Jothan snorted, amused. "I'll keep that in mind, next time I organise an expedition to another World. Unless we're going to walk, may as well have it and not need it. This way I can get some work done." He didn't seem to be taking Linus's advice, but then, he was the man who took a fully equipped expedition into the outback of Mirayn and then ended up kidnapped by his smuggler patron and with a deadly brain parasite.

He surveyed his handiwork. "That should do it, and I'm sure all my medicines are packed. If you wouldn't mind grabbing a bag?"
This message was last edited by the player at 11:39, Thu 03 Apr 2014.

"Of course I'll help," said Linus, getting the artifact and some of his old friend's luggage gathered up.

"Make sure everything's locked up tight before we go."

34 Charlie it is ...  Lets be snappy here.

Down they come & land, Blake keeps the engines muted running for a get-away if needed.  He scans the sky for routes to take, letting Ollie do the ground scenery.

Talia was parked a half-block down. "Over here!" She waved Ken and Neva over to her modest 4-door compact air/raft. She hugged her companions and smiled, genuinely happy to see them. They hadn't seen too much of each other but they'd come through a lot together.

"Do you want to take my air car and park there, walk it, or some combination?"

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 232):

Keeping his shotgun down below the line of sight, Ollie kept a 360 degree visual check. "Keep a sky-watch, Blake. Worlds like this, threats could come from above, yeah?"

In reply to Linus Spruance (msg # 231):

Linus and Messandi spotted the ship's 4-seat open air/raft land out front in the hedge-lined landing pad.

Struggling a little with his luggage, Messandi switched on his alarm and vacation light timer. "There, that should do it. Let me lock up."

After Linus remembered to unplug the kettle, the exited the condo. Messandi locked up and they headed out.

Blake and Ollie saw them as they approached through the break in the hedge. "Hullo, chaps! Where to? The starport?" asked Messandi.

Neva awkwardly returned Talia's hug but put a smile on her face.  Hugging was  something she had to get used to again but it had felt good.

"How about a combination?  It would be good to have the air car in case we need to make a quick get away but it would be good probably to walk part of it.  What do you know of the security of the place Talia?"

Blake pops the trunk for the safari gear ...  Buckle up gents.   a look about & off we go ...

Ken returned the hug, glad to see Lorain's friend. He'd gotten to know her on the expedition and then a bit more here on Alzenei although mostly in the company of Lorain.  Hopefully she'd gained more experience and perspective during their expedition than she started with.

"Good to see you Talia, let's take the air car and park up closer and then walk.  I'd rather not leave around too many clues if someone later spots your air car."

"Good to see you," said Linus, attending to the loading of the luggage.

"In you get, old friend..." He sees the Professor aboard, then follows.

Jothan and his luggage were loaded into the open-topped air/raft. Bags went in the far back, Jothan and Linus in the rear seat and Black and Ollie in the front.

Back at the ship, Thomas didn't see anything suspicious at the Starport. A 400-ton trader came in for a landing a ways away. It was automatically caught and lowered onto a landing pad by the Starport's tractor-repulsor field array.

At the University, they landed and parked a few blocks away from the office block which contained Lorain's lab and office. They walked along a lit pathway (the pavement itself being the source of light) without incidence. The front door was locked because it was now fairly late, but Talia used her access card to enter. Lorain's office was on the 2nd floor, and Talia led them up a side stairs. Midway down the hall were the doors marked "Lorain Messandi, PhD" and that of her assistant.

In reply to GM (msg # 240):

Neva watched the security closely while Talia used her access.  She was looking for anything out of the ordinary since she still couldn't figure out why she hadn't seen cameras and stuff.  Still it was good to get in and she thanked Talia for coming along and letting them in.

Both Ken and Talia could hear her mutter to herself, "It's so much easier when you have a key."

Blake heads back to the ship.  He's intending to drop off the passengers & be available the captain & Neva need assistance.  He will comm Thomas to have the door ready when they arrive.

Ken tried to maintain a normal facade as the trio walked from the car to the entrance door.  He moved inside with the others and looked around.  "Are we on camera Neva?"

As he waited for an answer Ken chuckled nervously. "Let's get this thing open if the coast is clear."

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 243):

The lack of security wasn't too out of the ordinary. There were more higher-security areas engaged in sensitive research, government and Scout service projects, but these buildings were more academic in nature. Going up the rear way, they avoided the main security cameras but passed one in the bottom of the rear stairwell.

Talia unlocked the door to Lorain's office.

"There we go. Now, what are we looking for?"

Lorain's office had a desk area where she did paperwork and met students. There was an adjoining lab area where she worked on her findings.

Ken avoids looking at the camera as they pass it to at least somewhat obscure his face without looking too guilty.  He slips inside the office and looks about.  "Let's make sure we don't make noises or lights that would be spotted from outside." He takes a tissue and covers his hands as he looked through the desk.  "We want to see if there are any clues that would relate to her recent work on the Sky Raiders and the artifact we found recently in particular.  We did send her images of the artifact in advance so she might have done some work already.  Papers, notes, her computer if we can get into it, the lab.  Let's do a thorough search."

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 245):

Neva turned her face away from the camera and when they were inside pulled out some thin leather gloves.  She nodded to Ken about what they were looking for and then turned to Talia.  "Do you know if she kept her files on a computer and if so if it's around and do you know her passwords?"  While waiting for an answer, Neva took the opposite side of the room from Ken and started to search for the items that Ken had mentioned.

"Jaxxon here. I'll have the door open for when you arrive.

"Is Linus with you? Does he have the artefact? Are you safe?"

Everything is green so far, your end ??Blake comms back.  Blake sneeks a couple looks at the passengers, making sure they're OK.  Blake tries to keep his eyes roving all about, 3 dimensional viewing comes from piloting.

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 248):

"Yep. Bupkes is happening here. Ken and Neva took off to the Institute a couple hours ago."

After confirming everything was okay, he opened the air/raft bay doors. "Welcome home."

The passengers both seem okay.

Ollie piloted the air/raft into the bay above the forward cargo ramp, where it fit snugly. The outer lock door clanged shut and lights came on. The inner hatch valve wheel started spinning and then the door swung back, leading into the lounge.

In reply to GM (msg # 250):

The person who opened the hatch to the air/raft bay was Mariel. She was armed with a holstered autopistol.

"Glad to see everyone back! Sorry about the pistol, we're at something of a higher alert here, Thomas' insistence, and it makes sense."

"Hello, Mariel," said Linus, helping the Professor out of the air/raft.

"Go on into the lounge, old friend. I'll bring your stuff in."

Blake will lend a hand moving the prof's stuff inside.  He will also ask Mariel to file an open ended flight plan -- no destination yet.

OK - Please post in the new thread.