Serendipitous

Posted on Fri Feb 28th, 2020 @ 5:46pm by Commanding Officer Mickey Serendipity & Pilot Allegra Jennings

Mission: Port In A Storm
Location: HIgh Elysium
Timeline: One Week After The Eros incident, Just After The Dust Up In PassPort Control

Mickey stood with Allegra as the events on the far side of the glass wall unfolded. The troop of lawyers and retrieval agents, a classic kidnap job for corporate security. And then the MCRN floor show. But before all of that, Mickey had gripped Allegra's arm and pulled her back into the crowd. Propelling her forward through the group of people awaiting travellers, he led her out onto the concourse.

"Don't run," he said quietly into her ear. He stood a little closer than was perhaps comfortable, an easy smile on his face. A couple walking without a care in the world was the name of the game. "See the Arabia Terra Coffee hut ten meters up? Aim for it and grab a seat at the back."

The coffee house was a narrow affair as befitted it being built on a station. A manned service booth at its entrance with a perky Martian coffee junkie, followed by a narrow countertop leading back to a set of tables and chairs that had that 'to close for comfort' thing that an Earther would dread but a Martian saw as normal. Mickey walked Allegra through to the back of the coffee house and sat down.

"Well that was all the fun of the fair without the ride," Mickey muttered as he settled into his chair and brought up the tables menu interface. He began to type in an exceedingly complicated and exacting order on the screen. "I don't suppose you have any pull with the MCRN, favours and so on to call in?"

It wasn't until Allegra was settled into her own chair, her green eyes blinking in confusion at the XO- no Mickey was more than that now. She couldn't help the way she tossed a quick glance around the coffee shop, it was probably the best choice. Somehow she knew that as she let her gaze return back to Mickey. This was all a mess. A confusing mess. What had happened back there?

"What the fuck, Mickey?" She started with a not so simple question, barely pausing before continuing, "Maybe. I might." Allegra ran a hand through her hair, letting her eyes follow the movement of his hand as he typed. She didn't want to have to contact her father, but by now he probably knew she was back on Mars and he could help. He had plenty more pull than she. "I know someone."

"Someone good or someone good but with strings?" Mickey asked without looking up from the ordering form. The coffee he was ordering was...excessive. Four types of milk, multiple shots of everything from vanilla extract to an amino boost shot, all of it nitro cold-brewed to within a hairsbreadth of absolute zero. It wasn't just a drink, it was a concoction of byzantine complexity that would be sung in the hallowed halls of Baristvahallla. He pressed the 'Submit' key and the menu screen fritzed, throwing up error codes in an attempt to halt the ungodly horror, defaulting to the MarsCom logo and the assurance services would resume momentarily..

He leaned back in his seat, running a hand through his hair as he tapped the close key and the menu vanished.

"Because the former is good, the latter will be bad..." Mickey leaned back further, tilting his head to look out of the front of the coffee hut. "...because that little event in customs will have raised a few red flags with people I'd rather not deal with."

Where Mickey leaned back in his seat Allegra had leaned forward, across settled across one another while she propped on the table. His question ran through her head. The only person she had in mind was her father and he was good, but with strings. String which wouldn't have to do with anyone but herself. Deep down in her gut, the swirling panic that made her worry about the rest of the crew, Allegra knew that she would do just about whatever her father wanted or asked of her if he could help. Only, she wasn't sure just what was going on.

Allegra fastened her gaze onto his, her green eyes flashing with a mixture of resolve and uncertainty, "You wouldn't need to worry about the strings. That'd be all on me." She reached back and pulled her hand terminal from her pocket, her nose wrinkling as she held the contraption in her hands. If she did this, there was no going back, but first she had to know, "What sort of trouble we looking at here?"

"The sort of trouble I got paid by Soto to keep in my past and out of your future," Mickey said as the menu reappeared, normal as the day it had been formatted. He put in an order to two coffee's that were as normal as they come. "Soto paid for that insurance upfront and in advance, so the coverage is still good."

He waved a hand at the holographic menu.

"That thing before is a little back door hack the code runners around her use. Send a message to someone without using the public feed, that messaging being to someone who acts as a travel agent of sorts. No way am I risking us taking the Crawler down the beanstalk," Mickey said, referring to the Phobos Space Elevator. "But where there are ports, there are people who get things through ports sight unseen. If Victor is still in business, he'll send someone. If not..."

"Butch and Sundance?" a server asked, bringing over a pair of coffee bulbs to their table. Mickey accepted them with a smile and a shockingly on point Breach Candy regional accent that was pure Martian.

The terminal in her grasp was seemingly forgotten as Mickey spoke. There was plenty hidden behind his words, the crew of the 'Tross mostly each keeping their personal pasts to themselves and respecting one another privacy. But this was some news. And what did it have to do with Kai and the crew getting snatched up? Her brow wrinkled in confusion and she bit at the inside of her bottom lip, "This is all confusing, Mick."

But before she could ask the other questions that were floating around her head the server appeared and the accent that came from her companion's mouth had her own gaping open in confusion. Allegra immediately did a quick fish impression before snapping her lips closed and just stared across the table.

"I wasn't always a ships XO," he said simply as he took the lid off of his coffee and looked under it. Scrawled into the plastic in neat computer-generated lines was a number. Taking out his terminal he inputted the contact code. "I wasn't always Mickey Serendipity. Let's just say I owe Soto and his memory enough to be better than I was."

The terminal buzzed quietly as it wormed out the connection request. It pinged open, the quiet static buzz of the open comm line sizzling as no one spoke.

"I need a ride down the beanstalk," Mickey said into the terminal. "Two passengers. Deferred payment."

"Next one down," a scratchy voice said. "The Craftsman welcome you home Micheal."