Andromeda rather enjoys her flight to Haven with Devereaux on her back. It's unusual to run into someone in his apparent line of work.
The felitauress banks slightly as she approaches Haven with her recently crashed passenger. "We're almost there."
Devereaux's voice is pregnant with all sorts of disapproving and/or disbelieving emotions. "...That's it?"
Andromeda nods as her wings start to backbeat for a landing near the docks, "Biggest city on the planet. They've been cut off for nearly a millennia."
Devereaux rubs at his forehead. "Ho man, I am really out in the great beyond..."
Simtra walks slowly down the street looking from shop to shop but not really in the mode to buy anything. He is still carrying the fox statute in his left paw.
Devereaux says, "What's a guy got to do to secure passage off of this rock?"
Devereaux leans slightly to one side, sharp gaze surveying the village below in minute detail, considering everything from main avenues of travel (and possible escape) to concentrations of populace.
Andromeda back pedals with her wings to come in for a landing on all fours and purrs, "Well, here you are, and as far as passage off Nexus, that'd mostly be through my race, but we have no idea where you are from. Heck, we're still not entirely sure where this galaxy is in relation to our old one."
Devereaux says, "Old one? Whew, I have to talk to a representative of your race who has more time. How do i look up someone in a position of authority?"
Andromeda purrs, "Well, around here that would probably be my brother, but he has other obligations for a while. I'll let him know you are looking for him."
Devereaux says, "Please do. We have a LOT to talk about."
Devereaux's eyes glint faintly in the light as he considers all of the things her -really- needs to find out about these races, and his situation.
Devereaux says, "Now... where should i go?"
Andromeda shrugs, "I have to get back to work shortly. There are a variety of hotels here. And the food isn't bad, despite their apparent 'primitive" setup."
Devereaux rubs at his temple. "Great. I assume someone will be looking for me before long then?"
Devereaux says, "Someone from your government?"
Andromeda shrugs, "Maybe. Hard to say. This is just an outpost for us."
Devereaux's mouth quirks in a grimace, and he thinks, "I may just have to take matters into my own hands before long, then..."
Devereaux says, "I would hope you wouldn't just let strange aliens who crashed out of nowhere run loose on an outpost world."
Andromeda chuckles, "Where are you going to go? Don't worry, we'll find you again. And considering some of my brother's friends, you hardly qualify as a strange alien."
Simtra notices a felitaur down the street and hurries his steps to get a better look at the taur.
Andromeda flicks her tail a few times, trying not to giggle.
Devereaux nods, arms folded, gazing down the street as he ponders his situation. "Yeah, that's true, you said there were humans here, like Michael..." He mentally adds to himself, "Such as they are."
Devereaux says, "Well, thanks for the ride... when do you expect the ship will be picked up?"
Simtra slows a bit when his see that the felitaur is joined by someone else that is even stranger looking then the taur.
Andromeda purrs, "It's scheduled for tomorrow morning. Oh yes, here's a few of the local coins, as a prepayment for the salvage materials."
Devereaux nods, accepting the coins with a faint smile. "Thanks... I'll see what use I can get out of them."
Andromeda has handed the human a dozen gold coins and the same number of silver rods. "Well, you should be fine, and I'm due for my shift at the orbital station."
Devereaux's gaze flicks skywards. "Right, don't want to miss your shuttle."
As Simtra nears the pair he waves hello meekly to them.
Devereaux's head turns smoothly and his gaze sweeps up and down the new arrival for a long moment... before he grins in an amazingly friendly fashion and nods to Simtra.
Devereaux has a black hip pack on one, well, hip, a backpack of some sort on his back, and a plain black case held in his left hand.
Andromeda hrrms? "Oh, I'm not going to catch a shuttle. Oh hello, we have another visitor. Greetings, I am Andromeda Skygazer."
Simtra jumps at the sight of Devereaux toothy grin.
Devereaux glances sidelong at Andromeda. "No shuttle? MatTrans, then?"
Devereaux says, "Ah, teleport, that is?"
Simtra bows his head not taking his eyes off of Devereaux. "G'day, my name is Simtra. And if you don't mind me asking, what are you?"
Devereaux nods to Simtra again. His smile has melted away, replaced by a calm, cool expression. "Devereaux. And I'm a human."
Devereaux turns his head slightly towards Andromeda, waiting for her response, but his gaze remains steady on Simtra. Alien phenotype #3.
Simtra mouths the word human and then bows slightly to Andromeda.
Andromeda giggles, "Neither. I have to fly, you two have fun. Simtra eh? Well, my friend here could probably use a guide. Take care."
Simtra nods. "A guide? Well I have nothing better to do today around here. I will show him around."
Devereaux's gaze returns to Andromeda, and both might note the furrow of his brow at that. He files the tidbit away... NOTE: Hypersonic, -space capable- feline 'tauroids. At last something has started to send his weird meter creeping up the dial.
Devereaux says, "Just, ah, show me where to get some chow, and a good night's sleep..."
Devereaux's head turns from side to side, scanning the town again.
Andromeda waves and then leaps into the air. When she's gained a few hundred feet in altitude, she suddenly rockets upwards, a small boom echoing in her wake."
As Devereaux watches Andromeda launch, he extends his point of perception approximately 100 yards up and kicks in his heightened senses, observing her climb for orbit until she has passed the very limit of his boosted vision.
Devereaux chews his lower lip thoughtfully... that has to be some kind of psychokinetic boost...
Simtra looks back up to Devereaux after Andromeda leaves, "So ya would like to be shown somewhere to eat or sleep. Anyplace ya want to be shown first?"
One thing that Devereaux does pick up is that, as the atmosphere thins, Andromeda's nose and mouth seal shut, and a tough, glass like membrane seals over her eyes.
Devereaux thinks to himself, "Whatever race designed these folks did a fraggin' good job. Div-23 has GOT to hear about this."
Devereaux blinks and looks to Simtra, snapping his senses back to normal and cutting off his clairvoyance. "Anywhere Someone new to this region should see first?"
Devereaux says, "I am completely new in town, friend. Gimme the grand tour."
Simtra chuckles, "Well since it is still early in the day me might as well get a bite to eat."
Simtra turns and motions to Devereaux to follow him.
Devereaux says, "Sounds prime to me. Lead the charge."
Simtra says, "There is a tavern not too far this way called the Proud Falcon. I have not been there myself but looks interesting."
Devereaux grins crookedly, "I like the name. Let's drop in."
Simtra keeps looking over his shoulder from time to time to keep his eye on Devereaux.
Devereaux assumes a position just aft and starboard of Simtra's shoulder, following the smaller humanoid closely.
Devereaux also, for the record, speaks your language with an oddly unplaceable accent. His inflections are just a hair... off.
After a bit both Simtra and Devereaux arrive in front of the tavern.
The Proud Falcon is a two story building, with some stables out back, and a large oak door which is presently propped open. Being the middle of the day, it's not very busy.
Devereaux ambles along behind the vulpine, arms folded, treating everything and everyone around him to a cool steel gaze. His expression isn't cold, or menacing... just calm and utterly confident.
Simtra says, "Does it look ok to you? If you want we can try somewhere else?"
Devereaux looks over the facade... and as he appears to ponder, he extends his view to a 360 degree point about 5 feet inside the tavern door, surveying the interior as well.
Simtra waits for Devereaux to respond and wonders why Devereaux is so slow to respond.
The interior is fairly clean, though the human may not appreciate the use of fresh straw on the floor. Several semi private booths are there, and a handful of furs deep in conversation, or the intoxicating beverage of their choice. A red panda bear is apparently the innkeeper.
Devereaux's mouth slowly quirks into a grin and he nods. "Looks good. Let's see what we can see."
Devereaux can't wait to see how the locals react to his entrance.
Simtra nods and quickly enters the tavern.
Devereaux allows Simtra to set the course, and follow about 4 feet behind.
Not too much reaction all in all. The innkeeper blinks a few times, but makes no comment. One ferret, who has obviously been there a while, looks at Devereaux and quickly pushes the bottle in front of him WAY away.
Simtra looks around the tavern and tries to find place to sit.
Simtra spots an empty table to the side of tavern and walks in that direction.
The innkeeper puts down the glass he was polishing, and finally pads over to the two and growls, "Whatcha want?", sounding mostly bored, but keeping an eye on Devereaux.
Devereaux tilts his head downward slightly, looking around from under his brows, and grinning with a thin, wry twist of his lips. No teeth.
Devereaux looks the innkeep over, then flicks his gaze across the walls behind him. this isn't so different from some of the asteroid miner bars he's been in. "Strongest thing you've got. And I -mean- that."
The panda nods, "Any food? We got some stew, bread. Some cheese. And your friend?" as he points to Simtra.
Devereaux says, "Meat. Thick, and rare."
Devereaux looks to Simtra. "Simtra? What do you want?"
Simtra says, "I will have, O I don't know, Do you have any tea?"
The innkeep nods and pads off to the back room for a bit.
Devereaux ambles over to sit on the other side of Simtra's table. As he does so he appears to relax.
Simtra calls after the the innkeeper. "Oh and a bowl of stew too!"
Devereaux rocks back slightly in his chair, looking all around the room.
Simtra turns back and faces Devereaux, "So what brings you to this area? Trade?"
Devereaux fishes in a thigh pocket, withdrawing a small rectangle of crystal, about the size of a slice of six-sided die.
Devereaux says, "Exploration. I'm a scout..."
Devereaux almost says 'pilot', but aborts the sentence as it is.
It's a pretty plain looking room. Fairly large, a low, short bar to one side. Several thick timbers support the upper floor, and the booths are also of wood with leather covers. One booth across from the now sleeping ferret has a fairly well dressed stag talking to a young squirrel. A pair of skunk guards are apparently off duty and eating lunch.
Simtra hmms, "A scout you say. For who?"
Devereaux shrugs his shoulders slightly, grinning. "A consortium of various merchant interests... trade, i guess you could say."
Simtra nods
Devereaux says, "So, Simtra... what can you tell me about Andromeda and those... ah... centauroids?"
Simtra says, "Not much I am afraid. I have not seen her before until I meet up with you and centauroids in general. Well I have only really talked with one and that was Coper and I only saw him for a little while."
Devereaux says, "Ah... oh well. They seemed... interesting."
Simtra says, "That is an understatement. I saw one of them light a fire with one of his feathers. They must be magical creatures."
The innkeeper comes back with a tray, and passes Devereaux's mug to him carefully, apparently not wanting it to get too close to the candles on the table. He places a mug of tea and a hollowed out loaf of bread filled with thick, savory stew. He then puts a raw steak in front of the human.
Simtra takes a quick sip of the tea and then starts to eat some of the stew.
Devereaux nods faintly. "Magical... no doubt." Obviously the race's designers threw psionics into the mix.
Devereaux glances at the mug, and takes it, hooking his thumb casually into the top so that it dips into the liquid inside... and he reads the chemical makeup of the drink, comparing it to known and favored liquors. He eyes the steak pensively, considering his options for cooking it a bit more.
Simtra notices Devereaux eyeing the steak strangely. "Is there something wrong with it? It looks ok to me?"
Devereaux says, "Ah... I just prefer mine a little more cooked. Call it a... quirk."
Devereaux says, "But not much more, mind you."
Simtra chuckles and looks to see if the innkeeper is near by to call him back.
Devereaux savors a healthy swig of alcohol, his enhanced metabolism getting to work on it right away.
The Innkeeper pads back, hearing the comments and hmmfs, "Well, ya said ya wanted it raw, didn't ye? I can slap it on the grill for a minute if ya want."
Simtra finishes his stew leaving the bread bowl and takes slow slips from his tea.
Simtra sits back on the chair and asks Devereaux, "So ya got any plans of what you are going to do around here."
Simtra's tail curls around the chair leg and the tip flips as he begins to relax a bit.
Devereaux says, "Rare, not raw. Just a minute on the grill should be fine."
The Innkeeper mutters, then picks the steak up with his paws and carries it back to the kitchen.
Devereaux says, "Plans, Yah, of a sort. going to explore. Familiarize myself with the na...locals, and see what I can find."
Devereaux watches the innkeeper go, grimacing slightly. He thinks, "Thanks for getting your fuzz on my food."
Devereaux says, "So, Simtra, what do you do?""
Simtra says, "Me? I am a trader. I just sold so of my raw gems down the road. I don't know if I will keep doing this. It was a long walk and I don't know if I will keep doing it. Tho I was able to get this lovely statute from the trader too."
Simtra places the fox statute down on the table near Devereaux.
Devereaux hmmms, rubbing his chin. "Not bad. Gems you say? One of my superiors is a dealer in gems."
The Innkeeper comes back, and now tosses the lightly seared steak onto Devereaux's plate without comment and walks off.
Simtra says, "Well if your superior is near by I have some rubies that I am trying to sell."
Devereaux looks the steak over, also without comment, and makes a show of plucking a hair off of his steak.
Devereaux says, "Indeed? No, he is far, far away, but I am authorized to act as his agent in some situations."
Simtra taking another sip from his tea, "Ah, Well if you want to buy them for him I can show them to you, but I do not currently have them with me. They are back at the place I am staying at."
The stag who has been talking with the squirrel finally notices the fox figurine in front of Simtra and walks over. Bowing his head he says, "A lovely piece of work. Where did you get it?"
Simtra says, "Ah, G'day. I got it from a gem trader about a week ago who is down the road. It is quite lovely. It even seems to glow from time to time."
The Stag's eyebrows raise slightly at that, and then eyes a window and gets a canny look on his muzzle, "Truly? May I look at it in the light then?"
Devereaux nods to Simtra, just as the stag arrives. Hands resting on the table, he silently listens and watches.
Devereaux's eyes narrow just slightly.
Simtra picks up the fox figurine and hands it to the stag.
The stag, obviously a noble or the son of a noble by his clothes, grabs it with the hand that has a large ring on it. He carries it over to the window, where the sunlight does a better job of hiding the flashes of light inside the figurine. After a minute, the stag brings it back, "Very nice. Did he have a variety of work, or just foxes?"
Devereaux divides his attention between the stag and the statue... particularly intrigued by the statue's potential.
Simtra says, "He gave me a choice of two others. I can't remember the species they were but they were not foxes. I think they might have been a skunk and a feline tho."
Devereaux taps the statue lightly with a fingernail. "What is it made of?"
The stag nods, "Well thank you kind sir, I shall have to see what else he can make. Have a good day." and then walks off and out the door of the Proud Falcon.
Simtra says, "I not quite sure, but it is a lovely amber colored stone though."
Devereaux watches the stag depart, then looks back to Simtra as he takes another drink and helps himself to a bit of steak.
Devereaux says, "Yes, it is. You;ll have to show me this sculptor."
Devereaux makes short work of his drink and his steak. "Now... about lodgings?"
Simtra finishes his tea. "Well there is an inn down the street. I can show ya the way there but I am staying in a friend's house.
Devereaux nods, looking for something convenient to wipe his hands on. "That would be perfect. I'm ready whenever you are... you have -no- idea how long my day has been."
Devereaux pushes back from the table, rising to settle the bill and follow Simtra out...
The young todd fox guides the wily human to what he would consider a hovel, but is basically a nice, though very simple, room for the night. While he prepares for sleep, Devereaux's name is being passed around in higher circles of the town's nobles, curious to who he is, and what he is up to. For now, the decision is just to watch him carefully, and see what happens. Finally, even the plotters for the city reach sleep, and the twin moons shine brightly overhead Haven.