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| - The land and sea meet uncertainly, salty blue ocean water giving way to thick hummocky estuary mud in a whisper of spent waves. The silt-laden waters of the Washington River snake out of the muck, pouring a fertile brown stain across the ocean. Sea birds with enormous wingspans wheel and cry like calligraphy against the sky. The long light wooden finger of the Independence Docks stretches out through a clear stretch of ocean with several small boats tied along it. It leads to a broad wooden platform of roughly split logs that's set on a patch of relatively dry ground and tethered against the lift of the tide. Upon this are some few wooden sheds and coils of rope, half-repaired boats and sailcloth. Crisp ocean scents struggle for dominance with brown organic decay and the smell of fresh wood. Today's Weather: Sunny with a non-existent breeze. The intense cornflower sky looms over the midday. Sitting in Independence Harbor, looking rather out of place, is a rather large luxury yacht. A boarding ramp has been set up to allow guests to dock. A few people mill about on the deck already, and caterers scurry around to make last-minute preparations. Hess wanders down to the Harbor, arm in arm with Eirlys. The man looks over at the lady he is escorting and murmurs, "You look quite lovely this evening dear, now to see if its enough to get in." he winks, and then straightens up a bit. Amanda steps up the yacht ramp gazing about with a somewhat pensive expression. Giving a bright smile in return for Hess's compliment, Eirlys's attention is directed upon the large ship in the harbor. "Seems like quite an occassion, wouldn't you say?" she murmurs toward her companion quietly. Hess grins and turns towards the ramp, and then slowly starts climbing it. He nods to Eirlys. "Indeed it does. Hopefully it will be a nice quiet voyage and we can enjoy some sights on the way. New Luna's a beautiful planet at times." A well-dressed man with grayish hair bows slightly and smiles to the guests as they come up the ramp. As Amanda approaches, he offers the same smile and bow. "Good evening, madam. Welcome aboard the Fortuna." Amanda nods. "Thank you very much. It looks like a beautiful ship." "Well, I can't imagine why it wouldn't be a nice, quiet voyage, can you?" Eirlys queries with a cock of her brow. She follows him dutifully up the ramp, falling silent as her feet ascend off the natural ground. "Its a voyage full of the rich and pompous, I can think of a few reasons for it to be less than nice and quiet." Hess replies in a low murmur, continuing up the ramp, his boots clomping along as they go. He gives the greeter type person a short look. Amanda looks out over the bow. "I could use a nice evening. On my best behavior of course." She tries to blend in with the crowd. "I happen to like the rich and pompous," Eirlys replies, her voice even softer than Hess's. She, on the other hand, gives the greeter no look at all, busy taking in other parts of the vessel's exterior. Hess grins at Eirlys and then steps out onto the deck proper. He glances to the side and then starts meandering slowly along the deck, "I know, which is why I thought you'd enjoy the cruise." he replies to Eirlys, smiling down at her just slightly. He then looks over at the various lumiaries that he shares the deck with. The man by the ramp smiles toward Hess and Eirlys, delivering his line like clockwork. "Evening, sir and madam. Welcome to the Fortuna." By now, a large amount of people have funneled onto the yacht, all clad in expensive-looking suits and dresses, milling about or conversing with one another between sips of wine. A thirty-something in a very nice black tuxedo might be recognized as Maxwell Ellis. He is currently talking with a portly, balding man with a white handlebar moustache. Amanda looks about at the dignitaries, some of whom she recognizes, some of whom recognize her and frown in her direction. She gives them a practiced smile and moves on. "Don't really think they like me, though," Eirlys decides at length, frowning just slightly in Hess's direction. "There sure are a lot of them here, though, eh?" The statement causes her frown to deepen. Hess grins and shakes his head, "Nonsense. We can go speak with some if you'd like." He reaches over and gives the young woman a light squeeze on the arm before he starts in the direction of the tuxedo clad man. Amanda finds a drink from a passing waiter and sips quietly. Eirlys's frown disappears into a more agreeable look, though she looks a touch uncomfortable as she is led toward the stranger by Hess. Of course, she has looked a touch uncomfortable since coming aboard. Hess stands off to the side, waiting for a moment to step into the conversation. He looks over at Eirlys and catches her uneasy look, "Is something the matter?" "No, of course not," Eirlys mutters in response, moving closer to Hess slowly. "Just nervous," she adds, conversely to her former statement. Something is mentioned that makes the portly man belt out a hearty guffaw. Ellis smiles to himself and casually sips his champagne before greeting a slender fellow who approaches him. Maxwell seems to be a real charmer, though money can work its own wonders. Hess shakes his head a little, "Well don't be. Just..take a deep breath and you'll be fine." he says to Eirlys, giving her a slightly odd look. Eirlys shrugs gently. "I -am- fine," she insists in a hushed tone, giving Hess a casual 'go-ahead' wave of her hand. Hess nods once to Eirlys, and then moves slowly into the orbit of Mr. Maxwell. He looks over at Eirlys once more, and then attempts to catch the thread of the conversation. "...Mr. Gillenger, yes. He's a brilliant man, trouble with the wife though, I hear," says the stout moustached man in a haughty Sivadian accent. Maxwell Ellis smiles a litte in feign interest. "Yes, well..." he turns to spot Hess, looking rather relieved. "Ah! I don't believe we've met. Maxwell Ellis." He extends the offer of a handshake toward Hess. Eyes bouncing between Ellis and Hess, Eirlys offers up as pleasant a smile as she can muster, but she says nothing, letting the two men get acquainted. She continues to cling to Hess's arm gently. Hess releases one of his hands from where he holds onto Eirlys' arm, and takes the man's hand in a firm shake, "Gildar Hess, and this is my companion Eirlys Weylin." he says to the man, "Its a pleasure to meet you Mr. Ellis. I do hope that New Luna is treating you well so far?" "Very well, thank you," Maxwell replies to Hess. "Beautiful planet, wonderful people." He gestures to the stout Sivadian. "This is Gerhart Haugler, philanthropist and potential investor." Gerhart offers a slight nod toward Hess. Eirlys's smile fades just slightly as she continues to observe the exchange. Her eyes rove onto Hess and remain there, seeming to study him silently while the men have their talk. Hess grins, "That's exactly what I think of it, and its a pleasure to meet you Mr. Haugler." He says to the other man, before glancing sidelong at Eirlys. He then says, "I suppose the two of you have catching up to do, I'll leave you be if you wish, thought I'd just stop by for an introduction." Ellis smiles and nods. "I'm glad you could come to my little get-together. We have a little presentation coming up shortly... but until then, help yourself to the buffet. The fish is fantastic." Eirlys continues to remain silent, smile fading into a rather neutral look. She takes another moment to regard Ellis once more, with a slight tilt of her head and widening of her eyes. Amanda approaches Ellis after he stops speaking with Hess "Good evening Sir. I don't believe we met. I'm Dame Amanda Ramlan, Sivadian Minister of Foreign Affairs." Hess nods once to Ellis, "Wonderful, and thank you for your hospitality." he replies, before turning and slipping past the approaching Amanda, off towards the buffet. He looks over at Eirlys, "Nothin to it." he says to the woman, smiling a little. "A pleasure, Ms. Ramlan," Maxwell offers a slight bow. "I'm honored that you could make it. How are you this evening?" Gerhart, meanwhile, has plodded off to chat with some other mucky-mucks, a few of which steal glances toward Hess. "For you," Eirlys mutters quietly. "I am not a concubine," she adds, voice slightly hostile as her eyes scan across the buffet. "And I am not hungry, either." "You could have spoken up, but yes, I apologize for that. I thought you'd have more problems with me cutting off your last name." Hess murmurs. He picks up a glass of something alcoholic looking, and asks, "You want something to drink?" of Eirlys. Amanda smiles. "I'm fine. We're scheduled to have a formal meeting with the New Lunites soon. I couldn't resist this opportunity to come out early." The corporate head smiles to Amanda in return. "Wonderful planet, isn't it? My brother is completely fed up with me going on about it," he gives a slight chuckle. "I did, actually," Eirlys frowns deeper. "It is my -legal- name, and you cannot change it by just erasing it from your memory." She shakes her head slowly, adding, "You know, I contributed quite heavily to several charities back home, and I never chopped off my own last name." Amanda nods "It is a pretty place. I suspect, though, that your company won't be the only one looking to settle here. I hope that they all make a commitment to keep it that way." "I'm sorry." Hess murmurs, adding, "I didn't realize that, next time I'll be sure to get it right." he says, frowning just a little, before he takes a sip of his drink. Maxwell begins to say something, but a man approaches him and whispers in his ear. "Ah, excuse me, Ms. Ramlan, I have a little speech to do." He steps toward a microphone setup, tapping it a couple times before speaking into it. "Hello, everyone. May I have your attention over here, please?" Eirlys seems on the verge of reply until Ellis's voice booms through the microphone. She tears her eyes away from Hess, letting them settle on the host. Her response is lost in the silence she offers the new speaker. Hess turns his gaze to look over at the speaker as well, though he occasionally does give a glance in Eirlys' direction. "I'm glad you could all make it," Ellis's voice eminates from the mic toward the audience. "I'm not terribly good with speeches, so I'll make this short. I'm sure you all know about the resort being built by EllisCorp, Hadrian Breeze. Well, we have a model constructed of the finished facility, and I'm sure those of you who haven't seen it are all very curious. Well, let's have it." He gestures to a couple of men in suits who activate something on an out-of-the-way control console. Projectors set up around the main deck flare to life, producing a hologram near Ellis of what looks like an expansive commercial area along a coastline. People in the crowd make small noises that people make when they are impressed. Eirlys observes the hologram with visible interest, despite rubbing her eyes gently. A small smile touches her face once more, and she offers Hess a brief glance to gauge his interest in the hologram. Hess raises an eyebrow as he looks over the hologram, it appears he's quite impressed. The man takes a glance over a the strip of shore that seems to be roughly where the commercial area will eventually be, and nods, "Not a bad idea, that." he murmurs to Eirlys. "We're all about progress at EllisCorp," Maxwell begins, once people have had a good look at the hologram. "Progress for betterment, of course. Better... worlds..." He trails off, beads of sweat appearing on his forehead. He frowns, pulling at his tuxedo jacket. Eirlys's eyes narrow as she turns them from the hologram toward Ellis himself. She glances back toward Hess again, murmuring, "Is he all right?" Hess frowns a little at the sweating and then shrugs slowly, "I doubt it, but maybe its just indigestion. Probably that excellent fish or something." he replies to Eirlys, keeping a critical eye on the man at the stage. "Sir?" One of Ellis's assistants scurries to the podium as the frown becomes a look of pain. "I... augh!" The executive groans, grabbing at his chest and doubling over. More people rush over. The crowd begins to murmur. Amanda blinks at Ellis' discomfort "Food poisoning..." she hazzards. Then as he falls, "or not," She raises her voice, "Is there a doctor aboard?" Eirlys pales, eyes growing very wide as the man doubles over. One of her hands quickly sign a cross over her body, and she takes a few steps toward Hess, clinging to his arm tightly once more. "Oh, my," she gasps quietly. Hess looks over at Eirlys, and then half-apologetically slips his arm out of hers. He starts quickly towards the fallen man calling, "Someone call EMS, let me through, I'm CPR trained." He makes his way as best he can through the adgitated crowd. Ellis's body begins to make short, jerky convulsions as his assistants attempt to pull him from the podium. Then, a gurgling scream issues forth from the company man. "AAAAAAAAAUUUGHHHHHHHHHHH!" A creaking groan is heard as something erupts from Maxwell's chest... A sapling, which seems to have broken through the man's sternum, juts out like a misplaced arm. It grows branches. Grows leaves. And gets bigger. Eirlys follows after Hess almost immediately, her worried expression bouncing from person to person as she attempts to avoid running into them. She mumbles quiet apologies to those she fails to avoid. As Ellis grows a tree from his chest, she stops dead in her tracks and just screams. Hess comes to a dead stop at the tree growing. "On second thought, not gonna mess with that." Hess murmurs. He backs up slowly, keeping himself between the plant and Eirlys. "Shhh." he says, looking over his shoulder at the woman for a moment, before giving the plant a wary look. Amanda blinks a moment "OK, this can't be happening... We've been drugged. We've had to have been." The sapling matures at a rate quite uncharacteristic for most trees. Party guests clamber to get out of the way branches shoot outward and the trunk expands. Ellis is pinned to the floor as roots grow out of his back and plunge into the ship's deck. The tree shoots upward toward the sky, growing more arboreal accessories as it ascends. "I want to go, I want to go, NOW!" Eirlys screeches back at Hess, tears streaming down her hysterical face. Her eyes are locked onto the growing plant, a sick look mixing with her fearful expression. "I doubt we're going to be allowed to leave for a bit yet dear." Hess murmurs, though he starts to slowly back himself and Eirlys away from the quickly growing tree. He moves backwards, continually keeping himself between the woman and the tree. "Just calm down. Take a breath, calm down. You're fine." Amanda watches the panicked crowd and follows them in backing away from the tree (which she still doesn't believe is there, oddly enough) but just in case. Many guests haven't bothered to stick around and have rushed down the boarding ramp onto the shore. Some are contacting law enforcement on whatever gadgets they have on their persons. The tree stops growing, just short of three stories, and aside from the slight rustling of a leaf or two, is motionless. "A tree just grew out of that man!" Eirlys screams, followed by a serious of derogatory curses directed at Hess. "I am not staying here! They can get my statement from solid ground -away- from tree-men." The volume of her voice does not slighten at all, continuing at an ear-piercing scream. "Alright, alright. Come on Eiry. We'll get off the boat." Hess says to Eirlys, turning to take her by the arm and lead her away down the ramp. Amanda blinks at Eirlys' remark. "You mean you see the same thing? It's real. How in the name of God?' She mimics Eirlys' earlier gesture and crosses herself. The boat is pretty much deserted, dominated by the presence of one fully-grown tree. The group of party-goers converse wildly as law enforcement begins to arrive. On the pier, two Lunites look out at the boat. One nudges the other. "Ain't that a hell of a thing, Jeremy?" "Sure is. Hell of a thing."
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