Sunday, 1114-116:
A Word From Your Future
After getting back to the berth, Jocelynn had spent half an hour selling off some of their "yard sale" gear. While she did that, the others reacted to the mad rush of events. The work to set up the interviews first, then the war! In engineering, Aali connected to the 'droids and checked on their work. She took notes to follow up any issues they'd identified and not resolved. There were things she'd never leave to the androids and checked if she had to handle any of those? Finishing that, Aali shifted to gear maintenance, since she still wasn't certain if she'd need her weapons soon? While she did that, Aiden went into the stateroom he'd claimed and pulled one of his drones to practice with. Since they'd move the ship to the yard, they had more than enough room in the berth to practice with the device.
Colinne wanted to get back to work on the intruder software, but also wondered what might happen with the Aslan? Since she couldn't ignore it, she decided to focus on the coming meeting and try to clairvoy the event for a vision. Knowing the risk of doing that in public, she moved into the stateroom she'd claimed, so the others wouldn't see what she was doing. Considering the coming events, Colinne wanted to clairvoy the planned meeting with the Aslan lawyers. She hoped for a glimpse into what might happen? In her stateroom, she closed and locked the door.
Settling on her bed, Colinne steadied and cleared her mind. She then worked to control her breathing and center herself and relax into any vision that formed. Having managed the needs of her body for the moment, Colinne began focused on what she knew about the coming meeting. She could place some of the faces because of the meetings they'd already had with the lawyers. She imagined the meeting space appearance based on parts of the lawyer's offices she'd already seen. She also remembered the iconography she'd seen related to the Khtaeiyousta'aaah hlea'airl Clan. Then, Colinne reached out and concentrated on pushing her mind into the future.
When a vision started forming, Colinne eased her mind into it, willing it to clarify. The meeting room seemed like a larger board room than any she'd yet seen in the lawyer's office. At the table sat an elderly Aslan female, and Colinne assumed she was either a lead lawyer or lead business officer. Old didn't describe the Aslan woman. She could easily have been an artifact carved into the walls of an ancient Aslan temple, thousands of years old. With her, a small team of Aslan had to be para-legals, junior lawyers and other functionaries. There was also a male Aslan in armor armed with weapons covered in very stylized art. She felt he had to be a Lord, but not a lesser male assigned to protect the others. Colinne was ready to bet he was the Clan Lord for all his people on the station. Or possibly in the Lanth system.
Also at the table, at the end distant from the Lord, was Ealekheieaahaiw. He was now armored and armed. He had the rifle his clan had bought along with a dagger with highly stylized artwork on the scabbard. Where he'd gotten that, Colinne could only guess. He might have earned it when he'd killed the warrior he'd faced to secure his honor. Representing the crew were five humans who were either lawyers or supporting staff. Colinne also saw herself, Mikah, Jocelynn, Zimzod and Rol. In the moment of the vision, it seemed something had been said to the Aslan and their immediate response were sour looks. The elderly female then said, "We will consider that request" in curt and annoyed heavily-accented galanglic. The vision faded then . Accepting that, Colinne got back to work on the intruder software and planned to discuss what she'd seen with Mikah and Jocelynn later.
Returning to the berth, Fesic did gear and weapons maintenance. He wanted to make sure they were clean and ready if things came to actual shooting and killing. Zimzod returned to his hotel room and jacked in his mechanical training stent wafer, to get back into that training. Mikah had come to the berth from the lawyers instead of her hotel room. She'd done gear maintenance so Mikah searched the offerings for comedy tri-vids. She was disappointed with the offerings. The thousands of listed comedies were all generic and lack luster. Nothing was listed as "new" or a currently raging hit. A 'top recommendation' was a vid titled "Hot Rod". The summery said it was about a man named Rod who worked to raise money for his step-father's surgery by becoming a stunt man in vids. Reviews described a series of misadventures as Rod tried to film his attempts to break into the industry.
A second recommendation was titled "Game Night". It was listed as the misadventures of a wanna-be grav ball team that "had more balls than talent". Hijinx continued as the players worked to find and face opponents, gain recognition, and repeatedly try to challenge the system's premier team. The vid's main lure for watchers were cameo appearances by sports stars of the time. A third vid, "There's Something About Alana" was described as a farce. Misinformed and misdirected characters tried to figure out who this "Alana" was, and what her story was? The listing also claimed the comedy worked due to both general misdirection and spirited, non-sensical vignettes regarding claims of psionic powers and other related mysteries. None of that appealed to Mikah's sense of humor, so she looked for live plays to investigate. Sadly, there were no active productions she could see locally other than a restaging of the classic "Death Of A Starship Pilot", so Mikah gave up non that and checked the berth systems for any loaded games.
Rol pulled the spare Ear piece/lip mike comm unit he had with the 500 Km range and offered it to Jocelynn, to add to the ship's yard sale items. Because Jocelynn was on the line with Mie Ver-bwhep, she told him she'd deal with that after she was off the line. Rol then grabbed a terminal, logged into the station net and looked for combat manual style files on how to fight with and defeat Aslan warriors. He specifically looked for information on the best ways to cripple or kill an Aslan warrior. While he did that, Sekea ignored all he'd been told about setting out the conditions and restrictions of conflicts like the war, and went looking for information on those on the station net. Sadly, as he had been told, all the conditions would be negotiated between their lawyers and those of the Aslan. So, he could find nothing at all on the network.
A Contest Of Wills When Jocelynn was done with the bwap, she stowed Rol's comms unit and went looking for Mikah. She hoped to do a backup of her neural image, but Mikah reminded her that gear was on the ship. With the ship at the yard, they couldn't do any backups without visiting the yard and getting in the way of the techs. Shrugging, Jocelynn decided to go through her combat gear to segregate out things she wouldn't want to bring to fight the Aslan if it came to that. She worked at that until she got a comms from the lawyers. They said they'd spoken to the Aslan clan reps and their clan lawyers wanted to meet with the ship's leadership the next morning at ten. Jocelynn agreed to meet then and said she'd let the rest of her people know about the appointment.
Jocelynn thought about who should come to the meeting? Jocelynn knew she, as the captain, and Rol would have to be there. Mikah and Zimzod should come too, since they were still the out-going Captain and First officer. They were also the crew's combat 'heavy hitters', and could advise her. She also wanted Colinne because the woman's talents could prove valuable. That meant asking Mikah, Zimzod, Rol and Colinne to join in. Oddly, while she hadn't yet heard about Colinne's vision, her list matched what Colinne had seen. As Jocelynn looked about the berth to see who was visible, she actually saw Colinne coming towards her. At mid-afternoon, Colinne had figured she could recover all her psi-energy if she chose not to use her talents from then until 7am the next morning.
When Jocelynn asked what was up, Colinne took her to a spot where they'd not be overheard and told her about her vision. There was a moment of uncanny realization when Jocelynn said she'd only gotten the call from the lawyers and only just decided who to bring with her moments ago. Yet, her list matched what Colinne said she'd seen. So they appeared on track with destiny. Colinne continued, saying the Aslan didn't seem pleased about something the crew had offered, and said they'd consider it. Knowing what she was planning, Jocelynn nodded and said, "Yeah. They're probably not gonna be real happy with me." Jocelynn was also planning to call a crew dinner to bring everyone up to speed and ask for recommendations.
With people finishing out their tasks, Aiden got done with his drone practice and joined in the small gear maintenance party. He considered that every bit helped when you might be fighting for your life soon. Colinne shifted, mid-afternoon, to do some Zhodani language work since she'd missed her chance to do that earlier. Fesic looked over the space they now had in the open berth, without the ship there, and decided to put on his teaching suit and do some zero-grav practice. He only had to ask the help of the berth workers to null gravity in the berth section he wanted to use.
When one of the workers agreed to kill the grav in the space, Fesic asked who else wanted to take part? Aiden jumped at the chance, and both Mikah and Rol also joined in. With all the others looking up to pay attention, Jocelynn told them all she wanted to have a crew dinner and meeting. She also said she wanted to order in, because she didn't want to risk someone listening in on their chatter. After they all agreed with that, those taking part in the zero-g practice moved into the prepared space and played until dinner time. Both Fesic and Aiden got in good lessons before that came to an end.
Sometime later, while the others were playing, Jocelynn's comms buzzed and she answered to find it was Mie Ver-bwhep. Answering in high hopes of a deal, Jocelynn soon found the Bwap was in distress and very upset! The Bwap had gotten a notification from both Port Security and Station Central that they'd sent a team to secure the Upgrade's cargo lot of radioactives and move it into containment until the cargo's pods could be checked against radiation leakage! Apparently, the Bwap continued, the team that had boarded their ship for customs inspection when they'd arrived in-system had detected erroneous readings and flagged the cargo as potentially hazardous.
Thinking back, Jocelynn couldn't remember the Lieutenant's name but remembered he'd spent extra time examining the pods containing the radioactives. She also remembered he'd told Mikah he'd had to call in a tech team to examine the containment systems. At the time, she didn't remember it sounding like a big deal. Now, the issue was certainly a big one, because the Bwap was told they couldn't sell their cash cargo! And, if they couldn't get the situation resolved, they'd not only possibly lose the cargo, but face fines while not making back their investment. So, they'd end up in a huge hole instead of making a decent (or, perhaps indecent) profit.
While she listened, Jocelynn's shoulders sank and she realized this was what being the acting captain was. She could feel a better understanding for why Mikah had wanted to chuck the job and Zimzod had not wanted to step into the role. Still, Jocelynn knew they had to deal with it even as another call came in and she had to cut the line with the Bwap. That call had come from Station Security, and the caller officially told Jocelynn a security team and technicians were on their way to remove the shipment of radioactives from their berth. Jocelynn was told they would get a voucher for the cargo and it would be moved to a place where the lot's containment systems could be tested for safety.
Jocelynn was told that the station's techs would test the containment for all the cargo pods containing radioactives before decisions would be made. If there was a confirmed violation, Lanth authorities could simply fine them or worse. And, depending on the issues, the cargo might be returned to them after a bill was levied for the required repairs, or, if the pods were not repairable, the entire lot could be fired into Lanth's sun for the safety of all on the station or in-system. Jocelynn tried to assure the caller that any issue was not intentional only to find out Station offices didn't care. The only thing that concerned them was properly responding to the situation and properly punishing those held responsible. Jocelynn was told that admission her crew were not aware of the situation could also be considered neglect or willful ignorance. So, her comments could only have made things worse!
When Jocelynn challenged that, the operator asked, "You are crew on a starship. Are you not?" When Jocelynn said that was correct, the operator asked, "Is it standard for your ship's crew to bring dangerous shipments aboard your ship without checking them out and fully securing them properly?" When Jocelynn could only answer "No" to that, the operator pointed out it was an intentional act. The operator said the reasoning for that was that her crew had brought the cargo aboard without running the proper tests and taking the appropriate actions at the time. That could only be neglect or intent, and neglect meant not taking the proper steps - which they defined as intent.
Jocelynn was really coming to love the Lanth system more, and could only pinch the bridge of her nose and shake her head. She also knew they had to get ahead of the issue. She also had to get Aali involved, because she knew it would not be the first time a system government had moved to grab a few extra credits by lying. So, regardless what she did, she had to stop them from just waving claims at her and walking off with a very expensive lot of cargo. Despite that, Jocelynn knew such lies would be rare in Lanth, just because the level of bureaucracy meant so much data that would have to be faked in order to back up the lie. But it was still possible.
Starting her own push back, Jocelynn demanded they explain every step they planned to take and also said she wanted her chief engineer to be involved too. She pushed that she needed her engineer to confirm any of the port's claims before they tried to move any cargo pods from the berth. Further, Jocelynn demanded that her engineer be involved in the transport and any mitigation investigations carried out by port personnel, as a hedge against shenanigans. When the operator didn't react well to that request, Jocelynn really got in gear and forcefully told the caller they were going to have to prove their allegations to her chief engineer before they move any cargo even an inch.
The port operator categorically rejected all Jocelynn's demands and said the team would remove the cargo "before" further testing. He also told her Aali would not be allowed to accompany them and the ship would be given an update once they had run their tests and made their determinations. Faced with that, Jocelynn considered the ship's new-minted relationship with the Phleti, Irbdeli and Worall Law firm and decided it was time to pay threat back with threat. With that, Jocelynn simply asked the operator if they wanted her to call in her ship's lawyers? When that challenge was met with the question who the ship's lawyers were and Jocelynn name dropped, the operator suddenly started to back down! Jocelynn realized she'd found this organization's Achillies heel. Fight bureaucracy with bureaucracy!
While that conversation continued, and the expected team arrived in their berth, Aali stepped up and blocked them. She demanded they provide an on-the-spot prove of threat, there in the berth. If they could not, she continued, her ship's captain would be bringing in the ship's lawyers on an emergency footing which was a literal threat of war! Hearing what was said in the berth, and in reaction to things he couldn't hear on the comms, Aiden suddenly stood up and said, "Hold On! I have to make certain everyone is properly equipped for this event!" After confusing everyone with that statement, Aiden then scurried off to his selected stateroom while the others exchanged glances and wondered why the pilot was increasingly taking to scurrying wherever he went?
When he returned, Aiden was carrying the box he'd gotten the day before, which Jocelynn had suggested were sex toys. Opening the box as he came to Jocelynn, Aiden handed every member of the crew an item as he moved around the compartment. Looking at what he'd given her, Jocelynn saw he was giving each of them a tin kazoo! And each appeared to be stamped, 'I.M.S. Upgrade Complimentary Marching Band'. Jocelynn could only shake her head and think the pilot had now completely lost his marbles. Done handing them out, Aiden then began playing his in hopes of leading by example and getting them all to join in.
When Jocelynn asked how that would help, Aiden said, "If they're gonna annoy you, you annoy them right back." While Jocelynn could only look at the huge smile on Aiden's face as he spoke, Mikah simply quipped, "Well, you can't argue with that." To prove his point, Aiden took to walking around the knot of people while station technicians worked to convince Aali there was any problem with the containment field for the radioactive storage. Aiden's continued playing obviously had an annoying effect on the port techs while Aali was used to Aiden and could just shrug it off. The pilot just enjoyed dancing in a circle playing a series of Imperial march tunes.
While Jocelynn was certain Aiden's plan would backfire, whatever it was, the truth was the crew mostly stood and watched while the station workers wondered what in the name of the stars he was doing? It was obvious to the crew the stationers were being weirded out, and with or without others playing along, he "was" having an effect. Even some of the station security escorts were looking about uneasily, which wasn't a surprise given the press releases from other systems. Some number of the station workers were certain the crew's mental computers were only working with half-functional operating systems.
Watching things play out, Jocelynn considered her own growing psi-powers but realized there was little she could do as yet. She knew she needed more training. In the center of the working cluster, Aali was forcing the station techs to prove they could show something more than claims generating station revenue. Each of the six dTons of radioactives had been stored in its own cargo pod. And, while Aali watched, the station techs accessed the in-built radiation containment systems in each pod to take and investigate their readings.
While she watched, Aali could see some of the radiation neutralization fields were out of variance, but that drift was minor, at best. The readings in rem was present even if it was significantly low. The translation to detectable sieverts was comedically low in Aali's opinion and wouldn't seriously register on the hazard cards worn by techs where there was any kind of containment risk. Sadly, for Aali and the crew, they had proved a level of containment leakage despite how low those levels were. And, on bureaucratically bound worlds like Lanth, it was the letter of the ruling that mattered, not the level.
Of course, that was the end of the 'win list' for the station techs. When Aali turned on them, her metaphoric arsenal included her training and experience in cutting red tape. That fully prepared her to leverage her vastly superior engineering training and experience along with her degree. In addition, the degree she'd earned from the Khannimar Technical Institute on Regina gave Aali something the station techs didn't have. In the eyes of the Imperial and Lanth global Courts, Dame Aalikiir Khiiriisom Khaanmii Eikusdi Piirirshu-Meshrumiikiim was seen as an "Expert".
What ultimately happened was quick and less conclusive than Jocelynn had hoped for. After they'd taken the time to pull the data and prove the incredibly small leakage, Aali had used her skills and background to flatten the instructions the station techs were following. Since none of them could argue with her toe-to-toe, they realized they had to back off. Advising the security team leader as well as the crew, the lead tech said they would not be removing the cargo pods from the crew's berth after all. The lead tech said they would still escalate this to the station's senior technical councils to decide on a 'next step', and they placed the radioactives cargo under administrative hold. So, they couldn't take the cargo from the crew but they could stop any attempt to sell the cargo until the issue was resolved.
Prep And problem Solving While she'd watched the floorshow, Jocelynn had been ready to act on her threat and call in the lawyers. Now, with the station team wrapping up their kits and leaving, Jocelynn called the law office to advise them of the events in the berth anyway. Making certain they were aware of what was happening. Aali stood like an avenging avatar protecting the cargo while the local teams left for their offices. Answering the lawyer's questions, Jocelynn said this was being escalated and the lawyer Eli Nenopmoc told her he would be their lead lawyer in this case.
Mr. Nenopmoc told Jocelynn he would contact Station Offices and follow up on the next steps so he could advise Jocelynn what to expect. Given Jocelynn's basic description of what had happened in the berth, he said he doubted the station offices could act against the crew. Especially if their engineer could examine the containment systems to work out what the issue was, and fix it. The lawyer did confirm the crew couldn't sell the cargo lot until the administrative hold was removed by Station Central.
While she wasn't on the comms with Jocelynn and the lawyer, what mattered to Aali was that there was nothing saying she couldn't try to figure out what the containment problem was, or even try to fix it. So, while Jocelynn finished talking to Mr. Nenopmoc, Aali considered what tool kit she needed to pull to investigate the problem? Finally, Aali grabbed her engineering tool kit and re-tasked WALL-e to help her work on the problem. Seeing that, Sekea mentioned that he had some electronics certifications and wondered if Aali needed help and she accepted his offer. So, they'd work on that problem until dinner at the least. Sadly, they had not found anything to go on by the time they needed to square things away for dinner.
Since Jocelynn had said she wanted to have a crew meeting and dinner, and they'd be ordering in, Jocelynn told Sekea to pick a restaurant to order from. Hearing that, Aali got some laughs when she called out, "Aslan!" because they'd all laughed about Fesic losing his dinner at the restaurant. Sekea first made it clear they had no guarantee they'd survive events so he felt they should eat the best quality food they could order. Not that his beating a dead K'Kree made anyone feel better about the situation they were in. And, Sekea said they should look for someplace close to them so the food could be delivered quickly enough. In the end, they had very-high end generic food and paid Cr 90 per meal. When Jocelynn announced the ship's funds were paying for the food, Fesic announced there was no reason not to order that second dessert!
After Jocelynn announced the ship was paying, Sekea announced he was breaking out bottles of the Iced berry cider from the 129 bottles he had in the cargo bay. He and others did caution that no one wanted to get so drunk they'd show up with a hangover the next morning. Eventually, the nine crew drank three bottles of the cider. After the food arrived and everyone was seated and ready, Jocelynn had the table for her crew meeting. Jocelynn said she'd had a separate conversation with Mikah about the declared war and she wanted to let the crew know her thoughts on the situation.
She first said she was working hard to find a way to keep any of the crew from being hurt or killed. She then made it clear the Aslan war would entirely be an attempt to gain honor. So, they had challenged the crew because they were seen as a foe worthy of respect and there would be no dirty tactics or other questionable issues. Jocelynn then told them the terms she would give their lawyers to negotiate for were either "the use of non-lethal weapons" or "fighting in a laser-tag based system". She wanted it made clear they wanted to compete with honor while also being able to drink and celebrate with the opposing Aslan warriors after the war. Jocelynn was also very up front that she didn't expect the Aslan to like her offers.
Jocelynn admitted she had 'other information sources' that suggested the negotiations could well go back and forth for a few days until they hit on something the Aslan might agree to. But she promised she was gonna do her best to keep everyone alive. having said that, she asked the others if they had anything they wanted to add, or ideas she hadn't mentioned and promised she'd listen. Jumping in, Aali suggested they try to start things off with a volleyball game and got lots of laughs. Sekea suggested they offer a "winner takes the prize" type of competition instead of a "kill the enemy" thing. Of course, that ignored the fact they'd been bluntly told conditions like that had to be negotiated for between the teams of lawyers. So, they could have their lawyers suggest it but doing so raised one major issue. The Aslan wanted to fight and earn their victory. So, that wasn't seeking a prize and this was not a game. Treating it like a game could be considered dishonorable. As would be setting up conditions that made them look like cowards.
Given the conversation, Aiden suggested they could suggest a shooting contest on a firing range. When he brought the idea up, Aiden said they could have a contest using the Terin dummies. That got looks as he continued, saying the first one to blow the head off one of the Terin dolls would win. Everyone laughed at that. Aiden even suggested, they could use one of the Terin dolls as a prize to give the Aslan. Hearing that, the others laughed even more. When the laughs started dying down, Jocelynn said she might suggest that idea if everything else went south. Privately, Jocelynn was sure that wouldn't fly if she brought it up.
The one issue Aiden had was that they'd have to live up to their reputation, not their actual abilities. When he was asked what that meant, he reminded them of the various simulations they'd taken part in. Those had shown the crew they just weren't that good. Despite that, the media reporting rarely had all the facts and often relied on the outcomes. And those suggested they were more organized and deadly than they actually were. This was why he guessed the Aslan warrior chose to challenge them. They were likely expecting the crew to put up a fight. That wasn't backed up by the simulations they'd taken part in. Especially the two minutes of insanity they underwent in the Denotam system just over two months before.
Jocelynn could only shrug and say the Aslan wanted them all to take part, so that was what they were getting. Aiden accepted that but worried their crew might be more of a paper lion than expected, and he also worried that if they didn't show up as deadly and ferocious, the Aslan might be insulted. They might accuse the crew of letting them score kills too easily. Jocelynn could only shrug and tell them that if worst came to worse, she would fight the challenger herself in a one-on-one duel. When Fesic suggested she be wearing her battledress, Jocelynn confirmed that would definitely be a "battledress moment" and they all laughed at the turn of phrase.
Zimzod said they should just do their best to give the Aslan a great show and kick some ass. When Jocelynn suggested there would be cases where she wouldn't bring her battledress, the others said the Aslan were big and suggested the Aslan might go through them like tissue paper without things like full augmentation. Suddenly switching subjects, Jocelynn turned to Aiden and asked, "Why did you buy us these?" as she pulled her kazoo from a pocket and held it up. Aiden only shrugged and said, "I just figured everyone might enjoy them. I certainly did." He said the last with a smile and most at the table could only assume he meant his "performance" while the station techs had come to boost their cargo. And some had to admit his behavior had had an impact on the station people. So, he had a point.
When Jocelynn could only say, "Um, ok." Mikah leaned in and said, "You've been hanging out with Fesic too long. We're gonna have to separate you two." Everyone laughed at that. Aiden only smiled back at her and said, "That sounds like a personal issue Lady Mikah." and gave her a big broad smile almost like Zimzod would. Sekea joked, "Maybe we can have a musical contest with the kazoos" and Jocelynn said, "That would be fun" while others laughed. Jocelynn even broke out laughing as she imagined the Aslan in their armor and gear playing kazoos and managed to get out, "I'd pay to see that!" Happily for the others, after the station folks had left, Aiden had put his kazoo away.
While they finished dinner and cleaned up, Jocelynn asked Aali to go back to working on the radiation containment problem and said she'd work with the engineer and WALL-e. Sadly, Jocelynn's skills were entirely relegated to standing there and supervising. Jocelynn also asked Colinne to lend a hand to the effort thanks to her minor electronics skills, computer skills and abilities to use her stent to access systems. By the end of the evening, they had come up with a method they all felt would lead to a solution. What they had to do, the next day or so, was to bring in the station's techs and work with them to understand and accept the method. If they rubber stamped Aali's plan, then the crew could get to work fixing the problem and then ask the port to re-certify the cargo lot for trade. The bad news was that Aali couldn't solve "everything", and the station could stand on that to block selling the lots.
Aiden and Fesic were playing zero-g ops work with Mikah and Rol more, after the dinner, until they squared away to do other things. Zimzod didn't jump in right off, but did join after watching how much fun Mikah was having. Towards the end of the evening, Jocelynn passed the word that "Business dress" would be best for people to wondering what to wear to the lawyer's office. Having spent time that evening looking for something to offer the Aslan as a gift in hopes of swaying them from demanding blood in the challenge, Sekea found the real issue when he tried to figure out what they might like?
He learned that while the Aslan would accept a gift from one competitor to another before the event, the offer of a gift as an alternate to violence or bloodshed would be seen as trying to buy safety. And that would be seen as cowardice and things would go bad very fast. Still interested in looking for gifts he could give the Aslan, Sekea wondered about gifting them bottles from his cases of Iced Berry Cider, but he really couldn't find anything saying if that was safe for an Aslan to drink? In the end, blindly looking for gifts to buy was a bad idea until "After" they'd spoken to the Aslan so they didn't just walk into another mistake.
Monday, 1114-117: Starting The Negotiations Alarms went off in Jocelynn's stateroom along with the staterooms and hotel suites for those also heading to meet with the lawyers for the negotiation. Mikah, Zimzod and Rol had to grab a group cab from their hotel while Jocelynn and Colinne had a car from the berth. Zimzod cover the Cr 20 for their ride while Jocelynn paid their Cr 20 fare. While they rode to the lawyers, Aali grabbed WALL-e and went back to diagnosing the radioactive containment system on the cargo pods. Because Colinne had gone to the meeting, Aali asked Sekea to help her.
Aiden sparked up the news to see what was happening?
Lanth (A879533-B 2 Ni Cp G 710 Im F5 IV M9 D) Date: 117-1114
In continued reports from the main Lanth highport while the station's security teams
investigate the recent shooting on-station. Security public speaker Lieutenant Kinsa
Muuguma stated that specialist teams were closing in on the suspected seller of the
revolvers used in the shooting. The statement continued that operations to secure
that person were now on-going, and station management wished those intending to leave
or arrive on-station may experience some delays or become involved in security
exercises. All citizens are requested to cooperate as require to safely deal with
such encounters.
Tremous Dex (B511461-C Ni Ic G 201 Na K8 V M5 D) Date: 1114-094
An announcement released by Admiral Kerpothul Totwvach, of the Federal Navy of Arden
stated all interstellar operations in that system were under Ardeni control. While
the government of Arden work to assemble a new fleet overseeing security in the Dex
system, the federal government askes the cooperation from all other regional powers.
While the release admitted to concerns between Imperial and Zhodani authorities,
cooperation from all parties will better insure regional stability as the former
pirate hold is more fully managed. The Federal Navy of Arden invites trading ships
of all nations to trade in the port of Tremous Dex.
Ivendo (B324659-A 2 Ni G 112 Im A9 V) Date: 1114-102
Today, the IISS announced the IMV Alaric, an R-Class merchant ship, has
been declared overdue. The Alaric had filed flight plans when departing
the Garrincski system which said the ship had been bound for the Ivendo
system. Per the reports the starport authority received from Port op's
in Garrincski, the ship should have arrived more than three weeks ago.
As it has been missing for nearly a month, the IISS have ordered available
ships to search the region for a possible mis-jumped vessel. All civilian
shipping should also be on the watch for derelicts or other anomalies.
The IMV Alaric is described as a standard 400 dTon R-Class trading ship.
Built and registered out of the Glisten system, records show she has been
trading along part of the Spinward Main in the region of the Fosey, Heroni,
Natoko, Garrincski systems and those other ports nearby. She was listed
as carrying cargo filling nearly three quarters of her cargo bay. Her crew,
in addition to the ship's Captain, included six other crew and was listed
as carrying five passengers.
With only Fesic still in the berth, Aiden watched the news and then asked if Fesic wanted to join him renting a range from InstellArms so they could do some shooting practice? Fesic said he would and they called InstellArms to set things up. Knowing they had to hire the crop to transport their weapons, they asked if they could ride along, and Aiden paid the Cr 50 for it. That not only got them and their weapons to their venue but gave them a secure ride too. Few would be attacking an InstellArms transport unless they were doing something big. Especially on a space station, where escape options were limited.
Aiden prep'ed his custom snub pistol, shotgun and submachinegun. He planned to burn through 50 shells with the shotgun, 100 rounds with the SMG and 100 rounds with his snubbie. Fesic brought his laser rifle and planned to burn through 100 rounds of various types for his snub pistol. Fesic also checked his ammo and planned to buy a 100 rnd box of ball ammo for his accelerator rifle. Eventually, Aiden paid Cr 270 for his ammo and Fesic Cr 570. Fesic also paid Cr 100 for their range time. Eventually, they spent the rest of the morning firing on the range and browsing weapons before they returned to the berth.
Those heading to the lawyers arrived and learned the lawyers had planned for them to arrive before the Aslan group. Thanks to that, they could sit and talk for a bit and prepare the crew for what was coming. They were also told they could ask any questions they had and get answers without worrying about making mistakes the Aslan would react to. That made Jocelynn very happy because she was free to tell the lawyers what she planned to offer and get their take on it before things started. Of most importance, she wanted to find a path the Aslan would accept as honorable while also being non-lethal.
Mr. Nenopmoc listened to what Jocelynn wanted and told her they could certainly negotiate for 'Non-lethal' and his tone said he didn't think that was out of line. When he reminded her that would turn the challenge into a glorified laser-tag game which the Aslan might not want, Jocelynn glumly said she was certain they were hoping for a blood-bath. Jocelynn added that she didn't want to give that to the Aslan. Zimzod leaned in and suggested using the same 'intense combat simulator system' the Imperial military used. When Nenopmoc asked, Zimzod told them the system mounted on all weapons and used eye-safe infrared light transmitters that registered when the lights hit millimeter-thin transparent full-body covers. The suits had flex-ribs throughout, which were entirely flexible until activated by the computers to simulate the effects of registered wounds. The stuff was called SimTAC.
As he talked, both Jocelynn and Rol vividly remembered the gear and even Mikah had some memories. She'd used the gear in Lunion Imperial Naval base, while assigned to close combat training school. She also used it during shipboard combat training in the Strouden system. Mr. Nenopmoc did say that if the Aslan accepted using the gear, they'd demand the fight be to "the death" and he was sure they'd want every member of the crew involved. Jocelynn was happy with that so long as it was simulated. Rol acerbically quipped, "So long as no one loses control." because they all knew people could get excited in combat.
Figuring she'd take a swing at Sekea's idea, Jocelynn also asked the lawyer what kind of gift they might be able to offer the Aslan, while being sure it would not be unsafe to them or insulting to their honor? Jocelynn added that she hoped to give it to them to establish that they'd accepted the challenge as an act of respect and they hoped to celebrate the war as warriors after it was resolved. Zimzod suggested the best gift would be a high-value Aslan-scaled weapon and asked how many of the Aslan team she planned to give gifts to? Jocelynn considered that and said she only planned to give a weapon to the warrior who'd challenged them.
When Rol asked when Jocelynn was thinking about giving a weapon to the warrior, she said she figured it would be at their next meeting if she did. She said she figured there'd be more than just the one meeting. Rol suggested having a custom weapon made for the gift but Zimzod said they should for something off the shelf first. Colinne agreed and said should look for something off the shelf and Zimzod added that a custom weapon usually meant it was for "that person". So, they'd have to buy the weapon and set up for the person getting the gift to work with someone like InstellArms to do the customization work.
Rol said he'd considered buying a "base weapon" to give it to the warrior with a gift certificate. That would cover the customization work for that warrior. They'd then be free and clear after the weapon was handed over, so long as the warrior liked the gift. Jocelynn admitted it would be better give them something any of the warriors could use and Colinne agreed. Moving frm that, Mr. Nenopmoc returned to the talk they'd had about limiting which members of the crew would be involved. He asked if they still wanted the lawyers to move in that direction? Mikah and Jocelynn both said "no", and Mikah said it would be meaningless if the conflict was going to be non-lethal.
With a smirk on his face, Zimzod joked, "none of us steps up to hug the Aslan leader and turns out to be a suicide bomber." Rol only answered, "If you get me killed again, I'll come back and put real fear in your face." Zimzod only smirked and said, "Shut up clone boy." After that, the lawyers read through the boiler plate covering their representation. This got into what the lawyers would try to do for the crew and what they could not do. The latter fell into preventing anything the Aslan absolutely wanted and could not be swayed from. Beyond that, they could try and mitigate the dangers to the crew from those Aslan demands they couldn't back off. Because they were only on retainer and this was a billable activity, Mr. Nenopmoc said the meeting and actions would cost the crew Cr 3,000. Jocelynn paid that.
Where the retainer was specific to actions regarding the Aslan and work with the media separately, Jocelynn told Mr. Nenopmoc what happened in the cargo bay and that she'd threatened to call in the lawyers. Because of that, she asked about a retainer for legal support to protect their cargo too. The lawyer said they could expand their relationship with the crew by expanding the retainer to general legal support. Jocelynn paid an additional Cr 1,000 when told that would widen their coverage. Jocelynn also told the man Aali was working to investigate and try to resolve the issues with the cargo pods on her own in the berth. Nodding, Mr. Nenopmoc asked for a report from their engineer with the technical details so there wouldn't be surprises if this turned into real legal action.
Jocelynn said she could get the report and sparked up her comms to call Aali. When Aali asked if they wanted the report now or after she was done, Jocelynn asked Nenopmoc who said he'd like an initial report detailing the technical challenges and likely issues as well as a "final" report when she could fully detail what work was done and what issues she identified and fixed, along with any she couldn't fix and why? When told that was needed, Aali said she could do that and set up to send the immediate report, then she'd get back to work on the issue.
Getting back to the Aslan, Rol asked if they wanted to face them in a gravity well or zero-g? Jocelynn reminded him Fesic and Aiden would be toast in zero-g, so the answer seemed obvious. She firmly said, the war would be happening in a gravity well of some sort. At the same time, Jocelynn admitted she didn't know what training the Aslan had, and that also focused on the challenger. Mikah said he'd been a menial restaurant worker who would not have had any training, but was told they didn't know how he'd lost his honor? So, they had no idea what training he had before his fall?
About then, attention had to shift to the arriving Aslan. As ever with that race, the ceremony was important as they watched the procession arrive. In the lead, an Aslan warrior in ceremonial armor held a standard which was hanging limply from the yard in the essentially still air of a station concourse. The armor essentially looked like a metal shell with stylized images and characters in the Trokh language of the race. The warrior was without helmet so they could see the scarred visage of an older Aslan male with a red-brown fur-tone fading into the grey of age. As would be expected in circumstances like the moment, the look on the warrior's face could only be described as defiant and demanding. An item of note was that the armor worn was not sealed, so there were slots one could see that might allow for the warrior's claws to be used if he engaged an enemy.
Directly behind the standard bearer, four armed warriors came in what seemed to be full combat armor, but not a version of battle dress. Unhappy about having had to allow the contingent, the Aslan were being escorted by a nervous group of station security. Also fully armored in a very stylized but functional combat suit was the Clan Lord on-station. This didn't mean he was not "The" Lord of the clan, but he might have been subordinate to another lord should the clan have holdings elsewhere in or even outside the system. In that case, the seat of the clan's "government" would have been decided by the clan leaders.
The next group were led by an extremely old Aslan female who Colinne recognized, only thanks to her clairvoyant vision. That woman led a team of other lawyers, paralegals and assistants and had a personal assistant for her own needs just two steps behind her, to her left. Behind those, and in a rank all his own, was the challenger. He was in unadorned combat armor and only carried his honor rifle and what seemed to be a stylized dagger in an equally decorated scabbard. Given what they knew of the Aslan as a people, they had to guess the dagger had a meaning, but there was no way to know what it meant or how he'd come to own it since he'd not had the right to have weapons before the crew sold them the rifle. Behind him came another group of armored warriors who were the last of the procession.
One thing each of the crew noted was that each of the Aslan had some color or artwork fashioned into their outfits and armor that marked them members of their clan. Each of the Aslan had art and what looked like Trokh glyphs worked into the surface of their garments or armor. The more they had, the more senior they appeared. To herself, Jocelynn had the sudden feeling she was a bit underdressed in comparison. After the party was welcomed, they were all led to a larger board room where the Aslan took one of the room's sides while the crew took the other. While they all settled in, Colinne had to deal with a layer of perceptive dèjà vu thanks to her clairvoyant vision. Mikah and Jocelynn also watched things unfold as Colinne had described from what she'd seen.
What started was a bit of Aslan protocol as the lawyers both turned deference to the Clan Lord and asked permission for this challenge to proceed. From deep within the authority and gravitas of his role and experience, the Lord nodded as he verbally said a phrase in Trokh which the crew's comms translated as: "I will this to happen". The lawyers next turned deferentially to the elder female Aslan and asked, "What is the challenge a warrior of your clan has brought against the crew of the IMV Upgrade? They were all aware why they'd come so they had to guess that had been asked for protocol. It was then the observant at the table noticed the first sign of a crack within the Aslan party!
Hearing the question from the crew's lawyer, the clan elder lawyer pursed her lips and turned to shoot a very brief glare at the challenger before she answered. And, when she did, it seemed she had a sour look on her face if anyone could read the expression of an Aslan. This told some of the crew there was not as much harmony within the clan leadership as they'd thought. Jocelynn, who'd been doing some reading up on Aslan culture, may have realized some rare items in Aslan protocol let someone even as low in rank force the leadership of a clan bow to a challenge. Still, she'd need a lot more information before she decided that was the case here. But, there certainly seemed to be a rift in their leadership.
Returning her attention to Mr. Nenopmoc, she calmly and respectfully said, "We would honorably request augmented combat between the crew of the Upgrade to face the warrior Ealekheieaahaiw as part of an augmented claw of Aslan warriors. The surprise there was that the clan were shifting the balance of forces in a way they could only assume served the honor of the combatants. The odds they were asking for would be just short of 'two to one' in favor of the crew! Of more concern, they'd been told the ambiguity of the elder woman not mentioning "to the death" actually meant it was assumed. So, the Aslan were leaving that note as an assumed condition in a way that would force representatives of the crew to address that or accept it. This told the astute that 'the game was on"!
Giving the woman a nod of respect, Mr. Nenopmoc said, "This is what we expected your answer to be. We would respectfully accept the numbers of combatants you propose, but leave open a more balanced force of nine against nine. Beyond that, however, the crew of the Upgrade wish this challenge be fought under the control of SimTAC systems. That would allow the valor and courage of all to be celebrated in gatherings after the conflict ends." Right after this was said, and as they watched the expressions of the Aslan shift, the challenger almost rose and even got a syllable out of his mouth before he was shut down. That was done with a sharp single-syllable work in Trokh from one of the more senior lawyers. The crew comms package translated that as the word "Sit", but added inflections made the word a threat! The clan's senior most lawyer only gave a gentle nod of her head towards the other lawyer. She didn't even bother to acknowledge the challenger himself.
Almost balancing the failures of protocol, Jocelynn started to speak, saying, "We appreciate..." Like the challenger had been, she was cut off by Mr. Nenopmoc. He then said, "With all due respect Dame Guerrek, please let us handle these negotiations. More than Ealekheieaahaiw, the female Aslan shot a look at Jocelynn before nodding in respect to Mr. Nenopmoc. Jocelynn got the message that protocol mattered. Mr. Nenopmoc then said, "We honorably request that weapons of significant destruction not be used." This would mean anything beyond pistols, rifles and other small arms. This will encourage the combatants to engage more directly, in close in or hand to hand fighting for increased honor." Hearing that, Colinne got another moment of dèjà vu when the female lawyer said, "We will consider that request" with a sour expression.
In truth, Mr. Nenopmoc's words were level of maneuvering he'd had pulled on the Aslan, where he worked to minimize possible damage using the Aslan desire for honor. The senior Aslan lawyer answered, "We do not know this crew. We know of this crew and we know they have names. Ealekheieaahaiw has already picked out four warriors to complete his claw. We expect that beyond the negotiations here, the entire crew of the Upgrade will face those warriors and only those warriors. In recognition of the fight to come, those warriors request an evening of celebration with the ship crew."
After a pause, she continued, "This is requested for tonight, and all those to be involved as combatants are invited to join in the celebration." After another pause, the woman said they expected the celebration to be hosted at their restaurant, "The Feast of Khu". That led to smirks and giggles as both Mikah and Jocelynn figured they'd have to make sure Fesic ordered from the Human-safe menu. Ignoring the unexplained reactions from the crew, the lawyer then said the clan would cover the costs for the entire evening and Jocelynn said, "That's very kind".
With the "who" dealt with, and with the SimTAC combat environment requested by Mr. Nenopmoc, the Aslan had two more items on their slate. The "When" would have to wait until they figured out the "Where"? Addressing that, their lead lawyer asked, "We honorably request your assistance in working with your station authorities to cordon off a recreational green space in which to fight this competition." She added that she felt they needed cooperation from the Human lawyers to get permission for the request. Annoyed, Jocelynn asked, "Is this going to be a public spectacle? Are you inviting people to watch?"
The Aslan said they were not inviting anyone to watch the challenge but made it clear the station had a lot of cameras covering the space. Anyone choosing to could connect to video from the space to enjoy the greenery. Because of that, they had no control over the public access to the cameras and some number of people will be able to watch the fight. Mikah angrily interrupted her to demand the Human lawyers find a way to cut off all access to those cameras during the challenge. She didn't want it to become a public spectacle by itself. The lawyers said they'd have to check on that because neither they or the Aslan had control over that.
That set aside, Jocelynn and Mikah agreed the green space was acceptable as long as they had access to it before the fight, so they could plan and strategize. When they asked about that, Mr. Nenopmoc asked, "We respectfully request enough time before meeting for combat to allow the crew of the Upgrade to examine the site and plan for battle. The Aslan lawyer nodded because her warriors also had to do the same thing. Despite her smile, it was the Clan lord who spoke up, surprising most of the Humans. Smiling, which was an interesting thing to see in the first place, the Lord used an Aslan title which could mean many things and said the holder of that title would help them evaluate the battle space.
Tip Toe Down The Thought Paths When they asked what that meant, the Lord told them what turned out to be 'his trusted hand' would help them evaluate the terrain and give them Aslan pointers on strategy and tactics! This seemed to be a nod to keeping the competition honorable. As Jocelynn thanked the Lord she saw him briefly turn towards Ealekheieaahaiw and shoot him a look. And while she couldn't really read the look, she could tell the Lord wasn't happy with the warrior. Also in the room, Colinne was getting the same read from the situation only she could do something Jocelynn couldn't. She could try to read the Lord's mind.
Since Colinne wanted to know about what the Lord was thinking, she didn't want to gamble the details were in his surface thoughts. So, she did her best to make sure everyone was paying attention to Mikah and Jocelynn and then closed her eyes. Pretending she was tired, she concentrated on the Lord and soon was digging into his feelings about Ealekheieaahaiw. As she began getting information on what she wanted, Colinne could sense the Lord was not happy at all to be taking part in the meeting with the lawyers. Especially since his feelings for the warrior Ealekheieaahaiw was barely above notice in the Lord's opinion.
Following that thought thread, Colinne could see the Lord feared the challenge might cross political lines and create problems between the Lanth enclaves of his clan and the Imperial government! Tracing that, Colinne was surprised since she'd not felt the simple act of a challenge could reach the level of an interstellar political incident! That meant the Lord was trapped by protocol and couldn't say no to Ealekheieaahaiw's challenge of the crew. But the crew were well enough known as troubleshooters for the Arch Duke himself! The Lord feared that if this lowly scum of a warrior caused much of Lady Mikah's crew to be killed - potentially including Lady Mikah herself - that would be the end of his clan's alliance with the Imperium.
Another issue he seemed to have with Ealekheieaahaiw was the level of mental agility he had with legal code. The warrior seemed to have a mind so adept with protocols and the law that only females like his sister the lawyer had! This caused Colinne a bit of mental gymnastics to understand because of the way Aslan separated roles between genders. It apparently made the Lord's mind hurt when he had to think about it because it nearly forced him to mentally reassign Ealekheieaahaiw as a female! So, the Lord was doing the best he could with the situation because you sometimes had to eat a distasteful carcass you killed just to honor tradition. No matter how bad the meat would taste.
Still, she could feel he had full confidence in his sister, who it turned out was the senior lawyer. Keeping on-beam, Colinne didn't try to figure out why he kept that quiet. And he was certain she would work out what had to happen while he wasted time in the meeting. If he were lucky, he seemed to hope Lady Mikah's crew would kill the warrior and everything would be solved. Especially since it was Lady Mikah's crew that cause this problem to begin with. It would be nice for the Humans to clean up the mess they made for him. Still, he feared this could become a disaster, and hoped it would not. Done probing the Lord's mind, Colinne had to decide what to do with what she'd learned?
Since Colinne knew that would affect the current discussion, which seemed to be coming to a surprisingly fast conclusion, she organized the thought stream she'd seen into a data packet she could send in a single push. She then concentrated first on Jocelynn, then on Mikah and pushed the information to them. Both ladies managed to control their surprise and take pauses in the conversation to digest what they'd gotten from Colinne, to see what it meant or what to do with it.
When the thoughts came to her, Mikah had been relaxing and was mildly amused at the circus they were part of, now that things were moved to "non-lethal". Actively involved in the discussions, Jocelynn only gave Colinne the briefest of nods. Jocelynn also smirked in Mikah's direction because Colinne had prefaced the packet saying she'd pushed the thoughts to both ladies. Hoping to keep things quiet at first, Jocelynn asked the Aslan if they could take twenty minutes to speak with their lawyers alone. When the Aslan agreed, they moved into another room with Mr. Nenopmoc and his assistants and he asked what he could help them with?
Taking the lead from Jocelynn, Mikah explained that it seemed there was an issue between the Aslan leaders and Ealekheieaahaiw. She explained that from the facial expressions, significant glances and the apparent subtext between the two sides. Jocelynn gave it a warrior's simplicity by saying "Fiction." When Mikah was at a loss how they could use that within the limits of the Aslan culture and what they'd already discussed, Zimzod simply blurted out, "How about if I challenge Ealekheieaahaiw to one-on-one combat to the death?" Of course, "to the death" meant not using 'non-lethal' means and that got everyone's attention.
Jocelynn was caught entirely unprepared, but she nodded that Zimzod did things like that. She was also sure Zimzod could kill the warrior thanks to his training and experience. So, her question for the lawyers was if the Aslan would allow that because they'd demanded all of the Upgrade's crew be part of the fight. She did say she was good with the idea if they could make it happen. Mikah only wanted to be certain the combat would be augmented, because she also expected Zimzod's training and experience to let him kill the challenger.
Jocelynn still made a play to keep things non-lethal but the lawyers had their say. They reminded Jocelynn that the 'demand' the whole crew be part of the fight had come from Ealekheieaahaiw. So, the Clan could change the terms if they wanted to, and the lure for that would most likely be blood. Especially when it meant Zimzod might simply kill the challenger and solve all the problems he created. In fact, all the problems Jocelynn had created by simply offering to sell them the rifles in the first place. Ignoring that, they talked about Zimzod being wounded and recovering and Fesic suggested they could always negotiate with the Aslan to let him heal and stay on Lanth longer. Jocelynn didn't say so right off, but she hated the idea of any more time than needed spent in the Lanth system.
The lawyers in the room said, at the moment, they were asking for "individual augmented, non-lethal combat between Sir Zimzod and Ealekheieaahaiw to resolve the Aslan's challenge where Sir Zimzod would wear SimTAC gear and the Aslan deal with live fire." The lawyer then said that, since Zimzod had been wounded days earlier in a shooting, the clan would have to either make compensation for Zimzod's recovering wound or let him rest and recover while they stay longer on Lanth. Again, Jocelynn made her disgust with that much clearer.
Of course, with Zimzod being wounded and recovering, Jocelynn suggested she take the fight on. Rol jumped in and said he should do it instead of her, since she was the ship's captain now. He admitted he was still a bit wobbly, but he'd died for the crew before and could do it again. In fact, Rol had been decanted 34 days before and was still working on getting all his muscles to follow instructions. Most of the time, there were the usual disagreements where muscle groups had opinions like, "I've never had to do any of this before" or "why are you suddenly demanding so much of me" or "not this again!" But they were only muscles and Rol had firmly learned their opinions didn't matter during his various military training stints. Still, he could walk, lift things, and run while he was still a bit unsteady with the last one. It was mostly endurance and fine tuning he was working on these days.
After it was decided it would have to be Zimzod, they settled the "ask" with the lawyer and Mr. Nenopmoc led them back into the main board room to tell the Aslan what they wanted. When Jocelynn wasn't certain, Mr. Nenopmoc told her he had her request in hand and he would present it. She and the others were to sit at the table like good little clients and let the professional do his job. He reminded her, she wouldn't want him to be shooting fruit from the top of her head. Unless it was, perhaps, instead of Sir Rol planning to shoot in the first place.
After Mr. Nenopmoc explained the idea to the Aslan, there was a bit of a pause in which they digested the idea. The waiting ended when the Lord surprised them all, suddenly rising and making what sounded like an announcement! It was plain from the expressions they saw looking at the females that this apparently was not done in Aslan negotiations. To the translator software running on their comms, it sounded like it was an Aslan parable or cliché. It was certainly not something that one who was not a Trokh speaker would be expected to understand. And, that might be why he said it.
Their senior lawyer obviously understood the Lord's meaning, and smiled while looking over at Ealekheieaahaiw. That warrior was suddenly grim-faced and seemed upset about something. She then answered the Lord, "As with the challenger to prove the spoils." in galanglic. With the eyes of everyone in the boardroom on her, the lawyer then told them, "We will accept the terms of the challenge so long as both warriors fight without the SimTAC equipment. This will make the challenge equal and honorable." Hearing that, Ealekheieaahaiw suddenly assumed the more content expression that honor was being served while the Lord didn't react right off. Soon enough, he smiled and Mikah smiled back. also nodding her head.
That returned the remaining question to "When"? Mikah said she could throw him into the autodoc overnight and they could fight the battle the next day. When Zimzod was asked what he thought, he considered the five-day-old bullet wound. Sadly, Mikah told them all that throwing him into the autodoc for the night would only have minimal effect because gunshot wounds were a bitch to heal. They also would have to find an autodoc, since theirs was in the ship, which was at the shipyard. Zimzod also knew that he'd have some issues handling his weapons thanks to the wound. He wasn't as dexterous as he had been thanks to the wound. Zimzod, Jocelynn and Rol also knew his battledress suit had a number of doses of combat "slow drug", and that could be used, but also had its own side effects.
Zimzod, Rol and Jocelynn all knew Imperial Battledress had in-built medical and combat systems that had doses of a variety of drugs. The battle computer and sensors could detect when a user might need to take a hit of each, from 'Fast Drug' to drop their metabolism to keep them from bleeding out to 'Slow Drug', to give them increased tactical capabilities. Zimzod could discuss that first hand from the fight with the pirates in the Tremous Dex system, when they were trying to save Terin. Again, that discussion wound them back to when the fight would happen while the bemused Aslan listened in. And, they had no idea what gear Ealekheieaahaiw would bring with him?
Getting back off that side-track, they agreed the TAS interview would happen in two days and they'd wanted the "war" to happen after that. They also knew the war would hit the media and things would get crazy. Not as crazy as when Emkir had lit a wild fire back in Rhylanor, but they worried how crazy it could get. So, not "now" which would have the media rushing in and mobbing them, but soon enough to keep it from becoming too much of a circus. Since they'd already given TAS permission to cover it, that corporation would be pumping the ratings because "viewership" was their golden pay out.
That meant they could rush the fight to the next day and avoid the coming media circus, or they could wait longer. If they delayed longer, Mikah could have more time to treat Zimzod and he could better prepare. They also admitted they had to work with the station or even downwell government to get a venue for the fight. The Aslan preferred a classic savannah grassland, but they'd have to choose from what Lanth could offer. Especially if it happened on-station. And while they expected to have to deal with permit after permit, they also had to take the time to tour the battleground with an Aslan warrior to get all the tips and pointers that man would give them.
Giving it some thought, Mikah suggested they wait a week to stage the fight. She felt that would let them get all the steps ironed out. Confirming, they asked, "So, the 124th day of the year?" and Mikah agreed that was what she'd meant. They all agreed the challenge would start at noon on the 124th day of the year, so both combatants could be well rested. With all the loose ends covered except station and local government issues, Mr. Nenopmoc had his team write up a set of contracts and they began passing them around for everyone to sign. Mikah, Jocelynn and Zimzod had to sign from the crew while the Lord, lawyer and Ealekheieaahaiw had to sign on their side.
Things started getting heavy from there forward. Both the Lord and lawyer were smiling and they all knew the bulletin would be out to TAS first, and the other agencies next. "In a release in coordination with the Aslan Khtaeiyousta'aaah hlea'airl, Sir Zimzod Egosion will fight a warrior from that clan named Ealekheieaahaiw to the death! In a battle of ceremonial honor, both combatants have agreed to face each other in armed and armored combat on the 124th day of the year at a venue yet to be determined. Viewers will be reminded Sir Zimzod had been wounded five days before, when faced with an ambush. While details of the planned event are few at the moment, TAS was contracted to cover the media releases." Mikah asked to confirm the party that night was still on and was told it was.
With the "war" details finished, the Aslan group left and Mikah started to consider helping heal Zimzod before the coming fight. The autodoc on the ship wasn't available to them so she considered finding a unit she could get access to. Mr. Nenopmoc suggested Mikah could use her skills as a doctor and surgeon to get access to the facilities of a hospital which had an autodoc. Granted, Lanth's ambient social tech meant there would be few of the advanced devices on-station or on-world. And, the devices would be booked by the hospitals that had them for critical care and other high-level patients needing treatment. So, Mikah would have to offer any hospital high value care. Mikah decided to deal with that after they finished with the lawyers.
Moving on, Mr. Nenopmoc asked if they wanted to try finding a way to benefit from the coming media circus. When Mikah asked for their recommendations, they reminded the crew they'd already given TAS verbal permission to cover the war. Also, as had been said several times, the news was spreading very quickly and they likely had a great many offers for coverage contracts in their accounts already. When Nenopmoc suggested they call TAS and more formalize the very casual verbal agreement they'd given, Mikah agreed and Jocelynn called out, "Show me the money!"
Mr. Nenopmoc pulled the comms data for Zedaya Hengantrep, the TAS news producer from the meeting the day before, and reminded her of the war. Of course, she needed no reminder and was excited to talk about coverage. Especially when they led off offering exclusive access to details from the inside on the event. The lawyer asked her what kind of return the crew would get on the exclusive rights to cover the evolving event officially? That meant other media groups could cover what they could publicly see, but TAS would be on the inside. It also meant that whatever couldn't just be seen in general would have to be licensed by TAS before anyone else could carry or show it.
The woman's immediate reaction was ecstatic, and while they couldn't see it, the comment was made, "She creamed herself." and the others laughed. Meanwhile, Ms. Hengantrep was running through her acceptance speech for her future Travellers' Digest Touring Award in the back of her mind. At the least, this stream of stories had the chance to get her moved from the frontier worlds to places like Mora or Rhylanor. Especially since she'd already done the impossible and cracked the crew of the IMV Upgrade, which very few reporters had ever done before.
She was very excited by the offer but cautioned she had to check with her executives to see how much she could offer them? That left the crew and lawyers chatting among themselves for ten minutes or so before she came back. Zedaya said she had been cleared to offer them Cr 100,000. She said Zimzod would also get Cr 50,000 himself, because he was the combatant. The network would also negotiate separately with the Aslan for their side of things to cover the war. Hearing the numbers offered, Jocelynn decided not to appear greedy, so she asked Zimzod what he wanted to get paid? Let them blame him.
Zimzod considered the offer and told Jocelynn, "Negotiate thirty percent higher." He then looked at the TAS woman on the comms and added, "At least" with a smile. He then added, "And the same payment goes to the Aslan." Jocelynn then turned to the comms with a look of 'You heard the man' on her face and said, "I feel we need to double things at the least." Looking comfortable when Zimzod first said "Thirty percent", she became more concerned as Jocelynn spoke and finally offered fifty percent higher. Jocelynn immediately shot back, "Seventy five percent."
Giving them her best 'hold please', Zedaya put them on hold for a bit before coming back to the call. She then said, "My management will only go as high as sixty." When Jocelynn hardballed, "Sixty five" Zedaya immediately answered, "Sixty five and we're not paying the Aslan warrior in the way we are paying Sir Zimzod." When Jocelynn simply nodded and said, "OK" some of the others in the compartment couldn't keep themselves from laughing. To herself, Jocelynn honestly knew Ealekheieaahaiw wouldn't care at all, and, if things went as planned, Zimzod would kill the Aslan anyway. Problem solved.
Jocelynn only had to call the clan and say they'd negotiated network coverage through TAS, and they would be calling about that. At the same time, staffers brought in light drinks and they chatted until the contract arrived from TAS, which seemed to happen at faster-than-light speed. The lawyers then checked the document to insure there were no surprises or unwarranted clauses added. They then signed the contract and returned a signed-copy back to TAS, which sealed the last of the deals outside permissions from the station or down-well government for a site on which to fight. The lawyers said they'd set that up and get back to the crew to discuss afterward.
While they finished up, some of the legal staff were already receiving bulletins from TAS to any legal and media firms announcing their agreement with the IMV Upgrade crew regarding the announced "War" to be fought. The data heavily suggested they also had a connection and evolving agreement with the Aslan clan. While they listened to the data, a staffer mentioned the retainer fee covered their being ready and prepared to step into any legal situation, however the meeting they'd just had constituted billable hours. That meant they were being billed Cr 1,500 for the work.
Preparations And Pastimes With the legal maneuvers done for the moment, it was lunch time and Jocelynn wanted to pick up food on the way back to the berth, then do some 'computer work'. At least, that was what she 'said'. In truth, she had long had vague memories of the mental "explosion" that had happened when she first tried to access a computer network through her stent. The event that resulted in the blossoming of her psionic powers. During that stent and adrenaline sparked gestalt, Jocelynn had memories of things like highly-restricted weapons sales sites. Sites where even warships were able to be bought and sold! Jocelynn had kept that memory deeply hidden but had still wanted to see if she could re-visit those sites? So, after some months of training both in using her stent and controlling her psi, it was time to try that again.
Before Jocelynn had left for the berth, she heard Mikah announce she was gonna fine another high-end restaurant to have lunch at. And she said she'd look for a place she'd not yet been to before asking who wanted to join her? Rol said he'd go along with her as Mikah called those in the berth to let them know they could join her. Sekea said he'd meet her too. At InstellArms, Fesic and Aiden had been on a range and decided to meet Mikah and the others. When they mentioned paying their bills to leave, they were allowed to open a tab. So, they did and Fesic paid a Cr 15 taxi to the restaurant. Aali wanted to keep working on the cargo pods and Jocelynn said she'd bring a bagged lunch from where she ordered. Colinne followed Jocelynn back to the berth and order from the same place she did. Zimzod hired a cab back to his hotel and had a steak lunch with all the fixin's. He then hired a cab to the berth to work on his gear.
Most of the crew hopped into a mini-carrier with Mikah for the cab ride to the restaurant Mikah had found and she made Aiden pay the Cr 40 for that ride. The meals cost each of the crew that ate there Cr 100. Jocelynn and Colinne went back together. They stopped at the sort of take out place that concentrated on sauce-based savory, sweet or blended meals with mixtures of noodles, vegetables and meat stock or chunks. Each of the take out meals cost the ladies Cr 25. During the private moments in their transit, Jocelynn explained to Colinne what she planned and Colinne decided to stay with Jocelynn until she was certain nothing would go wrong. Colinne was also interested in the description Jocelynn gave of the sales sites she'd encountered at the time.
Getting back to the berth, Colinne planned to return to her Zhodani studies after playing safeguard for Jocelynn. Jocelynn went to talk to Aali about the work they'd have to do to install the drinks serving station she'd ordered. Aali listened patiently before smiling and saying, "I don't mind if you do that." joking that Jocelynn should handle the work. When Jocelynn mistook the joke for a serious remark, Aali calmed her down and they talked about how it could be done. When Jocelynn knew it was able to be done, and how to order the work, she said she'd call the shipyard project manager and talk to them about having them do the work.
Aiden and Fesic had "started a tab" at InstellArms and went back there in another Cr 10 cab Fesic paid for. When Sekea got back to the berth, he started working with his artist's factory and spare bits of metal. He practiced making chess pieces from scrap so he could be better prepared when the gemstone stock had been grown. Sekea worked at that for the entire afternoon. After she'd had lunch, Mikah returned to her hotel room and sparked up a terminal to look for hospitals. Her plan was to look for facilities which had an autodoc, because those were an expensive luxury on Lanth. She wanted to offer her services and skills in trade to be able to put Zimzod in their autodoc each night until the coming "war".
Because autodocs were very valued, Mikah ran into hospital staffers who would not even consider "lending out" their devices for non-critical treatment. Others wouldn't consider booking use of the doc because a critical case could suddenly be delivered from the communities they served. Mikah had started with "every night for a week". When that got a "No", she shifted to "Can you give me one or more nights if not all?", then "How about just one?" Each time, she added her own skills by sending her resume and saying she could take shifts and handle difficult or critical cases where her skills and personal gear might also mean saving someone the local staff couldn't.
Eventually, Mikah did find three hospitals that were willing to work with her, but each of their conditions also boiled down to, "How much will you pay us?" Of course, that was because her contacts were all administrators rather than a doctor who would care more about saving patients. Unfortunately, her first tries to negotiate with the administrators failed. In each case, Mikah defaulted to asking what they would ask for? When talking to the first two administrators, the answer was for her to call when she had something to offer. That before each cut the line. The third administrator told her their autodoc handled their most critical and extreme cases, as well as the oddest and hardest to diagnose. In his opinion, it replaced an entire team and he would need a team of doctors like that if he were to tie up the system.
When Mikah asked, in an insulted tone, if he felt her skills didn't mean anything, she very obviously missed the fact that she was not a "team of doctors", no matter what skills she had. The administrator took that moment to point that out to her. Mikah pointed to her resume and demanded if that didn't show what she could do? He simply answered that anyone could fake an off-world resume. Mikah then effectively demanded to know what she could do to get access to the autodoc and the man said she could work for a period to prove her value. He also said that while the autodoc wasn't needed for critical cases, he would let her put her patient in it while evaluating her work.
Accepting that, Mikah said she couldn't start the work that night because of prior commitments. Offering Mikah a chance, the man said she could volunteer for the over-night shift and report after her commitments. Mikah accepted that despite the fact she'd been up all day and would be tired. She always figured she could hit herself with a stim so long as she made certain to get sleep in the morning after her shift. After she agreed to the terms, and before she cut the call to tell Zimzod, Mikah got the coordinates of the hospital and hit another wrinkle.
That facility was down-well, meaning she had to find a way to make her shifts fit into schedules for the commercial shuttles or to use the cutter. And Mikah was certain that if she tried to tell the man when she could and couldn't work, he'd call the whole thing off. So, she explained her need to use the cutter and asked for space on the property to land in. The administrator was OK with that, so Mikah thanked the man and said she and her patient would see him after their commitments that evening. Mikah next realized she'd have to call station central to find out what permissions and permits she needed to get from them?
When Mikah got an operator, she leaned into needing to treat a patient under special circumstances. Documenting the case, the operator asked who the patient was and about his condition and Mikah said it was sir Zimzod Egosion. She also pointedly reminded her he'd been shot five days before in the ambush on-station. That got her more action and leeway with the operator who also ignored her whining about not being allowed to carry weapons. By the end of the call, the operator granted her a corridor into which she could create flight plans as needed and sent that to her electronically for her use, or for her pilot.
After cutting that line, Mikah sparked up her comms and called Aiden to let him know what she expected of him. She told him to bring a book and camping gear to sleep in the cutter if he didn't want to rent a room downwell. He also ignored the urge to remind her ladyship she wasn't their captain anymore. Done giving Aiden his marching orders, Mikah selected her sheer royal blue tea length party dress to wear to the dinner that night. She also got ready the gear she planned to bring with her to the dinner, and her medical kit for afterward. Mikah also warned Zimzod that she'd set things up to fly downwell to a hospital where she planned to put Zimzod into an autodoc for the night.
Aware of the party, Fesic and Aiden were on the InstellArms firing range burning ammo. Fesic planned to return to the berth, clean up and change into his Solomani suit featuring a 'black and brown' color scheme highlighted by light tans. Aiden planned to wear his charcoal gray high-class suit. Back at the berth, Aiden and Fesic decided they had the space in the berth to do zero-g operations practice and asked one of the berth workers if they could null the gravity in part of the space? When the worker said they could, Aiden asked who else wanted to practice zero-g again? Rol joined in and Mikah had time to play after she was done setting up the hospital thing for that night.
Zimzod chose his classically styled formal black pinstriped suit. After he did that, Zimzod took a cab to the berth and "started" working on intense gear maintenance to be certain his battledress and weapons systems were top notch. While he worked on that, he got the call from Mikah telling him they had to go down-well after the dinner party so she could stick him in an autodoc and help with his beauty sleep. Still, that gave him most of the afternoon to play before he had to clean up, dress for the dinner and then go dirtside with Mikah after.
Zimzod eventually snapped into his battledress and ran every system through check outs. He obviously couldn't load ammo and test fire in the berth because that space wasn't shielded and he didn't want to have to pay for the damage. Zimzod remembered that one time in the Rhylanor system where InstellArms let him play with an FGMP-15 on a shielded range. And how, when he found out Mikah had been watching via a vid camera on the wall, he had blasted the wall and had to pay for those repairs. He didn't plan on repeating that experience.
While the dry weapons systems tests made the berth workers a small bit nervous, that was nothing compared to when he activated the grav harness and started flying around. After a bit of that, Zimzod decided he had to live-fire test the weapons enough to confirm he wasn't walking in unarmed. Figuring he needed a firing range and deep stores of heavy-combat rated ammo, Zimzod started with a call to InstellArms. Of course, their comms system had caller ID and routing for each member of their crew so Zimzod's call went right to his concierge. Very pleased, the woman asked how she could help Zimzod?
When he told her he was looking to rent a firing range to burn off some ammunition she asked him which weapons he wanted to play with? He said he wanted to test all the weapons installed in his battledress as well as his .45 semi-auto pistols Pain and Misery. the battledress had the heavy machinegun, laser pistol and grenade launcher. The latter device only needed to be tested with dummies as the grenades would work or be duds separate from the weapon system. Having checked her records and knowing Zimzod's interests well, the concierge also offered to have an FGMP-15 set up in the range he rented for Cr 1,000 an hour. Zimzod gasped out an excited "YES!" before he could scale back his reaction.
Consulting her computer, the concierge said it would cost Cr 5,000 for the specially shielded range. He had to decide how many hours he wanted to pump plasma so he'd know what he was paying for the big gun. The rest of the ammo he burned through would be charged at list price. Zimzod knew the heavy machinegun would eat five hundred rounds for each hopper he burned through. The concierge also told him they planned to write off the Cr 50 transport each way to move his weapons and gear to the range from the berth. Zimzod considered the offer and asked for a twenty percent discount. Cold as ice, she said she could do five percent at best. Nodding, Zimzod said he wanted to play with the FGMP for three hours, so that cost him Cr 3,000. She nodded and told him they'd keep a running tab until he was done, apply the discount and let him know what the final bill was. Zimzod smiled because he was good with that.
Given their exciting schedule, Zimzod figured he could enjoy himself until five in the evening before supervising the return of his gear to the berth. Then, he'd get back to his hotel room, clean up, dress and meet whoever wasn't riding with him at the restaurant. He'd do the dinner thing and make nice with the Aslan warriors before he, Mikah and Aiden went back to the berth to lift port in the cutter. Zimzod wasn't worried about things after that because he'd get a good night's sleep in the autodoc. He pitied Mikah, who'd been up all day and would then have to work an over-night shift in an ER that could be slammed. And she'd have to prove she could handle the crisis cases instead of having Zimzod hauled out of the autodoc to save someone else.
So, Zimzod spent the afternoon burning ammo. He let InstellArms keep count of what he burned through and figured he'd settle the bill while riding to meet Mikah and Aiden. That gave him more time to play. Aali had retasked the android WALL-e to help her work on the radiation lot cargo pods. She then spent the whole afternoon working to figure out why they had containment problems, what was causing it and what she'd need to look into to fix it. And she was certain that wasn't going to be a one afternoon job either. Sekea spent his afternoon working on sculpting while Colinne spent her time with her Zhodani studies.
Monday, 1114-117: Mid-Afternoon Where everyone is at the end of the session: Aiden, Fesic, Mikah and Rol: Zero-g ops practice in the berth Aali: Working on the Cargo pods radiation leaks Colinne: safeguarding Jocelynn then Working on her Zhodani language class Jocelynn: Exploring what she could do while connecting her stent to the station network Sekea: Practicing with his Artist's Factory Zimzod: Weapons testing on an InstellArms firing range
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