New Alliance, Old Allies [2430-2-2-Thurs-3pm]

[Solomon Taylor]

Solomon paced a little outside the open ramp of the Adeala. He was eager to get things moving, and if this new pilot worked out and he could hire her, it would finally mean getting off the hellhole that was the Underworld.

And, well, onto possibly another hellhole if he agreed to the Nox job...

The first worry was the new possible pilot, though. He could sort out the Nox issue once he knew they could lift off. He was surprised at how fast he'd gotten a reply to his message, since he'd been assuming most pilots in the place already had ships to call their own, but he was certainly grateful for her speed.

Her name had even been vaguely familiar, which is probably why he'd so eagerly agreed to meet with her. Despite his desire to get off the space station as soon as possible, he wasn't stupid. This place was filled with dangerous people up to no good, and he knew he could easily get swindled if he hired someone to quickly from a pool of people like these. Putting his ship and what was left of his crew in the hands of possible criminals was not in his game plan in the least. He couldn't risk losing the girls to some whack job who only wanted his ship for their own. Especially not after the disappearance of Magdalen.

[DM Vance]

DM carried her duffel with her, looking for the docking bay that Solomon's ship was at. It didn't take her too long to find it. The Adeala was a fine looking ship, well kept and clearly well loved. She took a moment to admire it, and swallowed the lump in her throat. It hadn't been that long since Roland had passed on, and something about ships still choked her up. She hated that she'd had to leave his behind, but she couldn't run it on her own, and she didn't want to run it without him.

Maybe this would work out better. She needed to find something new, hopefully with a decent crew. Solomon had seemed on the level. Actually, it was funny, but he sounded sort of familiar. She couldn't figure out from where. A quick glance on the Network didn't bring up any activity under his name, and he didn't look all that familiar.

DM headed to the ship, shaking off her thoughts. She needed to make a good impression. The ramp was open, and there was Solomon, pacing around. She raised a hand to him, calling out as she got closer, "Solomon Taylor? DM Vance." She offered her hand to him, "You've got a nice looking ship."

[Solomon Taylor]

He turned at the sound of his name, spotting the woman who was approaching. Suddenly, he realized why her name was so familiar. She was fifteen years older than he'd last seen her, but still relatively the same woman who had busted him out of a cell so long ago. In fact, he had probably changed more drastically than she had since then, having still been a teenager then, while she already an adult. Now, the age difference didn't quite seem so vast. The only difference was that neither of them were in jail, and he finally had a beard.

He wasn't quite sure how long he'd stared in shock before he realized she was offering her hand, which he quickly shook as he snapped himself back to reality. "Ah, yes, thank you... though I know you're only saying it because the rest of the ships around this place are total wrecks..."

He wasn't entirely sure whether he should say that he recognized her right away. If she didn't recognize him, which she probably didn't, it would turn into a bit of an awkward moment. Alternatively, what if she was actually still working for the military? Damnit, could this be a trap??

[DM Vance]

Judging by the shock on his face, it looked like Solomon recognized her too. Shit. How the hell did she know him? Hopefully he wasn't the sort of man who got offended easily. She wanted to make a good impression, not make him think she was some sort of spazz who couldn't remember anyone's name or face.

"Maybe. I've been on plenty of ships though, some of them wrecks and some of them fine. Yours would still look good, no matter what port she'd docked in," DM wasn't trying to suck up to Solomon, but she knew a good ship when she saw one. The Adeala wasn't brand spanking new, but she'd been well kept and well loved. A ship like that said a lot about the man who owned it.

She set her bag beside her on the ground. Time to get the nasty introduction out of the way. A job would be great, but not if it required her dealing with anything she couldn't stand. Life was too short for that shit anymore, "Like I said in my message, I'm a pilot and a medic. Got my training for both in the military originally, but I've been out of that for years. You should know that I'm pretty mouthy, and while I'll take your orders, I won't take any shit. I don't mind some illegal things, but nothing immoral, and nothing supporting the Terra's imperialist agenda. And I need my morning coffee or I'm hell on wheels."

DM finished her little spiel, giving Solomon a moment to let that sink in, "If you're having second thoughts, let me know and I'll be on my way. But if I haven't scared you off, let's see the inside of your ship."

[Solomon Taylor]

Sol was a little stunned at her speech, but mostly relieved to hear she wasn't with the military any more. Well, as long as she was telling the truth. Earlier he'd done a background check on her just like the other crew members, but not much had come up, not even record of her military background. He couldn't help but wonder if those had been covered up for a reason. He realized now he should have checked to see if his records were still even there.

He smirked a little as she finished. It was exactly what he'd wanted to hear. He wasn't going to hire her just yet, though. He'd let her see the ship, and he's see if she would eventually recognize him. He doubted it, knowing he looked little like the naive seventeen year old she once helped, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to test the waters as they spoke.

"Sounds good to me. I'll warn you though, we're getting a bit low on coffee. It hasn't been a high priority purchase at this point since we haven't had a proper job in a while." ...or ever, he thought to himself. He waved her onto the ship. "Fuel and meal bars have sort of taken precedence lately, but I'm sure we've got a can of it kicking around somewhere."

[DM Vance]

Solomon was smirking, but only a little bit. Not enough to be insulting, but just enough to make it clear that he liked her, or didn’t dislike her. That was good. DM liked a captain who got her sense of humor and didn’t seem too intimated when she started speechafying.

She picked her back up and swung it over her shoulder again, “I’ve got my own stock for the moment, but when we get our first paycheck, I’ll expect a little kicked over in that area,” DM followed him inside the ship, getting a good look around, “What sort of cargo do you usually run around? Like I said before, as long as it isn’t immoral, I’ve got no problems with it. But I do like to know which planets you’d be expecting us to run between most often, if you know.”

It was a good looking ship, even on the inside. That was real good. It was bad enough seeing a ship whose outside was run down, but even worse to see a ship that looked great outside but was a wreck inside. Said everything that needed to be said about a captain, and it usually was a warning sign to DM to duck out soon as possible.

She took another look at Solomon, trying to figure out why he looked familiar. Was he an old friend? Didn’t feel like it. But still, she knew his face somehow. Another soldier maybe? Hell, that seemed about right. Maybe they’d been in boot camp together, or she’d met him when her parents had taken her and the boys around to meet other military families.

[Solomon Taylor]

"Haven't had much cargo yet," Sol explained. "So far just a little wood from Antheia. Registered export, don't worry." He motioned to the few logs left in the corner. "We've sold most of it, except for the few flawed pieces over there. I'll probably just carve those when I have some time. No one will buy them unless they're desperate for lumber anyway."

He leaned against the railing for a moment, debating whether he should add the next one. If she were to turn around an alert the authorities on them, they would be screwed. But the more he thought about it, he just couldn't imagine her being such a turncoat that she would risk her life and career to do the right thing one time, and then backstab him later. He decided to risk it. "Well, in full disclosure, one of my crew members could potentially be considered illegal cargo..." He didn't really like to refer to Cass that way, as if she were less human in her state, but legally speaking, she was almost stolen property more than they would consider her a human criminal.

[DM Vance]

DM followed Solomon’s eyes, looking at the logs. That wasn’t exactly the sort of cargo she’d been expecting, but it was heartening. A man who thought he needed to assure you that he was trading registered wood was probably a good man. Though something about Antheia was ringing a bell distantly in her mind, reminding her that Antheia had something to do with how she knew Solomon. It would come to her as soon as she stopped trying to remember how they were connected.

Instead, she concentrated on the crew member who was illegal cargo. Now that was interesting. DM raised an eyebrow, “I didn’t realize people could be considered illegal cargo. I’m assuming it’s a person. Unless you’ve got an A.I. on board or something,” DM was joking, but only a little. After all, every day, they got closer and closer to having one of the V.I. interfaces actually achieve sentience and start thinking on their own. She glanced around the ship, wondering if a voice was going to come over the intercom and start talking to her. V.I.’s were freaky enough, and at least she hadn’t had to deal with any of them in almost a decade-

“Holy shit,” DM said, head snapping around to look at Solomon. He was older and he had facial hair now, and maybe he’d even grown a few inches, but she knew who he was. It was the kid from Nox, the one who had spoken out, the one she’d thrown away her career over. DM stared at him for a moment, and then grinned bigger than she had in months, giving him an excited punch in the shoulder, “Grunt Taylor! The bastards didn’t get you after all!”

[Solomon Taylor]

"She's a person," Sol nodded in confirmation. "Just... a special sort of person. It's a weird situation I can explain later, and it's caused us a major hassle with some authorities, but I assure you it's nothing that I consider deserved on her part."

He leaned against the railing, letting her glance around the ship for a moment. He'd have to give her a further tour of it, as well as propose the Nox idea. He still wasn't too keen on it himself, but finally getting a good paycheck would probably be worth facing the inner demons of his youth. Maybe--

He glanced back over at her at her exclamation, confused. When she finally punched him in the shoulder and addressed him as such, he suddenly realized that she'd finally recognized him. He couldn't help but smile a little as he rubbed his arm in surprise. "I was wondering if you'd remember me... I wasn't sure if I should say anything..."

[DM Vance]

The mysterious passenger was all but forgotten by DM now that she knew who Solomon was. Part of her remembered it though, with a quiet note to bring it up later when they were better settled. DM wasn’t surprised to hear the authorities were hassling someone innocent. It seemed like that’s all Terran officials did these days.

But that was something for later. Right now, she had to get a good look at the cadet that had helped end her military career. He’d been just a kid back then, but hadn’t they all? They’d all been too damn young to deal with what happened on Nox.

“Yeah, I remember you,” DM said, her voice shockingly soft for once. She couldn’t help it. He wasn’t just some guy she was hoping to work for now. He was ex-Military, and that meant something, “Don’t worry about being wary around me Taylor. I was proud to stand up and tell them that you were right, and that I wasn’t even a little bit sorry about helping you escape.”

[Solomon Taylor]

"What happened after I left?" Sol asked. It wasn't that he particularly wanted to re-live that portion of his life, but having DM around to fill in the blanks might have been just what he needed. "I mean, obviously nothing big picture-wise. To this day, no one else even knows what really happened there, so it's clear they covered it up. But I mean... on the ship. With the crew. That kind of thing."

Then he paused, glancing around at the doorways, making sure no one was there. "Oh. Before we get too far into any major history, I should warn you... I have a passenger--sorry, crew member... she's a close friend from Antheia. She knows nothing of my history before Antheia. I haven't told her any of it, and I'd like to keep it that way just a bit longer, until I can figure out how to explain it to her on my own terms and in a way she'll understand. So if she happens to peek in... just uh... new topic, then."

[DM Vance]

“Got you,” DM understood why Sol wouldn’t want her to hear about it. Sometimes DM had trouble telling people about what happened. And she’d gotten into a few nasty fights with weres who had recognized DM or heard about her past. Those hadn’t always ended so well, even when she tried to explain that she had been a medic and hadn’t been one of the ones to open fire that afternoon, “I’ll keep mum on the whole thing if she turns up.”

“After you left, we all got put under lockdown. I think there were afraid more people might jump ship, but nobody was going anywhere. Most of us got discharged, honorably usually, but some of the more vocal ones like me got nice little court-martials. Others that they couldn't just flush down the drain got swift promotions with the promise that if they kept their mouths shut, they’d keep getting those promotions,” She sounded disgusted as she spoke, but it was impossible not to be. People had gotten ahead in their careers because they mowed down innocent civilians and kept their mouths shut, “There’s less of us left than you’d think. There have been a lot of suicides, and a lot of ‘accidents’ that are pretty damn suspicious.”

“I don’t know if you’d remember him, but did you know Roland Anders? He was a pilot, he ended up being left behind during the attack, but he got out later,” DM’s face slipped a little thinking about him and she shoved the sadness back, “Anyway, he was the last fellow I worked for, before he passed on. It's too bad we didn't run across each other before.”

[Solomon Taylor]

He honestly wasn't surprised listening to what had happened. To this day he was still surprised that he got away, so he hadn't expected to hear about anyone else getting out of it. He was, however, still surprised at the number of his fellow soldiers who had been content with staying quiet. Selfish bastards...

"Hmm," he commented, thinking on her statement about suicides. "I believe it, sadly. I think I had enough moments in the first few years... well, if I'd been back on Terra in some sort of attempt at returning to regular life, I probably would have given up too. Antheia was probably the best place for me. Peaceful, without too many people with expectations of me... and Olive. She kept me sane, while driving me crazy at the same time," he chuckled a little.

He glanced at her as she brought up Roland. He shook his head. "I don't think I remember him, but... I blocked a lot of it out, so it could just be I don't want to remember." He let out a sigh. "That reminds me, actually... we had a job proposal and it involves a drop at Nox. I'm still mulling over it. I really would rather not go back there ever again, no matter how much progress they've made there, but we also need a job soon. Being stuck here for so long has bled us dry. It's a legal transport job, and it's only to the spaceport, but it's still Nox. Any thoughts? Have you been back there yet?"

[DM Vance]

Olive. That must whoever Sol didn’t want her to spill the beans to. Sol’s face lit up when he talked about her. Whoever she was, she was obviously important to him. DM understood how much you needed people like that in your life, the ones who kept you together while making you crazy enough to survive, “I’ve had my moments here or there. I usually carry on out of spite. I won’t let them silence me, especially not by my own hands.”

“Nox? Yeah, I’ve been there,” DM was hardly jumping for joy at the thought, but it had been a long time, and Nox was one of the easier planets to get a quick profit out of. It was impossible to avoid if you made a living trading, “My advice? If we go, we don’t go touring. We show up, we sell our cargo to a buyer that we already have lined up, and we leave immediately. In and out. You don’t want to be hanging around there, not with faces like ours. Not with memories like ours…”

[Solomon Taylor]

"It would seem like a waste of what we did, to cop out on your own," he agreed. "Even if we don't feel like we accomplished much, it's like letting them win."

So she'd been back there. He supposed it was unavoidable if one wasn't hiding on a single planet for fifteen years like he had. He still didn't want to make a habit of it if it was going to happen again, though. Still, curiosity had begun creeping upon him as to what the space port there looked like. He was having a hard time picturing anything on the surface of the planet save for blood. "Yeah, that was probably the plan. In and out. I..." he paused in realization for a moment. "Olive will definitely have to stay on the ship. Cass would be of no interest to the natives, but Olive is a faun."