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Personal Log - Sir Lt Gopal Sultana

Entry #001 - Nishka is apparently admitting to reading the Captain's mail, that or eavesdropping. Not my command, not my problem, but definitely noted.

Entry #002 - The shuttle ride to Marduk Downport through the storms was very interesting. My words:

*Through the Storm*

In the shuttle's belly, amid storms untamed,
The author rides, with roles diverse acclaimed.
A pilot's skill, a gunner's aim,
A lawyer's wit, a poet's flame.

Through torrents fierce, the vessel roams,
Battered by winds, and crashing foams.
But amidst the chaos, a calm prevails,
As words take form, and verse unveils.

The lightning strikes, the thunder roars,
Yet inspiration within him soars.
With every jolt, his pen finds grace,
Capturing the tempest's wild embrace.

Through the veil of rain, he sees the light,
Guiding him through the tempest's might.
In each raindrop's dance, a story unfolds,
Of courage, beauty, and tales untold.

As the shuttle descends, the storm subsides,
Leaving behind a soul replete with tides.
A poem born, a journey complete,
In the shuttle's wake, a memory sweet.

Entry: 1104-344 - It's been a very busy few days. Let me see if I can get my thoughts down in an orderly fashion, before it all gets muddled up in my memories.

Three days ago, on the shuttle ride down to Marduk, the system was subjected to an Oghman(?) pirate attack. Apparently they stage raids fairly often, and prioritize stealing skilled workers. The Pioneer must have seemed like a gold mine to them if true. Unless the fleet was hiding in the outer system somewhere (and I saw no sign of them as we flew in from jump), the timing was purely coincidental. Our shuttle was struck and disabled by a missile strike. The pilots managed to land the ship, but perished in the crash. Pilots Gravish and Hyram, thank you. You saved the lives of all the passengers on board your craft.
Nishka, Karine, and I got the survivors moving away from the wreck and took shelter in a nearby ruin. Would have been a fascinating place to explore over a few days under better circumstances. As it was, we were stuck there over night. A pack of wild canids and a troupe of feral natives decided to crash our campsite at the same time. Nishka revealed a psi talent of some sort and rendered them all unconscious. She then packed up her gear and walked away. At a guess, she wanted the peace and solitude. I hope she finds what she wanted. I won't pretend to not be a little relieved at not having to guard my own thoughts. A situation I'm sure she's plenty used to.
It took a while, but eventually we were picked up by our own pinnace the next morning, with Dromah, Crockett, and Eleni on board. Official record is that Nishka was lost in the crash. We were flown to Marduk Downport to finally make it to the meeting.
Reading back over my notes, I see I've left Captain Solis out of things. Odd, that. She was definitely there, and in just as much danger as the rest of it. No panic or hysterics though, that you might've expected from a naive academic. I'm guessing she's been in hazardous situations before. Definitely good to know how she handles herself, though, given what may we may be up to in the future.
We had our meeting, a day late. Alexis Drabahn, GeDeCo. I won't summarize the meeting here, although this log should be perfectly secure, one never knows for sure.
We're currently outbound from Marduk to Torpol, with 5 paying passengers, and no trained host to take care of them. So guess what my role is? There was some extra drama over a woman named Nicola, sought sanctuary on the ship during the raid, and then asked to join to crew to get away from Marduk. Initially accepted by Crockett and Dromah, but literally minutes before we were set to depart Crockett got paranoid about her presence (note: paranoia is not always unwarranted). I'm still not entirely clear on the specifics, or how justified or unjustified they are. I do know that Crockett brought the girl into the bridge and then just walked away. I'm hoping this isn't SOP for Marine security, to escort suspects into the most sensitive location on base and then abandon them there. It delayed departure nearly 30 minutes while waiting for someone to come get her and then perform the additional security checks to make sure nothing had been compromised when she was on the bridge during the attacks. I was prepared to have her ejected from the ship if Crockett had pressed the issue, which apparently would have severely irked Solis. Which tells me that I don't want to stick my neck between those two on issues of ship security on the Pioneer.
We've had a meeting about what lies ahead. After all, there isn't much to do during Jump except talk, and lab ships aren't nearly as roomy as they look from the outside. I'm glad I still have the Suraksha to retreat to for down time. Crockett is very concerned about the financial stability of the Pioneer (comes from a merchant family?), but Solis is less alarmed. This looks like it might start to be a repeating pattern between those two. Another issue to not stick my neck between them on.
I've been studying up on tricks of the trading trade. Hopefully this'll come in somewhat helpful in the upcoming project - a way to bring in additional income.