The Loire Valley left Collace on time, jumping out at 100 diameters on 03:05 [016-1104] as schedule.  The next few days saw the ship settle into something of a routine.  Passengers were attended to, meals prepared, maintenance done on auxiliary systems, and so on.  Three days into their jump however, something very unexpected happened.

19:37 (Ship's Time) - Passenger Common Area - Dinner Seating

"So that's when I told the Ambassador, sure, I can help you smuggle your dead dog across an international border, so it can be cremated.  As long as you don't mind bribing a few customs folks with cheap bourbon." Martin said hautily, ending a rather long and not exciting story of dealing with some local cultural mores regarding alcohol and dogs on a desert world he had served on.  Alcohol he seemed to know much about and he had only stopped in order to reach for his wine glass.

That's when he started to convulse, collapsing immediately on the table with a crash.  Glasses and plates cried out with the weight of the diplomat, some flying off the table and crashing on to the floor.

With violent jerks and convolutions, Laurent Marin writhed on the table.  He started vomiting as the convulsions continued.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 11:58, Mon 06 Jan 2020.

"By the Ancients, what is happening?" Juan Ley said loud enough to be heard in the next compartment.

"Doctor, Doctor!  Help him, please!!"
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 11:07, Mon 06 Jan 2020.

Teddy jumped right into action to work to keep his airway open, "Quick doctor, he's in trouble! Does he have any allergies?" Teddy asks his wife!

"Hey, that's my wife!" Juan said, looking over at Naamidu, who had removed herself from the dinner table and run off to their stateroom.  The door was probably already locked by now.  So much for a nice evening, Juan thought to himself.

Pointing at Marin, Juan add, "I think he's divorced.. a few times.  Not sure about allergies.  None that I know of."
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 16:07, Mon 06 Jan 2020.

Hearing the shouting, Duncan rushes in with only his pants on, the rest of his body still half-bare and wet from the shower and with the medkit in his hand. He looks at the scene and yells, "Clear the table!" He then moves over to the ambassador, focuses at Theo and states as he bends down, "Help me lift him up".

After putting the convulsing patient on the table and putting him in the recovery position to ensure accessibility of the airways, the doctor fiddles with his handcomp to start the medical agent. He and proceeds to check on the patient while asking, "What happened, exactly?".


23:38, Today: Dr. Duncan Halleck rolled 9 using 2d6+6.  Checking up on mr. Martin.

After Teddy protects the patients airway, Dr. Halleck is able to stop the convulsions, but only after Marin slips into a coma.  His vital signs stabilize, but they are very weak.

The agent on his handcomp is of little help, offering the following after a few minutes of scans:

Unknown disease process or toxin

Indeed, what's happened here is unlike anything Doctor Halleck is familiar with.  It's definitely not food poisoning, choking, or anything of a routine nature.

"Poison? It wasn't in the food, not when delivered anyway."

Travis is tied up most waking hours learning the ships systems and jump drive, making notes on what could be updated or is in danger of failing. It's a long list, but this ship was still in better shape than the mining ships he had crewed on.

He was calibrating a plasma flow sensor, blissfully unaware of what was occurring on the mess decks.

By now several of the other passengers had removed themselves from the table and were gossiping in the corner.  Some had a very frightened look on their face and snippets of their conversations could be heard -

What if he's contagious?

He told me he's some kind of diplomat, so who knows where he's been and what kind of space bugs he might have.

Can't the ship just leave jump space and drop this man at a hospital?

If he dies, will they just put him back with the cargo?  Or do they put him back in his stateroom?  Eww... I hope MY stateroom has never had a dead body in it...
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:17, Mon 13 Jan 2020.

"I believe you Chef", Duncan states with a hint of tension, "but bag it and tag it anyway."

"Everything ate or drank from.", the doctor adds while motioning to the table and glasses, "Also, did anyone else than who is now here had contact with him during the last hour or so?".

Unable to do much more for the Ambassador at the moment, the surgeon took a moment to overview his options. Having reached a decision he reached for a hypo-injector and injected the comatose body with fast drugs.

In addition, he reached for his commbead to contact the Aelasaid. <<< Comm "Captain, we have a situation here.", Duncan stated with a sigh, "The Ambassador has fallen seriously ill.". He wanted to add, possibly a toxin, but seeing the other passengers worry he decided against it. Waiting for a moment for the message to sink in he continued, "I would recommend we convene at the earliest opportunity to discuss our options."  Comm Over >>>

Having contacted the captain, Duncan cleaned his hands before moving over to the other passengers. "At the moment there is no need to fear, I have no indication   that it is anything contagious.", he said talking around the subject. "That said, if you have any information regarding the ambassador, or are worried that you have any symptoms, I will be available.", he continued trying to placate the group.

That said, he turned towards the assistant and asked, nudging towards his patient, "Mr. Ley, would help me moving mr. Marin to his room?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:43, Mon 13 Jan 2020.

Aelasaid had just finished her rounds on the bridge; as primary on the crew for bridge duty she took her job seriously, but couldn't be there all the time.  Still, having just visited the passengers and the common room as a courtesy to those with high passage that expected such things, the red-headed pilot was planning to retire to her cabin to freshen up a bit when the call came through on the crew's common channel.

Her eyes widened slightly as the message continued and she tapped her ear bud, "Acknowledged, Doctor.  On my way."  Ally trotted down the corridor with many scenarios running through her head.

Arriving in time to hear Duncan responding to some of the passenger concerns, Aelasaid nodded curtly.  "Dr. Halleck is quite right." she noted, trying to sound confident, "There is nothing further to be concerned about.  The counselor is fine hands."  Holding up her hands up in an open and placating manner as she attempted to herd them back to their tables and kept them away from the doctor and his patient.  Ally reiterated, "As Dr. Halleck has noted there is no contagion ... we are working to ensure the ambassador's safety and speedy recovery." gesturing again, she cleared space, "Please, return to your seats, give us a little space to work."  A casual smile touched her lips, even if this wasn't the happiest set of circumstances; Aelasaid had to trust that that doctor had things well in hand.

She glanced Teddy's way to make sure that the two of them could set up an appropriate distraction for the rest of the passengers while they attempted to whisk away Marin to a more private setting.  Aelasaid started to clear the place setting by stuffing a napkin in the wineglass and wrapping the entire lot in the table's cloth covering to try and isolate it for later.

"Sure, I can help.  Let me grab his feet," Juan said.  He made his way over and helped move the unconscious Laurent out of the dinning area and back to his stateroom.

"I chatted with him before dinner and he seemed fine.  Wonder what happened?" Ley added.

Aelasaid's effort to calm the other passengers and persuade them to return to their seats worked.  The small groups of concerned travellers broke up and either returned to finish their dinner, or in most cases, returned to their stateroom.

Down in engineering, Travis was busy baselining engineering systems.  There was nothing out of the ordinary and everything seemed to be functioning as well as could be expected.

Duncan kept silent for a moment, before mumbling a low, "I have my suspicions." He looked up at mr. Ley as the laid the ambassador on his bed, apparently wanting to explain, hold his word and instead said, "This is something I will have to discuss with the crew first.". The doctor then dipped the ambassador's lips with water to provide some moisture for his now slowed metabolism and turned towards the door.

Leaving the ambassadors stateroom, Duncan stated to the assistant, "Thank you for the assist. I suggest you turn in early.".

Duncan then made his way towards the crew area. As he passed the passenger common area he sought explicit eye contact with both Captain Aelasaid and Steward Theodore in an attempt to signal then to join him, but uttered not a word.

Teddy followed the doctor.

Duncan leaned on the table, his gaze switching from a blank wall to Teddy the moment he walked in. "What ...", he started in a harsh voice, stopped himself with a sigh and continued in a more normal voice with but a slight edge, "What happened, exactly?"

Teddy describes everything he remembers to the doctor.

"So that's when I told the Ambassador, sure, I can help you smuggle your dead dog across an international border, so it can be cremated.  As long as you don't mind bribing a few customs folks with cheap bourbon." Martin said haughtily, ending a rather long and not exciting story of dealing with some local cultural mores regarding alcohol and dogs on a desert world he had served on.  Alcohol he seemed to know much about and he had only stopped in order to reach for his wine glass.

That's when he started to convulse, collapsing immediately on the table with a crash.  Glasses and plates cried out with the weight of the diplomat, some flying off the table and crashing on to the floor.

With violent jerks and convolutions, Laurent Marin writhed on the table.  He started vomiting as the convulsions continued.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:56, Thu 16 Jan 2020.

The doctor listens intensely to the steward, nodding at moments or asking specifying questions. The man seemed to calm down and then muttered, "He does drink like a fish, doesn't he."

"A curious trait in an ambassador I would say", Duncan said pondering, "but then so is coming for premature conclusions in a doctor.", adding softly with a sigh, "we all make mistakes."

The doctor moved over to the entrance of the crew area and kept the door closed. "Now, I am not a virologist, nor a toxicologist", he explained, "My experience is mainly in battlefield trauma. However my fear is that the ambassador is poisoned."

"That said, I mentioned premature conclusions and this might be one of them.", the man says pondering, "Therefore I would like to check if the ambassador uses any medicine or uses other substances."

Duncan, aware of the possible implications, then explains his predicament, "However that does mean I need to search the belongings of an ambassador..."
This message was last edited by the player at 09:20, Sat 18 Jan 2020.

"Search them if it might save his life."

Duncan nods once and replies, "Right.", he pauses for a moment, before continuing, "Could you start questioning the passengers about what they saw that happened? As I said before, my fear is poisoning, and if so, testimony should be gotten while it is still fresh."

The doctor then opens the door and makes his way towards the cabin of the ambassador.

There he first examines the body for any indications of medical alert indications, and to be thorough, any indications of drug use or needle punctures in the usual places and the neck. He then proceeds to check the ambassador's pockets and finally he searched the rest of the ambassadors belongings.

Finally he does a final check-up on the ambassador's body, to see if he missed anything in his previous check.

Aelasaid hasn't been able to break away from the passengers.  Her instincts tell her that with the minimal crew they have onboard that someone needs to stay and keep an eye on the rest of their charges; she's been trying to monitor the crew channel for updates.

++Stuck interfacing with passengers++ she noted briefly, as she circulated.  Her down-to-earth style had never made friends in formal settings, but the young woman could be quite personable one-on-one.  So, Ally got down to the serious business of finding out how the various passengers were coping.  She didn't push about the matter, allowing those around her to broach whatever topic spurred their interest, but was careful to note reactions and attitudes.

The ambassador might have enemies or supporters, personal or professional, onboard and it would behoove them to find out more at this point.  Those types of leanings had suddenly become quite germane; whether they concerned trade agreements, travel restrictions, or political leanings.  Anything with strong backing needed to be considered.

---

[OOC:  Aelasaid will try some Persuade...

  14:03, Today: Aelasaid Mor McLauchlan rolled 10 using 2d6+3.  Persuade/INT: The situation with the Ambassador.. - [roll=1579816985.39767.337352]

Ref, let me know if more or different rolls are necessary.  Aelasaid's Investigate/Recon or Carouse skill is not nearly as good as her Persuade, but might be more appropo.  She does have Steward/1; so, she should be able to keep the passengers reasonably satisfied (not as well as Teddy, but that's life)]

Inside the Ambassador's cabin, Duncan starts to check his patient.  A skin search reveals nothing unusual, in fact, from what Halleck can tell, even moles and other potential benign skin artifacts that are typical for a man Marin's age, have been removed.  A quick check with the mediscanner shows that his appendix is gone as well.  Halleck's experience tells him that Marin likely has routine check ups and that his doctor is a believer in prophylactic surgery.  Given the patient's occupation, it's not unwanted.

Laurent Marin's pockets contain items typical for his station and occupation - a credstick, personal comm, an ID dot that displays a holographic badge and building pass.  The p-comm is a high end model, but still within local manufacturing capabilities of Collace.  The p-comm displays changes when it is removed from Marin's pockets.

"Press to logon"

In reply to Aelasaid Mor McLauchlan (msg # 22):

Most of the passengers seemed to be taking things in stride.  None confessed to ever meeting or knowing Laurent Martin before the journey started, with the exception of course of Juan Ley.

"How's he doing?  Did the doctor find anything yet?" Ley asked when he saw Aelasaid.

"There's a wall when you come in to the Ministry HQ inscribed with names of every Collace diplomat who died in the line of duty.  Out of the first fifty or so, half or so died of disease.  The other half are mostly those lost in space; their ship's never made it to their destination.  Back then, when space travel was new and worlds still being explored, jump drives and medical care just weren't as good as they are now." Juan finished with a sigh.

"I don't want Laurent to end up on that wall.  Please let me know if I can do anything to help.  I'm serious - blood, an organ, whatever the doctor needs.  Just don't tell Naamidu if it's got to be an organ."

Teddy tried to settle the passengers when he got back to the mess, Giving nothing up to them.

Holding the p-com in his hand, the thought of using the comatose ambassador's finger to unlock the device goes through his head. Duncan also dismisses it instantly. The chances of finding anything worthwhile to the investigation is negligible, and the thought of even holding it already makes him uncomfortable, given the likely-hood of state secrets on the device.

A moment later, he returns the items where they belong and reaches for his comm device. Setting it to the crew-wide channel, he states, <<< Comm "Duncan here with a quick status update. While I have been able to rule out some of the more unlikely scenario's, the origin of his condition is still unknown to me. I would suggest we convene to discuss our options." Comm Over >>>

It felt like failure to state that, but it needed to be said.

With that he left the room and locked it. He made his way towards the common room and looked for mr. Ley, and walked up towards him. "Hello mr. Ley.", Duncan asked in a serious tone, "I was wondering, do you perhaps know the ambassador's previous posting". A moment later, the doctor added another question, asking, "Also, how long did he stay on Collage between his previous and the current posting?"
This message was last edited by the player at 20:00, Thu 30 Jan 2020.

"I know he just returned from a long journey, but I'm not sure where.  Do you think he contracted something on his trips?" Juan replied.

Teddy perked up at that, a possible clue!

"I'm not sure yet", Duncan stated with a sigh, "I was mainly hoping that this could exclude an unknown disease...", he continued, "But if he travelled that much..."

The doctor hesitated a moment, then decided to go for it.

"Also ...", the doctor asked almost hesitantly, then continued with his hands lifted, "Now, I don't want to the specifics unless you think it is relevant..". The ex-marine then continued with his voice lowered in an attempt to shield the conversation from prying ears, "But in your assessment, is it even remotely possible that the diplomatic cargo is related to this incident?". Duncan cocked his head and continued with a follow-up question, "Did mr. Marin even had contact with it?"
This message was last edited by the player at 19:19, Sun 02 Feb 2020.

"I only saw him watch the loading, not helping in any way." Teddy whispered in reply.

"Did you check his comms or computer? It might give a clue."

"What?", Duncan asked in surprise, continuing in a defensive tone, "No! Of course not." "I would never betray the trust of my patients that way.", he said emphatically, "Especially not an ambassador. There could be state secrets on that device for all I know."

"The answer to his life or death state could be there too. Look is my vote."

The doctor let out a deep sigh, switched his frowned gaze from the steward to the ground, and then at the staffer. "What do you think?", he asked mr. Ley with a torn tone, "I am trained in the absolute importance of secrecy, but in this case..."

He gazed upon the staffer for another moment, the spark of an idea forming, "Or you could check the device,", he asked in a more hopeful tone, "I assume you are more familiar with diplomatic habits, and are probably privy to a good chunk of the information..."

"That's a good idea.  Let's check it together.  If there's any blow back, well, like I said, I'll do anything I can to help.  If they ask, I'll say I authorized it.  That way no one here will get in trouble," Juan replied.  "Hopefully it won't come to that though.  If we can save him, I suspect all sins will be forgiven."

With a serious frown upon his face, Duncan dips a short nod in agreement, "Let's do that.". While moving to the ambassador's stateroom, he turns towards Juan again and states, "If we do not get the information we need from the p-com, he is stabilized and should survive until we reach a hospital on Tarsus."

Reaching the stateroom, Duncan unlocks the room and moves over to the ambassador to retrieve the p-com. "Go ahead", the doctor states while holding the p-com in front of Juan, "Just one tip, don't read the folder called 'Tax Returns', that could very well be his 'private' folder.", he states with a half-grin, masking his own discomfort.
This message was last edited by the player at 21:51, Wed 05 Feb 2020.

Aelasaid had't had much time to slow down, she'd calmed down the passengers as best she could linger to chat as if nothing was wrong before excusing herself to go and confer with Teddy and Duncan.  Just after passing out of eyesight of the dining area, she virtually sprinted down the hall to the crew common area where she expected find the other crew members.

"What'd I miss." she panted between breaths as the others came into view.

Neither pharmacology nor toxicology was her specialty.  Honestly, her formal medical training was a CPR refresher more than a decade ago.  However, coming in on the tail end of discussion that included some thing that was more related to virtual breaking and entering.  Well, that Ally was quite interested in.

Travis shows up, wearing his work coveralls along with a respirator and rubber gloves. He taps the respirator. "Just in case it's an airborn pathogen."

Accessing the initial p-comm files and applications was relatively easy - the first layer of security relied on biometic thumbprint.

Stored in this security container were basic contacts, photos, travel information, itineraries, and such.  Looking through these, a few very interesting details emerge.  Marin had most recently come from a posting on Gram, in the Sword Worlds.  His travel documents showed that he took a series of J-4 and J-3 liners back to Collace two weeks ago.

Gram
Sacnoth
Biter
Caladbolg
Dawnworld
Forine
Dallia
Collace

Most of the information was in Galangic, but there was an e-invite in a very unusual language:

"በቀድሞው እራት ኤምባሲው በሚያካሂደው የቀድሞ እራትዎ መግለጫዎ እርስዎ እንዲጠየቁ ተጠይቀዋል ፡፡ እኛ ለእርስዎ ክብር የቪላኒ ምግብን እናገለግላለን። የመከላከያ የጆሮ ማዳመጫዎችን ለመልበስ ከወሰኑ መደበኛው አለባበስ ያስፈልጋሉ እና አይሰናከልም ፡፡

Aelasaid's translation program chews on it for a few microseconds, then spits out the following text:

Language module not installed.  Security license required.  Contact customer support for more information - p-comm 2C2B-B178
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:13, Fri 07 Feb 2020.

"Hey, that's Zdetl" Travis says when he sees the language. "Spent a little time on a Zhodani ship a while back. Interesting times... Imagine having a girlfriend who always knows what your thinking, talk about a double edged sword.... Anyway, let me take a gander."

He leans in and reads the missive, wiping the respirator goggles with his sleeve first.

"It's an invitation to a formal sit-down, about three months past. Can't quite figure out the location code. It mentions Vilani cuisine. Is the sick guy a Vilani?"

"Hmmmm, most Vilani food stuff was inedible and could make people very sick due to micro-toxin, missing amino acids, and other issues. Food poisoning possibly? I CAN cook Vilani, but did not for the meal. In Zhodani at that, was he compromised?"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:31, Sat 08 Feb 2020.

With new information, Duncan redoubled his efforts.  Over the course of the next few hours, he was able to isolate the problem to a buildup of a previously unknown toxic organic compound, which as been binding with kainic and domoic acid, preventing them from being metabolized properly.  Over time, Laurent Marin's body has been building up dangerous levels of the three compounds; interesting, the previously unknown compound masked the build up of the two known toxins in the body, rendering them undetectable to the Doctor's mediscanner.

From what Duncan could surmise, the unknown compound was a a by-product of whatever improper method of food preparation was used. Given the distance to Vland, it's possible the Zhodani used a few ingredients from their home-world, which could explain why it wasn't in the Imperium's databases.

After trying a few formulations, Doctor Halleck was able to administer a catalyst that started to break down the unknown compound and allowed Marin's body to rid itself of the other toxins.  Within a few hours, Marin's vital signs were such that Duncan was able to administer the Fast antidote.

"What happened?  This hangover feels much worse than normal," Marin said as he tried to sit up in his bed.

"Dr Halleck, he's awake! Thank the gods for that."

Aelasaid had been about to say that the encryption on the translator was locked with a key that required actual official authorization.   But then apparently their new engineer was authorized.  Or something like that.  Which meant something else - Ally wasn't entirely sure what that something was, but she cataloged the fact away and was simply thankful that Travis knew Zdetl somehow.

As for being Vilani... "Pretty much everyone's got some Vilani in them..." she muttered, given that the first Imperium was Vilani.  Just like most people could trace some Solomani heritage in their genome from the Second Imperium.  But, apparently, not enough people had the proper enzymes to digest all of the Vilani delicacies.

Far too wild.  It had been a good catch by the doctor, and Aelasaid made sure that the noted such in her crew assessments - as well as Teddy and Travis' actions.  Once it was known that Laurent was conscious again, Ally when to visit him.  She summoned Juan as well to ensure that all of the parties were assembled.  "Ambassador Marin," she started cordially, "I am glad to see you recovering.  Timely intervention by Dr. Halleck," and she pointed to Duncan, "has ensured that you are none the worse for wear.  He can, of course, explain in more detail what exactly happened to you physiologically, if you like."

"However, it does seem that you were inadvertently poisoned by an exotic foodstuff, probably of Vilani origin." she noted simply, watching Marin's reactions to the information very carefully, "It took a while for the inedible portions of toxins to build up.  Months, in fact."

"Does any of that make sense to you?  Perhaps you can fill in some additional detail as to when you might have come in contact with such cuisine?  I am sure that a man of your diplomatic stature must find themselves in all sorts of exotic situations..." the young Captain of the Loire Valley innocently prompted her passenger.  She was mostly just looking for confirmation; they hardly had clearance for anything that was an actual state secrets: like encrypted Zhodani invitations.  Part of Aelasaid didn't want to know.

Unless, not knowing was going to get her killed.

Duncan nodded sagely at Aelasaid prompting, "Miss. Aelasaid is exactly right. While you were drinking wine, you suddenly fell into a coma.", he said motioning to the captain.

"With the help of mr. Ley", and he motioned at the assistant, "we have been able to ascertain that this was probably caused by you ingesting Vilani food".  With a calm voice the doctor continued his explanation, "Now most Vilani food is inedible for us humans and in this case it they might even have been improperly prepared or perhaps they got creative with their ingredients."

"Either way, or which your body could not metabolized it properly.", he continued, using his arms in smoothly movement to support his explanation.

The explanation done, the doctor went on to current order of business. "How are you feeling now, any dizziness, headaches or extremely thirsty?", Duncan asked his patient, "These are symptoms to look out for in the coming hours." "Now, You should make a good recovery, but you should keep to your bed for now", Duncan continued while motioning him to stay in bed, "Also, I would suggest to leave the bottle for a while to avoid complicating your recovery."

The last while not strictly necessary in this case, was good advice any time. Mentioning that they used his p-com was something he would mention at a later date.

Turning around, he turned to the rest of the crew and made explicit eye-contact with each of them, thanking them silently with a nod. He had screwed-up by ignoring vital information, and it was thanks to them the ambassador had recovered that quickly. This was a learning opportunity and he knew it.

"Damn Zhodani.  I should have known to steer clear of that food," Marin said.  He managed to reach over for a cup of water and took a few long sips.

"Hard to just say no in this profession through.  When your hosts offer you something, you generally have to eat it - to be polite of course.  I was with the Foreign Minister at a dinner on Glisten and the belters served up some pastries filled with mushrooms they had grown in old mining shaft.  Well, the FM hates mushrooms but neither of us knew they were in there.  He spit those mushrooms out faster than you can say Ziru Sirka.  We were there to trade for ore and we ended up paying quite a bit more than we wanted, because the belters took some offense - all because of mushrooms." Halleck took it at as good sign that his patient was felling well-enough to regale everyone with yet another diplomatic service story.

"You know, I don't even like most Vilani food.  Too many things pickled and curried.  French cuisine has always been my favorite," he added before taking some more water.
This message was last edited by the player at 06:42, Thu 13 Feb 2020.

"My favorites are Chinese, Italian and German, and American of the old Solomani and Terran schools. Sword World is quite good as is Darrian."

Aelasaid had thought about saying something about haggis; as she found it traditional comfort food herself.  But given the company, decided that might not be the best topic for now.  The oft-maligned Scottish fare was not always a welcomed topic.  So, the red-haired pilot decided to keep her mouth shut, simply nodding amicably with regards to the various cuisines espoused and then excusing herself to head back to the bridge for a bit.

Before Aelasaid left, Teddy told everyone he was willing to make their favorites for them on occasion too.