<div align="center">-= Griffin Kingston, Captain – Getting on his crew’s bad side before heading back to the ship for dust off =-</div><br/><strong>“Yeh Su, Cap’n - I leave you alone for a couple hours and the whole ship goes to hell? We do still have the ship, right Cap’n?”</strong><br/><br/>Griff chuckled in spite of himself at Sasha’s jest, and though he found her comment somewhat comical, he actually had to admit that her query had merit. Had the tables been turned he would have wondered the very same question. “Yes, Sasha. We still have the ship. At least we still did when I left it some half hour ago.<br/><br/><strong>"Abernathy's a snake, pure and simple.  Money's as good as anyone else's, but be careful dealing with the guy or anyone working for him.  Won't hesitate to strike when you're not looking if they think it gains them an advantage.  But I'm sure I'm not telling you anything your animal friends don't already know and haven't passed on to you."</strong><br/><br/>Griff glanced to Anwar as he interjected his thoughts on the topic at hand, nodding in agreement on all points. He couldn’t help the small smirk that forcibly made its presence known at Anwar’s mention of<em>”your animal friends.”</em><br/><br/>The truth of the matter is that Griff had been looking forward to a night of drinking and laughing just as much, if not more, than anyone of the others. Sometimes it was nice to just be a friend instead of the captain. But in light of Mae and Vincent’s attack, and since he had not been given the opportunity to speak with the only conscious person who was witness to the event, Griff had no idea as to the identity of their attackers, he was left to speculate as to the who and why. His speculations did not leave him feeling comforted in the slightest.<br/><br/>Griff had certainly made a handful of unsavory acquaintances during his time running the black after the Unification War, not to mention the Alliance, who were still holding a grudge towards Griff for defecting to the Brown Coats. Throw in the newly gleaned information on the job assignment from Ferret and his decision was a no-brainer. Sure, The Gamble could make the deadline on delivery easy enough if they left tomorrow, barring any unforeseen complications. But Considering Abernathy was now in the mix, unforeseen complications were a foregone conclusion.<br/><br/><strong>“Yes, Cap’n”</strong><br/><br/>Griff smirked and shook his head as Sasha promptly excused herself and returned to the ship. He knew that she would not be happy. Sasha’s reaction – and her response – were no surprise to the captain. He knew that she would not voice her dissent in front of the rest of the crew. He knew he would hear about it later in private. Still, he did not look forward to the cross words he knew they would have. McPherson, though somewhat bewildered, followed Sasha as he had been instructed when he had departed The Gamble early that evening, never letting her from his sight until they had arrived back at the ship. As Griff finished his last shot and pushed his chair from the table to stand, he heard Si’s comment.<br/><strong> "I do believe I have the sudden urge to support the heavy bag for someone who might like to hit one for a while. I wonder if anyone on board will fit that description when we arrive."</strong><br/><br/>“Oh, I’m sure you do, Simeon,” he snarled before glancing with angry eyes to Anwar. Gesturing to his new mechanic to follow, Griff managed to keep his cool this time, pushing the thoughts and images of Si and Sasha from his mind. “I’ll have to have a<em>word</em>with the good admiral later,” he muttered to himself as he moved towards the exit. Collecting his weapons, Griff made his way back to docking bay 30 and boarded The Gamble with Anwar in tow. He closed the loading ramp before moving to the infirmary to check on his two pilots. They needed to dust off right away, before the rest of the crew found out and he had a riot on his hands.<br/>