Miner Issues

Posted on Friday July 5th, 2019 @ 8:23pm by Captain Cayne Morrigan & Lieutenant Carmina Barbossa & Lieutenant Mavet & Civilian . & Ensign Murray Campbell-Mckay

Mission: Welcome to Union Mining Station Number 42
Location: Shurm 6
Timeline: October 5th, 2421

ON:

The surface of Shurm 6 was hot. Like Arizona hot at the height of summer, for anyone who had been there. The UMS42 team shuttled to the surface, to a prearranged meeting spot. As the shuttle door lowered the wave of hot was like a wall, with a wind appetizer and some more wind with sand for dessert. It wasn't so bad that their vision was impaired, but the sand did sting and get into every crevice available.

Captain Morrigan winced and shielded his eyes from the bite of the sand. It seemed to just blow casually everywhere, all the time, covering everything in a fine layer of dust. The captain was pretty sure they weren't expected to have the meeting out here in the open, so he looked around quickly for some indication of where they were to go next.

"Shit.... hooooooole," Mavet said with a whistle at the end.

"I sure hope the prospective dig site is in a better location," Namira remarked. "I am not a fan." True, desert environments were great for digs, but sand getting everywhere was also hugely annoying.

Murray was amazed by the desert world. It was an ocean of golden sand beyond what the eye could see. He was starting to understand these people more with each depressing dune of sand. "No wonder they have ridiculous demands," Murray said quietly. "Aye they have nothin'," he added.

Carmina was inclined to agree with that assessment. Though they had to have something for the Horbalak traders and merchants to manage routine runs through the system; However, The Executive Officer did notice the endless sands. "What's the makeup of this planet? How many large bodies of water are there?" she inquired.

"Define 'large'", Namira said, "They've got a few oceans down here, as well as many areas much more hospitable to most life than this one. Makes me wonder why they chose this place to receive us. Probably just to make us uncomfortable for the negotiations. This sand certainly tastes funny."

A gust of wind sent a thin wall of sand ripping through Mavet. He covered his mouth with arm-like protuberances, but they failed to fully muffle the erotic moan. "Changed my mind," he said, breathing heavy. "It's not so bad to me..."

Far off to their left, on the front of a large building that was sort of warehouse like in shape and size, a door opened and a figure stepped out. They were obviously more prepared for the sand assault as they were covered from head to toe in a light colored linen to keep the sand out. The person gestured quickly at the team. Unsure that they had seen them, the person then stepped away from the door and headed towards the USM42 crew.

"Looks like our welcoming party, Captain," commented Lieutenant Carmina Barbossa. She couldn't help but notice their Security Chief looking a little twitchy. Carmina grabbed the younger man's arm. "Ensign, you need to bring it down a notch or two. We cannot afford to look aggressive," she reminded him.

Cayne eyed his officers. "Keep your cool." Then he grinned and headed towards the now open door and the wrapped person.

"Aye ma'am," replied Murray who was admittedly a bit jittery. He tried his best to relax yet stay vigilant in case things soured and went south quickly. He was armed, but he did not brandish his weapon.

Ms. Crew was a representative for the Workers' Union. She had a reputation for being tough, no nonsense. This also led to her having a larger than life presence, people anticipated her visits with fear. She was picky and ran a very tight ship, so tight that it might occasionally produce a diamond, she applied so much pressure. She didn't spend all of her time at the Shurm 6 facility, usually only visiting 4-6 times a year and special occasions. This was definitely a special occasion.

Despite her feared and dominating reputation, which was entirely well earned, Ms. Crew was tiny. She was of Earth Asian descent and stood about 5'2", weighing in at 100 pounds. She wore her straight, jet black hair pinned back from her face, but still long and it cascaded down her back like a waterfall of darkness. She wore a business suit, many would refer to it as a power suit, and everything about it was tight, making her look like she just stepped out of an Earth 1980s hair band video possibly called Hot For Teacher or Stacy's Mom.

Ms. Crew worked for a company. The Workers' Union provided an advocate and a security force of their own. She did not work for the Planetary Union, despite the name of her company. She was here for the workers. The security company was also providing a representative. Mr. Deroff would be serving that purpose today for Heist Security, Inc., yet another company, that was employed by the Workers' Union.

The representative for the actual miners was Retepsian. He was also known for being serious and running a tight ship, which in many ways made the miners' demands make even less sense. The rumor mill said that "Rusty" as he liked to be called, despite his blue coloration, used to be a hardcore smuggler. He wore an eyepatch, which obviously meant he was, at one time, a pirate. Despite his reputation, the workers continued to back him, year after year, as their leader.

All three stood at the head of a table, in a meeting room. The room was open, with windows all around. Not that the view was any good, considering the dust, sand, wind and just the dirty nature of mining. They all stood, waiting for the arrival of the USM42 crew. There were also four security around the room, two at the door and two at the back, apparently for good measure.

"Welcome to the Shurm 6 Mining Colony," Ms. Crew said.

"Hiya," Mavet said, taking the lead. "The name's Mavet, and I'm the Media Relations Specialist. Allow me to introduce the new administration for Station 42: Captain Cayne Morrigan, commanding officer; Lieutenant Carmina Barbarossa, executive officer; Lieutenant Namira, archaeologist; and..." A large hand formed out of Mavet's inner mass and began snapping at Murray. "... uh... Ensign... That guy! Chief of Security." Oozing to one side and allowing Cayne the floor, Mavet said, "Captain."

Murray mouthed the word 'dick' to Mavet. The ensign was Chief of Security, and the last thing he wanted to be was a 'that guy' when it came to anything of importance. "Ensign Murray Campbell-McKay, Chief of Security for Union Mining Station 42," added Murray as he properly presented himself.

Namira waved and smiled at the negotiators but remained silent, figuring it would be best for the captain to take the lead and only speak if she had something of substance to add.

Lieutenant Barbossa made her way around Mavet and stood at Captain Cayne Morrigan's side albeit an inch or few behind him as not to diminish his authority and importance. "The Planetary Union shows gratitude and appreciation for your kindness. Thank you for welcoming us to Shrum VI," said the brunette woman with the rank of lieutenant but the title and authority of Executive Officer.

Captain Morrigan couldn't be prouder of his crew then he was right now. At least they weren't acting like children or assholes. "And last, but not least, Captain Cayne Morrigan," he said and held a hand out as he walked to the head of the table.

Ms. Crew was the first to take his hand and shake it, he had to admit that she had the grip of a very large man, for a moment he was concerned that his fingers might snap in her grip. "Ms. Crew," she said curtly. "It is a pleasure to be working with the Planetary Union again." Her tone said otherwise. "These are my associates. Deroff and... Rusty." She said Rusty's name with distaste, as if she didn't approve of people with nicknames for names.

"Pleasure is ours," Cayne said in response, shaking the hands of the two men on either side of Ms. Crew. "Well... should we get started?" He tried to keep his smile friendly and not forced.

Ms. Crew nodded. "Sit..." she said simply and gestured to the table.

Namira sat down and picked out a random flower from the decoration. While waiting for the initial bullsh... formalities to be got out of the way, she figured she's nibble on something, and flowers usually tasted good.

Cayne sat as well and eyed Namira, wondering why she was eating the floral arrangement, but trying to act as if this happened all the time. He leaned back in his seat and smiled, also trying to look relaxed. "The Planetary Union would like to express that they are appreciative of being given a second chance at this relationship."

"And the Workers' Union, thanks the Planetary Union for their appreciation of that fact," Ms. Crew said flatly. She set a tablet on the table and then propped it up on its stand. "Shall we get started?" Her gaze flicked to Rusty.

Rusty had one good eye, a sharp tongue, and a no nonsense straight shooting brash attitude. He was here for the miners, representing their wants, hopes, desires, and needs in this meeting. "You've read through the demands?" he inquired glaring at the Captain.

Cayne's Executive Officer spoke in return. "Of course we have... Rusty," she was not a fan of the name herself. Nickname or actual name she was not sure; However, it certainly described the man well. Older and not something you wanted to be pricked by. "Thoroughly read them. I assure you of that," added Carmina Barbossa.

The Retepsian flashed a smile, missing teeth and all. He licked his lips and leaned forward. "Good. Very good. So, you know what the miners wants. Now, let's get this over with for the sake of the Planetary Union and the citizens of this system," Rusty said, as he pulled out what looked to be a sort of archaic technology, some sort of data tablet. "Agree to their demands and miners will return to the station and begin work immediately."

Lieutenant Barbossa contained the impulse to scoff at that directness. She grabbed the old data tablet and gave it a quick skimming before setting it back down on the table and pushing it towards Rusty without hesitance. She signed nothing and she did not hand it to the Captain to even bother looking at it. "As lovely as it would be to get this over with quickly, the Planetary Union will not sign that agreement under present conditions. Yes, we've read through all of those demands. Frankly, the Union finds some of them to be wildly inappropriate."

Rusty laughed before slamming his fist down upon the top of the table. "Ridiculous!" he shouted in response. "Inappropriate?!" he scoffed at the Executive Officer's choice of words. "Hardly a concern you should entertain my dear. These are alien miners on a world that is not a member of the Planetary Union. They are a bit rowdy, but what would you expect? We are talking about a mining station, not a monastery."

"I have read through those demands as well, and I've also taken the liberty to look at what's available on your mining operation," Namira said. "Now, issues aside that are a conflict between local and Union law, shall we start figuring out what we can agree on? For example, I could see improving security in the shafts, to prevent cave-ins. I've seen some good results with a simple combination of steel supports and carbon fibre webbing, to make sure smaller cave-ins between supports don't either trap or bury miners. We could make those materials for you. I am sure we all agree that safety is the most important concern, everybody wants to return home to their families at the end of the day."

Captain Morrigan lifted one hand. "Alright, everyone put it on hold. I think we should go over the list of what the Planetary Union is willing to agree to, then we can make a start on how to make up for the rest. I'm very willing to work on things and offer what we can. Such as better supports... for the shafts..." he said awkwardly.

"Yeah, I think we're all aware of what kind of 'support' they demanded for their 'shafts'," Mavet muttered.

Cayne tried not to snort at Mavet's comment. Instead he hid it with a throat clearing and opening his comscanner. "So, I have a list of what the Planetary Union is willing to do to meet the demands of the miners. I'm just going to start at the top of the list and work my way down, if you don't mind." He cleared his throat again, giving anyone a chance to protest his reading of the list. When no one was forthcoming he continued. "So, jean day... granted. You can decide what days you want to do that on. It doesn't really matter to me what your crew wears to work as long as they're safe. Weekends off... well, the Union is willing to give Sundays off, not the whole weekend. 150 sick days is sort of out of the question... that's a third of the year. They don't have a problem with people taking sick days, but 150 of them is, unfortunately, unacceptable. Two hour lunch breaks... so, the Union is willing to compromise on this and provide at least one hour lunches... which is at least up from your thirty minutes you were allowed before." He stopped for a breath and looked around the faces at the table. "I know that's not exactly a win... but I do have good news. The Union is totally willing to upgrade and replace all of your safety equipment. They are also willing to update all of your safety protocol."

Rusty yawned and looked off to the side, studying the ground for a moment before returning his focus to the individuals representing the Union. "Flashy new tools and updated equipment. How gracious of the Union to care...now these miners don't have to chisel away with their hand tools" joked the Retepsian named Rusty.

The blue-skinned alien with one working eye let his gaze directly fall upon the Captain of this crew. "You expect these people to consume their meals is 120 minutes? You are not being considerate of their needs. These are communal people. You have them eating in shifts which is acceptable, but the time is not. They eat once all have been served and leave when all have finished." Rusty crossed his arms "Do you understand that?"

"Can we assume that if longer lunch breaks are granted, they'll tack the time onto the end of their shifts so they can get the same amount of work done?" Namira asked. "When I worked in the mines, all I got was twenty minutes, twice over a twelve hour day. I preferred that over longer breaks, but getting off later."

Cayne cleared his throat. "If that is their tradition, we don't wish to stand in their way, but I do agree with my officer here. If they wish to have a two hour lunch break, I will agree, but the compromise is that the time is made up for."

"It's alright, Captain... Morrigan, was it?" Ms. Crew said. "We have other interested parties for these mines. If the Union is unwilling to work with these miners and their needs and demands then the Krill are more than willing to give them whatever they need for what we mine here." She shrugged. "It's up to you. Their delegates are already here, waiting. Mostly, for you to fail."

Cayne blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected to have to deal with the potential of losing the station altogether. It would definitely not bode well for his career if they had to give up the station. It would also not bode well for most of his crew. He took a deep breath, choosing his words carefully. "I assure you, Ms. Crew and... Rusty... that I am more than willing to work to resolve as much of this as we can, without you having to resort to outside sources." Even though he said those words, he knew there was only so much he could do, especially when it came to their next topic. Pay raise.

"There is one thing we can bring to the table the Krill cannot," Namira added. "While I would not accuse any individual Krill of wrong-doing in this regard, it is clear their government aims to eradicate all other sentient species, and has merely put that agenda on hold for the benefit of their own survival. You'd do well not to put yourselves at their mercy. I hear they eat their trading partners."

"I believe they would agree to staying later so long as their meal time was extended; However, you may want to reconsider your description of the Krill," Rusty said as he checked his commscanner. Something caught his attention and drew him away momentarily before returning to the conversation. "You see, the miners have not just approached the Krill about the possibility. They have invited them here as well... and the message I just received says a Krill vessel will be arriving shortly," stated Rusty. "Captain, it would be wise to contact your people on the station and let them know the Krill are welcome here."

Cayne fish mouthed for a moment, opening and closing his mouth like he couldn't think of what to say, then he grabbed his commscanner and stood from the table. He turned away from the gathering. "Captain Morrigan to Station 42. Stand down on any aggression towards the Krill." He lowered his voice. "Apparently, they were invited."

The commscanner crackled and a loud voice came across. Much louder then it needed to be. "Sir? I didn't get that last part? Did you say invaded?"

"NO!" Cayne almost shouted, then looked sheepish and lowered his voice. "I mean no... I said "invited". In other words, don't shoot them."

"Don't shoot the Krill, Sir?"

"Yes, do NOT shoot the Krill." He closed the call and turned back to the table, casually strolling back to his seat and sitting down again. "Well, hopefully the Krill will have wasted their time and we can work this out."

"Or..." Mavet said thoughtfully. "We let the Krill have the contract for this godforsaken toilet and we all can get the hell out of here once and for all."

"I suppose we could come back in ten to twenty years and pick up the pieces after the Krill have extracted every bit of value from this place", Namira said in response to Mavet. "However, I am worried they might damage the archaeological sites."

Murray was visibly unsettled at the very real prospect that there would be Krill arriving. "I'm a wee bit uncomfortable with the station's defenses. If the Krill are comin'... if they attack the station..."

Lieutenant Barbossa cleared her throat. "The Captain has given his orders. The Krill are coming whether we like it or not. We are not going to take any pre-emptive action against them; However, I do recommend raising our alert readiness," she suggested. "That said, we need to set prejudices aside. The Krill may be militant and brutal, but for the time being, they would need this planet and the station intact. I don't believe they will attack... not yet at least."

Rusty listened and observed their uneasiness. "I suspected the arrival of the Krill would have you agitated, but this is how serious these people are with the mining rights. They are more than willing to evict the Union from the station and mine for the Krill under the condition that they Krill do not eradicate them."

Murray scoffed. "For their sake, I hope they have a damn good insurance policy against those devils from exterminatin' them all an' minin' the resources themselves in Avis' name."

"Yep, this plan is sounding better every minute," Mavet said. "Fuck these yokels. Let the Krill have it all and let us get reassigned to anywhere else. It's win-win, everyone!"

For a moment Cayne's mind went completely blank and his chest hurt. He felt like maybe this was what happened to people before they suddenly died. He stared at Rusty for a long time, unable to find any voice to stop the conversation. When Mavet spoke up it seemed to shake something loose that allowed his brain to kick back in. The Gelly might be on his way to his next assignment if this went belly up, but Cayne was, more than likely, going straight back to jail.

The captain put his hands up, partially in supplication and partially to get everyone to stop talking. "Hey! Hey! Let's not jump to any conclusions. I said, that I am more than willing to work with you. I just want to go over what the Union is willing to take care of. Then we can talk about what I am willing to take care of. I'm totally okay with a two hour lunch break. I get wanting to eat together." He shrugged. "We just have to make sure that the production levels stay the same. I mean, surely you understand my concern there?"

Rusty twiddled his thumbs for a moment and then nodded. "Of course. I am partially blind, not entirely with it, but I still have enough sense about me to understand there is a give and take here. These miners will have to just take what you give them, but you will have to be willing to give them a pretty penny with all the vices included," replied the Retepsian.

"And you," said Rusty with his one eye looking at Mavet, "... need to understand the value of this mining operation. The station itself may need some TLC, but if the Union isn't mining this ore... someone else will be. Maybe the Krill, maybe not; However, if the Union isn't, then it means you all lose out. The Union needs this to continue powering its fleet. It may not be the greatest attraction in space, what the Union mines here easily powers 10% of the fleet. Under the right production conditions that may increase to 20% or a smidge more." Rusty cleared his throat. "I don't think the Union is in a good place to lose that percentage."

Mavet laughed hysterically at the Retepsian. "I'll see your situation and raise you a situation: Union exploration vessels push the boundaries of the frontier every day. I know this because they employ assholes like me to ensure the public knows about their stellar surveys. Every load of ore from the smelly taint in orbit is one less bargaining chip these miners have since there's no adding to what's already there, and that's assuming no other mining sites are constructed. If they make nice with the Union while they can, maybe they get some protection when the Kaylons come this way, regardless of whether the station is still useful. If not..." Mavet clicked his mouth in a sad tisk. "This is some easy pickings for murder robots, if you catch my drift. I doubt they'd get any such guarantees from the Krill."

"Mavet, that's not a negotiation technique, that's blackmail," Namira said. "I understand everyone's frustrated, and the deaths the revolt has caused weigh heavily on our minds. But we must look forward. We all want an efficient mining operation, and we all want those doing the hard work to be treated with respect and receive compensation for it, no?" She looked at Rusty, then at the captain. "I'm on their side, Captain. Their job is much harder than ours, they deserve much of what they're asking for."

"It's not blackmail, sweetheart. It's just facing facts." Mavet shifted in his chair to face Namira as well as the dipshit Retepsian. "They want to force the Union into stupid concessions by waving the Krill in our faces, so I say we call their bluff! Let's pull out and see whether the Krill protect them from the Kaylons' extermination fleet, or even if the Krill refrain from wiping the planet out themselves!" He looked right at Rusty. "What's gonna be, man? Who do you want protecting your planet? Sane folks from the Union who value life or the Avis worshippers who think you're lower lifeforms and inherently better off dead?"

Namira face-palmed. She wasn't certain that Mavet's use of the word 'sane' would instil a lot of faith with these people, considering who it was coming from. They were trying to find common ground, no escalate the situation further. But most frustratingly of all, Namira thought the miners were right, and entitled to most of their demands, and threatening each other was only going to make things worse.

"Well spank my ass and call me Uncle Joe!" shouted Rusty with a bellyful chuckle to follow. "The talking dessert blob has some balls. That's refreshing. I always worried your people were truly spineless, more than just physically," retorted the one-eyed man. "Extortion will get you everywhere my dear," he said looking at Namira.

Rusty waved his hand dismissively though. "If you are going to paint me a fancy picture of this planet's extinction at the hands of those angry toasters, you better get some perspective on things. Sure, the Krill are terrible and want to purge the known universe of those who do not believe as they do, but who came saving the Union's sorry asses when those toasters came looking to exterminate Earth? Survey says, The Krill my little green gelatinous friend."

Mavet chortled at that. "I was on Earth when the Kaylons attacked. If you think the Krill acted out of the kindness of their hearts, you're dumber than you look. The Krill knew if the Kaylons took out the heart of the Union, then they'd be next. If you want to bet on that bolt of lightning striking the same spot twice, then be my guest and put your lives in their hands. Otherwise, I suggest you kiss the Union's dick and beg us to stay."

He leaned over to Cayne and whispered, "Did I say that right?" Bipedal expressions were confusing.

Cayne leaned over and whispered back, "We usually tell people to kiss our asses, but that's close enough." Then he raised his voice back to normal volume. "I can't disagree with any of you, but we're not here to decide what the Krill are going to do. The Krill are your problem," he said pointedly to Rusty. "We are here to see if we can work this list of demands out, which is not what we're doing."

Ms. Crew nodded. "Alright, Captain. Give us the rest of the Planetary Union's response to the demands."

Cayne nodded. "Alright... hear me out, I will make this as short as possible. Then when I'm done we can talk more. So, pay raise, Union offers 10% of what you’re asking. Hookers are a no. The reason being, prostitution is already legal on your planet. Gambling on the station. Union says no, but there is already gambling going on, on the station. So, I say, let it be. The soda machine in the break room is granted and the Union will pretend you said nothing about drugs. No to alcohol on shift. It is part of safety protocol, and there are plenty of places to drink after work. If you would like a pet get one, one will not be provided. We will take a chance and replace the coffee machine, although, I'm not sure what happened to the last one. Don't you have synthesizers? Turn down services are not provided, but for some reason they will give you all the mints you want." He looked up from his tablet and back at the gathered group. "So there you have it. Now, can we make anything from this mess?"

Ms. Crew crossed her arms, her eyes flicked to Rusty briefly, before she spoke. "I'm certain that 10% is not near enough. Lack of recreational facilities on the station is also not acceptable. We do have synthesizers... but people prefer "real" coffee" to whatever that is in the synthesizers."

Rusty cleared his throat and sighed. "I'm Retepsian. My people are part of the Union and technically that makes me part of the Union. The miners chose me because they trust me and because I do a lot of personal business out here that let's just say the damn Union wouldn't allow," stated Rusty.

He took a deep breath. "Meet the demands you can meet. I will do what I can to quell these peoples' concerns about the Union. It is in their best interest to renew the sale of the mining rights to the Union and grant the leasing of the station to you; However, there is a very vocal faction who feel the Krill would be worth doing business with."

Cayne nodded. "What I can offer is another 10% of what your workers are asking. The Union gave me a little bit of wiggle room there, but for the sake of argument I think their top number out of the gate is prudent. I can also offer a clinic, here on the planet. We have one on the station, but I think here would offer more to the community as a whole. We will set it up and help staff it. I can allow all the gambling and drinking on the station that they would want, but I can't offer prostitution, out in the open and there are still several kinds of drugs that are illegal in the Union, which I can't allow on the station. However, there are also quite a few that are legal, which I can allow. So we can compromise there."

Carmina was content with how these negotiations were going. There was some give and take. They seemed to be working closer to a tentative solution. "Captain," said the Executive Officer Forgive me for this, she thought to herself. "The Union will not allow prostitution; However, we are technically the tenants or renters of the station. The ownership falls on these people. It would be dicey and the Union may not like it on the station, but the ships docked at the station are rather out of Union's reach of the law. If there is a brothel operating out of a docked ship... well, I can't see where that's any of our business... technically. Not that I condone any sort of activities."

Namira frowned. "That is a bad idea. Driving prostitution into illegality, or into areas where the law does not go, opens the door far and wide to abuse of the prostitutes. It is better to have it on the station, where we have the means and the authority to make sure everyone is a willing participant and that health concerns are being addressed."

"Look, I'm not tearing off my bra and swinging on a pole anytime soon, and I do not like the idea of having prostitution operating so close to home, especially when we know about it; However, if we completely shun it and block it from happening on the docked ships, it will happen somewhere. The planet? A nearby location? It will happen. At least with the docked ships we can offer sexual healthcare and have a little more control over it. We can decide which ships we permit to dock and which we close our 'borders' to."

Namira nodded. "That, I can get behind. I'm just worried about that 'somewhere' being where we can't help anyone who might be there against their will. That's why I'd like it to be as close to us as possible, in a sociological sense. I don't think there should be a stigma involved with being a sex worker."

"So..." Cayne started, "As my officers have suggested, there is a loophole in the law for prostitution. If we could dock a ship and let it be the hub for that activity... then I can't really protest, although, I do agree with the Lieutenant as well. If there is a docked ship that is doing such things... then I will want to check it, regularly."

Rusty threw his hands up and laughed. "Hey, I don't care. It sounds like the best deal they are going to get. I don't care who or what they do, and they can do it at their own risk. Now, the Krill may not be pleased being shut out of this, but that's something we can deal with after I speak with the miners."

"One more thing," Namira said. "The reason the Union asked me to come here, is to take a look at the ruins that your miners recently found. I'd like to start as soon as I can, also to ensure that mining operations can resume as quickly as possible. Would the miners be willing to let me begin my work, preferably without anyone trying to poke holes in me?"

Cayne smiled. He was relieved. Maybe he wouldn't have to go back to jail after all. "Maybe the colony has some scientists that would like to join her in discovery?" he suggested.

Namira cringed. "I hate that word." That was something the sex workers had to worry about. Making discoveries wasn't what Namira was here for, though she was aware that the word had two meanings. "But yes, I need to hire some help anyway, as soon as I know the extent of the ruins and can draw up a dig schedule."

"So where is this hypothetical love boat going to be docked?" Mavet shifted to and fro. "Asking for a friend..."

"I'm sure you'll be the first one to find out, Mavet," Namira said.

Mavet cackled at her little barb. "I'll be sure to save you a seat, sweet thing."

Carmina sighed. "Mavet, don't ooze yourself during negotiations," said the Executive Officer. She looked at Rusty for an answer in regards to Namira's question.

Rusty chuckled at the bantering. "You will be safe. I can almost assure you of your safety down on the planet."

Cayne grinned again and nodded, putting both of his hands flat on the table's surface in front of himself. "Then we have a deal? And the miners will go back to work?"

The Retepsian leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. He appeared to be thinking, tipping his head back and forth to look at everyone at the table with his good eye. "Yes. I believe we do, Captain... Morrigan was it? I will need all of that in writing, of course."

"Of course," Cayne answered and stood from his seat. He waited for his people to join him on their feet before he offered his hand to Ruty for shaking. "Thank you."

"Good doing business with you. When everything is drawn up and signed then the miners will return to work with no arguments. We are even willing to give you time to make the corrections." His tone was a little bit superior.

Cayne was totally willing to let him feel as superior as he would like. "Then we will return to the Station and draw up the agreement. When would you like to meet again to look it over?" he asked.

"Three days and we will remember what you agreed to," Ms. Crew answered. She stood behind the Retepsian, looking over the edge of her glasses at the Planetary Union Crew. "And as a show of good faith..." she added. "We will meet on the Station for the signing."

Cayne nodded. "Very well. In three days we will expect you. Dinner?"

Rusty laughed. "Sounds good. Never turn down a free meal."

"Aye, I could use some grub in my tummy," commented the Chief of Security. "But pardon my raining on this parade, but don' we have a wee bit of a problem?" added Murray.

Lieutenant Barbossa nodded in agreement with the young man. "The ensign is correct. We have Krill inbound looking to take over the mining operations. They were invited to the table, but we've just cleaned up."

Cayne nodded. "Well... I'm not sure what we're supposed to do about it. We didn't invite them, but we'll be ready regardless." He intended his point about not inviting the Krill to be humorous, but somehow it fell a little short and sounded more like a threat. He frowned. "That... that's not what I meant... I mean we'll be ready to defend the station and the colony... I... I was joking," he tried to explain awkwardly, as he backed out of the room.

Once the team was again gathered outside. He nodded. "Well done... let's go home."

:OFF