MILLICENT: “Captain Forsythe, can we assume that we’ve all made the necessary threats?”
TUELLER: “I don’t say this threateningly, but if she dies, a whole lot of other people do as well.”
TUELLER: “Including me, I suppose.”
ALEJO: “Please take care of her.”
MILLICENT: “Oh well, I suppose some of us will feel inclined to spell it out.”
TUELLER: “That’s the gist, yes.”
MILLICENT: “Fine, then. The threats are handled.”
TUELLER: “Yeah, I’m good.”
MILLICENT: “And you knew my name, so you should know that we’re quite capable of following up on them.”
MILLICENT: “Now then.”
STORY: “My friends, as much as I understand your stress reaction, you must understand it’s rather ridiculous to threaten me here.”
TUELLER: “We know that, and yet.”
STORY: “Do you know how many crew we have onboard?”
ALEJO: “We’re still finding our rhythm again. Sorry for the confusing banter.”
MILLICENT: Millie smiles. “Our specialty.”
MILLICENT: She turns to her crew, “Guys, we have to tighten this up. We’re all throwing off each other’s quite threatening vibes.”
TUELLER: “I said it wasn’t a threat!”
STORY: “And that’s my courageous story,” Ryo smiles at the three of you. He reaches out for the bag of frozen protein paste Alejo has been holding up to his browbone. “Can I get you a warm up?”
STORY: You’re in the well-apportioned galley of the Augusta King, listening to Ryo’s explanation over coffees.
ALEJO: Alejo smiles warmly, hands the paste over, and nods gratefully.
TUELLER: “Courageous. Very.”
STORY: Ryo winks at you, Tueller.
TUELLER: Tueller looks back at him with slightly haunted eyes.
MILLICENT: Millie pushes her coffee forward and smiles at Ryo.
STORY: Ryo swaps the paste bag with another from the deep freeze, and passes it off to Alejo. “So, shall we find your ride?”
MILLICENT: “Thank you for all you’ve done.”
MILLICENT: “Find?”
STORY: “Well, we haven’t heard from her since setting off to pick you three up.”
MILLICENT: Millie’s smile fades.
ALEJO: “Got an idea where to start looking?”
TUELLER: “Less talk, more going there.”
STORY: “Sure, the beacon’s still active, we should be able to catch her in…” Ryo punches a wall console. “Esther, how long until we intercept?”
STORY: The intercom crackles an answer. “Eight days, give or take, sir.”
STORY: “Thank you, Esther,” Ryo turns to you. “So settle in, we’ve got a bit of a haul ahead.”
TUELLER: Tueller looks at Alejo, “Is he the captain now?”
TUELLER: As an aside.
TUELLER: Indicating Ryo.
STORY: “Is Alejo the captain of my ship? No?” Ryo looks at you strangely.
ALEJO: “His ship.” Alejo nods at Ryo.
TUELLER: “Of us.”
MILLICENT: “No.” She smiles at Ryo again.
STORY: “We’ve actually got a bit of an unusual arrangement here, as it happens. I’m the owner, but captaining… well, it’s not my speed. I’d like you to meet Circe Eldard.”
STORY: Ryo gestures to the door, where a lithe, black-haired human woman is stepping through.
ALEJO: Alejo turns his head, curiously, to look at the captain.
STORY: She nods curtly to the group. “Welcome aboard. Meals at 0600 and 1800, fend for yourself the rest of the day. Stay out of my crew’s way, if you please.”
TUELLER: “Well, she certainly seems captain-y” Tueller says, quietly but with a smile.
ALEJO: Alejo nods.
MILLICENT: Millie nods. “Captain.”
TUELLER: “Anywhere you’d like us to be?”
STORY: “Stay off the bridge and out of the engine room and you should do just fine, big man.”
TUELLER: “Tueller, if you like.” Tueller bows.
STORY: She reaches into the refrigeration unit and takes out something compact and brown, biting off a chunk.
TUELLER: Tueller goes over to check out the fridge.
TUELLER: Looking for whatever is most expensive.
MILLICENT: “Thank you for the ride, Captain Eldard.”
STORY: She leaves with a short wave.
TUELLER: Tueller grabs a snack and goes to sit down out of the way, deflated.
STORY: There’s a lot of delicious food in this fridge, Tueller. Ryo has expensive taste.
TUELLER: Tueller grabs a hunk of good cheese.
ALEJO: Alejo gets up and rummages around for coffee.
TUELLER: And grabs some soy crisps with simulated fleur de sel.
TUELLER: He gestures for others to join him if they want.
MILLICENT: Can you remind me, Space Marster, did we tell Ryo anything about what we learned on the relay?
STORY: You told him, more or less, everything
ALEJO: “Coffee?” Alejo looks around at the others.
STORY: Ryo hands you a mug full of coffee.
STORY: The rest already have some!
ALEJO: Alejo takes the cup, surprised but delighted. “Thanks!”
ALEJO: He gods over to Tueller’s cheese tray and sits. “So, what’s our next move?”
ALEJO: “I mean, after we find Peregrine.”
TUELLER: “I think you’re still our captain.”
MILLICENT: Millie frowns, coughs.
MILLICENT: “Our next move after finding Peregrine is making Noma whole and well again.”
MILLICENT: “After that we can discuss our next moves. I’d love to hear what you all have to say.
TUELLER: Tueller spreads some more epoisse on his cracker and crunches it down.
TUELLER: “Remake the universe, I guess?”
TUELLER: “Reinvent how people travel the universe with a computer, our friend, and my family.”
STORY: Ryo raises a finger. “A favor?”
STORY: “It seems like this knowledge you came off that thing with is dangerous.”
STORY: “I’d prefer not to put this crew at risk.”
STORY: “So can we ixnay that part of the planning when in public areas? I’ll find you a room to bunk in, you can do all your plotting there, sound good?”
STORY: “I’ve got innocent people here and a kid to keep safe.”
ALEJO: “Of course.”
MILLICENT: “Fair enough, though I hope you’ll join us in plotting, Ryo.”
STORY: “A kid who, I should mention, is pretty pissed at you three.”
ALEJO: “Can we see him?”
STORY: Ryo puts up his hands. To Millie: “Oh, no. Way above my pay grade. I barely understand what you told me, or what he’s doing here.” He points to Alejo, still incredulous.
STORY: “And that’s up to him. I’ll let him know you asked.”
ALEJO: Alejo nods once. “Appreciate it.” After a beat. “Should we tell him that Tux, or a version of Tux, is alive?” He looks at Millie and Tueller.
ALEJO: “I think no. But . . . ”
MILLICENT: “I think we owe him the truth. But he will take it hard.”
STORY: “What?”
STORY: “Where the fuck is he?”
TUELLER: Tueller looks at Alejo and shakes his head.
TUELLER: “Let’s get into a goddamn room before we do this.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods and stands.
TUELLER: Tueller finishes the wheel of epoisse with a couple quick crackers.
ALEJO: Alejo stands. Stops, takes a handful of crackers, and heads off to this room.
STORY: “Yes, if you please.” Ryo starts walking, shows you the way.
STORY: He finds you a fairly large but spartan room, two bunks on each wall and a small round table with two chairs.
STORY: “Will this do for you?”
TUELLER: “This is a huge step up.”
ALEJO: “It’s about ten times bigger than my last room.”
MILLICENT: “It will be fine, thank you, Ryo.
STORY: “Glad to be upgrading you, then. I’m going to check on things. Buzz if you need anything.” He taps the intercom next to the door and departs.
TUELLER: Tueller slumps.
TUELLER: “He’s right, this shit is huge.”
TUELLER: “it changes the universe.”
TUELLER: “I see a path forward, but it’s a hard one and we’re making a decision for a lot of people who might not want our decision.”
MILLICENT: “Just having this knowledge changes things.”
MILLICENT: “Tell me the path you see, Tueller.”
TUELLER: “We could just get Noma fixed–god, I hope–and go retire.”
TUELLER: “That’s not The path, but it’s A path.”
ALEJO: “Cali would definitely be on board with that plan, I suspect.”
TUELLER: “Correct me where I’m wrong. I just want to lay out what we discussed.”
ALEJO: “For what that’s worth. She . . . more or less suggested it.”
TUELLER: “The Collective is stealing brains to power themselves, or to live in, or something like that. We’re cloud computing to them.”
TUELLER: “So if we want interstellar travel without them, we need to Jump without them. Like my family does. But EVERYONE.”
TUELLER: And to do that, we need a big computer, at the very least, but not one that will get Sol iron sunrised. And, probably, Noma.”
TUELLER: “And then we need to tell everyone, and survive The Collective.”
ALEJO: Alejo arranges the table and two chairs so they are sort of close to one of the bunks. He gestures for Millie and Tueller to take the chairs and he settles onto the lower bunk, leaning back against the wall.
ALEJO: He nods, as Tueller says all of this, agreeing.
TUELLER: “So. If this works, and we do this, we potentially turn humans into two things…”
TUELLER: “1) The biggest fucking targets of a weakly godlike pissed off AI collective that has planets full of armies…”
TUELLER: “2) The inventors of the technology that can free the universe of that weakly godlike pissed off Collective.”
TUELLER: “There’s a lot in all that. Where am I wrong? What am I missing, and what can we do?”
TUELLER: Tueller leans forward and waits for a response.
ALEJO: Alejo crosses his legs on the bunk and takes a sip of his coffee.
MILLICENT: “I think you’re right about both of those things. What you’re missing, what we’re missing, is the tech that makes this possible.”
MILLICENT: “The ansible.”
MILLICENT: “The thing that makes the Wild Jumps so dangerous is unavoidable with our current technology. Changes to a star system on a quantum level over milliseconds can make lightyears of difference in jumping. We just don’t have a way to transmit astrogation data that is still accurate when it arrives at its destination, much less when a jump is plotted and executed.”
MILLICENT: “So Wild Jumps lead to total casualties in about a third of cases.”
MILLICENT: Big breath.
TUELLER: Tueller blinks.
MILLICENT: “Even Noma and I couldn’t solve that, even with the largest supercomputer currently built.”
MILLICENT: “But. With a truly instantaneous communication method we could plot interstellar jumps perfectly every time, avoiding the need for the relays.”
MILLICENT: “We are going to need to get ansible technology from the Collective.”
MILLICENT: “And it won’t be as simple as picking it up and walking out with it. A caveman with a computer doesn’t have a computer, they have a shiny rock.”
MILLICENT: “We need the physical ansible technology, or the designs, and to download the knowledge of it into Noma.”
TUELLER: “And we need her back.”
MILLICENT: “With that we can be free of the relays.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods.
TUELLER: “So, the biggest alien tech heist of our career, you’re suggesting.”
MILLICENT: “But if the Collective finds us or finds out what we’re doing before we get that, we’re all separated as an army of Sardaukar come crashing into the least prepared systems.”
MILLICENT: Millie shrugs. “We could try to bargain for it.”
MILLICENT: “Meet with the Collective and parlay.”
TUELLER: “What do we have, other than our brains, which they already have?”
MILLICENT: “Set up a series of elaborate dead-man’s switches so that they’ll have to at least listen to us.”
ALEJO: “Or?”
MILLICENT: “The truth? I don’t know. I’d love to hear your thoughts.”
ALEJO: “What would the dead-man’s switches do? If the Collective didn’t listen to us?”
TUELLER: “I don’t know what our leverage is.”
MILLICENT: “Get the word out to the Ark systems.”
MILLICENT: “The only leverage I can see is that we know what’s going on and might blow the whistle on them.”
MILLICENT: “And, look. I know they seem scary and bad-ass and all-powerfully terrifying, but my best friend left them to travel with me. There are at least some good, compassionate AI.”
MILLICENT: “Noma can’t be the only one worth a damn.”
MILLICENT: “I don’t know if I think it’s the best way, but I owed it to the better parts of her nature to suggest it.”
MILLICENT: “Because our other options are to start an interstellar war or heist the ansible and it’s operational knowledge and thereby start an interstellar war.”
TUELLER: “Sure, but they’re a Collective and we know how stupid democracies can get if they get a vote of 50%+1.”
TUELLER: Tueller is quiet.
TUELLER: “I don’t see the out, but I have legendarily bad judgment.”
TUELLER: “We get Noma back to us, I know that much.”
ALEJO: “I think that we have to . . . we have to come up with an alternative to our brains as their cloud, if we really want to get out of this.”
TUELLER: “Noma back is a good first step and if it doesn’t work I’m not sure I care about step two just yet.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods. “I don’t think retirement is an option.”
MILLICENT: “Not for me.”
TUELLER: “I spent a year in retirement. It was good. It was prison, but good.”
MILLICENT: “If we leave this, someone else picks it up. I won’t deny that Nikau and I were potentially the minds of our generations, but there will be other minds, other generations.”
MILLICENT: “Someone, someday will figure this out.”
MILLICENT: “A secret this big won’t stay buried forever.”
MILLICENT: “Leaving it gives our responsibility to act to some future, unnamed person.”
MILLICENT: “And I don’t think I can shirk this.”
ALEJO: Alejo takes a sip of his coffee. “I’m with you, Doc.” He shifts, uncomfortably. “So, the question is parlay or theft.”
TUELLER: “Maybe it keeps getting out and they keep getting that person.”
TUELLER: “Fuck it. We don’t need a devil’s advocate. I’m with you, no matter what.”
TUELLER: “I just am out of my element.”
TUELLER: “My vote is theft, though. That’s my element.”
MILLICENT: Millie smiles at Alejo.
MILLICENT: Then at Tueller.
MILLICENT: “So, we have a next step.”
STORY: Does anyone do anything over the next week and change other than have a vague plan to heist the Collective?
MILLICENT: Millie comes up with a name for the heist
TUELLER: Tueller shaves and tries to find a nice set of clothes.
MILLICENT: to be revealed later
ALEJO: Alejo tries to suggest to Millie and Tueller that they should try to figure out an alternative to using sentient brains as a cloud computing system for the Collective. He suggests that if we could come up with an alternative, that could be our leverage.
TUELLER: No, I’m serious, I need new clothes, and they have to look nicer.
MILLICENT: Is there an alternative we can figure out? Or that Millie can? Not going to speak for Tueller.
MILLICENT: I think Millie’s been thinking on this for a while, but I thought she’d hit a wall.
STORY: Ryo would happily give you some nice clothes, but he’s a normal-sized man so no dice there.
STORY: Astra volunteers to try to make you a set?
ALEJO: Oh, if so, I apologize for bringing it back up! I can’t remember what we’d already talked about.
MILLICENT: Oh right! I think Millie thinks she needs to see how it works from inside the mystical mind palace bullshit plane that the Collective operate on
ALEJO: Right!
MILLICENT: That’s my recollection. Is that right, Space Marster?
TUELLER: Tueller sits with Astra and lets her take his measurements like a champ.
STORY: Yes, I believe your plan was to go back inside the Weave and try to see what you could find out about how that all works. You convinced Calixta to help, though she absolutely does not want you to do it.
TUELLER: Tueller hangs out with Astra for awhile and treats her like a person, not an NPC.
MILLICENT: Right! Glad I remembered that correctly.
MILLICENT: Millie hangs out with Ryo, and Astra, and Figgan, and Erwin, as much as they’ll tolerate her company.
STORY: Astra’s a lovely person, Tueller! She enjoys her work, which is mostly about keeping Ryo organized, and she is a great cook and a nice conversationalist.
STORY: Let’s deal with Erwin.
MILLICENT: These big doings are weighing on her and she is actively taking comfort in her friends’s presence.
STORY: He does not want to see you three, particularly Alejo. He runs into you in the galley one day, Millie, and quickly scuttles out.
MILLICENT: “Erwin, I-”
MILLICENT: Millie wants to honor his need for space.
MILLICENT: She’s trying her best these days to recognize and accomodate the needs of others, in so far as she can suss them out.
MILLICENT: She lets him scuttle
STORY: He does!
STORY: Alejo, Figgan wants to hear EVERYTHING.
ALEJO: Alejo gives her the scoop, over a bottle of whisky.
STORY: Everything?
ALEJO: No. He mostly gets her drunk and keeps telling her that it’s safer if she doesn’t know.
STORY: But HOW are you EVEN ALIVE, she slurs over and over
ALEJO: “Tougher than I look.” He shrugs and pours another glass.
ALEJO: “It’s so great to see you, though, Fig. So great!” He gives one of her shoulders a friendly squeeze.
STORY: All right!
STORY: You spend a week like this, more or less trying to get back to normal.
STORY: By the end of it, Tueller, you have a decently made pair of work pants and a handful of the largest t-shirts Astra could find onboard. They’re tight on you.
TUELLER: Tueller thanks Astra profusely and they now have inside jokes and such.
STORY: +1 friend!
TUELLER: (Tueller hangs out with the rest of the crew, but not as much. They’ve been quarantined together for awhile–you can’t imagine what it’s like not to be able to escape or get away and you’re just stuck seeing the same people all the time with no hope of escape)
MILLICENT: (unthinkable)
ALEJO: (Crazy)
STORY: (Ridiculous)
TUELLER: Something that only can happen in sci fi
STORY: All right! Ryo updates you about a day from your original ETA that they’ve followed the beacon and found, well, the beacon.
STORY: And not the ship.
STORY: He invites you to the bridge to discuss it with the crew. Circe looks spiky about it but doesn’t stop him. She leans on the helmsman’s chair, arms crossed.
MILLICENT: Millie peers at the view screen, kinda twitchy.
MILLICENT: She gestures at a console, “Would you mind?”
ALEJO: Alejo stands next to Millie, frowning.
STORY: “Go ahead.” She has Esther vacate for you. “We’re three weeks off mission for this, Mr. Hanaka.”
MILLICENT: Millie jumps at the console and checks out the scanner reading.
STORY: Ryop smiles. “And don’t think I don’t appreciate the detour, captain. I’m sure my friends do as well.”
STORY: Millie! Assessment + Interface please
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 2
STORY: josh rolled 2 + 2 = 4
MILLICENT: Cool, great
TUELLER: Tueller nods at Circe. “Thank you Captain Eldard, we definitely do.”
TUELLER: He gives his most winning smile.
STORY: Millie, the beacon is there, just floating in space, with a battery attached to keep it running. Fuck if you know what happened to the ship – no debris, no message embedded in the beacon, nothing. They’re just gone.
MILLICENT: We’re gone for a month and my first roll back is snake-eyes
MILLICENT: Millie slumps at the console
MILLICENT: “Can we pick up our beacon, please?”
ALEJO: “Fuck.” Alejo drops his head.
TUELLER: (What type of space are we in? In the solar system? Outside the Oort Cloud, somewhere in the middle?)
STORY: Eldard looks at Ryo skeptically. Ryo jumps in, putting a hand on Millie’s shoulder. “Of course. I’ll ask Figgan to jump in her vac suit and grab it for you.”
STORY: In the middle! Outside of the system, not yet at AC.
TUELLER: “I don’t have a bolt hole out here. There’s nowhere I can think Loll would go to.”
MILLICENT: “Wait a moment. If the trirubidium was at unstable at rest we might be able to track it on your sensors. If you’d allow me to recalibrate your sensors. Just a quick tweak of the multiadaptive duotronic field reader.”
STORY: Ryo nods, then looks at Alejo and Tueller. “Anyone know what she’s talking about?”
TUELLER: “She wants to use your sensors. Let her.”
TUELLER: “That’s the short version.”
STORY: Circe smacks her lips. “To what end, may I ask?”
TUELLER: “To find our ship and our friends!”
ALEJO: Overlapping: “So we can find Peregrine.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods.
STORY: “I’m sorry, perhaps I wasn’t clear. Why should I take the risk of letting you manipulate the sensors in my ship when I don’t know you, I don’t know what we’re doing out here, and I have absolutely nothing to go on besides the good word of Mr. Hanaka here?”
TUELLER: “Mr. Hanaka’s word is good, is it not?”
TUELLER: Tueller turns to Ryo.
STORY: “We’ve been on a wild goose chase for almost a month and we have absolutely nothing to show for it other than three misfits and a comatose woman.”
TUELLER: “And that’s the rudest thing you’ll say about that woman.”
MILLICENT: Millie steps forward and holds up a hand.
TUELLER: Tueller takes a breath.
ALEJO: Alejo steps forward. “Captain, if I may, what would make this worth your while?”
STORY: She crosses her arms. “I’ve just told you what we gave up for you already. I have obligations to our employer that you are directly interfering with us meeting.”
TUELLER: “Getting us to our ship is the fastest way to get rid of us.”
STORY: “We have already put off three meetings in which Mr. Hanaka was meant to negotiate on CJH’s behalf. Quite frankly, you can ‘make this worth my while’ by getting the hell off my ship right now.”
TUELLER: “Well, spacing us is the fastest way to get rid of us, but getting us to our ship is a close second.”
TUELLER: “So either try the one, or do the other.”
STORY: “Okay, this one’s off my bridge, now.” She points at Tueller.
TUELLER: Who’s going to try that?
STORY: She’s told you to leave. Do you leave?
ALEJO: Alejo smiles weakly. “Well, this is going swimmingly.”
TUELLER: Tueller looks around with the look of a man accustomed to security coming to escort him out.
MILLICENT: “I’d like us all to take a breath.”
ALEJO: “That’s a good idea.”
STORY: Circe nods. “Happy to do so, when you get your muscle off my bridge.”
MILLICENT: Millie looks at Tueller. “Would you mind stepping outside, dear?”
TUELLER: Tueller looks to Alejo, then to Mille. And nods.
TUELLER: “I could use some more cheese, thanks.”
TUELLER: And walks out looking like whatever the opposite of a huff is.
MILLICENT: “Captain.”
TUELLER: When Tueller gets free and unobserved he comms to Millie “Ready the moment you need me.”
TUELLER: Comms: “I am NOT just muscle.”
TUELLER: A little huffy.
ALEJO: Alejo starts to say something, but let’s Millie talk.
ALEJO: He steps back.
MILLICENT: “I’ve been on your ship for three weeks now.”
MILLICENT: “And it’s a model of interstellar comfort.”
MILLICENT: “But, if I may suggest, it might be lacking in the kind of insightful use of technology CJH might benefit from.”
TUELLER: Comms: “Call ME just muscle, the nerve.”
TUELLER: Comms: “Sorry, I’ll be quiet.”
STORY: Circe raises an eyebrow at Millie. “Go on.”
MILLICENT: “Frankly, the fact that your sensors aren’t currently capable of a duotronic field reading, well.”
ALEJO: Alejo smiles.
MILLICENT: “There are pirates out there that use a multiadaptive energy net that’s only visible when you tweak your sensors just so.”
MILLICENT: “I’m sure Mr. Soto can provide details on those operations if need be.”
MILLICENT: “But what I’m proposing is beneficial to both of us, three weeks out of your way or not.”
ALEJO: Alejo nods, impressed.
STORY: “That’s your suspicion? Pirates?”
MILLICENT: “My solution would allow me to track our ship and check for pirates.”
STORY: “Mm. I’d ask Erwin to keep an eye on what you get up to, but I’m not sure we can trust him with this either. In fact, Dr. Breedlove, you are without question the smartest person on this ship or likely within a light year.”
STORY: “So my choice is between trusting you not to fuck me and my crew and simply carrying on with the work of this business and dropping you at the first port we come to.”
STORY: She looks at Ryo unhappily. “And I suspect Hanaka would make my life briskly miserable if I did that at least for the next six months, so fine. Tweak what you have to tweak, but do it quickly. I want to be rid of you in 24 hours.”
MILLICENT: Millie nods. “That’s a fair summary. I’ll do this as quickly as I’m able.”
MILLICENT: Millie grabs Figgan and goes to mess with the sensors
ALEJO: Alejo leans over Millie as she starts to work. “Amazing. And you’re the smartest person in a lot more than a light year.”
TUELLER: Tueller demolishes another wheel of expensive stinky cheese.
TUELLER: just fucking goes to town on it.
STORY: Millie! FA + Interface please!
TUELLER: Anyone got a close up?
MILLICENT: Millie grins over her shoulder. “Everyone gets the idea that they have to tell me how smart they think I am to puff up my ego and they keep undershooting it.”
MILLICENT: Come on now
MILLICENT: /roll 2d6 + 2
STORY: josh rolled 7 + 2 = 9
TUELLER: Millie does.
MILLICENT: I’ll fuckin’ take it
STORY: You spend about six hours on your back under the sensor console with Figgan twisting wires together that shouldn’t be twisted.
STORY: When you emerge, you have a clear signal – you’re picking up ghost readings of the ship that was here a few days ago, and curiously, it wasn’t just Peregrine. It was an unregistered vessel, quite large, transponder blank. You guessed right: pirates.
STORY: The good news is you’ve got a trail to follow. The bad news is you have fully broken the sensors and they cannot be used outside this mode anymore until they get the Augusta King somewhere for repairs.
STORY: What do you do?
TUELLER: Is the trail for both ships together?
STORY: Indeed it is.
MILLICENT: Millie emerges triumphantly. “We have a trail!”
MILLICENT: “We should be able to follow the Peregrine straight to where it’s being held.” Quickly, “By pirates.”
MILLICENT: “We did it!”
ALEJO: “Excellent! Let’s go.”
TUELLER: Tueller goes and gets another wheel of cheese.
STORY: So you just don’t tell them their sensors are broken?
MILLICENT: Not yet
ALEJO: Does Alejo even know? Did Millie share that with him?
STORY: No!
STORY: Well unless Millie did.
STORY: But he wouldn’t just know then
MILLICENT: It’s not important right now
MILLICENT: With Millie, everyone is on a need-to-know basis
MILLICENT: People worry so unnecessarily about things
MILLICENT: Sensors? Pshaw. Easily fixed.
STORY: All right! You have a path to follow, you follow it. You head top speed along the trail you are tracking and catch up within a day. You find yourselves in the tail winds of the largest spacebound vessel you’ve ever seen.
STORY: Tueller! Please describe how it looks from outside.
TUELLER: It looks like an extremely fat rocket, long and mostly smooth, except for the front of it, which has a weird arm and gimbal set up with something that certainly looks like some form of advanced cannon that can swivel around and focus on, lets say 270 degrees of its field of fire.
STORY: The rocket itself is a thousand meters long.
STORY: You can’t know for sure, but if that cannon works it can probably punch through a small moon.
TUELLER: “That’s a big ship.”
ALEJO: “Good to know our luck is the same as ever.”
TUELLER: “At least we’re in their wake.”
TUELLER: “Any sign of our girl, Millie?”
MILLICENT: Millie cocks her head.
MILLICENT: “That ship ate my ship.”
STORY: You’re on the bridge. Tueller was allowed back on for the moment, mostly because Circe is excited to get rid of you. Esther turns around.
STORY: “We’re being hailed, sir.”
MILLICENT: Millie points.
MILLICENT: “I think that ship ate my ship.”
ALEJO: “Put ’em on.” Alejo says this and then turns to look for Circe. “Or, I think that’s what we’ve got to do, Captain.” He frowns slightly.
STORY: Circe scowls at you and gestures for Esther to put them through.
STORY: A bright male voice comes through. “Welcome, friends! Care to tell us what you’re doing back there?”
TUELLER: Tueller starts to speak up and realizes it’s not his place.
STORY: Circe looks at you, Alejo, then holds out her hand in an offer for you to reply.
ALEJO: He smiles warmly. “Hiya! Well, we’re hoping that you might be able to help us out, friends. We’re looking for a ship that we, uh, misplaced. We’d be ever so grateful to find her. The Peregrine?”
TUELLER: “No ‘the’ before a ship’s name. Come on man. You’ve been flying your entire life” when the comms off.
TUELLER: “That’s her name. I don’t call you The Alejo.”
ALEJO: “I’m playing the bumpkin.” He smiles. “Better to be underestimated by the pirates in the planet-sized super rocket.”
TUELLER: “Fair. We don’t even have guns here, unless they upgraded.”
STORY: The voice comes back in. “Ahh, we’ve been expecting you! We’ll send a shuttle over, Mr. Soto.”
TUELLER: “Well that did NOT go how I was expecting.”
STORY: “Glad to hear the rumors of your death were exaggerated.”
STORY: The connection is cut off.
MILLICENT: “Huh.”
STORY: Circe turns to you. “Well, that went surprisingly well.”
ALEJO: Alejo nods. “Yeah. Wow. Huh.”
ALEJO: He keeps nodding.
TUELLER: “For you especially, Ms. Eldard.”
TUELLER: So!
TUELLER: “Let’s go do this. the only way out is through.”
STORY: “Captain Eldard. Get off my ship please, Tueller.”
STORY: She welcomes you off the bridge, smiling.
TUELLER: “Please give my love to Esi when you see her.”
STORY: Ryo takes you to the shuttle bay. “So I suppose this is it for now.”
STORY: “About Esi…”
STORY: He thinks twice. “Nevermind.”
TUELLER: “You’ve found your place. I get it.”
TUELLER: “Watch out, though. ‘Your place’ may not last.”
STORY: He puts up his hands. “You got out. I’ll honor that.”
TUELLER: “Be ready to drop everything and bug out the moment you feel the heat.”
TUELLER: “Every day of your life until she’s no longer here, and probably a little afterwards, too.”
ALEJO: Alejo pauses in front of Ryo. “Thank you. I mean, except for the punch. Nice hook, by the way. Watch your back.”
STORY: Ryo hugs Alejo.
TUELLER: “It was a shitty hook. You need more time with the bag, Ryo.”
STORY: “Don’t die again.”
STORY: “I have no plans to spend any time with any bags, thank you.”
TUELLER: “Your funeral.”
MILLICENT: Millie sticks her head out before the doors close. “Ryo, I wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done for us. I really do appreciate it. And I’ve calibrated your sensors as I promised. From now on you’ll run an automatic scan for duotronic fields every twelve hours and you’ll get a ping at the first result. Also, for all intents and purposes I broke them. You can’t scan for anything except duotronic fields. They’ll need to be manually replaced at a shipyard. Thanks again!”
MILLICENT: The door slides closed. “Great to see you!”
STORY: He sticks his foot in the door and takes Millie’s hands. “That’s terrible news, but that seems to be the way with you clowns. I must tell you that I am extremely disappointed you have left Alejo unavailable to be conquested, but I suppose if I have to allow it, I’ll allow it for you. Don’t you dare let him die again, Millie, you hear me?”
TUELLER: Tueller pushes him back. “That’s enough.”
MILLICENT: Millie smiles from below Tueller’s elbows. “I’ll keep an eye on him, I promise!”
ALEJO: “Conquested?” Alejo mutters, from under the other side of Tueller’s elbows.
STORY: “Christ, Tueller, relax. Millie, good. Be safe.” He gives you a kiss on the cheek and lets the door close as you hear from farther into the ship, “WHAT THE FUCK DID SHE DO TO MY SENSORS?”
MILLICENT: Millie shushes Alejo. “Good men are meant to be seen and not heard.”
TUELLER: “Sorry, I…ummm, read that wrong. Anyone can conquest Alejo, I thought.”
MILLICENT: “Well, I hope he’s more discerning than all that.” Millie shoots Alejo a look.
ALEJO: “Come on.” He smiles despite himself.
STORY: You board the shuttle and are brought onboard by a mute Odh, or at the very least an extremely un-chatty Odh. He lands on the enormous ship and the door lifts from the side of the shuttle, where you lay eyes on your host: a tallish man, humanoid, but with a third eye in the center of his forehead. He is extremely handsome, with black hair and a shock of white going down the center, wearing a fitted military-style uniform with a laser gun slung on a low belt around his hips.
STORY: He is flanked by two Maitri warriors on either side, and smiles easily as you step off the shuttle.
TUELLER: “Hi!”
ALEJO: “Hello.”
TUELLER: Tueller does not make any sudden moves, but waves in that bounds.
STORY: “Friends, welcome! I’m so pleased to finally meet you. TC Forsythe, I run this bucket. These are the sisters,” he gestures to the Maitri behind him, “you won’t even notice them after a bit, come, please, let’s sit down and talk. Can I get anyone anything? I take it your friend there needs medical attention?” He gestures to the stretcher you have Calixta on.
MILLICENT: “I’m her attending physician. If you’ll release our ship I can provide her the care she needs.”
TUELLER: Tueller eyes the Maitri.
TUELLER: Appraisingly, not threateningly.
STORY: They’re for real, Tueller. “Oh right to the point, I see. You know, as much as I was told you’d be like this I still find you quite bracing, Dr. Breedlove! Absolutely charming.”
STORY: “You’ll be here a while, I suggest you let me get your friend settled, unless you’d like to wheel her around behind you while we walk?”
TUELLER: “I’ll stay with her.”
STORY: “I’m afraid that’s out of the question, Mr. Ya’Makasi, I’m going to need you to come with me as well.”
STORY: “So bring her along, or I can have my CMO get her comfortable?”
TUELLER: Tueller winces. “I’m not…okay.”
STORY: He waits for an answer.
MILLICENT: “Captain Forsythe, can we assume that we’ve all made the necessary threats?”
TUELLER: “I don’t say this threateningly, but if she dies, a whole lot of other people do as well.”
TUELLER: “Including me, I suppose.”
ALEJO: “Please take care of her.”
MILLICENT: “Oh well, I suppose some of us will feel inclined to spell it out.”
TUELLER: “That’s the gist, yes.”
MILLICENT: “Fine, then. The threats are handled.”
TUELLER: “Yeah, I’m good.”
MILLICENT: “And you knew my name, so you should know that we’re quite capable of following up on them.”
MILLICENT: “Now then.”
STORY: “My friends, as much as I understand your stress reaction, you must understand it’s rather ridiculous to threaten me here.”
TUELLER: “We know that, and yet.”
STORY: “Do you know how many crew we have onboard?”
ALEJO: “We’re still finding our rhythm again. Sorry for the confusing banter.”
MILLICENT: Millie smiles. “Our specialty.”
MILLICENT: She turns to her crew, “Guys, we have to tighten this up. We’re all throwing off each other’s quite threatening vibes.”
TUELLER: “I said it wasn’t a threat!”
STORY: “Of course. I simply mean to say you will find that if you live by the sword, you die by it as well. I mean none of you any harm.”
ALEJO: “Well, we appreciate that tremendously. I believe you said we could sit down and talk?”
TUELLER: Tueller watches them take Noma away, and then is ready to go with.
STORY: “Yes, I’d very much like to, thank you Mr. Soto.” He leads you to an office, sits behind a large real wooden desk, and gestures for the three of you to take seats as well. The Maitri flank the door.
TUELLER: Tueller sits down easily.
STORY: “Now. Let’s work out the terms of your employment, shall we?”