"Hmmm.  A ship of our own?  That might be nice.  Assuming that I would be invited to stay with the group that is."

Neva had to wonder on that.  It would be a home but a different one.  One in space.  At one time she would never had even consider that but now it sounded almost nice.  Of course it would depend on the ship itself.  If she was going to be on one she wanted it to be space worthy.  Space worthy as in it had Ollie's paw of approval and not just a second or third hand piece of junk.

In reply to Neva Alexovna Morozova (msg # 10):

She clarified, "I mean, this ship, the one you've been flying. The Empress Victoria."

until now the crew had been leasing the vessel in the service of the Institute.

Ken had spent the intervening months remaining close to Lorain.  He'd offered to serve as a bodyguard and help with what he could in the data organization.  It also allowed him to continue to pursue his suit of the beautiful but bookish scientist.  When they gathered together he nodded immediately.  "I'm in Lorain.  This sounds like the opportunity of the lifetime."  As she spoke further his eyes widened.  "The title to the Empress Victoria is a very generous offer.  I for one am grateful."

As the others spoke he thought through the considerations.  "So the Mnemosyne Principality is not friendly to the League.  I take it this expedition will be done undercover?  What will we do when we find the ship?  Technically it could be claimed by the Principality?"

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 12):

Hanno, the Scout they'd met on Qarant who worked for the Institute, spoke up.

"I should like to come along as well. I knew your father well, Lorrain. He got me my position here at the Institute.

"The Principality government is friendly towards the Zhodani, who's border is in the next subsector to coreward. But the people of the Principality are not Vlazdhumecta, the minor human Zhodani client race. Instead they are Hamadurs from Gushmege Sector who settled here in a second wave of Imperial settlement in the 700's. They are a mixture of Somomani and Vilani. The majority Hamadur population has been agitating for closer Imperial ties since the start of the War, causing unrest.

"Either way the Sky Raider ship is close to the border with interstellar space. We figure it's a 50-50 chance."

"To actually own the Victoria, that would be a worthy prize!" laughs Ollie. "I am in on this adventure if that is the case."

"I'm guessing that something as big and old as this Sky Raider base would be difficult to move. We may only get the honor of the first look."
This message was last edited by the player at 11:24, Fri 24 June 2016.

And some souvenirs Ollie.

"I say we land our lovely lady inside her, repair the behemoth, and fly her back to the Institute, no matter the condition" suggests Stanley as he helps himself to another cup of tea. "Ha! What is it I am always saying? Give me a Jump-3 ship....!"

His right false-arm is still stiff from his physical therapy, but his wounds have healed up nicely.

In reply to Stanley (msg # 16):

"We'll be taking an Institute-chartered ship, the Inquisitor. It has Jump-3 drives and has been fitted with drop tanks to give it a range of 6 Parsecs. The Queen Victoria only has Jump-2."

The Inquisitor was an Explorer class survey vessel, the civilian version of the Broadsword class mercenary transport.

"Right now no one knows where we're going and we want to keep it that way. It will be very difficult for anyone to guess the Inquisitor's destination. If nothing else we don't want to tip off the Principality where we're going until we know where the Sky-Raider world-ship is located, in or outside their borders. They are officially neutral but lean towards the Zhodani.

"We're going to refit the Queen Vic with dismountable internal tankage to join us but that will take time."

Explorer class survey vessel:

Blake gives a low whistle at that bit of information.  That's some serious tonnage and jump ability.  And what Professor, does the university use that craft for ??

He looks at Ken and Neva If we could sneak the lot of you onboard, snoops may think I'm just making a supply run somewhere and not pay much attention.  Rebuilding the Queen could also be a distraction.

Ken takes in the information.  "It would be nice to repair the Sky Raiders base ship and jump her back to League space.  However it would be a daunting task and hard to keep secret.  Likely there would be a major space battle over her and she'd get torn apart."  He shook his head.  "It may be best to slip in, investigate and slip out.  Then the best we might hope for is some interstellar agreement to treat her as a heritage piece to be shared and restored among all.  I doubt if anyone is alive on it after all these years to object."

He considered Blake's ideas.  "Great idea.  We can seem focused on getting the Vic ready for space and perhaps take off.  Then maybe rendezvous in space and send the Vic off to finish retrofitting while we jump on ahead."

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 18):

"It's a charter through the Alzenei Scout service. We have used it to move people and supplies to Mirayn and Qarant."

Lorrain looked puzzled. "I am afraid I don't follow. If anyone is following us they will follow the Inquisitor. What possible story could we use to draw off anyone's attention using the Queen Vic? We could use the Inquisitor to go on a wild goose chase if we didn't actually need it, but the Queen Vic won't be ready for at least a month."

Ken considers; "The best thing to do would be to try and convince everyone that the Inquisitor is going on another supply run.  We could tell everyone we are refitting the Vic to go after more leads on the Sky Raiders and focus attention on her.  If people think we have a month of work on the ship they may not move their own actions or preparations ahead as quickly.  Then we can sneak aboard the Inquisitor."

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 21):

Lorain shrugged, helplessly.

"I don't think that would work. Too many people know that we found something worthwhile on Qarant. We tried to keep it all as secret as we could but, well, this is a university. Not an army camp.

"Once the Inquisitor makes Jump few people can follow us. Besides, won't it be less complicated to leave in the Queen Vic first, then rendez-vous with the Inquisitor later? Or just send the Queen Vic off as a decoy, as if we were on it?"

In reply to Prof. Lorain Messandi (msg # 22):

Neva looked up at Lorain and Ken.  "Both of those scenarios say that we don't take off for about a month due to the Vic needing repairs.  Did you want to wait that long or can you think of another alternative."

Blake scratches his IISS-issued 'thinking cap' ...

In reply to Neva Alexovna Morozova (msg # 23):

Lorrain nodded, unhappily.

"Yup. the problem is that they are ready to go and won't want a delay. All I can suggest is we don't take a direct route."

Ken frowned.  He understood the pressures of time from his service in the military.  "Then we go and go quickly, tonight if we can and hope to outrun the pursuit by boldness.  A less direct route is well advised and our best bet I think."

In reply to Ken Jenkins (msg # 26):

"OK. Jaxxon and I will crew the Queen Vic. We can take her and follow when the pony tanks are ready in the hold. That will require we know what the destination is."

In reply to Mariel Migaraa (msg # 27):

"That sounds good. Before we make our final Jump we will make some observations from in-system. We will be sending a coded message to the Institute letting them know where we think the ship is.

"I'm all packed. I have a few things to complete. The ship is at the High Port."

She finished up her e-messages, getting ready to go.

In reply to Dr. Talia McKenzie (msg # 28):

Shuttle flights to orbit and the High Port were very common. It would be easy to get one.

Now would be the time to purchase extra gear. This could be done on the ground at the Starport or the High Port in orbit.

GM Note: Non-military goods and equipment up to TLC (12) are available. This will be your last chance to make any gear buys!

"That will work well Mariel.  Just be very careful when jumping into the location.  There may be conflict or even live Sky Raiders."  He looked around at the others.  "We have a bit of time to shop for gear needed to explore this craft.  Does anyone have thoughts on what might be needed?  We'll go in well armed for certain."

Hmmm, salvage gear ??  Blake looks over to Ollie.  Blake will later look over the docking hatches from the derelict.  Some kind of adapter assembly ??  Laser or plasma cutters, heavy duty vacc suits if they find ships.  Planet-wise, atmospheric testers, bio scanners, environmental suits and base camp stuff.

Ken thought more about things.  "Perhaps tool kits to work with alien equipment?  Do we know enough from the ship we found on Qarant to adapt to their computer and power systems?  We should be prepared to make minor repairs in order to access old data systems.  We should be prepared for plagues and such that might have developed in isolation.  Do we know much about the plague that seemed to damage the local planets around the time of the Sky Raider disappearance?  We may want to be prepared in case that is still active if there are any survivors."  He paused; "And speaking of survivors we'll want to be prepared with possible translation programs and weaponry."

"I assume the institute will have outfitted the ship with zeroG construction equipment. I'll have a look over the inventory and make sure they have everything you mentioned. Let see we'll also need laser welders, portable airlock, portable life support, portable power and lighting, radiation detectors, plenty of construction supplies, full complement of tools,..."

Neva chucked.  "I don't know about you Ken but I don't remember any ads for sales on "Alien equipment tool kits".  Perhaps you can be more specific?  I'm pretty set for my personal gear.  I'll get more ammo and a few other things but I don't need a lot.  I can contribute some money to a group supply run.  Do we need more medical supplies? Computer stuff?  Let me know if you need more money to get stuff."

It was hard to explain it.  Neva had always been a generous soul but after being burned she had REALLY learned how to do without.  Things got broken down easily into want versus need.  Now that she was back in the field again she would need to expand out on what that "need" part would be.  Looking at her duffle bags, knowing her safe houses, it was still hard to think that she would need more.  More ammo, however, was always a good thing.