Saturday, 101-1114:
Delays And Disputes
As morning broke, all of the crew were asleep, planning to wake, release Aali from Ghandi's holding cells and get her aboard the ship so they could leave the system. Everything from InstellArms and the Order House had been delivered and all the cargo was stowed. The station authorities were as tired of the crew as they were of the stationers. Continuing his physical therapy as he rose, Rol could walk steadily at a normal pace, but still had issues moving faster. Jogging was difficult and running was right out. having done gear maintenance the night before, Aiden had stripped any gear off his old LAG to put it on his new rifle. He'd given the older LAG to Jocelynn to add to the crew's "yard sale" pile, along with twelve empty magazines he couldn't use with the new LAG. Of course, they'd have to keep quite that the weapon had been customized or sell the weapon for less than it was worth.
Thanks to everyone waking early, they were quickly ready to go and Mikah called station security to say she wanted her engineer back. The officer Mikah spoke to confirmed they were starting the paperwork at that moment. Happy with their promise to deliver Aali to the ship with her Vermene detail, the crew checked out of the hotel and returned headed for their berth. While they boarded and settled their gear in their staterooms, those Vermene not escorting Aali secured the berth. Just in case. It was nine thirty in the morning, while the crew settled in and began moving to ready their stations. Everyone looked forward to jumping to Lanth, when Mikah got a ping on her comms.
Mikah checked and was surprised the ID said the call was coming from the Bieprjenshkre-owned shop. That was the on-station Zhodani weapon seller and Mikah had no idea why they'd be calling her? When she answered, the angry caller yelled at Mikah that he had a valid sales receipt and they couldn't run out with his property. He was coming to get his merchandise. Angry, Mikah demanded to know who'd sold something to the Zhodani and why wasn't it delivered? Jocelynn instantly said she hadn't and Fesic echoed, "I'm pretty sure it wasn't me". Jocelynn added, I sold... I mean, the broker sold stuff for me, but it was all delivered.
When Mikah demanded, "Anybody?" both Sekea and Colinne said they'd not sold anything to anyone in confused and broken answers. At that, she heard the caller saying they had his property and he was calling station security. When Mikah demanded, "What property", they sent a copy of the invoice and it looked like the slip was a proper and valid sales registry for the Zhodani combat armor they had in the cargo bay. Mikah told the others it was for the armor and demanded who sold it? Jocelynn, Sekea and Colinne all repeated that they hadn't sold it. Jocelynn went as far as to say the broker had gotten them a buyer but she'd told him not to sell it and pulled it off the list.
Mikah heard that and told the caller, "You're lying" and hung up on the man. Mikah then told Jocelynn to get the broker on the phone. Seeing the look in Mikah's eyes, Jocelynn flatly said, "I will call my broker." When she did, and explained the situation, the broker checked his records and said he'd had an "out-system buyer" who didn't want to be identified. The broker then asked who was claiming to have bought the armor? When Jocelynn said it was the Bieprjenshkre shop, the broker confirmed he'd had no contact with them. The man did add that the out-system buyer he'd been working with was also Zhodani. But they were not related to the shop. Jocelynn could only nod and say, "So, they're lying to us."
While she finished that conversation, the ship's comms began to buzz and Mikah answered to find the call was from Station Security. They started by saying their team were on their way to the ship with her engineer, escorted by a Vermene guard team. They then continued that the port has put a security hold on their departure because there was a legal claim and they had a team escorting the claimant to their berth for their property. Mikah shrugged and said, "Good for them, but we never sold them anything." Sadly, that comment had zero legal evidence in her defense and none of the station's security personnel were friendly or even sympathetic to her situation.
The officer simply told her they had to investigate the claim and determine what was going on? Overhearing, Jocelynn said, "So, we're not fucking leaving is what you're saying?" and Mikah said, "Right." Not long after that, they got a comms from the berth crew telling them a small team of security were present with civilians asking to speak to their captain and trade officer. Sighing and saying, "Fine", Mikah and Jocelynn started down to meet the group in the berth. At the same time, Colinne had the perk of being able to call up screen displays of what the ship's external cameras were capturing. So, she could both watch what was happening and raise alarms if something went sideways. Because of that Colinne recognized the lead civilian from when she and Sekea had gone to Bieprjenshkre.
She recalled that Sekea had suggested they ask the man about the Zhodani suit they had? She remembered that she'd told him they shouldn't, but Sekea had anyway. Colinne also remembered the shop owner had asked if they were selling the suit? Sekea only said they had a member of the crew handling that. And, Sekea had given the man a comms code to call to Jocelynn too. So, while Jocelynn was asking herself how the man could even have learned they had the armor, Colinne knew the answer. But didn't know the question was being asked. That meant no one had all the data needed to see this entire issue was Sekea's fault.
By the time Mikah and Jocelynn had gotten down to the berth to meet the security and civilians, a staffer from station central rushed into the berth. That man hoped be ready to intervene before anything got "unpleasant". Seeing the ladies walking up, the Zhodani shop owner called out that he had a receipt paid in full and they were trying to leave with his property and money! Jocelynn only asked, "May I see that receipt please?" The man handed it over with the confidence of someone who should also be able to back the record up with sales data from his shop. Looking at the document, Jocelynn could see it looked perfectly correct. Mystified, all she could do was say, "I did not sell this to you." Turning to the station security detail, she said, "I did not sell this nor did I authorize this sale." Mikah added, "And, if you want to look at our ship's accounts you will see we never got paid for anything like that either."
Of course, both Mikah and Jocelynn were making one of the most common mistakes when it came to security teams. It wasn't their job to make any judgements. They were only there to collect what facts they could verify and decide if a crime "could have" happened. If they had enough evidence either way, they then brought the evidence and the accused criminal in for further investigation and a trial. At least, that was how it happened on Ghandi station. So, the security team didn't care about any claims Mikah or Jocelynn made. They only did their jobs while quietly hoping it turned out they were guilty and could be punished. Unlike their engineer.
That meant the security team were happy to screw over Lady Mikah and her crew by dragging Her Ladyship and her cargo woman back to the station for hours of investigation. Before they could get moving, Jocelynn asked, "Who did you deal with when you say you bought this?" and the man said, "I dealt with a male member of your crew." With that, he held up his handcomp and showed them a picture of Sekea standing with Colinne in his shop! Shocked, Jocelynn asked, "he sold this to you?" in an incredulous voice. At the same time, Mikah was already on her comms calling for Sekea to join them in the berth.
Starting the work on his nav-plot, Sekea was entirely unaware what was happening when he got the call from Mikah. That was almost immediately followed by the same demand from Jocelynn. Confused and annoyed, Sekea saved his work and then made his way to join the growing cluster in the ship's berth. Sekea recognized the man from Bieprjenshkre even as that man pointed at him and called out, "That's the man who sold me the suit!" Hearing that, Sekea flatly replied, "I did not sell the suit to that man." The senior security man happily said, "OK, if you'll all come with me..." Mikah cut him off, saying, "Hold on!" When asked why she needed a delay, Mikah said she needed her Ident while the truth was that she wanted psi-shields because the man they were dealing with was a Zhodani native. So, he could have had a psionic talent.
Despite the fact she'd not felt the buzzing that meant someone was using a psi-talent, Mikah just wanted to make sure before she found herself ambushed. When she came back to join them, Mikah had three psi-shields while the Bieprjenshkre folks rolled their eyes. While she was in the ship, Jocelynn considered her relatively low-powered talent and wondered what she could do. The best her training would allow would be telempathic actions, sensing or trying to send emotions. She considered that it wasn't much but she figured she'd try and see if she hit anyone's shields? That would tell her if they were psions if nothing else.
Cautiously relaxing and reaching out even as she turned away from the others seeming to look back into the ship for Mikah, Jocelynn swept the group and hit - nothing. That told her none of the people in the group had psi talents. At the same time, Sekea considered his situation and told the security people he had a witness who could testify he'd not sold the Zhodani anything. When the trooper asked, Sekea said it was their ship's computer officer, who was even visible in the picture the Zhodani man had shown them. Disappointed, the man told Sekea to call his witness before they left for security central, so Sekea comm'd Colinne to join them. As she moved, he explained what was happening.
When Colinne joined the group, and was again the only person "not to have" a psi-shield because Mikah had only brought three, Colinne considered what she could do to help solve this problem? Colinne knew they'd all be on the kart the security team had and she be able to probe the Zhodani man, concentrating on 'the sale'. She did wonder if the man had his own talents, which could lead to a duel. Colinne connected to Jocelynn using her stent, since Mikah didn't have one and Sekea didn't know she was a psion. Colinne sent, 'I'm gonna probe these guys because I don't trust them.' Jocelynn sent back that she'd tried to sense their emotions and seen they had no shields. So, she knew they didn't have psi talents. Nodding almost imperceptibly, Colinne told Jocelynn to get them talking about the sale.
Jocelynn directly challenged Bieprjenshkre, asking who he paid and why he felt he'd completed a sale on the suit? Listening as the man began answering Jocelynn, no one noticed while Colinne's eyes glazed a bit and she began her probe. Feeling the buzzing in the back of her brain, Mikah kept quiet while she guessed what was happening. The man was verbalizing his thoughts while Colinne actually saw him putting the concepts together in his mind and making up the entire scene he described from whole cloth. Colinne then told Jocelynn the man was lying completely via her stent, to conserve her psi-energies, and Jocelynn could only wonder where the receipt had come from? No matter what they claimed, the sales record could only be challenged if the shop computer records didn't show the same thing. If the records did, they'd have to hire a lawyer and get the full security vid from the store's data-storage.
Almost as if he'd read Jocelynn's mind, Sekea asked, "Since I'm being accused, can I see this receipt?" and Jocelynn handed him the document. Examining the receipt as soon as it was handed to him, Sekea concentrated on the most obvious errors a forger would make from his earliest classes. It took him more than a moment, but he soon noticed a pattern that shouldn't have been there. The characters on more than one of the lines were irregularly raised with some being just barely raised above the others. It was as if one letter after every few were just slightly raised above the type-line. But, in a computer-printed receipt, that shouldn't exist. The "wave" of such characters should have been a uniform pattern which was repeated by an automated system. So, the characters had to have been "placed" manually!
The differences were one or two pixels in spacing, and very hard to detect. But, because Sekea was trained to, he had looked for things just like that. And, once he spotted it, the mistake was impossible for him to miss and easy for him to point out and explain. While he was nowhere near a "master forger", he was certainly dangerous as a preventive measure against people trying to pass off forgeries. This situation also served as a warning to Sekea, that he had to be careful not to fall into the same pitfalls in any of his future attempts. He just might find his own work being judged by someone as well trained as he, if not more well trained.
Still, that was a "future" problem while the receipt was a "Now" problem. With that, Sekea told the security troopers, "There's a problem here" and then continued to explain the issue. And, just like when he'd first seen the mistake, the security troopers couldn't miss it after Sekea showed them the waves. With an error so glaringly impossible to ignore, the entire situation was flipped. Of course, the Zhodani man had tried to grab for the receipt before Sekea could show the troopers what he'd been talking about and caught a corner of the document. In the process, he only managed to tear that corner off and not really damage or obscure the printed text.
At the same time, another of the security men got between his senior trooper and the Zhodani man. The expression on the new man's face said he'd viewed what the Zhodani man did to have been 'borderline' threatening. The second officer said any more such behavior would have the shop keeper in restraints. They may not have liked Mikah's crew at all, but they were damned if they would let anyone else attack a member of their team. At the same time, Colinne was still probing the man and saw his thoughts turn to a stream of offensive concepts and panic while desperately trying to get the receipt back. At the moment, she could feel he knew the receipt was a fake and wanted to stop that from being discovered. With that, Colinne let go the man's mind because more juice wasn't worth the squeeze.
In the end, the whole thing fell out of his mind as they all boarded the security kart. Sekea had told him about the suit and he'd planned to contact the sale agent Sekea had pointed him to with the comms code. But he'd thought he had more time, and panicked when his mole in station central warned him they were planning to leave port. So, he'd doped up the receipt using a graphics package and rushed out to make accusations. "Normally", ships had schedules and they wanted to keep them. So, if the loss wasn't in the hundreds of thousands of credits, a ship's master might well cut their losses and run, to make their schedule. And, if Mikah's ship had been a "trading line" ship, he might have gotten away with the ploy. But the Upgrade was a personal yacht more than a merchanter, and could easily color outside the lines.
At the same time, the security man had actually pulled his Ident out to use as a straight-edge. And that made it blatantly obvious that line after line of the supposedly printed code was "placed", and out of line. Folding the receipt to put in his chest pocket, he motioned to his other men and faced the Zhodani merchant, asking, "Can you explain that?" The tone in the man's voice suggested the explanation had better be very good or bad things would happen. Because they'd gotten on the kart, the merchant claimed the paper was moving as the kart hit bumps or turned. When that didn't work, the man shifted to claims it wasn't his fault before becoming indignant and suggesting he should get off the kart all together.
Well on the way to security, the facts had rolled out differently than they'd appeared at the start and they were now fighting to subdue the Zhodani man and even zip tying him. They also secured the other shop worker, though that man could only gawk in surprise as he was secured. They didn't need to be telepathic to see the man had just been brought as a work horse and had no idea what was happening or why? Disappointed they wouldn't be charging Lady Mikah and her crew that day, they still had the 'win' because they'd delayed Her Ladyship's crew from leaving on schedule. So, not a big win, it was still something to smile about as they told Mikah she could press charges for what the shop owner had done and tried to do. And Mikah responded with gusto as she said she was absolutely going to see the man charged.
From there forward, the lead security trooper explained the process that would play out. They would each give depositions based on their part of the crime. Those videos would be used instead of having them on the stand. He assured them the vids would be just as powerful and binding as if they were there in person. So, it would cost Mikah's ship a few hours but the prosecutions could continue without them. When they finally rolled into security central, and as they were moving the shop owner off the kart, Jocelynn got into the man's face, almost nose to nose, and asked, "So. What'd you learn?" in a taunting and mocking tone. Despite the situation, even the security troopers laughed with her and her crewmates.
Background Events Hours later, their 'early morning departure' was long gone as they made their depositions and their descriptions were compared. They'd also gotten the broker's information from Jocelynn and gotten his video-statement after checking his credentials. Acting on that, the security man said they'd gotten enough data to have a warrant sworn out and teams were on their way to scrub the man's shop for any evidence they could find. Because of that, Mikah's team were given a ride back to the ship after a smarmy self-serving apology for delaying her launch.
Back in the berth, Aali had been returned to the ship and greeted the others before moving back to the engineering compartments. She knew they'd planned to lift as soon as possible and wanted to make certain they were ready with her own Mark-1 eyeballs. Rol had set up a comms station on the bridge when he thought they were leaving soon, and secured that when the others left for the station's security offices. He then switched to making sure his gear was ready in case any event came up. Especially with Mikah and the others dealing with a sudden legal issue. With Sekea off ship, Aiden knew he wasn't getting the plot data for the jump. So, he couldn't set up his flight plan or submit anything to the station, and decided to turn on the news and see what was being reported.
Hefry(C200423-7 S Ni Va A 320 Im K6 II M6 D) Date: 079-1114
TAS News have learned Imperial Navy authorities are working with both local agencies and law enforcement in the
Regina system regarding the cold case of a body recovered on 289/1111. The vacuum-frozen body was determined to
have been a young woman, and was recovered from interplanetary space in the Hefry system. Any chance the woman
had been an accident victim were answered with the facts the body was dressed in regular clothes with the wrists
and ankles bound by cable.
The body's condition made identifying the 'date of death' difficult, however the model of running shoe the body
wore had only been introduced very early in 1111. No identifying marks were found beyond the fact the deceased
had been wearing a University of Regina sweatshirt. Initial searches of the university database gave no current
or former students or staff missing who might match the body.
With no potential leads, the case stalled. It was picked up by an annual review of unsolved cases in 1113. The
reviewing officer ran the same search but without specifying that they were looking for a missing person. That
turned up one potential match, a woman originally from Forboldn named Daria Lleshii. The body's identification
was confirmed by dental records from her homeworld. However, TAS has learned that Regina University records show
that Ms. Lleshii graduated with honors in mathematics in May of 1111, and is listed as currently serving as a
junior officer in the Imperial Navy! Spokesbeings for the Imperial Navy have refused to comment on this
development other than to say the matter is under investigation. 
Denotam(B739573-A N Ni G 324 Im M2 V) Date: 090-1114
An Imperial Navy spokesbeing announced the scheduling of an auction today, to sell off the impounded Far Trader
class starship formerly known as the "Rumen. That ship had emerged from jump in the Denotam system on 052-1114
and claiming to be fleeing Ardeni forces entering the Tremous Dex system. On their arrival in Denotam space,
the ship and crew were identified as active pirates by Lady Dame Mikah Kirlim. The ship was then impounded by
the Imperial Navy after the crew were apprehended by Imperial Marines with the help of Lady Mikah's crew. The
auction is scheduled for the 140th day. Naval authorities in-system will schedule engineering and other
evaluations by credentialed bidders.
The spokesbeing confirmed the former crew of the impounded ship were still being held under charges of piracy,
murder, rape, kidnapping, slavery and more. This is standard because Imperial Law provides for defendants so
charged to be granted three months for their advocates to gather any data in defense of their clients. A
spokesbeing from InstellArms made certain the press corp. were aware they had a number of weapons for sale
which were certified to have been owned and handled by pirates. Special documentation indicated those catalog
items which were certified to have been used during the events of their capture. Further possessions and items
secured from the craft will be sold by InstellArms under an agreement with the Imperial Navy and are marked
separately within the InstellArms Catalog.
Rhylanor(A434934-F 2 Hi Cp G 810 Im M2 VI) Date: 076-1114
Breaking news on the Rhylanor Exchanges caused a sudden rise in share values for the small shipping firm New
Stars, LLC. That firm was originally founded in the latter months of 1112, by the former crew of the Solomani-
registered ship, Cursed Bastards of Sol. The ship and crew had, at that time, been held in the Rhylanor docks
on suspicion of espionage. However, following an investigation instigated by then Dame Inger Martinusdtr Vik.
That, nearing the unexplained end of her time as a crew member aboard the Hotel California, Operated by Lady
Mikah Kirlim and Sir Zimzod Egosion.
Since the formation of the line, New Stars had both paid off their large freighter and kept their original
vessel, the Cursted Bastards well employed as they fought to clear their names of all charges. That work had
finally been completed in the Rhylanori Courts in Late 1113. During that time, the firm had gained limited
permission to carry cargos outside the Rhylanor system, with limits and surveillance placed by the Imperial
Navy. The final court clearances removed those barriers and the line were able to finance two additional
ships. That had led to increasing profits.
This morning, news broke on the exchange that Now Baroness Dame Ambassador Inger Martinusdtr Vik had stepped in
to raise the firm's profiles. In the announcement this morning, Ambassador Vik provided a statement confirming
the Sacnoth system government had agreed to a 'Limited Freight and Passenger' line between Rhylanor and Sacnoth!
In the short term, this would be strictly restricted to diplomatic exchanges between Imperial authorities and
what had been, until very recently, one of the most belligerent and vitriolic Sword Worlds governments. To say
the least, this announcement had been kept highly secret until the release today. Political discussions have
been swept into a hurricane-level imagining the results this announcement could lead to.
Thanber(B243653-C Ni Pov G 210 Cs M9 V Ml D) Date: 079-1114
Following more than a week in-system, Prince Lucan and Arch Duke Norris have only spent limited time in the
public spaces of the system. Protests and political rallies both in support of and against Imperial reunification
raged in reaction the visit of a Prince of the Realm. By far, the largest bloc of rallies were pushing for Prince
Lucan to simply declare the Thanber system a restored Imperial State. Imperial Navy authorities traveling with
the Royal fleet have spent time consulting with both the system authorities and commanders of those Imperial
vessels which had been rushed into place following the designation of the Thanber system as an Imperial Client
State. Additional naval formations also involved in the discussion have been departing Thanber for the Dekalb
system under the same political circumstances.
Liaison officers of the Royal fleet have suggested that formation will leave Thanber for the Retinae system
shortly. Officially annexed by the Imperium as part of the peace signed ending the Fifth Frontier War, Retinae
had long been an Imperial client state and thorn in Zhodani security. Only three parsecs from the Zhodani naval
base in the Querion system, the heavily fortified system not only holds one of the most forward Imperial Naval
bases, but also supports one of the Imperium's secretive research stations. As with all such stations, there
are few facts and many rumors regarding the station's research projects and goals. Still, the security of that
system has been a priority of the Imperil Navy, maintained against challenges during the First, Third and Fifth
Frontier Wars.
During their visits, the Prince and Arch Duke will meet with the newly appointed Fleet Admiral Akunku and
Commodore Kasgelka, along with the previously present officers. Having arrived in-system half a year ago with
the 1,553rd Admiral Akunku will be recognized as the commander of all Imperial forces in-system by the Prince
and Arch Duke. Of course, comments from Zhodani diplomatic sources have been quiet but disapproving where
Imperial opinions range from 'confidence' to concern that Imperial over confidence may drive the region into
a sixth frontier war. Still, there is a quiet movement pushing the opinion, "If the Zhodani are so powerful,
why did their precognitive talents not lead them to win the Fifth Frontier War?"
Ghandi(B211455-A N Ni Ic G 303 Im F8 V M3 D) Date: 101-1114
Executive Port Director Irshimunmu has announced the creation of a legal board to manage the flow of claims
and complaints from various recent events on-station. Legal firms are encouraged to register with this
organization in order to confirm their licensing and service history. Citizens and firms with claims will
be contacted by staff of the board, to streamline their claims and protect them against fraudulent actors and
theft. As this organization takes form, Director Irshimunmu has accepted the services of Baron Sir Robert Wire,
who will be heading up this board.
Baron Robert had a successful career in the Imperial Marine Corp. and left the service as a senior NCO after the
Fifth Frontier War. For his actions in combat, Baron Robert was created a Knight of the Order of Steel, created
in 609 TI, but Emperor Constantus. In the past four years, the Baron has been traveling the Marches and lending
help with recovery work. In recent months, he settled in the Lanth system, but has made frequent trips between
there and the worlds of the Regina and Jewell subsectors. His Excellency has accepted official quarters for the
remainder of the situational crisis here in Ghandi.
When she got back to the ship, Mikah heard the news about New Stars and her first question was "How rich am I?" Ultimately, the data she was able to find said their "flying stock"(4 freight ships) had a total listed value of MCr 210 combined. That was because they were all older ships and would be expected to have maintenance and other issues. Still, their known contracts didn't include the newly announced contract, and the various investments were not stock shares but ownership shares. So, their best the math at the moment showed the values: Emkir and Aali owned 4% ownership for KCr 40, now entirely hers with his death. That now had an estimated value of MCr 105.42, Rol had bought 10% ownership for KCr 100, that now had an estimated value of MCr 126.775 Aiden had bought 1% ownership for KCr 10, that now had an estimated value of MCr 12.678 Mikah had bought 5% ownership for KCr 50, that now had an estimated value of MCr 65.885 Zimzod had bought 5% ownership for KCr 50, that now had an estimated value of MCr 65.885
Turning that news into cash would mean selling off any ownership shares, and they'd have to visit the Rhylanor home office or carry out a very long X-mail process. Since they planned to jump to the Sonthert system next, and scavenge for remnants of the White Star Order, they'd end up in the D'Ganzio system after that. That meant two weeks in jump and the time in Sonthert before reaching D'Ganzio. They would then have to spend over a month resetting and jumping from there back to Rhylanor. If anyone could convince the others to take that path. And they'd risk changes in the share values while they traveled or acted on their plans. If any of the crew wanted to move faster locally, they could always sell off their assets to a third party at or below market value. That meant the third party would take the risk any purchased shares lost value before they could cash them in.
That chatter done, Mikah and the others who'd gone to the security office were back and it was time to leave. Shunting his data to Aiden as both took their stations in the bridge, Sekea explained his jump plot to the others. He'd scanned the Ghandi charts and found grav-null points also called pirate points, and looked for one closer to the world and station. He'd found a point from which he could plot a jump that was only three hours away at their best burn, increasing or decreasing 4-gees per burn. That could be filed with the local station so any needed communications with local defense ships would prevent unpleasant reactions. He'd also plotted the Ghandi transit to result in a zero-velocity jump.
That meant they wouldn't likely trigger any "shoot first" reactions when they arrived in the Lanth system. Having spent a year training there, Sekea knew very well how paranoid the locals were of possible invasion or attack from the Sword Worlds. That meant Sekea wanted "no surprises" when they emerged. His data said they should emerge from jump two and a quarter hours out of orbit. That also meant they'd be just over an hour at normal flight speeds from Lanth's so-called "Iron Sphere". Not an actual structure, the sphere was a formation of defensive, customs and security craft an hour out of Lanth orbit. They were there to both handle interstellar craft arrival security and be the first response against any invasion fleet.
The crew still had a few hours between leaving the port and making the jump. And while everyone else had a job to do during normal-flight operations, Jocelynn looked forward to lighting up the hookah after they'd begun the jump. Still, with nothing better to do but wait, Jocelynn decided to go into the engineering spaces and see if she could follow Aali about. Of course, Aali had to manage her work and the assignments she gave to their androids. Things with the normal space systems were largely running the expected baseline while Aali also had to check, prep and manage the jump systems. She had to keep those in pre-jump mode and check her diagnostics, then be prepared to light up the toys. When Aali seemed to be busy, Jocelynn joined Zimzod working on gear maintenance while Rol was on the bridge, sitting on the communications boards.
Making Different Kinds Of Jumps At roughly five pm ship-time, they reached Sekea's plotted jump point and Aiden checked his boards. Along the burn out-system, the ship's jump fuel had been routed into the ship's power plant, converted to energy and routed into the ship's capacitor banks. Now, hovering at zero vee, Aiden hit the button. The Upgrade then tumbled into jump space as they left the Ghandi system for Lanth. From there, those on the bridge shut down their stations. As he did, Fesic made certain everything was in shape to spark up again in a week's time to be ready just in case. Fesic knew there was no way for "them" to know exactly where they'd emerge in the vast open space of the Lanth Spinward-Coreward quadrant. Much less anyone else. Nor the exact timing. So, they only had to worry about dumb luck. But still...
Done with that, Fesic went to log into one of the ship's terminals and pulled up the news story about the body found in the Hefry system. While he was intrigued by the story, the bad news was they were cut off from the rest of the universe. There was also only what little had been included in the story. To get any additional information at all, they would have to jump to the Regina or Hefry systems and speak to the investigators themselves. One thing he could wonder about was if those working the crime had already acted on the situation? If not, the Ensign or Lieutenant "Daria Lleshii" who was serving in the Navy might well hear of the investigation before the authorities met with her. That or those she was serving with might hear the story before she did. So, the outcomes could be dynamic if the investigators hadn't acted before releasing data on the case to the media.
While Fesic did that, Zimzod told Jocelynn he wanted to move the cargo around so they could both use the pell 'droid and set up a small arms range. When she nodded, he also said he wanted to use two of the less-advanced Terin dummies. Knowing using them would rip them up, Jocelynn shrugged and said they could use them because that's what ballistic dummies were there for. So, the crew cheered when they all heard they'd be shooting up Terin dolls and everyone gleefully said they'd take part in that. The crew then went about their tasks while agreeing to set up the range as soon as they could.
Before anything else could be done, Mikah called a crew meeting. When she had their attention, Mikah said she'd make the meeting short and sweet. She then told them she was retiring from any command or authority for the crew except for medical situations. She told them to discuss between themselves who would take charge, but that she didn't care. Still, she would remain their captain until that decision was made. Mikah then said she would handle the crew's mental image backups two people per day, and start with Fesic and Sekea because they had no previous backups. Into the silence that followed, Zimzod said he would also not be stepping up as their next captain, nor would he remain the ship's executive officer.
When Fesic tried to ask Mikah who she'd feel was best to take command Mikah pointed out she had just said she was stepping down and she didn't care who they selected. She was not going to continue being the crew's mommy. When he said he hoped he could get her to take part in the decision he couldn't see he was only making her even angrier. Zimzod pointed out, "Dude. The only decision she's gonna make is to shoot you or not if you keep pushing her." As Mikah walked away from the others, Jocelynn said she'd put her name in for election. Appearing to entirely ignore that, Sekea suggested he could step up as interim Captain until the decision was made. That ignored Jocelynn's statement and the fact Mikah would remain captain until the decision was made.
Turning to Sekea, Zimzod pointed out Jocelynn had just stepped up, stepping on the fact Sekea had ignored her. Colinne said that if Jocelynn wanted to be the Captain, she was fine with that. Rol suggested they not rush the decision and said they should talk it through before making a snap decision. Especially since they knew how Bureaucratic the government of Lanth was. When everyone agreed with that, Sekea said he had points he hoped to raise when Mikah had called the meeting. Having the deck, Sekea first said he felt they needed to have someone manning the ship's sensors when the emerged from jump just in case there was a ship close enough or potentially closing on them to attack.
Mikah agreed with that idea and said that, while Aiden had the skills to man the sensors, she wanted him as their pilot. Because of that, Mikah said that one of those with a neural stent and the skills to use it should snap in the sensor wafer they'd just bought on Ghandi station and that person should be their dedicated sensor operator after emerging from jump. When a discussion broke out on who felt they could manage their work "and" sensors, Mikah pointed out Jocelynn was the only member of the crew who had nothing to do during flight operations. That was because Rol had communications and Zimzod would be in one of the ship's gun turrets.
In the end, it was agreed sensors would be Jocelynn's job while Aiden was piloting or unavailable. Having her at that station during flight operations in the Lanth system would also give her some minimal experience with the sensors if they needed her to step up in the Sonthert system too. With everyone happy about that decision, Sekea then reminded him they'd have to decide which port to berth the ship in while visiting Lanth. While he reminded them both choices were the same as far as trade was concerned, the dirtside laws allowed for anyone who wanted to carry non-military weapons. While the weapons laws were just as lax on the station, there could be more local restrictions station-side on weapons then dirtside.
Hearing what Sekea had to say, Colinne, Rol and Jocelynn immediately suggested they dock at the highport instead of landing on-world. The rest of the crew hen joined in, agreeing with the choice. Despite the fact they'd already agreed to dock in orbit, Rol pointed out that staying in orbit meant they didn't have to burn fuel entering and leaving the world's atmosphere. So, they'd save costs. When Rol continued offering pros and cons, he said they might consider landing if they wanted to do things on-world. Zimzod stepped on that, saying they could always book shuttle flights from the port to the surface if they wanted to. Still, it remained decided they would dock at the high port when they arrived at Lanth.
Getting moving during the first day in jump, Mikah had Fesic, then Sekea, lay down in the medbay as she connected them up in turn. She then created a backup of each man's mental images. That took nearly three hours each. The others either set up and started shooting at the Terin dolls and took part in what became daily stent practices, or worked at the pell. Jocelynn did more work on the Stepozhevaci computer files and Mikah read medical journals. When they had time, Jocelynn and Colinne shared their psi-work.
After having their images backed up on the first day, Fesic had been taking part in the day two practice when he started hearing odd sound effects. They were all instances of standard electronic sound files, but the events they were meant to alarm for were not happening. While Fesic wanted to investigate the sounds, he was entirely new to having the stent, much less using it. So, he had no knowledge how to investigate them. When Fesic asked the others in the stent circle if they were hearing sounds, Jocelynn asked him to describe the sounds. When he did, Rol suggested Fesic might have issues with his option settings while Aali quietly giggled to herself.
While Fesic started trying to figure out where his "options menu" was, because Rol had little knowledge and wasn't much help, Aali suggested he might be hearing the sounds because one of the others might have logged into his stent and been activating and playing the sound files installed there. Or, they might have been sending a sound effect to him. When she said that, each of those with stents heard a "Ping" sound affect while Aali sat smiling at them all. Seeing her smile, the others realized what she'd done and some laughed while Colinne even complimented Aali on the joke. Especially since it reminded all the people taking part in the session that the neural stent was just another kind of computer. If they treated the hardware like a computer, the only issues they had would be learning to use their thoughts instead of a keyboard. Rol only joked he'd been thinking of getting his snub pistol so he could help Fesic "reboot his system".
During the second day in jump, Mikah backed up Rol and Jocelynn's mental images. This meant they had to decide who would miss the daily stent practice, but they'd still be part of the rest of the sessions. So, it wasn't a great loss. The crew were also holding near-daily zero-g training sessions, where they had to shut down their "shooting gallery" for safety reasons. Aiden also worked with Sekea on his nav studies and Sekea spent the time he could devote to his art work, hoping to improve his forgery skills. Sekea did have to admit, his skills had so far served the crew better at stopping people from cheating them. Members of the crew could also work with the pell 'droid as they had time because the device couldn't really deal well with massed attacks.
Over the jump, Aiden and Colinne were the next pair to be backed up on day three, followed by Zimzod and Aali on the fourth day. After that, the neural work was done and Mikah had more time to relax or take part in other activities aboard. While the crew shared Stent work, Physical workouts, Zero-G Ops training, Pell training, Small Arms fire practice and Nav Studies, they each had their personal studies and shared card games, video challenges and other recreation. Closed in one stateroom or another, Jocelynn and Colinne worked on psi-exercises while Zimzod and Mikah did their best to ignore the buzzing in the back of their heads. Still, that might save them some day when the buzz wasn't coming from a crew person. The one thing Mikah had to do once she got the ship and new captain squared away was petition the seneschalate for a meeting with Duke Rakaa Kiraarri.
After setting up the small arms range in their cargo bay, Jocelynn and Zimzod were the first to get shots on the Terin dummies. One of the dummies had been the unit with its head pegged on. Moving back to the fire line, Jocelynn told Zimzod she was gonna shoot his nutz off, and Zimzod laughed. Since they had the dummy with the head pegged on, it also quickly became a 'novelty goal' to be the person who knocked the head off the dummy. That enthusiasm soon spread to blowing apart the heads on both dummies, since Jocelynn had managed to double her fun blowing the crotch off both dummies. Of course, a number of hits only blew chunks off the head instead of knocking it off. Colinne was next to get to the firing line, followed by Mikah then Rol. Aiden, Fesic, Aali and then Sekea got their chances in that order. By the end of the week, both dummies had been blasted down to the shattered and collapsing metal skeletons within the gel. Aiden also test fired and cleaned his 2.4 mm Revolver from Denotam. That cost him ten rounds which he'd have to have custom made to replace them.
During the week, Rol mounted the Improved gunCams on his Gauss Rifle, Snub Rifle, two snub pistols and his gauss pistol. He also integrated his remaining unintegrated snub pistol to his HUD. He had wanted to load the one empty magazine for his gauss rifle with needles, but didn't have any spare needle ammo for it. He considered he could buy more ammo when they hit Lanth instead of borrowing a mag of ammo from the others. Rol also mounted the HUD he'd bought months before for his Vacc Suit and prepare that for integration.
Getting Some Answers Over the week in jump, Jocelynn not only worked at her planned activities, but also lit the hookah and shared with those who wanted. Of course, that meant some amount of the scent got "everywhere". That wouldn't be cleaned out until they got to Lanth and paid for an atmo-refresh. Over the week, Jocelynn burned one packet each of the Bold Cherry'. 'Berry Mix', and mildly hallucinogenic 'Scotch' blends which Terin had bought quite some time before. Beyond that, Jocelynn worked hard on ripping deeper into the Stepozhevaci data files. She'd already found data suggesting the nation had ties to: The former Natoko gov't(Rhylanor) The Paya gov't(Aramis) 5 other "Private Ownership" countries on Porozlo named, "Almarac Federated States", "Anisinta", "Democratic Republic of Digloiotti", "Vyben" and "Turin". Evidence suggested they were allied with a non-government organization that had supported the coup on Skull(Lanth) "Friends" on D'Ganzio, Regina, Mora and Rhylanor One encoded document had names for ~45 starships they talked to regularly and an encoded file An encoded report suggested a ship they had connections to had visited Rech(Lanth) A final entirely encoded document had three words that were not encoded: The Corporate name "Gigua Keik"(based on Rhylanor) The name "Zimzod Egosion", which Zimzod could not explain And the Rhylanori region "Brusanus" Zimzod had said he thought the corporation was one of the firms the tattooed couple had dealt with. He and Mikah had to explain the tattooed couple and the killer android to those new to the crew, who hadn't yet heard the story. They explained that they'd gotten the android from the tattooed couple, to be shipped to D'Ganzio past any customs inspections. That led to speculation the attack was meant to shift political factions in the system, possibly letting a Pro-Stepozhevaci faction take charge there. So, when Fesic "screwed up" and activated the 'droid early, his action may have thwarted the plan.
Continuing to dig, Jocelynn actually found an old news piece from the Skull system back on 285-1112. That had reported Natoko's government had called on allies to stall or stop Senator Lord Kudila's blockade and investigation. At the time, representatives from six governments had asked to appear in Duke Leonard's Court on behalf of Natoko. Those were the Bevey, Nutema, and Paya(Aramis) systems along with National envoys from three balkanized worlds. Those were the Stepozhevac government of Porozlo, a corporate colony on Pannet(Mora) and an authority on Aramanx(Aramis). That added Bevey, Nutema, Pannet and Aramanx to her list of possible allies. The question those begged was who had been close enough to Stepozhevac (or to Porozlo) for the message to be sent? One also had to ask who had the technology for the banking needed?
While Jocelynn worked on the computer files, Colinne had gotten into a number of the random projects that were stacking up. Grabbing the Zhodani armor suit, hoping just to get it done and out of the way, Colinne started working on hacking the suit's computer. On and off through the week in jump, she had also created a set of virtual computers, sealed them off and then been sparking up the "lock pick" program to see what she could learn about it. What most surprised her was the digital tentacles she could track as the program spawned them. Try as she could, Colinne couldn't find any "Main" process. The package fired off spawned subprocesses faster than rabbits bred.
The code had to self-distribute armies of sub-processes, and Colinne was shocked when she saw them spawning onto the other test rigs she left vulnerable to the process. The more she tracked the actions of the program, the more she saw it wasn't simply a lock pick application. It was an intrusive package made to detect and "explore" any connected data systems at all. Digging deeper into the processes running on her isolated systems, the basis for "invasion" in each accessible test rig seemed to be digital nerve centers. Very surprisingly, they were extremely efficient micro-machine-code thumbnail apps. And, those then spawned worker-bee applications to carry out activities. At the same time, they appeared to rely on fractured libraries distributed as fragmental data across any invaded data system. So, the 'design specs' for the aggressor applications were spread and hidden in the gaps in storage data sectors!
What that meant was that finding "code blocks" to read and determine what they do would be incredibly difficult. Where she found a process working, she would have to dig into the active registers it used to see if she could find the register addresses it was referring to. Annoying her even more, the minute she started finding those, she also found they were changing! An adaptive technology programmed into the applications forced the software to jump from one to another then another register bank randomly on a random basis! That told her she would certainly have to spend weeks, if not months, tracing addresses in search of code fragments. After enough of that 'whack a mole' work, she felt she "should be" able to start documenting what each code class might do. With that, she hoped she'd be able to write out what that code block actually did. And after she had enough code blocks written out, she could then figure out what the sub-sections of the program did?
Another issue Colinne found as she worked was that the program seemed to have been married to an extremely capable virus-like "seeker-infector" engine. she was able to trace the activity only because she had sealed off her sand-box systems. So, there were very few processes running and she knew and could track and tag every one of them. With that, she could track the processes down bit by bit. One thing she had to be certain of is that she would have to constantly be checking her security, because the software - which she was now calling "intruder-ware", was very capable of not only getting loose, but also seeking out and invading every port or connection to get out. Colinne had even done some tests locking down her sandbox computers to see how well it could defeat the security measures. The program was remarkably adept at finding holes.
The more Colinne worked with the program, the more she was convinced the intruder package had to be espionage-ware. In fact, she was even more certain the program could well be a black-ops level package. From what she'd seen, she could run the program and wait. As it ran, she was certain the program would eventually invade every operating computer on the system, from as basic as the key/voice security pad at a ship's hatch. In fact, the crew had been connecting the package to many computers without even realizing the invasive extent of the package. What Colinne still couldn't figure out was what that was? Another question was how long the process would take?
Colinne also knew they had control of "their copy" of the data from the hand computer, which Mikah stole back in early 1112. She had no idea what the Stepozhevac government might have done, or even if they knew she had stolen the computer? But, in the two years' time, the "only" things they had found in the data were the intruder software and the listings Colinne had used to steal the Stepozhevaci money. Granted, Jocelynn was also "now" searching the data for the country's allies. No one knew what other data was hidden in the files waiting to be played with. Of course, if there were any listed assets, there was no guarantee those would still be where they had been. Especially after the wars and other events leading to Stepozhevac's collapse.
Towards the later part of the jump, Colinne eventually hit on an idea to help her figure out what the intruder package did? She then spent a number of hours creating a computer null space in a section of the compartment where they had the low berths and then connected the software to the Zhodani battle armor. She also did a fine-toothed comb investigation of the armor to see if there were any in-built weapons she'd have to disable? She found none of those, so she continued moving forward. Uncertain how long the package would take to get to "what it did", Colinne figured she'd check on the suit and software over time and see what happened? To help with that, she direct-wired a dumb terminal and keyboard to one of the suit's access ports and set up a data logger.
For a brief bit of time, Colinne watched as the logger caught "discovery activity" and the list of the suit's sub-computer systems grew. Section by section, the software started burning through what the suit had. Nearing an hour of just 'sitting there waiting', Colinne decided to leave the isolated compartment and do other things. Because the network isolation she'd set up there meant she couldn't connect to another system to get things done. She would come back to check on the progress every few hours, looking for any change in what the terminal showed.
Thanks to the continual stent exercises, Jocelynn's knowledge was catching up to the abilities the artifact she'd used gave her. So, Jocelynn was starting to be able to control those things that had been out of her control before. With help, she could even stent-connect to online catalogs without losing control. And the list of devices she could control connections to was growing, not to mention the ability to select "control software" to make those devices do things. Annoying Aali, Jocelynn's abilities included internalizing text and data from reports so she didn't have to concentrate on the words to read them. Colinne also had that ability with her stent. Aali had the ability to direct her thoughts to devices and activate the commands she wanted to.
Rol also did survey work going over the crew's armor. He checked and confirmed any repairs he saw. Where he found them, the work had been competently done. While he did that, Mikah had a private chat with Zimzod and broke up with him. While that wasn't explicitly discussed with the others, they all saw him moving the gear he had in Mikah's stateroom out and reorganizing his living space so he could start sleeping in his own stateroom again. Along with that, Jocelynn lit up three shishas in her hookah, of which only one was mildly hallucinogenic. When she did, Mikah, Rol and Zimzod joined in. As expected, the scents mixed and remained until they'd finally gotten to Lanth and paid to have the ship's atmosphere refreshed.
A Mystery In The Night Several days into the jump, as the crew went about their tasks and recreation, Colinne had gone to bed for the night when she had what she first thought was a very vivid dream. It was only once the dream took hold that she realized she was having a vision! In that vision, she again saw the same man she'd seen when she'd had a vision nearly two months before, in the Denotam system. Again, he appeared to be in his mid to late forties. Taller than Colinne, he seemed physically very fit, and wore a skin suit without the head covering sealed. He had a full head of brown hair laced with gray and his facial expression was hard. The skinsuit he wore was black, and she could make out the White Star insignia. And he seemed "transparent but alive". The first difference between this vision and the one in Denotam was that the earlier vision had come to her while she was awake.
As Colinne watched the man, he seemed desperate to tell her something, but she couldn't hear any sound he was making. The one thing she could see was an insignia just below what had to be the man's name. Only, the vision didn't let her see his name. Only the insignia. That, she recognized as the former symbol of the Order of the White Star. Despite anything she tried, Colinne couldn't make out what the man was trying to tell her. Staring at his lips, she couldn't even make out a word or two trying to read them. When she woke, Colinne considered who she could talk to about the dream? She knew she wanted to talk to the crew about it, but she didn't want to risk anyone figuring out she was a psion. That meant only Mikah, Zimzod and Jocelynn were safe.
The following morning, after the others had woken, had breakfast and were getting into their interests, Colinne called Mikah, Zimzod and Jocelynn into her stateroom to talk. Safe from the others, Colinne explained what she'd seen and Zimzod suggested she sit with Sekea and have him draw the man she'd seen like he had with Maur and the pirates. When Colinne said she didn't feel that was safe, Zimzod suggested she tell him she'd dreamt of someone from her past and couldn't exactly remember who. So, she wanted to have him draw the man to help push her memory.
After that, and before Colinne went to talk to Sekea, Mikah asked what else Colinne had seen in her vision? What feelings or emotional components. What other items she might have seen but not immediately remembered? Mikah asked Colinne to do her best to remember the vision, examine it and see if there was anything else she could squeeze out of what she'd seen? Colinne could only think before she said she was in a corridor aboard a ship, but it didn't "feel" like any ship she was familiar with. That had also matched what she'd seen in the first vision. Hearing that, Mikah suggested Colinne write out everything she could remember from both visions, to see if it triggered any more details she'd not remembered.
Considering her situation, Colinne suggested she relax and try to use her clairvoyant talents and try to "revisit" the vision she'd just had. When the others asked if she could do that, Colinne told them it was possible, but not always a successful thing. Still, they were in jump and there was no reason to reserve her powers. They were not at risk of any crisis that might be solved by her visions, and they did want to know as much as they could learn before jumping into the Sonthert system. That decided, Colinne lay down on her bed and began to relax. As she did, she meditated on both her memories of this vision and the one she'd had months before.
Soon, Colinne could feel the sense of being "elsewhere", as she saw a figure she was certain was the same man. Only, this time, she was seeing him from the back, and his skinsuit was fully sealed. And, in this vision, the man was in a firefight with figures she couldn't see in detail. The corridor was not wide, like the passages in stations or bases, so it felt like a ship's space. Just as the vision was ending, one of the less-than-visible figures he was fighting rushed the man. Getting close enough to the man, Colinne could see the attacker was an Imperial Marine! The armored figure was in a much older version of Battledress than Colinne had ever seen. And the trooper was armed with a gauss rifle. But the most important thing she could see was the trooper's ship designation! The INS Gallachi!
As she came out of her vision, the man in the black skinsuit turned to retreat and Colinne got his name. The name of the "White Star Ghost" was "Phaylenn". Done with the vision, Colinne talked with the others about what they'd learned. They now had the Knight's name and an Imperial Navy ship name to research on. They also knew the "Ship's Library" package they had aboard had been a standard commercial package. And, while they'd taken the chances to add files from other sources, none of the things they had would likely have anything related to Chivalric orders erased from history. And, they wouldn't likely have what was considered ancient data on Imperial Navy ships. Still, the four of them could do the research.
They also knew there "might be" more information they could find on Lanth, after they emerged from their jump. And there could be covert data-trackers and alarms embedded in network and library data-systems. So, executing searches related to the Order of the White Star on a public system could set off alarms they'd be unaware of until some organization or other came hunting them. And while Colinne knew how to limit the extents of a computer search, those limits could also prevent the search reaching the data-structures that had the answers they needed too. For the last days of the jump, the four worked to research the new data while expecting to find nothing more. While that was the expectation, the four looked into what Colinne told them.
Certain she'd get nothing back, Mikah found nothing in their Ship's Library on the name "Phaylenn" or even "Sir Phaylenn". But she did get a hit on the ship, INS Gallachi! In an old file from the Imperial History section of the library called "Order of Battle of the Imperial Navy". That was the sort of data file that was included in Ship Library files just to increase the book numbers and sales profile of the Library. Because no new ship owner took the time to check what titles were included because they had more important things to do. Still, an "All data" search hit a listing for that ship!
INS Gallachi: Henderson-Class Corvette (600-ton) Service History: Commissioned: 789 Decommissioned: 824 (Due to Heavy combat damage) Ignoring the other unimportant data, Mikah saw the report said the INS Gallachi had been decommissioned in the Lanth system naval base. The ship was then listed as having been "sent to the choppers". That meant it had been recycled for material to re-use. Key devices may have been pulled from the hulk, but it was chopped up, melted down and the metal re-used. The reason listed was "extensive damage during action on the frontier during peace keeping actions in 824". And the bodies of those crew lost were listed as "Buried in space". So, the dates given lined up with late in the Psionic Suppression War period of Imperial history. Any searches for the White Star Order only came back with data they'd personally added to the files. So, there was no help there.
In the last days of the jump, Colinne checked on the Zhodani armor she'd connected the intrusion software to, looking for any progress. Finally, on the last day, as they were preparing to emerge from jump, she saw the software had opened the suit's entire data system. Sadly, there was little time to do anything, because they'd be emerging into Lanth space very soon. And, having an open and accessible suit of Zhodani combat armor connected to what was likely a very illegal hacking package they'd lied to IRIS about was not a good idea when the ship would be inspected by a customs team. So, Colinne had very little time to look over what she could see. The most annoying news was that the interface presented to her was in Zhodani!
Because of that, Colinne could only crash the armor and software, so she could stow everything and clean the space up before they emerged. Colinne then had to get to her post in the ship's computer core. While there, she could search their file systems for Zhodani language data, but found nothing helpful. That was bad news because accessing the armor's computer using the intruder package would get them everything the suit had, but it would all be in Zhodani. Still, Colinne knew she could eventually copy the data off the armor if she could figure out which files were part of the suit's history data. Then, because they could claim it was "left behind by retreating Zhodani forces", they could freely hire anyone to translate the suit's history.
Another issue Colinne found was what the intruder software didn't do. After it had opened the Zhodani computer, it had not presented a menu or other method to select what to do next? Colinne expected than any application would have some sort of "what next?" menu or keystrokes. Not seeing any menu meant she had to re-load the package and try the usual keystrokes. Of course, she didn't want to wait nearly two days, like she'd had to do with the Zhodani armor. So, she figured she should go through the crew's gear to find something "stupid simple". That way, the intruder software would rip through whatever device quickly and she'd have more time to explore. It could even save her time decompiling the package, because she'd possibly be able to "see what it did".
Another 'surprise' she got when she shut the software down was to see a scrolling 'semi-credits' like scroll of data on the terminal. While most of the data meant nothing at all to her, Colinne did see one thing that was both obvious and new. She saw the word "Naasirka"! That meant the package had been developed, in part, by the Imperial Mega-Corp, and not some military team or underworld or criminal organization.
Saturday, 108-1114:
Open Space To Government Traps
As expected, they started getting alarms from the ship's computer that the jump was coming to an end. Reacting to that, everyone moved to their posts including Jocelynn this time. Pulling the "Survey" wafer from their stock of skills on disk", she snapped it in and booted it up. The experience was odd, because it was the first time she'd ever done it. But she had time, so she could work her mind through it. When the wafer took effect, Jocelynn sat at a bridge position opened for her and had the sensation of, "So That is what that does!" While Aiden and Sekea worked to confirm their location out of jump, Jocelynn had to wait for the jump static to clear before confirming there was no other traffic anywhere close to them. They were all clear to almost two light-seconds.
Not long after that, as Aiden began making his settings, they got their first blast from the system's outer beacon. The beacon included a reciprocal frequency they should use to receive the data on Lanth's rules and restrictions. The message warned them they would have to follow all restrictions or they could be fired on by system defense craft. They also received the required course they would use for their flight in-system to the customs formations. Lanth's famous "Iron Sphere" was a formation so amazing to see that Aiden bounced the visual to any terminal in the ship so people not on the flight deck could see it.
Sharing out the data, Rol got the comms data for the channels they were instructed to use for all communications. They'd even given settings for the laser comms system, so they were ready in case they were contacted using that medium. Some of those settings made sure they would receive data from the customs craft that would intercept them and conduct the ship's CIH(Customs, Immigration and Health) inspection. The closer they got to what seemed, at a distance, to be a massive dyson sphere, that appearance broke into tens of thousands of craft. It was an amalgam of customs craft, gunboats, support craft, small and larger planetary warships and more.
Closer in to the customs line, they received orders to have all their papers ready along with the Idents and data on all people aboard. They were also warned that no weapons should be present when the customs team boarded their ship and conducted the inspection. Eventually, as Aiden brought the ship to Zero-vee, they saw the approach of three craft that looked very much like system defense boats. Jocelynn could tell they were each 300-ton craft with weapons and sensors 100% hot! The ships closed in a triangular formation where the lead ship was the tip of the triangle. In addition, the lead boat moved in below the firing line of the other two ships. The two gunships then hung back while the lead ship move up to dock with the Upgrade.
After they docked, a four-man fireteam boarded first. That team were in sealed armor, and carried either laser-based small arms or rapid-fire slug throwers. After that team secured the common space around the airlock and entry corridor, a lieutenant from the Lanth planetary navy boarded. That man was not armored and held a datapad, though he did have a side arm in a holster on his hip. Standard Navy protocol. When he boarded, Mikah stepped up and handed over their electronic media and the officer got to work. When the officer started validating the crew's Idents, he got a buzz. Looking up at Mikah, he asked, "You are Lady Dame Mikah Kirlim?"
When she said she was, he told her he had a notation on his forms that the port has put a security demand of Cr 1,000,000 to be paid before her crew could proceed into Lanth Orbit! Annoyed, Mikah asked why, and was told that her crew had a history of creating havoc and damage in ports. Even more annoyed, Mikah sighed and said, "Fine" before she paid out the security deposit from ship's funds. She could only hope they'd get clear of Lanth and get that money back when they left. When she asked, "We'll get it back. Right?" she was told they would if there were no legal charges or damage liabilities against their crew or ship.
Hearing that, Mikah turned to look at the others and said, "No one's getting off the ship without my expressed permission." Receiving notice of the payment, the officer said the funds would be held in a port account until they either left the system or committed acts which forfeited those funds. He also bounced them a file containing all the system's general restrictions, legal codes and requirements. One restriction he pointed out was that, due to their histories, their crew were not permitted to venture into public spaces while armed. Which included honor weapons. After Mikah nodded and agreed to that, the lieutenant started his inspection of the ship. And where the last time they'd arrived in Lanth, they were on a ship partly owned by the Arch Duke, this inspection was much more detailed and intensive.
In their cargo bay, the officer spent extra time examining the cargo pods containing their tons of radioactives. He eventually told Mikah that he'd have to call in a technical team to examine the cargo's containment systems. Mikah nodded that off because the cargo had passed Ghandi's outgoing inspections, and hadn't changed in their cargo bay. She figured there'd be no issues because of that. Near the end of the inspection, the officer almost casually asked, "Did you know there's a bounty out for killing you all?" Seeing the man was just curious and none of his team were moving for their weapons, Mikah said they knew in an almost bored tone.
When she then asked, "What are you gonna do about it", the man told her that wasn't a responsibility of their government unless someone committed a crime related to the bounty. However, they still wanted to make sure their crew were aware of the threat. When the man did add that it was his government's responsibility to protect every citizen and prevent killings, Mikah reminded him, "That's right. It is your responsibility" in a tone that was less than friendly. Showing she didn't make a friend by poking the bear, the man smiled and said, "That's not my department." With that, he bounced her the certifications that would let them proceed in-system and communicate with the ports in Lanth.
Having told the Lieutenant they planned to dock at the system's highport. The files the man sent gave them flight path to follow because the Lanth system only had one highport. He also made certain she was warned of the potential punishments for not following those flight restrictions. Mikah only accepted that because she'd heard it all before. Mikah did say that they would consider themselves free to act if they were attacked in transit. The officer only nodded and reminded her that any defensive actions supported by the system's sensor data would be acceptable until such time as system defense craft engaged any craft carrying out offensive actions in their space. He also smiled and said, "Our gunship crews enjoy any practice they can get."
When they got close to the system's orbital community, a port tech confirmed their intention to dock at the highport. When asked how they could help their crew, Mikah said they needed a berth and to reset their systems before departing. She also added that they needed to meet with Duke Rakaa Kiraarri. Reacting to the contact request, the tech said the port could only give them the contact codes for the Duke's seneschalate. The tech said she would have to contact them directly to request any meetings or other communications. Moving on, the tech asked Mikah what kind of berth they wanted for their ship?
The offers were a "Drop off", where they would only briefly remain on station to exchange crew, passengers and quick-drop off cargoes. A "hanging berth" was a connection to a docking arm to which a ship would connect their cargo and personnel locks. There would be cables and piping to handle refueling, atmospherics and data/electronics connections. A "bay berth" was a space just inside the station's skin with a bay hatch that opened the entire bay to space. An "internal berth" was a space not only within the station but also deep enough the ship's pilots would surrender control to the station personnel. They would then fly the ship into an entry bay where the ship would be magnetically secured to an internal trawler which would move the ship to that bay. A downside of that was that flying the ship out without the station's support was almost impossible.
Finally, there was the "Secure Internal Berth", and that space was hardened. Especially given the system's experiences with Sword World invaders during the First, Third and Fifth Frontier wars. Because of that history, the security berths were the most secure and fortified on the highport. And they were priced to match that circumstance. So Mikah authorized the KCr 10 cost for the berth for a week. When they asked how long the ship planned to stay on-station, Mikah said they wanted to get out of the system as quickly as possible and booked only one week. Accepting that, they asked her to notify them as soon as possible if the ship crew changed their minds.
The station then asked about refueling the ship and Mikah said she wanted to buy unpurified fuel, because they could use their on-board purifier plant. Nodding, the tech said that would cost them Cr 96,800 and Mikah made that payment from ship's funds too. Mikah also authorized KCr 20 to refresh the ship's atmo, which finally cleared any remnant scent from the hookah use in jump. When they offered additional services, Aali said they really didn't want outside engineers aboard the ship, so she refused that offer.
When they finally made approach to the station, Aiden was required to surrender control of the Upgrade to the station staff so those people could guide the ship into the entry port. They all waited as the ship was settled onto the transport crawler, then moved through a warren of transit tubes until they were settled into the high security berth. The bay crew immediately set about connecting the needed electronic and plumbing connections to complete the ordered services. When the crew chief asked, Mikah said they planned to stay aboard and operate from the ship. That cost them an additional Cr 500, because the bay crews would have to work around them.
The berth crew also checked their paperwork and saw Fesic had trade authorizations which had lapsed. While he still had to renew that before he could work to buy or sell, that meant they didn't have to secure the ship's cargo. Those who'd been with the crew the last time they'd been in the Lanth system remembered the cargo had been taken and secured to prevent them doing anything to sell it. That would cost Fesic, or the ship, Cr 100 after he completed all the necessary paperwork. When they heard that, more than one in the crew rolled their eyes while remembering the crazy bureaucratic demands of the system government.
They were told the ship's captain, which was still Mikah, and Fesic would have to go to the station's trade certification offices and complete all the forms and steps required to renew his trade credentials. Mikah also confirmed they'd have to go to the same offices to transfer the trade credentials to Jocelynn. That confirmed, they were also told the transfer would take more steps, but could not say how many more or what those steps were? When they finished up with the berth crew chief, Mikah wanted Fesic to come with her directly to the trade offices. Jocelynn said she also wanted to come and get her paperwork started.
Fesic only made sure he had a book on his hand comp to read because he remembered standing in lines waiting to die in Lanth's government offices. While he checked that, Aiden asked Mikah permission to leave the berth and find a bar. When Mikah refused, Aiden asked if he could connect the ship to the station-net and order supplies? Mikah nodded, saying, "If you need it." She then asked "What kind of supplies?" and Aiden suggested he wanted to mix some drinks. When Mikah asked, "You can't use what we have?" in an almost shocked tone, Aiden said "No". Suspicious now, Mikah asked, "What exactly are you planning to order?" and Aiden said he'd found Terin's old recipe files for Scout Brew, and he wanted to make a batch from one.
Mikah looked askance at him and Aiden said that Terin had made a batch that did actually make people feel better. Looking Aiden in the eyes, Mikah asked, "Do you feel the need to feel better?" Aiden only smiled and said, "I can always feel better." Accepting that, Mikah asked Aiden what the ingredients were and he said he'd send it to her comms, because he had to get the computer and pull the file up. Mikah agreed to that as Fesic snarked, "That doesn't sound suspicious at all." At the same time, Fesic remembered a day when Terin had made a brew which did make him feel better. He also remembered that as the day Terin had over-used the phrase, "Trust me" and Rol had cold cocked him for it.
Aiden went to grab the comp he'd "inherited" after Terin died. Finding the files and copying the recipe to send Mikah, Aiden saved it and then checked connectivity with the port's networks. There, he faced a "stop and pay" barrier telling anyone who didn't have access they had to pay for one of the various network plans on offer. So, he called Mikah to tell her he needed to pay the port for network fees to send her the recipe he wanted supplies for. Because they would need to order other things, including restocking their meals in port, Mikah approved the cost. Aiden found it cost Cr 500 per week to connect to the network. After he paid that and connected, Aiden sent Mikah the scout brew recipe he wanted to make.
Aiden made the payment, then logged into the Lanth port-net. As he expected, he was hit by a flood of advertisements and other attempts to grab his attention. He finally set up an email and sent Mikah the data. When Mikah reviewed the recipe, she saw that most of the ingredients were fairly benign. There were also a number of vitamins. minerals and mild euphorics. When Mikah checked the laws regarding drugs on Lanth, she saw they didn't care what a crew did in their own ship or in rented but private places as long as no one was hurt or medical services didn't have to respond. In public, there were ordinances about "disturbing the public" and damaging property. But, if you didn't get in anyone's way or cause a disturbance, you were ok to do as you liked.
Acts, Official And Not Like the last time, they found the main part of the facility appeared to be a half-cylinder above the engineering, support and management systems housing. The wide main hall of the cylinder was nearly four levels tall, with many sub-concourses branching off the main hall. The hall's central spaces held many single-level shops and kiosks. The hall's sides, and those concourses branching off, were lined with shops and service firms. Most of those were single-level shops. Raised walkways rose from the main level, and were lined with even more levels and facilities. Some were three or four tiers high while the side corridors led to a second tier of shops that were three levels high. The spaces were open concourses which were made more cramped thanks to the flashy and ever-present advertising for every product or desire the races in or visiting the system might want.
It was nearly half an hours' trip to the proper office, where they saw the long, narrow room bisected by a transparent plasteel barrier. Like their previous visit to the system, the transSteel barrier protected a short row of techs sitting and working with no-nonsense expressions. All communications with them happened through audio panels. There was a drawer system to pass items across the barrier. And just like the last time, the room was half-full of customers of any kind. And there was no "information" line, person or kiosk. So, they joined a line and waited. After an hour, they reached a tech and said they wanted to renew Fesic's cargo permit. The technician only told Mikah and Fesic to put their Idents against a sensor. As she did, the tech asked, "What's the name of your ship?". His tone said, 'This is the process and I don't really care about you.'
Answering each question asked them, the tech worked to check the port certification while talking to himself. He then confirmed the registry of their cargo. Finally, the man looked up and said, "There you go. Your application is complete. You will be notified of the decision within three days." Cheered there was no interruption because of missing paperwork, like the last time, the three then moved to the end of another line, to start Jocelynn's paperwork. That done, after almost two hours thirty minutes they'd never get back, the three went back to the ship.
While the three visited station offices, Aali had gotten to work with the androids on drive and system resets. Bleeding off residual power and other shutdown steps before circuit and systems testing. After the three left for the station offices, Zimzod spent their time away playing with the pell 'droid. Colinne knew the ship's library had no information on the White Star Order, and little more on the corvette she'd identified in her vision. And she couldn't check off-ship sources without a net-connection, and knew that even trying that could be dangerous. Leaving that, she asked Sekea to help draw the man she'd seen in her vision. Rol alternated between his physical therapy and relaxing. He also stayed alert in case they got the call from those off ship that help might be needed. Sekea spent time drawing the man Colinne described to him, who she said was someone "from her past" whose name she couldn't remember.
Sekea's work to draw the man Colinne described took an hour and a half. When they were done, Colinne said the image looked reasonably accurate. When Sekea bounced her the file from his drawing application, Colinne started an image search against all the data in their ship's library. While she did that, Sekea went back to working on his computer skills and working to understand computer sales data to understand what he might have to alter. He shared his questions with Colinne while she was watching the output of her image search. On their way back to the ship, Mikah told Jocelynn to start sourcing suppliers for compact food and ration supplies for their planned trip to Sonthert.
Back at the ship, Mikah made it clear they couldn't move forward on selling their cargo and emptying their cargo bay until they got their certifications. So, for the time being, they were tourists. She suggested they play with the pell 'droid or do whatever they wanted aboard ship for recreation. She reminded them all that no one could leave the ship without her expressed permission. Jocelynn logged into the port-net and set up her own email account. She then started researching food costs for their meals on-station. After some research, she reported to Mikah that it would cost them between Cr 15 and 20 per person to have meals delivered.
That meant they'd have to spend Cr 405 and 540 per day for delivery food, or Cr 2,835 to 3,780 per week. Mikah was good with that because she didn't want anyone going to off-ship restaurants. Because that was generic grade foods, anyone who wanted better, or to order luxuries, could pay the extra for themselves. When it came to the long-term rations, Jocelynn said she'd need more time to search for that. Hearing her report that, Rol joked, "It's my job to make sure the nutra-paste doesn't taste like nutra-paste." That got laughs from the others.
With Mikah's permission, Aiden shopped for the fixings for a scout brew recipe. Taking his time to find the right ingredients, Aiden spent Cr 55 to buy the goods and have them delivered to the ship. They promised a delivery in the next six to ten hours. With that done, Aiden asked permission to take one of his drones into the berth outside the ship and practice with it. Mikah said he could so long as he didn't leave the berth onto the station. Aali started talking about stent training and then mentioned the amusement park the crew had gone to the last time they were in-system. Fesic also remembered the park and Rol mentioned the virtual reality fighter game some of them had took part in. He even had a 3-d printed model of the fighter each player had piloted, bought during that visit.
There were also jokes about the school-aged kid who'd shot Rol down. When Fesic said they should choose up teams and compete on the ride, Zimzod reminded them all Mikah had said, "Without her expressed permission". So, they could leave the ship, and even the station, if they came up with something she found reasonable. That said, members of the crew started talking about places they had been or would like to visit instead of being bottled up on the ship. Mikah reminded them all they had to decide amongst themselves who would step up and be the ship's captain. Because she was only keeping the title until that was dealt with.
Saturday, 108-1114: Evening Where everyone is at the end of the session: Everyone: the crew are in the ship's common space deciding who will be Captain and what to do off ship
_________________________________________________________________________ Next: Pending