coming, especially once Ngeru  stayed for the night.  Yas certainly hadn’t had enough to drink to go along that line of conversation without, trying to set every one up.  Still it was clever enough end to the story when it finally came.

Then, with a grin, Tylen raises his glass and proposes a toast ”Private Ngeru, and those who came after her!”

Keryn listens to Yas' tale in rapt confusion, right through to the final denouement, with the revelation of Private Ngeru's species.  At which point she claps her hands together in glee.

"Bravo!  A story with two heroic rescues of the unfortunate cat." she comments, "You know, I don't believe I have ever, in my entire life, seen a cat.  Not in the flesh, anyway.  Not many animals on Frenzie because of the controlled environment, just a few little birds in the park."

"I have." Jockram comments, "It lived on a station in the Mora system.  Had a name, but I don't know what it was, everybody just called it Mister Bitey.  Thing had two moods, bad and worse.  Telling you Jago, if you ever want to get some real revenge on the locals here. you should fetch that cat from Mora and give it to them.  Even better if you can sell it to them."

Jago chuckles at the conclusion of Yas' story, and again at Jockram's comment.

"Ship's cats are kind of traditional, maybe we should get one for the Margin," he says thoughtfully, "though I must say, while touching wood, that we've not had much of a problem with vermin. Apart from that little critter setting up home in the air vents that time."

"You kept that, didn't you Saskia? or am I thinking of something else?"

Ash has very little to add other than a shake of the head and a chuckle; he does give a smile to Yasmine to let the security chief know that he appreciates the story.  And the punchline.

He holds up his mug silently to Tylen's toast, but doesn't bother to repeat the words.  The navigator does seem bemused that they are toasting a cat.

Having seen Shui's quarters (as they are also her medical office), Ash knows that she has some pets.  But his right eyebrow peeks upwards when the Captain mentions that Saskia might have a pet on-board as well.  He does look a bit puzzled - though he tries to hide that fact behind his mug which is conveniently placed in front of his face for a sip, as the lanky ex-Scout admittedly has some difficulty envisioning the engineer in that nurturing role (for a not mechanical item) ...

Saskia slaps her hand on the tabletop, fairly gently, in appreciation of the story told by Yas, and raises her glass for the subsequent toast.  At some point, she realises, most of her nervousness about the evening has evaporated and she started to enjoy it.

Jago's question brings a puzzled look, followed by a dawning realisation, "Oooooh!  Not me, no.  I think Shui took that one.  Probably planned to take it apart to see how it works, then accidentally started liking it.  You know how cruel and merciless she can be usually."

She fakes a shudder, or maybe fakes a fake shudder.  "I didn't like the thing, and I don't like how it looks at me when I'm having a medical.  Creepy looking bugs are one of the main reasons I left home.  The other being creepy looking boys."  And a laugh.

"Mr. Hegrich," Shui laughs.  "Mr. DeSant.  Let us be fair.  Certainly the ladies have enough distinguished company as well.  What a handsome set of rogues we find around us tonight."

"To Private Ngeru," she agrees with Tylen, amidst laughter.  Yasmine's tale had her on the edge of her seat.  There had been a punchline, somewhere, but the Marine had kept it well-hidden until the end.  "Well done, Ms. Crow."

Pursing her lips, she considers her own 'pets'.  "Ms. Blake is correct - I have both of our unexpected guests in my office.  Terrible scientific experiments planned, none of them carried out, despite my malicious nature."  Another raise of the glass, this time to Saskia.  "I hadn't known about your lack of appreciation for my more surly guest, Ms. Blake.  I shall cover its aquarium when you come in." She's quite serious, and there's no mockery in that comment. "The other is harmless.  It's a bit of a fascinating creature, in fact - empathic, and capable of broadcasting emotions."

The doctor sniffs a small laugh.  "I suppose it could be feeding on me at night when I sleep, and keeping me docile with its vast psionic powers, but if it is, I'm quite happy." This said with a bright, glassy-eyed smile which dissolves into another small laugh.  "It feels agar is a delicacy, so I imagine I'm quite safe."

"Perhaps you could set up a small zoo in here.  I'm sure that younger passengers would like it.  From what I've seen, Saskia doesn't come over to this side much, and she wouldn't have a medical here, so she wouldn't be embarrassed by this thing looking at her." Keryn suggests helpfully.

"We had a lot of crawlies on Frenzie, from different worlds.  They came in hiding on ships, and the sealed, regulated environment either suited them or didn't.  The ones that it didn't suit died, and the ones that it did suit found their way into ducts, where it's nice and dark.  I saw a documentary about it once."

She sips her drink again, and clears her throat.  "So I don't mind them.  I'm used to seeing crawlies that I've never seen before, and some are about the size of my palm.  Only time I got upset about them was after I saw one that was a shiny metallic red, and sang like a bird.  It was quite pretty, with delicate wings and a heart shaped body.  But I knew it would probably die soon, because they purge sections of the vents every so often to clear out the uninvited guests.  I think I was about ten, and I cried all night.  Even then I knew I probably couldn't save it because I had no idea what it ate.  For all I knew it sang its sad little song to lure in silly little girls, which it then poisoned and ate."

Corlan smiles, "There you are, you see.  That was an interesting story."

"I'll toast to that, but not mention in what way they followed," Yas says with a chuckle to Ty and raises her glass to finish the last of her drink.  "Yes, indeed, Keryn, each life is precious, and with a cat starting out with eleven...  Or was it seven?  Nine?  Or was that the number of tails they used to have?  Never mind..."

"Sounds like a beast, Jocky.  The cat, that is, the cat!" she grins.  She then settles back to refill her drink and enjoy the tale of Keryn, who had claimed to have no tales.  In the end, everyone has their tales, that much she knew, even if some did not share them as readily.

"Indeed it was," she chimes in along with Corlan.  "You can't live without having a few tales to tell.  So, how about it, Ash?  Surely something is lurking?"

Shui nods her head to Keryn's suggestion.  "Certainly the empathic creature could be brought out.  It is, by all accounts I have found, harmless, incapable of reproduction without another of its species, and quite friendly."  She makes a small face.  "I would rather not bring the other one out, even caged, but certainly you could visit for a look at it, Ms. Taylor."

She's not certain about cats, though.  Only seen one once, and nobody ever told her anything about multiple lives.

"And I will agree.  A fine tale, if bittersweet." She stares down at her plate for a moment, wishing she had found the creature herself, here and now.  Keryn couldn't deal with it, in her circumstances, but Shui certainly could have.  A sad fate for a beautiful creature.  A sad fate for any being, she considers.

She finishes her glass of wine and stands. "I shall brew some tea as Mr. Tescali ruminates on his story," Shui notes.  Better to stop drinking now, or she'll say something silly.  Or tell a story herself.

Saskia grimaces at Keryn's tale about the singing bug.  While she might personally dislike the idea of these things moving around in the ducts on an airless world, possibly damaging cable insulation and seals, or carrying disease and toxins, she has to admit that the story is a little sad.

Sadder still that it might have been the only one of its kind ever to reach Frenzie, where it was, of course, doomed.  Doomed to die alone, in an alien environment.

"That's too bad." she says and means it.

Ash holds up his hands, begging off on Yasmine's invitation.  "I'm afraid," the navigator notes, "that I don't have anything nearly that interesting."  Sure, he has been shot at and stabbed and all rest of that - and even has the scars to prove it, but that isn't really dinner conversation.  As the security chief has so aptly pointed out.

He muses simply, "I am just a poor kid from the docks at Jewell."  Ash gives the gathered a shrug, "Drummed out of the Imperial Navy.  And drummed out of the Imperial Scouts."  He shakes his head, offering the self-deprecating explanation for the latter, "Apparently, I wasn't very good at letting pretty a fully automated mail delivery system run itself.  They even let me go during wartime..."

He purses his thin lips, glossing over the fact that he has spent more than the last half-decade bounce around aimlessly with small independent trading crews - effectively drummed out of each of those enterprises as well.

Eneris considers the various stories that have been told so far, and nods at Ash's final comment.  "I think all the services can be like that sometimes.  Bureaucrats decide how many personnel they're going to need five years down the line, and have to try and take into account that the situation might change in the meantime.  Local offices have some discretion, but they have to justify their choices later, so they tend to err on the side of caution."

"Too much lag between Capital and the Marches for a quick response to anything - if Norris sends a message to Capital, it takes the best part of two years for the reply to reach him."

He shrugs, "I got lucky.  I applied for the Navy in '82, and a few days later word came in that we were at war with the Zhodani.  Navy recruiters called me at home and asked me to come back to the office straight away.  A week later I was shipped out to training.  War only lasted sixteen months, but I saw some action."  He taps at the medals on his chest.

"I was a fast learner, and got promoted quickly, so by the time they were looking for cutbacks after the war, my name was pretty far down the list of people who were dispensable."

Eneris' talk of his career brings a smile to Saskia's lips.  "I missed that.  I was, let's see, nearly thirteen when the Armistice was declared.  Not that it made much difference -- there was nothing in the system worth fighting over, and nothing to attract anybody to take leave there."

With a shake of her head she says, "Without a war to fight, most of my Service career was patrols, police actions and convoy escort.  Oh, and shows of strength on the Sword Worlds border.  Not much real action."

Tylen smiles as Saskia describes her home system and 'not worth fighting over' - just like Lopiengeta.  And so many of the other worlds that are out there.

But rather than tell another story of his own, he starts to fill glasses again.

"Nonsense, Ms. Blake."  Shui smiles, returning with her tea and giving Tylen a small touch on the shoulder.  "Your home system had you.  Certainly worth visiting." She glances to Ash.  "And we are the luckier to have you, Mr. Tescali.  Certainly your previous employers were foolish...but to our gain."

One eyebrow rises a touch as she sits.  "I seem to be in the minority here, without service in the armed forces...sadly lacking Mr. Armusezash's impressive chest of medals.  Have any others here served, than those who have already spoken up?"

Corlan shakes his head, "Not me.  I went straight from college to the family business.  I signed up for NOTC in college, with some thought about joining the Navy and travelling a little, the same idea that eventually bought me to Profit Margin.  But my father's ill health pulled me into the business at the first opportunity."

"A bit like me then.  I went straight into my family's mining operation at fourteen." Hegerich replies, then smiles, "Probably a little bit younger, in fact.  Dad always insisted that he wasn't running a passenger ship, so everybody who knew the difference between a hammer and a charge detonator qualified as crew."

Jockram nods, "That's fairly standard for belters.  They grow up around ships, so they learn the procedures almost before they can walk.  I used to know one captain would put her ten year old kid on sensor watch... "

"Dara Vispockzyn!" Banster and Hegerich chorus.

"Yes, Dara Vispockzyn.  Lovely woman, with a beautiful singing voice.  She'd crank the seat up as high as it'd go, and put some extra cushions on it so that he could see the panel.  Then she'd deactivate the controls and tell him to speak up if he spotted anything coming their way."

"But as I said, starting young is normal for belters.  I started late though.  Went through school, served four years on a freighter, then signed up for a mining crew."

"And that sounds a bit like me." adds Banster, "But in my case I finished school and then spent a spell as a construction engineer on orbital stations.  So, no.  No military experience for me either."

"Hey, as Doc points out, their loss, our gain.  I for one am glad to have you with us," Yas confides in Ash quietly and flashes him a quick smile.

"Ah, homes to forget all about, growing up and flying the coop, facing conflict and war..."

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.  Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.  I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate.  All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.  Good riddance!  Time for dessert!"

"What are we having, Sushi?" Yas licks her lisp and watches Sushi expectantly.

As its is show and tell time, Tylen joins in again briefly.  "There weren't all that many options on 'Ell." he says using the local name for the planet he grew up on.  "Fisherman, gardener, cleaner - all self employed and mainly part time.  If you were really lucky you could get a job at the port waiting table, and perhaps talk your way into a job as a steward.  But that was  casual work, and there were too many that made their way back home in cold sleep  for that to be a good choice." he pauses for a moment as he considers that.  "There were some that didn't come home, but who knows how or where they finished up." and his expression turns sour for a moment, as he recalls long lost stories of spacefareing stewards on casual contracts ending up abandoned and destitute in a strange towns on different worlds.

"I was going down to see about joining the Darrian Army, that was generally seen as the best bet for getting started in a career, but something made me stop off at the ISS base first.  As chance would have it, they had an opening for a couple of local employees and I passed the tests." he grins again as he remembers his early days in the service.

"It was a fairly easy life, to be honest.  A lot of perimeter patrols and being the gofer for the service engineers.  But that left lots of time for working through the various manuals and books, and I was used to learning at the computer from my early days back on Darrian itself.  So I passed all the tests and qualified as pilot officer -  which meant I could finally get off world."

Telling that part of his story reminds him of home, and his face gives his feelings away.  Frustration at the lack of opportunity, but a respect and some minor pride in the people of Lopiengeta and (perhaps) some wistfully memories of a youth spent running around on a backwards water planet.

But then, like Yas, his attention turns to food.  "Yep.  What are we having?" he asks as he half stands, ready to help the stewardess with her duties.

"Yes, indeed.  All of these fascinating stories have quite driven all thoughts of food out of my head." Corlan adds, "Delicious though it has been so far, Miss Tiesi.  A little dessert would go down quite well I think."

Then, as they wait for the dessert to be served, Keryn, who has been watching the shifting images on the walls for a couple of minutes, suddenly says, "As you all know, this is my first time off my homeworld, and I have to say that I've already seen some places I could barely have imagined.  What about all of you, who have travelled much more than me?  What are the most interesting or amazing places you have visited?"

"Tell the truth, Keryn, after a few months stuck in the bowels of a starship on a long patrol, just about any ball of rock can seem pretty damned amazing." Eneris chuckles.

Then he smiles and continues, "Had shore leave once at a Naval base orbiting a world called Hessel, over in the Deneb sector.  Moon of a ringed gas giant, a little thin on the air, but beautiful blue oceans.  Spectacular sky, because of the giant and its rings.  Less than a hundred people live on the surface, all part of an archaeology team from some university, studying the ruins of a lost alien civilisation."

"The ruins are spectacular, stone tower that take advantage of Hessel's slightly low gravity, with doors high up because the species that used to live there were flyers.  The towers are covered with carvings and inlaid with strips of copper and slabs of quartz, and some sort of piezoelectric crystal that hums when sunlight hits it.  So you stand in this ruined city, at sunrise, with a huge orange and red planet overhead, and a string of gems glittering across the sky, and as the sun comes up the city sings."

Ash raises his mug and nods to Eneris' assertion about the experience on long patrols.  "Here, here." he quips, "Deep patrol is definitely not like the vids and can be taxing on the sanity."  He shakes his head and smiles ruefully, as if to clear some melancholy cobwebs from his mind.

In more direct response to Keryn's question and after Eneris has had his say, the lanky navigator chimes in.  "I can remember," Ash recalls, "that Adabicci's main world had a fairly thick atmosphere with just enough Argon and Chlorine in it to give it an opulent green sheen to it."  He closes his eyes for a moment before continuing, "I was on the X-Boat route through that system some years ago.  Nothing much to do while hooked to the tender for maintenance one time.  The planet rise with the red light from the star haloing the world there was absolutely stunning.  An emerald jewel in floating there majestically in the vastness of space."

"Dessert, yes." A tardy reply to Yasmine, and Shui hurries from the room, beckoning Tylen to join her.  She returns with yet another tray in-hand, Tylen the same (assuming he does indeed assist).  First the heavy, thick syrup goes on the table, then Shui begins setting out plates for everyone.  It has taxed her to the limit, this dinner, so the Steward has gone with something a little easier for dessert, yet flavourful.

"We have fruit crêpes with syrup," she explains.  The fruits are preserves, of course, but real enough and not freeze-dried, and the crêpes she cooked herself. "They will go well with the poetry of these descriptions.  Hessel sounds absolutely beautiful, Mr. Armusezash, and heavy with pathos.  I should love to visit and spend time in those ruins. - perhaps we can lobby the Captain.  And the vista you describe in the Adabicci system, Mr. Tescali?  Simply gorgeous."

“I don’t see why we shouldn’t head in that direction, assuming it’s in the Imperium,” Jago muses. “If this current jaunt doesn’t lead to anything further then maybe we’ll pick some target worth visiting. ”

“As long as were making a profit that is."

"Mmm, that looks good Shui.”

Eneris studies the dessert laid in front of him, "That looks very good.  I wasn't sure I could eat any more, but I'll find a way to force it down, somehow."  He favours Shui with a smile of gratitude.

"Hessel's definitely in the Imperium, Captain.  Next sector to Trailing, so some way off.  But if you're planning to move along the Main, then you'll be heading in the right general direction."

Keryn, too, admires the crepes for a brief moment, before starting to devour them.  "This is the best course yet, Shui." she manages to get out between mouthful's of food, "You definitely didn't need my help with this, unless anybody would have preferred crepes with groat."

Meanwhile, Jockram and his crew show their appreciation by seemingly engaging in some kind of race to clean their plates.

Even though he had asked, Tylen had a good idea of what was going to be served for dessert - he had been up and down helping Shui all evening – and he was more than ready to hand out the plates and accoutrements when Shui passed them across.  Then he sits, grins at the stewardess and tucks into the sweet dessert with gusto.

As the conversation moves to sights seen, he considers the various sights he has seen across the sectors, but eventually decides to describe the sea on Lopiengeta.

He starts by describing a fierce storm, with winds whipping the water up into tall waves that crash against the rocky shore, and the majesty and strength of the forces of nature.   But as the storm dies and the sea is still an angry green colour and the waves turn into a massive swell – but then the sky starts to clear and the whole scene is tinged with the rosy glow of the evening sun.    Gulls shriek as the play around the cliffs in the strong breeze, seals swim around the rocks looking for small creatures that have been washed out of their safe haven.   And standing on the rocks you can feel the clean, refreshing wind whipping through your hair and dashing spray against your face.

His smile is half-wistful as he describes the scene, but somehow you know that while it is a sweet memory, it isn’t something that he wants for his immediate future.  Some time in the far future perhaps, but certainly not now.

"Adabicci is also in the Imperium, Boss." Ash chimes in dutifully, "Rimward from here.  Just a three parsec jump Spinward from Lunion."  It was, apparently, the opposite direction from how they were travelling from Frenzie.  Even if, as the Profit Margin's navigator noted, "It is just on a different branch of the Main - very close to Sword Worlds."

The lanky ex-Scout chuckles slightly, noting to Tylen after his vivid description of the oceans on his homeworld, "I never took you for a seadog."  Then he adds quickly to ensure that his statement isn't taken the wrong way, "Not that there is anything wrong with that, of course..."

Thankfully, the conversation turns, and rightfully so, to the next course.  He adds his voice to chorus at the table, "Dessert looks fabulous."  Ash punctuates his assessment with a nod and a smile to Shui, adding hungrily, "A fitting finale."  He licks his lips eagerly, though he holds back as to not be the first to dig in and an absolute glutton.

"Not a world."  Jockram says, "Arballetra's Tiara, over in the Beyond.  System contains nothing but dust and rocks, and two suns.  A red sub-giant and a white dwarf.  The dwarf orbits the sub-giant and pulls out a streamer of matter from it, which spirals out to the dwarf and adds to its mass.  Every seventy-five hours enough matter piles up to cause the dwarf to turn into a small nova.  It pops, and throws the built-up material out, stirring up the dust clouds and, incidentally, keeping worlds from forming in the system."

He pauses for a little more crepe, "Can't keep doing that for ever, of course.  Best guess is maybe another hundred thousand years or thereabouts.  So get over there and see it while you can."

Corlan has been considering all through the various descriptions of worlds, and finally comes up with, "I have been to too many places with Profit Margin to make a real decision.  I'd say that the nameless ice moon where we found the wrecked Leviathan made the biggest impression, with its tall spires of ice glittering in the light from a distant sun, and the discovery that, even in a place like that, there was life to be found."

Tylen grins "Most of the time  it was wet and boring. Occasionally it was beautiful." he shrugs again as he digs into his dessert.

"Wait.  What?"  Saskia drops her fork and looks at Jockram, with an expression of shock on her face.  "You were in The Beyond?  Did you go to Northstar and see the ringworld?  I'd frelling love to see that thing -- it's only the biggest man-made structure in known space."

Shui accepts the compliments with a small nod of her head and a pleased smile.  It's good people are enjoying the food; good food often helps camaraderie, making cooking is a worthwhile skill.  Anything encouraging friendship and open discourse, in her opinion, is worth pursuing.

She keeps quiet as the others speak of what they've seen over the course of their time in space.  Shui has seen a fair bit as well, of course, but most of her time has been spent doing menial work on freighters, with little time or interest to spend watching the great outdoors.  Only recently has she managed to secure better positions on ships, this being the best yet.  And hopefully her last, at least for years to come.

But then, she doesn't really think much past getting through the next week, so any concerns about the future lie more in the direction of the menu.

For now, better to sit still and drink in the descriptions, adding them to her list of the universe's poetry.

"Ha!" exclaims Banster, "Oh no, we couldn't go to Northstar because Jockram's too boring, and a ringworld might be so interesting that his head would explode."

"Actually he's almost right.  We didn't go there because we were prospecting, and most of the rocks at Northstar were used up making the ringworld.  No profit there for us." Jockram explains, "It's not easy being the captain when your crew are children, only interested in shiny new things and spectacular novelties."

Corlan looks up from his meal, "I've heard of Northstar.  Read an article about it... let's see... would have been about ten years ago.  A lot of focus by Northstar Interworld Technological Services - to buy a system, and then put so much effort into construction of a ringworld.  Five hundred years later they're still paying off the banks.  But the potential income from the project, when it's finally complete, will make the company one of the wealthiest in the Imperium."

"What's a ringworld?" Keryn looks embarrassed by her own question.

Eneris seems more interested in hearing about Tylen's homeworld, "How was the fishing?  I'm looking for a place to live out my twilight years."

There is a pause, and then Corlan steps in to fill it.  "A ringworld," he explains, "is a good way to get the most out of a system.  You go to a star system, preferably one that's devoid of inigenous life, and you grind everything in that system, apart from its sun, down into raw materials.  You strip the planets of their atmospheres, extract all of the ores and minerals, everything.  And then you pulverise what's left."

"Then you use it all to build a new world - a ring around the sun, far enough out that the temperature is right for life.  You spin it, to make gravity, and provide some rigidity.  For Northstar, it's a ring about 275 million kilometres in diameter, with a habitable surface area equal to about three million typical planets.  They're still building it, at the moment, but they've started covering the surface with soil and planning to plant vegetation."

"But you can't mine there." Jockram interrupts, "Any more than you could dig a hole and mine for gold under the floor here on Profit Margin."

"No, but the whole surface is usable.  How much food could three million agricultaral worlds produce, with no deserts or ice caps to contend with?"

Keryn considers that for a moment, then says, "It would always be daytime.  Not that it would bother me.  I lived underground, and the lights in public areas were always on."

"No.  There is a second ring, inside the first one, which has alternating solid sections and gaps, so it casts shadows to simulate a day and night cycle."

"That... would work."

"That's right.  Except that at Northstar there wasn't enough material in the system, so they mined out another one nearby, also uninhabited.  One of the reasons they decided to buid the ringworld outside the Imperium was that it was easier to find barren systems that hadn't been claimed by anybody else.  Then they set up mass drivers to throw the extracted material, as hundred ton slugs, through interstellar space to the construction site.

"100 tons, moving at .1 C, and ships fitted with massive repulsor arrays in place at the other end to catch them coming in, and hitting a three kilometre target area.  That's pinpoint accuracy, comparatively speaking, for a shot of over a parsec.

Saskia almost sounds as if the whole project had been her idea.  Obviously a big fan.

"The surface area totals more than all the worlds in the Imperium, and when it's finished, it'll all be prime farmland.  Well except for the settlements and some industrial areas, mostly manufacturing farm equipment and fertilizer."

"So they bought a system, or two, and then destroyed it, or them, so that they could buid a new one?  Why?" Keryn asks carefully, making sure that she has understood the details correctly.

Jockram laughs, "Because they could."

Keryn refuses to be put off the scent, "Why did they do that?  By the sound of things it cost them a lot of credits."

Corian shrugs, "I can't pretend to understand their initial motivation, Miss Blake seems to be the local expert on the project, but there is, potentially, a considerable fiduciary reward at the end of the project.  That could be enough to have attracted Northstar's interest.  That, and three million worlds' worth of farmland."

"Three million worlds, all with the same climate.  And no proper sunsets."

"I suppose with a place like that you could literally fall of the edge, except that they have to have a huge wall all round both sides to keep the air in. If it got holed by a meteor or atomic weapon the atmosphere would pour out like water down the plug hole, though I expect there would be measures in place to prevent that."

"Is the intention to get three million planets worth of people to settle there to consume all that farm produce or do they intend to export it? Either way I bet it will be robots doing the farming and with all that surplus, food, timber, fuel or whatever they're growing, prices will take a serious hit."

"I suppose that sooner or later the sentient population of the galaxy will expand enough to take advantage but it's a heck of a long term investment."

"Long term indeed, at least for the agricultural side of it." Corlan agrees, "But Northstar, according to the article, were hoping that a very public display of their commitment to such a large scale project, and their ability to carry it through, would attract contracts for other work.  For example, they cite it as being responsible for their winning contracts for starport construction and upgrading across the Imperium."

"This in spite of their realising, in the early 900s, that they didn't have the resources to complete the project.  So they opened it up to colonists and interested corporations, and with the extra income have recently projected a completion date for 1234."

Eneris clears his throat, and comments, "It's not unique, you know.  There's one at Leenitakot too, on the far side of the Imperium.  Built something over a quarter million years ago, and never finished.  Species who built it went for a smaller version.  Dwarf star, and a ring only about ten million kilometres in radius."

"They never completed the ring, so there's no atmosphere, and just the bare shell of the structure."

"Presumably, the inner ring would still harness the incoming sunlight..." Ash ventures off-hand, when talk turned to ringworld logistics, "That... is a lot of excess power.  And transporting it between the rings would be another logistical nightmare since both rings are moving relative to each other.".  He smiles slightly bemused at Keryn's interest on the general topic; one can almost see the gears turning as she tries to wrap her brain around the technical immensity of the project.  Well, that and he is greatly amused that - as the young woman herself has noted - she seems obsessed with sunsets, a phenomenon that she never actually grew up with.  It does appear that travel really does broaden the mind...

"Leenitakot?  Really?" Ash notes with a touch of incredulity.  He usually prided himself on having a fairly large breadth of knowledge - especially when it comes to Imperial geography.  But, he hadn't heard of that particular phenomenon at all.  "Wow." the lanky navigator muses aloud, "to abandon that project must have been catastrophic..."

He shakes his head, breaking his reverie.  Then Ash looks at Eneris more closely, his expression slightly askance, "How did you find out about the abandoned ring at Leenitakot?  Have you actually been there?"  It is less that Ash doesn't believe that the ex-Navy man has made the story up.  Far from it, but more that if the man has actually been there, then Eneris' travels have indeed been very far and wide.  And the man's stature has risen considerably in Ash's eyes; that is a lot of travelling to cross the Imperium.  And though he already knew it, the ex-Scout is made keenly aware once more that Eneris - like all of the crew and passengers on the Profit Margin, really - has much more to them than meets the eye.

They would need more than spin to keep the air in place, Shui considers.  A planet holds atmosphere thanks to its gravity, and centripetal acceleration, which simulates gravity, will in no way draw things to it.  The local gravity of the ring itself - dispersed as it is over the circumferance of the orbit - would not prove sufficient.

She wonders how they would manage.

"It sounds...striking," she murmurs.  'Terrible' is a better word, but it might sound like a criticism, and she's leery of such things at the moment.  Farmland?  Certainly useful.  But tearing up an entire system, simply to build the ring?  Breaking down whatever worlds have grown there?

Not for her.

She's content to sit and listen.  Everyone is enjoying themselves, and it's better to allow it than start up a debate on the whys and wherefores.

Saskia too queries Eneris' comment on the ancient ringworld, though her reasons may be a little different from Ash's.

"Leenitakot?  Why are these frelling stupid things so far away?" the engineer growls.

The navigator's question about power generation gets her attention though, and diverts her fury.  "Northstar uses strips of photo-receptors on top of the rim walls, above the atmosphere, to generate energy.  400 million square kilometres of solar arrays, even with a day-night cycle, generates enough power to keep the lights on.

"There's also a maglev system running along the top of the walls -- actually inside them -- probably the only known case where you can travel around a solar system by train.  Starports are located on ledges on the outside of each wall.  Makes for nice easy launches that don't need any fuel.  Just push the ship off the ledge, and centripetal force throws it outwards at almost ten metres per second."

"They're so far away because all the closer ones were stripped for souvenirs by tourists." Eneris chuckles, and then he adds, "Did you know there's a rosette over in the Vargr Extents, probably built around the same time as the Leenitakot ringworld?"

"What's a rosette?" Keryn again.

"You take several planets of roughly equal size and shove them close together, so that they all orbit a point in the centre.  Then you transform them so that they all have matching environments.  This one, in the Extents, has five worlds, all spinning in a circle around their common centre of gravity."

"See?  Proves my point.  Too.  Far.  Away.  Never heard of any of these things close by."  Saskia shakes her head in disgust, and then stops, resting her elbows on the table, and her chin on her fists.

"What I wouldn't give for a decent bit of lost alien technology, or a mysterious wreck of unknown origin." she says wistfully.  "Just one.  That's all I ask.  Nothing complicated -- I'm a simple girl at heart -- wouldn't even mind too much if it didn't rewrite the laws of frelling physics.

"Hezmanah!  I'd settle for a tiny little minor magnetic anomaly.  Or a previously unknown particle, and there's one of them discovered about once a frelling week, so not really that big a deal."

Eneris grins, "Somebody wants to get a name for herself, so there'll be a ten metre hologram of her in the Museum of Science on Capital."

"I'm sure Miss Blake will become famous in her own right, one day." responds Corlan.  "Certainly, in my experience, she has the right sort of attitude to work.  One that will lead to some discovery, or technical innovation.  Perhaps a more efficient drive, or the like?"

"Perhaps you'll get partial credit when I construct a robot so perfect that it will end all further research into robot design, just because everybody realises they'll never make a better one." Keryn suggests, and earns a laugh from Banster.  "I'll make sure I mention you in my autobiography, Saskia."

"Hmmm..." Ash muses aloud, "A set of orbiting bodies, like a Klemperer rosette, is only inherently metastable isn't it?  Any perturbation can cause the entire system to runaway into collapse since pushing a body out of alignment with its brethern doesn't have a restoring force for the change in gravitational pull."

"Have you been to the Extents as well?" the lanky navigator notes to Eneris with a chuckle, "Damn, you've gotten around, Mr. Armusezash..."

Ash just smiles with a slightly bemused expression when Saskia goes on her discovery tirade.  He shruggs slightly, "I dunno, Ms. Blake...  I think we should be careful what we wish for.  Sometimes wanting a 'Life of Excitement' gets you shot at and stabbed and stationed next to leaking plasma conduits...."  He doesn't say much more, but it is pretty obvious that the ex-Navyman and Scout is speaking from more than a touch of personal experience.

Running his hands through his close cropped hair, Ash switches the subject from the past and back to the future.  He turns towards Jago, "What do you say, Boss?  Perhaps a side trip to the Extents to visit one of the artificial wonders of the universe is in order..."

Tylen is more than happy to as the conversation drifts on.

"I haven't been to any of those places." Eneris admits, with a rueful grin, "Not Northstar, nor Leenitakot, nor Tireeen.  But I got interested in these things when I was young, and read a lot about them over the years.  Not a lot else to do when you're manning a gunnery station on a long patrol through the outer reaches of a system."

Corlan's expression falls, "That's a shame.  I was hoping to have a long talk with you one evening regarding your  visits to these worlds."

Jockram nods, "That's the way it goes.  The Universe is a big place, and no matter how much you travel you can only get to see a small fraction of it.  I'm lucky that I have my own ship and can go where I want to, but for a man in Eneris' position, where all of his destinations were selected by somebody else...  Well, that's the main reason I quit working for mining companies as soon as I could afford to finance the Hound."

It's truly a fascinating conversation - one to which Shui, sadly, has little to add beyond exclamations that she, as well, would love to see many of these places.  Better to sit and drink it in, listen to her friends' experiences, and hope to have some of those herself, someday.

After all, they've explored a wrongly-jumped ship on an icy moon, and met the shadow-creatures that inhabited that seemingly lifeless place.  After that, could not anything happen?

She refrains from bringing up Captain Lanza's 'artifact', as she's uncertain if it's private.  But surely that would qualify for one of Ms. Blake's wishes?  Perhaps, Shui considers, it is simply that the Captain's artifact remains impenetrable, impossible to analyze, that Ms. Blake doesn't count that note as crossed off her list.

She shoots a quick smile at Tylen, shrugging slightly.

The smile fades as Ash brings up his own 'life experiences', unpleasant as they were.