Rig's comm started to buzz. He thought about turning it off and staying next to his naughty nun but he realized if he didn't respond they would start looking for him and he didn't know what this was so he decided discretion was the best route.

Reaching over he clicked on the comm while motioning for Sister Maribel to stay quiet.

"Rig here."

"We need to discuss something. Report to the bridge."

Rig could tell the tone was not a good one. With a sigh he nodded his head even though he knew Ledo couldn't see him.

"Alright. Give me a minute to close up the panel in here and I'll be right there."

He began looking around for his clothes, stopping for a second partially dressed to admire Sister Maribel in her bed.

"I'll...uh...we'll talk. Obviously. I mean its not like we can go anywhere, right?"

Rig frowned. He had been married. This wasn't his first rodeo. Why was he acting like an idiot? He figured it was just because it was unexpected. Once he had a minute to breath he would get his head on right. He finished getting dressed and hurried to the exit, pausing to give Maribel one last smile before exiting.

Silver got the comm buzz but she was already heading that way. Once Fritz had worked his magic she figured Ledo would want to talk about this. Heading past the lounge she nearly tripped over Nero who was crouched by the door on his phone.

"What the hell are you doing here? Don't you have a room? MY room? Git!"

She launched a half-hearted kick in his direction to get him scrambling to his feet and skittering down the hallway.

Up to you if Calliope is still in the lounge or whether Nero bought himself enough time to save face.

Ledo was sitting in the captain's chair, fingers steepled in front of him as the others arrived. He nodded for everyone to get comfortable before launching into his speech.

"In Bowman the Navy informed us that Sang Real was making a move. You probably aren't familiar with that group but I am. They are bad news. Very bad news. Sang Real is a shadow group of nobles and government officials within the Imperium. They seek to control the direction of the Imperium itself. At the top you have upper nobility who tap high level military and civilian leaders to create a powerful network of influence to direct the course of the Imperium. They claim to be doing this as shepherds, to guide the Imperium through periods of conflict but the truth is it is all just a big game for them. They want power and influence and use Sang Real to get more power and influence.

When I was part of the Navy they tapped me for membership. When I refused they killed my career. Tepha, you ran afoul of a politician, right? One that killed your career? Guess what, that governor had ties to Sang Real. They're everywhere.

That is all history though, now for why things are about to get messy for us right now."

He hit play to project the video Silver had recovered on one of the main monitors. By now everyone had seen it except for Rig but it was important for his report that the right mood was set.

"Now that victim there is Hollie Madigan. She is a relative of Nero, our VIP passenger. The killer there is Count Reztoc Mayerston, one of a long lineage of Sang Rael nobles.

Ethically speaking we should turn this over to Nero but this puts us into an awkward spot about why we have this video in the first place. It was recovered from a secret partition on one of the Black Sun camera droids. I suspect this is some kind of insurance policy against Count Mayerston but we don't know for certain what will happen. I have some contacts that I can send it to as well that works in opposition to Sang Real so we aren't alone but once this video is out everyone needs to be extra diligent about the passengers. We aren't even pawns in that game and I don't want to be crushed in a clash of titans.

The other thing I would like to bring up is about offering a permanent position on the crew to Nero's bodyguard. She's proven herself to be very competent in both ground operations and she is killer behind the turret. I get the impression that she is keeping an eye on Nero just for the paycheck so when her tour is done with him maybe we can get her a spot on the crew.

I might be the majority stake in this ship but that isn't something I'm going to do without everyone's input."

Silver bolts upright at the talk about adding another crew member to the ship.

"Hold on. Hold the fuck up. If we take Nova in, where the fuck is she going to stay? You said me losing my room was temporary. TEMPORARY."

Ledo was surprised that this was the biggest objection to the news he was delivering. He figured Silver would have at least something to say about releasing the video she discovered. Her outburst actually caught him by surprise and it took him a few seconds to recover.

"Uhhh. Right. Well we have some options. The first is we can convert one of the crew rooms to a bunk room. That was their original configuration. The second is we go down to only one state rooms for passenger transport. That will cut into our profits though..."

Rig snorted.

"You can't enjoy your own room if you're dead. Just bunk up and enjoy having a star marine watching your ass. Welcome to a working ship. Having your own room is a luxury reserved for the captain and second in command. Either work your ass off or learn to share."

Silver wasn't having it.

"Fuck you. Fuck you. And you know what, fuck you too."

She pointed at Ledo, Rig and then even called out Tepha.

"I know you're not involved but I don't care. So what, if I fuck the captain I get my own room back? Is that how this works? You promised me my own room."

Everyone else recoiled a bit at the surprising anger coming out of Silver. This wasn't just complaining to complain but seemingly a serious violation and betrayal.

Rig motioned for her to calm down but Silver was only getting angrier.

"No! Fuck you! Fuck all of you! Why is it that I'm the one you're looking at giving my room away? Why don't you turn your little duo into a threesome. Have her shack up in that king-sized hoverbed. Or you, why don't you get a fucking roommate, Rig?"

Rig was trying to play peacemaker but he paused at Silver's suggestion.

"You know...that's not a bad idea. I'm barely in my room anyway. If we can get a spare crash couch I can turn it into a spare cot in the engine room anyway for these long repairs. I've never bunked with a woman before but hell we're all adults, right? She'd whip my ass if I tried doing anything anyway, right?"

He gave a shrug and then gave a nod at Ledo.

"If she's game, I'm game. I'm used to it anyway. Let's be honest she'd probably be happier rooming with me anyway unless she wants her stuff smelling like weed."

He turns a critical eye at Silver.

"Oh don't think your drug use is going unnoticed. Guess who has to change the damn air scrubbers every time you smoke up. Can't exactly blow it out the window, can you? Do you know how many safety regs you violate lighting up in a sealed environment like that?"

He shakes his head in frustration. It wasn't that big of a deal, especially after he had beefed up the safety systems. Still after her outburst he wanted to ding her with something to put her back into place.

Ledo threw his hands up. This had not gone anywhere close to where he was expecting.

"Alright hold up. The point of this was Sang Real and Madigan's murder. Nobody has any objections to that? No? Good. I'll take care of it. Just be really careful around the film crew once I send it out. Maybe none of them have anything to do with it, or maybe one of them is a secret Sang Real agent and we're going to have another sabotage on our hands.

When we reach our final destination I'll offer a position to Nova then. To bunk with Rig, Silver, so cool your fucking head. Alright? Good? Everyone happy? Now get out of here and get back to work. We took a lot of damage and for all we know we're jumping right into another firefight so act like your life is on the line and be productive."

Once the "children" were out of his hair he sat down and began crafting a message to send to his ally, Baron Yumi Von Arger. If anyone would know what to do with this video, it would be Baron von Arger. At best Ledo was a pawn on the board but the Baron was definitely a Bishop or Rook in the fight against Sang Real.

In reply to Nerotes Madigan (msg # 36):

Calliope seems to have wandered off.  You're safe to head back without looking like a doofus Nero

After the others have gone and Ledo is busy typing something on the ship's net, a message pops up on your screen Tepha

It's from Fritz.  Why he isn't using the audio, you aren't sure.  But he seems to have forgotten the 20 Questions.

Tepha...

Why did Silver get so upset?  Is having a place of one's own that important?

As you walk back down the hallway, your personal comm blips.

It's Fritz.

Uhmm Silver.  Sorry to bother you.  But can I ask you something?

Is having your own room that important?  Since I don't have a body, the idea of it is strange to me.

Oh no way in hell we're not having this awkward conversation.  Also 'Marybell' became 'Maribel'. Sorry. Don't know how I managed to do that.

When you left, Maribel only watched you sith a sleepy smile on her face.  She murmured, "It's cold...so hurry back."

She's sitting up when you come back.  Though she's got the covers up over her breasts.  There's a silly little grin on her mouth.  It's the kind of sly little girl grin that probably tastes like sweet milk if you took a sip.

She watches you watching her for a moment, and then says, "You just gonna stand there?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:50, Thu 06 May 2021.

Your message is ready to send once you come out of jump.

Tepha just rolls her eyes.

"I wouldn't use Silver as a measuring stick for humanity. There isn't anything normal about her, that's for sure. I mean yeah having a place of your own is important but a home is more than just physical space. A home is more than just four walls and a roof over your head. It's a place where you can relax and unwind. Kick your feet off and feel safe from the cold harsh world outside. This ship is our home, Fritz. You included. The spaces inside doesn't really matter compared to how we are together and safe and secure here. Silver's just being a b...butt."

Tepha had taken to viewing Fritz as kind of a child based on his naivite and she especially didn't want him to pick up vulgar habits like Silver would shed so she had been trying to watch her language and tone when talking with him. She knew that anything she said or did would be analyzed a gajillion times by his processors so word choice mattered.

Silver held her comms out and practically shouted into it as she stormed her way towards her room. Her room.

"Fuck yeah it is. Listen Fritz, never let them take your space. You have to fight for everything and if you just give it away without a fight then you become a mark and they can just keep taking and taking and taking from you because they know you won't fight back. So if someone tries to take something from you, pitch a fucking fit. Make it a fucking war."

She paused, pointing a finger at the comms like she was pointing at Fritz magically through the line.

"Don't ever let them take your shit without a fight, you hear me? What's yours is yours and that's all you get in life, what you can grab and hold onto."

She stormed to her room and shut the door. A second later a very confused Nero was shoved roughly out into the hallway. A minute after that while he was still figuring what the hell was going on his clothes came flying out. Thankfully Silver didn't throw his laptop but she did shove it into his chest so hard it would probably leave a bruise.

Nero was left standing dumbfounded as he saw the door shut and lock, and then the lock cycled indicating the security settings had reset. He tapped at the panel but it no longer recognized him as an authorized override and stayed shut.

"What the hell?"

Meanwhile Rig smiled sheepishly and hesitated.

"Sorry...I'm not exactly a young buck anymore. The mind is willing but the body is old and tired. Besides, I have a list of critical fixes as long as...uh...my arm. Can't enjoy...this... if we're all dying in our sleep of carbon dioxide poisoning. I...yeah."

Rig gave her another smile and then let himself out. Not the smoothest departure but he still needed more time to figure out how he felt about this. It was so spur of the moment he hadn't even considered if he was up for a relationship. Was this just a one way fling, enjoy the ride and part ways at the final stop. Or would she be looking to catch another ride...and another. He thought about what might happen if she asked him to go with her and his guts froze cold. She was nice but this ship had become almost an extension of himself. He couldn't leave even if he wanted to nor could he really ask her to stay given the danger they were constantly in.

He needed to clear his thoughts and what better way to do that then debugging a voltage spike in junction box D-13.

Nero stormed on over to the bridge after being locked out of his room. He thought about grabbing BB, she was probably working out someplace, but he worried she might just lock the door behind her as well. Better take this to the captain.

He stormed up to the bridge and punched the comm panel.

"Hey! HEEY! Your...I dunno. Luggage handler? Mechanic? The chick with the scar on her face! She just kicked me out of my room. Hey! The room that I'm paying for! What the hell!"

Inside the bridge the comm panel lit up and Ledo hit it and instantly regretted it.

"...Luggage handler? Mechanic? The chick with the scar on her face! She just kicked me out of my room. Hey! The room that I'm paying for! What the hell!"

Ledo leaned back and groaned. Silver was on the warpath and now Nero was upset. He had hoped to push this conversation back to when they had gotten to real space but it seemed that the opportune time had presented itself. He caught Tepha's eye and gave her a grim look as he hit the button for the door to unlock.

"Come on in. We need to talk."

Nero was taken aback as he was suddenly let into the most secure part of the ship. He had never been in a cockpit before, at least not since he was a little child. He looked around at all the panels in curiosity before he remembered why he was there and he pointed a finger at the captain.

"You need to..."

Ledo held his hands out to get Nero to calm down and cut him off.

"Yeah, I'll talk to Silver and you'll get your room back. Of course. Just a little mix-up, that's all."

Nero was upset that he wasn't going to get to vent. The captain was being too reasonable and he was still ticked off. He chewed his lip for a second before folding up his arms across his chest.

"Well. What are you going to do about it? Is she going to be punished or are you going to give me a discount or what? A VIP should not be treated like this."

Ledo decided to just sidestep the whole matter, guessing that Nero wasn't going to be too concerned with it in a minute.

"We will absolutely get things settled but first I brought you here for a reason. We run a lot of operations off of this ship and through means I am not at liberty to discuss we have found a video. I think you'll be interested in seeing it. Now obviously this is in strict confidence..."

He tapped the controls and once again they sat to watch Hollie get killed. Nero looked up puzzled.

"Hey isn't that my cousin, why are you...what's happening? What is this?"

The video clip went through and Ledo paused it so it didn't auto-replay.

"That is your cousin, Hallie. And that is Count Reztoc Mayerston. I understand her disappearance was a bit of a mystery. Well, unfortunately, mystery solved. If you need a minute, I understand."

Nero just kind of stared at the still image and gave a shrug.

"Huh...didn't see that coming."

Ledo raised an eyebrow and cast a look at Tepha.

Freaking nobility...

"We're packaging it up and sending it along to the proper authorities but I figured you deserved to know the truth, being our VIP and all. Please just keep it quiet until I get in contact with the proper authorities though. I'll let you know when you can tell your family."
This message was last edited by the player at 23:40, Fri 07 May 2021.

Rig, you get a message on your comm later that day.

Sorry if I made you uncomfortable

---

Tia comes out of jump a day later.

As the ship hangs in real space, the computer sends off the message to Yumi Ledo.  Depending on where he is, it may take up to a month to hear back.

Fritz brings up the system news feeds.

Flexos isn't exactly the best neighborhood.  https://wiki.travellerrpg.com/Flexos_(world)

But the newsfeeds indicate it isn't caught up in the Sang Real nonsense.  Then again, it's an independent system.  At least for the moment.

The main starport pings you.  They want you to send your manifest and prepay the docking fee.  Typical for a BFE dump like this.

Tepha, you don't see much activity as far as ships go.  There seem to a couple of in system haulers and a few Far Traders posted around the starport.  But nothing else of note.

Rig, looking at the report on the port, you doubt they're going to be well stocked in parts.

I'll let you drive here.  Do you want to do a lot of downtime in Flexos?  Or fuel up and head for Noctol?

Ledo was cautious as he pulled the Tia into dock. The goal was to turn around as quickly as possible. Every time they pulled into an inhabited system was another point that their growing list of enemies could track them. Sang Real, Siri, the Duchess, whoever might have been behind the assassin cyborgs. They had collected quite the list of enemies in their short time traveling.

He thought back and realized it had only been a couple of months since they had launched in the first place. That thought terrified him. If this was how it was going to be perhaps the life of a free trader and sometimes smuggler wasn't what he had hoped it would be.

That thought tickled him and he thought he should sit down and have a serious talk with Tepha. The two of them had been drifting apart and he felt like there was a growing sense of "space between them. Where they had been quite intimate before, now they barely slept in the same bed at the same time having to run around and man shifts on the ship. Ledo wasn't an expert on relationships but he had been in enough of them to know that the growing divide was poisonous. Once it reaches a critical length it was almost impossible to save and the end would be inevitable.

As he stood up to try and find Tepha he thought about what their future should be. Was she "the one". Was he ready to finally settle down? The thought of marriage seemed kind of quaint given the unlikely odds they would both survive to the end of the year but perhaps that was an out. Even if he made a mistake it wasn't likely he would have to live with it for very long.

He chuckled to himself in a bit of gallows humor. When faced with grim mortality he was forced to laugh as the alternative would be to collapse, paralyzed by fear.

Tepha was relaxing in the lounge catching up on the latest entertainment gossip. Liz Haverly was caught in a threeway with two Vargr, teen pop idol Rax the Mighty announced that he was going to marry an A.I. construct, catching up on who the experts think will go the distance on Imperium's Top Talent.

She heard the door open up and glanced up to see Ledo before glancing back at her data feed. She flicked her eyes up again as she realized that he had a serious look on his face and his attention was pointed directly at her. She glanced around to confirm they were alone. Had basically fortified herself in her room forcing them to relocate Nero and BB into Rig's room who now claimed to be crashing in the engine room. If Ledo was here it meant only Fritz was watching the bridge and while she trusted Fritz completely, Ledo had never allowed the bridge to go unattended out of his ingrained Naval training. The fact that he was here meant whatever it was, it was important, or at least important to him.

"Can we talk? Are you busy?"

Tepha shook her head and set down her reader.

"Just relaxing. What's on your mind?"

Ledo sat down at the end of the couch where her feet were propped up. Sensing a more appropriate posture was needed she shifted to sit up, kicking her feet back over to the side and sliding down to close the gap between them. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. She felt her heart drop in her stomach, what could possibly have him so tongue tied as this. Quietly to give him the time needed, she reached out and rested her hands lightly onto his.

"I was just thinking...about us."

Her mind whirled as she mentally plotted the possible avenues this could take. He wasn't pulling away so it seemed unlikely he was breaking up with her but she could only guess at what he was thinking.

"I mean...our future."

She laughed and he looked up in surprise. She covered her giggle with a hand and shook her head.

"Sorry I was just thinking about what future. We're being hunted by murderous pirates and secret societies. What future, right?"

Ledo seemed to relax and even return a chuckle of her own and with it some of the tension drained from the room.

"I know, I was just thinking the same thing but...what I mean is...we can't just live day to day, can we? We have to consider that we might have a future and if we do, does that mean we have a future...together?"

"I think co-owning a ship is a pretty big sign of commitment. I followed you to the ends of the galaxy, don't you think that is enough?"

Ledo frowned in confusion. He wasn't following what Tepha was saying. With a sigh Tepha spelled it out for him.

"If you need the Imperium to officially make us a couple then so be it but we don't need it is what I am saying. We're together in this..."

She gestured around the ship.

"And as long as we're on the same boat, we'll be together forever, alright?"

Tepha leaned forward and kissed the tip of his nose and gave him a smile. Ledo blushed a little and returned it. He finally shifted his hands to hold hers and grip them tight.

"Yeah...that makes sense. I...well do you want to get married? Make it official? You could become Misses Typhin."

"You mean I could become Tepha Typhin?"

She skewed her face up at that and laughed.

"I sound like a character from a holofilm."

"Like a superhero's secret identity?"

She rolled her eyes and leaned over to hug him tight.

"If that is what I need to do to keep you then sure. Marriage is just an entry in a database. A name is just a name. We are what matters, okay?"

Ledo nodded, absorbing her words. They made a lot of sense and he suddenly felt foolish that he had doubted them. Every time he had talked himself into a frenzy Tepha had been there to talk him down and set him straight. It was at that moment that he realized how much she complimented him and completed him. She was absolutely right, they were risking death and destitution together, what greater commitment was there? She could have walked out at any port along the way but she had stuck by him even in the face of horrible danger and death.

On top of that she had proven herself. She was a dancer turned cargo broker but here she was handling targeting locks in pirate fights, doing emergency repairs under the guns of serial killers and befriending rogue AIs. He had thought of her as a scared civilian that needed protecting but she had stepped up time and time again. Sure she was garbage in a fire fight but so was Rig and he never doubted his chief engineer's place on the ship.

Ledo turned to Tepha and squeezed her hands. He could feel himself getting choked up as a rush of emotions washed over him. Guilt over doubting her, relief over finding out that he truly did want her in his future, joy over the idea that she wanted the same.

"Let's do it. When we reach Forine let's plan for a longer layover and we can have a small ceremony. We can stream it and send it out to our families but I don't want to leave any room for doubt."

He shifted off the couch, bending down on one knee. He didn't have a ring but he knew it didn't really matter. Instead he held one of her hands with both of his.

"Tepha Pezal, will you marry me?"

Tepha just laughed and nodded her head.

"Of course. Now get off the floor and come over here."

Ledo paused just long enough to set the emergency locks on the lounge doors. There were lots of perks to being the registered captain and being able to lock any room he wanted was just one of them.

Rig stared at that message for a long time as he hid in the engine room.



It was hard to imagine how much those words gutted him. A very large part of him wanted to run back there and explain himself, to throw himself at Sister Maribel's feet and beg forgiveness but the other part of him would just repeat the same words over and over again: what next.

If he won Maribel back, what next? If they enjoyed themselves for the rest of the trip, what next? If she decided to stay onboard, what next?

For a second he entertained the idea of bringing her onboard fulltime but all he had to do was glance at their cobbled together low berth rig to realize that it wasn't something to enter in lightly. He knew in his heart of hearts that he wasn't going to leave the Tia. He already had the wreckage of one marriage in his past from attempting a "normal" life. His place was in the stars, in the engine rooms, between the hulls, in the conduits. He would continue until he physically couldn't and only then would he consider retirement. Or a spacewalk without an oxygen tank.

He continued to work on the ship. He had no idea what to do about Maribel but there was always critical work that needed his full attention and would make him forget about all those complications. The real world fell away as he worked on the ship like a man possessed. Eventually he would have to stop to rest and that was when his thoughts would drift to Maribel and he would toss and turn in his makeshift cot in the engineering bay.

Even still no matter what it was impossible to completely avoid thinking about her, especially whenever he had to pass through the garden...

Silver's room had basically become a giant hotbox. She had fortified and barricaded it and was smoking up the last of her weed with the vents shut. She was just smart enough to have the computer monitor her vitals just in case she pushed it too far but she was having a blast being back in her old room, with her familiar pile of drugs and her comfortable lack of responsibility. All that fighting and repairs and handling passengers was such a hassle and she had earned a break.

She smiled and puffed out another cloud of smoke to join the haze that surrounded her.