<em>Rough Draft.  Please offer editing criticism and be brutal about it.  I've never done something like this before.  It's hard!</em><br/><br/><strong>Previously on <em>The Line</em></strong><br/><br/><em>The Line</em>, a former Alliance patrol boat<em>cum</em>merchant, is en route to the planet of Shadow.  Her cargo, one hundred tons of steel sheeting, is destined for the canneries there.  The trip is expected to take two days.  The ship’s name,<em>The Line</em>, is a direct reflection of her master’s prickly position on his rights.  Braxton would sooner die than give up his ship and backs that sentiment up with action.<br/><br/><em>The Line </em>also carried a passenger this leg of the trip, Isobel Smith.  She’s a little slip of a thing, five foot nothing and dresses like a working stiff for all she claims to be a tourist.  Isobel doesn’t talk much but doesn’t miss much either.<br/><br/>Philemon thought he heard Elfi talking to someone, but she lied to hide her little secret and he didn’t press it even though he knew she was not being truthful with him.<br/><br/>Ace Pilot Keri had just cleared atmo and steered<em>The Line</em>past the inevitable space junk a planet collected when dinner was served.  She noted a smattering of traffic in the lanes, but dismissed them as the usual merchants.  Despite her reputation as a daredevil pilot, she kept an eye on them just in case they turned out to be pirates.<br/><br/>Sue cooked up his famous Beef ‘n Peppers Minus the Beef dish and didn’t spill a drop on his frilly pink apron.  The entire ship gathered for once, no one being busy on a job or ‘bating in their bunk over what they’d like to do to the Companion, and it promised to be a happy meal.<br/><br/>Keri stunned everyone with an unusual for her dress but was soon eclipsed by Serenity’s outfit.  No one could ever draw an inside straight when playing against the Companion’s style and beauty.<br/><br/>The Companion started to draw Isi out, flattering her with a comparison to an Egyptian goddess.  Her gentle questions and disarming ways would have made an Alliance interrogation expert whistle with envy.  Still, Isi deflected the suspicion easily.<br/><br/>First Mate Richard took a rare moment of down time from his constant work to join everyone in the galley.  Ever the gentleman, he kept up his tradition of referring to Mya as Doctor instead of treating her with the disregard most used on account of her status as an indentured servant.  He was anticipating and worrying about another showdown between Braxton and Serenity and was determined to keep the peace.<br/><br/>Mya, always hot and bothered by Braxton, was invited to sit next to the ship’s master during dinner.  Captain Early was being more than polite it turned out.  He wanted to have a little fun with his girl who couldn’t say no and liked to be forced to say yes.  She was a little grumpy about someone going through the supplies in Sick Bay and not putting them back, but that concern faded as soon as she felt Braxton’s hand on her thigh.<br/><br/>Engineer Lance Daniels, always a wizard with his hands, expeditiously fixed a minor but dangerous airlock malfunction.  He took up a seat near Keri on account of how she looked in the dress and so he wouldn’t have to sit near Mya and Braxton.<br/><br/>As usual, Sue’s cooking and easy manner brought him many warm comments from<em>The Line</em>’s denizens.  He might have a girl’s name and wear absurd aprons, but the man could cook.  On a ship with a limited variety of food, his talents were well appreciated by all.  He’d even secured some fizzy champagne to toast the voyage, though his inclusion of Elfi irked Braxton sorely.  It proved to be justified on his part, as the girl got a little tipsy and spilled some soup on Isi.  The First Mate avoided an immediate problem with Braxton and his property by smoothly intervening and disarming the situation.  The man was invaluable in so many ways.<br/><br/>As everyone expected, trouble soon brewed between the Captain and the Companion.  Serenity used Braxton’s lecture about not putting ideas in people’s head as a barb against him, then disengaged as easily as some skinned a smoke wagon and took her leave.<br/><br/>Braxton got Mya plenty damp between her thighs with his touches during the meal, and though he made at least an effort to politely hide it, few at the table missed the arousing action.  Not being able to protest, and the humiliation of it happening publicly, was a powerful spur to the Doctor’s libido and would have been quite lovely to see though most took offense to it happening at the dinner table.<br/><br/>Keri was the first to call Braxton out on his sexual shenanigans, and let the Captain have it with a Chinese insult and a reminder to wash his hands before touching her console.  She left for the bridge and was so irked she didn’t even finish Sue’s fine meal.<br/><br/>Phil, a peacemaker in his own way, followed after the Pilot but didn’t chase.<br/><br/>The Engineer enjoyed the tension between everyone and played the right fine sophisticated man he was with his comments and the fancy way he drank his champagne.  People tended to think that because he worked with his hands, he was common.  Lance was anything but common.<br/><br/>Then Sue started the showdown.  He took command of the galley like it was his ship and dismissed the passenger before getting down to brass tacks and wasted no time tossing his All In wager into the middle of the table.  He didn’t like how the Captain was acting and told Braxton what Sue wanted him to do.  It was a bold move and as close to mutiny as you could get and still have a neck.<br/><br/>Braxton called the move with his heavy revolver and placed it right fine out on the table for everyone to see.  He wasn’t intimidated at all and wasn’t about to take orders from anyone on his ship.  He told Sue how the cow ate the cabbage and told him to walk away and go to his quarters.<br/><br/>Richard and Lance looked ready to back the Captain’s play.<br/><br/>Sue, as fine a gentleman as he was a cook, responded with aplomb and while he didn’t quite back down and cower, neither did he push it until the matter could only be settled by lead.  He left the galley and reminded Braxton of his social duties and courtesies as a fellow gentleman.<br/><br/>Richard left soon thereafter for Serenity’s shuttle, but not before Lance intercepted him and expressed concern about having an intoxicated Captain piloting the ship the Engineer took such good care of.  He also bade Mya to give the Captain what he needed and to wear him out in the bunk as best she could.<br/><br/>All in all, a fine meal served without a side of gunplay.  Everyone went home, if not happy, then alive.<br/><br/><br/>