Rocky Landing

"We'll stay here until he's finished his business, then follow him. When we corner him, we'll make a business proposition and not let him go until he's fulfilled his obligation."

Luke nodded. "Fine. We wait." He then moved to find himself a dry wall to lean against and close his eyes.

Alistair joined him at the back of the crowd and kept his bright eyes fixed totally on the boy, trying to make him nervous an let him know he was being examined.

As Dmitri napped, the raggedy dog prowled the ship, searching every nook and cranny for lost bread crumbs and interesting things to chew on. This prowling lead Buster the mutt to a cracked door, a door not often open. With some curiosity, she stuck her head in the door, pushing it further open to allow her to squeeze in and investigate.

Dmitri lay in his bed, napping, and didn't hear the door open. Jackets and blankets hung over the windows, keeping the room as dark as possible. His back was facing the door, and any light let in hadn't registered to Dmitri yet, as he was very nearly sawing logs.

--

Ivanna sat bored in a chair, not knowing what to do at the moment. When the door opened, she looked at it, and noticed the dog walk through. She hadn't realized there was a dog on the ship, and thought she was adorable. Momentarily forgetting she was a ghost, she cooed, "Aw, hello there, sweetie."

The dog paused in her exploration, looking up at Ivanna with big round eyes. A big doggie smile appeared on her face as she barked out a greeting to Ivanna.

Ivanna made a "sh" motion and was about to voice a sush when Dmitri jumped up from bed with a yell of surprise. He immediately looked around for what caused the sound, groping for a rifle that wasn't there. When he realized he was in his room on The Heat, he calmed down a little, but continued looking for the source of the bark. He saw Buster, wagging her tail and looking at the chair beside his bed. He figured, if he was too believe anything Luke had said, which he did, that Ivanna must be sitting there.

Sighing, he rubbed his face as he mumbled, "Glupaya sobaka.*" He reached over to the bedside table, picking up his eye patch and slipping it back over his left eye, looking at the dog. "Who let you in here? And why'd you wake me up?" He was reluctant to leave his bed with the dog there, but he wanted to get her out of his room. Making a shooing motion with his arm, he said, "Shoo, dog. I don't have any food for you. Go bug the Captain."

((* = Stupid dog.))

The dog looked back at Dmitri with her usual regard toward human words. He certainly wasn't kicking her, yelling at her or praising her, which in her mind put him on par with a rock. Just a part of the scenery. Putting her nose back to the ground, she continued her rummaging through the room for stray bits of snacks. Every human room had to have a few.

Dmitri watched the dog sniff around, saying, "I said shoo." He waved his hand at the dog some more, continuing, "Out. There's nothing for you in here."

--

Ivanna went from looking at Dmitri to the dog, an back again. Standing up, she went over to the dog. Bending down in front of her, she smiled, saying, "I don't know if you can see or hear me, but could you leave? Dmitri doesn't seem to want you here..." She knew that talking to a dog was silly, but she figured that if she gestured while she talked, the dog would know what she was saying. Suddenly, she realized that the dog was looking for something to eat, and happily said, "What if I get you some food from the kitchen?"

Buster looked up at Ivanna and wagged her tail, expecting a pat on the head. The human continued to speak in human babble, though she could definitely understand the word "food". With a yip of delight the scraggly dog turned and headed to squeeze her way out of the door and for the kitchen.

Dmitri watched the dog go, muttering, "Good dog. Now leave me alone." He threw back his covers, scrambling up to the door to close, making sure the latch clicked before heading back to bed and pulling the covers up to his ears. He took his eye patch off once again, placing it on the bedside table, turning over and continuing his nap, muttering something about dogs.

--

Ivanna giggled when the dog yipped, and watched as she left the room. Even though the door was closed by Dmitri, Ivanna let herself out, merely floating through the wood. She went to the kitchen, following close behind the dog. When they arrived, she looked through the cabinets for something a dog might like, and the rest of the ship wouldn't mind if it went missing. She settled on a piece of bread, placing it on the floor for the dog. Again forgetting she was a ghost, she went to pet the dog, saying, "There you go, girl."

Buster was quick to gobble up the bread in her own doggy way, her tail a blur of excitement at the prospect of more food. Both of the big men didn't seam to like her much, the biggest, black haired man seamed to avoid her all the time and the taller blond man had a bad habit of yelling at her every time she tried to go into the kitchen or tried to get on the table.

---

Meanwhile upstairs, Ana headed for Dmitri's room and gently knocked on the door. "Dmitri, mind if we talk?" She tried to ask through the wood.

Ivanna watched the dog eat, smiling. She had always wanted to get a dog, but her apartment wouldn't allow pets, and she didn't necessarily have the money to keep a pet anyway. When Buster looked like she wanted more food, Ivanna's smile turned into one of apology. She held up her hands, saying, "I'm sorry, girl, I can't give you any more."

--

When Dmitri heard a knock on the door, he moaned in response, answering, "Da, give me a minute," afterwards. Turning over and rubbing his right eye, he reached once again for his eye patch, slipping it over his head to cover the left. He didn't bother putting his hair up, but did walk over to his wardrobe to pick up the only shirt he had at the moment, the one he bought in Phiah. Putting the shirt on, he buttoned it up, even though he had half a mind to just leave it unbuttoned, since if all Juliana wanted to do was talk, he would probably just go back to taking a nap.

Getting a yawn out of the way, he opened the door, smiling in welcome when Juliana came into view. "Of course, Captain. Is out here in the hallway fine, or would you like to come in?" He gestured inside as he spoke.

Lavinia, left alone in the cockpit, made an attempt to contact Perry again.

Buster stared up at Ivanna and proceeded to flatter her ears against her head and stare at Ivanna's hand mournfully.

The ancient canine tradition of begging was one passed down from doggy generation to doggy generation, an instinct as woven into the very fabric of their being as barking at small furry creatures. This time tested move had provided dogs through out the ages more food than they would be normally allowed, a tradition rooted back in the days of being wolves.

---

"Would love to come in," Ana replied with a bright smile, taking Dmitri up on his invitation with a skip to her step. She bounced her way inside, leaning against the wall opposite to the bed. "So, I 'ear there's some sort of big fair going on 'ere. I'd love to see it, though don't plan in going alone. Pretty sure I won't be able to drag Alistair or Lavinia there, they don't seam to be fair types, and you can't drag Luke anywhere without taking Alistair there first. So what I'm asking is if you want to join me or not."

---

It took a few moments, but Perry's face was sure to appear. Sadly, he was not facing the mirror itself, rather, over his shoulder. "Do keep packing while I talk. Be sure the guns and the gliders are functional. We are traveling through dangerous areas, I would hate to be caught unaware. And keep the poodle in my mother's room. Do not let it get anywhere else on the ship."

His face returned to Lavinia. "Ms. Cardham.... Lavinia. I believe we never got the chance to discuss Lord Syme and your connection with him. And don't bother playing dumb, I have a report that you were there to witness his death."

"I was," Lavinia answered quietly. "It was an unfortunate coincidence for both of us. I thought he might help me with my research, he had a lead, we both followed it... then he was dead. It happened so fast I could not have stopped it. No one expects a victrola to fall through a roof in the middle of a discussion."

"A Victrola is a curious thing to just have suddenly fly through the roo-" Perry tried to lead, though a thought occurred to him in mid sentence. He asked skeptically, "What sort of research?"

"I am investigating an ancient cult," Lavinia answered. "I was going through the Shelby archives when I found some of the cult's internal records which made mention of Lord Syme--the previous Lord Syme. I thought Lord Syme might provide me answers."

"An ancient cult you say? Something involving vampires?" Perry asked. This new information did drastically change his previous theories, theories forged out of desperation for some form of logic and connection to the two tragedies in his life. While tragic consequences were terrible, chaos made them worse.

"No. Involving the soul and the magicians that wish to perfect it," Lavinia answered.

"I suspect that I am missing vital pieces of information to make sense of all this. Please, tell me everything that happened to you on Phiah, even the minor details that feel unimportant. You're the last lead I have on the truth that is not Mr. Fairchild."

"Have you ever heard of the Order of the Rook?" Lavinia asked. She was getting dangerously close to revealing the truth of the matter, but she thought it best to dangle enough of a carrot to hold him at bay and move him to her purposes.

A disturbed look fell over Perry's face at the mention of the Order. Now it was silently tolerated, but old stories took time to wash away. "I have. A dangerous thing to be researching."

"Certainly, as events on Phiah have proved."

Ivanna looked at the dog, an "Aw" leaving her lips. Since Buster didn't seem to mind her petting her, she went to pet the top of her head, saying, "I wish I could give you more food, but it's not mine to give, girl." The begging continued, and finally Ivanna gave in. Who would miss some silly old bread, anyway? She retrieved some more for Buster, squatting in front of the dog with a smile as she placed it in front of her.

--

Leaving the door open, to let in some light, if only for Juliana's benefit, Dmitri watched her bounce in, almost getting used to the energy the girl had. He listened to Juliana's request, making a slight face after she asked him to join her. He walked over to one of the windows, removing the covering as he looked out. It was still raining, and fairly hard. Replacing the cover, he put a hand thoughtfully up to his chin. Turning to Juliana, he asked, "Would you happen to have another umbrella? I don't particularly like getting wet..." He didn't want to say no to her, but he didn't want to touch the rain, either.