The Ole Switcharoo
Posted on Saturday June 8th, 2019 @ 19:58 hours by Andressa Dreik & Clinton Westbrooke Jr
Mission:
Pixie Dust
Location: XO's Cabin
Timeline: MD04
1137 words - 2.3 OF Standard Post Measure
Clint was still thumbing through the requisition requests as he made his way down the corridor to the XOs cabin. He knew they'd been running a little tight on fundage, but there had to be something free to restock, or he'd be keeping his logs and tracking things by scratching it on the bulkheads. Granted, in the one corner it looked like someone had done that for a while, but that wasn't going to fly for Clint. He made his way to the XO's door and knocked on it loudly. "Hey, you got a second?" He called.
Andi grimaced, hauling herself off the couch and muttering an expletive under her breath. She'd been on the ship for maybe half an hour and she had been hoping to find some time to just wind down before she had to start being responsible. She opened the door, leaning against the frame, folding her arms across her chest. "I have a second, the question is, what are you going to do that makes it worth my while?"
Clint scowled, "I'm going to ask you to get the XO." He said, flatly.
"Then you'll be wanting me," Andi replied, casting a discerning gaze over his form. "Andi Dreik. And you would be?"
Clint snorted, "That's cute. Where's Ares? I just need to run some of my requisition requests by her, and you aren't her. I'm new, but I'm not that new," He said, flatly.
Andi rolled her eyes and shrugged, pushing herself off the door frame and retreating back into her quarters, leaving the door open. "Suit yourself," she said simply as she dropped back onto the couch. "Just close the door when you're leaving, I don't want anyone swiping my whiskey."
"Wait... are you serious?" He asked, his face slowly falling into a look of disbelief. "What happened to Ares?"
"Look, darlin', I don't know what to tell you. I don't know who Ares is. I don't know where Ares went. I needed a job, I got this. Here I am. Now, if you want something from me, I'm happy to try and help, if not, well, I'm sure I can find a way that you can help me." She grinned easily as she watched him standing there mutely.
"Yeah... no..." Clint sighed. He'd felt a real connection with Ares. Not romantic or anything but... had a feeling they'd bust some heads together. Nothing to it now but to move on, though. He cleared his throat and held up the PaDD in his hand, "I need some stuff before we depart, boss," He said, stepping into her quarters and offering her the PaDD. "It's not a lot, but I'm going to need it if I'm going to keep this boat functional. Clint Westbrooke, by the way. I'm the Quartermaster, just got onboard myself," He explained.
"Andi Dreik," she replied, holding out her hand for the PaDD. "What kind of stuff? I assume you've listed it all out and costed it out?"
"Yeah, it ain't cheap stuff. I can negotiation on some of it, but some of the computer system stuff, I can't," He explained. The list was everything from isolinear chips to repair modules to emergency rations. The computer systems stuff took up the brunt of the cost, but the other stuff wasn't exactly pennies.
"And you need all this before we depart?" Andi asked skeptically. "All of it?"
Clint reached over and tapped a key on the PaDD, showing a highlighted set of items. The list was shorter... but not by much, "They've been skimming for months now. I can't skim anymore, and believe me, I'm good at skimming. That's the best I can do right now," He confessed.
"I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that a little petty theft and larceny is going to be frowned upon?" Andi quipped as she scanned through the list again. "Is there enough available funds to cover it?" While she wasn't fully up to speed yet, she knew from experience that these vessels usually ran on a budget that would have made a shoe string look luxurious.
"I don't know, boss, that's what I came to you for. Boss seems to want to keep our noses as clean as possible for a bit, so... I'm thinking our acquisitions gotta be on the up and up for a bit," he said with a shrug.
"I'll approve it for now. Start with the things we need the most, negotiate as best you can. I'll go back to the Boss and get clarification on finances and let you know if we need to cut it back further," Andi said running her fingers through her hair. "Nice to know all these freighters are the same."
"Every single one," Clint replied with a dry chuckle. "Where'd you call home before this?"
"I was on the Nikita for a while, and before that I was on the Orkan. They're the only two ships I've really served on.. before that I was in other.. uhh... employment." She shrugged slightly. "Nikita is heading back to Sol now, so I decided to jump ship while I could and just lucked upon this."
"Not too different for me," Clint replied. "Last ship was onto different junk I didn't want to do, so I started looking. Seems like a decent ship so far," He said with a shrug.
"I'm not gonna complain, it's a room and food and it keeps me well away from Sol and the neighbouring sectors, so I'll stick it out," she said with a grin.
"What's so bad about Sol?" Clint asked, his curiosity getting the best of him. She definitely wanted to avoid it more than your average shipper.
"What's so great about it?" Andi countered easily. "Besides, lets just say it's better for me if I don't go back." She smiled with exaggerated sweetness as she watched him.
"Local trouble, got it," Clint said with a nod. "Yeah, I know how that goes," He said with a chuckle. "Well, I'll give you a heads up if I hear we're heading that way, okay?" He said with a grin.
Andi grinned. "At least give me enough time to steal a shuttle, change my hair colour and get the hell out of dodge!"
Clint actually let out an honest guffaw at that, "You got it, Lady," He said, good naturedly. "Alright, I'll let you settle in. Let me know if you got any questions about my lists. I'll start getting the critical stuff now," He said. "Most of it I can get from the station vendors at a decent rate."
"Let me know how you get on with it all," Andi replied. "Oh, and it was nice to meet you," she called after his retreating form.
[OFF]
Andressa Dreik
First Mate
&
Clinton Westbrooke Jr
Quartermaster