Shui taps her fingers on the console edge, then turns to glance at Jago.  The Captain gets a quick nod - expedience is the watchword, here.  "Yes, Captain.  If you would, please ask Engineer Blake for a sample.  I shall do an analysis."

Then she walks away, moving with that same quick-but-not-hasty gait toward the crew quarters.  Her intention: carry out the Captain's orders.  The thought occurs to her that if it is something illegal there could be trouble, but...that would be foolish.  They're on board a ship, during jump.  Where would they go?

Showing up armed would be just the thing to precipitate a problem, though.

First stop - Miles.

Jago grins and nods his head, “ye, we just got a flag up on the environment board, that something is choking up the primary air filters, its not critical yet, but they wont last the whole jump. I’d like to get those filters switched over as soon as possible, so we can get a sample for Shui to identify. I’d also like to know what the spares situation is, in case things get worse, and if necessary, check if it’s possible to clean up used filters for reuse. I don’t want to have to issue the passengers with filter masks, it’s so unprofessional.”

"That doesn't sound good." Saskia replies, a frown creasing her brow, "I changed the filters just before the last Jump.  Normally I'd expect to do that about once every six months.  I judge it by the anniversaries of my last two dates."

She stands, "I'll get right on it.  Maybe we picked up something at Vilis.  That atmosphere wasn't the nicest."


Edit - dumb typo.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:46, Mon 20 Mar 2006.

Nothing.

No leaks from the cargo, which was about what Conrad had expected.  The manifest said the containers held liquids, not powder.  Still he checked them over anyway. running an atmosphere sniffer over all the edges and joins.

Nothing.  "Nuthin'.  So, what next?" he mutters as he returns the sniffer probe to its compartment in the instrument's case.

Saskia wastes no time removing and replacing one of the filter elements, then she sets to work collecting samples from it.  Some of the samples she leaves outside Shui's door, and the rest she starts checking over herself.  Some of her own effort is directed to finding what the strange yellow dust is, but most is concerned with finding ways to remove it, quickly and efficiently, without damaging the filters.

Conrad's survey of the hold shows no leaks, and the containers have no signs of contamination on them.  He does, however, find Yas and Tylen in the hold, tinkering with their respective personal vehicles, comparing engine outputs, gear ratios, and assorted other specs and stats.  He wastes no time in informing the gunners of the situation.

Shui approaches Miles Janur.  Miles is in his cabin, and as she passes through the lounge, Corlan gives her a happy smile, and a wave, then returns to his book.  Miles opens the door, and stands aside to allow Shui entry, when she asks to speak to him privately, on a matter of some urgency...

With a wave and a bow to Corlan, Shui returns his smile.  Her own fades, though, as she moves to speak with Miles Janur.  She nods at his gracious invitation, and steps into the cabin.

There's no point beating around the bush.  Better to make this fast - she has more than one person to whom she needs to speak.  "Mr. Janur.  Something of importance has come up, and I will be asking questions of the passengers.  Privately.  Our air-filtration system has filled with particulate, and the problem does not rise from the ship's systems.  Now, it is no cause for alarm - we can easily clean it out.  But I must ask: is it possible someone in your family may have released something that created this problem?"

She gives him a quick smile before continuing.  "I would like to stress that we are not looking for someone to blame.  Rather, we search for an answer to this mystery."

Jago enters his cabin and slumps heavily into his chair, with the wheels set in motion there is nothing to do now but wait. So much of this business is about waiting that it should be routine, but, at times like this, the possibility of even the simplest of the problems suddenly spiralling out of control rather inhibits the usual time filling activities.

Jago ponders on the perversity of life and absently reaches for the white, doughnut like object from the metal tray on his desk, he doesn’t move it far from its companion cube, but absently turns it round between his fingers.

Miles looks a little confused, then looks at the few belongings which are spread around the room.  The secret of the weight of the luggage soon becomes apparent to Shui.  Books, real books, bundles of heavy paper, with words printed on them.  Some of them look to be very old.

"As far as I know, Miss, there is nothing in our luggage that could cause such a problem.  We brought only clothing, and the required books of our faith."  He smiles, friendly and helpfull, "You are, of course, very welcome to investigate, but I would ask that you not touch the books with your bare hands, unless you are a member of the Church of Silver Light?" and now his expression becomes hopeful.


Tylen turns to Yas as Conrad moves away, "Do you think we should see if the captain has anything for us to do about this?"


Saskia continues with her research...


Jago toys with the toroid...

Shui smiles back, nodding.  "No, I fear I am not a member.  But I take you at your word-"  for now, she thinks, but it never registers on her face "-and will inquire of the other passengers."  She gives the man a quick bow.  "I am sorry to have disturbed you - and please remember, this is a minor problem."

She avoids saying 'There is no cause for alarm'.  That invariably triggers a panic.

Taking her leave, she heads to Marriel Korson's cabin next.  Pausing at the door, Shui frowns, realizing she knows very little of this woman.  Very little at all.  With the family, she knew they had children.  It would be unlikely they would try something...dangerous.  But this woman?

Thrusting her doubts aside, she chimes the door.  "Ms. Korson?  I apologize for the interruption.  May I speak with you a moment?"

If only they knew what the substance was....

"Jago?  Got a minute?" Saskia asks from the door of the captain's office, "I know what it is.  Well, not exactly, but I have a rough idea."

She moves further into the room, barefoot, as usual, "I was testing some samples and found complex hydrocarbons and proteins.  Whatever the dust is, it's organic.  I've got some solvents that might clear it, so we can clean the filters, but it'd be better to find out where it's coming from and stop it at source."

The white donut shaped object that Jago holds seems to be somehow merged with his fingers as Saskia walks in, but his hand comes away cleanly when he places it in a metal tray on his desk beside a cube made of the same material.

“My little pet,” he comments with a smile, “I was wondering if it was responsible but I don’t think so.”

“I was wondering about putting filter paper or something over one extractor in each room, just for a short time, to see if we can pin point where it’s getting into the system, what do you think?”

Saskia's eyes become unfocussed for a few seconds, as she stares at a spot somewhere about a metre above Jago's head, "That would impair the air circulation for a while, but not by too much.  Even if it dropped by, say ten percent, we'd still meet IBSS standard."

Her eyes snap downt to the things Jago had been playing with, "What are they?  Something you picked up on Vilis for spec trade?"

“No, I picked it up in a junk shop, way back on Tyrfin, it’s been in the safe since, but I moved it out onto the desk recently, which is why I wondered if it was the source of the contamination. I’ve no idea what it is, but it completely changes every now and again, and demonstrates some peculiar properties that I find rather intriguing. Usually, it’s in one piece,” Jago shrugs and invites Saskia to inspect the things with a wave of his hand.

Tylen turns to Yas as Conrad moves away, "Do you think we should see if the captain has anything for us to do about this?"

"I suppose, even if it shoudl be my time off," Yas jokes but sounds dead serious and puts her tools away with a sigh.  "See you later then."  The last is directed at her bike.

She wanders off in search of Jago and pops her head in through the doorway to his place.

"Yo boss, do you need...  What's that?" she asks and is distracted by the strange thing on the desk.

Marriel Korson's cabin looks as if nobody is using it.  The young woman is some sort of psychotic neat-freak.  Despite the fact that nothing, absolutely nothing, is so much as a milimetre out of place, she actually apologises to the steward for the mess.

When Shui explains why she's there, Marriel looks horrified, "Dust?  I don't think it's from me.  I tried hard to keep everything neat and tidy in here."  Nervously she drags a finger across the top of the jewellery case that sits on the bedside table, and inspects for telltale traces of dust, before adjusting the case mainutely to realign it with the edges of the tabletop.

Taking the the two objects from the desk, Saskia suddenly laughs, "I wish I knew, Yas."  She peels the cube off her fingers, then frowns as she rubs her fingers and thumb together, before laughing once more as she realises that both objects are now stuck to her other hand.

Finally she presses them down into the tray, and carefully slides her fingers off them.  Once again she rubs her fingers together, before sniffing at them.

"That's impossible.  They stick to things, but they're not sticky.  Could be some sort of molecular bonding.  Navy uses that for cold-welding stuff.  Only thing is that if I tried to hold something with a molecule bond surface, I'd lose a lot of skin trying to let go of it.  Molecular bonding is permanent.  But these things stick tight just until they get something else to stick to."

Saskia pops a finger in her mouth, sucking it briefly, then says, "Definitely no residue, so it's not some sort of chemical adhesive.  Jago, you know I always got Jett to download those tech mags for me?  Well, if anybody else has anything like this, they're not admitting to it."

She regards the cube and the torus, and asks, "So do they do anything else impossible, or is that it?"

”Everything they do, it does, is impossible,” Jago laughs, “but let’s not get side tracked, you can play with it later, once we’ve found the source of this dust.”

“It changes shape now and again,” Jago repeats for Yasmin’s benefit, “it might have produces the dust at that time, but if so, the problem is over, until the next change. I really don’t think that is the case, and we can soon see because the accumulation on the filters will tail off quickly.”

“We are going to try to locate the source by putting filters over the atmosphere scrubbing intakes, just for a while to see where the stuff is getting in from.”

"Of course, Ms. Korson," Shui says, inwardly wincing.  Hopefully the woman won't think she is mocking her name.  "I very much doubt it is coming from this room - you seem to have kept everything in mint condition.  As I said, the problem is not a serious one - the filters are more than capable of handling the issue.  But we do need to ask the question."

Begging off further discussion, Shui heads for the last person on the list, and someone she definitely does not suspect of being 'the culprit' - Corlan.  As she walks, the medic keys into her dataglove, opening a comm-channel to the Engineer.

++ Ms. Blake - your pardon, but do we have a sample of the material?  I would like to run it through a bioanalysis.  If you have some, would it be possible to meet me in the infirmary in...three minutes, or so? ++

"'Scuse me Jago." Saskia crosses to the intercom and mashes the button with her thumb.  "Shui, I took some samples, and I left some, sealed in vials, in a box just outside your door.  The thing is that I tested some myself, and it looks to be something organic.  Full of hydrocarbons.  I have some solvents that will clear it out of the filters, but the air will smell a bit strange afterwards."

Jago nods his approval as he listens to Saskia on the intercom, she’s a good man to have on board.

Tylen speaks up then after following Yas to the little meeting. "Could we configure the ships internal sensors to pick the stuff up, maybe locate it's source or where it's gathered mostly? I don't know much about sensors, but it seems like a possible solution, am I right Saskia?"

Corlan looks up from his reading and smiles as Shui approaches him in the lounge.  His expression changes somewhat as she explains the situation, and he hits the power switch on the book.

"You had better come with me, Miss Tiesi.  I have an awful feeling I know what this might be."  Standing, he crosses to his cabin and enters, and as the door closes, he dims the lights, before opening the closet.  "Sorry about that, but it can't be exposed to bright light."

Inside the closet is a bowl, holding some compost and a plant.  The plant is in bloom, and the flower is bioluminescent, glowing a pale yellow in the dimness of the room.  It is very delicate looking, a mass of filaments, rather than actual petals, and as Corlan brushes a fingertip across them, the light changes to pale green, then blue, before shading back to yellow again.

"It's a moonlily, from Regina.  I brought it aboard two years ago as a seed.  A reminder of my garden at home.  They only bloom once every couple of years, and then only if conditions are perfect, then it stays in bloom for a single day, and the blossom shrivels and falls the very next time it is exposed to bright light.  This one finally opened shortly after leaving Vilis, and I've kept it in darkness to preserve the blossom as long as possible."  Corlan sighs, and waves of colour shimmer across the strange flower.

"I never thought it would bloom, here, on a starship.  A testament, I suppose, to Miss Blake's maintenance of the environmental controls.  But I imagine I'll need to destroy it if it's contaminating the air."

++ Thank you, Ms. Blake, ++ Shui replies gratefully.  ++ I shall certainly have a look at it as soon as I have finished my questions.  I am...relieved it will not cause any serious problems. ++

That we have yet discovered.  But she doesn't say that out loud.

Silently, concerned, Shui follows Corlan into his room.  And there, to her astonishment, he reveals what may indeed be the culprit.  Eyes wide with wonder, she settles down in a crouch, her habitual reserve washed away by the vision before her.  "Mr. DeSant, this flower..."  She swallows as the colours change again, and feels herself close to tears, moved by the sight to an emotion she cannot quite define.

Then she looks up.  "No," she says, breathlessly.  Then, more firmly, repeats herself.  "No."  Still crouched, Shui turns toward the flower.  "Thus far, we have no proof it is this flower.  I need to do an analysis upon the dust.  However, should it prove to be the pollen, there must be a way we can keep the flower in a filtered environment."  The doctor narrows her eyes.  In order to do some of her medical work, she requires a sterile environment, free of dust.  Microfiltration units provide that environment, in an enclosed area.  If she sets them up here....  They will quickly become plugged.  But how quickly?  They will require cleaning on a daily basis, at the very least.

The doctor slowly pushes herself to her feet, and shifts back so that she can look at both Corlan and the flower simultaneously.  "Please, Mr. DeSant.  Let me see what I can do.  There is no threat to the ship, and we are not even certain that the flower is the problem."  With a sigh, she raises both hands.  "Though it does seem the most likely culprit.  However...there may be a way to preserve it."  Reaching out, she stops her fingers just short of his arm.  "Please.  It is too beautiful, and if it was only a small part of your garden...that is a memory too wonderous to even imagine."

"And such a memory must be protected.  Cherished."  Her hand waves toward the flower.  "Here."

Corlan looks depressed, even in the deep shadows of the stateroom.  "The flower will be gone within a day or two, leaving the plant to bear fruit - which I'll dispose of as soon as it appears.  Such a beautiful flower, but the fruit smells like something a month dead, washed up on a tropical beach." he smiles, a little sadly, "Most odd.  There are actually creatures up in the Highlands that like that stench, which is how the seeds are spread.  There's just no accounting for xenobiochemistry, I suppose."

"If you need to take a sample, the flower produces a pollen analogue in those three organs there.  The fourth, in the centre, stores pollen from other specimens, sometimes for decades, allowing the plant to produce fruit, even if the population of polinating insects is reduced by adverse conditions."

"These last few days really have been a trial for me, Miss Tiesi, and I just want to say thank you for all your help."


In Jago's office, his two odd little toys are returned to the desk, and Saskia heads off to work on the ideas put forward to track the source of the contaminant, nodding to Tylen, "I'm not sure if they're up to the job, but I'll see if there's anything I can do with the sensors.  Failing that we can go with the lower tech approach."

Which leaves Yas and Tylen still with the Captain, while Conrad finishes up his sweep of the hold.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:35, Fri 31 Mar 2006.

"Well, I'm going to check over the cargo again, inch by inch.  Can't hurt to make certainyl sure now, can it?  Nope," Yas says and turns to leave the cabin of the captain and head over to search the cargo bay.  If there is something wrong in there she will find it, and if there is nothing wrong in there she will probably find something else wrong, so either way it will not be a waste of her time, she reasons.

"Don't play with your things now, skippy," she calls out as she passes the the crew lounge, a crooked grin appearing on her face.