[JP] Marshall, Sienelis & Josett - The Hour's Approaching, to Give It Your Best (Part I)
Jo Marshall
((Five Days Ago: Shared Passenger Suite, Labyrinth's Scream))
::The large screen in the centre of the suite was intended for entertainment, a way to pass some time away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the ship. The current occupants had repurposed it for far more nefarious ends, and the image currently displayed was an engineering schematic of the Labyrinth's Scream. A particular set of rooms was highlighted in bright white, brilliant against the usual orange and green of the display.
Josett: These are the Scream's VIP quarters. They're more secure than most, but I can get around anything the ship has installed. The problem is going to be whatever extras he brought along with him. According to Thertas, we can guarantee that he did.
::On the couch, Valesha leaned forward, elbows resting on her knees as she peered at the screen. Pale from a lack of decent sleep, stress pulling her face taut, she focused on the problem at hand with all the intellectual ferocity of someone who didn't want to allow time or space for any other thoughts.::
Sienelis: So we need to scout them out.
::Apple crunching between his teeth, Bear frowned at the screen as he ate, taking large bites of the green fruit, contemplating the Captain's earlier words. With some of the crew likely in the employ of the courier, information passing from outside to the inner sanctum, the only people they could really trust were standing in their room already.::
O. Marshall: Extras as in security devices, or personnel? If I were transporting that, I'd have an arsenal.
Josett: It's a safe bet that it's both.
O. Marshall: In that case, we'll need to get you close enough to try and crack them, though buying enough time to do that... ::Another crunch, the apple turned in his hand, while the frown seemed to persist.:: Then there's just the small matter of his security team. He's not going to take them all with him to the Captain's table.
Josett: I do like a challenge.
::As was her wont, Lena offered a broad grin, tremendously entertained with the situation. Valesha grimaced and ran her thumb and fingers over the chevron ridge of her forehead, displaying the polar reaction to the obstacles that faced them.::
Sienelis: I prefer the ones less likely to result in death and dismemberment.
O. Marshall: A bit of both never hurt anyone.
::The look Valesha directed his way was comical in its incredulity.::
((Four Days Ago: Crew Lounge))
::If there was something the disaffected pirates of the galaxy knew how to do, it was drink. Lined up on the bar were two rows of small shot glasses, each filled to the brim with a swirling blue, red, and yellow liquid, all mixing together to form a kaleidoscope of colour. The sweet and sickly smell was enough to turn anyone's stomach downward, or those of a stranger sense of taste on a northerly swing.
::Already leaning one elbow on the top of the bar, Bear had a grin on his face that was part way to plastered as he fingered one of the shots at the far end. Lena sat next to him, cheek resting in her hand, a languid smile in residence.::
O. Marshall: There's a long way to the middle.
Josett: We'd best get started, then.
::Plucking one of the glasses from the bar, she swung it slowly from side to side, waiting for him to raise one of his own. Lifting the glass between his forefinger and thumb, Bear deftly — a breath from the clumsiness of the partially drunk — raised it up and clinked it against Lena's. The resulting sound wasn't so much a ringing of glass as it was the thudding of the heavy stuff it contained.::
O. Marshall: Something tells me this stuff wasn't made for humans.
::Extended a finger, Lena gestured across the mess hall toward a bald individual with twisted, pink-grey skin that looked almost like well-healed burns. Short and stocky, the alien had a pronounced, boxy chin and a prominent nose that ran straight into an equally prominent brow, the ridges on their naked almost making their skull look as though it was constructed from panels.::
Josett: Nope.
::Bear followed her gesture and drew in a long breath. Was it just him, or did the supposed alcohol in the shot glass start to bubble?::
O. Marshall: If it's made for him, this is going to melt my organs, I can feel it.
Josett: Only a little bit.
::She grinned at him, lifting the glass to her lips and threw it back in one, squeezing her eyes shut in a grimace as it burned its way down. Echoing the hybrid's grin, Bear knocked back the drink and coughed into his fist as it burned at least half a dozen layers off the skin in his gullet, immediately thickening the hazy inebriated fog.::
O. Marshall: One down… ::He winced, lifting the next, cocking an eyebrow at Lena.:: Remind me how you're still standing.
Josett: Dumb luck and a gut of steel. ::She lifted another of the small glasses, looking at it with a momentary expression of thoughtfulness.:: I almost feel bad that big spoon isn't here.
O. Marshall: Almost. ::He shook his head and chuckled.:: She'll be having the time of her life somewhere.
((Meanwhile... Maintenance Tubes))
::Jefferies Tubes, Valesha was discovering, were in fact the very height of luxury when it came to a starship's crawlspaces. Forced to crawl along on her belly and forearms, sweat slicking her short hair to her forehead, the Romulan muttered under her breath as she made painstaking progress through the dimly lit conduit. A Cardassian tricorder chattered away in one hand, grime accumulating on her clothes and skin as she moved through the rarely-used access..::
Sienelis: "Bit tricky to get to," she said. ::She scowled at the memory of Lena describing — very loosely, she now realised — the route to an internal sensor access port.:: "You're the scientist," he said.
::Her other hand shot out from underneath her, her chin bouncing off the grating underneath, clacking her teeth together in a jolt that made her wince. Holding one hand up in the dim light, she had absolutely no idea what slick substance was glistening on the palm of her hand, except that it smelled absolutely putrid. She stared at it in disgust for a long moment, swallowing down the bile.::
Sienelis: I'm going to murder them both.
TBC...
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Orson Marshall
Fugitive
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&
Fugitive
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Scallywag
Orion Syndicate