With Arms Wide Open

Chapter 6

One by one the crew returned to the Tempest and gathered to the meeting room. The air lingered with excitement and nervous tension, fueling the fun that always ensued when discussing missions. Ryder however, leaned more towards nervous dread. There were two ways this meeting could go, peacefully or painfully.

Peacefully is the goal she always aimed for, where everyone agrees, it ends early and everyone is happy. But sometimes, it can turn into a giant pain in the ass where everyone's raging at each other, forcing her to pull the Pathfinder card and renew order. Granted those times were rare, but Stars did she hate it when it happened. This awkward, and sometimes unruly bunch was more than her crew, they were an extension of her family. She felt strongly that their accomplishments were a group effort and everyone had a part to play. And she fought to keep it that way, even if that meant to protect them from themselves and each other at times.

Once everyone was accounted for, Ryder approached the vidcon table. "Sam, pull up a grid of Kralla's Song." A holographic map appeared, floating in the center of the table for everyone to see. "Alright." She said, saving the image into her Omni tool. "What are we working with Sam?"

"Kralla's Song is a nineteen-hundred square foot fully functional entertainment facility. The main floor consists of the main entrance, a stage, a bar, and one-thousand feet of social space." He said, highlighting the areas on the map. "However, to the right of the main entrance there is a small stair well leading to an upper level lounging area with an additional entrance."

"That means two ways to escape, not liking that odd with our usual scouting numbers." Ryder hummed, eyeing the highlighted doors on the map. "Looks like I'm gonna need everyone on deck for this one."

"Surely I will be allowed to stay onboard and look after the Tempest?" Kallo asked. "We wouldn't want to leave her open for scavengers, now would we?"

"Yes Kallo. You, Suvi, and Gil will stay here and watch over the Tempest." Ryder said as Kallo smiled with a happy nod.

"Ok, but what exactly is the plan?" Vetra asked.

"Yea, we don't even know who we're looking for." Liam added.

"That hasn't stopped us from getting a job done before." Peebee said, winking at Liam as he rolled his eyes.

Ryder cleared her throat, regaining their attention. "Umi said the Charlatan will open a credit line tomorrow night, allowing certain patrons to order drinks. Those patrons have to know something."

"So, what? We shakedown every person inside the bar until we find another lead? That would take forever." Cora huffed.

"Sounds like a good plan to me." Drak bellowed, cracking his knuckles.

"Surely force would cause unwanted hostility and possibly get us removed, making our objective more difficult. Would it not?" Jaal asked.

"I assume that I am to stay in the medbay, patiently waiting to treat all of your bar fight wounds?" Lexi sighed, shaking her head.

Ryder pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers, trying to calm the headache from the bombardment of concerns. "Yes, Lexi."

"If I may Ryder." Sam interjected, gaining everyone's attention. "If everyone were to use their scanners on the patrons in attendance I could figure out which ones have made a purchase using the line of credit under the Charlatans name, decreasing the time exponentially."

"Good idea Sam." Ryder said with a wide grin. "See? Problem solved."

"That still doesn't cover the possibility of people leaving from one of the exits before we get a chance to scan them." Cora said, staying true as the crews Debbie downer.