[IC] Cinnabar Forever! (RCN)

[Penny]

The sun was just beginning to rise as Sabatine pulled her head out of the number three plasma motor and wiggled her helmet off her head. The world turned from the monocrome read out of her stress display back to the brightening colors of the normal human optical spectrum as the filter lifted away. Her prelaunch inspection had found a small pit in the throat of the unit, it was probably nothing but there was a small chance it was a casting flaw that might, at any moment cause the thruster to rupture. The ship could function with is remaining seven thrusters but there was no point in taking a chance like that when there was a fleet base with a full maintenance inventory to hand. The crew had grumbled that it was unnecessary but they were mostly just surly that leave had been canceled. Sabatine had loaded the unit onto one of the diesel powered trucks the locals used for fetch and carry and set it back to the yard office before replacing the unit with a new one. A two hour job even with three experienced spacers to help her. Maybe the yard would scan the thing and find it was ok and issue it to another ship, maybe they would pawn it off on civilians for a few extra florins, as far as Sabatine was concerned they could throw the damn thing in the ocean so long as it didn't put her ship or her people in danger.

"Caparelli, call chief Savachev and tell her we are in the green here, tell her I want her to run up the pump and light this one first when we star the power up to give it a few extra minutes to heat."

"Yes ma'am," Caparelii replied knuckling his forhead with a greasy hand. He was a wirey power room tech short and with a touch of the little man syndrome that made him a terror for bar owners. Those were civilian problems though and he was as fine a wrench as they had on the Vickie.

"Anything else she already knows that I should be telling her ma'am?" Caparelii asked, completely dead pan. The other crewmen tried with various degrees of success to conceal their snickers. Sabatine arched an eyebrow and placed her hands on her already grease stained uniform.

"Yeah, tell her to call me the next time she needs a personel detail, I have a few thoughts," she replied, a slight grin on her face letting her spacers know she was joking. Caparellii made a saulte to a point well scored and scuttled off to tell the already overworked and over stressed engineer that this little last minute project was finished.

"Uh Ma'am?" a voice came from above her. SHe glanced up to see Howarth's head protruding from an access hatch.

"What is it spacer?" she asked expecting another last minute problem that threatened to delay their lift-off.

"Uh that reporter lady is back Ma'am she uh.. she said the new Lieutenant invited her and I mean we had to let her pass?" Howarth asked, his tone turning the statement into a question. Sabatine stared at him in shock. Kaiden was bringing a doxy and a reporter on board? She reached for her commo helmet to call Captain Micha but froze. It wasn't technically her decision and if the captain had a problem with it he would chew Kaiden out for it himself.

"Right, well whatever the XO says right?" she told Howarth. An alarm pinged on the ships internal PA.

"All hands, stand by to close up shift, lift off in 15 minutes." Well, no time to worry about it now.

[POOHEAD189]

Despite the previous night's activities, Kaiden had managed to make it back to the ship in a timely fashion and collapse on the bed. Waking up was far less graceful, but after a good shower and the usual hangover routine, he dressed accordingly and made it out on deck at 0545. As he was new to the vessel, he immediately reported to Micha to see where the Captain would need him.

Micha was at the bridge when Kaiden approached him, the Captain giving a smile at the approaching Lieutenant. "I see you're up and at 'em, Lieutenant. I hope you found last night enlightening and morale boosting." His manner was jovial and Kaiden couldn't help but give a smile despite the headache. "I had a bit too much, but I certainly felt the pride of Cinnabar in me as well as the alcohol. Shall I go oversee the men?"

"Yes, do. And when you're finished, get Lieutenant Hickoring as well. I'd like reports from both of you to make certain we're good to launch. I-" His mouth snapped shut when he received an incoming personal transmission in his earpiece, and he blinked, laughing in incredulity. "Lieutenant... did you invite a bloody reporter onto the ship?" He looked not entirely displeased, but completely flabbergasted. He actually looked impressed. "You do get around, don't you?"

For his part, Kaiden looked completely confused. Yes he remembered offering it to Tilda, but he told her to decide before he returned, and he also did not expect her to say yes! Well, he couldn't exactly go back on his word if she had decided, but if she was here to simply make a scene he would drop her like a spent magazine.

It was less than a minute later when Kaiden met Tilda Savari making her merry way up the gangplank. She looked just as attractive when Kaiden was sober, which was very impressive. She had on workmans trousers that hugged her hips and a black top with a keyhole neckline, her hair bound in a bun of very meticulously tied curls. "Well, I'm ready for my debut." She said, but Kaiden didn't exactly show his approval just yet.

"You're not going to convince me that you quit your job overnight and decided to throw it all away because of my wit and charm." He challenged, his face set like granite with his arms crossed.

"Well, not only that. The money helped too." She said without skipping a beat. "So, can we go now or are you going to stare at me until we cast off?"

After a moment's hesitation, Kaiden pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're right. We could very well use your help, Ms. Savari." He conceded, and then tossed her a bag which she caught awkwardly, her casually attractive face now mixed with surprise at the sudden turn. Kaiden grinned. "You can wash my clothing first, and I expect it all pressed as well. I have an image to maintain. Meet me on the bridge at 0630."

[Penny]

"Everything in order Hickoring?" Captain Micha asked from his console in the center of the bridge.

The Captain seemed to be squinting hard with a slight tick in his right eye. Clearly he had enjoyed a little too much of the Commodore's wine and was now feeling the alcohols retribution. Sabatine might have been in a similar state but Kaiden's company had put her off her usual enthusiasm for liquor and the subsequent duties of bringing the Vickie to readiness for launch had sweated the rest of the booze out of her most satisfactorily. The various officers gathered on the bridge. Graving, their gunner also looked a little worse for the wear and he hunched over her console running target simulations involving a simultaneous missile deflection and close in shot against an enemy warship. Graving was enthusiastic about her job but like most gunners found little occasion to practice her craft. Candleworth, the sailing master, was also hard at work, though the leathery faced old Kostroman did not appear to be suffering the after effects of partying. It was ships lore that they would certainly wreck if Candleworth ever cracked a smile or had any fun whatsoever. His work seemed to involve watching a count down timer. At first Sabatine thought this was a count down till lift of, but she realized after a moment that it was a decrypt countdown. Commodore Welkins had not yet told the ships of his scattering command where they were to go, and even the Captains of those vessels wouldn't know until the decryption time built into the electronic orders. Candleworth was watching so he could begin course computations the second he had the information. Midshipman Daglish, a young officer, recently graduated the academy sat at another of the terminals. Daglish had not impressed Sabatine in the three months he had been with the Vickies company. He seemed to her the sort of fellow who tried to look like he was busy to avoid actually having to do any work. At the moment his screen was at too great an angle to her eyes to read, but she reminded herself to pull the record of his activity when she had the leisure.

"Yes sir," she responded with confidence, having checked in with both Savachev and Higgs only a few minutes ago. Higgs did seem to know his business and she tried not to let his association with Kaiden taint the man in her mind.

"Chief of Ship and Chief of Rig report all stations in the green, and we are in all respects..." she trailed off as the Captain's eyes focused behind her as Kaiden stepped onto the bridge. Sabatine glanced over her shoulder and then turned back to Micha.

"Ready to lift," she concluded doing her level best not to stiffen at Kaiden's arrival. Whatever her past with him, he was right that they would have to work together.

"Would you like me to shift forward to the bridge so the XO can take my place in the BDC sir?" she asked. The BDC, or Battle Direction Center, was an armored replica of the bridge in the rear of the ship. In theory if a hit destroyed the bridge or incapacitated the Captain the crew in the BDC could continue to fight the ship. In reality, on a ship the size of the Vickie a hit which destroyed the bridge was likely to kill everyone on board, but the RCN preferred to remain optimistic.

"No, but stay forward for now," Micha told her, "We will all read our orders together." There was a light commotion and then Tilda Savari slipped onto the bridge, taking a seat at one of the jumpseats of an empty console and smiling that thirty gigawatt smile. Sabatine refrained from grinding her teeth with an effort.

"Yes sir, looking forward to finding out where we are headed."

[POOHEAD189]

"Our orders," Captain Micha said, reading aloud. Kaiden swept his gaze over the bridge, seeing his subordinates at their stations, his eyes sweeping past Sabatine without stopping at her. Behind him Tilda sauntered over to her chair, and he noticed Sabatine gave her a quick glare before going back to her proper, soldier's reserve. The midshipman to his left rose and saluted Kaiden, and the officer smiled and nodded for him to sit back down. The Captain's voice did not halt. "-Are to travel to the Errhai Star System just over the bend to scout out the outerlying planets and give a show of force to the small margin of colonists therein. And to keep the Alliance from sinking their claws in it, so to say."

Kaiden saw the orders and the Captain heavily paraphrased, but he got the gist of it. There was no Alliance presence reported there, but the ships were told to reinforce smaller systems as tensions escalated in order to keep the Alliance from growing so bold as to advance their 'influence' in lesser areas. Kaiden couldn't blame the Commodore or Cinnabar High Command for this move, but he also realized to Alliance citizens it seemed like a somewhat aggressive one. He pondered what abhorrent and vile news the tabloids on their worlds would be spewing to the general public.

"If we're all present and accounted for, let us commence aye?" The Captain asked his crew, and they gave an 'aye' in reply. Kaiden didn't speak, instead watching the Captain to learn from in so he might one day hold that command. He wondered if Micha had done some light exercise this morning before his post, because he seemed to be sweating from his brow. "Lieutenant Caladwarden," He said, drawing Kayden's attention from his musings.

Kaiden stood at attention. "Sir!"

"Would you er, do us the honors?" He said swallowing, almost uneasily. Kaiden felt he was simply seeing things. Though he didn't know why he was being presented with such an honor. Kaiden bowed stiffly, his eye opening to view Tilda at the side who gave him a wink. He'd done it to make sure she wasn't acting up, but now he recalled just how sexy she was. Luckily, not even a beautiful woman or an ex-girlfriend like Sabatine could kill his cool-headed focus at this rare moment.

"Aye sir!" He said, and he immediately changed his demeanor. His eyes as sharp as talons and his voice as crisp as waking up in a cold freezer. "Bosun Higgs, unlatch us and get the landing gear ready to be lifted. Bushman, Harwen, set us up for power with Chief Savachev. Howarth I need you focused! Ready the topsail and keep us steady as we rise. There can be no mistakes, men. Candleworth, if I don't see the coordinates on the display before I next blink! I..." He stopped, and cleared his throat. Kaiden turned to Sabatine, inclining his head toward her to suggest she should call for their lift off.

"Lieutenant, let's fire off." He said, gazing at her with his striking eyes in a neutral fashion. He was taking his ego out of it.

[Penny]

"Chief of Ship, you may light the thrusters," Sabatine instructed. Almost before the syllables had left her mouth thrusters one and eight light with a roar. One on the port bow and the other at the aft stern, the two thruster balanced each other out and the Vickie began to bob and shudder in her birth. Kaiden irised the thrusters fully open to disperse there thrust rather than fiddle with the output volumes, though she didn't remember how he had fared at ship handling during the academy, he had obviously had plenty of practice since. The thrusters continued to come online in pairs until Kaiden controlled all eight units from his holographic console. Sabatine's nose began to itch as inonized steam from the slip began to infiltrate the ship, stinging her sinuses and the back of her throat. She took some pleasure in the look of discomfort the familiar irritant caused to Tilda.

"Chief of Rig, seal all hatches and all hands stand to," she announced over the intercom. In truth there was little for the riggers to do other than seal the hatches and then take thier places in the forward and aft airlocks, ready to spread the rig once they reached orbit.

"This is the Chief of Ship, reporting all stations optimal," Chief Engineer Savachev declared over the command push. The Vickie was buffeting now, surging on the wake of its thrusters as they dispersed thier force into the slip.

"Herculaneum control this is RCN Vicount, requesting final clearance to lift," Sabatine said, switching the comm relay to the port control. She wondered how those personnel felt about the dispersal of the fleet. Intellectually they probably understood that the minefield offered far better protection that the ships but it had to be demoralizing to see the vessels which were the symbol of the RCN scattering.

"Acknowledged Vicount, clear to depart," came back a flat female voice, too degraded by the microwave signal that was beaming through the clouds of ions being raised by the thrusters to convey any emotion. Sabatine pointed a finger at Kaiden to let him know they were clear but he was evidentlly listening in on the comms because his hands smoothly irised shut all eight thrusters. The jest of ions which had been widely dissipated concentrated and the ship leaped upwarards, her deck seeming to slam into Sabatine's boots. Kaiden made a hurried adjustment and the upward flight smoothed out. He might be an expierience ship handler, but he was new to the Vickie and her quirks. Sabatine supposed she could have warned him that the controls were a little touchy but she hadn't imagined the Captain would have him take the ship up his first full day aboard. Perhaps he was taking the measure of Kaiden as well. The ship rose rapidly up through the atmosphere. Sabatine had split her screen in four, one quadrant mirrored Leyla Savachev's board in engineering. Anything that conerned the engineer was worth knowing. Sabatine didn't quite have the woman's skill, but her time in the yards at Harbor 3 gave her a better grasp than most RCN officers. The second screen was Kaiden's, fully occupied just now with the thruster controls, though he was preparing to cut in the high drive in a side bar. The last screen showed the Captain's screen, he seemed to be checking Candleworth's astrogation plot. Micha was a fine astrogater, one of the best Sabatine had met, and he was busily making corrections to Candleworth's course plot. The midshipman's plot was so unimaginative that she suspected it had been lifted verbatim from the astrogation computer. Well she would check that later, and if Candleworth was a terrible astrogater, well the RCN would find a use for him regardless. Her own screen held a 3D representation of the space around Herculaneum, there was nothing of interest besides the mines but Sabatine plotted several missle attacks based on her assumptions about likely appearances of an attacking fleet. The odds of such a fleet arriving and not being destroyed by the mines was slim but a slim, but in battle the few seconds the computations could save her might be vital.

Gravity vanished suddenly as Kaiden shut down the thrusters. It returned with a jolt a few seconds later as the high drive kicked in. The high drive functioned with matter anti-matter converters, which were far more efficient than the ion thrusters used for maneuvering in a gravity well. Unfortunately high drive couldn't be used in an atmosphere as undecayed particles of antimatter would mix with the atmosphere and chew the drives themselves to pieces. Even in space there was a certain amount of particulate, but not enough that the motors were at risk with regular maintenance. The Vickie began to pick up speed and Sabatine unstrapped herself. It would be a three day voyage to Errhai and she didn't want to spend any more time looking at Tilda's smirking face than she had to.

"Sir, with your permission I'll join the bosun on the hull, it is his first time with us and I'd like to make sure the riggers don't give him any grief."

[POOHEAD189]

"Very good," Kaiden and Micha said simultaneously, and Kaiden colored at the realization. Micha looked at him with scrutiny, but to Kaiden's relief the man didn't chastise him in front of the crew. The prince didn't even look Sabatine's way, not deigning to see any look she would give him. Instead he stood at attention just as he was trained to do, watching over the men he brought with them. Bushman and Harwen might bicker and cause trouble when off duty, but they concentrated like proper spacers when the time called for it. The monitor display showcased their ascent into the stratosphere and further up until the light blue of the sky turned dark and filled with stars. Even after traveling across planets himself, standing on the deck of a ship made it so he never felt such a sight could get old.

"It's amazing, isn't it sir?" Kaiden asked the Captain softly, his lips having curved into a smile.

"Yes indeed." Micha responded in a far less enchanted tone, clearing his throat. He seemed to be shaking but Kaiden took that as the ship's thrumming beneath the bridge. The Captain turned to him and blinked. "Lieutenant, I do believe I have it handled here for the moment. Go and check on the Bosun with Lieutenant Hickoring. The Bosun is your man, and you two should get to know one another now that you'll be serving together."

Kaiden's once bright face turned to stone somehow, without even changing a muscle. He paused for a moment, not certain if he should regale the Captain with their prior history right here upon the deck as the crew were adjusting the thruster levels and keeping an eye on the various UIs on their monitors. "Sir, I had thought my help on the deck would be welcomed."

"Are you suggesting I need it, Lieutenant?" The Captain retorted a bit too quickly. He looked nervous, which made him defensive likely. Kaiden learned such actions from Psychology 101 in his cadet years, but he didn't expect it from a Captain. Perhaps it was a test on his loyalty. The prince spun properly to present himself face to face with his superior, clapped his feet together and saluted with a practiced, fluid motion.

"My apologies. I'll leave you to it then, sir!"
@Penny

[Penny]

Sabatine squeezed into the forward airlock with six riggers. All of them wore the heavy rigging suits, woven boron monocrystal over a framework of ceramic rings. The suits were heavy, bulky and awkward to wear and were notorious for rubbing a man bloody until he got used to moving in one, but they were the only protection a spacer had from torn cabling, sharp metal and the innumerable other hazards of working not only in space, but in spaces infinitely more hostile to humans than mere freezing vacuum. In theory officers could wear the more light weight and far more comfortable airsuits, but no one that fancied doing any work, and surviving, would take a risk on the flimsy plastic suits. Accelertion died suddenly and the background rumble of the plasma thrusters died away. For a few seconds there was the queasy feeling of sudden freefall and then the high drive motors cut on with a jolt. Instinctively the riggers began to latch their face plates and check their pressure seals. Sabatine did the same, her rigging suit had a gauntlet painted red in order to distinguish her in an environment where vacumn prevented speech and radio transmissions were not possible. On the hull of a starship in the matrix any electrical signal would unbalance the carefully calculated charge on the sails, altering the course in ways that were literally incalculable, riggers made do with a series of hand signals and by having a general understanding of what their role was in any particular maneuver. The telltale above the airlock went amber and the spacers performed their final checks before Klave, the bosun's mate in command of the lock, gripped the release wheel and heaved. There was a crack of outrushing air that tugged at Sabatine as the door opened into the void. The light of the stars seemed to flatten as the air particles that refracted them vanished in a jet. Before the door was fully open, Klave was through leading his men out onto the hull. Sabatine nodded her approval, the priority was to clear the lock for the next six riggers waiting in the hallway beyond. The Vickie had two airlocks, one forward and one aft, each of which could accommodate six spacers in rigging suits. With a normal watch of 24 riggers that meant that both airlocks had to cycle twice to get the full crew out onto the hull. Klave was pushing it as fast as he could, doubtless he felt jilted at not being promoted into the bosun slot and was eager to demonstrate his skill. That was fine with Sabatine, so long as efficiency didn't suffer.

When she had first come to the Vickie nearly a year ago discipline had been lax. Captain Micha was no Popularity Dick, a slang term for officers who prioritized being liked by their men, but he was kindly and easy going. Sabatine was neither of those things and had set about whipping the crew into shape with a will. Warships did not attract the best crews during peacetime when merchant wages were more attractive and there was no chance of prize money. That usually left them with dregs who for one reason or another were unwilling to take leg bail for some merchant and an extra few florins a week. Fortunately there had been some veterans, like Klave, who had welcomed Sabatine's efforts to instill discipline. Combat veterans knew that slackness in the wrong areas could get you killed, and though Sabatine hadn't tried to root out alcohol or drugs, she had come down ruthlessly on anyone caught using on duty. She had begun a process of stem to keel maintaince to get the Vickie into optimum fighting shape and she had vetoed the easy and lazy courses that had been proposed in favor of faster harder ones that forced the riggers push themselves hard. Such actions had not been without personal danger, unpopular officers could have all many of accidents on a starship, but her willingness to work along side her men, and the support of a core cadre of spacers like Klave had kept her safe long enough that the crew had began to take pride in itself, and the shirkers and nay-sayers were derided rather than indulged. Not for the first time she wondered what the addition of Kaiden, not to mention his hussy, would do to the crew. As she cleared the lock she glanced aft to see if Higgs had his men out yet. To her surprise he didn't though as she watched she saw the tell tale puff of evacuating air. What had been the hold up she wondered as she turned to clang the airlock shut and spin the dogging wheel.

A starship travled between the stars by shifting between the infinite bubble universes of the matrix by means of molecule thin charged sails which shaped Kasimir radition, the only true universal constant. The rig that held this sail was spread from masts arranged in rings around the hull of a starship. The Vickie had three rings each with four masts. The rig had to be stowed when landing, otherwise it would be sheered away by friction and was extended by hydraulics once they were in orbit. In theory the process was automated and while it was possible there was a spacer alive who had seen a perfect automatic deployment, Sabatine had never met one.The G-forces acting on a ship during liftoff inevitable kinked cables and froze joints, defects that had to be repaired by riggers before the ship could insert into the matrix. This lift was no exception, despite Sabatine's careful inspections ventral 1A froze at half extension, tangling the rest of the forward ring as it exteded. That had necessitated the replacement of a hydraulic pump that had been cooked by static discharge as well as ten minutes of frantic rerigging. Judging by the activity at the rear of the ship a similar number of small incidents had occured there. Still withing fifteen minutes the rig was properly shaken out and she signaled the 'at stations' to the bridge to let Captain Micha know her section was ready for insertion. While she had been engaged in the work she had paid little attention to the aft half of the watch and she glanced back now. To her surprise a figure in a rigging suit was methodically making his way forward. While no rigging suit except hers and the bosun's bore any distinguish mask, she could recognize most of the riggers by the way they moved. This one she didn't recognize. Her first thought was that there was some kind of a problem aft but even as she watched the hydro-mechanical semaphores flashed upright, signaling Captain Micha was about to insert. A queasy filling burbled up inside of her as the sidereal universe vanished to be replaced with the luminous pastel wonder of the matrix. Swallowing down the insertion reaction she stepped down the hull towards the stranger, about halfway there she caught enough of a view of the visor to recognize Kaiden.

And just what the devil was he doing on the hull? she thought to herself. He made a gesture to her and she stepped close, pressing her helmet to his so that the vibrations of speech could pass between the two of them. It was awkward and wasn't often used except when complext tasks needed to be relayed. It was also the most privacy two people could have as no electronic equipment could be present to eavesdrop.

"Is there a problem?" she demanded before remembering she was speaking to a superior officer and belatedly added, "sir."

[POOHEAD189]

Kaiden had been a deck officer for most of his career, keeping the technical duties to his crew after making certain he had gained an understanding of their primary and secondary responsibilities in case anything had gone wrong. But this still was not his first jaunt in the void along the rigging. In fact his first exposure to open space had been aiding a bosun back during his cadet days, mere months before he had begun dating Sabatine, if memory served. He saw two figures out along the rigging and even after all these years, he recognized the way she moved just as easily as he had back then.

He recognized that tone too when her helmet pressed to his. He chose to ignore it, though he knew one of these days he would lose his temper if she kept it up. Oh and you're so mature, are you? He thought to himself. He'd seen her working on the rigging and thawing the frozen material from liftoff, and behind her Herculaneum was fast receding into the blackness of space. He did his best not to clear his throat, knowing how pompous he might sound.

"There's no problem unless you inform me there is." He relayed, knowing how testy it appeared coming out of his mouth. Jogging on, he continued. "Captain Micha informed me to come out here and help anyway I can, because Higgs is my man. I'm not here to step on toes, Sabbie." He almost hesitated before speaking, realizing he used his pet name for her he hadn't said aloud in years. The awkwardness was palpable. "I see you're about to insert the rigging and I'll follow your lead." Before adding. "That's an order."

At that moment, Higgs approached from the portside. He stepped like a professional, and Kaiden knew he had the skills to back it up. As the fellow pressed his helmet to theirs, Kaiden could see his broad face and once broken nose curled from his friendly smile.

"Good to have you here, Lieutenant." Higgs voice said, though of course he had heard none of the two officer's exchange previously. Even in such close contact with Sabatine, Kaiden couldn't help but give a sly grin. Higgs had always been one of his favorite subordinates. "With your permission, you two can get the rigging done. I still need to check the fore for secondary radiation. Herculaneum has a damn lot of shortwave radiation from the big red." Referring to the system's star, though of course that was just a nickname. It was still a healthy sun not yet formed into a giant. It had another two billion years before it became truly dangerous to anyone on the surface of the planet.

"Good man Higgs. The lieutenant and I were just about to suggest the same thing." He told him. After Higgs responded with an 'aye', the man treaded off to the fore of the ship. Kaiden looked Sabatine in the eye. "Lead me from where you left off and let's get this over with." He said.

[Penny]

"You got it Sir," Sabatine replied nodding her head. Unfortunately the motion broke the contact of their helmets so that Kaiden couldn't hear the full sentence. Irritated she pressed her helmet back against his.

"Follow me sir," she repeated and turned and began tramping forward. Higgs was making his way forward also, though the veteran rigger did so be making short leaps from line to line rather than the slow methodical progress of magnetic boots. That was a form of showing off, there was no cause to rush on a routine cruise when time wasn't a factor but Higgs was a new man to a crew that had been together for over a year. Spacer's were an insular group and Higgs couldn't expect to lead them if he gained a reputation as a coward. Sabatine understood his motivation but she hoped a sudden maneuver didn't send their bosun floating off into space.

Hydraulic semaphores mounted to the hull began to flash upright communicating to the riggers the desired sail plan. Yards began to extend from the masts stretching sail fabric out like an unfolding flower. For a miracle there were no major hold ups, though there were a couple of kinks that were quickly resolved by riggers with belaying spikes. As each of the sails reached its proper position a rigger tapped a hydraulic set switch which took the signal inside the hull to the bridge. Sabatine clasped the mast step and re-established her helmet contact with Kaiden.

"We are running with the A and B rings only," she told the Lieutenant making slow careful gestures to the first two rings. The curvature of the hull prevented them from viewing any more than one mast at a time but the semaphores and riggers hand signals communicated that the others were in place. Sabatine's tone had lost its hostile truculence as she warmed to the subject, she loved the romance and practice of star-faring, as much time and skill as she had in the technical department she had never regretted pulling the strings she had to get transferred away from her safe billet at Harbor 3 for an active commission. Well connected officers like Kaiden might expect a junior birth in a battleship, but she preferred small ship service where she could get her hands dirty.

"C and D rings are only at half deployment, we don't need the sail area but they give us useful maneuverability to let us transition more smoothly," she explained. The rear most sails acted as gaff rigs which would allow them to slip between the bubble universes of the matrix quickly, countering the lower sail area by making more stressful transitions. As if listening to her thoughts the arms of the semaphore towers switched to straight vertical. Riggers gripped masts and yards and engaged their boot magnets. Sabatine checked Kaiden but the aristocrat had seen the signal and had engaged both boots. The hairs on the back of her hands lifted as the sails took on the precisely calculated charge. Insertion to the matrix wasn't as bad as extractions were but it was still disorienting enough that an unsecured man might drift off into a bubble universe all of his own. The space above them shimmered into white and thing a mind shattering whirl of pastels.

"And welcome to M-121A, the first of twenty one transitions," she told Kaiden.

[POOHEAD189]

The two Lieutenants spent the next few hours sorting through all of them, with almost little to no verbal interaction. Once they had gotten underway, Kaiden had not found it particularly unpleasant. Maybe they could work together on the same ship, though there would always be that emotional scar tissue just waiting to be reopened. He wasn't certain if he hoped she felt the same. Sometimes it was easier to quantify the world when he knew someone was perpetually pissed at him.

The next two days flew by relatively quickly, and he saw Sabatine only in passing during that time. Kaiden spent the days getting to know the crew he'd never worked with before. He met with Helenna Graving for a bit, discussing her job and making pleasantries before finding Howarth, Danzetti, and Byron all in a betting match to see if Klave or Capereill would win at arm wrestling, best 3 out of five. Kaiden hadn't known the two men long, but he could read people. He knew Capereill likely worked out every day to compensate for his diminutive stature, and as he suspected it gave him the win. The next few hours he spoke to the men and even met them along with Helenna the next day in the mess hall, sitting somewhat close to Sabatine but not really speaking to her.

But that was all in the last few cycles. Kaiden currently stood at the ready as the Vickie's exit bay depressurized, opening up on Errhai herself, the most populous world in this backwater system. It only had about fifty million people on-world, but that was enough to be worthy of protection. It might not be the very heart of the Cinnabar nation, but he wished he felt more pride. The Prince simply wished to walk out into the planetary sun's rays and feel fresh air on his skin. Though he knew protocol. Captain Micha would disembark first, and the man was still on the bridge speaking to the Bosun.

Behind Kaiden, Tilda poked her head past his shoulder to try and see outside of the ship. The woman had been attached to his hip ever since they had gotten on board, save for when he gave her the slip to meet the other crew. He hated being crowded, but she had been a good conversationalist, and they'd even flirted occasionally. He knew the woman was either going to be the death of his career or the most fun he'd had in years. Likely both, considering his contrasting luck.

"You're not a reporter anymore, but I see you're as curious as ever." The Prince remarked, arms crossed. Until the Captain approached, he'd be at ease.

"Are you not? I hear this is an interesting little system. I never really had the stomach for travel, but I love making it to the destinations." She confessed, seemingly even more eager than Kaiden to step off of the Vickie. "I plan to peruse the nightlife a bit when I'm off hours, or at least see if there's any good local drinks. You wouldn't care to join me, would you?"

Kaiden shook his head, trying not to smirk. "Is that professionally, or-"

"If it was professional, it wouldn't be off hours." She teased, flying past Kaiden opening his mouth to speak. "Besides, I think we both can use a little unwinding."

"I-" He started, until Sabatine walked into the exit bay as she had been summoned. Kaiden regarded her and gave a casual salute, more out of a greeting than anything. She might have to salute to him, but it was always good for ranking officers to return the favor unless in the midst of a battle.
@Penny

[Penny]

"Sir," Sabatine said with a perfunctory salute. Such honors weren't typically given on ship during active service it seemed to ease the tension. Over the last several days they had seen each other sporadically in the course of their duties. She found it was easier to think of him as an RCN officer if she immersed herself in her work, which as it happened, was her natural inclination. While they were in transit Sabatine spent one watch on the hull with the riggers, trying to improve her modest astrogation skills, and the second watch with the ship-side techs. In the second category she was probably more skilled than anyone other than Chief Savachev and she worked with the midshipmen to improve their technical abilities. There was no fixed curriculum for a midshipman but Sabatine intended that by the end of the cruise all of the Vickie's middies would have a basic understanding of the machines that kept them alive in the hostile void of space, even if she was afraid that Otis might take his hand off with a power saw if she took her eyes off him for more than a few seconds. Captain Micha gave some instruction on command and, when he had time, astrogation so she tried to fill the remaining gaps. More than once she had seen Savachev hide a groan when she had set the middies to a task though, certain that her techs would have to repeat it once 'the young gentlemen' were done buggering around.

"Sir I wonder if you might give the order for the port and starboard watch to take liberty. Normally the captain would do it but he is caught up talking with Chief Higgs," she told him. Micha had been speaking to Higgs when she left the bridge, mostly asking questions about Kaiden for some reason, though it really wasn't any of her business. The bosun no doubt wanted to get to liberty himself but you didn't let your CO know that, even if it should be blatantly blood obvious. There was a babble of voices from the companionways behind them as the spacers, dressed in their liberty suits, RCN utilities whose seams had been embroiled with ribbons denoting all the ports the spacers had called upon, anxiously awaited to be unleashed. It was bad form for Micha to keep them waiting, but it was just possible this was a test of his new XO.

Beyond the boarding hold riggers were extending a ponton bridge to one of the quays to which the Vickie had moored. Errhai was a backwater world, hell everything in the Rayleigh Stars was a backwater, but it was more developed than many of its neighbours. There was a fair amount of export trade, mostly sugar that was processed from cane grown on inland plantations. A network of diesel powered railways brought the stalks of cane into Port Benjamin, as the city fancied itself, where it was processed in factories into an export grade foodstuff. The process involved a great deal of steam and gave the place a faint stink of molasses and old socks. There was a fair amount of rum produced here as well, and it was the staple liquor on the several dozen major worlds of the Raleigh Cluster, at least among the better classes on those worlds. Tilda sneezed violently as unquenched ions from the slip tickled her nose, both Kaiden and Sabatine were familiar enough with water landings to ignore the sensation. Sabatine affected not to notice, as a general she found she was happiest when she pretended Tilda didn't exist.

"Who are those people?" Tilda asked, pointing at a group of expensively dressed men and women at the end of the pier. The riggers were yelling at them to get back away from the quay so they could tie up the pontoon bridge. Klave was gesticulating with a length of pipe, making it clear that well dressed or not, if they didn't clear out of his way he was perfectly willing to clear them out. The question was directed at Sabatine so there was no way to ignore it without being rude.

"Captain Micha transmitted our crew list from orbit so we could debark without screwing around with local customs," she replied in a neutrally professional tone. Such things were a curtesy only. The 'Friendship of the Republic' was a thin veil that was easier for the locals to accept than 'possession of the Cinnabar Empire' would have been. The Republic, unlike the Alliance of Free Stars, usually preferred to work through local elites if it could, but if they got uppity the RCN would be happy to set them straight.

"I suspect they noticed our eminent executive officer on our manifest, and have come to invite him to a hundred dinner parties so they can boast to their friends of having met a genuine Cinnabar Noble," she explained.

[POOHEAD189]

Kaiden had the same neutral visage plastered on his face, though he imagined he was looking slightly less amused than Sabatine. He might enjoy free food and good intelligent company, but he'd be far better off carousing rather than having to use a certain fork to eat what likely tasted a modicum better than the food he'd receive in far better company. That, and truthfully it irked him to be given special treatment due to his familial heritage. He'd have to treat them in a manner similar to how Sabatine treated Tilda, only with a bit more grace. It wouldn't do to have bad relations with the local populace because he shoved the member of a prominent family.

Kaiden didn't know if Tilda was now going to insist on him going, or if God forbid Captain Micha did. He supposed he would need a date if that was the case, but he still held out hope he could slip away quietly or give a firm no before any order was given. Better to apologize later than admit defeat now.

"Great..." He remarked sarcastically, lamenting the political indications of the 'Friendship of the Republic.' "I will cross that bridge when I come to it."

Clearing his throat, he looked at the ground for a brief moment contemplating Lieutenant Sabatine's request. He wasn't going to give her a negative answer out of spite, as much as he had the urge at times. The Port and Starboard crews had worked tirelessly as the aft and bow, but it was true they had required a bit more maintenance due to a few electrical complications, and from no fault of their own. In fact they had fixed it quicker than he could have imagined and the ship had not slowed a bit.

He didn't wish to show favoritism, or show that he was inclined to agree with Sabatine at every turn. But likely there was no fear of that, and decided to speak for Captain Micha since the officer had deigned to remain busy at this point in time.

"As for your request, it's granted. We'll give Port and Starboard liberty for now." The Prince said, tucking a wave of his hair handsome, dark hair back into line. "We'll be planetside plenty of time to give everyone a fair shot at relaxation. Make sure you're among them, Lieutenant. You're no use to the Captain or I overworked, is that understood?"

It looked as if Captain Micha was nearing the end of his delay, his voice growing closer within the corridor.

[Penny]

"Sir," Sabatine responded in a neutral tone before turning slightly away.

"Ship," she began triggering the ship wide communications link, "Port and Starboard watches are release for liberty." The last syllables of the message were drowned out by the roar of happy spacers as they rushed down the gangway in their colorful liberty suits, chatting and boasting of how they were going to fuck all the whores and drink all the booze this town had to offer. Realistically Port Benjamin was no different to hundreds of ports they had seen and the bars and brothels would be of a piece but after days in the matrix blowing of steam was a necessary activity no matter how many times you had done in.

Captain Micha and Chief Higgs entered the loading bay and the captain made a dismissive guesture with his hand. Higgs strode down the gangway joining a lewd song his fellows were already bellowing.

"Here we come, full of rum, looking for girls who peddle their bums."

Spacers were not by and large what Cinnabar society would consider sophisticated and their needs basically began and ended with booze and entertainment. That didn't mean they were stupid, it just meant they needed to remind themselves that they were human in the most basic possible terms as often as possible.

"Ah very good Lieutenant," Micha said approvingly as he joined the two officers, casting a distasteful look at the crowd of livered servants on the quay. They resembled butterflies scattering as a flock of birds appeared as the spacers bulled through them. Sabatine didn't think any of the spacers would deliberately shove the locals into the water, but neither would they care very much if it happened. She didn't care very much if it came to that. If these yokels had any sophistication whatever they would know better than to throng the gangway of a debarking starship.

"Anything to report Hickoring?" Micha asked with an arched eyebrow as he stopped beside them. Kaiden had been in the BDC when the ship landed and Micha had been controlling the ship from the bridge which had left her free to asses Port Benjamin as they descended.

"Six ships in harbor sir, all small freighters less than a thousand tons displacement, pretty much the standard for the carrying trade here," she explained. Small starships landed regularly in Port Benjamin, selling manufactured goods and industrial supplies that couldn't be manufactured on planet and loading their holds with sugar and rum before departing. Five out of the six ships were in the files the squadron had compiled on the place, the sixth obviously didn't make the run that frequently.

"No Alliance activity?" Micha asked. What exactly he meant by that was hard to say, Sabatine would hardly have waited till now to mention it if an Alliance warship had been in harbor and he would have seen it on the sensors himself in orbit. Cinnabar and the Alliance were at peace at the moment so their wouldn't have been anything technically wrong with finding a ship here, but it still would have been cause for comment and concern.

"According to the harbor masters office, nothing with an Alliance merchant registry has touched down within the last week," she expanded. The Captain nodded looking relieved.

"Very good Hickoring, be about your duties," Micha told her with a nod. She clicked her heels together and trotted down the ramp to begin her liberty, as pleased as the spacers to have some time ashore, though less transparent in demonstrating the fact. Micha turned to Kaiden with a wan smile.

"Well Lieutenant, I see you have a crowd of locals wishing to make your acquaintance. I will take the first watch so that you don't keep them waiting. Might be a good chance to gather some intelligence from the local nobs eh?"

[POOHEAD189]

Kaiden watched Sabatine walk away, envious of her being able to walk straight past the vultures outside without so much as a glance. He couldn't even stay on the ship and pass the time playing cards with Bushman and Harwen. He was about to make some excuse to the Captain about rechecking the rigging or making sure on the ionization levels of the ship's life support systems, but he realized how futile it would be. The crew he'd trained were impeccable and no doubt had everything well under way in accordance with the Captain himself. That left Kaiden with only one option.

"Aye sir." He replied, and decided to suck it up. He was certain he wouldn't spend the entirety of his stay in the den of some backwater baron's home.

"Tilda?" He asked, but before he should respond he held his arm out for her to slide hers within. "Take my arm. You're going to be my date tonight." Captain Micha had already toddled off after Kaiden had agreed to his request, which was just fine in Kaiden's book. He didn't know if Micha was inclined to order such a thing, but Kaiden had known superior officers who had suggested he remain single or without a female companion simply because it made him that much more attractive to befriend by nobles looking to marry out their daughters.

"Once we walk out there, don't speak unless someone speaks to you." He advised. "Not because of any lack of worthiness, fear not. I just don't trust you not to fuck me over."

He said it with such a casual tone that he could tell she didn't quite catch what he had said until they were already on the ramp. He didn't know if she was offended or amused as he didn't even look her way. He knew how to appear royal when need be, giving off an air of aloof disinterest with the occasional meeting of the eyes to who he figured were the more esteemed people of the crowd, inclining his head every so often.

It took him all of five minutes to have his entire night completely booked, his first stop being the estate of Bernacock Dickerman, a man with a very unfortunate name. Kaiden wasn't certain he could keep his cool for the entirety of the night, as it seemed the fellow was holding a large get-together where evidently Kaiden was the prized guest. He hoped Tilda was keeping her composure...

[Penny]

As she strolled through the streets of Port Benjamin Sabatine wasn't entirely sure whether she should feel sorry for Kaiden or whether he was getting his just deserts. In the past several days she had come to an uneasy truce with herself in regards to him. Kaiden hadn't sought any opportunity to use his rank to discomfort her, so she had done her best to treat him merely as another RCN officer, albeit one she was not particularly fond of. It was harder to maintain that when he trotted out his blond reporter but she supposed she had done more difficult things during her career in the RCN.

Port Benjamin was not a picturesque city, it was cradled on three side by steep rises to shallow tablelands the sides of which were coated with thick green vegetation. Here and there she could pick out the lights of what she knew to be dumping stations, where tons of sugar cane, cut into billets was dumped into nearly but not quite vertical chutes to carry them down the steep escarptment to where trains would collect them and carry them to the mills. She paused to observe one of the locomotives pass by. It was small, the size of a tractor rather than heavier freight haulers she had seen. The cane itself was carried in cheaply fabricated wire bins, mesh stretched over steel framing on a pair of axels, filled to a protruding mound with short sections of cane. The clattered across the cracked roadway infront of her with the blast of a whistle to warn traffic, riding the rusty rails with a squeal. The traffic was not heavy and almost entirely composed of diesels with large wheels of woven wire. Sabatine suspected that the cliffs above channeled tropical rains down in torrents and that the residents of Port Benjamin were flooded out at least once a year. There were engineering solutions to that kind of thing, but almost all of them would be worth far more than anything in this city justified. The city itself was composed mostly of one or two story bungaloo style dwellings, walled with brick or an unappealing fibre board that might have been sugar cane pulp mixed with a plasticizing agent and put through a press. There were several administrative buildings made of stone and concrete in what passed for the downtown, though the tallest of those was four stories.

While most spacers spent their time in the dives the clustered along the waterfront of every spaceport in the human universe, Sabatine preferred to wander a little further afield for her entertainment. She like a bottle as much as the next RCN officer, but she also prefered to find a meal and entertainment that might let her feel like she had been to another planet, rather than to Harbor Three on some other dustball. Port Benjamin had a downtown that was lined with small shops, most of which sold foodstuffs of various kinds though there were vendors specializing in electronics and jewelry, she paused to look at their wares though there was little to recommend them and cabin space was already at a premium, especially now Kaiden had displaced her from the XO's bunk. At length she found a restaurant that seemed popular with the locals. It was beside a train line and sported a large sign in black lettering that declared it 'Victoria Hotel' she stepped inside to find the tropical heat cut by the shade and several slowly rotating fans. A dozen or so local turned to stare at her, doubtlessly finding her something of an oddity in her RCN utilities. The leave bag she carried over her shoulder attracted some eyes also but she ignored them as she slid up to the bar. Some kind of televised sport was taking place on a flat screen display but beyond the fact that their were men throwing a ball of red plastic to one another there was nothing to identify it for her.

"What'll ya have?" a barman in a stained apron asked as she took a seat at one of the stools. There was no menu she could see and she didn't much care one way or the other in any case.

"I'll have whatever the special is, and rum, something good," she told him. The barman vanished behind a door of plastic strips only to reemerge a minute later carrying a large platter piled high with fried potato chips and a pastry of some kind with a squirt of red sauce on top. He set it down and produced a bottle of rum from beneath the bar pouring two fingers into a glass.

"Leave the bottle," Sabatine advised absently. The barmen shot her a skeptical look.

"Its twenty piasters for the food and another twenty for the bottle," he declared, not quite pugnaciously but not in a friendly tone either. Sabatine pulled a florin coin from her pouch and slapped it down on the bar with an audible crack. Even at the inflated exchange rate in Port Benjamin she was overpaying.

"Leave the bottle," she repeated firmly. The barman flushed and offered a quick bow before sweeping the florin up and hurrying back to his business. Sabatine took a knife and fork and cut into the pastry, it was savory and filled with beef braised in a dark brown gravy that smelled delicious. There was a greenish layer on top of it, which turned out to be whipped peas that went well with both the meat and the spicy red sauce. Sabatine tucked in with a will eating several mouthfuls before picking up the glass and taking a slug of the rum. It was sweeter than she though but had a pleasant burn and a smooth finish, something that wouldn't have disgraced a fine table in Xenos. She picked up the bottle and poured herself a goodly measure before turning her attention to the denizens of the bar. Several of them were older men, and they were all men, but there were a trio of young fit looking fellows whom she judged might by navies or factory workers. One of them was handsome enough for her gaze to linger and he gave her a smile. She nodded in a friendly manner.

"Care for a drink?" she asked waggling the bottle of rum by the neck.

Sabatine was feeling pleasantly warm as she leaned over the ancient pool table and lined up her shot. Several of the locals called encouragement as she struck the que ball smoothly sending it in a long graceful slide down the table to ricochet of the banked edge, just tapping the corner of her target ball. There was a collective whoop from the patrons as the ball hung on the edge of the pocket for a moment and then tumbled in with a solid clack as it hit another ball still in the mesh pockets that replaced any kind of automatic return. There were cheers and groans depending on who was betting on whom. Ven, the handsome man she had invited to drink with her and her partner in this game patted her approvingly on the ass as he grinned at the other pair of navies who made up the opposition as they debated whether it was better to play for a safe shot and attempt to snooker Sabatine and Ven or whether they should risk a tricky long shot that would put them even again.

"So you want to get out of here after this game?" Ven whispered in her ear as he stepped up behind her deliberately brushing against her. Sabatine smiled and took her tumbler of rum from the edge of the table where it was adding to the collection of moisture rings and took another drink.

"Sounds like a plan," she murmured and slightly sideways to allow him to kiss her neck when the doors of the bar burst open. Two spacers in liberty suits rushed in, Capereill and one of the engine wipers, Vitzov, both men were sweating and clearly drunk but it would have been more surprising if that weren't the case.

"Ma'am!" Capereill cried with obvious relief, his face slackening from its expression of pent up anxiety.

"Hey you can't just bust in here!" one of the bouncers declared, stepping threateningly into the path of the pair and grabbing the power room tech by the shoulder. Capereill drove a fist into the man's stomach doubling him over then kicked his feet out from under him, displaying all the emotion of a fisherman clearing a tangled line. The local's chin bounced on the tiled floor, his teeth clacking together loud enough to make Sabatine flinch. Truthfully the fellow as lucky it hadn't been riggers who had come through the door. Klave certainly would have had no hesitation in putting the boot in. There was a general surge of the patrons towards the two spacers, who looked both frustrated and perplexed. A gunshot crashed through the bar freezing everyone in their place. Sabatine lowered the smoking pistol waggling the barrel to cool it down as well as to make her point.

"It's ok," she pronounced with the exaggerated dignity of someone who is sober enough to function but still not very sober.

"These are my shipmates," she told the bar as though that explained everything. And it did explain everything as far as she was concerned.

"Ma'am we have a situation," Capereill said urgently stepping towards her with his wiper watching his back. Sabatine blinked, adrenaline clearing the alcohol fumes from her brain faster than a cold shower would have done.

"Report," she directed, unsure as to why they had sought her out rather than reporting whatever it was back to the ship, well she had a commo helmet in her bag if she needed to make that call.

"Its Mr Ottis ma'am, he has been taken," Capereilli declared looking both angry and miserable at the same time, "the bloody wogs have snatched him!"

Sabatine looked around the bar, and at all the men who were staring at them in shocked puzzlement.

"On me spacers," she snapped and marched out into the beer gardern which was empty and provided some privacy. She had asked Capereilli to watch Ottis and make sure the young gentlman didn't get into too much trouble.

"We was down at this brothel on the strip," the tech began without preamble, "Ottis had just paid the socket fee for this whore, good looking girl but just a whore you know." Sabatine nodded, unceratin exactly what the tech was getting at with the statement but willing him to get to the point.

"Anyways she takes him back to her crib, next minute locals with stun batons and wearing uniforms swarm the place, screaming that Ottis is raping some bigwigs daughter and dragging him out. Look we tried to stop em, we aint yellow you know that but they had batons and guns and me and Vit here with nothing but knives and cudgels you know." Sabatine nodded. The RCN had its share of idiots but it wasn't a career that attracted or tolerated cowards.

"These were local cops?" she asked.

"If they was cops I'm a bloody senator," Vitzov declared. Vitzov was from Novi Svirdlosk and his accent still clipped his words to the point Sabatine had to struggle to understand.

"Ain't no cops in the universe that respond that fast, even to a real crime, which this sure as hell wasn't, and their must have been a dozen of them," Capereilli agreed nodding to his companion.

"It had to be a setup ma'am, they grabbed the kid and bailed, drove him off towards one of those big houses up in the hills best we could tell, which wasn't very bloody well." Sabatine nodded again, giving herself a minute to think.

"And you reported this to the Captain?" she asked, hoping that was true.

"Aye we reported it, Captain Micha says we will hash it out with the cops in the morning, only these weren't cops ma'am I know they weren't," Capereilli cried all but wringing his hands in frustration. Sabatine cursed Micha mentally, even if a spacer committed a crime he should be tried by a military tribunal not turned over to the locals and from what the men described, this sounded more like an abduction than an arrest.

"Fuck," she muttered more affected by the rum than she realized.

"That was about what we figured ma'am, what should we do?" Capereilli asked, growing calmer now he had someone in the chain of command actually listening to him. Sabatine hesitated for a moment, the situation was uncertain but she couldn't wait for all the facts to make a decision, and no decision was worse than not making a decision.

"Right, I need you to find the XO wherever he is, probably at some local fancyman's shindig, round up Klave and anyone else you can find who is sober enough to walk a straight line, riggers for preference. See to it Capereilli, Vitzov, take me to this knocking shop if its more than a five minute walk we will rent a car. Hop it spacers." The three of them strode out of the bar without a backward glance, all looking a great deal more sober than they had a few minutes before.

[POOHEAD189]

"That sounds wonderfully decedent, my lord." Kaiden lied, swirling the wine he wished was vodka in his glass cup. He was likely the only person here save the few children present that yearned to be elsewhere. Hearing tales of from a bastard like Malgin was tiresome enough, but he could not care less about the fellow's yacht or the breasts of his mistress. He was likely extremely drunk, or his drink had been spiked to make him confess of such an affair in public. Kaiden wouldn't be surprised if the man's wife hadn't orchestrated just such a thing to embarrass himself in front of the Prince.

Luckily for him, Kaiden did not give a shit. In fact it would likely amuse him more if his wife attempted to casually speak to Kaiden and the Prince gave no indication her plan had come to fruition. If that was indeed what was occurring. The problem was, Malgin was not alone in speaking to the Prince. Two other gentlemen decidedly less inebriated stood there. Lord Paul Felitides, a man with a grave look and facial hair that Kaiden believed would have made a fine broom, along with the plump Guild Master Veraden Kornamy, who had taken no time in offering Kaiden an unofficial partnership in his evidently thriving business.

"Malgin, would you deign to take a seat? You look ghastly." Veraden commented.

"Oh, truly? Yes, yes I should. Good day to you gentlemen."

Once the man was gone, Veraden shook his head. "Swing, I say. I don't make a habit of insulting nobility, but the fellow is simply an embarrassment here."

"Are you not an unusual guest?" Kaiden remarked. The Guild Master seemed taken aback, no doubt his lack of a noble title was a sore spot. Lord Felitides smirked behind him, but said nothing. Kaiden had already gleaned whatever information he needed from the two men and now he was simply trying to pass the time by stirring trouble. If it weren't for Captain Micha he would have called for a duel already to spice up the vast ballroom chamber they stood within.

Among the crowd, Kaiden caught sight of Tilda making her way toward him. He was surprised to say he was glad to see her. They had been together for hours before she left him alone to snoop or lurk or whatever it was she was up to for around an hour. The two fellows with Kaiden appraised Tilda like she was a prime cut. It was true, but Kaiden had consciously kept himself from looking at her like that, lest she get idea. As usual, Kaiden was entirely indecisive when it came to women he'd have to continue to spend time with on his duty. If she wasn't his servant he would have bedded her already.

"Gentlemen, pardon my interruption. May I steal my date for a few moments?" She asked, gliding past them.

"I'm certain you'll have plenty of time to entertain him later." Lord Felitides replied dismissively. "You've some nerve for a woman."

"I was going to tell you the same thing." She said, fluttering her lashes. Before the Lord came over the shock of being spoken to in such a manner, she had already yanked Kaiden away, one hand on his hip and the other behind his neck. Kaiden's resolve to keep his eyes off of her took a blow from her hand being mere inches from his groin, but he played it off as being simply surprised she whisked him away.

Stepping onto the balcony, the woman shut the curtains behind him, giving Kaiden a nice eyefull of her rump in the tiny dress she'd chosen to wear. The planet's moon was bright this night, and the stars accentuated the vastness of the sky. Kaiden crossed his arms as she turned, looking at her expectantly. "What is it?" He asked.

"Hmm? Oh, nothing." She declared, grinning. She sauntered over to him, the way women do with their hips swaying. "I just was finished with my errands and saw you were bored, so I saw fit to save you. Was that wrong?"

Kaiden chuckled, and leaned back on the balustrade. "No, but I do need to ask what you were doing."

She stalked by him and leaned her arms on the stone railing just beside him, overlooking from the front garden. He cursed himself, thinking how beautiful she was. "Gathering information. Old habits die hard, I guess. Wasn't that what the Captain wanted you to do?"

"I've been doing it." He replied.

"And I am helping. Why am I never appreciated? You treat your ex with more respect than me, and by everything you've said, you're still not fond of her." Kaiden's look was all she needed to see. She shook her head. "I think an apology is in order, Prince."

Kaiden knew she was right. He'd been so focused on keeping professional with Sabatine that he threw whatever task he needed done to Tilda without so much as a thank you. True, he flirted with her. But he did it off an on, pinching himself whenever he caught himself in the act. "Ok ok," He replied, hands in the air. He leaned on the balustrade beside her the next moment, overlooking the gardens. "I agree. I just don't entirely trust you. You never did explain why you dropped your job so quickly on my offer."

It was her turn to hesitate. "Because being a reporter, I snoop into people's lives. As with most Republic reporters, I've snooped into yours." She confessed. "I saw you struggling and I know what you've been through, and I respect you. Also you're hot, but that has little to do with anything I'm sure." The woman began playing with one of the loose strands of blonde hair that curled behind her elaborate bun. "And I hated my bosses, so I took a chance. Is that so difficult to understand?"

"I took a chance on you, so...no." He replied, smirking.

She sighed. "Don't worry, boss. I will be the perfect little-"

Kaiden turned her head and kissed her full on the lips. Tilda's eyes widened for a quick moment, before her arms snaked around his neck and she kissed him back hungrily. Kaiden found it intoxicating, his hands on her lower back and slowly sliding down to her round bottom. The next few moments they enjoyed themselves, until their lips separated.

"That is more like it." She said, grinning. "Now what's say we...oh..."

"What?"

Tilda untangled from Kaiden the next moment, and the prince turned to see the gate to the garden opening. Sabatine and a few members of the crew strode in, searching every-which way for Kaiden. Luckily, they hadn't seen what just happened. Why would I care? Kaiden thought.

"Tilda, what information exactly did you find?"
@Penny

[Penny]

Sabatine pulled her commo helmet from her head and followed Higgs and Capperelli in through the wrought iron gate. The bosun hadn't been best pleased to be rousted from the brothel they had found him in but he hadn't complained or tried to shirk the duty which was a good sign. He had also been staggeringly drunk but after a dousing with cold water and a half hour spent searching for Kaiden he was, well not sober, but functional. A pair of liveried servants tried to step into the way.

"Mistress this is a private party, who do you think you are to..." the servants self important rant choked off as Capperelli punched him in the stomach and shoved him head long into a well manicured rose bush. That wasn't a good choice, but it wasn't so far from Sabatine's on reaction that she would bother to mention it.

"No one you want to fuck with tonight buddy," Higgs growled, though he directed the comment at the second servant who was already backing away with his hands raised. None of the spacers carried guns, or even the more customary knives or clubs, but she didn't doubt that her people would finish any trouble the locals put up about her barging into a private party. Fortunately further trouble was abrogated by the fact that Kaiden was close to hand.

"Kai," she called out, waving her hand at him, though he could hardly have missed his shipmates assaulting his hosts servants. The use of the diminutive name was intended to convince the locals that she knew Kaiden well enough that they should butt out without further object lessons delivered by her spacers, and to signal to Kaiden that this wasn't strictly speaking, official RCN business. The matter had been reported to Captain Micha who had said that it was a matter for the local police to sort out. He hadn't said that to Sabatine however so she was choosing to interpret that as Micha's opinion rather than official order. A few quick calls to the local police precincts had confirmed Cappereili's initial suspicion, whoever had taken the Midshipman, it wasn't the dirt side cops. Whoever it was though, was going to learn that the RCN didn't sit by and wait for the local PD to put down their donuts when one of their own was taken. At least if Sabatine had anything to say about it, which for the moment, she did. Involving Kaiden was a calculated risk but at least if both she and the XO concurred on the course of action it would be harder for Micha to raise any objections after the fact. They were, after all, the officers on the ground. She had used the recall plate Kaiden carried to locate him, all spacers on liberty carried such devices in case their should be some urgent need to recall them to the ship, but she hadn't activated it. To do so might alert the captain to what she was up to, which would give him a chance to order her not to do it. No one stopped her as she mounted the patio and closed with Kaiden.

"We have a situation XO," she said softly enough that only he and probably Tilda could hear. As directly as she could she outlined the situation, including the fact that Captain Micha had been made aware of it and seemed inclined to wait for the local cops to sort it out.

"It was all planned in advance," she concluded. Sabatine had linked her commo helmet to the ships systems, an easy enough trick if you were familiar with the hardware, which most people weren't. It amazed her how little interest people took in the tech they used every single day. Working in maintenance at Harbor Three had required her to learn every subsystem and hidden routine in almost every piece of kit the RCN used and she had learned very quickly that most people, even techs, didn't know they were there unless they directly bore on their day to day activities. Accessing the ship she had been able to uplink to the orbital satellite imagery, fortunately there as no cloud cover, and had spotted the snatch team staging in a nearby parking area before Otis had even entered the brothel. She had also been able to track them to a compound high up in the eastern hills. It was obviously guarded, though by nothing more than stone walls and a dozen or so locals.

"I don't have a second commo helmet but I suppose I could bring it up on a holo display," Sabatine concluded. Kaiden opened his mouth but Tilda produced a small palm sized unit and passed it to Sabatine.

"Use mine," she said helpfully. Sabatine nodded curtly and took the unit before pausing.

"It is up to you sir," she said choosing her words carefully. Kaiden was a scion of the Cinnibar nobility and thus understood that she was working around the Captain without her stating it directly.

"If you have duties here you can't leave..." she went on. If Kaiden didn't want to get involved that was his prerogative, but duty required that Sabatine report what she had learned to a superior. Kaiden was no coward, she knew that, but if he didn't want to stick his neck out for what might easily turn into a real ratfuck she would understand the choice, even if she couldn't respect it.

[POOHEAD189]

Kaiden could easily compartmentalize his mind in to over a dozen different sections, devoid of any emotion or tugging snare that might cause any one of them to spill out into the rest of his head. It helped him keep his calm in this bizarre situation, a situation that could have disastrous consequences to any number of parties involved. He trusted Sabatine when it came to the men, her instinct usually be right when it came to dangerous situations.

The Prince ran a hand through his thick head of hair, the mane having already been messed with by Tilda's hands. He shook his head, lamenting what he was about to say.

"If Captain Micha said we are not to do anything, then we aren't to do anything...that would be the responsible thing to say, at least. Unfortunately, that's not my decision." He remarked. "I'll help you. But regardless of what happens, we need to try to resolve this peacefully if at all possible. There's bigger things at risk than the life of one man, no matter how much history we have with him. But we won't let him die at the hands of some pirates bastards either."

The men around Sabatine grinned, and Tilda blinked, though whether she was impressed or taken aback it was hard to say. Despite the warning against bloodshed, Kaiden knelt down and pulled out a .380 semiautomatic pistol, checking to see if it was fully loaded with a 'clap' of his hand.

[Penny]

What the locals made of their dinner guest streaming out of the garden gate with a gang of spacers was hard to know but no one was foolish enough to get in the way. They boarded the transport the spacers had provided. Sabatine didn't know if it was stolen and she hadn't asked. It was a large open cabbed diesel its white paint bubbled with rust that hadn't been sanded before the latest application. There was an attached trailer with three articulated sections. The trailer had been designed to haul produce in collapsible wire bins though the hardware and mesh was missing. Higgs was in the driver's seat, his hands gripping the ancient non-powered wheel of rubberized plastic, spacers climbed into the front and rear sections, leaving the central portion for the officers. Sabatine, Kaiden and Tilda took their places and the vehicle lurched into motion, the transmission screaming due to lack of maintenance or Higgs lack of experience, and they trundled down the cracked bitumen. Sabatine was not particularly pleased that Tilda was coming along, but she supposed there was no help for it, and she had lent them the projection unit. Sabatine crammed the commo helmet onto her head and accessed the sync function, a moment later the projection unit sprang to life, the hologram jounced and fuzzed on the uneven roads but it was good enough for her purposes.

"Judging from what the satellites picked up," she explained, displaying a loop of grainy imagery. The satellite network wasn't designed for this kind of work, but with the aid of the powerful computers aboard the Viceroy, even the simple telemetry and weather feeds could be sharpened to the point that a convoy of four vehicles could be clearly seen as it pulled into a stone walled estate high up in the hills. As they stopped the doors opened and a bound figure was dragged out of the cars and into the building.

"They took Otis to this compound in the hills, it seems to have been abandoned until a couple of weeks ago," she explained. Tilda gave Sabatine an unreadable look.

"How are you doing all this?" she asked, gesturing to the image hovering over the projector, her face flickered with something between amazement and concern before settling onto the former. Sabatine's own expression was concealed behind her helmet. Did the woman worry that she could listen to her pillow talk or something? She supposed it might be possible though the thought filled her with disgust.

"RCN training is extensive," Sabatine lied, because she needed to say something, and there was no way she was going to show off in front of Tilda, that might imply that she gave a damn about a servants opinion. Truthfully RCN training in such technical matters was cursory, meant to be left to warrant officers and technical specialists, but Sabatine had spent years breaking down and rebuilding RCN equipment and had a better idea of its capabilities than the overwhelming majority of officers. Rolling back the footage had been a simple mater to. The archives weren't protected by any encryption beyond a simple alpha numeric password, something the astrogation computer on the Vickie had broken in less than a minute.

"The only road approach is long and winding," she explained zooming out so Kaiden could see the snaking road that lead to Port Benjamin.

"And it is high enough up in the hills that the sides of the mountains make a sort of natural funnel," she went on. It was a terrible tactical position, doubtlessly chosen for that exact reason. She hoped that Kaiden had some ideas about how to approach the problem.

"Why?" he asked unexpectedly.

"Its a defensible position..." Sabatine began but Kaiden shook his head.

"I mean why grab Otis in the first place, it isn't as though his terrible astrogation and indifferent rigging skills are going to be a crippling loss to the RCN." Sabatine nodded, feeling slightly embarrassed. Perhaps it was the rum she was still burning off or perhaps it was that she had been so focused on getting Otis back the deeper motives hadn't occurred to her. It wasn't as though he was a Captain or from a powerful family, so far as she knew his only political connection was a distant cousin in a low level defense post. His grades were mediocre, he had no money, no interest. The only thing about the midshipman that was noteworthy was the fact he was an RCN officer. It would have made much more sense to grab Kaiden, at least that gave them the possibility of ransom. The truck pulled off the road and onto the fringes of a grass covered sporting field. Higgs killed the ignition and they sat for a moment in silence.

"I have no idea," Sabatine replied, "but we can just let these yokels snatch an RCN officer off the street."

[POOHEAD189]

Kaiden was more than mildly uncomfortable in the small confines of the vehicle shoulder to shoulder with his ex-lover and his perhaps-new-lover who didn't like each other, and he wasn't entirely certain if he had something to do with it or not. Luckily he could distract himself with the situation at hand, as grim as the situation was. He knew Sabatine was smart but the alcohol likely got to her senses on the 'why' of the situation. It was actually refreshing to see; loyalty over baseless calculations. So many nobles lacked any moral qualities.

"It's entirely possible I'm their target, and they kidnapped Otis because they knew you would come to fetch me so as to inadvertently lure me there." He reasoned aloud, simply stating a likely fact. He could see Sabatine was a bit embarrassed and he shook his head, firmly still in the belief she did the right thing. "Not that it'll stop me, but if they have any intelligence over hating the RCN, it seems possible. Of course, a lot of our enemies don't have any ambitions above that."

The transport clunked along past the few statehouses and nondescript buildings that sat between them and the slope they were fast approaching. Tilda grabbed Kaiden's attention with a squeeze on his leg, breaking him out of his thought process. "I did hear a few things when I was gone," She informed him. "Apparently a large reason the colony settle on the planet when it did was the large pockets of Biohexrazine Gas below the surface of the planet. Maybe there's-"

Kaiden pointed at her in approval, grinning. "Smart." He noted. She made a good aide, all things considered. He pulled himself up off his butt to speak to the Bosun. "Higgs, go up the mountain road. Tell me if you spot a place without trees. There's liable to be a utility entrance. Got it?"

"Aye Lieutenant." He grinned, and Kaiden patted the fellow's shoulder. Most settlements or large storehouses were placed strategically on the planet to help collect the gas, which meant there were many underground routes through the strange terrain. If they were lucky, there would be a like-as-not abandoned entrance to an underground passage. As long as they were careful not to go down any areas thick with Biohexrazine, they could sneak in unnoticed.

"So boss, what do you think they grabbed old Otis for?" Higgs asked.

"The RCN steps on a lot of toes and make people pissed. They probably just had the stupidity to act on that impulse. We'll get him back."
@Penny