Horace helped Heather get the cargo arranged and the passengers set up for travel. She was good he had to admit. She did a better job than he could have.

As they were getting things arranged for the trip Heather checked her PAD and made a note. "You know, XO--we might be able to get some exports from Merlin. If they have some big orders going to the more core worlds that may turn a tidy profit."

 Reggie went up to Wymp" what can I do to help, Mr. Wymp?"

"Keep us safe for now, I don't trust that all is well."

Alwin will help get the passengers settled in, and check to see regarding any special medical needs any of them may possess.

If he witnesses Dominiq massaging her temples, he will offer to prescribe a mild analgesic to help with her headaches.

Florence finds “College Town” after settling in.   Not surprisingly, Mission San Lorenzo is well adapted for rain.  Canopies extend out over sidewalks, which are raised off the gravel streets.  The gravel streets are not well adapted, and the donkeys seem annoyed by the rain, but they have little choice.  Everyone has umbrellas, and a lucky few have umbrella-drones hovering above them, imported from some more industrial world.   The town is small enough to walk, and after passing some shops and official buildings, she finds the big canopied "College Town".

It is a like a very large white tent, attaching to a row of shops on one side, the entrance to the college lobby area on another, and containing seating, a stage, some "socializing areas", and some large potted plants.  It is well lit and well inhabited, because on rainy days (there are a lot of those) there aren't that many places one can go.

There aren't that many places one can go when it's sunny, either, but that's another issue.

Florence is less *different* here.  She is still younger than most, but not that much younger, and she actually fits in.  There is a young woman painting, and she is about Florence's age.  A cluster of students cooperating on writing history papers.  A few others playing a holographic table tennis game, with quite a few watching an laughing.

******************************
Meanwhile, the Albatross...


Alwin and Reginald quickly accomplish their tasks.  The group is going home, that means they have all experienced space flight before, so they know the routine.  Besides, as Alwin and Reginald quickly learn, they are Merliners, and Merliners have a reputation to uphold: the calmest, most relaxed people in the 100 Worlds.  They are taught calming techniques almost from birth, it is part of every school curriculum.  They meditate, they listen to soothing music, wear pastel colors.   It’s more than just a cultural value, it is part of their economy.  As a planet that “exports” the services of its people, considering their specialties, this reputation is a great help.  Reginald has never seen such a group of easy going people.  They seem to be troubled by nothing. Alwin has heard of the phenomenon before, but… it was just exaggeration, right?  Apparently, not.  These are the sort of the people that, in the event of a catastrophe, you could tell them to walk calmly to the escape pods, and they would.


Passenger ships traveling the Main Line offer all sorts of amenities to attract the highest paying passengers.   Running a Back Road between frontier worlds, it’s not so necessary.  Just the fact that the ship is there is enough.   But spacers know, having a good reputation with passengers is always a good thing.

You have a new thread, since it will be cumbersome with different plot lines sharing threads:
Journey to Merlin
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:01, Mon 30 Mar 2020.

   Dominiq kept busy during her time aboard the Albatross; a number of things that needed to be done while the ship remained at their improvised landing spot. After her shipboard duties were done, she spent most of her time doing two things; first was to don her workout gear - a pair of tangerine leggings, white sneakers, and a dark grey hoodie that mostly covered her combo orange-and-yellow crop top underneath - and spent some time walking around the ship to get some exercise. She didn't know the area past the landing site, so she kept her steps close and power-walked while she listened to her perscomp playlist. The rest of the time, usually after she'd finished exercising and grabbing a quick shower, she exercised the mental side and spent her time reading and studying some of the materials X.O. Wymp recommended. A little knowledge was never a bad thing, after all. she'd thought while she read. And it never hurt to have an edge on your competition, either ...

   She noted the arrival of Ms MacKenzie, noting the confidence in her voice as she spoke about her 20 years experience in the Ambassadorial Service, along with her business experience. Part of her was mildly surprised with the thought that a woman with that much experience would bother signing onto a merchant freighter like the Albatross. The other part of her was discouraged, knowing that all of the study she'd been doing to learn 'the ropes' felt like a waste of time.  Inwardly, she sighed and let out a slow breath. </smallcaps> No, she's here to help out, and we probably need all the help we can get. Good as Horace is, another body with the experience will help make us some more money, both now and later. Guess I'll have to find something ... else, then.</smallcaps>

   Her headaches still came and went and try as she might keep it all out of sight, the Ship's Doctor had noticed and had offered her some painkillers at one point. She'd smiled as she looked up slightly and caught Brandle's blue eyes with her own. "Appreciate the offer, Doctor." she'd replied as she'd brought up a hand and flattened her pale palm. "But I've had these headaches off and on since I was a teenager. It's nothing serious, but when they come, I know what to reach for. Modern medicine's good for a lot of things, but not *everything*. But thanks for looking out for me. I'd just thought I'd kept a lid on it a little better than I did."

---

   The news that the Albatross was expecting passengers proved to be a mixed blessing for Dominiq. When she'd learned their passengers hailed from Merlin, Shabazz looked into the planet's entries on culture and Moraes, just so she wouldn't accidentally overstep her bounds when it came to interacting with them. Articles on Merlinian ecology and it's shimmering bioluminescent aquatic life were fascinating, and she found the people and their 'New Age' thinking ... interesting. She'd watched as they interacted with Reggie and the Doctor, answered their questions calmly and efficiently when asked, and followed instructions almost to the letter. It made her think of an Old Terra fauna called a 'lemming'; something that would follow the directions of a leader, even if that leader leads them over a cliff.

   Without realising it, Dominiq found herself knowing more than she suspected about taking care of other people. She'd watched as others had carried out whatever wish she'd desired at the time, and now realised that she'd picked up the basics of how to deal with higher-class patrons. While Merlinians were not exactly nobility, she understood well enough how they carried themselves, and how best to deal with their needs. Sweet Lord ... I'm going to wind up being the Albatross's Purser!

   At least the Merlinians, with their easy-going nature, made the young Purser's work a little easier. With all of the people that had been brought aboard, it was cramped and felt like they were packed in like sardines; Dominiq had little doubt that some members of her (former) entertainment community - including herself, once upon a time - might not have been pleased about how things were. She worked as best she could to make sure that everyone was settled and as comfortable as she could make them.

   With the stress of keeping the passengers comfortable on the journey, Dominiq did find some solace with her music. From humming some gospel "spiritual" she'd learned as a child, to the occaisional lapsing into her own hip-hop fusions from one of her albums, she found some of the Merlinians enjoyed her singing enough to ask her about performing for a small group of them. She'd briefly thought about turning them down, but something inside of her bucked at the idea. It had been a long time since she'd sung publically like this, and she remembered the crowds seemed a lot larger - but she'd missed performing. She'd accepted the invitation for that night, and spend the rest of the afternoon preparing for the evening.

   The evening itself was a more intimate gathering than ones she was used to. Dressed as she was in a floor-length blue-green dress that she'd worn on tour a handful of times, and it momentarily reminded her of a concert she'd done on Lyonesse, in front of a small gathering of their aristocrats. The passengers who'd chosen to attend weren't anything like the Noble Landowners, something that worked in their favour. She sang for an hour, keeping her songs light, pleasant and well within what was expected. She took a short break to refresh her beverage, knowing that some of the others might have to answer the call of nature or freshen their own drinks before she spent the second-hour answering requests from her audience. Some songs she knew and performed well, others she didn't and needed help from some of the crowd to bring to life. The evening ended quickly enough and Shabazz thanked them all for coming and hoped that they enjoyed her songs ...
This message was last edited by the player at 02:50, Tue 31 Mar 2020.

Horace attended the concert and enjoyed himself for two hours. Nique had a powerful voice and sang quite well. After the concert he stood watch on the bridge for four hours before the captain took over.

"Understood," Alwin responded, with a nod.  So many people were all too eager to try to find some pill for any given minor malady, he appreciated when someone didn't automatically demand medicine for whatever was bothering them.  Of course, some people took that attitude a bit too far, either out of stubbornness or some other misguided attitude, but Dominique didn't strike him as falling in that category.  "If it persists, especially if it interferes with you getting enough rest, let me know.  If you would rather avoid medicine, I can always prescribe some exercises that, depending on the specific nature of the headache or migraine, can help with blood flow and muscle tension to give some relief.  Though if you've been dealing with this for a while now, you may well have already worked out something of a similar nature already," he acknowledged.

"Just for clarification, I'm not a doctor, just a medic," he added.  "Mr. Wymp has similar training to myself in that regard, but given his duties as XO, broker, and ship's admin, I have a bit more free time to handle any medical needs that might arise for either passengers or crew, since my duties as pilot only really require my attention while we're in-system for any given world."

"Go for it, we'll try it!"

Heather smiled and wrote herself a note. “Consider it done.”

The Albatross crew should jump over to Journey to Merlin thread at this point.  It is for them.

Here, we have Florence, in the big indoor tent-like "College Town".

The local young adult population naturally assumes she is a newly arrived student.  Strange, odd timing, but... why else?

Of course that means she arrived on that amphibious ship that pulled up at the harbor.  Everyone knows about that.  So a few of the bolder students approach her with questions.

Florence walked in the "College Town", looking around curiously. The place was...well, weird, compared to what she was used to of course. Then again, her own school was not exactly standard, and this one deviated even more from the standard than her own did. Despite that, it didn't look unpleasant. Maybe a bit limited in terms of options, but if everyone wanted more or less the same things she supposed it didn't matter all that much for the time being. And t the very least, she was pretty sure they'd come out of there with practical skills matching the needs of the city. How many college students in the Commonwealth could say as much?

To those who asked, she confirmed that she had arrived on the ship they were thinking about, but not as a future student, though it was related to her studies. No, she had needed to stay on the ground for a bit to perform parts of a study mandated by her own school. She didn't mind answering the questions she was asked, for the most part anyway as she tried to avoid mentioning the crew, then she asked questions of her own, starting with the two students working on their history paper.

It was the same question as before: what they thoughts about the state of the Commonwealth, and how they thought the Governors should answer to the pleas of increased popular representation without falling in the same traps political systems of old led to.

People from the big, busy, cosmopolitan places often think those from the most remote and backwater places must be out of touch with the Important Questions of the Day.
More often than not, this is deliberate.
But among college students, even college students out here, there is always time for the Important Questions of the Day.


St. Brendan isn't that detached.

Besides, there is the Let's Talk to the New Girl angle.  Okay, just a visiting student of some kind, but still a new student, sort of.

It's true, the vast amount of people on St. Brendan don't see Commonwealth issues as "their problem".  The Commonwealth leaves them alone, largely.  They set relatively few rules, the same rules every Governate lives with.

Some are good, really, the majority opinion here holds.  The rules requiring resettlement of those who are morally and conscientiously opposed to the social system of the Governate- the Charter.

"It's like this," someone explains.  "In the old days, when people really didn't like the system, they had to struggle.  Now you can go somewhere to find a system with a better fit.  Everyone knows the Church organizes things here, if they don't like it there are 99 other worlds."

This elicits some disagreement, from the young woman who was painting before and has now joined the discussion.

"What if it means breaking up a family?"

Various murmurs from the group... and some indicating, yet, that has happened.

There is another consensus that emerges:  The opposite to "Commonwealth" rule is not necessarily "Democracy".  If the Commonwealth wasn't around to impose some universals, St Brendan would be even more of a theocracy.  That would be okay with some, not so much for others.

Florence has opened up something of a can of worms here.

She senses that it is hard for some of them to talk about.  How do you say "I don't think the Church should have all the power" in an environment where people are expected to be supportive of the church?  She can tell it makes some people very uncomfortable... they peel off quietly.

Florence listened to everything said following her questions, even when it didn't really answer those it was still interesting to know. Before anyone left because they didn't feel comfortable talking about the whole thing in public, she mentioned that she was staying at the Angels Arms and welcomed anyone who wanted to talk more about that. “I'm not here to judge anything you say, and there are no right or wrong answer. More than that, anything you say to me I'll keep for myself, so you'd have nothing to worry about.”

After that, at a point where the discussion on that topic faded, Florence asked another question, but on a completely different topic. “I'd like to spend a few days outside of the city, out there, by myself. A sort of retreat if you want. Can you guys point me to someone who could help me organize that?”

They are a little surprised at the thought of a "retreat" from Mission San Lorenzo.  Mission San Lorenzo IS a retreat, from the rest of humanity.  No one's ever gone on a solitary retreat from the town before.  It just isn't done.

But people do wander the wilderness, for other reasons.  They explore, they document, they study, they visit natural landmarks, and they practice survival skills because, you never know.

"It's best done with donkeys," one of the young men explains, in a young-man-explainy kind of way.  "They can carry your things, you don't have to worry about fuel or repairs and you don't have to worry about getting stuck somewhere.  They never get stuck.  We use them for camping, or for studies in the wilderness.  You can rent them at the Birni Stock Farm.  If you're going for more than a day or two you'll want a donkey just to carry the food for the other donkeys, though.  They don't like eating the green sludge though it doesn't poison them."

"It's not nutrition for them," the painter girl says.  "The native life here doesn't the same proteins so there's no vitamin content.  It does have some simple sugars though.  But Ross is right, they don't like it.  If you have no gear you can also get that at the stock farm, if you don't want to buy at the Mercado General.  Get good rain gear, get a personal shelter, and get a shelter for your animals so you don't have to leave them in the rain.  Are you really going alone?  The canyons are nice, you can get to some good places with a day's walk."

Florence thanked everyone for the help. Truth be told, she didn't much care if a "retreat" in the wilderness wasn't really done: what she had in mind was nothing of the sort anyway. As long as it was believable and allowed her to reach her objective without drawing any suspicion, she didn't care all that much if she was thought of as weird or anything.

Not that she was eager to have to deal with donkeys of course. They looked pretty harmless, but still... They were huge! Alright, maybe not huge, but if they wanted to make a fuss, she'd have nothing to allow her to deal with them. Hopefully the people at the Birni Stock Farm would be able to help her learn what to do...and what not to do.

At the last question of the painter girl, Florence nodded, “I'd like to at least try it once. I'm not sure if I'll go far, and certainly not for that long, but...” After a few seconds, she grinned, “Worst case scenario, you'll have a nice story about that silly girl who wanted to go in the wild alone and ended needing help.”

After a few more words and jokes, as well as the promise to come back later - and a reminder that she was always willing to hear anyone's take on the Governors' issue at anytime - Florence went to the Birni Stock Farm to learn - and acquire - what she needed for her planned trip in the middle of nowhere.

It's one of the larger retail services in Mission San Lorenzo.  It's been here, growing along with the town, since the first settlers, since Marta Birni began selling her excess livestock and equipment to newcomers who underestimated what they would need.  But it's all still new, only seven years have passed.  The Birni stock farm is a series of prefab shelters and converted shipping containers, with one Office/Retail shop up front, facing the main street.  The rest sprawls behind.

There are the usual questions, of course.  There's nothing wrong with what Florence is asking for, but it is a little unusual, especially as she is alone, and young.  She can get everything she needs here, though.  Donkeys, gear for them and for herself, portable shelters, rain ponchos.. and of course some instructions on how to use them.

Donkeys are remarkably simple animals, which is why they are so popular here.  The average local child can load and lead one, and if you lead one, the others will follow placidly behind, as long as they are fed and comfortable and not frightened or distracted by anything.  There are no predators here, life is primitive, so there's not much out there for them to be frightened of. Still, the storekeepers here recommend a mature, quiet, calm animal to be her lead donkey.  How many she needs really is dependent on how long she plans to be out.  A week is the limit, though.  At eight days, the donkeys will be entirely burdened with carrying their own food.  The native green mush won't support them.

To the questions, Florence gave the usual answers. More importantly, she listened attentively to everything, especially regarding the donkeys: not only because it was probably the thing she was the less used to deal with, but also because if she had any problem with them, it'll be pretty bad. Not dangerous, but she'd have to call for help, and that was something she really didn't wan to have to do.

As such, Florence was all for mature and calm specimens. Probably two of them, though she of course listened to advice and on that particular aspect, did nothing else but what she was advised to do. She was planning for four days for the first time: hopefully long enough to be able to do what she wanted, and not too much that she'd take too many risks.

Since there was no time like the present, she planned to leave soon. Maybe not the next morning - she wanted to be sure everything was done right before she left - but the one after that. If nothing else, it would give her enough time to talk with more people about the Commonwealth, or simply to visit the city.

Florence makes her plans and buys her gear, and food for herself and the donkeys.  With two donkeys, she'll be able to travel up to four days.

She passes a few of the students she met, (San Lorenzo is small, one main street!) and they suggest going together.  Florence can tell that it's not pure altruism, they are very curious.  Florence is, to them, quite unusual.  They walk with Florence back to the Angel Arms, asking questions.

Back at the Angel Arms, the news is on, as it always is. Recent news of Earth- the increasingly worrisome situation in Bangladesh, as democratic rule supporters have organized in many parts of the Dacca and Chitagong Governates (None of the students here even know where those places are... minor outback regions on a planet far far away, why would they) and in Chittagong, actually control the city now.  The Governors are trying to talk them down and avoid a confrontation, but they have supporters across the Earth.

"That's where the strongest movement to end the Commonwealth really is," one of the students comments.  "It's not us looking to break free, it's them looking to cut us loose.  They think we're a burden."

When the report cuts to an interview of a democracy supporter in Chittagong, that's exactly the point made:  the Commonwealth subsidizes needless colonies across space, and ignores needs on Earth, and Bengals are tired of it.

Florence laughed, amused, but declined all invitations to go with other people. Not just because she wants to reach her destination alone and have some time to assess the situation, but simply because... Well, as she thought of it, she decided that it would truly be nice to do something like that just by herself. Though of course, if the people at home - or worse, at her school - knew, she'd probably hear them from where she was.

Regarding the news from Earth, she could only shake her head. "They are like most people, they only see the downside, and don't care about the upside if it doesn't impact them directly in a 'in your face' sort of way. Worse, in a lot of cases, the ones complaining the most are those who provide the least. I mean, Bangladesh? The problem is not so much the taxes than the region being poor, and having been poor for... well, forever or so it seems. They can't afford all the things produced in the colonies, so they feel it might as well not exist for them, they don't see that it makes humanity as whole better. The Commonwealth is just something convenient to blame, it'd be India or Pakistan or who knows what if there was no Commonwealth." Florence snorted.

She looked pensive for a moment as she thought a bit more about that, and added. "In this case specifically though, I wouldn't be surprised if it was someone instigating the unrest to test the waters and see how the Commonwealth - and not just the Governors - is going to react in order to adjust their own strategies for somewhere a bit more important than a piece of land no one has cared about in a long while."

Florence surprises them.  Not many people out here are capable of discussing the politics and societies of distant regions back on Earth.  Even the ones who came from Earth, though maybe they know more than the average.  And the college students... other than a few who are studying it, most of them didn't even know a place called "Bangladesh" existed until it came out on the news.

They realize that Florence has been well educated on these things.

But maybe not on traveling in the wilderness of their planet.

They repeat the offer to travel with her.

"You know, Just In Case".

After many hesitations, Florence finally relented and agreed to let someone else come with her. It wouldn't be without causing any problems that was fore sure, but it might still be for the best and no matter what, she had to think about security before anything else. As for how she'd deal with it once she reached her destination... Well, she'd decide then and there. It would mostly depend on what she found anyway.

Though not wanting to make a whole circus out of it, she limited it to one, maybe two others girls, adding that she still wanted to leave the next morning.

It is the morning of Florence's departure into the wilderness, and she is packed and ready to go, along with her trusty native guide Chloe, the painter girl from the "College Town" the other day.  Chloe packs a sketch pad and camera.

She asks Florence where she wants to go, and lays out some of the local geography.  South is the sea- the long neck of land the town is on breaks up into "fingers",  and there are some sandy beaches though most of the shore is rocks and mud.. .and rocks with green slime on top.  Sometimes, mile after mile of that.  The danger to watch out for is the tide, which is more extreme than Earth's, and can submerge a beach faster than one might expect.

East is also sea, but there is a dirt road that wraps northeast and leads past farms and outlying settlements, and then runs along a small river to the Kiln, where bricks are made and shipped to the town.  Almost everything here that isn't prefab is made of these local bricks.

North is wilderness, and though Florence recalls something a little different, Chloe knows it is home to some survey and sampling sites, currently not active.  Just mile after mile of wilderness.

West is also wilderness and much hillier.  There is a ridge with some good views, after that, the small settlement of River Notch, where they are trying to raise Earth fish in a pond.  People normally get there by boat, a far more roundabout route, but actually easier as there is no road.

Florence wasnt particularly enthused by the camera, but didn't say anything about it. Not only it would have sounded suspicious, it might come in handy, who knew. Asked where she wanted to go, she pretended to consider the question then answered, “Let's go north then. We won't step on anyone's toes that way.” She smiled, amused, “Who knows, maybe we'll find something the survey teams missed. Or forgot there...”