Contraband [2430-1-4-Fri-2:00am]

[Grace Forjacks]

Grace was waiting on her own. It wasn't the smartest thing she'd ever done, but considering the night she'd been having, she wasn't too interested in playing it smart. Anyway, she had her gun with her, and while the rest of the men were sleeping, she knew they'd be on their feet the moment she heard anything out of the ordinary.

The cool night air was doing enough to keep her awake. And the sounds Quillan kept making helped too. The poor bastard just refused to die, despite the fact that most of his head was gone. She'd let Enan look at him after patching Klove up and getting him off to bed, and he'd been forced to admit there wasn't much to do besides give him some drugs and wait for the rest of his body to get the memo that he was dead. Even if Quillan did regain consciousness, he'd be missing an eye, part of his face, and bits of his brain that were somewhat essential to living a full life, even assuming his spinal cord wasn't damaged from the bullet that had grazed it. Enan had tried to sit with him, but Grace had forced him to go lie down, promising that she'd stay with him.

He probably thought Grace was going to kill him. That wasn't a total lie. Her plan had been to break his neck and then burn or bury the body, depending on circumstances. But then she'd thought of a better use for him.

Grace stuffed her boot in the dirt. If they had been on any other planet, she would have just laid back and had a nap out on the ramp in the fresh night air. It was better smelling out here than in the ship, though they'd managed to get out of most of the crappy air from Romulus. Even full of fresh air, the ship always smelled like ship. Part metal, part sweat, part blood. It was a good smell, familiar and homey, but sometimes it was nice to get big clear lungfuls of real air.

Her eInkr beeped. Grace checked it. Hmm. A job on Antheia. Unicorn poaching. Illegal, of course, but highly profitable. And it wasn't as if that would be the most dangerous thing she'd be doing this trip. Killing a unicorn got you jail time. Smuggling a vampire? Instant death sentence to be carried out by the closest ship with the biggest gun, or by Terra's defense system if you got close enough. But it was going to be worth it. And what was more, she had a sneaking suspicion that it was even going to be a little fun.

[Eli Wellington]

Eli approached where the ship was landed with extreme caution. This was a tricky deal, because it was a general rule that humans didn't trust vampires--for obvious, legit reasons--and it wasn't like vampires usually trusted humans either, considering those who weren't immediately eaten by a vampire were usually the ones who had killed a vampire in self-defense. Eli could prove his intent for safe passage all he wanted, but in the end the humans on board would still be wary of him, with every right to be. It would make it a dangerous journey, and the only thing keeping him alive was the locked case of money at his side: a combination lock which he wouldn't open for them until the end of the journey, when he'd reached his destination without a stake through his heart.

Besides the locked case, he had a bag slung over his shoulder, and another in his other arm. There were some things that he had brought himself to part with, but his wardrobe was not one of them. Besides his clothes, the eInkr padd was tucked into one of the bags. It was his source of communication with Grace up until that point, but he hoped someone could teach him how to use it for more. He'd heard rumors that there was all sorts of entertainment to access through the padds, and it was probably a good tool for learning about what the human culture was like on Terra. It had to be completely different than the one that they had effectively destroyed so many centuries ago on Nox. The humans of Nox had never had spaceships. Then again, maybe the humans of Terra hadn't had them back then either.

He couldn't help but tip-toe a little as he neared the ship, a habit of his that had formed long ago while he was out alone at night hunting or trying not to be hunted. He caught it in time, knowing he shouldn't be approaching the place silently, lest he accidentally catch the Captain off guard and she react violently in surprise. He finally spotted her around the other side of the strange round ship that he recognized from the last blood drop. He headed around the side to meet her there, trying not to let his nervousness show. He probably wasn't doing a good job of it, considering he hadn't felt nervous in a very, very long time, but maybe she wouldn't notice since she wasn't extremely familiar with his non-nervous face anyway. Besides, she was probably equally nervous about the whole ordeal anyway, he assumed. If she wasn't, she was damn crazy. But damn crazy wouldn't be a bad thing, as long as it was the kind that didn't get him immediately staked or set on fire the minute she had him in her sights.

He plastered on a smile as he approached her. "Alright pretty lady, let's do this."

[Grace Forjacks]

And there he was. Grace tucked the eInkr away, getting to her feet. She kept her hand near her gun, feeling odd at the idea of letting a vampire on board. Grace didn't hate them, not the way Klove did, or so many others she knew. Vampires weren't all that bad, as long as you make it clear that you'd kill them if they stepped out of line. Malcolm and Grace had a very nice working relationship, a pleasant sort of arrangement that suited both of them. No reason why she and Eli couldn't either.

One thing was certain. She'd feel a lot better about letting him in once she'd seen him feed. "Come on in." Grace told Eli, stepping back up the ramp and into her ship, waiting at the top for him to follow. By her feet, Quillan moaned softly, face bandaged up by Enan. Waste of bandages to be honest, but if that case was full of what she thought it was, then it didn't matter how many bandages they wasted. "I've got a little treat for you before we get going."

[Eli Wellington]

He was about to ask her if she considered the ship her home, because that would have made the entering of the ship considerably more difficult, but her quick "Come on in" solved that immediately. That is, if that could be considered a proper invitation inside. Did it have to be a super formal invitation, or would hers work? It had been a long time since he'd tested it out, and people were different back then.

He warily took a step up onto the ramp. So far so good. No resistance or force keeping him out. In fact, there was something drawing him in, he realized. He pinpointed it immediately and had to stop himself in his tracks to try to compose himself. Blood. The whole ship smelled of it, but the entrance was saturated in it's scent. He could barely think straight, and he was already unintentionally baring his fangs before he even got far enough up the ramp to see what it was.

What it was, of course, was a fellow who seemed to have had a major accident. Eli dropped his bags to the floor in shock, and his eyes flashed back to Grace. "Wait, are you saying..." he could barely contain himself, wanting to pounce on the bleeding, dying man so badly, yet he was so scared of getting shot the minute he moved towards the literal buffet in front of him that he had to use every ounce of strength he had to not let his feet move from their spot.

[Grace Forjacks]

One thing Grace didn't like was how fast they could move when they wanted to. It put her on guard, made all the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. The fangs were less worrisome, even though she should have regarded them as more of a threat. She kept her hand hovering by the gun, but didn't grab it. Eli wasn't looking at her anyway, but at Quillan. She doubted anyone would have taken his eyes off the body, and the warm blood inside. But then she was proved wrong a second later when he glanced back at her.

He was waiting for permission. That was... surprising. She'd honestly expected him to go for the jugular immediately. Especially since it reeked of blood, and she knew it had quite the pull over vampires. It wouldn't be safe to make him wait any longer, so she didn't. "Dig in. He's a dead man either way."

[Eli Wellington]

"Oh gods, I fiking love you already," he managed to get out before darting for the man. If she was going to shoot him, it would have been about now, he assumed. Not that it would have mattered, because he would have died happy right then and there as he sank his teeth into the man's warm throat, blood immediately spurting as he hit the artery and went to town.

It had been years since he'd properly had a human. There'd been bagged blood and that way-too-short bite at Celyn's neck, but nothing like the sweet joy of just downing as much blood as a warm body would give him before it finally died in his arms. The only downside to this whole situation was that there would be no playing. The man was set to die at any minute without a vampire at his throat, so Eli had to work quickly to get as much blood as possible before that happened. But that was okay, considering how long it had been since his last proper human feed. He had continued to play plenty with the weres and fellow vampires. It was the blood he'd been lacking.

He was over-the-moon ecstatic by the time he felt sated enough to take a break from the man's throat and look back up at Grace, letting blood trickle down his chin as he grinned. "This was the cook you mentioned, wasn't it? I can taste that wonderfully well balanced diet."

[Grace Forjacks]

Grace watched Eli feed, fascinated by it. She'd seen vampires in action before, but never seen them feed on anyone successfully. In the four years she'd been doing blood drops, she'd only ever seen a few vamps get close enough to humans to bite down, and they lost their heads (quite literally) before they could get down to business. Usually it was Grace shooting them in the head, and she'd gotten very good at headshots for that particular reason.

She idly toyed with the idea of killing Eli and just taking the coin, but that was a short-term gain. If this panned out, Eli could be a lot more useful than just the cash. And in order to be useful, he'd need to be alive - or at least undead. Sometimes you helped someone out instead of screwing them over, and in Grace's experience, it paid off in unexpected ways.

Eli looked up at her and Grace felt a flare of attraction. He'd been handsome enough as-is, but this had brought out something else in him. She brushed it aside for the moment. "He was. Sadly, he was a bit too curious for his own good and got in the way of a bullet meant for me. He won't be feeding the rest of us anymore, might as well do his damn job and feed you."

[Eli Wellington]

"A most excellent plan," he smiled, running his sleeve along his chin in order to wipe away the blood that was there. He wanted badly to keep going, but he knew he shouldn't waste such a gift on one sitting. "I hope you know how to save the rest in good condition for later, because I'll need it to survive this trip without giving into temptation with the rest of your crew. Unless... you already somehow have a backup stash??" She must have, he realized, because this guy's wound was new and unplanned. She would have had to have some pre-bagged blood on board ready for him before that in preparation for his arrival.

Not that he was looking forward to more bagged blood. Normally if he was in a room with bagged blood and still living prey, he would have laughed at anyone who would have suggested he drink from a bag. But, Eli wanted to get to Terra, and that wasn't going to happen if he started opening veins of crew members. Sacrifices had to be made, and self-control was going to have to be used.

He didn't use self-control very often, so it was a frustratingly difficult new habit to try to form all at once with the scent of blood everywhere, a mostly-dead meal in his arms, a still alive, beautiful woman in front of him, and an unknown number of crew members off in another room somewhere, sleeping unaware of his presence on the ship. Oh yes, this was going to be an interesting voyage.

[Grace Forjacks]

"He's not coming on this trip." Grace told Eli. Of course, it would be nice if they could just keep Quillan alive and use him as a mobile blood-bag, but that wasn't an option. "I've got a few crew members with ethics and they'd see this as a violation of them. You're going to be enough of a headache without our vegetable friend adding to my troubles. So Quillan quietly died two hours ago and as far as the crew knows, you had no contact with him."

"I've already got a number of pints pulled for you." She nodded to the freezer. Grace had quietly collected enough blood from her body over the past week to keep Eli fed. It wasn't the first time she'd done it, though usually she only drew her own blood when they didn't collect enough from the Below, or when some went bad on the trip out. Blood was blood, didn't matter where it came from.

She smirked a little and added, "And... if you behave yourself, I'll open up a vein and you can have it fresh." She usually resisted flirting when she was sleeping with another man, but she was pissed off with Enan and feeling somewhat petty.

[Eli Wellington]

Eli couldn't help but tighten his grasp on the body at the same time as a pout crossed his face. "Aww... but this will go to such a waste... there's no way to bag up some of this before we leave?"

He was surprised to hear that she'd been collecting her own blood for him. That was dangerous. If her blood turned out to be especially tasty--which it probably would be, from the looks of her--it would be hard to resist not going for the source once he'd had a small taste. That self-control issue was going to have to be working double-time now, he realized.

He was just about to dive back down for more blood in order to take advantage of the body before he lost it, but his head snapped back up with the surprising statement from Grace that she would let him drink from her. Even more dangerous. Even more titillating. She really seemed to live on the edge, and he was loving her for it. This was definitely his kind if woman. He grinned wide at the thought. "Seriously?? Promise???"

[Grace Forjacks]

Grace shook her head. "By the time we dig out the medical supplies, we'll wake someone up. I want to be off-planet before the rest of the crew figures out you're here." Once off-planet, they'd have no choice but to go along with this and comfort themselves with the knowledge that they'd be filthy rich. But here? There was a chance they could go storming out, maybe even alert the authorities. This way, they'd be signing their own death sentence if they tried to report anyone.

She couldn't keep the devious little smile off her face at his excitement. "Scouts honor." Grace said, though she wasn't really sure what the phrase meant. It was a promise though, and supposedly an unbreakable one. "You play nice, I'll play nice too."

It was a long way to Terra. If the blood would keep him from killing her crew, then she had no problem sharing some of her own. Anyway, it might be fun. There were all sorts of rumours about how vampire bites felt. She was sure most of them were just wild fantasy, but you never knew until you tried.

"Finish up." She told him, opening up a panel on the wall and sorting through supplies until she found lighter fluid and some matches. Quillan hadn't mentioned any particular burial customs, so she'd settle on burning it.

[Eli Wellington]

He wasn't entirely sure what "Scout's Honor" meant, but it sounded like confirmation to him. He nodded. "Don't worry, I want to reach Terra like you wouldn't believe, and you want that money. As long as I can stay fed somehow, I can hopefully keep myself in check. And trust me... I don't keep myself in check very often. I mean business."

If only she knew what he'd pulled last week to get what he wanted. He would be totally kicked off the ship in an instant. Either that, or he was getting the sense she might be the kind who would pat him on the back for it. He wouldn't risk finding out which outcome it would be.

Eli went back in for more, digging his fangs into the man's neck one last time. He took a deep drink, taking in as much fresh blood as he could before they would have to dispose of the body. It was going to be a long voyage, and he hadn't ever survived on bagged blood as long as he was probably going to have to. There were no rodents and other forest creatures in space.

On the other hand... as he lapped at the gushing artery and his blood lust was sated, he was beginning to notice other scents on the ship. Cat, for one. Suddenly he remembered the young Were he'd noticed at the blood drop. He was excited about that meeting. But the other scent, besides cat, and human, and something else he didn't recognize, was a scent that unnerved him a little. Bear. He glanced around the ship some more, eying everything. This captain was getting more and more interesting with every new discovery. "...you have a bear on board? Isn't that dangerous?"

[Grace Forjacks]

The fact that he'd hadn't already tried to attack her and take the ship had told Grace he meant business. Of course, that wouldn't have worked out very well for him, but Grace had no plans on informing him about the self-destruct. If she was dead, and Klove was dead too, then she planned on striking out one last time from beyond the grave.

Eli fed like a starving man. She idly wondered how long it had been since he'd fed so well. From what Klove had said, the vampires mostly existed in a state of near-starvation, living off small rodents and the occasional large prey that they got before the weres did. Of course, the dead couldn't really starve, just get more and more hungry.

So he'd noticed Szar. She shook her head, "He's a merc, they're all dangerous. As long as he's got his space, and he's fed, he sticks to himself. He does have a temper, so don't go fiking with him." If anyone had a chance of killing the vampire, it was probably Szar, and considering most Were's feelings on vamps, he would probably jump at the chance. She'd rather not see Eli dead, but if Eli got out of line, she'd sit back and let Szar knock him back into place.

[Eli Wellington]

"Oh this is going to be one interesting trip..." he stated, finally pushing the body off of his lap and getting up. He licked the last bits of blood off his lips while brushing off his pants. His poor, blood-soaked pants. It made him a little sad that they were probably ruined, but it had been worth it. He could replace the pants eventually.

"Alright... before I grow too attached to this tasty fellow, let's get him off the ship," he sighed, wishing he had the time to fully enjoy every drop of the man's blood. He headed over to where he'd dropped his bags on the ramp and scooped them up once more, moving them properly onto the ship and out of the way.

[Grace Forjacks]

Grace pulled off her jacket, not wanting to get blood on the leather, and picked up Quillan's body. He was substantially lighter now, just bones and skin really. She easily carried him off the ship and settled him down a little ways away, in a dip in the old park. Grace uncapped the lighter fluid and spread it over the body, making sure to really soak him down. Sometime between being carried off the ship and Grace dousing him, Quillan finally gave up the ghost. That was good. She wasn't going to set him on fire while he was still alive. She was cold, but she wasn't that cold.

She lit three matches at once and dropped them, stepping back from the flash of flames. There'd be nothing left by bone by the time the fire stopped going. She recapped the lighter fluid and headed back onto the ship, raising the ramp. No point in sticking around. The flames would attract something, either were or vamp or animal, and she didn't want to be around for that. Grace tossed the bottle and matches back into the open panel and locked it shut.

"Alright, I'm going to get the ship off the ground. You can either come upstairs, or wait here, but I don't want you poking around the ship until we're in deep space." She told him. "We had a deal go bad on Romulus, and the rest of the crew is going to be in shoot-first-ask-questions-later mode. The last thing I need is you bothering them and getting someone killed."

Grace waited a second to make sure Eli got it, then headed into the corridor and upstairs. There was a good chance he was going to ignore her if he didn't follow her, but since he'd just fed, and everyone else was asleep, he probably couldn't get up to too much trouble.