The Last Ossein

[Triter Zone]

[Near the planet Seylidtz, outer reaches of the Telerik System.]

"You're outnumbered five to one, pup! Power down your guns, you're worth more alive anyway!"
It was times like this that Triter Zone, weary from a long hyperspace jump aboard his cramped space fighter and in no mood for combat, almost wished he hadn't decided to ditch his last employer in the middle of a fight.
Ever since his brief adventure aboard a derelict Clone Wars-era space station, the Amaran space pirate had fought off several hit squads dispatched by his irate former boss, an inept pirate commodore who had promised the moons of Yavin but had delivered precisely kark all. Triter supposed he could understand why the man was upset; he had delivered his notice during and then shot his way through friendly forces out of a pitched space battle, albeit one against the automated static defenses of an abandoned space station, not exactly the gang's finest moment. Even so, could he really be blamed?
Proof of the good Commodore's ineptitude; you'd think he would stop hiring pilots to go after me after I shot down the first three teams.
Triter thumbed on his comm, giving a frustrated sigh.
"This couldn't wait, could it?!"
The instantaneous reply was a stream of laser fire across Triter's nose, meant to intimidate him. The young pirate responded deftly, heeling his ship away from the enemy shots and looping around to come at them.
"Take it easy, kid! You gotta know when you're beat!"
Triter shut off the comm, shaking his head.
Where does the Commodore find these guys?

[Blackrow Hyperlines Freight Terminal, orbiting the planet currently known as Parneauvia, inner reaches of the Telerik System; some time later.]

It was a few minutes and several micro-jumps later that Triter, before tired and now exhausted, brought his RGR-42 Scrimshaw into one of the Blackrow Hyperlines Freight Terminal's cavernous docking bays. He was directed to a berth for his ship by a harried Ossein aerospace traffic controller, landing the comparatively tiny craft between two ancient bulk freighters and disembarking with a deep sigh of relief.
It was good to be standing on solid ground again, even if he was aboard a space station.
Triter stretched expansively, working out the kinks that three straight days cooped up in a starfighter cockpit had given him. It was a state of affairs he was used to, to be sure, but it was still unpleasant.
"One side fuzzy!"
Reactions sharpened by his earlier fight, Triter nimbly dodged out of the way of a speeding grav-truck despite his extreme weariness, sending a string of curses after the driver. With a grumble, he walked back over to his fighter, reaching into a pocket of the cockpit and withdrawing his green thermal wrap, which he put on over his grey flight-suit, wrapping it around himself like a floor-length cloak. Keeping an eye out for other speeding repulsor vehicles, Triter crossed the hangar bay and entered one of the big concourses which ran through most of the station.
I need a drink. Triter thought to himself. And then I need a room and some sleep... lots of sleep.

The young vulpinoid found the drink easily enough, following the concourse and stepping into the first cantina he saw without roaring drunk aliens lurching around the doors. It was called the Picaroon's Rest, a prominent two-level structure standing in the middle of the thoroughfare, with what seemed a well-behaved collection of patrons ordering food and drinks to go from the ground floor kitchen.
"Bar's up there?" Triter asked one of the cooks, who responded with a nod and a jab of a greasy spatula toward a curving flight of stairs. Waving gratefully, the young pirate climbed, reaching a relatively sedate circular bar at the top.
Clambering up onto a bar-stool, the Amaran ordered from the antique-looking bartender droid.
"Syrspirit. I hear the local labels are good; I'm celebrating survival, so I guess I'll spring."
The droid turned away, selecting a bottle from the wall behind him.
"If you're celebrating, might I suggest making that an Old Fashioned?"
Triter raised an eyebrow, glanced around, and nodded.
"Yeah, I'll do that."
Within a few moments, the droid slid a tumbler in front of Triter, which the young pirate picked up, examined briefly, and sipped from. Both his eyebrows lifted, and he looked appreciatively at the droid before sipping again, giving a sigh of contentment as he felt the alcohol wash out the tension built up from his long flight.
The little vulpinoid - who many species would never have expected to see at a bar - looked around, taking in the other patrons. Many of them looked tough, and important; as Triter had expected from the relative calm of the place, most of those in attendance seemed to be the higher ups in the various criminal organizations which operated out of the terminal. The vulpine even recognized a few of them; canny customers, those.
There were a few other travelers, like himself, but he seemed to be in the minority.
Mentally shrugging, he took another sip from his tumbler.
Wonder if any of them know who I used to work for?

 

[Mayumi Kochi]

The back corner of the cantina was partially obscured by a wall which hid the dark haired woman quite well. Her fingers tapped impatiently against the table as she listened to one of the various crime lords talk. "Kochi, I know you are knew in these parts so we will give you a warning this time. That sector is our territory and we don't appreciate you encroaching even if your spice is the best on the market currently. However, we are willing to work with you. Maybe let you do a few raids for us in return for not killing you today," one of the men said with a sneer.

With a bright smile, Mayumi sat back further in her seat. Her fingers never stopped tapping. "It's funny you see, it sounds like to me that what you really want is to control my trade and let me work for you without being paid. Now I don't take to kindly to that. I never work for free and I also would never work for you. Any of you. So here's how it is going to work; either you let me keep doing what I'm doing or I kill you thus taking over your sector. What's your choice?"

"You are crazy if you think..." The crime lord never got to finish his sentence because Mayumi had reached over and stabbed him in the throat. As the man gurgled, she looked at the remaining two men. "Continue what you are doing," one of them finally said getting up cautiously and leaving the cantina. Well that worked.

Getting up, she walked over to the bar and ordered a whiskey.

[member="Triter Zone"]

 

[Triter Zone]

[member="Mayumi Kochi"]

Triter glanced up when a raven-haired Human female approached, taking a seat at the bar and ordering a whiskey. His ear perked as he heard two beings moving to leave the cantina, glancing behind him to see the slumping form of another human at a back table, gurgling his last through a profusely bleeding neck wound.
The other patrons were studiously minding their own business.
Triter had never been much for leaving well enough alone, he thought ruefully to himself as he turned to raise his tumbler to the female with a humorless smile.
"I'm just going to assume he had that coming. Most of us do."
He took a long sip from his drink and exhaled, already starting to feel the small amount of alcohol due to his light body mass.
"Personally, though, I prefer a molecular stiletto to a vibroblade; no power pack for a weapon detector to find..."

Meanwhile, in another part of the station, a shuttle was arriving from out of system, coming into land at a private hangar bay and disgorging a single passenger, plus his two bodyguards. As they descended the boarding ramp, an obsequious man in a suit approached, bowing deferentially.
"Welcome aboard the Terminal, Mister-"
"I told you no names."
"Ah! S-Sorry, sir. Er... this way."
The man and his bodyguards followed their guide into the station, passing through a VIP lobby which had seen better days and entering a shabby turbolift. They were quickly whisked down toward the station's lower levels, and after shunting to several different shafts, were deposited in what appeared to be a large warehouse area.
The man and his bodyguards stepped out; their guide attempted to follow, but was shoved back inside by one of the bodyguards, who pressed a button on the turbolift's inside panel and sent the man on a long trip back up through the shafts.
The man and his guards stood alone for several moments, before a light flicked on in a supervisor's office at the back of the room. The door of the office hissed open, and another man exited, quickly coming forward and bowing deeply to the new arrival.
"Your excellency! We are honored by your presence."
The man nodded, a cold smile on his lips as he looked around the warehouse. Huge stacks of shipping containers were piled around the room, tended by loader droids who moved about slowly. Near the office, a freight turbolift was being loaded for a trip to one of the hangar bays high above.
"Yes... everything seems to be on schedule, but I'd like a report right from you before I commit to my plans. How goes it?"
The manager bowed again, and indicated the bustling droids.
"We acquired the last of the inventory just last week, excellency. I'm having it loaded onto out bulk transports, pending your orders to depart, of course."
"Of course."
The man looked up at the soaring stacks of crates, nodding slowly.
"We will proceed as planned, then. Make sure our operatives are clear on their duties, and begin implementation at 1300 hours tomorrow. It should not take long."
He looked around again, gritting his teeth.
"And I will finally be rid of a mistake I made all those years ago..."

 

[Mayumi Kochi]

This was new.

It was a talking fox. The pirate captain had seen a lot in her day but this was definitely new. What was the species called again, it was on the tip of her tongue. Vulpix, Vulcan? No those weren't right.

Trying to gain her composure she smiled, "yes, he did deserve it. Most people I kill do." Unsure how to continue with the little creature, she moved ran her hands through her hair and ordered another whiskey. "Drink?"

[member="Triter Zone"]

 

[Triter Zone]

[member="Mayumi Kochi"]

Triter gave a small smile, holding up his own drink and letting the ice clink in the tumbler. He took another sip, savoring the mahogany liquid as it slid down his throat.
"Thanks, but I'm covered for now." He replied, nodding toward the bottle behind the bar. "Have you tried the local syrspirit? Good stuff; they age it 40 years in Brylark barrels. You don't find it so much outside this system, mainly due to the fact that Blackrow clamped down on the export market and there isn't a new vintage ready to go out yet."
The young Amaran shrugged.
"Ah, sorry. This stuff can make me talkative... name's Triter, if that makes it any less awkward."

 

[Mayumi Kochi]

"My name is Mayumi," she replied. Really she just wanted to pet the fox creature but she knew enough to know that doing so would be vulgar. At least this time someone wasn't attempting to kill her like all the other times she had been in a cantina over the past couple months.

"I have always been a Corellian whiskey person myself but I imagine with recent events it is rather hard to come by," it made her sad to think of all that whiskey that had been destroyed when the planet had been ripped apart.

"So, what's your business in these parts if you don't mind me asking?"

[member="Triter Zone"]

 

[Triter Zone]

[member="Mayumi Kochi"]

Triter smiled, nodding in greeting to the larger being. At the mention of Corellia, however, his ears drooped slightly, and he took a swallow from his glass.
"Yeah... damn shame about that. I know a lot of Corellians; decent folk."
The young vulpine shook his head, looking back over at Mayumi with a friendly and inquisitive gaze.
"But anyway, it's good to meet you! Good to meet anyone not trying to kill me lately, really."
He grinned a little, giving a stretch and a wide yawn. The alcohol was relaxing him; once he finished his drink, he had intended to find a good hotel straight away, but he supposed he could keep himself awake for a pleasant conversation, if one was to be had.
"You could say I'm returning to my roots; well, the roots of someone I knew well. Not sure what I'll find now that I'm here, but I didn't have anything better to do."
He sipped from his glass.
"And apparently neither does my last employer, so I've been dodging his headhunters ever since I left his merry band. Annoying, but so far they're nothing I can't handle."
Ears perking back up slightly, Triter canted his head inquisitively at the Human. He had a sincere, almost boyish charm to him, belying the steel that lurked just beneath the surface.
"What about you? I understand the Terminal isn't usually the best place to be for a pretty face of your species."

 

[Mayumi Kochi]

The former pirate queen had a bad feeling about this. [member="Triter Zone"] talked about having headhunters after him and that his old employer wasn't happy with him. If the pattern over the last couple months held true then this might get interesting.

"I'm glad you are getting back to your roots. It is important to stay true to who you are even when you have been away from home such a long time," she pondered thinking of where she came from and how she wished to go back. "I am here to do some business," she threw a glance at the crime boss who was by now dead. "It seems like I have gotten a new contract or at least an agreement that people will stay out of my way."

 

[Triter Zone]

[member="Mayumi Kochi"]

Triter smiled, nodding and taking another sip of his drink; he had nearly finished the tumbler and was contemplating a refill. Glancing back at the table the human had come from, he noted that the crime lord had stopped gurgling.
The young Amaran shook his head, looking at his glass.
"In point of fact, though, it's not my own past I've come here to revisit; more... my mentor. As the Corellians would say, he earned his Blood Stripes here resisting the Blackrow invasion, taught me everything I know."
Triter wondered briefly if his vague description might still tell Mayumi who he was talking about. There hadn't been many combatant survivors of the Blackrow Hyperlines invasion of Osseinium, at least not on the losing side, and nearly all had joined Captain Krayd Hasperre's crew afterward. He was, after all, already hailed as one of the great pirates of the age, despite his early demise.
I sort of doubt she would recognize me as his second mate, but still.
"Like I said, not sure what I'll find now that I'm here, but I think it might be interesting to see where the man I knew came from."
He managed another smile, shrugging.
"But anyway, always good to have new business; I must say, I've not had much success with that lately."
He sipped his drink, raising his brow inquisitively.
"If you don't mind my asking, what line of work are you in?"

 

[Mayumi Kochi]

"I'm the pirate captain of the ship Juniper," she said with a matter of fact tone. "Currently I've been dealing spice and some small raids but i'm working towards a larger goal." It was hard to contain the anger that wanted to fill her voice. This dimension may not know her name but they would soon.

"If you are looking for passage or maybe some work I would be happy to have you aboard," she said with a smile. The little fox [member="Triter Zone"] was cordial and Mayumi liked him. He was a criminal and that meant that they had something in common.

 

[Triter Zone]

[member="Mayumi Kochi"]

Triter raised his eyebrows, taking another sip from his drink, nearly finishing it. He'd initially pegged the young human as having a similar occupation to his own, but he was impressed.
"The Juniper, hm?" He replied, crossing his arms on the bar as he looked over at Mayumi. "I think I might know of your ship... bit of a reputation. You might be coming up in the Galaxy if word is to be believed."
Triter chose not to mention what else he had heard whispered about the Juniper's captain, but decided not to get into it; most of it was too fantastic to be taken seriously. He did decide it was safe to reveal his own story; maybe there was an ally to be had in the fellow pirate.
"I'll keep your offer in mind! You seem a damn sight better than my last employer."
He took a last swallow of his drink, enjoying the buzz from the alcohol. It was making him talkative, but the young Amaran had been drinking with pirate crews since well before he legally should have. He knew how to handle his booze better than most.
Holding out his glass, he was given a refill by the bartender droid, which he sipped from.
"Myself, I've been a little bit of everything for... well, about the last six years. I guess you could say I was raised by the Ossein Pirates... their leader, Krayd Hasperre, used to be part of the military of... Parneauvia now, I guess. Before Blackrow."
Suddenly looking a bit melancholy, Triter looked down into his drink, sighing.
"He was... well... they all were like... family, I guess. Krayd's dead now, and the gang was wiped out by the corporations. As far as I know, I'm the only one still alive who still counts himself an Ossein."
The silver signet ring on Triter's right hand glinted in the cantina's moody lighting, and the young Amaran self-consciously clasped his left hand over it. Even so, when he had declared himself an Ossein, there was a kind of stubborn pride in his voice, and a glint of fire in his dark eyes.
"So, that's why I've come here. Osseinium is where my mentor started. I figure it's as good a place as any to start again."
He turned to Mayumi, the fire still in his gaze.
"I might be the only Ossein, but on my bones, I won't be the last."

 

[Mayumi Kochi]

Mayumi made a mental note to have Jeffry look up the ship and captain that [member="Triter Zone"] mentioned. She had no idea what or who he was talking about which made her defenses go up. Lack of knowledge left her and her crew vulnerable, that was something the dark haired pirate would not tolerate.

"Interesting," Mayumi said taking a sip of her drink. "It must be rather lonely, being the last Ossein."

As she spoke the cantina entrance opened as a small group walked in. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up which caused her to caste a wary eye over the group. Everyone was a potential enemy when you were a pirate.

 

[Triter Zone]

[member="Mayumi Kochi"]

Triter nodded, taking another long sip from his drink. Glancing behind him, he noticed a service droid throwing the body of the dead crime boss over its shoulder and carrying it away.
"I can't say I've ever truly gotten used to it." The Amaran admitted, watching the droid and its burden depart. "The few times I've joined a crew... well, for various reasons it's rarely worked out."
Triter often wondered about his bad luck serving larger organizations; inevitably, he found himself an outcast; sometimes it was simply bad luck or rotten politics that couldn't be his fault, but then again he always chafed at the idea of being the inferior of another. He would serve beside, but never below; that was how the Ossein had worked, and when other groups tried to impose a hierarchy on him, it rarely went well.
Suddenly, the young pirate stiffened.
A trio of sentients had entered the bar, two tough-looking bodyguards escorting an old but hardly wizened human male. The man had chocolate brown skin creased with wrinkles, with hair and eyes both a steely gray. Despite his probable age, he looked sharp and alert.
The old man raised a hand dismissively and his two bodyguards took up station by the door. He walked across the cantina to the bar, and Triter could not help but notice how most of the crime lords seated around the establishment squirmed uneasily in their chairs as he passed.
"Good evening."
Triter watched as the man sat a few stools down the bar to his right. The bartender droid greeted the man with a drink, obviously knowing what the man preferred and asking no questions. It was, Triter mentally remarked, a syrspirit old fashioned, just like his own.
The Amaran belatedly realized that the man had addressed him, and felt an involuntary chill. He nodded back to him.
"Good evening."
Triter tried to stop himself staring as the man took a long swallow of his drink, smiling to himself before turning back to Triter and Mayumi.
"You know, I don't believe I've seen either of you in here before. New arrivals?"
Triter nervously sipped his own drink, nodding slowly.
"That's right... I just arrived a few hours ago."
The man smiled again, and Triter found the expression oddly chilling, despite what should have been good humor in the man's features.
"Well then! Allow me to welcome you to the Terminal. And to welcome you, my dear!"
Triter noticed the man's gaze had shifted past him to Mayumi, looking cordial.
"It's not often these cold durasteel decks are blessed with such a pretty face!"

 

[Mayumi Kochi]

[member="Triter Zone"] was obviously just as uncomfortable with this situation as Mayumi was. Now, the pirate captain had not been stupid. With everything that had happened in the past couple months it would be unwise to travel outside the ship alone. Four of her crew members were in the cantina with them. If some trouble arose then they would intervene if necessary.

Turing to the newcomer, Mayumi flashed a pleasant smile. "Now now, everyone must know that a pretty face can hide so much," she sipped the whiskey slowly looking back at Triter and giving him a wink. She liked the fox, she didn't like the new guy. The hand that was out of the man's sight curled around the knife hilt located in a belt.

 

[Triter Zone]

[member="Mayumi Kochi"]

Triter caught Mayumi's wink, though despite the look she gave him, the young vulpine felt less than reassured. His mind was scrambling; he knew this human from somewhere, but he was older now than he had been... whenever that had been, and it threw off the Amaran's recollection.
He was someone important, but kriff, who?!
Meanwhile, the old man gave a chuckle, swiveling his seat around to lean casually on the bar. He sipped casually from his drink.
Triter was reminded of old holograms he had seen of General Lando Calrissian, an ancient hero of the old Rebel Alliance and later New Republic. The striking difference was that where Lando had been wily but charming, this man had let life turn him cold, calculating, manipulative; he hid it very well, but there was just something to him... and he was so familiar!
"Well, you know you're quite right, my dear."
Triter clutched his tumbler, trying to keep from gripping it hard enough to crack the thick glass. The drink within was utterly forgotten.
The old man flashed what was certainly meant to be a disarming look at Mayumi.
"Beauty can be opaque, but it needn't be. I'm afraid I've been rude."
The old man took a sweeping bow from his seat.
"My name is Paven Starline, and in the interest of breaking the ice, I'll tell you that I run the Starline Syndicate. I make it a habit to introduce myself to anyone of note who happens to visit the Terminal."
Triter glanced between Paven and Mayumi nervously, noting with little surprise that all of the older human's attention seemed to be focused on the female, either forgetting or not caring about the Amaran who sat between them. It was something of a relief; the brief period beneath Paven's scrutiny had been truly unsettling.
Triter looked down at his drink, ice clinking in the glass as it melted. He tried to place the name the old man had given in his memory, and couldn't; an assumed name, perhaps?
The old man continued.
"I understand, miss, that you came aboard a pirate ship; one my people have not seen here before, or heard much about, other than that you have a tremendous success rate and have claimed a reputation no-one in my employ can confirm."
Triter was sure, at this point, that the old man had forgotten about him entirely. Glancing back at the doors, he noted the two huge bodyguards flanking the exit; good money said they were there as much to keep anyone from leaving as to protect their boss.
Besides that, he didn't like the idea of leaving Mayumi apparently alone - he had no notion of her own well-concealed bodyguards - with a strange male who seemed to know far too much about her. He found he liked her; she had been one of the few people he had talked to in weeks not trying to kill or imprison him, after all.
Triter took a long swallow of his drink when he turned back around. He didn't feel like a fight was going to break out, but there was trouble brewing, he knew it...

 

[Mayumi Kochi]

"Starline..." she mused to herself. "Sounds like a fake name." It really did.

Not moving to look at the man, Mayumi sighed. "It is rude to interrupt two people who are having a conversation just to ask questions regarding idle gossip. Now, this can go a few different ways but I would prefer if you just left. The other ways aren't nearly as pleasant and I just got this shirt so it would be a shame if it got ruined by filthy blood like yours."

Fingers tightened around the blade hilt out of sight.

[member="Triter Zone"]

 

[Lord Tarantula]

The Blackrow Terminal. This wasn't the first time Kyale N'gen visited the station, and it definitely wouldn't be the last. The Arkanian Tech-Lord was known here, as much as anywhere else, by the alias he so loved: Lord Tarantula. Although the Techno Union had a variety of interesting locations for somebody like Kyale to work in, he always preferred testing his cybernetics on himself in active situations. This was one of those situations.

When he stepped into the bar, his arms were not yet in view of the two thugs near the doorway. With a rough shove, the man on Kyale's left tried to push him out the door. And then a metallic clang rang out as one of the lower two cybernetic arms fused to the Tarantula's back held him in place.

Clicking his tongue, Kyale watched as one of his arms came forward with a tungsten spike as long as the thug's forearm sticking out of the middle of it. The Tarantula grinned and kicked the man's legs out from under him. The other thug gasped as the other three cybernetic arms came into his view. He knew the Tarantula. He knew how strong the cybernetic limbs looked. But most of all, he knew how much a big metal spike to the chest would hurt.

With a theatrical noise like several hundred knuckles cracking, the four metal arms stretched out and then retracted back to their normal shape and length. The Tarantula looked at the gasping man, took off his sunglasses, and winked at him, laughing, "Hi there, kid. How about you buy me several hundred drinks, and I forget this ever happened."

Kyale looked around and saw him... That bloody Starline guy... So much for a cheery meal, after all...

[member="Mayumi Kochi"] [member="Triter Zone"]

 

[Triter Zone]

[member="Mayumi Kochi"]
[member="Lord Tarantula"]

Triter liked to think that, had he the backup he was in hindsight certain the young pirate captain had close at hand, he could have stood up as easily as Mayumi just had to this Starline character, even had his flunkies still been guarding the exit. People tended to underestimate him for his small size, which he had learned to exploit.
But something about the man before him had short-circuited his normal confidence, and he cursed himself for it; he wasn't giving a very good account of himself in front of a potential employer.
In response to Mayumi's words, Paven Starline narrowed his eyes.
"My dear lady, might I say that your own manners hardly match your looks." The old man said. "I was prepared to confirm your story the easy way, but I'm afraid-"
There was a sudden yelp and a crash from the doorway, drawing both Triter and Paven's gaze quickly to it.
Triter watched as a humanoid with what seemed to be four highly articulated cybernetic arms roughly slammed one of Starline's bodyguards into the doorway, threatening the other one away as he approached to try and help his colleague.
To his right, Triter heard the unpleasant grinding of teeth from Starline as he watched the augmented humanoid enter the bar. Attention distracted away from him and Mayumi, the young Amaran watched the old man stand, looking with barely contained fury at the newcomer.
"I'm afraid the bar is closed, sir." Starline intoned firmly, looking angrily at what Triter guessed was an Arkanian. "I was just having a private conversation with my friend here, and I would appreciate if you left my men alone. It would be... the healthy choice."

 

[Mayumi Kochi]

"I am not your friend," Mayumi snapped back at the Starline guy. The metal arm guy was completely terrifying but at least he didn't seemed focused on her and [member="Triter Zone"].

Starline wasn't one to be making threats. [member="Lord Tarantula"] could kill all of them very quickly if he wanted to. Looking around, her crew had their hand's on weapons but made no attempt to move. There was probably a back way out of here but they might not be fast enough to make it.

"You know, you two seem to have some stuff you need to work out," Mayumi said with a bright smile. "So why don't me and my fox friend here go and the two of you can have a conversation."

 

[Lord Tarantula]

Kyale looked around the rest of the room again, and then at Starline. Annoying bugger. He grabbed a large bottle of cognac off the shelves behind the bar, grinning at the old man the whole time. He sat down next to the fox man and the woman next to him, shaking his head. Let them all stare at him. It was almost as enjoyable as staring at people himself. He was also damn sure that he'd never seen anything quite like the little fox.

He looked Starline up and down, while pointing at a sandwich on the menu that seemed to have a lot of bacon in it. Lord Tarantula wanted bacon, gorrammit. The old man seemed to mutter something, but the cyborg ignored him completely and smiled at the two spacers, replying, "Nah, stay. Starline has something better to do than annoy me, anyway. Plus, I don't like eating alone."

"Name's Tarantula, by the way."

[member="Mayumi Kochi"] [member="Triter Zone"]