...'neath the vault of the heavens, 'ere we depart....

[Ebiris]

Albert shoots a slightly surprised look over at Attorney Thorne as he begins slow dancing with Sally, quickly schooling his expression and looking anywhere but at him. Although he does stick rather close to the woman, in spite of any concerns he may have...

[Brian]

"I recall seeing you on the trip -- from Corvalis, yes?" Eric asks.  Without actually waiting for a reply, he adds, "I've heard that the new A.I. is supposed to be unsurpassed in terms of stability."

Attorney Thorne stares at Albert for a long minute, and then looks away, huffing angrily and gulping at his wine.

[Dracos]

"Yeah.  From thereabouts.  And yeah, she was a real piece of work.  A pleasure to work on." He quickly returned at least on semi-comfortable ground.

Dracos

[Brian]

Eric nods at that, smiling gently.  "'She'?  I hadn't known she ... did it select a gender, or was one assigned to it?" he asks.

On the dance floor, Sally giggles loudly, and pushes Albert gently away, her eyes glinting as she smiles.  "Oh, you silly," she says, leading Albert back to the table.

[Ebiris]

"Er... yes," Albert chuckles a bit awkwardly, his mind whirling as he is led back to the table.

[Brian]

Only moments after Sally is seated next to Albert, Mr. Thorne himself arrives, and says in a largely jovial (if forced) voice, "Come, Sally, it's time for us to leave -- we can't tarry long."

Sally pouts, but nods.  "Okay, Daddy," she says lightly, giving Albert a peck on the cheek before being led from the hall.

[Ebiris]

Albert blushes a bit, before his face clouds as the Thornes leave.

Next time he sees them, Sally will likely be an old woman, while her father will almost certainly be dead...

[Rezantis]

A thin man - wearing a rather heavy jacket for formalwear - looks up from his fish as Sally leaves the table and across the now-empty seat towards Albert.

"Better luck next time then, eh?"

[Ebiris]

"Next time..." Albert snorts morosely, "Yes, I'm sure there'll be just plenty of opportunities on the ship when they thaw me out in forty years."

Attempting to shake it off, he goes on, "Ah, well. No matter - who has time for romance when we have the excitement of discovering the unknown, am I right?"

The sentiment is quite clearly false, but he proposes the half hearted toast, anyway, taking a massive gulp of his wine without even waiting to see if anyone follows it.

[Brian]

Frowning at the silence of the progammer sitting next to Finn, Eric shrugs, and glances briefly at Albert, then beyond him, to the pale-haired man in the heavy coat.  "I ... don't believe we've met?" he says cautiously.

[Rezantis]

"But think how many ladies you'll impress once we get back!" the man says earnestly as Albert lays into his wine - then Eric gets his attention.

"Oh, sorry. Kieran Abernase, starship engineer, and you are?" he asks, extending a hand.

[Ebiris]

Albert pauses as he finishes off his wineglass. "That's an excellent point," he admits, brightening.

[Brian]

Leaning across the table (and in front of Albert) Eric's large hand engulfs Kieran's.  "It's an honor to meet you," he says, taking exaggerated care not to crush the Angel's hand.  "I saw your name on the list of designers for the Eidolon?" he adds, once the handshake is complete.

[Rezantis]

Kieran nods, looking pleased.  "Yes, I helped with some of the later design work - and with putting her together, of course.  She's a fine piece of work, isn't she?"

[Brian]

Eric nods, and glances at Finn.  "You've had a chance to look over the design specs yourself?" he asks.