I might be a hard worker, you never know.

Jacy stopped at the base of the ramp and let her wheeled luggage clank to a stop next to her. She adjusted the nondescript hat on top of her head and looked up at the hand painted sign: Welcome aboard the Lunar Veil. The ship didn’t look like much from what she could see, but as that entailed an open cargo bay and little else she wasn’t really in a position to make such a judgement. And she needed transport off the Skyplex. She’d been there for 4 days waiting for a ship to come through whose crew didn’t make her shudder. This one here didn’t seem to have a crew at all and that was as good an opening for Jacy as she could hope for.

“Pardon me, Miss?” Jacy stepped up the ramp then thought better of leaving her trunks unattended and rushed back down to collect them. The clothing she had on was rugged enough, but her luggage had the look of belonging to one with expensive taste. She’d had a heck of a time keeping an eye on her cases during her extended stop over at the Bazaar and it would be a real shame to lose it all when she was on the verge of making good her departure. “Sorry, I’m looking for work; decent pay and my own bed. Is there anything you need done onboard?” She tried to catch a glimpse of the contents of the notes Riley had in her hand, but that wasn’t easy. “Maybe a deckhand?”

“Lieutenant.” Riley corrected, visibly bristled by the word Miss. She hadn’t spent years in the gorram maritime academy and fighting in a war just to be called Miss. Her eyebrows raised at the stranger’s question. She repeated it to make sure she heard right while eyeing the waif up and down. “You want work as a deckhand?” Riley stepped in and poked one of the young woman’s twig like arms, “On the El-Vee?” El-Vee was her pet name for the Lunar Veil. She had no emotional attachment to the ship itself, but did favor acronyms whenever possible. Contemplating the situation, she began to slowly circle the applicant, curling her lip at what she saw. “You understand what a deckhand is, correct?” She stopped when again standing face to face and squaring off with the newcomer. “It literally means being handy on deck. Handy as in useful. Not handsy.” She made a gesture portraying how many crew members took care of their own intimate needs on a long trip.

“I understand what it means. And statistically it’s not the dominant hand that does the…..handsy bit. So you want to be using your left hand for that gesture.” The woman replied in a soothing, almost melodic voice; a stark contrast to the curt, gruff tone of Thorne’s. “I have experience. As a deckhand. We just handled much softer cargo on my last berth.”

“The El-Vee isn’t exactly the soft cargo kind of ship, unless we end up rich folk on board. We haul cargo. Supplies. We transport livestock. Deckhands have to hump supplies and if need be shovel Fei-oo. No offense, but you seem scrawny for that sort of work.” She turned the woman’s palm over to examine it. Her skin was like soft warm silk; admirable. “And I’ve never seen any Deckhand without a single callous. We don’t crew stewards.” The Captain never hired for galley help; it was the entire crew’s responsibility to cook and clean. "So what do you have to offer?"

Jacy pulled her hand back and tucked it behind her. “No steward, that’s a thankful relief. I hate cooking for others. There’s really not much you can do to most of that slop to make it edible.” What did Jacy have to offer? If she had to hear that question one more time she’d start looking for someone’s ears to pull off. It seemed like the go to question of every person on this station. And most of them meant it in the handsy sort of way. “Well I’m strong for my size, Lieutenant.” That much was true, she was stronger than she looked, but not by much. And she looked quite fragile. It was hard to pack on the muscles when you were pushing the scales at 52 kg. Jacy had never been built for brute power, but she could push a cargo sled or something. Those sleds were on wheels or grav-skids, right?

“Um, I’m not sure what the protocol is on this sort of thing.” Jacy pulled a small stack of bills from her vest and counted out a few. “I’m not looking to be a passenger. I want to work for my pay and my keep, but maybe this will help get the process started? You deserve some sort of finders fee, don’t you?”

Riley steeled her eyes, taking a step in so she was nose to nose looking down on the interloper. “Listen, Mudder, I graduated from the Ares’ Maritime Academy with honors. I served in the war. If you’re aiming to bribe me….” Riley took the money, thumbing through it quickly before returning her gaze to the woman in front of her. “You best be prepared to keep your mouth shut about it or you’ll lose those pretty pearly whites. Do we have an understanding?”

“Your secret is safe with me. Or my secret is safe with me. Anyway I’d like to keep my teeth in my mouth so I’ll conceal this private business between us.” Jacy stepped higher up the ramp and craned her neck to see farther inside the ship. “So is there anyone around here who can grab my trunks?”

“Lucky for you, I just hired a deckhand.” Riley said, poking her finger into Jacy’s collarbone. “Grab your gear and I’ll help you get it stowed. Stay in your berth, I’ll come get you when it’s time to meet the Captain.”

“Right you are, Lt. This is a job for a deckhand and that’s what I am. A deckhand.” Jacy wrapped a fist around the handle of both trunks and hefted them up the ramp one foot at a time. Shit she had packed them too heavy.

Riley huffed and dropped the money into her pocket. Rolling her eyes, she brushed the newcomer aside, hoisting trunks aboard with a slight grunt. “I should have hired you to give Shǒuyín to the crew,” she grumbled. “What’s your name, Mudder?”

“The bartender suggested something similar not fifteen minutes ago. I’m trying to take it as a compliment.” Jacy held one of those silky smooth hands out to Riley, “My name is Jacy Lloyd. And you are?”

“Regretting this already.” She groused, looking at Jacy’s hand while she continued lugging the woman’s heavy trunks. “Thorne. Riley. Pilot.”

“Interesting. I just assumed the Captain also flew his own ship. So what’s the Captain do while you’re doing that?” Riley stopped short, raising one eyebrow quizzically. Jacy could not possibly be this clueless, not with all ten fingers and no noticeable blunt trauma to the head.

“He Captains.” Riley said dryly, dropping Jacy’s trunks in the cargo hold. “Crew stays below deck. Don’t expect much. You have a place to sleep. You won’t be down there much anyway; Crew doesn’t get downtime. Welcome aboard the Lunar Veil.”