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Cherry Cream Crew

The Starship Cherry Cream rests in the lower hangar area of Caledrus' wide ship dock. Usually, a number of large dents can be seen in it's rounded dome hull, since it often takes a beating upon landing. Top down. Most likely on a large building's roof. The whipped cream landing foam is an... interesting, if a little lame, addition to the ship's deceleration process. It hasn't really prevented any damage yet, so the repair girls get a workout every time the ship makes planetfall.

What's it doing aboard the big Galaxy Cruiser Caledrus? Resting. Waiting. Refueling. How many other excuses can the crew make up before they have to actually explain to their financiers that the ship's about had it? They're hoping to get it suped up when they find an appropriate ship nexus, maybe even --- trade it in for something newer?

Uniforms for the Cherry Cream are pretty cool looking. Mostly silvery-white, with colored piping and trim, with a cute little "cherry" emblem or pin over their heart. Personal taste dictates whether the uniform is intact at the end of the day. Dione has totally shredded the sleeves of hers, Sharronn wears a terrific slit-skirt with her top, and Cara's always seems to look... "wet".

The crew carry "guns", though not all of them like to do so. Of course, the "guns" are actually bananas. Cherry bombs are included in a small pouch. Aim. Pull Trigger. Throw cherry at target. Run away.

Captain Ian Arnold - Fantastic hair. Extreme Chin. He's a 'handle everything perfectly the first time' kinda guy. It's a shame his crew are such total screw-ups.

Sharronn - First Mate, literally. A sweetheart, if a bit um, 'vapid'. Her family and Troy's provided the funds necessary to build the ship.

Gahn - Engineer specializing in growing his goatee and shuffling around in a tool box.

Sam - Another Engineer with another goatee, but he uses special 'sonic screwdrivers' or something. Very odd chap.

Nolan and Lyndah - a pair of multi-limbed Kthari, after leaving their home planet of Mahar 4 they soon found themselves in human space. Their many talents include computer repair and design, as well as being the on-board muscle for intimidation purposes. They are mated, not related.

Lisa - Her clever design of the ship's systems earned her a full scholarship in a well-lauded university. It's a shame she never took them up on it, and had Troy build the darn thing instead.

Troy - a whiz with a welding torch, and even better - he's got money for parts. He's also a complete lecher, and keeps his eyes (and hands) on Lisa a little more often than she'd like.

Shawn and Sean - Pilots, twins, about as opposite as a pair sharing the same genes can get. Sean, the guy, is a hotshot showoff of a navigator. Shawn, his sister, prefers a more sedate methodology to her piloting but gets places quickly and safely. Both of them are big blues fans, and have a huge stock of old Earth music in their quarters.

Allan - the ship's Doctor. More like the ships prescription-marijuana-supplier. He likes to think that the new glasses he wears make him look dignified. It's about time, since he's been about half-blind for the last five years.

Terii - ship's cook, though everyone chips in she is able to fix a terrific meal out of just about any kind of space road-kill they encounter. Lucky Them. She's a cutie, if a bit tipsy most of the time.

Cara, Errin and Dione - the Repair Crew. Actually it's possible that this trio of 'very friendly' girls just like to handle the whipped cream which they apply to the exterior of the ship for landings. They've been known to slip around in it for hours. Cara is the bubbly blond, Errin is a half-Japanese redhead with her eye on Sean, and Dione thinks her new mohawk is totally superior to her old 'fro.

Chris - a writer, mostly. He's actually a MegaDoDo publications researcher, doing work with the fringe colonies. When will he publish his findings? Who knows. He sure doesn't, and he's been at it since the Cherry Cream first lifted off.

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SHARRONN FINDS A "DRAGON WEYR" ADVERTISEMENT?

Gets a bunch of critters all for their own!

"I want to go to this place," Sharronn said, tapping her finger on a printout of a shiny planet. "It's got cool stuff. Dragons. I want one."

"You what?" Ian said, glancing at the paper and at his first mate. "You want a what? He asked when he realized what she'd said.

"... A dragon, you know, wings, fire, tail, swoosh?" Sharronn elaborated with a motion of her hand in the air.

"Have you been smoking with Terii and them and not telling me?" The captain muttered, "we can't have a dragon. Look, we're on -"

"We're on Caledrus, and it's more than big enough to support a dragon or two. Or three." Sharronn rubbed up against Ian, knowing that she had ample "assets" to convince most men of darn near anything. She fit nicely just under his arm, warm and curvey.

Ian ground his jaw around, and pondered. If he argued, Sharronn might not want to have sex later. If he agreed, they would have to head off to a strange planet and find a dragon. A dragon?!

He shook his head. "Look, I can't decide that."

"Woodstock already has one." Sharronn purred.

"It's a tiny thing! And she spends most of her time on her home world. We only go visit when it's her off season." Ian had almost had enough of this, when Shawn and Sean came into the bridge.

Why they had remained on the bridge of their own small ship, tucked inside a docking bay of Caledrus, was a mystery. Perhaps they all felt a little safer knowing their ship was still a part of their lives and routines.

Or perhaps they just hadn't found places on the ship itself to stay that suited them. Sean said, "I've been checking out the fourth-deck biosphere, and Troy said it's fine for large flying creatures. Even has a landing around the dome for observation."

"You already convinced them you're going to get a dragon," Ian flatly said. "Sharronn, look, we can't just -"

"They're looking for people!" Shawn whined. She pulled absently at her braided hair. "And I'd like one too. Wouldn't it be great to pilot something with a brain?" She giggled at her brother who enthusiastically nodded right back.

"I've been studying up on them, and they seem really neat..." He said. "Troy thinks if he got one, Lisa'd be all over him."

"Only if she didn't get one herself." Shawn laughed. Sharronn gazed at Ian, as he seemed to be hyperventilating himself into a stupor.

"Look! We! Can't! Just! Get! Dragons!" He shouted, his patience finally at its end. He'd rarely displayed any sort of anger at the group, so this got them to shut up.

"If you don't mind, I am going to talk to Woodstock about this myself. If she agrees to get Caledrus parked over that planet, okay. If not, you're out of luck." He said, and stomped out the door.

"But we'll still blame you if we can't go," Sean stuck his tongue out, and Sharronn laughed.

"We'll go. Promise." She said. The trio went into the main cabin of the Cherry Cream, and watched some Homicide, Life on the Streets.

***

"Of course they can go. We've got more than enough room. What are you, daft?" Woodstock told Ian, putting two pairs of fists on her ample hips. "Why don't you want them to go?"

"Dragons are fairy tales," he said. "Your little Zulda is obviously a clever creature but hardly a dragon."

"You think they don't exist?" Woodstock looked at him with astonishment. "You are crazy. Come with me. You're going to get an eyefull."

Woodstock led the small ship's pilot into a catalogue room where Caledrus' records were stored. To Ian's surprise, Chris, the writer on his ship, was there making a log entry to --

"You work for the Guide?" Ian asked, "you didn't tell me?"

"I didn't need to. You picked me up and gave me a job, that's what I do for you. This," he indicated the printout being belched out of the computer beside him, "is what I do for them. You don't get to know what I do for her," he thumbed at Woodstock who grinned.

"Look here," she said, ruffling Chris' hair and pulling up a seat next to his. "This is a little planet called ... what, porn? fern? Something. They're not starworthy but they were colonized. They've bred dragons out of the small stock of flits there. There are hundreds of places which breed them now."

"And here," Chris nodded at another screen, "this is Alskyr, and Danach, and Nemista and... Icarus, and all sorts of other registered worlds which have creatures that either resemble exactly or come very close to being Dragons."

Ian grunted. Sitting down, he pulled his fingers through his feathered hair. "So, Sharronn wants a dragon, she gets a dragon."

"That's the way it's looking, partner," Woodstock laughed. She slapped his shoulder with two hands and pulled him out of the seat with the other pair. "Now, go tell them that we'll be headed off on a dragon-world tour. There are enough to go around, you know."

He was about to say something, but Woodstock stopped him by saying, "this is Caledrus, we've got an improbability drive and subsections of the ship have their own destabilized gravity/warp engines. We have enough room, and food, for dragons. Clear?"

"Okay. Fine." Ian shuffled back to the Cherry Cream.

*** ((note links mostly don't work any more and I have removed reference to redacted locations))

"I still do not quite understand why all the fuss about flying," Nolan said, flexing his wings. "We do it all the time."

"And we would be more able to fly beside than on top of a dragon," said his mate Lyndah. The colorful Kthari pair conferred in their own purring-chirruping tongue, and then Lyndah said, "but we'd still like to see about bonding a dragon. Perhaps one of the small ones, not to ride but to have as companions."

"Then that's the Lian Dragon Nook," Chris said, pointing at the clipboard he'd brought from the records room. "They have very small dragons. Colorful too."

Nolan and Lyndah seemed quite pleased about that.

"We could certainly use more wings and claws when we are defending our territory," Nolan said. He made a cute hissing sound and waved his lion-paw in the air, and Lyndah swatted at him.

"Our companions are more than for show," She said. "Mine should be, anyway. I would want someone to discuss new information design with."

"You do that," Ian grumped from across the room. "We're headed to wherever has the first breaking eggs. Right?"

"We are headed to several places," Shawn said, matter of factly, because she was going to be helping Woodstock pilot and navigate to these worlds, "Danach, a place called Cathair Fionabhain, where there is a big colorful rainbow-hatching. That is where I think Errin and Cara wanted to head. Right?"

The red headed Errin and blond Cara hugged each other and jumped up and down and giggled. Much to the delight of half the men in the room. Their bouncy upper parts were enough to make grown men revert to teenagers.

"It's wonderful! I can't wait to see the dragons there!" Cara announced. "I wonder if they like whipped cream?"

"I'm sure any dragon of mine will," Errin said. "And I bet they'd even be able to help out with the landing. They're gonna have to be good at that."

Chris looked around the room until he saw their doctor Allan, and the cook Terii. They were red-eyed and smelled like they'd just come from the - ah yes, as Dione came from the side room there was a plume of fragrant smoke following her. Stoner trio, fun to work with, kind of hard to pin down any real work out of them.

"Dione, Terii, Allan, are you ready for your dragons?" Chris asked.

"Dragons!" Terii exclaimed. She lept into the air and Allan and Dione caught her. "I want to find a perfect dragon. Maybe something like Woodstock's - you know, maybe with no wings, or even a bunch of them, or ... I dunno, what was the question again?"

"I've got a place for you," Chris said, and he consulted with Woodstock with a glance at the list on the clipboard, and she nodded. "It's the Dragon Soul sands - they've had a flight of rather odd dragons."

"Zulda went," Woodstock said. "So maybe one of them might be her offspring."

"You're kidding?" Allan asked, "you mean you went there already and didn't tell anyone?"

"This was a while back. I don't know how the eggs are faring. But I know they're on the sands." Woodstock smiled. "Allan, are you confident that you could handle a dragon and your medical job?"

"... I have a job?" He said, grinning. "I think so. Maybe some small dragon, like Zulda for me too. Not like I believe we just walk in and choose them, right? I mean, we can't do that. They choose their friend, don't they?"

"Dragons do that," Dione said, rolling her head around, and finally dropping Terii's legs so she slapped down to the floor. "I heard that there are places where they must bond or die, but ... I don't know if I could handle that kind of pressure..." She scratched the side of her head, where the mohawk was shaved and the stubble was fun to play with.

"Well, I would never let some dragon hatchling die!" Allan said. "I save lives. Don't I?"

"You have," Woodstock said, "and I'm sure you will again. If it's a dragon instead of a human or Kthari, that'll mean you have more experience in the end."

"Cool..." Allan nodded, and picked up a piece of paper for Terii and Dione and himself, a rundown of the things they'd be seeing at Dragon Soul. The others were looking over their own paperwork.

"These Lian dragons look simply beautiful," Lyndah said. "I'm glad it is a small, private place."

"Aren't there any ... I dunno, bolder dragons than that?" Said Troy, aware that he was puffing up and trying to act all buff in front of Lisa. "I mean, I need to find a dragon who suits my personality."

"You mean a boorish, annoying, grabby-handy-groping loudmouth?" Lisa muttered. Sam and Gahn snickered. Everyone knew that Lisa wouldn't really want to insult him too much, because they did really kind of share an awful lot of each other on a regular basis. Just when she wasn't interested, She Wasn't Interested.

"I mean, a smart, athletic, talented stud? Of course!" Troy said, awfully proud of himself for having cleverly ignored/ducked his girlfriend's jibe. Lisa rolled her eyes. She Wasn't Interested.

"Well there is Abri, they've had a flight, and the variety of eggs there should be pretty wild. Should we sign you up there?" Chris asked, ready to punch in the names and requests for space.

"Why not," Lisa said, flippantly. "We'd hardly miss the chance."

Troy punched at the air and then lept onto Lisa, hands wandering around until she swatted at him hard enough to leave a red hand mark on his cheek.

"Ah - yeah." Chris said, jotting down a note. "Well, that leaves a few people still. Now, you guys," he pointed his pen at Gahn and Sam, "you're both very practical guys, right?"

The goatee'd men both looked up at the mention of their names, and blinked. One of them nodded - it was Sam, with the poofier mop of hair. "Yup, least, that's how I see it. Someone's got to actually do some work around here."

"It's a shame it's never you," muttered Lisa, but she was ignored.

"I like fiddlin' with stuff," Gahn, the shorter and rounder-faced of the pair said. "It'd be ... like an adventure learning about how to fix dragons."

"You don't fix them," Sam said, "you heal them. Or patch them up. Right?"

"Right," Chris said. "Now, there are some good sands for nice normal guys like yourselves. How about we find ... um," he looked over a chart until he spotted one, "Sidra? They have large, strong and sturdy dragons. Plus, they need male candidates. I think you'd both have a good time there."

"Sidra, Sidra," Sam rolled the word around, "yea, I think so. Howzabout you?"

Gahn nodded, pulling on his brown goatee. "Yup, I think so. Give us a chance to fly like the pair over there, huh?" He tossed his head at Shawn and Sean, who hadn't yet found a place they felt would suit their needs.

At last, the pair of pilots looked up and chanted, "Cincanta!"

Chris smiled, "Cincanta's a good choice for you. They've got some need for a pair of candidates, gold clutch." He muttered while making a tick mark on his page. He handed them their "official print out" which gave directions to the weyr and a request to be seen by the people in charge, like the others had gotten.

Sharronn kept bouncing up and down on her toes, distracting Chris. "You're already going to Ryslen," Chris said, "remember?"

"Yes! I do!" She said gleefully. "The Flurry looks so fun!"

"Well, there is something you need to know about that, so hang on," Chris flipped the paper over and pursed his lips. "That's about it, I think."

"Wait," Errin said, "what about you, Chris?" The rest of them turned to look at him too. "I mean, we can't leave you out of this, right?"

"And if you're writing for the Guide," Terii slurred at him with a little amyl nitrate popper in her hand, "you could get around so much better on a dragon. Imagine the entrances you could make?"

The redhead and her two companions laughed and stared at Chris until he flipped the page back down.

"Yes, Chris," Woodstock said, smiling, "we can't expect you to watch all of them go out and bond without doing something for yourself."

"Wellllll..." Chris hemmed and hawed, but looked down the list. Finally he spotted one which made his mouth jerk into a smile. "There's a place that needs just one more candidate, it looks like. Vella Crean. It's had some unusual dragons from its sands, so I guess... I could try there, huh?"

Everyone encouraged him to make a printout and get all excited with them, even though he was more sedate and plotting than all of them combined. At last, everyone was ready to head to their dragon sites. They would have to learn the ways of each of the locales, and participate in every activity just like any other candidate - meaning that some slackers would have to start working for a living again!

What all happens after that, is anyone's guess!