<div align="center"><strong>-= Ship's Captain, Griffin Kingston - talking with Mae and Dani in the infirmary before dusting off from Persephone =-</strong> </div><br/>As Griff moved from the doorway of the infirmary, he let his steely gaze fall from Si to settle upon the injured young pilot. Coming to stand before her as she sat on the examining table, Griff let his strong hands innocently come to rest on the girl’s knees as Dani gave her prognosis. Lifting his gaze back to Si and then to Dani when mention was made of Sasha's interrogation of his co-pilot, Griff didn't try to hide the scowl that suddenly dominated his features. "Yes, and I suppose you made it abundantly clear to Sasha how you are in charge when it comes to your patients, didn't you?" The question was mostly rhetorical, a jab at Dani for how she had dressed him down earlier. He couldn't help but wonder if Sasha had received the same verbal reproach.<br/><br/>Sighing in quiet frustration, he turned his attention back to Mae as she bitched and moaned, giving her a small smile as he asked, "Your new boyfriend, huh? He wouldn’t happen be anyone I know, would he," Griff joked. "Well, I'll be happy to insure your satisfaction," he joked with a straight face. There was about 30 seconds of silence that followed as he waited for a reaction from someone, but finally gave in with a hearty laugh and a playful slap to Mae's shoulder. "I'm only teasin..." he said without conviction. He knew full well where Mae's heart lay. He knew that Vince had beomce the object of her affections. “I know you're eager, memei. There’ll be plenty o’time for ruttin later. Gotta make sure we get you back to a hundred percent first. I'm sure you wouldn't wanna go into something like that being in anything less than prime condition, right?" He gave her a knowing wink accompanied by a huge grin. "As for Sasha being pissed... what makes you think *I* had anything to do with that? Aside from the fact that I seem to have an uncanny knack for pissing her off?"<br/><br/>Griff was unable to stifle the wince that came when Dani mentioned brain bleed, nor the groan that followed when the words "revoked flight status" and "grounded" spilled from the doctor's lips. Not only because this meant that he would have to fly The Gamble, but because he knew how important flying was to Mae, and to deny her that would be akin to denying water to a fish. He felt bad for the young woman but he agreed that she should be monitored, just to be safe. She was far to valuable to Griff to risk her health. She was, after all, one of the best pilots he'd ever seen. "Right... well, we certainly don't want anything bad to happen to our star pilot, do we?" He smiled a smile that reached his eyes as he reached up and caressed Mae's arm. "I'm just glad you're okay, meimei. But now you get to sample some of my<em>superb</em>flying skills... and you'll understand all the more why I hired you." He afforded her a lighthearted chuckle as his hands slid down to grasp hers, giving them a comforting squeeze. "You just try and relax and follow doctor's orders as much as you can. I want you to get well as soon as possible so you don't have to spend even more time here and you reclaim your pilot's chair. I'll keep it warm for ya." He flashed a wink as he pulled away, letting his hands slip from hers."<br/><br/>Moving back to the infirmary hatch, he glanced back at Dani before exiting. "Might wanna secure anything that could fall and break... including yourself. We'll be leaving as soon as I get clearance from Eavesdown Control. Griff gave a silent nod to Si as he announced his departure from the infirmary. Deciding to steer clear of Sasha, at least for the time being, he passed her quarters just as Si was closing the door behind him. Griff gave a sigh and shook his head as he moved onto the flight deck. Perhaps he would check in with her once they were in the black with a course laid in for Bellerephon.<br/><br/>Lowering his solid frame into the pilot's seat, he slipped into the five point harness, fastening all the buckles. Reach up to the overhead instrument panel, he began flipping switches and dialing knobs as he conducted his pre-flight checklist. Satisfied that the fuel and water reserves were topped off, all hydraulic readings were normal, all battery levels were in the green, CO2 scrubbers and oxygen levels were at peak efficiency and a whole myriad of other systems all checked out, Griff flipped on the comms and began the launch process.<br/><br/>"Eavesdown Control, Dragonfly transport, Bravo-Two-Niner, requesting launch clearance, docking bay three zero." Griff continued flipping switches in preparation for the release of the docking clamps that held the ship firmly moored in place.<br/><br/>"Good evening Dragonfly Bravo-Two-Niner. Copy launch clearance request, docking bay three zero. Standby for launch parameters."<br/><br/>"Control, Dragonfly Bravo-Two-Niner. Roger. Standing by." Griff repeated back to verify the instructions as safety protocols mandated. He checked and rechecked the engine readouts before priming them for a hard burn.<br/><br/>"Dragonfly Bravo-Two-Niner, Control. Ascend vertical to 7000. After departure maintain VFR at 7000 while in approach airspace. Maintain two-five-zero knots for two-five nautical miles on heading two-one-zero then ascend to orbit. Departure frequency 215.8, squawk 1173. Cleared for launch."<br/><br/>"Control, Dragonfly Bravo-Two-Niner. Roger. Ascend vertical to 7000. After departure maintain VFR at 7000 while in approach airspace. Maintain two-five-zero knots for two-five nautical miles on heading two-one-zero then ascend to orbit. Departure frequency 215.8, squawk 1173. Cleared for launch. Releasing docking clamps.” Flipping the docking clamp’s disengage switch, there was a gentle lurch throughout the ship as the clamps released and retracted. “Commencing launch.” Taking the yoke in his hands, Griff gently pulled back on the controls and the ship began to lift from its resting place.<br/><br/>"Roger that Dragonfly Bravo-Two-Niner. Have a safe flight. Eavesdown Control out."<br/><br/>Flipping on the ships intercom system, Griff's voice broadcast throughout the ship. "Okay boys and girls. Everyone might wanna find something to strap into and wave goodbye to Persephone for a while. Our next port of call is Bellerephon."<br/><br/>The Gamble slowly rose from Eavesdown docks and began to follow the departure vectors instructed to follow. It wasn’t long before they broke atmo and Persephone was becoming another tiny speck in the vastness of the black.<br/>