Larkarda
Gvarokh Detects A Musk
Shiraamer Meets With Gvarokh
Slade Meets With Gvarokh First Thing in the Morning
Gvarokh Investigates Slade's Suspicions
The Shotgun Test
Dinner - Larkarda-Gishinridu Jump Day 5
Gishinridu
Gvarokh Emails the Captain 2
Evaluation of New FPP Parts
Umilikha
Searching Through The Debris (Bridge Only)
Ashki
Passengers Arrive
Sardia
The Revival of Low Berthed Passengers
Leave A Message
Interview with Chief Inspector Khiikurshasekha
Characters: All
NPC: Jum the bartender
Location: The Bridge, a bar at the Larkarda Starport (Lishun 0712)
1125.6.4 - 15:30 / 14:00 local time (18 1/2 hr day)
While you're sitting down at the table enjoying your Larkarda Lager, you
detect a faint musk. It smells like a human female who's aroused. Considering
the flirtations of the brown nosing human Chuck, you aren't totally surprised.
Apparently the captain is flattered by his advances.
But you're not the only one to pick up on this scent. Vladgorkfeg smells it too
and he lets you know that he does with an exaggerated sniff of the air ("Do you
smell that?"). Vlad whines a little, lets his tongue hang out a little, nods his
head towards Chuck and looks back at the captain ("He wants to mate with
her."). Vlad then follows it up with a quiet growl and a flash of teeth in the
direction of Chuck ("Or Chuck is challenging your authority.").
None of the others seem to notice this, as they are absorbed in Chuck's
overwhelming sexual advances towards the captain, and because it isn't spoken.
This isn't Gvegh, it's primitive vargr "body language".
You reply with a quiet growl in Chuck's direction ("I don't trust him.") and
follow it up with a whine and a nod in the captain's direction ("I trust her.").
Vlad nods quickly but imperceptibly ("Ok").
Characters: Shiraamer and Gvarokh
Location: The captain's quarters on the Miishakaal
1125.7.2 - 21:00 4th Day of Larkarda - Gishinridu Jump
Shiraamer is unable to focus on her book after her meeting with Slade. She keeps
playing over in her mind her conversation with Slade, the events on Larkarda,
and Simrii's behavior since coming on board. She can't pinpoint anything
suspicious that Simrii has done, however she's inclined to be paranoid. She's
got a ship and several lives depending on her to figure out what the truth of
the matter is.
She drains her coffee with a sigh and heads to the galley for a fresh cup. By
chance, Gvarokh is there getting a glass of water.
"Evening captain."
"Hi Gvarokh."
Although no one else is present, Shiraamer discreetly gives him their sign they
have developed over the years that means 'must talk to you asap'. They walk back
to her quarters.
Once seated at her meeting table, she begins to relate to Gvarokh Slade's
observations.
After Gvarokh has had a chance to mull it over, Shiraamer says, "I don't
normally advocate spying on crew members but this mission has us all a bit
jumpy. I trust your opinions Gvarokh. What's your opinion on this?"
Gvarokh shakes his head slowly. He thinks for a little while, then says, "You
know, I figured that with no passengers, we should be past these types of
concerns. Well, I would say that, even though it is probably nothing, we do
probably need to keep and eye on him. If it's any consolation, he hasn't been
hovering around the bridge. We will probably want to make sure we have him
assigned to a specific task during breakout. Is there something 'engineering'
Slade can have him do that will keep him away from anything dangerous?"
Shiraamer nods. "I agree. The next time I do my walk thru I'll see if I can get
Slade to find a job for him. It might not be easy though. He doesn't like
anybody down there with him. You know Engineers. I don't own Miisha, she's his
baby. I had hoped that the days were over when we had to worry about our own.
Slade will be doing a closer inspection on Miisha so he should find something if
it's there. Make any revisions to crew schedule you need to. Keep me informed.
I will want another meeting before we enter the system to double check that we
know what we can about the planet and hopefully don't get caught in more red
tape then we have too. The sooner we finish this run, the happier I'll be.
Anything else you have to report?"
"Uhhh no. You contacted me."
"Oh, that's right. Sorry. I'm tired. Gotta get some sleep. We'll talk again in
the morning."
"Good night captain." And with that Gvarokh leaves the captain's quarters.
Characters: Slade and Gvarokh
Location: Gvarokh's quarters on the Miishakaal
1125.7.3 - 08:005th Day of Larkarda - Gishinridu Jump
After finishing some morning calisthenics, Gvarokh is about to take a shower
when his door buzzer sounds. The security system indicates that it is Slade.
With a growl, he says, "Enter!"
The door opens. Slade is nervously peering over shoulder in the direction of
the crew lounge. He steps into Gvarokh's quarters and closes the door. When he
turns to face Gvarokh, it becomes obvious that Slade hasn't slept. The dark
circles under his eyes and caffeine jitters and twitches are evident.
Slade starts talking, "Sorry. I waited as long as I could. Did you talk to the
captain last night about what I told her?"
"Yes."
"Good. I had another idea while I was down in engineering last night. You
remember those shotguns that Simrii presented to the crew a couple of days ago?"
"Yeah..."
"I was wondering if -- perhaps -- the shotguns might be defective! What a pisser
that would be, engines dead, getting boarded, and these nice pretty guns
misfire! Could be the firing pins are out, could be the cartridge primers are
shit, could be everything's just dandy. If all three shotguns are provably
defective, it would be strong corroboration for my worst-case theory, and it
would indicate that it's time to take Simrii into the cargo hold for a
storytime beating."
Gvarokh mulls it over, then replies, "When did you say you thought of this?"
"Last night."
"In bed?"
"No. I couldn't sleep. I've been up all night going over the entire engineering
section checking every single nook and cranny for signs of sabotage."
"Did you find any?"
"No, but that just means I haven't found it yet. I still haven't checked the
fuel tank supply lines or the fuel purification plant. I wouldn't mind using the
ship's internal sensors for a sweep. Do you think you could arrange that?"
Gvarokh thinks for a few moments, trying to take everything in, "Here is what I
suggest. I am heading to the bridge, anyway. I will run a complete sensor sweep
and system diagnostic on the ship's systems. If something has been screwed with,
it should at least point it out. A little later in the day, I will ask to try
out one of the new shotguns. I haven't shot one in years, so that will give me
a good excuse to ask to."
Gvarokh stops and take in Slade's condition again, and continue, "And Slade,
please get some sleep. The captain and I can keep watch over engineering.
Or, better yet, get some sleep in there. But if something is going on, we will
need you at full capacity."
"I would just crack open a shell and empty it out, test it with the primer, it
saves on bulkheads. Anyhow, I'm going to bed like you said. Wake me up for
dinner or something."
"I will Slade."
Slade exits Gvarokh's quarters and heads back to his stateroom. He locks the
door and falls asleep the moment his head hits the pillow.
Character: Gvarokh & Shiraamer
Location: The Bridge of the Miishakaal
1125.7.3 - 08:45
After a quick shower, Gvarokh gets dressed and heads into the galley. He grabs a
breakfast bar and a caffeinated beverage. The only one there is Chuck.
"Morning Gvarokh."
Gvarokh grunts a reply as he heads to the bridge to either verify or refute
Slade's paranoid suspicions. The first order of business is to verify that the
sensors are working properly. He instructs the main computer to perform a
diagnostic on all internal sensors and note any incongruities.
A couple of minutes later the test is complete. The system reports no problems.
Internal sensors are fully operational.
Gvarokh then sets up the internal sensors to sweep the entire ship for
everything. He hopes that they'll find nothing and that Slade's behavior is
just a case of jumpspace induced paranoia.
While the scan is underway, the security system displays a holoimage of the
captain entering engineering. Slade must have locked engineering when he left.
Normally ship's security doesn't bother recording the comings and goings of the
crew, unless activated. That was something reserved for when passengers were on
board. Anyway, Slade's lockout of engineering would prevent everyone but him,
Gvarokh, and the captain from accessing engineering.
Gvarokh watches the captain call out for Slade as she roams through both
engineering decks. Minutes later, Shiraamer leaves engineering. She leaves
Slade's lock in place.
The computer distracts him from watching the captain, "Scan complete."
"Display results," Gvarokh orders.
As Gvarokh studies the output, the captain enters the bridge, "Morning Gvarokh."
Shiraamer tries to sound cheerful but Gvarokh notices that it is slightly off.
"Just finished walking around Miisha for a bit. Always like to start my day that
way if I can. Kind of quiet today. Besides Chuck for breakfast, you're the only
one I've seen." Motioning to his computer screen. "Didn't mean to interrupt
whatever you were doing. Everything ok?"
Gvarokh quietly pushes a button, which closes and locks the iris to the bridge.
Looking back, he says, "No. Something's wrong with Slade. He has passed
completely over into paranoia, and I am very concerned for him. And, now he has
my mind running, because I can't think of a single thing that could be causing
this.
"I am running scans that he requested to see if anything is amiss, but so far I
am turning up nothing. I also plan on checking out the shotguns for him, but
those will likely come clean, too.
"In addition to that, I am running sweeps on the cargo to make sure nothing
weird is going on there. His paranoia is making me paranoid.
"I am running out of ideas. I think that if I find nothing, the best we can do
is watch him carefully during jump and hope this is just a unique case of jump
paranoia."
Shiraamer sighs, "I know what you mean. We need to check it out 'just in case',
but I'm thinking along the same lines that you are. Something has Slade spooked.
Haven't seen him like this before. Finish checking out things and let me know
the outcome. I'm also going to keep an eye out on Slade to see if HE
starts to act different. Nothing strong, just being more aware of his behavior.
We'll keep each other informed either way."
Gvarokh says, "OK. I'll let you know what I find. By the way, one other piece
Slade came up with, was a worry that the shotguns were defective or
sabotaged. So, I am planning to take one of Simrii's gifts down to the
'range' later today to see how it handles. I haven't handled a shotgun in years,
so that will me a good excuse to test one out." With that he releases the lock,
but leaves the iris closed.
Shiraamer nods at his thinking, "Good thinking. It never hurts to check out new
equipment and you want to do that before you actually need it." She starts
heading toward the iris valve, "I'll be back in my quarters going over things
once again. That nagging feeling is still following me. Feel free to interrupt
me though -- I'll probably need the break before long." With that, she turns to
go.
09:20
"Scan complete."
Gvarokh turns back to face the holo display. Everything has come up
negative. There are no anomalies detected.
Pleased that nothing showed up on the internal sensors, Gvarokh sends a quick
text message to the captain, "All internal scans report all clear. No
anomalies."
She replies back, "Message received. Keep me informed of any changes."
He then returns to his trader studies.
11:00
Still on the bridge, the security system gets Gvarokh's attention. A message
states that Simrii tried to access Engineering but was denied. Looking at the
video, Gvarokh sees Simrii standing outside of Engineering with 2 cups of
coffee, puzzled.
Simrii presses the intercom button to Engineering, but there is no reply. After
a minute, he tries again. With a slight shrug Simrii takes a sip his coffee and
with a backwards glance at the iris valve he walks away.
Gvarokh follows him on the sensors as he makes his way back to an empty crew
lounge where he starts up the SimTeacher and seems intent on reading he takes
sips of his coffee every now and then.
Characters: Gvarokh & Slade
NPC: Chuck
Start Location: The Bridge of the Miishakaal
1125.7.3 - 16:00
The computer is chiming and every now and then Gvarokh's consciousness registers
the Galanglic phrase "The time is 16:00, alarm call," gets louder in his ears
as he awakens.
Gvarokh comes around to full consciousness, the smell of stale grrahhak
permeates his nostrils. This is the only change in scent he can perceive apart
from the increase in body odor he is emitting. Looking around the bridge nothing
seems to have changed, moving his snout a little to catch any other scents
brings nothing new.
Gvarokh realizes that he has napped holding the cup of grrahhak and again it has
not been spilt over the controls. He gives thanks to the creator and inserts
the nozzle of the lid to the side of his snout to take a drink of the now cold
liquid. The caffeine takes a couple of seconds to hit but it makes no
difference, he was fully awake before he drank.
The drink loosens his mouth. He must have been panting during his nap and he
realizes that he is a little hot. After finishing the grrahhak he naturally
starts panting again and unconsciously moves his left arm to cover any dribbles
that might fall from his tongue as it dangles slightly out of the left side of
his snout.
Looking over the bridge controls as he cools down, shows no change. The jump
clock is running smoothly and there seem to have been no security alerts. He
turns off the alarm call realizing that he intended to go and test the shotguns.
Gvarokh enters the ship's locker and grabs the shotguns that Simrii presented to
the crew. He walks through the crew lounge on his way to wake up Slade. It is
empty.
He hits Slade's buzzer. After the fifth time, a sleepy voice says, "Yeah, I'm
up. I'm up. Come in."
The door slides open and Gvarokh enters the dimly lit quarters. "C'mon Slade.
Let's go test these things."
Slade finishes getting dressed. He looks rested and calm. He isn't displaying
any signs of his earlier paranoia.
Before they leave Slade asks, "Did you get a chance to do those scans."
"Yes. Everything came up negative."
Slade sighs relief.
They enter the cargo hold and head down to the "target range." Chuck is there
throwing knives at a target.
"Hey guys. Whatcha doin'?"
"We need to test these weapons. Are you finished?"
"Yeah, yeah, sure, sure." He hurries over to the target wall and removes his
knives.
He heads back over to join Gvarokh and Slade. When he doesn't leave, Gvarokh
growls.
"Ok ok. I can take a hint. Sheesh." And leaves the hold.
Gvarokh and Slade spend the next hour going over the weapons. Firing pins,
cartridge primers, bore holes, trigger mechanisms, and everything else that you
can think of check out fine.
Gvarokh says, "I guess that leaves us one more test to perform. Load them up
please Mr. Trask."
Slade loads each of the shotguns. As he finishes he hands them to Gvarokh, who
in turns fires at a makeshift target on the firing wall. Since Gvarokh hasn't
fired a shotgun in a while, his aim is a little off. He's close enough to
bullseye though that had it been a living target, it would be in a world of
hurt.
"Well Slade, it would appear that these shotguns are in perfect working order.
And since the internal sensors haven't picked up anything I think it's safe to
say that Simrii hasn't sabotaged the ship. However, it never hurts to keep an
eye opened and your nose to the wind. If you do stumble across anything unusual,
feel free to bring it to my attention. Let's not worry the captain until the
situation warrants it."
Slade sighs, "Yeah ok."
Gvarokh slaps him on the back and says quite loudly, "Now let's go put these
things away and get ourselves something to eat."
Characters: Slade, Simrii, Gvarokh
NPC: Chuck
Location: Crew Lounge on the Miishakaal
1125.7.3 - 18:00
Chuck is cooking. Gvarokh and Slade are eating dinner. They seem to be
reminiscing about something when Simrii comes walking in.
"Slade, where were you today? I went down for my daily dose of engineer speak
and you were all locked up."
"Hi Simrii. Sorry, I was feeling kinda shitty. Haven't been at my best lately,
and I slept late. Feeling better now. Want something to eat?"
Gvarokh silently watches the conversational exchange.
Chuck doesn't say anything either, but people are used to ignoring him anyway.
"Well that's good to hear, was wondering what'd happened to you." The half
Vilani man smiles, "I was just thinking about dinner, maybe something ethnic I
can make a bunch of old Solomani dishes that run from bland to quite spicy or a
Vilani sandwich that's to die for." Simrii looks through the galley to see what
he can create on a budget.
Character: Gvarokh
Location: Gvarokh's quarters
System: Gishinridu
1125.7.6 Standard Imperial time: 17:25, Standard Vland time: 17:23,
Local time: 15:45
Now that things have calmed down, Gvarokh sends the Captain an email letting her
know that because of her ominous sounding email, he simply prepped the ship for
go, and did not pursue cargo for their empty nine dtons. "Is this OK so we can
leave quickly, or can we stay a little longer and I'll look for cargo again?"
Gvarokh lays down on his bed. As the adrenaline and anxiety subside, fatigue
takes over and he dozes off.
About a half hour later he awakens to the sound of his comm buzzing. It's the
captain, audio only.
"You could've stopped by my quarters silly."
Gvarokh rubs his eyes and yawns, "Well, I was under the impression that you
wanted privacy."
"My door is always open for you Gvarokh. And I'm sorry if I made you worry. I'll
admit that my original intentions were cause for alarm."
Gvarokh's ears perk up, "Oh?"
"Yes." Her voice drops down, as if the starport could eavesdrop on their
conversation, "I went there with the intent to bribe Hianni. I didn't want us
to be stuck here for a month and I didn't want to risk going any further into
Vilani space without the transponder." Her voice resumes its normal volume,
"But, fortunately it never came to that. Once we got to talking, everything just
fell into place. Before I knew it, he invited me out to dinner."
Gvarokh smiles. She's happy. That's good.
"But to get back to your original question, we should probably just get under
way. As much as I'd like to spend some more time with Hianni, this isn't the
best place for you and Vlad. And since everything we've got in the hold is
destined for Hrun, I think we'll have better luck filling it up there. I'd hate
to miss out on a good haul because I've got to detour to some backwater for 9
tons. Don't you agree?"
Gvarokh says, "I completely agree. I will prepare the crew and ship for
departure and get us going when the fuel purification is complete. I want to
wait for the purification to finish in case we need to fix the fix, as it were."
She replies, "I agree. Once Slade is satisfied with the new equipment's
performance, we should get underway for Hrun."
She adds, "Let me know when Slade has given his blessing and I'll come up to the
bridge to get ready for jump."
"Yes, captain."
The connection is then terminated.
Characters: Slade &s Gvarokh
Location: Miishakaal's Bridge and Engineering
System: Gishinridu
1125.7.6 Standard Imperial time: 18:35, Standard Vland time: 18:33,
Local time: 16:55
Slade calls Gvarokh from the bridge to let him know all's well, "We're all set.
That's the fastest service I've ever seen -- it's like we're the only ship on
dock. That must have been some amazing freakin' -- ahem -- dinner the Captain
had with that guy. Ahem."
Gvarokh replies, "That's good news Slade. The captain would like you evaluate
the fuel purification plant after it's done cleaning up the fuel. A final seal
of approval before we leave."
"Ok Gvarokh. Slade out."
Slade leaves the bridge and heads to engineering. He tells Vincent he can stay
in the galley and finish his dinner.
An hour goes by before the fuel purification process is completed. It actually
finishes a few minutes early. Slade runs a diagnostic on the FPP and reviews the
sensor data for any anomalies. He can't find any. The FPP is running great.
Slade contacts Gvarokh, "Gvarokh, we're all set down here. The FPP passed with
flying colors."
"Thank you Slade. Prepare the ship for departure. We're headed to Hrrrrrrrun."
Characters: Shiraamer and Gvarokh
Location: Miishakaal
System: Umilikha
1125.10.1 - 01:35
On their way to the next spherical object, the ship comes across one of the
cylindrical objects. Sadly, it turns out to be a body minus its limbs.
Before she stops, Gvarokh mutes the intercom and says, "Captain, we don't know
how much air is left. If there is a chance the other sphere is a rescue ball, we
should probably check it first. This poor soul isn't going anywhere."
Shiraamer nods absently, "You're right of course. Let's get the other rescue
balls first and if we have time we'll come back for this one. I thought it was
interesting the body doesn't have any limbs. First things first though."
The third and final spherical object isn't a rescue ball either. It's metallic
with a hole in it, resembling a puncture. It's purpose not apparent to the
bridge personnel.
"That's it for potential rescue balls," Gvarokh says grimly, "There's been
nothing else on my scanners that could be one."
Gvarokh suggest that they go back and pick up the body, then check the objects
that look recorder-y. "If we find a match, we can have the snatch squad pick
them up."
Shiraamer shakes her head, "As much as I want to look at the body without arms,
I'm going to pass right now. Let's see if we can find the recorder. It's a toss
up, in my opinion, which might be more useful. If we don't find the recorder
soon though, we can try to go back and get that other rescue ball. We have a lot
of questions but not a lot of answers nor time for a lot of investigation."
Gvarokh corrects her, "There aren't any other rescue balls. We've checked out
all of the spherical objects. We're looking at only one survivor here."
You proceed on to the first of six small boxes which could be the flight
recorder. Along the way you pass another body. You slow down long enough for
Gvarokh to get a good image enhancement with it. The body appears intact. "Dead
from vacuum exposure perhaps."
You come alongside one of the boxes. It's too small to make out from the bridge.
You'll have to bring it aboard. Shiraamer comms down to Vlad and Lakir to get
ready to snag it.
The first box turns out to be an intact sensor telemetry router so the search
for the flight recorder continues.
Along the way to the next candidate, a third body is passed. It is mostly
intact, though the right leg is chopped off at the knee and the right arm is
chopped off at the elbow. There's also an obvious puncture wound in the abdomen.
The second box turns out to be the flight recorder.
At this time, Shiraamer is feeling pretty tired. Coffee isn't doing it anymore.
Gvarokh looks to be in similar shape. With the crew being awake for 18-19 hours
straight, she decides to call of the search before safety is compromised.
Turning to Gvarokh she says, "I'm taking the ship out of the debris field and
setting a course back to Umilikha. We've drifted pretty far out so we should get
there in 7 hours or so. I'll notify the crew, but I'll radio in to Umilikha
Down first."
Gvarokh says, "I wish we weren't so tired. I would have liked to examine the
wreckage more, but we're just too much of a danger to ourselves right now. I do
think we need to keep a very close eye on our guest, though."
"Agreed. But maybe more for her protection from the paranoia that's so prevalent
on our ship."
"Oh yeah," she continues, "I want you to set up a watch schedule. I'm going to
go meet out guest as soon as I'm done here."
She radios in to Umilikha Down and informs them that only one survivor was found
and three confirmed dead, though not brought on board the ship. Also she tells
them that the flight recorder was found.
Umilikha Down acknowledges the survivor but inquiries further as to why the
bodies were left to drift.
She stretches the truth, "Safety issues. Undetonated missile in vicinity of one
body. Radioactive materials and potentially damaging debris around the others."
This appears to satisfy their curiosity.
"Looking forward to your arrival Miishakaal. Umilikha Down out."
"Now to inform the crew," Shiraamer says with obvious reluctance.
Characters: All
NPC: Chuck and several passengers
Location: Miishakaal, docked at Skiire Starport
System: Ashki
1125.10.6 - 06:50 Imperial Time, 22:38 Vilani Time, 15:45 Local Time
Everyone has been paged early for the day as passengers are expected and you
need to be prepared for departure as soon as they are on board. Chuck has
managed to provide an excellent breakfast and is just providing coffee and
fruit juice.
Gvarokh tells Chuck, "An excellent spread, Chuck. This should help impress the
guests."
Chuck smiles broadly, "Thank you, Gvarokh."
An incoming comms call is received.
"Miishakaal, we have arrived as requested." On the video you can see two human
and two Vargr females in Naval uniforms. They're all ratings of various rank,
and the spokeswoman is a petty officer. Gvarokh recognizes her as the woman who
booked four low passages earlier in the local day.
Gvarokh goes to meet them at the door. Of the two vargr females, one pays no
mind to him after her initial sniff while the other mewls that she finds him
interesting. No one picks up on this. The two humans in the group seem perfectly
comfortable around vargr. He then brings them in to introduce them to the
captain and Chuck. Gvarokh explains to the four that Chuck is the ship's
medic and that he will be handling the cryo-process.
The captain greets the passengers and follows normal protocol for low berthing.
The crew has their normal pre-flight checklists to do. Shiraamer has confidence
her crew knows the routines by now.
Gvarokh offers to let the popsicles have some refreshments prior to going to
the berths.
The Petty Officer replies, "Thanks that would be good."
One of her Vargr companions looks around, sniffs, and asks, "What have you got?"
It's the one that seemed disinterested in Gvarokh.
Chuck replies, "The usual you would expect on a ship." He indicates that they
should take a seat while he fires up a ship's terminal. "There is a drop of
mixed juice on the table that our XO and crewman seem to like, but I'd advise
against any stimulants before going into the berths."
Chuck's medical certifications appear on the terminal as he turns it to show
them while they help themselves to drinks.
The interested vargr maneuvers herself to stand closest to Gvarokh but yet
still remain with her group.
The same Vargr who sniffed looks over the certificates, "Battlefield and field
hospital medic with trauma specialty hay? What experience do you have with
berths?"
Check replies, "Everything from standard retrieval from troop transports, to
fast freeze of critical but curable battlefield casualties, through to slow
freeze of major trauma patients for fast retrieval at hospital."
The Vargr looks up at Chuck and her ears prick up, "So you could put us in slow
for a fast retrieval at Sardia?"
"Yes, but we only have standard lows aboard so it's likely to be about three
times as long going in, and the retrieval isn't likely to be as fast."
To which the Vargr replies, "Yer, but we will be out and ready for a full day's
work having had a really relaxing trip." As she looks around at the other three
who are nodding their heads. She holds her gaze at the other vargr and emits a
guttural growl implying, "No time to play." The humans are oblivious to it.
Chuck replies, "No worries then. Here's the standard contract. I'll need your
IDs. Credits and luggage to the XO," Chuck nods at Gvarokh, "Oh and if you have
anything you think we should know about please tell us, as we will be doing
standard scanning."
The PO replies, "Only standard issue snub pistols and a gauss pistol." She
passes over the IDs.
"Ship's locker then." Chuck turns to Vincent, "Can we have four small
compartments of the ship's locker programmed for these IDs please?" He passes
the IDs across, after logging them onto the ship's passenger list.
"No problem" says Vincent as he turns towards the ship's locker. Once there he
programs the compartments with the ID's he was just given.
As the four stand up, the PO passes a Naval Warrant Credit stick to Gvarokh. "It
will want a copy of the contracts on it to authorize payment." And they all
sign a copy of the contract in accordance with their IDs.
Gvarokh runs the credit stick in through a terminal with a reader. The whole
process goes through as expected.
The four women head over to the ships locker. In the compartments of the ship's
locker that Vincent has programmed for them, they each put in standard issue
Vilani Navy snub pistols, while the PO puts in a gauss pistol as well. Each uses
their palm or paw prints to access the compartments and then take their IDs
back from Vincent.
Chuck looks at Vincent and then Gvarokh for indications that they are both
happy.
Vincent calls out, "I'm all set." Gvarokh gives a curt nod to indicate that
things are fine.
Chuck then turns to the four women and says, "Ladies if you would follow me?" He
indicates the corridor to the first two low berths on the starboard side of the
ship "Who would like to be first?" can be heard as Chuck opens the iris by the
starboard cargo hatch.
The interested vargr gives a last regretful look at Gvarokh and a slight
whimper before heading down the corridor. Her tail is limp, reflecting her
disappointment at her predicament.
As soon as he's out of ear shot, the comm chimes again. It's Captain Lishenii's
party. Shiraamer greets them at the starboard airlock and brings them into the
crew lounge for introductions and processing.
Captain Liishenii is a middle aged man with plenty of gray in his hair and his
beard. He practically bubbles and rattles when he speaks like an old engine.
Colonel Khiigshiikll is several years older than the captain, clean shaven, and
more reserved. Regimental Sergeant Major Miigaki is an attractive woman with
an athletic build.
Shiraamer introduces the crew, save for Chuck who is still busy with the low
berth passengers, then asks Gvarokh to process them and Vincent to stow their
weapons in the ship's locker. She departs to the bridges to ready the ship for
takeoff and orders all other personnel to start on their pre-flight checklist.
These humans don't appear to have any problem with Gvarokh either. Gvarokh
recognizes the Captain as the rather odd fellow who made the call to the ship
requesting transport. He seems the most relaxed. The Colonel is not far behind.
He's obviously the pack leader. The female seems distant, but its not directed
at Gvarokh. Its seems towards the crew in general. Maybe the captain,
specifically. Gvarokh isn't sure. The human doesn't feel strongly enough to emit
much of a scent and her military training hides any subtle body clues.
After their weapons are stowed in the ship's locker, Vincent shows the trio to
their quarters on the upper deck and heads to his station to ready himself for
takeoff.
Character: Gvarokh
NPC: Chuck + 4 low berth passengers
Location: Miishakaal, parked at Surata Down
System: Sardia
Chuck has already begun the revival sequence for the commanding officer, a
human female. He doesn't notice Gvarokh coming up behind him.
"Hello, Chuck."
Without taking his eyes away from the low berth module control display, Chuck
replies, "Oh! Hi, Gvarokh! Didn't hear you coming down the hall."
"You don't mind if I observe, do you?"
"Not at all. Besides, you're the XO. You can pretty much do you want, right?"
Chuck smiles to show that the comment was meant good naturedly.
"Rrrrrright," Gvarokh says assertively.
"Since you're here, you can lend a hand if these fair lady popsicles feels a
bit woozy."
"Ok, but I don't have any medical training."
Chuck brushes it aside, "Don't need to unless there's a complication. You just
need to get them to lie still if they're dizzy. That's all." The first
compartment lid opens. "Ok, she's set. I'm gonna move on to the next one."
Gvarokh moves closer to the first berth. "She's still asleep. Is that normal?"
"Oh yeah. Her body temperature's normal. She'll come around in a minute or so."
And just like that, her eyelids begun to flutter open. She tries to speak but
nothing comes out.
"Uhhhh, she's having trouble talking."
"Just hand her that water bottle."
Gvarokh does as he's told.
The woman takes the water bottle from him and drinks. "Thank you," she says.
"You're welcome."
"Did the trip go ok?"
"Yes. We're at Surata Down on Sardia."
"Good."
Chuck stands up, "Ok, this one's all set. I'm gonna head over to the port side
to thaw the others." He heads down the corridor and cuts through the cargo hold
to get to the other side. Going through Engineering would be quicker but Slade
would have a fit.
Gvarokh peeks in at the second berth. It's the vargr female who all but ignored
him. Damn. I can't leave these two alone here.
It seems like forever to Gvarokh before the vargr female wakes up. As soon as
she's able to stand, Gvarokh escorts them over to port to the others.
Upon reaching the port berths, Gvarokh sees that Chuck has already revived the
other human female and is in the midst of reviving the other vargr female.
Once the lid pops open, Gvarokh asks Chuck, "All set?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good. How about you head to the ship's locker to get the passengers their gear.
I can handle it from here."
Chuck looks puzzled for a couple of seconds, but then something clicks and the
faintest of smiles appears on his face. "Yes, sir," he says. To the passengers,
he says, "If you ladies will follow me, we'll see that you get your gear."
After Chuck has led the passengers through the first iris valve, the fem in
front of him begins to stir. Her eyes open slightly. She stretches and yawns,
revealing a lithe form and a perfect set of teeth. If there was room for two in
there, Gvarokh would climb right in.
She smiles, "Now that's a pleasant sight to wake up to."
Gvarokh returns the smile and says, "Now I know what the prince saw after the
kiss."
She smiles, obviously pleased with the complement.
He then reaches over, offering to help her get up. Once she is standing and not
wobbly, he says, "Your friends have gone to the locker to collect their stuff.
I'll show you where they are."
"Ok, but please take it slow. I'm still a bit grrroggy," she says a bit coyly.
He pauses for a moment, then continues with a touch of sadness in his voice,
"Pity you must leave so soon. But duty calls, I suppose."
She stiffens, "Yes it does." She pauses, then asks, "How long will you be
staying on Sardia?"
Gvarokh looks down and says, "Not long. We need to swap cargo, but probably only
a day or two. The captain wants a quick turnaround." He pauses momentarily,
then asks, "Are you stationed here, or are you continuing through?"
"We just got transferred here. I don't know which of the naval facilities we'll
be sent to in-system, but since they're all around the gas giants, we won't be
on Sardia for too long." She looks down at her watch then stops. "We're in the
middle of the rest cycle right now so you probably won't get much unloading done
for a while. I have to check in but I'll have some free time later." She turns
on the charm: smiles and nuzzles. "If you get some down time, would you care to
meet me for a drink?"
Gvarokh thinks to himself, "Hey! No time like the present!" He brightens and
replies, "I will make time for that drink!"
With a devilish grin she says, "Good!" She reaches into her pocket and grabs a
calling card. The name on it is Dhagha. "You know how to use one of these,
right?"
Gvarokh says with confidence, "Of course. Slip it into the comm reader and it
automatically uploads your number to my contacts file and looks for you. Did I
get that right or have things changed that much since I left the Navy."
"Guess you'll have to wait and see," she says with a sly smile.
As the two of you enter the crew lounge, Dhagha's companions have just finished
getting their gear.
Gvarokh improvises, "You seem to walking fine now. I take it that the low berth
wobblies have passed?"
Dhagha plays along, "Yes. Thank you, sir."
Dhagha gets her belongings and joins her companions. As they disembark, Dhagha
turns around for one last look and winks.
Gvarokh smiles.
Chuck joins him at this point. Whether or not he saw the wink, Gvarokh doesn't
know and Chuck doesn't let on. "I'm gonna grab some sack time, ok boss?"
"Yes, Chuck. Go right ahead. Oh, and good job with the low berth passengers."
He smiles, "Thanks, Gvarokh," and departs.
Gvarokh decides secures the ship and decides to do likewise.
Character: Gvarokh
Location: Miishakaal, parked at Surata Down
System: Sardia
Cargo loading is nearing completion and the captain has already sent invites
to the first batch of passengers. All have agreed to her terms for transport.
As soon as cargo loading is complete, Gvarokh is to assist the captain with
screening the passengers, to make sure that they're not dangerous to the crew in
any way. Shiraamer is really crushing Gvarokh's first chance at fun in months,
but there isn't really much he can do about it. Sardia's rules and regulations
for offworlders, or maybe it's something else, really has her in a foul mood.
He's got a few minutes to spare while the loading process continues so Gvarokh
tries to contact Dhagha to break the news to her. For better or worse, he gets
her voicemail.
Gvarokh says, "Dhagha, I am afraid it was not meant to be. We will be shipping
out shortly, and I will have no free time prior to then. However, we will likely
have to come back through in the near future. If you leave a message for me at
the starport once you get your assignment, I will call you on the way back
through.
"If you get this before too long, please give me a call, anyway. I would like to
at least give you a proper goodbye."
Gvarokh then closes the channel and heaves a large sigh. He swallows his
disappointment and gets back to work.
The captain texts him, "How much longer? I'm over at the terminal screening
passengers and could use your help."
Gvarokh growls and texts back, "Should be done within the half hour."
Character: Gvarokh
NPC: Chief Inspector Khiikurshasekha
Location: Gvarokh's quarters on Miishakaal
1125.11.7 - 20:00 Imperial Time, 13:00 Vilani Time
Gvarokh is the last crewmember to be interviewed. The captain will be
interviewed after him. Gvarokh's paranoia about the passengers has left him
anxious and has been unable to nap over the course of the three hours of
interviews. He paced the cargo hold to bide the time. If there's anything that
he can discern from the interviews, each of the crewmembers has come through the
interviews fine. None has looked the worse for wear afterwards.
Gvarokh enters his room, which is temporarily not his. At least it doesn't smell
that way.
The Chief Inspector rises to greet him and thanks him for taking the time to
provide witness testimony. Gvarokh wasn't expecting a cordial greeting so he's a
bit put off by this, but in a good way.
As far as cops go, Chief Inspector Khiikurshasekha doesn't seem all that bad. No
condescending tone. No veiled threats. No odd scents to give him away, though
the combat armor he wore would mask everything except his head, which was
exposed. Pretty straightforward human.
The Chief Inspector explains that this is merely an evidence gathering inquiry.
He isn't planning on filing any charges until there's sufficient evidence to
convict someone of a crime. There will be more action in the short run among the
insurance companies than in the courts.
After giving his name and stating how long he'd been a member of the crew,
Gvarokh tells his version of what happened, but is careful to leave out the bit
of sabotaging the engines to prevent their return to the planet.
The human just lets the holorecorder take it all in. When Gvaorkh is done,
Khiikurshasekha asked him a couple questions. "How did you feel after the
captain gave the order to surrender?"
"They did have us significantly outgunned. We had little chance of survival in
ship-to-ship combat. When it came down to whether or not we should resist them
when they boarded, the crew were all for fighting back, but the captain said no.
I wasn't sure that she chose the corrrrrect course of action, but it is my duty
as first officer to support her decisions."
"Weren't you worried about getting killed anyway? Or the passengers for that
matter?"
"We all thought that the pirates were going to kill us, but the captain insisted
on taking the corsairrrr at his worrrrd. In the end, her decision proved to be
the corrrrect choice. We may have lost cargo and equipment but we have our
lives."
He nods while asking, "Did you lose anything?"
"My laser pistol."
"One thing that I don't understand is why you and the captain took such an
aggressive stance with the passengers. From what I've heard, the situation was
about to turn ugly, but your chief steward," he looks through his notes to find
the name, "Chuck Strider, was able to settle the situation. Would you care to
comment about that?"
Gvarokh's ears droop, giving him a sullen appearance. He says, "Not really. I
was overreacting to the prospects of returning to Sardia. I was in the wrong.
Fortunately Chuck was there to keep a lid on things. He did a wonderful job.
"Understand, Inspector, I am a Vargr who has been among humans all his life,
and knows humans well. Because of this, Vargr do not trust me. Unfortunately,
neither do most humans. The prospect of going back to Sardia does not excite me,
as I do not rate the chances of me leaving very high."
A look of surprise crosses his face, "Why is that? I realize that Sardia's
judicial system leaves something to be desired for offworlders, but piracy is a
matter for the Ziru Sirkaa. Local authorities have no jurisdiction in the space
lanes."
Gvarokh considers the Inspector's reply, then says, "Then I was doubly wrong."
He smiles, "It takes a big man to admit that." He stands, shakes Gvarokh's paw,
and thanks him for his time.
Gvarokh leaves his room somewhat more positive about the ship's fate than when
he went in.
He turns right towards the bridge to get the captain. She's fallen asleep in
the pilot's chair. He gently wakes her.
She bolts upright, "I'm awake."
"The Chief Inspector will see you now." He tries to appear positive without
saying anything that the guards outside might pick up. He's not sure if she
notices.
She says, "You have the bridge, Gvarokh," and leaves.
Gvarokh sits down in the pilot's chair and dozes off.