Asking Questions

[Samantha Greystone]

SPACE, 1 Day From Georgia System
July 16th, 2518
AST 9:00 AM


It was about a hour after breakfast had finished. Sam was done cleaning and prepping for lunch. She did her best thinking when on mindless tasks such as these.

As suspected talking about her past with the Captain had brought back the nightmares, as such she hadn't slept. Instead letting the question that she was currently debating play through her mind.

Should she ask Rina about Mike? Should she take the steps to ask the man to look for her brother? Considering what Sam would have to tell Mike, it was a long debate with herself.

[Marina Kseniya Sebastien]

Engine Room, Eden
09:10

"Where the hell is that spanner?" Rina was flat on her back under part of the ship's workings and only her legs from the thighs down were visible until she stuck a grimy hand out to pat the deck. She had an array of tools on a drop cloth near her leg and they softly chimed as they shifted under her hand. She grabbed one and walked her fingers to the end of it, put it down, and picked up the next in the array.

"No."

Clink!

"No."

Clink!

"No."

Clink!

THUD!

"Blyad!"

Booted heels dug into the deck on a tide of heated invective in three different languages and Rina emerged hot, grimy, and pissed off. She slapped her hand to the chest pocket of her coveralls for her bandana and froze. Closing her eyes with a grimace, she pulled the tool she was looking for from that pocket and muttered one last curse.

"Shit." Then: "Wait. What time is it?"

She checked her watch.

"Sonuvabitch!"

She'd missed breakfast again … again.

Rina scrambled up from the deck and absently pocketed her tool and headed for the galley, swaying as the blood in her head went thin.

"Yeah, you didn't even stop for coffee this morning, you pigheaded fool," she muttered to herself. "Time to fix that. Pronto."

If she were lucky, no one would be in the galley and no one would know how stupid she'd been. She'd crossed the threshold, already thinking of maybe sneaking a sandwich, when she looked up and saw Sam still there.

Time to face the music, you. Say something. Be nice.

"Hi, Sam. What's up?"

Lame as hell, but it was all she had.

[Samantha Greystone]

"Hi, Sam. What's up?" Rina's voice brought Sam out of her train of thought.

"Well, coffee's fresh. And would you like me to make you something to eat?" Sam asked.

It would have been impossible to not notice that Rina missed breakfast, again.

"You know if I didn't know better I would think you were avoiding my cooking." Sam smiled and spoke lightly, indicating she was joking.

[Marina Kseniya Sebastien]

"Oh no, Sam." Rina shook her head, making her tousled short hair quiver as she poured herself a fresh mug of coffee. "Your cooking's brilliant. It's my sense of time that's dim. Today it was pretty fucking gone."

She turned to face Sam but wilted against the counter as she took her first sip … ah, bliss … Once the coffee worked its magic and the world no longer felt floaty, Rina opened her brown eyes and gave Sam a rueful smile.

"And yes, please. Whatever you feel I deserve, after missing what was probably one of your best breakfasts yet."

She gave an appreciative sniff and sighed.

Dammit. You missed bacon. Again.

[Samantha Greystone]

Sam nodded, "Well, you're in luck. I managed to save some bacon." Opening the refrigerator door. "How about eggs? How do you like yours?"

Giving Rina a moment to reply, as she got the ingredients out and put everything on one of the counters.

Sam then went over to a different counter and picked up a large bowl with a resealable lid , handing it to Rina. "Homemade croissants."

With that she set to work preparing Rina's food.

[Marina Kseniya Sebastien]

Rina assembled everything in her head and answered.

"In order: Thank you, you're a lifesaver. Eggs are fine. Two, please, over hard. So that perhaps we can put the bacon and eggs in a croissant? Take it to go?"

She broke the seal on the bowl and slid it within reach of Sam.

[Samantha Greystone]

"I can do that but, I was actually wondering if I could ask you something." Sam began to cook as she spoke.


The bacon went in the pan first. "It's really about Mike but I promise its nothing too personal." Frankly, Sam didn't have any reason to know the details of Rina's and Mike's relationship, and wasn't the type to pry.

[Marina Kseniya Sebastien]

"Sure," Rina said and got comfortable against the counter, arms crossed and coffee mug cradled under her chin. "Ask me anything, but I reserve the right to refrain from answering and/or refer you to Mike directly."

Rina eyed Samantha over the rim of her mug as she sipped her coffee. Her expression was still friendly and open but there was a flicker at the back of her brown eyes that hinted that she was still on guard.

[Samantha Greystone]

"Fair enough," Sam responded as she flipped the bacon over. "I don't need specifics but I'm assuming you've known each other awhile." That was more of a statement than a question. "And I am assuming you must trust him."

Sam wasn't one to not be direct, so she just put it out there. "The Captain told me Mike's a finder. I have someone I need found. How good is Mike at finding people?" That was really the more minor question to the next one. "And how good is he at keeping things to himself."

Sam now waited for the questions.

[Marina Kseniya Sebastien]

"There you are," Rina breathed, light as a feather, into the room. "Pleased to meet you, Sam. Finally."

Rina sipped her coffee and thought a moment, lips pursed in thought before twitching a tight grin.

"In order? The best I've seen. And: better than best." Another sip, another pause. "And once he's free to pursue this, how soon do you need results?"

[Samantha Greystone]

"Well, I as soon as answers can be found. I know that's not very precise but I've been looking for this person for three years. Anything would be than constantly not knowing, but I do realize it might take time." Sam was draining the bacon on some paper towels. She had cracked the eggs and put them in the pan, with the yolks left perfectly intact.

A few moments, then flipping them and waiting for the yolks to cook. Meanwhile, Sam retrieved a croissant from the bowl and cut it down the middle, taken out a little of the bread from the middle, so it formed a small pocket.

[Marina Kseniya Sebastien]

"All right." Rina set her coffee aside. "Would you like me to set up a meet with him, act as go-between? Or would you rather approach him on your own, now that you've gotten a bead on things?"

She crossed her arms and tilted her head and waited for Samantha's answer … or the sandwich, whichever came first.

[Samantha Greystone]

"I think setting up a meeting would work," Sam didn't mind taking things into her own hands but she didn't know the man and be didn't know her, not really.

She slide the eggs and bacon into the croissant, folded it back together then wrapped the whole thing in foil. Handing it to Rina, "There you go."

[Marina Kseniya Sebastien]

"I'll get it done. What ti—" The first bite of that sandwich made Rina's eyes flutter and she couldn't speak for a second. She took her time with that bite, then swallowed. "Do you have a specific time for the meet? I don't want to schedule something that would interfere with your duties."

[Samantha Greystone]

"Well, not an hour before or after meal time. I'm usually busy then, but any other time should be fine." Sam responded.

She noted Rina's reaction to the food and smiled slightly, always liking when people enjoyed her cooking.

[Marina Kseniya Sebastien]

"Done and done." Rina folded the foil over her half finished sandwich and she got a cover snapped onto her coffee. "How about 20-hundred, tonight? After dinner clean-up but still early enough in our evening?"

[Samantha Greystone]

"Works for me." Sam said, to Rina "and thanks."

There wasn't much else to do but clean up, so she started on that.