Dwayne felt his hand press against his solar plexus at the very mention of food. It just sort found its way there on its own. He'd barely been able to empty his bladder before they'd been waylaid. He walked with her toward the Rag Tag's mess area. She insisted she was fine. Years in Confederate space had given his bullshit scanner a decent calibration. Nobody was<i>fine</i>going through what she just had. But there were levels of not-so-fine that people could cope with. His decision to go AWOL from the Free Worlds Legion's had been a calculated one and he'd coped with being not-so-fine for a long time. Dwayne let it go.<br/><br/>"I'll met you the mess in a few minutes." he said.<br/><br/>Along the bulkhead of the main hold was a secured door. Just inside served as an armory and a place to store lose valuables. He strapped the gun belt around his waste and fastened the thigh strap. Insuring the plasma charge was full he secured the weapon on his leg. It had to be full. He hadn't fired it, but he always checked. From a biometrically locked safe, he pulled out two stacks of coins. There were more, but two stacks was all he really needed. The larger stack went into his pocket.<br/><br/>"Approach vector confirmed." Bianca announced.<br/><br/>"Steady as she goes." Dwayne said.<br/><br/>He counted out the second stack. Best guess, it was about a week's pay a spacer might earn on a salvage op, depending on the rates that calendar cycle. He removed a few of them from the stack. Dwayne recalled what his first taste of real freedom had been like. Damn hard. He hadn't thought back that far for a while. Lying about who and what he was. Looking for bounty board work that didn't require ID. Outright robbery so he could<i>buy </i>something to eat. He'd killed a man once to prevent the loss of a meal. The first few months felt downright feral. None of this was helpful. Dwayne pushed his fingers into his eyes and forced himself back to the present. The absolute worse case financial meltdown he could have would be to lose the Rag Tag and her contents. He wouldn't be able to replace her, even by half. And two days worth of spacer's pay wasn't going to make up any of the difference. He replaced the coins he'd removed back onto the stack and felt rather terrible for even having considered it. Anjali had nothing to her name save for the clothes he'd replicated for her and what trinkets she'd picked up during salvage. Dwayne secured the armory and safe, taking up a metallic brief case as he left. A single thought lingered in the back of his mind.<i>Food.</i><br/><br/>"One hour to landing pad." Bianca advised.<br/><br/>Dwayne fabricated a ham and cheese omelette and some apple juice. The flavoring and electrolyte nutrient raw for the juice was cheap and he had a hook up at the lighthouse to get it even cheaper. He took the long way around Anjali and placed the stack of coins near her plate and walked around to the other side to set across from her. He had a mind that no was not an acceptable answer. Dwayne had formed a certain perception of her. Anjali wasn't like him. She was kind and likely didn't have the same genetic predisposition for aggression that he did. The Free Worlds Legions knew how to remove quite a bit of the human instinctual limitation for violence and replaced it with the will to cause harm. Dwayne tried to find ways to reprogram, a little bit more each day. He still had a long way to go. There was a touch and go moment in the airlock where he'd almost pulled the trigger. If more humans in the verge were more like her and less like him, it might turn out to be a hospitable place one day.<br/><br/>"Those are Iridium coins. They're measured in pips. One pip. Two pips. Iridium is what backs Confederate currency. Every planet has it's own form of a paper note. They all fluctuate wildly. Most spacers trade in hard Iridium. It's value doesn't vary as far or as often as paper pips. When we get planet side, I have some business to conduct. Go...shop. Have a drink. Blow off some steam. If anybody's earned it you have. I can send Bianca with you. She know where all the good stuff is and she'll make sure nobody tries to cheat you until you get a better idea of what market price looks like. Don't worry about food or lodging. If you're hungry or tired, come back to the Rag Tag for that." Dwayne explained.<br/><br/>He cleared his throat to buy time for the next bit. Dwayne knew what he wanted to say, but words didn't seem to be his friend just then.<br/><br/>"When business is done, I'd like it if you stayed on with us. People you can trust are rather hard to come by and you have skills that I don't have. When we do something that pays more than ship maintenance and restock fees, you'll get paid too."