There is a flare of light and tachyons, and Profit Margin drops out of Jump, a little more than a million kilometres from a world which gleams blue, green and white in the light of two mismatched suns - a yellow Main Sequence star, and a brilliant white dwarf companion which dance around each other, connected by a streamer of plasma.

Seconds later, the signal from the beacon comes in, confirming that the ship is at Phlume.  Back in Imperial space.

There is comms chatter here.  Ships in orbit, both civilian and military.  The civilian ships are scattered, but the military comms all come from a close group about a quarter of the way around the planet, and considerably closer to it than Profit Margin...

Transponder codes indicate that the military ships are Imperial Navy, plus a couple of Scout vessels.

"Jump complete.  Drive deactivated.  Thrusters online and ready to use at your discretion.  All systems nominal."  Saskia leans back in her seat at the Engineering station on the Bridge and looks past Jago, at the world in the distance.  "Looks nice.  A lot less frelling icy than the last one.  Maybe the welcome will be warmer too."

+ Calling up relevant data, + Shui notes over the com.  Currently she's preparing the post-jump snack for the crew and passengers, while going over her list of Things To Do Upon Arrival™.  + Just for a reminder. +

Once she has the data on the starport, the world, its laws, and so forth, she'll post it for all of the crew and passengers to examine.

Jago is looking pleased with himself, his unlit cigar bobbing about energetically as he runs through the post jump sequence on his boards while keeping half an eye on the little tell tail that will inform him when the transponder begins it's automatic data dump in the presence of Naval vestals. Not that there's much of use there but you never know what might be of interest and it's nice to feel one is doing one's bit.

It's also nice to think that there is the opportunity for proper trade here, the last stop was a total disaster financially, he shudders at the though and quickly turns his attention, and his ship, towards the distant planet, flying by observation and experience until Ash comes up with proper and precise vectors, probably at least three alternatives to take account of various eventualities.

"Computer, can we tune into a news channel please," he asks with his usual formal politeness when conversing directly with the his it's self, no doubt a wasted effort but politeness costs nothing and certainly never hurts.
 

With Jago getting the news and Ash asked to plot vectors, Tylen scans the area picking out the locations of vessels, trying to spot if there is anything out of the ordinary.

Once he has dome that, he listens into the military chatter for a while -  just to see if they are talking about anything interesting.

The computer starts searching for news in the system, and soon picks up a TNS broadcast from the space port...

• Frenzie/Vilis (0306-A200436-A) Date: 275-1107
  The trial started today of the officers and senior crew of a Sword Worlds ship, arrested at Arkadia, and charged with war crimes.  Naval officials, overseeing the trial, expect it to last several weeks.

Apart from that, there isn't much beyond weeks-old reports of battles in various systems along the frontier.  According to the reports, neither side seems to have the upper hand in the war...

Local system news is more prolific and largely speculative.  It mostly deals with the arrival of an Imperial Navy squadron, led by a light cruiser, which has moved into orbit to resupply.

Ash lets his eyes adjust from the muted flare of the jump transition.  He instinctively closes his eyes, but no matter what there is always a moment after translation that is slightly disorienting.  To both man and machine as the lanky navigator waits for the external sensor arrays to come back online.

Then he starts his sweep of telemetry data as well as the comm channels.  "Hmmm ..." he muses aloud, "that is a lot of hardware." referring to the military build up, "it is almost like a war is on ..."  And Phlume is on the frontier or something.  He points out the cluster of naval and scout vehicles.  "Refueling stop." Ash narrates and a couple of smaller transports seem to be continuously shuttling between ocean surface and the military ships.

Ash dutifully announces their arrival to the Phlume port authority.  He is extra careful, given the presence of so much military-grade hardware.  As he speaks over the external comm link, his fingers dance on his dynamically configured console.  Almost immediately, four different routes - three to the main downport and one to an alternate refueling location - all appear on the main tactical map for Jago to choose from.  All of the potential courses give the refueling cruiser and escort squadrons a wide berth so as to not confuse anyone or anything.  As he continues to tap away the plot routes continue to subtly shift being continually refined as the third and fourth-order derivatives come into play in the higher-order equations of the calculations.

Tylen pushes his new information out on the crew comms channel.  "Apparently this lot were in a battle at  Utoland where they beat up a load of Sword Worlds and Vargr ships and now they are here for service and repairs." he says recounting his eves dropping.  After a quick check he adds quietly "That is only four parsecs from here"

Once he has passed the information  on, he goes back to monitoring the comms traffic, only this time he listens particularly to the civilian inter-ship chatter, to see if he can pick up anything out of the ordinary.

War crimes.  Battle.  Shui stares blankly through her holoscreen for a long moment.  Count the cost, consider the dead.  It almost makes one want to agree with her father.

Almost.

She blinks, flicks a toggle.  + The Starport is listed as Class C, so should we finally reach the front of the line there shouldn't be any problems.  The law level is moderate; it's probably best to keep personal weapons to a minimum unless I discover otherwise. +

'Minimum' for some aboard the ship being more flexible than for others.

+ The world is agrarian, tech levels below interstellar.  The atmosphere is breathable, though some may find it heavy. +  Keryn, in particular, but she doesn't mention that.  It's something for a more private discussion.

As Profit Margin moves towards the world, the computer correlates information from its own databanks with that being transmitted from the surface, ready to flag any discrepancies for Jago's attention.

As it turns out, there don't seem to be any that don't fall within an acceptable margin of error, and a full readout is displayed for crew perusal...

---

WORLD DETAILS

NAME:              Phlume
HEX LOCATION:      Spinward Marches 1611
UWP:               C887624-8
PBG:               710
TRADE CODES:       Agricultural, Non-industrial
ALLEGIANCE:        Third Imperium
STELLAR DETAILS:   Primary Star: G5 V  Mass: 0.94  Luminosity: 0.67
                   Binary Star:  M8 D  Mass: 1.11  Luminosity: 0.238

SATELLITE DETAILS: Number: 0

SIZE RELATED DETAILS
Basic World Type: Planet - molten core
Diameter: 13,280 km  Density: 1.02  World Mass: 1.02  World Gravity: 1.02 G
Orbit Period: 203.037 Std days      Distance: 0.7 AU  Eccentricity: 0.0
Rotation Period: 30.586 Std hours   Axial Tilt: 32°   Seismic Stress Factor: 1.586

ATMOSPHERIC RELATED DETAILS
Composition: Standard oxygen-nitrogen mix
Surface Pressure: 1.5 atm         Mean Temp: 38.3°C  Native Life: Yes
Terraforming - Atmospheric: No    Albedo: No        Greenhouse Effect: No
Weather Control: No

HYDROSPHERE RELATED DETAILS
Composition: Liquid water
Hydrographic Percentage: 67%    Tectonic Plates: 5
Continents and Oceans: 2 major continents, 10 minor continents, 10 major islands, 10 archipelagoes
Hydrographic Terraforming: No   Terrain Terraforming: No

POPULATION RELATED DETAILS
Total World Population: 7,000,000
Starports and Spaceports: C/G/C/C/F/C/E/F/G/C
Primary Cities: 10        Orbital Cities. No

Social Outlook:
    Progressiveness: Radical, Advancing
    Aggressiveness:  Competitive, Neutral
    Extensiveness:   Discordant, Xenophilic

Unusual Local Customs: Phlume's population is tolerant of individuals who show psionic capabilities.
               Medical staff use scented smokes and perfumes as part of various treatments.
               Military personnel cannot turn visitors away from their homes.

GOVERNMENT RELATED DETAILS

Representative Authority: Participating Democracy.
Representative Authority: Demos
Division of Authority:    No division.

LAW RELATED DETAILS                   TECHNOLOGY RELATED DETAILS
Uniformity of Law:     Personal       Technology Profile:

Legal Profile: 4-17310                High Common Tech Level: 8
    Overall Law Level: 4              Low Common TL:          4
    Weapons Law level: 1              Energy TL:              8
    Trade Law level:   7              Computer/Robotics TL:   8
    Criminal Law:      3              Communications TL:      8
    Civil Law:         1              Medical TL:             9
    Personal Freedom:  0              Environment TL:         9
                                      Land Transport TL:      9
                                      Water Transport TL:     9
                                      Air Transport TL:       9
                                      Space Transport TL:     9
                                      Personal Military TL:   7
                                      Heavy Military TL:      8
                                      Novelty Tech Level:     9

RESOURCES AND GOODS
Natural Resources:      Agriculture, Ores, Radioactives, Crystals, Compounds
Processed Resources:    Agroproducts, Metals, Non-Metals
Manufactured Resources: Parts, Durables, Consumables
Information Resources:  Documents

---

Phlume, a warm world of extensive oceans, with a dense atmosphere and native life forms in abundance.  The locals even welcome strangers from offworld.  The data from the planet includes views of open countryside, forested hills, soaring mountain ranges, and beaches with views of vast, rolling green oceans...  Definitely a more pleasant alternative to Rangent.

"This is Traffic Control to Profit Margin." the comm system announces, "Welcome to Phlume.  Please adjust course to Vector 315.23 by -17.4.  This will take you into Narindat Port Authority airspace, and you will receive further instructions shortly.  Weather conditions at Narindat are excellent, with clear skies, zero precipitation, and minimal winds.  Ideal for a smooth landing.  Thank you for visiting Phlume.  Enjoy your stay."

The course change would keep Profit Margin well away from both the military forces, and the civilian traffic in orbit.

Shui does a rapid once-over of the laws, shaking her head in mild annoyance.  She doesn't like being wrong.  The law level is moderate...except when it comes to personal weaponry.  A flick of her finger activates her access to shipwide messaging and intercom systems, and she rescinds her previous comment.

+ Upon verification, the weapon laws in particular are lax.  Law level 1.  Avoid any weapons that can defeat scanning systems, otherwise you should be fine with personal weapons. + And man portable cannons, she considers with distaste, but none of her personal opinions on the law turn up in her voice.

Immediately she begins her customary duties, taking a moment here and there to search for places of interest: cultural areas, areas for relaxation, natural areas supposedly of great beauty...these are things she or the others, including Keryn, might enjoy.

"Don't got anywhere along, it sounds like a place where you look after yourself with no help from the law," Yas cautions over the comms.  Would not do to have someone get hurt or worse due to the degree of personal freedom in this place of guns.  "So I'd suggest groups of two as a bare minimum, preferably three or more, if anyone is planning any kind of excursion."

As Shui starts to try to track down places of interest, she gets a call on the internal comm system, from Keryn. 

The ship swings onto the new vector and begins a steady descent towards the upper atmosphere.  Directly ahead a ground beacon appears on the HUD, transmitting meteorological, topographic, and traffic data, along with a steady stream of local news, market information, and requests for off-world transport or freight carriage.

All much more civilised than Rangent...

Shui flicks open a toggle to reply. + Of course, Ms. Taylor.  Officer Crow is busy at the moment, given her duties, but I will pass your thanks along immediately. +  Once she has fulfilled her end of the short discussion, Shui switches to Yasmine's line on the comm.

+ Yasmine?  Apologies for interrupting, but I am passing along Ms. Taylor's thanks for the tagged display of the orbiting ships you made available to her.  She is most appreciative. +

Having listened to the incoming messages from her seat on the Bridge, Saskia feels compelled to comment on them.  "Well, these definitely sound friendlier than the last lot.  Which means it's probably a frelling trap.  We should all stay really alert, just like Yas says."

Fingers tap out code sequences to restrict access to the ship's systems, just in case the local port techs want to try any funny business.

"Tell her she's welcome," Yas replies to Sushi message.  "I figured it'll give her something to tell her kid one day, knowing a bit more about the space she's been passing through, eh?  The good kind of knowledge, yeah?"

"You should always listen to me," she then replies on the open crew channel to Saskia's suggestion.  "But seriously -- as if I weren't already -- the degree of personal freedom on here means it's up to you to defend yourself, the law won't care unless other laws are broken in the process.  So, no solo excursions, folks."

With little to do during the approach, Tylen sets  up a couple of monitoring routines and then steps outside his cubicle to stretch.  "I'm going to get a coffee.  Anyone want a brew?" he asks looking around the bridge.

"No, thanks." Ash responds to Tylen, holding up his own travel mug and taking a sip.  He continues to keep his eyes moving between the main tactical displays and his own console.  His fingers continue to glide over the panel, tracking the movements of nearby ship, the cluster of refueling military craft and the continually updating flight vector from the Phlume Port Authority.

"Roger that, Chief." he responds to Yasmine's 'request' that the crew use the buddy system when out and about.  It makes total sense, given the location (near the front) and the preponderance and presumed post-battle disposition of the military forces arrayed before them; if they are anything like he was back in the service - those boys (and girls) will be looking to blow off a lot of steam.  In both productive and non-productive ways.  "I'm not planning any personal excursions myself." the Profit Margin's navigator announces over the common channel, "but if anyone would like company or an escort, just let me know."

As the hull shudders slightly from the atmospheric resistance, Ash notes over the ship-wide channel, "We've just entered the upper atmosphere.  The ship should be landing in a couple of minutes.  Crew prepare for arrival."

With detailed nav instructions from Narindat Port Authority, Profit Margin descends into the atmosphere, lower and lower, swooping across a broad expanse of glittering water, dotted with green islands.  Ahead, land appears, a low, rounded mountain range rising almost directly from the ocean, and forming a narrow peninsula.  Some of the summits have the appearance of ancient volcanoes, but the vegetation covering their slopes speaks of their being long dormant.

There are lakes in the craters as the ship passes over, with houses around the shorelines and sailing boats plying the water.

And the ship swings towards the land end of the peninsula, where Narindat city sprawls, buildings of concrete, metal and glass mingling with scattered patches of forest.

And there... the starport.  The docking bays are open to the sky, as are the roadways between them, and there is a large open landing field for ships that are too big for the bays.  The port looks as though it could handle at least fifty or sixty ships at one time, but there are more like forty in port at the moment.

The landing instructions are clear and precise, bringing Profit Margin safely past other ships which are moving around the port.  She settles into a bay, safely surrounded by thick walls which rise some five metres above the concrete floor.

"Welcome to Narindat, Profit Margin.  A ground crew will be there to connect services shortly.  Please report to Customs if you have cargo to offload, or to the Broker's Room if you want to arrange for a cargo.  Both are located in the Main Concourse, which is some 300 metres east of your docking bay."

"The Main Concourse contains a wide variety of businesses, where goods and services are available at reasonable prices, without leaving the starport's boundary."

"Please enjoy your stay at Narindat."

"Thank you 'Control'," Jago says as he flicks through a number of switches across his panel, "good job every one," he adds for the crew, "I'm not sure yet how long we'll be staying here but we're not in a great hurry. The place looks nice and we might stay over for a few days R&R if it's suitable but please don't let on to the passengers until we're sure."

"Saskia, let me know when your free and we'll take a look at that probe."

Saskia gives her panel a quick check over, looking for anything that isn't marked by green lights.  Then, "Ready when you are Jago.  Everything's locked down here and the sooner we can get it fixed, the sooner we can all be laying by a pool sipping overpriced cocktails."

She stands up and stretches.  "I just need to grab my boots from my quarters on the way out."

Shui hands off a coffee to Tylen as he enters the galley, all properly prepared.  And fresh.  "Mr. Orgesh...right on time."  With her dataglove slaved to the intercom system, she catches the landing information, and slowly nods, flicking on her mic for a reply.  + Thank you, Captain Lanza.  I'll put any requests for clarification off for the moment. +

Off goes the intercom.  "Any plans for rest and relaxation, Mr. Orgesh?" She cocks an eyebrow.  "I understand there are fine restaurants in the starport area, but I am interested in seeking out some more cultural areas, rather than cosmopolitan.  And by suggestion of the Ship's Security Officer, we are not supposed to go anywhere alone."

Outside the ship, the gate of the docking bay opens to admit a groundcar marked in flourescent yellow and green, and with strobing orange lights on the roof.  The words "Port Services" are stencilled on the sides in black.

The vehicle rolls to a halt, and a four man crew gets out to start linking fuel, water and sewage lines, as well data and comms links.  As soon as the latter is connected, the comms panel lights up with offers to buy any cargo the ship is carrying, or to sell her captain merchandise to transport elsewhere.  All at the best possible rates, apparently.

The comms buffer starts to fill at an alarming rate, the computer automatically sorting the messages into various different files, depending on the content, and flagging them based on estimated urgency.

And at the bottom of the heap, assigned minimal priority, are a large number of messages offering all manner of goods and services which would probably be illegal on worlds with a higher Law Level.  Not to mention immoral, unethical, and foolhardy...

Generic quality imported medicines for sale.  Low prices.
Beautiful Zhodani brides are looking for husbands.
Ker Aghosh Vekto - Mangager First Vargr Bank of Deneb - Good Morrning.  Can You To Help Me Pleasse?
Bank of Rhylanor: Urgent - please confirm your account security details.

Ash sits quietly at his station, giving a slight salute to Jago as the Captain prepares to leave the bridge.  "Have fun." the Profit Margin's navigator notes off-hand as he patches the visual feeds from the internal and external sensor arrays to the various tactical displays.

He has the first duty watch.  So, Ash busies himself with double-checking the systems statuses making sure that everything that is supposed to be on standby is, in fact, in that state.  Then he sets some of the redundant systems into a mode running sets of sequential diagnostics.

Propping his feet up, the lanky ex-scout nurses his coffee mug in both hands as the projected light from monitors plays upon his face in the darkened space of the bridge.  He watches the data streams as the scroll by, while keeping an eye on the sensors.

And also watching to make sure that Jago and Saskia ... and the probe are all right.

With no cargo or passengers to unload, Jago doesn't have to worry Phlume's customs and immigration offices.  He goes through to Engineering with Saskia (who collects her footwear from her quarters on the way past), and from there up, through the dorsal lock, and on to the upper surface of the hull.

Walking to the stern of the ship, they study the probe.  The metal rod has been bent, quite severely, at a point close to the hull.  The bend is clean, and carries no evidence of weapons fire.  There are some odd scrapes and dents in the metal on the part where it is bent.

Ash watches the monitors at his post.  Mostly incoming messages from brokers and buyers, wondering if the ship would be willing to do business, plus a fair amount of potential scams, several of which offer to make the reader more attractive to members of the opposite gender, or genders, if the reader happens to be Droyne.

He also keeps an eye on the traffic bulletins, most of which seem to deal with the military ships picking up supplies and fuel at various points on the surface.  The majority of those are warnings to keep clear.

Saskia crouches at the edge of the hull to get a closer look at the probe.

"That's frelling weird.  I wonder what could have done - ah.  One of them flying drannits when we were refuelling.  Stupid frellnik must have tried to bite the probe."  She points to the scratches and pits in the metal.  "I reckon those are frelling tooth marks.  Something about the probe must have yelled "eat me" nice and loud."

Straightening up the engineer continues, "I can fix it anyway.  Easy enough to straighten out, just need to check the internal components for integrity and swap out any that have been damaged."

The probe does, indeed, look as if it has been damaged by an animal.  Saskia's best guess is that the aerial predators in the gas giant's atmosphere had some sort of electromagnetic sense - it would probably be a survival trait in that environment - and had bee attracted to the charge on the probe.  It either looked like a food source to be hunted, or a potential threat to be eliminated.

In the dorsal gunnery positions, Yas runs through the close down procedures for her weapons, and activates diagnostic and maintenance routines, intended to make sure the systems are in working order the next time they're needed...  Then she stands and stretches, working the kinks out of her muscles after sitting in the chair for so long.

In the galley, Shui and Tylen are engaged in a conversation regarding their plans for the stay on Phlume.

Tylen takes his coffee with a trademark grin and sips the freshly made brew carefully.  Not through any fear that something will be wrong with the coffee, of course.  Just the lingering fear of burning his lips on something that may still be too hot to drink.

"Cultural areas?"  he queries  "What sort of thing do you have in mind?"  he pauses for a moment as he sips his coffee again "Although with the  planet's description and the warning Yas gave us, I wouldn't be surprised to find that a shooting range counts as a local cultural area ...."  Although the wink says he might not be completely serious with that suggestion.

"You're likely correct," Shui replies, her momentary sour moue only partly joking.  But the humor is definitely there. "I'm more thinking of where the First Landing may have transpired, areas of historical significance...perhaps natural parkland, or beaches."  She sniffs. "I'm not one for spending hours and hours in a shopping mall." Keying her dataglove, she begins searching the local net for information regarding such possibilities - natural parks, historical sites of interest, quiet resorts, that kind of thing.

"Besides, Ms. Crow's warnings about the world hold merit, and most predators would likely be in the large cities close to the starports: the places where tourists with a great deal of money would wish to frequent."

Ash splits time between his console and the external sensor displays.  Upon Saskia's supposition about the nature of the damage to the antenna, a low priority data stream starts to run that collates the known references to creatures - especially lighter than air creatures - that have an affinity to electromagnetic and bioelectrical sources.  Interestingly, even certain Terran, predatory ocean dwelling swimmers were known to have such apparatus.  The phenomena is well documented and seemingly quite common...

A crooked smile crosses Ash's lips and a small chuckle escapes those same lips as he turns his attention back to scanning the incoming, local missives and solicitations.  "Junk ..." the lanky ex-scout mutters, "Lame junk ... " he pauses at the 'Droynigra' advert, "exotic, weird junk ..."  He leans back in his chair for a moment, then taps away at his console for a brief moment.

And the mail stream continues on, "More junk ... strange junk ... medical-oriented junk ..."  Into the (virtual) circular file.

"It would be good to spend some time outside." Tylen offers in response to Shui's suggestions.  "While I like the Margin, it would be nice to see something other than ship's walls."

With a couple of swipes of his fingers, Tylen uses his dataglove to pull up long range weather forecasts.  While the local weather is good at the moment, only the forecasters know what it will be like over the next few days.

As he does so, his eyes flick across the adverts.  "I bet Jago calls the guy from the First Vagr Bank.  It sounds just mysterious enough to interest him ...." he says in passing.

Shui's glove works for a surprisingly short time and finds... nothing.  Not even a connection to a local network, boyond the ship's own.  The only information it can access is what is being fed into Profit Margin's computer via the port's landline.  Which is mostly about the port itself, and the services it can provide.

Tylen has a similar issue with finding a weather forecast.  All he can get is the meteorological information which has been transferred to the ship.  The closest thing he can find to a long-term forecast is a statement tagged onto the current weather information, to the effect that, "the good weather is expected to continue for at least the next two or three days."

Jago glances at the message from Ash, "Might be a potential passenger or cargo.  I'll be right in Ash.  You can take a break if you like."

"Get on it Saskia.  If you need help with it, grab Ash or Tylen to give you a hand.  Let me know if you need to buy any parts or anything."  And the Captain turns to head for the dorsal hatch...

He sends a message to his Chief of Security as he goes, "Yas, can you meet me on the Bridge in a minute?  I might need an escort later."

Shui laughs quietly at Tylen's quip, but soon grows more serious, studying her dataglove.  "I seem to be locked out of the local net, assuming one actually exists," she finally concludes. "I wonder if it is the norm for this world, or if it is a result of so many military vessels in this space - perhaps they have shut down any such linkages."

Her frown deepens when she realizes that the ship itself isn't receiving any more than she is. "Very curious," the steward murmurs.  "Mr. Orgesh, is this a common security measure for the Navy?"

"I was never involved all that much with the Navy....." Tylen murmurs as he fiddles with his own data glove.  He frowns slightly as he concentrates on using the ship's systems to pull something more from the planet side connection.  "If nothing else, I should at least get  an error message or warning that tells us something."   He adds, finally, with a grin.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:28, Tue 28 Oct 2014.

Back on board, Jago slips into the familiar discomfort of his chair and flicks a few swithes.

“Lets see this mysterious message then,” he suggests to Ash as his screens come on line, “bypassing the filters you say, should I be impressed by that?”

Ash puts his feet down and sits up straighter when Jago reappears on the bridge.  He shrugs his shoulders slightly, when prompted by the Captain, and then starts tapping away on his dynamically configured console.  "Well, Boss," the lanky navigator concedes,  "our filters aren't that sophisticated.  But they were overhauled by the Navy when they went through and installed the avionics package."

He gave a sidelong glance in the direction of Jago, for a moment, pausing his slight narration, "They probably didn't want a denial of service to overwhelm the core.  Potential data loss."

"But this repeating message," and with a tap of Ash's thin fingers and it appears on the tactical screen, "isn't considered a threat..."  He reiterates, "It asks for you to meet at a hotel called 'the Saborian'.  Given it's frequency, the author seems quite insistent."

"I would have labeled it 'Junk' along with the Droyne gender enhancement pharmaceutical adverts.  Or the Flume Interstellar Bank funds laundering solicitation." Ash notes off-hand, "But we only got one of each of those..."

"Curious," Shui comments.  "And frustrating," she finally admits.  "This world might have made an interesting break from spaceports and shipwalls, but it seems we are once again confined...to the spaceport."  A small line appears between her fine brows for an instant. "Poor Ms. Taylor.  Well, without any means to determine places to visit, we shall have to make do with what we can discover.  Perhaps there are cultural centers in the spaceport area, or vistas."

She shrugs.  "Even tours of nearby habitats, or the like."

Stepping out of her little abode Yas makes her way over to Ash and peers over his shoulder.  "I'm sure no one here needs any enhancements, right?"  She grins where she stands near Ash's ear.

"So, boss, what you want?  Do tell me we are going out there somewhere, I could use stretching my legs a bit, and I could dress up nice in a place like this," she throws Jago's way, in case he has not noticed here being on the bridge where he wanted to see her.  Dressing up in her case naturally means more guns on her.

"OK, I'll play ball, any way of responding to this?"

Jago tinkers around with his console.

"Might be going out for lunch Yasmin, also nit would be nice to get the low down on this data blackout."

Jago studies the message, under the watchful eyes of his Security Chief...  He has several copies of it, and they are all identical: "Honoured Captain, please allow me to extend my apologies for this somewhat terse and perfunctory communique.  I have tried, to no avail, to secure passage on several vessels of late, and my need grows more urgent with each passing day.  My name is Sir Covan Draik OSC, and I am in urgent need of transport to Dinomn.  I would be pleased to discuss the terms of such passage upon your esteemed vessel at a location and time of your choosing.  I can be reached at the Saborian, and look forward to making your aquaintance." 
Shui and Tylen continue to have difficulty getting hold of tourist information.  Using the landline connection to the port brings plenty of official data, including flight paths and schedules for the Naval traffic travelling to and from orbit, weather updates (which don't change much), civilian traffic control bulletins, etc... but nothing that isn't being supplied by the Narindat Port Authority.

Tylen scowls, as it becomes clear that the land line feed is under tight control.  "I wonder what they are so worried about?" he comments to Shui as he moves to a console and sits down.  With more keys and controls available to him, as well as a more direct connection to the ship's computers Tylen starts fiddling.  "Lets see what else we can pick up."

Saskia retrieves a selection of tools from the storage lockers in Engineering.  She starts back for the airlock, then stops.  "High density air cooled adjuster!" she mutters, smiling, as she returns to the locker.  "Here we go."

Taking the large hammer from the bottom of the locker, she adds it to the other tools and goes back up to the "roof" of the ship.  Once there, she grips the the probe, just before the bend, with a hydrostatic torsion wrench, and activates the automated pressure calibration so that it will maintain a steady grip, then starts hammering at the rod itself with the "adjuster".

"You do realise, you farbotz piece of dren, that the harder you frelling make my job, the uglier you'll end up looking."

"Uh..." the lanky navigator of the Profit Margin ventures tentatively in answer to Jago's question about replying, "We could try to reply to the sending address."  He sound slightly skeptical, "Usually, with cold-call solicitations, the address will be a non-reply accepting system.  Especially, in a early - and rather archaic - implementation like this."

"However," Ash notes after a thoughtful pause, "In this case, it isn't exactly a cold-call or a solicitation.  They are looking for the Margin in particular.  I'd say just go for it."

"Huh," Ash muses aloud over the common crew channel, "how quaint."  He is still sorting the incoming electronic mail and such, even as chats.  "It seems that the local 'net' actually just a remedial patchwork of electronic connections."  He glances down at his wrist computer, then prompts the rest of the crew, "Anyone else seeing no wireless connection to their personal electronics?"

He follows up with an explanation of sorts for the query, "I suspect that the only pipe into the Phlume system network is through the fiber-optic cable that they just connected to the Margin through the port cables."  His tone sounds slightly irritated, but really more than just a bit bemused as he repeats, "Very quaint, indeed."  Phlume has some serious old school networking, it seems.  At least, in fairly extensive communications Ash's experience.

Shui's eyebrows rise up as Tylen begins working at the computer.  She moves over beside him, leaning casually against the edge of the console.  Her voice, however, carries a certain tension.  "I trust you're being...well, careful, Mr. Orgesh." It's concern in her words, not remonstration.  "If there is a lockdown due to the military's presence, I wouldn't want you to call the wrong kind of attention to yourself."

Her lips thin.  "The military does have a tendancy to act swiftly, without much care for due process." 

Tylen grins.  "Oh, I am not trying anything too outrageous -  I'm not that good." he says with a depreciating little lift of the eyebrow.  "Anyway, I am looking for old fashioned broadcast data rather than digging more deeply into their network." he says the broad grin returning to his face.  "You never know, they might have old fashioned TV or radio."

"But then, there might not be all that much outside of the cites.  It is warm, with a thick atmosphere and a lot of ocean.  It could just be muggy jungle out there ..." he adds after a moment's thought.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:55, Mon 03 Nov 2014.

On top of the ship, Saskia sets to work straightening out the probe so it can be retracted into its housing.  It is not a job requiring finesse and a delicate touch, but rather the liberal application of violence...

Shui and Tylen continue trying to solve the riddle of the lack of information from outside.  Eventually Tylen is able to pick up some radio signals on a ridiculously low frequency, which seem to consist mainly of broadcast music, some kind of sports results, and strictly local news.  Still, the signals do reveal that nobody is talking about any sort of blackout placed by the Navy task force in orbit...

Ash, meanwhile, may have discovered that nobody is talking about a blackout because there isn't one.  The inability to connect to any kind of global network looks to be due to Phlume simply not having the technology to support any such network.  All of the data that is reaching Profit Margin is being filtered through the port authority's own local network (and their landline) and is, as a result, restricted largely to content regarding port operations and shipping (including constantly updated reports on the movements of military vessels shuttling between the surface and low orbit).

Jago responds to the message, and gets a purely audio response.  "This is Covan Draik.  How may I help you?"

"Mr Draik, this is  Jago Lanza, captain of the 'Profit Margin', just returning your call."

As he talks, the captain ruefully surveys the bedraggled and sorry looking cigar and tries to remember when he actually unwrapped it. Sadly this one was a bit to far gone to light and he tips it into the incinerator chute and draws a new one from his shirt pocket.

Tylen pulls up planetary details again.  "ten cities and only about 7 million people.   Probably not all that much going on beyond any of the cities." he concludes.

After a moment's thought he turns to Shui "It looks like it might be a city break ..."

"Ah Captain.  Thank you for contacting me."  Draik sounds quite excited as he continues, "I paid the people at the port quite a bit of money to send the same message to every ship that came in.  I am, you see, quite desperate to get to Dinomn, as quickly as possible.  Unfortunately, having spoken to the captains of fifteen or sixteen craft over the last six days, I have had no success in finding a vessel travelling in that direction.  Would you happen to be going there?  If you are, and have space for a passenger, I would be glad to discuss the terms of my passage with you."

Tylen and Shui continue their discussion regarding possible leisure opportunities on Phlume.  A discussion made more difficult by the dearth of information reaching the ship regarding said opportunities.

Saskia's repair work continues, and gradually the bend in the probe seems to be straightening out.

"I hadn't planed on stopping at Dinomn but could make a detour," Jago says thoughtfully, "we can only manage jump two but could stop off at Extolay. We certainly have a berth free, is it just you?"

Viewing her handiwork critically, Saskia gives the probe a couple more thumps.  Then another couple, just for good measure.  It looks straight enough, but her efforts might all be in vain if the linkages inside have been damaged.  Unfortunately there had always been the chance that even if the probe worked, the act of straightening it out might break something.

So better to get it back to the right shape, then test it when no more work was needed.

So now she just needs to ramp up the power plant and jury rig a connection to the probe.  A simple lightning rod placed near the tip of the probe should encourage any charge fed into it to leave the ship.

"Easy.  A length of superconductor cable wrapped around a pole and pinned to the ground should work as a lightning rod."

But before that, she needs to check if the probe will retract or not.

"Apparantly so," Shui sighs. "I had hoped to get out and around, but no.  Not this trip."  She grimaces. "Cities like this...from what Yasmine says, it will likely have its crime and most people will be carrying weapons.  As in, private citizens, not security officers."

Not her favourite situation at all.

"What IS the preferred methodology?" she plaintively inquires.  "Do I then wear a weapon myself, in order to better fit in and to show I am no easy mark?  I only have a snub pistol, and I doubt this culture would take that seriously."  Her eyebrow rises. "That is not a veiled request for a larger weapon, Mr. Orgesh," she states with frustrated amusement.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:47, Mon 10 Nov 2014.

"Yes, I'm travelling alone.  A stop at Extolay would be entirely acceptable.  I am prepared to pay the standard rate for High Passage, if you are able to provide such a service.  If not, then Middle Passage will be sufficient." Draik confirms.  "If you want, we can meet to discuss terms here, at the Saborian, or at another place of your choosing."

Saskia's work on the probe is going quickly, and she will be able to start testing it soon.

And meanwhile, Shui and Tylen discuss what they can do in a situation where a world is somewhat backward, at least with respect to providing ready online access to tourist information.

Ash listens quietly to the conversation between Jago and the potential passenger, Draik.  He smirks slightly, apparently enough money will bribe you past all of the standard filters.

He dutifully pulls up the local jump map, which shows the nearby systems along the Spinward Main, and pushes the display to one of the tactical displays on the wall.  The lanky navigator highlights Dinomn and then the three possible two-hop routes through Extolay, Dinom, or Jenghe.  The physics cannot be denied, since the target system is three parsecs away and the Profit Margin only has a two parsec range per jump.

Ash has already roughed out the three sets of jump calculation, but starts the core crunching on the three scenarios already.  Obviously, their cargo will affect the calculation as well as defining the next destination.  But the ex-scout has found that a little bit of legwork upfront can save a real headache later.

Besides he has little else to do for the moment.  Ash takes his watch duty seriously enough.

Tylen grin broadly and bites back an innuendo about the size of his weapon before he responds more sensibly "Well, I'll wear my double rig and revolvers because that is what I would normally do in places like this.  However, I doubt everyone will be visibly armed." then he pauses for a moment "Well not in the same way as Yas will be." he adds with a grin.

"Perhaps we can get some video from inside the port, to see how the locals dress there.  Then once we are shore-side, we can make enquiries about the city and surrounding area to see what that is like?" he suggests.

"However, I wouldn't be surprised if Jago decided not to hang around here for too long." he adds after a moments fiddling with his data glove to see if he can get any live video feeds from the port..

"If it's just a simple passage in a standard state room that you need, then I don't think any further discussions are required, I'll be offering all our spare births before we leave, you have just reserved the first of them."

As he speaks Jago extracts the fresh cigar from its alloy tube and examines it critically.

"That said, I would like to join you in a drink at the Saborian, if you are agreeable. As you have been here a while you may be able to fill us in on the situation here."

The cigar seems to be satisfactory and the captain clips the end and draws deeply from it as he waits a replay.

Tylen´s effort is, once again, frustrated by the slightly too low tech level of Phlume.  If there are any cameras giving an overview of the port, they are not linked to any kind of network with a broadcast capability.  Presumably the security monitors for the area are all hard-wired into whatever serves as central hub.

He does, however, manage to pick up a TV channel showing some kind of drama.  The picture is low-resolution, monochrome, and not in any kind of 3D format... but the people he can see are wearing a wide variety of clothing.  There is even a brief shot of people on a beach, dressed in somewhat skimpier outfits.  In none of the images can he see many signs of obvious weapons.  A few people are clearly carrying assorted pistols and short blades, sometimes openly, but nobody seems to have anything larger.  With the exception of some men in uniforms outside the gate of some kind of facility, who are carrying what appear to be some kind of carbine or shotgun.

"That would be entirely agreeable." Covan Draik states, "When would you like to meet?  And will you be bringing anybody else with you?"

Ash starts running the calculations for Jumps to Extolay, Jenghe, and Dinon.  The first destination looks to be more likely, with a better quality port and a naval base in the system, and Dinon is probably the longshot, with inferior facilities.

And Saskia begins to prepare for testing of the probe.  The probe itself slides in and out of its housing repeatedly, with no resistance, so the engineer starts work on the makeshift lightning rod to test how the system deals with a charge...

"What do we have here?" Jago quickly scans the planetary data in response to Draik's enquiry, "thirty hour day hour day, it's just gone ten now, how about fourteen hundred hours, assuming you are here near the space port. I'll probably be accompanied by one other."

Shui holds back a sigh, as Tylen seems to be well-pleased with the carry rules.  "If we must," she grouses, struggling with an abnormally black mood.  While Tylen's subsequent speculations get her hopes up, the scene on the video camera dashes them. "Well," she dryly states. "Look at all of those pistols.  And knives.  Why would one need a knife if one has the capacity to carry a handgun?"

A shake of the head follows.  "Foolish question; in close proximity the knife can overwhelm the pistol.  How nice to see that people are accessorizing in accord with their preferred strategy for..."

Her voice trails off as she realizes she might offend.  The Steward rubs her forehead, stepping away from the vid feed and reaching out to briefly touch Tylen's arm.  "My apologies, Mr. Orgesh.  My mood is most foul...I shall do my best to ameliorate it, and be better company."  She runs her fingers through her hair then shakes them, as if banishing evil thoughts.

"It was what I was brought up with." he shrugs "And most nobody managed to kill anyone else." he says softly.  However his eyes narrow at the black and white video.  "Probably some sort of day time cop show. ... Or Jimmy Blonde, Secret Agent.  Or something like that."

But then his thoughts catch up a bit with his earlier ideas.  "or perhaps hardly anyone carries weapons inside the space port, but outside of that the land is dangerous?" he muses  "It was a bit like that on 'Ell.  Most of the fishermen were armed when they went out, and certainly all of the seal hunters.  But there weren't too many weapons on display in town.  Well, if you could call it a town"

He pauses for a moment before he continues.  "That's where the double rig comes from.  An old story about a seal hunter getting caught out by a Dino, only to be saved by his revolver.  After that it was fashionable to carry two ..."

Ash smirks slightly, the edges of his lips curling upwards as he listens to the exchange between Jago and Draik.  He's not trying to eavesdrop, per se.  Okay, maybe he is.  But, in his defense, it is an open call on the bridge.  And that is his assigned duty location.

His fingers continue to work the calculation displays and the Profit Margin's navigator assiduously keeps his gaze on his console.  But, he can't help wonder why Jago thinks that he is going to need a bodyguard.  Likely, the Captain will take Ms. Crow with him.  Of course, Ash will likely ask about it.  But only after the call is done...

"Excellent, Captain.  I'll make the arrangements with the hotel - a private dining room, with space for three, and I'll see that the reception desk is expecting you." Draik says, cheerfully.  "The Saborian is located just inside the port perimeter fence, close to the main admin building.  You should have no trouble finding it."

"I look forward to meeting you."

Ash carries on working on course calculations.  The destination systems are all close to each other, so the Jump points are tightly grouped, with similar Jump entry threshold values and insertion vectors. 

Shui and Tylen continue their conversation.  At least until there is an alert from Shui's dataglove.  One of the passenger's would like to speak with her.

"Likewise. Until fourteen hundred then."

Jago signs off his call and looks over to Ash, "a bit odd that, I wonder what the story here is. So, we'll be heading for 'Dinomn', we could go via 'Extolay' or 'Jenghe' but I'll  keep the options open until we know about cargo, other passengers and any relevant war related news."

The Captain rises from his seat and rolls his shoulders, "I've just got to get a new seat," he mumbles, mostly to himself.

A noncommittal shrug causes the thin ex-Scout's frame to shudder slightly when the Captain muses aloud about the ulterior motives of Draik.  It did seem strange to him as well, but Ash suspected that they would find out soon enough.

He nods to Jago's route selection (or rather non-selection) agreeing with the logic.  It makes total sense to wait to see what is available - Extolay may offer the best facilities.  But, if they could get a cargo that sold better off the beaten path, then that was the life of a tramp trader.  Ash knows that Jago is well aware of that; he owns the Profit Margin after all and has just made that choice to keep his options open.

It's no skin off of Ash's back to run the extra calculations.  It is only a few computer core cycles to burn.  The navigator does those sort of things for exercise to keep himself both fresh and occupied.

The lanky navigator opens his mouth, about to ask why the Captain felt the need for an escort.  Perhaps it was just a gut feeling, but inquiring minds wanted to know.  But then Ash notices a second angrily blinking light indicating another incoming call.  Tapping the dynamic display for the communications array, he puts on his 'professional' voice.  "Profit Margin" he announces dutifully, "Navigator Tescali.  How can I help you?"

"I hope you're correct, Mr. Orgesh."  She sighs.  "My experience in the past is that places without serious weapon laws usually have much higher murder rates than those with the laws.  But there can be exceptions." The steward cocks her head at his description of the reasoning of the double rig.  It makes sense and, honestly, if one is going to carry one handgun, having another doesn't make it any worse in her eyes.

Festooned with weaponry might be excessive, of course....

Her dataglove blurps, and Shui holds it up.  "Apologies, Mr. Orgesh.  Duty calls."  Opening up her alerts, she checks to see who it might be and if they want a face-to-face, or via comm.

If the latter, she answers immediately.

Everything looks good so far.  Now there's just the business of making sure the linkages haven't burned out.  Or been shattered.

There are some one metre bars in the utility locker, intended for use as reinforcing braces.  She can use them to construct a support structure for the superconductor cable that will act as a makeshift lightning rod.  Saskia sets to work getting the rods out of storage and welding them together to create a framework.

Corlan is on the other end of the connection when Shui answers, "Miss Tiesi, I was wondering if I could go ashore for a little while?  I'm thinking of taking a walk across to the Port Authority building.  I've noticed that there is no tourist information being fed to the ship's computer, probably due to insufficient technological development here, and it's been my experience that worlds where tourist information is not available online often have brochures and pamphlets available in somewhere in the starport."

Ash answers the comm signal, which is audio only again - a man's voice.  "Do I have the honour of speaking to the captain?  Before Ash can reply, he continues, "I represent Farreach Trading, and my company would be interested in 'first refusal' on any speculative cargo you intend to offload here.  We can offer the best prices you can get locally, paid in Imperial Credits, of course."

Saskia drags a stack of metal rods outside the ship, where she starts using a portable laser welder to assemble them into a simple framework to support the  home made lightning rod that she intends to use to test the probe's conductivity.  The rods aremeant for use in rapid construction, and the welder makes short work of connecting them together...

Shui smiles into the pickup - he can't see her, but it does change her voice in subtle ways. + Mr. DeSant.  Of course you may go ashore.  However, I would reccomend that you bring a crewmember with you - security reasons, a strong reccomendation from our own Yasmine Crow.  Perhaps myself, or Mr. Orgesh, or Ms. Crow herself? +

She frowns.  + In fact, I could go ashore with you immediately, if my other tasks are complete. + They are, she thinks. + I have noted the lack of information myself, and really should be finding these things out for the crew and passengers.  Would that be acceptable, Mr. DeSant? +

"Not bad."  Saskia steps back and views her handy work.  The frame is a tripod, with a cable tied around it and running across the field to a steel storage bin.  Then she goes back into the ship, extends the probe to its full length, which places the tip about five centimetres from the top of the frame.

She activates a surge of current from the fusion plant and watches the result on the external monitors.

At the thought of being the Captain, Ash lets slight chuckle echo over the comm link.  "No.. no, no." he begs off, "I'm just the navigator of the Profit Margin.  The Captain is on another line."

He glances over at Jago, to see if the Captain wants to take the call immediately or not, but in any case, Ash hedges his bets, "I can see to it that the Captain contacts you as soon as possible, if you leave your name and contact information with me."  He starts to tap away on one of his dynamic displays.  "Farreach Trading, you say?" he prompts the respresentative on the other end of the line as he starts to jot the company name down into a blank document program.

"My name is Allain Desoto, I'm a seniot buyer for Farreach Trading.  I can be reached here, on... "  Information comes over the external comm system, contact details, and more promises of "the best prices" for speculative trade goods.

Current flows out along the probe, and jumps to the conductor rod.  There is a flash, and the steel bin jumps about a metre into the air, before clattering back down on the hard, concrete surface of the landing field, where it lays, smoking...

"Can you give me a few minutes to get ready?  I'm really not dressed for an excursion.  If not, I can make my own way over to the Port Authority.  From what I can see on the external views, the building is only a short distance away, and clearly marked." Corlan replies.

Jago stands, stretching, then bends from side to side a little, trying to work an annoying kink out of his spine.  Yas, meanwhile, replays the conversation with Covan Draik, rechecking the details.

"Perhaps I could accompany you both?" Tylen suggests, directing a wink towards Shui.

+ Absolutely, Mr. DeSant, + Shui assures him. + I should get changed myself.  It should only take a few minutes as well. + She fires a sidelong glance at Tylen, appraising him.  "If you wish, Mr. Orgesh," she finally states after a suitably dramatic pause.  "I'm sure we would both be pleased by the company."

A smile appears and vanishes.  "I really should change, though.  Despite any thoughts to the contrary, I will be prepared in no more than five minutes.  Shall I meet you at the ramp?"

Arrangements made, she hurries for her quarters, flicking a holoswitch as she does and sending a call to Jago.  + Captain Lanza - Mr. DeSant wishes to consult Port Authority in the hopes of finding information about the world.  Both myself and Mr. Orgesh will accompany him; it shouldn't take long. +

Tylen nods and heads to his own cabin.  Once there he quickly dons an unobtrusive variant of his security guard uniform and slots a single revolver into the formal looking holster.

Checking himself over in the mirror elicits a small grin. The semi-formal style allows him to meet Shui half way.  Her distaste when he suggested wearing his double-rig earlier had been obvious, even though she had covered it quickly.

Once at the ramp head he reverts to form and finds a suitable packing case to lounge against.

Jago's eyebrows rise a fraction on hearing Allain Desoto's request and he signals Ash that he doesn't want to talk to the man.

"Good job Ash, I don't want to commit to anything until I have a better idea of the situation here," he says when the navigator has cut the connection.


"Very well Miss Tiesi, but everyone takes comms of course, can you organise something for Mr DeSant please," he responds to Shui's call.


After a few minuets consideration he smiles and asks, "fancy a run ashore Ash, and a few drinks at the Saborian?"

Glancing at Jago and noting his gesticulating, Ash dutifully took down Desoto's contact information and quickly closed off the comm link.  "My pleasure, boss." the thin ex-Scout noted with an incline of his head, the logic was more than reasonable.  He pushed the information over to Jago's inbox.  You know, just in case, the Captain decided to he needed it for some reason.

Then the Profit Margin's navigator went back to the escaperoute calculations, busying himself while the Captain answered Shui's request for shore leave.

Looking up from the multiple data stream on his console, Ash almost did a double take when Jago suggested that he accompany him to the Saborian to meet with Covan Draik.  "Ah..." he stammered slightly, "I'd be delighted, Boss.  My shift should be over by then."  Apparently, Jago wasn't expecting too much trouble; otherwise, he wouldn't have asked one of the lesser qualified marksman of the group to join him.

The trial of the newly straightened probe appears to have been a success, and the only casualty is a steel storage bin which will never threaten innocent visitors to the port again...

Jago rejects the offer from Farreach Trading, at least until he has a better idea of what other organisations are working at the port, and what they have to offer.  In the mean time, it looks as though Ash will have to find his best outfit, as he seems to be Jago's companion of choice for the trip to the Saborian. 

Shui and Tylen get ready to go ashore, then meet Corlan in the cargo hold.  The ramp drops with its customary friendly screech, and the trio descend to stand on the cracked concrete of the port.  The air smells... like air.  A little denser than usual, but definitely no major concerns.

Corlan points towards a building, not too far distant.  "That's the PA office."  Even without his identification, the words "PORT AUTHORITY" emblazoned across the face of the structure in Anglic and Bilanidin might have been a clue.

There are people moving nearby, many look like crew and passengers from other ships - the wide variety of clothing styles and materials indicate an equally diverse array of sources.

The passers-by that might be locals are all clad in safety colour coveralls.  Most likely port employees.

"Jago, I've fixed the probe.  No permanent damage," except for some minor port property, "and everything looks to be working fine." Saskia reports in.

"I'm just going to tidy up out here," and hide the evidence, "and as long as you have nothing else that needs doing urgently then I'm going to go off duty for an hour or so.  Probably take a look about.  See what they have here in the way of things to do."

+ Of course, Captain Lanza. +  Snagging a comm for Corlan, Shui heads for the ramp.  Once there, she frowns momentarily at the sight of Tylen's single pistol.  Because of her comments?  She'll have to rein in a touch in the future; she doesn't want him to feel uncomfortable.

At the same time, it's nice to see he made an effort.

"Mr. Orgesh, Mr. DeSant."  She's dressed in her customary tan pencil skirt, dark shirt, and tan jacket. "A comm, Mr. DeSant."  She winces as the ramp drops. "I realize it's only...a short distance," Shui continues, noting the position of the Port Authority office, "but captain's orders."

Handing Corlan the comm, she links arms with both men, automatically positioning herself on Tylen's left, Corlan's right.  "Shall we?"

The trio make their way across to the building.  It is an older style structure, built of concrete, steel and glass.  On many worlds it would probably be considered old fashioned, but here it is very likely state of the art.

They reach the glass doors, and stop... they don't appear to be functioning.  Perhaps the Port Authority is closed.  Then a man in spacer coveralls comes out of the building, manually pushing the door open to do so.  He nods a friendly greeting to Shui, Tylen and Corlan as he passes them.

Inside the building, the atrium is almost empty.  There are a few people about, mostly standing or walking in small groups, talking quietly among themselves for the most part.  Several large monitor screens are fixed to one wall, displaying traffic information and news in low resolution monochrome characters.  None of it seems any different from what they had been able to find out aboard Profit Margin.

"Look out for some kind of information point." Corlan suggests, "That would probably be the best place to find out about tourist spots, and the like."

Surprisingly enough, there are no running gunfights in the atrium.  Not even any fisticuffs...

Saskia starts tidying up.  Her repairs, and the subsequent tests have proven successful.  She dutifully stands the storage bin upright again, idly glancing at the contents.  Opening the lid, she finds that it contains sheets of printed paper fastened together in small groups, apparently local news and advertising.  A lot of them are charred, but she manages to find one group that is still readable, and haul it out.

Jago considers his options, as he realises that, if he goes ashore with Ash, and Shui and Tylen are already groundside... that leaves Yas and Saskia in charge of the ship...

"Excellent," Jago beams at his navigator, "I'm thinking of just a light lunch in what sounds like a reasonable hotel, with perhaps a little fact finding thrown in, a fairly pleasant occasion I hope."

"Yasmin," he goes on, turning his attention to the com link, "I'll be going ashore around 13.30 and I'd like you here to hold the fort, can you organise your activities around that, I'll only be a couple of hours?"

Tylen nods his greeting to the spacer who inadvertently shows them how the doors work  and mutters "Quaint ..." under his breath.

It has been quite a wile since he has seen doors like those on a star-port.  However, he still checks the place and people over in the way that security men do all over the place, because that is his job.  He doesn't make a big thing of it, just looks, remembers and learns as he goes.

He is not surprised, of course, that there are no gun fights  or even street fights - he was brought up on a world where many people went armed, and hardly anyone ever died. Still, he did look to see what weapons were in sight amongst the visitors to the space port.  Staff were a different matter, and wouldn't actually tell him a lot about the outside world.

"Real quiet ..." he comments to his companions  "I had thought it would be busier."

There is an information point.  A circular structure, about two metres tall, with several shelves running around the circumference.  The shelves are filled with leaflets and brochures, and on top of the structure is a slowly revolving sign which reads, "VISITOR INFORMATION" in the usual Anglic and Bilanidin.  The booklets provide an overview of local areas of natural beauty (beaches, hiking trails, lakes and rivers), sites of interest (government buildings, museums, art galleries), public transport information, and details of local customs and etiquette.

Yas looks up from where she studies the information about the proposed meeting, "No problem Jago.  All looks safe enough.  Seems legit."  The gunnery chief smiles at her captain.  And the hotel is close enough that I could shoot it from here, without too much collateral damage.

Saskia continues tidying up outside, cutting her framework into separate rods, disconnecting the superconductor, etc...

Shui nods in agreement to Tylen's assessment.  "Perhaps it is the presence of the military?" she inquires.  After all the information lockdown demonstrates there's something amiss.  Fortunately, they make the short trip without incident, and once inside find a wealth of information.  His comment about the doors makes her smile, a slightly wistful expression.  She wonders what he would think of her parents' house, with its similar portals and sliding windows.

She's out of touch with such things herself, after so many years away.

"Well, Mr. DeSant," she cheerfully begins upon finding the information point and its brochures.  "It appears we have discovered the secrets of the world.  And all in hardcopy."  Immediately, Shui begins claiming leaflets.  Not all of them, but enough to give her some actual reading material for a short time.

It appears she won't have to buy any souveniers from this world; the pamphlets will do just fine.

Tylen allows the other two to collect a selection of leaflets.  He stand quietly, smiling and occasionally pointing out one that they have missed, because he thinks might interest him.

However, he stays alert and aware of his surroundings,  Although he will take his time to look around - perhaps looking to see if there is another information point that might contain a different sort of information, of if there is a basic map of the starport displayed on a wall.

It only takes Tylen a few moments to spot the map.  A large, colourful image of the port and its adjacent "startown", including the perimeter fence and access roads, mounted on the wall and lit from behind, above a series of devices which are also fixed to the wall.

A closer examination of the devices reveals that they may be for communication - a small keypad and smaller display, both part of a box structure, plus a second piece attached to the first by a length of cable.  The whole device is enclosed by a smoothly curved transparent shell which looks as though it might be designed to partly surround the head and upper torso of a user, and provide some privacy.

Yas suddenly seems to have an afterthought, "Jago... don't forget to take comms and some kind of weapon with you.  Weapons look to be expected here, and you need to be able to call for backup, in the event that somebody decides to test how well you can use yours.  I'll keep the 'raft prepped while you're ashore, just in case you need an emergency extraction."  The smile that follows is dripping with sweetness...
This message had punctuation tweaked by the GM at 14:54, Sun 14 Dec 2014.

Not even looking up from his display, where the numbers from the intermediate astrogation calculations continue to stream by, Ash answers for both himself and the captain when Yas makes her security recommendations known.  "We won't forget, Chief." he reassures her, repeating for his own personal edification, "Comms and weapons.  Standby with emergency extraction."

Even if Ash is not the most accurate of marksman or the most violent of people, he appears to have no intention of being caught unarmed in a relatively lawless area like this one.  The lanky ex-Scout rubs his right knee absentmindedly as his focus remains on the datastreams before him.

Corlan works his way through the display of pamphlets with ruthless efficiency, rapidly picking out one of each, without actually checking to see what they are.  Plenty of that later, when he is safely aboard the ship and has is fellow passengers to discuss Phlume's tourist attractions with.

Which leaves him with just one more question, "Miss Tiesi, do you know how long we are likely to be here?"

Tylen, meanwhile, is standing a little way off and studying the map of the port. 

Yas nods her head absently at Ash's response.  Crew can be, automatically, expected to follow her instructions.  Jago is the one who might give her trouble.  Still with Tylen and Sushi out there already, and no emergency calls from them, it's entirely possible that the situation here is not that bad...

Saskia is almost finished with her work, and the subsequent clean up.  Two men in what look like they could be some sort of security uniforms nod to her as they pass the ship.

Tylen studies the map for a few moments then moves back to the others.

Jago is amused by Yasmin's insistence that he takes comms, as it's what he says every time anyone leaves the ship.

"No probs," he tells her with a smile, "I'll be in my cabin until then."

Saskia waves to the two men, and calls out, "Hey!  Do you two work around here?  Do you know where I can get something to drink and a bite to eat?"  She follows up with a friendly smile.  "If there is some kind of speciality, for the food or the drink, I'd be interested in trying that."

The food on the Margin is good, and all that, but she feels like something a bit different for lunch.

Jago returns to his quarters, having assured Yas that he'll remember the standing order about taking comms when leaving the ship, and the special order about weapons,  He glances at his desk as he passes, where a metal dish holds a hollow hemispherical bowl, which has a small sphere floating above it, revolving freely...  Both the bowl and the sphere are pale grey, and as the sphere turns, it emits a faint clicking sound. 

One of the security men keeps walking, albeit more slowly, though the other stops and returns Saskia's smile.  "There's a diner just over there."  He points to a gap between two buildings about 500 metres away.  "It's called Denek's.  They do a decent bochok sausage in caso gravy.  Their other stuff is pretty good too."

Tylen rejoins Shui and Corlan, who are comparing notes on the leaflets.  "This one looks interesting... a museum about the history of Phlume from the first survey mission to today.  They even have an IISS planetary survey drone on display." 

Yas looks at Ash as Jago leaves the bridge, and shrugs, "Have fun on your date with Jago." she says, offering the man a crooked grin.  A light starts blinking on the two panels.  Internal comms... passenger side, from the colour of it.  "You want to get that, or should I?"

"Apologies, Mr. DeSant.  I've been distracted of late."  Shui shakes her head.  "I shall inquire of the captain."  Back to the dataglove, and she sends a message off to Jago.

~ Pardon the email, Captain Lanza, but Mr. DeSant is inquiring as to exactly how long we intend to stay.  Do you have a firm number? ~

"That museum does sound like an interesting choice," she continues.  "I expect I'd like to visit it myself."  It's not often one finds an entire history of human habitation on a planet all nicely arranged in displays.

Ash runs his fingers through his short cropped hair, giving the Security Chief a slightly crooked, slightly beleaguered smile.  He opens his mouth as if to say something, but then closes it - apparently thinking better of whatever he was going to say.

Honestly, he'll have to ask Yasmine out later - since that is presumably what she is needling him for.  Now, is probably not the time.

The lanky navigator of the Profit Margin glances down at the holographic display console and the blinking light.  It appears to take the man a moment to process that alarm.  "Heh.  I'll get it." Ash states simply with a soft chuckle.  Then with a tap on the display, his tone cleans up, as well as his diction.  "Bridge here," he notes rather formally, "Ash on the line, how can I help you?"  Since, he doesn't know who is on the other end, though it is presumably either Eneris or Keryn, Ash having seen Corlan disembark with Shui and Tylen earlier, he keeps his greeting rather generic.

Keryn is on the other end of the line, and she sounds worried about something, "Ash?  You don't know where Yas is, do you?  I need to talk to her.  If she's too busy, or you can't find her, can somebody else come and talk to me, please."

Corlan nods, absently, his attention fixed mostly on one of the brochures.  "Interesting... this year marks five centuries since Phlume was first settled.  That's a little later than many of the other worlds in the Marches and, it says here, the original colony charter placed a strong emphasis on individual freedom and moral responsibility, both of which are still a major part of Phlume's society."

"Thanks.  I have no idea what bochok sausage is, or caso gravy, but I'll give them a try." Saskia waves her thanks to the uniformed man, and gives him another smile.

Some time off the ship, and something new to eat, might take her mind off the nightmares she's been having lately.  Dreams of falling.  And burning.  And being trapped.  She isn't sure what caused the terrible dreams, but she's hoping that bochok sausage in caso gravy might be the cure for what ails her.

Tylen nods along with Corlan's comments and smiles encouragingly as Shui indicates that she is interested in visiting the museum as well.  "That should be interesting." he comments slightly absently.

"If you have one of everything, perhaps we should make our way back to the ship?" he suggests "It is probably easier to sort through things in the comfort of the lounge ..."

If there are still leaflets to collect, Tylen will help collect them -  making sure that he gets any local or regional maps and any list of the major or high-tech retail outlets on, or close to, the starport.

"Ms. Taylor?" Ash responds to the female voice that comes up, blurting out, "Keryn?  What is wrong?"  Then he takes a deep breath himself, the lanky navigator had obviously been caught up in whatever emotional turmoil that the young passenger was experiencing; his innate fondness of the girl overcoming his professionalism.

"Of course," he states more evenly and calmly, regaining most of his composure, "I will inform, Ms. Crow...."  And Ash glances in the direction of the Profit Margin's Security Chief as he says so, "And someone will be right over to attend to you.  Is it a medical emergency?  Should I summon Ms. Tiesi, as well?"

Ash is pretty sure that Yasmine will want to respond to this herself, but he readies himself to get up just in case.  Muting the link to the passenger lounge, he starts to look up Shui's comm identifier, just in case as well.  Running a hand through his short-cropped hair, the thin ex-Scout noted rather dryly to Yasmine, "I guess, you should have taken the call, Ma'am..."  He raises an eyebrow as he gives her a sidelong glance and a slightly crooked smile, "Do you think that you will need backup?"  Perhaps not entirely appropriate, but a self-deprecating attempt at a humorous reference to the Chief's own recommended protocols off-ship, nonetheless

"No... it's not a medical emergency.  Or any kind of emergency, really.  I just need to speak to Yas, if possible.  Or somebody else." Keryn sounds... hesitant, as if unsure whether or not her request might be a breach of ship's protocols.

Tylen, Shui and Corlan grab a last few leaflets from the rack and start to make their way towards the exit.  Suddenly the windows of the building start to rattle, and there is a dull roar from somewhere outside.

The security officer, nods, "No problem, enjoy your meal."  He turns to leave, glancing at the damaged storage bin, without saying another word.  Then his attention is distracted by a loud roaring from overhead.  A quartet of Rampart fighters fly by, escorting a Naval shuttle which looks to be heading for a landing some distance across the field.

With a simple tap on one of the dynamic holographic buttons, the passenger commlink is unmuted.  "Of course, Ms. Taylor." Ash notes easily, slipping back into his professional demeanor to reassure the young woman, "Don't worry.  I will inform Ms. Crow, forthwith."

Putting the link back onto mute, he motions to Yasmine.  "Keryn appears to need your help, Ma'am." the thin navigator quips rather dutifully, "She requesting your personal presence."  He is a bit surprised that Yasmine isn't already on her way - given how protective she has been of the young, pregnant woman in the past.

"I'd taken it, but you seemed so eager I didn't have the heart to do so.  Interesting, though.  Me or somebody, but not you?  Might be girl stuff, so I better get there rather than taking it here," Yas teases, having watched Ash go through the motions.  "But call me Yas, unless you think I'm old enough to be your mum, please."

She gets up and barely manages to resist ruffling his hair, giving him a lopsided grin instead.

"On my way, Ker, be there in a moment," she calls in to the young woman.

"As for backup..." she trails off and stops in the doorway to give him a slow look over, "...maybe you can watch my back another time."  She chuckles as she turns her back for him to watch another time -- before she heads over post-haste to see what is up with Keryn.

A crooked smile crosses Ash's lips and he chuckles slightly at Yasmine's banter.  "No... eh, yes, Ma'..." he starts to stammer, then catches himself.  Of course, where his phrase leaves off, does in fact imply a matriarchal relationship between the two of them and he reddens appropriately.  Taking a deep breath, the lanky navigator tries to start over, "Yes, Yas."

As she turns to leave, the ex-Scout wishes her well, "Good luck."  It does appear to him that she will need it.  But then as she had noted, he isn't a girl; so, may be it just seems that way to him.

And then he dutifully watches the Security Chief's backside as it recedes down the hallway away from the bridge, before he turns back to his console.  Ash shakes his head ruefully, obviously flustered and frustrated that he is so flustered; he lets out a slightly beleaguered sigh and resumes his refinement of the various route calculations.

"Goodness!"  Shui blinks a few times, checking the area to see if alarms are going off, people are heading for cover, whatever.  "One of the hazards of being news to the spaceport?" she guesses.  She's not sure what that might have been, but it wasn't explosions.  More likely some sort of craft passing by, though what, the steward couldn't guess.

"Something flying past?"  Tylen hazards, a frown momentarily creasing his brow.  "We used to get that sort of noise on the scout base at 'Ell." he adds recalling his first few years in the ISS, as he tries to reassure both Shui and Corlan.

Then he continues towards the exit, to see if he can see what caused the racket.

"Doubt I need luck, but I guess it never hurts.  Better lucky than good, no?  Not that I'm saying I'm bad...  Well, not in that way, any way," Yas ends up almost calling in response as she makes her way from the bridge and through the crew area, the last few word almost laughed rather than spoken, evidently grinning although she never looks back.

In his cabin, Jago studies his alien thingamyjig with some interest, the little ticking noise as it rotates is unusual but somehow, comferting.

'We are not in a hurry Shuie,' he responds to the email, eventualy, 'if Corlan, or anyone else, has somthing they'd like to do we can acomodate them and I'll let you all know as soon as I establish any sort of time table.'

Yas makes her way across the hold to the passenger side lounge and Keryn's cabin, and hits the chime to let Keryn know she has a visitor.  Corlan is ashore, and Eneris is, presumably, in his quarters...  The lounge is deserted, the only sound the faint humming of the equipment that helps make the lives of the passenger's comfortable.

The door opens, and Yas steps, curiously, into the young woman's quarters... 

Tylen, Shui and Corlan step out into the open air, and can still hear the noise, now considerably muted.  They round the corner of the building, and can see, in the distance a shuttle descending to touch down on the landing field, while four fighters circle above it, like scavengers just waiting for something to die... 

Ash goes back to plotting Jump points and checking traffic advisories for Phlume, Dinomn, and points between.  Apart from the fairly standard caution warnings regarding the dangers of moving about close to a border during wartime, there doesn't seem to be anything too urgent or unusual.  A secondary display, with local news feeds, does get his attention though. 

Saskia continues with the last bit of tidying up, ignoring the growling of her stomach for the moment...

"Four Ramparts?" he says half questioningly as they walk back towards the ship.

"Ramparts?  Is that what they are?"

Corlan raises a hand to shade his eyes as he peers in the direction of the fighters.  "Interesting."

Ash leans forward in his seat as he continues to scan the local news feeds, actually pausing the stream of data as he leans forward.  He traces his finger on the dynamic display more than once.

Then he taps his earbud comm opening a commlink and pings Jago, "Cap'n." the lanky navigator starts off rather tentatively, "Sorry to bother you, but I think that you might be interested in one of the local news feed articles."  He pauses for a moment, but doesn't wait long before pushing a captured article to the Captain's inbox.  "Seems that one Mr. Covan Draik just became a major shareholder in a rather large zocci crystal mine." he summarizes for Jago, though he lets the Profit Margin's owner peruse the news article for more details at his leisure about the circumstances surrounding Draik inheriting the shares from his late father and the technical jargon concerning the importance of high-quality zocci crystals in j-drive manufacture for starships.

"We really might need the Chief's backup plan at the lunch meeting..." Ash quips softly.  There's no telling what sort of intrigue will be involved with a newly-minted corporate scion on a frontier world with a border war raging nearby...

Shui's eyebrows rise.  "Four fighters escorting a shuttle.  That seems...important." Vestiges of her training take note, filing this away as Something Important™.  A bleep from her dataglove garners her attention.  "Oh, Mr. DeSant - Captain Lanza informs me we don't have a set schedule.  As such, you should consider your choices, let him know, and he'll see if they fit."  She smiles.  "Hopefully you'll have the opportunity to get in some more comprehensive sightseeing."

Meanwhile, down in the Batcave in Keryn's quarters...


Na na na na na na na na... Yasmine!

Keryn listens to Yas' advice carefully, nodding at various key points, and giving verbal responses when it seems appropriate.  "I hadn't really thought about it in any great detail.  Nothing too big, certainly - that'd just make me nervous about whether or not I could handle it.  But, at the same time, a very small one would be defeating the whole point of the exercise.  Do you think I could find one here that'd be a good size for me, considering my very limited exposure to them?"


The shore party starts back across the field, at a leisurely pace.  The fighters are still circling above the shuttle, which seems to be offloading passengers, though the distance is too great to tell who they are.  Not too many of them anyway.  And a ground car is moving across the field towards them. 

Ash continues to read the news feed.

"Four fighters as an escort and a Limo to pick them up?  That sure is some one important.  Gonna be some sort of noble or high ranking officer." he says watching the  scene unfold for just a moment.  Then he becomes all business like, "I think we had best watch the rest of this on monitors from The Margin ..." he says as he starts to shepherd Shui and Corlan back towards the ship.

As he walks he opens up a comms connection  to the ship.  "Ash?  That was four Ramparts operating as an escort to a passenger shuttle that is being met by a Limo.  Might be an idea to make sure that Jago and Yas are aware ...."

Sparing the shuttle and its escorts no more than passing interest -- probably just some visiting brass, given an escort so that he could feel important -- Saskia finished what she was doing, then went back into the ship.

A quick check that everything was in order, then she went back to her quarters to get a weapon, some cash and a commlink, before putting a call through to the bridge.  "Going ashore for a bit.  Won't be long.  I'm armed and I've got a comm, so I can call in if I'm going to be home late."

Then she slipped a jacket on over her coverall before heading out to the diner she'd been told about.

Ash opens the line with Tylen's comm identifier.  "Four Ramparts?" he muses, as it takes him a moment to make the connection to the vehicle name, then acknowledges the request to inform that Captain and Security Chief, "Ah, of course.  Should we be expecting a VIP visit?"  It didn't sound as though the crew on shore leave were directly involved, but one never knew.

He tapped the external sensors to see if he could get a visual or sensory fix on the four airborne craft.  Even as he did so, he patched a message to Jago and Yasmine about the parade potentially coming their way - even if it wasn't coming to them specifically.

Splitting time between that and the article on Draik, the thin navigator sighs for a moment at the flurry of activity.  He highlights a section of the article for Jago to peruse.  Switching over to the link to the Captain's comm, he adds, "Seems that Covan Draik must present himself at Dinomn by year's end to claim his inheritance."  It did offer some context (and potentially bargaining leverage) to their meeting in a couple of hours.

"Thanks for that Ash, seems Mr Draik is a potentual power in these parts, if he makes it on time. I wonder what happens if he dosn't?"

As he cuts the link Jago considers his own question, he'd asked it retoricaly but, now it had been voiced it would fade away. If some one were trying to stop this man it might mean trouble for the Margin and was there any significance in the fact that none of the last sixteen ships were heading for Dinomn?

Kicking off his boots and heading for the shower the captain smiles, at least they'll have somthing to talk about over lunch.

"I hope not." Tylen responds to Ash's question concerning a VIP visit.  "I just like to be out of the way if the Big Boy's security team see something they don't like." the, perhaps over sensitive, security man responds.

Chuckling at Keryn's commentary, Yas nods a few times.

"Yeah, a small one isn't very satisfying, and too big is bad for other reasons, even if it looks impressive and scary at first, that's for sure.  Why don't we go 'shopping' and see if they haven't something you like?  It's not just the size, you know, it's how it feels in your hand and, of course, what you do with it."

"What's that, Ash?" she asks, barely suppressing a laugh at his timing.  "Probably just passing, but thanks for the heads-up, Mr T," she teases him before turning back to Keryn.

"Boys and their toys, eh?"

Keryn smiles happily, "I thought you'd never ask.  Just give me a few minutes to get ready."  And she starts pulling clothes from the storage bins, trying to find something both comfortable, and suitable for a walk around the starport.

Ash manages to pull up a view from the short range optical array... the shuttle sits on the ground, six people standing at the bottom of the gangway, while the fighters circle overhead.  The markings on the shuttle are definitely Imperial Navy - the sunburst on the hull is yellow, which is standard for Naval ships. 

Saskia leaves the ship, heading for her appointment with destiny (or, at least, with lunch).

She moves away from the ramp in the opposite direction to the one that Shui, Tylen and Corlan are approaching from.  Those three are still about two minutes out from the ship.

Jago turns on the shower and finishes getting undressed.  He holds a hand under the running water, appreciating the fact that it is at exactly the right temperature.  Behind him, the ticking stops, and when he turns there is a simple metal cylinder sitting, upright and immobile, in the dish on his desk...

"Did Mr. Tescali have any words of wisdom regarding the shuttle and defensive cordon?" Shui inquires as she walks.  Up ahead sits the Profit Margin, silent and safe.  So far, the trip to this world hasn't proved to be an onerous task, despite the laws.  Indeed, they've even come back with brochures.

Out of habit, her gaze wanders, ignoring specific points to avoid locking into them.  Instead, it shifts over generalities, movement...irregularities.  A habitual method of seeing the world, rather than conscious.

Moving across the field, Saskia sighs.  The boots always make her feel as if she has weights strapped to her feet, but it's a weight which has nothing to do with the mass of the footwear.  No matter what she wears on her feet, she always feels them dragging, slowing her pace and making her more clumsy.

Given a choice, she'd be out here barefoot.

But you never know about a strange port.  There could be broken glass, fragments of metal, or small biting animals.  All waiting to provide an unpleasant wound, infected with something incurable.

So the boots go on every time she leaves the ship.  And with them the misery of a purely imaginary hindrance.

The communicator is necessary, of course, but she'd rather have left the autopistol behind.  But then she'd have had Yas on her case.  So another weight, this one sitting in her pocket where it is almost invisible, at least.

She moves in among the first buildings, and stops to look in a storefront.  Clothes.  Second-hand ones, probably from off-world, judging by the wide variety of styles.  Perhaps she'll take a better look on her way back.  There might be something she likes.

She continues toward the diner.

Keryn's "few minutes" is about two.  She stands before Yas in a short coat and a calf-length dress... an outfit which would have been fashionable on Frenzie, about a year ago.  But now she's an interstellar traveller, and has no time to worry about fashion.  Which changes from world to world anyway.  "Ready when you are." she declares.

Saskia follows the street, pausing every so often when interesting businesses catch her eye - clothing stores, a place selling some sort of recorded media, in a format that she doesn't recognise, which does not, apparently, include any kind of visual element.

And then she spots the diner, on the ground floor of a four storey building, a garish sign declaring its presence. though the smell of cooking renders the sign irrelevant...

Ash starts two search spiraling out.  The first is based on Jago's musings: Who benefited most from Draik's failure to arrive in Dinomn?  It must not be that difficult to suss out; sixteen other tramp crews had determined it to be not worth the effort.  Of course, the Profit Margin was a cut above...  At least, that was the lanky navigator's story and he was sticking to it.

The second search was based on the short range visual feeds.  Ash sends feelers out to see who is due in town.

"++Imperial Diplomats arriving.++"  He pushed a picture of the couple disembarking from the shuttle and the male's highly decorated chest, "++That's a lot of hardware.++" he notes off-hand.  Of course, Ash might also be referring to the four very serious-looking security that are shadowing the two civilians.  "++Best to steer clear.++" he advises as a general warning over the common crew channel knowing that Yas is with Keryn and Shui and Tylen are with Corlan.  And Eneris is in his cabin (at least as far as he knows).

"Thank you computer" Jago says absently as he steps into the cascading water.

As the warmth washes over him he muses on how fond he'd become of that 'thingamajig' on his desk, he attributes it with intelligence and a sense of humour though there is no evidence of either, except that, he finds it rather amusing, that switch there, as he turned his back for instance.

Chuckling, the Captain sets to work with the shampoo and soap.

Seeing as Ash's sentiments echo his own, Tylen will continue on towards the Margin and encourage the other two to keep up.  "We should be able to get a decent view of what is going on on the lounge screens ..." he adds by way of encouragement.

AS Jago proceeds with his ablutions, Ash is busy on the Bridge, trying to get more information on both the potential passenger, and on the shuttle... 

Corlan seems only too happy to speed up a little, to keep pace with Tylen, and the group make good speed towards the ship, arriving at the bottom of the ramp entirely unscathed.

Entering the diner, Saskia is greeted by a young man, perhaps sixteen or eighteen years old, who hurries up to her as soon as she steps through the door.  The place doesn't appear very busy, with the handful of other customers seemingly outnumbered by the staff.  "Good day." he looks past the engineer, seeing nobody else with her, "We have plenty of space at the moment, so where would you like to sit?"

Keryn watches Yas for a moment, patiently, then, "I'm ready.  And I have a little money, so I should be able to pay for it if I need to."

"And there we are, Mr. DeSant - safe and sound!"  Relieved, Shui enters the ship, triggering her dataglove to give her a list of necessities for both of her jobs.  "I might have to go out again, shortly, in search of provisions and medical supplies.  Let me check my inventory."  She pauses, arching an eyebrow at Tylen.  "If I require an escort, Mr. Orgesh, I shall be certain to page you."

Yas looks at Keryn, smiling sweetly.  "Unfortunately you can't go ashore, because you don't have a weapon."  Then she laughs.  "Just kidding."

In the hold, Corlan thanks Shui and Tylen for their assistance, and heads back towards passenger territory with his horde of pamphlets."

You can almost see the triumphant smile over the link, as a stock government portrait of a woman that looks quite like the female portion of the couple in the external sensor feeds materializes over the common crew channel.  "++One Minister Serra Calos-Gann is slated to do a tour of military assets...++"  Being able to put a name with the face does seem to satisfy the lanky navigator's curiosity for the moment.

He continues to tap away on his display as the data continues to stream over a number of his displays.  Ash keeps splitting his attention between reading the various news and sensor feeds and refining the navigation calculations to various star systems as their next jump destinations.

I would be delighted to accompany you." Tylen offers with a grin and a slight bow.  "I think I will tag along with Corlan for the moment, to see if we can get pictures of the dignitaries on the lounge screens ... and to look at some of those pamphlets over his shoulder." he adds, perhaps revealing his real reason for going along.  "There might be somewhere suitable for a day trip, or even a weekend trip." he suggests mischievously to Shui.

"Yes, it seems to be quiet in here just now." Saskia replies, picking a seat near the window, so that she can see what's going on outside (in case anything is going on).  "I've been told that you make a good bochok sausage.  I'd like to try that, with whatever constitutes the usual trimmings and side dishes.  Oh, and I want to pay with Imperial credits, is that all right?"

Up goes the eyebrow again. "I would be pleased if you could find somewhere interesting for us to visit...and most pleased to accompany you."  And why not?  "For the moment, I believe I shall prepare for a short visit into the port, to see what kind of variety can be discovered.  We have sufficient supplies for our next trip, but it's always good to stock up on more than the basic, non-perishable things."  She offers a small smile, touching his arm. "I do need to put some changes into the menu."

"So," Shui states, heading for her cabin, "you only have a short window to peruse Mr. DeSant's trophies.  I shall be ready in about twenty minutes - enough time for a list and to dress for the occasion."

"I am already dressed for a shopping trip." he comments, although the twinkle in his eyes implies that he had been considering asking if he could keep Shui company as she dressed.  Instead he follows Corlan into the Passenger lounge and sets up a screen pulling images from the external cameras, so they can watch the VIP.

"Ash, I'm taking Keryn ashore to stretch her legs for a bit.  I'm armed, and have a comm.  If you let Jago leave without us, I will hunt you both down, even if I have to search every world in the Imperium, and make you suffer." Yas calls in to the Bridge, waits for confirmation, then opens the cabin door and gestures for Keryn to lead the way.

On the way through the passenger lounge, they pass Tylen, who is calling up external views on the screens, "Just escorting this dangerous trouble-maker off the ship.  Back soon."

Tylen's selected view shows a man and woman in civilian dress (though the man has a sizeable array of medals) getting into a ground car, while a quartet of guards (with uniforms and equipment which appear to match the profile of locally available tech) stand watch.  The car starts to drive  slowly away from the shuttle, and the guards hurry to fall in behind it.  The shuttle ramp lifts, in preparation for lift-off.

The waiter takes Saskia's order, and makes suggestions for side dishes and drinks that work well with bochok sausage.  With the order finalised, he heads of and returns a short while later with a plate of salad and a glass of something blue and steaming...

In his cabin, Jago steps out of the shower, and sees that the thing on his desk has changed again.  This time it has adopted the shape of a perfectly formed (if somewhat large) and translucent raindrop, hovering just a few centimetres above its dish.  Light from the desk lamp refracts through it, casting a rainbow on the wall.

Shui returns to her cabin and calls up an inventory of the ship's stores.  All of the basics are there, freeze-dried and compacted for reduce storage requirements, and she has small, but adequate, supplies of seasonings, spices and herbs to liven up the menu.  A quick search of the ship's library data doesn't provide much information on the local cuisine, beyond a quick mention of something called bochok sausage.  Phlume's lack of any kind of accessible network makes it impossible to contact local data sources.

It's good, Shui muses as she peeks into her files, that Tylen is still interested.  As yet, she remains uncertain where this is going between them, or what she, herself, expects out of it.  Isn't it enough that she's enjoying herself? she silently queries as her fingers run down a list of spices.

She doesn't know; choosing to do things for herself, to satisfy her own desires, that's new to her.

Sadly, the steward finds little to nothing for information, and rapidly gives up in frustration (frustration augmented, perhaps, by her own confusion).  Checking, she notes a lack of immediate issues requiring her attention and keys Tylen.

+ Mr Orgesh...if you have time, I shall apparently need to go to the spaceport and check the supplies situation myself. +  A small smile touches her lips for a moment.  + Hopefully you are free? +

The bochok sausage arrives last, and Saskia eyes it dubiously.  It isn't just the colour (a kind of greenish gray, with flecks of white) that worries her, but the smell of it isn't readily identifiable as anything recognisable.

She pokes at the dish with her knife and fork, noticing the slight rippling beneath the surface, then decides to try cutting a thin slice, just to taste it.  This proves to be impossible.  As soon as she applies pressure to the outer skin, it splits, and the contents spill out across the plate as a semi-liquid gravy-like sludge.  It's more gray than the outer surface, and has more flecks of white in it.

The smell is, well, indescribable.  Other than to say that it makes her eyes water.

Saskia signals the waiter.  "What's in this?  What's it made from?"

"Our bochok sausage is freshly made each day, using only the finest ingredients, including falaril egg, finely minced mixed meats, and bochok root steeped in salt water for a month, then dried and left to ferment."  After a moment's thought, he adds, "I must admit, it is an acquired taste.  One which I've... never acquired."

"People who enjoy it usually take it with some salt and a lot of vinegar."

Yas and Keryn step out from under the shadow of the ship and look about.  A few moments to orient themselves, and they set off towards the nearest buildings.  "If we can't find a dealer there, we can get directions to where we can find one."

From across the field there comes the sound of the shuttle taking off, and of the fighters adopting guard positions around it...

Tylen flicks through the brochures whilst keeping a weather eye on the progress of the VIP.  Rather than take any of the brochures away, he makes a note of any interesting places to visit, intending to pick up duplicates next time he goes ashore.  When Shui calls, he acknowledges his availability,  nods to Corlan, and with a jaunty grin makes his way to meet her.

Ash idly confirms the message from Yasmine, testing out her comm by responding over it, "Roger that, Chief.  I'll let the Captain know that you care."

He continues to watch the minister's retinue proceed through the port with a passing interest, but doesn't bother to remind the Profit Margin's First Officer or her charge about their presence, figuring that he doesn't want to be a nuisance and that Yasmine and Keryn are big girls.

And they will know soon enough, if anything is up.

"True, because they may not have that kind of shop here, as the first thing visitors see.  Might give the wrong impression and all that, you know, having such things on display for all to see, kids and other who aren't into such things," Yas cautions Keryn in case it turns out they have to walk a bit, especially to find a reputable one with no disgusting second-hand items.

As they walk she leans in to whisper into Keryn's ear. 

She winks and nudges Keryn with the elbow.

"Only half the planet?  From what I've heard, that must mean that you'd be going easy on them."

Yas and Keryn make their way across to the nearest cluster of structures which, as it turns out, is mainly devoted to port admin and the sale and fitting of smaller components for starships - fuel pumps, atmospheric filters, self-calibrating flux modulators (whatever they are) and a lot of other items that might be of more interest to Saskia than to the pair of intrepid shoppers.  Still, they are able to get some directions... one of the parts vendors is able to tell them, "Try outside the fence, you can find most things out there." and point them in the direction of a gate through the port perimeter.

And so they walk, and the conversation focusses on the object (or objects) of their quest, as Keryn attemps to use Yas' superior experience to her own advantage.  "So, should we look for a big one, or would something smaller do for now?"

Through the gate, where a bored looking security officer waves them through, and out into the bustling township which lays adjacent to the port.

Technically they are no longer in Imperial territory.  Everything beyond the fence belongs to the government of Phlume or, since that government is a participating democracy, to the people themselves.

Aboard the ship, Shui and Tylen meet up for their own shopping trip.   Food and beverages, for the most part, in small quantities.  Just enough to spice up the menu for the next week in Jump, and (depending on how well things keep) perhaps a little longer.

Jago finishes cleaning himself up, in preparation for his lunch date.

Ash sits on the Bridge, rechecking his Jump calculations.  Shaving off a decimal place here, and an hour or or so there.  He studiously avoids looking at the pre-calculated courses in the ship's navcomp, preferring to leave the comparison of his own figures and the built-ins until he's finished.  Professional pride...

As he works, he listens to the local comm traffic with half an ear.  Traffic control, some chatter from the Navy pilots, occasional bleed-over from music stations as atmospheric conditions shift at high altitudes...

Saskia sits in the diner and studies her bochok sausage, while the waiter advises her on the best way to eat it.  "Scoop up a mouthful, along with a little of the pickle, and some of the beans.  The three complement each other, you see.  Each one brings out the best in the other two."

With a shrug, Saskia looks up at the kid.  "I don't suppose anybody has frelling died from eating this, right?"

Then, without waiting for a response, she pours on plenty of vinegar and salt, before scraping together a little of the sausage, the pickle and the beans and lifting the combination into her mouth.

She closes her eyes and waits to die.  Chewing is just something to do to pass the time until the hammer falls.

"Well, Mr. Orgesh."  Pleased that he can join her - she wouldn't object to other friends escorting her, but this has its own perks - Shui offers a small bow.  "Shall we go?  I have a mind to visit every possible store the spaceport offers that carries consumables.  If the reports I read of the sausages here are accurate, I fear we will need to do so for any kind of viable variety."

She makes a face. "I found a recipe for the local delicacy.  Please do not eat the sausage, Mr. Orgesh.  I would be forced to then put on my 'Ship Doctor' hat.  And no, it would not be enjoyable."

The steward motions to the exit, sighing.  "Stomach pumps might be involved."

Saskia doesn't die...

Shui and Tylen look around, then head for another cluster of buildings, one which seems, from the bright signs on the structures, to contain a number of commercial establishments.  It doesn't take them long to locate a kind of indoor food market.

It also doesn't take Yas and Keryn long to locate the sort of establishment that they're seeking.  They make their way past the security man on duty outside, and through the entrance.

Refreshed and clean shaven, Jago returns to the bridge, his cloths are clean and he's even given his bomber jacket has had a wipe over.

"Anything happening?" he askes as he drops into his chair, more out of habit then any desire to study the instruments, he dose so anyway, also out of habit.

"Oh?  So what goes into this sausage to make it such a formidable beast?" Tylen asks as they walk.  Once in the food market, he lets Shui take the lead and guide them around the stall, while he keeps an eye out for people, events and anything else of interest.

"I am...unsure," Shui replies, moving into the food market.  She takes a moment to get acquainted with the area before beginning her first pass of its stalls.  One to check, a second to purchase; it's how she does things, in her search for the best items.  Quality comes before price; she has a fair amount of her own money squirrelled away, and is perfectly willing to pay a little extra from that to get top quality for the crew.

"To be honest, I'm afraid to ask.  I only know that the reviews of such a 'delicacy' are less-than complimentary," she continues.  "That leads to speculation as to the ingredients.  I find myself wondering if they might be 'local meat plus whatever happens to be on-hand.'"

"A solid argument for my own diet," the woman mutters, dropping into a crouch to survey some vegetables at eye-level.

"This is," Saskia starts, and then stops for a second, while she thinks of a suitable adjective, "delicious.  A bit of a sharp flavor, but I could get used to it.  And hot.  Spicy."

Another mouthful, and then, "It's good.  Better than it looks.  And definitely better than it smells."

"It makes me think of Dock Dumplings back on 'Ell.  Made from the leavings of the fishery works and a mixture of hydroponic  .. err ... stuff."  Tylen comments.  "They were edible, and didn't  taste too bad.   Just that once I grew up enough to realise how they were made ..."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:16, Sun 08 Feb 2015.

"Yeah, only half.  I'm not really in the right mood today," Yas retorts with a wicked grin.

Once it is clear that they need to head outside the fence, Yas goes on a higher level of alert without a single conscious thought, but even so she winks at Keryn as she poses her question.  "As large as you are comfortable that you can handle, of course!  Nothing quite like the feeling when you grab it with both hands, believe me."

When they finally enter the building of their desires Yas cannot help but wink at the security man, starting to get a bit excited already.

"Now then, let's see what they got on offer...  Oh, look, over there, that one looks yummy, no?" she elbows Keyrn -- gently, of course -- while pointing out the target she locked onto.  "Oh, and protection.  We should get you some of that too.  I'm sure that's available somewhere here, usually is in places like this.  Not just for avoiding getting banged up, you know!"

"That was always the trouble." The waiter says, with a grin, "I could never get past the smell.  I could close my eyes, so the sight of it wasn't really an issue... but the smell was something else entirely.  I'd heard that the flavour was better, but never managed to make myself test it."

"I'll leave you to your meal.  Call if you want anything else."

The food market comprises a single building, with a single long corridor forming a rectangle lined on both sides with numerous businesses.  In the centre of the building, reached by short passageways from the corridor, is a large hall, with a metal framed transparent roof, and many small stalls which seem to be independent from the larger businesses in the surrounding corridor.

The various establishments sell a variety of products, some of them familiar (such as different cuts of groat, skymelon (named for its pale blue interior) and agadua flour) and many more which seem to be local products.  The foods are being sold either raw or cooked, and the air, particularly in the central hall, is filled with clashing aromas of food being prepared.  As Shui and Tylen make their way between the stalls, their senses are assailed by wave after wave of olfactory stimuli.

Yas and Keryn find themselves in a room much smaller than the food market, and darker (due to the lack of windows), except for the brightly lit cases around the walls, were the wares are displayed.  A short man steps out of the gloom.  "Good day, ladies.  What can Quinn's help you with today?" 

Ash looks at Jago and shakes his head, "Yas has taken Keryn for a walk, and Shui and Tylen have gone shopping.  Saskia's also gone out.  Apart from that, it's all quiet."

"So, how were they..." Shui trails off, turning away from examining some sky melons.  "No, let us not go in that direction. Some mysteries are best to remain so." Ugh.  It's probably something hideous.  Most 'regional delicacies' are.

She picks her way over the merchandise.  The plan is to purchase a small amount of things that cannot be frozen for the next few days, and add a greater amount of non-perishable food to her larder for the trip.  She moves slowly, taking her time; better to be meticulous than to purchase something she'll need to throw out.

And she follows her nose, searching for the best smells.  It's always possible to learn something new.

"This young lady is looking for something that is right for her.  Something she can handle, but nothing too small, of course," Yas replies to the short man, for now not letting her own experience with these things get in the way of the salesman.  She wants to see what he suggests, judge whether or not she has to step up and take charge.

"What do you say, see anything you like the look of?" she asks Keryn innocently enough, if there is such a thing when it comes to dealing with these... particular items.

After giving the rundown on the crew status, Ash noted, "Oh and I think that Minister Serra Calos-Gann and her escort have now passed by with the requisite fanfare."  He seems more than willing to replay the drive-by should Jago want it.  Yes, it is that exciting.  Or rather, yes, the rest of the duty watch is that mundane.

The calculation streams are still scrolling by on his display, causing the inconsistent white glow across his face to continually shift.  "Still nothing substantive on my search for actual players in opposition to Mr. Draik." he muses slightly puzzled that it is taking so long, "Either it will be a cake walk getting to Dinomn," though somehow his tone seems a touch skeptical, "or Draik's potential enemies are very well connected..."  Ash didn't feel the need to elaborate on that end; he was sure that Jago had an active enough imagination.

Tylen is happy to leave the food shopping to Shui, as the limit to his culinary skills generally involves restaurants or buying prepared meals and heating them to the requisite temperatures. Although he does pride himself on his ability to get prepared meals to a properly suitable temperature.    Sure he can scramble a couple of eggs and manage to not burn toast -  but that is about it.

Instead he watches the flow of people around the market, although with minor small talk about the occasional vegetable he either recognises or finds unusual.

"I think I have just the thing over here." the short man gestures towards the far end of the room, "Small enough to be easily handled, without being too small for satisfactory performance.  These are all fairly standard, but if you want something a bit special, I have one of these in stock - completely safe and easy to use, and with a rechargeable battery pack, that's good for extended use." 

Ash watches the display for a few moments, though nothing comes in about Draik, beyond the basic news that he's already seen.  Phlume's limited data network strikes again. 

The market place seems to have plenty of fresh goods to offer, and the vendors are happy to offer advice on which items can, and cannot, be frozen.  The sky melons, for example, will actually deteriorate quite rapidly if the temperature drops too low, so they're only edible for, at most, a couple of days after purchase.  The aguada flower, on the other hand, can be safely kept for months and can be used in the preparation of fresh bread, pastries, and various sauces.

For some reason, Tylen isn't surprised that the Sky Melon doesn't travel well.  Not that he knows anything about cooking, but that just feels right.  The concept of the long life Aguada Flower making bread does surprise him initially, although logically he can see no reason why a flower couldn't contain a heavy load of the right sort of starches.  Interesting ....

As they walk Tylen talks about the information he has picked up from Corlan's leaflets.  "There is some sort of zoological preserve some twenty kilometres from here.  It has a good collection of local animals with a few 'exotics' from other close-by worlds.  I'm not sure how much of it is zoo, with animals in small cages and pens, or how much is nature Reserve - with creatures allowed to roam freely." he admits.

"And there is some sort of beach resort - about an hour by air raft.  On an island, surrounded by seas, beaches and fishing opportunities." he adds as a second option.  "That sounds a bit like they tried to turn 'Ell into." he adds after a moment.  "I hope it worked out for these guys ..." he leaves it trailing, well aware that it didn't work out particularly well for Lopiengeta.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:49, Sun 15 Feb 2015.

Saskia nods thoughtfully, "Yeah, the smell almost put me off.  I'm glad I stuck with it though.  Once everything was mixed together, the taste wasn't too bad."  To demonstrate that she isn't lying, she takes another mixed mouthful.  "Pretty good, in fact."

As the server leaves her to enjoy her meal she settles down to do exactly that.

No, indeed.  Not bad at all.

Pleased, Shui continues to purchase while taking notes near-continuously, whispered into her dataglove.  It's quicker than transcribing the information; she'll do that later.

"Those do sound like a pair of good choices, Mr. Orgesh," she replies as she walks, making orders for delivery whenever possible.  It's better than burdening poor Tylen with most of her packages.  "So long as it's a preserve and not a zoo, I would be pleased to visit.  And the beach?  If time permits, it sounds like a wonderful diversion."

Her eyes narrow in thought.  "However, I wonder if we are allowed to leave the spaceport at present.  There is an information lockdown.  Presumably that would also apply to people leaving the site, gathering information, then returning.  What do you think?"

"Information Lockdown?  Or just low tech comms?" he suggests to the Doctor.  "More likely that Jago will cancel shore leave as he discovers the pressing need to take his new rich passenger off planet really quickly ..." he adds, as he looks at a strange shaped vegetable thing.  "What's that?" he asks the vendor?

The vendor picks up the vegetable, "Valo root.  Chop it into thin slices and drop it in a stew with groat, or just about any other sort of meat.  Economical too - just take as much as you want and save the rest in a cool dry place.  Then, when you want more, you just take off the exposed end and throw it away, then slice up the rest."  He offers Tylen a small piece of the root to taste. 

While Shui and Tylen speculate on the probability of being allowed to leave the port, Yas and Keryn have done just that, and are currently engaged in a little trade of their own with one of the locals outside the perimeter fence.

As Saskia finds her lunch surprisingly tasty, it is interrupted by a group of three somewhat noisy youths who enter the diner and start calling out for the waiter's attention.  The language they are using is entirely unfamiliar to the Engineer, but most of the words seem to be loud.  "Hej, jokta, ko pri tri specij irigo?"

Aboard the ship, Jago looks at Ash's news feeds, scrutinising them closely, "Ah, some local official coming back from a visit to the Navy boys in orbit.  Nice.  Hope they fed her well on the tax payer's Credit."

"So you haven't found anything on Draik's rivals?  Interesting, but not that surprising, considering the tech level here.  If there is any information on them, it's probably all recorded in pictographs on cured groat skins."

Ash purses his lips, nodding to Jago's general assessment of the local networking (to liberally apply the term) technology.  "Yeah, cured groat usually gums up the the fiber optic cable..." the navigator chuckles.

"But," he pauses for a moment, as a secondary news stream flutters by he field of view.  With a simple tap of the fingers reverses then stops the scrolling stream, Ash then continues, "the skinny from Dinomn says here that there may be some fairly big players in the game.  Armed mercs and overt violence doesn't appear to be out of the question."  The group needed to go into the situation with eyes open.

"Seems that situation might have been considered by some to be 'too hot to handle'..." the lanky ex-scout mused, running his fingers through his close cropped hair for a moment before glancing Jago's way.  At least, the previous sixteen parties that Draik had approached may have felt that way...

"I do like that," Shui muses regarding the Valo roots.  "Which ones are good, sir?  Can they be delivered?"  She studies Tylen to ascertain his reaction.  Pleasure is good.  Surprise is good.  Sour or bitter-faces are also good - that kind of reaction indicates strong flavour, which is good for something used as an ingredient in a larger dish.

About the only bad reaction is immediate gagging and spitting, and that will simply necessitate a test of her own.

If it turns out well, she'll lay in for a larger order.

She pauses in consideration of Tylen's words. "That's true," Shui murmurs.  "I hadn't considered that."  Her father would be upset with her for such a failure.  Turning back to the seller, she offers a small smile. "Sir, I was wondering...what is the situation in the spaceport?"  The steward makes a small, helpless gesture.  "We can't seem to access information, and there is military everywhere."

Hopefully her choice of words will strike a chord with a member of an apparently free-thinking society.

Tylen chews the offered root slowly, as if he only want to taste a little bit of the juice.  However, when  the flavour does come through, he cocks an eyebrow and chews for a bit longer.  "Sweet, but smoky.  Not what I was expecting." he admits to the vendor with as grin "Not at all bad." he adds with a wink to Shui.

Then he continues to chew as he waits for the vendor to respond to Shui's question.

Saskia continues eating, though not so quickly now.  Trying to stretch out the meal as she quietly observes the kids from the corner of her eye.  They could be trouble, she realises, and decides to keep an eye on them for the moment.

She has her gun, of course, in case they try to start anything.  But now she thinks of it, she can't honestly remember if it's loaded or not.  She doesn't keep it loaded in her locker, and has no recollection of putting in any ammunition before leaving.  She may have done so, but she doesn't remember with any certainty, having been thinking about lunch at the time.

And pulling the gun out here to check it would probably not be a good plan.  Sitting quietly and hoping to bluff the kids if it comes down to it sounds like a far better option.

Jago nods thoughtfully, "Hmmm...  Well we can ask him about it when we meet.  Talking of which, I suppose we should think about getting to our meeting, we've got an hour.  If you want to get changed, or anything, I can take the Bridge."

"The red ones are ripe," the vendor replies, "the brighter the better... the darker coloured ones are getting older and won't keep as long, but some people prefer them that way.  The greenish ones at the front aren't ripe yet.  They'll keep the longest, but won't taste too pleasant for another three or four days."

"Whether or not I can deliver them depends on how far?"

The noisy trio place their orders, chattering away in their strange language and laughing a lot.  "Atatu apadera, likhale mofulumira."

The waiter makes no move towards them, instead he replies quietly, "I thought the manager told you that you were barred.  He's not here today, so I'm prepared to serve you, but you'll need to pay up front."

Oh, this is bad.

Saskia sits quietly, trying to be invisible.  Not easy, considering how few people are in the restaurant.

I could call for Yas to come and help, but by the time she got here, I'd probably be dead.

The Engineer thinks, desparate to come up with a plan that could save her injury or death should trouble start.  And then, it happens.  An idea.  Not necessarily her best, but it might be good enough.

"Here it is!  Their money, I mean.  I'll pay for their food, on one condition -- I'm fed up with frelling sitting alone.  If you three want to share a table and talk to me, I'll buy you lunch."

"A vote of confidence," Shui notes with a smile for Tylen.  "There you have it.  I think I'll need a mix - a few ripe, mostly not.  As for delivery, I require them for a ship at the spaceport." She inclines her head with another smile, this one for the vendor. "Would that be possible?"

"I'm not sure battery operated is the best to start with.  A simple, reliable manual one would probably be best for a beginner," Yas broods briefly and starts looking over items fitting that general description.

"So, anyone in particular you like the looks of?  Colour, shape, anything?  I can advise you from there, or suggest a few for you," she says to Keryn, watching the younger woman as she waits for an answer.

The three youths look at each other, then at Saskia, before huddling their heads together briefly.  One lifts his head to look at the engineer, before ducking down again, and Saskia hears the words "bochok sosis" spoken two or three times.

Then one, the self-appointed spokesman, stands and says in heavily accented Anglic, "We would to be pleased.  You offworldie, yes?  And you are eating bochok sausage?  Very brave.  Not so many offworldies will have stomachs to eat it."

He grins from ear to ear, "We would to be pleased to call you friend.  I am named Knifes, he is One-Two-Cut, and that one is Dog Boy."

Keryn studies the merchandise on offer, perfectly happy to let Yas point her in the right general direction.  Eventually she points to one that takes her fancy.  "That one looks nice." 

"Oh, in the port.  That's no problem.  I can have somebody bring them over there today." the vendor smiles cheerfully, "Sorry, I had visions of you saying somewhere a hundred kilometres away, or something.  But here, in the port.  That's easy."

"Oh?  So what is a hundred Kilometres away?" Tylen asks without thinking.

"Thank you, Cap'n." Ash nods and stands to stretch for a moment, "It shouldn't take me more than a couple of minutes to get ready."  He locks his console before turning away.  The lanky navigator doesn't really have anything much more formal and he doesn't plan to shower beforehand, only wash his face really.

He trundles off to his quarters and true to his word reappears just under five minutes later wearing his well-worn, oilskin duster.  His hair might have been washed, but it was tough to tell given that it there wasn't that much there to start with.  Ash has quickly shaved; so, no stubble lines his pale chin.

"Ready when you are, Boss." he intones, then quips rather lightheartedly, "Anything exciting happen while I was gone?"

Riiiiight.  Interesting names.

Saskia beckons for her guests to be seated.  "So what do you want to eat?  Bochok sausage?

"Yes, I'm from a ship.  Engineering department.  Landed today and thought I'd grab myself something to eat."

She waits, while they order their food.

"So what about you?  What do you do around here?"

"Wonderful!"  Shui barely refrains from clapping her hands in delight.  It's the small things that she enjoys these days.  Larger concerns are best left to the people in the position to influence such things.  "I will give you the bay number and ship name, sir, and will look forward to the arrival of your goods."  She offers a small bow. "Shui Tiesi, ship's steward and doctor."

Tylen takes an interesting tack with his question; Shui hadn't considered it that way, but maybe there IS a reason the vendor chose that particular distance rather than just as some arbitrary number.  So she waits to see if there's a solid reason - a solid reason they, themselves, might find interesting.

The vendor shrugs, "I don't know.  Was just a nice round number.  Maybe some farms or a small settlement, there's a few of them scattered about."

He notes down the details of the ship's location on the landing field, then says, after some calculation, "That'll be 75 credits, Imperial, including taxes.  Do you want to pay now, or will you pay on delivery?"

Jago nods as Ash returns, "That was quicker than I expected.  Probably getting too used to the women on the ship.  Yas takes forever to get changed.  Always has to make sure she has the right gun to accessorise her outfit."

The unlit cigar travels from one side of his mouth to the other, then back again, in a desperate attempt to conceal his smile.  "And with the amount of the things that she has, it takes her forever to choose."

"Shall we get going?  I'd rather be early than late."

The youths look at each other, grinning, as the food arrives - something called "house specials" for all of them, and some sort carbonated soft drink - then Knifes replies, "We does what we want.  Nobody can to stop us.  We are... I have not the word in offworldie... we are puntako korrikalaria.  Not like other, live on outside."

Dog Boy interrupts.  "Him mean we no to confirm... no... not right... con-form.  We no to conform with others.  Live own way."

Tylen shrugs and grins  "OK.  We were looking for somewhere to visit, so I guess that just triggered the question." he says apologetically, as he waits for Shui to complete her purchases.  "So where would recommend for a visit?" he  asks the trader "Considering that we may not be here all that long.  Our captain working in strange and wondrous ways sometimes." he says with a wink for the vendor.

Ash shrugs slightly, then nods to Jago's request to be early, "Of course, Boss."  He gestures for the Captain of the Profit Margin to take the lead, ready to fall in immediately behind him.

As the lanky navigator starts walking towards the door to the crew lounge, he postulates, "Presumably, we'll catch a cab to get there?  Should I try to call in for one?"  Ash starts to pull up companies on his wrist comp, feeding the results to his eyepiece.

"It sure is... colourful.  But functional, that's what matters.  A bit small for me, but should be a good starter for you.  Easy to wear under your clothes without anyone noticing it, even," Yas comments, the lopsided grin growing towards the end, nudging Keryn teasingly.  "Plus, you won't set off any detectors easily with these material, that could be embarrassing otherwise..."

She turns to the salesman to negotiate a price, if he seems the kind to consider bartering a requirement as opposed to an insult.  Never know what culture have been adopted on different planets.  As long as she doesn't have to expend bullets she will try to make a deal either way.

Jago shakes his head, "I've just looked the place up on a map of the port that was in the official documents we were sent.  It's not far.  We can probably walk there and back in less time than it'd take a cab to get here."  There is a faint whispering sound from behind him, and he turns to retrieve a hard copy from the printer slot and studies it critically.  "Ten minute walk.  Fifteen tops.  You armed?"

The captain chuckles, "Oh, before we go, we should tell Corlan that he'll be the ranking officer until somebody else gets back.  It'll either thrill him or terrify him."

The vegetable vendor nods, "Ah... your skipper's unpredictable, is he?  Well, hopefully some of this produce will encourage him to stay for a bit longer, and you'll get a chance to look about."

Then the man seems to have an idea, "If you like sports, and you stay long enough, there's a kickball game tomorrow morning, just outside the fence on the far side of the landing field.  Strictly amateur level, and the admission fee is completely voluntary, but the local lads usually put on a brave show.  Frankly, they need the extra support."

The salesman smiles at Yas, "That's a popular model.  Not too heavy to feel right, but powerful enough to get the job done.  Price would be 1350 dollars, but I guess by you're accents that you're from off-world, so... " he starts scribbling some figures on a scrap of paper, "575 credits."
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:27, Tue 10 Mar 2015.

Shui is more than happy to pay, and now, and offers to do so.  She listens in on the conversation between Tylen and the merchant, her brow creasing at the idea of the kickball game.  "Well, that game does sound interesting.  And close.  I would certainly be pleased to take in some of the local sports.  How about you, Mr. Orgesh?  Might one hope?"

She purses her lips.  "Staying a while...that might be nice as well.  It depends on Jago and his cargo, of course.  And our passengers."

"Oh, I see.  So you try to live outside the system?" This was interesting.  Revolutionaries of some extremely limited sort, perhaps rebelling on a very personal level.

"Interesting.  Are there many of you?  Do you have much say in things around here?"

The vendor smiles happily as he sees the credits, "Well, I hope you enjoy your stay, however long it lasts.  And I hope you get a chance to come and support the Hunters."

Dog Boy nods enthusiastically at Saskia, "Right!  Outside system.  Exact right.  Maybe three hundred of us, this region.  Most near port, so can get things from outside easiest.  Maybe same other ports."

There is a brief discussion, then the third member of the group, One-Two-Cut speaks up, "Not so much say.  Not more than others.  All people have say, but not all say same things."

Ash shrugs to Jago's timing, "I'm not the fastest walker in the Imperium..." and he pats his right leg instinctively, "but I can probably manage."  In all honestly, the walk will likely do him good.  At least, as long as they don't over do it and go too fast.

When the Captain asks about him packing heat, the lanky navigator of the Profit Margin pulls open his duster exposing his right hip for a moment.  Upon it, is a well-worn holster with a rather nondescript autopistol in it.  The grips have a slightly worn look to them.  Patting the sidearm, Ash nods slightly, "Yeah.  Though admittedly it is more for show.  A relic from OCS training in my naval days."

He pauses for a moment, and then asks rather pensively.  "You, uh," Ash stops and runs his fingers through his hair, "don't think that we'll need something bigger, do you?"  He doesn't seem to relish the thought, even as he continues, "I ... I can bring my laser carbine, if necessary."  He pauses after the offer, then notes, "Though, I'll have to get it from the ship's armoury."

"Kick Ball?" the gunner responds with a grin.  "Sure.  That sounds like it could be interesting for a bit.  So what time does the match start?" he asks, remembering that he can't just ask the local computer and comms system for that information.

Then as an aside to Shui he adds  "I really ought to do a bit of shopping as well.  I need to get a few more bits and pieces of uniform equipment.  I got some bits last time we stopped, but there were a few bits that weren't allowed by their local laws."

Jago nods his head, "Lasers are probably beyond standard local tech, so it might intimidate people who would otherwise feel like picking a fight.  I'll grab my pistol and shotgun on the way out too.  If we need anything heavier, then we'll be out of our depth anyway."

The vendor laughs, "Stupid me.  The game starts at thirteen hundred.  Should last for two hours, so probably two and a half with stoppage time."

"That price clearly includes all necessary... maintenance tools and articles for care," Yas states to underline the fact that she is not asking.  Not that she minded haggling over merchandise, but she as not about to pay too much for too little either.  Keryn deserved a good starter kit to enjoy, after all.

"My thanks, sir," Shui replies with a small bow. "Should our ship not be departing immediately - which I very much doubt - we shall do our best to attend."

She isn't so much interested in team sports herself, save as cultural expressions.  But Tylen likely is - aren't most men? - and does seem curious.  It should make a nice outing for them.

"As for your uniform, I'm curious to see what sort of accessories you desire."  One eyebrow rises. "Things that were illegal in our last port?"

"I want a different hand gun, mine don't look all that 'military' more like a custom pieces that look good in their holsters.  A military piece is liable to be blacked and have black grips ..."  Tylen responds, "As well as a few other bits and pieces as well." he admits.

"Right.  Participating democracy."  Saskia nods slowly as she considers the implications of that.  "Everybody is involved in every decision.  Wait -- seven million people in a mostly agrarian society, scattered across a world with fairly limited tech.  How does that work for a participating democracy?  Don't you have problems with communications lag?"

The Engineer chuckles, "Or do you just accept that every decision will take ages to make?"

Ash gives Jago a rather wan smile and he give Jago a curt nod.  Though he doesn't say anything, his expression shows that he agrees wholeheartedly with the Profit Margin's Captain.  If the smaller sidearms and the shotgun aren't enough to prevent violence, then the two of them are in a whole Heap o' Trouble™.  And a laser carbine won't really help, no matter how good a shot the lanky navigator might be.

"I hope the food is good at this place..." he muses idly as they start their walk towards the hotel and the meeting with Draik.  If nothing else, Ash hoped to get a decent meal out of all of this.  With the previous sixteen crews unwilling to take the job, he didn't hold out much hope that Covan Draik could offer terms that they would be unable to refuse.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:57, Tue 17 Mar 2015.

Ash and Jago collect their weapons, and leave the ship.  Jago is careful to lock the door behind him.  The crew all know the codes for each of the ship's external access points, so there shouldn't be any trouble with them getting back aboard.  The Captain and the Navigator start to make their way across the field.

As they walk, Jago says, "The food should be good.  Our passenger is apparently wealthy, so it makes sense that he'd be staying somewhere with decent standards."

He pauses for a while, musing, before adding, "Ash, just one thing.  I'm leaving myself an 'out' here.  If I mention a crew member during the meeting - any crew member - called Forester, I need you to... er... remind me that Forester said he needs us back at the ship at a specific time, and that time should be about ten or fifteen minutes after the time that I mention him."

The vendor nods, "I might see you there then, depending on how many people show up."  He moves on to serve another customer, as Shui and Tylen move away, talking quietly... 

One-Two-Cut laughs, "That right.  All things takes forever to fix.  First decide if need fix.  Then decide when.  Then decide how.  Then decide new time.  New way to do.  More new time.  Slow work.  Better just ask friend fix for you, but that not-so-good for some things."

"Yeah... Big work need more people.  Much slower." Dog Boy adds, chuckling.

With a rueful smile, the salesmen nods at Yas, "Well, I'm cutting my own throat, but I can probably do that for you.  But only because you obviously know about this sort of thing."  He glances at Keryn, "Clever move, bringing an expert with you."  And his smile broadens, to show that there are no hard feelings.

And that brings a cheerul grin from Keryn, "Yes, that's why I brought her along.  She knows a lot about this sort of thing."

Ash stands lookout as Jago locks up the Profit Margin.  Even though the Captain doesn't have to key anything in, the gaunt navigator figures that he should keep a watchful eye open for anyone scoping out the ship or its personnel.  Perhaps it is paranoia.  But, Ash likes to think of it as prudent caution.

He nods casually as they walk.  "You assume that Mr. Draik has good taste..." he points out off-hand.  He's not being an intentional pessimist, it just comes more instinctively to him.  Perhaps it is simply a reflection of having been alone for so many days on end during his stint as an x-Boat pilot (assuming that 'pilot' is the right word for a ship with no inherent n-Space maneuver capability).

Then Ash nods again, this time to Jago's contingency plan.  "Of course, Boss." he agrees amiably, repeating the name and timing to commit it to memory, "'Forester'.  Fifteen minutes.  Got it."  He mulls the name over in his mind for a long moment.

Then idle curiosity gets the better of him.  "Cap'n?" Ash ventures, rather tentatively, "Why 'Forester'?  Someone or somethign from a sordid past life?"  He obviously doesn't need to know the name's esoteric origin.  And the ex-Scout, ex-Squid, Jewell native can speculate with the best of them; perhaps it is the name of an ex-lover.  Or a favorite high school teacher.   Or maybe it's his boyhood street address name.   Or the name of a hated rival trader.  Or all of the above.  But, really, why speculate when you can go straight to the source?

Once clear of the vendor, Shui purses her lips. "Ah, so you are seeking another pistol."  It would be rude to refuse to enter the shop, and the tools themselves don't upset Shui when they're sitting in display cases.

Well, they do, but less-so.

"Very well, Mr. Orgesh.  I am...uncertain if we will find such shops in the spaceport.  Perhaps we should ask around?"

Maybe the market has a stall; it seems to be in character for the place.  Shui cranes her neck, then chooses a nearby seller to inquire if there are places nearby where one might purchase a handgun.

OOC - Essentially, will look for directions.

"Well the intention is to look the part, and hope that it reduces the need to shoot someone." he reminds Shui  "And my current revolvers don't exactly look like military issue hardware." he says with a grin.

"Although I also want a decent flak jacket as well as a riot helmet and shield." he adds thoughtfully.  "It felt more exposed than I would have liked back on Frenzie ...."

Saskia laughs along with her new friends.  So far they seem reasonably well behaved for people who have been refused service in a diner.

Which, of course, simply piques her curiosity further, prompting her next question, "So what did you boys do to make the manager of this place tell his staff not to serve you?"  She takes a sip of her drink and smiles.  "I'm just curious, because you seem like decent, straight-up people.

"Unless there's something I'm missing?"

"Oh, there are weapon shops about." the stall holder confirms cheerfully, "There's one about two hundred metres that way."  He points towards a gap between two structures which delineate the entrance to a narrow street.  "To be honest though, you'll probably get a better price outside the fence.  Places like that inside the port tend to bump their prices a little.  More expensive property." 

Keryn hefts the merchandise in her hand, holding it gingerly as she assesses the size and weight of it.  She nervously runs the fingertips of the other hand over it, feeling the texture and shape of it.  "I think this one will do me Yas."

"Ridge Forester used to be one of the crew, until he decided to leave a while back.  Used to have Tylen's job, back then.  It just seemed like an easy name to use." the captain explains, "Easy to remember."

Jago and Ash make their way across the field towards a cluster of buildings on the edge of the open landing area.  They pass a couple of armed men, holstered side arms at their hips, and both wearing some sort of dark red uniform with insignia that are unfamiliar to the two travellers, but which probably indicate affiliation to some local organisation.

"Good day." one of them says, smiling at Ash and Jago as they walk past.

Dog Boy shakes his head forlornly, "All big mistake.  We come in, had some food and drinks, like today.  When comes time to pay, I think One-Two-Cut has dollars.  He think Knifes has, and Knifes thinks I has.  But none of us has.  Not could pay, so we's barred."  He sighs, "Terrible news.  This place has best food in port."

Their business concluded, to everybody's satisfaction, Yas and Keryn leave Quinn's, the young passenger clutching a bag containing her new possessions tightly under her arm.  She seems quite excited about the whole business, and talks almost incessantly as they walk back towards the ship.  "He was nice, wasn't he?  Not at all what I expected.  Not as sleazy as I'd expected a man in his line of business to be."

The two of them pass through the gate and back into the port.  Keryn pats the bag with her free hand, "I've never owned one of these before, or even used one.  Can't imagine how it'll feel when I use it for the first time.  I hope it isn't so loud that it scares me."

Tylen decides to at least give the nearby weapon shop a look, to see how the prices are before going further afield.  Shui accompanies him as he he enters a door in the side of a nondescript structure.  A sign over the door reads "Guns" in Anglic, Bilanidin, and something else, and just to be sure that people understand, it also features a picture of a pistol.  The proprietor, who gives his name as Gvacht'och is a grizzled Vargr, dressed in clothing that is immaculately clean, though it does look to be on the old side.  When he speaks, his Anglic is very good, though his sentence structure and word choices are sometimes a little odd...

"Welcomes to you, noble customers and soon will be new friends, and also one thousand joyous greeting.  How can humble Gvacht'och to be of service this most splendid of days?"

In the diner, Saskia is getting along well with her lunch companions, who are only to happy to regale her with stories about their lives as non-conformists on the fringes of Phlume society...  A society which, while generally fairly open and tolerant is, none-the-less, a little suspicious of them.

Meanwhile, Jago and Ash arrive at the hotel, a large box-like structure, which is very plain and utalitarian on the outside, but lavishly decorated inside.  They are directed to a small meeting room, just off the lobby, where Covan Draik is already waiting for them.

Greetings are exchanged, and introductions made, along with an offer of refreshments.  And then Draik gets straight down to business.  Profit Margin is the first ship in almost a week to call at the port with an itinerary which will permit it to transport him to Dinomn.  "I am prepared to pay standard rates for either High or Medium passage, whichever you can provide.  I have business on Dinomn which, while it is not particularly urgent, I would like to conclude it as soon as possible."
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:47, Tue 31 Mar 2015.

"So, from what you're saying, these people will let you do anything as long as nobody gets hurt, then they shoot at you.  So why do they look at your group differently?  Seems. judging by what you've told me, as if they think you're up to no good, even before you frelling do anything that doesn't fit in."

Saskia is genuinely curious.  These kids seem friendly enough, just from talking to them for a while, so it must be something else.  "Is it because you come from somewhere else?  I noticed that you speak a different language among yourselves.  Is that it?  You're foreigners?"

Ash is quiet the rest of the way to the hotel.  He is left only to silently contemplate, if and when his time to leave the crew of the Profit Margin comes, will his name become an abortive code word as well?  And would this man Forester be more likely to be honoured or horrified, were he to learn how his name is being used.  All the lanky navigator knows is how he would feel.

He offers a hand to Covan Draik in greeting and then cordially states his name and position in the crew.  Then Ash orders something bland and simple from the menu, while he listens to Draik's 'offer'.  The ex-Scout seems almost surprised by Coven's assertion that there hasn't been sufficient traffic through Phlume in a week, musing idly, "It's a good thing we happened along then.  How long have you been trying to hitch a ride?"

And though he is pretty sure that Shui can supply a High Passage experience, he doesn't say anything since only Jago can really commit to that level of service.  Presumably, Draik won't have that much luggage, since he is willing to travel medium passage if necessary.

Ash glances in Jago's direction for a moment, noting the obvious, "Dinomn is at least two jumps for the Profit Margin, Mr. Draik."  He prompts their potential passenger, certain that there is more to the story, "Wouldn't it be simpler to just charter a courier or perhaps a fast trader to get you to your destination quicker and easier?"  Even though he knows that Covan has stated that his business isn't urgent, Ash suspects that the man doesn't want to dilly-dally either.

Tylen greets the Vagr with a nod and his trademark grin  "I'm interested in a military issue revolver.  One that takes Imperial Standard rounds." he replies as he looks around the shop area. "And perhaps some pepper spray, or something like it, that could render a sapient harmless without killing them or damaging them permanently." he adds rounding out his weapon requests.

"He stayed professional, true."

Yas lets Keryn do the talking, injecting only the occasional comment, until they are back inside the perimeter.

"I'm sure you'll come to love how it feels, even if it can be a bit scary at first.  Butonce you hit the sweet spot, oh, you'll want to do it again and again.  And this one is so quiet you could get away with using it in your own cabin, unless you make too much noise yourself, ha," she chuckles.

"I'll show you the best way to grip it and all that, to get the most out of it with the least amount of effort.  You'll learn the rest yourself quick enough."

"Not all foreign, no.  Some from other places.  Some born here, like us." Dog Boy indicates himself and his companions, then lowers his voice, "But what you call different language not really.  Is just way we do talk and others not hear what we say.  Like code."

"People not like us.  Say we make trouble." One-Two-Cut adds, "When we makes mistake, like forgets money, they say is more proof that we be trouble-makers.  But was just mistake."

Jago nods slowly, "We can provide High Passage accommodations, at the standard price - we have a steward aboard.  You'll forgive us, Mister Draik, but we were naturally curious, and there seems to be some potential problem regarding your business.  This won't affect whether or not you travel with us, but I would like to know, in advance, if we're likely to run into any... unpleantness... as a result of transporting you."

Covan Draik smiles, "No, I'm not expecting trouble, beyond legal issues with other family members trying to claim my inheritance.  Legal issues which will be dealt with by lawyers, not by hired thugs."

"Chartering a fast ship, and I assume from your calculations, Mister Tescali, that Profit Margin is capable of Jump-2 - I too have done my research, you see Captain - chartering a ship would be ideal.  But, sadly, fast traders and fast couriers seldom stop at Phlume.  Extolay is the closest they generally come, due to the better port facilities there.  Then there is the delicate matter of finances - while I can afford to pay for passage on a ship, chartering one is far more expensive, and until I get to Dinomn I simply can't afford that.  So I have to find a ship that can go to Dinomn as part of its planned route.  Unfortunately since I staryed looking for passage some fifteen or sixteen days ago, I haven't found a ship travelling that way.  At least not one whose captain I felt I could trust."

"Ah, noble sir, unworthy Gvacht'och may be able to assist with the revolver."  The Vargr gestures towards a glass fronted cabinet, "Please be so kind as to study this humble weapon."  The revolver certainly looks the part, dull black and somehow menacing even in the case.  Gvacht'och opens the front of the case, and hands the weapon to Tylen, "Please examine the weight.  The weapon is, technically, second-hand, but in excellent condition, having never been taken beyond my door.  It's former owner was a starship Captain, who purchased it from this very establishment, asked that it be refitted to accept Imperial ammunition, I believe he named it .45, then the wretch never returned to collect it."

"With regard to chemical agents... please forgive your humble servant, but I regret that I must request information on your intended targets.  Not all species are equally subject to all such compounds."

"Thank you." Keryn says, enthusiastically.  Then she suddenly lunges at Yas and hugs her.  "Nobody at home would have let me have one of these.  In fact, I don't think it's even legal to sell them on Frenzie.  And I'll try not to make too much noise with it."  She backs off to a respectable distance, smiling happily as she transfers her hug to the bag containing her new purchase.

"Is that the ship, over there?"  She nods in the direction she means.  "It looks like it, I suppose, but I can't read the name from this distance, and I suppose that there are lots of each sort of ship about."  She looks around, studying the few other ships that are scattered across the field.  "I don't think any of the others look like the Margin." and she chuckles, "Listen to me... calling the ship 'the Margin'.  Like I was crew or something."

Tylen takes the weapon and checks that is empty, before he takes a proper stance to try the feel of the weapon in his hand. It feels solid enough, so he unholsters his own revolver, then unloads it, before laying it on the counter.  Five rounds go into a pocket, but he uses on of the rounds to check the calibre of the weapon, accompanied by an apologetic  ”Excuse me...” while he does so.  If the chambers will take the round he grins and tries it into the holster that he is wearing, to make sure it is a secure fit.

As he does so he responds to the Vagr's question about the types of Sophonts he might want to disable.  ”That's a hard one.  What ever comes along really, but probably human primarily, seeing as we finish up on human worlds most of the time.  We were caught up in a riot on Frenzie.  I didn't have to shoot anyone, although, a couple of times, it felt close.  If they aren't shooting at me, then I would rather not kill them.” he says bluntly.

”And then, what is the best you can do for armour?  I want something in blacl that says security on it, and preferably something unmarked as well.  Are those sets interchangeable?” he asks pointing to the armour and coverings.

”Oh, and can you deliver here on the space port?” he finally remembers to ask.  It makes life much easier if he can get everything in one shopping trip.

Shui remains near Tylen throughout the discussion, but doesn't join it.  Her eyes flick over the various weapons displayed, almost as if cataloguing.  There's very little expression on her face; it remains neutral, neither positive nor negative.

Briefly, she appears vaguely interested in the armor Tylen indicates.  Armor, for him, is good; it's protection against people who are trying to kill him.

The round fits the revolver perfectly, and the Vargr stands quietly, his hands clasped before his chest and his head tilted to one side as he watches Tylen.

Tylen's explanation of what he's looking for brings a brief wag of Gvacht'och's tail.  "Ah, I understands, noble sir.  Might I humbly suggest a mixed selection of chemical agents.  One half to be entirely adequate for Humaniti and Vargr, and the other half to be a mixing of Aslan, Droyne, and some of the more common minor species which can be discovered in Hgoch'chod Aghak, which is to say The Spinward Marches."

"Please forgive your humble servant, sir.  I have insufficient display space withins the establishment.  I am to having a larger assortment of clothing in the storage area beyond that door.  If you will most genourously grant me a modicum of times, I can fetch samples with different designs, patterns and colourations, for your approvals."

Tylen grins his appreciation as the rounds slot perfectly into the chambers  "Excellent.  I have that, and fifty rounds of ammunition, if you have it." while he still had ammunition back on the margin, it was good to keep the supplies topped up to a sensible level.

"And the mixture of chemical deterrents is an excellent idea. Are we talking about gas grenades?" he asks trying to get a handle on how the chemicals will be dispersed.

"And as for the armour, ideally Black or dark grey.  If you have them a couple of outers that take internal armour?  One with Security on kit and one with out.  And then it is just a question of what armour you have to fit inside the outer shell." he says with a grin, pleased to get everything under one roof.
This message was last edited by the player at 18:23, Wed 08 Apr 2015.

Ash doesn't quite know what to make of Covan Draik, but he seems amiable enough.  And the man says the right things.  Sort of.  Of course, Ash isn't the one to here that makes the decisions.  However, the thin ex-Scout is supposed to help.  He runs his fingers through his short-cropped hair for a moment, listening to what Covan has to say.  "If you don't mind me asking," he ventures casually, "why are you on Phlume, sir?  It is, as you noted, a bit off of the beaten path."  It is probably minor information, but worth ferreting out.

Not that it really matters, though, most likely.  For on the surface, the offer seems enticing.  Making this man their friend would seem to be a good thing.  Yet, Ash wasn't nearly as sure as Covan seemed to be about the limits of corporate espionage, especially interstellar corporate espionage.  In his estimation, it could be quite dangerous and he lets Jago know.  "Some people had far less scruples than others." Ash notes off-hand after Covan makes his dismissive remark about his inheritance being settled solely by lawyers.

When he concludes his remarks, Ash chuckles slightly, "Well, Mr. Draik."  He shrugs slightly and then admits rather self-deprecatingly, "Tramp trader crews are a notoriously free-wheeling, fickle, and untrustworthy lot."  He glances at Jago, who has not used the magic word yet - so, he must still be interested on some level.  "Still," he continues, "sixteen days isn't that long..."  He leaves it at that.

The lanky navigator of the Profit Margin picks up his water glass and takes a sip, watching the corporate scion rather intently - for it seems that this interview is for both parties to figure out if they are compatible.  "So," Ash asks idly, "if you are looking for the right crew, how do you intend to gauge if Captain Lanza and his people," himself included, naturally, "are trustworthy enough?"  He leans back in his chair slightly and it creaks slightly under his weight.

It would seem to be the age-old quandary: How does one test a man's mettle and see into his heart?  How does one find a truly honest man in the maddening crowd?  Let alone an entire crew...

Yas and Keryn arrive back at the ship. and find it all locked.  Fortunately Yas knows the security codes for entry, and discovers that, while Corlan and Eneris are still aboard, none of the crew are. 

Covan Draik laughs, "I'll need to use this lunch to judge your trustworthiness, Mister Tescali.  So far neither of you have tried to kill me, and the fact that your captain is prepared to take the ship in the right general direction is another selling point.  As for why I came here...  Have you been outside the port?  Some very picturesque scenery out there, once you get a few kilometres out.  Good place to spend a little time if you don't have much to do.  And that would be me.  I had a small allowance and time to waste, so I came here, determined to waste that time as lazily as possible."

Jago nods thoughtfully, "Sounds like a good enough reason to come here.  Sadly we won't have time to take it easy here.  It looked nice enough from the air.  And despite what Ash says, Profit Margin's crew aren't fickle, free-wheeling, or untrustworthy."

Gvacht'och nods enthusiastically, "Grenades, yes.  Also some aerosols, useful at closer ranges.  But all types come as grenades, with only some as aerosols."  He places a carton of ammunition on the counter.  "Armour, such as that which you describe, will present no difficulty.  Your humble servant is having just such items in stock."  A bow, "And delivery will also present no difficulty."

This grows upsetting.  Grenades, now.  Shui can understand the benefits of a rifle.  Even an automatic weapon, though less-so.  She doesn't agree with them, but.  Grenades?  They're hardly pin-point applications; dangerous things, apt to blow up in one's face, or roll the wrong way and explode in front of a civilian.  Fortunately these are chemical weapons, but even so....

Her father would not approve.

Points to Tylen, though, in that he's searching for nonlethals.  She can't imagine him using actual grenades.  It's possible - he was military, after all - but as a security officer, he likely wouldn't touch them with a 10' pole.  Plus, he's searching for sprays.

It's the shop, she decides.  The shop in general; it's putting this negative mood into her.  Or perhaps it's Shui who is allowing her mood to grow negative.  Whichever, it would be best if she stepped out.

"I shall attend without," she quietly notes to Tylen before heading out the front door to wait for him on the sidewalk.

Saskia nods, "I see.  You make a mistake, and people just assume that it was something you did deliberately.  That's nice of them."

People can be so unfair.  These seem like decent enough people.

Tylen allows Gvacht'och to take appropriate measurements for the armour and specifies the best filling for the outer casing, along with a couple of other options.  He wants the best armour he can get.    Then he leaves the selection of grenades and aerosols to the Vagr working on the basis that he probably knows his wares better than Tylen does, arranges payment and delivery, preferably for that same day.  After all, one can never tell when Jago is going to order a lift.

Loads his new revolver, holsters it, and heads off outside to rejoin Shui.  "All done." he says with a grin.

Ash shakes his head, "'Fraid that I can't say that I ever have, Mr. Draik."  And then when Jago has his say, the lanky navigator adds with a touch of ruefulness, "And it appears that this trip is not going to break that trend..."  Though, in all honesty, he doesn't sound that heart-broken; probably because he was raised a 'city kid'.

He glances at the Captain of the Profit Margin and then reddens slightly at the roundabout chastisement.  "Well..." Ash stammers slightly, "I was making a gross generalization about 'those other people', of course.  Captain Lanza is absolutely right, the Profit Margin isn't really a tramp trader.  And its crew isn't just any crew; they have been the best crew that I have had the privilege of working with."  He gives the two men a slightly self-deprecating smile - sort of 'hey, I'm just the new guy on the crew', sort of thing.

Taking another sip to parch a suddenly dry throat, Ash tries to change the subject, "It will be just yourself, Mr. Draik?  No entourage?  What about additional baggage?  Will you need additional allotment of cargo space?"  He picks at his food as he tries to make conversation.  "I mean," he ventures, "if people have tried to kill you shouldn't you have a bodyguard or two?  Or, at the very least, carry more conspicuous defensive measures.  You know, to deter those sorts of things..."
This message was last edited by the player at 04:49, Wed 15 Apr 2015.

"Thank you for your help, Yas.  It's always good to consult an expert when buying something you've never owned before.  I'm going to take a rest, and read up on how to use my new purchase."  Keryn makes her way back to her own cabin, leaving Yas to ponder her next actions, now that she, technically, has command of an armed starship. 

"It's just me." Covan Draik replies, "And baggage which would fit into the normal allowance for Middle Passage."  He takes a sip of his own drink.  "So I'm just looking for a single stateroom, with no special allowances or arrangements."

Tylen meets Shui outside the store... 

"Is what we expects." Dog Boy confirms, "Is same everywhere, yes?  Some not fit, get treated different.  Nothing to do.  Not enough us to make others change, and nowhere to go that is better for us."