The major slowly turned his head at her voice - his neck cracked in the process. His glare could have killed a kitten. "What. Do. You. Want?" He spat the words in her direction. Barnabas could never handle his emotions well. Today was just one of those days. He had been tense since getting the envelope earlier that day. He had tried to be civil, he honestly had. Smiling when prompted, offering his men to servitude, dealing with that woman's bloody cheek. Then there was the wrench that broke the camel's back.

He let out a laugh that bordered closely to a growl. "Apologize?" He stood, looking odd with one pant-leg rolled up to his knee, sockless and shoeless. He had rolled his sleeves up to not cake the edges in ointment. He looked as intimidating as a bunny rabbit. Though, Eve was short, maybe his height would give him an edge. "I have had it. This day, this mission, and it has barely started!" A few hair had fallen out of the ribbon - that kept them all, normally, tied together at the nape of his neck. He was starting to look wild. "If it wasn't for the damn mon-" he snapped his mouth shut. He wasn't sure if the captain was getting paid - certainly not as much as he was... and it wasn't best to put all your cards on the table.

"Enough, you!" he called to a man in the small crowd behind him. The man jumped to his feet.

"Aye, Sir?" The man was clearly on edge and being cautious.

"Go fetch the others. I'm calling a meeting." With that the man bowed quickly and all but ran from the room. Barnabas returned to glaring at the captain. It put a strain on his neck. "You. Out."


"Well now lass," Paddy said leaning against the wall. "Wot is there to do aboard this here bark?" He was starting to sweat, now that both the engines were running. Nothing normal to him. He was a Mule back on Pata - once he got to old to be a Monkey... at the ripe age of 13. Paddy had worked hard - harder than most, to say the least. Rations were always dealt out by how much one worked - harder for more, longer for more. Paddy had siblings to feed, what with his Pa run off and his Ma nearing her heavenly release. He felt bad about leaving them to join the service a skank 3 years later.

But it paid good money. He'd gotten his Ma into the hands a a kind elderly woman who helped raise his younger siblings.Then he met Barnabas... after that his family wanted for nothing. Paddy owed the man so much. The only one that resisted was Annabeth, the next child in is family - 11 to his 13. She had been too strong willed to be a monkey, and too unruly to help the other women with baby raising. Annabeth had grown into a stubborn woman, all temper - with hair to match. The farm-heads enjoyed her ruthlessness so much they had made her a warden by the time she was 17. That had been their first mistake. Because in her heart, Annabeth was kind. At the first act-out she had to deal with, she couldn't bear to whip the boy - who was no younger than their baby sister. His blue eyes pleading up at her. She snapped the whip over her knee and told the boy to go home to his Ma.

Paddy had read that letter a thousand times over, and a thousand times again. He'd not been back to Pata since the day he'd stepped foot on the ship that took him to the Academy. He'd been close, on the rare occasions he'd stayed with Barnabas during schooling. But as men, they rarely ventured into this part of the galaxy. Barnabas tended to avoid his father at all costs. The only reason they had been on BDD for the past week was because Williams Senior was out of the neighborhood. The had fully enjoyed that week too.

Paddy took his mind from his thoughts to examine the woman in front of him. Short, blonde and a whole lot of attitude. His kind of challenge. He knew that Lukas wouldn't be chasing her, she was too wild, too untamed by his society rules. "Ahy-me." He drawled, "Wot say you an' I go topside an' 'ave a bit o' fun in tha riggin'?" He grinned with bad intentions.


Andrew was appalled. "You, sir are one of the foulest beings I have ever encountered." he said matter-of-factly. "And I've been to over 180 planets in the nearest 20 systems. Something must be done to rectify this." He swiped one of his pure white gloves across what was passing as a counter. He grimaced at the color his glove had turned. This gloves would have to be thrown out... or set on fire. "Oh, this simply will not do." He managed to grabbed the attention of one of the crewmen in the mess. "Yes, could you go fetch maybe, five, or six more men, a bucket for each and a something to scrub with." The crewman looked confused but wandered off to do his task. "Now," Andrew said moving toward the food-stock. "Something must be done to this... well, vomit, you are trying to pass as food."


Lukas made his way into the mess hall. There were men he didn't know on their hands and knees scrubbing the floor muttering curses. Ah, so Andrew had found the place. He followed the quiet sound of music into the kitchen. Andrew was in front of a rather large cauldron, humming happily to the radio. Every now and then he would disappear into a cupboard, but would soon return to the cauldron. There was no one else in the room.

"Andrew," Lukas questioned. "You didn't sign on to be this crew cook. Where is the real cook?"

"In the Brig," Andrew said not looking up from his stew "where he belongs."

"And why, might I ask, does he belong there?" Lukas pinched the bridge of his nose.

"For crimes against hygiene. Ah, there! It's done." Andrew lifted a small spoon, dipped it into the cauldron and held it out for Lukas. "Care to try some, Master Lukas?"

"Andrew... you can't get rid of every cook we go on a mission with." Lukas said, taking the spoon and putting it into his mouth. Of course the stew tasted wonderful, everything Andrew made did. He wasn't a 5-star chef for nothing.

"Do you think the captain will approve?" Andrew said, slightly smug. Even for an older gentleman, he still managed to be sassy - it was one of the reasons he had never had a wife. He had better things to do with his time.

"If she doesn't, I fear the crew may mutiny."

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