Scenic Route }{ [Mac, Seamus, Crew]

[Trace Kennet]

Trace stretched, and rose from his chair. He made his way to his bunk, and grabbed a pair of sunglasses, as well as a ball cap. He didn't know where he would go, but Persephone wasn't somewhere he had seen, and he had to at least put his feet on the ground. What was the point of travel if you didn't do anything.

As he made his way casually toward the cargo bay, he wondered what the captain had been thinking, taking on a marshal. "I wonder if he wants to cause trouble," He murmured to himself, "Because everyone knows about how Jordan feels, him especially." Trace shook his head and sighed, deciding to trust the captain knew what he was doing. Climbing down the steps to the cargo bay, he felt the first drafts of the fresh air, and the smell of something other than spaceship.

With a contented sigh, he leapt the last couple of stairs, landing with a rather loud bang, on the floor. Standing up, he looked around, and then relaxed when no one had seen him. Glancing out the door, he did a double take. There was Jordan, sitting with her headphones and completely lost to the world. A playful smile crossed his face, and he was about to put a joking plan into action, when the captain and a new face appeared.

Trace watched from a distance, not eager to get close to the group, considering the explosive result he had predicted. His jaw dropped, when after a few moments Jordan and the man, who he assumed was the marshal, shook hands and she led him on to the ship. He took a moment to wonder at what could have caused this, before shaking himself out of his dumb expression and walking forward to meet the guest himself.

"How do you do sir?" He asked, with a smile as he extended a hand. "The name is Trace," he gave Jordan a questioning look for a moment, and then returned to the newcomer. "I have to say, I haven't had the pleasure of meeting a card carrying marshal before." He laughed, "I hope we didn't do something wrong?"

[Lars Engström]

Lars was completely lost, he stood with an idiotic expression of confusion on his face, watching as Jordan and the marshal simply got along. He remained rooted to the ramp, even as the others walked past him. He just watched, mouth slightly agape, as Jordan led the one man who he thought she would not be able to handle being around through the ship. Well, he thought, if we can keep her from finding out... But his thought was cut short by the appearance of Trace, walking up and offering a shake. Although he wasn't really engaged in the present, he found his ears listening to the conversation. His relief turned quickly to horror as Trace said the exact words that Lars had wanted her to have heard well before now. "Oh God," He mumbled, unable to move, as the tension built instantly, speaking in all but a whisper. "Trace, what have you done."

He stood, waiting for the reactions, and silently cursed whoever had invented the concept of personal headphones.

[hamilton]

Mack appreciated the offer to show him around the ship. Getting to know the boat he was going to be stuck in for the next few days would probably help with his usual uneasiness with spaceflight. Thank you for the offer. It won’t take long to stow my luggage away once I know where I’m putting it.” Mack answered to the cook as she led him into the ship, only for him to be greeted by another crew member. Mack stopped to again introduce himself with his name and a handshake. Apparantly the Björn's Star’s crew is extremely friendly. The Federal Marshal hoped it wasn’t because they had ulterior motives.

”Not at all,” Mack responded to the man’s comment about doing something wrong, ”I just need a ride to return to my family.“

[Jordan Maxwell]

Jordan beamed a smiled at Trace until he began speaking as though this man was part of the Alliance. Her smile faded. Looking over her shoulder she shot a look at Lars, if looks could set him on fire, he would a flame. Looking back to Trace, she did something he had seen before. She bottled everything inside, to avoid making a scene. "Well, lets stow that bag and then we can start at the front of the ship and work our way back. I'll most likely be in the common area or the engine room if you need anything."

She looked again from Trance to Lars, the anger, masked behind her false smile that she was getting more and more use to wearing. She had thought, after everthing else, she would be away from the Alliance at this point in her life. Away and free, to fly and live her life. "It must be nice to beable to visit your family." She said with a cheery smile and tone of voice. Though there was a hidden darkness behind her words.

[Lars Engström]

"What..." Murmured Lars, as he stood in a daze on the ramp. Jordan hadn't reacted at all like he had expected. "An admitted member of the organization who screwed you over is on the same ship as you, and you just blow it off?" He said, to himself. "This isn't now you react to that sort of thing..." He then caught the glance she threw at him. "There it is."

He stood for one more moment, and then jogged up the ramp, and walked over to the group that had formed. "There Is a bunk open in the passenger dorms, or you can bunk in with Trace." He laughed, "Or if you are feeling adventurous, you could bunk with Weston down here." He smiled, and shrugged, "Let me know when you make a decision." He looked at Jordan and flashed her a questioning look. "I'm sure she'll give you the full tour."

[hamilton]

Mack was started to suspect that there was something going on, but all he had a was a gut feeling, which could be nothing. He also didn’t know what was funny in what the captain said, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know, so he swept the bothersome thoughts out of his head and quickly decided on which bunk he was going to take. ”I’ll take the passenger dorm,” he replied to Engstrom, then started to walk away, only to turn around and return, ”If I knew where it was.”

[Lars Engström]

Lars shook his head, totally confused by the way things were going. The marshal had said his business was of the utmost importance, and while family was big, it didn't usually warrant flagging the nearest alliance friendly ship in the area to request a ride. Now Jordan was acting odd, and although he caught the dirty looks, he wasn't sure exactly what was going on. "Up the stairs, to the left, Jordan can show you where they are." He nodded, and edged past the group, patting Trace on the shoulder and muttering in his ear, "Fantastic Job kid, great way to handle the situation."

"If anyone needs me I'll be in my office," He called over his shoulder as he jogged up the stairs, "Don't bother knocking, not like I have much else to do." And with that, he left them.

[Jordan Maxwell]

((Aaaannnddd redone to perfection.))

“Don’t mind him, he’s had a long day. This way please.” Jordan took him to the passenger dorms, up the stairs and to the left. Inside the rooms were rather small, each had their own half bathroom, no shower or tub, but they did have their own single bed and a small closer and night stand. The room itself was a little empty. Jordan had made the bed with fresh sheets, the blanket was as soft blue that matched the interior walls. “Take your time, I’ll be right outside.” She turned and allowed him into his room, she closed the door behind her letting him have space to himself and she waited calmly for him to return.

When he did, she was playing with her nails, looking at the grim trapped under them from all her work over the past few months. Seeing Mack return she beamed an award winning smile at him. “Alright, I’ll take you to the common area first.” She took hold of his arm as she had before and carefully took him towards the common area. The common area itself had two large couches in it, by far the biggest living space on the ship. The kitchen was small, big enough for two people to work side by side, but it would be a little cramped. The table was large enough to hold eight people. The couches were a red color, complete with a few warn out places where the crew seemed to sit more often than not. A small table sat between them, cards still laid out as if a game was interrupted. Jordan had several things laid out in the kitchen, it seemed as though she was getting ready to make some kind of pie, though that still remained to be seen. “This is my home away from home. I don’t spend much time here, because there always seems like I need to be doing something. But, this is where I like to be.” Over the last few months Jordan had been free handing some panting in the common area, nothing fancy, but she was trying to make it feel more like home. The once bare walls each had their own personality, some of ships, others of scenery, something she never got permission for but always figured they could paint over if need be.

“If we turn this way…” She motioned towards the bridge and the captains quarters and started walking towards it. She paused next to the captain’s door. “The Cap’n lives in there, if you need him that is, Trace spends most of his time up here.” She took him up the stairs and blushed at it’s condition, she still had one panel in the middle of being upgraded, but everything else seemed shiny. “I am upgrading our systems, I’m sorry about the mess.. When I heard we were getting guests I wanted to make sure the room was prepared for you… But if we go back this that was I can show you the last of the ship.”

Another award winning smile and walking him through the common area she stopped at the infirmary. “Lance normally works in there, I think he sleeps in there sometimes but I’m not sure, he’s new to the crew and someone I am not really friendly with yet.. Doctors just creep me out a little, you know?” She didn’t go inside the room but instead directed him to the engine room..

“And this is my baby!” She was almost glowing with delight when she threw the engine room door open. “I live in here so me and Star have gotten to know each other really well. She is a bit picky but we are getting along great… I just put some new parts on her and she is purring like a kitten.” She wasn’t facing him when she walked over to the engine and opened it up as she spoke. She turned to him now and beamed a smile at him, she was truly in delight, her world seemed to improve the moment second she was able to open the engine panel and look inside. “I sleep in here..” She said nodding to her hammock “So, if you ever need anythin’ I am normally here or cookin’. Unless you want to see more of my baby..” She said that with a childish grin as she stroked her engine.

Though most of her was screaming to yell at the man before her, she was trying to put her best foot forward, she was going speak with the captain about this later, he had some explaining to do. Though she felt tired as well, tired of her hate, and tired of running, who knew what this tall with Lars would bring, only time would tell. “Oh! Dinner will be in a few hours, I normally page the whole ship…”

[hamilton]

Once the door closed to his temporary quarters, Mack dragged his crate over to the bed, and through the pain of his abdomen, heaved it on top of the blue sheets. He then fiddled with the various locks and took a few minutes to make sure it’s contents were still safe and secure. They were, so he locked it all back up, then dragged it over to the closet. The large piece of luggage needed to be kept on it’s side to fit in there, but it did fit, so he was able to close the closet door and then open the room’s.

”Sorry for the wait, I wanted to make sure I had packed everything before I left the planet” Mack explained to the young woman as she cleaned her nails before grabbing his arm again and bringing him into the common area. It seemed more homely and comfortable then most Alliance vessels that the Federal Marshal had seen, so it should be a pleasant change of pace for him.

He was then brought to the bridge with a stop at the Captain’s door, followed by an unexpected look into the guts of the ship. His tour guide was clearly uncomfortable at the mess, so Mack tried to relieve her, ”Hey, I’ve seen ships with full maintenance crews and cleaning staff that hadn’t looked half as nice or sturdy as this one”

Then she showed Mack more crew quarters, and then finally the engine, which was clearly her pride and joy, and Mack didn’t want to turn down her offer to show him it up close, ”Your baby? Well alright, as long as I’m not getting in your way.”

[Jordan Maxwell]

“Oh course! I buy her new parts, clean her up, make sure she has all the fuel she needs, she’s my little girl. And there is no reason to fret, I don’t have much left to do these days.” Jordan beamed him a smile filled with pride and waved him over to her as she opened it up, the engine was still, the stillness was something that always bothered the young mechanic, but then again, she hated being planet side.

“I have been workin on her since the day I got on this boat, the last crew didn’t seem to worry about the little things as much.” She gently touched several bundles of wires. She actually bundled them together by function, a trick her father taught her, it made it easier for her to find them in a panic, just in case something went wrong. “But she’s purring better now than before. I had to retro fit this bad boy…” Jordan spun the engine to a cooling rod, it was larger than the previous one, but it’s increase size and surface area of the coil meant it no longer over heated in times of great stress.

She looked over to him again, with a smile. “The rest of the crew stopped a band of pirates, Trace and I stayed on the ship, though, after all the gun fighting, Jeff helped me collect several parts, they are not all on the engine right now, but I would rather have spares than not.” She wasn’t sure what to think of the man before her. He, in some ways, reminded her of her father. Though in other ways, his ties with the alliance, he reminded her that he was not to be trusted. It wasn’t him personally that was the issue, and she knew that, it was something this crew was helping her to see and understand. He was her first experiment.

[Jeff Weston]

The ride to the centeral core was uneventful. For once things seem to be going right at least for the time being. Hoping off the tram, Jefff looked about to get a good look around the area before he went any further. He noted a few people noticing him scanning the area. A couple of them he recognised but the others he did not. Not fully surprising for a port town but they were working hard at blending into their surroundings.

Weston could only guess that some one else besides the owner of the store was going to be found waiting for him. The shop was just a few yards away from where he was standing. So when he turned to move into the direction of the shop the others followed. Opening the doors and steping through he found the owner and a set of muscle on each side of him. To his imediate right there sat the supposed big boss. Yet Jeff knew him as Owen Wellin. Wellin was a two time loser who had started to try to muscle his way into the lower levels and it looked like he did it. Still Jeff was not impressed by this 5' 0" of a man.

Wellin looked at him and a cold shiver ran down his back. Standing and pointing at Jeff Weillin said nervously.

Yous did not tell me dat it would be him coming for this amo order. Are you fecking insane? This .... thing is not to be trusted!...Turning to Jeff...Is this order yours? If it is how on this twisted verse are you going to pay for it? Because I own this place and I don't take credit from unreliable people like yous.

Jeff knew from the last time he was here this little thug had a bounty on his head. Smiling Jeff's left hand swept by his sonic holster and in a two second burst the muscle went down. He turned on his heel and blasted the third enforcer back out the shop doors. Reholstering his sonic weapon and grabbing for his MP-90 and at the same time grabbing his stunner with his left hand. He stuck Wellin with the stunner dropping like a hot pan of water. Whipping his left hand forward to grab the secon grip of the MP-90 he quick bursted the last of the few thugs that were murging on the shop.

The noise settling Weston turned back to the shop owner and asked .....

So can I get my order to go I'll pay in bounty. These three should be enough of a repayment.

Smiling Weston signed the payment form and gathered his amo and the thugs on a rental flat and headed to the nearest Law office.

[Lance Howe]

It wasn't hard to find a shop selling meds. It was just hard to find someplace that looked reliable, so you knew what you were getting was the real deal and not some water down or unsterilized copy that would end up making you even sicker. Lance moved around to about a dozen various sellers picking up only a few items at each location, the basics as far as medication goes. The vast majority of the purchases were more mundane things like bandages, tape, splints, and medical tools.

Anything more complex was either unreliable or overpriced by the few who had it. A Core world would have been the place to stock such things but he had to deal with what he had. With that in mind, Lance decided that he would be spending even more time as a chemist and less as a doctor as he tried to synthesize what he needed. Homemade certainly wasn't the best route but it was better than nothing and it gave the doctor something to do on the ship when the crew didn't need to be patched up, which was the vast majority of the time.

[Trace Kennet]

Trace gave the captain a "What did I do?" look, in response to the sarcastic praise he had been given, "I..." He said, before stopping, and shrugging. Jordan seemed to have taken the news fine, and the captain had no reason to get mad. Trace nodded as Jordan and the marshal went about their tour, and he made his way towards the door. He was about to step out of the ship when he heard something. He stopped, and looked around, unsure of what he had heard. He walked over to one of the crates, and listened.

"That is weird..." He muttered, looking around again. "I thought I heard..." He shrugged and turned away, making his way over to the ramp. He could have sworn there had been the sound of heavy breathing, but with all the other sounds, he wrote it off as a trick on his mind. He was about to take his first step onto Persephone, when he balked.

He had been intending to explore the planet, but the sight of all the people, and the lack of any familiarity caused him to stop dead. "I look ridiculous," He said to no one in particular, as he remained awkwardly posed halfway through a step off the ramp. He quickly set his foot back on the ramp, and sat down. "I'll just watch for now, i think."

Within moments he saw something that looked to be bad news. A group of men were approaching the ship and they looked drunk. The one in the lead was obviously VERY drunk. "Oh crap." Muttered Trace, as the men pointed at the ship and began to stumble faster. "This is looking like something too interesting to be good." He stood up, and moved over to the com, keeping his eyes on the men. "Ummm, If anyone can make it to the cargo bay.... we might have unwelcome guests visiting." He was tempted to close the door, but before he could the man was calling out to him. Trace couldn't understand what he was saying. "Can I help you?" He asked, stepping away from the com, and stepping towards the men. "Do you need some..." He was cut off by a fist meeting his jaw.

"What the hell was that for you go tsao de idiot" Trace wiped his face, a trickle of blood coming away. "You don't want to start this." He said, staring at the man, who continued to mutter unintelligibly at him.

[hamilton]

”Pirates? Your Captain told me about the Reaver incident. Sounds like you’ve been in a lot of action lately.” Mack’s face didn’t show the worry he was feeling. It seemed like every month the core was closer and closer to becoming no better then lawless Reaver territory. In a way it made him feel like he personally wasn’t doing a very good job as a Marshal.

”Sounds like I needed to get off planetside sooner, out in the b…” Mack’s suggestion was cutoff by a loudspeaker suddenly crackling to live and broadcasting a message about unwanted guests. ”Are you going to go check it out?” he asked the mechanic, as he thought about what he should do, as an off-the-clock Federal Marshal who was merely a passenger.

Incoherent shouting and long clangs that echoed through the ship made him decide that a Marshal was never off duty, so he decided to wander back out into the cargo bay. He found an angry mob, peppered with men he semi-remembered from the bar, shouting various slurred chants at one of the ship’s crew members. Mack turned to the slightly injured man and slowly moved his hand up to his jacket lining.

”Am I going to need to file for overtime before I get off this rock?"

[Lance Howe]

Lance was headed back to the Star sooner than expected. There was no need to browse such a limited selection that this world had to offer and Lance was not the type to get in a bargaining war. He'd simply walk out if the price wasn't right. It made shopping a lot easier even if he didn't always get what was needed. He was even faster because he wasn't weighted down by his purchases. He'd managed to arrange delivery right to the ship and miraculously he arranged not to pay a thing until the goods were in his possession. That also led to some lost business by those not willing to go along with the plan but the doctor was not foolish enough to risk a potential scam even if it was only a fraction of his funds.

He almost thought he'd made a wrong turn because he hardly recognized the ship when he arrived. Actually he didn't recognize the surroundings around the ship. Instead of a quiet little landing spot with Jordan or one of the others doing whatever it is crew do there was a small mob of people filling the area. As the doctor approached they appeared more and more unruly. There was obviously something going on near the front but the doctor could not see clearly from his position. If there was trouble to be had then at least he was on hand to assist the crew and in a position to surprise any possible opponents. Until that moment, however, he did his best to blend with the others and appear as a curious bystander if not an ally.