What do Crossers Cross, exactly?

During the trip to LDMLT01, everyone has a rare opportunity to gain some insights about these aliens- very different, and yet widely regarded as one of the most similar in terms of biology and psychology.

Their name is unique.  The names of alien species fall into three categories: there are names the aliens themselves use, generally adapted to the Human alphabets, such as the Oumo, or the direction or region in space associated with them, like the Mimosans and Velorans.

A third category is a word chosen by Humans that is key description of the aliens, like the Riders.  One might think that "Crosser" is a name of this type, but then, if it was merely the obvious description of their nomadic lifestyle, wouldn't something like "Traveler" or "Nomad" have made more sense?  But Crosser is a special case, a fourth category, a word chosen by the Crossers themselves, and it has implications well beyond merely being space nomads, "crossing" space.

According to Marlo, Crossers chose this word because it is close in concept to their own word for themselves, which is impossible for human vocal cords to accurately produce.   They have always been nomadic, since before they were sentient, but Crosser means more.  Crossers "Cross" through stages of life, not only changing gender, but apparently going through extreme changes in physiology as they mature.  And more: they see themselves as bridges, connectors, and intermediaries.  They see life as a journey, and themselves as changing with the journey.  A Crosser would agree with the saying of the ancient Human Heraclitus, "you can never step in the same river twice, because it is not the same river and you are not the same person."  It is all this together that is summed up in their name, which they approximate as Crosser.  They chose a noun based in verb- it is the active and changing role of Crossing that gives their lives meaning, not the static role of being the thing that crosses.  Life is change, and they embrace it.


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

Lilana's interest in them is brief, and the crew, new and old, is fully aware of it long before they get there:  Lilana is in search of information about "Ghost Ships", ships that travel between systems of the Hundred Worlds, but with no clear purpose.  That led her to an "information broker", where she learned of a depot of hundreds of lost and unaccounted for hibernation pods, clearly connected to Ghost Ships as no ordinary ship doing overt work could have brought them there.  A Crosser she was given the name of can provide more exact information.

And now, on top of that, Jackson's research:  some of the pods he was able to identify from the pictures, and the last records of them have them being delivered to a fast freighter, the Baltican, a ship that apparently is still in operation, has made port calls, but has no recorded freight or passenger traffic in six years.  A Ghost Ship.

When they return to the ship Charles drone has multiplied and now he has 3 drones zooming about and people learn as the ships hull mechanic he has plenty of free time as he is making 'mini documentaries'  about everyone on their job experimenting with mood settings and other tasks from his online cinematography course. Most of the recording time he spends with the two that are not assigned much in terms of crew tasks even dubbing the bits with Marlo as "Crosser talk." covering items as what are corssers and of coarse how is it for a crosser to travel in human space. The main goal of these though is to learn what is expected of the crew once they arrive at the crosser ship. what are absolute do's and dont's and what they really have to visit. A perceptive person might notice he is not only showing gennuine interest but also is trying his best not to give the near disinterest by their employer to much of a charge.
He also gravitates to Florence of coarse and appears in the doorway to her cabin the 3 drones hovering behind him.

"Hey miss Pearce. Think you want to subject yourself to me and my buddies here? Tell a little about how it is to have a Crosser friend and to travel with him? Mostly to just practive shooting interviews but also cause it sounds like an interestng tale to tell."

Florence grimaced slightly. “Please, call me Florence. Miss Pearce sounds... Uh.” She shook her head.

She took a few seconds then to ponder the question. “I'm not sure I can tell you much, I've only met Marlo in Deseret a couple of weeks ago.” She frowned. “More like three now I suppose. Anyway.” She shrugged, “Besides the obvious, physical, aspect, Human-Crosser relationships aren't that different from purely human ones. They're quite close to us, on the surface anyway.” She tapped a finger on her lips for a couple of seconds, pensive.

“I suppose you could say it's pretty straightforward: what you could imagine in a human friend, you could find in a Crosser friend. Talking about food, drinks, travels...” She frowned. “Girl talks or shopping might be a bit of a challenge though...” She smiled, amused. “It's another thing entirely with other non-humans, it can be really challenging.” Which, apparently, Florence found stimulating more than bothersome. After a second, she grinned. “Though believe it or not, but shopping and girl talks can be a thing with the Momos.”
This message was last edited by the player at 11:05, Sat 27 June 2020.

Pulling stints in the pilot's chair, Abe focuses his off-watch hours on what their Captain has unearthed thus far. He's meticulous and methodical when he can be, used to those long periods of "hurry up and wait" and he's keen to understand the mystery now it's in front of him. Like Viper, he spends some time speaking to Marlo and seeking to understand the Crosser - but beneath the guide of familiarising their guest with the ship's protocols and sharing the occasional cheeseburger. Despite his natural wariness, he finds himself like their scaled passenger, and his steers the conversation to the nature of Crosser vessels and the fresh vistas they see - sharing his own experiences as a stellar scout after his service

Abe has been around a bit, but in a military way.  The mysteries of "Ghost Ships" were not left to the Marines, who specialized more in warfare with the Carinans and the occasional insurrection or other security issues in the less fortunate Governates.  Lilana seems to have unearthed lots of information, but thus far has no coherent story to tell.  The story makes all the difference to her- it will take things from an odd assortment of facts to something people will pay for the privilege of adding to their entertainment networks.

The entertainment networks, the crew learns, are her clients.  Every planet has them, the more populous worlds can have hundreds.  Each competes for viewers, and each, therefore, wants the most fascinating, engaging, astonishing programming it find.

As Lilana has followed this trail, the potential payoff has grown.  She would get paid for what she can produce now.. but if she can show what's going on, and where, and maybe who's behind it... that's a thing the biggest networks will want.

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

Talking to Marlo, they learn- or actually, they confirm, as this is widely known- that there is one thing that is taboo for Crossers to talk about.  Settling down.  Of course they had planets, but do they have any now, or are they all travelers, for their entire lives?  They avoid this topic.  If it's even hinted at, Marlo steers away hastily.

The home ship is something Marlo is happy to talk about- which is good, as you are headed there.

The Crossers have good starship technology, especially when it comes to building things big.  Join a hundred of humanity's largest ships together, and it would be as big as a Crosser Home Ship.  Crosser ships have entire ecosystems inside.  They look scaly- this is not, according to Marlo, anything connected to the fact that Crosser themselves are scaly.  This is because it allows them to conveniently remove and replace hull sections, or even to change a ship's shape to accommodate some new addition.

When at last they drop out of warp, they have had five days to learn about Crossers... and Florence is, word by word, learning their language.

(Crosser language, as they already pieced together from Marlo's explanation of their philosophy, is very much action and change oriented.  They very rarely use expressions that can translate simply as "There is a <thing>."  If it's not doing something, why talk about it?  A Crosser wouldn't think to say "There is an apple.".  It might say "See (I) an apple.  " or even "Ripens and awaits consumption, an apple."  But a simple statement of existence, for them, isn't useful. It would be like a Human saying "An apple is." Florence has gotten a few lessons in things like this.)

LDMLT01 is a small, stable red star.  Dim compared to Sol, it's habitable zone is very narrow and close to the star.  There's one planet in it, Kozaana, but Kozaana isn't human habitable.  Nonetheless, it has life- very dark green plant life covers areas of the surface.  The Home Ship, according to Marlo, is named "Becoming More Prosperous" although in Human terms it is probably easier to call it "Prosperity".

It has a swarm of ships around it.  Crosser scout ships, defense ships, transports... Human ships of different kinds, mostly small traders, and a few Navy ships standing watch over them.  There's one large Human ship, one of the very rare agricultural ships.  Some people bought some very large old Navy ships being decommissioned, and figured that the best way to ship fresh agricultural goods to remote frontier worlds and settlements was to grow it along the way.  They are basically flying farms.

It's quite crowded space, here.  Relatively.  Not like the craziness in the Earth orbital area, but for frontier pilots, pretty dense.

While he found the Crosser to be fascinating he didn't have any questions that weren't already asked by the others. Along with maintaining the engineers he was still helping Minka learn to be a pilot. Before his previous career went down the tubes he was thinking of teaching engineering after retiring. While his abrupt end of his career forced him to make changes in those plans he thought he might take up teaching at a later time, hopefully after making some sort of fortune for himself and his daughter first.

Along with teaching Minka he was studying information on instruction methodology he had on his computer to better teach Minka and others in the future.

A trip well spend learning both real information and his new 'hobby' of cinematography Charles made his way to the bridge to get a good view of the crosser ship when they arrive. The first one in the flesh was impressive. As they approach to dock he looks at Lilana.

"So the plan boss? We going to meet the contact immediatly our want to tourist that thing for a bit first? Maybe Marlo could give us a nice tour that might make some interesting mini docu that brings in some cash for us to?"

He turns to Marlo

"If you are up for something like that. Als what does your species think of human media?"

Lilana has no answer to the question… yet.   Her solution to “How do I contact a Crosser?” was “Find someone who knows about them. So she punts it over to Marlo and Florence, who were the ones to answer that call.

“I was a given a name and a place.  This is the place, the name is Andy Explorer Third-Risk.”


“Explorers are like me,” Marlo says.  “Some of them work for the directors of the Home Ship, like your Commonwealth Navy.  But others work for companies.  This one did not give you a company, and did not mention an official title?”

“This is all I have.”

“Then this one is seeking private arrangements, and must be found with our computer.  Computer systems are not compatible, yours and ours.  You will have to go aboard.  Work with our computer.  It would be acceptable, if I am there."


When they get a moment, Marlo finally gets around to addressing Charles' question: "Some is very, very interesting, and some is very dull, and much lies in between.  That is normal, yes?  But as a rule, Crossers dislike things that you call introspective.  Slow.  We are not like that.  Humans can spend a great deal of time analyzing their own thoughts.  It is one thing to do that with real people, but why waste the time studying mere characters?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:47, Fri 24 July 2020.

"Not compatible you say" remarks Jackson. "But are they similar enough so that humans can use them to get information?" 

"What counts as 'very very interesting' to your folk, Marlo?", asked Abe, intrigued. He was becoming familiar with Liliana's world - where the battles were fought, the tactics and strategies the biggest networks used, and knowing what might appeal cross-species seemed a natural question to ask. Perhaps a new market, perhaps simply an insight into their folk

Whilst they coasted inward, he began catalogueing the starships insystem. Who was here might prove interesting in and of itself

"Interesting things are strange and new things," Marlo says.  "We are like you.  Our ancestors traveled, and they hunted.  To beings like us, knowing more is better.  Always and advantage to know, to plan.  There is a Human saying.  Knowledge is power.  Knowledge is interesting."

They approach the Crosser Home Ship, following the instructions they are given.

Structures of arms and rings projects from both ends of it, and one side, the human ships dock.  In between, the Crosser Home Ship is a mass of immense iron hull plates arranged like scales.  The Crossers use basic steel, and lots of it, as hull material, demolishing entire asteroids in the process.

It's huge.  It makes even the largest human ships, like the agricultural ship, look tiny.

The Nellie Bly will be docking on a docking arm near it.

Normally very large vessels do not dock- they throw off the center of balance for stations, which can be very annoying.  No one has ever seen something as big as the agricultural ship Caledonia docked before.  But it’s dwarfed by the Home Ship.  The Nellie Bly will be a neighbor, more or less, as it is directed to approach the same docking ring, sharing it also with small traders, the Weifarer, the Rose Banner, the Beginner’s Luck, the Arsan, and the San Luis Potosi.

"When we go onto the Home Ship, it will be hot," Marlo warns.  "Our atmosphere has more oxygen than yours.  It will not kill you, but you must be careful.  Do not exert yourself and do not breath to deeply.  Our gravity is lower than your gravity, be careful of that, too."

"Well good thing i always wear a void suit then. Just making sure my supplies are alright then. Dont want to end up needing it when i end up needing to run for my life after unsettling the father of a fair maiden."

He says laughing but still makes sure to have a proper check of his void suit. For the rest he mostly is curious about boarding the place and his 3 camera drones hover about him as nervous about the new experience as he is.

“Should we take a gift for the Home Ship, Marlo?”, enquired Abe, “Perhaps a story?”

"A story?" Marlo asks.  "Do you mean one of the ones you have created?"

"He's new..." Lilana begins, wondering if they are now talking about giving away one of their documentary pieces as a gift.  "But... he might have a good point there.  It's what we do here.  I don't trade in material goods."

"May I look over your documentaries and see?  You have short introductions for each one, I recall."

"Trailers," Minka says helpfully.

"Trailers," Marlo repeats... or rather, his translator repeats, after he has programmed the word in.  "That is such a strange word.  It means Thing Coming Behind but it is meant to be seen before the actual story."

"An old Earth word," Minka says.  "Once, these... stories... were recorded on strips of optical film.  The trailer was at the end of the strip that held the main part."

Marlo turns to Florence, and gives that little shake she has learned to interpret as a laugh.  "The thing that is hardest to see with languages is this, how a word may come to mean the opposite of the thing it meant.  We have them too.  Be careful of them, they have been known to fool translator programs.  I will look through the... trailers... and give my opinion."

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

The Crossers are experienced with handling the docking of (to them) alien ships.  They have been doing this for a long time.  Most human ships have standardized docks, for convenience, and ships are designed to snugly attach to them.  The Crossers have large, flexible structures that are made to conform to the hull of a large ship, or completely engulf a smaller one in a bulb of elastic material.  The Nellie Bly is a small ship, and very soon it is within one such bulb along the docking ring, near to its neighbors.

Much as Marlo warned, the ship's sensors report that the atmosphere outside is breathable but hot and dense and oxygen rich.  Physical exertion could be very dangerous for a frail person, and most Humans would feel uncomfortable very quickly.  An environmental or vac suit of any kind, of course, would keep a human comfortable... more or less.  It's either the discomfort of the suit, or the discomfort of the air, whichever you choose.

As the final checks are made, Marlo has reached a couple of suggestions.

"I propose that you offer this as trade for the information you seek, or something like it," the Crosser says, indicating the recently done and not even final-edit version of their brief tour at Deseret.  "It is a look at a small subculture of Humans that we do not know about.  You are quite diverse!  Also, the animals are interesting."

Marlo finds an older documentary as well, one Lilana did a while ago about boating on the ocean planet Poseidon.  That one, Marlo wants in return for further guidance and assistance, if it is considered necessary.

 while he suspected the chances were unlikely he decided to ask Charles anyway " what are the chances that any of the tapes we have in our collection would be of cultural interest the crossers?"

As the ships zero G welder void suits where no real issue for Charles and he made sure to ber clad in one when they left. His combat armor might be aq little over the top but the regular suit should suffice without offending anyone. He turns to Jackson.

"Well sounds like these people like documentaries. They might be among them i got no clue. But its all entertainment media so i wouldn't expect to much except maybe some life documentaries."

Emerging from his own quarters in one of the starship's standard-issue voidsuits, Abe carried his handcomp and had his pistol strapped to one hip as usual. He touched it briefly once he had found the Crosser with his gaze, "Will your folk object to such armaments? I would not wish to offend, but its been a while since I wasn't carrying"

His smile was friendly and open as he continued, "I have few stories of my own I might offer, except perhaps a few of far-off stars and the war between them. But I would be interested in hearing some from your folk..."

Above one shoulder, a single drone - kin to those that floated around Charles - hung silently, watching
This message was last edited by the player at 10:54, Sat 18 July 2020.

They are carrying a trove of purchased media programming.  In fact, they got it at bargain prices because it hadn't been "optimized", that is, the contents hadn't been edited, tweaked, and if necessary censored to match one particular Human market.

But of course, that does not matter with the Crossers.  Nothing is optimized for them.

Marlo expresses immediate interest in reviewing this.  "This may prove very good for both of us," the Crosser says.  "This is a resource that can be valuable here, and you might have beaten competitors here.  Will you allow me to look through the descriptions and trailers, and see what would be the most valuable?"

"But you would be the buyer?" Lilana asks.  "How you can you guide us while negotiating as a buyer at the same time?  We have what we call a conflict of interest."

"Oh not at all," Marlo says.  "I cannot buy.  I am only an explorer and that is not permissible for an explorer.  I can only direct you to others who might.  If an explorer used information gained for personal advantage instead of merely reporting back to leaders or sponsors, that would be damaging to the trust.  May I look at your collection, then?  I would suggest that you study the products we have available here in exchange.  We often sell our services as construction engineers, but I do not believe you wish to have an asteroid settlement created.  But we sell many other things we make, some of which are quite superior to Human products.  We also sell the products of other civilizations that we meet in our journeys."

Jackson noted all the drones floating about. He snickered then said in mock sadness "Look like everyone has a pet except me."

When Marlo mentioned the potential value of media he said to Charles "This sounds promising. Let's hope we have a lot of interesting stuff for the Crossers to purchase."

"Aww all alone. Now i feel sad."

He says jokingly and one of his drones hovers over to Jackson and zooms around his head. Then when Marlo shows interest he nods.

"Sounds like a great idea. Once we turned it into credits we can see what you got for sale that might be interesting on our route but thats an unknown till we meet the one who invited us here."
This message was last edited by the player at 09:04, Mon 20 July 2020.

"What are the bounds of an explorer's role, Marlo", asked Abe with a smile at the antics of the drones, "What are the limits of what might be explored and where understanding sought?"

"Explorers are one of the... in your ways, it would be something like a cross between a government service, a union, a professional organization, and a social society.  We work for different leaders.  I work for those who organize the business deals with Humans.  This one you seek does not.  We are sent out to seek answers, to gather information.  In my case, to gather information on the needs and resources of the Humans.  What do you want?  What do you have that we want?  What problems should we avoid?  All this is needed very much by our leaders.

"You have Scouts, but it is not the same.  All Explorers seek information through investigation, but my branch seeks economic information.  Economics across civilization is full of mystery.  You have a cheeseburger.  You have a glove.  Which is worth more, and why?  Sometimes, the thing worth more to one civilization is worth less to another, and whenever you find that, that is opportunity to trade successfully.  You see, if an Explorer found such an opportunity, and exploited it for personal gain, could anyone ever trust that Explorer again?  Would you choose to employ that Explorer?

"We are a civilization of small, isolated populations.  You have billions.  You can become lost and hide among yourselves.  We cannot.  Home ships cross paths rarely.  When they do, Crossers move between them.  Of course we do, change is our creed!  But until then, what we do, what we have done, this is known to all on the Home Ship.  We guard our reputations!  You see now, I explore economics.  It is not the only thing Explorers explore, but it is my thing.  If I arranged with you to provide information about the worth of goods, but then exploited that knowledge, I have committed a wrong to you, and to my own reputation, and to the reputation of all the Explorers of my Home ship by extension!  It is a serious thing.  Relations are different when your species is few.  Those who are many, like you, like the Lipaps, see things differently."

"Now, let me forage through your programs, and I will give you my report."

Lilana asks, "But we also need you to help us find my contact."

"This is true," Marlo admits.  "But I cannot do both at once.  You can certainly explore the docking ring area, it is acceptable, that is why Human ships are welcome to dock.  My presence would give you an advantage, though."

"What about after we done our work you and i have a little chat while reviewing the materials? I worked the markets some so who knows maybe we can do an equal exchange for information?"

He offers to Marlo.

ooc: i am going with the assumption a Broker 3 is a significant market skill

Broker 3 is very much a significant skill.  With Broker 3 you use all sorts of business buzz words and actually know what you are talking about!

Marlo agrees, being in no hurry.  After all, this is home!  There is a lot to do, which reminds the alien.

"I must upload my reports.  I can do this here.  I have a home on the Home Ship, of course. It will be good to see it again.  But you would find it hot and uncomfortable.  Do we wish to go to the Home Ship now, and seek my colleague whom you are looking for?"