Shooting, Shopping
            And Surprises

    Sunday, 052-1114: Lunch Time
Different Levels Of Busy
     After lunch, the first group worked with the InstellArms people, to return to their berth and recover all the weapons and gear involved.  Mikah had to go with them and gather the equipment she wanted worked on.  Because some of the work meant connecting weapons to her HUD, she'd have to stay in the berth for much of the afternoon.  She used some of that time to research places to practice zero-g skills.  Fesic also returned to the berth and his lock pick studies.  Before Colinne returned to the berth, she asked for five magazines for her Zhodani gauss rifle.  There was some hunting before they found a model in stock that worked with the rifle, and those cost Cr 25 each.  So, she bought five magazines which she could bring back to the berth to load from the box of loose needles she had.

Next, Colinne asked about drones and her concierge was very happy to help her.  Colinne was interested in all the classes of drone, knowing she could manually work a remote control or connect a comm dot to the drone and use her stent to mentally control the device.  If she planned to use her stent, the concierge suggested she get a cover for the controls, to prevent them banging against anything and sending unintended commands to the drone.  The concierge also suggested she set aside time to reach out to the drone with her stent and get used to commanding and controlling it.  From there, Colinne was shown the supply of drones used for everything from hunting to search and rescue.

Colinne wanted a unit which was small, and could be used for scouting ahead or reconnaissance.  Colinne also wanted her drone to have multi-position cameras and microphones, to spot risks directionally.  She also wanted the cameras to be telescopic and motion sensitive.  She'd like the microphones to be far enough apart and sensitive enough they could do limited triangulation of sounds captured.  The model she started to center on was a high-end, hand-sized unit with minimal AI.  The device had very-short-range "down" and "side" pulsing short-range scanning and multiple audio and video pickups.  The AI only supported flight stability and station holding.  That unit would cost her Cr 4,000.  When Colinne asked about increasing the AI, the concierge explained she'd be transitioning from basic AI services to 'Expert System' AI skills.

Those skills came at an expensive cost even for low level upgrades.  A single "level" of 'Search and Rescue' could cost as much as Cr 4,000 by itself.  Outside of that were functionality adds.  An example would be a basic pistol without the grip, and which could be fed from a swappable magazine for Cr 2,000 more.  Hearing Colinne's thoughts about combat scouting, the concierge also suggested units with electric motors, battery clusters and stealth rotors.  So, with stealth electrics and the fire-arm add ons, the cost would be more in the area of Cr 8,000 without added AI.  Colinne considered the added AI expert SAR software, stealth, the weapon and a dismountable silencer for Cr 14,000.  She also bought a box of 100 revolver rounds for Cr 100.  With that, she went back to the berth.

At the berth, Colinne did some meditation and stretches before getting in more work on her stent application ideas.  While she'd been working with the techs, Aali also considered getting an armed drone, though she wanted a snub pistol instead of a re-engineered revolver.  The techs offered her the same drone design and charged her Cr 15,000.  Unlike Colinne, Aali had snub ammo already and didn't buy more.  Another thing Aali asked about was a cheap drone which had a basic grenade built in.  That drone could be directed into a location where, at the push of a button, it would pull the grenade's pin and get close to a target.  The drone would be destroyed in the blast, becoming extra shrapnel.  When she asked, the techs said they could make her four such drones and she bought all of them for Cr 4,000.

Jocelynn not only had to gather things and work with the techs, she also had to be back the next day for work on her blades too.  She wouldn't be free until the next afternoon.  Working with the techs, Jocelynn asked about the availability of smaller round "floating ball" drones with 360x360 audio-video.  She intended to use them for reconnaissance if she bought them.  They said they had five drones in stock which were very small, contra-grav "balls" approximately three inches in diameter.  When she was told they'd cost Cr 3,000 each, Jocelynn nodded and bought four of them.  Aiden also worked with techs that evening.  While he worked with them, Aiden asked for tips on installing some of his spare comm dots into some of the drones he'd bought.  They told him it was simple and he could likely work, if needed with his ship's engineer, to tune the dots to the frequencies needed for his mux and the specific drones.  Then, it should all work as intended.  Since he'd bought twenty drones he considered "throw away", to play with and destroy in training, Aiden planned to install dots in two of the devices at a time, for training.

Not scheduled to work with InstellArms until the next afternoon, Sekea considered the drones Colinne had bought and asked if there was any way of "upping" their stealth?  That was a "no", both because there were no tech facilities on Denotam which could do it, and the drones were "existing products".  So, they'd have to re-engineer the devices and would need the facilities the InstellArms on Denotam lacked.  When Sekea asked what customizations were available, he learned they came "out of the box" with a slot to mount a device.  That was taken up by the pistol and magazine.  So, there was little they could do without taking apart and rebuilding that class of drone.  If he wanted something different, it would need to be designed from the ground up, and they might not have what he wanted.  They reminded Sekea that their "market" was sports hunting, etc.  Not combat.

Sekea's concierge stepped in to offer an entirely different model of drone, for an extra Cr 10,000.  She told him the higher end model provided more enhanced control and had added anti-collision systems.  Pleased with that, Sekea answered, "Yeah, yeah" as if he were not at all concerned about the extra cost, and bought the drone.  When Sekea asked about customizing the device more, he was reminded the market on Denotam didn't support much outside of hunting or rescue goods.  He was offered a "shell" which could be attached to the drone, and allow it to "take a hit from an Iron Buck", and Sekea bought that for an extra Cr 800.  Sekea then asked if they had a space where he could practice with his drone and they recommended he do that outside, where the risk of collisions was reduced.

When Sekea persisted that he wanted someplace "indoors", they suggested they could rent him a zero-g "domo", where he could practice.  But, they did tell him up front, the space would be smaller than optimal for first-time flying.  That was priced at Cr 600 a day, and Sekea decided to rent one of those spaces and spend his free time practicing with his drone.  In the hours spent working with the drone that day, Sekea was learning the basic concepts of controlling it.  They were simple and intuitive.  What he didn't find simple or intuitive was being in one place while "perceiving the position" of the drone.  He also came to realize how difficult it was to understand "where the drone was going" after displacing part of his presence.  Sekea also found that moving about while doing that added confusion and the need for concentration.  That bothered him when he thought about the many things he might have to do in combat while driving the drone.

Also having lots of spare time, Zimzod asked about "fragmentation type" ammunition for his shotgun.  His concierge reminded him they didn't really stock combat grade munitions because there wasn't a market for it.  Not interested in buying more gear, Zimzod returned to the berth.  There, he set the vid screen to a news channel and did several repetitions of physical therapy to continue his recovery from surgery.  There didn't appear to be any new stories breaking from out-system, and Zimzod wasn't much interested in local news, which was mostly municipal crimes or operations.&  There was a trickle of news from the Tremous Dex system, with couriers reporting back to the flotilla’s home base in the Extolay system.

    Extolay (B45589A-A  N  G  110  Im  M2 V M4 D)                                                                                     Date: 038-1114
    Base Operations reports provided by the Imperial Navy continue to provide updates on operations in the Tremous Dex
    system.  Viewers will recall that a flotilla was deployed after local authorities learned of the misjump and break up
    of the IMV King George luxury cruise liner in that system.  The flotilla, under the recently promoted Commodore Peser
    Tindesu had been dispatched to the system in hopes of finding additional survivors.  Concern for those who might have
    survived was based on the fact they would surely be in the hands of pirates known to hold power in that system. 

    Armed with concerns surviving Imperial citizens might be misused or badly treated, the Commodore held a writ permitting
    "extensive measures" to hunt for Imperial survivors.  This, in the opinion of TAS writers, meant the dark and shady
    spaces aboard stations, ships and on the world's surface could currently be seeing blinding light due to the search.  It
    was confirmed, the troop ship INS Aelhulae Yuhiha accompanied the flotilla, and may have carried a compliment of troops
    from the 312th (Extolay) Imperial Lift Infantry Division aboard.  While reports so far have suggested any local forces
    have been "polite and cooperative", there have not yet been reports of survivors.                 

A Sudden Detour
     By 7pm that evening, Jocelynn, Aali and Aiden continued to work with InstellArms while the others were relaxing back in the berth.  As they watched vids, all screens were overridden and replaced by an officer from the Naval base.  At the same time, emergency chimes were sounding in every sealed building while "force circuits" activated vid's which were not powered up.  As soon as the cut over was complete, the officer announced an IIS scout/courier had arrived in-system was placed under comms blackout until the crew could be debriefed.  As the man spoke, there was a TAS-feed ribbon along the screen's bottom with news feed.  That suggested TAS felt the courier may have arrived from the Tremous Dex system, and did not appear combat damaged.

Those at InstellArms soon turned back to the work they were doing while those in the berth watched for new data.  Forty five minutes later, programming was again interrupted by an announcement from the port that another, apparently civilian, ship had arrived in-system and the timing coincidence wasn't being ignored by either them or the Navy.  Port offices stated that transponder data from the craft also suggested it was arriving from Tremous Dex.  Because naval ships had moved out of alignment reacting to the earlier vessel, this ship was not immediately interdicted.

The port added that the ship had immediately sounded an alarm when they emerged from jump.  Before the Navy locked them down, the port said it had received an ID from the vessel.  That suggested it was the Merchant Vessel Rumen.  Hearing that, most of the crew in the berth thought they'd heard the name but couldn't remember when or where?  It was Fesic who asked, "Wasn't that ship related to that guy Smiljan?"  Dawn rose for those in the berth about the same time Jocelynn heard the ship's name and glumly muttered, "Oh shit."  At first, Jocelynn wondered if they'd somehow followed the Upgrade, but that made no sense.  No pirate attacks an Imperial ship and then follows them into a system fortified with an Imperial naval base.  And the best information the Rumen had was that they left Dex for Arden.  There would be no reason to look for them in Denotam.

With the others pausing to watch, Jocelynn snagged her comms and called Mikah to ask, "Are you seeing this?"  Jocelynn's call went to a recording because Mikah'd grabbed her comms to call the port offices.  When her call was answered, she told the operator who she was and was bounced to an officer in port operations.  Not really concerned with the officer's rank, Mikah started telling them the crew of the Upgrade had reported data on the Rumen when they'd had to deal with it as part of a pirate fleet in the Tremous Dex system.  Mikah now pointed out the ship had entered the Denotam system claiming to be an unflagged vessel.

When Zimzod suggested the crew might be trying to go legit, Mikah turned from her comms and shot him a look that could split warship armor and asked him what kind of drugs he was on?  Shaking her head, she turned away from him snarling, "Turned legit my stars!" while the others laughed at the exchange.  Mikah returned to dropping a dime on the Rumen.  Still, it wasn't unknown for many pirates to have legitimate business operations while under a different registry and ship name.  And, they knew the Rumen had a highly-illegal tamper-friendly transponder.  So, the question became why they "ran" from Tremous Dex without changing their ID?  Was it possible they'd been chased out by the Commodore's flotilla?

Eventually, with those in the berth watching, an image appeared showing viewers what the ship looked like?  Fesic was the first to see a remote connection to a far trader model.  He'd also seen that starship design before.  Late in the 1000's, the "March Program" had filled the sector with Far Traders, along with this class, which had been an armored trader.  Of course, ships meant to help merchants do business in dangerous space sometimes "changed hands", to become raiders or pirates.  When Fesic had been in the Navy, he'd both protected and fired on ships of the class.  And while the ship's crew didn't seem to be using them, the ship had stealth systems, armor and other "special systems".  Still, Naval officers joined Mikah's call thanks to the port techs.

Mikah shared Fesic's information on the class, in case they'd not had records of their own on such ships.  The others listened to the talking heads while retired naval officers speculated that the Rumen had to have had a "tanker ship" or other fuel source leave Tremous Dex with them.  'So, one question was, what happened to that ship?'  If it wasn't floating out in the void dead, where did it end up?  Could it be hiding in Denotam's out-system?  "Officially", Mikah was told that the crew of that ship had signaled that they were fleeing the Tremous Dex system for reasons the Imperial navy chose not to make public at this time.  When she heard that they claimed to be fleeing, Mikah angrily snarled "No they're not!" and was ignored by the officer for the moment because he'd made it clear he was speculating.  He ignored her because it was clear she wasn't hearing his words.

Fesic correctly reminded Mikah they'd left a power vacuum in Tremous Dex when they jumped out.  So, it was possible the crew of the Rumen had come out near the losing end of that stick.  Or saw the end coming, and could well be fleeing the system before things got worse.  So, Mikah's opinion could be wrong as well as something only she believed.  Still, Fesic didn't care how Mikah felt, because he was mentally reviewing his kills shooting at that class of criminal while in the Navy.  Aiden also chimed in that he recalled ships of that class.  Both on friendlier terms and specifically remembering the actions of the Rumen during their stay in Dex.

With the growing wealth of knowledge Lady Mikah's crew seemed to have on the ship class, the commander on the screen stepped out of view for a bit before returning.  The commander then told them he'd been authorized to give them information which was not made public.  He then made it clear the data was classified Top Secret, and should be considered as "Secure and unsharable" under penalty of Imperial law.  When they all agreed, and most shrugged off the attempt the officer made to imply risk, the officer fixed those he could with a glare before continuing.  "Our scout ship was dispatched by Commodore Tindesu as he organized his flotilla to withdraw from the Tremous Dex system.  He took that action when a sizable naval force arrived under the flag of the Federation of Arden, who's commanding officer stated they were taking control of the Tremous Dex system."

To say the least, Mikah and her people were surprised, and some shocked.  When Mikah asked why the pirates came to Denotam, she was told they most likely didn't want to fight the Ardeni naval force.  The officer also said the Commodore had done well to pull his forces out, to prevent an accidental war between Arden and the Imperium.  When Mikah mocked that suggestion and said the Navy should collect and arrest the pirates, the officer reminded her there was no way they could have known the crew of the Upgrade would be in port to identify them.  Again, clearly missing the officer's point, Mikah doubled down on "His point".  She happily said she was outing them, and recommended their immediate arrest, suggesting the Navy scour the ship for evidence crew might have looted part of the ill-fated King George.

Smiling at some private thought, the officer said, "It sounds like you have a bit of a personal ax to grind here."  Not sensing the tone and direction the man's words were leading, Mikah happily barreled forward, saying, "Yes I do.  They tried to kill us!"  The man's smile widened a bit as he said, "OK.  Would you like to be part of the boarding party?"  When Mikah snapped "Yes!", those working in the port noted the smile and knew the officer had clearly gotten what he wanted.  And Mikah appeared entirely unaware.  Nodding as Mikah reacted, the officer told her she could include up to four of her people in the party, and they had to gear up and stand by for pickup.

The ball in her court, Mikah knew she was going along, but Zimzod wasn't as healed as she'd prefer.  So, Mikah first called Jocelynn and told her about the situation.  Jocelynn checked with the techs and they had the measurements the needed on some of the weapons and she could return the next morning for the rest.  And, they'd also get working on modifying the weapons she left behind.  Pleased, Jocelynn said she was in.  Mikah also told Aali she'd be coming along and she went through the same steps.  At that moment, Sekea poked his nose in to remind Mikah he had some of the skills that were required for the operation.  That annoyed her because Sekea knew full well Mikah knew what his abilities were.  So, she chose Fesic as the last member, in part to spite Sekea and hope he learned a lesson.  When Jocelynn asked, "Are we dressing up for this?" she was told, "Bring all the party favors you like."

Having heard her side of things, and seeing Jocelynn was leaving, the InstellArms manager connected her "sudden departure" with the mystery merchant ship.  After some very quick chatter, one of the lead InstellArms people stepped up while Jocelynn was getting out of their measuring rig.  Getting Jocelynn's attention, the tech leader said, "If you'd be interested, we can authorize you to act as an advance agent, and make some cash for herself."  Confused, Jocelynn asked the woman what she was talking about?  She answered that they could give her pay vouchers to offer the crew of the incoming ship - if they'd lay down and turn over all their small arms.  That something new to Jocelynn!  She'd heard stories where InstellArms reps had pulled off landings in the middle of pitched battles to offer the side clearly losing money for their weapons after they'd actually lost the battle.  But, this was new!

When Jocelynn asked for more of an explanation, she was told they would give her three electronic vouchers.  All she had to do was get the pirates to negotiate and sign a voucher and she'd get a percentage of that voucher.  It would also signal a de facto surrender on the part of the pirates, since they'd just agreed to sell off their weapons.  When Jocelynn mentioned the idea to Mikah, she caught on to one fact.  InstellArms did their best to move on the "Losing" side to buy their gear.  So, as far was Mikah was concerned, that would grind in the fact they'd lost with her metaphoric stiletto heels.  She could only go one step further by ordering a delivery from Astroburgers, famous for landing in the middle of active battles to deliver orders to embattled combatants.  Mikah smiled while imagining an Astroburgers delivery with notes saying, "We hope this softens the blow of being beaten again.  Welcome to Denotam's best prisons."

Jocelynn was annoyed at how the InstellArms people had figured things out, but the pieces were there.  It was likely even Terin could have figured this out, and even...stars forbid....Munarshu too.  And, since there was no longer a secret to hide, Jocelynn agreed and started wondering how she'd get the first word in before the Navy pukes?  After she agreed, Jocelynn was given three vouchers valued at five, ten and 25 thousand credits.  She was told to offer the five K voucher first, and work her way up to the third item.  Jocelynn's "paycheck" would be 10% of the voucher they signed.  She was also told to record the conversation for legal proof she got them to sign and the weapons belonged to InstellArms.  Also proving she'd tried to sell each of the vouchers to the pirates.  So, she couldn't simply offer the 25 K voucher first.

With the decisions made, naval cars picked up the four crew members and their gear.  Jocelynn was able to pick up her battledress and take those weapons InstellArms had finished working on.  Not her normal load out, she was still a one-person wrecking crew, as Zimzod would be once his battledress was done.  Gathered in a mission briefing room, a marine officer posted an image on the board of the standard deck plans of the Rumen.  Thanks to recent activities, they had good reason to believe the ship had not been modified to change that.  They were also told they'd be augmented by a fire team of marines in Battledress, armed with gauss rifles and secondary weapons.

The first briefing covered the interior of the ship, most of which was on the upper deck.  A lower deck held a stateroom, modest common spaces and fueling.  Above decks, they saw the bulk of the staterooms, crew spaces and operational spaces.  While there was only one air-lock, the cargo bay had loading access through a belt from outside the ship.  There were also several hatches which could be used if one was in a depressurized space and vacc suit.  The plan was to intercept the craft with a number of armed cutters.  While the other craft would be overwatch, and protect them against an operator on the ship's hull, their cutter would continue in and dock with the trader.

Approach warnings would flood the Rumen, demanding all crew make themselves present and unarmed in the common space just inside the air-lock.  The naval and marine elements met with Mikah's people in the base before they lifted, to discuss the plans for after the cutter docked.  That insured everyone knew the plans before they launched.  Nominally, they would be placed "under the command" of a Lieutenant, but Mikah was told she'd be permitted to announce herself first, along with reminding the pirates of her crew's recent experiences in Tremous Dex.  It was an obvious ploy of the Naval Commander that the presence of Mikah's crew on that interceptor would smash the morale of any pirate hold outs.  If not, the civilians would be a "combat cushion" as naval people moved in.

Mikah was all for getting the first insult in, and kicking the pirates while they were down.  Realizing they'd get to speak before the navy officer, Jocelynn was deciding her "job" for InstellArms may be something she could do after all."  And, being up front, she'd likely claim first blood if the pirates were as stupid as she thought they were.  Still, Jocelynn had issues with them all coming in through the air-lock in a controlled location.  She described how the pirates could turn the space into a kill box if they wanted to get their pound of flesh before their certain impending death.  She pointed to doors, hatches and IRIS valves that could be used as barricade cover to protect pirates firing whatever they could make ready.

Jocelynn spoke for the "official" good of her people but also considered the Marines they'd be working with as she recalled Zimzod's stupid charges into fire.  Jocelynn also gave a nod to the navy pukes, saying it was good they'd have overwatch.  That was because the hatch from the upper to lower deck wasn't visible from the common area.  So, they could move people below decks out of sight and then cycle them out onto the ship's hull using hatches below decks.  The work would obviously be heard on such a small ship, but it couldn't be monitored except from the outside gunners.  So, they'd be tasked with both singing out about any activity they saw and picking off anyone trying to escape the ship that way.  Again, Jocelynn privately hoped they'd actually fire instead of just saying "I see someone".  Those thoughts were based on Terin's actions on Tremous Dex, even though the fool hadn't even said he saw anyone!

Jocelynn's comment reminded Mikah to remind Fesic and Aali that Jocelynn was their "Combat commander" on this operation.  While she had no control of the Imperial marines, she was their ranking officer for the boarding.  Fesic then asked if they wanted to bring a breaching charge, and Jocelynn said he can bring one if he wanted.  She reminded him their role was to break the morale of the pirates.  So, if some pirates held up in a compartment, that would be the marine's problem.  Not the crew's.  It was also clear the marines would bring at least one with them, so Fesic decided not to bring his charge.  He armed himself with his snub pistol and blade.

Aiden had been left behind at InstellArms, working with their techs.  He made sure they kept a vid up and covering events.  That wasn't an issue because InstellArms had a vested interest in the situation too.  Back in the berth, the rest of the crew kept close watch on events and even had a feed granted from the port.  So, it wasn't live from the naval base, but it was close enough to track ship movements.  While they watched, the news on the Rumen was eventually updated publicly.

    Denotam (B739573-A  N  Ni  G  324  Im  M2 V)                                                                                     Date: 052-1114
    In a released statement today, Denotam Naval Command have updated information released earlier regarding an
    unflagged trading vessel which emerged from jump while signaling distress.  The statement revealed the vessel
    was, in fact, a known pirate craft operating out of bases including the Tremous Dex system.  This was the
    reason for swift naval reaction to intercept and interrogate the crew.  The port and base administration
    would like all viewers to know there is no danger to shipping and orbital operations in-system.  What was
    more important was the message that ship carried.

    Adding a level of concern and importance to this story, TAS was made aware the crew of the pirate craft had
    attempted to pose as an unflagged trader while fleeing a force of Ardeni naval ships, which had entered into
    the Tremous Dex system!  This was corroborated by the ISS Vihalyu Haye.  That courier had been ordered to carry
    word of the Ardeni invasion to Denotam naval commands.  The data carried by the Scout vessel additionally
    said the Arden flagship broadcast had stated the Federation of Arden was "taking control" of the system!
    It is hoped Commodore Tindesu either withdrew his forces or maintained station without sparking any conflict.
    Word on the results of the Ardeni invasion are expected in the next two or three weeks.  By that time, command
    in the Extolay system will have debriefed any messenger crew or the Commodore himself.  That will allow them
    to release word to the public.

    Following this information, the Admiralty have stated there is no chance at all of hostile action which might
    affect Imperial systems.  Sector and Subsector commands had been aware of, and monitoring the recent Ardeni
    expansion, and this move was not unexpected.  Still, the Admiralty assured those in-system the situation in
    the Denotam command region was entirely secure.                 

The plan they'd laid out was for Jocelynn to lead the way across the boarding passage to the Rumen's air-lock.  She'd then try to tap into the ship's comms and announce just who was waiting at the door.  She'd have the option to make her offers from InstellArms while she was expected to call for the pirate crew's surrender.  Since Jocelynn had told Mikah about the InstellArms deal, Mikah said she could lead with that.  "But!"  Mikah wanted to deliver the announcement she and her crew were knocking on the door with Imperial forces at her command.  In the end, she decided she and Mikah would move across the boarding corridor while Fesic and Aali stood by to either cover their retreat or react to try for a recovery.

In the end, their pilot matched vee and saw the ship had already extended a docking passage as they pulled alongside.  So, they were either playing nice or had something else planned.  Jocelynn moved up and used the same wording she'd used on countless customs boardings to wire into the Rumen's comms system.  She then announced, "Greetings spacers.  Before I formally introduce Lady Mikah Kirlim, and since you're gonna lose anyway, I've been authorized to offer you payment for all the small arms aboard your vessel.  This includes general ship's stores and personal weapons.  And, before you answer, remember you really will need Imperial money that isn't seized by the navy to help pay for your defense."  With that, Jocelynn let Mikah have the comms.

Before Mikah could speak, the voice of a Jagthon Stalegman came over the comms.  He claimed to be the ship's Captain and primary trading officer.  The man also claimed to have the ranks legitimately, and to have come to it after leaving the IISS.  He also claimed they were fleeing their invaded home system and hoping to establish a new home base in the Imperium.  Jocelynn introduced herself to him using all her titles, and said, "Before I introduce you to my Captain, Dame Lady Mikah Kirlim of the Imperium, I have a quick offer for you."  With that, Jocelynn explained the InstellArms offer while only telling them about the Cr 5,000 voucher.  Not pleased, "Captain" Stalegman said he'd hoped for a more hospitable welcome given they were fleeing invaders and were also Imperial citizens.

Jocelynn only shook her head and reminded the pirates who she and Mikah, and the Upgrade were.  And, how events had worked out in Tremous Dex the last time they met?  Past that, she said she could up the offer to Cr 10,000.  While Mikah wasn't happy Jocelynn got to deliver that bit of information, she knew it couldn't be helped and shrugged it off.  Of course, the effect on "Captain" Stalegman's morale was noticeable.  So much so, Mikah and Jocelynn had to work to not laugh outright.  When Jocelynn continued, "I find it a real big coincidence that we're both here." the "Captain claimed, "I have something that may change the conversation slightly."  When the others paused, he continued, "While fleeing Tremous Dex, I managed to liberate four survivors from the King George, who were being held by another ship's crew.

When Jocelynn's first inclination was to gather more information, Mikah prodded her to make her third offer and make sure they knew it would be a final offer.  Nodding, Jocelynn answered, "Be that as it may, InstellArms figures your about to be crushed and they are willing to make a final offer of Cr 25,000."  Her tone was deadly serious and she also reminded them they were about to be crushed to a man if they didn't surrender anyway.  Realizing she was right and he had no more cards to even try, the Captain said they'd lay down arms.  During what turned into a surrender plea, they even reset the comms so Mikah and Jocelynn could see four women who seemed to have been badly treated and beaten.  And, who's clothing were almost rags.  The looks on their faces were despondent and uncertain if they'd survive the next moments much less the flight.

The only surrender condition asked for was that there'd be no shooting when Imperial forces entered their ship.  For the first time, Mikah spoke to the pirate crew, saying, "We won't take the first shot."  Her emphasis on the word 'first' made it clear she and her's were perfectly happy ending any fight the pirates chose to start.  Mikah's conditions were that the pirates lay down all arms and hand over the survivors before any more negotiations.

Mikah and Jocelynn were very briefly dazzled as the video from the ship split into a large number of smaller sub-images.  In those images, they tried to track as all the people in the compartments moved out of one view and into the view from the crew common space.  Briefly showing empty spaces, the videos from the emptied compartments flickered out, until there were only vid-windows showing all the crew in the lounge, all the "survivors" in another compartment, and two connecting compartments leading from the lounge to where the survivors were secured in their squalor.  Finally, the outer air-lock of the Rumen opened in invitation.  Over her link with the marines, the Naval Lieutenant asked, "Why are you people so weird?"

Without waiting for an answer, the officer ordered his marines to board and secure the ship.  Still, Mikah answered, "What do you mean, 'So weird'?"  The officer asked, "What's with the sales program?  All you had to do was tell them to surrender or they'd get shot."  Mikah admitted she hadn't been prepared for the sales thing, but they surrendered.  To which, Jocelynn added, "By the way, here is the legal evidence that all the small arms on the ship belong to InstellArms."  The Lieutenant only shook his armored head and started reacting to the call outs of "Clear" or "suspect in custody" from his team.  Making sure to make things official, Jocelynn slipped aboard and made a Marine uncuff the "captain" so he could digitally sign the voucher.  She then stuffed the voucher into one of the captain's chest pockets and made it clear to the Lieutenant it was to be honored.

While Jocelynn did that, Mikah moved on, into the compartment where the women were sitting.  They reacted with fear, seeing someone armed and in unmarked combat armor move into the space in an aggressive stride.  Mikah's view of them, quickly shifting through various modes, showed women who'd suffered badly.  She could see they'd been badly beaten and bruised and bet herself there were some broken bones her med-scan would turn up.  And, she was certain there had been sexual and other assaults which she'd find written into their damaged tissue when more scans were done.  Willing to bet the pirates they were arresting had been involved, that would depend on an investigation.

Defiantly, one of the women rose as Mikah made it clear she was holstering her weapons and announced this was a rescue.  The now standing woman stayed standing, but slumped a bit while saying, "I destroyed my Ident when I realized we were to be taken prisoner.  I am Lady Aadshur Kurdig Maur Ishnush Agka from Lanth."  That one caught Mikah flat, and she had no immediate words to respond with.  The woman continued, "I demand personal security, safe transport and treatment for these women.  We have been treated brutally, and will all need proper medical treatment and disease testing.  I demand this as a Lady of the Court of the Duchy of Lanth."  Having caught her mind up, Mikah answered, "I, Dame Lady Mikah Kirlim of the Court of the Domain of Deneb, and Captain of the IMV Upgrade hear your demand and will see it done."  Mikah's words were soft but her intent was steel, and she could see a slight flinch as Lady Aadshur realized just who she was facing.

The surprise quickly faded and Lady Aadshur actually took a knee before Mikah while also taking her hand before thanking Mikah for her promise of protection.  Behind her, one of the women was sobbing softly and being comforted by another of the women.  Very embarrassed by the display of servitude, Mikah urged Lady Aadshur to stand up and told her there would be no need for ceremony in the situation.  Done in the other compartment, Jocelynn walked in on this scene and joked, "Oh, honey do you have the wrong lady." as she laughed.  Mikah agreed, "Yeah, you do." as she tried to help Lady Aadshur up.

Mikah then promised them all the best medical care available, along with whatever therapeutic care was needed, and promised to get them all home.  When Jocelynn asked, she learned they were not all from Lanth.  In fact, only Lady Aadshur was.  The others, in fact, worked for the cruise line and came from various worlds.  Before they could move the women off the ship, the Lieutenant came into the compartment and, in a dismissive tone, said, "OK.  You bought the weapons for InstellArms.  You have them come in and clean up the place."  Jocelynn only nodded at him and said "Good" in an equally dismissive tone.  Hearing the exchange, Mikah told Jocelynn to call InstellArms and get them to clean up.

Jocelynn called InstellArms and they said they'd get the clearances and get a crew out to the trader quickly, so it was out of Jocelynn's hands.  At the same time, they told her they'd bump her the Cr 2,500 immediately.  After another short time working to organize things aboard the captured ship, Mikah got a call from the naval base commander asking her to explain what was happening aboard that ship?  He didn't look pleased and his tone was firm.  Mikah pointed out that Dame Jocelynn had been with InstellArms techs when the situation developed and she was called to join in.  Mikah explained that they'd put the puzzle together on their own and did what the Mega Corporation did.  About that time, they heard the ship's cargo bay was filled with hull sections chopped from another ship, which it seemed they'd planned to use as trade goods.

When Mikah shrugged and told him that was all the corporation knew, the officer told her he was sending out another troop ship with even more marines.  He told Mikah he'd told his Lieutenant to block anyone from the InstellArms cutter already on its way, until the added marines were aboard.  He also wanted Mikah to present the purchase order to the Lieutenant, so he and the marines knew exactly what the corporation owned and what they didn't.  Only then would the InstellArms people be let aboard.  Mikah only shrugged and told him the purchase order was on a chip in the chest pocket of the Rumen's captain.  That meant that was out of her hands, and Mikah was ready to wash her hands of the episode except where the four surviving women were involved.

When Mikah firmly made it clear she was demanding care and transport for the women, the officer nodded and said he'd have the role of the original cutter they'd been aboard changed.  He would task that as a medical recovery ship, and Mikah could move the women aboard that and begin treatment.  That ship would then burn back to Denotam Prime so the women could be moved to medical facilities there.  Jocelynn considered staying to watch what the InstellArms people picked up but realized she'd just be in the way.  Not just being treated like an obstacle by the InstellArms people, but by the marines tasked to watch the weapon collectors.  On top of that, she'd have to wait and return to the base with the first boat of returning marines.  Or, the first boat she was allowed to board.  And, the Lieutenant might make her wait just because he could.

Speculation And Dead Ends
     So, Fesic, Jocelynn and Aali helped Mikah move the women along with the demanded help of a number of marines.  The Lieutenant allowed that because he'd been told about Lady Aadshur, and been ordered to insure Her Ladyship had everything she and her people needed to move the survivors and comfort them.  Thanks to Mikah's orders, all the marines were moved out of the cutter leaving behind any medical supplies they felt they could spare.  Apologizing for the direct and blunt nature of her question, Mikah asked each of the women if they'd been assaulted sexually, especially by members of the Rumen's crew?  And, each one admitted they had been assaulted.  In some cases by more than one of the men aboard Rumen during and before the jump.  Mikah took those notes and reported them to the naval officers, to be added as charges the crew would face.  For the actions they'd taken or for allowing those actions to happen.

Lady Aadshur waited until Mikah had addressed each of the others before reciting a list of crimes they'd suffered since being captured.  She made it clear the crew of another ship captured them and provided a list of descriptions for men who'd been taken from the King George with them.  The Lady didn't know the name of that crew, but remembered being sold, as slaves, to the crew of the Rumen, because that ship had been in dock and not involved in raiding the wreck of the liner.  The Lady regretted not having the names of any of the men, but said it was apparent the first ship intended to take the men and some women to another world to sell as slaves there!

Mikah took notes, especially when she was told the first ship sold survivors off to other ships to sell as slaves locally or in other systems.  That couldn't be acted on until Imperial diplomats got access to the new Arden-based government of Tremous Dex and got permission to investigate those claims.  One thing the Imperial Navy could do with the data was to send flotillas hunting the systems neighboring Tremous Dex, to see if they could find the trails of any ships which had fled from the system.  They could then start the detective work to see if they could find any trace of unfortunate Imperial survivors from the liner.  But, that would easily take months if not years.

The more she heard, the more incensed Aali became.  Eventually, she stepped close to the Lieutenant and asked if his crew "needed" all of the pirates?  When the officer asked what she had in mind, Aali did her best, in other words, to suggest they space a few of them to save the military courts time.  The Lieutenant was insulted by the suggestion he would allow anyone to interrupt the proper flow of justice!  He told Aali he wouldn't be surrendering any of his prisoners.  He also said directly that he'd also arrest anyone who tried to act as a vigilante and pretend they were judge, jury and executioner.  His glare made it very clear he held Aali in that regard.  All he held back on was daring her to try him.

Soon enough, Mikah told the flight officers of their cutter they could break dock and return to the naval base.  She turned away as the man confirmed her orders with his commanders.  Mikah was well on her way to the surviving women to begin treatment as the ship broke dock and began firing jets to move away from the Rumen.  Mikah also got on her comms and said they'd been dealing with a situation aboard and would explain later, but were providing medical treatment.  Done with that, Mikah began with basic med-scans while a marine held aboard to act as the craft's steward stood ready to get Mikah anything she needed from the medical stores aboard.  One advantage was that the rations aboard were likely better quality food than they'd had recently, so there would be no complaints about the food.

Mikah's scans showed the details behind the battered and bruised appearances.  Minor or even more than minor bone breaks such as ribs, finger bones, etc. showed up.  Malnourishment was apparent, alongside evidence of sexual assault.  The reports showed that none of the four were pregnant, which was a positive.  While that happened in the "foreground", the marine got up the nerve to ask Jocelynn, "Excuse me My Lady, do you actually work for InstellArms too?"  Jocelynn was confused by the woman's use of her title and the question, and asked, "Who?"  The marine said it appeared she worked for Lady Mikah "and" InstellArms, based on her actions boarding the pirate.  Jocelynn pointed out that she didn't work for InstellArms.  She explained the chance came up for them to make her a short-term agent.  Doubling down on that, Jocelynn finished with, "Very short term."

In the conversation, as Mikah worked to treat the women, they locked down that Lady Aadshur felt there were between ten and twenty other survivors they'd been with on the first pirate ship.  Aadshur wasn't sure why they'd been "kept" for trade in-system, but she'd lied about being a worker from the liner.  She'd also claimed that she'd dropped all her Ident-data during the explosions.  And, when the pirates accepted that, she kept her head down and tried not to get hurt any more.  Jocelynn asked if there might be other survivors on the Rumen, but Aadshur was certain all the others on the ship were pirates.  Even the ones they filled their low berths with.

There were medical and support teams waiting when the cutter landed, and vehicles to shift the survivors to the base medical services.  When Asked, Mikah confirmed she would be going with the women.  Jocelynn, Fesic and Aali returned to the berth and the three set up servicing and recharging their suits and gear.  While they worked, Fesic, and then the others, told the rest of the crew what had happened with the pirates and let them know there were survivors of the King George, recovered and 'in the wind'.  When she felt hungry during the work, Jocelynn 'made' Fesic make them all a snack.  With time passing, Sekea ignored the fact that Mikah had an entire medical staff working with her, and called to ask if he was needed as a nurse?  As had been done many many times, Mikah said she did not need him and was surrounded by an entire hospital.

Still watching a vid which would be interrupted by system news, they were listening when the Imperial Navy released a more complete description of the incident.  The crew were pleased when the report said "various Naval and Imperial forces" had intercepted the pirates and were dealing with the ship's crew.  No one wanted to be 'top of vid' media targets.  The report also did not include or suggest any information on the survivors or involvement of the King George.  TAS did reveal they'd dispatched a number of courier craft to the Tremous Dex system, in hopes of covering the events as the Federation of Arden took hold of the system.  The hopes were that they could more completely report on events in Tremous Dex in two weeks' time.  At the same time, talking heads speculated on the scattering of pirates from the system, and guessed at small-time raiding and any other actions which might follow.

Jocelynn suggested it wasn't surprising Arden moved in on Tremous Dex, because they'd been expanding slowly already.  Especially when there were more advanced ship yards in Dex than Arden already had access to.  Aali also mentioned the power vacuum they'd left behind when they jumped from the system nearly two months before.  Added to that had been the arrival of the Imperial task force just more than two weeks after they'd left.  That meant the pirates had little time to consolidate any looting of the King George and fight for top dog before the navy ships arrived.  So, the best bet was they'd been forced to settle into positions while trying not to lose ground thanks to the Imperial flotilla.

Fesic said he was surprised because he thought the Ardeni would be too busy consolidating their new government after Captain Yur Cooper carried out his coup.  When Jocelynn said the move was likely prompted by the new government, Fesic said it would have been an awfully fast move for the new regime.  They kept debating the subject for a bit before their interest faded out.  They, at least, had left Arden under favorable terms with the locals so this wasn't an issue for them.  Fesic snarked they might be able to start buying "Ardeni Awesome Sauce" in Tremous Dex if the new regime imported it.  Mikah reminded the others how bad it tasted and suggested they tell Clan Glas where to get it and leave it to them.

Jocelynn's mind was still on the missing Imperials from the King George, but Mikah pointed out that they didn't even have the ship names.  And, it wasn't like they could ask the crew of the Rumen, because they'd been sold by the ship the Rumen's crew had gotten the four women from.  That meant they'd have to get the name of that first ship, then go back to Tremous Dex and hope they could find the trail of that ship, to eventually question that crew.  And Aali added that the new management might have scrambled any records that might have been kept by the locals.  Even identifying and following that first ship was be a serious chore.  So, the odds were they weren't going after the lost people.  Still, the chatter continued until the crew faded for the night.

    Monday, 053-1114:
Finding Unique Passengers
     When she woke, Jocelynn called the naval base to try and reach the person in charge of the continuing investigation of the Rumen and her crew.  She learned there were various officers in charge of different parts, but the crew had been imprisoned and were waiting to be charged.  The popsicles in the low berths were being defrosted before they could be identified so actions could be taken against them.  And the ship had been seized by the Navy and would be auctioned off.  It was all very standard and the officer Jocelynn reached wondered how he could help her Ladyship?  After Jocelynn told him about the other Imperial survivors, she suggested the hunt for them might be a needle in a hay stack but hoped something could be done to find them.

The officer nodded and said it was perhaps not as big a hay stack as Jocelynn might think.  That surprised Jocelynn, and the officer reminded her naval intelligence had been watching the Tremous Dex system quite heavily.  And, after they got even ship descriptions and no more, they could start working on identifying the ships involved and see what data command had on their trading and other habits.  He added there were few systems that would risk trading in Imperial citizens in the sector, so there were places they could start their investigations.  Added to that, there were people paid in non-Imperial ports to simply collect ship names and tail numbers.  So, if they could identify or describe the ships in question, it would take some time.  Weeks at least, possibly months or years, but they just might be able to track down those still alive.

He also guessed that Commodore Tindesu ordered a number of scout craft to the outer system when the Ardeni forces arrived, to observe and wait for orders.  He was also certain ships in the Commodore's flotilla had been watching "every" ship in the system from the moment they arrived.  So, if the original ship the survivors described had been in system when the Imperial force arrived, they'd have "some data" on it.  And, if it stayed in-system until, or even after, the fleet from Arden arrived, there would be even more data on that ship and any stations or ships they may have dealt with.  Even a listing of which ships had dealt with any station the primary ship visited might tell them which ships to look for in other destination systems.  Sadly, the man's tone suggested the Imperial Navy had enough experience with this in the past to improve their chances to recover others now.

Because the flotilla had been dispatched from Extolay, the decisions would be made there, or forwarded to Regina command to handle.  Checking his calendar file, the officer guessed the Commodore might even be in an office being debriefed in the Extolay Naval base at that very moment.  He continued that much of what happened next would depend on when they could make diplomatic connections with the new administration in Tremous Dex and what cooperation and records they'd find if any?  Not to mention any data the couriers could provide.  In the end, he thanked Jocelynn for the information and the line was broken as she went about her morning.

With the Imperial machinery in gear, Mikah had been told the word would be spread that Lady Aadshur and the other three women were alive, recovering and would soon begin returning to their homes.  After the women were settled, and given there was a whole hospital to care for them, Mikah was driven back to the berth in a ground car and got her sleep for the night.  Still, she was up early as Jocelynn, Aali and Aiden prepared to return to InstellArms to finish the work on their gear.  Mikah still woke early, and planned to go back to the hospital and sit with Lady Aadshur and the others, to see if the women could provide any small bits of recollection they'd not mentioned the night before?

The hospital staff were friendly and welcoming even if Mikah was "an extra piece" and had to be worked around.  But, she was properly qualified and outclassed more than a few people so the adjustments were made.  And, Mikah specifically wanted to work with the survivors, and could certainly help there.  When she got to the room assigned to Lady Aadshur, Mikah found the women also had questions for her too.  The first was how Lady Mikah and her crew found themselves in both Tremous Dex and Denotam at times that fit into the events she and the others had suffered?  She was also concerned what relationship existed between Mikah's crew and the pirates, which led to the navy stepping aside to let Mikah's crew handle the situation with them?

Despite the woman's obvious concerns, Mikah laughed and said it was a long story before asking Aadshur if she really wanted to hear it?  When the Lady said she did, Mikah gave her a digest version and cut out things like the Arch Duke's involvement, classified bits and any mention of a "mission" to Arden.  Mikah did play up the fact they'd helped the government of Arden re-align themselves with the Imperium, and away from the Zhodani.  But Mikah didn't mention the word 'coup' or dip into any of the unpleasantness on that world.  She just suggested it came up in the course of their merchant work and they helped where they could.  All nice and proper.

Since Mikah was open about being on-world longer because they were having "work done" on the Upgrade, Aadshur asked what her crew planned to do next, once the ship was returned?  Mikah told her they'd planned to jump to the Ghandi system next, and then Lanth.  She didn't mention her further plans to Aadshur, and kept Sonthert a secret.  Mikah did say they had some "responsibilities" to handle after leaving Lanth, and planned to end up in the D'Ganzio system after that.  But, Mikah made it clear their schedule was largely their own and they could shift things about, or even delay them to spend more time in various systems.

Nodding, Lady Aadshur told Mikah the naval base command had already sent messages out to their families and other important contact that they were alive and being treated.  Later in that day, there would be a formal press conference in which their rescues would be made public.  She then asked if Mikah's ship could provide the service to charter a passenger to Lanth, so she could return to her home?  Mikah had hoped that ask wouldn't come, and did her best to diplomatically suggest that riding with a shipload of troubleshooters might not be the safe ride she hoped for.  Still, Mikah did say they could carry Her Ladyship back to Lanth, and that she'd be welcomed if she simply chose to charter them.

Having some understanding of the forces that might play with Lady Mikah's schedule, Lady Aadshur nodded and suggested the passage be written so they could bring her to Ghandi.  If events there changed her plans, the clauses in the passage would let Lady Aadshur book passage aboard another ship if needed.  But, the passage could also stay intact if there were no issues getting through their business in Ghandi.  Her Ladyship also accepted that she'd likely have to book a room in the Ghandi system while the ship underwent resets.  When they signed the two-jump deal, that would earn the ship Cr 20,000 in passage fees, Mikah knew Lady Aadshur would have to be designated 1 dTon of cargo space.  Mikah would also have to assign someone as the steward serving Her Ladyship.

At the hospital, Mikah made her case to be the dedicated physician assigned to the four survivors.  When Mikah also started looking into setting up transport and payments for the other three women, she learned they were all employees of the Asiigku Kukud lines, which operated the IMS King George.  Because of that, and due to the special circumstances, it was expected Asiigku Kukud lines would pay for any costs or transport needed, as well as insuring the women received all back pay for the time involved.  Because the line had offices in the Regina system, that reaction was expected just beyond a month from then.  Still, other transport lines with offices on Denotam were reacting as if this was done, because they'd want their employees treated the same.

While Mikah worked with the survivors, Jocelynn, Aali and Aiden had to return to InstellArms to complete things that didn't get done the night before.  Then, they could get into the remaining work which had been scheduled for the morning.  Before selecting one of her projects to settle into, Colinne decided to step outside the parkbay and try to sense any dangers.  Deciding to scan a wide area for any possible future threats, Colinne widened her mind and let her shields fall.  The cost to her senses was heavy, but she was just able to feel the hint that "something bad" might happen within the area of her scan "soon", which would not involve the crew.  That didn't mean what wouldn't "affect" her crew, but not something direct.

Colinne was left standing there wondering what to do with that knowledge?  If she told almost everyone, there was nothing "real" to warn them of, no evidence to back it up and her only answer would be to out herself and her powers.  So, she could only really tell Mikah, Zimzod or Jocelynn, and she had nothing but a vague "sensation" to report.  In the end, she decided to go to Zimzod and explain her vague sensation to him.  When she found him, Zimzod was involved in physical therapy.  Getting his attention, Colinne did her best to explain the vague cloud she sensed on the starport's horizon."  Zimzod could only tell her to keep a mental eye out for more information while agreeing there was no one they could tell.  And nothing they could tell anyone about.

Without anything else planned, Colinne considered her options and knew she could try to pull out "all the stops" and reach for a vision.  She had to admit she'd almost never succeeded in seeing one.  She also knew she'd likely drain most of what was left in her tank.  And she'd have to spend a day and a half not using her psi-talents to recover from what she'd done so far.  Still, after more thought, Colinne decided to give it a try.  Sadly, she only ended up with a splitting headache after an hour.  Pulling back on that, Colinne grabbed some meds and meditated, hoping the pain would fade away.

After his morning routine, Fesic had breakfast before going to the gym.  He planned to take breaks between longer than normal workouts for much of the morning.  In the afternoon he planned to work on his lock pick studies.  That would at least keep him out of the berth and in more open spaces than a starship.  Soon enough, they'd be back in the can.  Before going to InstellArms that afternoon, Sekea worked on his forgery skills and Zimzod spent some hours digging into the news for updates on anything from his home world.  Sadly, Zimzod only found older news and "lots" of commentary.  None of that had any new information, while he found lots of supposition what he might do, or talk Mikah and the crew into?  Zimzod admitted to himself he'd love to rush back to his homeworld to settle things down, but they had plans in the Sonthert system first.

Shopping And Shooting
     After everyone had lunch at InstellArms, the berth and the hospital, Mikah worked with the ladies when a Lieutenant approached.  Getting Mikah's attention, the officer asked Mikah if she had the time to talk with Lt. Commander Galairli Asa Dunulik?  When Mikah agreed, she was led into what looked like an empty office where she was invited to sit.  While she did, the officer connected a device to the rooms comms.  When the comms came up, Mikah could see a box around the vid which showed the system had been encrypted to the level of military security, which was quite a trick.  Seeing her react, the officer said the encryption was only matched by the two linked systems and there was no risk of intrusion.

After the Lieutenant connected her to the Commander, the man also introduced himself before getting into things.  He first thanked Mikah for her help in the Rumen affair.  And for getting involved in the situation regarding Lady Aadshur.  After Mikah nodded and accepted his thanks, he told her there was more information she could now be told about the situation.  First, he explained that the Rumen had five or six different vessel identities in her variable transponder.  Mikah didn't comment on the fact that variable transponders meant an automatic conviction for piracy on discovery.

This one had six different ID's, all of which were found in records showing the vessel to have taken part in pirate attacks in Imperial space over the past ten years.  Mikah only nodded and said she wasn't surprised.  Ironically, some of those attacks were carried out with Smiljan as captain.  That meant there were a number of bounties which added up, and Mikah's crew were due a percentage of that total.  Mikah cheered that even before she was told she and her crew were to share KCr 600!  The Commander also told her part of that bounty was because the chopped up hull sections the Rumen had carried were confirmed from the MV Krama Vjera, which records showed they'd engaged and crippled on entry into the Tremous Dex system.  That accounted for KCr 100 of the bounty.

When he was ready to thank her for the actions of her crew, Mikah said, "When they arrived in Denotam space, the acting captain of the Rumen claimed he was a former Imperial Scout.  I wonder if the Imperial courts will be willing to treat him as a traitor and act accordingly?"  The Commander considered Mikah's words but reminded her the man was already marked as a pirate, and one which Imperial intelligence had a dossier on.  Under multiple names.  Because of that, he felt the courts wouldn't treat him as anything more thana future corpse, because that was where piracy led in the Imperium.  Mikah only nodded and said "OK" because she was good with that.  After that, the commander cut the line and the Lieutenant led her back to the survivor's treatment suite.

After getting an electronic notification the payment hit the ship's account, Mikah decided to hold onto the secret until she got back to the berth.  At the berth, Sekea and Zimzod left for InstellArms, to work on their weapons.  There was also some overlap with Jocelynn and Aali.  That was because they'd left for the adventure in space the night before.  Aiden had waited until the others arrived and exchanged greetings before going back to the berth.  His weapons, like Jocelynn's and Aali's, would be delivered the next day.  Like Jocelynn, Aali had Emkir's ring resized so she could wear it when not working in engineering.  After Aali got back to the berth, changed and cleaned up, she felt like she wanted to go for a walk.  Colinne, who'd recovered from her headache, left her bedroom wanting to "do something".  She decided to go wandering with Aali.

At the hospital, the women only needed continuing out-patient care, so they could leave if they wanted to take offered temporary quarters.  The Navy also set up a plan with all the local merchants that anything they wanted or needed would be paid for, to a limit, by the navy for the moment.  And none of the women had anything but the pajamas they'd been given when their rags had been removed.  When Mikah heard that, she was also told the merchanter women were already preparing to move to corporate employee space on the starport.  Given that, Mikah offered Lady Aadshur a bedroom and space in their berth.  She also offered the idea they could escort her through the port and other spaces on a shopping trip.

When Lady Aadshur agreed to that, the navy loaned her a "fitting" vacc suit and said they'd have the prescribed food plan delivered to the berth.  They also told all the ladies and Mikah they planned to make an announcement about mid-afternoon making the recovery of four King George survivors public.  Until then, Lady Aadshur would just be someone shopping with Lady Mikah and her people, who was granted special consideration by the navy.  Mikah suggested they make the shopping trip a quick one, before the reporters start following them around.  After that, Her Ladyship could relax in the protection of the berth.  When they got back to the berth, they found Aali and Colinne were about to go out wandering.  Mikah introduced the two women to Lady Aadshur and said they could accompany them and go shopping.  Mikah also told Aadshur her crew were very informal and asked if they could call her "Aadi"?

Aadshur said she wished they wouldn't, but said her full name was "Aadshur Kurdig Maur Ishnush Agk", so they could call her "Maur".  When they started out, Mikah commented about missing the reporters and Aali remembered the fiasco Emkir had caused on the Rhylanor downport decks.  While they were out shopping, Aiden got back to the berth from InstellArms and grabbed lunch.  After that, he selected one of the digital books he owned and sat to relax and read.  Jocelynn also returned, and was pleased to have the resized ring on her finger.  Back at the berth with her new drones, Jocelynn borrowed four comm dots from Aiden and spent the afternoon re-programming them to talk to her mux.  She then installed one each into her four drones.

During the shopping run, Maur was "not impressed" with much of what was on offer.  Mikah did her best to hide her amusement while agreeing the system was nothing close to haute couture.  When they started joking that it could have been Arden, Mikah said, "Or, it could be Jae Tellona".  Still, they wandered the different sealed buildings until, at a point, they suddenly heard the stuttering pops of small arms fire!  At the same time, Colinne felt a brief sense of "not-exactly Déjà vu".  Mikah and Aali said it was time to return to the berth just as Colinne started feeling the pieces fit into place from her earlier vision.

With the gunfire, alarms start going off and one of them blared a warning to "Shelter in place".  Looking for shelter, the women ran for the closest of buildings housing shops.  They cycled the air-lock to enter one.  Moving to the back of the shop, they tried to join the workers hiding behind the counter.  Seeing them, the manager actually recognized Mikah and said, "I've seen you on the news!  Can I hire you to protect my store?"  Mikah rolled her eyes, because she just wanted to get Maur under cover.  Mikah said, "You don't have to hire me.  I'm protecting her.  And I can protect your store at the same time."  When the man agreed, Mikah told Maur to huddle behind the counter with the others.  Before she could do that, the man told Mikah they had a panic room.

With a rising tone of urgency, Mikah demanded, "Well, Let's go!"  Instead of leading all of them to the panic room, the man told his workers they had to stay out and defend the shop.  So, he was only willing to let Maur and Mikah into the room.  Disgusted with that, Mikah wanted to scream, but said, "Tell you what.  We're all armed."  As she said that, she drew her laser pistol and pointed to Aali's holstered snub pistol.  Mikah then told him to take Maur and all his workers into the panic room and she and her people would take care of the rest.  The man simply nodded and thanked Mikah before leading the others into the panic room and sealing it.  Shaking her head, Mikah had to wonder how often the clans made enough problems that the shop keepers had to have panic rooms?

Sealed in the room, the man got on a PA system to start telling Mikah what the most valuable things in the shop were, so she would protect those items specifically.  Mikah only rolled her eyes, raised her hands and ignored the man while moving to the air-lock, to prevent people getting into the store.  She snapped, "I don't care about your merchandise.  If anyone comes in here with a gun, they're gonna get shot.  OK?"  Hearing that, the man said he could work with that and quieted down.  With the man now quiet, the crew joked, "Let's steal his shit and run", and Mikah laughed.  Mikah then joked, "I forgot my pillow case." and got more laughs.

Colinne had her gauss pistol, and Mikah posted her by the panic room door, as a last defender.  Aali joked to her, "Anyone tries to get out of there, you know what to do." and the ladies again laughed.  Moving to the windows to look for danger, Aali was the first to see activity.  She nudged Mikah, who looked where the engineer was pointing.  In the distance, between buildings, they could see a couple of figures creeping around, holding what looked like bags of "loot".  Mikah couldn't help but think the bags didn't look much like pillow cases.  While they watched, the figures looked to be cowering behind cover as much as they could, periodically popping up to fire off in a direction to the right of the store.

They certainly weren't looking in the direction of the women or the building they were sealed inside.  Mikah had Aali move with her to the air-lock with the idea that if the baddies exposed themselves, she and Aali would open fire.  Aali asked if they wanted to call in what they could see.  Mikah agreed with that too.  But, Mikah first pointed out the criminals didn't know she and Aali existed, and had no cover from the women.  So, Mikah led the way through the air-lock as she told Aali, "Take out their legs."  Still, the combat distance for the pistol Mikah had was long, and she had to line up her shot.  While she did that, she told Aali to call port security and update them on the location and fact they were engaging apparent criminals.

Pulling the trigger on her first shot, Mikah hit the ground near the foot of one of the criminals.  The man hadn't been looking in her direction, and wasn't expecting the sudden burst of laser-heated steam exploding rock.  So, the crook assumed there was another team of security people in nearly the same direction as those they'd engaged and looked for the new comers along a widened battle line.  Especially since her laser didn't create a report, like a slug thrower would.  Neither of the crooks looked in Mikah's direction yet.  They did both crouch to assess the situation before moving, which made it harder for Mikah to nail a drumstick.

In the meantime, Aali had connected with port security and was dealing with the official questions they had started blathering about before she could get to the point.  At the same time, both Mikah and Aali regretted not having any long-barrel weapons to use, for accuracy over range.  That or Jocelynn's Battledress grenade launcher.  Mikah lined up her second shot while her targets were still in the open for her.  When Mikah carefully squeezed off her second shot, she was fairly certain she'd got her target in his right haunch and the man cried out and fell over.  While she wasn't sure he'd stay down, he was definitely hurting.  The man's buddy panicked, realizing "someone" had an angle on them and a sniper had joined the field.  That was an issue the pair didn't seem to count on, and the unwounded man just threw down his weapon, raised his hands and stood there in surrender.

Seeing that, Mikah kept her weapon raised while she heard Aali explaining that they'd shot one of the criminals and the other was surrendering.  Both women watched as port security moved in.  The advance team kept weapons on the men until they could survey the scene.  Then one of the security people shot the unwounded man in the head.  His body dropped like a sack of potatos and Mikah snapped, "Well, that was unnecessary." in an annoyed tone.  Aali just told the person she was speaking to that the situation seemed to be resolved and cut her call.  As she did, the team moved in and delivered a coup de gráce to the wounded man as other teams moved in to start cleaning up.

With the shooting done, Mikah and Aali moved back into the store and watched until the 'all clear' was given, some twenty minutes later.  When the others came out of the panic room, it was apparent there'd been some stock of clothing and other items in the room.  Maur came out of the room with a stack of less-then-fashionable items that fit none the less.  Deciding to be on the practical side, she used the card the navy gave her and the man charged her fifty percent of the price.  When the shop owner came out of the room, he told Mikah her entire team could also shop there fifty percent off while in port.  Mikah politely thanked him and said she and her people would be back while privately wondering if there was anything they wanted to buy there?  Even at fifty percent.

Mikah again thanked the man and said they had to get back to their berth.  Moving quickly amid suddenly "very present" port security teams, they got back to the berth as the afternoon announcement was made about the King George survivors.  Of course, that was actually the lead story while a report on the shootout was also in the news stream.  Mikah was pleased when the news didn't go into much detail on who did what, and her crew were left out of things.  The last thing she wanted was more reasons for reporters to show up at the berth now that someone might work out that Maur was there with her crew.  The "official" line was that two passengers from the merchant ship IMV Caustic Burn had left their ship intent on bad business and were both cornered and killed in a shootout with port security.

Settling in, and with Maur trying on one of her "nowhere chic" outfits, the news evolved to include investigations with the master and some crew of the Caustic Burn on the criminals.  It seemed they'd paid their fare from the Calit system to the Rangent system, and the ship's crew were shocked!  Shocked at their actions.  Of course, that deepened the investigation since the Rangent system was just outside Imperial space.  The system was an Imperial Client State, but that could mean nearly anything.  Either way, the system's government wanted to be on the Imperium's good side, but that said nothing about the population.  A check of the ship's computer said Rangent was a nearly Earth-sized frontier world with a tainted atmosphere, surface entirely covered in fluid, with millions of people.

And the world was owned by LSP, which explained why they were a client state.  Still, they were outside Imperial borders and could likely have LSP corporate operations which made things illegal to make or own within the Imperium.  That could be anything from Psi-drugs to warbots, etc, to sell to the Darrians or independent states.  The entire crew could be sure they had representatives trying to get Arden's new Federation government to buy toys.  Still, the odds were the world was a mining source of minerals and chemicals, along with a sea-food source.  Any manufacturing would be done in cities under the sea, like on Equus.  The computer report finished with a note that said there was also a scattering of independent belters who didn't care much about LSP, and worked at any asteroid wealth they could find.

While relaxing at the berth, Colinne found a moment to tell Mikah about her vision and Mikah pointed to the news on the vid and said she was betting they'd settled that mystery.  Mikah also mentioned to Lady Maur that she has said things tended to get out of hand near them.  Maur waived that off, saying things get out of hand anywhere, and more so closer to the border.  She admitted she'd hoped for some excitement on the cruise but not nearly what she'd been handed by fate and dumb luck.  Mikah shrugged and suggested they work on the port network, to see what else Maur could buy from the list of things she actually needed.  Colinne went back to working on designing stent-apps for the afternoon.  Sekea and Zimzod were at InstellArms getting their weapons worked on.

Jocelynn was working on setting up the comm dot configurations for the borrowed dots and her drones.  As the afternoon passed, Colinne's new vacc suit was delivered.  They even had a team to do last minute adjustments if needed.  After signing for it, Colinne spent time examining and trying it out, because it had been pre-charged by InstellArms before delivery.  Seeing that, the crew realized they had to order Maur her own vacc suit.  While Mikah and Maur did that, Sekea and Zimzod returned from InstellArms. When Sekea got back to the berth from InstellArms, he asked if anyone had a spare comm dot so he could configure it to work with his new drone?  Fesic said he had spare comm dots if people needed them.  Sekea said he'd buy one to replace the dot when they reached Ghandi, or simply pay the replacement cost.

Fesic felt the lone comm dot wasn't a big deal and offered it to Sekea without concern.  Sekea accepted that but pushed his personal honor, and said he'd replace it as soon as he could.  Sekea then spent an hour reprogramming the dot and installing it in his drone.  By then, Jocelynn was done with her comm dots and decided to pull Sekea and Colinne aside to teach them some of the crew's clik codes.  She stressed the fact this was not a "full language".  Instead it was key concepts like, "Stop", "take cover", "Enemy ahead", "Go scouting" in an indicated direction, etc.  During all that activity, Mikah made sure everyone knew Lady Aadshur had joined them and was to be addressed as "Maur".

When Maur's presence was explained, Sekea stepped up to her and introduced himself, saying he'd also escaped the liner.  He also briefly explained how he'd been rescued.  Looking him up and down, Maur admitted she recognized him vaguely from the ship now that she looked.  She also admitted she'd not dealt with him on the ship as they were involved in different activities.  When she said she was surprised at his choice, given Mikah's description of their "activities", Sekea admitted he was interested in adventure and working with Mikah's crew "filled the bill".  The crew spent the rest of the evening chatting, getting to know Maur more and getting done with their tasks before bed time.

    Tuesday, 054-1114:
Settling In With Her Ladyship
     As the day broke, Zimzod's battledress was still being worked on by InstellArms while the crew were helping Maur gather what she could of her own kit.  The ship would be returned to the crew some time in the next week.  Thanks to the evening's internet shopping, they expected packets to be delivered at points during the day.  After breakfast, they showed Maur the furs and other things they had from the clans on-world, and Maur found a cloak-like skin she rather liked.  When she asked how much it cost, she was told she could have it for free.  Thanking the crew, Maur moved the fur into her bedroom and came back out to chatter with the crew.  Fesic set it on his calendar to dump the stuff as soon as he could, while keeping in mind they'd paid KCr 68 for the lot.  At the moment, they were taking up space in the cutter.

Fesic first chose to go to the gym and work out a bit before he planned to get rid of the furs and clothing once and for all.  It was a mark of how little he cared about the lots, that he didn't plan to do any heavy lifting or look for any help from port-side merchants.  He planned to have a bargain basement sale and get rid of all the crap Mikah had spent money on.  And, given other profits they'd made, Fesic wasn't concerned if they had a minor loss.  When he eventually did get around to selling it off, Fesic even ignored the idea of going to the merchant's center on the port and simply connected to the sales applications.  With a basic description and pictures he could take easily, Fesic simply posted the lot for sale and waited for anyone to offer anything.  Close to what he wanted or not.

Fesic was surprised to eventually get a response, and when he did, he saw it was from Clan Arnstruther.  A buyer from that clan had sent a post asking about the source of the lot?  Fesic side stepped the question and said they'd gotten the lot in trade for a cargo of alcohol and they wanted to dump it.  The clan trader knew he wasn't gonna get an answer, but was OK with that.  Anyone trading odd lots from any clan was possibly willing to trade for or smuggle goods in.  So, he was ready to make a contact with this trader in hopes of future rewards.  When the trader asked how much they wanted for the entire lot, Fesic made a mental cut from the KCr 65 they'd spent and started in the mid to low KCr 50 range.

Eventually, they came to a price of KCr 52, and turned the conversation to where the transaction would take place?  Considering all the options, and with the load already filling the cutter, Fesic decided to finish the deal in the port's merchant Activities center.  Telling the Arnstruther trader that, and setting up a time in a short while to close the deal, Fesic cut the line and called the port to make arrangements.  For Cr 500, he learned he could land the cutter in the port's loading/unloading zone.  There, 'droids from the port would move the cargo to a holding bin.  When the deal was completed, Fesic would be able to give the new owners access to the bin and they'd be done.  So, the loss was eventually KCr 12.5, but Fesic felt he wouldn't have been able to sell the crap anywhere else.

With the port androids handling almost all the work, Fesic only had to get permission and authorization from Mikah to take the cutter into the port facilities.  After he explained the deal to Mikah, she unlocked Fesic's bridge authorizations for the cutter and gave him the OK to take the craft and sell off the load.  The flight from the parkbay to the trade facilities was a quick one.  Fesic was soon there, and showed his Ident to the trade administrators.  It wasn't long after the automated port systems emptied out the cutter that the Clan Arnstruther people arrived and the deal was completed.  As part of the service, the port stevedore 'droids even cleaned their way out of the cutter once the cargo was moved.  It was surprisingly pretty and shiny.

When Fesic got back from the port, Mikah saw she had Cr 651,500 in funds to hand out to the others.  So, Mikah called a crew meeting and laid out the deals they'd made.  In the end, the cash divided up to Cr 195,450 for the ship and Cr 50,672 to each of the crew.  Most in the crew had gotten used to the feast or famine flow of cash on-board, but Colinne was surprised to see her accounts nearly double for a second time in the month!  While the crew celebrated their good fortune, someone mentioned they could afford to go to the base thrift shop.  That got laughs, and Sekea and Colinne said they could make an evening raid on the place before it shut down.

Mikah was happy the naval announcement of Lady Aadshur and the three other survivors didn't show images of the women.  She bet the news agencies who "could" had likely sent couriers to Ghandi and perhaps Lanth, looking for images to add to the coverage they carried.  So, Mikah was happy it would be save for Maur to travel about the base without being recognized and causing an influx of reporters.  So, Mikah asked the woman if she felt comfortable coming with the crew to the thrift shop?  when she said she'd go along, because they'd all soon be canned up in a service starship, Mikah and Zimzod said they'd escort her.  Aali also joined in as did Aiden and Jocelynn.

One thing several of the veterans knew was that the base thrift shops were often staffed by either family members of those in service or even service members earning extra cash.  The shops were a 'collect-all' of gear and toys a military member couldn't bring with them when they were reassigned.  So, there were often items at good prices to be found there, though there were often items that had been used and abused to be found too.  Still, it was possible to find some treasures.  Of course, some of the items available would be difficult for a spacer to accommodate.  One of those, which Aiden found with a price tag of KCr 25, was a full "Ship's Gunnery" missile turret training simulator.  Looking at the thing, Aiden was sure it would take up a ton of space in their cargo bay if anyone chose to buy it.

Still, it was a full training rig for someone who wanted to advance their gunnery skills in operating missiles.  The downside was, the Upgrade had no missile systems.  So, Aiden admired the training system but wasn't interested.  He did have to wonder how some navy puke could both afford it, and have housed it in their barracks.  His best bet was this had been bought by a group and "lived" in the dorm of a spacer who lived with a lover and could use his dorm for "other things".  Still, he did mention it to Mikah, and she came over to look at the device.  When Mikah reminded Aiden they didn't have missiles, Aiden said he was aware, but wasn't sure if it could be reprogrammed or useful in other ways?

Thinking outside the starship, Mikah pointed out that Aali had missile skills, and there could come a time when they had to board another ship and try to use their systems.  So, the questions was, how much was that possible future worth in cost and cargo capacity?  Thinking about it more, Mikah said the only person who'd be pissed off if they bought the rig would be Fesic, and she was almost tempted to buy it just for that.  Still, they had one person who could use it and too few who might want to learn ship's missiles.  So, when Aiden suggested they consider it, Mikah agreed because she was ready to bet it wasn't going anywhere.

While browsing, Sekea noticed a number of boxes all marked with the same code and no identifying art suggesting what they were?  When he asked a shop worker, he was told it was what was the parts of a Pell 'droid, left behind by a marine who was reassigned.  As he called Aali over to help him examine the device, Sekea could see the boxes had "what was left" of the android.  And, it was obviously in pieces.  The question was, "was the 'droid simply disassembled or was there actual damage?"  Aali looked over the boxes and figured out it would likely take her four hours or so to examine the pieces and determine what issues existed?  So, he'd have to buy it first, and then turn it over to Aali to see if it could be reassembled and gotten working?

Having decided that, Aali wasn't the only person in the crew who would like a pell 'droid, so Aali called Mikah over to decide on the money after hearing her thoughts on the 'droid.  When Mikah asked what the boxes were, Aali explained what it was and the fact she'd have to examine it to see if it could be made to work?  When Mikah asked, Aali had to admit she couldn't even say if all the parts were there?  When Mikah asked how much it cost, she was told Cr 6,000, which meant it was priced just like you'd expect for a risky venture.  Still, Mikah figured it was worth taking the shot and agreed to have ship's funds pay for the unit.  It would also take up two tons of cargo space in their hold until it was rebuilt.  And, it would be a new project for Aali and anyone who helped her.  The shop could deliver the device by the next day for a Cr 50 fee, and Mikah agreed to that.

While that was happening, Colinne was also browsing and came on a teaching suit!  Checking the specs on the suit, she saw it could fit someone of height 5 ft, 3 or 5 ft 4.  She also saw the shop was asking KCr 200!  Of course, that could be incredibly cheap if it was loaded with expensive teaching software.  While Colinne didn't know it, Emkir had spent KCr 100 on a teaching suit which could teach him to be more advanced than proficient in zero-g combat activities.(IE: Level 2)  If "this" suit were loaded with more advanced levels, or with unarmed combat or other very expensive educational modules, then the suit could well be undervalued.

Considering the situation, Colinne asked Mikah to come and check the suit out.  She also called one of the shop staffers to see if she could talk them down any?  When the first question was why it was so expensive, the answer was that the suit could train Colinne to be a much better starship pilot!  While a great deal of being a pilot was keeping a ship "on beam" for a specific destination or avoiding all sorts of hazards, the suit could improve those skills in two ways.  First, it could be connected to their ship's control systems and 'internalize' the flight control systems.  Next, it could then simulate flight situations and not only crunch all the numbers.  It could simulate full flight conditions and add hazards and risks.

So, "inside the suit", the wearer could actually be flying the ship while the teaching suit made them react physically and mentally.  With those capabilities, it could turn someone without "Any" flight training into a pilot almost as good as Aiden!  Sadly, Colinne wasn't part of the ship's flight crew except under extreme circumstances.  Colinne asked if she could have the suit programmed to teach something else, but was told that was a major part of the suit's cost.  As it hung, it would cost KCr 200 because of the programming it had.  At a guess, getting the module to have it train her as, say, a medical doctor could cost KCr 400 while modules for dagger combat might only cost KCr 50.  Still, she couldn't separate the current module from the suit if she wanted to.  So, the cost of the suit would only rise if she wanted to re-program it.

They also looked at the rest of the crew, but the suit wouldn't fit anyone else.  The next question was if the ship wanted to buy it on speculation that they could sell it for more on another world, and that fell to Mikah.  While Mikah considered that, Maur had been looking at the weapons for sale and noticed a particularly nice shotgun.  One of the "elite sports" on Lanth was "mounted game hunting", so she knew sports weapons.  What she'd noticed was the maker's mark on the weapon.  It had been made by Portcullis Defense, LIC.  And that was a high end weapons manufacturer she knew of.  So, Maur wanted to examine the weapon and see what was up with it?

When Mikah noticed that, she looked askance at Maur and the Lady only shrugged back and reminded Mikah she'd said herself that her crew often got into sticky situations.  She also referred to the shotgun and said, "This could have been helpful and is legal on a lot more worlds than a laser pistol."  Lady Aadshur then formally asked if Captain Kirlim would allow her to be armed while living in their berth and in passage aboard her ship?  When Mikah asked if she knew how to use the weapon, Maur only smiled and said she did.  When Mikah asked if she practiced with the weapon on Lanth, Maur explained a bit about the hunting clubs.  Continuing, Mikah asked if Maur was proficient, and the woman said she was.

Pushing harder, Mikah asked, "Are you willing to cause bodily harm to other sentient beings?"  Maur answered, "If they're trying to cause bodily harm to me, under the circumstances."  That was enough for Mikah, and she said she was good with Maur being armed.  With that, Maur handed the shop owner the naval code and she got the weapon thanks to the Navy.  Added to that, she bought three boxes of ten rounds each.  There were chuckles when she cracked one of the boxes open and slotted in the ten rounds.  And, where other customers would have been stopped and educated on the limits when buying weapons, Maur's 'air of aristocracy' created a bubble of 'do as you like' in the moment.

Mikah browsed until she saw a cube marked with the logo of the LSP weapons division.  Picking it up, Mikah saw it was nearly eight inches on a side, and heavier than its size suggested it should be.  Looking the "device" over, Mikah saw it had a plug slot that seemed to match those on her laser carbines.  Asking about the cube, Mikah learned it was a "power bank", and could be "stuck" to any standard laser weapon.  If charged before combat, anyone armed with a standard laser weapon could deplete their power pack and then connect it to the power bank to recharge it.  The data on the device said it was an "LSP DEBAP".  When Mikah checked her hand comp, she saw that meant "Dense Energy Backup Array Pack".  The read on the device said it would take five minutes, which could be an eternity, to recharge a laser weapon backpack.

Realizing what the pack was, Mikah decided to buy it even before she looked at the price.  That was Cr 10,000, and that didn't even slow Mikah down.  At the same time, Zimzod had found a handheld tool set of automated fasteners.  They were a set of four cube-like devices which extended a "grip" when touched.  The grip would let a user place the cube over any type of fastener, from screws and even nails to magnetic field generation components, depending on which cube was used.  While one still had to have the education to understand what they were doing, the tools were multi-functional conveniences.  What their quality was, would remain a question until tried, since every knock-off tool maker had their own line of multi-tools.

Looking at the tool, Zimzod saw the units designed to manage physical fasteners could even "grip" stripped connecters and remove them.  Looking at the Cr 2,500 price tag, Zimzod thought that would be something Aali would be interested in and not something he needed.  Still, Zimzod had skills in mechanical work and eventually bought the set.  After that, he went to look at the rather large collection of used weapons the shop had.  What he was looking for was a double-barreled shotgun made with shortened barrels, allowing the weapon to be turned and used without the long barrel banging into things and people.

Looking through the weapons they had, Zimzod found a well-crafted standard "shortened barrel" shotgun from a maker whose products were able to take a beating.  Not a high-end merchandising maker, but one that pumped out weapons which were dense, functional and easy to maintain.  The sort of shotgun that could fire after being dunked into a swamp without a cleaning.  The weapon he found also took standard 12-guage shotgun rounds and fittings.  And, it was made with the barrel shortened so it didn't need to be sawed down.  Asking about the weapon, Zimzod was told the man who'd sold it to the shop had retired from the marines, and used to use the weapon as an 'off-hand' weapon he'd used in crowded spaces.

In the end, Zimzod asked how much the weapon cost and was told Cr 1,500.  When Zimzod complained about that, he was asked how much he wanted to pay and Zimzod said, Cr 1,000.  When the shop worker accepted that, Zimzod was disappointed he'd not asked to pay Cr 300 for the shotgun.  Of course, Zimzod ignored the cost it took to get gear shipped out that far.  Instead, Zimzod agreed to pay the money and figured he was contributing to the 'underpaid marines and sailors fund'.  They said it could take standard rounds, but he'd have to go to InstellArms if he wanted specialized rounds for it.  And Zimzod had many of those, so he didn't have to buy more ammo at the moment.

After buying the shotgun, Zimzod saw he'd likely have to have a quick-grab holster made for him.  It would let him reach to his hip and grab the weapon by its trigger grip, then lift it away from where the grip and barrel were secured.  He figured he'd have to sit down with the InstellArms people and have one made.  He also checked the shotgun and thought it could be a bit shorter, so he decided to ask InstellArms to shorten it a bit.  About the same time, Jocelynn had checked all the boxes and shelves in the shop and come up empty.  She then moved to the sales counter to watch as the others bought their finds and started trying to figure out what it did?  That except the 'droid, which would be shipped to the berth.

Looking at the various bits and pieces behind the glass, Jocelynn noticed a sealed bit of software and hardware.  She had no idea what it was, or did, but she did see something she'd never seen before.  The image included a cable with a head that appeared to be made to connect to her stent!  Jocelynn hadn't seen anything like that since her stent was first installed.  She thought it had been medical gear.  And the packet she was looking at seemed to still be factory sealed.  When Jocelynn began with, "Excuse me my good man..." the cashier asked, "How do you know I'm just good.  I may be damn tasty.  Wanna try?"  That came with a leering glance from her hips to her eyes.

Jocelynn only laughed and said, "That's OK" while she shifted to asking about the packet.  The man nodded, but warned her, "It's kinda specialized.  You gotta have one of those ports in your head or something."  Jocelynn carelessly brushed back the hair by her right ear as she said, "It's a good thing I have one."  Her tone was something of a, 'Ha!  So there!' comment.  With a grunt of surprise, the man said he'd been told the packet was a single-use that someone sold us when he realized he wasn't gonna be able to get one of those ports.  He said the claim was that it analyzed a person's port, by which he meant stent but didn't know the word, and made the device easier to use.  Clearly, Jocelynn could see the man was embroidering on what little he'd been told and the packet could actually be "anything".  So, buying it was a risk.

Intrigued, Jocelynn asked how much the packet cost and was told   After the man scratched various parts of his anatomy, he told Jocelynn the packet cost Cr 14,000.  Given the description, Jocelynn was surprised how cheap it was.  When Jocelynn offered Cr 9,000 the man grunted again, and said, "Well.  I told you about the guy who sold it.  And I learned that from someone who'd been here since I'd joined.  And, he learned it from someone before him and more.  And, in all that time, it seems you're the only person who's even sniffed at it.  So, I'm thinking I can take Cr 9,000."

Handing her Ident over to pay, Jocelynn got the packet from the man and opened it.  Inside, she saw a cable that would connect both to her stent and a small inch-long by quarter-inch by half-inch metal "thing".  The metal thing had a finger-contact on it, which Jocelynn poked.  To her surprise, that caused the metal thing to project what she guessed were holographic instructions to use the device.  Oddly enough, that came up in a language she didn't recognize.  The hologram had another super-imposed hologram offering language selections.  When she put her finger through galanglic, that hologram faded leaving instructions she could read.  Still, she sensed this was something special.  She didn't want to try to discover it with them all watching.

Still, she was curious and decided to activate the instructions to see what happened?  Because of how she was holding the metal device, a holographic display popped up at a weird angle.  The image started with a woman who looked very much like a news person welcoming "the buyer" to the guide and congratulating them on buying a "projective neural trainer".  As the projection started to continue, no one in the group seemed to notice the Darrian points to her ears, though they were also slightly hidden in her hair.  Realizing she'd have to follow a process, and it wasn't a "Zot and you're done" thing, Jocelynn shut down the holograph and resealed the packet until she had time to try it.

The man behind the counter was surprised it still worked, given it hadn't been charged in decades.  He also puffed out his chest while saying, "I can't believe I sold it!  I'm gonna be a legend!"  The man was obviously very pleased.  Jocelynn snarked back, "And you taste good too.  Don't forget about that."  Taking his chance, the man nodded his head to the door leading to the shop's back room and asked, "So, now you wanna give me a try?"  Jocelynn only joked her 'no thanks' and stepped back from the counter.  After that chatter, the group left the shop and base, mostly on their way to InstellArms.  Aali decided to return to the berth, to relax and watch news.

Watching the vids, Aali saw coverage expanding on the story of the four King George survivors.  They still wouldn't have images for weeks, and still had nothing on the involvement of Mikah's crew.  Aali was good with that, knowing the others would be too.  At InstellArms, Zimzod wanted to work with his concierge to fit out his new shotgun with a holster he liked.  Mikah and Maur wanted to get her a vacc suit order moving, and fill out her other needs.  Sekea asked if he could rent a place to practice with his drone, and had to pay Cr 50 to have them pick up his drone from the berth.  He also offered to share the space if anyone else also wanted to practice too.  Jocelynn, Aiden and Colinne also wanted to practice.  And, since Sekea already paid for a pick up, they called Aali and asked her to have the drones ready.

Along with drone practice, Aiden asked about various combat-based ammunitions for his weapon, but they simply didn't have any in stock.  When it came to Maur's vacc suit, they had ordered it before, and it was mostly done.  Despite the cost, a vacc suit was a reasonable item for her to need on-world.  So, the Navy credit covered the item despite all the bells and whistles.  They then "sold her" a "back catch" for her shotgun.  The work required would take some time as the techs finished the new vacc suit.  They were also willing to return the borrowed vacc suit to the Navy.

Zimzod had also gone to InstellArms looking for specially designed holsters for his new shotgun.  He also hoped he could find some specialized ammunition.  When it came to the holster, Zimzod wanted one that would work with his combat armor and battledress and another he could use when just in his duster and street clothes.  The holster would hold the weapon with both barrels flat against his thigh and the remains of the stock jutting directly up above the leather.  Another strap would secure the bottom of the holster to his thigh.  That way, he only had to put the ball of his palm on the stock, close his hand around the wood and pull the weapon up slightly.  Then, as he turned the weapon to face his target, his fingers would slot into the trigger guard and he could quickly squeeze off a shot or two.  The crafts folk only had to know what hide to make the holsters from?

Zimzod ignored the play the concierge made for Iron Buck hide, because that wasn't nearly flexible enough for what he wanted.  When they settled on a supple enough hide from a local beast, they charged Zimzod Cr 175 each for the two holsters.  Zimzod also ordered four 100-round boxes of 00 buck, and asked for "quartershot" ammo.  Sadly, "quartershot" was most common as a "meat-maker", turning anyone in a passage or corridor into ground meat at close range.  Those were not the sort of rounds the locals wanted being sold and could also be found on prescribed lists during law enforcement searches.  Often enough, this was because those wounded by such ammo could rarely be treated by medical tech below D.  Zimzod then had the weapon techs trim the shotgun barrels another inch, and sat with them while they worked.

Eventually, Mikah and Maur had been with one group of techs while Zimzod was with another.  Both of the projects got done about the same time, so the three teamed up as they left the four playing with their drones behind and went back to the berth.  At the extrality line, port customs had several issues with Maur's shotgun.  Still, Maur was a noble woman and, when she felt like it, a demanding aristocrat.  The crew very quickly learned she was only entirely pleasant when you were acting in the role she expected.  While she was never "demanding", she was forceful and did her best to "Expect" performance from others.  Because of that, they were allowed to enter the port with an understanding about the legality of her shotgun.  Of course, she made it clear she'd back down if you gave her a correct answer to why she should, but no one in the customs team seemed to be able to do that.  In the berth, they decided to sit and relax with Aali after stowing their new gear.  Fesic was busy with his lock pick studies.

In the rented practice space Sekea, Jocelynn Colinne and Aiden were doing their best to get used to the controls on the drones along with maintaining an understanding of where their drones "were going" based on what they saw from a separate position.  Driving a drone was a case of trying to understand the speed, pressures, local forces and other sudden effects which they couldn't feel from the positions they stood in.  The space InstellArms rented them could deploy sudden gusts of "wind", precipitation and other things from vents that could unexpectedly be opened.  That was based on computer algorithms controlled by the difficulty settings the four wanted, and those were set to beginner levels at the moment.  All four were learning that, like moving in zero gravity, controlling drones depended on understanding the forces acting on the drone itself.  Guessing what thrust they had to apply to the drone to get the thing to move as they wanted.

That was often counterintuitive when using a controller.  They eventually all gathered back at the berth for dinner and talked about their experiences.  The drone operators were getting better used to the controls.  Especially Jocelynn and Aali, who'd tied the controls of all their drones to a single controller each.  Still, they were hesitant to move the drones at high speeds because they were learning how to stop, slow or maneuver at manageable speeds.  And, that was without the many obstructions they could face in the real world, even on a world where the skies were not filled with flying vehicles.

An Unexpected Knockout
     After dinner, if she didn't have other plans, Fesic planned to ask Jocelynn if she wanted to go bar hopping?  Aiden planned to return to his pattern of trying to become a couch gnome watching vids.  Having watched the news and all for some time, Aali suggested a stent practice class.  Colinne was up for that, and Zimzod doubled down on it.  Not having a stent, Sekea suggested that he'd be willing to go along if anyone else was planning to go out.  Jocelynn had options, but what she really wanted to do was investigate her new toy.  She eventually decided to take part in the stent class before skipping to her bedroom to open the packet and see what it did?  When it was obvious Jocelynn had other interests, Fesic suggested to Sekea that they return to the bar with the knife-fighting game and Sekea agreed.

After Zimzod and Sekea bundled up and went off the bar, all those with stents gathered to do training.  Aali joked about sending one of her four bomb drones out to follow the two and Mikah laughed.  Aali did say the drones had video so they could see what the two men were getting into.  Until someone spotted and possibly started shooting at the drone.  Because she was familiar with the idea of stents, even though she didn't have one herself, Maur spent some time watching the session before returning to her own interests and conversations with Mikah.  Mikah was just taking the chance to relax and enjoy not being called on for anything pressing.

When Fesic and Sekea walked into the bar, they were recognized both for their past knife fights and for some of the appearances they'd lately made in the local news.  Still, and more important, they were welcomed rather than treated as outsiders.  On top of that, there were a few who were wondering of the two would try to stab each other again?  Hearing that, Sekea answered, "That's what we came to do."  Getting on the line, Fesic asked, "We're gonna put some credits up.  Right Sekea?"  When Sekea wondered if he could use two weapons while Fesic said he didn't think the machine would accommodate that.  Of course, Fesic had to wonder how it was Sekea entirely forgot the limits of a machine he'd used to simulate two knife fights previously?

Unfortunately, the two had earned themselves detractors too.  There was a small but angry crowd who felt the two were professionals who'd lured the locals into making bad bets.  Or, who could control their fight to insure the winner would be the one who got them the most profits.  Lucky for them, the haters were not a large part of the crowd, and not prone to action on their claims.  Sadly, one of the locals who was just a bit taller, wider and more drunk than they were stepped up belligerently.  He angrily demanded the right to challenge both of them.  He said he wanted to "put you two in yo place."  All that was left was to choose who fought the drunk first?

Seeing the two step forward, "everyone" on the line stepped out of the way to let them fight next.  The next thing that happened was the betting, but the odds were heavily in Fesic's favor.  So, the only way to get good odds would have been to bet against himself.  Which also would have been a good way to start a riot if he chose to take a dive and try to collect his winnings.  Neither he or Sekea placed any bets.  Soon, the current fight ended and it was time for Fesic and the drunk to take their positions.  The game counted down and started.

As soon as the game started, the man "swarmed" Fesic.  And he was big with lots of fat and a surprising amount of muscle under that fat.  During the struggle, the machine registered Fesic being slashed.  Sadly, the man continued his bear hug well past the time he'd benefit from it while giving Fesic all the room he could want to work with.  That let Fesic slash him and even the score.  Breaking apart, they shifted into a mix of fisticuffs and knife fighting during which the man cut Fesic in two successive rounds.  Another round saw Fesic cutting the man as he started to fade.  With energy now on his side, the man was fading when Fesic buried his blade in the man's very substantial gut.  Pulling a quick 'pull and pop', Fesic managed to withdraw his blade and buried it in the man's chest and he went down hard!

Fesic's first thought was, 'a bit dramatic but...'  Still, he was gonna congratulate the man on a good game and offer to buy him a beer until he realized the drama was something entirely different!  There was a moment while everyone started realizing something wasn't right here.  The man's face was red as a late-term M-class star and he seemed to be in breathing distress from what those close enough could see.  While Fesic stood there asking "what the...", Sekea pushed forward and assessed the man before kneeling to get to work.  As he did, he called out that the man seemed to be having a coronary!  His call got people moving as Fesic kneeled to help and the guy closest to the bar's comms called for medical support.  The rest in the bar either wanted to help, wanted to back away or wanted to take bets on if the man would live or die?

Sekea started working, pulling out and applying or injecting things from his med-kit as his patient's condition seemed to continue to decline.  At the same time, there was a small but heavy wall of those wanting to help him, some calling out qualifications, while he needed to ignore them and save the man.  It would have been ironic if he had a moment to realize this must be how it felt for Mikah when he kept thoughtlessly interrupting her to ask if she needed his help.  Lucky for Mikah, her situations were rarely this serious and he was the only one interrupting her.  In the one free second of awareness he had, Sekea called out for someone to call medical services.  He was grateful to be told someone already had.

While Sekea worked, he had no span left in his attention for anything other than his patient.  So, he missed it as Fesic heard some in the crowd betting if Sekea was intentionally killing the man to get even with him for his insults earlier.  When Fesic started calling for a defibrillator, he missed the fact the man's heart was still beating.  Even if it was erratic and arrhythmic.  So, Fesic was trying to treat what he thought were the symptoms instead of asking Sekea if a defibrillator would be a good thing to have and try using?  Lucky for Sekea's patient, the bar didn't have one of those.  When Fesic pushed, the bar man said medical services were coming and they'd have one.

The people at the bar started to ignore Fesic when he seemed to be entirely fixated on finding a defibrillator.  To them, it was old news and medical services would arrive with what was needed.  So, Fesic could stand in the middle of the bar blabbering about his concerns until they arrived.  Unless his friend managed to kill the drunk first.  In the meantime, Sekea had shifted tactics from "saving the man" to "keeping the man from dying until medical services showed up".  It wasn't the sort of situation Sekea wanted but his patient just wasn't cooperating.  And, as he caught a wiff of the bets on the man's mortality, it only pissed Sekea off more.

With an audio-count down from the comms on the approaching medical services team, the man's heart gave up and stopped.  That forced Sekea into CPR, to keep the man's body from degenerating due to hypoxia.  Ironically, "that" was the moment a defibrillator would have been needed.  Sadly, Fesic had gotten zero help when he had begged for a clue where one might be, and was now just looking on without hope.  When medical services arrived, they quickly cleared everyone out of the way...including Sekea...and moved into assess and treat the victim.  After twenty more minutes of work, they got the man's heart going again and said their scans suggested he'd likely not have brain damage when he woke.  Remembering how the man presented himself before the coronary, Sekea had to wonder how they'd tell?

In the meantime, the police had also arrived and started asking questions of everyone in the bar.  Another officer provided a writ to the bar owner and began to copy and review the bar's video systems.  Of course, there were mixed statements from everyone in the bar including some claims Fesic had injected the man with something.  Still, the tale of the recordings told the facts, and it was obvious the man had begun suffering some kind of medical event near the end of the fight.  It was also obvious Fesic had been too deep into his own situation to have tried to set up an injection of any kind.  Members of the medical support team informed the police, and everyone who could hear, that it was likely due to Sekea's intervention that they had any chance of reviving the man.  So, Sekea was thanked, the police completed their reports and medical services had long since gotten the man on a gurney and rolled his unconscious ass out to a waiting treatment vehicle.

After the medics were gone, their senior officer had very publicly confirmed Sekea was qualified and had taken the correct steps given the situation.  The police confirmed his credentials and confirmed the cam-data backed up the medical officer's comments.  Some of the more senior officers and med-techs thanked Sekea and he was now in a bar filled with people who wanted to believe what they wanted to believe.  Regardless of the facts.  Still, the bar man said their drinks were on the house that night, in thanks.  The one "official" step the bar took was to tell anyone who bet Sekea was trying to kill the man that they had lost their bets.  If they wanted to keep drinking there "ever again", they'd accept that and pay off.  Still, there were now some low level arguments brewing over questions asking if the guy had lost his fight, or would have won if he hadn't gotten sick.

Shaking his head, Sekea asked Fesic, "Wanna get drunk?" and Fesic answered back, "Of course we're gonna get drunk!"  Sekea also said he didn't think it proper for them to fight at that point, and suggested they both suck on some booze for a bit.  Fesic disagreed and said they should fight because that was why they'd come to that bar.  After some friendly debate, Sekea called to the crowd for direction.  Some of them were happy to say they were waiting for him to kill someone else!  That even got a cheer from others in the bar.  Some were looking for more fat drunk guys in the corners that Fesic could fight.  Sekea felt refreshed by the level of empathy they had for their fellow man.

Taking their positions in the game, Fesic offered Sekea a Cr 25 bet and Sekea accepted.  Sekea decided to ignore the rest of the bets after accepting Fesic's offer.  Fesic agreed, so neither made bets with the others in the bar.  In the opening move, Fesic set himself up to defend an attack from Sekea, but not quite the attack that came.  So, Sekea gave Fesic a nice long cut!  With Fesic pulling back to reset, he again tried to carefully advance when Sekea managed to come in under Fesic's defense and get a good deep stab into Fesic's gut!  The others in the bar were beginning to feel this fight was either a set up or ending quickly, or both.  With the machine limiting Fesic's movements, he still managed to surprise Sekea and cut a long slash across the navigator's chest!

They next came at each other and grappled before pushing back and exchanging meaningless attacks.  Coming out of that, Sekea managed to slash Fesic's chest again and Fesic tried to gain space to work with.  Unfortunately, Sekea followed him in and struck, managing to jab his blade deep into Fesic's gut.  With that, the game ended and declared Sekea the winner.  Grabbing a drink as he sat down, Fesic called out, "Good game Sekea."  As they sat and let other people play the game, some of those in the bar offered to buy them drinks.  When Fesic protested that the bar man had given them drinks on the house, he was already clueless enough to have not realized those in the bar didn't know that.  And "the others" weren't getting any drinks for free, even if they were buying for the two spacers.

After some drinks, Fesic was liking his odds even better.  He could now see one and a half Sekeas, which meant it would be easier to get a hit and get even!  Their next game started and, out of the gate, Fesic managed to slash Sekea on the arm.  Continuing to push, Fesic kept Sekea off balance and then delivered a deep stab to Sekea's chest!  The crowd was roaring.  With the heavy weight of the machine pressing on Sekea, he was still able to block some strikes and back off Fesic the next round.  Fesic did deliver another cut before Sekea returned the favor in the following round.  After backing off to reset, both men moved in and, despite his wounds, Sekea was able to step in and deliver a vicious slash to drop Fesic again!  There was much cheering in the bar as the game ended.

The two men moved to the bar where Fesic said he was going to drink down his sorrows.  Sekea offered to buy him some drinks and Fesic suggested he wait until there were three Sekeas before they do a "drunk round".  When Sekea agreed, the two started drinking to make sure they'd be drunk enough.  Still, they didn't want to get so drunk they couldn't get back to the berth.  When they did finally stand for a third round, Fesic seemed unable to defend himself when Sekea delivered a full stab to the gut.  Pushing back, Fesic tried wildly to strike at Sekea and the navigator delivered a gash to the gunner.  Finally, after eighteen seconds of frenzied struggle, Sekea delivered another deep stab to Fesic's chest and the game ended!  The bar erupted in glee at the bloodless but drunken gladiatorial display!

After that, Sekea was willing to keep drinking if Fesic wanted to, but Fesic said it was time to get back to the berth.  While Sekea wasn't quite as inebriated as Fesic, and would likely help the man get home, they would not recall the help from kindly police and port security to guide them on their way.  When they returned to the berth, the others had gone to sleep or faded to their bedrooms.  Each was given their own privacy, which prevented alarms from being raised based on what had happened in Jocelynn's bedroom...

After the stent training, everyone else in the berth had relaxed and gone back to whatever interests they had or shared with others.  But, Jocelynn finally had the chance to grab her packet from the thrift shop and try it in her bedroom.  Looking over the documentation a bit closer this time, Jocelynn was shocked to realize the "kit" came from the Mire system.  At first, there was a moment of 'why do I know that name?' before she realized that was the current capital of the Darrian Confederation!  Thinking back to the thrift shop, she realized that explained the strange alphabet when she'd activated the kit.  The kit documents made a claim to have been assembled using remanent expert systems that were pre-Maghiz!  Of course, everyone knew of the Maghiz, when researchers had accidentally triggered massive solar flares in their home system.  That event had ended the Darrian growth from their home world and destroyed electronics out twenty parsecs in every direction, killing trillions!

Jocelynn also knew anything left working from that period was beyond the treasures governments dreamed of.  Not just for the Darrians, but for the Imperials, or any other government.  In fact, Jocelynn was told stories about how Terin had screwed them by making mistakes while trying to make money from another remnant artifact.  Still, she realized the kit she had wasn't a remnant.  It was made using remnants.  So, she felt she wasn't at risk using the it.  Not to mention there were constantly claims of miracle devices from, or made by people using remnant artifacts that turned out to be a waste of money.  So, the kit could easily be a fake.  Despite that, she wanted to give it a try.

The kit packaging described itself as a "single use" item, which would self-erase while it was active.  Because of that, there was a warning to insure it was being used correctly, because the owner would not get a second chance.  The woman in the hologram very carefully gave step by step instructions as Jocelynn just as carefully followed her direction.  When she was ready, with everything connected as instructed, there was a brief review before the woman gave her the sequence of actions to activate the device.  Then, it would carry out its function and there would be no pause or recall.

Pausing to insure she was ready, Jocelynn entered the sequence into the buttons which had revealed themselves on the block while she set up the device.  And things went dark.


Jocelynn woke up an hour later.

Checking herself and around her body, Jocelynn realized that she'd somehow disconnected the cable from her stent and had no memory of it.  Stopping to take stock of how she felt, Jocelynn realized she could almost feel a mental "buzz".  The cable was still connected to the metal box, and the screen indicated the software was 100% erased.  Still, Jocelynn figured it was time to test her stent and see what she'd bought?  Having been the junior-most of the crew to using a stent, Jocelynn had rarely gotten her awareness out of the stent itself.  She had even less success connecting to the outer comms port of any piece of equipment, which should have been simple for those trained to use their stent.  So, Jocelynn was amazed when she focused her attention on the holographic display cube on her desk and made a fully integrated connection!

Not only was she connected, she could sense the interfaces the device offered and was then easily able to transit the port into the device's circuitry.  Now, she was mentally 'assailed' by what started as a cloud of data.  Still, before she could back out, she noticed it was normalizing so she waited.  Soon enough, she could see in her mind the images offered up from the device's storage.  Things that had been cement rebar walls which stopped her cold were now bypassed as if they weren't there!  Her mind had just done things she couldn't conceive of, and there was just the smallest hint left behind of how it had happened?

Carrier signals which had been a cloud of noise suddenly sounded out clearly.  Back-checking the connection, Jocelynn could actually see how the carrier signal had led her into the device.  Unbidden, she was coming to see the steps exactly as they'd happened.  She was slowly learning to do what she'd done in both an "I am uneducated" And "I'm an expert" at the same time.  As if her brain was phasing from one state to the other and she could feel how it was to be both...at the same time.  She was two people in two merging minds in one brain as the integration started happening.

She saw as she got past the data port for the projector, into the primary circuitry.  There, mental arrays formed, and she could see controls forming and while understanding what each meant, thanks to the 'backward vs forward' nature of her experience.  Somehow, she also knew that in the same circumstance, she'd have to explore from there to find out what each control was for before knowing what it did.  Jocelynn was so 'wired' that when she thought about connecting to her battledress computer, it happened.  This time, she felt the wireless carrier and followed it in.  Passing through the interface quickly.  Her mind was suddenly an insane confusion of options as she was hit by wave after wave of possible connections from the internal BUS of the battle computer.

Almost without having to think about it, Jocelynn knew it would take her hours to get all the connections straight, not to mention what each connection led to?  And, she instantly knew how dangerous it might be to be trying to enter a strange computer system while also in combat!  Yes, she could hack like the devil now, but she had no idea what she was doing?  She would need Colinne to "ride with her" if she hoped to be effective at all.  And, she also knew that Colinne would give the left nut from every man on the planet to have this access!  Still, she also hadn't faced security blocks yet and had no idea how bad a trip that could lead to?  And, just as suddenly, Jocelynn realized she'd not disconnected from the holoprojector!

She suddenly realized that she'd never connected to any device at all, and was now suddenly connected to two devices!  even more startling, Jocelynn then took the steps intentionally, one by one, to back out of the holoprojector.  Keeping her mind from leaping before she looked, Jocelynn wondered about connecting to the berth's toaster, and had to laugh.  When she started sniffing at carrier signals, she realized she couldn't feel the right carrier for what she was looking for.  Thinking about it, she realized the modified toaster would not have been a wireless device.  So, even if it hadn't been disassembled or removed from the parkbay, she'd have to find it and jack into it to access it.

That gave her another lesson.  Just because it was electronic, didn't mean she could connect to it.  And if it didn't have broadcast network connections, she'd have to try to find the device and find a physical port to connect to if she wanted to.  Things with remote controls obviously had wireless ports.  But the things she'd run up against in the field wouldn't be wide open and inviting.  She'd have to find them and jack in, and pray they didn't have intruder control encryption(ICE) blockers.  Or worse.  Still, she could sense the carrier from the vid display in the main lounge in the berth and decided to play with the channels.

Again, it was a new device but it didn't have too many options.  Because of that, she was quickly able to find the channel selector and "test" the data feed labels.  She could tell 'whoever' was watching news and general broadcast.  Suddenly, those watching in the berth lounge saw a pop-up explaining that it was changing a setting.  But, none of them could read the alert, and very few could recognize the language as gvegh.  A couple of them asked "who sat on the remote" before Aali grabbed the remote to see what happened?  But, when she started activating the controls, they all came up in gvegh, and no one could read what setting they were on?

While Mikah was trying to blame Fesic, who wasn't even there, Jocelynn was considering what to do next when she got a ping on her stent!  That was something Jocelynn wasn't even aware could be done!!  When she accepted the connection, she realized it was Colinne, and she wanted to know how Jocelynn was controlling the vid display?  Her reaction was, "How'd you do that?"  Jocelynn realized this could happen because she left the wireless connection on "open" without active security.  So, she'd have to learn more about managing and controlling her stent than she'd ever thought was out there.  There were disadvantages to being jumped up so far in her abilities.  There were things she'd have learned before she got that far and now had no idea of.  And, there was no way to stuff the genie back in the bottle.

Being able to, Jocelynn started to give a thumbnail description of what she "felt" she'd been through while another track of her mind started to wonder who else she could "connect" to?  She knew that Aiden, Colinne, Zimzod, Aali and Rol had stents.  Then, Jocelynn had a sudden inspiration, and thought her ability to connect via stent could help her "update" Rol on some of what he'd missed when he died.  Especially since she'd been part of the crew when he died, and had been part of almost everything that had happened since.  Of course, she hadn't yet realized what the down sides were.  Like she'd thought before, there was so much she didn't know.  She had no idea what else she'd be transferring beyond just the basic data on the events that they'd been through.  Her related emotions and other attached mental artifacts.

As far as what she told Colinne, her best guess was that someone had sold the kit she bought as an artifact.  Then, either no one believed it or everyone was afraid of it.  So, it bounced around until all that was left were stories and guesses.  So, it sat, unsold until she'd bought it and tried it.  And, it was an artifact.  Or made using an artifact.  And it jumped up her stent skills so high she had no idea where she was?  But, she had to figure things out and she could do all sorts of neat new things.  Realizing what must have happened, if not having any clue how, Colinne was a bit horrified.  Colinne knew the things Jocelynn didn't.  The years of computer security and hacking, and the doors a stent opened up.  For good or bad.

While Colinne was happy Jocelynn had the abilities she now did, she could realize so many security exploits Jocelynn was now in danger of!  This was gonna mean a lot more work for Colinne, and she knew it.  Realizing that, she suggested that Jocelynn spend the rest of the evening collaborating with her via "stent-telepathy".  Out in the public spaces of the berth, Mikah was searching for Fesic.  She forced in the door to his bedroom, searched high and low and even asked the parkbay technicians for help.  When Sekea helped Fesic back into the berth, Mikah realized Fesic hadn't been there.  And the only thing he was able to do was barf on the vid.  Getting Fesic sat down, Sekea gave Mikah a basic script of how their evening had gone, and then both men were allowed to go to sleep.  Before Jocelynn faded off to sleep, Colinne suggested she lock her stent's wireless connection and explained how to do that step by step.

    Wednesday, 055-1114: Morning
Where everyone is at the end of the session:
     Jocelynn: Barely asleep after a very bad night trying to sleep while wired in her bedroom
     Rol: 4 weeks, 1 Day to decant
     Fesic: Sleeping off a drunk in his bedroom
     Colinne: Asleep having recovered 45 hours of psi energy in her bedroom
     Everyone Else: Asleep in their bedrooms in the starport berth
     The Ship: to be returned to the crew for shakedown in a week or so

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Next: Finding Allies And Making Enemies