Seeking To Get Beyond The Shadow Of A Debt, The Introductions of Kerry and Marcus

[The Cross]

Illiana hung in the air, entirely motionless, relative to the ground beneath her. She shone with an orangey sheen in the light of the rising sun. At her lowermost point, a panel slid aside to reveal an opening and, shortly after, a ladder.

Paul Ramirez stepped off of the bottom rung and surveyed his surroundings quickly before turning his attention up towards the hatch. Ramirez wore the insignia of a captain on his shoulders, which would come as no surprise to anyone who saw him. His poise, his relaxed stillness, and and his fancy sidearm all spoke of rank. He carefully caught and activated the folding table that was passed down to him from the inside of the ship, as well as the folding chair.

Admiral Kerry Thompson slid down the ladder with practiced ease, a roll of red cloth tucked beneath his left arm. He was dressed in a faded plum jumpsuit and comfortable shoes. When he reached the bottom, he and Captain Ramirez unfurled the cloth and hung it from their unfolded table. Emblazoned in bright yellow on the revealed banner were the words, "State of the art ship for hire. Crew included."

"I'll be back in a few hours, Captain. Remember that we really need someone to hire us, but try not to let them know."

Captain Ramirez saluted casually, "yes, sir." He then sat behind the desk in his unfolded chair and waited.

Kerry strolled off to take care of a few minor errands, like paying the starport authorities for his use of the landing area and wiring a payment to his parents.

[ACDragonMaster]

A tall figure with unruly black hair wove through the crowds of the spaceport, pausing to quickly glance at various ships and their destinations before moving quickly on. Marcus Isaacs was in quite a bit of a hurry, so he had no time to spare. He passed by one ship after another, growing increasingly annoyed that all the fastest ships were either going elsewhere or departing too late, and anything else was simply too slow to make it in time.

He noticed something out of the corner of his eye, and glanced quickly while moving on. Then he looked again, not entirely certain he'd really seen what he just saw. But surely enough, it was there. Amongst the many various shapes and sizes of crafts, this one was nothing but a great round sphere. Marcus couldn't help but pause to stare for a moment, though he knew he didn't have the time to spare. It's a giant ball, he thought, you don't see that every day...

[The Cross]

On his way back to Illiana, Kerry spied a familiar sight that still managed to tickle him pink, figuratively speaking. One man in the crowd had stopped to stare at Illiana and her gentle curves. It had happened with the original Illiana Roberts, too, but somehow it was much more satisfying to have men staring at his spaceship than it had been to have them staring at his girlfriend.

"It's not everyday you see a space ship held aloft by dynamic gravitics," he said to the tall man, stifling a giggle. "According to the scientific community, there's only one ship like that in the whole system." Kerry was grinning, in spite of his attempts to keep a straight face. He was an engineer, not an actor, so his attempts at being nonchalent were entirely transparent.

[ACDragonMaster]

"Hm?" Marcus blinked, a bit surprised by the short man suddenly addressing him. "Ah, yes, I suppose you don't," he said with an easy smile. "And that's quite nice. I must be going, though, in quite a bit of a hurry..." he added distractedly, looking around a moment while trying to remember which way was the one he'd already come from.

[The Cross]

"Trying to find a ship, eh? I happened to notice the captain of Illi- er, the sphere offering to hire it out. What an opportunity, eh?" This time, a little bit of giggle actually did slip out. Kerry was having a very hard time trying to hold in his big secret. "And if you're in a hurry, well... gravitics let you go fast."

[ACDragonMaster]

Marcus paused and gave the man a critical look. "Really now," he said, a loose strand of hair falling in front of his eyes as he only half paid attention to the conversation. He didn't seem to notice it. "I suppose that may be true, though I certainly know nothing of it." He shifted the packs on his back slightly- instrument cases, the rest of his belongings in the large bag he held with one hand. "Perhaps when I've time to spare I'd like to find out," he finished, and having remembered which way he'd been headed turned to go.

[The Cross]

Kerry moved to walk in the same direction as the man he was "courting." He didn't know for certain whether or not Ramirez had found any passengers, but he did know that the captain hadn't called him, which made the likelihood of profit low.

"Well, I'll let you in on a little secret. I happen to know for a fact that the sphere over there, Illiana, is looking for work. I also know that she's got a small crew, which makes her fairly affordable. And I'm sure you'd like her admiral. He's very likeable. Did I mention she's fast?"

[ACDragonMaster]

Something in the short man's words finally got through to Marcus, and he paused to look at him. For a second he stared with a steady gaze, then blinked and gave a slight grin. "I see..." he said, and glanced towards the ship. "And just exactly how fast is this ship of yours?"

[The Cross]

Suddenly back in his element, Kerry launched into an explanation of dynamic gravitic propulsion and the ways in which it would revolutionize space travel. One of the key points, of which, was the fact that using gravitics to stabilize the shipboard gravity meant that the ship could accelerate constantly at rates that, in any other ship, would generate enough g-forces to crush every living thing on board.

"There are still limits, of course, but that mostly has to do with the relatively small size of her fusion reactor." Kerry was grinning, and grinning widly. Illiana was his pride and joy, and any opportunity he got to brag about her lit up his day like hallogen spot.

[ACDragonMaster]

He was certainly the talkative sort, Marcus noted as he looked for an opportunity to interrupt the stream of words.

"Yes yes," Marcus nodded impatiently as soon as he could get a word in. "I'm sure that's all very interesting, but as you have already seen I am in a bit of a hurry. What I need to know is, just how quickly can you reach Grentryu?"

[The Cross]

"Oh, er... depending on just where Grentryu is at the moment, about a day. Give or take a few hours. I'd have to check in with the crew for an exact time. They're the ones who handle all of the fussing about with star charts." Questions about reality were, as with all engineers, much more difficult for Kerry than hypothetical situations. His eyes took on a slightly glazed quality while he was struggling to remember where all of the various planets were.

"If you like, we'd be able to leave pretty much immediately, too."

[ACDragonMaster]

If Marcus had been in the middle of drinking something at that moment, he would have proceeded to spew it out all over the place. Fortunately, however, he was not, and instead settled for staring wide-eyed in shock.

"One day?!?" he exclaimed incredulously, not at all certain he'd heard that right. Not even the fastest military ships could make a claim anywhere near that, let alone a civilian vessel. "Are you kidding?"

[The Cross]

Marcus's shocked amazement made Kerry's heart soar. Had his grin not already spanned his entire face, it would have stretched even wider.

"Well, yes. Give or take a few hours. Illiana is state of the art. I'm still working out a few details that crop up at higher speeds, but getting there in a day is completely safe."

[ACDragonMaster]

It took a moment for Marcus to recover from his shock and the short man's words to register. "Well, that is something..." he said, half to himself. He stared for another moment, idly scratching his head as he thought.

"Well, if that's the case, then I certainly don't need to be in quite such a hurry. Let's have a look at this ship of yours, then."

[The Cross]

Kerry gave a little clap, then stopped walking. "Well, in that case, we're going the wrong direction. I'll give you a tour of the ship personally as soon as we get there." He then began walking in the direction of the big, hovering, metal sphere. "I think you'll really like her. She's really quite extraordinary."