"So… what do they call you"? the pilot finally asked.
He thought for a moment before giving his answer. He could have just ignored her of course and avoided the sticky task of giving a false name.
"Book, you can call me Book" he finally answered.
The female pilot's face instantly give away she didn't believe him but she left it at that.
In his current role he didn't have a name, or rank for that matter. The name 'Evans' was long gone now and was never to be used.
"It's a nice ship you have". He smiled in the hope to move the conversation along.
"Thank you kindly, she's a new Firefly class. Only 3 weeks out of the factory" said the pilot with her face beaming with pride.
They were both sat in the pilot bay area at the front of the ship. The lady flying the boat was called Jules. She was a lady in her 40's who ran cargo runs with her engineer sister
"So just you and your sister on this ship then is it"? he asked realising that it may have come off a little creepy.
"Yep, I steer and she pushes" laughed Jules at her own little joke. Stacey was the ships engineer and her sole job was to keep the Firefly up in the black. They made small talk for a further twenty minutes until a reminder alarm flashed on the console to remind Jules that they were about to hit the pre-arranged co-ordinates.
"Well we're here" she said as she craned her neck to look out the windows. "I'm assuming we're to meet another ship"?
"Something like that" he replied softly as he looked at his watch. He had only eight minutes or so to complete his mission.
"Say I'm just going to stretch my legs. Let me know when my… friends show up".
And with that he smiled and made his way into the corridor and down onto the second level. As he wondered back to his room he looked around to take it the build and design of the new class of ship. There was something about this class he really liked.
Back on the bridge Jules was being joined by her sister Stacey.
"You know you're not meant to have passengers up on the bridge" she teased.
"Ain't no rule saying I'm not allowed to keep the pleasant company of a handsome young man" she laughed back.
"Young being the important word here, sister". Stacey countered. "That boy must be late twenties at best".
"shush now little sister, just cause you've took a life of celibacy, it don't mean I have to miss the feel of a man between my thighs when I can". Winked Jules knowing that the comment would freak her sister out.
"Oh dear lord" squealed Stacey as she rolled her eyes. "You can't say that stuff to me. Yuk"
They both continued to laugh. Jules was always winding her sister up about her religious beliefs and trying to freak her out.
By now Book had changed into his 'uniform' the dark suit felt tight on him just a tad bit too much but not as much as the bright blue thin armour he wore under it. It stared down at his two blue hands as he wangled his fingers gently. He exited his room and made his way back to the bridge area. He couldn't hear the giggling anymore as he climbed the stairs. He hoped that the sister wasn't there for this but if she was he would have to deal with her accordingly. As he stepped on the bridge he could see Stacey had gone. Jules swung in her seat and was stunned by the sight of Book in his suit.
"Oh my. Any reason for the change Handsome"? She cheekily enquired.
He could tell by her body language that she was sexually attracted to him right now. It would be a shame really. He smiled as warmly as any good man could and with one quick movement moved quickly towards her snapped her neck before she let out any noise. Her body slumped in the pilots seat lifeless as he lent over to hit the comm's transmit button.
"Come aboard" he said simply before turning back to deal with Stacey in the engine room. But as he turned he could see she was already in the doorway. She was white as a sheet with silent tears running down her face. Clearly in shock Book moved towards her slowly as she began to stagger backwards. He could tell she was in shock but even he wasn't prepared for what she would say next.
"Shepard… I wanted to b Shepard" she said almost choking on her own words.
"Never been much for God myself" he replied almost in a hush. Within seconds she too was dead.
Minutes later Book was stood in the cargo bay as the ship shifted slightly as the airlock was engaged by the craft he was to meet. The bay doors opened with a whoosh of atmosphere mixing. Out of the brief cloud of ozone walked his partner, He too was in a dark suite with hands of blue.
"Are we ready"? He asked
"Yes" answered Book.
Moving towards Book his partner passed him a data pad. Both men said very little to each other or even kept each others gaze. The pad showed that the back story has been set for this ship and it's now dead crew. Book was at the original mission brief for this, even at the time he thought the plan was so simple it couldn't fail. Once he had booked out the whole ship and had then organised a flight path that ran near to Ariel but still off the normal shipping lanes. The Crew were known for doing illegal runs of Med Care for the rim planets and that's why they were picked. It wouldn't be that difficult to link them to the ever growing voice against total unification of all the planets and claim the attack was a terrorist move on the Alliance worlds.
"You head back to the ship and I shall set the autopilot and disassemble the safety protocols".
"The target"? asked Book.
"A low rent housing skyrise on Ariel. No one of any importance will be lost but enough people will die for it to start a nationwide panic. After they find our evidence linking it to a terrorist cell from Miranda, The council will have no choice to pass through the extra funding to push on to the planet to claim it under Alliance rule".
Book watched his partner climb the stairway on his way to the bridge. He allowed himself one last look around the hold of the ship,
"Such a shame" he said quietly to himself. "I really liked this ship".