Caroline-Marie (Maria) Shirokuromahotsukai's Story

Valerio sat in the dark, unlit area of the stations most disreputable pub, nursing a bitter pint of ale. Cheap stuff to be sure but it served its purpose. After all, when his fourteen hour shift was done of an evening he was in little mood for something elegant; though it wasn't as if this dive would be able to provide him with any better had he wanted it.
But this shift had been worse than usual as he’d had to log the arrival of the “Nightwing” during its docking, having been tasked with evaluating weapon damage to the hull in his shift report. It had not made his job any easier as any wounded vessel required a complete look over before shifts changed hands, ending up with his hellish shift take an extra damn hour; not to mention that the entire station was buzzing with tales of this ship and her crew.

Now he’d been watching a woman sitting at the bar for some time, clearly she was on the mythical path to find what may lie at the bottom of the bottle; all bottles by the looks of it. There was something that seemed oddly familiar about her, and he couldn't for the life of himself put his finger on what it was. While he was watching an Exburnan wandered in from the alley, while not an uncommon sight it was certainly a strange thing to see one searching out a human. Though when the small blonde haired girl took up residence of the seat on the woman’s other side it seemed clear not to impress the Exburnan much. Unable to hear what was being said between either of them, or the strange thing on the seat on the other side of the lass he was no further forward in pin-pointing what was familiar about her.
Seeing out of the corner of his eye that one of the barmaids was wandering the tables with a tray of empty glasses he waved her over.
”Mary my dear, who’s that lass at the bar? The one sitting between the child and the Exburnan.”

“oh? Her? I think she’s the captain o’er that ship, Nightwing they calls it. Why? Going to try your charms on her eh?”

He rolled his eyes and grumbled “Aye, that’s what I’m gonna do alright, and what lovely charms I have.” The sarcasm dripping off every word “Just get me another pint, I’ll have it at the bar.
“Alright.” She smiled wearily back at him before wandering back across the pub, hips swinging as always to attempt to gain extra on her tip.

”Well at least I know why she’s familiar, her ID printed all over my report files would explain it. May as well have a gander.” He mutters to himself as he made his way over and slumped onto one of the stools within hearing distance of their rather animated conversation, and catching enough to gather why the Exburnan seemed uneasy.

Drowning her sorrows eh? He thought to himself for a moment before wondering if there was anything more annoying than the sound of the small girl. He decided that there most likely wasn't and downed his fresh pint before ordering another in the hopes to drown her out.

Maybe trying for a closer look was a bad idea he mused as he pulled his jacket tighter around him, lowering his head down to the bar.

Regina

Reggie had barely noticed the message on her datapad. She skimmed through it as she chugged yet another drink, and slipped back into her coat pocket. She rubber her head with her hands, taking in deep breaths. She was startled, slightly, when she felt Rokunam sit down beside her.

He went on and on about how drinking would probably hinder her decision making. The alcohol was already taking effect and she could barely keep up with the alien's words. "On the contrary," She began finishing the rest of her drink and gesturing for another. "Alcohol makes me think much clearer."

She sipped at her new drink when another figure appeared, this time next time Rokunam. She was blonde, and was wearing a...witch's hat? Interesting decision. Reggie shrugged it off and continued to drink. The blonde and Rokunam bantered on and on. And the Exburnan begged for Reggie to not allow the woman onto the ship.

Reggie rubbed her head again, running a hand through her hair. Another figure moved to the bar, sitting down next to her. He scrunched down, as if trying to disappear from sight. Reggie rolled her eyes, her head pounding. From the alcohol or the blonde's constant jabbering, she wasn't sure. Probably both.

Finally, out of annoyance, Reggie stood, kicking back her stool. "Okay, cool it!" She shouted. "Rokunam, I understand your concerns, but right now, we could use all the help we can get. Especially if military men are hunting us down."

She stepped around the Exburnan and up to the blonde. "And if you want to be apart of my crew, you better learn to shut your mouth! And believe me when I say I'll screw your mouth shut if you cross me the wrong way."

She grabbed her drink that she had briefly abandoned and decided to retreat to the back of the bar, to think through her next course of action.

Dia woke up drooling on his Sfair. His eyes open with a fuzzy slit of vision showing through, his brain trying so desperately to dim the surrounding lights. He looked to his left to find a new patron in the process of sitting right next to him... Dia saw him eying a small group of people a bit further down the bar as he downed a drink. He pulled on his jacket in a weird way before resting on the bar...

"This poor fellow..." he drunkenly thought to himself, "He must be cold!"

Dia sat up and gained his footing between his stool and the possibly shivering stalker.

"You know what you need fellow?!" He slurred as he draped his arm daintily over his shoulder, "You need a partner!"

Dia didn't wait for a response, as he dribbled on and on.

"Stakeouts can be a lonely business, and business isn't lonely! You've got to nurture a relationship with another businessman like myself... juess... *hiccup* ...just take a look at them over there plotting against us already..."

He let go of his cold lonely stalker business partner, and stumbled over to their stalkees to confront any possible merger in person...

"Overtaking our enterprise will take some cunning fem-fatal," Dia stammered, "or a master chess player, cause... well cause... cause we run a tight ship you see..."

Dia sort of lost his train of thought the moment he got to them. He noticed that they were sort of staring at him at this point... and as this realization sunk in, a wave of bashfulness washed over him and his hands began to glow a little brighter... He tucked his hands into his pockets and just stood there awkwardly...

[Ignore please]

Regina

There was so much happening, Reggie wasn't sure where to begin. Thomas pretty much went into depressed mode. The boy she had locked into the chamber had managed to escape. And many questions kept bouncing around the room in rapid succession. It took all of her self control to not scream for everyone to shut up. Thankfully, someone chimed up loudly, stepping forward with excitement.

"I'd love to go first!"

Reggie blinked several times at the sudden outburst from the Fotiss. Still drunk, I see. The captain couldn't help but smile in amusement. "Yes, why don't you go first. Introduce yourself to everyone, please. I'll be just a moment." She made a grand gesture, for the alien to take the floor, and then rushed off to the exit of the hangar. She grabbed Thomas, who was waiting patiently, by the arm and pulled him inside.

She placed him at the edge of the group, and gave him a look to stay, then turned to the boy standing proudly outside his once prison. She grabbed his arm, but not before giving him an annoyed glare, and dragged him next to another recruit.

"Congratulations! You're all hired!" She stated grandly. She stepped next to the Fotiss and smiled apologetically for interrupting. "Sorry for the informality, but we're in a bit of a hurry and I'm going to need as much help as I can get." She pressed a few buttons on her datapad and made a grimacing sound. "We're in an extreme hurry, actually." If she was correct, the Guard was practically here, and there lives in mortal danger.

"MAK, get us out of here!" She called.

"Right away, captain."

The hangar doors raised and the Nightwing shot off quickly. Once the ship settled into a smoother ride, Reggie turned back to the Fotiss, hands firmly clasped behind her back. "Anyway, continue."

"Yes, why don't you go first. Introduce yourself to everyone, please. I'll be just a moment."

There was a pause in Dia's thought as she gave him the floor. All eyes on him and now he had to bugger up, or bugger off. He looked down at his Sfair and mustered up the courage needed for public speech. He cleared his throat.

"I Am.." He began to say.

"Congratulations! You're all hired!" Regina Interrupted, "Sorry for the informality, but we're in a bit of a hurry and I'm going to need as much help as I can get."

"Oka..." Dia mumbled.

"We're in an extreme hurry, actually," she added whilst looking down at her computer thingy pad.

Dia felt an over whelming sense of tension push down on his shoulders. He began to slouch slightly and lower his eyes.

"MAK, get us out of here!"
"Right away, captain."

Dia perked up immediately as the hangar doors closed and the ship blasted off quite violently. He only perked up because his face might have met the floor if he hadn't. It was mere seconds before the ship steadied with a mostly silent rumbling. Dia felt a bit woozy as he regained himself, it was that moment that he began to realize how tired he was...

"When did I last Slee..." He thought.

"Anyway, continue." She inserted into his mind.

Dia stood up straight as he scratched the back of his head. He looked up at the crowd like a child at his first spelling battle. He then turned an looked at Regina, Her face had a familiar charm about it, she looked on to Dia with expectation. Dia cleared his throat once again unnecessarily.

"Hey... guys... Crazy meeting all you in a place like this," He awkwardly began, "I am called, Dia Fora! I am drunk! ...mostly..."

Dia's eyes perused the crowd to gauge any reactions hoping that his personality came through in all the ways he wanted it to... or cause he's a little crazy.

"I like to think of myself as extremely lucky," He continued, "mostly because I've always been told it's a wonder why I'm still alive."
"I just seem to make it out of any rough thingy I get my self into," an arrogantly confidant tone about his voice, "plus.. and a bonus and an add-on... I'm pretty funny... also I'm pretty funny to boot..."

Dia felt the words failing him, and he felt his eyes drifting toward the captain but knowing he couldn't speak telepathically he just sort of stopped talking.

He bowed as if he had just completed a performance.

Saein

Saein was vaguely aware Eddie had appeared in the room. “Hi Eddie, good to see you’re up” she said, while 99% of her concentration remained on her work.

Minn’s panic drew her out of the task. What was that all about? Oh, Eddie had seen them naked. “Well I guess he is ‘up’ now”, she remarked. Saein didn’t care much, it wasn’t like nobody had seen her like this before. When something made her blush, it usually meant she had contradicting feelings about her own intentions. It was interesting Minn reacted so bashful to being seen in the nude by Eddie by surprise, surely many more men had seen her than had seen Saein. Was this a new thing? If so, it seemed like a positive change that she was acting like a normal girl her age.

The beep of the washing machine interrupted her thoughts. Saein put on the clothes that were clean and dry again, divided her tools, other stuff (among which now also the Shifters) between her pockets, and finished putting the datapad back together without its antenna.

Minn was trying to tell Eddie on the other side of the door off for walking in, and at the same time trying to explain the situation had not been of a sexual nature. It was adorable, which made Saein wish the nature of the situation had been different, minus Eddie walking in of course. Saein gently pushed Minn away from the door, so Eddie wouldn’t get flashed when she would walk out. With her hands still on the girl’s shoulders she looked into those big green eyes and told her “I really want to stay here with you, but I have work that can’t wait if we want to stay okay.” Part of her wanted to add something about how wonderful it was to be near Minn, but she couldn’t find words that were suitable while the girl still felt embarrassed by Eddie. Maybe it wasn’t necessary to find the words, it was visible in her eyes.

Saein opened the door just far enough to step through it sideways. With a cheeky grin, she patted Eddie on the shoulder and said “Happy birthday! I’ll make you a real and intended present when I’m done keeping the ship in one piece!” And off she ran.

The “malfunctioning” part of the communications system was, of course, difficult to access. She had to remove a wall- and a ceiling panel to get to it, and then there were several pipes and cables in front of it. Passenger ship designers were idiots. After a few minutes of manual testing and some more time frowning at the tables of data MAK had put on her datapad, Saein concluded that this was indeed an intentionally caused software problem, not a malfunctioning antenna optimizer. “MAK, switch back to the old configuration of the comms, and see if the problem occurs again. There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with it.” MAK agreed, a little light went on on the part she had tested, and Saein put the wall and ceiling back together. “MAK, where is the captain?” she asked.

“In the hangar.” So that’s where Saein ran to next.

-----

Annarein

"Congratulations! You're all hired!"

Well, that was convenient. And worrying. The captain had hired what might well be a bunch of drunks, without much if anything of interviews. Without even deciding who got what job. Ann had to find a way to claim hers, so she didn’t end up being the toilet cleaning lady or something. With the hangovers some people would soon have, she didn’t fancy that particular job. The Fotiss made something that seemed to be intended as an introduction speech. That could be a way to claim a job, so she went next.

She was able to speak in a calm, kind, almost quiet voice and still be heard by everyone. One of the less obvious things one should train to be a good interpreter. Next to her, Ip tried to look elegant by stretching his legs as long as possible and looking up to the ceiling, which must have looked like a silly pose on an animal built to crush bone. “Hello, everyone. My name is Annarein, I am an interpreter and intelligence specialist. It’s going to be a pleasure wor...”

She was interrupted by a squee, that didn’t end until she was suddenly being hugged and her face was covered in kisses. Confused, she tensed up, until she caught the scent of who was doing this to her. “Saein! What are you doing here?” she hugged back. So that was what that surprise thing was all about.

“What are YOU doing here!” was the reply.

“Saving you, apparently.” She let go of Ip and reached for Saein’s neck. “May I?”

“You know you don’t have to ask.”

Saein’s freckles became a fast moving blur around the spot where Ann put her hand. Ann continued addressing the crowd. “As I was saying, it’s going to be a pleasure working with you. And. Um. It’s good to see you all have faces. Who shall go next? I can’t promise you’ll get a welcome like this too...”

Ann took her sister away from the crowd and embraced her, the two women exchanged feelings between them in the most direct way possible. It didn’t take long for Ann to find something that shocked her. “Saein, you’re on Shifters.”

Saein considered denying it, but didn’t say anything.

“Don’t lie to me! How can you even think of lying to me!” Ann was not pleased. She pushed Saein away, put both of her hands around her sister’s throat, and forced her to feel exactly what Saein’s stupid action did to her. Every day removed from Saein’s life was another one they would be separated forever, it made her heart hurt.

For a second, Saein instinctively tried to resist, her skin getting pure white around Ann’s hands. She couldn’t. Saein started crying.

“Do you have more? You have more. Give it to me.”

Saein handed over the box, and tried to wipe away her tears with her other hand.

Ann took Saein by the hand and led her to Regina. “Captain. Your mechanic has been using Shifters.” She held up the box. Each word hurt herself when she said it. Her hand almost crushed the box, she was scared of this stuff. Scared that someone would try to snatch it from her. Scared that she would get tempted by it herself. “I think we both need to talk with you, soon. For now I just need a way to dispose of this where nobody can take it back out of the trash, and the location of the nearest bathroom.”

After giving Reggie a chance to respond, Ann told Saein “Come on, let’s go put your finger in your throat.” She was worried. Worried sick, and perhaps the universe intended that pun.

Bond

So he was in charge of the recruits. Well, that beat fixing bullet holes.

Standing taller, he scanned the group, accepting a warm hand from Valerio Vines. Bond chuckled, "Not my ship Valerio," he answered, eyes trailing over to Regina where a shorter guy was speaking with her, Dedrik for some reason stepping in. He didn't worry too much about it though. He had recruits to impress.

Slipping his yellow handled screwdriver from his back pocket, he flipped it once in the air with a grin. "Welcome to the Nightwing. I've been on this crew since our grand voyage began...yesterday." He coughed. "But! I know a thing or two about her already and the food...is sublime. In fact, we should head to the kitchen now. Much better to answer questions around a table of food."

Turning his back, he led the group down the hall a ways, hoping Regina wouldn't mind the relocation. His smile faltered as no one could see. Just hours ago, his crew mates were shot down. What better chance did these recruits have? Or any of them? He had to speak with Regina for specifics on what was actually going on, but not before she got some rest. That girl needed to slow down. She was the Captain after all. She could divvy all the work to others and crash on her own mattress.

Reaching the kitchen, scents of previous meals wafted through the air, but the light was off. Flipping a switch, he squinted in confusion, Minn nowhere to be found.

"Sit tight here, get acquainted, I'll find our lovely cook."

Ducking out of the kitchen, he tried to remember if Minn was rooming with Saein or not...and where Saein said her room was.

Eventually he found Eddie in the hall, blood dripping from his nose and a pale anxiety taking over his face. "You okay?" Bond asked, not liking the sight of blood on this ship anymore. Not that he liked it ever before. Bond's eyes flicked to the door the pilot stood outside of and squinted, realizing this was the room he was looking for. "Minn inside?" he asked, hand on the door handle before receiving an answer.

Pushing the door open, he paused, seeing Minn half wrapped in a sheet, leaning over a small pile of garments and clothes. Her pink back was exposed to him and she turned slightly, eyebrows pulled together in panic. "What are you doing?!" she cried, pulling the sheet higher, all the way up to her chin and slipping to fall backwards onto the low mattress. The sheet fluttered, a momentary view given to Bond, but he only smiled, shaking his head with laughter. Now he understood Eddie's plight.

Facing the pilot, he clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it," he said and stepped inside the bedroom. "Minn, we have new recruits that need food. Get dressed."

She sat up roughly, puffing out to blow some of her pink strands of hair out of her face. "Get out!"

Bond laughed again, but complied. "Hurry up!"

He closed the door and stood beside Eddie in the hallway. Crossing his arms, and leaning on the wall, he sighed and closed his eyes. "Good choice, Ed." Lifting on eyelid, he grinned toothily.

Moments later, Minn ripped open the door in a flustered manner as she pushed her semi-wet strands of hair back and tugged the waistband of her previous black low rise pants up over the top of red underwear. Bond's eyebrow rose as she passed them, her back shown. His eyes switched to Eddie, eyebrows raised suggestively.

"Welcome to the Nightwing. I've been on this crew since our grand voyage began...yesterday." Bond coughed. "But! I know a thing or two about her already and the food...is sublime. In fact, we should head to the kitchen now. Much better to answer questions around a table of food."

Pausing in her steps, she couldn't help but stare at Bond. The Mechanic already making his way down the hall to the café. The group obediently followed along. Yesterday?, Mercia thought. Jogging to catch up with the crowd, the brunette never stopped thinking. Did he just say, yesterday? Yesterday, this voyage started. They had already gotten attacked. Had men and women killed, and now they were being chased. By who? Who would do such a thing like start a war with Star Fleet? Are they stupid or something? What did this ship do to upset someone to that length? Or were they just at the wrong place, at the wrong time? Putting her hand to her head in frustration when they stopped in the kitchen, all the brunette wanted to do now is sleep. Her face was contorted in a sort of angry confusion that made her radiate a very unfriendly vibe. Her whole body tense.

"This is just one giant cluster fuck of confusion." Mercia muttered to herself, staring at the door the engineer had exited through. Maybe she should just sit and wait.

With a now growing headache, the blue eyed woman plopped down in a seat. It's sleek design holding not an ounce of warmth. Mercia didn't care at this point in time. She wanted, needed answers. How was she to help at all if she knew nothing? Not a single thing had been explained to her and it made her want to pull her hair out. Grumbling something along the lines of 'Damn ship...', she plunked her head against the cool surface of the table.

Regina

Reggie was in the process of moving towards the bridge, but was cut off by the blonde with the costume hat. She introduced her giant robot friend, and asked if there was an empty wing she could use. "Yeah..." Reggie said still staring at the giant robot. "Yeah." She said again, shaking out of her stupor. "There's an empty area where some rooms were, but were gutted out. MAK, can you show her the way."

Reggie didn't have time to continue any conversations, she quickly pressed a button in the elevator. She watched Bond take a hold of the new recruits, using his usual charms to get them away from the captain and heading towards the kitchen. The captain sighed as the doors slid closed. MAK immediately shot the elevator up to the bridge, no stops on the way, and the doors slid open.

"MAK, how close are they?"

"There is a ship, gaining speed, and nearing the ship. Impact is inevitable."

"How long?"

"Two minutes."

"Damn."

Reggie wrapped her hair back up in a ponytail, quickly throwing off her coat and any extra equipment she had on her. Her holster and belt were thrown to the side, and she easily slid out of her boots. Her skin was already covered in a thin layer of sweat, as she slid into the cockpit. She took control of the ship from MAK, and quickly asked him to inform the crew to strap into the emergency seating in the halls.

She wasn't going to risk them getting injured as she tried to avoid a giant ship heading straight for them.

"Captain, 30 seconds to impact."

"Thank you MAK! I can count!"

Reggie grabbed a hold of the handles and pushed them away from her, pushing the ship into a steep nosedive. The ship shook, and the sirens went off. The Nightwing was never properly intended for such fast and drastic movements, but they were running out of options. The captain guided the ship further down, accelerating faster and faster. When she saw the Intergalactic Guard ship pass overhead, she leveled the ship. Unfortunately, it wasn't over.

"Captain, there is another ship accelerating quickly towards our location. Four minutes to impact."

Reggie growled and flicked a switch. "Four minutes is all I need."

Narration

The two Intergalactic Guard ships were en route. They were giving strict orders. Stop the Nightwing. Whatever they had to do, but stop it's voyage. The men on board, barely questioned why. They had their orders, and it was their job to do them. Questioning wasn't apart of their job.

The first ship missed, the Nightwing diving quickly out of the way. When it was leveled out, the second ship moved in. No regrets. Stop the Nightwing. It was closing in. Impact in a mere minute. There was noway for the ship to escape. Closer and closer, they were practically on top of each other. But, suddenly, the Nightwing had shot forward putting a hefty distance between the two ships.

It spun, turning to face the second ship, and an onslaught of missiles shot forward and struck the second Guard ship. The shocking discovery that the once passenger ship had weapons turrets on it, gave the first ship a minute of pause. The second ship failed and dove down towards the Othra Station. The Nightwing didn't have time to turn to take out the first ship, and not enough missiles.

The first ship accelerated, moving quickly towards the Nightwing. The pilot moved to launch missiles, his hand at the read. As he got closer and closer, he pressed the button. The missiles shot quickly through the air, but missed the Nightwing as it shot forward. The only way for the ship to make it, was to outrun the Guard ship, and the missiles.

Turbulence shook the Nightwing, all of the crew members hanging on for dear life as the ship shot forward faster then it ever had. Red lights flickered, sirens blared, MAK's voice continued to ring out warning the crew of the danger.

The ship moved faster and faster, finally hitting a checkpoint and shooting faster into the next galaxy, then quickly to the next checkpoint and onto the next galaxy. The Nightwing hopped one more galaxy before finally making a stop at a nearby planet, their fuel tank practically dry. But the ship wasn't necessarily safe, the Guard could easily find the registered ship anytime they docked at a station.

Thankfully, this planet didn't have a proper station, to behind on the times. They were hidden for now, but they couldn't stay forever.

Alexander

The doctor strapped himself into a small folding seat that was attached to the wall in the infirmary. The few crew members that were inside, still getting their bodies check on, ran outside to the hallway and strapped themselves in. Alex closed his eyes tight to get the red blinking light out of his vision, but to no avail. The entire ship shook, shaking the doctor down to his core.

He pressed his right hand to the wall next to him, as he cried out. He was not prepared for this. This was not what he had signed up for! Suddenly, his body lurched back, as the ship shot through a checkpoint. The pressure was intense. Usually, passing through checkpoints was smoother, but Alex assumed they were running from something. And the captain probably wasn't worrying about proper procedures.

Alex's body lurched back several times, before the ship finally came to a stop. The doctor fell forward, pulling at his seat belt, and his released the few contents of his stomach. MAK's voice rang overhead informing everyone that the ship had docked at the planet Inasri in the system Wells. They had jumped three systems, the Othra station far behind them.

"Everyone is to meet in the hangar, by the land cruiser. The captain will be down shortly to get everyone transported from the ship down to the planet."

Alex sighed as he pushed himself to his feet. Just like Regina to land us on a planet with no proper transport system.

Regina

After finally docking the ship on the rundown docks of Inasri, Reggie removed herself from the cockpit. Her legs felt like jelly, but she pushed herself forward. She slipped her boots back on, and quickly grabbed all her stuff from her captain's chair.

Her entire body was covered in sweat, her tank-top soaked through. Her long hair stuck easily to her neck, even when in a ponytail. She gathered it on top of her head and used another bad to keep it in place. Cool air reached her neck, and Reggie sighed. She blinked several times, her adrenaline wearing off. She could feel exhaustion take over her body, and she was desperately in need of sleep.

She couldn't remember the last time she had sleep. She probably hadn't slept since they started this stinking voyage, and that probably wasn't helping her properly captain her crew. She just had to get them down to the planet. The people running the Inn knew Reggie, and she knew they would allow her and her crew to stay. Possibly free of charge.

"MAK, make sure the kid finds me. I'm going to need to his expertise." Reggie stated stepping into the elevator.

"Captain, I must inform you that Austin is not a kid, he is..."

"I don't care MAK, tell me later! Just relay the message!"

"Yes, captain."

Valerio had mulled over Bonds words as he followed the group though the ship, so he'd only been aboard her for a day and it already looked that the ship had been through one hell of a battle. Though that did bring up the question of what had happened to whoever had had the position before him, and that wasn't exactly something he wanted to focus on at this point, but it would be a question that he'd need to ask. However before he could continue their brief conversation he had already begun to lead them off in search of food and such, which while certainly an important detail it was somewhat secondary to the armoury and the weapon systems and crafting capabilities of the ship as far as Valerio was concerned but he followed anyways as it was something he'd need to know eventually.

As they reached the canteen he caught the mutterings of one of the other recruits as she sat down at one of the tables "This is just one giant cluster fuck of confusion." while Bond said something about trying to find their cook Valerio took a seat opposite the the recruit he'd overheard as they'd entered.

"That may be a tad bit of an understatement like" he said to her just as Bond returned with a confused looking gentleman holding a bloody nose and someone who was clearly the ships cook in tow.

"All right friends," Bond began as he entered. "Allow me to introduce..." his voice cut off by the sound of klaxons as the ships AI made an announcement over the internal communications, something about the crew needing to secure themselves into emergency seating.

As the room descended into black and red due to the flashing lights, Valerio moved away from the table and reached the nearby frame of the doorway into the canteen, using it to prop himself up as the ship began to lurch violently as if thrown about on a stormy tide. As he felt his grip begin to loosen on the door frame he decided that perhaps making his way for the safety seats may have been a slightly better idea, but too late for that. Clinging on for dear life he pulled himself around the door to wedge his shoulder into the frame to garner a better standpoint; he just hoped he could hang on till the ship could steady itself.

---

Valerio looked around to see what the rest of the new recruits and existing crewmen were doing to weather this bastarding situation and caught a glimpse of the guy with the bleeding nose flying towards a chair as his own world view span. The ship around him was hurtling for what seemed like an age before it suddenly stopped as quickly as it had begun with pain. Blearily he looked around to see that he had been thrown from the door frame and into a nearby booth. While no doctor, he could guess that nothing had been seriously damaged due to the fact that he wasn't bleeding and just ached, but he'd just have to see.

Tom had not meant his remark in a nasty way, Saein was glad to have changed the topic immediately so her don’t do that response did not lead to a discussion. Before they got a real chance to discuss attractive people, Maria’s large robot seemed to want something from them. And before they got a chance to figure that out, the captain finally arrived, and other people who wanted to see the planet followed soon after.

Saein helped Ann strap in in the land cruiser, Ip got secured to the seats using special belts that Ann owned for that purpose. Ann did not enjoy sitting in the land cruiser seat with her bruised back, but insisted on going down to the planet anyway.

-----

“Rather dull, huh?” Saein asked, repeating what Ann had said about the planet earlier.

“There’s nothing important or valuable here” Ann explained.

Saein took her sister’s hand. “But look at that sky!”

“It’s nice” Ann conceded without much enthusiasm.

Saein took her datapad from her pocket. “Let’s see what resources we’re running out of... oh shoot!” It couldn’t show the ship inventory because Saein hadn’t put the antenna back in yet. “Right then, let’s first find a place to sit down so I can fix my datapad.”

They followed the captain into the inn, just in time to witness her reunion with Nelly. It made Saein smile, she had thought Regina was a loner, but the captain turned out to have close friends after all. Ann, on the other hand, felt slightly intimidated by Nell bursting in so suddenly and noisily.

Ip found a spot under the table they chose to sit at. When they were asked to order something, Ann asked for the darkest beer, and Saein ordered water.

“When did you start drinking?” Saein asked while taking apart her datapad once again.

“Last time I saw you. You made me do it. When did you start drinking water?”

“Today. No calories for me today.”

“Ah yes. How are the Shifters wearing off?”

“I think they’re still giving me an oversized ego, but they’re mostly gone now.”

“But you always have an oversized ego” Ann teased.

“Oi! It takes one to know one!”

Saein moved slower and slower after she had put the antenna module back in place. During the final steps of putting the datapad back together, she was nodding off.

Ann noticed the silence. “When did you last sleep?”

“Lessee... I quit at the end of my shift, and then I got hired, and then... so... I think this is the third day now...” Saein put the last screw in, put the screwdriver and datapad back in the pockets they belonged in, and promptly fell asleep. Her head hit the table with a soft “bonk”, which didn’t wake her.

Ann tried to make her sister a bit more comfortable by taking off her jacket, folding it and placing it under Saein’s head. With one hand holding Saein’s, she kept half of her attention on Saein’s dreams, and the other half on waiting for someone to talk to her.

"I did give candy earlier, only Dlew the android seemed to really like it, anyway no candy this time, just chess pieces in a candy tin. I imagine they're even less tasty" Saein explained to her sister, who had some difficulty keeping her food inside her mouth at the amusing thought of chewing on metal chess pieces.

Saein watched Eddie examine his present. "You're welcome, a birthday smile like that is more than worth the effort" she replied when he thanked her and told her a present wasn't necessary. She was glad it seemed to have made him forget the pain for a while. Saein couldn't allow herself to eat much, but she could still recharge by making her friends laugh or smile. She turned to Minn. "The food is delicious again! Shall I help you clean up later, so you get to sleep a little sooner?"

Rokunam entered the cafeteria, as usual he used a lot of words and Saein wasn't quite sure what he was going on about. Moments after he appeared to have finished his speech, the Genkshi who had joined them on the trip to the planet ran in. "HOWDY!" Saein shouted back at her.

Ann told Saein "Behave." Saein could tell from her tone she didn't really mean that. "Minn," Ann continued speaking now she had taken her turn anyway, "I'll bet there won't be any leftovers from food this great. But I'll need to feed my seeing-eye furnak something. He eats mostly anything."

Bond

Disoriented when they arrived back on the ship, Bond jumped a little at Tom's request. His eyes scanned the robot-like humanoid thing...thing...he ...he couldn't think straight, but gave a nod. He thought he remembered where they were and without a word, started down the hallway.

His thumb grazed his pocket. Somehow the screwdriver had returned there.

"Here...we are," he sighed, seeing the beds and nearly collapsing with happiness. "Kinda far from everything...but...looks comfy."

Laying back on the bottom bunk of the closest beds, he smiled a little. "Oh yeah. Comfy."


Minn

Busying herself with the food, Minn was happy more crew members had arrived to eat this time, even if they were a little rude. Well, the girl was. "I'm the cook," she answered her and then turned to Ann and Eddie. The chess set was beautiful and Minn glanced sideways at Saein with a smile. Eddie definitely liked it.

"Furnak?" she inquired, tilting her head at Ann's question. "There should be plenty if he gets in here now," she giggled, hoping that a furnak wasn't too large for the kitchen. She couldn't quite put her finger on what they looked like from memory.

Facing Rokunam, she handed him a plate and bowl with yet another smile. She was just happy she was working with food. "You can help yourself," she assured. "But I like serving too. Have a seat!"

With everyone seated and with food, she sighed and leaned against the counter. "It's mostly done," she replied to Saein's request to help her clean up. "Just what has food in it."

Eye lids drooping a little, she focused on Eddie, examining the pieces of his present happily. Part of her felt bad, but didn't know what to make him for his birthday either. Her cheeks grew hot at the memory of strawberries and she had to shake her head and face Ann again to concentrate fully. "What's your furnak's name?"

Minn told Ann “There should be plenty if he gets in here now”, so apparently animals were allowed in the kitchen. Ann whistled.

“Geez, he’s not THAT far away” Saein complained, rubbing her ear.

After some scratching noises, the door opened and Ip walked in. The animal was about the size of a great dane, so it did fit inside the kitchen. Its legs seemed a bit too long, and its shape was similar to that of a hyena (though that would have been an even less familiar animal to anyone who was there). It had thick soft wine red fur with white stripes, and a black bald stripe around its neck. With its round ears and its sharp teeth neatly folded back, it was a friendly looking animal, though not exactly pretty.

Saein, having finished the little bit she was going to eat, refilled her plate with stew and placed it on the floor. Ip looked up at her in confusion. “Yes, that’s for you, aren’t you lucky?” Saein touched him on the neck to confirm that he was allowed to eat this nice food. Ip emptied the plate in less than a minute, after which he spent a lot of time cleaning his face with his front paws.

Saein picked up the empty plate. “Looks clean, but I guess I’ll wash it anyway” she laughed. She was glad there wouldn’t be much cleaning to do, Minn looked like she needed sleep as much as she did.

“His name is Ip” Ann replied when asked. The question seemed to have come out of the blue, maybe Minn was trying to distract herself from something, or just trying to stay awake. “It means star. He wasn’t always a helper animal, he was born to one of our pets when I was five.”

“You were always carrying him around when he still fit on your hand” Saein reminisced. “It was cute.”

“I don’t really remember. That can’t have lasted for a very long time” Ann furrowed her brow and her freckles moved in circles. “Do you remember if it was Son or Lav who was the mom?”

“Definitely not Lav, she’s the pink one. And Son was already too old. I think it was Onni... or Hae.” Saein wasn’t sure either.

“Onni is a boy! And Hae is only three years older than Ip. Maybe you mean Hatti?”

“Ah yes, it definitely was Hatti” Saein nodded.

Ann asked “Did you have any pets, Minn?”

Saein cringed. She was pretty sure Minn’s youth hadn’t been filled with fun and pets like theirs.

Minn

Twiddling her thumbs together, she gave a polite smile and a shake of the head. "No...no pets." Explaining further didn't seem possible at the moment. She stepped back to the food, rearranging some of the pastries as she smiled over to Ip. He was a scoundrel of a thing, an obvious sweetheart.

Smiling tiredly to everyone else, she leaned back on the counter and asked, "Does...anyone mind if I slip out?" She pushed some pink hair behind her pink ear. "I need to...lie down."

She was tired, very much so, but also needed to be alone with her thoughts. Chasing down memories that ignored her reaching hands was difficult, but she didn't hang on to one thing, a very disturbing thing. Somehow she knew where they were. And somehow...that mattered.

Part of her knew she had to tell Bond, but why didn't make itself plain. Besides, he must already know what planet they were on. Why did she need to tell him? What did it matter to an engineer like him?

Minn held her head, feeling a little woozy. She started for the door, hoping no one objected.

Ip looked back at the pink alien that smiled at him. She was the provider of food, and the food was very nice, so he would like to get more attention from her. On the other paw, being touched by aliens was unpleasant. He wasn’t sure what to do.

Meanwhile, Maria energetically introduced herself in a somewhat bragging way.

“I’m Saein, I’m the mechanic, nice to meet you” Saein replied with a smile. She liked genkshi, they were entertaining, but right now she was a bit too tired to want much attention from one.

“Annarein, I’m an interpreter and intelligence specialist” Ann concisely introduced herself. “The way you refer to yourself... If you don’t mind me asking... Are you a C?”

Saein waved back at Tom, whereas Ann wasn’t aware who had entered. And Ip never waved at anyone.

"Does...anyone mind if I slip out?" Minn asked. "I need to...lie down."

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure those few plates get... cleaned” Saein was interrupted mid sentence by a yawn. “You go lie down.”

Ann shook her head. “Saein.”

“Yes?”

“Even I can use a dishwasher.”

“Uh-huh.” Saein didn’t get the hint.

“And you’re really tired.”

“It’s just a few plates.” Saein shrugged.

Giving up subtlety, Ann asked “Laj dersmar leingan?”

“Oh. Hm.” Ann had a point, Saein was passing up an opportunity to be alone with Minn, which was extra silly because she was curious and worried about the new refound memories the girl might have. “You’re right, I really should get some sleep. You don’t stay up late either, you never know when your next chance to sleep will be on this job. Besides, it’s no fun to watch everyone eat.”

“Could you please put my stuff outside your room?” Ann suggested.

“Sure, sure. Good night, all” Saein put Ip’s plate in the dishwasher, waved at everyone at once, and left the kitchen.

Ann put her datapad next to her plate and let the fingers of her left hand slide over the first page of the first book. It was titled Speculations on the History of Earth. She wasn’t sure how much good content there might be in a book with such a title. Her right hand continued moving the very good contents of her plate into her mouth. Ann couldn’t think of a subject to talk about with Eddie. Maybe after she read a bit about this game he liked, chess it was called, she would know what to say to him.

Maria seemed to ignore Ann’s question, Ann guessed that either she didn’t notice she was being talked to, or she didn’t understand it. Probably both. A quick lookup in her encyclopedia told her that as far as the firni knew, nobody who wasn’t one of them would have understood it. This made her feel stupid.

After reading some very speculative and therefore useless stuff about Earth, she got bored and switched back her datapad to the encyclopedia to look up chess. This game was played with colored pieces... well, that wasn’t going to work then. Too bad. Or maybe she was being too negative now. She asked “Eddie, is chess a very difficult game? Do you think it’s possible to play it without being able to see the board?”

Petting Ip, she used him to idly look around the room. The crew acted very different from what she was used to, firni touched each other all the time and would be in deep openhearted conversation by now. The difference was a good thing, she wouldn’t like to have a bunch of aliens pile on her (that would hurt a lot), but she did feel more lonely here than she felt at the moment she decided to go to the kitchen.

She asked herself if Eddie was the right person to try to make friends with first. Pilots, at least those of her own kind, usually were quiet types with less interest in interacting with others. She did have a pilot friend once who wasn’t quiet, that woman had become rather disturbed because of having to sit in one place and concentrate for a long time. That same friend had died in an accident while working on the same ship as her sister. She had a feeling there was something Saein wasn’t telling her about that.

Saein

Saein switched on the light, keeping it dimmed, only just enough light to see, and to stop seeing what remained of her dream. “Bond?” she wondered aloud. That didn’t make sense. If Bond was here to help Minn, why would he throw a smoke bomb into her kitchen? And if he wasn’t here to help her, wouldn’t it make things easier for him if she didn’t remember? Pranking right in front of her in the kitchen was an odd way to not draw attention to himself. Maybe... Maybe Bond also didn’t remember? But then it was a huge coincidence he was here. “Ergh.” Saein was not awake enough to figure out this mystery. She did notice Minn stopped before telling what role he seemed to have had in her past.

"What is wrong with me!?" Minn whined.

That was a much easier question, one she knew the answer to. Minn probably meant it as a rhetorical one, but Saein replied anyway. She moved over and sat down next to Minn on the floor. “Minn.” She gently tidied the girl’s hair. “No matter what you have done, no matter what others have done to you, I could never think there is something wrong with you.” She tried to imagine how Minn felt. “It seems someone somehow tried to erase some of your memories. It’s only normal to be confused and upset now.”

Saein looked away, distracted by her own pain. “I... I had a bad memory dream. Someone I... important died right behind my back. I blame myself.” She needed a deep breath between every sentence. “I’m here for you, but I also really need you right now.” Tears started flowing. She tugged at Minn’s hand. “Come back to bed and hug me, please?”


Annarein

“Saein is nice” Ann agreed. “She’s also always very busy. I’ll tell her you like the set.” She giggled at the idea of Saein getting annoyed by everyone telling her Eddie liked the present.

After a pause, she said “I’m glad she didn’t make you a holographic set, that would have been even more difficult for me.” She reached to feel the shapes of the pieces. “If only I could get Ip to understand that colors are important in games...” Ann picked up a knight. “This one is different, does it have a special role?”

Maria was giggling about something, Ann probably was the only one who didn’t look at her thinking she was crazy. The genkshi suggested showing them some magic tricks. "Well, if I aint got nothin' t'do, y'all wanna see some Magic, ze?"

“Oh I’d love to see it. That would be real magic” Ann quietly said to herself. The right corner of her mouth twisted up.

Tom sensed the annoyance in Rokunam's voice, so he decided to be very careful about the way he spoke next.
"My apologies. I hope you can forgive me for making assumptions, it's one of my many downfalls." He looked around awkwardly. Having finished his pastry, he was at quite a loss and caught himself tapping on the table.

Saein and Minn had departed, presumably to get some sleep. He figured he should get back to bed soon too, but was distracted by Maria proposing a mini magic show. Tom didn't believe in magic, and as such he assumed this to mean some clever trick of the eye, an illusion at best. He took pride in working out the way magic tricks were done, it made him feel smart. He had forgotten that the only experience he had of 'magic' tricks were those performed by human tricksters from his home planet...