"Most places are like that... normally, the only thing that might eat you is a hungry animal that doesn't have other sources of food. And if you stick to built-up areas, not even them. Out in the wilds you need to take precautions against the wildlife but they are not out to do you harm. Depends where you end up. Do you have any preferences?" Henry asked the boy.

When Val looked at jewellry stores, he asked "Do you want to pick out a ring? We're engaged, but you have nothing to show for it. Or shall we just get matching wedding bands and be done with it? Or both?"

 Val  bit her  Bottom lip...well?  I wouldn't  mind  an engagement  ring?... The Bands  can come later....but   i don't mind  sharing   the  fact  i have someone!

 Can Listened to  Henry  and nodded  as he walked, I  don't know?.. i never saw a real planet?.. I always thought they were stories, i would see vids through some people's windows... or  loking  throught hewindows  of a Vid  store, until they chased us away? I never saw   the trees  close up on the mountatin in the uppers?... we would go thier to setal food  and  stuff to sell?..but, the men by the fences  wouldn't let us in

"You'll one day have someone you love, you'll understand then, Can. In the meantime, welcome to the real world where people treat one another with respect. Maybe you'll settle on a planet, maybe you'll stay in the black on a ship or station. All depends on what you end up doing with your life: it's all before you now. Have you any thoughts on what you'd like to do, what trade you fancy?" Henry said to the youngster before turning to Val.

"Great!" he said, giving Val a kiss.

"Can, there's a park over there. Why not see if Mila needs to, er, attend to nature while we pick out a ring? See you in a few. Here are some creds, get a snack for the pair of you if you want."

Then Henry led his beloved into the store and helped her choose a fine statement of his intent, whatever took her fancy.

Once they were done, he ran ahead to check up on Can and Mila.

 Can   gave a little  kid  shrug,... i don't know.. i might just  get 'serted  again....

 he thanks the  creds with a thank you  and goes  with  Mila  to the  grass, some people are eating lunch or  are reading.. Can gets   one hot  dog, he eats the bun and gives the  dog  to Mila.

.......

 inside  the  shop,  a very   haughty  woman   greets them, lookign over thier attire...you must  be  ....FLEET...people... how  can i...um..assist you?

 Val looks at herny with a  slightly excited smile, then back to  the woman...an engagement  ring?.. i was lookign at  some in the window and...

 ..I am most certain, those  rings   are not  for   you , madam.. they are.....priced in the  'upper tier'

In reply to SLIC (msg # 415):

Walking up to the trooper, Slick produces his Fleet ID, and say to the man, I am looking to shop for some tech, if I can get in today, I only have a few hours before recall, and was hoping to get it done. Any chance? He stands ready to answer any questions , and as an after thought,. Oh hey, I was told where to go, not a very specific spot ...I think, but maybe you can direct me? He recalls the what the previous shop owner had said, and says he's looking for the tech shops.

  The   Trooper checks out his   ID.. then motions for his  arm to scan his  chip.well?... Yo can grab one of these  carts here, and  drive   way over to where those ornage lights  are, near the  Middle of the Dec? That's where  are the QM and  shops  are.. Everyone is busy loading   up supplies and ssuch, and  we're  down alot of people sicne  a bunch got transfrred  out.. we won't  egt the fleet transfrs  until you guys  leave.... anyway.. head there, Look  for Captain  RE-KA, she in charge of the  Hanger  Dec and the goings on there.. you shouldn't have  any trouble  finding ehr...and?   bring  the cart  back here, most people are too  dam,n lazy to bring them here and we have to hunt  down  our own.

In reply to SLIC (msg # 422):

Oh well thank you very much, I will make sure to bring it back. He offers his arm for the scan, So Orange lights and .... Captain RE-KA? right? Thanks. At the nod of the trooper, he heads to the cart area, goes through the motions of gathering one and sets off to the orange lights.
 Driving through and around the multiple items and people moving around, he arrives at what looks like a staging area for supplies and materials. he parks the cart near what seems to be the entrance to the area, and waits his turn in the group milling around.


<<waits to be noticed>>

Henry gave his widest 'shit-eating' grin.

"I think you will find, my dear, that Fleet people's creds are just as good and plentiful as anyone else's... which rings interest you, Val my love?"

At this point, money is no object. Henry doesn't spend much, so he can (and will) afford to splash out on something really special for his beloved.

Mila capered off alongside Can, playing the cute doggie to the hilt. She soon found the 'dog spending area' and did the necessary, then scampered back to accept a 'dog from Can and eat it with relish. Er, enthusiasm. She's not actually that fond of relish, apart from onions. Then she ran around playing with Can.

   An officer  . and the only way slick  could tell was by his bearing..  his was wearing    a jumpsuit like everyone esle... approached   Slick.

 ..Right Swabbie.. whatcha need.. Gate  guys said you were coming over...

.................

   Can  sat down  by a tree, watchign  some of the folks. Can  had  beach clothes on and a dog..so?.. he was ok..right?

 he  pet the doggie   as they waited ,  his little eyes  watched everyone, like he didn't  trust them.

........................

  The woman frowned at  henry... her  eyes  flicked to  Val.....well?

  Val looked at the  woman, and she   said...I want to see the two trays in the window....

 the woman's  Mouth  opened...yes?... all of them, it was hard to get a look at them from outside.. i like to feel them...

 The woman loked at Henry as she     walked  briskly to the   window.

 Val whispered...she wants  rich  people  here.. i will act like a rich person...
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:01, Sat 05 Dec 2020.

Sir, He said to the officer, Mech tech PO2 Des Grieux, Hermes Mech shop. I am in search of tech for an infantry unit on the Hermes, I have a list of things I'm hoping to put together, and am hoping that you folks may have what I need. As to the fact of what I need, i'm not sure, only what I'm hoping to have as a finished product.Do you have a comms tech or an electronics tech I may be able to spend some time with? He stands at a 'more-than-relaxed' at ease.

  well..we're  tryin' to   fill the belly of your steel beasts up there.. But,  you see the Blue  Light area?.. That's COMs, alot of  the Tech is shipped from and tto there... There a damn strange   woman there.. LT..her  Name is  Cass....my feeling?  I thing some one plugged her into a pulse outlet when she was a kid.. but.. she  the  best Dam COM tech I know... if she can't help you..or  outta luck.

   The Captains  COM  Buzzed...Ca0ptain.. a personals   shuttle    ship out out  of one of the docking arms.. 7 -10 people in, they won;t  answer  the COMs...

 Tell the fighters to hail it once..if they don't stop or anser. Blow it out of The Black.. innocent  or not.. it will send a message...

 The Captain shook his Head,gods be damned Admiral of yours has  people runnign for thier lives, Like we don't have  enough to worry about,best see what Cass  can  do..

Roger that Sir, thank you.
 Slick turns to the cart, and takes the short drive to the blue lights. Leaving the cart, he walks to the entrance of the area, and asks the first person he get s close to that seems aas though they are member of the crew there, Excuse, I'm looking for a LT Cass. I was sent over by Captian from that area over there, He motions over his shoulder to the area he just came from.

  The ensign looked at  Slick strange,ok?..Um..she's  back there  where the tables  are working on something... um.. she's.... Differant...

 Slick  could   barely see the head bobbing   behind the  top part of a  work bench that had lights  on  and   the sound  of  a Melding iron

Nodding thanks to the Ensign, he walks to the rear of the area. Excuse me, El-Tee? You have a minute?

 she loked up, she had two sets of   glasses on. One  was  small but under  a smoked color bigger pair.

  her head tilted sideways, Much like a larg, as she said...a minute..sure..i have a Minute.. i even used a few...

Henry winked at Val.

"I am rich: I have you!"

He was pretty well off in terms of creds, too, and resolved to be casual about paying whatever the ring of Val's choice cost.

 the Rings were brought over both trays  had  50  rings.  They ran the gambit  from  earth made to  every planet, and  Race with settings  of   gemstones , that were both , familiar and
alien.

  Sanri Rings of  a Blueish  Gold..... Burian  rings of a greenish silver.. Earth rings ( marked   EARTH ) in  gold  silver and platinum..with  earth   gem stones. Occui  had the  Purple tinted  Gold and Silver

 gemstones   is were the hard part came in... across the top of the  trays were Gems  stones  from the  alien systems... all shades of  Blue and  Green for Sanri.... Shades of  Green and  brown from Bura... Purple  and reds from  the Occui  homeworld, and  even Rare Black gems  from Hyrian, they were Black, but had an inner  color or  Yellow  or pink that seemed alive inside the Black gem.

 Val asked  for  a  Hyrian  gem  to be put in a Burian  Green-gold.. The woman   looked at here  with distatse , but  got out her  tools   and  set on  in the ring

 then she asked  for a Sanri   darkblue to be set in  Burian silver-green.. she  tried one on each had of her   light brown skin... What do you think, Darling?

"Well, my love, it is for you... but my favourite is the dark blue Sanri gem on the Burian ring, or it would look good with the Sanri bluish-gold ring too."

So? His favourite colour was blue.

"Choose whichever delights you the most, dearest."

In reply to SLIC (msg # 432):

I appreciate the time El-tee. I'll only take a couple of minutes to explain my visit.

 I have some ideas for tech for some battle helmets, I have a base design we are using now, but I have some upgrades I would like to try to fit in. He pulls out the vidboard and goes over the specs with her.

  First,.... I have an internal comm system, You can see here the specs, for inter-unit and higher comms, up to rear echelon. What I'm looking for is the software to make it so any outside battle noises, blasts, larger caliber and explosion type... instant loud stuff, can be dampened so the wearer Isn't exposed to extreme noises..... so we can avoid hearing damage. I mean... I know combat is loud, but why can't we hold back on the extreme stuff. he shows her the specs of the helmets and hopes she understands his meaning of 'dampening the noise', My thoughts are like this,... the noise outside is filtered through a micro second of delay, and if the software registers an instant... loud .... up-tic in decibels.... it can dampen it down to a muffled noise ..

  The   woman raises  up  both sets of  Glasses, she had an odd stare, like she was lookign at   Slick, but  didn't see him.

 .. well?  depending on what system you have in your ehad gear, it should be easy enough to put a passive dampener  in there, that will react to  sudden noises.... if you  have some set up to drown out   all  noises,well.. your  people  will be deaf to threats..that's  can't be good...right?

 I would say?.. if   that too much of a problem, you might have more problems then just the ehad  gear?... Drop ship troopers have to put up with that when they wear heavy boarding aromor... so far, the   people who have had serious  hearing problems is  at an acceptable rate?

    Val Smiles  and Looks at the woman,..then we shall take the Dark Blue Sanri Gem on  the   Green Burian Band... that way, it   will have   something  form both of us...

 She Looks at the woman, we  have recall at 10:00.. can you set and size it, by then...
,
 the woman looked  flummoxed ,it normall takes a day or so to...

 ..we have   6 hours.. tell me now so we may look elsewhere.. i did not know this was   such a  pedestrian shop!

 the  woman  tried to regain her Ground,It costs, Madam.... 1500 creds,  another  200  if you want  by  tech to stop what he is doing and handle this...

 Val looked at   Henry to see  his  thoughts.

In reply to SLIC (msg # 437):

Well, I think anyone that is at a threat should be helped to take care of themselves. OK, so thank you, I will do what I can with what I have. Thank you for your time and I hope it wasn't a waste of those minutes of yours. He nods his thanks to the lieutenant and returns to his cart. Driving to the entrance he returns the cart and heads towards the guards. Thanks for your assistance, and I would like you to notice, I brought your cart back. Chuckling as he said it, he waves his thanks to the guard.

 He returns to the taxi, okay, well, I think I'm finished with everything,...... hungry yet?

Henry just smiled and presented his wrist.

"Have it delivered to the Hermes if you please. Doctor Henry Christie is the name."

He turned to Val.

"We'd better go fetch Can and Mila. Is there anything else you want to get? We should let Can look at some clothes, he won't want to live in beach wear all the time."

Dressed in her cover up and a pair of what looked like board shorts and boat shoes Nikki found a few places to shop.  she picked up a few things for Haley and Roll.  Including an action figure of Mortica and of herself, plus Mitch and Jax.  She also got them some accessories.  each got sticker books and coloring book.  A couple new sets of clothes.  She was glad she looked at their sizes getting them dressed.  She even got her self a small treat, a bottle of a Dior perfume.  Smelled good and good on her.  It was not a huge bottle, in truth she had lipstick tubs that were larger.  Finally she checked out after paying.