Rae Overholt shoots Fan a smile, hoping its filled with confidence.

<><><> It turns out that Jake's mule was all busted up, so he could not bring the waste to the spaceport. Fan and Whip escort the Ravenites through the security at the spaceport gates, where each is photographed (with a retinal scan) and issued large, visible ‘VISITOR’ tags, “To allow you re-entry to the spaceport,” the official explains. Once outside of the spaceport Fan leads the crew to an isolated and deserted section of the workers barracks. <><><>

Rae Overholt looks around, taking in everything she possibly can for future reference.

Fan: "We used to live here, before the leak... at least those of use lucky enough to see the sun.”

Rae Overholt: The Leak. What's the chances of this leakin’ on my boat?

Gabriel Keats stays close to Rae, taking his surroundings in, listening half-heartedly to the conversation around him.

Sean M. Writer: What's the exposure limit?

Li Mei mumbles something in Chinese about ruining a perfectly good dress.

Fan: “Well, take a look, I think they're pretty secure, and the effects didn't appear to be fatal...” She leads the crew around the corner, where a large pile of barrels with biohazard labels on them lay strewn about.

Sean M. Writer: Uh.... yeah. Anyone got a dosimeter on?

Gabriel Keats: "Well. That sight sure ain't comforting."

Li Mei stays well back of the containers.

Rae Overholt eyes them. "They don’t look too safe."

Sean M. Writer: Well, it's biohazard, not radioactive.

Li Mei: Somehow, that's not reassuring.

Rae Overholt: What were the effects of it?


Sean M. Writer: For all I know, it could be stored ships' sewage.

Gabriel Keats chuckles nervously to himself, mutters, "Ai ya, Rae, you gotta stand so ruttin' close to it?"

Li Mei: Again, not reassuring.

Rae Overholt: “Why? Think my standin’ here's gonna make it 'splode? We's gotta get it on the ship and someone's gotta stand much closer' n this.” She examines the drums, looking for any leaks or corroded areas.

Gabriel Keats: "That don't mean it's gotta be you." He also inspects the drums, though he really has no idea what he's looking for. Glowing green sludge, most likely.

Rae Overholt reaches out and tests the seal on one of the containers, looking skeptical. “Never did tell us what the affects were."

Sean M. Writer: “I could run a test...

Rae Overholt: Most likely wont let us have the time to do it.

Sean M. Writer: Or, I could just drink it and see what happens.

Rae Overholt snickers at his comment. "I say we get Whip ta drink from it."

Li Mei nods, "I agree with the captain."

Rae Overholt grins at Lena.

Gabriel Keats: "Thirded." He looks at the two of them, smiling

Sean M. Writer: That makes.… well, some sense.

Rae Overholt: we could serve it up at one of them there shindigs here. Tell 'um its a mixed drink.

Fan: Most of them are in good shape... and this one here is mostly empty...I'll just suit up, climb in, you all seal me in and I can use my comm from inside to tell Whip it's good to be picked up, I should go rig the comm so it appears I'm calling from the supply shed. All that happened when it leaked, was folks kinda got groggy and passed out, they just didn't want to live here after that... We just build some new homes further on down the road..."

Li Mei raises an eyebrow, "Did they ever want to live here?"

Fan: Well, it ain't like we got much of a choice... Wallace controls the air traffic near here pretty good... We're basically on our own.

Gabriel Keats: "Ain't that always the case?"

Rae Overholt shakes her head. "You folks don’t wanna be here? Why not everyone stand up or somethin’?"

Sean M. Writer: Maybe they don't want to lie down or somethin'.

Rae Overholt: Maybe they don’t.

Fan: Boss man made us live here and build our new shacks while we was still workin', after a twelve hour day.

Gabriel Keats: "Well, ain't he a right bastard?"

Rae Overholt: Boss man sounds real nice like.

Fan waves her arms in the direction of the screw's barracks, "They ain't all assholes, but some of them do enjoy the fact they have power over us."

Rae Overholt: You mind givin’ us a moment alone to examine these canisters?

Fan: “Not at all... I need to go get my suit and rig the comm in the supply shed to the comm in my suit, for that matter... ” She walks away.

Rae Overholt: Right then. Let's get this over with.

Sean M. Writer: Anyone have a straw?

Li Mei laughs

Sean M. Writer looks at the fine print. "May be harmful if swallowed."

Gabriel Keats: "You needed to read the ruttin’ side to tell that?"

Rae Overholt: That's our doc, space dementia.

Shen Jiutai crinkles her nose, "Cap'n, this stuff smells."

Rae Overholt continues to examine the containers. “Yeah, it does.”

Shen: "Gonna ruin dinner tonight? How long we gotta carry it?"

Rae Overholt: I say we dump 'um before we get good out of orbit, just as long as they don’t fall where they can find 'um or know we dropped 'um.

Sean M. Writer: "Hey, I just was reading. Doesn't mean that I *needed to*... But I left my copy of Jane Eyre back in the sick bay.”

Rae Overholt snickers.

Gabriel Keats: "Risk someone else comin' up upon this stuff? I mean, I know they're rusted-ass metal, but put a few of these in a shipping lane, get a pilot who don't know his head from his pigu, and I can see a shiny, stinky little mess happenin'."

Rae Overholt: Nah, I mean dump it on the planet, before we get out of orbit. Let 'er fall back down on some place no one lives.

Shen: Perhaps we should wait until we're out of the gravitational pull of the planet.

Rae Overholt: Alright.

Sean M. Writer: "How about we use them for a nice little game of Go? As in Go drop them on the person who gave us this damned job...”

Rae Overholt: That I wont argue with. She's on my list.

Shen Jiutai snickers.

Li Mei grins, "That would be appropriate."

Gabriel Keats looks at Rae, meets her eyes, face questioning, dark. "Sure'n she is."

Rae Overholt looks back, eyes cold as death, "I'd say so."

Shen Jiutai kicks one of the drums. “ Hey, Cap'n, at least we got around 500 creds after this!”

Gabriel Keats: "Ai ya, Shen, you gotta kick them? Yer foot's gonna go right through, and then we're humped."

Rae Overholt: Right. Thought we got closer to 700.

Shen: Well, we gotta wire that bitch her cut...

Rae Overholt: I say we lie about what we got.

Sean M. Writer remembers something. “ Ah, christ. anyone seen Poe?”

Shen: Is that wise? I mean it sounds like she does business with these folks all the time.

Rae Overholt: Or, meet her face to face to give her her "cut". ::her tone indicates cut might mean something entirely different from what Shen's meant.::

Sean M. Writer: “Ah, there he is...” He whistles and the crow lands on his shoulder.

Gabriel Keats walks over to Rae, face concerned. "You mean that gorram bird?--" And then there's a sudden flurry of Mandarin cursing.

Li Mei looks at the bird circling overhead, "Why did you let him off the ship?"

Shen Jiutai sneers at the bird for a moment, "Hey, let's see if he likes the stuff! Just kiddin' Doc."

Gabriel Keats: "Cat's first on the list. Ruttin' thing woke me up this morning."

Poe: Caw!

Shen: Did he fall down the ladder?

Poe: Caw!

Shen: Heck Nigel was sittin’ on my chest until around 4 am.

Gabriel Keats reaches for Rae's upper arm. "He sure did." He looks at the Doc. "Least the bird's quiet at night."

Sean M. Writer: That's because I give him bourbon.

Shen Jiutai giggles.

Gabriel Keats: "Reckon that's what we shoulda’ done with Petey?"

Shen: "Don't let Xiao Li hear you're feedin'the bird that an' not givin' her any!" She looks around, realizing she said the pilot's name.

Sean M. Writer shrugs. "Not familiar with parrot livers enough to say if it'd kill 'em or not, but how do you think I caught this one?

Rae Overholt looks to Gabe.

Sean M. Writer curses in a string of Basque.

Gabriel Keats squeezes her arm reassuringly, then looks at the Doc. "What in the hell was that?"

Sean M. Writer: Stupid bird.

Shen Jiutai looks all confused like at the stream of Basque from the Doc.

Rae Overholt gives him a small, tight smile.

Rae Overholt: Thought you docs would curse in latin.

Sean M. Writer grins. "Well, it depends who you do your residencies with...

Rae Overholt: I see.

Gabriel Keats , quietly, under his breath "I know, bao bei." He looks back at the rest of the crew, brain dropping back into the conversation.

Shen: Where are you from anyways Doc? I know nothin' 'bout you..

Sean M. Writer shrugs. "Here, there, everywhere. "

Gabriel Keats: "What about that time you helped those Buddhist nuns out on that colony offa Boros?" He grins, clearly pulling this shit out of his ass.

Li Mei looks incredibly bored and checks her nails.

Rae Overholt nods at Gabe, appreciating the sentiments.

Sean M. Writer: I worked in the infirmary of a core-world prison planet right out of med school. Mostly a bunch of terrorists... Basques, mostly. They thought it would be funny if they put a Spaniard in there as a Doc, old thinking and all... Of course, my family's Cuban, not spanish... so I taught them how to make Molotov's cocktails out of cooking oil. That went well. I learned a little Basque, mostly things like "Shit! I just burned my hands again."

Shen Jiutai nods in approval.

Li Mei squints at the doctor, "I wasn't aware cooking oil was explosive."

Shen: depends on the oil..

Sean M. Writer: "It's not the explosion you're going for, it's the sticky burn. Canola oil, for example, on fire, soaks into just about anything and keeps smoldering. And when you've got canned atmosphere... It's better than an explosion. It's like a neutron bomb.”

Shen: ...not to mention soma that stuff Blue Sun sells...

Li Mei: Ah ... well, I am suddenly hoping I never need your services as a doctor

Sean M. Writer laughs.

Li Mei: But I will keep you in mind the next time I need someone immolated.

Sean M. Writer: Well, it's like this...I also am very proficient at treating burns now.

Shen Jiutai laughs. "Good to know."

Gabriel Keats lowers his eyes, fixes them on the ground, keeps them shaded by his glasses.

Sean M. Writer: And then there was the time we broke loose some PVC pipe and used the methane vent to make a potato cannon...

Li Mei stares at the doctor for a moment, "What kind of medical school was this?"

Shen: Now, it ain't like a potato cannon is gonna hurt anybody...

Rae Overholt shakes her head.

Sean M. Writer: You know, a potato can knock a guy out clean through a riot helmet if it's the right size... Oh, this was residency.

Shen Jiutai smirks, "Radical kids, gotta love 'um."

Sean M. Writer: I went to med school on the government dime.

Li Mei shakes her head, "Did you ever actually practice healing anyone you didn't injure yourself?"

Sean M. Writer: "Oh, all the time."

Shen: And this was leading up to the war?

Sean M. Writer: Yeah. I was resident at a prison for a reason, ya know?

Shen: Really?

Sean M. Writer: They don't like anarchists in the fleet medical corps.

Shen: What, did you treat the POW's?

Sean M. Writer nods. “And then helped them harass the guards.”

Shen Jiutai wonders if the Doc saved the lives of any of her family.

Fan returns carrying an EVA suit bundled under her arm. "This thing is kinda old, but do you think it will work?"

Shen Jiutai looks at the suit, "Well, it ain't like you're going into the black."

Fan looks relieved, and looks at Sean M., "You're a Doctor, right?"

Gabriel Keats: "We got duct tape?"

Sean M. Writer checks his doc's kit. "I have some tape... I also have surgical super-glue."

Rae Overholt: Do what you can. We don’t have much time.

Fan waves him off, "It ain't that, it's just they put a chip under our skin, to keep track of us."

Sean M. Writer: Ah... Where? You have an.. ok.

Fan rolls back her sleeve. "It's somewhere around here." She points to a spot on her fore-arm.

Sean M. Writer takes the arm, and palpates it to find the chip. "This tamper-resistant at all?"

Fan: Not that I know of, no-one's tried that yet...

Sean M. Writer takes out a small bottle with a swab, and applies a small dose of a local anesthetic.

Gabriel Keats puts his right hand on a gun, suddenly nervous.

Sean M. Writer pulls out a surgical swiss army knife, and makes an incision just above the chip on the arm.

Fan grimaces as the blade pierces her flesh.

Sean M. Writer pushes the chip out carefully, using tweezers to remove it. “Well, this is a p.o.s. sub-dermal.…” He wraps it in gauze.

Fan sighs as the chip is removed, "Thanks, They might have sensed me going through the gate to the spaceport.”

Sean M. Writer bandages Fan's arm.

Sean M. Writer applies some surgical glue to the skin flap, and re-closes the bandage.

Gabriel Keats: "Ai ya. . ." He breaths again, hand relaxing.

Sean M. Writer: Ok, careful with that. I'll want to give you an antibiotic later just in case.

Fan starts to work herself into the suit, being careful of the dressing. "OK, wow, I've never actually had a doctor who cares about anything other than when I'm ready to work again."

Shen Jiutai helps Fan pull the suit over her shoulders and hands her the helmet.

Sean M. Writer looks at the suit to check for any obvious perfs

Fan looks a little nervous as she takes the helmet. She looks at Rae with a slight, hesitant smile.

Sean M. Writer: "The suit looks intact to me. Of course, I'm not a suit tech.”

Rae Overholt: Only one way to know for sure.

Shen Jiutai nods to the Doc, "Yeah, it's old, but... should be OK for this.."

Li Mei looks worried, "How long will she be in that?"

Rae Overholt shoots Fan a smile, hoping its filled with confidence. She hopes none of them die getting her in since they don’t have suits.

Fan contemplates the helmet with obvious fear in her eyes, "You guys are gonna take care of me, right?"

Rae Overholt: We got ya, no worries Mei mei

Sean M. Writer smiles confidently. "You're golden."

Fan slowly places the helmet over her head, Shen helps her seal it.

Shen: "Press the green buttons to get a positive pressure.”

Fan does as she is told, "I guess you guys might want to stand up-wind."

Sean M. Writer:“Okay, those of you not planning to take a dirt nap today...”

Gabriel Keats looks at Rae. "C'mon, Rae."

Rae Overholt nods.

Shen Jiutai follows the rest of the crew.

Fan waits for the Ravenites to move away to a safe distance, then opens one of the barrels, "Someone's gotta slam this lid down after I'm in!" she shouts.

Rae Overholt nods. "I'll do it."

Gabriel Keats: "The hell you will."

Sean M. Writer: OK... jesus y maria. fine, I will.

Fan climbs into the Barrel and slides the lid over her head.

Rae Overholt runs up and shoves the lid down, putting all of her weight on it, ignoring Gabe. She crinkles her nose at the smell but continues to press on the container, making sure there is a proper seal then calls over her shoulder, "Don't make sense to let our doctor get sick. We can't fix him."

Gabriel Keats sighs heavily. "Don't make sense for you to do it either, *Cap'n*"

Rae Overholt then dashes backwards, waiting for the smell to disapate. “Why not, you're fit for duty.”

Gabriel Keats: "That ain't the point."

A muffled voice comes from inside, "I just called Whip, he says Jake got the mule running again, they'll be here soon."

Sean M. Writer sighs.

Rae Overholt: “You can fuss at me later.” She calls out, "Okay."

Sean M. Writer: Somebody put *me* in a barrel.

Shen Jiutai holds her nose, "Yup, dinner's ruined."

Rae Overholt coughs a few times, nose still crinkled.

Sean M. Writer: “Ah...I know that sme...” He catches himself before he reflexively vomits.

Rae Overholt: Let's just hope the smell fades so's they don’t notice it.

Gabriel Keats doesn't react to the smell; his mood, however, is equally foul.

Sean M. Writer: They used to use that for crowd control.

Rae Overholt looks sideways at Gabe, face showing mild irritation due to her lack of understanding what the fuss is.

Rae Overholt: Reckon it'd control me if'n I was in a crowd.

Sean M. Writer: That gives me an idea. Unfortunately, I don't see enough components for a catapult here.

<><> Whip Cracker and Jake the Flake cruse up in a mule that is slightly listing to port.<><>

Whip: "That little slave girl said youse guys were gonna take this stuff, I reckon I owe her a 'special gift' for that idea."

Rae Overholt: I'm sure she'll be thrilled.

Gabriel Keats: "Bet if you gave X-- our pilot the coordinates, she could work it out to sling it on 'em. She's a whiz that way."

Jake starts piling the barrels onto the mule, not taking much care with the condition of the containers, or the contents.

Sean M. Writer watches Jake load nonchalantly.

Rae Overholt: “That leaks before we get out of atmo We're droppin’ it on your asses.” She crosses her arms and glares.

Whip walks up to Rae, "OK, I got the transfer all set, Now just give me the account, and I'll process it."

Rae Overholt motions to Shen.

Whip: "Now why would you say a thing like that?"

Rae Overholt: Cause you're not bein’ careful and you don’t give a care.

Whip, "Jake, be a little more careful there, You could gas me!"

Sean M. Writer: I hear that stuff makes a lovely bath additive.

Jake slows down and only drops the Barrel with Fan in it with half of a thud.

Whip:"Ya got the account number?"

Rae Overholt: Shen?

Jake finishes up loading the barrels, and without waiting for Whip or anybody else, speeds off in the direction of the Spaceport.

Shen Jiutai looks to Gabe, then the Cap'n, "Oh, yeah, right here..."

Shen and Whip sync their data-pads, "OK that looks good." She says.

Gabriel Keats discreetly reaches into his pocket, pulls out a slip of paper, hands it t o Rae.

Rae Overholt takes the paper and looks at Gabe.

Whip, "OK cutie, there you go, now if you want some more runs, next time you're in the Georgia System... look me... er us up." He leers at Rae.

Rae Overholt gives him a twisted smile. "Oh I'm sure I'll look you up."

Shen Jiutai scowls and pulls away from Whip, "We got the money, Cap. nothin' else keepin' us here."

Rae Overholt: I agree.

Sean M. Writer sighs. “And, gee, I thought this place would be great to set up a family practice...”

Gabriel Keats looks at Rae without speaking, temper waning.

Li Mei follows in silence.

Shen Jiutai watches the crew head towards the spaceport and follows.

Sean M. Writer: There does seem to be a shortage of canola oil, though.

Rae Overholt: Shame that.

Li Mei graons at the doctor.