Looking over the info on Kathy's datapad as he ate a few mouthfuls, he nodded a couple of times, in agreement or approval, it was hard to tell which with the mouthful of food. He chewed thoughtfully, swallowed, and glanced up from the plate.
"It's good to see things getting more organised in the Borderworlds. As your own cause gathers momentum, so does ours. We have more active pilots now than we have had in years, not just Alliance pilots but also independents that can see our activities are ramping up. I can't keep track of them all, but they play their part."
It was true, Jimmy was more excited than he was letting on. He tried to suppress it, with only partial success. His curiosity sated for the moment, he slid the datapad back across the table.
"When the time comes, and you are ready to move against our enemies, the Alliance, in fact all Xenos I think, will be ready to do what they can."
Harold shuffled over and whispered in his ear. He gestured to a man at the end of the bar in the corner, and when Jimmy glanced over the man gave him a slight nod. Jimmy didn't recognise him straight away, but that was becoming more common these days. He lowered his voice and spoke to Harold in a murmur.
"Tell him to give me a few minutes, and I'll come and see what he wants shortly. In the meantime give him a couple of drinks and put them on my tab. He looks like a fit pilot, find out what ship he arrived in."
Turning back to Katherine, he continued where he left off.
"See? Every day I find myself with more able men. If this keeps up I'll need another Negra to expand into."
He smiled again, that cheeky smile. His charms were for naught, he knew, glancing absently at the ring on her finger, but he needed the practice, with the divorce and all. His fingers twitched towards his own ring, one that was no longer there. His mind had wandered again. He seemed to snap out of it suddenly.
"So, I know we can't really work on the Stork here with all this debris floating around. You want to come on board and check it out? You brought a suit, right? Looks like I've got just a little business to attend to first."
He watched Katherine intently, knowing this woman was the only one that he could reach out to to give any real and accurate idea of the state of his station's primary transport. Without it, well, he didn't want to think about that. The food had made him feel a bit more lively, his focus returning.
