As the First Officer made the introductions and various people greeted the others, the Captain - discretely as possible - counted out the coin Lynn had shoved his direction, taking note of the excess so he could return it to her at the appropriate time.  After everyone had had their chance at exchanging the appropriate greetings, the captain spoke up to address the entire assemblage at the table in a jovial and optimistic manner:<br/><br/>"Everyone ... everyone fill a glass with something ... beer, Sihnon tea, water.. you passengers fill a glass too.. whatever your pleasure... we need to start off this venture with a toast."<br/><br/>When everyone had their glass, the Captain lifted his up to eye level and arm's length.<br/><br/>"There's an old nautical toast from Earth-that-was:<em>Fair winds and following seas.</em>To the ship, the crew, the cargo, the passengers, and the profits they'll bring."<br/><br/>After everyone had taken at least a sip, he sat down and encouraged everyone to fill their plates.  "It's all been paid for already, so don't nobody be shy."  Everyone in the party will probably notice the food is provided in disposable styrofoam containers -- suitable for taking home the leftovers.  During the course of the meal, the captain also passed out hand-held communication devices he picked up that very afternoon to the three other crew members.<br/><br/>As the meal began to wind down, the Captain spoke again.<br/><br/>"Y'all feel free to keep eating while I talk.  It's my understanding everybody's been told in one form or another where we're going and why we're going there, but I'll go over it again to make it official, so we're all on the same page.   Our destination is Bellerophon, where we'll stop off long enough kick the cargo outta the hold, then on to Jiangyin where we might have a tentative deal lined up.  Now, Miss Wai Mun has spoken to me about the possibility of a 24 hour layover on Bellerophon..."  He stopped and smiled at the unintentional pun, then contined ... "Which, if she should choose to engage in some enterprise which will require said layover, might be a good time for the crew to give the ship another once-over and see what mighta broke loose on the trip.<br/><br/>We depart at 0800 local time tomorrow morning ... give or take.  Might be we take on another passenger or two at the last minute, but I ain't holdin my breath.  If my math is right, trip should take about a week.  Our pilot might find my math is wrong and adjust that estimate accordingly.<br/><br/>Our cargo is mostly construction materials.  90 tons of limestone, 200 tons of cut lumber --some of it cedar, should keep the ship smelling nice and the moths outta your finery -- Left the ship in charge of the union boss overseeing the loading -- figure they'll finish up about the time we finish our meal.<br/><br/>Any questions?"