Drawn and Quartered
Posted on Thursday March 5th, 2020 @ 00:56 hours by Mayterial Droz & Clinton Westbrooke Jr
Mission:
Safe Passage
Location: Captain's Quarters, Deck 1, S.S. Fawkes
Timeline: MD01 - 1430
1041 words - 2.1 OF Standard Post Measure
[ON]
The headache was starting to get more severe, just a moment more. Soldier on through. Get everything sorted. She eyed the desk drawer, then back at the doors of her quarters. She had left them open on purpose. An extra incentive not to reach for the bottle. Anyone could walk by and see her after all. Her eyes darted back at the drawer. 'What the hell is taking him so long' she thought to herself, waiting for the quartermaster's shadow to darken her doorstep.
Shortly afterward, it did. Clint sauntered in looking a bit worse for wear, his hair scruffy, covered in sweat, and smelling a bit like engine grease, "Hey, bosslady, sorry. Was helping the boys down in the cargo bay get some stuff sorted out down there so we've got more room for passenger cargo and uh... places to hide... things that oughtta be hidden," He said, smirking a bit.
"Ah good to hear you're taking a head start. We've only had a few passengers since we started business back up. I want to make sure we are ready for a more aggressive push into passenger transport." Mayterial got up from her seat and made her way over to the replicator in the corner, "please, sit, can I offer you a drink?" This probably wouldn't really take long, but it was the least she could do after pushing everyone on the ship to their limit during their stint on Rangalor.
"I'll take a cola, if you don't mind," Clint responded as he took his seat. "Yeah... I'm not so sure I'm 100% on board with the passengers thing, boss lady. Idiot wayfarers can cause us a lot of trouble... especially if things go south of legal as they like to do," He admitted.
"We're haemorrhaging latinum with every lightyear we chew through on this little escape run we're on," Mayterial ordered the cola from the replicator, made it two so she could have one of her own. She swallowed a lump in her throat, knowing how much better it would be with a little extra in it. She resisted. Just this conversation and she could hit the stash in her desk. Her eyes flicked to the drawer that held her medicine as she approached Clint, "There you go." She sat down and sighed loudly as she did so, "I don't think we have the luxury of not wanting passengers."
"Nah, I get it," Clint replied, picking up the glass of soda and taking a sip, "Heh... Needs bourbon," He said with a smirk. "I get it, but I just want to make sure that we've got a good plan in mind if things get interesting. Can't rightly just dump them on the first rock and run, now can we," He said, taking seat.
"We keep things on the straight and narrow. Fill up our bays with mundane stuff, even if it means giving a discount." Mayterial took another careful sip of the cola, hand gripping tightly around the glass when he mentioned bourbon, "We're going into core fed territory. Can't really afford to make the amount of noise we did on Rangalor." She shook her head, she was going to be adamant about this, to him and all the others. Nothing going south, nothing illegal. Not this time.
Clint raised his hands in mock defense, "Hey, boss lady, I'm all for it. Don't mind staying out of trouble for a while... just... I know what happens when you put a bunch of rough cuts together on a ship," He said, chuckling. "Tends to go that way no matter what," He explained.
'Core fed territory' echoed in his mind for a minute, "Hey, uh... we're not going near Earth, are we?" He asked, suddenly sounding a little nervous.
"Alexandria is planning the route, I think Risa and Betazed are on the docket first." May finished her coffee a bit to quickly after that, she really didn't want to go to Betazed but it made sense for the route and the work, "I think at some point we might swing by Earth. Why?"
"No reason..." The nervousness didn't really dissipate. Clint clearly had a reason not to want to approach Earth, but it wasn't something he freely talked about, "So.. the passenger quarters, huh? Need anything done in particular? You know, mints on pillows and such?"
Mayterial shook her head a bit, "they're not expecting anything fancy, they're booking passage on a freighter after all," taking another long swig of the cola she savoured the taste and sweetness of it. She always did have a sweet tooth. Perhaps that would help her stay away from the bottle. Just more sugar and caffeine, "just make sure it's all clean and in order, I think there's a couple of them that haven't been used since the Fed raid. So you probably need to put some desks back upright."
Clint nodded and with a strong swig finished his drink, he'd make sure that all of that would get sorted and then look for passage away from. He couldn't return to Earth, not now. He needed to stay far away from there. Why was that so hard to say to the Captain? She'd only try to convince him to stay. But his mind was made up, nothing she could say would sway him, that's why it was pointless to mention it anyway. At least that's what he kept telling himself, "They won't be able to tell it apart from a pleasure cruise, Cap."
A short smile showed the appreciation towards his dedication, Mayterial finished her own drink as well and placed the empty glass next to his one, "I trust you'll make it work, mister Westbrooke, let me know if you need anything."
"Will do, will do." Clint's voice trailed off as she got up from the seat and made his way to the exit of the captain's quarters. It was a pity, he liked the Fawkes, he liked the people and the Captain. But sometimes life just got in the way, and then the only thing you could do is to take a step aside to avoid getting caught in the crosshairs.
[OFF]
Mayterial Droz
Captain
&
Clint Westbrooke
Quartermaster
S.S. Fawkes