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1104-294 -- 1104-295 -- 1104-296

Traveller Map: Exocet

1104-295 08:00

To Pioneer from M. Dromah,
Please advise as to where/when I need to be for a ride to you. I understand access to the Pioneer is by shuttle.

If at all possible, would it be permissable to have the current pilot conduct a check ride, and allow me to pilot the shuttle to the Pioneer? This would allow me to update my Piloting endorsement for Smallcraft, and familiarize myself with your ship and procedures.

Looking forward to meeting the Pioneer crew and getting to know you all.

Captain Solis to M. Dromah: "Access to the Pioneer is via our pinnace, the Voyager. My crew and I will be busy making preparations to leave. Sir Lt Sultana will meet you at the attached coordinates at 1500. As the pilot, I will relay your request to him. Pioneer out."

Sir Lt Sultana to M. Dromah: "Good day. The Voyager is currently scheduled to be at port for a supply pickup at 1430 local time. Ideally we'll be prepared to leave within 2 hours of that time, if that's convenient for you. Please have a copy of your piloting credentials for our records. Port control gets gritchy if we let unlicensed people pilot ships through their lanes."

To Exocet Traffic Control from M. Dromah
CC - Pioneer and Voyager
Data upload of Imperial Navy Pilot Log Book, Pilot License and Endorsements.
Note included to advise of future check ride on the Voyager Pinnace, and link to the ship's registration on file.

1104-295 11:20

Mikhel does some research on the Pioneer and the crew. Doctor Athena Solis and any names associated with this ship. What's out there?

Mihkel Dromah: [SKILL] Electronics (2D+2) (vs Difficulty 6) [2d6+2 = 11]
[ +5 Effect] [Average SUCCESS] 6 minutes.
Data searches for info on Pioneer, using Exocet Registration on file.

Mikhel finds a numerous studies giving attributions to the Pioneer. Citations of the role of the Pioneer in research predates Captain Solis and seems to have been part of the Pioneer Ships Charter for a very long time. Unfortunately, paywalls still exist and some studies are locked behind them as it is the researchers who decide which journals they submit their papers.

Found something. Probably not hard. But, anything interesting?

Mihkel Dromah: [SKILL] Electronics (2D+2) (vs Difficulty 6) [2d6+2 = 8]
[ +2 Effect] [Average SUCCESS] 10 Minutes

Mentions of places the Pioneer has been and some systems visited in its past.

Yes, she is the registered owner/captain of the Pioneer. Check Science Journals?

Mihkel Dromah: [SKILL] Electronics (2D+2) (vs Difficulty 6) [2d6+2 = 12]
[ +6 Effect] [Exceptional SUCCESS] 15 Mintues

Numerous studies and awards dating back to what he suspects were her years in university. A field scientist, her research seems to be focused on biologics and genetics.

Check Medical Credentials?

Mihkel Dromah: [SKILL] Electronics (2D+2) (vs Difficulty 6) [2d6+2 = 6]
[ +0 Effect] [Marginal SUCCESS] 10 Minutes

A clipping from a student's notes who attended a lecture by Athena emphasizing the importance of medical knowledge when working in the field.

Any names associated with the Pioneer in Science Pubs?
->Note: Esotear-Roddocks, Ltd, Lanth, publisher of Academic and Textbook Publications in the Spinward Marches?

Link -> Esotear-Roddocks, Ltd, Lanth

Mihkel Dromah: [SKILL] Electronics (2D+2) (vs Difficulty 6) [2d6+2 = 11]
[ +5 Effect] [Average SUCCESS] 5 Minutes

A study citing the publisher, but nothing direct at glance.

1104-295 14:45

The Voyager's port door opened at about 1445 on Torpol station. Behind the door a man in the sort of uniform an ex-Naval officer would wear. It was well cut and fit very well, but it was very obviously not what someone still in the service would wear. Maybe there was a bit of extra flair? It was hard to tell, subtle, but still there. He was medium height, medium age, medium build, dark skin, hair still dark, but maybe a few hairs starting to lighten here and there. He wore both a sword and a sidearm, which wasn't horribly unusual. Lot's of space travelers carried sidearms, you never knew quite what you could get into at the next stop.

He looked around and spotted the dock foreman waiting for him. He smiled and advanced on her, collecting a handshake and exchanging padds containing cargo information with the woman (and was that perhaps a credit chip that surreptitiously exchanged hands during the shake? It might have been..).

After the business with the dock foreman was complete, Sultana moved back toward the port door of the pinnace and waited for the dock crews to get around to unloading the pinnace. It always took a while for them to get organized and get moving in between ships, but he couldn't leave the ship until it was all done.

"OK! It's official! The universe is smaller than we thought."

Mikhel stepped up to Sultana and put out his hand. Mikhel was in coveralls, topped off with a ship's jacket, and boots. There was shoulder bag over his right shoulder, hanging to the left hip. A few small pouches attached to a cloth utility belt, with a holster in plain view. So, considering the law level, it wasn't anything lethal. Which made sense to anyone who knew the wearer. He was pulling a small loading cart with a duffle bag, a small piece of luggage, and a medium-sized ammo can for small arms rounds. Also, tucked in among the other items was a small cryo-box, about a half-meter per side.

"So. This is where you got yourself to? And look at me, right here with you. You are the pilot of the Pioneer shuttle?"

Lt Sultana looked startled, like being recognized by someone was absolutely the last thing he expected. He automatically reaches forward to shake the offered hand with a smile, although looking a bit puzzled. "Hello! Yeah, I wound up here, travelling in between yesterday and tomorrow." He scrutinizes Dromah's face, trying to place him. After a moment, recognition comes. "Wait... Mora, right? At the fencing match? Corpsman .. Droman? It's been what? Thirteen years? Crud, am I getting old? It's been that long?" He's smiling for real now. "Are you here for the Pioneer? She's not mine, I'm just the contract pilot. Go on in, find a place to set your stuff, then come tell me what you've been up to. I've got to wait out here to oversee the cargo work. If they ever come back."

"If the cargo is the stuff I checked yesterday, my initials are all over the paperwork. There is a patch on the Plant Transport Pod, and I have the culprit in the cryo-box on the loader." Mikhel nods at the loader behind him. "I'm supposed to contact a Dr. Eleni Kagaragu when I get aboard to store the little critter safely away. I'll just double check my work, to ensure nobody's mucked with it, and we should be able to load it straight away. Back in a sec."

Mikhel returns in a few moments, after quickly stowing and tying down his gear. "Did the Captain not give you the chip with my files on it? Or haven't you seen her since yesterday? I'm hiring on as the Ship's Medic, enroute to Marduk. After that? Well, we'll see."

"Great news. Happy to have you on board. I'll try not to shake your quarters up too much." He grinned, "Well, maybe a little bit..." He pulled out his list of docs and flipped through it. "Yep, here you are. I just didn't connect the name to old history. Oh. Whoops. DromAH, not DromAN. Sorry about that. I may be getting a little senile..."

"This is gonna be so different. I've never been on a civilian science ship. A few Hospital ships, but the deck plans were all pretty conventional." Mikhel waved his fist up toward his shoulder, pointing his thumb back at the cargo hatch behind the two men. "And I'm a little anxious about getting that critter into some more reliable storage. The sooner we are on board, the sooner I can start getting my 'brain housing group' sorted."

"Will you be letting me do the check ride? Any peculiarities or handling quirks on the pinnace?"

"Sure, I suppose. Just try not to put any scratches on it, would you? It's a bit slow to change Vee, and it turns slower than a barge, but it'll get you where you're trying to go. And the Pioneer is ... different feeling, for sure. All the floors curve up. It's disorienting for a while, but you get used to it. Or fall on your face a lot, I guess."

1104-295 19:45

To All Stations/Ships from PSV Pioneer
Send all reports: 'Attention Pioneer Duct Spider Project'
This is a call for any/all information on Duct Spiders, or red and green, eight-legged, arthropods/arachnids.
The intent of this research is to provide consolidated information on the origin/life cycle/handling/deterence of the species
Information Sought: DNA record; location specimen acquired; location of specimen origin (if know; or origin of shipment, if specimen found on arrival inspection); how found; how handled; how exterminated; any devices, tools, weapons, chemicals used; any observations on behaviour or habitat of the specimens; any interaction with other creatures or sophonts(any injuries or punctures/injections); any further observations or data related to the specimen/situation.
Anecdotal information or rumors can be included, but must be clearly identified as such.
This call for information is to be promulgated until a notice of end of research is received.