The rest of their time in transit to the Glao port was spent in a daze for Maria. She eventually went to the doc to let him check up on her once a majority of the others were cared for (albeit somewhat reluctantly), and thankfully the only injuries she'd sustained had been minor. A couple of cuts, some bruises, and one small area where an energy bolt had grazed her shoulder. All in all she'd gotten away pretty clean. Their cargo had been jumbled and scrambled to no end, but thankfully seemed undamaged except for the occasional scrape and one cracked piece of paneling. Nothing some well placed packaging couldn't hide. If the Glao gave them any trouble she'd just say it must have come like that. They couldn't afford to lose their commission on this job, especially since the attack had added yet more repairs to the list
and her crew was in desperate need of a night at the local bar. She did try to be as honest as possible but... the gods would just have to forgive her for this one.
Whenever Maria was able to make the time she also made contact with Andrea's family to inform them of what had happened. She left out some of the more gruesome details, but made a point to make sure they knew she died saving someone. That did little to soften a mother's screams of anguish. Maria only hoped that when the initial grief had passed that knowledge might help to soothe their loss. When she was done with that call the captain then called the port and made arrangements to have Andrea's body transported to her family upon their arrival, and also made an announcement over ships' comms for anyone who wanted to pay their respects to do so relatively quickly.
It was directly after this task was done that a quiet
'mrrow' caught the captain's attention and a blob of fur landed in her lap. Cookie had decided to pay her a visit.
"Well hello there," she greeted, lifting a hand to pet the feline. "Where have you been hiding all this time?"
A gentle purring noise and headbutt was all she received in response. After she double checked to make sure the hatch to her quarters was shut Maria hugged the cat tightly and buried her face into his fur, shutting out whatever other responsibilities she might have for the next hour or so.
What. The. Hell.
Wires. Wires everywhere. Tangled mazes that wrapped and knotted and twisted into oblivion until they went so far into the guts of the ship that she couldn't see them anymore. All Perse had wanted was to take one of the spare power converters from a system that, according to the ship's computer, hadn't been used in over two years. Instead she was staring at the most screwed up tangle of circuits and wiring she'd ever seen in her entire life. What had that crazy mechanic done? Rearranged the entire nervous system of the ship? How did it function? How had nothing blown up of it's own accord? How did it stay together? Why in the name of the gods had he done this to begin with???????
Eventually she gave up in her efforts and just went back to check on their navigation status. She'd managed to get their auto-pilot working so that she could work on her own vessel on their way to port, but it had been several hours since she'd last checked their progress and they should be getting fairly close now. Thankfully nothing else had hindered their travel progress.
Perse had also been actively avoiding the doctor while she was on board. It was obvious they both made each other uncomfortable, so there was no point in forcing the issue. Soon they could split and go their separate ways, forgetting that the other existed, and continue on their own miserable lives. It'd be fine. This was fine. Speaking of that she deftly scooted past the medbay, sneaking past as quietly as she could on her way back to the
pit from whence she came engine room.
Their engineer had proven to be quite an unsociable fellow, but she preferred him to the egotistical Ithlo. At least when he looked at her with contempt and arrogance it wasn't because of what she was- he just seemed to be that way towards everyone. Which was fine! Having contempt for everyone was much more preferable than being a prejudice bigot. At any rate, she did her best not to bother him as she checked their status. As expected they were nearing the port.
"Station A214 this is the cargo freighter Veritas Lux Mea requesting entry," She said, having opened a comm to the port. A moment later a voice crackled back over, requesting their ship ID (which she had acquired from the captain) and gave her docking instructions.
Perse opened a comm to the captain's quarters. "Hey cap! We'll be docking in about twenty minutes."
There was a pause, and then her voice crackled over the comms. "Thanks Persephone."
Maria made an announcement telling the crew to get themselves together prepare for docking in fifteen minutes (she figured it'd take most of them about five minutes to get off their asses) and then got to work getting her own things together. Some clothes so she could stay at an inn, legal papers, proof of ownership, cargo receipts, and a beautiful assortment of other legal documents were the things that Maria decided to bring with her. Besides that she left most everything else (other than her weapons) in her room. She made a point to lock the hatch to her room before heading down to the cargo bay to wait for the others to join her.
