<div align="center"><strong>-= Griffin Kingston, Captain of The Gamble – Sitting with some of the crew in the pub –stewing over the days events =-</strong></div><br/>Griff’s eyes narrowed dangerously at the former Rear Admiral’s slanderous witticism, which Griff realized was a blatant attempt to further provoke his already tempestuous mood. Griff couldn’t understand the motives that drove Si to stir the proverbial hornets nest. Heck, most folks didn’t understand Si’s motivations ninety five percent of the time, so this was just another instance of Si being … Si.<br/><br/>Taking a deep breath, Griff decided that he wasn’t going to give Si the satisfaction of provoking him to stupid proportions and making a fool of himself in front of the patrons of the pub, in front of his new crew members, but more importantly he wasn’t going to act out in front of Sasha. He didn’t understand the tumultuous feelings and emotions that had been stirring so violently lately and the crew knew Griff to keep a cool head and his wits about him in a sticky situation. These turbulent emotions were a recent development and were severely disrupting his calm. Glancing first at Sasha, and then to Anwar, Steve, and finally Si, Griff let out a long, slow sigh as the subtle hint of a smile teased at his lips. Looking back to Sasha, he began to explain himself, at least the parts he didn’t mind the rest of the crew knowing.<br/><br/>“I’m sorry I’ve been acting all-fired tetchy, lately. I ain’t yet had the chance to tell anyone, ‘cept for Dani and Lex, but Hayes had a family crisis and had to bug out. So, I’d like y’all to meet The Gamble’s new grease monkey, Anwar.” Griff explained, nodding over to Anwar. “He comes highly recommended by someone I trust with my life. Jack says he’s as good as he’s seen, and he’s seen plenty of good wrench jockeys. Done got that new cata-ma-whatzit already installed and rarin’ to go.” Gesturing to the rest of the crew present at this little outing, Griff quickly introduced Anwar to the rest of the gang.<br/><br/>“And to top that off, Vince and Mae got bushwhacked by… someone. I don’t have all the details yet ‘cause Dani made gorram sure I didn’t get my paws on a certain co-pilot who was s’posed to be taking care of Mae, not getting’ her whacked in the back of the head. She was out cold when I left and had a plumb nasty goose egg takin’ up residence on the back of her noggin.” Done sharing what he wanted them to know, Griff downed another shot, cutting his eyes over at Si briefly, suppressing the urge to punch him square in his big mouth.<em>A fat lip and a missing tooth might do that pompous old suit some good, Griff wagered internally. He’d be less inclined to talk and that’s good in my book. ‘Sides, I don’t pay him to talk.</em><br/><br/>Deciding not to waste another minute thinking about Si – for now – Griff focused on Sasha once more, reading over the specs of the job with keen interest. He had no more details than what his first officer was presently showing him on the torn page.<br/><br/>“I don’t know why the hell you keep getting us mixed up with that snake. I don’t trust her, Cap’n - and I don’t like her much either. Oh, and Badger made sure to share his opinion on the subject as well. I don’t suppose Ferret gave you any more details other than this grade school cloak and dagger crap? Abernathy? You feeling shiny about us being errand boys for fucking Abernathy?”<br/><br/>Griff glanced up at her from the paper as she mentioned Abernathy. “No, I don’t feel one speck shiny about being mixed up with Abernathy. I didn’t realize he was a player in this piece of biz. I only know what you’ve just showed me.” He mulled everything around for a few seconds. He finally looked back up at her with confidence. “Truth is, I don’t much like either of these snakes and I don’t trust them any farther than I can spit. But Ferret is the heavy hitter ‘round these parts.”  He took a sip from another of the shot glasses before he continued, glancing over to Steve briefly. “And I suspect she wouldn’t be working with Abernathy if she had her doubts about getting paid.” He glanced over to Anwar as he finally moved to the table and took a seat. “’Sides, she pays well. I know credits ain’t everything, but you figure out how to put fuel in The Gamble and food in our stomachs without it and we’ll talk.” Retrieving a few coins from his black fatigues, he laid them on the table to pay for the drinks as he added, “As for as Badger… I ain’t much worried ‘bout him. He’s small time compared to Ferret. I’d rather have him sore at us than Ferret. I’m confident we can deal with Badger, should it come to that.”<br/><br/>Griff listened as Anwar chimed in with what he had heard about Abernathy and the job they were about to undertake. He was well aware of Abernathy’s vile reputation and he would be fooling himself if he said he didn’t have his reservations about taking this job. But he was confident in his crew and his ship and the money was good, especially with the 10% bonus as the icing. He knew they could make that deadline, but they’d need to leave tonight. Now.<br/><br/>“Thanks for the intel, Anwar.” Glancing back at Sasha, there was a determined look on Griff’s face that Sasha was very familiar with, and she probably knew before he opened his mouth what he was about to say, much to hers and the rest of the crew’s chagrin. We’re gonna need everyone to be at the top of their game on this one. I know everyone’s gonna bitch and moan, but ten percent is nice incentive to postpone our R&R until this one’s in the bag.” Standing up, he held Sasha’s gaze, speaking loud enough for the four of them to hear. “Okay, let’s pack it in and dust off. We got a date with the Shāyú on Bellerephon.”<br/>