<div align="center"><strong>Stephen McPherson, <em>Gamble</em> Cargo Hold, Heavily armed but not ready</strong></div><br/><strong>“Ready, McPherson?”</strong><br/><br/>Steve was aware the First Officer's first impression of him may not have been an entirely accurate one, given his momentary lapse of consciousness on learning the<em>'n atyniadol benyw yn gwisgo ddua ledr</em>was actually his new boss.  He had planned to do or say something to correct that impression, that he wasn't really a bei bi xiao ren or a sexist Ai chr jze se duh fohn diang gou who didn't want to work for a woman, but things weren't looking any better on his return.<br/><br/>It seems the Captain had decided to leave without him, and now the First Officer was planning on taking him along to watch her ass ... er.. provide security ... on whatever job she was doing.  That, in and of itself, wasn't the problem.  The problem was she was asking if he was ready to go without so much as a hint of where it was they were going, what they were hoping to accomplish, and what sort of threats they were most likely to expect along the way.<br/><br/>"Never ready, Ma'am ... always prepared."<br/><br/>Maybe she's heard the expression before.  On the other hand, maybe she hasn't.  And maybe that wasn't the best of responses. She would understand what he meant if she had served in the Army, but he seriously doubted that possibility at this point.  Even in the civilian world, security is best handled in a quasi-military fashion.  And the military fashion Steve preferred was something a little less<em>Charge of the Light Brigade</em>and a little more geared toward successful accomplishment of the mission.<br/><br/>Yeah, probably not the best of responses, but what else could he say?<em>"Yes Ma'am, I'm always ready to go charging off into the unknown with shipmates I never met."</em>Or how about<em>"Apparently not, since I obviously missed the briefing."</em>Or maybe the little gem that got him into a shitload of trouble when he, as a young newly-minted lieutenant, scowled at the new political-appointee general and said<em>"Define 'ready'."</em><br/><br/>Well, things weren't going as good as he'd hoped they would on Day One of his new job.  Steve just cleared his throat and gripped the carbine he carried a little tighter as he mumbled to Sasha ... "Sorry, old army saying.. anyhows, yes Ma'am, just lead the way."  Then, a quick glance in Dani's direction, though he wasn't sure why.  Checking out the little guy in the yellow shirt, it appeared Lex had the situation under control and the<em>Happy Suck</em>guy was no threat.  Oddly enough, he felt a sense of relief knowing someone was there to take care of her, even though he knew nothing about her .. who she was, why she was on board the<em>Gamble</em>, and what happened to cause her to be afraid of her own shadow.<br/><br/>"So .. how do you like to be addressed, Ma'am? ... and  can I ask where it is we're goin'?"<br/><br/>At least he might get a little information out of her before they were out of sight of the ship.<br/><br/><br/>=============<br/><br/>'n atyniadol benyw yn gwisgo ddua ledr - heartburn attractive female dressing in black leather<br/>Bei bi xiao ren - pathetic wretch<br/>Ai chr jze se duh fohn diang gou - crazy dog in love with its own feces<br/>