A Sedentary Sustainment

[Jay Fuller]

This guy's as much of a tourist as I am a woman, Jay thought to himself. He looked up when he heard Lulah sigh loudly. She came down the catwalk and leaned next to Jay, her back against the rail. She began twirling her hair and Jay looked at her as if to say, You're doing what now? He wasn't sure if she was trying to be seductive or what. When she started talking, he got the idea.

“Now... I know I'm just a buhn dahn rim gal who don't know an awful lot an' don't make an awful lot of sense either but... now you go on an' correct me if I'm wrong here but.... ain't them Alliance folk got rules an' all to be followin'? Least he could do is show us some I.D and tell us what the darn problem is. Oh! I ain't seen alliance I.D up real close before. You reckon he'll let me see it? Awww... else.... he really is a tourist. An' we should go on an' report him for stealin' onto our ship. 'Cause I sure as hell didn't invite him. Did you?” She made good at sounding like an idiot, Jay gave her that. He didn't think that spitting to the side helped, though. She had better cleaned that up after the purple guy left.


Jay shrugged, "Nope." As the Alliance snorted a laugh, Jay tightened his grip on the rail. The guy was beginning to piss him off -- but then again, that's sort of what these Alliance types did. Even when Jay was more sympathetic towards the Alliance after his father went to war, he wasn't their biggest fan. Especially with shit like this. The guy waltzed onto their ship and had begun rummaging through their belongings.

Wanna go through our bedrooms while you're at it? I'm sure one of the ladies has some nice panties to stuff in your pocket while you're here. Jay thought of saying it, but he knew it could end up worse. When the man found mining charges, Ray's response was to admit to not having a permit. He also said -- asked, more like -- if it was only worth a warning. Shénme tā mā de! Of all the things to say. Jay glanced down at Ray. Of all the times the guy could have gone crazy and shot someone in the face, today would be the day. Granted, it would only give them a few minutes of satisfaction to see the Alliance guy fall over in a bloody heap. From there they'd be in deeper shit, and as it was they weren't sure how deep they were.

The sound of the airlock opening and closing appeared. Jay watched as Marcus came in. Perhaps the captain of the ship could get them out of this mess? Maybe. He walked over and asked Ray what was going on. Jay had hoped he'd confront the fed directly, but that didn't seem to work.

[Ray Hudson]

When the large cargo bay doors opened Ray assumed it might be more feds, coming to take them to a land where everyone was on the barter system and your shower experience was 'enhanced'. It was just Marcus and he told everyone 'good morning'. Ray wasn't really filled with a lot of confidence. Marcus made his way to Ray and asked him what was happening and Ray kept it simple.

"Fed's searchin' the ship." Ray answered, serious in tone. "Not entirely sure how he got in." He admitted, more confused than serious. Since the Logan was never boarded by Alliance, this whole situation was new to Ray. The lock on the doors was sturdy, like the uniformed man said but he didn't have some giant device that would crack it open. It was the core, where the best technology ever seen by man resided so who knew what this man had in his arsenal. It could be that the codes to the door are available to anyone of a higher rank and this man just walked in with the keys.

The uniformed man walked towards the center of the cargo bay and pulled out a small device and pushed a few buttons and Ray started to look left and right rapidly. His left hand drummed on his leg as he thought about the grenades. If this man found the grenades that would probably lead to a terrible day. Ray wondered just what the device did and he wanted more answers. The man hadn't been very informative throughout his visit and that didn't look like it was going to change. Ray was trying not to panic and he was going through his uncomfortable habits. His drummed on his leg, rubbed his face and scratched his eyebrow.

[Marcus O'Terra]

Marcus could feel the tension building in the room. Ray filled him in. The man being a Fed wasn't too much of a leap. 'Searching' the ship though. What had he found already? The small arsenal Ray had inherited from Morse's retirement was likely all contraband or otherwise illegally acquired.

So they were humped if the little scanner in his hands was strong enough to find where it was all stashed away. Marcus idly wondered how much of what he had on the ship was illegal. Probably most of it.

Ray added that he didn't know how the man entered, Marcus summed it up. "It's his job." His tone calm and level, but the look he gave Ray said. Going wherever he damn pleases. Marcus was less than happy. But angry was the wrong move here.

Buddha help them if this turned to blows. He wondered what he'd reincarnate as: probably a cow on Whitefall. He turned to face the Fed, but didn't make any move toward him.

The man was still watching the device in his hands. Marcus wondered what exactly it was doing, and how many things it could do at the same time. It was likely he could scan the ship, and preprogram it so that if it found anything to call in the appropriate response team.

There was also the distinct possibility the box wasn't doing the scanning, and some machine outside in the port was doing the scan. So even in an impossible world where they could shoot their way out of the port and come back a week later with no problems: the scan would still go through.

He exhaled in a cleansing breath and mumbled a mild "Buddha be praised" under his breath. He wasn't much for religion but the idea of forgiveness and second chances was starting to appeal to him.

[Olson]

“Scan complete” appeared on the screen. It had only been a few seconds, that’s all the device really needed. In Olson’s hands now was a very good diagram of the ship. It was similar to a blue print, but didn’t have as many construction points listed on it. It was a simple model of the vessels interior, and it was cross referenced with the vessels regular outfit classification. Additions, or things that weren’t shown with the original scan would almost completely represent constructed elements that shouldn’t be there.

Olson worked his fingers on the screen, and spun the diagram of the ship around. He widened it out so he could see. The diagram was very effective, as it showed abnormalities in red. It didn’t show what was there, or what it was, or even guess. It just showed the overall shape and represented it didn’t belong there. Olson knew how to read it, and quickly worked over the ship.

He could tell that the cat walk rows that went to the starboard and port side didn’t originally go anywhere on the ship plans, but with the size of the boxes there, he imagined they were just more rooms or extra cargo space. That wasn’t unusual for him. There weren’t many red markings, and most of them were very small, which could be little things like a wiring change or a cortex terminal placed in the wall. He moved the search to the area he was standing in, the cargo bay. He looked it over quickly, and he found something that stood out quite a bit.

The scan showed that to his left, on the port side of the ship, there was a large red mark. It was thick and ran through into the wall several feet. The ship wasn’t a very old classification, and so shouldn’t have had anything like that. It was like a hole in the wall that was covered up. Olson looked over at the wall, and could see no sign that the wall had been altered. ”Uh oh. What’s that?” Olson asked aloud.

He could see right where it was supposed to be and walked over towards the wall. Olson held the device up and could see clearly it was right in front of him. His grin remained as he put the device away, and brought out something that looked like a power drill that had a motor above and below his hand. Before he did anything with it, he pounded on the wall next to the altered space. Then he banged his hand on the wall that supposedly covered the little space. They gave the exact same sound, and didn’t seem different at all. That was very unusual.

”Wow, that’s amazing.” Olson said aloud, turning to look at the man who was the owner of the vessel. ”These panels sound completely solid.” He pointed at both sides. ”Except there’s something in this one.” Olson explained as he turned put the new tool in his hand against the lower panel which had something behind it. ”Let’s find out what it is.” Olson then pressed a button on the device.

It fired a powerful and concentrated magnetic pulse. It forced the screws that were holding the panel to work in reverse very quickly and they fell to the floor. As they clanked and fell, Olson kept the tool against the panel. It magnetically fastened to the panel. He got a good grip on it. ”And behind our mystery door is?” Olson began to pull the panel, and it came out.

It was thick, at least three inches, and was heavy. It wasn’t as heavy as he expected however, and he knew that was because it was supposed to be moved easily. He virtually ignored everyone that was in the room as he dropped the panel to the floor to look inside. And sitting inside the empty space, plain as day, there was a large metal crate. The space itself was a little shorter then four feet tall, and this box seemed three feet square.

”What’s in this I wonder?” Olson said, grabbing a handle that was on the side, and dragging it out. It grinded along the ground, scrapping the metal on metal, but it came fairly easy as it was also not very heavy. Olson could only guess what was inside, but he knew that something hidden that well was going to be something that was far from legal. ”Let’s take a look.” Olson put his hand on a ceiling handle that was on top. He twisted it, and a hiss of air came out from the box as the ceil was broken. He lifted off the top and his eyes lit up.

The box was divided into two compartments that split the box down the middle. On one side there was an even stack of a huge amount of money. Tens of thousands of credits, easily. On the other side there were numerous clear bags that were square in shape, of a brown and red powder. Olson recognized immediately that they were narcotics. ”Wow, what is that? Twenty thousand, thirty thousand credits? Sitting next to,” Olson trailed off grabbing another tool off of his belt. It was a thin pen like device with a needle tip. He stuck it through one of the bags. It gave him a reading quickly, and on the side of the device it gave him the medical term. ”Hiphilcoralethonine.” He read off the name of the drug that had appeared on the market several decades earlier. ”Beaumonde Bonanza”

Olson faced he group, looking them over, with his smug face shining brighter then before. He looked over all of them, and stood beside the box of money and drugs. ”What you plan on doing with that?” He asked rhetorically. There was only one thing anybody would be doing with that, especially on a Central planet. Intent to sell, which made Olson realize why the woman was so quick to try to get him out.

[Marcus O'Terra]

Marcus was dreading what would turn up after the device did it's job, and was contemplating the various paths that lead him here in this life. The most they had on the ship were guns, and explosives. Those sort of things could be swept away with most little difficulty.

Probably. Plus it wasn't like they were moving any of this cargo. So could he really get them for any kind of selling? Suspected or otherwise? Marcus was the only thing that left this ship, and he and the Fed were the only things to come onto it.

So maybe; his thoughts were cut off when the man went over to the side of the ship. His eyebrow raised, he moved over to get a look at what the man was doing. The man knocked on the panels and was making a show of this, clearly enjoying his authority.

When the panel came off, Marcus's mouth was slightly ajar. When the Fed pulled out the crate it was open and Marcus was about to speak.

When he saw the drugs, he shut his fat gob, a look of genuine confusion on his face as he ignored the money and looked at the drugs. Marcus didn't have much taste for narcotics. He wasn't a moralist but he didn't see the positives to enslaving people to a needle and a fix.

Marcus's face turn into a genuine look of anger and the words: "Space it." Left his lips. "I didn't know that hole was there. Take it. Burn it." Marcus was having nothing to do with those drugs, or the money.

It was likely to set the man off balance. Drug runners lived a dangerous life, if they didn't come through on their runs, they were likely to face a very unhappy dealer and his enforcers. At least if the runner ends up in jail he has an excuse as to why he doesn't have the shipment.

[Ilana Logan]

The fed was one annoying son of a bitch as far as Ilana was concerned. Anyone else and she would have probably started a fight by now. Alright, well, no probably about it. She would have definitely started a fight by now, as Lulah could attest to. The man kept saying weird things, not just things that made Ilana want to punch him, but things that didn't really make sense.

Then she heard Lulah's voice from behind her, as though thinking of her had encouraged her to speak. “Now... I know I'm just a buhn dahn rim gal who don't know an awful lot an' don't make an awful lot of sense either but... now you go on an' correct me if I'm wrong here but.... ain't them Alliance folk got rules an' all to be followin'? Least he could do is show us some I.D and tell us what the darn problem is. Oh! I ain't seen alliance I.D up real close before. You reckon he'll let me see it? Awww... else.... he really is a tourist. An' we should go on an' report him for stealin' onto our ship. 'Cause I sure as hell didn't invite him. Did you?” Lulah said, using a thick rim accent, making herself sound like an idiot, though it was obvious that she was mocking the man below her. Then she spit somewhere. Ilana hadn't turned around, so she didn't see it, but she heard the disgusting sound it made. She liked the girl's grit, but that last part was just gross. From the corner of her eye, she saw Ray's hands go up, then he dropped them, making his silent statement about what he thought of her spitting. It looked like he felt about the same as Ilana did, though you never could tell with Ray.

Then the fed laughed and Ilana's eyes narrowed. After a moment, he opened a box of mining charges and mentioned they needed a permit for them. For one thing, Ilana hadn't even known they were there, but of course, fed's never cared about what you knew about. They only cared what was there. It shouldn't matter though, as she was sure someone on this gorram ship had a permit for them. When Ray started to speak, Ilana looked at him. The look on his face alone brought the words, Aw fuck, right into her mind.

"Those?" Ray said, pointing at the box full of mining charges. "Yeah, I don't actually have a permit...for those. But that's probably just worth like... a warning. Like if I was jaywalkin' or somethin'."

Well, that figures, she thought.

"Yeah," the bastard fed thought, sounding patronizing.

Just as that thought entered her mind, the cargo bay door opened again, and Marcus walked in. For a moment, she thought that maybe this would be a good development. With everyone here, then at least someone would know about any item in question. "Good Morning, everyone," Marcus said, quickly giving everyone a quick look. He came to stand on the other side of Ray, who was standing close to Ilana. "Ray. What's going on?" Marcus asked, sounding relatively calm, and Ilana's eyes narrowed. Then she closed them entirely and told herself to calm down.

She took several deep breaths, listening as Ray started to explain what was going on to Marcus. "Fed's searchin' the ship," Ray said. Then added, "Not entirely sure how he got in." Ray looked like a man panicking because he knows something horrible has just happened, or is about to happen. She wasn't sure which one of those things it was, but there was something bothering him. As the man walked around the room, carrying a weird device and pointing it at things, Ray's nerves seemed to increase. He began fidgeting, which bothered her almost as much as the fed's condescending presence there. "It's his job," Marcus said, and that seemed to be the extent of his input on the conversation.


”Uh oh. What’s that?” The fed asked, seemingly to himself, and walked over towards the wall. He put the device in his hands away and brought out something that looked like a power drill that had a motor above and below his hand. He banged on the wall in several places, though Ilana wasn't sure why. The he started talking again. ”Wow, that’s amazing.” he said, turning to look at Marcus.  ”These panels sound completely solid.” He pointed at both sides. ”Except there’s something in this one.” Olson explained as he turned put the new tool in his hand against the lower panel which he claimed had something in it. ”Let’s find out what it is.” Olson then pressed a button on the device.

Ilana wasn't entirely sure what the device did, but when he pushed the button, the screws in the panel came out and fell to the floor, and before she knew it, the man was saying, ”And behind our mystery door is?” and removing the panel from the wall. He dropped the panel to the floor and Ilana say a big metal crate inside. What the hell? Ilana thought, knowing her confusion showed on her face.

”What’s in this I wonder?” The fed, grabbing a handle that was on the side, and dragging it out. ”Let’s take a look,” The fed put his hand on a ceiling handle that was on top. He twisted it, and a hiss of air came out from the box as the seal was broken. He lifted off the top, but she wasn't close enough to see inside the box. ”Wow, what is that? Twenty thousand, thirty thousand credits? Sitting next to,”/ the fed said, trailing off as he pulled another tool from his belt. ”Hiphilcoralethonine. Beaumonde Bonanza."

”What you plan on doing with that?” The fed asked, in that condescending tone, making Ilana want to hit him again.

Shoving them up your arse is one idea, she thought, barely able to contain that thought.

Marcus looked pretty angry, but he said, "Space it. I didn't know the hole was there. Take it. Burn it."


Ilana didn't know what to say to that. Everything that could possibly go wrong on a trip to a core world, had just gone wrong, in a matter of minutes, and she hadn't even known about the things the fed found. She'd known there were a few illegal items on board, but nothing to get them thrown in jail. Not until he opened that panel that she hadn't even known existed. She thought of several things she could say, but nothing she said would matter. At this point, she decided she wasn't saying another word. Not one. While her anger had risen significantly in the time the fed had been there, her sense of self-preservation deflated that anger quite quickly when the drugs came out. She didn't know what they were, or where they came from, but she knew that in order to survive this, she was going to have to do the one thing she's never been any good at: shut up.

[Lulah Hayes]

One thing after another; Lulah almost couldn't believe was she was seeing and hearing. The purple officer's ignorance of her was disappointing, but also expected really. Few bothered to indulge her fancies, so by now she ascertained that he was only here to selfishly indulge himself under the premise of 'just doing his job'. A real pig in the mud.

“Hmph,” she exclaimed; partially in response to the officer, and partially in response to Jay's short answer. She should've known that trying to get him to play along, would be like grasping at short straws. Not that she had much time to sigh or complain about it, not with all the developments occurring below her.

“What are these? …. G-6V Mining Charges?”

'Mining Charges?' She echoed in her mind; the announcement causing her to spin back to lean frontally against the railings. Now, who the heck had brought those on board, and what the hell did they plan on using them for!? The young pilot frowned with another pronounced huff; this was exactly why she hated core planets, and exactly the reason why they better have a darn good reason for landing here in the first place. 'Can't even take a gorram dump without someone tellin' you where and when to park your rear end.'

"Those?" Ray said, pointing at the box full of mining charges. "Yeah, I don't actually have a permit...for those."

Could it get any worse? For the second time, she slapped her palm to her forehead in a clear gesture of disbelief. Compared to Roth's crew, these guys felt like amateurs. Then again, Roth would never, ever put himself or the rest of his team in danger by landing on a core planet. Apparently, she really needed to have words with Marcus, just as soon as they hoofed it out of this bang-up mess. If they managed to get out it it, that is. The way they were going, she wouldn't be surprised if the officer started issuing arrests, just for the hell of it. With no real loyalty to the ship yet, Lulah was already going through all sorts of excuses in her mind. There was no way she was going to get dragged along too. So much for a pilot never wanting to abandon ship.

The sound of the cargo bay doors opening interrupted her mental plans, and right on cue, the Captain walked in. 'Phew,' she mentally sighed with the visible relaxing of her shoulders. 'This oughtta clear things up.'

"Fed's searchin' the ship." Ray answered the Captain's question with a serious tone. "Not entirely sure how he got in." Nodding along as though she was a more active part of the conversation below her feet, Lulah learned further forwards to grant a better view of those beneath the catwalks. Ray had raised a good question; just how exactly had the fed so randomly got on board? Had Marcus left the door open or something by accident? Or maybe they had strange devices to override inner locks, like the device he was pulling out now. It immediately made Lulah take a step back from the railings, as the fed held it up to perform a scan. Almost as though she was scared that he might inadvertently scan something currently on her person, even though there was nothing illegal there.

”Uh oh. What’s that?” The fed asked; the only question she concurred with him about. Gradually moving back to see what he had found, the eventual revelation of the large metal crate had her frown giving way to wide, genuinely baffled eyes. The hide-away had been intriguing enough, but now thousands of credits, and Hiphilcoralethonine? She couldn't even pronounce the word, but that didn't stop her from knowing what the compound was. Most things with long, medical-sounded names came down to one thing; drugs.

“Juh Shi Suh Mo Go Dohng Shee?...” Her very natural and genuine vocal reaction uttered to no one in particular, before trailing off. Again, she'd have to have a word with Marcus later in the cockpit about what exactly his definition of 'doing what was necessary' involved. Although the actual presence of the drugs didn't bother her so much, the question of why they were there in the first place, and who they were actually intended for, sprung to mind. Though her conclusion of this team of misfits so far didn't paint them in the best light, she believed Marcus entirely when he claimed ignorance to both the hole in the wall, and the contents hidden behind it. The shock and disbelief was written over everyone else's faces too, but the real question was; how good a mood was the fed in today?

Lulah gulped back the nervous saliva that had collected in her mouth. Maybe taking the mickey hadn't been the best idea, even the fed did deserve a whole lot more where that came from. But the idea of having to grovel for a wave off now, really didn't sound too appealing either. Falling completely silent and still, she tensely waited for a resolve.

---

Juh Shi Suh Mo Go Dohng Shee - What the hell is this crap?

---

[Jay Fuller]

As the fed wandered around a bit more, Jay glanced over to Lulah. He wondered what was going to happen next. He was a little nervous, but he didn't think there was anything they really needed to hide. At least, until the fed said, "Uh oh, what's that?" Jay looked down then, wondering what the hell "that" could be. The man walked to the wall and Jay caught a glance of a sickening grin on his face. He banged on the wall and commented on the panels having something hidden in them. He used his little device and the screws flew out of the wall. Jay jumped a little bit at the sound. He bent in and pulled out a metal crate.

Dìyù? Jay thought. He glanced down to Marcus, trying to catch his glance, as if he could explain. Then Jay looked back and craned his neck to see what was in the box. "Wow, what is that? Twenty thousand, thirty thousand credits? Sitting next to...Hiphilcoralethonine. Beaumond Bonanza."

"What!" Jay muttered. His mouth was agape as he glanced around to see if any of his fellow crewmembers might have realized that the drug was on the ship. His mind raced to what would become of them now -- jail, probably. But jail was not somewhere Jay wanted to be! It wasn't a place anyone wanted to be. Especially since they didn't do anything wrong, since they didn't even know the gorram drugs weren't even onboard until that fucking fed came onto the ship.

Jay sort of blocked everyone else as he watched the Fed with a look of surprise on his face. He heard Lulah say something or another, and Marcus told the fed to get it the hell of the ship. Hopefully, that might convince the Fed. But from what Jay had heard, that wouldn't do much.

[Olson]

Olson took in the faces of everyone that were there. It was difficult for some to gauge what an expression like theirs all meant in this situation. But when you put them all together, they would explain the general attitude of the ship. Some were confused, some were angry, and when you put them together the general feel only led to one thing, guilt.

This was far from the first time that Olson had come across a vessel in the port with a large amount of narcotics on board. If it wasn’t that it was a huge stockpile of guns, and frequently it was both. He was guessing that if he looked around the ship, he’d find a few unregistered firearms, but those were like taking a penny off a counter that didn’t belong to them compared to the box that was sitting next to him.

The first person to speak was the vessels owner, which wasn’t a surprise. But the call to get rid of all of it was almost laughable to him. Of course he’d want to just run away with it. He heard ‘take it’ and he wondered if there was any deeper level to that.

”Oh you didn’t know it was there?” Olson had an expression of confusion on his face, but it was clearly just for the purposes of mocking the man. ”Is this also you’re friends ship? I hear that one a lot too.” Olson’s lips came together with an expression that said “Nice Try”.

But really he was the sort of person that had heard it all before. He was one of the best officers at that port, and for good reason. He could just smell the ships that had illegal items on them. The easiest criteria was just where they were coming from, but as ‘unfair’ and ‘not right’ as such a system seemed, it always worked. What was the point of looking over in detail every registered cargo vessel making a food delivery that had contracts with the Core, when their rate of criminal activity was astronomically lower then the ones coming from the Rim without government sponsored contracts.

Olson reached onto his belt, and began following his procedure. First his hand went to a small scanner device and he brought it over the crate. Holding it over the money, it began to give a visible glow over the money. He looked at the device as it gave him the accurate count. ”Forty Thousand credits, my mistake” Olson corrected his earlier estimate. ”What’s that... One Hundred Thousand in platinum on your piece of shit worlds?” Olson didn’t care if his bias was flung around at this point, since he’d already caught them all.

He still held the scanner over the crate, and the blue light that came from beneath it, suddenly turned to red. In a single instant the massive stacks of credit bills had nothing on them. They were like blank stacks of rectangular smart papers, though they had a red dot form in the center. That dot made it so the paper couldn’t be used for counterfeit, but the money had been instantly destroyed.

”Well, not anymore now. Its maybe worth….a platinum in recycle.” Olson tapped a few more buttons on the scanner, and all the money it had just scanned was now registered in the banking system of the Alliance, and the bills were completely useless.

He looked over at the woman, who had continued to say that he wouldn’t find anything, who had been quiet when he pulled the crate. She might as well have signed a confession.

”Now I heard you say take it?” Olson said to the owner. He then reached to his hip and pulled his silver pistol, which had a blue light coming from the handle. He didn’t point it at the man, but it was out. He waved it towards the box that was still filled with narcotics. ”That sounded to me like a bribe.” Olson was just toying with them. He still hadn’t called for back up, he didn’t need to, he had this completely under control.

[Ray Hudson]

Ray became very familiar with a spot on the cargo bay floor. His eyes locked on the floor as he thought about his odds. After the Logan was tagged by the Alliance Ray figured that he was in the system now so he couldn't afford to be taken in. Ray was beginning to sweat as he came to the cruel realization that he may be spending the next few years in a cell.

The uniformed man discovered an anomaly and walked over towards a wall. Ray looked at the man as he pulled the panel off and Ray's imagination ran wild but he was far from prepared for the truth. The man pulled out a large crate and a look of desperate curiosity came across Ray's face as the top came off. His arms crossed and a foot taping rapidly on the ground, Ray waited impatiently for the contents of the crate to be revealed. Perhaps it was nothing, just Marcus' stash of pornography that he liked to keep hidden. Yeah, porno...It's just porno. Some sick, nasty shit stashed away. Ray thought, nodding his head slightly, holding onto this idea desperately.

The man's words felt like he was whispering them right into Ray's ear. The knot tightened and Ray's right hand came up to his face. He felt his knees start to get week and his mind blanked, the borders of his vision turning to a smokey grey. Thirty thousand credits and enough Beaumonde Bonanza to take out an entire celebrity family.'I'm done. Finished. Shèzhì wǒ de wèilái' Ray thought, watching any hope and dream he once had get fired into the nearest sun. He let out a short, disturbing little laugh that displayed his disbelief and his terror before his face went back to just confusion.Everyone in that room who was missing a badge would be spending the next 40 years picking rat pellets out of their morning slop. They'd live in filth, eat filth and trade filth for other filth. Probably get their ribs snapped by their filth cellmates.

The suffocating doom before them seemed lost on Marcus as he stupidly tried to salvage the situation. He played ignorant with the uniformed man and it could probably be seen as insulting. Ray stared at the crate, trying to figure out how it even got there. Ray doubted Marcus was hiding something from them so who's was it. It didn't take long to figure out and as it hit him Ray's eyes widened. The crate had belonged to Steve and his crew, it was plan B if things fell apart. A safety net, something to fall back on and now it was sitting in front of an Alliance port official. This crate of goodies may even land twenty seconds on the news.

It was all pathetic but not in the least bit pitiable. This was what most of them deserved and the universe wouldn't miss them. As the uniformed man mocked Marcus, Ray just stared at the crate, wondering how this never happened sooner. The man revealed another device and scanned the bills inside of the crate. He corrected himself and informed them that they had four thousand credits on board the ship the entire time. Ray's eyes widened again at this news as the man explained the conversion rate before the scanner glowed red. When the man essentially burned the money in front of them, Ray felt his heart sink and he let out a barely audible grunt. Four thousand credits that was hidden away in their pockets now conveniently turned to tissue paper.

Once the man turned back around Ray knew what was coming. It was time to go away to the life that was always waiting for him. The uniformed man pulled his hi-tech pistol as he accused Marcus of bribing him. Ray let out a weak sigh as he looked down at the ground.

'You're rolling over.' said The Guide.

'Looks like it.' Ray thought.

'Quitting isn't even instinctual. We struggle when we drown, we flail when we fall, but you...you could probably stop yourself from breathing.' said The Guide.

[Marcus O'Terra]

Marcus was grateful the rest of the crew had fallen silent around him. Lulah muttered something like a curse and it was damn appropriate at the time. Marcus couldn't really disagree it was a foul situation. Now the Fed was moving over the money and throwing his weight around.

Marcus's old bias and hate was boiling on the burner behind his simmering desire to get off the planet and onto a job that actually meant helping people. All these things were distracted by a very disturbing sight.

The man just destroyed 40 grand with a wave of his hand. Just like that those bills were all worth nothing. What were the odds he could do that to every federal bill on the ship. Marcus had quite a bit of their money in coin, and for the life of him; noone had given him a straight answer as to why rim and border folk dealt in coin.

Now he knew. With a wave of their hands the core could bankrupt anyone they wanted. Hell they probably didn't even need to wave their hands just press a key and it'd be done.

Then the man accused him of attempting to bribe him. If he kept talking he was likley to just make the whole damn thing worse. Even Ray let out a sigh. Ilana was probably only just holding back a righteous fury.

He wished he had a preacher on board, someone good at talking to people. But how would that ad go out? "Law abiding Courier Service seeks Customer Service Rep with experience in negotiations across various social groups" That actually might be worth putting out. He wondered if he'd thought of it before, it felt familiar.

If they were going to make it out of this. He decided to simply look the man in the eye. Talking would just make things worse. He kept his hands open and at his side. But he counted the paces between them. Four, maybe five. Enough for the man to draw and thumb some tab labeled 'scramble' before Marcus could do a damn thing.

Now this man was gonna tar and feather all of them, Lulah and Jay included. He probably got more commendations the more people he put away in a month. He almost certainly was getting a pat on the back for all those credits he 'confiscated'; and the drugs? The previous owners' ghosts must be grinning in whatever place they roamed. No. Marcus and his crew were licked. Licked from the start.

To hell with that. He felt the weight of the stun gun in his coat pocket. The man had his gun drawn. He could take the bullet and provided it didn't hit him anywhere in the torso, damned if he didn't wear his armored vest, he'd shrug it off and taze the purple bellied bastard.

"Well sir, you're quite mistaken." He took a step forward. One hand at his side, the other holding a coin he pulled from his other pocket. "Because if I wanted to give you any amount of money," Two more steps. He found the grip and felt the stun gun hum. "I'd find your mother and give her two platinum to clean my nuts." He flicked the coins at the man's face and pulled the stun gun out. He drew fast, exhaling on the pull.

He aimed for the face and pulled the trigger. The stun gun's face split open and the darts fired out. He didn't pray to Buddha or even think at all. All he did was meet the Fed's eyes and relax his body for the returning shot.

[Olson]

The man’s expression seemed to be aggressive. He apparently didn’t like that he’d been accused of offering a bride. Olson knew that the owner’s testimony didn’t matter. All that would matter was his own, and the testimony that the drugs gave. A large crate worth it’s weight in hundred credit notes, and it was right there staring them all in the face. It didn’t matter how hostile the man looked, because the evidence was right there.

Olson knew, and he could see that they all knew, the stupidest thing they could do was try to fight their way through it. He was a federal officer, at a federal port, on a federal planet. There was no way out. Olson was highly trained, his time in the war had been very good to him to keep him ready. His weapon was drawn more for show, he had serious doubts that using it would be a real option. He continued to scan the people in front of him, still wanting to play his game.

The owner of the vessel then took a step towards him while answering his question. Olson’s head turned to look at him, his smug expression still all over his face. The man looked very serious. Olson was hoping that he would start trying to weasel his way out of it more. Every word he said just damned him. Instead he gave an insult, and Olson on reflex began a response. ”Hwhat…” He started, being distracted with the mans sharp movements.

He didn’t know what the man had flicked at him. All he knew was hit moved quick and hit him in the eye. He’d began bringing his weapon up, but whatever it was had got him dead on with his left eye and he hadn’t seen it coming. His body was still working to complete it’s action, and his finger squeezed the trigger of the silver pistol in his hands. From the barrel of the weapon a bright light appeared, and carried straight out. The weapon was only half way up, a bright blue ball about the size of a bullet shot out and hit the ground. The sound the weapon made was similar to the blare of a pistol, but it gave a slightly higher pitched whine as it moved through the air like lightning and hit the ground, leaving a burn in the ground that was about an inch deep and wide.

When Olson’s eye closed in reaction to whatever hit him, he felt something else. It was quick and painful. It was just to the left of his nose on his cheek. Before he had time to see what hit him, he could feel and a serious pain all throughout his body. He remained standing, but could feel his body convulsing. He could feel zapping throughout every vain in his body. It was in his tongue, his eyes, his finger tips, his toes, his crotch, and even his teeth felt like a lightning rod. He was still standing but his whole body felt like it was giving way. He didn’t realize it, but he was making noise.

”Gah- Gah- Gah- Gah- Gah- Gah- Gah- Gah- Gah The incoherent noise came from his throat, which had no natural reaction built in for what was happening. All he knew was that he could hardly move. Olson’s body felt like it was only up because he was balanced prior to whatever was happening. It continued even as his vision went blurry. Everything distorted and suddenly it began to fade to gray. Without anything to stop it, it moved to black.

Olson’s body tipped forward and hit the floor, hard. It convulsed a bit more, and then stopped. He had remained standing for close to five seconds before his system shut down on him. When he hit the ground, there was a loud clunk, and the weapon had remained in his hand, his fingers wrapped tightly around it, but his index was on the guard rather then a trigger. But he didn’t move and his eyes were closed.

[Marcus O'Terra]

The man dropped and Marcus held the trigger for a moment longer before kicking the Fed's gun away. It was Fed tech so it had a tracer in it. Certainly, likely so did the device the Fed had been scanning with. He knelt down to see if the scanner showed any signs they'd been made.

Seeing none or at least none he could recognize, he looked to the group. "Ray. Take his shit, anything that isn't his clothes, then strap him down in the infirmary." He tossed Ray the stun gun. It still had a second pair of shock darts in it. "Jay, Keep him under." He was already heading for the stairs. "Ilana. Engine room, start her up." He was bolting up. "Luu, to the bridge. We're heading out."

This wasn't going to end well but damnit how was that any different from any other day in Marcus's life? He sprinted for the bridge, finding his center.

[Jay Fuller]

Jay watched as Marcus stepped forward, "Well sir, you're quite mistaken...Because if I wanted to give you any amount of money, I'd find your mother and give her two platinum to clean my nuts." As he spoke, he stepped forward and flicked two coins at the fed's face and then pulled out the gun. Jay jumped once the stun gun went off, just as the fed fired his own gun. The sound filled the cargo bay and the bullet from the Fed's gun hit the ground making the loud clang of metal that echoed across the walls -- Jay heard himself shouting, "Tā mā de!" When he looked towards the Fed, the man was convulsing as he stood. He gurgled and fell forward. He convulsed a bit more before he fell still.

Marcus kicked the gun away. "Ray. Take his shit, anything that isn't his clothes, then strap him down in the infirmary. Jay, keep him under. Ilana, Engine room, start her up. Luu, to the bridge. We're heading out." Marcus sprinted off to the bridge.

Jay stood for a minute, staring at the man's body. He'd seen people killed before so this wasn't shocking, but he forgot the speed at which these things can happen. When he was in a firefight before, everything seemed to slow down. With that, his memory faded a bit leaving a lot of it an adrenaline-laced blur. This, though, was different.

He shook his head, pushing his mind back into the moment. "I'll go get the infirmary ready," he said. He walked to the catwalk that headed toward the infirmary. He walked all the way into the infirmary and looked around. 'Keep him under.' So, sedated, Jay assumed. For how long? He wasn't sure he could do that with the supplies he had. Well, he definitely could, but that was a limited amount of medical supplies that Jay would have rather saved. Well, no sense worrying about that now, he thought, We gotta get him up here first. He then realized that the Fed's body was going to have to get up to the catwalks first. He popped his head back out of the infirmary and called down, "Ray, you gonna need help moving him?"

[Ilana Logan]

Lulah's curse came through Ilana's ears a little weird, as though she were hearing it from really far away. Jay made some sort of sound that she didn't quite catch. She heard something from the medic, but she wasn't sure what. Ray was staring at the floor, utterly useless. The fed became even more belligerent, something Ilana hadn't thought possible until that moment. He droned on for a moment about the credits and how much they were worth in platinum. Then he accused Marcus of trying to bribe him. Ilana had heard everything Marcus had said to the huen dahn fed, and bribery hadn't been even alluded to. Her outrage was back and she would have said something then if Marcus hadn't spoken up first.

Marcus came back at him, saying, "Well sir, you're quite mistaken." He took a step forward. One hand at his side, the other holding a coin. He went on then, "Because if I wanted to give you any amount of money," He took two more steps toward the fed. Ilana saw his hand on his hip, dangerously close to his stun gun, and she barely had time to think, Oh god he's gone mad, before he finished what he had been saying. "I'd find your mother and give her two platinum to clean my nuts." He flicked the coins at the man's face and pulled the stun gun out quickly.

Ilana's mouth fell open at this. She couldn't believe he'd said that. Of course, she was sure that everyone here thought the same thing when she essentially threatened to cut out Lulah's tongue. She would have laughed if the whole situation didn't seem so surreal. The coins Marcus had flicked at the man hit him dead in the eye and he squeezed the trigger of the pistol in his hand. It made a loud crack and something zinged through the air. A big blue ball of light, meaning it was a laser gun. The ball hit the floor of the cargo bay, leaving a fairly good sized scorch mark in the metal. If that had hit a person…. Ilana trailed off the thought, knowing it would lead nowhere good.

Immediately after the coins hit him in the face and his gun went off, the prongs from Marcus's stun gun hit the fed under the same eye that the coins had gotten. She heard Jay's voice shouting from the catwalk, "Tā mā de!". The fed's body started to dance with the voltage running through it, and he made a horrible strangled sound, ”Gah- Gah- Gah- Gah- Gah- Gah- Gah- Gah- Gah."

The whole time he was dancing the electric jig, Ilana was wildly thinking that someone had put the rabid dog down. His body fell to the ground and made a sickening thud. It jerked a couple more times and then was still. Ilana stared blinking at the man for a moment, wondering who the hell Marcus really was. She said quietly, but loud enough that she knew Marcus heard, "Hǎo ba, wǒ huì bèi dìngzuì. Nǐ shì tā mā de fēngle." Then Marcus kicked the gun away from him and then checked the screen of the weird device he'd used to find the hidey hole that even she hadn't known about.

Seeming satisfied with what he found, Marcus looked at the crew and said, "Ray. Take his shit, anything that isn't his clothes, then strap him down in the infirmary." He tossed Ray the stun gun. "Jay, Keep him under." Marcus was up and headed for the stairs when he added, "Ilana. Engine room, start her up." Marcus bolted up the stairs, "Luu, to the bridge. We're heading out."

Take his shit? Strap him down? Why are we keeping the bastard alive? she thought even as she turned toward the engine room. She noticed Jay bounding off to do his thing even as she was running flat out, straight for the engine room.

"Ray, you gonna need help moving him?" She heard Jay call out from somewhere above.

She started laughing at this, though she wasn't entirely sure why. All she knew for sure was that somehow, it struck her as funny. The had just sentenced a fed to death, even though the hadn't killed him yet, and yet everyone was somehow calm about it. How the hell is that possible? She knew they couldn't ever let him go. That would be as bad as walking straight to the feds and saying hey, we're selling drugs and we kidnapped a federal officer. Oh yeah, we also tasered him so we could get away. Because that always worked out.

When she nearly ran into the doorframe of the engine room, she laughed even harder, thinking how ironic it would have been had she broken her own nose while trying to save her ass. She flipped the switches, powering everything on, and gave the engine a hard pull, turning it over. It started to spin on its own and she ran to the comm by the CAD board and pressed the button that put her voice on every comm in the ship, as she wasn't entirely sure where Marcus would be at this point, and said, "All systems go. Ready when you are Marcus."

---

Hǎo ba, wǒ huì bèi dìngzuì. Nǐ shì tā mā de fēngle. - means - Well I'll be damned. You're fuckin crazy.

[Lulah Hayes]

Digging her spoon firmly into her tin of protein junk, an almost snarling Lulah bit her spoon a little too hard, as she watched the fed answer her previous, questioning thoughts. Apparently, he was in a bad mood in the sense that, he wasn't about to let them get away with this, no matter how hard they tried to talk their way out. The mockery of his confused expression was clear as day, along with the smug 'nice try' expression that followed. Someone really needed to just hit him over the heard with something, hard, and leave him behind while they high-tailed it off this damn planet. When he effectively deactivated the forty thousand credits, Lulah dug her spoon in again, and mashed the creamy gunk around a bit. She couldn't help but resent the fact that he'd been the one to find the stash. If only they had a device like this; they'd all be rich by now.

As the Fed suddenly drew his gun on Marcus, a gasping Lulah had to lift a hand to her mouth to stop from very nearly spitting out the food she was still chewing over. Swallowing quickly in an almost painful gulp, she very slowly and very carefully backed away from the railing in just two, quiet steps. This was it. If someone didn't do something to permanently diffuse the situation soon, then she was going to prison with the rest of them. Her eyes looked to the top of Ray's head, which she could just about see still. 'C'mon meathead, do somethin' already!' She pleaded mentally, as if he could hear her through a psychic link. Then, she looked to Ilana, narrowing her eyes in general disappointment. 'And you! Please tell me you've gotta gun hidden 'round here somewhere?' She wasn't thinking logically anymore. She was only thinking like an animal who was being backed into a corner, and therefore, needed a quick way out that would guarantee survival.

Fortunately, the saviour of the day stepped forwards at last. Still with her free hand pressed against her mouth, as though a single breathe too loud would instigate gunfire, Lulah watched with wide eyes as Marcus executed his plan. It felt like her eyes were going to pop out their sockets as he reached forwards and jabbed the stun gun at the Fed's face. Then, the gunshot. She couldn't tell where it would hit, or even if it would aim towards her in that split second. So, naturally, she unleashed a high-pitched shriek as she immediately ducked. Not like the railings would offer much cover, nor the arm covering her head. Somehow, the spoon and tin can remained glued to her hands. After that, Lulah heard the repetitively guttural sounds of electrocution, but only when she heard the thud of a body hit the floor, did she peep over to observe the damage. There was the purple-belly, lying face down and seemingly not moving. 'Phew,' was her initial reaction, followed by a louder sigh of relief. 'Well, looks like Marcus sure did a real bang-up job of that one.'

Straightening up again, by the time Lulah was properly standing, she already had new orders called up to her.

“Got it!” She immediately called down, and without another word or look to anyone, bolted down the catwalk as though her life depended on it. It kinda did; especially if they didn't move from the scene of the crime in time before more purple feds showed up looking for their missing partner. Lulah didn't think too hard about those what ifs though. All she cared about, was getting to the bridge, jumping down in the co-pilot's chair, and slamming down the tin can that had been with her through the whole ordeal. Maybe later she'd stick a paper-face on it.

"All systems go. Ready when you are Marcus."[/i] Ilana's voice rang clearly through the communications board, leaving Lulah to deal with all the button pressing that would prep the engine on her end. By the time Marcus sat down, everything would be good to go in the Bridge. Except for a fixed location. It was all blind sailing until Lulah had more fixed co-ordinates to work with. Right now though, she was re-studying the projected map of the core planets, preparing suggestions for the Captain.

[Marcus O'Terra]

Marcus was in the bridge, in the upper level. He was poised at the top, looking out over the consoles. He was missing something, something important. He secured the Fed, but there was something else. The drugs? He'd space them. What else.

Footage. Evidence. Shit. If a fed didn't clock out this evening, Marcus didn't need to bet his security badge would lead them straight to this docking area, and Marcus's ship. Then it would stop there. Marcus's stomach roiled.

Don't freeze out now. He clenched his fists. "There's always a way out. He said aloud. Even if Lulah heard him at the copilot seat below him. He didn't really care, actually it might calm her down.

He went over to the communication board and looked over the logs. Sure enough a familiar name was present in logs, and Marcus swallowed his feat down into his gut as he readied himself for a sarcastic barrage.

He hit send and leaned back, reading the words on the screen.

"CALLING: MORSE"

[Ray Hudson]

When Marcus took a step forward, Ray stared at him with concern but also curiosity. He reached into his pocket and Ray thought for sure that the uniformed man would raise his weapon. Marcus revealed two coins and flicked them at the man with an insult along with it. The uniformed man was hit in the eye and he fired his gun in response, leaving a large burn on the floor. Ray jumped and his hand hovered over his Python 9-V but something kept him from drawing it from it's holster. As Ray questioned his judgement, Marcus went on the attack and the uniformed man was suddenly convulsing where he stood.

Once the man crashed onto the floor Ray was left frozen where he stood. Marcus knelt down next to the unconscious man and looked something over. He stood up and was suddenly on the move and he gave Ray an order. Marcus told Ray to take anything that wasn't clothes off the man and strap him into the infirmary.

"What?" Ray shot back. He had heard Marcus but he wasn't sure if he fully understood what he said. Marcus was heading to the bridge and gave everyone an order "You do know what your askin' me to do right?!" Ray asked Marcus, but he was already gone. Marcus was asking Ray to take this officer prisoner and make sure his binds were nice and snug which was something he wasn't ok with. There was no possible way any of this would end well but from the looks of it, they didn't have much of a choice. Ray looked at the rest of the group and they were all heading to their special places. Lulah at the bridge, Ilana in the engine room, Jay at the infirmary and Ray, taking the belt off of an unconscious man in the engine room.

Ray stood in place for a while after everyone was gone, thinking of what had just happened. The dog catcher had caught them but they had may have just torn his throat out. Ray looked at the unconscious officer in front of him and after a long sigh he walked over to him. He knelt next to the man and wondered where he should start, deciding on the pockets. When he reached his arm near the man, Ray realized that he was shaking and this caused him to halt. He was still terrified, terrified of this man and what he could do to them, terrified of the inevitability that he represented. He was a warning that was meant to be the punishment.

Grabbing his arm and shaking his hand, Ray tried to keep himself steady. Tried to keep himself calm. He opened and closed his hand and let out a deep breath. Ray went back to searching the man, removing various electronic devices and tossing them to the side. This was bad and it would only get worse.

As Ray worked he hear Jay's voice calling to him, wondering if he'd need help moving the uniformed man. "That'd be nice." Ray answered, sounding annoyed at the question. Ray rubbed his face, completely stressed out and he tried to get the man's armor off.

[Jay Fuller]

"That'd be nice," Ray called back up. Jay paused for a moment -- he wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or not. He looked down, staring toward the elevator. He finally walked to it and rode down to the cargo bay where Ray was waiting. When Jay got down there, Ray was working on getting the Fed's armor off.

"What can I do?" Jay asked when he walked up. He noticed Ray was shaking a bit when he walked up. He was obviously way more shaken up -- Jay was surprised he wasn't freaking out himself. But he hasn't really thought about how big of a shit pile they've tossed themselves into. Maybe Ray has. All Jay knew was that he wasn't quite ready to cross that bridge yet.

"...You alright?" Jay added.

[Ray Hudson]

When Jay reached him, Ray was nearly done searching the unconscious man. Jay asked what he could do and Ray sighed. "Just...lemme finish this than you grab his legs." He answered. When Ray finished ridding the man of everything but the clothes on his back, Jay asked if he was alright.

"Yeah." Ray shot back, lifting his half of the uniformed man off of the ground. He looked down at the body and then looked back at Jay. "I've always dreamt of this." He added, sarcastically. He was upset, horrified and his mind was in several different places. Ray thought for a moment and decided to keep the conversation going.

"You know," Ray said, dropping the man causing a loud slam as he made impact with the floor. "when a 'normal' person has a bad morning It's because...they spilled coffee on their shirt or they hurt themselves on the headboard when they woke up." Ray said to Jay, not entirely sure what the meaning of it all was. He sounded like he was ranting but he wasn't going into a full rage. "That's a 'normal' bad morning." He finished. Ray stood still, staring at the unconscious man again. After a moment of silence he looked back at Jay. "We're up the river, Jay...and I don't know what to do." Ray stated, sounding a lot more defeated.

Kneeling back down, Ray grabbed the man by the shoulders and lifted him up, expecting Jay to grab his legs and once he was up they carried him to the infirmary. Once they were inside the infirmary Ray looked at where they were going to put him. He wasn't sure what it was called, he thought 'bed' at first but it looked different from any bed he was used to so he assumed it was called something different. The two of them put the unconscious man onto the bed and sighed, yet again. Ray looked around the bed for straps and he found them hung up underneath it. He strapped the unconscious man down and was now ready for a break.