A Call Answered (The Family)

[Via Dolorosa]

Whilst the room grew substantially smaller with each new arrival, Xiang stood against the furthest wall; arms folded, eyes calculating. From all walks of life they came, some socializing, others looking proud and tough; it was the latter she found amusing. It wasn't, however, until the disembodied voice crackled over the ship's speaker system that any sign of an expression displayed upon her face.

"A game," she muttered under breath, shifting her weight. "I've been disturbed.....for a game?"

She was about to leave, undecided if pursuing a box was worth the time and effort spent, when she felt someone attempt to invade her mind, promptly moving her to throw up a mental block. "The voice said we are not to kill one another," Xiang said loudly, shifting a cold gaze toward the others. "Though with the attempt to read my mind via the Force....I fear this little party stands to grow one soul less." Her threat, however perceived, was not empty. The galaxy was a dangerous, haunting place; accidents happened all the time.

Passing by the others, the hunt for a box began to hold sway for her, as she exited the room. Until this little band of misfits reached their predetermined destination, she had time to spend. The voice gave little to no details, outside the dimensions and colour of the troublesome object. The only suitable help she could receive would be from the staff, the others were useless; regardless of skill sets. Drifting through the corridors, in search of one specific target, she took stock of the observations presented kindly to her.

Coming to a stop around a corner, spying her target, she smiled. "I need your help regarding a box," she said to the man. Shaking his head, stone expression on his face, he replied, "No can do. Orders you see, you're on your own. So I can't help you." "But you already have."

Smiling, her fangs slowly exposing themselves, she cast the spell of mesmerism tapping an index finger on his forehead. His body slouched into a relaxing state, eyes glazed over; the stone expression converted into a trance-like appearance. "The box...."



[member="Ahtemis"] / [member="Vorkaliin Barass"] / [member="Shaun Castanic"]

 

[Equinox]

Equinox carried on in front of his newly made friends, and hoped that they would follow him. His first plan was to randomly start looking through rooms until he thought to himself. The voice was so adamant about people working as a team that maybe she had drilled that into the minds of her staff on this ship. So he decided to start going up to one of the staff members that stood in a dark corridor alone. He asked her "Hey, can you tell me anything about this stupid case, I mean, if we all work under her command, we have to work as a team right?". He hoped that the woman would answer him, but if she didn't, the force was on his side.

[member="Ahtemis"] [member="Dano Dil"]

 

[Nico Akirian]

Nico would remain silent, watching the woman speak through the holopad. He'd hear of this case, and look around the room to see the reactions of the others. It was clear many had the intention of searching for this case, and potentially it's reward. It was certainly an odd looking group of people, that you wouldn't expect to all be meshed into a room. However, Nico could tell with the proper integration with each other, this would be one dangerous team. He didn't have much interest in this search for the case, but he knew it would be useful for him to get as much interaction with this group as possible. This interaction would assist in developing a sense of teamwork.

Nico would be analyzing the emotions, reactions, and actions of the people in the room. He was trying to develop impressions. A certain individual stood out to the masked man. [member="Shaun Castanic"] stood out. This man seemed reckless, yet with the potential to be a leader. Nico would see several people exiting the room to begin looking for the case. He wanted to work with the others, but some of them definitely seemed more interested in working individually. So, he followed this method.

Nico would leave the room. His first thought would be to find a way to navigate the ship. He began making his way to the bridge, where he could find the map blueprints of the ship. Nico would walk into a nearby elevator and enter. He'd hit the button for the bridge, and it'd carry him upwards to it. The elevator would make a ding, and the metal doors would whir open. There'd be many staff in this bridge, but none would speak to him. Several would stare at him though.

He'd walk over to the central computer, located on the right side of the bridge. He'd began navigating through its systems, until he finally found a file named "Ship Blueprints". He'd attempt to open the file, and be met with an error. The error would request that he enters a password. He'd think back to the holopad discussion the female leader gave. A summary of some of her key messages being family, secrecy, and team. He'd enter all three of these keywords in, but each time being met with an error of incorrect.

Nico would keep thinking over these keywords... he'd pick up on family. He'd enter "The Family".

"Access granted." A voice from the computer would read back to Nico.

Nico would smirk under his mask. He'd pull out a holopad tablet from his trenchcoat pocket, and put it up to a port on the computer. He'd download the blueprints into the pad. He'd open the map of the ship up, and begin analyzing it. Nico was now ready to start searching.

 

[Atlas Darclynn]

Atlas wasn't exactly fond of being told to 'play fetch'. He'd spent years not only training not only to become a fearsome warrior but also a brilliant criminal. All to be brought aboard a ship to play a game with others.

Thankfully instead of being enraged, he was amused. Interested not only by the fact that others went along with the game. But also because she said they couldn't kill her staff.

In his time he'd heard that before. If he decided to join in on this game, well let's just say he wouldn't need to kill anyone. No, he'd use the force to torture them until they told him what he needed.

Either that or threaten to use it. Of course that all depended on if he played along. Instead, he could simply introduce himself with a few of the others. And take a far less violent path.

 

[Dyxra'a]

Receiving the co-ordinates had sparked some life back into Dyxraa, seemingly offering her a new high to chase outside of glitterstim and alcohol, something Sosu had been requesting of her for some time. Her little band of thugs on Nar Shaddaa had been running itself under the guidance of Sosu well and, since her return to the moon - it serving, so far, as the trap in her life that kept pulling her back every time she tried to escape it, Dyxraa had been left with nothing to do, nothing but let her mind spin its wheels and drive herself insane from the sheer boredom that had set in. She had needed something new, something interesting, and that something had seemed to be the unusual message that had arrived, leading to her arriving on the station like a few other select people had seemed to have done - having also received the same directions, she was sure.

Now, though, Dyxraa almost wished she had stayed back on Nar Shaddaa, hadn't given into the sudden and not-thought-through urge to follow this new allure to wherever it might lead to. Here she was, surrounded by people she didn't know and largely didn't care one iota about (boring, boring, boring, boring, interesting, boring, boring, interesting, boring, boring), left to chase after a game by a Voice (female, young-ish but definitely not teens, pattern to voice suggests human-like jaw) after said Voice had spoken a lot but said nothing, attempting to appeal to egos and whet interest with vagueness and nothingness.

And the game itself? Easy enough to utilise in finding out who would work as a team and who would work alone as their every move would be watched by the Voice's staff (no logo identifying who they're with - either unknown and wishing to keep that, no marking or too well known to display; they smell of woods, pine - location or standard body wash perhaps, meeting someone with heightened sense of smell ). No, no, no. A boring situation with boring people.

Having sat silent and still throughout the Voice's little dramatic speech, Dxyraa chose to follow the example of one of the interesting attendees and leave the room. The hunt for the box was of no concern to Dyxraa. Either it held something or it did not, either way, it was a test and a test that she didn't wish to take part in. Though, of course, by doing so she was probably revealing something about herself to the Voice, but, this was, she wasn't revealing skills or giving information of how she, herself, would hunt for the box. It wasn't the most elegant of situations but it was the only one that Dyxraa was happy with.

Limping through the halls of the ship, her small frame barely reaching the shoulders of the staff members she passed, Dyxraa followed instructions towards where the living quarters were, where a bed she could lay down on was. The sound of her cane (Janus) being the only noise around her, Dyxraa found her fingers beginning to tap a beat against the handle of said cane in time with it impacting the flooring. With her increased heart rate, dry mouth and the irritable twitches of her finger, Dyxraa knew, immediately, what her mind was becoming fixated on. That karking box. But she refused, vehemently refused to take part in such a game. It was an obvious bait, as obvious as the whetting of interest in the Voice's words. It was tempting, so tempting, but that was the point of it. No, she refused to take part in it.

Of course, it would be more than simple for her to enthral one of the staff members to her will, bind them through her pheromones, and force them to speak. More than simple to find the location of the case, verifying, of course, with a couple of different members of staff in case they'd all been told different things. She could also access camera recordings, in case the footage hadn't been erased for the purpose of the test. And she'd have to... Stopping in the middle of the hallway, Dyxraa slapped herself harshly, an unusual act to anyone who might be watching her she was sure, the sound ringing out into the silence. No, no, she was not getting involved. She could ignore one interesting piece of bait, ignore it...

"Excuse me. Might I ask you a question?" Falsified sincerity twisted within her words as Dyxraa approached one of the staff, already emitting the pheromones of her species to twist him to her whims.

[member="Ahtemis"]​

 

[Nico Akirian]

He'd be staring downwards at the holopad, until he decided it was time to leave and search for the crate. He turned around, and went back into the same elevator that carried him to the bridge. Nico would hit the button to go back to the original ship area he was at before. On his way down, he'd begin calibrating the ship map to locate objects for him that might be the case. He'd input most common alloys and materials for containers such as phrik and durasteel.

Five red dots would appear on the map, meaning these were the detected locations with objects that fit the description. He'd walk through the hallways watching several force-sensitives and certain species members interrogating staff through use of manipulation and their abilities. He'd doubt that this woman would be dumb enough to inform all of her low-priority staff of the whereabouts and information of this case. Basic interrogation was not that crazy of a skill in this group, he'd assume.

He'd keep walking through the hallways of this level of the ship, tracking down the first red dot. He'd turn a corner, and he'd be right on top of the dot. He'd look around, and all he would see is a metal container. Not a case. He'd continue his search.

 

[Valgærd]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Whether going to my staff to speak with them, probing their minds through the force, or going to the ship's encrypted blueprints, the information gathered would have been the same for those searching for the case: There was something on the lowest level of the ship. The turbolift shaft seemed to have been built to access it, but the floor itself wasn't listed on the button pad in the elevator itself. It would take an experienced slicer to... persuade those elevators to go down to that level, or failing that, the air shafts could only fit someone small. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]The blueprints and comments from my weak-willed staff would say the same thing:[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]There were several rooms between the elevator shaft and the storage room. The corridor connecting them all had been damaged and was completely caved in, meaning that to cross this level, one would have to walk through every single room. It's too bad, really, that one of them was currently being used to contain a rancor being transported for my scientists. To protect it, we had installed some very secure electronic locks in the rooms prior. In at least two of those rooms, a crossed-circuit from these custom installations had damaged the door mechanisms, which meant that the doors on both sides of the room had to be activated in unison to get the far one to open. I hadn't bothered to fix that yet seeing as my staff shouldn't have been trying to feed and care for our living cargo alone anyway. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Beyond the Rancor's cage, the final room before the storage hold had also been damaged, leaving it open to the void of space. I'd asked my staff to remove all but one of the spacesuits from the area to discourage any of them from being tempted to try and repair it without the proper tools. For even with that suit, there was far too much debris around to cross safely.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Of course, none of my guests would know that I was now pacing impatiently. Had this been a good idea? It was hardly a conventional way to measure their skill and capacity for creativity, that's for sure. What if they arrived here and quite simply turned and left? I needed them, that was why I'd taken such care in choosing them. Sure, playing the all-powerful Donna suited me. But I was nothing without a solid team. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10.5pt][member="Nico Akirian"] @Dyxra'a @Atlas Darclynn @Equinox @Xiang Vang [member="Candez Stoon"] [member="Vorkaliin Barass"] [member="Shaun Castanic"] [member="Dano Dil"] [member="Priscilla Utorna"] [member="Ivory Stroud"] [member="Colin Ransik"][/SIZE]

 

[Kyle Torchwood]

[member="Ivory Stroud"] took his offer for a smoke. The way she leaned forward waiting for the light was also a bit... alluring or distracted, Colin couldn’t place which as with the accent. A smile pulled at his face. While he disrespected most women, he could be charming when it was adventageous to be so.

He lit the cigara she was waiting for and sat back with a smile.

“I think... this game has no prize. It’s clearly a test, and while I would normally sit on my ass and smoke until we get there. I think we need to play along. Something tells me we are not getting off this ship until we find that box.”

He stood and offered the woman his hand.

“After you then?”

 

[Crocell]

Ivory stared, eyes locked on [member="Colin Ransik"]'s own as he lit the cigara, drawing an inhale through luscious lips before taking his hand and standing with his assistance. She introduced herself, "I'm Ivory... and you are?"

She agreed with his assessment that while the box might not be their ultimate goal, it was certainly the key to their escape from this strange ship. "Please..." She responded, following behind him, moving like a panther stalking prey. She might have appeared wholly unarmed, but she carried herself as one with no fear - secretly, Ivory considered him to be the only one worth trusting at the moment, as they both seemed the odd ones out.

"Well, with everyone else on the hunt... Where do you think we should start?" She asked, standing in the corridor beside him. Her gut told her the answer to their puzzle wouldn't be found through simple searching - whoever these people were, they were obviously built on discretion.

 

[Kyle Torchwood]

“You good with computers, because if it’s up to me... only way I get answers is hurting people. I don’t solve problems... I’m just what’s meant by... pay or else.”

Colin took another drag of his cigarette before walking down the next corridor. Ivory... hmmm interesting name. He couldn’t place anyone on the ship, but she seemed like the only person to trust. Everyone seemed like they were in this for themselves, and Colin just wanted to get on with the game and meet the woman who had greeted them.

“Colin...”

He nodded and moved on.

“Why don’t we follow a few of these others around and see what they’ve got... also... we need the ship’s schematics.”

A small grin pulled at his face. There had to be smuggler compartments with illegal booze, the good kind. It was something everyone needed every now and then, especially Colin.

“You know what... I hope there is some whiskey or scotch in that box... I need something... getting a bit dry...”

[member="Ivory Stroud"]

 

[Crocell]

Ivory inhaled, then blew out a long stream of smoke from her nostrils, making her appear like an angry dragon. She followed Colin, keeping in step.

She nodded, glancing down the few hallways they passed. "Hey, whatever pays the bills, right?" She quipped with a smirk.

Just as they reached a four-way branch of hallways, the raven-haired vixen took Colin by surprise - she grabbed his hand and swung herself in front of him, kissing him firmly and passionately on the mouth. It happened so quickly, with absolutely no warning. She tasted like sin.

The smoke from both their cigaras curled into the air during the brief liplock… Which she was the first to break, stepping back from him while holding her eyes on his own.

Stepping back directly into the path of a tall human man, wearing the same uniform they'd seen on each of the staff.

Ivory and the man went down in a tangle of arms & legs. The cigara flew from her fingers to roll, forgotten, against the metal bulkhead. It took a few moments for the two to become untangled, and Ivory looked just as shocked as the man. "You came out of nowhere...!" He huffed, standing up with an angry look. When she'd finally regained her feet, she assisted in fixing the man's now-wrinkled uniform, "I am... so sorry... So sorry. I didn't know! We were just - oh, I'm so sorry, let me get that for you!"

Hurridly, she retrieved the man's datapad, which had gone flying when they'd fallen. She handed it to him, and with a final look, he stalked off, turning down the hallway they'd come.

For a heartbeat, Colin and Ivory stood in the hallway, alone once more.

ivory adjusted her top, shifting it into a more comfortable position, then adjusted her beautiful hair.

With a look, she caught [member="Colin Ransik"]'s eye. A sly grin spread over her luscious lips, and she offered a small card, held between her fingers... having seemed to have manifested from thin air.

"Now... All we need is a terminal. You can handle that, can't you?"

[member="Ahtemis"]

 

[Kyle Torchwood]

The kiss cake outnof nowhere and was quite the surprise. Colin didn’t like women that were aggressive, at all. He was a violent creature, one that lived to exert his dominance over everyone he met, power or none. It was ruse what she had done, or was it? She kept her eyes locked on his as she bumped into the guard behind her.

His head canted to the side as he watched the entire mess. A small chuckle escaped his lips as he put the cigara back to his mouth and took a drag or two before the ship staff member was leaving, going about his business. His eyes beamed when the card was presented. Hopefully the target had decent security clearance.

“Nice lift... don’t kiss me like that again. The wife won’t like it,” Colin said, his two fingers holding the shrinking cigara pointing directly in the dark haired woman’s face. Not that he cared. Colin had engaged in multiple affairs since his wedding. Women were disposable to him, and the wife was simply for appearances.

Colin walked past her, knowing she likely didn’t care about his command. She didn’t seem the type to give two marks about anything anyone said, and did what she wanted regardless. Colin had to like her for it, but he still had a job to do, one that no one could know about.

“There was a terminal next to the lift we all took gettin in here. I’m sure you can use that, hmmm?”

With that, Colin tossed the butt of his cigara into the nearst disposal and headed towards the entrance.

[member="Ivory Stroud"]

 

[Candez Stoon]

Candez Stoon sat by at the table, just playing with his cybernetic arm. The others went off on their own ways, but Candez himself? He could care less about some box, or some prize. He put up his boots onto the table again, just tinkering away. And almost set off the bracer blaster he had, which could not have gone well. But part of him was still turning to the sense of adventure....in finding this box. He didn't even know what this all was. A test? A game? Whatever it was, he could care less....or thought so.

"It's just a box...I might not even get it. Others might beat me to it, so why bother, right?" he asked to himself, still tinkering. "Just a box...that might have a weapon. A material...credits..." He face palmed himself with the cybernetic arm, as he changed his mind and stood up. Now he just had to find his way around.

@Equinox @Shaun Castanic [member="Vorkaliin Barass"] [member="Ivory Stroud"] @Ahtemis @Colin Ransik [member="Nico Akirian"] [member="Priscilla Utorna"] [member="Dano Dil"] [member="Xiang Vang"]

 

[Equinox]

Equinox had just finished asking the man about the box. He said something very complicated and very long, very boring. It made him think that this rather new elevator would lead him there. But it wasn’t like any other elevator, it seemed like you couldn’t just go in and let it take you somewhere, but Equinox stepped in and all looked normal, he was surprised. But then he noticed that a Ground Floor, or the very bottom floor wasn’t listed. He thought about hacking it with his new AI, but it didn’t seem good enough, it was more about resisting hacks then hacking. Then he thought about climbing through the air shafts, but he would be too big unless he took his armour off, which he absolutely did not want to do, but then he had another idea....

 

[Crocell]

(DOUBLEPOST)

 

[Crocell]

Ivory kept up with [member="Colin Ransik"] as they walked the short distance to the main turbolift, which provided access not only to the landing bays but other areas of the ship. Nearby, recessed into a bulkhead, was a data terminal.

They hadn't said much during their brief walk, but Ivory didn't think she needed to - her teammate seemed the strong, silent type, and that suited her just fine.

The ID card was colored with a red stripe, and Ivory used it to access the Terminal; The screen blinked, welcoming the user, and providing a number of options. "Well... I certainly know how to pick them, don't I?" Ivory said as she glanced at her companion. The security clearance would get them any information they needed to know.

It took her only a few moments to access a basic set of schematics for the ship, and it took her a few minutes more of studying to understand that something didn't quite make sense.

Without saying anything, Ivory logged off the terminal and tucked the data card in her boot for safekeeping... She'd give it to the Donna when she and Colin delivered the case.

"Elevator, going down." She said, and pulled Colin into the elevator by his sleeve.

Her first step was to press the button on the panel marked "Close", and waited for the doors to shut before she knelt. Beneath the elevator's control panel was a small hatch, and Ivory used her fingernail to shift the tiny screw to one side. The small door came off, and she set it down.

"Something was wrong with the blueprints... On one page, it listed only the number of floors you can see on the control panel. On another..." Her slender wrist fit easily inside the small space, and the tip of her tongue stuck out from between her lips as she pulled a small bundle of wires from within. "There was something else."

"We're going down."

All the way down.

Reaching into her other boot, Ivory produced a peculiar little device... a simple datapad stylus, which one might see on every desk in the Galaxy. There'd even been one attached to the datapad on the large central table in the meeting room where the group had met, but this was not that stylus...

Ivory depressed the button, but nothing seemed to happen. The woman's brow furrowed as she selected three wires... Doing this took her enough time that she began to grow nervous that someone might happen by and attempt to use the lift. Then, when she was sure she'd selected what was necessary, she took the stylus from between her teeth and gently touched one end of the stylus to each wire in turn.

As if by magic, the wires split apart without smoke or fire.

It took her another few minutes to splice the three together (yellow, black, and blue) into a single mass, then tuck the whole bundle back within the compartment she'd pulled them from. "No sense in leaving a mess..." Ivory muttered, seemingly to Colin, but mostly to herself.

The small stylus went back into her boot, and she stood. "Here goes something..." She said, her accent sweet on the ears.

With that, she pressed the two buttons indicating the lowest levels of the ship at once, held them down, and tapped the button which would send the turbolift to its' destination as quickly as possible, ignoring all other stops on the way.

The lift began to descend.

[member="Ahtemis"]

 

[Corran Conner]

In the armoury he was left alone which was good. He remade his lightsabre added crystals of his master and the other fallen combatants. He placed them all back together and began running himself through a version of his own moving meditation. He also added his own claws to the movements falling into his own native combat, the type he used when he was outcasted. That was why he didn't bother with the box, once an outcast, always an outcast.
[member="Ahtemis"]

 

[Equinox]

Equinox looked up and searched for a hatch. There wasn't one. So he made one himself. He took one of his lightsabers and turned it on, being careful not to let it touch the sides of the elevator to make sure he didn't puncture any holes in places he didn't need to. He began to pierce a hole in the ceiling, just big enough for him to fit through. Slowly it went around, creating a vile smell of burning metal that dissipated down the hallway. Inside, he hoped that no one would smell it, at least the staff anyway, because they might set off an alarm. So instead, he paused for a second and pressed the shining button that closed the elevator doors. Then he continued, almost finishing the rigid circle he had now carved into the ceiling. Then he force jumped through the hole, only just fitting through until he was placed on top of the elevator with the wires and brakes exposed to him. He concentrated and closed his eyes, took a deep breathe and held his hand out, he had to concentrate to make sure he was accurate with his feelings. He started to loosen the breaks so he slowly lost altitude. If he went too much, it could kill him, if he went too slow, the safety alarm might turn on and stop the elevator from moving all together. He went for exactly 30% brake power, so he could stop it when he hit the bottom, but so he got there fast. He was losing altitude relatively quickly, but he was safe, so long as he could sense the bottom. He kept falling, but still kept his footing using the force, it was coming, the bottom was approaching quickly.

*SCREEEEECH*. The brakes were forced on, he had almost hit the rock bottom, but the doorway had a tiny bit exposed that he could crawl through. He went onto his stomach and started pulling himself through the doorway. This was the bottom floor that he had just landed on gracefully. He didn't know if he should be here, but he clearly wasn't wanted as a large, deep roar came from ahead...

[member="Vorkaliin Barass"][member="Ivory Stroud"][member="Candez Stoon"][member="Colin Ransik"]@Ahtemis@Nico Akirian@Dyxraa@Atlas Darclynn[member="Xiang Vang"]

 

[Nico Akirian]

Quite randomly, every red dot on the blueprint map suddenly vanished except one. Nico would analyze this last dot further, to see it was somewhere on the last level. He's rush over to a nearby elevator, and look for the button to hit to take him to the lowest level. He'd search, but be disappointing when Nico found no button. He'd examine the turbolift's blueprints further to see it indeed was connected to a lower level, but had no button. This intrigued Nico. It was clear there were two options to get to this level, but either way Nico was going to get there.

He'd look up and see an opening in the top of the turbolift, where the shaft could be accessed along with the brakes. Nico punched out the opening and jumped up, standing on top of the turbolift. It shook somewhat, but remained still. Nico would pull out a small holographic device and open up a control panel on the top of the turbolift next to him. He'd mess around with some settings through a holographic menu on the device, and then he'd attach the round small device to the inside of the control panel.

He'd take a deep breath, then take out one of his daggers and he'd cut the wiring holding the turbolift still. A very loud screech could be heard as Nico and the turbolift plummeted downwards. He'd watch the blueprints to see where he was. As he'd be flying down, when he hit the level above the last level he'd hit the button on the device he attached to the control panel. An electric surge could be seen, and the turbolift would freeze. Nico would hop back down into the elevator, as it glided down to the last level. A ding would be heard, and the doors would open. He'd walk out, and be greeted by @Equinox.

Nico would say nothing, but he'd look at the person. His mask, carrying no expression for Nico.

 

[Kyle Torchwood]

She was pulling him, again. When this was all over Colin was going to have to make sure [member="Ivory Stroud"] was clear that this was not okay. Colin was not okay with women telling him what to do, and wouldn’t even be on the ship if it weren’t on a job for his father. One thing about Colin that was somewhat commendable was how loyal he was to his family. The Ransik crime family was thick, and no one crossed them, not even their flesh and blood, especially their flesh and blood.

He just shrugged as Ivory went to work. Leaning back against the wall, he pulled out cigara number 2. The man was going to die of lung cancer or he’d get killed. Colin wanted a violent death, men of violence like him often did.

“So you know what it is I do... not hard. Your turn. What is it you do. What got you the invite,” he asked as the elevator closed and they began to descend. It seemed the ship was a mystery. There would be no time to solve it though as suddenly the breaks were activated and they stopped suddenly.

Colin hit the floor, his cigarette squashing beneath him.

“Well, chit...”

Colin got up and muscled the door open. They were almost to the bottom, so, he jumped the rest of the way before Ivory could push him.