trans_9 | When in rome [Semi-open]

The mission briefing was short and sweet. Planet Epicurea, breathable air, drinkable water, food that wouldn't melt your stomach, matriarchical society unusually fond of procedure and posturing. The plan was to find an object of interest (description helpfully provided by the ship), negotiate for it, then return to the rendezvous coordinates before Stacy decided to leave without them. So simple, only three crew members would be assigned to carry out the mission.

Anwei Ayles, whose negotiation skills and extensive experience dealing with alien races (especially slightly snooty ones) would no doubt prove eminently useful for the delicate nature of the bargaining that would take place,

Howard Bassem, whose intrinsic understanding of diplomacy and unorthodox means of obtaining information would smooth over any rough edges (and maybe help grease the wheels a little behind the scenes), and last of all --

[ooc -- Anyone's free to barge in during the first subthread ("Mission Briefing") if they like, the rest of the post is only Anwei, Howard, and Zouichi :) ]

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"I'd rather sleep in the shuttle," she muttered. Stay close to your method of retreat. "But as honored guests, we must of course delight in all that we are offered."

Three beds; very thoughtful. It could have been one bed and a pad on the floor for the males.

"I don't think that Stacy will understand you declining to proceed on the mission because of the length of your skirt. I would prefer you to be with us for protection, as that does seem to be your most likely reason for being chosen to come along."

"Turn this shuttle around."

Actually, the thought occurs to Zouichi that if he can figure out the controls, he can turn it around himself and then they can head back to the ship and he will not have to wear that... maid uniform.

So he marches to the console, and starts looking around for the right buttons to punch. Nope, that one ejected a funny compartment with what look like alien stethoscopes. And that one brought up a picture of some kind of Colosseum.

"What the hell are you doing?" Howard shrieks as he moves to block Zouichi from punching more buttons. "No way are you getting me a Violation from Crazy Stacy just because you don't want to wear that outfit, Zouichi. No way in hell. You're not screwing all of us over because of this."

Not that Howard wouldn't mind aborting the mission, but Stacy is scary, and he'd rather not be disappeared or tortured or whatever just because Zouichi won't play dress-up.

"Zouichi. Stop." That came out with a colder snap than she liked; the voice she would use addressing, not a friend, but a servant. Or something lower.

I'm not even off this shuttle and already I'm acting like an owner, she told herself disgustedly.

"Zouichi," she'd try to start over, "please. It's a bit of cloth, that's all. It's a disguise to let you penetrate the enemy camp. You'll wear it, and I'll wear something just as ridiculous I imagine, and we'll do the mission and leave and never, ever see these people again. What do you care what they think of your disguise? It isn't you."

What a manly shriek Howard has. But Zouichi does stop pressing buttons at random, slowly bringing his arms back to his sides. He sits back down, looking dejected.

Anwei is right. He understands. It's for the mission.

So why didn't the ship pick someone else as the third member of the team?! It's not like there aren't any other crew members perfectly capable of performing this exact same role.

He knew why. The ship hated him.

It's called puberty, Zouichi. Which you don't get to have for five years, you lucky bastard.

There's almost a trace of sympathy in his voice, although admittedly he's glad he's not the only one desperately unhappy to be here. He's just glad Anwei was capable of talking Zouichi down. "Look, this sucks. None of us want to do this. But let's just do it, get in, get out, and pretend this never happened. None of us even brought cameras."

Unless Stacy's recording this, which wouldn't be surprising. "And I'll even not make fun of you about it."

He pauses, biting his lip.

"Much."

She dropped her head and stared at the shuttle's scraped metal floor. "Look, if there was a way that I could do this on my own, I would. But Stacy sent all three of us, so she must have calculated that three of us are needed to succeed.

"I don't know if you can believe this, but I'm going to hate wearing a hat and bossing you two around. I'm going to hate it a lot. And Howard's right, we just get the Orb, bring it back, get a hero's welcome and then put this all behind us."

Thanks for that last cut, Howard. Maybe he ought to be made to wear a little skirt as well.

Zouichi is unresponsive right now. He is incommunicado. When the wheels start turning again, he'll have committed himself to the mission at all cost, and then he'll return to the ship and never think of this again.

Please feel free to make your plans without his input, Anwei and Howard.

"Or she wanted to get rid of all three of us," Howard says with a shit-eating grin that's jarringly out of place with his bitter tone. "And I'm going to hate everything about this, so we're all even. Let's try and beat the clock, even. The sooner we do this, the sooner we go home and live to do Stacy's grocery shopping on another planet."

Bring it, Anwei. Howard has no pride.

Anwei picked up the thread from the carpet and finished measuring the stolid Zouichi, then handed both threads to Howard.

"Do not get them mixed up," she warned him. "Get something for yourself, and the lowest shoes you can find for all of us; we may need to run. Get what we need and come back and - be careful. I'd come with you, but," she looked at Zouichi, "etiquette forbids that I move around without proper attire."

And etiquette can go hang, her expression suggested.

The she smiled at him, and spoke softer. "And if there's any change to speak of left over, keep it. You can be my accountant. You'll be in a better position to use it than I will."

"Yup. Wouldn't want broken ankles." He pockets the threads in his cargo shorts, along with the credits. "I'll try not to blow it all on soda and popsicles."

He chews on a hangnail until they touch down.

When in rome [Semi-open]

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