<span class="bbc_u"><strong>Salonika</strong></span><br/><br/><em>There seemed to be no trace of the black plague, or any other disease on them. The latest plague that she'd heard about was on the civilian cruiser, Argos, no survivors, 75 dead plus a dog. There were no single evidence about how the plague had arrived on that ship, not even any evidence about a plague. But certain details indicated that a black ghost might have somehow managed to infiltrate and spread a plague-like madness aboard the vessel. Rumor has it, that most of the crew had committed suicide, or been slaughtered, one by one. The typical tell-sign of those damned demonic spirits from the darkest pits of sumra. At least this is what a friend of hers said..</em><br/><br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong>Odessa</strong></span><br/><br/><strong>“Oh, sorry. More crew for Castille,”</strong>The Marine said as Odessa got closer, and with the doctor just behind her.<strong>“Hard to see your face under that cap.”</strong><br/><br/><br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong>Salonika &amp; Odessa</strong></span><br/><br/>The guard nodded at the two, and opened the door for them, and added with a polite smile, “Have a good trip, and good luck out there.”<br/><br/><br/><br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong>Francis &amp; Sarah </strong></span><br/><br/><strong>“Careful, fu...”</strong>the mechanic shouted angrily as he almost dropped his tools, but he calmed down when he looked up at the big man, Francis.<strong>“these tools are worth more than a years salary, please... please be more careful.” </strong>The mechanic gave Francis a loong, angry look as he disappeared up towards the hatch.<strong>“No offence, lady,”</strong>he then said to Sarah and continued his work.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong>Francis</strong></span><br/><br/>The two guards that had been posted at the bottom of the Castilles ramp, ignored Francis as he stepped up and entered through the large hatch.  The Castilles main airlock, very spacious and kept clean, big enough to let a small lift truck into the workshop.<br/><br/><br/>-----------------------------------<br/><br/><br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong>Captain Shaan, entering the docking bay.</strong></span><br/><br/>The meeting with the trade official on Altaire 5's Anchor station could have gone a lot smoother. Shaan hated bureaucrats more than he hated cockroaches on the Castille, and he didn't hide his feelings. Docking fee, recharging the fuel-core, and paying for the resupplying of food storage and lifesupport, Shaan had only five hundred creds left. He hated the fucking Anchor and it's food-prices. He stopped at the public comm-station on his way out to the hangar, and dialed his local contact within the Collegia.<strong> “Shaan here, put him on.”</strong>he tapped the microphone with his fingers as he waited.<em><strong>“Yeess,”</strong></em>a deep, raspy and chilling voice answered on the other side, Shaan stopped his tapping.<strong>“I'm ready to get going again, just waiting for the new crew and some resupplying.”</strong>The voice, a bit chilling and irritated,<em><strong>“You're two days late, you need to speed things up. We need the ship logs, and the lockbox from storage.”</strong></em>Shaan clenched his fist, discipline failed for a moment, he felt angry.<strong>“Yeah, two fucking days... YOU should have warned me, I lost five good people out there, and before that, I had to switch crew a few times because they refused to go out there. Fucking close to mutiny, TWO times.”</strong>Shaans voice, cracking a bit, he's getting tired, mentally exhausted, could need a strong drink.<em><strong>“Make sure to deliver, you have one week before we take action....”</strong></em>Shaan didn't bother to listen, he thumbed a button that cut the transmission, and ended the conversation.<strong>"Fucking Collegia"</strong>he muttered to himself as he stepped away from the comm-station and headed out into the hangar bay. He opened the thermos as he walked, and took a deep gulp of it's strong content.<strong>“much better, fucking much,”</strong>he said aloud into the air as he stepped through the doorway and put the thermos away under his duster.<br/>