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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Shadowdancer" data-source="post: 1673908" data-attributes="member: 515">From their positions Swann and Kevon observe no changes. Nothing is happening in the berth other than two fairly heavily armed fellows waiting for anything of note. -----Shaking her head slightly, the blonde responds to Vasilii’s insistence of meeting a ship less than 100 dTons in size. "You disappoint me, sir. I’ve come aboard your ship alone as requested even while a sizable number of your crew are lethally armed. I’ve endured a physical inspection by an ex–military man who must have trouble getting dates." Ian grins and winks at her. She continues. "I’ve accepted your demand for Cr40,000 for something that isn’t yours. How do I know that I can trust you, as a true Vilani merchant? "Show me the four Star Flower plants, and then we’ll talk about your latest demand." Glancing toward Vasilii, Ian says, "I see no need to show her anything. She could be a an undercover Imperial officer looking to fill a monthly quota." Ian flips on his comm. "Security, please check in." -----Swann flips on his comm, "This is Swann. Everything’s quiet in the berth." "This is Holland. All quiet here." Clicking his comm off, Kevon hops down near Swann and lays the shotgun next to him. "Mr. Hellinic, I’m going to check the concourse. Keep me covered." The pilot adjust his laser powerpack and pistol so that they’re as discreet as possible, then opens the vehicle berth door and walks quietly toward the personnel door, scanning the area for anyone who looks to be loitering nearby. -----On the bridge, Vargas sees Kevon lay down his shotgun, head towards the berth vehicle door, key the door, and then go out the door. The door closes behind him. -----Vasilii sits for a second, absorbing the blonde’s words. He glances over to Ian and catches him winking at her, reinforcing her claim to the search method. He hears the page from Vargas about an incoming call, but decides to ignore it for now. "Ma’am, if my shipmate was overly zealous in his concern for security then apologies are in order. We’ve been overly protective since we took over this ship and events so far have borne out our paranoia. "As to ownership of the plants, I doubt that either of us can present a claim that would stand up in court. That is, if either of us were so lacking in common sense to allow this to get there. We have only the advantage of possession, and I think the price I’ve requested is more than fair for our continued ‘agricultural upkeep.’ " Vasilii looks at the blonde for a second, then comes to his feet. "I’ll assume that if you were an Imp Agent and you know the truth of the plants that you’d be here with a full squad of Marines. There wouldn’t be much need for this negotiation. "If you want to continue this, let me show you the plants. Then we can conclude this and I’ll escort you somewhere for a closing drink." The blonde smiles at Ian’s comment about being an Imperial agent and Vasilii’s response. Chuckling, she says, "No, if I were IIS, then I’d have my own squad of IIS goons to comb your ship. No point in using handsy Marines, a FGMP is not an all–purpose tool unless I just wanted the ship destroyed. "In any case, thank you for agreeing to show me the plants." She stands and waits for Vasilii to lead her to the lift and through the ship. She seems amused again that Ian is insistent on being close and watching her every move from behind. At one point, she glances over her shoulder and comments, "You really must be hard up for a date." -----Kevon heads to the vehicle door, keys it open, and then steps out onto the concourse. The concourse seems to have the normal, light level of traffic for the early evening in the form of spacers and vehicles — mostly automated — going about their business. Across the concourse between the Bray Keaven's berth (No. 44) and the next one over, there is a pair of humans near a pair of wheeled scooters used by some for transport on the starport’s concourse roadways. One, a small fellow or woman, is hunched over with his/her back turned towards Kevon and appears to be attempting some sort of repair. The other, a tall, muscular fellow in gray spacer’s coveralls with a small bag slung over his shoulder appears to be watching him intently. When the berth vehicle door opens, the muscular fellow looks up briefly but goes back to studiously watching the smaller human. Watching a moment longer, Kevon does notice that the small human doesn’t seem to be doing much with his hands. Turning his attention away, Kevon continues his survey. There doesn’t seem to be anyone else loitering, but there is a thin fellow of medium height in a rather elegant, if slightly old–fashioned gray suit who appears to be walking down the concourse and headed straight for Kevon or the Bray Keaven’s passenger berth door. The fellow appears to be in his late 30s or early 40s, but it’s hard to tell because of the blond hair tinged with silver white. The pilot moves back toward the vehicle door and leans against the wall near the access panel in such a way that he can keep an eye on the scooter couple and the personnel door. "Keaven, Holland. Suspicious-looking couple across from our berth," he reports quietly. "Beefcake in gray coveralls with small skinny man or woman trying to look busy fixing a scooter." -----After hearing Kevon’s transmission, Swann picks up Holland’s shotgun and walks over to the personnel door. He places Holland’s shotgun where it can be reached easily, and stands ready beside the personnel door holding his own shotgun. He comms Kevon. "I've relocated to the personnel door with your shotgun." -----Martha spots the trio approaching port engineering, and looks up from her station as they enter. The blonde and Martha seem to regard each other for a long moment, and then the blonde — ignoring Vasilii who is starting to open the port smuggling hold hidden in the fake fuel processor — strides over to Martha. After going a couple of steps, the blonde brightly says, "Ah, what a delight to meet someone else of the crew. And you are?" while extending her right hand. Stammering and a little flustered at the odd attention, Martha replies, "Martha Smythe, ship’s engineer," and takes the blonde’s hand. "Pleased to meet you. Be careful of handsy man over there." Martha is startled and confused, but quickly regains her composure and the handshake breaks. "Umm, thank you," Martha stammers softly. She quickly turns her attentions back to her screens, and avoids looking at the others as they begin checking out the plants. A moment later, she mutters an "excuse me" and leaves, heading for the starboard engineering section where she won’t be disturbed by intruders into her domain. At the discussion, Vasilii is a little puzzled and turns around but doesn’t notice anything obviously out of the ordinary about the exchange outside of the noticeable warmth in the blonde’s voice. On the other hand, Ian, his professional paranoia raised already, sees a brief startled and disturbed look cross over Martha’s face as the two women finish shaking hands. Turning away from Martha, the blonde now comes over to inspect the smuggling hold and the plants. She exclaims, "Ah, how ingenious of the former captain! And, the plants do appear to be in reasonable shape, though they look like they could use some fertilizer. "Thank you for showing me the plants. Now, as to your demand that I hire a ship of 100 dTons or less, you credit me with far too much funds and patience. We are not going to be hiring another ship, but I am prepared to increase your honorarium to Cr50,000." Vasilii looks confused. "You can’t afford Cr1,200 to hire a 50 dTon cutter for a day, but you can add Cr10,000 to the bill?" The striking blonde looks confused and amused. "Cr1,200 to rent a cutter? You must have some contacts that I don’t have. My sources tell me that the going rate is much higher. Besides, why would I want to leave such a trail? "In any case, you have our final offer. I encourage you to accept it. As I said before, my powers of persuasion will not last much longer against my associates’ impatience, and they are much more likely to take rash actions. "In spite of Mister Handsy over there, you haven’t offended yet, and I do hope that we can conclude this matter sensibly for us both." Vasilii looks at the blonde for a moment and then sighs. "Ma’am, the crew is understandably upset. We are not trying to profit unduly from you or your associates, but merely trying to extricate ourselves from an unexpected and unwanted situation. "We seem to be at an impasse; you are offering more money and we are requesting more security. Your constant reference to ‘rash actions’ is most discouraging however. Unless we can come to some accommodation then I’m afraid ‘Mr. Handsy’ over there will want to employ some all-purpose tool like you mentioned earlier on this merchandise." Vasilii cocks his head and listens to the continued chiming of the comm system. "I’m sorry, but this session is not proceeding and I have other business. Perhaps we could resume this later, say in about 12 hours? ‘Mr. Handsy,’ would you be so kind as to escort our visitor to the concourse please? Ma’am, as always it is a pleasure, even if we disagree." The striking blonde shakes her head sadly, seems to study Vasilii for a moment, and then replies, "You want security, but you fail to accept that we want security also. I’ve extended a fair amount of trust by boarding your ship alone and unarmed. Now, you want to put my associates and me in the awkward position of being significantly underpowered during the exchange rather than exchanging from a position of equal strength. How am I to know that you won’t simply take the money, kill me, and then jump out of system? "We can resume this discussion tomorrow, say noon, at the Cleburne Cafeteria in Startown if you like." With that, the blonde looks at Ian and says, "Well? Shall we?" "My pleasure. Right this way, ‘Ma’am!’ " Ian says with a grin. He walks behind her to the ship’s exit, flipping on his comm. "Security, visitor is about to exit the ship." -----In the starboard engineering compartment, Martha struggles to keep her concentration on the internal sensors. Part of her mind keeps going back to the blonde woman she met just moments ago. She tries to ignore or to forget what took place, but can’t. As she took the blonde’s hand, Martha ‘heard’ the woman say, "You have a gift. If you ever make it to Adukgin, please comm 37-127-8333 and tell them that Leira said that you should ask if Sonaran sticky rolls are available today. Now, please say nothing to your associates." While she clearly ‘heard’ the blonde’s voice, the blonde’s mouth didn’t appear to move. </blockquote>

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