[This extra scene takes place between sessions 44 and 45.]
The day after Bishop's rendezvous with Whang, Jillian (chastened regarding her lack of trust in people) returns to the Hummingbird's berth at Osan Station and finds a reply to the message she had left for Sly Fox: "Would love to get together, especially if you're buying! Barrel Roll at 7. I'll have a red book."
Excited by the prospect of finally meeting this mysterious figure, Jillian leaves a note to let the rest of the crew know where she's gone, and heads off to Osan Station's pilot bar. Not sure just what to expect from this meeting, Jillian brings along a sketchbook of her own; if Sly Fox doesn't show she can do some drawing, and if the meeting goes really well, maybe she can even show off her art! The sketchbook also makes a convenient place to carry a couple of photos: the original gun camera shot of the D'Vor ship, and the group shot with the Hummingbird crew, the scientists, and the Grob.
The Barrel Roll isn't very full yet when Jillian arrives; it's too early for the clientele. It's easy to spot Sly Fox, who is in one of the better-lit booths. He's a white man in his mid-60s and looking well worn. His clothing and rings are very nice, in contrast to his scruffy face. Unshaved for a while? A short, unkempt beard? Hard to tell. Jillian can't get a good grasp on his height due to him sitting but it seems about average, as is his weight. He's not balding but his hair is thinning and very much running to grey from the brown it once was. He's looking at his book with the hint of a smile of his face.
Jillian slides into the booth opposite him and tries to get a quick glance at the book. It's not a published book but rather a notebook. Pretty thick, hardcover; from the wear, it's obvious that he's had it for a while. "Hey," she says with a smile. "Sly Fox?"
He looks Jillian in the eyes and smiles a warm smile. "Jillian? Very nice to meet you!" He holds out his hand for her to shake. Jillian can't help but notice his eyes. Glittering and bright blue.
Jillian shakes his hand. "And I'm thrilled to meet you," she says. "I've been following your posts on the nav boards for years. Can I get you a drink?" She signals a waitress to their table.
"I'd never turn down a free drink!" Sly Fox responds. He happily orders a double scotch, neat. "Never thought I'd have a fan club from the nav boards!" he laughs. "Thrilled?"
"Oh, yes," she assures him. "Your posts are like no one else's." She orders a whiskey sour for herself, and pays the waitress.
"Well, yeah," Sly Fox says, "everyone else is writing all technical-like and it's like reading a manual for a space drive. Dry dry dry." He takes a sip. "Who wants a wall of that stuff?"
"Your account of your trip through the asteroid field outside Fafner's orbit almost made me cry -- it was pure poetry," Jillian says. "But like I said in the message I left you, there's one thing you wrote that I especially wanted to ask you about -- and that's the whales." She takes out the photo of the D'Vor ship and pushes it across the table at him. "Did what you saw look anything like this?"
He squints at the photo for a minute. "Yeah, you know, it did, kinda. We got a reading on the sensors more than got a really good look at it, it was so far away, but it did look like that. Weird ship, eh? Looking at your photo I should have used more squid imagery but like I said we didn't get the best visuals and what do you use to describe squids, anyway? They don't breach, they don't exhale plumes of steam, they just sit on your plate and taste great. So why d'you wanna know? It's a strange piece of transport but there's weirder out there." Now that he's speaking more Jillian notices that his accent, although ostensibly Picadillian, has distinct underlying traces of Walküren, specifically the same accent as Volkova's.
Jillian taps the photo of the D'Vor ship. "These things are bad news. I saw a heavily armed pirate ship crippled by one of them. And there's more to this story, but I don't know if you'll believe me when I tell you. I'd really like to know exactly where you saw it, and when, and whether that was the only time."
"You sound like you're from Hoax!" he says. "You sure you're really a fan and not just a government agent?"
"Hoax." Jillian groans and takes a drink. "Don't tell me they came asking you about your whales? They got all up in our asses about that photo -- I'm not actually supposed to have a copy anymore, by the way, but we had one squirreled away for a rainy day. They seemed more interested in covering up the truth than getting to the bottom of it."
"Nah," he waves a hand, "I never got bugged by them, but they've been asking lots of people all sorts of questions. Got to you, eh? Not surprised that they'd want to cover something like that up. Someone get their hands on an alien hot rod? Took out some pirates? Good for them. The navy's not doing a good job of stopping anything. Someone going private might work." He looks longingly at his now-empty glass.
Jillian signals for a refill for his drink. "I've been trying to stay off Hoax's radar ever since our last rather unpleasant run-in," she says. "What kind of questions are they asking people?"
"Eh, looking for anyone who's seen anything strange." He gives Jillian an appreciative nod for the refill. "We're supposed to tell them anyway but it's like they've gotten more desperate to find xenocrap lately. It's not like they've been grabbing anyone off the streets or anything but they've just been everywhere. Hey, are you really a fan or are you just trying to pump me for information?"
"Definitely a fan," Jillian smiles. "But it's a big universe and I've gotten in over my head with this alien tech stuff, so any extra tidbits of information are a help. But enough about that. Tell me about yourself! How did you get started in this business?"
He raises an eyebrow at Jillian for such an abrupt shift in the conversation but decides to roll with it. "Not too much to say, really. Grew up on a moon in Walküren with parents who started calling me 'Sly Fox' because I kept tricking them. They knew that I wasn't going to make it in a factory eating all my food in cube form so they managed to get me into a nav school and I left there as soon as I could. Changed my name to Sly Fox and have been travelling the cluster since them in ships that are, honestly, pretty boring. Still, gives me time to write and think while we're lumbering through a system. When we get somewhere I get to tell the stories I wrote."
Jillian gets the feeling that stories, lies and the truth may all kinda blur for this guy. She doesn't feel quite sure if any particular thing he's telling her is true, but that doesn't make him less fascinating to her. "What do your friends call you?" Jillian asks, turning her glass between her fingers. "Sly? Fox? I'd love to hear one of those stories. I'm an artist, myself."
"Either one works," he says. "You really want to hear a story and not just read a navhaz update?" He looks around at the still largely-empty bar and turns back to Jillian. "You first. What kind of artist are you?"
"Visual," Jillian says, pulling her sketchbook out of her shoulder bag (leaving the Grob group photo carefully behind). She pushes the sketchbook across the table and nervously takes a drink. "I work in mixed media, too, but obviously I can't go carrying five foot tall scrap metal statues around with me."
Sly Fox opens the sketchbook and looks through it for several minutes, slowly leafing through the pages and obviously taking in the work seriously. "So, you work with John Smith or something?" he asks absently
"You've heard of him?" Jillian asks, not concealing her excitement. "I've never met him, but I love his work."
Sly Fox pauses for dramatic effect. "Mm-hm," he says finally. "Nice guy if he doesn't kill you. Great artist, too. Your stuff... good concepts, but your execution's lacking. Self-taught, right? Ever thought of art school? Real training would help." He closes the sketchbook and pushes it back to Jillian.
Jillian's somewhat disappointed, but not crushed. She's used to people hating her work, and Sly Fox's reaction was significantly more positive than she usually gets. "Actually I did go to art school -- but they kicked me out after one semester." Jillian drinks, emptying her glass, and signals for a refill. "So, wait, you've met John Smith?"
"Yeah, a few times. He's really funny and his wife's a hoot!"
"Wow," Jillian says, smiling broadly. "I would love to meet him -- he's basically my artistic idol. Any chance you could send him word not to shoot at me? I'm heading to Providence system in just a few days."
"Bad luck about school," Sly Fox says. "Maybe one-on-one would be better for you. If you really want to meet John and survive the best way to do it is to hang out at the Winged Right Cafe in Mordowny and buy him a coffee. Don't tell him I told you! If he doesn't like you he'll shoot me like as not next time I see him."
"So," Jillian prompts, "how about sharing one of those stories of yours? Do you need a refill?"
"Always," he laughs. "If you want to hear one o' my stories it's better to hear somewhere with a... " he waves his hand, "...proper ambiance. This bar isn't right. I just come off as a drunk rambling. You free around midnight?"
"Sure," Jillian says, intrigued.
"Alright... here's where I'll be." He pulls out a purple marker and scribbles a location in the station on a napkin. The low-quality paper greedily sucks up the ink, making a mess of the hearts over i's and j's, but it's legible.
"What kind of place is it?" Jillian asks.
"Interesting!" Sly Fox's smile is infectious. "You don't have to worry, if you're worried. You don't look like a mark."
"All right," Jillian says, smiling and standing up, and tucking the photo and sketchbook back in her bag. "See you soon." She offers Sly Fox her hand.
He gives it a good shake and looks like he's going to settle in for a bit longer in the booth, slouching comfortably.
Jillian heads out. The address Sly Fox gave her is just outside of the part of the station that she knows, right by where the industrial section starts. Jillian is intrigued but also feeling a bit cautious; she'd rather not go alone. She checks back in at the Hummingbird, but none of her crew are around. Xao is still down on the planet with his family, and Olivia isn't expected to get back in touch before it's time for them all to lift off. Out of choices, Jillian phones Neet's hotel room.
"Hi!" she says when he answers the phone. "Are you up for a little adventure?" She briefly explains the Sly Fox thing, and asks him if he'll come along with her to the Mystery Venue.
Neet readily agrees, but asks her not to tell Bishop lest Bishop decide that Neet, too, is in love with Jillian.
At the hotel, Jillian knocks on Neet's door
After a short wait Neet opens the door slightly. "Hello, Jillian" he says shyly. He slips his slim frame out through the barely-open door and quickly shuts and locks it behind him. He tries to hide it, but Jillian can't help but notice that the place is a shambles. Not wrecked, just really, really messy.
"Nothing to be embarrassed about!" Jillian says cheerfully. "You should see my quarters when I'm working on a sculpture."
"Um, what?" Neet asks, apparently unsure what Jillian's talking about.
"Um." Jillian loses her train of thought, distracted by the crazy patterning of the carpet. "Huh? Oh, never mind. Thanks for agreeing to come with me!"
"Oh, no problem," says Neet. "No one else on your crew could make it, I guess? By the way, where exactly are we going?"
Jillian shows him the napkin. "Are you prepared in case this turns out to be rougher than expected?" she asks discreetly.
"Um, in what way?" Neet asks. "I can run in this pretty well, I guess."
"Have you got your pistol?" Jillian clarifies.
"Oh! No. No. Should I get it?"
"Up to you. I don't really expect trouble, or I wouldn't be going. But maybe it's better to be prepared than not. But seriously, it's up to you -- whatever your comfort level is."
Neet bites his lower lip for a second. "Do you have something?"
Jillian shrugs. "I never learned to use small arms. I'm sort of okay in a fight, though. Running away is always the best option! Anyway, this is probably just going to be some sort of art-house thing. I'm sure it'll be fine!"
"Still, if you think..." Neet says. "Hold on." He unlocks his hotel room and manages to slip through the barely open door again. He's soon ready to go with a slightly baggier top, passing Jillian an obvious knowing wink.
Jillian leads the way to the edge of the industrial district. She makes small talk with Neet on the way. As they chat, the subject of Labrys City and Neet's childhood comes up. The conversation drives home for Jillian the fact that Neet was raised by lesbians -- with all that implies. He has no problems with lesbians at all, is awkward around hetero women when there's attraction on either side, and prefers to collectively and non-violently solve problems. Jillian thinks she finally understands why he's always so awkward around the Steel Hummingbird Crew.
Jillian and Neet make it to the location Sly Fox described. It's a heavy door that looks like it's going to lead to a boiler room or something. It's Volkovesque. The area seems to be deserted, although Jillian did glimpse someone stepping into the door just as she and Neet rounded the nearest corner. There's a fair bit of mechanical noise here.
Jillian tries the door, but it's locked. Since there's no doorbell, she pounds it a couple of times with her fist and steps back. A slot opens in the door with a harsh clacking sound and a stereotypical pair of suspicious eyes glares out.
"Hi. Sly Fox gave me this address," Jillian says. "Can we come in?"
"What's your name?" The voice is thuggish in the extreme.
"Jillian Grey."
There's a grunt. The slot closes and the door opens ponderously. Smokey air seeps out along with loud music and the sound of revelry.
Jillian steps in. Inside, the place is revealed to be a bar with a big stage, pretty full. People all over the place dressed in various fashions; some very casually and others in clubbing outfits. There's a show on the stage, a man doing a striptease act with large feathers to hide his naughty bits. Overall this place has a sordid but not dangerous feel. Jillian's been in places like this back in the old days. It's not where gangsters hide out, it's where the timid public go to feel like they may run into "dangerous" types.
"Can I get you a drink?" Jillian asks Neet.
"Uh, sure. I'll have something with fruit in it," Neet says, and sits down at an unoccupied table.
Jillian goes to the bar and gets Neet a girly drink with an umbrella in it. For herself, she gets a rum & coke. Now that she has some more time to look around and is a little less excited, she notices that Sly Fox is definitely not here. On the other hand, with a glance around the room she can easily spot who's dealing; there are some shady people here that she realizes she could buy illicit substances from should she wish. But given the uncertainty of the situation and the fact that she's here with Neet as opposed to, say, Volkova, Jillian passes on the chance to get high. She brings the two drinks back to the table and slides Neet's across to him. "I don't see Sly Fox," she says.
Neet's really not sure how to react to what's going on here. It's not that Jillian can't tell if he's enjoying himself, it's that he's not sure if he's enjoying himself. At least it seems to be a good crowd; not too many lowlifes and there's a generally good mood.
Jillian sits back to enjoy the show. As it continues (acrobats! a singer!) she notices that there's a theme tonight: the old Vishnan gods from back on Homeworld. Jillian comments on this theme to Neet, making conversation in an attempt to make him feel more comfortable.
Neet's not panicking, but he doesn't seem to be making much headway in working this out. Jillian's charm and the alcohol are helping a bit, though. Determined to put Neet more at ease so that he can have as much fun as she's having, Jillian tries pointing things out to him and going out of her way to make it seem safe and fun. The "gods of old Vishnu" theme helps a bit.
As the performance continues, Jillian and Neet continue to nurse their drinks so as to not have to pay for new ones. Maybe it's Jillian's desperate desire to not be hit on again and Neet's general lack of looking cool but they're left alone, save for by the waitress who wants them to buy more drinks.
Eventually it's time for what seems to be the main event: a storytelling slam. It seems likely that Sly Fox will make an appearance now. Jillian perks up.
There are four competitors, all of whom have been waiting backstage. Costumes are obviously a big part of this and they've gone all out. The first one is painted blue with fake extra arms. He's not wearing much, obviously wanting to show off his muscular build. His storytelling is quite good. The theme isn't just visual, because his story is about the chariot race from the Vishnan legends.
Jillian is entranced by the theatrics. She loves a good show. She's very glad now that she decided to come out here!
The second performer starts off well, what with the gigantic headdress that has props that appear to help his story, but something goes wrong, the headdress slips off his head onto the stage, and he never recovers. The applause that he receives is polite, but that's all.
Jillian makes a "meh" face at Neet. Neet shrugs back at Jillian. He seems to be getting into the swing of things. Because of the alcohol? Because of the Vishnan references?
Number three is a woman who is at least a double threat, doing a slow intricate dance while she tells her story. Her outfit is obviously aimed to get at least some votes by showing off her dancer's body but it's hard to hold that against her given that she's got a really magnetic personality and dances well. She also has a body that Bishop would fully approve and pursue after the show.
Number four is unmistakably Sly Fox. He's got a stylized elephant head on and his arms and legs are in some sort of tubelike structures that make them look like elephant trunks, Jillian notices as she squints. It's hard to tell, though, being dark and the lights down low, and it's distracting from his story.
After all the anticipation, this is a bit of a let-down. Maybe if she moves closer so she can hear better... "I'm going to move closer to the stage," she says to Neet, and does so, winding her way through the crowd, holding onto her nearly-empty glass.
She approaches the stage and it's not much of an improvement... until the black lights come on and his various limbs flare into life! Suddenly his story makes sense; everyone's been focusing on the too-dark costume and not really paying attention to the story itself and that's exactly what the story's about, the old legend about the two heroes who are so focused on their glory and the appearances of things that they fail to realize what's going on and almost kill each other over a stupid misunderstanding until the elephant god intervenes in a flash of holy light. It all comes together brilliantly and Jillian realizes that either Sly Fox really lucked out this time or he's a genius. Jillian leans toward the 'genius' theory. She's delighted! She's so glad she came!
She glances back to see how Neet is liking the show now. Neet has a grin on his face, but it looks like he's still trying to work out what's going on despite enjoying himself.
There is an applause-o-meter to determine the winner and Sly Fox wins by a wide margin. There doesn't seem to be much of a prize but he gets a little crown and, likely, free drinks.
Jillian rejoins Neet at their table, but keeps an eye out -- when Sly Fox emerges from backstage, she'd like to try to get his attention. "Wasn't that wonderful?" Jillian says to Neet. She proceeds to gush about how the meta-elements of the costume interacted with the story.
"Um, what does 'meta' mean?" Neet asks when he manages to get a word in edgewise.
Jillian blinks, brought up short. "Oh. Well, it's sort of a concept that's an abstraction from another concept, like you could think about the first post-Event wave of sculpture and then consider the metanarrative of the race to expand into more and more systems..." Soon she's launched into a full-scale art-school tangent. Next thing she knows, she's finding herself at the end of a five minute rant about how her supervisor never understood or appreciated her talent.
Neet continues to look confused. Perhaps Jillian shouldn't have brought up so many art movements and then started to tear into her supervisor.
Jillian's rant is finally interrupted when Sly Fox plops into an empty chair at the table.
Jillian greets Sly Fox with a big smile, art school forgotten. "That was great! When the black lights came on -- wow. The appearances of things, it's so obvious in retrospect! Can I buy you another drink?"
"Like I'd say no to that!" Sly Fox laughs. "Glad that you thought it was worth it, coming down here."
"What can I get you?" Jillian waves the waitress over.
"Double scotch, neat"
When she gets the waitress's attention, Jillian also refreshes her own and Neet's drinks. "So is this a regular event?" she asks.
"Every month or so," Sly Fox responds, "but I can't make it that often. I'm Sly Fox; you like the show?" he says, reaching a hand over to Neet. Neet shyly introduces himself and admits himself confused by the meta aspects of it.
Sly Fox tries to explain it (in a non-academic way, Jillian notices) but Neet's still left in the dark and Sly Fox starts asking Jillian how she and Neet know each other.
Jillian explains that Neet is crew on another courier ship, and that they (the ships' crews) hook up sometimes when they're in port together.
"Ah, got it," Sly Fox says. "So Neet, would you come back?"
Neet's not sure. He's really not.
"I would," Jillian says. "If I'm ever in port at the right time. Do you do shows like this anywhere else?"
"Where I can. Most real ports have something like this if you know where to look."
"How do you find out?" Jillian asks. "Do you have to know somebody?"
Sly Fox smiles. "Hanging out in bars helps! Just ask around in the... more interesting parts of town without looking like you're the law and you should find these sorts of places."
Jillian reflects privately that she's no stranger to skeezy bars, herself. But of course she usually frequents the pilot bars, which are part of a different world from this place. It occurs to her suddenly that Sly Fox, who should be part of that pilot world, seems more at home in this one. He hasn't said much about his own crewmates but Jillian doesn't get the feel that he's very close with them. They also don't seem to be here tonight as far as she can tell.
A glimmer of an idea starts to take shape in her mind -- it might not be hard to attract Sly Fox away from his current ship.
"Where are you heading next?" Jillian asks, settling back.
"Piccadilly!" he replies. "With the gate finally open everyone there wants pretty much everything from the rest of the cluster. You're going to be doing the same?"
"Nah," Jillian says, "we've got unfulfilled contracts in Providence and Vishnu to take care of. Then we'll see. Our pilot's from Picadilly; it'd be nice to find a reason to go there."
"Money's a good reason," Sly Fox points out.
Jillian acknowledges that with a nod. "Do you have any say in where your ship ends up?"
"Not much; I'm just the navigator on this one, and on contract."
"But you're a pilot, too, right?" Jillian asks. "Like I said, I've been noticing your posts on the nav boards for a while now."
"Yeah," Sly Fox confirms, "but they already had one. Besides, the Asoka's a little... tubby to be much fun to fly."
"Are you good?" Jillian asks him. "There might come a time when we're looking for another pilot ourselves. And the Hummingbird is zippy," she adds with a grin.
"Another pilot?" Sly Fox raises an eyebrow. "You tend to lose the ones you've got? It's an interesting thought, though. Next time we meet we'll see if you're in the market and if I should buy some life insurance. With a name like Hummingbird I hope she's zippy."
Jillian decides not to clarify that it's the engineers, rather than the pilots, who should buy life insurance. But Sly Fox's interest is promising. It's not clear to her yet how she could make use of him, but if the incipient anti-D'Vor armada she's building is going to make any use of the Klegships, they're definitely going to need more skilled pilots.
In the meantime, it's getting very late indeed, and Jillian's starting to feel tired. "I think it's about time we got going," she says, with a nod to Neet. "Again, thanks so much for inviting me to this place! I had a great time."
"Glad you enjoyed it!" Sly Fox replies. "Make sure to put something up on the nav board when you're in a port so I can find you; I'll do the same. Make something up if you don't have anything interesting to report. Thanks for leaving that note. Always good to know more people, you know?"