Holmfirth Base. A small but busy refueling and cargo depot station in the asteroid field of Manchester. While very hidden, it did not fail to be bustling with activity, ships traveling out and in on their voyages or businesses.
Grubozaboyschikov's Pirate Transport settled down on the docking bay inside Holmfirth Base. The landing gear took the ship to a complete stop, settling down in the hanger. The engines died down fully, shutting off with a crude set of rumbles. Rogue technology wasn't exactly fancy or elegant in its performance or looks.
In contrast, her red dress along with her matching nails, lipstick, and high heals made her look as if she was going out on a date. Her black hair flowed down to her shoulders and a bit past and she had even put on some eyeliner for that added touch. If someone would see her now, they'd mistake her not for a lane hacker. One thing though that would tip her off would be a small cardimine injector along her left upper arm, a small device with a little orange tube that would be giving her just enough cardimine into her blood stream to stay alive. She preferred this over smoking or sniffing the substance, finding it would, especially for dates, mess with her senses.
This wouldn't be any date, though. She gets up from the pilot's chair and fixes her skirt of the dress quickly before walking over to finish flipping the last of the switches. She was alone on the ship and the rest of the crew were already gone in smaller fighters back to Mactan. This was her mission alone and she didn't want any interference. Even from another hacker.
Even so, she contemplated a moment before turning on a tracking signal for the ship. Recording a message quickly, she left it on... just in case things would look worrying. She didn't know what to expect fully when she would walk outside of the ship and meet the Gaian she was contacting before. Even so, a first impression always helped, especially for a woman.
The oxygen tanks filled with the mysterious gas was loaded in the cargo bay. She had checked right before leaving her pilot seat that everything was fine and no gas leaks were present.
Picking up a small purse, she walked over to the exit hatch and exited the ship, wondering if she would find her contact soon.
Her contact stood not far from the ship itself, standing out among other people due to the fact that only he seemed to expect, or even pay any attention to her. He had no escort or any other companions. Clarke's uniform was an odd view compared to most technicians' utility outfits, not really matching a particular theme or marking scheme. He wore a long, grey coat with dark green decals and golden markings on the somewhat high collar, indicating his position of a Sentinel. The coat was supplemented with equally grey cargo pants, boots and a belt, housing a bretonian sidearm. He kept his hands behind his back, standing still and observing her approach. He couldn't help but raise his only eyebrow upon getting a closer view of her outfit, but for now kept his thoughts on that matter to himself.
- Welcome to Holmfirth, miss Grubozaboyschikov. - Clarke greeted her with a courteous nod. He managed to spell her name correctly, even though it was obvious it took him a lot of effort. The tanks full of gas made their way onto aoutomated trolleys and disappeared from the hangar, somewhere into the depths of the outpost.
Walking out, she would see the hangar filled with activity and in the distance would be ships moving down the pathways to take off or to dock and unload. There would be gas station platforms hovering to fuel ships as well as personnel of various needs moving back and forth. She stepped off the last step of her ship and closed the panel behind her, looking around for her contact.
While looking around, she would notice a man looking at her, different from other people moving past and not paying attention. She tilted her head for a moment to look the man over before noticing he was who she was looking for. Before she could react, the man had already walked over and introduced himself to her.
"Mr. Clarke, is it?" She smiled. He seemed friendly enough, and looked quite handsome especially in his uniform. "Apologies for taking so long... you know how it is with us ladies..." She extends her hand out for a handshake.
- Don't worry. I had plenty of duties to keep myself occupied. - he said, extending his own hand as well. He then inspected her rather not so impressive baggage. - Excuse my asking, but is this everything you brought for this endeavor? - he asked after the handshake, glancing at her purse again. Clarke was then approached by an engineer, wearing a cap of all things. He didn't interrupt them, however, instead just stading by and waiting. He was holding a pad, patting it with his fingers to pass the time. His presence seemingly eluded Clarke's attention.
She tilts her head as he asks about her bag. "What do you mean?" Taking out a nail file from her purse, she lightly uses it on her nails as she looks at them again, extending her fingers out and holding her purse with a very feminine posture.
"I am not sure what you have in mind, Mr.Clarke..." She says while looking at her nails. She looks up and at the engineer next to him. "To be honest with you, I was also expecting something about of that.... security measure procedure, you were talking about." She smiles up to him, hiding if it is genuine or just professional and finishes with her nails. "I rather don't usually partake in such things often, so I thought to dress well for the occasion. What? Were you expecting something extra of me, Mr.Clarke? I've brought the most important thing with me, and that is my mind."
- I do believe some spare clothes would come in handy. This will hardly be a single afternoon thing. - he followed her look, noticing the engineer. - As for security measures, did you expect a massive thug in a military-grade exosuit following your every step? - he asked, putting on a more or less genuine smirk. - Excuse me for a moment... - he then said, turning around to the engineer. The other man just handed him the pad. - How long? - Clarke asked.
- Half an hour.
- Good. - Clarke nodded, looking over the data pad. The engineer glanced over at Grubo, fixing his cap, then back at Clarke before walking away, shaking his head slightly. Clarke turned back to Grubo. - Our ship will be loaded and ready in thirty minutes. Untill that happens, all I can offer you is an invitation to our local bar, as a tour of the facility is not an option, I'm afraid. Or you can also finish whatever business back on your ship, should you have any.
She chuckles a little. "In that case, I'll return to my ship and get some extra cloths that I keep there. A girl like me needs a nice waredrobe anyway. Good point, Mr.Clarke. As for the bar, I think I may therefore have to pass on the drinks. It may interfere with ... well" She shows him her arm where the small cylinder of cardamine would be that is slowly injecting into her bloodstream. Noticing that she is almost out, she quickly reaches into her purse and replaces the cartridge in a swift fashion. She is blushing a little, though quickly hides it and turns around as she starts to walk back to the ship.
"Oh and.... Mr.Clarke..." She looks back at him over her shoulder, making a classy but seductive pose and her dress elegantly accenting her curves. "It all depends whether for example you trust a person who can easily enter a central database or your personal files.... or a data pad. I sometimes can't help myself." She giggles and winks at him before returning to the ship.
- You'll have to manage. - Clarke crossed his arms while answering. - Or our security measures will quickly take a more... Direct approach. - he smiled lightly. - I'll be here in half an hour, once our ship will be ready to move to the actual place of research. Until then... - he bid her farewell, observing her walk to the ship before turning around and heading off to the hangar's exit.
Half an hour later, a little bit early, Clarke made his way to the exact same spot as before. He this time crossed his arms, waiting for Grubozaboyschikov to step outside. He briefly considered getting at least one security guard to actually watch over his guest, but qickly dismissed the idea, eager to see whether his suspicions will come true at some point.
Grubozaboyschikov would step outside, one minute past the 30 minutes that would have past, carrying with her a medium suitcase with her. She'd also be wearing a pair of fine diamond earrings too that would be hard to miss. She notices him right away as she steps out of her ship and walks over to him, the click clack of her high heals evident on the hangar floor. "Oh... so no security yet. I guess you can be the darling that carries this for me then?" She asks him though it is not really a question as she then would hand him the suitcase to hold. "Be my gentleman, will you? You wouldn't want me breaking a nail...? I've spent a long time on these." She looks around. "So where is this ship of yours?
- I don't doubt that... - he said queitly, simply taking the suitcase. - The ship is moored outside, it arrived shortly after you. We'll have to take a little walk through the halls. Please, follow me. - Clarke said corteously and turned to one of the hangar's exits, walking off with her suitcase without further delay.
![[Image: Holmfirth_Base.jpg]](http://discoverygc.com/wiki/images/b/b7/Holmfirth_Base.jpg)
