Spacepunk (IC)

[Xah]

Desperately trying not to be Big Damn Heroes
Links: [OOC] [Background]

<Net-comm> ¬
<Message Reply>¬
<Post #530920 > ¬
<Potential crew members> ¬
-------------------------------------------------

To prospective crew members,
Please attend Board Room 321 on Ceres Yamokto Station at the date and time provided. 
More details regarding the Saxifrage will be available and an informal meet and greet with the captain and other associated staff as well as meet other potential crew. 
Bring any relevant documentation you think necessary.

Chapter One: Taking It Easy

Location: Ceres Space Docks

Part of the wealth of Ceres came from the vast array of pylons, girders and struts that extended out from the surface of the spherical planetoid many kilometres into space. These constructs were in a constant flux of building, repairing and restocking the hundreds of craft that passed through every month. Incoming vessels loaded with materials, fuels and components docked, either off-loading their raw goods for processing, or simply just stopping off on their way further in or out of the system. As well as the tangle of space docks and ship yards was the inevitable constructs catering to a ship's more organic component; its crew. Giant ring-like structures, rotating slowly and providing everything a credit-laden spacer required, they were just as vital to the economy of Ceres as the ships and cargo they brought. The larger cargo freighters and military vessels generally heaved to a few kilos off and used transfer shuttles to bring people over, but smaller craft had the benefit of docking directly and using some of the station's own rotational movement to provide gravity on-board, typically one-quarter Earth’s gravity.

The view from the board room looked out over one such craft; the SS Saxifrage, a stubby cylinder with long fuel tanks and the distinctive cone of a drive exhaust jutting out from the back. A few drones circled around the ship, identifying micro-meteorite damage and repairing the tiny holes in the whipple shield, whilst tubes and pipes affixed the vessel to the berth beside it. Within the room was a large table, big enough for over a dozen people to be seated, and a selection of pictures and schematics of the Saxifrage, putting it in more detail. Two people were already in the room; seated at the table with a tablet in his hand was an Asiatic man, dark hair pulled up into a top-knot and vivid make-up around his eyes. He was dressed in up-market Belter gear, complete with the fashionable ‘fold away emergency vacuum suit’ that was currently vogue, despite its near-uselessness. Standing by the window looking out at the view, was a woman, olive-skinned but still Asian in appearance. Her clothing was far more functional; a dark grey flight suit with the harness still attached on her back. Black hair cut short and devoid of any other embellishments, arms folded across her chest.

The man spoke first, gesturing to the seats. “Why don’t you sit down and get comfortable? You’re going to put people off standing over there. She isn’t going to vanish as soon as you turn your back, don’t worry.”

“Hrmph,” the woman snorted. “I don’t trust your ‘friends’ as far as I can shove them out an airlock, why you couldn’t sign us up with a regular maintenance crew I’ve no idea.”

“Ah, but my girl..”

“Do not ever call me ‘my girl’.” The woman interrupted, “I’m not your girl, if anything, you’re my man, or bitch, or lapdog. How shall we call it? I’m Captain Kone, or Ember if you must insist on being informal.”

The man looked distinctly uncomfortable. “There’s no need to be rude. We’re all professionals here.” Ignoring Ember’s muffled snort, he continued. “I told you before, these guys are cheaper, and until you get some jobs under your belt, we need to save money.”

“Don’t worry, the money will be rolling in soon,” Ember replied. “I’ve high hopes for these guys. Not your usual crowd of Belter degenerates looking to get to Earth. Most of them look like they're avoiding it.” She moved around to the table and sat where she could still see outside, glancing between the doorway and the window.

---

OOC
Here we go. Post arriving, give a character description and we'll go from here. I'd appreciate putting your character's name in a header of the post, so then I know who's who. If you're going to put images in, do so in a spoiler box, that way the thread doesn't fill up with pages of images. Put OOC comments in a box, particularly if you want to perform an action that affects other characters (including NPCs). Any questions, queries, comments or complaints, TG me!

[Coalition of North American States]

Rod Walker, a Martian drive engineer, had been dropped off at Ceres, after his latest ore run. He looked around, looking for a ship that might hold a job for him. He spotted the Sasifrage some distance away. He decided to check it out.

[Labstoska]

George Collins

Out of the bowls of a particularly cheap looking space freighter a man with extremely pale skin,a large brown beard,a large set of holo-glasses covering his eyes and a particularly large briefcase. Ceres, the supposed centre of all wealth within the solar system however George was hardly impressed, for all it's grandeur and advanced technology one thing that George had learned from his travels throughout the NEU was that you can polish tin so that it may be served as silver but it will always be just tin. Of course Mr Collins throughly pessimistic outlook may have been induced by the weeks long transit aboard some grubby freighter in order to get to Ceres in the first place and the fact that he had nearly been pushed of the space station while exiting the freighter however now his feet were firmly connected to the space station and he was ready to advance. Naturally George wanted to see the golden age marvel that would be his home.

He walked up to one of the local dock workers and inquired about the ship "excuse me mate but do you know where the uhhh SS Saxifrage is?"

the dock worker replied "Yeah it's over there at the dry-docks" and thrusted one filth covered finger at a stubby cylinder of a ship.

'That's it, the pinnacle of Human engineering is a small cylinder' these were George's first thoughts as he looked out upon the SS Saxifrage however he would endure any amount of time on any ship just to scrape together some cash. Rather abruptly a message popped up on his holo-glasses requesting for all crew of the SS Saxifrage to meet at a specified location for a meeting with the captain and to have more details about the ship provided them. George always having an inquisitive mind decided to go to the meeting.

[Rupudska]

Emilia Jorgeir
Hotel near Ceres Space Docks

Had to admit, as spartan as those Cereans liked to build their cities, there was a certain... charm? Naw, 'aesthetic' was a better word. Yeah. A certain aesthetic to how they looked that was pleasing. Personally, I wouldn't approve of using it in my own home back on Europa, but whatever. I wasn't here to sight-see, I was here for a job.

I sat up and used my arm to push my body over to the side of the bed, where my two prosthetic legs awaited - technically speaking I could go for weeks without charging 'em, but I always let them charge to full before taking a space job. Just in case, you know? I winced as they plugged in and the nerves connected, then reached for my prosthetic eyes on the table. Big bulky things that looked like welder's cup goggles with a mechanical iris diaphragm and glowing green LEDs serving as the 'pupils' to external viewers, but they were damn-near indestructible and all but immune to EMR. And more importantly, they didn't ice pick you in the brain when damaged. Better than glasses anyway, especially in zero-gravity. And, bonus, it plugged into just about anything! Lastly, my trusty right arm. Sure, I'm left-handed, but two hands are better than one, and a mechanical hand is better than none.

The bathroom was a few steps away, but this early in the morning without my morning cup of whatever passed for caffeine on this dirty rock, my best option was a scalding hot shower. Glance at the scars that resulted in you needing all these bloody prosthetics. Decide that the aesthetic of prosthetics fit you better than the Weak Flesh anyway. Praise the Omnissiah or whatever. Shower, clean your brown hair, make sure it keeps shoulder-length and just the right level of messy. Attempt to tame the cowlick that slayed gods. Fail, refuse to admit the futility of challenging God.

Time for dressing! Most girls worry about what to wear, I don't do that, because I know exactly what works on me. A grey and green jumpsuit with an extra layer for protection. Nice and airtight, because you never knew when Big Daddy Decompression would come and bend you over and, you know. Helmet - old ship gunner helmet, with the pull-down blast guard on the top that made it look like something from ancient Earth television. I didn't put it on, you don't put your helmet on outside of the ship unless you're lookin' for trouble. Duffle bag, because I need to store my shit before I get to my quarters, too. Lastly, the magboots. Gotta have those if you're any type of engineer. Learned that the hard way, thank God the Reliant was old enough to still use lifelines.

Down the metal stairs. Metal stairs - I know I said I didn't mind the spartanness, but you'd expect even a cheap hotel on the center of commerce for the entirety of the Asteroid Belt to be able to afford carpeting for their stairs. Oh well. They could afford coffee at least, which I filled my thermos with as I headed out. The great thing about a major trade center is, of course, the food - especially after the Event, there's a wide variety to be had, and the bigger the trade hub, the better the food. A Jerk chicken sandwich served as my breakfast as I headed towards the port itself. Spicy, as it should be, but I had enough coffee to survive.

Now Ceres really only has two industries: The port, and mining. Everything else is either secondary or service industry, which only counts if it gets huge, like on Earth. As a result, the port of Ceres is bloody gargantuan for a city its size, comparable to Ganymede's primary port. So finding one damned tin can tug would be a challenge... for someone without a map.

Luckily, I had a map, and the Saxifrage wasn't exactly out of the way.

[Xah]

---

<Net-comm> ¬
<News and information>¬
<Current events> ¬
<News headlines> ¬
-------------------------------------------------

 United Terran Federation and Mangala declare new cooperative effort on trans-Uranian exploitation. Kasei Alliance protests, calls it an 'Outer System cartel'
 New European Union declares 'limited offensive' against Steppe Confederation in response to raids on New Moskva Duchy. Khan Valyi  'considers banner call'. Inner Sea Union calls for calm
 Novastates begin construction on mass driver space launch system. Mesoamerican Union unease at threat to Panana Elevator
 Ishtaria launches new Mercury initiative. Ships to leave Venus 'within weeks' to open up Mercurian 'colonies'.
 Order of Titan release latest edition of their Catalogue of Rediscovered Technology. Mangala Institute of Technology disputes some findings, calling them 'industrial espionage'
 Ceres Corporation lowers fuel prices for Saturnian helium, share prices in Xanadu Fuels rise.
 UTFSS Zhong Kui visits Ganymede in UTF President Madri Pandey's tour of the system. 
 Tharsis Federation elections approach.

Would you like to know more?
-------------------------------------------------

(c) Intersystem News Network Syndicate

[Labstoska]

George Collins
The seemingly infinite spanning corridors of Ceres were at first rather jarring to George's sense of direction which was primarily accustomed to the large flat fields of Earth and to see people walking on the ceiling due to the complex nature of gravity on Ceres, was a bit of a shocker to say the least. This situation was also rather hindered by the fact that George did not feel inclined to buy a map as seen as they were according to George ridiculously overpriced although most things to George were.

The one advantage to George's current situation was that he was able to observe the grand marvels of Ceres a little more, however his sightseeing was interrupted by constant bombarded by advertisements which popped up his holo glasses which he was now rapidly regretting the purchase of. This was rather unfortunate because a large number of advertisements stated that the view from the Ceres viewing ports was enough to make a man break down in tears. George now thoroughly pissed off by the brightly coloured nonsense that was appearing right in front of his eyes and tore off the holo glasses unable to bare another second of being told about the amazing deals at Astro burger.

George was now tired,annoyed and bored so he decided to swallow his frugality and buy a map. He walked up to a local tourists agency and sorrowfully handed over a couple of Ceres credits in exchange for a small plastic map. The woman at the counter noticed his accent and decided to strike up a conversation:

"So your from the NEU"was the woman's opening line.

"Yeah all though I haven't been back to the good old union for quite a while, why do you ask"was George's reply

"Oh it's just because i'm from there, have you heard that the NEU has launched an offensive against the Steppe,awful isn't.."

"Good, time to send the mongols back to where they came!"

With that George strolled back out of the agency whistling the national anthem of the NEU. Upon inspection of the map provided by the tourist agency George realised that he could of very easily of made his way to boardroom 321 by taking an elevator from the spaceport or there were number of other routes that he could of very well taken in order to get to the boardroom. Now armed with a map George set of for the boardroom for the second time which he was now far more successful in. When he finally reached the boardroom, the automatic door registered him as a potential crew member and allowed him to enter. Upon entering he noticed an asian looking woman with a full flight suit and a lighter man with dark hair wearing one of those new vacuum suit's, on the long conference table were schematics for the SS Saxifrage. In order to announce himself to the occupants of the room he elected to say:

"Hello my name is George Collins, I'm hoping to be the life support engineer for the SS Saxifrage."

[Mufasana]

Anton Krill stares at the news.
"I just quit! Of course that's when the exictement begins." He still wears his uniform- grey with two red shoulder stripes. He nods to the lady next to him as he turns off his tablet.
"You kasei federation scum!" She says.
Krill pats his holster. The bullets are smart bullets- incredibly hard to miss. He glares. She backs off.
He arrives inside the ship.
"Hello. I'm Anton Krill."

[Coalition of North American States]

Rod Walker arrived at the Saxifrage. He thought to himself,"It looks like a decent ship. I've seen worse." He checked his toolbag to make sure he had all of his tools. He did.

[Xah]

Location: Ceres Space Docks, Insitor Orbital, Board room 321

As people arrived at the board room, both Ember and Wi climbed to their feet, although Ember's movements were decidedly more animated that Wi’s, who managed to make even standing up look like a chore. Ember’s eyes flicked over each new arrival with an appraising stare, as if to take in as much as she could on first impressions; Wi was more informal, a broad smile breaking over his face and he stepped towards the door with an open-armed gesture.
“Oh hey, some crew people,” Wi said. He gestured towards the seats and the information scattered around. “Have a look over, take a seat and let’s get to know each other.” He pointed at George. “Mr Collins, yes? Good. At least we won’t all die from carbon dioxide poisoning, right? Hahahaha.”
Ember rolled her eyes. “Who won’t die?”
Wi coughed and looked a little shifty, “Well, I say ‘we’, I really mean you.”
“Yes, and don’t forget it,” Ember replied. A smile finally appeared on her face, an expression that looked practiced and just the wrong side of genuine, “Mr. Collins, welcome, please have a look over our schematics, let me know what you think.” She then turned towards Anton, “Mr. Krill, glad you could make it too, please, have a look around. We’re just waiting for more to join us.”
“Yeah, can’t exactly fly a ship with just you three,” Wi remarked.
“Well, we could,” Ember said. “She’s a good ship, lots of automation, but if anything failed we’d be fucked.” She turned to the new arrivals. “I’ll go over the ship rules, remuneration and terms of contract once some others get here, save me repeating myself. Until then, does anyone have any questions?”

OOC
There’s a lot of information on display about the Saxifrage, most of it quite technical but easily understood by someone with the required experience and knowledge. There’s also images and specifications about the living areas and other comforts. If you have any OOC questions about what’s on show, just ask

[Grenartia]

Phoenix strolled into Room 321 without much of a fuss. They had been on Ceres for a while, and had been several times before, so navigating the area wasn't very hard. It was kind of like walking into your old high school a few years after you graduated. McLaurin gently laid the bag with their personal belongings on the floor next to the door, right as a woman was speaking to the assembled group.

“I’ll go over the ship rules, remuneration and terms of contract once some others get here, save me repeating myself. Until then, does anyone have any questions?”

"I have one." Pheonix spoke. "Where'd you get the name Saxifrage?"

OOC: Couldn't really find a good image. 90% of the booru (yeah, I know, animu, but you try finding niche character art outside of them) stuff under relevant tags doesn't apply, and of the 10% that does, its all Ed from Cowboy Bebop.

[Coalition of North American States]

Rod Walker boarded the Saxifrage. He decided to look around for the crew. He walked down a hallway in his search for the crew.

[Mufasana]

"When do we leave?" Krill says. "And where is my station- terminal, whatever."

[Rupudska]

“Well, we could,” Ember said. “She’s a good ship, lots of automation, but if anything failed we’d be fucked.” She turned to the new arrivals. “I’ll go over the ship rules, remuneration and terms of contract once some others get here, save me repeating myself. Until then, does anyone have any questions?”

Rather odd that I didn't get a mention, being the hired-on chief engie, but regardless. Better than being shooed off like my last job - wasn't my bloody fault nobody told me Jovian genetically modified silk could soak up smells like a damned sponge. Nor was it my fault some asshole just had to eat fermented herring in public like an animal. I had thought the smell was just the smell of fermented herring being permanently seared into my nasal receptors.

And fuck, now I smell it again. Good thing this suit is 100% synthetic.

"Yeah, actually, I've got one. Are there any modifications besides the BAS* MMT standard on the Saxifrage? The documentation I got wasn't exactly clear on that."

---

OOC: BAS = Bone-Ass Stock. Common abbreviation among engineers, especially in the Jovian subsystem

[Xah]

Ember's lips twitched into a slight smile at the question from Phoenix and Wi barked out a laugh, leaning back into his chair and putting his arms behind his head. "I told you someone would ask!" he said to Ember. "Didn't I say?"

"Yes, whatever," Ember replied drily. She turned towards Phoenix, "Saxifrage is a plant, it's quite common on the inner planets. Its name means 'stone breaker' and it's a not-so-subtle reference to the fact that when we found her, Saxifrage had been stored inside an small asteroid set in a wide orbit around Ceres. We had to use the mining laser fitted to break her out. I, personally, found the notion amusing and slightly creative. Wi, thinks it's stupid. But then I'd expect nothing less from him."

Her gaze flicked to the Martian, Krill, "As soon as I'm happy with the crew, that you're all happy with your roles and the ship and, perhaps more importantly, as soon as Wi here can find us some work. I'm keen to get away as soon as possible, where to, I've no idea. That's part of the fun. As for your station," she checked the tablet in her hand. "Anton Krill, comms, yes. You've a terminal on the command deck, like most of the roles. I expect all crew to take a stand at watch in addition to their regular duties. Just a couple of hours on deck during everyone else's off-duty time, making sure nothing unexpected happens."

Wi nodded, "I've got some contacts that I know can throw us something our way. I'll be heading off after this meet'n'greet to make enquiries."

As the Jovian engineer spoke, Ember nodded, then shook her head. "Saxifrage is as base line as it can get, she's literally fresh out of construction, then into storage, then a brief tug over to the docks here. We've had her cleaned up, refuelled and re-stocked and, well, you can see the drones out there now giving her the once over. She's as close to original specifications as is possible." A touch of pride enters her voice. "She's state of the art and we're lucky the UTF or Mangala haven't tried to swipe her for stripping down; that drive she has on her will get us from here to Jupiter in four and half days at a push. That's something most people will use those high speed couriers for, and we're in what was once just a 'tug'.

"As it stands, burning for Jupiter at a 1G acceleration is expensive in fuel and a real bitch for anyone not from Earth or Venus, plus we'll probably be hauling payload, but even at a more reasonable quarter G, it's still only ten days, and a minimal zero-G flip in the middle too."

---

OOC: The ship is locked and a little distance from where this meeting is taking place. Unless you have the codes to open the airlock, no one is getting on board right now.

[Coalition of North American States]

Rod Walker found the crew, and said,"Sorry I'm a bit late. My last job ran over schedule a little bit. So are we ready to go? 'Cause I'm ready."

[Grenartia]

Ember's lips twitched into a slight smile at the question from Phoenix and Wi barked out a laugh, leaning back into his chair and putting his arms behind his head. "I told you someone would ask!" he said to Ember. "Didn't I say?"

"Yes, whatever," Ember replied drily. She turned towards Phoenix, "Saxifrage is a plant, it's quite common on the inner planets. Its name means 'stone breaker' and it's a not-so-subtle reference to the fact that when we found her, Saxifrage had been stored inside an small asteroid set in a wide orbit around Ceres. We had to use the mining laser fitted to break her out. I, personally, found the notion amusing and slightly creative. Wi, thinks it's stupid. But then I'd expect nothing less from him."

Phoenix nodded as the explanation was given. Although Ember said it was common on the inner planets, McLaurin had never seen one on Venus. Then again, she didn't like spending much time outdoors. That massive polarized sun shade blocks out half the sun's light, but considering that without it, Venus gets almost twice what Earth does, that's not saying much. Living near the equator on a planet whose surface was 80% water didn't help, either.

Her gaze flicked to the Martian, Krill, "As soon as I'm happy with the crew, that you're all happy with your roles and the ship and, perhaps more importantly, as soon as Wi here can find us some work. I'm keen to get away as soon as possible, where to, I've no idea. That's part of the fun. As for your station," she checked the tablet in her hand. "Anton Krill, comms, yes. You've a terminal on the command deck, like most of the roles. I expect all crew to take a stand at watch in addition to their regular duties. Just a couple of hours on deck during everyone else's off-duty time, making sure nothing unexpected happens."

"Seems pretty standard" Phoenix thought to themself.

Wi nodded, "I've got some contacts that I know can throw us something our way. I'll be heading off after this meet'n'greet to make enquiries."

As the Jovian engineer spoke, Ember nodded, then shook her head. "Saxifrage is as base line as it can get, she's literally fresh out of construction, then into storage, then a brief tug over to the docks here. We've had her cleaned up, refuelled and re-stocked and, well, you can see the drones out there now giving her the once over. She's as close to original specifications as is possible." A touch of pride enters her voice. "She's state of the art and we're lucky the UTF or Mangala haven't tried to swipe her for stripping down; that drive she has on her will get us from here to Jupiter in four and half days at a push. That's something most people will use those high speed couriers for, and we're in what was once just a 'tug'.

"As it stands, burning for Jupiter at a 1G acceleration is expensive in fuel and a real bitch for anyone not from Earth or Venus, plus we'll probably be hauling payload, but even at a more reasonable quarter G, it's still only ten days, and a minimal zero-G flip in the middle too."

---

OOC: The ship is locked and a little distance from where this meeting is taking place. Unless you have the codes to open the airlock, no one is getting on board right now.

"So there's the catch." McLaurin's internal monologue said, once again. That's always what happens with these jobs. Nice ship, safe job, and good crew, but you can only have 2. They knew better than to point this out, though. So, instead, their next question was about duty rotations.

"So, what's the shift rotation like? Anything yall do differently that we should know about?" It was a fair question. In Phoenix's experience, every captain has subtly different expectations of how long you're on duty for (or if you're ever truly off duty). At this moment, a new person stepped in.

Rod Walker found the crew, and said,"Sorry I'm a bit late. My last job ran over schedule a little bit. So are we ready to go? 'Cause I'm ready."

Phoenix found this one to be quite odd. While it isn't uncommon to be worked over schedule on a job, the man seemed overly eager to leave. Didn't want to know anything about the ship, about the captain's expectations, etc. They were willing to bet their media drive that the new guy was being chased down by somebody. Maybe over drug money. Wouldn't be the first time they'd seen it here.

OOC: Yes, I actually did the math for how much sunlight Venus would get if it had a giant-ass polarizer in front of it. More or less 96% of what Earth gets.

[Coalition of North American States]

Rod Walker said,"I need some money and an engineering job." He looked around at the people he would be stuck with for a good long while. He thought to himself,"Looks like a decent crew. My last one was much worse." He said,"Now, what'll the workload look like? What are expectations?" He realized he was hungry. He pulled out a synthetic protein bar, and ate it. He thought aloud,"I wonder what the food'll look like? It can't be worse then synth protein bars."

[Maldurich]

Quil Ortèa had been drifting for the past four and a half months, hopping from house to house in an effort to find his new home. Drifting, without a permanent job, without a permanent home.
He hated it.
When he had been a part of the cadre of researchers and engineers in the Lunar Republic's comet retrieval programs, he had felt grounded. Suddenly, that was all lost; Quil had become homeless, jobless, unsatisfied with life in the Republic at moving on throughout the Solar System. He had debated going back to his father's company, but heavens knew what kind of reaction he would get when he returned empty handed. So Quil had moved on. The last week or two had been spent on Ceres, calling on old debts to shelter him, picking up odd jobs where he could. He wasn't particularly muscled so he had been intermittently picking up jobs in tinker shops and other backwater roles - a far cry from his prestigious history. Even my life aboard the Crocus had been better than this, he thought angrily. Bouncing off against the Ring's low gravity, Quil was here looking for a job. This was where second-rate ships came to get their crew, where cheap captains pinched their pennies to find qualified crew among the masses. Only... There had been rumors of a Pre-C MMT docking the other day. He didn't buy them, but it didn't hurt to check it out - and he was damn sick of the sallow atmosphere Ceres' job market was. He had grabbed his belongings from his friend's place earlier this rotation, but he double checked he had everything anyway. There wasn't much to his name, just clothes, the antique leather jacket his father had given him, some money, and his beloved datapad, toolkit, tinkering projects, and other little remnants of his life prior to leaving the Republic. Perhaps now, he thought, I'll put those skills back to work. He passed several folks - mostly of Belter origin - before coming across the board room that supposedly held the MMT's captain. Peeking out the window after the door, he swept his gaze across the deep black of the Ceresian space outside before...

There.

He almost cried at the sight, the Pre-Cataclysm tech sitting just out of reach like a sort of holy grail. The technology he had worked his entire career for. An actual, original MMT, in near-spanking-new condition - he wasn't letting that opportunity go to waste. Brushing off his IEVA suit - a dark suit that glowed when exposed to cosmic radiation, thanks to Republic tech - he smoothed his black hair back and knocked on the door before swinging it open.

---

The room was cool and modestly lit, and Quil picked out several figures around the dominating table in the center - and his eye picked out the ones who were hanging in the back. He nodded curtly to who he assumed to be the owner or investor of the ship - an earthling in a flimsy suit, who had been rapidly discussing with the woman beside him - and nodded to her as well. Mustering his courage, he walked up to the pair before shaking each of their hands.

"Salutations, I'm Quil; I sent in my interest earlier today. Say, is the job still open?"

[Xah]

As Rod Walker entered the room, Ember’s eyebrows twitched up a little and she shook her head, “No, we’re not ready yet, and I very much doubt your own readiness; I’ve not even offered anyone a job yet, let alone said what everyone is doing.”

She listened to Phoenix’ question and then clicked a button on her table, changing one of the screen displays to show a timetable, “All crew members will be expected to work a standard shift; the length depends on what’s going on at the time. During transit, it’s all fairly easy going, but for activities like docking, mining or so on, it’s more involved. I like to at try to maintain a decent day/night cycle on board, and not have a 24 hours of shift with equal numbers on each. The ship’s automated systems are good enough, but there’ll always be one command crew member on station at all times. Everyone except the cook and the doctor will be expected to take a two hour stint just watching the dials tick whilst everyone else is off-duty or sleeping.”

Rod spoke again, and Ember listened before replying. “There’s a fully equipped galley and I’ll be taking on a decent selection of fresh and canned goods. Good food and decent eating are important on a ship for morale, so expect to have a good menu. Of course, that all depends on who’s cooking. If I can’t get a chef, then unless you get off your arse, you’ll be heating ration packs in a microwave. As for workload, that varies with the job. So long as you do as you’re told and pitch in, you’ll get fair shares in the pay-out afterwards.”

“Quil?” Ember shakes the man’s hands with an amused expression on her face, whilst Wi returns the handshake enthusiastically. Ember checks her tablet again. “Ah, yes. Quil Ortèa. Glad you could make it. Positions have yet to be formally offered, so you could say it’s still open, yes. Have a seat and if you’ve any questions about this whole thing, now is the time to ask.”

[WhatsamattaU]

Carmentis Castillo

]

C.C. hadn’t known what to expect when she arrived on Ceres. It was good to have some gravity again, still she felt much lighter her than at home. The thing that she hadn’t been prepared for was the enormous amount of people packed into the asteroid. The mines of Mercury had been cozy, but C.C. found herself continually becoming anxious by being surrounded by so many people. She felt she couldn’t stay on Ceres.

She had some skills. The trader captain that had brought her here complimented her on her cooking. If he’d known how many years she’d studied, he might not have been so surprised. She scrolled through a civic computer terminal and noticed an advertisement. It looked perfect:

Post #530920

Wanted: Reliable crew for privately operated spacecraft
The recently refurbished spacecraft Saxifrage is currently looking for 10 to 12 crew members of all types (see list below).
Must have relevant experience and/or knowledge and be prepared to take on all kinds of work and travel extensively.
All positions expected to take on secondary roles to cover shifts. Multi-skilled applicants preferred.
Pay in shares of profits. Minimal background checks. Excellent crew facilities
Ceres based, but system-wide work undertaken.

Getting directions from a uniformed police officer, C.C. made her way out to where the Saxifrage lay in the spacedock.

From the way she moved, someone might take the tall and slender, young woman for a Martian. Her tan skin, black hair and dark eyes could cause some to figure her as a descendant of the Fillipinos of Earth, if they were into genealogy.

Finally, C.C. reached the boardroom. There was a woman there that seemed to be confident and knowing. C.C. introduced herself, saying, “Hello, I’m Carmentis Castillo. I’m applying for the Cook position.”

[Grenartia]

Rod Walker said,"I need some money and an engineering job." He looked around at the people he would be stuck with for a good long while. He thought to himself,"Looks like a decent crew. My last one was much worse." He said,"Now, what'll the workload look like? What are expectations?" He realized he was hungry. He pulled out a synthetic protein bar, and ate it. He thought aloud,"I wonder what the food'll look like? It can't be worse then synth protein bars."

Phoenix just stood there, waiting on Ember's reply, and listening to the man. They found his mannerisms to be quite odd, though they'd never say that out loud. Evaluations like that tend to cause unnecessary drama. They were about to suggest that the man stop buying and eating synth protein bars if he disliked them so much (its not like it was still the New Renaissance, when such things were the best one could expect as an emergency ration), and get something he liked better. But then another person came in.

The room was cool and modestly lit, and Quil picked out several figures around the dominating table in the center - and his eye picked out the ones who were hanging in the back. He nodded curtly to who he assumed to be the owner or investor of the ship - an earthling in a flimsy suit, who had been rapidly discussing with the woman beside him - and nodded to her as well. Mustering his courage, he walked up to the pair before shaking each of their hands.

"Salutations, I'm Quil; I sent in my interest earlier today. Say, is the job still open?"

He seemed well-to-do. Had a nice suit, at least. They thought the glowing was a bit of an unnecessary novelty, but they did have to admit, it did make him look 40% cooler.

As Rod Walker entered the room, Ember’s eyebrows twitched up a little and she shook her head, “No, we’re not ready yet, and I very much doubt your own readiness; I’ve not even offered anyone a job yet, let alone said what everyone is doing.”

She listened to Phoenix’ question and then clicked a button on her table, changing one of the screen displays to show a timetable, “All crew members will be expected to work a standard shift; the length depends on what’s going on at the time. During transit, it’s all fairly easy going, but for activities like docking, mining or so on, it’s more involved. I like to at try to maintain a decent day/night cycle on board, and not have a 24 hours of shift with equal numbers on each. The ship’s automated systems are good enough, but there’ll always be one command crew member on station at all times. Everyone except the cook and the doctor will be expected to take a two hour stint just watching the dials tick whilst everyone else is off-duty or sleeping.”

Rod spoke again, and Ember listened before replying. “There’s a fully equipped galley and I’ll be taking on a decent selection of fresh and canned goods. Good food and decent eating are important on a ship for morale, so expect to have a good menu. Of course, that all depends on who’s cooking. If I can’t get a chef, then unless you get off your arse, you’ll be heating ration packs in a microwave. As for workload, that varies with the job. So long as you do as you’re told and pitch in, you’ll get fair shares in the pay-out afterwards.”

“Quil?” Ember shakes the man’s hands with an amused expression on her face, whilst Wi returns the handshake enthusiastically. Ember checks her tablet again. “Ah, yes. Quil Ortèa. Glad you could make it. Positions have yet to be formally offered, so you could say it’s still open, yes. Have a seat and if you’ve any questions about this whole thing, now is the time to ask.”

Phoenix listened as Ember spoke, and figured they could definitely end up with a worse captain. Even speaking bluntly, she was fairly diplomatic, which comes in handy for this job. Its not exactly an uncommon trait among captains, but its definitely not one everyone has. As she answered McLaurin's question, it was clear that she'd done this on many occasions. As for the information itself, again, it was pretty standard. 2 hours of sitting watching the command deck was actually pretty fair, compared to previous jobs, and of stories they'd heard. Like, a friend of a friend told them that one of his first captains expected everyone to take 6 hours of command deck watch. Except himself and the XO, who said captain could clearly be heard fucking the brains out of at every opportunity (apparently, the captain wanted to redefine the term "first mate"). Fortunately, individuals like that didn't seem to be super common. Word tends to get around pretty quickly about people like that.

The galley sounded nice, and even if the ship didn't end up having an official cook, people tended to volunteer to take galley shifts to cover the need. Even on ships where nobody did, they usually pooled money and paid the Q a little extra to stock some decent food, so someone could at least zap something nice. Modern ration packs weren't that bad any more, so absent everything else, food was never that horrible, unless one was spoiled rotten. Phoenix had pretty much grown up on cheap-ass food in college, and had an instinct for experimenting with different ingredients, so even with the bare minimum, they could make something work.

Phoenix cleared their throat. "I don't have much cooking experience, but..." Before they could finish their thought, another person, a young lady, entered the room.

From the way she moved, someone might take the tall and slender, young woman for a Martian. Her tan skin, black hair and dark eyes could cause some to figure her as a descendant of the Fillipinos of Earth, if they were into genealogy.

Finally, C.C. reached the boardroom. There was a woman there that seemed to be confident and knowing. C.C. introduced herself, saying, “Hello, I’m Carmentis Castillo. I’m applying for the Cook position.”

The young lady who just entered seemed to have rendered Phoenix's musings about the galley moot. Assuming, of course, she was hired, but its hard to not get hired as a cook. She looked Martian, but her accent was off. Martians generally don't sound like that. Again, though, this was one of those situations where blabbing carelessly might cause drama.

[Coalition of North American States]

Rod Walker looked up when someone else walked in. A female, possibly Martian, like himself. Then she spoke. Definitely not Martian. She introduced herself as Carmentis Castillo. She was applying to be the cook. He thought to himself,"Phew. It looks like we will have a cook. I don't want to be stuck with synth protein bars and and reheat ration packs. The question now is, can she cook? Let's hope she can."

[WhatsamattaU]

C.C.

The board room was silent. The other applicants were giving C.C. appraising looks, especially the men. Were any of them applying for the Cook position she wondered to herself. Well, she was one of the best on Mercury and she'd accept any cooking challenge they cared to offer in a match.

"Excuse me," C.C. said when the silence became uncomfortable, "has the Cook position been filled already...," she steeled herself with an air of iron determination, "or do we have to fight for it?"

She stood relaxed, but if any of the others were trained fighters of any sort, they'd see she was prepared for a battle.

[Grenartia]

C.C.

The board room was silent. The other applicants were giving C.C. appraising looks, especially the men. Were any of them applying for the Cook position she wondered to herself. Well, she was one of the best on Mercury and she'd accept any cooking challenge they cared to offer in a match.

"Excuse me," C.C. said when the silence became uncomfortable, "has the Cook position been filled already...," she steeled herself with an air of iron determination, "or do we have to fight for it?"

She stood relaxed, but if any of the others were trained fighters of any sort, they'd see she was prepared for a battle.

The room had gone silent, presumably to allow the captain to answer the Castillo's question, but Ember hadn't had a chance to speak up before Carmentis spoke again.

"Well, that's the thing." Phoenix said, and then paused before continuing. "None of us have been officially hired yet. So the only person who can say is the Captain."

"I imagine as long as you can do better than heating up ration packs, you'll be fine." They elaborated.

[Xah]

Ember laughed, an action that caused Wi to raise his eyebrows in surprise.

"No one will have to fight for their position," the captain said. "This isn't that kind of ship. Positions are given, taken or promoted on merit. I'm the kingmaker and what I say goes. If any of you have issue with someone else, you bring it to me. Fighting on a ship when there's only a dozen or so of us is one easy way to go stir crazy when you're out in the black. I'd be a lousy captain if I couldn't resolve stuff, that's for sure." Her eyes rested on C.C. "If you're here for the Domestic position, then it's probably yours. There's not much competition for that kind of thing. I'll tell you this, and everyone else take note. It's not the job of the cook to clean up after you all. Your rooms are your own responsibility and the mess area and rec room are shared. For those of you who've done this kind of thing before, you'll know to keep the ship ready for sudden zero-G at all times. For those of you who haven't...." she smiled slightly. "You'll soon learn."

Ember stood and moved around the room, handing each of the occupants a small-screened tablet. "This tablet has direct access to most of the databanks on the Saxifrage. It also provides a direct link to me, so we don't have to fight through the mess that's this stations intranet just to get in touch. Keep an eye on it, in the next day I'll be sending out formal job offers and your role if you've got one. If you haven't, then access rights will be lost and this tablet will be useless.

"Thank you all for coming. I'm hoping for the ship to leave in just a few days."

---

Later that same day, everyone who received one of the tablets from Ember will receive the following message:

<Saxifrage Internal Messaging> 
<Priority message>
<Sender: Captain E. Kone >
<To: All crew members>
-------------------------------------------------

The following positions have been filled with the following people:
 First Officer: Quil Oretea
 Chief Engineer: Emilia Jorgeir
 Comms: Anton Krill
 Navsens: Phoenix McLaurin
 Drive engineer: Rod Walker
 Life support: George Collins
 Domestic/cook: Carmentis Castillo

Boarding on the SS Saxifrage can begin immediately, location: Berth 423. This tablet contains entry codes, simply press to the lock for access and your biometrics will be added to the system. 
Upon boarding find your assigned cabin to leave your gear, then check with the system to get the location of the captain (which will be either her office or the mess) and report for duty.
Scheduled departure is set for 49 hours from the timestamp on this message.
Hope to see you all soon.