[center][h2]The Reckoning - Part 2[/h2][/center]

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/mVm7Ywz.jpg[/img]
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JP/Collab from [@Xandrya] and [@sail3695]      

Something was definitely up.  Except for conversations she’d had with Abby the deckhand, Edina really hadn’t cultivated relationships beyond friendly nods and cordial greetings. Still, even a neophyte like her could sense the tension in the air as one by one, Hook and Rex hurried past on their way to China Doll’s bridge.  Like her, the doctor appeared none the wiser as she sniffed for bacon and settled for a granola bar.  “Good morning,” she offered a smile to the medic.  “We haven’t met.  I’m Edina Wyman, one of the passengers.”

Crunching away at her breakfast for the day, Alana gazed up to a woman entering the galley who introduced herself as Edina. She swallowed the mouthful before her expression brightened in kind. "Pleasure to meet you, I'm Alana, AKA the doctor." She stood halfway up to shake the woman's hand before sitting back down, the opposite hand motioning towards the bacon. "Food's been cooked but no one has claimed it yet; the reason for this meeting must be quite something I imagine."

Learning this boat…understanding her systems and how they interacted, was exactly like his first listen to a new jazz capture.  He’d often compared the Mick’s workings to Monk, Garner, and Coleman.  But his first day as China Doll’s mechanic was pure Miles.  She was an intricate weave of unknowns and mysteries.  He knew the functions of each system, but as any of the greats would say, “knowin’ what a horn is don’t tell you what you’re gonna hear.”  

But he’d been given some great clues.  SAMANTHA’s shipwide schematic was music on the page, to be studied and savored in depth.  He’d already put hours into the living diagram, identifying the necessary interface junctions to further integrate the AI into the boat’s functions.  Then, there were some pretty helpful notes in the engineering log.  A previous mechanic, somebody named Baker, had left a well written list of procedures and settings.  The guideposts had made preflight check remarkably simple.  He thought they might’ve  been written for Abby, but the concise language lent its’ own stylings to the music that was China Doll.  

So engrossed was he that he nearly missed the call for everyone to meet in the galley.  With systems and numbers playing the tune in his head, Yuri made his way forward, to find two folk already seated at the table.  Dr. Lysanger was munching a bar of some sort as the other woman sipped at some aromatic coffee.  “Good morning,” Yuri greeted both as he reached for a mug.  “What’s going on?”

"I was hoping you'd tell us...and good morning to you too." 
 
“Not a clue.”  Smiling at the doctor came naturally to him.  Despite her obvious good looks he wasn’t one to forget the kindness she’d bestowed upon him after hauling him, broken and shivering, from a cruel sea. If there was one person who warranted a grateful smile, that was Alana Lysanger.
 
The previous evening had been fun. From what she could gather, Yuri had had a hell of a night, though it didn't show then. Maybe he was one of the lucky ones who bounced right back without much of a struggle. "Haven't really seen the others though I'm sure some are moving more sluggish than the rest."
 
He nodded as coffee splashed into his mug.  “I was wondering about that.  Anybody seen Abby this morning?”   His grin waxed mischievous toward the medic, before greeting the third member of their company.  “Did we meet already?  Yuri Antonov,” he offered his good hand.  “The new mechanic.”
 
Taking the last bite, Alana crumpled the empty wrapper in her fist. The thought of having some caffeine crossed her mind as she mindlessly watched Yuri pour himself his beverage, but the combination with the meds would not work in her favor.
 
“Edina Wyman,” she accepted the offered hand.  “She was up and about.  I heard something heavy being shoved around in the cargo bay, so I guess she survived your big night.”
 
A quick nod followed in response. "I believe we all survived, no casualties there." 
 
She found it funny, referencing a night out drinking the way they did. Of course,given the age gap, if anyone could survive their big night it was Abby. "Gotta give it to the girl...up nice and early doing all that physical work. The captain sure picked a tough cookie with her."
 
Yuri chuckled and tapped the cast on his left arm.  “That’s good news, seeing as she’s my extra hands until I can get out of this.”  Suddenly reminded, he leaned toward Alana.  “Is it true that on Osiris they’ve got bone repair tech that’d heal this back in a single day?”

Alana rested her forearms on the table. "You bet they do," she confirmed with somewhat of a smirk, her voice then lowering some. "Word is, the right connections will get you in and out at lightspeed. But otherwise, the wait for the procedure isn't terrible." 

More hearsay than not, Alana was relaying what she'd heard from someone who'd apparently heard it from someone else. "Lucky for you, instead of that tech fixing you up, you've got one of the best doctors on this side of the 'verse to care for you."

Edina clinked her coffee mug against Alana’s.  “That’s what I heard from a certain deckhand.”

"And that deckhand would be correct," she played along, shooting Edina a smug smile as if she herself had just cured every disease known to man.

The mechanic’s jaw dropped.  “You’ve got…” he stammered.  “You can do that here?”

Alana then shifted her gaze. "Yuri, there isn't any miracle I can't perform..." Taking a sip, she shrugged her shoulders as if she were speaking matter-of-factly.
 
He glanced from one toward the other.  The two women smiled sweetly as their victim wrestled with the dilemma.  He was obviously being put on, but to call them on their ruse…especially the doctor who just days earlier had plucked him from a sure death…bordered on the sort of faux pas one simply didn’t commit on their first day of work.  In the end, it was parental wisdom that came to his rescue.  Yuri smiled and shook his head.  “My father warned me that you hunt in packs.”
 
"While there [i]are[/i] strength in numbers, you should never turn your back on the lone-wolf types neither. Edina can back me on that, isn't that so?" 

Yuri didn't stand a chance. He was clearly outmatched and for his sake, he better hope someone else walked into the galley soon.

“She’s the doctor,” the passenger laughed at the mechanic’s bemused expression.  “And I conjure our resident lone wolf should come bounding up those steps any sec now.”

Their revelry halted with the metallic ring of the cockpit hatch.  The corridor soon echoed with the sound of bootheels.  The three fell quiet, expectant faces turned forward to catch sight of their captain.

…………To Be Continued………….