Why Can't Conversations Go Smooth?

Posted on Wed Feb 2nd, 2022 @ 11:09pm by Quinlan Barrett Poe & Shepherd Harley
Edited on on Tue Apr 26th, 2022 @ 10:04pm

Mission: The Xiao Jin Chronicles
Location: Dining Area, Xiao Jin
Timeline: Mission Day 3 at 0800

Breakfast had been cleared away and order restored; the passengers were nowhere in evidence which gave him time to hunt down the Shepherd for a chat. He found her in the kitchen, wiping down surfaces, and stopped at the entrance so as not to get in her way. "You got a minute to talk," he asked. He had a deep voice, husky, more given to quiet conversation than loud words. "Thought we could go over some things."

There was something in the tone of the Captain's voice that Sula did not like. No good conversation ever began with, "You got a minute to talk," or "Thought we could go over some things." Usually these were the conversations that ended up in a strict chiding. However, there was nothing to be done for it. She signed up and she promised at least a day's notice before leaving. Not to mention that she also had to solve the mystery of Donovan. So, whatever the Captain had to say, she would listen and do her best to work within whatever restrictions he set.

Sula kept her voice purposefully even and asked, "Certainly, Captain. Would you like to talk here or elsewhere?"

"Here's fine," he said as he leaned against the door jamb. "We have medical facilities on board but there's not much there. So, I'd like you to make an inventory and give me a list of what's needed." He raised one hand as though halting himself. "Keep it within reasonable limits. Once we're working steadily, we'll add so maybe prioritize. What you have to have, what you'd like to have, things like that."

"That makes sense," Sula responded sensibly. "Can you tell me what you think is reasonable?" Her hands intertwined and flipped inward. "I mean in terms of a budget. IT will help me prioritize."

"One hundred-fifty credits maximum but under a hundred would be better," Poe said. "I'll start setting coin aside after our jobs and if there's need, you let me know and we'll work it out."

"That is good to know, Captain." Her eyebrows bent inward and Sula's lips tightened before asking, "So, when we get to Boros, then...?" She gave an uncomfortable chuckle and continued, mocking herself. "I suppose I can't really do it in space, can I?"

"Maybe not the best prices," Poe said, "but its a place to look. Have you ever been to Boros?"

"I have not, Captain." She tilted her head slightly to the left. "Have you?"

"More than I'd ever wished to," Poe said as he moved over to the teapot and lifted the lid. "Boros is under Alliance control. They watch everything and everyone." He frowned, shaking his head slightly, and set about making a fresh pot. "Especially newcomers. My meaning is clear? No doubt you'll be watched from the moment you leave the ship."

"I have nothing to hide," Sula responded with an accepting shrug. "I'm just a shepherd. I'm not a threat to anyone. Let the Alliance watch." A sudden thought occurred to Sula, "Do you? Is that why you are warning me?" Before the Captain could answer, she continued to ask, "What, exactly is the job that we have taken involving Boros?"

Poe's expression shuttered almost at once as he straightened from his more casual stance. "I'm meeting a contact on Boros, I'll know more after that."

Sula blinked twice, surprised that they were going somewhere not even knowing what they were doing. "You mean, you arranged to go to Boros to meet with someone, not knowing what you, I mean, we, might possibly be doing? That's, um.... Well, for someone that will not even say 'Grace,' that's quite a leap of faith, Captain."

"Think what you want," he said as he tipped an imaginary hat. "Got things need doing and so do you, I expect. When you're done here, the bathrooms will need cleaning as well." Tea forgotten, he walked out of the kitchen and headed for his quarters. Something wasn't quite right about the Shepherd though he couldn't put his finger on what it was. Certainly, above all of the crew, she was the least inclined to trust of anyone on the crew. That boded watching, he thought and while it was significant, he turned his attention to the next in the long line of things he needed to do.

Dismissed, the Shepherd watched as the Captain left. She wondered why any time the issue of religion came up he shut down. Even she had to admit that religion had its flaws but it was the general concept that mattered. She heaved a small sigh and picked up the tea and took it to be washed. Yes, she had tasks to do. They were certainly less onerous than at the Abbey but somehow the weight felt heavier. Perhaps it was the fact that they were all trapped on one tiny spaceship. There was no way to go outside and enjoy the sun or reading under a tree. There was just the vastness of space. Whatever the case, her answers were not at the abbey and apparently not at Persephone. So, out here, she would roam until she knew.