Sanguine Caifu » Places

         

Charles had retreated to his personal quarters, where he was doing final checks on his gear. Ammunition for the MagSnub, check. Blade, check. Breach-And-Hack tools, check. External air tank, check; the ORION-5 had a small emergency tank built in but Charles was taking no chances: a larger-capacity external would always be more useful.

He had learnt that from Operation Pantheon, all those years ago.

Most important of all the equipment, though, was easily the PDA. It was his map. His voice to the probable AI presence. And most importantly, it was a storage for a certain particularity.

His shit in order, Charles ran through the plan yet again. Get in. Get the device. Get back aboard the Qi. Wait for the ship to move on and get within planet distance. Expunge all witnesses and steal an escape pod.

Dead easy, right?

Right.

Rising, he exited his quarters, heading up to the bridge to watch the docking maneuvers.

         Zasha went over the suit carefully, checking for even the smallest rip that could mean death to whoever was unlucky enough to be stuck in the black with it.

"Captain, I've checked the EVA suit, is there any other equipment we'll use on board that I should take a gander at?" She sent over the comm, drumming her fingers against her pants. There wasn't much else to do, other than putter around and quadruple check all the things she'd already gone over thoroughly. Of course another check was never wasted, but she did prefer to be useful.

Picking up a stray duffel bag, she examined it as well and decided it was good enough to carry whatever she needed from the other ship, and if necessary, she could simply leave it behind. New supplies were all well and good, but survival was of premiere importance. If she had to, she'd leave it and drag one of her fellow crew members instead off the station--she was stronger than she looked, and most Captains appreciated it when there was no one left behind to die alone in the dark. Unless you were on one of those rough ships were it was everyone for themselves, but she tried to stay away from those. Hopefully the Qi was crewed by people who actually gave a shit about everyone else.

         

Charles snapped his attention away from the station to the Captain staring daggers at him.

"This facility is Installation TYCHO-GPCR-054. The GPCR stands for "General-Purpose Clandestine Research"; that means you can expect practically anything within, because the facility was never custom-modified for something such as bioweaponry or robotics. Their research field would depend on what the Alliance demanded, and if an odd gas is floating about, they were most probably tasked with chemical weapons research shortly before shutdown."

He stepped a little closer to the window, crossing his arms.

"First, I'd recommend sending down a simple mining probe for an atmospheric scan. Noting the chemical composition would be a good start. Second, the electrics aboar the station seem to still be functioning in most sectors. The Tycho-class stations are typically equipped with a rudimentary artificial intelligence for handling simplicities from door control to security systems. If it is still operating, it will be a significant nuisance at best and a danger at worst."

         

Kiran grinned through his own mouthfuls of food. He always did enjoy cooking, though he did have more experience cooking breakfasts.

“That's what I told Yakob. He had a million ways to prepare them. Jam, syrup, sugar, lemon. I swear the man could eat these crepes for a month without repeating a topping.” He gave a bit of a wistful sigh. Yakob had been a good friend, and an excellent person to share a room with. They had graduated together, and studied many things together. Realizing he was staring off into space he blushed briefly and shook his head, clearing his thoughts.

“The Academy is really a world of it's own.” He chuckled, pushing the last few pieces of his crepe around the plate absentmindedly. “Practically no one makes it out of the dorms with their heterosexuality intact...” His face settled back into his wicked smirk. Good times...

         

Kiran chuckled a bit as Zasha stalked off. Perhaps it was the environment, he wasn’t terribly used to being on a ship, and it was possible that the atmosphere on ships had different courtship rituals than he was accustomed to, no matter, he’d come to pick them up in time. Regardless, he’d figure out the crew eventually. It seemed as though most of the men on the ship were dead ends for him, if the hostile looks were any indication. No matter, it wouldn’t be the first time a man had started by glaring at him and ended up panting his name. He’d figure his way around the new crew eventually.

Not that getting in shouting matches with the captain was going to help with that. He sighed and started towards the elevator. Everyone else was in their bunks by now, so Ju Min would probably be alone by now, which made her easier to talk with. Stepping off the elevator, he passed by his own cabin's door to knock on Ju Min’s.

“Hey…Ju Min?” He wasn’t entirely sure what to expect when she answered the door. This past week she’d been a nearly random collection of reactions and emotions. “Ju Min, I know you’re not asleep yet.”

"Fuck off, you blue-haired leach." The voice behind the door was ever-so slightly-slurred, a sound so familiar to him he could almost guess how far into the third drink she was.

“Look, open the door and share your whiskey.” As the door slid open he chuckled, he hadn’t expected to have called the liquor she was drinking too. But there she was, her shirt shrugged off next to her bed, her pants askew and undone, a half-full glass of whiskey in one hand and the half-full bottle in the other. Ju Min always seemed to have a new bottle of liquor each night. It would be impressive if it wasn’t a little concerning.

"I don't gotta share with a Tian Di Wu Yohn Kai Tze like you..." It hardly seemed possible, but Ju Min did indeed get more profane when she was inebriated.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” He took the bottle from her, getting no resistance as she slumped down against the door frame. “Gon Beh, mei-mei.” He took a drink and sat down across from her, passing her the bottle back.

“I'm older than you, chwen. Don't you mei-mei me” She filled her glass from the bottle, then paused, staring blankly at the bottle. “Kiran...what the fuck am I doing?”

“You're hogging the bottle, like a jerk.” He took the bottle back, a little taken aback when Ju Min simply let the bottle go with no resistance.

“No, I mean...all this. This storm of mi tian gohn that I'm in. I'm all wo toh wu now, and here I am dragging this chai neow crew around the 'Verse.” Her eyes were fixed on the glass of whiskey in front of her, as if there was some sort of revelation in the ripples for her. “I mean, sure, we're better off on the Qi than we would ever be laying low planetside. But...” Her shoulders shuddered, a strangled little whimper following a few seconds of silence. “You know what it was like...before...I don't know how to run this thing myself. If it weren't for Xhava, I probably wouldn't even have been able to get a crew. I don't know what I'm doing here Kiran.”

Kiran took another swig from the bottle. It wasn't great whiskey, and drinking wasn't one of his favorite pass times, but he had the feeling Ju Min could use the solidarity right now. “You've got us a job, right? Just keep the crew paid, keep the pantry full, keep the Qi pointed in the direction of your next payday. That's all you need to do Ju Min, just keep doing what you're already doing.” He remembered something, reaching into his pocket. “By the way, I brought you some of that protein paste you like so much.” He handed her a tube of the paste. “It's easier for you to keep down, right?” He smiled softly as she nodded and took the tube. “Eat, then get yourself to bed. You need to be lucid if you're going to pay me back.”

Ju Min chuckled harshly and stood up, stuffing the tube into her pocket. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's all this is, huh? You keep me propped up long enough to pay you back?”

“You know it.” Kiran smirked and stood up. He handed Ju Min back her whiskey, watching her as she stumbled to her feet and closed the door. He chuckled and turned back to his cabin, needing to head to bed himself.

OOC: Alright folks, sorry this took me so long to get posted. I'll time-skip us to the day before we hit the station with my next post (hopefully tomorrow).
And I also promise it won't be this long.

          "Ah, I see. Space Spiders and be careful around the Captain. Space Spiders are new, but I'm certainly willing to avoid them." And a captain prone to poor decisions, that may not bode well at all. Nothing she could do about it but keep wary and do what she could to protect herself. Hopefully she could keep her temper from flaring up at the Captain until she knew her better, and knew when it was permitted, and it was good to know that Ju Min was a bit touchy. It would be better to know specifically what topics to avoid, but that could be figured out on her own in time.

"Seduce..." She glared at him, holding the hammer in a tight grip and her eyes almost the color of metal. "Of course, it was always my plan to seduce you by accepting your offer to help me with these tools." Zasha rolled her eyes, her sarcasm thick in her voice, and went to put the hammer away. "Don't worry about sharing your cabin, I've got a bunk of my own, and I'm no good at all at sharing. Anything." She did one last visual check of the room, listened briefly to the engine, and then looked back at Kiran, his display easier to ignore in her fit of temper. Who was he to offer like that, despite his obvious relationship with the Captain? Bah. Companions. Too much bother for what was essentially an extremely brief affair.

"Good night, Kiran," she bit out, and stalked out of the room towards her bunk. Thankfully, as soon as her head hit the pillow, she was asleep and dead to the world.

         Mason was on his way out of the mess when he heard the announcement over the intercom. He scowled and dropped his shoulders. Looking down at his watch he cursed under his breath. "Late" he though to himself. People wouldn't be pleased. He could have missed a lot of things in absence. Now he had no choice but to delay even further. That was of course unless he wanted his face to have an impromptu meeting with the ship floor when the pilot lifted the ship off the planet. That wouldn't benefit anyone.

He watched as the young guy made his way to the jump seats. He seemed so full of himself. If it's one thing Mason hated it was an ego. It always got in the way of business and that never worked well for him. Mason scoffed at his comments and reluctantly followed behind to get himself strapped in safely before take-off.

The sooner he got into atmo the better, even if that meant putting up with this ponce for a few minutes.

         

"That’s me. Fu Ju Min. Captain of the Qi. We’ll be taking off as soon as out crew is settled." She grabbed the man’s bag, hauling it up with surprising ease. She barely noticed the weight, her mind was too preoccupied. Sure, a customer was great to have, and under other circumstances she'd be welcoming the man.

"You’ll have to forgive my rush, Lao Sheong. I need to get to the mess so I can prevent my mechanic from murdering the Kai Tze I picked up a week ago." She sighed, shaking her head. "Should have kicked that Lio Coh Jwei Ji Neong Hur Ho Deh Yung Duh Buhn Jah J’wohn planetside as soon as I saw his damn face. And now I’m stuck with the Buhn Dahn." She muttered mostly to herself. Mistakes just kept adding up. One thing after another.

Once she had Mason and all his gear aboard, she tapped her watch and the airlock sealed up. "Sorry, Sir. If you’ll follow me up to the main deck I’ll bring you to the mess and introduce you to the crew. We should even have a dinner if you’d like to partake. Once that’s done, I’ll introduce the pilot to the Qi and we’ll get off this rock." She left the bags tucked aside and started up the cargo ramp, expecting Harry to follow her when he was ready. She found it was best to not rush customers or force them to interact with the crew. Everyone was different and some preferred to keep their employees at arm's length.

         

The stifling heat of this planet had made the journey to the shipyard uncomfortable. Harry Mason stood outside the main office dressed in a well kept suit fitting of his past position in the alliance. Although, in heat like there was today it was most certainly a poor choice in attire. Still, Mason had to keep up appearances.

He waited for a few more seconds before knocking on the office door again. Finally on the other side he could hear some shuffling and a moment later a short, stout lady burst out of the doorway glaring at him curiously. It seemed like she'd seen a fair few strangers already today. "I'm looking for a..." Mason plunged his hand into his suit jacket and produced a piece of paper with his handwriting on it. "Captain Fu Ju Min, I hear she is looking for some people before the ship departs? I of course have the means to pay for my passage."

The woman looked at him up and down and nodded. "Come inside I will call the captain". "I would prefer to stay out here with my luggage if you don't mind" The small woman shrugged her shoulders, smiled and disappeared back into her office. Mason had hired a courier to bring his luggage this far, he had even sat with him in the transport vehicle to ensure they arrived safely. They were too important to trust someone else with without his supervision. Looking to the sky he could see the day was dragging on no, the sun no longer sitting above him as it began it's long arc towards the horizon. The sooner he was on-board a ship the better.

Without warning the woman burst out of her office, "This way, hurry now" the woman grabbed one of the containers Mason had brought with him and was powering her way towards the ship before he could even protest. Picking up the second container he followed after.

Thankfully the ship was closer to the office than Mason imagined. After picking up his case he remembered why he had hired the courier in the first place, they weren't exactly light. The woman must have been built like an ox to carry it so far so fast.

As the cargo airlock opened a blast of fresh, cool air greeted him. The inside of the ship was a familiar site, the cold steely-blue interior of an alliance ship was not an unfamiliar site given Mason's past. Following the woman's lead he stepped on board and put the container down on the ship floor. He then noticed a confident if not slightly irritated looking woman approach. "You must be the captain, my name is Harry Mason. I understand you will be leaving this rock shortly and it would appear that is something we both have an interest in." Mason extended his hand outwards in a handshake gesture.

         

After the minor confrontation, Charles headed off to the crew quarters; the captain had said two people to a room, but he intended to find a room all to himself. He had dealt with all manners of beasts on his travels; perhaps we would be able to confront those secretive "space spiders" and clear away a room down in cargo. For now, though, this so-far empty room would have to do.

He was not a happy man, however; trust was something he required from the crew, and it was the last thing on their minds. They were looking for anything, but a single excuse, to outright lynch him.

His next actions, he mused, would most probably be enough of an excuse to anyone.

He threw his mask onto a nearby bunk and sat down on the hard floor, pulling out his PDA. Tap once. Twice. Once more. Lines of code, some gibberish data to be read by a computer, some for human eyes, infested the screen. He scrolled through it; had to make sure nothing had interfered with the file.

Yes. It was still pure and uncorrupted. Time for a call. Activating the PDA's direct-code input function, he typed in the command he had been given all those weeks ago.

/rsystem runexe ("untrace") sysid obelisk syslock phoenix

And so, an unassuming text box popped up. Unassuming, of course, except for the instructions it was giving him.

Sucking in a breath, Charles scanned over the list before him; this would not be an easy task. The captain was no fool, and questions would be asked once the requested device was brought aboard the Qi from the coordinates he had given her.

But no matter; that bridge would be crossed, and if necessary, burnt, in the future.

Charles closed the PDA and replaced it inside his overcoat; he smelled food.