Jump is, as usual, uneventful.  On the rare occasions when something does go wrong, most of the excitement happens at entry or exit.  In between, a ship rides safely within the protective cocoon of its own Jump Field, its crew and passengers blissfully unaware of any issues...

Statistically, of course, it's still the safest way to travel.  Of course, it is also the only way to travel interstellar distances.

Jago sits in the Crew Lounge, studying some data on the terminal - trade data downloaded at Phlume, indicating latest know prices purchase and sale prices for worlds near that system.  A cup of coffee and a sandwich are close to hand.

Across the lounge from Jago, Saskia has her handcomp linked into Profit Margin's central core, and displaying a basic set of system efficiency charts for the last month, cross referenced with power output levels.  The charts are satisfactory -- not only do the figures fall well within Imperial specifications, but they comply with the much more stringent Blake standard.

Saskia raises her eyes from the handcomp and watches Jago for a moment, wondering what all the numbers on his screen mean, before flipping to the next page of Tachyon Field Analysis and Spectral Tensor Differentials.

Scowling she adjusts a number upwards by a fraction of one percent, then watches as a large swath of figures turn first amber, then red.  The number gets reset, and everything turns green again.  Same thing every month.  The calibrations can not be adjusted beyond their current settings.

The Engineer laughs quietly to herself.  The fusion plant is operating at the best possible efficiency -- even a miniscule adjustment would result in a meltdown within 24 hours.

Once in Jump space, Tylen feels free to stand down from his watch position, and heads through to the crew area for a coffee.

Over the next little while, he pulls down a self help manual for his quad and a couple of simple, self help style, books on mechanics.  Throughout the jump he will spend some time servicing his quad, occasionally taking pieces out and stripping them right down before rebuilding and replacing them again.

Over in the Passenger Lounge, things are quiet.  Corlan, Eneris and Covan Draik are all involved in a game of cards, gambling for pieces of dried fruit.  The main problem with that being that Eneris has a tendency to, absent mindedly, eat the stakes from time to time.

Keryn is sitting at a terminal across the room reading a book, downloaded from the ship's library, entitled Basic Principles of Robot Brain Architecture, and occasionally muttering to herself as she makes notes on a datapad.  Every so often she switches to Robotics: Terms and Definitions to look up a word or phrase, before returning to her reading.

From the expression on her face, the books are... less than enthralling.

In the Crew Lounge, Jago smiles as his calculations, based on the trade data and his own instincts, keep landing firmly in the black.  He starts to whistle quietly as he works.  No mean feat with a cigar in his mouth.

Ash wanders in from the duty watch at the bridge to refresh his cup of coffee.

While there is little that he can actually do from his station were there a problem in j-space, the lanky navigator appears to find that reading at his co-pilot's station is just as good a place as any.

In his hand is a datapad, which appears to have the latest issues of the Astrogation Today, Jayne's Starcharts, and Popular Astrophysics, as well as short treatise on Bonsai Tree maintenance.  Ash waves idly in greeting to the other crew members in the lounge having placed the datapad on the counter while he pours out the caffeinated beverage into his travel mug.

Leaning against the counter for a moment as Ash sips from his mug and people-watches briefly, before he begins to meander back towards the bridge to resume his vigil over the countdown timer. the jump drive status diagnostics, and the (mostly) dead exterior sensor feeds.

Aside from caring for the needs of passengers and crew - easily done - Shui finds herself at loose ends.  Eventually she drifts to the hold, where Tylen is working on his vehicle.  Padding up, she studies him for a long moment, hunched over the machine, a cup of cooling coffee beside him.

The cup makes her fingers itch to exchange it with a fresh one.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" she quietly inquires, moving around to study the parts and pieces.  "And...is this a repair, or tinkering?"

Not hearing Shui enter, Tylen starts slightly as she speaks, but turns his head towards her with a wide grin.  "Err .. Tinkering."  He  admits sitting back on his haunches and reaching for the coffe by his side.  He takes one almighty swig and places it back on the ground again, but now a set of greasy fingerprints mark the cup as belonging to him.

"I had the manuals and the tools were in the locker.  So I grabbed a  'Dum Dums Guide to mechanics' and thought I would give it a go." he says standing up and wiping his dirty hands on the seat of his pants.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:14, Mon 08 Feb 2016.

"If you don't stop that," growls Saskia, fixing Jago with an icy glare, "I'll get Yas to shoot you somewhere where it will really frelling hurt.

"Don't you know it's bad luck to whistle while a ship's in Jump?"

"Interesting."  She studies the coffee cup for a long moment, then valiantly manages to put the grease smears upon it out of her mind.  "For a 'Dum-Dum', you appear to be doing quite well."  Wandering over, she leans down for a closer look, then straightens.

One eyebrow rises.  Again.  "If you like, I can assist."  A wave of the hand indicates the tool box and the machine, both.  "I have some experience with this kind of thing..."  The steward shrugs, a small motion of her shoulders that doesn't shift her head one iota.  "I spent time in a port working with a ground-transport mechanic, and managed to pick up a thing or two."

Tylen pushes his hair back with a grin, and leaves another small smear across his forehead.  "Great.  You’ll get oily though..." He welcomes Shui's offer of assistance.  "I never got much in the way of mech training as a lad.  My first job on 'Ell' had me down, technically, as an engineering apprentice -  but that pretty much involved driving the truck or doing as I was told." He grins broadly, "But I learned how to do basic maintenance on the truck at the same time as I learned the basics of ship's engineering.”

He looks down towards the manual as he inspects the part he has in hands, "And this is just a way of learning a bit more about the quad really.  Seems a shame to waste jump time rather than find something to do."  he continues.  "You got around a lot ..." Tylen comments, when Shui tells of her experiences working with a mechanic, "So what else have you got up to in your wide ranging and murky past ...” He jokes, trying to keep the conversation going.

"Oily?"  Shui laughs quietly.  <DarkGreen>"I clean and do medical work - I'm used to becoming filthy." </DarkGreen> She is, herself - it's when other things and people are dirty that she gets an urge to insist on cleanliness.  She is the steward and doctor, after all.  "Before I gained experience, I took up janitorial work in order to make ends meet.  I have also assisted with Engineering, from time to time." She settles down. "I can manage with this." 

It's her near-OCD about her duties that make her chary of dirt...on dishes.

"It sounds as if you have far stronger and focused experience in this area than myself." That said without a trace of self-consciousness.  Tylen's question, however...  Shui pauses to ponder.  Everything since she left her family seems fairly safe.

And thus, she gives a small sniff of laughter - self-deprecating. "I have actual medical training, of course.  And I apprenticed under a steward for a time.  The rest of my experience is a hodge-podge of different skills and positions.  I have assisted pilots, helped engineers, worked alongside technicians of various different sorts.  It has allowed me to pick up a great deal of knowledge...at a rather shallow level." 

She indicates the quad. "Take this, for example.  I can help you.  If there were a simple problem with it, in time I could find that problem and possibly a way to fix it.  But do I possess detailed knowledge of a quad?  Certainly not."

Her voice grows more quiet, Shui becoming thoughtful as she divides her concentration between the engine and the conversation.  "I have never worked security or gunnery, of course...but to list the various ships and positions where I have worked?"  Her smile hints at wistfulness.  "Over the last dozen years I have served on more ships than I can recall.  My time aboard the Profit Margin is certainly not the longest yet, but I hope it will be."

Always moving, changing ships...especially in those first few years.  Now?  It's possible she can settle in one place, a fact which pleases Shui no end.

"Did you have any other placements after the Scouts?  One?  Two?  Many?" she inquires in turn.

"Nope.  All in the scouts." He comments as he works to refit a flywheel.  "I was going to try for the Darrian Army but, for some reason, I went  along to the IISS base first. Hardly anyone ever got recruited there, we were nearly all Darrian by birth,  rather than Imperial," he confides, "but I must have struck lucky." He adds with a shrug.

There is a short distraction as a nut proves recalcitrant, before he continues "But after that first term, I served on  X-boats – first as a Comms Officer and later as a pilot. That gave me lots of jump time for contemplating my navel." He grins "Then it was in a support role until the accident, and then a desk job.  This seemed like my best way to get back into space." He adds with a wry smile.

"What made you decide to go into space?" he asks idly, as he studies a bolt that seems to have been left over.

"So, your first position since you left Service."  Shui nods.  "Our gain.  I am most pleased that you remained with us after that...call to duty." She waves a hand in the air, dismissing it.  "Given Captain Lanza's deplorable luck, I have no doubt you will see many interesting things aboard this vessel...including 'action'."

Shui could easily do without that, herself.

Picking up the loose bolt, she indicates a small hole half-covered now.  "It will be necessary to remove this once more to replace the bolt," the doctor notes.  "Space?  Why Mr. Orgesh, I believe we have discussed this." Amusement touches her tone.  Despite the topic, it is safe ground; they have discussed this. "My family had plans for me to enter their business.  Despite its rather proud tradition, I felt it wasn't for me.  We...disagreed.  I imagine I disappointed them greatly when I chose to leave."

Again, the doctor shrugs, that wistful expression returning.  "I have not spoken to any of them in more than twelve years.  And no, I do not require that for a fulfilled life.  Things are better this way."

"It was probably a good job I didn’t go into the army," he comments apparently  going off on a tangent  "I was never a great lover of 'action'.  It is one of those things that has to happen now and then.  But I don’t think I would have liked it if that had been the focus of my life." carefully, Tylen removes the piece that Shui indicated, so that she can fit the bolt, before he replaces the section again.

"Mr Ogresh?"  He questions  with a grin, "I thought we had got to know each other a bit better than that." but he is on a roll, and she isn’t going to get away with it that easily "Perhaps I had better bring another couple of bottles of wine around to your cabin, to help you remember?" But it is clearly teasing, and perhaps even a defence against his own forgetfulness, rather than anything unpleasant or nasty.

"I haven’t seen my family for years either." he adds with a shrug.  "That is the way of our world now, I suspect." he grins as he briefly contemplates the workings of interstellar space.

"If I say it's all right, then it's all right, Keryn, just..." Yas stops in the middle of the sentence and look between Tylen and Sushi.  A moment later she grins lopsidedly.  "Seems I don't need to say anything about rooms, do I?"

"Come on, Ker, let's leave give the lovebirds some privacy," she tells the younger woman and grabs her arm, guiding her towards the exit leading into the crew quarters.  "Don't you go do anything in here now, you hear.  And put those tools back when you're done.  Please."  The grin she carries grows even wider as she gives that last order, and it gets rounded of with a suggestive wink.

Keryn is still a bit bemused.  Excited, but bemused.  One second she had been working through some really dull books on robotics, and the next thing Yas had shown up and told her it was time to learn how to load a gun.  And then how to unload it, very quickly and noisily.

And then Keryn's best friend lead her into the cargo hold where Tylen and Shui appeared to be stripping, in a purely mechanical sense of course, a vehicle of some sort.

The young woman waves to them, and smiles nervously.  "Yas is going to teach me how to shoot people."

Giving Saskia a baleful look, Jago stops whistling.  He knows her by now.  She talks to her engines (and claims to have once won a reasonable amount of credits taking betting advice from a Jump capacitor).  If she says something is unlucky, then there is nothing he can do to convince her otherwise.  And if she starts to suspect he's winning an argument about it, then his shower will, oh so mysteriously, suddenly develop a tendency to produce a fine spray of cold sewage every morning.

Instead he turns his attention to Ash's retreating back, "Ash?  Have you got a minute?"

"Everyone should know how to shoot." Tylen reassures Keryn, "Although most of us hope we never need to shoot people." he  adds  with a grin.

For Yas his comment is a bit less encouraging  "I was going to offer to service your bike for you" he offers, "but if you think that is inappropriate ...."He says leaving the thought hanging for Yas.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 09:37, Thu 11 Feb 2016.

"I don't see you as a soldier, and am certainly pleased you never went into that line of work," Shui confesses.  "Scout, most certainly; it fits you, though it comes with scars.  Mr. Orgesh.  I did warn you I would backslide from time to time." Now both eyebrows raise.  "You have more wine sitting around, wasting valuable ship space?  How curious."

She twitches her lips into a doleful grimace.  "I fear my upbringing makes me comfortable using family names and polite titles.  It is the way of things.  To me, often times they are more familiar than personal names.  You shall need to put up with that, from time to time." This said with a small, sidelong glance as she finishes installing the bolt.

Sitting back on her haunches in a crouch, Shui lets out a long sigh.  "'The way of our world'," she quotes Tylen, but while the words could be sorrowful they are said with a smile. "I find my family here far more acceptable - and accepting - than the one I left behind.  Though I wish you could see your own."

Enter Yasmine and Keryn, stage left, carrying weaponry.

Yasmine's comments receive a cock of the head and a dubious glance.  But she nods along with Tylen's reply to Keryn.  "I would agree, surprising as it sounds.  There are any number of non-lethal weapons that are quite effective and easy to carry; even I know how to use them.  It is a more simple and quick solution than years of training in empty-hand combat...which fails utterly when confronted by firearms at any range greater than arm's length."

Without tremendous training, said skills also fail at close range, but there's no need to go into that.

"And Chief Crow would be the best choice of teachers," she states with a nod to Yasmine.

"Well, I might have had a few bottles delivered while we were on Phlume." The ex-scout prevaricates once Yas and Keryn have gone about their business.

"Dad will still be pumping gas, and mum will still be bustling around the house doing hosework and listening to the music box." He returns to the family conversation with a grin, "Although they have to get the accumulators charged and collect the brickettes for the fire themselves." he adds with a shrug.  "So what do you think your lot will be doing?" he adds idly.

Caught in mid-stride, the lanky navigator pivots.  His mug still in hand, Ash manages to make sure that none of his coffee hits the floor.  He turns to face Jago, his eyes widening slightly - it is part 'deer in the headlights' and part 'scrutinizing owl'.

"Of course." he answers the Captain, "What's up, Boss?"  His thin fingers wrapped around the handle of his beverage container, he takes another sip of the black, black coffee savoring the heavy aroma for a moment.

Besides, Ash's pretty sure that nothing is going to happen in j-space.  In any case, the central core's sensor alarm feeds are being piped through his wrist computer and personal comm anyways.  He doesn't really have to be on the bridge to get a timely notification.

Shui laughs quietly at Tylen's gauging of resources.  But her expression grows more serious at his question. "What my family might be doing?" she wonders aloud.  It's not something she has considered in specifics.

"Business," she finally decides.  "Someone will be managing the fields -" that's always necessary "- while others will be looking into administration.  Study.  Research.  There's always more to add to the business.  I expect father and mother will still be heading up management, while my brothers and sisters are continuing the field work." Both kinds.  "And certainly some of my brothers and sisters will be out marketing, or doing field research and work on other worlds."

Her smile returns - small and fragile, but genuine - as she glances back to Tylen.  "I do not miss it," the steward confesses.  "Being a steward and ship's medical officer is far more to my taste."

"Have you many siblings?  I cannot quite recall - we have only discussed it once, and briefly."

"None." Tylen replies casually.  "I guess there wasn't room in the flat on Darrian, and then my parents were older by the time we moved to Lopiengata. There wasn't any real chance of a career there, so I had to move on.  Joining the Army was something my parents supported, because they could see there wasn't a future for me on 'Ell.  Then they were supportive when I joined the scouts.  Not that they could do much else really." he concludes with a shrug.  "It was either that or self-employed fisherman."

"So ...  should I bring that bottle of wine around? If I can find one of course ..." he half teases, letting her off the hook of early life conversations for the moment.

"I expect that might be considered fortunate by some," Shui ponders.  "For some, siblings are less-than-welcome.  It depends on the sibling, of course."  She sighs. "At this time, I find it difficult to recall the more irritating aspects of my brothers and sisters..."  One hand drops to touch her side.  "Difficult.  Not impossible."

Ah, the wonder of broken ribs.

"I certainly prefer you as a scout," she admits.  "And yes, by all means, bring about the bottle.  If you give me advance warning, I might even have a chance to cook something."

"So that would be this evening then?" he suggests with a grin.

"Something wrong with your side?" he asks noting the touch.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:09, Thu 11 Feb 2016.

"Sit down." Jago gestures to a nearby chair, and waits for Ash to be seated before he continues.

"After Extolay, we'll be Jumping to Dinomn to drop of Covan Draik, and then on to Regina, where we'll take some R and R and get the ship serviced.  After that... Yori, Treece, Kinorb and Fulacin.  All subject to revision, of course, except for Fulacin.  Or we could go Wypoc, K Kirka, Echiste, Turedad, and Fulacin.  It's mostly Jump-2 all the way, but we can make it Jump-1, as long as we don't mind taking longer, and visiting some less pleasant systems.  As it is, Wypoc is an Amber zone, but the rest of the stops I mentioned, on either route, are Green."

And then, in a sudden change of subject, "While I have your attention... you've been with us about seven weeks now.  How are you liking the job?"

Yas and Keryn come into the room from the Cargo Hold, talking quietly and laughing about something...

"This evening," Shui returns with a sidelong glance, "would be fine." Then she laughs, quietly, at his next question, dispelling her worries.  "Old issues.  Children play.  At times, their play becomes a tad too strident.  When I was nine years old, I suffered three broken ribs thanks to second brother."  One eyebrow dances for a moment, and her smile grows wry.  "Ah, memories of family."

She goes back to examining the engine.  "But do not think poorly of him.  It was an...error.  A mistake.  Such things happen, and children recover.  No lasting harm."

Hmm.  What to cook tonight?  She has it, swiftly. "Dinner will be a fine one, I suspect.  Nothing to complicated.  I'll begin shortly, and leave it to simmer over the course of the day."  Shui purses her lips, considering. "Hopefully you will enjoy it."

"So no excuse for me to offer you a massage then ...." he says half jokingly  "Even if we could get some oil while we were in jump." He says half dismissing the old injury as one of those things.  "But three ribs?  That is some mistake to make.  What did he do?  Take it out on you with a full sized bat, or drop you over the edge of a cliff, or something?"

"I am sure I will enjoy what ever you serve for dinner." he adds with a grin  "Especially if it needs all day to cook.  Most of the stuff I cook takes about 3 minutes on full power ...." he grins as he sits back on his haunches.

"You hardly require an excuse...Tylen," Shui finishes, checking her instinctive use of his family name.  That would have come across odd, even for her. "As for his mistake?"  She purses her lips, searching her memory.

...fist brushes her face as she shifts, arm rising to touch and then screw outward, shunting the opening fingers from gripping the back of her neck on the return, and the girl steps, foot sliding in behind the boy's, a shift forward pressuring her knee into his calf, breaking the lines of his body.

Her own frame uncoils, the followstep driving her body's weight, perfectly timed with the shift of hips, of shoulders, the opening of her chest and closing of her back, spine lengthening, her fist aligned with all and driven for his throat even as the parrying arm continues to pressure him -

- Backfooted, he hinges at the hips, driving down the younger girl's blow before shunting it away as he steps in, balance instantly returned, his fist chewing into her ribs with his own biomechanics supporting the impact, the pressure increased by her own movement even as she moves to compensate -

All in an instant, not at all like the back-and-forth of the vids, and a perfectly clean hit: a rarity.

ssss-snap

"Stop!" father shouts as she stumbles back, her brother's face abruptly as white as hers feels.

"Rough-housing," Shui laughs.  "We were quite physical with our games, our play.  Even me."  Waving her hand, she brushes that away.  "I can hope you will enjoy it.  You'll be eating in my quarters, so you are at the mercy of what I decide to make.  I assure you, it will certainly have taste.  Perhaps not of the sort to which you are accustomed," she stresses, her smile still bright, "but...and yes.  It will take more than three minutes."

"Fortunately, the ship has me as steward and not you.  Mr. Orgesh."

"Rough housing. Wow. That is some rough housing." he comments surprised, but the grin on his face shows he has something else on his mind.  "I suppose I could ask the Steward if she has any massage oil in her supply cupboards?  Or perhaps even the Ship's Medic?" he asks with a cocked eyebrow.

"Not that I am much good at massage." he adds after a pause.  Then just a moment or two later "But I would enjoy it."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 20:13, Tue 16 Feb 2016.

Keryn suddenly laughs harder, leaning up against the wall for support as tears stream down her face.  One hand flails out to punch Yas, inexpertly and weakly, in the arm.  This results in more hysterical laughter from the passenger.

Jago gives the two women a filthy look, and returns his attention to Ash.

Ash had wandered over and taken a seat once beckoned by the Captain.  He didn't need to be asked twice.

The lanky navigator nods as the route options are delineated.  "Of course, Boss." he reassured Jago, a slightly pat answer. but it isn't as though these are anything startlingly new.  And they are definitely not anything that he hadn't thought about before.  Once Fulacin had simply been mentioned as a final destination, Ash had been running various scenarios in his head to calculate many of the navigational aspects required to traverse the Spinward Main.  It was just what he did.  All the time.

And while, he'd likely never admit it to the rest of the crew, the gaunt ex-Naval officer had been at it long enough that he dreamt quite vividly about the multi-dimensional astrogation curves on a regular basis.  There was something intoxicatingly elegant about the equations.  They shared more than a superficial resemblance to a six-theme fugue (plus, twelve more themes).

The impromptu performance review caught him slightly off-guard.  His eyes widened slightly and the lanky navigator paused for a moment, giving him a 'deer in the headlights' look for a brief moment.  "Ah," he stammered slightly, "I've enjoyed my time quite a bit, sir."  He returned to a more formal form of address to try and disguise some of his nervousness, "You have a great crew assembled.  Very loyal and extremely competent."

He glanced at the pair of women as they giggled their way past him and Jago.  Ash swallowed hard before continuing, "I ... I am sorry about what happened on Phlume."  He stared down at the edge of the table which he was picking at,  "I probably could have handled that situation better.  Perhaps I shouldn't have volunteered so readily without knowing a bit more..."  It wasn't an indictment of the Captain, of course; simply a statement that Ash himself likely shouldn't have been so cavalier on the comms.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:04, Wed 17 Feb 2016.

"Touch my ride and you'll have to look for those tools, real hard!" Yas shouts back at Ty as she steps through the entrance to the crew lounge.

Sharing a laugh with Keryn she gives the younger woman an innocent smile and asks sweetly, "Ow, I almost felt that. Any way, what's wrong with eating raw fish?"

She manages to keep that smile for a couple of seconds before laughing again.  As Ash stutters his apology she stops and flicks him with her hand over the top of his head.

"You didn't shot at the raft, dummy!  If the local yokels can't keep it in their holsters it's all on them.  Beside, intel never equals the real situation, so stop that before I do," she tells him, even though the 'threat' at the end isn't spoken severely and accompanied by a small wink and a smile.
This message was last edited by the player at 17:08, Wed 17 Feb 2016.

"I suspect I could find something that will suffice," Shui states, pondering.  No massage oil, and she's not going to use anything meant for cooking, of course.  Ugh.  But there might be something in her medical supplies that will do the trick.

Thankful that they've moved on from discussion of her past, she again eyes Tylen sidelong. "Experience and skill are only small parts of the equation, Mr. Orgesh," Shui notes.  "Care is the foundation, and a willingness to make the attempt, these are the foundations.  That you would wish to try?"  Her voice lowers slightly.  "This is the most important thing."

Tylen considers her words for a moment.  "Oh, I am willing to try.  And I hope it will be relaxing and enjoyable for both of us." he says quietly, in a fairly neutral mode.  His mind is less well behaved,  Why wouldn't I want to run my hands all over your body? he asks himself.

"Better get this put away though." He says nodding towards the quad and the few pieces of casing that must still be refitted.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:41, Wed 17 Feb 2016.

Scooping up her datapad, Saskia suddenly stands and nervously clears her throat.

"Erm -- I need to get back to Engineering straight away.  These figures -- um -- they show a -- a dangerous polaron imbalance in the -- er -- transverse intermix conduit.  Yes.  Big imbalance.  Very dangerous.  I need to go fix it now.  Bye."

And she starts towards her own department.

Standing, she stares down at Tylen for a moment.  "If you can finish that, I can begin to prepare dinner.  I will need to do that at the same time as working on my duties.  They are...light...at present, but one never knows when a passenger might needs something."  It could, in fact, happen tonight.  Which would be a shame, but duty first.  "Like Saskia, I will take my leave."

A final touch on Tylen's shoulder, and she strides from the hold, her mind already hard at work, categorizing her culinary options.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:19, Thu 18 Feb 2016.

Tylen grins at Shui's touch and then gets on with replacing the last parts of the engine's casing.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:21, Thu 18 Feb 2016.

"Yas is correct.  I don't hold you responsible for some local deciding it was open season on air/rafts." Jago responds to Ash.  "If we aren't given up-to-date information, then we can't take that information into account.  Personally, I wouldn't have authorised you, or anybody else, to take the raft out if I'd thought there was a chance that somebody might take a shot at it.  But I looked over the data on the world, and there was no mention of any ongoing disturbances.  And that government official you were driving about, Marrtin was it?  She could have warned you that there might be trouble."

Saskia leaves the room, and Keryn, under instruction from Yas occupies a seat at the table where the Engineer had been sitting.  Yas enters her own cabin, but returns a moment later with two briefcases, one smaller than the other.  The smaller case turns out to contain a handgun, while the larger one holds an array of tools and small vials, all slotted into its padded interior.

Smiling at the weapon, Keryb asks, "Can I give it a name?  Like they do in holos."

As she enters the Crew Lounge, Shui's dataglove buzzes and pulses.  Cövan Draik's face appears on the display.  "Excuse me Miss... " and a voice mutters something off-screen "... Tiesi.  Could you come over to the Passenger Lounge please?  It is quite important."

Pause.  "Certainly, Mr. Draik." It looks like starting work on dinner will need to wait.  Shift, turn, and the steward heads directly to the Passenger Lounge.

Shui arrives in the Passenger Lounge to find the lights dimmed to about fifty percent of their normal intensity.  Covan Draik is still standing by the intercom panel.  Across the room is an overturned table with playing cards and dried fruit scattered across the floor nearby.

Eneris is kneeling on the floor, next to a supine Corlan, whose open eyes are staring at the ceiling.  Eneris is busy adjusting a cushion under Corlan's head, which bears a nasty looking bruise, and a thin line of blood leading down from one temple.  Corlan appears to be trembling violently.

Looking up, Eneris explains, "We were playing cards, and he suddenly collapsed and hit his head on the fracking table."

Jago watches Yas and Keryn for a moment, then continues talking to Ash.  "As far as I'm concerned, you're doing a good job.  And you seem to be fitting in well.  It's been a good start."

Keryn almost seems to be drooling.  "I could call it Mister Shooty, or something."  She ponders for a moment then essays a brief threat, hesitant, "'Don't make me let Mister Shooty deal with you.'  How did that sound?  Was it terrifying, or just terrible?"

In Engineering Saskia sits herself at her workstation and continues reading her datapad...

While Tylen, still working on his ATV, briefly wonders where Shui had gone in such a hurry...

Ash flinches slightly as Yasmine playfully cuffs him upside the head.  "Yes, Ma'am." he mutters instinctively, though his tone has a touch of definance in it.  But as Jago piles on his similar assessment, the lanky navigator's shoulders slump slightly and he gives the Captain a more resigned, "Of course, s-... Boss."  Ash purses his lips having barely caught himself in time from using the more formal address to the Captain.  Though his tone is soft, it has enough reservation in it, that it is obvious that the thin ex-Scout still feels plenty of weight of responsibility and obviously wished that he'd been able to deal with the situation with potentially more panache.

But, displaying more panache would probably be way too out of character, despite what Ash might want.

When Saskia gets up to leave rather abruptly when the 'performance review' cranks up, Ash says quietly in parting, "Ms. Blake."  His delay allows him to only wave at her retreating back.

He nods and seems to brighten a touch, when the Captain praises his work.  Or at least doesn't seem to have any problems with it.  The lanky navigator does try to take pride in his work and is seemingly glad to have it appreciated.  "Thank you, Captain." he notes, especially with a passenger present (even if it is a long term one like Keryn, whom he considers almost honorary crew or - though he'd never say this aloud in front of her or the Chief - a sort of mascot), "I am just trying to pull my weight and keep up with the rest of the crew."  A nervous smile touches his thin lips, as he thinks back over the past couple of weeks and that the rest of the crew seem quite comfortable and competent in their roles - whereas he has generally considered himself a bundle of nerves.

Despite the nerves, he does manage to say, "I am starting to feel a touch more comfortable with the inner workings of the Margin and her crew."  He reiterates his previous assessment, "She's a fine ship.  And they are all good people..."

A slightly pensive ... or perhaps slightly pained ... expression crossed his face and Ash's eyes darted in the direction of the two other women in the crew lounge when the term 'Mister Shooty' is vocalized.  Multiple times.

Shui's dataglove instantly rises and she codes the crew intercom as she moves to Corlan and Eneris.

+ Medical Emergency, Passenger Lounge.  Medical Emergency, Passenger Lounge. +

"You did well," she states to Covan and Eneris, both, as she drops down beside their oldest passenger. "A coat, a shirt, a blanket, something to cover him.  Corlan.  Can you hear me?"  Even as she questions, she begins checking vitals and doing a survey of his body - carefully.  Other wounds?  Breaks?  Twists of alignment in his neck or back?

The crew intercom is still open; she uses it.

+ Mr. Orgesh, bring a stretcher from medical. +

It's always good to be specific - saying 'someone bring a stretcher' could result in a confused pile up or people assuming someone else is bringing one, and she knows Tylen is currently not working on anything critical.

All the while, her heart beats all-too-heavily and a number keeps rolling through her mind. Seven. Seven days in Jumpspace, and they're not close to leaving yet.

OOC - Begin first aid and assessment.

Tylen still has ssmall streaks of engine oil on his hands when the first Medical Emergency call comes through from Shui, and knowing he is the closest of the crew members he starts striding across the hold towards the door to the passenger lounge.  Until the second message, instructing him to get a stretcher comes through.  "Damn." he grunts as he turns back to the crew side of the vessel to get the stretcher.

He makes his way quickly to the medical area, and grabs the stretcher That's my evening gone ... runs through his mind, as he hurries back across the ship carrying the stretcher.

"If you want to name your weapon, who's to stop you?" Yas says with a shrug, then continues after a moment, "but remember, they are just tools.  Deadly tools.  The less used, the better.  Unfortunately, sometimes you are left with little choice, but even then you should try to use it as little as possible."

She chuckles at the name and dodges the question, "I'll say this -- if you are confident with your weapon you may be saved from using it.  But to get there, you need to know it."

When Ash mentions the Margin and the crew she looks over to him and catches his eye briefly.

"You're a good addition to the crew, Ash, we're lucky to have you," she tells him, a kind smile gracing her lips briefly.  She turns back to Keryn and eyes the younger woman briefly, looking torn, but with a clearing of her throat the impression is gone.

"Now, you should practise taking your weapon apart and putting it together until you can do it blind folded.  While you probably will never need it, it will familiarise you with the weapon and you will instinctually know if something is wrong, and what.  It is good to get familiar with things you want to keep around you."  Her eyes steals across the table and the navigator before returning to Keryn.  "After all, you never know when you the need will arise."

Keryn listens to Yas with rapt attention, nodding at each point as it is made.  "So how do I take it apart?  I can't put it back together unless I've taken it apart first."

Jago nods at Ash, then says quietly, "Yas hasn't shot you yet, and I usually take that as a sign that things are working out."

"There's no hard scientific evidence, of course, that Jump calculations affect the time spent in Jump, but I've always felt that a good Nav can shave an hour ot two of the Jump with... some regularity.  And the last few Jumps have been fast ones, with emergence averaging 97 minutes early.  Which is good."

Shui's voice suddenly shouts from every comm panel in the Crew Lounge.  "Medical Emergency, Passenger Lounge.  Medical Emergency, Passenger Lounge."

Corlan stirs, raising a hand to his wounded head.  He blinks, for the first time since Shui arrived.  Then he speaks.  At first his words are badly slurred, so that it's impossible to understand them, but then he stops, makes a visible effort to pull himself together, and then speaks clearly, if weakly.  For what it's worth...

"Fish motorcycle teacup."

Tylen enters the room with a folded stretcher.

"Nebula habitat?"  This time it definitely sounds like a question.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:02, Thu 25 Feb 2016.

"Corlan," Shui states, quiet but firm.  "Just relax, or try.  I have things under control."  It's a lie; he could be having a stroke, and she needs to get him to medbay (her quarters) as quickly as possible.  But she also needs him calm.  "We're going to carry you on a stretcher - it's a necessity, given the situation.  Mr. Orgesh!"  That called to Tylen as he enters.  "Lay it next to Corlan."

His first name is a necessity at the moment.

"Mr. Armusezash - barring one of the crew arriving first, you will go ahead of us and have people stand aside," she continues, motioning for Tylen to assist.  "Corlan, we're getting you on the stretcher.  Right now you just have a bump on the head, and I'm going to do something about that."

Lies, but they're all she has.

OOC - If Corlan acquiesces, Shui will help him onto the stretcher then she and Tylen will carry it to the med-bay; assuming nobody else shows up before this has begun, it looks like Eneris will be drafted to make sure they have a clear hallway.

"He was fine." Eneris explains, "We were playing cards and talking, and then he passed out."

With Tylen's help, Corlan is shifted on to the stretcher.  "Green vector." is his only comment at that, but then he touches his head again, and looks curiously at his blood-stained fingers.

"Cardinal.  Vargr ground car hurts.  What moon?"

Tylen bites back any comments and does as he is instructed silently.

"That's what we're here for, Ker," Yas says with a grin. She reaches for the gun when the call comes through the intercom.

"Frell, hope it's nothing too serious," she says, already out the entrance to the cargo bay before she finishes the sentence.  She half sprints as she makes her way across the cargo area and into the passenger lounge.

Her heart sinks as she sees the prone Corlan but she exhales when she sees he is still awake.

Looking up as she hears the announcement, Saskia frowns.  Why is Shui announcing a "medical emergency" to the whole ship?  Surely she's the medic, and the one best trained to cope with any medical situation.

Profit Margin's Engineer returns to her reading.

No sense her rushing over there -- Shui's the expert.  I'd probably just get in the frelling way Saskia decides.

Besides, there might be blood involved.

With Corlan on the stretcher, it's just a matter of moving him.  Which isn't too difficult, he's not exactly the biggest person in the Galaxy.

In Shui's quarters, which also serve as a medical bay, Corlan is transferred to the fold-down diagnostic table, where he seems to be becoming more aware of his surroundings.  His speech seems to be improving too.  "What happened stars me?  I was velocity cards, and dessert water Aslan keypad coffee, I was winter monitor sandwich floor."

In the doorway, Keryn, who has followed them from the lounge, starts to cry.  "What's wrong with him?  Why can't he speak properly?"

"You had a fall and struck your head, Corlan," Shui calmly states, "which I believe might be connected to your speech, rather than the other way around." Hearing Keryn's questions, she glances to Yasmine. "Please help Ms. Taylor," she requests of the security chief, though not unkindly.  Or remove her is the unspoken addendum - again, not unkind but necessary.

Tears might very well upset Corlan further, and Shui doesn't have the time to care for Keryn.

"Now, Mr. DeSant," she briskly continues, hoping to keep him placid. "It seems your speech has begun to return, but I'm going to do tests.  Immediately."  In fact, she's speaking as she works the equipment, one hand snagging some spray-seal and an electric razor for his head as the machines spring to life. "And you remember nothing?"

At least, that's what she gathers from his garbled speech.

Strange; he finds no difficulty in retrieving words, they're just the wrong ones.  And his face appears unaffected, his voice not slurred...Shui has begun to doubt a stroke is at fault.

Corlan lays still while Shui works, answering her questions as they are asked.  At least he seems to be answering them.  Many of his responses are jumbled, and contain words which do not seem appropriate as answers to the queries.

As the cleaning and dressing of the wound is completed, and Shui straightens, Corlan grabs her arm.  "The fall communicator cause this.  Nova didn't cause it either." and he releases her arm to point to his injured temple.  "Other way dust, I think."

"Absolutely, Mr. DeSant.  It is my current belief that whatever has afflicted your capacity for speech created some acute disorientation that began the fall.  More of a byproduct of the beginning of this - you do not feel disorientation now, do you not?  No dizziness, nausea, blurred vision?"

This while she checks readouts, takes a tiny quantity of blood for analysis, and yes, brushes away strands of shorn hair from the table.  She'll sweep them up later.

"I think it is time for us to leave Shui to her work."  Tylen, says he he walks towards the door, trying to shepherd the others out before him.  "I'll be in the lounge if you need any help." he says over his shoulder to the medic.

Assuming he can clear the sick bay of onlookers, he will allow the door to close quietly behind him.

With all of the onlookers outside, in the Crew Lounge, Corlan beckons Shui nearer.  "I'm fine now.  I foot what it is.  Have done for four years.  It's base syndrome."

He tuts angrily, then tries again, "Shiishumkekiid's Syndrome.  I was charcoal with it four years ago.  It's why I container... why I retired and booked passage on this ship.  I wanted to get some adventure out of my final years."

Shui studies the screen for a long moment as Corlan speaks.  Her eyes slowly close.  One breath, that's all, then they open again.  Moving to Corlan's side, she seats herself on the edge of the medical cot.  "Ah, Corlan.  I am sorry.  And while you should have told me, at the least, I completely understand your reasons for keeping this a secret."

Her lips purse.  "Is this the first episode you have had on board the ship?  I recall none, but that does not mean they have not happened.  How far along as the syndrome progressed?" Reaching out, she lays her hand atop his.  "If you wish to continue keeping this a secret, I  can do so.  I should tell Captain Lanza, but I can...hold on the report for a time, if you wish complete silence."  Her small smile appears, somewhat melancholy. "I myself will treat you no differently, but I am here for support.  I am certain others would like to do the same, but...the choice, of course, is yours."

Jago looks at the group standing outside the door of Shui's room, spares Ash an "I don't know" look, then stands up and walks towards the crowd.

"What's happened?  Was that Corlan being carried in there?"

Corlan shakes his head.  "Not the first time, no.  But it's the first module that I didn't have time to get to my room before it hit me.  Usually I start to feel light headed before it happens, but not today.  I suppose biscuit means it's worsening, slowly.  I've been suffering from it for almost five years, but it was diagnosed about four years ago."

Ash returns Jago's look with his own shrug of mild confusion.  He follows the captain to the gathering near Shui's quarters.  He can hear a number of voices already clamoring for attention; so, the thin navigator remains quiet, not wanting to contribute any further to the chaos.

The lanky ex-Scout purses his lips slightly as Corlan lays out his condition.  He doesn't know that the man that well, but the captain and the rest of the crew obviously care for him and consider him more than a simple passenger.  Always cordial, Ash would consider Mr. DeSant more a friend than a simple passenger; he glances at Shui to see what she thinks on the matter, assuming that she knows more about the condition than anyone else.  From Ash's layman's perspective, it doesn't sound very good.

To him, it really sounds like Corlan is living on borrowed time.  Perhaps it is best that they are returning to Regina post haste, Ash muses quietly to himself.  If Corlan really is from there and his family is there; a visit is likely in order.  Though hopefully it is not his last.  Ultimately, only Ifni really knows.

"Yes, Shui is in there with him now.  He seemed alright and Shui was talking to him as we carried him in. Although he didn't seem to be making much sense.  Looked like he passed out and hit his head." the ex-scout offers in response to Jago's question.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:22, Tue 08 Mar 2016.

Shui shoots a glance at her door - there's a hubbub outside, and she can only guess what the crew is feeling.  But a glance is all; this is, at present, more important. "Well.  I know now, and that's the important thing."  Remaining seated on the bed - checking reports on the condition through her glove - she lays a hand on Corlan's shoulder.  "While the illness has a slow progression, it can at times leap forward in severity.  It then resumes its former pace.  This could be one of those times, Corlan.  I'll need to keep you under observation for a small period - nothing serious, and in short order we'll have you back in your quarters."

She raises one finger.  "But.  I ask that you request my presence if you feel another of these coming on.  Immediately.  As we discovered today, there can be secondary effects - falling and injuring yourself, for example."

Her fingers dance on the dataglove, calling up treatment methods - such as they are.  Likely symptomatic, as from what she has read thus far, there is no actual cure. "I want to help, Corlan, not be a bother.  Please let me help."

Jago frowns and looks at Yas comforting Keryn.  That doesn't strike him as a good sign.  "Right.  I see." he responds to Tylen's explanation, "Can everybody at least go and sit down, and keep the door clear so Shui and Corlan can get out if they want to.  Keryn, do you need to lay down?"

Keryn nods and starts sobbing again.

"Yas, can you take care of her please."  Then, as if to provide an example to the others, he turns and heads back to his own seat.

Corlan says nothing, he just nods in assent to Shui's request.

Still seated next to Corlan, Shui raises her glove and tabs in a message for Jago.

~~ Captain Lanza - Mr. DeSant is fine, just resting.  For the moment, I'm treating this as a bout of dizziness that gave him a nasty bump on the head.  It's possible the blow to the head is responsible for his aphasia, but I'll continue to run tests.  You can reassure everyone that Mr. DeSant has dramatically improved and everything is under control. ~~

That sent, she returns her gaze to Corlan.  "I will need to know if you want me to tell Captain Lanza - just Captain Lanza - or not.  Again, it runs against my better judgement, but this is something that will not affect the security of the ship, so it's well within your right to insist on privacy, Corlan.  I would understand."

"Outside of that..."  She breathes out - not quite a sigh, but a thoughtful sound. "I will continue my own investigations."

It's possible, after all, that one of these worlds they pass has discovered a treatment and it hasn't been disseminated.  Unlikely...but people do play lotteries.

Corlan shakes his head.  "No, thank you.  I hor... I can tell him.  When we go to Regina, my home, I can speak to him on the way there."

Jago looks around as the intercom whistles nearby.  He frowns as he reads the message on the screen, and rubs one hand over his head.  "Shui apparently has it all under control, and Corlan is feeling better."  Another glance at the monitor, and then he erases the message.

"All the same, I want people to keep an eye on him.  If need be we can have him visit a hospital on Extolay, but until we get there he can only get whatever medical treatment we have aboard Profit Margin.  And we aren't exactly a major clinic."

Shui nods.  She's pleased, but doesn't show it; it's really better for all concerned that Jago knows about the details of the problem.  "Very well, Corlan; if you wish me to be in the vicinity, let me know."  It doesn't matter to her, either way - there's no investment in her being there for that particular discussion, and if Jago has any questions he can ask her later.

But she would be happy to support Corlan, assuming he requires said support.

"Come on, Ker, my quarters are near, we can sit there for now," Yas offers, thinking it will perhaps be best for the young woman to have a bit of privacy, and gently leads her there unless she objects.

"I have a few things I want you to look at any way, and they're in my quarters."

Keryn goes with Yas, no longer sobbing loudly, but snuffling a little.  The door to Yas' quarters opens, and the two of them step inside.  And Keryn stops in the open doorway.  "You... you have a lot of stuff.  What's that for?" 

"I need to speak to Captain Lanza anyway.  I intend to clock at Regina." Corlan says, then bangs one fist on the bed.  "Disembark.  I intend to disembark at Regina.  It's time to return home."

Jago looks around the room, then back at the blanked monitor.  "How did he appear to all of you?  You know, as non-experts.  Keryn's reaction makes it seem as if it was something serious."

In Engineering, Saskia studies her notes, and compares them to a screen that's displaying the latest diagnostic readouts.  A pass of the hand over the console changes the display to a similar one from about a year ago...

Tylen shrugs  "He looked like he banged his head, and then he had a bit of trouble with his words." Tylen shrugs, trying to convey that his lack of medicinal skills preclude any sensible form of analysis.

"Ah," Shui quietly states.  She sits for a long time, her mind whirling.  "Is it because of your family?" the doctor finally inquires, her voice quiet amidst the medbay area's gentle sounds.  "Or this?  This particular episode?"

She won't argue, of course.  That's not her place, as the doctor.  If he asks her opinion, that's a different matter...but experience tells her he won't.  A heaviness settles into her chest, lodging like a fist-sized stone and sealing up her throat.  Shui sighs once to open her illusory-closed airway, and closes her eyes.

Ash shrugs rather noncommittally.  "Well," the thin ex-Scout ventured, tacking onto his fellow scout's assessment, "he must have hit his head hard enough to scramble stuff up if he was having trouble vocalizing.  I've heard that brain trauma like concussions can be dangerous..."

He frowns slightly, then adds quickly, "Not that this was a concussion or anything.  I mean, how would I know?"  Ash isn't a doctor or anything remotely like that, "I'm sure that Ms. Tiesi has things well in hand..."  His voice trails off, he'd trust Shui with his life; in some ways, all of them already have.  She is the ship's doctor after all.

Corlan shakes his head.  When he speaks, it is slowly and with deliberation, as if he is weighing each word carefully, ensuring it is the correct one, "All episodes.  Time to tell family."  A pause as he collects his thoughts, and then, "I might... come back.  I might not." 

Yas' voice comes through the open door, "That?"  She chuckles.  "If I tell you, I'll have to kill everybody on the ship.  Most likely the next ship we meet too."  The door slides shut and mutes the rest of the conversation.

Jago nods and waves his cigar in the direction of the monitor, "Shui mentioned the trouble with his speech."  The cigar goes back in his mouth, and is removed almost immediately.  "I just hope it's not something infectious that he picked up somewhere."

"Could be a problem if crew can't communicate."

"We can hope," Shui quietly replies.  Reaching out, she takes one of his hands, should he allow it.  "But being with family, if you are close or wish to become more close, that would be a fine thing.  I know it has been a long time since you have seen them."

She glances at her dataglove.  "Your illness has not advanced into the final stages, by no means.  You have years before you, Corlan - how many, I cannot say.  But time remains."

Her smile is true, if sorrowful.  "I wish we could have more time together."

"Jago." Saskia speaks quietly into the intercom, "If the medical emergency permits, I need to talk to you.  In Engineering.  It's fairly important."

Then she gets up, picks up a hydrospanner, and makes her way across to the energy rectification stack, where she unfastens one of the panels and looks inside.  Safely sealed within a magnetic bottle, streams of sub-atomic particles dance and swirl between the nodes of the grid stabiliser, casting an eerie blue-green light across Saskia's face.

"Hello Beautiful.  How are you feeling?"

Ash looks confused at Jago's assertion for a moment, "Never heard of anything like that being communicable..."  His voice trails off for a moment as he collects his thoughts.

Though his tone is far from certain, he still reiterates, "I am sure that Ms. Tiesi would let us know if there was any imminent danger."  He can't conceive of the Margin's medical doctor willfully withholding such information.  And the lanky navigator doesn't appear to believe that their medical doctor would have missed anything either.

Still, he shrugs, allowing his opinion an air of dismissablity.

"Why don't you just call down to the medical bay and ask for a clarification, Boss?" he prompts the Captain.

With little else to do, Tylen gets himself a coffee and kicks back in his chair.

"All right Saskia, I'll be there as soon as I can." Jago assures his Engineer.

Leaning back in his chair, the Captain sighs.  "I suppose you're right Ash.  If this thing presents any danger to the other people aboard, Shui would let me know.  So I'll leave her to do... whatever it is that she's doing in the way of tests, or examinations, or whatever.  No need for me to go in there disturbing her, and risking catching this thing if it is some strange disease.  I'm sure she'll call me anyway, when she knows what it is."

"In the mean time, I'll go over and see what Saskia wants."

He pushes himself to his feet, and looks at Tylen.  "Keryn's in with Yas at the moment.  So why don't you two head over to the Passenger Lounge and check that the rest of our passengers aren't panicking about this?  Give them the old 'we're professionals, and we have the situation under control' routine."

He nods to the two crewmen, and starts off down the Crew Lounge, heading towards Engineering.  As he rounds the curve of the Lounge he calls back, "Be polite and confident!"

"And no-one will think us appearing over there is at all suspicious ..." Tylen offers as a comment to Ash.  Still he levers himself out of his chair and tries to straighten his hair.  "I thought about getting a job in a burger bar once ..." he says heading towards the door "That probably qualifies me as second reserve steward third class..."

Corlan's face falls, and he sits in silence for a while, before he starts to speak again, slowly and carefully.

"I would like to spend more time aboard this ship, where I have always felt welcome, but I've been hiding from this thing for too long.  I need to speak to my family... my real family, as opposed to this, my new family.  I need to spend some time with them while I can still tell them the things that they should hear, and I can't expect Captain Lanza to wait at Regina for an indefinite period while I deal with this."

Captain Lanza, meanwhile, makes his way to Engineering.  "What is it Saskia?"

Tylen and Ash enter the Passenger Lounge, where they find Eneris and Covan Draik tidying up the mess created by Corlan's collapse, and the upsetting of the table.

Eneris looks up as they come into the room, "Gentlemen?  Can we help you?  Or have you come to tell us how Corlan's doing?"

"Of course, Corlan," Shui replies after listening to his entire, carefully phrased speech.  He still must be struggling against his aphasia.  "Wishes are, after all, just that.  I want you to know how valued you are.  But I understand you must speak to your family.  It is a kindness you do them, and will no doubt prove valuable for your own spirit."  That said with another touch on his arm, so as not to be too formal.  Lord knows, Shui is aware of her tendency toward that.

But his words sink pins and needles of guilt into her own spirit.  It is likely her own family grieves her loss, rather than feeling anger.  Even her father.  For all they did, for all they do, there was still love.  And she, Shui, abandoned them.  Fled.  I was a young girl, then.  I had not the confidence that comes with age.  I ran.  I cannot blame myself now.  All true, these thoughts that sleet through her mind.

And yet the guilt persists.

Setting that aside, she continues.  "Certainly Captain Lanza will have business upon Regina, and it is possible he can arrange for further business to take us back to that planet."  Silently, she makes up her mind to suggest just that.  "Of course, I cannot say that you will wish to leave your family again, or how long this will take you.  But...should you desire to continue your voyage, I feel it will be possible."

"Just popped over to make sure everything is alright.  Shui is still in with Corlan." Tylen offers.  Time on XBoats and and scouring vessels doesn't prepare  one for the niceties of  stewarding activity.  "I can get coffee, if you want it?" the gunner offers, with a glance towards Ash to see if the navigator can come up with a better suggestion.

Gesturing towards the energy rectification stack, Saskia explains, "I think we have a problem.  There's been a sudden sharp drop in grid stabiliser efficiency.  It's down almost two frelling percent over the last three jumps -- and that's about a hundred times what I'd usually expect to see.

"I suspect we have a cracked rectifier node, which would be found by a decent frelling inspection at Regina."  The Engineer indicates the charts that she's been reviewing, and shakes her head slowly.

"But if the rate of degradation continues to increase, then we might not make it to Regina.  Don't get me wrong -- I'm not talking about a catastrophic failure, just that we might try to Jump one day, and the Jump grid will fail to initialise.

"We could do with getting this looked at when we're at Extolay or Dinomn, though it might take longer there."

Eneris gives Tylen and Ash a nod of thanks.  "Thanks for checking up on us.  As you can see, we aren't taking the opportunity to loot Corlan's cabin or anything."  He grins and raises his hands in a gesture of placation, "I know, I know... that's not why you're here.  Thanks for telling us what you know about Corlan's condition.  I, for one, am grateful.  Coffee would be most welcome, if you'd like to join us."

Jago sighs, "Was bound to happen sooner or later I suppose.  We've been pushing the old girl hard these last few years, so something was bound to give eventually."  He studies the charts for a few moments, and almost manages to look as if he understands them.  "If we get it done at Extolay, then that means delaying Draik's dash for home.  But if we wait until Dinomn, then it could take longer to fix it.  Draik's paid for his journey, so it'll have to be Dinomn, if it will wait that long.  You say we aren't in any danger?"

Corlan smiles, and relaxes, "Cat... "  A frown, and he tries again, "I appreciate your help in this matter.  But I know Captain Lanza has a long term goal that he is working towards, and I would not expect him to delay that, or cut it short by coming back for me.  But I would like to see you all again one day."

"Damn! I haven't shot a passenger for looting in ages." Tylen quips as he goes to get coffees. Without Shui's knowledge of the guests preferences he just grabs four cups of black coffee, along with the whitener and the sugar substitute.

"Help yourself, guys." He says putting the tray on the table and taking a seat.  "Just been servicing my quad ..." he says by way of making small talk.

"Well, we will see."  Shui stands, with another pat for Corlan's shoulder.  "Perhaps you are correct, and Jago will need to move on.  Or perhaps he can schedule something.  One never knows until one tries." A small inclination of the head follows.  "For you, Mr. DeSant, I have no issue making the attempt."

The doctor takes a deep breath.  "For now, I require your opinion on how much you have recovered.  Also, I would like to know if there have been secondary effects in the past - things that have affected you hours or days later."  Staring down at him, she offers a smile.  "Then we can get you reinstated in your quarters."

The passengers help themselves to coffee.

"Quad?" says Eneris, curiously, "What's that?  Some sort of weapon?"

Corlan sighs, "These attacks don't last long, at least so far.  I should be stock... should be fully recovered within an hour at most.  The only lasting effect I have noticed previously is fatigue, which can last up to a day after the event.  Sometimes headaches, but not this time I think."

"Err no.  A sort of motorcycle with four wheels." Tylen respond, using his data glove to search trough images and put a few up on  a big screen.  Just for a moment he is about to tell them how he used the quad to in the rescue on the previous planet, although he suddenly remembers that it might not be good protocol to remind them of that incident.  "The captain lets me keep it in the hold, and it can be useful occasionally ... not to mention a lot of fun." he finishes up with a grin.

"No, no danger.  The grid stabiliser is only really essential for generating a viable Jump bubble to push the ship into J-Space." Saskia explains, trying to keep it to a level that single cell lifeforms (and starship captains) might understand.

"If it fails at that stage, the bubble evaporates, and the Jump doesn't happen.  Once in J-Space the stabiliser feeds a trickle charge into the bubble, and helps to ensure that the ship drops out near its target point.  If the stabiliser fails, all that happens is the Jump continues as normal, and the ship arrives in the right system, but there's no way of guaranteeing where in the system.  Except that it'll be in clear space, but that's mostly because of J-Space geometry."

Jago nods, understanding exactly what Saskia is saying.  He is, after all, the skipper of Profit Margin, and needs to be familiar with all aspects of her operation.  Unlike his engineer, who can get away with not understanding the financial details of said operation, or the finer details of route planning.

"I still intend to push for Dinomn, and get it fixed there.  Draik is the only passenger we have who's got anything urgent pushing him... " unless Shui tells me anything different "... so I'd rather get him dropped off as quickly as possible, then we can lay over while the repair is done, without him worrying about the delay."

Eneris smiles, "Ah. I see.  I knew about Yas' motorcycle, but didn't know that you have one too.  Yes, I suppose it can be useful to have auxiliary vehicles aboard.  The ship has an air/raft too - I've travelled in that - but I suppose the cycles are handy if Jago just wants to send a single crew member somewhere, and doesn't need them to take anything bulky."

Covan Draik interrupts, "Perhaps carrying messages outside the Port, or something?"

"Something like that." Tylen half agrees with both Enneris and Covan.  "But to be honest, it is more likely to give me a chance to get away from the port area if we stop somewhere for a while.  Generally, if we need to to be away from the port area, we'll use the air-raft, it is much faster."

"Well, then," Shui replies to Corlan's explanation.  "I should be able to discharge you soon.  An hour.  It would be best if I update the captain...would you like me to schedule a meeting with him?"

Sometimes her two duties overlap.

"Regarding the fatigue, I shall leave it to you to decide how you will deal with it.  You have more experience with this situation than myself."  And he's not someone likely to push himself into a dangerous situation.  Besides, Shui reminds herself, they're in jumpspace right now.  It's fairly safe.

"Would you like some tea, Mr. DeSant?"  A wry smile touches her lips for a heartbeat. "And none of that appalling insect-tea we discovered on the derelict, either.  Something good."

Eneris grins, "Air/rafts can get to places that a ground vehicle can't too.  I remember, back in about '87, I had a post on a destroyer that was mostly patrolling along the Spinward border - showing the flag after the last war, you know."

"Every time we arrived somewhere and got a bit of shore leave, the place turned out to be a frackin' water world, or covered with mountains and canyons.  Or had no atmosphere.  And usually it would be like that in combination with a very sparse population.  So everywhere was hundreds of kilometres apart, separated by uncooperative environment."

"So we'd have leave, and there'd be no place to go outside the Navy base... unless we could get hold of a grav vehicle, and had somebody to drive the frackin' thing.  Grav vehicle drivers soon became a black market resource.  Drivers would hire themselves out to groups, and basically had their whole leave paid for by the other members."

With a shake of his head, and a wry smile, Corlan says, "No, thank you.  I shall arrange something myself, when I know what I want to say, and feel capable of saying it."

"As for the fatigue... a few hours relaxation usually helps it, and with the ship in Jump I really have nothing to do but relax."

The question of tea brings a chuckle, "To be honest, I had just had some tea when I collapsed.  I am, as my granddaughter is fond of saying, 'fully tea'd up.'"

Laughing quietly at Corlan's granddaughter's thought, Shui moves to check the readouts one more time.  Nothing dangerous indicated at the moment...  "Jumpspace is likely the ideal time for this sort of thing to occur," she quietly notes.  "It would be a shame to lose time exploring or carousing.  I shall leave the captain to you, then, but I will need to give him a report on this situation."

A small smile comes with that, and Shui taps her lip for a moment with an index finger.  "Short report, with a notation of details to follow.  From you.  But he will need to be aware you are out of any possible danger." Moving back to the bed, she checks his head wound again.  "The synthspray is holding.  Good.  No need for a heavy bandage of any kind, then.  Fortunate that THIS was not worse."  Her dataglove rises as she again gives him room. "I shall inform the captain that all is well."

~ Captain Lanza - a follow-up report.  Mr. DeSant is almost fully recovered, and should be able to leave medical shortly.  I will offer you a full medical log of the incident...once I have it properly written. ~

And that won't be until after Corlan has spoken with Jago.

”That sounds about right.” Tylen grins at Eneris’s story ”I was ISS, and most of the time I was  planet side it was some desolate place with nowhere to go for a bit of the old Rest and Recuperation” he says with a wink ”Mind you, there was always chances of the orbital stations.  Lots of girls there  who had been away from ‘home’ for as long as I had ..  and always someone selling a bit of hooch on the side …”