Every time Kale mentioned the word "heart," Charlie felt a pang of guilt grow in her stomach.  Especially when he mentions something about it not being healthy...well, that's close enough to her.  She shakes her head, not looking back at Kale.  "I'm just lettin' off some steam, Cap'n.  I'm not upset.  I'm just...I feel like I'm the only one worried about some of these things that, y'know...things we can be controllin'."

Acacia let her go without a word, watched her go.  She couldn't really say anything without causing an argument.  She thought maybe this was where she could get some of her pent up steam out in the open so decided to just let Charlie go off on her.  She just watched and listened.

Kale nodded his head. "Ya aren't the only one." he said, and then let the subject drop.  He sat back down on the ramp and glanced down at his watch.  It was getting near 2.  There'd be business to do then, and right now he could do with something to occupy his mind.

Acacia gets up and walks over towards the ramp.  She walks by Charlie, I'll be in my bunk if yyou need to talk, you know the door is open to ya she says.  She stumbles slightly as she walks up the ramp.  thanks for the ale cap,  it has definately allowed me to make a fool of myself.   She pats him on the shoulder as she walks by and heads to her bunk.

[to cargo bay]
This message was last edited by the player at 08:22, Sun 15 Jan 2006.

Geoff walked lazily down the road, making sure to shorten his stride so he could keep Lei at his side. He smiled lighlty to himself, having enjoyed the time off the ship and hanging out with the crew a bit. It was nice to be able to know that he could stop and relax at a port without having to worry about being abandoned because he wasn't needed anymore or couldn't afford to be paid. That had happened to him far too many times in the old days. He sighed lightly and shrugged to himself as he looked to Lei with a grin. "So, how'd ya like the outside? Pretty nice, eh?", he said in a light tone to Lei.

"Night Acacia."  She didn't look over at her, watching the rest of the world, seeing part of the city extend.  The cool breeze rustled through the leaves, stirring up dirt and other such things, sending slight gooseflesh along her arms.

"Cap'n...I'm sorry.  I'm not meanin' to put this all down on you, I just...I wanted to know what your plan on the matter was, y'know?  Where we stood."  She looks back down the road, starting to see figures approach...pretty sure that it's Geoff and Lei, by the sizes of their frames alone.  "Y'know, it's funny...when Geoff first came on board, he was complaining about bein' bored, I told him he should get a pet..."

Kale smirked slightly at Charlie's comment, and watched the two approach them.

   ((From: Caravan city.))

   "Pretty." Lei mumbled. She was starting to almost fall asleep on her feet, just seeming to run out of energy quickly. She came in a little closer to Geoff's side and wrapped her hands around his arm, hanging off him for support and letting him steer her as they walked.

   ((I figured that Lei should actually get tired, as it's past midnight in game...))
   ((Edit: To Cargo bay -> Charlie's bunk... No need to waste a post.))
This message was last edited by the player at 09:06, Sun 15 Jan 2006.

Geoff smiled lightly at the obviously tired Lei, shaking his head in amusement. He had almost forgotten that kids don't normally stay out to all hours of the night like he had in his youth and it was getting late. He chuckled lightly as he walked towards the ship, giving a nod to Charlie and Kale as he passed. "Howdy, Cap'n. Hiya, Charlie. Wish I could stay and chat, but the little lady needs ta get her beauty sleep, it seems. See ya later.", he remarked as he walked up the ramp and into the ship, guiding Lei in as he did so.

----->Cargo Bay

Wei-Li looked at her watch as she reached the docks.  She wished she'd asked what kind of ship she was looking for, but at least she knew the ship's name.

'Destiny'.  She looked at the board to see if it was listed, and cursed because, once again, the listing was in arrival order.  Not anything useful such as NAME.

She sighed, and started down the main row.  Some of the ships were dark, but many kept a spotlight on their name.

She was about to give up, when she noticed the man from the club, sitting on the ramp to a ship.  Looking up, she smiled.  It was the destiny.

She moved forward and stepped into the light, then waited for him to invite her closer.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:26, Mon 16 Jan 2006.

Charlie saw Wei-Li step up, looking back to the captain.  "Should I be leavin' you for this part?  I mean, this is your kit and such, ain't it?"  She took a few steps up the ramp, brushing her arm against his, whispering as she walked by.

Kale says goodnight to Geoff and Lei, and then looks up to see the young lady from the pub standing in the shadows a few feet away from Destiny.  He looks to Charlie and nods, "Ya, I have a bit of business to attend to, Charlie." he says, not unkindly, but it is clear that he needs to do this business alone.  He didn't like to make deals with all the crew around, especially when it was something like this ... he didn't even know if this would pan out to be an actual job yet.

As Charlie disappears up the ramp he motions for the woman to come closer. "So, you say you've got a job?"
This message was last edited by the player at 08:53, Sun 15 Jan 2006.

"Right, Cap'n.  I had things to do anyways."  She smirks, walking back into the ship, humming to herself.


---------->Cargo Bay

Wei-Li moved forward until she was standing close enough to Kale to not be overheard, but not so close as to be encroaching on his space.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:02, Sun 15 Jan 2006.

Kale runs his hand through his hair and takes in the woman, trying to get a reading on her, a feel for whether or not he could trust her.  "Must say this ain't how I normally get my business deals.  Cladestine meetings and messages hidden in bills ... What's this job you've got?"

Wei-Li shrugs.  "I wasn't planning on looking for a ship for hire until the morning.. but you kinda walked in at the right time..."

"But, Yes... I do have a job, if the price is right, and you don't mind blackwalks... I'd be doing the walking... there's no worry there but... some folks don't like opending their ship too much in the black"

Kale considered the woman, "Ain't got a problem with blackwalks long as their done right.  You been up in ships like this before I take it if yer planning on walkin' about on her hull."  A real jack ... or uh, jill of all trades he mused.  Now add blackwalking to the acrobatics, pick-pocketing, slight of hand, and waitressing ...

"What is the job exactly?" Kale asked.  He was over the 'ask no questions job' phase. He intended to know full well what he was gettin' himself into from here on out.  "And have you got a name, Miss?"

Wei-Li smiled and tilted her head.  "My name is Wei-Li… Wei-Li Latrrans.  And yes I have been up in craft such as your Destiny.  My brother usually handles the walks, but I fill in for him when he is away.    I have been up in Fireflies, Cicadas, a couple that defy naming.. and a raven…”

She pauses for a moment before continuing.  “My family runs several crystal growing units in Low-G to near zero-G.  Every three to six months we try and get up and harvest the current batch of crystals and feed the units.  We also retrieve units for repairs and maintenance..”

"Wei-Li ..." Kale repeated the name, "Wei-Li Latrans, was it?  Name sounds a might familiar ..." he struggled to place where he had heard it before - it was back on Whitefall if he recalled correctly.  Something about the whole family being grounded for illegal activity - a real pain in the Alliance's side, Kale had thought it funny.  Couldn't remember what it was that they did though but decided he might as well act as though he did, perhaps get it out of her.

"This job sounds on the level - but with a name like Latrans, somehow I doubt it is ... what's the catch?"

Wei-Li gives him a bashful smile.  “Well, I guess its good that the family name still means something… ”

“But I’m of the Paquin Latrans’es…and we’re respectable… well, by Paquin standards at least.”

She shrugs.  “Our processing units aren’t registered, regulated or otherwise tampered with.  We grow our crystals outside the shipping lanes, but we don’t license the space, or register our placements…”

There wasn’t much to say.  Her uncle was well known as a scoff-law, but the laws he scoffed usually weren’t worth worrying about.

 "Legit by Paquin standards, eh?" he raised his eyebrows and grinned, "That sure ain't sayin' a whole lot, 'course I'm not one for judging ..." The woman wasn't nervous or fidgety, she really didn't seem to be hiding much - being up front about the legality of the job earned her a point or two in his book.  'Course Kale had been told a number of times that he was too trusting ...
"So what you need is a boat ta take you to these un-registered units and let you do your thing?  Are they being watched?  We aren't gonna have the Feds comin' down on us fer this, are we?"

Wei-Li shook her head, the units had never drawn unwanted attention, but of course there was always a first time.  "We've never had problems with them before," she admitted.

"Their becons are coded and locked so they only fire off when one of us activates them... "

She thought for a minute and then gave him another wry smile.  "I think having me listed as a passenger on your manifest would cause more trouble than the units...

Kale returned the smile, "So we forge your papers." Then remembering his mental calculations from earlier that night he folded his hands and looked at the girl, "What about payment?  How many of these stops are we gonna be making and where to?  I'm gonna have to think about fuel and supplies - maintainence ... What's your deal, I'll hear it and let you know if we can do business."

Wei-Li nodded.  "There are 6 units currently deployed.  I'll be bringing three new ones up, and switching those out with the three oldest units..."

Her gaze seems to focus on the job for a few minutes as she runs through her requirements.  "One day to get to the first unit, two units the second day, two days to the last three units, one to two walks a day... return home... " She mutters to herself as she counts out the day.

"Six days...

She bites her lip and begins the process again.  "Food, checkups after the walks..."

She turns to Kale to verify.  "Do you have medical staff?"

"Fully staffed, gotta Doc an' everything.  Infirmary's slightly under-stocked ... but that's a long story." Kale trailed off.  He needed this job and he needed this job to go well.  But he also needed this job to pay well, or at least decently.  "Six days, ain't bad.  But all that travelin' will cost ya a bit.  Gotta keep Destiny fueled."