High Law and Low Justice, Part 4

[doghead]

Saanath, male human merchant.

[sblock]"Eeh?" He blinks a couple of times to punctuate his response.

In the back of his mind a little voice is screaming at him: "Hey stupid, close your mouth. Its not a good look. Stop blinking and say something. This is not going to get you a date!"[/sblock]

 

[Maerdwyn]

Saanath:

[sblock]The Lt. Cmdr. regards Saanath intently, but othrewise makes no comment. Her face is absolutely blank. She appears to be waiting to see if anything further is about to escape Saanath's lips, and is unwilling to give him any clue about what that might be.[/sblock]

 

[Maerdwyn]

[sblock]Ktarle laughs sharply. "What did we know? I can't speak for the others, but I knew nothing but that they needed aid." Her gaze cuts to the other. "Why? Is there something I should know?"[/sblock]

(ooc: Sorry Seonaid - missed your post last night in the wee hours)

Ktarle:
[sblock]"What I am asking doctor, is if you were forwarned of the nature of the distress Dvonn was in prior to you arrival there? And what of Captain Darius? Was she aware of the type of threat Dvonn was under?" The interviewer allows Ktarle to answer, then says, "Speaking of Captain Darius, Doctor, how is it that she personally accompanied the makeshift rescue party - without any of her own crew? You weere simply a passenger on her ship, were you not?" Something in her tone makes Ktarle suspect Lt. Cmdr. Green may not believe that last statement to be entirely true.[/sblock]

 

[doghead]

Trelelawiero, male aslan mercenary

[sblock]Trel, never much of a forward planner at the best of times, is brought up short by the Captain's direct approach.

What exactly was it that he wanted to say? That the group from the Keruuchan deserved better than this? He didn't even know what this was exactly.

"Captain. I don't know what is going on here. What I do know is that someone made a concerted effort to cripple the Dvonn, and effectively executed the crew and passengers. Those people from the Keruuchan, they put their life on the line to dig us out of a big hole. They did it because they are decent people. What I saw was a bunch of old Spacers who still seem to give a damn about how things should be done."

Trel punches a neat hole through the questionaire with a claw he didn't know he had extended.

"I'm not trying to make waves or buck the system. But I saw this question and ... ," Trel tapers off into a growl of frustration and pain as the memory of his mate hits him afresh.

"I just wanted to make sure someone other than stylus pushing computer commandos got a chance to hear that, sir."

It occures to Trel that the Captain probably spends most of his day at the computer. Trel grins at the Captain, forgetting for a moment that an Aslan baring his teeth at you is generally not taken as reassuring by most humans.

"No offence intended, sir."[/sblock]

 

[Seonaid]

I was beginning to feel left out! [sblock]"I was not forewarned of the nature of the distress, no," Ktarle says slowly. "I don't know what the captain knew, or thought, or thought she knew. We never discussed it." She waits for the other's response and then says, "I don't know why she didn't bring any of her crew. I didn't think to ask, seeing as the other ship was in distress. It didn't seem like a good time to ask. I was a passenger, yes, trying to get from one place to another, when this disaster happened." She stands and paces the small room, flexing her hands. "Are you accusing me of something, sir?" she finishes almost angrily as she comes to a stop in front of Green. She doesn't look directly at her and tries to hide in her anger the sudden tide of fear that rises in her as the memories of the trip come back.[/sblock]

 

[Maerdwyn]

[sblock]

"I just wanted to make sure someone other than stylus pushing computer commandos got a chance to hear that, sir."

It occures to Trel that the Captain probably spends most of his day at the computer. Trel grins at the Captain, forgetting for a moment that an Aslan baring his teeth at you is generally not taken as reassuring by most humans.

"No offence intended, sir."[/sblock]

[sblock]"None taken, Marine. The 5073rd is an assault and boarding unit - And you know what that means, in terms of how well they're keeping us in the loop with all this intrigue . SoI haven't heard it all, but I gather they helped you outrun a GA Cruiser in a neutered corsair held together by bubblegum, or some such . That right? My guys just want to hear the rest of the story from you all over entirely too much alcohol, and I gather the Navy boys are mostly thinking along similar lines. It's the damned intelligence officers with the poles up their asses. They got Force Commander Quinn locked away in the goddamned brig, which don't sit too well with me - he outranks the lot of 'em, or did, before he retired. I don't what the hell the bastards are worried about, thoughI'm betting it's got something to do with a ship we lost a few days ago - other than that, I got nothing to go on. I do have a little clout, at least with Captain Keyes. If you can give me something, I might be able to get him to call off the ISS dogs."[/sblock]

 

[Maerdwyn]

I was beginning to feel left out!

ooc: Sorry, Seonaid. I'll make it up to you ( )
Ktarle:
[sblock]
Green does not rise to the bait or the challenge. Instead, she produces Ktarle's medical bag, which was taken from her while she was in the decontamination chamber. She reaches in and produces a vial - Instantly Ktarle recognizes it, but it seems utterly incongruous to the current situation. It's the sample of Treth's blood, preserved and kept under seal since Daramm. "Whose blood is this, doctor?"
[/sblock]

 

[Seonaid]

Aslan under fire!

Uh-oh! Don't mess with the GM . . .
[sblock]Ktarle looks at the vial and then at Green, confusion plain on her face. Well, plain to another Aslan. She reaches out as if to take it, but her hand drops before making it fully up from her side. "It was taken from an adult Aslan male back on Daramm." She pauses, nonplussed. "What relevence is it to the current situation?" She feels completely out of her element, as though the floor had dropped from under her. Tretheasofkhou! He can't be a part of this! Her thoughts spin. What is going on?![/sblock]

 

[doghead]

Saanath, male human merchant baby.

[sblock]Saanath closes his mouth and concentrates on booting up his brain.

"Four days ago?

"We jumped in rather a hurry. We were a little closer to the planet than is recommended. The mis-jump added about 8 days to our time in jump space. The Keruuchan could have easily got here before us.

"We had both of the ship's boats from the Keruuchan. But they could have collected the one we left it drifting in space after the first attack, the one used by the first boarding party. If they arrived four days ago, they would have had four days to get it assuming that there jump was fairly conventional."

Saanath is silent for a moment. He's telling her nothing they couldn't have worked out for themselves. He tries to recall what the question had been again, exactly. She's looking for something, and Saanath gets the feeling that the right answer here might just tip the balance. Unfortunately, he really has no idea. He decides to begin filling in a little of the blank spaces.

"Nels-C didn't want us to go to the Dvonn. Despite the distress call. He pulled rank on the captain, or tried to, claiming Owner-On-Board status. God knows whether or not he was entitled to it. The Captain, Julia, didn't seem to think he was. Nels-C claimed that he had information indicating that the Dvonn was a corsair or some such, which ment the Keruuchan was under no obligation to provide assistance. Julia thought it was a load of Bull, and organised a rescue attempt anyway.

"I don't know what was going on. Nels-C had a fair bit of security with him. He seemed to be in possession of something that ... well that he wasn't willing to risk.

"We speculated on what was going on until we were blue in the face. None of us could the pieces together in a way that made sense. My gut feeling was that Nels-C had something that someone wanted very badly, and the Dvonn was the bait. But that doesn't really explain why the fighters shot us out of space, or tried to, when we tried to board.

"And it really doesn't seem to explain why Nels-C bolted when he saw that the Emperor was in system."

Saanath shrugs.

Saanath realises that he has run off at the mouth. A part of him wonders if he has said more than he should. But another part of him is too tired to care. And a big part of him hopes that the Lt Commander will be able to find some form of meaning in all of it and give them some answers. And Saanath desperately wants some answers.[/sblock]

 

[Maerdwyn]

[sblock]

ooc: * Could they? T/Astronav +4.[/sblock]

[sblock]ooc: The Dvonn misjumped - one of the effects of that misjump was spending an extra eight days in jump space - Saanath would have been aware of this. Assuming the Keruuchan did not misjump, they would have arrived first. I'll hold off replying to the rest in case you want to edit, otherwise just let me know and I'll move ahead. [/sblock]