ARGOS SPACEPORT

Towers of tremendous crates bearing loads of fruit, wine, olives and oil crowd lanes of ship-berths. Low-slung fuel-powered trucks rumble back and forth, slowly trundling their way through the crowded docksides.

Passengers in search of a ship or having just disembarked from one drag their possessions behind them, pausing at kiosks that bear a variety of services. Some advertise taxi and tram services, others serve up hot kib-bobs and gyros with undefined meat sources.

In a world still rebuilding from the war, this place is both boon and bane; home to the trade agent and the petty thief. It's a place of commerce and connection, so similar to every port on every Rim world.

And here a handful of folk make their way, eyes turned toward the sky for the ship they expect arriving. Will they meet along the way? What stories will they share? What might they expect to find when the huge aged Mega-U drops from the blue skies into the dirt to touch Athens soft dust skin?

Spaceports were good places for Mouse to ply her trade. Folks that was traveling around tended to carry lots more cashy money on them than the average schmo on the street, and Mouse had a keenly developed fondness for cashy money. That's not to mention that a properly busy spaceport always had an abundance of marks, many of whom would be off-world before they even realized they'd been robbed.

An' ta think, Z'd almost gotten me halfway sure I oughta go straight (Hehe ... Z wantin' me t'be straight...), an' give up on th'whole thievin' thing. Sure, havin' th'cops afta ya ain't s'much fun, but tha' just means I shouldn' get m'self caught when I'm thievin', don'tchaknow? If folks don' want me robbin' 'em, they shouldn' have s'much shiny f'r me t'take inna first place.

The minuscule woman lifted the wallet off a guy who seemed modestly well-off and slipped it into one of the many pockets hidden in her dark blue working vest. Mouse's current outfit was festooned with dozens of pockets to hold her trove of liberated treasure, as well as the usual assortment of thieving tools, one or two easily concealed weapons, and the assortment of random detritus that any pack-rat acquired over time. Wonder how long tha' Fruity Oaty Bar's been in tha' pocket? Can't even 'member when I musta put it there. Mouse shrugged, pulled the snack out, and proceeded to devour it in a matter of seconds.

Aw, tha' Oaty Bar just got m'tummy rumblin', but weren't enough t'settle it back down 'gain. Mouse searched the spaceport until she found herself the food court, and then tried to find which place had the most sugar-laden offerings, finally stopping at an ice cream place. "Gimme the double choc'lit choc'lit chip ice cream onna brownie with hot fudge an' sprinkles. Lotsa sprinkles." The energetic young woman demanded of the teenage boy running the place.

"Alright, just a minute Ma'am." Mouse instinctively looked over both her shoulders, trying to find out who the ma'am was before realizing the boy must have been talking to her.

Was tha' guy bein' smart with me, or was he just one a' those types tha's gotta be all polite an' stuff? Since Mouse was uncertain of the boy's motivation, when the boy handed Mouse her ice cream Mouse swiped his wristwatch, just to be safe. That done, Mouse tore into her dessert with gusto.

Mouse had money, a reasonable degree of secure anonymity, and an unhealthy amount of sugar. For the moment, life was good.

Ari hadn’t planned on it, but it happened. She went down to the local dockside Tavern for a simple drink and a sandwich a little before the common lunchtime. A good looking man, appreciative of her crimson, cropped zip up top and matching ultra short skirt came to chat her up. It didn’t take much time for her to forsake lunch and join the more than willing man in the back room of the Tavern.

There, on a long, sturdy table on the one side of the room, she was shirtless and had her skirt hiked to her waist as she joined him in carnal pleasure. As she faced the door, she was aware that several other patrons had become spectators, but she didn’t care. She was wrapped up in the moment.

Searching for that elusive intimate connection she wanted every time she went trolling for locals, she sat astride him. Obvious that he didn’t fit the bill either, she concentrated on using him to gratify herself.

She closed her eyes as their mutual moans filled the room, allowing herself to achieve her goal as her playmate gripped her hips. As she was finished, she slowed her pace and opened her eyes.

There in the doorway stood Darren, his face showing distinct disapproval. He had known she liked to hook up with random locals, but never expected to witness it first hand. Her eyes widened as she stopped even though her unquenched conquest tried in vain to get her to continue. Then Darren just turned and left the Tavern.

“We’re done,” she quickly said as she dismounted, pulled down her skirt and donned the shirt she had carelessly thrown on the floor. The unhappy man yelled at her, calling her names and demanding release, but she simply left, pushing past the gleeful onlookers and searching for Darren.

She was experiencing the oddest emotion.

She was embarrassed.

*Darren's reactions approved by the incomparable Pain.

Darren didn't look back as he made his way towards motel room that he had shared with Ari for the past week. It was a spartan room filled with two beds, Cortex access, a mini fridge, small closet, and decent bathing and bathroom facilities for an economy priced motel. It was pretty much all Darren could afford on the limited amount of cash he had at his disposal.

Upon entering the room, Darren immediately went towards the closet, opened it, and began packing his things. The Epiphany was picking them up today. Darren had received the message after he finished shaving and noticed that Ari wasn't in the room. After playing the message, Darren put on a shirt and headed over to the nearest tavern, making an assumption that she'd be there.

Sure enough after he noticed most of the patrons gathered around the entrance of the back room, Darren found Ari in a most compromising position with a patron on a table and promptly left, disgusted, ashamed, angry, and embarrassed amid other things.


He heard the door of their room open and without looking back to see if it was Ari or not, Darren said, "Got word that the Epiphany is goin' to be pickin' us up today. After I'm done packin', I'll be checkin' out and headin' to the spaceport."


He zipped up his duffel bag of clothes and slung it over his shoulder. As he got his tools and other things, Darren headed towards the door, not bothering to make eye contact. He stopped inside the door frame and added, "You can do the same or head back to the tavern to finish up what you were doin'. Doesn't matter to me which option you choose."


After saying what he needed to say and not wanting to waste anymore breath on her, much less look at her, Darren walked off towards the motel's office to hand in the room key and check out before heading towards the spaceport.


<< OOC: Since Charlie mentioned in her Nate post that it had been a week since Ty and the others left Sherwood for the Endless Horizon, I figure that's how long Ari and Darren have been waiting to be picked up. GMing of Ari granted by the amazing abbeygirl. >>

Nothing happened that night. Her corpad didn't sigle her for a message, Archibad didn't leave a video message or ring her for a video call. Nothing. At some point in her waiting, in her numb state, Savannah fell asleep on the bed, clothed and in the same position as she had put herself in waiting for the message and trying to loose the images that were clouding her mind. Images and voice she wasn't ready for.

And she slept that night as she did most nights. A few hours in and in the darkness she would wake and get ready to work. No one was obviously going to call her any time soon, she realized. So, Savannah got back to the hospital and spent most of her time day for the following week. Helping cheerful children so happy to have seen the circus folk. Savannah didn't tell any of them that she didn't stay for the entire show, that she barely saw anything. Nobody asked. Even the child that had asked her to come, thought that she had been the entire time that it was simply content. The days felt like moments for the doctor in that week. Her day was simple. Wake up before the rise of the sun, get to the hospital after she had gotten herself refreshed, worked the entire day with only few shifts and came back when the night had fallen back again for those few hours of sleep. There were times when she would have worked days and night, without taking a break. But her scientist brain told her that was wrong and she needed to be relaxed, in a matter of speaking, to do her job. So, she complied and she took the little she could really get a shut eye then right back, long before her little patients would even wake up.

Savannah had no episodes like that day in the eight days that came after it. Despite the fact that she worked with children daily. It was as if it had been before. The episode out of her mind as if it never crept there in the first place, she preformed her duties as she wanted. Focused, energetic and without an emotional link to anything.

But everything changed last night. As she had crawled in her bed as each night, her corpad suddenly let out a sound. She had kept it on mute the entire day so when she found it in her doctor's bag, she didn't know whether it had come that moment or at sometime during her shift. Pressing pray, she found Archi's face telling her that tomorrow was the day. They'd be here for her and three other people. Savannah didn't have the slightest idea who it was but still, it didn't really matter to her. She just wanted to get off this rock once and for all. Sure, she did a good job, helping children and everything but Savannah couldn't stand the dirt, the sun, the people. It really went beyond that though she didn't really see it. She didn't remember, after all, why she really hated planets. She forgot that it was planet a sun, the dirt and people that made her become this kind of person. It made her become this robot of some sort that simply did her job and kept to herself. But she still knew if there was one thing the doctor had feeling for, it was the feeling of hate for planets. Those thoughts put her to sleep and as each night, she slept only a little.

Packed up and ready, in the morning, Savannah made a quick visit to the hospital, checked her little patients, told the head doctor that her ride was finally here and that she would be leaving them. The old man told her he was sorry for it because she was a good asset to St. Lucy's hospital. And that it would be nice if they could keep her around. But it didn't matter. It didn't matter what he told her or even what he tried to offer her, moments later, she was out of there. She didn't stop then. She didn't just leave. For some reason, she slowly moved to the children ward and watched the children as they played in their little games. Some were well enough to be running around, others were bed playing games on boards. But the very same child that had asked her to come see the circus noticed her and crawled out of bed to come to her. Kneeling down, Savannah first adjusted the child's robe. "You'll catch a cold. And we wouldn't want that." She told her quietly. The girl smiled at her and Savannah found herself surprised for the mother instinct she knew she didn't have, not anymore at least. She couldn't really remember whether she had it before or not but she knew she didn't have it now. "You're leaving?" The child suddenly asked as her eyes moved to the suitcase. "Yes, I am. Some of old friends are coming by today and they're going to pick me up." The girl opened her eyes to protest but suddenly closed them.

"What?" Savannah couldn't help herself. "Nothing. I'd want you to stay but it's good that you'll be with friends." Taken back by the statement, the doctor remained silent for a little while as she watched the child. Then, all of a sudden, the girl reached out her small hand and touched Savannah's cheek. "You have to come visit us sometime." Savannah nodded. "I'll try, Mikaela." It was the first time she had actually called the girl by her name. She knew what it was, as she knew what the names of her other patients were. But she never called them by name. Sometimes, by their last, but never by their first. "Don't worry, you're in good hands." She added then and the child just plunged herself at her and wrapped her little hands around her neck, hugging her. Taken by it, Savannah stood there frozen for a little while but Mikaela suddenly took her both arms with her own without moving her little face next to her and put them around her. Savannah's hands lingered in the air behind the small child for a little longer. It felt so unnatural to hug and yet, at the same time, I t felt so familiar. Slowly, she wrapped her hands around her back and gently tapped. "I'll miss you." The child whispered then and just broke off the hug and returned to her game. Savannah stood frozen for a moment more as she stared at the little girl before she stood up and very slowly walked out of the hospital with her suitcase in one hand and her doctor bag on the other shoulder. The child's words lingered in her mind. She would miss her. But even more, over it, was an echo of the girl telling her that it's good that she will be with friends. "I never want to leave, mommy. This is home. But you and daddy are my real home." Jezabel's voice suddenly filled her ears just as she was leaving the hospital. And then, without having control of her her own actions, a small smile crept on her face. Home was a word she hadn't heard in a long time. She knew she wasn't going home, she hadn't been on Ariel in years. But something about being around Sprite felt like going home. Maybe it was the way she reminded Savannah of her mother or maybe it was the fact she was going to be around familiar face.

But whatever the reason for the small smile was, it was gone before Savannah couldn't really take notice to it. And as if it never happened, she walked with her suitcase and dotor bag to the cargo bay and placed her suitcase down as she waited. Soon. Soon they would be here for her. And then she could get off this rock. It was just a rock but it was still the same thing. Planet like a planet and Savannah hated those. She just wanted to be off it to get back to herself.

Ari raced back to the room to talk to Darren. She found him there angrily packing his things.

"Got word that the Epiphany is goin' to be pickin' us up today. After I'm done packin', I'll be checkin' out and headin' to the spaceport." "You can do the same or head back to the tavern to finish up what you were doin'. Doesn't matter to me which option you choose."

She cringed when he said that. She hadn’t ever seen him angry. And then he was out the door. She chased him down the hallway, stopping him a few doors down.

“I didn’t mean for you to see that,” Ari told him.

“You probably should've closed the door then,” Darren answered flatly as he pulled his arm away from her grasp and continued down the hall.

“Wait… Darren!” Ari said as she caught up to him again and stopped him. She didn’t know what to say, so she fell back on being defensive. “You knew my reputation when we left the Sherwood. Did you think I would change just cause we got off that ship?”

Darren didn’t even bother to look at her.

“I would've hoped so, but I guess that was too much to expect from you.”

He turned and began to leave again, but Ari shouted out what she really felt.

“I’m sorry.”

Darren stopped dead in his tracks, his back to her.

“Can I still come? To the Epiphany?”

He didn’t move.

“Please?” she pleaded with a small voice.

*Darren GM'd with permission from Pain.

The mid-morning breeze swept in from the distant ocean, momentarily brushing aside the heavy scents of thick oil, rancid fruit, spilled wine and exhaust fumes. The bustle seemed broken suddenly by descending stillness, though it was only an illusion.

Through this breeze and this still moment, a singular man walked. His long black Alliance issued great-coat swept behind him. His black boots left thick marks in the dust behind, only to be whisped away by the passing wind, leaving no permanent trace. Thick dark hair, touched barely with silver, framed a face cut from from a template-book of Roman gods.

His expression teamed between boredom and annoyance, drawing his stubbled cheeks into a deep frown. His eyes, shielded by the lenses of his portable 'tex system, traveled from side to side, and then ahead, giving no clue to what his portable unit might be feeding him.

Agent Kress had lost them. The circus had been there, oh, yes, and Mulroney and the hirsute "Beast" were gone ahead, with their little flying three-ring act. Raphael and Roslyn were dealt with already. As for the others, the most dangerous, the ones he most wanted to see eye to eye, and face to face, and knuckle to knuckle: They were disappeared. Poof, into the ether. Like one of Mulroneys magic acts.

Turning slowly, Kress let his dark eyes trace across the nearest ships before spreading his arms and turning his face slowly skyward. "I will conjure you, Crawford and Praed. I will call your names and you will fall to my feet like the falling of the rain."

People parted, moving around him, whether out of respect for the Alliance coat or for unwillingness to sop themselves up in the soup of his madness, one might never know.

Resuming his march, Kress's eyes were still on the sky, sending his prayer heavenward. He didn't see the miniscule creature with the cardboard bowl of ice-cream until he'd ploughed directly into her...

Mouse took a very brief break from eating her ice cream after she suffered an acute case of brain freeze, and flipped through the latest headlines on her corepad on the off chance that one of them could point her towards a nice big job. The diminutive woman felt a brief twinge of nostalgia when she saw that Gades was in the news. Looks like Z's still upta all that ‘starte bus'ness. Kinda feel bad 'bout leavin' her all on her lonesome, but she was gettin' a little scary, like tha bad days back on Ezra. 'sides, Z ain't really alone; she's still got Anise, and I know Anise wouldn't let Z get inta too much trouble.

Mouse found herself so distracted by her musings over her old friend that she did not even notice the man until he slammed right into her, sending the small woman to the ground. "Ow!" The young woman loudly complained from her place on the sidewalk. "Watch where ya goin', ya big dum' ol'..." Mouse continued grumbling under her breath as she pulled herself up off the sidewalk, and saw something that distressed her far more than getting knocked to the ground. "My ice cream!"

Mouse spent the next thirty seconds or so spitting out a furious mixture of English, Chinese, and Arabic as she suggested the man who took away her wonderfully sugary snack should burn in the fiery pits of hell while performing a number of illicit acts with his mother and a drooling monkey whore. Sure, she could just go back to the ice cream stand and go get more ice cream, but that really was not the point; this jerk had taken away the ice cream she already had. To make matters worse, she had been so surprised by the collision she had missed a golden opportunity to pickpocket the man. "Ya ..." The girl leveled an accusing finger at the man, and then pointed at her fallen ice cream. "Ya betta make this right, or I'm gonna get pissed, don'tchaknow!"

“Please?”


Darren stood where he was for a moment in silence, his back still turned to Ari so she couldn't see the pondering look on his face. Without turning around to face her, Darren finally spoke to her, traces of anger and hurt still in his voice.


"I told Mr. McMullen that you were goin' to be with me when he picked us up." replied Darren to Ari. "He's goin' to be expectin' me to have.." He paused a bit as he thought of the appropriate word. ".. a colleague with me, so you might as well keep taggin' along. Just don't expect much talkin' from me while on the way to the spaceport. Go get your stuff and meet me downstairs."


"No ruttin' anyone while you're doin' that either." he thought to himself.


He then began to walk again, heading towards the motel's office to hand in the room key and to pay off whatever charges they had amassed. When that was accomplished, the two of them would head over to the spaceport to get Ari's crate of things out of storage and then head on over to the landing pad that the Epiphany would be docked at. They most likely have to rent a hover-cart for her crate as it was a tad bit heavy for two people to carry.

Kress slammed to halt, hands outspread as the small creature sprawled to the dirt, her ice cream spilling into the grimy dirt with a spray of chocolate sprinkles. He started to reach his hand to aid her, "I'm sorry, chi..."

The words were quickly masked as the human he had initially mistaken for a child leaped to her feet with a barrage of words that would put the filthiest whores on Santo to shame, if they even understood half the language spilling from the pixi-like young woman's mouth. His hands slowly moved back out to the sides, raising his great coat into his already intimidating size.


"Ya ..." The girl leveled an accusing finger at the man, and then pointed at her fallen ice cream. "Ya betta make this right, or I'm gonna get pissed, don'tchaknow!"

The Alliance agent stood, arms spread, a wall of black and dust-plum, staring hard at this daring Efling. Did he run her in? For what? A search of warrants would probably return something: These dock-rat sorts always carried a misdemeanor or two. Did he return her insults word for word? But why, when he was the one in the wrong, carelessly mowing down citizens? A soft laugh spilled from his throat and his arms dropped, one reaching into the interior breast pocket of his greatcoat, deliberately letting the fabric separate enough to show the badge clipped to the inside lapel, "I think you're already pissed, dontchaknnow. But here..."

A twenty-plat bill was raised between first and second finger, "My apologies for running into your highness. This should replace your snack. And buy you some decent shoes." He hesitated, holding the bill over his head, letting her think on it, "But first - And a tiny but it is - You tell me if you've seen either of these folk."

He pulled from his pocket a cheaply printed paper warrant, with two images on it. One of Titania Praed and one of Nate Crawford. "And even if you haven't seen them here, you'll give me a call..." He added a holocard with a pre-payed cortex number on it to the bill, "If you ever do."

"Do we have a deal, Miss?"

Mouse gave the man an appraising look, and a slightly sheepish grin made its way onto the young woman's face. "Mighta gotten m'self a little too worked up over a buncha ice cream; don' really figure you d'serve t'have alla that bad stuff I said happen to ya, 'specially the part with the monkey." Mouse conceded, privately grateful that the Alliance man was not taking the opportunity to arrest her on some trumped-up charge. Mouse was generally good at staying under the radar, but there was a fair chance that if the Alliance took a close look at her they could find plenty of reasons to keep her in jail for a long time. The fact that she currently had a small trove of stolen valuables hidden in her bulky jacket and cargo pants hardly helped the thief's situation.

'Course, I imagine if I got m'self in too deep Z'd probably do somethin' to get me outta jail like happened at Andersonville, Wouldn' be surprised if she's got Anise keepin' an eye on 'liance arrest records 'case I turn up on 'em. 'Course, gettin' tied back up with Z again'd open up a 'nother whole can a' worms I'd rather stayed closed.

Mouse glanced over the captures of the man and woman, and then gave a careless shrug. "Never seen 'em 'fore in m'life." The girl answered honestly. "Guess I can letcha know if I run 'cross 'em; ain't no real trouble for me. What'd they do to getcha chasin' 'em inna first place?" Don't got no trouble callin' in th' purplebellies on some two-bit crooks, but I don' want no trouble with really nasty sorts. "If I did run 'cross 'em, ya wouldn't tell nobody it was that handed 'em in, wouldja?"

After a moment's consideration, Mouse offered a hesitant smile and added. "Ya know, ya's pretty nice for 'liance; most cops'd gimme the run-round just 'cause they can, butcha's offerin' me the cashy-money to replace the ice cream an' more besides. Figure that means ya's either a really nice guy, or there's a catch to th'deal thatcha ain't told me 'bout yet."

Back in Time:

Mr Fisker enjoyed relaxing in the great academic hall. The well furnished galleries and well fashioned suits were was so different than the white sterile labs and lab coats of Osiris. Under chanticleer lighting, he meets a smooth talking gentleman fully versed in all the gallery's exhibits, Archibald.

One painting, the Fisker cube, a complex propulsion theory, is artfully rendered as a 3D cube with interacting locks and pieces. Archibald comments on the paintings flow of color and the puzzling terminations of form.

Mr Fisker explained the theory the painting is based on as multilayer-ed. "Like the uncertainty principle of the Earth-That-Was, you can only measure and understand one piece. The others are beyond any knowledge you gain from the first piece. It takes many scientists with many perspectives to utilize."

Little Caden came walking by holding a puzzle cube himself, one side is partially blue, the others completely random. "Meet my son, Caden."

"Hi"

The Present Time and place:

Caden had reached out to Archibald only recently. Arch had a open invitation with the family to come adventuring. Caden's father never took him up on the offer, but Caden did. As soon as heard of the Epiphany, he jumped in both feet first. The Mega-U should be coming in today, however Caden had no way of knowing exactly when it would. It might have come in the earliest time of day when the crowd was still thin and Caden could sprint down the empty docks. But it had not.

As it was now, the sun beat down hard. In the shadow of the transport crates it was bearable. Caden could now imagine what 50 degrees Celsius felt like. This must be the hell before heaven. Like purgatory. It was hot, Caden needed something to cool himself down.

Caden rode on the back of a low slung truck. The truck hiccupped every few feet because of all the rubble around the dock. Foot traffic slowed progress, the wheels barely making around once every minute. Crates blocked out the rusting sky. The sky here really is all that red. Home you couldn't see the horizon. Home is was always white shinning towers and sky flyers every second. But this rusting sky, with no planes at all, looks so old. Are all Rim skies like this? He sat up deciding that walking wasn't too terribly pedestrian for him. I'll ask Arch.

He picked up his stuffed suitcase and hopped off the truck. He walked pass the driver and thanked him for the brief ride. He stopped in front of an ice cream place in the foot court. The place was packed with stinky and disgruntled travelers. Caden got squeezed when people pushed him back, making a wide berth for an officious looking Alliance officer. Fighting arms and elbows he popped out the other side. A tiny woman was firing a String of profanity like a machine gun. She was talking to the Alliance officer everybody else avoided. This woman is crazy.

At the end of it the tiny woman got money for her slander. The episode was over quickly but they still blocked the ice cream counter. Despite the stupid bravery of the tiny mouse against the great lion, the crowd was keeping its distance from the officer. Caden just wanted some ice cream. "Excuse me, can I get through?"

Darren still hadn't spoken to her. So she followed him walking just a couple of steps behind him.

She wondered what he was thinking, but at the same time, she really didn't want to know. Plus, she didn't want to see how he would probably look at her right now either.

She remembered the look on his face in the Tavern. She used that townie for her own needs and just as she finished, while she was still feeling good, she looked up and there he was. A mixture of shock, disgust and anger clearly playing on his face.

She had never meant for him to see what she did. She knew what she did wasn't pretty. She was realistic about what she did when she went looking for men. She was promiscuous. She was a slut. She was an exhibitionist in a way. She liked the attention. But it was never what she was looking for, so the next chance she had, she went on to the next one. That's how she'd been for years and years. Always looking for that elusive connection that she had yet to find.

What she couldn't figure was why Darren was so mad. She could get the shock. Even the disgust. But anger? It mystified her.

But that wasn't true. She knew it was because Darren was a better person than her. He had morals. He was a good guy and he obviously expected her to have some modicum of control.

Which she obviously didn't.

But now all she wanted was for him to talk to her.

And wish that he could forget what he saw.

TWENTY FOUR HOURS LATER

THE EPIPHANY LANDS IN ARGOS DOCKS, ATHENS.

"Ya know, ya's pretty nice for 'liance; most cops'd gimme the run-round just 'cause they can, butcha's offerin' me the cashy-money to replace the ice cream an' more besides. Figure that means ya's either a really nice guy, or there's a catch to th'deal thatcha ain't told me 'bout yet."

"You caught me on a good day. The deal," he said slowly, studying the young woman's face, "Is that they are dangerous terrorists. If you see Praed and Crawford, you get as far from them as you can, and you call me. Don't put yourself at risk for the reward money..."

"Excuse me, can I get through?"

The Agent shifted, giving the young blonde man a width of air to pass by. Overhead, a huge transport ship, black and grey and rust, and old, so old it may have been the last of it's kind, slowly lowered into the docking grounds, sending dust and grit flashing through the air. "Apologies, sir." He offered to the man that they were obviously blocking from the foodstands. Giving the young woman a last glance, Kress smiled, "Stay out of trouble now, Miss. The next officer who runs you down may not be as nice."

He'd deliberately chosen her word, startled as he had been by her use of it. No one called him nice. No one had done that in very very long time.

Agent Kress found himself humming a little bit more cheerily as he moved through the docks towards his own ship, a lean modified Whippoorwhil that was begging for the open skies.





OOC: Wow. Mouse has pretty good luck with Bad Cops, doesn't she? ;)