The “back roads” are lonely compared to the Main Line.  The stretches are long- getting to the next refueling point, Jehu, exhausts almost all of the ship’s fuel.

Jehu is a world that maybe, had things gone a little differently, could have been a habitable planet.  It has water and the right things in its atmosphere… but not in the right proportions.  Too little oxygen, too much carbon dioxide and monoxide, it is lethal for humans.  It is a naturally lifeless world.  It’s considered close enough for terra forming, but since Humanity doesn’t have such a demand for living space these days, no one is interested in supporting such a big project.

So, Jehu remains only a minor outpost, visited by the handful of ships that travel this route, and patrolling warships.  It has a military outpost, and a research camp, and a small town that supports these two, all in protected habitats, domes, or underground.  Small ships always stop here.  Not only is refueling essential for most small ships, but even an outpost as small as this is an opportunity to stretch legs and get out of the ship.

As every spacer knows, though, this is a terrible place to buy things.  They make nothing, everything is imported, and like hotel shops they only sell essentials that travelers have run out of.  It's a fair place to sell things, but the market is small.

You have a few days before getting here.

Barring anything that might pop up with the passengers requiring any sort of medical attention, Alwin will mostly recuse himself to his quarters, continuing his ongoing medical studies.

It doesn't take the passengers long to realize that there is a large open space, the cargo deck, with no gravity.

This is a novelty!  This is the second space journey for most of them, and the run from Merlin to St. Brendan didn't feature any such amenity.  They realize it's cargo space, not designed as a zero gee recreation area, but all the same, a few passengers petition to be allowed to try it.

****
Alwin studies.  Naturally, he peruses the medical information specific to Merlin, since that is where they are headed.


Heather, meanwhile, looks at the business end of Merlin.  It's known for it's exotic life, and it's easy going, tranquil, new-age-ish society, but it's a whole planet, it has a business end too.  Some of its exports are directly related to it's natural resources and its society.  Bioluminescent fabrics, living plants and animals... and such things as crystal wind chimes.  These wind chimes don't seem to be anything that any planet with a stone polisher could turn out, but like Tibetan Salt Bowls, something about their being From Merlin just makes them desirable to certain people.  But such trinkets are never exported in mass, their relative scarcity helps keep them valuable.

Merlin also has its "normal" economy.  Heather reads about advanced metal alloys, many agricultural products, and.. refrigerators?  Yes, Merlin is home to Kitchen Wizard, a leading maker of popular kitchen appliances.

*************

Dominique, of course, is the one most closely involved with the passengers.  Almost by default... although she is very popular after they discover that they had the good fortune to book a journey with entertainment.  (A few passengers are curious- why didn't anyone let them know she would be here.  Ships don't generally keep such a thing secret!)

She's not quite in the role of purser... that's more financial and there's not much to be done and Heather is on it... but she seems to be the default Passenger Wrangler.  Passenger ships call this position the Host, or Hostess.  Passengers are more lucrative than cargo, but the reality is, cargo tends to be quiet and just sit there in the hold.  If it doesn't, something has gone very wrong.  Passengers, on the other hand, will find reasons to need professional management.  And Dominique seems more willing and able to interact with them.

 Reggie, usually very polite and correct in his manners, would pitch in, with acting as a steward, when he was not watching the ship's interior monitors, or doing random patrols.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:15, Thu 02 Apr 2020.

At some point when the crew us together (and no passengers present), probably during lunch, Alwin will speak to the others.

"I've been reading up on Merlin.  Interesting place.  While the residents themselves may be pleasant, the actual planet itself pretty much wants to kill you.  Don't be offended, I'm fairly certain it's nothing personal."

"The easiest part to deal with are the long days, which can run as high as nine Earth-standard.  Most people live in the planet's tropical area, of an already warmer-than-usual world.  That's because Merlin is actually a moon of another planet, Nimue, and when Merlin is blocked from the sun's rays by Nimue, temperatures drop, and drop fast.  We'll need to be prepared for both hot and frigid temperatures, with relatively little transition time between them."

"Also, the local native biology is pretty far afield from Earth-standard.  Eating any of the local flora and fauna would be a bad idea, as they're all poisonous to humans. If it's any consolation, we're also poisonous to the various local critters, although that may be small comfort as most of the local wildlife will still try to eat you anyways."

"Oh, and you fancy a swim in the ocean, don't.  Lots of microbes in the water that are, you guessed it, toxic to humans.  Just for good measure, spores from the local plant life can aggravate and irritate your lungs, especially during 'sporing' season."

"Like I said, this planet wants to kill you.  It's up to us to take all the necessary precautions to give it reason for disappointment."

"Sounds like wearing a hazard suit and mask might be called for on Merlin. Sounds downright inhospitable."

One of the key differences between different Governates is simply what each Governate chooses to stress as required education.  There is only so much human children can learn in a given span of time, no matter what the resources available, so every Governate must make choices and tradeoffs, while accommodating the basic social structure- the Charter- of the Governate.  The Commonwealth keeps some things universal, but after that, Governates differ.  For Merlin, it means a focus on social skills and things like “emotional management”.  They have their own vocabulary.  To a Merliner, a “Toxism” is a behavior or attitude that causes distress or discomfort in others, and “Bubbling” is to spout off ideas without fully considering the consequences.

As the journey progresses, the issue of the exact arrival point on Merlin arises.  Although the Albatross has plenty of options available on any planet with oceans, and that includes Merlin, there are two other considerations.  You will want to offload the passengers where they can get surface transport, and it will have been a month and a half since departing Lyonesse- some basic services are needed, and that is something a genuine starport is needed for.

Merlin has a few.  There is the usual High Port.  Nimue Space Terminal does not orbit Merlin, it actually orbits Nimue, but in an orbit synched with Merlin.  It’s partly a naval base; Merlin has a small Naval squadron that patrols the coreward region beyond it. Nimue Space Terminal is a moderate, utilitarian kind of place.  It has a fleet of long range shuttles that keep a constant flow to the cities on the surface.

Mageport is the oldest city, the site of the first colonization landings 185 years ago and obviously named with a whimsical reference to the name of the planet.  It’s one of the planet’s main industrial areas, as well as having the largest surface starport.  It’s considered more commercial than some of the other cities.

Rainbow River is a secondary city but has a very good starport nonetheless, as it is a major tourist center.  Rainbow River has the highest concentration of the planet’s signature bioluminescent life, people come just to see river glowing.  It's also in Merlin's "Photogenic" zone:  with Nimue closer to the horizon than it is in other cities here, it is easier to get it into landscape scenes.  Everybody wants pictures with Nimue in the background, not so easy when it's directly above.

Ambrose has a secondary starport, though it is the home of the Institute for Consciousness Studies, and has many of the planet’s government functions.  Merlin is divided into three Governates, and the Eastern Governate, with Ambrose as the capital, is the first and most populous.

Blaiseport is the second most important commercial center, and capital of the Central Governate of Merlin.  It is home to Kitchen Wizard and a few other important industries.  It’s central location makes it the hub of ocean surface and air transport.  Blaiseport has the University of Merlin Main Campus.  Graphite mining and carbon filament are important businesses.   It has the an excellent starport for freight handling, the second busiest on the planet after Mageport.  It is the destination of choice for many small transports, as passengers can easily find transport to the other towns and cities of Merlin.

Merakadun is the capital of the Western Governate, the most isolated of the three and the smallest in population.    It is surrounded by extensive farmland and plantations, using Earth plants that have been carefully adapted to conditions here.  This has meant taking drastic steps to eradicate native life from within the agricultural areas, a very necessary operation, but very unwelcome by much of the population.  It has the newest starport, and it is used as a base for the Merlin Rescue Patrol, which is in charge of search and rescue on the planet surface, but is spread very thin.

From his pilot's seat, Alwin contacts Einar and gives him the rundown of the different 'ports on Merlin.  "Where do you want us to dock?" he asks.

Alwin hadn't kept up so much with what Einar, Horace, and Heather were planning in terms of the cargo they hoped to buy, but it was easy enough to deduce that whatever their hopes were in that regard would decide which starport on the planet they would head to.

For her part Heather made herself available to crew and passengers by doing her work on her PAD in common areas. She was looking at places they could sell their cargo and make a tidy profit as well as looking for any shipments of goods that might be leaving Merlin.

When Alwin gave his briefing she nodded, having been to Merlin more than once over the course of her career. "It's pretty much Pandora except for the giant blue aliens."

She looked around, seeing some of the blank looks some of the others undoubtedly gave her and shook her head. "Really? None of you have seen that old movie? We have got to have a movie night one night."

In reply to Heather MacKenzie (msg # 9):

"What was the title of the movie? My vote is for the major port, Mageport."
This message was last edited by the player at 12:10, Sat 04 Apr 2020.

   When the passengers came aboard and realised that the voyage would have entertainment, it gave Dominiq a small wave of relief. She'd been worried, on account of the number of people they'd be transporting, that tempers might flare and things might get out of hand. But the Merlinians didn't seem to be bothered with such things, and the impromptu "concerts" proved to be both fun and a chance to work off some stress through music.

   When she'd heard Alwin talking about Merlin and its plant and animal life, she'd smirked at the mention of the wildlife wanting to kill you. "Not the first time I've heard that," she'd remarked after she'd let out a short giggle. "I heard the same thing on a visit to Australia when I was younger. Found out it wasn't *all* true, but some of the things Zara - the BPF* girl we talked to - mentioned were enough to make your hair stand on end.

  "Still, thanks for the warning, Alwin. I'll have to run some checks on my vacc suit, in case we've got to leave the safety of the ship."

  During most of the journey, she spent most of her time attending to their passengers; answering questions, providing what they needed - if it was possible, and offering suggestions and alternatives if it wasn't. With Reggie's occasional help, they both prevented the occasional wandering traveller from going where they weren't supposed to be or dealing with the occasional trouble that popped up on the voyage. Fortunately, the Merlinians were model customers, and it proved next to impossible for any troubles to bubble to the surface.

   "I'd vote for Blaiseport; it's a main commercial hub with transportation to just about everywhere else on the moon. Kitchen Wizard's there, and if we can get to ship something specific with them, it'll put in the running for bigger things. It'd be good to have something like that as a back-up plan if one of our runs goes south."

---

*BPF - Border Protection Force: Australia's frontline border law enforcement agency and customs service. (I assume there's something similar game-wise, perhaps on a more worldwide/Governate level

"Kitchen Wizard? In that case I'll change my vote. A steady supply source might come in handy some day."

"Avatar is the name of the movie. Good instincts, Dominique. I've already begun putting together a proposal for Kitchen Wizard to run by the CO and XO," Heather said as she typed some things in her tablet. "As well as getting some of the more exotic goods from Merlin for our journey out."

Horace spends time in engineering learning how to run the Jump drives, he needed to know how things ran too.

   Dominiq nodded in the direction of both Wymp and MacKenzie and the corners of her mouth began to curl upward. "No trouble, I just thought that if we followed the money, we'd get at least something. It might be boring and all that, but I'll take a steady income over the ups and downs that come with risky cargoes. Not saying that we should stick only to tried and true all the time, but it's always good to have a backup plan."

   A small beep sounded on one of the thin gold bangles she wore on her right wrist. When she brought up her arm, the rings slid back and made a soft sound as they gathered together. Dominiq grasped one and looked at it for a moment before she lowered both hands, the rings making another jingling sound. "Sorry, work calls - no rest for the wicked ..." She turned on one sneakered heel and began to walk back to where their passengers were gathered.

As the one interacting with the passengers the most (of her own choosing), given the small size of the ship, the duration of the voyage, and the small number of passengers, Dominique gets to know them quite well.

She can even count one as an Ally, who would do a favor for her at some future time, although such a favor would be limited to one that could be provided by a pacifistic career counselor based in a quiet corner of Merlin.  One never knows, though, and those career counselors obviously get around.

Dominique learns things in depth and first hand, the others less directly.

Blaiseport, according to the passengers, is a fine place to set down.  It's more of a "Merlin" place with most off world visitors choosing other destinations, like Mageport.  It's also a central transport hub for them, very convenient.


Merlin, Dominique learns, is an unusual world in many ways beyond its physical characteristics.  It has three Governates but they cooperate in maintaining a unified and cohesive planetary society.  English is the standard language, and though the colonists were diverse (though heavily North American and European) their descendants somehow managed to acquire a slight accent akin to Scottish and Irish.  (The travelers say this is a result of the people who created the first language training programs for childhood education here).

It is the furthest world from Earth that has a real tourist industry.  There are travelers, generally wealthy and in search of adventure, or young and willing to be ship stewards, who go much further, even to the end of the Main Line at Zinderneuf, but they are much rarer and not expecting resorts and spas.  People come to Merlin to see it, and enjoy the tranquil society.

Merlin exports its people, on short work assignment contracts.  It is not the only planet to do so.  Alpha Mensae is constantly trying to find work for its educators off world, Poseidon has the best marine engineers in the 100 Worlds, and Deseret has its Mormon missionaries, but none come close to Merlin in terms of proportion of the work force finding off world jobs.  Like the missionaries, Merliners working offworld see it as a duty, though without the direct religious overtones.

Some of Merlin's reputation is more show than real.  It's true that there are lots of people who take all sorts of "new age folk spiritualism" very seriously on Merlin.  If you need someone to bring your chakras into balance with psychic crystal energy, Merlin is the place to find them.  But even though that has strongly influenced the culture, "true believers" are actually in the minority.  Some Merliners claim they can psychically communicate with local life forms, and even with the bright auroras.  Most Merliners don't believe this.

Merlin has never been touched by the war with the Carinans.  Not once, in the almost two centuries humans have lived here.  Naturally, many Merliners have spiritual theories to explain this.  Of course, there are other planets that have avoided the war, and they don't share the pacifistic, patient attitude.  That doesn't change things.  But Merlin is a frontier world. It cannot be left undefended, to trust its peaceful "consciousness emanations".  So, the Commonwealth Navy has a small squadron here, which is overworked guarding the planet and patrolling the whole sector coreward of Merlin.

Merliners understand that not everyone has the mental temperament to be "their" kind of citizen.  Some people simple won't have the right mindset even if they are born and raised into that.  Every Governate in the commonwealth must allow people who are not socially fit for a region’s lifestyle to leave.    Merlin is one of the rare planets where unfit people are “guided” to leave.  No one is forced, but councilors expertly steer the unfit towards wanting to leave.  Some other Governates have protested that Merlin should not be shipping its “problematic” citizens off to avoid social problems, and Merlin has become more subtle and careful about this.  Still, for a society many regard as near perfect, it has many emigrants.

************************

The Albatross makes several pit stops at small frontier outposts for refueling.  The Back Road is a remote place.  One thing the crew quickly learns:  When traveling these frontier routes, ships often carry exotic goods in small quantities- trinkets, fresh food and alcoholic beverages, books, things like that- and pass them out to friends along the way.  Making friends at the little remote fuel and maintenance stations, they hear, is very big with frontier ship crews.  The Albatross has had it easy on its first run here, with a very peaceful, compliant and relaxed group of passengers, but when things are tougher, a good reputation is very handy.

******************

You also learn that this region is fairly cut off from news of the core worlds.  What they know here, you knew before.
This message was last edited by the GM at 17:18, Sat 11 Apr 2020.

 Approaching Merlin, the ship begins to receive approach instructions from Merlin’s orbital control center.  This is the standard procedure at the major planets, as it ensures all the many ships are coordinated with each other and travel safely.  For a world like Merlin it would be borderline unusual- some worlds like this would, some wouldn’t, depending on the attitudes here.

But for seasoned Navy and Merchant shipping characters, it’s the nature of the instructions that is more unusual.  The Albatross is routed past the orbital terminal even though you are clearly not going to dock there.  The approach also passes the Navy warship “Baowei”.  It’s an elderly ship, very heavily armored but too slow to be a line warship these days, still effective as part of the orbital defenses of a planet.  Veteran spacers know this routine:  when there is some kind of security issue that makes the Navy start paying attention to ship traffic, but they don’t want to go to the extreme step of “stop and board”, they route ships past a warship with sensors that can take a good look.  Something has got the navy a little flustered.

Does it have something to do with the inflatable service dock nearby?  Larger vessels cannot land, and they tend to be too big to fit into hangars.  When they need extensive exterior service or repair work done, an inflatable balloon like structure will be set up around them.  This allows crews to work in zero gravity but in an atmosphere, which is much more productive than trying to get everything done wearing vacc suits.  Whatever the inflatable dock has inside is about the size of the Baowei:  typical medium warship sized.

"It appears they want to take a look at us captain."

"Something's got their undies in a bunch," Alwin says somewhat dismissively, from his pilot's chair.  "Some traveller did something or brought something in they shouldn't have, and now they're trying to do damage control after the fact."  After a pause, he adds, somewhat more fairly, "Or they got word that someone might be planning to do something they shouldn't.'  Another pause.  "Or absolutely nothing of note has occurred, and the brass is giving the crew busy work because they're bored."
This message was last edited by the player at 13:28, Thu 16 Apr 2020.

All of those are likely scenarios. I remember 'busy work' from my time in the service."

On the approach, you observe that it's not all ships being given this extra scrutiny.  A large liner is also entering the system, the Exuberance.  It is not diverted, it goes directly to it's "parking orbit".  It's a big ship, too big to land.  In fact, ships that big often do not even dock, because their mass throws the physics of the orbital stations off kilter.  They just pull into a convenient orbit, and the shuttles go back and forth.

You hear a few of the controllers from the Orbital Station.  They don't sound perturbed in the list, certainly not hostile.  Just people doing their job.  But there is a slight change in voice.. it's a good thing. A little more upbeat, it seems, after they confirm the identity of the Albatross.  One controller, once, uses the old name the ship, calling it the Montauk.

The Montauk... Albatross... is officially welcomed to Merlin.  And cleared to land at Blaiseport.

"Well I guess we know WHERE we're landing now, no choice on that matter. Get ready to sell us ladies, first the cargo then us as shippers for their cargo."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:39, Fri 17 Apr 2020.

"I'm quite ready. Let's meet some new contacts and make some money," Heather said with a smile as she picked up her tablet. This was what she loved--negotiating. This was when she felt truly alive.

"Take us in Alwin. Time to land this bird!"

The Albatross is limited to setting down in water, but many spaceports are convenient to seaports.  Waterways are natural transport routes, very convenient for any colony world to have, and expanses of water also provide for safe flight routes in the event of emergency.  Spaceports new colonies throughout the Hundred Worlds were built on the water's edge- safe, and easy to link up to surface transport.

But landing on water is rare feature for a starship.  The vast majority of surface-capable ships use traditional landing gear, and concrete.   The Albatross finds a dock near a few "tour boats", passenger ships that make mostly short range, relaxing recreational trips.
 According to your passengers, this isn't for tourists- locals book these trips all the time.
 An evening at sea, with the water glowing from the native life, is very popular local enjoyment.

The ship has now proven itself as a passenger ship- reputations of starships are made (or ruined) quickly, and undoubtedly, word of the unannounced contributions of Dominique will spread.

Here in Blaiseport there are many things to do, and the captain, Einar, quietly sees to the mundane, essential tasks, organizing maintenance and resupply.  But for everyone else, there are choices, and these include:

Look for new passengers and cargo.

Try to sell existing cargo.

Check the news, see what's going on.

Look for some specific information.

Check out Blaiseport, maybe go sightseeing.

Look for local equipment that can be purchased for the ship.

"Sell the cargo and look for a patron Heather. Or a cargo. I need to find some cigars and brandy too, keep an eye out."

"Will do, XO. Any preference on brands or dates for your brandy?" She asked with a smile as she made a few notes in her tablet.

She also started looking to see if there was a need for the hygiene products they had on board given they were a ways off the beaten path.

"Just make sure they're high quality stuff." He says with a grin, "Maybe you'll take it up too!"

Different worlds and Governates, especially those that have some significant drift from "mainstream" Commonwealth culture, often have different takes on how commerce should be done.
Here on Merlin, where the people learn from childhood not to be "adversarial" with each other (they don't even do competitive sports, Merlin's athletes are judged subjectively, against their own "personal best") buying and selling can be a different kind of experience.  Haggling and pressuring is considered shameful.

In fact there is a whole profession of people who make it their business to help others negotiate prices in a calm and mutually friendly and helpful manner; Commercial Mediators.

Heather quickly gets invitations from a number of these people, who are always on the alert for newly arriving merchants, and especially those who don't have any known connections with Commercial Mediators.   They seem to be.. Broker-brokers.  They don't buy or sell themselves, but for a fixed percentage (generally half a percent to a full percent) of sales they make sure everyone keeps to the social and moral rules prevalent on Merlin.

These come in even ahead of any responses to her offers to buy and sell, apparently, Merliners don't jump on things, they take a little time to see what others are doing, first.  Don't want to appear to be too pushy!

Except... one offer comes in sounding a little different... maybe a little more hast and urgency in the voice.

And very oddly, it's not from a Commercial Mediator at all, nor is it from the other early respondent, "Emblem Distributing", which has made an offer on their cargo of skin care products that won't even pay the purchase costs.  No, this one is from the Institute for Consciousness Studies.  Someone named Armande Kotaki, who wants to know if the whole ship is available for charter to the ICS.  A few weeks at most, nothing more.  And also... would you be comfortable discussing it in person, rather than across the Net?  Armande adds that if they can work something out, the ICS will even have one of their "regular" Commercial Mediators help you with other cargo sales.

***************

A quick search of Emblem Distributing reveals...
They are not native to Merlin.  It is a multi planet wholesaling corporation based on Epona.  Their business model is to throw out fast, cheap offers for everything.  Usually people say no, but sometimes a seller is desperate for immediate cash, or closing, or just needs to clear out old inventory or something like that.  Then, Emblem will divide the cargo up into smaller packages for resale to traders going to specific distant destinations so they don't compete with each other.   In this way, rather than a hundred tons of something going to one planet, 20 tons goes to each of five planets, and the smaller quantities have a better chance of being in demand.

Naturally, one or more characters might want to do a quick check on the "Institute for Consciousness Studies" before even talking to their representative.

The ICS has a very variable reputation, though it is well regarded here on Merlin where it is headquartered.  Since much of their work involves alien intelligences, or alien environments, or both, they can be found nearly everywhere- but generally in small numbers doing quiet field research.

In the view of others, they are (in no particular order)...

...asking some really big questions, and generating some fascinating ideas...

...but it's more speculation and philosophy than science...

...most of their ideas do not lend themselves to real scientific rigor...

...still some of their ideas about how certain aliens think has been useful...

...bunch of fringe theorists disconnected from reality...who else thinks panpsychism is a serious topic for research?...

...pure academics who seem to make up new terms every day.  Their books all contradict each other...

...one of the most interesting things about Merlin.  Their discussions are always fun....

They have tens of thousands of members, and operate in a diffused, often disorganized fashion with different departments have poorly defined areas of research which they change to suit themselves at a whim.  They publish a lot, and their work is popular, generally more in the "pop science" area than with other scientists.  But most of the mainstream scientific communities consider them to be somewhat "fringe".  Some of their work is very serious and highly regarded, though, especially their studies on how some of the aliens perceive things, and how they think.

After Alwin lands the ship at Blaiseport, Horace checks to see if there are any patrons to be found.

OOC-Who is still here?

OOC: still here

After getting the Albatross settled in at Blaiseport, Alwin finds himself curious about the history of the Montauk on Merlin.  Should circumstances allow, he might see if he can find a bit more regarding that.
This message was last edited by the player at 01:36, Wed 06 May 2020.

Horace searches for Patrons, and realizes that the first inquiries reaching the ship haven't even been answered yet!

Obviously, not answering requests is not going to help the reputation with potential patrons!

Alwin sees what he can find in records about Albatross's days as the Montauk.

As luck would have it, Merlin has an Archive, being the Sector Archive for the Trans-Merlin Sector.  It's a barely settled frontier sector, and so this is a very low priority archive, but it is updated often enough to get historical data.

Some of it is Classified.  Alwin will have to do a little better than just "ask the system"!

But some things he learns:  The Montauk did not have a long military career.  The Navy does not use many "off the shelf" civilian designs and even then, the Montauk (and a pair of sisterships) had extensive sensor and counter-detection upgrades.

Apparently, the ship was controversial and provoked some hostile reactions.  It seems odd, as it wasn't even a warship.  But somehow, some people got the idea that the ship was made for activity against rebellious humans, not the Carinan enemy.  Exactly how this idea came to be is unclear- he finds a mention of the "Dawn Surge" exercises but they aren't described at the unclassified level.

Maybe it was because the Montauk would not have been a very useful ship to take into operation against Carinans.  It's not that the Carinans don't inhabit planets.  This is a common misconception.  Despite being entirely robotic, they very much do, and for a very obvious reason.  Atmospheres make wonderful cooling environments for robots, which otherwise can have a hard time shedding heat and cook themselves, unless they either operate at very low power, have very large radiators, or do both like the old space probes.  In an atmosphere, especially a non corrosive, fairly cool, fairly dense one, all it takes is a fan.    But while the Montauk could easily deliver people and equipment to oceanside locations throughout the Hundred Worlds, it simply does not have the armor or firepower to have had much of a chance landing on a world with a Carinan presence.  That's been done a few times, by specialized assault landers using Commonwealth marines.

Its service history indicates that it stayed in the Hundred Worlds area, never traveling to the front.  And at a fairly young age, it was phased out of service.

That seemed to have taken some political heat off.  Apparently, quite a few people, even some Governors, were not happy about the ship.

Einar, now with more questions than answers, returns to the Albatross to clear his head.  Whenever they are available, he will inform Einar and Horace of what he has learned.  Should any other of the crew be present, or later inquire as to what he had been up to, he will let them know as well.

Einar, being the captain but being primarily concerned with matters of engineering, calibrates the steering mechanisms and cleans the air and water filters.

They check on the "patron" situation.

Ships always get request inquiries.  The Albatross already has a couple (see message 29 above!) but more show up over time.  How many and what kind depend on a few things:

1. The reputation and local contacts of the ship.  (small but growing, as a frontier transport with "good service and a gracious hostess who is an entertainer!?)

2.  The ship's listed destination.  So far, none.

Still, a couple of additional inquiries come in, as well as some information on outgoing passenger and cargo opportunities:

A salvage and recovery company that wants to charter the ship for a small recovery operation.

A businesswoman who wants a good (but reasonably priced, and insured) ship for delivery of confidential documents.

A scientific expedition to Kayon, almost at the limit of colonization.  Passengers and Cargo.

"What do you think Heather? Nique? Alwin? Reggie? Do we continue to trade or rent ourselves out to a patron?"

In reply to Horace Wymp (msg # 36):

Horace checked into one of the potential patrons, A salvage and recovery company that wanted to charter the ship for a small recovery operation. That could be interesting. Heather could negotiate a nice contract.

Also A businesswoman wanted a good (but reasonably priced, and insured) ship for delivery of confidential documents. That could be potentially interesting too, or the research?

"Heather! Where are you?"
This message was last edited by the player at 17:00, Mon 25 May 2020.

"I'm in my quarters, XO. I was trying to line up a buyer for some of the cargo but this is not the place to sell. We'll barely cover what we put up for it or the fuel costs. Right now I'm going over some of the offers on the local boards," Heather said over the ship intercom.

"Want to grab some coffee and I'll run by the ones I'm taking a look at."

While Heather and Horace talk, Alwin will get in touch with the Institute for Consciousness Studies, while also sending a text to his fellow crew that someone should get in touch with Emblem Distributing, if only to politely decline their offer.

Once he does reach someone from the ICS, he will ask to speak to Armande Kotaki, at his convenience.

And they're back!

Heather and Horace look up some quick information.

The salvage company is one of many that operate on the fringes of Human space, often searching for battlefield debris.  This is a lucrative but erratic job, as one can go years without finding anything, and then make an important discovery.  Alien warship components are the most important thing, and hard to come by.  The Carinan vessels destroy themselves to avoid capture.  No crew, all machine, so it's probably an easy decision for them.  The Navy pays the salvagers for their finds, as these components have intelligence value to the military.  This enables dozens of salvagers to scour space without spreading out valuable Navy assets.

Maybe it's bad timing for this salvage company: they apparently have two ships, but both are unavailable due to required maintenance work.  They must be thinking something valuable is out there and won't wait, because they want to hire your ship to carry their stuff.

** ** ** ** ** **

The businesswoman merely wants documents transported.  This is effectively no cargo area, and you would be fairly paid for it, but there are two conditions: the ship must leave immediately and the documents must be delivered in person to her regional office at Kuripan.  Of course, you could take other passengers and cargo, assuming they were also going direct to Kuripan.

The scientific expedition is going off to Kayon to do research on the strange "ecosentient" forest developing there.  It would be passengers and cargo for a fairly long trip.

*** *** *** *** ***
Alwin meets with Armande Kotaki in person, because the ICS spokesman wants it that way.  No interceptable communications.  Everything human to human.  What he has to say seems to tie in to the salvage company's desperation to find a ship, maybe they are after the same thing.  Armande quickly explains that time is of the essence, word of this is spreading.  Very likely, the Navy will want to handle this themselves, they've already sent for ships but are keeping it secret.  Or maybe they, too, will want to hire the Albatross.

But what IS it?

Carinan ships are machines.  Robotic.  They carry out their instructions precisely, and they commit machine suicide rather than allow themselves to be captured.  Almost always.  But there have been rumors that one of their scout ships, a type of vessel the Navy calls a "Junkyard B" has become erratic.  It's behavior broke from Carinan norms so much that it actually fought off another Carinan vessel, during the confusing battle that left a Commonwealth frigate crippled- you passed it on the way in, it recently returned and repairs have just begun.

The damaged frigate's crew made a mistake when they returned:  they sent a message that was uncoded in parts, and picked up by a few others... including the ICS.  It contained facts the Navy hasn't officially discussed yet.

The Junkyard B types are the Carinans own version of a salvage ship, and also do intelligence gathering and surveillance.  Just as the Commonwealth tries to collect Carinan technology, the Carinans do it back to humanity.

This particular Junkyard B, displaying the afore mentioned erratic behavior, was badly damaged in the fight, and alone.  Normally a ship like that would have simply destroyed itself.  This one apparently aimed itself at a nearby planet, and made an approach that would certainly leave nothing but an impact crater.  But before doing so, a component detached, and the detached component was tracked making a clearly controlled descent.  This has never been seen before.

The ICS suspects this is a "true" Carinan intelligence, not a mere machine like all the others.  It clearly was trying to preserve its existence.  Like any other thinking creature it did not want to die.

The ICS wants to find it, and try to communicate with it.  It would be the breakthrough all of humanity has been hoping for.  Naturally this is a dream for the ICS.  They would become the most prestigious scientific organization in the Hundred Worlds!  Think of the Grant Money that would pour in!

"I say dump the cargo if we can and take on the salvage job. Opinion?"

"Definitely take the salvage job. The info I've been getting indicates the ICS is desperate for the salvage so I know I can negotiate us into a very lucrative contract. Dumping the cargo here won't cover the purchase price. I might be able to arrange breaking it up into smaller crates and sell those and turn a profit but the one offer I've had on the whole thing will mean us taking a loss. I suggest we do the salvage job, come back and see if the Kayon contract is still open and take it," Heather said, looking at her tablet before setting it down to see what Horace thought.

"I'm inclined to agree with Heather's judgment here," Alwin says.  "This salvage job is obviously time-sensitive, so we should move quickly, because other people almost certainly are going to do so.  This is potentially a once in a lifetime opportunity."

"Okay, we'll take it." Horace dialed the comms number for the company offering the salvage job. "Okay, we've discussed it and we're interested in your salvage job. When and where do you wish to meet?"

They pursue the matter further with the ICS.

It becomes very clear that the salvage company and the ICS's recovery scheme are both time sensitive, likely in competition with each other (though the salvage company doesn't seem to be aware of any sentient-alien complications) and want to go to the same place- a fairly nearby system with an A type star (large, bright, hot, but not a huge giant) and a terrestrial planet with shallow seas of water-ammonia solution.  Utterly inhospitable, vac suits would be needed to leave the ship.

And this is where the differences between the two clients becomes apparent.  The salvage company intends to supply equipment and expertise.  Basically all they are looking for is transport. They will run the whole show.   The ICS considers itself ready and able to do exploring and help with the recovery, but they would need a lot more help, and aside from whatever alien intelligence they can find, anything else is up to the Albatross crew.

The ICS has their own vac suits, a small terrain vehicle, and a robot minisub.  They would likely need some help from the Albatross, so at least character would have to invest in a vac suit if not already owned.

Heather is fairly sure she would get more money from the ICS than the salvage crew, which, given their contacts and experience, will probably get another ship if they feel they aren't getting a good deal.  But both seem to be in a hurry.

Just to be clear, is it the salvage company or the ICS you are going with here.  More money from ICS, but also, more work on your part.

Which do you wish to try Heather? ICS or salvage company

How experienced is the crew with salvage ops in a hostile environment?

In reply to Heather MacKenzie (msg # 47):

"We're not experienced, yet. Maybe hire an extra crewman who is?"
This message was last edited by the player at 13:01, Wed 03 June 2020.

"I think I can negotiate a contract with ICS that would make the bringing on of another crewmember worthwhile. I could even try and make it contingent on accepting the contract but would leave that open so they didn't think it was a deal breaker on our part. If you want me to contact ICS and open a dialogue with them I'm ready to. Just let me know if there's anything you do or don't want me to say," Heather told Horace as she made a few notes in her tablet.

"Just hire a salvager to fill in the void in our skill set, none of us know enough about it."

The salvage company crew will handle everything involving going out of the ship.  All they want is transport, including a landing and takeoff.  Taxi drivers!

"How much to taxi, how much is the other group offering?" Horace asks Heather. "Can we hire a salvager to the crew if we sign on the other group wanting our help? We can taxi this time and learn the ropes, hire one of the salvagers, and then go in business ourselves?"
This message was last edited by the player at 15:51, Sat 06 June 2020.

"What they're offering and what I can get are two different things. They expect haggling when they make an offer but they probably aren't expecting someone with my experience in negotiating. Not to sound arrogant but when you've done this as long as I have and worked with every alien race out there we deal with, I've learned a few things. ICS is offering more to start but they'll need the most help. They also have the deepest pockets. We can bring on an experienced salvager, something I suggest we do, and expand our potential jobs."

Heather started looking through postings to see if anyone with experience in salvage was looking for a job.

"I vote ICS then, Alwin, what do you say?"

Alwin nods.  "Heather says ICS is our best bet.  That's good enough for me."

In reply to Alwin Brandle (msg # 55):

"I guess it's settled then. We hire a salvager to the crew and go with ICS." Horace said. "Reggie is leaving the crew, that is why I did not ask him, and Einar has been, . . . distracted. I'll be running the day to day for the foreseeable future until Einar is ready to resume. Put out a help wanted add at the spaceport Heather. We need a person or two to fill the crew."

This message was last edited by the player at 18:24, Sun 07 June 2020.

"You got it. One help wanted advert coming right up," Heather said and began composing said advert.

The responses come in fairly quickly.  Merlin has a good computer network.  People here looking for short term work like this tend to be novices who haven't yet landed their dream job, between jobs, or have been lured out of retirement by an interesting offer.

Heather nets one of each.

Dan Corto has recently returned to Merlin following his stint in the Navy as a space equipment operator and repair technician.  He has all the skills and enthusiasm for something like this, but is still young- just a term in service.

Boris Iligov is between jobs, having worked for one salvage crew for a number of years, and then deciding to move on.  Apparently he's done this a few times, being the kind of person who hates being in a rut.  He has about 3 terms of service.

Astrid Tomley, with a long work history, was retired and living a fairly leisurely life here. (it's not the money that keeps spacers working, it's seeing new things.  Many could easily sell their ships and live comfortably for the rest of their lives.)  She hasn't done anything like this in three years, but is interested in a short term opportunity like this just to stretch her space legs again.  She has at least 6 terms of service.

In reply to The Boss (msg # 58):

"I'd say Boris the true salvager or Astrid the experienced spacer, make the choice Mister Wymp."

In reply to Einar Karvonen (msg # 59):

"Aye-aye sir. Review them Heather, and make a recommendation and I'll interview them myself. What is your opinion Alwin? Boris? Or Astrid, or do you want the youngster to have a chance?"
This message was last edited by the player at 17:23, Tue 09 June 2020.

"I fancy Dan Corto for his youth and enthusiasm. He'll bring energy to the team andd, as former Navy, understands discipline and following orders. Of the other two I'd like to get Astrid Tomley. Long experience and a period of retirement means she wants to work again. I also have a feeling she'll take Dan under her wings and show him the ropes. I think the two will make a good dynamic," Heather told the others.

"If you want me to contact them to set up interviews I'm happy to do so."

"My first choice would be Boris - I suspect he has that right mix of experience and adaptability.  That said, setting up interviews with all three is probably the smartest play." "

In reply to Alwin Brandle (msg # 62):

"The only problem with Boris is happy feet, but then again, we may be happy when he leaves." he says with a grin.

Boris appears for a "remote interview", as he lives elsewhere on the planet at the moment, and time is very short- with each passing hour there is a chance that someone else sets off looking for the find of the century.  Or maybe the Navy closes the system.  Either eventuality would not sit well with the ICS.

Boris Iligov is 30 and appears in very good shape, physically.  Certainly not the overly technical type who spends too much time behind consoles.  He's had a number of employers, all in various heavy equipment and salvage oriented space careers, since his first job as a "pod operator" for a company that dismantled obsolete starships.  His formal schooling was at technical and vocational academy on his homeworld, the Russophonic (Russian speaking) planet of Gugarin.  His native language is Russian, but he has been traveling up the Main Line for years, and speaks English.

From the way he describes it, his real reasons for keeping jobs short is that although he is a competent space worker (as opposed to starship crew, his training is with heavy equipment, EVA devices, etc, not "how to make a starship go"), he dislikes being cooped up on ships for a long period of time, and eventually, needs to "breathe real air".

(From a game view, his skills are in Mechanics, Vac Suit, and Heavy Equipment, and a specialized version of Pilot, enabling him to handle small craft)

Any questions for him?

In reply to The Boss (msg # 64):

I never interviewed someone before. Heather? Alwin? Questions for Boris? We might start going in this direction more in the future, We'd need an expert salvager that can teach us too. Can you do that Boris?"

At 30 he is young enough, he's in his prime.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:58, Sun 14 June 2020.

In reply to Horace Wymp (msg # 65):

"Heather might be right too, Astrid and Dan. Astrid is short term but can teach a lot, Dan is young and fresh and has the necessary skills. Boris knows how to use the skills. All three for short term to see how things work out? Boris isn't likely to stay long and Astrid will likely retire after a year or so as well."
This message was last edited by the player at 20:04, Sun 14 June 2020.

"Can we afford all three?" Alwin asks, his questions primarily directed at Heather.  "Do we have to pay out a certain minimum even if this turns out to be a bust, and is that on us or ICS?"

In reply to Alwin Brandle (msg # 67):

"Hmmm, good question, Heather, what can we afford?"

Heather does some checking.

First, the ICS is quite insistent that this happen as soon as possible.  They offer to pay for an additional person if the ship does not have all the crew it needs.

"Yes, of course, but we have to leave quickly, please."

They are very afraid that given the importance of this discovery, they will be shut out if this takes too long.

"We've heard.. the Navy has already requested additional ships.  But they're just as likely to blow everything up.  You know that."

You can take them up on this.  Or, you can let them hire one and you hire one or two- but it will reduce your income for the job.  Short term hired crew tend to be expensive, because the people who work through the "gig" economy don't have a steady income and cost more.  Still, even with two it can be profitable.  Just not as profitable.

In reply to The Boss (msg # 69):

"You're hired Boris, as long as you don't mind teaching others to salvage too, we'll hire Dan and Astrid too, Dan Permanently, Astrid, as long as she wants to be a spacer again."

"We can afford the three of them but I suggest only taking one on as a permanent crew member. With three salvagers we can go with ICS and negotiate a bigger payout for the job. How about you hire our crew whilst I handle the deal with ICS. We need to move fast so letting them stew a bit has worked in our favour. They're more likely to give in to the concessions I add as part of our contract."
This message was last edited by the player at 00:12, Fri 19 June 2020.

In reply to Heather MacKenzie (msg # 71):

"You're all hired. We have a big job and we need a few extra hands. Find yourself a cabin"

The representative from the ICS who arranged things will not be the person from that agency going with you.  No, that was just someone who handles their arrangements.  An executive assistant.  For the ICS, this is fairly big, and is a "first contact" situation, a dream for anyone who works in the field of alien intelligence  (first contacts actually come along only once every decade or so).  They are hiring the Albatross, so they provide three people, one very experienced scientist, a woman with the kind of long straggly hair that says "brushing is
just a distraction from my research" and two younger assistants, one male, one female, who seem positively overwhelmed with excitement to be doing this.

Now with a full complement and then some, the Albatross can depart Blaiseport.  Neither of the two younger "hired space hands", Dan Corto and Boris Iligov, are familiar with what the ICS is, but Astrid has been around long enough to know about them.

They don't have much to do during the departure, the Albatross crew can manage that all on their own, so most of them hang out in the aft lounge, watching Merlin slowly shrink in the distance behind them as the ship gets ready for warp.  This part, really, takes only two.  One can manage in a pinch.

Astrid finds a way to meet with the Albatross gang when the ship is enroute, just after takeoff.

She's hoping the ship's crew is already on top of this, but she's not going to take chances.  "You know who these people are?"  Astrid Tomley asks.

By the sound of it, it's a rhetorical question.

"The ICS, who are they? They have credits we have time, is there something bad about them Astrid?"

"I wouldn't say bad", Astrid replies.  "They're all very Merlinish, peace, love and understanding.  It's hard to get bad when you've had that beaten into your head since you were born."

"I think... odd.   And this is about an alien intelligence, that's clear enough, there's no other reason why the ICS wants to go to an uninhabited system in the Frontier.  The thing with aliens... I've encountered a few... they don't even think like we do.  I know the ICS is supposed to be all about this, but how do they know what they're doing?  Slip ups can be... well, did you ever have a dog?  There's a creature we're closer to than any alien, but half of it's brain is dedicated to its nose, and it lives in a world of sensations and experiences we cannot even imagine.  They say the Mimosans experience some things we would just call concepts as real, tangible things.  I guess what I'm trying to say is... the ICS, if they're right about this, is looking to get into some very weird stuff."

******************************

The system control station in Merlin asks some last questions before the ship goes to warp- the routine things, including destination.

The advice the ICS scientists has is: there's no reason to lie.  Everything is entirely legal.  The Navy hasn't interdicted the system.  We're going to do ICS related research.

The salvagers concur.  One of the things about alien artifacts is an absolute lack of legal jurisdiction by any human organization, even the Commonwealth itself.

"Is there something evil or nefarious about them? Or just a bad feeling?"

In reply to Horace Wymp (msg # 76):

"Reply to them with the entire truth but volunteer nothing Mister Wymp, Get ready to enter jump space Alwin, you have the con when word comes across, give us a countdown. Lay in the course."

In reply to Einar Karvonen (msg # 77):

Horace answers all the questions asked but volunteers nothing, when they give permission, he conveys the word to Alwin and the captain.

We have permission to jump Mister Brandle, starting countdown and jump in five, . . four, . . three, . . two, . . one, . . jump!

Alwin pilots the ship into jumpspace, eager to get underway for this particular endeavor.

"Evil, no," the older spacehand says.  "But do you know how some people will almost certainly touch something that has a Wet Paint sign on it?  The ICS will do that in the name of research."

And yet, it is the ICS that knows where to go...

The scientist in charge of the little ICS detachment aboard the Albatross is Magda Simikos.  She gives Alwin the destination- an uninhabited, unimportant system, unnamed, except for its old catalog number, HD 84121.

Unimportant, but the star is unusual, and that's how Magda found it.

"The Navy ship.. that frigate... didn't encrypt the transmissions they made as they returned from the battle.  It may be that the system was damaged.  They broadcast some images showing the fate of that Carinan heading for a planet.  It could be any planet in the galaxy, but we know it is near, because the frigate was not gone from Merlin too long, and we know it was a rare blue-white subgiant star from the light spectrum in the images.  Those are young, hot stars, uncommon, and there is only one such star in the region.  That is the primary star of the HD 84121 system.  That is where our Carinan ship, or at least a portion of it, made a descent that was at least partially controlled.  It did not mean to crash.  The images clearly show course corrections."

HD 84121 does not host any habitable planets.  It is much too young a system.   It is so young that it is also a "dirty" system with extensive dust belts.  Give it a hundred million years or so, and gravity will clean these up. For now.. it just complicates sensors, when the dust blocks a sensor from its target.   The planet the ICS is aiming for is terrestrial sized, but certainly not habitable.  It is young, volatile, and cold, with seas of methane-ammonia slush.

In reply to The Boss (msg # 80):

"Pump Magda and the other ICS folks a little, get to know them so we have some insight into them. If you want to, I won't order you to be a cheap spy." he says with a grin. "Brandy?" he holds a nippy bottle out to her.

Astrid accepts the brandy, with a look of interest.

"This is the sort of thing a spacer brings out when he's trying to make a deal or ask some kind of favor," she says.  "But you're not asking a favor, here.  I'm as curious as you are, especially with what they told us.  Carinans... machines, they've always sent machines.  If they are right about this being more than machine, or they aren't, either way it's a dangerous, delicate thing.  It landed on a planet.. or it tried to.  They don't usually do that.  And with that ship, if they're right... here let me show you something."

Just about every ship, the Albatross included, has a standard library of other ships and objects encountered in space, frequently updated.  It includes some of the better known alien vessels.  Even the Carinans, though encountering them is not advised.  For them, technical information is very sketchy.  Every meeting involves someone fleeing or shooting or both, and no one ever acquired a complete one.

Astrid finds a diagram of the ship type the ICS mentioned.  "Junkyard B".  As with all Carinan vessels, known only by code names assigned by the Navy.

It's an ugly, ungainly looking thing, with a number of antennas and odd protuberances.

"That thing isn't a transport," she says.  "But they do recover things and carry them.. back, we guess... just like salvagers do, and for the same reason.   Two centuries ago their ships ran rings around ours, now ours are faster, of course they want to learn all they can.  So it's got all those antennas to collect data, it's got drones and recovery arms... it's a robot carrying smaller robots!  But it's not built to land.  And Carinan ships destroy themselves.  It was aiming to hit that planet, and then it got other ideas.  It's not luck.
 Do you know how hard it is to aim at a planet and then NOT crash into it?  The ICS people are right, this... whatever... is a game changer.  If a ship like that managed to get down even partly intact, it is not getting up again.  But we don't know what it can still do. This really might be something best done by the Navy.  But the ICS... they can't help it.  They have to touch the wet paint.  So we have got to be very, very careful."

"Why doesn't the navy just interdict it and recover it themselves? It's like the navy is inviting the ICS to stick their noses in. I'll turn a copy of everything we get over to the navy though."

Einar looks over the personnel records/applications of the three new crew members. He wasn't sure why they needed all three temporarily, but decided not to question it as long as ICS was footing the bill. Set course and jump and Albatross was on her way.

Astrid takes a little time with her new "mission", she can't answer that last question immediately.  But two days into the five day journey, she is able to report back.

"I looked up the Navy deployments and they're spread pretty thin in this sector.  It's a backwater as it is, and the presence of that 'erratic' Junkyard had them spread out keeping an eye out for an attack.  They're not going to leave any inhabited worlds unprotected, and with that frigate out of commission they don't have firepower to spare.  So they called for help.
 I have no doubt that when it arrives, they will follow along right after us and conduct their own search.

"That’s probably why the ICS was so intent about leaving as soon as possible, get there before more Navy ship’s arrive.  And get this.. the real reason the other salvage company that wanted to hire your ship doesn't have a ship available?  They told they have two ships but both were tied down with mandatory maintenance work?  That was true but half true.  That maintenance work came up suddenly, both ships were inspected and got Fix It Now orders the day the Navy frigate got back.  So the Navy thought they would keep the salvage folks at home.  Your ship, with it's landing capabilities and being new to the sector, you slipped through a crack, and they knew it, and the ICS knew it.  They both jumped."

"They must have both deduced the landing location, and that world is half covered in seas, and as soon as they realized what kind of ship this is, that was it.  This thing can set down in water… probably could set down in a methane ammonia water bath."

"If the salvage company hadn't been so cheap we'd have gone with them. We have to pay the bills."

The journey to their destination is five days long.  During that time, they learn a little of the philosophy of their odd but academic passengers.

The ICS is frequently accused of having weird old "mystic" views on the matter of consciousness, but this does not seem to be the case with the scientists aboard.  They talk a little about their work, and they seem thoroughly grounded in science- especially computer science.  This makes sense, as it has long been suspected that Carinans might be sentient machines, and so studying their consciousness is a job for computer scientists, at least in part.

From her point of view, consciousness requires deep analytic complexity, and whether that is achieved through meat or machine is irrelevant.  Carinans are most likely conscious because they analyze and think, and therefore must have a concept of Self.

Perhaps, soon, they will find out.  Five days after leaving Merlin the Nellie Bly enters the HD 84121 system.  The star is much larger and brighter than the sun, and the light has a bright and uncomfortable feel, like a bright white LED bulb.

"Perhaps we made the right choice after all, The Imperials would just cover it up and deny everything."

We are now far beyond Merlin, and jump into a new thread.
HD 84121