While the Dark Horse was being cleaned up inside (and the air system purged of lingering pheromones and other odors) Gabriel and Shojo were overseeing the loading of cargo. Part of the 'cleaning' involved locking down certain areas of the ship, like the section that the Jotoki lived in (which was rather wet). The dolphin tubes still connected to it though, so that Moka and Kaa could still play with them - but the kittens (now rather larger than when they arrived) had to stay in dryer areas. Access to the hangar was also restricted, just in case. It wasn't a worry about anyone messing with the Titan or Grunt suit, but there were two shuttles that might be stolen by someone adept with such things.
The mystery of where Sam had been is resolved when he shows up (in a new uniform) escorting the passengers: Egypt Inconspicuous (looking like a space-hobo again) and her fumitory Kiz'zeek'ra, and Parsu Broccoli - who was hugging her stasis box against her chest and looking over her shoulder a lot. The two have probably met at the office. "Sweet looking yacht," Egypt notes. "Is it single?"
"Yeah, there's just the one," Tasha replies with mock-blithe obliviousness, largely so she can avoid contemplating Tatha-hem's dating interests and all the problems that would come with that. She's wearing a simple, albiet expensive, skirt and top combo underneath her Dark Horse crew jacket, which unlike most others lacks the usual crew member job identification but does have gold trim. She leads the newcomers towards the docking ring, gesturing to the ship as she goes. "You'll have individual quarters on Deck Two, of course. Um, and access to the Lounge located on the Owner's Deck, which is Deck Four and accessed via the main elevator located aft of your quarters. Meals are served in the Galley, but feel free to take them to the lounge or I can arrange for service there if you want."
"Do you have fresh bugs?" Egypt asks, while Parsu does not ask about live prey.
"The Galley was stocked with your reported nutritional needs as per your passenger contract," Tasha answers. "So if you asked for them and my staff believes they can be managed, then they should be available. Otherwise, well, I leave it to their judgement. We're a small ship and sometimes we can't carry everything for various reasons, we apologize for any inconvienence." She stops beside the docking tube and gestures to it, inclining her head. "Welcome aboard the Dark Horse. If you have any questions or concerns, use ships' communications ot let the crew know."
"I should have requested donuts," Egypt grumbles, and Sam quietly ushers the passengers on board. His insignia is for 'engineering'.. which makes him the only one to have that designation, given the nature of the ship. It isn't long before Gabriel and Shojo return as well. "Last of the stuff is loaded," Gabriel says. There isn't anyone with an official role of 'supercargo' yet, but Gabriel seems to enjoy it for some reason. Shojo may or may not, his expression is always inscrutable.
"Welllll," drawls Tasha, who sweepa her gaze around as if all things might line themselves up before her to be inspected. From the way her expression shifts, perhaps they are -- at least mentally. "I guess that's that, then! Good bye Caltrop, at least for now. Captain Akkers!" She turns to him. "Please take us out at ships' convienence. Shojo," and so to him now, " ... you might need to work with Liza to handle any live food goods for our passengers, she's not comfortable with those."
"They're in those stazzy boxes," Shojo says. "Along with the donuts."
"Great!" Tasha thumbs back towards the hatch. "Well, lets get to it then. And I don't need to say this but, well, I might as well: Keep an eye out on the trip. Anyway, lets goooooo--" The young woman steps off, scooting both men gently towards the ship with a hand on each.
"They're Jotoki proof too," Shojo claims..
As usual, they have to pretend that they're using hyperdrive, which means flying in relativistic space to the edge of the system's gravity well (which isn't too far, since the stellar remnant isn't much after blowing off its outer layers to form the minable nebular). Then it's into the Maelstrom and setting an arbitrary time to the ship's clocks. "The passengers are settled in," Liza reports to Tasha on the bridge. "The Eeee is already setting up her pet.. water-pipe thing. The Naga is coiled up into a ball."
"That's ... probably good?" Tasha ventures, not knowing enough about both Eeee and Nagai behavior to really say for certain, Naga in particular. She scratches her nose a moment as she thinks, then tilts her head. "I should probably warn the crew not to try the communal hookah-like device she's using. It can be used to extract emotions and memories if you're not ready for it. The Naga is probably. Harmless herself, it's her enemies I'm more worried about."
"You might want to warn Miss Hakeber now then," Liza advises.
"Wait is she already down there?" The hybrid pulls out her datapad, pulling up ships' maps and personnel locations. "I think I may need to hire Hake a minder."
"That is supposed to be Aaron's job," Liza says, looking a bit guilty.
Hakeber is.. in the galley. But it's right next to the guest quarters.
"No I think it's Yue's job, but it's really a multi-person challenge." Tasha punches in a crew broadcast warning, encrypted through the Niss, that crew members should take care if being offered a chance at the fumigator, which explains briefly the why of the warning. "Well, want to go talk to our mystery Eeee? I could use someone to keep an eye on her as I talk. I thought she might try and genetically profile you, but she'd do that to me, too, so the risk is the same."
"I can always hypnotize you out of succumbing to her smoky charms," Liza notes, and follows Tasha. "It's a fumitor, not a fumigator. I think the latter is what the Celestials use. I hear it has lots of teeth."
"It's a fumi-somthing anyway." Tasha adds a little note to Gabriel and Yue she's going to meet their mysterious passenger and that they should be prepared just in case, then she's off. It's a short elevator ride and a brief walk down the corridor.
A short time later, Tasha reaches over and presses the communications button. "Hello Miss, um, Inconspicuous. Are you busy? I thought we might talk."
"-this thing work?" comes the reply over the intercom. "Can you hear me? Wait.. what's this one do.." The door slides open a moment later, revealing Egypt wearing.. an Eeee bathrobe? Or it could just be a blanket with a hole for sticking ones head through. "I figured it out," she notes.
Tasha can't help but smile. It really does remind her of the kind of dumb tactic she might use, dumb but effective. "Well I'm glad you did. Can I come in? Are you settled enough to talk?"
"There's nothing to hang upside-down from in here," Egypt complains, but gestures for the pair to come in. She sits cross-legged on the floor. "Are we in hyperdrive already? I got some stuff that words really well when you're in hyperspace."
"I believe we are." They're not, but Tasha has to maintain the illusion. She sits down across from Egypt on the floor, patting beside her for Liza to join her. "And while I'm sure you do, we both know that's not why I'm here."
Liza actually closes the door before joining Tasha.
"Oooooh.. you want me to teach the art of sonar-based tantric tickling, I bet," Egypt says, and waggles her eyebrows.
Tasha waggles her eyebrows back, still smiling. "No, that's not it," she says, tone gentle, but still firm.
"Well.. I'm out of guesses then," the bat claims. "You'll have to give me a hint."
Tasha just gives Liza a look and a shrug. "Unless there's more than one of you, you do have to admit your showing up at the party and being a major contributor to the Seeders is very at odds with who you appear to be right now. If you just wanted to avoid attention, there are better ways for you to keep a low profile. If you were worried about safety, you have the wealth to hire better guards than us -- and visiting the party would have blown your effort to hide anyway. So, I can only assume you're testing us on some level, or at least just amusing yourself." And so the young woman arches a brow. "You have tremendous wealth and no known business or source of income. No associates. Maybe enemies. Who are you, Miss 'Inconspicuous'?"
"I was at a party?" Egypt asks, and opens up a case full of little packets.. "I think I took some of my Socialite powder.. It would explain the gown. See, I keep.. well, that is to say.. I have multiple personalities that switch between using different drugs. When I say it out loud it sounds crazy, doesn't it? But may as well tell you because.. uh.." She keeps sorting through the packets, before saying, "Yeah, I'm out of Slacker. Once I go to sleep I'll probably wake up as my baseline.."
"I see." Tasha exchanges another look with Liza. "And I assume this helps you in some way? I can see the advantage of having more than one persona, like how an AI might have more than one facet for controlling various special systems. You also seem to have accumulated a lot of wealth, yet don't seem to remember how orwhat you're doing, That'd be very useful for a spy -- or criminal agent. Or, with someone who wanted to forget." The young woman frowns. "I'm just trying to figure out which one you are."
"I'm the one that's crazy.. good at hiding!" Egypt claims. "The others have their skills. The Socialite is good at spending money. There's another that's good at.. getting money. If I have a spy one it's.. probably not labeled as that. See, only my baseline knows what they all do and can plan stuff. She's got the memories of everyone."
"I just know I want to get to Phryxus," the bat concludes.
"This seems plausible to me," Liza claims. But then she's worked for a lot of odd people.
"Well, we'll see if 'baseline' wants to talk, when you wake up. For now," Tasha begins to rise, brushing her skirt down. "For now enjoy your stay. There's probably no point in continuing to talk about this right now, and I don't like riling my passengers unduly. I just have to ask these things. Ships' business, and all that." Once up fully, sheturns to Liza. "Shall we be off then, let our passenger settle in?"
Liza nods and opens the door. Once outside she asks, "Do you want her watched all the time?"
"I'll have the AI monitor her. I migth have it scan her, too, to be safe. If she were really trying to fool us she would /probably. be more careful about hiding her nature, so she's /probably/ not a /real/ problem, but maybe she /is/ someone else's real problem." Tasha begins walking, heading for the lift. "We might be a service provider, but we're also here to accomplish a mission, and we have certain /ethics/. I don't like interfering with a passenger's personal issues, but I have to make sure we're not going against our goals and ethics by helping them."
"The other one is a fugitive, I can tell," Liza notes, gesturing to the Naga's room. "She acts like prey. What's in the case, do you know?"
"By her reply, a child." Tasha turns and makes her way towards Brocolli's quarters, intent on checking up on her. "A child of an influential and powerful Celestial ... House? Group? I don't know how they arrange themselves, not yet, but definitely some kind of social structure with power. It seems like they're more ruthless than even the Khattans, that they don't hesitate to murder rivals even openly. That seems to be the case here. We could see their enemies try and intercept us."
The hybrid woman reaches the door, tapping the intercom button. "Miss Brocolli, it's me."
The door opens - Parsu must have figured out how to use voice commands, since she's still wrapped up in a ball, presumably around her case. "We are underway?" she asks, barely lifting her head from the knot of coils. She eyes Liza warily.
"Yes, we are." Tasha walks in, hesitates, then walks over to Brocolli and settles down on the floor near her -- but not too near. She gestures to Liza. "This is Liza, my personal assistant. She handles my day-to-day, including my itinerary, meals, hair, and so on. She's only dangerous when I don't live up to her standards." And so the hybrid woman offers a smile, then a grin as she decides showing teeth might not help here.
"Ssshe iss not a robot?" the Naga asks, just to be sure.
"Hey, some of my friends are robots. They're nice," Tasha assures the Naga whole reaching over and patting Liza's side. She then gestures Liza forward. "But no, she's flesh and blood. Go ahead, look for yourself." She waves Liza along.
"I.. don't need to be that close," Liza notes, betraying a possible fear of.. very large serpents that swallow small animals whole, probably.
"I am very comfortable here," Parsu claims. "Very warm. Do I need to meet others?"
Tasha tries scootching over, to show both sides everything is okay. Though if it's not, she'll probably be the first to know. Such, she decides, is her life. "Not if you don't want to," she says gently. Something about the serpent makes her want to run her hand over her head. "Is it, um, how do I say this without ... " She draws in a breath, exhales. "Well, I'll just say it: Is it usual for Naga to show so much affection for their children?" To her experience it hasn't been, which is part of why she could never connect with the Naga and Celestials aside from anatomical reasons like facial expression and other issues like generally running in different social circles.
"Affection?" the serpent asks. "I am protecting my charge," she claims. And then a moment later adds, "I do not like hyperssspace."
"Oh, I see. I'm sorry for misunderstanding." Maybe we really are just too different. It's not like Tasha dislikes the Naga, it more of a lack of common ground that would incline her to become more intimate with their kind. A sense of differing goals, mentalities, and outlooks. And as someone who associates with literal demons, she thinks she's usually open minded about beings with different outlooks. She also wonders why demons of all things are something she coud create a connection with, but so far she's never managed it with a Naga. Any Naga. As a test, she reachs over and tries to run a hand over Brocolli's head, in the same fashion she might comfort a child. "I'm sure everything will be fine."
The Naga doesn't move while Tasha pats her head, but her tongue does flick a bit faster. She still seems suspicious of Liza as well. Maybe she was traumatized by a child's stuffed toy. Children tend to be awful after all, and Parsu was a nanny.
Tasha stops when she sees she's probably not helping. She then scoots back a bit and folds her arms, where thet can appear to be under control. "Aaat any rate, we should be at our destination within the alloted timeframe. What I need to know from you is how likely you think your enemies are to try and intercept us at our destination, and if so, what sort of threat they might arrange. Guys with weapons? Guys with weapons on a shuttle? A starship? Many starships? A feelt of Thennenin Dreadnoughts?"
"They would not know I am aboard, or your itinerary," the woman notes. "Private vessels are not required to file sssuch. Only your agent knowss these thingss, yess?"
"Yeah, and you can trust Mr. I. to be careful. The man is basically made of professionalisim and an attention to detail wrapped up in competent menance," Tasha replies, grinning lopsidedly at the idea of anyone trying to strongarm Mr. Invention for information. "But I like to be safe about these things. This vessel has run in to, well, unusual situations before and it's better for both of us if you just tell me. That way if it happens, we'll be able to react faster."
"You are fasst, yess?" Parsu asks. "Look like racing yacht, maybe. Wealth. Less likely to be targeted. Outrun danger. Can't track shipss in hyperspace. Celestials avoid it."
"Alright, I understand if you don't want to tell us because you're afraid we might cancel your passage due to the dangers or maybe even take advantage." Tasha stands once again, and again smoothes down her skirt. She glances towards Liza, then back to Brocolli. "We'll take your concerns in to consideration and hope for a peaceful journey. With luck, as you said, nothing is likely to happen anyway. Well," her head tilts, "we know you don't like hyperspace, so we leave you to rest and relax. I'm glad we were able to talk a little, at least."
"Yess, thank you again for passage," Parsu says, her eyes unblinking. Tasha is pretty sure she saw them blink before though.
As stares go, she puts it at a six out of ten. Not nightmare god intimidating certainly, but she wouldn't want to have it leveled at her over lunch. "Rest well, Miss Brocolli. I hope your charge rests well, too." She turns to Liza and nods towards the door. "Want to have a drink with me Liza?" She asks after they exit. "Maybe this trip will be a quiet one?" She snorts a laugh. "Well, we can hope, right?"