It was a relatively short jump from The End of the Line to New Dundas as the systems were only sixteen light years apart. Before they had departed Creesh had managed to broker a deal to haul refined materials to New Dundas and bring back a shipment of machine parts. Hurk seemed to be well and truly pleased with his newly acquired ship and had honored his promise to give them a discount at all his fueling stations. They were also loaded with a pile of illegal weapons to turn in for disposal at the New Dundas precinct.
Neirdith smiled for the first time in several days as the Shining Knight exited warp with only a minor flash of warp shock, the fluttering motes of light sparkling around the ship for a moment before dissipating. New Dundas was there in the distance, a tiny gray dot orbiting the much larger world of Tartarus. Tartarus was a volcanic hellscape, massive eruptions spewing tons of toxic ash and gasses high into the choking atmosphere. The world was absolutely immiscible to life, except the Jeseo of course, who had evolved on an airless volcanic world much like it.
New Dundas slowly grew larger on the main viewscreen as the Shining Knight drew closer and closer. Eventually Neirdith was able to make out the great silver domes of the colony itself on the large moon’s grey pitted surface, the distant sun reflecting off the tops of the silvery expanse.
The vast plasteel domes were much more durable than their relatively thin outer shell would initially suggest. She watched as they approached, still somewhat fascinated by their construction. It was nothing like the sheltered farming colony she had originally grown up on and it still gave her chills to see the vast open maws of the hanger bays as they yawned open to the void of space. The faint blue shimmer of an electrogravity barrier showed where the end of the void turned into life giving atmosphere.
Neirdith stood as they passed through the barrier and then stretched as the ship was landed. "Well, I have to go by the precinct and turn in the bounty. Would you like to come with me, Creesh?" Neirdith asked Creesh, the small avian woman seated in front of her at one of the consoles.
Creesh spun her chair around and hopped off onto the floor. Fluffing her feathers slightly she nodded quickly "Samantha is sleeping at the moment, and Gloom is probably busy updating the ships systems, so yes, I will happily accompany you."
Neirdith smiled and gave her an affectionate tap with her tufted tail "Alright then, lets go. No reason to waste time I suppose." Creesh nodded at the comment and the two of them walked off the bridge side by side.
Creesh was silent as they walked down the grated hall that led to the cargo bay. Neirdith’s neck tingled a bit as she tried to think of a way to break the growing silence but failed. Creesh however, broke it herself instead.
"Did we do the right thing?" The smaller feathered woman looked up at Neirdith, those golden eyes locked with hers for a minute.
"What do you mean?" Neirdith glanced at the small avian woman as they walked down the boarding ramp onto the duracrete landing pad, her pace slowing just slightly as they reached the hard duracrete of the landing area.
Creesh looked up at her again, her long expression feathers standing on end. "When we decided to become bounty hunters, did we make the right decision? Sure we got Hungaro, but we almost lost Samantha and Seth, the two people closest to us. Part of me feels as though we made the wrong decision." The woman seemed to shrink, her normally confident stride taking on a much more cowering posture.
Neirdith tried to sound more confident than she felt "Seth and Samantha agreed as well, we have the means to help people, so any action that we could have prevented but didn't would have been at least partially our fault. I don't like what happened, it’s horrible. But I still believe we are doing the right thing, there are so many we can help, we just need to be more careful now. Make use of all of our strengths." They continued on through the busy streets towards the precinct in silence for a while after that.
Creesh once again broke the silence "You mention using our strengths. Well.. I am trained in the use of precision weapons. Maybe you could get me a Screecher to replace my pulse rifle."
Neirdith smiled and asked "You want a sniper rifle?” The smaller swanith woman nodded quickly. Neirdith just smiled wide, her blunt teeth showing. “I think I can do that for you."
Creesh bobbed her head at Neirdith's answer and once again they lapsed into silence. They reached the security station without incident and walked into the waiting lobby. The room was busy, she could see people scurrying around in the background, a very tired looking security receptionist leaning heavily on her arm as she dealt with the person in front of her.
Standing in the very short queue Neirdith thought about what to say. When it was her turn she and Creesh stepped up and presented the bounty slate to the Human woman behind the counter. "This is my first time doing this, so I wasn't really sure where to take it." Neirdith said a bit nervously.
The attendant looked at the slate and handed it back after a single glance. "You want to take it to the requisition department, go wait in those seats and I will notify someone to come get you." she said dryly, not a hint of emotion in her voice. No wonder they had put Gloom in charge of the task, the dour crystalline alien seemed downright chipper in comparison to this woman. Nodding at her in thanks, they went and sat in the aforementioned seats. They were made of metal and fabric, not really comfortable but better than standing for an uncertain amount of time.
After a few intolerable minutes in the torturous chairs a Slaaveth male poked his head in and announced their names. Neirdith stood as he beckoned them to follow, Creesh trailed just behind. The man led them past a few rooms full of desks and busy personnel before opening a door and ushering them inside. Planting himself behind a large metal desk the Slaaveth began in a gurgling voice "So you are here about a bounty contract yes?"
Neirdith nodded and handed the dataslate over to the man who took it with clawed fingers "Yes, the bounty has been confirmed as completed by the individual who placed it. We also have a stash of recovered plasma weapons to turn in for disposal. I was led to believe there is a bounty on the weapons as well?" She asked with a smile, her tail flicking as the man’s scaly face scrunched slightly.
The slaaveth man waved his free hand in a dismissive gesture. "Yes yes, we will send a team to pick the guns up for disposal, am I to understand that this Hun… Hungaro?" He said, squinting his pupilless black eyes at the dataslate "That Hungaro is confirmed deceased?"
Again Neirdith nodded and gestured to Creesh saying "My crewmate Creesh pulled the trigger on that slime herself." Creesh puffed her feathers up slightly at the unexpected attention though she did not look displeased with the recognition.
This time the man did seem a little surprised but didn't comment. He placed the dataslate down on the table in between them. "Everything seems to be in order then, you are owed a bounty of 150,000 credits and…"
Neirdith cut him off saying "150,000?!? That's not right… I mean I'm not complaining but the original contract was for 85,000 credits. What changed?"
Seemingly annoyed at her outburst the Slaaveth continued a bit more testily, "As I was going to say, 150,000 credits. The bounty poster added a note saying that the increase over the original amount is for, quote 'Exceptional services rendered and repayment for emotional damages'" he finished reading the slate and pushed it slightly away before leaning back and turning to his computer. Typing quickly on it he seemed to move some icons around before turning back to them and announcing "Congratulations your transaction has been processed. We will be coming to collect the plasma guns shortly, please have them ready for us when they arrive. Oh and before you go, stop by the main desk. It appears there is a message waiting for you." The transaction now complete, the man stood and walked to the door of his office before opening it.
Neirdith thanked the man again as she and Creesh stood and exited the room. They walked quickly down the hall towards the main desk and Neirdith smiled sadly. 150,000 credits was a great payout. It didn't make what had happened to Seth and Samantha any less horrible, but it would sure keep them going for a bit while she figured out how to get him proper help.
Walking out of the hall into the main lobby, they walked up to the desk and waited for the attendant to notice them. Glancing their way the woman asked a bit tiredly "Yes, how can I assist you now?"
"My name is Neirdith, captain of the Shining Knight, I was told there was a message waiting for us here?" She asked curiously.
The woman adjusted her archaic gold rimmed glasses and looked over her screen saying "A message, for the captain… Ah here we are, would you like me to forward it to you or read it here?"
Neirdith looked at Creesh who shrugged and said "Here will be fine I guess."
The woman nodded and read "To the captain of the IS Shining Knight.. Hello, I was wondering if I could have a talk with you concerning the events that occurred at The Fortress of Despair. Just forward your reply and a meeting place if you are interested in what I have to say. Thank you, Jessie Ironhands." At the mention of the name Neirdith heard Creesh make a surprised chirp and glanced at her. The shorter avian woman was standing ramrod straight, her normally expressive black neck feathers now pressed flat against her body.
Putting the strange behaviour in the back of her mind she looked back at the receptionist. "Please forward them a reply saying that they can meet with me in main hangar three, landing pad nine. Instruct them to arrive in about three hours, thank you." The woman nodded and looked at her as if asking if that would be all. Neirdith thanked her again and turned to leave before noticing Creesh was standing still. Neirdith tapped her shoulder, causing the woman to jerk. She looked up at Neirdith a bit jerkilly and Neirdith motioned for her to follow.
As they left the station Neirdith turned to her, "Are you okay Creesh, you look like you saw a ghost."
Creesh didn't reply for about a minute, her beak opening slightly as if she was struggling to speak. "It is not important at this time, I was just caught off guard. I am fine" she reiterated seeing Neirdith's concerned look.
Neirdith dropped the subject, she supposed she would get to the bottom of it when she met this Jessie fellow in a few hours anyways. They made their way to the ship and Neirdith pondered what the best course of action would be to find suitable medical accommodations for Seth. She had done some checking on her assistant while waiting to be admitted into the precinct and had come to the conclusion that the medical facilities on New Dundas were wholly insufficient for the required treatment. She would likely have to find medical facilities more suited to combat injuries as the facilities on the station were somewhat basic.
She walked into the hangar towards the Shining Knight. Her thoughts were interrupted by Creesh beside her as the shorter avian alien spoke suddenly. "Neirdith, will you be okay alone for a while? I have something I need to take care of…" she trailed off without elaborating.
Neirdith looked over at the woman seeing she seeming a bit more in control of whatever had set her off balance. "Of course Creesh, you don't need my permission. Just be back here for the meeting with this Jessie character."
Creesh fluttered her mane in an indecipherable array of emotions before saying "I will be there, I promise." With that she turned and walked away, the soft whirr of her bionics fading with each step.
Neirdith just watched Creesh walk away in confusion, something odd was definitely afoot. It wasn’t important now however, she had boxes to move. Thinking for a moment as she looked at the stacks of cargo crates she pulled up her wrist assistant and messaged Skorr. She would be ready for the security disposal team when they arrived, and she might as well have Skorr help move some of the refined materials off to the pickup point before the client arrived.
**********
Skorr moved the last crate that Neirdith had directed them to, placing it down in the yellow marked zone near the base of the cargo ramp. As Neirdith pranced around checking the crates Skorr walked off to the side and stood silently, content to observe. Neirdith was excited, Skorr could see it in her body language and feel it in her words when she spoke. Skorr wasn't sure what had elevated her emotional state, but seeing the way she was moving they decided it was a welcome change from the darkness that she had been radiating since his failure to protect her friends.
Seth. It was terrible. Skorr had been there, and they had been too slow to prevent it. The pain it had caused Neirdith had nearly caused them to shut down when she shared it, but they needed to stay strong for her. Seth was being watched by someone Neirdith trusted, she had told them so one night before she retired to sleep. She confided so much in them, but Skorr was unable to truly understand all of it.
Skorr understood pain though. Pain was an old friend, one that had been his for longer than their memory stretched. Neirdith was in terrible pain. Not physical pain like their friend Samantha, but emotional pain, of the kind that not even Skorr's empathic abilities could fully placate. But Neirdith had not asked for their help, she had seemed content to wallow in her pain. That was until she had returned from her trip to the security station. They had noticed a remarkable transformation, it was as if she had gained some knowledge or insight that had occupied her mind and allowed the darkness to at least temporarily recede.
It must be the newcomer that Creesh had mentioned, Jessie was the name she had used. Creesh seemed even more excited about the ordeal than Neirdith was, her happy little chirps and energised behaviour puzzling Skorr. Creesh was not as familiar to Skorr as Neirdith was, her alien biology and body language only partially understood. But Skorr was learning constantly, as was their renewed purpose. To observe all, and feel every moment.
Skorr knew that this knowledge came from deep inside, that their multidimensional information storage was capable of holding an infinite amount of data, but the data was difficult to retrieve he had found. Skorr looked deep inside and pulled out some old information, data that had not been viewed in eons. Skorr recalled the Cycles, knew intrinsically their dark purpose and understood that they existed in the fourth such Cycle. This information was accompanied by another memory, burning orange eyes in shadows made of hate.
Skorr almost stumbled, they replaced the information, buried it deep in their databanks. Some things were too dangerous to remember. Skorr turned their attention outwards once more. Neirdith was talking with Creesh. The tiny feathered alien was almost shining, she appeared to have groomed herself and Skorr could detect a faint floral scent emanating from her even at a distance.
A puzzle piece clicked into place in the rear of their prodigious mind. The newcomer seemed to be on their way, Skorr had a suspicion of who it was. Someone that they had met previously. But there was no way to know for sure till the data presented itself. Instead they went back to passive observation, the hangar filled with plenty of things to observe and record.
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With a slight shudder they noticed Neirdith calling to them. Skorr took a few heavy steps towards her as she said "Skorr, come over here ya big lump. We have a visitor coming and I want you standing behind me just in case." Skorr remained silent, silence was important when dealing with such fleeting entities, their every moment was a precious gift from the universe, no sense wasting any of it with their own rambling unless absolutely necessary.
Creesh was bobbing slightly as she stood just to the right of Neirdith. Skorr watched her with their sensors while keeping their physical gaze straight ahead towards the hangar entrance. Neirdith and Creesh chatted idly but Skorr only listened for reference to themselves in case they were needed, their main focus was on the entrance as their suspicions grew stronger.
Skorr's mechanical eyes flared as a figure walked into the hangar and seemed to look around for something specific. As they looked towards Skorr they stopped, even across the distance Skorr felt the man’s eyes lock instantly with their own.
Skorr recognised this being, it was the young man that had facilitated the surrender of a pirate group by killing their noncooperative leader. After dropping off the prisoners at the precinct Skorr had sent a personal notification to Briyn Kelton as to this youngling. They had acquitted themselves well and acted with an honor uncommon to a petty thug. They also seemed much too young to have been a full blooded pirate.
Skorr rumbled quietly "He is here."
Neirdith jumped slightly and flicked her tail in amusement at her own reaction whereas Creesh flared her wings and took a little longer to compose herself. Skorr noted with interest that her elevated heartbeat did not seem to fully return to rest as Neirdith's did and her fidgeting became more pronounced. Another puzzle piece fitted into the growing picture in Skorr's mind.
As Neirdith and Creesh finally spotted the young man walking their way, Neirdith gave a wave to which the young man responded in kind. Approaching within earshot Neirdith called "Jessie Ironhands I presume?"
"At your service ma'am." The young human replied with a smile as he reached them, he turned to Skorr, looking up at Skorr’s towering three-point-six meter frame "Whoa man, you are even bigger than I remembered. Thanks for the recommendation by the way, I got out right after you guys left."
Now it was Neirdith's turn to become agitated, she turned towards Skorr and asked "What recommendation, what is he talking about."
Skorr fixed his molten gaze on her face and replied "I could tell that Jessie was not there of his own volition, he was just as much a captive as Samantha was. He reacted to a bad situation in a way that saved five lives, and showed no fear in doing so. I saw that he would make a considerable asset to your growing crew and so told Briyn that he was likely innocent and to believe anything that he said regarding his situation. It seems I was right because here he is free to roam around the station, and armed no less."
At this last comment Neirdith snapped her attention back to Jessie who ducked his head awkwardly and said "Skorr is right about all of it. When I told my story to the police guys I expected them to be skeptical, to write it off as a ploy to garner pity. But imagine my own surprise when they took every word to heart and even checked up on the confirmable details. And yes I am armed, I have a ThunderEagle in a shoulder harness." He moved his jacket showing the massive holstered pistol to Neirdith who relaxed at his blatant admission.
Skorr looked at the gun and felt a small spike of appreciation, it seems that their recommendation had carried considerable weight because that was certainly not a weapon you would give to a potential criminal. Creesh reacted to the gun in a different way, seeming to sway a little as she observed him with it. Her heart rate seemed to skip slightly and her body temperature rose slightly. Looking at the pieces together Skorr figured it out and nearly laughed. No, it was too good to spoil, this was something that had to develop without any outside intervention.
Skorr heard Neirdith and Jessie discussing things but their attention was now focused on Creesh and this new symphony of life and emotion that they had discovered. It was as always an interesting event to witness.
**********
Creesh was having a hard time focusing, her mind was awash with emotions that she didn't really know what to do with. With great effort she was keeping her facade cool and collected, but inside she was a boiling mess. On one hand he was here in front of her, on the other, he hadn't even spoken to her yet. Maybe he had forgotten her, but it hadn't been that long. Could he have not been thinking of her at all?
Her attention was jolted back to the present when she heard her name "Hmm?" She managed, panic flooding through her.
Neirdith asked again "I was wondering if you had met Jessie before, Creesh?"
Jessie was looking at her in a scrutinizing way. Creesh wanted to squirm under that predator stare, but she was transfixed by those stormy gray eyes that were so unlike any others that she had ever seen. She realised her beak was open slightly and closed it with a slight snap. Nodding her head she answered "Uh, yes, Jessie would visit me and Samantha sometimes and bring us food when we were talking."
"Oh! It is you. I thought you looked really familiar." Jessie exclaimed with a beautiful laugh. Creesh almost trilled in joy but restrained herself, barely. He continued "How is Samantha, you two were nearly inseparable there."
Creesh felt a little miffed at his request to her friend's condition but quickly pushed the feeling away and answered "She got shot, but she is getting a lot better. She is in the infirmary if you want to go say hello, I'm sure she probably remembers you as well." Creesh began to feel a little crestfallen. He seemed to be unconcerned with her.
Jessie looked alarmed at her mention of Samanta's injury exclaiming "Oh how terrible, I sure hope she is okay. And yeah, I would love to say hello, but first my reason for coming." Turning his attention from her to Neirdith he continued "I know that you owe me less than nothing, but I was wondering if there was any place on your crew for me. I'm an excellent pilot, and have extensive training in both space and atmospheric flying. I'm also pretty handy with a wrench if I don't say so myself, and I do." He added with a laugh, making a show of pounding his cybernetic hands together.
Neirdith nodded to herself, seeming to come to a flash decision as she glanced at Creesh. "Well, I don't have anything against it, as long as Creesh and Samantha are okay with it…"
"YES!" Creesh blurted before raising her feathers in embarrassment at her brazen outburst, the other two looking at her in surprise. She shuffled and tried to continue in a more dignified manner, "Yes, I would love to have Jessie on the ship, we are in need of a pilot after all, and Samantha could use the help with maintenance until she is fully healed up." Neirdith nodded seemingly ignoring her outburst while Jessie gave her a wide smile that made her heart skip and grassstriders hop about in her stomach.
"Well, I guess we had better go ask Gloom and Samantha what they think, but if Skorr likes you then I know Gloom will. And Samantha seems to have met you already so I would say that your chances are good. Go ahead and follow us and we will take you to meet them." Jessie nodded and fell in behind them as they walked onto the ship.
They walked towards the comms room and Creesh risked a look over her back at him and swore that she saw his eyes flick away from her as she glanced at him. This only caused her insides to roil up in that emotional storm again and she nearly stumbled as she poured her focus into appearing calm. Her expression feathers were stirring even through her efforts to maintain an air of nonchalance.
She tried to focus on her steps as they walked into the comms room. Gloom was situated in the center of a tangle of wires and consoles. Their crystalline manipulator tendrils were splayed everywhere like a nest of crystal vines, laying on data conduits, tapping at screens and pads, and even a few directly interfacing with the ship via jeseorite conduits. As they entered, Gloom's synthetic voice emanated from the walls of the ship itself in a slightly off-putting way.
"Who disturbs my slumber?" The enigmatic Jeseo declared.
Neirdith chuckled as she shook her head slightly. She pointed at the large smoky black jeseo, "Hello Gloom, we all know you don't sleep, but the effect was very sinister this time. You're getting better at that." Creesh cocked her head, it had indeed been better than their last attempt. The jeseo had been watching scary movies again most likely.
Creesh watched as Neirdith gestured towards Jessie. “Well, this is Jessie Ironhands. You may remember them from our previous encounter at Medrigil's station?”
Gloom projected a laugh at a lower volume before saying "Hello, I am referred to as Gloom, due to my melancholy nature I assume, though it could also be in reference to the Gloomy lighting I prefer when working. I'm not really sure."
Jessie seemed to smile though the dim lighting made it hard to tell. "Hello there Mr. Gloom, Mrs. Gloom? Err, no one said which, so I'm not sure."
Gloom seemed to ponder the question before replying "Jeseo have no concept of gender Jessie, but if you wish to engender me, you may refer to me as Mr. Gloom if it pleases you. It was always Moonlight that talked about settling down to bud." Gloom fell silent and Creesh raised her feathers in surprise, to her knowledge this was the first time Gloom had ever mentioned their slain friend by name. By the look on Neirdith's face she was just as surprised as well.
Jessie nodded solemnly and said "It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person Mr. Gloom. If there is anything I can do for you, don't hesitate to ask."
Gloom responded "Likewise Mr. Ironhands." before falling silent. Seeing that Gloom was done chatting, Neirdith and Creesh moved out of the communications room and Jessie followed.
They walked back down the main corridor towards the infirmary. "If you are going to work with us you should probably know a bit about the ship and the crew, take the time to visit with any of us and make yourself at home. But please, respect the others' boundaries and try not to cause trouble." Neirdith said to the man.
Jessie nodded enthusiastically. "Oh don't worry, I have had enough trouble. I just want to prevent what happened to me from happening to others ya know?" Creesh saw Neirdith give his cybernetic forearms and hands a long look.
Neirdith turned her gaze forwards again before shifting her pace slightly. "So, how did you end up on that hulk?" Creesh had often wondered the same thing, but had never gotten the courage to ask.
Jessie replied "Well, the short version of the story is that I owed a lot of money to the wrong people, and they didn't appreciate my unwillingness to play by their rules. I just got lucky that you captured me before they could break me."
Creesh mustered her courage and asked "If I may, what happened to your arms? If that's not too personal. It's okay if it is, I was just curious." She spoke quickly, fearing she may have pressed too personal a question on the man. Again Jessie gave her one of those soul piercing looks that Humans seemed to pull off without trying.
He responded confidently, though with more emotion in his voice than had been there previously, "Well, I was born in a mining colony, I'm not sure which. My parents worked the liquimite mines, and when I turned sixteen I joined them as well. One day there was.. there was a cave in." He broke off and turned his head away from them for a second as his voice wavered.
Creesh wanted to comfort him, but was not sure how, it was unnecessary however as he turned back straight faced and continued "The cave in buried the tunnel my parents were in, I was only saved by being too young to operate the heavy equipment and consequently had been standing back away from the main seam. When the tunnel collapsed I tried to help and was pinned under a crossbeam that crushed both of my arms beyond the local medic's ability to repair. So my arms were amputated and replaced with these cybernetics. They aren't all bad, but they do hurt sometimes. The doctor called it phantom pains." His voice was sad, his body language subdued. Creesh longed to embrace him, but she couldn't bring herself to act that boldly.
Neirdith stated "That's rough. Did you go back to the mines after that?"
Jessie shrugged and said "Nothing was free there, I now had a debt to pay off that I was unprepared for. I had to take double shifts just to keep up with the payments on my new arms, and when one of my arms was damaged and needed to be repaired I realised that I would likely never pay them off. That's when I made my first real mistake, I turned to some bad people to help me pay them off, but now I owed money to these new guys that wouldn't hesitate to kill me and strip my body for parts if I did not deliver."
Creesh interrupted with another hesitant question "Out of curiosity, do your hands feel things? I don't have any cybernetics so I have no frame of reference." Jessie glanced at her and looked at her legs, which were mostly covered in a synthetic black material the color of charcoal.
"Aren't your legs cybernetic?" He asked curiously while pointing, making her shuffle a bit.
Creesh fluffed up, a little embarrassed. "No, my legs are actually enhanced with bionics, not cybernetic replacements."
Jessie gave her a confused look but it was Neirdith who asked "What's the difference?"
Creesh looked at her and said "Well, cybernetics are like straight up replacements for biological parts. A new heart or replacement hand for example. My bionics don't replace my legs, but rather enhance them. The biological components are still there, they have just been improved with mechanical hardware as well. It's like the difference between a metal rod, and a wooden rod with a metal sheath. One is more flexible due to its mixed components, but less durable than the outright replacement. Also bionics have the benefit of being easy to power." As she explained, Neirdith and Jessie seemed to both grasp the concept and nodded together.
Jessie then raised a hand and closed it into a fist saying "To answer your question then, yes I can feel. But it is muted, my cybernetics are not very good. What would generally be considered economy grade.” he chuckled a bit, bitterly it seemed to her. “Just enough sensation to know where they are and what you are doing, but not enough to really feel anything."
Neirdith looked thoughtful and Creesh felt bad for him. Thinking, she decided to go for it and said "I could help you get better ones Jessie. I have a decent amount of money saved up from our last bounty payout and my cut could probably help you afford more tactile replacements." Neirdith looked at her surprised and Jessie gave her an unreadable Human expression. It could have been thoughtfulness or annoyance, Creesh wasn't sure which.
Jessie asked softly "You barely know me Creesh, why would you do something like that for me."
Creesh's heart fluttered again at his new tone and she struggled to form a coherent reply "You shouldn't have to suffer just for being a good person." She said stoically, her resolve fluttering under his gaze.
Neirdith seemed to sense a shift in the air between them and remained silent for a moment before gesturing to their left. "Well, here we are, the infirmary. You wanted to see if Samantha was okay right?" Jessie shook his head slightly before nodding, Creesh followed Neirdith in and saw Samantha sitting up in her bed watching something on her bedside tablet.
As Samantha heard them enter she looked up with surprise at the appearance of Jessie. "Who is that?" She asked only half paying attention, her gaze focused on what looked like a G-ball match.
Creesh watched as Neirdith gestured to Jessie. "Samantha, This is Jessie, Jessie you know Samantha. He was on Medrigil's base, remember?" Neirdith asked her.
Samamtha squinted at him and sniffed deeply, shaking her head a bit. She replied "I'm sorry, I can't place you. You were one of the prisoners?" Jessie opened his mouth before closing it and seemed at a loss for words.
Creesh answered for him saying "He was just as much a prisoner there as you were Samantha. You really don't remember him?" Samantha shook her head, clearly a bit agitated that her G-ball watching was being interrupted.
Jessie said "Well, that's okay. It's nice to meet you again Samantha. I have asked Neirdith to join the crew, I was just gathering opinions from the crew in general."
Samantha just waved a hand and stated "It's not up to me, if Neirdith says you are good then that's good enough for me. Now if you guys are done I need to get back to checking this data, The Shining Knight is practically falling apart without me to put him back together." She said, switching the G-ball game off and seemingly focusing on a series of readouts.
Waving at her, Creesh and Neirdith led Jessie back into the hall. "She seems a little on edge." Jessie remarked.
Neirdith stated flatly "She is tired of sitting around doing nothing. She is usually much friendlier than that."
Jessie just laughed and said "Hey I'm not trying to start anything, I must ask though, where would one go to get something to eat?"
Neirdith smiled at that. "Well, you could go get some food in the mess hall. I have to go meet a client in a few minutes but I'm sure Creesh could help you out."
Creesh almost couldn't keep herself from hopping in excitement. But she reigned herself in and said "Oh, yeah I can show him around. C’mon Jessie, what kind of Human food do you want?"
Beginning to walk towards the mess hall, she and Jessie chatted idly about random human culinary habits. The conversation was as mundane and normal as was possible, but with Jessie's stormy gray eyes fixed on her and his radiant smile lighting up his features, it was the most interesting conversation Creesh could ever remember having in her life.