"Does he speak Imperial Anglic? I probably don't speak anything else that he might know."

Religious Dr Kilengar ?? Blake looks about him, the village and the inhabitants. I don't see much for religion here. Just a regressed society. During and after the meal, Blake does a rough count of people, especially looking for children. Somehere in the back of his mind was the minimum count need for genetic diversity and such. Are they aware of any groups Dr Gilenkar ??  I'm wondering if they are slowly dieing out, unless trading with others.

In reply to Blake Renfield (msg # 788):

Dr. Gilenkarr scoffed at the idea. "You see no religion here? What, just because there are no cathedrals? Maybe they've regressed technologically from the days of the Sky Raider civilisation but we can't honestly judge the sophistication of a culture by it technology level. But clearly someone is maintaining basic systems around here."

He spoke a little with the headman. It didn't seem to go very well. "I can't say I understood the theological underpinnings of the dispute. I'll need to try again later."

Billy remains quiet, he has nothing he can say to the natives and knows next to nothing about theology.  Just that it appears to be hereditary.

He is interested in the food served at the feast and tries to make some sense of what the original ingredients might have been.

In reply to Linus Spruance (msg # 786):

Lorain documented what they ate. "It's possible that these plants and animals are descended from foods stocks the Sky Raiders took aboard on their long journey. But if this was a "generation ship" or a hybrid generation ship with a sleeper contingent, then it's possible that they would have brought native flora and fauna with them from their original area of space, or even their home planet! The conflict between the Loeskalth and the Vilani Imperium happened in the very early days, and records are conflicting. Researchers believe the Loeskalth were from Gushemege, Reft and Verge sectors... but they don't know for sure.

"Maybe we can compare samples here from databases from those sectors, get a hit on a specific world."

"I'm just a belter, I don't know about any of that other stuff. Give me my seeker and I can tell you if this rock has any value."
This message was last edited by the player at 11:50, Sun 02 June 2019.

"What databases do we have access to?" asked Linus.

"If there's a good botanical one, it might be possible to identify some of the plants growing here, and see if they are of common origin."

In reply to Angus McStubbin (msg # 792):

The Vargr scientist, a sociable female, replied, "a belter? I thought so! I have a lot of experience in asteroid habitats and societies. I did my Masters thesis in the Bowman Belt in District 268. I must say, this old rock has held together quite well, don't you think?"

Lorain examined the food on her plate, using a folding camp foon to sort them into different piles. "Yep. We don't have the gear with us at the moment but that portable field computer system has all that kind of data already loaded, in case we found some mummified vegetation. Never expected to find living specimens!"

"Oh good," said Linus.

"I have done a couple of botanical surveys - on one ship I served in they had a civilian botanist aboard, I got sent as her escort and she taught me a bit about how surveys are conducted. Never thought it would come in useful."

The Navy was like that. Stay alert to opportunities and you never knew what might come your way.

In reply to Dr. Goezghae (msg # 794):

"Yes it has, and it has atmosphere, something I'm not used to."

Ken ate with relish once they'd determined that there was no long pig in the food.  He stayed away from the religious discussion as such things didn't interest his practical mind except where it might aid them.  He had his own beliefs that he held privately and didn't interfere with anyone else.  "I think being able to pin down the home world of the ancestors of these people would be another big achievement on the scholarly front.  We should do what we can to help with that.  The main question is now is how can we parley the friendship of the tribe into real help."  He looked at their translator. "Doctor Gilenkaar, let's see what they can tell us about the surrounding territories as well.  We need to start piecing together an understanding of this place."

Angus nibbled at the food, but ate little as his stomach had shrunk in the last 25 years.

After eating, Angus stayed out of the conversation mostly to try to take in a bit of what he's missed over the last two and a half decades. Sifting through the news and nuance that he heard from the others.

He didn't gather much. but he picked up a bit of what was going on.

In reply to Angus McStubbin (msg # 800):

It was a pleasant supper.

Dr. Goezghae made more small talk with Angus, about asteroid life and what it was like to be a belter.

The portable computer workstation was back at the main entry area camp. It would need to be brought up to be of any use.

Language lessons continued. Dr. Gilenkaar was slowly building up his vocabulary.

In reply to GM (msg # 801):

Over the last of her meal Lorain asked, "well team? What's our plan for the night? Go back to the entry area base camp or stay here?

"I guess I'd better go fetch the computer," said Linus.

"It took us a while to get here ...." Billy comments, "and we haven't got  the information we need from these guys yet. And, lets face it, if we leave they might not actually be here when we get back.  Who knows when those other natives will return?" he thinks for a moment then pulls out his hand computer.  "Will this help?  Either with initial analysis of the flora, or perhaps even in working out the language?"

"I wonder if the suit communicators will reach the base camp?"

"Wow, look at the new technology!" Angus whistles, checking out the 'modern' tech gadgets that the crew has. "Didn't have anything quite like that 25 years ago. The times they are a changing!"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:14, Tue 11 June 2019.

In reply to Billy (msg # 804):

Lucky Jack, the other belter, answered,

"Yes, we placed repeaters down that tunnel that led here. Otherwise we would not be able to transmit through the solid rock."

Lucky Jack had made small talk with Angus over supper, bringing him up to speed on asteroid mining the last couple decades.
This message was last edited by the player at 09:31, Fri 14 June 2019.

Angus continues to make small talk with Lucky Jack about asteroid mining while they collected their data.

Ken considered their options.  "I don't want to move in unfamiliar territory in the darkness.  Let's spend the night here with guards to make sure our hosts remain friendly and then see where we stand in the morning.  If the way looks clear then we can send back to the main camp and move what we need here."

Sounds good to me.

Angus nods agreement. Wanting to find his seeker as soon as possible.

Angus volunteers to stand guard for a few hours during the night but when not guarding, sleeps deeply.