Captain of The Brimming Glass, a Zoner Whale, for fifteen years, Bernard Norton had as many people as possible aboard his ship for a cup of tea. It was almost like a moving Freeport, allowing all who wished for a safe, quiet and friendly to have their wish granted. Bernard, Catherine (his wife), and the crew were all the friendliest people, oblivious to the hatred of the world around them.
After The Brimming Glass was destroyed by pirates, Bernard returned to his Bretonian life in Bowex. But even with his new Shire, Bowex)Chamberlain, he still invites all aboard for a cup of tea. Kusarians, Corsairs, Outcasts, anybody who seeks a friendly chat and some of the best tea in Sirius is welcome. The ship flies the same trade route, and all are welcome to enter and leave as they please. A Bowex Freeport.
* * *
The Tea Room was a large space. Bernard had had it installed in the cargo hold, along with several mooring ports on the outside of his ship. He earned less on each run regarding money, but he always earned more through the company of others. A chat and a cuppa was all he wanted.
The floor was an antique rug, with black and red patterns dancing along the range of the Tea Room. The walls were wooden panels, a dark brown. There was no protection for them, so the dark wood gave no sort of shine as laminated woods did.
There were seven fireplaces, all burning constantly due to a continuously input of gas to the flame. There were also coal piles close to each one and metal prodding sticks, if people wished to have the experience of grooming the flame to their liking. Three large antique armchairs surrounded each fireplace, with indescribable yet identical patterns covering each in a variety of colours.
In the far corner were the actual drinks. Bowex)Chamberlain held in stock some of the best teas of Sirius, all elaborately displayed with labels describing their taste, so people could choose what they liked. There were also varying alcoholic drinks, such as brandy and scotch, held in glass flasks decorated in patterns similar to the floor. China tea cups, saucers, and glasses lined a solid wooden table the same dark brown as the walls. None were out of place.
There were no windows, the only light in the room was from the fireplaces. A silent air-conditioning kept the room at a moderate temperate, which kept the occupants relaxed and comfortable in their armchairs.
It was nice, friendly place to be. Free from the violence of the world, if only until you had to leave.
Bernard allowed himself to almost become one with the armchair. To collapse into it and allow the full cushioning to make him comfortable. He stopped moving, except to occasionally lift up a cup of tea from a coaster resting on the armchair's right arm and take a sip.
Frank Sinatra was singing softly in the background with one of his classics, "Fly me to the moon". Bernard loved the old music, and always had a song playing when aboard his Shire. Bernard chuckled softly when a thought struck him, and sipped some more tea. It would be unbelievably easy to fly him to the moon of a planet now.
The Tea Room was empty at that moment, except for Bernard. He watched the closest fire dance like an orchestrated routine within the confines of the stone fireplace. He would be told if the ship came across any who wished to come aboard for some tea, but for some reason he wished to have a surprise. A stranger to walk into the room, and for Bernard to see them for the first time with his own eyes, except through the transmission screen which gave a picture of them.
He took another sip, and wondered if anybody would come for a cup of tea today.
[17:45:39] Wolfs Ghost (Murphy): Tom, you have problems. Go kill yourself.
[19:25:12] Johnny (Jam): Tomtom, I will beat you with a spoon.
[14:22:56] Prarabdh Thakur: KILL HIM WITH A SHEEP.
[17:40:48] Eagle (Junes): Tom should be slapped with a spoon.
[11:32:18] Warspite: Thank you for being so awesome Tom. <3
[18:17:36] Metano: I love you tomtom
[20:06:24] Warspite: I will seriously give you epic head.
' Wrote:Edit: also, Tomtomrawr, fappin' like a boss.
Kiriko sat in the cockpit of the Clytemnestra as it scanned across radio frequencies listening for signs of disturbance, piecing together parts of conversations and making relevant updates to suggest possible courses of action in the event the intercepted transmission was of hostile intent.
She slept soundly in the mild ambient hum of the Clytemnestra's internal workings, her AI, "Cly" watching over her vital signs, making sure she stayed healthy during long patrols. After just having done her medicine she was prone to being woozy and dizzy for around a half an hour until the medicine properly kicked in. The Clytemnestra picked up a song on sensors for a few moments, kiriko stirred and sat up dizzily, slowly rubbing her eyes and speaking in a light and confused tone.
'mmn.. what is, that sound, Cly?.. Music?::it is being transmitted from a nearby ship::"mmm?....its, nice... is the sender vessel friendly? Cly?" *an image of a thumbs up appeared on the screen for a few moments* ::the vessel is showing Borderworld Export transponders::
Kiriko stopped talking for a few moments, blinking slowly she sat sleepily and listened to the music quietly as it played massaging her arm implant gently. Stirring a little as the Clytemnestra lowered her police issue helmet down from the cockpit roof, Kiriko fastened her straps and put her helmet on.
"What is the vessels name, Cly?" There was a short pause as the Clytemnestra accessed the vessels Credential Files, "is it Keynes-san? You remember that one right? Roy-senchou's biiig shire.." the Clytemnestra was finished with its data retrieval ::the Bowex Vessel displays the name "Chamberlain" in its Credential Information Log::
Kiriko deflated a little and a feeling of sadness filling her slowly, "then, it's not Roy-senchou.. I miss him.." there was a few moments silence and the AI spoke again, ::the ship manifest states that the vessel is currently off duty and is welcoming people aboard for Tea:: Kiriko raised her head a little, "is.. it ok if we go too? Cly?" Kiriko asked nervously, the AI spoke almost as if to cheer her up ::we are on very good terms with many of Borderworld Exports Captains::, Kiriko shuffled uncomfortably "but.. I don't know this captain, what if he's.. mean and calls me.. names, I don't want that.. Cly" *a bright animated sun was shown on the display for a moment* as Cly attempted to cheer her up.
Kiriko looked at the animation and giggled a little smiling brightly and nodding, "ok Cly.. if you say so, shall we go and see?" *a thumbs up Was shown* the ship changed direction to face the location of the signal, ::heading set, engines are ready::'let's go Cly!' Kiriko said cheerfully. The engines charged and they darted towards the Chamberlain at sublight speed.
The Chamberlain started as a spec in the distance, and grew into a giant spectacle that made kiriko very excited, "wooow, Cly look! it's a Shire too, just like Keynes-san!"::we have docking clearance, Locking control surfaces for auto dock procedures:: a cluster of tiny metalic objects were released and formed a road that lit up showing the way into the ship. The Clytemnestra moved slowly down the lit road towards the dock port of the Shire Container ship, it entered the vessel and the light from outside was shut off as the doors closed and the lights of inside the dock illuminated.
Cly set the ship down gently and made sure the atmosphere was suitable for kiriko to depart, after all checks were green it took Kiriko's helmet off as she undud her straps. "w..well, we made it Cly.. hehe"::docking completed, atmosphere checks green:: Kiriko smiles looking out into the dock from her cockpit looking at all the big cranes and heavy equipment around the inside of the transport. Kiriko unhooked Cly's PDA form from the dash of the Hussar and held her tight,
"open up Cly.." The Hussar front opened immediately and allowed Kiriko to climb down slowly from the fighter craft, standing on the dock floor she shivered at the cold temperature, still holding Cly tightly Kiriko spoke quietly to it.
'A visitor? Excellent!' Bernard exclaimed happily and stood up from his armchair. Frank Sinatra still sung into the room, this time though with the classic I've got you under my skin. He moved out of the room, back into the metal interior of his ship, and reached to an intercomm. He linked it to the hangar.
'Welcome to the Chamberlain! A crew member will be around soon to escort you to the Tea Room. A pleasure to have you aboard!'
[17:45:39] Wolfs Ghost (Murphy): Tom, you have problems. Go kill yourself.
[19:25:12] Johnny (Jam): Tomtom, I will beat you with a spoon.
[14:22:56] Prarabdh Thakur: KILL HIM WITH A SHEEP.
[17:40:48] Eagle (Junes): Tom should be slapped with a spoon.
[11:32:18] Warspite: Thank you for being so awesome Tom. <3
[18:17:36] Metano: I love you tomtom
[20:06:24] Warspite: I will seriously give you epic head.
' Wrote:Edit: also, Tomtomrawr, fappin' like a boss.
Kiriko was startled as the PA speakers popped a little, the captains voice echoing around the big empty room, she shuffled back tentatively clutching Cly tightly bumping into the ship, she turned round and saw the front still open. Kiriko contemplated climbing back into the Clytemnestra and taking off again quickly, until she heard a voice approach from behind her.
A Member of the Chamberlain crew approached, Kiriko hid cautiously on the otherside of the Clytemnestra, 'hello?.. Hello? are you here?' a soft female voice came closer, the sound of her shoes clicked onto the metal flooring, the woman approached, she was smartly dressed -like an attendant in a posh place kiriko had seen one time on Planet Curacao- dressed in traditional Bretonian colours.
Kiriko peeked her head out slowly to take a look, the woman looked at Kiriko as she jumped and re-hid herself round the side of the spaceship. The woman smiled calmly and crouched down 'hello there... are you lost? Is your mother and father here, it's alright you can trust me'. Kiriko closed her eyes tightly in anxiety, as the woman continued to coax her to come out, 'it's alright, My names Annabelle Harris... what's your name?' Kiriko shuffled tentatively out from the side of the Clytemnestra and the woman smiled warmly at the small girl, 'M..my name is.. is.. Ins... Inspector Kiriko, Hidamari'
Kiriko shuffled and kept herself small, not looking at the woman in the eyes, her palms sweating a little with Cly in her grasp, the woman looking at her police uniform and assuming it was a fancy dress, 'I hope you don't want to arrest me' she said softly and amused, Kiriko shook her head slowly, looking at Cly in her hands and then pointed Cly at Annabelle, 'freeze' Kiriko said in her bravest voice. Annabelle chucked a little, assuming Kiriko was playing she held up her hands, 'I give up!', Cly was faced towards Annabelle by a nervous Kiriko. Using its camera Cly began to run a scan, saving Annabelle's photograph and running it though sophisticated facial recognition software.
Annabelle tilted her head a little as she was forced to stay still for a little longer than she would consider a fun game, Cly finished its scan and displayed thumbs up indicating that Annabelle was not a known criminal. Annabelle frowned mildly, confused as Kiriko lowered the PDA containing the 'Cly' AI. 'Are you alright sweet heart? It's ok, come with me and I'll find your parents soon, they may be in the tea room already.. Ok?' Annabelle spoke calmly, lowering her hands to her lap, she raised herself and stood upright, 'come on sweetie, let's go, everyone will be worried...' Kiriko nodded slowly and ran to Annabelle, she looked up to the woman with a bright smile shaking her head slowly, 'Okasama and Otosama aren't here..', not understanding what Kiriko meant, Annabelle smiled and began to walk towards the exit, Kiriko walked with her and spoke to the PDA in her hands, "Cly, close now, ok?", Annabelle smiled at Kiriko as she talked to the PDA, thinking that she was pretending it was a walky talky, that is until The Hussar behind them hissed and closed, shutting itself down.
Annabelle dismissed it as coincidence and led Kiriko to the Tea room.
Bernard watched Annabelle walk into the Tea Room. Hopefully with the guest. A second later he grinned as he watched his newest guest walk into the room. Could it be? No... Wait, yes, it was!
'Inspector Hidamari! A pleasure to have you aboard! Captain Bernard Norton of the Bowex Chamberlain, but please call me Bernard, everybody does!'
'She's... she's really an Inspector?' Annabelle asked in shock.
'But of course, haven't you heard of her? She's an expert pilot in her Hussar, I heard she won by herself against a gunboat!'
Annabelle turned to Kiriko, and her posture sharpened. She almost gave the young Inspector a salute. 'Of course, sorry ma'am. I'd best be off to my other duties now, Bernard.'
He asked if she could stay but she couldn't, so it was just Bernard and Kiriko alone in the Tea Room, with the music.
'So Inspector... do you like tea?'
[17:45:39] Wolfs Ghost (Murphy): Tom, you have problems. Go kill yourself.
[19:25:12] Johnny (Jam): Tomtom, I will beat you with a spoon.
[14:22:56] Prarabdh Thakur: KILL HIM WITH A SHEEP.
[17:40:48] Eagle (Junes): Tom should be slapped with a spoon.
[11:32:18] Warspite: Thank you for being so awesome Tom. <3
[18:17:36] Metano: I love you tomtom
[20:06:24] Warspite: I will seriously give you epic head.
' Wrote:Edit: also, Tomtomrawr, fappin' like a boss.
Posts: 3,370
Threads: 294
Joined: Dec 2009
Staff roles: Server Administrator
As usual, Theo was acting a bit unusual.
Unusual, this time, meant sweeping through Bretonia, system by system, sector by sector, trying to map out every nook and cranny of the rather large house. "In case I need to know later," he told himself.
However, he found something that was a tad unexpected - a Bowex ship, this far off of the tradelanes. Perhaps it was slightly off of his path, but he could always come back later, unless the coordinate plane suddenly twisted in an odd way, which would shock him little, given what he had been through recently.
He guided his ship, rather erratically, towards the Bowex vessel. His scanners detected a deviation from the normal wireframe structure of the ship - it actually had fighter docking bays installed. Well, he was running low on fuel. And he had to use the bathroom, too.
He sent out a generic "requesting docking permissions" data burst, and, to his surprise, got a positive reply. He guided his ship into the hangar manually, a bit of a deviation from most pilots - he didn't trust his autopilot one bit. Of course, some mistakes were made... but, on the whole, there was little harm done to either ship - perhaps a few scratches on the paint. As the docking bay doors closed behind him, and his ship entered the airlock, halting abruptly in the appropriate position inside the room, he disembarked his vessel, looking about somewhat suspiciously.
'Welcome to the Chamberlain!' Bernard chimed cheerily through the speakers. 'I'm sure Annabelle would be kind enough to escort you to the Tea Room while your ship is refuelled, free of charge!'
Annabelle approached the ship, her hands behind her back and a smile on her face. She didn't want to make the same mistake she had made with Inspector Hidamari. If it was a newborn baby behind the wheel of the starship, she'd sure as hell be treating it like an adult.
'Welcome to the Chamberlain, as Bernard said over the speakers. He loves using those things... Can I escort you to the Tea Room?' The man observed her suspiciously as he walked down the stepladder. He approached, arching his head to stare down as many of the corridors as possible before turning to face Annabelle. He shrugged.
'May as well.'
[17:45:39] Wolfs Ghost (Murphy): Tom, you have problems. Go kill yourself.
[19:25:12] Johnny (Jam): Tomtom, I will beat you with a spoon.
[14:22:56] Prarabdh Thakur: KILL HIM WITH A SHEEP.
[17:40:48] Eagle (Junes): Tom should be slapped with a spoon.
[11:32:18] Warspite: Thank you for being so awesome Tom. <3
[18:17:36] Metano: I love you tomtom
[20:06:24] Warspite: I will seriously give you epic head.
' Wrote:Edit: also, Tomtomrawr, fappin' like a boss.
Posts: 3,370
Threads: 294
Joined: Dec 2009
Staff roles: Server Administrator
As Theo followed the woman down the corridors and into the Tea Room, he took a chair near the captain of the vessel with a nervous smile.
"Hello, captain... my name is Theo. This is an awfully big ship you've got, here." He looked around, taking in every aspect of the room, in case something... bad happened. "In case he needed to know later."
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