The Nexus

The time was moving slowly, they were six hours out into deep space and Zalen's lab was as quiet as ever, not much company as the medical officer of such a small ship, rarely was anyone hurt or sick enough to visit him when he was on duty, typically he had to wait for meal times to have any sort of social interaction with the other crew members. He was of course grateful that his shipmates were healthy however.

He was working on a vaccination To combat the decalcification of bones during prolonged exposure to space radiation, soft music playing in the background as means to keep him from dying of social boredom.

He had the door open, should anyone feel the need to drop in on him for one reason or another, and it could be clear to anyone who might pek in that he wasn't working all that hard. spending as much time peering out the hatch into darkness, as he did his microscope.

The Captain was shut away in the cockpit as usual. They were in deep space en route to a pick up point to some alien diplomat, blahblah. Banyan didn't want to know. It was bad enough his own planet had ejected him and his compatriots and now he had to cater to the alien race's needs. Some might have thought of his punishment as a learning experience, but Ban was sure this was cruel and unusual. He had made a crew of humans only and it was small and comprised of people he knew he could trust. The Medical Officer Zalen, Alien Liaison Mythri and the Mechanic Technician Yoro. The Captain rarely mingled with them much, least of all Mythri who did all of their booking and course notes; she spent too much time with other planetary races for his liking.

Just now he was lounged back in his pilot's seat watching the monitors. Nothing was happening out here. It was just a vast wasteland of space dotted with stars and the occasional debris field from old wars or old planetary objects. Ban slid his finger across the touch part of the monitor and decreased the zoom on his field of vision. Still nothing in sight all around them. He didn't need to be actively piloting, the ship could stay on autopilot and continue comfortably on the course Mythri plotted for them.

Sighing, he pushed himself to his feet and descending from the cockpit toward the cafeteria, which was really a glorified kitchen space. He'd pass Zalen's bay on his way.

Zalen looked up from the hatch when he heard footsteps echoing in the hall outside the door to the med bay. He leaned in his chair in such a way that he could catch a glimpse of them as they walked up to, or by the door.

Upon seeing it was the Captain he offered a smile, and a friendly wave. The Captain rarely stopped to chat, so he didn't expect much of a conversation out of him, but he was nothing if not friendly. "Are we making good time?" He asked, some casual small talk to fill the silence.

Banyan considered not stopping to chat, as he usually didn't make much time to banter with the crew. But Zalen was one of his most trusted friends and he hadn't stopped in to see how the man was doing in a while. With a sigh, he paused and back peddled to enter the med bay. "We're making time," he said vaguely. He wouldn't call it good, per say. This deep into space it was hard to tell they were moving at all, really.

He looked around as if he was inspecting the conditions of the place. "You need any supplies when we land?" He asked somewhat gruffly. He couldn't remember the last time he checked medical supplies since they didn't need them very often.

Zalen was pleased to see that he lured the captain into a little socialization, and leaned forward, his elbows on his desk, and his hands clasped together gleefully,and his chin resting on top. "Nothing major, we've had a lot of luck, the supplies we have could last us a while still with our clean track record.

He pouted playfully. "It's really inconsiderate of you all, No one is ever sick, and I'm always all alone."

Ban had crossed his arms over his chest and planted his feet while Zalen answered. He looked mildly out of place even though this was his own ship. He grunted to Zalen's jest. "It's better we're not sick. A measly cold would be passed around so quickly in this thing we'd all be down at once." Obviously Zalen had only been teasing, but Banyan took it seriously.

He paced around the room looking at things and frowning like a mother inspecting their child's disorganized room. The ship was pretty old and in obvious disrepair. Zalen's bay alone was missing some bolts in the bracing and thee was rush creeping out of places. "Damn heap might fall apart if we hit re-entry too hard," he muttered.

Zalen kept the place in a semblance of organization. It wasn't flawless, but usually satisfactory, His eyes followed the captain nervously as he did his little impromptu inspection. His answer to Ban's comment was a nervous chuckle. "Well, I hope for my sake that you're wrong. I don't count being able to fly among my many talents."

Ban turned to his medical officer and quirked a brow. "I don't think any of us having fly among our talents unless it's with a machine." His eyes bore into Zalen a moment as if he was contemplating something... He blinked after an intense moment and moved away toward the door. "We're going to be on autopilot for some time. I'm going to get lunch." He lingered and looked back as if inviting Zalen to join him without actually asking.

Zalen shifted nervously under the captain's gaze, wondering why the intense look, paranoid that he somehow might have given away his best kept secret. But he analyzed the words he'd said in his mind, and could find no reason to believe this was the case. He raised an eyebrow,might have said something too, if the Captain had not shifted his attention

He relaxed immediately as the captain moved away from him, towards the door. Surprised at the unspoken invitation, Zalen shot to his feet with a nod. "I could go for some lunch."

Ban grunted and continued down the hallway to the mess hall with Zalen behind him. He turned and entered the narrow port to the room and opened he refrigerated unit to see what they had to eat; it wasn't much. Space food had come a very long way since it was first invented, but the rations Ban was able to afford for the Renegade were still pretty primitive. He pulled out a tray of food that was vacuum sealed and one for Zalen as well, if he'd sat.

Once the seal was broken, the thing was designed to heal itself up. The trick was to watch the steam that escaped as the plastic was peeled back. Ban cursed as he burned his hand. "Damn things. You think they'd have come up with some better design by now." Of course, they had. But the they were not human and Ban refused to buy them.

Zalen took a seat at the table in the small mess hall, and gratefully took the package of food as it was handed to him by his captain. Unlike Banyan, everything Zalen did was graceful and carefully measured, as was his nature to do. He pulled the top carefully back, his hand avoiding the escaping steam.

He bit his tongue as Ban talked of the flawed design of human made things, thinking better of suggesting more effective, off world products. "It's your enthusiasm that will get you in trouble every time." He offered good naturedly. "If you take your time, your hand can't burn."

It didn't matter how good natured Zalen offered the suggestion. Ban was still going to grump like hell about it. He shook his hand like it was going to help with the burn and grumbled to himself. Once the tray was entirely free of plastic, he started to stab at the food and chewed it angrily. The Captain had a bit of a chip on his shoulder to say the least.

The food was not so great, but Ban was used to it by now and he ate quickly and efficiently. "You know anything about this client we're picking up?"

Zalen knew well enough that the Captain would grump about his suggestion. He also knew he would get over it eventually, so he wasn't to occasionally speak his mind.. within reason of course. There were certain things he could have said, that would have ensured his removal from the ship.

Zalen ate more slowly, taking his time as if the food was palatable. "I haven't heard a thing, aside from looking up his species medical information, I like to be prepared for anything, even if you all refuse to fall ill, or grievously injure yourselves."

"It's a he?" Clearly Ban didn't even know that much. He distanced himself from their "cargo" as much as possible. "What did you yield from the medical research? Anything we can catch from the thing?" He leaned against the table, propping himself up on his elbow to look at Zalen while the other man finished his food. He'd snapped open an old world soda and guzzled it down while waiting.

Zalen gave a little shrug.Buying himself a moment to determine how to answer that. There were always concerns with new beings and transference of illness, but the risks weren't all that great, no greater then they were when traveling to new places on ones own planet. He needed to be careful how he answered, so as to not induce panic or hostility.

"Well... It's always a factor, but don't you worry, the risk is negligible, and I am over prepared."

Banyan grunted. "If you say so." He was clearly still wary of the possibility anyway. "I'll be in the cockpit; you just be careful." Ban may have just been looking out for himself later on in case Zalen had too much interaction with the alien, but it might come across as concern for the other man. Zalen was as close to a friend as Ban allowed himself, after all.

"I figure we get to this planet, refuel, take the thing wherever it's going to go and take a break. We're getting paid too much for this job, but I'm not complaining. Deep space is a pain in the ass."

Zalen chose to be touched by his concern, rather then suspicious of his intent. He could have questioned that sentence all day, he found it better not to think about things such as this for too long,lest he drive himself mad.

He nodded agreeably. "That sounds like a fine plan, I'm sure the others would love some respite." Zalen spoke for them, since he could not speak for himself, he would have rather been out in dead space then stuck back home any day. Any idea of where?" Not that he expected any adventurous planet choices.

Ban crushed his can and threw it in the open mouth of the compactor. He listened to it clang down the correct shoot to recycle the metal and sighed. "I'd like to say home, but we both know that's not going to happen. So something Earth colonized on its own." Zalen should have expected that response, really.

"Anywhere you wanna go?" He quirked a brow and looked at the other man with a sidelong glance.

Zalen was not at all surprised by his answer. He shook his head as he answered Ban's question, though in his head he was thinking he would have rather gone as far from an earth colonized planet as possible. "Oh you know me, I'm just along for the ride,anywhere is fine."

Ban studied his medic's face for a long moment before nodding. He had a habit of staring too long and too intensely as if he were trying to figure out someone's worth. It would be disconcerting. He finally grunted again and gave a half grin. "Maybe we'll find some girls to take up our time." Though it wasn't often he gave into carnal desires, it had been a rather long time.