Catch-Up [2430-2-2-Wed-3pm]

[Solomon Taylor]

Needless to say, the last few weeks had not gone by the way Sol had hoped.

As it turned out, Blaine ended up finding himself a better paying job on another ship. He'd apologized for the inconvenience, but Sol agreed the deal was better for him in the long run and had let him go.

Caden had apparently gotten himself in trouble with some gambling debt--whether outstanding, or newly gained in the Underworld, Sol hadn't been clear on--and he'd had to go square it off with another crew. At least, that's what he told Sol. He may very well have gained himself a pair of cold feet over the Cassandra thing and simply bailed. Either way, he'd collected his things and left the ship.

Booker, while fond of Cass and the rest of the crew, realized the medical needs of the Underworld greatly outweighed those on the Adeala, and also had regrettably left them. This decision had greatly surprised Sol, due to Booker's tendency to flip out over criminals, but he understood the intentions behind it.

Reece was still with them for the time being, but had finally made the decision to get off on the next planet, once they found a new pilot to get themselves away from the Underworld. He had generally been keeping to himself in the meantime.

But most shockingly of all had been the disappearance of Magdalen. There had been no word, no messages or notes left behind, and in fact her entire room still laid completely untouched. But one morning, she had simply vanished, and no one knew what had happened. Based on the knowledge of her mysterious background, and knowing how invested she had gotten in Cassandra's life, Sol suspected it could have been nothing other than foul play. He'd asked around for a week, but no one had any information to give him. She was just... gone. If she hadn't been killed, then it was very likely she had long left on another ship, likely not by choice.

Needless to say, after that, Sol's protective instincts went on overdrive. The only two officially crew members left, and the most vulnerable, Cassandra and Olive were banned from leaving the ship without him accompanying them, and neither one was allowed to be alone on the ship either. There had been whining at first, but the longer they went without any sign of Magdalen, the more they realized that something terrible must have happened. Sol wasn't willing to take any more chances. His main priority was finding another trustworthy pilot to get them off The Underworld for good.

They'd sold most of the wood that they had collected on Antheia, but Sol had kept a little. It had come in handy now that they were simply sitting around, biding their time while they waited for someone to answer his ad. Sol was glad to have something to work on to get his mind off of everything that had transpired. He sat now in the lounge, carving his knife through a particularly stubborn knot in the log he'd chosen specifically for it. The more work it took, the better the stress reliever it was.

And he certainly needed to relieve a lot of stress.

[Olive]

Olive strolled into the hall, humming to herself. The ship was eerily empty lately, but if there was one bright side to the whole thing, it was that she wasn't bumping into any more huge guys in the hallway any more. Still, she certainly missed everyone who wasn't there any more.

She stopped when she spotted Sol in the corner, whittling away at a piece of wood. It was the first time she'd seen him carving since they'd left Antheia, and this was the most intense she'd seen him work at something in even longer. She sighed, knowing how much everything was bothering him. Especially when Magdalen went missing. He'd never admitted it, and maybe never truly realized it, but Olive knew he'd had feelings for Mags.

Olive wandered over to him and plunked herself down on the couch, putting her arm around him. "Hey, it's okay. We'll find her. I know we will."

[Solomon Taylor]

Olive appeared at his side, ever the cheerful one. Sol paused his carving to glance at her. "Hmm? Oh..." She meant Magdalen, of course. "Olive, we've been over this. She's not coming back. There's no point in pretending or putting false hope in a situation that doesn't... well, it doesn't likely have a resolution at this point." Sometimes, Olive was too positive, and far too naive for her own good.

He glanced back down at his carving. He honestly wasn't even sure what he was making this time. Just cutting into the layers of wood was enough for him for the time being. Maybe once he got rid of the log's bark, he could start picking something of a shape out of it. Maybe, once he figured out what they were going to do in the grand scheme of things.

[Cassandra Nida]

Cass found herself in the engineer room more often than not these days. After Solomon had decided that the girls couldn't leave the ship, Cass had to find ways to occupy herself, and the engine room seemed to be the best choice. It was so full of things to look at and go over, and take apart and put together, and she could spend hours doing it.

She liked being busy. Being busy meant she didn't have to think about any of the bad things. Like how her father was still imprisoned. And how the military was still looking for her. And that something awful had happened to Magdalen and there was nothing they could do for her. Worst of all, Cass had to think about the fact that she was the reason everybody had left. He hadn't blamed her, which was nice, but Cass could read between the lines. She had put them in danger and made them come out here, and now she had cost Solomon most of his crew.

The least she could do was try make his engines run better. He was looking for a real engineer, and hopefully he would find one, but until then, she would do whatever she could to help out. The big engines weren't like the ones in her arms. They were rougher, and cruder, and their parts needed a great deal less finesse to work on, but the consequences of them breaking was so much higher than her arm short-circuiting and spazzing out. It was a different sort of careful. She wished Caden had hung around longer so she could have learned more from him, and maybe taught him more about her body. Everybody else looked at her like she was a bit of a freak when they found out she was mostly cyborg. He had thought she was cool.

Well. Him, and Olive, who had adapted to Cass having robot limbs pretty quickly once they found they had a common interest in boys. That was nice, though Cass only ever had the one boy to talk about. It had been a while since she'd heard from Klove. She would have to write him again and see what he was up to.

She closed the cover over the engine and wiped the grease off her hands. Hopefully the next time they took off, whenever that was, they'd see a noticeable drop in fuel usage. It had been a pretty simple fix to secure the intake valve and make it so it didn't leak anymore, but it would hopefully be a good one. Feeling confident, Cass left the engine room and headed to the mess to get something to eat.

Solomon and Olive were already sitting in there when she entered. "hi guys." She greeted them. Ever since it was just the two of them on the ship, she had felt a lot less nervous. If they hadn't thrown her out now or turned her over to the authorities, they probably weren't ever going to. So the least she could do was try be friendly with the people saving her life. She ducked into the pantry and unlocked the fridge, getting out one of the pre-made protein shakes she had mixed up this morning. These were a lot cheaper than eating meat (which was shockingly expensive to Cass, who had never realized how much things cost until she didn't have money) but they still did the job.

Cass headed back out, taking a seat near them and sipping from her bottle. "I found the leak in the fuel line and fixed it. it should use less fuel from now on." She paused, and added, "I think. we still have to test it to make sure but... I'm pretty sure I fixed it. it was really simple."

[Olive]

"You're just too grumpy sometimes," Olive frowned at Sol. "We'll work stuff out, don't you worry."

Honestly, Olive was just as anxious to get off the space station as Sol. She was eager to run around in grass again, or at least some sort of land. Hoofing around on metal all the time wasn't all that comfortable, or quiet. She pretty much couldn't ever sneak up on someone in the ship, and that was downright annoying.

Cass wandered into the mess hall, and Olive waved at her. "Hey Cass!" She had no clue what Cass was explaining to them, but she decided not to admit it, and just grinned instead. Whatever it was, it sounded positive, at least.

[Solomon Taylor]

"I guess that's why I need you around," Sol replied, slightly amused at her reprimanding him. It was the truth, though. He wasn't sure how his life would have turned out without her sunny side to balance him out, but he knew it would have been significantly different, and likely not for the better.

He glanced up as Cass approached them, announcing that she'd fixed the fuel line. "Oh. Thanks. That should save us some money... likely make things safer too." He set the log down on the coffee table in front of them. "Now we just have to figure out how to get off this hunk of metal..."

[Cassandra Nida]

It felt good to know that she'd done something to help Solomon for once, instead of just costing him his crew members. And maybe, just maybe she could do it again. Though she wasn't sure if Solomon would like her suggestion. Everything she'd heard about Nox said it was pretty bad. Even Klove didn't like it, and he was from there. But he also said that it was a good way to make some fast money, and they needed money. And maybe it would get them some contacts.

"Um..." She said, taking another sip from her bottle as she tried to compose her thoughts. "I... was talking to my boyfriend. And he said that he could hook us up with a job. It's even a legal one. I guess there's a guy on Glacies that he works with, and this guy, Holo, he's got a bunch of mammoth meat to sell, and if we deliver it to Nox, we can get a cut of the profits."

She tried to sound as upbeat as she could, but she wasn't sure if Solomon would bite. Solomon and Klove shared past had become obvious once Cass had put the pieces of their separate stories together, but she had kept that revelation to herself. Solomon already felt bad enough, he didn't need Cass dragging it up. Klove still really didn't like Solomon, but he did like Cass, and she knew the job offer was sincere because Klove wouldn't do that to her. But that didn't mean that Solomon would want to take the job, espeically if it was Klove lining it up.

[Solomon Taylor]

Sol felt his stomach turn as soon as she mentioned Nox. He'd planned to never, ever return there, no matter what. But... he had mouths to feed. They needed a job, and it was legal...

From what he'd heard, the place had changed since the first landing there fifteen years ago. As long as you stuck to the space port and nearby areas, you were generally safe. At least, ninety percent. But that didn't mean that his memories had changed. And, what if someone else recognized him, like Klove had?

"I was with you... right up until you mentioned the destination," he admitted, shooting her a look that implied something along the lines of 'How could you even suggest it?. He glanced at Olive, knowing if they went there, he would have to tell her everything. He still wasn't ready to do that. He sighed, leaning forward and rubbing his beard a little in thought. "Did he mention where the delivery was meant for, or did he just say it was meant for the planet in a general sense? Like... strictly spaceport, or... somewhere else?"

[Cassandra Nida]

Cass had the decency to look a little ashamed when Solomon glared at her. She had done as he asked and kept quiet about what happened on Nox, since it was his story to tell Olive, not hers. But the fact remained that they needed a job, and Klove was offering one. They couldn’t afford to just turn down a job, especially a legal one, just because Solomon didn’t trust Klove, or didn’t like Nox.

“He said they’ve got a contract with one of the stores at the spaceport. We sell to them, they sell to the locals.” It was almost word-for-word what Klove had told her. He had given her the whole pitch, and Cass saw no reason not to use it. “We never have to leave the spaceport. We don’t even have to be there longer than it takes to unload the meat. If we move fast, we can be in and out in under an hour, and we’ll be paid even before we take off.”

As far as Cass could tell, it was nearly perfect. Well, maybe not totally perfect. They did have to go to Nox. But Klove had assured her that it was an easy run to make, and quick cash without any real risk. Terran Military didn’t go out that far, and they certainly didn’t stop people running meat to Nox. But in the end, it was Solomon’s decision to go, and all she could do was suggest and hope it sounded good.

[Solomon Taylor]

It sounded safe enough, and out of the way of any authorities who may still be keeping an eye out for them. But at the same time, it would still mean going to Nox. He put his head in his hands for a moment, before finally sighing and getting up. "I don't know. I'll... have to think about it."

His eInkr bleeped with the sound of an incoming message. He glanced at the others in surprise, and then picked it up to read the message. It was a response to his wanted ad! "Looks like we have a bite," he explained to the girls as he scrolled through the response. The name even seemed vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place it. "A medic with piloting experience. Perfect."

He quickly shot off a reply and then glanced at them once more. "I'll be in my quarters if either of you need me. I just need to do a little thinking..." He didn't want to make any rash decisions, especially not where Nox was involved. He headed for his room, hooking his padd back to his belt.

[Olive]

Olive sensed something was weird the way Sol tensed up next to her as soon as Cass suggested the possible job. At first she wondered if it was about Cass' boyfriend, since he'd been kind of weird about that from the beginning, sort of like when Olive had hung out with some boys. But soon it turned out to be about the planet itself. Olive vaguely remembered him once mentioning that they would never travel to Nox, but he'd never explained why.

His spirits seemed to lift when he got a message back about the pilot thing, but things still didn't seem right after the oddly tense exchange between him and Cass. When he finally disappeared, she lifted an eyebrow at Cass. "I don't get it. Who or what is on Nox? Is it a scary place??"

[Cassandra Nida]

Thinking about it was good. Her dad always used to say he would think about it on the big jobs, and he always, always gave in. You didn’t think about things if you weren’t open to the possibility. Her heart lifted a little. She would still wait to get the official okay before accepting the job, but she was so sure that it wouldn’t be far off.

Solomon went off to think about the new medic/pilot. Cass tried to picture what he would look like, and got a weird mental image of somebody as big as Booker wedged in the pilot seat. It was hard to bite back the sudden case of the giggles she’d gotten.

Olive interrupted Cass’ rather goofy mental train with a question. Cass felt confident to answer Olive, if only because she’d read up a whole bunch on the planet after Klove had taken her into confidence. "Oh, it’s a planet, the furthest out planet. And… kinda? It’s full of werecreatures, and vampires. If you leave the spaceport, it can be really dangerous for humans, and fauns, since I guess the vampires get really hungry. They don’t have a lot of animals on their planet, and the weres and vampires are always competing for what’s there, so they need people to keep bringing them meat so people don’t go hungry."

"But my boyfriend grew up there, and he says that it’s not nearly as scary as people make it out to be. You just need to stay in the safe zones." It suddenly occurred to Cass that she’d never asked how werecreatures felt about fauns. Klove had kept his distance from the animals in the zoo so he didn’t spook them, but he had also kinda eyed them up the way that Cass eyed up a steak after a long day of wearing her heavy prosthetics. "Maybe I should ask and see if you might get hassled because you’re a faun. There are all sorts of weres, but most of them are big predator animals."

[Olive]

Olive's ears drooped a little as Cass described Nox. It sounded pretty scary, with everyone fighting each other for food and all. She knew how bad it could get even in an innocent situation, like when there was only one piece of fruit left and all her brothers wanted it. There would often be yelling and wrestling involved for it. Olive tried to imagine that, but across the whole planet, and between people who didn't like each other for real, and because they were really really hungry, not because they were being greedy siblings.

She hadn't really heard about vampires much, but she'd learned about what Weres were thanks to meeting Klove, and she was pretty sure she'd met a few more of them on the Underworld before Sol had banned them from leaving the ship without him. It wasn't like she wanted to any more anyway, what with... whatever had happened to Magdalen.

"Oh I see," Olive nodded in understanding. "So he's just scared about a dangerous planet... it sounds worse than here, and... we didn't do too well here, did we?" She glanced around the mostly empty ship a little sadly.

[Cassandra Nida]

"No... we didn't." Cass sighed a little. This wasn't how she had expected any of this to go. But it's what had happened, and they were going to have to make the best of it. Her dad would want her to be brave and keep her chin up. And he would want her to help out in any way that she could. That had meant fixing the engines and finding them a job. But maybe it could mean helping Olive too.

"Hey. You want to learn how the engines work? Just in case something happens and you need to help me out?" Olive probably wouldn't be an amazing engineer, but she could still learn the basics. Cass could teach her those, and maybe she could teach Cass something. "If we're going to be a small crew, we should all probably know a little bit about how the ship works. My boyfriend says he knows a little bit of everything, just so he can always be an emergency back-up for his captain."

[Olive]

"Okay!" Olive perked up a little at the offer. She was still extremely uncomfortable around technology, but Cass was right in suggesting that Olive should learn some more about the ship, just in case. Besides, it would make her feel more like a member of the crew, instead of just a tag-along passenger. Feeling needed was more exciting than just being in the way.

She got up, grinning. "Caden sorta showed me some stuff, but it was pretty confusing. But maybe it just needs to be repeated a few times. Or told by a girl."