The Joys of Off Season VacationsAim for a quiet destination. Settle on Oovaloo - "tourist resort of the stars" place, but currently off-season. As off-season lasts for 10 years (20 year orbit), seems likely to be very quiet. Watery planet, only 1 significant land mass. Locals cetacean intelligence, so land not heavily used by them. Currently 8th year of winter, so still 2 years or so before things start really picking up. Winter is unpleasant, wet & cold, so really not popular. On trip, Mugorakans discover large room above the control room. Appears to have been non-Ambassador controlled hydroponics. Start work on fixing this. Above hydroponics, rooms which may contain some interesting items, but heavily overgrown. Work on evacuating them started, but interrupted by our arrival in the system. Nikchub scans comms. Intercepts a broadcast from the consul. (only 4-5 consuls, so powerful and important, so this is significant.) Preceded by heavily edited footage of Latte & Tsaijix, advocating attacking the Empire. Also footage of Mu separatist ranting and raving. Faked footage of Lu attacking the station, with footage doctored to hide gun. Prices scorecard:
Sector consul Javosequor appears and announces "crackdown on divisive elements" message. Specifically mentions Jerunat (Latte's homeworld) as being under martial law, Lumu has been blockaded (although not invaded, which indicates that Lumu defences are enough to deter the Empire) and that the attacks have backing from the Gephken cartels , the smugglers associated with Tsaijix's home station. The push against Gephken smugglers is especially interesting, as a significant departure from historical Imperial behaviour. We seem to being exploited as justification for significant Imperial crackdown, to much general unhappiness. Historical note: Javosequor is old guard consul (5th term). Clearly well-connected to survive this long, and has a history of having enemies die unexpectedly. Not a figure to trifle with. Some discussion of operation "Major leak" - idea is to setup something to broadcast accurate footage of Lumu station incident, which reflects badly on the Empire, in several places simultaneously. Hopefully, this will make it hard to stop, and sow extra layers of confusion about our movement and location into the mix. Will not go ahead with this immediately, as general feeling is laying low for a few weeks is needed. Tsaijix uses net to look up recent news on Anadrask. Nothing significant, some mention of "early council elections", which suggest Rufo Jr. is securing his position of strength due to possession of blackmail info. Queries show that several places booked by a rather secretive alien race, the Silfi, who apparently like Oovloo in the winter. Little known about them amongst the party, but seem unlikely to be an issue. Silfi are tall, spindly, entirely covered in fabric. Very quiet race under Imperial rule. They appear to have several taboos (no public eating, etc.) and odd shaped helmets. Build is too different from humans and lizards for disguise to be a feasible option (KC can probably fake it with correct gear, but rest of us can't). Ziva is sent to main Oovloo station to arrange accommodation and suitable fishing permits. Our official story is it's a "company team building exercise". Arrives at station, which is fairly empty, but several businesses are still open. Arranges accommodation in a very private resort, with extra privacy, organises some permits and goes equipment shopping. Resort is fairly isolated, and consists of huts in 3 separate bays. 1 bay is occupied by Silfi, the middle bay is empty, and we've booked ALL of the 3rd bay. Ziva gets given lots of brochures from various stores (booking agent, restaurant, spear-fishing equipment shop and electronics) and returns to the ship. Nikchub notices that brochures provided are on unusually capable datapads, and not the throwaway versions usually used for that. Some digging reveals each datapad has an extra serving of encrypted content. Further prodding results in the observation that the booking reference is a) unusually complex and b) looks surprisingly like a standard decryption key for one of the commercial protocols. Plugging this into the encrypted blocks reveals that the shops have a very interesting extra inventory, which a significant helping of things that go boom in the night. Different stores specialise in specific items:
Plan is to head down for the vacation, and contact suppliers to conduct some business a little later. Order some supplies from the restaurant to be delivered, with a "hope to do more business with you" note. Get a "we'll send a representative to deliver items. Feel free to ask questions response". Private resort with extra privacy is quite private. It's also been occupied by some of the native wildlife in places, but ultimately we manage to settle into an acceptable selection of huts. Amenities are a bit lacking, but will serve. Nikchub's investigation and scans pick up no untoward traffic. Note 3 ships in Silfi occupied section. Ships have lots of cargo space, and several crates around (also buying arms?). Shar keeps watch on Silfi. Notices garments on the beach and sees Silfi return from swimming. Very tall, sticklike figures. Small head with proboscis. Silfi dress quickly and then go to ships. Much perusing of the lists to construct a suitable shopping list. Utan's focus is on:
Over the next few months, a generally relaxing break is had by all Ziva spends time tagging and cataloguing "liberated" medicine supply, and some misc fishing and such. Spends time exploring the Embassy and helping map it. Nik-chub spent time studying medical literature. Hacked into station and found some copies of top-notch textbooks on the hospital network. Also spent time talking to Ambassador about exactly what happened to him - described as an attempt to transplant brain matter, which has now been further tweaked by the Convergence. "Transmitting on more frequencies than before." The Ambassador is uncertain if this new state is treatable. Nik-chub also spends time poking at the overgrown room above the hydroponics area (with Ziva's help) and investigating the cylinder recovered from there. Cylinder appears to be full of electronics, although it's not obviously transmitting, but there are some "soft, ambient signals" logged. Further investigation on hold until we have a secure environment to do so. Room yields several statues, a box of fabric (which collapses to dust when opened) and misc flotsam. Room also yields a non-human petrified skeleton (appears to have been preserved and mounted at one point) - with wings and a beaked head. Utan spends most of the break compiling a careful shopping list. It's soon obvious that the smugglers are behaving oddly - not giving prices or establishing payment methods or anything. Entire shopping list may be achievable. Utan's list is:
Latte spent time constructing his plan: From his point of view the most pressing problem is a lack of freedom of association—the party can't meet people or maintain long-term relationships because they're a small group of wanted criminals without infrastructure. His plan is to fix this by creating the illusion of a large shadowy organisation—a new semi-legal corporate force on the fringes of the Imperium. Hopefully if enough people believe it the illusion will become a reality. So the plan needs:
K-C spends a lot of time fishing and such. Shar spends the time running up a huge bar tab and spying on the Slifi. The Slifi spend lots of time in the water, and are not using their large cargo crate for anything. Bnarch spends his time not quite managing to teach the Ambassador basic engineering concepts, and some manufacture of items in the new workshop. Tsaijix spends time studying the documents he obtained on his family history and from the Lumu collection. Also spends some time trying to contact Anadrask to learn what's going on there. Party receives a message for Avarim, one of the smugglers, who's acting as a go-between between us and several suppliers. Wants to have a meeting, so he's invited to lunch. Some setup - Latte arranges for K-C to be an emergency backup plan, Shar and Nik-chub take up stations outside the meeting room where they can bring sniper skills to bear if needed, and Bnarch dons the "we're trustworthy smugglers" ring. Avarim arrives with the brochure lady from the station (Verna), a large mook (Dag) and a unremarkable looking figure, introduced as Surin. Tsaijix recognises Surin as a Gephken "cleaner". Surin appears interested in Tsaijix, which makes Tsaijix very uncomfortable. Avarim is unusually effusive when greeting Bnarch. RFID ring responsible? Dag is disinterested, acting as bodyguard. Verna appears to be acting as minute-keeper. Surin is obviously largely unknown to the others, and it appears they've only recently met. Latte is fairly certain Avarim noticed the ring before greeting Bnarch, so the ring is responsible for his reaction. Also notes that Tsaijix reacted negatively to Surin, and that Surin seems focussed on Tsaijix, so keeps an eye on that. Avarim has a business proposition. He needs to move a lot of stock to a planet called "Akaijat". Akaijat is an agricultural world closer to the Imperial heartland, and, in Utan's opinion, is about as boring a location as there exists in the Empire. Avarim is offering twice our current bill to handle the shipment. Money left over will "equip a small fleet". Tsaijix goes outside and has an uncomfortable talk with Surin (who calls Tsaijix Corvin). Surin is not about to kill Tsaijix as "your parents have interceded on your behalf", although he appears unhappy with that state of affairs. Sent by one of the powerful figures on Gephke station - Mr. Sycave, a member of one of the founding families. Instructs Tsaijix to "visit your family on Gephke and discuss the cut for this trip owed to the Gephken authorities". Given the increased budget, some further shopping happens, mainly for Latte's plan:
Packing happens. While ferrying stuff between station and the Embassy, Tsaijix is met by Surin with a message from his family. Has coded phrases, so seems genuine. Mentions "changes back home" and suggests Tsaijix returns for a visit to "discuss stuff in person". Tone and content suggests caution. Shar looks at the message and notices encoded blob, which has more details. Tsaijix has become a cause for the anti-Empire faction on Gephke, which makes the senior families uncomfortable. Message targeting Gephke also suggests Empire has new info which could be bad news. Gephke has become more overtly political (helping anti-empire rebellions, etc.) Tsaijix is believed links to a secret organisation with the links to Gephke. This may be the reason he's still alive. Blob also provided Tsaijix with code phrases to identify Gephken agents. Tsaijix examines the RFID ring. Odd shape - titanium alloy square with finger hole. Tiny numeral engraved on the ring, archaic Scholar caste symbol for 4. Maybe related to an organisation called the "the fourth founders". Few references, suggestive that references are accidental, slip of the tongue, events. Time period of symbol overlaps construction of At-yaj vaults. While leaving, Shar notes some odd activity at the Slifi base. Crate is winched into the water, and met by a lot of Oovloo. Crate comes out a lot slower than it went in. "Smuggling Oovloo" suggestion. All Slifi ships leave at about the same time. Shar & Latte go to investigate Slifi camp. Throughly cleaned, although somewhat odd smell. Hear squeaking and observe small, dolphin-like creature in the water. Creature is frightened by K-C arrival, and appears quite distraught. Via one of the Ambassador's Kuna units, communication is established. Oovloo is child of a family leaving via the Slifi. Reasons appear to be related to father's persecution for his political beliefs. Details are unclear. Oovloo child wants "mother, other mother, father or the police". Contact the Slifi "You may have forgotten some cargo". Arrange to deliver to Slifi. "Window has closed. Cannot place it with the family, but will reunite once journey is done." Finish packing and leave the system. Cargo is significant, and occupies most of the free space on the Embassy. Plan is to stop half, so we can test out new toys and install some of the new hardware before continuing. Some discussions with the Ambassador on gene therpay. The Ambassador can do stuff, but it's largely limited by it's lack of knowledge and understanding of the messy human genome. More data points would be good. "Somewhat confident" about gene therapy. More generic info on plants, etc. also useful. Nik-chub, while conserving with the Ambassador on a couple of topics, notices 6 large K-C units being grown. Different colour from K-C, look to blend in more with the wood-grain of the ship. Utan spends some time talking to the Ambassador about Kuna's genome. Establishes that she has genetic traits which make it much easier for the Ambassador to communicate with drones made from her. "Has the right parts. Only minor alterationn is required" (related to telepathy tape?). |