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Post by Deleted on Dec 22, 2005 14:08:16 GMT
This mission will start in January.
This will be a first contact mission where we, in order to make first contact, have to mingle among the locals and learn their trades. They're a lost human settlement which does not have warp capability yet, and they've evolved a little so they don't exactly resemble humans anymore to a certain degree.
It's an oceanic planet, where the people go about by sailing boats. The idea is that we will 'purchase' a two-mast sailing boat and trade in sea-food. We'll be specializing in crab-fishing or something and get to know the locals and learn from them. Our space ship will remain in orbit and get manned by a secondary crew <npc's> while we have a little fun on the sea.
The people: they still have human faces, somewhat bronzed skin, but their fingers and toes are beginning to show the signs of webbing. These humanoids are agile swimmers, and don't suffer from hypothermia when spending hours in the water. They're also adept divers, even without SCUBA gear they can dive to great depths.
Our goal: make friendships with these people, and learn from them as much as we can.
The trouble along the way: someone desperately does not want the locals to become friendly with us and will do anything s/he can to thwart us. (though in the end our goal is that we will please...)
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2005 21:14:49 GMT
(OOC: Hey everyone! Nephi's officially left, but I'm sticking around a bit as long as I can to play the bad guy. Joint-point between me and Sonak) Harnad lifted himself out of the water after inspecting the hull of his three-mast ship. Satisfied, he pulled himself onto the deck, water dripping off his bronzed skin, and running down his back from his graying hair as it rested on his shoulders. “How does it look?” Draid, one of his deckhands, asked, offering him a hand up on deck. “No cracks from the run-in with that rock, fortunately,” Harnad replied, shaking his hair dry after his feet settled on deck. As the crew unloaded the last of his catch from that morning was unloaded from the ship, he noticed a small group of newcomers near the dock. Fetching his spy-glass, Harnad noticed that some were oddly pale. They looked a little uncertain of the area. He climbed down off his ship, and walked down the dock toward them. He approached the female at the head of group, assuming she was the leader of the bunch. “Greetings, I am Harnad, the Village Envoy. Are you new to the area?” he asked. Sonak nodded, eying the man curiously. She motioned to her senior staff to wait and just look around a bit while she talked to Harnad. An hour earlier, they had beamed down to the planet's surface, with orders from Starfleet Command to investigate the planet and if possible engage into first contact. Orbital surveys had concluded that the inhabitants were of Earth descent, though they showed no visible signs of possessing warp technology. "Yes," she finally replied, "we are new to the area." She had no idea what a proper response would be, without giving too much about themselves away. What she already had gathered was that her little group of officers, including herself, looked rather out of place among the locals. "Welcome to Rustai," he said, bowing slightly. "Are you looking to buy a ship, or hire on to one?" Sonak raised an eyebrow, rather uncertainly for a Vulcan, though she thought that Harnad had no way of knowing that. "What would be the best option?" she then asked, "we have no currency to acquire possessions. I fear we have lost everything we own, except for what we have with us." She hated lying, but she felt she had no choice at that moment. "Your best option would be to hire on, but I don’t recall anyone in the Village looking for additional crew at present, especially not a group of your size," he said, eyeing her small band, which were now looking around the dock. "Your best bet is to buy a ship, somehow." "How should we proceed on that?" she queried cautiously, "as I just explained, what we have with us is everything we own. And some of our possessions have personal value so we would not sell those." "Well, seeing your circumstances, I would be willing to loan you the necessary draseks," he said. He noted how out of place she seemed, not just in appearance but also in behavior. "I beg your pardon?" the Vulcan asked, "draseks?" She had no idea what he was talking about, though she was starting to assume he was referring to the local currency. "If you would be willing to assist us, I would be most grateful," she continued, then nodded towards his ship. "You have a fine two-mast sailing ship there sir," she commented, "though you may want to attend to that ramp over there, it is suffering from wood-rot." He looked at where she was pointing. "Actually, that one is not mine. Mine is the three-mast down the wharf," he said, pointing to it, but then turned back to the ship she meant. "However, the owner of that one was talking to me about selling it. He's been done on his luck lately, and his crew left him. He's also getting old, and looking to retire." "And yes, draseks. Money," he said, finding her question curious. "You must be from another province." Again she nodded. "Another province indeed, and quite a distance from here," she agreed, "but the owner of this vessel is looking to sell? Do you happen to know how many....draseks he is asking for his vessel? Including maintenance?" "We will have to ask him," he said, heading toward the ship, and she quickly followed. "I've been arguing for months at the Assembly that we need a unified currency. You are further proof of my point." "You mean to say that you use different means of currency within the same province?" Sonak couldn't believe her ears; she knew from her history lessons that on Earth different countries used to deal with different currencies, though Europe eventually started using one currency for all European countries in the 20th century. Eventually, the entire Federation started using credits. "Can you take me to this person who wishes to sell? Perhaps we can come to some form of agreement." "I am leading you to him right now,” he said, continuing to walk. “What I am refering to is that each province has their own currency. You must not pay much attention to government." "Obviously," Sonak replied, and looked over her shoulder at her crew. Fortunately they had dispersed a little and now looked less like a band of brand new cadets. She knew that when they were alone again, they would report what they had found. "You are of this province then I assume," she said, wanting to know a little bit more about this older man. "We have discovered that fishing seems to be the main form of earning a living in this...province. My friends and I are new to this trade, though I have sailed before. We are scientists by trade, and we have traveled quite far." "Then perhaps you can use your background to find the most productive harvesting areas," he said, then stopped at the ship they were headed for. "Donar!" he called up toward the ship. A white-haired man appeared at the railing. "Greetings Harnad!" he called down. "What can I do for you?" "This is..." Harnad began, but he stopped and turned to the woman at his side. "I forgot to ask your name." "I am Sonak Reckus," Sonak answered, "greetings Mister Donar." She inclined her head towards the other old man. "Anyway," Harnad continued, "She is interested in buying your boat." Donar climbed down. "How much are you offering?" he asked. "I have no knowledge of estimating value sir," Sonak explained, seeming almost disappointed, "I would not know where to begin to offer you a decent price. As I explained to Master Harnad, we also possess no currency. My friends and I have lost everything we owned, except for what we carry on our persons." "I am loaning them the necessary draseks," Harnad explained. "How's 4,000?" Donar looked shocked. "That's not nearly enough for everything, including the crabbing boxes. 6,000." "5,000," Harnad offered. "Agreed," Donar said, and they clasped hands. He turned to Sonak. "You have yourself a ship." "How do you propose we repay our debt to you Master Harnad?" she asked, still not smiling, "and is this price including maintenance? As I mentioned, maintenance on this vessel is seriously overdue." She then turned to Donar. "Master Donar, could we depend on your expertise on these waters until we have learned to control this ship? I am not certain how many of my friends have sailed before." "I will drop the price by 500 draseks for the maintenance, then" Donar offered. "And yes I will stay on. Now, I must rest. I am old, and tire easily. I will see and your crew tomorrow morning, an hour before sunrise," he said, and then bowed and left. Harnad turned to Sonak as the old man left. "As for your debt, all of your profits will go to me until it is paid. On a good day you should be able be able to earn 100 draseks. But I will expect interest. 1% per day." "That sounds acceptable," Sonak agreed, "do we write up a contract to keep us both to our end of the bargain?" "I will speak to the Village Magistrate and will have the contract drawn up by this evening," Harnad explained. "Thank you for your trouble Master Harnad," Sonak said, "I will now go to inform my friends that we have acquired a means of earning a living. Shall we meet on our boat for the evening meal, so that we can both sign the contract?" "Agreed. I will be here, with the Magistrate and the contract, at sundown." "Again thank you," Sonak bowed slightly, then gracefully strode back to her crew. "I have aquired a boat," she announced, "as of tomorrow we shall be a fishing crew. We will be taught how to control the boat, and how to fish. Any comments?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Harnad returned to his boat, Draid approached him. “1 perecent a day?” he asked. “That’s a bit steep.” “I know,” he said, looking back at them, “But I don’t trust them. She seems too out of place. And look at their skin. It’s too pale. I don’t know who they are, but I’m not sure how honorable their intentions are. Donar is an old man, and wasn’t much competition. But they’re a different story.”
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Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2005 18:00:27 GMT
"At any rate," Sonak continued before anyone had a chance to respond, "we should divide tasks. Anything remotely starfleet must be kept from their attention. There will be no usage of ranks in the presence of these people. Nick, I would like you to oversee maintenance of our boat. As an engineer I am confident you can do so without trouble. Reman, assist Nick and make sure that our means of navigation are properly functioning. If you need assistance, seek help among the locals. Fox, though you are a scientist, you are our chief fish finder for this mission. In addition I am also pronouncing you our chef. Do please find your galley."
Sonak almost smiled at her former commanding officer, former first officer and present science officer. "I have the utmost confidence in your Mr Fox." She turned to Hedin. "Obviously you will be the ship's doctor, though I fear that you will have to resort to old-fashioned doctoring while we are on our mission here. If you need assistance, pull Fox into your service, as well as L'Ola. If absolutely necessary I shall assist you myself. Mr Brandy, you are in charge of the safety of this crew. You are to see to it that the ship is fitted with the proper safety measures and learn how to use them. You are not authorised to use Starfleet means of operation, understood?"
Finally, she turned to the counselor. "Ms Mira, you have the most important task of us all," she said softly, "you are charged with the task of keeping morale up. I have no doubt we shall be at sea for weeks or even months. With a small group like this, and we are certainly going to run into problems, and even misfortune, morale can drop almost instantly. It is your job to see to it that this does not happen."
She looked at her group of officers. "L'Ola, you are to make certain that I do not make any grave mistakes. We are to pretend to be travelers, and we are bound to make mistakes. Your job is to keep me straight, and I shall do the same for you. Any questions? Very well, as of now we are crab fishermen and women."
<resp?>
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2006 3:00:28 GMT
Harnad and Draid returned to their ship, the Draisel. Upon arrival, he noticed Galor, his navigator, standing over two men as they lifted on what looked like a new Helm. It was metal, he also noticed.
"Galor," Harnad said, climbing up on deck. "Is that a new Helm?"
"Not exactly. I had the old one improved. The sea salt was wearing away at the wood, especially around the pivot, and was threatening to give me trouble turning the Helm properly. I have a friend that's a metal-worker over in Tulai, and he gave me a discount on overlaying the entire thing in metal," the Helmsman explained.
"Glad to hear it. I was getting worried about that," Harnad said, and then noticed Donar approaching the Draisel. "Hello again, Donar."
Donar climbed up on deck as well. "I was thinking. Those 500 draseks you dropped, you may want to still loan to them. Sonak-Reckus is right, there are significant repairs to be done."
"I'll add that back in there then," Harnad noticed. He looked over in their direction, barely able to see them from here with his telescope. "An odd group. Sonak-Reckus, for example. Two names? I've never seen that before. And her behavior was peculiar, as if she was uncertain as to what to do. There are differing customs among the provinces, but some are basic Jonian traditions. And some among her group are very pale."
"And I noticed she said 'I have no knowledge of estimating value'," Donar pointed out. "Surely anyone could at least give a general estimate of the price of the ship, at least whether its in the hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of draseks."
"You'll be teaching them how to crabfish, Donar," Harnad noted, "Keep an eye on them, and let me know if you discover anything."
Donar simply nodded.
(OOC: I chose to name the species Jonian, since we didn't have a name yet. Draisel is the name of Harnad's ship)
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2006 19:59:06 GMT
L'Ola sat writing at the side of the boat. She was making notes on everything they had learnt so far. This was an unusual place, so it would only seem natural for them to seem unusual too.
And they did seem unusual. Despite pale skins being darkened and research being done, she knew the locals were already suspicious.
Which is what made it all the more important for them to keep their stories straight, and to find out as much as possible. There were certain things that differed from Province to Province, but find a global norm to mess up and their cover would be blown.
She was especially careful to make notes on their deals so far. They were already quite far in debt and had to be sure it would be paid off.
But for now they just had to get to work, hoping the briefings were good enough.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 3, 2006 21:50:05 GMT
Hedin stretched his tired arms, and sniffed the invigorating sea air. It had been a busy afternoon loading various foodstuffs, fishing equipment, assorted tools and instruments onto the sailing vessel, but the physical work was a welcome change from the usual utilitarian, desk-bound environment of starships and starbases in which he had been confined lately. It reminded him a little of his days spent delivering supplies to colonies along the Tholian frontier, where life had been considerably rougher and more self-sufficient, and the memory was mixed with at least as much fondness as it was with hardship. He had become less enchanted with the marvels of modern technology and some of its effects over the course of his long career, and though he certainly recognized and appreciated its benefits, sometimes you just had to switch it all off. It gave you a chance to savor the simple pleasures of a sunlit skyline on the horizon of a swirling azure seascape. At times, not even all the shimmering stars in the Pleaides Cluster could compare with such a sight. It was all a matter of perspective, he supposed. When shimmering stars and glowing nebulae were the norm, a bright seaside afternoon could seem infinitely exotic.
He had been getting along famously with the hired hands of the ship, despite some incidental language barriers. Hedin could read their expressions and body talk well enough to cope. Additionally, his dark skin seemed to be an advantage in status, since such a complexion seemed to be the majority racial makeup among these people. He had seen indications that those with lighter skin were regarded with some disdain, but so far, the focus on the voyage ahead and the potential wages to be earned had stifled any bigoted infighting. Whether that state of affairs would continue as the voyage unfolded remained to be seen, but Hedin promised himelf that he would act in character so far as possible. He just hoped it didn't mean that he would be expected to play the part (however unfairly) of oppressor, or even target (however fairly) of the oppressed. It could be a tricky business playing along, to be sure, but he was obligated to follow the commodore's lead, as well as the dicatates of his own conscience. He would just have to do his best to make sure the two dovetalied.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2006 3:24:16 GMT
Needing to have the contract arranged for, Harnad bade goodbye to his fishing colleagues and headed away from the Docks, toward the other part of his life.
At the top of the hill that the village was set on lay a complex of larger, ornate buildings. Harnad approached a gate, and two uniformed guards recognized him, and opened the gate for him to pass. As he went through, both bowed. "Envoy," was their acknowledging greeting.
He entered a stone plaza, which was surrounded by a U-shaped complex of three buildings. On the left was the grey-colored Judicial Building, housing the Magistrate's office. On the right was the near-black Police Office, home to the Village's law enforcement body. In the center was the largest of the three buildings, the white-stoned Administration building, housing among other things the Envoy's office. He entered it.
Heading up a few flights of stairs, he entered his office. "Good afternoon, Envoy," said his secretary. "Was the catch good today?" she asked.
"Good afternoon, Rashel," he responded. "Yes, it was very good."
"The Green Keepers would like to speak with you about building a park near the Government Complex. They say it will improve the animal life of the village," she said, holding up the request.
He took it from her. "Very well, I'll look it over and get back to them. Right now, I have to speak to the Magistrate about drawing a business contract."
"Did you offer yet another loan to someone?" she asked, looking up from her work.
"I did. A group of newcomers, lost everything they said, wanted to buy a ship. Donar sold them his, and I'm loaning them the draseks," he explained, as he reached inside a closet and pulled out his Envoy's robes. It was a dark blue overcoat, with 5 thick gold lines on the lapels.
"Is Donar retiring then? I heard he was thinking about it," she said, sounding a bit surprised.
"He finally did it. Now, I must go see Fashir," he said, and left his office. Heading over to the Judicial Building, he entered the Magistrate's office.
"Good day, Harnad," Fashir said, standing up from his desk. "What can I do for you?"
"I need a loan contract written up. 5000 draseks, 1% interest per day, all profits to me until paid. Recipient's name is Sonak-Reckus," he said, giving all right out.
"That's an unusual name," Fashir noted. "Another newcomer?"
"Indeed. I need it by evening meal. Could you meet me with the contract are Donar's old ship? He just sold it."
Fashir nodded. "Certainly. I will see you at sundown."
They clasped hands, and Harnad returned to his office to look into the Green Keeper's request.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 4, 2006 14:21:35 GMT
ooc: JP Sonak/Reman, warning long post including a littel backposting
ic:
Jared had been sceptical of this idea to use a local ship for purposes of fitting in. Part of his distrust was simply that he was no longer on a starship. He had spent his entire life on one and as such was uneasy on planet surfaces. As it is, he currently was an unusual colour. His normally pale skin was much deeper in colour. Since he was so unused to the sunlight, he had gone for melanin injections to darken his skin to make sure he didn't just burn to a crisp or end up with who knows what skin problems. He also wore smoked glasses to deal with the much brighter sunlight. Living on a starship for so long had given him above average night vision, but lower than average light tolerance. Usually he wore his own dark glasses, but they would have appeared somewhat out of place here, so he made do with a more local looking pair.
Jared wondered what had happened to this planet that had caused such a technological regression. True, regressions weren't unheard of, but generally the greater the regression, the greater the strife that caused it. If the people were unaware of the technology then it would likely have been worse than if they just decided against use of it but still knew roughly what it was. Another possibility based on the non-electrical nature of their society was that somehow the source of energy simply ran out before they were able to develop another one. Either way, it would be worth finding out.
As it was, the people were apparently speaking French and using French terminology here, if not the names. Quite possibly, other areas had other languages or dialects since in an environment like this it would be impossible to keep any level of linguistical control all over the planet. Jared wondered if 'Harnad' was a corruption of 'Arnold' or possibly 'Harold'. 'Donar' could be 'Donner' or even 'Donna'; it wasn't unheard of for names to change gender either. There were enough women around now called Gabrielle and Jean, even though the names were originally the male 'Gabriel' and 'Jean'.
To Jared's mind, Sonak had been too quick to accept the obviously extortionate loan. Something about Harnad seemed off place to Jared; he had seen Harnad's sort in docks all across the galaxy. People who preyed on unwary travellers to make some sort of profit. Possibly Sonak had been Starfleet for too long. Generally such people didn't cross Starfleet so the Federation envoys had a more picturesque view of places than a lot of natives and traders had. Either way, she had made the deal now and Jared hoped he could find a way to not be on the ship as soon as possible. Spending all day in such conditions wasn't going to do him any good given his usual environment.
'Reman, assist Nick and make sure that our means of navigation are properly functioning. If you need assistance, seek help among the locals.' Sonak called, before going aboard the ship to have a quick look at it. When she came back on shore, she saw her COO still standing there with Nick. "Opinion?" she querried them both.
'Yes, er.. Sonak-Reckus' Jared replied. Since these people seemed only to have one name, it made sense to use all of Sonak's name. Either so they might mistake it for one long name or at a pinch claiming 'Sonak' is a title. 'Opinion?' she asked them about the ship. Jared could already see multiple ways to die from inexperience on such a vessel. Yes, it was nice to look at, but so are tigers 'If the hull doesn't leak, the masts are secure, the winds aren't too heavy and the sea is calm, we probably stand an even chance of surviving the first trip. Just make sure you don't fall overboard I suppose. Is it armed?'
"I do not know," Sonak replied in all honesty, "unless there are canons below the deck." She pointed at the small hatches at the side of the vessel. "I would assume those are for canons, but as this is a fishing vessel, I doubt we are overly armed." She watched as she saw the rest of her crew load food stufs and other items they would use, though she preferred not to know how exactly they had acquired them. "Are you ready to set sail? We need to make a small trip to see how seaworthy she is."
'So long as we stay within sight of the land it should be alright. Nothing was said of maps being sold with the ship and I doubt the old owner would have kept charts of the night sky. Without those, navigating would be impossible come night time. If you do want to go out for longer, I recommend I stay behind and maintain a bonfire as a beacon' In all truth, Jared just didn't want to go on the ship for any more time than necessary.
Sonak could sense that her COO wasn't too comfortable with being on the water for long periods. "Reman, can you swim?" she suddenly asked, as they walked back aboard the ship, and after she had called for the sails to be raised and the anchor to be lifted. Everyone else, including Nick, had already gone aboar before the two of them.
'I can swim' Jared explained 'but I've only done it in small pools; I've never been on a large body of water before. This mission will be the longest I've ever been off a starship and in all honesty, I'm not comfortable planetside on land, let alone on water.'
"Then it would perhaps indeed be best if you remained behind when we are to go out to the sea for longer periods," Sonak said, "You should remain aft, perhaps take the wheel if you like." She motioned up the long rope ladders that led up to the cross beams that held the sails and the crow's nest. "I am going up there and have a look around." she continued and started climbing. "Yell up when you are to come about," she called down.
Jared climbed to the poop deck and took the wheel. Logically, steering was a matter of sails and rudder, so with the wind coming from port and the rudder set to right, Jared called for jib to be set full and the topsails on half. It was done and the ship began to move slowly forwards and swing around towards open sea. The top sails, staysails and course sails were set and the ship moved speedily into the blue.
Sonak held on tightly as she felt the ship sway on the wind, but was determined to reach the crow's nest. Once she reached it, she had a majestic view of their surrounding and she could see quite far. On the land side she could see villages, and green stretches with what she assumed would be cattle grazing. On the sea side she could see nothing but the blue ocean. With a smile on her face, she started her descent again.
At that point, Jared shouted the necessary orders for the sheet sails to be furled and the jib and mainsail to be set. He turned the rudder to right and the ship swung around to face the land. Up above, he could see Sonak climbing down the right side of the rigging; she had held on well for the turn. However, the ship was facing the wind wrongly, so Jared turned it left to lee into the wind.
When feeling the ship turn sharply, Sonak almost lost her grip on the slippery ropes. The rough ropes were cutting into her hands, shafing off the skin and the salt embedded in them stung. She held on for dear life as the Batavia finished her turn, and when she felt the rhythmic sway of the ship once more, she continued to climb down. Yet suddenly the ship keeled over somewhat just at the point when she was unbalanced and she completely lost her grip. She was airborne all of a sudden and with a cry she plunged into the cold water. She was fortunate to be an excellent swimmer, but even she could not climb back aboard without assistance, and she doubted anyone heard her cry over the wind.
She kicked her feet to remain afloat, all the while musing on the fact that they had to be back in port by sundown, for Harnad would be waiting for her with the loan contract. If they would not be back, it might be considered theft of property even when Donar was aboard the Batavia.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2006 0:49:59 GMT
(sorry for delay)
Nick surveyed the wooden vessel. Silently inside he wished he'd payed more attention to the academy history on ancient earth naval vessels.
"Avast ye scallywags," he yelled from the bow. A couple of the crew members looked at him odd, smiles crossed their faces. He caught a glimps of L'Ola shaking her head. She continued writing in her journal. He looked out over the vast ocean before them reveling in the moment.
~this is what it must have been like~ he thought to himself. He took a deep breath of sea air and coughed, not at all what he was used to on a starship.
"Man overboard!!" came a yell from the stern. A couple deck hands rushed to the side to assist the fallen.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 6, 2006 2:57:09 GMT
Harnad returned to his office, to find 5 members from Green Keepers waiting for him. All of them turned to him and bowed upon his entrance. "Envoy," their leader, Talale, said in greeting in Jonian.
"Good day," Harnad replied in the same language, sitting at his desk. He was glad to be free of speaking the Lower Tongue that Sonak-Reckus and her associates were speaking. "I hear you want to establish a park next to the Complex," as the group of government buildings was refered to."
"Yes Envoy," Talale replied. "On the other side of the Judicial Building." He stepped up to the desk, and unrolled the planned layout for it. "50 kendricks on each side, with trees and shrubbery interspersed throughout. It will help improve the ecosystem, and the recreational so close to the Complex will put Village government in a better public light, next to such a pleasant area."
"Magistrate Fashir would be delighted to have such a space," Harnad noted. "He has a garden at home I believe. What would this cost the Village?"
Talale smiled. "Nothing. We plan to fund and build it ourselves. We just need approval to use the space."
"Excellent!" Harnad said, glad this didn't come with any price tag at all. "Permission granted."
All five smiled broadly, with one looking like she wanted to hug Harnad. Fortunately, she managed to contain herself. "Thank you, Envoy!" Talale said, most grateful, and clasped up Harnad's hand. The mood calmed a bit, and Talale spoke again. "Envoy, we noticed some newcomers down by the docks earlier today. Do you know anything of that?"
"Actually I do. Apparently they're from a distant province. I'm helping them purchase a boat," he said, looking out of his window that faced the docks. "But I'm not quite sure about them," he said, turning back. "They're unusually pale for a Jonian, and seem a bit out of place."
"Well, we shall have to see what they turn out to be like," Talale remarked. "Well, good day Envoy. We have much work to do."
"Good day," Harnad replied as they bowed.
Talale and his companions left the office. As they descended the stairs, Gerale spoke. "I'm not sure I like the sound of these newcomers," he said. "Pale skin usually means they spend too much time indoors. And people that spend too much time indoors don't usually care much about the environment. They might be a threat."
"Not necessarily," Talale noted, "but something to take into consideration. We'll have to keep an eye on them."
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Donar was below-deck on the ship, looking over the stores. There were a few things missing that they needed, but that could be fixed by a trip to the market once they were back in dock.
He heard a loud splash, and a "Man overboard!!". He left the storeroom, and came out on deck. He noticed a small group gathering by the stern, and he went over.
"Sonak-Reckus!" he called, noting that it was their leader treading water. He went over to a box, and pulled out a hook and rope-ladder. Moving the deck hands away from the railing, he attached the hooks to it, and unrolled the ladder down into the ladder.
"Grab hold!" he called down to her.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2006 22:23:58 GMT
Sonak didn't know how long she'd been in the water, all she recalled was that it was freezing cold. The water was still stinging in the scrapes on her hands, and both her feet and hands were now so cold she no longer felt them. She had kicked off her shoes and had started swimming after the rapidly disappearing vessel. She saw the ship come about again partways, and something was thrown over the side just as she was getting too tired to swim any further.
She grabbed hold of the ladder, and struggled her way back aboard. She gladly accepted the assistance of the many men that held out their hands towards her. She stood barefoot and shivering on the prow deck as water dripped from her soaked cloathing. When someone threw a large blanket over her shoulders, it was the first time she openly smiled. "Thank you," she managed, teeth shattering from the cold, "I will be fine."
Sonak pulled the blanket close around her and found her way, though assisted at times by the hired hands, to the aft deck, where Reman was still controlling the helm. "Reman!" Sonak called at him, "next time someone is up there, and you wish to have the ship lee into the wind, do please give them a head warning? The water in these oceans is near four degrees Celsius." ~certainly too cold for a Vulcan~ she added in thought.
The sun was shining hotly above them though, thus it was really surprising the water didn't warm up under it's glare. Sonak glanced up at the sky, and then found Donar gazing at her. "Master Donar," Sonak called, walking back up to him, "thank you for your assistance. Any longer and I would most likely have drowned from fatigue and hypothermia. Could I ask you a question about these waters?" She glanced at the former owner of the boat, and smiled slightly at his nod. "The water is freezing cold, yet the sun is a hot glare; how is it possible that it does not warm the waters?"
<Donar>
"Please excuse me, I have hurt my hands when I climbed up to the crow's nest, and have suffered hypothermia when I fell in. I must see the doctor now, before I fall ill. And believe me, this is one adventure I do not plan to miss because of illness." She bowed towards Donar, then went to search for Hedin. "Doctor, I assumed you would wish to see me, after my little adventure," she claimed, as she walked below deck where the doctor was holding office.
<Hedin>
Several minutes later, Sonak had found herself a seat on the prow deck, where she sat in the sun to allow her clothing to dry. She felt the sun on her face, and knew she was already experiencing the start of a sunburn, that would grow more severe over the hours to come. ~not the first time that is happening~ she thought grimly, but couldn't be bothered to get up and do something about it. Her clothing was just starting to dry up, and she wanted to be dry before moving about once more, lest she fall ill.
<resp?>
When she opened her eyes next, she heard the triumphant cheering of her crew. Slowly, she struggled back to her feet, finding her robes all stiff with dried salt and feeling like sandpaper on her skin. When she got to her feet, she experienced extreme dizziness and found she had a massive headache. ~sunstroke~ she realized, as she accepted the assistance of the counselor, who apparently had taken up a spot beside her.
"First catch in counselor?" she asked the young woman. Sonak smiled as she saw the nets and cages on the deck, all filled with fish and what appeared to be crab. "Fox!" she called over the cheering, "get a few of those crabs and fish, and make us some soup of it. Reman, let L'Ola take the helm for a while and assist Fox!"
She turned and smiled at her first officer. "Take us back to port," she ordered, "it will be a few hours still before sundow, and I would like to get back before that. I seem to have a dinner date with Harnad." Then she caught Donar's face. "Not a bad catch for the first attempt I take it?" she asked.
<everyone!>
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2006 13:48:17 GMT
She had to admit it, this was the most boring mission they'd had to go on in a long time. When she'd first heard that they were investigating a human colony, L'Ola had actually been looking forward to it. She'd pictured them all walking round towns trying to blend in. Maybe meeting up occasionally to report back on findings.
But this was a whole different story. There must be some logic in the method of trusting dodgy locals. L'Ola couldn't see it yet. If these men were prepared to lend strangers what was clearly a lot of money then they surely must be up to something.
If the situation exploded, and the First Officer actually found herself wishing it would, things would be different. Until then they would just have to make the most of it. And she had an idea for just such an emergency.
Ripping a few pages from the back of her notebook, L'Ola started scribbling down tasks, with strict instructions for them to be kept secret. As they were due to go back to shore that night, she would hand them out the following morning as they left.
Sonak called her over to take the helm. As L'Ola stood guessing which way she was supposed to be steering, she got bored again. How did this society survive without personal music players?
<OOC: Secret missions are gonna turn up via PM at some point today> <Update: Okay so they haven't been sent yet. They will be sent today, honest!>
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jared
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Post by jared on Jan 8, 2006 19:19:44 GMT
Jared had seen Sonak make it back onto the ship. He wondered how she hadn't managed to hang on. He had after all called for the sails to be set for moving into the wind and a ship has to lee. He wondered if anyone actually knew that much about sailing at all. Thankfully, he would be on the shore when then ship sank...
At Sonak's orders, Jared went down to the galley to assist Fox with the soup. Jared had little idea how one actually made crab soup since Jared only made soup from vegetables. He assumed it was a case of simply making a vegetable soup and adding parts of the crab meat to it. 'Bonjour, monsieur le chef' Jared greeted the science officer as he entered with a basketful of crabs. 'Sonak wants us to make crab soup, do you know how?' <Fox>
Eventually, the two of them managed to make something that looked like soup and tasted edible enough. Jared realised he didn't know if Sonak was vegetarian like Vulcans usually were or not. As he took her bowl to her, he quietly said 'if you don't want to eat the crab then that's the white chunks. The rest is vegetable.' <Sonak>
As Jared was taking the meal to the on duty people, Fox rang the mess bell to let those off duty know to take their positions for dinner.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2006 2:54:12 GMT
"Master Donar," Sonak called, walking back up to him, "thank you for your assistance. Any longer and I would most likely have drowned from fatigue and hypothermia. Could I ask you a question about these waters?" She glanced at the former owner of the boat, and smiled slightly at his nod. "The water is freezing cold, yet the sun is a hot glare; how is it possible that it does not warm the waters?"
Donar was surprised. Hypothermia, so quickly? She seemed to be far colder and worse affected than a Jonian should be by such a short drop in the water. True, she was female and might be from somewhere unusually far inland, but still, being able to survive in such conditions was inherent to being Jonian. He began to doubt her somewhat...
"Most areas of the ocean of generally warmer, yes, but here we are on the edge of a Polar current. Sea ice cools the water, and the Sun cannot heat such rapidly cooling waters. We'd be pulled along by them, but your pilot stopped us just outside its influence. He is well-skilled I can see, and knows this area," he complimented.
"Please excuse me, I have hurt my hands when I climbed up to the crow's nest, and have suffered hypothermia when I fell in. I must see the doctor now, before I fall ill. And believe me, this is one adventure I do not plan to miss because of illness." She bowed towards Donar, and went in search of one of the deckhands.
A few minutes later, she was back, and looked over at Donar, and indicated the first catch. "Not a bad catch for the first attempt I take it?" she asked.
"Not bad," he said, nodding and surveying it. "But we will have to do far better if you wish to pay off Harnad before the interest is making you pay double or more over the original loan."
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Post by Deleted on Jan 9, 2006 9:51:09 GMT
"Naturally," Sonak agreed, "but for a first attempt, with a crew that has never fished before, this is not bad. And with your expert guidance we will no doubt become one of the best fishing crews in this region." She gently patted Donar on the arm. "We are very grateful for your guidance," she added, "now, I believe lunch is ready. In this hot weather we need all the replenishment we can get."
In truth the heat itself didn't bother her that much, coming from a desert bred species, but the sun itself did bother her as she was raised in a part of Earth that didn't quite have sunlight this strong. She accepted a bowl of soup from Reman and he assured her that if she didn't want the crab she could just leave them aside.
"I eat fish," Sonak answered him, "I do not eat regular meat, but I do eat seafood. In fact, I am quite fond of seafood." She sipped the soup, after blowing away some of the steam coming from it. "This tastes quite good," she commented, then turned to L'Ola. "L'Ola I have seen you jot down notes on a notebook. What is our revenue at this point, and what are our debts and to whom should they be paid?"
She looked around the table, at Brandy. "John, how are the ship's defenses coming along?" Next she looked at the counselor. "Opinion on morale Mira?" She called the counselor by her last name, because she didn't know how she would feel about being called by her first name. Sonak knew how Bajorans felt about being on a first-name basis with people that were not close friends. And to Sonak, Mira sounded just as a first name as Syal would, and the Jonians wouldn't be able to tell the difference at any rate.
<Brandy/Mira/L'Ola>
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jared
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Post by jared on Jan 9, 2006 13:28:25 GMT
Some time after dinner, but before they were back to the shore, Jared was over the side on a sling made out of ropes with some paint. Soon enough, someone noticed he was up to something. Mira poked her head out over the side. 'What are you doing down there?' she asked 'Painting' 'Why are you painting the ship? It already is painted' 'I'm giving it eyes' This apparently innocent task didn't seem to stop Mira from asking 'Why does it need them?' 'Because it's lucky. It stops them crashing because they can see in front of them. Like the ships of the Phaeacians.' Mira left it at that and her head disappeared back over the side. Jared was aware that the eyes would look somewhat out of place in the village, but he was also aware that they had the hardest part of the journey to come; making dock without crashing. Whilst Jared would rather the ship sank closer to the shore than further away, he could guess the damage large splinters and falling masts could do to a person. As it was, Jared couldn't see why he was needed on this mission anyway. Currently he knew he was the only one who suspected there was any digging of the past needing to be done, so why would Sonak have wanted him there in the first place? Considering that on their first day there Sonak had managed already to fall overboard, things weren't looking too good. Come to think of it, why didn't she know about the whole moving into the wind thing? Even Jared knew that and he hadn't even been on a ship like this before. That is why bishops move like they do in chess; they were originally boats who needed to move diagonally to move into the wind.
When the eyes were finished, Jared went up to Kanz outside of Sonak's earshot. 'Is this mission a good idea?' he asked 'We don't exactly fit in, we're clearly not used to the sea when everyone else is here and since when does a stranger in a port loan you that sort of money? Something very wrong is going on with this planet and the people here. Donar must have seen something suspicious by now'
<Kanz>
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fox
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Post by fox on Jan 9, 2006 14:35:44 GMT
'Bonjour, monsieur le chef' Jared greeted the science officer as he entered with a basketful of crabs. 'Sonak wants us to make crab soup, do you know how?' <Fox> Eventually, the two of them managed to make something that looked like soup and tasted edible enough. Fox smiled as Jared walked in talking to him in french. "Please," he said with a grin on his face "i may be appointed as chef, but don't expect very exquisite meals from me." Taking the basket from Jared looking at the crabs in it. "hmmm. fresh crabs, that would make a nice soup." Fox put a cauldron with water on the fire. "The water must boil before we add anything, we'll make the crab ready in the mean time." he took a knife grabbed a crab from the basket and started to clean it. "Maybe you can slice the vegetables?" he said. Jared grabbed another knife and started to cut the vegetables in small pieces. When the water started to boil Fox said. "Now we add the vegetables." Shoving the carrot pieces and the other cut vegetables in the boiling water. "Now it should boil about 30 minutes." he mentioned as he continued with the crabs. Once in a while stirring the soup. After 30 minutes he added some seasoning, stirred it through the soup and took a spoon to taste it. "A little more." he said adding a bit more of salt and pepper and tasted again after stirring, then nodded. "This is good." He said "Now we add the crab." he took a bowl and slowly slided the small crab pieces in the cauldron. "Now we wait, it should be on about 15 minutes." he said to Jared After this short time both men tasted the soup. "Quite tasty don't you think?" he asked Jared, who nodded. They took the cauldron to a room that was used as mess hall and started to poor the soup in bowls.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2006 20:07:06 GMT
Down in the musty cabin that served as their sickbay, Hedin was busy organizing the various crates, sacks, and bottles all of which contained assorted chemicals, powders, salves, resotatives, and a number of rudimentary surgical and diagnostic tools which were apparently the latest in medical technology that this world had to offer. To most other Starfleet surgeons, their reduced circumstances might have presented a considerable challenge, but Hedin's wide familiarity with ancient treatments, folk remedies, and other alternative techniques made him somewhat more comfortable with using these limited resources. After he had inventoried and verified the usefullness of each item, he discovered that they were all much more conventional than he would have expected; evidently, these people's medical knowledge was advancing slightly ahead of their development stage as measured on the Richter scale of culture. It made his job that much easier, but it also raised faint alarms in his subconscious that kept him wondering if something unusual indeed hadn't been influencing this planet and its inhabitants. There was little evidence of that yet, but Starfleet had been most correct in its desire to investigate this world.
"Doctor, I assumed you would wish to see me, after my little adventure," Commodre Sonak claimed, as she walked below deck where the doctor was holding office. She looked cold, wet, and bedraggled as a deckhand helped her in, and the doctor immediately commenced drying her off with a large piece of linen fabric, the closest thing to a towel they had. "If you'll remove your wet clothes, you'll be able to dry more thoroughly. If you're uncomfortable with my being present, feel free to go behind the screen." He pointed to a trifold wooden partition in the corner. "Just be sure to dry off everywhere. When you're ready, I'll have a hot broth made up, as well as something for your hands."
Soon, Sonak was in dry clothing, sipping the broth (which tasted vaguely of clams) that the Hedin was administering since her hands were wrapped in cloth bandages to contain the salve which had been applied to them. She was beginning to feel halfway normal again, though she still felt somewhat uncomfortable being fussed over. The doctor finally released her, with a warning not to mess with the bandages for at least another six hours, and she went out onto the prow deck to rest. Her eyes gradually became heavy, and with the deck swaying rhythmically beneath her feet, she drifted off into oblivion.
When she opened her eyes next, she heard the triumphant cheering of her crew. Slowly, she struggled back to her feet, finding her robes all stiff with dried salt and feeling like sandpaper on her skin. When she got to her feet, she experienced extreme dizziness and found she had a massive headache. ~sunstroke~ she realized, as she accepted the assistance of the counselor, who apparently had taken up a spot beside her. The Bajoran woman offered a small bowl filled with an evil-smelling whitish-colored concoction. "From Doctor Hedin. He said he whipped it up using a combination of ingredients, including some of those weird looking horn-shaped vegetables from the galley. It's a sunscreen lotion, but so far, all it seems to be doing is making us all smell worse than that fish stew the hired hands all seem to eat." They both laughed.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2006 20:08:05 GMT
Sonak glanced at the bowl with the foul smelling concoction and found herself wondering if her CMO had gone mad. Yet she also knew that it probably wouldn't hurt to try it and she dipped a finger into the paste, and gently dabbed it onto her face. She wrinkled her nose, then set the bowl aside. She noticed her first officer was still scribbling in her little notebook, and found herself also suspiscious of the young woman.
~I am going mad~ she thought ~I am seeing things that are not there~
Slowly, she rose to her feet, and found that they were approaching the docks and John Brandy, who had relieved L'Ola Kanz, was neatly stearing the Batavia towards her spot, where they had departed hours earlier. Looking back onto the deck, she saw that the hired hands had neatly packed today's catch in wooden crates, ready to be unloaded once the ship was secured.
Two of the strongest men on the crew took up the walking ramp and lowered it towards the shore and Sonak was the first to walk down. When she set foot on shore, she found herself unsteady on her feet and she scowled unnoticably. Yet she was glad to have steady ground under her feet again.
Behind her, the crew started unloading the crates, while Sonak herself walked up towards Harnad, who was waiting for them on the docks. The Vulcan peered towards the horizon and squinted against the setting sun. ~he has perfect timing~ she thought, and made a mental note to remember this tiny detail. "Greetings Master Harnad," she said, then motioned towards the crates, "Master Donar has done a fine job teaching us how to fish. While this is not a large catch, I am quite satisfied with what my crew accomplished today. I am certain we will do much better in the near future."
She stopped walking when she had reached his location. "I assume you have our contract ready for signing?" she then asked carefully, hoping to hide her eagerness.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2006 1:22:32 GMT
"What I wouldn't give for a malfunctioning plasma injector right about now," Nick muttered to himself. Patching boards and making sure masts was quite tiring, even for the in shape engineer. He was pretty sure sea life was never the intended fate of a Tandaran.
These humans seemed slightly peculiar to him. Earlier that day when the ship had listed heavily to one side one of the masts swung around, at great speed, towards one of the hired crew members. The man saw it coming and raised a hand to stop it. Stop it he did and immediatly seeing that Nick was watching let go and allowed it to fly free again as of nothing happened. Ever since he watched for any other odd behaviors.
"Brace for docking," came the call from the navigator. The ship slightly shook as the ship bumped into the dock. The crew began hauling their catch off and made land fall. Nick took a moment to look over the exterior of the hull, at least the side he could access from the dock. He heard a soft chirp come from his jacket. To anyone else it would have sounded like a sparrow or small bird. Quickly he stepped out of sight behind some crates.
"Martens here," he said softly, "report."
"Ship status at optimal. Had some problems with the transporters. Looked like some putz at Bellicose hooked up a relay wrong."
~I bet it wasn't Bellicose~ he speculated suspiciously.
"Go figure. What else is there Harvey? You shouldn't call me to report ship status. Kanz is the one you should call."
"I know sir, but this matter has to do with you."
"Oh?" he knew what was coming. It was now completely obvious.
"She's gone sir. He security detail has no clue where she's gone. She was with them one second, gone another. They've checked the ship and had no signs."
"Noted. Well she can't have gone far. There isn't any way she can leave. I'll inform Sonak. Martens out."
He stepped out from behind the crate and crossed his chest. A crewman noticed him and raised an eyebrow.
"Just praying a blessing over the ship." The man nodded and went back to his work.
The ships engineer walked towards the Commodore and Harnad. She was signing their contracts. The shipmaster smiled as she placed the papers in his hand and shook firmly.
"Pleasure doing business with you," he said with a hint of an accent. He walked off towards his offices. Sonak turned to Nick, she sensed his tension.
"What is it?" she asked intently. Nick looked around to make sure no one was listening.
"She's gone, vanished. Harvey just called me. He said her security detail can't find her."
Sonak looked concerned. "At least she can't go far. Keep your eyes open and mind sharp."
~~~
(tag: Kate)
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2006 18:26:41 GMT
(OOC: Good post Nick, but I intended the signing a bit differently)
Harnad lifted his telescope as the ship pulled in. There was a modest sized catch sitting on deck. Not a very large one, but decent given that it was their first day. The ship docked, and Sonak-Reckus approached him.
"I assume you have our contract ready for signing?" she asked as she reached him.
"Almost, the Magistrate will be here shortly with it," he said, turning to see if he was on the way. "Ah, here he is now."
Fashir walked up to the Dock wearing his green Magistrates robes, with 5 thick gold lines down the lapels. "Here is two copies of the contract, for you both to read over," he said, holding them out.
Sonak accepted her copy of the contract, marveling at the feel of real paper and quickly read the several sheets that contained the contract. Once she was done, she waited for Harnad to finish reading. "It is an acceptable contract," she stated.
"Agreed," Harnad said, after reading his own copy.
"Very good," Fashir said. "I understand we are to sign them over dinner?" he asked, looking to Sonak-Reckus.
"I was under the impression that we were going to," Sonak replied, "though I would not know any good eating facilities around here. Is there anywhere you would recommend? Unless you wish for us to sign right here." ~I am certain I can remember how to operate a pen or pencil~ she thought, smiling ever so slightly to herself.
"Here, preferably," Fashir requested. "I have a busy evening."
"Is that acceptable to you as well Master Harnad?" Sonak querried, looking at the other man, "I hope you did not free any time specifically for us to spend the evening together, but if you have nothing else planned, I would still like to proceed to dinner after signing the contracts."
"No, nothing this evening. This day of the week is always slow for the Envoy's Office. Shall we go aboard your ship?"
Sonak nodded. "Please follow me. I will have you know she is a fine ship, though I believe the ropes may need some working, they are very slippery." She led the two men aboard the Batavia, which was now rather quiet with everyone having departed from the boat. "Would you care for something to drink?" she asked, looking at both men.
"Please," Fashir said, looking over the catch. "Whatever you have."
"Likewise," Harnad said. "A decent catch for your first day," he noted. "Though you'll want to get started before dawn, and have your catch to market by mid-morning if you want to compete with the rest of us."
Sonak walked over to a cabinet in the cabin and pulled out three glasses. For the two men, she poured out what appeared to be rum, but for herself she poured out water. She hoped it wouldn't offend them, but she knew that she would become ill if she would drink the alcoholic beverage. "Thank you for the advice," she commented, as she set down the glasses before them, "I shall endeavour to sail out before dawn."
Both Harnad and Fashir drank from their glasses. "Well then," Fashir said putting it down, "shall we sign now?" he asked, putting the copies on a table in front of the other two, along with a pen.
Sonak picked up the pen, looked at it for a moment and then set the tip down on the paper. She had to think for a moment to remember how to put a signature on paper, but she didn't have to think so long that it would make the men suspicious of her. When she had set a neat signature, she turned the paper around towards Fashir, for him to check her signature.
Harnad signed his own copy, and turned it to Fashir as well. He looked at both, then said, "Very well, now each of you sign the other," he said, switching the two.
Again Sonak picked up her pen and placed another neat signature on the stack of paper. "Can I keep this?" she asked, indicating the pen, "I fear that I am at present without proper writing material as well."
Fashir raised an eyebrow for a moment, but then nodded and said, "Certainly. I fear I have too many anyway," he said, chuckling.
This time, Sonak actually smiled. "Thank you, that is very gracious of you."
"Very well then," he said, picking up the other pen. "If there is nothing else, I must return to my office," he said looking to both. Harnad shook his head.
"I will be certain to find you if there should be anything else," Sonak commented, "thank you for taking the time to write this up for me. Fair evening to you Magistrate Fashir."
"Oh, my secretary wrote them for me," he said. "Good evening," he said, then bowed and departed.
Sonak gazed at Harnad. "So, about that dinner, where do you propose we should go?"
"I am a simple man, Sonak-Reckus. Here would be fine, if you are prepared."
"There should be some soup left over," Sonak commented, and raised an eyebrow at his constant use of both her names, "and do please call me Sonak. It is what my friends call me, it is a shortened version of my name, and less of a mouthful to say."
Harnad nodded. "Very well. Lead the way," he said, waving toward the entrance to below-deck.
"Next time, I will prepare a more elaborate meal," Sonak said, "if I may say so, I am not a bad cook. This soup was prepared by Fox and Reman, and they have done a fine job on it." She poured him a bowl of the fish/crab soup that was simmering on a sort of stove. "It is made to celebrate our first catch."
Harnad nodded, then tasted them. "They did indeed do a fine job."
She smiled again. "I will pass along the compliment," she said, then stiffled a yawn. "I apollogize, this has been a long day, and my doctor ordered my to take it easy after I took an involuntary swim this afternoon."
"Understandable. As a scientist you might not have been used to the work that comes with the life of a fisherman."
Now she frowned at him. "How did you know I am a scientist?" she asked, "though since I was a child I have often sailed on small boats. My father took me out sailing on weekends."
Harnad raised both eyebrows. "You mentioned it to me when we first met."
"Oh." Sonak ran a hand through her hair. "Seems my little tumble must have addled my brains," she muttered.
After dinner, Harnad bowed. "Thank you for dinner, Sonak. Pleasure doing business with you."
"Likewise," Sonak agreed, "fair night Master Harnad."
"You too," he said, and headed back towards his office, just in case there was some business he needed to attend to.
(OOC: Well, this is it. Tomorrow's my last day home, so I'll be pretty busy getting ready to leave. It's been fun simming with this crew. I'll miss you all. Good luck)
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Post by Deleted on Jan 13, 2006 20:24:16 GMT
Sonak was starting to get really tired, as she hadn't had any sleep for several days. Before coming down to the planet, she'd been kept busy with her children who all had suddenly come down with one illness or the other. She stiffled another yawn as she set down at the heavy wooden desk and picked op one of the new volumes that seemed to be the old-fashioned form of a captain's log.
She didn't want to write in the older volumes that Donar had kept, wanting to keep them in their original state, so she opened up the new volume, and picked up the pen Harnad had let her keep.
Captain's log, stardate unknown, Commodore Sonak Reckus recording.
The minute she wrote it, she knew she had erred, but she had no means to correct her error and scratching out the written lines wouldn't do either. She shrugged, and picked up the pen again, too tired to even let the error sink in.
Myself and the senior staff have beamed down to the surface of Jovis, an M-class planet inhabited by what seems to be a lost human colony. Today we have signed a loan contract so we could purchase a boat. I am quite satisfied with the contract, though my crew seems to be doubting the wisdom of this action.
She paused again, and sipped from her glass of water, remembering how the crew had taken the news of the purchase of the boat.
We have made our first catch of crab and fish today, and Master Donar seems satisfied with our performance. Around midday, Commander Jared was seen painting eyes on the bow of the Batavia, and upon questioning by Counselor Mira, he explained that if a boat had eyes, she was less likely to sail into something. Personally, I do not believe in this superstition, but if the crew wishes to believe in this, then I am not likely to stop them.
I am not certain what has gotten into the crew though. Jared painting eyes, Commander Kanz constantly scribbling away in a little notebook.....she has yet to show me what she had been writing down. Tomorrow morning we are sailing out again before sunrise, as we have been advised that going out before this time of day may get us a better catch.
Doctor Hedin is also behaving strangely; earlier today he had given me what he claimed to be a sunlotion, but what turned out to be just some form of foul smelling concoction. I do, however, have to be careful. The water is freezing cold, and my constitution is not likely to be able to sustain being in cold water for very long. On top of that, the sun is very strong here, even stronger than on Vulcan, and I was apparently suffering from a sunstroke. I will need to remember to wear something on my head while being on deck, and I think it would be a wise decision to advise the crew to do the same.
This time not even bothering to stiffle a yawn, Sonak closed the volume and placed it in a drawer underneath the desk, also placing down the pen in it. Soon, the crew would come back aboard for their sleep time, and she wanted to be awake to welcome them back. She sauntered back onto the deck, and marveled at the sight of the stars while she sat down on deck.
Soon, she was no longer able to keep her eyes open, and gradually she nodded off into a dreamless sleep. However several hours later she woke abruptly, though she didn't know why. She squinted, trying to see into the complete darkness, but she knew it'd be a futile effort as she was still night blind. "Who goes there?" she called, "show yourself!"
She shivered, as temperature had dropped below zero degrees Celsius. A single cloud moved rapidly across the sky, briefly obscuring the bright moon from view. Yet the moonlight was not enough to aid her handicapped vision and she could only rely on her sharp hearing, which picked up running footsteps. Shrugging, she pulled the blanket closer around her shoulders, and started walking towards her cabin. She was starting to get extremely cold, as freezing temperatures was not what Vulcan physiology was built for.
The cabin held a single bed, and Sonak knew she would have to fix this to have it hold a bed for L'Ola as well. She wondered where her crew had gone off to, and whether they would actually return before sunrise. ~I do not even know how many hours until sunrise~ she thought grimly, as she stepped into the bed, still shivering. She pulled her legs up to keep herself warm, and closed her eyes once more. She wouldn't wake up again until one of her crew would come and wake her.
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mirasyal
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Registered: Oct 25, 2024 0:50:59 GMT
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Post by mirasyal on Jan 15, 2006 1:34:59 GMT
OOC: Ok, am back properly now, shouldn’t have any problems until reading week ;-)
IC:
Finally, Sonak turned to the counsellor. "Ms Mira, you have the most important task of us all," she said, "You are charged with the task of keeping morale up. I have no doubt we shall be at sea for weeks or even months. With a small group like this, and we are certainly going to run into problems, and even misfortune, morale can drop almost instantly. It is your job to see to it that this does not happen."
Syal nodded slightly, wondering how she was to manage such a task. Her training hadn’t prepared her for something like this!
“Of course, Commodore.” She locked eyes with Sonak and had the feeling that the other woman knew how incapable she felt, but Syal buried that feeling within her.
~*~
Sonak nodded and looked around the table, at Brandy. "John, how are the ship's defences coming along?" Syal listened in a half-interested manner at the conversation, not really understanding the technical side of the running the ship, but attempting to not look too bored.
Next she looked at the counsellor. "Opinion on morale Mira?" Deciding that it was best to leave the others in the dark about the true nature of their conditions, Syal smiled faintly at them, hoping that they would not see through her. “I don’t see that there’s anything to worry about really. I mean, it’s not exactly at its highest but we can work on it…”
Syal was admittedly rather bored. It had been a while since dinner and so was rather hungry. Deciding to ignore her supposed hunger, she wandered around. She began to think about the others and how they were coping with their mission. She had seen L’Ola writing an awful lot, but had not shared it with anyone. Not that this in itself was odd, as it may be a diary, but was it Syal, or was her writing getting more and more frequent? She also wondered about Jared. He was a little…odd…at the best of times, but he did not seem at all happy on the ship. She knew he’d had some trouble with his eyes, but this seemed rather extreme.
As she wandered around, she noticed something. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Jared was over the side on a sling made out of ropes with some paint.
Syal poked her head out over the side. “What are you doing down there?“ she asked, leaning over the side carefully. “Painting” he replied, as though it were the most natural thing in the world. “Why are you painting the ship? It already is painted” She looked at him, puzzled. ~Perhaps I need to talk with him properly…~ She mused. “I'm giving it eyes” She closed her own eyes for a moment in disbelief, carefully making a mental note to double check Jared’s profile when she got back. “Why does it need them?” “Because it's lucky. It stops them crashing because they can see in front of them. Like the ships of the Phaeacians.”
Syal opened her mouth as though about to reply, but then thought better of it. ~It would be best if SOMEONE remained sane around here…~
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Deleted
Registered: Oct 25, 2024 0:50:59 GMT
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2006 20:48:09 GMT
Kate slowly walked through the doors of the chapel. It'd taken her a few hours to hike to the small monestary in the woods. The large wooden doors creaked on their old hinges and closed with the same creak. The latch clunked into position and sent up a slight poof of dust. The fragrance of candles and incence filled her lungs. An old man puttered around at the front altar lighting candels and humming old hymns.
"You've come a long way child," the old priest said, not even looking to see who it was who entered.
"It's been a while Father," she said respectfully. He turned, smiled and walked over to give her a hug.
"It's good to see you again Kate. The Forerunners have been good to you. What brings you back here?" he asked motioning to one of the pews to sit.
"I'm here to do a little more research. The past of your people has always interested me," she slightly lied.
"Well what can I say. The forefathers we brought here by the great Mastelin. No one really knows much detail on what went on, just that we're here now and life is good. Traditions speak that he came from the sky and saved us from an unspeakable terror."
She sat and listened intently to his stories for a couple more hours. A second younger priest came from one the back rooms and whispered something into the old mans ear. He nodded and smiled at Kate.
"It's time I let you on your way for this day Ms. Kate," he got up gave her a hug, "God bless child." With that he was off. Kate stepped back outside into the night she took note of the look of the place. The chapel seemed to be surrounded by a large fence, and not just any fence. It was at least 15 feet tall with large spikes on top.
~odd for a monestary~ she thought to herself. Last time she was here she didn't pay much attention to the area. She would have to look into this much more.
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jared
Guest
Registered: Oct 25, 2024 0:50:59 GMT
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Post by jared on Jan 15, 2006 22:37:01 GMT
As soon as the ship had docked, Jared disembarked and left the dock. His interest was far from sailing. These people were just too human to be where they were now. It was a central tenet of human belief that one should try to better oneself somehow. For a long time in history this had meant simply gaining material wealth, but that was to be expected from a tribal species without any extra sensory empathy. As it was, there was no reason for these people to have chosen to revert to where they are now. Jared was aware more than most of how the past is romanticised and it's imagined that somehow the simpler life was the easier one. Yet these people would have lost their medical skill with everything else if they chose to wholly abandon their ships, technology and abilities. Jared was sure that something had caused the regression. Either a terrible war, alien intervention or possibly the people running out of their power source without being able to find another one. However Jared was going to find out, he knew that if either of the first two had happened then it was likely someone still knew something and would try to stop him. He had to disappear, but his life as a Venturer had trained him well for that.
Jared made his way to the tavern and waited patiently in the shadows until someone staggered out. It was Donar. 'Hello, Donar' Jared said 'Hello, Anglique' Donar slurred back 'What do you need?' 'Where are you from?' 'Here, where else?' 'I mean in a more spiritual sense' Jared explained 'You want to know that, ask a priest' 'Yes, but I don't know where one is' 'He lives over there' Donar explained, waving in a vagely correct direction 'Thank you, Master Donar' 'No problem, Master Remo'
Jared left the drunken salt and walked in the direction Donar had pointed. Soon enough he came to a house which looked likely since it had a large knocker on it. Jared put the knocker to good use. The door opened 'Can I help you, stranger?' the priest asked 'Have you found God?' Jared asked 'Of course I have, I'm a priest' the man answered, confused 'I mean literally. I am in the business of looking for valuable holy relics and I believe that somewhere around here there may be one' 'How do you know?' 'I spoke to Master Donar earlier today. He told me that this area is more populated and wealthy than any of the other local areas. More recently, he directed me here for any philosophical answers I needed' 'I think you should come in' the priest said
Soon enough, the two made their way out of the town with a hand cart full of supplies. The path took them past the city walls and into the forest. Donar had been too drunk to remember what he had told Jared and by the time the sun rose, they were long gone, their tracks intermingling with hundreds of others.
'What do we need first?' the priest asked 'Information. Do you know anyone knowledgable about history?'
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