Action 1: Over the Rainbow

[Keehnelf]

Olive Haro

"Just a bit of chatter here and there, Captain. The mail shipment in from Trieste is a day behind schedule but none of the Navy vessels that arrived today have anything odd to report about the situation there, so we should be smooth sailing on the first leg."

[Baron]

"Lovely," Quade replies. "Every little thing makes me cautious," he adds as he pulls up the most recent news reports he can from Trieste. He looks for any clues that might be rearranged and combined to indicate trouble looming. It's not paranoia when the really are out to get you...

[GreyWolfVT]

Carter goes to the comm. "Captain everything is good in engineering, good to go whenever you wish Sir."

[atpollard]

...Making his way to the common area and a stiff drink. While waiting for the jump announcement he enjoys the drink and goes over some research paperwork on the Asgard artifact findings. Not being clinical he is open to conversation with anyone else in the area.

As Johan leaves his stateroom, September waves him in to Vinnie's cabin. "Hello! I'm September, and this is Vinnie. Would you care to join us for a drink?"He looks quickly to Vinnie to be sure that he isn't overstepping his bounds by inviting the man in.

Good day September,... Vinnie, I am Johan. Seeing the bottle in Vinnie's hand he cracks a smile. Yes, I would enjoy a few fingers, with the jump coming up that could only help. Motioning them to go first he will follow them to the commons area. Grabbing three glasses he'll sit down putting a glass in front of each of them. If I may ask, have either of you been to Asgard before? Having not been there myself I am wondering what to expect.

"No, I've never been to Asgard, but I have a feeling that it will be an interesting place," Vincent swirls the glass, inhales the scent, and takes a sip. "Actually, I briefly examined the data on the worlds between here and Asgard, and I think that the journey might be as interesting as the destination."

[Baron]

Carter goes to the comm. "Captain everything is good in engineering, good to go whenever you wish Sir."

"Very good, Mr Jacks. Keep those kittens purring. We'll jump on schedule, we're not in a rush. By the way," he added, and he addressed the bridge crew as well, "I've posted a little mixer for after we've come out of jump. I want us to get on good terms with the passengers, as we'll be spending quite a bit of time together. Dress uniforms will not be necessary. Ms Haro and I can take turns on bridge duty. I hope to see you all there."

[GreyWolfVT]

Carter "Aye sir." is the last thing he says through the comm. Then he gets back to work.

[Pulpatoon]

"No, I've never been to Asgard, but I have a feeling that it will be an interesting place," Vincent swirls the glass, inhales the scent, and takes a sip. "Actually, I briefly examined the data on the worlds between here and Asgard, and I think that the journey might be as interesting as the destination."

September to Johan: "We were just talking about how neither of us has ever been to Asgard. You neither? I don't suppose it's a surprise. Not exactly the spaceway most travelled."

Turning to Vinnie, he says, "Oh? What makes you say that?"

[spanningtree]

OCC: The quote limitation is 3 levels so let's reset this conversation here.

Taking a sip: Indeed, the journey should be interesting... it would be optimal if it could be abbreviated though. Johan will shift slightly unable to read Vinnie. Are your interests in Asgard or one of our transitory stops? What about you, September?

[atpollard]

"Actually, I briefly examined the data on the worlds between here and Asgard, and I think that the journey might be as interesting as the destination."

Turning to Vinnie, he says, "Oh? What makes you say that?"

"I was reading about a place called Flens, from what I read, it is a dirt poor world. It has no industrial base to speak of. It is unable to produce enough food to feed its people. At first glance, it would seem to have nothing to recommend it as a place to bother visiting." Vinnie pauses to enjoy another sip "And yet, they manage to maintain both a superlative Starport and Starship construction yard and one of the highest levels of technology in the region. I am curious to see such an economic paradox for myself."

[atpollard]

Taking a sip: Indeed, the journey should be interesting... it would be optimal if it could be abbreviated though. Johan will shift slightly unable to read Vinnie. Are your interests in Asgard or one of our transitory stops? What about you, September?

"Both actually. And neither. Like an old Huckleberry Finn, I had grown too jaded, and desperately in need of a reckless Tom Sawyer to drag me along on some misadventure." Vinnie smiles and pauses. "So what sirens call draws you so intently to Asgard?"

[Pulpatoon]

September: "They say 'a change is a good as a rest.' I'm not so much headed to Asgard as I wanted to get away from Marenau for awhile. And I like the frontiers. Open space and new discoveries, that sort of thing.

"I've docked on Flens before. It's a pretty nasty planet. Mostly desert, and the air is more ozone than anything else. Most people won't find it worth their time to leave the spaceport, honestly. Although there is a pretty remarkable ceramics tradition, there. The planet has a fairly exotic magnetic field, and this influences the structure of the pots when they're fired in the kiln—you know that when clay is fired, it's molecules realign themselves to the local field, and create a record of it, right? It's a way that we can learn about changes in a planets magnetosphere. Anyway, in Flensian pottery, there's a sort of vertical striation. Subtle, but lovely. Unfortunately, the native glazes are uniformly terrible, so the key is to find undecorated vessels..."

September looks sheepish as a he realizes he's running on. "I, uh... Pottery's kinda an old hobby."

[spanningtree]

Very interesting. Johan will say between sips. I may pick up something on our stop. He will say to September. You appear to have a solid understanding of ceramics.... Ah, my interest in Asgard is academic. With the artifacts being found there quite a community of archaeologists and other specialists has sprung up. It should prove and interesting environment to broaden my knowledge. He will say with a smile. Do either of you play chess?

[Pulpatoon]

September's eyes light up. "I do! Not brilliantly, or anything, and it's been a few years, but I played a lot in school. Do you have a set? Or should I punch up a holoset?"

[Nuke66]

Sam finishes the plotting of the Jump and her head hurts a little.

"Captain, we are ready once we get there. Just say the word and I will execute the Jump. Autopilot is on, may I have leave for a while?"

[Baron]

"As you wish, but all personnel at duty stations well in time for jump."

[GreyWolfVT]

Carter remains in the engineering bay keeping busy.

[Nuke66]

Samantha retires to the commons for a bit. As she enteres, she looks around before getting some water and taking a seat. "Good day gentlemen." she says by way of a greeting.

[Grognardsw]

Isaac C. Heinlein, pilot & explorer

September: ...Anyway, in Flensian pottery, there's a sort of vertical striation. Subtle, but lovely. Unfortunately, the native glazes are uniformly terrible, so the key is to find undecorated vessels..."

September looks sheepish as a he realizes he's running on. "I, uh... Pottery's kinda an old hobby."

Ike Heinlein takes a drink in the ship commons. He overhears talk at the next table about pottery. He shifts his chair.

"You should see the pottery on Firsk," says Ike. "The small resort planet is renown for its beautiful pottery. The secret is the glaze, made from the liquified remains of one's ancestors. I was there as part of an investigation. Supply was overtaking demand, and a rash of tourist disappearances lead to the Scouts checking into the issue. It was grisly... ironically the pottery glazed with victims became hugely collectible in certain circles."

Ike glances at his watch; his pilot shift is coming up later.

Remembering...

Deciphering the ancient glaze recipes in the cata-kitchens of Firsk...

[Pulpatoon]

"You should see the pottery on Firsk," says Ike. "The small resort planet is renown for its beautiful pottery. The secret is the glaze, made from the liquified remains of one's ancestors. I was there as part of an investigation. Supply was overtaking demand, and a rash of tourist disappearances lead to the Scouts checking into the issue. It was grisly... ironically the pottery glazed with victims became hugely collectible in certain circles."

September: "The Murder Pots, yeah, I read about those. There's always a group of people eager to latch onto notoriety in art. Easier to cultivate than a genuine appreciation for the craft, I suppose. But you're right that Firskian pottery is something remarkable. Can you imagine if their glazing techniques were combined with Flensian firing? Ahh! That would be ware fit for gods!"

[Keehnelf]

Ah yes, the refined conversation we expected from a group of Edu 9+ characters

Dars does some quick scans and collation of the datastreams available from Marenau and comes up with only one bit of information that seems unusual. It seems that a Kamoor funereal fleet passed through Trieste on 11 August, eight days ago. The regional mail system runs on a system of 1-G Jump-1 scout ships primarily, so that means that the funereal fleet was in system the same day the mail ship would have departed for Marenau. Once again, however, Navy ships that have arrived recently using faster drives have not reported anything untoward in Trieste.

---

Down in the common room, the automated bartender is refreshing everyone's drinks and piping current popular music at a low volume into the room to ease the atmosphere further. At present one can hear the strains of the ballad "Twin Suns" by Galak Thule.

During a lull in the music, a distinctive chirping sound is heard from September's satchel, tucked away below his seat and forgotten for a moment in the heat of the conversation. It strikes everyone as peculiarly unlike any of the sounds made by typical portable devices--almost like a chorus of chimes made of heavily rusted metal. The sound fades back into the music as quickly as it came.