Out in the lobby, Taylor amused herself with people watching. When that got boring after the first ten minuets, she started to nod off. Slumped to one side of the seat, Taylor napped.

One of the guards turned and opened the door carefully for Vesper, letting her leave to go back to Taylor. They's escort her back, of course, but they were showing that she was supposed to leave now. It would take a moment or two to get the results in from D'mitri's seach.

"Of course, sir," Vesper replied with a pretty smile and a polite bow of her head to D'mitri. She was already headed to the door when they opened it for her and she waved, smiling at them as well, and headed back to the lobby. As soon as her eyes rested on Taylor, she had to cover her mouth to keep from giggling at the cuteness. "It's like the waters of her aura calm when she sleeps.. the agitation is practically nonexistent.. Ah, sleeping humans. How peaceful you are.." After only this short moment of observation, she strode across the lobby and knelt in front of Taylor, gently touching her knee. "Taylor.. We may go now," she said, her voice soft like down feathers. "Come back to me."

Taylor awoke with a loud snore, then a drowsy, "Huh!? I'm awake. I'm awake." She perked up, wiping the drool from her lips with a hand. Well that is embarrassing. Quickly, Taylor got to her feet. "Done already?" she asked sarcastically. "How'd it go?"

"Fine," Vesper replied kindly as she stood with the biologist. She smiled at her slight discomfort. "They they still need Doctor Shaq'l'phard to come and inspect them. I should return to the medical area. Do you wish to join me?"

"So long as I don't disrupt you from your work or anything like that." Taylor said, brushing herself off.

"Never," Vesper answered softly, smiling at Taylor one last time before she led the way back to the medical area. "Did you have a nice nap?"

"Eh-heh....I guess so." Taylor with a dopey smile as she itched the back of her head. She followed next to the nurse as they headed back to her work area. Taylor was actually quite pleased that Vesper seemed so interested in her. She was curious if it were for the right reasons...at least the reasons she hoped for.

"Well that's good. Sleep is important, though... falling asleep in the middle of the day? I do hope it was only out of boredom?" Vesper cast Taylor a concerned glanced, but smiled again a moment after. "I'd hate to think that you aren't sleeping well at night. ... You aren't, right? Sleeping poorly?"

"Hm? Oh no no, I'm fine. Just a busy day I guess." Taylor explained, giving Vesper a pleasant grin to put her at ease. "So- did you determine anything about the bodies?"

"Hmm... I don't really know if I'm supposed to talk about it.... But I guess I could say that their skeletons were still completely intact, though deconstructed," Vesper replied thoughtfully as they entered the medial area and she took her customary seat at her desk, offering Taylor the one she had had earlier. She picked up one of her strawberries from before and sucked on it idly.

Taylor sat down and rubbed her chin, "Thing is- I think I would've heard about someone reported missing on the ship. And this is two people..."

Vesper just chuckled at her. "That sounds like something Head of Security should be thinking. Why would you, a bio engineer, hear about people missing? I thought you rarely associated with the rest of the ship."

"Even though that's mainly true. I still occasionally watch the news. Abductions on the ship is bit important too though...no matter what my occupation." Taylor explained, eyeing up her strawberries again.

"Perhaps they were, forgive me.. unimportant persons?" Vesper suggested as she held out her small box of sweets to the scientist.

"Thanks." Taylor said graciously while taking a sweet. "Perhaps-" she shrugged. "Either way, it's a bit unnerving. To think that some killer was able to sneak through the section of the ship with the most security. If they can get access to the bio domes, just think of the dangers that this could mean! What is stopping them from attacking the Captain?" she explained, then popped the candy into her mouth.

"Um.. motive? I assume if they had that kind of power, they would still need a reason to kill the captain before actually doing it.. I just wonder why kill these people? Who were they? How did the killer know them? Why not somebody else? Just.. why them?" Vesper set her sweets aside on the desk and idly gripped her forearm, rubbing a thumb against the more delicate underside as she thought. "I hope they do not know the Captain the same way, though."

Taylor sighed, "I guess it would be best not to dwell on it for too long...it can make one paranoid." She leaned back in her seat and placed her hands on the arm rests. Taking another long exhale, Taylor leaned her head back, staring at the ceiling. "What a day."

Vesper smiled at the scientist and chuckled lightly. "Indeed... Would you like your neck relaxed? The muscles just behind the shoulders and up the neck hold the most stress."

"Pardon?" Taylor lifted her head up a bit to look at Vesper. "Well I- sure, why not? As long as it's no trouble." She definitely didn't want to miss out an on opportunity like this.

"No trouble at all," Vesper smiled and stood gracefully from her chair to step around Taylor. Delicate hands slid under the collar of her lab coat and gently pressed into the muscles along her neck and shoulders, skillfully working the tension out. "... Taylor... forgive me for this, but do you mind if I relax you more? Your tension is palpable for me and I don't really seeing you in this kind of condition."

Taylor felt her shoulders turn to a relaxed mush under Vesper's skillful hands. "I suppose so...but you're making it sound like a warning. Is there some sort of drug involved?" she asked curiously. 


"No, this is not an addition process. It's subtraction," Vesper explained gently as there was a slight shift under Taylor's skin, seeming to follow her fingers as they worked on the scientist's muscles. After a few moments, the shifting settled into a dull drawl from her body into the hands of the nurse who smiled at the feeling. "Don't worry. I would never harm you, it is just.. It can be personal, and some people aren't that comfortable with me, and wish for me not to feed off them."

"Uhm.." Taylor hesitated. She wasn't expecting the relationship to jump this quickly, nor was she about to complain. Taylor wondered if she was doing this only because of her profession. Although, Taylor still wouldn't complain about that either way. "May I ask what I must do?"

"Must do? Nothing I suppose," Vesper replied as she continued her ministrations. It was odd, how her fingers worked something like leeches, but she was glad that they did not require teeth. She'd had to hurt (or feed) every time she touched someone. "Tell me.. What was your education like? I have never seen an Earth School. And I suppose I never will, now," she added with a soft chuckle.

"Well- my academy wasn't technically on Earth. I grew up and went to school on Europa at the 'All Girl's Academy of Fine Learning'." Taylor explained, hoping she wouldn't disappoint the cute nurse. It was a well known fact that Europa was a planet specifically for the very wealthy. To be born and raised on such a planet would only mean that Taylor was born into a higher class family. "I can't exactly compare school on Earth with that of school on Europa, but I imagine that they would be similar, given that Europa is primarily human inhabited."

"Oh..." Vesper's movements slowed slightly. ".. My mother... told me that Ton's are often servants there, of sorts. She never went herself, but I got the feeling the word she meant was 'pet'." She paused completely, chuckled, then continued as she had before. "I was young though, I thought everyone was out to use us. I'm sure I interpreted her tone wrong."

"Maybe- I mean....perhaps your mother just meant that Ton's often worked there?" Taylor suggested, not wanting to refer to the many butlers, maids and nanny's as 'servants' but rather... 'workers.'

"Perhaps," Vesper agreed with a smile. She sighed gently as she felt Taylor's tension start to wither. It as almost like powdered sugar to her.. or bitter chocolate or- Well she couldn't quite describe it. It was sweet though. "Well, this is not Europa, but, I am at your service, Miss Taylor." She chuckled softly, half way making a joke. She had a passing kind of humor, almost as if you didn't expect her to make a joke, you'd miss it.

Taylor couldn't help but feel a deepening lust in the pit of her stomach. "U-uhm..." As Vesper's hands suckled on her emotions, Taylor's agitation, worry and fear quickly faded...making her experience a light, drunken euphoria.

"Ok! I think that's enough for today," the nurse said as she pulled her hands from Taylor's skin, letting the flow of emotions settle normally again. The shift in taste made her blush. That.. was not sweet. Smiling shyly she stepped back around Taylor, brushing some of her messy hair back from her face. "Sorry about that. I was enjoying the interaction so much, I forgot myself momentarily." Vesper's smile was apologetic as she looked at the scientist. "Forgive me?"

"Ah-haha...right. Yes of course." Taylor muttered, slowly leaning up in her chair. Her face was flushed and she squirmed, casually trying to hide her lap with her arms. "But thank you- uhm...that was...nice." she exhaled lazily.

"For me as well." Vesper took her seat again and regarded Taylor for a long moment, trying to think of something to say. In the end, she could think of nothing but, "You're physical will be at the end of the week, if the doctor is back by then." Well that was social. Good going, Etoile.

Taylor's ear twitched, "Excuse me? Your-.... joking, right?"

Vesper's response was just to stare at her for a moment, a little surprised by her trepidation. "No? That's when your appointment is. I would have warned you later but-" She was working on finding the schedule on her little electronic pad. "Ah, yes, Taylor Samson, 5 days from today. This time is about mid-day but if that doesn't work I suppose-"

Taylor just had the biggest buzz kill of her life. Lifting a hand, she rubbed her temple thoughtfully. "What sort of physical, exactly?"

"Oh just a general one. It's just to make sure your body is working properly, you don't have any inhibiting deformities, those sorts of things," Vesper answered casually. Looking up from her pad though, she frowned at the other woman. "Taylor... It's really very routine. We won't hurt you or anything. If it helps, I'll be there." She smiled a little, trying to reassure her. "There's really nothing to worry about, it's not surgery, and certainly not the brain kind."

Taylor instantly felt sick to her stomach when Vesper said that she would be there. "You know- actually...I just had a full body check up before I came to the ship. I really don't need one for another year."

"It isn't my policy," Vesper said with a shrug, frowning again. "The doctor demands it... He doesn't trust the scans they did before the ship or something... I'm allowed to do regular ones, you know, but he demands to do all the bridge workers himself." She hmmm'd thoughtfully, looking at Taylor. "You're uncomfortable... more so than normal people... Is something wrong? You can tell me, I promise, it's strictly confidential."

"Err-" Taylor was having trouble keeping eye contact. "Oh no, it's nothing like that" she lied, "...I'm just very particular to who my doctor is. I must admit that the doc isn't so welcoming."

---

---

"Sir" a voice came through a com-speaker on D'mitri's belt, the person on the other end obviously not wanting to wait until D'mitri was back in his office "I've got a few people who have known access to acid in their workplace. Mostly it's engineering and disposal, but also the cleaning crews have access to some pretty strong stuff as well."

D'mitri had been stareing at the skeletal piles this entire time, trying to wrap his mind around it. It is possible, now, the Teva and her husband ar innocent. He will have to check his occupation first. "Locate all in use containers of it on the ship and inspect them. I also want personal files in all those that have access to them."

"I've checked files sir and almost anywhere that produces hazardous waste would have access at all times to strong acid due to the clean up needed" the voice sounded slightly regretful for revealing this, as if showing that their news wasn't quite so clearing of their suspect's name as first suspected. "That means below decks, engineering, medical, heck even we can get to some acid through clean up."

D'mitri started his pacing again as he contemplated this new information. He was for a moment stuck and didnt know where to go from here, all the information seemed to lead to a dead end. "Continue gathering the information I asked for when I first arrived, maybe something will come of it. Especially the missing persons list, try focusing on workers of said fields."

There was a moment of silence as the person on the other of of the comm device before a voice came through it again "Sir it appears that Teva Bryndis only punched into that specific part of the greenhouse two times over the last week, one being today." And if two bodies were dumped in the intervals of a few days then, unless she had an accomplace it was impossible for her to do it. "Sir, we've tried to access the cameras at that level, but it seems to only accept the captain's voice command for this sensative area of the ship. Where is he by the way?" You'd think the captain would have been there while this strange murder was going on...

"Lovely, why would they put a lock like that on something that falls under my jurisdiction?" D'mitri said as he was relayed the information. "Our captain has left the ship for reasons that have escaped my mental sift. It must be of grave importance if he left the ship."

"Hang on sir..." there was a soft tapping on the other end of the line, then "The computer says that if the captain is alive but not present you must contact him via the long range radio. It's a bit... fickle however, it's asking for direct co-ordinates; it's saying that the mission is above our station at the moment, but it is saying that a person - Rosie O'Shira - is aware of the current location of the captain. We just have to find her and ask her to put it in and we'll be able to get direct contact."

Its was starting to look like he was going to have to involve the entire ship in this investigation just to get some results. "Have her summoned and sent to my office. With that he left the autopsy room and went back to his office.

"I'll give her quarters a call" the voice said; a moment passed as the offiver called on Rosie's room. The speaker at D'mitri's hip sparked into life, the voice sounding hesitant to deliver some more bad news "Sir... she's not answering. I could put out an APB on her... but... maybe it would be a bit easier if... you know... you tried to find her mentally?" He could hear them trying not to sound racist, for lack of a better word, after all she was asking him to do something quite personal.

With a deliberate mental sigh D'mitri said. "Thank you for your assistance, you may return to your duties." He shut off his comm for a bit and closed his eyes. Reaching out with his mind he searched the sandbox that was the mental signatures of the ship till he found the one that he was looking for. "Rosie, This is Chief Security Officer D'mitri. I need you to please come to my office as soon as possible."

"HELPPP, trapped... been kidnapped, maintanance man, close...Marons cafe." came the reply, quick, but also slurred and almost crackling as if coming through a bad frequency. She was drugged, slowed down by something affecting her mind; it also made the place of the signal blur and disorientate, making it impossible to pin point. Rosie was kidnapped however, and they'd been given a place to look.

This had to be the most eventful day D'mitri has had in quite a while. Quickly getting up from his desk he whisked through the security office sending out a quick notice to his people that he will return and to put any and all relevant data for the current case on his desk. Once that was done he quickly went to the Social Sector.

---

"Mmmm, I see your point. Unfortunately, there still is no way around it. Even if you some how manage to get around it now, you will still need one in a year, and Doctor Shaq'l'phard will still be the physician. I take over in the event of his death, but if that happens within the year, we'll be hunting for a more qualified professional. It's him now, or some other stranger later." Vesper couldn't help but frown at her. She could feel her discomfort, and wanted to ease it some how, but she didn't know exactly what the problem was. Was she simply that prudish? "Do you have a suggestion on how we might ease your discomfort? Maybe a female physician?"

"Perhaps-" Taylor shrugged, not liking that idea either. "I don't mean to be a bother. I'll just come when I'm scheduled. Next week was it? Sure- I'll make a note of it." Now she had five days to think of an excuse to miss it.

"End of this week," Vesper confirmed with a nod, checking her tablet again just in case. "I'll contact you probably the day before to remind you, just in case. I have a feeling you'll have a lot of work this week, I could see it being easily forgotten." She smiled gently, wanting to put her a bit more at ease. She looked at the clock on the wall and frowned. "I really need to feed Modus..."

Taylor was caught a bit off guard. "Who?" she tilted her head quickly. At least now the topic was off of Taylor's appointment.

Vesper's eyes widened a bit. She hadn't realized Taylor didn't know about Modus. "My cat. He's in my quarters. I should feed him soon, and I'm not sure what to do.. Someone always has to be in the medical ward.."

"But weren't you in the social sector while the Doc is away?" Taylor asked, feeling as if she was intruding on some sort of ritual.

"I ordered ahead of time. It took a minute or two to go get it. Feeding Modus will be a half hour or so." Vesper sighed, trying to think. After a long moment, she looked at Taylor. "We're friends, right? Could I trust you to go get him? I could order the food here... Or, or, you could feed him there I suppose."

Taylor smiled and stood from her chair promptly. "Of course I'll go feed him. I can leave me badge with you if that would make you more comfortable."

"No I trust you," Vesper replied simply as she stood with her, scribbling something down on a small note paper. She handed it to Taylor. "Just give him this from the order window.. whatever it is in the wall. He'll eat it from the container, so just set it down for him. He should still have water." She smiled, letting out a sigh of relief. "I really appreciate this. I owe you, Taylor."

Taylor smiled, just happy to please Vesper. "Well that sounds easy enough. "Does this have your room number as well?" she asked, taking the sheet of paper.

"Ah-!" Vesper picked up her pen again and took Taylor's hand, writing on the paper now there instead of taking it back. She wrote her room number on it and the pass code. "There you go." She smiled, letting go. "Thank you so much, again, Taylor."

Taylor nodded, "Think nothing of it." she said before heading out of the medical ward. As she headed for the resident halls, Taylor took small glances down to the room number and code that Vesper had written down on her hand. She was pleased to do something nice for her and hoped she didn't mess it up. As Taylor's mind wandered, she couldn't help but feel a bit neglecting of Teva. She seemed so angry about the corpses, more so angry then herself.

A little more then a half hour passed before Taylor returned. "Miss me?" she asked coyly. She had gone and fed Vesper's cat as told. "You know, considering you have a cat, it smells really nice in your quarters." she complimented.

Vesper chuckled where she was filling out some paperwork. "Are you insinuating my cat should be filthy?" She smiled, looking up at Taylor with insinuating and amused verdant eyes. "I take immaculate care of him. He's a bit pampered, I admit, but I have a soft spot for him, sadly, and it's the best I can do not to outright spoil him." She set her pen aside and stood to join Taylor. "But thank you. I'm glad the odor was not offensive."

Taylor was amused by how former Vesper was still acting. They had spent nearly the entire day together and seemed to have some nice chemistry. Running a hand through her dark hair, she glanced at the clock. "I'm not- bugging you, am I? You're not just being polite and not saying anything, are you?" Taylor figured she wasn't, but something in her wanted to be sure. "I don't mean to be clingy or anything. It's just that you're probably the first tolerable person I've met on his metal heap so far. Well- aside from my coworkers that is."

"Well.. there is plenty of time to meet other people," Vesper pointed out absently, then seemed to realize that might mean she wanted Taylor to go. "But no, you aren't bothering me at all. In fact, feel free to stop by any time, or by my quarters if I'm not here. I would always enjoy spending time with you. You're very 'tolerable' as well." She chuckled softly, meaning something a lot more, but if that was the term Taylor was comfortable with, that's what she would use. She continued watching the biologist, seeming to wait for her to say something, but it was unclear what exactly Taylor should be saying. What would Vesper want from her now? If anything.

Taylor figured that Vesper's 'feel free to stop by anytime' comment only could mean that she wanted to part for the night. Because the nurse was always so lighhearted, Taylor felt like she had trouble reading her. "Uhh...well-" She scratched the back of her neck nervously. "Alright, I guess I'll see you around sometime then?"

Vesper's smile faltered and fell. She looked confused, frowning at Taylor as if trying to understand. After a moment though, she managed to tug the corners of her mouth back up. She nodded. "Anytime you like, I would be happy to see you again."

Taylor smirked, "Heh thanks." she replied, shrugging a bit. She grabbed her lab coat from the back of the chair she was previously sitting on. "By the way, is your cat a species from Earth? He doesn't like- talk or anything, does he?" It was a bit of an odd question, but one could never be sure now a day.


For the very first time since she had been in the presence of the biologist, Vesper laughed. It wasn't loud, but it was infectious and strong, at the same time being light and gentle. It was fragile, without any sign of breaking. "Yes yes, he is just a normal cat," she said after she had finally calmed enough to speak a minute later. She smiled at Taylor, her eyes still laughing. "I think he seems smarter sometimes, but I think that comes with practice. He is just an Earth cat, yes."

"Well he was giving me really weird looks the entire time." Taylor explained, pleased that she had humored Vesper. "Maybe he was just wary because he doesn't know me at all and I was in your territory or something."

"Yes, I'm sure that was it. Don't worry, he'll get used to you in time." Vesper smiled at her, looking her companion up and down. "Although... you will need to not wear that lab coat. Black fur? White cloth? Well..." She chuckled. "I won't be responsible for the outcome."

"What? Oh! Heheh- right." Taylor chuckled, "I'll make a note of that." She rubbed her arm and grinned, "Anyways- you have a nice night, Vesper." Taylor bowed her head in a gentleman-like manner before turning to head out of the door.

Vesper smiled and nodded a farewell as Taylor turned to leave, but called out as she made it to the door. "Oh! Taylor! When the doctor returns.. Would you perhaps want to.. 'hang out' sometime? Dinner? On me?" She still smiled, hopeful of a yes. For all her niceness, she didn't have many friends. Her childhood had more than ruined her relationship with anyone who knew her before training, and the doctor she had been training with was on another ship. It left her pretty alone on this one.

Taylor couldn't hide the wide grin on her face. She turned around and waved at Vesper. "Most definitely." Vesper practically just asked Taylor out on a date! At least, that's how Taylor took it as. Whatever Vesper's true intentions were, Taylor didn't care.

"Wonderful." Vesper made no attempt to hide the relief in the word. "So.. Goodbye, for now, Taylor?"

"See you around." Taylor smirked before heading out of the nurse's office and down towards her labs. She wondered how Teva was holding up.