for the pick up.

TIME SKIP HERE, BUT OTHER THREAD IS STILL GOING...

With all the ship rearrangements done, it should have been a restful night, but everyone seemed to be on edge just a bit, even Yuri. What they were about to do the next day was potentially dangerous and, at the very least, stupidly illegal. It was still the right thing to do. Yuri couldn't help but wonder if other ships had been contacted to assist other refugees to get off planet. He hadn't looked into the politics of what was going on, but he found it strange that a general amnesty hadn't been declared to get the remaining Aslan off planet.

Then again, they were The Enemy. Killing them now meant you didn't have to fight them tomorrow.

He went through the motions of looking up various people that he thought might be 'cousins' and checking for any interesting art for sale. His limit for art was Dogs Playing Poker, so just about anything could get his attention.

He didn't want to give away his destination, though, so he didn't look up the specific location to see what was there. He'd spot that quickly enough when he got there.

He contacted one of the local aircar rental places and reserved an enclosed air/raft for the day. He made sure it had autopilot capabilities, so he could send it back on its own.

As it turned out, it was within walking distance (for him, anyway) and so he walked to the rental agency and picked up the air/raft. It looked more like a car than a raft! He then flew it back to the ship, and waited for Carmichael, Oscar and Anzha to join him after he commed them.

He'd dealt with getting the cargo loaded after they'd fixed up the forward corner of the cargo bay to accommodate 5 special guests. He tried making it a point NOT to mention the 'word', and not even think it. He simply wasn't familiar enough with this world to understand how invasive and controlling the authorities were. Loose lips sink ships was an old adage that he firmly believed in. That, and Never volunteer... for ANYTHING. Unless you had the luck of the devil with you.

Charly Kix, one of his buddies, had volunteered for the crappiest job imaginable to avoid having to do a job he thought was worse, and he'd wound up getting invited to the Governor's Ball and the after-party where he'd met his future wife, Dara.

Of course, that was the only time he knew of or had ever even heard of where that had happened.

He'd slept well for his efforts, though, and was waiting for Yuri's comm the next day.

As he climbed into the rental air/raft, he asked Yuri, "ETA?", wanting to know how comfortable he should get.

In reply to Carmichael (msg # 3):

Oscar joined Yuri at the air raft and waited quietly. He is huge and just stands there non-moving, the captains man!

At this point, Yuri wasn't sure if Bannacor was coming or not. It kind of made sense, since Bannacor was the only one of the crew that spoke Aslan, which would be helpful (though not absolutely necessary) if the Aslan didn't speak Anglish.

While he waite for Anzha and Bannacor, he went online and bought a translation program for Aslan, downloaded it to his wrist comm, and then installed it.

To be honest, he didn't think Anzha and Bannacor would be needed. He supposed it was because he'd been the one to do the talking to their contact. He didn't for a moment believe that he couldn't be conned, but he thought the contact was sincere.

In reply to Yuri Argonov (msg # 5):

"I can come along if you want me Yuri, or I can wait with the ship and continue to get ready for the Aslan. I got fresh meat for our guests so they can feel comfortable while they eat at least."

Anzha came out of the ship behind Bannacor wearing her everyday clothes: the grey slacks and jacket with the white blouse. She wore her stunner on a hip holster.  "I understand there is limited room in the air raft.  I'm happy to accompany, but if space is limited perhaps I should wait here to greet our guests?"