Farren was actually more amused than sickened by the thought.  He was a fairly practical minded person with a remarkably "strong stomach" and the fact was that the Kang's logic made sense (as long as the rat meat was thoroughly cooked and properly sterilized).

Farren did his best to hide his amusement at Ortega's overreaction as he wondered if Ortega was something of a hypochondriac.

Clearing his throat, Farren said in a neutral, diplomatic tone, "Well Sky Light, you may be correct that with the right preparation and precautions, meat is meat... protein is protein.  However, not everyone takes as practical an outlook regarding the source of their food as you do.

Some people likely have qualms about consuming meat from certain animals... it can be a cultural custom to avoid certain types of animals for various religious or tradition-based reasons.

I suspect that if you keep the rat meat for yourself to enjoy, nobody will object.  I think they mainly wish to keep from eating the rats themselves and would prefer to know the source of the meals they consume."

OOC: No worries, Stirix. A cursory scan will show no one is suffering either food poisoning or regular poisoning.

Sky Light looked at Farren with growing bewilderment, like the number of words she understood was being steadily outnumbered by words she didn't. 'Then they is cowardly cutlets. It's a dog-eat-cat-eat-rat-eat-dog world and people go in there somewhere. It's a silly-billy who goes tummy-grumbly hungry when there's rat about. And I wanted to make din-dins for my crew.'

Reassured by Stirix and his own sense of superiority, Ortega made a miraculous recovery and quickly said 'Well, I've had some exotic fare while on expedition to the farthest reaches of known space and the most poorly catered of university luncheons. I remember once I had honey-glazed Draconian marsh badger stuffed with Arcturan bat and rakweed, though that was prepared by an Androgum master chef... I heard he'd apprenticed for a decade and had killed, spitted, cooked, and ate his rivals to achieve his rank. Delicious.'

'So, young Farren, we have an unusual specimen here. What does your anthropological training tell you about her?' Ortega gestured to Sky Light, challenging Farren with a gleam in his eye and spectacles. Since missing out on Professor Hadmani's assistance, he was of course mistrusting of her assistant.

Sky Light, who was of course standing right there, gave the two men a smile of shock, amusement, and intent to bite if they tried anything on. Nevertheless, the girl couldn't have been more than fifteen, about Trace's age, with a wiry strength and whippet build and wear-and-tear that spoke of a life of hardship. Underneath a layer of dust acquired in the ducts and crawspaces, her hair was dyed red and black, and all her clothes were black and red, each article worn, stained, patched, and mismatched, likely either hand-me-down or pick-me-up. Red rags were tied on arms and legs, as much to keep bits together as to add more colour or provide a handy place to poke things. She wore some colourful metallic jewellery, at first glance impressive, at second actually some neatly recycled fizzy drink cans. She had a small hunting crossbow and quiver at her belt, decorated with stickers and child-like scrawls.


OOC: Okay, Farren, please roll a Knowledge check and we'll see if you can pass an anthropologist. :)
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:41, Wed 08 July 2015.

"That's it, I'm sticking with the protein paste, ration packs and the organic simulants." Trace muttered, looking slightly nauseated. "Meat, urgh!" Resources were strapped on the Horizon, and there wasn't enough to waste on rearing livestock. So growing up, food to Trace had always meant hydroponic vegetables supplemented by synthetic substitutes.

"I'm sure if I didn't know better I'd scare myself, too," Bluetooth tried to reassure Hali. "I got lost several times the first week I was on board, and I knew what I was doing!"

"Perhaps we should check what passes for a medical bay. At least that way, we'll know he's not sick."

"That we can check the bridge and the galley after that."

Bluetooth led the way to where medical was, making sure he didn't move too fast for Hali.

Bluetooth:

'I still get lost at Luna U... And I've only been there six years.' Hali sniffed, following Bluetooth.

They soon came to the medical bay on the small ship, marked by the ancient symbols of the red cross, green crescent, the snake-and-stick, and a dozen other signs of healing from other races. Sky Light was the nominal medic on the ship, among other things, so this was a very much a Red Kang nest, dishevelled and cluttered with scavenged bits and pieces. Of course, medical treatments ranged from capable use of a bioanalyser and medikit to slapping on a makeshift duct-tape bandage and being told to walk it off. It was empty, fortunately.

On the cramped bridge, Borys was hard at work sleeping in the pilot's chair.

Eventually, they found Vax Kent in the cargo bay, where Hali had initially been making for. Here was stored all the expedition equipment, all neatly stowed and well secured: crates of supplies, boxes of tools and scanning equipment, coils of plasma hoses, and the plasma torches they would use to melt through the ice. There was even an impressive all-terrain vehicle, a buggy that would carry passengers, equipment, lights, and findings to-and-from the ship and dig site.

Here they found Vax Kent. The grad student had a crate open and was looking deep inside. 'Vax, there you are!'

Surprised by the sudden arrival of the soft-footed Pakhar and Rakshasa, Vax jumped, hit his head on the crate lid, then quickly shoved it closed. 'Ah, hi, Hali.' he said, sounding more collected. He looked searchingly at Bluetooth, then around the bay.

'Professor Ortega says he wants to hold a meeting in a few minutes. We're going to brief the crew about the expedition.' Hali explained, excitedly.

'Of course. I'll be along soon.'


OOC: Some more info about Pakhars:
http://doctorwho.org.nz/archive/tsv42/timelord.html
This message was last updated by the player at 09:22, Sun 05 July 2015.

Professor Ortega

Farren scowled slightly as he said in a neutral tone, "Professor Ortega, I may be but a graduate student, however I will have you know that I have already passed my oral comprehensive exams.  Furthermore, as a matter of academic ethics, it is considered questionable at best and rude at worst to discuss, much less assess, individual sentient beings as objective topics while in their presence.  Ms. Sky Light may be from a different cultural background than you or I, but she is clearly a thinking, sentient person and should be accorded at least a modicum of respect."

Farren sighed slightly before continuing, "That said, you are the leader of this Expedition and Professor Hadmani did instruct me to show you the level of courtesy & deference that I would show to her.

Regarding Sky Light, she is a member of the Kang, in particular she is a member of the Red Kangs as opposed to the Blue Kangs or the now extinct Yellow Kangs.  The Kang society originated from a place called Paradise Towers.  They have a nickname of "wallscrawlers" and, despite fierce competition between the "tribes" of Kangs, they have the admirable trait of not using violence against one another.

The Kangs, or at least the Red Kangs, are known to have a motto of "build high for happiness."  The Kangs have developed their own dialect, likely due to consonantal shift, thus certain word usage and meaning differs from Standand.  As you can perhaps tell by her name, the Kangs tend to derive their appellations from various everyday objects, such as Air Duct or Fire Escape... or Sky Light.  It should be noted that due to a war, the majority of the male population was conscripted and thus the Kangs were a society of women, though occasionally there could be a male inducted into their society.  The only males apparently immune from conscription were the "Caretakers" who had a very rigid, rule-based organization that was antagonistic to the Kangs.

The reason the society developed as it did was that essentially the Kangs were children abandoned in a sterile urban environment lacking in "adult supervision" and with no formal education or training.  Their mentality is "Survivalist", they make do the best they know how with the limited resources available to them.  Their leadership and social morays are dictated by the needs of the tribe and a certain "survival of the fittest" philosophy, perhaps with a dash of "might makes right" moralization."

Having finished his synopsis, Farren turned towards Sky Light and said in a remorseful tone, "You have my apologies Sky Light if you found this somewhat coldly academic "dissection" of your people and society offensive.  Normally it is considered bad form to engage in sociological analysis when a member of the group being analyzed is present.

I mean no insult to you or the Kangs.  I am sure that my imperfect, "outsider" perspective has likely glossed over or missed important nuanced aspects of your people and culture."
This message was last edited by the player at 06:31, Tue 07 July 2015.

Farren, Trace, Stirix:

'Uh, yes, of course, my apologies.' Ortega stammered, taken aback at Farren's criticisms, clearly taken down a peg, and clearly not the first time his academic conduct had been questioned. But at Farren's words of deference, he nodded graciously and waved him on. 'Proceed as you feel is, ah, appropriate...'

Sky Light was less bothered than might be expected, with a look of surprise, puzzlement, and amusement on her face as she heard Farren's description. Anyway, it was all either things she already knew, or academic concepts and big words she didn't understand. 'You show-and-tell me to the up-story-rezzie oldster – no to-do. But it was all yawny. It would've been icehot in Kang speak. And you don't knowhow—'

'Yes, thank you, a decent overview, Farren.' Ortega quickly interjected. 'I highly recommend Doctor Samanthra Pak-McIntyre's Running With Kangs, detailing the rediscovery of Paradise Towers and Kroagnon architecture. It contains the first analysis of Kang culture. An excellent cross-over between our respective fields, I would say.' Well, it seemed he'd bought Farren's act as an anthropology student, if he was now trying to demonstrate his superior intellect.

'Doctor Sam!'

'Well,' Ortega began, cutting Sky Light off again, 'We should get on with the meeting. I'll be giving the details of our final approach to the planet and the main work of the expedition. You lad,' he gestured to Trace, 'Please fetch your captain and the rest of the crew.'

He tapped a wrist-communicator. 'Hali?' 'I've found Vax, Professor Ortega! We'll be there in a tick!' she squeaked down the line.


OOC: I'll get this briefing going next time.
This message was last edited by the player at 23:50, Tue 07 July 2015.

With a nod to the Professor, and eager to hear the details about the expedition, Trace headed out to gather the rest of the crew.

Once Bluetooth and Hali had located Vax, they headed to where the meeting was taking place.

They got there just in time for Bluetooth to hear Farren's dissertation on Kangs, but he only listened to it with one ear, noting that there were parallels to Rakshasa development.

There wasn't anything to fix, and he wasn't much of a conversationalist, particularly with non-Rakshasa, so he tried to blend into the background and just listen.

All:

Soon, all the archaeologists and crew were assembled in the Yermak's common room, finding places to sit and collecting their notes. Trace had to fiddle with Ortega's computer again to get it connected to the display screen they usually watched movies on.

Yawning, scratching his head, Borys wandered in, looking irritated to be pulled away from his work for more of this archaeology nonsense. The captain seemed laconic, ill-tempered, and kind of lazy, but those who'd served with him long knew he was also capable, wily, resolute, and dangerous.

'Ah, captain!' Ortega quickly intercepted Borys, hotly annoyed. 'I have to protest the hygiene on this ship. Rats in the refrigerator? It's outrageous. Regrettably, I and my team will be eating out of our stores from now on.'

Borys rubbed his stubbly chin thoughtfully. 'Well, I'm mighty disappointed to hear that. We'll miss you folks at dinner. And you'll be missing our Sky Light's famous rat stew.'

'Rat pie!'

'Yummers.' Borys deadpanned. 'Don't worry, I'll speak to her.'

Borys led Sky Light away, out of earshot of the archaeologists, though no Trace and Bluetooth. 'Did catch all the rats?'

'Yep!'

'Did you keep them archaeologists out of our fridge?'

'Yep!'

'Good girl. Put your rats in the workshop cooler as usual. And don't forget to smoke them!' The Red Kang trooped off down to lower decks with her catch.

Soon, Trace got the computer connected to the display, Ortega got his presentation working, and the lights were dimmed ominously. The show began, a slideshow of holographic images and animations of each topic, apparently already prepared for future lecture tour. Whatever his faults, he was a good and confident lecturer. But he wouldn't take questions until the end.

Ortega started with a brief introduction, talking about famous archaeological expeditions of the past: Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb, Gilbert Horner's opening of the Devil's Hump, Bernice Summerfield's excavation of the Fields of the Dead in Mare Silenium on Mars, and Samanthra Pak-McIntyre's rediscovery of Paradise Towers, among others, listing the treasures discovered, the historical significance, and the ensuing fame of those involved. He wanted to emphasise to the non-academic crew the importance of his own expedition, their role in it, and to position himself amongst such luminaries of the field. In the dark, Borys rolled his eyes, largely in an effort not to fall asleep.

Finally getting to the topic, Ortega explained that a Draconian automated probe mapping this sector of space – a rather sparse area between the Outer and Perseus Arms of the Milky Way Galaxy, on the far side from Earth and close to the outer edge – had discovered a rogue planet. A rogue planet was a world flung by gravitational forces out of its parent solar system, left to wander cold interstellar space. This one was calculated to have been wandering for two to seven million years. But, within the last few centuries, it had encountered a white dwarf star and been caught in an erratic orbit, from which it was likely to be flung out again in another century. All this had been calculated by a Draconian astronomical team.

They'd also detected a signal: faint but regular, and continuing. No one could identify the source, but Ortega theorised this planet had been home to a civilisation once, millions of years ago, highly developed and connected to the ancient history of the galaxy and the powerful elder races that had dominated the stars in those forgotten days. This civilisation would have been lost when the planet was ejected into interstellar space but kept perfectly preserved beneath the ice.

Without a sun to warm it, the planet had frozen over, according to the Draconians. First its atmosphere had cooled to liquid, and then to ice: frozen water, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. Ordinarily, this would be too thick and dense to melt or cut through, but the small degree of radiant heating from the white dwarf had begun to thaw the planet out, and at its closest, the world was experiencing the nearest thing to spring after millennia of winter. A breathable atmosphere had returned, and the ice decreased enough to permit excavations.

Ortega's plan – already worked out with Borys and to which he nodded – was to rotate the Yermak's powerful engines and fire them downward while remaining grounded, using their heat as a thermal drill to cut a large borehole into the ice. Then they would use the engines as generators to power plasma torches, with which they could carve tunnels and trenches and make more precise archaeological excavations – the equivalent of using trowels in soil.

The crew's task after landing was to reorient the engines; manage the thermal drilling, power generation, and plasma torches; help in the manual labour of melting tunnels and cutting trenches and shifting blocks of ice; and assist in basic unskilled archaeological work, like sifting through spoil-heaps, moving equipment, and cleaning finds as necessary. '...Which you should find quite enlightening, engaged in the scientific process and archaeological discovery. Something to tell the children about!'

'Plus you'll be getting paid a bonus.' Borys chimed in before there could be a crew mutiny.

The expedition roles were arranged thusly:

• Prof. Niles Ortega – expedition leader and chief archaeologist
• Scholastor Stirix – xenobiologist, cryologist, arctic safety expert
• Farren – xenoanthropologist, xenotechnologist
• Hali'r'a Plim, B.Sc. (Hons) - archaeologist
• Vax Kent, B.Sc., M.Sc. - archaeologist
• Borys, Bluetooth, Sky Light, Trace - technicians, mechanics, general labourers, security

'Now, are there any questions?'


OOC: Farren and Stirix can feel free to give their own presentations next. Feel free to just wing it, maybe roll to see how well you do.
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:45, Sat 18 July 2015.

Trace sat through the presentation, quietly watching eagerly until the end when he held his hand up. "If they were so advanced, could they have survived?"

"I mean, humans have been experimenting with freezing people since the stupid ages." He added hastily, not wanting to appear to be some dumb kid scared of alien monsters.

"Anything is possible. But freezing and then thawing is not something to be taken lightly."

OOC: Sorry, I'll get to a presentation post tomorrow.

'Stupid ages—?' Ortega muttered disbelievingly under his breath. 'Well, I'm sure they would have tried anything to survive the freezing of their world: migration to another planet, or some means of preservation – freezing in the ice seems likely... But, as Mr Stirix says, freezing and thawing of a living being is a difficult and hazardous procedure. Despite what space myths and holovision may tell you, there are very few means of preservation guaranteed to keep a being alive for centuries, let alone millions of years...'

'The Silurians survived that long,' Hali squeaked, before her whiskers drooped in embarrassment at a look from her supervisor.

'A fluke exception... But no, it's almost impossible for anything to have survived.'
This message was last edited by the player at 11:53, Sun 12 July 2015.

Farren looked from Trace to Stirix to Ortega before he said in a speculative tone, "While I concur with Professor Ortega and Scholastor Stirix regarding the state of cryo-preservation technology as we know it exists today, I would point out that there is always the possibility that an alien civilization facing extinction may develop technology that as yet has not been encountered.

While the likelihood of an unknown method of advanced hibernation is perhaps small, one should be wary of discounting the possibility entirely.  Of course, such rare but possible discoveries of brand new, never before seen technology is what makes each new expedition to unknown worlds so exciting."

Farren paused before adding, "Of course, there is nothing to say that any current "inhabitants", in a manner of speaking, have to be the original species to evolve on that planet.

The technological signal being detected could originate from "visitors", perhaps even earlier explorers, to the rogue planet either before or after it entered its erratic orbit of the white dwarf.  The signal may just be a marker, or it could be an a warning.  It might even be some race attempting to "stake a claim" to the planet by sticking an "electronic flag" in the ground.

Alternatively, it could be an emergency beacon from an early expedition who became trapped or unable to leave the planet, not that we need worry about such a fate given the preparations made for this expedition."

Trace slowly put his hand down, his cheeks reddening with embrassement. I've talked to sentients whose planet's haven't even formed yet, he thought to himself, or whose bones were dust before Sol was even a protostar. Don't tell me what's impossible.

"Don't discount it as science fiction just yet, I mean, we live on a space ship and talk to non-human sentients. Stuff that was considered nothing more than 'science fiction' way back when. Besides a mega-advanced culture would use something like temporal stasis or neuro-transference and storage. I just use cryo as an example." The boy said in a huff.

"There'll only be tales to tell our children if there's something to hunt," Bluetooth muttered under his breath.

After listening to the rest, and the discussion that followed, he thought the scientists were being a bit closed-minded.

"Sharok's Axiom," he spoke up. "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, which is just another word for 'make believe' or fiction. Just because we don't know of any technique or device that would preserve a race... or even an individual... for a million years doesn't mean that it doesn't and can't exist."

"As long as you keep your mind closed, Professor, you aren't likely to discover anything. For centuries, scientists dismissed rocks as mere rocks. It wasn't until they learned how to read the rocks that they opened up a universe to them."

"Finding a rock that could only have fallen from the sky gave us astrophysics."

He didn't really expect the Professor to agree. He was, after all, closed minded. He'd deny the existence of a carnivore even while it was eating him!

"So, how long till we get there?" Trave asked, looking between the Professor and their pilot.

"No, but it does mean it's unlikely." A shake of his head. He knew about the problems with freezing better than most - he'd undergone the process himself, though not voluntarily. Many of his people had. But between environment and their armor, they were more used to resisting the affects of cold than most.

"The fact of the matter is, we don't know who or what sent this signal. I know about surviving cold temperatures; and I also know about saving lives."

Niles Ortega looked to be on the verge of poutrage at the small rebellion amongst his audience, especially since he'd already qualified his statements with words like "almost". He adjusted his glasses threateningly and raised his voice to regain the centre of attention. 'Yes, well, as I explained, it is highly unlikely for any conventional life to have survived in these conditions for such a long time. Now, we might spend all day listing possibilities from antique science fiction, such as the temporal stasis of the mythical Time Lords, but archaeology is not about speculating and hoping what we might find. It is about deciding to go look and studying what we do find, to form hypotheses and test them with evidence. We shall look, and we shall see what we find.'

Hali started clapping her paws together, then stopped when she realised she was the only one.

'After this meeting, I shall release the updated coordinates for a hyperspace jump to Captain Nguyen. Then we need only approach the planet and make landing. A matter of hours, I expect.' He looked for confirmation to Borys, who nodded.

'Now, I shall hand the floor to our next speaker.'


OOC: Stirix or Farren, as you like.

The Martian hissed quietly as he stood up.

"I was brought on board primarily as a medic, and as a biologist. In those roles, there is nothing I can say here and now. As a medic, you know when you'll need me. As a biologist, nothing until we are at the planet, and even then only if we find people there, or at least remains." A deep breath. "However, ice. Snow. Cold. -Survival-. Humans think they know the cold; that they have mastered it. As was mentioned earlier, your people have been practising freezing people for hundreds of years. But it is still your master. When we arrive at this frozen land, pay attention. You will wear layers of clothing to keep yourself warm, I'm sure. But it's more than that. You must keep moving. Be alert for the merest hint of the cold settling into your bones. If you feel that, you must say something - for if it fully sinks in, it is too late."

Another breath.

"I will also touch lightly on the topic of thawing. It is true, it does happen. Many of my people have been accidentally frozen; and their lives later saved. But even my people, at home amongst the cold, many have also not survived the thawing attempts - it is just not talked about."

Farren waited for Stirix to finish and paused to give others a chance to respond before he stepped forward to "take the floor" as it were.

With a nod of his head to Professor Ortega, Farren said in a relaxed, easy going manner, "As some of you may know already, I am Farren Zander, a graduate student of Professor Orla Hadmani in the Department of Xeno-Sociology at the London University of History and Antiquity.  Professor Hadmani's specialty is studying alien civilizations through their use & development of alien technologies specific to their species & society.

Originally Professor Hadmani was scheduled to be aboard having accepted Professor Ortega's invitation to join the Expedition.  However, due to a virulent illness that befell Professor Hadmani shortly before this Expedition was set to depart, she was deemed medically unfit to travel.  As a means of "compensation", Professor Hadmani recommended me to Professor Ortega as a last minute "replacement" and Professor Ortega graciously accepted.  While I am still learning my subject matter and readily admit that I am not the expert in the field of Xeno-Sociology that Professor Hadmani is acknowledged to be, I will do my best to put Professor Hadmani's teachings and theories into practice when we reach the Rogue Planet.

Now obviously, as we have yet to reach the Rogue Planet and we have no more information about what is to be found there than Professor Ortega has already provided, I have no findings as yet to give a lecture on and I am in possession of insufficient data to legitimately formulate any theories on what may be found.  That said, this is a tremendously exciting scientific opportunity and I am truly looking forward to the potential discoveries we may uncover upon planetfall."

Farren nodded his head to Professor Ortega again as he added in a grateful tone, "As such, I want to thank Professor Ortega for accepting Professor Hadmani's recommendation for my participation and thank him for welcoming me to his Expedition."

With that said, Farren stepped back to his place along the wall and waited to see what would come next.

Bluetooth tried to understand the 'presentations' that were made, but just couldn't find any sense to them. As security, he'd already formulated two dozen potential scenarios that they could encounter, including nothing, where upon his role would just be to sleep!

'Hope for the best, plan for the worst' was his motto. Well, truth, it was old T'kandrrras's motto, but he'd installed it in all his students. He'd also heard it called 'cockeyed optimism'.

He'd also heard it expressed as 'better to have a machinegun and not need it than to need a machinegun and not have one'.

It'd always made sense to him, so that's why he thought the way he did.

The high end problem wasn't survivable, so his plan was to save as many as he could and retreat quickly.

From there, it was just a question of degree. Was the enemy aggressive? Violent? Stealthy? Sneaky? Subtle? He had to watch out for all of those things.

After both Stirix and Farren had said their pieces, Kent gave a rather bland instruction on archaeological technique: performing ground scans, deciding the locations of trenches, carefully excavating to limit damage, examining finds in their proper context (position, orientation, and layer), sifting through spoil (dirt dug out of a trench) for small finds, and recording everything. Of course, much of this would be moot as they were digging in ice, which would melt (flooding the trenches and necessitating drainage channels) or evaporate (eliminating the spoilheaps), which would make excavation both harder and easier.

He explained the more technical aspects of excavation with the thermal drill and plasma torches, and took them through the use of the thermal jackets, face-masks, and goggles they'd need to wear outside to protect against the extreme cold. Fortunately, the atmosphere was predicted to be breathable and at a survivable pressure, so they wouldn't need pressure suits and breathing apparatus, nor space-suits. Vax Kent's talk wasn't as flashy as Ortega's, but it was sensible and level-headed, with a very methodical approach already planned out.

When he came to the end and the lights came back on, Sky Light asked a bit loudly from where she'd been sitting beside Trace. 'The yawny show-and-tell is over?'

Borys stretched. 'Alright. So. Everyone ready for a hyperspace jump.' he ordered laconically, before returning to the cockpit.

Trace nudged Sky. "You ever build a snowman? I saw one in a holo once, and since there's gonna be a lot of snow, I'm totally gonna build one." He got up and started stowing things away ready for the jump.

'Icehot!' Sky Light exclaimed excitedly, hopping off the counter and following to help Trace.