With the containers of grain finally loaded and secured, and no sign of the computer components yet, everybody finally gets a little time to sit in the crew lounge and enjoy the simple meal prepared by Shui.

The passengers, apart from Conrad and Corlan, are due to arrive soon, and once they and the remaining cargo are aboard, then the ship, fully powered now and with full fuel tanks, will be ready to leave Garda Vilis.

For the moment, though, all is quiet.  There is time to relax, talk, and eat.

And, just as everybody is getting settled, the intercom chirps.  The indicator shows that the call is from the bottom of the ramp.  Probably somebody requesting access...

As he eats with the others, Tylen uses his data glove to pull up details of various musical instrument, with a grin at Yas he orders an electric beginners drum kit to be delivered to the ship forthwith, and for himself gets a synthesizer keyboard, along with 'teach your self'  programmes for both.

As the intercom chirps he looks  across to Jago and then towards Yasmine.

"Ack.  I'll be right back, just goin' to shoot, er, see who it is," Yas sighs and makes it appear an effort to get up again.  She sweeps up her scattergun and checks her side arm as she steps through to the cargo bay.  As she closes the hatch behind her again she calls out to Tylen, "Oh, and you'll regret getting me drums, I bet I'll play them out of tune."


Once the hatch is closed she makes her way over to the panel close to the ramp to try to figure out who might be coming around knocking.  Possibly the second delivery, but if it is a ramp-to-ramp salesman she plan to indeed shoot him, at least a little.

As she activates the screen she also activates the two-way speaker.  Even if she might see what it is the protocol also expresses a desire for confirmation.

"This is Security Chief Crow, state your business," comes the very businesslike inquiry.

"Yeah!Thrash metal ...." Tylen mumbles as Yas heads towards the cargo area.

Unconsciously, Tylen checks his own pistols - that are now back on  his hips after the trip planetgside.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:48, Tue 08 Sept 2009.

The chair creaks loudly as Jago collapses into it and leans back with a broad grin.

“It’ll be good to get back to work,” he says, waving his cigar expressively towards the ceiling and the stars beyond, “this down time is exhausting.”

He glances us as the intercom chirps, but Yasmin has it covered, as always, in fact everything is covered, as always, except perhaps the newest element in the crew.

“You’ve spent a long time on that clotting chart Ash, everything OK?” Jago asks as he fills his plate with a generous ‘Captain’s’ helping.
.

Ash looks up from his plate when Jago asks him about the astrogation calculations, and he stammers a bit, "Hmmm?  Oh, no!  Everything is fine.  Quite fine..."  He gives the Captain a weak smile, "You'll have to excuse me, sir.  I often double and triple check things by hand, especially on a new system."  He pauses for a moment, "It's not that I don't trust the system... Not at all, it's just a throwback to my time in the Scout Service, I fear.  Old habits die hard, I'm afraid."

He glances in Yasmine's direction, as the Chief of Security moves to answer the intercom.  Then he resumes eating, but states between mouthfuls to no one in particular, "It's... it's just that you never know when you are going to need to do those things by hand."  He reddens a bit, and then falls silent, as though he might have first hand experience with having to do exactly that.  But he says no more.

Ash quickly digs into what is on his plate and nods to Shui, "Doctor, this is very good.  You appear to wear many hats and know how to take care of your charges in all of them."  He holds up his tumbler with plain water in it, as a sort of toast, and says, "Thank you."

The face which appears on the screen, and which is repeated on the monitor in the crew lounge, is not human.  The voice, when it comes, is deeper than Yas', and has an odd, rumbling quality as it comes through the speakers.

"Hioilsal, assistant to the Aikhahehtarl of the Ealreao clan, respectfully requests that she be allowed to speak with those who saved the Aikhahehtarl's life."

Saskia stares at the monitor, and says, "Jago.  It's one of the Aslan we told you about, the ones we met last week on our way over to the scouts' observatory."

She sighs and adds, "I hope they haven't got more trouble."

Tylen frowns as he remember the incident, although a faint smile crosses his face as he recalls the aggressors surprise as they were met by laser bolts and shotguns, rather than the two injured Aslan they were expecting.  "I wonder what she wants?" he murmurs, genuinely surprised to see Hioilsal at the ships ramp.

"Ah yes.  No bad news, I hope?" Yas says as she triggers the lowering of the ramp.  Either they came to show their gratitude or they had run into more trouble, although the latter was less likely, she figured, partly due to the somewhat unstressed appearance of this Holosail character and the odds being against them asking for outside assistance.

Still, as the ramp lowers, she keeps all options and possibilities open, including having to use the weapons she is carrying.

Hioilsal comes up the ramp, accompanied by a male, who is large, even by Aslan standards.

The female Aslan is dressed somewhat differently from the last time she had encountered the crew of Profit Margin.  On that occasion she had worn a strictly utilitarian jumpsuit and a heavy, hooded coat.  Today she is dressed in a red robe, heavily decorated with gold braid, and she has a matching skullcap.  She carries a flat metal box under one arm, about thirty centimetres square, and perhaps five deep.  Her face is set in an expression which looks deadly serious.

The male appears unarmed, but is wearing some sort of armour, consisting of black ceramic plates over a dark red leather-like material.  To Yas' eye, the limited coverage of the plates, their ornate sculpting, and the presence of some kind of flowing alien script, in gold, on every piece, all suggest that the armour is more ceremonial than practical.

Hioilsal raises her free hand, palm turned towards Yas, demonstrating that her claws, including the aisai, the large duelling claw on the thumb, are all retracted.  Lowering the hand, she bows, and then yowls something in Aslan, before adding, "We come, with sheathed claws, to honour heroes."

As the gesture of "no weapons" were displayed Yas decides to follow suit and slings her scattergun over her shoulder.  She figures that they do come in peace, but just in case that one in a billion thing happens she suspects he is as fast on the draw of her sidearm as they are with their built in jackknife.

"We are honoured by your presence alone," she answers in kind as she steps back with a gesture offering them to follow her, offering a small bow.  She has little idea about the protocol, but knows a little about the big cats to at least avoid offending them - she hopes.

Moving over towards the hatch to the crew lounge she opens it and motions for them to step through.  She believes the male will fit through but in case, well, best stay back to give him the boot - or at least a gentle nudge, should it come to that.

Hioilsal steps through into the lounge, stooping to get through the hatch.  The male ducks, looks through the opening, and produces a sound something between a cough and a snarl, before stepping aside and taking up a position outside the lounge, but still where he can see through the hatchway.

The female Aslan glances back at him, and the male rumbles something, in a voice so deep it almost drops below the range of human hearing.  "He says that he would rather be permitted to stand guard outside the opening."

Her attention comes back to the room, and she looks around those present.

"The Aikhahehtarl has given instructions that those who played their part in protecting his life are to be rewarded."  Placing the box flat on the table, she touches two opposite sides, causing the lid to spring open slightly.  "So I have come to present you with these gifts."

She swings the lid fully open to reveal several objects in the box.  There are five small bags which look to be made of the same dark red material as the non-metallic parts of the male's outfit.  There are five pieces of black paper, covered with swirling silver script, and intricately folded into miniature representations of some six-legged animal.  And, finally, there is an envelope.

The female Aslan looks around the room, "Not all of you were present during the attack on the Aikhahehtarl.  I do not have gifts for those who were not present."

“And rightly so,” Jago says, standing as the Aslan enters. “Captain Lanza at your service. Please, make yourself at home and go ahead with your presentation, we’ll just watch.”
.

Ash stands and turns to face the Aslan female, Hioilsal, as she enters the crew lounge.  He unconsciously tries to smooth out some of the wrinkles in his coveralls.  Following the Captain's lead, Ash bows slightly to Hioilsal before backing away towards the wall - to give the Aslan plenty of room to present the gifts and to designate that he is merely a respectful observer of the ceremony and not a real participant.

Ash does make a mental note to ask the rest of the crew about it later.  Presumably, it must be a really good story...

Tylen rises as he realises that Yas is bringing the Aslan into the lounge and  just about manages to hide a smile as the taller Aslan male decided to keep guard from outside.  Suddenly he is aware of the gun belt at his waist and makes a mental note to get something less obtrusive.  Looking like a cowboy is fun, but perhaps not always practical on a ship of this type.

Not able to remove the weapons before Hioilsal enters the lounge he stands carefully with his hands clasped behind his back, almost in a relaxed 'at ease'  stance, as he waits for the others to take the lead.  Alright it might have been 'his' mission, but both Saskia and Shui were better at this type of thing than he was.  He shrugs mentally I suppose that is hours alone in scout ships for you ...

The Aslan bows her head to Jago, "Your crew do you much credit, Captain Lanza.  Their generosity in assisting strangers, and the courage demonstrated while doing so, speak well of the leader who assembled such a group."

She reaches into the box and draws out one of the small bags, which gives a faint *clink* as she lifts it.  "None of you are of the Fteirle, the Aslan as you name us, yet that did not prevent you assisting us.  The Aikhahehtarl has declared you honorary members of the Ealreao clan.  You are now Fteirle, and so you must be able to fight honourably, should you be challenged to a duel.  To that end... "

She tips the contents of the bag out into the palm of one hand - two gleaming curved golden blades, about ten centimetres long, each attached to a ring of the same metal and a short strap.  "These are ayloi, they are to be worn, attached to the thumbs, by non-Fteirle when dueling, and simulate this... "  She raises the empty hand, and a large claw extends, briefly, from its sheath at the base of the thumb.

The two blades are returned to the bag, and it is placed back in the box.

One of the paper animals is removed next.

"The Aikhahehtarl folded these himself.  They represent an animal, the khashayliio, which is native to our homeworld, Kusyu, and is said to embody the qualities that all of the Fteirle should strive for - bravery, devotion to family, defence of the home, and loyalty.  When unfolded, the writing explains your deeds, and declares that you are fiy, vassals, of the Aikhahehtarl, and that those who insult you insult all members of the Ealreao clan.  The colours of the paper and ink are symbolic of good fortune."

The animal is set back in the box, and the envelope removed.  "This contains a document which restates your deeds, and fiy status, so that there is no need to unfold the other documents.  This declares that you are under the protection of the Aikhahehtarl, and of the Ealreao.  That protection extends to any vessel you are travelling aboard in our territory."

The envelope is also returned to the box, "Please accept these gifts, presented in the name of the Aikhahehtarl."

Yas, having stayed near the door and glancing at the male from time to time - making sure she did not stare - looks over with her interest peaked as the jingling starts.

She figures there is little point in waiting for someone else to take the first step and steps forward.  Some of the others will not be as keen to receive weapons, she suspects.

"We shall persevere to uphold the honour you have given us, we accept the gifts gracefully and with humility," she says, doing her best to avoid (mis)pronouncing any names.  "Eye-loy, where they?" she asks as she reaches out towards the box, watching the female Aslan to see whether it was acceptable behaviour or not.

If this carries on, I'm going to end up with more Aslan honors and trinkets than the average Aslan.

It was becoming clear to her that the Aslan didn't believe in just giving cash rewards, at least were saving lives was concerned.  Last time it had been a personal gift for her, and a paper similar to the one they had been given today, which benefited both her and the ship.

She can feel her cheeks starting to burn as she steps forward, right after Yas, hoping to get this over before her face gets too red.

"It was our honor to assist." she says, a tremor of nervousness in her voice.  Then she adds, "Can you tell us, what happened to the injured men?"

Tyler allows Yas and Saskia to go forward and then takes his  turn.  ”It is indeed a great honour.” he says formally with a  small bow towards the Aslan.  However, a tight smile brightens his features slightly as he continues ”I will ensure that I practice with the ai-loy diligently" he offers the Aslan a slight nod, "if I should ever need them I would not want to disgrace the Aikhahehtarl completely.” he says recognising the difference in stature, sped and agility between and Aslan and a Dardian.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:08, Sun 20 Sept 2009.

The female Aslan inclines her head in a small bow to each of the humans as they step forward.  To each she speaks a brief phrase in her own language, the same phrase each time.

Saskia's query gains a more extended reply, "The wounded men were, as promised, placed in the custody of the local legal authorities.  They seemed to take the idea of an assault against foreign nationals engaged in a mission of trade and diplomacy quite seriously."

Hioilsal's lips pull back, revealing a formidable array of teeth, and flattening the tone of her speech, "We have also conducted an investigation of our own, and one Aslan crewmember has confessed to arranging the attack.  She was, it seems, secretly affiliated with a group who would like to see our mission here fail, in a spectacular and dramatic fashion."

"She has been confined to her quarters, until the Aikhahehtarl has considered the matter, and decided upon her punishment."

Tylen's ears prick up, figuratively of course, as the Aslan speaks.  "Is this group something we should be aware of?  If they wish to see the Aikhahehtarl's mission fail so badly, perhaps they might find an interest in us?  After all we are, sort of, associated with the Aikhahehtarl now." the ex-scout can't help but see the deeper implications of Hioilsal's statement.

"By the way, I only just realised what you said earlier on.  Please express our deepest gratitude to the Aikhahehtarl, we are honoured that the Aikhahehtarl  chose to fold the animals himself." he adds almost as an after thought, as the implications of the Aslan's earlier words seep through the 'surprise' of the situation.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:10, Tue 22 Sept 2009.

Pleased by the approval of her meal, by crew members both old and new, Shui quietly accepts the Hioilsal's offerings, bowing low as she accepts the gifts.  Certainly they are the most interesting 'souvenirs' she has garnered from a planet...and will be treated far differently than her other findings.  "My thanks, Hioilsal, for the gift your clan has offered," she replies quietly.  She does not offer modest words, or attempt to beg off - to do so might insult, and Shui has no wish to offend the proud creatures they assisted.

Another family, now.  Different again from her own, and more distant from that of the ship, but still.  She examines the folded paper creature with great care.

"I will carry this honor and memory close to my heart, and defend it as I would my own."  To the best of her ability, she suddenly decides, with a certain amount of sorrow.  Dueling.  An ugly thought - it seems unlikely such as she will ever be challanged, but one never knows.  Best I get myself back into some semblance of shape, then.

She listens carefully to the explanation of the reason behind the attack and Tylen's following question.  As Tylen suggests, it might prove to be troublesome for the Profit Margin.  Not that she regrets getting involved, but...forwarned is forearmed.

"It is unlikely that this treachery will have repercussions for you, at least in the foreseeable future.  The traitor has been isolated, and has no means of communication.  We did not tell anybody who had assisted us, only that we had received aid from some passing humans."

Hioilsal pauses, studying the strange human faces carefully, perhaps attempting to gauge their reactions.  After a few moments, she continues, "Only myself, the Aikhahehtarl, and Shtohwufiwhyu... " here she gestures towards the male, who still waits just outside the door, "... know of your connection to this ship.  Shtohwufiwhyu is the Aikhahehtarl's most loyal bodyguard, and considers you heroes."

"Add to which, even with a fast Fteirle ship, we are currently at least an Imperial year's travel from the border of Hierate space.  Two years to send a message, and receive a reply authorising action against you, even if they knew your identities.  And long before that two years is finished, their agent, the traitor, will either be dead, or back in Hierate space, as a prisoner."

"The Aikhahehtarl will report this incident to his father, who will certainly report it to the Tlaukhu.  While they may tolerate feuds and warfare among our own people, they will be less tolerant of actions which might spark a war between our people and the Imperium."

"I suspect our enemies will lose a lot of influence as a result of this.  Any future activities will be watched closely."

"As it should be for such a cowardly attempt.  May your clan grow stronger and more prosperous for each day," Yas says and offers a small bow of her head, having been listening in even as she was playing with the new and interesting weapons, already thinking of ways to conceal them in her outfits so that she always would have them ready, in case.  To anyone familiar with the Aslan it will no doubt also work as a potent deterrent, seeing these strapped to the fingers of a human.  Sure, copies are bound to be around, but this was craftmanship and no doubt easily spotted by anyone that familiar with the Aslan culture and weapons.

"Should your enemies ever turn their eye to us they may find it taken out," she comments, perhaps mostly to herself as she makes slow motions as if seeing in what manner the blades would best work to indeed pluck eyes out of sockets.