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Posted on Wed Jul 1st, 2009 @ 2:32pm by Sky Summers & Brian Mallory

1,103 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Recruitment
Location: Warden shuttlebay
Timeline: shortly after "Barter"

The interior of the ship was almost a shabby as the exterior, but a lot of Starfleet technology, all be it out of date, had been installed. But none of this mattered to Sky. The ship was still wonderfully beautiful all the same. Elegant acrhetectural lines throughout. She had visited Deep Space Nine once to meet a Bajoran Minister, and even then she had fallen in love with the unique Cardassian design. The shuttlebay was no different. It was a massive room in comparrison to the rest of the craft with immense doors to the rear of the room leading to the timeless depths of space.

The Captain had sent her down here in search of the Pilot, a Mister Mallory, but no one was visible.

"Hello, is anyone in here?" she called. Her delicate voice reverbarating from the walls and off the hulls of the smaller support vessels nestled in the bay. "Captain Jones sent me down to find one Brian Mallory".

She had no idea if anyone was in here, and she did feel somewhat silly shouting to a room with no one else present.

"That's me," came a disembodied voice, followed suddenly by a loud clank and rattle as something hit the deck. "Bloody flipping hell," the voice said. A spanner skittered out from beneath one of the two shuttles, and a moment later, so did a man on a hoversled.

He wore engineering overalls that looked like Starfleet castoffs from two decades ago, and to say he was "grubby" was the understatement of the week. His brown hair was streaked gray with dust, and his forehead was caked with grime. The overalls, and indeed all of him, were covered in some kind of greasy, semi-fluorescent residue.

"Sorry," he said, and wiped his hands on a cloth draped over his shoulder. It didn't help much. "I'm Mallory. What can I do for you, miss?"

'Well, atleast someone on this boat has some manners,' she thought wryly to herself. "Captain Jones sent me down too see you. He has agreed to rent one of the shuttles to me and suggested I should come down and select one with your assistance."
Despite the grim and sludge from the underside of the shuttle that now covered him from head to toe, he was a rather attractive man.

"Oh, he did..." Brian was momentarily nonplussed. Jones had every right to do what he wanted with the shuttles, but a little notice would have been appreciated. Not to mention the fact that he didn't like giving up one of the ship's only two support craft. Outwardly he gave no sign of his frustration, but suspected the woman might be sensing a little of it nonetheless. He let out a long breath and cleared his mind.

Calmly, he made a sweeping gesture towards the two small craft. "I'm afraid neither one is likely to be in suitable condition for the...refined needs of a Companion," he said at length. "Not yet at least."

Was that an insult, or just a statment. She couldn't decide which, so instead she allowed the comment to pass. "I'm a fair pilot Mister Mallory. I'm sure I can pull one of them together".

"I'm sure you're experienced. I've been flying ships like this a lot longer than it might look; it may be something of a rarity, but you're not the first Companion I've met on a freighter." He realized how that might sound, and almost blushed as he fumbled over his next words. "Er, in my professional capacity that is, not theirs."

He scraped a hand over his face, and shrugged. "They're identical in most respects," he said. "I think shuttle two is a little more presentable, let me show you." He started walking toward the shuttle opposite the one with which he'd been tinkering.

A playful smile tugged at her lips. It wasn't often in her line of work she found a male that still had enough innocence to be able to blush. With graceful steps she followed Mallory thorugh to Shuttle two. It was a nice size inside. Enough room for her belongings and the room she needed to decorate accordingly for her line of work.

"This will be ideal," she looked him directly in the eye. "The Captain implyed that it might have been difficult to wrangle one of the shuttles from you," again, still being playful, trying to rise another blush out of him just so she could be definite in her assesment of this true gentleman.

Mallory could feel her subtly studying him, assessing him. He had no idea what she thought -- his cocktail of Betazoid and El-Aurian genes was as silent as ever -- but his experiences with other Companions had taught him that most appreciated it when you were up front with them.

"I'll be honest," he said, "I'm certainly not keen on giving up half our off-ship mobility." He held up his hand. "But I'm not so attached to the shuttles that I don't understand the business considerations, for both the Captain and yourself. If this arrangement can work to our mutual benefit, then I'm all for it. The XO might be another story, though. Blue guy, antennae, grumpy as hell. You'll understand when you meet him."

"Well ahead of your there mister Mallory", her smile faded slightly at the memory of the failed introduction with the First Mate. "We are no firm friends", the sarcastic tone not lost on the other man.

"Ah, well, there you go," he said, favoring her with a half smile. "He'll come around to having a Companion on board eventually...maybe."

"Regardless of that, I'm here, and I'm most likely going to need a friend while I'm here. So far, other than the Captain, your the only one to treat me with any respect, and I thank you for that".
Something then hit her, she hand't introduced herself to him. With a graceful move, she stood before him and extended her hand. "I'm Sky Summers. A pleasure to meet you Mister Mallory".

"You caught me on a good day, Miss Summers," he said, taking her hand firmly, but with a surprising gentleness that belied his tough guy persona. "And it's Mal."

"A pleasure Mal", his grip was firm and not too unpleasent and something about him made her go weak at the knee's, but her years of training never allowed her body to show any of this. "Well, I'd best get my things sent over form station hold".
Again she nodded at him before leaving him to what ever it was he was doing.

 

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