R'jalla found her new friend's story both appalling and deeply saddening, she reacted the only way someone with any form of sympathy would and pulled Masad close, rubbing heads and purring. "That's just terrible, I'm so sorry for you! I still can't believe any civilized beings would do some of the horrible things I've seen in my life. At least here you can be safe."

After thoroughly rumpling Masada's hair and clothes with her well intentioned affections, she turned to the human man. "If it's a worry about her being a stowaway I can pay for a ticket for her. There's no way I'm going to let any more needless suffering." She glared at the man, daring him to defy her kindness.

By the gods. Children would be the death of him some day. He was not about to stick his neck out to disagree with the Tlajshna. "Now R'jalla, I never said anything about her being unwelcome. As for her ticket, I'm sure other things can be arranged besides a dent in you cred book."

As he was talking he sent a message through a standard issue communication device. It seemed all was going well. "As you can see I am also aware of unusual circumstances. I'm sure a deal can be arranged. It seems you friend knows her way about the ship quite well. By now it would be impossible to let her become a normal passenger."

He was suddenly aware of the pile of fur that had become situated between him and the girl. "Something can be arranged quite easily, which in no way would be negative for your friend."

Masada closed her eyes. For once giving into the comfort offered her by another. R'jalla pulled away and surprised her. Offering passage aboard the ship was all she could have hoped for. But she feared it would not be enough to discourage people loyal to her late captors.

She listened as the man gave yet another speech. Coming to wonder at his position aboard the ship. It seemed he had entered the room alone. Which would indicate association with the Captain or a high ranking officer.

"I think that would do good all around. If you want, I am sure my friends will also be willing to cooperate." She looked at R'jalla, wondering if this agreed with her or not.

R'jalla nodded, it had been no easy task saving up for the first ticket and she hadn't quite that much in savings again yet. But there was no way should would have felt right doing anything else. "Alright, what did you have in mind Mr. ...?" The man had yet to give his name, just because he had caught them in a restricted area was no reason not to introduce himself.

((Goodnight))

He smiled. This encounter was going far better than he expected. "Anton," he took a slight bow, "Anton Sangery. It seems your friend has already familiarized herself with the ship. I would say that the best put come would be to visit an associate of mine. Their is no reason to worry, of course." He looked around the room. "It would be a simple precaution, to insure continued stability within the Messenger."

He waved his left hand around in the air, ever so subtly riding himself of the air an unknown, while in the same instant erasing away all visible threats. It would be best this way. Allowing for whatever disgruntled feelings had popped up between him and the females would be erased... Hopefully. No one ever did survive long as a mercenary without some diplomatic strategy at hand.

"Their may be a test or two. Nothing unpleasant, just boring and tedious as such things always are."

"Good to know you, Anton." R'jalla bowed her head in return. "And it seems about time to get going th, where shall we go?"

"Ah, R'jalla. That is the question to ask." He unhooked a small device from his belt. Quickly reading a message off the screen. "It seems you all are to be escorted to one of the communications centers. It's location is not far from here." He looked up at them. "Come now, it's not as if your in a terrible amount of trouble."

With that Anton turned on his heel and proceeded to walk out to the now lite corridor.

Rika had remained silent throughout the encounter, not sure as to what to make of the man. She had spaced out, thus he was able to get to them without her noticing. It was obvious that she didn't trust him at all, though he was dressed and acted like someone in charge, though that could be because he thought he held the upper hand at the moment. If needed, she held no qualms about fixing that mistaken belief. Hers wasn't a species to be underestimated. She keeps he hands at her sides, clenching and unclenching her fists, ready to pull out her rods if needed.

As for the revelations about Masada, she just filed them away for later. It was sad, but for now, it wasn't the time to offer condolences. After they got out of this situation, then she would take care of that.

When the man, now identified as Anton, offered to make some arrangements for Masada, she was mildly intrigued, wondering what the Anton's game was.

<Wew. Well, one post and I gotta go>

"Then lead on." R'jalla moved to follow Anton, ready to come to her friends' defense should any thing else happen, but she was ready to believe that the man was going to actually help them.

((Ah well, better than nothing. ^^))

OOC: Kreai shall be gone for a few days, but is going to tag along as an extra body within the rp

As Anton lead the three down the corridor he made a mental note to watch Rika. Her body language indicated possible aggression. The others seemed calmer now. He still was not entirely sure about Masada. It seemed like she could pose a larger security problem if allowed to continue as she had.

The walk was no longer than ten minutes and he walked into a room. One wall was dedicated to screens which continuously monitored the condition of the ship. Some pictured common areas, where the most activity occurred. Sitting in a chair opposite of them was a head programmer for the ship.

He was the one they had come all the way here to see. Even though he was a bit pasty skinned and hadn't seemed to lose the lanky frame of a youth, his cool blue eyes told all. At the moment he was a bit upset at being woken in the middle of the night for something Anton had thought would be interesting. Probably annoyed that he had brought a gaggle of girls into his working domain.

"Morning Pardin. It seems I've found a bit of an enigma for you. I assure you that this particular one is quite interesting. Well worth the interruption."

Masada looked at the man sitting in the center of the room. A conversation had com up between him and Anton. Which involved the males moving towards one of the smaller screens and bringing up some sort of code. They seemed to be bickering back and forth as the screen flashed through several display that were not quite visible past their bodies.

Then Pardin seemed to turn around suddenly, eyes flashing. The pale man said "Come here."
Masada followed the order. It seemed in their best interest at this point to comply until they were able to drop off the radar at a later time. Maybe meeting up with the others after that. He stood up from his seat and gestured for her to take it. The hairs on the back of her neck went up in alarm Masada was not entirely sure what these men were up to, but did not see a problem as of yet.

On the screen flashed a few lines of code. They way they merged together was pretty and complicated. When the text repeated it seemed to hint at an image. Just giving enough to perk her interest. The man, Palin, leaned over her. Placing one hand on the back of the chair and placing a small keyboard in her lap. "How much trouble you're in depends on how well this code is deciphered. Understand?"

She didn't take her eyes off the screen for a moment before she was punching keys. "Perfectly."

A short while later they men stood, looking at a nice small image, which had a small welcome text running over it for some commercial brand. Anton practically smirked as he looked over at the programmer. While Pardin looked back and forth between the screen and Masada, trying his hardest not to have an open jawed stare, "While I'll be damned..."

R'jalla watched the entire exchange without any comprehension, she never messed with computers beyond the usual daily life needs such as an alarm clock or a calendar. She honestly had no idea how to do any programming or deal with hardware, so as time passed and she was sure that these men weren't going to need their arms chewed off she yawned and lay on the floor, her head cushioned on her forelegs as she idly watched Masada decipher the code. At least this seemed like it would lead to some good news.

"Good news. It seems like you have just earned yourself a new position aboard the Messenger." The star sung looked at him with wide eyed surprise, all he could do to reply was shrug. " The crew trusts my position. I was in a profession where such matters became everyday occurrences and have learned that talent is never to be wasted."

Pardin snorted at this. "Talent is an understatement. That's the closest thing I've seen to sheer brilliance in years. I'll vouch for her if you get any trouble along the way. With you somethings bound to come up." Pardin looked over to the two by the door. Walking over he looked at the giant tiger and scratched her ears. "So, whose pet is this?"

R'jalla happily rolled over, tucking her fore paws up and purring loudly, happily inviting the programmer for a belly rub. She wasn't going to admit that she loved the attention and right now she had a bit of an itch that she was being too polite to scratch.

OOC: lol. Our posting colors are starting to look a bit like Hispanic candy!

Pardin had a particular weakness for large pets. Especially cats.
with little prompting he had started to give the giant cat a belly rub.

Masada's face changed from surprise to a 'what in the universe' look as she saw R'jalla being petted. Quickly she turned to look at Anton. The man just rolled his eyes. It was very hard to resist, but they couldn't quite help the laughter that escaped their lips. The muffled sound behind their hands eventually turned into a uproar of sound.

((Just realized I accidentally posted in blue. >.> Mmm... candy. Is it Dia de los Muertos candy? I love the sweet bread!))

Pardin frowned a little as he continued to rub the large felid's belly. "You don't have to laugh so hard, it's not like it's a crime to have a soft spot for animals." As he continued to rub R'jalla she continued to pur, the sound growing into a loud rumbling.

"Ah yeah... a little higher and to the left," she said as she squirmed to get his hand in just the right position. That itch had been bugging her since a little before they left the large grassy area. She suspected a loose piece of grass or some bug had gotten caught in her fur.

Pardin practically froze in the middle of petting the... talking cat?

Anton proceeded to slap his knee. In between bouts of laughter he said "That. Is no. Cat." Wiping tears from his eye Anton decided his friend had enough trauma for one day and stopped. "She is a kind and noble Tlajshna. A race of giant creatures reminiscent of Terra."

Pardin looked at the cat, eyes wide with surprise. "Oh," then continued with the belly rub. "Next time please inform me about the people you bring here Sangrey. Miss, where did you say?" He had an very large weakness for furry animals. Especially furry Tlajshna.

R'jalla laughed loudly at the man's reaction, he was quite surprised and reacted well. The fact that he could accept the information and go right back to belly rubs gave him some extra points in her book. "I am R'jalla, daughter of Egjriish. And you just had the spot." It was a little embarrassing that it was going to become quite obvious she hadn't done it simply for the shock value but by Saint Krishrii he gave good belly rubs. She purred loudly and with quite a rumble, happy that the itch was finally gone.

Masada stood up, looking over at Anton. "Thank you... I am in your debt for this kindness." The pixie model seemed to stop her quite mood right at that time and glided from Masada to Anton. She came to land on his shoulder and started to thank him with her assortment of various gestures and metallic grinding sounds.

She smiled, "She says that she thanks. I think it's for turning me respectable or some other strange turn of the tongue, I cannot quite pick up on it."

R'jalla stifled another yawn, it was getting pretty late. She rolled over and stood up, stretching as she did so. "Well, if everything's good here then it may be time for us to head to bed, it's gotten very late."

Anton smiled and winked at the pixie. Perfectly understanding her meaning. He turned to look at the girls. "Would it be too much to ask that I escort you to your quarters? This ship is rather large, and easy to get lost in. If you are unfamiliar with the territory. Also, I believe I must show Masada her new living quarters."

"That sounds like a reasonable request. All I ask is that we take direct routes as I have work in the morning and still need to prepare for bed." R'jalla moved to allow Anton to show them the way.