Wednesday, 055-1114: 4 am
Mental Matters
In the early dark hours of the morning, Jocelynn wasn't doing well while the others slept. She'd tried to sleep, but her mind was so active thanks to the package she'd activated the night before. Since then, she'd barely caught brief naps despite struggling to trying to sleep while her mind was afire! Colinne had been pleased and surprised, when Jocelynn connected to her mind without psi. Colinne had faded to sleep after meditating and recovering from her "exertions" that day.
Fesic and Sekea would both be late risers thanks to their drinking binge. When she woke, Aali could start her estimated four-day investigation of the wrecked pell 'droid, taking breaks to check the work being done on the Upgrade. In the meantime, Aiden, Mikah and Zimzod would have little to do with no plans. And, thanks to adding time to their stay on Denotam, they knew Rol would now be decanted before they reached Lanth. They knew they get the ship back in four to seven days. That meant Rol would be three weeks from decant while they were doing shakedowns before jumping to Ghandi.
During her struggles to sleep, Jocelynn was visited by past memories of her own, of her crew and other things. At one point in her struggles, Jocelynn even had a vision of herself as a "first-person shooter" moving through the ship and gunning down her crew mates. And, with each one, she heard herself giggle. Only, it was Mikah's giggle and Mikah was never her target. Even though she was half asleep, and couldn't understand why, Jocelynn muttered, "My dreams have come true."
Sitting up, Jocelynn had to wonder how long it would take for Colinne to teach her to control her mind? That was despite the fact she would certainly come back down from the insane activity in her brain at some point. That would come with time, but she'd only just taken the mind blast from the artifact. If she stopped to think about that, she'd figure out the rush would fade. The only question was how long it would take to fade? After that, the learning curve, and what Colinne could teach her would be a second question. Jocelynn was realizing she'd taken a shortcut, and there'd be a good deal of things she'd missed thanks to the detour.
Figuring she'd never get to sleep, Jocelynn considered pranking Fesic, but decided to file that for the moment. Deciding she was hungry, Jocelynn made her way to the berth's galley while realizing her mind had contacted every wireless device connection in her bedroom. In the galley, Jocelynn could feel herself connecting to everything wireless in that compartment too. But, at least, nothing was screaming for help or trying to talk to her. Wanting a snack, Jocelynn was certain she didn't want caff. She still wanted to creep into her bunk and try to get some sleep sooner instead of later.
In his bunk, Fesic woke with the almost certain feeling "someone" was moving around in the dark. It also felt like it was too damn early for any of his crew to be out and about. He decided to get up and see who it was, before something was stolen or damaged. Throwing on night clothes, Fesic stepped through his bedroom door to see Jocelynn's back, and she seemed to be shambling towards the berth's kitchen. Calling out in as gentle a voice as he could, Fesic called, "Jocelynn?" Turning, Jocelynn saw Fesic and asked, "Hey. What's up?" Shaking his head, Fesic said, "That's what I was wondering about you.?" Were you sleep walking or something?"
Jocelynn told him she was just looking for a snack. Fesic asked "for what?" when he didn't hear her correctly. After she repeated she was looking for a snack, Fesic nodded and said, "OK. I'm going back to bed then." She waived him off while also silently cursing him for being able to sleep, then turned back toward the kitchen. Fesic slid back into his bunk and sleep while Jocelynn looked around the kitchen, in terror of only finding milk. The good news was, they had no milk at all in the berth. Jocelynn also looked for anything soothing, hoping to grab a few minutes of sleep after munching.
Her mind suddenly hitting on the idea of hot chocolate, Jocelynn started looking for any of the fixings for that. And, she knew she still had a small amount of leftovers from the last time they'd used her chocolate fountain. So, she hoped chocolate didn't go bad while digging for the fixings. Grabbing the chocolate, Jocelynn started mixing them into her other fixings in hopes of a hot chocolate-like thing. After she finished that, Jocelynn had her snack, slipped into her bed and managed to fade into sleep. Sadly, the last thought she remembered was worrying about waking with a massive headache later that morning.
Colinne woke around six thirty and rolled into her morning routine. That included a small bit of a workout and dressing when she was done. Next, she moved to Jocelynn's bedroom and gently rapped on the door to see if the woman was awake? Getting no answer, Colinne went into the kitchen, to fix herself breakfast. Looking around as she moved into the space, Colinne saw a number of what she could only guess were 'skid marks' in odd places. Some were on the grips for the kitchen's cooling unit and others were on the counter. Grabbing some scrub rags, she cleaned the marks before making food and sniffed to get a firm hint of chocolate. She shrugged and figured someone'd had a late night snack. With the space cleaned, Colinne went about making herself food.
While eating, Colinne considered her projects and decided she'd work more on taking apart what she'd been told was a lock picking software package. When she'd come aboard, they'd given her a copy of the program and told her it was for lock picking. The ship's former computer officer, and Aali's late husband, had been using it to hack electronic locks. They wondered if there were more features, or if the software could be updated or upgraded. That became one of Colinne's jobs, especially after Emkir had died. Done eating, Colinne moved into her bedroom to work on the program from the terminal there.
Sadly, she wasn't certain what compiler was used to create the application, and only had her small collection of compilers for 'first tests'. When those failed, Colinne knew she'd have to try hacking the software into pieces using short runs along with data and register traps. In the short time she'd had to work with the package, Colinne had also learned it didn't just analyze and open locks. It seemed to reach out to every other system any device was connected to. It would then leap-frog from those systems to every system connected to that one. If left to run, Colinne figured the package would push its functions into every system on a ship or station. What it would do then, Colinne couldn't predict. And she didn't want to find out by surprise either.
Questions like what it really did, and why, were things she had yet to learn as she used her data tools to break down its actions. And, while she had worked on the program "a bit", she'd not had much time since she joined the crew. There had first been the hunt for the assassin. Then, a second hunt for the spy! Now, dealing with high nobility and their courts. It was a blur because she'd only joined the crew 38 days before. Then, there were also the stent trainings and now Jocelynn's mystery issue. So, she'd been moving slowly with the package, and planned to be as careful as possible moving forward. Especially since the most time she'd likely have would be the week-long jumps ahead. And, in jump was the last time you ever wanted to risk computer failures.
Mikah was the next to wake, and she woke Zimzod, so he could start his physical therapy. When she woke him, Zimzod insisted the first thing he'd do was to grab food. While they cooked and ate, the others filtered in, including Jocelynn, who wasn't very happy to be awake. When Aali had come into the space, and asked what was for breakfast, Mikah said she didn't know. She'd decided to make caff for everyone, but told Zimzod he had to cook. Standing at the stove, Zimzod raised a spatula and warned, "You're taking your lives into your hands." Mikah and Aali only laughed.
Sitting down with a mug of caff while Zimzod cooked, Aali grabbed a terminal in the lounge and linked in to check on the ship's work status. She buzzed through reports and tech feed from tests while waiting for the food to be ready. After Jocelynn grabbed and ate her food, she made her way to Colinne's bedroom door. Finding it closed, Jocelynn knocked lightly to see if Colinne was awake? Calling to say she'd answer in a minute, Colinne then closed everything down and made sure the terminal was secure before moving to the door. When she opened the door, Jocelynn stood there with misery in her voice as she begged, "you've got to help me."
Seeing Jocelynn, Colinne had her step into the room and closed the door behind her. After the stent to stent connection they'd shared the night before, Colinne knew this was a level of crisis she'd have to help with. When she got Jocelynn to sit and explain her issues, Jocelynn's biggest concern was that her mind wouldn't shut down and she wasn't getting sleep between the fits of dream, or even snippets of what she said were 'other people's dreams! What bothered Colinne was that Jocelynn had claimed to see 'other people's dreams'! That went beyond stent issues and suggested a psionic blossoming!
Colinne wasn't equipped to handle dealing with and hiding a manifestation of psionic powers in the port, and mixed with a crew which held dangerous hate. But, life didn't care if one was equipped or not when it threw asteroids at someone. Jocelynn told Colinne she'd felt like she'd gone from zero to top speed without learning how to properly drive the vehicle, and felt she had to learn all the intermediate stuff she bypassed. And, chief of that was how to control her racing mind, and be able to get some sleep at night!
Colinne was all for soothing Jocelynn's anxiety and talking the woman down a bit, so they could start working on understanding Jocelynn's situation and needs. The first thing Colinne did to settle nerves was to explain that Jocelynn couldn't accidentally "fry" Colinne's brain. While there could be stent to stent energy exchanges that could damage the stent hardware, the energy from the brain would always be pizo-electric in nature. If enough energy was shunted from a brain to the stent, the device would fry before it transmitted that energy to another stent. And any stent receiving that level of power would, itself, fry before transferring the power in towards the brain of the user.
Colinne said that truly "frying a brain" demanded psionic powers. Colinne had also let Jocelynn know she'd been tested and had latent powers. She also knew Jocelynn hadn't been told about the latent talents or trained seriously at all. Because of that, she comforted Jocelynn's fear there could be an accident which left one or both of them as vegetables, or worse. Another thing Colinne didn't tell Jocelynn about were the training sessions she'd been assigned to years before, teaching her how to recognize the "sense" a mind assault was beginning, or how to try and defend against it. Not to mention how the differing levels of Psi talent affected how such an attack might feel to a target?
Getting a better start than they'd had during their stent to stent connection, Colinne had Jocelynn explain to her what she'd dealt with after their night-chat. And Jocelynn's descriptions broke into two different complaints. As she listened, Colinne saw that one of those was concerning while the other was worse. Much worse. And, while she had planned to go through the logs and buffers, what had her more worried were Jocelynn's complaints about having seen snippets of other people's dreams. Those wouldn't be found in any of the logs. They were psionics instead of stent-connected.
Added to that, while Colinne knew Jocelynn had been subjected to 'tolerance training', they hadn't trained her in any talents. And, Jocelynn was entirely unaware if she had any latent talents to be trained with? So, the question was, what latent talents Jocelynn had? Deciding to take the leap, Colinne sat her down and did her best to gently tell Jocelynn she just might have latent psi-talents. As Jocelynn asked, "Huh?" the look she gave Colinne was one of confusion mixed with surprise and disbelief. And then, an added bit of fear as Jocelynn suddenly asked Colinne to keep this between the two of them while she worried about others in the crew learning this new secret.
Jocelynn also asked if it was possible there had been any brain damage, caused by the sudden upgrade in her skills? She asked because she'd heard of implanted memory learning causing damage to existing memories and skills. Colinne held back her laugh and said that likely wasn't the case with the package. She also agreed to protect Jocelynn's new secret from the very real threats some in the crew might learn about her possible psi talents. The stories weren't 'just stories', and new true events happened from time to time, even centuries after the psi-suppression war. They continued no matter how much time had passed. And, also thanks to constant claims the Zhodani used mind control to manage their empire. The fear of psions was a very real thing in the Imperium. Especially where war veterans were concerned.
Having a bit of a hint at one talent, at the least, Colinne considered trying to trigger a telepathic response to confirm that talent. Deciding to try it, Colinne first sat Jocelynn down and calmed her as best she could. Then, Colinne said she was going to try something, before concentrating. As she sat and waited, a pair of concepts formed in Jocelynn's mind and she could only think to herself, "Wait! What??" Having sent the thoughts, Colinne had planned to wait for any kind of response, but instead got back the "Wait! What??" very clearly and almost immediately. That confirmed for Colinne that Jocelynn was now both an active and untrained telepath. Which was not a good thing to be. Especially in the Imperium!
Before Jocelynn could deal with the confusion, Colinne reached out to her, mind to mind, and said, "Jocelynn. You're telepathic." with as much of a sympathetic feel as possible. Jocelynn could only think to herself, 'Holy shit' without knowing if she was unintentionally sharing that with Colinne? Or, anyone else? Pulling herself together, Jocelynn visibly smirked while she thought back to Colinne, "Now, I really need your help!" Jocelynn then asked Colinne if she'd been in other people's heads the night before while sleeping, and Colinne said there was no way to be sure at the moment.
Colinne admitted the 'shared dream snippets' made that the most likely scenario, and told Jocelynn she was gonna have to teach the woman how to lock down her mind. Jocelynn quickly agreed to that, agreeing it was for the safety of all. Making things even worse, despite the naval base and other Imperial assets in-system, this world's ports could well be used by covert Zhodani agents to enter or leave the Imperium. So, the last thing they needed was for Jocelynn to be heard broadcasting by one of them! None of the various results that could come from that led to good things. Both women knew that even if Jocelynn hadn't considered it. And, thanks to her past, Colinne had. And she didn't like where it could lead.
When they started talking about training, Jocelynn joked the rest of the crew would think they were a couple, and both women laughed. Still, it was a lot for both of them to take in as they looked down what seemed to be a very long track towards their new shared goal. Jocelynn did lean forward and give Colinne a hug in thanks for that woman's help and even her steadying presence. But, now the truth was out from hiding, and they could move forward and work at what was needed. The only question now, other than how long it would take, was if they should tell Mikah and Zimzod about this new development? At the moment, it was to be secret just between the two women.
New News And More Out in the common space of the berth, Zimzod was making egg and cheese omelets with what the berth was stocked with. He had no idea what animals the egg and cheese-like substances had come from. Or, if they'd even come from animals? But he was good with what he had and told the others they were eating at their own risk. So, he smiled and cooked for the others. When Zimzod started serving and people came to eat, they each slowly realized neither Colinne nor Jocelynn were coming out for breakfast. Grousing a bit, Aali said, "If they're having a stent training session, I wish they'd included me." Neither Zimzod nor Mikah mentioned they'd felt very brief seconds of "buzzing" in their minds over the past hour.
Looking up, Mikah asked, "Has anyone seen them this morning?" before making assumptions. Fesic told them he'd been woken very early in the morning and saw Jocelynn going to the galley to have a snack. He said he'd gone back to bed, and that had been the last time he'd seen her. Nodding, Mikah got up as she said she'd knock on Jocelynn's bedroom door. Making her way to the bedrooms, Mikah knocked, but got no answer. Trying the door, Mikah found it locked. Accepting that, Mikah moved on to Colinne's bedroom door. When Mikah knocked on Colinne's door, the two heard it and quickly agreed to secure from what they were doing and see who needed them?
Buying time, Colinne called out asking who it was and heard Mikah say it was her, and ask if she needed any help or anything? Colinne only told Mikah she was working with Jocelynn on something and they were fine. Mikah chuckled and said "OK", as Colinne realized they should perhaps eat something. When Colinne asked about food, Mikah said Zimzod had cooked breakfast. So, both Colinne and Jocelynn stepped out of Colinne's bedroom in doubt if they'd eat what Zimzod made or cook for themselves? Suspicious, Jocelynn asked, "What exactly did Zimzod make?" and was told egg and cheese omelets. So, they joined the others and tested what was offered.
While they ate or prepared for their day, Aali said she was going to get to work on the boxes of 'droid parts. At the very least, she wanted to know if all the parts were there, and how many of them were workable? Before working on the 'droid, Aali logged into the net-connection to the shipyard to check on the Upgrade. Looking the reports over, the first thing she saw was that the naval techs didn't think they'd be ready to hand over the ship by the 58th day of the year. So, they'd be waiting at least four more days for the ship to be delivered. Aali then spent an hour reviewing the reports to see that systems had been replaced and things were being re-assembled. So, they were well on the 'down-hill' side of the work, at the least.
After he ate, Aiden decided to look for anything like a local on-network auction or sales site, searching for anyone selling hand guns. Of course, he should have known how foolish an idea that was, because of the situation on world. "No one" sold hand guns except in secure sales venues, given the situation with the clans. And, venues like the base thrift shop didn't advertise anything being sold on a public network site. What he found was the 'nothing' he should have expected. Done looking for fire arms, Aiden had caught sight of a few instruments. He noticed them thanks to experiences he'd had during his time aboard the ISS Kirdiimle, back in 1098. Early in his first scout term, the ship had been ordered to carry out deep system patrols of Imperial systems and visit the client state systems of Tarsus and Collace.
As a junior member of the crew, Aiden had been in the position of watching and listening to what vids and recordings more senior members of the crew had brought with them, or bought, along the way. One thing he'd seen was a set of performances on what he could only describe as an "instrumental synthesizer". The device was, from his memory, a keyboard-based system which seemed to holographically project instruments which were then played from the keyboard or, even, by players manipulating the holograph as detected by sensors in the system. What Aiden hadn't known at the time, was that the "instrument" was more of an extremely expensive training system, rarely used in concerts. Since then, Aiden had always held a buried hope of using a simulator to learn to play some instrument.
Checking the sales sites he could find, Aiden saw a large variety of local and off-world stringed instruments, and whistles or wood-wind instruments. Those locally made were also made of more rudimentary materials where those from off world were both more expensive and more finely made. Aiden didn't see anything similar to a harmonica or other "mouth organ". When Aiden tightened his search to items available on the port or naval base, he saw his listings shrink to high-end woodwind instruments that were made of wood or modern composite types with fine-quality metal fittings where they were needed. Some items were being sold by various shops, and others were sold by individuals because they were pre-owned or hand made.
When Aiden searched for shops that had listings for a number of instruments, he saw a few individual shops. He did note down some of the addresses, but saw they were too scattered to easily reach them all. Eventually, Aiden shifted his interests, and started researching the video games the ship's entertainment suite provided. He also checked their limits. Most needed hardware which was either wireless or virtual. So, any game designed to support the use would provide players with spawning rings to spark up virtual controllers. Where actual hardware came into play, that had to exist in numbers that supported all the desired players. On the very rare occasion something wasn't wireless, it had to be jacked into the ship's systems to be used.
While the others did their thing, Fesic decided he'd hit the gym before returning to the berth to do more lock pick training. Having heard of this ''mythical' gym, Mikah followed Fesic and they eventually joined up and hit the gym at the same time. Colinne and Jocelynn finished eating and watched the others fade off to their interests before slipping back into Colinne's bedroom to close the door and do more work on training Jocelynn. During breakfast, Sekea tried to chat with Maur, and reminded her he'd also been aboard the King George. A fact she could hardly have forgotten. As they talked, Sekea mentioned he'd actually been aboard because he'd been tasked with safeguarding the parents of a former crew mate before he'd left the Imperial Navy.
With Maur's attention, Sekea explained that, while the woman had died aboard the liner, he'd been separated from his crew mate's father. Sekea then admitted he knew he was grasping at straws but asked if he could show her a picture of the man, to see if she recognized him at all? He said he hoped that she might possibly have seen and remembered the man. Sekea also assured Maur he didn't expect success because he knew the numbers were against him. But he hoped she'd look and see. When Maur agreed, Sekea pulled up a picture on his Ident which was the most clear one he had. After that, Maur spent some time studying the picture before she said she was fairly certain she had seen the man! She said he'd been with a group of survivors who'd been "sold off", by the pirates who'd held her.
As Sekea got excited, Maur added that she also remembered the man hadn't been in good health. When Sekea started asking hopeful questions, she reminded him she'd been taken off the liner and held prisoner. She had no idea what ship had first captured her, nor the names of any of the ships which docked to "buy prisoners". She also admitted she'd had no idea what system they'd been on until Mikah's team rescued them from the pirates and filled in a piece or two of the puzzle. When Sekea tried to guide her to information, like a ship's name plate, or even the names the pirates called each other, she reminded him they were not interested in educating their prisoners. Between the beatings, rapes, infrequent feeding and other events, they were kept in isolation.
And, despite her experiences, she had reported everything she could remember to the Navy, so her memories were fresh. Added to that, she was spending her alone time in the berth trying to remember more. In the end, she could only remember and describe those pirates who'd been on the first ship and captured her along with the second ship, which Lady Mikah had boarded in the Denotam system. Other than that, she was limited to the compartments she'd been held in. Because the conversation happened largely aside the breakfast table, Jocelynn could feel waves of sadness and violation flowing from the women while Zimzod and Mikah felt that familiar buzzing in their heads.
After having apologized to Maur for dredging up her bad memories, Sekea excused himself because he wanted to check in with Aali. She'd begun checking the parts and 'droid sections in the boxes from the base's thrift shop. Despite the fact there were many models of pell 'droids 'out there', Sekea connected to InstellArms so he could show Aali a picture of the model he'd dueled with. What he could see quickly was that the 'droid parts were not from the same model of android. With his enthusiasm for helping Aali fading, Sekea went over to one of the terminals in the berth's public spaces and started looking to see if he could get some kind of portable defibrillator to add to his kit?
Sadly, again, Sekea was perhaps hoping for more from the Denotam system than the location could provide. While the ambient technology available was interstellar, there were no factories, production and assembly facilities or large schools providing people with the technical skills to maintain and support tech goods. Because of that, most "early fusion" powered devices that were 'large but man portable' had to be imported. Anything smaller, or with more modern capabilities, would certainly have to come from off-world. So, any defibrillator of on-world make would have been a kludge of spare and scrounged parts which would likely need to be on wheels to pull along, if not mounted on a vehicle. Seeing that, Sekea again realized he'd failed to understand the capabilities of the system they were in. It remained to be seen if he would learn that lesson this time or not?
Another issue Sekea needed to consider was that when he had actually called for a defibrillator, the patient's heart was still beating and the man was still breathing. So, if he'd been given the defibrillator at that point, and he used it, he would have killed the man. This should have pounded home to Sekea that he was not as close to a medical professional as he liked to pretend he was. In that case, he was certainly the right person for the job because he "did have" the skills. But, he should have taken more time to carry out a more complete diagnosis before demanding tools that could have killed the man he was treating. And that was another lesson Sekea should have learned before, and might not have realized afterwards.
Despite those possible lessons, Sekea was looking at devices in the moment. What he first learned was that the "defibrillator" was actually a four-piece device. There were the "paddles" which varied over tech levels. On the lowest tech worlds which could support one, the paddles were a pair of hand-held, hard-wired paddles which were covered with rubber so they wouldn't electrocute the medical professional while also spreading the "shock delivery" over the patient's flesh enough not to concentrate and burn through a patch of skin. From the more advanced factories, the paddles shrank as much as they could, and reduced or entirely lost the "wired connections". Also, more advanced paddles would have in-built sensors both for the safety of the medical technician and the patient.
The next "part" of the device was the actual defibrillator itself. This device, which started as a near-room sized box and shrank down to a tool-box sized carriable, was the brains of the device. A medical tech could chose and set varying levels of charging and electrical delivery to the paddles. More and more modern versions had sensors either in the box itself or through connection to the paddles. These were capable of blocking a charge delivery if anyone were in danger of "sharing the charge", or if the charge would further injure the patient. The capabilities and safe-guards increased as the technology of the manufacturer did.
Finally, there was the power sub-system. Early defibrillators had to be hard wired to energy sources. There were then large vehicle or "on dolly" devices which could be plugged in locally but had to "build a charge". Tech advances allowed still-large but vehicle mounted defibrillators. As tech advanced and devices started miniaturizing, advances concentrated on battery capability and capacity. In some systems, the technology demanded vehicles to carry both a defibrillator and sets of replacement batteries. With fusion-based or "High-Fu" battery based batteries, portable devices became smaller and easier to move. From "on-wheels", roll-behind rack units to "lug-but carry" and then more comfortable to carry units. There was not, at this point any combination of modules which was smaller than the size of a large took kit at tech level 15 or below.
So, nothing that existed was small enough to "add to" Sekea's kit. And there was very little of that available in the Denotam system. Realizing what little he could get, and how expensive and massive it would be, Sekea decided he should wait until he could get to the Ghandi system at the least. And, perhaps even wait until they arrive in D'Ganzio, where InstellArms would surely have everything known to civilized space. Sekea also knew the ship's med-bay was a fully stocked space with the most advanced tech the Imperium could provide. That, thanks to the former owners of the yacht, and the huge money bags they'd emptied having the space designed and built. That, of course, led to a moment of ironic reflection because of how Sekea was told they'd died. Sometimes, no matter what you had at hand, you were still gonna die. Period.
After his meal, Zimzod did physical terrorism therapy first, then looked to see what Mikah was up to? But, while he'd been doing his PT, she and Fesic had gone to the gym, so he had to wait until she came back to the berth. While it wasn't long before they did finish up and start returning, Mikah and Fesic couldn't help but notice there seemed to be an intensified level of activity in that section of the port. One thing they certainly noticed in the distance was that port workers were having ships moved to create a space between the harbor and the parkbays. While Fesic somehow came up with the idea there might be a storm coming, he had nothing to base that on since he'd not asked anyone or checked with the port.
When they asked a worker, the more logical answer was that they were creating space for an arrival. That explained why ground-space was being cleared in the harbor. When Mikah asked who was arriving, she was only told they didn't know but it would be something large. Mikah had to hold back a snort, because she was familiar with "Capital" ships, which would crush the whole field and more if one of them came in to land. So, nothing that field was meant to host could be considered "large" at all. When he heard that, Fesic joked about finding a place to hide in the ductwork as if he were Munarshu. Mikah only sighed, begged the heavens for help and asked Fesic if he wanted a paper suit to wear while he hid? Hearing that, he laughed with her.
By the time Mikah and Fesic got back to the berth and started spreading the word, Aiden had been ready to go out instrument hunting. Hearing there was activity on the port, Aiden decided to connect up to network-based music sellers and start work on a personal music collection. Because he didn't want to leave the berth until he had an idea what was happening outside, Aiden concentrated on locating streaming performances he could load onto his space on their entertainment unit. While looking for venues, Aiden found a rather large library to buy from which was supported by the Imperial Military Entertainment And Morale Service. There were also smaller and even nearly-microscopic local providers with both positive and questionable reputations. To his surprise, even the music of the clans were represented.
The music selections were broken down by a number of vectors like Race(Aslan, Human, Vargr, etc), Political source, cultural(Vilani, Solomani, etc..), Genre(Classical, current, etc..) and more. Aiden decided to stick to Human-centric music and sample what he could from the clans first. Taking a quick skip through chunks of musical performances, Aiden decided to buy a few performances from the Arnstruther and Fleming clans. He'd also found Imperial pieces he knew before it came time for lunch. Aiden had spent nearly Cr 250 on music before it came time for lunch. While they ate, Aiden talked up his new downloads and asked if anyone wanted to hear some?
When Fesic listened to a bit of it, and liked it, Aiden said he'd share the files and share with Fesic. After they ate, Mikah decided to see who wanted to play video games. Zimzod and Aiden both jumped in on that, which signaled the end of Aiden's music quest for the moment. When Mikah wanted a "shoot-em-up" game, Aiden suggested a ship vs ship vs ship game. Zimzod was good to play that but suggested they check on the news first. Hearing that, Mikah agreed they should listen and see what was happening on the port?
Regina (A788899-C 2 Ri Cp G 703 Im F7 V M8 D M6 V) Date: 040-1114
What had started as a local issue between one supplier and several resorts has now spiraled to a near-
global concern. Two weeks before the issue gained major exposure, the resorts, "Suluumir Luushuuka Shore
Resorts" and "Zergen Niest Island Seclusions" had accused the suppliers "Ishpuush, Elagi and Kirkhin" of
negligence. The matter was based on shipments of the SuSAG produced "Winefruit". The resorts came under
scrutiny after a number of guests to their exclusive facilities became ill, or died. Investigations led
authorities to partly rotted servings of Winefruit.
The SuSAG product is very common, if expensive, across the Spinward Marches. It is a gene-tech product
from SuSAG, mostly based on Terran grape and pear DNA. Servings can be eaten normally, as a fruit, just
after picking. In that case, the outer skin is a "pale green" color. However, after picking, the juice
inside the fruit slowly ferments, turning sugar into alcohol. The outer skin will turn a reddish-brown
color during this process, giving a fairly accurate estimation of both alcohol content and tartness of
the fruit.
Fermentation stops after about two weeks, though the fruit will then keep for another several months. A
fully fermented winefruit is roughly equivalent to a glass of wine in alcohol content. Market research
suggests most younger consumers prefer to consume them before the process completes, and while the fruit
retains some sweetness. Winefruit are a reasonably common trade item in the Marches, though people on low-
tech or isolated planets may not be aware of their alcoholic properties. Once the investigation properly
centered on suspect shipments of the fruit, an immediate accusation was made claiming I, E and K of damaging
the vines for the fruit being shipped to them.
This, so the claim reads, would have caused the fruit to react as if they had been picked from the vines
they were shipped with. Despite that claim, the situation widened as news coverage resulted in additional
claims. With wider attention also came more intense investigation, including genetic forensics. What was
determined from that leg of investigation were two salient facts. The first was that the vines had been
"alive and feeding" from the shipping soil as expected. But the second proved that the genetic properties
of the fruit DNA had been "altered" by some agency! As a result, all consumption of winefruit has been
halted while Regina's highest commercial investigators work to determine where and how that happened. At
the very least, it seems that both I, E And K and the local SuSAG venues will be hit with charges of
negligence for not confirming the DNA strands were proper. 
Denotam (B739573-A N Ni G 324 Im M2 V) Date: 055-1114
Acting on the data from recent courier and other craft from the Tremous Dex system, the local
Naval and TAS offices have officially listed the Tremous Dex system as a "Red" zone until further
information can be received from the Admiralty in the Regina system. Other questions have been
raised given the recent departure of the Prince and Arch Duke en-route to the Retinae system.
The Prince's fleet had left the Denotam system eleven days before, and should be in the Frenzie
system, preparing to depart for the Thanber system. As viewers will remember, the Frenzie system
hosts the Ducal Court of Duke Bondal a'Plena. There, it is expected the Arch Duke and Prince are
spending a great deal of time in conference with the Vilis Duke. Beyond that, they will be
reviewing the Marquisette of Frenzie.
The Duke will also likely be joining the Prince and Arch Duke on their travels to the Retinae
system. There will certainly be concerns with Zhodani actions in the region, with Retinae being
only three parsecs distant from a major Zhodani military base in the heavily fortified Querion system.
Beyond Zhodani and Ardeni concerns, the Prince's visit to the Thanber system should be chaotic indeed.
Viewers will recall the populations of both the Dekalb and Thanber systems have populations engaged
in mass protests and system-wide disruptions over demands to re-join the Imperium.
Those were only mollified with the current offer of "Client State" status and the promise to extend
Imperial Navy patrols in those systems. Authorities are concerned about the public reaction to an
in-person visit from an Imperial Royal. It is certain the visit to that system will be accompanied
by extreme levels of security. That said, talking heads and strategic commenters have raised questions
about Arden's move into Tremous Dex. Some have asked if this move was prompted, or furthered, because
of the refusal of Grand Duchess Delphine to allow sales of Imperial weapon stocks to the
Ardeni government?
Denotam (B739573-A N Ni G 324 Im M2 V) Date: 055-1114
Following the events of 026 1114, the Admiralty have announced a working diplomatic relationship with
Clan Arnstruther, to the extent such can be stable. While the damages caused by the Clan's attack on
the naval base the month before have been resolved, the clan has been placed under advanced observation.
While The Arnstruther and their people are not pleased, Imperial Navy officers have made it clear system
defense craft will be re-tasked to observe that clan's air and orbital space much more closely. This
clearly was a strike at the clan's covert connections with smugglers. Beyond the reactions from Clan
Arnstruther, other clan representatives have voiced their annoyance. The shared anger over the Navy's
actions was likely due to the odds smugglers who also dealt with other clans might be scared away, along
with expected business.
More directly, Imperial authorities have used the unfortunate death of two innocents to advance a rare
level of punishment. It is understood officers leading the meetings were able to produce extremely high-
quality intelligence identifying a number of units used in last month's attacks. Those officers also
treated the Clan leadership to video of high-precision strikes against targets from a number of the Navy's
orbital assets in-system. It is understood that Naval authorities have confirmed that any follow up
reaction similar to last month's attack would be met by precision attacks against those vehicles and
ground units involved in such attacks. All agree it is unlikely Clan Arnstruther are unlikely to take
the situation happily. Still, what the Clan may do in reaction is an open question, and tensions are
likely to rise until Naval Intelligence can get data on the situation, or until the Clan drops the other
shoe and acts.
Dentus (C979500-A S Ni G 920 Im M2 V) Date: 357-1113
Advanced TAS offices covering the creation of Aslan regimental land-grants in-system have been reporting
on the chance to learn unique insights into Aslan culture. Viewers will be reminded the Ahurai Clan were
given land grants at the end of the Fifth Frontier War. Imperial Aslan who had served with distinction
within an all-Aslan Imperial Marine units were granted land on Dentus. This raised them to the status of
"Lord" within their clan, and granted rights under the Head of their clan. It has also led to disagreements
of varying levels as the new Lords moved their households to establish their territories.
In a most recent case, reporter Arsan Wipamte was able to get permission to film the events which rose
from dispute to war! According to the reporter's notebook, two of the newly ennobled Lords of the Clan
had their young males out establishing border posts along their holds. When two parties of males disputed
the lie of the border, the incident initially resulted in a brief 'three on three' "bout" to decide the
answer. While this would normally have been lost to simple description by an observer, luck had it that
one of the surveying females had opted to record proceedings as the disagreement built to conflict.
The recording made by Akhui Hoae showed that an inexperienced male named Hwauiy, serving the Lord
Hfeayahou Hkoirluisau, angrily disagreed with the claims of a slightly more experienced male serving
Lord Iyfteaiy Eiha. Before the initial argument could fall into a brawl, which their society would
see as without honor, one of the leaders of Lord Iyfteaiy Eiha's team demanded an honor battle
regarding the dispute. The two groups then ritualistically chose combatants in a manner that would
even let the inexperienced possibly fight and gain honor.
That fight briefly settled the dispute until the issue could be discussed and decided by the Clan Lord.
This is where TAS Reporter Wipamte was able to get permission to cover the evolving event. Following that
dispute, both Clans discussed it between the Lords and their gathered elders. A number of cases were
discussed while the "so called" existing government of Dentus(The command staff of the in-system scout
base) offered aid in "legally deciding" the matter. The staff of the local Imperial Baron, working to
over-see and assist the growth of the system, also offered advice. Despite that, this was seen as an
entirely native event, and all were told this would be settled using traditional Aslan methods. So, when
it was announced the two Lords had decided to "go to war", the other authorities were disconcerted.
If an Imperial point of view were what resulted, their concern would have been valid. However, the two
camps quickly set about to decide the scope and nature of the coming "war". It was first decided the war
to be fought would be 'Limited'. The "force size" to be used was decided to be even, with five "Claws"
representing each Lord. On the days before the "war", the site of the conflict was set up with tents and
other structures in preparation. The day before the conflict, all warriors who were able drew lots. That
meant any warrior could join the battle and gain glory. That evening, the two "Armies" shared a feast
while discussing the rules of battle.
Since the war was not one of insult, punitive, or vengeance, the sides agreed that fire arms would not be used.
That included bows and arrows. It was also decided that any warrior too wounded to continue be borne off the
field by his family without hindrance, for treatment. In the end, the scope of the victory or loss would allow
the Lords to select the final border. So, if the victory was decisive, the winning Lord would claim all the land.
But, a lesser victory of, say 3:2 would mean the "Winning Lord" could claim three square meters for each two
squares the other Lord could then claim. They would then continue in rounds until all the land had been claimed.
TAS Tri-vid will be working with the reporter to provide an in-depth program covering the "war" once the event
was concluded.
D'Ganzio (B120410-D N Ni Po De G 312 Im M3 V M0 D) Date: 036-1114
After a deep investigation and significant rebuilding and repair work, InstellArms executives in the D'Ganzio
system have announced a return to one hundred percent operations aboard their "Rho" system depot station.
Viewers will recall that station had suffered an attack on the 45th day of 1113, about which there still
remain significant questions. While the executives are proud of the return to service less than a year after
the attack, even system security authorities are quiet about any details of the event. It is well known that
the crew of Lady Mikah Kirlim and Sir Zimzod, then crew of the yacht Hotel California, were instrumental in
resolving the attack. In fact, it is known members of Lady Mikah's crew risked making personal attacks in
pressurized armor and exposed to space and possible weapons fire. While it is very doubtful any such meetings
would be made public, there are many who speculate what conversations might be held if Lady Mikah's crew
decided to return to the D'Ganzio system?
After a tour of the Rho station's public spaces, engineers with the news groups were surprised at the extent
of reconditioning aboard. Viewers will be reminded that station was nearly knocked from orbit, to crash down
onto the planet's surface! While the damage planetside would not likely have been significant, the loss of
the multi TCr station and her contents would have been difficult for the Spinward Marches Sector branch of
InstellArms to recover from for a good number of years or decades.
Add to that the loss of income from stockpiles which would have been forwarded to the Foreven and other sectors.
Some economists suggest the losses could have affected standing contracts with other smaller interstellar
polities outside the Imperium. That added consideration suggests the still unknown motive behind the attack
could have been aimed at reducing the ability of InstellArms-supplied government to defend themselves. It is
certain Imperial and other strategic think tanks are devoting energy to puzzling out the motives behind
the event.
Fist/Tobia/Trojan Reach (918 Fist B789430-C N Ni Green 313 Im F1 V) Date: 294-1113
News was received today from the Fist system(Tobia/Trojan Reach) following fighting between Human colonists and
Aslan Ihate in the Argona system(The Borderland/Trojan Reach). Following fighting over the disputed worlds in
the Argona system, some squadrons of Aslan naval and diplomatic ships requested entry into the Fist system.
The leaders of the flotilla also asked to meet with those highest in command of the Imperial naval base in-system.
After guarded and limited permissions were granted, what could only be described as an Aslan honor guard debarked
from their transport carrying a medical pod containing a badly-wounded human male.
During the fighting in that system, the Aslan had been, and continued to be punctilious about providing details
of human troops killed or captured. That was less for humanitarian reasons than because it helped glorify their
own fighting prowess. Still, that didn't explain the wreck of a man in the cryotube. The senior officer of the
Aslan fleet himself took a position before the Imperial officers ready to greet them and the Aslan surprised all
by setting up an impromptu podium and speakers for their officer. The officer, Aikoho siylakht Hfee Hoirou Aetrao
[Hu-fee H-eye-row-oo Aye-trah-Oh ] then began to "grant honor" to the settler they were returning to "his Clan".
The Aslan officer's accented recitation took a form that seemed to be ritualistic, and in accordance to Aslan
tradition. During the recitation, the Aslan described how settler Anubis Chen, formerly a Corporal in the
Imperial Army had begun the battle manning a VRF Gauss nest. When his regiment's line collapsed under the Aslan
assault, and strategic officers on both sides saw his position needed to be held to delay advancing Aslan forces
to let human forces establish a new defense line. And, with an effort to fill his voice with respect, the officers
said anyone willing to do that would be committing suicide.
Records the Aslan said they could recover showed that Chen had told his loader to "get out while he could". He
then continued to hold off repeated Aslan attacks for an additional four hours, despite being wounded three times.
When the officer completed that part of the recitation, the entire formation of Aslan with him gave a war cry of
obvious respect. At the same time, more than a few of the watching Human population, live or on vid, panicked
when the Aslan ships above initiated a pyrotechnic display. It was only due to the quiet and unreacting Imperial
military assets that an incident did not result.
Even with the gauss ammunition gone, he fought with a captured Aslan rifle. In the end, he finally called in
artillery on his own position as it was overrun. Along with Corporal Chen's body, the Aslan returned his
personal weapon. The weapon had been carefully cleaned. The Aikoho siylakht also presented an Imperial
officer with a scroll, in their elaborate calligraphy. That document expressed the hope Chen would survive,
and sire many strong sons to provide worthy enemies against whom future generations of Aslan could earn honor
in battle. Or, that if he died of his wounds, that he would be reborn Aslan in his next life. Medical officers
were concerned to learn later that Chen had actually been mortally wounded in the fighting. It was further
learned he had only survived because he had received multiple organ transplants from the human dead of the
battle. These included a pancreas, spleen and one lung.
Greeting New Neighbors While the others watched the news, Jocelynn and Colinne slipped into a bedroom and closed the door so they could get back to investigating Jocelynn's issues. They'd decided to let the others in on what'd happened with Jocelynn's stent if they needed a cover story. And the stent functions Jocelynn had found let them pretend anything that looked like telepathy was stent-based. Especially since Jocelynn could reach out through her stent to the others with stents, to give an example of her new abilities. Still, when Jocelynn wasn't sure they had to move into a bedroom, Colinne made it clear they wanted to keep things secure and not mistakenly reveal their other powers.
The two worked half on stent security and half on telepathic discipline, while Mikah and Zimzod also periodically felt the buzzing in their minds. Looking around and noticing neither Jocelynn or Colinne were visible, Mikah got close to Zimzod and said they should have a talk with the other women sometime soon. Mikah was still annoyed there'd been no news on the "new arrival", and was reminded a big ship arriving may not have been news worthy. She was reminded they could always check the port's boards when they wanted to. In a lull in the news, Mikah did spark up another terminal and set it to the port boards. Checking the listings, Mikah saw there was a new ship listed.
Looking closer, Mikah saw it was listed as a yacht, so it was chartered or carrying someone wealthy enough to own such a ship. Listed as the IV Berniadkno nek Sisem, the first raised eye brows were the "IV". Not "IMV". So, the ship was not claiming Imperial registry! The board data said it had been a 600 dTon trading vessel before being converted into a personal yacht. So, not chartered either! Beyond that, there was no more information. Mikah considered sending a welcoming note to the yacht's owners, but the idea wasn't very appealing. So, she decided to just let things simmer and see what eventually happened?
After breakfast, and following lunch, Aali had been wading into the 'droid parts to see what she found. And, as she feared, a lot of the main systems seemed to have been disassembled, with parts scattered between boxes. That would make it harder to confirm they had everything needed to re-assemble it. The good news was that she'd identified the 'droid as an LSP "Model 118BP" class training android. What she couldn't tell from the parts before her was what programming the 'droid had in its brain? Or, if that programming was intact or had been damaged, or corrupted? In fact, she couldn't even say if the brain was in working order or had suffered damage? Not until it could be powered up and tested.
Still, Aali was annoyed because the only documentation she'd gotten with the lot was the marking of "pell 'droid' on each of the boxes. Because of that, she decided to log into the network and look for anywhere she might get manuals for the device. In the meantime, Maur was logged into a terminal doing her best to learn what had happened in the universe while she was in jump space, or a prisoner. Having found nothing of value in-system to add a defibrillator to his kit, Sekea turned his mind back to the crew's intended mission to the Sonthert system.
Sekea knew they planned to visit the Ghandi Naval base and ask questions about that system, for navigational data. But, as he considered that idea, he worried they'd not be able to get the data. He first reviewed his tools, but any accuracy they could give him was based on the best 'real universe' data he could provide. If the data were years, decades or even centuries old, then inaccuracies could creep into the calculations. And, as with "degrees off" on linear vectors, such corruptions could result in predictions being radically off.
When he considered jumping without any current data, Sekea knew it was done. And, that it was done by some people more frequently than he liked to think of. Added to that, one of the people he knew likely had a lot of experience in that was Aiden. As a former member of the Exploratory branch of the Scout Service, Aiden would have had to have made several jumps like that. And, during the war, Sekea had heard of the feat which eventually led to the Grand Duchess knighting him. That was making blind jumps into systems he sometimes could not pull up data on while healing from serious wounds in a badly damaged ship to save himself and his crew.
In those cases, jumping into systems without advanced orbital schematics was one of the lesser of his concerns. So, Sekea was certain Aiden would have something helpful to say on the subject. Looking across the berth, Sekea saw the pilot playing video games with Mikah and others, and decided to remember to ask Aiden his questions sometime before they bunked out. Sadly, as the day progressed, Sekea would forget to raise his questions thanks to the events that followed.
Not having another plan in mind, Sekea decided he'd grab the tram to the terminal and then into the village so he could get some walking in. As an excuse, he said he wanted to see what the locally offered defibrillators looked like? Saying that, Sekea asked if anyone else wanted to join him? When it turned out no one else wanted to join him, Sekea left the parkbay to grab a tram to the terminal. Once on the tram, and while riding through the harbor picking up other passengers, Sekea noticed a lot of people moving about who were wearing a specific heraldic livery which he'd never seen before!
Taking a picture, because he'd noticed others doing the same, Sekea then sent the image to the rest of the crew asking if anyone knew what it was? At the same time, he bounced a copy to his hand computer and started looking up the image to see what it was? The answer from the computer actually beat Aali's call with the same information. The Heraldic Arms they were wearing represented the Duchy of Dhian. Dhian, according to the computer, was an odd world thanks to their history.
Having been settled from the Regina system in 310, Dhian had been advancing despite their exotic atmosphere. The atmosphere, heavily weighted with CO2 created a significantly over-heated and dynamic environment where infrequent carbonic acid rain was known to happen. Given the risk to Human life, both from the CO2 and acid falls, the original colony was settled, and grew, beneath the world's surface. Original and follow up studies of the planet allowed the settlers to build a massive downport inside the interior vaults of a volcano which was, and remains, certified as "extinct".
Sadly, arrogance led to risk taking, which resulted in a massive die-back of citizens when many new vaults had been carved with dangerously thin protective walls. The results of a large-area earthquake shattered containment of a large number of vaults which, ironically, had been carved to allow natural light viewports and "sky viewing" chambers to exist. That led to deaths in the tens of millions as those who'd rushed to more attractive living and work conditions were unable to find compartments which hadn't been compromised or the "survival rooms" so common in the early days of construction under that world.
Still recovering, the Ducal Family had all survived thanks to their decision to maintain the traditional sub-surface vaults of the Duchy government. Much of the Duchy government's workers also survived due to that decision. Politically, the Duchy held fief to the Paya, Keanou and Treece systems, in the Lanth subsector, and the Inthe system in the Regina subsector. In the case of those wearing the livery on the tram, it seemed to Sekea they were all in small groups and riding to the terminal for some reason. None seemed to be acting like tourists, so he guessed they were not there for pleasure travel.
When Mikah and Zimzod got messages from Sekea, Mikah figured they could take a break from their attempts to beat Aiden's ships with theirs. Especially since Zimzod's lack of any flight training or ship tactics meant his most threatening move was to ram each of Aiden's ships with one of his where Aiden's ships didn't blast the ramming ship from the sky. So, Mikah could only hope Zimzod would knock down enough of Aiden's ships to give her a numerical advantage over the pilot's tactics. In Colinne's bedroom, she and Jocelynn were continuing to work on teaching Jocelynn to lock off her mind. Without that, Jocelynn wouldn't be safe to leave the berth without a psi-shield. Fesic also set aside his training to check the message.
When Mikah saw the livery, she pointed out to the others in the compartment, "That is why we don't have patches for our ship." She next sighed and said, "I guess we're gonna have to say hello and welcome them to the port." Shrugging, Mikah decided to finish the holographic battle so the next half hour was a hard-fought contest. Since Zimzod's computer-driven ships had digital crew who had morale issues, some of his ships either moved in slowly firing weapons as they closed, or turned away after moving in under the guns of Aiden's ships. A number of them were shot to death, some tried to turn away at the last moment and even fewer did legitimate damage before both they and their targets moved out of range.
Aiden's problem was that Zimzod's maneuvers stopped him from mounting an organized defense from both Zimzod's rush attacks and Mikah's ranged strikes. Of course, thanks to the fog of war, Mikah did periodically join in with Aiden on blowing some of Zimzod's ships out of the sky and saving the targeted ship from Aiden's fleet. That led to an ending where enough of Aiden's fleet had died when he did his best to kill off Zimzod's ships that Mikah was able to eek out a mediocre victory. Before she did anything else, Mikah announced the next battle would be her and Aiden teamed up against Zimzod, and got laughs.
On the tram, Sekea had abandoned his mission to check out defibrillators, and decided to see if he could follow some of the servants and see what they were doing? He soon had to pare down to one group to follow, and went into a shop after they'd near marched in. When he took a position behind some product displays, Sekea was able to see as a male servant "very officiously" marched up to the shop's counter and 'demanded', "The Duchess Dhian demands to know if you can supply these items." As he spat that out, the man slid a datapad across the counter to the shopworker on the other side.
The shopworker gave the man in livery a comms tag for the shop, and said quite sharply, "The Duchess Dhian's questions will be answered after we've had a chance to look over her requirements." The shop man then snatched up the datapad, and made to set it aside to check out later. When the man in livery very officiously told the shop man he needed the datapad back, the shop man gave him a glare and said, "I can't really give the Duchess her answers if I don't know what she wants." His face then formed into a smirk as he said, "So, you're going to have to trust me with this, my good man." As he twisted his face, his tone adjusted to one of no respect and an obvious inflection of 'You need me so I make the rules.'
From his position, Sekea had to fight not to laugh out loud, and was fairly certain the shop workers wouldn't find a thing on that list they had in stock unless the need for a profit was too significant. And, if they did have a need to make sales, Sekea could bet the price of any items they had would rise several hundred percent. Much like Sekea and the others had done on Arden with their shop workers, this overly self-important man had cut his chances of any success in that shop.
After the liveried man copied down the comms tag for the shop, he turned on his heel and stiffly left the shop in a rigid stance of disapproval. Since the man had proved entertaining, Sekea decided to try and follow him further. When that man started obviously moving back to the starport, Sekea went looking for another person in livery to follow. It took him some time to find a small cluster of people not apparently returning from their assignments. As he got closer, Sekea could see the small cluster seemed to be at a loss for some information.
In for a credit, in for a pound, Sekea offered them help because they seemed to be lost. The first reaction he got was almost stand offish. Quickly enough, one of the group stepped up as self-appointed spokesperson and asked, "To whom do we have the honor of speaking?" When Sekea formally introduced himself, their demeanor instantly changed. While not "submissive", they became both much more polite and willing to attend to the questions and needs of an Imperial Knight. That was because, no matter how lofty a Ducal rank was in the system it was granted, few "planetary" titles ranked on the interstellar scale. And, Sekea's knighthood was on the Imperial level, as was his Aunt's Baronial patent.
The explanation Sekea got was that their Duchess sent them out to collect supplies for an event she was planning to host. When they handed Sekea a list on a datapad, he scanned it over quickly. The list seemed to include some serving items. Sekea then remembered a shop that was something like a department store, where Mikah and Colinne had bought flasks almost a month before. Figuring he might be able to help them, Sekea offered to guide them and they very happily accepted.
In the berth, Mikah put together a 'welcome letter' to send the Duchess Dhian, with all titles and details needed. After she hit the send, she got back a confirmation from the Duchess' Seneschal that the message had been received. That told her the Duchess was not the type of person to handle her own communications. Half an hour later, Mikah and the crew received official invitations from the Duchess herself. In those, she signed as the Duchess of the Dhian Duchy! That meant she wasn't simply a planetary noblewoman. Her husband and she ruled not only Dhian, but the Paya(Aramis), Treece and Keanou(Lanth) and Inthe(Regina) systems.
The invitations were for a "Welcoming and Introductions" party for herself and her twin sons. Following their ascension to the age of 12, she was accompanying them on an educational tour of natural and notable sights and cultures in a number of systems in the Spinward Marches. During those travels, Her Grace hoped to introduce them to any nobility they encountered along their way. Since those travels brought them to see the unique natural sights of Denotam, she was welcoming Lady Mikah's crew and all other nobility in-system to meet her sons. As she spread the word, Mikah checked to confirm if Lady Aadshur Kurdig Maur Ishnush Agka was also invited?
Seeing she was also invited, Mikah knew that meant everyone was invited to a party which would require suits and gowns. And, Mikah was ready to bet Maur didn't have a gown or even reasonable business clothing yet. Assessing her size and build, Mikah wondered if anyone in her crew could loan her a gown she'd fit into? While she looked like she could fit into Colinne's gown, Colinne only had the one gown. And, that had only recently been sewn for her on Denotam.
Bringing Colinne into the conversation, Mikah knocked on her bedroom door and found Colinne in her room working on something with Jocelynn. The conversation was a bit short, and not a lot of fun. Except for Maur, the ladies all remembered the run to get Colinne her one gown, more than twenty days before. So, that meant they had to get Maur a gown. But when they'd had Colinne's gown made, it was an "over-night rush order". This time, they only had four hours. So, when Mikah was done explaining what was needed, they got moving.
Mikah suggested they try the same gown maker, because they knew that shop could work under pressure. Mikah also suggested they bring some gowns they had, which might be able to be fitted to Maur. Aali had a gown Duke Luis had given her on Lunion. Then again, the Duke had given them all suits, gowns and other clothing. So, it looked nice, was high quality, and was certainly disposable. While Aali wasn't going with Mikah and Maur, Zimzod did. Mikah also grabbed her black party dress and her lavender tea-length dress, to see if those could be used at need? On the way out of the port and into the village, Mikah, Zimzod and Maur saw a large number of liveried staffers returning. That seemed to bear out the fact the party being planned would be large. At the dress makers, Mikah's party were hopeful and it seemed the dress makers were pleased they'd returned.
Looking around the shop, the three could see the women had been busy. After Mikah's first visit with Colinne, they were concerned Mikah might come back with another "rush order". Because of that, they had made a number of "parts" of gowns, like unfinished bodices, finished arms and other add on bits. That way, if Mikah's ladies did come back, they'd have a good half the work done already. They'd even enlarged or shrunken the patterns in case a lady of another size showed up. Or, in hopes of pushing a bit of a fashion change in the local interests. So, when Mikah and Maur walked in, and Maur was about Colinne's size, they were actually pleased.
When Mikah first explained the situation, some of the women went white while the woman in charge of the shop asked if Maur could stay to pose for the gown? Maur said she could stay, so the woman agreed and the shop was thrown into a frenzy of activity. At the same time, Mikah wanted to return to the berth and put the dresses she was carrying back into storage. While they worked, and flipped the sign on the door to "Closed", Mikah and Zimzod went back to the port. As they were approaching the extrality line, they saw a large knot of people in the regalia of the Duchy of Dhian. Mikah realized the "group" more or less surrounded three people in finery and regalia, and mumbled, "That must be the Duchess."
Realizing that, Mikah suggested they move closer to the group after passing through port customs and crossing the extrality line. Mikah figured they could get as close as they could before they were called to identify themselves. When that point happened, it was her herald who called "Who approaches Her Grace?" Almost comedically, Mikah slapped Zimzod in his chest with her left fist, and said, "Introduce me stupid." So, Zimzod stepped in front of Mikah and said, "Tell Her Grace this is Lady Dame Doctor Mikah Kirlim, Appointed Lady to the Court of Deneb, Knight of the Imperium, Companion Knight Victor of the Order of the Tower and Sword, Companion of the Knight Defenders of the Marches. Knight Commander, Order of the Knight Defenders of Lunion and Companion of the Order of Caranda's Sword!
Taking a breath, Zimzod finished up with, "And I am her main squeeze, Sir Zimzod Egosion, of similar Orders and titles! The shift in serious and comedic statements caused a moment of confusion where those from Dhian were not used to taking their ranks as a joke. Still, there were chuckles and laughs as things fell out, and before the serious demeanor of the Duchess returned to dominate the situation. As a sign of that, everyone surrounding the Duchess took a knee in deference to Mikah and Zimzod while Her Grace bowed to them. As they remained on a knee, Mikah muttered, "Oh! I like this!" and Zimzod laughed. Mikah then told them they could all rise and thanked Her Grace for her greeting.
Mikah Finished, "Well met, and we will be seeing you later tonight. I will let you continue with your business. I'm sure you are quite busy right now." Duchess Gi Lian Buuurda Shungiam, of Dhian thanked Mikah and said she was just out to introduce her two sons to the system and port authorities. With that, she gestured to her sons and each of the boys bowed their heads. They hadn't planned to leave the terminal after arriving, so they'd changed out of their vacc suits where Mikah and Zimzod were still buttoned up and planning to return to the berth. So, the two parties separated with the Duchess' group moving to Station Central.
The Plot Thickens Behind, at the berth, Aali had found no one except InstellArms had manuals for the 'droid to share, and InstellArms wanted Cr 50 for it after she asked. When Aali said she had to reconstruct her 'droid, they said they also had a maintenance manual for Cr 50 too. Aali agreed to buy both, because she knew the maintenance guide would help her, and she expected to find uses for the owner's guide, even if it wasn't technical. While Aali worked at the manuals after she bought them, Aiden switched on the tri-v to see if he could find any live local sporting events. While he didn't see anything live, Aiden did see a large number of recorded events of every type he could watch from recordings. Aiden played a gravball game involving the Regina Rottweilers and relaxed.
In her bedroom, Colinne and Jocelynn worked both at her psi control and help her learn to secure her stent. Fesic was in his bedroom, continuing to study his lock pick classes. Outside the port, Sekea had made himself the personal guide for a group of the people from Dhian, and spent time shopping with them. With those in the berth working at their activities, Zimzod and Mikah got back and started telling everyone about their encounter with the Duchess and her two sons. They very happily told the others they'd messed with the minds of the party from Dhian, thanks to their status above them in the sector's social structure. Mikah said they only had to relax and wait for Maur to call so they could pick her up along with having dinner and preparing for the party.
Since she didn't see everyone in the berth's public spaces and didn't want to hear any excuses, Mikah comm'd everyone in the crew and said, "Party at 8pm. Be dressed and ready to go so we can be on time." When Colinne got the comms, in her bedroom with Jocelynn, her reaction was, "Oh crap!" Colinne wasn't a 'party person', nor was she a 'dress up' person to start with. Aali called back to make sure she had all the information and Jocelynn picked up her comms to ask who the party was for? When Mikah said it was for the Duchess of Dhian, Jocelynn asked, "And we need to be there by eight?" as she checked the time. Seeing it was nearly two in the afternoon, she and Colinne figured they should air out a gown. Especially since Mikah had been in earlier asking about Colinne's gown.
Eventually, Sekea led those members of the Dhian Court to the shop, and entertained himself watching them try to figure out how to do things they expected to be 'nearly automatic' weren't 'on Denotam'. After seeing the message from Mikah, Sekea decided he had to go back to the berth. Making sure they were comfortable on their own, Sekea wished them well met and left them. When he got back, he saw Aiden watching a gravball tri-v and the others going about their interests. So, he decided to lay out his suit and be prepared to change for the evening party after dinner.
While working together, Colinne first taught Jocelynn more basic steps to locking down her stent, because that was easy. She then worked to teach Jocelynn how to open her telepathic talent, because it was the first step to then teaching her how to lock her psi talent down too. That meant Jocelynn was much more open to psi than she'd ever been. While she had Colinne to teach her, it was still going to take weeks before Jocelynn could effectively wall off or defend her mind against psionic attacks. And, now, they had a party Jocelynn had to go to. An advantage they knew they had was that the ship had eight standard psionic shields. Added to that, They'd been given shields built into three tiaras when they'd been given the shields. So, they could share out eleven shields at need.
That was back when they had a fear the Darrians would use psi-talented agents to learn where they got the cybernetic parts they'd had? Then, Mikah, Inger and Aali had been the only three women on the crew. So, Mikah only had three tiaras which could be shared out to the four women now in the crew. One thing was certain, Jocelynn would need one. Another piece of good news was that psi shields were "in fashion" since the on-set of the Fifth Frontier War. That meant a good percentage of anyone attending any party might well be wearing psi shields regardless having talents or not. So, no one would look out of place if they showed up blatantly wearing shields.
When the shields were discussed, Mikah said she, Aali and Jocelynn would wear shields. Mikah also privately told Colinne that she was not going to wear a shield because Mikah wanted to know if Colinne could pick up any information? They didn't have a tiara for Maur, but she wasn't aware of anything outside her own situation anyway. While having watched the grav-ball game, Aiden had also been browsing more choices in musical instruments. Aiden's problem with the instruments was that he wanted "everything" but could likely not fit anything more on the ship. Aiden's stateroom on the ship was already filled to bursting when he would be able to move back into it after the sensor updates.
What he had in mind was a computer-sensor and processing platform "on which" he'd sit. Then, holographic units would project any instrument he could think of, on request with persistence, so he could feel and manipulate it. The sensors would then detect as he leaned in and "felt" the pseudo-instrument, so he could play the projected instrument. And when he did that, he wanted a sensor system to detect everything from the fine movements of his fingers to the air-volumes and pressures moved by his lungs so the system's computer banks could determine what sounds would be created for himself and the audience to hear? The basic level of computer processing and capabilities alone would be massive, and very very expensive.
What Aiden found looking for something fitting that description were truly massive professional teaching and training systems, or even more amazingly expensive miniaturized and specialized professional playing suites for top Credit performers. Such devices, where they existed, came from very high tech systems, stamped with corporate names like Naasirka, who produced the best cyber-electronics known. Of course, those were also stamped with costs in the highest ranges for such systems. Certainly professional level. Any versions of a more advanced and miniaturized versions sent the prices well beyond levels considered insane unless you had institutional or professional uses for it.
Giving up on the idea of an instrument for the time being, Aiden went looking for a "player - commander" strategy game he could start that day and play over the coming days when he had time. Eventually, Aiden gave up looking and restarted the fighter combat game, so he could play against the computer and see how well it could be done. While he did that, Zimzod lured Mikah into bed so he could get some "specialized physical therapy". While they did that, Aali had been working on the pell 'droid, and using her stent to work with the file, killing two birds with one stone. Soon enough, Aali came across a pressure diaphragm for an aero-hydraulic control port. Picking it up, Aali could see it seemed in good shape, but even as she held it, it slipped. When she tried to catch it, she accidentally snapped it in half.
Disappointed, Aali more carefully examined the pieces and found a stock number. Seeing she'd have to hunt for parts eventually, Aali noted the stock number on a notepad. She figured she'd collect data on as many parts as she needed before hunting for parts. That way, she'd get as much work done as she could first. In his bedroom, Fesic finished the end of a module in his studies only to have a pop-up tell him it was time to try some of what he'd learned on physical devices. The pop-up suggested a large number of physical locks he should be able to find throughout the sector. Since Fesic had restricted his research to mechanical lock picking, there were literally thousands of brands he could look for, but there were really only six classes. So, the brand didn't matter and he really only had to find six test mock ups.
Fesic took that as a break point, and started preparing his clothing, shoes and other gear for the party in the evening. He then got back on the network, and started searching for what test kits he could find in the system? It took him a good part of the afternoon, but Fesic did find he could get three of the six types in Imperial stores. Of course, he had issues even trying to search any clan sales sites. Some, he even got locked out for "illegal item" searches. Saving that data for the next day, Fesic returned to his studies until it was dinner time. And, as that was approaching, Mikah got a call from Maur saying her gown was ready and she was ready to be picked up.
While Mikah and Zimzod cleaned up and got ready to pick up Maur, they got pinged with a "guest list" message from the Duchess' staff. Mikah recognized that as a standard tactic of "the elite". They posted guest lists both to brag, and to show off who would be there. That could "shake loose" hold outs. There was no way better of luring the social elite from their homes to a party than saying 'We got someone better than you to attend'. Or, "Someone you want to meet or need to speak to". Both were surprised when they saw the Count planned to attend! Looking down the names, there were also a decent list of Imperial officers and office holders who would also be there.
Adding to that, they saw the Zhodani Ambassador to the system and some staff had also said they'd attend. Mikah decided there wouldn't be any questions about the psi shields anymore. Mikah and Zimzod looked at the rest of the list with fading interest and pointed out, "Technically, we're the highest in the Order of Precedence. Aren't we?" Still, the Count really held the most power in-system, outside Imperial Knights, Barons and other nobles who held commands and roles in the naval fleet. But, speaking of civilians, Mikah stood near the top. Mikah also realized the Duchess was likely closeted up with her people doing a "learn and cram" session. Duchess Lian likely had a list of who she expected to be in-system, and had studied those people while they were en-route to Denotam. But people like Mikah and her crew? They were a surprise and the Duchess was likely studying up on all those she hadn't expected.
The After-Dinner Party By dinner time, everyone had returned to the berth. After eating, "getting ready" was a bit less normal, since they had to wear vacc suits to cross to the Duchess' ship. Because of that, they'd change into what they "could wear" their vacc suits over, and carry the rest in sealed bags. Aboard the ship, there would be rooms where the attendees could finish dressing. Making the crossing in a port crawler, they saw the Duchess' ship was large. An R class 600 ton trader converted to personal use. From what they saw driving up, the hull showed signs of an obvious "launch tube", meaning the ship had her own fighter aboard! While hoping to learn more about the ship, they went through the greetings, including Duchess Gi Lian Buuurda Shungiam, of Dhian, and her sons, Lords Gaarmia Irsir and Amanki Nuagur.
Done with the greetings, they learned the dressing rooms were organized from "configurable wall units" being moved to create rooms out of the ship's internal space. While most of the arrivals had to share common spaces, there were rooms set aside for "high nobility", and Mikah found two rooms set aside for her male and female crew. So, Mikah and her ladies were led to a space which was better appointed than the rest, so they could change. Mikah was made aware that some other parties might join her, like the Countess and her ladies, but it was an upgrade. To Mikah's surprise, Lady Aadshur was separated and expected to finish dressing with the lesser noble women.
Led to 'their' compartment, they found four of the Duchess' ladies in waiting there to help the women change. There were gentleman's grooms in the compartment to help Sir Zimzod and the male crew. Seeing that, Mikah joked, "I gotta get me some of these!" Jocelynn sarcastically asked, "Where are we gonna keep them? In the low berths? The ladies all laughed at that. Soon enough, the crew had joined the party, which was held in a large open space within the ship. Because the Duchy of Dhian had wealth, there were no cargo concerns other than needed food and consumable supplies, spare furnishings and the Duchess' needed vehicles. The rest of the ship had been converted into a residence, along with staterooms for the servants and a morgue and barracks for her personal guard and the ship's gunners.
One of the cargo loads they learned about were dTon pods of delicacies from Dhian, which could be opened as needed on each world visited, so they could share "treasures from home" with those attending each party. Of course, there had been a move to scour Denotam's available delicacies too, and those were also represented in the tables of food. When anyone asked, they learned Dhian was a large world with an exotic atmosphere that was 70% covered with "fluids". The impersonal bureaucracy government ruled ~2 million "Citizens", where any number of visitors, contractors and others may live in the system without official recognition. The tech in-system had been higher, as had the population. Tech had faded after a massive "die back". Secure living spaces had been violated by earthquakes in the early 800's TI, and tens of millions of citizens and other residents had been killed. Much of the government had survived only because government offices had not been moved to newer spaces "closer to the surface" which had been believed to be safely sealed.
Because of that, the technology on that world had faded to the equivalent of the Terran early industrial age. Mostly steam-powered systems were giving way to fuel-based furnace systems and early chemical internal combustion engines. Air, water and resource filtration and reclamation were often contracted from off world. The 'kit-bashing' of former and higher tech systems has led to a level of "Steam-Punk" laboratories, common tech and fashion. They do have support from both Oberlindes and Tukera lines as well as other mega-corps. Major industries in-system were mining and resource recovery from the atmosphere, oceans and land. Added to that were treated sea foods, processed to remove chemicals and other components that could be harmful to the health of various sophont races.
That led to odd mixtures, such as average smaller sailing vessels that were entirely wood and sails while the large imported seafood ships were highly automated and computerized craft housing fishery decks, processing and "treatment" decks, canning, etc. And while the wood ships were critical to everything from travel to trade, the bureaucratic government had special committees managing and maintaining the large imported ships. Not to mention the very rare occasions the government mustered the resources needed to prepare to save for the purchase of a new ship.
Having learned as much as they could about Dhian early in the party, both Sekea and Fesic made it a point to avoid seafood despite the fact they could see others enjoying the fare well enough. But, there was no accounting for raging paranoia and they weren't the only attendees sticking to more familiar fare. Also, over the evening, they each had their moments in the presence. While Mikah was recognized as "superior" in nobility, she couldn't know the Duchess knew all about her less desirable roots and the effort put on to show "Lady" Mikah proper deference to her rank. After that, the effort put forward to show Zimzod respect was also serious.
Colinne had them mystified when she came into the presence. While her military background was firm, they also couldn't find an explanation for the "gap" in her service Mikah had seen on Colinne's resume. Added to that, her mother's position as a political leader on her homeworld didn't mix well with anything they had on her father. There was very little to find on the very short bio which had been released when she and the rest of the crew received their "Knight Victor" Ennoblements weeks before. So, they greeted her a bit less openly and did not much take her from wondering the party at a distance and keeping much to herself.
Fesic was viewed based on the fact his family had immigrated from the Sword Worlds, and he still had an outsider's accent. Despite that, Fesic was treated with courtesy and outward respect. Oddly, they were honestly pleased to meet Jocelynn, more because of undefined religious reactions to her survival of the Regina's Storm than anything else in her past. Because of the situation, they were perhaps more honest in their attitudes and interests than with anyone else in the crew. In the reverse, Sekea was "of their class" but the bottom of the class. The Duchess was much higher than a simple Knight who's title had come from planetary relationships, so they were respectful but dismissive so much so he recognized it.
As expected, nearly everyone wore some kind of psionic blocking device, and Mikah was ready to bet all the Zhodani had headaches. At a point during the party, Zimzod stepped away from Mikah to grab a drink from the bar, while she was talking with several other people. Moving through groupings of talking people, Zimzod found himself in close contact with the Duchess and her nearly thirteen year old sons when Count Peleslok arrived. With a social grace that suggested it could have been luck or intent, the man ended up greeting the Duchess and Zimzod at the same time.
After the greetings were done, the Count actually turned and said, "Sir Zimzod, What were your feelings when the Prince and Arch Duke called you in for a personal appearance?" Keeping his face straight, Zimzod was confused because he knew Sekea had been called in but he hadn't. Still, Zimzod considered that the Count must have had a reason for asking the question. Not sure what the Count might drive at, Zimzod simply shrugged and said, "I don't know. It was a good meeting, I guess." That benefitted Zimzod because it would be the perfect answer if the discussions touched on classified subjects. The same answer would have been fine if Zimzod didn't feel it proper to discuss the meeting in public.
Beyond that, Zimzod would only say there wasn't much he could say, a lot of it was privileged information but it had been an interesting meeting. Hearing that, the Count nodded and admitted that was to be expected, but continued, "But, I can tell you from my meeting directly after yours that they were greatly moved by your advice and were glad you and they both visited my system at the same time. Zimzod only nodded his head and said, "Thank you. I appreciate that." Caught "at the table" for these comments, the Duchess apologized for intruding on high affairs of state and moved her sons away, to get their drinks.
As she left, the look Zimzod saw on her face was a mix of surprise, confusion and even a bit of fear! Without another word, the Count escorted Zimzod to the bar where they got their drinks. Then, The Count raised a toast to interactions, which confused many in the gathering. As people either drank the toast or turned to discuss that with those close to them, the Count leaned close and asked, "You were aware Sir Sekea was personally called in by the Arch Duke and Prince? Were you not?" Zimzod nodded and said, "Yeah, I was.
Happy to hear that, the Count said, "Would it not be good, when the Duchess next steps over to Sir Sekea, for you to step up and ask how his meeting with the Arch Duke and Prince went?" The big evil grin on the Count's face was not the only reason Zimzod said it would be a good thing. Because Zimzod had realized the man was working to 'carpet bomb' the Duchess with blunt examples of her actual position within the nobility in the room. When Zimzod told him that would be a very good thing, the Duke raised his drink and said, "Good! Then I leave you to your evening and hope you enjoy the party."
Returning the salute with his glass, Zimzod checked out where Sekea was and where the Duchess was in relation to him? He'd spend a good part of the rest of the party waiting for her to approach Sekea. When the Duchess finally started moving towards Sekea, Zimzod got their first but not outside her hearing distance. He then said, "This is a lot more fun than the meeting you had with the Arch Duke and Prince." Sekea nodded and answered that the meeting had been interesting, but involved privileged information, as Zimzod well knew. Sekea added that it had been interesting to meet with the "Personality of the Emperor" instead of the Prince as he touched a space behind his right ear, where a stent would be placed.
The implication was direct that, through neural stent tech, Sekea was in the actual presence of the Emperor himself! Stepping up into the words Zimzod and Sekea were sharing, the Duchess said, "How wonderful an experience for you. I won't ask you any questions since I am sure I can't get any answers. And, I am hoping you're enjoying my party better than that meeting." While she spoke, she did her best to keep her face polite. Sekea nodded and said, "Oh, it's a wonderful affair." in a tone that wasn't mocking, but wasn't enthusiastic either.
The rest of the evening was a bit of a shifting landscape where possible political connections made moving from conversation to conversation uncertain. Many conversations were based on gains or failures while hidden in the standard 'getting to know you' chatter which happened in noble courts every day. Thanks to the slams Zimzod and Sekea had delivered and some very public comments Sekea made in "court-speak" about the quality of Denotam delicacies vs Dhian delicacies, the Duchess could only thank all those in Mikah's crew for accepting her invitation rather than claiming she'd drawn them out to visit.
The party was filled with everyone from invited nobility to clan leaders, Imperial officers and officials from Ministry offices on-world. The only notable absence was anyone from the Federation of Arden embassy. Hoping to get more information, Mikah spoke to a number of the higher ranking Imperial Navy officers to ask for updates on the Rumen since the ship's capture. She was told it would be auctioned off following the seizure. She was also told that any specialty hardware aboard the ship would be removed before any sale. When Mikah asked about the pirates, she was told they'd be tried, convicted and executed in a tone that showed no doubt.
When Mikah asked about a speedy trial, she was told they'd sent couriers with the names of the captured to neighboring systems. They expected to get back data to use in the trials despite already having what the officer said was overwhelming evidence. So, he was sure there would be no doubt about the trial and its outcome. Thanking the officer, Mikah moved to ask the Duchess what her itinerary was in-system? While Mikah felt Denotam was a bit of a backwater, the Duchess was excited to pull out a vid-card and show Mikah some of the natural wonders she planned to visit with her sons, to teach them to respect other worlds for their treasures.
When Mikah asked, the Duchess said she and her people would shift her yacht, the IV Berniadkno nek Sisem, from place to place as they visited the wonders. She also planned to use her own Ducal Guard as security when dealing with the Clans. After Denotam, she planned to visit wonders on other worlds next, and introduce her sons to the people of those worlds. Hearing that, Mikah leaned in as if conspiratorially and said, "Word of advice? Don't trust anything the clans say." Smiling, the Duchess thanked Mikah and said she planned to be entirely under the guard of her security troops. Mikah just answered, "Very good." Duchess Lian also suggested she was sure the Imperial Navy would provide some escort craft to augment her security. Hearing that, Mikah just said, "Good luck with that." with a smirk on her face.
Sekea had also introduced himself to the naval officer Mikah had spoken to, and said he'd been aboard the King George. Sekea explained about the parents of his former crew mate, and shared an image of the father as he said he'd learned from Lady Aadshur that the man had survived. He also added that the man had apparently been traded off to another crew, to be sold off into slavery. The officer asked Sekea to follow him as they went to speak to Lady Aadshur together. The officer hoped to get a better grip on the information Maur had, because she was the "first hand witness".
After interviewing Maur for some time, the officer, named Lt. Commander Dian Gadshipki Dukesiili Gi Aamkuer called his offices and prepared to have Maur interviewed further. The officer also thanked Sekea for his help and said he owed Sekea a favor. When Sekea suggested he only hoped they could find the missing man and the pirates who took him, the officer stood a bit straighter and said, "Sir, that is our duty and mandate. So, doing our job would be beyond any favor I owe you." Hearing that, Sekea simply said, "Well, thank you for hearing my plea."
Wandering the party, Colinne was the only member of the crew who wasn't wearing a psi shield. For reasons Colinne were fairly certain she knew, the Zhodani were watching her ever since she felt the few tendrils of a 'test' of the party's attendees for any talents when the ambassador's party arrived. Colinne knew her presence would set off alarms, because an Imperial citizen and noblewoman should not have trained psi talents and the mental shields she obviously had! That meant she could be a deep cover, or active SORAG agent inserted from the Consulate. Or, she could be a very rare, and often very powerful covert Imperial counter-Psi. The list of "could be" identities went on but all suggested conflict, which worried them.
Because Colinne's role wasn't apparent, they kept their shields up firmly, and she never got a vibe from any of them. But, they both knew they were watching her and she was aware of the fact. Added to that, they made studious moves to keep their distance from her throughout the evening. For a brief moment, Colinne considered pretending to be a deep cover Zhodani spy and see what she could get from any of the Ambassador's people. But, she quickly admitted to herself that she'd never been involved in anything of that nature, nor had the training. And, when you are sharing thoughts and concepts from mind to mind, it was much easier to trip one's self up and lose more than they thought they risked.
At best, Colinne had been trained to project the fact that she was Zhodani and working at an assignment in order to give her time to escape, if she were trapped. The entire ruse was flimsy, and risky even in the situations she might have been forced to use it. That meant it was less likely to work out as she hoped in the party setting. Despite the issues with the Zhodani, Colinne also wandered the party and 'listened' for any tidbits from anyone else. And, there were some few people who chose to attend without psi-shields or other blockers.
A number of those were arrogant enough to believe they would "know it" if their minds were being invaded by telepaths. A number of the Duchess' guards fell into that group and Colinne was 100% certain she could learn the operations and schedules of the guards if she cared. One of the guards, who happened to be on escort detail, had surface thoughts that were so strong Colinne couldn't avoid them. The man seemed excessively pleased that the Duchess was having her own arrogance stuffed back into her face by someone invited to the party. He apparently looked forward to sharing that with those off-shift later.
Not pleased with the guard or the Duchess, Colinne made a mental note of the man's name and rank. Useless at the moment, she now knew the man hated the Duchess enough that he could be exploited, if they...say...had some spare cash or a neat tech toy he might want in exchange for...say...turning off a security sensor or leaving a hatch unsealed. And, if they found some reason they needed to get aboard the Duchess' yacht undetected, that could come in rather handy. This was a man who could be paid off to violate his oath and duties. He was also a prime suspect if someone else tried to do the Duchess harm and got closer than they should.
While wandering the minds, Colinne did get a sense from a number of them that their "Iron Threat" appearance was more 'smoke and vapor' while the minds behind other were truly steel jaws which would happily crush their foes. Much of what she came up with were the tendrils of political games and 'in-mind editing' of conversational statements. So, it was the average political posturing that happened at events like this, and why she so hated attending them. Added to her mental abilities, Colinne could sense a large number of open computer connections through her stent, but chose not to venture into those. She wasn't prepared to make and erase digital footprints while the Zhodani were watching.
Colinne also got an idea on some of the Imperial officers who might be open to exploitation, based on their needs to advance or achieve other goals. So, she felt some of them could be turned if they could be convinced the prizes they sold were of no value. But, the only one likely to leap at a chance to do harm was the guard in the Duchess' team.
When he'd arrived, Aiden hoped to find the Duchess' pilot or senior members of her ship's crew, but quickly found out the Duchess' servants could not attend, except where they were caring for the guests. So, no one of a technical nature was available. Still, he wasn't disappointed much, because the ship seemed to be just a converted R-Class 600 dTon cargo freighter. What Aiden would have loved to learn was which class of fighter they had in the launch tube? But, that wasn't important, so he enjoyed the canopies and wandered about incase anything "fell out of the mix".
Still, his history was of note and there were more than a few people still aware of not so recent news stories about him and the crew. That meant there were always those around him interested in polite conversation and covert social climbing. Jocelynn wandered the party more or less drifting from chat to chat, to see what she heard or could learn about the people around her. Those she encountered tended to be polite or friendly, because her "story" was more fresh in their minds. Those from the Imperial Navy treated her with the respect due someone who'd won high decorations, even though she hadn't.
Fesic spent his time doing his best to be aloof and pretentious. He wondered how many people would be annoyed, and how many others would be drawn to his attitude, like moths to a flame. The assumption he hoped to trigger was that he was somehow important enough beyond his title that he might be a valuable contact. He added to that by noticeably sniffing at the offered Dhiani food with distain. Opposite that, Aali was in her element, circulating the attendees and trying to mine for as much information as she could. Aali hoped to learn what other motives might be behind the Duchess' trip. She also tried to get feelings from the Zhodani on what was happening in Tremous Dex?
As far as the Duchess' "local tour", that was a common thing for the parents of Noble parents educating and introducing their children about the universe around them. Those trips were also commonly advertising tours, where the traveling families were of high enough rank to be noted in the systems they visited. That was especially true because her sons were too young to embark on a full "Grand Tour", which older children did on their own, or with a Seneschal-Designate. So, the tour covered local systems with notable people or features, where a Grand Tour would often send the children to worlds in and out of the sector. Sometimes as far as Capital, to experience the Imperial Moot and possibly even the Imperial Court.
While the tour was largely a 'Show the Dhian flag' exercise, and while she hid it well, Duchess Lian was now avoiding Mikah's crew and doing her best to raise Dhian's stock with the other invitees. It was also now clear to her that if she could make or appear to make connections with Mikah's crew, that could be a win. They were obviously powerful despite their backgrounds and lesser titles. The Duchess was also pleased she seemed to keep anyone on Mikah's crew from figuring out the effect they'd had on her plans.
Of course, her early actions with each of the crew had left a bad taste in several mouths. So, when Aali got more time to talk with the Duchess, she shared and compared her travel experiences. That included the crew's visit to Mora, during which they spent time in the Grand Duchess' court. And when the Arch Duke officiated at her wedding to her late husband. Of course, unaware of the comments Zimzod and Sekea had made in the Duchess' hearing, Aali's comments only made it more imperative for Duchess Lian to try and gain a connection with Mikah and her crew. It would also raise the stock of the Upgrade's crew as Duchess Lian would mention some part of what she'd learned to others, to see who knew what, or more? Those 'seeds' were leading to more interest, conversations and subtle questions from others invited.
Eventually, the Duchess learned enough about Mikah's crew and the rumors, or out-right truths, about their dealings with the clans. The Duchess asked Mikah about the clans. Given her habits, of being close to Mikah, Jocelynn stepped closer to potentially be part of that conversation. Mikah first told her about their connections to the Glas clan and how those came about. She also said they started off nice, but turned out to be highly manipulative, and unsafe to deal with even though things worked out for her crew with them.
Mikah then told her things had been very unfortunate with the Erskin clan, and that had devolved to military action alongside Imperial forces. Jocelynn nodded and suggested, "That was much less diplomatic", prompting Mikah to open up a bit more about what had happened. Mikah broadly covered their attempt to capture a fugitive in Erskin territory, and finished up saying the Erskin don't like her crew very much now. As Jocelynn spoke up, the Duchess asked, "And, you were involved in this too?" Jocelynn said most of the ship's crew were.
When the Duchess asked what role she played, Jocelynn just off-handedly responded, "I was part of the team." If the woman looked at her very feminine appearance and under-estimated Jocelynn, that was good for the former Marine. Nodding, the Duchess asked if they had any more advice on getting Naval help or dealing with the clans? Jocelynn said their crew had no dealings with Clan Arnstruther, but they had been mounting attacks against the Naval base recently. So, she recommended taking care in dealings with them. Mikah stepped back in to say all the clans hated each other. They were often warring with each other except when some possible profit drew them into very short-term alliances.
The two told the Duchess that all the clans appeared very insular, not trusting outsiders much at all. Nodding, the Duchess thanked Mikah and Jocelynn, and thoughtfully said, "I guess I should get started in asking favors from the Navy." The Duchess then gave the two nods, into which she put more respect for Mikah than Jocelynn due to her perceived pecking order. The Duchess then moved through the space to where a knot of naval officers were talking. She eventually was directed to the naval base commander, along with a naval admiral.
While Mikah, Zimzod and Jocelynn watched, the talks started quietly and without note from their distance. But, shortly into the conversation, the three noticed glances and even gestures pointing in their direction. Finally, when watching the glances and gestures got to be too much for Mikah, she said, "Let's go over there." and led Zimzod and Jocelynn to join the knot. When they arrived, the admiral introduced himself as Fleet Admiral Gukhe Niiki Dudaug. It turned out he commanded all mobile naval forces in-system. So, where the base commander controlled the orbital and dirtside bases, personnel and attached craft, the Admiral commanded all jump capable combat vessels, crews and the sub-craft assigned to them.
The admiral apologized for not introducing his staff, but those squadron commanders were on station with their ships, so not available to join the party. He did suggest there might be an occasion when Mikah and her people could meet his junior officers. After the introductions, the base commander asked Mikah how he could help her, since she had stepped into the knot. Mikah shrugged and said, "We just wanted to make sure the Duchess was being advised of the dangers when dealing with the clans. And, we gave her the best advice we could, after our experiences. So, I was just wondering what advice you were giving her?"
The base commander cleared his throat and, with a not quite sheepish tone, said, "We were just directing her to you for advice. Especially given your independent actions in certain territories." When Mikah asked, "Oh?" the officer added, "It seems the Duchess has quite a bit of funding behind this tour of hers, and she's willing to use that to insure she and her sons get to see the wonders they came to view." The admiral added that would be especially important considering places like Clan Arnstruther territories. There, the Duchess' request for Imperial naval overwatch wouldn't be wise, thanks to the current political situation.
Since the officers felt Imperial Naval ships might even enflame the situation, they said they'd suggested the Duchess look for a way to get Mikah's crew involved in "augmenting" the Duchess' security. Mikah considered that and admitted the only clan they were "totally on the outs with" were Clan Erskin, and she wasn't sure how the other clans felt about her crew? She even suggested that clans opposed to Erskin might be very pleased with them. Jocelynn threw in that they were on good terms with Clan Glas. Jocelynn didn't mention they were not so pleased with why Clan Glas were happy with them.
Hearing that, the Admiral cleared his throat and told them one of the natural wonders sites Her Grace wanted to visit was within Clan Erskin territory. Lightening his tone a bit, the officer continued, "But, we can see the entertainment value in working with you to provide a security package to Her Grace. As far as the Clan Arnstruther site, we don't see the need to enflame things further if you would be open to assisting the Duchess with security in that site." When Mikah interrupted to ask the Duchess how long she planned to stay at each site, the Duchess said they would only be in each territory for the time it took to land, explore the wonders and leave. There would be no extended or over-night stays.
One of the base commander's staff officers suggested the clans would cooperate and be friendly because this was a chance to get good amounts of hard Imperial currency. He didn't add that those funds would help them with smugglers. Asking more details, Mikah was told the Duchess would have her yacht, her entire "mini-world", lift each morning to make the transit to each site. Then, they would land and she and her security people would make the excursion so she could show her sons the wonders. At each site, she wanted a male and female guide hired from each clan to lead and educate them as they explored. When they were done, it was back aboard and back to the starport.
Mikah nodded while listening, then sarcastically asked, "What could possibly go wrong?" with a smile on her face. Colinne, who had drifted closer to the conversation could pick up no intent to lie, but she still murmured to herself that she didn't trust the naval people or the Duchess. Mikah knew they were still stuck on-world for at least three days before they "might" get their ship back. And they also had to wait until InstellArms finished modifying Zimzod's battledress. It also bothered her that Zimzod wouldn't be augmented if they chose to help out.
Considering when they would get things back and be free to leave the system, Mikah said they might be called on to leave the system in as few as four days. Of course, that didn't consider any shake down testing they might want to carry out either, but they'd not be free while testing the ship. Hearing that, the Duchess waived a hand and 'ordered' some of the junior naval officers, "Go get the clan representatives. They came to my party." And despite her lack of any authority over them a lieutenant and Lt. Commander rushed off to do her bidding like they were servants. And, watching them leave, the Duchess gave a slight nod as if that was the way things should be.
While the rest of the group continued the chatter, the two junior officers told the various representatives that their "attendance" was "required" before Her Grace. The officers had no idea how lucky they were the clan reps were amused by their demands, and that they chose to see what the Duchess wanted to talk about? Their actions were even more entertaining because the different clusters of clan people were all in different parts of the party space, well buffered from and avoiding the others.
The Ducal Guard had also gotten involved, and where a given clan's people were not interested in coming to chat, the Navy officers were pleased to let the Guard troopers make fools of themselves trying to verbally drive the clan folk to comply. Things started to devolve while the Duchess waited and one incident was spared when the rep from the Durie was 'accidentally' elbowed by one of the folk from the Clelland clan. That would have come to a fist fight if it hadn't been for the Duchess' security team. In fear the fight might involve the Duchess, uniformed guards grabbed each man from behind and lifted them to stand fully upright while a guard between them drew his side arm. That brought the entire party to a brief halt.
As Mikah was about to address the Duchess, Jocelynn got in a quip, saying, "For once, we're not the worst behaved people in the room." Turning to the Duchess, Mikah said, "Your Grace, this is probably not a good idea. I don't know what your security people said to the clan folk, but they shouldn't all be forced into one space. Almost as if it were a planned comic bit, the Clan Glas representative moved close to Mikah and said, "I declare myself under the protection of Lady Mikah." That stopped everything in the cluster of folk, and even Mikah looked at the woman and asked, "What?" in surprise.
Leaning closer to Mikah, the woman said in a quiet whisper, "The Glas gives orders." Mikah was even more surprised because the tone of the whisper was almost threatening! Still, it reminded her Jocelynn's constant offers of alliance and support were being called in. They had, through Jocelynn's constant agreements to make good on The Glas' help suggested they owed the clan support. And, no one had yet looked into how much that blank check would cost? Jocelynn was about to suggest that she claim responsibility for the protection of the people from Clan Glas when they were interrupted.
Glaring at the Clan Glas rep, the Clan Erskin group leader said, "So. War it is." when she saw Glas allying with the Imperials who'd invaded their territory and helped the Imperial Navy kill a large number of people. Her sharp glare was briefly shared over Mikah and her people, as if Clan Erskin would enjoy sharing their attacks against them too. Stepping between the glaring women, Mikah looked at the Duchess and said, "Your Grace, I think this tour of yours is over." The Duchess stood aghast, for a moment, then recovered and demanded, "We are the Imperials and we will have our due!"
With everyone now looking at her, the Duchess said she specifically had business with the representatives for Clans Arnstruther, Erskin and Clelland. Then she dismissively "told" the other clan teams to leave. Instead of leaving, the Clan Glas representative said, "I will stand ready to defend my Lady!" She stepped behind Mikah, as if to back her up, and was followed by her team as they moved behind Jocelynn and Colinne. Of course, that meant she and her people would be able to listen in on everything the other clans would miss.
Before the Duchess could answer, Mikah stepped up and started to speak. Aware the various clan teams were still listening, including the Erskin, Mikah said, "Duchess Lian. When speaking to these leaders, you must be more diplomatic. They are Imperial citizens, but they have their own ways. You really can't dismiss them like that. I know you have your ways but you have to be sensitive to the ways of others." Jocelynn snidely added, "Especially on their homeworld."
Mikah continued, "You're on another world and this may be one of those life lessons your sons should learn in dealing with people from other planets. They have their own ways and you have to respect that. These people are leaders from their communities and you can't just rough-shod over them. So, please... I cannot stress enough how much you need to tread carefully on other worlds. Because the people there will not tolerate being treated like your servants. They will not tolerate it."
The look on the Duchess' face was livid while Mikah lectured her on behavior. Still, she straightened her face and said, "Let's see if we can't reset this." in a neutral voice. Looking at the clan representatives, she said, "My good friends, you each have, within your territories, a natural wonder I would like my sons to see as part of their education. It would also do them well to learn a bit about your cultures too. So, what I would like to negotiate is permission to fly my yacht into each of your territories to visit each of the wonders."
The Duchess continued, "That would be one each day for three days, from the starport. When on the ground, with our security provided by either Lady Mikah's crew, the Imperial Navy or both, I would like to have one male and one female guide from your clan. They would answer the questions my sons might have and teach us about your societies. If we can agree on that, my purse is open to your expenses. How say you?" The Clan Arnstruther rep spoke first, saying, "The fucking navy is not coming into our territory and no coin you have will change that." Her Grace's first reaction was to go all red faced and angry, but she caught herself, schooled her face and she asked, "What about Lady Mikah's crew only?" That even though she'd not yet asked Mikah to take part in any of the activities.
Then, for the first time, the Duchess turned to Mikah and asked, "Lady Mikah, is that acceptable to you?" Mikah simply answered, "That's acceptable to me if it's acceptable to them." and gestured the clan representatives. As she said that, she received a buzz on her comms telling her she'd gotten a text. Looking at that, Mikah saw it was a message from Admiral Gukhe, who was standing in the same group observing the conversation. Puzzled, Mikah read the text which was an assurance 'We'll have a team in battledress on your ship at all times'. The clan Clelland rep said it would cost her extra for anything she wanted, and her security costs were hers to deal with. They also didn't care about Imperial navy security on their lands, so long as the Duchess paid.
When the Duchess turned to the Erskin representative, the woman told her, "We're perfectly fine with the Imperial Navy providing your security so long as you hand over Lady Mikah and her crew to be tried for their crimes." That completely surprised the Duchess and she looked to Mikah because she had no idea how to respond to that? The admiral then stepped in, saying, "If anything unfortunate were to happen, I'm sure Lady Mikah's crew can secure the Duchess and her people while we bomb the shit out of anything that appears to be a threat." The look on the man's face was feral and his smile and the look in his eyes begged the Erskin representative to give him the chance to order fire down on her people.
Not familiar with the history of the situation, the Duchess was horrified. Her imagination wandered to natural wonders devastated by naval fire and even orbital bombardments. The Erskin rep finally said "Fine." and gave a price of KCr 40 to set up the arrangements. Immediately following that, the Clelland rep called for KCr 41 and Arnstruther demanded KCr 50! They were a bit surprised when the Duchess agreed to all the prices without haggling, recorded agreement statements and made the payments.
According to the agreements, the next day they'd launch in time to make an early afternoon landing in Clan Arnstruther territory. There, they would tour the wonder there. The next day they'd go to Clan Clelland land, to tour the wonder there. Finally, on the third day, they'd visit Clan Erskin territory and the wonders there. Nodding, the Duchess finally asked Mikah what she felt her services, and the service of her crew would cost? Mikah considered before saying, "Given the nobility serving in my crew and the considerable risk we will be putting ourselves into," She then shot the Erskin rep a ' screw you' glare, and continued, "...I would say we'd have to ask for KCr 100 a day."
Perhaps, the Duchess was expecting figures like that after the dressing down Mikah had dared to give her. But, it was clear they had a history, experience and understanding of the clans which the Duchess and her people didn't. So, after a bit of glaring, the Duchess agreed on the price and put the ball in Mikah's court as to who Mikah would bring along on the jobs? Part of the payment came from the fact she'd built her security on the backs of Mikah's crew without setting the cost beforehand. That meant she "had to accept", because she'd cornered herself.
When the paperwork was done, with many of the attending noblepersons looking on, the "muster time" for each morning was 9:30 am. Mikah and the team in the cutter would land at the naval base and board a team of five Battledress-equipped troopers who would remain hidden unless something went completely bad. They would, over course, link their computers to Jocelynn's battledress. That meant she'd be able to keep them completely in the loop so they could move immediately if things went south.
After leaving the party and the Duchess' ship, Mikah had to decide who was coming and what they were each doing? Mikah wanted Aiden to be the command pilot, and to bring his LAG. On the ground, Aiden would be security, at the cutter's airlock. Mikah also made it clear, if she gave the orders to lift off, he would do so, no matter who wasn't on board. Maur wasn't part of the crew and Colinne wasn't armed or equipped with combat gear, so Mikah wanted both of them back at the berth.
Mikah next thought about Zimzod's situation. His battledress was still being worked on by the InstellArms crew, and he couldn't go in augmented. He was also still under physical therapy to recover from his thoracic surgery. That would also limit him to standing in combat armor with Aiden, to defend the cutter. Since Mikah wanted to be able to rush the cutter, board and leave, and if Zimzod were slowed by his recovery, he might slow the mission too. He could also be a "second seater", working the cutter's guns, but Fesic was better at that and could also back up Aiden with flight skills. So, adding things up, Mikah decided Zimzod would stay at the berth too.
Mikah told Fesic he'd be the second seater, and be ready to use the cutter's lasers if needed. As expected, Mikah told Jocelynn she would be in her battledress and be "ground commander". If they were needed, Jocelynn would interface with and possibly command the Admirals fire team, if they didn't provide action plans of their own. Mikah was concerned Sekea didn't have combat grade armor and only had his vacc suit. Because of that Mikah told him he'd be an additional backup pilot and he'd defend but not leave the cutter. She also wanted him to bring his med-kit, just in case.
Aali would be in her combat armor, fully armed and be part of the actual security team. Mikah considered telling Fesic to armor up because the cutter's guns would be useless on the ground. But then, she considered things and realized if she had to give Aiden the call to lift, the cutters guns could be of some value if Fesic was aboard, so she told him to stay in the cutter. That left her with herself, Jocelynn, Aali and the admiral's battle dressed fire team if things went bad.
Thursday, 056-1114: First Frustrations And Opening Cracks After everyone had bedded down the night before, Jocelynn's mind was less of a mess and she was able to sleep fairly well. When they woke, Colinne was recovering her abilities and had a quiet talk with Mikah about what she should do? Mikah wasn't very concerned about Clan Arnstruther, so she told Colinne to just do her best to give Mikah and Jocelynn a light-effort attempt to clair-voy the day. Then she should relax and work on computer tasks while Maur searched computer links and placed orders for possessions, clothing, etc. She was certainly working the Navy credit chit as hard as she could. Zimzod planned to do PT and listen in on the crew's comm channels and see if he could capture anything on the crew's commdot network?
After resting a bit, Colinne started working on settling and centering herself before the effort. When Aali woke and checked her systems, she saw she'd received an X-Mail! Checking the binding data, it showed the letter was from her Mother-In-Law in the Roup system. The woman was now back in her home and the body of Emkir's father was interred. She shared the additional grief in learning that Emkir had died, and thanked Aali for all the information provided on what happened. She also regretted the estrangement between Emkir and his father, but said that, per her husband's desires, all of the estate except her expected needs and expenses had been donated to charities based on the baron's beliefs.
That was no surprise, given the Baron's dismissal of Emkir's life choices. So, Aali never expected anything from the Baron's death and needed nothing from the Baroness either. And, because the Baronial parent had not been hereditary, the patent would become extinct when Emkir's mother died. That meant Aali would have no reason to maintain any further contact with the woman.
The port also provided them with a shipment from InstellArms, who had finished and returned all the gear they'd been working on except Zimzod's battledress. That would be returned on the 59th day of the year. Finally, when everyone else was ready, Zimzod was set up with some IV's to help Colinne recover after her vision. What she got, was a "sensation" of weariness and annoyance. What she "saw" was the cutter returning to the starport with nothing unusual. From what she felt, Colinne reported it just looked like they had an annoying day ahead of them. And not a day that was particularly dangerous.
After that, Mikah gave the order to lift and they were soon in formation with the Duchess' ship. An odd formation with a converted R-Class trader and a 20 dTon cutter. Soon after they locked on course for the short flight, they received a number of friendly and welcoming greetings from Imperial warships in low planetary orbit. They would be ready to provide things like surface support fire from orbit if called on. It turned out they could connect directly to Jocelynn's battledress and battle computer through the computers in the team they had aboard.
Another thing they got in the different messages were different hours of fun, relaxation, recovery, etc. Aiden remember this from the war and paid attention to the numbers of hours. He then took the numbers themselves in order, and came up with a digital frequency number. Setting the cutter's laser comms system to that frequency, he connected privately to the cruiser INS Saamashaar and got the voice of Admiral Gukhe. When the admiral asked if Lady Mikah was on the comms, Aiden shunted the comms to "all ship" so Mikah could hear it in the cutter's aft.
When Mikah said she was on the line, he told her they were tracking her, and sending a forward Observer grid view to the cutter's flight crew. He then asked if anyone on their flight deck had training as a forward observer? While neither of them was, Aiden had been trained in wilderness survival and was familiar with similar grid maps. When he was told that, the admiral was pleased and said that Aiden would be responsible for watching "where" things were. If any trouble started, Aiden would do his best to figure out what grid the trouble was in, and call it up to orbit. They would answer with devastating fire from orbit to help settle things down.
With his ship's gunnery training, Fesic could also help Aiden so they set up a screen between them so they could work together to call fire from orbit. The admiral also reminded them this should only be used in the most extreme of conditions because the clans would take this as a violation of their word. So, they'd not be able to back into clan territory, but they'd get the crew and Duchess' people out of the fire. After that, as they flew, Jocelynn got her armor synched up with the computers in the fire team's armor. A surprise they brought Jocelynn from their armory was a 5-pack of HE grenades for her battledress, which one of the troopers loaded for her.
That morning, they were bound for what was called "The Wind Temple", in the lands of Clan Arnstruther. A forest of naturally grown pillars which fractured near the top to spread into tree-top-like shapes that were almost canopies. The Duchess wanted to land near enough that she and her two boys could wander the forest with their two local guides and security. On the team comms, Fesic joked he'd call for the ships in orbit to bomb the forest so they could have a clear view of the Duchess' party, for their safety.
When they got to the landing point, Jocelynn had Aiden hover so she, Aali and Mikah could hop out. They would then form up on the Duchess and her sons while she wanted Aiden to hover in over-watch. The Navy troopers could always jump down in their battledress if needed. A small party of Clan personnel were there, and most were the "rangers" managing the site. The two "guides" stepped out and were met by members of the Duchess' guard. They checked the guides, who were not armed at all, and gave them comms so they could speak to everyone in the party. At the same time, one of the guards also gave Mikah their comms, so everyone could be on the same channel.
Each of Mikah's team was attached to the Duchess or one of "the Duchlings". That let the Ducal Guard spread out a bit more. Some followed behind in case the guides tried anything. While cameras in Jocelynn's battledress captured their surroundings, Fesic also set the ship's vis-light sensors to grab a few still shots from above too. The rest of the afternoon consisted of the Arnstruther guides trying to get closer to speak more directly with the Duchess and Duchlings, and Mikah's people blocking them to protect their resources. That meant the guides had to call out answers and comments.
In an effort to improve their tourism ratings, the Clan had sent people ahead to set up an airtight tent in which they could have a pre-planned lunch. After vetting "who got to go in", and passing rations out to the Ducal Guard, the Duchess, her sons and Mikah's team went inside with the guides. Then, Mikah was annoyed when the Duchess demanded that Mikah and her people try the food first, because they were security. So, they should be poison testers too. Making a quick decision, Mikah asked the clan guides to prove the food wasn't poisoned.
The two shrugged and dug into all the dishes with pleasure. Seeing that, the Duchess decided the food was safe and they all settled into eat. As Colinne had foreseen, the day became quite annoying, exhausting and by the end of the day, they couldn't wait for the wander to end. One moment of "special anger" came when one of the Duchlings pulled a small knife from his pocket and moved to one of the nearby pillars. It was Jocelynn who suddenly realized he planned to carve the surface of that pillar. To mark it or collect a carved-off splinter or whatever! He planned to deface the pillar!
Moving with the speed of her battledress, she caught the boy up just as he was driving the blade of his knife against the pillar! For a brief moment as the boy cried out, the Ducal Guard had their weapons trained on Jocelynn, and the Duchess was demanding what the Knight thought she was doing! Using the internal controls of her suit, Jocelynn called up and broadcast a replay of the last few seconds. She showed them all, as she narrated, that the boy was about to deface the monument. At that point, Jocelynn removed the knife from the boy's grip and crushed it with her left gauntlet before she let the boy loose. Jocelynn then picked up the knife pieces and spilled them into a sealable compartment in her armor.
Mikah moved in on the situation just as the Duchess did. When the Duchess complained her son was just exploring and learning like any child, Mikah told her, "You don't damage treasured monuments! This could start a war! What's wrong with you?!" There were a few more sharp words but the guides had called in their people too. Soon enough a team with official authority announced the tour was over due to an attempt to damage the column. The Duchess argued a bit but lost, and all the Imperials were escorted from the temple. Still, Fesic did get to capture some of the harmonics created by wind rushing through the "forest" temple, for which the place was named.
The flight back to the port was one of silence between the two ships while Mikah updated the admiral on what had happened on the ground. They were entirely in agreement, with video from both Jocelynn and Fesic's camera above, that the Duchling was in the wrong. And, so was his mother, for defending him. In the starport, the five troopers took their leave and boarded an armored car that had arrived for them. Mikah suggested everyone clean up, grab dinner when it was cooked, clean their gear and set it to recycle for the next day. They'd also been paid the agreed on KCr 100, which Mikah would share out after the third day-trip.
Talking with Colinne and Jocelynn about the next day, they were scheduled to visit the Clelland wonder. Mikah wasn't concerned about them at all, both because they had no ax to grind and because the Imperial Navy would have a team in full view and some gunboats directly above them. So, Mikah told Colinne to just get more rest and not worry about the next day. Done with that, the crew watched vids and did gear maintenance. Everyone made sure their vacc suits and armor were recharged. The only thing that "had to be" done, was to help Jocelynn with her issues. And Colinne made the decision to only help her with her stent before they slept.
Friday, 057-1114:
Another Clan, Another Near-Insult
The next morning began much like the day before. This day, they would visit Clan Clelland and their two wonders. One was called "the Banded Columns" and the other "the Caverns". The banded columns were an open space with rising columns carved from the rock by wind and water flow. The colorful layers were cut from differing layers of rock and other mineral layers. What was going to be fun was that the columns led to the opening of the caverns, which were sometimes only one person wide! Even more annoying, the clan guides wanted to lead the Duchess and her sons in directly, so they could describe things in intimate discussions.
Added to that, the Duchess and her brats wanted to go in and explore some of the caverns! Mikah was absolutely against the clan guides having some of the Ducal party sandwiched between them, which the guides and Clan administrators were pushing for. In addition to the searches of the guides, like the day before, Mikah demanded the Duchlings get searched too! The Duchess put up a bit of a fight, which wasn't helped when it was found the female guide had a knife of her own! When Mikah examined the knife, she saw it was obviously from off-world, and made for close quarters fighting, and piercing personal armor!
That ended the idea they would be next to the Duchess or her kids, as Mikah pointed out they could use their comms to "speak intimately" with anyone. She also had the Duchess use parental controls to enforce that everyone in their party stayed on the same frequencies. In this case, while the guides fought for closer access, the Duchess was on Mikah's side. Especially after the knife was found, and ended up in a compartment in Jocelynn's armor. Finally, the male guide agreed to lead the way while the female guide was between Jocelynn and Mikah.
On the move into the caverns at last, they were winding and squeezing their way through a passage when one of the Duchlings pulled a four-inch cylinder from a pouch, that turned out to be a laser pointer! When he started pointing at frozen or tundra sections of the cavern wall, the female guide seemed to go crazy, fighting to get to the pointer! It was only thanks to luck and Jocelynn's enhanced speed that she was able to grab the girl before she got past the Duchess, to physically reach the boy. Her sudden movement also caused the Duchess to scream and call some of her security, in the rear, who fought with Aali to move forward.
Still struggling, Jocelynn did her best to "gently" thump the woman on her head with a closed gauntlet, and the woman went down like a sack of potatoes. While that happened, Aali forced the forward guard back and then grabbed the kid to remove and turn off the pointer. Of course, that caused the kid to cry out when Aali also pulled some of the boy's hand muscles while grabbing the pointer. While he complained about the pain in his hand, Aali held up and broke the pointer before stuffing the bits in a compartment on her armor.
By that time, the Duchess had recovered from her fright and realized her son was in pain for some reason. When she demanded an explanation, Mikah almost went down the Duchess' throat as she ordered back, "You need to teach your kids to respect other people's property. And if you won't, then my team will do it while we're with you." At the same time, the male guide was trying to fight his way to the woman Jocelynn had knocked out. Jocelynn was easily holding him back in her battle dress.
At the same time, he was screaming that the tour was over, and, despite the Duchess' reactions to him, Mikah and her people were in agreement. The Duchess was demanding her money's worth since she'd paid in full up front. Mikah jumped on that, shouting back, "No! Your son doing what he did caused this entire situation." With both sides fighting her, the Duchess sputtered and huffed and then said, "Well, Fine then!" but it was clear she blamed Mikah now. Mikah didn't care, and ordered everyone to return to the outside.
Despite the weight of the unconscious girl, Jocelynn was also able to insure that Ducal Guards had control of the brats and the Duchess simply stalked after them as they made their way back out of the cavern. Before they moved, Mikah scanned the girl's head and announced she had a concussion, but would recover. Mikah told the male guide she should be put in bed and stay there for the next few days to see a full recovery. Not trusting her at all, the man wanted to get her to his people for medical support. When Mikah offered to take them both to the naval hospital, the man "Really" didn't like that.
Mikah also offered to drop them at one of their own hospitals and he refused any of their help. He said he had a sled and would take her himself. Mikah just shrugged and let the man have his way. While they moved, Jocelynn told the Duchess it would be dangerous to go into Clan Erskin territory if her kids were not going to behave. Mikah agreed, saying too much could go wrong if they acted up, and they didn't need any more complications. Getting in the Duchess' face despite the guards, Mikah said, "You teach your kids they need to respect other people's property! Because one slight mis-step and we're outta there! and we'll leave you right behind."
As she finished, Mikah could see the rage in the Duchess' eyes, and had no idea why the woman only huffed and puffed but didn't blow? What none of them knew was that the Duchess planned to get what she wanted but wanted to hold it off until she got to see the sights the next day. Then, she would teach this upstart bitch a lesson! So, the Duchess held back and called for one of her people to examine her son's injured hand. For that set of moments, despite the urging of others, and as others from the clan came to check the female guide's injuries and take statements of what happened, the Duchess refused to move.
Soon, the boy's hand was pronounced just "a pulled muscle" and it would recover, and after Jocelynn had shared video of the situation with the girl trying to attack everyone around her to get to the boy, the clan administrators suggested the tour was done and they should leave. Without any support for her demands, the Duchess accepted that and they called the ships to move closer so she could get to civilization. As with the day before, the ships moved back to the base without communicating with each other. In this case, there were Imperial troopers about so the event was recorded for their understanding.
Back in the berth, the crew discussed their concerns and considerations with the next day while cleaning their gear and resetting their suits. While still doing her best to conserve her psi power, Colinne worked with Jocelynn a bit more on her stent. The rest of the evening was spent relaxing and snacking before people dropped off to sleep.
Saturday, 058-1114: Making A Firm Enemy The next morning, the crew went through their preparations and geared up as Colinne again prepared to seek visions of what might happen? Colinne first burned her energy on an attempt to see what the middle of the team's day would look like? What she saw was that they were out on an open plain, clustered into a group when one of their horizons was broken by five combat aircraft. The planes were flying nape of the earth and coming directly for the group! After that, the vision faded and she explained it to Mikah before trying for a second view of the day's end.
This time, instead of having a simple view, Colinne managed to have one of her rare "full visions"! This time, she saw that everyone from the core group was alive, but she felt some of the Ducal Guard and Imperial troopers had died. The Duchess was bleeding from a few wounds and one of her sons also had been injured. In fact, he'd lost part of his left arm! Their cutter was badly damaged, and Aiden was saying they couldn't make it any further than Clan Glas territory. Imperial Navy assets were being launched to rescue them from your likely crash site.
Colinne came out of her trance, and said everyone in the group had one or more wounds. The cutter would have to be left in place where it crashed and it couldn't be recovered. Mikah and Jocelynn both started to repeat that they weren't going to the Erskin wonder. The more they heard, the more firm their position. They only had to figure out how they were going to close the door on the Duchess without mentioning psionics? The final nail in the coffin was when Colinne suggested the entire visit felt like a trap, to kill Mikah and her crew.
Mikah said she was going to call the Admiral and tell him they were not going. She was going to claim some covert intelligence that the permit to land was a trap. When she told the Admiral it was 'a privileged source', he said she would need the Count to support her. And, if she wanted that, she was going to have to give him some description of the data and where it had come from? Accepting that, Mikah took a breath and said, "We have intelligence from Clan Glas, who we've worked with before and we trust on this. They claim a major assault was being planned to take both our cutter and the Duchess' ship. They are planning to kill me and any of my crew aboard, and ransom the Duchess and her sons if they survive." After the admiral heard that, he nodded and said that would do. He then had her hold on while he used an emergency code to get the Count, Legate and other officials on the call.
The admiral had Mikah repeat her claim, and the Legate and others confirmed they knew her history with Clan Glas. So, no one had any reason to question what they could very easily believe Clan Erskin Would do. The Count did say he wanted to review the intelligence, and Mikah back peddled, claiming it was delivered verbally. The Count wasn't happy, and Mikah could tell he knew she was hiding "something", but he agreed, and said they should call the Duchess, to speak to her as a united front.
When her Seneschal handed her the comms, the Duchess was surprised and confused to see the many officers of state on the call with Mikah. The first answer her mind offered was a pleased, "Oh! You're coming with us?" The Count firmly said, "No, good Lady, I think Lady Mikah has something to say to you." That got a sudden annoyed look before the Duchess schooled her face and waited. Mikah dove right in without explanation and simply said, "Your Grace, my team and I will not be joining you today."
Of course, the Duchess again turned beet-red and she started demanding explanations and accusing Mikah of breaking her word, and having no honor! And while the others on the call who knew more of Mikah didn't react well to the Duchess' accusations and anger, the Legate and Count, at least, felt Mikah could have eased into things by explaining the intelligence she had first, before saying they wouldn't participate. Still, the Duchess had sadly gone full super nova.
Soon enough, Mikah decided to conduct an "offensive defense", saying "We fulfilled two of your three visits. And, twice, one incident at each, your sons caused damage to the monuments and incidents with the local clans at their sacred sites. We have intelligence from another clan that Clan Erskin are planning an attack and trap. And we are not able to protect you against what is planned.
Throwing her hands up in anger, the Duchess then demanded, "Well, then the Imperial Navy will have to provide additional forces so we can visit this site." Mikah only responded, "That's up to the Navy, we're not taking part in this." When the Duchess then looked expectantly at the faces on her screen, the Count Abjectly refused to ask the Navy to support her demands. He said, "Your Grace, we have to live here after you leave. And we have seen the level of hostility that the clans have mounted. The fact we have reports Clan Erskin can possibly mount an offensive to capture significant trade ships like yours just because you might manage to get Lady Mikah and her crew into their range, suggests anything that gets in their way will be turned into a blood bath."
He added, "They would do a great deal to get at Mikah and her crew for crimes they've invented. So, we are not going to allow you to screech like a harpy and put yourself in danger, or in the middle of a blood bath. If you would like to survive this day, you will thank Lady Mikah and her crew for the wonders she has made it possible for you to see, you will avail yourselves of our holographic libraries and presentations, which are the next best things to being there, and you can go back home to your people and lie and claim you were there." The Count added, "Without weapons and security fears."
The Count then said he had no further position on this unless she wished to raise an issue in the Subsector Senate. With eyes that glittered with, 'I dare you to do this' he then said, "If you do that, I will argue before the courts on behalf of Lady Mikah. Personally." Hearing that, the Duchess turned red and purple and actually looked like she'd explode. Faced with a stone wall, the Duchess left the call, ordered her people to stand down and planned to remain in port until her engineers completed their resets so they could move on to the next planned world.
In the end, they only got KCr 200 of the agreed KCr 300, but Mikah didn't care because they'd not gone into Clan Erskin's trap. That broke out to KCr 600 for the ship and Cr 15,566 per crew member. Added to that, they hoped they might have provided an education which "might have" blossomed as the future opened for them. Not likely, but possible. After going over the events, the crew also agreed they should never visit the Dhian system in the future.
Saturday, 058-1114: Mid-Morning Where everyone is at the end of the session: Everyone: In the berth after making the Duchess call of the Erskin trip Rol: 3 Weeks, 4 Days to decant
_________________________________________________________________________ Next: Near The Slog's End