Lights flashed on the board as Tess began the sequence to take Destiny out of orbit. She flicked a side switch and the proxy came up on one of her side screens. Alliance. With a quick check of the cruiser’s pulse beacon, the name Erikson flashes underneath the screen. She reached up and popped the goggles from around her eyes. There were all sorts of implications, but who was to say was the right one.

Her dark eyes met Jon’s light ones.

Well?
Jason interrupted the silent question with one of his own. “Tess, what have you got on them? I cleared us through port control…so there shouldn’t be a problem,” He paused and seemed to collect his thoughts.

Do I speak yet, or let these yokels hash it out?
“Though, I think we should hit our scheduled burn as soon as it comes time,” Jason continued, Hash it out. Capt’ll speak here in a minute, “ No reason to wait around on the chwen nien mohn to think up an excuse to stop us. Of course, it might not hurt to have Destiny setup for a full burn JIC.”

Ken added his two bits, including some wise words about the cruiser just checking people out and Jason smoothing things over.

Stephanie poked her head through the door, "Umm Guys....I think I found something that you need to see. Might want to call Grace as well, we'll need her.”

At this, Tess threw her hands in the air, “Naw, Doc. Grab everyone up and let’s all go start the party downstairs with that fine wine. Might as well invite the boys over from that there lovely cruiser to join the fun.”

“D’un Yi Shia doc,” Jason said standing up from the comm. console, “The cap, and Tess are a bit occupied at the moment, but I can come give you a hand,” he looked to Jon questioningly before adding, “Besides, if we need more help we can always grab Ken on our way,”

Ken took his leave immediately. His question of, “Something wrong with the ship?” could be heard as he followed the good doctor out of the bridge. Jon straightened up and started handing out orders.

Finally.
A faint frown line began to appear on her forehead as he started running down the list. If they want us then they'll have to send an ASREV to catch us and that's fewer Feds to have to deal with. Scenario after scenario of ugly started flashing before her eyes as he was talking. She waited until he was done with his order before voicing her opinion.

“Sir,” she began, and pointed at the Alliance cruiser on the small screen, “that there beauty could blow us out of the sky if she wanted. No sights trained on us yet, but they might be itch’n if we jump the gun. And if they can’t get a lock on us, those Tohoku-class ships come equip with some pretty fast lil short rangers.

“Now, I ain’t sayin’ I can’t get us away,” she continued, sitting up from the back of her pilot’s chair, “ what I am saying is if we don’t have to get away, it’d be preferable. Running full tilt boogey is a bit suspicious, especially after just departin a ‘popular planet were the rich and famous come to play.’ After Jason’s little talk, let’s leave quickly, but not that quickly.”

She motioned her hands towards Jon, “Of course, Cap’n, if you want me to go full burn, I will. I’m just suggestion we might wait a little. Especially with whatever Steph's found, mighten be prudent.”

Grace settled herself onto her bed with her cortex box on her lap. She had a feeling she would be doing this for a while. She quickly signed herself in and got into Port Authority courier subsystem. She made up a message and sent it to Husdon. It was almost too easy to get into their communications.

Who ever set this up wasn't worried about hackers. thought Grace. When an alert caught her eye, she quickly checked it out. A 4-17 in progress on the high alert and available crew were being called in - yet it didn't the ASREV here. Grace frowned and muttered "Why aren't you guys being requested?"

She quickly did a quick scan. A file pop up, the usual stuff about the ship and then something caught her eye. The ship was on detached duty. Grace blinked and raised her eyebrows at this. She had never heard of detached duty before. A 4-17 was when they were doing a major raid and the targets had dispersed, causing them to need everyone and anyone to hunt fugitives. So why was this one not being requested?

She quickly sent her message in but more to her surprise, the feds system was much more secure then she would have thought. She didn't get much. Her general impression was that they were on a long term mission and it involved a lot of steps. Most likely there were looking for a big name smuggler of drugs dealer. A disappointed sigh crossed her lips. They weren't after HIM. HE never supported drugs and while HE was a smuggler, he didn't have anything in Greenleaf. Yet another dead end.

She did a search on Norm but didn't find anything. However A Howard Lim pop up. The Feds were curious about him. She started to leave the port when a thought crossed her mind. A evil grin crossed her face as she switch the Feds into active duty. That would get them out of their hair and who knows? Maybe they catch whatever fish they were looking for.

She exited the port and rebooted the Cortex. No better way to get rid of any trackers then a quick turn off. Plus this part was harder so she wanted to get more comfortable. Once all back to normal, she did some research on her least favourite client:
Norm Sellers was a wine merchant with a excellent reputation, listed as an expert in many wine journals and associations. no dirt on him. thought Grace
Howard Lim was also a wine merchant but new to the game, without the credentials of norm but with a lot of cash to invest in land and different techniques of harvest. This guy has some friends with a lot of cash. thought Grace
Pricilla was a companion in good standing with her guild.

With that info, she went to go report to Jason after turning off her box. She heard the last part of the message.

" Hey Jason, I got the info you needed. Norm is apparently the golden boy among the wines men. I couldn't find anything negative about him. I don't trust him but the public does." Grace stated and ignore any comment about her not trusting anyone.

"I also did a search on that Howard guy. Looks like he new to the business but someone giving him a lot of money to help him. I suspect he got some connections. I have a feeling the Feds do too."

Grace listen to Jason question and gave him the answers. Eventually Jason went back to his work and Grace went back to her engines. She came out again during supper and was notable more relaxed. Everyone guessed it was due to no client being on the ship. She listen closely to the news about Pricilla. Grace was grateful that the lady was okay. Whoever was after her would defiantly have problem since she was in the extremely secure hospital in Greenleaf. Grace cleared the table and clean up since it was her turn. Once all the dish were taken care of, Grace started to head to the engine room. She wanted to be close to the engine when the left atmo. But they weren't going to leave until midnight which meant a late night. Grace was hoping to get a nap so she wouldn't be tired when she was working. She quickly went to her room. She settled quickly enough and feel fast asleep.

It was Jon voice that woke Grace up. “Ok folks make ready…… Tess as soon as Jason gets clearance put your loving touch to the helm and dance our lady out of here. ….Grace, TLC them engines, we gotta beat this deadline, could mean some good references from this bigwig if we help him WOW his guests ……Doc, keep up on Pricilla’s condition, I hate leaving her…Out!" Jon order through the intercom

She could hear the engines going so she got up and went up to starting working on the engine. She briefly heard footstep outside the engine room. She open the door to see the doctor heading to the passengers rooms.

"Everything okay, Stephanie?" asked Grace who was slightly groggy.

(OOC: assuming Grace doesn't get in trouble about calling her by her name. I guessing something like "I'm okay" or "I'm fine, just going up stairs.")

Grace glanced upstairs. She briefly wondered why she was going up there. "Are you trying to find the lady in white?" she asked out of curiosity.

(OOC: assuming something "Nope" or "I'm just feeling restless.")

"Okay. Just call if you need me" Said Grace with a polite smile. She went back to the engine room and yawned. She checked the engine to make sure everything was okay. She notice a couple screw and bolts were just a little loose. Not a major problem but Grace wanted to make sure they were tight. She was fixing one of the screws when suddenly Ken voice came out of the intercom.

"Grace... we have a problem… meet us _______" This started Grace and she dropped the screwdriver on her foot. "OW!" yelped Grace. Cursing under her breath, Grace hit the intercom and said "I'll see you guys there." She gave her hands a quick wipe on one of the rags she kept in the engine room. Then she quick left the engine room to see what was going on.

Jon looked around the bridge, he saw the questioning in the crews eyes.

“They haven’t hailed us so Jason make the broadcast, Tess the helm is yours we have a delivery to make.”

"Jason give'um the old general departure broadcast like, Cargo Boat Destiny, departing Greenleaf Atmo, preparing for max burn."

"Tess as soon as he's says the last word give'r hell and let's scoot."

"That should sound normal and we're off! That won't look like we hiding anything and should not raise suspicions."

"It's only being polite on popular planet were the rich and famous come to play."

"If they want us then they'll have to send an ASREV to catch us and that's fewer Feds to have to deal with."

"Doc, be with you in minute."

"Ken if you're finished cleaning the cargo bay you go to see what's up, call Grace on your way." Jon rattled off his orders in quick succession.

“Yeah sure….” Ken yelled back to Jon as he continued with Doc down the corridor pausing to use the ship’s intercom to call Grace and have her meet them.

“Sir,” Tess began, and pointed at the Alliance cruiser on the small screen, “that there beauty could blow us out of the sky if she wanted. No sights trained on us yet, but they might be itch’n if we jump the gun. And if they can’t get a lock on us, those Tohoku-class ships come equip with some pretty fast lil short rangers.

“Now, I ain’t sayin’ I can’t get us away,” she continued, sitting up from the back of her pilot’s chair, “ what I am saying is if we don’t have to get away, it’d be preferable. Running full tilt boogey is a bit suspicious, especially after just departin a ‘popular planet were the rich and famous come to play.’ After Jason’s little talk, let’s leave quickly, but not that quickly.”

She motioned her hands towards Jon, “Of course, Cap’n, if you want me to go full burn, I will. I’m just suggestion we might wait a little. Especially with whatever Steph's found, mighten be prudent.”

Jon looked around the bridge, and saw the questions lingering in Jason and Tess’s eyes.

“They haven’t hailed us so Jason make the broadcast, Tess the helm is yours we have a delivery to make,” Jon ordered in a crisp tone.

“Mei Wen Ti Captain,” Jason replied turning to the Comm station and keying it up to send out the waveWhat the hell in for a penny…, “Port Authority this is fast courier Destiny, we are breaking orbit and entering our burn cycle now as per our flight plan,” Jason smiled and continued, “Sheh sheh Greenleaf control and have a nice day.”

As he completed his call to Greenleaf control he turned back to Tess, “Well Tess, that’s the call I guess that now we’re in your most capable of hands,” Jason said with a wry grin recalling some of Grace’s previous stunts.


((OOC: I’m figuring that we’ll be cleared by Greenleaf’s port authority to leave as we have….never mind just see my last Q&A post for my reasoning on that one. I think I’ve explained myself well enough there.))

Mei Wen Ti Captain,” Jason replied turning to the Comm station and keying it up to send out the wave What the hell in for a penny… “Port Authority this is fast courier Destiny, we are breaking orbit and entering our burn cycle now as per our flight plan,” Jason smiled and continued, “Sheh sheh Greenleaf control and have a nice day.”

As soon as Jason took his hand away from the comm, the panel lit up like a Festivus day parade.

“ATTENTION ALL SHIPS DEPARTING FROM GREENLEAF. ALL SHIPS ARE TO DELAY DEPARTURE AND PREPARE TO BE BOARDED. WE HAVE A FUGITIVE SITUATION WANTED BY FEDERAL MARSHALLS. YOU COOPERATION IS APPRECIATED. THANK YOU AND HAVE A NICE DAY.” is the message from port authority. Then sensors show weapons lock on Destiny, and the warning klaxon sounds and the follow “hail” comes from the cruiser.

“Attention Courier vessel Destiny. This is the Erikson Alliance cruiser. Please prepare for boarding and have all personal available for questioning in the cargo bay. You have 20 seconds to power down your engines.” it is a pleasant feminine voice that delivers the message by it doesn’t change the tone.

Elsewhere on the Ship

“Where are we going Doc?” Ken asked the Doctor

“The passenger rooms. Quickly too, something is wrong.” She replies ominously.

Ken paused momentarily in the passage long enough to thumb on the intercom to the engine room. “Grace… we have a problem… meet us on utility deck “

"I'll see you guys there." The young engineer replied.

The doctor lead Ken and Grace up to the passengers rooms on the upper desk and directly into the room where the companion had been staying. The room is a mess but not surprising as she did depart in a hurry and no one had thought about coming back to clean up. Stephaine goes to the bed and moves the covers and pillows away and points underneath the bed. “There is something under the bed, pushed to the back so, I believe, we wouldn’t see it.”

Ken and Grace look at each other and then lean over to look under the bed. There is a small attaché case there. The locks are bolted and there is a small light near the handle that is pulsing red – meaning the case has a power source.

“Why would she hide something of hers on out ship?” Dr. Young muses. “Oh bother! The captain is going to need you two.”

Suddenly, the annoyingly loud klaxon goes off warning that the ship has been targeted by another ship.

Ken peered under the bed and saw the small case there and a light pulsing red… he looked up at Grace and raised an eyebrow…

“I don’t like the looks of that…” he said as he straightened up.. “I suggest we not move it till we can examine it further… you think you can…” he started to say looking right at Grace when the Klaxons starting going off… “What the …”

“We best get to the cargo area… I think we are about to be boarded… we can deal with this thing if we live” He said as he recovered the bed area with the covers and pillows and then he lead the way out of the room and headed towards the cargo area… on the way he turned to the Doc…

“So doc… tell me… how did you find that thing hidden under the bed?” He was curious about what she was doing going through the compartment… she would have had to be searching in order to find that case which had obviously been hidden.

As they came down to the middle deck from the Upper deck he darted down the passage to his quarters (rm 10) … quickly he went in and pulled a case out of the corner… opening it he drew out his Decker Arms AR/S-2a Assault Rifle/Shotgun combo.. Checking the mags and making sure it was loaded as he usually kept it… he hurried out and down the stairs to the cargo area… moving over to where the cargo barrels are lashed down he moves to some crates nearby and then lifts a hidden deck access plate… he hides the gun under there and replaces the plate…

He hopes he wont need it but if he does he would rather have it at hand… if he needs to take cover he will have the crates to hide behind and while there he can grab his trusty gun while using the crates as cover…

He stands with his handguns still in their holsters… waiting for what was sure to come soon… unless Jason could pull off some magic… he really hoped Jason would do the talking and keep the Captain off of the radio… Jon wasn’t very good at ‘subtle’…

"Nuts" Jon let out a sigh of frustration.

"Tess, power down!"

"Jason, acknowledge the hail and ask for instructions."

Hitting the ship com,"Folks we're getting company, meeting in the cargo bay....." the klaxon goes off again.. "what in the..."

Jon looks at the instrument panel and sees the alert of a second targeting signal.

Jon turn to Jason, "gimme that transmitter." Taking the transmitter from Jason, Jon hit the reply to Erikson, “Erikson, this is Destiny; we just got targeted by an unidentified source, what is going on? Are we under your protection?"


________________________________________

"Destiny. This is the Erikson. We don't..... Sorry stand by."

Noises in background of someone being slapped, once, twice and then a third time. The sensor on Destiny shows weapon lock disengaging and no longer on ship.

"My Apologies Destiny. The problem has been dealt with and you may rest assured that you are under our protection. (Voice behind the scene coming over the radio.) "Hudson!!!! What is your gorram problem! There are over 400 washrooms on this cruiser and you just volunteered to clean them all!"
Jon furrowed his eyebrows as Erikson’s open mike let out more than they intended. Keying up the link Jon replied.

“Marshal Sanders? Is that you? We are powering down and will be awaiting your arrival. We picked up rush delivery of wine for the Baron Otello’s yearly social on Osiris, so what ever we can do to cooperate please let us know.”

Closing the link Jon slapped the mike back into Jason’s hand,

“Ta Ma Duh, why can’t things just go right once?”

“That overstuffed Marshal is up to something. I just let all of Erikson and the verse know this ain’t the first time he’s been dog’n us and that we ain’t hiddin nothing. I’m hope’n a little name drop’n won’t hurt neither.”

Keying the internal comm, "OK, everyone to the cargo bay, We're gonna play nice, but we don't know nuthin about nuthin. Don't let them wander by themselves if we can help it. Maybe we can get them off the boat before they cost us our payday."

Turning to Jason and Tess,“Alright, let’s get to the cargo bay, if he brings that same crew watch that buff belly Hudson, he may not be as stupid as he acts, but then it might not be an act.”

“They haven’t hailed us so Jason make the broadcast, Tess the helm is yours we have a delivery to make,” Jon ordered, leaving no room for question. Tess flipped her goggles back over her eyes.

“Aye aye, Cap’n!” she said with a small grin. She twisted her seat back around to have full access of her board and began to key in the burn sequence.

“Mei Wen Ti Captain,” Jason replied. He flipped the switch back on the comm., “Port Authority this is fast courier Destiny, we are breaking orbit and entering our burn cycle now as per our flight plan,” He smiled and continued, “Sheh sheh Greenleaf control and have a nice day.”

Click!
Buzzers started sounding as the response came in from Greenleaf, “ATTENTION ALL SHIPS DEPARTING FROM GREENLEAF. ALL SHIPS ARE TO DELAY DEPARTURE AND PREPARE TO BE BOARDED. WE HAVE A FUGITIVE SITUATION WANTED BY FEDERAL MARSHALLS. YOU COOPERATION IS APPRECIATED. THANK YOU AND HAVE A NICE DAY.” The klaxon noise of the sensors rang from Tess’s left, and she swiveled around to get a look at the read-out, “Weapon’s lock,” she spoke calmly to the captain.

Do we dare rabbit?
“Attention Courier vessel Destiny. This is the Erikson Alliance cruiser. Please prepare for boarding and have all personal available for questioning in the cargo bay. You have 20 seconds to power down your engines.”
"Nuts,” Jon said exasperatedly, “Tess, power down!"

She did so without question.
“Jason, acknowledge the hail and ask for instructions,” Jon moved to the comm. panel and hit the ship wide line, “Folks we're getting company, meeting in the cargo bay..... what the?"

The sensor alarm went off for a second time as weapons were locked on them once again. Tess’s hands froze over the kill switch. Destiny wasn’t going to spring into action in a heartbeat, it took precious minutes to her engine warmed up again; they were going nowhere fast.
“Cap’n….”


Jon turned to Jason, "Gimme that transmitter," He raised the mic to his mouth and slammed the button at its base, “Erikson, this is Destiny; we just got targeted by an unidentified source, what is going on? Are we under your protection?"

---

After the rigga-ma-roll between Jon and the Alliance cruiser, Tess stood up to leave the bridge.

“So much for not going full burn,” she sighed as she made her way down to the cargo bay, “At this rate, we ain’t gonna be able to avoid it.
“Good of you t’ mention the Baron, Cap’n,” Tess commented, looking to Jon as she stepped into the lift, “Let’s just hope it’ll do us some good with that preening zhu toh zhu nao marshal. Of course it might’n if we don’t deliver on time.”

As soon as Jason took his hand away from the comm, the panel lit up like a Festivus day parade.

“ATTENTION ALL SHIPS DEPARTING FROM GREENLEAF. ALL SHIPS ARE TO DELAY DEPARTURE AND PREPARE TO BE BOARDED. WE HAVE A FUGITIVE SITUATION WANTED BY FEDERAL MARSHALLS. YOU COOPERATION IS APPRECIATED. THANK YOU AND HAVE A NICE DAY.” is the message from port authority. Then sensors show weapons lock on Destiny, and the warning klaxon sounds and the follow “hail” comes from the cruiser.

“Attention Courier vessel Destiny. This is the Erikson Alliance cruiser. Please prepare for boarding and have all personal available for questioning in the cargo bay. You have 20 seconds to power down your engines.” it is a pleasant feminine voice that delivers the message by it doesn’t change the tone.

"Nuts" Jon let out a sigh of frustration.

"Tess, power down!"

"Jason, acknowledge the hail and ask for instructions."

Jason immediately turned his head, to keep the Jon’s voice out of his transmission, reached out and keyed back up the microphone, “Erikson, this is Destiny we are powering down and preparing for boarding, over.”

Jason’s voice was calm, but then it almost always is, his thoughts were another matter. Isn’t just like the feds they show up when you least want or expect them? Then again look at our luck recently. First Priscilla gets poisoned, interesting seeing as how she’s a high class companion who works for the like Atherton Wing. Then when our luck does change with a decent job, that pays well and might just land us another job, we get ‘pulled’ over by the GORRAM FEDS! Taking a slow even breath, Jason calmed his thoughts and focused through his anger. Ratchet it down Siong! Get your crap together and get on the horn to Otello’s people, we need to let them know that we’re going to be a touch behind schedule, if everything goes right. Jason shifted over to the Cortex link on the bridge and hit ‘redial’ trying to reach Otello’s man, Decimus.

He heard Jon hit the ship’s intercom and say, “Folks we're getting company, meeting in the cargo bay....." the klaxon went off again, interrupting Jon’s broadcast, "what in the..."

Jon turned to Jason, "gimme that transmitter." Taking the transmitter, Jon hit the reply to Erikson, “Erikson, this is Destiny; we just got targeted by an unidentified source, what is going on? Are we under your protection?"


________________________________________

"Destiny. This is the Erikson. We don't..... Sorry stand by," The cruiser’s reply comes back through the speaker.

Noises in background of someone being slapped, once, twice and then a third time. The sensor on Destiny shows weapon lock disengaging and no longer on ship.

"My Apologies Destiny. The problem has been dealt with and you may rest assured that you are under our protection. (Voice behind the scene coming over the radio.) "Hudson!!!! What is your gorram problem! There are over 400 washrooms on this cruiser and you just volunteered to clean them all!"

Jon furrowed his eyebrows and keyed up the link, “Marshal Sanders? Is that you? We are powering down and will be awaiting your arrival. We picked up rush delivery of wine for the Baron Otello’s yearly social on Osiris, so whatever we can do to cooperate please let us know.” Closing the link he slapped the mike back into Jason’s hand, “Ta Ma Duh, why can’t things just go right once?”

Jason didn’t reply to the question he was busy speaking with Decimus, “I wish I could tell you it’s nice to see your face again, Decimus, but it seems we are going to be slightly delayed,” as he spoke, Jason kept his tone light and his cadence clipped, “We’ve been hailed by the Erikson, she’s an Alliance Cruiser, and they’re having us prepare for boarding. There shouldn’t be any problems but this will delay us. I’ll wave you again as soon as we get back under way, and provided they don’t delay us too long we’ll make the deadline.” As he closed the wave, Jason could hear Jon talking.

“That overstuffed Marshal is up to something. I just let all of Erikson and the verse know this ain’t the first time he’s been dog’n us and that we ain’t hiddin’ nothing. I’m hope’n a little name drop’n won’t hurt neither.”

Keying the internal comm. Jon said, "OK, everyone to the cargo bay, We're gonna play nice, but we don't know nuthin’ about nuthin’. Don't let them wander by themselves if we can help it. Maybe we can get them off the boat before they cost us our payday."

Turning to Jason and Tess,“Alright, let’s get to the cargo bay, if he brings that same crew watch that buff belly Hudson, he may not be as stupid as he acts, but then it might not be an act.”

Jason removed his headset and stood heading towards the passage. While doing so he keyed his person transmitter hoping to catch Ken and that the Fed’s wouldn’t notice such a low level transmission, “Ken, this is Jason, what did you, Doc, and Grace find?”

“So much for not going full burn,” Tess sighed as she, Jon, and Jason made their way down to the cargo bay, “At this rate, we ain’t gonna be able to avoid it.”

“I just hope that we can make the deadline,” Jason broke in responding to Grace’s statement, “We can always use the extra money that I got for the tariffs to make up the fuel cost.”

Jason walked with his attention focused on both his micro-transmitter and the conversation around him.

“Good of you t’ mention the Baron, Cap’n,” Tess commented, looking to Jon as they stepped into the lift, “Let’s just hope it’ll do us some good with that preening zhu toh zhu nao marshal. Of course it might’n if we don’t deliver on time.”

“Don’t worry too much about Otello, I got a wave off to his man, Decimus, while the Captain was dealing with the Feds,” Jason continued holding up his hand with his first fingers crossed, “Just keep your finger crossed that these hou don’t delay us too long.”

Having joined back up with Doc and Grace in the Cargo bay … having hidden his little ‘toy’ under the deck plates behind a crate… Ken stood up when his comm went off…

“Ken, this is Jason, what did you, Doc, and Grace find?”
Ken keyed his personal comm and replied, “Not much… just some things in the guest quarters that should have been secured better before take off… we can straighten things up after we hit burn.”

After letting off the transmitter key he shrugged to the Doc and Grace, “We have to deal with this first then we can tell them…. I don’t trust transmitting anything about something ‘suspicious’ over a comm channel that the Feds just might intercept.”

He fully planned to tell the others about what they had found… but right now they had to deal with being boarded … then they could deal with the strange thing in the guest quarters… he just hoped that the Feds didn’t delay them too much or insist on searching the entire ship and especially the quarters… if so he would make sure that he accompanied any search parties … in order to guide them of course…

The doctor lead both Ken and Grace up to the passengers rooms on the upper desk and directly into the room where the companion had been staying. Grace frowned in confusion. Why the companions room? The room is a mess but Grace didn't really care about that. Her room was not in much better shape. Stephaine walked to the bed and moves the covers and pillows away and points underneath the bed. “There is something under the bed, pushed to the back so, I believe, we wouldn’t see it.”

Ken and Grace look at each other (both claerly saying I got a bad feeling about this) and then lean over to look under the bed. There is a small attaché case there. The locks are bolted and there is a small light near the handle that is pulsing red – meaning the case has a power source. Grace froze in surprise and saw Ken raise an eyebrow and looked at Grace. He was most likely looking for an explanation of what the case was.

“Why would she hide something of hers on out ship?” Dr. Young muses. “Oh bother! The captain is going to need you two.”

"I don’t like the looks of that…” Ken stated as he straightened up.. “I suggest we not move it till we can examine it further… you think you can…” he started to say looking right at Grace.

Suddenly, the annoyingly loud klaxon goes off warning that the ship has been targeted by another ship. Grace jump at the sudden noise and her face went pale. She had never liked that sound and it always made her nervous.

“What the …” Ken started to say but stopped himself from finishing his sentence

“We best get to the cargo area… I think we are about to be boarded… we can deal with this thing if we live” Ken said as he recovered the bed area with the covers and pillows. Then he lead the way out of the room. Stephaine followed after him but Grace didn't. Grace frowned in concentration. Despite her paranoid side yelling It is Bomb! Get out of here! NOW! Grace couldn't panic.

It can't be a bomb. Who would set it? Whoever wants Pricilla dead, is trying to make it look natural. They wouldn't plant a bomb. That would leave to many questions. Pricilla has no reason to kill us, we saved her life. Beside, even if she had gone psycho and decide to kill both herself and us, how could she set it off? She unconisous, she can't activate it. If it was touch activated, Stephanie would have set it off when she found it. She can't have a partner, if someone out to kill her, she would be reluctant to give a kill switch to anyone. So if it not a bomb, maybe a message? Important documents? Evidence to get the guy who trying to kill her? concluded Grace

"OK, everyone to the cargo bay, We're gonna play nice, but we don't know nuthin about nuthin. Don't let them wander by themselves if we can help it. Maybe we can get them off the boat before they cost us our payday." stated Jon voice from the intercom. It interrupted Grace thoughts.

She hit the intercom and said "Jon, we got a problem. Pricilla left us a surprise in her room. Are we in any immediate danger?" Grace listen to Jon and mentally kicked herself. So much for getting rid of the feds as planed. Grace close the intercom and went down to the cargo bay. As she was heading there she hear Jason and Ken.

"Ken, this is Jason, what did you, Doc, and Grace find?”

Ken keyed his personal comm and replied, “Not much… just some things in the guest quarters that should have been secured better before take off… we can straighten things up after we hit burn.”

After letting off the transmitter key, Ken shrugged to the Doc and spotted Grac on her way. “We have to deal with this first then we can tell them…. I don’t trust transmitting anything about something ‘suspicious’ over a comm channel that the Feds just might intercept.” He explained. Grace nodded and moved quicker over to where they were waiting for her.

As she was heading down, Grace remembered a phrase that Roger had been fond of saying before he died. "No rest for the wicked, Gracie, that why we are always getting into trouble." Grace rubbed her temples and muttered to herself.

"Looks like we in trouble again"

Alliance Cruiser Erikson Docking Bay 4c
"Listen up!" Colonial Sanders said loudly and firmly to the six alliance security officers awaiting his orders. His fellow Marshalls, Hicks and Vasquez stood behind him, relaxed but ready for action in the black uniforms. "This is a routine search for passengers not on the crew manifest. I do not want this ship trashed! I do not want any cargo opened, broken, or turned over unless I say so. A routine sweep, and be polite. Yes, I said polite. You do not need to know why and you do not need to wonder so just do as i say or you will look upon my man Hudson's job of cleaning every toilet on this ship as easy! Do you understand?"

"YES SIR!" The men answered in unison.

"Good. Vasquez! Hicks! Anyone disobeys my orders, I want you to put them out the nearest airlock. Understood?"

"Yes Captain." Vasquez answered and Hicks just nodded.

Destiny Cargo Bay.
The crew assembled in the cargo bay to await boarding. Ken was securing a back plan A though C under the floor and Grace was going over in her mind every exit, hidden exit and really really hidden exits that were in the room. "Looks like we in trouble again" she said outloud.

The door to the cargo bay was knocked on three times in succession. The Captain released the doorway and the cool ozone filled air of the alliance cruiser filled the noises of everyone waiting. In walked the white haired Captain/Colonel with two of his men from the planet, the voluptuous Vasquez and the silent Hicks - in full black dress uniforms too. Then behind them six security officers in armour, helmets and carrying rifles came in, split into two groups and flanked the Marshalls on either side. they did not point the weapons at you though, but held them at ready.

"Ahh. We meet again Captain Brown. I see you found a cargo. Wine? of course. At least you aren't flying empty?"

(small talk)

"My apologizes but I have the unfortunate task of finding some fugitives. I normally wouldn't be involved in this, but for some reason the orders were sent to me directly. Puzzling actually. Anyway i wish to put this behind me. We will be searching your ship for any of the smugglers that may have eluded capture. You wouldn't know anything about that?"

(assume no)

"Didn't think so. This is formality really." He waves his hand and the two groups leave to look over the ship. "But it is always the ship you don't search that is the problem."

(small talk)

"So you are going to Baron Otello's party! I hear it is quite the event. " The colonel walks over to the wine barrels and leans on one casually, "So this is THE wine? Heard about it. Suppose to be excellent. I'm not much into wine myself but I am sure you are being paid well. What is the going rate these days?"

(some elusive answer)

"Ahh." he says and taps the barrel in the centre a few time. "Yep. That is full." He continues and taps each one a number of times and then walks away from the barrels."Smugglers. never know where they are winning to hide. found some in the ventilation shafts of a septic system once. Now that's dedication to hiding."

(comments, questions)

After 30 minutes the teams return and reform ranks. Vasquez shakes her head at the colonel and he nods. "Right! Sorry about that. I thank you for your cooperation and time. I hope we didn't delay you too much."

(parting remarks)

The Alliance officers and the Marshalls leave the ship and the cargo bay is sealed again. Within fifteen minutes, the cruiser is detached and you are given clearance to leave.

The Destiny
Ken had remained relaxed as the airlock cycled and let the Marshalls and Alliance stooges come aboard… seeing the voluptuous Vasquez come in put a smile on his face… while the Marshall Captain spoke to Destiny Captain he leaned on the wine barrels and kept his eye on Vasquez… when he caught her eye he winked at her again and his smile broadened…

When the Alliance squads went to search the ship he stepped forward and volunteered himself..

“This ship can be a bit twisty….” he said to the Captain… “if you don’t mind I can escort you men… and woman… and show them every area…”

If allowed he will make sure to accompany the squad with Vasquez… staying close to her and doing exactly what he said he would do… escort them and show them each area … he did nothing to prevent them from searching… he just followed along and stayed close to Vasquez…

When they came around to the crew quarters and were searching his room he leaned on the door and graced Vasquez with another of his charming smiles…

“That is ‘my’ bed…” he gave her a wink …

Upon returning to the cargo bay… or if he wasn’t allowed to accompany them… he spoke to Vasquez as she passed him to leave the ship…

“I wanted to say you look wonderful in black…” he gave her his most charming smile… “maybe we can have a drink sometime… when you’re off duty.”

Once the outer airlock door closed he sighed and looked at the others and shook his head…

“Ok can we get out of here now?”

Walking over to Jon he inclined his head towards the guest quarters…

“Doc found something you should see in the Companion’s former room..”

He lead the way to the stateroom where the item was under the bed… getting there he flipped the stuff off into the floor revealing where the case with the blinking light had lain .. (Assuming it is still there..)

After 30 minutes the teams return and reform ranks. Vasquez shakes her head at the colonel and he nods. "Right! Sorry about that. I thank you for your cooperation and time. I hope we didn't delay you too much."
“Well Marshall we all have our job to do and we got lucky to find this shipment. “ Jon escorted the Marshall to the airlock.

The Alliance officers and the Marshall's left the ship and the cargo bay is sealed again.

As the Alliance boat Erikson headed away Jon pounded on the bulk head. “That seemed too close, let’s just take it easy and mosey out all calm like. Tess, go ahead and fire her up again but let’s just dance our lady away like no big deal. Jason, let’s try it again with the Goodbyes and Fair thee Well’s. They’ll be watching so let’s just be anything but Twitchy.”

Jon headed toward the gang way when he remembered Doc’s earlier comments, “Okay Doc, you can show me what you were so concerned about. “ Ken, Grace and Doc lead Jon back to Pricilla’s room. Ken lead them into the room and pulled back the covers. The case sat there as proud as ever with its little red light flashing. “Gorram, that doesn’t look so good. That’s got something techy about it. Grace ,you think you figure this out without causing us no more delays?” Jon started to reach for the case but stopped, “Ah, I’ll just leave this for you.”

Jon walked out of the cabin and turned toward the bridge, “Doc, give one last check one Pricilla before we’re out of range. Let me know if there’s anything worth knowing.”

The door resonated the pounding of Colonel Sanders into the cargo bay. Jon slammed his hand into the doorway release, and the Alliance they had seen in the bar stepped onto Destiny. Tess breathed the ozone deep into her chest. She touched the long tooth around her neck, remembering someone once telling her she had too much ozone in her brain. She never could figure out if he meant that she flew too much, or that she was crazy. Or both.

The pilot decided to stay in the cargo bay rather than follow the ‘inspection crew’ around her ship. She fidgeted nervously, sticking her hands in her pockets and coming out with several odd objects. They would be on the bridge, she knew it. It took a lot of self control not to go up there, make sure they weren’t touching Destiny's instruments. Tess hadn’t gotten over her despise for the Alliance, and doubted she ever would. All that they had done, all the death and oppression just for a more civilized life. Was it civilized when they obliterated Shadow? Where was their higher state of mind then?
Tess stood next to the bulkhead brooding until Sanders and his crew reemerged. She watched them darkly as they parted, all sorts of old wounds opened up with their appearance aboard her flying home.
The Colonel turned to Jon,"Right! Sorry about that. I thank you for your cooperation and time. I hope we didn't delay you too much."

“Well Marshall we all have our job to do and we got lucky to find this shipment. “ Jon replied as he escorted them to the airlock. She looked at Ken whose hungry eyes were still on the female.

The doors clicked shut, and he shook his head, “Ok can we get out of here now?”

Jon pounded his fist against the bulkhead. He looked a little worn, hell, she couldn’t blame him. She wasn’t the only one that the Alliance left a bad taste in their mouth.

“That seemed too close,” Jon was saying as he turned away from the airlock, “let’s just take it easy and mosey out all calm like. Tess, go ahead and fire her up again but let’s just dance our lady away like no big deal. Jason, let’s try it again with the Goodbyes and Fair thee Well’s. They’ll be watching so let’s just be anything but Twitchy.”

“On it, Cap’n,” she said and went back to the lift. Her stomach was still twisted up in angry knots, and she tried not to have much show on her face. Jason followed in behind her and pulled the sliding doors shut. She stood in silence, and exited immediately after opening the doors to the bridge level. The bridge looked untouched, and she slide into the well worn pilot’s chair. Her hands caressed the panels and she tried to ascertain if anything had been moved. After a moment of consideration, she swiveled the chair around to look at Destiny’s gauge panel.

“Fuel cells are still warm,” Tess said to Jason as she began the power up sequence, “I’ll take us out slow and then we’ll boogey on at the edge of their short range sensors. She’ll be ready by the time you’ve made your call to those sah gwa tze fu.”