Doctor's Appointment

Freyssinet has arrived. Freyssinet boards through the ship's airlock.

The airlock door opens with a clunk, swinging inwards and then sliding to the side revealing a tall handsome man, blond-haired streaked with grey. He's grinning broadly and wearing long blue robes, almost like a monk, his voice, the voice you gave him reverberates deeper than usual, a side-effect of synthesiser box in his throat, "It's been too long grandma."

Freyssinet smiles a bit, and steps in, ready to hug him. "Been a while, indeed... We were all wondering. Glad to see you, Grandson."

Freyssinet adds, "Bet that was you, yesterday evening, in the news?"

Almost immediately the door slides shut behind clicking closed, the lunite steps into the hug, patting 'Grandma' on the back, "Not all my fault, you're a hard woman to track down." After a moment he steps away and gestures towards the Stateroom, "We have the whole ship to ourselves, I've not put a crew together yet.... but this part of the Haste is more comfortable." At Frey's addition he chuckles and nods, "Damsel in distress, how could I resist?"

Freyssinet purses her lips, "Well, if you find the Wolfsbane, here I am." she nods, ready to follow to the statesroom. "How did you get that ship, if I may ask?" She pats his shoulder, "That's so you."

Corridor  IND Saviour's Haste -

The short corridor runs along the portside of the ship, lit from a set of recessed fourescent fixtures hidden withing recessed ceiling coves. The corridor ends in two hatchways for and aft, and halfway along the inboard wall there is a third, more elegant, doorway. Last, outboard, a heavy pressure door accesses the ship's small airlock. The hatch slides to the left, allowing access to private stateroom.

Freyssinet has arrived.

Ares chuckles at Frey's comment and leads her into the Stateroom before explaining, "Phoenix Salvage made some money before I more or less abandoned it." He shrugs, "After I'd spent a while on Tomin Kora I realised I really needed my own spindrive again, I used the funds to buy the ship. She used to belong to a pirate, so she's been... modified."

Stateroom  IND Saviour's Haste -

There is an air of quiet simplicty which frames the room, bringing the subtle touch of elegance to the finely appointed quarters. The far wall is dominated by a single window, a long narrow band of clear polycomposite glazing reaching from the carpeted floor to the latticed ceiling above. Beyond its crystal pane the stars slowly pass, looking out to the sable depths.

Outboard is a recessed bunk and storage units, an efficient array of elegant casework. The bed is neatly made, its single pillow set square at its head. Sheets and bedding are the finest satin, falling in fancy pleated folds. The bed is set into the wall of exquisite millwork. Above, below, and to the sides the cabinetry becomes a paneled grid of polished ebony and mahoghany, trimmed with mother or pearl inlays. Some panels are doors, some for storage cubbies, and others are displays, monitors and commlink, the pragmatic links to the officer's world.

Inboard is a workstation, flanked by a pair of fine mahogany and leather chairs. The workstation wraps the far corner of room, its data display and workpad set flush in the finely polished desktop. Upon the screen is traced a lattice of coloured lines and scrolling shipping schedules, as well as readouts repeated from the ship's bridge.

Freyssinet nods. "Can be darn useful. TK? Hope you didn't make too many additional ennemies there."

David gestures towards one of the leather chairs as he walks over to a small drinks cabinet, "Drink? I tend to stick to water these days, but I'll allow myself a small indulgence this once."

Freyssinet shakes her head, "Just juice or water, please. Not good for a surgeon."

The lunite nods at that, fixing the drinks, some sort of fruit juice from castor and a whiskey for himself. He picks up the drinks and moves toward the empty chair, "I strangely fit in in the Warren, formed an alliance with Marcucilli, stayed independent and established a base of operations, even made a few friends." He hands the juice to Frey. "I don't really belong anywhere, and /nobody/ belongs on Kora, kinda makes sense in a twisted sort of way."

Freyssinet takes the juice, and nods in thanks. She sits down, "Oh, you saw Marcucilli? I tried to get info about the new .... King of TK from him, through Wiendrbac. Empty." You may notice she is paler than usual, but also straighter, her features harder.

David shakes his head as he sits, arranging his robe so he'll be comfortable, "Marcucilli would know more than I would, with Fagin around again, I think we've both made the right choice and getting away from that place. The Don isn't a nice man, but he can be bargained with, even worked with, I doubt this new Lord Fagin will be so.. reasonable." He takes a sip from his whiskey, he notes his ancestor's appearance and frowns at little, "How's things with you?"

Freyssinet winces. "Indeed. If he's who we think specially... He will not work /with/ us. And he will anyhow not like Remy either." she sighs. "Making do. You heard about Eirlys?..."

David's brow furrows, "One of the reasons I wanted to catch up with you, I've not heard much about anyone."

Freyssinet nods. "I do not think you ever met her - Eirlys, my adoptive daughter... She was..." she looks down, and her voice cracks down. "Killed. Some nuts took revenge of Ritter's deeds on her."

The lunite doesn't speak he doesn't have to, perhaps through some link passed down throw the ages from his distant ancestor's time to their own, the look of pain crossing his face will tell Dr Freyssinet-Ritter she doesn't have to explain anything, David understands completely how she feels. Pain. Primal. Deep. The man knows how she feels and his sadness is acute.

Freyssinet swallows, and straightens, watching David again. "But gotta keep up, for Gracie, and Remy..." she nods, as acknowledging his empathy. "Have you any immediatle plans for the org?"

David leans back in the chair, "I have two choices really." He shrugs matter-of-factly, "One is to let them go, they're dead in the water, you know that Frey, you've tried to keep them going. I'll go lone-wolf again, something I seem to spend most of my time doing anyway." He thinks for a moment before adding, "The second choice is to try and use the Haste to build a crew, nothing about information gathering, I'm thinking more..." He doesn't grin, perhaps he normally would, but after her little news has taken the fun out of the conversation, "Knights of the Round Table."

Freyssinet sighs, "Well... I am sorry I couldn't have been more useful." At the second announcement, she raises a brow. "That is... Original. And may I ask what your Holy grail would be?"

Perhaps it's her own confession that's touched off this mood in Ares, he thinks for a long moment, before admitting, "To make a difference, that's all that counts in the end."

Freyssinet nods. "Good goal. So, what would that make me?" a lip curves a bit up. "the Lady of the Lake, or Vivianne, with her healing powers?"

"Probably Vivianne," admits Ares. "If you think about it, the Lady of the Lake gave Arthur Excalibur, the source of his power." He stares into his glass, "I guess I still need to find her."

Freyssinet nods slowly. "It's in your heart, Jeff. You got it in yourself. And you have already made lots of good for Luna, even if it is not obvious."

He takes a sip and shakes his head, "I've tried Frey, God knows I've tried. But I don't see it." He chuckles morbidly and adds, "I lost my Merlin when Cliff went back with the moebius wave, only damned man I'd ever listen to."

Freyssinet leans forward and pats his shoulder. "You have his memory. And you have your heart - as you recognised yourself a few minutes ago, you can't stand to see a woman in danger, or an injustice, for that matter."

Tears well up in his eyes, "There's too much Frey, too much, when I first dreamt up the Watchers I imagined people flocking to my banner to help, the way they did when we pulled down Neidermeyer's statue. That's not how it worked out though, torture, isolation, prison, executed and finally murdered." He sighs, not giving into the black mood that's swept over him, "I just want to help damnit."

He takes a sip and shakes his head, "I've tried Frey, God knows I've tried. But I don't see it." He chuckles morbidly and adds, "I lost my Merlin when Cliff went back with the moebius wave, only damned man I'd ever listen to."'.

Freyssinet nods, giving a sigh of her own. "Problem is, most people are sheep, as used to say one our leaders. They'll baas and moos with the crowd, and follow to the slaughterhouse - and if you try rescue them, they'll get scared. You can try your best, but overall... People got the political regime they deserve."

Freyssinet adds, reciting,  "It lasts from this time, The curse of mediocrity. Have you such a weak stomach? Can't you stomach any truth? Are you just a gruel-eater? Then, you deserve no better."

"I'm not sure I agree," says Ares. "Being weak doesn't make you bad, just weak. And the strong should protect the weak when they can't protect themselves."

Freyssinet shakes her head. "It's not a question of weakness, it's a question of... Being complacent, I guess. Not caring, as long as you got your soup and your house and minimum safety, why bother if your neighbor gets arrested and tortured just because."

"Because you're scared the same will happen to you," says Jeff. "I lived through the Fleeter's occupation most of my adult life remember. I know what that kinda fear is like and I don't blame them, hell when I was younger I even did the same sometimes, you do what you have to to survive and sometimes... sometimes that means chosing your life over those of others." He takes a sip of his drink. "Even today if I thought there was no chance I'd get out alive trying to save someone else's neck, I'd walk away. So would you. So would anyone." He lowers the glass and stares into it.

Freyssinet frowns. "I... I have a tendancy to try, anyhow. Call me hopeless optimistic, or proud."

Abrubtly his eyes light up and he smiles his usual smile, "The trick is in convincing ourselves we might just stand a chance anyway."

Freyssinet 's lips curve slightly up. "Guess that must be a defective gene in my line - that easy conviction."

David chuckles at that and raises his almost finished glass in toast, "I'll drink to that."

Freyssinet raises her juice glass. "To whatever decent genes my cursed father may have passed us. May it undo the rest."

David chuckles and nods in approval, "Never give up Frey, no matter how bad it feels, we never give up. We'll thank him for that."

Freyssinet shrugs, "You can't thank him for much - in /my/ reality, he did prevent me from marrying your ancestor. And I was weak."

"Somewhere you found the strength," chuckles the lunite. "Data from that far back is scarce so I have no idea how or why it happened." He finishes off the whiskey, "Glad it did though."

Freyssinet nods. "Guess I ran away with him, and Father let go - which is surprising, but..." her lips curl up. "History is strange. Sometimes I dream Father is still alive, and comes to reclaim me from Remy."

"Goes to show how little I know," says Ares. "I mean I suspected, but I never knew for sure you two were an item." He places the empty glass on the desk.

Freyssinet nods. "been seven months now. He's a real heart - he trusts me, helps me even if he doesn't always agree with my crazy ideas - he'll tell me what he thinks, but he'll support me. And he's a real dad to gracie."

Ares leans back in his chair and nods with a smile, "Got to help having someone like Remy around, whether it's Remy in particular or just /someone/ in general." He frowns, "He's not expecting me to call him Grandpa is he?" The last 'he?' stretches out into a yawn.

Now, that got Frey almost chuckling. "Nah, I think that'd rather freak him out!" she nods, "You look tired, Son. Guess I should leave you - and now, you know where to find me..."

"On a ship, that could be anywhere," nods Ares. "Easy for a guy like me to track down."

David nods and stands, "Been a long night, and then day again."

Freyssinet nods, and stands too. "Take care. We're most of the time on Unsgtir - with side trips to New Luna and Quaquan. Any time you need a Vivianne... "

"Anytime you need an Arthur," he retorts. He takes his 'Grandma's' arm as they walk towards the airlock. More seriously he adds, "And anytime you need family."

Freyssinet nods. "Take good care."

The hatch slides to the left, allowing return to the corridor.

He smiles and waves his Frey off the Haste before heading to sleep.

The poetry quoted by Frey is freely translated from the German, Kurt Tucholsky's "An das Publikum" ("To the Public")