Episode3Act1

CAST

• Michi Nom
• Karl
• Dorota Kowal
• Sarah Lee
• Carina Yuzu
• Louis

EAVESDOWN DOCKS

On the way to Persephone, the crew of the newly minted Jeu stop at a way point where they can dump the extra parts from the hot engine. Louis Chang keeps mostly to himself during this time, doing what he's asked but no more. Of all the membes of the crew, Carina with a kind word and a pouty lip is able to coax a hair more out of him than the rest of the crew. A little over eight days after the crew leaves Kuan Lo, they arrive at Persephone, the largest planet surrounding Lux, a sub sun that orbits the White Sun System.

"Transport ship Jeju, you are clear for landing," the operator at eavesdown docks relays to the cokcpit after having been required to orbit the planet for three hours, the length of time made more nerve wracking without knowing if Grandma's new ID set would work.

Michi breathes just a hint of a sigh of relief. She's pretty sure she could outrun the authorities if need be. But it would also mean they'd be on the run from the Alliance for-freaking-ever.

She reaches up and flips the intercom. "Coming in for a landing. Sit tight."

Michi sends the ship into the blue and down into the trading town that is Eavesdown Docks.

Dorota, back in engineering, also heaves a sigh of relief. The life of a fugitive...not one that appeals to her, particularly. She's been there, done that.

Sarah looks relieved from her spot in the medbay, then stays in her seat, absently reading a book while she waits for the ship to come down to the landing pad.

Carina keeps after Louis, because that has clearly become part of her Other Duties As Assigned. "Let's strap in until we're docked. Captain Michi is excellent at this." By 'this' she means handling the ship, of course. Not just docking.

In preparation for docking Karl has secured what is necessary including himself into a seat. He is as stoic as ever seeming neither concerned about the landing or what could possibly be waiting for them in Eavesdown. If the ids work they work, if they don't well they will deal like they always do.

There are ships and shuttles clogging the flight paths of Eavesdown Docks. A ship comes roaring out of nowhere and if not for Michi's fine flying skills, the Jeju would have been toasted. Truly, it is like an obstacle course just to find the landing pad. Anyone not buckled in will be going for a ride and those with queasy stomachs might want to visit the john. Once at the designated landing pad, it's plain that it's being shared by a fast food rickshaw.

Michi doesn't swear at the ships who get in her way. She doesn't get angry. Doesn't flip them off or honk her horn. She grins like the devil herself. THIS is fun. And when the boat touches down, there's not even a bump. The final landing is smoother than silk on a Companion's bottom.

Ah, for a good pilot. Dorota's stomach is used to weird maneuvers - she's unsettled, but not heading for the head. (What about the kid?)

After Michi Lands, Louis runs to the head emerging a few minutes later, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

"Crew meeting." Michi says into the intercom, once the ship's down. She makes her way to the common room behind the cockpit. Once everyone's there she goes over the facts.

"It'll take time for Carina to set up a meet. So, we're here for a few days at least. We need to find work. We need to get supplies. Karl, Dorota, Sarah. Supplies today. Take the money we have, go shopping based on your lists. Keep in mind we want some left over. Pay attention out there. We need to know if the Tong's around." She glances over at the kid. "You can't leave the ship until we know if its safe. Your grandmother scares me even more than they do."

"Carina, you and I can look for work while your messages are worming around through the social network."

Sarah nods, "Shouldn't be too hard. Haven't used too much for medical supplies, at least." She gets a bit of a wry look, "Long as I don't get shot again."

Carina nods. "Alright. I assume you mean work for the ship?" Because, to be fair, Carina often looks for other work every time they land, so it's worth making sure what her co-captain means. "I've already put together the starting messages. As soon as we docked, they went out." Hooray for the Cortex.

"For the ship. You need to pick up Companion work, we can make time for that." Michi says with a shrug.

Louis shrugs when he's told to stay at the ship and then walks out of the common room. The crew can hear his room door slide open and shut.

"Poor kid," Dorota says. "Engineering is doing pretty well, but I'll see what deals I can get. This seems like it's not a bad place fod deals."

"Supplies..on it Captain." Karl nods his understanding and weapons up and takes his tarot deck as well. In places like this he can make a few coins on the side reading fortunes for the superstitous. He just may find a contact or two himself where they can find some quick work. He will have to do a bit of his own asking around.

Michi refrains from rolling her eyes when the kid goes storming off. "If the place is clear, I'll let him go out with one of you later to run errands. Dorota, deals are good. I don't want to be stuck in the black just because we didn't have a five credit part on hand."

Walking through the docks, there are numerous sights and sounds from stalls filled with vendors selling food, clothes, jewelry, scrap and all manner of stuff in between. The stalls weave through the docks around landing pads with ships in stages of arriving and departing. Oil smells mix with Savory spices mix with horses. Sounds of vendors calling out to passersby, oil bubbling and engines roaring attack the ears. It is a maelstrom of activity that the crew of the Jeju manage to wade through with ease.

Discovering that the junkyard is way more expensive than the crew can currently afford, Dorota spends the morning rummaging through stalls in the docks, coming away with various odds and ends of scrap and mechanical parts that only one such as Dorota can appreciate.

Sarah and Karl head off in a different direction, Karl manages to sweet talk a stall owner and sets up nearby after strutting his stuff in pulling in more customers to the stall. The stall seems to be a junction of stalls where talk is ever present, some of it interesting.

And finally, Michi and Carina wade through the crowds, Carina's high standing giving her more space than most people are given. Apparently there are oodles of jobs from the legitimate to the highly illegal all over the docks. With Carina by her side, Michi is able to secure a modest bit of cargo to take to a town in Kalidasa. Plus rumor has it, there'll be a race going on just outside of town in two days time at dawn.

"Cargo to carry will keep us in the air. Race will give us more if I win." Michi says, walking arm and arm with her co-captain. "Not a bad day. You must be my lucky charm." She reaches out to knock twice on a wooden crate as they pass by it. Dorota did take the mule. She returns to the ship with odds and ends - none of them fantastic, all of them useful. To her, anyway. She's not likely the first back - although it seems Karl is staying out a while.

As the day wanes, the crew returns back to the ship to touch base. Carina has a message from Esther with a number to contact when she gets it.

It's been a long day securing supplies for the ship and listening to people gossip on top of reading people's fortunes. At least that last bit gave him some cold, hard coinage. Karl is just as tired of cooking as the rest are probably tired of eating his cooking so with some of his earnings he decides to give everyone a break and brings food back to the ship. As the others are gathering he deposits the two bags of takeout on the table "I hope no one minds me not slaving in the kitchen today." he then goes to grab the necessary utensils.

Dorota has been in the back sorting parts, putting her new purchases in order, etc. She steps out, sniffing. "I like your cooking, Karl, but a change is good." Mmm. Takeout.

Oh. Oh, that smells nice. Michi closes his eyes and inhales the scent of actual food. "You've been cooking soy and protein for days now. I ain't complaining." He says with a smile as he exits his bedroom. "Let me wash up." His hands have grease on them. If he's going to race, he needs to make sure the Mahha-go is in tip top condition. Sarah hmms softly, looking over at Michi as they meet back at the ship, "There's a big fundraiser going on, involving the Rim's Princess. At least that's the word on the street. Also, there's a race in two days time at dawn. Not sure what the requirements are, but..." She then grabs one of the cartons of food, having filched some chopsticks from one of the vendors earlier. "There's options, anyway."

Carina goes into her quarters to take the return message. She is gone when Karl returns halfway through the meal she returns to inform the crew that Esther from Hugs for your Feet is hosting a fundraising event tomorrow night. If the crew wants to team up with her, they'll need to come to the event and play nice.

"Fundraising event." Michi makes a face. "I've got one suit." But its a good suit. Carina made sure of that. "I'm going to enter the race tomorrow. Hopefully we can cover the entry fee. Just hope it ain't for pinks. I worked too hard on my bike to loose it because someone knows the track better."

"More than one it seems." Karl says between bites of his own food. Yum, real veggies. "By the way. Where did Louis get too?" he asks "Did one of you say he could leave the ship?" its a mystery how he would think or know that the kid wasn't on the ship since Karl hasn't been anywhere but the common area.

Dorota sighs. "No. I should have made him help me inventory." If the kid sneaked out, then they have another problem.

Michi swears, profusely, in Chinese. "Check his room." He says, standing up. "We can't lose him. His grandmother's got grease."

Louis' room is empty. The bag he came on with is nowhere to be seen.

Sarah swears, "Fei fei pi gu!" She shakes her head, "Damnit, we'll need to find him, fast." She glances over at Carina, "Any thoughts on where he'd run off to?"

Dorota facepalms. "Might have been safer if I'd taken him with me. Drat it." She adds a couple of choice swear words. In Polish.

"Should have nailed his hands to the damn deck." Michi growls as she turns around. "Okay. Kid's alone on a strange planet. Doesn't know the locals. That makes him a mark. Worse, the local Tong might be looking for him. We need to find him. Think hard about anything he said and figure out if there's a lead where to look. Otherwise, we'll need to split up and search the whole damn area."

"Let's be honest: Not one of us would have stayed on the ship at his age if left alone with no minder for that many hours." Carina offers, trying to mollify everyone's fury. "I'm sorry he's gone, and I agree we should do what we can to find him. But we should have left someone with him. It's our own fault." Sarah looks over at Carina, "I know. I'm swearing at me, not him. Damnit. Okay, I'm swearing at him too, but mostly myself. Gah." She slams her hand into the wall, not hard, but enough to express her frustration, "Let's see what we can do to go get him."

Karl gets up with his food container and chopsticks in hand "Did you leave any of the sensors up Captain?" he asks of Michi "If they picked up leaving up than at least we can get a general idea of what direction he went." with that being asked he quickly puts the food away in whatever passes for the fridge, so at least they can enjoy it when they get back, hopefully with their newest crew member.

And with that, the crew checks the feeds and heads out to find Louis Chang before someone finds him first.