FSE

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~ Detective Clip slide across the rumbling floor of the dining hall, the passenger ship well underway towards the major hub world. Most of the folks aboard were in the relaxed state that comes along with the trip home from a vacation, a place popular for such having been the ship's departing port. The jackalope smiled sweetly as she joined a budgie at a table, the bird having been one of three folks who'd made this trip in the last few weeks, greeting the parrot with her expression and charm.

~ "So, what'll you miss most, about the Alton colony?", inquired the Detective in plain clothes.

~ The budgie peered up from her drink, her expression somewhat beleaguered and dredged, "Oh? Huh. Yeah; no vacation for me. Business trip, honest.", leaning in against the table for support, "There's not many of us, you know, who can provide last rights to Synth. Alton's priestess passed away a couple months back, so they've been calling me over for the final ceremonies.", before trying to drown her honesty in more whiskey.

~ Clip grimaced a bit and nodded, "I'll leave you to your peace, sorry.", slipping away from the table and back towards the bar and the possum she'd just observed arriving.

~ The Detective settled in next to the second person on her list of three who'd visited Alton in the past weeks and previous day, greeting him with her smile and charm.

~ "So, what'll you miss most, about the Alton colony?", inquired the Detective in plain clothes.

~ The possum leaned back from the bar to regard the jackalope with a wide grin of his own, followed by the depths of a laugh to shake the glasses hanging above.

~ He leaned in as though to share with Clip, "There I was, a few weeks back, and I told myself. Nate, if you win this roll. If these dice come up and you make it big, I told myself, I'd come right back here for another round of fun.", a punctuating laugh, "Since, you know, I'd have to leave early if I lost! So I told myself, I'd win that roll, and take double vacation. Double or nothing, I told myself!", an open palm slapped the bar with his laughter.

~ For her part, the jackalope nodded along, listening intently, "I take it that you won?"

~ Nate paused in place for a moment, stunned to silence. "Nope! Lost almost everything! But I still had my ticket home, and that one voucher for a spin they give you went you arrive. So I told myself, on my way out, I told myself that I'd give it a whirl. Vacation's not over until you've lost every wager, am I right? So I told myself, I wasn't going to win, but I'd be done and going home once I did!" His tail curled around the post holding up the bar stool. "And you know what? I won a free vacation! Expenses covered, though I had to take the darnedst thing, I told myself, because they told me it'd expire. They'd expected someone to win sooner; the game being somewhat rigged, I told myself."

~ The possum reached out with a hand to offer Clip a shake, "I'm done losing for a while, how about you?"

~ The jacklope shook his hand with an honest smile, "I usually try to focus on winning; but we're all ourselves, eh?"

~ Nate gave her an informal salute, before turning his attentions to explaining the precise requirements of his optimal cocktail to the bartender.

~ The detective slipped away, and towards the rabbit sitting alone in a booth. He seemed to be nursing the remains of a slice of apple pie, being the third person on her list. She slid into the booth across from him, greeting the rabbit with a nod and her charm.

~ "So, what'll you miss most, about the Alton colony?", inquired the Detective in plain clothes.

~ The rabbit glanced up, "Oh, those little strawberry foam pies they make. I loved the taste and price of those things; probably ate too many, if I admit. You?", his fork resting next to a plate with a third of a slice of apple pie remaining.

~ The jackalope shrugged a bit, "I really enjoyed the pool; no one seemed to care that I was in it. Most places, it's all scandals and glares and leering, as though everyone's in for some kind of peek when a jackalope touches standing water. Ya' know? But there, I was just able to swim. Really nice."

~ The rabbit shrugged his shoulders a bit, "Not something I've ever had to put up with, but I'm glad you found something to enjoy. Though, I was kind of hoping to just relax.. if you don't mind?"

~ Detective Clip gave an agreeable nod, and slipped out from the booth and towards the sleeping arrangements. Along the way, she sent a message to local port security at their destination.

~ The following day, Detective Clip found herself in the company of two rather disinterested hyenas in Customs uniforms. For all their reluctance, they made enough of an effort to be complying with the Detective's requests for the moment, and were flanking her in the baggage claim when the rabbit arrived. She regarded him with the softness of a glare.

~ For his part, the rabbit tried to pretend to not have noticed the uniformed Detective and Customs officers, though the hyenas stepping into his path seemed to dispell the illusion.

~ One of the hyenas flatly explained, "We're going to need to see in that bag."

~ The rabbit clutched the suitcase to his chest. "I'm an interstellar traveller! You'd need cause to search me, between ports! I've got everything correct!"

~ The other hyena looked to Detective Clip, inquiring of her, "He's got a point. Why're we doing this, again?"

~ The jackalope groaned. "Because someone's been graverobbing at the Synth yards, and he messed up his cover story. He went to Alton three weeks ago to scope out the place and get a cover story in order, but didn't realize the foamcakes are for a local holiday.", looking to the rabbit to address him directly, "They were cheap because the holiday was four weeks ago; they were sold out two weeks ago, and there will be more made in fourty-three weeks." She looked back to the first Hyena, "There's going to be about a dozen braincases in his bag."

~ The rabbit's expression was blank, frozen with the terror of no retreat. He gingerly held out the suitcase of contraband, his mind standing quite still in search of escape.