Short Leave On Return

[David Maverick]

This was exactly why David hated being out of the loop when it came to his new crew. He'd said something kind of stupid and now the poor girl was starting into a panic.

"No, there's not been a mistake," he did his best to reassure her first and foremost. He reached a hand out to her shoulder and let it hover. He didn't know her well enough to guess how she'd react to actual physical touch, but the gesture was intended to be comforting. "Least not on your part, I don't think," he added carefully.

Now his pride was kicking in. He was not going to make the best first impression on this new crewmember. He was normally so good at first impressions; this stung. But he did his best to drown out his ego and focus on salvaging what he could.

"Let's start over," he suggested with his most winning smile. He pulled out a chair for her at a nearby table, indicating they should sit and talk.

"I'm David, and I have a problem with technology."

He hoped the humorous tone would lighten the mood and bring back her upbeat energy. It had been such a shame to see her high spirits deflate so quickly.

"It's my mistake here," he said as he held up the non-functioning PDA still in his hand. He plonked it onto the table as he sat. "I didn't get your file, so I'm very much on the back foot here, for a change."

"So, you've spoken to Zeke Tapoa, and he gave you a job on the Brass Ferret?" David asked, hoping to clarify a few details. "And he hired you as a pilot?"

[Sienna Cole]

Sienna was surprised by Carrie's reaction. She had never seen her get so....awkward.  Carrie was always the bright social one and Sienna was the awkward sarcastic one in the background. She shrugged it off as they moved on in the conversation. Carrie clearly didn't want to be pushed on the matter. 

She nodded silently as her fellow mechanic talked about her ties on Beylix. She wasn't surprised, Sienna had her own ties on Persephone that kept an eye on things. Though with her ma gone there wasn't much to look after any more.  She wished she still had a piece in the smuggling business but, after jail she felt an honest to goodness job was better. Honestly she was surprised she was hired with a record, but she didn't question it and just went along with the offer.

Meanwhile an over-enthusiastic woman waved at them, she seemed friendly, and Sienna managed to choke down her grimace and forced a smile an nod.

"Looks like we got some new faces. Should we call top bunks or bottom bunks?"

Sienna snorted and nodded, "Aye that is a small boat we have isn't it." She sighed thinking about it, because it was a valid question even if Carrie meant it in jest, "Bottom bunk, I'm prone to rolling out of bed....Literally." She grinned back at Carrie and ordered another.  Her eyes drifted toward the captain who appeared to be having some issues with his PDA again and just communicating in general. She wondered if she should go over there and fix things again but that would undermined him.

Sienna chewed the inside of her lip watching the awkward situation unfold grimacing at the thought of getting involved.  She sighed and squeezed her eyes tightly as if willing herself to bud out and stay seated, however she did care about the captain and his sanity so she stood up and walked over. Clearing her throat she nodded towards the PDA,

"Do um....do you want me to fix that, for you.....sir. David. sir." She chewed on the inside of her lip silently waiting for an answer, with her hands clasped in front of her.

[David Maverick]

David wasn't particularly happy about the interruption from Sienna but he instantly saw that she was trying to help and he couldn't fault her for that. After all, she couldn't have known that there was a reason David liked to get to know folks separate from the rest of the crew. So, as always, he had a friendly, welcoming smile for Sienna as she approached him and he introduced her to Briar as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Briar, this is Sienna, one of the excellent mechanics aboard the Brass Ferret."

To Sienna, he handed over the PDA with a self-deprecating chuckle. "Yes, please."

[Carrie Bowman]

Carrie sat back and watched Sienna go to help David. She'd gotten a laugh out of Sienna's self depreciating comment about rolling out of bed. The girl was good people as far as she was concerned. She'd also proved a highly competent mechanic. Idly, Carrie picked up her drink and took a long drink. Her mind wandered a bit, wondering what their next job was going to entail. Looking back towards Sienna, David and another new face, she saw David hand over his PDA. "Yeah... just like I figured," she chuckled softly.

The fact that she'd been right about David putting his PDA back into airplane mode when he put it back in his pocket did make her chuckle. She was getting to know the man's quirks. That definitely made it a more comfortable situation for her. However, behind all that, it meant that she was not going to have enough time to visit Judd and Gordon. Flipping her braid over her shoulder, Carrie took another drink. After setting it down, she fished out her own cortex link and tapped out a message to the two men who'd been like surrogate fathers to her after her own had passed.

[Desertpuma]

David's PDA started working. There was a message: 24 hour leave before the next job is expected to come up. But stay close in case something comes up sooner. I have that feeling it will. It was the only message and looked to be sent within a minute of them touching down. There were also files for Briar Williams and E.V. marking them as new crew. P.S. Watch your cycle.

At this point, the choice became whether or not to stay at the Jolly Dog or go elsewhere. Maybe to another bar, maybe to one of their prefabricated apartments or to get something that did not taste like ship food. Beylix was not exactly a haven of choice. It was colder than most but not St Albans cold when the Sun for the Blue System did not cast light on it as it was currently. On Earth-That-Was, this would have been mid-Spring but here it was heavily overshadowed by the sounds of salvage and industrial smoky skies.

[Briar Williams]

Briar relaxed somewhat when David reassured her there hadn't been a mistake. The hover-hand was an was unexpected gesture, a peculiar middle ground between keeping your distance and getting touchy-feely, but she didn't really mind it. She sat down in the chair he pulled up for her, growing more at ease as he cracked jokes about his incompetence with technology. Being able to make fun of yourself was always a good sign in her book.

"So, you've spoken to Zeke Tapoa, and he gave you a job on the Brass Ferret? And he hired you as a pilot?"

"That's right," she confirmed. "'Course, I knew you were a pilot too. I just figured you needed a back-up or something. And, well... I was hoping you could teach me some stuff. I hear you were quite the hot shot back in the day."

She smiled at him. The pleasant butterflies of happy anticipation were returning.

One of the women from before approached them. David introduced her as a mechanic; Briar had mistakenly pinned her as the gunhand due to her edgy demeanor. She was lucky there hadn't been anyone around to suggest a bet over the fact, or she'd now be even poorer than she already was.

"Nice to meet ya, Sienna," she said. "I like your jacket."

[Sienna Cole]

Sienna gave small smile to Briar and returned the working PDA back to David.

"Looks like you've got a few messages there sir...Nice to meet you." She smiled again and walked back to Carrie  and took a seat next to her.  Sienna finished off her drink.  Briar seemed nice, friendly enough.  Though a bit overwhelming for Sienna.

She ordered another drink and looked over at Carrie,

"So the new crew, what do you think?"

[David Maverick]

When Sienna handed back the now-working PDA, she got an appreciative smile and warm "Thanks Sienna."

As he looked at the message which had now come through, David's smile disappeared. He had told Zeke time and time again that twenty-fours was not enough time for a crew to unwind and decompress after being in the black for long stints at a time. David took a deep breath and turned his attention - and smile - back to Briar.

The 'hot-shot' comment had turned David's smile into an all-out grin. Then he chuckled. He did consider his younger self quite a hot-shot pilot. He was glad that reputation was still with him though he was much more conservative in the cockpit in his later years.

"Well one of the things I always love to hear is new crew who want to learn. It'll be my pleasure to have you backing me up in the cockpit."

David disliked asking general questions but there was no point reading her CV now. He'd have to just learn the specifics later and try to get to know Briar now the old-fashioned way.

"So, tell me a little about yourself. Where you from?"

[Carrie Bowman]

"So the new crew, what do you think?"

Carrie glanced to the new faces once again before looking back to Sienna. She'd been mid message, but set down the Cortex for now. She figured she had 24 hours to message Gordon. He'd understand. Picking up her drink, she sipped at it before answering. "Seem friendly enough, but hard to get a good read til we're all crammed up in that living space on the Ferret. Tight quarters can make it easy to get fires going between folk."

Despite the words, Carrie smiled. She and Sienna both seemed to have found ways to separate themselves when they needed personal space. Sometimes it was tucked away in the engine room and sometimes it was just a quiet corner somewhere. It remained to be seen if the rest of the new faces would fall into that same rhythm. "I don't see problems though. David's pretty good with folk. You've seen that. Might be some rough spots, but we'll manage."

Mentally, Carrie was going over whether or not there were any personal supplies she might need before they headed out again. Beylix wasn't the best place for a lot of things, but she knew she could get basics nearby.

[Briar Williams]

"So, tell me a little about yourself. Where you from?"

"Oh, huh," Briar was momentarily thrown off the loop, not because she didn't like talking about herself, but because she hadn't expected a job interview after already landing the job. At least it felt a little like the beginning of the job interview, though it was probably supposed to be small-talk and she chose to approach it as such.

"Hera, originally. But my ma figured the whorehouse wasn't such a great place for her little girl, so she put be on a boat with her friend and I've been roamin' the verse since then. It's been... what, fifteen years? Yeh su, I'm getting old."

Briar rattled off her drastically abridged lifestory very casually. She never saw much point in trying to be discreet about her mother or her childhood. Some folks got judgy and weird about it, but she figured that was their problem.

[David Maverick]

The word 'whorehouse' did elicit a reaction in David: a brief flexing of the eyebrows and a quick flicker of movement across his mouth. He was cool though; or at least if he was judgy or weird about it, he was covering it up quickly. The greater reaction came when she said she was getting old. David had to laugh at that.

"Good to know you've plenty of experience on a ship," David commented, deciding not to address the age thing. "The Brass Ferret is a small boat, max occupancy is six and we'll be running with five. Takes a bit of getting used to, being in a cramped living space."

As usual, his purpose of this little chat was two-fold. First he wanted to get a read on Briar's personality and second, he liked to prepare them for life aboard the Brass Ferret.

[Briar Williams]

When the Captain brought up the ship's small size, Briar dismissed whatever concerns he may have had with a literal wave of her hand. She was lucky they'd switched tables because she may have knocked her glass over had it still been in front of her.

"That's just shiny. The smaller the better, I always say. Well, about ships, anyway. I ain't much of a stickler for size in other areas."

If there was an intentional innuendo in there, Briar didn't draw attention to it with any wiggly eyebrows or knowing smiles. It just kind of fell out of her mouth, and she moved on without missing a beat.

"The first ship I flew was Shu Fu class, and it weren't exactly the Ark, either. Tell you the truth, mid-bulks are already a little outside my comfort zone. The small ones are just easier to maneuver, y'know? And as for the cramped living space, well, that's just cozy, right? Unless, of course..."

Her face suddenly turned serious, but as she leaned in towards him there was a playful sparkle in her eye.

"You don't...snore, now, d'you, Captain?"

[David Maverick]

The possible-innuendo-maybe-not got one of David's penetrating looks; the kind that seemed as if he had read her mind and was pleasantly surprised at what he had found there.

Her question about snoring got a chuckle out of him. He was finding Briar to be a breath of fresh air. There was nothing wrong with introverts like Carrie and Sienna but it would be refreshing to have an extrovert like Briar aboard. Of course EV was coming aboard too, so the balance of personalities would be interesting. He subconsciously glanced around, looking to see where EV was and how she was doing.

The question had gotten him thinking. The crew all slept in the same room. Usually that was awkard but livable, but this would be the first time that David was the only man aboard the ship. Suddenly sleeping in the same room with all the female crew seemed, well, odd.

"No, I don't snore," he assured Briar lightly, not showing that at the same time he was thinking about something practical. "At least, no-one has ever told me I do. I hope you won't be the first."

He grinned playfully and leaned back.

"Well seeing as you seem quite optimistic about getting cosy with the crew, I guess we'd better get you introduced properly."

He turned and looked over his shoulder, and started waving the other women over to their table. He'd take some time later to look over Briar's resume and credentials, but he'd gotten a sufficient read on her character for the time being. It would be good to get the crew together for some casual interactions.

[Sienna Cole]

David had waved them over, and Sienna gave a short wave of acknowledgement. She nudged Carrie and slid off her stool to meander over to the new comer, with drink in hand.  Sienna pulled up a seat and gave the new comer a quick nod and a smile, she looked around and couldn't help but noticed that David was a bit outnumbered.

A small smile crept across her lips as she looked at her captain, "Sir, no disrespect, and I'm all for a ship full of ladies but, are you trying to fulfill some kind of weird fantasy or is this all just a happy coincidence." She grinned at him and waved over the waitress for another drink. The brown liquid calmed her nerves, especially around newcomers. She could feel it taking over her sense slightly as her cheeks started to feel warm. Looking back at the woman Sienna stuck out her hand,

"Name's Sienna, sorry about the interruption earlier, this one just doesn't do well with the technology." She nodded towards David with a grin.

[Evelyn Vell]

E.V. finished attempting to clean herself up just in time to look up and see David waving her and two other women over to join him and Briar. Her shirt now had a wonderful coffee stain, only adding to her currently disheveled look. She walked over and joined her new crew.

Both of the other women quite attractive as well, and between them, David, and Briar, E.V. decided this was going to be a good contract.

The dark haired woman made a joke and introduced herself as Sienna. She then teasingly called attention to Davids constant trouble with technology and E.V. immediately decided she liked Sienna.

E.V. took a seat at the table and introduced herself with an awkward little half wave. "Hi, I'm E.V., tech specialist and mechanic tinkerer extraordinaire. Pleased to meet all of you, and I apologize for my appearance, haven't slept in almost two days! But I'll be fine, just need a good nights sleep and I'll be right as rain and I'm rambling aren't I..." She trailed off. Great first impression Vee, really stellar! She thought to herself. Gods I'm tired...

[Carrie Bowman]

Carrie rocked herself forward and out of her chair, following Sienna over to where David had summoned the crew. It appeared she wasn't the only one who found Sienna's joke funny and she chuckled softly. Sienna and E.V. introduced themselves so that left her. "Carrie, mechanic and salvage specialization." Looking over E.V., Carrie could tell she was tired, but really didn't see where the woman needed to apologize for how she looked.

Carrie was probably the only one who looked like she worked in the ship yard. Her clothing was a little thread bare, only slightly grease stained, but it fit in a comfortable way. The rest of the women looked like they belonged more on a ship. A grin played over her face. "I think I got ya' beat in looking worse for wear. Sleep'll fix ya right up. Won't fix mine up." It clearly didn't bother Carrie that her clothing was more on the drab side. Kept her from drawing attention, which was all fine by her.

[David Maverick]

It seemed Sienna had caught on to the same fact that David had just been thinking about. He shrugged,

"I don't make the hiring decisions, remember? Maybe I've done something to make Zeke really like me..." David retorted cheerfully. Then, after a slight beat, "Or really piss him off..."

He rolled his eyes at the dig Sienna gave him about his technological prowess, or lack thereof. As a rule, he looked down on people who pointed out other people's faults like that. On the other hand, he'd learned not to take Sienna's jibes personally.

"Well, good job I've got plenty other talents to make up for it," he defended himself with a grin.

After the introductions, David checked what each person wanted and went up to the bar to buy a round.

"Sorry to say, Zeke wants us ready to hit the black again in twenty-four hours," he informed them when he returned with the drinks, including a lemonade for himself.

[Desertpuma]

Abruptly, the PDA started buzzing. A quick glance saw an emergency flash message. "DISTRESS SIGNAL!! Location: Drifting toward the Penglai star away from Beylix. Message: "This is Shuttle...some amount of numbers...Delta? We're stranded, a bit. Also, I'm a child and should not be piloting this thing. Can someone come pick us up? Someone who ain't a slaver, or general terrible person, that is. If you're listening and are one 'a those...we're fine and ain't floatin' about..."

Several of the people at the Jolly Dog seemed to not pay attention to their PDAs and went back to drinking. However, the Penglai star had a strong enough grav pull to suck in the shuttle if it was not caught and whoever the child was would most certainly die.

[Briar Williams]

Briar was excited to meet the rest of the crew, and she greeted them with a smile and an introduction as they joined them at the table. Even before Sienna had the chance to bring it up, she noted that the captain was the only man on board. If this had happened on the ship she'd just gotten off of she might have been apprehensive, but she had a good gut feeling about David.

More importantly, the rest of the crew seemed to be perfectly at ease around him. The other new recruit was apparently an old acquaintance of his as well, which made Briar the one true outsider. When the rest of them cracked jokes about David's inaptitude with technology, she could only smile sheepishly along. It didn't bum her out, though. She looked forward to being in on the joke herself.

"What're you on about?" she asked when Carrie joked about her appearances. "You look great. It's greasemonkey chic."

Briar herself was probably looking a little more put-together than usual today, since she'd brushed her hair and worn a brand new t-shirt for the first meeting with the Captain. That was her idea of making an effort.

When David collected their drink orders, Briar asked for a lemonade as well, hoping there would be enough zest in there to wash the taste of artificial sugar-coated strawberries out of her mouth. She was just getting to work on her drink when the message came through on the captain's PDA.

[David Maverick]

David's PDA buzzed where he had left it on the table. Like most pilots, he had it connected to the ship's bridge so that anything that came in was bounced back to it. He didn't announce it to the crew but as soon as he saw that it was a distress signal, he played it.

He glanced around to see if any of the other crews were picking it up; it didn't seem like they were. He quickly checked the scanners for any other nearby ships that might pick up the signal. None were visible.

He stood and though subtle there was a visible change in his countenance and demeanor. The long-time crew would know it for sure, the new folk would figure it out quickly. This was Captain Maverick now; not David.

"Okay crew, back to the ship. We're going to investigate this signal. There's always a very good chance with these situations that they're fake to lure in unsuspecting folks unawares but if it's legit this kid is in serious trouble and we're the only ones close enough to help."

He started walking apace to the Brass Ferret. Anyone dallying behind would get left behind.

Technically, he probably should have asked Zeke's permission. It was his ship after all, and the fuel cost of breaking atmo alone wasn't insignificant. But David would deal with that later. Sad to say, he didn't think well enough of Zeke to be sure he would have given permission for a rescue operation like this.