[center][h2][color=6ecff6]Jinxy[/color] and [b][color=yellow]Trish[/color][/b]

On the Frontier[/h2][/center]

Jinxy was in a bad mood. Finding the doctor’s journal and then reading it had been a mistake. Or had it? She now knew why the ship was abandoned. Space sickness was never good. However, she did want to go through the Captain’s log as well. She just wanted to double check on a few things. The doctor had mentioned some cargo… was it still on the ship? 

She sighed and passed the open cargo bay and paused. She walked inside and raised an eyebrow. [color=6ecff6]“Trish? What are you doing in here?”[/color] She asked curiously, leaning up against one the walls. 

Trish looked up from her mindless fidgeting as Jinxy entered the cargo bay, in what seemed to be a bit of a hurry. The explosives expert could sympathize, as she was already frustrated with how long she was to wait, and the captain hadn’t even left yet. Her impatience was certainly controlling her temperament, and for the briefest of moments, she thought Jinxy was bringing her the fuel. But as soon as she realized that was impossible, her face formed a rather deep, annoyed frown. [b][i][color=yellow]“Waiting. Not sure I should leave yet, haven’t quite gotten my supplies together yet.” [/color][/i][/b]

She assumed Jinxy would know what she spoke of, and hoped that she wasn’t unintentionally blaming the mechanic. After all, the woman was helping her out with her rather delicate situation. Trish hopped off her crate and approached Jinxy, scrutinizing the look on her face. Something was… off. Trish had never been especially good at reading people, probably due to a lack of trying. Arms crossed,  [b][i][color=yellow]“And yourself?” [/color][/i][/b]

Jinxy looked at Trish and sighed, holding up the very faded doctor’s journal. [color=6ecff6]“I might have found out some of this ship’s past and well, it ain’t good. I was gonna go see if I could find the captains logs as well. Also I was going to check the cargo while I was here. They made some mention of canisters that I wanna check out,”[/color] she said and groaned. [color=6ecff6]“I have no idea on the supplies by the way. I know Cap’n and Angel were going to go get the parts, but I don’t even know if they’ve left yet,”[/color] she added. 

She walked into the cargo hold and started looking around. [color=6ecff6]“Wanna help me?”[/color] She asked, turning to look at Trish. 

Trish mulled the thought over. It certainly would keep her busy while she waited for the blasted captain to move his ass along. Canisters rarely held anything good. Her father used many canisters in the war, filled with many nasty things, designed to kill more people than a simple explosion could. Trish tended to shy away from those sort of bombs, however, for they were far too difficult to control. 

Shrugging lightly, [b][i][color=yellow]“Why not?” [/color][/i][/b] before she turned, deciding to fiddle with the crate her but had been plopped on moments before. It had a simple digital keypad lock, and from the looks of it, wasn’t an atomized seal. A simple airtight, lockbar setup. Amateur level at best. Trish pulled out her multitool, setting it to the magnetic screwdriver. It made short work of the face panel which she lifted off. She then turned up the magnetism, and pressed it to the dense plastic casing of the crate. Trish pressed her ear to the crate, and began slowly edging her tool upwards. She heard no scrapes as expected, and began pulling it to the right. There it was. A slight metallic scrape. She continued this, changing directions as needed for results, until with a click, it was open. 

Trish raised the lid, looking at Jinxy, before peering inside, not sure what to expect.

Jinxy looked at the canisters, and frowned a bit. [color=6ecff6]“We might wanna leave those alone for now till we see the Captain’s log. We might find out what they are in there,”[/color] she said. She saw the numbers, and her brain froze. These weren't normal canisters for water or benign liquids or gasses. This was worse. What in [i]hell[/i] were these people doing?

[color=6ecff6]“Wanna come with me? I’m guessing the captain’s log would be at the bridge. I believe our pilot went on-world to meet someone,”[/color] Jinxy said, tucking the journal back in her pocket. 

Trish looked down curiously at the canisters. She then reached down and tapped on one, hearing a surprisingly hollow echo rebound. Definitely not liquid. The nozzle suggested a gas, yet… not quite. Perhaps an aerosol? Trish moved to grab one and take it with her, before remembering she was with others. They might not like her experimenting with whatever was in here, especially on the ship. She sighed and retracted her hand. She glanced over at the not yet departed captain once more, then back to the mechanic, [b][i][color=yellow]“Lead on.” [/color][/i][/b]

[color=6ecff6]“I’d rather know what the hell is in there before you start taking it apart… given that seems to be your m.o.,”[/color] Jinxy said with a smirk and lead the way out of the cargo hold and up to the bridge. Once there she scrunched up her nose. It was a mess in there. Whomever had this ship before was not one for picking up, or had they just left in a rush? Well, only one way of figuring it out.

[color=6ecff6]“Alright, holographic display… hmm oh ew, more freaking gum! Glad I added extra wires to that list. Let us see… hmm password protected… bah. Let’s see…”[/color] Jinxy cracked her fingers, and then set to work, typing over the keyboard with a dizzying speed. Soon, the holographic display started up. 

A man with a beard and feather earring appeared. He was also wearing sunglasses which he seemed to adjust before speaking. 

“Captain’s Log, October 12: Left Ajax on orders for a quick hit on a GA-allied border moon – to pick up their good stuff before it's loaded onto their fighters. Should be simple and easy and all that, and I have a wedding to go to on the thirtieth so– Hey, what do you mean it's a tangent?” There was some noise in the background of the recording, along with a tinkling girlish laugh.” “Caelum's just mad since it isn't her own wedding, know what I mean? Anyway. Log out.” There were some rather disgusting sounding smoochy noises before the image cut out. 

Jinxy paused. [color=6ecff6]“Great… they were former mercenaries… I thought this was the case from the doctor’s journal. Who knows what else happened with them… let’s see, next entry. Want me to continue?”[/color] She looked at Trish, waiting to see what the explosives expert said.

Trish had been cringing since she’d come upon the messy bridge. Messy work areas had always been deadly in her line of work, and the need to clean was just below the surface of her skin. As the hologram came up, Trish listened intently. The lovey dovey nature of it seemed odd for a captain’s log. It wasn’t very professional. What was the point of acting like that towards others? People just use you, stab you in the back, and leave you to die. Pretending otherwise just got you dead. 

She found disdain, she assumed, in Jinxy’s voice for mercenaries odd, considering that would essentially be their roles for a while. It was a bit disheartening, since Trish had always ever been a mercenary. A bomb for hire. She nodded, finding it better to hold her tongue for now.

“Trish? Want me to continue?” Jinxy asked, looking at her. She frowned a bit. “I got nothing against mercenaries, just… they don’t always leave their ships in the best condition. No steady income does that… been there, done that, and well doing that at the moment,” she said with a laugh.

[b][i][color=yellow]“Yes, continue,”[/color][/i][/b] Trish said, trying to smile lightly. This whole bit was off putting. The mess, the hologram, her impatience. She could feel it all welling up inside of her, threatening to burst forth in what would only be a spectacular outburst or meltdown. She tried to focus on her breathing, through her nose, out her mouth, waiting for the message to move along.

Jinxy nodded, and started typing again, and the hologram picked up again.

“Captain’s log,October 15: Got to the planet, they'd already packed the ships up with what we were told to collect. We made the decision as a team to do a heist whilst the GA ships were in transit between the moon and Murphy Station. All roads lead to Murphy, yeah? So, it didn't go quite to plan.”

“We found the ship we were meant to collect from driftin' in the void, all lights off, all spooky, and we figure – hey, maybe a life support error, or something? Wasn't a civilian ship, it was military. The money was worth it, so I told the doc and Caleb to suit up and get in there.

Apparently there was still some freaks in the cockpit, having vented the whole cargo hold – clean air, oxygen, bodies – into space. Everything but the rest of the ship. Some of the cargo was all opened out, but we moved it onto our ship 'fore exploring any further. Anyway, said freaks attacked Caleb and the doc. They put him down, got their ID... just rookies. No idea what caused it. Injuries: both of ours, since they took them by surprise.”

Cargo – 19 x SJKS998 Canisters; DO NOT OPEN. One was damaged when we got there, so we left it behind.” The captain tapped his nose with a smile and it seemed to contrast the whole seriousness of what he was talking about. [The captain taps his nose, and with a boyish grin – almost in direct contrast to the seriousness of the subject matter, continues.] “Log out, aye?”

“Do not open eh? Well seems like a good plan for now,” Jinxy said, and started up the next log.

“Captain’s Log, October 19: I think–” There was a squeak which made them flinch, and then the camera was much more focused on the captain, and his voice dropped to a horse whisper.  “I think the guys have space sickness. I think that's what's in the canisters. I don't know for sure, but... yeah. Doc can barely string a sentence together, and his Psyche's all over the place. Caleb attacked his brother last night when he visited him in the clinic, and the others have been weird, just weird.

Me and Cae, me and Cae, we were born shipside. I think that's why we don't have it yet. I've taken pretty much everything from the pantry and brought it up here. We're holed up in the– A bang cuts out the recording for a moment, and the captain's sharp eyes turn back to the screen with a wry smile. –Cockpit, for now. If we're gonna survive this, it's gonna take drastic action. I'm going to take drastic action.

Ain't safe taking us to Murphy with all the GA. I'm taking us to Godwin instead.”

Jinxy’s eyes went wide. The canisters… had space sickness in them? “Fuck.” 

“Captain’s Log, October 23: Can I just say, I called it?” The captain’s voice was tired, almost like he was dead exhausted, but he was pushing on. There were traces of a smile, like he had found something after looking for a long time. “Wish I hadn't, but I'm glad, so glad, that at least me and Cae survived. We had to – uh – vent the ship, the cargo hold. Good thing everything's strapped down proper like in the vacuum seals.

Our friends, our DA team, they're gone. It's a shame, really, and if they died in combat or anything I'd be avenging them. But I ain't taking the canisters to Ajax. I don't care about that. I refuse.

So I'm – we're – leaving the ship. And if you're watching this, 'cos you've stolen our ship or hijacked it or seized it lawfully–”

The screen twisted, and a new person appeared. The woman, who had short curly hair looked at the screen and promptly stuck up her middle finger at the camera.

“Please destroy the gas canisters.”

Jinxy hit the ESC button and turned to look at Trish. All the color was drained out of her face, and she looked like she was about to be sick. [color=6ecff6]”Well, you are not allowed to touch those canisters now, if you’re alright with that?”[/color] She said, and then rubbed her face. [color=6ecff6]”We’re going to also have to tell Amir about this, all of it. Fuck… fuckity fuck fuck.”[/color] Jinxy slammed her fist on the table. [color=6ecff6]”Of all the gorram ships to steal, we took the one with weaponized space sickness!”[/color]

Trish had watched the entirety of the logs, a curious look on her face. She found herself thinking that all captains, this one, Amir, and her previous captain, were very similar in mannerisms, a comforting thought. Mostly ignoring the warning, Trish was surprised at the dread she saw upon Jinxy’s face. This wasn’t to be feared. This was a golden opportunity. Weaponized space sickness would be highly sought after by the worst of the worst, and they would pay hand over fist for it. This could be quite good. And might give Trish something to do, should the captain take ages to get fuel.

[b][i][color=yellow]“I won’t open them, I promise,”[/color][/i][/b] and she meant it. But only that. After all, wouldn’t it be better for the canisters to… not be here anymore? A single one could pay for the repairs. And while the log had shown 19 canisters inventoried, who was to say that one or two hadn’t actually gone missing. It happened all the time. Trish was now mulling over a bit of a tough decision. Why did all of her decisions lead to her having to choose over deceiving her crew-mates? 

[b][i][color=yellow]“I could tell Amir. Maybe you should stay here and see if you can find anything else useful? More logs, or something in that book?”[/color][/i][/b]

Jinxy nodded. “Yeah… I’ll see if I can dig up anything else… I was also going to check the secondary systems for the ship, make sure everything is working,” she added and frowned a bit. [color=6ecff6]“Also, if you see Amir… nevermind. I’ll be here,”[/color] she said and turned back to the console in front of her. She had her work cut out for her. However, she considered this a challenge, even more so than the engine room. A small smile formed on her face. [color=6ecff6]“Thanks for accompanying me Trish.”[/color]

Trish nodded curtly, knowing that if she spoke anymore, her deception might be revealed. Amir had already proven to see through her flimsy lies, Jinxy might be similar. She turned, a brief look of guilt on her face, before leaving, making her way back to the cargo hold. Before stopping in, she grabbed her bag from her quarters. She peered in, finding it deserted, much to her relief. She assumed that Amir went to fetch the gear or whatever it was he’d planned. That made this that much easier, she hoped. 

She lifted a single canister out of the crate and stored it carefully at the bottom of her bag. A quick count showed that 18 canisters remained. She quickly refitted the lock and checked it, so that others wouldn’t stumble upon their treasure. Stepping down the ramp to disembark, Trish had that nagging feeling in the back of her mind. The same one from earlier, when she’d considered snitching fuel from Jinxy’s engine room. Sighing, she moved over to the intercoms, opening a line to the bridge, [b][i][color=yellow]“Hey Jinxy, Amir’s not here. If you, uh, don’t need anything else right this moment, I think I’ll, uh, pop out for a bit. I’ll try not to be long, since I still need to get that thing from you.” [/color][/i][/b] She awaited a reply before deciding to head out or not.

Jinxy’s voice buzzed over the intercom. [color=6ecff6]“Go ahead. I’m still figuring some things out. I’d be boring company. See you later,”[/color] she said, and then the line cut out.

Technically, Trish hadn’t lied to Jinxy. And yet, she still felt as if she had. Her finger hovered over the button once more but she decided against it. She’d be fine on her own, she always had been. Turning, she walked down the ramp into the scorching, dust filled planet. She pulled out her welding goggles and slipped a rag around her nose and mouth. She hated this type of planet. She’d probably find dust in her boots weeks from now. She saw Logan in the distance, and slowly fought her way through the buffeting winds to reach it.