Meeting Kyle and Tyler

The next morning after a simple breakfast of bisquit fried in grease Brenan continued his inventory of the ship. By the about nine in the morning he had a list as long as his arm for supplies he'd need from Davy. He wondered if Davy would give him credit or he'd have to limit his purchases.

“Ahoy the ship!” Two seamen were aproaching the schooner, they are wearing the typical loose shirts and canvas bottoms of seamen as well as boots and knit caps pulled over their heads even in the warm sun. Must be Davy's boys Brenan realized as he saw the tinted glasses over their eyes.

“Come aboard lads, I’m Captain Kilgore.” Brenan told them gesturing to the gangplank amidships. Ignoring the plank the two men leapt from the dock below catching the gunwales on the side of the ship and pulled themselves aboard. It wasn’t a particularly difficult feat, Brenan often did it himself when he was in a hurry, but no landlubber would climb aboard that way; already he knew they were experienced seamen. Extending his heavy hand he shook theirs evaluating their grip and instinctively noting that they had calluses in all the right spots.

“You seem fit enough men. What be your names, and how long did you sail on the Dorian?” As he spokes Brenan looked them over more carefully. Besides the tinted shades and their hats, Brenan realized that both were wearing boots instead of the sandals or bare feet often preferred during the summer months.

“I’m Kyle Jones, and this is Tyler my brother” said the man who had originally hailed the ship. “We were on the Dorian for just over two years before the flapping Cryn navy caught up with her.” Brenan smiled a little at the use of the swear word; sailors, like soldiers couldn’t keep their language clean even when interviewing for a new position.

‘Xelta’s Flaps’, or just ‘flaps’ for short, were often referred to even though only a handful of people on all Pandora knew about the faulty airfoils on Xelta Crew’s lander that led to his crash in the first place.

The two young men glanced at each other and after some unspoken agreement pull off their knit caps at the same time. The men had little or no hair, and their ears were small folds a little lower on their jaw line than was normal. “Davy said he told you about us already. We mostly wear this get-up when we are travelling through town. Saves trouble you see.” Brenan nodded slowly, the brothers had a distinctive oddness to them that could easily lead to them being targeted by street punks or other xenophobic bullies. Already, he knew he was going to sign the lads; despite his reputation for **** Brenan had a soft spot for the underdog, which is no doubt why Davy pushed these two at him. Could be a lot worse he reasoned, at least these two were seamen.

“Can you see without those lenses?” He asked, both of the men pulled the glasses from their heads and he saw the distinctive large blank eyes associated with Lantians. Looking at them was creepy, like looking into a sharks eye’s. The two must have noticed his reaction, because their grins flattened and shoulders slumped a little.

“It’s OK boys, different, but OK. I’m not one to hold a sailor’s looks against them.” Brenan slapped Kyle on the back. “Hey, I put up with Davy, and he’s uglier than you two.” Both brothers grinned broadly at his joke, the same shrapnel that took Davy’s arm tore up the left side of his face pretty bad. No lie there, Kyle and Tyler, despite their odd features were still easier on the eye than Davy was.

“You got any more surprises for me?” Brenan figured best to get it all out now “Gills on your back or spikes that come out of your forearms?”

“Our feet are a little odd, I g-g-guess” Tyler answered this time stuttering a little as he spoke. “Wanna see?” Stepping back with a nod, Brenan watched as they pulled their feet free of the large boots. Their toes were twice the length of his and a webbing of membrane stretched between them. “No g-g-gills, C-Captain, but these are g-good for swimming.”

As Tyler spoke, Brenan noticed a commotion on the docks. Two men who he spotted earlier in the week talking to a Veertor merchant were dragging a pretty redheaded woman along the docks. Brenan remembered these two. As a defector and at least in theory, still subject to the emperor’s ‘justice’ Brenan made it a point to identify the Veer agents in every port. These two men had the slow drawl, long hair and loose clothing of an islander, but one of them had the black eagle tattoo of the Empire's elite marines, and the smaller man a double notch in his right ear indicating he had been found guilty of **** in a Veer military court. As the pair approached the Veertor ship's Captain Brenan had seen both stiffen and pull back their shoulders momentarily before falling back into their roles as longshoremen. Nine years in the Veertor army instantly recognized the look of a low rank soldier addressing a superior.

“See that woman in the blue dress?” Brenan interupted Tyler suddenly “If I knock her into the water can you get her back to the boat without being seen?”

“P-p-probably." Tyler answered as he followed Brenans gaze.

"Hope this means we got the job.” Kyle muttered as Brenan leapt from the boat onto the wharf.