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Petite couldn't help but giggle, "I appreciate the thought, really, but you forget, I'm very, very confident that I'll make it back. I also said that I was going, approval or not. Explore your options. This is a personal choice." She adjusted her hair, staring at the ceiling, "'Sides...I have a vested interest in actually going in person...." Her voice trailed off.

Her focus returned, "Oh, sorry. Anyway...what other options have been brought up?" she held up and open palm, "Search and rescue, I imagine, was the first course. Failed, obviously." she put down one finger, "Town meeting seems a might bothersome. Tensions and whatnot." She put down a second one, "Talking to this Hastings guy. Also seems problematic." She put down a third, "What else has been suggested?"

To be honest, Petite really didn't care. She was more interested in getting the focus back onto their plans so she could continue on with hers. Again, her attention was elsewhere.

Aylin sat back in her seat taking a moment to think as she continued watching the small crowd before her. The Zurg, Meushi, was whispering to the girl. Just what was being said was unknown to her. The waitress had a look of concern on her face and kept looking between the drunk and the man she called father. Her father, the diner owner, was stroking his long thin mustache as he watched and listened to what transpired in his very diner.

She knew what had to be done but Aylin was unsure if it could be done. With the situation as it was Aylin knew the only one with any real clues as to what was happening to the ships was Peter Hastings. However, Aylin also knew that it would be next to impossible to infiltrate Hastings operation. He would definitely be wary of anyone looking for a job within his company at the main offices.

Yet, at the same time the girl was determined to go ahead and intentionally get herself captured and possibly killed if it was more than just weather or the narrow pass to blame. Aylin knew that the most she could do was try and convince the young woman to wait before rushing off into danger. The girl was not military and thus not beholden to the orders of a commanding officer. If Aylin told her not to go she did not have to listen to her. Aylin hoped that if she got the girl thinking about it enough she would at least wait before rushing off without thinking things through.

"The only way I can see to get anything out of Peter Hastings is to infiltrate his operations. However, that's going to be very hard to do because Hastings will be wary of anyone looking for work in his offices. That right there is the kink in the plan," Aylin explained to the drunk man before turning her attention to the girl, "Look, you can do whatever you want but I don't think you've thought this through completely. You go rushing into this without as much information as possible and you will end up dead. But hey if that's what you want. It's not like I can order you to not go."

Aylin sighed softly as the girl gathered her gear and went to head out of the diner. She tried and that was all that mattered at that point. What bothered Aylin the most about the situation was the attitude the girl had about herself where the whole situation was concerned. She thought so little of herself that she was willing to let herself get captured. Aylin knew magic of all shapes and sizes could backfire on someone putting them in a situation they weren't prepared for. She had personal experience with things going wrong on her and could even be called an expert on it.

Horns, tails, weird things growing out of her forehead, an ashen covered face, and her wings changing on a whim were all common occurrences to Aylin. She had so many instances where her magic went wrong on her that she was able to laugh it off with a smile if the backfiring happened only to her. However, when it affected someone else then it was no laughing matter. That was a situation Aylin never wanted to happen and why she would go for a weapon over magic any day of the week.

"Well so much for trying to get her to wait for more information before running off to get herself into a world of trouble." Aylin remarked offhandedly.

"That would be most pleasant, thank you." Fylk said, nodding. "And I'm sorry to hear about your predicament. Perhaps things will be getting better. Tell me, where have this ships gone missing?"

For a moment the young looking captains eyes became distant, as if they were spinning through countless ideas and possibilities. There was something troubling in countenance. It was the troubling fog of memory that stuck upon his brow. But what? Times have not been this bad in years, ships have been safe upon the airs since before many people can remember.

What were they going to do? That was the big question. Like it or not the Zurg was right they had to do something. They had to find out what was going on. They had to find out just what started the trend of Hastings Air hiring independent cargo ships. Trying to get a job at Hastings Air wasn't the best idea because the company might not want new people coming into the main offices. There were two places they could go to try and find answers, the port authority and the open air market.

The port authority was the most likely place because it would get them information from the airship captains themselves. The open air market was another good place for information because it was the social hub of the town and, as Aylin recalled, it was the place where shop owners and townspeople chatted and traded gossip. It was the real news hub of the town outside of the Gazette.

Aylin pursed her lips for a moment, took in a deep breath through her nose, let it out, and addressed the Zurg, "We can count out trying to get a job at Hastings Air in order to look for information. That leaves us with two options, getting work at the Port Authority for information gathering or combing the open air market to get in on the latest gossip. Short of putting ourselves into harms way those seem to be the best options I can come up with right now."

"Devil's Run...."

The words fall off his lips softly, coming to rest someplace in the ear between them. A thought tickles at the edge of his memory, some long forgotten snippet of knowing that only now feels itself welcome. The idea of a seed lost upon the winds. Perhaps it was nothing.

"I know the place. It truly is a hellish route, one only a mad man would take his ship across in foul weather." Fylk sighed. "More than worrisome, I fear."

Aylin pursed her lips for a moment as she thought about the conversation between the Zurg and the drunk man. If they thought they could find someone to gather information from the inside without arousing suspicion then more power to them. Aylin wasn't about to put her mission with the military on the line and cause Hastings to close up shop and stop trying to send a cargo ship through the Devil's Run.

Sitting forward with her elbows resting on her lap Aylin responded to the small group, "Hey, if you guys think you can get someone in on the inside then be my guest. As for me I'm going to poke around town and see what the locals know. Something doesn't add up in all of this and someone is bound to know what's going on with Hastings Air and those missing ships."

Aylin stood up as she let a small smile fall across her lips. Eating at the diner, that wasn't going to happen it appeared. No they needed to find out what was going on and the sooner they started investigating things the better. There was no real reason to keep hanging around the diner. The more important things had to be taken care of in the town itself.

"Well, the sooner we get to investigating the missing ships the better. You do what you think will get information from within the Hastings organization. I'll be checking out the goings on around town. If you need to find me you can look for Aylin Rhys at the Seven Stars Boarding House," Aylin remarked.