Lilianna froze where she stood between table. Her face stared to become redder and redder and her body was trembling. She dropped the plate of pancakes she was holding and started to cry loudly. A desperate crying of someone scared and frightened. Catie moved beside Lilianna, and, very gently, enough to let her pull away if she wanted, tried to hug her. Grace’s immediate response was to roll her eyes and continue to clean up after her breakfast. She had no desire to be part of the princess pity party. As Lilianna cried there was a sound of running feet and Seth came into the galley with weapon in hand, but held up in check. JC and Asante close behind him


"GUN!!!" Rick screamed and he attempted to throw himself in front of Grace. Grace immediately stepped away from him and gave him annoyed look.

“Sir, I am the least of your concerns. Why don’t you go take care of the Princess over there?” said Grace, her tone sharp with annoyance. Too late, she heard everyone shouting for Angela to stop, and Rick blocked Grace’s view of what was going on.

"I WANT DANIEL!!!!" Lilianna cries out through the tears.

"Daniel?" AJ says his eyes going wide..

"Daniel?" Rick repeats with the same expression.

Frustrated, Grace tried to get around the pretty boy if only to figure out what the hell was going on!

Destiny Galley Day Two of Journey. 9:45 am ST
"I WANT DANIEL!!!!" Lilianna cries out through the tears.

"Daniel?" AJ says his eyes going wide.

"Daniel?" Rick repeats with the same expression.

Seth came running into the room with his gun held up. He sees that Lilianna is crying about Daniel and is confused, He goes to speak but ...

Angela leaps through the air swiftly and silently. Of all the people on the boat that Seth had seen and summed up as a threat or not, Angela was at the very bottom. He had virtually dismissed her as a labourer. He tries to step back but she is upon him too fast.

“Angela no don’t kill him!” JC called out.

“Angela...wait” Tess called out. “Looks like Seth is just here to help and he lower his gun because there is no danger right now.”

A swift chop knocks the gun into the air and then Angela hits it again with her hand, doing something rapidly that sends the gun flying across the room but away from everyone else. Seth punches at Angela's face and move to get some space but Angela rolls her head to avoid the punch and brings up her elbow into Seth neck just as he is beginning to call out, "Qiā ---"

Seth moves back to round house kick Angela and she spins with the blow, staggered by the blow. Seth takes the opportunity to leap for the gun and calling out for it again. It did not come to his hand like JC had seen before. But Angela was not slowed by the attack, in fact it was a feint to let Seth put himself where she wanted him. She hit him hard in the back, a sharp blow and a twist of her hand and then he became completely stiff and fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes.

"I didn't kill him." Angela says calmly, "He is just paralysed for the next 4-5 hours. Less if you apply ice to that nerve." She tossed the battery pack from Seth's gun on the ground beside the fallen bodyguard.

Stephanie walked into the galley, Good morning everyone I hope the ..." she stopped and looked at the scene of the fight, Liliana crying, the brothers looking tense and Angela poised like a cat ready to pounce. "Oh my. Is this the fun part? Are we having fun?" She said quietly and then yelled loudly, "JON!!!!! WHERE IN THE GORRAM HELL ARE YOU!!!!!???????"

She moved through the room and came to Seth's side, "Someone get my bag from the infirmary please." She said firmly and then looked up at Angela and asked, "What exactly did you do to him?"

Tess:…. “Angela no don’t kill him!” JC called out.
“Angela...wait” Tess called out. “Looks like Seth is just here to help and he lower his gun because there is no danger right now.”

Angela was in motion and it was evident that she would complete her mission. With a blur of action she disarmed the bodyguard. With grace and poise she avoided his attack and then skillfully countered, dropping the man to the floor.

"I didn't kill him." Angela says calmly, "He is just paralysed for the next 4-5 hours. Less if you apply ice to that nerve." She tossed the battery pack from Seth's gun on the ground beside the fallen bodyguard.

Tess swallowed and then let out slight whistle, “Wow .. that was slicker than dog snot!” She smiled at Angela as Stephanie entered.

Walked into the galley Stephanie started to greet the essembled, ”Good morning everyone I hope the ..." she stopped and looked at the scene of the fight,... Liliana crying,.... the brothers looking tense and Angela poised like a cat ready to pounce.
"Oh my. Is this the fun part? Are we having fun?" said quietly.
Hitting the comm button she then yelled loudly, "JON!!!!! WHERE IN THE GORRAM HELL ARE YOU!!!!!???????"
The doctor then moved to Seth's side, "Someone get my bag from the infirmary please."
Then looked up at Angela and asked, "What exactly did you do to him?"
With that Tess took the opportunity to get out of the room, “I’ll get the bag.”she piped. Scurring out to the gangway she wasn’t sure if she really wanted to be there when Jon showed up.

Destiny Galley Day Two of Journey. 10:00 am ST
A sight clamor had seemed to be coming from somewhere in the ship. Jon closed his eyes. In a few moments it was followed by a light rumble of what might be running. He could swear he hear excited voices. The captain almost got up, but he remembered seeing Tess, Angela and JC in the galley. “They’ve got it covered.”

Just as he started to take another leisurely sip of his coffee a roar bellowed came out of the ship’s comm.
, "JON!!!!! WHERE IN THE GORRAM HELL ARE YOU!!!!!???????" Steph had summonsed.

Long ago Jon had given up on the standard ship’s protocols. He actually couldn’t even remember hearing Stephanie call him Captain, not even when she had treated him in the hospital. Well he still needed to appear to the passengers that he was in charge.

Jon straightened his shirt as he stepped out the lift and made his way to the galley. Striding into He’d tried to keep the look of dismay off his face as he scanned the disarray.

Seeing the satisfied look on Angela’s face and the dismay on everyone else’s Jon could figure that his new ship’s mate had slipped into protection mode again. Jon had walked alone the back alleys of Beylix seedy side looking for a friend; JC had been pretty bad shape when he’d found him and most likely didn’t see Angela in action. Even though Grace and Tess knew a bit about Angela’s talents neither had seen her move before.

Looking over the setting, Jon harrumphed at Seth on the floor and then stepped over to Angela, "What happened here, give me the facts." Angela then in her detailed style reported. She explained about Lillianna's breakdown and Seth entering the room weapon drawn endangering the crew, ship and passengers. She finishes by saying "I subdued the aggressor and neutralized the situation." Jon then will look back Seth and the battery pack turn on the floor then back to her, he smiled and said "Good work".

Jon turns to the crew and passengers. By then Tess was returning with the med kit for Steph.

“Rick, AJ would you be so kind as to help the good Doctor when she is finished here and carry this man to the sick bay?”

“Doctor”, he said with emphasis and respect, “please call JC when Seth regains consciousness.”

“JC… when Seth is able to understand please remind him again of the dangers of carrying weapons onboard a freighter and that his cooperation to leaves these in safe place would be appreciated."

Jon then walked to the kitchen area, refills his cup, sitting down at the table next to the mess and the still quaking Lillian he says, “Now would be a good time to tell us everything.”

“Angela no don’t kill him!” JC called out.

“Angela...wait” Tess called out. “Looks like Seth is just here to help and he lower his gun because there is no danger right now.”

Once Grace had managed to get around Pretty Boy, She was shocked to see a woman half Seth size, effectively knock a war hero to the ground. The Grace immediately noted that it had taken Angela exactly eighteen second. Before Grace could stop herself, she let of a startled giggle. Embarrassed that she had made that weird noise, Grace clamped her mouth shut, trying to suppress the giggles trying to get out.

Tess swallowed and then let out slight whistle, “Wow ... that was slicker than dog snot!”

Now the giggles turned to laughter, and Grace slapped her hand over her mouth to cover it and hide the noise but her shoulders were starting to shake with the contained laughter. Angela had knocked out Seth. Seth, the brave war hero, the one who had received so much praise for being so brave, who had gotten the bodyguard due to being such a good fighter had gotten his a** handed to him by Angela.

Stephanie walked into the galley, Good morning everyone I hope the ..." she stopped and looked at the scene of the fight, Lilianna crying, the brothers looking tense and Angela poised like a cat ready to pounce. "Oh my. Is this the fun part? Are we having fun?" She said quietly and then yelled loudly, "JON!!!!! WHERE IN THE GORRAM HELL ARE YOU!!!!!???????"

She moved through the room and came to Seth's side, "Someone get my bag from the infirmary please." She said firmly and then looked up at Angela and asked, "What exactly did you do to him?"

Grace could tell that Angela was tense and the telltale sign of Angela shaking her hands like they were wet was happening. Grace managed to get a hold of herself and coughed to clear her voice of the chuckles. Grace asked “Hey Angela, let’s get out of Stephanie’s way. Can you come over here and stand beside me?”

As soon as Angela was beside her, Jon walked in and looks around in barely hidden dismay. Grace did her best to try and keep the smile off her face and she was refusing to look at Seth or else the giggles were going to return. Jon immediately asked for details and during the explanation, Grace had to cough twice to hide her chuckles

“Rick, AJ would you be so kind as to help the good Doctor when she is finished here and carry this man to the sick bay?”

“Doctor”, he said with emphasis and respect, “please call JC when Seth regains consciousness.”

“JC… when Seth is able to understand please remind him again of the dangers of carrying weapons onboard a freighter and that his cooperation to leaves these in safe place would be appreciated."

Jon then walked to the kitchen area, refills his cup, sitting down at the table next to the mess and the still quaking Lillian he says, “Now would be a good time to tell us everything.”

As Jon order then about, Grace leaned towards Angela and whispered “Don’t worry, you aren’t in trouble. Nice job by the way, very impressive.”

“Doctor”, Jon said with emphasis and respect, “please call JC when Seth regains consciousness.”

“Stephanie smiled faintly at Jon’s formal address of her, “Captain. He is conscious. He can hear everything we are saying right now but cannot move or speak. Angela effectively disarmed him, and incapacitated Seth in the most efficient manner.”

“18 seconds.” Grace interjected with a muffled giggle.

“Really?” Stephanie sounded shocked. She then turned to Angela, “I apologize if my initial reaction was unkind. You acted in a very controlled manner to protect the passenger and crew.”

Destiny Cafeteria Day Two

For all of his yelling JC knew in the end it was pointless. Though the gunfighter knew Angela was fast and powerful he had never really until this very moment realized just how fast. Where being fast is the life and death of a gunfighter in a gunfight JC knew that somehow the petite girl in front of him could quite simply be the fastest thing he ever seen. In his mind he wondered just what she was, like himself her speed was not, could not, be fully human.

At this point in his thinking Jon entered the room and as his position as Captain warranted started asking for what had happened. As JC watched Jon harrumphed at Seth on the floor and then stepped over to Angela,

"What happened here, give me the facts."

Angela then in her detailed style reported. She explained about Lillianna's breakdown and Seth entering the room weapon drawn endangering the crew, ship and passengers. As JC listened closely he discreetly watched the reaction of Asante.

"I subdued the aggressor and neutralized the situation."

“18 seconds.” Grace interjected with a muffled giggle. JC’s head snapped around so fast to look at the mechanic he could almost feel something break.

“Wuo duh MA!”*

Jon looking from Gracie back to Seth and the battery pack on the floor then back to her, smiled and said "Good work".

Turning to the crew and passengers as Tess returned with the med kit for Steph, he gave out orders.

“Rick, AJ would you be so kind as to help the good Doctor when she is finished here and carry this man to the sick bay?”

“Doctor”, he said with emphasis and respect, “please call JC when Seth regains consciousness.”

“JC… when Seth is able to understand please remind him again of the dangers of carrying weapons onboard a freighter and that his cooperation to leaves these in safe place would be appreciated."

“Yes sir captain” If Jon wanted to present a professional front, who was he to not to follow the Captain’s lead. As Jon walked to the kitchen area and refilled his cup, JC sat down at the table at its end far enough away from the still quaking Lillian to not be in the way. As Jon joined him across from Lillian The Captain spoke to her.

“Now would be a good time to tell us everything.”

*Mother of Jesus!

Some people got angry when they fought, and others saw it as some sort of dance. To Ming, fighting Seth had been no more than an exercise of tactics: disarm the man, disarm the gun (seriously, who made a quick release catch for the battery pack?!), then send the gun out of reach. Let the man think he’d hurt you and thrown you off balance so he’d dive for the gun, presenting that finely muscled back for the crippling blow. Ming stiffened the fingers of her right hand and struck, twisting as she grabbed muscle to wrench it into cramping. The man dropped like a stone and Ming stepped aside, as neat as a cat, to avoid being entangled with the prone man.

“Angela no don’t kill him!” JC called out.

“Angela...wait” Tess called out. “Looks like Seth is just here to help and he lower his gun because there is no danger right now.”
Those words reached Angela through the blood rushing through her veins and the roaring in her ears. They may have been said earlier, but Angela had been busy then; now she could hear again, though it was hard to concentrate on the meaning. So much energy was surging through her she didn’t know what to do with it all: fight the next person nearest her, put her fist through a wall, jump out of the ship, run to the back of it and push! Her hair tingled and her limbs trembled with the effort of staying still, so she shook her hands lightly, as if shaking off water drops, trying to send the energy elsewhere.

Distantly, she heard Tess whistle and exclaim, “Wow ... that was slicker than dog snot!”

"I didn't kill him." Angela managed to say calmly enough, "He is just paralyzed for the next 4-5 hours. Less if you apply ice to that nerve." She looked at the battery pack in her hand and let it drop to the floor beside the fallen bodyguard. Realizing that maybe, just maybe, she’d overdone it, Angela held herself still and looked warily at each person in the room, ready to defend herself against the Simon boys or even JC.

That’s when Doc Stephanie walked in, and although she seemed calm enough at first, she bellowed for the Captain into the comm (Angela wasn’t certain she actually NEEDED the comm) before turning an icy eye on Angela.

"What exactly did you do to him?

Grace asked “Hey Angela, let’s get out of Stephanie’s way. Can you come over here and stand beside me?”

Angela opened her mouth to answer but the Captain walked in and Angela snapped to attention. Looking over the setting, Jon harrumphed at Seth on the floor and then stepped over to Angela, "What happened here, give me the facts."

“Sir, the one Simon brother attempted to engage Grace in conversation as the client was serving pancakes. She dropped the plate of pancakes and started crying. Loudly. When the bodyguard came in, breaching his word about not drawing his gun, I acted. I subdued the aggressor and neutralized the situation."

Jon looked back Seth and the battery pack on the floor then looked back to her, smiling briefly before saying "Good work".

Angela simply nodded, not quite trusting herself to speak, happiness at the praise flooding her. She blinked as sweat trickled into her eyes and realized that she wasn’t shaking anymore but drenched in sweat as if she’d run for miles. She wiped her face and lifted her hair off the back of her neck to cool down as the Captain issued orders.

“Rick, AJ would you be so kind as to help the good Doctor when she is finished here and carry this man to the sick bay?”

“Doctor”, he said with emphasis and respect, “please call JC when Seth regains consciousness.”

“Captain, Stephanie countered before Angela could explain,” He is conscious. He can hear everything we are saying right now but cannot move or speak. Angela effectively disarmed him, and incapacitated Seth in the most efficient manner.”

“18 seconds.” Grace interjected with a muffled giggle.

“Really?” Stephanie sounded shocked. She then turned to Angela, “I apologize if my initial reaction was unkind. You acted in a very controlled manner to protect the passenger and crew.”

“JC… when Seth is able to understand please remind him again of the dangers of carrying weapons onboard a freighter and that his cooperation to leaves these in safe place would be appreciated."

Grace leaned towards Angela and whispered “Don’t worry, you aren’t in trouble. Nice job by the way, very impressive.”

Angela nodded, patting Grace’s arm to show her appreciation, but something she’d heard before Seth had arrived came back to her. As Jon sat down at the table next to the mess and the still quaking Lillian, JC nearby, he says, “Now would be a good time to tell us everything.”

“Do I know Daniel?” Angela rather loudly whispered to Grace. As heads turned to look at her, she hitched her shoulders uncomfortably, hating how she forgot important things. “Well, she, “ indicating Lilliana with a lift of her chin,” wailed for him so I guess he’s important. Do I know him? They certainly do,“ she finished, looking squarely at the Simon brothers.

What happened here, give me the facts."

“Sir, the one Simon brother attempted to engage Grace in conversation as the client was serving pancakes. She dropped the plate of pancakes and started crying. Loudly. When the bodyguard came in, breaching his word about not drawing his gun, I acted. I subdued the aggressor and neutralized the situation."

Jon looked back Seth and the battery pack on the floor then looked back to her, smiling briefly before saying "Good work".

Angela simply nodded, not quite trusting herself to speak, happiness at the praise flooding her. She blinked as sweat trickled into her eyes and realized that she wasn’t shaking anymore but drenched in sweat as if she’d run for miles. She wiped her face and lifted her hair off the back of her neck to cool down as the Captain issued orders.

“Rick, AJ would you be so kind as to help the good Doctor when she is finished here and carry this man to the sick bay?”

“Doctor”, he said with emphasis and respect, “please call JC when Seth regains consciousness.”

“Captain, Stephanie countered before Angela could explain,” He is conscious. He can hear everything we are saying right now but cannot move or speak. Angela effectively disarmed him, and incapacitated Seth in the most efficient manner.”

“18 seconds.” Grace interjected with a muffled giggle.

“Wuo duh MA!”* JC swore.

“Really?” Stephanie sounded shocked. She then turned to Angela, “I apologize if my initial reaction was unkind. You acted in a very controlled manner to protect the passenger and crew.”

“JC… when Seth is able to understand please remind him again of the dangers of carrying weapons onboard a freighter and that his cooperation to leaves these in safe place would be appreciated."

“Yes sir captain.” JC said.

“Actually Captain.” Stephanie said, “If the brothers could help me get Seth to a chair, I can work on him here. I suspect that he might need to hear what is said. Lilianna has nothing to fear from him and frankly I doubt she did in the first place.”

Grace leaned towards Angela and whispered “Don’t worry, you aren’t in trouble. Nice job by the way, very impressive.”

Angela nodded, patting Grace’s arm to show her appreciation, but something she’d heard before Seth had arrived came back to her. As Jon sat down at the table next to the mess and the still quaking Lillian, JC nearby, he says, “Now would be a good time to tell us everything.”

Lilianna took a few deep breathes as Catie attempted to soothe her into calmness. The brothers helped Seth get into a chair by the table just as the Doctor put a vial into her hypo-spray and gave a shot to Seth in the back. “This will help but you will be a bit ... euphoric for a few hours.”

The Simons slowly moved to the doorway as if to leave and let things that weren’t there business be told.

“Do I know Daniel?” Angela rather loudly whispered to Grace. As heads turned to look at her, she hitched her shoulders uncomfortably, hating how she forgot important things. “Well, she, “ indicating Lilliana with a lift of her chin,” wailed for him so I guess he’s important. Do I know him? They certainly do,“ she finished, looking squarely at the Simon brothers.

“No!” snapped AJ

“Yes.” Replied Rick sheepishly.

“Rick!”

“AJ!”

“I told you to let me handle this!”

“Handle it? What have you gorram handled? We are just getting deeper and deeper!” Rick retorted angrily.

“I said I would come up with a plan!”

“Great! A plan. Just like Dad. When was this plan coming?”

“Hey! We have 4 days still. We ain’t done nothing wrong.”

“WE AIN’T DONE NOTHING RIGHT AJ!!!”

The brothers stop and stare at each other for a second. AJ shrugs his shoulders, “Yeah. You’re right Rick. But this is family business.”

“Oh we are one big happy family here on Destiny.” Stephanie piped in cheerfully, “Isn’t that right Captain? So pull up chairs boys and let the little lady talk and then you can share too.”

“Dad was crazy, AJ.” Rick says seriously.

“No Rick, he wasn’t. Trust me on that.” AJ replied evenly as he sat back down.

Lilianna dabbed her eyes and sighed a few times before she could get started, “Well. My mother, Belle was my Step-daddy’s secretary round about the time that his first wife left him. She ran off with a ranch-hand and hurt my step-daddy really bad. My mom was there for him during that time. They got along well because my daddy had taken off too, but not with the Baron’s wife. He just disappeared when my mom told him she was pregnant. Anyway, long story short - they ended up marrying and the Baron adopted me as his own. He was always good to me. I mean, he was often away on business and the like but he never spoke harsh to me or raised his hand. He always sent me gifts and the best schools. He got a mite upset when I started working for my mother’s charities because he didn’t like the way the media called me Princess but after awhile he saw they meant in a nice way and let me be. Even after my mom died from the diseases she picked up when helping the farmers and Miners, he still allowed me to continue her work.

“I met Daniel Blake on the farm, he was a ranch hand there. We sorta got to know each other because he liked horses so very much, just like me. Anyway, I knew that The Baron wouldn’t approve of Daniel since he’s a ranch hand but he had been working with the local vet who said he had a natural skill with animals and with someone to back him financially, he could become a veterinarian, who are always in high demand. So I thought that if I asked my step-dad, he would be willing to help out.”

“Shiny.” Asante said shaking her head, “Bet that went over well.”

“No. He told me that he had arranged for me to marry Templeton Steele. He dismissed Daniel as a gold-digger and told me that he expected me to do as he said.” Lilianna began to tear up again, “He told me never to see Daniel again and then made the announcement to the media like it was my idea. So I made up the idea of a kidnapping plot and spread the rumour around through the friends I have in the press. I thought he’d call off the wedding but instead he assigned a bodyguard and changed the wedding plans.”

Asante suddenly sat up, “Wait a gorram minute. YOU made up the kidnapping plot? Tā mā de! Tā mā de! gǒu niáng yǎng de!
“I just wanted him to stop the wedding!” Lilianna cried, “Seth was nice enough to let me see Daniel again, just to say goodbye but I found I couldn’t do it. I loved him so. But Seth told my Step-dad and he told me that if I didn’t stop seeing Daniel, he’d have him killed. After that, Daniel disappeared and I was told if I married Templeton and did as I was told, then ....Daniel would be allowed to live. So I have been living a lie, never able to go anywhere without someone watching me. I have to betray the man I love in order to keep him alive – it just isn’t fair!”

Both brothers bury their faces in their hands and then all eyes turn to Seth who is trying very hard to move his head but can only manage a slight shake. Stephanie says, “I believe he is trying to say he didn’t tell your step-dad. The way Seth came in here to save you thinking you were in trouble, plus sneaking you out to see the boyfriend one last time – I don’t think he is your conspirator.”

“I don’t even know if Daniel is alive!” Lillianna dissolved into tears.

“Umm....He is alive.” Rick mumbled.

“Rick!”

“AJ!”

“You gonna get us all killed.”

“No. I am gonna get us all help. We need help. You can brood for four days but in the end, we are over our heads, knee deep in Go Sa and covered in crazy sauce.”

AJ stared at his brother and then finally said, “Go ahead. Be my guest. We’ll be lucky if they don’t let Miss Super Soldier there paralyse us and stuff our bodies out the airlock.”

Rick stood up. “First off, I’d like to say that we have no intentions of harming Daniel further.”

Lilianna screamed hysterically.

“Nice opening College-boy. They teach you that in uppity crust school?” AJ asked.

“Sorry! Sorry! We ... umm ... well. Dad ... I don’t know where to start.”

AJ stood up, “Hi. I’m AJ. This is Rick and that is about as much truth as we’ve told you. We ain’t Simons. Our family name is Winchester and our family has a long standing business of ...”

“AJ, I really don’t think we need to cover the family business.” Rick interjected.

AJ gave his brother a pissed off look, “Our Dad was killed a little while back.”

“He had a heart attack.” Rick interrupted again.

“You want to take over again Mr Smoothspeare?” AJ shot back, “He was killed. It was made to look like a heart attack but our dad did not die from a heart attack. An artifact that has been in our family for a long time was stolen and he killed my dad to get it. The artifact was a gun that dates back to Earth that was – called the Colt. The person who killed him, was Templeton Steele.”

“But we don’t have a shred of evidence to prove this claim.” Rick said while crossing his arms.

“All the more reason to believe it, Rick. Trust me. Templeton has the Colt.”

“Yeah. I am sure we will find it in a display case in his personal collection.”

“Anyway. In order to get close to Steele, we ... obtained some false ID and connected up with Badger as security men. It was really quite easy to do.”

“Scarily so. That guy should do better background checks.” Rick laughed.

“We had heard from a guy that Badger was trying to get into business with the Baron and Steele. So we thought we would be signed on as extra security, get close Steele and then retrieve the Colt. That was the plan. It didn’t go that way and Badger asked us to deal with a local guy who ...” AJ looked over at Lilianna, “We were told was stalking you and causing a problem and told us to ... well ... to convince him to stay put that the ranch until the young lady was underway. I am sorry Lilianna, we didn’t know.”

Asante snorted loudly, “I guess you should have done better background checks.”

AJ glowered at the wedding planner, “It then got worse. Just before we got on this ship, Badger pulled us aside and told us. “He paused and then went on against his better judgement, “That we were to report to Baron Fairchild as soon as we arrive on the yacht so we can .... dispose of Daniel permanently and make sure no one finds his umm body.”

Rick put up both hands, “Which we are not going to do! No way. We just haven’t quite figured out how to tell the Baron that we aren’t going to do that and still manage to break into Steele personal collection to steal the Colt back.” Rick put his hands down and folded them before. “It sounded much better in myr heads than when I just said it outloud.”

“Ay yi yi.” Asante said ruefully, “I am sorry Lilianna, You are being played as a pawn in this, a bargaining chip really.”

“What do you mean?”Lilianna asked sadly.

“I mean 900,000 Hectare of land, owned by Steele and being signed over to Baron Optimus Fairchild for your hand in marriage. The land is stuffed to the gills with platinum deposits and the Baron owns only half, until you marry Steele and then he will have it all. You are the highest paid companion in history, Princess and your daddy is your pimp.”

You’d have expected Lilianna to explode into tears again but this tidbit of news made her angry – very angry. “What?” she hissed, “How do you know this? Who told you this lie!”

“Oh Sweetheart, Men will tell you anything and everything to impress you afterwards.” She said with a flutter of her eyebrows. “And I know how to do background checks.”

Destiny Cafeteria Day Two
As JC sat and listened to the girl, then the Simon/Winchester brothers, he could not help feel the growth of a tight stomach. Their mission of transporting a bride to be had just got massively harder. Yet in the end what they did from this point forwarded was Jon’s option. JC remained quiet waiting on the next shoe to drop and letting the captain do the talking.
After all the flight could not be such a light job right? JC thought to himself ironicly.

Jon looked a the young girl sobbing next him, then over at the two men that Badger had set along. Shaking his head Jon looked directly at Tess, “We are about to Bie Woo Lohng.”(Commit blunder of great magnitude)

The Captain rose from the table and went to get another cup of coffee. Speaking to the entire room as he walked,“We risk a lot going against Badger, the Baron and Steele.“ He held the handle as the hot black liquid filled his cup.”

Pacing back to the table he looked at Catie,” We need a classic "Sting" idea to get everyone what they want and still keep living, do you think you can use that Dao-Gao-
Yee-Chi Moh-Gao-Yee-Juhn (Out do someone ) talent of yours to help me build a plan?

Turning to his PR man,"JC..looks like you're back in covert ops."

Catie nodded to Jon and stepped forward. She wasn't playing waitress now. It was like she was back at the meetings... and trying to resolve conflicts between her team and her superiors. Folding her hands together, she looked between all of their passengers calmly.

"So, is that it? Last call for adding cards to the table. After all, if we're to try to sort this whole thing out, in a way that would work for at least those of us present, don't hold any back." Catie asked, giving a smile.

((Presuming nothing is added))

"Alright. Now let's see what we have here." She turns to look at the brothers, "The outcome that you two are after is to get onto Steele property in order to attempt to retrieve potential evidence. The obligation that you have is to Badger, who for his part is working for Lilliana's father."

Catie then looks at Lilliana, "The outcome that you wish for is to be with the person you actually love. The obligation imposed on you is in this arranged marriage."

Catie then steps back, "If we consider the flow of connections, the single common aspect is this all goes back to the Baron. That makes him the most likely candidate in order to amend these conflicts of interest. In that regard, we actually do have a few options, but a few questions need to be answered first."

She looks at the two brothers, "First of all, in the event that Steele is the one that stole the Colt, and your suspicions are true, what would be the result of that? Secondly, I can believe how strongly you feel about them, but should your suspicions be false, what will you do then?"

Grace leaned towards Angela and whispered “Don’t worry, you aren’t in trouble. Nice job by the way, very impressive.”

Angela nodded, patting Grace’s arm to show her appreciation. As Jon sat down at the table next to the mess and the still quaking Lillian, JC nearby, he says, “Now would be a good time to tell us everything.”

Lilianna took a few deep breathes as Catie attempted to soothe her into calmness. The brothers helped Seth get into a chair by the table just as the Doctor put a vial into her hypo-spray and gave a shot to Seth in the back. “This will help but you will be a bit ... euphoric for a few hours.”

The Simons slowly moved to the doorway as if to leave and let things that weren’t there business be told. Grace was still trying not to laugh at the bodyguard but until he was moving again, Grace was going to have a hard time taking him seriously.

“Do I know Daniel?” Angela rather loudly whispered to Grace. Grace was going to nod and reminded Angela that Daniel was the name of the man with Lilianna in that photo, then her brain remembered where they had found that photo and panicked as Angela was the blunt member of the crew.

“No!” said Grace and AJ at the same time. Startled, Grace looked at the brothers raising an eyebrow at them. Lilianna finally calmed down enough to tell her story and it did nothing to impress Grace. The Princess had put herself in a tough spot and now wanted someone else to solve her problems for her. Oh boo hoo for her. She was far more interested in the bickering brothers.

“Rick!”

“AJ!”

“You gonna get us all killed.”

“No. I am gonna get us all help. We need help. You can brood for four days but in the end, we are over our heads, knee deep in Go Sa and covered in crazy sauce.”

AJ stared at his brother and then finally said, “Go ahead. Be my guest. We’ll be lucky if they don’t let Miss Super Soldier there paralyse us and stuff our bodies out the airlock.”

Grace glanced at Angela wondering if the woman was fast enough to do that without help. Though Grace doubted they were better fighters then six Tong members with guns…

Rick stood up. “First off, I’d like to say that we have no intentions of harming Daniel further.”

Lilianna screamed hysterically. Grace slapped her hand to forehead in dismay. Well that WASN’T suspicious…

“Nice opening College-boy. They teach you that in uppity crust school?” AJ asked. Grace was finding herself agree with this brother a lot. The two get bickering as they told their story and Grace was far more interested in their story but mostly since it involved Uncl- Templeton.

“All the more reason to believe it, Rick. Trust me. Templeton has the Colt.”

“Yeah. I am sure we will find it in a display case in his personal collection.”

Grace nodded and muttered “he might” under her breath. It was certainly Steele’s style and Grace remembered him always gushing over the newest gun he added to that collection of his.

Finally everyone had finished spilling their secrets (except a certain wedding planner) and Grace was going to challenge said wedding planner when she heard the Captain saying “We are about to Bie Woo Lohng”

Confused, Grace watched the captain refill his coffee. To her horror, he explained “We risk a lot going against Badger, the Baron and Steele. We need a classic "Sting" idea to get everyone what they want and still keep living, do you think you can use that Dao-Gao-Yee-Chi Moh-Gao-Yee-Juhn (Out do someone ) talent of yours to help me build a plan? JC...looks like you're back in covert ops."

"So, is that it? Last call for adding cards to the table. After all, if we're to try to sort this whole thing out, in a way that would work for at least those of us present, don't hold any back." Catie asked, giving a smile.

“Yeah, here’s something. Why the gorram are we helping these people?” questioned Grace. All eyes turned to Grace but that didn’t stopped Grace from speaking this time.

“I hate to play the mercenary here but we did not take this job out of the goodness of our hearts. We need the money to stay flying and, I care far more about keeping Destiny a float then getting Juliet here, back to Romeo. We do not get paid unless she gets to the wedding, and I highly doubt these brothers have enough on their credit roll to keep us going if we decided to help them with the gun, no offense boys,” said Grace shooting the boys an apologetic look before continuing “Not to mention that, if we do decided to help them we will have Badger, the richest man out there and, the second richest guy out there, who also happens to make guns, on our tail and demanding for our heads on a silver platter.”

Grace paused for air before pointing to Asante and saying “Not to mention we still don’t know what this one is hiding.”

(OOC: I assume Asante is going to try and defend herself)

“Oh please, I am not an idiot. In less than 24 hours, you have tried to seduce our Captain and, I would bet my favorite wrench you also made a pass at our gunman in the gym and you have just implied that you slept with either Baron or Templeton. You reacted far too strongly to the news of there being no kidnappers for ‘just’ a wedding planner, and you have a proof of your two or three year long career, but absolutely no background information like you have just appeared out of nowhere. I have seen you in only business suit which you clearly meant to make you seem professional but your choices of words is anything but. Professionals don’t call their clients by nicknames nor do they jump to try and sleep with random Captains. Speaking of your clothes, you wear business suits that completely cover your skin, which suggest you are trying to hide something. Clearly you aren’t ashamed of your body, considering what I have seen and heard, but you only shed your clothes where there aren’t going to be prying eyes aka your bedroom, and the gym that only a handful of us use. So I would bet that it is either tattoos of some sort of gang or the scars from being a soldier,” Grace turned her head and asked “Captain, J.C do either of you want to tell us which one it is?”

Once Grace had her answer, she gave Asante a very straight look that no longer contained any traces of tiredness.

”Please don’t waste my time by lying. If you haven’t noticed, I am very annoyed right now. I have just discovered that my job description has changed from mechanic to Big Damn Hero.”

“Not to mention we still don’t know what this one is hiding.”

Asante smiled innocently, “What do you mean? I’m just ...”

“Oh please, I am not an idiot. In less than 24 hours, ... (you read it before) ... being a soldier,” Grace turned her head and asked “Captain, J.C do either of you want to tell us which one it is?”

Asante holds up her hands, “Okay. Okay! You have made your point Engineer Lady!” She looks over at Jon, “I have to hand it to you Captain; you have quite a crew here. I underestimated you and them when I came on board.” She sipped her coffee and looked over everyone staring at her, waiting for her story.

“I am Asante Okoro. I am an independent operator working for a ...let’s call them a consortium of former Browncoats who are looking to make Templeton Colt Steele pay for every life he cost in the war and all the profits he made off our dead. The lady here is right, I fought in the war, have lots of scars to show for it and when the war ended, I found that my skill sets were in high demand.

“My job is to make sure that Templeton’s marriage to Lilianna never happens and to force him to sign over the mineral rights he is giving the Baron to my consortium instead.” She looks over to Lilianna and smiles sweetly, “And I have to do that without bloodshed. They gave me very specific orders on that. No one hurt. I do love a challenge and having my hands tied at the same time.

(assuming someone asks how were you gonna do that?)

“The plan was to kidnap the Princess here, hold her hostage and demand the rights as ransom. But that was before I realized that you have a crack shot gunman, a former covert ops payload specialist, and Miss I can tell everything about you from your clothes over there, as crew. I am afraid to find out what your hostess here can do as well. I can’t see a way to do this by force without breaking my prime directive here.”

(assuming a how were you planning to kidnap here in the black)

“I have a ship and crew ready; they are tracking this ship via a microwave transmitter I hid on board. My plan was to convince the captain and get him to see the profit in the kidnapping plan, offer a share of the money for the rights which has got to be better than whatever this Badger is paying you. So, perhaps we can still help each other. You let me take Lilianna here, along with her bodyguard to guarantee her safety. You can say you were attacked and boarded; we make our demands and cut you in on the deal. Once we have the rights, we will let them go. The Baron has no reason to kill Daniel and he will let him go – the two of them can run away into the sunset.”

“What!” Lilianna says curtly, “I am not a bargaining chip for you to use! How dare you?”

“Oh do be quiet Princess.” Asante rolls her eyes, “The adults are talking.”

“Captain?” Lilianna turns to Jon, “I have a necklace that belonged to my mother. The Baron is giving it me for the wedding. It is worth at least 6000 credits and I will give it to you if you will help me avoid this marriage and save Daniel in the process. Like this jiàn huò biǎo zǐ gǒu niáng* said, you have an amazing crew here. I am sure you can do it. Somehow. Please? Help me Captain Brown, you are my only hope.”

“Chī chóng huā dàn**!” Asante shot back.

“Bì zuǐ! Fèi wù biǎo zǐ!***” Lilianna retorts.





*Lowly scum harlot bitch
**Bug swallowing Drama queen
***Shut up. Useless whore

¡°Captain?..I have a necklace that belonged to my mother. The Baron is giving it me for the wedding. It is worth at least 6000 credits and I will give it to you if you will help me avoid this marriage and save Daniel in the process. Like this ji¨¤n hu¨° bi¨£o z¨« g¨¯u ni¨¢ng* said, you have an amazing crew here. I am sure you can do it. Somehow. Please? Help me Captain Brown, you are my only hope.¡±
Jon could hear Lilianna's voice but the words were lost on him, all he could think of was what Asente had just said.

¡°I have a ship and crew ready; they are tracking this ship via a microwave transmitter I hid on board.
Clinching his fists Jon pushed himself from the table.

¡°Tess you get to the bridge, now! That Ri shao gou shi bing (Pile of sun-baked dog poo) ship best not get close enough to even think they can find us. ¡°

Rage burned in Jon eyes, ¡°Angela..Grace.. I want that transmitter ¡­.now! And if you can¡¯t find it then you may ask Asente¡­any ..way ..you.. wish..to turn it over to you!¡±

¡°JC..Until we sort all this out I want you to sit on this Jien Huo.¡±(cheap floozy)

Turning on the wedding planner,¡°Asente shao jeh, I don¡¯t know how you survived the war by making so many stupid decisions. ¡­ a consortium of former Browncoats?.Really?...they¡¯re either a bunch misguided vigilante fools at best to The Black Dragon at the worst and I can¡¯t believe you¡¯ve done a background check?¡±

¡°Now you admit to putting My Crew and My Ship in danger by letting those fools track us? If you don¡¯t want to see what it¡¯s like to walk in the black you¡¯d better tell us everything straight, starting with who you slept with to learn about the platinum.¡±