Wash grinned as Kane walked into the cockpit. "Hello, Fearless Leader. We have a wave, and he's askin' for you."

Wash flipped the vid screen to show a man with a hat.

"Kane?" The man said. "You're William Kane, right? I heard that you do some good jobs, and I've got some cargo to be moved. It's live, though. I need some chickens moved from Canton to the Core Planet, Ariel. Can you do it? I've got some good coin for payment. 2,000 plantinum to move 40 crates of chickens. I've even got someone who can take care of 'em while you ship 'em."

XXXXXX

Jade watched as Kane left the infirmary. She turned to the tired, sleepy Maxx and said softly, "It's time to get some sleep. When you awaken we will get you something to eat." She pressed another hypo into his neck, this time injecting him with a sleep aid that would keep him knocked out for hours. It really was the best thing for him at the moment; his broken body needed a lot of time to heal.

Making sure her patient was well secured, Jade exited the infirmary and made her way towards the bridge. The time to examine the contents of the mystery box was drawing near, and she wanted to make sure her captain and crewmates were aware. Due to the cargo's uncertainty, she would take extra precaution in examining the contents. She would examine the box in the vault, wearing a vac suit for her own protection. Although running diagnostics on foreign material was not uncommon in her practice, Jade admited to feeling a little uneasy. New compounds were being discovered across the 'verse every season, and many times the effects of these things were extremely powerful, if not downright deadly. She had no idea what to expect once the box's compound was exposed in its raw form, but at least she would have the protection of the vac suit and the air tight vault to secure her.

Or so she hoped.

Entering the bridge, she touched Kane's sleeve and said, "I'm ready to run the diagnostic on the box's contents. Do you want to accompany me, or are you going to wait here?"

Wash looked over at Jade. "I'll bring it down for you, if you want, while Cap'n clears up this job."

Kane held his finger up in the air when Jade and Wash began talking to indicate everyone needed to be quiet for a moment.

"This is Kane," he spoke in reply to the wave. "However, you have me at a disadvantage. To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking and who do I have to think for referring you to me?"

The man shrugged. "A reliable source. Said he knew William Kane would get the job done. You have a reputation. I like that. My name's Niska. I like men with reputation, and you have good reputation. I need some chickens moved, you have a ship. I have money, you need money. What do you say?"

I think we can do business, Niska," Kane replied. "I will let you work out the details of the pick up and deliever with my pilot."

With that, Kane stepped away from the console to talk to Jade.

"I'm going to have Sanka assist you on this. Wash is going to have to get this ship moving and we need to get our passenger home in addition to moving this poultry. I don't like being a menagerie, but the price is good. Just hope this Niska character is legitimate."

Turning the wave off, Wash smiled and grabbed the controls. "Aye, aye, Cap'n."

He pressed three switches overhead and started the ship moving. He clicked the intercom. "Sanka, watch the engines, we're about to go to full burn for atmo leave."

"Wash," Kane began," normal flight procedures are fine. We don't need to burn extra fuel for the sake of some flightless birds.

"And, about the 'Fearless Leader' thing: that is 'Captian' to you. If you are unhappy with that, I hear some fry-cooks are looking for a help.

Kane quickly left the bridge to avoid bursting out laughing. He enjoyed making Wash think he was serious at times like this.

XXXXXX

Sanka finished helping get Jade into the vac suit and gave her a thumbs up.

"You have any trouble, Pretty Lady, just call out. I will be monitoring things. When you are ready to come out, let me know and I will release the seal on the vault. I will then flush any loose particles out of the system."

Jade nodded and turned to enter the vault with the box.

Sanka closed the heavy door to the vault and sealed Jade in. From there he moved to his console to monitor the situation.

"You go, Pretty Lady," he said into the mic," You are sealed and good to go."

XXXXXX

Jade approached the box and cautiously poke it, noting the black dust that rose from the motion. She pryed open the box and a huge cloud of dust comes out. She knew that usually means something bad; when dust clouds rise.

Looking into the box revealed a crate full of black stones. They are lightweight and sort of like loam. She took one for analysis, for this is what she was here for.

But there was a problem.

A diagnostic test showed that it is an unknown substance, but there was another thing that the rock was putting out. It was radioactive.

Knowing this, she had about fifteen minutes to close the box up and get out of there.