High Law and Low Justice, Part 5

[doghead]

Saanath, male human merchant.

--- THE MESSROOM ---

Saanath, Tuan, Gwydion:

Zdrac, "It's intolerable. We've important business to go about. First the Emperor drags everything to a halt, now our own petty tyrant keeps us hanging about at the Navy's pleasure. Someone has to keep commerce going you know."

"Better one tyrant than a thousand, each trying to carve out his own little patch of space." Saanath shrugs and adds. "The Imperium might be a bit of a pain at times, but they pretty much are the ones who keep space free so the commerce can keep going."

Saanath's beeper beeps.

"And speaking of tyrants, our own seems to want me on the bridge. Looks like I fold," Saanath concludes with a grin.

Saanath heads to the bridge.

--- THE BRIDGE ---

Once he finds out what Ruzz'koff wants, he settles down the pilot's chair and puts the ship into gear.

 

[doghead]

Saanath, male human merchant.

Once he has finished the docking and is no longer needed, Saanath returns to the Mess. Saanath does what he can to keep the passengers calm and comfortable. But otherwise Saanath just keeps his head down and himself out of the way as the Marines process the passengers. Eventually the Marines will want to do the same with the crew. But until then, there is not much to do but wait.

--- THE BRIDGE ---

Saanath listens to the messages with the others. Saanath can't really see why they shouldn't be able to deliver the cargo immediately, and do the processing later. They could take the ship down with a contingent of marines on board if the Navy don't want to let the crew out of their sight. The navy could take the ship down themselves if they wanted. But that would probably raise too many eyebrows. Given the situation with the Emperor at the moment, Saanath can't see why the navy wouldn't want to do what it can to stay on the good side of its citizens. Jeez, they only have to land, unload, and lift off again. With the navy in orbit, its not likely that they could go anywhere the navy didn't want them too.

Saanath opens his mouth to speak, then closes it again and glances at Ruzz'koff. Saanath has as much right to speak as Ruzz'koff, but Saanath knows how much the navy likes its chain of command. Ruzz'koff has done a good job so far, so Saanath decides to hold his tongue for the moment and see what Ruzz'koff has to say.

 

[DrZombie]

"planetside groundhugging miserable greedy backstabbing dishonest cheap sheep-farming cowhandling idiotic retarded sons of dogs"

 

[Wilphe]

Lt De Paolo looks at Gwydion, "Pretty much my sentiments on the subject. You've just got here, we've spent over a month here. If you think she's charming, you should see her colleagues in the Shirgegge Tourist Board."

"Passangers had access to the cargo bay, right? In that case the missing chip might be there and I can't clear your cargo until it's searchedprocessed. We can do that next, but it'll take a few hours and then only if the seals are unbroken on the containers. In any case the ship will be staying here for a few days. They can have the cargo when we are done with it, how you get the cargo planetside is up to you."


========================

ooc: Radiating has access troubles, and in any case, please don't feel you have to defer to him all the time before making a decision. Saanath is Purser, so cargo matters are his responsbility.

 

[DrZombie]

Lt De Paolo looks at Gwydion, "Pretty much my sentiments on the subject. You've just got here, we've spent over a month here. If you think she's charming, you should see her colleagues in the Shirgegge Tourist Board."

"Passangers had access to the cargo bay, right? In that case the missing chip might be there and I can't clear your cargo until it's searchedprocessed. We can do that next, but it'll take a few hours and then only if the seals are unbroken on the containers. In any case the ship will be staying here for a few days. They can have the cargo when we are done with it, how you get the cargo planetside is up to you."

"Allright, let's get going then. The sooner you guys start inspecting, the more chance we have of getting paid. I never thought I'd say this, but could you take us to your intell guys, so we can get cleared and start looking for a vessel to take our cargo downside to those lovely nice firendly people?"

 

[doghead]

Saanath, male human Merchant.

Saanath nods as De Paolo shoots down the plan to get the cargo down first. He's right, and Saanath is a bit annoyed he didn't think of it himself. Assuming things had gone to plan, it would be a fairly safe way of getting the disk to ground without risking carrying it personally.

Saanath gives Gwydion a sideways glance. Getting a third party up to collect the cargo isn't a bad idea. Assuming that they can arrange ship-to-ship transfer. And Shirgegge picks up the tab for the delivery. Saanath doubts that the Navy will let them use one the Coronel's bays in which to manage a hand over.

"Right, I'll get you a copy of the cargo manifest. Assuming that you do not already have one?"

A thought occures to Saanath. He wonders if Shirgegge's keeness to get their hands on the cargo doesn't have some connection to the events on the ship. Saanath decides to keep it to himself for the moment. De Paolo has probably had the same thought already.

[sblock=ooc]Are we externally docked to the Coronel or inside a bay?[/sblock]

 

[Wilphe]

You are externally docked, with hatches connected via an access tube. This shouldn't be a problem as you can just decompress the cargo hold and transfer cargo in vacumn. You've not anything in the cargo hold that'll be damaged by that, and even so the containers should be airtight anyway. So that aspect shouldn't be a problem.


De Paolo "offers" to send a navy team to transfer the cargo. I say offers, because he doesn't want ground-siders up tramping around a ship that he's currently searching from top to bottom.

Anyway, here's the relevent part of the manifest:

60 dt Dukh Shirgegge CIF 721 (Agricultural Machinery)Containerised (6 x 4B, 6 x 4C)



Saanath (and Trelene):
[sblock]The key point here is the terms of shipping CIF. This is cost, insurance and Freight.

The seller is responsible for the costs and freight charges necesary to bring the goods to the port of detination. The goods are delivered when they pass through the ship's hatch at the port of origin, but the seller must pay for insurance against the buyer's risk of loss or damage to the goods during carriage

In other words, Shirgegge own the goods right now. However, they might not be willing to pay for a shuttle to come get them on the grounds that you've been hired to deliver them and that's your responsibilty. [/sblock]

OOC:
So: Shirgegge will send up a shuttle, but won't pay for it. Saanath and Trelene can explain why.
You don't really want to pay for it either I imagine.
So you either have to persuade them to compromise or find another solution.

Gwydion, Tuan, Ruzz'koff:
[sblock]The Coronel has it's own small craft[/sblock]

 

[Radiating Gnome]

Ruzz'koff shakes himself out of his reverie. "Lieutenant de Paolo, please do make the inspection of the cargo the next step in your inspection. Once we have permission to move the cargo, then all we have is the secondary logistical problem.

"As to that, I believe the Coronel has it's own small craft. If we were to use that to transport the cleared cargo to the surface we could move the cargo without exposing the crime scene to new people. I would send one member of my crew with the cargo to make the delivery. "

Ruzz'koff will bring all of his considerable diplomatic powers to bear on this.

-rg

ps -- Sorry to have been so absent for the past week or so -- the bad news is that it isn't going to get better any time soon. I'm here for a week, then I'm out of town for two weeks, and thanks to hightened security I won't be taking a laptop with me, so I don't expect to have any access to the internet for about two weeks. please ghost me as you see fit, and don't let me hold up the game.

 

[Wilphe]

Moving on.

It's not necessary for someone to accompany the cargo, and in fact De Paolo will not permit anyone to leave. The same shuttle will carry the passengers that the Navy have finished with, if any.

de Paolo returns from the search of the cargo and reports, "It's clean, and can go. Now it's your turn. Don't bother taking too many clothes with you, you won't need them."

One by one you are called though the hatch on board the Coronel, strip searched and issued naval fatigues, all with more or less as politeness and courtesy as someone can show when they are inspecting your bodily cavities with a torch.

Then you are interrogated, individually and alone, by members of the flotilla's intelligence detachments. To some of you this last part is eerily familar, though this time it may be rather less pleasent...

Ruzz'koff:
[sblock]Well, Captain, you seem to be making a habit of getting into all sorts of adventures. If we could have a statement please, please don't hesitate to mention even the most trivial details. Anything can help.
When did you find out that the deceased was engaged in treason and espionage?
How did you feel about this?[/sblock]

Saanath:
[sblock]Mr Saanath, sir, please sit down. Doubtless you have much to tell us, though we are more interested in finding the missing chip than investigating the murder. I mean Antonescu, was a traitor and spy, some would say he got what he deserved.

However, we understand you took the lead in securing the computer system and analysing the "hack" into the environmental controls. It seems a most unlikely attack if you don't mind my saying.
[/sblock]

Trelene:
[sblock]Ma'am, please sit down, this won't take long. You have a piece of paper for your statement. Anything else you might like to tell us? This is certainly an unusual case, unusual means of death, uncommon motivation. What do you think lies behind it?[/sblock]

Ktarle:
[sblock]Doctor, you carried out the intial post-mortem on the deceased. What lead you to the conclusion that he had been killed in such an unusual way? Do you think it credible that his cabin-mate would not only be unaffected but also not notice?[/sblock]

Tuan:
[sblock]Please sit down 2nd Officer Nguyen, we apologise for the indignity, but these things are sometimes necessary. You just recently joined the Vyrkis yes? You know the Dvonn affair that your other officers were involved with before gaining thier ship? Well, we are concerned that when someone takes the law into their own hands once, however justifed, they may get a taste for it, and if a similar opportunity arises again they may again turn vigilantes for the most flimsy of reasons. What are your thought on this?[/sblock]

Gwydion:
[sblock]Good morning 1st Officer Letharan. If you could write down any pertinant facts here pelase, even minor details you think may be unimportant may be significant when pieced together. You just recently joined the Vyrkis yes? You know the Dvonn affair that your other officers were involved with before gaining thier ship? Well, we are concerned that when someone takes the law into their own hands once, however justifed, they may get a taste for it, and if a similar opportunity arises again then vigilantism is addictve. What are your thought on this?[/[/sblock]

If anyone reckons they have a handle on whodunnit, then now is the time, otherwise I'll move things along in a few (RL) days.

 

[DrZombie]

Gwydion:
[sblock]Good morning 1st Officer Letharan. If you could write down any pertinant facts here pelase, even minor details you think may be unimportant may be significant when pieced together. You just recently joined the Vyrkis yes? You know the Dvonn affair that your other officers were involved with before gaining thier ship? Well, we are concerned that when someone takes the law into their own hands once, however justifed, they may get a taste for it, and if a similar opportunity arises again then vigilantism is addictve. What are your thought on this?[/[/sblock]

[sblock]
"Good morning. Hmm, well. I know the crew from just after they landed, making sure no 'accidents' would happen" gwydion says while scratching his pet behind the ears.
"Can't say they strike me as a murderous bunch, and from what I've heard in the mess during lunchbreaks, and during the evenings, they went through quite a lot. The doctor, especially, strikes me as sincere and decicated; The rest are just a slightly irregular spacecrew, like so many slightly irregular space crews on freetraders. They aren't scouts, but I think they can be trusted.
As for Tuan, I know him from before. He's Ok as long as you don't play poker with him.
As for the passengers"
He shrugs.
" I ain't no spacedetective Schlock. I'm a tattood barbarian. I'll leave that to you guys."
[/sblock]