Rae nodded at the request, getting started on making grilled cheese sandwiches for those that had been in agreement to food. Luckily, grilled cheese never took long to make and were a comforting food from what she had been told. She wasn’t quite sure about that description but she did find them to be delicious which was surprising for so few ingredients. The first completed had been swiftly placed in front of Rendyl before she worked on the rest of the meals in record time. She passed them out before moving over to the table and gracefully sliding into one of the free seats near the Captain, Dev and Valanx as she planned to join in the fun, well, at least the card portion.

”Lady Luck may have something to do with explosives but cards are not in her realm. It is simple statistics, veiling emotions, and picking up signals that your challenger is unknowing giving off.” Rae stated. She had proven as much to Anderson time and time again to the point that he had refused to play poker with her after a obliterating defeat that had left him naked on the bridge. She almost laughed at the memory of their little bet that the loser would have to stay naked for a day or until the Captain order the loser to dress. He had wanted to embarrass her and in the end had only made it worse for himself. She was going to miss that. Actually, she had to admit to herself that she was going to miss him.

The only times she interacted with Anderson outside of a greeting in a corridor or the mess hall was when she couldn’t find something in the cargo bay. Her approach of knowing as little as possible about the crew seemed to be mostly working, for now at least. Isolation wasn’t her first choice, but losing ten people she cared about in two minutes once was enough for one lifetime. It was for that reason she didn’t feel as struck by the loss as the others, but hearing about his daughter, and his deal with the Admiral to top it off, was hard to swallow. ”Don’t look at me.” she shook her head, pointing at Dev, ”Credit for the bomb goes to the madman. He works fast. Almost scary fast, given his profession.” Yes, she may have been a massive bitch, but taking credit for someone else’s work was garbage behavior at its lowest.

She accepted the meal with an honest thank you and joined the group at the card table. ”Deal me in. Math is the language of an engineer. Body language, not so much, you have me beat there.” Unless Dev was right about poker and luck, then this would not go well for her. She left most of the alcohol to others. There were still a few electrical systems that needed fixing and doing that after more than a few shots was a surefire way of getting your hands burned.

---

---

Aamra stepped onto the platform alongside the Captain, wincing slightly as the white-light holograms filled the space in front of them, some pleased to see the two of them, others decidedly not so. The Galactic Council was a lot of things, and mercurial was certainly one of them. Still, Aamra bowed her head in respect as Chase did, clasping her hands together in the traditional Tazygos gesture, and remained quiet as Chase was interrogated by the Council, with the captain constantly bringing up the loss of Anderson and the Council continuously demanding to know about the "cargo" they sent the crew to retrieve.

"Enough for us to figure out what was in it." Chase finally declared, letting the idea stew for a moment before continuing. "A whole lot of nothing."

Now there was a silence that spoke volumes. As a couple of the council members shifted in their seats, Aamra exchanged a glance with Chase, admittedly an uncomfortable one on her part given the circumstances. Wordlessly, she turned to look at Bruma, who hadn't taken her eyes off of the Tazygos since the conversation started, and had been fixing her with the same gaze one might use on a curious and dangerous animal in the zoo. A gaze she got far too often from superiors in the past, who saw Tazygos as primitive brutes, saw their tradition and faith as backwards superstition, and felt their race would have been little more then cave-dwellers were it not for the Tu'Veeri holding their hands.

Aamra being here, standing in front of the council in this uniform, was supposed to break that gaze, to show that the Tazygos deserved to be among the stars and treated as equals and someone like her could become an officer of the interstellar fleet. And yet here she was, fabricating a lie to the highest officials in the galaxy. The part of her that wanted to prove she could be that officer begged her to come clean, reveal the deception. She would earn the favor of the council and become the hero of her people, everything she could have wanted, right?

At long last, G'Pol cleared his throat and turned his attention to her. "Is this all true, Security Officer?" Aamra did not hesitate for a second.

"I was present upon the retrieval of the designated cargo, sir, and personally inspected the crate to ensure it matched the designations that you provided," Aamra announced officially. Subtly, she turned to look right into Bruma's eyes as she continued.

"The crate, by all measurements, did not contain anything of note. Outside of the aforementioned debris, of course." The reaction by the council was even more pronounced, especially from Bruma, who rose to her feet so quickly that the hologram projection stuttered.

"Then clearly you have made a mistake!" Bruma said strongly, barely restrained from shouting. "Not that I'm surprised..."

"I've gone over all the identifiers and biometric signatures twice, Councilwoman," Aamra declared coolly. "This is definitely the crate that you sent us to collect, unless you believe the Ulnar are acting completely contrary to everything Council Intelligence has observed about them." Getting a burst of inspiration, she reached into her suit pocket and pulled out her info-pad. "I can go over my procedure in detail if you would like, Madam Councilwoman, as well as the indicators and communiques from Intelligence to back up my observations. I will need to delay my next cargo inspection but if it soothes your concerns I would be more then happy to postpone so we can settle this matter."

"Ah, that won't be necessary," a Tu'Veeri council member interjected in a diplomatic tone of voice. "We had no intent of judging your competence as an officer, Commander Tulez. Admiral Dalize's faith in you has not been misplaced."

"Thank you, Councilman," Aamra said humbly, slightly bowing her head. Bruma made a sound that might have been a scoff as she sat back down, no longer intent on speaking.

"In any case, it seems we have some deliberation to do," G'Pol declared, more to the council itself then to Chase and Aamra. "Return to base and get ready for the next assignment. We'll be in touch." In the blink of an eye the lights dimmed and the holograms fluttered out of sight.

"Send the real report to the Admiral. Right now she's the only one I trust."

"I was going to suggest that myself," Aamra responded. "One wonders what the Council knows that we don't about this matter..."

Chase nodded solemnly. "Come on, we got other things to attend right now."

---

Chase's speech to the crew in memory of Anderson was very touching. Still, Aamra held back slightly, hovering near Rae as she made those grilled cheeses that humans were so fond of (and had to admit they sounded pretty good). Quietly contemplating all that had happened, she didn't really consider whether or not she would join the game. She had respect for Chase and a few of the crewmen, but at the end of the day, she was still an officer, and they were...well, the Marauders.

After hearing her request for her favorite snack approved, Rendyl took a seat at the table and waited, observing as the crew accumulated in the room and tilting her head slightly as she saw new people. It was obvious from their exchanges this wasn't a new crew, and that the relaxed and casual offer of poker from the captain himself hinted at either a lax or nonexistent military protocol. Resting her chin on the heel of her hand, elbow on the table, she watched as the crew gathered and prepared for the game, the girl smiling with one side of her mouth, recalling a family night of cards even if the game wasn't gambling.

The girl blinked out of her reverie as a Luirae placed a plate in front of her, and she quickly devolved into a happy state of bliss as she started to consume the grilled cheese. For several minutes she ate her meal, some of her attention returning to the prospect of the game, at one point tilting her head and raising her hand towards the other end of the table and looking around for Tony and flicking her fingers in some signs. She turned her gaze back to the captain, an eyebrow raised and a questioning expression on her face.

It was a pleasant feeling to see more join in to the proposed game of poker or at least some showing interest. That was only what she could assume from Rendyl’s signs at Tony or the questioning look directed at Raymond. She glanced over the others in the room, seeing if anyone else was planning to be dealt in when her eyes fell on Aamra. It seemed she was contemplating, focused on her own thoughts and completely distant even though she was in the room with them. She had seen many an officer on this ship and understood why some chose to distance themselves but they were all one crew. They might be cut from different cloths and walked a different path in their lives but they were all here now. Each of them were a Marauder whether they wished to be or not. They had to watch out for each other.

”Commander, will you not be joining us? Conversations with the Committee are never quite pleasant in my experience and can be stressful. It is best to do something enjoyable afterwards, is it not? In any case, a distraction should be a nice change of ones pace and it is to honor your follow Marauder after all.” Rae stated, slightly pulling out an empty chair near her as if to hint she should take it. She wanted them to all be in this together and she could convince herself that it was for medical reasons such as relieving stress but it was that. She waited a moment, not sure if she was handling the task of insisting her to join correctly. What did humans call it? Pressing? That sounded kind of right. It might not work though so maybe she should try something else just in case.

”Did those facts properly convince you or should I tempt you by offering my sandwich as collateral?”Luirae asked completely serious though most find it a joke and sat there with a tilt of her head, holding up the plate slightly in front of her with the Golden sandwich in the middle. At least if the other woman rejected her than the crew couldn’t say she hadn’t tried and they might make a better attempt at convincing the Tazygos.

Antonius quickly became lost in his thoughts as he sat at the counter staring at his hands before him. His thoughts drifted back occasionally to the crumpled up photograph that Anderson kept of his daughter on his person at all time. Was that destined to be him? To wallow in the past until he finally died on this ship? It was a horrifying thought, and it occupied his mind even as Raymond entered the lounge. Tony finally looked up as Ray began to speak and a hush fell over the room.

His jaw tightened slightly as Ray revealed Anderson's retirement plans. Salt in the wound. Was it supposed to make him feel better about Anderson's death? Tony slowly picked at the grilled cheese in front of him as Ray continued to talk, only looking up when he heard his name.

And then he turned it off and quickly pulled a slight grin as he stood from his seat and crossed to the cupboard. Bourbon, poker, cigars...perhaps he'd find a way to get over Anderson's death after all. When he'd found the cigars after some poking around, he removed them and closed the cupboard behind him.

"Oh, they smell heavenly," he remarked as the scent of the cigars leaked from the package and washed over him. Memories of high-society parties and smoking on penthouse balconies occupied his mind as he leaned lightly against the counter and looked towards Ren. He watched as she looked out inquisitively over the assembled crew. Perhaps he'd ask what she thought of them - an outside opinion could never hurt. She caught his eye and quickly signed to him as he crossed the kitchen to grab his grilled cheese. Tony devoured the rest of it slowly, thinking over her request.

Tony still didn't know how the rest of the crew would treat her. Some were certainly bound to be defensive or even aggressive around her, for one could argue that her presence had - indirectly - led to Anderson's death. He could simply tell her no and avoid the whole confrontation. He'd find a way to rationalize it. And yet, whether he knew that wasn't what Anderson would have wanted or because he just wanted to cause a stir, he shrugged and turned to Raymond.

"Ray," he called, having just swallowed the last of his sandwich. "Rendyl wants to play. Deal her in." Very much so not a question. A demand, a request. He turned back to Ren before Raymond could argue. "Do you know how to play?"

Dev was the first to speak up, and Ray couldn't help but smirk at his comment, but before he could even bring up his own challenge, Valanx approached and sat down. He tossed in a more elegant comment on Lady Luck. It was much better than what Ray's comment would have been. He watched as more and more of his crew started to step up and sit down at the table. Anderson would have been proud to see so many of them joining forces to making poor gambling choices and drinking.

When Rae appeared and gave her own comment, the Captain laughed and shook his head. "And that's why, Doctor, that people like you are banned from casinos on Earth. To them, your money should all be left to chance." He put down the cards, waiting for the crew to appear at the table, and picked up the bottle of Tu'Veerian bourbon. Tango's physical form had appeared to bring glasses. Ray then poured himself a glass, and downed its contents, giving a slight cough. "Shit..." He managed to say.

Now that he had calmed his nerves a bit, Raymond slowly dealt the cards. He nodded a thanks to Tony as he dropped the cigars on the table, and when he called out to deal Rendyl in, the Captain only glanced up at tony, then at the girl, then back down at the cards he was dealing. "I think there's an old story about that. Being dealt a hand of cards by a group of cutthroats and murderers. It's like signing your fate." Raymond knew that Anderson wouldn't want any ill will towards this woman... It seemed she was just as confused as the others.

"Welcome to the Marauders, kid... Teach her how to play fast, because the name of the game is Texas Hold'em, and no you don't need to know anything about Texas to play." He tossed the group their cards, placing down the couple in the center and laying the deck down. "Not only does the winner get the pot, but they also don't have to do their share of Anderson's chores."

Josk had been reclined on the couch, mostly keeping to herself, still a little tired from all the fighting and piloting. She took out the earbuds for her captain and gave a brief nod when he complemented her piloting skills. It was true. She was the best.

Also, apparently, Anderson died. That's too bad. And, this was his last mission before retirement. That was so sad it looped back around and became kind of funny. Yasaliah barely smirked when that was mentioned but quickly held it in. I mean, come on, she thought. Last mission before retirement? Still, the crew seemed to care about Anderson. To the Satasi, there wasn't much point. Anderson was an okay guy, but surely everyone here knew it was only a matter of time until they all died, right? If she looked up the definition of "disposable" their pictures would show up. They were having a memorial game of Texas Holdum poker.

"I want to play." She said simply, tossing her music player onto the couch. Gambling, drinking, and smoking. That was fun. Only things missing were sex, guns, and killing assholes. And flying a really fast ship. One day she would find a way to combine everything she loved in life into one massive orgy of entertainment. How? She didn't know. There were a lot of things there that didn't really jive well. But it was a crazy universe, afterall. Who knows?

Yasaliah nodded her "thanks" at the cigs and the drink and quickly began partaking in her vices. They were pretty good, too. Smooth and strong, respectively. She had some of the alcohol in a shot glass thanks to Tango and downed it, the world going wibbly for a moment."Phew." She smirked, shaking her head a little.

The Satasi glanced around the room. Pretty much everyone was here, right? One two...Dev, Valanx, Captain, Rae, Aamra, Tony, Astrid...little girl?

Who was that? A child? The Satasi stared intently at the girl for a moment, probably making some intense prolonged eye contact. Yasaliah looked down at her drink for a moment. Nah, she could hold her alcohol better than that. Plus, if her hallucinations involved little girls, that was probably some repressed emotions or trauma the pilot didn't want to deal with at all. It was probably a real human child. Her suspicions were confirmed when the Captain acknowledged her presence.

"So, Cap. We, uh, babysitting now? Or...trafficking? I mean, I guess I'm okay if you all are. I just didn't think..." She looked around, taking a brief inhale from the tobacco tube. "Rae? Aamra?" She vaguely gestured her question at some of the people who had more conventional moral standings.

As she spoke, she was re-engaged with the game of cards. Feeling a little bored with how everyone was talking about gambling. You know, math, numbers, reading people. Surely, the luck was the best part? That was why Yasaliah kept her two cards face down, not looking at them once, and raised the current bet a little.

---

---

”Commander, will you not be joining us? Conversations with the Committee are never quite pleasant in my experience and can be stressful. It is best to do something enjoyable afterwards, is it not? In any case, a distraction should be a nice change of ones pace and it is to honor your follow Marauder after all.”

Aamra stared as the crystalline doctor pulled up a chair expectantly, taking pause at the gesture. She'd never really been offered a seat at the games before. Granted she never really asked as she found her meditations more enjoyable then any base pleasures that came from gambling, but moreso then ever she felt as though she should make inroads to the rest of the crew, if only a little bit to maintain her integrity as an officer of the Council. Plus, it was to honor the fallen, and while she planned to honor the sacrifice of Anderson in the style of her faith on her own downtime, there was no harm in doing the same in what would have been his method of remembering those who had past.

”Did those facts properly convince you or should I tempt you by offering my sandwich as collateral?”

...and by the waters, those sandwiches sounded heavenly right about now, and she hadn't eaten since falling into her combat fervor against the pirates.

"Very well...I will partake in this," Aamra stated, sounding more like she was volunteering for a dangerous assignment then joining a poker game (which, if rumors were to be believed, WERE dangerous if some of these people were involved). Taking her seat next to the doctor, she winced as cigar smoke floated towards her. She was going to be respectful of Anderson's memory, Aamra decided, but she wasn't going to touch those things. Filthy habit.

"It seems rather straightforward," Aamra commented, rooting around for some spending cash before spotting the Captain with the girl sitting next to him. "Erm..."

"Welcome to the Marauders, kid... Teach her how to play fast, because the name of the game is Texas Hold'em, and no you don't need to know anything about Texas to play." the Captain ordered the crew in regards to the child. "Not only does the winner get the pot, but they also don't have to do their share of Anderson's chores."

Aamra frowned slightly. She had already divided up Anderson's duties among the crew, as per the proper protocol, but she decided to hold her tongue, since she didn't want to come off as insensitive. Duty and busywork was just a great coping mechanism for her, though those concerns were secondary compared to the girl being here.

"So, Cap. We, uh, babysitting now? Or...trafficking? I mean, I guess I'm okay if you all are. I just didn't think..."

Aamra fixed the pilot with a stony gaze in response to the suggestion that they were committing crimes. "We are doing neither in regards to this girl, Josk," she said promptly. "If you are so deeply curious, I will gladly detail to you the situation when the time is more appropriate." She may have been warming up to them, but Aamra was absolutely not okay with their avant-garde attitude towards criminal acts. Not yet, at least. Aamra took the opportunity to glance at her hand as she lectured the pilot as well; a King and a two. She assumed that was something tolerable to hold onto, at the very least.

We just survived a rat infestation, those used to be quite lethal back on Earth just a few centuries ago. Loosen up a little once in a while, officer.” she then turned to Luirae with a raised eyebrow, ”Ulnar aren’t known to spread the black plague or anything, are they doc?” While she did not mean it that way, some might have thought that joke was in a poor taste this soon after Anderson’s death, though she couldn’t care less. After all, there was a limit of how disliked she could be, and she had an inkling she wasn’t too far from that limit.

”We should’ve kept a few of the freaks alive to do our dirty work.” she scratched her chin when Ray brought up picking up pieces of Anderson’s work. Now she had to win for the crew’s sake. Anyone who thought she could help manage the cargo bay only had to peek into her quarters. That would be as far as they’d get without stubbing their toe on something she was tinkering with or something she swept of the table to make room for something else in a hurry. “Then again, the stench might have corroded the welds away or something. Maybe next time?” she shuddered at the thought of the horrid stench emanating from the Ulnar boarding pods. Just thinking about that made her reach for the shot glass with a sigh. ”Some poor sod is going to have to get rid of those pods still attached to the hull. Maybe we can gamble on that?”

Astrid snickered at the sight of the officer impaling the pilot with her gaze. ”Think I saw little miss cargo in the bay earlier.” she briefly replied to the pilot before turning to Rendyl, ”What’s your name...kid? Enjoy the relative freedom here while it lasts, no telling what the council Hurensöhne want with you.” she said while pondering the pair of eights in her hand. She couldn’t understand how easily people took to smoking inside a ship. Smoke detectors and sprinklers aside, she was weary of any sort of open flame inside a pressurized box floating through space. But hey, it could’ve been worse, at least the Monroe’s atmosphere was closer to Earth’s as opposed to a low-pressure breathing mix with high O2 content common on old stations.

Luirae felt a slight sense of accomplished at being able to convince Aamra to agree with joining the poker game. It had come at the cost of her sandwich but that was a small price to pay for the larger picture of bringing them all, hopefully, a little closer together. She could always make something for herself at a later point. The Tazygos woman placed herself in the chair next to her that she had urged her to sit in earlier and she set the sandwich back on the table in front of Aamra. Rae looked at Raymond, a small smirk playing on her lips at the thought of Earth casinos banning her since it was only if you got caught and she had more than just counting cards in her stockpile of tricks, after all, it was hard to hide your heartbeat and control that spike of adrenaline when excited or nervous.

”Why leave anything to chance when you can have absolute certainty? It seems a tad counterproductive in my opinion.”she answered, leaving her hand of cards on the table in front of her for now. The rest of the crew were still getting settled in and there was really no need to look at them anyway though she would pick them up later. Her sharp gazed turned to Josk as she asked Aamra and her about the thoughts on the Rendyl. It only made sense that they would look to the Committee Volunteers for objection to the obvious breaking to the rules as they were tied down and heavy scrutinized to uphold all laws for the Monroe’s crew. Their words held higher weight with the Conmittee and the decisions they made when it came to certain matters after all.

In her opinion, there was something suspicious about this situation and while there was no pun intended in her thought pattern, it was best to hold ones cards closer to your chest in this case. She went to answer but held off from speaking when Aamra shot Josk down for answers at this time. The Captain and her had talked to the Committee and if she thought it best to hold off on those answers then Rae would respect her wishes. ”It seems you have your answer for now. Rendyl is here and while she may not look it, according to her, she is older than myself so I would hardly call it babysitting. Plus, we cannot traffic what was ordered of us to obtain so in this case....we are doing just as we were told. Obtain and protect the Committee’s cargo. I recall quite clearly we were not ordered to return it and it seems they didn’t order the Captain or Aamra to do so yet.” Rae stated, knowing very well she was using the Committee’s own words against them.

She did this often with the Committee when it suited her and it was not like they could deny what was clearly said. They implied and she used it to her advantage when she wanted. If push came to shove, she would blame it on a verbal miscommunication of language. When Astrid spoke up about the Ulnar and a connection with rats on Earth with the Black Plague, she thought it over. ”I have not heard of them being infected with the Black Plague or any similar diseases and spreading them. They usually just spread disaster and poison. Valanx would have the most knowledge of that question since plants are my speciality. Biologically, they could be infected with something same as any.” answering the best she could to the question.

Josk widened her eyes and turned her mouth into a mockingly surprised O when Aamra defensively claimed they were neither trafficking nor babysitting the child. Rae also followed up with that this was cargo from the committee, and Astrid derisively referred to her as 'little miss cargo'. So, apparently, this was the special cargo they were recruited to get. A human child. An...old, human child? Human biology was not her strong suite so, like most things, the Satasi didn't care to follow that line of questioning.

Still, she couldn't help but tease her crewmates. Especially the sticks in the mud. As she ran her two fingers across the back of the cards she had not yet even looked at, Yasaliah spoke with bitter humor in her voice.

"Riiight," she said, nodding sagely. "We aren't trafficking, or babysitting. We are...obtaining and protecting. This child cargo. I got you." She gave an exaggerated wink towards Aamra. As if they were all in on the secret that they were, in fact, doing human trafficking, but they were getting off on a technicality. Something she used to do with her pirate friends.

'Oh, we aren't stealing their cargo. We are rescuing it from the fires!' While not acknowledging that they caused the fires. It was funny. In this case, well, trafficking was trafficking, and babysitting was babysitting.

"Look, I don't care what we do with this child. Do what you want, just don't ask me to change any diapers or take it for walks." She said, trying to stop the discussion before it got started. The last thing she wanted to do was get into a moral argument with people who thought morality was real.

All this talk about her was making Rendyl quite uncomfortable in her chair, the taste of her grilled cheese soured slightly in her mouth as jabs at her appearance or need to be cared for were thrown around. Gritting her teeth she nodded at Tony, grabbing and sorting her cards before staring at them to avoid making eye contact with anyone, trying to concentrate on the game at hand. Texas holdem.....she didn't recall the ins and outs of it, but her father once described it as 'upping the ante' on regular poker. Her mind raced with what combinations of cards could bring her victory with this current hand, and tossed away a two of clubs, waiting for a replacement card from the Captain.

Her choice confirmed, she waited, looking back up and going around the table, giving each person there a good stare. Each one had their own life, their own choices, that brought them here, and Rendyl was determined to make sure they knew she wouldn't be a burden. She would win this hand of cards, and show them what this 'child' could do.

Tony fished a cigar out of the package just after throwing it down on the table. He held it between his fingers and moved it about before cutting it, savoring the moment and attempting to drown out the clamor of his crewmates as he lifted it to his lips. Tony had little care for their opinions right now, and he pulled a pack of matches from his pocket and held it to the end of the cigar as he puffed slowly. The cigar lit, and he placed it between his fingers as he set a glass aside into which he poured the bourbon.

He slid the glass towards a seat at the table and sat down. Tony pulled out the chair beside him and gestured for Ren to sit beside him. He smirked slightly at Ray's words, but it was a wistful sort of smirk, and it weighed on him as the others wandered over.

Tony looked up for a moment as Yasaliah joined the table, and he took that as his chance to down the shot quickly, slamming the glass back on to the table. He held his tongue as Yasaliah commented on Ren and took the time to pour himself another drink. Tony pulled on his cigar and let the smoke swirl about his head as he looked around the table at the others as Yasaliah asked the others for opinions. He gave a slight smile and nod to Aamra as she replied -- whether or not she saw it, he didn't quite know.

He didn't quite pity Rendyl, but he had managed to become quite attached to her in a quick amount of time. Perhaps it was because she reminded him of a life outside of this God forsaken ship. But he didn't want to think too deeply about it now. At least he missed Astrid's joke about the plague.

Finally, he took the second shot and landed it solidly on the tabletop. The sound echoed well through the room. Though Aamra and Rae had attempted to quell the situation themselves and probably wouldn't appreciate him reigniting the conversation, he quite enjoyed throwing himself into the fray.

"She is twenty-six, actually," he finally replied, the snark dripping from his words now as he shot a smug sort of grin at Yasaliah specifically. "Less of a child than you appear to be at this moment, Josk. I suppose you would know that if you had bothered to ask." Tony paused, most definitely for effect. "Or, rather, you would not, for I very much doubt you have any knowledge of American Sign Language."

Tony disengaged himself from the conversation with a long pull from the cigar, and he turned towards Ren. [color=ff773]"Do you know how to play?"[/color] he asked, slowly raising his own cards for a quick peak. It wasn't his favorite game by any means - he was much more of a fan of the exotic games played at the casinos of the galaxy's other alien lifeforms. But he figured he had enough working knowledge to give himself a fighting chance. But by the time he looked back to Ren, she had already started to handle her cards, and he couldn't help but grin to himself. Perhaps she'd end up giving him a run for his money.

The Satasi raised her eyebrows at Tony. Yasaliah let everything else he said slide, not bothering to comment on it. She cared not if this child only spoke in some alien language."Twenty six, huh?" She looked Rendyl up and down with suspicious mirth.

"You guys are gullible. But like I said, it's not my business. I'm just paid to sit around and look pretty...and save everyone's asses all the time." Josk raised her bet on the table, still having no idea what her cards were. The pilot was leaning back, obviously relaxed. Her index and middle finger rested on her cards, and she dragged them in a circle over the surface.

Taking another puff, the woman blew the smoke over her lips, letting it dribble slowly out and into the air. She tapped the ash over the tray. Her attention once again returned to Rendyl. For one who claimed to be so unconcerned about her, Josk was poking and prodding at the silent one.

"Yeah. You got any money? We don't play for free here on the Marauder. We play for keeps. If you don't got cash, you could bet, oh, I dunno, your hat." She smiled, pointing at Rendyl with the burning end of the cigar.

"Hey, if you wait long enough, I'll give you whatever I win from Astrid. I'm generous like that." Yasaliah had an endless supply of what she viewed was witty remarks. Pleased with herself, she rapped her knuckles on the table impatiently, wanting the game to continue.

Astrid chuckled at Josk’s comment, as even if she lost everything to her, it wouldn’t be much of a donation since she had next to nothing to her name. But far be it from her to stay out of a pissing contest. ”Technically speaking you don’t even have to win, everything I owned that was worth anything is ripe for the taking somewhere in the Boomerang nebula, assuming what little remained of my poor Irene hasn’t drifted too close to the star or something.” Astrid pointed at a random wall as if the nebula was in that direction and leaned back in her chair. “Buuuuut you’d probably get lost or scared within five minutes in there. So it seems you’ll just have to hope your hand is at least as good as your mouth runs.” she verbally poked the pilot and called the bet, so far feeling confident about the cards she was dealt.

”So, how did a mute girl even end up packed up in a pirate cargo hold in the first place?” That could be an interesting story to listen to, as her own experiences with pirates were limited to occasionally smuggling their goods to dodge taxes, getting blown to kingdom come by them and then getting accused of being one. ”Can she be talked to directy, or is she deaf, too? And while on the subject, can she help around the ship while she’s here? I can think of a few places an extra pair of hands would be of use, and if she can’t talk back or complain, even better.”

Rendyl gave Tony a reassuring pat on the shoulder and a nod to his question, smiling her thanks to his concern. She undoubtedly liked him the most. He seemed to be the only one who genuinely cared, and it kept coming back to her that he reminded her of an uncle or overprotective brother. But she couldn't dwell on Tony for long, her revere broken by quips from a few other members of the crew.

As she turned her attention to the pair talking to her, her expression hardened and everyone at the table might feel a subtle sensation of tension decend. Setting her hand facedown, the girl reached up under her hair and fiddled with something around her ear a moment before tossing an earring onto the pot. It wasn't money, but it appeared to be far more than your average trinket from a giftshop. A single green gem encircled by gold inlay that hung from a embellished R.

She tapped Tony on the shoulder and signed for a few seconds, all the while holding that firm expression of determination as she pointed at Astrid and Josk in turn.

When Tony revealed Rendyl's real age, the Captain looked up in a bit of a wide eyed moment, and then it turned to a smirk as the linguist made his own comeback towards the pilot. Her youthful look and quiet demeanor led Ray to assumptions. There was a lot to learn from this mystery woman. Every part of him told him that keeping her on board would be bad for the crew... but when weren't they in danger? The whole purpose of this expedition crew was to be expendable. At the moment, it felt good to pull a fast one on the Galactic Committee. Tomorrow would be a new day, and that's when Raymond would interrogate their new crew member. He pulled out a cigar and gave it a small sniff, moving his eyes to Rendyl. "Forgive us, we're all a little tired and don't have the best social skills." Ray explained, tossing his part of the initial pot in.

He leaned back in his chair and took a nice puff of the cigar as the crew asked Ren what exactly she would be putting into the pot, since none of them were willing to let the new girl a fortune for free. Once again Ray's eyes lit up when an earring fell into the middle. "Light green isn't really my color, but it'll do." The Captain grinned. "Since Tango will be the least likely to cheat, he will be the dealer from this point on... I'd say good luck to you all, but some at this table don't believe in it, even after all we've gone through." And with that, Raymond tossed his bid into the pot.

----------------------

Raymond smacked the device around a little, his vision doubling, but eventually the old box started to play. The "night" on the Monroe had carried out, and a few of them helped themselves to a lot of that Tu'veerian bourbon. Needless to say that most of the crew was more than drunk, including the captain. [color=lightlbue]"That's better. Who's still in?"[/color] Some of the crew had lost their money to put into the pot, so the humans on the crew offered a strip poker option. Fortunately, not many had to lose too many articles. Raymond had lost his jacket and shoes, but managed to win back a small pot.

At this point it was much less about Anderson's chores, and more about pride, and to some, the challenge of the game. Raymond's left hand wasn't shaking too much. "I'd love to see the look on the Council's face if they saw us now. Plastered, drinking and smoking contraband and gambling on a Committee issued ship. They don't give a shit when we do what they ask, but as soon as we start acting up they throw a fit... If you guys could have one day of freedom... One day where no one told you what to do or how to do it, how would you spend it?" He wasn't sure if anyone at the table would answer. After all, they were playing poker and this could have been some sleezy trick. At the same time, Raymond doubted he would remember much of this night.

The Satasi pilot had lost, of course. Luck was not on her side. Probably the consequence of never, ever, not one time, actually looking at her cards. She was incredibly drunk. She was already wearing light clothing when she got in here, and had just lost the last hand. She took off her tank top and was now officially in nothing but her underwear. Giggling, she leaned over to Rendel. "Look away." She glanced over at Aamra, smiling, reaching her hand out shakily toward her as if to shield her eyes.

"Look away. Shield your innocent eyes..."

Biting her lower lip, she took another swig of alcohol. "Raymond...you know what I would do? Raymond? I would go...I would go and kill whoever wrote this song. That's what I would do. Then, then, then, I would...go racing. Yeah, that sounds fun. I would go racing. It's been a long time since I've been racing." As she talked, she emoted with her hands. Her right hand held her two cards, and she accidentally showed them to the entire room as she pointed them at her captain.

"You guys have no idea who you're dealing with. I'm gonna come outta this room dressed in alla your clothes. I'm gonna be able to go to an ice planet because of how many layers I'm gonna have on." Somehow she had gotten the idea into her head that she would get to keep the clothes after she won.

Rae had quite a good streak of wins, up until the Captain expressed to her that it was customary for the winner to drink after the hand was over which meant she had some catching up to do. She had been iffy about it but she noticed that most of the other winners drank so it must be true. That was where it all went down hill for her as Luirae’s fuzzy mind couldn’t keep up with counting. The matter only got worse when strip poker was on the table since she had started off in pajamas. She had lost both her socks the first two rounds before losing her boxer shorts but by luck she had won someone else’s pants though be honest, she didn’t remember who it was at this point except she knew she made a comment along the lines of ‘now I’ve been in your pants’. A short lived victory before being pantless once more and pouting about it.

Her current state was right up there with Josk’s at this point since she was sitting in Raymond’s jacket and her own underwear, her tank top sitting in the pot which had been some amusing rigging to get off under the jacket or had someone helped her, to hell if she knew. She looked to their pilot, laughing and leaning on the table,”Innocent eyes, we has no innocent eyes on dis ship. Hmmm, maybe da little one. Tony, cover her eyes instead.” She whined, half way pointing at Rendyl before swaying slightly to turn her attention to Ray as he spoke. What a dumb question, she was already....oh wait...no, that’s right....she was but they weren’t.

She listened to Josk, a frown slowly etching onto her face till the other spoke about racing which caused a bright smile to light up. The racing sounded like so much fun to try out though she would likely fail miserably. It was lucky she was even able to fly off her home planet. Sadly, she wasn’t going to let the fun thought distract her from the horrid statement of earlier. ”You don’t have taste. This music is rockin! No, no, but serio...sers....but really, um, what I woulds do if I had no rules for a day is set ya all free. It be sad to be alones again but happy to see you happy. I would change da records to say all the time is up.” Rae stated in a slurred mess but a gentle smile still on her features before looking up to the ceiling to think. ”or maybe punch all the committee members in their faces. They are soooooooo annoying. They no listen.” she practically hissed and slammed her hands on the table to further her point, like someone might defend them. If Luirae was in her right mind, she would not be openly showing so much emotion and the words spewing out of her mouth would have been locked away but this was not how it was. The her that was here right now would be an embarrassment to her actual self but that was if she even remember all this tomorrow.