(11) Dogfight
The Regency Campaign (243-1123 to 249-1123)
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Sir Misha Ravanos, Mich Saginaw, and Teri Cralla return to
Nightshade, where a situation
has arisen with the person who is supposed to be the new cook.
Misha is needed to deal with the command issues, while Shark requested
Mich to scan Chuck's weapon cases and to assess the modifications the
vargr requested. Teri is merely along to watch the show.
Kalida Siena, Marchioness of Nakege, briefs her
Captain as he comes on board. Those weapon cases are still on the
cargo lift with the nose of Wandering Pearl. Misha says
that Mich need not worry about scanning them at this time, and that he
is not to consider Chuck's modifications yet either. There is a
more important matter to handle at the moment, and that's the question
of who is in command, Misha or Chuck.
Misha goes straight to his quarters, where he leaves
a message for his new cook to meet him there. When Chuck does not
arrive, he checks with the ship -- was there a problem delivering the
message? The ship assures him the new cook has been
informed. Five minutes pass. Misha walks to the cook's
stateroom. The door is open.
Misha makes an impressive entrance, with his zack,
cape, and sword.
Chuck is sitting in front of the computer
terminal. He does not look around when Misha enters.
Misha says, "Are you busy?"
"Who are you?" says Chuck.
"I'm the Captain."
"Ah, you're the person who calls himself the
captain, are you? I've been waiting to meet you."
"I've been waiting to meet you."
"Good."
"I've been waiting," Misha continues, "In my
quarters. Were you not informed?"
"I was informed."
"And why are you still sitting here?"
"I am still sitting here because I wanted to see
what you would do."
Misha almost grins.
Chuck points at Misha's sword. "Do you know
how to use that thing, or is it just to make you look tough?"
"I think I know how to use it."
"Shall we find out?"
"If it would make the rest of our relationship go
smoother, fine."
"I assume my weapons are on board and you have not
chosen to release them yet."
"They are waiting... to see what you would do,"
Misha smiles.
Chuck grins a toothy grin at Misha. "This is
going to be interesting. Good." He pauses, then asks, "You
do understand what we are fighting for?"
"Not really. Perhaps you will inform me."
"I propose a formal duel, as done by my people, and
what we are fighting for is whether I respect you or not. If I
respect you, I will be a loyal member of your pack. If I do not
respect you, I will remain an outsider who is here under orders of his
previous leader. That is what the fight is about."
"OK," says Misha.
"Now, a few things. It will be a formal duel
to first blood. We will fight naked, with our swords, in front of
the entire crew. They will not be permitted to offer
assistance. They are welcome to cheer, and they are welcome to
bet, but the whole crew must watch. The new pack must witness it
-- they need to see what their leader is made of too. Is now
good?"
"Yes."
"Excellent. Is the whole crew here?"
"That will be acceptable."
"Preferably in open space, outside."
"Under the ship?"
"Certainly. Somewhere the crew can watch in
person."
Shark's first concern is to make sure there are no
paparazzi. The area is clear, but of course he can't assess
whether any of the staff are about to retire and want to make money.
Misha first announces to all the crew, including
Lucas, that everyone is recalled to duty and that the new cook and
himself will be doing a demonstration of arms under the ship
immediately. He then calls Shark and Mich to help the new cook
find his sword.
The Captain looks at the vargr, then leaves.
Shark quickly briefs Misha on what they know about
Chuck, including what they know they don't know and what that
implies. He has already checked that the tranq rounds in his
gauss pistol will work on vargr.
Misha then goes to his stateroom and tries to look
up vargr and the formal fights. He wants to know what is meant by
"naked" in particular. Unfortunately vargr cultures are far too
varied, and there is no record of what it means. It's possible
that no-one in the Imperium knows what Chuck was talking about.
He strips to underwear and takes up his blade.
The last thing Misha does before going down for the
fight is to tell Teri that the demonstration is supposed to be to first
blood, and she is to make sure it stays that way.
Shark accompanies Chuck to fetch his sword from his
weapons cases on the cargo lift. Chuck offers to open them both,
and when Shark nods he does so. The second one contains a full
set of vargr battledress with weapons and accessories.
The first one contains Chuck's sword. It would
probably be called a sabre, although it's more curved and longer than
traditional human sabres. It also seems to be made of a
non-traditional material, apparently the best that can be made at tech
level 15 craftmanship. It's a plain sword, not anything with tech
assist, and when Shark scans it with his bioscanner he confirms it is
not poisoned.
Chuck says Shark is welcome to examine his other
weapons, but does not recommend trying them. Immediately to view
are a bow and arrows, again high tech materials in a simple design, and
also what looks like a very long muzzle loading flintlock rifle, or
rather the best rendering of it tech level 15 can do.
Shark warns Chuck that there is a history of people
dying on hunts with this group.
Chuck says they can fix that, or continue it if
that's what they want.
Shark says it was the guy with the gun who died.
The vargr grins and says that perhaps one of these
days Shark should try his gun. He points out the powder
containers, and the ammunition. Shark says they can continue
looking at them after the fight; Chuck agrees, as then they will know
the basis on which they look at them.
With the crew gathered, Misha and Chuck face off
under Nightshade for the formal duel.
Chuck says, "I shall not salute you before the
fight. If you are worthy of the salute after the fight, I shall
do so then." He adds quietly, "Until we do so, we do not know
where we stand."
Chuck says, "We can start when you are naked."
That settles that question, and Misha complies.
The vargr is indeed completely naked. He is
missing a patch of fur on his lower left abdomen, scar tissue clearly
showing. Shark believes it was some kind of energy weapon burn.
Shark opens the betting pool by putting 5 credits on
the Captain winning 27 seconds after they come together. He
laughs and says that he is sure no-one here will be betting against the
Captain. It's very obvious that anyone who did so would attract
Shark's very stern disapproval.
Chuck glances up and Shark and smiles. Clearly
the crew's banter meets his approval.
The duel begins. The fighters approach
cautiously, but Misha clearly takes control of the pace immediately,
making space for Chuck to lead with an attack. Chuck in turn
beckons Misha with a grin, inviting him to make the first move.
Misha shakes his head, smiling that Chuck was the one to call for this
fight.
Chuck moves in. He's very quick on his feet,
and his swordwork is tricky to defend. Misha parries
smoothly. Chuck then steps up the level of the attack, delivering
a fast snick-snack that threatens to be too fast for Misha's long sword
-- but the Captain still parries that smoothly.
The vargr grins and says this is more interesting
than he thought it would be. He continues with a fine display,
dancing around and delivering quick precise attacks. He is very,
very quick. Misha thinks, however, that while Chuck is tall for a
vargr, he's not that strong, and if this fight goes on for an hour or
so Misha could simply outlast him.
Chuck again steps it up a level, smoothly and
easily, but MIsha's counter is masterful and he takes the lead.
Misha's attack is a blistering flurry of the long
sword, but it's parried and dodged by the vargr. Misha keeps up
the pace, challenging Chuck's ability to the full, but the vargr
matches him.
Shark has definitely lost the pool. This fight
is a spectacular display of master swordsmen and looks set to continue
for some time.
Misha, on the other hand, has realized that Chuck
seems to be holding something back. He continues to press the
attack strongly, but for every move he makes, the vargr has a
counter. In fact, now the fight is clearly so serious, Chuck has
started to counterattack after each defense, something only a highly
trained fencer could do.
It's one of those attacks that Misha finally can't
match, but Chuck doesn't take the opening and press home the strike.
Misha steps back and lowers his sword.
Chuck says, "This fight goes to first blood.
We've given a little display, let's step it up, shall we? I shall
not do that again."
Misha strikes hard and quickly, with Chuck
countering the human's moves. The great sword weaves a complex
pattern in the air, surely impossible to follow, but somehow wherever
the blade moves, there's the sabre to counter it.
A few more flurries like that, and Misha slips in a
simpler move, then steps it right back up again. Chuck counters
very strongly and takes the lead in the fight.
It's at this time that Misha starts to notice a
little thing that might give him an edge. Chuck is telegraphing
his moves, tightening his calf muscle on the side the true attack will
arrive. Misha is pretty sure this is not deliberate, and he can
take advantage of it.
Now Misha seems to have the measure of Chuck's
attacks. He's defending more smoothly and easily, making the
vargr work harder than the human. Inevitably Misha makes a fine
counter and takes back the lead, sweeping in with a masterful
attack. Chuck still matches it, and still counters as he finishes
his parry.
Misha changes his approach. The vargr is
quicker than the human, but not as strong. Misha throws his full
strength into his strokes, looking to overwhelm the lighter Chuck with
sheer power and not just quickness.
This definitely pushes Chuck to the limits of his
abilities, but he pushes just a little harder and responds with renewed
quickness.
(Lucas too has been watching carefully. He
hasn't seen swordfighting like this, but two people matching each other
with bluff and counter bluff happens all the time in his card
games. He can see the similarities.)
Chuck looks like the heavier attacks from his
opponent are wearing on him. He'll have to push this to a
conclusion soon or the barbarian human will outlast him.
Misha goes back to quickness and dexterity in his
next attack, but Chuck counters and takes the lead, pushing the attack
quickly while he still can.
Chuck strikes hard and throws in a very fast move
that wasn't telegraphed. It catches Misha off balance, and
there's no sword where he tries to parry it. For a moment Chuck's
sword was in the other hand, and Misha's upper right arm is bleeding
from a small cut.
Misha steps back and lowers his sword.
Chuck sticks his nose in the air and says, "Good
fight, sir!" He touches his sword quickly to his neck, his lower
abdomen, and his ankle, then brings it up sharply in salute. He
tosses the sabre to Teri -- she looked most likely to be able to catch
it -- then strides up to Misha and gives him a hug and a heavy clap on
the back. "Good fight, sir!" he says again.
"Good," nods Misha, "Very good." He retrieves
his sword, his underwear, and his dignity and boards Nightshade.
As they're walking back to the lift, Chuck says to
Misha, "Sir, I have some specifications I'd like to show to your
engineer, with your permission?"
Misha tells Chuck to meet him in his quarters in a
few minutes.
Shark tells Teri to put Chuck's battledress in the
armory, and takes a close look at the other weapons. The weapons
look very old fashioned design but are all completely modern materials,
high tech produced by craftsmen. Several of them even have
signatures engraved in them.
The rifle, for example, looks exactly like a long
barrel flintlock but uses a piezo-electric crystal or similar instead
of a flint and powder bowl. The barrel is over a meter and a half
long, and Chuck would have to stand on tiptoe to load it. It has
no sights. Hunting knives and so on are also high tech, and are
the closest to anything that would be concealable.
There are no handguns of any kind. The closest
to normal is a regular mass market submachine gun. Shark isn't
likely to be able to put the vargr in a black suit with sunglasses and
a shoulder holster.
Chuck indeed arrives at the Captain's stateroom
shortly.
Sir Misha has had a chance to get dressed and settle
down, and looks his normal self when the vargr comes in. He
compliments Chuck on his swordsmanship.
Chuck says, "You are much better than I had given
you credit. I have not fought a human who has
fought so well."
"I thank you for the demonstration."
"You too. It was enlightening. You
possess quite some... leverage."
"So, given the outcome, are you going to have
difficulty following my orders?"
"Not in the slightest. It was never about who
won the fight, it was about whether I would respect you."
Misha looks confused. "All right.
Perhaps I misunderstood."
Chuck laughs, "Humans do that all the time to
us. Of course, we try to win, but the questions is whether you
are worthy to be following your orders. The answer, is yes, you
are. I would like to transfer my allegiance to this pack, with
your permission."
"Done."
"Thank you."
"Who was your previous pack?"
"Norris. I would prefer not to move against
him, we have... a history."
"So how much information are you required to deliver
back to him?"
"As of this moment, none. Obviously I will not
repeat any confidences I obtained in my previous position."
"I expect no less. It's clear you have some
combat ability, there are occasions on which this crew must engage in
those types of skills. Would you be interested or willing to
partake, beyond the regular cook's duties?"
"Of course! I enjoy the bow the most, but it
is not my best. As you have just seen, fencing is one of my best,
and I am also extremely good with my rifle, although I find these
modern ones difficult and I prefer to use mine."
"Can you fight in battledress?"
"I can."
"Do you have a battledress that fits you?"
"Yes. In my other crate. I prefer... I
prefer to smell the battle."
Misha warns him that most of the crew is also the
ship's owner, so there is a good bit of democracy in non-combat
situations. Would Chuck have a problem with that?
"It will still be your orders that I follow.
My position relative to the rest of the crew is not clear, but I will
follow your lead."
"Well, my lead, at least to the extent you can, is
to defer to the crew in their areas of expertise, and to try to learn
where those are. So, these plans... what are they?"
"The areas in the upper part of the hull I was
shown, that your previous chef used as storage, I wish to put some
extra refrigeration facilities in there -- to my specifications, I am
not fond of the existing ones -- and a smokehouse as well as a tight
chamber for ageing meat. All these will need special atomspheric
consideration."
"Have you served on a ship before?"
Chuck smiles.
"Military ship?"
"I have fought against and for the Imperium."
"If it's ok with the engineer, it's ok with
me. Talk to Mich. Anything else?"
"No, sir."
"What's for dinner?"
"There's a limit with what I can do with the stores
on board at present. I think I will look for something that is a
pleasant Vilani-Vargr fusion."
Misha nods his assent, and with his permission Chuck
leaves.
Back in his stateroom, Chuck asks the ship where
Mich is, and then if he can speak with him. Mich replies, and
Chuck tells him he has some specifications for equipment for the upper
storage area. He wants to replace the former chef's refrigeration
units, and add the smokehouse and ageing chamber. He says he
would be grateful if Mich would look through them and see if they fit
into his systems or if they require modifications. He is aware
that the smokehouse will have environmental considerations and the
ageing chamber will need biosecurity.
Mich brings up the specifications. They look
pretty sound, taking into account the need to avoid sustained fire on
board ship, and biofilters for the other chamber with a sterilization
lock. Mich can definitely do this easily, although with black
tech modifications of course. Chuck has even suggested good
places to locate the equipment.
Mich will improve on it all, but none of this will
cause any problems. He'll replace the sterilization chamber with
a simple and superior sterilization field. These modifications
will look like part of the ship when done, not like some Imperial gear
shoved in haphazard. Anti-stick surfaces, grease trap,
containment for the wood, all these things flow off Mich's mind as he
draws out the plans he'll actually use.
Mich tells Chuck this will take about 4 days, and
he'll be finished at the end
of 247-1123. Chuck will arrange for supplies to be delivered when
it is done.
Shark in the meantime talks to Misha about new crew
requirements. They have pilot, backup astrogator, and possible
grunt for Teri. What they need now is a top-notch sensor
operator. It's would be simple enough to find someone as good as
Shark, but finding one better is going to be hard. He recommends
to the Captain that they look for someone, but they're unlikely to find
them on the first planet. He puts out an advert on the TAS
bulletin board and other normal channels for a senior sensor operator
for a private yacht.
Shark even asks Mich if he has any old navy buddies
who might still be around. Any channel they can tap for a sensor
operator will not stay untapped.
Mich has prepared the galley for Chuck, laying out
everything in a neat fashion as he would expect the vargr to need.
Chuck clearly thinks it's impossible to come up with
something from these ingredients, but he does the impossible for
dinner. It is very unfamiliar to everyone. It could
probably be described as Vargr-Vilani fusion, whatever that is, but it
is certainly very good indeed.
Teri returns to town that night, but Mich has work
to do here on his new project. Most of the others go back to the
downport apartments, but Misha remains on board, reading all he can
find about vargr.
Lucas calls the number and spends the evening at a
different game, different people, same house. It's an interesting
game and he makes out very well, and as a consequence so does the loan
service the game's sponsors provide.
Shark starts working on a flying target,
programmable for random speeds, directions, patterns, and so on.
He wants it to be tough enough to withstand a physical practice arrow
as well as detect laser shots. This is his new project to replace
his flying pig.
Spiced friend meat cubes is not normally what the
crew expects to eat for breakfast, but that is what Chuck produces for
them this morning. It turns out to be an excellent breakfast, in
fact, with a very interesting combination of spices and side dishes.
In mid morning, Misha gets a message from the local
police about one of his crew members. Teri was briefly arrested
last night for disorderly conduct, but released when none of the eight
people she beat up in the bar wanted to press charges.
Shark has found a high end custom build personal
weapons shop. He wants top quality personal weapons, beautiful in
design but perfect in functionality. Out here on the Imperial
border, the border of the Spinward Marches even, this is where the
really good personal weapon shops exist. Just hand weapons, with
the focus on recoilless weapons that can be used in zero g like laser
pistols. To finish the order, he'll need to come back for a
second
fitting on morning of 246-1123.
Lucas also goes shopping, having come into some
extra cash through his games.
The ad has generated some responses, but they are
mostly applicants
from small merchants and so on. No-one with a specific Scout
Service
background has applied, and none of them seem on paper to be better
than Shark.
Chuck suggests hiring on a pirate. No-one runs
sensors better than pirates, he says. You have to know your
targets, you have to know where everything is in the system. He'd
go for a corsair every time, he says, and a vargr knows a good bit
about corsairs. Chuck has fought with them, after all.
Shark laughs that they should recruit one from the New
Berlin, grab one off Robin Sherwood's crew.
Chuck is sure there must be pirate worlds not too
far away from here.
Shark suggests blockade runners, exchanging glances
with Kalida.
Chuck is not so sure of that, and insists pirates
are the best. "You need the guy who comes into the system, looks
at all the ships and bases, and says THAT is where the profit is.
That's what you need a Corsair for." It's hard to do with a ship
as large as Nightshade, but a good trick is to pretend to be a
merchant and recruit from the ship that attacks you.
Shark says that sounds like fun.
"It is," says Chuck enthusiastically.
Shark muses again that at some point they should go
and track down the New Berlin.
Shark says that Chuck should get a medical baseline
scan. Chuck is reluctant to do that, and looks to Misha -- but as
Misha says it's necessary, he cooperates fully with Shark.
Chuck shows up mostly red, with some blue where he
has his scar. Internally it's been patched up somewhat, and still
isn't quite right.
Shark says he can help with those twinges Chuck has
in his side there. He tells stories of replaced grown new arms
and so on, but that doesn't sway Chuck. The vargr says he doesn't
want that yet -- the twinges remind him of how he got them.
Of course this isn't a full brain scan, but it does
give baseline medical data.
Shark goes for his final gun fitting. That
takes about an hour, and he is to pick up his weapons in person later
that day.
At the end of the day, Mich finishes his work on
Chuck's new equipment. The supplies will be delivered early
tomorrow.
The noble social scene has been remarkably
quiet. At the other end of the scale, Teri hasn't been arrested
again.
There are still no remarkable applicants for sensor
operator. Anyone demobbing from the Scouts here must already have
positions, or are just retiring from space work.
Misha announces that they will leave planet tomorrow
evening for Boughene. They could take a look at Shionthy
(where a Final War battle took place) at some point, but for the time
the other end of the portal is more likely to be interesting.
Then there are the Library Caches. There is
one in the Regina - Lanth - Vilis - Jewell area, but where it is
exactly Robert doesn't know. They could go to Goose again
and Robert could look at the map more closely, but at the moment the
only one where they actually know the location is Carei in
Foreven.
Now if they're going to find a sensor operator who
can find one of those, then they'll need someone good. Picking
out a tiny shadow on the spatial anomaly sensor is not something for a
run of the mill Imperial sensor operator.
It's not something Shark could do, so they really do
need a better sensor operator -- one who understands the concept of
spatial anomalies, not locked into conventional sensor
technology. He says perhaps they need the sensor equivalent of
Professor Farol. Perhaps there's someone in the IFSS, and they
have a line not only into that non-existent service but in its Special
Branch, the IFSS-SB.
Robert points out that Jack could get them into the
brown box system so they could intercept Imperial Navy transmissions
after they're installed.
Or perhaps they want the person in the Wonstar
System Navy who first discovered the laser sweep sensor method of
detecting stealth mode ships...? On Mora they got lucky
and did a credible job of trying to follow them, but they never really
got it. That System Defense Boat on Wonstar is the one
who did it, and surely they can track down which ship and what crew
were involved. If they have to, they can pull on the authority of
the new Duke of Five Sisters -- one the Duke and the news of his
appointment reach there, of course.
Chuck's request is somewhere they can actually hunt
fresh meat instead of being stuck with farm meat.
Certainly the law level on Boughene would
allow it, but the corrosive atmosphere really doesn't bode well for
edible wildlife.
Kalida assures them that there is almost certainly
good hunting on her estates on Nakege, and they are planning to
go there anyway, right?
Shark points out that the G band communication
interference near the gas giant Komesh will interfere with
local sensors too, so they can safely come out of a quick jump
there. They haven't done a quick jump in a while, and this is a
good opportunity.
As an aside, Shark tells Lucas about Sparkly
Pink. He just has to sit in the pilot seat and Be One With The
Ship.
The vendors deliver Chuck's order this
morning. Meat, vegetables, wood, micro-organisms, all are brought
on board and loaded in the right places on board.
That means that "Teri the Tiger" has to stop her
dance show at the Hotel Royale, although Shark makes sure he gets
plenty of the posters so he can put them up in inappropriate places.
Nightshade leaves that evening for Boughene at 20:00, after an
excellent meal with Chuck's own ingredients, a unified cuisine after
throwing out all Vonish's supplies. It's not a meal you would
ever see at a noble banquet, but the crew figures they can change those
expectations.
Chuck is pleased with Mich's setup in the Galley,
and really likes the facilities. He also likes the equipment Mich
installed for him, although he's not sure about what looks to him like
very light containment. Still, his leader said to defer to the
crew in their areas of expertise, and obviously this is Mich's area.
Lucas takes the pilot seat and Is One With The
Ship. He's lying slightly above the ground, just enough to be
comfortable... but it would be a whole lot nicer to get up and move
around.
Nightshade gets clearance to leave from the
downport.
Lucas sees a clear path marked out in front of him,
and takes off along it.
Whoa! He's flying! This feels great!
Nightshade hurtles up at the full 20g, Lucas
grinning like an idiot.
He's flying! He can dart around wherever he
likes, spin himself around just like this, this is great!
He does realize they actually want him to go
somewhere specific, and after buzzing a satellite or two settles onto
the astrogation path and relaxes and cruises.
"Sorry," says Shark to traffic control, "We have our
runaway thrusters under control now, it will not happen again.
Our engineer was experimenting."
It doesn't take long to get out to 100 diameters.
Lucas emerges smiling from sparkly pink, telling the
Captain that he has a great ship!
Shark points out quietly that they don't really want
to stand out that much, and the pilot says he'll be working on that.
They slip into jump for Boughene.
After 6 hours, in the very early hours of the
morning, Nightshade is ready to exit jumpspace. Misha
decides they don't need to come out right away, and they can get a good
night's sleep and a meal before they do.
After another excellent breakfast of fried meat, at
10:00 Mich brings Nightshade into normal space. It
disturbs Chuck rather a lot to be coming out of job so soon, and for
the ship to be shutting down all non-essential systems to do so.
Shark assures him it's normal, and it's because they have a
particularly good crew.
This is the first short jump for a long time, and it
doesn't help that this is not a smooth transition -- a large blam
shakes the entire ship as it forces its way back into an approximation
of normal space. Mich isn't worried, that's just how the exit
goes sometime. A loud blam is better than a ping.
Mich checks the diagnostics. Three emitters
are out of alignment, which takes him three hours to fix. Space
has not yet
stabilized by the time he is done.
Shark gets a quick visual equipment fix to confirm
they're in the right place. He explains to Lucas that no, they
won't be putting anything out there until it stablizes. His robot
... folded ... last time they sent it out.
Lucas is very interested. He noticed the
strange jump field and its rapid fluctuations right before the exit
that didn't look right somehow. He asks for the visual records
from that pig incident, and sensor readings from this current
situation. Space is definitely doing something very interesting
here.
Shark points out the planet that seems to moving
around, even though they and the planet are not. He asks Mich if
they're still in jumpspace, sort of, is that what the fuzz is?
Mich says, "We're in normal space, it's that it's...
not all here yet."
Lucas wants to know if it's not quite all here, or
it's just unsettled.
"We haven't measured that," says Mich noncommittedly.
"If we'll be here for several hours, then let's do
that!" says Lucas enthusiastically.
Shark suggests that space around them is a spatial
anomaly. Clearly he doesn't really understand it, though, because
he's put down quickly.
That is simply not the case in this frame of
reference -- if there is a meaningful frame of reference, that
is. It's not a spatial anomaly because it's not an anomaly in a
distinct space. The space itself here is perfectly normal, it's
not not... stable yet.
Shark would love to try to track it in more
dimensions than the ship can handle, but settles for every sensor he
can get his hands on. He focusses on a fixed object and records
the variances that shouldn't be there. Except... it kind of is a
stable image, or not...
Shark hands his data straight over to "the
brainiac", hoping Lucas can make sense of it. The may not be
making sense of it yet, but that won't be for a lack of data, surely.
It takes a total of 6 hours for space to stabilize,
at which point it just... clears.
Over an excellent lunch, Shark apologizes to Chuck
for the bump. It just happens sometimes, he says.
Nightshade is not trying to hide here.
They stay out of stealth mode and will investigate openly.
Shark reminds Lucas that no ship can do 20g, not
even a Marchioness's ship.
"Yeah, yeah," says Lucas, grudgingly.
"But if the need arises," says Mich. Private
he wishes he'd found out how to push the drives on this ship like he
could with an Imperial one.