[center][color=0072bc]Commercial transport vessel Argo | Departing for Hestia Prime | Transit time - three months | Boarding passengers[/color][/center]

	Caoimhe sat on the stubby stool next to her cryo pod. She was ushered into the small closet of a room that contained the pod and a locker with her luggage, by a pleasantly looking preflight attendant. She was instructed to wait for her cryo technician. So she was waiting. She wasn't in a hurry. Not to be put to sleep anyway. She didn't have anything against cryo sleep. No. She also didn't have the usual phobia's that were associated with cryo sleep. She didn't mind waiting because she didn't mind the solitude. Ever since she was little she was selectively social. Being alone didn't bother her. She would simply begin meditating and the world around her would fade away. And that is precisely why she was currently sitting on a stubby stool awayting her cryo technician to put her to sleep and awake her prior to landing on Hestia Prime.

	After the brutal death of her parents she felt in a sense empty. No, not empty. More like disconnected. She had retreated inwards and had removed herself from the world around her. Well, not completely. She still functioned within her small social circle. But even that was mostly mechanical. As if her body was performing on autopilot, while her mind was somewhere else entirely. A place where she didn't have to think about her utter failure in bringing security to her own parents. Her, the big bad security specialist. With degrees and certificates and experience under her belt.

	[i]You were off world![/i] Her friends would defend her. But she wasn't swayed. She should have foreseen such and any contingency and had a plan drawn for her parents to follow. [i]But you did![/i] Her friends would assure her. [i]It's the only reason they managed to find them at all. All the other victims' bodies couldn't even be recovered for identification.[/i] No, if she'd done her job right, they'd still be alive right now and she wouldn't have to move to another planet just to escape her failure. [i]Stop saying that! You didn't fail them![/i] One of her friends had finally exclaimed angrily. It had managed to snap her out of her self-loathing. Yes, deep, deep, deep down inside she knew there was nothing she could have done. But it was easier, even if more painful, to blame herself, rather than to have no one to blame.

	The perp was behind bars and it wasn't like she could blame him. He was a sick man. What he'd done was disease induced. Not an act of a man in his right mind and of his own free will. No, she'd received no satisfaction from aiding in his capture and subsequent incarceration.

	So to escape this poisonous dilemma of shouldering the pain of having no one to blame for her parents' death or induring the pain of unjustly blaming herself for their death, she'd decided to relocate. To start anew.

	There was a knock on the door, followed by a slight young man, squeezing into the tight closet-room. He smiled at her reassuringly. "Hello." He greeted her. "My name is Jonathan. I will be your cryo technician for the duration of this flight." He hesitated. "And I'll be completely honest. I'm supposed to address the passengers by their first names. It's supposed to put you at ease. To create a rappor between the two of us." He continued in a friendly manner. "But I took one look at the form and knew I would butcher your given name. And possibly offend you." He finished and looked at her hopefully.

	"It's Qweeva." She supplied for the man in the same friendly manner. "And don't worry. No one hardly ever knows how to pronounce it. So people usually just call me Kee, or Q or by my family name." She elaborated. "You can pick whichever." She smiled. Although it was a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. She still carried the sadness of her parents' death.

	"Qweeva." Jonathan tried her given name out. "It is a very beautiful name. If you don't mind I'll use it."

	She simply shrugged.

	"Very well then." Jonathan said jovially. "Let me explain the procedure." He crouched next to his passenger and started his presleep vitals checkup. Pulse, blood pressure, stress levels. The woman was as calm as a lake on a lazy sunny day. Jonathan couldn't help but wonder how she did it. Even the most calm of passengers were a bit jumpy before cryo sleep. But with this one, nothing. "Okay." He announced to cover up how flustered he felt. "Your vitals are in order. Now this is what is going to happen." He stood up. Placed his data pad on top of the locker. Opened it and withdrew from it a bag. "This..." He indicated by raising the bag in his hand. "Is your cryo sleep packet. It contains all the medication I'm going to use pre and postsleep. First is this." He took out a syringe from the bag. "This is a mild sedative. It's to help you relax once you enter the pod. In case of any anxiety or bouts of claustrophobia."

	Kee nodded. She didn't bother telling him it was unnecessary. She didn't suffer from claustrophobia and she was too well attuned with her body to be able to control any bouts of anxiety. The only thing she didn't have any control over was the paralyzing, completely irrational fear of heights, or more precisely standing near ledges with a visible precipice. But it appeared the young man took great pride in his obligations as a cryo technician and she didn't want to impede with that. And he was a pleasant young man. There was nothing fake in his demeanor as one could often find in other people working in any capacity on similar ships. The glossy veneer of false niceties. No. Jonathan was a genuinely nice person. And she liked that. She liked that he was genuine.

	"Alright." She said when she noticed he was waiting for her permission. She offered her arm. As per the preflight instructions she was in standard issue white tank top and knee length shorts. He gave her the shot and extended his hand in invitation. Kee accepted it and allowed the young man to help her into the pod.

	"Okay. After the sedative has taken effect..." He continued his explanation. "I'll close the pod. From there it will take over and put your body in cryostasis." He smiled at her and took her place on the stubby stool. He took her wrist, placed his index and middle fingers on her pulse and waited. "It will pull you out of cryo sleep one day prior to planet-fall. I will be here then to administer these..." He indicated the two remaining syringes in her cryo sleep packet. "These will allow your body to sleep off the cryo sleep so you won't have to feel any unpleasant aftereffects." He put the two syringes back in the bag. "When you wake up you should feel rested and should suffer no lingering post cryo effects. You're belongings are in the locker. So feel free to dress and join the rest of the passengers in the lounge when you wake up." He punched some buttons on the console of the cryo pod.

[center][color=39b54a]Presleep systems check | Pod condition nominal | Passenger vitals nominal | Start procedure when ready[/color][/center]

	The pod's mechanical voice announced.

	Jonathan turned to look at his passenger. He could see the sedative starting to take effect. "Now count back from ten to zero out loud for me, please."

	"Ten..." Kee started to count. She could already feel the shot taking effect. "Nine..." Her heart rate was slowing down. Her breathing evening out. Her eyelids getting heavier. "Eight..." Her mind started to wonder as it usually did right before she fell asleep. "Seven..." The word came out sluggish. "Six." Her eyes war closed now. "Five..." Her voice was barely audible. "Fou..." She didn't finish. She was out like a light.

	Jonathan stood, punched in the combination for activation. The pod closed automatically.

[center][color=39b54a]Cryostasis initiating | Passenger Caoimhe O'Roarke | Duration - three months[/color][/center]

	Jonathan stared at the cryo pod enviously. Apparently someone had thought to input Qweeva's pronunciation into it's voice output. [i]Too bad no one told me how to pronounce it.[/i] He commiserated, but remembered how nice the woman had been about it. He stole another look at her through the little window for the face. She wasn't just nice. She was a beautiful woman. And modest with it too.

[center][color=39b54a]Cryostasis finalized[/color][/center]

	Announced the pod pulling him out of his reverie. His job here was done. She was the last passenger to be put into cryo sleep. Now it was time for the crew. He took his data pad and exited the room.

[hr]

	Kee slowly opened her eyes. Someone... Or rather, something was speaking to her.

[center][color=39b54a]Cryostasis duration reached | Checking passenger's vitals | Nominal | Opening pod[/color][/center]

	There was a quiet humming sound and the lid of her pod slowly lifted up. Kee blinked one, two, three times. She breathed in deeply. Exhaled. Breathed in. Exhaled. And again. Slowly she raised her arms and placed them on the lid of the pod and pulled herself to a sitting position. Carefully she stood up and exited the pod one leg at a time. She didn't feel sluggish. No. her body felt surprisingly refreshed. Unfortunately the same couldn't be said about her mind and sole. [i]Guess I still have ways to go.[/i] She thought. She discarded quickly her standard issue pod wear and dressed herself in her usual casual garb. Jeans, boots, a t-shirt. She took her pad from her luggage and exited her closet pod room.

	She found herself in a narrow corridor littered with doors on either side. All leading to other pod rooms presumably. At the opposite side of the corridor was a door Kee supposed led to the lounge Jonathan had spoken about. She made her way to it and entered without preamble. It wasn't a large room. But it was still sizable enough to accommodate all the passengers of the Argo. Apparently Kee was the last to wake. A familiar face swam into view.

	"Welcome to the lounge." Jonathan greeted her. "I trust there are no lingering effects of the cryo sleep?" He asked with a polite smile. "In the eventuality that there are, I could direct you to our sick bay, where our ship's doctor can take a look at you." He assured her.

	"I'm fine, thank you, Jonathan." She answered. "A trip to the doctor is not necessary."

	"I'm glad." He smiled at her. "We are currently in orbit around Hestia Prime and are awaiting a landing vector. Planet-fall is estimated in no more that an hour." He announced dutifully and stepped away.

	Kee looked around the room. There were fifty or so people in there. Men, women, a couple of families too. There were at least five children. She found an unoccupied table and sat down in one of the chairs. One hour. Maybe she should have stayed in her pod room. [i]No![/i] She admonished immediately. [i]You came here to brake that cycle. No more hiding! No one wants you to be a social butterfly. Just don't isolate yourself.[/i] She could do at least that, Kee thought.

	"Hi." Someone was standing next to her. It was a short someone. She turned to find one of the kids standing there grinning at her with a mouth wide open, demonstrating a few missing teeth. It was one of the most adorable things she'd ever seen. She couldn't help but smile. Children were innocent. Well... mostly. But this one definitely was.

	"Hello there." She returned. "And who might you be?"

	"I'm Sully." Only the S sounded more like a TH through the big gap that was one of his missing teeth.

	"Hi, Sully, I'm Q." Kids loved it when she used her first initial instead of a full name. Some thought of her as the techy sidekick to James Bond and others started to argue that she couldn't be called just Q. Either way it was adorable to observe. She readied.

	The child, it was a sweet little boy, looked at her with fierce concentration. His eyes suddenly lit up. "You can't thay your name too." He lisped his verdict at her. [i]Oh, that is just too cute![/i] She thought. She hadn't expected that reaction.

	"But I thought your name was Sully." She stated innocently.

	The boy's brow furrowed adorably, but before he could answer someone called him. "Sullivan! Don't bother the other passengers, honey." A tired looking woman approached and put a gentle hand on top of her son's head.

	"He's not a bother." Kee assured smiling at the woman. She was plain looking, but had goodness in her eyes that could be seen in her son as well.

	"No." The woman countered. "You're just too sweet to say otherwise." She admonished jokingly. "Hello, I'm Rita. This here is Sullivan. I'm, hopefully, going to be a teacher on Hestia Prime." She stuck her hand out.

	Kee took it, squeezed gently and smiled. "A brave woman. Delivering yourself to the mercy of the youngins."

	Rita laughed. "Oh, don't you know it." She confirmed.

	"I'm Caoimhe O'Roarke." Kee introduced herself.

	"You can thay your name." Sully lisped in awe next to his mom.

	Kee grinned, bent down to a knee so she was eye to eye with Sully. "Yep, little man. I sure can!"

	"Wooooow!" He exclaimed reverently.

	"C'mon, Sully. Let's leave Ms O'Roarke alone." Rita tugged at her son.

	"It's Q for you, little man." Kee called out to him as they were leaving.

	"Coooool." The boy enthused, trying to look at her, walking backwards while his mom was tugging him forward.

	Kee shook her head and sat back down with a smile on her face. [i]See, you can do it![/i] She encouraged herself. [i]It doesn't count. I've always loved kids and have been good with them.[/i] She countered. And it was true. During her time as a Wing Chun instructor she'd always preferred working with the children. There was just something to their purity that spoke to her. That put her at ease. That made her connect with them more easily than with the adults in the class. [i]You spoke with the mother.[/i] Her inner debate continued. [i]Well... I suppose.[/i] She had to agree. Rita'd seemed like a nice woman. And they did at least share something in common. They were both teachers. Of sorts. Maybe they could grow to be friends. New beginnings. That's why she'd come to Hestia Prime.

	[color=0072bc]"Attention, passengers. We have received our landing vector and will initiate procedures immediately. Please find the designated landing seats in the lounge area and strap down for safety."[/color]

	Half an hour later Kee was pulling her suitcase behind her, heading toward the designated exit. A hovering buss awaited the passengers glued to the main hatch of the Argo. Jonathan was next to the exit waiving away the passengers.

	"Thanks for flying with Argo. We hope you have a good life on Hestia Prime." He nodded and smiled at Kee when she passed by him.

	The buss ferried them to the entrance of the well lit main space port of Hestia Prime. The fifty something passengers dispersed in zero amount of time.

	"Buy, Q, thee you around." She heard Sully's lisp and looked around for the boy. When she spotted him standing next to his mother, obviously waiting for someone, she raised her hand and waved in answer.

	"Buy, little man." Her gaze followed them as they left accompanied by a Weyland-Yutani official. "Well then..." She muttered to herself. "I suppose I too should find my way to my prearranged residence." With that she wheeled her suit case behind her and headed to the monorail stop. The remainder of her possessions would be delivered to her new home by the space port authorities.

	"Home, new home." She paraphrased the old saying looking out to the beautiful views of Hestia Prime.