"Oh, nothing to be worried about really, just in the natural course of things, you know, I…well, our race is fairly short-lived and I've seen many moons and all that." Effy looked up with sad, yet merry eyes. "But I'm very spry, and I got loads of wisdom and stuff, so I'll be perfect for you two!"
"I say we bring her," Ba'al said, party out if sympathy for the Amabell, partly glad the attention as off her. "If you're sure," she addressed Effy
"Oh yes, I'm sure," Effy said.
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Treb hesitated for a final moment, then sighed and nodded. "Well…who am I do deny the wishes of somebody wanting an adventure? I'd be pretty hypocritical if I said it was too dangerous." He straightened and made himself smile at the other two, albeit a bit stiffly. "So! I guess I can officially welcome you both aboard. You two are now my crew, and crucial members of the expedition to the Fringes. Any more questions?"
"No, sir," Ba'l said, relieved the mood had calmed from its potential finger pointing and name-blaming of earlier
"Thank-you both! Hey, did I mention my extraordinary power? I don't ever know when it will turn out to be useful, but just so you know, I seem to be able to get a stuck thing moving. It's bizarre! Just keep that in mind, okay?" She bounced up and down on her toes grinning at Treb. "Oh, and I'm a very excellent archer, though again, maybe not the exact skill set you'd have wished for. Um…in what other way can I serve, Captain?"
Treb listened to her with an expression of slight bemusement, then shrugged. "I'll let you know if I need you for something. Archery could come in handy when we're exploring unfamiliar planets, both for hunting and self-defense." He paused. "….I'm not sure what you mean by 'getting stuck things moving', though….could you elaborate on that one?"
She chuckled, "Well, for example, one time my son's outgoing email was stuck in the outbox, you know? forever sending, never sent, and when I glanced at it, it just went ZOOM! We wrote that off as a coincidence, but the another time, my friend had a piece of dry biscuit stuck in her gullet, and when I heard her stumbling around the dining room and looked at her, out it popped and hit me in the left eyeball. After that I experimented and it works with machines and vehicles, tongue-tied children, and apparently nearly just about everything! Isn't that a hoot!? You really pretty much never expect to need it, and … then you do. So, okay that's about all. Do you have a set of bow and arrows?" She started to reach into the box of food supplies, then stopped herself with a sigh.
Treb stared at her for a second. It was rare that he encountered an alien with an ability that could only be described as 'magical' by his people. But he tried to take it in stride. "Uh….no, we don't have a bow and arrows on board, but I'm sure we can find some at a market somewhere. So…..can you control this power very well or does it just….activate randomly?"
"I think that's the best power I've ever heard in my life," Ba'al decided. "thank-you for blessing us with this"
"Hmm. I think - probably it's under my control." She looked a little uncertain, and sent Ba'al a most grateful look. "Do you have any money, Treb? I really would love to do some shopping, quite a lot of shopping, before we 'hit the road' so to speak, and I think I lost my coin purse in that horrible storm back there."
Treb was starting to realize a slight problem with his plan to acquire a crew: they would probably need much higher wages than he'd previously thought. Still, he could hardly back out now, and ideally the rewards of having travel companions would make it all worth it. He scratched the back of his head. "We can work out a living wage for both of you, now that you're actually hired. I'll warn you right now, though, I don't have much to give you myself. The pay of the job usually depends on the value of whatever we find out there. For now, I guess we'll just pool our money to stock up on supplies. Fair enough?"
Effy nodded sadly, and turned out her empty pockets. "Yes, boss, I'm sure that'll be fine."
"I mean, you're basically a space bus that's paying me to use it with a few catches, so I'll call it fair."
"A lot of catches," Treb corrected a bit testily. "As in, you don't get to just jet out of here at the first stop. Unless you turn out to be a massive trouble magnet, in which case you can leave at any time." His train of thought took a U-turn and he blinked. "Oh by the way, what about you? Do you have any special powers we should know about?"
"I know, I now, geez," Ba'al shot back. "Last time I try to make you feel better about yourself. I'm good at math, and I can see 360. Other than that, I can turn into a giant monster at will, but that's all for me."
"Okay, hold on. I forgot you can shapeshift. What version of you are the police looking for?" Treb felt a bit hopeful—maybe, if Ba'al kept to a certain appearance, they could avoid trouble with the law entirely.
"They're aware of all forms," she said a little glumly. "They're going to be looking for me species."
"Ah." Treb drooped. "It's….fine. Never mind."
Just then, there was an electronic ping from the ship's control panel, and Treb glanced over his shoulder out the windshield. "Oh hey, looks like we're almost to Eskay. Get buckled in, guys, entering an atmosphere isn't as easy as leaving it."
Looking slightly nervous, Effy slid into a seat and strapped herself in. "Er…have you got a clear view of the landing strip or whatever?"
Ba'al was quick to buckle in. She hated entries, they were always a touch and go with her forms.
Treb turned his seat around and unlocked the controls so he could guide them it. "Don't worry, I've done this a thousand times. This ship's really good for landing in any conditions, too." Finally, he thought to himself. I'm back in my comfort zone again. He offered Effie a confident smile before starting the ship on its gradual descent. "If you start feeling sick or dizzy, just turn on the chair's shock absorbers with that button on your left, got it?"
"Oh, that's a nice feature," Ba'al muttered, doing so immediately.
Effy pressed firmly on the button on her left. "Oh, I'm not worried!" she said with a shaky smile.
Both chairs immediately gave a hum and curled themselves to wrap more snugly around their occupants. A cool, gel-like orange substance quickly encased them as well, so that they were almost floating in their seats. The jostling and shuddering of the ship disappeared almost entirely, only indicated by the rumble of the heated air outside.
"Shoulda warned you about that stuff," Treb called to them, aiming for a gap in the clouds. "Don't worry, it doesn't stick or anything. Personally I think it's weird, so I don't like to use it, but it does wonders for preventing bruises. Landing in about four minutes."