[color=92278f]Beth[/color] with special guest [color=39b54a]Harper[/color] Beth finished her meal in relative silence, mostly just enjoying the presence of people, that were neither related or trying to kill her, or even both. The ‘both’ was a bit too common for Beth’s tastes. Beth had sent her cousin a wave shortly after the meeting with Amir. She expected he wouldn’t respond till morning. Walt wasn’t the most prompt of responders. She could only hope he’d respond before they landed. That’d be awkward, and probably would end up with her getting shot again. Something she had no desire to repeat. She excused herself with a nod and made her way to where the barracks were. She found a room without a name tag that matched any of the people she knew the names of. [hr] Harper lay stretched out on the single bed in the room he had claimed as his own on the old junker of a ship. He had been lucky enough to slip on almost immediately after the crew went station side for drinks and find an empty room to lock himself in until they got to the next planet or station. Currently, his VI was watching the door while running all of his lockdown programs to keep anyone out of the room. In the midst of playing some old platformer game he had managed to upload onto his datapad, the face of his VI popped up onto the screen, causing him to die and lose a life. [color=39b54a]“Aw… Higgins, you made me die,”[/color] Harper pouted. [color=ed1c24]“Terribly sorry sir, but it would appear the ship’s crew has come back and have just finished dinner. They are wandering the ship now.”[/color] Harper stared at the projected face of his virtual friend for a moment, turning the information over in his head. He knew he was safe inside the room, as he had put multiple lockdown programs on the door, so unless they had a hacker onboard they wouldn’t be getting in. Then again, they could always slice the door open with tools. [color=39b54a]“Right. Higgins, just to be safe have these programs ready to launch on the cargo bay doors,”[/color] Harper instructed the VI as he tapped away on his datapad and linked his friend into the designated doors. After Higgins was securely linked to the cargo bay doors, Harper used his datapad to hack into the ship’s security cams and linked them to his bionic eyes so that it was as if he was the ship’s eyes now. He flipped between the cams, looking into each room he could and spotting the crew members until he came to the hall outside his room and spotted the woman making her way toward him. [hr] Beth reached out and tried the handle of the room door. Nothing happened. Then the door gave off an angry buzz as a small red smileyface appeared on the data screen with its tongue stuck out. She frowned and stuck out her own tongue at the face. [color=92278f]“What the hell; let me in. Your old tenant is gone jībā.”[/color] Beth tried the door again. The same noise and face occurred upon her second attempt. [color=92278f]“Seriously I shoot open the lock.”[/color] Beth reached for the gun she had collected from the guards. As she reached for her gun, a small purple projection of a stereotypical British butler appeared on the screen. [color=ed1c24]“You may want to reconsider that course of action, Miss,”[/color] the VI spoke in its old British accent. [color=92278f]“You want to reconsider your face.”[/color] She glared. [color=ed1c24]“My face was programmed by my creator and can only be reconsidered by him,”[/color] the VI replied with just a hint of offense. [color=92278f]“Well your creator is left on station, so you might just want to reconsider -”[/color] Beth was cut off by another voice. [color=39b54a]“Yeah. I put a lot of work into how Higgins looks.”[/color] Beth cocked an eyebrow at the projection. [color=92278f]“Right, great.”[/color] She sighed, [color=92278f]“Of course there is someone on the ship, because nothing can go off without a hitch.”[/color] [color=39b54a]“Well, you should have made your ship harder to hack into instead of galavanting off for drinks. All I had to do to get on was a simple system reset,”[/color] the new voice replied. [color=92278f]“If it had been harder I wouldn’t be here.”[/color] Beth scoffed. [color=92278f]“Look... Oh, you have got to be kidding me. You’re a stowaway.”[/color] [color=39b54a]“Are you saying you’re not part of the original crew then,”[/color] the voice came back puzzled now. [color=92278f]“Not for this ship. I’ve never been on it before today.”[/color] Beth crossed her arms and looked at the projection. [color=92278f]“So, you’re not part of the original crew and I’m not part of the original crew. Did you miss all the guys scanning for the terrorist back at the station?”[/color] [color=39b54a]“I scrambled their scanners long enough to sneak onto the first ship I saw. I figured it was best to get off station though before they eventually came down on me. What about you? What’s your story?”[/color] [color=92278f]“That’s a long story.”[/color] Beth shook her head. [color=92278f]“But we stole the ship to escape the station, so good news I guess we aren’t at the station anymore. Bad news is I’ve got to tell the new captain that we’ve got a guest.”[/color] [color=39b54a]“Right… I was afraid of that. Well, just to be safe, Higgins do your thing,”[/color] at his words the purple butler vanished from the screen and zipped away to carry out its creator’s orders. Beth reached out for the nearest transmitter. [color=92278f]“Hey Capt’n, got some news for ya. There’s a stowaway.”[/color] She released the button. [color=39b54a]“I prefer refugee. Stowaway is an ugly word,”[/color] his voice broke out over the same comm channel. [color=92278f]“Seriously. I think you underestimate who you’re dealing with.”[/color] [color=39b54a]“I have no clue who I’m dealing with, so that’s likely, but the same can be said for you,”[/color] he replied as the safety doors in the hall closed with a clang and a hiss of pressurising air. [color=92278f]“What are you doing?”[/color] Beth turned toward the sound of the doors. [color=39b54a]“Making sure I’m not underestimated while securing my own safety.”[/color] [color=92278f]“You plan on flying this ship?”[/color] Beth put her hands on her hips. [color=39b54a]“If this ship has an autopilot, I could replace it with Higgins and have him fly it maybe,”[/color] the voice trailed off. [color=92278f]“You plan on making all the necessary repairs the ship needs to keep in the air. Let me tell you, I bet you could hear the captain and Jinxy talking about all the issues the engine has.”[/color] [color=39b54a]“I could, and I have no clue how to repair a ship, but at the moment I’m more concerned with not getting shot by your captain, so as soon as he guarantees my safety I’ll lift the safety doors no problem. You’re all criminals, you understand.”[/color] [color=92278f]“So are you.”[/color] Beth snapped back. [color=39b54a]“I never said I wasn’t. I’m just an unorthodox criminal.”[/color] Beth snorted again. [color=92278f]“Yeah welcome to the club.”[/color] There was enough colorful entries in her record, and even more entries that had never made it - She bit back the though. [color=39b54a]“Do I get a club jacket? No… never mind. I’m too fond of mine.”[/color] [color=92278f]“We have pins too.”[/color] Beth retorted sarcastically. [color=39b54a]“I can fit a pin on my jacket.”[/color] [color=92278f]“Right, all right it seems like you’ve got some useful skills, probably ones we’re missing in our ragtag and very badly thrown together group. I can give you a reference to the captain.” [/color] Beth sighed, she did not want to die. [color=39b54a]“Fair enough. I’ll lift the doors when he comes by and promises not to shoot me.”[/color] [color=92278f]“Fair enough.”[/color] Beth shrugged and pressed the com again. [color=92278f]“Capt’n, you may want to interview our new [i]refugee[/i].” [/color] The comm crackled and this time it was the captain’s voice. “Sure, I’ll be there soon.” His voice raised a bit at the end as if he was uncertain. [color=92278f]”There the captain is on his way.”[/color] Beth leaned against the rail.