The First Job

As he awakens from the night, he finds himself in the room he has occupied these last several weeks. The same cabin in the lower decks of the ship, which was his salvation. In these past few weeks, Ken has kept mostly to himself. After his long incarceration, it seems natural to him. He has missed several of the group meals, enough that someone has checked on him more than a few times. He has found that he likes to move about the ship at night. The darkness and quiet as everyone sleeps makes him most comfortable. Throughout the journey, he has had a few conversations with various members of the crew. However, he knows little of any of them. As the journey comes to an end, he knows little of the place in which he is about to find himself.

The ship is shaking slightly as they fall from orbit into the atmosphere. Ken, resting in his room, pulls out the capture of Jessica and watches it again. He has found that he watches her every few days. Wishing she could have come with him, he puts the capture back in his pocket. When the ship has landed and is settled, he and the other passengers disembark from the transport.

Ken is not five steps from the ship when someone approaches from the side. "John?" questions the new person.

Thankfully, everyone on the ship knew him as "John." He was able to respond quickly enough to not arouse suspicion. "Yes?" he answers, inquisitively.

"Hello, I am Desiree. I was sent to find you." She pulls herself closer to him and whispers in his ear, "We need you to board another ship. The alliance might find you here." She back away from him, a smile spreading across her face.

"Ok, fine. Lead the way," he says as she heads off in the direction of the docks. Following her, he asks the question boggling his mind, "Where are we, anyway?"

She looks back at him with an inquisitive eye, "You don't know?"

"No, I've never been off the central planets. I know little of the outer worlds."

"Well, we are on Boros, here. It's a good place, but crawling with Alliance. The moon Ares is one of their major shipyards. But, it's a busy place and easy to get about if we don't waste our time. Please hurry, we are almost to the ship."

They move swiftly through the crowd, Ken having no trouble following the woman he does not know. He figures to himself that she must be with the Independents. How else would she know the alias he is using? The Alliance would presumably only know his real name and refer to him as such. He clenches his jaw, hoping he is not being led astray by this pretty face.

Approaching another ship, she turns towards it. This one is much larger than the Firefly he just left. It is also quite a lot less attractive. There are oddly shaped pieces coming off the hull at strange angles. The ship almost looks as though a smaller ship flew through a debris field at high speed and all of these pieces stuck onto the ship.

He follows Desiree up the gantry into the ship. She heads directly to a man inside the cargo space of the ship. She calls out to him, "Captain."

The man turns to face the person calling to him. Ken gets a good look as they approach. He is larger than Ken, but not out of shape. At a glance, Ken would say the Captain is in his late 40's and has had a good life, but not perfect. There is evidence of a few scars on his face, but none large. His bearing is confident but comfortable. The Captain does not appear to be out to intimidate those he encounters, though he could if he wanted.

"Hello, Ms. Lui. Is this the man you were telling me about?" the Captain asks.

"Yes, this is John Obielson. He has just arrived, ready to interview," she says as she looks to Ken with an apologetic face.

The Captain reaches a hand out to Ken, "Nice to meet you John. If you'll come with me, we'll get this show on the road."

Ken takes his hand, "Thank you Captain."

The Captain heads towards the rear of the cargo hold, Ken following. As they approach the wall, Ken sees a hatch directly in their path of travel. As they reach the hatch, the Captain opens it and motions to Ken to go through, "Please, this way." After they have stepped through, the Captain seals the door. "Please take a seat," he says, pointing to some crates and taking to some other crates. Ken takes a seat, trying to compose himself for this unexpected situation.

The Captain smiles as he begins, "Hello Ken, glad you made it here alright."

Fear spreads across his body as this man refers to him by his true name. His worst fear is about to be realized. This man must be Alliance. He is in the middle of the next thought when the Captain breaks up his thoughts with a laugh.

"Do not worry, Ken. I am not Alliance. I am an Independent. And, one that it was felt needed to be told your true identity. So, try not to worry. Everything is fine. We felt that it would be easier to hide you if you weren't just a passenger on several ships. People do not typically take more than two ships to reach a destination. And, we are too far from your destination to go directly there. So, you will be working for me as a medic until we reach the final destination," the Captain says, waiting for Ken's reaction.

Ken sits for a moment, processing this new information. He senses no deception from the Captain. "Ok, if that is what it takes, I will do it. But, I do not have any supplies or equipment."

"Don't you worry yourself on that. We may not be the 'Almighty Alliance', but we have our means. Desiree there procures medical supplies and other equipment. She is oddly good at her job. We already have an infirmary. She was able to get a decent medical bag and a good supply of standard medicines and equipment for you," says the Captain, smiling again. "So, ready to get back out there and get away from the Purplebellies?"

"Yes, let's do this," says Ken, getting up from his seat.