"Shui, Yas can't take your call jus' now.  seems like she's got herself a new little friend over in the hold.  She says it's a live'un.  We'll try bring it over there for y'all to take a peek at.  Lay out the nice dishes and cutlery, seems y'all got company comin' over." Conrad takes his thumb off the intercom and moves over to see if Yas needs help, leaning down to take a look at what she's found.

"What do you think we should do?  Maybe you can grab her with your hand?" Yas jokes and tried to come up with a way to capture the critter without getting bitten or worse.

"See if you can block the other sides without it reacting, then we can herd it out here, perhaps.  I'll keep an eye on it and shoot it if it tries any funny things, like reaching for a gun," she says, wondering just what to do other than watch it.

++ A live one?  Where are you? ++  Shui is already moving, closing off the container (just in case) and snatching up a specimen jar of sufficient size for capture, as well a pair of strong gloves.  She hits the door fast, at almost a run.

++ I wish to see that thing in one piece, Mr. Dietz, to better judge how old it is.  Please give me your location and I shall be there momentarily. ++
This message was lightly edited by the player at 09:25, Mon 24 Apr 2006.

"We're not a big ship." Saskia replies to Tylen's question, shaking her head, "Not like some of the big Navy cruisers I served on, where you could walk through the vents standing upright.  Well, I could, most of the others were too tall."

She works her fingers across the engineering console, quickly and expertly, then waits, tugging at the dirty dressing on her left hand for a bit while the displays update, before balling the injured hand into a fist and jamming it between her knees.

Her right index finger traces several points on the display.  "For most of the system, the ducts are somewhere between fifty-three and one hundred centimetres wide, by ten to fifteen centimetres high.  So we won't be doing the whole scare vid cliché of crawling through the air shafts, even if that is where the monster is hiding out."

Four sections of the schematic flare green as she taps them.  "There are three chambers here, here, and here.  All of them are one metre cubes.  This one is the filtration arrays, this the humidity control, and this one is where the temperature and pressure regulators are.  The fourth one is the pump chamber, which is a little bigger than the others.  Each of the chambers has a maint hatch, so I can service the equipment, but in the case of the pump chamber it doesn't give access to the ducts, just to the outside of the machinery."

More sections light up, amber this time, "All the vent grills can be unfastened and opened, giving access to short sections of duct, if you feel like sticking your arm inside.  Every cabin and compartment has two grills.  The intake one is at floor level, so it sucks in dust stale air, the blower is just below the ceiling, blowing out fresh air.

"The cargo hold has three intakes and three blowers, and there's two of each here, in Engineering, same as on the bridge.  Everywhere else has one of each.  Air and dust come into the floor level part of the system, then through the filter and humidity chambers, before being pumped up to the ceiling level section and through the temp and pressure regulators.  Now, for the eggs to be caught in the filters, my guess would be that Momma Monster got into an intake, and she might still be in the lower section, since she hadn't bust through the filters."

Red flashing lines start to appear at numerous points on the display, "And these are the airtight seals, which drop in case of a pressure loss.  Don't have your fingers in the way when they do.  They have no safety sensors on them, since their primary purpose is to stop any air loss, and they'll sever an arm to do that, if they have to."

Jago relaxes from a tension that he didn’t realise he was carrying and lets a smile creep across his lips, “well let us know if anyone comes across it. I don’t suppose you know how to get rid of them,” he adds hopefully.

This time Miles does laugh, "They're not too fast.  I generally find that hitting one with a shoe does the trick.  We'll let you know if we spot it, Captain."


Shui comes into the hold, and spots Conrad and Yas peering under a cargo container.  She joins them, armed with a specimen jar and gloves.  The bug is slow, if a little nervous, and is easy to catch, though it does make a pitiful cheeping noise when scooped into the jar.

It's roughly circular, about 10 cm across, and has four legs.  Near the centre of the top surface is a small blister, beaded with about a dozen tiny eyes, which look in all directions.  Six long antennae sprout from the blister, waving slowly all around the brightly-coloured creature.

Shui, having captured the bug, slowly settles back on her haunches and looks up at Yasmine and Conrad.  Then she turns back to the bug, studying it as if trying to burn the image into her mind.  After a long moment, she slowly exhales.  "Miss Crow, Mr. Dietz...we have a problem."  The lithe doctor holds up the bottle, studying it speculatively.  "This is not the same species.  We have at least two different kinds of 'bugs' aboard the Profit Margin."

It isn't a heartening conclusion, not at all.

"A problem?  No kidding?  I wonder where it came from?  For all I know it could have hitchhiked all the way from Saurus with the cargo," Yas comments where she sits keeping an eye on the bug.

"Maybe we should open the airlocks, uh?" she says, seemingly only half in jest.  "Too bad we're in J-space.  I suppose we'll have to try to contain them somehow."

"For that, I cannot say," Shui says, studying the bug.  Four legs.  The same as the termite.  It's not an indication of being from the same planet, but it's a start.  She flashes a tight smile up at the marine.  "Regrettably, yes.  I imagine that might impact upon my own health.  If you see them, take no chances.  I do not know this species, and it may be poisonous."

Her eyes are drawn back to the bug almost immediately, though.  "I should take it back to the lab, and discern its identity."  The pathetic thing looks almost forlorn in the sample jar, but Shui hardens her heart.  She knows that it is sometimes the most inoffensive creatures that are the most lethal.  And those ones, appearing harmless, are by far the most dangerous.

Tylen blinks thoughtfully at the display. He follows Saskia's movements, and watches carefully, attempting to piece together some sort of plan since getting into the ducts themselves is a bit of a reach. Then an idea dawns on him, but he is totally unsure if this could be successfully be accomplished. "Okay, could we disable those safety seals and perhaps vent just the ducts, that might get rid of our problem the quickest and easiest. I don't know if that can be accomplished though, any thoughts? At the very least exposure to vacuum outta take out the nasty bugger."

Jago laughs out loud at Miles response, “right Mr Jenner, judicious application of the size ten, I’ll pass it along.”

“Sorry to disturb you,” the captain says as he turns back to the hatch, “and thank you.”

Saskia shakes her head, "The ducts aren't really designed for dumping atmosphere, so it wouldn't be easy to do.  The system isn't set up for it.  The seals don't cut off the ducts from the rest of the ship.  They're designed to divide the ship into sections, so we close the hatches to cut off a section of the ship if it gets holed, then the vent seals close to stop more air escaping that way, but the vent grills don't close."

"I could weld plating over the grills, but it wouldn't be nice for anybody aboard."

She runs her finger of the schematic display, tapping at the filter chamber to magnify it, "Sides, we're stuck in Jump for another five days.  Dumpimg air in Jump might disrupt the Jump Field bubble, and that can get real messy.  I don't fancy tidying up when we drop back into n-space with the ship inside-out."

She points out the lower section, prior to the filter arrays.  "I have some solvents that I can pour into the intake side of the system, which is where I reckon it is, since the filters are intact.  I use it for clearing molds and fungus off the landing gear in some places.  I tried some earlier, and it eats the eggs, so we can clear them off the filters.  That just leaves us with a Mommy Bug to deal with.  The same stuff might see her off too.  The air'll smell funny for the rest of the trip, but no worse than a Scout ship."

"Hhhmmm...," Tylen leaned back against a support girder and sighed, "well, it was a thought then I guess. I suppose if we can get it with the solvent, then that should be the way to go. Though I imagine in a couple months when we get in there to clean, we'll have an ugly surprise waiting for us. If there's nothing else we can do then lets continue with the solvent then. I can let Jago know for you. Dang, and I was kinda lookin forward to using my flame gun...," he grinned at her.

Tylen gathers himself standing upright, and looking somewhat downtrodden heads for the door. Then he pauses and turns, raising an eyebrow, "is there a way to make one of those sniffers work over a wider area maybe, without sacrificing alot of resolution?"

"Not sure.  I can work on that, take a look at one and see what I can do." Saskia scratches at her nose while she considers.  "As for the mess in the air system - well as soon as we hit port we can have the system cleaned out properly.  With a good enough port they might even have nanobots to go in there and clear the crud out.  The solvent is only short-term, but it's all we got."

"Well, you do whatever you want with that thing, just don't let it out, all right?" Yas says with a grin and stands up.  "So we got mroe than one bug aboard?  Strange, could have sworn Ridge left ages ago..."

"Bug hunting makes my thristy.  I'll go have a glass of cold juice, if you need me," she reveals and wanders off into the crew lounge to get herself that glass of juice.

Shui takes the bug back to the medlab and manages to extract a DNA sample from it without losing any fingers.  The creature seems quite docile in facy, and has a tendency to move around the specimen container in a way which seems to always position it on the side of the container nearest Shui.  Almost as if it's as curious about her as she is about it.

And every time she moves away from it, it squeaks... pathetically.

With Yas' mention of Saurus, she has a starting point for the genetic checks.


Jago comes back to the crew section, to find Yas taking a break, and is promptly informed of a different type of bug crawling about his ship.


Conrad continues his search of the hold, but finds nothing further...


In Engineering, Saskia and Tylen work on a system to get solvent into the intake side of the air system.  She has a couple of spray bottles that she can fill with the liquid, the pressurise.  The nozzles can be set to provide a fine mist, which will be drawn through the ducts quite nicely, and will dissolve the eggs, and the hatchlings too.  The adults might be tougher, but the eggs weren't in the filters a couple of days ago, so they probably have mostly eggs and hatchlings to deal with.  Maybe only a single adult.

"No fear of that, Ms. Crowe," Shui returns thoughtfully, studying the bug.

"No fear of that."

      *                    *                    *

Back at her laboratory/quarters/exercise room, the doctor carefully begins her examination.  She is mightily cautious inserting the DNA probe to gather the specimen, and pleased nothing...untoward occurs.  The attention she receives from the small beast confuses her.  Small arthropods aren't known for their intelligence...well, no small creatures are, though there are exceptions to the rule.

In nature, something like this creature would be one of two things - an incredibly dangerous/poisonous beast, birghtly coloured to ward off predators larger than itself, or a harmless, bumbling animal that depended on said bright colours to give the appearance of something dangerous.

She can't take the chance, no matter how harmless the creature seems to be.  No matter how sad it sounds.

Finally, though, Shui closes her eyes for a long moment, then rummages around until she finds a larger storage container.  She simply cannot bear the sounds any longer, and opens the smaller container into the larger one, which has been stocked with a small bowl of water and a scattering of different foodstuffs - meat, vegetables, grains.  An experiment, she tells herself.  See what it eats.  See what it consumes.  Determine what it is.

That's all.  It has nothing to do with her soft heart.  My weak heart, she thinks to herself, staring at the tipped container lying in the larger one.  My weak, foolish heart.

I am so sorry, father.  For a moment she closes her eyes, leaning her weight against the table, struggling against a sudden rush of painful sorrow and loneliness.  An odd time for it to come, to be certain; perhaps the feelings have been catalyzed by the creature before her, its sounds and movements.  Perhaps not.

No.  You have work to do.  People depend upon you.  Lives depend upon you.  Shui opens suspiciously bright eyes, wipes them.  The cool, impersonal doctor returns.

Lives.  I am sorry, father.  This time the thought is quietly dismissive, rather than distressed.  And the doctor turns back to her work, checking the computer for DNA identification.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:39, Mon 01 May 2006.

The bug continues to be cute in its sample container, waving its antennae in a friendly manner, and staring at the woman with its tiny, glittering eyes.  The computer chirps, and displays an identification of the DNA sample...
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:16, Wed 03 May 2006.

Shui reads over the notice once.  Then again.  Then she slowly relaxes.  "Well," the doctor says quietly to the strange insect.  "You receive a reprieve."

After a check on the nutritional requirements, Shui moves to her small stockpile of biological specimins and finds some nutrient agar - useful for growing bacterial, and so forth.  "It is not moss," she rambles as she prepares the material, from granular powder to jelly, "but it does approximate algae, both in form and nutritional value."  A glance at the bug.  "Not perfect, of course, but certainly it will suffice."  One eyebrow rises, delicately.  "Mr. DeSant will be interested to see you, I am certain."

Another glance at the beetle.  "I realize what you are doing, you know.  I also know you do not comprehend my words...at least, I think you do not."  She ponders this for a moment.  Is it possible the creature comprehends the meaning behind her thoughts?  The emotions?  Whatever the case, it does not matter.  "I would have fed you in any case," she notes quietly.  "Life...is sacred."

When the jelly-like substance is finished, she moves to the container and places it within upon a small plate.

In engineering, Saskia, with help from Tylen has two five litre cannisters of cleaning solvent filled and pressurised.  Now it just needs to be deployed.  She gets a hardcopy of the ventilation schematics and gives it to Tylen, not keeping a copy for herself, since she knows the ship's systems like she knows her own name.

"You take the starboard side, I'll take port.  Start aft and work forward through the passenger quarters, then do the aft and forward passenger lounges, and I'll meet you in the cargo bay when you're finished.  Do it all in the right order, to get best effect, and only spray the intake grills, that's the ones at floor level.  Put the nozzle through the grill bars, and give it, let's see - a ten second burst.  That should give us decent coverage."

"Got all that?"

The last thing Saskia does, before she and Tylen start working their way through the ship, is contact Shui, Yas, and Jago and let them know what she's up to.  After all, the solvent, while harmless, has a noticeable odour, and at least this way they'll be able to explain the smell if anybody asks.

Then they move out, following the plan as laid out by Saskia.  The ducting is sprayed in a specific sequence, designed to optimise the coverage, allowing them to use the minimum quantity of the not-so-pleasant liquid to spray the maximum amount of the air system.  It takes a while to do it, but the engineer is almost entirely certain at the end that there should be no nooks and crannies that remain unaffected.

Of course, once they're safely plant-side, they can purge the whole system properly...


Yas and Conrad continue their search of the hold, and find nothing else in the way of unregistered passengers, or their offspring.  Since the cargo, although loaded at Vilis, originated at Saurus, which is also the home of the insectoid stowaways, it seems pretty certain that the infestation is limited in scope...



The strange bug in Shui's lab purrs and buzzes in a pleasant manner as it slices off and devours pieces of the nutrient agar.  It's original diet may have been simple plant life, but it seems only too happy to adapt to the more hi-tech diet that the medic offers it.

Shui shakes her head.  There it was again.  She almost dozed off this time, recalling the tea fields and playing no-see with Huo and Gangzi.  The scent of the flowers in the air...the wind, brushing through her hair...a touch on her shoulder - 'No-see!'  Gangzi's voice, a whisper in her ear as she spun...her giggles in the air....

"Clever," she whispers.  "Very clever.  A 'reward', is it not?"  Shui stands, moves to look more closely at the small creature.  "And this...an attempt to make me wish to keep you around?  To continue to provide for you?"  She moves back to her compture, stares at the hideous creature on the screen.  The other bug, so different from this one.

I still have questions about this bug.  How could there have been something alive inside the nest?  This dead one is half-consumed.  It has been some time since last it could have moved.

"I give you food.  Shelter.  You return with this," she muses, her hand making circles over her head.  "Reward and incentive.  One wonders just how intelligent you truly are.  Is this instinctual behavior on your part?  Or planned?"

The doctor glances up at the brightly coloured bug.  "Successful behavior, whatever its purpose.  I shall have to find you a larger habitat when we arrive at our next stop...and you might be extremely useful in keeping patients calm."

Then she blinks, shakes her head.  "I shall have to work on my concentration, however," Shui notes, frowning.

Conrad straightens up from looking under what seems to be the last container in th hold, then moves to peek around the back of it, between the container itself and the wall.  "Well now, that's the last of 'em, an' it looks clear to me, Yas."  He stretches, and winces as something crackles low down in his spine.  Too much bending and stooping today, most likely, considering he spends most of his time in an ergonomically designed chair.

"All done jus' about in time for dinner too."

The bridge is deserted and, apart from the continuous sigh of the air circulation, quiet, illumination comes only from VDUs and the thousands of multi coloured tell tails that are scattered across the various consuls, looking like so many fairy lights in the darkness.

Jago sees none of this, for as he enters the light levels rise automatically to comfortable levels.

Slumping into his pilot’s seat, the Captain flicks a few switches and runs through his routine system checks, the computer could do this, in fact the Mallor systems Model3 spent a great deal of it’s time doing just this, but Jago liked to back it up a little from time to time.

“So, how are you today computer?” he asks absently as the machine comes to mind.

"Well, no news is good news when it comes to certain things, and I think this might be one," Yas agrees with Conrad and then cracks a grin at his condition.  Waving a finger in his direction she exclaims, "You know, you should work out a bit more!  I can help you with that.  Stretching, building muscle and getting rid of those troubles you're having!"

The grin looks something like what one would expect to see from a cat that just spotted a mouse too fat to get through its own hole in the wall.

"We can talk about it over dinner, since you offer it," she chuckles at him and starts to turn to get something to eat after the fruitless search of any further stowaways.