Outsider

[Laowai]

The interior of the vast hangar on the outskirts of Crete's capital city lit up brilliantly as Laowai kicked on the power control. In the Distance, the bulk of the Xibanya Nuren hung like the predatory bird it resembled, its new engines in fine working order, its hull freshly coated in the special anti weather and anti sensor lock coating that had been developed by Corsair engineers on Tripoli.
Its effectiveness was still being debated, but many Captains were using it, its cost being negligible.

The whine of a docking shuttle from outside echoed through the building and he stood in the door and watched it touch down gracefully on his small shuttle pad. Its doors hissed open and his sister Isabel, donned in a civilian flight suit climbed down the small gangplank, followed by her husband, the Libertonian trader Matthius Ren.

Laowai disliked the man, but knew he would come. It had been him after all that had brought his sister here, as he had asked him to do. Besides, actively showing his distaste for the man would immediately put his sister on the defensive, something he did not want to do.

She came forward smiling and they embraced warmly, " Well brother, I didn't expect to be here again so soon". Laowai smiled and nodded, "yes I know, things have moved at quite a pace here on Crete for once, I felt it was important that you came". She stood back and the Libertonian stood beside her, unsure of how to greet him. Ben took the initiative and nodded to him "Ren - I thank you for bringing my sister here safely; I trust the journey was without incident?"

Matthius nodded "No trouble, there weren't nuthin worth speakin' of on the way in, happy to do it."

Isabel cocked one eyebrow curiously, strange for her brother to even talk to her husband, this was definitely out of the ordinary, exactly what she had thought when Matthius had returned to Houston with Ben's request. " Well, this is interesting" she smirked, "Has becoming an Elder made you a diplomat?"

Ben squirmed and Isabel chuckled, "shall we retire to your cozy loft then?" she said a little mockingly. Laowai nodded and gestured them through the small door cut into the main hangar doors that loomed behind them, it creaked on rusty hinges as he closed it behind them and he led them through the floor space and workbenches towards the stairs to his Mezzanine.

Isabel glanced around the massive interior, noting the ships; "Donny said you built yourself a gunboat?" She asked.
As they climbed the stairs Ben replied "Yes, I did, the Outsider, shes been quite a success, much better to hit traders with."
He paused, noting the glance that Ren gave his sister, "er......those that should be hit of course." He said, slightly awkwardly looking at them both.

"Of course"... Isabel and Matthius said, Isabel with a slightly devious wink in her eye.

They went inside the mezzanine loft and Isabel sat herself down on the old and worn couch, Matthius seated himself beside her. Ben took three glasses from a table and poured everyone a draft of Baijiu, handing it to them he sat himself down in another armchair opposite.
Isabel watched her husband suppress a grimace as he took a small sip, she knew for a fact he detested the drink, but he was simply being courteous. The fact that her brother was even allowing him here, let alone giving him a drink, was extremely unusual.

"Ok Ben she said Whats going on?"

Laowai sat impassively in his chair. "You know I now sit on the council as an Elder." He said simply.

Nodding Isabel said " yes I gathered that much from the seal you sent back with Matthius - I was more than a little surprised, given the..." she paused, looking for the right words and a small sneer crossed her face; "Tolerance and open mindedness leveled at us since we came here as children", the sarcasm was unmistakable in her tone.

She had never let go of her bitterness concerning how they had been treated by other Corsairs. They had been ostracized, suspected and accused of all manner of fabrications, shunned and treated as some kind of aliens - just because of their mixed heritage. As soon as she had been able to fly and fight her own way, Isabel had left Crete, and she had made it plain she was glad to do so.
But somehow among all that, she still had a fierce pride in her Corsair heritage. It was a schism in her sentiments that often confused her brother, and others who knew her, but it was this same schism that Ben hoped to appeal to by having her here today.

Though he did understand her bitterness - he had been subjected to the same treatment, the same suspicions. Yet he now sat as an Elder in the Corsair council. "Things have changed" he said to her, "This is not the same place you left all those years ago."

She shook her head - "That badge and that robe changes the way they look at you? I dont believe it, the Corsairs are the same intolerant group of racist thugs that they have always been, Matthius gets it every time he comes here".

Ben shook his head, "No my sister, these robes dont change how they look at me, its because of the fact that they look at me differently now that I have these robes."

He took a sip of his drink, "The Corsairs do still have many issues that need to be resolved, but you and I are not outsiders here anymore, my service stands for itself, and you - are the younger sister of an Elder, and that carries with it an amount of respect."

Isabel snickered, "It does does it? Well, that's lovely, really lovely, great, thanks Crete - really, thanks for that...."
She began to feel irate, as she always did when they branched into this topic. She swigged the last of her drink and reaching to the small table between them, poured herself another. Swigging that too she continued: "Respect, fine, great, thanks Crete - So can I have my childhood back? Can I have my friends back? Can I have my goddamned Mother back?"

She sat back down. "No Ben, I'm pleased about your new situation, but there is too much water under this bridge for me."

"Now is the time for new bridges my sister." Ben said. "What was done cannot be undone - but it is not too late to do something different, to give meaning to our parents legacy, to vindicate them and us, to rise above the misdeeds of others and not be bound by them."

Matthius Ren looked uncomfortably into his half finished glass, he almost never broached this topic with his wife, it pained her, and usually him after the argument that almost always followed. He felt almost as if he was intruding, however if the Old Corsair pushed his wife too far, threats or no threats, he would end this discussion.

However, his wife broke the silence; scowling, Isabel glared across at her brother, a dark expression crossing her face:

"What do you want?" she said quietly. "Why did you insist on dragging me down here?"

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