Editing Back To Your Places, Everyone

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Dec 15, 2521 <br>
1420 hours <br>
Nala's Ranch - Boros <br>

The house smelled of evergreen. As soon as the front door opened, the sharp smell hit. With it came memory of every winter holiday that Nika had ever known at home -- her father often brought the boughs of pine from the mountains to the west and layered them around the house. They'd always been her favorite part. Layered under that strong scent were the more subtle odors of the season. Traditional foods -- cinnamon, nutmeg, the bite of sage when Nala worked on stuffing -- brought their flavors to lace with gentle undercurrents. Nika sat on the floor of the family room with Kevin, stringing popcorn and cranberries with a needle and thread. The boy was laughing uncontrollably as Nika told him outrageous tales of Christmases past and when Larry stepped into the room, the child bounded to his feet, gave his aunt a kiss on the cheek, and raced out the door with his father to go feed his pony.<br><br>

Nika's smile was nostalgic as she continued to work on the popcorn and cranberry chain. She was humming a soft carol when the front door opened again to allow Joshua entrance. Automatically Nika's face turned in that direction, though she couldn't see who was coming, and though she couldn't know it the expression on her face held a hint of the watchful, as if waiting for trouble to smack them.<br><br>

--<br><br>

The ship would be ready to go in a few weeks. Hell, the ship was ready to go now, Joshua thought. They were staying because of the holidays, not because of lack of readiness. He shivered in his warm jacket as he gave the Equinox another look over from the outside. He wasn't sure why he was doing it, if he was being honest with himself. It gave him a routine, and he needed that.<br><br>

But now he needed warmth, he thought. And the snow crunched under his boots as he headed towards the main house to maybe get something warm to drink. When he walked in, it smelled of Christmas, or at least of what Joshua had always imagined Christmas should smell like. He had a tree for himself when he was at Blue Sun. But it was artificial and didn't smell like what the house smelled like now. Nika was sitting on the floor, stringing popcorn and something he didn't recognize onto a string. She looked happy, which made him feel a little better. But he had just realized the other day that all his data about his family had been destroyed by Potemkin. Combined with the Christmas reminder of the other things Potemkin had destroyed, and Joshua was not really feeling the Christmas spirit. But hell if he was going to let Nika know that.<br><br>

"Don't mind me, Nika. I'm just going to get some cocoa," Joshua said, as he walked past her.<br><br>

--<br><br>

Her expression eased instantly. "Bring some for me too?" Nika asked with a grin. "You can keep me company while I finish Kevin's project. Little bugger thought his horse was more important than me," she said in a mock-aggrieved tone. But the amusement was entirely too evident. What kid growing up on a ranch DOESN'T think their horse more important than their aunt?<br><br>

She listened to his movements around the kitchen, his voice greeting Nala as she worked on stew for dinner, and his footsteps as he returned. She set the string in her lap as he entered the family room, still sitting in a pair of comfortable looking dark pants and a long sleeved warm pullover. Her end of her hair, braided into several intricate strands on the sides of her head and then drawn back into the long braid he's accustomed to seeing, brushes the floor and she ignores it. "So tell me how it's coming?" she asked easily.<br><br>

--<br><br>

He placed the cup in her hand, making sure she had a solid grasp on it before letting go. Then he eased himself into a crosslegged position next to Nika on the floor. "Fine," he said, taking a sip of the cocoa. "We're ready to go anytime. Ship's in solid shape, minus the SmartShip issues. Rina and Beglan are working on those, and we could fly even without getting done what they want to get done. She's spaceworthy." Spaceworthy and technically a better ship than the Gift. Still, Joshua was coming to the conclusion that he didn't like his new ship all that much. It generally made him uneasy walking the halls. He couldn't decide whether that was just missing the Gift or whether being on a 3 day schedule with his drugs just made him more open to feeling the stink of Potemkin still on board. As with all things, it would probably just take time.<br><br>

--<br><br>

Nika had acquired the habit of listening very intently to both what was said and what was left out. Something in his tone and word choice were niggling at her. Things were not as fine as he claimed, but she wasn't able -- yet -- to put her finger on the pulse of it. With her hands wrapped carefully around the warm mug he'd handed her, she sipped the creamy confection slowly, savoring it. Finally she asked him point-blank, "You going to tell me about the implied 'but' that keeps hanging out at the end of that sentence, or you gonna keep on sitting on it a while longer?"<br><br>

--<br><br>

"There isn't any but, Nika. Other than we still need a job and we still need to sell some things off the ship to cover food and fuel and various expenses." And good riddance to some of them, he thought. Those cold storage chambers might be the creepiest part of the lower deck. The previous owners, Potemkin plus, had left all sorts of weird things about the ship? He was doing some research on the Cortex on his own to try and find out what was up with them, but that's not the kind of thing that just pops up on a search.<br><br>

--<br><br>

"Ffft," Nika retorted. "The hell there's not," she said mildly. "Every time you say we're fine, we're ready to go, you get this.... tone. Like 'we're ready to go BUT I don't like it' or we're ready to go BUT something doesn't feel right' or 'we're ready to go BUT there's a little rattle in the engine control that is PROBABLY but is going to blow our arses to hell.'" She grinned just a bit. "Just.... you keep saying we're fine, but I don't feel like you believe we're fine. That there's something bugging you."<br><br>

--<br><br>

He took another sip of cocoa to give himself time to figure out to spin it to Nika. _The ship creeps me out a little_ isn't the kind of thing that you tell your commanding officer. And she was his commanding officer. She could talk all she wanted about a co-captaincy, but Joshua could hear in her tone of voice and just the way she carried herself that Nika was just about ready to really be the captain again. Which was fine, he thought. She had never really stopped being the captain, except in her own mind.<br><br>

"It's just not the Gift, Nika. I'm still coming to terms with everything that Potemkin took from us." The clues to his family. His first ever Christmas gifts to the crew. And it seemed, some of his optimism. "I know you're not as sentimental about it and that's probably the right way to be. Doesn't mean I'm feeling like this new ship is home yet."<br><br>

--<br><br>

Well, now ''that'' explanation, at least Nika can understand. "I'm not as sentimental about the ship itself," she admitted. "But I can't say the same about ''Harbinger''. When I found out they put my baby in the drink, I admit that I came gorram close to tears." She paused and thought about it. "It was home. It wasn't until you guys that I realized it wasn't the *ship* that was home... it was always the people. So.... I don't care where we are. We're together. Everything else, we'll make it work. And when it's time for one of us to move to another ship, we're still family, Joshua." The last trip into Blue Sun showed her that some things just plain will never be about a ship.<br><br>

"I'm sorry that so much was taken. Believe me when I say to you that I do understand that." It was sheer stupid luck that any of their things had been salvaged. "Is there anything I can do to help you settle in aboard better?" she asked, sipping from the warm cup again.<br><br>

--<br><br>

"No," Joshua said quietly. "I'll figure it out, Captain. I'm sure after a couple of trips out, it'll all work itself through." Kiera would be taking care of any passengers, meaning he wouldn't have to spend a lot of time on the lower deck. He could spend most of his time in the hydroponics area or cooking. It was a nice galley, he had to admit, even if the SmartShip system did make it a pain in his ass to run.<br><br>

"Besides," he continued, "I've got no rights to complain. The things I lost were trivial. But at least we'll be able to restore what was taken from you."<br><br>

--<br><br>

They all continued to talk about it like it was a done deal. Nika smiled just a little and said quietly, "Let's not jump the gun on that one. I'm not giving up, Joshua, but... I don't want to set my heart on it to find out it's not possible. Or that a transplant years down the way is the only option. Let's deal with what's in front of us and keep on going, okay?" She set the cup down. "And quit that -- you're callin' me Captain again. We're on the ground sittin' in my sister's house. No one's the boss here but her. I promise you that."<br><br>

Nika reached out and patted his knee, close enough that she could feel the warmth of it on her own so she didn't miss. "Nothing that was taken was trivial. He took the things that meant the most -- our sense of security. Our sense of home. I want those back. The rest? You're right, it's just things. Most of them are replaceable, and the ones we lost that aren't ... well, there's some heartache there. But we didn't lose people this time. And that is what I'm grateful for this holiday."<br><br>

--<br><br>

"One foot in front of the other. Check." He took the last sip out of his cup and then sat it down beside him. It was a nice cup, which reminded him of all the nice cups that the Equinox didn't have. "Oh, the other thing that I should mention is that we'll need to make some decisions about how much money to save and how much to distribute to the crew. I'll put together a financial plan and bring it to you for your approval. Sometime tomorrow, perhaps."<br><br>

--<br><br>

Nika nodded. "I gather from Arden and Rina that there are cryo units in the downbelow that we'll be able to sell. Might bring us in enough." She grimaced faintly. "I'd say we're going to need to funnel a good bit of it back into the ship itself to kit her out for passengers if we're going to be taking them, but I have no reason to query your bookkeeping, Joshua. You have full autonomy when it comes to the ship's books. Do as you've always done with it." She paused and looked toward him, tilting her head. "There's one other thing I should probably run past you. I've bit my tongue on it but.... I don't want Kiera, in spite of the fact that you've offered her a steward position, getting us cargo. Or at least, if she does, I want you over her shoulder ever step of negotiations. In truth, it's not usually the steward's job to do that on a boat that takes passengers -- the steward is usually the person who handles the internal stuff like food stores and dealing with passenger complaints about other passengers or crew. The XO's job is generally payroll, cargo, dealing with issues between the crew members, and generally making sure we run smooth. Because you were good at handling both and we were a smaller ship, it was fine. Now that we're larger, I think they need to be split up again. I don't...entirely trust her. Not sure I ever will."<br><br>

Nika hesitated and then said baldly, "And I'm letting you know up front that I don't care what you've agreed to with her -- she ever lies to one of us again or asks another crew member to lie FOR her, she's out at the next port. No questions, no arguments, and no pleading on her behalf by anyone."<br><br>

--<br><br>

And there it was. Back to XO duties again. Not unexpected but it still stung a little. That's what happens when you get used to something that doesn't belong to you, Joshua Drake. He pushed the irrational hurt down deep and brought himself into casual, unconcerned mode as he picked up their cups to get ready to take them back into the kitchen for washing. That was something he was good at, at least.<br><br>

"You're the captain, Captain. Understood on Kiera. I'll take payroll and cargo back. I also still plan to cook some for the crew, if that's okay by you?"<br><br>

--<br><br>

There's a faint furrow between her brows. Nika fully realizes that she's missing something. She's not sure what it is. (It will take a conversation two weeks from now to really make it hit home.) But she does realize that there's something going on that she can't see. "Of course it is." Why would he ask that? She rubbed her forehead a little and murmured uncertainly, "I'll.... see you a little later, then?" Heh... well, that's a Freudian slip if there ever was one.<br><br>

--<br><br>

He patted her hand, then stood up, cocoa mugs in hand. "Of course. I'll keep you up-to-date with where the finances stand once they all get worked out.. Enjoy your stringing, ok?" He then headed into the kitchen to deposit the cups and get back to work managing the finances, payroll, cargo and other duties of the XO position.<br><br>

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