Tempest Company

Church of the Crusade

'I don't think they're coming.'

'Probably not.' Scott grimaced, 'Busted flush and not even a decent drink to be had.' He grimaced at the empty tumbler in his hand, 'There's no way that was scotch.'

'You still drank it though.'

'Says the person on orange juice.'

'Too early in the day for me. Besides I've seen the wine bottles and I'd rather ask Yue to bottle something from the coolant lines.'

'Come on. Let's call it a day.' Scott stood and offered his arm to Jeanne. She smiled at his strange courtesy in such things and let him help her out of the egg chair she'd occupied for the last hour. The two of them headed towards the exit with the latter drawing all of the attention. Scott's hand brushed his hair in a seemingly innocuous gesture, but Jeanne was instantly alert. 'Rob says we've got a tail.' He lowered his tone. 'Could be our man.'

'Do we?'

'No, let's head back to the ship. If it is him then he'll want to confirm that we are who we say we are.' He walked closely enough to suggest the two of them were together but not close enough to say it was certain. 'My guess is that he'll then approach one of us when we next go walkabout.'

'Makes sense.' She grimaced, 'I know this paid well but next time can we do this in a place where walking in heels is a little easier?'

'I don't know how you walk in those things.' Yue declared as Jeanne and Scott made their way up the ramp and into the recreation room. She tilted her head a little and gave a little whistle of appreciation, 'But you do look damned hot in that get up.'

'Robin's on his way back.' Jeanne turned as Xinga spoke; the woman's dark eyes appraising her, 'Says someone was on your tail but they bailed when you reached the docks.' She looked away and gave an enquiring glance at Scott, 'My turn?'

'See what you can find out but be discrete.' He shook his head as she bounded away. Jeanne couldn't help but stare at her back. As usual her outfit left little to the imagination. 'Hard to be discrete in that.'

'I meant not to start fights.' He grunted, 'Thanks for going through with that those Doc.' He winked, 'Think half the men in that bar wanted to beat me over the head with a stool.'

'Well, I'm getting changed and going for a walk. In character of course.' She ducked her head to hide her sudden blush and slipped the heels off the heels with a sigh of pleasure. Even the cold deck didn't detract from the relief of not having the things on. She left Scott and Yue in conversation and headed to her own cabin. The coldness from Xinga wasn't new and she'd learned to live with it in the eight months she'd been on board the Emerald Tempest, but it did still rankle a bit. She knew that Scott was getting increasingly frustrated about Xinga's behaviour as well. Yue had confided that he'd seriously considered leaving her in the lock up she'd gotten in on the last stop. In the end he'd agreed to post the bail money, but it had been a close-run thing and a major row had followed. Jeanne had stayed well out of the way; one advantage of having the medical bay was that she always had things to do. The other woman was an enigma but for now Jeanne put it away as her toes curled into the thick rug in her cabin. The deep blue and white floral patterns on the floor and the fabric on the walls immediately relaxed her. Catching sight of herself in the mirror she allowed herself a little nod of appreciation. She'd come a long way in eight months. The little black cocktail dress ended at the top of thighs which had become toned from the exercise regime that she'd taken up after they'd left the Wheel that first time. Yue had helped by building some additional equipment for her from scrap and the regime had helped her move on. She'd put back on the weight she wanted and filled the dress nicely; the keyhole cut out on the bust was a little risqué for her tastes, but it fitted the role. She'd never been body confident and had doubted she could play the part but the appreciative stares in the bar had, she admitted, flattered her ego. She knew Scott hated having her play the part, but he was honest enough to admit that she was the only one who could play it. Xinga was stunning in her own way but couldn't act worth a damn, Yue was pretty but her almost childlike look ruined the effect. Jeanne though was relatively tall, leggy and with a lifetime of court parties behind her a decent actress. It didn't mean that she liked playing the role of captain's mistress but for the sake of the job she'd put up with it. She reflected that it may have been different if Scott didn't feel so uncomfortable about it and as a result kept to strict rules. She dismissed the thoughts as she changed. Pants and a blouse. Classy looking, feminine and just about in role. She wanted to take a look in a few places and the cocktail dress was a no no for that; plus, there was only so much time she could spend in heels. She headed back up to the ship's lounge to find Robin had returned; the big man favoured her with a warm, almost paternal smile.