Breakfast on the edge of the abyss.

Bina oversaw Lilka, Alatar and Itel preparing breakfast. Admittedly, it was hardly to name a preparation, since it was all about reheating packages of soy noodles with sauce, yeast paste, and mushroom stew, but having breakfast together was a ritual they rarely abandoned. Ireanis sat at the table, looking around with a slightly thoughtful smile. The silver-haired, dark-skinned elf in the somewhat old-fashioned sorceress' outfit was their mage, and a very powerful mage at that… as long as she was sober. Keeping her in this state required a lot of attention and patience, which they often could not afford ... She was someone unique, a sorceress from ancient Golarion, who ... well, cast a spell once while drunk. She studied somewhere in a place called Mwangi and acquired great knowledge there, but soon something terrible happened and ... she started drinking. She never talked about it, although she was eager to talk about her adventures, and her charges liked to listen to these stories, even if they were half made up. Besides, she was their only quasi teacher they had, and even despite her peculiarity and periodic drinking, she was able to conjure up something. Sometimes…

The boom camera zoomed in and came the metallic voice of the communicator.

- Hello and wish bon apetit to you! - said Ilemshaw

- And we also wish you to bon apetit fishy! - said Lilka, who was spreading a flat bread with yeast paste.

Ilemshaw ... Ancient being of the Algholite race that they rescued from Kesler ... Or who helped save them. Now he stayed in a large aquarium in a special room and was their science officer. There were several cameras and multiple booms all over the ship, so he could do his job without leaving the tank, and they had a few small drones that he could control. The problem was that, according to the ancient legends, Algholitu were the dark beings behind many terrible events… But to them Ilemshaw was kind…. And she could only hope he wouldn't turn against them ...

They heard footsteps and Eti entered in her everyday clothes, that is, as if she was going to war. She stood in the doorway, yawned, and, walking slowly, sat down in the chair without looking at anyone. Bina felt the pressure slowly escape from all of them. This time Eti had "rainy days" for quite a long time, as they euphemistically described it, so everyone was already waiting for her to come back… Itel gave a bowl of mushroom stew. Eti sniffed the dish and made a face of disgust.

- There is no meat? Where is the meat? - she asked with a gloomy voice looking at everyone sullenly

- Nice to see you too, Eti. The meat came out a week ago. - Bina said sarcastically, but everyone knew that when she complained and whined, she was fine.

- Why don't we eat Alatar? His would last for a few weeks… Even including down the iron-things! - Eti said and pointed the finger of her gloved hand at Alatar. Well, admittedly, as a dragonkin he was the largest of all the young crew members and perhaps the largest of all. Especially since he was slightly overweight. Though compared to the true dragon he was a tiny. He looked like a humanoid dragon with a silvery scale. He also had quite a few implants, however, including a wrist interface and a tail welder. His grandmother was a wealthy entrepreneur on the absalon and helped them get some of the funds for this trip, but also financed his education as a Technomancer.

- Very funny. Why shouldn't we eat you? - The technomancer asked, but the girl answer him in her calm, slightly dull voice

- I am a predator, and predators are usually not eaten - she turned her head to the side, without blinking, watching at dragonkin.

- I am a dragon, and dragons are at the top of the food chain! - said indignant Alatar.

Eti tilted her head back.

- Dragons maybe. I haven't tried fight with any of them yet, but you are a dragon whelp, my dear, and quite fat - she said in the same gentle tone.

- Eti won! - cried Lilka joyfully, a short red-haired girl with face and shoulders covered with Orc tattoos, or at least pictures that should look like them… it was quite… a touchy issue. She was a year or two younger than the others, about seventeen. She was muscular and wore a strange dress that, in her opinion, was supposed to bean traditional ork garment. She attached a multitude of small items to it, which were supposed to be orcish amulets. Some of them were maybe SOME amulets, some of them were caps ...

Despite her grumbling, Eti devoured three bowls, nibbling them with instant bread. Then Itel discreetly handed her the pills, which she ate without murmuring. Itel was a green haired elf with dark blue eyes and light brown skin. Her hair was pixie cut, her face was always focused. She looked at others distrustfully, unless someone seemed to be of use to her "grand plans" whatever they might be. Then she exploded with a slightly disturbing enthusiasm. She was wearing a red sleeveless sweatshirt. Her arms were tattooed with burning roses. There were Solarian symbols on her neck and face. She had undergone training two years ago and was now able to summon a silvery lunar blade. Out of the whole group, she was the most fierce and pushed the rest to all those crazy ideas that this trip was the culmination of. "Damed Sidonius, I should have put a stake on him at the first opportunity"

After breakfast, they washed the dishes and prepared to inspect the ship's systems. They had already left the Drift and would soon be landing on Saltmarsh, their final stop on the way into the unknown ... into the abyss. However, Itel was the first to gather peers for a different, more gloomy ritual. Bina didn't like him, but she understood that he was important to them… but… Itel, Alatar Lilka and Eti stood at the table and put their hands on it.

- Teeth for insult. - Alatar said seriously.

- Language for a lie! - Lilka added

- Hand for punch!] - said Eti.

- Eyes for an eye! - Itel shouted

- Heart for betrayal. - they called simultaneously and Itel cut over the palms of the others

"They're really loved when they're not that scary." Thought bina

After the system review, her charges went to training. The ship may have flown on autopilot for a while, so she had a moment to peer into a one place. She went to the hold and looked for a hidden biometric reader hidden in the alcove and touched it. A hidden hold opened. She went in there and looked around. Its contents did not change, Bina always preferred to check it regularly ... There was a cut-fridge with frozen tiger snail eggs and comet wasps, both species were extremely nasty predators guaranteeing very painful death. In the corner stayed huge machine with the jaws of a sea predator and claws like machetes, a Pk 5 assault robot that even the drow found too macabre. Halftons of explosives lay in the fireproof containers. With their help, they could destroy the city district. Thirty charges of gas that decompose the tissue and the second as many charges of paralyzing gas were placed in a specially secured container. Six rock incinerators stood against the wall. Officially, it was only a mining tool that could easily burn through several dozen meters of rock. More dangerous was the fact that the radiation wave was killing everything within a kilometer. They were best known for the fact that the glow of the blast could blind everyone within a few kilometers. Only Two… or three people in the galaxy were able to activate them, due to the biometric lock, and one of them was Eti. And finally at the very end was their greatest treasure. One hundred kilotone atomic warhead. And she didn't count the equipment they had legally. She hid her face in her hands and laughed absolutely joylessly ...

- I let these kids carry Weapons of Mass Destruction with them ... I'm the worst mother in the galaxy.