Official And Unofficial Hunts

    Saturday, 108-1114: Evening
Decisions And Deep Dives
     When they arrived in the Lanth system, the crew faced a demand for them to post a MCr 1 "security deposit".  That was based on their reputation and would be held against any damages they might cause.  Or possible charges for crimes they might get accused of while in the system.  Because of that, Mikah had said no one could leave the ship without her permission.  Still, they had ideas what to do and she knew she couldn't keep them bottled up.  Mikah also said she was stepping down as Captain, followed by Zimzod stepping down as their Executive Officer.  So, the crew were now involved in three things.  They first had to decide who would be their next Captain, with Jocelynn having stepped up for that position.  They then had to elect a new XO, and Sekea had put his hat in the ring for that.  Finally, they had to come up with a list of things to do, which would be vetted for safety before they decided what they "could" do without incident?

The first thing they chose to do was to settle who would be the ship's Captain and Executive officer?  Sitting down and letting those who wanted the jobs make their case, only Jocelynn stood for the position of Captain.  That decided, Jocelynn then asked who wanted to be her Executive Officer?  Rol and Sekea both stood immediately, and Aiden followed after a brief pause to consider.  In the first vote, held by secret ballot, Mikah abstained and the vote tied between Rol and Sekea.  Before the second round of ballots, Aiden withdrew and the shifts in votes led to a clear victory for Rol.  That decided, the crew knew they'd have to go to station offices and do the paperwork to change their command designations.  But that begged the question if doing that would delay their trade certifications?  In Lanth, they were all willing to bet it would.  So, it was perhaps better to play tourist until the certs came through and then handle updating the registry.

Considering the serious bureaucratic delays a command change could cause, Sekea asked if they wanted to delay that paperwork until they were in a more reasonable system?  Mikah waved that off saying she didn't want to be responsible if anything went wrong while they were in the Sonthert system.  That got laughs before Rol joked they could alert the Lanth government about the change when they left the system.  Fesic said he thought it quaint Rol thought they could just leave without doing the paperwork and Rol clarified that he meant "minutes before" they made their jump.  When Fesic pointed out that would leave Mikah listed as their captain, Sekea smugly said, "That's just what I suggested."

Replying more to Sekea's smug attitude, Fesic told him, "That ignores the fact Mikah said she didn't want to be the captain when they were in the Sonthert system."  And Mikah snarked, "Yup" as the comments proved Sekea must have not been paying attention to what she said.  With that, Jocelynn made her first command decision and said they'd do the change of command only after they got their trade certifications.  After that was decided, the crew broke up to go about their own interests as Mikah moved to a terminal and started looking for high-end restaurants.  She wanted to spend this visit to Lanth eating very well and relaxing.  Despite her interests, Mikah wanted top chow, but she still wanted to stay close to the berth.  So, there were limits to her search.

Aali said she wanted to order a delivery from someplace close to the berth and then do stent practice.  When she told the others, Aiden said he was up for stent practice too.  Still, he wanted to check if Mordor Arms had a venue in-system?  While Aiden checked the station-net for that, Colinne told the others she needed a simple but programmable device that couldn't be connected to any network.  She said she wanted to connect it to the intruder software to help her test that.  Aiden offered up his cron, which had a data storage function and a two-terabyte memory module.  When he asked if that would do, he was asked if it was network connectable?  The module made the cron the equivalent of a thumb-drive which wasn't connectable to anything it wasn't directly plugged in to.

While Colinne took Aiden's cron, Fesic said he'd also order food in and take part in the stent training session.  Jocelynn also ordered food and joined in, as did Rol too.  So did Zimzod.  While the stent group started organizing themselves, Sekea told Mikah he wanted to go with her to the restaurant she planned to visit.  But first, he told her he wanted to do a computer search for any museum in-system that might cover the system's historically infamous criminals.  He hoped to find names to look for books on, to learn how they had evaded being caught for famously long careers?  He hoped to find infamous forgers who's work he could then dig into.  Hoping to learn how they'd succeeded and what caused them to fail?  Mikah agreed to wait for him and helped him code his searches while he did that.  Soon enough, Sekea found a listing for a place called "The True Crime Museum of Lanth", that advertised exhibits on the most sensational crimes and criminals in the system's history!  The bad news was that the museum was dirtside, so he'd have to take a shuttle downwell, which would add hours to his visit.

Because of that, he made notes and planned to visit the museum the next day.  While he did that and those in the stent group set themselves up, Colinne was happy to take Aiden's cron into the ship's computer compartment.  There, she could isolate the space and connect it to a terminal, keyboard and the intruder software package.  Because it had taken so long to detect what the Zhodani armor had built in, Colinne was hoping a "nothing device" would take the software much less time to digest.  That would let her start working on cracking it faster and allow her to learn more a lot sooner.  Just before Sekea and Mikah left, Jocelynn stepped up and put her arm around Sekea's shoulders.  In a semi-taunting voice, Jocelynn asked, "Now, what did we learn about telling shop keepers we don't know about ship's secrets?"  When he answered, "I didn't know it was a secret", Jocelynn shot him a doubtful look and told him, "Please don't do that again."

After that, Mikah and Sekea went to meet the cab they'd called.  That turned out to be a comfortable but "no frills" unit.  The android-driven vehicle didn't even have a "dummy driver figure".  The thirty minute cab ride from the berth cost them Cr 15 each, because the cab system charged each rider separately.  When Mikah and Sekea arrived at the Kukhuurma restaurant, they could see the space was a large compartment with wide and high viewports showing the world below and the army of fireflies which were each craft traveling through the system.  While there was a high-class maître d', Mikah was pleased there wasn't a duty herald to announce them.  When asked, Sekea asked for a table with a world-view.  And while most of what they could see of the world below was water, they saw a phenomenon illuminating entire ocean currents crossing large sections of the world like a moving avant garde art piece.  Doing a search on their hand computers, they learned this was because a large amount of Lanth's sea life were bioluminescent in populations so large some light patterns were visible from space.

After ten minutes, the intruder software pushed a screen up identifying all the electronics it had found in the cron for Colinne.  Still, the display showed no menu or even hint of what else it could do?  There were no indicators of any possible manual commands to enter or ever-present keyboard shortcuts.  That was the same result she'd had when she'd connected the software to the Zhodani armor.  Of course, thanks to the customs inspection, she'd had no time to investigate then.  Now, she had all the time in the universe.  Annoyed with idiot application designers, Colinne considered that package may have been built to be user abusive, because the users it had been intended for would have been trained to use it.  So, that may have been intentional.  When she tried the shortcuts she could think of, it took her ten minutes before she managed to force a menu to come up.

While there were a number of menu items, the one that first caught her interest was labeled "Reports".  Colinne hoped that meant reports on how the device had been used in the past, because that might tell her everything she wanted to know.  The first report she checked gave a listing of connections the device had made in the current session.  Looking that over, Colinne even saw the cron had an in-built port and device she'd not known about!  Happily, it seemed to have been deactivated in settings Colinne had yet to get access to.  So, she was happy the default on Aiden's cron seemed to be to have that port turned "Off", because the software could have used that to evade her work to air-gap it and connect to the ship.

Seeing the first report wouldn't tell her anything, Colinne shut that down and checked the next report on the menu.  Right off the bat, that had interesting information because it listed every software or hardware 'entity' the intruder had found in the cron and memory module.  It also gave a list of the things it could use each entity to do.  Called 'Exploits', those would be uses or mis-uses each entity could provide.  That meant any agent using the software didn't have to be a computer expert.  They just had to be properly trained on what each identified exploit would do?  Then, they could choose the one that would move their mission forward.

One item Colinne spotted in the report was the ability to not only identify an application but then "take over" the role of that control!  That meant the software could identify a system control like the "O₂-saturation" system in a ship or station's environmental management.  After taking over that device, the software could allow an agent to cut off the oxygen feed or even manage that feed based on pre-programmed mission parameters!  Or, over-feed power to a system and burn it out.  The more she learned, the more Colinne realized the software had to have the ability to simultaneously compromise a ship's systems and security, user device operating systems and possibly even robot brains!  It also appeared to move between network layers without triggering any alarms!

Another report bothered Colinne even more, because it referenced anti-detection and self-defense "decisions" which seemed to be made by the software itself.  Defensive measures it appeared to take because its in-built AI expert system was programmed to protect itself from discovery.  Another report indicated the software had the ability to flood the traffic and affect a network systems interrupt and device management channels, creating an in-device denial of service environment!  Colinne realized just how dangerous and delicate that was, since not knowing what settings to use could even knock the operator out of the system.  Colinne soon realized it would take her days to make sense of the menu and make sense of what this package could do.  Before she finished up for the night, Colinne reported that to the crew.

After the stent class, Aiden came to Jocelynn and suggested they ask the port authorities to recommend possible security firms that might help them, like Vermene had in Ghandi.  This proved to Jocelynn that Aiden was still entirely missing the point that no port authorities or even government officials even "Cared" about them enough to help them.  He also didn't seem to consider both the cost of that kind of service or the fact they claimed to be troubleshooters themselves.  So, it was about time they stopped trying to hide behind other services, grow a set and protect themselves.  That meant they should stop trying to hide behind someone else.

Jocelynn asked Zimzod to sit so they could chat briefly.  She told him she'd been working to dig into the Stepozhevaci computer Mikah had 'acquired' from the councilor back in 1112.  She said she was working to find or identify any friends or allies that nation's government had so she could list who might be behind the bounty on them.  She reminded him they'd found an encrypted file which had mentioned him, a corporation and a region on Rhylanor.  When Zimzod nodded, Jocelynn told him what had bothered her most was that, as far as she knew, the document had said "Sir" Zimzod, but it had existed and been on the Councilor's computer "before" Zimzod had been made a Knight.  And months before he'd ever come to Porozlo or met anyone from that world or the nation of Stepozhevaci!

So, Jocelynn asked Zimzod if there was anyone she didn't know about from Stepozhevac, who had had met Zimzod or been pissed off by him?  She also said she was worried because she didn't know how the file could exist, or what it contained?  She also admitted she really wanted to get it decrypted but had no idea how they could find someone trustworthy enough to safely hire to decrypt it?  Unfortunately, Zimzod couldn't give her any answers.  The only things he could suggest were that they had someone clairvoyant working for them, were clairvoyant themselves or had gotten his name and at-that-time future title from others with no idea how they might have gotten the information?  Jocelynn nodded because it was increasingly obvious they'd have to decrypt the file, but she wanted to be sure there wouldn't be blowback against him.

When Jocelynn wondered out loud if it was possible the person who had Knighted him, Mikah and Brian was somehow behind the document?  Fesic overheard that and said it didn't make sense because the Stepozhevaci were fighting Imperial megacorporate incursions and theft of their natural resources.  Because of that, they had little to no power with the local Imperial nobility.  And Duke a'Plena of Vilis was nowhere near "local".  He added that they'd all learned from Mikah and Zimzod that they and Brian had been hired off Emerald after the Fifth Frontier War ended.  They'd then been transported to the Frenzie system and prepared for a rescue mission into the Sword worlds Hrunting system.

They'd rescued hostages there who were held by the Sword Worlders, including the Duke's two sons.  It was that for which they'd been knighted - pending confirmation.  They had then partied, spent some time training in Frenzie before leaving for Regina to get confirmation from "then" Duke Norris.  After they'd left Regina, they'd been kidnapped off their out-bound liner and taken to an unknown world.  There, Mikah, Brian and Zimzod were forced to rescue a scientist before being knocked out and finding themselves in staterooms aboard the IMS Equus.  That ship would arrive in Porozlo space before making the final jump to Rhylanor, where they could seek conformation from Duke Leonard there.  But they wanted to get information from the ship's crew on who had docked with the ship to board them, and where and when that happened?

Along with that, they all knew the rest of the story.  How the three had tried to bribe, cajole, or otherwise force the Equus crew to give them what they wanted.  Eventually, they tried armed force and were trapped between iris valves.  They were then put off the ship, onto the ISS Dawnstar Horizon before having to respond to a Signal GQ from the Stepozhevaci Far Trader Enlightened Measure.  And, the file they were talking about had already been on that computer when they arrived.  Without connection to Duke a'Plena or Duke Norris.  And no way at all to predict that they would be forced off Equus exactly at the time an explosion would disable Enlightened Measure.  Not without clairvoyance.  So, any such claim was just grasping at invisible straws.  While Jocelynn was more concerned about having to decrypt the file, Fesic was worried they were somehow tied up with psions and possibly the Zhodani!

Zimzod suggested that the people who had kidnapped them during their trip from Regina to Inthe could have been involved.  Since they also knew very little about who they were and what world they represented, that meant they could have been deeper involved.  The only other path that made sense was that they had agents on Regina, who had seen Mikah, Zimzod and Brian and learned they had the skills needed to handle the situation.  Fesic suggested that they'd now done a job helping Tukera in Ghandi, and they might have more leverage getting information from that encounter.  But no one reacted to that.  Reacting to Jocelynn's worry that it could come to haunt him, Zimzod told her it would already have exploded if it were meant as a time bomb.  Especially as far as the Stepozhevaci were concerned.  If they'd had something they were waiting to use, he felt they would have let it loose when their nation was collapsing.

Zimzod had other concerns regarding psionic agencies being involved, but couldn't mention that with all the crew listening, since most of them were not psi-tolerant.  With the encrypted file being a dead issue until they could decrypt it, Zimzod also pointed out they had a lot of enemies.  This again brought up the fact that Duke Rakaa Kiraarri himself had more reasons to dislike them than treat them well.  Especially since they'd walked into his own court and said they'd gotten permission to enter Sonthert from the Duke of Lunion and Baron of D'Ganzio when that world was under his authority.  Not Theirs!  It took significant balls to stand before his throne and say they'd asked permission from others to play with his possessions!  Not to mention claiming they planned to search for medicinal plants on frozen ice-hell worlds.

When it came to Duke Rakaa, it was pointed out they could tell him Terin had been killed, to lighten the mood.  But Fesic said the Duke had chosen to punish Terin by giving him permission to "land on the worlds" and tasked him with coming back to the court with reports on his findings.  So, when they eventually realized the environment on those worlds was so hellish that they didn't want to land at all, Terin would have "had to" have landed and done his research.  That meant Terin could well have been killed by conditions on either of the frozen outer worlds.  Now that Terin had gotten himself killed, that meant the Duke's punishment was avoided.  So, that could anger the Duke even more.

They spent the rest of the evening talking about their situation, the mystery and dealing with the Duke until Sekea brought up the museum he'd found.  He specifically told Jocelynn about the place, and also told her and the others he'd be up for company.  But he first wanted to ask Jocelynn for permission to leave the ship and visit the place the next morning.  He also said he planned to be there the whole day into the evening, because he planned to do research there.  So, he was also honest that anyone joining him would be 'in it for the long haul.'  The name of the place was The "True Crime Museum of Lanth".

As the previous Captain, Mikah had said, 'No one leaves the ship' without permission, so Jocelynn got everyone's attention and told them she didn't want to be a hard ass jerk.  She said that unless the crew were on lock down for some reason, they were all adults and could do what they wanted.  She just wanted them to be careful and not get in trouble.  Despite that, she admitted to Sekea that telling them not to get into trouble was a bit laughable.  She did tell them to let people know what they planned to do and where they'd be so they didn't end up alone and unsupported like Terin had when he snuck off to loot the Cedna.  Not only had that gotten him killed, but it led to Zimzod getting all shot up forcing him into surgery and rehab.

At first, Jocelynn was up to join him until he made it clear how much time he planned to spend there and how detailed his work plans were.  She then realized she had to be local in case they got the call from the Lanth government about their trading certs.  So, she backed off.  Looking at the others, Fesic said he could get into some true crime stuff so he'd go.  Then Rol said he'd go too, being the good first officer and making sure he was there to keep things from going off the rails.  Just in case.  Done with that, the discussions faded off and everyone eventually went to bed.

    Sunday, 109-1114:
Yet Another Learning Experience
     Having checked the night before, Sekea found it would take them somewhere between an hour and ten to thirty minutes to get from the berth to the shuttleport at a cost of Cr. 30, that Rol paid.  They then rode to the surface on the next shuttle for Cr 100 each, and took a taxi to the museum.  That cost Cr 15 more, which Sekea paid.  Because of that, he set his clock for 6am and told Rol and Fesic to do the same.  Getting done with their daily routines half an hour to forty minutes later, they had a quick foil-pack breakfast before meeting the taxi Sekea had ordered the night before.  Any minor concerns about traffic of backups melted away as the portCab ride to the shuttleport passed and they easily got tickets for and boarded the next scheduled shuttle downwell.  The descent went smoothly to the specific port closest to the museum, one of several, on Lanth's surface in the city of Gharsano.

On the shuttle, Fesic had connected with InstellArms and ordered ammo to be delivered to the ship.  He bought a 50-round bandoleer, to use with his shotgun.  He also bought 150 rounds for that weapon.  He also ordered 100 rounds of ball, 20 rounds of HEAP, 10 rounds of Tranq and 50 rounds HE.  That cost him Cr 900.  Getting into the museum cost Cr 5 each, and then they were free to wander the galleries checking out the exhibits and displays.  Lanth's museums were advanced enough to have facility-wide wireless systems letting visitors call up lots of additional data on each display beyond the plaques mounted around each display.  Of course, they never provided data enough to discourage visitors from buying the "datafile" books from the gift shop to take home.  What Sekea had actually planned was to mine the freely given data to find which criminals had long and infamous careers specifically dealing in fraud and the passing off of "fakes".  That would lead him to books that dug much more deeply into how those specific criminals had kept from being identified and caught.

A number of the more infamous from the system's early eras had relied on movement and luck, which did speak only slightly to the crew's situation.  If Sekea wanted, he could read about those exploits because they could try for some limited success selling off faked items as they traveled from world to world.  Sadly, one of the key tactics in that kind of work was to constantly change their names.  This meant someone using the name "Phenole Jingle" in one town might not be connected with a "Smolilo Kellip" in a distant town.  Especially if one sold what turned out to be a fake painting where the other sold a fake letter claimed to have been written by a significant figure from history.  Wherever Sekea went, there would be some record of "Sir Sekea Sian" or the ship he traveled on having been on that world at the time of the initial crime.  That meant that he had to be able to disguise himself as a local or "an off-worlder" and "Sir Sekea's presence" could link worlds where forged works had been sold.  So, "just giving fake names" wouldn't work.

That had been a point of caution when Sekea had considered the idea of using his Artist's Factory to create fake Tellona Diamonds.  Sekea was also interested in faking items that would stand up to more immediate and intense scrutiny, like permits, port documents and the like.  Because of that, the "drop and run" crime path had only limited value.  Yes, they could drop something he doped up and knew few people could (or would have a reason to) debunk, and pick up chunks of cash from time to time.  And, doing that only very rarely would obviously delay or prevent people from connecting any dots "if" they realized something was fake.  That would help Sekea further that end of his criminal plans.

That meant Sekea would spend at least some time viewing each display.  with no interested at all in criminals like serial killers, Sekea would step up to identify what each criminal, or gang, group, etc, had been famous for?  If the "main crime" was not forgery-related, he would still try to search through whatever was there, because even murderers might end up having to fake a travel ticket, ID document or something else to try escaping the law or getting access to their victims.  So, he did spend some time at each display before moving to the next.  He had also grabbed a map of the place right off, so he could methodically move through the galleries item by item.  And, where he found a target criminal, he would dig into the data the museum made public until he got what he could.  Then, based on that information, he would investigate the books for sale on that specific criminal's history before marking the book for purchase or moving on.

Having come along just to make sure neither Fesic nor Sekea ended up in bad situations or in need of help, Rol spent more time at many displays than Sekea did.  But he also caught up because Sekea would often spend much more time doing deep dives when he did find a specific criminal to look into.  So, Rol didn't have to work hard or make important decisions until Fesic was ready to move on.  Having been interested in the museum to see what there could be to see, Fesic wasn't interested in digging deep into any of the past criminal histories.  He concentrated more on each criminal's "keynote" or most famous crime.  He would read up on that a bit for each, then move on.  Because of that, he burned through the galleries much like any average tourist and was ready to leave not long after the three shared a Cr 15 generic lunch at the museum's cafeteria.  When that happened, Rol had to decide to stay with Sekea or join Fesic?

Parallel Programs
     Back at the ship, later that morning, Aali woke and allowed herself a longer and more luxurious physical workout in her stateroom.  Finishing that and the rest of her daily routine, Aali had breakfast before moving into the ship's engineering compartments.  Thanks to her time in Ghandi lockup, she'd spent the last week working the active engineering systems while also doing what she could to bleed off and reset the normal space systems.  Now, she had at least a week to shut down many more systems and do a bit of "take down" maintenance.  She could even shut down those normal space systems that weren't needed for them to live on the ship as they were.

She first wanted to create a list of the systems to check and what detail maintenance work she could get done.  She'd also set up a "follower report" on things she could work on in jump on the way to Sonthert.  The goal was to make very certain they were completely set for a "jump into the dark".  That would make sure they didn't end up stuck and adrift after arriving in the Sonthert's systems outer reaches.  The other thing she did was carry out test runs under diagnosis, to check performance records against base-line tests she'd run ever since she came aboard the ship.  And, which she created new as recently as in the Denotam system, after each time they made modifications to the ship.  Those plans would possibly keep her busy riding herd on her small army of androids or following up on tests she'd had them run and report back to her on.

Aiden had checked and seen the "main" Mordor Arms site in-system was on the station, with a smaller location downwell.  As he looked into their in-system catalog, he saw that reflected the fact Lanth was a water world with only seven hundred million people on single large land-mass and without much conflict.  So, as went the same for InstellArms, they sold more androids and water-activity based goods than anything else.  And they didn't have a large-market for out-right military markets or goods.  Killing the one bird right off, Aiden called Mordor, got an operator and asked if they sold stent wafers before that person even had a chance to shunt him to a dedicated concierge.  While that would make sense on a world without a vast population having may wide-spread experts, they said they did not stock those, nor did the system represent a large market for them.

Aiden then tried to call the Order house to connect with a concierge, and ask them to hunt places to shop for wafers.  That was largely because he felt they'd be more neutral than any concierge from Mordor or InstellArms.  Looking for comms codes for any Chivalric Order house, Aiden found there was only one "catch all" number listed.  Calling that number, Aiden got a message saying, "Hello.  This is Sir Pyrthe Wated and I manage the Order house.  We check this line once weekly, to see how we can help Knights transiting this system who need assistance.  If this is an emergency, please press One, if not, please press Two to leave a message.  Please feel free to contact us at Compartment 1935 or on world at No. 125, Tallo Sanghu Road, Enclave 18 Kantidevi 00744.

Aiden left a message identifying himself and his chivalric order before asking if they could direct him to any sellers who might have stent wafers?  He specified that he was mostly interested in wafers imparting support for zero-g operations.  Aiden then did a station-net search for any comms code related to the compartment referenced in the message and managed to get a contact for the location.  Calling that, he got a Sir Dziod who asked who was calling and how he could help?  Aiden introduced himself and asked, "I'm looking for a couple of items, and mainly stent wafers.  Are you aware of any vendors on station who might sell them?"  The knight first welcomed Aiden and asked how long he'd been in the system?

The man nodded when Aiden said he'd been in-system less than a day because that wasn't really unusual.  Those on urgent business would often make an Order house their first call.  Rolling back over what Aiden had said, he confirmed what Aiden was looking for and Aiden nodded.  The knight honestly said Lanth wasn't a world where there was a market in stent wafers.  He also agreed there was not so large a population in the system where people could take the time off to learn and qualify for skills so he felt there might be some stocks of them floating around.  After a chuckle, he added, "No pun intended."  Moving forward, Sir Dziod asked Aiden for his comms code so he could do research and call him back with anything he found.

Aiden also asked the knight to help him locate a place where he could set up zero-g training sessions.  The knight said he'd get back to Aiden on that too.  Aiden also asked about facilities for swimming and was told they'd get back to him on that too.  While he waited for updates, Aiden decided to catch up the details on his journal.  When Colinne woke, she checked the cron while doing her daily routine and saw nothing had changed with it.  After that, Colinne checked her search data on the Zhodani translator.  Many of the results were for station-network dependent packages that would do her no good after she left the system.  Another class of hits would let her download a basic application to her hand-comp.  Some more high-end packages also uploaded to a user's comms device and maintained an established connection for translation in local conversations.

The last type listened into conversations to ID the languages used and provided live "As happened" translations to the user.  After an hour more of research, Colinne had centered on a Cr 23,000 translation software system that had very high reviews.  There were even some reviews saying the software helped during interviews of Zhodani prisoners.  When she saw a number of reviews were from officers of the Imperial Navy, Colinne bought and downloaded the package.  Twenty minutes later, she had it installed and was at the package menu.  One of the settings allowed the package to run in background-mode so it could listen via her comms gear to detect and translate whatever it overhears in her environment which registered as Zhodani.  Any translations caught would be fed to her through by her comms.

It also provided an on-device AI-led class to teach its user the Zhodani language.  The software also had manual settings letting the user dictate exactly when to translate and which speakers to target.  Within the realm of microphone directional control.  Ironically, while Colinne was working on that in the ship's lounge, Jocelynn was in her stateroom shopping for that sort of software and more.  She not only wanted translation software but also decryption software too.  For the translation tech, she wanted a program that was able to be loaded on the ship's computer, but also portable enough to load to hand computers and even the team's comms.  That way, the software could help out in the field where it was most needed.

At the same time, she wanted hand-held devices too, so that wireless jammers can't take out their tech.  The issue she often ran into was that another hand-held toy would lead to juggling.  Especially in combat situations.  And, the last thing you wanted to run into was being shot at without a weapon in your hand because you were trying to figure out what the enemy was saying.  What Jocelynn found was a software system that could be licensed to their ship, and crew, under a "Site license."  And the translators could be loaded onto their hand computers, so they could still hear translations from those devices if jammers took out the link with their comms.  And, inside their battledress suites, the jamming wouldn't kill connections to their comms for Zimzod and Jocelynn.  Not that they'd be able to tell anyone if jamming took out their comms.

Like the package Colinne had bought, the software Jocelynn was looking at had been designed and coded in the Rhylanor system.  And so was what Jocelynn was looking at.  So, they were essentially from labs at the highest levels of Imperial consumer tech.  When she looked at the hand-held units, she saw they would cost even more.  That was because she was not only buying the software, but a set of fancy devices to house the tech.  Then, there was the "care and feeding" of carry cases, cleaning fluids, etc.  And the users still had to juggle devices, weapons and more.  When she realized she'd have to pay more for that honor, Jocelynn wrote off the hand-helds as a bad idea.  She then paid KCr 120 for a site-license and began the download to install the software in the ship's computer.  She'd then tell the others and eventually have everyone load it to their hand computers and comms.  She could also load it to her battledress and have Zimzod load it to his.

Jocelynn next searched for decryption software.  The more Jocelynn looked for that, the more she saw "toolkit" packages for sale.  Some were advertised as 'very high-end'.  The trouble was that they were just that, tool kits.  They came pre-loaded with simple cyphers and known codes made public.  Beyond that, though, it only gave the user tools they could use to try and decrypt any codes.  So, the operators still had to have expertise in code breaking and decryption so the software she was seeing would only let her pay for tools she had no training or knowledge how to use.  In a sentence, they would be expensive code filling the drives her computers for no reason.  Taking up space like useless furniture.

Considering that situation, Jocelynn also realized a stent wafer might not help all that much.  Yes, it would hand its user the skills to do the work - eventually.  But it wouldn't give that user the experience or intuition to understand the concepts they might face.  "Real world" Wartime code making/breaking stories she'd seen told of governments spending millions on high-level teams of code makers.  And, just as expensive (or more) teams of code breakers.  Too often, even that money was nothing if the breakers didn't find some genius to see and overcome the concepts.  So, even finding a wafer to help might take years or lead to "never".  Which Jocelynn realized meant they really had to find someone they could trust.  And, that even if they did trust that person, there was no guarantee they would crack the code.  Added to that, there was no predicting what the file would say or how that person or team would react to what they learned?

Mikah checked her listing of restaurants after her morning routine, and went out for a top-quality breakfast.  Thinking that sounded good, Zimzod went along with her.  While she ate, Mikah sparked up her hand computer and connected to InstellArms.  As she expected, they scrambled to connect her to a dedicated concierge who would work as hard as possible to get Mikah to spend more money.  When that man asked how he could help her, Mikah said she just needed to order some ammunition.  When Mikah first said she needed five boxes each of tungsten and mild steel needles for her UAC gauss rifle, the man was a bit surprised.  When he said those were usually 1,000 needle boxes, Mikah considered storage, which she was running short of, and scaled that back to boxes of 500 needles.  Those cost her Cr 5,000.

Mikah also wanted five 100-round boxes of ammo for her submachinegun, which cost her Cr 500.  And she wanted 500 standard needles for her gauss pistol.  Those cost her Cr 700.  Paying the Cr 6,200, Mikah then said she wanted custom holsters for her advanced laser pistols.  Having seen the weapons listed and described in records InstellArms had on her gear, the concierge nodded and said she would have to bring those in to be modeled so proper holsters could be made.  Mikah said she wanted both shoulder and thigh holsters for the weapons and he asked her when she could come in to have that done.  Mikah knew the crew wanted to hit the amusement park the next day, so she said she'd visit the venue in two days, on Tuesday, the 111^th day of the year.

Done with her ammo order, Mikah talked with Zimzod and he suggested they go out looking for thrift and salvage sales because people can find odd things doing that.  Mikah thought that was a good idea, and agreed to do that with him but first wanted to check into the port's steps to change the ship's command.  Zimzod said he'd do that with her and they could then go junk hunting.  When Mikah tried to find the steps to change the registry command listing on-line, just like Fesic tried for his trade cert's just less than a year before, there was nothing.  The instructions only said to visit one of the ports administrative service centers and follow the instructions given there.  Figuring they had nothing better to do after eating, they took a Cr 5 portCab ride to the closest port administrative office she could find and got on line for a forty-minute wait.

When Mikah finally got to a window, she explained that she wanted to know what steps her ship would take to officially change who their Captain was?  Helpful as ever, the technician said they would direct her to a terminal to complete the forms needed to get the process started.  Nodding, Mikah asked what the next steps would be and were told that would depend on the data provided when she completed the forms.  When Mikah pushed, the technician claimed different data would lead down different process tracks though she couldn't see how.  What she could see was that the technician didn't care because "the process" was "the process" and none who worked there cared if Mikah was pleased or not.  Not happy, Mikah left the office with the same feelings she and Fesic had dealing with the bureaucracy the year before.

While they had waited, the two had searched for and talked about listings for junk sales, second-hand shops and even salvage yards.  During the morning, taking a series of portCabs, they eventually ended up at a second-hand shop where she noticed a dated order uniform for the Order of the March Defenders.  While the garment had obviously been mended more than once, Mikah felt it didn't belong in a second-hand shop.  While Mikah had a uniform for that order, and that garment wouldn't fit her, she took it to one of the attendants and asked about it?  Eventually, that led her to the manager, who checked their records on when they bought it.

That woman said the uniform had been sold to the shop four months before and came in a lot of thirty random items.  The notes didn't say who had sold the lot to the shop, but the list showed that none of the other items were related to any Chivalric order.  Mikah asked how much the shop was charging for the uniform and ended up paying the Cr 50 they asked.  Repeating the same steps Aiden had, Mikah got the on-station location for the "Chivalric support" compartment serving as an Order house.  She and Zimzod then took a portCab there where Mikah explained what happened and turned the uniform in to them.  The six-person staff were very pleased Mikah had cared enough to recover the uniform, and gave her a Cr 30 compensation for turning it in.

The staffers also asked her more questions to see what else Mikah might have gotten from the shop, and said they'd look into that to see what they could dig up.  After that, Zimzod and Mikah went back to salvage and thrift sales, and eventually built-up Cr 160 in portCab fees, which Zimzod paid.  While they did that, Aiden had been doing gear maintenance while waiting for a call back on his questions.  When the people working for the Order house called, they reminded Aiden Lanth did not have a large market for stent wafers.  While the need was there, the cost of wafers drove people to robots or less expensive answers.  They did give him a small list of those places who stocked unusual and sometimes high-end goods, which he could check.  Those included the shops, "Lamaam", "Kimge" and "Gedukaam Gaimiis".

Moving to locations where he could rent zero-g training space, he could choose from the same sort of options he'd been faced with on Ghandi.  There were the purpose-built gyms, training centers and open spaces including ballrooms and performance venues.  Those would have costs rising from "Membership fee" levels to ridiculously expensive, and many would not only have staffers but also other clients or customers using the space.  So, it would not be secure at all and wouldn't even be private.  The names of some crew members would have to be given on booking the spaces, and perhaps even when they arrived to use the space.  Other options, especially on a port station, were places like cargo bays which stood empty until they could be rented to any possible clients.

As had been the case in the Ghandi system, small cargo bays could be found for low prices and Aiden thought to himself he could keep that as a note to himself.  That would help him not ask the same questions in every single system he visited.  The warehouse idea was also nice because a concierge could rent the place and the whole transaction could be handled with access codes.  So, the renters would never know who they rented to unless there was damage or some other follow-on reason for that?  Past that, there were "high-end solutions" like renting spaces from InstellArms. Mordor Arms or other arms dealers.  They could even reach out to the companies that organized and leased out mercenary units to see if they could rent training facilities in-system.  Of course, the more specialized they went, the more it would cost.  Admittedly, purpose-built training compartment would have all the hoped for safety and medical equipment, but that was only a small part of the vast rise in costs.  Especially if privacy or discretion were desired.

Answering his questions on swimming, they said Lanth was and was not an aquatic world.  That was because the 90% of the world surface covered by oceans was slanted more towards acidic content.  Because of this, on-world swimmers would have to protect their eyes and other sensitive organs against even casual contact.  Those who worked in the environment would also have to consider resistant protection against long-term exposure while anyone wanting to swim would be recommended to rent or buy totally-sealed swimsuits.  Of course, on-station water sports centers used 100% filtered water, so they were entirely safe to bath in.  Beyond that, having compartments large enough to house recreational centers that included pools were very expensive to rent from the station and operate.  So, swimming in orbit was "not" inexpensive.

Added to that, there were specialty Zero-g swimming centers. like those where air-pressure systems kept the "pool" floating in the middle of a compartment.  Bathers could then relax in lounge areas on every wall of the compartment, thanks to gravitic plates, while sun-lamps shined from various angles to keep every part of the compartment warm.  Swimmers could then just leap from the "ground" up to dive into the pool and use provided hand rails to pull themselves down to steps leading back into gravity.  While some of the specialty bathing centers were clubs serving membership only, some were open to the public for a fee and others were specialty clubs which might even have both "swim fees" and cover charges - because they had generic or high-end bars and restaurants.  Not to mention, Pool-side service and zero-g dining "spaces".

Of course, there were also adventure and technical aquatic venues and tours including the use of SCUBA and artificial gill-based systems.  There were tours that were either surface-boat or submarine based for both training and entertainment.  Tourists could dive into environments supporting the vast array of colorful life-forms which had evolved in the sulfur-intensive environment.  Flashy advertising especially pushed both "enclosed submarine" and SCUBA/Gill dives into the widely colorful coral reefs which had evolved along Lanth's coastal oceans and near deep-sea "steamer vents".  even as he listened, Aiden was certain the faded lessons he'd had in the past would not have prepared him for any of the advanced adventures he was told about.  Done with his research, Aiden checked with Jocelynn and borrowed the "Engineering" stent wafer before offering Aali help working on the ship.  While she was well supported by their army of engineering 'droids, Aali accepted the help.

After Colinne had bought her translation software, she spent an hour working with it to get a grip on some basic "hello/How are you" words in Zhodani.  After an hour of that, she went back into the ship's computer spaces do more digging into the intruder software.  As she spent the rest of the morning working to survey what she could without training, what she saw concerned her more and more.  She had already figured out that it could locate and penetrate connections, but she saw hints of even more infiltration tools she couldn't see how to access?  Some data even suggested it "could" infiltrate neural stents and other wireless devices!  Of some concern, she found older report data suggesting that when they had used the package to defeat locks in the past, the software had done much more they were not aware of.  For example, data from when it was used in Regina showed it had infiltrated and documented the engineering systems of the Ministry of Justice agent's ship!  That was the ship on which Rol had been killed.

When Colinne saw that report also said the device had infiltrated the port's dockside device computers, she worried just who else had this in their hands?  And how they were using the software?  While she wasn't certain how to make it work, Colinne's gut was telling her an expert could possibly use the package to hijack ships, vehicles or entire space station control systems!  And that told her this was a high powered, deep espionage tool kit.  Not something the Stepozhevaci and their friends should have had!  When she did find menu for setting preferences, Colinne saw the package was currently set for the deepest level of intrusion possible.  The good news there was that she could scale that back and then use the software to more easily and quickly get into the Zhodani armor.

Finding Treasures In The Trash
     During lunch on the ship, Aali said that she wanted to get the ship ready to leave as soon as possible without skipping any of the tests she'd been ready to skip in the Arden system.  Aiden was helping Aali while Colinne had been working on the intruder software.  One item that came up was that Jocelynn told the others about the translation package she'd bought.  She said she wanted to have a crew meeting when everyone else came back to the ship, but she wanted those there to load up the package to their hand-computers and comms.  At that, Colinne said she'd also specifically bought a "Zhodani language" translator.  And, that package had an in-built class that would teach the user basic Zhodani at the least.  So, Colinne wondered if Jocelynn wanted her to load the multi-language package instead of the Zhodani-only package with the training?  Colinne also suggested various configurations like having the teaching package on her hand-comp while having the multi-language app on her comms.  Since a number of the crew weren't there, they decided to have a crew meeting later that evening and make the decisions.

After eating, Jocelynn called InstellArms, and had them connect with her local concierge so she could place an order to be delivered.  She wanted 250 rounds each of ball and tranq for her snub pistols and 500 of .45 rounds which she'd split between her zero-g .45 and Las-Slug pistol.  The five boxes of 100 .45 rounds cost her Cr 500.  The five 50 round boxes of ball ammo for the snub pistol cost Cr 375 and the five 100 round boxes of Tranq cost Cr 1,125.  Jocelynn then went to the Order house office after a Cr 10 PortCab ride.  They showed great discretion by not mentioning contacts and visits from other members of her crew that day.  After she signed their guest application, the group asked how they could help her?  Saying they'd only just arrived in-system and were doing some shopping, she asked, "I was wondering, call it a hobby of mine, if you had any idea where I could find some sort of cryptology software?"  She expanded on that saying it should teach her how to write and devise codes.  She followed that asking about "generic stent wafers"?

Not referencing Sir Aiden even though he and Jocelynn were on the same crew, they told Jocelynn they'd been asked about wafers by another client and were looking into that.  While they would let her know what they find, they did have the same small list of locations to give her too.  Those were the shops "Lamaam", "Kimge" and "Gedukaam Gaimiis".  As with Aiden, they told her there was no promise they had what she was looking for, but they carried a wide and varied line of unusual goods.  She was also told they could have contacts that might help her too.  Back to the cryptology question, they dialed in on her admissions she had no real skills.  And were very willing to help her with all the beginner-level offers they could find.  Sadly, the more they talked, the more Jocelynn saw that starting from dirt wouldn't serve the crew's needs.

Leaving that compartment, Jocelynn used her hand computer to connect with the port-net, hoping to start researching brokers.  Unfortunately, any work like that hit a credentials-wall where she had to enter in her ID.  And, since she didn't have trading permission, she didn't have the ID needed either.  Accepting that as a blocked road, Jocelynn started looking for parts for a side project.  Sadly, she didn't find much at all that even looked like what she wanted and there was nothing that suited her plans.  So, she went back to the berth and the ship.

Rol and Fesic had gone with Sekea to the True Crime Museum of Lanth and wandered the place while Sekea did his research.  While Rol was up for sticking with Sekea throughout the day, Fesic was done with the museum not long after lunch.  Because of that, Fesic told the others he wanted to leave and explore his own interests.  Moving to the museum's exit, Fesic sparked up his hand-comp and looked for any signs of thrift shops, or even flea markets.  While he didn't really find many thrift shops, he did find a large weekend-long flea market.  Fesic figured that might be the perfect place to find interesting toys and make contacts among the locals.  Where that could lead to was only hope until he explored so he moved to the museum's sealed garage and sparked up an app to book a cab.

Back inside the museum, Rol had been shadowing Sekea and had come to realize he was also being shadowed himself!  Doing his best to casually check them, Rol saw he had three shadows.  One woman and two men.  And the eyes of one of the men were big, round and part of an expression showing he was a fan!  Of course, Rol should have expected that in a museum dedicated to infamous criminals and crimes.  Since he'd been accused and acquitted, it was a guarantee the sorts of true crime fans who would come to the place would also have seen coverage of the accusations.  Especially since he'd been on Lanth when the summons to Regina had arrived.  Because of that, it shouldn't have been a surprise someone there would recognize him.  Nor should it have been a surprise those who did would be a mixed bag of supporters and those less convinced.

Rol also knew it had become a question if he would reach out to them first or wait for them to make the first move?  Soon enough, the one Rol guessed was the fan decided it "really was" Major Kaihvos and came over to where Rol had been watching Sekea work.  Turning to the man, the guy took that as acceptance and started gushing.  Telling Rol how big a fan he was, how much he'd studied Rol's career and "very curious" why it was Sir Rol was wandering unarmed in public when it was well known there was such a large bounty out on himself and his crew?  The man then looked about curiously as he asked if Rol had a hidden team of bodyguards ready to act if anyone attacked.  Trying to decide how much of this man was real and how much cartoon, he leaned close and quietly said, "If I told you about them, they wouldn't be secret now.  Would they?" in a conspiratorial tone.  Rol then leaned back just a bit, in case the man's head exploded.

Hearing that, the fan's eyes went wide as he regarded Rol and Rol only added to the fire, saying, "Don't worry.  They're well concealed." with the hint of an amused smile on his face.  While he talked to the one man, he saw the other man standing back with an almost smug look on his face.  Doing the math, Rol realized the girl was the glue that held these two guys together.  He also guessed that would end badly when one of the guys, or neither of them, ended up with the girl.  In any case, Rol eventually learned they were all fans of true crime, which is what had drawn them to the museum that day.  Rol was also able to confirm the smug standoffish man wasn't entirely convinced Rol was innocent.

Behind him, as he looked up from his notes, Sekea noticed Rol had gained an entourage, and eventually noticed their "escort" was growing.  The gathering people annoyed Sekea, because he was on a mission.  So, he did his best to ignore the random people and get on with things.  Still, he was a member of the Upgrade's crew and the crew had been embroiled in a number of controversies across the various ships on which they'd served.  That made him interesting, though not as interesting as Rol.  And, as true crime fans would be, they wondered if Sir Sekea was actually working on some kind of mystery, and wondered if they could get invited to join in?  Hoping to blow them off with a straight and seemingly honest answer, Sekea said it was a hobby of his and it was always interesting to learn the details of crimes that had mystified people for so long.  And, since the museum was there, he wondered what history he could learn?

Sadly for Sekea, that backfired because they'd been through the museum top to bottom so many times they used it as a meeting place.  And learning that did not bode well for either Rol or Sekea, because it likely meant more "fans" were coming.  And, at the same time, those already bothering Sekea were now asking more, and more direct questions because they were certain their recommendations could help him.  Or because they were sure he was working on something and they wanted to join his investigation.  When Sekea tried to push the idea he was just doing a survey of what he could learn, and not concentrating on any specific case, that didn't stop the fans asking questions.  Be they about each display they were facing or some related item.  Nor did it stop others from joining a second cluster around Sekea.

Even worse for Sekea, his mild attempts to "talk away" the fans only convinced them he was trying to hide something from them, which increased their interest in figuring out what he was working on.  The more he denied the keen interest he was pouring out on each display, the more attention he got.  Finally, Sekea decided to try a conversational tactic to back them off and could only hope and pray none of them were interested in, and studying for, interstellar navigation certifications.  So, Sekea began responding to their attempts to engage him with brain-twisting and obscure points on navigation.  And, sadly for Sekea, the tactic worked somewhat but also backfired.

He did see that some of the fans were backing off, but enough either were not or were replaced by others.  Along with that, the effort to mine his brain for topics to back the fans off with got in the way of his progress or slowed him down.  So, he wasn't getting done with what he wanted because he had to deal with them.  One good result was that some of those who stepped up to comment on a given exhibit would mention something not in the immediate or secondary data screens for the display.  So, it turned out some of the fans actually had information he would have to buy and read the books to get.  Sadly for Sekea, there wasn't nearly enough of that benefit.  In an attempt at social engineering, Sekea tried to reward those who gave him good information and snub those who didn't.

On the other side of the coin, Rol wasn't really paying much attention at all to the exhibits and displays.  Where Sekea was literally camping in front of displays, Rol didn't even seem to be looking at them much at all.  That raised the questions why he was there and what he was doing?  Because the location was the only thing that seemed to relate what he was doing with the museum at all?  And, of course, that sort of behavior demanded the attention of "want to be" detectives and sleuths.  And Rol's claims he'd never seen a true crime museum and wanted to check it out fell flat because he pointedly was "not checking" the displays.  When it came to deciding what to do for food, Rol asked Sekea if he preferred the in-building cafeteria or and outside restaurant?

Sekea answered that he wanted to maximize his time there and Rol decided that meant the cafeteria.  Hearing that, those around them felt Sekea's statement confirmed he was working on "something".  So, the fans weren't backing off either.  They followed the two into the cafeteria and one of the fans offered to pay for both Sekea and Rol, but wanted to sit between them.  Rol said he preferred to sit next to Sekea so he offered to pay half.  The fan then offered to have his girlfriend sit on Rol's other side if he could sit between Rol and Sekea.  When Rol asked if the girl could sit on Sekea's other side, the man agreed and the seating was set.

Waiting for the cab, the software warned Fesic he'd be arriving at an outside location, and offered a mask rental, that would be delivered in the vehicle.  Given the sulfur taint would sicken and could kill him, Fesic accepted that and was notified that would cost him Cr 10.  Soon enough the cab arrived and he received the rented mask from a compartment which opened to deliver it.  The mask was fully charged, pressurized, refreshed and cleaned.  It had both microphones and speakers so he could talk to and hear others without having to move to a sealed location.  Expecting to use the same cab company when he left for the port, he figured he'd have to set the mask back into the same kind of compartment during that ride.  He soon arrived to see what had been a very large flea market.  Because it was well after lunch, a number of sellers had already packed up but there were still fair numbers of people hoping for "second wind" as a late wave were traditionally called.

The one most noticeable thing as Fesic stepped out of the cab were the signs.  Massive numbers of them all over the place, some flashing, all colorful and all competing for his attention.  The one sign, which repeatedly appeared in some of the most prominent locations read, "Spend Cr 5 and buy the Map App!"  It was not only very noticeable in clearly defined letters, images and contrasting primary colors, but the text was also set against the background shaped like the field the market was on.  Fesic nodded to himself as he snapped a picture of the action-icon and that automatically navigated his hand-comp to the site where the market map lived.

Fesic was satisfied with that for all of a second or so before a pop-up asked, "Five more Credits if you want the translator app?"  Shrugging because there might be Vargr, Sword Worlders or other races, Fesic bought that app too.  To Fesic's surprise, when he hit the "buy" control, that app loaded then he was asked to buy the Inertial locator app!  Because that would tell him how to get back to where he was currently standing, Fesic figured, 'why not' but he first searched the screen to see if there was any way he could just buy the package and be done with the pop ups?  Sadly, he couldn't find any package, so he bought that too.  The next offer was for a "Categorizer" app.

Not sure what that was, Fesic clicked the control to explain the app and read that it relied on the market sellers registering with the application and uploading what it was they were selling.  If Fesic bought the application, it would sort the registered sellers into categories so he could more easily see where things were being sold.  And possibly find what he was looking for that much faster.  Of course, if few or none registered, the app wasn't worth anything, so buying it was a gamble because Fesic didn't know the market.  Fesic chose to ignore that app, because he preferred the surprise of finding any treasures that lay before him instead of being told where they hid.  Next, he was offered the "social connections" application for Cr 5.  That let users chat with other users all of whom are at the market.  Fesic ignored that one too.

That ended the sequence, and a screen then asked if Fesic had anything to sell?  When Fesic clicked "no", the map popped up and showed a small flashing point with a legend reading, "You are here".  Checking into the map, Fesic did his best to find the transient sellers, often referred to as "moving yard sales", because the best treasures were always found hidden there.  The real problem Fesic had was that he had arrived late in the day and the market likely wouldn't last more than a few hours.  So Fesic set off to see what he could find.  In his first hour wandering, Fesic really didn't find anything of interest.  Almost entirely crap.  The second hour found him meeting fewer people hoping he would buy something and more sellers getting tired and who were almost ready to pack it in.  Happily, that meant the people were a bit more interested in talking more, and Fesic managed to share brief conversations with folks here and there.

Mystery Containers And Contents
     Along the way, Fesic had spent Cr 30 on hand tool tech toys, and eventually had some tools he could use working on the ship.  All were local tech and advanced enough to use gravitational forces to let the craftsperson using them better apply and control forces used in their work.  The first was a "Grav-Wrench" that applied torque with gravitic shear fields so there was no physical contact between the tool and work piece.  It was ideal for working on delicate or sealed systems.  He'd also bought a grav-hammer, that delivered impact using focused grav pulses and absorbed recoil.  The tool had adjustable force settings.  Finally, he'd found a grav-stabilized cutter.  That would hold a piece in perfect alignment and dampens vibrations while the craftsperson is cutting it.  That was very useful in zero-G or unstable environments, which was ironic given Fesic's lack of null-grav skills.

While he continued to wander in a field that was more quickly emptying, he happened on a table where he saw three grenades sitting out in open view!  Stepping up, Fesic reached out to pick up each grenade one at a time and saw they looked like smooth-shelled grenades.  Each grenade had a bright yellow ring painted around the top and bottom, but he had no idea what that meant?  As a spacer, Fesic hadn't really been trained as a grenadier, but he knew from vids that fragmentation grenades had irregular shells which broke apart when the ordinance exploded.  Because these grenades were smooth-shelled, that suggested they were not fragmentation grenades.  Fesic did know that naval ordinance was always color-tipped, so the yellow bands meant "something", but he had no idea what?

Looking up at the seller, he saw the man watching him with an amused smirk.  Fesic asked, "I'm interested in these, and I know the markings mean something, but that's beyond my knowledge.  What do the bands mean?  What sort of grenades are these?"  The man's smile widened as he said, "You're obviously a spacer" in a friendly but taunting tone.  He went on to tell Fesic it was obvious he wasn't local not only from his accent, but because everyone on Lanth would know the yellow meant they were exercise dummies.  Fesic did his very best to hide the relief that appeared out of nowhere despite the fact he'd really not believed they were live ordinance.  But still...  Logically, it also explained why the man hadn't been swarmed by law enforcement officers.

When Fesic then asked, to confirm, that they were just for practice, the man smiled and said, "I have the real things at home."  Sadly, Fesic couldn't tell if he meant that as true, or was joking?  Fesic grunted in appreciation and asked if those were in his 'private collection' while wondering if the man was the type to stockpile arms and munitions.  What Fesic didn't know about the culture of Lanth's people was their constant preparation for "the next invasion".  in the Fifth Frontier war, a first wave of Sword world ships killed massive amounts of the small craft forming Lanth's Iron Sphere.  That gave the larger Imperial warships time to organize and go toe to toe with the Sword World warships.  And let the senior admirals get couriers out to all local systems raising alarms and calling for help.

While the squadrons assigned to Lanth did their best, the invading Gram fleet was reinforced by independent formations from other Sword Worlds governments.  There had never been a question if they could hold out.  It was just how soon reinforcements could arrive?  Sadly, Sword Worlds fleet elements had struck or raided the other worlds in the local cluster and, when ships didn't jump in after three weeks, Lanth's admirals knew they weren't getting help.  And, that was when the second Sword Worlds wave arrived.  From then on, it was a game of "hide and strike" playing guerilla games while hiding in Lanth's asteroid belts and the world's oceans.

Since there were no gas Giants in-system, the enemy couldn't refuel without water.  So, system defense squadrons and the surviving Imperial warships either shot at ships trying to refuel from below the surface of the world's oceans or tried to strike from the system's lone asteroid belt.  That meant much of the enemy fleet were able to move into orbit and the transports could land troops.  So, the battle for Lanth became a land war and every citizen broke out their home-stockpile before joining the fight.  If Fesic knew that, he would have known the answer without asking the question.  Still, the man said everyone had to be ready for the neighbors to come visiting again and Fesic asked, "So, you're getting ready for the next invasion?"

The man laughed bitterly and said he was out of the active fighting.  He also shifted his stance to show Fesic he was wearing a prosthetic in place of his left leg.  The man ruefully said, "After the recent war, I only have what I sell."  Nodding, Fesic said, "I understand, and I'm sorry for your injury."  The man smiled and interrupted saying, "I killed the guy who shot me."  Fesic could only say the man had come out better and the seller only answered, "Indeed!"  Fesic did ask about how things went on the ground and swapped what stories he could.  The ship Fesic had been assigned to when the Fifth Frontier war had started was damaged fighting to escort non-combat ships out of the immediate invasion zone.  While he'd seen some battles, the ship soon made its way into the Lunion subsector.  There, he'd spent most of the war on the ground training new recruits or manning surface to orbit counter-invasion guns when alarms went off.  But the war hadn't reached the Lunion system.

Fesic played the sympathy card over and again not only because he wanted to see if there was a contact of value here but because it was very damn well deserved.  Fesic was also truly interested in hearing the man's story not only to learn about him but to get a feel for what the people of Lanth had been through.  And it was clear from what the man would say that the war was bad memories all around.  On top of which, he'd lost the leg.  When Fesic asked about recreation and gambling, the man said he wasn't much for that.  He said he was just making ends meet while changing lifestyles, and Fesic had to wonder why the man only had a prosthetic rather than a cloned or functional electronic replacement.  Still, those weren't that common until you get to worlds a bit more advanced than Lanth's tech.  Or on worlds with larger populations and a more expansive medical community.

When Fesic asked, the man said he wanted Cr 50 for the three grenades.  Fesic offered him Cr 40 but the man held firm.  Fesic had no issues paying the fifty and the man asked him what he was interested in while the money was bumped.  But when Fesic started listing heavy ordinance like frag and stun grenades, the man's expression shifted to guarded and he asked why Fesic wasn't looking for that sort of thing from one of the arms companies in-system?  Fesic admitted he was shopping with the corporations but figured if that man was selling what he had and needed the cash...  So long as it was legal and the man was willing.  Nodding, the man asked Fesic how "exotic" he liked his grenades?

Fesic did admit that, as a spacer, he wasn't as familiar with how exotic grenades got, but he told the man, whose name he'd yet to ask, he'd be interested in seeing what the man could offer.  The man nodded and admitted he didn't keep live ordinance to sell, because it had to be stored in his home and that could lead to bad things.  Still, he said he might know a guy, which got Fesic's attention.  The man then asked Fesic to bounce his contact code over and said he'd check with his guy and see if he wanted to meet?  Even as they spoke, Fesic continued checking the man's table so he could find something more to buy.  Even if he gave it away, or even threw it away later.  But he wanted to build on the connection.

What did catch Fesic's eye was a faintly glowing jar that seemed to be sealed, and filled with opaque currents of wildly colored viscus fluid of some kind.  The color flow seemed to be following slowly moving currents within the jar.  Moving closer as he looked at the "device" Fesic noticed it gave off a mild smell of ozone.  He also saw a translucent glue seal keeping the jar lid sealed.  When Fesic asked, the man said it was a "jar of memories".  When Fesic suddenly worried it might be something psionic, the man said it was sold as a relaxation toy that you looked at while relaxing and thinking back on your life.  It was supposed to inspire a viewer to remember the better memories.

When Fesic suggested it would enhance his memories, the man reacted suddenly and denied he had anything to do with the Zhodani!  Fesic accepted that as the man emphatically clarified that it was something to help you relax as you viewed it.  That would supposedly help your mind settle so you could relax and consider your memories more clearly.  Hearing that, Fesic got the clear vibe this man had perhaps been drunk and watching an advertisement when he first bought the jar, which is why it ended up on his table today.  Nodding, Fesic said the jar was weird enough he should take it back to his ship to show his crew, and asked how much the man wanted for it?  When he was told it cost Cr 100, Fesic just bought it because it really was the type of weird that got his attention.

As things were wrapping up, and given there could be an acid rain shower at any time they'd have to take cover from, Fesic gave the man his contact code and asked the man's name.  The man was named "Sagian" and Fesic asked the man to reach out to him even if his friend wasn't interested.  Fesic also said the "nice meeting you" and "Maybe we'll have a drink" things he hoped would promote a connection.  By the time Fesic started stepping away, Sagian had also started loading what was left into his ground car.  So, Fesic started moving along the line back to where he'd arrived while hitting tables along the way that still had stuff to sell.  He also pinged the cab service to call for a car to return to the port with his toys.

In the ship's engineering, Aiden had been working with Aali when he got a ping on his comms.  Answering, it was the berth crew calling to tell him his "foodstuffs" had arrived.  Confused at first, Aiden realized that was the supplies to make his batch of scout brew.  Meeting the berth crewperson at the airlock, Aiden got the sack of supplies and went through it to make sure the order was complete.  Aiden also took a few minutes to return the engineering wafer to the ship's locker.  When he was sure what he ordered was all there, Aiden made sure he wasn't leaving Aali in a lurch?  He then told her he wanted to brew the batch so it could start settling.  That would take twenty-four hours or so, and he promised her a mug from the first batch.  While Aiden worked on the brew, Jocelynn got back to the ship and told those there she planned to call a crew meeting when everyone got back.  She then went back into her stateroom to work on the computer files more.

Down on Lanth, Sekea and Rol had shared dinner with their new fan club and "meat shield" gathering.  Sekea planned to return to his research to find as much as he could.  At the fading flea market, Fesic had started off to leave, but asked about food options in the area?  In Lanth's open spaces, the "street food" culture were rituals of short conversations during the prep work.  Thanks to the tainted atmosphere, filters cleared out all but the most pungent scents, and food was served up in containers so those buying from street carts and trucks could eat their meals in sealed rooms.  There were erectable and even semi-permanent "eating rooms" with airlocks, but those were less used than the "take away" market.  When ordering, Fesic faced choices from "Savory and seasoned", "Spicy", "Juxtaposed flavors"(Ex: Sweet and Sour) and more.  Fesic chose a savory and seasoned meal and followed that by a fried puff-pastry topped with frozen custard, which all came in containers he could eat during the cab ride.

After Aiden spent nearly an hour making the brew and putting it in the cooling unit to settle, things moved on until dinner time.  Aali, Aiden and Colinne were on the ship and ordered food to be delivered.  After eating, Aali looked at the museums on-station.  There were many quality museums on-station but the big or important ones were mostly down on the planet's surface, where space was less of a cost.  Aali looked for museums related to engineering, space travel, gemology or fine alcohol.  One museum she found was the "Museum of Stardrive Evolution".  Near that was a space devoted to an 'engineering clinic and workspace' which was open to the public.  Station notices advertised distributed displays of gemstones and the chemistry of crystal growth in concourses where shoppers could expect to find gemstone and jewelry sales venues.  Aali got the impression those were more aimed at getting people to buy gems and jewelry.

Looking for "museums" covering alcohol, Aali saw a small number of "food, beverage and entertainment" museums on-station, but mostly saw many "personal experience" venues where she could "experience" anything they had on tap or in bottles for her to order.  Those were, of course, called Bars and Pubs.  For an actual museum including exhibits on brewed and distilled spirits, she would have to explore what was available downwell.  After getting that information, Aali decided to grab the bottle of Chartreuse 90, to sip at and share.  Jocelynn came out from her stateroom and ordered food delivered before she told the others about the translator software she'd bought.  When she said she wanted everyone to load it on their hand computers, Colinne told Jocelynn about the software she'd bought.  Jocelynn decided they'd compare the software later and decide what to do.

While Aali did her search, Colinne and Aiden wondered if the others would return to the ship to eat or after eating?  Aiden suggested they watch vids, or play poker if the others returned.  The two women agreed to vids if the others didn't start returning but was up for a card game if they did, and Aali offered to share the chartreuse.  About that time, after spending another Cr 30 for the cab rides and Cr 100 for the shuttle back into orbit, Fesic arrived with his purchases.  One thing he had noticed while in the downwell cab was the scent of ozone being given off by the jar of memories.  Sitting with the others, he showed off the tools, grenades and jar while he told the others about the market.  Fesic was also up for sharing drinks and cards.

Jocelynn didn't take part in the card games, but did hang out and chat with the others before she went back into her stateroom to meditate and work on her psi.  While that happened, Mikah had gone out looking for more salvage or second-hand items but found little that was of any interest.  And the few things of interest were damaged in ways that meant it cost too much to repair instead of buying new.  Soon enough, Mikah made her way to another high-end restaurant and spent Cr 50 on dinner before returning to the ship to watch vids and relax.  In the end, she'd spent Cr 80 on portCabs.  Zimzod also found nothing of note after spending Cr 75 more on portCabs.  He did stop for dinner on the way back to the ship, for Cr 35, and also arrived early enough to join in on the poker game.  Zimzod also pulled out bottles of Iced Berry Cider and corn whiskey to nurse.

At dinner with their fans, Rol checked the port's shuttle schedule and saw it was a regular 24/7 operation.  Regardless of any other schedule, the shuttles flew night and day without pause.  Seeing that, one of the me they were with said he could put them up if they wanted to stay on the world overnight.  Since the museum closed at nine that night, Sekea and Rol planned to stay until after eight before moving to the gift shop so Sekea could buy books on any of the criminals he wanted to dig into.  Then, they'd get back to the shuttleport and be back in orbit and the ship by 10:30.  So, Jocelynn would have to meet them later and have them install her translator app then.

Of course, they'd spend more time in the company of fans.  Sekea lamented, "Sadly, not many of them are interested in discussing navigation protocols." with a smirk.  Rol rose and took Sekea by the shoulders while intoning, "I have faith in you.  You'll bring them around."  Sekea only said he'd keep trying to talk navigation.  After eating, the cloud followed them back into the galleries.  When Sekea finally finished up with the exhibits, he'd taken notes on six criminals but really wasn't excited about two of those.  He finally chose to look for books on the four whose careers he felt were 'on point'.  He eventually spent Cr 150 on data-file books for those four criminals.  While hunting, Sekea also spotted an "activity toy" called a Copy Kit.  Designed for older kids and adults, the kit was an electronic tablet with which 2,000 images came loaded.  Those were pieces of artwork the users could work with, or load more of from connected data crystals or other storage devices.  It could even wirelessly be connected to larger computers or networked storage.

The tablet was a 'three foot by two foot by three inch' device that came with a configurable drawing guide or stencil and stylus.  The device let a user toggle back and forth between the displayed artwork and an over-art drawing layer.  The user could then use the stylus to select from the in-built tools, tinctures and other items to re-create the selected painting.  Still, it was flat and couldn't simulate textures in the way an artist would use paddles to slather on oils or other paints.  And the texture of the materials used had as much to do with copying a work as the visual outcome.  That very often defined the brush stroke as much the amount of paint on a brush or other tool, or how it was used.  So, he could learn to copy the image but not recreate the texture or other properties.  Sekea saw the device cost Cr 5,000 and bought one.

Towards the end of the evening, waiting until it looked like the poker game was winding down, Jocelynn spoke to those she'd not talked to during dinner and have them all upload the translator software she'd bought.  The issue with Colinne's software came to a decision they could both live with.  Colinne would have Jocelynn's software on her comms while she would have "both" installed on her hand-computers.  While they did that, Rol suggested that he and Sekea thought they should go to the amusement park the next day.  Fesic said he'd love that idea.  When Jocelynn was the only person uncertain about the trip, Rol joked, "Aw, come on.  There's a little girl there I need to kill", referring to the kid that killed him the last time the crew had visited the park.  That got laughs all around.  Remembering what happened, Fesic joked, "She's gotten older and better and she'll still kick your ass."

Pulling the "jar of memories" from where he'd set it down, Fesic decided to show it off, but called it a "mood jar".  While they talked, Jocelynn finally agreed to visit the park.  As the others looked over the jar, Sekea said the fact it seemed to be giving off an ozone scent was a bit disturbing.  Fesic also told them about the seller he'd met at the market while he talked about the jar.  He also said the man might connect him to another contact.  When Fesic suggested that could lead to more information, Jocelynn asked him what information?  Sekea told them he hoped that could lead to connections with "less than savory groups", and more "less than savory groups".  Finally, the poker game came to an end and the wins and losses stacked up like this:
      Fesic won big getting Cr 180 more than he started with.
      Colinne was next, gaining Cr 40 more
      Aiden lost Cr 50
      Zimzod lost Cr 70
      Aali lost Cr 100

    Monday, 110-1114:
Zap! Cackle! Pop!
     The morning broke with each member of the crew having set alarms to wake early.  That was because each of them had to get their morning routines done before getting to the shuttle port for a ride downwell.  They then had to get from the port nearest the park to the amusement park itself.  They then had to each pay to get into the park before they could have fun.  Taking the common costs in shares, they each paid Cr 20 for their share of the rides to and from their berth to the shuttle port and the downport and park.  Added to that were the Cr 200 each for their shuttle tickets and Cr 80 each for entry to the park.  That totaled up to Cr 300 outside of souvenirs, food and the extra cost for the VR star fighter game.

Added to the fighter VR ride, the park had thrill rides of all sorts, including hyper coasters driven by forces such as "linear induction" and "gravitic thrust" systems.  There were zero-G bounce rooms and casually fun attractions.  Anti-grav constructs lifted rides to thrilling heights while virtual-reality rides more integrated with the park offered visitors a huge number of experiences.  Hyper-spinners gave riders extreme-gee experiences while more sedate common attractions pleased the less adventurous.  Still, beyond all that fun was the virtual fighter game.  Anyone wanting to play that game had to pay Cr 25 for each game beyond the park admittance.  The good news was that each game came with one "re-spawn", so you couldn't just be popped quickly and be out your fee.

Aali spent Cr 100 to play the game four times, giving her eight lives to lose.  Without any piloting skills, she had to rely on her past experiences, which still gave her an edge over the untrained locals.  Aiden paid Cr 125 for five games and spent most of the day playing "shark in the water" while gaining the attention of other trained pilots.  Because of that, others visiting the park got to watch some grand fighter chases zipping through the less skilled, and sometimes randomly taking those out as they either evaded other trained pilots or took advantage of a random "lock on" or two while trying to lock up their main target.  Jocelynn had been part of a spectacular kill when someone had flown up behind her and blew her reactor!  Fractal shards of her fighter washed over several other soon-to-be-dead player craft.

Colinne knew she had none of the skills for the game and only played it once.  Fesic also played four games and had the skills needed to take part in the intentional dog fights.  Mikah also played the game once, though she had enough flight skills to pretend she was just as clueless as most players to lure them in.  Then execute snap turns to blast them when they figured she was an easy target and got close.  Rol played three times, Sekea played twice and Zimzod played three times.  While Sekea had "mad skills" compared to the average park visitor, he also stood out as a target to the more skilled players.  So, he had to play more than a bit of roll and dodge while Rol and Zimzod had issues with basic controls and blasting the low hanging fruit.  Of course, there were those moments when Zimzod could simply up-thrust and ram a fighter.  Which ended that life too.  When Mikah said she also wanted to catch up with Jocelynn after her ride, Jocelynn decided to pay Cr 25 and also play the game once.  She also had none of the skills needed and fared as well as Aali, Colinne, Zimzod and Rol had.

While Jocelynn had no way to know about Mikah's tactical play, she decided to try and defend Mikah's fighter.  Sadly, her lack of skills made it very hard to even find Mikah.  Even with the simplified controls.  And while no one could be certain, in the game, it was possible Mikah had shot down Jocelynn when she got close!  Despite her lack of skills, some background experiences meant Aali did fairly well for her skill class.  Still, she did get a handful of kills most times before someone with actual skills came to pop her.  At the same time, Aiden developed a following he had no idea about thanks to a shot he took that passed through the cockpit of one fighter before destroying a second player!  That also gained him the attention of a navy fighter jock or two and the chase was on!

The issue Rol faced was figuring out how to control his fighter.  Despite the fact the controls were simplified because it was an amusement park ride and the fact he'd played this game just more than a year before.  But that still left a gap for someone not flight and fighter trained.  Still, toward the end of one of his later incarnations, he finally figured out what he had to do to control his fighter.  So, when he spotted someone "creeping up on him" expecting an easy kill.  Rol enjoyed making the fighter do an "exact spin" and maneuver so that he could see the man's screaming face as he blasted the fighter to fractal dust.

Where Sekea had flight skills, he was only much better than the average park visitor.  At the same time, he had to deal with evading attacks from those with more skills.  That meant that each time he spawned, Sekea got a fair number of kills before a more skilled pilot noticed he was "clearing space".  Then, one of them would turn on him and Sekea would find himself in a real dog fight where "the enemy" had more skills.  While none of Sekea's kills were spectacular, he had more than other members of his crew and all those who killed him were adults with training.  At the same time, Zimzod concentrated on controlling his flight while firing whenever he thought he could cap someone.  Eventually, his most successful tactic was to get in close and ram them, even though that would get him killed too.

After they were both killed off, Mikah and Jocelynn went hunting and sampling the best of carney foods.  With the money to "buy one of every dish", sample a few bites of each and toss the rest, they were more surgical than that, but intent on enjoying their favorites and finding new ones.  They sometimes enjoyed the looks of kids at other tables as servers brought platters covered with the different treats fueling their tour of diabetic sin.  Splitting the treats as evenly as they could while facing the inflated prices of an amusement park, they "each" paid Cr 120 not including the lunch and dinner they'd have while visiting the park.

After each member of the crew were done, a kiosk let them check out videos of "their kills" and buy vids 'one per holocube' for Cr 150 each.  Aali, Mikah, Jocelynn, Sekea and Colinne ignored the vids.  Aiden bought his 'double-kill' vid, and watched through the others.  He selected four more in with a woman in her fifties angrily flinched as she was blasted, a girl in her adolescence leaned into Aiden's fire with a mask of childish hate, a third woman in her late fifties or sixties had a look of complete surprise and an older man flinched in surprise as his fighter was blown away.  Zimzod also checked his "kills" and saw a vid where an elderly man was so confused the look on his face made Zimzod break out in laughter.  And, because he had rammed the man, the gun camera caught every detail as the confusion turned to fear and the man desperately tried to move his fighter out of Zimzod's path.  Rol watched some of the vids but didn't buy anything.

Like Zimzod, Fesic also stopped to watch the vids from his kills.  In one of the vids he watched himself target a fighter piloted by a man in his mid-twenties to early thirties.  While Fesic wasn't certain of the man's skills, he felt the man knew a bit about how to fly a fighter.  Just not much.  When Fesic came in on the man's fighter, he did a double-tap where the first beams burned into the side of the man's fighter before the second blew the fighter out of space.  Because of that, the man knew he was about to die and the look of sudden fear on his face was caught by Fesic's gun camera.  The mix of terror and surprise was so suddenly forlorn it was comedic.  Fesic laughed so hard he had to buy the video.

The crew did gather to have common meals together and agreed to stay late into the night, when the thrill ride experience combined with the lit-up lights of the park.  And, because fireworks would be a problem in an enclosed park, there were also laser, projection and hologram shows all over the interior of the sealed structure, which used transteel to make vast swaths of the space outside visible.  So, there were shows being projected all through the day.  At a point between the rides, a park concierge joined them and started asking if they planned to have dinner on the park?  She also wanted to know what kind of food they wanted and which of their many restaurants they preferred to eat at?

Mikah jumped on that first, and said she wanted to eat in their most top-rated restaurant.  That would turn out to be "The Spire", which had a rotating floor at the top of a tower allowing only a limited number of park visitors to look out over the park.  While the place was generally reserved weeks in advance of "the day of", the concierge nodded and managed to somehow fit them in.  One thing those being observant noted was that she didn't try to talk them into scheduling a return the next day, at half price.  While some didn't care why the park didn't want even more of their money, others wondered if it had something to do with their records of the crew's last visit.  During that time, they'd made a show if it with some of their behavior.  And the park certainly regretted talking them into a second visit the next day.

Their dinners cost them Cr 90 when they ate them, and it was a good guess they had several reserved tables to fit last-minute VIP's in at mealtimes.  The views were spectacular, and the crew enjoyed them while eating.  When they talked about returning the next day, at half price thanks to the standard advertising, Jocelynn reminded them the next day would be "Day 3" after they started their trade paperwork.  So, she had to be available along with Fesic and Mikah because they expected to hear from the government on their applications.  Mikah agreed with that.  Zimzod and Aali also said 'no', which sealed the decision.  Fesic said he'd return but didn't want to do that by himself so he asked if anyone wanted to join him?  No one stepped up to join him so that ended that.

On the flight back into orbit, Aiden let them all know he was planning to set up a zero-g practice site and would tell them all when he had it planned out.  Those trying to sleep nodded or said 'whatever' and Zimzod suggested he ask them when would be good for them before making his plans.  When they returned to the berth and ship, they had a message on the comms system for Mikah.  It seemed that the trade office called late in the afternoon to tell her they'd processed both Sir Fesic and Dame Jocelynn's paperwork.  So, she was free to return to the office with her two crew and move their applications forward when they were able to.  That also helped put nails in the coffin on returning to the park.  Of course, annoyingly, they called the ship to leave the message, but didn't call Mikah's comms directly.

    Tuesday, 111-1114:
Where everyone is at the end of the session:
     The crew are asleep and Mikah, Jocelynn and Fesic have set early alarms to get to the trade office

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Next: Pending