All For One, Kasern Season 2, Episode 1

[Princess Janes]

"Claudia, we're on scene and casing the situation. Do you have location on everyone? Delilah? Girl, are we getting clearance for take-off?"

[Brun]

Snapping open the mic, he slipped into the hallway and gave a call back to Claudia, "Seems we been double-played. Z's makin a deal with the other team. I'm in the back corridor, behind the green-room. Do I have a clear exit?"

[Delilah Vass]

Delilah's stockinged feet were still, not bouncing or spinning the chair or doing anything but curling in their own little individual rainbow toe things under her butt so she could concentrate. This was really important. People were counting on her. She nodded her head all firm like they did in the vids, then had to quick grab at the headset as it started to fall over her eyes. It was too big. She had to hold it up with one hand as she listened, brow furrowed in an agony of concentration, squeezing everything out but the fast-paced gibbering on the other end. It was really hard. She didn't understand all the words, and they kept talking about codes and stuff and she thought maybe the people in one of the towers was sick cause they kept gasping and stuff like that one lady back on the Starr who'd had asthma, and then somebody else was yelling at that guy over the line, and... Oh! "Um, um they say sorry for delay," Delilah said into the comm, looking at Stephen for confirmation, and she remembered to say over, so she did. "Was a..." Delilah bit her lip, marking on her fingers as the numbers flew past. "Num'er 129? Un-liscenced pilot? An he was thir'sy, they say, a cause he anna magician rammed th' tower? But we c'n go now."

[Kasern]

KASERN AWAY CREW CONTINUES FROM HERE!

The K-Cruiser roared back through the docks, barely slowing for hazards that reach their way.

The Duke double crossed them. He'd hired another crew and played a game of may the best man win. There would be hell to pay for that, if not from Kasern, then from Exclavizar. But not today. Even with Little Ben's distraction, they had hours, maybe only minutes, before security would discover the theft.

The Cruiser soared up the ramp, jerking to sideways halt inches from the wall of the expansive bay. It whumped down on it's struts and the doors flew open, disgorging passengers left, right, and rear.

It was time to fly...

[Zira]

Zira tumbled to the ground, well aware that by this point, they were long past being graceful. She was fairly certain that there had been body parts touching her during the ride back that did not belong to her, but things being as they were, she hadn't done anything. Mainly because the hands--or legs or feet or whatever they were-- weren't doing any wandering.

She rose, and, just like before, a switch seemed to flip on inside her once again and the face of a leader appeared. "Strap K-Kruiser down, we'll unload her once we're out of atmo. Right now, we just need to get off world."

She took the stairs up from Cargo as fast as she could to get to the bridge, grinning a bit when she saw Delilah there. "Great job informing us what was going on. Think you want to fly us off-world, or would you rather have someone better trained do that?" Oh, Zira hoped that the girl wouldn't say she wanted to fly.... Possibly, knowing the small child, she should have worded it all differently.

[Claudia James]

As soon as the message came through that the crew was on the way back, Claudia had escaped from the cargo bay and the equipment that was begging to be used by someone who knew what they were doing. She had messed it all up. When the hacker had gotten into their systems, she hadn't known what to do, how to make things right and get the systems up and running properly again. It was pure luck and the distraction caused by Princess Janes and the boy Ben that allowed the crew to get out of the theatre without getting caught. Certainly, she hadn't been any help in getting them out.

Hiding in a lonely corner of Kasern, she sat in the dark, arms wrapped around her knees as the tears ran down her cheeks. She was thinking about Nihalchi, about her Molly Marie boys, about her mother, her father and the people she only knew as screen names on the Cortex. And she thought about the infirmary, about how she could get into the store of medicine to find something to make her forget it all. She knew the drugs were there, knew exactly what they could do to her mind and body.

But she also knew how well guarded those drugs were. Locked up in cupboards that only the doctor had the key to. She needed something, anything. But there was no chance of getting into the infirmary and breaking open the drug cabinet without being discovered. And her own stash was long gone, used even before they had landed on Nihalchi and all her belongings had been taken away. A sob escaped her throat at that thought. Her jacket was gone forever now. The last thing that tied her to the boys of Molly Marie had been tossed in a pile of discarded clothes as if it was nothing more than an old leather jacket. There was nothing left now. Nothing except... But Claudia didn't dare hope that the people on Kasern could become a new family. Not after all that had happened and all the lies that had brought them together.

[Brun]

Brun squirmed out of the human-pile that was the cruiser to smack the cargo-bay door lever, and start locking down the cruiser.

They had roughly half and Jaime had roughly half. Under other circumstances, he'd suggest they run out Duke's cut. They had half, which was tidier than percentages and black-market deals. But they'd need a fence- This stuff was trace-able. And Kasern didn't have so many friends they could afford to do much in the way of alienating.

Still, Kasern had ruttin' beastly luck.

The messages were piling up on his corpad. It wouldn't be long before the last coin they owed Tong would be due. And there was Bolen, still out there, looking for the kid.

He should be happy they'd survived the night. Nobody got pinched. Nobody got dead.

But Kasern's shadow was growin' longer, and Brun Bradley, for one, wondered how far they could continue to cast it.

[Galvin Schueto]

Galvin sat calmly in the cramped cruiser trying to keep to himself. The take was terrible and what's worse it felt like it was his fault. He thought back to the original reason he was out here. Hitch had sent him to protect Z, but from what he could tell the galaxy needed protection from her. Then they arrived on Kasern and everyone scrambled.

He didn't bother to stick around after he got of that tin can of a boat he immediately started looking for the darkest corner of the ship. He had made himself look like a fool in front of most of the crew once today he wasn't going to do it again. To his surprise someone was already in the darkest corner of the ship and looking worse than he felt.

"Claudia?" he said cautiously not sure if that was her, " Hey what's the matter? Last time I checked, I was the only emotionally unstable one here or was that the other way around and I was the sane one? not wanting to be a curse he hoped that he could at least be some help to this woman who had been with the crew far longer than he had instead of ruining every mission they went on.

[Claudia James]

"Claudia? Hey what's the matter? Last time I checked, I was the only emotionally unstable one here or was that the other way around and I was the sane one?"

The voice startled her and for a moment, he sounded just like Neil, all black humour with that touch of caring hidden under the self-deprecation. But Neil was long gone, just like all the rest of her boys and this man was someone she hardly knew at all, aside from his name and his face. "I'm fine, just..." She almost told him, almost spilled the whole thing from beginning to end, including the need she had for a fix. Instead, she wiped her tears and got to her feet. "Never mind, I don't... Can't talk right now," she muttered and pushed past him, needing to be alone.

She got a few steps further along, then turned and gave him a strained smile, her eyes never quite meeting his. "Thank you, though... For asking," she said, then turned and walked off quickly before he could pry any further. Claudia didn't think she could handle being asked any more questions, even the innocent ones like how she was doing, and so she fled, almost running to find herself another place to hide on a ship that held far too many people and not nearly enough room to be alone.

[Kasern]

Kasern.

A simple cargo ship. The last refuge of runaways and lost hearts.

But long before, she was a warrior-eagle, diving through fire-rained skies to deliver troops and supplies. She was a giver in time of need, a bringer of flame and hope.

Far from her sheltered and armored walls, flesh and blood of her family is locked in singular battle, fighting to survive. Waiting for her miracle.

For Kasern's crew, each fighting their own loss, their own despair, the greatest challenge they may ever face lies ahead. When the time comes for the old Corsair to cast off her civilian clothes and don once more the trappings of war, will her family be ready to stand at her side?

To Find Out, Please Join Us for Kasern's Next Episode: Red Fire