"Subroutines intact, power still up, motherboard still impressive as hell...Ok..." Neil murmured, sliding out of the paneling and reapplying the flat back just under the monitor. The mainframe of the ship was located in the cockpit, but Neil could pull off a few wonders from the lesser directive tables on the ship. He placed his back against the wall and sat there, realizing he now had to think... 

What to do next? 

The grav had come back on and the two ships had detatched. That much he could gather from the sound and the...well, the gravity. But now that he was undetectable and he had three guns to choose from, he needed to figure out on what his plan was. Yeah, he could get the drop on Jocasta, put a gun on her. But was that the best thing to do? Even he managed to shove her in the cell and took over the ship, it would take a lot of doing to make Cygi loyal to him, and if he was completely honest, he didn't want to fuck over Jocasta or her little bot. He groaned. 

He really needed to let go of this attraction he had, but he had to admit her first impressions are just amazing.

His thought process was interrupted by the jump engine. He knew that whirring anywhere. Judging by the speed of its acceleration, Neil could tell it was a good engine. This little bird was a nimble little starship. If Jocasta hadn't been blindsided he doubted those amateurs could have caught up. 

As the ship slipped into the jump, Neil decided to just do what he did best. 

Improvise. 
[hr] 

"Light damage to the ship. Mostly aesthetics, but the hull could regain some integrity!" Cygi said, her outfit now essentially a Mary-Poppins costume, her left leg out behind her and her head forward like the human version of a pointer hound, umbrella just above her. The meter on the jumpspace display giving small possible variations to their destination. It was exceedingly difficult to change a route once jumped, but small dimensional abnormalities could be manipulated in rare circumstances. "Closest system is the Alpha Centauri!" 

"Ugh, I need a bath...and a drink...and a job. Mom was right." Jocasta sighed, leaning back in her chair and blowing away a fringe of her hair. 

"Yeah, I've been there." Neil said. Cygi turned and her eyes quite literally popped out of her head in a cartoonish fashion while Jocasta blinked, looking at Neil like a deer caught in the headlights. He stood in the doorway to the cockpit, Vapodon blaster rifle aimed at her. Easy to load, clean, and operate, it had bipod attachment folded and its curved magazine jutted out from the top like a horn. 

"Ok, I know this is awkward." He said. Damn, now he was nervous. "But I really like living, and I don't like that cage at all. And I know I can't really talk my way out of that bounty, but I also seriously don't want to shoot you either. So can we negotiate on something or...?"