As the group followed Major Chance through the ship, they had the opportunity to notice the crew of the Nostromo in action.  They were a busy bunch, as were most crews attached to large starships.  People moved with a purpose and nowhere was there someone not doing something.

For the most part they seemed too preoccupied with their duties to pay much attention to the wandering newcomers.  But it was evident that Chance had a special status among them as the crew who did take notice were unanimously pleasant or positively inclined towards her.  There was many a nod, smile, or quipped greeting from those that they passed.

One officer, a red-haired female ensign, was waiting to meet the major at the intersection of two main passageways.  she handed over a handful of picture badges, gave Aurora a wink, and stood off to the side at ease.

Aurora allowed herself a slight smile in the woman's direction.  "Thanks Ensign..."  

Adam smiled his most charming smile at the female ensign as he took the badge.  If Aurora hadn't told him, he would not have known her rank, and he wasn't exactly sure where an ensign fell in the rank structure.  Still, maybe she played cards, or was single and looking.

"Thank you," he said as he examined the badge.  "Well, at least they caught my good side," he added with another grin as he clipped it on.

"Put these on, please.  This is your security clearance." Chance said to the group as she handed the badges out.  They all had clips on them and the major suggested with gestures that they should be worn somewhere on the front torso area.

Teagan's movements were practiced and looked mechanical as she quickly obeyed the Major's orders.

Gunnar gave his badge a cursory look and, with a light shrug, clipped it on his shirt. Backwards.

Finally they came to a hatch which was flanked by a pair of marines.  These gentlemen carried ACRs and wore grim determination on their face like it was the latest fashion.  If they had a sense of humor, it was likely they had left it in their other pants as they both moved to intercept the group and prevent their passage.  They each verified everyone's security credential with a small hand scanner before they relaxed and went back to standing sentry. 

Aurora smiled in the face of their seriousness, holding out her pass in a playful manner, as if it was all part of a game.  As they returned to their position she couldn't help but chuckle.

"Keep up the good work, men."

Adam couldn't help staring at the guns.  It seemed like lately everyone around him was carrying one.  He wondered if he should get one also, then pictured himself shooting someone by accident.  Maybe an unloaded gun, just for looks.

The space beyond the hatch was a very large room with a ceiling at least two decks high and the floor space of an auditorium.  The space was organically organized into several rough subsections and functional areas.  There were science lab benches by the dozens and computer workstations and the occasional large piece of scientific gear scattered throughout.

Several teams of people in white jumpsuits were hard at work, or rather at study.  Each of them was dealing with experiments upon this that or the other invention, machine, or odd-looking whatchamacallits.  Adam's jaw dropped as he picked out at least four or five different objects that displayed all the visual cues of being Ancient in origin as the focus of some of the experiments.

Gunnar leaned close to the squint. "You're drooling," he stage-whispered with a grin.

Adam came to a halt as he looked around.  Without really considering it, he drifted over to the nearest experiment.  Bending as near as possible, he studied the object, considering its origin and whether it was genuine or not.  He had completely forgotten the group he came in with or his purpose for being here.

One of the scientists working on the item, a thin rubberized silicon disc with a tapered outside edge about fifteen centimeters in diameter, turned his head from it long enough to scowl disapprovingly and point back towards Adam's group.  The suggestion that he move on was obvious.

Adam ignored notice the scowl, but he quickly lost interest in the disc.  Not that it wasn't fascinating, but it wasn't really up his alley.  With a polite nod at the scientist he followed the group, trailing behind as he continued to examine the various devices he passed.

Major Chance looked around and, seeming to find what she needed, led the group over to one team at what looked like a microelectronics lab station.  One of the white-clad men; a tall, thin man with short grey balding hair who looked to be in his late fifties; turned towards them as they approached.

"Ah, Major, perfect timing.  We've completed the modifications to the OSB.  You can take it with you if you like."  He handed over what looked like an ordinary web belt, something worn in casual dress on any number of systems.

"Are these they?" he asked, with a look down his nose at the others.

Chance nodded.  "Doctor Luther Lekzs, the team," she introduced.

"Hello Doctor Luther Lekzs."  Teagan intoned in her flat voice.  "Head of task force science operations." She continued the Major's introduction with a more thorough one of her own that was directed towards her companions.

The doctor looked them over as if they were specimens for a moment.  "Welcome aboard," he finally said.  Then, to Keese, he asked, "Would you be open to the possibility of having your tail removed?"

"Why?" Keese responded mildly, clawed fingers lightly up and down his tunic-front. "And replaced with what, exactly?" 

"With nothing, of course," the doctor replied as if it should have been obvious.  "It presents some rather challenging design issues.  We could store it, reattach it later if you need it for anything."

"He is of course insane?" Keese asked Sheeba, claws making soft, skittering noises on the cloth of his tunic.

"Unfortunately not," the major replied, looking a little embarrassed.

"It only gets in the way," Lekzs replied dismissively.  "I can give you a cochlear implant to adjust for the change in balance, but, if you're set against it."

"Deal with the design issues," Keese replied coolly. "Consider it a cultural affectation." 

"Very well," the doctor grumbled after a heavy sigh.

The entire exchange made Gunnar chuckle. He stood passively, thumbs hooked in his belt, and waited for something to interest him.

In an attempt to change the subject to something less awkward, Major Chance asked, "Hey, Doc, any luck with the new thing?"

"Hmm?" he replied, as if noticing her for the first time.  "The new thing?  Oh!  Oh, yes, that.  This way."

Lekzs turned on his heel and started walking deeper into the room.  "Based on your report we assumed it was an archive of some kind.  The glyphs on the walls you describe are indicative.  However, it turns out that the object has some rather significant transdimetegetic qualities."

"Which means what," Chance replied. 

"It's a jump beacon... we think," the doctor answered, not too sure about it.  "It sends a signal far and fast enough to be picked up several parsecs away.  At least, we think it does.  We haven't had it long enough to do any real tests, of course."

They arrived with the group in tow at a spot where two of the white jump-suited scientists were working on a machine with leads set up along the perimeter of a sample platform.  Upon the platform sat the artifact that had brought them all together.

Teagan's eyes were busy cataloging and inspecting everything as they made their way deeper into the lab.  Creating sub folders, and adding them to the folders that Alice would allow her to have on each program, project and item.  Never pushing past any red flags or security tape that the ship's computer informed her existed. 

"Well, just so long as its not going to vapourise us all..."  Aurora quipped, walking round the platform and observing the scientists at work.  "No one was able to get any readings off it but Teagan said there was a signal, maybe she could help you find out more..."  she turned to look in the scout's direction.  "you feel that signal, hun?"  The Erisian was reluctant to give too much assistance to any imperial scientists trying to crack ancient technology, but the artifact had seemed important to the girl. 

"She won't, it's shielded," Lekzs replied absently and quietly while considering Teagan with a stroke of his chin.  He quickly turned to one of the pair monitoring readouts of the item's status.

"How long until the next pulse?"

"Fourteen seconds."

Doctor Lekzs jumped into motion.  "Drop the shielding, quickly!" he snapped at the tech while grabbing an oversized PDA-looking unit from a nearby lab table.  Groans from the containment unit holding the artifact losing power proceeded a regular series soft beeps from the monitoring station.

Lekzs trained the device in his hands on Teagan.  "Just relax, Miss," he said while looking at the small screen.  Another scientist, a younger man with bushy blonde hair, stepped up behind her with a different device.  This one was breadbox-sized with a handle and an extension on a thick cable that ended in a thick metal wand.  The man held the box in one hand and waved the wand towards Teagan with the other.

Lekzs saw this with a quick glance up from his scanner and enthusiastically grunted, "Good!"

"Three seconds."

The signal rolled through Teagan's systems once more, crashing like a wave upon her phsyical senses.  That bright sense of vibrant red in her continually gray world.  Her features lifted and lightened for a moment, as the tickle of emotions and memories flitted just out of reach.  Like, if only she could sustain it for a few seconds longer she could embrace them and claim them once again as her own.  ...but just as quickly as it came, it left again, allowing her gray shroud of lackluster to swallow her again.

The man with the wand was simply content to stand there and slowly wave it up and down her height.  Doctor Lekzs tapped away at his handheld device for several moments, studying it and her in equal measure.

"It is good when I feel it.  Is there a way to sustain the pulse?"  Teagan asked in her flat voice, her eyes holding the faintest remnants of wistful hope.

"I would imagine it does feel good," Lekzs murmurred.  "The signal lit up your limbic system like a stellar corona."

He gestured to the tech at the monitoring station and the containment field was quickly raised. 

"You'll tell me if you feel anything like that again," he said to Teagan.  To Major Chance he added, "Meanwhile I'll study these readings for any potential... applications."

"You do that," the major replied somewhat disapprovingly.  "Let's go," she said to the others before leading them out of the lab the way they came.

 Adam arrived with the rest of the group just as the major announced they were leaving.  "What?  Already?" he asked, looking longingly around the room at everything he hadn't had time to study.  He followed, reluctantly, hoping he got to come back soon.

Teagan hesitated a moment before following the others and gave the artifact one last fleeting look over her shoulders.

Reacting to Teagan's actions, Aurora glanced back, grimly surveying the room. She sidled up to Adam as they departed.
"Didn't wanna leave, huh? See anything you liked in there?"  
 
Adam jumped slightly at Aurora's nearness.  Then he smiled wistfully.  "Nothing much, just what I've spent my entire life hoping to find."  He took one last look over his shoulder at the room of treasures and nearly ran into a corner.

"Are you alright?!"  she exclaimed, seemingly concerned, before lapsing into her usual, easy smile, "We need your brains intact, y'know..."  

"Glad someone is getting a hard-on," Gunnar muttered to no one in particular. "Still waiting to see what the hell we're doing here, and getting bored fast."

The comment made Major Chance stop in her tracks and turn to give Gunnar a glance before she made a right turn and then a left.  She led them down a series of corridors with occasional red striping on the walls that eventually led to what looked like a small armory.

Gunnar grinned openly. "Now that's what I'm talking about."

There were maybe a dozen-odd rifles lined up on a rack just inside the door.  They were sleek and clean and looked to eb meticulously cared for.  The major grabbed one from the rack and held it up in front of her.

"I want to introduce you to a personal friend of mine. This is an Instellarms M41A advanced combat rifle. Ten millimeter caseless with over-and-under thirty millimeter pump action grenade launcher.  Get a feel for the weight."

At the sight of the weapon, Teagan immediately requested the manual for the Instellarms M41A advanced combat rifle.  Her face remained blank as she scanned the contents and committed them to her local memory.

At the sight of the weapons, Adam took a slight step back.  He had never handled a gun before, and didn't really want to start now.

With a casual toss, she threw it over to Gunnar. He caught it reflexively and gave it a slow, almost loving inspection. "Yeah," he whispered, nodding approvingly. He flipped it over, automatically ensuring it wasn't currently loaded while simultaneously testing the action. He brought it up to his shoulder with practiced ease and, not pointing it at anyone, dry fired it. He brought it down to waist level and got a feel for the grenade launcher. The weapon felt like it had been made for his hands.

As Gunnar handled the M41A with practiced ease, Teagan began to spout off more specifics about the weapon.  "The M41A Advanced Combat Rifle is an air cooled, fully automatic, short- to mid-range combat rifle. Made of light alloy plates, it fires 10x24mm Armor Piercing Caseless Rounds from a 100 round U-bend magazine in either semi automatic, four round burst, or fully automatic rates of fire. The magazines could only practically hold 99 rounds and are usually underloaded at 95% capacity to avoid jamming. The M41A rifle has a small battery powered digital readout screen which displays the number of rounds left in the magazine; the battery is located in the handgrip. With a retractable stock and an over and underslung 30 millimeter PN grenade launcher, this weapon can be used as a carbine and an assault rifle."

Keese had been following along, watching everything but saying nothing. His gaze shifted to Teagan as she recited the technical merits oft the weapon, dark eyes studying the strange young woman. He nodded to himself after reaching some sort of inner conclusion, and continued to enjoy the tour.

The sight of Gunnar holding a weapon made Adam even more nervous that just the weapons alone.  The man was unstable and violent.  Giving him a gun seemed very foolish.  Without being obvious about it, Adam moved to put something between the two of them.  Seeing his nervousness, Aurora allowed him to slip past.

Gunnar smiled and nodded again, handing the weapon back to Chance with obvious reluctance. "Nice," he said. "This standard issue?"
 
"For us it is," Chance replied, taking it from him and handing it to Aurora so she could get a feel for it, too.  "You'll have to qualify with it first.  I'll be checking you out on all arms and equipment during your training.  Even you, Finch."

"No chance I can just stick to the lab work?"  Adam asked, trying to sound casual. Gunnar snorted.

The Erisian hefted it, inspecting it with a critical eye and a feigned laxicity.   

"Its powerful & versatile... but loud, bulky and frakkin' dangerous ship-side..." she said, a tight, wry smile playing across her lips. "I'm not sure you want to risk our boy Adam, here, punching a hole in your precious Nostromo..."  Muzzle down, she handed it to the young scientist, persisting when he shied away from it.

"Relax," Aurora said, reassuringly.  "Its not loaded."  She grinned, impishly, at Chance.

Adam kept his hands away from the rifle.  "I'll take your word for it."  Not only was he uncomfortable with the idea of holding a gun, he was afraid he might drop it look like an idiot, shoot himself, or break it somehow.  Most probably all three. 

"What happened to the subtle approach, Major?"

Major Chance took the ACR from Aurora and placed it on the table.  Then she turned around to face all of them, leaned against the table, and folded her arms.

"I like subtle," she said, serious and real.  "Subtle does a lot - opens doors, creates opportunities, keeps you safe.  And most of the time, subtle's enough.  Most of the time.  But there will be times when subtle doesn't work, or it isn't enough."

"You won't carry one of those," she said to Adam, gesturing with her head back towards the rifles on the table.  "Not unless it's absolutely necessary.  That's not your role.  But there may come a time when all that stands between success or failure, or between life and death for one of us, is you and a gun.  The chances are incredibly slim, but... I'll sleep better at night knowing that if it came down to it, you could save my life, or one of theirs.  That's my role, doing everything I can to keep you alive."

Once more she focused on Adam.  "Think you can handle that, big guy?"

Adam laughed, his nervousness banished by the sheer ridiculousness of her scenario.  "Given this group, if it ever comes down to me and a gun saving us all, the universe is probably going to end at about the same time."  He shrugged, his usual good humor returning.  "Still, I'll try anything once.  Sign me up."

Keese barked out a short laugh, nails running up and down the front of his tunic, eyes sparkling with merriment. "Forgive me if I take cover before you hand over the weapon. I enjoy being in a non-perforated state."

Adam laughed as well at Keese's comment.  "That would probably be a good idea.  Especially given you are the doctor.  When I shoot myself in the foot, I'm counting on you to put everything back where it belongs."

"How is that funny?"  Teagan asked no one in particular at the exchange.  "I understand humor.  ...but shooting ones self in the foot doesn't apply to humor well."

"Yeah," Chance said with a sigh.  "This is going to be interesting."

Adam grinned at Teagan.  "You have to understand slapstick to understand how it might be funny.  Look up the Three Stooges sometime."

Teagan cast another serious look his way and nodded her head.

Gunnar had been letting his eyes wander up and down the armory, but he glanced back with questioning annoyance. "What the hell are the Three Stooges?"

Adam smiled.  "Very, very old earth humor.  My roommate in undergrad was into them.  Basically slapstick humor done really well.  I have no idea where she got the stuff, but it was hilarious."

The Swordworlder smiled and nodded. He turned away muttering, "And he thinks I'm the crazy one."

Gunnar stood at ease, looking around the room. He turned and eyed Major Chance quizzically. "That Zhodani asshole from the cave, you knew him." He pivoted, coming to face the major fully. "He's your counterpart. The Zhodani shadow guy on a mission to procure artifacts. Am I right?"

She nodded solemnly, "Yes."

To the group she said, "His name is Tliablzhdilviepr, but we refer to him as Viper," which is what the last part of his contortionist Zhodani pronounciation sounded like.  "And yes, he's our main competition.  And he's good - very, very good."

Adam looked at her, puzzled for a moment.  Before he could respond, the others continued talking.

"Not good enough," Keese remarked, looking up from where he'd been furiously tapping data into his pad. "I need to talk to you later, if you would be so kind." 

Gunnar chuckled, ignoring the Vargr for the moment. "I like that. That Viper guy fragged my contract in order to get the artifact, which in turn brought me to you, which now puts me in direct opposition to him. And we still got the artifact." He laughed again. "Yeah, I like the symmetry of that a lot."

"You Sword-worlders take the Zhodani too lightly, but when it comes down to it, they make you just as uncomfortable as the rest of us."  Aurora interjected, she sounded amused, but there was a hint of warning in her tone. "Not that I blame you..."  

For the briefest moment there was an intensity to the look Gunnar gave Aurora. It quickly faded in the wake of a chuckle and a shake of the head as he returned his attention to the armory in general.

Adam grabbed the moment of silence to interject.  "Um, Honey, er...Major," Adam rolled his eyes.  "Whatever, shouldn't that be his name was Viper?  I mean, you blew him up... right?"

The major nodded but looked somewhat sheepish.  "Yes, I did.  But... There was a mission, about two years ago.  We ended up losing out on a fairly large find due to Viper's involvement.  The resulting technology developed by the Zho gave them some kind of cloning technology that we're not completely up to speed on.  This is the third time I've killed Viper since then."

There was anger in the major's tone when she finished with, "It wasn't my proudest moment."

"Cloning?"  Adam repeated with raised eyebrows.  "Interesting.  I wonder what that feels like."

"Like nothing, I suspect,' the Vargr replied calmly. "From the host would be taken several cells, without pain. These would be grown like any other cell culture at first, then put through a rapid DNA/RNA protein accellerant process in a large vat or tank. The clone would achieve consciousness at the desired level of maturity, with mental engrams either imprinted or not at the creators whim." 

"Huh, weird.  I wonder if the memories would feel like real memories.  I mean, you'd know you were a clone, since you climbed out of a vat, right?  But you'd remember the life your previous clone had like it was yours.  And what would happen if you met yourself?"  Adam's imagination was off and running as he considered the possibilities.  With no real background in biological science, he didn't really understand how cloning worked, but that didn't stop him from speculating.

As an afterthought, Aurora looked in Teagan's direction.  "To understand some humour you have to understand fear.  People laugh to take away power from the things that scare us, though we have to take care it doesnt lead to complacency.  Dont you ever remember being frightened, sweetie?"

"Frightened."  Teagan repeated.  "Stem word frighten. Synonyms shock, startle, dismay, intimidate. Frighten, alarm, scare, terrify, terrorize, appall.  All mean to arouse fear in people or animals. To frighten is to shock with sudden, startling, but usually short-lived fear, especially that arising from the apprehension of physical harm. To alarm is to arouse the feelings through the realization of some imminent or unexpected danger. To scare is to frighten, often without the presence of real danger. To terrify is to strike with violent, overwhelming, or paralyzing fear. To terrorize is to terrify in a general, continued, systematic manner, either wantonly or in order to gain control. To appall is to overcome or confound by dread, dismay, shock, or horror."

Her flat voice droned on for a moment, and upon seeing the look on Aurora's face, she stopped abruptly and gave a more simple reply.  "No."

"Ha," the Vargr barked. "Bet you a dollar," he then added sotto voice as he made a few mental notes about Teagan and her likely implants.

Teagan's eyes narrowed as she processed that, but let it go without reply.  It was obvious that there was a lot about her companions that she didn't yet understand.  It was also obvious that she was a willing untainted spirit, that was content to accept each of them, exactly how they were.