Frank walked calmly into the mess hall and threw his bag on the ground. Deck one had been significantly altered to accommodate the extra cargo space on the deck below, the old medical bay had been transformed into a small bunk room for the crew but at least the mess hall had remained. The mess hall was of fairly standard lay out, there was one large table in the middle of the room with several seats circling it, at the opposite end of the room was a large food dispenser, the walls were covered in the same removable white panels that covered the inside of the ship. Frank wandered over to the food dispenser at the other side of the mess hall, Susan was sitting on a seat on the right side of the table, her feet were resting on the table as she sat slumped back in the seat,
“What’s the food like?” Frank asked as he strolled past her and wandered towards the food dispenser,
Susan looked over at Frank, “I’m not sure, you know it’s going to be that synthetic crap though don’t you?”
Frank chuckled quietly as he checked a small menu card that was resting on the front of the dispenser, “Urg!” Frank exclaimed, “Drutonium root maggot stew!” Frank turned and looked over at Susan as he scrunched up his face with disgust, “Who would eat that?”
Susan smiled, “Mmmm, yes please!” She joked,
Frank turned back to the machine and pushed the middle button, the machine buzzed and whirred away for a few minutes. It was a standard Syn-Tex 100 Food dispenser, the front was black with seven buttons running down the front, at the base of the machine was a dispenser nozzle and a self loading plate holder, after ten seconds or so a plate rose into place and a brownie green paste oozed onto the plate, a light flashed on the machine (To let Frank know it was time to remove the plate and enjoy!). Frank screwed his face up in disgust as he lifted the plate, he walked over to the other side of the table and sat the plate down in the middle of the table before sitting down on the seat in front of Susan.
Susan sat up and leaned across the table, “So, what did you get?” She asked as she examined the sludge on the plate,
Frank smiled, “Drutonium root maggot stew of course! Do you want some?”
Susan picked up a small plastic spoon that was sitting in the middle of the table and started to push the sludge around the plate, “There's something about odourless paste that I don't find all that appetising!” Susan lifted a spoonful and sniffed it carefully, the sludge had no odour, this was probably to do with the disgusting appearance of the food itself, they didn’t want to put people off even more with a smell. Susan put the spoon down, without even thinking about eating the contents of the spoon, “Not for me thanks! I had a big lunch!”
Frank pulled the plate over to himself as Anna and Wilson wandered in, Anna came over immediately and sat down, Wilson wandered over to the food dispenser and started to study the menu. Wilson was from one of the first New Earth colonies known as Retinul, Frank had a particular dislike for anyone from Retinul, he found them all too arrogant, with good cause. Upon settling the planet the Retinuls started a genetic modification program, despite all non-medical genetic modification being made illegal in 2023, the Retinuls considered themselves above the law, this was their attitude towards everything. The enhancements had increased their intelligence by some forty percent as well as their physical strength, Wilson stood about six feet tall, he also looked deceptively thin, he had a long thin face and a slight receding hair line. Frank and Wilson had met about a year ago on a cargo run from the Tradium far point (A large trading out post just inside Kilbarie space), the two fell out when Frank commented that the Retinuls may have superior intelligence but that didn’t help them with their physical stench or the fact they had the personality of a Ritonian cockroach (A small slimy creature that vaguely resembles a cockroach). Frank could never understand why Wilson had taken this so personally.
Frank looked over at Wilson, “Hey Wilson!” He said in a friendly voice,
Wilson turned round and looked at Frank (with some what of a sneer on his face) “What do you want Hall?” He sniped,
Frank growled quietly to himself, “Look I just want to say sorry about insulting your people last year!” Frank smiled sincerely,
A look of surprise crossed Wilson’s face, “Really? Why?” He asked suspiciously,
“It was wrong of me to insult you on the basis of a few of your kind! Please accept my apology!” Frank smiled as he held out his hand in a gesture of friendship,
Wilson thought for a second before walking briskly over to Frank, “I accept your apology!” He said as he shook Frank’s hand,
“Wilson, why don’t you have this food, I thought I was hungry, but I guess I’m not!” Frank grinned as he offered the plate of Drutonium root maggot stew to Wilson,
“What is it?” Wilson asked as he took the plate,
“Cheese and Tomato pizza!” Frank lied,
Wilson took the plate and smiled, “Mmmm, my favourite!” He said as he sat at the end of the table,
Frank looked over at Susan, who was struggling to keep a straight face, then looked over at Anna,
“So Frank!” Anna said after a brief silence (Most of which she had spent trying to work out why Frank had done some thing he had never done before, apologised!) “How are…”
A loud shriek of disgust echoed round the ship as Wilson leapt to his feet and knocked the plate of the table, “You… You…” Wilson said as he coughed and spluttered, “What the hell was that!” He shouted angrily as he ran out the mess hall,
Frank and Susan burst out laughing, “That was great!” Susan said as she leaned back into her seat,
A vague puzzled look fell across Anna’s face as she slowly chuckled along with Frank and Susan, “What did you give him?” She asked curiously,
“Drutonium root maggot!” Frank chuckled, as two small silver coloured robots emerged from a small recess in the wall of the mess hall and buzzed quickly over to the mush that was slowly seeping out the side of the plate on the ground, Frank looked down at the small robots as they quickly cleaned the mess of the floor, “Those things are great!” He said happily as he looked back over to Susan, who was by this time giggling hysterically,
“I can’t believe he fell for that!” Susan eventually managed to splutter out between giggles, “Who said the Retinuls are the smartest humans in the galaxy!”

As the group calmed down Anna stood up and strolled over to a small drinks dispensary, “Any one want anything?” She asked as she put a small plastic cup into a slot and pushed a button,
“Yeah!” Frank said “That thing do whiskey?”
The machine vibrated slightly as it squirting a clear liquid into the cup, “I’m not sure!” Anna said as she examined the drink selection, “Hey what do you know!” She said surprised, “It does!”
Frank smiled widely, “Well hit me!” He said hitting his fist gently on the table as he sat forward,
“Oh I’ll have one too!” Susan added as she leaned back on her seat and put her feet up on the table,
Anna stood at the machine as it filled two more of the plastic cups up with a brownish liquid, “Frank?” She asked after a brief pause,
“That’s my name!” Frank said as he removed a small electronic data pad from his pocket, “How Long before we reach the baron fields?” Anna lifted the two cups and turned round and wandered back over to the table,
“Hmmm, let me see!” Frank said as he pushed the screen of his data pad a couple of times, “About one hour at our current speed!” He said confidently,
“Good!” Anna said as she sat the cup’s down on the table in front of Susan and Frank,
“Thanks!” Susan said as she lifted her cup of whiskey, “Cheers!” Susan lifted her cup and saluted Anna before taking a large gulp, “Ah crap!” She said angrily as she put the cup down,
Frank glanced up from his data pad and smiled at Susan curiously, “What’s wrong?”
“It’s synthetic!” Susan scrunched her face up in mock disgust as she sat back in her seat,
Frank laughed, “Not to worry!” He said as he pulled him self to his feet and walked briskly over to his bag, “I thought ahead!” Frank started to rummage around in his large bag, “Ah here it is!” Frank pulled a bottle out of his bag and walked back over to the table,
Susan sat up and smiled happily, “You’re a star!” She said before downing the remaining of her whiskey and slamming her cup gently back on to the table,
Frank unscrewed the bottle slowly as he tried to read the label “It’s not exactly a vintage or anything!” He said as he poured a generous quantity into Susan’s glass, “Do you want some?” Frank said as he offered the bottle to Anna,
Anna finished her drink, “Of course!” She said as she held her cup out, “And don’t be stingy!”
“Mmmm! This is good!” Susan said as she took a long drink, “So, Frank, what have you been up to since I last saw you?” She said as Frank was filling his own cup,
Frank took a quick sip while he thought, “Not that much to be honest! Things have been tough recently.” He said glumly, “I only had one contract last month. I was flying a large Class four Minorian Freighter, I’ll never do that again, that’s for sure!” Frank took another larger drink,
Anna looked over at Frank with a puzzled look on her face, “Why?” She asked curiously,
Frank laughed as he filled his cup up again, “You’ve obviously never spent three weeks with two dozen Minorian’s during their mating season!”
“What do you mean?” Anna asked as she reached over and grabbed the whiskey of the table,
Susan chuckling quietly to her self before looking over at Anna, “Have you ever met a Minorian before?”
Anna thought for a second, “Yes, I once had a navigator called… Mmmm let me see.” Anna thought a few seconds longer, “No the names gone, but yes I’ve met one before.”
“Did you notice the smell?” Susan questioned,
“Yeah!” Anna replied as she cocked her eye brow,
“Well if you thought that was bad, for one month a year Minorian’s go through.” Susan paused as she thought, “Well, let’s just say they go through heat! When they do, the sent glands that produce that awful smell go into over drive and the smell is at least five times worse!” Susan laughed
“What and you didn’t know they were all about to go into heat Frank?” Anna asked (In some what of a patronising voice as she looked over at Frank)
“Well here’s the thing!” Frank said defensively, “All Minorian’s are different, so they don’t usually go into heat at the same time, but if one goes, they all go!”
Susan looked over at Frank, “What caused it?” She asked curiously,
“It was the cargo!” Frank replied quickly before taking more whiskey, “We were carrying three large containers of Minorian geratry root! And one of the containers weren’t sealed properly!”
Susan burst out laughing as she looked over to Anna, Who was looking very confused by now, “Anna!” Susan said as she tried to recover her composure, “Minorian geratry root, is a powerful aphrodisiac to the Minorian’s, one sniff and sends them absolutely wild, Frank how did you survive, they can go completely insane.” Susan paused, “I was on a transport ship a few years back, when one of Minorian’s went into heat, she assaulted at least five male passengers before trying to mate with the main air lock, I managed to sedate her just in time!” Susan giggled happily as she looked back over at Frank,
Frank sat back in his seat, “It wasn’t easy, I had to carry around my gun for the whole trip.” Frank grinned, “I even had to sleep in one of the space suits in the air lock for most of the trip!” Frank took another sip of his whiskey and looked over at the door, “So?” He said in a quiet voice, “What do you thinks in the cargo bay?” He asked as he looked back over to Susan,
Susan looked up from her drink and shrugged, “Couldn’t tell you! Isn’t Artok planning on telling us?” She replied reassuringly,
Anna laughed sarcastically, “You don’t think he’s actually going to tell us do you?”
Susan looked over at Anna, “No I don’t suppose he is!”
“It has to be valuable if the Pats wanted it destroyed!” Frank said nervously,
“It’s nothing to worry about!” Artok said as he strolled confidently into the mess hall, “And what the hell are you doing drinking on duty?” He added angrily as he passed Susan and walked over to the food dispenser,
“Oh! On duty!” Frank said sarcastically as he did a mock salute from his chair while taking a large mouthful of his whiskey, Anna stood up and looked over at Artok, “Cut the crap!” She snapped angrily, “What’s in the cargo bay?”
“Where’s Wilson?” Artok said as he pretended to read the menu,
“Vomiting in the toilet!” Frank said as he stood up as well, “What’s in the cargo bay? Why did the Pats want it so much?” Frank added,
Anna looked over at Frank and looked down at his weapon and nodded, “Tell us what’s in the cargo bay Artok!” Anna’s snarled as her hand dropped slowly towards her weapon,
Artok growled as he turned round to face Frank before turning his head to face Anna, “Unless you’re going to use that I suggest you leave it where it is!”
“Let’s just calm down okay?” Susan asked nervously as she stood up from her chair and moved out from the middle of Artok and Anna and over to beside the door, “Artok all we want to know is what’s in the cargo bay!”
“It’s nothing dangerous!” Artok said as slight nervous quiver entered his tone, “It’s…” Artok paused as he glanced between Anna and Frank, “Synthetic medical supplies!” Artok slowly walked over to the table and lifted up the bottle of whiskey,
Frank shook his head and laughed quietly to him self, “Bull!” He said after a brief pause,
Susan glared over at Frank, “That’s not helping Frank!” She said angrily, “What kind of medial supplies?” Susan said as she turned back to Artok,
“Artificial limbs, and other medical supplies!” Artok said before taking a short swig of the whiskey, “Urge! This is awful whiskey!” He said as he slammed the bottle down on the table,
Frank smiled, “I heard you work for Syn-Tec!” He said as he lit a cigar, all the while keeping his eyes firmly fixed on Artok,
Artok’s face turned slightly pink as he glanced over at Frank, “So what!” He stated as he waved a cloud of smoke Frank had just blown at him away from his face,
“I also heard you’re involved in secret Synthetic weapon’s research!” Frank replied,
Anna sighed, “Well that’s great! What are we really transporting!” She snapped as her hand twitched slightly,
Artok saw the twitch out the corner of his eye and drew his own weapon quickly, and pointed it at Frank, who had only partially drawn his own weapon, “Don’t!” Artok said as he looked at Frank,
“Don’t your self!” Anna said as she pointed her own gun at Artok’s head,
“If you shoot me I’ll kill him!” Artok growled furiously,
Anna laughed smugly, “Fine, You’d be saving me the trouble! I don’t like him, remember!”
Frank grinned nervously at Artok, “She’s right you know!” He said calmly,
“Put the gun down!” A quiet voice said from behind Anna,
“Hello Professor!” Artok gloated,
The professor walked in to the mess hall confidently with a small energy weapon, “I am a very good shot!”
“So am I!” Susan said as she drew her gun and pointed it at the professor,

Frank stood, his arms stretched out away from his body, his gun hung loosely on his finger, a single bead of sweat ran quickly down the middle of his face and dropped of his nose, if it hadn’t been for the loud humming of the engine the sound of the sweat hitting the ground would have been heard clearly, Artok’s resolve hadn’t been shaken and he still stood, motionless, confidently, his gun pointing straight at Franks head, Anna stood, stone faced pointing her gun at Artok, the professor was getting nervous, his hand trembled slightly as he struggled to keep his composure, Susan stood, smiling, pretending to be relaxed and in control while pointing her gun at the professor. The faint sound of Wilson swearing as he finished in the adjoining toilet was the only noise other than the engine echoing through the ship,
“What’s the hell’s going on?” Wilson asked nervously as he entered the mess hall,
“You’re either with us or you’re against us Wilson!” Artok growled, while smiling aggressively at Frank,
Wilson shook his head in disbelief, “Put your weapons away damn it!” He snapped as he backed away towards the toilet again, “This is an old class three!” He said rubbing his head with a cloth that he had just removed from his pocket, “Let me think, there are plasma conduits behind the walls, if you miss each other and hit one….!” Sweat started to pour off Wilson’s brow,
“I hate to say it, but he’s right you know!” Frank said calmly as he slowly turned and sat his gun down on the table,
Artok gave of a loud snarl as he lowered his gun, “Lower your weapon Professor!” he said after a brief pause,
As the group lowered their weapons Wilson gave of a loud sigh of relief, “What was this all about?” He asked as he cautiously approached the table,
“Artok won’t tell us what’s in the cargo bay!” a relived tremor had entered Susan’s voice,
“I already told you what’s in the cargo bay!” Artok snapped,
Susan snorted angrily, “What you mean the rubbish about medical supplies!” She stated as she walked back over to the table,
“Wilson!” Frank said as he poured a cup of whiskey, “Here!” Frank held out the cup,
Wilson frowned, “Do you think I’m dense!” he said angrily,
“It’s whiskey! You saw me pour it, take it!” Frank said reassuringly,
Wilson reached over and took the cup, “It better be or I’ll shoot you my self!” He said downing the contents in one mouthful, “Yuck! That’s crap whiskey!” Wilson held out the cup,
Frank smirked as he filled it up again, “Glad you like it!” he said as he took a drink from the bottle,
Susan held out her arm towards Frank as he passed the bottle over to her, “If it’s medical supplies why did the Pats want it so badly they were willing to blow it up rather than let it escape the system?” She enquired suspiciously,
Artok laughed, “Has any one bothered to checked our destination?” He looked around the room questioningly,
“The Seltar system!” Wilson replied arrogantly,
“That’s right!” Artok said in a sarcastic congratulatory voice, “Being as you’re so bright, maybe you could tell us what’s going on in the Seltar system right now?” He asked as he took, the now almost empty bottle of whiskey,
Wilson thought for a second, “There’s a war on just now!” He said curiously,
“That’s right!” Artok said as he finished the whiskey,
Frank laughed disbelievingly, “So we’re taking medical supplies for one side of fighters!”
“Yes! Is that so hard to believe?” Artok replied as he sat the empty bottle on the table,
“Frankly yes!” Anna snapped, “What have you got to gain from it?” She added as she sat down on the seat at the end of the table closest to the door,
“The Pat’s are taking apart a small group of independent miners, because!” Artok paused as he sat down in the seat facing Anna on his side of the table, “Frank, any more whiskey?” Artok looked up at Frank,
“Yeah, of course!” Frank said as he turned round and walked over to his bag,
“Well.” Artok paused as he thought about what he had been saying, “Well, basically, the Pat’s are doing the central corporation’s dirty work, they’ve discovered the rich tri-dreceen mineral deposits on the main planet!”
“Tri-dreceen!” Wilson said curiously as he sat down eagerly beside Artok, “How much?”
Artok grinned, “We’re not sure, it’s at least a hundred times larger than any other deposit found before, and that’s before we’ve done the proper survey.”
“So what are you getting out of it?” Anna enquired curiously,
“Okay, we are with Syn-Tec!” Artok said as he took the whiskey off Frank,
“Artok!” The Professor snapped angrily as he sat down, “That’s classified information!” He added nervously,
“Shut up Professor!” Artok replied calmly,
“What does a Synthetic food company want with a tri-dreceen?” Susan asked,
“We’re not just a Synthetic food company!” The Professor answered,
Artok raised his hand and gave the Professor a halt sign, “If you don’t mind!” He said lowering his hand, “We do a number of thing’s the Pat’s don’t know about.”
“Like what?” Frank asked as he took the whiskey bottle back,
“It doesn’t matter!” Artok replied quickly,
“Yes it does!” Susan snapped angrily,
Artok shook his head and sighed in frustration, “Fine, we do medical research, and we’ve got a considerable investment in a mining company!” He said after taking a drink,
“And the weapon’s?” Frank said as he offered the whiskey to the professor, who refused it, so, Frank passed it over to Wilson,
“We don’t do weapon’s research!” Artok snapped,
“Bull!” Frank said, he was getting very agitated by this point, “What does Syn-Tec get out of this?”
Artok glared over at Frank, “The miners can’t get to the tri-dreceen, it’s too deep, we provide them with the tools to reach the tri-dreceen!” Artok paused and looked over at the professor, who’s eye’s were almost popping out his head he was so angry, “We get sixty percent of the profit!”
“Sweet deal!” Anna said angrily as she snatched the bottle of whiskey from Susan, “So you can honestly say we’re not carrying any weapons!” She added inquisitively,
Artok sighed, “Fine, we’re carrying some small arms, only a case or two though!”
“Oh, well! That’s okay then!” Anna said sarcastically, “Why didn’t you tell us? Smuggling's one thing but Smuggling weapons is a whole different matter, do you have any idea how long we could all get if we get caught!” She snapped,
“What and it would of made a difference to you?” Artok shouted angrily as he thumped his fist down on the table, "Besides, you don't have to wory about any charges being filed against you, we have enough leverage to get you off almost any charge!"
Anna mumbled a few incoherent words before standing up and storming out the mess hall, Susan finished her whiskey off before standing up and following Anna out the room,
“Any one else got a problem?” Artok said calmly as he stood up and walked over to the food dispenser,
Wilson shrugged his shoulders and got up and walked back into the toilet,
“Ah, hell!” Frank said as he stood up, “It’s too late to complain now any way!” Frank smiled at the professor and walked out the room,
The professor watched as Frank left the mess hall, “Artok!” He said quietly as he stood up and started walking over to Artok, “What the hell are you doing?”
“What would you like me to have told them?” Artok growled quietly,
“It was a complete breach of company procedure!”
“Well, I could have told them the truth, would that of made you feel better!” He exclaimed,
“I…I…” The Professor stammered, “Just!” The Professor pointed at Artok before turned and storming out the room,
Artok growled quietly before pushing so hard down on the table the front snapped of in his hand.

Frank strolled onto the bridge, Susan was sitting at the third computer terminal on the farthest side of the door, Anna was standing behind her and the pair were whispering quietly between each other,
“Hey!” Frank said as he walked over to them,
“Hey Frank!” Anna replied, with out taking her eye’s of the screen,
“What’s up?” Frank asked as he reached the pair,
Susan looked over her shoulder at Frank, “What does that look like to you?” She asked as she pointed at a small screen displaying the long range sensor information,
Frank looked at three large green dots flashing on the screen, “That looks like three Patrol ships! Right on our tale.”